Essay --

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the most devastating times in the history of the United States of America, it plagued each city and town with starvation, homelessness and even suicide. The twenties were truly a tough time for the US and all of its citizens. The Roaring Twenties, the decade that came after World War I and inevitably led to the Wall Street Crash, came in a time where money and wealth were prevalent. Coming after the war, the United States had great confidence, a large amount of Americans who lived in secluded areas or small towns moved to the big cities to promote an industrial living style in the United States. While the American cities flourished and blossomed into the greatest places on earth,the amount of people who moved to the big cities left the agricultural ways of the US in the dust, leaving the farmers in economic shock, making agriculture the main reason for a major loss of money in the US. This happened throughout the decade and would later be blam ed as one the main factors that led to the 1929 stock market crash. Over the weekend of October 26th and 27th , the activity of the Stock Market was known and read all across the United States. On October 28, "Black Monday", a huge amount of investors decided to abandon the stock market in order to maintain their personal wealth, and the downfall erupted with a record loss in Dow Jones Industrial for the day of 38.33 points, or 13%.(Galbraith 47) The next day, "Black Tuesday", October 29, 1929, about sixteen million shares were traded, and Dow Jones lost an additional 30 points, or 12%, talk flurried that U.S. President Herbert Hoover would not veto the pending Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. The volume of stocks traded in order to maintain wealth or at... ...usinessmen in 1932 when things were just about at their worst. Squalid cardboard campsites were created in cities to live in...called "Hoovervilles". The nick-name of the soup given out by charities for the unemployed was "Hoover stew". However, Hoover did do some good. Money was used to create jobs to build things such as the Hoover Dam. In 1932 he gave $300 million to the states to help the unemployed (Emergency Relief and Reconstruction Act) but it had little impact as states run by the Republicans believed in "rugged individualism" more than Hoover did and they used only $30 million of the money offered to them. Which seems backwards, but they stood behind what they believed in and it ended out fine. The stock market crash of 1929 was the most significant crash in U.S. history. Although the crash itself only lasted four days, it led to a catastrophic sell-off.

Lust and the Degeneration of Man Exposed in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129 Es

Lust and the Degeneration of Man Exposed in Shakespeare’s 129th Sonnet   Love in its purest form is the most unsurpassable of all emotions, requiring intense commitment, while simultaneously providing incomparable bliss. However, often the intense desire for these feelings produces a new emotion, lust, with a craving that gives priority to obtaining an objectified person, as opposed to a very real human. Lust can be further practically defined as the inability to place selfless love on a higher pedestal than selfish desire. Shakespeare explores these conflicting definitions of lust in his 129th sonnet, condemning his animalistic variations of lust that coexist with his desire for a genuine state of love. As opposed to following the traditional convention of idealizing a woman and her attributes, Shakespeare breaks the concordance and focuses on the dehumanizing effect of the woman’s attributes on his character. The general trend in this sonnet is the speaker’s analysis of the mental methods through which he has admired a woman. He attempts to craftily define lust so as to rationalize his actions to be correct. However, he gradually gains the knowledge that the lust he has felt is sacrilegious, and must cease. Sonnet 129 opens as the speaker is in great distress due to the shallow quality that has permeated his love. He feels as though he has been exhausted of his physical, mental, and moral strength in his pursuit for mutual love. An "expense of spirit in a waste of shame" is the mark of an ill-fated desire that has missed its point of satisfaction, lost in a deep cavern of an inescapable nature. When humans fall into such depths of despair, it is quite natural to fall back into the animalistic undertones that creep ste... ...9). Works Cited Fineman, Joel. Shakespeare's Perjured Eye : The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets. Berkeley, U of California P, 1988. Leisham, Stephen. The Riddle of Shakespeare's Sonnets. New York: Basic Books, 1982. Landry, Scott. ed. A Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Martin, Philip. Shakespeare's Sonnets: Self, Love and Art. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1972. Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare's Sonnets. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Vendler, Helen. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard UP, 1999. Winny, James. The Master-Mistress; A Study of Shakespeare's Sonnets. London: Chatto and Windus, 1968. Works Consulted Fiedler, Leslie A. "Some Contexts of Shakespeare's Sonnets." The Riddle of Shakespeare's Sonnets. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.

