Energy Society Essay

The Kyoto Protocol The official name of the Protocol is The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an agreement by 165 countries for mandatory targets for the reduction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several fluorinated gases are believed to contribute significantly to global warming. The targets of the Protocol are primarily industrialized countries, which are expected to reduce their combined emissions to 95% of 1990 emission levels between 2008 and 2012. The Protocol was agreed on in 1997, although it only took effect in 2005. Between the years 1990 and 2000, the overall emissions of industrialized countries have been reduced by 3%, but largely because of the drastic reduction of emissions from former Soviet countries because of their failing economies. Other industrialized countries overall had an increase of 8% emissions. It is estmated that emissions from industrialized countries will be 10% above 1990 emission levels by the year 2010. For industrialized countries, the emission reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol is only around 5%, and many climate scientists are concerned that this is not enough to curb the effects of global warming. They believe that in order for the agreement to actually help solve the problem, the emission rates would be cut down by 60%. This has led to the opinion that the agreement lacks real value, more so without US backing. However, advocates believe that the Protocol lays out the groundwork for future negotiations. Emission reduction laws were already signed in many countries and would continue to take effect even when the Protocol itself has ceased to exist. â€Å"Happy Kyoto Day† – This site has an unusual approach to the problem of determining the Kyoto protocol’s merit. According to the author, â€Å"In and of itself, the Kyoto treaty won’t solve global warming or avert disastrous climate disruption.† The author states that the protocol is essentially a catalyst. It will put the world in an environmentally aware mindset—even if the Kyoto protocol fails, it will force the world to come up with something better. It will also encourage economic changes that strive towards greater efficiency and sustainability. Lastly, the protocol â€Å"is a symbol, a conscious step in the right direction for the planet. â€Å"Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?† – According to this site, â€Å"global warming alarmism† is indeed the â€Å"mother of all environmental scares.† The author states that it is definitely not settled whether human activity has had any significant effect on global warming; global warming is a theory, not a fact. Some effects of the Kyoto protocol would include â€Å"impoverishing the USA and creating intense disaffection within the ranks of the working classes.† Basic necessities would become very expensive. â€Å"Electricity would double in cost, fuel would skyrocket.† Lastly, the author claims that the Kyoto protocol is a political â€Å"device to lead the Social Communists closer to world dominion.† One of the worst effects that global warming could have would be the rise of sea levels, due to the melting of ice caps and to thermal expansion of the world’s waters. A hundred years from now, if the worst global warming predictions come true, millions of people will be displaced from their homes, which will be submerged. This will have drastic economic and cultural impacts. The effects of the mass displacement on the economy could reach far into the future. The loss of farmland, of business districts, etc. may spawn another (much worse) Great Depression in many areas. Forced cultural dispersion will be commonplace, making the ubiquitous problem of the generation gap much more considerable. Many people who would call themselves environmentalists would not necessarily have good knowledge of environmental issues. They may pay lip service to the environmentalist cause without inconveniencing themselves in any respect to protect it. But I would venture to say that a majority of those who call themselves environmentalists would be willing to go out of their way to ‘serve’ the world. However, it is certain that, as in other controversial issues, there would be much hypocrisy. If by ‘environmentalists’ we mean those who are—or claim to be—‘concerned’ about the environment, then certainly most of them would just be claiming belief in the cause, but be too lazy. In them would be an awareness of an ideal—the preservation of the environment—but a lack of initiative, probably because of the lack of any immediate incentives. References    Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Greenhouse Office, Available at: http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/international/kyoto/index.html The Kyoto Protocol, New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, Available at: http://www. climatechange.govt.nz/about/kyoto.html Cascio, Jamais, 2006, Happy Kyoto Day, Available at: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002119.html Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?, 2006, Available at: http://uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/e4978f31-0439-4b70-bbf3-f0ce93a09a42 Q&A: The Kyoto Protocol, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/ 4269921.stm The Kyoto Protocol – A brief summary, 2006, European Union, Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/climat/kyoto.htm Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Available at: http://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Kyoto_Protocol&oldid=80236719 Kyoto Protocol comes into force, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ science/nature/4267245.stm

