All About Chocolates Child Labor and Slavery Problem

All About Chocolate's Child Labor and Slavery Problem Do you know where your chocolate comes from, or what happens in order to get it to you? Green America, a non-profit  ethical consumption  advocacy organization,  points out in this infographic  that although major chocolate corporations rake in tens of billions of dollars annually, cocoa farmers earn just pennies per pound. In many cases, our chocolate is produced using child and slave labor. We in the U.S. chomp down twenty-one percent of the global chocolate supply every year, so it makes sense that we should be informed about the industry that brings it to us. Lets take a look at where all that chocolate comes from, the problems in the industry, and what we as consumers can do to keep child labor and slavery out of our sweets. Where Chocolate Comes From Most of the worlds chocolate begins as cocoa pods grown in  Ghana,  Ivory Coast, and Indonesia, but much is also grown in Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. Around the world,  there are  14 million rural farmers and  laborers who rely on cocoa farming for their income. Many of them are migrant workers, and nearly half are small farmers. An estimated 14 percent of them- nearly 2 million- are West African  children. Earnings and Labor Conditions The farmers who cultivate cocoa pods  earn less than 76 cents per pound, and because of the inadequate compensation, they must rely on low-wage and unpaid labor to produce, harvest, process, and sell their crops. Most cocoa farming families live in poverty because of this. They have inadequate access to schooling, healthcare, clean and safe drinking water, and many suffer from hunger. In West Africa, where much of the worlds cocoa is produced, some farmers rely on child labor and even enslaved children, many of whom are sold into bondage by traffickers who take them from their home countries. (For more details on this tragic situation, see these stories on BBC and CNN, and this list of academic sources). Massive Corporate Profits On the flip side, the worlds largest global chocolate companies are raking in tens of billion dollars annually, and total pay for the CEOs of these companies ranges from 9.7 to 14 million dollars. Fairtrade International puts the farmers and corporations earnings in perspective, pointing out that producers in West Africa are likely to receive between 3.5 to 6.4 percent of the final value of a chocolate bar containing their cocoa. This figure is down from 16 percent in the late 1980s. Over the same time period, manufacturers have increased their take from 56 to 70 percent of the value of a chocolate bar. Retailers currently see about 17 percent (up from 12 percent over the same time period). So over time, though demand for cocoa has risen annually, and has been rising at a greater rate in recent years, producers take home a decreasing percentage of the value of the final product. This happens because chocolate companies and traders have consolidated in recent years, which means that there are just a handful of very large, monetarily and politically powerful buyers in the global cocoa market. This puts pressure on producers to accept unsustainably low prices in order to sell their product, and thus, to rely on low-wage, child, and slave labor. Why Fair Trade Matters For these reasons, Green America urges consumers to purchase fair or direct trade chocolate this Halloween. Fair trade certification stabilizes the price paid to producers, which fluctuates as it is traded on commodities markets in New York and London, and guarantees a minimum price per pound that is always higher than the unsustainable market price. In addition, corporate buyers of fair trade cocoa pay a premium, on top of that price, that producers can use for development of their farms and  communities. Between 2013 and 2014, this premium poured more than $11 million  into producing communities, according to Fair Trade International.  Importantly, the fair trade certification system guards against child labor and slavery by  regularly auditing  participating farms. Direct Trade Can Help Too Even better than fair trade, in a financial sense, is the direct trade model, which took off in the specialty coffee sector several years ago, and has made its way to the cocoa sector. Direct trade puts more money into producers pockets and communities by cutting the middlemen  out of the supply chain, and by often paying far more than the fair trade price. (A quick web search will reveal direct trade chocolate companies in your area, and those from which you can order online.) The most radical step way from the ills of global capitalism and toward justice for farmers and workers was taken when the late Mott Green founded the Grenada Chocolate Company Cooperative  on the Caribbean island  in 1999. Sociologist Kum-Kum Bhavnani profiled the company in her award-winning documentary about labor issues in the global cocoa trade  and demonstrated  how companies like Grenada offer  a solution to them. The worker-owned cooperative, which produces chocolate in its solar-powered factory,  sources all of its cocoa from the inhabitants of the island for a fair and sustainable price, and returns profits equally to all worker-owners. It is also a forerunner of environmental sustainability in the chocolate industry. Chocolate is a source of joy for those who consume it. Theres no reason that it cant also be a source of joy, stability, and economic security for those who produce it.