Pros and Cons of Obamacare

Controversy always surrounds change. Healthcare is this kind of controversial topic where people refuse to accept changes, even though changes must be made. Obamacare details many changes, how they will be made, and whom they will affect. As with any bill, there are pros and cons that exist as the bill helps many, but makes some a little worse off. Taking into account the pros that include the minimum benefits package and expansion of Medicare coverage as well as the cons that include rising costs to government and a shortage of doctors, I would vote against the bill.Obamacare is an extensive bill that completely transforms the healthcare system. The main part of the bill is the individual mandate that requires all citizens and legal immigrants to have health care coverage. If individuals do not have health insurance by 2014 there is a monetary penalty. In order to allow many Americans to obtain coverage, it outlines a major change in insurance practice in that companies are no longe r allowed to deny individuals health insurance because of pre-existing conditions; individuals are able to buy into health insurance at anytime.Obamacare expands Medicaid for those who cannot afford health insurance; the expansion will supply more than 17 million more Americans with health insurance than before the bill. People who are employed can fulfill this health insurance requirement by enrolling in their employer’s plan. Health insurance must be provided through employers if the company has 10 or more employees. Small businesses will be subsidized so that they can afford to provide insurance.People without insurance through their employer will be able to buy plans through health insurance exchanges, where most will qualify for subsidies, greatly reducing the premiums. Exchanges are run by the state or non-profit organizations and require that all insurance companies offer certain plans that make it easier for Americans to determine the differences between companies and plans so they can choose one that is best for them. The cost of implementing the changes the bill puts forth will be paid for through budget cuts and taxes.Though the bill provides many individuals with the opportunity to have health insurance, taxes and budget cuts will not be enough to sustain it (MacGillis 2010, 85-92). Within Obamacare there is a minimum benefits package that outlines the benefits that I believe every American has a right to. The package allows for equality under health insurance and allows those who are less well off to be able to have access to the benefits even if their coverage is minimal.The package includes: â€Å"ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services and devices, laboratory services, preventative care and wellness care, chronic disease management, and pediatric services (including vision and dental care). † The federal government outlines the services that must be included in the exchanges to make sure everyone has the minimum coverage. The government also makes sure that individuals are not being taken advantage of by profit seeking insurance companies.Even though the government controls the plans there is still competition between the companies because of the other benefits that the insurance companies may offer in addition to those that are required. Without competition the insurance companies would take advantage of the consumers and charge higher prices solely to make a profit. The minimum benefits package helps all Americans not only receive better benefits, but also easily compare insurance plans (Whitman 2010, 32-34). Along with the minimum benefits package Obamacare addresses the problem of spotty prescription drug coverage found in Medicare.Currently, there is a gap in coverage when the beneficiary consumes between $2,250 and $5,100 worth of prescription drugs a year. Many people do not realize that they have fallen into this donut hole until they are required to pay for the full amount of their drugs, but are unable to (Dorgan, 2006). The new policy will make the insurance companies pay for 75 percent of the drug expenses and leave the consumer to pay 25 percent. However, when the drug expenses reach the catastrophic threshold of more than $5,100, then the insurance Medicare will pay for 95 percent of the drug costs.The government has already started to try and close this gap by subsidizing those who fall into the donut hole. Each year they will slowly increase the subsidy until the consumer only has to pay 25 percent. By addressing the donut hole that has occurred in the current health coverage Americans will be better off and no longer face drug expenses that they are unable to pay (Goldstein 2010, 113-121). However, the major changes come with huge monetary costs. Even with huge increases in taxes the government will not be able to pay for it. Oba macare requires all businesses to provide insurance; if the business chooses not to they must pay a penalty. The quantity of the penalty is less than the cost of insurance; so many businesses opt out of providing insurance plans. If employees do not receive insurance through their workplace, they must buy insurance plans on the exchanges. The plans provided on the exchanges are heavily subsidized in order to make sure that they are affordable for the average American. When more Americans buy from the exchanges the government must provide more subsidized plans, creating a huge expense for the government.Since the penalty for the businesses is so low, the government is unable to directly use that money to completely subsidize the insurance exchanges and instead must use money from the federal fund, further increasing our deficit. Moreover, another problem Obamacare faces with increasing costs is that more benefits can be added to the minimum benefits package as Congress sees fit. With the addition of more benefits the package and coverage for individuals will become more expensive and those expenses will fall directly on the government.The government will continue to add benefits making it more and more expensive to insure. Overall, the rising costs of providing more benefits and the costs of subsidizing the exchanges are far too great to sustain and therefore make Obamacare implausible (United States, 2013). Another problem Obamacare faces is how all of the newly insured individuals will be able to receive care. Currently, America faces a shortage of physicians; this insufficient amount of physicians is projected to worsen as Medicare expansion almost doubles the strain of physicians with the passing of the new bill.Obamacare takes into account the need to increase the amount of doctors with changes to health-care delivery and improved prevention. However, these increases will not be enough. The U. S. will face a shortage of more than 125,000 physicians in the next 15 years; however, only 27,000 new doctors are trained a year, and each year many more doctors retire (Feldman 2011, 113). Massachusetts already has put in place a health care reform that increases the number of people insured. However, they have already noticed the effect this increase in insured citizens has on the amount of doctor’s needed to treat the increased amount of patients.â€Å"A survey of Massachusetts’s physicians displayed that almost 40% of family practitioners and 56% of internists reported that they were not accepting new patients† (Feldman 2011, 115). Before the implementation of this new reform, Massachusetts’s practitioners and internists were able to accept any new patients that were applying. This is not only a problem for primary care doctors, but also specialty doctors. Current healthcare statistics reveal that a doctor sees on average 38 patients a day.That is, a patient every seven minutes of an eight-hour day. This data do es not even include the time doctors spend returning calls, entering data, and speaking to consultants. With the new expansion in health insurance there will not be enough time in the day for physicians to see all of their patients. The new expansion of coverage will lead to patients scheduling more appointments because they no longer have to pay for them. They will schedule appointments for a common cold or simply for just something to do and someone to talk to.In order for Obamacare to successfully work there must be more doctors or a more efficient way of dealing with the increased number of patients (Feldman 2011, 113-122). The positives of Obamacare, the minimum benefits package and more prescription coverage, do not outweigh the negatives, which include rising costs and a shortage of doctors. The cons are huge factors that must be addressed in order for Obamacare to be successful. If we are unable to pay for the treatments or even to provide the proper medical professionals to treat the increase in patients, then the basic goal of the bill cannot be achieved.Overall, I believe that though Obamacare is addressing a desperate need within our society, the method by which it attempts to implement reform is not realistic, and in fact will create more harm to society than good. Instead of implementing Obamacare, I would vote against the bill and believe that the President and Legislature should go back to the drawing board and figure out how to insure all citizens can have insurance without increasing our federal deficit and overwhelming our healthcare system.

