Unit 1 Discussion Board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Unit 1 Discussion Board - Essay Example Based on recent statistics, for instance, the national health care expenditure amounted to $1,299.5 billion. (Patel, Rushefsky & McFarlane 2005, p. 7) However, the situation today is far from the ideal and that many criticisms were voiced in regard to the decline of the entire public health system. Despite the current extensive coverage by the federal government in many aspects of health care, many programs have failed (such as the short-lived Clinton health care reform) and the national health care performance continues to deteriorate. The argument is that financing is not the problematic area; instead, the problems include the unbalanced appropriation of the funds as well as the inefficient public health infrastructure brought about by organizational turmoil and fractionalized interest. These dilemmas are consequences of a politicized health care system, wherein politicians decide populist policies in order to be elected. According to a report made by the Institute of Medicine in 1988, many health departments suffer problems of health care delivery, financing and quality of personal health services. It cited that public health services have fallen into disarray while the ability of the public health system to take effective actions to deal with continuing and emerging public health threats is questionable. A later report – one that has been published in 2002 - concluded that not a great deal has changed since the previous report, stressing that public health law at all levels of government is outdated and internally inconsistent creating inefficiency and lack of coordination. These developments underscore the role that the political system in the US plays in the public health system of the nation. To illustrate: Instead of prioritizing the goals and objectives of an existing health care program, new directions and policies would be introduced because the tide of public opinion as reflected in the polls

Runology in Scandinavia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Runology in Scandinavia - Essay Example This alphabet uses only sixteen runes, and in many cases one symbol is used to represent many sounds. Even when dealing with the Younger Futhark, there are several related but slightly different alphabets that vary by place and time. These can be roughly divided into two main types: the first is the "long-branch" or normal Younger Futhark, which are sometimes referred to as the "Danish runes". There is also a variant known as the "short-twig runes" in which the forms are simpler, also called the "Norwegian-Swedish runes". "Shorthand" versions of these futharks appeared, as did hybrid variants. What exact form was used depended on exactly what date one is looking at, and what region. By the Middle Ages, as the language changed and so did the runic alphabet. Gradually symbols were changed, and new symbols adopted, resulting in a 16-rune alphabet plus extensions. Most of the surviving Viking Age runic inscriptions come from rune-stones, which were erected as grave markers, memorials, and cenotaphs most often. By the middle ages in Scandinavia, runes came to be used occasionally to record Latin inscriptions (approximately 10% of all medieval runic inscriptions are Latin) and these usually invocations of saints or prayers. Occasionally runes are found on various wooden items such as crosses. In Bergen, Norway, 110 "ownership tags" have been found, shaped in many cases so that they can be easily attached to goods or merchandise. Several runic "business memos" have also been discovered in Bergen, usually on a wooden stick which has been whittled flat on at least one side, with the most usual type having four flat sides for inscription. Since the runes occurred in a fixed order, carpenters and construction workers used them to label wooden roof beams for churches so that they went up in the correct order. The oldest runes discovered in Norway date from 400 AD. They were based upon the 24 - rune Elder Futhark of Germanic origin. Two of the runes in the Elder Futhark, Pertra and Eoh, have never been found in any Norwegian rune text. From 550 AD to 700 AD there was a transition period between the older 24-rune Futhark and the newer 16-rune Futharks. By the end of this period, the 24-rune Futhark went completely out of use and the 16-rune Futharks had prevailed. Then, about 900 AD, the Shorttwiggs-runes were introduced from Sweden. Shortly thereafter, from 1000 AD, Futharks with more than 16 runes became more prevalent, as these were more consistent with the Latin alphabet. These types of runes were used in Norway up to 1800 AD. After the end of the Viking period the runes became more and more in common use by ordinary people. A lot of rune inscriptions from the end of 1100's, 1200's and 1300's, the so-called town runes, show that it was not only the professional scribes who wrote runes. Even the ordinary people had learned the art of reading and writing runes because runes were the most accessible tool for them and were useful in their mercantile trading. "Training sticks" have been found which were used to learn runes, showing that more people could write and read than one had previously believed. It is interesting that knowledge of runes

