The Shortage in the Supply of Clean Water free essay sample

However, according to a study carried by the journal Nature, if the Earth warms just a  degree  or two Celsius in coming decades, regions that depend on runoff from mountain snows for drinking water and farming will face shortages. Actually water shortage caused by global warming is due to the increase in demand for water but not a drop in water supply. When there is global warming, the rise in earth’s temperature will lead to an increase in the evaporation rate of the moisture in soils, thus increasing the demands on irrigation in agricultural activities. Moreover, higher temperature will speed up the water cycle as water evaporates at a faster rate and rain more often and plants will benefit less. There will be the depletion of water tables and lead to water shortage. Therefore, although the amount of water available in the world does not change when there is global warming, the rise in demand for water can still trigger the problem of water shortage. We will write a custom essay sample on The Shortage in the Supply of Clean Water or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page b. Increasing population The world population increase by 1%-3% annually and more people results in a need for more water. Industrial, agricultural and economic activities increase its water demand too. In some regions of even the most developed countries, people consume about 80% of their available fresh water supply at any given point in time. Problem exists when the increasing demand of water cannot keep pace with the limited supply of water. There is a report called â€Å"More people, Less Water† commissioned by Population Matters from an LSE  graduate student which reviewed that people will need between 1. 5 and 4. 9 million more tonnes of water (cubic metres) per day  if the population keep on rising. These are worrying figures implying the danger of water shortage and a rise in the cost of building new pipelines, sewage treatment and more long-distance pumping etc. This problem will keep on worsening if we do not take any actions to conserve water properly and gradually lead to water shortage which affects everyone’s life. c. Pollution Polluting water will reduce the water supply and lead to the problem of water shortage. Pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture, sewer overflows and oil and grease from roads are examples of pollutants which will eventually run off into the water systems. Other sources of excess nutrients include lawn fertilizers, pet and farm animal waste, decaying plant material, failing septic tanks, and inefficient sewage treatment plants. Besides, industry such as industrial plants and municipal wastewater treatment plants is also the leading producer of sewage which will enter streams and rivers and ultimately lakes, estuaries and coastal waters. According to the statistical study carried by the Shanghai Star magazine, producing one ton of steel requires 20 to 60 cubic metres of water in Shanghai while in the US and Japan 6 cubic metres of water are required. Due to huge amount of pollutants enter the water systems, water is heavily polluted and it will badly affect the provision of clean drinking water as polluted water is not always reusable. Therefore, pollution lowers the quality of water and reduces the amount of water available for use. d. Poor water management Although the supply of water in the world is limited, water shortage can still be avoided by better water management. However, some responsible agency did not take proper actions to conserve water. For example, water leakages are not properly prevented with regular maintenance of water containers and water distribution systems. Also, the number of water tankers or any other water related facilities are not adequate to store water for future use and the sewage treatment system is not well operated and supervised to prevent water being contaminated by pollutants and water can be reused. Fines should be imposed on anyone who wastes this precious source on other unnecessary areas as well as industries which continuously emit toxic substances to pollute water in order to punish them for the misuse of water and educate them to conserve water. Dams or other constructions should also be built to reduce flooding. After all, poor water management will speed up the occurrence of water shortage and become a threat of our life to us. e. Increasing water consumption The ever-growing water consumption of people leads to water shortage by wasting water in other needless areas. In our daily lives, people are not aware of conserving water. Instead, they consume much water for their convenience. For example, people do not wash their cars with a sponge and a bucket in their driveways anymore. They drive through car washes which utilize dozens of gallons of water in one wash. Another example is that people opt for much quicker showers which have a constant stream of water flowing and draining since they no longer have time to bath. Besides, there is theme park like Ocean Park in Hong Kong with water attractions that consume hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day. We can surely adopt another way to take a bath, to wash a car or to promote the theme park. But people seldom try to help to conserve water and cause water wastage. So, we increase water consumption for our convenience and enjoyment but at the same time paid a cost which is water shortage. . Consequences a. Disruption of agricultural activities According to research done by Shiklomanov, water usage for irrigation represent 66% of the total usage and up to 90 % in arid regions, the other 34 % being used by domestic households (10 %), industry (20 %), or evaporated from reservoirs (4 %) and we can know how important water is for irrigation of crops. Most plants need water to stay alive. Without water, crops cannot grow healthily and eventually died. Farmers wont be able to produce enough to stay in business and the price of food will go