cold war Essay -- essays research papers

Dear President Bush,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I would like to advise you on the causes, course and effects of the Cold War in hopes that you this will help you in shaping your current foreign policy. The Cold War is a term used to describe the intense rivalry and strained relations between the two superpowers that had arose after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union. This period of hostility mainly resulted from ideological differences, and mutual distrust between the two blocks. Following World War II, Germany and Berlin were divided into four zones. Each zone was controlled either by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, or the United States. Despite objections by the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and France planned to re-unify Germany. In response, the U.S.S.R. placed a blockade on Berlin. The United States organized massive airlifts to send food and other necessities to the isolated city. After promises for free elections were broken by the Soviet Union, the already strained relationships between the two superpowers were worsened. In fear of Soviet expansion, the United Stated adapted a new foreign policy of containment, in which they attempted to stop the progress of communism. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 stated that the United States would help any non- communist country resist the pressures of communism. The Marshall Plan involved sending money to help countries recover from World War II, so that they would be less likely to...

Affirmative Action :: Essays Papers

Affirmative Action President John F. Kennedy used the phrase "affirmative action" in March of 1961, when he put into effect Executive Order 10925. The order required every federal contract to include the pledge that "The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin. The Contractor will take affirmative action, to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." However, in 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson felt that in order to achieve fairness more was need than just a commitment to impartial treatment. Months later, President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which stated that "It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because or race, creed, color or national origin, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program in each department and agency." Two years later, the order was amended to prohibit discrimination based on sex. Today, it is argued that the affirmative action policy has resulted in reverse discrimination, as well as an increase in racial tension. Those in opposition feel that it is undemocratic to give one class of citizens advantages at the expense of other citizens. They feel this policy promotes quotas rather than qualifications. They believe that discrimination on some level is a part of everyone's life and is an inescapable part of forming preferences and taste. Those in favor of affirmative action state that it is not about preferential treatment for certain racial, gender, or ethnic groups, but rather about promoting equality and equal opportunities for everyone. Defenders feel this policy helps level the field for women and minorities that historically have been overlooked and discriminated against. The issue of affirmative action is a sore subject in society. I have mixed feelings on the policy; it can be beneficial as well as harmful to those affected by it. As a woman in the workforce, it is reality to me that segregation based on sex does exist, as well as a wage gap. I feel that women will benefit more from a free market system rather than one controlled by government regulation. In order to meet their quota, employers will promote women and minorities too quickly or into positions, they are not qualified for.

Failed Amendment: Protecting Slavery Essay

In 1861, an Amendment was proposed to protect the practice of slavery, known as the Corwin Amendment.. It would make it so not amendments could be made to effect the use of slavery. This is the only proposed Amendment that has the signature of the President, to not be ratified. The President’s signature is considered unnecessary due to the face the constitutional provision that on the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress the proposal shall be submitted to the States for ratification. Two states approved this proposal, Ohio and Illinois. It is believed that Maryland also ratified the Corwin Amendment, but due to military conflict during the Civil War it was never official. I believe that it was never ratified for many reasons but the main was because many state did not agree with slavery at the time, and they did not want to â€Å"protect† it with an amendment, they also saw that change was coming and if it was ratified, change could not happen. Technically the Corwin Amendment is still â€Å"live† and it could still be ratified, although the 13th Amendment put an end to slavery. If the 13th Amendment did not make slavery illegal, it still not be ratified, especially today. People’s views on equal rights, and racism have changed drastically, and if the Corwin Amendment was proposed today people would be disgusted. I believe that is the Corwin Amendment was even suggest America would become a very different place. Many citizens would change their views on the government and protest and riots would break out.

Patterns of Evolution

Patterns of Evolution Humans alter our environment to suit our needs rather than adapt to our environment based on environmental stressors. Due to this fact, we are unlikely to be affected by the pressures of natural selection. We will not likely be affected by further evolution. In convergent evolution, unrelated species living in the similar environments become more and more alike in appearance as they adapt to the same kind of environment. Dolphins and sharks are examples of convergent evolution. Although they are from different vertebrate groups, they live in similar environment. They have evolved similar characteristics like their body shape, coloration, location of back fins, and shape of tail. Divergent evolution is the process of two or more related species becoming more and more dissimilar. Adaptive radiation is an example of divergent evolution. Horses are an example of divergent evolution. Over time as they adapted to different environments, the species diverged and evolved into mules and zebras. Honeycreeper birds are examples of adaptive radiation. Species of birds evolved, seemingly from a single familial species, on a group of islands. Co-evolution is the evolution of one species influencing the evolution of another species. Predators and their prey sometimes co-evolve. Cheetahs and Thompson’s gazelles are examples of co-evolution. As a result of co-evolution, Cheetahs have evolved into the world`s fastest mammal and the gazelle is just slightly slower. As predators evolve, prey evolves and vice versa. Divergent evolution could have an impact on humans in the future. Although we are all different in appearances and characteristics right now, we could diverge in the future. Climates are different all over the world and as human move to and habitat in these environments, the body could adapt to the different atmosphere. This will cause humans to diverge in appearance. Head shape could change, skin and eye color as well. References Pruitt, N. L. , & Underwood, L. S. (2006). Bioinquiry: Making connections in biology (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Food inc review