Argumentative Structure in A Long Way Gone and Sizwe's Test - A Essay

Argumentative Structure in A Long Way Gone and Sizwe's Test - A Comparative Study - Essay Example More importantly each of them have revealed an as yet undiscovered face to the causes that they explore – adding significantly to our understanding of them and their potency. The purpose of this paper is to discern the argumentative structure in either narration and to provide a comparative study based on specific examples from either. Very often, such a study in itself can be very fruitful towards understanding the works better as a pivotal change in narration, a particular emphasis on a style of argument that permeates a given work, or certain paragraph that stand out clearly in it’s narration as opposed to the rest of the text, add significantly to the depth of the work and subconsciously affects the reader’s enjoyment adding or subtracting from it as the case maybe. Before we proceed to the core of our discussion, it would be advisable to consider both works separately and understand the gist of their argument, as this would be important for understanding why a particular work has adopted a particular point of narration. A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, written by Ishmael Beah, published in 2007, is an autobiographical account of the plight of boy soldiers in world’s conflicts and in particular tell this story from the war ravaged Sierra Leone. ... He presents his story in front of the United Nations where he meets many other people like him and story carries him to the United States where he begins a new life 2. The story tells the hardship of the life of boy soldiers, children who anywhere else in the world are still in the innocence of their childhood and hands that carry books haven’t yet the crassness of a knife. Sierra Leone opens before us in wonderful detail, with the layers of it’s social interaction being visible in greater strides finally dissolving into a medley of social interactions that we all can identify and relate to. Sizwe’s Test by Jonny Steinberg, published in 2008, tells the story of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. No other country perhaps has been at the peril of this scourge as perhaps South Africa where one in eight men are HIV positive1. Steinberg is puzzled that despite this, most people do not get tested for HIV, nor do they adopt widespread safe sex practices. His story tells us the complex socio – economic realities in the suburban slum of Lusikisiki, thorugh the eyes of Sizwe – a local shop owner 3. The story begins and then proceeds at a casual tone of narration, getting the reader to the characters and the environment in which they live. Then they reveal in wider and ever expanding circles the layers of this semi-urban community and finally tells us why the people are so stigmatized about HIV. Sizwe has had unprotected sex with many women and is at great risk himself, but he refuses to get tested. He becomes the window through which Steinberg narrates the tale of Lusikisiki. The absolute lack of privacy, the fear of being shown as

The causes of the civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The causes of the civil war - Essay Example In the South, slavery was becoming an outdated method of agricultural production as industrialization was taking hold. Similar economies in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe had already abandon the practice of slavery and there was no reason to believe that the US would not soon follow. However, by 1860 events and policies enacted since the nations birth had moved the US to the brink of civil war. If slavery was not really at the heart of Americas motivation for going to war, then what were the reasons? The reasons why nations go to war are usually various and complicated, and the American Civil War is not an exception. Although the main reason which provoked the two sides in the Civil war was slavery, three different aspects of the impact of slavery were at the center of the disagreements. These aspects are political, economic, and social. Slavery was certainly a moral issue in regards to the Civil War and was always a contributing influence to the multiple causes of war. Since Americas inception its leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson, well understood that slavery must soon be abolished. In an 1805 letter to William Burwell, Jefferson wrote, "The value of the slave is every day lessening; his burden on his master daily increasing. Interest is therefore preparing the disposition to be just; and this will be goaded from time to time by the insurrectionary spirit of the slaves".1 However, the founding fathers failed to include slavery in the original documents. In addition, the Federation was designed as a weak federal government with significant states rights. States rights, a central issue of the Civil War, had been heavily debated since the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation, the first US Constitution, confirmed that the Federal government should be weak and the states should retain their individual po wer.2 The need to abolish slavery, and the weak federal system helped perpetuate the issue towards ultimate war. The conflicting goals

Bussiness ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bussiness ethics - Research Paper Example a type of moral relativism. Likewise, a further level of distance will be sought from the point of view that morality is ultimately immutable and constant; i.e. a type of moral absolutism. In this way, a type of combination approach in which some aspects of ethics and morality are unchanging and others are informed as a result of the situation and the times; i.e. a type of moral objectivism. For purposes of this response, normative morality will be considered as the ethical action and descriptive morality will be defined as the way in which morality and ethics are understood within the constraints of individual beliefs. a. Businesses can have ethical standards, but Businesses are not moral agents. Do you agree or disagree? With regards to businesses not being moral agents, this is a statement that this author patently disagrees with. A moral agent is merely an entity that through proper application of moral behavior and ethical decisions is able to project these forces onto the envir onment within which they ultimately interact or operate within. As such, a business has the strong possibility, even perhaps the requirement, of being a moral agent within the community and/or environment within which they operate. b. Is it true that the â€Å"bottom line† of business is profit and profit alone? Likewise, with respect to the statement above, it is the belief of this author, supported by the proof of many unethical businesses that have risen and fallen within the past, that the ultimate bottom line cannot entirely rest upon profitability. The fact of the matter is that the entropy of the business world means that firms must continually fight not only for profits but for market share and customers within the system. As such, seeking to focus upon a bottom line that only cares about profit will necessarily yield to a failed business due to the fact that ethics, morality, and other key human and social concerns will not be considered; thereby ultimately affecting the performance of the firm and/or the way it is viewed within the marketplace. c. In business, are there other less tangible goals that are intrinsic to and just as important as making money? The intangible goals such as providing humane and ethical conditions of employment as well as the end product or service to the customer is more important if not more than the intrinsic goal of making money. In the short term, such a plan may work to provide a level of business continuation; however, the other aspects of a business model or plan will ultimately make or break the longevity of the firm/enterprise/organization. d. Why should we be moral as individuals? Ultimately, morality as an individual comes down to seeking to maximize the good that exists in the world. Although making moral decisions can oftentimes be difficult, a moral choice is the one that best upholds the needs of the individual as well as the needs of greater society. In this way, seeking to behave in an ethically resp onsible manner as well as morally will ensure that the greater good within each and every situation is attempted to be maximized. Rather than merely seeking to further our own ends (i.e. a type of utilitarianism), the ultimate goal should be to further our ow

