Civ

Civ Constitutional Parliamentary monarchy and absolutism are two styles of government which came about in England and France respectively. However, who can say which one form of government is better or worse? John Locke's idea on government is that "political power is the power, which every man having in the state of nature, has given up into the hands of society, and therein to the governors, whom society hath set over itself . . . "(Locke) Bossuet, on the other hand, says that power is given from the grace of God. The ruler, or person with the power, is the minister of God. The role that religion has in government now is very clear, There is a separation between the two. From the middle ages until recently religion had been a very strongly involved in government. In both England's constitutional parliamentary monarchy and in France's absolute monarchy religion played a big part in the government.Law was an ardent disciple of John Locke.The situations in France and England were much the same in that religion was controlling the government. In France, the Catholics and Henry II disliked the French Protestants. This continued with Henry II's kin. This hatred of the Protestants led up to the Saint Bartholomew's Massacre of August 24th 1572, where 3000 Huguenots were killed. Henry IV was made head of the Catholic Church in France, which still had a major influence in the decision of whom became king. With French Absolutism, the king is, appointed by God to rule over the kingdom as God would if He was here. Everything that the king does is done because God would have wanted it that way. To question the king's/queen's judgements or ideas would be to question God. "It was seen as a perfect form of government, the consolidation of power in the hands of the divinely...

Ole Kirk Christiansen and the History of LEGO

Ole Kirk Christiansen and the History of LEGO Hailed as the â€Å"Toy of the Century,† the plastic Lego bricks that make up the Lego System of Play were invented by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter, and his son, Godtfred Kirk. From these small interlocking bricks, which can be connected to assemble an infinite number of designs, Lego has evolved into a huge worldwide enterprise that makes toys and movies and runs theme parks. But before all that, Lego began as a carpentry business in the village of Billund, Denmark in 1932. Although he initially made stepladders and ironing boards, wooden toys became Christiansen’s most successful product. The company adopted the name LEGO in 1934. LEGO is formed from the Danish words LEg GOdt meaning play well. Fittingly enough, the company later learned that in Latin, lego means I put together. In 1947, the LEGO company was the first in Denmark to use a plastic injection molding machine for making toys. This allowed the company to manufacture Automatic Binding Bricks, created in 1949. These larger bricks, sold only in Denmark, deployed the stud-and-tube coupling system that was the forerunner of the Lego bricks the world has come to know.   Five years later, in 1954, the redesigned components were renamed LEGO Mursten or LEGO Bricks and the word LEGO was officially registered as a trademark in Denmark, positioning the company to launch the LEGO System of Play with 28 sets and 8 vehicles. The current LEGO stud-and-tube coupling system was patented in 1958 (Design Patent #92683). The new coupling principle made models much more stable. Today Lego is one of the biggest and most profitable toy companies in the world, with little sign of slowing down. And the LEGO brand has gone well beyond plastic toys: dozens of video games based on LEGO have been released, and in 2014 debuted to critical acclaim.

Strategic Positioning of Southwest Airlines Assignment - 1

Strategic Positioning of Southwest Airlines - Assignment Example The world of the 21st century presents a global scenario which is powered by rapid change, ever-evolving business environment and high productivity of the masses.   The fast evolution and penetration of the internet in various corners of the globe along with the speedy acceptance of various kinds of sophisticated technological gadgets by the global masses has brought in a tremendous change in the nature and means of communication all over the world. The highly advanced level of development along the lines of communication has transformed the planet Earth into a single and highly connected entity. It is important to mention the fact that because of tremendous connectivity, the spreading and diffusion of various kinds of global trends which are emerging in various advanced and established markets are happening at a much faster rate. The fast diffusion of global trends is creating a steady demand among the consumers located in various parts of the world, which is automatically paving the way for the emergence of many new markets from various corners of the world. While studying the trend of emergence of new markets, it has been realized that majority of the new markets are emerging from young and growing economies, which are spread all over the world. Trend analysis and subsequent research have pointed out the fact that the new markets that are emerging from the developing economies will be the center point of future growth. As a result, there has been a growing trend which highlighted the fact that the businesses organizations, that are located in both the developing as well as developed economies are aggressively trying to enter into many new markets for the purpose of generating significant competitive advantage as well as solidify their future growth prospects.  

