Upton Sinclair Essays (756 words) - Criticism Of Christianity

Upton Sinclair READ ALL ABOUT IT... UPTON SINCLAIR!! ?My cause is the Cause of a man who has never yet been defeated, and whose whole being is one all devouring, God-given holy purpose?, declared Upton Beall Sinclair. This man is not only an American novelist, essayist, journalist, but also deeply involved in politics. He has accomplished so many things throughout his life span, it is tough to compare him to anyone else. Until Sinclair was in his later life, he was an unknown failure to many, but then for forty years after that, he was America's most important writer. Sinclair was born in Baltimore on the 20th of September in 1878. He was born in near poverty conditions to his dysfunctional family consisting of his father who drank himself to death, and his mother a southern aristocrat. He taught himself to read and write by the time he was five years old. By the time he was 14, he had already graduated the City College of New York. He furthered his education by becoming a special student at Columbia University. He was supporting himself and paying his own way through his education by writing and selling book. While at Columbia University he was inspired by another student to write even more novels. He started writing weekly novels consisting of more than 30,000 words and selling them as ?half-dime novels?. With the frustration of trying to make it on such little profit, he left Columbia University. Once Sinclair left, he started his first real novel entitled Springtime and Harvest. Publishers did not see his point to the novel, so they figured no one else would and with much disappointment, turned down the novel. ?In order to succeed, one must fail at least once? was often a quote used by Sinclair. He followed this quote often due to the next couple of novels he wrote. Within the two years, he wrote four long novels, and all were reviewed negatively and very few had sales. 1906 was Sinclair's lucky year. In years earlier, he would often fight for free speech and write about politics, but he decided to try a new approach this year. Sinclair is most famous for the novel he wrote this year entitled The Jungle. As for the rejection, six publishers turned him down on the book at first, so Sinclair decided to publish the book himself. One publisher wrote ? I advise without hesitation and unreservedly against the publications of this book which is gloom and horror unrelieved. One feels that what is at the bottom of his fierceness is not nearly so much desire to help the poor as hatred of the rich.? To prove this publisher wrong, Sinclair advertised for his book, and received orders for 972 copies of The Jungle. Within in the next couple of years, more than 150,000 copies were sold, and the book was printed in seventeen different languages and was a best seller all over the world. During this period of time, the President of the United States was Theodore Roosevelt. He read The Jungle, and immediately following he declared an investigation of the meat-packing industry. Although Roosevelt was not happy with such a book, he was not happy at what he saw in the industries he investigated. The impact of this book, had the same impact as Harriet Beecher Stowe's book called Uncle Tom's Cabin. With the profit made from The Jungle, Sinclair decided to build the Helicon Hall. This was a utopian community that contained all of the virtues he believed in for socialism. On November 1, 1906 this building was opened. Over $30,000 was invested in this utopia. Journalists remarked that the Helicon Hall was only built for a ?free love nest? just to have mistresses available, but truly it was a communal living hall for families upholding high moral standards. Sinclair's greatest hero was that of Jesus Christ, so to have such stereotypes journalists should rethink what they might have said. Not even a year later, on March 7, 1907, Sinclair awoke to the smell of smoke and cries of fire. He made his way outside, half burned, and looked back upon his dream as it went disappeared. ?The beautiful utopia was flaming and roaring, until it crashed in and died away to a dull glow? Sinclair recalled. Some say that the Helicon Hall was only built to burn down for insurance collecting, but actually insurance only paid for about two-thirds of the damage and Sinclair ended up paying for the other damage. The profit he made on The Jungle was now lost. Years would go by, and Sinclair would continue writing novels, poems, and pretty much everything.