through the roof. They have to think of other alternative ways to irrigate their land for the crops since their regular water sources are always running dry, such as spend money on buying clean water or deliver water from places which are far away from their land. Food supply will then be badly affected as there is unstable supply of food from the farmland with unstable supply of water. Water shortage might lead to dry up of rivers or even desertification, which means the degradation of land  in any  dry lands, as lands become dry with little water moisture and cannot produce any food. Overall, agricultural activities cannot be smoothly carried out without water and badly affect food supply. b. Privatization of water When water becomes scarce, it is not surprised that the price of water will rise because there must be people who want to make a profit by the provision of limited supply of this precious resource while the market have a high demand in water. So many corporations are trying to privatize access to water in order to make water officially as a need rather than right. If water is a need, the private sector could provide this resource, through the market on a for-profit basis. On the other hand, if water is a right, the government will be responsible for ensuring all citizens have the equal access to water on a non-profit basis. For example, the World Bank has made privatization of urban water systems as a condition for receiving new loans and debt restructuring. Not only will this phenomenon increase the cost of living of the citizens with higher water cost, but also it is unfair to those who are not wealthy enough to buy adequate water for their daily needs. It creates the trend of â€Å"more money, more water, better living† which cannot raise the standard of living. Privatization of water will only worsen the problem of water shortage as well as the lives of all citizens. c. Poor sanitation and health of people The World Health Organization has identified clean water as the single most important factor in determining public health as it is what people daily intake. Without clean drinking water, human being surely cannot live for a long period. Besides, the human need for basic hygiene cannot be fulfilled without water. People cannot wash their body and clothes and clean themselves. As their basic hygiene need is not met and harmful virus or bacteria cannot be killed, it will reduce their resistance to diseases and cannot prevent infection from diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, other gastrointestinal viruses, and dysentery. Also, when water was scarce, people might often force to rely on drinking water sources that might not be safe. It will increase the chance of people being contaminated and badly affect their health. Therefore, a normal person without water in his or her daily life is more likely to be sick or even died. d. Disruption of aquatic life Creatures which live in the water are also the victims of water shortage. When water shortage exists, river may dry up due to global warming and evaporation and aquatic lives in the river will soon be dead without water. Also, when the demand for water is high, people might get water from the sea. The sea level will become lower which is bad for the living of animals in the sea. The death or destruction of the aquatic life leads to the collapse of the fishery too. It is because the number of fishes collected will be smaller and they are difficult to stay in their business.

Paperless System in Thailand Essays

Paperless System in Thailand Essays Paperless System in Thailand Essay Paperless System in Thailand Essay This study seeks to find out the chief barriers and give recommendations accordingly. The study also aims to identify the required steps for Thailand to take to reach the Single Window stage. The study is done by surveying people in the relevant fields using interview questionnaire. The result shows that users are more satisfied with PETS than DEED. However, a lot more can still be done to further improve PETS, for example, raise the number of trained customs officer, maintain the system and prevent errors occurred. Provide related lecture for system users. Moreover, in order to be ready for advancing to the next stage, there is a need to build the capacity of government agencies and the officers, raise Acts budget, revise laws and regulations and lastly, pursue wallpapered road-maps to SW and utilize modeling tools. As for the cross- border level, maintenance of Regional Standard Data sets in the term of human resource, revision of laws and regulations for cross-border data exchange are required to reach the goal of establishing cross-border SW. 4 Acknowledgement It is an honor for me to derive such valuable opinions from all of the interviewees who are experience in the field of my study. This thesis would not have been possible without their precious cooperation. Moreover, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Yakima Kanji, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject. Besides my supervisor, I am heartily thankful to Miss Mack and Professor Simon Bah who gave me advices on thesis pattern as well as pointed out lots of grammatical errors. I am indented to my colleague, Kane Standardization to support me in a number of ways. He helped me look for some information I cannot reach during my stay in Japan. Furthermore, he also assisted me to appropriate the words used in my thesis. Last but not least, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any aspects during the completion of the project. Coordinators Sandpit 5 Chapter l: Introduction The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of Paperless Trading System (PETS) in Thailand and to study and discuss steps needed to advance to the next stage of trading system. There is a need to understand what PETS is all about. According to APACE (Wang Khan, 2005), Paperless Trading is the activity of exchanging data through electronic means. It means all parties in the