Physics of Black Holes Essay -- physics space black holes

Black holes - the strange scientific phenomenon that has astounded physicists and astronomers alike for decades. Popular subjects in science fiction novels, black holes are one of the greatest enigmas of the scientific world. Even today, the concept of a super-dense ball of matter that not even light can escape from is somewhat farfetched, and many scientists disagree with each other about nearly every aspect of a black hole. This project will attempt to shed some light on these mysterious formations, and will inform you the reader of the most popular and widely accepted theories surrounding them. Karl Schwarzschild is credited with being the brilliant astronomer who developed the concept of black holes. In 1916, using Einstein's general theory of relativity, he began to make calculations about the gravity fields of stars. He concluded that if a huge mass, such as a star, were to be concentrated down to the size of an infintessimal point, the effects of Einstein's relativity would get really fairly extreme. Schwarzschild doubted that a star could get that small, and theorized that if a star did infact shrink upon itself like that, its gravity would remain the same and the planets revolving around it would remain in the same orbits they always had. Since then however, some of Schwarzschild's theories have been disproved, but most of his initial theories hold intact today. The Schwarzschild Radius, the maximum radius a body with a specific mass can have that won't let light escape, is named in his honor, and the equation of which is still in use today: Rs=2MG/(c^2) In truth, English geologist John Michell was the first to suggest the existence of black holes. He referred to them "dark stars" and based his calculations on Newt... ...ke for instance the two images below. The first is a two-dimensional representation of the gravity of a normal star. Imagine any object floating through space as a marble. Said marble rolling along the flat surface of the space will roll into the indentation made by the sun's gravity. If you flick the marble hard enough, it can roll out of the indentation and roll away. The second pic is a representation of the gravity made by a black hole. Notice that if the marble rolls into the hole, there's no way it can get out, since there is no end to the hole. Such prospects are intriguing, and provide science fiction novelists with endless material for their writings. None of these theories have been proved, and since we can't get close enough to a black hole to study one, they're all perfectly valid. Perhaps one day mankind will discover the truths behind black holes.

Nature & Function of Academic English

There has been an ongoing discourse about different approaches that translates to the best way of teaching the English language and what appropriately constitute to the language itself. Genre knowledge has been the source of much discourse in the academe because of how it affects the disciplinary and professional cultures of teaching Academic English (Berkenkotter & Huckin 24).The academic discourse further covers the features of the language in terms of linguistic, grammatical and vocabulary features. The discussion of such features and how it is affected under the different approaches is evaluated to provide for the grounds for the approach that must be seriously considered in for the academe use. Research about written discourse and text that hold such a prominence in the academy are analyzed according to formal discourse genres, their characteristics as well as the common linguistic features it possess (Hinkel 2).Above the question of the importance of the genre approach, there i s also a question as to how explicit the teaching instruction must be. Contradicting sides would argue about the necessity of the teaching such approach (Freedman & Medway 193). Others would argue if it is even possible (Freedman & Medway 193). Others would wonder if it would benefit the students or would it prove to be more dangerous (Freedman & Medway 193). There is also a discourse about the right timing by which such an approach should and could be applied to a class depending upon the students’ age and capabilities in writing (Freedman & Medway 193).Genre & Academic Discourse  Literary genres were discussed as early as in Aristotle’s The Poetics and developed in the Rhetoric that shows how he defined genres as a simple way of classifying text types, this is what was generally accepted over time (Clarke 242). According to traditional views, genre was limited to being primarily literary, defined by textual regularities in terms of form and content, classified into simplified categories and subcategories (Clarke 242). Under this definition, genre was not seen as relevant in terms of the discussion of composition and pedagogy (Clarke 242).Most of the linguists advocate that there should be a concentration for mastery of the different genres in the English language and that the teachers should focus on giving specific instruction that teaches the characteristic of each genre (Mercer & Swann 222). The students need a model by which they could follow in keeping with a genre structure (Mercer & Swann 222). They see grammar to play an important role in the process of learning the genres because it enables the students to â€Å"manipulate the text† contradictory to the process approach that sees the trouble in explicit manner of teaching grammar due to its unnecessity and danger to the students’ learning (Mercer & Swann 222).The common misconception would refer to genre and text type to merely be the same aspect of a text but in realit y they actually differ in terms of texts with particular genres having different linguistic characteristics and other literary features (Johns 73). However, different genres can be similar linguistically. Genre can be described as text characterized by external criteria, for instance written or spoken text, different audience, different context or purpose (Johns 73-74). On the other hand, text types can be represented by rhetorical modes such as â€Å"exposition† or â€Å"argument† as different text types (Johns 74). They are seen to be similar in terms of internal discourse patterns despite having different genres (Johns 74). The two concepts then refer to complementary perspectives on texts however they still remain different (Johns 74).Teaching and Writing GenresIn a classroom environment, text types that are written and spoken are related to the different demands by which the school requires and depending upon the subject areas of focus. There are different writing tasks that involve genres that go way beyond the literary realm (Schleppegrell 77). Factual and analytical genres exist under the evolution of the academic English language. The usual technique would be for students to read massive amount of authentic texts to give awareness to the difference of the ranges of genres and determine the registers they encounter for their own chose subject matters (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 303). Students are then made of aware of the differences between academic and non-academic genres. Through the process of being exposed to the different genres, the students are familiarized with the different lexical, grammatical and organizational features of the texts that exist that train them along the way (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 303).Genre KnowledgeThe academic discourse on genre gives two perspectives in terms of structurational and sociocognitive that deals with the activity language undergoes from diverse fields like â€Å"sociolinguistics, cognitive ps ychology, educational anthropology and conversation analysis (Berkenkotter & Huckin 24).†Ã‚   This is the new concept that is emerging on top of the rich body of research regarding the genre’s structure from the structurational theory (Berkenkotter & Huckin 24). There is the constant need for the academe to monitor and recognize the changing pattern that language undergoes and thus the changes in the genres as well (Berkenkotter & Huckin 24).Full participation any general disciplinary and professional culture requires knowledge of the written genre and they are referred to as the â€Å"intellectual scaffolds on which community-based knowledge is constructed† thus placing a priority to monitor the pattern changes (Berkenkotter & Huckin 24). At the same time, they are worth examining because the genre of academic discourse also produce criteria like a â€Å"community’s norm, epistemology, ideology, and social ontology (Berkenkotter & Huckin 25)†Lingui stic Features of Academic DiscourseAccording to Martlew and Sorsby (1995) â€Å"Written language like spoken language achieves communicative ad conceptual goals by using a complex system of arbitrary symbols and conventional rules†¦ In literate societies, a developed writing system is pervasive in children’s environment and it is likely that each individual child constructs, or re-invents, their own approach to writing from whatever salient experience the environment offers which they can utilize at different levels of development (Mercer & Swann 287).†There are certain linguistic expectations from students who enter into an academic arena and such a language practice can be reflected in most social groups more than others (Schleppegrell 43). Some students can encounter difficulty because of a lack of familiarity to such linguistic standard as there are differences between the registers in an academic scenario and that of an informal interaction (Schleppegrell 43) . Despite the fact that the classrooms can provide for an avenue for the students to develop such a standard and be trained by spoken and written language activities, the teachers need to remember how the forms of language can take its place in the academic context (Schleppegrell 44).For example, academic texts are by nature â€Å"informationally dense and authoritatively presented (Schleppegrell 44).