Smoke Signals essays

Smoke Signals essays Can a reel Indian, ever be a sign for a real Indian? The question is somewhat specious, since most Caucasians imaged on American film are not signs of real people: the teeth are too white, the noses too sculpted, the bodies too buffed, the hair too perfectly coifed, the repartee too witty. To a certain extent, every movie is a smoke signal of cultural values. For this very reason, then, we should pay attention to cinematic signs generated by Native American culture itself, as in the 1998 film Smoke Signals, the first commercially successful movie written , directed, co-produced, and acted by Indians. With a comparatively modern setting, Smoke Signals is about the signs that represent Indians in contemporary culture. Not only do drumbeats associated with Indian war parties punctuate the score, but televisions in the background of several shots also display Indians on the rampage in old black-and-white Westerns. When one of the protagonists answers his question, "What is the only thing more authentic than Indians on TV? with "Indians watching Indians on TV", we realize that the film ironizes the very idea of authenticity. The desire for "authentic" movie Indians may simply generate "types" rather than complex human beings with strengths and weaknesses like our own. In contrast, Smoke Signals not only gives us flawed characters that elicit our sympathy and admiration but also displays, with affection, the dysfunction of the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho from which they come. The movie opens in 1976 with the voice of Lester Fallsapart reporting traffic for KREZ radio from atop a broken-down Winnebago. When the film cuts forward to 1998, Fallsapart, situated on the same Winnebago at the same crossroads, announces "It's a good day to be indigenous. The image, of course, forces us to question whether the "indigenous" have made any gains at all or, like the appropriately named Fallsapart and his Winne ...

Questionnaire and design Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Questionnaire and design - Research Paper Example The segmentation of the questionnaire is positive as it makes the process easier to understand. On the other hand, the dell questionnaire is complex and this may increase the non-response rate. The long questions and innumerable options in some of the questions will make the process tiresome and boring hence response error (McDaniel & Gates, 2006). This would also mean that the respondents will have to spend a long period in submitting information. Moreover, there are biased questions that will therefore impair the responses. These questions will influence the choice of answers of the respondents. A sample of a better questionnaire is provided below. Burke is an independent research firm whose services personal computer DELL computers to gather honest opinions of DELL personal computer systems have sourced. The questionnaire asks questions about DELL and on level of internet

One-child policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

One-child policy - Essay Example ture of global peace and development tend to focus on China’s economy, its defense and armaments buildup and China’s access to resources and energy. Yet, the one economic factor that is often overlooked in this analysis is China’s one child policy and it’s fast changing demography. China happens to be the world’s most populated nation. Right after the coming into existence of the People’s Republic of China, the nation experienced a propitious population growth owing to a better medical care and sanitation and this population growth was envisioned to be an advantage (Button 468). Mao Zedong believed that even if the population of China augmented manifold, the nation had the resources to cope up with it. However, a fast increasing population putting stress on the nation’s food security encouraged the government to opt for a one child policy in 1979, a measure that had both favorable and bad consequences for the nation’s economic g rowth, demographic configuration and socio-economic characteristics (Button 467). There is no denying the fact that in the case of underdeveloped nations, supporting and sustaining population in the light of the available scarce resources is a great challenge. In that context China had always been pursuing a very planned and systematic approach towards its population growth in a contemporary scenario. In the light of this fact, the nation introduced the one child policy in 1979, in an aggressive bid to improve its economic situation and to augment the people’s standard of living (Connor 1). The one child policy required the couples belonging to ethnic Han majority to limit themselves to a single child (Connor 1). Although, to begin with, the one child policy was intended to be a short term measure, the nation’s success in reducing the population count by 400 million motivated it to continue with a revised version of the one child policy till today (Connor 1). As per China’s one child policy the urban couples are

