Air Pollution in Waterford, CA Essay - 1925 Words

Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CA (Essay Sample) Content: Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CAAuthors nameInstitutions name Abstract This paper presents an analysis of air pollution as one of the greatest environmental issues in Waterford, California. The paper shows that individual action is very valuable in environmental conservation. Air pollution is the release of solid air pollutants such as soot and harmful gases into the air. Waterford and other parts of Stanislaus County are affected by air pollution, which is rife in California. In California, thousands of people lose their lives every day because of respiratory diseases associated with air pollution.Air pollution is primarily caused by human activities and results to increased risk of respiratory diseases and cancer. Driving a diesel engine vehicle and burning wood in the fireplace are some of the personal activities that contribute to air pollution in Waterford and California in general. Personal action that reduces the release of harmful gases and particles to the environment is encouraged in an effort to reduce air pollution. Individuals can reduce air pollution by reducing driving, recycling materials, saving energy, and using gas and electricity instead of wood. The state of California has taken several strategic measures to improve air quality in the state and these include zero emission vehicles and use of low-sulfur diesel fuel. Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CA Waterford is one of the largest cities in Stanislaus County in the state of California. The city was established in 1857 as Bakersville but it was incorporated in 1969 and named Waterford. I spent much of my early life in Waterford, CA before joining the army and moving to Hampton, VA. Despite the fact that I still live in Hampton, Waterford has remained the city that I refer to a hometown. Like all other places, Waterford suffers from environmental problems that endanger the lives of its inhabitants. One of the greatest environmental problems in Waterford and the rest of California is air pollution. This problem is associated with an increased risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma and also an increased risk of developing cancer. Air pollution is an environmental problem which is created by human activities primarily in the transport and industrial manufacturing sectors (Hidy, Brook, Demerjian, 2012). The problem can be solved at an individual level, regional level, national level and even at a global level. Each and every person has a role to play in efforts towards environmental conservation and the abatement of environmental degradation through pollution. Despite their wide negative impact, pollution and environmental problems result from environment-unfriendly human activities, and human action is required to solve these issues. Across the globe, there has been a heightened focus on environmental conservation as a response to increasing degradation of the environment and the grave issue of global war ming. The global warming effect of environmental degradation is caused by human activities that as land use and emission of ozone gases from the transport sector and the industrial sector (Jacobson, 2012). Global warming has adverse economic and social effects worldwide. Besides global warming, human activities in the environment increase the risk of diseases and make the earth a dangerous place for man to inhabit. For example, water and air pollution results from the release of harmful wasteinto water catchment areas and the air. The areas that have the highest levels of pollution in the world are associated with the highest risks of cancer and other diseases. Waterford, my hometown is a city inhabited by not more than 10,000 inhabitants. The citys history dates back to the 19th century, when the city was established and named Bakersville after one of the earliest and most influential inhabitants. The city was renamed after it was established that its name was being mistaken with B akersfield, CA, and mail correspondence was henceforth affected. Waterford is located in a county that has hit news headlines in the past for the bad reason of pollution. Stanislaus County has historically had a carbon monoxide index and a particulate matter index higher than the average in the United States. The county, in which Waterford is found, also has a high diesel soot index, a high lead index and high ozone index (American Lung Association, 2011). The American Lung Associations journal article on the air quality titled County air quality one of the worst in the nation explains that though the Stanislaus County has taken great strides towards achievement of a healthy air environment, there is more to be done. The American Lung Association (2011) further explains that the air pollution in the entire state of California claims not only lives but has adverse economic effects because it increases healthcare costs. The article reports that each year, air pollution in California r esults to 19,000 deaths, 9,400 hospital stays and above 300,000 cases respiratory illness such as bronchitis and asthma. The Valley Air organization, through news clippings on the air pollution in the Stanislaus County