He Loved Light, Freedom and Animals and Pneuomconiosis Essay

Both poems are about death and the acceptance of death although are written from different perspectives and are different for the fact that in â€Å"He loved light, freedom and animals† by Mike Jenkins the young boy’s death was quite a shock, but it could have been prevented whereas in â€Å"Pneumoconiosis† written by Duncan Bush the man’s death is inevitable, there is nothing he can do to change it. Both poems also have connection with coalmines. Pneumoconiosis is a disease caught from working down in the mines, and the background of â€Å"He loved light, freedom and animals† is about a mining disaster that happened in Aberfan where a slag heap on the side of a mountain collapsed and engulfed parts of the small town. The first poem I studied was Pneumoconiosis, and as the title suggests, the poem is about the killing lung disease that many coalminers suffered and died from. â€Å"Pneumoconiosis† was renames â€Å"The Dust† by the sufferers because it was mainly caused by inhalation of a lot of dust. The dust would get trapped in the lungs and made breathing difficult, and eventually killed after many years of effecting collier’s lives. Duncan Bush wrote in the form of an old retired coalminer who is slowly dying from the disease. The elderly man is now feeling the effects of the disease more than ever. He shows his feelings towards the disease and reflects to his past. The poor man worked down in the mines for thirty years without realising the fatality of his coughing and breathing difficulties but now he begins to see the truth, he’s now walking at a much slower pace and can not talk as fast and fluent. The constant repetition of the line â€Å"I try not to think about it† gives us the impression that in the back of his mind he cannot help the feeling of ominous foreboding that his life will soon be coming to an end. He is worried about when his death will come but doesn’t want the remainder of his life to be a misery. The opening line, â€Å"This is the Dust† is an introduction to the illness, it simply tells us what the whole poem and the title is about. The second line then describes it as â€Å"Black diamond dust†. It is a good way of describing the dust from the coal, as coal is similar to diamond in many ways. They are both valuable, and a fair amount of coal sparkles, as diamonds do. We understand that the man came from the South Wales valleys; the poet shows this by adding â€Å"boy† at the end of the line and uses informal English to punctuate his accent which symbolizes the location of the industry. It is a personal poem, Darren Bush is writing in the first person as though he is the old man telling his story â€Å"I had thirty years in it†. This is affective because we can relate with his character better by understanding what he is going through and feeling. The man was happy in his work back in the day; he didn’t have the slightest idea that one day working there would lead him to his death. â€Å"A laughing red mouth† He would be covered at work in black dirt, and his mouth would stand out, as it was the only clean part of him. We realize the first symptoms of his illness when he used to â€Å"spit smuts black† but obviously, he was unaware and didn’t realize the cause of his spluttering. The poet uses alliteration to describe the young collier suffering, the hard constant â€Å"s† conveys the way the sound the man made and it stands out. In the second verse, the man continues telling us about the disease he suffers from and points out the fact that he accepts it and he bravely admits he will die with it. The poet cleverly uses the line â€Å"it’s had forty years in me now† which follows the line â€Å"I had thirty years in it†. This shows that he is quite old, because he retired ten years ago. The disease isn’t only affecting his inside; his illness is visible – â€Å"like my blued scars†. The scars are a part of him that won’t go away, he can not erase them. The sufferer tells us how he gets by from day to day and how things have changed since he’s been ill in the third verse. There are a few pauses in the third stanza which conveys the shortness of breath the man has. â€Å"One step at a time; especially the stairs.† It is quite jerky, as I can imagine his breathing and talking would be like. He then goes on to talk about his past and his experiences. His own brother also died of Pneumoconiosis, so he knows what he is facing. He explains that he saw his brothers last moment, which I think is very emotional. Although he seems calm, he must be quite frightened that he will be going through the same thing. He doesn’t want to let the image of his brother that will always be with him scare him. The description the poet uses about the brother’s last moment are very good, and give us a vivid image of how much he struggled – â€Å"worse than a hooked carp drowning in the air†. The last three lines of the poem are very emotional and sad, he emphasises his slow walk and the occasional cough he lets out involuntary by telling people to know him as that man. This shows that the illness has effected him so much, he is different to a lot people when he used to be as healthy as the rest. After reading the poem, I admire the character in the poem because he can handle and accept his death, rather than complain and give up all hope. He is trying to lead his life as normal as possible and trying not to make the last of his life a misery which I respect. Another poem I studied was â€Å"He loved light, freedom and animals†. Mike Jenkins writes as if he is the father and he reminisces