Illicit Drugs In Australia And Problems Caused Criminology Essay

Illicit Drugs In Australia And Problems Caused Criminology Essay Research by the Australian Institute of Criminology (2004) has outlined the impact of illicit drugs on society. Many people assume there is a direct correlation between drugs and crime and this research undertaken in fact shows that drug use and crime have similar origins. Origins such as poor social support systems, difficultly in school, association with deviant peer groups and lack of access to economic support systems are the main similarities with drug users and criminals. The results of this research have opened our eyes to the direct link and the magnitude of the illicit drug problem. It is not possible to quantify the exact cost of illicit drug use to the Australian community. However, some components can be measured directly, such as government expenditure through the National Illicit Drug Strategy (NDIS), but many of the social costs borne by the community, such as the extra cost of welfare, health and law and order services, can only be estimated. In addition, a number of costs associated with illicit drug use are not quantifiable, such as pain and suffering resulting from a reduced quality of life. Nevertheless a number of studies attempt to quantify some of the costs of drug use, including social costs. Many also examine how these costs compare with the costs of licit drug use in the community (Burton, K 2004). Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have discovered that Marijuana/cannabis accounted for 71% of illicit drug arrests in 2004-05. Further, in 2005, one in 10 prisoners was imprisoned for drug-related offences and finally in 2003-04, 88% of juvenile detainees had used an illicit substance 6 months prior to arrest and 70% were intoxicated at the time of offence. The Australian criminal justice system currently has two approaches to the illicit drug (for clarification, the definition of Illicit Drugs means a drug whose production, sale or possession is prohibited) problem. Prohibition and harm minimisation which will be discussed below. In short, the main aim of prohibition of drugs is to implement legislation and laws as a common means of attempting to control drug use. On the other hand we have harm minimisation which includes a range of targeted strategies designed to reduce drug-related harm for particular individuals and communities. It aims to reduce the harmful consequences of drugs when consumption cannot be further reduced. Drug laws have not stopped people using drugs, all it has done is create a multi-million dollar illegal market and fuel criminal acts to support such addictions. However, the economic costs associated with harmful drug use, including prevention, treatment, loss of productivity in the workplace, property crime, theft, accidents and law-enforcement activities, amount to over $18 billion annually (Collins Lapsley 1996). Which proves that the drug prohibition is not effective and another approach needs to be introduced. Prohibition is increasingly regarded as flawed in principle and a resounding failure in practice (Wodak Owens, 1996). When the drug laws in Australia were first introduced they came through prohibition instead of regulation. The argument was, that once something evil was banned, the problem was solved. This was not the case as banning such illegal drugs has only made the productions of same increase and created the role of drug traffickers and an illegal underworld to m ake and distribute such drugs through illegal avenues. As Wodak and Owens stated: Focusing on drug use rather than drug-related harm is like concentrating on a mirage (p. 9) In summary, prohibition has been somewhat successful in raising the health, social and economic costs of drug use. However, each year with technological change, geopolitical developments and the new trade environment make the job of prohibition even harder. On 2 April 1985 Australia officially adopted another view on illegal drugs and this approach was known as harm minimisation. This approach involves supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction. Harm minimisation has approached the drug use problem by introducing such schemes as information to drug users about how to safely use drugs and supervised injection rooms for users. Extensive consultation and collaboration between these services and police have been important in their success in reducing the spread of blood borne viruses in the community. Governments do not condone illegal risk behaviours such as injecting drug use: they acknowledge that these behaviours occur and that they have a responsibility to develop and implement public health and law-enforcement measures designed to reduce the harm that such behaviours can cause (Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 1998:46). Harm minimisation encourages change in our attitudes towards people who use drugs including those who are physically and psychologically dependant on illegal drugs. However, whether this is an effective approach is a common argument. One advantage is the fact that Australia does have the lowest reported rate of HIV infection in the world which is evidence alone that harm minimisation approach can work in the community. Harm minimisation can best be viewed in context of community safety and this is an approach to drug use to help keep people safe when they choose to use drugs. One important policy intervention that has gained increased prominence in recent years is the diversion of drug and drug related (crimes committed while under the influence of drugs) offenders. Aimed at deterring, educating or treating the causes of drug dependence, diversion involves the use of the criminal justice system to provide alternative responses, including referral to drug treatment. The main aim of prohibition of drugs is to implement legislation and laws as a common means of attempting to control drug use. On the other hand harm minimisation recognizes the need to seek a balance between supply reduction (disrupt both the supply of illicit drugs entering Australia and the production and distribution of illicit drugs within Australia), demand reduction (reduce the desire for and preparedness to obtain and use drugs) and harm reduction strategies (reduce the impacts of drug-related harm on individuals and communities). Recently harm minimisation took on another strategy known as a diversionary scheme. In April 2009 the Council of Australian Government (COAG) endorsed the National Illicit Drugs Strategy (NDIS) package, providing over $111,536,000 to create a tough on drugs initiative that gives priority to diverting illicit drug offenders into treatment. Guidelines were created for States and Territories to divert minor illicit drug offenders into assessment, education and treatment at many levels of the criminal justice system. The aim was to reduce the amount of offenders that appear before the court for possession of illicit drugs , provide incentives for minor offenders to address their drug use and increase access to drug education and treatment. This strategy is based on a harm minimisation approach which refers to policies and programs aimed at reducing drug-related harm and protecting the community and users. Dr Woolridge (past Federal Health Minister)1999 has stated that it is clinically pr oven that if you can reach a drug user before the addiction becomes full-blown that you have a better chance of stopping the drug use. Taking this approach statistics have shown that as of July 2007, there were 51 programs that divert drug and drug related offenders: * 69% of programs have been introduced since 2000. * 59% were funded by the Coalition of Australian Governments Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative. * 31% involved police diversion, 22% court diversion, 18% drug court diversion and 29% were mixed. * 33% of programs targeted drug use/possession offence(s), 12% drug related offence(s) and 55% any offence(s). * 45% of programs targeted adults, 27.5% youth and 27.5% mixed. * 49% resulted in assessment and compulsory treatment, 17% assessment and voluntary treatment, 9% cautions and referrals to education sessions, 20% warning/formal caution/family group conference, and 8% a fine or optional attendance at an education session (Hughes Ritter 2008) To date each state and territory has created and implemented their own diversionary and harm minimisation measures to tackle the illicit drug problems. Each state and territory have varying programs which may be somewhat different to each of the other states. Some programs may be easier to access, others may only cater for a specific group (ie indigenous people or juveniles). However, they all have the same major programs available as outlined below. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology there are 5 types of drug-diversionary programs currently in use across Australia. Within each of these areas of criminal justice there are a number of diversionary programs available. These initiatives can be divided into groups, depending on their position along the criminal justice continuum. Starting with the pre-arrest phase the most important diversionary measures is police discretion where officers can detect the offence but not lay charges and provide further information to the offender about how to manage and drug problems and refer them in the right direction. Other measures in place are infringement notices, informal warnings, formal caution and caution plus intervention (where counseling/information sessions must be attended). Police drug diversion -at the front end are the various police based drug diversion programs offer drug education and assessment for those individuals with minor possession offences relating to ca nnabis or other illicit substances. Next step on the criminal justice continuum is the Pre-trial stage where a charge is made but before the matter is heard at court. Here we have options like treatment as a bail condition, conferencing or prosecutor discretion (where treatment is offered as an alternative to proceeding with prosecution). These programs are at court level and are primarily bail-based programs to provide assessment and short term treatment options for less serious offenders who criminal behaviour is related to their illicit drug use. The next stage is Pre-sentence which is after conviction but before sentencing, this stage includes such measures as delay of sentence where offender may be assessed or treated. Post-conviction/sentence includes the process of sentencing. Diversionary measures can include suspended sentences requiring complying with conditions such as treatment, avoidance of drugs and specific peer groups. At this stage offenders can also be referred to the Drug Courts which are judicially supervised and enforced treatment programs which offer long-term initiative treatment for offenders who drug dependency is a key contributor to their offending. The final stage where diversionary measures can be utlised is in the Pre-release stage which is prior to the release from goal on parole. Options here include transfers to drug treatment programs or early release to attend a supervised treatment program. Even though the diversionary programs vary between jurisdictions, for example, in some states police can only caution first time offenders or juveniles and in other jurisdictions diversion is available for any offender caught with drugs, irrespective of age or criminal history. According to the National Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative (IDDI) the findings were generally very positive. Across all jurisdictions , the majority of people who were referred into the IDDI program did not reoffend in the 12 to 18 month period after their diversion. In most cases, those that did reoffend did so only once during this time. (Payne et al, 2008). The cost of the various police diversion programs is significant. However, if these initiatives are achieving such their objectives, such costs should be more than offset by the benefits of accruing to the community through a reduction of illicit drug use and related offending and reduced case loads for the criminal justice system. There has been only one study (Baker Goh 2004) that has examined the cost-effectiveness of diversion. The results demonstrated positive results in savings to the criminal justice system. In the first three years of operation it was estimated that over 18,000 police hours were saved as a result of not having to charge offenders at the time of detection, prepare matters for court and attend subsequent hearings. Baker and Goh also calculated that the scheme resulted in total savings of well over $1million dollars during the first 3 years of operation. In the years following the development of the IDDI, researchers (most notably the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, ADCA), outlined the benefits of and challenges to expanding the drug diversion and harm minimisation approach. Over coming the political perception that drug diversion was a soft option (Hughes, C 2007). While the Tough on Drugs Diversion Initiative was seen by policy makers as heralding a more humane response and more harm minimisation approach, the expression and framing of the program was that this was not the case. As John Howard said: in no way does it [drug diversion] retreat from our Tough on Drugs philosophy, our zero tolerance approach. So the point that the Government are portraying is that illicit drug use is still against the law however, if someone has psychological, health and social problems, you dont belong in jail. If the problem is drug use, than that problem must be tackled in order to decrease the social impacts of illicit drug use and to prevent a new generation of drug-users committing drug related crime (Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, 2004). One of the positive outcomes of the harm minimisation/drug diversion initiatives is that is has now encouraged the collaboration of health and law enforcement services. Which were once two very separate divisions have combined forces to tackle the issue of illicit drug use and have broken down the barriers that once segregated the divisions as traditionally the health and justice systems have had little to do with each other with no referral pathway between them. Diversion programs are gradually changing this (Tresidder, J 2003). In conclusion after observing that the prohibition of drugs has not made any significant impact on the use of illicit drugs in society the harm minimisation approach was initiated. This approach was further developed and the drug diversion scheme was created to target the problem in return for long term solutions to protect the drug users and community from each other. Research has shown that this has been successful to some degree however it has come across as somewhat contradictory to the tough on drugs campaign that is portrayed in the media. There is many mixed messages being sent and portrayed about the approach to illicit drugs in the criminal justice system. To date the drug diversionary programs has been the only approach to illicit drugs that has made any headway and molded around the existing drug problems. It is a policy that is designed to reflect the variety of problems that drugs can cause and by treating the cause is the only way to tackle the problem.

