Black Social Movements Essay Example for Free

Black Social Movements Essay The political and social structure of the United States can be difficult to comprehend. How does one rationalize that in 1776, America declared its independence from England by stating, in part that â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,† yet, in 1818, in the very same country, Frederick Douglass is born a slave? (Jefferson, 2004 p. 612; Library). It appears that under certain circumstances, it is not self-evident that the Right to Liberty is unalienable. Fortunately, America has progressed, and while it would be difficult to support the position that Blacks have arrived at a point of complete equity with Whites, it is safe to say that giant strides have been made, but these strides have required action in the form of organized social movements. Blumer (1939) stated that â€Å"social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises to establish a new order of life. They have their inception in the condition of unrest, and derive their motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and hopes for a new scheme or system of living† (p. 199). This analysis captures the meaning and significance of today’s Black social movements: that while the Black community now enjoys an increased equality and level of privilege when compared with what it was allowed in the recent past, there remains significant ground to be covered before true parity can be reached. The awareness of this need within the Black community has created both unrest and dissatisfaction, but past successes in the fight for social equality have nurtured a desire for even more change. One of the most influential areas of modern, American society is the media—specifically television—and it is here that an important social movement can be traced: the increased inclusion of Blacks on T. V. During the 1950’s, shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand all premiered (List of years in television). Each of these shows featured characters and storylines that dealt with an America that was portrayed as White. Moving into the 1960’s, a time of great advances in the Nation’s struggle for racial equality, the television fare featured the premier of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Green Acres, and the original Star Trek (List of years in television). This decade’s entertainment also featured a predominantly White world-view; however, Star Trek’s promise â€Å"to go where no man has gone before† was as much a testament to the people, issues, and possibilities that were at the forefront of social improvement as it was a reference to space travel (Star Trek: The Original Series). To the credit of Star Trek’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, his multi-racial, multi-gender crew, included Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura, a stunning, articulate, high-ranking, black woman whose role it was to keep lines of communication open. This was a step in the right direction for Blacks as it allowed White America to absorb a new concept: Blacks are intelligent, responsible, and worthy of authority; they do not exist merely to dust, clear tables, and act as the butt of jokes. Currently, the face of television has become far more diverse, and there are networks such as BET (Black Entertainment Television) that cater to and feature Blacks. It is my belief that the change that has taken place in television media over the last half-century can be attributed to the increased awareness of those who once had sole control of the medium (Whites), coupled with the increase in buying power of Blacks, and the desire on the part of Blacks to assume command of part of television (e. g. BET). The fact that Blacks desire greater representation and control within television media is part of the ongoing, modern social movement towards equality that the Black community embraces. What does this all mean? Primarily, it means that social changes come about slowly, pushed by two forces: natural social change, and active social movements. It was natural that at some point someone would include a character like Lieutenant Uhura in a series, but along with this natural progression, more action was needed. There was only one Uhura on television, but there were thousands of Black women like her out in the world. This is why networks such as BET are so important: they represent an active social movement in the Black community; an insistence that part of the focus, part of the power, and part of the control be in the hands of Blacks. It may be true that our Nation’s Declaration of Independence seemed to say one thing but represent another; however, Frederick Douglass survived the mixed message and went on to contribute significantly to American history and ideals. Today’s Blacks are aware of a truth Douglass understood: that to make strides, one must work within the framework of the majority, while never doubting the singular strength of an individual’s effect on a nation. Without the early encouragement of his Master’s wife, Douglass may not have been introduced to the desire to learn, but that desire led Douglass to greater pursuits (Douglass, 2004, pp. 62-65). The Black community is now represented in local, state, and federal government: a sign that the community is working individually (i. e. running and voting), and within the framework of the majority (i. e. the established government and its rules) to improve its position within the United States of America. Schools are filled with a variety of ethnicities, both in front of the classroom and seated within it, and Blacks are embracing the need to educate themselves to ensure better jobs, financial success, and future opportunities. Essentially, the focus of today’s Black social movements can be viewed as those actions that fall within the context of the majority’s framework and are designed to allow members of the Black community greater parity within this frameowrk. At the same time, these actions are being encouraged and supported on an individual by individual basis, so that the overall strength of each person can be added to the collective, and both might benefit from natural social change as well as active social movements. References Blumer, H. (1939). Collective behavior. In R. E. Park (Ed. ), An outline f the principles of Sociology. (pp. 199). New York, NY: Barnes and Noble. Douglass, F. (2004). Learning to read and write. In Comley, N. , Hamilto, D. , Klaus, C. H. , Scholes, R. , Sommers, N. (Eds. ), Fields of reading: motives for writing. (pp. 62-66). Boston, Mass. : Bedford. Jefferson, T. (2004). The Declaration of Independence. In Comley, N. , Hamilto, D. , Klaus, C. H. , Scholes, R. , Sommers, N. (Eds. ), Fields of reading: motives for writing. (pp. 612-615). Boston, Mass. : Bedford. Library of Congress, The. The Frederick Douglass papers. Timeline. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://rs6. loc. gov/ammem/doughtml/timeline. html. List of years in television. (2006, September 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ List_of_years_in_television. Star Trek: The Original Series. (2006, September 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series.

