Articles in Contrast

It can be interesting how two different newspapers will report the same news in a slightly different manner. This can be viewed in the following two articles that were recently published: â€Å"New commander for Mideast says ‘time is short' on Iraq future† [International Herald Tribune (IHT)] By Brian Knowlton (Published: January 30, 2007) and â€Å"‘Time is short’ for Iraq turnaround: US commander† [Agence France-Presse (AFP)] by Jim Mannion (Published: January 30, 2007) In summation, both articles inform the public that in Admiral William Fallon’s testimony to the US Senate, he stated his belief that a turnaround for success in Iraq is possible if a new strategy is implemented, but the window of opportunity for success is very small. There are two similar photographs that accompany the articles. The AFP stresses a long shot photo of Admiral William Fallon testifying before the US Senate while the IHT uses a similar photo, but one that is a closer, tighter shot. In both photos, the Admiral holds up his hands in a gesture of emphasizing his seriousness. The photos complement the story well as they provide a clear image of the Admiral. Both articles provide the basic facts of the situation that relates to the headline, but then segue into different subject matter. The IHP drifts into a discussion on the dangers that Iran poses to US and Western European interests while the AFP article drifts into reports about civilian casualties and loss of life/ While both articles are factual, it is obvious that both articles also have a certain bias to them. The IHP article clearly tries to label Iran as the main villain in the conflict while the AFP uses the article to make the US war effort look like a grim failure. Granted, Fallon touched on both issues in his testimony, but it is curious how both papers â€Å"cherry picked† what to report and how to report it. To a great degree, the IHP article was far more enjoyable because it had a glimmer of hope in its contents. The AFP article was downbeat and gloomy, emphasizing death and destruction. While the situation in Iraq is dire, there should always be a sense of hope present for the future. Bibliography Knowlton, Brian.   30 January 2007. â€Å"New commander for Mideast says ‘time is short' on Iraq future.† International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 30 January 2007. URL http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/news/policy.php Mannion, Jim. 30 January 2007. â€Å"‘Time is short’ for Iraq turnaround: US commander† Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 30 January 2007. URL http://news.yahoo.com/ s/afp/20070130/pl_afp/usiraqmilitaryfallon_070130204955   

Study On Rana Pipiens Essays - Amphibians, Rana, Frog, Free Essays

Study On Rana Pipiens Essays - Amphibians, Rana, Frog, Free Essays Study On Rana Pipiens Leopard Frog - Rana Pipiens Distribution: Found throughout Ontario but more abundant in southern and central Americas. Range: Adults maintain small home ranges (up to 500 m2) in fields or open forest during the summer. Where terrestrial habitats are quite dry, home ranges include some shoreline. A minimum of 4 ha of terrestrial habitat is recommended for the vicinity of breeding sites, however, individual adults may move several kilometres away. Most recently metamorphosed froglets stay within 20 m of shoreline although some froglets begin dispersal before metamorphosis is entirely complete. Diet: Larvae eat algae, phytoplankton, periphyton and detritus. Adults eat mainly invertebrates but will also take tadpoles or very small froglets. Reproduction: Successful breeding sites are permanent ponds, marshes, or pools or backwaters of streams. Eggs and tadpoles require warm (prefer 18o - 28o C), shallow, sunny areas. Breeding occurs from mid-March to mid-May in southern Ontario, and a few weeks later further north. Metamorphosis occurs in 2-3 months. Tadpoles require minimum oxygen concentrations of 3 ppm. Habitat: Relative to bullfrogs and green frogs, leopard frogs use open fields more and prefer denser terrestrial vegetation. In aquatic habitats, submerged vegetation, detritus and soft mud are used for cover. Lookout/Sunning Froglets require muddy shorelines, lily pads, rocks, logs or beaver dams with clear access to deeper water. Adults prefer unmowed fields (15 - 30 cm high, no more than 1 m high vegetation) or open forest in the vicinity of shallow open marshes. Connectivity/Corridors Corridors may be required among breeding, hibernation and summeringhabitats, within 2 km. These may be either aquatic (streams or rivers) or terrestrial (field or forest, usually not cropland except during periods of irrigation). Hibernation Hibernate in deep or running water that will not freeze solid or become anoxic. Are found hibernating on muddy substrate or under rocks, sunken logs, leaf litter or vegetation. Oxygen levels at one known successful hibernation site were 7 ppm. Tadpoles metamorphose in the year of hatching. Hydrology Permanent wetlands with fishless areas or near fishless (temporary) wetlands. Breeding requires sufficient water for metamorphosis to be completed (mid-late August). Soils/Substrate In water prefer muddy bottom. On land prefer moist soil, leaf litter or moss. Design Criteria Vegetation Prefer egg-laying sites with emergent vegetation on about 2/3 of edge and submergent vegetation in 1/2 of surface area in May. Structures Rocks, logs, floating vegetation or dams to sun on, with access to deep water. Submerged vegetation, logs or rocks to hide in. Soils, Slope, & Substrate Prefer wetlands with gradual slope at edge. Hydrology Hibernate in streams with minimum depth 90 cm, moderate mid-depth water velocity, minimal sedimentation, and rocks with average diameter of 20 cm. Critical Periods Breed April-June, metamorphose July-September Other Considerations Froglets are used as bait for fishing. Has declined in much of its western range and apparently in northern Ontario. Tadpoles and froglets are vulnerable to predation by large Bullfrogs and fish. Bibliography Cook, F. R. 1966. Amphibians and reptiles of Saskatchewan. Regina: Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History, Department of Natural