Eleanor Roosevelt Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Eleanor Roosevelt was a honest person who had responsibility and compassion towards her husband , family and her fellow man, whatever their social status. She used great citizenship and initiative actions in dealing with anyone who was fortunate enough to make her acquaintance. Eleanor Roosevelt is an outspoken advocate of social justice. During the years she has taken over a lot of responsibility. For someone who spent thefirst third of her life as shy and timid, she showed great courage once she was thrust into the presidential â€Å"spotlight†. Most Americans considered her a true â€Å"American Hero†. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, I now announce the presence of our first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt†, is something similar to what you would hear when being addressed at a press conference or important meetings. She was a well respected human being, achieving great duties and responsibility in life. She was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be on the first peace corps advisory board. She was such an active lady while her husband was in office that she was no longer willing to stay quietly in the background of her husband. She took a job as an editor and advertising manager of a monthly publication â€Å" The Women’s Democratic News† where she became more independent towards herself and work. Eleanor Roosevelt became very involved in women issues, being that she also joined the newly organized Women’s division of the New York State Democratic party and moved swiftly into positions of leadership. Not only was she responsible among organizations and people, she later became her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s eyes and ears, dedicating her life to his purposes, being a trusted and tireless reporter. One of the reasons she did become so helpful towards her husbands career was besides the fact that she was the first lady, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with a disease called polio and caused him to be permanently crippled in August of 1921. She then became even more loyal to him and our country having to deal with people from different nations, organizations and positions. While the President struggled to regain the use of his legs, Eleanor Roosevelt and Louis Howe joined forces to keep his political and business contacts alive. She became a powerful voice for youth employment and civil right... ...u can remember how she showed great compassion to her work and life. How loyal she was to the people of our nation. What great responsibility’s she consummated and what respect she gave and received from and to so many. Works Cited Diller, Daniel C. & Robertson, Stephen .L â€Å" The Presidents, First Ladies and Vice Presidents. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 1959. Collier Encyclopedia: Copyright 1989 Cook, Blanche Wiesen : Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One New York: Vikking 1992 Eleanor Roosevelt: This is My Story New York: Harper & Bros., 1937 On My Own New York: Harper & Bros., 1949 Http://personalweb.smcvt.edu/smahady/ercover.html Lash, Joseph P. : Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers. New York: W.W. Norton, 1971 Lash, Joseph P. : Eleanor Roosevelt: A friend’s Memoir. Garden City, N.Y Lorena Hickok : Eleanor Roosevelt: Reluctan First Lady New York: Dodd, Mead 1962 WWW.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/firstladies/html/ar32.html WWW.geocites.com/collegepark/library/4142/childhood.html Young’s , J. Williams T. : Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal a Public Life Boston: Little, Brown, 1985

