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Why the Sioux Oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline

Why the Sioux Oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline As the Flint, Michigan, water crisis made national headlines in 2016, members of the Standing Rock Sioux  successfully  protested to protect their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. After months on end of demonstrating,  the water protectors rejoiced when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided on Dec. 4, 2016, to  prohibit the pipeline from crossing  Lake Oahe, effectively bringing the project to a halt. But the pipelines future is unclear after Obama leaves office, and the Trump administration enters the White House. Building of the pipeline could very well resume when the new administration takes over.   If finished, the $3.8 billion project would span 1,200 miles across four states to link the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to an Illinois river port. This would allow 470,000 barrels of crude oil daily to be transported along the route. But the Standing Rock wanted construction on the pipeline stopped because they said it could devastate their natural resources. Initially, the pipeline would have crossed the Missouri River near the state capital, but the route was changed so that it would pass under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, a half-mile upstream from the Standing Rock reservation. The pipeline was redirected from Bismarck because of fears that an oil spill would endanger the city’s drinking water. Moving the pipeline from the state capital to an Indian reservation is environmental racism in a nutshell, as this form of discrimination is characterized by the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in communities of color. If the pipeline was too risky to be placed near the state capital, why wasn’t it deemed a risk near Standing Rock land? With this in mind, the tribe’s effort to stop  construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline isn’t simply an environmental issue but a protest against racial injustice as well. Clashes between the pipeline’s protesters and its developers have also sparked racial  tensions, but the Standing Rock have won support from a broad cross-section of the public, including public figures and celebrities.   Why the Sioux Are Against the Pipeline On Sept. 2, 2015, the Sioux drafted a resolution explaining their opposition to the pipeline. It read in part: â€Å"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe relies on the waters of the life-giving Missouri River for our continued existence, and the Dakota Access Pipeline poses a serious risk to Mni Sose and to the very survival of our Tribe; and ...the horizontal direction drilling in the construction of the pipeline would destroy valuable cultural resources of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.† The resolution also argued that the Dakota Access Pipeline violates Article 2 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty which granted the tribe the â€Å"undisturbed use and occupation† of its homeland. The Sioux filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2016 to stop construction of the pipeline, which began the following month. In addition to concerns about the effects a spill would have on the Sioux’s natural resources, the tribe pointed out that the pipeline would course through sacred ground protected by federal law. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg had a different take. He ruled on Sept. 9, 2016, that the Army Corps had â€Å"likely complied† with its duty to consult the Sioux and that the tribe â€Å"has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the court could issue.† Although the judge denied the tribe’s request for an injunction to stop the pipeline, the departments of the Army, Justice and Interior announced after the ruling that they would suspend building of the pipeline on land of cultural importance to the tribe pending further evaluation. Still, the Standing Rock Sioux said they would appeal the judge’s decision because they believe they were not sufficiently consulted when the pipeline was rerouted.    My nations history is at risk because the pipeline builders and the Army Corps failed to consult the tribe when planning the pipeline, and routed it through areas of cultural and historical significance, which will be destroyed,† stated Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II in a court filing. Judge Boasberg’s ruling led the tribe to ask for an emergency injunction to stop building of the pipeline. This led the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  to state in a Sept. 16 ruling that it needed more time to consider the tribes request, which meant that all construction 20 miles in either direction of Lake Oahe had to stop. The federal government had already called for construction along that part of the route to be halted, but Dallas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners didn’t immediately respond to the Obama administration. In September 2016, the company said the pipeline was 60 percent complete and maintained it would not harm the  local water supply. But if that were absolutely certain, then why wasn’t the Bismarck location an appropriate site for the pipeline? As recently as October 2015, a North Dakota oil well blew out and leaked more than 67,000 gallons of crude, putting a tributary of the Missouri River at risk. Even if oil spills are rare and new technology works to prevent them, they cannot be completely ruled out. By rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline, the federal government appears to have put the Standing Rock Sioux directly in harm’s way in the unlikely event of an oil spill. Controversy Over Protests The Dakota Access Pipeline hasn’t attracted media attention simply because of the natural resources at stake but also because of clashes between protesters and the oil company in charge of building it. In Spring 2016, only a small group of demonstrators  had set up camp on the reservation to protest the pipeline. But in the summer months, Sacred Stone Camp ballooned to thousands of activists, with some calling it â€Å"the largest gathering of Native Americans in a century,† the Associated Press reported. In early September, tensions heightened as protesters and journalists were arrested, and activists accused the security firm tasked with protecting the pipeline of pepper-spraying them and letting dogs viciously attack them. This called to mind similar images of attacks on civil rights protesters during the 1960s.    In light of the violent clashes between protesters and security guards, the Standing Rock Sioux were granted a permit to allow the water protectors to legally rally on the federal lands that surround the pipeline. The permit means the tribe is responsible for the cost of any damages, keeping demonstrators safe, liability insurance and more. Despite this shift, clashes between activists and officers continued in November 2016, with police reportedly firing tear gas and water canons at protesters. One activist came dangerously close to losing her arm as a result of an explosion that occurred during the confrontation. Protesters say she was injured by a grenade thrown by police, while police say she was hurt by a small propane tank that protesters rigged to explode, according to CBS News. Prominent Standing Rock Supporters A number of celebrities have publicly expressed their support for the Standing Rock Sioux’s protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jane Fonda and Shailene Woodley helped serve Thanksgiving 2016 dinner to the demonstrators.  Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein visited the site and faced arrest for allegedly spray-painting construction equipment during a protest. A former 2016  presidential candidate also stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock, leading a rally against the pipeline. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said on Twitter, â€Å"Stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Respect Native American rights. And let us move forward to transform our energy system.† Veteran rocker Neil Young even released a new song called â€Å"Indian Givers† in honor of the Standing Rock protest. The song’s title is a play on the racial insult. The lyrics state: There’s a battle raging on the sacred landOur brothers and sisters have to take a standAgainst us now for what we all been doingOn the sacred land there’s a battle brewingI wish somebody would share the newsNow it’s been about 500 yearsWe keep taking what we gave awayJust like what we call Indian giversIt makes you sick and gives you shivers Young also released a video for the song that features footage of the pipeline protests. The musician has recorded songs about similar environmental controversies, such as his 2014 protest song â€Å"Who’s Gonna Stand Up?† in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline. Leonardo DiCaprio announced that he shared the Sioux’s concerns as well. â€Å"Standing w/ the Great Sioux Nation to protect their water lands,† he said on Twitter, linking to a Change.org petition against the pipeline. â€Å"Justice League† actors Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher  took to social media to announce their objections to the pipeline. Momoa shared a photo of himself on Instagram with a sign that said, â€Å"Oil pipelines are a bad idea,† along with hashtags related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. Wrapping Up While the Dakota Access Pipeline protest has largely been framed as an environmental issue, it is also a racial justice issue. Even the judge who denied the Standing Rock Sioux’s temporary injunction to stop the pipeline, acknowledged that â€Å"the United States’ relationship with the Indian tribes has been contentious and tragic.† Since the Americas were colonized, Native Americans and other marginalized groups have fought for equal access to natural resources. Factory farms, power plants, freeways and other sources of pollution are all too often erected in communities of color. The richer and whiter a community is, the more likely its residents have clean air and water. So, the Standing Rock’s struggle to protect their land and water from the Dakota Access Pipeline is just as much an anti-discrimination issue as it is an environmental one.