chain of trade, namely, supplier, Dryers, customs, puddle Institutes, Tanks Ana logistic companies, utilize information technology and standardize business data exchange among participants, in order to accomplish the whole processes from finding a partner to the signing of a contract in trading. To better understand paperless trading, let us have a look at the broader sense of e-commerce and how it relates to paperless trading. According to the assessment reported by Wang Khan, 2005, E-commerce Demonstration Act of United Nations International Trade Committee describes the wider sense of e- amerce as business activities that utilize data information, which refers to information produced, transmitted or stored via electronic, optical or other similar ways. In other words, the broader sense of e-commerce can be regarded as e- business that consists of e-commerce and paperless trading or e-trade. The chain of International Trade starts when an order is placed, followed by transporting goods, clearing custom and paying bills. This chain involves logistics, financial process, and information circulation, and it implicates multiple parties and working sectors. The implement of International Trade is high since there are different goods, ways of delivery, processes and varieties of payment (as shown in Fig 1. . ) Figure 1 . 1: Chain of International Trade Source: Wang, J. Khan, F. (2005) From the chain process above, it is obvious that some parties, such as customs, are directly related to markets, and some others, such as the government, are not. However, this does not mean that market efficiency is affected by these non-market related parties. In fact, they play a very important role in the process because the efficiency of overspent admi nistration and legislation has a positive impact on market efficiency directly. Moreover, the non-market related parties such as the government could affect other marketplaces parties as well. For instance, governments could set up some standards, rules and regulations to coordinate for administration purposes. Therefore, without government participation in building a 6 better public service environment, the development of paperless trading will be restrained. As a result, it can be said that paperless trading is a combination of E- commerce and E-government in the field of international trade (Refer to Fig. . 2).

Politics and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics and Society - Essay Example From 1753 through 1801, William Pitt came up with the right bestowed on the prime minister to request other ministries to reign and establish it. The only record up to year 1916 evidencing the decisions of the cabinet was a letter done by the Prime Minister to be sent to the Monarch. Some of the posts that were created in year 1916 were the secretary of the cabinet and the secretariat of the cabinet. (number10.gov.uk, 2011) Peele in his book says that in 2004, the system of government in Britain was that of cabinet. This system has all the political as well as executive leadership being provided by the cabinet. This cabinet is made up of few senior ministers who are heads of various main departments. The head of the cabinet is the Prime Minister. The position of premiership is devoid of formal powers, but is usually above the other ministers in superiority. The power bestowed to the Prime Minister is, thus, legitimate in the collective government. Therefore, the Prime Minister is jus t but the ministers’ team leader. This government in entirety is the one responsible for all the decisions reached in parliamentary proceedings. Despite the fact that Macmillan in 1957 to 1963 suggested how a cabinet type of governance should be, the current cabinet system in the UK is altogether different. Changes are evident in many levels of the system, with the prominence of premiership being a source of power imbalance in the cabinet. (Peele, 2004 p127) The most senior of the positions in the cabinet are usually filled by the appointments made by the Prime Minister subsequent to an election. All persons holding the positions in the cabinet of the UK are usually serving members of parliament. The senior most positions in the cabinet are Foreign Secretary, Deputy Prime Minister, Exchequer’s Chancellor and the Home Secretary. The holders of the office are usually announced immediately after every general election’s result. This is mostly after one or two days afterwards the appointments of minor positions in the cabinet are made public knowledge. (historylearningsite.co.uk, 2011) In Britain, coalitions approach of governance have happened severally and arrangements as well as pacts alike. Coalitions are usually established to bring resolutions to predicaments. Some of these predicaments arise from crisis nationally like the popular Great Wars in the 1900s, while some of the crisis that call for coalition governments are economic (for instance, the 1930s National Government). Other crises that bring about a coalition government are political like the 1970s’ which was formed due to a small majority by the labour party. (Oaten, 2007 p11) A coalition government is defined as simply a system of governance where a government is made up of at least two parliamentary parties. This type of governance is not common in systems where there is a plural system of election and two-party systems. It is a common occurrence in proportional represen tation systems of governance, though. There are also special circumstances that require for this type of governance like where after an election, none of the contesting parties makes plural votes in a convincing manner or even scenarios needing a united purpose nationally. Parties

