Extraterrestrial Visitation - The Truth is Out There :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Extraterrestrial Visitation - The Truth is Out There Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's...a UFO?! For many years, the question of extraterrestrial visitation is one that has puzzled everyone from the media crazed public to the most ingenious scientists. An excerpt from the 1996 summer's sci-fi thriller, Independence Day , reflects how some of the public feel about the validity behind extraterrestrial visitation: PRESIDENT. Sir, regardless of what you might have read in the tabloids there have never been any spacecrafts recovered by your government. Take my word for it. There is no Area 51. There is no recovered spaceship. AIDE. Uhh... Mr. President... That's not entirely correct... Maybe aliens have visited us in the past. But if so, it has only been on the big screen. Though many avow that they have come in contact with alien visitors, these sightings have been like a cocktail; a mixture of hoaxes, hallucinations, misinterpretations of natural phenomenon, and paranoid imagination. In fact, the probability of intelligent life outside of our planet is almost nil. Reports of extraterrestrial visitation have never been scientifically confirmed. Because the alien topic has been exploited for all it's worth by the market, the argument for the existence of extraterrestrial visitation seems watered down. But still, many people have seriously defended the existence of UFOs through the decades. Some claim they have caught a glimpse of them. Others say the government is covering up information about aliens they have discovered. Still others go as far as to say they were abducted. However, one thing is a non-variable: the firmness of their belief. Many are enthusiastic, almost obsessed, about their interest. Some wander about in search of UFOs, while others lead normal lives. They say that they know what they saw. The pro-UFO argument has always been one that was suspicious and inconsistent. In spite of this disorganization, the theory, like even the most separated arguments, has common threads that links everything together. The first thread is that, intelligent extraterrestrial life exists and their technology is far more advanced than our own. The second thread is that the government has supposedly found alien spacecrafts and alien bodies, and they are covering up the story by keeping critical information from us. Believers seem to think the rest of the world is hostile to this idea because others are not open-minded enough to see the truth.

