Interesting Facts About Asian Americans

Interesting Facts About Asian Americans The United States has recognized May as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month since 1992. In honor of the cultural observance, the U.S. Census Bureau has compiled a series of facts about the Asian American community. How much do you know about the diverse groups that make up this community? Test your knowledge with federal government statistics that bring the Asian American population into focus.​ Asians Across America Asian Americans make up 17.3 million, or 5.6 percent, of the U.S. population. Most Asian Americans reside in California, home to 5.6 million of this racial group. New York comes in next with 1.6 million Asian Americans. Hawaii, however, has the largest share of Asian Americans- 57 percent. The Asian American growth rate was higher than any other racial group from 2000 to 2010, according to the census. During that time, the Asian American population grew by 46 percent. Diversity in Numbers A wide range of ethnic groups makes up the Asian-Pacific American population. Chinese Americans stand out as the largest Asian ethnic group in the U.S with a population of 3.8 million. Filipinos come in second with 3.4 million. Indians (3.2 million), Vietnamese (1.7 million), Koreans (1.7 million) and Japanese (1.3 million) round out the major Asian ethnic groups in the U.S. Asian languages spoken in the U.S. mirror this trend. Nearly 3 million Americans speak Chinese (second to Spanish as the most popular non-English language in the U.S.). More than 1 million Americans speak Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean, according to the census. Wealth Among Asian-Pacific Americans Household income among the Asian-Pacific American community varies widely. On average, those who identify as Asian American take in $67,022 yearly. But the Census Bureau found that income rates depend on the Asian group in question. While Indian Americans have a household income of $90,711, Bangladeshis bring in significantly less- $48,471 yearly. Moreover, those Americans who identify specifically as Pacific Islanders have household incomes of $52,776. Poverty rates also vary. The Asian American poverty rate is 12 percent, while the Pacific Islander poverty rate is 18.8 percent. Educational Attainment Among the APA Population An analysis of educational attainment among the Asian-Pacific American population reveals intra-racial disparities as well. While there’s no major difference between Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in high school graduation rates- 85 percent of the former and 87 percent of the latter have high school diplomas- there’s a huge gap in college graduation rates. Fifty percent of Asian Americans age 25 and up have graduated from college, nearly double the U.S. average of 28 percent. However, just 15 percent of Pacific Islanders have bachelor’s degrees. Asian Americans also outpace the general U.S. population and Pacific Islanders where graduate degrees are concerned. Twenty percent of Asian Americans age 25 and up have graduate degrees, compared to 10 percent of the general U.S. population and just four percent of Pacific Islanders. Advances in Business Both Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made headway in the business sector in recent years. Asian Americans owned 1.5 million U.S. businesses in 2007, a 40.4 percent rise from 2002. The number of businesses owned by Pacific Islanders also grew. In 2007, this population owned 37,687 businesses, a jump of 30.2 percent from 2002. Hawaii boasts the largest percentage of businesses started by people of both Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. Hawaii is home to 47 percent of businesses owned by Asian Americans and nine percent of business owned by Pacific Islanders. Military Service Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders both have a long history of serving in the military. Historians have noted their exemplary service during World War II, when individuals of Japanese American heritage were vilified after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Today, there are 265,200 Asian American military veterans, a third of whom are age 65 and up. There are currently 27,800 military veterans of Pacific Islander background. Approximately 20 percent of such veterans are 65 and up. These numbers reveal that while Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have historically served in the armed forces, younger generations of the APA community continue to fight for their country.

