American History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

American History - Term Paper Example The United States may hold values that are similar to Christian values, but the fact of the matter remains that the country was founded on the ideals of Enlightenment, which meant moving away from the relationship between Church and state. Those who believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation will point to the fact that many of the laws found in the country are similar to those of British Common Law, which is largely based on the Ten Commandments. Also, early historical documents frequently contain the word God, which could point to the nation being founded on these principles. The truth, however, is that the United States was largely founded on the idea of religious freedom. This is because the Anglican Church had so much power in Great Britain, and many separatists wished to escape this sort of environment. Also, while the Declaration of Independence does contain references to a higher power, there is no direct reference to a Christian God, nor does the Declaration have any impact on how the country was founded. This is because the Declaration, while an important historical document, is not lawful in any way and, therefore, does not affect the foundation of the country. Those who believe that the country was not founded on Christianity would argue that the founding fathers wished to eliminate the connection between Church and state. This was a manner of granting citizens complete freedom, including freedom of religion. In fact, the first treaty that the United States ever entered into was the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated, â€Å"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmenâ€Å" (Walker). This document was produced by the founding fathers and stated that there was no connect, so it should be taken at what it says. There will always be the

Stem Cells Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stem Cells - Research Paper Example Cell-based devices are among the most appropriate techniques that surgeons have proposed. These approaches may provide effective therapeutic opportunities for repairing damaged bones due to injury or disease. The source of cells for cell-based approaches includes xenogenic, allogenic, and autologous cells. Scientists have discovered the use of Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC), which have proved to be effective in the repair of damaged bones. The source of the ESCs includes the blastocysts’ inner cell mass, which undergo fast cell division to replace the lost bone tissues. ESCs differentiate into osteogenic cells in selective culture environment. This property makes the ESCs to be effective in repairing or replacing the lost bone tissue (Kahle et al., 2010). Materials and Methods C57BL/6 mice acted as the source of the inner cell mass of blastocysts, which provided the embryonic stem cells. It was necessary to test the cells to ensure that they were positive for the experimentation. 1.5 x 106 cells were cultured in every Petri dish containing Dulbecco Eagle to enhance osteogenic differentiation. Dulbecco Eagle was changed in a daily basis and the embryonic stems cells were split once after two days through detachment with trypsin (Kahle et al., 2010). ... 2. Kitchen, S. G., Shimizu, S., & An, D. S. (2011). Stem cell-based anti-HIV gene therapy. Virology,  411, 260–272. Background There is a pressing need to develop an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It has been a deadly disease because scientists have not yet developed effective medication or vaccination strategy. However, scientists have developed antiretroviral drug therapy, which has enabled the infected individuals to live for long before the virus takes full control of the immune system. There is a need for new techniques that can replace or complement existing antiretroviral drug therapy. It will be significant for scientists to develop new techniques that will fully control the virus and restore the damaged immune system. The recent technology of developing stem cell-based therapy as well as the technologies that make it possible for these cells to undergo genetic modification, has motivated scientists to work toward finding an appropriate medication for HIV infection (Kitchen, Shimizu, & An, 2011). Scientists have used hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy technique to ensure that the immune system of the infected individuals develops a long-term resistance to HIV. Hematopoietic stem cells have the capability of differentiation and self-renewal that bring about hematopoietic lineages. New genes due to hematopoietic stem cells have the ability to continue producing the anti-HIV genes in the differentiated cells, which includes cells such as macrophages, CD4 and T-lymphocytes (Kitchen, Shimizu, & An, 2011). Methods Because of the recent stem cell technology, scientists have a number of techniques that will possible cure HIV infection. They have employed a variety of methods to bring about an appropriate intervention such as

Cons of Playing Video Games Essay Example for Free

Cons of Playing Video Games Essay Video game is a series of 2D or 3D world created by author or editor to allow public experience by representing as a person or animal inside. In my humble opinion, playing video games have more cons than pros. My essay will tell you that playing video games have more cons because it wasting time, cause indulgence, side effect on body health and cause volatility. In the 21 century, video games not only available for boys, it is also already become part of the girl’s life style. Although most of the teenagers like to play video games, but playing video games is actually wasting our time. Commonly, video game is story style and continuously. So, we will need a lot of time to finish one chapter or complete a task. Regarding to that, our time to doing our homework or revision becomes less. Students may be scolded by teacher or being demerit for not completing their homework. Finally, the result of the students may be affected. Playing video games will also cause indulgence. The interesting story lines encourage people to indulge in video games. They usually play the video games until forget to eat, wash and rest. Some of them even play the video games until the whole day. This endangers one person life. Among these few month, there are report on teenager die in front of computer and the causes of death is due to play video games three days non-stop. The main reason is do not have enough rest. Besides that, playing video games for long term will also cause side effect or negative effect on body health. One of the effect is eating without follow the actual time. When playing video games, a person will always play until forget the time and miss out the lunch time and dinner time. Sitting in front of the computer for a long period of time without moving will also increase the risk of obesity and give burden to the spiral cord. Tiredness of eye and fingers are also caused by looking at the screen and typing for too long, At the other sides, video games also encourage teenager to involve in volatility. Many of the video games contain volatile issues like video games that involving fight and guns. If a person cannot control himself, he will slowly follows the attitude of the character inside and involves in volatile. Teenager probably will also unable to come back to reality world as the illusion world in video games are always perfect as it can be change according our favorable. In conclusion, playing video games have more cons than pros. Teenagers must not be besotted video games too much. In fact, they should spend their time on enjoying their teenager’s life.

