Wal Mart vs. Conscientious America Essay

Especially today, Americans this Christmas are out to save money, to receive value for their dollars, and to make a decision based on the greatest number of choices available, conveniently all at one place.   This involves mega-monster stores, such as our titular popular national outlet, Wal Mart. Americans also want to continue, if not start living â€Å"green† and make conscientious decisions based on their sound and decent morals, values, and spiritual knowledge that giving is good, helping our fellow man is great, and supporting small business owners is without question the motto. Thus, the truly difficult conflict:   do we shop easily and convenient spending less money at the big store in the mall just down the avenue, or, do we seek out separate small businesses, owned by members of our community, using more effort, less convenience, and probably lessen the balance on our credit card by more than we otherwise could? â€Å"The concentration of ownership and power, along with treaties like GATT and NAFTA, means more and cruder exploitation of workers everywhere. Jobs flee America as manufacturing is done by people like Wendy Diaz in Honduras. Diaz told Kathie Lee Gifford what it was like to earn 31 cents an hour, allowed to go to the bathroom only twice a day, be cursed and screamed at, and be able to do nothing about it. There is one unionized Wal-Mart its in Ontario.†Ã‚   (2008)   Such newsworthy findings takes a look far beyond the retail market faà §ade.   The international impact of stores such as Wal Mart and other corporate America businesses are staggering. I’ve often wondered, whatever happened to all the orange, lemon, and avocado orchards in California?   There used to be one on every fourth block or so in the cities I lived in; I used to walk through many on my way to school.   They have been covered up by cement, underneath malls, underneath retail stores, underneath flooring where massive amounts of inventory are set; in other words, they’ve been malled.   Is that the fate of our landscape? Billy Quinn in his book about the destruction of America cites various studies done in the late 1990’s about 50-80% losses within community retail stores in the Midwest in clothing, accessories, and other apparel.   He advocates,â€Å". . . watching for red flags in a given area where large quantities of land are being bought up from large companies for corporate profit with no conscientiousness for the community they would serve . . . â€Å" (1998) What does one individual do?   The desirable choice and therefore action would be to do what’s best for the most.   The individual especially in our latest economy needs to do what’s best for himself and his family.   Most individuals do not feel they alone can effect an impact on this issue, and probably choose money value and convenience as a means to an end.   Few unique consumers stop and think, weigh, and choose with caution, prudence and spiritual conviction. We are all thrust, knowingly but involuntarily into this dilemma of a situation, and many are left frustrated, confused and merely apologetic as they continue pushing their carts down the wide, white-tiled aisles of mega-department stores where everything is under the one roof and to be had cheaply, or at least cheaper than most other places. How does one sleep at nighton a Posture Pedic Standard pillow purchased on a two-for-one weekend white sale, or on a hemp mat on a wooden floor inhaling the slightly sour aroma from the backyard compost pile?   I suppose the fabric and odor is not quite the question, rather, how long can we continue to walk the wide path, down an aisle, down life?   This country was founded on freedom of choice.   Let each make his own. Works Cited http://www.wakeupwalmart.com http://www.walmartwatch.com Quinn, B.   How Wal-Mart is Destroying America, and What You Can Do About It. 1998, Ten Cent Press, Berkeley, CA.