and remembers happy memories he shared with his son. He doesn’t believe that his son is dead and in his mind the boy is still as lively as ever. The disaster of Aberfan happened on the 21st of October in 1966. The slagheap was balancing on a mountain overlooking the small village. The flood of waste had slipped and rushed down the mountain shattering homes, farms and the village school, which killed 116 young villagers. Critics say that the disaster should never had happened and young, innocent people’s lives such as the character in the poems son shouldn’t have been lost. The poem contains many good descriptions that create strong images of both the child and the slag heap. This creates a good balance of positive and negative emotion in the poem. The images of the slagheap and the child are a complete contrast to one another; the descriptions of the boy are happy and beautiful foe example â€Å"his eyes gleamed as gorse-flowers do now† whereas the slagheap is described by the use of dark, depressing phrases such as â€Å"tumour on the hillside burst and the black blood coal†. The unpleasant phrase of the tumour growing on the top of the mountain reminds us of illness and gives us the thought people would want to stay as far away from it as possible. But tumours can be detected and defused, like the slagheap, it could have been manually moved but nobody had thought of the consequences until it was too late. The poet refers to the characters son throughout the poem, almost in every stanza which I believe makes the poem very interesting. It also shows that he will always think of his son, and will not give up the happy thoughts. He remembers the things he used to do when he was happiest. His son would be â€Å"in the classroom waving an answer like a greeting†. This emphasises how very enthusiastic and eager the boy was and obviously he was a pupil who enjoyed school, but it was there where he had died. When the poor boy was pulled out, the poet writes that his son must have been â€Å"like a child collier, dragged out of one of Bute’s mines.† A child collier would have been in a very dangerous job, and often lost their lives. They would come out of the mines hurt and covered in black dust but his son wasn’t a collier, he was at school. School is meant to be a safe place, but not for the pupils on the day of the disaster. A good example of a simile in the poem is the one about the son and his mother shown in the last stanza. â€Å"Ears attuned as a ewe’s in lambing.† The connection the boy had with his mother was like no other, his mother can still hear his laugh and like and ewe and a lamb, she was attuned to her son. This is a good way of showing that they were close, and his mother is lost without him. She will always recognize his laugh, and can still hear it clearly in her head. The parents of the boy will always remember him as they last seen him, young, healthy and happy. They will be hearing his â€Å"laughs springing down the slopes† for a long time. Mike Jenkins uses personification in his poem to make it more alive and colourful. An example of him using personification is shown in the fourth verse, he creates a character out of the slagheap when the poet describes it s if it has a â€Å"greedy belly† that ate up all the children and villagers. The tone of the poem is conversational, the father tells us as the reader about his son, and about his son’s death. It’s a dramatic poem, and is very emotional. Both negative and Positive feelings are shown in the poem. Although the theme of the poem is sad, the lines about the boy are happy; they are lines that bring a smile to the reader’s faces. In a way this makes us feel even sorrier for the father and makes it more emotional. The lines about the slag heap are bitter, expressing the father’s feelings towards it. In my opinion, the fact that the poem begins with a line about the grave â€Å"No grave can contain him† and then ends with a line about the grave â€Å"I try to foster the inscription, away from its stubborn stone† is clever. It emphasizes the fact that he is in his grave and will not do the things that were mentioned in the middle of the poem, he will not be â€Å"climbing a tree† again or â€Å"calling out names†. I personally enjoyed reading this poem because I felt I could relate to the father, as it was from a personal point of view and can relate to the loss of someone special. It was very emotional and made me sympathize for the mother and father. It was unfair for the innocent, fragile boy to die in such a horrific accident and it made me angry that people had not thought of the consequences they were facing by putting the slagheap on top of the mountain. Both poems are very successful in creating sad emotions, and also anger and frustration. In He loved Light, Freedom and Animals, anger is created because the boy and his classmates were so young when they died, and they didn’t deserve to have their lives taken away. In Pneumoconiosis, anger is created because the old man had been affected by the dust silently, and is expecting his death. This is very frustrating, as there is nothing we as the reader can do to change what has happened and what is going to happen. In my opinion, He love Light, Freedom, and Animals made the biggest impact to my emotions. As the child was only young, it is easy to relate to, and it makes the reader realize that life can be cut so short, although Pneumoconiosis is also very emotional, as the reader acknowledges the long term effects miners suffer. He has been, and is still fighting bravely but he knows he can’t hold on forever.