Food Inc Extra Credit Food Inc is a documentary about the state of the food industry within the United States. It was a very in depth look at the farming industry that most people don't get a chance to see. Most people don't really think about where the food comes from or how it was farmed. This documentary gave a clear insight into how our food is really produced. When you think of farming, you may think of an area of land which is devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food, but in this ocumentary we learned that most of our food is actually produced in mega factories.Since there is such a high demand for processed food these days, farmers are artificially growing their crops. The film introduces us to an overcrowded chicken farm in Kentucky and clarifies the fact that chickens have doubled in size since the 1950's. Chickens today are genetically modified to have larger breasts in order to respond to the demands of the consumer's preference for white meat. The chickens row at such a rate that their bones and organs can't keep up with the rapid weight gain.The chickens aren't able to walk around since their legs cannot carry the weight. Health and safety regulations of the food, the animals, the workers on the assembly lines, and of the consumers who will be eating the food is often overlooked by the companies in an effort to provide cheap food regardless of the negative consequences. Animals at factory farms stand ankle deep in their manure for long eriods of time meaning that if one cow has E.Coli, the other animals can easily be infected with it which will then be passed on to the consumer when ingested. Overall, I believe that this documentary was a major eye opener for me to pay more attention to the type of food that I consume and to also take the proper precautions when preparing food at home. I have learnt the importance of properly reading food labels prior to purchasing food in order to be fully aware of what I am putting into my body.

Human Impacts on the Sustainability of Groundwater Essay

The purpose of this lab is to show the sustainability of groundwater, if human development continues, at the same rate it has been, over the last few decades. Over the last 50 years our water demand has tripled, which is causing water tables all over the world to fail, and when these aquifers are depleted, worldwide food production will fall. I have looked over the data provided, and have come to the conclusion, that if we do not control our population, we will likely experience worldwide famine, maybe even have it as the catalyst for the next world war. Data collected from the M.U.S.E. in the virtual classroom, located at cut online, also researched on the internet, from the Google search bar, Nairaland forum, and WOA. Documentation, from these resources, and research, written in the following paragraphs. Stated in a 2009 report, that if the world population reached 7.5 billion, by 2020, 1.8 billion people, would be living in regions with extreme water scarcity. In a current report  as of December 1, 2014, our global population, has already reached over 7 billion, and futuristically, Africa is the only nation that is capable of self-sustaining. The Americans, Chinese, and Europeans, aspire to live a certain life style that will ultimately end in a survival of the fittest.  Several studies show that earth is currently capable of sustaining about 2 billion, at half the recourses, we currently consume. Each American, consumes about 20 acres, of biologically productive land, so if the worlds 7 billion people, consumed that of the average American, we would need about 5 earth’s resources, to be sustained. Obviously Earths 29.6 billion acres of biologically productive land, and water, support about 1.5 billion people. So we need to reduce the population by 80 %, or reduce our consumption by over 50%, and realistically, neither one is going to happen anytime soon. Which leaves our grandchildren, and so on, in serious risk of a grave global catastrophe? Resources: Politics,Lagbaja, taken from web address http://www.nairaland.com/2022950/current-world-population-three-time, on 1/05/2015 WOA!! Taken from web address http://www.overpopulation.org/water.html on 01/06/2015

