All About the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution

All About the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution The Eighth Amendment reads:   Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Why Bail is Crucial Defendants who are not released on bail have greater difficulty preparing their defenses. Theyre effectively punished with imprisonment until their time of trial. Decisions regarding bail should not be made lightly. Bail is set extremely high or sometimes denied entirely when a defendant is charged with an extremely serious offense and/or if he poses a flight risk or great potential danger to the community. But in the majority of criminal trials, bail should be available and affordable. Its All About the Benjamins Civil libertarians tend to overlook fines, but the matter is not insignificant in a capitalist system. By their very nature, fines are anti-egalitarian. A $25,000 fine levied against an extremely wealthy defendant might only impact his discretionary income. A $25,000 fine levied against a less wealthy defendant can potentially have a long-term effect on basic medical care, educational opportunities, transportation and food security. Most convicts are poor so the issue of excessive fines is central to our criminal justice system. Cruel and Unusual The most frequently cited part of the Eighth Amendment deals with its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, but what does this mean in practical terms?   Dont ask the founding fathers:  The Crimes Act of 1790 mandates the death penalty for treason and it also mandates mutilation of the corpse. By contemporary standards, corpse mutilation would certainly be regarded as cruel and unusual. Floggings were also common at the time of the Bill of Rights, but today floggings would be regarded as cruel and unusual. The Eighth Amendment is more clearly affected by societal change than any other amendment in the Constitution because the very nature of the phrase cruel and unusual appeals to evolving societal standards.Torture and prison conditions: The Eighth Amendment certainly prohibits the torture of U.S. citizens in a contemporary context although torture is generally used as an interrogation method, not as an official form of punishment. Inhumane prison conditions also violate the Eighth Amendment even though they dont constitute part of the official sentence. In other words, the Eighth Amendment refers to de facto punishments whether the y are officially handed down as punishments or not. The death penalty: The U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty, which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment in Furman v. Georgia in 1972. These death penalties are cruel and unusual, Justice Potter Stewart wrote in the majority opinion, in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. The death penalty was reinstated in 1976 after serious revisions were made.Specific methods of execution prohibited:  The death penalty is legal, but not all methods of enforcing it are. Some, such as crucifixion and death by stoning, are obviously unconstitutional. Others, such as the gas chamber, have been declared unconstitutional by courts. And still others, such as hanging and death by a firing squad, have not been regarded as unconstitutional but are no longer in common use.The lethal injection controversy: The State of Florida declared a moratorium on lethal injection and a de facto moratorium on the death pena lty as a whole after reports that Angel Diaz was essentially tortured to death during a botched execution. Lethal injection in humans is not simply a matter of putting the defendant to sleep. It involves three drugs. The strong sedative effect of the first is intended to prevent the excruciating effects of the latter two.