Compare and Contrast Walter Mitty with Rip Van Winkle Essay

â€Å"May Day! May Day! We’re going down!† Right before impact you are awaken suddenly by a tapping on your shoulder by your teacher and a class full of laughing peers. It happens to everyone at one point or another. Every high school student has been succumbed to a wild daydreaming adventure. In the short story, â€Å"The secret life of Walter Mitty† by James Thurber, a man by the name of Walter Mitty can hardly tell reality from his vivid imaginary dreams which undertake him spontaneously as he feuds with his nagging wife. In a very similar short story, â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† by Washington Irving, the main character Rip Van Winkle slips away from his domestic problems with his wife to a place of serenity where he can sleep in the peace and quiet of the Catskill Mountains. These two stories possess many striking similarities yet there are many differences between them which make them unique. Similarities run wild between these two stories. The most noticeable trait in which both stories possess heavily is the portrayal of the wife. In â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Rip’s wife is a nagging, mean old hag who gets her kicks out of bossing him around and taking him away from his fun with the neighborhood children and his dog. An extremely strong connection can be made from the wife of Rip to the wife of Walter Mitty. Mitty’s wife is obviously a control freq who always has to have things her way, and if things fail to lean in her favor then all havoc breaks loose. â€Å"Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!† said Mrs. Mitty. â€Å"What are you driving so fast for? (Thurber 2)† Another large similarity between Walter and Rip are their overwhelming tendencies to avoid any form of laborous activity pertaining to their own benefit by choosing to do something a little more exciting and fun. In Rip’s case, he simply leaves his wife and his h ouse with his dog, Wolf, to escape all of the responsibilities his wife imposes on him to be in the peace of the forest where he can relax for awhile. â€Å"Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. (Irving 4)† Walter Mitty is sidetracked every time he is told to do something by falling into a new daydream. His wife often has to tell him to do a particular activity multiple times before Mitty makes a formidable attempt at completing it. â€Å"When he came out into the street again, with the  overshoes in a box under his arm, Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was his wife had told him to get. She had told him, twice before they set out from their house for Waterbury. (Thurber 5)† These two characters go hand-in-hand with one another, yet there are still significant details about each one which make them unique. Although very similar, these stories possess many distinct differences which separate them from one another. The first and foremost is the time in which each takes place. â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† is set in the colonial days from pre-Revolution to post-Revolution while â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† is set in the roaring ’20s of the 20th century. The main characters also have their own unique attributes as well which helps to distinguish them from each other. Walter Mitty is more of a dreamer and oddball, and uses his dreams to escape from his troubles and worries of the day. Rip Van Winkle is more of a playful, joyous person who just outright despises his home. He works extremely hard for other people and is always there to help others out yet he refuses to make any tangible efforts to get things done around the house. â€Å"In a word Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible. (Irving 3)† Obviously another significant detail which separates these stories is how Rip Van Winkle falls asleep for 20 years and sleeps through the Revolution, waking up only to find that everything he had once known is gone for the most part. He awakes to learn that his wife has died and this actually made him happy. Walter Mitty does not despise his wife in the same way. Mainly, Walter Mitty is just slightly annoyed by her antics and her need for control. This detail probably poses the biggest separation between plots of the two stories. Differences are noticeably large and significant when comparing these short tales. Though very similar indeed, these two stories are in fact very different from one another. The main characters of the two run parallel in description and action yet the plots seem to stray away from one another. â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† and â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† are two very unique and priceless pieces of American literature.

Questions in law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Questions in law - Essay Example The magistrate courts are the basic legal structure in the courts hierarchy. Magistrate courts handle immediate cases such as crime and low valued civil cases. County courts are next in line after the magistrate courts and they handle complicated cases. Cases that cannot be handled in county courts are referred to the crown courts. The High Court deals with criminal cases that cannot be handled at lower courts. The court of appeal handles appeals for cases passed by the High Court or other lower courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the English legal system and it handles cases that involve the state (Best, 2007, p. 132). Ratio decidendi is a Latin term applied in courts to imply the basis of a decision. These are principles used by judges to make decisions in a court ruling. In addition, ratio decidendi create a binding precedent. Such precedent binds inferior courts to decision-making principle applied in a superior court. On the other hand, Obiter dicta is a Latin word meaning â€Å"other things said†. Obiter dicta provide principles for decision making in a law court. Unlike ratio decidendi, obiter dicta does not have a binding precedent. Overruling involves declaring pervious case ruling incorrect and terminating their application in current courts case. However, overruling does not have an effect on the previous court decisions. On the other hand, revising involves revisiting a previous court decisions. Revising takes place at the court of appeal and it can overturn a court ruling. Distinguishing is the process whereby a court analyzes the facts and principles of a binding precedent to establish their applicability in a current case. Distinguishing is applied to avoid mistakes and inconveniences committed at earlier rulings. Under section 2(a) of the contract Act 1950, an offer indicates the willingness of a person or a party to do or abstain from doing something. On the other hand, an invitation involves making a proposal for an