Important things you should consider before making decision about college

Important things you should consider before making decision about college Recommendations on choosing a college When you are in the high school you face a choice of your future profession, carrier and the entire life direction at all. Thus, this choice starts with the selection of the college, which reveals to be fundamental and decisive factor, which will impact your entire life. Most of young people prefer one or another college unthinkingly, being under influence of dreams, college reputation and advertisements or opinions of elder friends, who already study at particular college. Anyway, we will recommend you to be more skeptical and scrupulous, while considering such things as your future education. Do not be guided by your momentary hesitation or blind preferences, there are so many things to be thought over at first. Specialization You already know what profession you want to obtain or at least know in what direction you should move. Study all the specialties and educational programs, which are offered by different universities. Some of the colleges do not have academic programs for the specialty, you want to receive, and others can have differences in the courses and training methods. Thus, you should consider which disciplines you will learn, whether there is enough practical training or theoretical courses predominate here. Also, find out at what field you will be welcomed to work with this degree, so that you can be sure that you head to your goals. Financial aspect While making a decision about college preferences, you should pay attention to the ticklish question concerning finance. So, you should find out about the tutorial fees at the high school you want to enter and other additional charges, like flat rent and all other possible expenses. You can make even something like a rating of universities and make preliminary calculations how much you will spend for every of them. And the most responsible part of this investigation is to make objective comparison of educational costs with your financial possibilities and determine what is affordable for you. Location The location of the university also makes some difference. If it is far from your parents, do not to count to visit them very often. And on the contrary, when the university is near, you can even live at home. Here you should decide if you want independent life or feel not ready to take care of yourself by your own. Moreover, location matters for the above mentioned question concerning money. Thus, if you chose any college in London, pay attention that it is quite cost-based undertaking. Accommodations Considering the question about your future college, find out about the accommodation conditions. Get to know if it is old or new, where is it situated and how much it will cost for you. Also learn how much you should pay for a room or flat, if there will be no place for you in the accommodation or the conditions will be unsuitable. Believe that it is better to live in the campus area, since you will save your time leaving near the college and you will have more opportunities for sports and other activities. Facilities Depending on the profession you are interested in, you should concern yourself about the educational facilities of the college. Thus, the specialties, which presuppose some practical aspects of education, require laboratories and well-equipped workshops, where you can master your skills. Though, most of students use the Internet for information search, it is great when college has a nice library, where you can find rare and unique works, which are hardly accessible in the global network. Indeed, you see that a lot of factors should be considered in order to make the right and the favorable decision concerning your education. Follow our recommendations, think, estimate, make conclusions and enjoy your study.

How does the UK degree compared to the French degree Essay

How does the UK degree compared to the French degree - Essay Example Moreover, investing in degrees in some countries is a risky investment. In countries such as Italy and France, degree certificates are often tarnished. With such eventualities, students in such countries would rather not invest in education. In France, the entry level for students in first year degree programs is 48%. Of this number, 38% proceed to complete the programs (Arias Ortiz & Dehon, 2013). Therefore, in order for students to remain relevant in the European and the global market various strategies are employed. Students improve the strength of their degree credential by joining masters as well as postgraduate programs. In relation to statistics on the United Kingdom, degree programs are considerable popular investments. Despite an increase for fees, students still fill spaces in UK universities. However, research has found a drop in the number of students from affluent background. Despite this, the number of students for degrees in the United Kingdom is considerable higher than in other countries across Europe. This paper provides a comparison between French and United Kingdom degree qualifications. It provides detailed information on qualification requirements, entry and as well as other standards. Self-study is an important aspect in the progression of students in degree programs. Self-studies assist individuals develop their discipline levels, imagination, and observation and exploration skills. Se lf study programs have been on the offing in educational programs. Individuals are now able to learn from online platforms. This comes through long-distance education or online classrooms. Both France and UK now offer degree programs for self study. In order to gain entry into a French university, students need to have passed their entry-level exams in their countries of origin. For the nationals of the country, individuals need to have held a baccalaurà ©at qualification. In spite of prospective

