The Media †Difference between entertainment and news.

The Media – Difference between entertainment and news. Free Online Research Papers The media is powerful; with that statement, no one can disagree. However, many differ when debating the alleged liberal bias of the media. Now, before you start deeming CNN the â€Å"Clinton News Network,† hear me out. The media is biased in both directions, right and left, and more often than being politically swayed, the media is influenced by money. However, the biggest problem with the media is the kinds of programming and writing that are considered news and what sources are considered journalists. Take the O’Reilly Factor, for example. Bill O’Reilly, the host of the show, is not, I repeat NOT, a journalist. He is a commentator/TV and radio personality. However, because his show is broadcast on news stations, suddenly his opinions and convenient statistics are called news. The media watch group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, even published a book called â€Å"The ‘Oh Really?’ Factor† criticizing him for his biased reporting, which would normally end a news career, but Fox continues to broadcast his biased little show and write it off as news even though his show and most of the programming on Fox make references of an intended audience: Republicans. The other thing about the media that bothers me is that the owners of huge media corporations can self-censure reports about their subsidiaries. Think of it this way: Time Warner owns CNN, a news network, but also owns companies such as HBO, AOL, People, Sports Illustrated, Fortune Magazine, and New Line Cinema (to name a few). Because they own such wide array of media outlets, CNN isn’t going to rip on Sports Illustrated if a huge scandal explodes as relentlessly as Fox News would have. Does that make CNN less credible? The amount of time people are willing to devote to watching or reading news is becoming slimmer these days, so the juiciest facts instead of the whole story are presented to fit within the short attention span of the average American. Pressure from advertisers is another ways in which our capitalist society actually causes bias in reporting. If Dodge contributes millions of dollars in commercial advertising to ABC, how might that effect a story about Dodge recalls? Government influence, whether its public or covert censorship, biases the media as well. Who knows what kind of information the Bush administration or the CIA is hiding in their back logs of files or what bits of information are withheld to avoid tarnished reputations. The moral of the story is that you have to realize that the news you’re being fed isn’t always cold hard fact. Unless you are reading or watching an actual journalist, the tidbits of â€Å"news† that you hear most likely have an opinion behind it and it most definitely serve a purpose for whatever media outlet you’re hearing it from. In the end, all you can do is realize you’re being tricked and be smart enough to not believe everything you hear. Don’t allow yourself to be a puppet. Look to multiple sources for your news, and be aware that money influences what is broadcast just as political views could affect reporters and editors. Research Papers on The Media - Difference between entertainment and news.Relationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductHip-Hop is ArtTrailblazing by Eric AndersonStandardized TestingWhere Wild and West MeetResearch Process Part One