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research paper - Essay Example Earthquakes are believed to be caused by different occurrences that include glacial rebounding, sliding of tectonic plates that lie over each other, and by sudden discharge of stored strain that is accumulated along a fault line. The severity of a shake from an earthquake is usually as a result of three factors i.e. its magnitude attenuation of a wave that causes the earth quake as it moves through the earth’s surface and the possible disruption caused by different rock structure (Hough par 9-12). These vibrations can be predicted before they happen in a place. When these vibrations happen also, they result in major disruptions to physical features. However, the major cause of investigation has resulted from the threat these vibrations cause to people. The ability to predict great causes of damaging events that are likely to face an area in future time is a basic element of risk reduction development practices. It becomes an important element when it is facing emergency and le ad to development of a good planning for such emergency (Albarello and Meletti 1-2). Earthquakes are caused by seismic waves. The intensity of these waves is measured with a machine known as a seismometer. The depth of the earthquake is another determiner of its intensity. Earthquakes are a major threat to life because if they happen with great magnitude, they lead to destruction of properties in which people live. When they happen on the water, they result to tsunamis that are likely to result in disruption of waters and seizing of ships. The commotion caused on the water also is extended to the coast, which causes major deaths of people at such coastal lands and destruction of property. Before the 1970s and 1980s, prominent scientists were optimistic that reliable prediction of earthquakes was possibly going to come. This was facilitated and motivated by the ground breaking prediction event of Soviet Union prediction of an earthquake and the successfully accomplished prediction of Chinese earthquake that happened in Haicheng. However, even with those optimistic achievements, there was a lot of pessimism because still many predictions were not reliable by then (Hough 34). Today, prediction of earthquakes is possible by scientists who agree that the understanding of ground motion attenuation relationships is an important aspect of predicting possibility of there being an earthquake. In March 2009, an Italian technician observed the radon and noticed some abnormalities and predicted that a great magnitude earthquake would be experienced. Although seismologists did not concur with that laboratory scientist, a fatal earthquake was experienced in L’Aquila barely a month after the prediction. The earthquake claimed many lives and were injured while a lot of property was destroyed and many were displaced from their places. Forecasting of earthquakes is faced with many debates about their occurrence once they have happened. For example, when it happened in cit y of L’Aquila a lot of questions and debates followed; scientists were fiercely faced by contradiction basing on their ability to forecast such dangers. This earthquake was so destructive such that everyone affected by it rose against the people who are responsible for predicting (Albarello and Meletti 3). Currently, there are many prediction methods for earthquakes developed such that one does not have to ask whether it is possible to

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example ult or confusing because the range of his audience is very broad and this text deals with an issue which is not directed towards a specific audience but it seems to be directed towards general public and towards the authorized people who can implement his ideas about education. The philosophical nature of the text suggests that it is written keeping in mind the academic expert who has some understanding of what he wants to say. He generalizes his argument. For instance, he writes, â€Å"all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race" (Dewey 77). Dewey is not talking about specific education, but the word â€Å"all† is used with the word education to talk about the education, in general. Generalization of the argument is one of his techniques to emphasize the importance of the topic he is discussing. In addition, another important aspect of his writing is his use of words, and his sentence structures are also very important rhetorical choices. Dewey is very prudent in his choice of words. He uses very simple words in the text. The use of simple wording in his arguments helps the readers in understanding the meaning of the text. Here is an excerpt from the text as an example is given to show how he uses simple words for facilitating the readers, â€Å"Without insight into the psychological structure and activities of the individual, the educative process will, therefore, be haphazard and arbitrary...if it does not, it will result in friction or disintegration, or arrest of the child nature" (Dewey 77). In addition to above, the sort of words, he uses in this article implies that whatever he is stating is true or fact. The word â€Å"believe† at the beginning of the every paragraphs function as an iteration which increases the importance of his argument and the words â€Å"true education† give the sense of truth or fact. Besides, the words â€Å"I believe† at the beginning of every paragraph also suggests that whatever,

