Emerson And Thoreau Essays - Lecturers, Civil Disobedience

Emerson And Thoreau Henry D. Thoreau gave an intellectually stimulating lecture. His political and environmental stances enchanted the audience. His ideas are indicative of self-reliance, simplicity and appreciation. His delivery invited each listener to actively enjoy what he said. Thoreau presented his lecture so that the audience had no choice but to ponder and think about what he said. He was passionate in what he said, as his values and views leaked into the audience like a stream branching out from a river. The following is what I took away from his speech. Thoreau began his speech by addressing his purpose of living"alone"-a word of discussion in his lecture- and in the woods of Concord. I quoted a passage that he derived from his own book, under the assumption that it was something of significance, either to the audience or himself. In either case, his statement would reveal a part of Thoreau that was of importance to him. "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone let him be where he will. " (p. 123) Thoreau paused after he read. My initial response to this statement was to think about it. So solitude is physically a friend to you? He answered my question before I could question him. In the absence of people, he had befriended the "seasons". He continued to speak of his Natural friends, like the "birds who sang for him", and the "rain, which entertained him". Thoreau's idea of solitude was that solitude is simply a different state of mind. Instead of the events and actions of other people, he discerned that one's own actions, thoughts and imagination were of equal value. As he spoke, I began to appreciate what he said. His digression from society wasn't the result of dislike for it, but a personal value of living through his own eyes, rather than other's eyes. He did not need material things to measure life. Thoreau's next venture featured a fisherman. A quiet man who fished by himself at Walden Pond. Thoreau told a story of this man who came to the pond near everyday in the spring and summer. He fished from the shore, never on a boat. Something separated this man from the rest of those who came to fish. After he caught the fish, no matter the size, he would pack up his gear and leave. Where was this story leading? Thoreau admired the man who satisfied himself so easily, although he never spoke to the man. I wondered if it was a true story. Why would a guy want only one fish? Why so easily satisfied? My mind raced as he spoke, trying to devour and process the words that he said. Suddenly, without contemplation, I asked Thoreau a question. "Mr. Thoreau," I said. "This man you speak of is different from many in his ways. He travels such a distance for such a tiny reward. Why does he settle for less when he could have more without much marginal effort?" Thoreau smiled for the first time during his speech, like he was entertained by my inquiry. "My answer can be no better than yours." That was all Thoreau said. At least he wasn't egotistical. His answer seemed to raise me to his level. My answer was just as good as any other answer in the room. Maybe the guy didn't even like fish; he just wanted to be outside. Or maybe his son drowned there in the pond, and he needed to have a part of him everyday, no matter how big or small of a part it may be. Thoreau continued to talk of the fisherman. Although quiet, the man was not silent. He smiled when others greeted him, and offered his hand when other fishermen sought to launch their boats. "He loves his life, which is something that not everyone experiences," Thoreau glanced at me. "Is it not easier to be happy when your wants are few?" Here Thoreau began his conclusion to his lecture. "The universe is wider than our views of it. Our eyes are closed. No man will see every inch of our world, and the questions which nature asks us will remain a basis of thought as long as people live. Exploration of the world and of ourselves is the only light that can reveal." He picked

Scout Quotes From To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Scout Quotes From 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee The young Scout Finch,  from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is one of American literatures  most iconic and unforgettable fictional characters. The book deals with issues of racial injustice and gender roles in the American South. The book was largely based on Lees own childhood, growing up in Monroeville, Alabama, during the Great Depression. Published at the start of the civil rights movement, the book called for tolerance  and condemned the treatment of African-Americans in the South. Through its tomboy narrator, the author discusses the frustrations of living within strict female gender roles.   On Being a Girl â€Å"[Calpurnia] seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl.† â€Å"[Aunt Alexandra said that] I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.† â€Å"I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.† â€Å"I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life, I thought of running away. Immediately.† On Boo Radley Then I saw the shadow. It was the shadow of a man with a hat on. At first, I thought it was a tree, but there was no wind blowing, and tree trunks never walked. The back porch was bathed in moonlight, and the shadow, crisp, and toast moved across the porch towards Jem. (They think the shadow is Boo Radley, whom theyve been taught to fear.) On Jem The sixth grade seemed to please him from the beginning: he went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me- he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other. He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didnt see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadnt? Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and Id have the facts. To Jack â€Å"Pass the damn ham, please.† (said during Scouts attempt to try and get out of going to school) On Fighting â€Å"Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be.† â€Å"After my bout with Cecil Jacobs when I committed myself to a policy of cowardice, word got around that Scout Finch wouldn’t fight anymore, her daddy wouldn’t let her. This was not entirely correct: I wouldn’t fight publicly for Atticus, but the family was private ground. I would fight anyone from a third cousin upwards tooth and nail. Francis Hancock, for example, knew that.† ​ On White Lies â€Å"I said I would like it very much, which was a lie, but one must lie under certain circumstances and at all times when one can’t do anything about them.† (on Aunt Alexandra moving in) On Dill â€Å"With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.† On People I think theres just one kind of folks. Folks.