What Critical Thinking Is and How to Develop It

What Critical Thinking Is and How to Develop It The concept of critical thinking has been defined in many complex ways, but for young students new to the concept, it can best be summed up as thinking and judging for yourself. When you develop critical thinking skills, you will learn to evaluate information that you hear and process information that you collect while recognizing your implicit biases. You will analyze the evidence that is presented to you in order to make sure it is sound. Recognize Common Fallacies Fallacies are tricks of logic, and understanding them is the best way to avoid falling for them. There are many types of fallacies, and the more you think about them, the more readily you will recognize them all around you, especially in advertisements, arguments, and political discussions. Bandwagon Appeals: Bandwagon appeals argue that you should follow along with something because everyone else believes it.Scare Tactics: A scare tactic is the use of a  scary story as an example to make you more likely to believe some underlying assumption.Appeal to Emotion: An appeal to emotion uses a fiery speech or a tragic story to convince someone to side with you.False Dichotomy: Often there are many sides to an argument, but a false dichotomy presents an issue as one side versus the other. Characteristics of Critical Thinking To become a critical thinker, you must develop a few skills. Recognize assumptions you carry with you. Have you ever wondered why you believe the things that you believe? Do you believe things because you’ve been told to believe them? Step outside your own beliefs to observe from a neutral viewpoint. Be aware of assumptions and learn to self-reflect.Process information honestly. People sometimes pass along information that is not really true (i.e. the fake news crisis).Recognize a generalization. Girls don’t like bugs. Old people are wise. Cats make better pets. These are generalizations. They’re not always true, are they?Evaluate old information and new ideas. There was a time when doctors thought leeches could cure us. Recognize that just because something is commonly accepted, doesnt mean it is true.Produce new ideas based on sound evidence. Detectives solve crimes by collecting bits of truths and putting them all together like a puzzle. One small deceit can jeopardize an investigation. The entire truth-seeking process is destabilized by one piece of bad evidence, leading to a wrong conclusion. Analyze a problem and recognize the complex parts. A mechanic must understand how an entire engine works before s/he can diagnose a problem. Sometimes it is necessary to deconstruct an engine to figure out which part isn’t working. You should approach big problems like this: break them down into smaller parts and observe carefully and deliberately.Use precise vocabulary and communicate with clarity. The truth can be blurred by fuzzy language. It is important to develop your vocabulary so you can communicate truths accurately.Manage emotions in response to a situation or problem. Don’t be fooled by stirred up, emotional plea or angry speech. Stay rational and keep your emotions in check as you encounter new information.Judge your sources. Learn to recognize hidden agendas and bias when you collect information. As students progress from high school into college and graduate school they must develop critical thinking skills in order to carry out research. Students will learn to identify good sources and bad sources, make logical conclusions, and develop new theories.

The History Of Industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History Of Industrialization - Essay Example This changed during the Gilded Age as businessmen like Carnegie adopted vertical integration thereby eliminating all middlemen in the process. Instead of meat being handled by different individuals, a single businessman engaged in all the trades from cattle breeding to retailing meat. This led to the emergence of corporations such as the giant steel empire of Carnegie which brought them huge profits. Others such as Rockefeller adopted horizontal integration (purchase of competing companies in the same industry) thus eliminating competitors. Rockefeller purchased all independent oil refineries creating a monopoly in the market named the Standard Oil Company. Such investors were referred as robber barons as they did everything they could to earn profits. Corporations produced powerful tycoons such as Carnegie, Rockefeller and Frederick Weyerhaeuser (timber industry) and consequently business malpractices. Rockefeller was the richest man, Carnegie the fourth richest and Weyerhaeuser the seventh richest. These and other wealthy businessmen formed trusts to monopolize the production of goods. This prompted the U.S government to pass legislation such as the Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 and the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 to curb such malpractices and corruption. The Interstate Commerce Act was to eliminate discrimination against small shippers by railroads while the Anti-trust Law was to curb monopolies. Speculations by tycoons often led to an economic crisis such as the panic of 1893.

The History of William Pens Statue Research Paper

The History of William Pens Statue - Research Paper Example Although born in an Anglican family, William Penn changed his religious views and joined â€Å"the religious society of friends† or â€Å"Quakers†. Quakers oppose war and violence and obey the divine light that they believe is present within each person. Since their beliefs opposed the Christian religion, they faced many hardships until William Penn managed to get a colonial province of West New Jersey. His implementation of democratic structure in this province included â€Å"full freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives of the people in power and a separation of powers†. American constitution is inspired from this democratic system of Penn (ushistory.org). He believed in fair treatment and complete religious freedom. He wrote once â€Å"True religion does not draw men out of the world but enables them to live better in it†. He was arrested a number of times due to his difference of beliefs. Yet the most famous among his trials is the one which eventually gave the freedom to the juries of England and made them independent and out of influence from the judges. William Penn also planned and developed the â€Å"City of Brotherly Love†, Philadelphia (Somerville, 2006). Due to the overcrowding at the old 18th-century city hall at fifth and Chestnut Street, a public election was held in 1870 to decide the new location of a city hall in Philadelphia. Penn Square was the new location that received 51, 623 votes. The architecture of this new city hall was designed by John MacArthur Jr. who immigrated to America from Scotland. William Penn’s statue was not originally included in his design (Hornblum, 2003). The inclusion of a statue was requested by the building commission, which was designed by Alexander Milne Calder, who immigrated to America as well in 1869 (pewtrusts.org). The construction of city hall was completed in 1901 with the intention of making it the world’s tallest building. The Eiffel tower  and Washington monument, however, grabbed that uniqueness from it. Yet it is still the world’s largest masonry building in the world.