Blues and Jazz Essay Example for Free

Blues and Jazz Essay Blues and Jazz are both very popular genres of music spanning almost a century of culture, aesthetics and spirituality. As the blues and jazz are horribly interrelated, this paper will try to differentiate the two great genres of music. A. What is Blues? Per definition, blues is the name given to both musical form and genre of blues. First coined by the African-American communities in the South of the United States of America by the end of the 19th Century, Blues was inspired by spirituality, work song, field hollers and chants- uncomplicated narrative ballads that rhymes. Its form is defined by the use of specific chord progressions- the most common being the twelve-bar blues chord and the singing is for stimulating purposes at slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale. Blues can be divided in several subgenres ranging from country to urban blues to electric blues to blues rock to punk blues. The term â€Å"the blues† refers to melancholy and sadness. The blues lyrics often refers to depressed mood as it embodies the African laborer, whose hardships and spirit is wed to the songs. B. What is Jazz? In contrast, Jazz sprung from the confluence of African and European music traditions. The African heritage evident in the use of blues notes, improvisation, polyrythms, syncopation and the swung note. The term â€Å"jazz† originated from a West Coast slang term and first used to refer to music in Chicago. Jazz has spawned plenty of genres from New Orleans Dixieland to big-band style swing to bebop to latin jazz to Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz to jazz-rock to acid jazz. The spread of jazz cultivated music and aesthetics around the world, hence, giving rise to plenty of unique styles. II. History A. Origin of Blues The Blues was born just after the civil war in North Mississippi. A singer would sing a line, and a guitar would answer. For many years, Blues was recorded only by memory, depicted and told live and in person. It was first made popular by the black composer, W. C. Handy in 1911-1914 The publication of Handy’s â€Å"Memphis Blues† and â€Å"St. Louis Blues† has made Blues popular. By the 1920s, Blues became a national craze. Mamie Smith recorded the first vocal blues song, â€Å"Crazy Blues†. The later 40’s and early 50’s saw the like of Willie Dixon playing what was Mississippi Delta blues backed by bass, drums, piano and occasionally harmonica and so began the popularity of blues on national television. Meanwhile, T-Bone Walker and B. B. King pioneered a style of guitar playing that combined jazz technique with the blues tonality and repertoire. In the 1960’s, bands like the Rolling Stones had picked up the Blues and brought it to young American white men. Rock, since the 1960’s, went through several blues revivals. The latest generation of blues players has drawn a new generation listeners to the blues. B. Origins of Jazz New Orleans is often credited as the birth place of Jazz. African-American music, through the Blues began the improvisation of Jazz. The most influential man is Louis Armstrong, the father of modern jazz. The swing era (1930s-40s) is the most popular and accessible time of Jazz, during this time, Jazz was the most popular music in America. What followed the swing era was one of the most important creative eras since the inception of Jazz. Mid 1940’s to mid 1950’s saw the birth of bebop. Quicker pace and complex harmony were combined with popular melodies to create this kind of subgenre. Jazz in the 1960s was inspired by the avant garde movement. Jazz musicians took the genre to the boundaries of creativity and began to speak out on social issues. The current era of jazz can be deemed to be a combination of the avant garde and neoclassical movement. Through improvisation, current musicians keep pushing jazz to the boundaries of music, experimenting with hip hop and other forms of music. III. Instruments and Musicians A. Instruments/Musicians in Blues Blues uses just about any musical instrument- guitar, piano, harmonica, bass guitar, drums, saxophone, vocals, trumpet, trombone. Different performers use different kinds of instruments. For instance, performers such as Frank Stokes, and Memphis Minnie utilised instruments such as washboard, fiddle, kazoo and mandolin. Musicians who have been famous in Blues include the like of Josh White (1914 or 1915-1969), Sonny Boy Williamson I (1914-1948), Gladys Bentley (1907-1960), T-Bone Walker (1910-1975), Roosevelt Sykes (1906-1983), Memphis Slim (1915-1988), Arnold Moore (1914-2005), Baby Face Leroy Foster (1923-1958), Lenny Kravitz (born 1964). B. Instruments/Musicians in Jazz Just like blues, jazz uses just about any musical instrument- saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, double bass, tuba, drums, vocals, vibraphone. Famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), Thelonious Monk (1917–1982), Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006), Herbie Hancock (born 1940), Benny Carter (1907–2003), Glenn Miller (1904–1944), Charles Mingus (1922–1979). IV. Audiences A. Blues Audience The Blues originally was sang by the African-American laborer, to express his emotions on the general hardships in life. However, blues has reached the whole world. All the drama is still there but it is spread for those who can appreciate it. Anyone or everyone can be the audience. B. Jazz Audience Jazz, was spawned by the blues and since its inception, has now gathered millions of audiences around the world. There is no selective audience for this genre, anyone who appreciates jazz music is welcome to be its audience. V. Conclusion Blues is considered as the forerunner of Jazz, given that it started earlier and it actually spawned jazz music. Blues also speaks of traditions and personal experiences (the African-American laborer). Hence, Blues is more of a feel-based kind of music. It is very free, the only purpose is to relay the feelings, expressions of the artist. Jazz, for its part, is considered as dance music and improvisation is at its core. Jazz also incorporates more color, this is tricky for non-musicians and is far more technical in its aspect. Jazz is an exploration on how to make music more colorful, hence jazz spawned a lot of subgenres. When it comes to audience, there is only the matter of appreciation. Anyone who appreciates blues is welcome to blues. The same principle applies to jazz music. Works Cited: History-of-rock. com â€Å"A Short Blues History. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://www. history-of-rock. com/blues. htm. Unc. edu. â€Å"A (very) brief history of jazz. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://ils. unc. edu/~jnvicker/inls181/final/histpart2. html. Wikipedia. â€Å"Blues. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Blues. Wikipedia. â€Å"Jazz. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Jazz.

