Alternative Fuel Sources essays

Alternative Fuel Sources essays With all the topics circulating the media about the issues in the United States, many go unnoticed by the general public through the excuse of lack of relevance to the individual. The fuel crisis America is currently going through is not one of the ones to be pushed aside so quickly; it affects the lives of each citizen in some way. Personally, my main concerns surrounding this topic are the harm being done to the environment, the political conflicts with the Middle East over oil, and the increasing price at the pump. The world as a whole consumes approximately seventy-seven million barrels of oil a day, and it is predicted that in the next twenty years that global energy demands will increase a staggering sixty percent from our status quo. The burning of oils and coal for power is slowly destroying the Earth via acid rain, environmental accidents, and airborne pollutants released into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels are limited, and eventually will not be sufficient to meet the demand of the public. This energy obsessed society has burned sixty-five percent of America's known oil, which cannot be replenished for millions of years. It does not improve the situation that Middle Eastern countries control many factors of the oil business, as they are not very fond of Americans and our ways of living. Time is running out, and mankind is in desperate need of an alternative. Other energy sources that are renewable may be the key to unlocking a solution depending on the pros and cons of the proposal. Wind energy, hydrogen fuel cells, and solar energy all hold great promise in the future salvation of our economy and environment if the appropriate funds are provided for research. Wind energy has been around for quite some time but has grown greatly in popularity in the past few years. It and solar energy plans offer clean, inexhaustible sources without the international problems caused by oil. Wind energy could provide twenty percent of Am...

Fluent in Speech and Affluent in Wealth

Fluent in Speech and Affluent in Wealth Fluent in Speech and Affluent in Wealth Fluent in Speech and Affluent in Wealth By Maeve Maddox Some speakers and writers are beginning to use the word affluent in contexts that call for fluent. Here are some examples of incorrect usage Ive notice on the web: a good vocabulary is necessary†¦ everyone should be well rounded and affluent in their own language. [Name] has over 14 years of real estate experience, is affluent in Spanish and specializes in new home and residential sales. [Name] was baptized in November 2006. She is affluent in Spanish, but her English is very weak. [Name], who is affluent in Spanish, works with Hispanic students. I need someone who is affluent in Spanish and I also would like to know about what they would charge for this. I now realize that not everyone is affluent in Spanish. Both fluent and affluent come from Latin words related to the idea of moving water: fluere, to flow; affluere, flow toward. In modern usage, the most common definitions of the two words are these: fluent [flÃ… «Ã‰â„¢nt] : flowing or capable of flowing, especially with ease or freedom affluent [ÄÆ'flÃ… «-É™nt] : having an abundance of goods or riches The misuse reflects a nonstandard pronunciation of affluent that puts the stress on the second syllable instead of the first. Here are some examples of the correct use of affluent: Are Affluent Teens The Latest Victims Of Mental Illness? These are affluent singles and couples who live in the chic high-rise neighborhoods of many big cities, owning swank condos and apartments. An Increasingly Affluent Middle India Is Harder to Ignore A person may live in an affluent neighborhood, but is fluent in a language. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Program vs. ProgrammeThe Writing ProcessThe Difference Between "Un-" and "Dis-"

Why There Would Be No People Without Plants Assignment

Why There Would Be No People Without Plants - Assignment Example Plants are an important part of the ecology and help in the maintenance of the normal environment on Earth. They are essential to life because they help in cleaning the atmosphere, maintain an appropriate balance of gases on Earth and also they serve as a source of food for the human beings as well as other living beings. Plants have been endowed with a very special property which makes them unique and assists them in performing their functions. The plants take up energy in the form of light from the Sun and a set of reactions ensues within the leaves of the plants. This sequence of reactions leads to the formation of food sources in the form of carbohydrate from the carbon dioxide which is captured by the leaves from the atmosphere. The leaves possess this property due to the presence of a green pigment known as chlorophyll. At the same time there is release of oxygen from the leaves of the plants. This process is known as photosynthesis as it uses up light and it occurs during day time because of the availability of sunlight during the day and at the same time there is synthesis of carbohydrates. Hence this function of the plants assists in the utilization of carbon dioxide which is produced in the atmosphere by human beings during breathing and also during other processes. The plants also utilize oxygen like all living matter for the carrying out of the process of respiration. This oxygen is used to drive the processes a t the cellular levels to provide energy for the appropriate usage of energy. Hence the plant has a complex mechanism in which it utilizes carbon dioxide and produces oxygen in the process. But they also then utilize oxygen for carrying out essential reactions. The plants basically carry out the process of photosynthesis mainly during the day and the process of respiration and utilization of oxygen is at peak during the night. Therefore it can be seen that the plants form