The North Wind and the Sun Essay Example for Free

The North Wind and the Sun Essay The North Wind and the Sun is about two different personalities and how they operate to get things done. The North Wind is very arrogant and has a personality that is very strong. He is also very impatient, he wants things done immediately and he wants it done his way.   He is the type who intimidates people and could very well be the type to instil fear in his subordinates.   This type of â€Å"shotgun-in-your-face† approach will work against some people until you come across individuals who have a mind of their own.    Some people make it a point to resist very strong individuals and this could pose a problem especially when North Winds are leaders.   When that happens, it is the personality of the Sun which can win them over.   Personalities like the Sun do not impose their wants and needs.   Personalities like the Sun do not make demands nor put pressure on people.   They have realized that a better approach to getting what they want is to be subtle.   They have mastered the art of manipulating individuals into doing what they (the Sun) wants by making them (the individuals) think that they decide and act for themselves.   It is this subtlety that makes people like the Sun more effective leaders. The human in this story, like in most stories of Greek and Roman mythology, is the plaything of the Sun and the North Wind.   He is at the mercy of their whims.   So when these two entities decide to test their strength through a competition, this hapless man becomes their focus.   They were quite smart because in order to settle their dispute, they did not ask for the man’s opinion.   They did not come down from the heavens to ask â€Å"who is stronger?†Ã‚   Instead they decided to settle their quarrel by watching the human’s reaction to the force they exerted.   He, in essence, acted as a fair and impartial judge in a contest he did not know he was mediating.

Alexander Graham Bell Essay -- Biography Biographies Bell Essays

Alexander Graham Bell Works Cited Missing The importance of Alexander Graham Bell on today’s society is visible, or rather audible, every day and everywhere. First and foremost, Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific teacher of the deaf. This is what he considered to be his true life’s work, but only one of the many important things he did. Through his research of speech and sound, and his creative mind, he would become one of the most influential inventors in modern history. His own definition of an inventor, â€Å"A man who looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world.† suits him well. Every thing that he did had an impact on someone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a family of speech educators. His father, Melville Bell, had invented Visible Speech, a code of symbols for all spoken sounds that was used in teaching deaf people to speak (Clarke 15). His mother was deaf, this lead Melville and Alexander to exploration in the subject. Alexander Bell studied at Edinburgh University in 1864 and assisted his father at University College, London, from 1868-70. During these years he became deeply interested in the study of sound and the mechanics of speech, inspired in part by the acoustic experiments of German physicist Hermann Von Helmholtz, which gave Bell the idea of telegraphing speech (Paschoff 18).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When young Bell’s two brothers died of tuberculosis, Melville Bell took his remaining family to the healthier climate of Canada in 1870. From there, Aleck Bell journeyed to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871 and joined the staff of the Boston School for the Deaf. The following year, Bell opened his own school in Boston for training teachers of the deaf. In 1873 he became a professor of vocal physiology at Boston University, and he also tutored private pupils as a side job (Clarke 15, 16).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bell’s interest in speech and communication led him to investigate the transmission of sound over wires. In particular, he experimented with development of the harmonic telegraph a device that could send multiple messages at the same time over a single wire. Bell also worked with the possibility of transmitting the human voice, experimenting with vibrating membranes and an actual human ear. Bell even manipulated his dogs vocal cords so that wh... ...ng beeps and sounds through telephone lines to other computers that decode the beeps and sounds into data. This would not be possible if Bell hadn’t figured out how to transmit these sounds. The same thing goes for radios and cell-phones and televisions. The speakers in these devices are all made possible by the understanding that Bell acquired of sounds and transmitting them through electrical devices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alexander Graham Bell was a man of warmth and human frailty, loved by his wife, children, and grandchildren. His life did seem to demonstrate the oneness of the world. He was cheered at exhibitions, applauded at scientific meetings, and sought out by reporters. He and his wife united two numerous and close-knit families. Children, especially those of his own extended family, loved him. His marriage was a model of devotion throughout its forty-five years. He was nominally a member of more clubs and other organizations than he could recall at any given time, and he was active in a number of them (Allen 70,71). He was much more than one of the most influential inventors of modern history, he was a great Husband, a mentor for youth, a model citizen, and an excellent teacher.