GLOBAL MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

GLOBAL MARKETING - Essay Example This strategy employed by the counterfeiters thus happens to populate larger parts of the global market for fashionable and luxury products. However the counterfeiting activities in regards to the fashionable or luxury products are generally divided into two aspects-deceptive and non-deceptive in nature. Deceptive practices of counterfeiting are such where the purchaser is not aware that the product procured is not a branded product, rather counterfeit in nature. Replication is created as such to totally deceit the purchaser. However in the second case the purchaser becomes aware that the product procured are a counterfeit and not a real branded product. Herein the purchaser is rendered clues by the counterfeiter of the luxury or fashionable product in regards to the area from where such commodity is made available for purchasing. Further the quality and pricing standards of the products rendered also help the purchaser in rightly identifying that the products purchased are not genui ne branded ones but rather are counterfeit products (Juggessur and Cohen, 2008, p.390). Counterfeit as a Growing Threat to the Luxury Retail Market Observation made shows that regions like China are turning out as the greatest contributor of counterfeit products in the world. The Chinese economy is found to have become the largest manufacturer and exporter of counterfeit luxury products that are seeking entry into developed markets of the world like United States, United Kingdom, Russia and several other regions pertaining to Europe. Moreover the counterfeit products are also making a foray into several Middle East nations where the demand for luxury products is indeed huge in nature. This large expanse of trade and exports pertaining to the realm of counterfeit products in luxury retail is happening to render an impending threat to the market for genuine luxury products. Market shares for the luxury products are largely being taken over by the rise in counterfeit trade practices. F urther the rise in the level of counterfeit activities largely impacts the brand image of the original luxury brands thereby making the branded manufacturers to increase the level of expenditures pertaining to its marketing and promotion. Thereby the rise in the counterfeit market on a growing scale has made the markets of genuine brands to largely shrink thereby impacting the job markets and also in making the price for the products to increase. The growing threat and impact of counterfeiting practices in regards to luxury and fashionable products can further be observed from some statistics. During 2005, the customs body pertaining to United Kingdom happened to seize a huge package of products out of which around 64 percent was found to be counterfeited. Similarly another statistics revealed during 2003 reflects that a seize made by customs body pertaining to United States contained around 6500 counterfeit products valued to around $94 billion. During the same period the customs b ody pertaining to European Union conducted a huge seize of counterfeit pr