Biography of Henry Avery, the Most Successful Pirate

Biography of Henry Avery, the Most Successful Pirate Henry â€Å"Long Ben† Avery (c 1659–1696 or 1699) was an English pirate, plying the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and making one big score: the treasure ship of the Grand Mughal of India. After this success, he retired. Little is known for certain of his ultimate fate. Contemporaries believed that Avery took his loot to Madagascar where he set himself up as a king with his own fleet and thousands of men. There also is evidence, however, that he returned to England and died broke. Fast Facts: Henry Avery Known For: Most successful pirateAlso Known As: Long Ben, John AveryBorn: Between 1653 and 1659 in Plymouth, EnglandDied: Perhaps in 1696 or 1699 in Devonshire County, England Early Life Henry Avery was born in or near Plymouth, England, sometime between 1653 and 1659. Some contemporary accounts spell his last name Every, while some references give his first name as John. He soon took to sea,  serving on several merchant vessels as well as ships of war, when England went to war with France in 1688, and a few slave ships. In early 1694, Avery took a position as the first mate aboard the privateer vessel Charles II, then in the employ of the king of Spain. The mostly English crew was extremely unhappy with their poor treatment and they convinced Avery to lead a mutiny, which he did on May 7, 1694. The men renamed the ship the Fancy and turned to piracy, attacking English and Dutch merchantmen off the coast of Africa. About this time, he released a statement declaring that English vessels had nothing to fear from him, as he would attack only foreigners, which clearly wasnt true. Madagascar The Fancy headed to Madagascar, then a lawless land known as a safe haven for pirates and a good place to launch attacks in the Indian Ocean. He restocked the Fancy and had it modified to be swifter under sail. This improved speed began paying dividends immediately, as he was able to overtake a French pirate vessel. After looting it, he welcomed 40 new pirates to his crew. Then he headed north, where other pirates were amassing, hoping to loot the Grand Mughal of Indias treasure fleet as it returned from an annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Indian Treasure Fleet In July 1695, the pirates got lucky: the great treasure fleet sailed into their arms. There were six pirate ships, including the Fancy and Thomas Tews Amity. They first attacked the Fateh Muhammed, the escort ship to the flagship, the Ganj-i-Sawai. The Fateh Muhammed, outgunned by the large pirate fleet, didnt put up much of a fight. There were 50,000 to 60,000 British pounds in treasure aboard the Fateh Muhammed. It was quite a haul, but it didnt go far divided among the crews of six vessels. The pirates were hungry for more. Soon Averys ship caught up with the Ganj-i-Sawai, the powerful flagship of Aurangzeb, the Mughal lord. It was a mighty ship, with 62 cannons and 400 to 500 musketeers, but the prize was too rich to ignore. During the first broadside they damaged the Ganj-i-Sawais main mast and one of the Indian cannons exploded, causing mayhem and confusion on deck. The battle roared on for hours as the pirates boarded the Ganj-i-Sawai. The terrified captain of the Mughal ship ran below decks and hid among the concubines. After a fierce battle, the remaining Indians surrendered. Looting and Torture The survivors were subjected to several days of torture and rape by the victorious pirates. There were many women on board, including a member of the court of the Grand Mughal. Romantic tales of the day say that the beautiful daughter of the Mughal was on board and fell in love with Avery and then ran off to live with him on a remote island, but the reality was probably far more brutal. The haul from the Ganj-i-Sawai was hundreds of thousands of pounds in gold, silver, and jewels, worth tens of millions of dollars today and possibly the richest haul in the history of piracy. Deception and Flight Avery and his men didnt want to share this prize with the other pirates, so they tricked them. They loaded their holds with loot and arranged to meet and divide it, but they took off instead. None of the other pirate captains had a chance of catching up with the speedy Fancy, which headed for the lawless Caribbean. Once they reached New Providence Island, Avery bribed Gov. Nicholas Trott, essentially buying protection for him and his men. The taking of the Indian ships had put a great strain on relations between India and England, however, and once a reward was put out for Avery and his fellow pirates, Trott could no longer protect them. He tipped them off, however, so Avery and most of his 113-man crew got out safely. Only 12 were captured. Averys crew split up. Some went to Charleston, some to Ireland and England, and some remained in the Caribbean. Avery himself vanished from history at this point, although according to Capt. Charles Johnson, one of the best sources of the time (and often thought to be a pseudonym for novelist Daniel Defoe), he returned with much of his loot to England only to be later swindled out of it, dying poor in perhaps 1696 or 1699, maybe in Devonshire County, England. Legacy Avery was a legend during his lifetime and for a while thereafter. He embodied the dream of all pirates to make a huge score and then retire, preferably with an adoring princess and a large pile of loot. The idea that Avery had managed to get away with that booty helped create the so-called Golden Age of Piracy as thousands of poor, abused European seamen tried to follow his example out of their misery. The fact that he supposedly refused to attack English ships (although he did) became part of his legend, giving the story a Robin Hood twist. Books and plays were written about him and his exploits. Many people at the time believed that he had set up a kingdom somewhere- possibly Madagascar- with 40 warships, an army of 15,000 men, a mighty fortress, and coins bearing his face. Capt. Johnsons story is almost certainly closer to the truth. The part of Averys story that can be verified caused great headaches for English diplomats. The Indians were furious and held officers of the British East India Company under arrest for a while. It would take years for the diplomatic furor to die down. Averys haul from the two Mughal ships put him at the top of the earnings list for pirates, at least during his generation. He took in more loot in two years than pirates such as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny and Calico Jack Rackham- combined. Its impossible to know the exact design used by Long Ben Avery for his pirate flag. He only captured a dozen or so ships, and no first-hand accounts survive from his crew or victims. The flag most commonly attributed to him is a white skull in profile, wearing a kerchief on a red or black background. Below the skull are two crossed bones. Sources Cordingly, David. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1996.Defoe, Daniel (writing as Capt. Charles Johnson). A General History of the Pyrates. Edited by Manuel Schonhorn. Dover Publications, 1972/1999.Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Lyons Press, 2009.Henry Every’s Bloody Pirate Raid, 320 Years Ago. History.com.John Avery: British Pirate. Encyclopedia Britannica.