and the Valley area around Waterford, presents a longitudinal analysis of the extent of air pollution in the county. This analysis explains that in 2011, Stanislaus county was the 12th worst County in particle pollution out of 277 counties and was ranked 14th for ozone layer destruction throughsmog. The county has however made good progress towards reduction of air pollution as the average annual number of harmful days to the ozone has reduced from 43 in 1996 to 19.8 in 2011 (Grossi Holland, 2011).Besides localized health effects in California, air pollution in the Stanislaus County is a contributing factor to global warming. Ozone gases released during various air polluting human activities destroy the ozone layer and increase global warming (Hidy, Brook, Demerjian , 2012). The effects of global warming are felt worldwide through adverse weather events such as floods and hurricanes, adverse economic effects on tourism, and through elevated sea levels. The air pollution that causes deaths, respiratory illnesses and missed working days in Waterford and the rest of Stanislaus County is as a result of human activities that if avoided, the environment would be much safer for human inhabitance. One of the greatest causes of air pollution in Waterford and the rest of California is emission of ozone gases from vehicles. Personally, I have driven through the streets of Waterford in a diesel engine vehicle. Diesel combustion in vehicles releases soot and carbon monoxide gases to the environment.Diesel engines also release lead to the environment and increase the particle index of the air. Particulate matter in air, including soot (carbon particles), lead particles and dust are associated with increased respiratory illnesses. Diesel soot is also associat ed with an increased risk of cancer. As a result of diesel soot emission from others who have driven diesel engine vehicles in Stanislaus, the diesel soot cancer risk in California is higher than the acceptable level. Another way through which I have contributed to polluting air in Waterford and California is through wood burning. Though electric fireplaces have been available for a while, there is a pleasure that comes from the crackling of real wood, and hence people have been using wood instead of electric fireplaces. Burning wood in a fireplace or even acharcoal grill releases carbon gases and carbon particles to the air as soot. Wood burning also increases environmental degradation because it creates market for wood and hence facilitates deforestation, which is a leading cause of global warming. Cessation of the human activities that lead to air pollution can help reduce air pollution significantly. Through this call for action, the president of the American Lung Association ou tlines several practices that individuals can adopt to reduce air pollution in Stanislaus County and make the environment healthier for the population. Reduction in driving will reduce the emission of soot and ozone gases into the air. Reducing wood burning and using gas or electricity for grilling will have similar effects because particulate carbon matter will not be released to the environment. The use of energy-saving fluorescent bulbs instead of light bulbs will conserve electric power and reduce the amount of water used in hydroelectric power product and this will further improve environment conservation through forestation. One of the measures that have been put in place to solve the environmental issue of air pollution is the development of legal structures to deal with the problem. Environment conservation in the United States is under the mandate of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), which is empowered to design and enforce strategies for attaining a healthier enviro nment (Jacobson, 2012). The EPA has an Air Quality Planning Unit whose goal is to protect the Americans right to live in an environment with clean air. The EPA air quality unit operates under the guidance of the Clean Air Act, which requires states to develop plans for air cleaning. In each state, the air cleaning plan should include strategies for air quality improvement including reformulation of gasoline to remove pollutants, strict emission limits for industries and power plants, vehicle inspection and measures to reduce emission of ozone gases during vehicle refueling.The EPA provides oversight on the implementation of air quality improvement strategies in all states. The EPA receives great support from President Obama, whose primary presidential goals include the achievement of a healthie...

Molar Definition in Chemistry (Unit)

Molar refers to the unit of concentration molarity, which is equal to the number of moles per liter of a solution. In chemistry, the term most often refers to molar concentration of a solute in a solution. Molar concentration has the units mol/L or M.Molar also refers to other measurements dealing with moles such as molar mass, molar heat capacity and molar volume. Example A 6 molar (6 M) solution of H2SO4 refers to a solution with six moles of sulfuric acid per liter of solution. Remember, the volume refers to liters of solution, not liters of water added to prepare the solution. Sources Tro, Nivaldo J. (2014). Introductory Chemistry Essentials (5th ed.). Pearson. Boston. ISBN 9780321919052.

