Thursday, January 30, 2020

The Dust Bowl Essay Example for Free

The Dust Bowl Essay Farmers began to plow and plant wheat crops. When World War 1 began the massive wheat crops helped feed many Americans that in another part of the country try where in the beginning of a depression that was caused by the war. The wheat crops also helped feed numerous nations overseas. A drought that began in the beginning of the 1930’s persisted and was leading things in a very negative direction. No matter the circumstances farmers kept on farming hoping the rain would soon come back. In 1931 the rain just stopped and the farmers still kept trying to farm. Without adequate crops people who were already hurting from the depression where starting to feel the impact of the drought. In 1934 the drought impacted 27 states and 75% of the country. Most of the impact from the dust bowl was in the southern plains. The Dust bowl was the result of the worst drought in the history of the United States. In 1935 the wind blew for 27 nights and days and people began to die of suffocation and pneumonia caused from the dust. The affect that it had on the development of the United States is that right before the drought there was an economic over expansion due to the high demand of the wheat and the great soil for crop growth. The poorly managed the land because of over planting and harvesting and when the drought hit the affect was significant economically and the government had to put out large amounts of money to try and recover the economy. 2. Sun Belt The economic and political impact of the nation’s shift in population from the south to the west is called the Sun Belt. The economic growth since World War 2 increased migration from the north east in the United States. The rapid growth in population changed quickly and moved people to the Sun Belt states. It increased tourist industries and brought wealth to the Sun Belt states. This impacted the geographical and environment of the section of the United States greatly. B. One significant environmental or geographical factor that contributed to the development or diffusion on one human society from: Egypt’s geographic characteristics that affect the development of human society were the Nile River. The Nile River made the ability of a large population in a desert region. Also, the Nile would flood bringing rich soil to the lower regions of the rivers course. The crops in this area did well and the flooding helped set a steady schedule for planting and harvesting and because of this the societies remained stable and had extra time to develop art and science in their culture. The people of Egypt also had access to some of the largest quantities of stone such as granite. This began the development and building of pyramids instead of mud buildings. The Nile River played a huge role in the development of Egypt. 1. Cultural diffusion between Mesopotamia and Egypt. The social and politically elite from Egypt sought exotic goods and items of symbolic prestigiousness from India (Mesopotamia). For example: Mesopotamian cylinder seals and Afghan Lapis Lazuli which were found in early Egyptian tombs. Not only was there trades of items but there was trades of ideas. Egyptians imitated the Lapis Lazuli in their Egyptian Faience (ceramic of glass). Due to the Lapis Lazuli being very rare and expensive the Egyptian felt they could benefit from doing this. The Faience represents the first known attempt to reproduce a material to start their own industry. The idea of pyramids could also be traced back to Mesopotamia with the wall around the complex of the third dynasty King Djoser in Saqqara. Mesopotamia also could be credited for influencing Egypt in writing. They say they did not copy but took the idea and started writing from scratch in their own language. When I think about cultural diffusion I think about the tradition of the Christmas tree. It originated in Germany. The decorated the tree with red flowers and white candles to represent the blood of Christ and the body of Christ. When America picked up the tradition through cultural diffusion they change some of the things about how the tradition was done. The Columbia Electric Encyclopedia (2007) Sun Belt. www. factmonster. com/ce6/us/A0847215. html. Retrieved June 16 , 2011. United States History, The Dust Bowl. www. u-s-history. com/pages/h1583. html. Retrieved June 16, 2011. Aleff, Peter (1982) Mesopotamia’s influence on Egypt. www. recoveredscience. com. Retrieved June 22, 2011.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Sayo Masuda’s Autobiography of a Geisha Essay -- Sayo Masuda Autobiogr

