Seattle Sonics On-Line Communities :: Internet Technology Chat Essays

Seattle Sonics On-Line Communities My first thoughts and reactions to on-line communities are I'm not interested; only people who are true technology enthusiasts use on-line communities; and on-line communities are used primarily for entertainment. Obviously my relationship with on-line communities is apparent - I really have not had much experience. I use email to keep in touch with family and friends and my experiences using DaMoo in this English class certainly qualify for experience, but I know that researching NBA basketball on-line communities will begin to demonstrate to me what is available. My initial assumptions and imaginations about on-line communities are formed by personal preferences in how I choose to communicate, limited knowledge and understanding, and most significantly limited experiences. I use email to communicate for a variety of purposes. I will send a brief message to somebody I intend to call or write a letter to very soon to let them know I am thinking about them. I also use email to send information that would be more beneficial to see in text than hear as a voice message such as emailing a student in any of my classes at CSUN about an upcoming assignment. However, email is not my first choice of communication. For example, I just received an email from a friend of mine in Oregon who I have not heard from in many months. She sent me a lengthy and involved email about what has been happening with her and her family. As I was beginning to email her back I stopped to instead write her a letter. Using a chosen note card and handwriting a letter conveyed a more personal approach to the correspondence. Of course, I email many people often, but there are instances where I feel that communicating via email is not as personal and thoughtful. Although I do suggest that I lack much experience with on-line communities, the work I have been doing in this English 305 class with DaMoo has begun to alter my feelings of dissociation with on-line communities. I can not continue to have the preconception that on-line communities are used primarily for entertainment unless I consider talking on-line about a web article with Michael Day's class solely entertaining. Simply being able to discuss readings, work, and ideas with students and teachers who are in Illinois while I am in a California classroom is both fascinating and helpful.

Lobbying in the European Union

The European Commission has four main rules: 1. Proposing new legislations to the Parliament and the Court. It is important that these proposals are aimed to defend the interest of the Union and its citizens, and not only for specific countries or industries. 2. It is responsible for supervising the budget under the watchful eye of the Court. It also has to manage the policies which are adopted by the Parliament and Council. 3. They have to make sure that the law in every European country is properly applied. 4. Representing the EU on the international stage. It makes sure that the member states can speak with one voice (Europa.eu, 2009). Explain why the system of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in the Council of Ministers has become more important in the decision-making process Assuming a measure is opposed by Britain, Italy and Ireland, which together wield 23 votes, these have more power than smaller countries. Since a blocking majority consists of 26 votes, the power of Denmark or Finland (each with three votes) to determine the Council's decision on the measure becomes infinitely greater than Luxembourg's (with only two votes). A small country can exert enormous leverage on its larger colleagues when it can use its votes to transform an existing coalition into a qualified majority or blocking majority (Peterson and Bomberg, 1999, p.51-52). Why and how has the role of the European Parliament become more significant in the decision-making process The European Parliament works aside the Council of Ministers to make decisions, therefore Parliament amendments are now influenced by the European Parliament in the decision-making process. It is more involved under two procedures, co-decision and cooperation with the Council of Ministers. This procedure was introduced by the EC Treaty of Maastricht and was largely expanded by the Amsterdam and Nice alteration of the TEC. Now the procedure is applied to practically all important matters (Europedia, 2009). With the cooperation procedure, introduced in the SEA, the Council becomes more influenced. If the EP has different opinions to what the Council proposes in a