Local and Surrounding Ecologies and Environment Essay

Local and Surrounding Ecologies and Environment - Essay Example There is a marked difference between the â€Å"built† environment and the â€Å"natural† environment, because the perception of the natural environment is prominent by its varied workings that consist of total environmental and biological groups with specific functions, which includes all plant life, flora, undergrowth, foliage and shrubbery, bacteria microbes, germs and soil, rocks, atmosphere and all non-artificial events in the physical sense that are not produced by humans, although they effect humans. Also included in the environment are general natural resources and natural phenomena that cannot be mapped and have no geographical limits such as air, water and climate and manmade resources or originating from manmade activities such as energy, radiation, electrical charges and magnetism. ... tropical rain forest or desert. The world's lakes and oceans may also be considered biomes, although they are less susceptible to climatic influences than terrestrial biomes. Other factors could be related to, living, or occurring in the waters of the ocean or the open sea as opposed to near the shore such as bird populations, and other deep sea or shallow marine, evergreen forests, deciduous forests, steppes, and grasslands. Also equally important is the factor that fills the various places in the local ecosystem. The ecosystem consists of all the physical and free living systems that describe the physical and chemical aspects of organism environments. Human activities that affect local ecosystems: Human activities that have greatly damaged the ecosystem is the junk discarded from homes and factories which causes the most pollution, has resulted in the loss of habitat and produced acid rain which has in effect resulted in the deprivation of the ecosystem. Urban development of farmla nds for mass agriculture has replaced grasslands with crops that are consumed mostly by humans. Space for crops has been made by chopping down and burning forets, and lumber supplying trees have been cut without letup to feed the growing demand for lumber and other wood products. The flow of rivers, streams and waterways are diverted for use on agricultural lands and for other human requirements in cities and towns. Humans have depleted the amounts of fish in the oceans, seas and rivers by mechanical fishing without giving the fish the time to rebreed and produce thereby severely depleting existing reserves. Every type of human conveniences such as cars, generators etc. use fossil fuel that has caused global warming, acid