Marriott Hotels in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marriott Hotels in Australia - Essay Example The Marriot way of doing business has been to reward good performance in its employees, both among the management as well as staff paid hourly rates. The primary stakeholders as identified by the â€Å"Marriot way† includes associates, guests and communities, thereby including employees, suppliers and retailers as well as its guests and members of the general community and the Company aims to provide the kind of services that can reach out to all of these.(www.marriot.co.uk). Marriot Hotels in Australia have also developed effective communication strategies to communicate with these different groups of stakeholders. According to Vogel (2005:110) promoting value must also include the introduction of better business practices that can serve to improve the welfare of the communities within which these corporations function. Employee satisfaction for example, impacts upon customer and ultimately, shareholder satisfaction. As a result, effectively communicating with employees would include the introduction of measures that could improve their motivation levels, which in turn would improve employee satisfaction (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Management behaviour impacts upon employee attitudes, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. For example, in a hotel environment, satisfied frontline employees project an attitude that improves the customer experience of the hotel (Rust et al, 1996). The productivity of a business depends upon the levels of cust omer satisfaction. The Marriot hotels have also developed a corporate image and profile, which have been communicated through its actions and annual reports. The core values of the Marriot hotels are centred around its â€Å"spirit to serve† philosophy.(www.marriot.co.uk) and includes corporate social responsibility, or the introduction of corporate practices that â€Å"improve the workplace and benefit society in ways that go above and beyond what companies are legally required to

Race and Ethnicity Essay Example for Free

Race and Ethnicity Essay The ongoing struggle to fight the skin color prejudice in the contemporary American society is portrayed in Michael Jackson’s song â€Å"Black or White. † Whereas the racism is defined as a superior behavior against other race-thus making it inferior, the singer refers to this term as â€Å"See, it’s not about races, just places, faces, where your blood comes from is where your space is. † Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists in the music industry, calls for equality in how people view and behave towards each other. The question, which this master thesis investigates, does it matter if you’re black or white, is clearly answered by the singer: â€Å"It don’t matter if you’re black or white. † Jackson was trying to influence his society to act in a similar way and he calls for them to live their lives by Dr. Luther’s dream â€Å"†¦. judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. † However, almost thirty years later, it still seemed only as a dream because he sang: â€Å"I’m tired of this Devil†, where the bad is being represented by the prejudice. At the same time, he clearly states: â€Å"I’m not gonna spend my life being a color† – this is where he makes his conclusion. This can imply that even though he doesn’t discriminate and would like to see color prejudice gone, he is still being discriminated against. While being the most prominent artist in the music industry, he still calls himself â€Å"a color† and he rebuts against it and wants to be seen for the person he is and not the pigmentation of his skin. It is widely known that Michael Jackson had many facial plastic surgeries and it is controversial whether or not he altered his skin color by chemical peels or was it the disease called vitiligio that changed his face color to white. Therefore, it can be speculated that he modified skin to appear white, which ultimately is his vision. It can be further questioned – since Michael Jackon can’t win his struggle for racial equality, did he give up and go white – just to end his inner battle? Will all his suffering come to closure since now he looks white? Is this the true answer? It may be deemed as so since the skin color is the guide of one’s position in the society where being white claims supremacy-control and power. It should be noted that Michael Jackson is one of the greatest musicians of all times, having sold over 750 million records worldwide. He has accomplished so much in his life, yet still feels inferior and calls for racial equality in the world. His vision for a better world to live in, free of racism, ends on a sad note: â€Å"It’s black, it’s white†. To summarize, through decades, the blacks have fought to be equal, as the American nation shall guarantee those rights, yet, the society is still divided into the superior, the whites, and inferior- the blacks (and other people of color). Blacks have always been portrayed as the dirty, the poor, the lesser-of-a human type whereas the whites are seen as the dominant, the good type. Again, Jackson does not agree with this stereotype in saying: â€Å"I ain’t second to none. † Moreover, he claims that he will no longer be scared and mentions historical symbol of a KKK group: â€Å"I ain’t scared of your brother, I ain’t scared of no sheets. † With his passing in 2009, many of his inner struggles come to the end, but will the next generation start working on being color-free as the king of pop envisioned? America has always struggled with racial issues, especially those of black and white. Some them included racial segregation, education, workforce, banking and even seating on the bus. Black people continuously tried to â€Å"break thru† into community, but were always pushed aside as dirty, poor and unwelcome. We, in modern times, see the United States of America as a country that treats everyone equal. Americans should all be all equal, no matter what race, color, religion or any other characteristics they have. After all, we all remember year 2009, which is when Americans elected their first African American President. Question that comes to mind – why â€Å"first African American President,† not just simply their 44th President? So – the race and color of your skin