The Nightmare Of Media - 1526 Words

The Nightmare of Media Can you really trust the media that you have been growing up with all of your life? Some people may think that the media is truthful, while others disagree with everything that the media has to say. Although this mostly relies on your opinion on the subject, the media has been wrong about a lot of things. Some media can be seen as unfair or untrue because there have been instances where the media has incorrectly reported material and the public has not been very happy about it or have reacted in different ways which is illustrated in The Brown story. The amount of fairness when it comes to media has wavered over the past several years. History has shown that the media can be bias. For example, sometimes they have†¦show more content†¦People have different points of view on the mass media. Many people use social media every day, while others use their computers, televisions, and maybe even the newspaper. Most may think that media is helpful in everyday activities, while others think they are trying to put ideas into their heads in the process. The fact of the matter is that mostly all of us use it and there are many different opinions about whether it is true or false. There are many quotes pertaining to the media, both good and bad. Both politicians and citizens have opinions to be heard. Jess C. Scott says, â€Å"People are like sheep. TV is the shepherd.† Michael Jackson said,† What happened to the truth? Did it go out of style?† (Quotes About Mass Media) Walter Cronkite, an American journalist, sa id, â€Å"In seeking the truth you have to get both sides of the story.† He also said, â€Å"Our job is to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.† â€Å"Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine,† Cronkite says. (Walter Cronkite) An example of a story where the media was correct in reporting would be the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. It is said there were around 700 students present at the school. The principal, vice principal, and psychologist heard loud pops and went into the hallway to investigate. Only the vice principal returned alive from the hallway, but she was hurt. (Sandy Hook

When referring to indigenous knowledge the first thing that comes to mind is Africa free essay sample

Indigenous knowledgeWhen referring to indigenous knowledge the first thing that comes to mind is Africa. It is a pool of richecological diversity and culture. People of Africa have been farming for years and using that very sameknowledge to grow their crops. This is in direct reference to people how are small scale farmers,emerging farmers. Indigenous knowledge is information that is passed on from generation togeneration. It is indigenous knowledge that lad the platform of development in agriculture and that iswhy it is even now recognized by institutions of higher learning in south Africa (mohamedbhai, 2013) .indigenous knowledge is now used in all farming practices by smallholder farmers, for the purpose ofgenerating utilizing PABM for the improvement of food and also securing the nutritional value (kateNdwandwe, 2017)Indigenous people live their lives such that they release very low carbon in to the environment,therefore are not great contributors to climate change which leads to global warming. We will write a custom essay sample on When referring to indigenous knowledge the first thing that comes to mind is Africa or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Raygorodetsky,2011). The problem with indigenous knowledge is the fact that it is just knowledge. It wont somehowchange the functional status of a famer because he or she has now obtained it. The key with indigenousknowledge is how you choose to use it. (J, 2005)Climate changeTo understand what climate change is there has to be an understanding of what climate is. According to() climate speaks to, the usual wearther0f a particular place. Now if those temperatures change overtime this is what we refer to as climate change. Climate normally changes because of the changes thatoccur in the atmosphere, ocean currents, landscape, and sun radiation. (Birch, 2009). Changes inclimates is something that course more harm than good rising if temperatures can lead to what isgenerally referred to as global warming. This can Couse tropical cyclones, floods and droughts. Climatechange makes it even more difficult for farmers to do their practice as, somehow there has to be amodification of the knowledge they have ( (Birch, 2009))Climate change acceleration is due to the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Resulting is melting ofglaciers due to increase in temperatures therefore leading to unnatural shifting of seasons and extremeweather events. And this threatens food security global. The biological effects of climate change onyieldsTable 1—Climate-change induced yield effects by crop and management system, % change from yieldwith 2000 climate to yield with 2050 climateRegion CSIRO No CF NCAR No CF CSIRO CF NCAR CFMaize, irrigatedDevelopingcountries-2.0 -2.8 -1. 