Existence of God Argumentative Paper Essay Example for Free

Existence of God Argumentative Paper Essay There are many different types of arguments for the existence of God. With each argument there is a conception presented of God. For each argument there are different approaches. I will be focusing on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments. Teleological Arguments are known to be arguments from divine, arguing from order in the universe to the existence of God (1).With the ordering of the universe, created by an intelligent being, they hold that it is ordered towards a purpose or an end. The Cosmological Argument â€Å"is the argument that the existence of the world or universe is strong evidence for the existence of a God who created it. It is a first caused argument where the existence of the universe, the argument claims, stands in need of explanation, and the only adequate explanation of its existence is that it was created by God† (1). Behind this argument, it holds that though the universe still needs explanation for its existence, the existence of God Himself does not. In the article McCloskey is critical of these arguments for God’s existence supporting his stance by offering the problem of evil as reasoning to not believe. He believes the belief in the existence of God is not a source of strength and security (2). However, if we are to use the Cumulative Case approach we can have successive truths. This case cumulates the Cosmological, Teleological, as well as, the Moral Arguments together. It gives us the conclusion of a personal, moral, intelligent creator of the universe as the best explanation for the universe we experience (3). McCloskey maintains that the Teleological Argument is not satisfactory and that it can be rejected simply by rejecting its premise. The premise holds that there is in fact evidence of purpose and design. McCloskey says though, that there were many things that were considered evidence or proof, prior to evolution, but those very things are now not being considered as so. Thus, in order to be a proof, there has to be given indisputable examples. Given that the Teleological Argument, presenting disputable examples, says McCloskey, there is no proof. There can be no form of argument with evidence of an intellectual design and/or designer. I would have to argue with McCloskey by using the â€Å"fine-tuning argument.† Within the universe is nothing short of precision, not only of natural laws, but the beginning stages and state of the universe. These both are pointers to an intelligent Creator. The universe is finely-tuned maintaining physical constants of nature (5).The strength of gravity should be considered. With the occurrence of the Big Bang. The gravity had to have precision because even with a little more force used on either side, it would not have occurred as the Big Bang, but the Big Crunch. Even with the slightest change in gravity, it could change the world into something completely other than what we know. That which is being offered as evidenced cannot be questioned. If we were to give to evolution as truth, there is still no grounds for believing it is true. It does nothing but in the end support the theist position, and shows that evolution needs teleology. McCloskey’s main objection to theism is the presence of evil in the world, â€Å"No being who was perfect could have created a world in which there was unavoidable suffering or in which his creatures would(and in fact could have been created so as not to) engage in morally evil acts, acts which very often result in injury to innocent persons† (1). With this problem on McCloskey’s mind, he holds it to the theists. He still wonders how the theist does not take this to mind seeing that it goes against the perfection of the divine purpose. There can be no grounds in a belief of a perfect being. Even if all reason was thrown out, he says the theist at best could only present a pool of beings full of â€Å"concern, dismay, and anxiety, rather than comfort and security† (1). There is a logical problem of evil and there is logical inconsistency when there is both the existence of God and of evil. The atheist holds that there is severe contradiction between claiming God is good, yet evil exists. Mackie, an atheist, says the contradiction does not arise immediately; to show it we need some additional premisesthese additional principles are that good is opposed to evil, in such a way that a good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can, and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. From these it follows that a good omnipotent thing eliminates evil completely, and then the propositions that a good omnipotent thing exists, and that evil exists, are incompatible(8). There exists two kinds of evil. There is â€Å"human evil,† and â€Å"natural evil† in which atheist claim are both forms of needless suffering. The logical problem of evil claims the â€Å"tension† between simultaneously having evil in the world, while also having a perfect God. This would without a doubt be a logical contradiction according to the atheist. There is also the evidential problem of evil. With this claim, there is not contradiction, but the fact that evil exists, if give grounding evidence for being able to reject that God is all-powerful. It is a weaker version of the former, and claims that it is highly unlikely that an all-perfect God exists. Plantinga responds with trying to defend that it is reasonable to believe in God, even without evidence. His position is kn own as â€Å"Reformed Epistemology†. In order for his view to hold he would have to reject the Evidentialist Credo., which he claims rests on Classical Foundationalism. This led him to his positive view, or â€Å"Reformed Epistemology.† This holds that a belief in God is â€Å"properly basic.†Some object to these claims, saying that evil is logically required for good and is needed for us to see the good. Evil is a means and will cause good. There is given the â€Å"free will† defense that is meant to try and answer the problem of evil. Either this would come about by humans free will resulting in a greater good and that evil is ascribed the humans and not God. However, those who oppose this, bring up the issue of natural evils. Mackie stands his ground that God should have given human beings free will in such a way that we always chose the good. The atheist propose God did not create men to choose between right and wrong, and that God is morally inconsistent. In response, the free will theodicy attempts to defeat the former by claiming the suffering of the innocent is justified because of the existence of free will. We as humans have misused our free will, thus what is known as ‘moral evil.’ Other sufferings from evil come from the natural evils. While McCloskey challenges the free will defense, Plantinga proposes the law of non-contradiction. He argues for there could be logically possible affairs whereby God would be unable of creating a world of both evil and autonomous humans (9). Evans puts it simply, â€Å"It does not seem to be true that a good being always eliminates evil as far as it can. What is true, perhaps, is that good being always eliminates evil as far as it can without the loss of a greater good or the allowance of a worse evil† (1). McCloskey objects to the cosmological argument claiming, â€Å"mere existence of the world constitutes no reason for believing in such a being†(1). There has been great objection to this however because of the fact of contingent objects. God is the â€Å"first cause,† the one who began it all. Because there is not explanation for contingent beings, if God is a necessary being, He is the necessary cause of the existence of creation and we as beings. God has no cause, otherwise He would not be God. It is the very existence of the world that implies the existence of God. The â€Å"laws of nature† imply the existence of a lawgiver, God. This position was held by Aristotle, holding firmly against the possibility of infinite regress. The argument from contingency suggests that it is possible the universe might not have existed, thus needing explanation of why it does in fact exist. In essence, it must have a cause. This leads to the belief in â€Å"necessary being,â⠂¬  meaning a being that needs no explanation. The temporal cosmological argument holds that the beginning of the universe was either caused or uncaused. However, objectors to this say we cannot actually claim whether the universe â€Å"had to exist.† Also, a â€Å"necessary being† comes into question. The refuters say this line of argument does not give enough explanation of why there could not be more than one cause. There is no ground for putting God as the first cause or prime mover. Time and causality as we know it cannot be grounds for explaining the beginnings of the universe. However, those objecting to McCloskey, hold if there were a being like the universe, then he would exist in time, thus he himself came into existence. But, the ultimate cause must not have come into existence. For it to be an ultimate cause, the ultimate Creator must be outside of time. (10).What McCloskey fails to realize, is that not every argument is going to capture every aspect of God. There are many different arguments that go abo ut doing that. If God does not exist, then all has no hope of immortality. Life, the world, and everything in it is meaningless. There would be no purpose or significance to anyone or anything. This leaves us with no ultimate meaning without immorality and God. Would we be able to say there was any purpose or meaning to someone who lived just to die? To be born just to pass out of existence? Lane says that it is not just each individual person that is headed towards the grave, but the universe itself is headed for extinction. This all in all is hopeless. Dying man, in a dying world. If this is the case, the small details in life do not matter, it does not make a difference. Our behaviors, our choices do not matter. Dotoyevsky said â€Å"If there is no immortality then all things are permitted† (11). Without God, there is no accountability, morality, or sense of right and wrong. Even more so, in a universe without God, good and evil do not exist (11). However, if we were to say there were no God, we would still be without purpose because we would just be accidental. We would just be accidents of chance. The only view that can save the human race from itself is a theistic view (11). The only thing going for an atheist is living with the fact of the absurdity of life. Such a view makes it impossible to live a fulfilling, happy life. For the atheist, absurdity of life and creating meaning for one’s life is a contradiction. A major disadvantage of atheism is that no one has hope or faith for reward of good or and punishment of evil. A believer’s hope is this, Christ. Ephesians 3:11 tells us that God had a purpose I mind before He created. Man within his own voluntary will would be able to love and choose God. Nature alone points to God. Humanity and the universe itself does not have to exist. Both are not self-existent but caused. There is no explanation for their existence. Within a Christian world view, life is not meaningless and pointless ending at the grave. We have hope in the resurrection and of eternal life. God and immortality are both necessary for a meaning full life (11). Bibliography 11- Craig, William Lane. The Absurdity of Life without God. In Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, by William Lane Craig, 71-90. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. 1-Evans, C. Stephen, and R. Zachary Manis. Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009. 8- Kunkle,Brett. â€Å"The Logical Problem of Evil.† Truth Never Gets Old. April 21, 2009 2- McCloskey, H. J. On Being an Atheist. Question (1968): 63-69. 5- Biologos. â€Å"What is the â€Å"fine-tuning† of the universe, and how does it serve as a â€Å"pointer to God?† 9- http://kevinfannystevenson.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-being-theist-response-to-h-j.html 10- http://www.existence-of-god.com/first-cause-argument.html