Introduction to 'Rent-seeking behavior Assignment

Introduction to 'Rent-seeking behavior - Assignment Example The elderly, for instance, look for higher social security payments. Unluckily, where rights over property are weakened as well as where someone’s ownership of goods or wealth becomes debatable, other individuals could acquire more through attempts to appropriate such wealth than through manufacturing themselves. Such behavior is known as rent seeking (Forbes, 2013). There is no good reason as to why economists use this term â€Å"rent†. It means payments to a production factor in excess of the amount needed to keep the factor within its current use. The word is used to illustrate government lobbying by individuals in order to achieve special privileges. It can be called privilege seeking (Dutton, 2014). Other examples of rent seeking include: the limitation of access to profitable occupations as in modern certifications as well as licensures. Taxi licensing happens to be referenced as a rent seeking instance. Licenses issuing limits the overall tax services supply (instead of making sure of equality or competence) threatening rivalry in livery vehicles, illegal taxes or unregulated taxes causes the taxi service transactions a compulsory transfer of a fraction of the payment from consumers to operators of taxi business. The rent seeking concept may as well apply to bureaucrats’ corruption in their splitting as well as extracting rent/bribe for their application of legal, however, optional for awarding the illegitimate or legitimate benefits to their clients. Tax officials may happen to receive bribes for having reduced tax payers’ tax burden for instance (Dutton, 2014). It has been well known that individuals lobby the government for some privileges. The insight of Tullock was that privilege lobbying expenditures are high and they dissipate gains to the recipients and lead to inefficiency. For instance, a firm that deals with steel

Is less student purchase text books from school book store. Why or why Essay

Is less student purchase text books from school book store. Why or why not - Essay Example While indicative of the changing trend in the overall consumer purchasing behavior, the findings reveal the more immediate threat that the on-campus bookstore is facing. In the changing circumstances, the management needs to re-align its core business of selling with technology. This paper and the research undertaken by the author are aimed at discovering the book-purchasing habits of the students, and also endeavors to find out the possible reasons for their reluctance to buy from the on-campus bookstore. The above objectives were sought to be achieved through a primary research, using a close-ended questionnaire on a sample of 50 students. A literature survey was also conducted to establish how the consumer behavior is being modified by e-commerce, and how other bookstores are coping with the change. The author has observed, personally and through his interactions with his colleagues, teachers and staff, that there has been a debilitating trend in the book-purchasing behavior of students buying books through on-campus bookstores. The requirements of college course-work have become more and more challenging, and a student is continuously facing the daunting challenge of coming up with exemplary references in his papers. Not only he needs access to a gamut of the prescribed books, he also needs to embellish his work with sources, not yet available through his local campus. Online Libraries and online book vendors provide a cheaper and faster alternative for the academic needs of the students. M-commerce and e-commerce are making forays into the academic life, making available to him an array of study material, books, and journals right at his doorstep. There has also been a revolution in the availability of free information online – through search engines like Google and Yahoo, a student can get access to whatever data he needs while sitting at home. In addition to the changing economy (the IT boom, availability

Sport in high schools and colleges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sport in high schools and colleges - Essay Example On the basis of those studies, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Knight Commission have been taking different steps at different times to bring order in sport education. Thus, tougher academic standards for student athletes and a certification program for athletics departments were introduced. Though the new academic standards are not always fair to student athletes – in some cases they are required to do more than students not involved in college sport life. Some states adopted no pass – no play policy to enhance academic achievements of student players. With institution of tougher academic standards and new support programs in 1996 graduation rates began improving and more student athletes appeared to earn degrees – in 2002, 62 per cent of Division I athletes who had enrolled six years earlier graduated. (Although the proportions were up in 2003, only 54 percent of Division I-A football players and 44 percent of basketball players graduated (Price, 2004)). Drug use can enhance an athlete's performance as well as impair it and possibly lead to injury. In the case, Vernonia School District v. Acton, student athletes in Oregon were required to take a urine test for amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine at the beginning of the season. In addition, random tests on 10 percent of all student athletes were conducted each week during the season. School officials said they instituted the policy because students were openly boasting of using drugs, and disciplinary problems had increased. But there is still no consensus on whether high school athletes should be subject to random drug testing as a condition for playing interscholastic sports (Worsnop, 1994). College sports has become a $4-billion-a-year enterprise, and the elite football and basketball teams - mostly those in the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern conferences - earn multimillion-dollar profits for their universities (Price, 2004). Here rises a problem - who gets the money and how to distribute it equally between management and players. It was suggested to develop a certification or peer-review program for Division I sports departments. Proponents of peer review say it will keep the college sports reform movement alive by forcing Division I schools to engage in periodic soul-searching. However, it may take years to pass