Norse vs. Greek Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Norse vs. Greek Mythology - Essay Example A comparison of creation myths can be very enlightening regarding the values and needs of the people who hold it. Two major cultures that had a great deal in common regarding their creation myths despite great differences in climate were the Greeks and the Norse. Overall, the creation myths and deity structure of the Greeks and the Norse served to place importance on the same basic elements of life. Both societies held a strong belief in the idea of fate. This concept was represented in both cultures by three female deities. In Norse mythology, these women were called the Norns and were considered demi-goddesses. They also had individual names including Urd (fate), Verdandi (necessity) and Skuld (being) (Lindemans, 1998). Together, they had the primary duty of caring for Yggdrasil, the world tree, which connected all the worlds together, but they also assisted with childbirth and helped determine the course of a person’s life path. The Greeks called their corresponding demi-goddesses the Fates and these women were more directly linked with the lives of men. Their individual names were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (Saunders, 2009). Clotho spun the thread of life, so she was associated with birth and beginnings. The length of the yarn C lotho spun was decided by Lachesis and thus measured the path of a man’s life. However, it was up to Atropos to make the final cut that ended that life. Although the Norns and the Fates are considered lesser goddesses in both cultures, they are each given power over everything that exists and thus are considered a part of the grand scheme of creation. This importance can be seen in the myths of these cultures such as in the Voluspa in which the Norns come to Earth for the betterment of mankind and in the plays produced in Greece as characters.

Ethics Game & Reflective Journal Essay Example for Free

Ethics Game Reflective Journal Essay This journal contains the reflection of the Ethics Game simulation assignment. The purpose of this paper is to describe the steps and process that I used to answer the ethical questions involved in two simulation games: The case of the troubled Teen and Policies and Politics. In addition I will also discuss how these concepts relate to my workplace. The case of the Troubled Teen: This case describes the case of an unmarried, 16 year old pregnant patient (RB) admitted to the labor and delivery, accompanied by her parents. Parents chose to limit medication citing personal reasons. The primary nurse (YN) is concerned that the situation may become critical for the patient and unborn baby. The nursing staff is also concerned that the parents may not understand the consequences of their action. The ethical issue in this case is how to ensure safe delivery of the baby and to provide adequate medical care to both mother and baby. The case of Policy and Politics: This case describes one of the ICU patients AT, who is unconscious for few days, was brought to the hospital by his domestic partner. YM, his partner was beside him in the ER but he was not allowed to be with the patient after transferring to ICU. The day supervisor CB prevented Yves from visiting AT. Her actions violated current hospital same sex domestic partner policy. The question her is if the rights of the patient and the significant others have been violated here. Decision making steps I used an organized process to make this ethical decision called the Baird Method, which consists of four steps. Step 1: Identify the issue in the ethical dilemma, and evaluate the evidence. I need to be attentive as to gather all data to determine which issue has to be resolved. Step 2: Identify the primary stakeholders. I have to be intelligent and identify the real issue in the case. Step 3: Use my knowledge, be reasonable, fair, and understand my duty, which focus on the equal rights and remember my role on the impact on stakeholders. Step 4: Develop a situation that has balance and meets the needs of all stakeholders and communicate the decision to everyone involved. Applying these steps to issue of the Troubled teen I gathered all the information from the patient’s chart, went over the care  plan, medical plan and received the bedside verbal report from the outgoing nurse. She was not given adequate pain medicine nor seen by the physician on call because she/he was attending an emergency elsewhere. The stakeholders in this situation are as follows: †¢RB, the patient †¢LB, RB’s unborn child †¢RB’s parents †¢Shift supervisor †¢YN, RN caring for RB †¢The Shareholders Applying these steps to the issue of Policy and Politics: First of all here, I have to identify the problem. There are two issues here. One is allowing the domestic partner to visit the patient and the second one is to make sure that the hospital staffs follow the policy of the hospital. The stakeholders are †¢AT, the ICU patient †¢YM, the domestic partner †¢Staff nurse, M †¢CB, the shift supervisor †¢AF, the director of nursing †¢The Shareholders Ethical Lens used that influenced decisions Lens used in Troubled Teen case: Using the rights and responsibility lens, I could identify my duties as to assure that the care of the pregnant teen is not compromised and for those who cannot speak for themselves. I want to ensure that there is a safe delivery of the mother and the baby is safe. Result lens considers focus on the results we want in our community and how it contributes to the greater good in our community and to greater number of people. I used the action that tilted towards sensibility because I honored the need in this situation to consider parental wishes and aftercare of mother and baby. In the first situation the