Theme Analysis of Marriage: Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy, the author of Jude the Obscure, focuses on multiple themes throughout his book including social order and higher learning which is mainly seen in the first part of the book. Jude, a working class boy aiming to educate himself, dreams of a high level education at a university, but is pushed away by the cruel and rigid social order. In the second part of the book, Jude abandons his idea of entering Christminster and the focus shifts to Sue. The themes of love, marriage, freedom replace the earlier theme of education and idealism. Hardy pushes each of these themes to his audience and challenges everyday ideology by his audacious story about Jude Hawley. Hardy begins an argument against the institution of marriage, but he does not necessarily suggest that marriage is automatically bad; he just makes it clear that he believes people should be able to step away from a marriage if things do get dire. He also makes it clear that marriage is not necessarily linked to love in any way, so it's obvious that a decent, understanding society would accept Jude and Sue's relationship because they truly love each other, regardless of whether they are married or not. Hardy tends to view marriage with cynicism, and there are many disapproving comments about the nature of marriage being based on contracts. Hardy was conscious that women were not treated equally in society, and that the laws of nature were often heavily weighed against women. He treats the subject with sympathy and understanding. He also illustrates that marriage could victimize both men and women. There are no happy marriages or content couples seen in the book. Jude, when married to Arabella, feels trapped in a hopeless situation. Marriage is compared to being â€Å"caught in a gin, which would cripple him if not her also for the rest of a lifetime,† (43). However, Jude is partly aware even before the marriage that Arabella is the wrong type of woman for him. He recognizes that there is something in her â€Å"quite antipathetic to that side of him which had been occupied with literary study and the magnificent Christminster dream. It had been no vestal who chose that missile for opening her attack on him,† (27). A few chapters later, the reader is told, â€Å"he knew too well in the secret center of his brain that Arabella was not worth a great deal as a specimen of womankind,† (39). Naive and trusting, he does the honorable thing and marries her. But he has married the wrong woman, and the marriage is bound to be a disaster. Sue's marriage to Phillotson is another example of a disastrous marriage of rashness and thoughtlessness. Jude suspects that Sue has married Phillotson as a reaction to his own marriage, a kind of retaliation, a way of â€Å"asserting her own independence from him,† (129). She does not realize the enormity of the step she has taken, and after the ceremony, there is a â€Å"frightened look in her eyes,† as if she has only just become aware of the rashness of her decision. Barely a month later she admits, â€Å"perhaps I ought not to have married† (142). Sue is the loudest critic of matrimony in the novel. She makes sarcastic comments on the custom of giving away the bride, â€Å"like a she-ass or she-goat or any other domestic animal† (126). When her marriage is in trouble, she criticizes the institution, explaining the difficulty she experiences fitting into the conventional mold which society demands. The nineteenth century tradition of the subjection of women to fathers and husbands is reflected in Gillingham's advice to Phillotson to be firm with Sue until she has knuckled under. Hardy makes it clear, however, that it is the man here who is victimized in this marriage; Phillotson is far from being a cruel, tyrannical husband. Instead, he is an extremely patient and liberal husband. Sue's views on marriage should not necessarily be connected with Hardy's. Hardy himself points out her emotional inconsistency, and there are several signs that she is not really cut out for marriage. In Part V, both Jude's and Sue's divorces come through, but Sue avoids their possible marriage. She calls marriage a â€Å"sordid contract† and a â€Å"hopelessly vulgar† institution, and she fears that an â€Å"iron contract should extinguish† all tenderness between them, reinforcing Hardy’s negative view of the nature of marriage. Most of Sue’s views on marriage are given in parts V and VI. She feels that the contractual nature of it will kill all impulse and romance; â€Å"it is foreign to a man's nature to go on loving a person when he is told that he must and shall be a person's lover,† (193). The visit to the unclean registry office in part V, chapter 4 is horrifying for her, and she shows abhorrence to the ordinary church wedding. She sees it in terms of a sacrifice of the bride: â€Å"the flowers in the bride's hand are sadly like the garland which decked the heifers of sacrifice in olden times,† (215). Sue's views on marriage are rather extreme, and they represent a push away from the norms of marriage. Hardy also raises some valid arguments of the overly rigid attitude of society towards the unmarried and the unconventional. Phillotson's humanity and charity in letting Sue go scandalizes the school authorities, and his career is ruined. A kind, decent man who was only trying to be fair is scorned by society's intolerance. Sue and Jude also became the subject of cruel gossip at Aldbrickham: the neighbors ignore them, Little Father Time is taunted at school, Jude loses his job, and the family is forced into a nomadic existence. Hardy is pushing the fact that society is vindictive and intolerant of those who deviate from its normal codes of living and marriage. Hardy repeatedly emphasizes that marriage involves making a commitment that many people are emotionally unfit to fulfill, and this thought comes from the narrator, but it is also expressed by Sue, Jude, Phillotson, and Widow Edlin through the whole novel. Although the custom of marriage is such a central theme pressed by Hardy, he conflicts against other conventions in his society like education and social class which ultimately show a huge theme of fighting against the norm.