Facts About Phrasal Verbs

Facts About Phrasal Verbs Facts About Phrasal Verbs Facts About Phrasal Verbs By Mark Nichol A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb, an adverb, and a preposition the verb’s partners are collectively known as particles that combine to produce a figure of speech. (Phrasal verbs are common in idiomatic expressions, such as â€Å"add insult to injury† or â€Å"scared them out of their wits.†) Examples include â€Å"call back,† â€Å"check up,† and â€Å"give in.† Note that phrasal verbs can be converted to adverbs or nouns, and when they are, they are either hyphenated or closed up: â€Å"Call back in a few minutes,† but â€Å"Dial the callback number.† â€Å"She’s going to check up on it,† but â€Å"I’m going for a checkup.† Not every phrasal verb has a converted form: â€Å"Give in† never appears as give-in, though it’s plausible: â€Å"He has a give-in attitude† and â€Å"I’ve been guilty of a give-in now and then† make grammatical sense, but those idioms have not been adopted into English. (If the noun form were part of the language, although such forms are generally closed up, give-in would be an exception because the first element of the phrase ends with a vowel.) Phrasal verbs are easily split by pronouns, nouns, and noun phrases, as in â€Å"I’m making it up,† â€Å"Put your toys away,† and â€Å"I poured the soup mix in.† Note that a phrasal verb can be split or kept together when used with a noun (â€Å"Put down your pencils† or â€Å"Put your pencils down†) but no such choice is possible with a pronoun: You can write, â€Å"Put them down,† but â€Å"Put down them† isn’t considered grammatically correct. Often, though both options may be correct, a phrasal verb may read better with an intervening word or phrase than left intact, and may even more clearly indicate the correct meaning in the former format: The headline â€Å"Mom Scares Off Attacker† seems awkward somehow, but move the particle to the end, and it flows more smoothly: â€Å"Mom Scares Attacker Off.† Likewise, â€Å"He passed around a fruit-and-cheese hors d’oeuvre plate† suggests that the subject veered to avoid the plate, whereas â€Å"He passed a fruit-and-cheese hors d’oeuvre plate around† clearly conveys that he participated in the movement of the plate. Also, not every phrasal verb lends itself to splitting: â€Å"Gave off,† as in â€Å"It gave off a foul odor,† could conceivably be split (â€Å"It gave a foul odor off†), but such syntax looks awkward. In other cases, the elements never appear together, as in â€Å"I can’t tell them apart,† in which tell and apart must be separated by, not followed by, them. When an additional adverb is included with a phrasal verb, whether the adverb can be inserted within it depends on whether a pronoun or noun has already been inserted. All these variations are correct, including the third one, in which picked and at are separated by gingerly: â€Å"Gingerly, she picked at the food.† â€Å"She gingerly picked at the food.† â€Å"She picked gingerly at the food.† â€Å"She picked at the food gingerly.† (Only â€Å"She picked at gingerly the food† and â€Å"She picked at the gingerly food† are ungrammatical.) But in the variations of the following sentence, because a pronoun, not a noun, is involved, the third option is invalid: â€Å"Carefully, he looked it over.† â€Å"He carefully looked it over.† â€Å"He looked carefully it over.† â€Å"He looked it over carefully.† Because of the rich variety of forms possible for phrasal verbs, you are advised, when in doubt, to consult a dictionary’s usage note for the root verb of the phrasal verb, or another usage resource. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names3 Cases of Complicated Hyphenation50 Musical Terms Used in Nonmusical Senses

IB PAPER 1 MARKET FAILURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IB PAPER 1 MARKET FAILURE - Essay Example The big six have a great monopoly against smaller producers. The big six maximize profits while passing the cost to the consumer. There occurs a market failure because of the stranglehold caused by big producers. According to The Guardian Tuesday18 October 2013, the big six energy companies supply 99% of British households and make massive profits from a stitched-up market. They control almost all the markets energy supply. The guardian states that consumers are not supposed to pay high prices for energy bills while shareholders pocket greater profits from the situation. The market failure in Britain’s energy supply creates an environment which calls for aggressive competition from alternative energy sources.it also creates the need to diverge to more eco-friendly sources of energy other than fossil fuel energy. Completion amongst the big firms sometimes drives energy prices down. On the other hand competition from the big six producers ensures that there is no fair share of the market for the smaller producers in the market .market rules also make it complex and imposed excessive costs and terms of trade make it hard for the small players. The effect on the energy suppliers is that they always reap big profit margins since there will always be demand for energy. Their domination will ensure that smaller players remain less dominant in the market. Consumers will be forced to pay the high tariffs the producers impose as long as no alternative low cost energy sources are exploited. The competitive market and the interest of consumers can well be met by actions that reduce barriers to engage in energy supply market by the government (complex red tapes, high cost, and terms of trade).the big six Britain producers of energy reaps the most profit from the market failure that exist thus the companies end up maximizing their profit