Examine the opening five minutes of ‘High Noon’, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, and ‘Unforgiven’

Examine the opening five minutes of ‘High Noon', ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and ‘Unforgiven'. Discuss what each of the directors seek to achieve in these sequences and how they locate their film within the genre. The three films ‘High Noon', ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and ‘Unforgiven' are all classic films that are located in the Western genre. Principally these Westerns are set between the period 1860 to 1900 and often located to the west of the Missouri and the Mississippi. The production of these three films span through a period of 40 years from 1952 to 1992 showing a change and progression in the style of filming. From examining the opening five minutes of each of the three films and with great reference to the key concepts I shall be able to establish what notions build a Western and analyse how effectively they are used within each of the three films. High Noon directed by Fred Zinnemann was produced in 1952 and tells the story of Miller, a renowned villain who was sentenced in the town of Hadleyville to a lifetime imprisonment in Texas. Much to the town's distress Miller is released and back with a vengeance and together with a group of other villains they return to Hadleyville to seek revenge on the town's sheriff. This is a story about the final triumph of good over evil yet also touches upon other subjects like testing friendships and the rise of women in power. This was the first film to use real time, by 1957 it was being parodied. High Noon begins with a non-diagetic soundtrack, ‘Don't forsake me, oh my darling,' which tells the story that is to follow. The film opens with a wide shot of the great grassy plains with a lone rider in the distance, showing great iconography of a typical Western scene. Its narrative clues are very strong in the first five minutes where the essentially ‘bad' characters are here shown with the stereotypical look of being roughly shaven and wearing ragged clothes and a Stetson hat. This is further backed up when they ride into the town, where people shocked and scared by their appearance stop immediately what they are doing and some even run to hide. One Spanish woman crosses herself when she sees them showing their bad reputation and is obvious here, that they are not often at that town and it is not a welcomed sight. There is a great contrast here between the ‘good' and the ‘bad,' mainly between Will Kane and Miller. In almost everyway they are opposite relating to Claud Levi-Strauss idea on binary oppositions. The connotation of colour is very noticeable here, where the bad guys are all wearing dark colours and ride on black horses in contrast to Will Kane who is about to wed Amy who is wearing white which reflects their innocence. This film uses conventions effectively to locate itself in the Western genre. It is located in a small town with one high street that is lined with tall wooden buildings. It also includes the familiar saloon and sheriff's office. These all link together to provide a representation of the stereotypical image of a western town. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid directed by George Roy Hill (1969) is based on a true story that follows the lives of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who are famous for great bank and train robberies. After many successful takes they encounter resistance and in a bid for freedom flee the country. This film takes the idea away from the evil cowboy and by the end of the film you feel less anger for them as in most Westerns but like them and feel a sense of sorrow and pity for them. This film opens with a short film reel shot in sepia. It tells of one of their many great train robberies as ‘the hole in the wall gang. ‘ The sepia is a good reflection of the period of which this film is located, it also highlights and emphasises iconography of Westerns straight away. It then cuts out of sepia to the next scene in which Butch