Definitions and Examples of Swear Words

Definitions and Examples of Swear Words A swear word is a word or phrase thats generally considered blasphemous, obscene, vulgar, or otherwise offensive. Also known as  swearing, bad word, obscene word, dirty word, and four-letter word. Swear words serve many different functions in different social contexts, notes Janet Holmes. They may express annoyance, aggression and insult, for instance, or they may express solidarity and friendliness (An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 2013). EtymologyFrom Old English, take an oath Examples and Observations Spock: Your use of language has altered since our arrival. It is currently laced with, shall we say, more colorful metaphors, double dumbass on you and so forth.Captain Kirk: Oh, you mean the profanity?Spock: Yes.Captain Kirk: Well, thats simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word. Youll find it in all the literature of the period.(Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986)Uses of Swear WordsA final puzzle about swearing is the crazy range of circumstances in which we do it. There is cathartic swearing, as when we hit our thumb with a hammer or knock over a glass of beer. There are imprecations, as when we suggest a label or offer advice to someone who has cut us off in traffic. There are vulgar terms for everyday things and activities, as when Bess Truman was asked to get the president to say fertilizer instead of manure and she replied, You have no idea how long it took me to get him to say manure . There are figures of speech that put obscene words to other uses, such as the barnyard epithet for insincerity, the army acronym snafu, and the gynecological-flagellative term for uxorial dominance. And then there are the adjective-like expletives that salt the speech and split the words of soldiers, teenagers, Australians, and others affecting a breezy speech style.(Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature. Viking, 2007) Social SwearingWhy do we swear? The answer to this question depends on the approach you take. As a linguistnot a psychologist, neurologist, speech pathologist or any other -istI see swearing as meaningfully patterned verbal behaviour that readily lends itself to a functional analysis. Pragmatically, swearing can be understood in terms of the meanings it is taken to have and what it achieves in any particular circumstance. . . .Typically, a social swear word originates as one of the bad words but becomes conventionalised in a recognisably social form. Using swear words as loose intensifiers contributes to the easy-going, imprecise nature of informal talk among in-group members. . . . In sum, this is jokey, cruisy, relaxing talk in which participants oil the wheels of their connection as much by how they talk as what they talk about.(Ruth Wajnryb, Language Most Foul. Allen Unwin, 2005)Secular Swearing[I]t would appear that in Western society the major shifts in the focus of swearing h ave been from religious matters (more especially the breaching of the commandment against taking the Lords name in vain) to sexual and bodily functions, and from opprobrious insults, such as coolie and kike. Both of these trends reflect the increasing secularization of Western society.(Geoffrey Hughes, Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English. Blackwell, 1991) George Carlin on Bad WordsThere are four hundred thousand words in the English language and there are seven of them you cant say on television. What a ratio that is! Three hundred ninety three thousand nine hundred and ninety three . . . to seven! They must really be bad. Theyd have to be outrageous to be separated from a group that large. All of you over here . . . You seven, you bad words.Thats what they told us, you remember? Thats a bad word. What? There are no bad words. Bad thoughts, bad intentions, but no bad words.