Is the Use of the Death Penalty Justice and Is It Fair Essay Example for Free

Is the Use of the Death Penalty Justice and Is It Fair Essay It is fair to say that capital punishment is under attack, particularly in the South where it is most commonly practiced. Not only have serious criticisms been raised by scholars in criminal justice, criminology and related disciplines, but newspapers have published scathing news reports suggesting that innocent people have been sentenced to death and even executed, and alleging racial discrimination in capital punishment practice. According to Robinson (2011), four basic facts establish the realities of American capital punishment. The first is that capital punishment is practiced in most but not all United States jurisdictions. Specifically, there are 34 states with the death penalty, and 16 without. The federal government also maintains capital punishment, as does the military, but the District of Columbia does not carry out executions. However, of these death penalty jurisdictions, only nine regularly carry out an execution, meaning they have averaged at least one execution a year since 1976 when capital punishment was reinstated; thus only about one-quarter (26%) of death penalty states (nine of 34) and 18% of all states in the country (nine of 50) average one or more executions per year. Further, only one state has carried out at least ten executions per year since 1976, Texas. In fact, only about 10% of counties with the death penalty imposed a death sentence between the years 2004 and 2009. Justice is typically defined as administering and maintaining what is just or right. Robinson (2011) says that there are three broad issues discussed and debated by scholars of justice theory: freedom, welfare, and virtue. Some justice theorists argue that what matters most for deciding what is right or just is freedom; whether individual rights are respected and protected. Another school of thought is the egalitarian libertarians. These scholars suggest that what matters most for justice is equality of opportunity in society and taking care of the least advantaged citizens. Other justice theorists focus on welfare, or general well-being and happiness of people in society. They argue that what matters most for justice is the welfare of society, or its overall happiness. Finally, other justice theorists argue that what matters most for justice is virtue, or moral goodness and righteousness. The purpose of the death penalty is incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. Incapacitation is understood as removing the ability of offenders to commit future crimes. Incarceration is the typical form whereas execution is the ultimate form. Deterrence refers to creating fear in would be offenders through punishment to prevent future crimes. Capital punishment can only be aimed at preventing crime by would-be murderers, general deterrence, since it cannot create fear in murderers who have already been executed, specific deterrence. Retribution refers to righting or rebalancing the scales of justice through punishment in order to achieve justice for crime victims. Executions are often depicted as retribution for the crime of murder, as well as a source of closure for murder victims’ families. Robinson (2011) claims that criminologists and capital punishment scholars overwhelmingly indicate that the death penalty fails to achieve these goals, mostly because of the rarity of death sentences and executions. Logically, if death sentences and executions were more common, capital punishment would be more likely to achieve these goals. Yet we also know that the more frequently the death penalty is used, the greater the costs associated with the policy, including not only additional financial costs but also a greater risk of convicting, sentencing to death, and executing the innocent. This ultimately has great significance for the â€Å"justice† of capital punishment. Van Den Haag (1986) says that the death penalty is an effective form of deterrence because it is feared more than life imprisonment. Many of the convicts under death sentence appeal their sentence and try to get it reduced to life imprisonment. Van Den Haag argues that even though there is no factual evidence that the death penalty deters would be criminals more than life imprisonment, the fact that more people fear the death penalty makes it a better deterrent. Reiman (1985) agrees with Robinson’s view that the use of the death penalty is not successful as a deterrent. He gives four main reasons that refute Van Den Haag’s argument. His first reason is that although people fear the death penalty more than life in prison, nobody wants to spend life in prison either. People do not have the mentality that they can commit a crime because they will â€Å"only† get sentenced to life in prison. Although the person will be alive, they will have all freedom taken from them, which after awhile, can be seen just as horrible, if not worse, than death. Reiman’s second point is that if a person is contemplating committing a crime, they are already facing an enormous risk of being killed in the process. Roughly 500 to 700 suspected felons are killed by police in the line of duty every year and many Americans own their own guns. When taking that into account, it does not seem very likely that the would be criminal will be able to commit the crime without at least being injured by the police or the would be victim. His third reason against Van Den Haag’s view is that using the death penalty