Macbeth :: essays research papers

The William Shakespeare play  ³Macbeth, ² depicted Macbeth as a loyal subject of King Duncan and his homeland of Scotland. Duncan was so pleased with Macbeth ¹s actions during the war that he was named the Thane of Cawdor, a title not far from king. Soon after, he wrote a letter to his wife that would make his future blood stained. Macbeth told her about the possibility of becoming king and in-turn hooked her on the idea. She then did everything in her power to give Macbeth the crown of Scotland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duncan ¹s gratitude for the deeds of Macbeth were displayed when Duncan announced,  ³Would thou hadst less deserved, that the proportion both of thanks and payment might have been mine! Only I have left to say, more is thy due than more than all can pay. (p.34) ² The last sentence of his quote said that he deserved more than everyone could have given him. Duncan ¹s thankfulness resulted in raising the title of Macbeth from Thane of Glamis to that of Cawdor. Only one title then separated him from being next in line to the throne, the Prince of Cumberland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macbeth could not help but notice how close he was to being king and hinted his ambition to have the title in his letter to Lady Macbeth. He wrote,  ³...came missives from the King, who all-hailed me Thane of Cawdor, by which title, before, these weyard sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time with Å’Hail, King that shalt be! ² Since the witches had predicted Macbeth gaining Thane of Cawdor, he believed they might be right about him replacing Duncan, as the letter continues,  ³This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to heart, and farewell. (p.35-36) ² This passage also portrays Macbeth ¹s trust in his wife when he addresses her as,  ³...my dearest partner of greatness,... ² His trust in Lady Macbeth later allowed her to convince him to murder Duncan. Macbeth believed her when she said,  ³We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking place and we ¹ll not fail, (p. 42) ² which confirmed the deal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Immediately after Lady Macbeth reads the letter from her husband, the idea of their royalty sets in. She says,  ³Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised.

Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson Essay

Assignment: 1. Does Bob Anderson have a problem, or are these the musings of an overly successful partner? Bob has a problem: lack of vision and long range thinking for the business. Bob also has some unresolved issues with his colleague John Burgess, which is affecting his sense of direction. 2. If he has a problem, how would you describe it? He is ignoring important warning signs in his business and personal life, by busying himself with tasks that he enjoys, and that deliver him visible and easily measurable achievements – primarily sales and new business. While business is currently very strong, Bob is personally responsible for too much of the success. Bob’s five vice presidents are craving guidance, training, mentoring and career direction, and Bob’s wife and family are craving attention and affection. By forgoing long term planning, training and effective delegation, Bob is putting both the business, and his personal life in jeopardy, therefore placing even more pressure on himself. 3. What are the underlying causes? Bob is still trying to prove to his colleague John Burgess that he is the right person for the managing partner role, after John was overlooked for the position. By burying the issue, and not addressing the problem in their relationship soon after his promotion, a rift formed between the two partners and has now divided the business. Bob underestimates how evident this is to his staff, and still feels that he has to prove his eligibility for the role, by demonstrating his value to the business through growth in billings. By failing to properly delegate to John, the only other partner in the business, Bob is essentially making his job twice as challenging by failing to properly utilise John’s skills and talents. 4. What actions, if any, should Anderson take? Short term? Medium term? Long term? Short Term: As the business is currently performing very well, Bob could afford to take some time off for a holiday with his family. He needs to stop avoiding responsibilities not only in his business, but also at home. He is burying himself in his role and if he doesn’t quickly address the issues in his personal life, he is heading for a mid life crisis. Medium Term: Bob needs to address the underlying issues with his colleague John, and ask for his support in developing and growing the structure of the business. Bob must delegate responsibilities, especially those around business acquisition. Bob should invest in a formal training and development program, along with a more clearly defined path to becoming a partner for his vice-presidents. Long term: Bob should empower his vice-presidents to take on significantly more responsibilities, in order to reduce his personal exposure and workload.

Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley

Brett Whiteley and Francis Bacon Essay Question: Discuss the way Whiteley’s work; ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ 1976, and Bacon’s ‘Figure in Movement, 1976’ show two very different approaches to practice. How have these artists used gesture, colour, and form differently in these works to explore totally different emotional and psychological territory? Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley show two very different approaches to their practice. They use gesture, colour and form differently in these works to explore different emotional and psychological territory.The making of an artistic practice is based on the artist’s view of the things affecting and contributing to his society and perspective on the world. Differing styles in this depend on the artist and their intent in making their artwork which is evident in the two contrasting works of Whiteley’s ‘Self portrait in the studio’ 1976 and Bacon’s ‘Figure in m ovement, 1976’. They portray their views through a range of techniques. Artistic practice is the way in which an artist goes about their work. It refers to the conceptual and making processes of an artwork.An artist will find a suitable subject matter, develop skills and use visual codes and symbols to portray their ideas and concepts to hopefully trigger a certain audience response. An artist would want to be reflective of the society and world of that time to have the audience be able to connect with ideas and concepts they want to convey. How they make it and why they make it is a testimony to their different media, styles and techniques and also their use of the visual qualities and relationships as well as the influence of their global and personal world and other artists and their movements.Francis Bacon says that he is ‘deforming and reforming reality in his paintings’ this is evident in his work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’. Distorted features of the human form are typical with Bacons figurative style. Bacon stated that his aim was to ‘not make illustration of reality but to create images which are concentration of reality’. Subject matter is not something that Francis Bacon said he traditionally looks for but he was inspired by people like Muybridge and his photography of deformities and animal locomotion.In his studio he has collection of his works spread out on a table, ‘these things spread around the table are perhaps what more conventional artists would call subject matter’. He is also inspired by medical books of x-rays and diseases of the mouth which he interprets as beautiful and interesting. He finds dead carcasses of cattle in the butcher as one of the most vibrant colour palettes and interesting forms. In the background of the work there is a pig carcass which is evidence of his interpretation of beauty .He uses a mash of dark grey colours for the forms and a bright orange base with a black background ambiguously. In the work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’ Bacon based the conceptual idea from a book which had a line ‘The reek of human blood smiles out at me. ’ This provoked a strong sense of imagery which transformed in to his art and in particular this work of two distorted forms wrestling. He successfully depicts violence in to the work which has been fuelled from that line and the audience successfully receives it.Francis Bacon is seen as an artist who creates his work very unconventionally. He uses the unprimed side of a canvas as he became accustomed to it after losing all his money and using the other side of old paintings because he couldn’t afford new canvases. He does not do sketches before taking on a painting and feels whichever way his brush takes him is the way that he wants to go. He says that ‘I have an overall image that I want to do but it’s in the working that it develops’, and ‘I believe in a deeply ordered chaos of work. Bacon never attended an art school because he thinks ‘I would have been taught all those old techniques that I just don’t want to know, I wanted to find my own techniques. You can’t any longer make illustration because it’s done so much better by the camera and the cinema. ’ He has a habit of manically working paint into a canvas not only with a paint brush but with cloths and dishwashing instruments which adds to the frenzy of his work.Francis Bacon doesn’t put much emphasis on the meaning of his work but on the mood and feeling it creates, ’I do believe that today modern man wants a sensation really without the boredom of its conveyance, a cut down of conveyance as far as possible so you just give over to sensation’, though interestingly he says ‘I never feel anything when I do paintings there’s nothing to feel. ’ Many come away with the feeling of horror from a Bacon work b ut that’s not the intention ‘what horror could I make that could compete with what goes on every single day. Brett Whiteley’s painting ‘Self portrait in the studio’ won the Archibald prize in 1976. It was one of several Archibald prizes that he one in the ‘70’s. Whiteley was known for the topics of nudes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes of the female form, birds, and abstracts which all feature heavily in his self portrait of not only him but things that are dear to him and reflect his life and work as represented in the form of his studio. In this work Whiteley is trying to express that ‘yes, this is a mirror image of myself but I am not just Brett Whiteley, I am also Brett Whiteley who is part of this environment at this time. This painting is a testimony to what he loves and his working space in which he has created his career from and his artistic practice. He expresses this by including important elements of his life. Brett Whiteley strongly uses emotive qualities of colour. The whole painting is held together by the unifying prevailing quality of blue which is his signature colour. He is recognised for this colour because he is always referencing the water especially in this painting of his studio overlooking the harbour in Lavender Bay.This colour is also spread on to the walls and acts as a calming effect on the receiving audience. The colour is rich and bright to contrast with other points of focus in the room. The way he has developed the forms and shapes in the room are meant to convey the idea of man only being as big as any other point of reference. Whiteley reinforces this idea by making all focal points distorted and exaggerated. This is a celebration of his interest in female form and his figurative sculpture works.It is evident in ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ that Whiteley has worked with slow, spontaneous gestures and worked back in to the canvas with scratches. The drawings of surroundings are minimal and simplistic and have been drawn with free loose lines to convey emotion. Whiteley says that ‘the best times when paintings are done when I’m not in charge of it all, if I keep my ego out of it there is kind of a pure flow of that recommendation and that solution of a kind of neat rightness that goes in as best and as accurately as one can.This approach contributes to the mood, feeling and meaning of the work and the sense of the way being an artist has impacted on his life. The small self portrait in comparison to his big studio also reflects how it dominates his life but is reflected as his most enjoyable escape. The painting also has a dream like feel showing his relationship with his art. Both of these two artists have very differently developed their practices.I think an interesting comparison between them is that Francis Bacon was always referencing death and in his documentary ‘The Art of Francis Bacon’ when talking abo ut how Egyptian art inspired him said ‘I guess they were always trying to defeat death by leaving images but it won’t really make a difference. We will all be dead. ’ And that one of Brett Whiteley’s famous quote is ‘Art is the thrilling spark that beats death, that’s all. ’ I think these two conflicting statements perfectly sum up the contrast they have in ideas and show how they explore emotional and psychological territory differently.