Sayo Masuda’s Autobiography of a Geisha Autobiography of a Geisha was originally written for a memoir competition run by the Japanese magazine Housewife’s Companion. Sayo Masuda wrote and submitted her manuscript in hopes of winning the monetary prize offered. She won second place in the competition and came to the attention of an editor who helped her expand her story and publish it as a book. Riding on the wave of interest stirred by Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, G. G. Rowley translated Sayo Masuda’s tale for the American market. Rowley did an excellent job of capturing Masuda’s voice in his translation. If English had been Masuda’s native language, the result might easily have been Rowley’s translation. Masuda’s tale is heart-wrenching. First sent to work as a nursemaid as a small girl, Masuda escaped the torments of that life only to be sold to a hot-springs geisha house. At the hot-springs geisha house, Masuda was again a tormented soul, barely above a prostitute. Her danna, or patron, was hardly a rescuer. Masuda chafed against her role, even attempting suicide to release herself from serving a man for whom she had neither love nor respect. The advent of World War II eventually freed Masuda from the life of a geisha, but her tale continued to be one of hardship. Masuda took on the responsibility of looking after her little brother and traded various goods on the black market to support her brother and herself. When times were hard, Masuda prostituted herself to American soldier s. She eventually found a job at a diner, but life continued to be a struggle until she wrote her autobiography. Masuda endured much during her lifetime and is unflinching in her writing. Readers should expect to come away from Autobi... ...en from the perspective of the geisha elite and hold true for the upper echelons of the geisha world alone. Readers should enjoy Masuda’s book while keeping in mind that her experiences do not hold true for all geisha, only for the hot-springs geisha, the dregs of the geisha world. Works Cited â€Å"Autobiography of a Geisha (Book).† Kirkus Reviews. 71.5 (March 1, 2003). Gavin, William F. â€Å"Irish intrigue, geisha woes, Canadian angst.† The Washington Times. Masuda, Sayo. Autobiography of a Geisha. Trans. G. G. Rowley. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Napier, Susan J. â€Å"Autobiography of a Geisha Book Review.† Persimmon Magazine. Palmer, Kimberly Shearer. â€Å"Geisha reality.† Women’s Review of Books. 20.12 (September 2003): 14.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Development of Environmental Law in Bangladesh Essay

