Smallest Capital Cities in the United States

Smallest Capital Cities in the United States The United States of America is made up of 50 individual states and one national capital city - Washington, D.C. Each state has its own capital city where the center of the states government exists. These state capitals vary in size but all are important to how politics operate in the states. Some of the largest state capitals in the U.S. are Phoenix, Arizona with a city population of over 1.6 million people (this makes it the largest U.S. state capital by population) as well as Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio. There are many other capital cities in the U.S. that are much smaller than these large cities. The following is a list of the ten smallest capital cities in the U.S. For reference, the state that they are in, along with the population of the states largest city has also been included. All population numbers were obtained from Citydata.com and are representative of July 2009 population estimates. 1.Montpelier Population: 7,705 State: Vermont Largest City: Burlington (38,647) 2.Pierre Population: 14,072 State: South Dakota Largest City: Sioux Falls (157,935) 3.Augusta Population: 18,444 State: Maine Largest City: Portland (63,008) 4. Frankfort Population: 27,382 State: Kentucky Largest City: Lexington-Fayette (296,545) 5.Helena Population: 29,939 State: Montana Largest City: Billings (105,845) 6.Juneau Population: 30,796 State: Alaska Largest City: Anchorage (286,174) 7.Dover Population: 36,560 State: Delaware Largest City: Wilmington (73,069) 8. Annapolis Population: 36,879 State: Maryland Largest City: Baltimore (637,418) 9. Jefferson City Population: 41,297 State: Missouri Largest City: Kansas City (482,299) 10. Concord Population: 42,463 State: New Hampshire Largest City: Manchester (109,395)

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like CoSchedule (+ Free Template) - CoSchedule Blog

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like (+ Free Template) Blog We just completed our second ever product roadmap summit  here at .  This is where a group of us spends a full day locked in a conference room fighting relentlessly for the features that you need and deserve in your favorite editorial calendar. During this process, we review recent (and some older)  feature requests, balance maintenance needs, and read through our ever-growing wish-list of features for . The goal? Decide what were going to build over the next six months. It’s sort of like decide who we want to be when we grow up twice a  year. For us, it follows a simple 6-6-6 framework. This covers planning in three timeframes after  the day of the summit: 6 weeks, 6 months, and 6 years. We hold product roadmap summits twice per year and use them to think about our future (6 years), our next two quarters (6 months), and some of our immediate goals (6 weeks). How To Plan Your #ProductRoadmap Like (+ Free Template)So, why do we do this? If there is only one truth in business, it’s that there is never a shortage of ideas. Plus, our customers are awesome and send us a ton of ideas that we usually love and want to build immediately. But, alas, there are only 25 of us. We just can’t do it all. With so many inputs, its important that we balance the things that we  could do, to actually realize the things that we can do. And so, we have a product roadmap summit and  pick a handful of things that will bring the most results. We all need a system for prioritizing our work. This is how we do it at . Its important to balance what you could do, to realize what you can do.Get Your Free Product Roadmap Template To Plan Now This blog post walks you through the exercises that work for choosing the ultimate best features for you to plan into your project development roadmap. Get your free kit now to plan your roadmap as you read this post. Your kit includes: Product roadmap summit Word doc template to help you run an efficient planning session with your team. Product roadmap template Excel spreadsheet to help you prioritize the projects you choose to tackle in the next six weeks to  six months. Step #1: Establish Your BHAG (6-Year Goal) BHAG stands for big, hairy, audacious goal. It’s  an idea from the book, Built to Last  by James Collins and Jerry Porras. According to Collins and Porras, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business' existence. At the beginning of every product roadmap summit, we start with this goal. We review the BHAG from the previous summit and do a few brainstorming exercises. We allow for general team discussion about the goal. Does this still reflect where we want to go? We brainstorm some of the big things that we will need to accomplish in order to reach our BHAG. We list the threats that will prevent us from ever reaching our BHAG. The entire goal here is to set the stage for our roadmap planning by considering where we want to go and working backward. It’s a favorite strategy of mine. Deciding WHAT NOT to do is way easier than deciding WHAT to do. Say no, then work backwards from there. #startup pic.twitter.com/2RTWsO1fgI Garrett Moon (@garrett_moon) June 24, 2016 The hope is that by bringing this goal to mind, we will continuously refer back to our BHAG as we do our planning. You should always  be using your BHAG to evaluate the things you're doing in the present. Are you doing what you need to do to get there? Step #2: Put It All On The Table The next, and most exciting, portion of our product roadmap summit includes the airing of many grievances, err†¦ feature requests! The goal here is to get everything on a Post-It note on the wall so you can see it together. We like to have one person from each of our core teams (product, marketing, and success) share a list of feature requests, customer comments, growth opportunities, and smart things that we could build. Let every idea be a good idea as you brainstorm.Here’s how it works: Lance from our customer success team shares the list of feature requests from our customers. This list is pre-sorted by the entire customer success team and should show us the key areas where our customer would like to see us improve. Next, we have Justin, our CTO, share a list of platform and maintenance projects that need to be completed in order to maintain the quality of service that our customers demand and deserve. This list usually includes foreign sounding things like database maintenance, spindle logs, and very excited engineers. We don’t always understand it, but we do love it. The third thing we cover is sales and marketing needs. These are usually covered by myself and usually include improvements that we want to make to our billing system, onboarding/first-run experience, or other areas that are related directly to our core business metrics like trial to paid conversions, user churn, and product growth. The fourth thing we like to cover is our feature backlog. This backlog is lengthy and includes a mixture of features that we want to see and ideas from one of our previous summits that had to go on the back burner. During this phase, it's important that you don’t get carried away categorizing and prioritizing things. There will be time for that later. Just get it out there, let every idea be a good one, and move forward. Step #3: Team Lunch Next, lunch. There are usually only two rules for team lunch. Leave the meeting room behind. We think it's important to get out of the building to  clear our heads for a bit. You don’t have to talk about business. It doesn’t mean you can’t, but we like to allow the conversation to take us wherever it goes. It’s a good way to break up a busy day. Step #4: Prioritize This is the hardest part of the process. This is when we take all of the ideas on the table, evaluate them against the BHAG, and prioritize them based on what we would like to accomplish in the next six  months. We use several methods for breaking things down. We break things down into roadmaps. Rather than trying to prioritize apples against oranges, we like to break things into a few different groups. For us, this means that we build three distinct roadmaps for our team: Features, Success, and Platform. Each of these roadmaps has their own goals. We are only trying to figure out what to build next in each of these categories. We prioritize ideas based on potential customer value.  We like to place each feature idea on a simple X/Y table that looks like this: In this example, the Y axis represents the amount of value we believe that a feature or idea can bring our users. The X axis represents the total number of users, or percentage of users, who will be able to take advantage of the mentioned improvement. Plotting this out is usually the most taxing part of our entire day. For every single Post-It note, we debate and decide where the idea falls in the spectrum. We try not to overthink it, but it can still take awhile. Plot ideas on an X/Y table to choose features with the best value for the  most users.The efforts always result in a ton of useful dialogue and debate across our team. This process  also weeds out any â€Å"pet features† that someone on our team may have. The more we concentrate on user value, the less likely we are to make a call based on personal bias. When we are done, it will look something like this. In this case, one thing is for sure, the customer is always right! Step #5: Assemble The Product Roadmap Once everything is plotted out, we draw a (figurative) line across the X/Y axis. Anything that falls below or to the left of the line probably won’t get done. One thing that I want to emphasize is that this doesn’t mean those items aren’t important, or that they will never get built. It simply means that they aren’t important in relation to the other items on the list. We always re-review the cut ideas at the next product roadmap summit. At this point, we begin dividing things in to 6-week and 6-month groups. What things do we want to get done right now (six weeks), and what things needs to get done soon, but not right away (six  months)? There is plenty of additional discussion at this point, but by and large, most of the team will be on the same page because of the previous exercise that ranked features by user value. While I am not going to go too far into it here, we also use a point system to define how large a feature is, or more importantly, how much time and resources it will require to develop. For us, this is a simple 1, 2, 3 point system. You could adapt them for your team as needed. And that’s how we plan features at ! When it’s all said and done, we have a product roadmap, a happy team, and customers who are getting the features that will help them the most! Before I wrap things up, I want a cover a few additional things just in case you decide to try and hold your own roadmap summit. Lessons Learned From Successful Product Roadmap Summits Quick Tip #1: Our Roadmap Summit Has Some Rules We use a few basic rules to ensure that we stay focused and on topic. You can add/remove as necessary, but here are the rules we use: We are brainstorming projects