Analyse the compromises made in the Vienna Convention between common Essay

Analyse the compromises made in the Vienna Convention between common law and civil law approaches to contract formation - Essay Example Many of the principles of international mercantile law were derived from the early rules and traditions formulated in the Middle Ages.2 However, with regard to the unification of laws and the harmonization of principles that govern transnational commerce and in particular, the international sale of goods, serious efforts were undertaken only in the 1930s. The first draft of a uniform law on international sale of goods was developed in 1935, World political events intervened - in particular, the Second World War - and it was only in 1964 when two conventions were approved in a conference at The Hague. These conventions were the Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods ("ULIS") and the Uniform Law on the Formation of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods ("ULF"). Unfortuna... Many states were not comfortable with the influence of the civil law traditions of Western Europe3 . The failure of these two conventions made one conclusion inescapable: to achieve uniformity and harmonization of the principles governing the international sale of goods, there must be widespread concurrence from a vast majority of state-actors.4 The road towards a unified law was long and arduous. Two years after the conferences at the Hague, the United Nations established the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). However, it took ten years before the UNCITRAL released the 1978 Draft Convention. Perhaps the circumstances were a little different than they were in 1968, and there was a growing realization of the imperative to come up with rules that harmonize international trade law. In 1980, 62 countries came together in a conference in Vienna and, after some debate, approved unanimously the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). In 1988, the CISG finally came into force. The prefatory statement of the CISG illuminates us as to the overarching goals of the Convention: ''THE STATES PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION, BEARING IN MIND the broad objectives in the resolution adopted by the sixth special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the establishment of a New International Economic Order, CONSIDERING that the development of international trade on the basis of equality and mutual benefit is an important element in promoting friendly relations among States, BEING OF THE OPINION that the adoption of uniform rules which govern contracts for the international sale of goods and take

A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Research Paper

A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus - Research Paper Example A valid way to understand them would be to consider the effect of their environment upon their thinking and actions. Their respective philosophies are also studied in this essay. Two of their works, â€Å"My experiments with Truth† by Gandhi and â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus are also compared to understand these aspects. These highly attractive figures also had many similarities in their life. Both belonged to the same class of thinkers, the existentialists, Gandhi being accorded the status on being a religious man whose truths are subjective than objective. Both accidentally suffered the violent ends. Their life and significance and present day relevance are only being more understood in the in the recent years. Name Instructor Course Name 9th May 2011 A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Youth and Upbringing Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known in his country as â€Å"Mahatma† or great soul was the most popular and charismatic leader of the nation in modern times and the most powerful leader responsible for gaining independence for India from the British Empire. He was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar where his grandfather and father were prime minister of that small royal state. He was sent to Britain to study law an occasion, which served to broaden his mind greatly. [Gandhi bio source 1] Affectionately called the father of the nation he was a man who led a spotless and model life so correct he was able to say, â€Å"My life is My Message† [Sarvodaya]. He acted as a moral leader who taught that freedom was directly related to a moral life and led by example. He inspired so much awe among the great men of the world that Einstein wrote "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe, that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." [Gandhi Research].In short he was a thinker â €Å"who practiced what he preached†. All his simplicity and social involvement was the result of profound thought and religious idealism. Philosophy As a theoretical philosopher, he may fit in more as a religious person who has attained enlightenment than as an originator of totally new line of philosophical thought. â€Å"This is because Gandhi was not a philosopher trying to make sense of the world around him in abstraction. He was essentially a political actor.† [Dasgupta] Most of Gandhi’s potent ideas, like Ahimsa and Non-violence were not exactly originated by him but were of religious origin. In short, for comparative purposes, he was a man who was able to find meaning in life, which for him was God, which he also called the truth. [SOURCE].One of Gandhi’s motivators was also his feeling of religious guilt being a very morally reflective boy from his childhood. Born in a very traditional family environment he felt sorely from the instance of having been engaged in sexual intercourse with his own wife while his father was on his deathbed .Unfortunately while Gandhi was away his father happened to die. He felt very guilty about this, he constantly tried to become a purer man, and his grace spread to the society about him. [Gandhi Autobiography] He was also highly moved by the beauty of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’[New Testament]. Albert Camus [1913- 1960] was born 7 November 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria, into a working-class family and grew up in poverty. His mother Catherine Helene Sintes was an illiterate cleaning woman of Spanish origin. Lucien Auguste Camus, his father, was an itinerant agricultural laborer He died when Camus was as a one year old of his war wounds in 1914 after the Battle of the

Portfolio on recruitment and selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Portfolio on recruitment and selection - Essay Example I was particularly intrigued by psychometric testing as the selection is based on judgment of personality (Lecture r_s n.d.). Recruitment and selection is one of the most important decisions every employer has to take. The most important resource any organization can have is the human resource. I learnt from the slides that it takes the â€Å"right† people to deliver the products and/or services at the right time and with the desired quality standard. Recruitment is a laborious process and the human resource department (HRD) cannot be quick with it without subjecting the organization in general and HRD in particular to significant losses. I learnt in the HiTec case study that two mediums that are generally used by organizations to advertise new positions for recruitment include advertising in newspapers and rendering the services of recruiting agents. Both methods have their own deficiencies. While highly talented professionals are generally too busy and satisfied with their current firms to even bother looking at the ads in the newspapers, recruiting agents charge the employers a lot and are capabl e of luring the employees into other opportunities few weeks or months after their recruitment with the employer. I would advise HiTec to establish a separate department of training that would look into the latest market skills’ needs and prepare short-term highly informative courses for the workforce. This is a more cost-effective strategy for HiTec rather than constantly recruiting new employees. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to conduct the recruitment process. After the first challenge of getting the applicants is overcome, next comes the challenge of sifting through hundreds, and sometimes, thousands of resumes to shortlist the candidates for interview (Taylor n.d.). Many of the shortlisted candidates have bragged about their skills and competencies in their resumes and are not able to perform the