Strategic Choices for Coca-Cola Company Research Paper

Strategic Choices for Coca-Cola Company - Research Paper Example The paper "Strategic Choices for Coca-Cola Company" focuses on Coca-Cola Company's strategic choices. The company has not operated alone in the market; it has received competition from other companies like Pepsi. In order to create an edge over its competitors, Coca-Cola has adopted differentiation strategy, which in many ways has proved successful for the company. It is important to evaluate how this strategy has been successful for the company and the likely recommendations for modifications especially in line with its mission and vision. Coca-Cola has for a long time favored the resource-based concept, which has become the main avenue of its strategic goals. The company perceives its success in the market to rest on effective use of its fundamental resources such as the brands, systems, capital, and the people. The goals of the company have been drawn and implemented based largely on these fundamental resources. At the same time, the attempts of the company have largely been geare d towards creating competitive advantage by utilizing its resources to the maximum. The most characteristic of the company has been reflected in its increased use of resources to promote its brands around the globe through increased advertisement and promotion. As a result, the company has been successful in creating strong brands in the market. In order to successful carry out its strategic goals and objectives, Coca-Cola has widely adopted the differentiation strategy, and this strategic method has enabled the company to strengthen. and foster its position in the wider global market (Knol Beta p.1). Differentiation strategy according to Porter aims to make company’s products or services unique when compared to its competitors (Stonehouse and Campbell p.177). The ultimate aim of this strategy is to create customer loyalty that exhibit little price elasticity of demand due to perceived unique aspects of the products or services as compared to competitors (Stonehouse and Campb ell p.177). Effective of this strategy for the Coca-Cola can be linked to its increased and ever growing advertisement and promotion activities, which have enabled the company to create a unique market position as compared to competitors. At the same time, differentiation strategy has proved successful given Coca-Cola’s established customer loyalty base, which has built over a long period. More so, refreshment and beverages market is increasingly becoming saturated and differentiation strategy has enabled Coca-Cola to stay apt and address the needs of its customers satisfactorily (Knol Beta p.1). Weaknesses of the company have been witnessed in negative publicity, increasing health concerns, unpopularity of some brands, and poor performance in some markets (Knol Beta p.1). As a result, differentiation strategy seems to address the concerns by responding to the unique nature of concerns in each market in the areas the company operates. On the same grounds, as the competition i n the market continue to increase especially in localized areas that Coca-Cola operates, the differentiation strategy seems to give the company upper hand in terms of penetrating markets and establishing loyal and satisfied consumer base. Lastly, as health concerns and