is hypocritical. The law states that a person cannot take the life of another, but when they do, their punishment could be death. It is not possible to say murder is illegal and then have it as a possible punishment. He argues that not having the death penalty better exemplifies that idea that murder is wrong. His last point is that it is illogical to practice the death penalty simply because it is feared more than life imprisonment. He says that people would fear death by torture more than lethal injection, so does that mean we should begin the practice of death by torture because more people are afraid of it? Unless it can be proven that the death penalty is a better deterrent than life in prison, Reiman (1985) argues that the death penalty should be abolished. Robinson (2011) says that as for the issue of innocence, there is little doubt that people are wrongly convicted of murder every year and that a handful are even sentenced to death. More than 130 people have been freed from death row during the era of â€Å"super due process† that began in 1976 when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. Wrongful convictions often occur due to honest errors such as mistaken eyewitness testimony and faulty forensic evidence, but when they occur due to issues such as: false confessions, lying informants, government misconduct, and ineffective defense counsel. There is also little doubt that innocent people have even been executed, although most of the known cases are from prior to the era of super due process in capital sentencing. There remain at least eight widely known cases where men have been recently executed despite serious doubts about their actual guilt. On the issue of executing the innocent, Van Den Haag (1986), makes the argument that the advantages of using the death penalty as a punishment outweigh the unintended losses. He states, â€Å"Miscarriages of justice are offset by the moral benefits and the usefulness of doing justice (139). His argument is that mistakes have and do occur in innocent people being sentenced to death, but the benefits of using it are more important. It would be more of a detriment to society to stop the use of the death enalty than it is when an innocent person is executed. In regards to race, America’s death penalty has always been plagued by serious racial biases. Little evidence remains of the historic discrimination by race of defendant, although state-specific anecdotal evidence suggests blacks are still occasionally discriminated against, especially when accused of killing whites and when juries are overwhelmingly white. Robinson (2011) says that most experts now point to a â€Å"race of victim† effect, whereby killers of whites are far more likely to be sentenced to death and executed than killers of other races and. For example, a comprehensive study of race and the death penalty in North Carolina showed that killers of whites were more than three times more likely to receive death sentences than killers of blacks. In the state, 80% of those people executed since 1976 killed white people; only about 40% of North Carolina homicide victims are white. Further, a study of capital punishment practice in the state from 1999 to 2006 found that blacks who killed whites were 14 times more likely to be sentenced to death than whites who killed blacks. Also, there were six executions of blacks who killed whites during the time period, yet zero executions of whites who killed blacks. Van Den Haag’s (2011) stance on the distribution of the death penalty being discriminatory is that â€Å"punishments are imposed on persons, not on racial or economic groups† (138). The death penalty is not specifically issued to certain races. It depends on the crime that the person committed. Van Den Haag also says, â€Å"Justice requires that as many of the guilty as possible be punished, regardless of whether others have avoided punishment. To let these others escape the deserved punishment does not do justice to them, or to society. But it is not unjust to those who could not escape it† (139). Van Den Haag does not view the fact that black people or other minorities receive the death penalty more than whites as being unjust. However, what is unjust is the white people who were not sentenced to death when they should have been. Given these important empirical realities of the death penalty, the next issue to address is which of them are relevant for the â€Å"justice† of capital punishment practice. As noted earlier, it depends on which theory of justice is being referred to. Libertarians ask whether capital punishment respects liberty or freedom. The most important question for egalitarians is whether capital punishment practice is equal or applied in an equal fashion. For utilitarians, the most important question is whether capital punishment increases overall utility or happiness in society. Finally, for virtue-based theorists, the question is whether capital punishment respects and promotes our values, our moral goodness, and whether it is the right thing to do. The questions above do not have universal answers. Everybody will have his or her own opinions on whether the death penalty respects a person’s freedom or whether it is the right thing to do. Reiman, Robinson and Van Den Haag all made successful and convincing arguments so it is hard to determine one view as more convincing than the other. It comes down to a personal choice and what a person chooses to believe as to whether the death penalty is fair and a proper form of justice.