Reflection on the Concept of Knowledge

Reflection on the Concept of Knowledge â€Å"That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.† Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge. Satyajith Botcha Plato’ once said, â€Å"Knowledge is a justified, true belief.† [1]It’s not just systematic organization of facts, but what an individual deems true and invests faith in. When we talk about knowledge being â€Å"discarded,† does it mean that it’s nullified and not further used? Or, does it mean that it’s temporarily ignored due to differing opinions? In my opinion, knowledge can be debunked as in, discarded or temporarily put on hold, much like theories. As the statement is further explored, another questions arises as to who â€Å"accepts† knowledge or who â€Å"discards,† it? I believe, knowledge should always be backed by legitimate evidence. In my study, I want to explore the multiple perspectives – the various possibilities, ideas, and the holistic view on which our world ought to be explored, in order to understand what knowledge truly is and its significance on our lives. One begins to question the usefulness of knowledge if it would eventually become obsolete anyways? If knowledge can change so easily, do we have the right to question the validity of the current theorems if they would only have a temporary existence? I believe that eventually it is up to the individual to accept knowledge as it is today. However, if one wants to question it, they have the right to do so because, if no one questioned information newer information would never come into existence and the world would never progress. This does not mean that in our progress toward the future we can forget the past. In the modern world, two widely known areas of knowledge which have numerous practical applications, the natural sciences and history have undergone drastic changes revolutionizing each field. To further my study I will be using three different ways of knowing –reason, sense perception and emotion. History as we know is a record of our entire past experiences, information and ideas. It shows us the way the world was, or what we thought was in the previous generations. We can clearly see through a panorama of perception, the radical change in knowledge, evident in modern human’s different way of thinking than from that of their ancestors. On the other hand, the natural sciences, we see sweeping changes all over the globe occurring even as we speak. We are given new things to see, to explore and to question due to the rapid development in technology and scientific research. But, how legitimate is this? Is it possible that some of the material we know today is perhaps less sensible than that of the ‘outdated’ discoveries, or information that our ancestors perceived as the right ones? If so, how do we bank on what is right and what is wrong, or how do we predict what could change and what could not? A theory that has long been discarded is that of spontaneous generation[2]. This stated that human beings originated from inanimate lifeless substances, such as rocks. Our ancestors developed this through viewing the growth of maggots from rotting meat. Although this concept seems ridiculous now, we must understand that this theory was believed by most of the 19th century scientists. In fact, it was considered as a scientific fact. However, the theory of falsification[3] that basically tells us that there is an inherent possibility that a hypothesis or theory can be false is an example of the instability of knowledge. This is where those who believe in wide-range perception come in. This is where perception kicks in as a key element to survival and to understanding knowledge. â€Å"Spontaneous generation† was countered by Luis Pasteur in 1859, putting it to test[4]. He had placed two pieces of meat in separate jars, one opened and the other closed. He observed maggots only gro wing in the one that was opened. Thus, he concluded that the origins of the maggots must be from outside, living organisms in the air. In truth it was flies that had laid their eggs in the meat to nourish their young. In an instant our view of the world and the perspective of the origins of life were debunked. Nevertheless people began to believe just as completely in a whole new theory proposed by Pasteur[5]. On this basis, at this rate, if a major portion of an entire generation would believe in the same fact for years without doubt, then where does the fate of human kind lie?. I believe that I can find the right information using both intuition and reasoning. For example, when you look at all the historians that worked hard to define knowledge through their works or investigations, you see flaws in the knowledge that we had blindly believed for generations. The internet era’s historic event, The World Trade Centre 9/11 attack, was claimed by conspiracy theorists to have collapsed in 9 seconds inciting probable links to the centre being rigged with explosives prior to the attack[6]. This theory was supported by Rosie O’Donnell who stated that investigation was must. If this wasn’t ever questioned, an entire historic event would simply be falsified in records due to a one person’s wrong research. Many people would’ve believed her account despite never even witnessing the actual footage of the building collapsing, which took almost 20 plus seconds. This defies the entire logic of the building falling at â€Å"free-fall† speed, shattering the entirely false conspiracy. Not only can such theory affect the emotional stability of researchers, patriots and common men and women, but can create a sore patch in the minds of the victims’ families that actually underwent trauma through such events. Nevertheless, we now understand that the peculiar collapsing of the building was due to the fact that it had been built with triangles around the sectors of the building because of its enormity. A majority of people, however, did not know the truth and based their views on less knowledge associated with something never completely understood. Only when people started looking into the matter themselves was it instantly debunked. If this same process was repeated throughout history, we could find many loopholes. Ultimately, it lies in the individual, whether one would accept or deny the knowledge granted. Perception is what drives this; people choose what they believe in. Our reasoning cannot always be right but we are rational beings, capable of making informed decisions with some prior knowledge. Some essential human based facts always will persist and the key to understanding these facts is beyond simply accepting them. To truly understand a concept one must ask questions about that specific subject and their knowledge can either be further strengthened or their entire perception could change. People unnecessarily take information sculpted by someone else’s research without doing any of their own based on the idea that the researcher who took the time to do the investigation must be correct. It must be regarded as false until the point when the one who receives the information actually looks into the matter and validates the knowledge. In a world where information changes every day, some persist, and some simply vanish creating needless new ideas. One such idea that had been so ingrained in the mind of humanity was the concept of a static universe. This image of the universe had persisted even until the twentieth century. In fact, one of the greatest intellectual minds Albert Einstein even believed in this concept. When he had created his theory of the universe, the general theory of relativity, in 1915 he added a completely irrelevant and seemingly random concept just to accommodate it. He introduced the idea of a cosmological constant, an all pervading force that would prevent the universe contracting from gravity and remain static. Before this, though Edwin Hubble had observed a red shift in the galaxies nearby and an even larger shift in those further. A red shift occurs when light that is emitted by a source, a galaxy for example, that is moving away from the observer becomes elongated. This phenomenon was obs erved on all sides of us and it increases with distance, meaning that the universe was expanding in all directions. Einstein did not accept this knowledge and had unnecessarily complicated his theory by adding a constant that clearly made no sense. The information that was proven true was not accepted, as a previous knowledge was stuck in his mind restricting his ability to formulate a realistic theory. Later, he understood the validity of the information and incorporated the idea of an expanding universe into his theory. A theory previously thought false was proven true and needlessly discarded. But, the urge to question, the urge to want to know more will always be a crucial part of the human mind. This is what will lead us to want to change the knowledge we know today and enhance current knowledge. It doesn’t stop there though; perception is the key to becoming a knowledgeable thinker. If one thinks critically about all the minute and grand paradigms of the universe, the inventive scope for more knowledge could be limitless. Bibliography http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Protagoras/protagoras_plato_knowledge.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/scientific-method5.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability http://listverse.com/2009/01/19/10-debunked-scientific-beliefs-of-the-past/ http://www.pasteurbrewing.com/the-life-and-work-of-louis-pasteur/experiments/louis-pasteurs-experiment-to-refute-spontaneous-generation/204.html http://www.debunking911.com/freefall.htm 1 [1] http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Protagoras/protagoras_plato_knowledge.htm [2] http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/scientific-method5.htm [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability [4] http://listverse.com/2009/01/19/10-debunked-scientific-beliefs-of-the-past/ [5] http://www.pasteurbrewing.com/the-life-and-work-of-louis-pasteur/experiments/louis-pasteurs-experiment-to-refute-spontaneous-generation/204.html [6] http://www.debunking911.com/freefall.htm