The geographies of distinction between humans and animals, and the points at which they intersect. The WritePass Journal

The geographies of distinction between humans and animals, and the points at which they intersect. Introduction The geographies of distinction between humans and animals, and the points at which they intersect. IntroductionBIBLIOGRAPHY:Related Introduction This paper will discuss the question whether animals have rights or not. It will do so by first addressing the geographies of distinction between humans and animals, and the points at which they intersect. Using this understanding, it will develop an evaluation of the ethical need for animal rights. It will then review standpoints arguing both for and against this proposition, before offering its conclusion that society’s need for formulating a degree of anima; rights is inescapable. I Wolch et al. (2003) outline the emergence of the animal geographies in the diagram attached, noting how the development of social theory, cultural studies and environmental studies led to a rethinking of culture, subjectivity and nature respectively. These changes in human geography, and its intersection with new cultural geography led to the development of what we understand as animal geographies. Different scholars have approached this concept from several different manners. Wolch et al (2002) have written how these developments led to â€Å"geographers  from various intellectual traditions- political economy, post-structuralism, feminism, and science studies- arguing for animal subjectivity and the need to unpack the â€Å"black box† of   Nature   to enliven understandings   of   the   world.   In  particular, the focus was animals’ role in the social construction of culture  and individual human subjects, the nature  of  animal subjectivity, and agency itself.† Therefore, the concept of animal geographies, and treating animals as subjects, flows from two premises – the scientific information regarding the behaviour of animals, and from treating them as groups that have been socially created as outsiders, minorities or subalterns. (Wolch et al. 2003) Elder et al. (1998) stress the dangers of terms like dehumanization which can lead to the assumption that non-humans (i.e: animals) are therefore inferior and should be treated such. They make the disclaimer however that it is dangerous to omit the acknowledgement of the existence of a difference between humans and animals as to deny a problem leads to inability to recognise, accept and solve it. â€Å"Rather, in our view, stopping the violence requires adopting recipes for le pratique sauvage wild practice and extending them to embrace animals as well as people.† (Elder et al. 1998.) Birke (1995) summarises this position when she writes that â€Å"We need to find ways of expressing concern about what happens to the (suffering) animals that do not express some kind of cultural imperialism.† Other thinkers have also developed this idea of the suffering faced by animals leading to an application of ethics towards them. Jones (2000) for example claims that every encounter between humans and animals represents a question of ethics with regards to what sort of behaviour is undertaken. In much the same vein, Beauchamp (1997) writes that â€Å"Animals have moral standing; that is, they have properties (including the ability to feel pain) that qualify them for the protections of morality. It follows from this that humans have moral obligations toward animals, and because rights are logically correlative to obligations, animals have rights. † In fact, it can be argued that scholars have gone to great lengths to radically question the very distinction between animals and humans. Authors such as Whatmore and Thorne (1998) have used Actor Network Theory to argue that there is no inherent difference between humans and nonhumans, and furthermore that the distinctions between humans and animals are subject to both negotiation and even change. They use this inference to argue for animal agency in the consideration of their behaviours. Scholars like Patterson (2002) have taken historical cases of institutionalized violence within human societies and argued that their development and implementation has been preceded by the institutionalized violence against animals in the form of farming and rearing for human consumption. He writes that â€Å"once animals were ‘domesticated,’ herdsmen and farmers adopted mechanisms of detachment, rationalization, denial and euphemism to distance themselves emotionally from their captive†¦in slave societies, the same practices used to control animals were used to control slaves − castration, branding whipping, chaining, ear cropping.† Wadiwel (2004) coalesces this argument to explain that â€Å"Understood in this fashion, human violence represents not only a capacity for dehumanisation alone, but is tied closely to the justification of violence against the non-human. This reflects not only the capacity for humans to harm each other, but draws attention to the sustained incarceration, torture and violence that is directed towards animals in slaughterhouses, experimental laboratories and factory farms.