GEORGE WASHINGTON.
George Washington was born on his father's estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. He was the oldest son of a Virginia farmer, Augistine Washington , by his second wife, Mary Ball, The Washington family was descended from two brothers, John and Lawrence Washington, who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1657. The family's rise to modest wealth in three generations was the result of steady application to farming, land buying, and development of local industries. George seemed to have received most of his schooling from his father and, after the father's death in 1743, from his older half-brother Lawrence. The boy enjoyed mathematics, and he applied it to acquiring a knowledge of surveying, which was a skill greatly in demand in a country where people were seeking new lands in the West. For the Virginians of that time the West meant the upper Ohio River valley. Throughout his life, George Washington maintained a keen interest in the development of these western lands, and from time to time he bought properties for himself. Under the terms of the Constitution, the formal election for the president was done by electors, who were collectively called the Electoral College. Each elector was to vote for the two persons he considered most qualified; the winner would be the president, and the runner-up would be the vice president. The electors themselves were chosen January 7, 1789, by the direct vote of the people in some states, and by the legislature in other states. The electors met en each state on February 4 and unanimously voted for George Washington, who thereby became president. Their second choice, far from unanimous, was John Adams of Massachusetts. This pleased Washington because he had feared that the vice presidency might ho to Governor George Clinton of New York, who favored drastic amendment of the constitution. Washington, considering these amendments dangerous, had allowed amendment word to go out that votes for Adams would be agreeable to him because he considered Adams to be a safe man and a strong supporter of the constitution. Also, Washington still had a lingering hope that, after getting the government well started, he might resign from office and hasten home to Mount Vernon. He could not reconcile this hope with his conscience unless a man he considered safe was next in line of succession. In the spring of 1790, Washington was struck by a severe cold and then by influenza. For several days it was thought that George would not live. The illness and the anxiety it caused throughout the country underlined Washington's importance to the new nation. Abigail Adams, wife of the vice president, wrote: It appears to me that the union of the states and consequently the permanency of the government depend under Providence upon his life. At this early day when neither our finances are arranged nor our government sufficiently cemented to promise duration, his death would …have…the most disastrous consequences. (page 322 Encyclopedia) Washington attended the inauguration of President John Adams on March 4, 1797, and left Philadelphia two days later for Mount Vernon. There he wrote to an old friend that he did not intend to allow the political turmoil of the country to disturb his ease. I shall view things, he said, in the light of mild philosophy. But he did not always agree to this resolve. He strongly opposed the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, which where an attempt to limit federal powers in line with Jefferson's beliefs. These resolutions seemed to Washington a formula for the dissolution of the Union. In that year also, he accepted the nominal command of the army should the undeclared hostility with France develop into open war. The last journey of his life, in 1799, were to the army camp at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and to Philadelphia to consult on any matters. Early on the morning of December 14, 1799, Washington awoke with an inflamed throat. His condition rapidly got worse. He was further weakened by medical treatment that involved frequent blood letting. He faced death calmly and died at 11:30 later that night. In the national mourning that followed, many tributes were paid to Washington. President Adams call the most illustrious and beloved person that the country had produced. Adams later added: His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age but in future generations as long as our history shall be read.
Facebook Badge
Friday, June 22, 2007
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
Explore, discover and develop or seek, destroy and conquer. Almost everyone recognizes the name Christopher Columbus and understands what his role was in changing the views, lifestyles, politics, and geography of the fifteenth century modern world. Christopher Columbus discovered a world known to no European, African or Asian. He discovered the “New World”, the Americas. However, is today’s society aware of the consequences, which came with this new found world or are they blinded by biased history books and school texts. My view of Christopher Columbus and his glorious discovery was a traditional one. Columbus, the “great explorer”, heroically discovered the Americas making friends with the natives creating a new way of life for the entire world. I am sorry to say that I was misguided in my education about Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451 the son of a weaver and by the time he reach his late teenage years he went to sea and voyaged for many years trading for various employers in Genoa, Italy. His work eventually took him to England in 1477 and West Africa in 1482. About this time he began to seek financial support for a major Atlantic expedition. Most writers and philosophers, along with Columbus, had accepted that the Earth was round, and so Columbus understood that China and Japan could be reached by sailing west. His idea was logical, but not factual. Columbus didn’t count on there being giant landmasses between the two, which was never explored by anyone outside of the Eastern Hemisphere. For some years Columbus failed to obtain support for a transatlantic expedition but in March 1492 the catholic monarchs of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand, approved his voyage and awarded him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and the governorship of any new land he might discover. He set sail in August 1492 with his fleet of three ships and one hundred men and made landfall in the Bahamas, October 1492. Prior to my revised education about Christopher Columbus, the preceding two paragraphs about his pre-discovery are just about the same in both histories, however from the moment he steps foot on land is where they conflict. My original views of how he handled his discovery probably matched a majority of the population’s. In 1492 Christopher Columbus made a famous mistake as he discovered America. Unaware of the existence of America, he believed that his ships landed at the Spice Islands near India and named the islands the Indies and their people the Indians. Christopher Columbus, in my eyes was a brave, brilliant, great explorer. I viewed him as a man second to none, especially because I share the same ethnic background with him. When I first entered this class I wondered why we were going to learn about a hero like Columbus when everyone knows of him and his journey. However, after reading Zinn’s shocking depiction of history and Columbus’ conquest of the “New World”, it shed a new light on an old tale. Upon his discovery and his interaction with the natives, which he called Indians, Columbus recognized opportunity for him and the Kingdom that he represented. “They (the Indians) should be made to work, farm and live like us.” Columbus wrote in his letter to Isabella and Ferdinand. Columbus used their good, trusting nature to take their land and enslave them to find gold and work on plantations killing any Indian who opposed him. He and most Europeans felt that their own culture was far better and usually described Indians as savages. Columbus’ men acted as if they were rulers of a kingdom or gods of a new world and had no mercy, sometimes brutally killing Indian men and children for fun and raping the women. They brought disease, famine and death to millions of people who were peaceful, giving and loving. My view of Christopher Columbus is no longer the one I grew up with, but it is one of embarrassment, disgust and abhorrence. I have always thought that Columbus explored the world, discovering America to develop the advancement of the human race, peacefully. Now I know that he searched for a new way to make money destroying the Native American’s life, conquering all.
Explore, discover and develop or seek, destroy and conquer. Almost everyone recognizes the name Christopher Columbus and understands what his role was in changing the views, lifestyles, politics, and geography of the fifteenth century modern world. Christopher Columbus discovered a world known to no European, African or Asian. He discovered the “New World”, the Americas. However, is today’s society aware of the consequences, which came with this new found world or are they blinded by biased history books and school texts. My view of Christopher Columbus and his glorious discovery was a traditional one. Columbus, the “great explorer”, heroically discovered the Americas making friends with the natives creating a new way of life for the entire world. I am sorry to say that I was misguided in my education about Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451 the son of a weaver and by the time he reach his late teenage years he went to sea and voyaged for many years trading for various employers in Genoa, Italy. His work eventually took him to England in 1477 and West Africa in 1482. About this time he began to seek financial support for a major Atlantic expedition. Most writers and philosophers, along with Columbus, had accepted that the Earth was round, and so Columbus understood that China and Japan could be reached by sailing west. His idea was logical, but not factual. Columbus didn’t count on there being giant landmasses between the two, which was never explored by anyone outside of the Eastern Hemisphere. For some years Columbus failed to obtain support for a transatlantic expedition but in March 1492 the catholic monarchs of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand, approved his voyage and awarded him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and the governorship of any new land he might discover. He set sail in August 1492 with his fleet of three ships and one hundred men and made landfall in the Bahamas, October 1492. Prior to my revised education about Christopher Columbus, the preceding two paragraphs about his pre-discovery are just about the same in both histories, however from the moment he steps foot on land is where they conflict. My original views of how he handled his discovery probably matched a majority of the population’s. In 1492 Christopher Columbus made a famous mistake as he discovered America. Unaware of the existence of America, he believed that his ships landed at the Spice Islands near India and named the islands the Indies and their people the Indians. Christopher Columbus, in my eyes was a brave, brilliant, great explorer. I viewed him as a man second to none, especially because I share the same ethnic background with him. When I first entered this class I wondered why we were going to learn about a hero like Columbus when everyone knows of him and his journey. However, after reading Zinn’s shocking depiction of history and Columbus’ conquest of the “New World”, it shed a new light on an old tale. Upon his discovery and his interaction with the natives, which he called Indians, Columbus recognized opportunity for him and the Kingdom that he represented. “They (the Indians) should be made to work, farm and live like us.” Columbus wrote in his letter to Isabella and Ferdinand. Columbus used their good, trusting nature to take their land and enslave them to find gold and work on plantations killing any Indian who opposed him. He and most Europeans felt that their own culture was far better and usually described Indians as savages. Columbus’ men acted as if they were rulers of a kingdom or gods of a new world and had no mercy, sometimes brutally killing Indian men and children for fun and raping the women. They brought disease, famine and death to millions of people who were peaceful, giving and loving. My view of Christopher Columbus is no longer the one I grew up with, but it is one of embarrassment, disgust and abhorrence. I have always thought that Columbus explored the world, discovering America to develop the advancement of the human race, peacefully. Now I know that he searched for a new way to make money destroying the Native American’s life, conquering all.
BEETHOVEN.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer who is considered to be one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was born in Bonn. Beethoven’s father’s harsh discipline and alcoholism made his childhood and adolescence difficult. After his mother’s death, at the age of 18, he placed himself at the head of the family, taking responsibility for his two younger brothers, both of whom followed him when he later moved to Vienna, Austria. In Bonn, Beethoven’s most important composition teacher was German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, with whom he studied during the 1780’s. Neefe mostly used the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach in his instruction. He later encouraged his student to study with Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom Beethoven met briefly in Vienna in 1787. In 1792 Beethoven made another journey to Vienna to study with Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, and he stayed there the rest of his life. Having begun his career as an outstanding improviser at the piano and composer of piano music. Beethoven went on to compose string quartets and other kinds of chamber music, songs, two masses, an opera, and nine symphonies. Perhaps the most famous work of classical music in existence is Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in D minor op. 125. Like his opera Fidelio and many other works, the Ninth Symphony depicts an initial struggle with adversity and concludes with an uplifting vision of freedom and social harmony. Yet just as his success seemed assured, he was confronted with the loss of that sense which he depended on, his hearing. This impairment gradually put an end to his performing career. However, Beethoven’s achievements did not suffer from his hearing loss but instead gained in richness and power over the years. His artistic growth was reflected in a series of masterpieces, including the Symphony No.3, Fidelio, and the Symphony No.5. These works were from his second period, which is called his heroic style. Beethoven’s fame during his lifetime reached its peak in 1814. The enthusiastic response from the public to his music at this time was focused on showy works, such as Wellington’s Victory. During the last decade of his life Beethoven had almost completely lost his hearing, and he was increasingly socially isolated. Plagued at times by serious illness, Beethoven nevertheless maintained his sense of humor and he often amused himself with jokes and puns. He continued to work at a high level of creativity until he contracted pneumonia in December 1826. He died in Vienna in March 1827. Beethoven’s music is generally divided into three main creative periods. The first, or early. Period extends to about 1802, when the composer made reference to a “new manner” or “new way” in connection with his art. The second, or middle, period extends to about 1812, after the completion of his seventh and Eighth symphonies. The third, or late, period emerged gradually; Beethoven composed its pivotal work, the Hammerklavier Sonata.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer who is considered to be one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was born in Bonn. Beethoven’s father’s harsh discipline and alcoholism made his childhood and adolescence difficult. After his mother’s death, at the age of 18, he placed himself at the head of the family, taking responsibility for his two younger brothers, both of whom followed him when he later moved to Vienna, Austria. In Bonn, Beethoven’s most important composition teacher was German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, with whom he studied during the 1780’s. Neefe mostly used the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach in his instruction. He later encouraged his student to study with Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom Beethoven met briefly in Vienna in 1787. In 1792 Beethoven made another journey to Vienna to study with Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, and he stayed there the rest of his life. Having begun his career as an outstanding improviser at the piano and composer of piano music. Beethoven went on to compose string quartets and other kinds of chamber music, songs, two masses, an opera, and nine symphonies. Perhaps the most famous work of classical music in existence is Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in D minor op. 125. Like his opera Fidelio and many other works, the Ninth Symphony depicts an initial struggle with adversity and concludes with an uplifting vision of freedom and social harmony. Yet just as his success seemed assured, he was confronted with the loss of that sense which he depended on, his hearing. This impairment gradually put an end to his performing career. However, Beethoven’s achievements did not suffer from his hearing loss but instead gained in richness and power over the years. His artistic growth was reflected in a series of masterpieces, including the Symphony No.3, Fidelio, and the Symphony No.5. These works were from his second period, which is called his heroic style. Beethoven’s fame during his lifetime reached its peak in 1814. The enthusiastic response from the public to his music at this time was focused on showy works, such as Wellington’s Victory. During the last decade of his life Beethoven had almost completely lost his hearing, and he was increasingly socially isolated. Plagued at times by serious illness, Beethoven nevertheless maintained his sense of humor and he often amused himself with jokes and puns. He continued to work at a high level of creativity until he contracted pneumonia in December 1826. He died in Vienna in March 1827. Beethoven’s music is generally divided into three main creative periods. The first, or early. Period extends to about 1802, when the composer made reference to a “new manner” or “new way” in connection with his art. The second, or middle, period extends to about 1812, after the completion of his seventh and Eighth symphonies. The third, or late, period emerged gradually; Beethoven composed its pivotal work, the Hammerklavier Sonata.
ALEXANDER
ALEXANDER-THE GREAT.
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Alexander, born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus. Aristotle was Alexander's tutor; he gave Alexander a thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. In the summer of 336 BC Philip was assassinated, and Alexander ascended to the Macedonian throne. He found himself surrounded by enemies at home and threatened by rebellion abroad. Alexander disposed quickly of all conspirators and domestic enemies by ordering their execution. Then he descended on Thessaly, where partisans of independence had gained ascendancy, and restored Macedonian rule. Before the end of the summer of 336 BC he had reestablished his position in Greece and was elected by a congress of states at Corinth. In 335 BC as general of the Greeks in a campaign against the Persians, originally planned by his father, he carried out a successful campaign against the defecting Thracians, penetrating to the Danube River. On his return he crushed in a single week the threatening Illyrians and then hastened to Thebes, which had revolted. He took the city by storm and razed it, sparing only the temples of the gods and the house of the Greek lyric poet Pindar, and selling the surviving inhabitants, about 8000 in number, into slavery. Alexander's promptness in crushing the revolt of Thebes brought the other Greek states into instant and abject submission. Alexander began his war against Persia in the spring of 334 BC by crossing the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) with an army of 35,000 Macedonian and Greek troops; his chief officers, all Macedonians, included Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. At the river Granicus, near the ancient city of Troy, he attacked an army of Persians and Greek hoplites (mercenaries) totaling 40,000 men. His forces defeated the enemy and, according to tradition, lost only 110 men; after this battle all the states of Asia Minor submitted to him. In passing through Phrygia he is said to have cut with his sword the Gordian knot. Continuing to advance southward, Alexander encountered the main Persian army, commanded by King Darius III, at Issus, in northeastern Syria. The size of Darius's army is unknown; the ancient tradition that it contained 500,000 men is now considered a fantastic exaggeration. The Battle of Issus, in 333, ended in a great victory for Alexander. Cut off from his base, Darius fled northward, abandoning his mother, wife, and children to Alexander, who treated them with the respect due to royalty. Tyre, a strongly fortified seaport, offered obstinate resistance, but Alexander took it by storm in 332 after a siege of seven months. Alexander captured Gaza next and then passed on into Egypt, where he was greeted as a deliverer. By these successes he secured control of the entire eastern Mediterranean coastline. Later in 332 he founded, at the mouth of the Nile River, the city of Alexandria, which later became the literary
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Alexander, born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus. Aristotle was Alexander's tutor; he gave Alexander a thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. In the summer of 336 BC Philip was assassinated, and Alexander ascended to the Macedonian throne. He found himself surrounded by enemies at home and threatened by rebellion abroad. Alexander disposed quickly of all conspirators and domestic enemies by ordering their execution. Then he descended on Thessaly, where partisans of independence had gained ascendancy, and restored Macedonian rule. Before the end of the summer of 336 BC he had reestablished his position in Greece and was elected by a congress of states at Corinth. In 335 BC as general of the Greeks in a campaign against the Persians, originally planned by his father, he carried out a successful campaign against the defecting Thracians, penetrating to the Danube River. On his return he crushed in a single week the threatening Illyrians and then hastened to Thebes, which had revolted. He took the city by storm and razed it, sparing only the temples of the gods and the house of the Greek lyric poet Pindar, and selling the surviving inhabitants, about 8000 in number, into slavery. Alexander's promptness in crushing the revolt of Thebes brought the other Greek states into instant and abject submission. Alexander began his war against Persia in the spring of 334 BC by crossing the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) with an army of 35,000 Macedonian and Greek troops; his chief officers, all Macedonians, included Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. At the river Granicus, near the ancient city of Troy, he attacked an army of Persians and Greek hoplites (mercenaries) totaling 40,000 men. His forces defeated the enemy and, according to tradition, lost only 110 men; after this battle all the states of Asia Minor submitted to him. In passing through Phrygia he is said to have cut with his sword the Gordian knot. Continuing to advance southward, Alexander encountered the main Persian army, commanded by King Darius III, at Issus, in northeastern Syria. The size of Darius's army is unknown; the ancient tradition that it contained 500,000 men is now considered a fantastic exaggeration. The Battle of Issus, in 333, ended in a great victory for Alexander. Cut off from his base, Darius fled northward, abandoning his mother, wife, and children to Alexander, who treated them with the respect due to royalty. Tyre, a strongly fortified seaport, offered obstinate resistance, but Alexander took it by storm in 332 after a siege of seven months. Alexander captured Gaza next and then passed on into Egypt, where he was greeted as a deliverer. By these successes he secured control of the entire eastern Mediterranean coastline. Later in 332 he founded, at the mouth of the Nile River, the city of Alexandria, which later became the literary
ADOLF HITLER.
