Friday, January 31, 2020

Should the Government ban smoking Essay Example for Free

Should the Government ban smoking Essay The hazards of smoking have become very clear in the last few years and the public has started working towards changing societal norms associated with smoking. Awareness about second hand smoking has also risen considerably and efforts are being made to protect residents from it. However, communities alone cannot bring such a drastic change. The government needs to play a key role in protecting the health of its citizens by introducing various laws and legislation that will discourage smoking. Firstly, smoking needs to be discouraged because various researches and studies have proven that passive smoking has killed 35,000 to 40,000 people per year in the United States alone in the early 1980’s. These passive smokers also put up with an immeasurable cost of lower quality of life and a shorter life span. Tobacco can be blamed for more deaths of Americans each year as compared to deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires and aids combined. The combined loss of lives each year due to smoking was approximately equal to the lives lost in the World War II. Non-smokers living with smokers also suffer from an increased risk of death from heart attacks, strokes or heart diseases. Children are highly vulnerable to diseases caused by second-hand smoking. Children under the age of two years can develop chest infections, asthma and other respiratory problems due to second hand smoking. Secondly, smoking also costs the government millions of dollars in terms of smoking related treatment at government hospitals. Small and large businesses suffer from lost productivity because of the countless breaks and absenteeism of chain smokers. Cigarette smoking cost the U. S almost $52 billion in health expenses or time lost from work, about $221 per person, each year. Another disturbing consequence of smoking areS accidental fires resulting from smoking on public or private property. According to an estimate, 25% of residential fires were caused by smokers. It is a government priority to protect the nation’s health and safety. This can only be accomplished by raising taxes on cigarettes and making smoking a more expensive habit. The government can spend a portion of its budget on anti smoking campaigns or public service announcement. Guidance and counseling must be provided free of cost which can help people quit this disgusting habit. Smokers should be required to contribute to the cost of smoking related treatment. Above all, government should pass a resolution which forces restaurants, bars and clubs need to restrict smoking to particular areas only. Advertisement and television shows that promote the habit of smoking or make it look cool to teenagers need to be banned so that vulnerable teenagers, women and various minorities belonging to low income groups do not fall prey to smoking. This is the only way the government can promote a just, supportive, and productive environment which adds to the social and economic well-being of all Americans.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Architecture, Power, and National Identity Essay -- Architecture

Having a sense of belonging is one of several fundamental human needs and national identity refers to a person’s sense of belonging to one country with its history, values and traditions. Since achieving independence in 1957, the issue of Malaysia’s national identity has been in the spotlight due to its strong social, political and economical factors implication. As a multi-cultural country, the search for a national identity is not an easy undertaking as Malaysians consist of different ethnics such as Malay, Chinese and Indian. Each ethnic group contributes their own unique culture and religion, hence making it difficult to form a Malaysian identity. In fact, in September 2010, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced the 1 Malaysia concept. This concept acts as a call-for-action for the government leaders and bodies to place a greater emphasis on national unity and ethnic tolerance. This demonstrates that even at present day, Malaysia’s national identity remain s unsettled. Architecture plays an important role in achieving national identity and this essay aims to discuss the significant events that transpire throughout the history of the country that contributed in shaping and altering Malaysian vernacular architecture as well as to examine why Malaysia’s national identity still remains unsettled. The role of vernacular architecture in the 21st century has been kept to a minimum, given the practice of modern-day architects placing aesthetic quality above function, comfort, or ecological benefits. Vernacular architecture is defined by the understanding that form follows function and there is a prevalent usage of local materials taking into consideration the manner of how its intended user will utilise the structure. Vernacular ... ...cology and Ethics in Design and Architecture John Hilley, Malaysia: Mahathirism, Hegemony and the New Opposition (London: Zed Books, 2001). Mahathir’s role in initiating this search for Malaysia identity in architecture was further affirmed in an interview with Tay Kheng Soon, 29 July 2004. The headman’s house, Chen, Voon Fee â€Å"Architecture† The Encyclopaedia of Malaysia (Singapore: Archipelago Press,1998) Yeang, Ken The Architecture of Malaysia (Amsterdam: The Pepin Press, 1992) Oakman â€Å"Young Asians in our homes: Colombo Plan students and White Australia†p89 Oakman, Daniel â€Å"Young Asians in our homes: Colombo Plan students and White Australia† Journal of Australian Studies | (1 January 2002) 72, pp. 89-98 http://blogs.artinfo.com/objectlessons/2012/05/09/malaysia-looks-to-local-talents-and-vernacular-architecture-to-design-public-transit-system/