† Patterson (2002) goes on to cite examples of how the Armenians being shuttled to genocide by Ottoman Turks and the Jews being taken to concentration camps by Germans were both referred to by their captors by animal terms. Moreover, he provides the example of an attack dog used at a concentration camp that was referred to by a human name. He correlates these ideas to argue the volatility of the idea of ‘human’ as a category. However, not all scholars have embraced this increasing blurriness between the boundaries of humans and animals. Agamben (2004) argues that â€Å"it is more urgent to work on these divisions, to ask in what way − within man − has man been separated from non-man, and the animal from the human, than it is to take positions on the great issues, on so called human rights and values.† He goes on to employ the work of Heidegger to explain the distinction he believes is inherent between humans and animals. He posits that Heidegger believed that animals maintain a sense of â€Å"captivation with their discrete environmental elements.† In this situation, the animal cannot conceptualize the act of being, which is distinctly reserved for Heidegger’s concept of the ‘Daesin.’ In contrast, humans are distinct in their ability to locate themselves in their surroundings without requiring any input or cues from their environment. He gives the example of how one would flip through a magazine while waiting for a train – an act that does not involve engagement with the environment, but rather attempts to block out the surroundings. According to Agamben (2004) this â€Å"Dasein  is simply an animal that has learned to become bored; it has awakened from its captivation to its own captivation.† Wadiwel (2004) articulates Agamben’s position by writing that â€Å"For Agamben the animal is found within the very core of humanity, and thus, the human subject is only achieved through the continual rearticulation of a space beyond animal.† This idea is similar to those developed by classical scholars, such as Aristotle (1952) who famously proclaimed â€Å"Man is by nature a rational animal,† a statement that simultaneously places humans as distinct from animals as well as acknowledging that both categories emerge from a shared conceptual space. However, there is a general convergence amongst scholars that articulating a difference amongst humans and animals does not necessitate a suspension of the discussion on animal rights. What is crucial is how the articulation of these distinctions (or lack thereof) influences the development of the level of rights afforded to animals. II The arguments for the extension of rights to animals can be divided into three general categories, which are determined by their philosophical approach. These three are utilitarian, rights-based and abolitionist approaches. Tom Regan (1985) outlines the utilitarian principles with regards to morality as thus:   â€Å"A utilitarian accepts two moral principles. The first is that of equality: everyones interests count, and similar interests must be counted as having similar weight or importance†¦ everyones pain or frustration matter, and matter just as much as the equivalent pain or frustration of anyone else. The second principle a utilitarian accepts is that of utility: do the act that will bring about the best balance between satisfaction and frustration for everyone affected by the outcome.† Peter Singer (1975), one of the earliest proponents of animal rights, based his appeal not on the basis of the capacity for intelligence or the ability to moralize, but rather the ability to experience suffering. As mentioned before, other scholars have developed this line of reasoning as well. What is noteworthy here is to understand why Singer and his adherents chose to focus on suffering as the criteria for animal exclusion in to the rights debate. Singer posits that the basis for a contractual concept for morality should be the ability to suffer because that immediately creates a consideration against abuse or discrimination that is not bound by exceptions or obligations. Consequently, to exclude animals from such a moral contract would be to engage in what he describes as â€Å"speciesism.† (1975) Regan (1985) however argues that although suffering is deplorable, it is not the fundamental reason for extending rights to animals. He goes on to develop the idea that the exclusion of animals from our moral considerations resides in viewing them as resources. â€Å"The fundamental wrong is the system that allows us to view animals as our resources, here for us - to be eaten, or surgically manipulated, or exploited for sport or money. Once we accept this view of animals as our resources the rest is as predictable as it is regrettable. Why worry about their loneliness, their pain, their death? Since animals exist for us, to benefit us in one way or another, what harms them really doesnt matter.† Regan (1985) claims that rather than utilitarianism, the basis for extending rights to animals lies in the idea of inherent value, which he believes is possessed by each and every individual. â€Å"we are each of us the experiencing subject of a life, a conscious creature having an individual welfare that has importance to us whatever our usefulness to others †¦ As the same is true of those animals that concern us (the ones that are eaten and trapped, for example), they too must be viewed as the experiencing subjects of a life, with inherent value of their own.