Get your marketing ready for 2019 with these trends

Get your marketing ready for 2019 with these trends Marketing has existed in one form or another since the dawn of capitalism itself. And it’ll exist as long as there are products and services for sale. That said, it does evolve and adapt to the world around it. Billboards and signage were followed by radio ads, which led to television spots, and finally, to the digital marketing we see today. The ad men of the 50s and 60s might not recognize the form, but the goal remains the same: right product, right person, right time. Marketing is nothing if not able to go with the flow. So what’s next for it as we enter 2019? Here are three trends to keep an eye on in the coming year. 2019 Templates to get Organized Before we dig into trends, download these 2019 tools to get organized in the new year. Youll get: Marketing Plan Outline Template (Word): Document your entire 2019 marketing plan. Marketing Strategy Template (Excel): Plan every part of your strategy. Content Marketing Strategy Template (PowerPoint): Plan  tactics  and  channels  to complement your strategy. Email Marketing Strategy Template (PowerPoint): Email is a big part of marketing in 2019; use this template to get it right. Social Media Strategy Template (PowerPoint): Start the year off right with a clear social media roadmap. Audience Persona Template (Word): Finally get all your user personas on track for the year. Marketing Budget Template (Excel):   New year, new budget! The Arrival of Voice Search Voice search is taking over in a big, big way, and there’s no reason to believe it’ll slow down anytime soon. Popular digital assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant have fundamentally changed the way we interact with our mobile devices, to say nothing of how we search and consume information. Then, of course, we also have the prevalence of smart speaker systems like Amazon’s Echo, Google’s Home, and Apple’s Homepod. It’s no stretch to think that we may say ‘goodbye’ to manual data entry entirely in the not-too-distant future. Consider: Half of all online searches will be conducted via voice by 2020 Gartner predicts that nearly one-third of searches will be conducted without a screen  by the same year Nearly 40% of adults use voice search  at least once each day Voice shopping accounted for roughly $1.8 billion in 2017, but will reach $40+ billion by 2022 U.S. voice-enabled digital assistant users are growing by leaps and bounds, and are expected to top 39 million millennials, 17 million Gen Xers, and 10 million baby boomers  by 2019 Image Source The writing is on the wall, or more accurately, being spoken aloud: voice search is here to stay. What does that mean for you and your marketing? Plenty. Kenneth Burke, Marketing Director at Text Request, says that â€Å"Google and other search engines have already been tailoring search results to match speech, meaning conversational writing and SEO is increasingly more effective than keyword-targeted writing.† Consider your own interaction with Google or Siri for a moment. We don’t ask for information the same way we would type it, opting to say ‘Hey Siri, where’s the nearest coffee shop?’ whereas we might have typed ‘coffee shops Seattle’. That switch in tone and structure needs to be reflected in your marketing copy. It’ll need to be written conversationally so the voice-enabled assistants can read it aloud and present results the way people talk. Furthermore, Burke believes there will be â€Å"a continual focus on search intent  rather than word choice, and my bet is this will play an even more significant role in 2019.† What do people want, and how do they ask for it?

Argumentative essay LAWS

Argumentative essay LAWS Argumentative essay LAWS Effectiveness of Law Enforcement Suitability of Formal Law Enforcement in Conflicting Crime As stated by Ashbel, Wall, and Tracey, â€Å"The primary mission of law enforcement is to maintain peace and order and provide a safe environment† (Ashbel, Wall, and Tracey 1). In addition, law enforcement experts have the mandate of providing a safe habitation for everyone. All domains in law enforcement have their own roles, which have interconnections regarding their primary motive-providing public safety. Harvey Wiener in his chapter 5 introduction article put it, â€Å"Yet, to judge by the current events, it seems that many people in America see the government as an evil to be avoided rather than an avenue for sustaining life in a just world† (Wiener 161). This raises the question whether the law enforcement practices are fair to people over whom it has jurisdiction. This shows that law, despite the fact that its enforcement is vital, some elements in its practice leave questions regarding its suitability. It therefore becomes the main objective of this paper to determine the validity of these arguments. Elrich and Brower state, â€Å"Increased punishment for offenders culminates to a substantial reduction in crime frequency† (Elrich and Brower 99). As such, there is an increased risk with regard to victimization due to the practical private law enforcement. In addition, the protection measures severity increase, which is associated with the increase in scope of the prevention variables. In everyone’s knowledge, it is universally agreed that punishment prevents crime, and as Elrich and Brower put it, â€Å"There are three possible reasons that act as a punishment’s causal interpretations† (Elrich and Brower 99). One of them is punishment as a prevention variable in preventing crime, as a disincentive of any criminal activity. This makes the entire practice of law enforcement vague and difficult to understand, especially pertaining to its efficiency and func tionality. In the recent past, the application of the so-called ‘Economics of Crime’ in the United States has been on the rise. As Frey states, â€Å"Assume that a lot of punishment prevents crime† (Frey 92). It is vital to comprehend that punishment is substantively effective even when not applied. According to the economics of crime, punishment mechanisms serve as signals to show what kind of behavior is both morally and legally undesired by the lawmakers. Expressive punishment procedures therefore reveal that they are the only possible actions to apply when it becomes difficult to impose other types of punishment. The second component is the mechanism of humiliating the offenders. This entails the strategies whereby offenders are actively exposed to the public. Consequently, their reputation is diminished. The accompanying distrust is very negative for the perpetrators, instigating dishonor, especially in their profession. The other mechanisms revolve around c rushing the perpetrator, for example confronting the victims, usually targets psychic effects. For example, a killer of a father can be forced to share the experience of any immense loss suffered by the children and the widow. Offering of lower wages is also one of the measures. This makes the perpetrators more socially withdrawn. The other component advocates that under no circumstances can crime be tolerated. This is based on the alleged broken window theory. In this, even the perpetrators of the somewhat insignificant misdemeanors must be severely punished in the quest to discourage the public from deviating from the law. Others support life imprisonment after a perpetrator commits two minor offences. To the government side, it might be that if a perpetrator gets a punishment of the same level as that of a major crime, he may tend to commit the most significant ones. It therefore raises the question whether the system is fair enough, or whether it aids in committing big crimes. I n an anthology called Campus Climate Control by