rights and responsibility lens was first and foremost in my mind. My duty made me to assure that the care of the patient and her unborn baby was not in danger nor the care was compromised especially when someone can’t speak for themselves. I used the result lens to make the care plans and involve the parents in the care of  their child and grandchild with the help of chaplain. In the second situation, it focused on the system and allowed me to incorporate what is best for the system and community, however protecting the rights of both. Lens used in the Policies and Politics case: In this case the use of relationship lens and reputation lens was used. The relationship lens focuses on the processes that systems need an ethical organization. The ethical lens tries to protect the basic liberties of everyone and this situation the domestic partner is to be treated like any other person. However, the reputation lens focuses on assuring that the hospital protocols are consistently followed and in this situation the partner should be allowed to visit his other partner. How concepts relate to the workplace In my workplace I face difficult ethical decisions associated with patient care and the policies set forth by the care agencies. This simulation helped me to recognize my own personal values, such as equality, fairness, compassion, which influences my decision in various decisions. This game helped me to examine the decision making process when faced with the difficult situations and how to make the right decision during any dilemma. The process set up in our workplace might not be ethical one for that particular situation but in this scenarios they were not followed blindly, but the best option was picked to solve them. Identifying my personal values and gaining knowledge of the ethical lenses allowed me to minimize necessary conflict at work and deal directly with the situation. CONCLUSION Ethical issues at work place associated with the patient care can add stress and increased burden on the nurses. The ethical game simulation allowed me to identify the issues and guided me through a systematic approach to solve the dilemma. This exercise helped me to prepare for a situation which will help me to reduce stress and make a sound judgment. The lenses allowed me to gain knowledge and insight to solve the problems.

Overview of Green Wireless Networks

Overview of Green Wireless Networks Abstract: Traditional mobile networks largely focus on availability, variety, stability and large capacity. Due to the rapid development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry whose major constituent are the mobile networks, CO2 emissions have been increasing rapidly. This shows the need for energy efficient wireless networks or green wireless networks which will put emphasis on saving the energy and environmental protection. The current wireless networks concentrates mainly on non-energy related factors such as Quality of Service (QoS), throughput and reliability. So these factors have to kept in mind while transitioning to green wireless networks. The techniques that need to be implemented are aimed at improving energy efficiency but not compromising the QoS, throughput and reliability.   In this paper the various metrics which help in evaluating performance of wireless networks are reviewed. Also different approaches to improve energy efficiency in wireless networks an d how to combine them for higher energy efficiency are discussed. Introduction: The latest mobile phones provide multiple services which led to rise of ICT traffic. ICT constitutes for 2% of total Green House Gas (GHG) and CO2 emissions worldwide. Within the ICT sector, mobile sector was responsible for 43% of emissions until 2002 while studies suggest that this number would go up to 51% by 2020 [1]. The predominant energy consuming part in a wireless network is the Radio Access Network (RAN). This comes from the fact the RF power amplifier within the RAN consumes a lot of input power for operation and releases a lot of heat contributing to energy wastage. In addition to this, the inconsistent distribution of real world mobile traffic among the BSs leads to underutilization of supplied energy [1]. These two reasons give us an idea of where the energy is being wasted or not utilized, helping us in formulating new techniques for energy efficient wireless networks. While discussing about various techniques for energy efficiency, we have to keep in mind that the QoS is not compromised at all. Because if an operator uses a technique, they should be able to serve the users by utilizing less energy but not by compromising users service. The various parts of a mobile network that consume power are data centers in backhaul, macro cells, femtocells, mobile stations or end hosts and their services. But the major part that consumes the highest power is the power amplifier section and Base station or RAN section. Hence the various techniques presented in this paper are aimed at energy efficiency in these sections only. Section II of the paper outlines various metrics which can be used to evaluate the energy performance of systems. Section III discusses cell layout adaptation techniques for reducing energy consumption and is divided into 3-subsections that outline various cell shaping algorithms. Section IV explains some challenges and research directions for energy efficient networks like Cognitive Radio (CR), M2M communication etc. Metrics for measuring energy performance: Energy efficiency can be achieved by employing better techniques. But in order to measure the energy consumption or utilization, metrics are needed. Energy efficiency metric can be defined as ratio of output to the input power supplied [1]. The output here may correspond to how much the distance of transmission