† In order to get the extract the position and information from certain texts, the teachers and students must be able to unpack the meaning and recognize the position and ideologies of the text (Schleppegrell 44). Linguistic choices and the awareness of it enable a wider participation in the contexts of learning (Schleppegrell 44).   Having a clear perspective of the grammatical features that are seen as tools in deciphering school texts then provides as the foundation for a more efficient research of language development in terms of functionality as well as learning new regist ers (Schleppegrell 44-45).Most research focus on grammatical and lexical features of the student’s language production that produces a language analysis from a systematic functional linguistics (Schleppegrell 45). Deviating from a structural approach to grammar, a functional approach do not just focus on their syntactic category (nouns, verbs, adjectives) or their elements in the sentence (subject, predicate), it focus on identifying the revealing the context of schooling in the language that are used in the text, focusing on the register as the so-called â€Å"manifestation of context (Schleppegrell 45).Studies show how different features are values when comparing writing in writing classes and writing in other academic courses (Hinkel 5). The important consideration if providing the students with linguistic and writing skills that would equip them to handle new information and expand their knowledge (Hinkel 5). Some practitioners say that exposure to a variety of reading a nd experience with writing does not constitute to having a heightened awareness in discourse, vocabulary, grammar and linguistic features of academic writing or having better writing skills (Hinkel 5). They defended explicit instruction in advanced academic writing and text is what can provide the utmost equipment (Hinkel 5).General Nature and Functions of Academic EnglishFurthermore, Martlew and Sorsby (1995) said, â€Å"Writing however is a visible language, graphic symbolic system whose roots we suggest lie in pictographic representation before links are established with spoken language. In this respect, development reflects evolution in that all writing systems which represent sounds of language evolved from pictorial representations rather than from spoken language.† Academic English offers such changing concepts (Hyland 2). The one who coined the definition for English used in academic purposes was Tim Johns (Hyland 2). It was during this time that English became an eco nomic imperative and it has been the leading language for disseminating academic knowledge (Hyland 2).Each discourse community has developed its own mode of discourse. This constitutes to the growth of Academic English. By nature it would expand and evolve to fit and address the different fields of study in need to communicate, basically that points to every discipline (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer). New objects, processes, relationships and others need new terms to be added in the lexicon. There is a need to reinterpret words that already exists to become other words that are defined by their specific fields, like a set is different in conversational English and Mathematical English (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 285).New words are also created as part of an existing word stock, like clockwise or feedback (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 285). There is also a need to borrow from another language. A term called â€Å"calquing† mean having to create new words to imitate a word that already exists from another language like omnipotens mean almighty in Latin (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 286). There is also a need to invent totally new words like the time when the word â€Å"gas† was created to be party of the field of chemistry (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 286).There is also creating â€Å"locutions† or sense of phrases and compound words as well as non-native word stocks (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 286). The nature of English is known to be shaped by certain social and cultural functions under the language of academic communities of discourse (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 290-291). The researchers suggest for having more than one valid and culturally based ideology regarding Academic English for it to be open to other cultures and factors (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 291).ConclusionDue to culture, styles of writing differ but this does not make one inferior over the other (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 290). Further research about Academic English should have a greate r level of sensitivity for other cultures or for cultural diversity (Hoadley-Maidment & Mercer 290).   It is also necessary to have a proper balance between over-prespecification of the curriculum and planning and the right amount in terms of explicit teaching of genre and other features according the students’ knowledge, abilities and background (Wiley & Hartung- Cole 205). The academe must not loose sight of social-cultural context of the relevance of Academic English in exchange for a more uniform approach or for the search for a common standard for academic discourse (Wiley & Hartung- Cole 205).Works CitedClark, Irene, et al. Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003.Berkenkotter, Carol, and Thomas N. Huckin. Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition, Culture, Power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995.Hinkel, Eli. Second Language Writers' Text: Linguistic and Rhetor ical Features. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.Hoadley-Maidment, E. and Mercer, N. English in the Academic World. Open University course U210 The English Language: Past, Present and Future, 1996.Hyland, Ken. English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge.Johns, Ann M., ed. Genre in the Classroom: Multiple Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.Freedman, Aviva, and Peter Medway, eds. Genre and the New Rhetoric. London: Taylor & Francis, 1994.Mercer, N. and Swann, J. Learning English: Development and Diversity. Open University course U210 The English Language: Past, Present and Future, 1996.Schleppegrell, Mary J. The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.Wiley, Terrence & Hartung- Cole, Elizabeth. â€Å"Model Standards for English Language Development: National Trends and a Local Response.† Education. 119. 2. (1998): Page Number: 205.

History of Coffee Essay

Coffee is one of the world’s most poplar beverages. Some claim it is the most widely consumed liquid in the world aside from water. Coffee is more than a beverage , however. It is a memory , anticipation, a lifetime of consoling moments of modest pleasure woven into our lives. Coffee’s success as a beverage undoubtedly owes both to the caffeine it harbors and to its sensory pleasure. Coffee lovers come to associate the energizing lift of the caffeine with richness and aroma of the beverage that delivers it. Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world and the principal commercial crop of over a dozen countries, half of which earns 25% to 50% of their foreign exchange revenue from coffee exports. More than 10 billion pounds of coffee beans are grown per year, providing more than 20 million jobs. Coffee is indigenous to Ethiopia and was most likely discovered as a food before it became a drink. The most popular legend of how coffee was discovered involves an Abyssinian goat herder named kaldi. Kaldi awoke one night to find his goats dancing around a tree speckled with red cherries. When he tasted one of the cherries, he too started dancing with the goats. As interesting as this story may be it is more likely that coffee was used as a food supplement by wandering Ethiopian tribes-men. The tribes-men are said to have squashed the coffee cherries and carried them on long journeys, eating them for nourishment as needed. Later, the coffee cherries were soaked in water, possibly to make wine, but some historians say it was not until 1000 AD, when the Arabs discovered how to boil, that coffee was serve hot. Coffee was also believed to have medicinal properties. Avicenna, an Islamic physician and philosopher of the eleventh century, said of coffee: â€Å"It fortifies the members, it cleans the skin and dries up the humilities that are under it, and gives an excellent smell to all the body† CHAPTER – 1 HISTORY OF COFFEE HISTORY OF COFFEE [pic] Palestinian women grinding coffee the old fashioned way, 1905 The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the fifteenth century, though coffee’s origins remain unclear. It had been believed that Ethiopian ancestors of today’s Oromo people were the first to have discovered and recognized the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant. However, no direct evidence has been found indicating where in Africa coffee grew or who among the natives might have used it as a stimulant or even known about it, earlier than the 17th century. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal. From Ethiopia, coffee was said to have spread to Egypt and Yemen. The arliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. It was here in Arabia that coffee beans were first roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it is now prepared. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. Coffee then spread to Italy, and to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and tothe Americas. Origins Etymology: The word â€Å"coffee† entered English in 1598 via Dutch koffie. This word was created via Turkish kahve, the Turkish pronunciation Arabic qahwa, a truncation of qahhwat al-bun or wine of the bean. One possible origin of the name is the Kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia, where the coffee plant originated; its name there is bunn or bunna. Legendary accounts. There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the drink itself. One account involves the Yemenite Sufi mystic Shaikh ash-Shadhili. When traveling in Ethiopia, the legend goes; he observed goats of unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries that the goats had been eating, experienced the same vitality. A similar â€Å"Legend of Dancing Goats† attributes the discovery of coffee to an Ethiopian goatherder named Kaldi. The story of Kaldi did not appear in writing until 1671, and these stories are considered to be apocryphal. It used to be believed Ethiopian ancestors of today’s Oromo tribe, were the first to have recognized the energizing effect of the native coffee plant. Studies of genetic diversity have been performed on Coffea arabica varieties, found to be of low diversity but which retained some residual heterozygosity from ancestral materials, and closely-related diploid species Coffea canephora and C. liberica; however, no direct evidence has ever been found indicating where in Africa coffee grew or who among the natives might have used it as a stimulant, or known about it there, earlier than the seventeenth century. The Muslim world: The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge Of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of the Yemen in southern Arabia. It was in Yemen that coffee beans were first roasted and brewed as they are today. From Mocha, coffee spread to Egypt and North Africa, and by the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia and Turkey. From the Muslim world, coffee drinking spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, and coffee plants were transported by the Dutch to the East Indies and to the Americas. Syrian Bedouin from a beehive village in Aleppo, Syria, sipping the traditional murra (bitter) coffee, 1930. The earliest mention of coffee noted by the literary coffee merchant Philippe Sylvestre Dufour is a reference to bunchum in the works of the 10th century CE Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, known as Rhazes in the West, but more definite information on the preparation of a beverage from the roasted coffee berries dates from several centuries later. The most important of the early writers on coffee was io-de-caprio, who in 1587 compiled a work tracing the history and legal controversies of coffee entitled Umdat al safwa fi hill al-qahwa. He reported that one Sheikh, Jamal-al-Din al-Dhabhani, mufti of Aden, was the first to adopt the use of coffee (circa 1454). Coffee’s usefulness in driving away sleep made it popular among Sufis. A translation traces the spread of coffee from Arabia Felix (the present day Yemen) northward to Mecca and Medina, and then to the larger cities of Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Istanbul. Coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen. Yemeni traders brought coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the bean. The first coffeehouse opened in Istanbul in 1554. Coffee was at first not well received. In 1511, it was forbidden for its stimulating effect by conservative, orthodox imams at a theological court in Mecca. However, the popularity of the drink led these bans to be overturned in 1524 by an order of the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Selim I, with Grand Mufti Mehmet Ebussuud el-Imadi issuing a celebrated fatwa allowing the consumption of coffee. In Cairo, Egypt, a similar ban was instituted in 1532, and the coffeehouses and warehouses containing coffee beans were sacked. Similarly, coffee was banned by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church some time before the 12th century. However, in the second half of the 19th century, Ethiopian attitudes softened towards coffee drinking, and its consumption spread rapidly between 1880 and 1886; according to Richard Pankhurst, â€Å"this was largely due to [Emperor] Menilek, who himself drank it, and to Abuna Matewos who did much to dispel the belief of the clergy that it was a Muslim drink. † Europe [pic] Dutch engraving of Mocha in 1692 Coffee was noted in Ottoman Aleppo by the German physician botanist Leonhard Rauwolf, the first European to mention it, as chaube, in 1573; Rauwolf was closely followed by descriptions from other European travellers. Coffee was first imported to Italy from the Ottoman Empire. The vibrant trade between Venice and the Muslims in North Africa, Egypt, and the East brought a large variety of African goods, including coffee, to this leading European port. Venetian merchants introduced coffee-drinking to the wealthy in Venice, charging them heavily for the beverage. In this way, coffee was introduced to Europe. Coffee became more widely accepted after controversy over whether it was acceptable during Lent was settled in its favor by Pope Clement VIII in 1600, despite appeals to ban the drink. The first European coffee house (apart from those in the Ottoman Empire, mentioned above) was opened in Venice in 1645. England Largely through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England no later than the 16th century according to Leonhard Rauwolf’s 1583 account. The first coffeehouse in England was opened in St. Michael’s Alley in Cornhill. The proprietor was Pasqua Rosee, the servant of Daniel Edwards, a trader in Turkish goods. Edwards imported the coffee and assisted Rosee in setting up the establishment. Oxford’s Queen’s Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still in existence today. By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses throughout England. Popularity of coffeehouses spread rapidly in Europe, and later, America. The banning of women from coffeehouses was not universal, but does appear to have been common in Europe. In Germany women frequented them, but in England they were banned. Many believed coffee to have several medicinal properties in this period. For example, a 1661 tract entitled â€Å"A character of coffee and coffee-houses†, written by one â€Å"M. P. â€Å", lists some of these perceived virtues: Not everyone was in favour of this new commodity, however. For example, the anonymous 1674 â€Å"Women’s Petition against Coffee† declared: France Antoine Galland (1646-1715) in his aforementioned translation described the Muslim association with coffee, tea and chocolate: â€Å"We are indebted to these great [Arab] physicians for introducing coffee to the modern world through their writings, as well as sugar, tea, and chocolate. † Galland reported that he was informed by Mr. de la Croix, the interpreter of King Louis XIV of France, that coffee was brought to Paris by a certain Mr. Thevenot, who had travelled through the East. On his return to that city in 1657, Thevenot gave some of the beans to his friends, one of whom was de la Croix. However, the major spread of the popularity of this beverage in Paris was soon to come. In 1669, Soleiman Agha, Ambassador from Sultan Mehmed IV, arrived in Paris with his entourage bringing with him a large quantity of coffee beans. Not only did they provide their French and European guests with coffee to drink, but they also donated some beans to the royal court. Between July 1669 and May 1670, the Ambassador managed to firmly establish the custom of drinking coffee among Parisians. [pic]. Melange in Vienna Austria The first coffeehouse in Austria opened in Vienna in 1683 after the Battle of Vienna, by using supplies from the spoils obtained after defeating the Turks. The officer who received the coffee beans, Polish military officer of Ukrainian origin Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, opened the coffee house and helped popularize the custom of adding sugar and milk to the coffee. Until recently, this was celebrated in Viennese coffeehouses by hanging a picture of Kulczycki in the window. Melange is the typical Viennese coffee, which comes mixed with hot foamed milk and a glass of water. Netherlands The race among Europeans to make off with some live coffee trees or beans was eventually won by the Dutch in the late 17th century, when they allied with the natives of Kerala against the Portuguese and brought some live plants back from Malabar to Holland, where they were grown in greenhouses. The Dutch began growing coffee at their forts in Malabar, India, and in 1699 took some to Batavia in Java, in what is now Indonesia. Within a few years the Dutch colonies (Java in Asia, Surinam in Americas) had become the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Americas. Gabriel de Clieu brought coffee seedlings to Martinique in the Caribbean circa 1720. Those sprouts flourished and 50 years later there were 18,680 coffee trees in Martinique enabling the spread of coffee cultivation to Haiti, Mexico and other islands of the Caribbean. Coffee also found its way to the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean known as the Isle of Bourbon. The plant produced smaller beans and was deemed a different variety of Arabica known as var. Bourbon. The Santos coffee of Brazil and the Oaxaca coffee of Mexico are the progeny of that Bourbon tree. Circa 1727, the Emperor of Brazil sent Francisco de Mello Palheta to French Guinea to obtain coffee seeds to become a part of the coffee market. Francisco initially had difficulty obtaining these seeds yet he