I.t. Doctors Database Analysis :: essays research papers

There are some parts of a Doctor’s Surgery that could benefit from computerisation. As time goes on technology will aid most types of work, for instance office work (Department of Trade and Industry, for example). Technology could be used in a Doctor’s surgery to computerise the patients’ files, to print out prescriptions and certificates for things like immunisations. The patients’ file would consist of their name & address, telephone number, D.O.B, sex, allergies, and diseases. In addition, it will be faster for the doctor to access his or her files because they are all just a few clicks of a mouse button away instead of loads of paper-based files in a big fat cabinet away. If you were to misplace a file in your office, it would probably be hard to find it, whereas if you lost a file on a computer you could use the find utility in Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or 2000 (by pressing the button and F at the same time) and the file would be found in a few seconds. On a computer you could automatically put the files in alphabetical order by whatever- name, GP, date of birth e.t.c. However, in an office cabinet it really would not be easy at all to put and keep the files in some sort of alphabetical sequence. Currently the database is pen-and-paper based, which may be cost effective but is very time-consuming when compared to a computer-based database. Say you have a paper-based database. If one of your clients move house or get married, you would have to create a whole new record because of the altered information. And say it was a family who moved residence, and then after you made the new records the parents got married. It would cause a lot of hassle and waste a lot of time, wouldn’t it? The doctor would get annoyed searching for people’s files and they would take longer to get through things, which means less appointments every day. The dilemma is that I need to make a database to answer all these problems. I will make a database for a doctor’s surgery so the doctors can look up and alter the files of their patients with just the click of a button. The database will be able to find their medical record (allergies, etc.), their home address, their home phone number, their allergies (if any), and their diseases (if any). I.t. Doctors Database Analysis :: essays research papers There are some parts of a Doctor’s Surgery that could benefit from computerisation. As time goes on technology will aid most types of work, for instance office work (Department of Trade and Industry, for example). Technology could be used in a Doctor’s surgery to computerise the patients’ files, to print out prescriptions and certificates for things like immunisations. The patients’ file would consist of their name & address, telephone number, D.O.B, sex, allergies, and diseases. In addition, it will be faster for the doctor to access his or her files because they are all just a few clicks of a mouse button away instead of loads of paper-based files in a big fat cabinet away. If you were to misplace a file in your office, it would probably be hard to find it, whereas if you lost a file on a computer you could use the find utility in Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or 2000 (by pressing the button and F at the same time) and the file would be found in a few seconds. On a computer you could automatically put the files in alphabetical order by whatever- name, GP, date of birth e.t.c. However, in an office cabinet it really would not be easy at all to put and keep the files in some sort of alphabetical sequence. Currently the database is pen-and-paper based, which may be cost effective but is very time-consuming when compared to a computer-based database. Say you have a paper-based database. If one of your clients move house or get married, you would have to create a whole new record because of the altered information. And say it was a family who moved residence, and then after you made the new records the parents got married. It would cause a lot of hassle and waste a lot of time, wouldn’t it? The doctor would get annoyed searching for people’s files and they would take longer to get through things, which means less appointments every day. The dilemma is that I need to make a database to answer all these problems. I will make a database for a doctor’s surgery so the doctors can look up and alter the files of their patients with just the click of a button. The database will be able to find their medical record (allergies, etc.), their home address, their home phone number, their allergies (if any), and their diseases (if any).

Fear: Debut Albums and Heavy Rock Concert

Fear Everyone has a weakness and something they fear; for many it can be the fear of heights or just a simple little spider. Some people may react by crying, shutting down, and acting tough or in rare occasions some might choose to overcome it. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you have done in life, the truth is that there is nothing that can prepare you for that one moment in life that one fears the most. The sky was gray, there was smoke everywhere, the smell of burning tires, people running and yelling at one another.It was very difficult to comprehend what was going on, and all I could hear was the sound of bells in my ears similar to the ones you hear after leaving a heavy rock concert. I had lost my consciousness for a few seconds and had no idea what just occurred. As my head cleared out I looked around and slowly began to regain my consciousness, there were buildings, a burned vehicle and soldiers laying down to my left. I lay down with the rest of the soldiers a nd heard my lieutenant calling for help.That’s when I realized we were just ambushed, and there was nothing we could do about it. A simple patrol turned into the worse day possible. Finally, it was quiet for a few seconds and that fear of getting hurt was going through my head. It was one of the worst moments of my life, and the worst part was that there was nothing to do but to stay calm. We all decided to run into an abandoned building to look for cover. Once inside, we began to clear the rooms one by one until we found a secure location. All of us have been out patrolling for hours in the hot desert heat.We were all exhausted, supplies were low and everyone was running on their second wind and to make matters worse our only way of communication was our damaged radios. There was no way to call for backup and our only hope was that somehow our unit back in our base was able to get the message and realized that we were in need of help. Even though we had all been trained for situations like this, there was no way to compare it to the real thing; you don’t think the same and your body won’t respond like it normally does. I’m not going to lie, I was scared; the fear of me dying was there I didn’t show it but it, was there.Even in a stressful situation it’s funny but true that at times like these the non-religious is always praying for something. As the hours went by, there was nothing we can do but wait. It was quiet, and there was really not a way to describe the scene. It was just one of those priceless moments where everyone was weak. In the corner of the room was that tough guy that never went to church on his knees with his hands together silently praying; to his left was one holding a rosary, another soldier looking at his family picture as a tear slowly rolled down his cheek.It was not hard to imagine what he was going through. Others were sitting silently just staring at the wall, and then there was I sitting in the middle of the room holding my rifle close to my chest just like when a mother holds her baby, thinking of all the precious moments I had with my family, all the good times with my friends, everything that I still wanted to accomplish, and the fear of possibly not being able to do any of that anymore. Several hours had gone by, and there was no sign of anyone coming to aid us.Everyone looked at each other and our eyes could tell us the fear we had and our expressions could tell us that hope was running out. Sure we can blame our lieutenant for not listening to us in the first place. I’m sure that if he would’ve done what we told him, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we couldn’t blame him. It was his first time in combat. He was in a worse situation than most of us, but the truth is that blaming him would only make matters worse. The only thing left to do was just cross our fingers and hope that everything would be fine, but let’s be honest I was scared shitless.Then finally, luck was on our side when one of our convoys was heading our way; we were able to flag it down and finally after a long shitty day a sign of relief was there. We all looked at each other grabbed our gear and headed out. That day was one of the worst days of my life, one that could only be described as the day I discovered and faced my worst fear, the fear of not knowing what was going to happen next or if I was even going to make it out of there alive. â€Å"All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty† – George S. Patton.