The Effect of Childhood Trauma on Brain Development Essay -- Child Abu

According to the Center for Disease Control, one in every three girls and one in every five boys are sexually abused by an adult at some time during childhood. Child abuse is a vicious cycle. After a child is abused it puts a deterrent on his or her ability to succeed in life. Examples of this are adults who were abused as children are twice as likely to become abusers themselves. The majority of people in prisons were abused as children. It is no wonder why childhood trauma has such a horrible impact on a person’s personality and brain. Trauma is a serious consideration in special education. When a child is exposed to a traumatic event, such as abuse, neglect or death, it can have a lifelong effect on their mental health. Although there are numerous effects followed by childhood trauma the brain chemistry of neurotransmitters is most affected. First a person might ask what neurotransmitters are. A perfect example is a lock and a key. Neurotransmitters are keys and each one activates different receptors (locks). Today there is known to be sixty chemicals that play a role in transferring information throughout the brain and body, each of which differently effect thought, feeling, and behavior. During childhood is when a person is most impressionable. Therefore when a child has suffered any physical, sexual, or emotional abuse these instances play a major role on the connections to their brain and the way that person will react to any given situation. If a child was frequently abused their brain would continuously be in high stress alert. According to The Healing Center- On Line, studies on the physiological effects of trauma have found profound and substantial effects within multiple interconnected neurobiological syst... ...rth a lot of effort to secure the damaged connections of their brain. After the trauma the person could be haunted by nightmares or constantly bothered by their inability to recall the incident fully, due to the damaged hippocampus. Trauma is as an event more overwhelming than a person ordinarily would be expected to encounter. Therefore the individual would suffer more than a few effects including eternal change such as thought process, inability to learn properly, difficulty trusting people, difficulty in socializing, and basically an inability to live their life to the fullest without distraction. If someone knew a child in danger of abuse they should call 1800-4-A-child. The longer the child is traumatized the greater the effects will be on the chemistry of their brain, and the less chance they have of overcoming the damage in order to live a life of normalcy.

