UFOs essays

UFOs essays We once believed that Earth is the only planet in the Universe that supports life. Today there is overwhelming evidence that not only suggests, but supports the very real possibility that we may share the Universe with other intelligent beings. I. Things in the Sky A. The First Documented Sighting B. The Fever Spreads 1. Pilot Encounters 2. The Lights in the Sky II. Dents in the Earth III. Unexplained Phenomenon A. The Writing on the Wall B. Geodes IV. What About Religion? A. The Christian Bible B. The Ancient Greeks C. The American Indian V. Conclusion We are not Alone. On June 24th, 1947 while searching for the remains of a downed Marine C-46 transport, lost somewhere in the Mount Ranier area, a young Idahoan businessman named Kenneth Arnold spotted something that would change his life forever. Just north of his position flying at an altitude of 9,500 feet and an unprecedented airspeed of 1,700 mph he spotted nine circular aircraft flying in formation. According to his estimate the aircraft were approximately the size of a DC-4 airliner ( Jackson 4). This account was the first sighting to ever receive a great deal of media attention. This sighting gave birth to the phrase "flying Saucer" coined by a reporter named Bill Begrette. Although not the first UFO sighting in history, Kenneth Arnolds account is considered to be the first documented UFO sighting. The following day Mr. Arnold discovered that in addition to his sighting there were several others in the Mount Ranier area that same day (Jackson 6). When most of think of UFO sightings we picture an unemployed, half- crazed, alcoholic hick living in a trailer park in the middle small town USA. Often times this description, although a little exaggerated, seems to fit fairly well. In the past when the average person spotted a UFO they were quickly discounted as a kook or con-artist in search of either attention or monetary reward. It wasn't until more reputable figures in our socie...

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the positive use of the epithet do-gooder: One use of the language that disturbs me is the use by my local paper of the term â€Å"Do-gooder† [to refer] to people who are indeed doing good deeds by helping or contributing.  However the only definitions I have seen for the term appear to refer to those who are trying to do good, but do so in unrealistic or wrong means. I feel the current use is not considering the older, perhaps archaic, usage. The OED does list one example of the noun Do-Good to mean â€Å"a person who does good,† but the only citation given is dated 1654 and the usage is labeled obsolete. In subsequent usage, the nouns do-good and do-gooder have not been intended as compliments. These OED examples from the 1920s reflect the pejorative usage: 1923 There is nothing the matter with the United States exceptthe parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods. 1925   He could not stand them- no decently constituted American can- nor the uplifters and do-gooders who rule us to-day. The Web offers numerous examples of do-gooder in headlines that introduce stories that make it clear that the term is meant in a positive sense: Ebola-stricken doc described as driven do-gooder Africa [has become] the hottest continent for A-list do-gooders like Bono and Brangelina. Salvation Army honors Mon Valley do-gooders Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards to honor community service The misuse of do-gooder to mean â€Å"one who does genuine good† may have gone too far to reverse. If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate. We need a word that describes a person who acts according to his own idea of what doing good is without considering the consequences that might affect the recipients of the supposed good. For example, a corporation or celebrity might think that giving free shoes and free shirts to every person in a poor village is an excellent way to do good, whereas in reality the act would create worse poverty for the village cobblers, weavers, tailors, and seamstresses. English has other words to describe a person who tries to improve the lives of others. Philanthropist is an obvious choice, but many speakers might share the difficulty of the Wizard of Oz when he tries to use the word: Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called philaer, philaer, yes, er, Good Deed Doers. Ruling out philanthropist as too difficult to pronounce, we still have benefactor, humanitarian, altruist, and social reformer. And, perhaps, â€Å"Good Deed Doer.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart7 Tips for Writing a Film ReviewHow Verbs Become Adjectives

How did the abolitionists proposals and methods differ from those of Essay

How did the abolitionists proposals and methods differ from those of earlier antislavery movements - Essay Example This research will begin with the analysis of the difference between abolitionists’ proposals & earlier antislavery movements. The abolitionist method was focused on making slavery a moral issue. The anti-slavery movement was widely unorganized before 1833. A wide array of societies were scattered such as Pennsylvania Abolition Society and New York City Manumission Society. This movement was supported by the Federal Government. To great extent, the antislavery movement was successful though it faced strict opposition from abolitionists. Liberty Party and Foreign and American Anti-Slavery Society were established to carry forward such antislavery movement. There were great expectations from both political parties such as Whigs and Democrats. The abolitionist movement was more of a religious movement that originated from Protestantism. The earlier antislavery movement was totally based on republican values of equality and liberty. Abolitionists’ proposal was inclined towa rds viewing slavery as a sin and the slave owners as sinners. The abolitionist method had acquired higher energy from Second Great Awakening. As per the abolitionist proposal, the act of slavery is considered to be moral sin in Christianity. Hence such act needed immediate abolition instead of consuming more time as in case of earlier antislavery movement. Hostility was witnessed in North and South due to the abolitionist movement. Slavery was highly intense in North and South. These regions were already subjected to antislavery movement. Slaves were sold in South and mainly blacks were influenced to exhibit slavery. The new law being passed with the support of abolitionist movement attempted to give freedom to many slaves. Northern slavery was on the verge of being abolished and so there was hostility observed in those regions. African Americans were observed as the most powerful critics in context of slavery. Immediate abolitionism in the 1830s raised opposition from South and Nor th.