does matter in modern times. My analyses of selected books, academic journals, films and music video will concentrate and argue if Americans indeed discriminate against race or if it is history and no longer exists in American life. First, I would like to take into consideration the iconic Michael Jackson, one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest singer and performer of the 21st century. Not only his songs deserve a closer look, but also his lifestyle – ideas, fears and the public opinion. â€Å"Black or White† by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell is a one of the greatest singles in Michael’s career. It was released on November 11, 1991. What inspired Michael to particularly select these two topics? Black or white – as implied in the song, he sings about skin color. Songs starts in Africa, possibly showing Jackson’s â€Å"beginning† – he is black. In one of the scenes, Michael sings â€Å"I ain’t scared of no sheets; I ain’t scared of nobody† while he is walking through fire images – which is being compared to KKK and its torch ceremonies. Here, he is portraying his painful vision of KKK and its vision. Later, the performers sing â€Å"I’m not gonna spend my life being a color. † What a great statement. Michael, throughout his whole life and his career, shows us his inner and constant fight for a non-racial America. Being black himself, he had struggled and finally came to the top, but still did not achieve the level of happiness – which is â€Å"no color† in his country. Later, Jackson sings on Statue of Liberty’s torch, again possibly reminding us about the KKK, and at the same time – the Statue symbolizes liberty, which for him will be color-free, no discrimination America. We shouldn’t forget about Michael’s actions in this video. In the original version, he is smashing the car, windows and the inn exploded. However, later he had to edit this version to minimize his violent behavior, however. He altered it by adding four racial graffiti messages onto the windows that he was smashing. As I suggested earlier, Michael Jackson is portrayed as an angry black man who simply hates the discrimination against black people and shows his feelings by destroyed his surroundings, as he was being destroyed himself –just for being of black color. In is interesting to observe, the Jackson, when asked to change his destructive aggressive music video, he indeed did change it, but didn’t forget about this hostility towards discrimination. He had just portrayed it differently (graffiti). First message reads: â€Å"Hitler Lives,† then â€Å"Nigger Go Home,† â€Å"No More Wetbacks,† and finally â€Å"KKK Rules. † It can be argued if Michael Jackson is simply smashing windows with those painful ideas – is destroying them – to make a better world? Finally, the song comes from the album â€Å"Dangerous. † What did the author have in mind? Are all of those issues, painful experiences and the fight for non-colored America dangerous? It can be argued that yes. Jackson showed us the dangerous side of being black, where he was always forced to fight and that causes different sorts of trouble. In â€Å"Black or White,† Michael brilliantly portrayed two core problems people were facing daily: black or white. As we look at his lifestyle and constant metamorphoses, Michael Jackson had numerous surgeries that altered the color of his skin and make him â€Å"white. † It is very controversial as many sources quote that Jackson had a condition where one looses a pigment of his skin, called vitiligo. However, Michael Jackson public image is seen as a person who constantly tried to be white, therefore, sought surgeries to help him attain this goal. Michael Jackson shows us that it could have probably been easier to make himself white and not struggle for color-free America, where everyone is equal, no matter of who there are or what they look like. It would also be important to analyze some of the lyrics from Jackson’s music video. He sings: â€Å"I had to tell them I ain’t second to none. † It can be understood that he no longer is accepting the fact that black is â€Å"second,† which is worse, just because of the color. He continues: â€Å"And I told about equality† – he tells us he wants to be considered equal, despite his skin color. Next verse, he has really had enough of being pushed around because he is black â€Å"I am tired of this devil, I am tired of this stuff, I am tired of this business. † Finally, he talks about racism in: â€Å"See, it’s not about races, Just places, Faces, Where your blood, Comes from, Is where your space is, I’ve seen the bright, Get duller, I’m not going to spend, My life being a color. † Here Michael Jackson compares himself to simply being a â€Å"color. † He is less than a human being only because he is not white. He is â€Å"black. † Again, he accents his refusal of living his life being black. He wants to be equal, equal to white. It should be also noted that throughout video, Michael Jackson is wearing black and white clothing (white shirt, black blazer, white accents on his right arm and nails, black shoes, white socks). He seems to be a person caught in a black-and-white world and struggles to change it, showing his pain. However, at the very end, he turns into a black panther. This transformation may symbolize him as a black man who will fight for his rights, yet, still remain black. In book â€Å"The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology, and Fair-Lending Enforcement† Stephen L. Ross and John Yinger present racial issues and argue the importance of skin color in banking. It should be noted that this book was published in 2002, year where we all think that American people are equal, especially on racial basis. Therefore, why and how does the skin color come into play in banking? First, the American lenders take many factors into consideration when disbursing the mortgage. Such factors include many details such as the creditor’s ability to repay the loan – where the lender accesses the potential risk of losing the loan. There are many different lenders and they base their information on statistics, demographics and make final decision based on the risk factors. Research showed that mainly blacks would seek loans, which are not favorable to all lenders. Therefore such bank does take race into consideration when reviewing for application for credit. It is also shown that blacks will most likely work with subprime lenders (44%) with comparison to whites (only 4%). Blacks generally cannot use the prime mortgage market due to their poor qualifications, thus creating the black to white ratio of getting the mortgage with figures of 2. 