Coal mining Essay Example for Free

Coal mining Essay Coal mining has been around for decades since the 1800s and coal has been powering our lights even till today. The documentary called, Burning the future: Coal in America presented a lot of vital information about how the coal industries work and how coal helps the nation stay lit. Countries that build the worlds biggest coal plants are the United States, China and India. The states that practice coal mining are Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Coal power plants emissions contain many elements and compounds including sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and other elements including one of the largest sources which are carbon dioxide. Burning the future discusses the many factors that cause devastating outcomes. Mountain top removal and strip mining is a process to obtain the coal and procedure has been practiced for many years in America. Coal supplies more than half of the energy for America and in the documentary, Ed Hopkins who is a director of environmental Quality in the sierra club states that, Coal supplies more than half of the energy right now, we are going to rely on coal in the near future there is no way around that. Coal supplies may be the only energy that can produce half of the nations electricity but there are other alternatives that can replace coal. The process in coal mining is basically mountain top removal. Mountain top removals consist of about five steps. The first step in mountain top removal is forest are cleared-cut and in this process miners must destroy wild life habitat and also using explosives to get deep into the core of the mountain top to obtain the coal seam. The second process is using huge shovels to dig into the soil and trucks that haul away the remains and push it into the valleys. The third process is to dig into the rock and expose the coal. Coal industries have machines that weigh nearly eight million and these big machines are operated by mine workers. These machines can tear up a mountain in a year and these coal industries make a lot of money because they provide electricity for people like us. The fourth process is when the machines gather a large layer of coal, dumping them on the adjacent valleys which creates valley fills. The last process is basically coal industries are usually supposed to reclaim the land but usually they leave the area bare. Although majority of the industries replant vegetation in reality the mountain will never return to its original state and this can cause many  issues to the people in the area and also around the world. Mountain top generates a huge amount of waste because coal must be burned and it generates a lot of liquid waste which forms into slur. It contains carcinogenic compounds and toxic heavy metals and the slur is stored in large areas of water that sometimes can leak or break and the outcome is floods and water contamination. Coal mining contributes to climate changes and also health issues. The main issues we are having today are air pollution, disrupted weather caused by coal burning and the toxic emissions from coal power plants. Air pollution is a very huge deal for America and all of the countries in the world. Green America.org states that, Pollution from coal power plants typically causes thirty thousand deaths a year in America. Pollution creates a lot of health problems for the people that live close by the coal areas. Health effects are hospitalization, pulmonary disease, hypertension, kidney disease, heart disease and even cancer. Those who drink polluted water in the area create bone damage and many other issues that result to death (Hendryx Ahern, 2008; Hitt Hendryx, 2010). In west Virginia, women who live near coal mining usually have poor birth rates caused by the increase issues caused by coal mining industries. Children in the area also suffer health issues which are asthma, severe headaches, blisters, and frequent runny noses because of being exposed to water contamination and air pollution from coal practices in the area. Some of the residents also reported skin issues because of using polluted water during baths and showers (Blankenship, 2006; Reece, 2006). Pollution from coal burning power plants kill more than those who drunken drive and have AIDS combined and the toxic from coal will just keep growing because we are not stopping or reducing the usage. Acid rain is another issue caused by the formation of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide entering the atmosphere because of coal burning and when it reacts with water and oxygen it then creates what we know as Acid rain. Acid rain causes many issues such as acidification in waterways that kill many fishes and disrupt the aquatic ecosystem. Trees and soils are also affected by this because it the acid rain damages them and cause future issues and acid rain causes decay in structures such as buildings and statues. Although in the documentary, Burning the future: Coal in America states that the coal is the most abundant and the cheapest. Im sure we can find other alternatives that can substitute coal but I dont think the industries are willing to give up coal because it provides a lot of income for these industries. Even though coal may be the backbone of America, reducing the coal burning can help reduce the issues America is creating which are the thirty thousand plus death and the pollution. We can help reduce coals toxic emissions by using cleaner energy for the future. Clean energy consist of renewable energy which are wind, solar, biomass and geothermal which can supply very large portions of energy for America. Shifting towards this route can create a better sustainable future for not only America but for the world. In order to shoot for a better future we must first conserve. Conserving energy is basically driving less, buying less, turning things off when you dont need to use it anymore, using less water because heating water is basically using coal to heat the water. Using natural power and not relying on light bulbs and basically just cutting back on all the things youre dependent on. We need cleaner energy and we need to increase wind power and solar power so that our future will be healthier in the long run. Work Cited Hendryx, M., Ahern, M. M. (2008). Relations between health indicators and residential proximity to coal mining in West Virginia. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 669-671. Blankenship, D. (2006). Especially for people like us. In C. Warren (Ed.), Like walking onto another planet: Stories about the true impacts of mountaintop removal mining. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.ohvec.org/issues/mountaintop_removal/misc/ovec_mtrbooklet.pdf Ovec (Organized Voices and Empowered Communites). 2012. Health Study Articles on the Effects of Coal Mining. http://www.ohvec.org/issues/mountaintop_removal/articles/health/index.html Roger Philpot 2003-2012. Learn about Coal factoids, did you know. http://rogerphilpot.homestead.com/CoalEducation.html