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 36-37

36 JENNY, ROBERT, RIVERA, AMANDA, TRAVIS, HOWARD, AND THE SPIDER Rivera drove Robert and Jennifer to their house. They sat in the back, holding each other the whole way, not saying a word until they thanked him when he dropped them off. On the drive back to the station Rivera tried to formulate a story that would save his career. Any version of the true story seemed like a sure ticket to a psychological disability retirement. In the end he decided to tell the story as far as the point where The Breeze disappeared. A month later Rivera was pumping Slush-Puppies at the Seven-Eleven, working undercover for the robbery division. However, with the arrest of a team of robbers that had terrorized convenience stores in the county for six months, he was promoted to lieutenant. Amanda and Travis rode with Howard. At Amanda's request, Gian Hen Gian saw that Effrom's body was turned to stone and placed inside the cave. When Howard stopped in front of Amanda's house, she invited Travis to come inside. He refused at first, wanting to leave her alone with her grief. â€Å"Have you completely missed the significance of all this, Travis?† she asked. â€Å"I guess so,† he said. â€Å"Did it occur to you that the presence of Catch and Gian Hen Gian proves that Effrom is not gone completely? I will miss him, but he goes on. And I don't want to be alone right now. I helped you when you needed it,† she said, and she waited. Travis went in. Howard went home to work on a new menu for his restaurant. Chief Technical Sergeant Nailsworth never found out what happened to Roxanne or who she really was, and he was heartbroken. Because of his grief he was unable to eat, lost a hundred and fifty pounds, met a girl at a computer user's meeting, and married her. He never had computer sex again outside the privacy of his home. 37 GOOD GUYS Augustus Brine declined offers for a ride home. He wanted to walk. He needed to think. Gian Hen Gian walked at his side. â€Å"I can repair your truck, make it fly if you wish,† the Djinn said. â€Å"I don't want it,† Brine said. â€Å"I'm not even sure I want to go home.† â€Å"You may do as you wish, Augustus Brine.† â€Å"I don't want to go back to the store either. I think I'll give the business to Robert and Jenny.† â€Å"Is it wise to put the drunkard in the wine barrel?† â€Å"He won't drink anymore. I want them to have the house, too. I'll start the paperwork in the morning.† â€Å"It is done.† â€Å"Just like that?† â€Å"You doubt the word of the King of the Djinn?† They walked in silence for a while before Brine spoke again. â€Å"It seems wrong that Travis has lived so long without having a life, without love.† â€Å"Like yourself, you mean?† â€Å"No, not like myself. I've had a good life.† â€Å"Would you have me make him young again?† Brine thought for a moment before he answered. â€Å"Could you make him age in reverse? For each year that passes he is a year younger?† â€Å"It can be done.† â€Å"And her, too?† â€Å"Her?† â€Å"Amanda. Could you make them grow young together?† â€Å"It can be done, if you command it.† â€Å"I do.† â€Å"It is done. Will you tell them?† â€Å"No, not right away. It will be a nice surprise.† â€Å"And what of yourself, Augustus Brine? What is it you wish?† â€Å"I don't know. I always thought I'd make a good madam.† Before the Djinn could say anything else, Rachel's van sputtered up beside them and stopped. She rolled down the window and said, â€Å"Do you need a ride, Gus?† â€Å"He is trying to think,† the Djinn snapped. â€Å"Don't be rude,† Brine said to the Djinn. â€Å"Which way are you going?† â€Å"I don't know for sure. I don't feel like going home – maybe ever.† Brine walked around the front of the van and slid open the cargo door. â€Å"Get in, Gian Hen Gian.† The Djinn got into the van. Brine slammed the cargo door and climbed into the passenger seat next to Rachel. â€Å"Well?† she said. â€Å"East,† Brine said. â€Å"Nevada.† It was called King's Lake. When it appeared in the desert, it simultaneously appeared on every map of Nevada that had ever been printed. People who had passed through that part of the state swore that they had never seen it before, yet there it was on the map. Above the tree-lined banks of King's Lake stood a palace with a hundred rooms. Atop the palace a massive electric sign read, BRINE'S BAIT, TACKLE, AND FINE WOMEN. Anyone who visited the palace was greeted by a beautiful, dark-haired woman, who took their money and led them to a room. On their way out a tiny brown man in a rumpled suit returned their money and wished them well. Upon returning home the visitors told of a white-haired man who sat all day in the lotus position at the end of a pier in front of the palace, fishing and smoking a pipe. They said that when evening approached, the dark-haired woman would join the man and together they would watch the sun go down. The visitors were never quite clear as to what had happened to them while they were at the palace. It didn't seem to matter. But after a visit they found that they appreciated the simple pleasures that life presented to them and they were happy. And although they recommended Brine's to their friends, they never returned themselves. What went on in the rooms is another story altogether.