(George Carlin with Tony Hendra, Last Words. Simon Schuster, 2009)David Camerons Jokey, Blokey InterviewDavid Camerons jokey, blokey interview . . . on Absolute Radio this morning is a good example of what can happen when politicians attempt to be down with the kidsor in this case, with the thirtysomethings. . . .Asked why he didnt use the social networking website Twitter, the Tory leader said: The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of ittoo many twits might ma ke a twat. . . .[T]he Tory leaders aides were in defensive mode afterwards, pointing out that twat was not a swear word under radio guidelines.(Haroon Siddique, Sweary Cameron Illustrates Dangers of Informal Interview. The Guardian, July 29, 2009) S***r W***s[N]ever use asterisks, or such silliness as b-, which are just a cop out, as Charlotte Brontà « recognised: The practice of hinting by single letters those expletives with which profane and violent people are wont to garnish their discourse, strikes me as a proceeding which, however well meant, is weak and futile. I cannot tell what good it doeswhat feeling it spareswhat horror it conceals.(David Marsh and Amelia Hodsdon, Guardian Style, 3rd ed. Guardian Books, 2010)Supreme Court Rulings on Swear WordsThe Supreme Court’s last major case concerning broadcast indecency, F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation in 1978, upheld the commission’s determination that George Carlin’s classic seven dirty words monologue, with its deliberate, repetitive and creative use of vulgarities, was indecent. But the court left open the question of whether the use of an occasional expletive could be punished.The case decided Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Televisi on Stations, No. 07-582, arose from two appearances by celebrities on the Billboard Music Awards.Justice Scalia read the passages at issue from the bench, though he substituted suggestive shorthand for the dirty words.The first involved Cher, who reflected on her career in accepting an award in 2002: I’ve also had critics for the last 40 years saying I was on my way out every year. Right. So F-em. (In his opinion, Justice Scalia explained that Cher metaphorically suggested a sexual act as a means of expressing hostility to her critics.)The second passage came in an exchange between Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in 2003 in which Ms. Richie discussed in vulgar terms the difficulties in cleaning cow manure off a Prada purse.Reversing its policy on such fleeting expletives, the commission said in 2006 that both broadcasts were indecent. It did not matter, the commission said, that some of the offensive words did not refer directly to sexual or excretory functions. Nor did it mat ter that the cursing was isolated and apparently impromptu. . . .In reversing that decision, Justice Scalia said the change in policy was rational and therefore permissible. It was certainly reasonable, he wrote, to determine that it made no sense to distinguish between literal and nonliteral uses of offensive words, requiring repetitive use to render only the latter indecent.Justice John Paul Stevens, dissenting, wrote that not every use of a swear word connoted the same thing. As any golfer who has watched his partner shank a short approach knows, Justice Stevens wrote, it would be absurd to accept the suggestion that the resultant four-letter word uttered on the golf course describes sex or excrement and is therefore indecent.It is ironic, to say the least, Justice Stevens went on, that while the F.C.C. patrols the airwaves for words that have a tenuous relationship with sex or excrement, commercials broadcast during prime-time hours frequently ask viewers whether they are battli ng erectile dysfunction or are having trouble going to the bathroom.(Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Upholds F.C.C.’s Shift to a Harder Line on Indecency on the Air. The New York Times, April 28, 2009) The Lighter Side of Swear WordsTell me, son, the anxious mother said, what did your father say when you told him youd wrecked his new Corvette?Shall I leave out the swear words? the son asked.Of course.He didnt say anything.(Steve Allen, Steve Allens Private Joke File. Three Rivers Press, 2000) Alternate Spellings: swearword, swear-word