Analysis and Research on Two Kinds by Amy Tan Paper

Analysis and on Two Kinds by Amy Tan - Research Paper Example and her two daughters. The story is centered on one major conflict, which is the battle between the two contrary beliefs and ideas of Jing and her mother. Jing had a very different way of thinking compared to her daughter, causing arguments and problems throughout the plot of the whole story. The story begins with Jing Mei presenting the two opposite cultures that she has to live with. The first is the Chinese culture, the one that is in her blood. This culture’s point of view about America is similar to that of the rest of the world. They believe that America is the land that promises and assures immediate success and a hope to a better future and standard of living. It was a land filled with opportunities. Because of this point of view, Jing’s mother fervently and with determination pushes her daughter to do everything possible in order to gain success and fame to the point where she wanted Jing to follow the footsteps of then child superstar, Shirley Temple. Jing nar rates, â€Å"At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple. We’d watch her old movies and I would see Shirley tapping her feet or pursing her lips while saying â€Å"Oh, my goodness.† My mother even took me to a beauty salon, but instead of getting curls, I emerged with a mess.† She kept pushing her, letting her do all sorts of tests to determine her one special talent that she can gain fame and fortune from, since she believed that if you are in America, then there is no limit to who you can be and to what you can do. Jing explains, â€Å"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous.† The second way of life that Jing Mei is surrounded with all the time is the adapted culture, the one surrounding her every day, the American culture. This culture did not always match to that of the Chinese, and because of that, it caused conflict, which would later be evident in the story. The Chinese viewpoint and perspective of life and of America was clearly seen and represented by the words and the actions of Jing’s mother. This culture has definitely been the heart of why almost all of the Chinese people in the late 1940s dreamed and longed to leave their homeland which was at that time, suffering from the grave devastation of the war against Japan. Living in China before the war was already hard. It was a very poor country, and the Japanese war that sprung made it harder. During the Chinese Japanese war, the people really felt overwhelmed by the tough situation and the circumstances that they faced and lived through. About four million of innocent Chinese civilians were murdered. The Japanese military also conducted various experimentations on the civilians, from women, men, children to infants as well such as performing vivisection without anesthesia. The people died in the streets from starvation and from the cold. The parents had no choice but to sell their children because there was no more food to eat. Numerous Chinese women were raped and sexually harassed by the Japanese military every day, including sixty-year-old women. Forced labor was imposed on innocent people who did nothing wrong. Thousands upon thousands of blameless citizens, even including little children and infants suffered and died. The

The Poisson Distribution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Poisson Distribution - Research Paper Example Poisson distribution has a number of important uses as will be shown later. When the binomial distribution for probabilities of success (p) is close to zero (0), say 0.01, it would be too time consuming to calculate, especially when N is large them the Poisson distribution becomes useful. According to Mason and Lind, (1999 p242): â€Å"The distribution of probabilities would become more and more skewed as the probability of success became smaller. The limiting form of the binomial distribution where the probability of success is very small and N is large is called the Poisson probability distribution.† In general, the Poisson distribution will provide a good approximation to the binomial probabilities when N ≠¥ 20 and p ≠¤ 0.05. When N ≠¥ 100 and Np ≠¤ 10, the approximation will generally be excellent† (Miller and Miller, 1999 p187). Spiegel and Stephens, (1999 p158) also point to the relationship between the Binomial and Poisson distributions. â€Å"In the Binomial distribution, if N is large, while the probability p of the occurrence of an event is close to zero (0), so that q = 1 – p is close to 1, the event is called a rare event. An event is rare if the number of trials is at least 50 (N ≠¥ 50) while Np is less than 5. In such case the binomial distribution is very closely approximated by the Poisson with ÃŽ » = Np.† This is indicated by comparing the Poisson distribution table above with the Binomial distribution table shown immediately below. Spiegel and Stephens, (1999 p158) also indicated that: â€Å"Since there is a relationship between the binomial and normal distribution, it follows that there is also a relation between the Poisson and normal distributions. It can in fact be shown that the Poisson distribution approaches a normal distribution with standardized variable (X – ÃŽ »)/√Î » as ÃŽ » increases

Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technology - Essay Example Before any kind of technology is released for use by humans, it is usually tested so as to make sure it has met the required criteria (Fazlollahi 203). 2. What Does Technology Entail? The word technology has been coined from the Greek word technikoes, which generally refers to an art which is related to skill. In other words, the term technology can be seen as applying art on science (Singh 1). This art is applied to create tools, develop skills and even collect materials that improve the quality of life of the human beings. Technology has really developed in many aspects over the years. For example, indigenous people used different ways of writing in order to store the information they collected using methods like writing on stones. With technology, writing has been made easy as papers and pens have been provided, and have made the work easy. In his work, ‘Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought’, Ong says that â€Å"although we take writing so much for grant ed as to forget that it is a technology, writing is in a way the most drastic of the three technologies of the word† (30). It initiated printing and electronics came about. Human beings have really embraced technology from in all aspects of life; when it comes to religion, education, social, and even in the political issues, technology is in use. There are different tools of technology that have improved the lives of human beings. This essay will embark on giving an analytical perspective about the computers and the human beings. Computers have changed the way human beings by making learning easy. 3. Computers Computers, which are tools of technology, have brought changes to the lives of humans, and especially in the way they operate and think. For example, the thinking capacity of the people before technology, such as those that lived during stone-age is different from the thinking capacity of people today. In her review, ‘How Computers Change the Way We Think’, Turkle says that â€Å"the tools we use to think change the ways in which we think. The invention of written language brought about radical shift in how we process, organize, store, and transmit representations of the world† (1). A computer is an electronic device which is used in processing data. The data it processes gets in in form of input and it is then processed on the basis of a set of instructions that are supplied and stored in the memory, in order give the required results in form of output. Every computer comprises of two basic parts namely; the hardware and the software. Hard ware refers to the visible or physical parts of a computer, such as the processor, display or screen, keyboard, disk drive, and mouse among others. The software refers to the particular instructions that give directions to the components, so as to perform the required operations (Ravichandran 2). The two parts function hand in hand and thus the computer is not complete if one part is missing, or in other words, it is useless without the two parts. When I was in primary school, I only had a slight idea of what a computer is, and did not know that with it, learning could be easier. In primary school and part of my high school education, learning was not very easy as everything was done manually; that is, the teacher had to write all notes on the blackboard for the students to copy. The school on the other hand, provided very few books that were supposed to be shared among students, such that the ratio was one book