of the purpose of the product team, no other team projects can/should be added. All ideas are necessary for good brainstorming. Avoid shooting things down. Keep laptops closed and phones down. No email, HipChat/Slack, or Snapchat allowed! Someone should be designated to write things down. Don’t get too deep into features. We’re not building them here. Quick Tip #2: Everyone Has Veto Power During roadmap planning, we give everyone veto power. If they are absolutely convinced that a feature should not be completed, or want to call shenanigans on the group, they can. While Justin and I tend to use this rule more than others (oops!), it applies to everyone on the team equally. Quick Tip #3: Bring Snacks We like to leave a few piles of red starbursts on the tables for added sugar, but we also provide fruit, snacks, and refreshing drinks to keep everyone going. Quick Tip #4: Leave Time To Retro The last two things that we do after any roadmap summit are related to review and reflection. First, we spend at least 10 minutes reviewing our newly formed product roadmap against our BHAG and our earlier discussions. This is designed to ensure that we will actually be executing against the goals that we outlined. Is everything on our roadmap necessary in order to reach our BHAG? Is it in alignment with where we want to go? If it isn’t, now is the right time to reflect and adjust our plan. The second thing we do is an immediate retrospective on the meeting itself. The goal here is to identify potential improvements that we can implement to make to the process better during the next summit. We like to cover three questions: What went well? What didn’t go so well? What can we do to ensure things go (even) better next time? Best of luck to you and your team at your own product roadmap summit! If you give it a try, please let us know how it goes in the comments.

Federal Parliament Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Federal Parliament - Essay Example The law made by the courts, using precedent, as opposed to those made by parliament (Statute law), is called the Common Law. The Common Law is case-based and has a hierarchical doctrine of precedent. It is adversarial rather than inquisitorial. The adversarial system of law relies on the skill of the different advocates representing their party's positions and not on some neutral party, usually the judge, trying to ascertain the truth of the case. Judges in an adversarial system tend to be more interested in ensuring the fair play of fundamental justice. The doctrine of precedent governs the case law system. Once a case is decided, subsequent similar cases are to be decided on the principles/rules developed in the earlier decision. The Common Law system of precedent is hierarchical: lower courts are bound to follow the principles decided by higher courts. Once a higher court decides a case, it becomes a binding authority on the lower courts. Under Australia's common law system, the High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia have the authority to interpret constitutional provisions. Judicial power is vested in a "Federal Supreme Court" which is also called the High Court of Australia. ... Judicial power is vested in a "Federal Supreme Court" which is also called the High Court of Australia. The High Court has jurisdiction over matters arising under the Constitution, federal laws, treaties, foreign affairs (Sections 75-78). The High Court is also the top appellate court in Australia, and hears appeals from any other federal court, state Supreme Courts, and the Inter-State Commission only on questions of law. Land, as we all know is a limited resource and plays a vital role in the development of any nation. If a country has to expand its economy, it has to think of changing its land use pattern. The vast countryside holds tremendous potential for growth and industrialisation. A problem peculiar to Australia is the occupation and subsequent ownership of land by the native groups. Previous cases related to land disputes should shed some light on the outcome of change initiatives taken up by the government. Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (commonly known as Mabo) was a landmark Australian court case which was decided by the High Court of Australia on June 3, 1992. The effective result of the judgement was to make irrelevant the declaration of terra nullius, or "land belonging to no-one" which had been taken to occur from the commencement British colonisation in 1788, and to recognise a form of native title. Although Mabo was litigated within the legal context of property law, the decisions clearly had much wider implications which have still to be determined1. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabo_v_Queensland_(No_2) The action which brought about the decision had been led by Eddie Mabo, David Passi and