28 denial for prime market and 1. 27 for subprime. At the same time, limited research shows that blacks-even though have some qualifications as white – would remain in the subprime market and thus be charged higher fees. Equal Credit Opportunity Act says: It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction—on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract). (U. S. Code Title 15, Chapter 41, Section 1691) This would mean that all people should be treated equally in banks, when doing business in banks, no discrimination in credit transaction. However, authors argue that the bank may take a different look at the person and who they are in â€Å"business necessity† can be proved. Therefore, even while it is regulated by law, certain discriminatory practices can and do exist. Later, it would be rather hard to prove that the lender discriminated based for example on race. All regulations are not very clear and courts find it hard to find such a connection of discrimination. It is implied that blacks, with poorer ability to repay, living in lower income communities, must face subprime, expensive mortgages – to possibly make as much money as possible in the shortest time-so if the black borrower defaults on his payments, the lender wouldn’t lose its investment. This is to compare with the white borrower who lives in the richer-type setting, is more likely to meet his payments, therefore, he is offered a prime mortgage rate, without the necessity to further secure the loan. It can be argued if blacks and whites are treated equally, despite many regulations. On one hand, the lender must adhere to all necessary regulations, but on the other hand, such institution can make necessary decisions to make that mortgage profitable – thus, taking all factors into consideration in the application process. We can further analyze that race and color of skin does matter when one is being evaluated for such an application. It is believed that whites pose a lower risk to a financial institution than blacks. This also means, as authors point out, that black are less likely to be approved for a higher-priced home than a white person, which causes the real estate agents to discriminate and not show the more expensive houses to blacks. Maybe they don’t discriminate, they just know that lender is not likely to approve a black person in comparison to the same application of a white person? It is particularly important to note that authors point out that ‘‘on average, black mortgage applications have higher loan-to value and debt-to-income ratios than do white applications. ’’ In closing, it should be noted that while many regulations exist, there is no proof that racial discrimination has gone away and some research suggests that blacks still have lower approval rate in comparison to the whites. It is said that race does play a key role when the lender looks at your mortgage application.

Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - Equal Rights Not Special Rights for Gays :: Persuasive Essay, Argumentative

Gays: Seeking Equal Rights Not Special Rights On October 6, 1998 two men took Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, about a mile outside of Laramie Wyoming. These men took him out to a split-rail fence, tortured him, then tied him put onto the fence, and left him for death. He was found late the next day by two bikers, 18 hours after the attack. When the bikers first saw Matthew tied to the fence, they thought that Matthew was a scarecrow, but realized that it was a person. Matthew remained in a coma until October 12, then died at 12:53 a.m. Matthew always was a peacemaker he wanted gays to be treated like everyone else not as a minority. Matthew once said, "If I could get two people--one straight, one gay--who hate each other to be respectful of each other, I would have done something good" (Miller). He wanted homosexuals and heterosexuals to see eye to eye, which almost seems impossible. Homosexuality has been common in many cultures throughout history, but not always known. When it came about in society many religions thought it as sinful. As a result, being gay or lesbian was a crime, punishable by death. In the twentieth century homosexuality took a turn around. As a result gay bashing became common in America. In November 13, 1986 on The Oprah Winfrey Show, a boy admitted that he and his friends hunted gay men down and beat them with baseball bats (Opposing View Points, "Homosexuals are an..."). It seems that this issue of discrimination of gays is too extreme. Society needs to know that homosexuals are fighting for civil rights, not special rights. They want to be treated equal in the workplace, in housing and in public accommodations. In November of 1992 Colorado tried to pass an amendment against homosexuals gaining special rights. The purpose of the amendment was to deny homosexuals special rights, through any of Colorado's state branches or departments or any of its agencies. When this amendment was passed civil liberties groups and gay rights groups around the nation called for a boycott of Colorado. Consequently, the state lost about $40 million in convention and tourist business. In 1994 the Colorado Supreme Court declared that the state's anti-gay rights measure, Amendment 2, was unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy states, "We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else.