ADOLF HITLER.
For the past week I have been researching three men, Joseph Stalin, Mao, and Adolf Hitler for an answer to a question; who is the most evil? Which, means that I had to think about what exactly was evil for me. Now the dictionary they have a simple definition for it, which is: morally reprehensible, sinful, wicked. But there could be so many different meanings, because there are many different people in the world. So, these three men were judged on my definition of evil. Evil to me is someone who consciously knows what there doing but still doesn’t care, someone who purposely tries to cause destruction on other people, one who possibly thinks that they are somewhat of a messiah, and someone who manipulates people, especially children, into thinking that what they believe is what they are suppose to believe in a fight for. And after many articles, papers, direct quotes, and book scanning, I have come up with my answer. After getting into his mind, reading his thoughts, and listening to his speeches, I have to say Adolf Hitler. Killing people in it is evil but his manipulation, power, and demented thoughts, he acted on, terrified me. This man appalls me. Everything he represents and started repulses me. When I look at pictures of him I know in my heart that what I am looking at is pure evil, and that’s why I know it is him that I am going to write about. Adolf Hitler was born at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of April 20, 1889; he was born in the small Austrian village of Braunau Am Inn just across the border from German Bavaria. His father was Alois Hiedler, who earlier changed his name to Hitler, and was a retired from the Austrian civil service by the time Adolf was 6. Alois was used to giving orders and having the obeyed and also expected this from his children. Adolf’s older brother was badly beaten by their father and by thirteen ran away, leaving Adolf to get the physical and mental abuse at the age of only 7. One day, Hitler went rummaging through his father’s book collection and came across several of a military nature, including a picture book on the War of 1870-1871 between the Germans and the French. By Hitler’s own account this book became an obsession. He read it over and over, becoming convinced it had been a glorious event. “It was not long before the great historic struggle had become my greatest spiritual experience. From then on, I became more and more enthusiastic about everything that was in any way connected with the war or, for that matter, with soldering.” –Hitler stated in his book Mein Kampf. At age 21 Adolf Hitler was homeless in Vienna and somewhat of an artists. Even before he came to Vienna, Hitler had a personality notable for its lack of empathy. Many historians have concluded Hitler suffered psychological distress partly brought on by an unhappy childhood notably his relationship with his father, a domineering, at times cruel man. In Vienna, and later, Hitler suffered bouts of depression. Other times he experienced extreme highs, only to by followed by a drop back into the depths. One consistent personality trait was the hysteria evident whenever someone displeased him. Hitler’s personality has been described as basically hysterical in nature. This is where Hitler started to get thoughts about Jewish people. Hitler describes the transformation in his thinking regarding the Jews, as to begin with a chance meeting. “Once, as I was strolling through the inner city, I suddenly encountered an apparition in a black caftan and black hair locks. Is this a Jew? Was my first thought. For, to be sure, they had not looked like that in Linz. I observed the man furtively and cautiously, but the longer I stared at this foreign face, scrutinizing feature for feature, the more my first question assumed a new for: is this a German?” -Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf. To answer his own question, he immersed himself in anti-Semitic literature. Then he went out and studied Jews as they passed by. “ …The more I saw, the more sharply they became distinguished in my eyes from the rest of humanity…” Hitler, Mein Kampf. Even though, he continually did business and maintain friendships with Jews, Some say that the seeds of hate were planted and would be nurtured by events soon to come laying the foundation for one of the greatest tragedies in all of human history. In the last few paragraphs I have explained some events that happened in Hitler’s life to maybe let you be educated a little more on him. Maybe these might be some of the reasons he hates or has problems. Maybe he really did have psychiac problems. But still it is not an excuse. From Point A to B, he knew what he was doing. He knew the pain and destruction he was giving to people and that was yet to stop him. While spending time in prison for trying to overthrow the government, Adolf Hitler wrote his famous book “Mein Kampf”, in which he describes many problems and where he states the Jews and communists were responsible for those problems. He also decided on the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Question”. It was his goal to eliminate the Jewish race from the European continent. In his book Hitler divides humans into categories based on physical appearance, establishing higher and lower orders, or types of humans. At the top, according to Hitler, is the Germanic man with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Hitler refers to this type of person as an Aryan. He asserts the Aryan is the supreme form of human, or master race. And so it follows in Hitler’s thinking, if there is a supreme form of human, then there must be others less than supreme, the Untermenschen, or racially inferior. Hitler assigns this position to Jews and the Slavic peoples, notably the Czechs, Poles, and Russians. “…it (Nazi philosophy) by no means believes in an equality of races, but along with their difference it recognizes their higher or lesser value and feels itself obligated to promote the victory of the better and stronger, and demand the subordination of the inferior and weaker in accordance with the eternal will that dominates this universe.” –Hitler states in Mein Kampf He then states the Aryan is also culturally superior. “ All the human culture, all the results of art, science, and technology we see before us today are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan…Hence it is no accident that the first cultures arose in places where the Aryan, in his encounters with lower peoples, subjugated them and bent the to his will. They then became the first technical instrument in the service of a developing culture.” Hitler goes on to say that subjugated peoples actually benefit by being conquered because they come in contact with and learn from the superior Aryans. However, he adds they benefit only as long the Aryan remains absolute master and doesn’t mingle or inter-marry with inferior conquered peoples. But it is the Jews, Hitler says, who are engaged in a conspiracy to keep this master race from assuming its rightful position as rulers of the world, by tainting its racial and cultural purity and even inventing forms of government in which the Aryan comes to believe in equality and fails to recognize his racial superiority. “The mightiest counterpart to the Aryan is represented by the Jew” Hitler describes the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural, and political battle between Aryans and Jews. He outlines his thoughts in detail, accusing the Jews of conducting an international conspiracy to control world finances, controlling the press, inventing liberal democracy as well as Marxism, promoting prostitution and vice, and using culture to spread disharmony. Throughout all of these thoughts and ideas, Hitler, never once thought what he was teaching and spreading through Germany was wrong. To him this was not wrong but the way of life they were the masters and the Jews were the peasants. Which is evil enough, in a way. Through out Mein Kampf, Hitler refers to Jews as parasites, liars, dirty, crafty, sly, wily, repulsive, unscrupulous, monsters, foreign, menace, bloodthirsty, avaricious, the destroyer of Aryan humanity, and the mortal enemy of Aryan humanity. This conspiracy idea and the notion on ‘competition’ for world domination between Jews and Aryans would become widespread beliefs in Nazi Germany and would even be taught to school children. Many of the children fought for the war and wear known as “Hitler’s kids.” So not only did this man have hate but then use his hate, he also began to manipulate and put thoughts into young children’s mind to help him for battle. Once Hitler became chancellor and eventually took over totally they changed their mind. The first thing he did was to take away the Jews right to vote. Soon they were not allowed to marry with a pure German, they could not hold positions such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, and so on. Many Jews only then realized that he was serious and many fled Germany. Hitler took over many places before the other countries did anything to stop him but then in 1939, they could wait no more. The Nazi’s were then told to round up Jews, Communists, Gypsies, Homosexuals and others which were viewed as “Inferior” according to Nazi racial theory and enemies of the German people and put on trains. They were all sent to Concentration camps, which were set up to implement the ‘final solution’. Camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Bergen Belsen, were all equipped with gas chambers to make the killing process quick and efficient. In those camps 6 million Jews and the Nazis killed many others. Hitler’s army seemed unstoppable but in the end, the allies managed to win many decisive battles. Then on the fateful day of April 30th, 1945 Hitler committed suicide in his bunker by shooting himself in the mouth. His body was burned, but no ones know what happened to the “Fuhrer’s” ashes. On May 7th, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally. This should all show why I think that Hitler is an evil man. To be cruel enough to get into people’s minds and make them think like you is appalling. To know that he took 6 million life’s in his hand and destroyed them, because they were not the perfect human, is awful. What he started really never was stopped. We still have white supremacist, Nazi’s, Klu-Klux-Klan, etc. These groups may say that they are different but in my eyes they are all the same and many of them looked to Hitler as a leader and someone to guide them through the racial battle they were causing. Even though I think that Hitler had an incredible mind and he also was a very powerful speaker, the way he used it is horrible. The world will never forget that war, and the people that’s family were in the concentration camps will never have those scars, it left, healed. He has caused pain, suffering, and hate all over the world, which is why I think this man, is so evil.
For the past week I have been researching three men, Joseph Stalin, Mao, and Adolf Hitler for an answer to a question; who is the most evil? Which, means that I had to think about what exactly was evil for me. Now the dictionary they have a simple definition for it, which is: morally reprehensible, sinful, wicked. But there could be so many different meanings, because there are many different people in the world. So, these three men were judged on my definition of evil. Evil to me is someone who consciously knows what there doing but still doesn’t care, someone who purposely tries to cause destruction on other people, one who possibly thinks that they are somewhat of a messiah, and someone who manipulates people, especially children, into thinking that what they believe is what they are suppose to believe in a fight for. And after many articles, papers, direct quotes, and book scanning, I have come up with my answer. After getting into his mind, reading his thoughts, and listening to his speeches, I have to say Adolf Hitler. Killing people in it is evil but his manipulation, power, and demented thoughts, he acted on, terrified me. This man appalls me. Everything he represents and started repulses me. When I look at pictures of him I know in my heart that what I am looking at is pure evil, and that’s why I know it is him that I am going to write about. Adolf Hitler was born at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of April 20, 1889; he was born in the small Austrian village of Braunau Am Inn just across the border from German Bavaria. His father was Alois Hiedler, who earlier changed his name to Hitler, and was a retired from the Austrian civil service by the time Adolf was 6. Alois was used to giving orders and having the obeyed and also expected this from his children. Adolf’s older brother was badly beaten by their father and by thirteen ran away, leaving Adolf to get the physical and mental abuse at the age of only 7. One day, Hitler went rummaging through his father’s book collection and came across several of a military nature, including a picture book on the War of 1870-1871 between the Germans and the French. By Hitler’s own account this book became an obsession. He read it over and over, becoming convinced it had been a glorious event. “It was not long before the great historic struggle had become my greatest spiritual experience. From then on, I became more and more enthusiastic about everything that was in any way connected with the war or, for that matter, with soldering.” –Hitler stated in his book Mein Kampf. At age 21 Adolf Hitler was homeless in Vienna and somewhat of an artists. Even before he came to Vienna, Hitler had a personality notable for its lack of empathy. Many historians have concluded Hitler suffered psychological distress partly brought on by an unhappy childhood notably his relationship with his father, a domineering, at times cruel man. In Vienna, and later, Hitler suffered bouts of depression. Other times he experienced extreme highs, only to by followed by a drop back into the depths. One consistent personality trait was the hysteria evident whenever someone displeased him. Hitler’s personality has been described as basically hysterical in nature. This is where Hitler started to get thoughts about Jewish people. Hitler describes the transformation in his thinking regarding the Jews, as to begin with a chance meeting. “Once, as I was strolling through the inner city, I suddenly encountered an apparition in a black caftan and black hair locks. Is this a Jew? Was my first thought. For, to be sure, they had not looked like that in Linz. I observed the man furtively and cautiously, but the longer I stared at this foreign face, scrutinizing feature for feature, the more my first question assumed a new for: is this a German?” -Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf. To answer his own question, he immersed himself in anti-Semitic literature. Then he went out and studied Jews as they passed by. “ …The more I saw, the more sharply they became distinguished in my eyes from the rest of humanity…” Hitler, Mein Kampf. Even though, he continually did business and maintain friendships with Jews, Some say that the seeds of hate were planted and would be nurtured by events soon to come laying the foundation for one of the greatest tragedies in all of human history. In the last few paragraphs I have explained some events that happened in Hitler’s life to maybe let you be educated a little more on him. Maybe these might be some of the reasons he hates or has problems. Maybe he really did have psychiac problems. But still it is not an excuse. From Point A to B, he knew what he was doing. He knew the pain and destruction he was giving to people and that was yet to stop him. While spending time in prison for trying to overthrow the government, Adolf Hitler wrote his famous book “Mein Kampf”, in which he describes many problems and where he states the Jews and communists were responsible for those problems. He also decided on the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Question”. It was his goal to eliminate the Jewish race from the European continent. In his book Hitler divides humans into categories based on physical appearance, establishing higher and lower orders, or types of humans. At the top, according to Hitler, is the Germanic man with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Hitler refers to this type of person as an Aryan. He asserts the Aryan is the supreme form of human, or master race. And so it follows in Hitler’s thinking, if there is a supreme form of human, then there must be others less than supreme, the Untermenschen, or racially inferior. Hitler assigns this position to Jews and the Slavic peoples, notably the Czechs, Poles, and Russians. “…it (Nazi philosophy) by no means believes in an equality of races, but along with their difference it recognizes their higher or lesser value and feels itself obligated to promote the victory of the better and stronger, and demand the subordination of the inferior and weaker in accordance with the eternal will that dominates this universe.” –Hitler states in Mein Kampf He then states the Aryan is also culturally superior. “ All the human culture, all the results of art, science, and technology we see before us today are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan…Hence it is no accident that the first cultures arose in places where the Aryan, in his encounters with lower peoples, subjugated them and bent the to his will. They then became the first technical instrument in the service of a developing culture.” Hitler goes on to say that subjugated peoples actually benefit by being conquered because they come in contact with and learn from the superior Aryans. However, he adds they benefit only as long the Aryan remains absolute master and doesn’t mingle or inter-marry with inferior conquered peoples. But it is the Jews, Hitler says, who are engaged in a conspiracy to keep this master race from assuming its rightful position as rulers of the world, by tainting its racial and cultural purity and even inventing forms of government in which the Aryan comes to believe in equality and fails to recognize his racial superiority. “The mightiest counterpart to the Aryan is represented by the Jew” Hitler describes the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural, and political battle between Aryans and Jews. He outlines his thoughts in detail, accusing the Jews of conducting an international conspiracy to control world finances, controlling the press, inventing liberal democracy as well as Marxism, promoting prostitution and vice, and using culture to spread disharmony. Throughout all of these thoughts and ideas, Hitler, never once thought what he was teaching and spreading through Germany was wrong. To him this was not wrong but the way of life they were the masters and the Jews were the peasants. Which is evil enough, in a way. Through out Mein Kampf, Hitler refers to Jews as parasites, liars, dirty, crafty, sly, wily, repulsive, unscrupulous, monsters, foreign, menace, bloodthirsty, avaricious, the destroyer of Aryan humanity, and the mortal enemy of Aryan humanity. This conspiracy idea and the notion on ‘competition’ for world domination between Jews and Aryans would become widespread beliefs in Nazi Germany and would even be taught to school children. Many of the children fought for the war and wear known as “Hitler’s kids.” So not only did this man have hate but then use his hate, he also began to manipulate and put thoughts into young children’s mind to help him for battle. Once Hitler became chancellor and eventually took over totally they changed their mind. The first thing he did was to take away the Jews right to vote. Soon they were not allowed to marry with a pure German, they could not hold positions such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, and so on. Many Jews only then realized that he was serious and many fled Germany. Hitler took over many places before the other countries did anything to stop him but then in 1939, they could wait no more. The Nazi’s were then told to round up Jews, Communists, Gypsies, Homosexuals and others which were viewed as “Inferior” according to Nazi racial theory and enemies of the German people and put on trains. They were all sent to Concentration camps, which were set up to implement the ‘final solution’. Camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Bergen Belsen, were all equipped with gas chambers to make the killing process quick and efficient. In those camps 6 million Jews and the Nazis killed many others. Hitler’s army seemed unstoppable but in the end, the allies managed to win many decisive battles. Then on the fateful day of April 30th, 1945 Hitler committed suicide in his bunker by shooting himself in the mouth. His body was burned, but no ones know what happened to the “Fuhrer’s” ashes. On May 7th, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally. This should all show why I think that Hitler is an evil man. To be cruel enough to get into people’s minds and make them think like you is appalling. To know that he took 6 million life’s in his hand and destroyed them, because they were not the perfect human, is awful. What he started really never was stopped. We still have white supremacist, Nazi’s, Klu-Klux-Klan, etc. These groups may say that they are different but in my eyes they are all the same and many of them looked to Hitler as a leader and someone to guide them through the racial battle they were causing. Even though I think that Hitler had an incredible mind and he also was a very powerful speaker, the way he used it is horrible. The world will never forget that war, and the people that’s family were in the concentration camps will never have those scars, it left, healed. He has caused pain, suffering, and hate all over the world, which is why I think this man, is so evil.
SPACE RESEARCH.