is examining the security of the town's bank in preparation for the robbery. There is a lot of exposure to the heavy bars and strong locks, obviously new, and unforeseen, Butch asks the bank teller â€Å"What happened to the old bank, it was beautiful†, the bank teller replies, â€Å"People kept robbing it! † Like High Noon the way Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are dressed reflects their personality and means that they can be more easily recognised. As well the bad guy is well renowned and scares a lot of people. Here, the Sundance Kid is well known for his precise firing aim, shown in the scene where the Sundance Kid is playing cards and his opponent accuses him of cheating not knowing who he is, â€Å"I didn't know you were the Sundance Kid when I accused you of cheating†¦ If I draw on you, you'll kill me. † He then asks him how good of a shooter he actually is, the Sundance Kid then demonstrates this and shows to the audience his character whereas Butch Cassidy appears to be a lot more rational and ‘the brains' behind the operations. The Sundance Kid is very sombre and does not show much facial expression. Male pride is very dominant in this film, especially among the Sundance Kid, where his reputation is very important and must be maintained to uphold the ‘bad guy' image. Unforgiven is the most recently produced film of the three, made in 1992 and directed by Clint Eastwood who also stars and won 4 Oscars. It follows the story of William Munny, a notorious killer who is offered the chance to earn a large sum of money by reverting to his old ways and killing two cowboys. The story line develops to show a more in depth side of the stereotypical villain of the West and the corruptness of people who are supposed to be on the ‘good' side. This film demonstrates 3 themes common to the Western genre: Love, honour, and loyalty. The opening shot of the film has a simple scene of William Munny tending to his wife's grave in a silhouette cast by a glowing sunset. This is further explained by the use of a short paragraph that tells of Munny's past. The first few minutes shows how William Munny has become much more of a settled family man since his wife died and so his gangster days are long gone and now owns and runs a ranch with his two children, whom can further accentuate his now much more innocent personality. Due to his presence as a family man we do not initially see him as a villain, and due to the different nature of the story, whereby Munny is asked to kill the villains who cut up the young girl's face, which is well deserved, it makes the audience portray Munny more as a hero, who was only looking out for the best interests of his family. This first scene of tranquillity is contrasted by a stormy second scene as it makes the change from the country to a small Western town, and gives a narrative clue that something that could upset the equilibrium is about to take place. There is a shot emphasising the sign saying billiards upstairs and then we see women being paid for sex. Screaming then breaks the silence and the pace is speeded up using fast editing which portrays the commotion that's taking place. This is stopped abruptly with the pointing of a gun. As in many Western films women are used to demonstrate the issue of male power and pride at this time in history. Within Unforgiven Little Bill, the town sheriff, talks to the head prostitute with little respect and does not listen to her opinion. Within the three films I have examined all three directors use similar iconography to portray the familiar Western scene and the villains always wearing dark clothes, with roughly cut hair and stubble around the mouth. The hero of a Western will always contrast the bad guy. The main themes that are covered are; male pride, loyalty and honour. Women are used repeatedly to show male power in society and are used as mere objects. High Noon is a base that most Western films use and its ideas are often revised. Tying together narrative theories, iconography and typical themes makes these film fit into the Western genre.