Do Cleaning Chemicals Clean As Well After They Have Been Frozen :: essays research papers

Do Cleaning Chemicals Clean As Well After They Have Been Frozen Problem:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The researcher is trying to determine whether or not cleaning materials will clean as well if they have been frozen solid and subsequently thawed out until they have returned to a liquid state of matter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The researcher will use Dial Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner, Clorox Bleach, and Parson's Ammonia, applied to simple bacon grease, to determine which chemical is least affected by the glaciation. Hypothesis:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The researcher feels that the process of glaciation will degrade the ability of these three household cleaning chemicals to breakdown the most common kitchen cleaning problem - grease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, the freezing, thawing, and then freezing again of ice cream puts the substance through the freezing process. The result is a separation of heavy and light substances which breaks down the food. The researcher feels that the same end result may happen with the cleaning materials. Experimentation Test Concept:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to determine weather the glaciation process affected the cleaning chemicals, it is first important to establish its potency prior to freezing. Accordingly, two test sets were created by the researcher. The purpose of the test was to determine how well the chemicals could break down household grease before and after the substances were frozen. The first test set would focus on unfrozen chemicals, while the second was set up for previously frozen chemicals. The Test:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To start the experiment the researcher fried four pieces of bacon until there was enough grease in the skillet to perform the test. He then put a quarter teaspoon of the grease onto two nine by thirteen casserole dishes. Each casserole dish was set up for three frozen and three unfrozen chemical cleaners. A measured amount of cleaner (both frozen and unfrozen) was added to each spot of grease. After approximately two minutes of breaking down the grease, the dishes were raised to a uniform height at one end and the broken down grease was allowed to run. By measuring how far the grease ran, the researcher could then determine how much the cleaner broke down and therefore which cleaner was

Plato †democracy Essay

Aristotle was a pupil of the famous philosopher Plato. During his lifetime (384-322 BC) he learned and taught Socratic philosophy which was taught to him. He was taught this philosophy by Plato, who is responsible for all of Socrates written works since Socrates himself did not write down his teachings. During his teen years he was enrolled in Plato’s â€Å"Academy† where he then taught for about 20 years after his graduation. After this he started his own school called the â€Å"Lyceum†. Here he  taught of philosophy and politics. His political teaching broke down regimes into six categories. These categories are then broken down into three groups of pairs. Each of these pairs has one â€Å"good† form and one â€Å"bad† form. The first tier consists of Monarchy and Tyranny. Each of these is â€Å"the rule of the one†, but according to Aristotle, a Monarchy was better than Tyranny because a Monarch puts the needs of his people before his own. The second tier is Oligarchy and Aristocracy. Both of these are  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the rule of the few† but Oligarchy was considered a better form because the Oligarchy was not necessarily influenced by money and class whereas Aristocracy was. The third tier was Polity and Democracy. Both of these were â€Å"the rule of the many† but Democracy was considered better for the same reasons that Oligarchy was better than Aristocracy. With his teachings of philosophy, and his image of an ideal regime which could possibly be attainable (unlike his predecessor Plato’ â€Å"ideal city†). he was a very influential character in the future of society. Due to his father being a court physician for King Amyntas of Macedonia, Aristotle was a childhood friend of the later King Phillip. His friendship with King Phillip was the main reason he was asked to teach Phillip’s son Alexander (later known as Alexander the Great). Aristotle played a pivotal role in the development of Alexander the Great and it is quite possible that he would have not had such a conquest as he did had it not been for Aristotle’s.