Sales Tax Needs to Be Imposed on Internet Transactions Essay

Sales Tax Needs to Be Imposed on Internet Transactions - Essay Example The tax-free internet goods and services tend to be cheaper than the retail goods. This distorts the consumer behavior by promoting the purchase of internet goods over the retail products hence reducing the efficiency of the sales tax system. Taxing the internet goods will lead to insignificant distortion of consumer behavior as the total expense of buying a commodity from a retail store and buying online will be indifferent. Tax needs to be equitable among the citizens. Purchase of tax-free commodities from the internet favors only the people who can afford an internet connection. This group of people who can access the internet will be able to â€Å"evade† the sales tax while the poor who can not access the internet will not be able to enjoy such advantage. This will lead to inequality in the tax system since only the poor will be burdened to pay the sales tax. A good tax system should have a wide enough tax base to enhance fiscal stability (Maguire). With the increasing trend in internet transaction over the traditional retail transaction as a way to increase reliability and efficiency, there is a likelihood of task base erosion if the internet transactions are left untaxed. Taxing the internet transactions will aid in preventing the potential revenue losses. Arizona like other states relies on sales tax. According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, the percentage sales tax base as a share of income is 47.3%. Encouraging the tax-free internet commodities will affect the state proportionately the same way the state depends on the sales tax. Eliminating the sales tax entirely so that the traditional retail transaction equals the internet transaction for equity purpose will force the state to increase the personal income tax in order to meet her budget. Tax rate tends to alter the consumer's behavior. Tax rates that are too high will tend to favor the purchase of tax-free internet commodities.

A Climate for Change Essay Example for Free

A Climate for Change Essay General Motors has been through some difficult times the past ten years or so and appears to have learned some hard lessons. Based on these lessons, General Motors has begun to adopt a strategy of restoring profitability to its North American operations, by aggressive marketing, redesigned products, adopting to new Human resource strategy and a profit rather than a market share goal. Since this assignment is on strategic human resource management, I will be concentrating more on GMs Functional Strategy in HR, which played a major role for GMs success. General Motors Human Resource Management Most companies do not view the HR department as a strategic business partner or as an indispensable part of the organisation (Terri Kabachnick, 1999). By analysing executive assessments, they usually show merchandising, finance, or marketing in the top spot when each departments value and contribution to the companys success as perceived by the company are rated. HR inevitably ranks last, coupled with loss prevention. Traditional HR departments within large, multi-national corporations tend to be powerless with the logistics of managing processes across many departments spanning multiple countries. In addition, GM, like other multi-nationals, has multiple HR groups one at the corporate level and additional ones for each business unit within the corporation. These HR groups typically do not have a central repository of information and lack a coordinated communications infrastructure. As a result, the HR processes of large, multi-national corporations generally are redundant and inefficient. In addition, the sheer number of third-party vendors used by an HR department to handle discrete functions makes management of the process challenging. By necessity, these departments predominantly have focused on administrative functions and typically dont have the time or the resources to devote to strategic planning. At the same time, many are facing a dramatic reduction in resources, and cost-cutting efforts primarily have focused on reducing staff, rather than re-engineering service delivery. A Climate for Change: While many businesses flourished during the boom years of the 1990s, GM, like other U.S.-based automakers, struggled to maintain the status quo. During those years, GMs market share continued to shrink as a steady stream of consumers bought cars from its Japanese, German and Korean competitors. When Wagoner took over as president and chief executive officer of GM in 1998, he knew the company had to change its approach to manufacturing and selling cars or it would continue a downward spiral and eventually lose its place as the worlds pre-eminent automaker. Wagoner set into motion an effort to reorganize and rebuild GM from the inside out. One of Wagoners primary objectives was to refocus and revamp the companys HR department. Wagoner thought HR is paramount to GMs reorganisation effort. If they were to hire, train and keep the best workforce possible, then it must have the best and most up-to-date HR practices possible. While the change in HR is just one element of making GM a more globally focused and competitive company, it is a key element. GM has always been a very siloed corporation with all of its different divisions functioning like separate companies. There have been numerous reorganisation efforts at GM, and most have not fared well, because of the turf battles and independent nature of GMs divisions. However, GM appears to be taking a different approach. Focusing on HR and making it a key element in the reorganisation effort, which GM has never really attempted before. One real challenge has been the effects of change on one large organisation which has set itself to comfort,so to get GMs management team to completely buy into the strategic role for HR was a task in itself. Middle management, however, has been a different story, they were more resistant to change than their managers. But, the effort is under way, and senior-level executives are well aware that it is an evolution not a revolution and therefore will take some time. The key to making the evolution work, is to find the points of resistance and to try to make them understand the need for change. And if they continue to resist then personnel changes should be considered.as the cost is quite big to barter. I personally feel that the approach which GM adopted, provides a best fit to its work environment and structure.