specific legislation, further discussion and modifications can be undertaken. Today this procedure will only be applied in limited areas of economic and monetary unions. Under the co-decision procedure now fall the vast majority of EU legislations that were introduced by the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties. In this procedure the EP has more power to veto against some decisions from the Council. If they can not agree with each other, the legislation will fail to exist (Bomberg E. and Stubb A., 2005, p. 59). To what extent will changes to decision making procedures outline in the Lisbon Treaty (2007) improve the legislation process within the EU Firstly, it generalises the qualified majority voting in a normal legislative process. Secondly, the weight of the votes will change in the Council and significantly simplify the system of qualified majority. From the 1st of November 2014, the qualified majority has to be at least 55 % of the members of the Council, including a minimum of fifteen of them and representing Member States involving a minimum of 65 % of the inhabitants of the Union. A blocking majority must have a minimum of four Council members, and the qualified majority will be reached. The new voting system values the fairness of Member States as each one has one vote in respect of the first decisive factor and the second criteria is the population size of a country. The third criteria which must be noted is that 15 Member States in support of the proposal – is unnecessary (Europedia, 2009). Current decisions about roaming fees and the services directive demonstrate how the European Parliament's membership guides take decisions, which are in the interest of the European citizens. Henceforward, the European Parliament will have the same power as the Council of Ministers in many areas. Regarding the agricultural policy, the Parliament will be able to contribute to it. The EP will therefore take part in all aspects of the EU budget. The national Parliament will play a role prior to the acceptance of EU legislation and will be adept to force the Commission to modify draft EU-legislations. It will be a milestone to bringing the EU nearer to its citizens (TheEuros, 2007). In what ways do lobbying groups contribute to the policy process in the EU and why are they significant for business In 2008, there were 15,000 lobbyists and 2,500 lobbying organisations in Brussels. In the EU, the Lobbyist usually drops into one of three major groups: industry associations, regional representations and non-governmental organisations / interest groups. Interest groups and industry associations focus on influencing decision-making processes for the benefit of their members, while also gathering and disseminating useful information. In distinction, regional lobby groups stand for regional and local authorities within EU Member States, they do not focus on direct lobbying, but on networking, informing and marketing their regions all the way through the EU machinery (Stevenson, 2008, p.1). One of the most important issues in front of interests groups is the hanging balance of power between European Institutions. Enlargement of qualified majority voting in the Council take the veto power from Member States in some economic areas, the co-decision process gave the European Parliament a bigger role in decision-making and the power to reject legislation that the Council favours. Interest groups style alliances in order to give the issue a true European dimension and perspective. The EU today manages important policies such as the Common Agriculture Policy, telecommunication, the negotiation in the World Trade Organisation, food safety, public health and transport. Business groups account for almost two-thirds of all Eurogroups (Lehmann, 2003, p.5-21). Lobbying is significant for the business, because the firms can influence on the government's decisions. Levi Strauss & Co. for example, relies on Guatemala for materials such as textiles. In 2001, the U.S. government denied Guatemala duty-free status for its imports due to the Latin America government's decision to adequately implement labor laws. This would have increased Levi Strauss's costs, so it had a clear business interest in dominating, â€Å"Rather than lobby the U.S. government to retain Guatemala's preferential trade status† the author writes, Levi's choose to attack the cause of the problem: the Guatemala's lack of labour laws. The result: Guatemala put into operation stronger labor laws as a result it continues to have protected trade status with the United States (Is ‘Lobbying for Good' CSR's Missing Link?, 2009).