Critical Review of Article on Financial Statements Essay example -- Ac

A Critical Review of Georgiou, G. (2010) â€Å"The IASB standard-setting process: Participation and perceptions of financial statement users†, British Accounting Review, 42 (2), pp.103-118. Dr George Georgiou is a senior lecturer in Accountancy and the director of the MSc International Accounting & Finance course at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. He has the following qualifications: BA, MAcc, PhD & CPA. Georgiou is also a PhD supervisor in his research interest topics which lie in accounting regulation, accounting theory, government accounting and market-based accounting. (University of Birmingham, 2010). As stated by Bruce (2010), financial statement users are often described as the primary users of financial statements. Yet, few financial statement users have the time or the preference to get involved in the IASB standard setting process. Georgiou's article sets out to show the gap in the literature of the involvement of financial statement users and the amount of control they have in the accounting standard-setting process. The author states that it is important to financial statement users to believe that their perception and participation is vital in the standard setting process. Introduction Georgiou puts forward an argument for financial statement users in that their involvement is material and frequently accounting standard-setters give an explanation for the approval of their standards by appealing to the interest of financial statement users. The author verifies the importance of the problem area by referencing Young (2003), who also puts their argument across in support of financial statement users. Young (2003) expresses that financial statement users are used in a nutshell to prov... ...or outreach. Available: http://www.ifrs.org/News/Features/Spotlight+on+investor+outreach.htm. Last accessed 9 November 2010. Duff, A, Ferguson, J & Gilmore, K. (2007). Issues concerning the employment and employability of disabled people in UK accounting firms: An analysis of the views of human resources managers as employment gatekeepers. The British Accounting Review, 39(1), 15-38. Sutton, T. G. (1984). Lobbying of accounting standard-setting bodies in the U.K. and the U.S.A: a downsian analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 9(1), 81–95. University of Birmingham. (2010). Profile: Dr George Georgiou. Available: http://www.business.bham.ac.uk/staff/georgioug.shtml. Last accessed 5 Dec 2010. Young, J. J. (2003). Constructing, persuading and silencing: the rhetoric of accounting standards. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(6), 621–638.