In the past half century, the developing countries have experienced Essay

In the past half century, the developing countries have experienced major compositional shifts from exports of primary products - Essay Example Over the past half century the shift in the export strategies of the developing countries have been noticeable. The shift in the composition of exports is mainly attributed to the developments and modification of the world’s production procedures. The dependence on land and food of the developing countries were gradually replaced by the advent of new technologies that redefined the production of industries in the economy (Dijck and  Linnemann, 1987, p.39). Gradually, the trend of exports of the developing economies shifted from the primary products and agriculture based items to industrial goods produced with the use of advanced technologies. Historical developments: Compositional shift of exports in the developing countries A look at the historical developments of the developing countries reveals that the developing countries in the early part of the twentieth century consisting of China, India, etc. were dependent on land and agriculture. The land was the major source of i ncome and value of land was very high to the state. The transitional of the stages of the development of the economies and the compositional shift in the exports of the countries over the last fifty years have been described below. Initial phase of exports by developing countries The economies of the developing countries in the initial phase of the historical development were highly dependent on agriculture. It would be correct to mention that developing countries before half a century were agriculture based economies. The land was the major source of livelihood and the income of the state and the people were highly dependent on agricultural produce of the land. The developing nations at that point of time used to produce high quantities of rice, wheat, pulses and other agricultural crops. The enhanced activities on farming and the activities of farmers all over the nation formed a considerable part of the gross domestic product. In international trade, the countries had primary pro ducts and raw materials, agricultural products available in large quantities for export. The foreign exchange earnings occurred majorly through the exports of primary goods, raw materials and agricultural goods produced by the countries. The singly dominant item in the developing economies at early stages of history was food products. This trend of exports underwent a radical change in the compositional shift as the developing countries started to open up their economies in the age of liberalization. Changing trend of compositional exports of the developing countries The composition of exports of the developing countries underwent radical shift in the last half a century as the developing countries like India and China opened up their economies in the era of globalization. The advent of new technological developments brought about changes in the production process and the composition of the products produced by the economies. The developing countries in the last fifty years underwen t economic reforms and adopted policies on liberalization. This was done by attracting foreign investments in the developing countries. Investments on development of infrastructure for supporting the growth of industries were the focus areas in the later stages of historical develo

Biotechnology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biotechnology - Essay Example (Paine, et. al., 2005). Another example is the BT corn, which genetically modifies corn crops to protect it from predatory pests such as caterpillars. Much controversy has surrounded biotechnology and biotechnology crops from the start. There are many critics argue that it worsens the lot of farmers rather than improve it because it creates a pattern of corporate dependence. Taking the BT-corn example, after some time, pests would develop a tolerance to modified strain in the corn crop and farmers will have no choice but to purchase new pesticides from the corporations at prices that will exploit their lack of choices. Environmental advocates, on the other hand, warn of the hazards of biotechnology on biodiversity and other life-forms. For example, environmentalists assert that the corn that is keeping pests away is also killing the Monarch butterfly. According to Kloppenburg and Burrows (2001), â€Å"given the increasing commodification of science and technology and the reality of where purchasing power lies, it is naive to expect a new tool such as biotechnology ever to fall outside corporate control.† 2. a. ... Because it is not possible to conduct research on human bodies, using animals in laboratory experiments is justified as a reliable way of ascertaining the risks to human health and to the environment. However, research involving animals must be done in a responsible manner so as to avoid any unnecessary cruelty upon the animals and to ensure that the laboratory experiments are done with the least possible damage to them or to other life systems. b. The dose-response curve refers to an x-y graph designed to measure the effects on a life-form or organisms as a result of exposure to stressors or chemicals, tested over a given period of time and in varying doses. The objective is to determine whether or not a certain chemical is beneficial, and the levels or doses that it is beneficial, as well as the doses at which it is already harmful. The dose-response curve is often used to aid in the crafting of environmental or health regulations. c. LD50 is the dose required to kill 50% of a samp le population within a given time frame. It is also called the median lethal dose. A low LD50 is dangerous because it means that only small doses are required to exterminate half of the sample. Conversely a high LD50 is conventionally deemed to be safer. The problem however with this baseline is that it only measures death and not other toxic effects that do not necessary lead to death. 3. I agree that the precautionary principle is an important environmental principle, and one that should be prevail over market considerations and free trade invocations. Scholars like Adler oppose the precautionary principle, as his problem with it was that it was not responsive to the threats of biodiversity