† The rights-based approach thus seeks to place the calculus of rights extension onto all beings that are a ‘subject of life’ a term which Regan personally bestows to most mammals above the age of one year, but not all sentient animals. However, the abolitionist approach severely critiques both these ideas, as well as other programs by claiming that they extend practices of animal welfare rather than animal rights. Gary Francione (2011), a principal advocate of this approach, writes that compassion extended to animals on the basis of their ability to suffer implies that it is acceptable to use animals for consumption as long as the process which does so is not inhumane. He claims that were the same principles extended to humans, the act would be defined as torture. In Francione’s (2011) mind, the principal problem is the treatment of animals not as resources alone, but as property. â€Å"Animals are  property. They are things. And the whole point of being a thing is that you don’t have an inherent or intrinsic value. Animals are economic commodities; they have a market value. As a general matter, we spend money to protect animal interests only when it is justified as an economic matter- only when we derive an economic benefit from doing so†¦ Virtually all animal welfare laws fit this paradigm. They protect selected animal interests and the effect of protecting these interests is to make the production process more efficient.† Thus if the extension of rights is based not on the ability to suffer pain nor being a subject of life, but rather on the right not to be treated as property, then the foundation of those rights lies in the idea of sentience – that is any sentient being deserves the extension of those rights upon itself. (Francione, 2000) III The arguments against the extension of rights to animals are largely based around the semantics of rights and obligations, and the relationship between the two concepts. A large number of the critiques of animal-rights campaigners have focused on whether the provision of rights to a group can be made if the group has no comprehension of how these rights apply to them, and what duties and obligations are owed by them if these provisions are extended to them. Carl Cohen (1986), one of the primary opponents to the animal rights movement, writes that   â€Å"the holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves. In applying such rules, the holders of rights must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked.† In a similar vein, Roger Scruton (2000) writes that â€Å"In all our dealings with the animals, the inherent mastership of the human race displays itself. And this only goes to show that we alone have the duty to look after the animals, because we alone have duties. The corollary is inescapable: we alone have rights.† It is important to note that the opponents of animal rights are not implicitly advocating the continuation of ‘inhumane’ or violent practices upon these beings. Carl Cohen for example has been amongst several voices in the opposition camp to condemn the excessive use of animals for laboratory testing for example. However, the theoretical basis for this call is not based on the equivalence of animal and human rights, but rather their relative positions. John Martin (1990) uses the concepts first articulated by Thomas Aquinas to explain why animal rights need not be the only mechanism for preventing cruelty and institutionalized violence towards animals. â€Å"The view that only man has rights in the absolute sense does not detract from the preciousness and beauty of the rest of nature, but it enhances man. In an age when mans rights are being questioned because of race or religion, enhancement of his position in nature must be beneficial. In practice Aquinass philosophy means that cruelty to animals must not be allowed by society and that caring for animals is to be encouraged. Not however, because animals have rights as man has rights, but because he who is cruel to animals will tend to be cruel to his fellowman: animals have to be protected so that man is protected.† This logic thus suggests that the prevention of cruelty towards animals is not due to the direct interest for their welfare, but rather to use it as a means of reducing violence amongst humans themselves. Once again, this position stresses the distinction between humans and animals to not only be significant, but also hierarchal so that humans are entrusted with acting in the best interests of animals. In fact, this position has been seen by some as only an extension of the apparent inviolability of nature itself. Robert Bidinitto (1992) put forth this idea when he said that â€Å"Strict observance of animal rights forbids even direct protection of people and their values against natures many predators. Losses to people are acceptable losses to animals are not. Logically then, beavers may change the flow of streams, but Man must not. Locusts may denude hundreds of miles of plant life but Man must not. Cougars may eat sheep and chickens, but Man must not.† The implication here is that the extension of animal rights serves to subvert what appears to be the traditional structure of how nature operates, and instead tries to insert its own paradigms which appear to be counter-intuitive. IV In conclusion, what we see is that the case for the extension of rights for animals is predicated upon the deconstruction of existing relationships of the distinctions between animals and humans, as well as the expansion of the understanding of how these newly deconstructed concepts should be allocated moralities and rights. In contrast, the opposition to extending rights to animals seeks to defend against these deconstructivist impulses, and to reify the position of humans at the pinnacle of both rights and obligations. While the extension of rights approach embraces contemporary ideas and seeks to cleave out new responses, the opposing camp continues to protect traditional stances, and this is where I feel that the argument suffers from a shortcoming. The following passage from Scruton (2000) offers an intriguing opportunity to deconstruct the pro-animal rights arguments themselves, by exploring how they can be guilty of using anthropomorphic concepts for animals. â€Å"It is at this point that the advocate of animal rights steps in. Like the child, he imagines the rabbit still dressed in its Beatrix Potter trousers, enjoying a quiet domestic life below ground. For him the warren is just like a human community- founded by negotiation and agreement, structured by rights, and entitled to protection from the law. To shoot such defenseless animals seems to him like a crime, and he campaigns vigorously for a law that will make it so.