Accounting Standards in the United States of America

Accounting in the USA The following report will describe and discuss the major elements of accounting in the USA. It will show that the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), where as the International Accounting Standards (IAS) are set by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This report will also state the similarities and differences between these standards. In addition, the following report will use relevant examples to evaluate current accounting problems and issues in the USA related to international convergence of accounting standards.Fargher et al. (2008, page. 67) pointed out that FASB’s conceptual framework (CFW) for financial reporting is generally consistent with that of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). However the FASB provides more detail with six statements of financial accounting concepts (SFACs). The first level in the CFW explains the main purposes of financial reports are to provide useful information for investors and creditors, to estimate future cash flows and to claim venture resources. The second level consists of qualitative characteristics and elements of the CFW.The qualitative characteristics of the USA CFW are relevance, reliability, comparability and consistency. The main components include assets, liabilities, equity, investment by owners, distributions to owners, comprehensive income, revenues, expenses, gains and losses. The third level of CFW indicates how the firm executes the events based on assumptions, principles and constraints. There are four assumptions: economic equity, going concern, monetary unit and periodicity. The four principles include historical cost, revenue recognition, matching and full disclosure.The constraints consist of cost-benefit, materiality, industry practice and conservatism. Fargher (2008, p. 229) mentioned that USA uses FASB 95 Statement of Cash Flows, plus FASB 102 and 104. The for mat is the same as the international one which includes operating, investing and financial activities. However, it is encouraged to report cash flows using the direct method even though the indirect method is usually used. Interest paid and received and dividends received are classified as operating activities. Non cash transactions are excluded from the cash flow statement. Fargher (2008, p. 89) stated that the income statement format under US GAAP involves a range of steps but the subtotals are listed before the unusual and rare items. Changes in retained earnings are included in the retained earnings statement and comprehensive income that reports changes in fair value and similar items after the operating income. Note disclosure is based on particular standards plus SEC and other sources under the US GAAP hierarchy. IFRS and US GAAP have some similarities but there are also several differences. The main similarities and differences are in the areas of revenue recognition and inv entory valuation.A similarity between US GAAP and IFRS is that revenue is not recognised until the revenue is actually earned. Under the US GAAP, a large amount of guidance provided usually only applies to specific industries. For example, there are specific rules for the recognition of software revenue and sales of real estate under US GAAP, while comparable guidance does not exist under IFRS (Ernst & Young 2010). Also, both systems define inventory as assets held for sale in the ordinary course of business. A significant difference between using US GAAP and IFRS is the inventory costing method is that US uses LIFO, whereas LIFO is prohibited by the IFRS.Also, inventory valuation is measured under the IFRS at lower of cost and net realizable value. However, under the US GAAP, inventory valuation is carried at the lower of cost and market, where the market is the current replacement cost (Ernst & Young 2010). According to (Todd M. Hines 2007, p1) IFRSs are becoming more important in the global economy. â€Å"Over the last 35 years there has been a strong push towards the adoption of a uniform set of financial accounting standards to replace the myriad number of country-specific standards now in use†. This indicates that each country has developed its own sets of financial accounting standards.It is essential to work towards the uniformed international accounting standards for organisations doing business globally to have comparable information. As a result of this push for internationally recognised set of accounting standards, IFRS were created with the goal of providing a single internationally recognized set of accounting standards. In an ever increasingly globally connected world, more transactions and investment planning occur on a global level. As international convergence has progressed many countries have conformed under IFRS and adopted their standards.The USA has similar standards but continue to use different financial reporting standards. Ho wever these differences according to (Todd M. Hines 2007, p4) often ‘lead to confusion and large complications for preparers and users of financial statements’. Financial statements prepared under different reporting standards are hardly comparable, therefore overseas investors may not be able to compare between the financial reports of business under IFRS and those operating under US GAAP. This can lead to confusion and affect the judgments of financial statement users.Due to the difficulties in comparison the users of the financial information must understand both IFRS and GAAP to make informed decisions. Moving from US GAAP to IFRS will have a major impact on business’ financial reporting in the USA. Decisions made by managers, financial advisors, CEO’s, governments, and the users of financial statements will have to be drastically rethought with the change. If the USA decides to follow the convergence trend towards IFRS, they will be moving into a more volatile reporting environment, particularly in the reporting of assets as well as that of net profit.One alarming statistic is that the volatility of tax benefits, deferred tax benefits in particular, can be 98% more volatile under IFRS (McAnally, et. al. 2010). This increased volatility is due to the greater use of fair value in the preparation of the financial statements, and the eventual elimination of historical cost under IFRS. Fair values are used under IFRS to better reflect the changing economic conditions, but this introduces uncertainty and makes it much harder to predict reported earnings than under historical cost, which the USA uses.Although fair value is more relevant, often it is not reliable due to the influence of economic conditions on the valuation of assets. This increased volatility will lead to retraining in every area of accounting. With the change to IFRS, there will be a large amount of rethinking and retraining for areas such as financial planning and for ecasting as well as in target setting, but the major area it will affect is the reporting of financial statements. Another issue regarding the convergence of the USA to the IFRS accounting standards is the effect it will have on IT systems.As the adoption of IFRS starts to gain momentum among many counties, global business will be dealing with major changes over the next few years. According to Pratt (2010), not only are private companies considering the IFRS, but also public companies including banks and private investors who also have growing concerns about the implication of the convergence. This adoption of IFRS by the USA will bring about several changes in the way recording and reporting financial data is carried out. This is due to the differences between IFRS and U. S.GAAP standards. It has been found that there are 103 differences between IFRS and U. S. GAAP in the way recording of data happens. Management in the performance and technology division of KPMG suggests that the change to IFRS will drastically affect the accounting IT systems in the USA (Pratt, 2010). One of the major concerns for the USA is that under IFRS the financial data needed to keep IT systems up to date will have to be more detailed and more frequent. It is also believed that the financial reporting ledger will be affected by adopting IFRS.Pratt (2010) claimed the US needs to ‘[m]ake sure that the new system accommodates IFRS if [companies] are planning to upgrade the system. ’ This will mean more money will need to be diverted from other key functions and into the development and upgrading of IT systems. With the major push for convergence, the USA needs to critically evaluate the effect that their move to IFRS may have on their IT systems and the software they use. Also, U. S. companies will need to become familiar with the new systems and technology before the change in order to keep up with international competitors.The major elements of the USA include the concep tual framework, financial reports, revenue recognition and inventory. Taking problems and issues into account, our group concludes that the convergence of the USA to IFRS would benefit both, the global economy and the USA. Although problems with financial reporting, volatility, retraining and IT systems may arise, converging to international standards will allow users to have easy comparisons between companies and greater transparency.In conclusion, we feel it is beneficial for the USA to converge to international standards so that there are a set of global standards for all companies to follow. Word Count: 1491 BIBLIOGAPHY Books Fargher, N, Wise, V, Kieso, DE, Weygand, JJ &Warfield, TJ 2008, Fundamentals of Intermediate accounting, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton. Websites Ernst & Young, 2010, Revenue Recognition, viewed 29 September 2011, Ernst & Young, 2010, Inventory, viewed 29 September 2011, L. Gordon Crovitz. 2008 (September 8). Closing the Information GAAP, viewed 29 Sep tember 2011. lt; http://online. wsj. com/article/SB122083366235408621. html> Mary E. Barth. 2004. Fair Values and Financial Statement Volatility, viewed 29 September. Journal Articles Todd M. Hines 2007 ‘International Financial Reporting Standards: A Guide to Sources for International Accounting Standards’; Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, Vol. 12(3), p. 1-8 McAnally, M, McGuire, S, & Weaver, C 2010, ‘Assessing the Financial Reporting Consequences of Conversion to IFRS: The Case of Equity-Based Compensation', Accounting Horizons, Vol 24 (4), p. 589-621Gornik-Tomaszewski, S 2003, ‘Short-Term Convergence Between US GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards', Bank Accounting & Finance (08943958), Vol 16 (5), p. 39-42 Tarca, A 2004, ‘International Convergence of Accounting Practices: Choosing between IAS and US GAAP', Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting, Vol 15 (1), pp. 60-91 Pratt, MK 2010, ‘GET READY FO R GLOBAL ACCOUNTING', Computerworld, Vol 44 (3), p. 21-23 Laux, C. & Leuz, C 2009. ‘The crisis of fair-value accounting: Making sense of the recent debate’. Accounting, Organizations and Society. V 34 (6-7), p. 826-834