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Corporate finance - Essay Example This analysis will include; A fundamental analysis and valuation of the British Airways using the free cash flow method. And a recommendation will follow suit. Valuation methods will be attended for the purpose of selecting equities for portfolio investments. Valuation methods though are used for proper valuation however, they do not fit all in one place some methods are used for specific companies, as we have inherent differences within firms, companies, industries, outlets etc. and method falls with each member. Some may take more than one, however, about tour valuation methods are to be used. Dividend capitalization goes in to baring out the real truth of a company, its history and ways of behaviour, e.g. Paying of dividends, expansion plans, paying history of business, operation cushion. It opens the investors eyes to see the risks of investment and take caution. Discussions concerning real option analysis in strategic investment decisions will be adequately attended to stressing and bringing out the use of real option analysis in strategic investment decisions. However in attempt to give a fundamental analysis of the British Airways, the examination of the subject will refer to it’s earnings, each flow, equity value and sales and other accounting statements of the airways will be critically analyzed and discussed. The financial record of the British Airways over the years has been quite interesting because for the past three years, its net profit has been appreciating steadily. Since the year 2003 the British Airways have seconded success at the recorded of every year. Below is a table showing the progress of the British Airways since 2003-2005. It is interesting and important to note the difference in the profit margin this clearly shows and suggests that some new policies or new managerial skills have been employed to rightly enhance such as steady progress without any break for

Literary Analysis of Barn Burning Essay Example for Free

Literary Analysis of Barn Burning Essay Child abuse has been a common occurrence throughout the times of this world. In the story Barn Burning that was written by the author William Faulkner, a story is told of a boy named Colonel Sartoris Snopes who lives with his family. His father is a man who has seen the brutality of war and has a very cold heart. His name is Abner Snopes. His heart is so cold that it is almost as if he is not even human. William Faulkner in the story uses words comparing Abner Snopes to a house fly, or stinging wasp and also says that he lifts his hand like a curled claw. This suggests that the Author was trying to give the readers an image of Abner Snopes being someone who lacked human qualities. Mainly he lacked qualities such as compassion and understanding. Abner Snopes outer appearance completely reflects his inner emotions. His leg being shot in the war as he was attempting to steal confederate horses from for his very own self profit, drags behind him everywhere he goes. This image fits well with the strange ideology of family values he has, as well as the inner corruption and love of revenge that this character embodies. He compensates for these lack of human qualities by ruling over his family with an iron fist, and bring violence to anyone who he believes that has done wrong towards him. In the beginning of the story Sartoris and Abner Snopes are in a court room being accused of burning down another man’s barn. Mr. Harris, the barn owner, explains how Abner Snopes pig repeatedly broke through hia fence escaping into Mr. Harris’s property. After multiple occurrences Mr. Harris demands one dollar from Abner Snopes for the return of his animal. A man is sent to Mr.  Harris’s with the money to buy back the hog but as a leaving message the man forewarns Mr. Harris that wood and hay are combustible. The judge decides that that alone is not enough to be used as proof so the case is dismissed. However, the judge lets Abner Snopes know that he wants him out of the county for good. Throughout the story it is obvious the Sartoris’s father is trying to influence him by teaching him how to be corrupt and embrace revenge trying to fool him with words such as â€Å"being loyal to your family before anything else. † (Faulkner) Colonel Sartoris Snopes is quite different from his father. Although his father attempts infusing him with potentially corruptive influence Sartoris has a sense of justice. His father tries to manipulate him by continuously explaining to him the importance of family loyalty, yet Sartoris’s conscious doesn’t agree with everything his father has to do or say. Sartoris’s worldview and morality was for more mature than that of his brothers’ who lacks the will power to stand up to his father. Eventually the family arrives to their new home. Destiny plays out and eventually Abner Snopes gets into his another argument and confrontation has begun. Abner snopes ruins a rug with manure and is told to clean it. He tries but the rug is ruined beyond repair so he is ordered to make a payment. He refuses, so once again they find themselves in court and he is than forced to pay for it. Frustrated and outraged Abner Snopes embraces his wanting of revenge and plans to light fire to the rug owners’ barn. He pours kerosene into a container and demands his son Sartoris to fetch him the oil. Instead he manages to escape and warn the owners of the barn of what is going on and his father is shot and killed. Sartoris acted out of the spur of the moment but he did what his heart wanted him to do. He sees through his Father’s attempts of manipulation and puts an end to his reign of terror over his family. In the end he decides that support he was receiving from his family that his father stated that they were continuously giving him, was something that he could do without. This story is not a typical one when it comes to the topic of child abuse. Most people would think that they would hear about starvation, or beatings, or sexual molestation. But child abuse is harming a child whether it be mentally or physically and forcing a child to live with something like this can be severely mentally damaging.