† I believe this is a major flaw of the pro-animal rights argument, and a primary reason why it is currently divided on qualitative differences in the decision of which animals to extend rights to, as well as the extents of those rights. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the traditional approaches to opposing animal rights suffer from propagating a bundle of values which appear outdated in contemporary society, and hence are problematic in their application. A successful resolution of this issue would thus require both a reevaluation of the ‘for’ and ‘against’ camps in light of their shortcomings, as well as placing limits on rights provision that display an affinity for scientifically verifiable criteria, rather than those based on personal values and sentiments. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Agamben,  G. The Open: Man and Animal, trans. Kevin Attell, Stanford University Press: Stanford California, 2004. Aristotle, (1952a)  On the Soul, trans. J. A. Smith, in The Works of Aristotle, Vol I, Encyclopedia Brittanica Inc: Chicago. Beauchamp, T .(1997) Opposing Views on Animal Experimentation: Do Animals Have Rights?, Ethics Behavior, Vol. 7: 2,   pp 113-120 Bidinitto, R. (1992) Environmentalism or Individualism?  EcoNOT.com Individualism, Not Environmentalism. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. econot.com/page4.html. Birke, L. (1995) Exploring the Boundaries: Feminism, Animals and Science. in Carol Adams and Josephine Donovan eds. Animals and Women Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, pp 95. Cohen, C (1986). The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research.  New England Journal of Medicine Vol.315  (14) pp 865-70. Elder, G., Wolch, J., Emel, J. (1998). Le pratique sauvage: Race, place, and the humananimal divide.   In   J. Wolch      J. Emel   (Eds.), Animal geographies: Place, politics, and identity in the nature-culture borderlands (pp. 72-90). London:   Verso Francione, G. (2000) Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? Temple University Press Francione, G. (2011) What Michael Vick Taught Us.   Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. abolitionistapproach.com/what-michael-vick-taught-us/. Jones, O. (2000). (Un)ethical geographies of human- non-human relations: Encounters, collectives and spaces. In C. Philo C. Wilbert (Eds.), Animal spaces, beastly places: New geographies of human-animal relations (pp. 268-291). New York: Routledge. Martin, J. The rights of man and animal experimentation Journal of medical ethics, 1990, 16, 160-161 Patterson,  C. Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust, Lantern Books: New York, 2002. Philo, C. (1995). Animals, geography and the city: Notes on inclusions and exclusions. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol. 13, pp 655-68 Regan, T. (1985) The Case for Animal Rights, In Singer. P (ed), In Defense of Animals, New York: Basil Blackwell, pp. 13-26 Scruton, R.  (2000) Animal rights,  City Journal, Vol. 10:3, pp 100-107. Singer, P.  Animal Liberation, 1975; second edition, New York: Avon Books Wadiwel, D.   (2004) Animal by Any Other Name? Patterson and Agamben Discuss Animal (and Human) Life, Borderlands, Vol. 3: 1, pp 13-21 Whatmore, S., Thorne, L. B. (1998). Wild(er)ness: Reconfiguring   the geographies of wildlife. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographer, Vol. 23, pp 435-454. Wilbert, C. (2000). Anti-this-against-that: Resistances along a human non-human axis. In J. Sharp et al., (Eds.), Entanglements of power (pp. 238-255). London: Routledge Wolch,   J.,   Emel,   J.,   Wilbert,   C.   (2002) Animal Geographies. Society Animals Vol. 10:4 , Leiden Wolch,   J.,   Emel,   J.,   Wilbert,   C.   (2003).   Reanimating   cultural   geography.   In K. Anderson,   M.   Domosh,   N.   Thrift,   and   S.   Pile   (Eds.),   Handbook of   cultural   geography. London:   Sage

10 Calcium Element Facts You Should Know