4 -2.1Developedcountries-1.2 -8.7 -1.2 -8.6Maize, rainfedDevelopingcountries0.2 -2. 9 2.4 -0.8Developedcountries0.6 -5.7 9.5 2.5Rice, irrigatedDevelopingcountries-14. 4 -15-8.5 2.4 -0.5Developedcountries-3.5 -5.5 10.5 9. 0Rice, rainfedDevelopingcountries-1.3 -1.4 6.5 6.4Developedcountries17.3 10.3 23. 4 17.8Wheat, irrigatedDevelopingcountries-28.3 -34.3 -20.8 -27.2Developedcountries-5.7 -4. 9 -1.3 -0.1Wheat, rainfedDevelopingcountries-1.4 -1.3 9.3 8.5Developedcountries3. 1 2.4 9.7 9.5The table above (table 1) indicates the biological effete of climate change on crop yieldTable 1 reports the direct biological effects of the two climate-change scenarios on crop yields modeleddirectly with DSSAT for rain fed and irrigated crops in developing and developed countries. In developingcountries the crop yields decreases predominate, as the crops are without CO2 fertilization. Developedcountries are less affected than developing countries when we look at the production of irrigated riceand wheat. This is because of the technologies which are available in developed countries. The tablealso shows us that climate change is not all negative because some of the yields increased withincreasing temperatures in developed countries.The agricultural extension participatory approach assumption is that farmers have a lot of wisdomregarding cultivation of crops, but their standards of living can be improved by learning how otherfarmers cultivate their crops. It further assumes that effective extension cannot be achieved without theactive participation of the farmers In rural areas themselves as, well as of research and related servicesthat there is a reinforcing effect in group learning and group action and that (Edith Mwita, 2003)Extension efficiency is gained by focusing on important points based on expressed needs of a farmersand by reaching more small farmers through their groups/organizations instead of throughindividualized approaches. The purpose is to increase production and consumption and enhance thequality of life of rural people. Programmed planning is c ontrolled locally, often by such groups asfarmers associations. Where farmers associations do not exist, the extension staffs assist to formthem. (Edith Mwita, 2003)The educational institution approachIn this approach, the assumption is that faculties or colleges of agriculture have technical knowledgewhich is relevant and useful to farm people. The purpose is to help those people learn about scientificagriculture. Program planning tends to be controlled by those who determine the curriculum of theeducation institution. Implementation is through non-formal instruction in groups, with individuals, andwith other methods and techniques sometimes conducted by a college or university with agriculturalextension personal of another agency as the main audience. While considerable resources arerequired, Success is measured by attendance and the extent of participation by farm people in theschools agricultural extension activities (Rathakrishnan, 2009)ReferencesBirch, R., 2009. climate change. Reprint ed. s.l.:The rosen publishing group.Edith Mwita, M. A. D. P. , 2003. Analyzing impact of participatory approaches in agricultural extensionand farmers education program to improve household food security in drought affected areas ofTanzania: the case of Missungwi Agriculture Development Project. s.l.:Cornell University.J, B., 2005. indigenous knowledge. The use of indigenous knowledge in development: problems andchallenge, 1(1), pp. 1-30.kate Ndwandwe, U. k. M. S. R. M., 2017. indigenous knowledge. Indilinga African Journal of IndigenousKnowledge Systems, 16(2), pp. 265-275.mohamedbhai, G. , 2013. universityworldnews. [Online]Available at: www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2013030712115748[Accessed 26 3 2018].Prakash M. Shingi, S. W. G. K., 1982. Management of Agricultural Extension: Training and Visit System inRajasthan. Centre for Management in Agriculture, Issue 96, pp. 1-35.Rathakrishnan, T., 2009. Advances Challenges in Agricultural Extension Rural Development. india:New India Publishing.Raygorodetsky, G., 2011. United nations university. [Online]Available at: https://unu.edu/publications/articles/why-traditional-knowledge-holds-the-key-to-climate-change.html[Accessed 26 3 2018].