1. Development of Environmental Law at the Global Level The Agenda 21 of United Nations Convention of on Environment and Development (UNCED) in its Chapter 8, 38 and 39 emphasized on the need to develop capacity in the legal and institutional areas for sustainable development in developing countries. Chapter 8.13 of the Agenda noted that laws and regulations suited to country-specific conditions are among the most important instruments for transforming environment and development into action. Legal enactment on environment became necessary due to increased incidents of environmental degradation, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, activities of regional and international organizations (multilateral financial agencies and bilateral donor organization.) The global trend of environmental law making suggests three eras of legal development with clear characteristics. The laws adopted in the post Stockholm Era were ‘use-oriented’. These were natural resource laws dealing with management of land, forests, water, minerals, wildlife, fisheries and so on and had incidental environmental significance. The primary concerns of these laws were allocation and exploitation of the natural resources rather than sustainable use and management. In the second phase, ‘resource oriented’, ‘anti-pollution’ laws were being adopted that basically aimed at long-term management and sustainable use of natural resources. In the third phase, the laws were more ‘system oriented’ that aimed at integrated planning and management of the environment on the basis of all embracing ecological policies and environmental management programs. At the Global level, various international conventions, treaties, protocols also contributed significantly in fostering the development of environmental law making. 2. Evolution of Environmental Laws at the National Level Following the global trend, various nations of the world moved in updating their environmental legal regime either through adoption of new * Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Executive Director, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association (BELA). 2 9:1&2 (2005) Bangladesh Journal of Law laws or amending the existing ones. The development of the environmental legal regime at the national level shows the following trends: a. Crystallization of Environmental Issues in Constitution As many as 106 countries of the world have incorporated environment related provisions in their Constitution. While some of the state constitutions have mentioned environment in the preamble, others have opted to mention environment either as right or duty or as a matter of public interest. b. Evolution of Right to Environment in Cases In some region/countries, development of environmental laws has been greatly affected by case laws. For example, in India and Bangladesh the rights to life of the Constitutions have been interpreted by the judiciary as including right to sound environment. [M C Mehta vs. Union of India (AIR 1987 SC 985); AIR 1992 Kant 57]. c. Incorporating Environment in Policy Documents In most cases, the policy regime has been more prompt in incorporation of environmental thoughts than the legal arena. Most of the policy documents in Bangladesh being more recent documents have incorporated many progressive notions and values including environment whereas no single law still gives unconditional right to a clean environment. d. More Comprehensive Coverage of Environmental Issues Legal development on environment has not remained limited to pollution or conservation goals only. Rather the broader dimensions of environmental issues have been recognized and various methods have been suggested to ensure achievement of legal commitment and monitoring. Laws of many countries have required and laid down procedure for dispute settlement, environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental quality standard, education and information. e. Use of Economic Instruments For balancing the conflicting demands of economic development and environment, new principles have emerged in the economic sector to operate the notions of tax incentives, user pays, environment funds and so on. f. Provision for Public Participation and Review As with democracy, in environmental governance also participation of all stakeholders concerned is essential. In a good number of countries, Application and Reform Needs of the Environmental Law in BD 3 environmental decision making process has been regulated in a manner to ensure participation of those likely to be affected by the decision. g. Recognition of International Norms In some cases countries have shown respect to international environmental laws and to ensure that there global commitment is not frustrated and have adopted domestic laws that promote such commitments. Changes in legal regime, though an important step forward, cannot itself ensure compliance. Hence, the need for effective coordination of environment management, establishment of institutions to administer the laws and mechanism for facilitating compliance has been equally emphasized in countries that have gone for more responsive environmental legal regime. 3. Environmental Laws in Bangladesh  It was thought once that the existing laws of Bangladesh are too inadequate to be worked with environment. But when the work on environment was started, existing laws were found to be operative. The reason may be that the same law can be interpreted in different ways in different perspectives. A writ petition was filed by BELA (Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association) relating to â€Å"Locus Standi† of Article 102 of the Constitution of Bangladesh and because of the progressive interpretation given by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh the concept of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is judicially recognized in our country. Although Article 102 has been in our Constitution since 1972, this provision was not interpreted in such a progressive way before. There would be lacuna in the interpretation of law if we remain unenlightened about the standpoint of environmental movement in Bangladesh. Environment came out to be an important topic here after the devastating flood of 1987 and 1988. In order to control the flood situation the Government of Bangladesh undertook a Flood Control Project with the aid of donor agencies. In fact the environmental movement in Bangladesh started centering that development project. Some NGOs, which were working on environment separately, found that there would be irreparable loss to the environment if the above project namely Flood Action Plan was allowed to continue. Those NGOs assembled to establish a platform by the name â€Å"Life Minded Environmental Activist Forum†. Environmental movement commenced privately from that forum. On the other hand in the Governmental level the Ministry of Environment and Forest was formed and incidentally both Governmental and Non-Governmental initiative began together.

Monday, January 6, 2020

The Role Of Happiness On Kant s And Mill s Ethics

The Role of Happiness in Kant s and Mill s Ethics Corey Guitard (0241740) Introduction to Ethics November 18th, 2015 Philosophy 2701 Dr. Rupen Majithia Words: Immanuel Kant refers to happiness as contentment (Kant, ) whereas John Stuart Mill refers to it as the pursuit of pleasure and the absence of pain (Mill, p.7). Kant does not base his ethics on happiness. Instead, he argues that morality is based on our duty as a human (Kant, ). To do what is right for Kant is to do what is instinctually moral without giving thought to the overall happiness. On the other hand, Mill does in fact use happiness as the bases for his ethics. He proposes that actions are right if they promote overall happiness and wrong if they promote the opposite of happiness (Mill, ). In this paper, it will be argued that Mill s views on happiness are more reasonable than those of Kant s because happiness should be the base for ethics. Kant does not believe that happiness is important enough to base his ethics on. 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