Race Determining Music Preference Essay

Music in the United States is a reflection of the nation’s multi-ethnic population with regard to its diverse array of styles. The most famous of these genres include; rock n roll, country, rhythm & blues, jazz, hip-hop. The developments of most of the genres of music began during the civil war period. During this time the roots of such popular forms like blues, gospel, jazz, as well as country took shape. In the early 20th century there forms of music emerged as the core of American popular music and later underwent evolution to such styles as rhythm and blues, rock and roll and hip-hop (Daniel Gilbert Perret, (2005). Music integrates South American social and cultural identity, entailing social class, race and ethnicity among many others. The link and co relationship between is perhaps the to potent of all the factors within the United States than any other. Race seems to the most potent determiner of musical mean within America. The evolution of the Afro American musical identity as a result of disparate sources form Africa as well as Europe has consistently been the main theme within the music domain and history in the United States. During the mid 1800s, the Afro American had developed a district folk tradition that was well-recognized and very wide spread. African American techniques, their instrumentation as well as images were integrated and became part of what was then known mainstream music. Via spirituals, slave songs as well as minstrel shows. Through jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues and later on through rock n roll, soul a swell as hip-hop. Even through all these genres were accepted and adapted by all races within the United States they were developed from an afro American styles as well as idioms before eventually setting to become very common in consumption as well as performance that had no racial boundary. Differently, country music was driven from the European and an African context as well as Hawaiian and Native American. The untied states due to her diverse culture and her propensity to taking in influences form across the globe and building characteristically new methods through which artists can culturally express themselves. Even though many aspects of the American aspects of the American music is traceable back to certain specific origins it is usually inherently difficult to put claim on any respective original culture as the source of any musical element, because of the even evolving American music through transplanting as well as techniques of hybridizations, instruments and genres (Blush, Steven (2001). Very distinctly American music stems form the cross-cultural hybridization through a very close interaction. For instance, during slavery mixed persons form various tribes in very closely enclosed living quarter resulted in a shared musical tradition that was done through an extended hybridization. The process which music was being transplanted between various cultures within the United States brought with it various implications. For example, the revival of folk during the mid 1900s appropriated the music of different village person, partially to enhance particular political causes. The use of Afro American techniques as well as images, instruments during performances by white Americans have been on the rise since the mid 1800s. The music industry in the United States has been very active with her attempts to make popular white performers of African American music due to their palatability to mainstream as well as middle class American. From this process such many stars like Benny Goodman, Eminem as well as Elvis Presley have emerged in various genres of music. The nature of folk music within the united is as varied as the nature of her multi-ethical culture. Generally, the Native Americans have each played their variety of folk music, which has basically been spiritual. In its development stage spirituals was basically expressions of religious faith, and was a common song by slaves on southern plantations. It however, spread out of the south in the late 1800s. Its diversification increased with emergence of fekleg in the early 1900s as well as the rise of the singing preachers from which the gospel type of music originated (Chase, Gilbert (2000). Blues on the other hand is conglomeration of African folk songs, shouts as well as field hollers. It emerged form the rural south during 1900-1910. It was characterized in its use of the blue scale with a flatted/in determinate third. The various ethnic communities that have migrated to the untied have managed to keep alive the folk traditions of the culture and usually providing a characteristically American styles with foreign flair. The European musical tradition was imported to the United States with the advent of the first colonialists. This classical traditional music is deeply rooted within the traditions of the European art, as well as concern music. Majorly of American tried to work entirely with their music centered on the European models until the 1800s. By early 1900s, many American composers started incorporating such disparate elements into their musical art, from the jazz and blues to the Native American music. Big corporations that produce in both small and large scale largely dominate the music industry in the untied states. Often, these companies do not appeal to large audiences, as such small companies have sprung up to fill the void left. They produce in various styles with ranging variety that appeal to very large audiences. These small firms are normally built on the foundation of a core fun base that may happen to be strategically located in one region. The largest make music industry is that centered on Latin music. This kind of music has greatly impacted on the popular American music and was a very essential component in the development of jazz music. In view of this it is sufficient to conclude that to a greater extent race has a bearing on the preference of the type of music one performs or listens to this is born out of the fact that part of a child’s development stage, the cognitive part begins to encode the mothers language from the womb until he or she reaches the external environment (Daniel G. 2005). Thus, even if there are many Americans who have crossed the racial lines as has music still the culture is a determinant the choice of music.

The Idea of Nature and its Essence

The Idea of Nature and its Essence The idea of nature is one of the most widely employed in philosophy and by the same token one of the most ill-defined. Authors such as Aristotle and Descartes relied on the concept of nature to explain the fundamental tenets of their views, without ever attempting to define the concept. Even in contemporary philosophy, the idea is oftentimes employed, in different forms. So, what is nature? Nature and the Essence of a Thing The philosophical tradition that traces back to Aristotle employs the idea of nature to explain that which defines the essence of a thing. One of the most fundamental metaphysical concepts, the essence indicates those properties that define what a thing is. The essence of water, for instance, will be its molecular structure, the essence of a species, its ancestral history; the essence of a human, its self-consciousness or its soul. Within the Aristotelian traditions, hence, to act in accordance with nature means to take into account the real definition of each thing when dealing with it. The Natural World At times the idea of nature is instead used to refer to anything that exists in the universe as part of the physical world. In this sense, the idea embraces anything that falls under the study of the natural sciences, from physics to biology to environmental studies. Natural vs. Artificial Natural is often used also to refer to a process which occurs spontaneously as opposed to one that occurs as the result of the deliberation of a being. Thus, a plant grows naturally when its growth was not planned by a rational agent; it grows otherwise artificially. An apple would hence be an artificial product, under this understanding of the idea of nature, although most would agree that an apple is a product of nature (that is, a part of the natural world, that which is studied by natural scientists). Nature vs. Nurture Related to the spontaneity vs. artificiality divide is the idea of nature as opposed to nurture. The idea of culture becomes here central to draw the line. That which is natural as opposed to that which is the outcome of a cultural process. Education is a central example of a non-natural process: under many accounts, education is seen as a process against nature. Clearly enough, from this perspective there are some items that cannot ever be purely natural: any human development is shaped by the activity, or lack thereof, of interaction with other human beings; there is no such thing as a natural development of human language, for instance. Nature as Wilderness The idea of nature is at times used to express the wilderness. Wilderness lives at the edge of civilization, of any cultural processes. In the strictest reading of the term, humans can encounter wilderness in very few selected places on earth nowadays, those were the influence of human societies is negligible; if you include the environmental impact produced by humans on the whole ecosystem, there may well be no wild place left on our planet. If the idea of wilderness is loosened a bit, then even through a walk in a forest or a trip on the ocean one may experience that which is wild, i.e. natural. Nature and God Finally, an entry on nature cannot omit that which perhaps has been the most widely employed understanding of the term in past millennia: nature as the expression of the divine. The idea of nature is central in most religions. It has taken numerous forms, from specific entities or processes (a mountain, the sun, the ocean, or fire) to embracing the whole realm of existents. Further Online Readings The entry on Laws of Nature at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