is, number of bits transmitted or output power etc. The metrics for energy efficiency are broadly categorized into 3 levels: Component level metrics, Access node level metrics and network level metrics. Component level metrics mainly focus on power amplifier section, Access node level metrics focus on RAN or Base station, and network level metrics focus on performance of RAN [1]. These metrics help to quantify energy efficiency of various devices and therefore it becomes easier to compare which technique is better. Firstly, at the component level, where we focus on power amplifier section, there are 2 possible types of metric categories. One is Analog and the other is digital. The two important metrics of analog RF transmission are Power Amplifier efficiency (PA efficiency) and Peak to average power ratio (PAPR). PA efficiency is the ratio of PA output power to the input power supplied to it. Higher value of PA efficiency is desired, but in reality this is the part where most of the input power is wasted. PAPR, as the name suggests is the ratio of Peak power to average power. Lower value of PAPR is desired, as higher values tend to reduce the amplifier efficiency. The significant digital metrics in component level are millions of instructions per second per watt (MIPS/W) and millions of floating point operations per second per watt (MFLOPS/W). Higher value of MIPS/W and MFLOPS/W are desired as they refer to digital output generated for a given power input [1]. Secondly, at access node level there are 2 major metrics. Power efficiency and radio efficiency. Power efficiency refers to transmitted data rate over a given bandwidth and input power supplied. It is measured in bits per second per hertz per watt (b/S/Hz/W). Radio efficiency refers to transmitted data rate and transmitted distance over a given bandwidth and input power supplied. It is measured in bits meters per second per hertz per watt (b-m/S/Hz/W) [1]. Higher values of power and radio efficiency are desired as they measure the data rate and distance of transmission which are always desired to be a higher value for a given power input. Finally, at the network level also there are 2 metrics which measure the number of subscribers served during peak hours and coverage area respectively. The first metric measures the number of subscribers served during peak hour to the supplied input power and is measured in number of subscribers per watt (Subscribers/W) and the second metric measures the coverage area of the radio signal to the supplied input power and is measured in square meters per watt (m2/W) [1]. Higher values for both these metrics are desired as they signify serving more number of subscribers or a larger coverage area for a given power input. Hence when evaluating various techniques for wireless energy efficiency, it is better to know at whether energy efficiency is augmented in component level or access node level or network level. That way it would become easier to compare the efficiency in terms of various levels individual metrics. Reducing Energy consumption through Cell Layout Adaptation: Cell layout adaptation (CLA) techniques focus on energy efficiency at network level. But for these techniques to improve energy efficiency, it is important to improve efficiency in component level and access node level as well, because all these 3 levels are inter-related to each other and one works on the basis of another. Power is first supplied from power amplifier and then to RAN and at last to the network level, that means it is possible to save more energy in component level and access node level and the remaining energy that is used by the network can be efficiently utilized by implementing these cell layout adaptation techniques. CLA techniques are basically divided into 3 major categories. First part consists of cell shaping techniques like Base Stations (BSs) turning off and cell breathing, second part consists of hybrid macro femtocell deployments and the final part consists of relaying techniques [1]. A. Cell Shaping Techniques: As mentioned earlier, base stations turning off and cell breathing techniques encompass cell shaping techniques. The basic idea behind the former is turning off BSs and redistributing the remaining traffic to neighboring base stations. Here we need to make sure that we are turning off BSs which are idle or the ones which have very less traffic that can be taken up by neighboring cells. This way energy consumption is reduced and only the BSs that have traffic will operate and consume energy. Cell breathing scheme goes one step further by not actually turning off BSs, but by reducing the power consumption of a cell. This can be achieved by covering a low distance depending on the traffic. That means BSs experiencing higher traffic operate in full power mode while the BSs with medium traffic operate in medium power mode and cells with very less traffic operate at low power mode, thereby reducing the coverage area depending on subscriber traffic. This is analogous to a cell breathing acc ording to traffic patterns. As these cell shaping techniques are based on network level, number of subscribers served and coverage area metrics should be maintained in order to ensure good QoS and less call drop rate when implementing these techniques. The broader explanation of cell shaping techniques is mentioned above, but to implement those techniques there are 2 major algorithms: switching-off network planning algorithm and cell breathing coordination algorithm [1]. Firstly, switching-off network planning algorithm works on the basis of 3 factors, number of BSs to turn off, number of BSs to operate, and time period for which BSs are turned off. The ratio of number of BSs to turn off and BSs to operate and a specific time period for which turn-off