The Lives of Oprah Winfery and Malcolm X :: essays papers

The Lives of Oprah Winfery and Malcolm X The lives of Malcolm X and Oprah Winfery have some similarities's but mostly differences. The biggest similarities is that they are both very accomplished black American's. Malcolm X was a hustler, robber and a very messed up child. After going to jail he decided to turn his life around. In a few ways Oprah was the same way. She had struggled with her weight all of her life. Finally she decided to do something about it. When Malcolm was a child his family didn't have very much money. They lived in a run-down house with many brother's and sister's. To make matters worse, they were a black family. When he was about fifteen years old his father was run over by a cart. He was nearly cut in half! The police said it was an accident but, Malcolm and his family knew it wasn't. After his father died things went down hill. His mother was so upset by his death that she couldn't take care of her family. Malcolm started to hang out with the wrong people. He became a hustler, he would rob people for money and valuable things they owned. He also started to get into hard drugs during his teenage years. All of this led to him dropping out of school and his mom was put into a mental hospital. When he was seventeen years old he was arrested and put into jail. This was the start of his "new start". He started reading the dictionary! His speed increased incredibly. By reading the dictionary his vocabulary became much better so he started reading books. After serving 8-10 years in jail he got out and started to speak against racism. He was a very strong speaker, which many people, including some whites, listened to. He would always be talking about how the whites didn't treat them right and to fight against them. On February 21, 1965 Malcolm was speaking at a OAAU rally in Harlem and he was shot and killed. Oprah Winfery, a talk show producer and host, actress, and a very charitable person. She began her career in television when she was nineteen years old. She was the youngest and the first African-American woman to be a news anchor at Nashville's WTVF-TV. Nine years after her T.V. career took off she moved to Chicago to host a morning talk show, "A.M. Chicago" which became the number one rated talk show just a month after Oprah took over. In less than a year the show expanded into a hour long program and was renamed, "The Oprah Winfery