Alcohol Abuse and Native Americans Essay -- Substance Abuse

The impact of various kinds of substances to cultural groups has historically been precipitated by the significance of particular substances on different cultural groups (Moore, 2010).This is mainly because the long term usage of these substances leads to the integration of the consumption of the substance into the cultural patterns of the given group. One such group that has been affected by the extensive usage of a particular substance is the Native American community. According to the Associated Press (2014, August 28), as noted on the MSNBC website, out of ten deaths among the Native American population, one is Alcohol related. Additionally, the prevalence of Alcohol consumption among the Native American population relates to the fact that it’s associated with the various cultural events that define the way of life of Native Americans. Therefore, the focus of this paper shall be on the cultural aspects, effects and prevalence of Alcohol among Native Americans. Par ticularly, the paper shall outline a brief introduction of the Native American culture and the prevalence of Alcohol in this culture; compare the aspects of alcohol abuse between the Native Americans and the African Americans; analyze the particular effects of alcohol in the body; and demonstrate the cultural impact of Alcohol abuse among the Native Americans. The Native American Culture and Alcohol Prevalence Native Americans refer to a Nation of related tribes that form the indigenous peoples of the North American Continent. They form one percent of the United States population where 500 tribes are now recognized by the government (Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, n.d.) The history of the Native Americans stretches beyond the European settleme... ...vation of normal livelihoods. Works Cited Moore Gay (2010, July 25) Native American Alcoholism -- Myths, Reality & Solutions. American Diversity Report. Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (n.d.) Key Results: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Substance Abuse Treatment. Web 2 Feb 2015. http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_results.cfm?KAID=11 The Associated Press (2014, August 28) 1 In 10 Native American Deaths Alcohol Related. Web 2 Feb 2015. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26439767/ns/health-addictions/t/native-american-deaths-alcohol-related/ U.S. National Library of Medicine (2011, November 7) More Than A Third Of Teens Turning To Alcohol, Drugs: Study. Healthday: U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 2 Feb 2015. "http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_118411.html" http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_118411.html