captivated the French Governor’s wife and she in turn, sent him enough seeds and shoots which would commence the coffee industry of Brazil. In 1893, the coffee from Brazil was introduced into Kenya and Tanzania (Tanganyika), not far from its place of origin in Ethiopia, 600 years prior, ending its transcontinental journey. The French colonial plantations relied heavily on African slave laborers. Ancient Production of coffee The first step in Europeans’ wresting the means of production was effected by Nicolaes Witsen, the enterprising burgomaster of Amsterdam and member of the governing board of the Dutch East India Company who urged Joan van Hoorn, the Dutch governor at Batavia that some coffee plants be obtained at the export port of Mocha in Yemen, the source of Europe’s supply, and established in the Dutch East Indies; the project of raising many plants from the seeds of the first shipment met with such success that the Dutch East India Company was able to supply Europe’s demand with â€Å"Java coffee† by 1719. Encouraged by their success, they soon had coffee plantations in Ceylon Sumatra and other Sunda islands. Coffee trees were soon grown under glass at the Hortus Botanicus of Leiden, whence slips were generously extended to other botanical gardens. Dutch representatives at the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht presented their French counterparts with a coffee plant, which was grown on at the Jardin du Roi, predecessor of the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris. The introduction of coffee to the Americas was effected by Captain Gabriel des Clieux, who obtained cuttings from the reluctant botanist Antoine de Jussieu, who was loath to disfigure the king’s coffee tree. Clieux, when water rations dwindled during a difficult voyage, shared his portion with his precious plants and protected them from a Dutchman, perhaps an agent of the Provinces jealous of the Batavian trade. Clieux nurtured the plants on his arrival in the West Indies, and established them in Guadeloupe and Saint- Domingue in addition to Martinique, where a blight had struck the cacao plantations, which were replaced by coffee plantations in a space of three years, is attributed to France through its colonization of many parts of the continent starting with the Martinique and the colonies of the West Indies where the first French coffee plantations were founded. The first coffee plantation in Brazil occurred in 1727 when Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta smuggled seeds, still essentially from the germ plasm originally taken from Yemen to Batavia, from French Guiana. By the 1800s, Brazil’s harvests would turn coffee from an elite indulgence to a drink for the masses. Brazil, which like most other countries cultivates coffee as a commercial commodity, relied heavily on slave labor from Africa for the viability of the plantations until the abolition of slavery in 1888. The success of coffee in 17th-century Europe was paralleled with the spread of the habit of tobacco smoking all over the continent during the course of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48). For many decades in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil was the biggest producer of coffee and a virtual monopolist in the trade. However, a policy of maintaining high prices soon opened opportunities to other nations, such as Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Vietnam, now second only to Brazil as the major coffee producer in the world. Large-scale production in Vietnam began following normalization of trade relations with the US in 1995. Nearly all of the coffee grown there is Robusta. Despite the origins of coffee cultivation in Ethiopia, that country produced only a small amount for export until the Twentieth Century, and much of that not from the south of the country but from the environs of Harar in the northeast. The Kingdom of Kaffa, home of the plant, was estimated to produce between 50,000 and 60,000 kilograms of coffee beans in the 1880s. Commercial production effectively began in 1907 with the founding of the inland port of Gambela, and greatly increased afterwards: 100,000 kilograms of coffee was exported from Gambela in 1908, while in 1927-8 over 4 million kilograms passed through that port. Coffee plantations were also developed in Arsi Province at the same time, and were eventually exported by means of the Addis Ababa – Djibouti Railway. While only 245,000 kilograms were freighted by the Railway, this amount jumped to 2,240,000 kilograms by 1922, surpassed exports of â€Å"Harari† coffee by 1925, and reached 9,260,000 kilograms in 1936. Australia is a minor coffee producer, with little product for export, but its coffee history goes back to 1880 when the first of 500  acres (2. 0  km2) began to be developed in an area between northern New South Wales and Cooktown. Today there are several producers of Arabica coffee in Australia that use a mechanical harvesting system invented in 1981. *** CHAPTER – 2 INSIGHT ON COFFEE INSIGHT ON COFFEE |Coffee | |[pic] | |Roasted coffee beans | |Type |Hot or cold beverage | |Country of origin |Ethiopia, and  Yemen | |Introduced |Approx. 15th century AD (beverage) | |Color |Brown | Coffee  is a  brewed  drink  prepared from roasted  seeds, commonly called  coffee beans, of the  coffee plant. They are seeds of coffee cherries that grow on trees in over 70 countries. Green coffee, for example, is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Due to its  caffeine  content, coffee can have a stimulating effect in humans. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide. It is thought that the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant was first recognized in  Yemen  in Arabia and the north east of  Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab  world. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the  Sufi  monasteries of the  Yemen  in southern  Arabia. From the  Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to  Indonesia, and to the Americas. Coffee has played an important role in many societies throughout history. In Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the  Ethiopian Church  banned its secular consumption until the reign of EmperorMenelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in  Ottoman  Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons,  and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe. Coffee berries, which contain the coffee bean, are produced by several species of small  evergreen  bush of the  genus  Coffea. The two most commonly grown are  Coffea canephora  (also known as  Coffea robusta) and  Coffea arabica. Both are cultivated primarily in  LatinAmerica,Southeast Asia, and Africa. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways. An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for 12 countries in 2004,  and in 2005, it was the world’s seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain medical conditions; whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately positive or negative has been widely disputed. However, the method of brewing coffee has been found to be important. Biology Several species of shrub of the genus  Coffea  produce the berries from which coffee is extracted. The two main cultivated species,  Coffea canephora(also known as  Coffea robusta) and  C. arabica, are native to subtropical Africa and southern Asia. Less popular species are  C. liberica,  excelsa,stenophylla,  mauritiana, and  racemosa. They are classified in the large family  Rubiaceae. They are  evergreen  shrubs or small trees that may grow 5  m (15  ft) tall when unpruned. The leaves are dark green and glossy, usually 10–15  cm (4-6  in) long and 6  cm (2. 4  in) wide. Clusters of fragrant white flowers bloom simultaneously and are followed by oval berries of about 1. 5  cm. Green when immature, they ripen to yellow, then crimson, before turning black on drying. Each berry usually contains two seeds, but 5–10% of the berries  have only one; these are called  peaberries. Berries ripen in seven to nine months. Cultivation Coffee is usually propagated by seeds. The traditional method of planting coffee is to put 20  seeds in each hole at the beginning of the  rainy season; half are eliminated naturally. A more effective method of growing coffee, used in Brazil, is to raise seedlings in nurseries, which are then planted outside at 6 to 12  months. Coffee is often intercropped with food crops, such as corn, beans, or rice, during the first few years of cultivation. [pic] Map showing areas of coffee cultivation: r:Coffea canephora m:Coffea canephora  and  Coffea arabica a:Coffea arabica Of the two main species grown, arabica coffee (from  C. arabica) is considered more suitable for drinking than robusta coffee (from  C. canephora); robusta tends to be bitter and have less flavor but better body than arabica. For these reasons, about three-quarters of coffee cultivated worldwide is  C. arabica. However,  C. canephora  is less susceptible to disease than  C. arabica  and can be cultivated in  environments  where  C. arabica  will not thrive. Robusta coffee also contains about 40–50% more caffeine than arabica. For this reason, it is used as an inexpensive substitute for arabica in many commercial coffee blends. Good quality robustas are used in some  espresso  blends to provide a better foam head, a full-bodied result, and to lower the ingredient cost. The species  Coffea liberica  and  Coffea esliaca  are believed to be indigenous to  Liberia  and southern  Sudan, respectively. Most arabica coffee beans originate from either  Latin America,  eastern Africa, Arabia, or Asia. Robusta coffee beans are grown in western and  central Africa, throughout  southeast