Immigrant Health in the United States

IntroductionThe understanding of the challenges facing immigrant health in the United States is vital to maximizing its trajectory towards transformation. As pointed out by Hall and Cuellar (2016), the negative impetus among the immigrant healthcare in the United States is greatly linked to the relationship between the immigration policies and immigration experiences. Even though the government has passed various legislations with an aim of providing affordable health care to its citizens, the socio-political environment, and its effects healthcare service provision remains a troubling affair. This study seeks to examine some of the pieces of evidence that lead to the limited access to quality health care in the United States of America, more so the immigrants. Some of the possible barriers include unfriendly immigration policies, bureaucracies in the health care system, and lack of capital to finance medical bills. Therefore, this study is significant in addressing the government and other stakeholders to come up with friendly measures that give immigrants easy access to health care services.Statement of the Study ProblemImmigrants in the United States are faced with substantial challenges in accessing healthcare, and this has a great toll on their general wellbeing. These challenges can be attributed to the healthcare system. For example, the insurance coverage varies from one state to another, which leads to an intricate insurance scheme in the country. As a result, the government faces a greater challenge to influence uniform reforms at the national level. Even in spite of the Congress passing the patient and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, the immigrant communities in the country are still not able to access good healthcare services. This implies that the political goodwill is necessary to promote the immigrants' rights in health care access. The country should implement sound and sustainable immigration policies access essential services in the country.Immigrant Health and Its ChallengesIt is obvious that the negative trajectory to healthcare accessibility by immigrant communities is propelled by the existing harsh policies. For instance, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) impedes many local, state, and federal health workers from supporting the undocumented immigrants (Hall ; Cuellar, 2016). Even though was sought as a tool to limit illegal immigration, such restrictions limit the immigrants to access publicly financed health services, and instead of serving the purpose of limiting illegal immigrants, (PRWORA) places deleterious effects on the immigrants' access to publicly funded health care service. Another matter of concern is how the implementation of ACA is possible when Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) conditions the immigrants to meet certain qualifications in order to access any form of federal assistance. Even if they have a chance to Medicaid benefits, their time to access such is restricted. According to Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, federal benefits are only allowed for five years for the qualified immigrants and refugees. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the policies governing the health care place open restrictions to the immigrant communities. The organization, therefore, maintains that social workers and healthcare service providers should be on the lookout to consider these social and legal statutes to deal with the barriers that limit the community wellbeing in the country. Besides these limiting policies, the immigrant communities are also faced with discrimination and prejudice whenever they visit any health facility. In fact, the problem of racism still remains a disturbing matter in the United States. As a result, some health professionals have been reluctant to attend to patients from other ethnic communities. Also, most of the immigrant families have low income, which affects their ability to pay the hospital bills. Therefore, they face a serious problem when it comes to health care access. What Has Been DoneVarious individuals and organization have made incredible endeavors to address the immigrant health challenges in the United States. For instance, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has been active in calling their members and partners to deal with the policies that affect the immigrant communities (Haidar, 2018). On the same pedestal, the former president Barack Obama in 2014 made public his intention to allow the undocumented immigrants to live in the country without the constant threats of deportation. He similarly sought to allow them unrestricted access legal employment in different companies and organizations. Unfortunately, the Republicans in the Senate used their numerical strength to thwart the plan, and were later put on hold by one of the federal district judges in Texas. The argument was that when would be allowed in the country, the plan would place a strain on the health care system.In addition, lack of insurance coverage, poor political goodwill, lack of knowledge about health, screening, and prevention makes it difficult to influence changes in the health care to favor immigrants. This creates the likelihood of poor access to chronic infection management for the families that do not have health insurance coverage. According to the study done by Gushulak, Weekers and MacPherson (2009), positive health care outcome and health care-seeking behavior are greatly associated with the healthcare insurance. It is important to note that the government has tried to implement the Affordable Care Act, but still, the immigration policies need to be dealt with to attain the best results. The government and the policymakers must come up with better approaches that guarantee affordable health care for all people indiscriminately. Even though experts allude that the U.S. immigration integration policies are the best compared to other countries and is slightly favorable in regards to health policies, more efforts are needed to make this thought a conceivable reality. Since the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States, various organizations concerned with the protection of the immigrants and refugees' rights have issued statements to fight the unfriendly policies. They seek to revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and to pave ways for the immigrants' easy access to essential public services (Hall ; Cuellar, 2016). The government has also developed certain measures sought to defend the rights of the foreign-born individuals in the country. One of them is the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS), which is used as a blueprint guide in giving health care service to different populations. This means that immigrants and refugees in the country also commit the government to ensuring proper access to health care service. However, more needs to be done to allow immigrants easy access to health care services. Potential ChallengesThere is an effort to make reforms in the health care service so that all people in the United States can access them. However, it is evident that there are still potential challenges to deal with, such as poor political goodwill to fast-track such (Kullgren, 2003). When President Obama tried to come up with plans to support the immigrant communities, the plan was thwarted not on the basis of the arguments that were presented, but due to political stands. The members of the Republican Party used their number to defeat the plan in the Congress. However, experts say that the barriers to health service for immigrant communities are vaster and go beyond the policies. They range from financial incapacities, fear of deportation and discrimination among the health care service providers. For example, within the health care system are external resource constraints, discrimination, the costs of the health care services and many procedures within the system that one has to keep up with. In fact, the bureaucratic procedures within the health care system is not only disadvantageous to immigrants, but to other citizens as well. On the other hand, there are individual challenges that impede health care access. These may include communication barriers, fear of deportation, stigma, financial incapacities and lack of knowledge about health care services. At the policy level, immigrants meet difficulties in trying to access health care insurance. The requirement that individuals have to provide their documents to access such insurances is a greater challenge, more so to the undocumented immigrants. Therefore, despite the efforts, the challenges are seriously raging.RecommendationsThe recommendations to address these challenges range from advocacy for policy transformation, more training for the health care providers to better understand their professional roles, more and better insurance options, and extension of the security net. In other words, the government should increase access to all citizens irrespective of their background and status. Also, the government should allow access to state-funded health care or provide subsidized insurance opportunities to all people living in the united states. Essentially, there is a need for all the stakeholders involved in the matter to take these points with greater interests to guarantee access to affordable health care between both the documented and undocumented immigrants. If allowed to continue on the same pedestal, the United States would end up being a bad example that would be used as a case study for poor immigration health policies. ConclusionThis study identifies some of the barriers to health care access by the immigrant communities. Some of the identified areas to be addressed include immigrant policies, the bureaucracies within the health care system as well as the expansion of health insurance options. The United States is celebrated in the world for having friendly blueprints that guide its health care policies. However, it is also apparent that those policies are not friendly to immigrants living in the country. Even though various stakeholders have tried to generate mitigating measures, there is still need to promote political goodwill for those options to succeed. In spite of the Congress passing the patient and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law in 2010, the immigrant communities in the country are still not able to access good health care services due to poor political goodwill. It means that the government and policymakers must hasten their moves in coming up with proper measures to support immigrant health. Just as pointed out in this study, understanding the challenges that face immigrant health in the United States is vital to maximizing its path towards transformation.

Abagail William essays

Abagail William essays Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it...(10). Her uncle, Reverence Parris asked her what had happened. Abigail William and her friends were dancing in the forest, but she did not tell him everything. She did not told him the truth, but really she and her friends were conjuring spirits with Tituba so the spirits they are conjuring with would fall in love with them. In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail William, a young teenager girl causes the town of Salem to go corrupt. Abigail William is a liar, an obsessive lover and an evil young woman. She is a dishonest young woman who lies to get out of trouble. Her uncle uncertain what Abigail did in the forest talked to her about what happened? But we never conjured spirits(10). Abigail knows that if she tells the truth, she would get into big trouble. She could be condemned of witchcraft or could be hung. Knowing what the outcomes are, she lies that she never conjured spirits, even though she did. Her uncle, unsure of what Abigail said, asked her again. There is nothin more. I swear it, uncle(11). She could do nothing else, but continue lying. If she tells the truth now, she would get into even bigger trouble than she already has. Not only she is a deceitful girl, she is an obsessive lover. John Proctor is locked up because he was accused of witchcraft. One night, she visited him and talked him into running away with her. She told him how much she loves him, but John refused her love. Give me a word, John, a soft word(22). When a person loves another person so deeply, he or she wants to hear sweet words from that person. Abigail love John so much that she wants to hear loving words from him, but he does not want to. On the same night, she wants to change Johns mind to love her. ...oh John, I will make such a wife when the world is white again (she ...