French Canadians as Second Class Citizens

French Canadian as 2nd class citizens Since Canada was first formed the French were looked at as the â€Å"white negroes† and second class. This has caused multiple problems in the co-operation of the Canadian people. They were treated this way from all angles. At work at school on the streets in politics and ever at home. 33% of French were unemployed and those who did work were at English owned businesses and industries. Most were being payed the same as the females during the second world war. In the schools children were being taught a different religion in a different language. On the streets 1 5th of the people spoke English. Maurice Duplessis 20 April 1890 – 7 September 1959 served as the 16th  Premier of the canadian province of Quebec  from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative  Union Nationale  party. During the Duplessis reign of 1946-19594 many Anglophone Canadian investors were the owners of the majority of the companies in Quebec. On March 24, 1937 Maurice passed the Padlock law. The law was ill-defined, denied the  presumption of innocence, and clearly denied the right of  freedom of speech  to individuals. Although it did have large restrictions on the English living in Quebec. This law was one great step for the French Canadians. During World War 2 many thousand of men and some women went to war, but most French Canadians did not want to volunteer to fight in the war. This brought on the conscription crisis of 1944. Because conscription was declared late in the war, only 2463 conscripted men reached the front lines. Out of these, 79 lost their lives.

GRE General Quantitative Reasoning Scores

GRE General Quantitative Reasoning Scores   A Concordance Table Between the GRE General and the Prior GRE Scores Many graduate schools out there accept old GRE scores in the 200 - 800 scale as well as the current GRE General scores,  and they use the following concordance table to compare GRE Quantitative scores to get an accurate picture of applicants. If you have received your GRE General Quantitative Reasoning score and want to know how it would compare to the prior GRE Quantitative Reasoning score or work in a graduate program and want to compare students scores from the prior version of the exam, then check out this concordance table below. How Long Are GRE Scores Valid? The GRE policy has changed a little bit since July 2016. For GRE tests taken on or after July 1, 2016, scores are considered part of test-takers reportable history for five years after the test date.  For GRE scores taken before July 1, 2016  the scores are  part of test-takers reportable history for five years after the testing year in which they tested (July 1 - June 30). The GRE enacted the five-year policy to ensure that scores remained valid as older scores may not reflect an applicants  current  quantitative, verbal and analytical ability. Think, for example, how much different you might test if you were in the middle of an advanced math class five years ago when you took the GRE, but havent taken or practiced any advanced math skills since the class ended. Your mathematics and computation knowledge and ability can change quite a bit in a five year span. Or, perhaps, five years ago, you hadnt done too much Verbal reasoning prep, but now you work in an environment that requires you to use reading comprehension skills all day long. Your ability may have shot up over the last five years. ETS wants to ensure that college admissions officers have the best information about testers so they can make the best admissions decisions possible.   GRE Scores and Admissions For those of you using this information for admissions decisions, ETS would like to remind you to keep this in mind: although the current scores allow for greater differentiation between higher ability test takers, if a student received an 800 on the prior GRE, then he or she received the highest possible score available at the time. This must be taken into consideration for all admissions decisions! More GRE Score Information Whats a good GRE General score?GRE General Scores vs. Prior GRE ScoresGRE General Scores for the Top Schools in the CountrySee the Verbal Reasoning Concordance Table The percentile rank listed below is based on students who tested between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015, according to ETS. GRE General Quantitative Reasoning Concordance Table Prior GRE Score GRE General Score Percentile Rank 800 166 91 790 164 87 780 163 85 770 161 79 760 160 76 750 159 73 740 158 70 730 157 67 720 156 63 710 155 59 700 155 59 690 154 55 680 153 51 670 152 47 660 152 47 650 151 43 640 151 43 630 150 39 620 149 35 610 149 35 600 148 31 590 148 31 580 147 27 570 147 27 560 146 24 550 146 24 540 145 20 530 145 20 520 144 17 510 144 17 500 144 17 490 143 14 480 143 14 470 142 12 460 142 12 450 141 10 440 141 10 430 141 10 420 140 8 410 140 8 400 140 8 390 139 6 380 139 6 370 138 4 360 138 4 350 138 4 340 137 3 330 137 3 320 136 2 310 136 2 300 136 2 290 135 1 280 135 1 270 134 1 260 134 1 250 133 1 240 133 1 230 132 1 220 132 1 210 131 1 200 131 1