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Enemy Within

Juan Conde Professor Muniz 19 November 2012 English 67 The Enemy Within Throughout life everyone is forced to face their own worst enemy and will have a lot of trouble confronting and dealing with them that worst enemy will always be themselves. This enemy brings many problems and inner conflicts that are difficult to solve. Everyone has their own way of coping with these problems, some more critical than others. In the book Drugstore Cowboy, by James Fogle, the main character Bob deals with this dichotomy in different was throughout the book and his two sides are very easily differentiated.Throughout the book Bob is faced with difficult decisions and has the choice of either being that humane and caring man or the cruel and manipulative man that he can be. As he is making these decisions Bob has to not only think of the situation but also make sure that his crew is safe or if he needs to use them. Bob is a very complex individual with two conflicting sides to him, one that is used t o show his humane and caring nature and the other is used to intimidate or manipulate people. Deep down, Bob is a caring and humane man.He protects his crew with his life; he puts himself on the line for his crew and for the people he cares about like his mother and Diane. This side of Bob is made very clear when he visits his mother and shows her nothing but respect and he even shows some humility when speaking to her. When Bob’s mom exclaims that Bob is a thief he replies, â€Å"Jesus, Mama, when have I ever stole anything from your house? Name me one thing I ever took from you without telling you? Just name me one thing? † (Fogle58). The way he replies and speaks to his mother shows that he has the outmost respect for her, his way of talking to his mother shows humility.When speaking with his mother he always calls her mama or mom; he never called her by her first name or by anything else. Bob also shows a lot of submissiveness when he is with his mom, it seems like he still feels like a little kid when he talks or confronts her. Bob would do anything for his wife, Diane. Bob loved Diane; when he first met her he felt like she wasn’t like other woman. Bob took Diane cross-roading but had the intentions of stealing her car, instead he fell for her. Fogle comes to explain how Bob felt about Diane, â€Å"Bob loved Diane body and soul by then.Even narcotics had never brought him the pleasure and satisfaction that Diane did back then â€Å"(166). It seems like Bob is truly a caring and humane person because of how he felt and still feels about Diane. Bob seems to put Diane before himself subconsciously he might not want people to see how much he really cares about her but deep down she means everything to him, he will defend her as much as he can. It also seems that Bob only wants to keep Diane happy but he thinks that the only way he can do that is with narcotics.Bob seems to always try to hide how he feels about the people close to him b ecause he is scared that something might happen to them and he just wants them to be safe and out of harm’s way; he is truly a caring and protective individual. On the other hand Bob can also be a very maniacal and manipulative, he can even seem inhuman and cruel; he uses any means necessary to obtain what he is after, he finds a way to manipulate and control people to make his plans go how he wants. Bob will use people to control a situation to go in his favor without any resentment about what happens to the other people.Bob show his manipulative side when he told his crew: â€Å"I just wrote the narcos and anonymously told them that the reason they could never catch Bob Hughes for possession of narcotics was that he had an arrangement with the guy that lived on the north side of him†(Fogle 82). Bob doesn’t seem to have any problem using people to get what he wants he doesn’t seem to have a conscience. Most of Bob’s actions show how he is a manipu lative man, he uses people in order achieve what he wants. Bob would go through any means necessary in order to get whatever he wants.Through Bob’s actions it seems that he is nothing but a selfish man that only cares about what he will receive from the situation. It seems that Bob only wants to do only what he will benefit from; he doesn’t seem to care about anything or anyone else. Bob is also cruel and inhumane towards his own crew. When Bob walks into the room after an attempt to get drugs he sees Nadine’s dead body and a hat on the bed; he then pays more attention and is more worried about having a hat on the bed than Nadine being dead. After seeing Rick balling and crying over her â€Å"Bob shook his head in disgust. ’She beat you, man.Your own woman beat you out of part of your own cut on a score. She got what she deserves’† (Fogle 134). This shows how Bob not only doesn’t care about what happened to her, but also he has been d esensitized to death, he only cares about the fact that she wasted the drugs and left them with the burden of having to get rid of a dead body. Bob only sees that because he feels like she cheated them out of the drugs and they can’t do anything about it. Bob also seems to react this way because of how Nadine has acted in the past, she would complain a lot and always wanted more than she could handle.Throughout the book Bob shows that he can and will use and manipulate people into doing what he wants so that he gets what he wants and whatever it is he has been working for. In both scenes Bob shows how he can get into people’s heads and make sure that they do whatever he wants them to do to achieve whatever he wants. Life is full of nothing but conflicts and difficult situations and everyone has their own way of dealing with them. Throughout the book, Drugstore Cowboy, Bob is put through various difficult situations which he handles in one of two ways: being a humane an d caring man or being a manipulative and maniacal man.Bob is depicted as both a caring and maniacal man in the sense that he cares a lot about his crew but also if the situation calls for it he will not care at all for them. Bob will manipulate anyone who gets in his way of obtaining what he wants, but he cares for those close to him but will sometimes even use them in order to get what he wants. Bob has a very complex way of living and thinking and it is showed in various ways throughout the book. Work Cited Fogle, James. Drugstore Cowboy. New York: Dell Publishing, 1990. Print.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Writers And Editors On Canovista Restoration Essay

The story begins with the invention of writing, and it is from that time that writing and literature thus begins in the social life of all mankind, it is not enough to say, that it is through literature that we can know what everything that had happened in centuries ago. However, while reading a book, or any other text, we find not only fragments of history, but also with a number of positions of the authors about current issues, including politics. The political relationship - is evident in literature politics, as writer Pascual Martinez as in his text Writers and editors on canovista Restoration does affects the lives of people. Poetry, and essay they all a form and part of literature to it, they are testimony. The political agenda, it could be good, bad and or indifferent. However, it is important to note that not only the political influences in literature, but the relationship can also be given in a manner contrary, while politics can guide the writing of an author, someone can also guide their views by some political writtings. Example Eduardo Galeano with one of his master piece Mirrors. American literature has its origin in the clash of Aboriginal culture and European society. However, the first, sense of American literature, which was the world conquest, was truncated. Only in the twentieth century American culture, rip of its primitive root of pre-Columbian culture, was reunited with the interest due to archaeologists and ethnologists who bring to light this