The urge to explore and search the unknown is part of human nature and has led to many of the most important changes in our standard of living. Searching and exploring enriches our spirits and reminds us of the great potential of achievement. The drive to develop the next frontier has also been a fundamental part of the heritage of the people of the world. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on the exploration of space. Many citizens doubt the necessity to research our solar system and the rest of our universe. Spaceflight may seem us as an ultramodern idea, but evidence of the dream of space exploration exists as far back as texts from early centuries from the first millennium. From Thales to Copernicus including almost 14 hundred years some of the scientists could declare that the earth was round and sun was the center of our solar system.. Much later, in the 1600’s, Sir Isaac Newton formulated the laws of universal gravitation and motion. Today a rocket operates under this principle. The first American satellite, Explorer 1, was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on January 31, 1958. Later, Yuri A. Gagarian, a Russian cosmonaut, made one full orbit around the Earth on April 12. The United States had become furious. Their mission was to be the first men on the moon. The Lunar Module had landed on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended the ladder and said the famous words, That’s one small step for man and one giant step for mankind. Today, instead of competing against one another, Russia and America are working together, planning the construction of an international space station. We know that we have learned much about our planet from our journeys in to space. Today everybody in the earth knows the importance of satellites for communication. It takes seconds to be connected with anyone other side of the planet. Satellites at thousands of kilometers miles out in space can survey Earth’s oceans, land use and resources, and monitor the planet’s health also play a major role in daily local weather forecasting. These electronic eyes warn us of dangerous storms. Continuous global monitoring provides a vast amount of useful data and contributes to a better understanding of Earth’s complex weather systems. Our civilization is being threatened with overpopulation. Soon our natural resources will be diminished to a degree where they cannot possibly support the entire human race. The hole in the ozone layer grows larger everyday. Expanding the human population to the point where we live throughout the solar system would help end the risk of extinction., possibly even due to a single event, be it nuclear war, or the impact of a comet. As a result, over the centuries mankind has kept advancing in the courses of technology, theories, etc., bringing us the possibilities of actually exploring the universe. Who knows, at the rate we’ve kept going at, mankind may soon be living on other planets in our solar system
The urge to explore and search the unknown is part of human nature and has led to many of the most important changes in our standard of living. Searching and exploring enriches our spirits and reminds us of the great potential of achievement. The drive to develop the next frontier has also been a fundamental part of the heritage of the people of the world. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on the exploration of space. Many citizens doubt the necessity to research our solar system and the rest of our universe. Spaceflight may seem us as an ultramodern idea, but evidence of the dream of space exploration exists as far back as texts from early centuries from the first millennium. From Thales to Copernicus including almost 14 hundred years some of the scientists could declare that the earth was round and sun was the center of our solar system.. Much later, in the 1600’s, Sir Isaac Newton formulated the laws of universal gravitation and motion. Today a rocket operates under this principle. The first American satellite, Explorer 1, was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on January 31, 1958. Later, Yuri A. Gagarian, a Russian cosmonaut, made one full orbit around the Earth on April 12. The United States had become furious. Their mission was to be the first men on the moon. The Lunar Module had landed on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended the ladder and said the famous words, That’s one small step for man and one giant step for mankind. Today, instead of competing against one another, Russia and America are working together, planning the construction of an international space station. We know that we have learned much about our planet from our journeys in to space. Today everybody in the earth knows the importance of satellites for communication. It takes seconds to be connected with anyone other side of the planet. Satellites at thousands of kilometers miles out in space can survey Earth’s oceans, land use and resources, and monitor the planet’s health also play a major role in daily local weather forecasting. These electronic eyes warn us of dangerous storms. Continuous global monitoring provides a vast amount of useful data and contributes to a better understanding of Earth’s complex weather systems. Our civilization is being threatened with overpopulation. Soon our natural resources will be diminished to a degree where they cannot possibly support the entire human race. The hole in the ozone layer grows larger everyday. Expanding the human population to the point where we live throughout the solar system would help end the risk of extinction., possibly even due to a single event, be it nuclear war, or the impact of a comet. As a result, over the centuries mankind has kept advancing in the courses of technology, theories, etc., bringing us the possibilities of actually exploring the universe. Who knows, at the rate we’ve kept going at, mankind may soon be living on other planets in our solar system
HOW TO CHOOSE COMPUTERS ?
Today, computers are common. Even the most conservative analysts suggest that over forty percent of Canadian homes have one, and this figure rises dramatically to well over sixty percent in urban centers, particularly in homes when there are school-aged children or adults with professional or managerial jobs. Buying a computer can be a daunting task, particularly if you're new to the high technology marketplace. You will be spending anywhere from one to several thousand dollars on the computer equipment alone, so you'll need to do homework first. According to one old IBM advertisement, the average person spends fifteen weeks, five days, twenty- three hours and fifty-eight minutes searching for a new computer. If you're like most consumers, you'll spend that time checking with a number of sources for the information you need to make decisions. In order to save time and energy for buying a computer, you must following the three steps: setting you up to doing your homework, focusing on the homework itself to help you make decisions, and nailing your decision down to closing the sale. These three steps will not only saving your time and energy, it will also provide you the guidance you'll need to buy your computer. Your fist step along the way to purchase your computer is to do your homework. Homework might include the following: learning the lingo, doing some research, visiting a few stores and dealing with salespeople. First, you should learn the lingo. Knowing the Lingo will save you a lot of times toward buying computer because you will face many opportunities to use it. For example, without knowing these jargon, you might have difficulty understanding when you read the computer materials; you might have difficulty understanding the conversation with computer salespeople. As a result, it is worth of spending sometime to understand the meaning of lingo. For example: Hardware, Software, Chip, CPU, PC, ROM, RAM. Second, you should do some research to getting more information about computer. You can research through local daily newspaper. Local daily newspaper may have a computer section. There are also monthly computer newspapers. In Canada, there are a number of free Canadian publications such as the Computer Paper, Our Computer Player (Vancouver), Toronto Computes, Ottawa Monitor, Winnipeg Computer Post are some of the examples you can search from. If you have access to the Internet, it might also be a good place for doing some research. Furthermore, the Internet also has various newsgroups that specialize in the subject. There are also a variety of independent sites on the Web hosted by individual with a mission to provide analysis. Finally, we come to visiting the computer stores and dealing with the salespeople. Shopping around three to five different computer stores is also helpful toward buying a computer. Many computer stores offer similar computer products with different price and warranty. It is wise to talk to the salespeople, asking as many question as you have. Don't fret if you think your expertise is not the state of the art. In fact, if you are willing to learn as you shop and take your time, you will end up making an informed choice. The second step is focuses on the homework itself by providing distinctions among the basic hardware options that will help you to make some fundamental choices. As a result, there are several points that you should know: the type, the feature, and the location of buying computer. First point, you have to consider what type of the computer do you need. It is usually the first choice every computer shopper has to make is between an IBM -compatible, which is also known simply as a PC (for personal computer), and an Apple Macintosh. The two rivals are built with different operating systems, which until recently meant that software made for one of them couldn't run on the other. In other ward, if you want the lowest price and the widest possible choice of software, go with a PC. If ease of use matters most to you, then you should pick a Macintosh. The second point you should consider is the feature of the computer. You should ask yourself How much computer power do you need? Whether you commit to a Mac or a PC, you want computing power adequate to your personal needs plus some room to grow- without spending for features you'll never use. It's important getting to know the three essential computer components: the microprocessor, Random-access memory, and Hard drive capacity. Understanding just those three components might have been enough for you to choose a respectable computer. But now, home computers can perform far more tasks, there are other terms that belong on your must-know list. Make sure, for example, that you get a CD-ROM drive, the device for reading compact disks that was virtually unheard of on home computers before 1992. Besides, you should also consider how much you should spend on the computer's video and audio. Much of the latest software comes with sound-ranging from simple human speech to full orchestras. The third point is the location to buy the computer. Today, you can buy a home computer at specialized computer shops; electronics stores that also carry things like stereo system; discount office- supply stores like Office Depot and Staples; vast computer superstores like Comp USA; and mail-order operations of every size and description. Your decision here will depend both on how much you can afford to pay and on how much hand-holding you need while you pick out your system. In general, you will get the most personal attention from computer shops and the least from mail order outlets, with the others somewhere in between. The last step is the home stretch, where we will discuss what's involved in nailing your decision down. At this point, you are almost ready to buy your new computer. You have created your plan, done some homework, and you have learned what the jargon means. In this final stage, you should know the several points: budgeting, warranting and getting the manuals. The first point- budgeting is the first and most important thing to realize when assessing price quotes. Unless each component is listed and specified by manufacturer and model, you don't have enough information to make a valid price comparison. As a result, identifying the components and assessing their position in the quality and performance pecking order will have occupied most of your homework. The second point- warranting is also important element while buying your computer. It doesn't matter how many promises the nice salesperson makes to you. If those promises are not in writing, they don't exist. So, getting the warranties, guarantees and promises on writing is very important point to remember. Beside, you should also find out how long the store had been in business and whether there were any other satisfied customers. Your best source of information here are your friends, local computer user groups, and Internet USENET newsgroups. The last steps, getting the manuals to in order to protects you in the future. In fact, the manuals are yours by right and they are a basic protection for you, whether you ever want to open the system yourself or not. Think about it, if the retailer goes belly up, how else will you get someone to fix the system if it breaks? As a result, one can see that buying a new computer is not an easy task to do. It involved a lot of steps for you to do some homework. Lot of problems and even some tears come from people who never talked to anyone else, didn't do any research, and took the salesperson's word for everything. Computers are supposed to help you make some part of your life better, and using them should be enjoyable. If you don't agree with that, we should be meet in here. Buying one shouldn't be terror, either. Wish you Good luck for buying a new computer.
Today, computers are common. Even the most conservative analysts suggest that over forty percent of Canadian homes have one, and this figure rises dramatically to well over sixty percent in urban centers, particularly in homes when there are school-aged children or adults with professional or managerial jobs. Buying a computer can be a daunting task, particularly if you're new to the high technology marketplace. You will be spending anywhere from one to several thousand dollars on the computer equipment alone, so you'll need to do homework first. According to one old IBM advertisement, the average person spends fifteen weeks, five days, twenty- three hours and fifty-eight minutes searching for a new computer. If you're like most consumers, you'll spend that time checking with a number of sources for the information you need to make decisions. In order to save time and energy for buying a computer, you must following the three steps: setting you up to doing your homework, focusing on the homework itself to help you make decisions, and nailing your decision down to closing the sale. These three steps will not only saving your time and energy, it will also provide you the guidance you'll need to buy your computer. Your fist step along the way to purchase your computer is to do your homework. Homework might include the following: learning the lingo, doing some research, visiting a few stores and dealing with salespeople. First, you should learn the lingo. Knowing the Lingo will save you a lot of times toward buying computer because you will face many opportunities to use it. For example, without knowing these jargon, you might have difficulty understanding when you read the computer materials; you might have difficulty understanding the conversation with computer salespeople. As a result, it is worth of spending sometime to understand the meaning of lingo. For example: Hardware, Software, Chip, CPU, PC, ROM, RAM. Second, you should do some research to getting more information about computer. You can research through local daily newspaper. Local daily newspaper may have a computer section. There are also monthly computer newspapers. In Canada, there are a number of free Canadian publications such as the Computer Paper, Our Computer Player (Vancouver), Toronto Computes, Ottawa Monitor, Winnipeg Computer Post are some of the examples you can search from. If you have access to the Internet, it might also be a good place for doing some research. Furthermore, the Internet also has various newsgroups that specialize in the subject. There are also a variety of independent sites on the Web hosted by individual with a mission to provide analysis. Finally, we come to visiting the computer stores and dealing with the salespeople. Shopping around three to five different computer stores is also helpful toward buying a computer. Many computer stores offer similar computer products with different price and warranty. It is wise to talk to the salespeople, asking as many question as you have. Don't fret if you think your expertise is not the state of the art. In fact, if you are willing to learn as you shop and take your time, you will end up making an informed choice. The second step is focuses on the homework itself by providing distinctions among the basic hardware options that will help you to make some fundamental choices. As a result, there are several points that you should know: the type, the feature, and the location of buying computer. First point, you have to consider what type of the computer do you need. It is usually the first choice every computer shopper has to make is between an IBM -compatible, which is also known simply as a PC (for personal computer), and an Apple Macintosh. The two rivals are built with different operating systems, which until recently meant that software made for one of them couldn't run on the other. In other ward, if you want the lowest price and the widest possible choice of software, go with a PC. If ease of use matters most to you, then you should pick a Macintosh. The second point you should consider is the feature of the computer. You should ask yourself How much computer power do you need? Whether you commit to a Mac or a PC, you want computing power adequate to your personal needs plus some room to grow- without spending for features you'll never use. It's important getting to know the three essential computer components: the microprocessor, Random-access memory, and Hard drive capacity. Understanding just those three components might have been enough for you to choose a respectable computer. But now, home computers can perform far more tasks, there are other terms that belong on your must-know list. Make sure, for example, that you get a CD-ROM drive, the device for reading compact disks that was virtually unheard of on home computers before 1992. Besides, you should also consider how much you should spend on the computer's video and audio. Much of the latest software comes with sound-ranging from simple human speech to full orchestras. The third point is the location to buy the computer. Today, you can buy a home computer at specialized computer shops; electronics stores that also carry things like stereo system; discount office- supply stores like Office Depot and Staples; vast computer superstores like Comp USA; and mail-order operations of every size and description. Your decision here will depend both on how much you can afford to pay and on how much hand-holding you need while you pick out your system. In general, you will get the most personal attention from computer shops and the least from mail order outlets, with the others somewhere in between. The last step is the home stretch, where we will discuss what's involved in nailing your decision down. At this point, you are almost ready to buy your new computer. You have created your plan, done some homework, and you have learned what the jargon means. In this final stage, you should know the several points: budgeting, warranting and getting the manuals. The first point- budgeting is the first and most important thing to realize when assessing price quotes. Unless each component is listed and specified by manufacturer and model, you don't have enough information to make a valid price comparison. As a result, identifying the components and assessing their position in the quality and performance pecking order will have occupied most of your homework. The second point- warranting is also important element while buying your computer. It doesn't matter how many promises the nice salesperson makes to you. If those promises are not in writing, they don't exist. So, getting the warranties, guarantees and promises on writing is very important point to remember. Beside, you should also find out how long the store had been in business and whether there were any other satisfied customers. Your best source of information here are your friends, local computer user groups, and Internet USENET newsgroups. The last steps, getting the manuals to in order to protects you in the future. In fact, the manuals are yours by right and they are a basic protection for you, whether you ever want to open the system yourself or not. Think about it, if the retailer goes belly up, how else will you get someone to fix the system if it breaks? As a result, one can see that buying a new computer is not an easy task to do. It involved a lot of steps for you to do some homework. Lot of problems and even some tears come from people who never talked to anyone else, didn't do any research, and took the salesperson's word for everything. Computers are supposed to help you make some part of your life better, and using them should be enjoyable. If you don't agree with that, we should be meet in here. Buying one shouldn't be terror, either. Wish you Good luck for buying a new computer.
CHARLIE CHAPLIN.
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth, London, and lived a Dickensian childhood, shared with his brother, Sydney, that included extreme poverty, workhouses and seeing his mother's mental decline put her into an institution. Both his parents, though separated when he was very young, were music hall artists, his father quite famously so. But it was his mother Charlie idolized and was inspired by during his visits backstage while she performed, to take up such a career for himself. He achieved his ambition when he joined a dancing troop, the Eight Lancashire Lads, and this eventually led onto parts in Sherlock Holmes and Casey's Court Circus. Sydney, meanwhile, had joined the famous Fred Karno Company and quickly became a leading player and writer therein. He managed to get Charlie involved, and he too became a Karno star. For both boys, Karno was almost a college of comedy for them, and the period had a huge impact on Charlie especially. In 1910 Charlie toured the U.S. with the Karno group and returned for another in 1912. It was on this tour that he was head hunted by Mack Sennett and his Keystone Film Company, and Charlie was thus introduced into the medium of film. His first film, in 1914, was aptly titled Making A Living, and it was directed by Henry Lehman. He starred in many of his Keystones along side Mabel Normand, who also directed three of his films, but it wasn't until Twenty Minutes of Love that he had a taste of directing himself, and this quickly became the only way he worked. His success was such that he was able to move from one company to another, each time into a better deal. In 1915, after thirty-five films, he moved to Essanay, and it was here he really found his feet, not to mention his longest serving leading lady, Edna Purviance. Notable films during this period include The Champion, The Tramp and The Bank. In 1916 he moved to Lone Star Mutual, with even greater control and financial rewards. Here he made the definitive Chaplin short comedies, The Rink, Easy Street, The Cure and The Immigrant. First National were next, and it was here he constructed his full length masterpiece, The Kid. Shorter comedies of note at this time included Sunnyside and The Idle Class. Along with his great friend, Douglas Fairbanks, as well as Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith, Chaplin formed United Artists in 1919. He made his first film for them in 1923, the Edna Purviance vehicle, A Woman of Paris, perhaps the least known of his films, but it was followed by the Chaplin classics - The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights and Modern Times. It wasn't until 1940 that he made his first talkie, The Great Dictator, to be followed by the more refined Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight, a look back to the music hall world of his youth. Limelight (1952) was the last film he made in America. McCarthyite political maneuverings effectively ejected him from the country and he wasn't to return until 1972, when he received a special Academy Award. In the meantime, though heartily welcomed back to Britain, he moved to Switzerland with his wife, Oona O' Neill, and their children. He made two more films, A King In New York (1957, with Dawn Addams) and A Countess From Hong Kong (1967, with Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando) and spent his final years writing music for his films and enjoying his family life before he died, at 4 A.M. on Christmas Day in 1977.