Ethical Standards for Human Research Essay

Ethical standards in human research should be followed strictly as they encourage the participants of the process to get involved in experiment as far as these standards are met. The ethical standards ensure that the risks he/she can be exposed to are taken care of to ensure maximum benefit at the end of the exercise. While accessing risks to benefits encountered in the course of experiment one should determine how much risk is acceptable and how much benefit is necessary. The participant should be willing to accept some risks which one may encounter during experiment. These risks should not exceed the importance of experiment for they will be creating more harm to participant than benefit of the problem being solved. In determining the risks and benefits that participant might face one should ensure that the risks should not weigh the benefits. First, one should access the benefits since the participant can agree thee processes to continue based what benefits he/she can get as compared to the risks he/she is exposed to. If researcher seer that the risks are more than benefit he/she can discontinue the process and find a better processes which minimizes the risks and maximizes the benefit. One can determine how much the risks are accepted by the willingness of participant to undergo the processes. Benefits should be necessary since the participant cannot agree the procedure to be carried on which does not benefit him/her. How much risk can be accepted by participant should be kept minimal and one should allow the participant to give full voluntary to participants. Participants should also come out of the experiment unharmed. Deception in research should always be avoided at the participant may fail to undertake the process if he/she find out that he is being deceived in any way. But centrally to this deceit can be allowed in research under different circumstances. For example, when deceptive techniques are justified by the type of research one is carrying out. This can only be done when no other method without deceit can be applied. Also researcher should disclose all the aspects of research and should not deceive the participant on some aspects that can lead to him or her rejecting the research processes. Incase the researcher has no alternative and has to use deception; the participant should be aware of it and agree or disagree to carryon with the procedure out of his or her own will. The end never justifies the mean used to achieve it. This principle signifier that the way one terminate or come to an end of any given process its not always justified by the methods used to achieve it. This is because in the course of processed one can encounter some difficulties or end up creating some mistakes and if corrected, the final result do not incorporate the mistake done. An example in history where this principle was violated is the law that dealt with human protection. This law was meant to protect different groups, for example, children and prisoners, pregnant mother. Therefore in this procedures are just carried out which are meant to bring forth good outcome but this was violated since many researcher do not consider there different groups of people. Another example is Tuskegee Syphilis study where the researcher exposed the concept of justice. In this the benefits of study were restricted to those who could afford them and therefore less participation was experienced (Gilbert Horrax 1952). Various issues are presented when carrying out research involving human subject. There issues include: Invasion of privacy, Any study carried out on human should be taken with a lot of privacy so as not to expose the details of your finding. This encourages participant to be more willing to participate. Also the practice should be taken with a lot of confidentiality in that the findings are known between the researcher and the participant only. Other issues such as stress and discomfort should be avoided on participant and therefore the research should be carried out with a lot of ease.