The scope of the doctrine and remedies for frustration of contract in English law Essays

The scope of the doctrine and remedies for frustration of contract in English law Essays The scope of the doctrine and remedies for frustration of contract in English law Paper The scope of the doctrine and remedies for frustration of contract in English law Paper Essay Topic: Law The courts have interpreted the scope of the doctrine of frustration narrowly, in accordance with the principle pacta sunt servanda agreements must be kept. If the courts readily held that a contract was frustrated, it would cast significant doubt on an array of agreements that make commerical enterprise possible. As Lord Radcliffe advised in Davis Contractors Ltd v Fareham UDC, [f]rustration is not to be lightly invoked as the dissolvent of a contract.i This discussion will first examine the underlying reasons for the narrowness of the doctrine before considering the specific limitations. Here it will be argued that in some instances the courts decisions have been inconsistent and in others they have been unduly harsh. The following part of the discussion will examine the remedies available to parties of a frustrated contract, as found under the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943. The deficiencies in the statute will be explored, amongst them ambiguity, which has led to the rare use of the Act. Instead, parties have opted to draft out the Act and include provisional clauses of their own. These force majeure and hardship clauses provide for a solution if a supervening event occurs which makes it impossible or more onerous for one party to perform. With the unsatisfactory state of the law governing frustration, it will be posited that these clauses are vital to retain an element of certainty in commercial contracting. The scope of the doctrine of frustration Contract law is founded on the principle that liablity for non-performance is strict. While this seems particularly severe, it is substantiated with the belief that parties receive valuable consideration for taking risks. The allocation of risks provides a major function of the law of contract: it enables individuals and corporations to plan for the future with a moderate degree of certainty and hence to maximise their freedom of action.ii A contract can only be frustrated when performance becomes impossible, or a supervening event takes place that would make performance radically different to that which was contracted to by the parties. If frustration is sufficiently pled, its result is to bring the contract to an end. Given this drastic outcome, the courts have interpreted the scope of the doctrine narrowly in order to preserve the sanctity of contract.iii Paradine v Jane is most frequently cited to demonstrate this: When a party by his own contract creates a duty or charge upon himself, he is bound to make it good, if he may, notwithstanding any accident by inevitable necessity, because he might have provided against it by his contract.iv Furthermore, if a party feels that they would be unable to perform if a supervening event occurs, they should provide for it in the contract. Many supervening events that can impede performance are foreseeable and parties should construct their contracts accordingly. There are several circumstances that may qualify for discharging the contract on grounds of frustration. These include the subject matter of the contract being destroyed; illness or incapacity of a contracting party; the non-occurrence of an event that formed the foundation of the contract; supervening illegality.v It is certainly not a rule that these circumstances will frustrate a contract. As Lord Sumner stated in Bank Line Ltd v Arthur Capel and Co, ultimately the frustration of an adventure depends on the facts of each case.vi There are three main limitations to the doctrine. Firstly, if there are provisions in the contract that provide for a solution if an event occurs, then an argument based on frustration is unlikely to be entertained as the parties have already provided for the occurrence.vii Secondly, if the event is foreseeable, the parties are unable to avail of the doctrine of frustration. In Amalgamated Investment and Property Co Ltd v John Walker Sons Ltdviii the claimants sought to set aside a contract for sale of a property, when they found that a day after they had signed the contract, the property became listed and could not be redeveloped. This reduced the value of the property by approximately 90%. The court held that the contract was not frustrated because the claimants were aware of the risk, as evidenced by a pre-contract enquiry as to whether the building could be listed. The supervening event did not fulfill the test set by Lord Radcliffe in Davis Contractors Ltd v Fareham UDCix it did not render [the performance] a thing radically different from that which was undertaken by the contract.x In Krell v Henryxi Vaughan Williams LJ expressed the foreseeability test in terms of whether the event was anticipated or not. Despite the logic of this proposition, it has not been without challenge. In The Eugenia, Lord Denning stated that: It has frequently been said that the doctrine of frustration only applies when the new situation is unforeseen or unexpected or uncontemplated, as if that were an essential feature. But it is not so.xii In stating this, Lord Denning relied upon the judgement in WJ Tatem Ltd v Gamboaxiii where a charterparty was held to be frustrated, even though it was foreseeable that the ship would be seized. It is difficult to reconcile these judgements with previous ones that have been decided, and it is indeterminable as to how future courts will rule on this test. A third limitation on the doctrine of frustration is if the event is self-induced. In Taylor v Caldwell, Blackburn J stated that frustration applied where performance had become impossible without default of the contractor.xiv The way in which the courts have interpreted a self-induced event is not free of controversy. In J Lauritzen AIS v Wijsmuller BV The Super Servant Two Bingham LJ stated that frustration had to arise from some outside event.xv In this case, the defendant contracted to transport an oil rig with either the Super Servant One or the Super Servant Two carrier. The defendant intended to use the latter, but it sank, and the Super Servant One had been allocated to other contracts. The Court of Appeal held that the contract was not brought to an end because of the sinking of Super Servant Two, but because of the defendants election not to use Super Servant One, therefore the contract was not frustrated. Treitel has criticized the reasoning of this judgement on the grounds that after the loss of the ship, it became impossible for the defendants to perform all its contracts during the period in question with only one operable carrier. Treitel further argues that in such a circumstance, where a party has entered into a number of contracts with other parties, and a supervening event does not permit him to satsify all those contracts, he can, provided he acts reasonably, elect to perform some of the contracts, and claim that the others have been frustrated by the event.xvi This argument certainly has merit and would lead to a far more just result than that decided by the court. The Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943 In cases where a contract was frustrated, the common law was ill-equipped to provide a remedy. This lead to unjust decisions, such as Chandler v Websterxvii where a contract was frustrated but the aggrieved party was still liable to pay. The rights of the parties were determined solely on when the obligation to pay arose before or after the frustrating event. If they arose before, then there was still an obligation to pay, regardless of whether there had been a total failure of consideration. In 1943, the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act [hereinafter the Act] was passed