is implemented based on the low traffic pattern is calculated. Once these values are calculated, it is made sure that the blocking probability limit is not exceeded, which means definite QoS is maintained. Cell breathing coordination algorithm works on the basis of a central node called a cell zooming server. The cell zooming server analyzes the incoming traffic and tries to turn of the BSs which do not have any traffic at all. Then it tries to distribute the traffic from less active BSs to busy BSs. It also makes sure to distribute traffic based on input traffic and turns on the sleep mode BSs when required. This centralized approach works good in smaller networks and when it comes to large scale networks, it would be very ineffective. The same applies to switching off network planning algorithm because there is no centralized node to turn on the BSs if needed, as the turn -off time if fixed based on traffic patterns [1]. The cell shaping techniques also bring up a new trade-off, i.e. SE-EE tradeoff (spectral efficiency-energy efficiency) [3]. SE-EE trade-off focuses on network level characteristics like number of subscribers served and coverage area for input power supplied. By implementing these cell shaping techniques although energy efficiency is obtained, there is always chance where coverage area is reduced and some subscribers are ignored. Ideally, higher the energy efficiency lower is the spectral efficiency. But in reality, because of component level energy issues, transmission distances, coding schemes the relationship between SE and EE is not inversely proportional, but it is of the form of a bell curve. So it is better to apply cell shaping techniques until the point where spectral efficiency is not compromised. B. Hybrid macro femtocell deployment: Femtocell deployment in combination with macro cells is a second method under cell layout adaptation. Femtocell deployments provide coverage in the order of 10 meters and utilize a small BS, which requires less power to operate. Femtocell deployment is advantageous as it provides good coverage and QoS to a set of users within its range with less operating expenses when compared to a macro BS [1]. Although femtocell deployment is a good concept, it is not desirable to have too many femtocells as it increases the power consumption and utilizes more network resources for a lesser coverage area. A better way of deployment is having hybrid macro and femtocell deployment. In the case of hybrid deployment, the macro BS provides coverage to users who are evenly spread over a long distance and the femtocell provides coverage to users who are located in a dense region. This way the energy is utilized efficiently, as a new macro BS is not being deployed to provide coverage to those dense set of users. The hybrid macro cell and -femtocell deployment poses a new challenge for handoffs, as macro BS and femtocell BS might have same signal strength in the others coverage region. The handoffs issue can be solved by defining a clear boundary between the macro and femtocell BS. Within the dense region, the femtocell should have higher signal strength and it should properly handoff at the bounda ry of macro BS. Also within the coverage area of macro BS, the femtocell BS should have very less signal strength [1]. This would give a clear idea to define a boundary. A better way of implementing this hybrid deployment is by utilizing the cell shaping techniques like BS turning off and cell breathing coordination. If there are a set of femtocells, and one of the coverage area is totally idle, then that femtocell BS can be turned off and basic coverage is provided by the macro BS at that location. Similarly, if incoming traffic is analyzed, femtocells and macro cells can use the cell breathing techniques to lower their power utilization [1]. Also the hybrid macro and femtocell deployment leads to a DE-EE tradeoff (deployment efficiency-energy efficiency) [3]. Ideally energy efficiency increases when more femtocells are deployed and deployment efficiency goes down because of increase in deployment expenses, network utilization and energy consumption. In a practical scenario, the relationship between DE and EE is more like a bell curve, with a peak point where deployment and energy efficiency are in good standing. Hence it is a good idea to use hybrid deployment until the point where it does not degrade the deployment efficiency and energy efficiency. C. Relaying techniques: Energy efficiency can be achieved through 2 types of relaying techniques. The first technique uses repeater stations or green antennas for relaying and the second technique uses mobile stations for relaying. In the first technique, a repeater station or a green antenna with receiver capability is connected to the macro BS through a coax cable or optical fiber, with the latter utilizing less energy. These green antennas are placed very near to the mobile stations, which helps to reduce the energy consumption in uplink by the mobile stations. Although this technique improves energy efficiency for mobile stations, it increases operating expenses for the service provider. In the second technique, the mobile stations work in coordination and perform the relaying operation. This way the transmission distance for the macro BS is reduced and it consumes less energy. Although this technique assumes mobile stations as relays which work selflessly. Practically, the mobile stations may not work in coordination which would break the link for relaying. One more drawback of this technique is that for maintaining coordination between the mobile stations, more energy is consumed [1]. Challenges and directions for energy efficient wireless networks: Cognitive Radio (CR) and M2M (Machine to Machine) communication systems provide new opportunities