Korean Music Essay

Traditional Korean music includes both the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music, along with arts, painting, and sculpture has been practiced since prehistoric times. Two distinct musical cultures exist in Korea today: traditional music (Gugak) and Western music (yangak). Korean Folk music Korean folk music is varied and complex, but all forms maintain a set of rhythms (called Jangdan) and a loosely defined set of melodic modes. Because the folk songs of various areas are categorized under Dongbu folk songs, their vocal styles and modes are limited. Therefore, currently scholars are attempting to categorize the Dongbu folk songs further based on different musical features. These songs are mostly simple and bright. Namdo folk songs are those of Jeolla Province and a part of Chungcheong Province. While the folk songs of other regions are mostly musically simple, the folk songs of the Namdo region, where the famous musical genres pansori and sanjo were created, are rich and dramatic. Some Namdo folk songs are used in pansori or developed by professional singers and are included as part of their repertories. Jeju folk songs are sung on the Jeju Island. They are more abundant in number than any other regional folk songs, and approximately 1600 songs are transmitted today. Jeju folk songs are characterized by their simple and unique melodic lines and rich texts. Pansori Pansori: is a long vocal and percussive music played by one singer and one drummer. In this traditional art form, sometimes rather misleadingly called ‘Korean Opera’, a narrator may play the parts of all the characters in a story, accompanied by a drummer. The lyric tell one of five different stories, but is individualized by each performer, often with updated jokes and audience participation. One of the most famous pansori singers is Park Dongjin (hangul). Many Koreans still enjoy this music. The National Theatre of Korea provides monthly opportunities to experience traditional Korean narrative songs or pansori. Where: National Theatre of Korea, Seoul City Hall, South Korea Pungmul Pungmul: is a Korean folk music tradition that is a form of percussion music that includes drumming, dancing, and singing. Most performances are outside, with dozens of players, all in constant motion. Samul Nori, originally the name of a group founded in 1978, has become popular as a genre, even overseas. It is based on Pungmul musical rhythmic patterns and uses the same instruments, but is faster and usually played while sitting down. Sanjo  is played without a pause in faster tempos. It is entirely instrumental music, and includes changes in rhythmic and melodic modes during an individual work. The tempos increases in each movement. The general style of the sanjo is marked by slides in slow movements and rhythmic complexity in faster movements. Instruments include the changgo drum set against a melodic instrument, such as the gayageum or ajaeng. ChÃ… ngak  means literally â€Å"right (or correct) music†, and its tradition includes both instrumental and vocal music, which were cultivated mainly by the upper-class literati of the Joseon society. The Yongsan hoesang is the main repertoire of instrumental chongak tradition and the most representative chamber ensemble of Korea. The title is derived from a Korean Buddhist chang with the short text ‘Yongsan hoesang pulbosal,’ which literally means â€Å"Buddha and Bodhisattvas meet at the Spirit Vulture Peak.† The Korean Buddhist music with the texts notated in the fifteenth-century manuscript Taeak Hubo was a vocal work accompanied by an orchestra. Nongak  means â€Å"farmers’ music† and represents an important musical genre which has been developed mainly by peasants in the agricultural society of Korea. The farmers’ music is performed typically in an open area of the village. The organization of nongak varies according to locality and performing groups, and today there are a great n umber of regional styles. Shinawi  means in broadest sense, the shamanistic music of Korea which is performed during a Korean shaman’s ritual dance performance to console and to entertain deities. In this sense of word, the term is almost identical with anoth er term, shinbanggok (lit. ‘spirit chamber music’), which indicated general shamanistic music performed at a folk religious ceremony known as kut. Salp’uri is a dance for soul cleansing and literally means : â€Å"to wash away bad ghosts†. Salpuri’s modern movements represent the shown human hopes and aspirations. Court/Ritual music Korean court music preserved to date can be traced to the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392. It is now rare, except for government-sponsored organizations like The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. There are three types of court music. One is called Aak, and is an imported form of Chinese ritual music, and another is a pure Korean form called Hyang-ak; the last is a combination of Korean and Chinese influences, and is called Dang-ak. Aak Aak was brought to Korea in 1116 and was very popular for a time before dying out. It was revived in 1430, based on a reconstruction of older melodies. The music is now highly specialized and uses just two different surviving melodies. Aak is played only at certain very rare concerts, such as the Sacrifice to Confucius in Seoul. Dang-ak Modern dangak, like aak, is rarely practiced. Only two short pieces are known; they are Springtime in Luoyang and Pacing the Void. Hyang-ak By far the most extant form of Korean court music today, hyangak includes a sort of oboe, called a piri and various kinds of stringed instruments.