Early childhood education Essay Example for Free

Early childhood education Essay

Dogma :: essays papers

Dogma Dogma is the latest movie from director Kevin Smith, whose previous movies Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy have become cult hits. This movie should be no different from the last three. Smith has more star power then ever to work with in this movie with such stars as Ben Affleck (who had a part in the Mallrats), Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, and even rocker Alanis Morissette as God. The story is about two fallen angels, Affleck, and Damon, who has spent the last two thousand years on Earth and are looking to find their way back to heaven. But if they get their wish and pass through the archway of St. Michael’s Church history would be reversed and mankind will be destroyed. So God picks an abortion clinic worker, Fiorentino, along with the 13th apostle, Rock, and two profits, Jay and Silent Bob (both from Clerks, and Mallrats) to stop the two angels. Smith knows how to direct a great movie with out the high budget explosive action, and special effects. He can draw you in with great dialogue, and funny everyday situations. Smith can take a serious subject matter, such as Christianity in America today, and turn it into a funny comedy without coming off harsh. Smith first broke onto the scene with Clerks, A funny story of a convenient store worker who is called in on his day off, and a video store worker who wants nothing to do with the public he so poorly serves. The movie is shot in black and white, but you’ll soon find yourself not even noticing it once you get locked into a great story. In Smiths’ next movie, Mallrats, Smith directs a story about a man who breaks up with her girlfriend because her father wants her to be a contestant on his new dating show on public access TV. But soon all hell breaks loose when the Mall security guard has other plans, but with the help of Jay and Silent Bob things at the mall are about to change. Chasing Amy was Smiths last movie before

Will lowering the drinking age solve the problem

Drinking on College Campuses Beer bongs, keg stands, and a million new drinks to discover, these are what college is all about. First-year students are introduced to a whole new world of parties that last until 3 a. m. and drinking beer for the usual breakfast. The week consists of concentrating on school for about 4 days of the week and partying 3 days. The money that was supposed to go towards books and gas to get home has been hoarded for the latest beer run or was used to get into the bar. This trend is getting into the habit of drinking as you enter college; it seems the two go hand in hand.It has become a rite of passage that weaved its way into the introduction of university life (National Institute, October 2002). Those students who never drank in high school seem to think drinking is suddenly okay when they start studying for their bachelor's degree. This addition of responsibility is then balanced by the act of partying. It seems completely absurd that students choose to dr ink while investing around $20,000 a year in school. It all starts at high school graduation. Drinking is suddenly endorsed, or protested less, by parents, coaches, adults, organizations, and businesses.When seniors in high school finally graduate, it is common for a party to be thrown in their honor. Some of these parties include alcohol, and we can be pretty sure it wasn't bought by the graduate unless they flunked a few times and are of legal age. Parents, other adults, and older friends supply the liquor and beer for the underage partiers. When the graduates make the next major step in their life and head for college, they are confronted with many opportunities to get hammered, sloshed, annihilated, drunk, inebriated, intoxicated, wasted, and totally smashed.Other college students re eager to help their young, new friends out by taking them for a trip to the liquor store. Since some bars are legal to those over the age of eighteen, it's not a problem getting served there either. The 21 year-olds are conveniently stamped for minors looking to spot a potential buyer. Since a minor isn't worried about getting served, the most apparent problem is getting to the bar. One setting of this national trend can be studied locally. At Buena Vista University, these same events occur, plus additional more specific examples.At BVU, thanks to student organizations and funding from the college, there is a free ide for all. The â€Å"drunk bus† is a means of transportation supplied by the university and Student Senate, an important organization on campus. This form of transportation is common on a variety ot campuses. Visitors ot The University ot Iowa can see they have buses run all day for classes, and they continue into the night to bring students to and from the bar. The driver at Iowa even sets up a disco ball and funky lights to make the ride more enjoyable for his late-night friends.The free ride is also a form of support for those consuming alcohol. Advertise ments for drinking are all over residence halls. The choice of wallpaper in many dorm rooms consists of beer boxes and fluorescent Budweiser lights. Beer and liquor bottles are a usual decoration in most dorms; theyre used as vases, piggy banks, candle holders, and candy dishes. Each time you walk by a dorm room, you see these things like a giant billboard in Times Square. For a student athlete, a game-winning shot could get him/her a free spirit at the local bar.Fans, bar owners, coaches, athletic directors, teammates, and parents have all been seen rewarding the athletes with toasts and celebration shots. These same oasts are given to college students on their birthdays, no matter how old they are. Fraternities and sororities also bring a drinking factor to colleges. They are known more commonly for their parties and ability to drink, than their community service and GPAs. Even though we don't have them on our campus, they are apparent at the majority of colleges and universities across America.The frats are known for their very popular gatherings where binge drinking is rewarded, and hardly anyone is sober. Sororities are known to attend these parties and Join in the festivities. Another factor that proves that college and drinking go hand in hand is the abrupt end of this behavior for most after college graduation. Most students buckle down for graduate school or the beginning of their career. This excessive drinking pattern does not continue. The tragedies occur when the drinking becomes out of hand.Some drinkers get into a habit of binge drinking. This has been defined as â€Å"drinking to get drunk† (Center for Science, March 2000). Binge drinking leads to passing out, blacking out, memory loss, and injury due to loss of mobility. Unusual and outrageous behavior can get you removed from your university. Even if a student doesn't normally act in mischievous ways, this behavior cannot be excused because of the influence of alcohol. Getting in troub le with the law goes on your public record.Around 11 percent of college student drinkers say they have damaged someone's property while drinking, and 5 percent of a college campus will be involved with the police or campus security due to drinking (A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences, 2002). Other alcohol related charges include public intoxication, minor in possession, driving under the influence, operating while intoxicated, indecent exposure, resisting rrest, interference with official duties, assaulting an officer, and disorderly conduct.