in the field of green wireless networks, but also pose significant challenges at the same time. Cognitive Radio can be defined as a RF transceiver that is used to switch users from a very busy spectrum to an unused one and vice versa if needed. The origin for this topic came from the fact that many RF spectrums are congested with several users and some other spectrums are underutilized. Hence the concept of CR would efficiently manage users in various spectrums and help to deliver better QoS. Indirectly this switching of spectrums or utilizing unused spectrums is resulting in energy efficiency as spectrums with more users will not utilize additional energy as users are transferred to other spectrum. Also underutilized spectrums which were consuming energy for operation, now serve the new users efficiently resulting in energy and spectrum utilization. The only disadvantage of CR technique is that monitoring various RF spectrums and switching users from one spectrum to another requires significant energy. Hence this technique would be energy efficient only if more energy is saved by intelligently switching users than that is utilized for monitoring spectrums or users [2]. M2M wireless communication systems are aimed at connecting various wireless devices directly. This approach also helps in reducing energy consumption from the point of view of a mobile station. M2M helps to reduce the computation required by various physical devices and also tries to offload them to the network itself. This way the mobile stations consume less energy as the number of computations is reduced. The major disadvantage with this approach is that if more computation is offloaded to the main network, it might consume more energy that that is being saved by mobile stations by utilizing this approach. Hence this technique would be energy efficient if the main network does not consume a lot of energy for some additional computations [2]. Conclusion and Future Scope: The rise in carbon footprint, especially the contribution to it from the ICT sector and consequently mobile sector led to interest in energy efficient wireless networks. Energy efficiency can be achieved at various levels such as power amplifier, RAN and network. The techniques proposed in the paper focus on energy efficiency in RAN and network levels. But they also have trade-offs like DE-EE and SE-EE, which can be vanquished by emerging techniques like CR and M2M communications. These emerging techniques can be improved in a way where they consume less energy for monitoring in comparison with the prevailing levels. Alongside that, at the power amplifier level, the current solution for energy efficiency is to use expensive components which would trade off the gains achieved by energy savings. Hence a future research direction would be addressing energy efficiency at power amplifier level and improving CR and M2M techniques. VI. References: [1] Luis .S, Nuaymi .L, and Bonnin .J, An overview and classification of research approaches in green wireless networks. Eurasip journal on wireless communications and networking 2012.1 (2012): pp.1-18. [2] Xiaofei .W, et al. A survey of green mobile networks: Opportunities and challenges. Mobile Networks and Applications 17.1 (2012): pp.4-20. [3] Yan Chen; Shunqing Zhang; Shugong Xu; Li, G.Y., Fundamental trade-offs on green wireless networks, in Communications Magazine, IEEE , vol.49, no.6, pp.30-37, June 2011.

Acid Rain :: essays research papers

Acid Rain If you have ever wondered why precious monuments are fading away, or the reason your car starts to look old, or if you can't understand why the bricks on the side of your house are breaking, look up the term Acid rain in your encyclopedia. Acid rain is the cause of all of this and much more. Acid rain is a widespread term used to describe all forms of acid precipitation (rain, snow, hail, fog, etc.)( ). Precipitation is naturally acidic because of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Acid rain begins with the production of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, oil, and from certain kinds of manufacturing. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water and other chemicals in the air to from sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other pollutants ( ). What was once a local problem for towns and cities is now an international problem. The spread of this problem originated from tall chimneys dispersing pollutants high into the atmosphere, which then traveled with the wind for thousands of kilometers until once again reaching the ground in an invisible state. The effect of acid rain when it reaches the ground reacts chemically with any object it comes in contact with. Acids are corrosive chemicals that react with other chemicals by giving up hydrogen atoms ( ). The acidity of a substance comes from the abundance of free hydrogen atoms when the substance is dissolved in water ( ). Acidity can be measured using a "pH" scale with units from 0 to 14. Rain (snow, fog, etc.) measured at a pH below 5.6 is considered acid rain. Acid rain is responsible for a widespread of environmental damage. Such examples of this include soil and plant degradation, depleted life in lakes and streams, and erosion of man-made structures( ). When acid rain enters the soil it dissolves and washes away the nutrients needed by plants. It can also dissolve toxic substances, such as aluminum and mercury, which are naturally present in some soils, freeing these toxins to pollute water or to poison plants that absorb them ( ). After events like this take place animals and humans are soon effected. If one plant or animal is adversely affected by acid rain, animals that feed on that organism may suffer and animals that feed on that animal may suffer also (usually humans).