Policy and Strategy in Global Competition Essay Example for Free

Policy and Strategy in Global Competition Essay Discussion Question 11.1: Why is it important for an organization to have alignment between its strategy and organizational structure? The relationship between an organization’s strategy and structure are extremely important because it â€Å"directly impacts a firm’s performance† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Also, as an organization grows, it should reevaluate the current strategy and structure to ensure that it remains the optimal choice for the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The four types of organizational structures, listed in order of least to most complex according to Rothaermel (2013), are: (1) simple, (2) functional, (3) multidivisional, and (4) matrix. The simple structure is for small firms or organizations that are just starting out (Rothaermel, 2013). The decision-making structure is quite flat, as â€Å"the founders tend to make all the important strategic decisions† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Growth will often cause the higher-ups to feel overwhelmed under this type of structure, requiring the organization to adopt a different, more complex structure (Rothaermel, 2013). A functional structure groups employees into teams, allowing for increased decision-making at lower levels of the managerial chain (Rothaermel, 2013). The opportunity for specialization allows for the functional structure to be employed with each of the business-level strategies: cost leadership, differentiation, or integration (Rothaermel, 2013). One of the hurdles to overcome would be the likely increase in difficulties which arise from departmentalization of the varying teams (Rothaermel, 2013). The best way to overcome such a hurdle is through cross-functional teams (Rothaermel, 2013). Whenever the organization seeks greater diversification, into varying product lines and service offerings, it will likely look into utilizing a multidivisional structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Under this structure, the organization is further compartmentalized  into strategic business units (â€Å"SBUs†) which are governed by their own profit-and-loss (â€Å"PL†) responsibilities (Rothaermel, 2013). At this level, each of the SBUs is viewed as its own independent entity, pursuing its own profit-creating goals (Rothaermel, 2013). While organizations with a corporate-level strategy with a single or dominant business would be best served by a functional structure, organizations seeking related or unrelated diversification would be wise to utilize a multidivisional structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Lastly, the matrix structure is a combination of the functional and multidivisional structures (Rothaermel, 2013). It is most appropriate when an organization needs a structure which allows for both centralized and decentralized decision-making, and can be organized by geographic areas and product divisions (Rothaermel, 2013). While a global strategy does not automatically lend to a matrix structure, a transnational strategy which has the requirements above is better served through a matrix structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 11.3(a): What commonalities across the products would likely be enhanced by flexible cross-functional teams? Gore has product lines which include consumer products like guitar strings and vacuum filters, cables and cable assemblies, electronic and electrochemical materials, fabrics, fibers, filtration products, medical products, pharmaceutical processing, sealants, and venting products (Gore, 2015). Its product lines are used in industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to military and textiles (Gore, 2015). Gore utilizes cross-functional teams to help develop its many products within varying lines (Rothaermel, 2013). Cross-functional teams allow for individuals from differing functional areas within an organization to temporarily come together and work on a particular project (Rothaermel, 2013). These teams would allow for the differing products, though developed for a particular function, to be developed for use in more than one of the organization’s products (Rothaermel, 2013). As an example, the cables developed for aeronautics can likely be used in other electronic or automotive applications if developed by members from the appropriate cross-functional teams. Discussion Question 11.3(b): What would be your expectations of the type of norms found at W. L. Gore? Organizational norms â€Å"define appropriate employee attitudes and behaviors† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 318). The norms which exist at Gore likely arise from founder imprinting,  which means that Bill Gore, the founder of W. L. Gore Associates, has helped to establish and define the company’s culture (Rothaermel, 2013). The organization’s four core values, stated succinctly, are: (1) fairness, (2) freedom, (3) individual commitment, and (4) consultation and collaboration (Rothaermel, 2013). These values, coupled with the open nature of the organization’s structure, result in organizational norms which encourage the free exchange of ideas and collaboration up and down the organizational ladder (Rothaermel, 2013). Employees, associates as they are called at Gore, likely show great respect to one another and to the customers for whom their products are developed (Rothaermel, 2013). Chapter 12 Discussion Question 12.1: How can a firm lower the chances that key managers will pursue their own self-interest at the expense of the stockholders? At the expense of the employees? Corporate governance tools are utilized to help align the interests of principals and agents, or organizations and employees (Rothaermel, 2013). A board of directors is one such tool which helps to prevent key managers to avoid pursuing their own self-interest at the expense of the stockholders (Rothaermel, 2013). A board of directors is independent, made up of both inside and outside directors, and answers directly to the shareholders (Rothaermel, 2013). Another tool is executive compensation which links compensation to the performance of the company (Rothaermel, 2013). This means that the CEO would receive certain stock options in lieu of pay (Rothaermel, 2013). If the company’s stocks are doing well, likely showing that the company is successfully operating, then the CEO receives greater value in the stock options (Rothaermel, 2013). The concept of the market as a corporate control has the potential to protect both stockholders’ and employees’ interests through a key manager’s fear of being replaced if the company performs poorly (Rothaermel, 2013). If a company is not performing well, then the stock prices will begin to plummet, increasing the opportunity for an entity to purchase enough shares to exert significant control over the company (Rothaermel, 2013). Such control would likely result in the removal of current management, and possibly the dismantling of the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). This clearly injures the management, employees, and shareholders of the failing organization. As  such, managers are motivated by the external market to perform well, thereby protecting the interests of stockholders and employees alike (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 12.2: Why are these two roles typically separated? Is it a positive development for so many firms to have a combined CEO and board chair? The two roles of management and ownership are typically separated to ensure that the board of directors maintains its necessary independence (Rothaermel, 2013). Where a board of directors is   The decline stage differs from those above, as it introduces four strategic options for firms to pursue: (1) exit, (2) harvest, (3) maintain, and (4) consolidate (Rothaermel, 2013). The exit strategy is precisely as it says: it involves the firm choosing to leave the market to pursue other endeavors (Rothaermel, 2013). The harvest strategy means that the firm will still sell the product or service, but will reduce the level of investment in its maintenance and development (Rothaermel, 2013). The maintain strategy is also exactly what it sounds like: the firm continues offering the product or service at the same level as it has been, despite the declining demand (Rothaermel, 2013). The consolidate strategy involves the purchasing of rivals in an effort to shrink the industry, which provides firms employing this strategy to reach near-monopolistic status (Rothaermel, 2013). References Rothaermel, F. T. (2013). Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Walmart. Our story. Retrieved on January 25, 2015, from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/