Tis: A Memoir Frank McCourt Essay -- English Literature

Tis': A Memoir Frank McCourt Tis' by the Irish born author, Frank McCourt retells his life as a young immigrant making his way in New York City. He wants to succeed in the land of opportunities however, he is dashed by the reality that an Irishman who has rotten teeth, bad eyes, and no high school diploma has no real chance. He finds himself in the lowest of jobs, scrubbing the lobby of a swanky hotel. I am going to discuss the mental effect poverty has on McCourt in Tis. The American way of life make Frank feel like an outsider. In Ireland, everyone was an equal and they all struggled together. However, across the water, there are girls with tanned legs and boys with broad football shoulders and pearly white teeth. Frank did not even dare open his mouth for fear of being laughed at for his appalling dental hygiene. Tis is more about the emotional side of poverty Frank is still poor - he describes cheese sandwiches as a delicacy - but he is no longer at risk of dying from starvation. He generally finds places to sleep and food to eat He wants the comfort a...

Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes †Revenge Essay

One of the overriding themes of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the futility of revenge. The most obvious insistence upon revenge in the play is that of Hamlet himself who seeks to right the wrong of the murder of his father by Claudius. Both Laertes and Fortinbras are also out to seek revenge. Every one of the three eldest sons had one thing in common: they all wanted revenge for a slaughtered father. In the time in which this play is set, avenging the murder of a father was part of one’s honor, and it had to be done. All of the three sons swore vengeance, and then acted towards getting revenge for the deaths of their fathers. Shakespeare demonstrates how rage emerges in many different forms. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras bring the theme of revenge to life, revealing the complexity and richness of human feelings. Hamlet’s method of revenge is perhaps the poorest method of all. He spends too much time thinking about his actions and takes no immediate action without premeditative thought. Hamlet’s reaction to the ghost changed after thought and this was his main problem. His approach to achieving revenge was incorrect from the start. He thought and planned to catch Claudius at the ‘right’ time; he excused himself and reasoned with himself as to why timings were not right. Laertes has no need for revenge until Hamlet kills his father, and he finds out that his sister is dead. It is for this reason that he goes along with the scheme to kill Hamlet, however he falters towards the end. His last words blame Claudius; however Hamlet also dies, and so his revenge is complete. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes faces the same problem that Hamlet does – a murdered father. Yet, Laertes’s reaction to his father’s death is very different from Hamlet’s response to news of his own father’s murder. While Hamlet broods over the murder for much of the play, Laertes -takes immediate action. He storms home from France as soon as he hears the news, raises a crowd of followers, and invades the palace. Then he starts asking questions – unlike Hamlet, who asks a whole lot of questions before he finally gets around to avenging his father’s death. Fortinbras’ revenge is driven by honor. He is an important foil for Prince Hamlet, who has also lost a father and now finds himself seeking revenge. Fortinbras wishes to recover the territory that was lost when his father died. Fortinbras feels that his father’s death and loss of Norwegian land brings dishonor upon his father and upon himself. Therefore, he needs to recover the land in order to regain his family’s honor and the honor of the nation. Fortinbras is also humbled by his father’s death. He believes that regaining the territory lost during the war will restore the honorable conditions in Norway that existed before the war. But, while Hamlet sits around contemplating life and death, Fortinbras takes clear and immediate action by raising an army to reclaim Norway’s lost territories. Though his uncle (the current king of Norway) diverts Fortinbras from attacking Denmark, in the end, prince Fortinbras helps himself to the Danish throne. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras seek retribution for the violent deaths of their fathers in different ways and for different reasons, but all three acts of revenge contribute to the theme that revenge is ultimately a pointless endeavor. Hamlet’s brooding over the morality of the act of revenge stands apart from that of the other two men because he represents the coming of a more enlightened age. Cold-blooded murder of the type that Laertes seeks is not acceptable to Hamlet; indeed he also seeks everlasting punishment. The revenge of Fortinbras is caused by the desire to regain a lost land of little consequence, pointing to the theme of how revenge can be enacted for the most illogical of reasons. Ultimately, the most successful method of revenge was Fortinbras’. He did not intend to use violence or cold-blooded murder but rather to seek what is his and bring back the rights and honor of his father.