Hindu Religion

HINDU RELIGION Dennis E. Leber Axia College RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD (AXIA) HUM/130 NAOMI DOUMBIA AUG 14, 2007 The Hindu religion The Hindu religion is strongly dependent on the Hindu philosophy and in addition, has inculcated a lot of rituals and practices. The Hindu religion has 333 million gods; this is because the Hindu philosophy believes that every human being is God himself. This acceptance of the multiplicity of the Supreme Being in many forms is the hallmark of the Hindu religion. The Hindu religion is also very assimilative and has accepted many faiths into it. The Hindu religion also allows religious freedom and does not enforce the edicts of the religion on anyone. In fact, Hinduism teaches that a person, in order to attain liberation from the worldly bondage, must select the religion that he is comfortable in. Hence, it accepts the existence of all other religions as a means to realize God. The Hindu religion like other religions also believes in the battle between the good and the evil although at a lower level of existence. The religion preaches that man must advance himself through successive levels of knowledge in his quest for the final truth. Hence, the concept of the Devas, or the good deities and the Asuras, the demoniac characters are very important in the Hindu traditions. Many folklores revolve around the battles between the Devas and the Asuras. The important Godheads in the Hindu tradition are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva who correspond with the three ‘Gunas' or qualities of Satva (pureness), Rajas(action), and Tamas(darkness and inactivity). Man is a mixture of the three gunas and the inherent nature of a person will depend on the predominance of the three gunas in him. The Hindu Social Life The Hindu social life is caste based, which was originally devised for the division of labor. Hence the Hindu society has the Brahmins, the highest class who performs rituals and is supposed to be the most educated in terms of religion. Then comes the Kshatriyas who are the warrior and ruling class. Following them in importance comes the Vaishyas, who are the business class. Last comes the Shudras who serve the upper class. People who do not come in these four classes were previously classified as the untouchables who had to do menial jobs in the society and were looked down upon. Women were given important position in the family even though her importance in public affairs was greatly curtailed during the later years of Hindu history The Hindu way of life has many beliefs that were perhaps a means that offered social balance in the society. For example, the norm of sacrifice and the mandatory rules on feeding others helped to provide food for the needy. Similarly, the social practices were seen as the physical manifestations of the philosophical edicts that Hinduism preached. For example the practice of sacrifice to the fire is a physical manifestation of the philosophic ritual of giving up everything for the sake of understanding the truth. Similarly, the belief that the confluence of the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi is holy, is due to the Tantric belief that the meeting point of the three nerve centers in the body awakens the Kundalini, which is the seat of power in the human body. The desire for liberation from earthly existence Dharma is the duty that you have to fulfill in life through your placement. Karma states that you will reap what you sow. And the desire for liberation from earthly existence is achieved through the combination of the two aforementioned methods. Life & death has a cycle. The cycle is wrought with earthly pleasures & pain. Your intention is to be free from materialistic desires because they are temporary. Only the soul is eternal. So by meditating, fulfilling your duties, and by eventually ridding yourself of your karma; you are free to exist as soul and be one with the universe as opposed to continuing the cycle of birth & death. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hindu drawn from Aug, 2007 Origin of Hinduism, About. com drawn from Aug 2007