Asia, and to some extent in Brazil. Beans from different countries or regions can usually be distinguished by differences in flavor, aroma,  body, or acidity. These taste characteristics are dependent not only on the coffee’s growing region, but also on genetic subspecies (varietals) and processing. Varietals are generally known by the region in which they are grown, such as  Colombian,  Java  or  Kona. Production Brazil  is the world leader in production of green coffee, followed by  Vietnam  and  Colombia  the last of which produces a much  softer coffee. |Top twenty green coffee producers  Ã¢â‚¬â€ Tonnes (2007) and Bags thousands (2007) | |Country |Tonnes |Bags thousands | |[pic]  Brazil |2,249,010 |36,070 | |[pic]  Vietnam |961,200 |16,467 | |[pic]  Colombia |697,377 |12,515 | |[pic]  Indonesia |676,475 |7,751 | |[pic]  Ethiopia |325,800 |4,906 | |[pic]  India |288,000 |4,148 | |[pic]  Mexico |268,565 |4,150 | |[pic]  Guatemala |252,000 |4,100 | |[pic]  Peru |225,992 |2,953 | |[pic]  Honduras |217,951 |3,842 | |[pic]  Cote d’Ivoire |170,849 |2,150 | |[pic]  Uganda |168,000 |3,250 | |[pic]  Costa Rica |124,055 |1,791 | |[pic]  Philippines |97,877 |431 | |[pic]  El. Salvador |95,456 |1,626 | |[pic]  Nicaragua |90,909 |1,700 | |[pic]  Papua New Guinea |75,400 |968 | |[pic]  Venezuela |70,311 |897 | |[pic]  Madagascar[note 2] |62,000 |604 | |[pic]  Thailand |55,660 |653 | |  Ã‚  World |7,742,675 |117,319 | Ecological effects [pic] [pic] A flowering  Coffea arabica  tree in a Brazilian plantation Originally, coffee farming was done in the  shade  of trees, which provided a habitat for many animals and insects. This method is commonly referred to as the traditional shaded method, or â€Å"shade-grown†. Many farmers switched their production method to sun cultivation, in which coffee is grown in rows under full sun with little or no forest canopy. This causes berries to ripen more rapidly and bushes to produce higher yields, but requires the clearing of trees and increased use of fertilizer and pesticides, which damage the environment and cause health problems. When compared to the sun cultivation method, traditional coffee production causes berries to ripen more slowly and produce lower yields, but the quality of the coffee is allegedly superior. In addition, the traditional shaded method is environmentally friendly and provides living space for many wildlife species. Opponents of sun cultivation say environmental problems such as deforestation, pesticide pollution,  habitat destruction, and soil and water degradation are the side effects of these practices. The  American Birding Association,  Smithsonian Migratory Bird- Center, Rainforest Alliance, and the  Arbor Day Foundation  have led a campaign for â€Å"shade-grown† and  organic coffees, which it says are sustainably harvested. However, while certain types of shaded coffee cultivation systems show greater biodiversity than full-sun systems, they still compare poorly to native forest in terms of habitat value. Another issue concerning coffee is its  use of water. According to  New Scientist, if using industrial farming practices, it takes about 140 liters of water to grow the coffee beans needed to produce one cup of coffee, and the coffee is often grown in countries where there is a water shortage, such as  Ethiopia. By using   sustainable agriculture  methods, the amount of water usagecan be dramatically reduced, while retaining comparable yields. Coffee grounds may be used for  composting  or as a  mulch. They are especially appreciated by  worms  and  acid-loving plants  such as  blueberries. *** CHAPTER – 3 TYPES OF COFFEE TYPES OF COFFEE Coffea Arabica | | |Scientific classification | |Kingdom: |Plantae | |(unranked): |Angiosperms | |(unranked): |Eudicots | |(unranked): |Asterids | |Order: |Gentianales | |Family: |Rubiaceae | |Genus: |Coffea | |Species: |C. arabica | |Binomial name | |Coffea arabica |. Coffea arabica is a species of coffee originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, hence its name, and also from the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan. It is also known as the â€Å"coffee shrub of Arabia†, â€Å"mountain coffee† or â€Å"arabica coffee†. Coffea arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest Arabia for well over 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, Coffea canephora (robusta). Arabica contains less caffeine than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee. Wild plants grow to between 9 and 12 m tall, and have an open branching system; the leaves are opposite, simple elliptic-ovate to oblong, 6–12  cm long and 4–8  cm broad, glossy dark green. The flowers are white, 10–15  mm in diameter and grow in axillary clusters. The fruit is a drupe (though commonly called a â€Å"berry†) 10–15  mm in diameter, maturing bright red to purple and typically contain two seeds (the coffee ‘bean’). | | Distribution and habitat Originally found in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia, Coffea arabica is now rare there in its native state, and many populations appear to be mixed native and planted trees. It is common there as an understorey shrub. It has also been recovered from the Boma Plateau in southeastern Sudan. Coffea arabica is also found on Mt Marsabit in northern Kenya, but it is unclear whether this is a truly native or naturalised occurrence. Yemen is also believed to have native Coffea arabica growing in fields. Cultivation Coffea arabica takes about seven years to mature fully and does best with 1- 1. 5 meters (about 40-59  inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year. It is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude, but there are plantations as low as sea level and as high as 2,800 m. The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and it does best when the temperature hovers around 20  °C (68  °F). Commercial cultivars mostly only grow to about 5 m, and are frequently trimmed as low as 2 m to facilitate harvesting. Unlike Coffea canephora, Coffea arabica prefers to be grown in light shade. Two to four years after planting Coffea arabica produces small, white and highly fragrant flowers. The sweet fragrance resembles the sweet smell of jasmine flowers. When flowers open on sunny days, this results in the greatest numbers of berries. This can be a curse however as coffee plants tend to produce too many berries; this can lead to an inferior harvest and even damage yield in the following years as the plant will favor the ripening of berries to the detriment of its own health. On well kept plantations this is prevented by pruning the tree. The flowers themselves only last a few days leaving behind only the thick dark green leaves. The berries then begin to appear. These are as dark green as the foliage, until they begin to ripen, at first to yellow and then light red and finally darkening to a glossy deep red. At this point they are called ‘cherries’ and are ready for picking. The berries are oblong and about 1  cm long. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand to be able to better select them, as they do not all ripen at the same time. They are sometimes shaken off the tree onto mats, which means that ripe and unripe berries are collected together. The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce anywhere from 0. 5–5  kg of dried beans, depending on the tree’s individual character and the climate that season. The real prize of this cash crop are the beans inside. Each berry holds two locules containing the beans. The coffee beans are actually two seeds within the fruit; there is sometimes a third seed or one seed, a peaberry in the fruits at tips of the branches. These seeds are covered in two membranes, the outer one is called the ‘parchment’ and the inner one is called the ‘silver skin’. In perfect conditions, like those of Java, trees are planted at all times of the year and are harvested year round. In less ideal conditions, like those in parts of Brazil, the trees have a season and are harvested only in winter. The plants are vulnerable to damage in poor growing conditions and are also more vulnerable to pests than the Robusta plant. Gourmet coffees are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of coffea arabica, like Colombian coffee. Arabica coffee production in Indonesia began in 1699. Indonesian coffees, such as Sumatran and Java, are known for heavy body and low acidity. This makes them ideal for blending with the higher acidity coffees from Central America and East Africa. Coffea canephora | | |Scientific classification | |Kingdom: |Plantae | |(unranked): |Angiosperms | |(unranked): |Eudicots | |(unranked): |Asterids | |Order: |Gentianales | |Family: |Rubiaceae | |Genus: |Coffea | |Species: |C. canephora | |Binomial name | |Coffea canephora | Coffea canephora (Robusta Coffee Coffea robusta) is a species of coffee which has its origins in central and western subsaharan Africa. It is grown mostly in Africa and Brazil, where it is often called Conillon. It is also grown in Southeast Asia where French colonists introduced it in the late 19th century. In recent years Vietnam, which only produces robusta, has surpassed Brazil, India, and Indonesia to become the world’s single largest exporter. Approximately one third of the coffee produced in the world is robusta. Canephora is easier to care for than the other major species of coffee, Coffea arabica, and, because of this, is cheaper to produce. Since arabica beans are often considered superior, robusta is usually limited to lower grade coffee blends as filler. It is however often included in instant coffee, and in espresso blends to promote the formation of â€Å"crema†. Robusta has about twice as much caffeine as arabica. Description Coffea canephora grew.