Christianity and Islam Essay Example for Free

Christianity and Islam Essay A few months ago, when a Vatican official announced that Catholicism was surpassed by Islam as the world’s largest faith, many news agencies around the world carried what seemed to have been a largely unnoticed issue for this present generation – religion. At least for some time, renewed debates about whether or not one should indeed consider Islam as a religion that commands world’s largest followers surfaced one after another. The issue many people think should not be dismissed is the fact that Christianity – a religion which combines an array of all its offshoots namely Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Evangelicals, among others – still has the largest adherents compared to any other religion, including Islam. Even if Christianity may be broken down into some larger or other smaller denominations, many people subscribe to idea that since all Christians root their belief in Christ, one must take them as belonging to a singular religion, the largest in the world to be exact. To consider Christianity as a single religion involves rounds of new separate debates. Surely, when the differences between the mainstream Christian blocks and the thousand of other minor denominations are brought into the fore, their respective beliefs will manifest diversity, resemblance, opposition, and even contradiction. Tedious as this process may appear, one may not yet consider the fact that even in the Islam religion itself there are further classifications of membership that must be taken into careful account. Again, it is legitimate to inquire whether it is proper to take Islam as a unitary religion, or they too must be broken down into their finer types. As one may correctly observe, inner divisions within the world’s largest religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. – appear to be a fundamentally given fact. One can perhaps inquire whether it is possible to identify a major religion with millions, if not a billion of adherents, which does not have any, or have not suffered from any inner rift at any given point of its history. It may be interesting to ask therefore, what accounts for the eventual internal fall out of world religions in history? Better yet, how must we attempt to understand what happens in a religion that has been divided into smaller aggregate types in the course of history? II. Rationale and Scope This brief study presents a case for divisions transpiring within world religions. But since the scope of studying the issue is broad (considering that there are many major world religions to cite), this research shall be restricted at tackling Christianity and Islam as chosen types. Specifically, the study shall describe the events that transpired during the Catholic-Protestant divide of the mid 1500’s for Christianity, and the Shiite-Sunni divide for Islam. To be sure, there are other identifiable divisions which can be noted in the history of Christianity. While there are small schisms involving â€Å"heretics† who refuse to accept fundamental Christian teachings, Christianity is said to have been divided into two major blocks during the 11th century. It produced the dichotomization between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, which until the present still exists. For the purposes of limiting this study, the Christian division which shall be discussed in this study shall dwell on the Luther-led Reformation of the 1500’s. Meanwhile, it is also insightful to note even in the Islam religion, there have been various types of smaller divisions and schisms. For the purposes of this study too, the rift between the Shiites and the Sunnis that was created in the early years of Islam religion shall be the one in focus. A short analysis and interpretation of the sample religions used shall comprise the conclusion of this study. III. Discussion Proper a. Nature of Religion Before relating the events defining the divisions that were experienced both by Christianity and Islam, it will be helpful to cite some theories to help explain the dynamics of religion. This is important since it shall provide a working perspective which is to be used later on in the analysis. Religion is a phenomenon which may be understood in many ways. Basically speaking, it refers to the common innate feeling or â€Å"belief in a Supreme Being† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Religion obviously stems from a belief that there is a higher being that must be worshiped or adored. But religion does not pertain to kind of personal belief alone. It also describes how a believer finds the need to belong to a community which shares the same belief, and thus obey a given set of rules within it. Thus, another definition for religion may also be expressed as a â€Å"unified system of belief and practices relative to sacred things† which â€Å"unites (believers) into one single moral community† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Combing both definitions enable one to fully appreciate the fact that religion pertains to both a personal ascent to God, and a commitment to a community, a set of rules and a specific set rituals. When seen under the lenses of scientific inquiry (e. g. anthropology, sociology, philosophy, etc. ) religion reveals patterns and dynamism consistent with human belief system, knowledge, interest and relationships. This means that religion is molded into the belief system of the believers. For instance, if Christians hold that Christ in his lifetime was compassionate to the poor, it follows that they too, since they follow Christ, must do something good for their less fortunate brethren. Or if Moslems take Mohammad as their example, and Mohammad was a deeply spiritual man, they too must not take spirituality lightly in their lives. Religious mindset is committed to certain courses of action (Slater, 1978, p. 6); and these actions are meaningful only because believers draw their identities from a person or a belief system they embrace – be it the Lordship of Christ, or the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad (Slater, 1978, p. 82). This is one of the primary reasons why religions possess their â€Å"continuing identities† (Slater, 1978, p. 82). So long as a group of Christians identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Catholic Church, they will remain to be Catholics. As indeed, so long as a group of Moslems identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Shiite group, they will remain to be identified with it. What explains the shift in a belief system is when one cannot anymore identify either with a teaching, or specific religious structures. It is a general rule that key to a religion’s perpetuity is establishing an identity. When people start to feel alienated with what they used to hold or believe it, it can explain why a group of believers create their own groups to accommodate their otherwise alienated belief system. To help establish the point, it may be good to lay down two glaring examples. b. The Shiite-Sunnis Divide Islam was born at least five hundred years after Christianity was already an institutionalized religion. But what started out only as a small community following Muhammad, Islam grew in exponential proportion in just a short span of time. Within the rapid growth came bitter disputes and eventual breakaways. Although Islam is a religion which does not readily recognize that there are divisions within them, scholars are almost unanimous in agreeing that some factions already broke from within the Moslem community dating back to the days when the religion itself was merely beginning to be established. In