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth, London, and lived a Dickensian childhood, shared with his brother, Sydney, that included extreme poverty, workhouses and seeing his mother's mental decline put her into an institution. Both his parents, though separated when he was very young, were music hall artists, his father quite famously so. But it was his mother Charlie idolized and was inspired by during his visits backstage while she performed, to take up such a career for himself. He achieved his ambition when he joined a dancing troop, the Eight Lancashire Lads, and this eventually led onto parts in Sherlock Holmes and Casey's Court Circus. Sydney, meanwhile, had joined the famous Fred Karno Company and quickly became a leading player and writer therein. He managed to get Charlie involved, and he too became a Karno star. For both boys, Karno was almost a college of comedy for them, and the period had a huge impact on Charlie especially. In 1910 Charlie toured the U.S. with the Karno group and returned for another in 1912. It was on this tour that he was head hunted by Mack Sennett and his Keystone Film Company, and Charlie was thus introduced into the medium of film. His first film, in 1914, was aptly titled Making A Living, and it was directed by Henry Lehman. He starred in many of his Keystones along side Mabel Normand, who also directed three of his films, but it wasn't until Twenty Minutes of Love that he had a taste of directing himself, and this quickly became the only way he worked. His success was such that he was able to move from one company to another, each time into a better deal. In 1915, after thirty-five films, he moved to Essanay, and it was here he really found his feet, not to mention his longest serving leading lady, Edna Purviance. Notable films during this period include The Champion, The Tramp and The Bank. In 1916 he moved to Lone Star Mutual, with even greater control and financial rewards. Here he made the definitive Chaplin short comedies, The Rink, Easy Street, The Cure and The Immigrant. First National were next, and it was here he constructed his full length masterpiece, The Kid. Shorter comedies of note at this time included Sunnyside and The Idle Class. Along with his great friend, Douglas Fairbanks, as well as Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith, Chaplin formed United Artists in 1919. He made his first film for them in 1923, the Edna Purviance vehicle, A Woman of Paris, perhaps the least known of his films, but it was followed by the Chaplin classics - The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights and Modern Times. It wasn't until 1940 that he made his first talkie, The Great Dictator, to be followed by the more refined Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight, a look back to the music hall world of his youth. Limelight (1952) was the last film he made in America. McCarthyite political maneuverings effectively ejected him from the country and he wasn't to return until 1972, when he received a special Academy Award. In the meantime, though heartily welcomed back to Britain, he moved to Switzerland with his wife, Oona O' Neill, and their children. He made two more films, A King In New York (1957, with Dawn Addams) and A Countess From Hong Kong (1967, with Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando) and spent his final years writing music for his films and enjoying his family life before he died, at 4 A.M. on Christmas Day in 1977.
CELL-PHONES.
What Causes Cell Phone Radiation and How Does it Effect Your Body? What is so popular with young teenagers today? Cell phones. Walking around on campus to walking around at the mall with your cell phone may seem fashionable and trendy, but did you now that it might be causing you to get a cancer? Ninety percent of cell phone holders do not realize it and it should be something everyone should be aware of. It may seem a bit unusually how a cell phone can cause a child or an adult to get cancer, but it is true. New evidence is growing fast about health risks from mobile phones – electromagnetic radiation. These devices can be used to make telephone calls from almost anywhere. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, burning sensations on the skin were more common among those who make longer phone calls. At the same time there are a growing number of unconfirmed reports of individuals whose health has been affected after chronic, frequent use of mobile phones, presumably from radiation effects on cell. There are two types of phones, one has the antenna mounted on the handset and the other has the antenna mounted on a separate transmitter or, if the telephone is installed in a vehicle, mounted on the roof or rear window. Communication between a mobile telephone and the nearest base station is achieved by the microwave emissions from the antenna. Concerns have been raised about the type of mobile telephone that has the antenna in the handset. In this case, the antenna is very close to the user's head during normal use of the telephone and there is concern about the level of microwave emissions to which the brain is being exposed. Those telephones that have the antenna mounted elsewhere are of no concern, since exposure levels decrease rapidly with increasing distance from the antenna. Cordless telephones, which need to be operated within about 20 meters of a base unit that is connected directly to the telephone system do not have any health concerns associated with their use because exposure levels are very low. . Media reports have claimed that up to 70 percent of the microwave emissions from hand- held mobile telephones may be absorbed in the user's head. This is not supported by the evidence, but nevertheless leads to speculation that hot spots may be created in the user's brain, thereby raising concerns that the telephones may be a health risk. Other reports have indicated that mobile telephone users suffer localized headaches when they use their telephone. At this stage, it is difficult to evaluate the evidence supporting these reports, since they have not been published. This work on human subjects follows other phone studies in animals suggesting that radiation from mobiles may cause brain tumors, cancer, anxiety, memory loss and serious birth defects. An Australian study found that mice exposed to pulsed digital phone radiation over 18 months had twice the risk of developing cancers. An American study found that learning and short term memory were impaired after 45 minutes exposure to radiation from phones in rats. And other studies of electromagnetic radiation on pregnant mice suggest that high exposure can affect intra-uterine development, confirmed recently in chicks. The effects in humans are unknown. In Britain a 27 year old woman with a brain tumor is taking a mobile phone manufacturer to court who she blames for her tumor. A biologist, Roger Coghill has also been given permission to bring a case against a provider of mobile phone equipment for failing to warn people of radiation hazards. A wide variety of electrical devices contribute to electro smog, ranging from computers, to phones, TV sets, radar transmitter and transformers. However mobile phone radiation is certainly intense, as evidenced by the effects on aircraft navigation systems, or more obviously on a nearby conventional telephone or a music system The brain cancer reports originated in the USA where a number of lawsuits have been lodged against mobile telephone manufacturers and suppliers. These claims for damages allege that the microwave emissions from mobile telephones used by the claimants caused their brain cancers. Those few cases that have been tried have been dismissed for lack of supporting evidence. Microwaves are but one type of electromagnetic field of the ways that these fields are described is by specifying their frequency. The range of frequencies that are useful for telecommunications include microwaves. Some public concern about mobile telephones is erroneously based on media attention to the possibility of adverse effects from exposure to power-line electromagnetic fields, which have a much lower frequency than the microwaves emitted by mobile telephones. The physical properties and biological effects of these fields are very different from microwaves and it is meaningless to extrapolate the results of those studies to the subject of this Information Bulletin. The current Australian exposure Standard is based on the well-established thermal effects of exposure to microwaves. That is, when tissue is exposed to sufficiently high levels of microwaves, the tissue is heated and damage may occur. The exposure limits are set well below levels where any significant heating occurs. The Standard also sets limits for pulsed radiation that are intended to eliminate possible effects where heating is not evident. All mobile telephones marketed in Australia must satisfy the regulatory requirements of Austel the Australian Telecommunications Authority, as well as that part of the Australian Standard that sets limits on the power output of a mobile telephone. Therefore, use of a mobile telephone is not expected to cause significant heating in any part of the body, including the brain. Some research has indicated that non-thermal effects resulting from low-level microwave exposure also occur. However, the existence of these effects has not been sufficiently established to allow for them in the Standard. A few animal studies suggest that exposure to weak microwave fields can accelerate the development of cancer. Further studies are required to establish their reproducibility and the existence or otherwise of a dose-response relationship. Whether these results are relevant to users of mobile telephones is not clear. In any event, these results cannot be dismissed at this stage. The very few studies that have been conducted on human populations epidemiological studies do not provide any direct information on possible mobile telephone hazards and hence are of limited value. The results of these studies are difficult to interpret because exposure levels were either not measured or impossible to determine from the data provided. In general, however, this type of study will be useful in identifying possible links between mobile telephone use and cancer risk. Complementary cellular and animal research is required to establish any cause-and-effect relationship and the biological mechanisms involved. The Australian Radiation Laboratory continues to closely monitor the research being conducted in this area. On the specific issue of brain cancer occurring in users of these telephones, it is important to note that such cancers existed before the introduction of mobile telephones. It is simply not possible to identify the cause of any single case of cancer. Long-term studies to investigate whether mobile telephone users have a greater incidence of, say, brain cancer than the general population have not been completed. The Commonwealth Government has established the Electromagnetic Energy Public Health Issues Committee to examine and advise on the adequacy of health exposure standards, compliance procedures, local and overseas research results and the potential for further research, all with respect to mobile telephone use, among other things. The Committee includes representatives from the Department of Health and Family Services, the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Mobile telephone companies and service providers are not represented. Late in 1996, the Commonwealth Government announced that $4.5mil would be provided for an Australian research and public information program over the next 4-5 years. The National Health and Medical Research Council will manage this research program. There is no evidence that microwave exposure from mobile telephones causes cancer, and inconclusive evidence that such exposure accelerates the growth of an already-existing cancer. More research on this issue needs to be carried out. Users concerned about the possibility of health effects can minimize their using a mobile telephone which does not have the antenna in the handset or using a 'hands-free' attachment. There is no clear evidence in the existing scientific literature that the use of digital or analogue mobile telephones poses a long-term public health hazard There are five ways to reduce the risk of radiation going in your body. One is to have shorter conversation. Try to avoid speaking for long periods on the cell phone; furthermore, try to plan your calls in such a way that you use ordinary phones for long conversations. Second, don’t sit in the car. Speak as little as possible inside the car because it amplifies the radiation. If you have to speak a lot from the care, get a roof antenna. Third, protect your baby. Don’t place a turned-on mobile phone in the baby carriage. The mobile phone produces microwaves even if you don’t speak in it. Fourth, avoid waist. Don’t carry the cell phone in the belt round the waist. It is unnecessary to expose the deposits of bone marrow in the hips, and the testicles to the microwaves. Earlier there have been warnings against placing the phone next to the heart. This is now regarded as being less dangerous, unless you have a pacemaker. The best place to carry the phone is in a military trousers leg pocket. And finally, direct the antenna. Always pull out the antenna when you use the phone and direct it away from the head, not upright in parallel with the head. It may be a marginal difference, but it reduces the radiation into the head somewhat.
What Causes Cell Phone Radiation and How Does it Effect Your Body? What is so popular with young teenagers today? Cell phones. Walking around on campus to walking around at the mall with your cell phone may seem fashionable and trendy, but did you now that it might be causing you to get a cancer? Ninety percent of cell phone holders do not realize it and it should be something everyone should be aware of. It may seem a bit unusually how a cell phone can cause a child or an adult to get cancer, but it is true. New evidence is growing fast about health risks from mobile phones – electromagnetic radiation. These devices can be used to make telephone calls from almost anywhere. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, burning sensations on the skin were more common among those who make longer phone calls. At the same time there are a growing number of unconfirmed reports of individuals whose health has been affected after chronic, frequent use of mobile phones, presumably from radiation effects on cell. There are two types of phones, one has the antenna mounted on the handset and the other has the antenna mounted on a separate transmitter or, if the telephone is installed in a vehicle, mounted on the roof or rear window. Communication between a mobile telephone and the nearest base station is achieved by the microwave emissions from the antenna. Concerns have been raised about the type of mobile telephone that has the antenna in the handset. In this case, the antenna is very close to the user's head during normal use of the telephone and there is concern about the level of microwave emissions to which the brain is being exposed. Those telephones that have the antenna mounted elsewhere are of no concern, since exposure levels decrease rapidly with increasing distance from the antenna. Cordless telephones, which need to be operated within about 20 meters of a base unit that is connected directly to the telephone system do not have any health concerns associated with their use because exposure levels are very low. . Media reports have claimed that up to 70 percent of the microwave emissions from hand- held mobile telephones may be absorbed in the user's head. This is not supported by the evidence, but nevertheless leads to speculation that hot spots may be created in the user's brain, thereby raising concerns that the telephones may be a health risk. Other reports have indicated that mobile telephone users suffer localized headaches when they use their telephone. At this stage, it is difficult to evaluate the evidence supporting these reports, since they have not been published. This work on human subjects follows other phone studies in animals suggesting that radiation from mobiles may cause brain tumors, cancer, anxiety, memory loss and serious birth defects. An Australian study found that mice exposed to pulsed digital phone radiation over 18 months had twice the risk of developing cancers. An American study found that learning and short term memory were impaired after 45 minutes exposure to radiation from phones in rats. And other studies of electromagnetic radiation on pregnant mice suggest that high exposure can affect intra-uterine development, confirmed recently in chicks. The effects in humans are unknown. In Britain a 27 year old woman with a brain tumor is taking a mobile phone manufacturer to court who she blames for her tumor. A biologist, Roger Coghill has also been given permission to bring a case against a provider of mobile phone equipment for failing to warn people of radiation hazards. A wide variety of electrical devices contribute to electro smog, ranging from computers, to phones, TV sets, radar transmitter and transformers. However mobile phone radiation is certainly intense, as evidenced by the effects on aircraft navigation systems, or more obviously on a nearby conventional telephone or a music system The brain cancer reports originated in the USA where a number of lawsuits have been lodged against mobile telephone manufacturers and suppliers. These claims for damages allege that the microwave emissions from mobile telephones used by the claimants caused their brain cancers. Those few cases that have been tried have been dismissed for lack of supporting evidence. Microwaves are but one type of electromagnetic field of the ways that these fields are described is by specifying their frequency. The range of frequencies that are useful for telecommunications include microwaves. Some public concern about mobile telephones is erroneously based on media attention to the possibility of adverse effects from exposure to power-line electromagnetic fields, which have a much lower frequency than the microwaves emitted by mobile telephones. The physical properties and biological effects of these fields are very different from microwaves and it is meaningless to extrapolate the results of those studies to the subject of this Information Bulletin. The current Australian exposure Standard is based on the well-established thermal effects of exposure to microwaves. That is, when tissue is exposed to sufficiently high levels of microwaves, the tissue is heated and damage may occur. The exposure limits are set well below levels where any significant heating occurs. The Standard also sets limits for pulsed radiation that are intended to eliminate possible effects where heating is not evident. All mobile telephones marketed in Australia must satisfy the regulatory requirements of Austel the Australian Telecommunications Authority, as well as that part of the Australian Standard that sets limits on the power output of a mobile telephone. Therefore, use of a mobile telephone is not expected to cause significant heating in any part of the body, including the brain. Some research has indicated that non-thermal effects resulting from low-level microwave exposure also occur. However, the existence of these effects has not been sufficiently established to allow for them in the Standard. A few animal studies suggest that exposure to weak microwave fields can accelerate the development of cancer. Further studies are required to establish their reproducibility and the existence or otherwise of a dose-response relationship. Whether these results are relevant to users of mobile telephones is not clear. In any event, these results cannot be dismissed at this stage. The very few studies that have been conducted on human populations epidemiological studies do not provide any direct information on possible mobile telephone hazards and hence are of limited value. The results of these studies are difficult to interpret because exposure levels were either not measured or impossible to determine from the data provided. In general, however, this type of study will be useful in identifying possible links between mobile telephone use and cancer risk. Complementary cellular and animal research is required to establish any cause-and-effect relationship and the biological mechanisms involved. The Australian Radiation Laboratory continues to closely monitor the research being conducted in this area. On the specific issue of brain cancer occurring in users of these telephones, it is important to note that such cancers existed before the introduction of mobile telephones. It is simply not possible to identify the cause of any single case of cancer. Long-term studies to investigate whether mobile telephone users have a greater incidence of, say, brain cancer than the general population have not been completed. The Commonwealth Government has established the Electromagnetic Energy Public Health Issues Committee to examine and advise on the adequacy of health exposure standards, compliance procedures, local and overseas research results and the potential for further research, all with respect to mobile telephone use, among other things. The Committee includes representatives from the Department of Health and Family Services, the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Mobile telephone companies and service providers are not represented. Late in 1996, the Commonwealth Government announced that $4.5mil would be provided for an Australian research and public information program over the next 4-5 years. The National Health and Medical Research Council will manage this research program. There is no evidence that microwave exposure from mobile telephones causes cancer, and inconclusive evidence that such exposure accelerates the growth of an already-existing cancer. More research on this issue needs to be carried out. Users concerned about the possibility of health effects can minimize their using a mobile telephone which does not have the antenna in the handset or using a 'hands-free' attachment. There is no clear evidence in the existing scientific literature that the use of digital or analogue mobile telephones poses a long-term public health hazard There are five ways to reduce the risk of radiation going in your body. One is to have shorter conversation. Try to avoid speaking for long periods on the cell phone; furthermore, try to plan your calls in such a way that you use ordinary phones for long conversations. Second, don’t sit in the car. Speak as little as possible inside the car because it amplifies the radiation. If you have to speak a lot from the care, get a roof antenna. Third, protect your baby. Don’t place a turned-on mobile phone in the baby carriage. The mobile phone produces microwaves even if you don’t speak in it. Fourth, avoid waist. Don’t carry the cell phone in the belt round the waist. It is unnecessary to expose the deposits of bone marrow in the hips, and the testicles to the microwaves. Earlier there have been warnings against placing the phone next to the heart. This is now regarded as being less dangerous, unless you have a pacemaker. The best place to carry the phone is in a military trousers leg pocket. And finally, direct the antenna. Always pull out the antenna when you use the phone and direct it away from the head, not upright in parallel with the head. It may be a marginal difference, but it reduces the radiation into the head somewhat.
ELEPHANTS.