Madness of Lear & Edgar

Madness is considered to be the root of all endings. In addition, the overall mental and physical state of madness is seen as shameful to many people, as well as disrespectful to oneself and others. With that being said, the motif of madness one thing that no man wants to experience. But in Shakespeare’s King Lear, madness appears in various forms and functions as the central theme, and leads many of the characters, including Lear himself, to their demise. In the beginning of the play, Lear is characterized as a very prideful individual, who is obsessed with power and self-love.But as the plot of the play progresses, numerous situations arise and Lear endures a rollercoaster of emotions, which ultimately shape him into a different person. Lear’s overall changes throughout the play all have something in common: a decrease in power and an increase in grief and sympathy. Each obstacle that Lear goes through pushes his pride more and more towards self-pity and sadness, whic h are emotions that a King of his stature is not used to having to deal with.Through his perspective at this point, he fears that he is going mad, and Lear is so obsessed with control that the thought of losing it all makes him believe that he is losing his sanity as well. However, after he constantly gets pushed to experience self-evaluation with each situation. Lear undergoes a rebirth, even though it is too late for the King at this stage of the play. Another character in King Lear, Edgar, also endures the play’s central theme of madness, but in a different way.Edgar feigns his insanity to stay alive, by disguising himself as the beggar â€Å"Poor Tom†, in order for his father, Gloucester, to accept him after Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son, tricks their father into thinking that Edgar is a madman and wants to murder his father. Edgar fames madness throughout the play and disguises himself as the madman that Edmund has betrayed him to be, since at the t ime the insane were virtually invisible to society. Ironically, Edgar’s time as a supposedly insane beggar prepares him to defeat Edmund at the close of the play.Shakespeare uses both of these characters to mirror and contrast one another’s states to madness and to illustrate the play’s deeper meanings. While Edgar pretends to be mad, Lear is actually mad. Edgar stimulates insanity and foreshadows Lear’s madness, as it grows stronger throughout the play. The two end up joining, and it ultimately provides Lear with important wisdom by reducing him to his bare humanity, stripped of all royal pretentions. However, the real madness ofLear and the assumed madness of Edgar both play against one another to make out of the chaos a harmony in the kingdom through self-revelation, wisdom, and humility. Eventually, the madness comes to an end. Edgar unveils his disguise of madness and overthrows Edmund, while Lear’s madness leads to his demise. Overall, Shakes peare delves into the issues of age, power, lust, betrayal, and most of all, pure madness. The play shines a light on various faults in humanity, including self-indulgence and the desires to only think about oneself. In the end, greed and egotism can really only result in madness.