Attitude Formation

†¢ The affective component consists of the emotional feelings stimulated by the object of the attitude. †¢ The behavioral component consists of predispositions to act in certain ways toward an attitude object. The object of an attitude can be anything people have opinions about. Therefore, individual people, groups of people, institutions, products, social trends, consumer products, etc. all can be attitudinal objects. †¢ Attitudes involve social judgments. They are either for, or against, pro, or con, positive, or negative; however, it is possible to be ambivalent about the attitudinal object and have a mix of positive and negative feelings and thoughts about it. †¢ Attitudes involve a readiness (or predisposition) to respond; however, for a variety of reasons we don’t always act on our attitudes. †¢ Attitudes vary along dimensions of strength and accessibility. Strong attitudes are very important to the individual and tend to be durable and have a powerful impact on behavior, whereas weak attitudes are not very important and have little impact. Accessible attitudes come to mind quickly, whereas other attitudes may rarely be noticed. †¢ Attitudes tend to be stable over time, but a number of factors can cause attitudes to change. †¢ Stereotypes are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group. †¢ A prejudice is an arbitrary belief, or feeling, directed toward a group of people or its individual members. Prejudices can be either positive or negative; however, the term is usually used to refer to a negative attitude held toward members of a group. Prejudice may lead to discrimination, which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group. Psychological factors involved in Attitude Formation and Attitude Change 1. Direct Instruction involves being told what attitudes to have by parents, schools, community organizations, religious doctrine, friends, etc. 2. Operant Conditioning is a simple form of learning. It is based on the â€Å"Law of Effect† and involves voluntary responses. Behaviors (including verbal behaviors and maybe even thoughts) tend to be repeated if they are reinforced (i. e. , followed by a positive experience). Conversely, behaviors tend to be stopped when they are punished (i. e. , followed by an unpleasant experience). Thus, if one expresses, or acts out an attitude toward some group, and this is reinforced by one’s peers, the attitude is strengthened and is likely to be expressed again. The reinforcement can be as subtle as a smile or as obvious as a raise in salary. Operant conditioning is especially involved with the behavioral component of attitudes. 3. Classical conditioning is another simple form of learning. It involves involuntary responses and is acquired through the pairing of two stimuli. Two events that repeatedly occur close together in time become fused and before long the person responds in the same way to both events. Originally studied by Pavlov, the process requires an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produces an involuntary (reflexive) response (UCR). If a neutral stimulus (NS) is paired, either very dramatically on one occasion, or repeatedly for several acquisition trials, the neutral stimulus will lead to the same response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. At this point the stimulus is no longer neutral and so is referred to as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the response has now become a learned response and so is referred to as a conditioned response (CR). In Pavlov’s research the UCS was meat powder which led to an UCR of salivation. The NS was a bell. At first the bell elicited no response from the dog, but eventually the bell alone caused the dog to salivate. Advertisers create positive attitudes towards their products by presenting attractive models in their ads. In this case the model is the UCS and our reaction to him, or her, is an automatic positive response. The product is the original NS which through pairing comes to elicit a positive conditioned response. In a similar fashion, pleasant or unpleasant experiences with members of a particular group could lead to positive or negative attitudes toward that group. Classical conditioning is especially involved with the emotional, or affective, component of attitudes. 4. Social (Observational) Learning is based on modeling. We observe others. If they are getting reinforced for certain behaviors or the expression of certain attitudes, this serves as vicarious reinforcement and makes it more ikely that we, too, will behave in this manner or express this attitude. Classical conditioning can also occur vicariously through observation of others. 5. Cognitive Dissonance exists when related cognitions, feelings or behaviors are inconsistent or contradictory. Cognitive dissonance creates an unpleasant state of tension that motivates people to reduce their dissonance by changing their cognitions, feel ing, or behaviors. For example, a person who starts out with a negative attitude toward marijuana will experience cognitive dissonance if they start smoking marijuana and find themselves enjoying the experience. The dissonance they experience is thus likely to motivate them to either change their attitude toward marijuana, or to stop using marijuana. This process can be conscious, but often occurs without conscious awareness. 