Trying My Luck :: Gambling Betting Papers

Trying My Luck Huge, splashy signs advertising Mystic Lake Casino line the interstates crisscrossing the Twin Cities. "Is today your lucky day? There's one way to find out." "Need a reason to visit us? We'll give you a million...Literally." While some people attend movies or head to a bar for weekend entertainment, others flock to the flashy Mystic Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota to try their luck. My image of casinos was formed by the Las Vegas movies that portrayed gambling as a win-all or lose-all pass time. My boyfriend Seth, who has frequented the casino blackjack tables since he hit the legal gambling age, was quick to inform me that my attitude was an inexperienced one. For some the atmosphere, people, and thrill of risk taking that the casino offers far outweigh the illusion of a get rich quick fantasy come true. Many gamblers consistently visit a casino for the same reason others hang at their favorite bar–entertainment. At first I took my boyfriend's reasoning as the earl y stages of gambling addiction, but as I began to spend more time at Mystic Lake, I realized the casino can be an entertaining place when a person knows his or her limits. The 622,000 square foot mass that is Mystic Lake Casino lies approximately twenty minutes away from the bustling center of Minneapolis. The building sets on an Indian reservation and is owned by the Shakopee Mdewankanton Sioux community. Although the area surrounding the casino resembles the middle of nowhere, Mystic is always buzzing with activity. At night, huge spotlights illuminate the sky in the shape of a teepee that is visible miles away guiding prospective gamblers to the casino. As one travels towards Mystic, the sparse, almost barren highway scenery is suddenly filled by the neon expanse of Mystic. The towering spotlights are now seen to be positioned over a sparkling man-made lake so they reflect off the smooth water. A huge parking lot surrounds the facility. Shuttle busses drive through the immense lot transferring patrons from their parking spots to the front entrance. Every time I visited Mystic Lake, no matter what the time, the parking lot was always loaded w ith cars. My boyfriend once described the atmosphere of the casino as a constant in a world where nothing is constant.

Drug Testing for Welfare

The Push for Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients United States lawmakers face one of the most pressing issues of our time-welfare reform. New screening processes, often considered a direct violation of constitutional rights, have already been enacted in many states. Strong evidence exists, asserting that the practice of administering drug testing to welfare recipients will cost the U. S. taxpayers more money in the long run, stigmatize applicants and participants, and serve only the purpose of making the pharmaceutical companies more powerful.In order to protect the constitutional rights of potential welfare recipients, United States awmakers should avoid further criminalizing the poor by submitting them to drug testing and/or a nationwide welfare registry. This year, 29 states have either proposed or already passed legislation calling for drug testing to receive welfare benefits. Brian Kelley reports that of those 29 states, several are seeing a great deal of financial loss as a resu lt of this legislation: During the past year, the state of Utah has spent over $30,000 giving drug tests to welfare recipients.In that time period, only 2. 6 percent of those tested were found to have used illegal substances † well below the national use rate of 8. 9 percent (1). Kelley goes on to report: In 2012, three years and 87,000 screenings later, only one person had failed a drug test. Total savings from denying that one person benefits? $560. Total benefits paid out in that time? $200 million. Even if we include the savings from cutting benefits to the 1,633 people who didn't return the pre-test survey, it brings the total to only 0. percent of the amount distributed over that period (1). The numbers do not lie†little evidence exists that supports the claim that drug testing recipients will save money. Striving to prove that the main source of the drug problem in the United States lies in he recipients of the welfare program, policymakers continue to work ferven tly. The overgeneralization of the poor as drug users has become common practice in Washington. Lawmakers seem to feel that because recipients receive government funding, they in turn give up their constitutional rights as U. S. citizens.The practice of criminalizing the poor has become commonplace in the creation of U. S. governmental policy. Karen Gustafson is someone who knows a lot about the criminalization of the poor. She has spent much of her time researching and writing about Just that. According to Gustafson, â€Å"The public desire to deter and punish welfare cheating has overwhelmed the will to provide economic security to vulnerable members of society (644). † Because of the misuse of welfare funds by a few, the entire underprivileged population has been targeted as criminals†as lazy, drug abusing sponges.Over the past several decades, the United States government has spent billions of dollars in an effort to catch and prosecute those who are abusing the wel fare system. This practice is necessary in order to rid the welfare system of abusers. However, often verlooked is the fact that there are many recipients who are not drug users and are still in need of aid. It is the duty of the U. S. government to provide aid without encouraging potential participants to teel like they are being considered as potential criminals from the very beginning of the application process.The cross-agency process involved in the welfare and criminal Justice systems is unconstitutional and