Alcoholism as the Plot Builder of Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned Essay

To echo Fitzgerald’s postulation of Antony Patch’s messed up life, â€Å"†¦As winter approached it seemed that a sort of madness seized upon Anthony. He awoke in the morning so nervous that Gloria could feel him trembling in the bed before he could muster enough vitality to stumble into the pantry for a drink. He was intolerable now except under the influence of liquor, and as he seemed to decay and coarsen under her eyes, Gloria’s soul and body shrank away from him†¦CITATION Fit02 p 111 l 1033 (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 111)† This is a depiction of a desperate man’s life that has turned to alcohol after experiencing multiple frustrations in life all through his adulthood and a wife who is drawn away from him for this reason. How Antony Patch’s character is molded and developed in the novel is just but a reflection of the messed lives of many uber-rich adults who were lucky enough to be born in rich families but ended up blowing up lifet ime opportunities in wasteful escapades of lavish spending during the excessive drinking and partying Jazz Era of the 1920s. Ideally, The Beautiful and Damned is about Anthony Patch who is married Gloria Gilbert and they are hypnotized with the party life. They lead an extravagant life where they enjoy throwing and attending parties which eventually develops to a habit of drinking o a daily basis. Such was the life of Anthony Patch who had mastered the art of laziness leading a valueless life only eager for his grandfather to pass on so as to inherit his multimillion fortunes .Patch’s drinking habits were picked while at school in Princeton where his initial life was tied around books but due to peer influence channeled through his schoolmates who thought of him as being dull and a hopeless romantic, he besought to drinking just like the rest of his peers and vowed to explore the world and party using his family fortune. At some point in life, Anthony Patch is enrolled into Camp Hooker during the war years but he proves to be mentally disoriented as he spends his days in the camp getting drunk and t o cap it all picked up a mistress. Though the move of enrolled into Camp Hooker is considered as a patriotic one, his friends at the camp are another worthless lot who gratify and support his drinking tendencies by indulging in the same with him. His drinking trysts make him a favorite among his camp buddies for he is treated respect for the incessant parties he throws while at camp thus putting to light contemptibility and stupidity of his friends CITATION Mau22 l 1033 (Maunsell, 1922). Patch then meets Gloria Gilbert who beauty is impeccable and he is quickly swept off is feet as he vows to pursue his romantic desires to his life’s death with Gloria. Gloria herself is a replica of Antony for her dogma is satisfaction of worldly pleasures as she selflessly puts it herself, â€Å"If I wanted anything, I’d take it†¦ I can’t be bothered resisting things I want†¦ (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 235)† It is with the same creed that she detests her husband’s inability to continuously sustain her lavish and innumerable cocktails. Just like everyone else, this couple turns to alcoholism to camouflage their life frustrations to the extent that Anthony cannot do without a taste of the bottle described in Gloria’s own words, â€Å"Oh no, he doesn’t show it anymore unless he can hardly stand up, and  he talks alright till he gets excited. He talks much  better than he does when he’s sober. But he’s been sitting here all day drinking-except for the time it took him to walk the corner for a newspaper†¦ (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 398)† This entry at towards the end of the novel shows how despicable and dependable Antony patch’s life has been on alcohol after missing out on his grandfather’s fortune and the same being directed towards a servant. Perhaps, Patch’s party and drinking habits were fueled by the fact that he was heir to a rich empire built by his rather strict disciplinarian grandfather who gave no room to unvalued morals. An event where he walks into one of Gloria and Antony’s raucous wild party at their apartment is a representation of his disgust and vilification for irresponsible behavior. His body language and events that transpire after this speaks volumes about his disciplinary antics; at the party, he stares at a white-faced Antony with disgust and in disbelief and utters five denouncing words to the young man in front of him, â€Å"†¦Well go back to Suttleworth..(Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 235)† The mood in the mood is all somber, both Gloria and Patch are frightened by Cross Patch’s presence but he silently walks out of the room after his works. Repercussions that follow are that gets disinherited of his grandfather’s fortune and it is directed towards a servant. They co ntest the decision after his grandfather’s passing but it only makes them more miserable as they entrenched deeper into alcoholism to drown their sorrows. The Damned and beautiful closes as tragic story of an individual who had it all but wasted the opportunity through lavish parties and alcoholism to end up in a wheel chair by age thirty three. References   Fitzgerald, F. S. (2002). The Beautiful and The Damned . New York : Simon & Schuster . Maunsell, F. L. (1922, March 5). Latest Works of Fiction: The Beautiful and The Damned . Retrieved October 11, 2014, from The New York Times : http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/24/specials/fitzgerald-damned.html Source document

Descartes And The Material World

If you can’t, does it follow that Descartes’ method of doubt is uselessIt is very difficult to know for certain if the material world exists or not because we are dealing with metaphysical philosophy. Metaphysical philosophy is the branch of philosophy concerned with the basic nature of reality. Its aim is to give a systematic account of the world and the principles that govern it Rene Descartes, a French philosopher during the 17th century came up with many arguments concerning existence. Descartes is called a dualist because he claimed that the world consists of two basic substances, matter and spirit. Matter is the physical universe, of which our bodies are a part. The human mind, or spirit, interacts with the body but can, in theory, exist without it, Descartes argued. Descartes wrote pieces of writing known as The Six Meditations. During these meditations he attempted to rule out anything that can be doubtful. So, for the purpose of rejecting all my opinions, it will be enough if I find each of them at least some reason for doubt, he commented. The results of these meditations will be discussed in detail. Although Descartes is very influential to modern philosophy, it came with a price. Many philosophers attacked Descartes arguments critically. One example where Descartes arguments have been attacked is in the book by John Cottingham. These arguments will be discussed further in this essay. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes first considered the strongest reasons that might be used to show that he could never be certain of anything. He clarifies that everything that humans accept as true have been acquired from the senses or through the senses. Although our senses are our most trustworthy friend, they tend to deceive us from time to time. It is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once , Descartes argues. In mentally sane beings, the best example where our senses may have deceived us is in our dreams. When we dream, we rarely know we are actually dreaming. So in turn, while dreaming, we are perceived with a false reality. These arguments included the idea that perhaps we might be dreaming, so that nothing we seem to perceive is real. There are though universal laws in which even if our physical existence is doubted still exist. For example, Mathematics and Geometry would still exist because it does not rely on matter. Two plus two would still equal four as well as the fact that a square will always have four sides. Back to the meditation, Descartes reflected that perhaps God or some evil demon was constantly tricking his mind, causing him to believe what was false. Yet, it cannot be God because according to Descartes, God is supremely good. Descartes commences the Second meditation saying, Anything of the slightest doubt I will set aside just as if I had found it to be wholly false. In another words, he will attempt to disregard anything that can be categorised as doubtful. One thing, Descartes argues can exist without doubt, ones existence. Nothing can make him doubt that. Descartes then introduced the famous Latin phrase cogito ergo sum, which means I think, therefore I am. Analysing Descartes arguments, it is clear that one can doubt the existence of a physical world. Descartes gives the example of a piece of wax. When he first perceives the wax, it is hard, has a certain colour, shape and other qualities. However when he puts that same wax next to the fire all its primary and secondary qualities change. It is not hard anymore; colour, shape and other qualities have changed. Nevertheless