Covent Garden Essay

In this quadrangle the Abbey or Convent of St. Peter, Westminster, maintained a large kitchen garden throughout the Middle Ages to provide its daily food. Over the next three centuries, the monks’ old â€Å"convent garden† became a major source of fruit and vegetables in London and was managed by a succession of leaseholders by grant from the Abbot of Westminster. This type of lease eventually led to property disputes throughout the kingdom, which King Henry VIII solved in 1540 by the stroke of a pen when he dissolved the monasteries and appropriated their land. King Henry VIII granted part of the land to John Russell, Baron Russell, Lord High Admiral, and later Earl of Bedford. In fulfilment of his father’s dying wish, King Edward VI bestowed the remainder of the convent garden in 1547 to his maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset who began building Somerset House on the south side of The Strand the next year. When Seymour was beheaded for treason in 1552, the land once again came into royal gift, and was awarded four months later to one of those who had contributed to Seymour’s downfall. Forty acres (160,000 m? ), known as â€Å"le Covent Garden† plus â€Å"the long acre†, were granted by royal patent in perpetuity to the Earl of Bedford. [edit] 1600s to 1800s The modern-day Covent Garden has its roots in the early seventeenth century when land (â€Å"the Convent’s Garden†) was redeveloped by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford. The area was designed by Inigo Jones, the first and greatest of English Renaissance architects. He was inspired by late 15th Century and early 16th century planned market towns known as bastides (themselves modelled on Roman colonial towns by way of nearby monasteries, of which â€Å"Convent† Garden was one). The area rapidly became a base for market traders, and following the Great Fire of London of 1666 which destroyed ‘rival’ markets towards the east of the city, the market became the most important in the country. Exotic items from around the world were carried on boats up the River Thames and sold on from Covent Garden. The first mention of a Punch and Judy show in Britain was recorded by diarist Samuel Pepys, who saw such a show in the square in May 1662. Today Covent Garden is the only part of London licensed for street entertainment. In 1830 a grand building reminiscent of the Roman baths such as those found in Bath was built to provide a more permanent trading centre. [edit] Modern day period By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion in the surrounding area had reached such a level that the use of the square as a market, which required increasingly large lorries for deliveries and distribution, was becoming unsustainable. The whole area was threatened with complete redevelopment. Following a public outcry, in 1973 the Home Secretary, Robert Carr, gave dozens of buildings around the square listed building status, preventing redevelopment. The following year the market finally moved to a new site (called the New Covent Garden Market) about three miles south-west at Nine Elms. The square languished until its central building re-opened as a shopping centre and tourist attraction in 1980. Today the shops largely sell novelty items. More serious shoppers gravitate to Long Acre, which has a range of clothes shops and boutiques, and Neal Street, noted for its large number of shoe shops. London’s Transport Museum and the rear entrance to the Royal Opera House are also located on the Piazza. The marketplace and Royal Opera House were memorably brought together in the opening of George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, where Professor Higgins is waiting for a cab to take him home from the opera when he comes across Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the market. In the mid 1950s, before he directed such films as If and O Lucky Man, Lindsay Anderson directed a short film about the daily activities of the Covent Garden market called Every Day Except Christmas. It shows 12 hours in the life of the market and market people, now long gone from the area, but it also reflects three centuries of tradition in the operation of the daily fruit and vegetable market. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 film, Frenzy, likewise takes place amongst the pubs and fruit markets of Covent Garden. The serial sex killer in Frenzy is a local fruit vendor, and the film features several blackly comic moments suggesting a metaphorical correlation between the consumption of food and the act of rape-murder. Hitchcock was the son of a Covent Garden merchant and grew up in the area; and so, the film was partly conceived (and marketed) as a semi-nostalgic return to the neighbourhood of the director’s childhood. Supermodel Naomi Campbell was also discovered by a model scout at the age of 15 whilst walking through the streets of Covent Garden.