an invasion of the privacy of the American underprivileged. As welfare reform began to take place so did the social misconception that recipients are criminals did as well. In fact, welfare recipients often receive the same treatment as parolees and probationers. This is in part due to the fact that too many law enforcement techniques are embedded in the welfare system.Gustafson tells us: Her social security number has been matched against state and national criminal recor ds The financial information she has provided has been matched against various employment databases, IRS records, and Franchise Tax Board records Her personal information has been entered into the welfare system's database, which may be accessed by law enforcement officers without any basis for suspicion All f this has occurred before she has received a single welfare check (645). There is no doubt that those Americans in need of assistance have been subjected to unconstitutional treatment by the welfare program.As a result of the criminal actions of a few, all of the needy are being unfairly scrutinized. The implementation of unfounded drug testing in addition to the already criminalizing application process will only serve to further stigmatize the needy†and all in the name of the mighty dollar. Some believe that it is not the quest to save money that is the driving force behind the push for this legislation. Rather, it is a desire to make millions for the pharmaceutical com panies that lawmakers are seeking to achieve.Lobbyist interference from multi-million dollar pharmaceutical companies has heavily influenced Washington lawmakers' policymaking. These pharmaceutical companies have their hand in much of the United States lawmaking practice. These powerful corporations stand to make a lot of money from the sale of drug testing supplies and services to the U. S. government. Macdonald reports: several Republican lawmakers in Congress have pushed hard for the mandatory drug testing of anyone, nywhere, applying for welfare.Leading the charge in the senate is Orrin Hatch who received $8,000 campaign contributions in 2012 from the political action committee of Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), $3000 from another political action committee to which LabCorp contributes, as well as $4000 in campaign contributions from another company with major interests in drug testing, Abbott Laboratories (15). According to Macdonald, Orrin Hatch is not the only la wmaker with these corporations in his pocket. â€Å"GOP Congressman Charles Boustany received $1 5,000 from Abbott Laboratories (15).The fact that Congressmen and women are receiving contributions from pharmaceutical companies is disturbing to say the least. The American underprivileged do not stand a chance at ever overcoming their circumstances as long as lawmakers continue to be driven by greed, rather than their best interest. If United States lawmakers really had the best interest of the underprivileged in mind, they would be focusing fewer resources on treating those who test positive for substance abuse and more on the underlying mental and physical causes for the abuse.Pollack tells us, â€Å"Even among women who eported recent illicit substance abuse, depression, physical health problems and limited education were actually more common barriers to self-sufficiency and social tunctioning(2) † Pollack turtner states, â€Å"Most weltare recipients [ . ] were casual mar ijuana users who didn't meet screening criteria for marijuana (or other substance use) disorders. Ironically, chemical testing technologies were most sensitive to identifying marijuana users who rarely needed addiction services (2). Mental and physical disabilities and the lack of healthcare are often the underlying cause of drug use to begin with as a means of self-medication. These issues receive far too little attention in the U. S. government policy decisions, unlike that of drug use. Pollack's research outlines the statistical data on illicit drug use as it compares to mental and physical health problems: However one runs the numbers, illicit drug use disorders are not common among welfare recipients. Other physical and mental health problems are far more prevalent. Drug Testing for Welfare The Push for Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients United States lawmakers face one of the most pressing issues of our time-welfare reform. New screening processes, often considered a direct violation of constitutional rights, have already been enacted in many states. Strong evidence exists, asserting that the practice of administering drug testing to welfare recipients will cost the U. S. taxpayers more money in the long run, stigmatize applicants and participants, and serve only the purpose of making the pharmaceutical companies more powerful.In order to protect the constitutional rights of potential welfare recipients, United States awmakers should avoid further criminalizing the poor by submitting them to drug testing and/or a nationwide welfare registry. This year, 29 states have either proposed or already passed legislation calling for drug testing to receive welfare benefits. Brian Kelley reports that of those 29 states, several are seeing a great deal of financial loss as a resu lt of this legislation: During the past year, the state of Utah has spent over $30,000 giving drug tests to welfare recipients.In that time period, only 2. 6 percent of those tested were found to have used illegal substances † well below the national use rate of 8. 