10 Calcium Element Facts You Should Know Calcium is one of the elements you need in order to live, so its worth knowing a little bit about it. Here are some quick facts about the element calcium. Fast Facts: Calcium Element Name: CalciumElement Symbol: CaAtomic Number: 20Standard Atomic Weight: 40.078Discovered By: Sir Humphry DavyClassification: Alkaline Earth MetalState of Matter: Solid Metal Calcium is element atomic number 20 on the periodic table, which means each atom of calcium has 20 protons. It has the periodic table symbol Ca and an atomic weight of 40.078. Calcium isnt found free in nature, but it can be purified into a soft silvery-white alkaline earth metal. Because the alkaline earth metals are reactive, pure calcium typically appears dull white or gray from the oxidation layer that quickly forms on the metal when its exposed to air or water.  The pure metal can be cut using a steel knife.Calcium is the 5th most abundant element in the Earths crust, present at a level of about 3% in the oceans and soil. The only metals more abundant in the crust are iron and aluminum. Calcium is also abundant on the Moon. It is present at about 70 parts per million by weight in the solar system.  Natural calcium is a mixture of six isotopes, with the most abundant (97%) being calcium-40.The element is essential for animal and plant nutrition. Calcium participates in many b iochemical reactions, including building skeletal systems, cell signaling, and moderating muscle action.  It is the most abundant metal in the human body, found mainly in bones and teeth. If you could extract all of the calcium from the average adult person, youd have about 2 pounds (1 kilogram) of the metal.  Calcium in the form of calcium carbonate is used by snails and shellfish to construct shells. Dairy products and grains are the primary sources of dietary calcium, accounting or about three-quarters of dietary intake. Other sources of calcium include protein-rich foods, vegetables, and fruits.Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption by the human body. Vitamin D is converted to a hormone which causes intestinal proteins responsible for calcium absorption to be produced.Calcium supplementation is controversial. While calcium and its compounds are not considered to be toxic, ingesting too many calcium carbonate dietary supplements or antacids can cause milk-alkali syndrome, which is associated with hypercalcemia sometimes leading to fatal renal failure. Excessive consumption would be on the order of 10 g calcium carbonate/day, though symptoms have been reported upon ingesting as little as 2.5 g calcium carbonate daily.  Excessive calcium consumption has been linked to kidney stone formation and artery calcification.Calcium is used for making cement, making cheese, removin g nonmetallic impurities from alloys, and as a reduction agent in the preparation of other metals.  The Romans used to heat limestone, which is calcium carbonate, to make calcium oxide. The calcium oxide was mixed with water to make cement, which was mixed with stones to build aqueducts, amphitheaters, and other structures that survive to the present day. Pure calcium metal reacts vigorously and sometimes violently with water and acids.  The reaction is exothermic. Touching calcium metal can cause irritation or even chemical burns. Swallowing calcium metal can be fatal.The element name calcium comes from the Latin word calcis or calx  meaning lime.  In addition to occurrence in lime (calcium carbonate), calcium is found in the minerals gypsum (calcium sulfate) and fluorite (calcium fluoride).Calcium has been known since the 1st century, when the ancient Romans were known to make lime from calcium oxide.  Natural calcium compounds are readily available in the form of calcium carbonate deposits, limestone, chalk, marble, dolomite, gypsum, fluorite, and apatite.Though calcium has been known for thousands of years, it was not purified as an element until 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy (England). Thus, Davy is considered to be the discoverer of calcium. Sources Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 112.Parish, R. V. (1977).  The Metallic Elements. London: Longman. p.  34.Weast, Robert (1984).  CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp.  E110.​

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Do Personality Changes Occur in Adults Following Traumatic Brain Injury - Essay Example The studies are reviewed according to their objectives, particular analytical design, nature of participants, the measured outcomes, the variables, if predictable or not, taken into account and, finally, the results. In essence, the scope of the review is to determine how TBI injuries affect survivors and, thus, by considering how exactly they are affected, how they can be better enabled to rehabilitate back to their personal and workplace settings. The assessment criteria for interviewing an adult TBI survivor may be broken down into three elements. These are 1) the population on which the personality model is based; 2) the source of information for generating the model; and 3) the procedure used for generating the model (Obonwasin et al, 2007). Other research groups may have used more complex criteria standards but, for the purpose at hand, the paper finds that this is sufficient. using scales with underlying personality models that have been specifically developed for populations groups other than those with TBI. Such scales, such as the NPRS[2] and the NBAP[3}, may not be effective in the sense that when they are deployed on TBI populations they are standardised for this purpose though they had been initially developed for other population groups (Obonwasin et al, 2007). Scales like the NEO-PI,[4] have been developed for the general population and when it is standardised for use on TBI populations the net effect is probably that of imposing a framework developed on personality relevant to the general population on personality changes usually deemed to be associated with TBI (Obonwasin et al, 2007). In contrast to these non-TBI specific scales NRS[5], the CPP[6] and the HIBS[7] were all developed based on information gathered from TBI survivors (Obonwasin et al, 2007). It is noted that though the CPP scale is very useful it has not led to