Somewhere in eastern Canada, there is a place where elephants live. Elephants seem to enjoy the place where they live, they even seem to enjoy the cold weather. During winter, elephant wants to go in the freezing, icy water; the male breaks the ice to swim in the water. The elephants seem to have a protection against the cold; it could be the fat that keeps them warm. So elephants adapt very well, even in the cold winters of Canada, the thermostat can go below minus twenty degrees Celsius. This place in eastern Canada, it is like an oasis, who would think that in Canada, there are elephants. Charlie Gray is the trainer but also the friend of the elephants, for him it is not just a job, but a passion. When he saw an elephant for the first time, he was fascinated and he stood up in front of the elephant when his parents were gone. Charlie Gray always feeds the elephants before going to bed, an elephant always sleep wake up, because otherwise the elephant will die of choking, because of his own weight. The elephant is the biggest mammal on the continents. An elephant can walk twenty miles a day. Like the human, the elephants need free time to socialise, with the other elephants by going in a lack. During spring, the elephants always have visits but during the winter there is no income so some elephants go to the circus with Mathieu Daley Mathieu is an eager apprentice. The circus, which goes Mathieu and Calvin, is situated in Montreal. Calvin, who is an elephant, loves to travel, like any other elephant. Calvin and Mathieu are partners, Calvin can stand up on his two legs, when Mathieu is on Calvin heads, and they can many other things. It is nice too see someone who enjoys very much his job.
Somewhere in eastern Canada, there is a place where elephants live. Elephants seem to enjoy the place where they live, they even seem to enjoy the cold weather. During winter, elephant wants to go in the freezing, icy water; the male breaks the ice to swim in the water. The elephants seem to have a protection against the cold; it could be the fat that keeps them warm. So elephants adapt very well, even in the cold winters of Canada, the thermostat can go below minus twenty degrees Celsius. This place in eastern Canada, it is like an oasis, who would think that in Canada, there are elephants. Charlie Gray is the trainer but also the friend of the elephants, for him it is not just a job, but a passion. When he saw an elephant for the first time, he was fascinated and he stood up in front of the elephant when his parents were gone. Charlie Gray always feeds the elephants before going to bed, an elephant always sleep wake up, because otherwise the elephant will die of choking, because of his own weight. The elephant is the biggest mammal on the continents. An elephant can walk twenty miles a day. Like the human, the elephants need free time to socialise, with the other elephants by going in a lack. During spring, the elephants always have visits but during the winter there is no income so some elephants go to the circus with Mathieu Daley Mathieu is an eager apprentice. The circus, which goes Mathieu and Calvin, is situated in Montreal. Calvin, who is an elephant, loves to travel, like any other elephant. Calvin and Mathieu are partners, Calvin can stand up on his two legs, when Mathieu is on Calvin heads, and they can many other things. It is nice too see someone who enjoys very much his job.
A TALE OF TWO THEORIES
A Tale of Two Theories Macbeth(c.1607), written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tragedy could in fact be called A Tale of Two Theories. One theory suggests that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an inescapable road of doom by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the three witches. The second suggests that there is no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. It must be remembered that Macbeth is a literary work of art, and as a piece of art is open to many different interpretations, none of them right and none of them wrong. But the text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions which are provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his ambition. First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own psyche. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgement. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states,We will proceed no further in this business(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims,I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite. Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered. It is admittedly strange that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with,All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!(I.iii.49), a title which not even Macbeth is aware he has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth,All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!(I.iii.50). However as stated by Bradley,No connection of these announcements with any actions of his was even hinted by [the witches](232). Some are still not convinced though of the witches less than supernatural role; nevertheless, Macbeth appears throughout the play to be completely aware 3 of his actions, as opposed to being controlled by some mystic force. The effect of the witches on the action of the play is best summarized by these words: ...while the influences of the Witches' prophecies on Macbeth is very great, it is quite clearly shown to be an influence and nothing more.(Bradley 232) Most important to the theory that Macbeth is responsible for his own actions would be a point that the infamous witches and Macbeth agree upon. Such an element exists in the form of Macbeth's ambition. In the soliloquy Macbeth gives before he murders Duncan, he states, ...I have no spur/To prick the sides of intent, but only/Vaulting ambition,...(I.vii.25-27). Are these the words of a man who is merely being led down a self destructive path of doom, with no will of his own? Or are they the words of a man who realizes not only the graveness of his actions, but, also the reasons behind them? The answer is clear, Macbeth is a totally cognizant principal and not a mindless puppet. Later the head witch, Hecate, declares,Hath been but for a wayward son,/Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you. (III.v.11-13), which again highlights Macbeth's ambitious nature. The most significant part of the play is the part that is missing, and that is a connection between Macbeth's ambition and some spell cast by the weird sisters which might be said to magically cause an increase in his desires. While purposely played in a mysterious setting, the location is not meant to cloud the true theme of the play with the supernatural. Macbeth simply succumbs to natural urges which take him to a fate of his own making. Everyone has character flaws that he must live with; Macbeth simply allowed those flaws to destroy him. 3
A Tale of Two Theories Macbeth(c.1607), written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tragedy could in fact be called A Tale of Two Theories. One theory suggests that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an inescapable road of doom by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the three witches. The second suggests that there is no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. It must be remembered that Macbeth is a literary work of art, and as a piece of art is open to many different interpretations, none of them right and none of them wrong. But the text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions which are provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his ambition. First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own psyche. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgement. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states,We will proceed no further in this business(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims,I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite. Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered. It is admittedly strange that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with,All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!(I.iii.49), a title which not even Macbeth is aware he has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth,All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!(I.iii.50). However as stated by Bradley,No connection of these announcements with any actions of his was even hinted by [the witches](232). Some are still not convinced though of the witches less than supernatural role; nevertheless, Macbeth appears throughout the play to be completely aware 3 of his actions, as opposed to being controlled by some mystic force. The effect of the witches on the action of the play is best summarized by these words: ...while the influences of the Witches' prophecies on Macbeth is very great, it is quite clearly shown to be an influence and nothing more.(Bradley 232) Most important to the theory that Macbeth is responsible for his own actions would be a point that the infamous witches and Macbeth agree upon. Such an element exists in the form of Macbeth's ambition. In the soliloquy Macbeth gives before he murders Duncan, he states, ...I have no spur/To prick the sides of intent, but only/Vaulting ambition,...(I.vii.25-27). Are these the words of a man who is merely being led down a self destructive path of doom, with no will of his own? Or are they the words of a man who realizes not only the graveness of his actions, but, also the reasons behind them? The answer is clear, Macbeth is a totally cognizant principal and not a mindless puppet. Later the head witch, Hecate, declares,Hath been but for a wayward son,/Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you. (III.v.11-13), which again highlights Macbeth's ambitious nature. The most significant part of the play is the part that is missing, and that is a connection between Macbeth's ambition and some spell cast by the weird sisters which might be said to magically cause an increase in his desires. While purposely played in a mysterious setting, the location is not meant to cloud the true theme of the play with the supernatural. Macbeth simply succumbs to natural urges which take him to a fate of his own making. Everyone has character flaws that he must live with; Macbeth simply allowed those flaws to destroy him. 3
A TALE OF TWO TALES.
A Tale of Two Theories Macbeth(c.1607), written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tagedy could in fact be called A Tale of Two Theories. One theory suggests that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an unescapable road of doom by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the three witches. The second suggests that there is no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. It must be remembered that Macbethis a literary work of art, and as a peice of art is open to many different interpretations, none of them right and none of them wrong. But the text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions which are provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his ambition. First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own psyche. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgement. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states,We will proceed no further in this business(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims,I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite. Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered. It is admittedly strange that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with,All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!(I.iii.49), a title which not even Macbeth is aware he has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth,All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!(I.iii.50). However as stated by Bradley,No connection of these announcements with any actions of his was even hinted by [the withches](232). Some are still not convinced though of the witches less than supernatural role; nevertheless, Macbeth appears throughout the play to be completely aware 3 of his actions, as opposed to being contolled by some mystic force. The effect of the witches on the action of the play is best summarized by these words: ...while the influences of the Witches' prophecies on Macbeth is very great, it is quite clearly shown to be an influnce and nothing more.(Bradley 232) Most important to the theory that Macbeth is reponsible for his own actions would be a point that the infamous witches and Macbeth agree upon. Such an element exists in the form of Macbeth's ambiton. In the soliloquy Macbeth gives before he murders Duncan, he states, ...I have no spur/To prick the sides of intent, but only/Vaulting ambition,...(I.vii.25-27). Are these the words of a man who is merely being led down a self dustructive path of doom, with no will of his own? Or are they the words of a man who realizes not only the graveness of his actions, but, also the reasons behind them? The answer is clear, Macbeth is a totally cognizant principal and not a mindless puppet. Later the head witch, Hecate, declares,Hath been but for a wayward son,/Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you. (III.v.11-13), which again highlights Macbeth's ambitious nature. The most significant part of the play is the part that is missing, and that is a connection between Macbeth's ambition and some spell cast by the weird sisters which might be said to magically cause an increase in his desires. While purposely played in a mysterious setting, the location is not meant to cloud the true theme of the play with the supernatural. Macbeth simply succumbs to natural urges which take him to a fate of his own making. Everyone has character flaws that he must live with; Macbeth simply allowed those flaws to destroy him. 3
A Tale of Two Theories Macbeth(c.1607), written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tagedy could in fact be called A Tale of Two Theories. One theory suggests that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an unescapable road of doom by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the three witches. The second suggests that there is no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. It must be remembered that Macbethis a literary work of art, and as a peice of art is open to many different interpretations, none of them right and none of them wrong. But the text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions which are provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his ambition. First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own psyche. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgement. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states,We will proceed no further in this business(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims,I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite. Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered. It is admittedly strange that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with,All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!(I.iii.49), a title which not even Macbeth is aware he has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth,All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!(I.iii.50). However as stated by Bradley,No connection of these announcements with any actions of his was even hinted by [the withches](232). Some are still not convinced though of the witches less than supernatural role; nevertheless, Macbeth appears throughout the play to be completely aware 3 of his actions, as opposed to being contolled by some mystic force. The effect of the witches on the action of the play is best summarized by these words: ...while the influences of the Witches' prophecies on Macbeth is very great, it is quite clearly shown to be an influnce and nothing more.(Bradley 232) Most important to the theory that Macbeth is reponsible for his own actions would be a point that the infamous witches and Macbeth agree upon. Such an element exists in the form of Macbeth's ambiton. In the soliloquy Macbeth gives before he murders Duncan, he states, ...I have no spur/To prick the sides of intent, but only/Vaulting ambition,...(I.vii.25-27). Are these the words of a man who is merely being led down a self dustructive path of doom, with no will of his own? Or are they the words of a man who realizes not only the graveness of his actions, but, also the reasons behind them? The answer is clear, Macbeth is a totally cognizant principal and not a mindless puppet. Later the head witch, Hecate, declares,Hath been but for a wayward son,/Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you. (III.v.11-13), which again highlights Macbeth's ambitious nature. The most significant part of the play is the part that is missing, and that is a connection between Macbeth's ambition and some spell cast by the weird sisters which might be said to magically cause an increase in his desires. While purposely played in a mysterious setting, the location is not meant to cloud the true theme of the play with the supernatural. Macbeth simply succumbs to natural urges which take him to a fate of his own making. Everyone has character flaws that he must live with; Macbeth simply allowed those flaws to destroy him. 3
MY SAD LIFE.
The sun was setting. Far to the east, threatening black clouds arose from the fumes of pollution from the several smoke stacks towering over the city. The streets were pock marked and dented with the recent shower of acid rain. Hot boiling steam from the sewers made the temperature of day much hotter than it really was. Just outside the borders of the city is a lake covered with muck and crude oil spills. Death and despair floated aimlessly on the surface of the unhospitable body of water. Corpses of dead fish, seagulls... bobbed just under the rim of the black slime. The black slime sensing fresh prey, extended it's corrupt and revolting tendrils farther...until it caught another unsuspecting victim, choking and engulfing, destroying, leaving just another emtpy shell behind, devoid of any life. Night set in, the stars were obscured by thick blankets of smoke. The day was done. Stores got ready to lock up and street lights were turned on to aid the bread winners, so they may travel safely. Few were fortunate enough to own automobiles so they could avoid the cold dangerous streets and dark alleyways. Most shops were already abandoned, finished for the day. Yet few doors were still open, desperate for any last minute customers. One such shopkeeper was Phil Anderson. Anderson had worked as a pharmacist for most of his life. At forty, he had little to show for. The pollution that caused the gradual decay of the city had had negative effects on business, as well as the environment. Phil, though by all means not an old man, showed signs of premature aging. His skin was pale and dry, wrinkled by the everyday punishment of the deteriorating sorroundings. Few strands of grayish white hair lined his almost bald, dandruff infested scalp. Looking at Phil with his characteristic limp, slouched posture and bulging belly one might think him an extremely unathletic person. But then again it was not entirely his fault. His eyes were red and bloodshot, the glasses he wore only made these features more obvious. With shaking skinny hands, Phil slowly put away the last of the items on top of the counter. Finally done, he flicked off the lights and rummaged through his pockets for his keys. Looking one last time to make sure the shop was in order, Phil locked up the store and left. He failed t o notice a dark shadow spying on him as he counted the bills he had earned today, and put it away into his black leather wallet. The tall dark figure studied the pharmacist a while longer before trailing him. The narrow dirty street smelled of weeks old garbage and animal wastes. Smog was still thick in the air causing him to cough repeatedly. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Remembering his air filter in his pocket, Phil gingerly took it out and put it on. Feeling much better Phil continued down the street, heaving a sigh of relief.
The sun was setting. Far to the east, threatening black clouds arose from the fumes of pollution from the several smoke stacks towering over the city. The streets were pock marked and dented with the recent shower of acid rain. Hot boiling steam from the sewers made the temperature of day much hotter than it really was. Just outside the borders of the city is a lake covered with muck and crude oil spills. Death and despair floated aimlessly on the surface of the unhospitable body of water. Corpses of dead fish, seagulls... bobbed just under the rim of the black slime. The black slime sensing fresh prey, extended it's corrupt and revolting tendrils farther...until it caught another unsuspecting victim, choking and engulfing, destroying, leaving just another emtpy shell behind, devoid of any life. Night set in, the stars were obscured by thick blankets of smoke. The day was done. Stores got ready to lock up and street lights were turned on to aid the bread winners, so they may travel safely. Few were fortunate enough to own automobiles so they could avoid the cold dangerous streets and dark alleyways. Most shops were already abandoned, finished for the day. Yet few doors were still open, desperate for any last minute customers. One such shopkeeper was Phil Anderson. Anderson had worked as a pharmacist for most of his life. At forty, he had little to show for. The pollution that caused the gradual decay of the city had had negative effects on business, as well as the environment. Phil, though by all means not an old man, showed signs of premature aging. His skin was pale and dry, wrinkled by the everyday punishment of the deteriorating sorroundings. Few strands of grayish white hair lined his almost bald, dandruff infested scalp. Looking at Phil with his characteristic limp, slouched posture and bulging belly one might think him an extremely unathletic person. But then again it was not entirely his fault. His eyes were red and bloodshot, the glasses he wore only made these features more obvious. With shaking skinny hands, Phil slowly put away the last of the items on top of the counter. Finally done, he flicked off the lights and rummaged through his pockets for his keys. Looking one last time to make sure the shop was in order, Phil locked up the store and left. He failed t o notice a dark shadow spying on him as he counted the bills he had earned today, and put it away into his black leather wallet. The tall dark figure studied the pharmacist a while longer before trailing him. The narrow dirty street smelled of weeks old garbage and animal wastes. Smog was still thick in the air causing him to cough repeatedly. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Remembering his air filter in his pocket, Phil gingerly took it out and put it on. Feeling much better Phil continued down the street, heaving a sigh of relief.