Hamlet’s relationship with his mother Gertrude Essay

When Gertrude in ‘the Closet Scene’ faces Hamlet, we get a greater understanding of Hamlet’s emotional state. His mindset and emotional state vary throughout the scene from bitter hostility towards his mother and step father, to timid fear of the Ghost in the light of his inaction, and finally to intimate resolve and benevolence as he advises his mother on how to aid his situation and her own. Hamlet, depicted as â€Å"The glass of Fashion and mould of form†, is expected of polite forms of chivalry and temperate speech. But, on the contrary, he is strikingly coarse, even brutal in his talk with his mother, and goes on with unnecessary details of her sin. Indeed, he makes more of this than his father’s murder. So disgusted is he, by the picture of her sexual relations with the â€Å"bloat king† and his â€Å"reechy kisses† pressed on her in the â€Å"rank of sweat of an enseam’d bed†. As Mr. Ivory Brown states, â€Å"it is surely plain that Hamlet (Shakespeare) has some special woman in mind, a wanton, with special tricks of speech and habit of using mocking names, and with a tendency to some kind of fidgety or skipping gait. † Even while Gertrude is probably hysterical or saddened Hamlet continues to chide her whilst she is at her lowest and most vulnerable point, â€Å"Honeying and making love, Over the nasty sty,† Hamlet sees his mother as a disgustingly sensual creature, driven by carnal needs. He seems to forget that she is his mother, who has given birth to him, raised him, and showered him with love. And she deserves a certain degree of respect from her son. However, despite everything, Hamlet’s emotional struggles with Human Nature and his shattered illusions, he has not lost love for either of his parents, as reflected in the goals of this scene. When the ghost reappears, Hamlet treats it with respect and humble submission. But, even though he loves his mother, in his heart, he has no respect for her. As he states, â€Å"I must be cruel only to be kind†. His strong words help express his own feelings of rage, and in addition, help Gertrude realize her sin and lead her towards repentance. After his periods of bitterness, anger and fear he realizes that she finally understands his message about her actions, Claudius, and his own assumed madness. His tone then changes from one of bitterness and rage to one of almost priestly counsel as he explains to her how to remedy the situation. Gertrude is described as a frail character, which lacks feeling. She is of an insensitive nature, not likely to be troubled by guilt. A placid nature, even stolid, she cannot rise high. Like Hamlet, despite her sin, Gertrude reveals that she still loves Hamlet, even if she makes no indication as to whether she still loves the Late King or Claudius. Even though she offers no defense of Claudius, for Hamlet’s accusations of regicide. And nowhere dos she affirm Hamlet’s admiration and love for his father. But she does love Hamlet and shows her love though her actions. As Claudius states, † The queen, his mother, lives by his looks†. She addresses him in affectionate terms, even in moments in the scene, which bring her pain, shame and confusion. These include calling him â€Å"Sweet Hamlet† and â€Å"gentle son†. She echoes these terms in the last scene of the play, when, rather than any addresses to either husband, in her dying words, she cries â€Å"Oh my dear Hamlet! † This implies that Hamlet is more important to her than either of her husbands, or anyone else in the court. Hamlet is probably the only person she truly loves. The actions of Claudius and Gertrude showed Hamlet a darker, more lustful animalistic side of nature, particularly in his mother, who longs for Claudius, â€Å"as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on†. This shatters his illusion of inherent goodness and virtue of mankind. If his own mother is corrupted by sin and lust, the how can anything or anyone in the world be truly virtuous? This disillusionment, anger and disappointment continue through most of the play, and appear in this portion in Hamlet’s scathing tirades against Queen. In one, he speaks to hell itself, yelling, â€Å"If thou canst mutine in a matrons bones, To a flaming youth let virtue be as wax, and melt in her own fire. † If sin can corrupt an older, wiser, calmer person such as the Queen, the virtue has no value in the world, and society can plunge into chaos. Hamlet exclaims, â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman! † Hamlet’s problem is supposed to be his feelings of disgust towards his mother. Thus the actions of his mother have lead him to believe that all women are capable of acting in this wicked way. Women, the frail members, provoke lust and feed it and Shakespeare looks for these indications, and denounces them. His inability to have a successful relationship with Ophelia is a result of this belief. He treats Ophelia with little respect, and subjects her to loathsome verbal abuse, bursting with sexual innuendo, as even in the mousetrap scene he twists everything Ophelia says, to make it sound vulgar, as he states, â€Å"That’s a fair thought to lie between a maids legs†. Hamlet’s mind is crowded with feelings of betrayal, disappointment and distrust. He ruins his relationship with the beautiful, sweet natured Ophelia due to his suspicion and distrust in the fairer sex. And Hamlet probably only realizes Ophelia’s virtue and good nature after her death, when he realizes that Ophelia had been faithful to him, and had truly loved him, so much so that she couldn’t bear his negative attitude towards her and grieved to the point, where she became mad, and then died. Uncertainty and conflict are two of the major themes of Hamlet, and both play an important role in this scene. The themes of uncertainty and appearance versus reality also appear in several inter-character relationships. The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude is a good example. Their entire relationship is highly controversial, and there is not one explanation that proves their relationship natural or simple. Hamlet’s madness is also a good example of this. Hamlet pretends to be mad, but is not quite so, but still towards the end, even we are confused whether Hamlet’s feigned madness is actually settling in. Shakespeare fills the play with imagery of sight and blindness. Shakespeare uses this motif to see how clearly the characters can see the truth about themselves and others. Blindness to one’s heart, motives and sins leads one to excuse sins and continue in them, as Gertrude does. Her lust has blinded her to the sinful nature of her incestuous marriage to Claudius. Also we see that everyone else in the kingdom is blind to the incestuous nature of Gertrude’s marriage. This leads Hamlet to believe that he is alone in a nasty, immoral world. Where people are blind to sins as immoral as incest. Thus the Theme of Morality is major concern of Hamlet himself, as he wants those around him to feel just as strongly about the issue. His morality is largely responsible for the lack of action regarding the change of revenge on Claudius. His conscience does not permit him to kill Claudius without being sure that Claudius is responsible for King Hamlet’s regicide. So he waits to kill Claudius only after he is sure Claudius is guilty, after the play-within-the-play. Shakespeare also employs several motifs to enrich the theme of morality. One of these is sickness and disease. He compares Gertrude’s sin to a disease or ulcer, which will subtly rot her soul if she ignores it. As he says â€Å"will but skin and film the ulcerous place, While ranks corruption, mining all within, infects unseen†. A similar motif is the image of the â€Å"unweeded garden† in his first soliloquy. Hamlet sees the world, filled with sinful people as an unweeded garden. The connections with Denmark being corrupted and diseased are metaphorical for Gertrude’s relationship with Claudius, incestuous and corrupted. Hamlet is the most realistic character Shakespeare ever created. His relationship with his mother was extremely natural, in the fact that it experienced certain abnormalities, as in the case of all relationships. Their love for each other is painful, but ultimately helps them grow as people and fulfill their obligations- Hamlet’s duty to avenge his father’s death and Gertrude’s duty to repent and try to protect her son from himself and those around him. Hamlet was merely a man, with motives unknown to him, with secret agendas and internal conflicts that remain unresolved.