4 Major Types of Wind Essays - Wind, Vortices, Atmospheric Dynamics

4 Major Types of Wind Essays - Wind, Vortices, Atmospheric Dynamics 4 Major Types of Wind subject = Science title = 4 Major Types of Wind Wind, Its So Much More I did my report on wind. As you may or may not know wind moves horizontally, and the wind that doesnt move horizontally moves vertically. That kind of wind is called a current. Many things may cause these rushes of moving air, one thing would be atmospheric pressure differences. The differences in the distribution of pressure and temperature is caused by the unequal distribution of heat. There are also the differences in the thermal properties of land and the ocean surfaces. When the temperatures of different regions become unequal, the warmer air will normally rise and move over the cold air because the cold air is heavier. That will sometimes cause things like tornadoes. Another way that winds move are by the usually great rotation of the earth. Isnt that enough as it is? Really though..how fast are we rotating and flying through space? Winds are classified into four major types believe it or not. The four major groups are, the local winds, the seasonal winds, the cyclonic and anti cyclonic winds, and th e prevailing winds. Thats kind of impressive if you ask me! Most people think of wind as a slight breeze on a summers day when it could be so much more. There are actually many, many more kinds of wind. You must remember that those are just the four main kinds. Now back to our "summers breeze," the strongest wind ever reliably measured on the surface of the earth was 362 km per hour or 225 miles per hour, recorded on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, on April 12, 1934. Considerably stronger winds, however, occur near the centers of tornadoes. I also thought that that was pretty neat. I got that fact out the Encarta 95 encyclopedia, a very reliable source. Thats where I got a lot of the information in this report. Now we get the chance to talk about the local winds. These winds are determined by the seasonal changes in temperature and pressure over the land as well as water. During the day changes occur, which will exercise a similar but more of a local effect on places. These changes that will only occur during the day are diurnal. These diurnal occurrences happen mostly in the summer, because the land is warmer than the surrounding water during the day and is colder than the water by night. Isnt it strange? Owell. The variations of pressure therefore lead or move a called forth system of breezes directed toward the land during the daytime and back towards the sea at night. These land and sea breezes penetrate to a distance of about 50 km or about 30 miles on and off the shore. Similar daily changes in temperature occur over an irregular terrain and cause mountain and valley breezes. Other winds are brought forth by local phenomena including whirlwinds and winds associated or caused by thunde rstorms. The second kind that were going to talk about is the seasonal winds. The air over the land is warmer in summer and colder in winter than the air over or next to the ocean during the same seasons. During the summer time, the continents consequently becomes the target of low pressure, with winds blowing in from the colder oceans. In the winter, all of the continents are the targets of high pressure, with winds directed toward the warmer oceans. These seasonal winds are typified by the monsoons of the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. This parts about cyclonic and anticyclonic winds. Cyclonic and anticyclonic winds are like hurricanes, tornadoes, and cyclones. Within each of those things, hurricanes, tornadoes, and cyclones, the wind is spinning or winding in a specific direction. Most tornadoes spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern, but occasional tornadoes reverse this behavior. Its unknown why this happens but maybe one day someone will be able to explain why. The speeds of some tornadoes have often placed themselves at more than 480 km per hour or more than 300 miles per hour, although speeds of more than 800 km per hour or 500 miles per hour have been estimated for extremely