The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl Essay Example

The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl Paper The Adventure of the Speckled Band and A Lamb to the Slaughter were written in different centuries and yet both share some characteristics of murder mysteries. In this essay, I intend to compare the motives for the murders; the crime and cover-ups/ alibis; the personalities of the murderers and their victims and look at how the authors create suspense in their stories. The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gives a detailed account of one of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watsons most interesting cases. A young woman Miss Helen Stoner, comes to consult them about the death of her sister, Julia, two years previously, in very mysterious circumstances. Julia died alone and the coroner could not find the cause. Now Helen has begun to fear that she to is in danger and is alarmed at the violent behaviour of her step father, Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Holmes and Watson go to Stoke Moran and solve the mystery of Julias death. We will write a custom essay sample on The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer A lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl tells the story of Mary Maloney and her tense relationship with her husband, Patrick. One evening Mary Maloney is waiting for her husband to arrive home. Once Patrick Maloney returns home and tells his wife, Mary some unpleasant news which she cant believe she is hearing. He tells her that he is leaving her for another woman. This upsets Mary Maloney and in a fit of anger she kills her husband. Now she must cover it and fool the police detectives into believing she is innocent. The motives for the murders in the stories are very different. Dr. Grimesby Roylotts motive for murdering his step daughter, Julia, and the attempted murder for Helen was for the money Helens mother left for herself and Julia. When Helen and Julias mother died she left for them in her will that a certain sum would be given to each of them when they got married: each daughter gets à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250 when they marry (page 7-8). So Dr. Roylotts motive for killing Julia and trying to kill Helen was that he would get all the money which his wife left for them. Mary Maloney, however, had a very difficult motive; she killed her husband, Patrick Maloney, because of her anger and jealously about some news he had told her. He had told her that he was leaving her for another woman: This is going to be a bit of a shock for you, Im afraid, he said. But Ive thought about it a good deal and Ive decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you wont blame me to much. And he told her. It didnt take long, four or five minutes at the most, and she sat very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word (page 16). Then once he had told her, he was leaving her, she went to the freezer and took out a leg of a lamb and was about to make dinner, then with all her might she swung the piece of frozen lambs leg onto his head which killed him. She now has to cover it up using an alibi because she does not want to go to jail especially that she is pregnant and she does not want the baby taken away from her: did they kill them mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do? Mary Maloney didnt know. And she certainly wasnt prepared to take a chance (page 17). The murder weapons in both stories were very unusual but were similar to each other in a way. In The Adventure of the Speckled Band the murder weapon was a deadly snake which was called a swamp adder: I took a step forward. Suddenly this strange headband began to move, and rearing itself up from his hair was the diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a snake! (page 13). Whereas in A Lamb to the Slaughter, the murder weapon was a leg of a lamb, which was frozen solid. The crimes themselves were different. Dr. Grimesby Roylott trained a deadly swamp adder to attack the person sleeping in Julias bedroom. His plan was well thought out and involved the bed in her room being fixed to the floor so it could not move its position. The bed was against the wall which had the vent in it. There was a false bell rope that did not work, which was above the bed. The bell rope was over the vent. Dr. Roylott trained the snake to go through the vent and slither down the bell rope to attack its victim (Dr. Roylott carried the snake to the vent by using the dog lead). Dr. Roylott trained the snake to do what he wanted it to do by using a whistle for commands and a saucer of milk for a reward. In contrast Mary Maloney did not plan ahead; she went downstairs into the cellar to get something for dinner from the freezer. When she entered the living room with a frozen piece of leg from a lamb in her hands, her husband Patrick grunted that he was going out for dinner and already told her not to make dinner. Mary then gripped the piece of meat and with all her might she swung the frozen leg and brought the frozen leg onto Patricks head: At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head (page 17). As you can see the two different weapons use have things in common such as they are both animals and would not be suspected by the police. These weapons are very strange and unusual because when we listen to the news, when someone gets murdered nine out of ten times the murder weapon is a knife of some sort and a gun. The personalities of the murderers, although different, are very similar in some ways. Dr. Grimesby Roylott seems very evil and mad and he looked like a fierce old bird of pray but he is a very clever man. He