Gun Control Issues in the United States Research Paper

Gun Control Issues in the United States - Research Paper Example The national firearms act was the first act that restricted the rights to own guns. The guns were then provided to the people after complete background checking and assuring as if they really needed the gun for a fair use. The federal act of gun control was introduced in 1968, and as per this act, each gun is provided with a unique serial number that is held by the gun buyer. 1990s’ amendment then proscribes the criminals to become a gun owner and makes it essential to check the criminal record of the buyer during the sales time. Gun control opponents argue that people bearing handguns are able to defend themselves from criminal offense assuring personal safety. Whereas, the advocates of gun control suggest that increase in crime rates is an outcome of widespread ownership of the gun and ultimately bring negative consequences both in terms of private and public (Gun Control Debate 2011).   Since 1934, various federal laws have been acted out to promote federal regulation of firearms and ammunition, the constitutionality, and efficacy of which is continued to be a strong debate. Gun control proponents argue that laws and regulation to control gun ownership and holding can prohibit convicted felons, mentally challenged and other individuals who are not safe to the society to misuse guns to create harm. The advocates of gun control also suggest that accessibility of guns to these high-risk individuals can successfully be reduced by only the federal regulations and policies for gun usage. Some people even sought for extensive modifications in gun control policy such as non-police handgun possession and the registration of all firearm owners or firearms should be prohibited almost exclusively. For this prohibitive act regarding firearms, they insist that such regulation is not barred by the constitution and it does not incur any substantial social costs. Some proponents do not consider such strict policies rather they go for moderate policy alternatives suc h as the ones which would not hinder legitimate possession and transfer of firearms. The opponents of such federal policies have much stronger arguments. They refuse to accept that federal regulation can prevent firearms access by high-risk persons. They argue against the gun control acts indicating that such controls often disturb law observant citizens by creating burdens on them. Some people consider these policies as a violation of constitutional rights catered by the Second Amendment. They even give reasons for their opposition to gun control by demonstrating that they consider the widespread possession of the gun as one of the best impediments to criminal offenses and to likely despotism as well, whether through the use of guns by gangs or by the government. Some opponents may also criticize the impression of enhancing federal powers as opposed to state and police forces (Gun Control 2002). Gun control had been considered a prominent issue neither in the 2004 Presidential camp aign nor in the 2008 campaign.  Ã‚  