FUSION
Fusion reactions are inhibited by the electrical repulsive force that acts between two positively charged nuclei. For fusion to occur, the two nuclei must approach each other at high speed to overcome the electrical repulsion and attain a sufficiently small separation (less than one-trillionth of a centimeter) that the short-range strong nuclear force dominates. For the production of useful amounts of energy, a large number of nuclei must under go fusion: that is to say, a gas of fusing nuclei must be produced. In a gas at extremely high temperature, the average nucleus contains sufficient kinetic energy to undergo fusion. Such a medium can be produced by heating an ordinary gas of neutral atoms beyond the temperature at which electrons are knocked out of the atoms. The result is an ionized gas consisting of free negative electrons and positive nuclei. This gas constitutes a plasma. Plasma, in physics, is an electrically conducting medium in which there are roughly equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, produced when the atoms in a gas become ionized. It is sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter, distinct from the solid, liquid, and gaseous states. When energy is continuously applied to a solid, it first melts, then it vaporizes, and finally electrons are removed from some of the neutral gas atoms and molecules to yield a mixture of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons, while overall neutral charge density is maintained. When a significant portion of the gas has been ionized, its properties will be altered so substantially that little resemblance to solids, liquids, and gases remains. A plasma is unique in the way in which it interacts with itself with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. A plasma can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, an photons in which some atoms are being ionized simultaneously with other electrons recombining with ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed. Scientists have estimated that more than 99 percent of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma state. All of the observed stars, including the Sun, consist of plasma, as do interstellar and interplanetary media and the outer atmospheres of the planets. Although most terrestrial matter exists in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, plasma is found in lightning bolts and auroras, in gaseous discharge lamps (neon lights), and in the crystal structure of metallic solids. Plasmas are currently being studied as an affordable source of clean electric power from thermonuclear fusion reactions. The scientific problem for fusion is thus the problem of producing and confining a hot, dense plasma. The core of a fusion reactor would consist of burning plasma. Fusion would occur between the nuclei, with electrons present only to maintain macroscopic charge neutrality. Stars, including the Sun, consist of plasma that generates energy by fusion reactions. In these “natural fusion reactors” the reacting, or burning, plasma is confirmed by its own gravity. It is not possible to assemble on Earth a plasma sufficiently massive to be gravitationally confined. The hydrogen bomb is an example of fusion reactions produced in an uncontrolled, unconfined manner in which the energy density is so high that the energy release is explosive. By contrast, the use of fusion for peaceful energy generating requires control and confinement of a plasma at high temperature and is often called controlled thermonuclear fusion. In the development of fusion power technology, demonstration of “ energy breakeven” is taken to signify the scientific feasibility of fusion. At breakeven, the fusion power produced by a plasma is equal to the power input to maintain the plasma. This requires a plasma that is hot, dense, and well confined. The temperature required, about 100 million Kelvins, is several times that of the Sun. The product of the density and energy confinement time of the plasma (the time it takes the plasma to lose its energy if not replaced) must exceed a critical value. There are two main approaches to controlled fusion – namely, magnetic confinement and inertial confinement. Magnetic confinement of plasmas is the most highly developed approach to controlled fusion. The hot plasma is contained by magnetic forces exerted on the charged particles. A large part of the problem of fusion has been the attainment of magnetic field configurations that effectively confine the plasma. A successful configuration must meet three criteria: (1) the plasma must be in a time-independent equilibrium state, (2) the equilibrium must be macroscopically stable, and (3) the leakage of plasma energy to the bounding wall must be small. A single charged particle tends to spiral about a magnetic line of force. It is necessary that the single particle trajectories do not intersect the wall. Moreover, the pressure force, arising from the thermal energy of all the particles, is in a direction to expand the plasma. For the plasma to be in equilibrium, the magnetic force acting on the electric current within the plasma must balance the pressure force at every point in the plasma. The equilibrium thus obtained has to be stable. A plasma is stable if after a small perturbation it returns to its original state. A plasma is continually perturbed by random thermal noise fluctuations. If unstable, it might depart from its equilibrium state and rapidly escape the confines of the magnetic field (perhaps in less than one-thousandth of a second). A plasma in stable equilibrium can be maintained indefinitely if the leakage of energy from the plasma is balanced by energy input. If the plasma energy loss is too large, then ignition cannot be achieved. An unavoidable diffusion of energy across the magnetic field lines will occur from the collisions between the particles. The net effect is to transport energy from the hot core to the wall. This transport process, known as classical diffusion, is theoretically not strong in hot fusion plasmas and is easily compensated for by heat from the alpha particle fusion products. In experiments, however, energy is lost from plasma more rapidly than would be expected from classical diffusion. The observed energy loss typically exceeds the classical value by a factor of 10-100. Reduction of this anomalous transport is important to the engineering feasibility of fusion. An understanding of anomalous transport in plasmas in terms of physics is not yet in hand. A viewpoint under investigation is that the anomalous loss is caused by fine-scale turbulence in the plasma. However, turbulently fluctuating electric and magnetic fields can push particles across the confining magnetic field. Solution of the anomalous transport problem involves research into fundamental topics in plasma physics, such as plasma turbulence. Many different types of magnetic configurations for plasma confinement have been devised and tested over the years. This has resulted in a family of related magnetic configurations, which may be grouped into two classes: closed, toroidal configurations and open, linear configurations. Toroidal devices are the most highly developed. In a simple straight magnetic field the plasma would be free to stream out the ends. End loss can be eliminated by forming the plasma and field in the closed shape of a doughnut, or torus, or, in an approach called mirror confinement, by plugging the ends of such a device magnetically and electrostatically. In the inertial confinement a fuel mass is compressed rapidly to densities 1,000 to10,000 times greater than normal by generating a pressure as high as 1017 pascals for periods as short as nanoseconds. Near the end of this time period the implosion speed exceeds about 300,000 meters per second. At maximum compression of the fuel, which is now in a cool plasma state, the energy in converging shock waves is sufficient to heat the vary center of the fuel to temperatures high enough to induce fusion reactions. If the product of mass and size of this highly compressed fuel material is large enough, energy will be generated through fusion reactions before the plasma disassembles. Under proper conditions, more energy can be released than is required to compresses, and shock-heat the fuel to thermonuclear burning conditions. The physical processes in ICF bear relationship to those in thermonuclear weapons and in star formation—namely, gravitational collapse, compression heating, and the onset of nuclear fusion. The situation in star formation differs in one respect: after gravitational collapse ceases and star begins to expand again due to heat from exoergic nuclear fusion reactions, the expansion is arrested by the gravity force associated with the enormous mass of the star. In a star a state of equilibrium in both size and temperature is achieved. In ICF, by contrast, complete disassembly of fuel occurs. The fusion reaction least difficult to achieve combines a deuteron (the nucleus of the deuterium atom) with a triton (the nucleus of a tritium atom). Both nuclei are isotopes of the hydrogen nucleus and contain a single unit of positive electric charge. Deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion requires the nuclei to have lower kinetic energy than is needed for the fusion of more highly charged heavier nuclei. The two products of the reaction are an alpha particle (nucleus of the helium atom) at an energy of 3.5 million electron volts (MeV) and a neuron at an energy of 14.1 MeV. (One MeV is the energy equivalent of 10 billion Kelvin.). The neutrons, lacking electric charge, is not affected by electric or magnetic fields within the plasma and can escape the plasma to deposit its energy in a material, such as lithium, which can surround the plasma. The electrically charge alpha particle collides with the deuterons and tritons (by their electrical interaction) and can be magnetically confined within the plasma. It there by transfers its energy to the reacting nuclei. When this redeposition of the fusion energy into the plasma exceeds the power lost from the plasma (by electromagnetic radiation, conduction, and convection), the plasma will be self-sustaining, or “ignited.” With deuterium and tritium as the fuel, the fusion reactor would be an effectively inexhaustible source of energy. Deuterium is obtained from seawater. About one in every 3,000 water molecules contains a deuterium atom. There is enough deuterium in the oceans to provide for the world’s energy needs for billions of years. One gram of fusion fuel can produce as much energy as 9,000 liters of oil. The amount of deuterium found naturally in one liter of water is the energy equivalent of 300 liters of gasoline. Tritium is bred in the fusion reactor. It is generated in the lithium blanket as a product of the reactor in which neutrons are captured by the lithium nuclei. A fusion reactor would have several attractive safety features. First, it is not subject to a runaway, or meltdown, accident as is a fission reactor. The fusion reaction is not a chain reaction; it requires a hot plasma. Accidental interruption of a plasma control system would extinguish the plasma and terminate fusion. Second, the products of a fusion reaction are not radioactive; hence, no long-term radioactive wastes would be generated. Neutron bombardment would activate the walls of the containment vessel, but such activated material is shorter-lived and less toxic than the waste products of a fission reactor. Moreover, even this activation problem may be eliminated, either by the development of advanced, low-activation materials, such as vanadium-based materials, or by the employment of advanced fusion-fuel cycles that do not produce neutrons, such as the fusion of deuterons with helium-3 nuclei. Nearly neutron-free fusion systems, which require higher temperatures than D-T fusion, might make up a second generation of fusion reactors). Finally, a fusion reactor would not release the gaseous pollutants that accompany the combustion of fossil fuels; hence, fusion would not produce a greenhouse effect. The fusion process has been studied as part of nuclear physics for much of the 20th century. In the late 1930s the German-born physicist Hans A. Bethe first recognized that the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form deuterium is exoergic (there is release of energy) and, together with subsequent reactions, accounts for the energy source in stars. Work proceeded over the next two decades, motivated by the need to understand nuclear matter and forces, to learn more about the nuclear physics of stellar objects, and to develop thermonuclear weapons (the hydrogen bomb) and predict their performance. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, research programs in the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union began to yield a better understanding of nuclear fusion, and investigators embarked on ways of exploiting the process for practical energy production. This work focused on the use of magnetic fields and electromagnetic forces to contain extremely hot gases called plasmas. A plasma consists of unbound electrons and positive ions whose motion is dominated by electromagnetic interactions. It is the only state of matter in which thermonuclear reactions can occur in a self-sustaining manner. Astrophysics and magnetic fusion research, among other fields, require extensive knowledge of how gases behave in the plasma state. The inadequacy of the then-existent knowledge became clearly apparent in the 1950s as the behavior of plasma in many of the early magnetic confinement systems proved too complex to understand. Moreover, researchers found that confining fusion plasma in a magnetic trap was far more challenging than they had anticipated. Plasma must be heated to tens of millions of degrees Kelvin or higher to induce and sustain the thermonuclear reaction required to produce usable amounts of energy. At temperatures this high, the nuclei in the plasma move rapidly enough to overcome their mutual repulsion and fuse. It is exceedingly difficult to contain plasmas at such a temperature level because the hot gases tend to expand and escape from the enclosing structure. The work of the major American, British, and Soviet fusion programs was strictly classified until 1958. That year, research objectives were made public, and many of the topics being studied were found to be similar, as were the problems encountered. Since that time, investigators have continued to study and measure fusion reactions between the lighter elements and have arrived at more accurate determinations of reaction rates. Also, the formulas developed by nuclear physicists for predicting the rate of fusion-energy generation have been adopted by astrophysicists to derive new information about the structure of the stellar interior and about the evolution of stars. The late 1960s witnessed a major advance in efforts to harness fusion reactions for practical energy production: the Soviets announced the achievement of high plasma temperature (about 3,000,000 K), along with other physical parameters, in a tokamak, a toroidal magnetic confinement system in which the plasma is kept generally stable both by an externally generated, doughnut-shaped magnetic field and by electric currents flowing within the plasma itself. (The basic concept of the tokamak had been first proposed by Andrey D. Sakharov and Igor Y. Tamm around 1950.) Since its development, the tokamak has been the focus of most research, though other approaches have been pursued as well. Employing the tokamak concept, physicists have attained conditions in plasmas that approach those required for practical fusion-power generation. Work on another major approach to fusion energy, called inertial confinement fusion (ICF), has been carried on since the early 1960s. Initial efforts were undertaken in 1961 with a then-classified proposal that large pulses of laser energy could be used to implode and shock-heat matter to temperatures at which nuclear fusion would be vigorous. Aspects of inertial confinement fusion were declassified in the 1970s, but a key element of the work--specifically the design of targets containing pellets of fusion fuels--still is largely secret. Very painstaking work to design and develop suitable targets continues today. At the same time, significant progress has been made in developing high-energy, short-pulse drivers with which to implode millimeter-radius targets. The drivers include both high-power lasers and particle accelerators capable of producing beams of high-energy electrons or ions. Lasers that produce more than 100,000 joules in pulses on the order of one nanosecond (10-9 second) have been developed, and the power available in short bursts exceeds 1014 watts. Best estimates are that practical inertial confinement for fusion energy will require either laser or particle-beam drivers with an energy of 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 joules capable of delivering more than 1014 watts of power to a small target of deuterium and tritium .
Fusion reactions are inhibited by the electrical repulsive force that acts between two positively charged nuclei. For fusion to occur, the two nuclei must approach each other at high speed to overcome the electrical repulsion and attain a sufficiently small separation (less than one-trillionth of a centimeter) that the short-range strong nuclear force dominates. For the production of useful amounts of energy, a large number of nuclei must under go fusion: that is to say, a gas of fusing nuclei must be produced. In a gas at extremely high temperature, the average nucleus contains sufficient kinetic energy to undergo fusion. Such a medium can be produced by heating an ordinary gas of neutral atoms beyond the temperature at which electrons are knocked out of the atoms. The result is an ionized gas consisting of free negative electrons and positive nuclei. This gas constitutes a plasma. Plasma, in physics, is an electrically conducting medium in which there are roughly equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, produced when the atoms in a gas become ionized. It is sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter, distinct from the solid, liquid, and gaseous states. When energy is continuously applied to a solid, it first melts, then it vaporizes, and finally electrons are removed from some of the neutral gas atoms and molecules to yield a mixture of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons, while overall neutral charge density is maintained. When a significant portion of the gas has been ionized, its properties will be altered so substantially that little resemblance to solids, liquids, and gases remains. A plasma is unique in the way in which it interacts with itself with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. A plasma can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, an photons in which some atoms are being ionized simultaneously with other electrons recombining with ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed. Scientists have estimated that more than 99 percent of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma state. All of the observed stars, including the Sun, consist of plasma, as do interstellar and interplanetary media and the outer atmospheres of the planets. Although most terrestrial matter exists in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, plasma is found in lightning bolts and auroras, in gaseous discharge lamps (neon lights), and in the crystal structure of metallic solids. Plasmas are currently being studied as an affordable source of clean electric power from thermonuclear fusion reactions. The scientific problem for fusion is thus the problem of producing and confining a hot, dense plasma. The core of a fusion reactor would consist of burning plasma. Fusion would occur between the nuclei, with electrons present only to maintain macroscopic charge neutrality. Stars, including the Sun, consist of plasma that generates energy by fusion reactions. In these “natural fusion reactors” the reacting, or burning, plasma is confirmed by its own gravity. It is not possible to assemble on Earth a plasma sufficiently massive to be gravitationally confined. The hydrogen bomb is an example of fusion reactions produced in an uncontrolled, unconfined manner in which the energy density is so high that the energy release is explosive. By contrast, the use of fusion for peaceful energy generating requires control and confinement of a plasma at high temperature and is often called controlled thermonuclear fusion. In the development of fusion power technology, demonstration of “ energy breakeven” is taken to signify the scientific feasibility of fusion. At breakeven, the fusion power produced by a plasma is equal to the power input to maintain the plasma. This requires a plasma that is hot, dense, and well confined. The temperature required, about 100 million Kelvins, is several times that of the Sun. The product of the density and energy confinement time of the plasma (the time it takes the plasma to lose its energy if not replaced) must exceed a critical value. There are two main approaches to controlled fusion – namely, magnetic confinement and inertial confinement. Magnetic confinement of plasmas is the most highly developed approach to controlled fusion. The hot plasma is contained by magnetic forces exerted on the charged particles. A large part of the problem of fusion has been the attainment of magnetic field configurations that effectively confine the plasma. A successful configuration must meet three criteria: (1) the plasma must be in a time-independent equilibrium state, (2) the equilibrium must be macroscopically stable, and (3) the leakage of plasma energy to the bounding wall must be small. A single charged particle tends to spiral about a magnetic line of force. It is necessary that the single particle trajectories do not intersect the wall. Moreover, the pressure force, arising from the thermal energy of all the particles, is in a direction to expand the plasma. For the plasma to be in equilibrium, the magnetic force acting on the electric current within the plasma must balance the pressure force at every point in the plasma. The equilibrium thus obtained has to be stable. A plasma is stable if after a small perturbation it returns to its original state. A plasma is continually perturbed by random thermal noise fluctuations. If unstable, it might depart from its equilibrium state and rapidly escape the confines of the magnetic field (perhaps in less than one-thousandth of a second). A plasma in stable equilibrium can be maintained indefinitely if the leakage of energy from the plasma is balanced by energy input. If the plasma energy loss is too large, then ignition cannot be achieved. An unavoidable diffusion of energy across the magnetic field lines will occur from the collisions between the particles. The net effect is to transport energy from the hot core to the wall. This transport process, known as classical diffusion, is theoretically not strong in hot fusion plasmas and is easily compensated for by heat from the alpha particle fusion products. In experiments, however, energy is lost from plasma more rapidly than would be expected from classical diffusion. The observed energy loss typically exceeds the classical value by a factor of 10-100. Reduction of this anomalous transport is important to the engineering feasibility of fusion. An understanding of anomalous transport in plasmas in terms of physics is not yet in hand. A viewpoint under investigation is that the anomalous loss is caused by fine-scale turbulence in the plasma. However, turbulently fluctuating electric and magnetic fields can push particles across the confining magnetic field. Solution of the anomalous transport problem involves research into fundamental topics in plasma physics, such as plasma turbulence. Many different types of magnetic configurations for plasma confinement have been devised and tested over the years. This has resulted in a family of related magnetic configurations, which may be grouped into two classes: closed, toroidal configurations and open, linear configurations. Toroidal devices are the most highly developed. In a simple straight magnetic field the plasma would be free to stream out the ends. End loss can be eliminated by forming the plasma and field in the closed shape of a doughnut, or torus, or, in an approach called mirror confinement, by plugging the ends of such a device magnetically and electrostatically. In the inertial confinement a fuel mass is compressed rapidly to densities 1,000 to10,000 times greater than normal by generating a pressure as high as 1017 pascals for periods as short as nanoseconds. Near the end of this time period the implosion speed exceeds about 300,000 meters per second. At maximum compression of the fuel, which is now in a cool plasma state, the energy in converging shock waves is sufficient to heat the vary center of the fuel to temperatures high enough to induce fusion reactions. If the product of mass and size of this highly compressed fuel material is large enough, energy will be generated through fusion reactions before the plasma disassembles. Under proper conditions, more energy can be released than is required to compresses, and shock-heat the fuel to thermonuclear burning conditions. The physical processes in ICF bear relationship to those in thermonuclear weapons and in star formation—namely, gravitational collapse, compression heating, and the onset of nuclear fusion. The situation in star formation differs in one respect: after gravitational collapse ceases and star begins to expand again due to heat from exoergic nuclear fusion reactions, the expansion is arrested by the gravity force associated with the enormous mass of the star. In a star a state of equilibrium in both size and temperature is achieved. In ICF, by contrast, complete disassembly of fuel occurs. The fusion reaction least difficult to achieve combines a deuteron (the nucleus of the deuterium atom) with a triton (the nucleus of a tritium atom). Both nuclei are isotopes of the hydrogen nucleus and contain a single unit of positive electric charge. Deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion requires the nuclei to have lower kinetic energy than is needed for the fusion of more highly charged heavier nuclei. The two products of the reaction are an alpha particle (nucleus of the helium atom) at an energy of 3.5 million electron volts (MeV) and a neuron at an energy of 14.1 MeV. (One MeV is the energy equivalent of 10 billion Kelvin.). The neutrons, lacking electric charge, is not affected by electric or magnetic fields within the plasma and can escape the plasma to deposit its energy in a material, such as lithium, which can surround the plasma. The electrically charge alpha particle collides with the deuterons and tritons (by their electrical interaction) and can be magnetically confined within the plasma. It there by transfers its energy to the reacting nuclei. When this redeposition of the fusion energy into the plasma exceeds the power lost from the plasma (by electromagnetic radiation, conduction, and convection), the plasma will be self-sustaining, or “ignited.” With deuterium and tritium as the fuel, the fusion reactor would be an effectively inexhaustible source of energy. Deuterium is obtained from seawater. About one in every 3,000 water molecules contains a deuterium atom. There is enough deuterium in the oceans to provide for the world’s energy needs for billions of years. One gram of fusion fuel can produce as much energy as 9,000 liters of oil. The amount of deuterium found naturally in one liter of water is the energy equivalent of 300 liters of gasoline. Tritium is bred in the fusion reactor. It is generated in the lithium blanket as a product of the reactor in which neutrons are captured by the lithium nuclei. A fusion reactor would have several attractive safety features. First, it is not subject to a runaway, or meltdown, accident as is a fission reactor. The fusion reaction is not a chain reaction; it requires a hot plasma. Accidental interruption of a plasma control system would extinguish the plasma and terminate fusion. Second, the products of a fusion reaction are not radioactive; hence, no long-term radioactive wastes would be generated. Neutron bombardment would activate the walls of the containment vessel, but such activated material is shorter-lived and less toxic than the waste products of a fission reactor. Moreover, even this activation problem may be eliminated, either by the development of advanced, low-activation materials, such as vanadium-based materials, or by the employment of advanced fusion-fuel cycles that do not produce neutrons, such as the fusion of deuterons with helium-3 nuclei. Nearly neutron-free fusion systems, which require higher temperatures than D-T fusion, might make up a second generation of fusion reactors). Finally, a fusion reactor would not release the gaseous pollutants that accompany the combustion of fossil fuels; hence, fusion would not produce a greenhouse effect. The fusion process has been studied as part of nuclear physics for much of the 20th century. In the late 1930s the German-born physicist Hans A. Bethe first recognized that the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form deuterium is exoergic (there is release of energy) and, together with subsequent reactions, accounts for the energy source in stars. Work proceeded over the next two decades, motivated by the need to understand nuclear matter and forces, to learn more about the nuclear physics of stellar objects, and to develop thermonuclear weapons (the hydrogen bomb) and predict their performance. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, research programs in the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union began to yield a better understanding of nuclear fusion, and investigators embarked on ways of exploiting the process for practical energy production. This work focused on the use of magnetic fields and electromagnetic forces to contain extremely hot gases called plasmas. A plasma consists of unbound electrons and positive ions whose motion is dominated by electromagnetic interactions. It is the only state of matter in which thermonuclear reactions can occur in a self-sustaining manner. Astrophysics and magnetic fusion research, among other fields, require extensive knowledge of how gases behave in the plasma state. The inadequacy of the then-existent knowledge became clearly apparent in the 1950s as the behavior of plasma in many of the early magnetic confinement systems proved too complex to understand. Moreover, researchers found that confining fusion plasma in a magnetic trap was far more challenging than they had anticipated. Plasma must be heated to tens of millions of degrees Kelvin or higher to induce and sustain the thermonuclear reaction required to produce usable amounts of energy. At temperatures this high, the nuclei in the plasma move rapidly enough to overcome their mutual repulsion and fuse. It is exceedingly difficult to contain plasmas at such a temperature level because the hot gases tend to expand and escape from the enclosing structure. The work of the major American, British, and Soviet fusion programs was strictly classified until 1958. That year, research objectives were made public, and many of the topics being studied were found to be similar, as were the problems encountered. Since that time, investigators have continued to study and measure fusion reactions between the lighter elements and have arrived at more accurate determinations of reaction rates. Also, the formulas developed by nuclear physicists for predicting the rate of fusion-energy generation have been adopted by astrophysicists to derive new information about the structure of the stellar interior and about the evolution of stars. The late 1960s witnessed a major advance in efforts to harness fusion reactions for practical energy production: the Soviets announced the achievement of high plasma temperature (about 3,000,000 K), along with other physical parameters, in a tokamak, a toroidal magnetic confinement system in which the plasma is kept generally stable both by an externally generated, doughnut-shaped magnetic field and by electric currents flowing within the plasma itself. (The basic concept of the tokamak had been first proposed by Andrey D. Sakharov and Igor Y. Tamm around 1950.) Since its development, the tokamak has been the focus of most research, though other approaches have been pursued as well. Employing the tokamak concept, physicists have attained conditions in plasmas that approach those required for practical fusion-power generation. Work on another major approach to fusion energy, called inertial confinement fusion (ICF), has been carried on since the early 1960s. Initial efforts were undertaken in 1961 with a then-classified proposal that large pulses of laser energy could be used to implode and shock-heat matter to temperatures at which nuclear fusion would be vigorous. Aspects of inertial confinement fusion were declassified in the 1970s, but a key element of the work--specifically the design of targets containing pellets of fusion fuels--still is largely secret. Very painstaking work to design and develop suitable targets continues today. At the same time, significant progress has been made in developing high-energy, short-pulse drivers with which to implode millimeter-radius targets. The drivers include both high-power lasers and particle accelerators capable of producing beams of high-energy electrons or ions. Lasers that produce more than 100,000 joules in pulses on the order of one nanosecond (10-9 second) have been developed, and the power available in short bursts exceeds 1014 watts. Best estimates are that practical inertial confinement for fusion energy will require either laser or particle-beam drivers with an energy of 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 joules capable of delivering more than 1014 watts of power to a small target of deuterium and tritium .
A HISTORY OF COMPUTERS.
The history of the computer began 2000 years ago with the invention of the abacus. Though this invention only allowed for simple arithmetic calculations, it was still very effective. A great many years after this, another calculation device, the first digital calculator, was created by Blaise Pascal in order to help his father who was a tax collector . A bit more than two hundred years after this, Charles Babbage created the first automatic calculator that was powered by steam. This is especially important in the development of the computer because this machine could store data and program the machine with imputs . These were the early days of computers. By the 1890?s computers became used much more frequently and were especially important for the US Census. The population was growing fast and the government needed a better way to keep track of all the people. Herman Hollerith and Jmes Powers created a punch card data storage device that was extremely fast and efficient by the standards of those days. One operator could process up to 8000 punch cards per day . The first fully automatic machine was created in the 1930?s by IBM (International Business Machines). It accepted input from punch cards and was able to perform calculations with no human assistance because it was electric. This invention lead to the development of the first high- speed computer called ENIAC. This could perform three hundred multiplication calculations per second and sparked mathematician John von Neumann to study the computer and figure out how to best organize computers for the future. This man is responsible for the idea of RAM (Random Access Memory), an amazing breakthrough in science. From this point computers progressed on and on. Processors were created that continued to speed things up and computers got smaller and smaller. What people can do toady on a simple hand held PDA, they couldn?t have even dreamed of in the 1950?s.
The history of the computer began 2000 years ago with the invention of the abacus. Though this invention only allowed for simple arithmetic calculations, it was still very effective. A great many years after this, another calculation device, the first digital calculator, was created by Blaise Pascal in order to help his father who was a tax collector . A bit more than two hundred years after this, Charles Babbage created the first automatic calculator that was powered by steam. This is especially important in the development of the computer because this machine could store data and program the machine with imputs . These were the early days of computers. By the 1890?s computers became used much more frequently and were especially important for the US Census. The population was growing fast and the government needed a better way to keep track of all the people. Herman Hollerith and Jmes Powers created a punch card data storage device that was extremely fast and efficient by the standards of those days. One operator could process up to 8000 punch cards per day . The first fully automatic machine was created in the 1930?s by IBM (International Business Machines). It accepted input from punch cards and was able to perform calculations with no human assistance because it was electric. This invention lead to the development of the first high- speed computer called ENIAC. This could perform three hundred multiplication calculations per second and sparked mathematician John von Neumann to study the computer and figure out how to best organize computers for the future. This man is responsible for the idea of RAM (Random Access Memory), an amazing breakthrough in science. From this point computers progressed on and on. Processors were created that continued to speed things up and computers got smaller and smaller. What people can do toady on a simple hand held PDA, they couldn?t have even dreamed of in the 1950?s.
GENETIC ENGINEERING
Genetic Engineering: A leap in to the future or a leap towards destruction? Introduction Science is a creature that continues to evolve at a much higher rate than the beings that gave it birth. The transformation time from tree-shrew, to ape, to human far exceeds the time from an analytical engine, to a calculator, to a computer. However, science, in the past, has always remained distant. It has allowed for advances in production, transportation, and even entertainment, but never in history has science be able to so deeply affect our lives as genetic engineering will undoubtedly do. With the birth of this new technology, scientific extremists and anti-technologists have risen in arms to block its budding future. Spreading fear by misinterpretation of facts, they promote their hidden agendas in the halls of the United States congress. They fear that it is unsafe; however, genetic engineering is a safe and powerful tool that will yield unprecedented results, specifically in the field of medicine. It will usher in a world where gene defects, bacterial disease, and even aging are a thing of the past. By understanding genetic engineering and its history, discovering its possibilities, and answering the moral and safety questions it brings forth, the blanket of fear covering this remarkable technical miracle can be lifted. The first step to understanding genetic engineering and embracing its possibilities for society is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method. The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependant on the understanding of how individuals pass on characteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature's evolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first laws of heredity. Using these laws, scientists studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one hundred years following Mendel's discovery. These early studies concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stableford 16). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child could receive one set of genes from his or her father that were encoded one blue, and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown genes from his or her mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the child has a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 16). Genes are transmitted through chromosomes which reside in the nucleus of every living organism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The information carried on the DNA determines the cells function within the organism. Sex cells are the only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism, therefore, the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring (Lewin 1). DNA discovery is attributed to the research of three scientists, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in 1951. They were all later accredited with the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1962 (Lewin 1). The new science of genetic engineering aims to take a dramatic short cut in the slow process of evolution (Stableford 25). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from an organism's DNA, and place it into the DNA of another organism. This would create a new DNA strand, full of new encoded instructions; a strand that would have taken Mother Nature millions of years of natural selection to develop. Isolating and removing a desired gene from a DNA strand involves many different tools. DNA can be broken up by exposing it to ultra-highfrequency sound waves, but this is an extremely inaccurate way of isolating a desirable DNA section (Stableford 26). A more accurate way of DNA splicing is the use of restriction enzymes, which are produced by various species of bacteria (Clarke 1). The restriction enzymes cut the DNA strand at a particular location called a nucleotide base, which makes up a DNA molecule. Now that the desired portion of the DNA is cut out, it can be joined to anothe strand of DNA by using enzymes called ligases. The final important step in the creation of a new DNA strand is giving it the ability to self-replicate. This can be accomplished by using special pieces of DNA, called vectors, that permit the generation of multiple copies of a total DNA strand and fusing it to the newly created DNA structure. Another newly developed method, called polymerase chain reaction, allows for faster replication of DNA strands and does not require the use of vectors (Clarke 1). Viewpoint 1 The possibilities of genetic engineering are endless. Once the power to control the instructions, given to a single cell, are mastered anything can be accomplished. For example, insulin can be created and grown in large quantities by using an inexpensive gene manipulation method of growing a certain bacteria. This supply of insulin is also not dependant on the supply of pancreatic tissue from animals. Recombinant factor VIII, the blood clotting agent missing in people suffering from hemophilia, can also be created by genetic engineering. Virtually all people who were treated with factor VIII before 1985 acquired HIV, and later AIDS. Being completely pure, the bioengineered version of factor VIII eliminates any possibility of viral infection. Other uses of genetic engineering include creating disease resistant crops, formulating milk from cows already containing pharmaceutical compounds, generating vaccines, and altering livestock traits (Clarke 1). In the not so distant future, genetic engineering will become a principal player in fighting genetic, bacterial, and viral disease, along with controlling aging, and providing replaceable parts for humans. Medicine has seen many new innovations in its history. The discovery of anesthetics permitted the birth of modern surgery, while the production of antibiotics in the 1920s minimized the threat from diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera. The creation of serums which build up the bodies immune system to specific infections, before being laid low with them, has also enhanced modern medicine greatly (Stableford 59). All of these discoveries will fall under the broad shadow of genetic engineering when it reaches its apex in the medical community. Many people suffer from genetic diseases ranging from thousands of types of cancers, to blood, liver, and lung disorders. Amazingly, all of these will be able to be treated by genetic engineering, specifically, gene therapy. The basis of gene therapy is to supply a functional gene to cells lacking that particular function, thus correcting the genetic disorder or disease. There are two main categories of gene therapy: germ line therapy, or altering of sperm and egg cells, and somatic cell therapy, which is much like an organ transplant. Germ line therapy results in a permanent change for the entire organism, and its future offspring. Unfortunately, germ line therapy, is not readily in use on humans for ethical reasons. However, this genetic method could, in the future, solve many genetic birth defects such as downs syndrome. Somatic cell therapy deals with the direct treatment of living tissues. Scientists, in a lab, inject the tissues with the correct, functioning gene and then re-administer them to the patient, correcting the problem (Clarke 1). Along with altering the cells of living tissues, genetic engineering has also proven extremely helpful in the alteration of bacterial genes. Transforming bacterial cells is easier than transforming the cells of complex organisms (Stableford 34). Two reasons are evident for this ease of manipulation: DNA enters, and functions easily in bacteria, and the transformed bacteria cells can be easily selected out from the untransformed ones. Bacterial bioengineering has many uses in our society, it can produce synthetic insulins, a growth hormone for the treatment of dwarfism and interferons for treatment of cancers and viral diseases (Stableford 34). Throughout the centuries disease has plagued the world, forcing everyone to take part in a virtual lottery with the agents of death (Stableford 59). Whether viral or bacterial in nature, such disease are currently combated with the application of vaccines and antibiotics. These treatments, however, contain many unsolved problems. The difficulty with applying antibiotics to destroy bacteria is that natural selection allows for the mutation of bacteria cells, sometimes resulting in mutant bacterium which is resistant to a particular antibiotic. This indestructible bacterial pestilence wages havoc on the human body. Genetic engineering is conquering this medical dilemma by utilizing diseases that target bacterial organisms. These diseases are viruses, named bacteriophages, which can be produced to attack specific disease-causing bacteria (Stableford 61). Much success has already been obtained by treating animals with a phage designed to attack the E. coli bacteria (Stableford 60). Diseases caused by viruses are much more difficult to control than those caused by bacteria. Viruses are not whole organisms, as bacteria are, and reproduce by hijacking the mechanisms of other cells. Therefore, any treatment designed to stop the virus itself, will also stop the functioning of its host cell. A virus invades a host cell by piercing it at a site called a receptor. Upon attachment, the virus injects its DNA into the cell, coding it to reproduce more of the virus. After the virus is replicated millions of times over, the cell bursts and the new viruses are released to continue the cycle. The body's natural defense against such cell invasion is to release certain proteins, called antigens, which plug up the receptor sites on healthy cells. This causes the foreign virus to not have a docking point on the cell. This process, however, is slow and not effective against a new viral attack. Genetic engineering is improving the body's defenses by creating pure antigens, or antibodies, in the lab for injection upon infection with a viral disease. This pure, concentrated antibody halts the symptoms of such a disease until the bodies natural defenses catch up. Future procedures may alter the very DNA of human cells, causing them to produce interferons. These interferons would allow the cell to be able determine if a foreign body bonding with it is healthy or a virus. In effect, every cell would be able to recognize every type of virus and be immune to them all (Stableford 61). Current medical capabilities allow for the transplant of human organs, and even mechanical portions of some, such as the battery powered pacemaker. Current science can even re-apply fingers after they have been cut off in accidents, or attach synthetic arms and legs to allow patients to function normally in society. But would not it be incredibly convenient if the human body could simply regrow what it needed, such as a new kidney or arm? Genetic engineering can make this a reality. Currently in the world, a single plant cell can differentiate into all the components of an original, complex organism. Certain types of salamanders can re-grow lost limbs, and some lizards can shed their tails when attacked and later grow them again. Ever of functional tissues. But before controlling the blastema is possible, a detailed knowledge of the switching process by means of which the genes in the cell nucleus are selectively activated and deactivated is needed (Stableford 90). To obtain proof that such a procedure is possible one only needs to examine an early embryo and realize that it knows whether to turn itself into an ostrich or a human. After learning the procedure to control and activate regeneration, genetic engineering will be able to conquer such ailments as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other crippling diseases without grafting in new tissues. The broader scope of this technique would allow the re-growth of lost limbs, repairing any damaged organs internally, and the production of spare organs by growing them externally (Stableford 90). Viewpoint 2 Ever since biblical times the lifespan of a human being has been pegged at roughly 70 years. But is this number truly finite? In order to uncover the answer, knowledge of the process of aging is needed. A common conception is that the human body contains an internal biological clock which continues to tick for about 70 years, then stops. An alternate watch analogy could be that the human body contains a certain type of alarm clock, and after so many years, the alarm sounds and deterioration beings. With that frame of thinking, the human body does not begin to age until a particular switch is tripped. In essence, stopping this process would simply involve a means of never allowing the switch to be tripped. W. Donner Denckla, of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, proposes that the alarm clock theory is true. He provides evidencefor this statement by examining the similarities between normal aging and the symptoms of ahormonal deficiency disease associated with the thyroid gland. Denckla proposes that as we get older the pituitary gland begins to produce a hormone which blocks the actions of the thyroid hormone, thus causing the body to age and eventually die. If Denckla's theory is correct, conquering aging would simply be a process of altering the pituitary's DNA so it would never be allowed to release the aging hormone. In the years to come, genetic engineering may finally defeat the most unbeatable enemy in the world, time (Stableford 94). The morale and safety questions surrounding genetic engineering currently cause this new science to be cast in a false light. Anti-technologists and political extremists spread incorrect interpretation of facts coupled with statements that genetic engineering is not natural and defies the order of things. The morale question of biotechnology can be answered by studying where the evolution of man is, and where it is leading our society. The safety question can be answered by examining current safety precautions in industry, and past safety records of many bioengineering projects already in place. The evolution of man can be broken up into three basic stages. The first, lasting millions of years, slowly shaped human nature from Homo erectus to Home sapiens. Natural selection provided the means for countless random mutations resulting in the appearance of such human characteristics as hands and feet. The second stage, after the full development of the human body and mind, saw humans moving from wild foragers to an agriculture based society. Natural selection received a helping hand as man took advantage of random mutations in nature and bred more productive species of plants and animals. The most bountiful wheats were collected and re-planted, and the fastest horses were bred with equally faster horses. Even in our recent history the strongest black male slaves were mated with the hardest working female slaves. The third stage, still developing today, will not require the chance acquisition of super-mutations in nature. Man will be able to create such super-species without the strict limitations imposed by natural selection. By examining the natural slope of this evolution, the third stage is a natural and inevitable plateau that man will achieve (Stableford 8). This omniscient control of our world may seem completely foreign, but the thought of the Egyptians erecting vast pyramids would have seem strange to Homo erectus as well. Conclusion Many claim genetic engineering will cause unseen disasters spiraling our world into chaotic darkness. However, few realize that many safety nets regarding bioengineering are already in effect. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) was formed under the National Institute of Health to provide guidelines for research on engineered bacteria for industrial use. The RAC has also set very restrictive guidelines requiring Federal approval if research involves pathogenicity (the rare ability of a microbe to cause disease) (Davis, Roche 69). It is well established that most natural bacteria do not cause disease. After many years of experimentation, microbiologists have demonstrated that they can engineer bacteria that are idence of regeneration is all around and the science of genetic engineering is slowly mastering its techniques. Regeneration in mammals is essentially a kind of controlled cancer, called a blastema. The cancer is deliberately formed at the regeneration site and then converted into a structure just as safe as their natural counterparts (Davis and Rouche 70). In fact the RAC reports that there has not been a single case of illness or harm caused by recombinant [engineered] bacteria, and they now are used safely in high school experiments (Davis and Rouche 69). Scientists have also devised other methods of preventing bacteria from escaping their labs, such as modifying the bacteria so that it will die if it is removed from the laboratory environment. This creates a shield of complete safety for the outside world. It is also thought that if such bacteria were to escape it would act like smallpox or anthrax and ravage the land. However, laboratory-created organisms are not as competitive as pathogens. Davis and Roche sum it up in extremely laymen's terms, no matter how much Frostban you dump on a field, it's not going to spread (70). In fact Frostbran, developed by Steven Lindow at the University of California, Berkeley, was sprayed on a test field in 1987 and was proven by a RAC committee to be completely harmless (Thompson 104). Fear of the unknown has slowed the progress of many scientific discoveries in the past. The thought of man flying or stepping on the moon did not come easy to the average citizens of the world. But the fact remains, they were accepted and are now an everyday occurrence in our lives. Genetic engineering is in its period of fear and misunderstandifng, but like every great discovery in history, it will enjoy its time of realization and come into full use in society. The world is on the brink of the most exciting step into human evolution ever, and through knowledge and exploration, should welcome it and its possibilities with open arms.