we still know that it is the same wax before we put it next to the fire. Our mind can understand that but our senses cannot. Many philosophers, on the other hand, disagree with Descartes. For example, the main objection to Descartes theories is the phrase, See to believe. One cannot assume something without actually experiencing it for themselves. In the case of the evil demon, evidence is needed to prove that it actually exists. If there were even the slightest evidence, maybe its existence can be argued upon but the truth is that there is no proof that this demon exists (although physical proof is sometimes not sufficient, for example, in the case of God). If there is a deception, there must be some way to know whether one has been deceived. Otherwise the word deception doesnt distinguish anything from anything else. For example, walking in the desert, one sees water but getting closer to it, it disappears and found out its only a mirage. He/she has found out that he/she has been deceived. In the case of the evil demon, there is no proof that we are being tricked, as mentioned before. As written earlier, Descartes believed that existence may be just a dream but again many believe it is very doubtful. Many believe that dreams are just a reflection of real life. In another words, we dream what we have experienced when awake. Dreams also lack the massiveness and the tremendous degree of internal co-herence that waking-life experiences rather than dreams. In another words, dreams lack things such as laws of gravity and realness that are associated with real life. John Cottingham criticises Descartes in many ways. For example, Descartes points out that the reliability of the intellect is much greater than that of the senses. The question is how the intellect can doubt the senses if we take in our information from our senses and only our senses. Another objection is that from the fact that we are thinking does not seem to be entirely certain that we exist. For in order to be certain that one is thinking one must know what thought or thinking actually is as well as what our existence is. All in all, Descartes work is very influential to modern philosophy. As John Stuart Mill once said, in an argument no one is 100% correct or incorrect, so there it would be unwise to discard anyones opinion. For all humans know, Descartes may be wrong or not but his method of doubt is definitely not useless. In another words, in light of these arguments, it seems that the most plausible position is to keep an open mind.

Pros and Cons of Prison Privatization Essay

Prisons are institutions that have specifically been designed to handle the members of the society who are under conviction of different crimes. The people who reside in the prisons are referred to as inmates or prisoners and the time they spend in the prisons depends on the imprisonment period. This period is dependent of the intensity of the crime committed. Once in the prisons, the inmates undergo rehabilitation, incapacitation, retribution and deterrence which are elements for considered appropriate for the provision of justice to the society. In the past, it has been the responsibility of the government to manage these institutions on behalf of the society. The increased debate on the privatization of different institutions has seen a debate being launched in regard to the privatization of prisons. This implies that the main purposes of these institutions to the society are shifting from not just maintenance of justice but also as a source of financial wealth. The new advancement is directed at allowing the straightening out of the contemporary faults that exist within the public prisons such as recidivism and overcrowding but there are some people who are opposed to this due to some possible negative results. In short, the process of privatizing the prison industry has both negative and positive effects and this paper seeks to address some of the pros and cons of this exercise. Privatization though a new concept to be applied in prison department in most of the countries across the globe, there are a few countries who used it in the past. For example during the mid 18th century, the United States government entered into a treaty with a number of private investors to manage a number of its institutions and these investors went ahead to contract inmates to some of their private enterprises as a source of labor. Some of the institutions that were contracted included ‘New York Auburn and Louisiana’ penal colonies. However, this did not last for long based on the fact that there was rampant corruption that was carried out as well as vicious resistance from other businesses who termed this as some kind of ‘unfair’ competition that was caused by these workers who were unpaid. Contemporary private prisons are however not the same as these because they operate on new models that are more promising. The Pros on the Prison Privatization Industry One of the major benefit that privatization of prisons would bring about is cost saving. The cost of crime depends upon relative increase in the rate of crime. The government in different countries spends billions of dollars every year on construction of prisons so as to be able to handle the increasing rates of crime. This is not the only cost based on the fact that guards to guard these inmates need to be recruited as well as other expenses that include; administration, food, health and education costs. It is argued by the majority of proponents of this idea that private companies can operate the prisons at a cost that is far much low than what the government uses and still maintain the quality services that are required. Some of the major reasons that these proponents give in regard the reduced cost are the elimination of bureaucracy, red tape, and the numerous laws that usually makes the costs of managing the prisons to rise in the case of public prisons. Allowing the private sector to manage these institutions will imply that some of the costs that are involved in learning the jail will not be generated from the tax payer’s contribution directly and as a result the money may be diverted to other government projects. This will facilitate better utilization of the government’s funds to develop the areas that are in serious need of development. Due to the issue of competition privatization there will be increased productivity as well as reduced waste in terms of resources. Studies have revealed that the boarding cost in the private owned prison to reduce to half that of the government owned prisons. There have been other studies some institutions saved more than twenty percent of the cost incurred in terms of the construction expenses and management costs reducing by 5-15% Sloane, 1996). The cutting down on cost is something that has been criticized heavily by the lobby groups who think that this will lead to the deteriora tion of the conditions inside these prisons. This is an economical plan that aims at giving back to the society as it serves to preserve justice to the community. According to the economic theory, the problem of financial support towards the running of the prison facilities would go down if there are more available, renting and selling prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison space. Privatization of prisons is based on this factor of trying to exploit the opportunities by the introduction of factories adjacent to bars, cost reduction of the costs and give the prisoners the freedom to earn some pay as they give back to the society through the provision of labor. By this, they will be making peace with the society that they infringed some pain in the initial time through committing of crime. Though the public prisons try as much to carry out this exercise, this cannot be compared to the private sector that expresses this in a more profound manner. One way of demonstrating this is what was demonstrated in the United States sometimes ago. There was a time when there were more than one hundred private firms that with more than two thousand prisoners in the manufacturing industry. These inmates used to manufacture goods with the range of bird feeders, circuit boards, and other related equipments and from the money that was earned through this method, about 56% of it was used to cater for the room and boarding facilities, restitution of the victim, and support of the family. The process also left the inmates with some acquired skills that they could use during their re-integration process that welcomed them back to the society. Having some skills that they could use to earn a living put them in a better position in the society based on the fact that these people were liable of being treated by the community as ex-convicts that may rerun back into crime. It is also worth noting that the process of privatization may lead to some other new methods of criminal control other than the use of jail to detain people there by denying them freedom. One method can involve methods of detaining criminals within their dwelling by the use of new technology such as surveillance through small devices worn on the body such as bracelets or the electronic monitoring. It is however worth to note that such methods would cause some greater