Why Video Games Can Be Educational, by You

Over the years video games have been proven to increase addiction to staying inside, along with increased aggression, and various medical and psychosocial effects. However there are many positive aspects to playing video games. Research dating back to the early 1980s has consistently shown that playing computer games (of different genre) produces reductions in reaction times, improved hand-eye co-ordination and raises the player’s self-esteem.Let’s explore into some of these aspects and arguments to determine the ultimate decision on whether video games can help your education. Video games might consume the attention and time of your children, but it is important to remember that technology has and will forever have an impact on childhood as we progress further into scientific research. Here are some things that video games can do well for your children’s health. Video games can be used to research new things.Video games can attract participation by individuals a cross many boundaries Video games can assist your child in making/and completing goals. Video games can be useful by measuring performance on a wide variety of tasks That is some info on what video games can do well for your child, now let’s see explore the possibilities of bad things that can come from this. Over-dependence on video games could foster social isolation, as they are often played alone.Practicing violent acts may contribute more to aggressive behavior than watching TV Many games only offer an arena of weapons, killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting. Most game portray a â€Å"be the most violent† to win scheme. After reading over all of those aspects and points made you are probably leading to think that they are going to do more damage to your child if you let them play video games rather than if you don’t. Sadly I cannot agree with you there and I am trying my best to make you believe that they can do more good than bad.If you are not convinced yet all the evidence points to them being more educational than harmful. Video games are frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future. When your child plays video games, it gives his brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school.In most video games you can’t just roam around doing whatever you please. Most of them involve a common goal such as following instructions or problem solving and logic. Even if you make the decision to let your children play some of the more violent video games, they will be focused more on winning then killing and getting blood lust out of it. That was my argument on why video games do better than they do worse. I hope you agree with me now and enjoyed learning the facts abou t this topic. ï » ¿Why Video Games Can Be Educational, by You Over the years video games have been proven to increase addiction to staying inside, along with increased aggression, and various medical and psychosocial effects. However there are many positive aspects to playing video games. Research dating back to the early 1980s has consistently shown that playing computer games (of different genre) produces reductions in reaction times, improved hand-eye co-ordination and raises the player’s self-esteem.Let’s explore into some of these aspects and arguments to determine the ultimate decision on whether video games can help your education. Video games might consume the attention and time of your children, but it is important to remember that technology has and will forever have an impact on childhood as we progress further into scientific research. Here are some things that video games can do well for your children’s health. Video games can be used to research new things.Video games can attract participation by individuals a cross many boundaries Video games can assist your child in making/and completing goals. Video games can be useful by measuring performance on a wide variety of tasks That is some info on what video games can do well for your child, now let’s see explore the possibilities of bad things that can come from this. Over-dependence on video games could foster social isolation, as they are often played alone.Practicing violent acts may contribute more to aggressive behavior than watching TV Many games only offer an arena of weapons, killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting. Most game portray a â€Å"be the most violent† to win scheme. After reading over all of those aspects and points made you are probably leading to think that they are going to do more damage to your child if you let them play video games rather than if you don’t. Sadly I cannot agree with you there and I am trying my best to make you believe that they can do more good than bad.If you are not convinced yet all the evidence points to them being more educational than harmful. Video games are frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future. When your child plays video games, it gives his brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school.In most video games you can’t just roam around doing whatever you please. Most of them involve a common goal such as following instructions or problem solving and logic. Even if you make the decision to let your children play some of the more violent video games, they will be focused more on winning then killing and getting blood lust out of it. That was my argument on why video games do better than they do worse. I hope you agree with me now and enjoyed learning the facts abou t this topic.