Dick Hebdige’s work Subculture: The Meaning of Style

Dick Hebdige’s work Subculture: The Meaning of Style has had a great impact within the area of cultural studies as it manages to take the preceding theories of subculture one step further, and to pinpoint the differences between culture and subculture as well as to decipher the â€Å"the hidden messages inscribed on the glossy surfaces of style† (Hebdige, 18). Hebdige follows on the tracks of semiology as theorized before him by Saussure and Roland Barthes and tries to read and interpret the signs and the language of the subcultures that emerged in Great Britain after World War II, such as the punks, the mods or the skinheads.Also, he is inspired to a great extent by Levi-Strauss’s structuralist anthropology. What is really significant about Hebdige’s works though is that he applies the purely theoretical frame that had been constructed by the preceding authors directly to the different styles which appeared as forms of subculture. Thus, he tries to interp ret the outer signs which were displayed by each of the groups, from the punks to the skinheads, and reveal their social and cultural meaning.He uses clothing and hair styles, types of music or dancing and so on, as part of the language of the subcultures, in which the actual social meanings are inscribed. Thus, according to Hebdige although the social classes were said to have disappeared after the Second World War, they were actually simply transformed into ideological divisions from the mainstream. The classes thus formed were subcultures, that is, ‘marginal discourses’ which opposed the general tendency of the anonymous culture existing at that point in time:â€Å"It has become something of a clichà © to talk of the period after the Second World War as one of enormous upheaval in which the traditional patterns of life in Britain were swept aside to be replaced by a new, and superficially less class-ridden system [†¦] Nonetheless [†¦]class refused to disa ppear. The ways in which class was lived, however – the forms in which the experience of class found expression in culture did change dramatically.The advent of the mass media, changes in the constitution of the family, in the organization of school and work, shifts in the relative status of work and leisure, all served to fragment and polarize the working-class community, producing a series of marginal discourses within the broad confines of class experience. †(Hebdige, 54) As Hebdige emphasizes, the subcultural styles formed their own rhetoric by means of a certain way of living and of an ostentatious appearance, as a response to the particular cultural, social, political circumstances of the time.In brief, it can be said that these subcultural styles were a form of protest to the anonymous culture. Although sometimes their rhetoric, as in the case of the punks, was intentionally baffling and consciously aiming at meaninglessness, to the point that it seemed to  "work against the reader and to resist any authoritative interpretation,†(Hebdige, 89) it formed nevertheless a coherent symbolic order in itself.The subcultural groups represent, in Hebdige’s view, responses to the â€Å"contrary mythology of class†, that is, to the way in which class was alternatively proclaimed as gone and then reaffirmed by the media: â€Å"Rather the different styles and the ideologies which structure and determine them represent negotiated responses to a contradictory mythology of class. In this mythology, ‘the withering away of class' is paradoxically countered by an undiluted ‘classfulness', a romantic conception of the traditional whole way of (working-class) life revived twice weekly on television programs like Coronation Street.The mods and skinheads, then, in their different ways, were ‘handling' this mythology as much as the exigencies of their material condition. They were learning to live within or without that a morphous body of images and typifications made available in the mass media in which class is alternately overlooked and overstated, denied and reduced to caricature. †(Hebdige, 55) Thus, Hebdige sees subcultures as homogeneous and coherent forms of rhetoric, which go beyond the merely desire to shock the public opinion.In fact, as he theorizes, all the parts of the systems of symbols that make up a particular style are homologous, and they can be said to be as coherent as a’ whole way of life’: â€Å"In Profane Culture, Willis shows how, contrary to the popular myth which presents subcultures as lawless forms, the internal structure of any particular subculture is characterized by an extreme orderliness: each part is organically related to other parts and it is through the fit between them that the subcultural member makes sense of the world.For instance, it was the homology between an alternative value system (‘Tune in, turn on, drop out’), halluci nogenic drugs and acid rock which made the hippy culture cohere as a ‘whole way of life’ for individual hippies. †(Hebdige, 123) As Hebdige remarks the subcultures were actually strong constructs, which were usually meant as a response to a crisis situation, as is the case of the punks at the end of the 1970’s, whose rhetoric mimicked the chaos of the English social and economical