The Cenozoic Era Essays

The Cenozoic Era Essays The Cenozoic Era Paper The Cenozoic Era Paper Essay Topic: Equus The Cenozoic Era, which describes the period 65 million years ago (mya) to the present, is a very phase in evolution because it involved the emergence of a variety of species from plants, arthropods, fishes, reptiles and mammals. This era is characterized to have the mammals as the biggest terrestrial animals because the dinosaurs had already gone extinct during the earlier Mesozoic era.   The Cenozoic era is divided into two periods, namely the Tertiary Period, which covers 65 to 1.8 mya, and the Quaternary Period, which ranges from 1.8 mya to the present time.   The Tertiary Period is further subdivided into five epochs. Archaeological findings have revealed that the oldest primate fossils, which were unearthed in Morocco, were dated to be 60 million years old thus placing the emergence of this species in the Paleocene Epoch.    This starts right after the disappearance of the dinosaurs (65 mya) and runs until 53 mya, is characterized by the diversification and multiplication of nocturnal mammals which earlier were hiding from the dinosaurs to avoid predation.   These small nocturnal mammals thus evolved into bigger animals and changed their life cycles from simple night foragers into the diurnal animals.   In addition, the birds, plants and other animal species grew in number because of the absence of the predatory dinosaurs. The early arboreal primate species, or proto-primates, that emerged during this epoch were morphologically similar to lemurs and tarsiers, including the adaptation of hands that were composed of five digits of which one was an opposable thumb.   The proto-primates were small in size, similar to that of squirrels and tree shrews.   These primate species had also adapted stereoscopic vision, large brains and nails to replace claws.   Taxonomical classification of the proto-primates positions them under the genus Altiatlasius. The next primates that emerged occurred during the Eocene Epoch, which runs from 54 to 37 mya.   This epoch is characterized by the emergence of the grass plants that served as a new food source for herbivores.   Such change facilitated the adaptation of grazing mammals such as those of the Equus family in the prairies and savannas.   Flowering plants and trees also started to flourish during this epoch. The proto-primates included the prosimians, such as the lemurs and tarsiers, and these primates started to spread out to the rest of the areas around the world as they further evolved into approximately 60 genera.   Taxonomy has classified these genera into two families, the Adapidae which include the lorises and lemurs and the Omomyidae, for the tarsiers.   The significant diversification of the prosimians must have been due to the absence of competition for resources because the bigger primates did not yet exist at the time.   The prosimians are characterized by large eyes and brains and thin snouts. The bone structure of prosimians show a new structure at the base of the skull called the foramen magnum.   This hole provides a passage for the spinal cord to pass from the brain and this facilitates the position of the entire body, from the horizontal axis, which is observed among grazing animals, to the vertical axis for standing erect (Ackermann RR, 2007).   Due to changes in the climate, the prosimian species decreased in number and reached extinction by the end of the Eocene Epoch. The first species of monkeys then emerged during the Oligocene Epoch, as suggested by fossil records that were collected from the Fayum area in Egypt.   These monkeys are taxonomically classified under the suborders Anthropoidea, Apidium and Aegyptopithecus.   The Oligocene Epoch, which extended from 34 to 23 mya, features the emergence of new mammalian species and the temperature deciduous forests.   The early species of large animals such as the elephants and rhinoceros increased in size and the first primate species such as the monkeys, apes and human emerged. Most of the fossils from ape species come from the Miocene Epoch, thus suggesting the apes evolved from the earlier monkey species (Andrews and Kelley, 2007; Suwa et al., 2007).   The Miocene Epoch, which runs from 23 to 5 mya, is typified by the selection and spreading out of large herbivores such as the cattle and deer.   It is also during this time that the modern horses, deer and birds emerged. The Pliocene Epoch, which extends from 5.3 to 1.8 mya, is characterized by the emergence of the modern mammals and the cooling and drying of the climate just like what is observed in our present time.   The change in the climate resulted into the shrinkage of tropical forests and leaving these only to exist in areas that are close to the equator. Primates follow a certain social structure that is specific to their locale.   Primates have been observed to live in a certain niche and migration is rarely an occurrence.   