Example of Goodness of Fit Test

Example of Goodness of Fit Test The chi-square goodness of fit test is a useful to compare a theoretical model to observed data. This test is a type of the more general chi-square test. As with any topic in mathematics or statistics, it can be helpful to work through an example in order to understand what is happening, through an example of the chi-square goodness of fit test. Consider a standard package of milk chocolate MMs. There are six different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and brown. Suppose that we are curious about the distribution of these colors and ask, do all six colors occur in equal proportion? This is the type of question that can be answered with a goodness of fit test. Setting We begin by noting the setting and why the goodness of fit test is appropriate. Our variable of color is categorical. There are six levels of this variable, corresponding to the six colors that are possible. We will assume that the MMs we count will be a simple random sample from the population of all MMs. Null and Alternative Hypotheses The null and alternative hypotheses for our goodness of fit test reflect the assumption that we are making about the population. Since we are testing whether the colors occur in equal proportions, our null hypothesis will be that all colors occur in the same proportion. More formally, if p1 is the population proportion of red candies, p2 is the population proportion of orange candies, and so on, then the null hypothesis is that p1 p2 . . . p6 1/6. The alternative hypothesis is that at least one of the population proportions is not equal to 1/6. Actual and Expected Counts The actual counts are the number of candies for each of the six colors. The expected count refers to what we would expect if the null hypothesis were true. We will let n be the size of our sample. The expected number of red candies is p1 n or n/6. In fact, for this example, the expected number of candies for each of the six colors is simply n times pi, or n/6. Chi-square Statistic for Goodness of Fit We will now calculate a chi-square statistic for a specific example. Suppose that we have a simple random sample of 600 MM candies with the following distribution: 212 of the candies are blue.147 of the candies are orange.103 of the candies are green.50 of the candies are red.46 of the candies are yellow.42 of the candies are brown. If the null hypothesis were true, then the expected counts for each of these colors would be (1/6) x 600 100. We now use this in our calculation of the chi-square statistic. We calculate the contribution to our statistic from each of the colors. Each is of the form (Actual – Expected)2/Expected.: For blue we have (212 – 100)2/100 125.44For orange we have (147 – 100)2/100 22.09For green we have (103 – 100)2/100 0.09For red we have (50 – 100)2/100 25For yellow we have (46 – 100)2/100 29.16For brown we have (42 – 100)2/100 33.64 We then total all of these contributions and determine that our chi-square statistic is 125.44 22.09 0.09 25 29.16 33.64 235.42. Degrees of Freedom The number of degrees of freedom for a goodness of fit test is simply one less than the number of levels of our variable. Since there were six colors, we have 6 – 1 5 degrees of freedom. Chi-square Table and P-Value The chi-square statistic of 235.42 that we calculated corresponds to a particular location on a chi-square distribution with five degrees of freedom. We now need a p-value, to determines the probability of obtaining a test statistic at least as extreme as 235.42 while assuming that the null hypothesis is true. Microsoft’s Excel can be used for this calculation. We find that our test statistic with five degrees of freedom has a p-value of 7.29 x 10-49. This is an extremely small p-value. Decision Rule We make our decision on whether to reject the null hypothesis based on the size of the p-value. Since we have a very miniscule p-value, we reject the null hypothesis. We conclude that MMs are not evenly distributed among the six different colors. A follow-up analysis could be used to determine a confidence interval for the population proportion of one particular color.

Media Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media Portfolio - Assignment Example The three critical issues in this market present the major pillars of human resource in the country. It is important to note that the Saudi Arabian labor market was not celebrated much in the past due to some unwanted practices including alleged mistreatment of employees. Therefore, during this time that the market in undergoing transformation, revitalization and healing, employee safety and the roles of supervisors in the workplace come in handy. That notwithstanding, saudization is also critical to the healing of this market because of its relation to the replacement of foreign employees in the Saudi Arabian labor market with Saudi nationals especially in the private sector. The Saudi Arabian labor market has not been able to achieve its economic competitiveness in the recent past. This situation has been associated with a number of factors including the most recent being saudization. The employees in this market have also experienced unfavorable working conditions that have deterred them from achieving their maximum potentials at their respective workplaces (Avery, 2005). In addition to that, these employees have not been well motivated to offer their best towards achieving organizational goals and it is for this reason that reports have indicated that Saudi Arabia has been declining in its global economic competitiveness over the last few years. However, there have been efforts to thwart the dangers accompanied by these economic conditions in the labor market. For example, Saudi Arabia has formulated and implemented a number of health, safety and security protocols for its employees in a bid to enhance their motivation and satisfaction and subsequently harness the most out of them. The roles of supervisors, who were previously in the limelight for perpetrating employee frustrations, have been completely overhauled. Saudization can be described as the process