life.The violent and obscene style was in fact a language in itself, in perfect accordance with the way in which swore or spoke: â€Å"There was a homological relation between the trashy cut-up clothes and spiky hair, the pogo and amphetamines, the spitting, the vomiting, the format of the fanzines, the insurrectionary poses and the â€Å"soulless,† frantically driven music. The punks wore clothes which were the sartorial equivalent of swear words, and they swore as they dressed — with calculated effect, lacing obscenities into record notes and publicity releases, i nterviews and love songs.Clothed in chaos, they produced Noise in the calmly orchestrated Crisis of everyday life in the late 1970 s[†¦]†(Hebdige, 125) Hebdige thus highlights the identity of language and style within the subcultural rhetoric. The punks for instance functioned as a current in which the meanings were not even fixed as such, although the general meaning behind the style was that ‘the forbidden is permitted’, as Hebdige comments: â€Å"If we were to write an epitaph for the punk subculture, we could do no better than repeat Poly Styrene's famous dictum: ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours!’ or somewhat more concisely: the forbidden is permitted, but by the same token, nothing, not even these forbidden signifiers (bondage, safety pins, chains, hair-dye, etc. ) is sacred and fixed. †(Hebdige, 125)The subcultures were thus a way of subverting the anonymous, mainstream currents trough a form of stylistic rhetoric. The main discontents with the contemporary world were thus displayed by means of dress or discordant music for example, aiming at a deconstruction of traditional concepts or cultural facts.The subcultural styles didn’t target necessarily the values of a certain society, as it is usually believed, but rather those notions and cultural patterns that they found as incoherent and contradictory. They were actually an abstract embodiment of the outside chaos, and not a chaotic response to order, or a protest against order. Also, the subcultural streams aimed at emphasizing otherness and difference and their adherents were intentionally posing as aliens to society and wearing masks so as to avoid any categorization or prescribed identity:â€Å"They [the punks] played up their Otherness, ‘happening’ on the world as aliens, inscrutables. Though punk rituals, accents and objects were deliberately used to signify working-classness, the exact origins of individual punks were disguised or symbolically d isfigured by the make-up, masks and aliases which seem to have been used, like Breton's art, as ploys ‘to escape the principle of identity. ’ †(Hebdige,126) Another very important characteristic of the subcultural movements is, as Hebdige notes, the fact that they strived to confuse the usual divisions of race, gender and chronology by combining them in their style.The boundaries between the white and black cultures are progressively erased through the borrowings that the white cultures made from the black ones in their style: â€Å"[†¦] it is on the plane of aesthetics: in dress, dance, music; in the whole rhetoric of style, that we find the dialogue between black and white most subtly and comprehensively recorded [†¦]†(Hebdige, 96) The subcultures proceeded to mix up the separate elements of the mainstream culture, attacking thus the idea of identity and opening the way to difference and otherness:â€Å"Behind punk's favored ‘cut ups†™ lay hints of disorder, of breakdown and category confusion: a desire not only to erode racial and gender boundaries but also to confuse chronological sequence by mixing up details from different periods. †(Hebdige, 128) The important thing to note therefore is that in Hebdige’s theory the subcultures were deviations from the anonymous culture, aiming at decentralizing some of the most rooted concepts and ideas of society, and at establishing a new different order outside the stereotypes of society. All this was done through style, ranging from music to dressing and all the other means of expression.Style works therefore as a system of signs, as a text that must be read to grasp the meaning behind it. Obviously, Hebdige’s work deals with the subcultures in the modern epoch, after the Second World War. Therefore, there have been attempts to take his study further, so as it may capture the way in which subculture is manifested in postmodernism. Although the main subcultures that Hebdige discusses- the punks, the teddy boys, the mods, the skinheads, the Rasta men and so on, lost their force or even disappeared, some subcultural groups still exist today, although their structure seems to be different from that of the modern subcultures.The styles in the contemporary world are, to a great extent, the products of postmodernism and therefore imitate its main tenants, its fragmentation and hybridization. There are no longer entirely compact, coherent or well delimited subcultures like those identified by Hebdige, therefore the concepts he proposed remain mostly valid for the historical period he analyzed in his work. His approach is very enlightening for any cultural studies inquiry but it should be modified or continued so as to comprise the contemporary phenomena.