Rise of the Strategic Bomber Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rise of the Strategic Bomber - Research Paper Example It had the capacity to destroy even the cities, harbors and other industries. It was strong enough to completely destroy the target area. When compared to a normal bomber, strategic bomber had the ability to transform the fertile place to a place where no habitat can exist. Strategic bombers were larger aircrafts which carried more bombs and weapons. The smaller fighter planes and jet bombers carried only the normal bombs that could move away the enemies. Strategic bombers were invented to destroy the enemies. They were specially designed aircrafts that were used by almost all the countries during the war period. (Quanback, 1976).The severity of World War led to the development of such machines. Bombers were the important component of any country’s military troop. (Boot, 2006). They satisfied the requisites of the military troops and hence they became an essential part of any war. Since then the strategic bombers have gone through tremendous improvement and it has spread to almost all the countries. The First World War led to the invention of these bombers since the soldiers alone could not manage in the war front. A special machine that could control the enemies was in need of the hour. Most of the European and Russian countries made use of the se bombers. Iraq was one of the countries which faced several attacks from the American nation. (MacIssac, 1976). These countries made the best use of such strategic bombers which in turn contributed to the development of these aircrafts. Post First World War, the bombers went through a drastic improvement. Till then the bombers were simple aircraft which carried bombs. These aircrafts were smaller in size and carried only a limited number of bombs. The engineers then designed aircrafts that carried more number of bombs and the size of the aircraft was considerably bigger. Cold war affected the development of these strategic bombers. During the beginning of Cold

Forest Management and unlawfull logging in Cameroon (centre Africa ) Thesis

Forest Management and unlawfull logging in Cameroon (centre Africa ) - Thesis Example The Congo Basin in Africa has the second largest rain forest in the world after the Amazon rain forest. It had almost one hundred and ninety million hectares in 1995 (Hutter, 2000) and was spread across countries like Equatorial Guinea, The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Gabon and also Cameroon. Cameroon is located to the north of the equator and is bordered by countries like Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, and Nigeria. While in the north, Cameroon is covered by savannas, in the south it is has a dense tropical forest (Cameroon Forests, n.d.). The country is inhabited by more than two hundred ethnic groups and has a diverse wildlife with over four hundred species of mammals and seven hundred species of birds. There are also numerous plant species in these forests many of which are endangered. About seventy five percent of Cameroon consists of dense forests or woodlands. The country al so has an affluent literary heritage. The biodiversity of Cameroon especially in flora and fauna is worth a mention. Of the total forested area seventy percent has a dense forest cover with a thick canopy of leaves that covers the sky. It consists of fifty percent of the country’s area. The entire forested region of the country is not suitable for logging. Out of the twenty four million hectare spread of dense forest in the country seventeen million is suitable for logging activity (Cameroon, n.d.). Logging is an important economic activity for the people of Cameroon and accounted for nine percent of the tax revenue of the country. Data suggests that logging generated $60 million for the Cameroon government in 1997-98 as tax revenue. Commercial logging had been an active source of livelihood for a large number of people for over a century. But in recent times the environment of the Cameroon is being threatened by rampant felling of trees for the timbre. In the past few decade s a large amount of the forest has given way to open lands for agricultural tracts, farms and human settlements. Though cutting of trees for agricultural lands is the primary reason of deforestation, logging activities is also responsible for the threat that the forest faces. Some facts about deforestation have been revealed in a report of the Global Forest Watch. The report mentions that the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimated that out of the 21.6 million hectares of historic forest cover of Cameroon in 1980 only 19.6 million remained in 1995. From 1980 to 1998 the population of Cameroon increased by more than sixty six percent (from 8.6 million to 14.3 million). This caused an increase in demand for land and resources. The excess demand of land for agriculture and human inhabitation was satisfied at the expense of the forest cover. According to the legislation of Cameroon, the locals have a right over the products of the forests though the government owns t he right to the trees and everything below the soil like oil. As of now, Cameroon ranks among the top five exporter of timbre in the world. But the population is increasing steadily and the modest reserve of oil that the country had been blessed with is depleting at a fast rate. This depletion of oil, the environmentalists fear, will put more pressure on the demand for forest resources to supplement the loss of income when all the oil has been exhausted. Logging is very crucial activity for the regional as well as the national income of the country. The government of the country has realized this. So they have given a high priority to the conservation of forest and the issue figures in almost all the agendas of the local and national politics. Towards the end of the past millennium the president of the country Paul Biya organized a summit for the head of the states to discuss the issue of proper management of the forest and its resources. It resulted in the Yaounde Declaration where five