These species also show some protection towards their area and show aggression if they perceive that another species or primates from other area are attempting to infiltrate their group. Thus, interactions between primates of different groups that live in different areas are not common. Interestingly, chimpanzees are an exception to this primate social behavior because these particular primates tend to be friendly with other primate species that come from other areas or groups.   In the forest, this primate defense behavior for territory is a featured that has been observed by primatologists.   Six social patterns have been described to exist among primates (Chalyan and Meishvili, 2007). These include a single female primate and her progeny, one male primate with several females, a monogamous primate family, a polyandrous primate family, a multi-male and multi-female primate group and a fission-fusion primate group. The monogamous primate family can be employed as a model for our human ancestors because it is composed of a typical human family consisting of a father, mother and children.   Just like humans, the monogamous primate family pattern let their offspring leave upon completion of their development so that they could put up their own monogamous primate family. I would like to design and develop a conservation program to save the great apes of Africa that involves a number of goals.   Firstly, I would like to stop the poaching and exportation of great apes from the tropical forests.   I am aware that the unlawful capture and killing of these apes has been uncontrolled and I would like to establish severe punishment to those who are caught abusing these precious primates.   Secondly, I will propose that a sanctuary be identified and that perimeter fences that are highly sensitive to any human interference will be detected. The jungles of Africa are huge hence there will be a need to employ a large group of people to help out in manning the perimeter of these particular areas.   Thirdly, I would propose that deforestation be stopped because the cutting down of trees in Africa affects the ecological balance of the area.   The decrease in trees will directly mean a shortage of food resources for the great apes.   Thus deforestation influences the great apes to migrate to other areas and this migration may make them more susceptible to capturing and killing (Walsh et al., 2003).

Racial Stereotypes and Food Product Marketing

Racial Stereotypes and Food Product Marketing The images of racial minorities have been used to hawk food for more than a century. Bananas, rice, and pancakes are just some of the food items that have historically been marketed with visages of people of color. Because such items have long been criticized for promoting racial stereotypes, however, the link between race and food marketing remains a touchy subject. When President Obama rose to prominence and Obama Waffles and Obama Fried Chicken made their debut soon after, controversy followed. Once again, an African American was being used to push food, critics said. Take a look around your kitchen. Do any of the items in your cupboards promote racial stereotypes? The list of items below may change your mind about what constitutes a racist food product. Frito Bandito In the age of Dora the Explorer, its difficult to imagine a time when a Latino cartoon character wasnt portrayed as caring, adventurous, and inquisitive, but as sinister. When Frito-Lay rolled out Frito Bandito in 1967, though, thats exactly what happened. The Bandito, the cartoonish mascot for Frito-Lay corn chips, had a gold tooth, a pistol and a penchant for stealing chips. To boot, the Bandito, clad in a huge sombrero and boots with spurs, spoke broken English with a thick Mexican accent. A group called The Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee objected to this stereotypical image, causing Frito-Lay to change the Banditos appearance so he did not appear as devious. He became kind of friendly and rascally, but still wanted to heist your corn chips, explained David Segal, who wrote about the character for Slate.com in 2007. The committee found these changes didnt go far enough and continued campaigning against Frito-Lay until the company removed him from promotional materials in 1971. Uncle Bens Rice The image of an elderly black man has appeared in ads for Uncle Bens Rice since 1946. So, just who exactly is Ben? According to the book Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Ben was a Houston rice farmer known for his superior crops. When Texas food broker Gordon L. Harwell launched a brand of commercial rice cooked to preserve nutrients, he decided to name it Uncle Bens Converted Rice, after the respected farmer, and use the image of an African-American maitre d he knew to be the face of the brand. On the packaging, Uncle Ben appeared to be a menial type, as suggested by his Pullman Porter-like attire. Moreover, the title Uncle likely derives from the practice