What Influences Have Made Me the Person I Am Today

What influences have made me the person I am? It was a Tuesday afternoon and I was just getting to my psychology class and as usual I was chit chatting with my neighbors in class, Cpl Christie and Fausnight about the things that each of us did this weekend. Just when I had finished talking to Kara (Fausnight) about her weekend our psychology teacher Dr. Douglas walks in. As she is walking in I in my peppy self- personality ask how her weekend went. Dr. Douglas then proceeded to tell me that it was none of my businessÂ…Â….maybe she was having a bad day or was really stressed out or maybe in fact it was none of my business. She also told me that there was a certain thing called boundaries and that I needed to find out what that was. I†¦show more content†¦But like I mentioned before Ive always been ahead of the power curve. So when my teachers told me that I would be placed on a special schedule by going to the 2nd grade for half the day and learn English and language arts and then go to the 3rd grade the other hal f of the day and learn math and science I didnt feel all that scared. Which brings us to the next stage, elementary school. In the elementary school stage a person faces the issues of competence versus inferiority. In my case I already knew I was smart. So as far as myself feeling competent about myself, I knew I could do it or id find a way to get it done. But one thing that I did struggle with was where I fit in. I was more advanced than my friends in the second grade as far as my math and science, and got to go to 3rd grade where I could be challenged. But since I only went for half of the day I sort of felt like and outsider even though I was friends with both groups. This dilemma carried through till I got out in fifth grade. After I went on to junior high I began to hang out with friends that were older than my self so I was introduced to things a little bit earlier than most adolescents are. But hanging out with older people also pushed me into the Adolescent stage of Erickso ns theory. In this stage adolescents deal with the issues of finding a role or a sense of self or identity. They usually look up to other people and draw from them what characteristics that they like or even adopt a wholeShow MoreRelatedLiterary Narrative: What Makes Me the Writer I Am Today770 Words   |  4 Pagesbeen easy for me. For most of my life I have tried to avoid it if I can, but of course I cant avoid stuff like school forever. So for the most part all of my writing has been forced upon me. Even with the help of teachers and some helpful hints from the internet, it never got easier. But obviously I have written before and like anyone else who has written before, there must have been some sort of influence. My main influences were the books I have read, my teachers who have helped me throughout theRead MorePsychology And The Different Things Involved With It926 Words   |  4 Pagessemester in I have learned about psychology and the different things involved with it. In our class we covered nine different chapters ranging from research about psychology to who we are as a person. Are you may be wondering what psychology exactly is? Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology is a science. Like other scientists, psychologists seek to explain and control behavior and mental processes and test their ideas through research methods. In this paper I will coverRead MoreSocial Class, Race, And Gender1436 Words   |  6 Pagesclass, likes, dislikes, and many more. I however, am a white, Christian female whose family settles in the middle class. Being a white middle-class female gives me many advantages as well as disadvantages, and I see the world differently then the person that might be sitting next to me because of these influences. Also, these influences determine my social stratification and where I ranked as an individual. Social class, race, and gender are three influences that help identify individuals and shapeRead MorePer sonal Statement : My Personal Leadership Plan1189 Words   |  5 Pagessemester, I always looked at my classes’ syllabus to see what the final is. That, after all, is my final goal and what I am working towards to prepare for by the very end. So when I read the â€Å"Personal Leadership plan† I was intrigued by it and couldn’t wait until we got to it. And now we’re finally at the end, and I finally get to read and share what it’s all about. I think that God is the first clear-cut person who has helped influence the development of my character. Without him, I wouldn’t beRead MoreInfluence Of Family Culture And Their Influence On Family, Culture, And Environment873 Words   |  4 PagesResearch has shown that a person is shaped by the influence of their family, their culture, and their environment. As far as I could remember my parents have always been there for me, always by my side cheering me on. I am lucky to have such wonderful parents because if it weren’t for their influence, I would not be the person that I am today. My father had a rough childhood growing up in New York. His family was poor and my grandmother was not very supportive, yet despite his living conditionsRead MoreI Am A College Student1616 Words   |  7 PagesWith so many ways to describe who I am, I think I will start off with the basics. I am a college student that attends Drake University. I would identify myself as hard-working, responsible, and persistent. At the beginning of the term, I identified myself as how I felt in the moment with answers such as tired, hungry, and bored. Yes, those were traits I identified myself within the moment, but now I try to look far and beyond the present. I want to identify myself as someone who strives to achieveRead MoreThe Ideas Of Hobbes And Locke1128 Wor ds   |  5 PagesThroughout this course, we have examined many different concepts and ideals. Overarching all of these were the three Big Questions: â€Å"Who am I? What can I know? Based on what I know, how should I act?