Free Essays on The Color Of Water

Paper on the color of water The Color of Water by James McBride is a book about the author finding his own identity though discovering who his mother, Ruth really is. Throughout his whole life he has felt there is something different between his mother and himself. His father and his eleven brothers and sisters were all black and his mother was white. This never really bothered James when he was a child. His mother never talked about race and didn’t see herself as any different from her children. She never talked about her past and always changed the topic whenever he asked her any questions about where she came from or why she was different from himself and the rest of his siblings. It was not until he wrote this book that all of his questions about his race and identity were answered because he finally uncovered his mothers past. Ruth had a miserable life growing up. Her family was Jewish Orthodox, and first generation Americans. She spent most of her childhood moving around with her family as her father looked for work as a rabbi. Her family finally settled in Suffolk, Virginia. It was a small town which was racially segregated and Jews were not well liked there. They lived on the black side of town and her father was the rabbi and they owned and small store. She only had one friend that she talked to most of her childhood. â€Å"White kids hated Jews in my school. ‘Hey ruth, when did you start being a dirty Jew?’ they’d ask . I couldn't stand to be ridiculed.† (McBride, 80) Going to a predominantly white school caused Ruth to have low self esteem because she wasn't accepted by the other kids. â€Å"In school kids called me ‘Christ killer’ or ‘Jew baby’.† (McBride, 40) Ruth's family life was not much better than her social life. Her father was very strict and she was afraid of him. â€Å"There were to many rules to follow, too many forbiddens and ‘you cant’s and ‘you musnt’s,’ but does anybody say they... Free Essays on The Color Of Water Free Essays on The Color Of Water Paper on the color of water The Color of Water by James McBride is a book about the author finding his own identity though discovering who his mother, Ruth really is. Throughout his whole life he has felt there is something different between his mother and himself. His father and his eleven brothers and sisters were all black and his mother was white. This never really bothered James when he was a child. His mother never talked about race and didn’t see herself as any different from her children. She never talked about her past and always changed the topic whenever he asked her any questions about where she came from or why she was different from himself and the rest of his siblings. It was not until he wrote this book that all of his questions about his race and identity were answered because he finally uncovered his mothers past. Ruth had a miserable life growing up. Her family was Jewish Orthodox, and first generation Americans. She spent most of her childhood moving around with her family as her father looked for work as a rabbi. Her family finally settled in Suffolk, Virginia. It was a small town which was racially segregated and Jews were not well liked there. They lived on the black side of town and her father was the rabbi and they owned and small store. She only had one friend that she talked to most of her childhood. â€Å"White kids hated Jews in my school. ‘Hey ruth, when did you start being a dirty Jew?’ they’d ask . I couldn't stand to be ridiculed.† (McBride, 80) Going to a predominantly white school caused Ruth to have low self esteem because she wasn't accepted by the other kids. â€Å"In school kids called me ‘Christ killer’ or ‘Jew baby’.† (McBride, 40) Ruth's family life was not much better than her social life. Her father was very strict and she was afraid of him. â€Å"There were to many rules to follow, too many forbiddens and ‘you cant’s and ‘you musnt’s,’ but does anybody say they...