primarily to resolve this situation.xviii Shortly before the enactment of the Act, the House of Lords reversed Chandler in the case of Fibrosa Spolka Akcyjna v Fairbairn Lawson Combe Barbour Ltd.xix Money paid before the event was recoverable when there was a total failure of consideration. This was an improvement in the state of the common law, but it was still not satisfactory as it did not allow the payer to recover money where there was only a partial failure of consideration, and furthermore, the payee could not set off expenses that he legitimately incurred. Under s.1(2) of the Act, money paid before the frustrating event is recoverable and money payable before the event ceases to be payable, subject to legitimate expenses incurred before the event. Section 1(3) further provides that if one party has derived a valuable benefit from anything done by the other party, then the judge may order that party to pay a sum in respect of it. In BP v Hunt, Goff J stated that the fundamental principle underlying the Act itself is prevention of the unjust enrichment of either party to the contract at the others expense and its purpose was not to apportion the loss between the parties.xx As McKendrick points out, this interpretation is not without challenge, and an alternative analysis is that the Act is designed to provide a flexible machinery for the adjustment of loss.xxi The purpose of the Act is therefore still in doubt. There are more specific criticisms levelled by McKendrick.xxii Whilst they cannot all be addressed here, it is important to identify the primary difficulties. Firstly, s.1(2) does not cover money paid after the event; the payor would have to resolve this at common law where there is little respite. Secondly, it is difficult to ascertain how loss will be calculated between the parties. If the payor has given the payee à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20,000 which has been expended in performance of the contract, how much can the payee retain? McKendrick states that the subsection is not well drafted and that inadequate consideration has been given to the apportionment of any losses.xxiii Section 1(3) is the most controversial part of the Act and was critical in the case of BP v Hunt. The word benefit has been given an unnatural and artificial meaning, and the way in which Goff J resolved the matter in BP can lead to less desirable results. The value of the benefit and the just sum to be awarded is totally left to the discretion of the trial judge, which is liable to lead to inconsistency in the future.xxiv Ultimately this creates further uncertainty and ambiguity, making it difficult for parties to determine their actual remedies under the Act. Force majeure clauses As the law currently stands, it is uncertain as to whether the courts will discharge a contract on the ground of frustration due to a supervening event, and if they do, the remedial position of the parties is entirely unclear. Parties can reduce this uncertainty by agreeing on a list of events beforehand which constitute force majeure. Parties can also widen the parameters of these clauses beyond the scope that the courts would ordinarily allow. For instance, price fluctuations would not ordinarly be held to frustrate a contract in the courts, whereas parties can state in their contract that it will constitute a force majeure event. The importance of force majeure clauses cannot be overstated in the drafting of commercial contracts. In Bremer Handelsgesellschaft mbH v Vanden Avenne-Izegem PVBA,xxv Mocatta J believed that there was much to be said for Counsels submission that there was no room for the doctrine of frustration to apply when elaborate provisions, by way of force majeure clauses, were in place. During uncertain economic times, businesses will try to rely on the doctrine of frustration and force majeure clauses inserted into their contracts that provide for such events. This was the case in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, when businesses sought to discharge their contractual obligations through reliance on force majeure clauses.xxvi However, they will only be successful if their provision has the clear intention of resolving the consequences that arise out of the supervening event. If a provisional clause is not drafted to properly account for the event, the court will not give it affect. In Thames Valley Power Ltd v. Total Gas Power Ltd xxvii the defendants entered into a 15-year contract with the claimant for the supply of gas, which contained a force majeure clause. In July 2005, due to the sharp increase in gas prices, the defendants informed the claimants that this constituted a force majeure event and they would be unable to supply the gas until the prices fell. The claimants argued that the increase in prices did not fall into the scope of force majeure, and the event had not rendered performance impossible; it merely made it less profitable. In his judgement, Clarke J ruled that the force majeure clause which the defendants relied upon did not sufficiently cover the increase in gas prices. He cited another force majeure case, Tennants Lancashire Limited v Wilson CS Co Ltd, where Lord Loreburn observed that: The argument that a man can be excused from performance of his contract when it becomes commercially impossible seems to me to be a dangerous contention which ought not to be admitted unless the parties plainly contracted to that effect.xxviii In order to make sure that every event is covered under force majeure, some parties draft the clauses in very general terms. However, the courts will not necessarily interpret a force majeure clause to cover every event, despite the wording of the contract. In Metropolitan Water Board v Dick Kerr Coxxix a contract to build a reservoir in six years contained a provision that allowed for an extension in the event of time delays, whatsoever and howsoever occasioned. The courts interpreted this to mean that it gave the builder a period of grace for non-frustrating delays. It did not cover the actual event government intervention in WWI which required him to halt work and sell his construction plant. Hence the builders plea of frustration was successful. Therefore, force majeure clauses can be seen to cover events that have the possibility of resolution within a short period of time, but obviously cannot cover an event that renders performance impossible. When the court rules that a contract is frustrated, it is terminated. As Treitel notes, this inflexibility leads to all or nothing solutions,xxx which is often not what the parties want. Provisional clauses therefore have the further benefit of allowing the parties to stipulate a modification to the contract, allowing for extra time or for an alternative mode of performance at an additional cost. Conclusion The effect of a supervening event is to throw a contract off course. Rather than mitigate the ensuing uncertainty that is caused, the law in its current state creates further ambiguity. The indefinite wording of the 1943 Act creates further uncertainty when it comes to the remedial standpoint of the parties. As McKendrick observes, it is perhaps fortunate that a frustrated contract is a comparative rarity in commercial practice and so the deficiencies in the Act [] rarely come to light.xxxi In light of this, force majeure and hardship clauses provide for a degree of certainty and flexibility in commercial contracting. Not only can parties make provisions for what constitutes a force majeure event, but they can stipulate the consequences of such an event. With contracting parties realising these benefits, it is common for even small businesses to incorporate provisional clauses into their agreements. However, contracting parties must be diligent in drafting these clauses so that they sufficiently account for the supervening event, otherwise they may find that they are still subject to the courts determination and the uncertainty that ensues.

Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Business Environment - Essay Example That is on a rough estimate from 2.1 to 3.1 million tones. At the same time world production of green tea is expected to grow at a faster rate of around 4.5 percent on an annual basis for the next ten years. During this time FAO expects that tea production would outstrip the consumption part (Agritrade, 2009). Tea is basically grown in thirty six tropical and semitropical nations. Twenty one of these are from the ACP region. The first six biggest producer countries include; China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and turkey in that respect. This group accounts for eighty percent of the global output. However, it is only less than half of the production which is exported. This is because China and India are major consumers of their own productions. Since the period of 1993-95, global tea production has grown by around two percent. At the same time, consumption in Western states has less than matched this growth by only increasing by a one percentage upward move. In the year 2007, the world tea consumption was on a virtual stagnation point. The increase was quite minimal rising from 3.649 to 3.668 million tones on the basis of the year before. However, in a number of developing countries, the production pace has matched the consumption rate or in other states. In other cases it has fallen short of consumption demands. In this period, China’s consumption overtook that of India as a result of a thirteen point six percentage increase. It is also worthy mentioning that the United Kingdom purchases roughly half of the consumption of the European segment (Agritrade, 2009). The global production of tea witnessed a 2.3 percent growth rate in the year 2007 which saw production levels hit the 3.7 million tones level. It is the Chinese production that accounted for thirty point six percent of the total production, closely followed

Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 13

Paper - Essay Example She worked at the Red Cross until 1966 when she joined state department as a nursing recruitment. Under this role, she set up the Community Nursing Services to help poor patients with home nursing. Mrs. Randolph served as the director of the Community Nursing Services from 1966 to 1970 and later became a community health programs supervisor for the state until she retired in 1980. Due to her exemplary service and passion for assisting poor people, she got several awards including American Association of Nurses’ leadership award. Additionally, she was an approved member of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American Association of Nurses, and American Civil Liberties Union. She was married to the late Lionel in 1944 with whom they had two sons, Lionel Randolph Jr. of Philadelphia, Pa and Jack Randolph of Bennington, Vt. She is leaves behind no grandchildren. On Friday at 10:00 a.m., there will be a service at All Saints Episcopal Church on 12th St. Thereafter; she will be buried at the All Saints Cemetery on the same street. Her family requests mourners to take flowers to the National Health Council instead of her funeral and grave. Her spirit of compassion and whole heartedness lives with us