Wirk

In the previous seminar that I wasn't able to attend on time, I learned some helpful Information that will be beneficial throughout my semester in this class. All the basics were broken down so clearly by my professor. Such as, what to do when you have a question private and not as private. If the question is private you can just simply e-mail the professor and he will get back to you within a twenty-four time period. Also, for the questions that aren't as private you can Just simply post It In the discussion board, therefore your fellow classmates can help you with your problems.As stated by my professor we are all In this together. Furthermore, I was taught how to maneuver my way around the online page. For Instance, how to submit work In the drop. You Just have to go to the drop tab and go to submit assignment and then browse. After browsing for your assignment you will attach and send. This way your work will be there In time for grading. In Dalton, It Is stated to never delete y our saved assignment due to a disruption while It Is being graded. If you don't save it and it is told to you it's not submitted then you will have to do the assignment all ever.Moreover, I learned the many different ways getting to know my classmates. The discussion board is a very good source of that because, you can have discussions of different facts and opinions. Also, sometimes even provide more details from what you have studied or researched on. Another way to connect with your peers is to just e-mail them to get information correctly, get to know them better and even meet. Even though I never e-mailed anyone I am still comfortable in knowing their views on certain things.All in all I believe the seminar is a good way to know what you are up against for that following week. An hour a week on a specific day is not bad at all. Also, you can be active while being a part of it. Asking several questions and who knows your classmates can sometimes answer the question as well as th e professor can. It is actually a good way to do this class instead of being in class bored and with little or no input at all. Wire By Momentarily 7 information that will be beneficial throughout my semester in this class. All the have a question private and not as private.If the question is private you can Just period. Also, for the questions that aren't as private you can Just simply post it in the As stated by my professor we are all in this together. Furthermore, I was taught how to maneuver my way around the online page. For instance, how to submit work in the your work will be there in time for grading. In addition, it is stated to never delete your saved assignment due to a disruption while it is being graded.