Three Primes of Alchemy (Paracelsus Tria Prima)

Three Primes of Alchemy (Paracelsus Tria Prima) Paracelsus identified three primes (tria prima) of alchemy. The Primes are related to the Law of the Triangle, in which two components come together to produce the third. In modern chemistry, you cant combine the element sulfur and mercury to produce the compound table salt, yet alchemy recognized substances reacted to yield new products. Tria Prima, the Three Alchemy Primes Sulfur – The fluid connecting the High and the Low. Sulfur was used to denote the expansive force, evaporation, and dissolution.Mercury - The omnipresent spirit of life. Mercury was believed to transcend the liquid and solid states. The belief carried over into other areas, as mercury was thought to transcend life/death and heaven/earth.Salt - Base matter. Salt represented the contractive force, condensation, and crystallization. Metaphorical Meanings of the Three Primes Sulfur Mercury Salt Aspect of Matter flammable volatile solid Alchemy Element fire air earth/water Human Nature spirit mind body Holy Trinity Holy Spirit Father Son Aspect of Psyche superego ego id Existential Realm spiritual mental physical Paracelsus devised the three primes from the alchemists Sulfur-Mercury Ratio, which was the belief that each metal was made from a specific ratio of sulfur and mercury and that a metal could be converted into any other metal by adding or removing sulfur. So, if one believed this to be true, it made sense lead could be converted into gold if the correct protocol could be found for adjusting the amount of sulfur. Alchemists would work with the three primes using a process called Solve Et Coagula, which translates to mean dissolving and coagulating. Breaking apart materials so they could recombine was considered a method of purification. In modern chemistry, a similar process is used to purify elements and compounds through crystallization. Matter is either melted or else dissolved and then allowed to recombine to yield a product of higher purity than the source material. Paracelsus also held the belief that all life consisted of three parts, which could be represented by the Primes, either literally or figuratively (modern alchemy). The three-fold nature is discussed in both Eastern and Western religious traditions. The concept of two joining together to become one is also related. Opposing masculine sulfur and feminine mercury would join to produce salt or the body.

Toxicology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Toxicology - Essay Example Although, more often the size of the solute particles is larger than what can easily cross the biomembranes. In that case, there are carrier proteins that bind with the solute and transport them across the membrane. This is known as facilitated diffusion. In facilitated diffusion, the carrier proteins are embedded in the membrane. They bind with the biomolecules and change their shape which results in translocation of the molecules to the other side of membrane. In a biochemical system, there is frequently need of transporting biomolecules across a membrane against the concentration gradient. It can be thought of as uphill movement of molecules and it requires energy. The energy used can be chemical in nature as from ATP in various protein pumps or electrochemical due to difference of electrochemical potential across the membrane. As illustrated by Jack H. Kaplan (2002), an example of active transport pump is Sodium/ Potassium ATPase that uses energy from ATP breakdown to transport ions across

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 4

Case study - Essay Example In this segment, the major focus will be on Sony’s journey of inevitable change that has made it reach where it is today. Perhaps the first change that the company experienced in the millennium was the appointment of Howard Stringer in 2005 as the chief executive. Apart from Stringer being the first non-Japanese to head the firm in over a half a century, he had a history with some of the fiercest competitor of the Sony Corporations. Despite this, he was the best choice to turn around company’s dwindling profits. Organizational analysts were sceptical of his approach of streamlining the operations of the business and the massive job cuts. The new chief executive included several other ambitious techniques that previously never existed in the company. For instance, he scraped off entire lines of production such as production of cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets. Change was also inevitable in the composition of human resources for Sony over the years. This is partially a step of business strategy and partially for skills that the company required for its future plans. The laying off of about 10,000 employees as a cost cutting measure had a direct impact on the company’s short term in terms of public perception. However, this was necessary to turn around numbers for the company. Human resource in major companies is a key element for their success or failure as Marshak (2005, p97) illustrates. This is because all decisions are made and implemented by directors and employees respectively. Therefore, chief executives and company directors aim at hiring the best and retaining the most productive employees at all times. In light of these, the employee restructuring of Sony was implemented by eliminating human resource that was either too obsolete or redundant in their work. This is a change that most of other multinationals are experiencing today. Thirdly, cultural change is another dynamic that Sony has experienced over the years. The CEO himself