a sense, Islam is a religion broken down into at least two major divisions even before it got to be formally established as a religious phenomenon. It all started when a certain man named Muhammad, who by the way was born in 570 to a very poor family, begun to attract followers after experiencing visions and revelations (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His reputation spread in neighboring places, and soon found himself at odds with ruling empires for the large number of followers he had gathered. After this increasingly expanding community finally settled in Mecca in 630, Muhammad would die two years after (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His death would then see his community figure in a prolonged tug-of-war for rightful succession, and would officially begin the drift within the newly established religious community. One group claimed that Muhammad chose his rightful successor in the person of his son named Ali before he died. The other group contested the claim and said, no instructions were made by the Prophet whatsoever. Instead, they held that it was appropriate for to appoint leaders themselves, and eventually chose Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, as the first of the four caliphs (meaning head), to rule the Islam community. Those who embraced the leadership of Ali were eventually known as the Shiites, while the followers who believed Abu Bakr’s caliphate eventually came to be known as Sunnis. As such, the neat separation within the just-emerging Islamic religion has been established. Since it exists up until today, it can be described as the â€Å"largest institutional division within the Muslim community† so far (Renard, 1998, p. 13; Ayoub, 2004, 72). c. The Catholic-Protestant Divide The era that colored the Catholic-Protestant divide was a Church marred with controversies, silent disenchantment and an ever growing discontent among Christian faithful. As history would show, it was through and because of Martin Luther – and his whole ebb generating protests against the Church – that the radical break from Catholicism was to be established. But hundreds of years before the supposed break, there had already been numerous events that point to the restlessness within the membership of the Church which it tried to quell. What were the controversies about? As early as the 1300’s, roughly two hundred years before Luther was born, an ordained priest by the name of John Wycliffe started to publish series of attacks against some of the major teachings and traditions of the Church. In 1372, he was summoned and reprimanded by Church authorities for his teachings that dwelled on the following: his denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation (a belief that the bread and wine used in celebrating the Eucharist is transformed into the real body and blood of Christ), attacks on the authority of the Pope as the head of the Church, corrupt practices within the Church, and emphasis on preaching and the use of Scriptures for teaching the doctrines of the Church (Cook, 2008, p. 95). Wycliffe probably represented the first courageous voices which tried to confront what’s wrong with the Church. In fact, he did try to raise legitimate concerns about both the divisive doctrines and lamentable discipline which the Church at that time practiced. Years after, Luther would pick up from where his predecessors had left out. In 1517, he released his Ninety-Five Theses to the public – a collection of ninety-five protests against many Church teachings – both doctrinal and moral – and Church practices, such as indulgences (spiritual merits obtained in return for monetary donations), celibacy (the promise for priests not to marry), Eucharist, among others (Cook, 2008, p. 100). Since the general religious atmosphere at that time was already ripe for reforms, his ninety-five theses were easily duplicated and spread throughout the German empire – a testament, as it were, to a huge popular support he enjoyed for the risks he took. Luther’s break from the Church was formally established when he burned the Papal bull Exsurge Domine (a decree which threatened him of excommunication if he did not recant his protests) in front of many people in a public square (Cook, 2008, 101). After which, he did subsequently ask the authorities of the German kingdom to support his cause for Church reform. Luther is remembered as a man who broke the Catholic Church apart. True enough, even before he died, he already saw the far reaching effects of his call for reforms he perhaps initially did not intended to jumpstart. Thanks to Luther, Christianity would never be the same again. The â€Å"Germany after (the) Reformation† movement in the mid 1500’s became a home to a new breed of Christians who came to be branded as Lutherans, Calvinist, Reformers, or even Protestants (Pennock, 2007, p. 168). In principle, Luther earned the reputation of being an agent of division within the Christian religion. IV. Conclusion To be sure, Christianity and Islam are not the only major religions in the world which had suffered a kind of break-up from within. Religious divisions are commonplace, and that variations sprouting from within large communities may be brought about by various factors. When divisions occur, one normally observes that differences pertaining to a host of issues including (but not limited to) doctrines, practices, or even recognized leadership become patent. As earlier mentioned, the dynamics of religion may help explain why a feeling of alienation (or a loss of identity) can push a believer or a group to break-away from mainstream religion to form their own set of practices and norms independently. Christianity and Islam were taken as exemplifications. In the points that were developed, it was seen that they share a history with lots of bitter disputes, which in turn led to an eventual division. But both religions suffered from internal rifts quite differently as well. Islams division was more political in nature, as two major factions with their respective claims to rightful succession to their now-dead Prophet-leader tore the emerging community apart thus, the Sunnis and the Shiites. Christianity on the other hand, after experiencing many breakaway groups in the course of history, had to suffer yet another major blow from internal disputes led by Martin Luther in the 1500s on account of doctrine and practices. What followed was a Christian religion torn once again, which ushered the creation of a big faction named Protestants. Religious divisions can be put under rigorous inquiry. There are viewpoints that consider these divisions as something that separate one group after another, while there are those who propose to see the same divisions as something that merely distinguish (but not separate). While the two viewpoints may be valid in their respective senses, this study places much interest not on their â€Å"distinguishability† or â€Å"separability†, but on the fact that, truly, religious divisions from within happen. References Ayoub, M. (2004). Islam. Faith and History. Oxford: Oneworld. Cook, C.. (2008) The Routledge Companion to Christian History. New York: Routledge. McCutcheon, R. (2007). Studying Religion. An Introduction. London: Equinox. Pennock, M. (2007) This is Our Church. A History of Catholicism. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press. Renard, J. (1998)101 Questions and Answers on Islam. New York: Paulist Press. Slater, P. (1978). The Dynamics of Religion. Meaning and Change in Religious Traditions. San Francisco: Harper and Row. (Also consulted) http://ca. news. yahoo. com/s/capress/080330/world/vatican_muslims