Economic Growth Rate Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Growth Rate - Research Paper Example The budget impacts on the growth of the economy and allocation or redistribution of resources. The difference between budgetary spending and revenues is defined as the budget deficit. Budget deficit contribute in the level of national debt. A variety of problems can result because of budget deficit. Lower national savings rate, higher rates of interest and inflation are some of them. The federal budget is taking an unsustainable path. The debt levels of the federal are expected to grow with the size of the economy. The elevated budget deficit is the cause of increase in federal debt. This will shed its effects on economic downturn. The excess expenditure is financed through borrowing. The federal government takes the policy of issuing securities. The households can make up their budget deficits through loans and credit cards. Some of the measures to curb down the budget deficit are cutting expenditures, levee taxes or a strategy that will involve both. Thesis Statement Can budget def icit affect the economic growth? Economists generally agree that high budget deficits today will reduce the growth rate of the economy in the future. Why? Economists are of the opinion that sustaining large deficits can reduce the rate of growth. If the aim is to attain future gains in the standard of living it is necessary to curb down the levels of consumption and take the requisite steps in order to increase the level of savings. The deficit in the federal budget along with the low rate in the savings will cause a gap between the total savings and the investment. Spreading the foreign ownership of assets and mounting payments of investment will result in capital inflows (Wallich, 2012, p.78). The same reason can be accounted for the deficits in trade to occur. The trade deficits will keep on piling up with the continuation of capital inflows. The rate of interest is supposed to take the steep rising path if the investors turn down from providing capital in this kind of situation prevails. The value of dollar is likely to be depreciated. The assets of United States will be cheaper relative to the foreign assets and the investment rates will get curtailed with high rates of interest. The price of the imports will rise and the exchange rate will have the tendency to get low. The country will have to increase its reliance on foreign capital (Sanchez, 2010, p.523). The future generation will not be able to match with the expectations of the services from the government. The advancement in technology will get hampered and the standard of living of the country will feel the heat. Do the reasons for the high budget deficit matter? In other words, does it matter whether the deficit is caused by lower taxes, increased defense spending, more job-training programs, and so on? If the deficit is caused by poor governance then it is a matter of concern and calls for immediate appropriate steps. But if the deficits are caused by something that is believed to be productive for the future, then such deficits can be withheld for a certain point. If the deficit is caused by lower taxes, then people will have more disposable income and that might not be beneficial for the economy as a whole. But if the deficit is caused by increasing cost in defense services or increased spending in the job training programs, it is

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 22

Personal Statement Example To me, the aspiration of becoming a well-educated person is one of the most monumental and highly valuable objectives a person can seek to achieve. Why is this? As the world becomes more standardised, in which cultural and professional values are becoming rather universally-accepted norms, businesses (and communities) require the input of individuals who are driven to think uniquely, outside of the proverbial box, as a means of eliciting positive change. I am reminded of a term once taught in one of my foundational classes known as groupthink, a form of psychological and sociological phenomenon where the inherent desire to conform to the beliefs and values of group members leads to dysfunctional decision-making outcomes. In the business environment, as a wide variety of empirical studies continue to iterate, this phenomenon is often detrimental to developing innovations and strategies that are important for achieving competitive advantages. It is through university education, as well as a product of being exposed to diverse and unique educational professionals, one learns to think abstractly and consider both life and career from multiple perspectives rather than being too conventional. My father, a person who I greatly admire, is a skilled and experienced business professional. I remember many evenings, whilst discussing his workday around a hearty family meal, where he had grown frustrated and, seemingly, a bit aggravated at the lack of ingenuity and resourcefulness from the people of which he was charged to manage and lead. My father rather regularly defended that these weaknesses were oppressive for the business in achieving its main goals and as a result it was quite difficult to introduce vital changes that served to make the business more successful in what was a very competitive and adaptable market environment. My primary understanding of real-world