The Enduring Value of History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Enduring Value of History - Assignment Example The history of modern art dates back to 1880. Modern art broke from the restrictions of realism in art that was the norm in those days. Modern art embraced a subjective representation of real life objects. Modern artwork is more inclined to looking inwards and artists seek to portray the evolution of their subject over a period of time. According to Gregory, this form of art was targeted at showcasing the evolution of ideas over time and the impact of the society . Modern art evolved over time to present the changes in the society. Impressionism was the first form of modern art that deviated from the traditional aspects of art. The modern artists who practiced this style focused majorly on recreating the scene of the art and appealing to the emotional aspect of the painting. Cubism was more inclined towards finding strong forms for art work instead of just squares. The composition of the artwork was given prominence and primitive geometric shapes were not prioritized. The most vital aspect of modern art that is relevant to the requirements of Apperception is the use abstraction. Abstract art focuses on a feeling of thought that cannot be quantified and not necessarily a recognizable object. The paintings that applied this style showcased several layers of abstraction. The importance of this abstraction is that it spurs the mind to generate interpretations of the painting in several unique ways . It’s a possibility to have a unique interpretation of the painting each time that he sees it.

Ethnicity and Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Ethnicity and Nationalism - Essay Example The definition of a nation is distinct from that of a country because it assumes that there is a cultural and historical bond between the people inhabiting a delineated territory. Not only must the citizens of a nation be bound together in terms of government and territory, but they must be united as one because of their cultural links. Nigeria can clearly be defined as a country, however the fragmentation of its culture, especially in recent history, calls its status as a nation into question. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is located in Western Africa, bordering Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Its capital city is called Abuja; although its historic capital is Benin City, once called Edo during the years of the Kingdom of Benin. The country is located on the Atlantic Ocean and has benefited from this placement in terms of international trade; currently Nigeria boasts the highest population in all of Africa at more than 140 million people, and it has been hailed by economists as being one of the fastest growing economies in the world (Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2007). In the near future it stands to reason that Nigeria will stand out from other African countries as one of the most successful in terms of trade and finance. Niger Nigeria is comprised of 36 individual states, plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which houses Abuja. See Figure 1 for a map and names of all Nigerian states. The FCT was created from former Niger, Nasarawa and Koji territories, and is located in the centre of the country (Falola 1999, pp.1-5). The environment is varied and encompasses savannah, rainforest and deserts; the country is home to what is believed to be the largest and most diverse selection of butterflies in the world, and the native Drill Monkey is only found wild in Nigeria and Cameroon. The Delta region of the country is used for oil drilling, an industry that is of particular importance to the Nigerian economy. The official language of Nigeria is English, however traditional languages like Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo are publicly recognised and regularly used by many citizens. History Nigeria is located in an ancient part of the world as far as human history is concerned, and archaeological evidence suggests that the area has been inhabited by people since at least 9000 BC. From its early cultural beginnings, the area that now encompasses Nigeria developed one of the most influential and powerful empires in Africa and the world: the Kingdom of Benin. From the 15th to the 19th century, the land which is now the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as surrounding countries was all incorporated into the Kingdom of Benin, a vast kingdom that held influence over a large part of the African continent and whose cultural traditions still echo in that part of the world today. It was under the rule of the Kingdom of Benin that the modern Nigerian state evolved into one of the most economically viable African countries during the 16th and 17th centuries; this was due largely to the European slave trade and the fact that the Kingdom of Benin was both forceful and powerful in its dealings with neighbouring nations. As European countries