of whites addressing elderly African Americans as uncle and aunt during segregation because the titles Mr. and Mrs. were deemed unsuitable for blacks, who were regarded as inferior. In 2007, however, Uncle Ben received a makeover of sorts. Mars, the owner of the rice brand, debuted a website in which Uncle Ben is portrayed as the chairman of the board in a posh office. This virtual facelift was a way for Mars to bring Ben, an outdated racial stereotype of the black man as sharecropper-servant, into the 21st century. Chiquita Bananas Generations of Americans have grown up eating Chiquita bananas. But its not just the bananas they remember fondly, its Miss Chiquita, the comely figure the banana company has used to brand the fruit since 1944. With a sensual swagger and flamboyant Latin American attire, the bilingual Miss Chiquita makes the men swoon, as vintage advertisements of the bombshell demonstrate. Miss Chiquita is widely thought to have been inspired by Brazilian beauty Carmen Miranda who appeared in ads for Chiquita bananas. The actress has been accused of promoting the exotic Latina stereotype because she achieved fame wearing pieces of fruit on her head and revealing tropical clothing. Some critics argue that it’s all the more insulting for a banana company to play into this stereotype because the women, men, and children who worked in banana farms toiled in grueling conditions, often falling gravely ill as a result of pesticide exposure. Land O Lakes Butter Make a trip to the dairy section of your grocery store, and youll find the Native American woman known as the Indian maiden on Land O Lakes butter. How did this woman come to be featured on Land OLakes products? In 1928, officials from the company received a photo of a Native woman with a butter carton in hand as cows grazed and lakes flowed in the background. Because Land O Lakes is based in Minnesota, the home of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, the company reps welcomed the idea of using the maidens image to sell its butter. In recent years, writers such as H. Mathew Barkhausen III, who is of Cherokee and Tuscarora descent, have called the image of the Land O Lakes maiden stereotypical. She wears two braids in her hair, a headdress, and an animal skin frock with beaded embroidery. Also, for some, the maidens serene countenance erases the suffering indigenous peoples have experienced in the United States. Eskimo Pie Eskimo Pie ice cream bars have been around since 1921 when a candy shop owner named Christian Kent Nelson noticed that a little boy couldn’t decide whether to buy a chocolate bar or ice cream. Why not have both available in one confection, Nelson figured. This line of thinking led him to create the frozen treat known then as the â€Å"I-Scream Bar.† When Nelson partnered up with chocolate maker Russell C. Stover, though, the name was changed to Eskimo Pie and the image of an Inuit boy in a parka was featured on the packaging. Today, some indigenous peoples from the arctic regions of North America and Europe object to the name â€Å"Eskimo† in the use of the frozen pies and other sweets, not to mention in society generally. In 2009, for example, Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons, a Canadian Inuit, made newspaper headlines after publicly objecting to references to the Eskimo in the names of popular desserts. She called them â€Å"an insult to her people.† â€Å"When I was a little girl white kids in the community used to tease me about it in a bad way. It’s just not the correct term,† she said of Eskimo. Instead, Inuit should be used, she explained. Cream of Wheat When Emery Mapes of the North Dakota Diamond Milling Company set out in 1893 to find an image to market his breakfast porridge, now called Cream of Wheat, he decided to use the face of a black chef. Still on promotional packaging for Cream of Wheat today, the chef- who was given the name Rastus, has become a cultural icon, according to sociologist David Pilgrim of Ferris State University. â€Å"Rastus is marketed as a symbol of wholeness and stability,† Pilgrim asserts. â€Å"The toothy, well-dressed black chef happily serves breakfast to a nation.† Not only was Rastus portrayed as subservient but also as uneducated, Pilgrim points out. In a 1921 advertisement, a grinning Rastus holds up a chalkboard with these words: â€Å"Maybe Cream of Wheat aint got no vitamins. I dont know what them things is. If they’s bugs they aint none in Cream of Wheat.