Stars and Black Holes Essay -- essays research papers

Below you will read research on stars and black holes. Black holes are stars whose core has been crushed by gravity. In the text to follow you will see how a star forms, read about its life and how it becomes a black hole. Stars are composed of hydrogen gas and dust. Stars owe their existence to the force of gravity. Stars are created from the thinly spread atoms of dust and gas that swirl throughout space. The atoms clump together into dense clouds that eventually collapse under their own gravity. Other forces counteract the gravity. The dust and cloud grows steadily hotter until a nuclear furnace ignites creating a bright shining star. (Couper H. & Henbest N., 1996). Stars are born when particles of hydrogen, helium and dust combine and collapse, shrinking and falling into itself making the cloud hotter. Tiny protons bump into each other and bounce away at high speeds stick together when it is hot enough. Four protons form a particle of helium gas. Two protons fuse together becoming neutrons. Matter that is released from this fusion turns into energy streaming outward from the core creating nuclear fusion. Once the inward and outward forces are equal it reaches its final size and shines, becoming a star. The length of the hydrogen burning stage depends on the stars weight. A star with 15 times the weight of the sun uses up all its hydrogen in less than 10 million years. (Darling D., 1985) The farthest star in the most distant galaxy is more than ten billion light years away. The kind of star a star becomes depends on how much gas and dust the protostar manages to pack into itself as it forms. The more mass a star collects the hotter and brighter it becomes. (Gallant R ., 2000). Three major star types are red dwarfs, yellow dwarfs and blue giants. Red dwarfs are the dimmest and have the longest life span that is about a trillion years. Red dwarfs become black dwarfs when they exhaust their hydrogen and fuel. Yellow dwarf stars have shorter life spans because they burn their hydrogen fuel faster. As fuel runs low they swell up into a red giant, then release planetary nebula, then shrink into white dwarfs and finally cool as black dwarfs. The massive blue giants have the shortest life span as they’ll swell up into supergiants, explode as a supernova and end up as either a neutron star or black hole. (Gallant R ., 2000). A norm... ...un is a ball of gas. It is 8 and one third light years away and 93 million miles away. The suns diameter is 865,000 miles. The sun is about 5 billion years old. (Darling D., 1985). The sun appears as a large disk. At the top of the sun you can see two huge gas eruptions called prominences. These prominences leap out hundreds of thousands of miles. They have hair like spikes that are surges of hot gas called spicules. The mottled effect is caused by cells of hot gases welling up from beneath the surface, cooling and appearing darker than the surrounding gases. (Gallant R ., 2000). Therefore, the sun, stars and black holes coexist with one another in the solar system along with other matter in the galaxy. The sun is a star. Black holes are collapsed stars. Each does not exist without the other. References Couper H. & Henbest N. (1996). Black Holes. New York, NY: DK Publishing Inc. Darling D. (1985). The Stars from birth to black hole. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Dillon Press Inc. Gallant R . (2000). The life stories of Stars. Tarrytown, New York: Benchmark Books Sipiera P. (1997). Black Holes. Canada: Children’s Press, Grolier Publishing Co. Inc