Genetic Engineering: A leap in to the future or a leap towards destruction? Introduction Science is a creature that continues to evolve at a much higher rate than the beings that gave it birth. The transformation time from tree-shrew, to ape, to human far exceeds the time from an analytical engine, to a calculator, to a computer. However, science, in the past, has always remained distant. It has allowed for advances in production, transportation, and even entertainment, but never in history has science be able to so deeply affect our lives as genetic engineering will undoubtedly do. With the birth of this new technology, scientific extremists and anti-technologists have risen in arms to block its budding future. Spreading fear by misinterpretation of facts, they promote their hidden agendas in the halls of the United States congress. They fear that it is unsafe; however, genetic engineering is a safe and powerful tool that will yield unprecedented results, specifically in the field of medicine. It will usher in a world where gene defects, bacterial disease, and even aging are a thing of the past. By understanding genetic engineering and its history, discovering its possibilities, and answering the moral and safety questions it brings forth, the blanket of fear covering this remarkable technical miracle can be lifted. The first step to understanding genetic engineering and embracing its possibilities for society is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method. The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependant on the understanding of how individuals pass on characteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature's evolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first laws of heredity. Using these laws, scientists studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one hundred years following Mendel's discovery. These early studies concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stableford 16). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child could receive one set of genes from his or her father that were encoded one blue, and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown genes from his or her mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the child has a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 16). Genes are transmitted through chromosomes which reside in the nucleus of every living organism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The information carried on the DNA determines the cells function within the organism. Sex cells are the only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism, therefore, the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring (Lewin 1). DNA discovery is attributed to the research of three scientists, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in 1951. They were all later accredited with the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1962 (Lewin 1). The new science of genetic engineering aims to take a dramatic short cut in the slow process of evolution (Stableford 25). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from an organism's DNA, and place it into the DNA of another organism. This would create a new DNA strand, full of new encoded instructions; a strand that would have taken Mother Nature millions of years of natural selection to develop. Isolating and removing a desired gene from a DNA strand involves many different tools. DNA can be broken up by exposing it to ultra-highfrequency sound waves, but this is an extremely inaccurate way of isolating a desirable DNA section (Stableford 26). A more accurate way of DNA splicing is the use of restriction enzymes, which are produced by various species of bacteria (Clarke 1). The restriction enzymes cut the DNA strand at a particular location called a nucleotide base, which makes up a DNA molecule. Now that the desired portion of the DNA is cut out, it can be joined to anothe strand of DNA by using enzymes called ligases. The final important step in the creation of a new DNA strand is giving it the ability to self-replicate. This can be accomplished by using special pieces of DNA, called vectors, that permit the generation of multiple copies of a total DNA strand and fusing it to the newly created DNA structure. Another newly developed method, called polymerase chain reaction, allows for faster replication of DNA strands and does not require the use of vectors (Clarke 1). Viewpoint 1 The possibilities of genetic engineering are endless. Once the power to control the instructions, given to a single cell, are mastered anything can be accomplished. For example, insulin can be created and grown in large quantities by using an inexpensive gene manipulation method of growing a certain bacteria. This supply of insulin is also not dependant on the supply of pancreatic tissue from animals. Recombinant factor VIII, the blood clotting agent missing in people suffering from hemophilia, can also be created by genetic engineering. Virtually all people who were treated with factor VIII before 1985 acquired HIV, and later AIDS. Being completely pure, the bioengineered version of factor VIII eliminates any possibility of viral infection. Other uses of genetic engineering include creating disease resistant crops, formulating milk from cows already containing pharmaceutical compounds, generating vaccines, and altering livestock traits (Clarke 1). In the not so distant future, genetic engineering will become a principal player in fighting genetic, bacterial, and viral disease, along with controlling aging, and providing replaceable parts for humans. Medicine has seen many new innovations in its history. The discovery of anesthetics permitted the birth of modern surgery, while the production of antibiotics in the 1920s minimized the threat from diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera. The creation of serums which build up the bodies immune system to specific infections, before being laid low with them, has also enhanced modern medicine greatly (Stableford 59). All of these discoveries will fall under the broad shadow of genetic engineering when it reaches its apex in the medical community. Many people suffer from genetic diseases ranging from thousands of types of cancers, to blood, liver, and lung disorders. Amazingly, all of these will be able to be treated by genetic engineering, specifically, gene therapy. The basis of gene therapy is to supply a functional gene to cells lacking that particular function, thus correcting the genetic disorder or disease. There are two main categories of gene therapy: germ line therapy, or altering of sperm and egg cells, and somatic cell therapy, which is much like an organ transplant. Germ line therapy results in a permanent change for the entire organism, and its future offspring. Unfortunately, germ line therapy, is not readily in use on humans for ethical reasons. However, this genetic method could, in the future, solve many genetic birth defects such as downs syndrome. Somatic cell therapy deals with the direct treatment of living tissues. Scientists, in a lab, inject the tissues with the correct, functioning gene and then re-administer them to the patient, correcting the problem (Clarke 1). Along with altering the cells of living tissues, genetic engineering has also proven extremely helpful in the alteration of bacterial genes. Transforming bacterial cells is easier than transforming the cells of complex organisms (Stableford 34). Two reasons are evident for this ease of manipulation: DNA enters, and functions easily in bacteria, and the transformed bacteria cells can be easily selected out from the untransformed ones. Bacterial bioengineering has many uses in our society, it can produce synthetic insulins, a growth hormone for the treatment of dwarfism and interferons for treatment of cancers and viral diseases (Stableford 34). Throughout the centuries disease has plagued the world, forcing everyone to take part in a virtual lottery with the agents of death (Stableford 59). Whether viral or bacterial in nature, such disease are currently combated with the application of vaccines and antibiotics. These treatments, however, contain many unsolved problems. The difficulty with applying antibiotics to destroy bacteria is that natural selection allows for the mutation of bacteria cells, sometimes resulting in mutant bacterium which is resistant to a particular antibiotic. This indestructible bacterial pestilence wages havoc on the human body. Genetic engineering is conquering this medical dilemma by utilizing diseases that target bacterial organisms. These diseases are viruses, named bacteriophages, which can be produced to attack specific disease-causing bacteria (Stableford 61). Much success has already been obtained by treating animals with a phage designed to attack the E. coli bacteria (Stableford 60). Diseases caused by viruses are much more difficult to control than those caused by bacteria. Viruses are not whole organisms, as bacteria are, and reproduce by hijacking the mechanisms of other cells. Therefore, any treatment designed to stop the virus itself, will also stop the functioning of its host cell. A virus invades a host cell by piercing it at a site called a receptor. Upon attachment, the virus injects its DNA into the cell, coding it to reproduce more of the virus. After the virus is replicated millions of times over, the cell bursts and the new viruses are released to continue the cycle. The body's natural defense against such cell invasion is to release certain proteins, called antigens, which plug up the receptor sites on healthy cells. This causes the foreign virus to not have a docking point on the cell. This process, however, is slow and not effective against a new viral attack. Genetic engineering is improving the body's defenses by creating pure antigens, or antibodies, in the lab for injection upon infection with a viral disease. This pure, concentrated antibody halts the symptoms of such a disease until the bodies natural defenses catch up. Future procedures may alter the very DNA of human cells, causing them to produce interferons. These interferons would allow the cell to be able determine if a foreign body bonding with it is healthy or a virus. In effect, every cell would be able to recognize every type of virus and be immune to them all (Stableford 61). Current medical capabilities allow for the transplant of human organs, and even mechanical portions of some, such as the battery powered pacemaker. Current science can even re-apply fingers after they have been cut off in accidents, or attach synthetic arms and legs to allow patients to function normally in society. But would not it be incredibly convenient if the human body could simply regrow what it needed, such as a new kidney or arm? Genetic engineering can make this a reality. Currently in the world, a single plant cell can differentiate into all the components of an original, complex organism. Certain types of salamanders can re-grow lost limbs, and some lizards can shed their tails when attacked and later grow them again. Ever of functional tissues. But before controlling the blastema is possible, a detailed knowledge of the switching process by means of which the genes in the cell nucleus are selectively activated and deactivated is needed (Stableford 90). To obtain proof that such a procedure is possible one only needs to examine an early embryo and realize that it knows whether to turn itself into an ostrich or a human. After learning the procedure to control and activate regeneration, genetic engineering will be able to conquer such ailments as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other crippling diseases without grafting in new tissues. The broader scope of this technique would allow the re-growth of lost limbs, repairing any damaged organs internally, and the production of spare organs by growing them externally (Stableford 90). Viewpoint 2 Ever since biblical times the lifespan of a human being has been pegged at roughly 70 years. But is this number truly finite? In order to uncover the answer, knowledge of the process of aging is needed. A common conception is that the human body contains an internal biological clock which continues to tick for about 70 years, then stops. An alternate watch analogy could be that the human body contains a certain type of alarm clock, and after so many years, the alarm sounds and deterioration beings. With that frame of thinking, the human body does not begin to age until a particular switch is tripped. In essence, stopping this process would simply involve a means of never allowing the switch to be tripped. W. Donner Denckla, of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, proposes that the alarm clock theory is true. He provides evidencefor this statement by examining the similarities between normal aging and the symptoms of ahormonal deficiency disease associated with the thyroid gland. Denckla proposes that as we get older the pituitary gland begins to produce a hormone which blocks the actions of the thyroid hormone, thus causing the body to age and eventually die. If Denckla's theory is correct, conquering aging would simply be a process of altering the pituitary's DNA so it would never be allowed to release the aging hormone. In the years to come, genetic engineering may finally defeat the most unbeatable enemy in the world, time (Stableford 94). The morale and safety questions surrounding genetic engineering currently cause this new science to be cast in a false light. Anti-technologists and political extremists spread incorrect interpretation of facts coupled with statements that genetic engineering is not natural and defies the order of things. The morale question of biotechnology can be answered by studying where the evolution of man is, and where it is leading our society. The safety question can be answered by examining current safety precautions in industry, and past safety records of many bioengineering projects already in place. The evolution of man can be broken up into three basic stages. The first, lasting millions of years, slowly shaped human nature from Homo erectus to Home sapiens. Natural selection provided the means for countless random mutations resulting in the appearance of such human characteristics as hands and feet. The second stage, after the full development of the human body and mind, saw humans moving from wild foragers to an agriculture based society. Natural selection received a helping hand as man took advantage of random mutations in nature and bred more productive species of plants and animals. The most bountiful wheats were collected and re-planted, and the fastest horses were bred with equally faster horses. Even in our recent history the strongest black male slaves were mated with the hardest working female slaves. The third stage, still developing today, will not require the chance acquisition of super-mutations in nature. Man will be able to create such super-species without the strict limitations imposed by natural selection. By examining the natural slope of this evolution, the third stage is a natural and inevitable plateau that man will achieve (Stableford 8). This omniscient control of our world may seem completely foreign, but the thought of the Egyptians erecting vast pyramids would have seem strange to Homo erectus as well. Conclusion Many claim genetic engineering will cause unseen disasters spiraling our world into chaotic darkness. However, few realize that many safety nets regarding bioengineering are already in effect. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) was formed under the National Institute of Health to provide guidelines for research on engineered bacteria for industrial use. The RAC has also set very restrictive guidelines requiring Federal approval if research involves pathogenicity (the rare ability of a microbe to cause disease) (Davis, Roche 69). It is well established that most natural bacteria do not cause disease. After many years of experimentation, microbiologists have demonstrated that they can engineer bacteria that are idence of regeneration is all around and the science of genetic engineering is slowly mastering its techniques. Regeneration in mammals is essentially a kind of controlled cancer, called a blastema. The cancer is deliberately formed at the regeneration site and then converted into a structure just as safe as their natural counterparts (Davis and Rouche 70). In fact the RAC reports that there has not been a single case of illness or harm caused by recombinant [engineered] bacteria, and they now are used safely in high school experiments (Davis and Rouche 69). Scientists have also devised other methods of preventing bacteria from escaping their labs, such as modifying the bacteria so that it will die if it is removed from the laboratory environment. This creates a shield of complete safety for the outside world. It is also thought that if such bacteria were to escape it would act like smallpox or anthrax and ravage the land. However, laboratory-created organisms are not as competitive as pathogens. Davis and Roche sum it up in extremely laymen's terms, no matter how much Frostban you dump on a field, it's not going to spread (70). In fact Frostbran, developed by Steven Lindow at the University of California, Berkeley, was sprayed on a test field in 1987 and was proven by a RAC committee to be completely harmless (Thompson 104). Fear of the unknown has slowed the progress of many scientific discoveries in the past. The thought of man flying or stepping on the moon did not come easy to the average citizens of the world. But the fact remains, they were accepted and are now an everyday occurrence in our lives. Genetic engineering is in its period of fear and misunderstandifng, but like every great discovery in history, it will enjoy its time of realization and come into full use in society. The world is on the brink of the most exciting step into human evolution ever, and through knowledge and exploration, should welcome it and its possibilities with open arms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