† These answers to these questions can be reached in many different ways from many different points of view. The documents we examined in this course answer the questions in different ways, and many of them have helped me come to a cumulative understanding of the answers to them. As far as an answerRead MoreSocial Class, Religion, Gender And Many Others876 Words   |  4 PagesEvery person on this earth has an individual human experience shaped by the larger social forces of race, social class, religion, gender and many others. I am very lucky to have had the experience I’ve had so far, growing up in a loving home with very supportive parents and living in a wealthy town with a good education system. All of these aspects, along with many others, have influenced my beliefs, as well as how I have gotten to where I am today and who I have become. To the eye, I am a whiteRead MoreThankful For My Grandfather Essay819 Words   |  4 Pageswith me today, he had such a positive influence. If someone were to ask me who I would be thankful for, I would say my grandfather, my parents, and the gifts God has given me. We want to be thankful for what we have, because most people in the world don ´t have the pleasures we have especially having someone care about you. I think the most important things I have today are my grandparents, my parents, and the great school I go to. I am thankful for my grandfather because of the great influence thatRead MoreBuilding A Better Me?1210 Words   |  5 PagesBuilding a Better Me Growing up is like building a house. First, you need a strong foundation to ensure that the rest of your house will be stable. Next, the structure is needed to get the initial shape of the house. Once the exterior is finished, you can decorate the inside to your liking. In my world, my family is my foundation. They were the first people I grew close to and probably the only ones I will always stay close to. The structure of the house is made up of my teachers because they were

Second National Seminar and Fair †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Second National Seminar and Fair. Answer: Introduction The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal is a small landlocked country wedged between the two countries, India and China. Nepal is claimed to be a magical land. The beauty of the Himalayas is of mythical quality and adds a surreal and heavenly feel about this country. Nepal is a land of different climates. The variance in climate from tropical to arctic provides an ecological niche which is suitable for different varieties of plant and animal species. The biodiversity of this land has lead to the evolution of many unique life forms. The government of Nepal has not been able to do much for the highland communities of the country. These communities, mainly comprising ethnic Tibetans have never drawn direct benefits from the development projects of the state. For the past few decades, they have however found a means of making huge economic gains. These economic rewards could be made possible due to a single lucrative resource known as yarsagumba (Childs, 2014). Yarsagumba is an endemic herb of the Himalayan valleys (Winkler 2008a). The Latin name of this insect parasite is cordyceps sinesis which in the Tibetan language literally means summer plant and winter insect. Now before the beginning of the rainy season, spores of the fungus (cordyceps mushroom) parasitizes the earth-dwelling caterpillars. The fungus then mummifies the bodies of the caterpillars to form an insect parasite, a fungus-caterpillar sort of complex which is used as a unique herb, mainly for medicinal purpose. There are many types of medicinal plants and herbs found in the Nepal region, but the most famous of them is Yarsagumba. This herb has a long history of medicinal use in the Tibetan and Chinese culture. The trade in Yarsagumba has witnessed an unprecedented rise in the last decade or two and today it is regarded as a life saving tonic. It has got several usages, from treating headache, toothache, to strengthening kidneys and lungs; this herb is used not only in clini cal medicine but also as household remedy. But its most publicized use is as an antidote to sexual impotency, so much so that it is commonly called the Himalayan Herbal Viagra. Yarsagumba is an extremely scarce resource. It is available at high altitudes of around 3300-4000 m. It grows in Nepal, mainly in the districts of Dolpa, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Manang, Baglung, Mustang