Second language anxiety Essay

In formal researches, foreign language anxiety has clearly been shown to have a negative effect on performance in the foreign language classroom (Aida, 1994; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). However, Sparks and Ganschow (1991) have argued to the contrary that, rather than affective factors such as motivation, anxiety or attitude, and foreign language learning are affected by the native language factors. Sparks, Ganschow and Javorsky (2000) contend that some sort of cognitive handicap is the cause of both low proficiency in a second language (L2 hereafter) and the accompanying anxiety. Anxiety in Speaking Public speaking anxiety is very common among both universities students and also the general population. It is a feeling of panic associated with physical sensations that are all too painfully familiar to those affected such as increased heart and breathing rates, increased adrenaline, over-rapid reactions, and a tension in the shoulder and neck area. Almost 20% of university students face the problem of public speaking anxiety (McCroskey, 1977). He also defined anxiety in broad-based as â€Å"an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons†. The apprehension of speaking before a group of individuals remains a problem in the twenty-first century. According to Krannich (2004), the fear of delivering a speech or a presentation ranks as the number one fear among most people, including students as well as adults from many diverse backgrounds. Ayres, Hopt and Peterson (2000) referred communicati on or speaking anxiety related with the delivering of speech or the fear or anxiety associated with anticipating the delivery of a speech.

The Aztecs And The Incas Essays - Aztec, Civilizations, Tenochtitlan

The Aztecs And The Incas Essays - Aztec, Civilizations, Tenochtitlan The Aztecs and the Incas The Aztecs and the Incas are two of the most memorable ancient Indian tribes because of their accomplishments and the way that they flourished and became two of the most prominent tribes in the Americas. The Aztecs, also known as the Mexica, dominated central and southern Mexico from the 14th to 16th centuries and are best known for having established an empire based on conquest, tribute paying and the religious sacrifice of humans and animals. The Quechian-speaking Incas established an extensive Andean empire in South America shortly before the conquest of the New World by the Europeans. These two empires arose from lowly beginnings. The Aztecs were forced to occupy the swampy area the western side of Lake Texcoco after the fall of the Toltec civilization. They converted their disadvantageous beginning into a powerfully advanced empire within two centuries, partially because of their belief in a legend. The legend goes on to say that they would establish a great civilization in a marshy area where they would see a cactus growing out of a rock and perched on top, an eagle eating a snake. Priests supposedly saw this in 1325 upon arrival and founded the great city of Tenochtitlan. As the Aztecs grew in number, they established superior military and civil organizations. The Incas, on the other hand, had no legend to guide them. They were originally a small warlike tribe inhabiting the south highland region of the Cordillera Central in Peru. They moved into the valley of Cuzco in at about 1100 and for roughly the next 300 years, raided and whenever possible, imposed tribute on neighboring peoples. Until the middle of the 15th century, however, the Incas undertook no imperialistic expansion or political consolidation. The empire reached it?s greatest extent in the reign of Huayna Capac. By this time, the Incas controlled a territory roughly the size of the Atlantic Coast states of the US. The capital city of the Aztecs was an artificial island, formed by piling up mud from the lake bottom, called Tenochtitlan, inhabited by over 100000 people, twice the population of any European city at the time. Tenochtitlan means ?Place of the Cactus? and under Montezuma, it became the most powerful city in Mexico. It had an advanced water supply system, with public fountains and reservoirs throughout the city. Laid out into a grid pattern, it was divided by canals- ?roads? for canoe traffic- and into four districts, each with it?s own temples, schools and markets. The edges of the city had simple housed for the poor; the center had grand houses for the rich. Markets were held every five days and people from everywhere came to sell goods, exchange gossip and news. Officers patrolled the streets and thieves would be tried and punished on the spot. Tenochtitlan was indeed a very organized city. The Incan empire was an agriculturally based theocracy rigidly organized along socialistic lines. The entire domain was also divided into four great regions or quarters and these regions were subdivided into provinces and various other lesser socioeconomic groups. While Tenochtitlan had a system of canals and paved roads to keep the city together, there was a great network of stone roads connecting all parts of the realm to the capital city of Cuzco. Trained runners, working in relays, covered up to 400 km a day delivering messages. Like the Aztecs, who often traveled around their city in canoes, the Incas had Balsa wood boats which provided a rapid means of transportation along rivers and streams. Although the Incas had neither horses, nor a system of writing, authorities in Cuzco were able to keep in close touch with developments around the empire with this system. Communication was also enhanced by keeping numerical records of troops, supplies, population data, and general inventories by means of knotted and colored string called quipus. The imperial administrators had everything under control. While the Incans had no form of writing, the Aztecs used pictographic writing, hieroglyphics, recorded on animal hides. Some of these writings still exist today. The hieroglyphics can also still be found on the ruins of ancient temples. They used a calendar system developed by the earlier Mayan civilization. Both civilizations had numerous gods and paid sacrifices to them. The Incans had the gods of sun, stars and weather. Their goddesses were of the earth, moon and sea. They had numerous and elaborate ceremonies and rituals, primarily centered on health and agricultural concerns. Live animals were often sacrificed at