6. Unconscious Motivation. Some attitudes are held because they serve some unconscious function for an individual. For example, a person who is threatened by his homosexual feelings may employ the defense mechanism of reaction formation and become a crusader against homosexuals. Or, someone who feels inferior may feel somewhat better by putting down a group other than her own. Because it is unconscious, the person will not be aware of the unconscious motivation at the time it is operative, but may become aware of it as some later point in time. 7. Rational Analysis involves the careful weighing of evidence for, and against, a particular attitude. For example, a person may carefully listen to the presidential debates and read opinions of political experts in order to decide which candidate to vote for in an election. Attitude Formation †¢ The affective component consists of the emotional feelings stimulated by the object of the attitude. †¢ The behavioral component consists of predispositions to act in certain ways toward an attitude object. The object of an attitude can be anything people have opinions about. Therefore, individual people, groups of people, institutions, products, social trends, consumer products, etc. all can be attitudinal objects. †¢ Attitudes involve social judgments. They are either for, or against, pro, or con, positive, or negative; however, it is possible to be ambivalent about the attitudinal object and have a mix of positive and negative feelings and thoughts about it. †¢ Attitudes involve a readiness (or predisposition) to respond; however, for a variety of reasons we don’t always act on our attitudes. †¢ Attitudes vary along dimensions of strength and accessibility. Strong attitudes are very important to the individual and tend to be durable and have a powerful impact on behavior, whereas weak attitudes are not very important and have little impact. Accessible attitudes come to mind quickly, whereas other attitudes may rarely be noticed. †¢ Attitudes tend to be stable over time, but a number of factors can cause attitudes to change. †¢ Stereotypes are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group. †¢ A prejudice is an arbitrary belief, or feeling, directed toward a group of people or its individual members. Prejudices can be either positive or negative; however, the term is usually used to refer to a negative attitude held toward members of a group. Prejudice may lead to discrimination, which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group. Psychological factors involved in Attitude Formation and Attitude Change 1. Direct Instruction involves being told what attitudes to have by parents, schools, community organizations, religious doctrine, friends, etc. 2. Operant Conditioning is a simple form of learning. It is based on the â€Å"Law of Effect† and involves voluntary responses. Behaviors (including verbal behaviors and maybe even thoughts) tend to be repeated if they are reinforced (i. e. , followed by a positive experience). Conversely, behaviors tend to be stopped when they are punished (i. e. , followed by an unpleasant experience). Thus, if one expresses, or acts out an attitude toward some group, and this is reinforced by one’s peers, the attitude is strengthened and is likely to be expressed again. The reinforcement can be as subtle as a smile or as obvious as a raise in salary. Operant conditioning is especially involved with the behavioral component of attitudes. 3. Classical conditioning is another simple form of learning. It involves involuntary responses and is acquired through the pairing of two stimuli. Two events that repeatedly occur close together in time become fused and before long the person responds in the same way to both events. Originally studied by Pavlov, the process requires an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produces an involuntary (reflexive) response (UCR). If a neutral stimulus (NS) is paired, either very dramatically on one occasion, or repeatedly for several acquisition trials, the neutral stimulus will lead to the same response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. At this point the stimulus is no longer neutral and so is referred to as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the response has now become a learned response and so is referred to as a conditioned response (CR). In Pavlov’s research the UCS was meat powder which led to an UCR of salivation. The NS was a bell. At first the bell elicited no response from the dog, but eventually the bell alone caused the dog to salivate. Advertisers create positive attitudes towards their products by presenting attractive models in their ads. In this case the model is the UCS and our reaction to him, or her, is an automatic positive response. The product is the original NS which through pairing comes to elicit a positive conditioned response. In a similar fashion, pleasant or unpleasant experiences with members of a particular group could lead to positive or negative attitudes toward that group. Classical conditioning is especially involved with the emotional, or affective, component of attitudes. 4. Social (Observational) Learning is based on modeling. We observe others. If they are getting reinforced for certain behaviors or the expression of certain attitudes, this serves as vicarious reinforcement and makes it more ikely that we, too, will behave in this manner or express this attitude. Classical conditioning can also occur vicariously through observation of others. 5. Cognitive Dissonance exists when related cognitions, feelings or behaviors are inconsistent or contradictory. Cognitive dissonance creates an unpleasant state of tension that motivates people to reduce their dissonance by changing their cognitions, feel ing, or behaviors. For example, a person who starts out with a negative attitude toward marijuana will experience cognitive dissonance if they start smoking marijuana and find themselves enjoying the experience. The dissonance they experience is thus likely to motivate them to either change their attitude toward marijuana, or to stop using marijuana. This process can be conscious, but often occurs without conscious awareness. 6. Unconscious Motivation. Some attitudes are held because they serve some unconscious function for an individual. For example, a person who is threatened by his homosexual feelings may employ the defense mechanism of reaction formation and become a crusader against homosexuals. Or, someone who feels inferior may feel somewhat better by putting down a group other than her own. Because it is unconscious, the person will not be aware of the unconscious motivation at the time it is operative, but may become aware of it as some later point in time. 7. Rational Analysis involves the careful weighing of evidence for, and against, a particular attitude. For example, a person may carefully listen to the presidential debates and read opinions of political experts in order to decide which candidate to vote for in an election.