† Rastus represented the black man as a child-like, unthreatening slave. Such images of blacks perpetuated the notion that African Americans were content with a separate but (un)equal existence while making Southerners of the time feel nostalgic about the Antebellum Era. Aunt Jemima Aunt Jemima is arguably the most well-known minority â€Å"mascot† of a food product, not to mention the longest lasting. Jemima came to be in 1889 when Charles Rutt and Charles G. Underwood created a self-rising flour that the former called Aunt Jemima’s recipe. Why Aunt Jemima? Rutt reportedly got the inspiration for the name after seeing a minstrel show that featured a skit with a Southern mammy named Jemima. In Southern lore, mammies were matronly black female domestics who doted on the white families they served and cherished their role as subordinates. Because the mammy caricature was popular with whites in the late 1800s, Rutt used the name and likeness of the mammy he’d seen in the minstrel show to market his pancake mix. She was smiling, obese, and wore a headscarf fit for a servant. When Rutt and Underwood sold the pancake recipe to the R.T. Davis Mill Co., the organization continued to use Aunt Jemima to help brand the product. Not only did the image of Jemima appear on product packaging, but the R.T. Davis Mill Co. also enlisted real African-American women to appear as Aunt Jemima at events such as the 1893 World’s Exposition in Chicago. At these events, black actresses told stories about the Old South which painted life there as idyllic for both blacks and whites, according to Pilgrim. America ate up the mythical existence of Aunt Jemima and the Old South. Jemima became so popular that the R.T. Davis Mill Co. changed its name to the Aunt Jemima Mill Co. Moreover, by 1910, more than 120 million Aunt Jemima breakfasts were being served annually, Pilgrim notes. Following the civil rights movement, however, black Americans began voicing their objection to the image of a black woman as a domestic who spoke grammatically incorrect English and never challenged her role as servant. Accordingly, in 1989, Quaker Oats, who’d purchased the Aunt Jemima Mill Co. 63 years earlier, updated Jemima’s image. Her head wrap had vanished, and she wore pearl earrings and a lace collar instead of a servant’s clothing. She also appeared younger and significantly thinner. The matronly domestic Aunt Jemima originally appeared as had been replaced by the image of a modern African-American woman. Wrapping Up Despite the progress that’s occurred in race relations, Aunt Jemima, Miss Chiquita, and similar spokes-characters remain fixtures in American food culture. All came to fruition during a time when it was unthinkable that a black man would become president or a Latina would sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Accordingly, they serve to remind us about the great strides people of color have made over the years. In fact, many consumers likely buy a pancake mix from Aunt Jemima with little idea that the woman on the box was originally a slave prototype. These same consumers likely find it difficult to understand why minority groups object to President Obama’s image on a box of waffles or a recent Duncan Hines cupcake ad that seemed to use blackface imagery. There’s a long tradition in the U.S. of using racial stereotypes in food marketing, but in the 21st century America patience for that kind of advertising has run out.

Is Taiwan a Country Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Is Taiwan a Country - Research Paper Example Taiwan Island is separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait and borders the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea to the south, the East China Sea in the north, and the Pacific Ocean in the west (Wikipedia, 2006a). The perennial debate over â€Å"independence† versus â€Å"unification† in Taiwan is a case in point. This paper discusses some facts with respect to the question of whether Taiwan is an independent country or not. Though Taiwan has a distinct boundary of its own, the United States and most other significant nations recognize one China and thus include the boundaries of Taiwan as being part of the boundaries of China (Rosenberg, 2006b) Taiwan is home to almost 23 million people, making it the 48th largest "county" in the world, with a population slightly smaller than North Korea but larger than Romania (Rosenberg, 2006b). Over the past few decades, the average age of Taiwan’s population has increased by 1.8 percent. The population is one of the criteria for an independent country and since people live in Taiwan on an ongoing basis satisfies this criterion. Education is compulsory and Taiwan has more than 150 institutions of higher learning. Taiwan is home to the Palace Museum, which houses over 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain. In the past few decades, Taiwan is recognized as a growing economy. It has become one of the newly industrialized countries (NICs). In 1983 the GNP of the country approached US$50 billion and its per capita income reached US$2,444. Taiwan is one of the top 15 trading nations. Taiwan has gained in terms of its economy but has substantially waned in terms of its international status (Weng, 1984). Besides, Taiwan is an economic powerhouse - its one of the four economic tigers of Southeast Asia (They have included South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.). Its GDP per capita is among the top 30 of the world.