concern of the general public based on the fact that some would question whether the method would be effective in ensuring that crime is contained in the society. In short the privatization of the prison industry would have a lot of benefits as mentioned in the points that have been stated above. The financial benefits, well being of the prisoner, security gains, and answerability among other factors might be used by the proposers of this system to ensure that the majority of the prisons are privatized so as to improve this important institution that ensures the execution of justice in a given country. The concept of privatization is indeed a very bright idea that has so many advantages though the issue needs to be put under more scrutiny to be able to get to the bottom of some of the positive features that have been mentioned in this paper. This is a concept that has the potential of flourishing if given the attention it deserves to ensure that the social interests come before the urge to maximize profits by the corporations that have been contracted to set up the private institutions. It is also worth noting that each of the positive points that have been presented in favor of privatization, an equal amount of disproof as a means of counteract or frustrate this should be expected as it is the case for the public prisons. This is because in each debate regarding an issue that will touch on the welfare of the society there are those who are behind its implementation and there are those who solidly oppose such an issue; this is a good example of this kind of a topic. The Cons on the Prison Privatization Industry It is obvious that the main motive behind privatization is the profit. This is one of the major issues that can lead to a conflict of interest. It should be noted that prisons not only serve to separate the criminal from the rest of the society and give them punishment, it is also the duty and responsibility of the people in charge of the prisons to ensure that the criminals go through a rehabilitation process to ensure that that the recidivism rate is highly reduced based on the fact that it is very risky to relapse to the earlier behavior. Though the private prisons are cheaper than the public, they are not as efficient based on the fact that obtaining profits through the management of a prison would mean that rehabilitation programs, medical care, food and the hiring costs will be reduced at the expense of the welfare of the inmates. As a result, there high chances that the inmates will be underfed, experience poor living conditions, lack the rehabilitation guidance and be supervised by inexperienced and unskillful officers. James Austin who was an analyst conducted a survey in regard to the welfare of the inmates in some of these prisons and the results he obtained spoke volume of the kind of experiences that the inmates had to cope up with. One of the discoveries he made was that there was 49% more assaults on inmates by staff and 65% more assaults by inmates in the private run facilities than in the facilities that were learn by the government. This is one of factor that indicates that these private prisons are not that efficient when it comes to their performance. Another report that was conducted in England indicated that that the privatized prisons had bad scores in terms of the security and management based on the fact that there was failure in containing drugs, severe assaults and intentional criminal act ivity in the prisons. In addition, there are poor payments as well as working conditions in the private prisons as compared to the public prisons and this is the reason why there is high turnover in the public prisons as compared to the private prisons. It is also worth noting that privatization brings about lack of transparency in the prisons department. Public prisons have high degrees of transparency as compared to the private prisons. Despite having low transparency, the private prisons are also hard to legalize, scrutinize and bleaching of the contractual agreements are common and hard to detect and resolve. In short, the public prisons can be scrutinized easily by the public unlike the private prisons where public scrutiny cannot be assured due to the operation contracts that are usually confidential causing a serious failure in terms of accountability. Finally, this issue that seems to contradict the traditions that have been used for a long time by different countries in regard to the state respon sibility. There are functions that have been known for a long time to belong to the government and not to private developers since they are considered to belong to the class of the state responsibility to its citizens and one of this is the national defense. This is one thing that goes hand in hand with the protection of the public against crime and one of the major methods of doing this is the prison department and as a result, this department should be managed by the government of the particular country. Furthermore the act of administering punishment needs to be delivered by a body with high authority for it to be effective and this can only be the government towards is citizens who have indulged into criminal activities. As a result the ruthlessness of the punishment impacted by imprisonment or the denial of freedom needs to be executed by the government which is the sole representative of the society and not some individuals from the private sector. Privatization has also received some critics in regard the issue of ‘low-balling’. This is a system or a trick that played by contractors on the government. They under bid their fellow competitors with the aim of winning the tender and once they have won the tender, the costs are increased to very outrageous figures. The worst thing is that the competitors stand a chance of learning into bankruptcy, a situation that can leave the government in a positional that does not have any correctional capability. If this is introduced in the prison sector, this would mean that such an important section of the ensuring justice in the country would have some technical hitches and provision of poor facilities, a thing that would make this body loose its purpose. Despite the system having some advantages, there are a good number of disadvantages that may hinder the process of privatization in a given country. Some of the arguments presented by a section of scholars may not hold water but there are some arguments against privatization that should really be put into consideration for the sake of the welfare of the citizens who should be the first priority of any government (Sloane, 1996). Morality is a very important virtue and based on the fact that there are some aspects of privatization that undermine this value, it is a matter that needs to be deliberated deeply. It is also questionable as to whether the issue of morality and the society peer responsibility as well as the ultimate should be left to the hands of people whose major motive is to maximize profits and search of financial gains. This is an issue that makes the society to appear as if it is no longer guided by morals but rather by greed for money and opportunistic advocacy.

Liberalism and Conservatism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Liberalism and Conservatism - Essay Example It calls for minimal change in the society. It is established that both ideologies oppose each other, while one calls for change and liberty, the other calls for traditionalism and minimum change. In essence liberalism states independence and growth. It covers the basic meaning of humanity and society. Though there have arisen different strands liberalism, the basic fundamentals of liberalism remain same. The liberal philosophy ignites individualism, egalitarianism, meliorism and universalism. Individualism asserts independence and self reliance while egalitarianism imparts political, social and civil equality among individuals. Meliorism and universalism both have common motives. That is to allow greater sociopolitical interaction. All these separate ideologies converge towards a few common postulates. These are equality and individual liberty, support of private property and individual rights, limited constitutional government and pluralism, toleration and autonomy. In history there have been various critiques on the liberal chain of thought. The most significant of which has been by the conservatives. They have argued that liberalism is in fact pursuit of progress and mate rial gain. This argument was further augmented by a Hungarian philosopher, Karl Polyani. Polyani attacked the liberal economic thought. He stated that human behavior is supported through social interactions not through greed and rational, which in fact drove the free markets (Hill). He also argued that the created free markets brought with it fictitious money. In his view the liberal economic system would ultimately bring with it artificial commodification of land, labour and capital. This would lead to the destruction of the society. The counter ideology is conservatism. It promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and structure. The ideology allows minimal and gradual change in society. As with liberalism, there are many different strands of