Family Law

Family Law Essay Introduction * As societies become more diverse and complex; the law needs to reflect these changing social values in order to remain just. * State something relating to given question. * State thesis: Thus, family law is very effective/only effective to an extent in †¦ * This is due to the success of law reforms that effectively address †¦ * However, this effectiveness is hindered by the limited changes made to include same-sex marriage within current legislation. Effective] Divorce Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage. The Australian family law system has implemented significant law reforms that redress the matter of divorce in accordance to changing societal values. * Prior to 1974, divorces applied under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 were on the ground of ‘fault’, which included 14 grounds such as infidelity, cruelty and desertion; whereby one or both spouses had to admit to their wrongdoing that undermined their divorce. Such s ubmissions for divorce were perceived as socially immoral and thus those who took these actions were negatively judged by the community.* However, in 1975, a major reform to family law occurred whereby the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) was passed and introduced ‘no fault’ divorce, where the only ground was ‘irretrievable breakdown’, which allowed couples to divorce after separation. * This idea of a 12 month separation period with the intention to divorce was established in the Tye v Tye case. Ultimately, the reform increased the accessibility of divorce and reduced the stigma attached with it. This fundamental change to divorce law was clearly a reaction to changing social values, where society has accepted that people should not be left trapped in an unhappy marriage, reinforcing the basic right to live in freedom. [Effective] Domestic violence Domestic violence has been recognised as an ongoing social issue and community-wide problem, rather than just a â₠¬Ëœprivate matter’. Hence legislative reforms have effectively reflected these changing attitudes in he community through introducing further protection for victims of domestic violence as a means of improving previous legislation. * In the 1800s, domestic violence against women was acceptable as they were under ownership of men.* Over time the legal system has overcome these injustices in order to reflect the importance of individual’s rights, through the introduction of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) which amended the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) as it provided extensive protection children and adults victims of domestic violence. Such protection predominately include Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs) which are an effective means in reducing the incidence of domestic violence as they are a quick, inexpensive and accessible form of protection which is supported by full weight of the criminal law if breached. * The effectiveness of ADVOs is highlighted in the article, â€Å"Girl died of starvation, neglect: doctor† (21/05/09, SMH) as this legal instrument had protected the lives of two children from suffering the same neglect as their deceased sister, at the hands of their parents. [Ineffective] Recognition of same-sex relationshipsAs society diversifies, there is an increasing acceptance of same-sex relationships; which, however is not accurately reflected within the family legislation. * Initially, there have been progressive improvements to family law including the introduction of the Property (Relationships) Legislation Amendment Act in 1999 which changed the definition of de facto relationships to non-gender specific and the Same-sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws – General Law reform) Act 2008 removed discrimination in areas such as tax, superannuation, child support and social security. However, in 2004, the Commonwealth Government reaffirmed the traditional concept of marr iage in the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) as the union of man and woman, which automatically forces same-sex marriage to be void in Australia.* The exclusion of same-sex marriage within family law demonstrates that there are still changes needed to be made in order to meet the injustices of current law. This demand for change is evident in the media article â€Å"Gay marriage advocates rally around nation† (12/05/12, AAP) which reports thousands of peaceful protestors across Australia rallied in support of same-sex marriage. From this article, it shows the family law’s lack of improvements from previous laws that similarly failed to meet the values of society as communities are force to take extreme measures just to voice their basic right. Therefore, the exclusion of same-sex marriages in family law deems it as highly ineffective in improving previous laws as it indicates the lack of initiative made to meet changing social values.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver essays

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver essays There seems to be a buzz going around about Barbara Kingsolver's indifference towards men. Much of that, though, is generated by one of her first novels, The Bean Trees. It does ring true, for this particular story, that only one man out of many plays a laudable part. But that novel fails to represent Kingsolver's entire spectrum of stories. Another one of her just as successful novels, Animal Dreams, highlights a major male character, and a few others, with a positive sheen. The two novels, so similar in the way of a woman's self-journey, are also quite different when it comes to outlooks on men. The reason Taylor Greer, the main character in The Bean Trees, leaves her hometown is because there is nothing for her there. Mainly, she has seen pretty much every woman in the town "get hogtied to a future as a tobacco farmer's wife", or some equal/worse fate. The men in her life, including her father, have instilled a bad feeling in Taylor, either by being lazy and boring, leaving their spouses, or even beating the women who "love" them. By the time the cute northern high school teacher comes along, Taylor isn't even "moony" over him and he would be the one to like. So as a young girl, she learns not to be easily impressed by members of the male species. As the novel rumbles along her path of discovery, it refuses to introduce any positive men except for Estevan, the unattainable. It only brings in more reasons to dislike them, actually, with Taylor's best friend left heartbroken by her husband, and with Taylor's success in a virtually all-female close-knit circle of friends. Nothing in this novel suggests a positive feeling towards men. A couple of years after The Bean Trees, Kingsolver introduced a new novel called Animal Dreams. This one goes against any "male-bashing" that readers may have picked up from her previous work. In fact, it uses a man to help the main character, Codi, feel most at home with herself and her town. ...