and Rasuwa above the snowlines. Today, Yarsagumba is the most expensive medicinal herb, with an exorbitant price of $22,187 per kg (as of 2014). Around 2500 kg of this insect parasite is collected and traded every year. Half of this annual supply comes from the district of Dolpa in western Nepal. A daily estimate of $35 has been made regarding the maximum possible earning that a villager can make by trading yarsagumba. The truth is this daily amount is higher than the monthly income of many households in Nepal. This is the reason that the villagers in those regions take a lot of risks to climb up the mountains and look for the caterpillar-fungus. The months of May and June serve as the prime time when villagers from the remotest areas make their way to the highlands in the Himalayan region of Nepal in search of this Yellow Living Gold. It was illegal to collect yarsagumba until 2001. But with the growing popularity of this tonic and after constant lobbying by different organizations, the ban was lifted. A royalty rate of US$ 280 per kilogram (2.2lbs) was imposed instead. The price of the rare mushroom was U$ 5/6 per kilogram in 1992. By the year 2002, this price increased to US$ 1435 per kilo. The continuous demand in the international market and the growing international interest in this rare half-caterpillar-half-fungus made its price in 2014 shoot up to US$ 22,187 per kilo. Nepal does not involve in the cultivation of Yarsagumba. The people of Nepal are still unaware of the exact method of cultivating Yarsagumba. China and Korea have done a lot of research on the cultivation of this rare and high valued resource. Given the increasing demand of this highly expensive medicinal herb, many organizations and individuals are working in this area of study. The Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences was successful in isolating the commercial strains of the fungus, Cordyceps for the first time in 1982. This strain was named CS- 4. During the whole of the 1980s this new strain was developed into a mycelium and a lot of clinical trials and human testing was done. All this lead to the start of commercial production of Yarsagumba in China under the name of Jin Shui Bao capsules. A wide range of population was encouraged to use it as a clinical trial in order to establish its chemical composition, therapeutic activity, toxicity and many othe r facts. This herb is a source of livelihood in the rural areas of Nepal and every year close to 69000 collectors assemble in that region (Devkota, 2010). In Nepal, Dolpa district has been a pioneer of C. sinensis collection and trade since a very long time. It has been reported that the collection of Cordyceps sinensis started from 1987 in Dolpa (Gupta, 2017). The local people of this district and also the surrounding districts mainly involve in agricultural activities. But in the May-June season of harvest of Cordyceps sinensis, all the other activities become secondary means of livelihood and the main source of earning for the villagers and the local herders is the collection of this herb. Hardly a quarter of the total population inhabits the villages during this season. Threats and Management strategies An increasing concern has been the number of threats, mostly of anthropogenic nature that surround the biodiversity of this ecological niche region of Nepal. As stated, these threats are mostly a direct or indirect result of human activities. Excessive grazing of animals, overuse of fuel woods, unrestricted collection of herbs and other medicinal plants and other such activities all lead to habitat alterations. The medicinal plants of this region are a major source of livelihood for the rural areas of Nepal, and the Government should give topmost priority to the maintenance of these pastures. All possible steps should be taken to maintain the ecological balance of these regions and a healthy environment should be maintained which is conducive for the sustainable development of all the flora and fauna of these regions. The harvesting strategies should also be sustainable. Haphazard and unrestricted collection should never be allowed. Illegal hunting practices have become very common i n these pastoral zones. Such practices can cause an unbalance in the ecosystems and can prove to be major threats to faunal biodiversity. Of late, the importance and the need to protect the indigenous knowledge and local techniques is coming to the international forefront. A deep understanding of the natural distribution, the population structure is of grave importance and is highly crucial (Devkota, 2006). References Winkler, D. (2008). Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibets Rural Economy.Economic Botany, 62(3), pp.291-305. Winkler, D. (2005). Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc: Economy, Ecology, and Ethno-Mycology of Yartsa Gunbu, a Medicinal Fungus Endemic for the Tibetan Plateau.International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, pp.481-482. Childs G., and Choedup, N. (2014). Indigenous Management Strategies and Socioeconomic Impacts of Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Harvesting in Nubri and Tsum, Nepal. Himalaya, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 43(1), Article 7, pp. 8-20. Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol34/iss1/7 [Last accessed 05 May 2017]. Shrestha, B. (2012). Diversity of Cordyceps Fungi in Nepal.Nepal Journal of Science and Technology, 12(0). Devkota, S. (2007). Yarsagumba [Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc.]; Traditional Utilization in Dolpa District, Western Nepal.Our Nature, 4(1). Adhikari, M., Devkota, S. and Tiwari, R. (2006). Ethnomycolgical Knowledge on Uses of Wild Mushrooms in Western and Central Nepal.Our Nature, 3(1). Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262601891_ Ophiocordyceps_sinensis_Yarsagumba_from_Nepal_Himalaya_Status_Threats_and_Management_Strategies [Accessed 5 May 2017]. Adhikari, M.K. (2000). Mushrooms of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: P.U. Printers, pp. 8-320. Adhikari, M.K. (2008a). Cordyceps in Nepal. In: Proceeding of Second National Seminar and Fair on Herbs. Organized by Herbs Products and Spices Trade Association, Nepalgunj. pp.39-50 Chen, S.J., Yin, D.H., Li, L., Zha, Xi., Shuen, J. H. and Zhama, C. (2000). Resources and distribution of Cordyceps sinensis in Naqu Tibet. Zhong Yao Cai 23(11), pp. 673-5.

Panasonic and Japans Changing Culture free essay sample

Only a few companies at first started to lay off employees and go back on their promises of employment until retirement because the older their workers, although they worked hard, also were less efficient than younger workers were. As the younger generations saw this happening they concluded that loyalty to both the company and workers would not be reciprocated anymore and became less harder working than previous. This undermined the traditional culture in Japan of the central bargains of housing and retirement packages for an employees hard work and loyalty. Japan’s businesses in the future have to operate with more than one plan when they hire workers to effectively. In 1999 Panasonic gave recruits three different choices when they were signed on in employment. They could continue with being given housing, go free to company social events, and buy cheaper services from banks, while also receiving a two year salary bonus when they retired. We will write a custom essay sample on Panasonic and Japans Changing Culture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They could choose to forgo the retirement bonus, while keeping the company housing and be given a higher salary, or they could forgo the retirement bonus and any subsidized services but would be given an even higher salary. In addition to the changes in hiring, companies needed employees to be more risk taking and needed to encourage individuality which is something that was not very prevalent in Japan. Without employees taking risks, companies would suffer and that is what happened to Panasonic as they were forced to close thirty factories, and cut 13,000 jobs while selling â€Å"huge amounts of assets†. 3. Japanese culture in the 1950’s-1980’s benefited Panasonic greatly because of how after the World War II defeat, Japan was humiliated and it seemed fair that they would be taken care of if they worked hard for their company. For Panasonic this was a great thing because employees worked extremely hard for the greater good of Panasonic and Panasonic responded by giving the employees â€Å"blessings† of company housing, and free social events. 4. With Panasonic cutting 15,000 employees and closing another additional 27 plants, Panasonic is trying to achieve a lower overhead cost in operation and also is trying to find out who their best workers are so that they are not kept down when they should be promoted. By quickly responding to the recession, it showed a change in Panasonic’s company policies and shows that they might be moving even further away from company subsidized housing and to make employees become harder workers not because they know that they cannot be fired, but that they can be fired, at any time. If Panasonic implements these changes quickly, they will receive a lot of backlash from all those displaced employees and if they did it like this it would truly symbolize how Panasonic has changed into a company that is becoming westernized and is only concerned with how the company does and not their employees. If the changes take years to implement, although it would greatly affect the profitability of the company, it would give employees chances to adapt to changes of no longer being employed and give them chances to be hired in another company. By making changes slowly, Panasonic would be able to claim that it still wished to use the old way of never cutting jobs but it could not do it in this economy and had to do so to survive. 5. The Panasonic case teaches me that there is a fine line between societal culture and business success and sometimes you have to be able to choose between the two to realize which is more important to you. To some companies, such as Panasonic, trying hard to keep with the societal culture becomes too much of a strain for a company to bear so they are forced to adapt and realize that business success is more important that having all your workers love you. It may not be the type of business practice that gives you the best reputation but it will give you the greatest profit margins.