A Stranger Is Watching Essay - 554 Words

A Stranger is Watching A Stranger is Watching is a terrific book. I enjoyed reading this book very much. The non-stop action kept me reading for hours. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One of the best features of the book is how it was written. The point of view changes every chapter. For example Chapter 1 is written in the point of view of the infamous Foxy character. Chapter 2 is written in the point if view of our protagonist, Steve; and so on .I also liked how the author built the relationship of the characters up, so you care about what happens to them and feel like youre going through what they are going through. For instance, the author tells us of Steves wifes death. We find out that Steves son,†¦show more content†¦Throughout the story we find out that the antagonist is very jealous of the protagonists life and thats why he indirectly targets him. This contrast was an addition to the already exciting plot of the story.. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In my opinion the best part of quot;A Stranger is Watchingquot;is the end, chapter 52.this chapter contains one of the greatest climaxes I ever read. The chapter begins at a frantic moment. All of the characters lives are at risk because Foxys bomb is about to go off. After a fight with Foxy, Steve manages to release Sharon and Neil. At the same time Ronald Thompson(a juvenile convicted if murder)is about to be executed for the murder of Steves wife, Nina. A few chapters earlier we find out that Nina is Foxys victim but he got off clean with it. Steve races out of Grand Central Station (where the bomb is going to go off)with Sharon and Neil. At this point the author stops her narrative and begins with the time eleven forty-two, twelve minutes after the bomb goes off, at this point we dont know what happened to our characters. In this next paragraph we are informed that Steve, Neil ,and Sharon get away while Foxy dies from his own bomb. We also find out that R onald Thompson is saved from his execution and released from prison. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I enjoyed this part of the story so much because it was the point of the highest excitement. Every event that took place in the story built up to this major event. AllShow MoreRelated A Stranger is Watching Essay609 Words   |  3 PagesA Stranger is Watching In novels there are many literary devices that an author may use. Suspense is one that is used to grab the reader’s attention and keep reading. Mary Higgins Clark demonstrates suspense throughout her novel, A Stranger Is Watching by giving only so much information then she will direct your attention to something else so the reader keeps reading. 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