William Shakespeares Macbeth Plot Summary

William Shakespeares Macbeth Plot Summary Macbeth, the play which is considered  Shakespeare’s most intense tragedy, is condensed into this plot  summary, capturing the essence and important plot points of the Bard’s shortest play. Macbeth Summary King Duncan hears of Macbeth’s heroics at war and bestows the title Thane of Cawdor on him. The current Thane of Cawdor has been deemed a traitor and the king orders that he be killed. The Three Witches Unaware of this, Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches on a heath who predict that Macbeth will inherit the title and eventually become king. They tell Banquo that he will be happy and that his sons will inherit the throne. Macbeth is then informed that he has been named Thane of Cawdor and his belief in the witches’ prophecy is confirmed. King Duncans Murder Macbeth contemplates his fate and Lady Macbeth encourages him to act to ensure the prophecy is realized. A feast is organized to which King Duncan and his sons are invited. Lady Macbeth hatches a plot to kill King Duncan while he sleeps and encourages Macbeth to carry out the plan. After the murder, Macbeth is full of regret. Lady Macbeth scorns him for his cowardly behavior. When Macbeth realizes that he has forgotten to leave the knife at the scene of the crime, Lady Macbeth takes over and completes the deed. Macduff finds the dead King and Macbeth accuses the Chamberlains of murder. King Duncan’s sons flee in fear of their lives. Banquos Murder Banquo questions the witches’ predictions and wants to discuss them with Macbeth. Macbeth sees Banquo as a threat and employs murderers to kill him and his son, Fleance. The murderers botch the job and only manage to kill Banquo. Fleance flees the scene and is blamed for his father’s death. Banquos Ghost Macbeth and Lady Macbeth host a feast to lament the death of the King. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in his chair and his concerned guests soon disperse. Lady Macbeth urges her husband to rest and forget his wrongdoings, but he decides to meet with the witches again to discover his future. Prophesies When Macbeth meets the three witches, they concoct a spell and conjure apparitions to answer his questions and predict his fate. A bodiless head appears and warns Macbeth to fear Macduff. Then a bloody child appears and assures him that â€Å"none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.† A third apparition of a crowned child with a tree in his hand tells Macbeth that he will not be vanquished until â€Å"Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.† Macduffs Revenge Macduff travels to England to help Malcolm (King Duncan’s son) avenge his father’s death and overthrow Macbeth. By this time, Macbeth has already decided that Macduff is his enemy and kills his wife and son. Lady Macbeths Death The doctor observes Lady Macbeth’s strange behavior. Every night she acts out washing her hands in her sleep as if trying to wash away her guilt. She dies shortly after. Macbeths Final Battle Malcolm and Macduff have assembled an army in Birnam Wood. Malcolm suggests the soldiers each cut down a tree in order to advance on the castle unseen. Macbeth is warned that the wood seems to be moving. Scoffing, Macbeth feels confident that he will be victorious in battle as his predicted invincibility that â€Å"none of woman born shall harm him† will protect him. Macbeth and Macduff finally confront each other. Macduff reveals that he was ripped from his mother’s womb in an untimely manner, so the â€Å"none of woman born† prophesy does not apply to him. He kills Macbeth and holds his head aloft for all to see before declaring Malcolm’s rightful place as king.