Humbug Definition

Humbug Definition Humbug was a word used the 19th century to mean a trick played upon unsuspecting people. The word lives on in the English language today thanks largely to two notable figures, Charles Dickens and Phineas T. Barnum. Dickens famously made â€Å"Bah, humbug!† the trademark phrase of an unforgettable character, Ebenezer Scrooge. And the great showman Barnum took delight in being known as the â€Å"Prince of Humbugs.† Barnum’s fondness for the word indicates an important characteristic of humbug. It isn’t just that a humbug is something false or deceptive, it is also, in its purest form, highly entertaining. The numerous hoaxes and exaggerations which Barnum exhibited during his long career were termed humbugs but calling them that indicated a sense of playfulness. Origin of Humbug as a Word The word humbug seems to have been coined sometime in the 1700s. Its roots are obscure, but it caught on as slang among students. The word began appearing in dictionaries, such as in the 1798 edition of A Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue edited by Francis Grose: To Hum, or Humbug. To deceive, to impose on one by some story or device. A humbug; a jocular imposition, or deception. When Noah Webster published his landmark dictionary in 1828, humbug was again defined as an imposition. Humbug as Used by Barnum The popular use of the word in America was largely due to Phineas T. Barnum. Early in his career, when he exhibited obvious frauds such as Joice Heth, a woman said to be 161 years old, he was denounced for perpetrating humbugs. Barnum essentially adopted the term and defiantly chose to consider it a term of affection. He began to call some of his own attractions humbugs, and the public took it as good-natured kidding. It should be noted that Barnum despised people like con men or snake oil salesmen who actively cheated the public. He eventually wrote a book titled The Humbugs of the World which criticized them. But in his own usage of the term, a humbug was a playful hoax that was highly entertaining. And the public seemed to agree, returning time and again to view whatever humbug Barnum might be exhibiting. Humbug as Used by Dickens In the classic novella, ​A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the miserly character Ebenezer Scrooge uttered â€Å"Bah, humbug!† when reminded of Christmas. To Scrooge, the word meant a folly, something too silly for him to spend time on. In the course of the story, however, Scrooge receives visits from the ghosts of Christmas, learns the true meaning of the holiday, and ceases to regard celebrations of Christmas as humbug.

Defensive versus Offensive Realism Research Paper

Defensive versus Offensive Realism - Research Paper Example The main differences between offensive and defensive realism are based on variations on how they see power and how much power is enough. Defensive realism sees power as a means of attaining stability or security, while offensive realism sees power as both means and ends for political stability. Defensive realism says that states only engage in war to defend the security and stability of their power, while offensive realism asserts that states want more power per se because a state ultimately desires to be the hegemon in the system. Furthermore, offensive realism advocates offensive strategies, instead of restraint that defensive realism recommends, because only the strongest state can be secure. In addition, defensive realism asserts that, though the international system offers incentives for increasing power, strong nations should not pursue hegemony. Instead, Kenneth Waltz stressed that states should only strive for an â€Å"appropriate amount of power.† States can also do b alancing of power to preserve security, such as increasing military resources in reaction to another state that does the same. Despite balancing actions, defensive realism insists that states should only desire sufficient power for its security and stability. Offensive realism argues that balancing power is not efficient in gaining or preserving power; states should start or engage in wars to balance power proactively. John Mearsheimer further asserted that states could aspire for regional hegemony and not global hegemony.