The Historic Olmec City of San Lorenzo

The Historic Olmec City of San Lorenzo The Olmec culture thrived along Mexico’s Gulf coast from roughly 1200 B.C. to 400 B.C. One of the most important archaeological sites associated with this culture is known as San Lorenzo. Once, there was a great city there. Its original name has been lost to time. Considered by some archaeologists to be the first true Mesoamerican city, San Lorenzo was a very important center of Olmec commerce, religion, and political power during its heyday. Location San Lorenzo is located in Veracruz State, about 38 miles (60km) from the Gulf of Mexico. The Olmecs could not have selected a better site to build their first great city. The site was originally a large island in the middle of the Coatzacoalcos River, although the course of the river has since changed and now only flows past one side of the site. The island featured a central ridge, high enough to escape any flooding. The floodplains along the river were very fertile. The location is close to sources of stone which were used for making sculptures and buildings. Between the river on either side and the high central ridge, the site was easily defended from enemy attack. Occupation of San Lorenzo San Lorenzo was first occupied around 1500 B.C., making it one of the oldest sites in the Americas. It was home to three early settlements, referred to as the Ojochà ­ (1500-1350 B.C.), the Bajà ­o (1350-1250 B.C.), and the Chichrras (1250-1150 B.C.). These three cultures are considered pre-Olmec and are largely identified by pottery types. The Chicharrs period begins to show characteristics later identified as Olmec. The city reached its peak in the period from 1150 to 900 B.C. before falling into decline. This is referred to as the San Lorenzo era. There may have been some 13,000 inhabitants at San Lorenzo during the height of its power (Cyphers). The city then went into decline and passed into the Nacaste period from 900 to 700 B.C. The Nacaste did not have the skills of their forebears and added little in the way of art and culture. The site was abandoned for some years before the Palangana era (600-400 B.C.). These later inhabitants contributed some small mounds and a ball cou rt. The site was then abandoned for over a thousand years before it was re-occupied during the Late Classic era of Mesoamerican civilization, but the city never regained its former glory. The Archaeological Site San Lorenzo is a sprawling site which includes not only the one-time metropolis of San Lorenzo but several smaller towns and agricultural settlements that were controlled by the city. There were important secondary settlements at Loma del Zapote, where the river forked to the south of the city, and El Remolino, where the waters re-converged to the north. The most important section of the site is on the ridge, where the nobility and priest classes lived. The western side of the ridge is known as the â€Å"royal compound,† as it was home to the ruling class. This area has yielded a treasure trove of artifacts, particularly sculptures. The ruins of an important structure, the â€Å"red palace,† are also found there. Other highlights include an aqueduct, interesting monuments scattered around the site, and several artificial pits known as â€Å"lagunas,† the purpose of which is still unclear. Stonework Very little of Olmec culture has survived to the present day. The climate of the steamy lowlands where they lived has destroyed any books, burial sites, and items of cloth or wood. The most important remnants of the Olmec culture are therefore architecture and sculpture. Fortunately for posterity, the Olmec were talented stonemasons. They were capable of transporting large sculptures and blocks of stone for masonry for distances of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles). The stones were probably floated part of the way on sturdy rafts. The aqueduct at San Lorenzo is a masterpiece of practical engineering. Hundreds of similarly-carved basalt troughs and covers weighing many tons were laid out in such a way as to promote the flow of water to its destination, which was a duck-shaped cistern designated Monument 9 by archaeologists. Sculpture The Olmec were great artists and the most remarkable feature of San Lorenzo is doubtless the several dozen sculptures that have been discovered at the site and nearby secondary sites like Loma del Zapote. The Olmec were famous for their detailed sculptures of colossal heads. Ten of these heads have been found at San Lorenzo. The largest of them is nearly ten feet tall. These massive stone heads are believed to depict rulers. At nearby Loma del Zapote, two finely sculpted, nearly identical twins face two jaguars. There are also several massive stone thrones at the site. All in all, dozens of sculptures have been found in and around San Lorenzo. Some of the statues were carved out of earlier works. Archaeologists believe that the statues were used as elements in scenes with religious or political meaning. The pieces would be laboriously moved around to create different scenes. Politics San Lorenzo was a powerful political center. As one of the first Mesoamerican cities - if not the first - it did not have true contemporary rivals and ruled over a large area. In the immediate environs, archaeologists have discovered many small settlements and dwellings, mostly located on hilltops. The smaller settlements were likely ruled by members or appointments of the royal family. Smaller sculptures have been found at these peripheral settlements, suggesting that they were sent there from San Lorenzo as a form of cultural or religious control. These smaller sites were used in the production of food and other resources and were of strategic use militarily. The royal family ruled this mini-empire from the heights of San Lorenzo. Decline and Importance In spite of its promising start, San Lorenzo fell into steep decline and by 900 B. C. was a shadow of its former self. The city would be abandoned a few generations later. Archaeologists do not really know why San Lorenzos glory faded so soon after its classic era. There are a few clues, however. Many of the later sculptures were carved out of earlier ones, and some are only half-completed. This suggests that perhaps rival cities or tribes came to control the countryside, making the acquisition of new stone difficult. Another possible explanation is that if the population somehow declined, there would be insufficient manpower to quarry and transport new material. The era around 900 B.C. is also historically linked to some climatic changes, which could well have adversely affected San Lorenzo. As a relatively primitive, developing culture, the people of San Lorenzo subsisted on a handful of core crops, hunting, and fishing. A sudden change in climate could affect these crops, as well as the nearby wildlife. San Lorenzo, while not a spectacular place for visitors like Chichà ©n Itz or Palenque, is nevertheless an extremely important historical city and archaeological site. The Olmec is the parent culture of all of those which came later in Mesoamerica, including the Maya and Aztecs. As such, any insight gained from the earliest major city is of inestimable cultural and historical value. It is unfortunate that the city has been raided by looters and many priceless artifacts have been lost or rendered valueless by being removed from their place of origin. It is possible to visit the historical site, although many of the sculptures are currently found elsewhere, such as the Mexican National Museum of Anthropology and the Xalapa Anthropology Museum. Sources Coe, Michael D. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Ancient Peoples and Places, Rex Koontz, 7th Edition, Thames Hudson, June 14, 2013. Cyphers, Ann. San Lorenzo, Veracruz. Arqueologà ­a Mexicana, No. 87, 2019. Diehl, Richard. The Olmecs: Americas First Civilization. Ancient Peoples Places, Hardcover, Thames Hudson, December 31, 2004.