Clean Drinking Water Essay

Our primary needs are food, water and shelter; but water is the most important need of every person. Without water, we cannot survive. Even for one day, we cannot live without water. If we have safe and clean water for drinking , we’ll live healthy and prosper. The clean water we drink and which is germless is called potable water. The water we drink in our homes, is supplied by the municipal community. We think that it is safe and germs free but in reality it is not fully safe for using in household works and also for drinking , for the reason that it is filtered in huge tanks ; the big particles and comparatively small particles are filtered but not purified . So we should ensure that we purify the water before drinking. There are two types of water : i) The drinking water ii) The water for household works There are different sources of water and are classified as : Natural sources : Rivers , Ponds etc. Man made resources : Canals, pipeline services   etc. Before drinking water , we should purify it by using certain purifiers . If we drink dirty or unsafe water that contain germs; then we’ll fall ill and certain diseases will be caused such as diarrhoea , typhoid etc. People wash their clothes and their animals also take bath in rivers and pounds ; due to which the water get dirty and several types of germs are generated in the water and are transferred to the infected person to the healthy person . these types of diseases which are transmitted from one person to the another are called communicable diseases . If we take care of some small-n’-small things, then we can maintain our health; because prevention is better than cure. We receive potable water from the canals, rivers, and ponds ; groundwater is also potable. Now, the question is that how is water polluted? Some ways of water pollution: Some factories dispose their chemical wastes into the rivers due to which  water is polluted. People according to their rituals , throw ashes in water , due to which water is polluted. Due to the lack of education, people dispose the dead bodies also in water bodies , again water is polluted. Due to the excessive use of pesticides, and insecticides our ground water is polluted . How we can prevent water pollution? We should organise several programmes to aware people about the cleanliness of water. At school level , we should develop healthy habits in the students, so that they can understand the importance of cleanliness. We should conduct several activities such as plays and skits etc. to aware students about the cleanliness. Court should issue notices to such factories which dispose harmful chemicals in water bodies. We should also aware the factory workers about the safely disposing of harmful chemicals in water bodies. Now , the question is that how can we clean and purify dirty water? The water we dispose in sewage is cleaned and purified by the government in several water treatment plants. How water is purified in these plants : The dirty water is passed through some parallel bars to remove bigger impurities like polythene bags , fabrics etc. The second step is sedimentation in which comparatively small particles settle down in tank The third step is decantation in which water is separated by the help of a scrapper. The next step is chlorination in which germs are killed by the help of several disinfectants such as ozone , chlorine etc. When the water gets chlorinated it leaves a odour which is then controlled by another process called UV Radiation. This essay conclude that we should save water because the amount of fresh water on earth is limited. Out of the total area of earth , 75% of the area is covered by water but out of this area only about 2% water is fresh; and even out of this percentage about 1.5%of water is in form of glaciers and 0.3% is groundwater; 0.2% water is usable. Our present Prime Minister Shri Narendra Damodar das Modi has also taken some initiatives such as â€Å"Swachh Bharat,Swastha Bharat Abhiyan†. His role in making Indian society aware of the cleanliness and conserving water is significant. CBSE has also initiated a few steps to make the students aware of the cleanliness of the environment and our surroundings .