Facts and Brief History of Oman

Facts and Brief History of Oman The Sultanate of Oman long served as a hub on the Indian Ocean trade routes, and it has ancient ties that reach from Pakistan to the island of Zanzibar. Today, Oman is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, despite not having extensive oil reserves. Capital and Major Cities Capital: Muscat, population 735,000 Major Cities: Seeb, pop. 238,000 Salalah, 163,000 Bawshar, 159.000 Sohar, 108,000 Suwayq, 107,000 Government Oman is an absolute monarchy ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said. The Sultan rules by decree. Oman has a bicameral legislature, the Council of Oman, which serves an advisory role to the Sultan. The upper house, the Majlis ad-Dawlah, has 71 members from prominent Omani families, who are appointed by the Sultan. The lower chamber, the Majlis ash-Shoura, has 84 members who are elected by the people, but the Sultan can negate their elections.   Population of Oman Oman has about 3.2 million residents, only 2.1 million of whom are Omanis. The rest are foreign guest workers, mainly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco, and the Philippines.  Within the Omani population, ethnolinguistic minorities include Zanzibaris, Alajamis, and Jibbalis.   Languages Standard Arabic is the official language of Oman. However, some Omanis also speak several different dialects of Arabic and even entirely distinct Semitic languages. Small minority languages related to Arabic and Hebrew include Bathari, Harsusi, Mehri, Hobyot (also spoken in a small area of Yemen), and Jibbali. About 2,300 people speak Kumzari, which is an Indo-European language from the Iranian branch, the only Iranian language spoken on the Arabian Peninsula. English and Swahili are commonly spoken as second languages in Oman, due to the countrys historical ties with Britain and Zanzibar. Balochi, another Iranian language that is one of the official languages of Pakistan, is also widely spoken by Omanis. Guest workers speak Arabic, Urdu, Tagalog, and English, among other languages. Religion The official religion of Oman is Ibadi Islam, which is a branch distinct from both Sunni and Shia beliefs, that originated just about 60 years after the Prophet Mohammeds death. Approximately 25% of the population is non-Muslim. Religions represented include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Bahai, and Christianity. This rich diversity reflects Omans centuries-long position as a major trade depot within the Indian Ocean system. Geography Oman covers an area of 309,500 square kilometers (119,500 square miles) on the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula. Much of the land is a gravel desert, although some sand dunes also exist. Most of Omans population lives in the mountainous areas in the north and the southeast coast. Oman also possesses a small piece of land on the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, cut off from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Oman borders on the UAE to the north, Saudi Arabia to the northwest, and Yemen to the west.  Iran sits across the Gulf of Oman to the north-north-east.   Climate Much of Oman is extremely hot and dry. The interior desert regularly sees summer temperatures in excess of 53 °C (127  °F), with annual precipitation of just 20 to 100 millimeters (0.8 to 3.9 inches). The coast is usually about twenty degrees Celsius or thirty degrees Fahrenheit cooler. In the Jebel Akhdar mountain region, rainfall can reach 900 millimeters in a year (35.4 inches). Economy Omans economy is perilously reliant on oil and gas extraction, even though its reserves are only the 24th largest in the world. Fossil fuels account for more than 95% of Omans exports. The country also produces small amounts of manufactured goods and agricultural products for export - primarily dates, limes, vegetables, and grain - but the desert country imports much more food than it exports. The Sultans government is focusing on diversifying the economy by encouraging manufacturing and service sector development. Omans per capita GDP is about $28,800 US (2012), with a 15% unemployment rate. History Humans have lived in what is now Oman since at least 106,000 years ago  when Late Pleistocene people left stone tools related to the Nubian Complex from the Horn of Africa in the Dhofar region. This indicates that humans moved from Africa into Arabia around that time, if not earlier, possibly across the Red Sea.   The earliest known city in Oman is Dereaze, which dates back at least 9,000 years. Archaeological finds include flint tools, hearths, and hand-formed pottery. A nearby mountainside also yields pictographs of animals and hunters. Early Sumerian tablets call Oman Magan, and note that it was a source of copper. From the 6th century BCE forward, Oman was usually controlled by the great Persian dynasties based just across the Gulf in what is now Iran. First it was the Achaemenids, who may have established a local capital at Sohar; next the Parthians; and finally the Sassanids, who ruled until the rise of Islam in the 7th century CE. Oman was among the first places to convert to Islam; the Prophet sent a missionary south around 630 CE, and the rulers of Oman submitted to the new faith. This was prior to the Sunni/Shia split, so Oman took up Ibadi Islam  and has continued to subscribe to this ancient sect within the faith. Omani traders and sailors were among the most important factors in propagating Islam around the rim of the India Ocean, carrying the new religion to India, Southeast Asia, and parts of the East African coast. After the Prophet Mohammeds death, Oman came under the rule of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, the Qarmatians (931-34), the Buyids (967-1053), and the Seljuks (1053-1154). When the Portuguese entered the Indian Ocean trade  and began to exert their power, they recognized Muscat as a prime port. They would occupy the city for almost 150 years, from 1507 to 1650. Their control was not uncontested, however; the Ottoman fleet captured the city from the Portuguese in 1552 and again from 1581 to 1588, only to lose it again each time. In 1650, local tribesmen managed to drive the Portuguese away for good; no other European country managed to colonize the area, although the British did exert some imperial influence in later centuries. In 1698, the Imam of Oman invaded Zanzibar and drove the Portuguese away from the island. He also occupied parts of coastal northern Mozambique. Oman used this toehold in East Africa as a slave market, supplying African forced labor to the Indian Ocean world.   The founder of Omans current ruling dynasty, the Al Said  took power in 1749. During a secession struggle about 50 years later, the British were able to extract concessions from an Al Said ruler in return for supporting his claim to the throne. In 1913, Oman split into two countries, with religious imams ruling the interior while the sultans continued to rule in Muscat and the coast.   This situation grew complicated in the 1950s  when likely-looking oil formations were discovered. The sultan in Muscat was responsible for all dealings with foreign powers, but the imams controlled the areas that appeared to have oil. As a result, the sultan and his allies captured the interior in 1959 after four years of fighting, once again uniting the coast and interior of Oman. In 1970, the current sultan overthrew his father, Sultan Said bin Taimur  and introduced economic and social reforms. He could not stem the uprisings around the country, however, until Iran, Jordan, Pakistan, and Britain intervened, bringing about a peace settlement in 1975. Sultan Qaboos continued to modernize the country. However, he faced protests in 2011 during the Arab Spring; after promising further reforms, he cracked down on activists, fining and jailing several of them.