Microplastics and Their Environmental Effects

Microplastics and Their Environmental Effects Microplastics are small fragments of plastic material, generally defined as smaller than what can be seen by the naked eye.  Our increased reliance on plastics for countless applications has negative consequences to the environment. For example, the plastic manufacturing process is associated with air pollution, and volatile organic compounds released over the life of the plastic have deleterious health effects for humans. Plastic waste takes up significant space in landfills. However, microplastics in the aquatic environment  has been a newly emerging concern in the public consciousness. As the name implies, microplastics are very small, generally too small to see although some scientists include pieces up to 5mm in diameter (about a fifth of an inch). They are of various types, including polyethylene (e.g., plastic bags, bottles), polystyrene (e.g., food containers), nylon, or PVC. These plastic items become degraded by heat, UV light, oxidation, mechanical action, and biodegradation by living organisms like bacteria. These processes yield increasingly small particles that eventually can be classified as microplastics. Microplastics On the Beach   It appears that the beach environment, with its abundant sunlight and very high temperatures at ground level, is where the degradation processes operate fastest. On the hot sand surface, plastic trash fades, becomes brittle, then cracks and breaks down. High tides and wind pick up the tiny plastic particles and eventually add them to the growing great garbage patches found in the oceans. Since beach pollution is a major contributor of microplastic pollution, beach cleanup efforts turn out to be much more than esthetic exercises.   Environmental Effects of Microplastics Many persistent organic pollutants (for example, pesticides, PCBs, DDT, and dioxins) float around the oceans at low concentrations, but their hydrophobic nature concentrates them on the surface of plastic particles. Marine animals mistakenly feed on the microplastics, and at the same time ingest the toxic pollutants. The chemicals accumulate in the animal tissues and then increase in concentration as the pollutants are transferred up the food chain.As the plastics degrade and become brittle, they leach out monomers like BPA which can then be absorbed by marine life, with relatively little known consequences.Besides the associated chemical loads, ingested plastic materials can be damaging for marine organisms, as they can lead to digestive blockage or internal damage from abrasion. There is still much research needed to properly evaluate this issue.Being so numerous, microplastics provide abundant surfaces for small organisms to attach. This dramatic increase in colonization opportuni ties can have population-level consequences. In addition, these plastics are essentially rafts for organisms to travel further than they usually would, making them vectors for spreading invasive marine species. Microbeads A more recent source of trash in the oceans is the tiny polyethylene spheres, or microbeads, increasingly found in many consumer products. These microplastics do not come from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic but instead are engineered additives to cosmetics and personal care products. They are most often used in skin care products and toothpaste and wash down drains, pass through water treatment plants, and end up in freshwater and marine environments. There is increased pressure for countries and states to regulate microbead use, and many large personal care product companies have pledged to find other alternatives. Sources Andrady, A. 2011. Microplastics in the Marine Environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin.Wright et al. 2013. The Physical Impacts of Microplastics on Marine Organisms: A Review. Environmental Pollution.

Character Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Character Analysis - Assignment Example Amir has a great friend Hassan and a wealthy father. He greatly adores his father. In his first year of friendship with Hassan, he is joyful about the friendship and values Hassan very much. However, things begin to change and jealousy, cruelty and the power struggle are witnessed. Amir’s mother died while giving birth to him (Hosseini 12). He therefore lives with his father who means everything to him. He comes out as someone who has a great lack in his life because of the death of his mother. He also feels somehow responsible for the death of his mother. As a tribute to her dead mother, he throws himself into writing and poetry. Things start changing for the worse when Amir starts believing that his father also holds him responsible for the death of her mother. Amir starts getting jealous with Hassan because of the attention that Hassan is receiving from his father, Baba. Amir admires Baba very much, but Baba does not seem to have time for him. Lack of ‘manliness’ seem to be the reason for the behavior and attitude of Baba towards Amir. Baba cannot understand how his son cannot stand up for himself. All the tension finally comes to breaking point when Amir wins a Kite –fighting tournament and Baba finally shows him some love (Clapsaddle 3). This does not however end the jealousy and cruelty he bears towards Hassan because of the affection Hassan gets from Baba. Amir shows his disapproval of Hassan by not helping him when he is raped by Assef. He goes ahead to accuse Hassan of theft and this leads to Hassan being thrown out of Baba’s house. When Amir and Baba arrive in the USA, he no longer views his father as legendary father. To him he is now just a normal father. America allows the young man to forget the betrayals and power struggles he had with Hassan in Afghanistan. Amir now starts to take care of his father. He goes ahead to meet a Saroya who he