The Countries of the World in French

The Countries of the World in French Learning the French names for countries is relatively easy if you are already familiar with the name in English. In most instances, the translation is as simple as attaching something like  -ique  or  -ie  to the end of the name.  That means that this a very easy French lesson which students of any level can learn. Les Pays en Franà §ais Below is a list of virtually all of the countries in the world, organized alphabetically from English to French. As you study geography in the French language, you will find it useful to learn how to speak about the countries and be able to use them in sentences. Remember that you need to use a definite article (the the, such as  le or  la)  for countries. Some of the countries do not have a  definite article  because they are islands. Articles are normally not used with islands. You will also need to know the gender of the country in order to use it in a preposition.  Nearly all countries that end in -e are feminine, and the rest are masculine. There are just a few exceptions: le Belizele Cambodgele Mexiquele Mozambiquele Zaà ¯rele Zimbabwe In those cases and for  countries that use  l  as the definitive article, the gender is indicated next to the name. English French Afghanistan l'Afghanistan (m) Albania l'Albanie (f) Algeria l'Algà ©rie (f) Andorra l'Andorre (f) Angola l'Angola (m) Antigua and Barbuda l'Antigua-et-Barbuda (f) Argentina l'Argentine (f) Armenia l'Armà ©nie (f) Australia l'Australie (f) Austria l'Autriche (f) Azerbaijan l'Azerbaà ¯djan (m) Bahamas les Bahamas (f) Bahrain le Bahreà ¯n Bangladesh le Bangladesh Barbados la Barbade Belarus la Bià ©lorussie Belau Belau Belgium la Belgique Belize le Belize (m) Benin le Bà ©nin Bhutan le Bhoutan Bolivia la Bolivie Bosnia la Bosnie-Herzà ©govine Botswana le Botswana Brazil le Brà ©sil Brunei le Brunà ©i Bulgaria la Bulgarie Burkina-Faso le Burkina Burma la Birmanie Burundi le Burundi Cambodia le Cambodge (m) Cameroon le Cameroun Canada (learn the provinces) le Canada Cape Verde Island le Cap-Vert Central African Republic la Rà ©publique centrafricaine Chad le Tchad Chile le Chili China la Chine Colombia la Colombie Comoro Islands les Comores (f) Congo le Congo Cook Islands les ÃŽles Cook Costa Rica le Costa Rica Cà ´te d'Ivoire la Cà ´te d'Ivoire Croatia la Croatie Cuba Cuba Cyprus Chypre (f) Czech Republic la Rà ©publique tchà ¨que Denmark le Danemark Djibouti le Djibouti Dominica la Dominique Dominican Republic la Rà ©publique dominicaine Ecuador l'Équateur (m) Egypt l'Égypte (f) El Salvador le Salvador England l'Angleterre (f) Equatorial Guinea la Guinà ©e à ©quatoriale Eritrea l'Érythrà ©e (f) Estonia l'Estonie (f) Ethiopia l'Éthiopie (f) Fiji les Fidji (f) Finland la Finlande France (learn the regions) la France French Polynesia la Polynà ©sie franà §aise Gabon le Gabon Gambia la Gambie Georgia la Gà ©orgie Germany l'Allemagne (f) Ghana le Ghana Greece la Grà ¨ce Grenada la Grenade Guatemala le Guatemala Guinea la Guinà ©e Guinea Bissau la Guinà ©e-Bissao Guyana la Guyana Haiti Haà ¯ti Honduras le Honduras Hungary la Hongrie Iceland l'Islande (f) India l'Inde (f) Indonesia l'Indonà ©sie (f) Iran l'Iran (m) Iraq l'Irak (m) Ireland l'Irlande (f) Israel Israà «l (m) Italy l'Italie (f) Jamaica la Jamaà ¯que Japan le Japon Jordan la Jordanie Kazakhstan le Kazakhstan Kenya le Kenya Kiribati Kiribati (f) Kuwait le Koweà ¯t Kyrgyzstan le Kirghizstan Laos le Laos Latvia la Lettonie Lebanon le Liban Lesotho le Lesotho Liberia le Libà ©ria Libya la Libye Liechtenstein le Liechtenstein Lithuania la Lituanie Luxembourg le Luxembourg Macedonia la Macà ©doine Madagascar Madagascar (m) Malawi le Malawi Malaysia la Malaisie Maldives les Maldives (f) Mali le Mali Malta Malte (f) Marshall Islands les ÃŽles Marshall Mauritania la Mauritanie Mauritius ÃŽle Maurice (f) Mexico le Mexique (m) Micronesia la Micronà ©sie Moldavia la Moldavie Monaco Monaco Mongolia la Mongolie Montenegro le Montà ©nà ©gro Morocco le Maroc Mozambique le Mozambique Namibia la Namibie Nauru la Nauru Nepal le Nà ©pal Netherlands les Pays-Bas New Zealand la Nouvelle-Zà ©lande Nicaragua le Nicaragua Nieu Niouà © Niger le Niger Nigeria le Nigà ©ria North Korea la Corà ©e du Nord Northern Ireland l'Irelande du Nord (f) Norway la Norvà ¨ge Oman l'Oman (m) Pakistan le Pakistan Panama le Panama Papua New Guinea la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinà ©e Paraguay le Paraguay Peru le Pà ©rou Philippines les Philippines (f) Poland la Pologne Portugal le Portugal Qatar le Qatar Romania la Roumanie Russia la Russie Rwanda le Rwanda Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint-Christophe-et-Nià ©và ¨s (m) Saint Lucia Sainte-Lucie Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines San Marino Saint-Marin Sao Tomà © and Principe Sao Tomà © et Principe (m) Saudi Arabia l'Arabie saoudite (f) Scotland l'Écosse (f) Senegal le Sà ©nà ©gal Serbia la Serbie Seychelles les Seychelles (f) Sierra Leone la Sierra Leone Slovakia la Slovaquie Slovenia la Slovà ©nie Soloman Islands les ÃŽles Salomon Somalia la Somalie South Africa l'Afrique du Sud (f) South Korea la Corà ©e du Sud Spain l'Espagne (f) Sri Lanka le Sri Lanka Sudan le Soudan Surinam le Surinam Swaziland le Swaziland Sweden la Suà ¨de Switzerland la Suisse Syria la Syrie Tajikistan le Tadjikistan Tanzania la Tanzanie Thailand la Thaà ¯lande Togo le Togo Tonga les Tonga (f) Trinidad and Tobago la Trinità ©-et-Tobago Tunisia la Tunisie Turkey la Turquie Turkmenistan le Turkmà ©nistan Tuvalu le Tuvalu Uganda l'Ouganda (m) Ukraine l'Ukraine (f) United Arab Emirates les Émirats arabes unis (m) United Kingdom le Royaume-Uni United States (learn the states) les États-Unis (m) Uruguay l'Uruguay (m) Uzbekistan l'Ouzbà ©kistan (m) Vanuatu le Vanuatu Vatican le Vatican Venezuela le Venezuela Vietnam le Vià ªt-Nam Wales le pays de Galles Western Samoa les Samoa occidentales Yemen le Yà ©men Yugoslavia la Yougoslavie Zaire (Congo) le Zaà ¯re (m) Zambia la Zambie Zimbabwe le Zimbabwe (m)