Using a and an Before Words

Using a and an Before Words Using a and an Before Words Using a and an Before Words By Daniel Scocco Raphael asks: When should I use â€Å"a† and when should I use â€Å"an† before the different words? For example, should I say â€Å"a hour† or â€Å"an hour?† I stumble over this everytime and dontt know if Im getting it right, as Im not speaking and writing English natively. The Rule The rule states that â€Å"a† should be used before words that begin with consonants (e.g., b, c ,d) while â€Å"an† should be used before words that begin with vowels (e.g., a,e,i). Notice, however, that the usage is determined by the pronunciation and not by the spelling, as many people wrongly assume. You should say, therefore, â€Å"an hour† (because hour begins with a vowel sound) and â€Å"a history† (because history begins with a consonant sound). Similarly you should say â€Å"a union† even if union begins with a â€Å"u.† That is because the pronunciation begins with â€Å"yu†, which is a consonant sound. Abbreviations Deciding which version you should use with abbreviations is the tricky part. First of all you need to understand if the abbreviation is pronounced as a single word or letter by letter. While we say â€Å"a light-water reactor,† the abbreviation is â€Å"an LWR.† Similarly, you should use â€Å"an NBC reporter† (because â€Å"NBC† is pronounced â€Å"enbisi†) and â€Å"a NATO authority† (because â€Å"NATO† begins with a â€Å"ne† sound). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational WritingStory Writing 101The Two Sounds of G

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Benjamins Character Essay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Benjamins Character - Essay Example This paper stresses that Genre, Mise-en-scà ¨ne, lighting, camera angle, sound, and narrative are some of the film-making techniques used in this film. This paper is going to analyze these film-making techniques used in the film, and describe how Benjamin was able to face all the difficulties in his life. According to Campsall, a film’s genre hints what to expect in the film, and this film’s genre ranges between science fiction, romance and history. Science fiction is used because Benjamin’s condition at birth, and the way he lived from old to young cannot exist. From this paper it is clear that Romance is also a genre used in this film and it can be seen in the way Benjamin falls in love with Daisy. She developed a close friendship with him from an early age, and even though they were separated at some point, they still loved each other. The movie is set in the just after the end of the First World War, and history as a genre can be seen here. There is family who lost their child in war, and there is a time when Benjamin and a crew in a ship were in war for America. One can be able to see the livelihood of people during that time and learn a few things about history. The movie starts in a hospital, and the director only shows old Daisy lying on the bed, her daughter, and an attending nurse. Mise-en-scà ¨ne is used here because the hospital’s name is not shown, and other patients are also not shown.