trained a deadly snake with a whistle and used a saucer of milk as its reward, to climb down the bell rope and attack the person that lay on the bed. We could tell that he was a bad tempered man, because it says so in the text, when Holmes sees the vivid bruises on Helens wrist. Helen stoner also tells Sherlock Holmes that he beat his Indian butler to death because he suspected him of theft. Roylott had planned his moves carefully and succeeded once. As the readers we see him as someone when they want something they would do anything to get it. When we see Mary Maloney, she gives us the impression of a very nice peaceful housewife, and someone that cares for her husband a lot. However, she is not what she seems when she kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb. When she strikes Patricks head with the piece of frozen leg, we think that she is out of control and unstable: The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped her out of the shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, as she stood for a while blinking at the body, still holding the ridiculous piece of meat tight with both hands. (page 17). However both of them are very intelligent, sly and cunning in the way they cover up the murders and provide themselves with alibis. In The Adventure of the Speckles Band, Dr. Roylott can prove he was nowhere near Julia Stoner when she was murdered. Dr. Roylott was in his room at the time of the murder. Dr. Roylott also had an alibi who was Helen. This is because she could prove that Dr, Roylott was in his room at the time and could not have murdered Julia or gained access to her room because the rooms were locked at night because the wild animals that lived there, were allowed loose in the ground: The door had been locked from inside and the windows were blocked by shutters with broad iron bars (page 6). He planned his moves very carefully by using a way to kill Julia without him touching her or being in her room. He used a poisonous snake to kill Julia. This was not any snake how ever, it was a snake from India, so the poison at that time was not known in England so he knew that he could get away with the crime he committed. Because the poison was not known at that time, they could not find any cause for Julias murder. And the same would have happened to Helen if she did not go to consult Sherlock Holmes. In A Lamb to the Slaughter, Mary Maloney also arranges a perfect alibi; after she has killed her husband she stands in front of a mirror rehearsing her lines: Hullo Sam, she said brightly, aloud. The voice sounded peculiar too. I want some potatoes please, Sam. Yes, and I think a can of peas. That was better. Both the smile and the voice were coming out better now. She rehearsed it several times more. Then she ran downstairs, took her coat, went out the back door, down the garden, into the street (page 18). She then goes to the grocers where she asks Sam, the grocer for some potatoes and peas and then comes home. Her alibi was that when she came home from the grocers she found her husband dead lying on the floor. She then phones the police screaming someones killed her husband. The police then come over and she is acting very upset about what had just happened. For some one to do an alibi like this is very clever and cunning. The police check her alibi but Sam backs her up and so they do not suspect her: Which grocer? one of the detectives asked. She told him, and he turned and whispered something to the other detective who immediately went outside into the street. In fifteen minutes he returned with a page of notes, and there was more whispering, and through her sobbing she heard more whispering phrases . . . acted quite normal . . . very cheerful . . . wanted to give him a good super . . . peas . . . cheesecake . . . impossible that she . . . (page 20). Both of them hide the murder weapons very cleverly; Dr. Grimesby Roylott hides his snake in a metal safe and Mary Maloney gets rid of the leg of lamb by cooking it in the oven and feeding it to the policemen who are colleagues of Patrick. Although they are both very clever the major difference is the endings to the stories. At the end of The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Dr. Grimesby Roylott gets caught by Sherlock Holmes and dies by his own weapon (the snake) however Mary Maloney does not get caught and gets away with it completely as the police eats the evidence. The victims in the story are different. This is because in The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Helen is an innocent victim and Roylott wants her money which her mother left in her will (basically for greed and selfishness) but in A Lamb to the Slaughter, the victim, Patrick, was murdered by chance not design. The only reason Mary Maloney murdered him is because of anger and shock. The two authors create suspense in different ways; Arthur Conan Doyle builds up the tension gradually by using powerful adjectives such as; strange, fear, terror. Whereas Roald Dahl builds up suspense and tension when Mary Maloney, a pregnant woman who is peaceful and loves her husband, murders him with a frozen leg of lamb by bringing it down on his head. Also the alibi that was included raises tension as well because the reader doesnt know if the police will fall for it. Some things I liked about The Adventure of the Speckled Band was that there was a lot of tension and strange things involved, such as the unique murder weapon and the investigation which I thought was very interesting. What I liked about A Lamb to the Slaughter is how she got rid of the evidence. She got the police to eat it. Not only that but the alibi she used to get away with the crime was very clever.