Alexandria Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alexandria - Research Paper Example To add to this, they had no navigation tools and only used stars and eyesight for knowing directions. The light house thus formed a major point of showing directions to travellers in the region during both the day and the night (Stokes 67). Sostracus was a Greek architect from Asia in a minor city of Cnidus (Hamilton 21). During the construction, he wanted to put the king’s name alongside his name on the great art of the light house but his request was not granted by the pharaoh at the time, Ptolemy. Sostracus then decided to play a trick on the king by first carving his own carving bearing his name a task which he did with a lot of artistic design. He then made the kings carving which was made from mere plaster (Hamilton 29). With time the plaster washed away and left only his own carving which reads ‘Sostratos of Cnidus, son of Dexiphanes, to the savior gods, for sailors’. This is a show of how creative Sostracus was with his artistic designs. He had skills to e nable him do anything. This essay thus tries to analyze and discuss all the artistic styles and symbolism he used as an artist. It gives why he chose to use the specific artistic styles and their symbolism in the work (Stokes 77). The light house was built on a very large space. ... This is evident from the fact that with time the name lighthouse started to represent the name pharos. Travellers now referred to pharaoh as the light house. The large base area of the light house showed the stability of the king’s council and the large army he had for security purposes. It also shows the stability of the trade he was conducting at the city. The light house was built to enable guide traders to the Alexandria city for trade purposes. Being huge was also a representation of the massive trade and money at the place. This thus attracted a lot of people at the place. The lighthouse was also very tall (Doak 85). Being tall was a representation of how far their power can go. Their power included monetary value and the fierce army they had (Stokes 55). Considering the material used in the building of the light house; white marble. It is a representation of the peaceful nature of the country. Being white shows that the trade transacted at the place was blameless and wi thout deceit and lies (Bowman 21). It was also a representation of the good leadership of Egypt by the pharos. Marble is also seen to be very hard. This is seen to be a representation of the powerful and strong governance of Egypt. It shows that the security and protection state of the city and Egypt in general is up to date and no invasion can manage to bring it down. The smooth nature of marble is a representation of the peaceful nature of Egypt and Alexandria as a trading venue. It shows that the inhabitants of Egypt and the leaders do not have ill plans to the visitors and the traders to the place (Bowman 29). The third piece of the light house was mainly build using limestone.

Bussiness ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bussiness ethics - Research Paper Example a type of moral relativism. Likewise, a further level of distance will be sought from the point of view that morality is ultimately immutable and constant; i.e. a type of moral absolutism. In this way, a type of combination approach in which some aspects of ethics and morality are unchanging and others are informed as a result of the situation and the times; i.e. a type of moral objectivism. For purposes of this response, normative morality will be considered as the ethical action and descriptive morality will be defined as the way in which morality and ethics are understood within the constraints of individual beliefs. a. Businesses can have ethical standards, but Businesses are not moral agents. Do you agree or disagree? With regards to businesses not being moral agents, this is a statement that this author patently disagrees with. A moral agent is merely an entity that through proper application of moral behavior and ethical decisions is able to project these forces onto the envir onment within which they ultimately interact or operate within. As such, a business has the strong possibility, even perhaps the requirement, of being a moral agent within the community and/or environment within which they operate. b. Is it true that the â€Å"bottom line† of business is profit and profit alone? Likewise, with respect to the statement above, it is the belief of this author, supported by the proof of many unethical businesses that have risen and fallen within the past, that the ultimate bottom line cannot entirely rest upon profitability. The fact of the matter is that the entropy of the business world means that firms must continually fight not only for profits but for market share and customers within the system. As such, seeking to focus upon a bottom line that only cares about profit will necessarily yield to a failed business due to the fact that ethics, morality, and other key human and social concerns will not be considered; thereby ultimately affecting the performance of the firm and/or the way it is viewed within the marketplace. c. In business, are there other less tangible goals that are intrinsic to and just as important as making money? The intangible goals such as providing humane and ethical conditions of employment as well as the end product or service to the customer is more important if not more than the intrinsic goal of making money. In the short term, such a plan may work to provide a level of business continuation; however, the other aspects of a business model or plan will ultimately make or break the longevity of the firm/enterprise/organization. d. Why should we be moral as individuals? Ultimately, morality as an individual comes down to seeking to maximize the good that exists in the world. Although making moral decisions can oftentimes be difficult, a moral choice is the one that best upholds the needs of the individual as well as the needs of greater society. In this way, seeking to behave in an ethically resp onsible manner as well as morally will ensure that the greater good within each and every situation is attempted to be maximized. Rather than merely seeking to further our own ends (i.e. a type of utilitarianism), the ultimate goal should be to further our ow