Infection Control Practice in Acute Care Centers Essay

Infection Control Practice in Acute Care Centers - Essay Example Other recent estimates indicate that the average annual costs related to hospital acquired infections currently range from$4.5 billion to $11 billion. The substantial patient morbidity of the healthcare associated inflections is particularly attributed to a number of risk factors that significantly increases the susceptibility of hospitalized patients to infections by viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites. Compared to others, patients hospitalized or under intensive care units often have a significantly higher risk of developing infections. Generally, some of the major risks include poor or compromised immune systems of hospitalized patients due to illnesses, overcrowding, invasive medical procedures that are often carried out in patients in acute healthcare centers and most importantly, poor infection control practices among nurses and other medical staff in many acute healthcare centers. Although hospital-based infection control measures and policies have been in place since the 1950s, the risk of health care acquired infections continues to be higher due to the lack of proper application, malpractices and implementation of these policies. For example, in most cases, the absence of effective infection practices such as failures to follow proper procedures or conform with the infection control guidelines often result in poor conditions thereby causing hospitalized patients to develop infections. Some of the likely reasons for the non compliance with hospital acquired infection control policies among nurses and other medical staff in acute healthcare centers often include work overload, lack of motivation, time, education, patient turnover, staff attitude and state barriers. However, substantial empirical evidence suggests that many hospital acquired infections can effectively be prevented or reduced through a number of strategies of improving infection control

Analysis of Sale of Human Organs Arguments Research Paper

Analysis of Sale of Human Organs Arguments - Research Paper Example David’s point of people donating organs for money is very persuasive as he talks about compensation for any organ donated. it makes more sense when he claims that organs from deceased people donated and the person’s family could be beneficial. For both the deceased’s family and the needy person of the organ can benefit in the process. For instance, if the family needs some money for bills in the hospital or burial, they can decide to exchange some organs of the deceased for money, which can serve best for all. This type of exchange for vital organs can motivate people to donate one of their organs in their life to save some life or get money to perform other work, which could be urgent (David, 2005). The beneficial should not only be the recipient of the organs but both parties involved. This point is very much persuasive as people can be willing to give out their organs for compensation. This effect can work, as it is evident that donors of these organs live wel l without any disorder or reduction of functionalities in their bodies. An instance when such decisions can serve a good purpose is when money for urgent medication is needed and no available source, someone can donate an organ and serve the pain but make both people survive. In his argument, a person has a right over their bodies and not controlled by either the government or any other body. If an organ transplant sale authorized, people can give out willingly due to the offered compensation. An example of the unpersuasive point is that, if the organs are for sale, some desperate people will not benefit if they cannot afford to buy the organ. As David claims people will tend to kill others for their own benefit. The argument of an objection to selling an organ cannot lead to the destruction of people live or due to the failure of getting the right price for a certain organ. In his exploration, the question which asks for one to assume they needed an organ and in the process finds s omeone willing to sell, it is realistic that, if you need something vital for your life that you have no option left.