12 Classic Essays on English Prose Style

12 Classic Essays on English Prose Style Despite the changes in English prose over the past few centuries, we may still benefit from the stylistic observations of the old masters. Here, chronologically arranged, are 12  key passages from our collection of Classic Essays on English Prose Style. (To read the complete essays, click on the highlighted titles.) Samuel Johnson on the Bugbear StyleThere is a mode of style for which I know not that the masters of oratory have yet found a name; a style by which the most evident truths are so obscured, that they can no longer be perceived, and the most familiar propositions so disguised that they cannot be known. . . . This style may be called the terrifick, for its chief intention is, to terrify and amaze; it may be termed the repulsive, for its natural effect is to drive away the reader; or it may be distinguished, in plain English, by the denomination of the bugbear style, for it has more terror than danger.(Samuel Johnson, On the Bugbear Style, 1758) Oliver Goldsmith on Simple EloquenceEloquence is not in the words but in the subject, and in great concerns the more simply anything is expressed, it is generally the more sublime. True eloquence does not consist, as the rhetoricians assure us, in saying great things in a sublime style, but in a simple style, for there is, properly speaking, no such thing as a sublime style; the sublimity lies only in the things; and when they are not so, the language may be turgid, affected, metaphoricalbut not affecting.(Oliver Goldsmith, Of Eloquence, 1759) Benjamin Franklin on Imitating the Style of the SpectatorAbout this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With that view, I took some of the papers, and making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by for a few days, and then, without looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand.(Benjamin Franklin, Imitating the Style of the Spectator, 1789) William Hazlitt on Familiar StyleIt is not easy to write a familiar style. Many people mistake a familiar for a vulgar style, and suppose that to write without affectation is to write at random. On the contrary, there is nothing that requires more precision, and, if I may so say, purity of expr ession, than the style I am speaking of. It utterly rejects not only all unmeaning pomp, but all low, cant phrases, and loose, unconnected, slipshod allusions. It is not to take the first word that offers, but the best word in common use.(William Hazlitt, On Familiar Style, 1822) Thomas Macaulay on the Bombastic Style[Michael Sadlers style is] everything which it ought not to be. Instead of saying what he has to say with the perspicuity, the precision, and the simplicity in which consists the eloquence proper to scientific writing, he indulges without measure in vague, bombastic declamation, made up of those fine things which boys of fifteen admire, and which everybody, who is not destined to be a boy all his life, weeds vigorously out of his compositions after five-and-twenty. That portion of his two thick volumes which is not made up of statistical tables, consists principally of ejaculations, apostrophes, metaphors, similesall the worst of their respective kinds.(Thomas Babington Macaulay, On Sadlers Bombastic Declamations, 1831) Henry Thoreau on a Vigorous Prose StyleThe scholar might frequently emulate the propriety and emphasis of the farmers call to his team, and confess that if that were written it would surpass his labored sentences. Whose are the t ruly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to turn even to the description of work, the simple record of the months labor in the farmers almanac, to restore our tone and spirits. A sentence should read as if its author, had he held a plow instead of a pen, could have drawn a furrow deep and straight to the end.(Henry David Thoreau, A Vigorous Prose Style, 1849) Cardinal John Newman on the Inseparability of Style and SubstanceThought and  speech  are inseparable from each other. Matter and expression are parts of one;  style  is a thinking out into  language. This is what I have been laying down, and this is literature: not  things, not the verbal  symbols  of things; not on the other hand mere  words; but thoughts expressed in language. . . .  A great author, Gentlemen, is not one who merely has a  copia verborum, whether in prose or verse, and can, as it were, turn on at his will any number of splendid  phrases  and swelling sentences; but he is one who has something to say and knows how to say it.(John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University, 1852) Mark Twain on Fenimore Coopers Literary OffencesCoopers word-sense was singularly dull. When a person has a poor ear for music he will flat and sharp right along without knowing it. He keeps near the tune, but it is not the tune. When a person has a poor ear for words, the result is a literary flatting and sharping; you perceive what he is intending to say, but you also perceive that he does not say it. This is Cooper. He was not a word-musician. His ear was satisfied with the approximate words. . . . There have been daring people in the world who claimed that Cooper could write English, but they are all dead now.(Mark Twain, Fenimore Coopers Literary Offences, 1895) Agnes Repplier on the Right WordsMusicians know the value of chords; painters know the value of colors; writers are often so blind to the value of words that they are content with a bare expression of their thoughts . . .. For every sentence that may be penned or spoken the right words exist. They lie concealed in the inexhaustible wealth of a vocabulary enriched by centuries of noble thought and delicate manipulation. He who does not find them and fit them into place, who accepts the first term which presents itself rather than search for the expression which accurately and beautifully embodies his meaning, aspires to mediocrity, and is content with failure.(Agnes Repplier, Words, 1896) Arthur Quiller-Couch on Extraneous Ornament[L]et me plead that you have been told of one or two things which Style is not; which have little or nothing to do with Style, though sometimes vulgarly mistaken for it. Style, for example, is not- can never be- extraneous Ornament. . . . [I]f you here requ ire a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it- wholeheartedly- and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.(Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, On Style, 1916) H.L. Mencken on Woodrow Wilsons StyleWoodrow knew how to conjure up such words. He knew how to make them glow, and weep. He wasted no time upon the heads of his dupes, but aimed directly at their ears, diaphragms and hearts. . . . When Wilson got upon his legs in those days he seems to have gone into a sort of trance, with all the peculiar illusions and delusions that belong to a frenzied pedagogue. He heard words giving three cheers; he saw them race across a blackboard like Socialists pursued by the Polizei; he felt them rush up and kiss him.(H.L. Mencken, The Style of Woodrow, 1921) F.L. Lucas on Stylistic HonestyAs the police put it, anything you say may be used as evidence against you. If handwriting reveals character, writing reveals it still more. . . . Most style is not honest enough. Easy to say, but hard to practice. A writer may take to long words, as young men to beards- to impress. But long words, like long beards, are often the badge of charlatans. Or a writer may cult ivate the obscure, to seem profound. But even carefully muddied puddles are soon fathomed. Or he may cultivate eccentricity, to seem original. But really original people do not have to think about being original- they can no more help it than they can help breathing. They do not need to dye their hair green.(F.L. Lucas, 10 Principles of Effective Style, 1955) For the complete collection, visit Classic Essays on English Prose Style.

Koalin Loess(Glacier&Periglacial landscapes) Essay

Koalin Loess(Glacier&Periglacial landscapes) - Essay Example a terrain: A terrane is a crustal block or fragment that preserves a distinctive geologic history that is different from the surrounding areas and that is usually bounded by faults. Accreted terranes are those that become attached to a continent as a result of tectonic processes. In more elaborate words, it is a large geographical feature, often a mountain range, that geomorphologists believe was once a group of islands that sat on one tectonic plate that was being subducted under a continental plate. When the part of the plate on which the islands rode began to be subducted, the islands jammed up the subduction zone and the plate behind it broke. As a result, the islands became attached to the side of the continent. As this happened again and again, the island arc became an inland mountain range. The Himalayas ,according to the modern theory of plate tectonics, was formed as a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. This is referred to as a fold mountain. The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, when the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate, moving at about 15 cm per year, collided with the Eurasian Plate. About 50 million years ago, this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean, the existence of which has been determined by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor. The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards. The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm per year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the