9 percent (1). Kelley goes on to report: In 2012, three years and 87,000 screenings later, only one person had failed a drug test. Total savings from denying that one person benefits? $560. Total benefits paid out in that time? $200 million. Even if we include the savings from cutting benefits to the 1,633 people who didn't return the pre-test survey, it brings the total to only 0. percent of the amount distributed over that period (1). The numbers do not lie†little evidence exists that supports the claim that drug testing recipients will save money. Striving to prove that the main source of the drug problem in the United States lies in he recipients of the welfare program, policymakers continue to work ferven tly. The overgeneralization of the poor as drug users has become common practice in Washington. Lawmakers seem to feel that because recipients receive government funding, they in turn give up their constitutional rights as U. S. citizens.The practice of criminalizing the poor has become commonplace in the creation of U. S. governmental policy. Karen Gustafson is someone who knows a lot about the criminalization of the poor. She has spent much of her time researching and writing about Just that. According to Gustafson, â€Å"The public desire to deter and punish welfare cheating has overwhelmed the will to provide economic security to vulnerable members of society (644). † Because of the misuse of welfare funds by a few, the entire underprivileged population has been targeted as criminals†as lazy, drug abusing sponges.Over the past several decades, the United States government has spent billions of dollars in an effort to catch and prosecute those who are abusing the wel fare system. This practice is necessary in order to rid the welfare system of abusers. However, often verlooked is the fact that there are many recipients who are not drug users and are still in need of aid. It is the duty of the U. S. government to provide aid without encouraging potential participants to teel like they are being considered as potential criminals from the very beginning of the application process.The cross-agency process involved in the welfare and criminal Justice systems is unconstitutional and an invasion of the privacy of the American underprivileged. As welfare reform began to take place so did the social misconception that recipients are criminals did as well. In fact, welfare recipients often receive the same treatment as parolees and probationers. This is in part due to the fact that too many law enforcement techniques are embedded in the welfare system.Gustafson tells us: Her social security number has been matched against state and national criminal recor ds The financial information she has provided has been matched against various employment databases, IRS records, and Franchise Tax Board records Her personal information has been entered into the welfare system's database, which may be accessed by law enforcement officers without any basis for suspicion All f this has occurred before she has received a single welfare check (645). There is no doubt that those Americans in need of assistance have been subjected to unconstitutional treatment by the welfare program.As a result of the criminal actions of a few, all of the needy are being unfairly scrutinized. The implementation of unfounded drug testing in addition to the already criminalizing application process will only serve to further stigmatize the needy†and all in the name of the mighty dollar. Some believe that it is not the quest to save money that is the driving force behind the push for this legislation. Rather, it is a desire to make millions for the pharmaceutical com panies that lawmakers are seeking to achieve.Lobbyist interference from multi-million dollar pharmaceutical companies has heavily influenced Washington lawmakers' policymaking. These pharmaceutical companies have their hand in much of the United States lawmaking practice. These powerful corporations stand to make a lot of money from the sale of drug testing supplies and services to the U. S. government. Macdonald reports: several Republican lawmakers in Congress have pushed hard for the mandatory drug testing of anyone, nywhere, applying for welfare.Leading the charge in the senate is Orrin Hatch who received $8,000 campaign contributions in 2012 from the political action committee of Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), $3000 from another political action committee to which LabCorp contributes, as well as $4000 in campaign contributions from another company with major interests in drug testing, Abbott Laboratories (15). According to Macdonald, Orrin Hatch is not the only la wmaker with these corporations in his pocket. â€Å"GOP Congressman Charles Boustany received $1 5,000 from Abbott Laboratories (15).The fact that Congressmen and women are receiving contributions from pharmaceutical companies is disturbing to say the least. The American underprivileged do not stand a chance at ever overcoming their circumstances as long as lawmakers continue to be driven by greed, rather than their best interest. If United States lawmakers really had the best interest of the underprivileged in mind, they would be focusing fewer resources on treating those who test positive for substance abuse and more on the underlying mental and physical causes for the abuse.Pollack tells us, â€Å"Even among women who eported recent illicit substance abuse, depression, physical health problems and limited education were actually more common barriers to self-sufficiency and social tunctioning(2) † Pollack turtner states, â€Å"Most weltare recipients [ . ] were casual mar ijuana users who didn't meet screening criteria for marijuana (or other substance use) disorders. Ironically, chemical testing technologies were most sensitive to identifying marijuana users who rarely needed addiction services (2). Mental and physical disabilities and the lack of healthcare are often the underlying cause of drug use to begin with as a means of self-medication. These issues receive far too little attention in the U. S. government policy decisions, unlike that of drug use. Pollack's research outlines the statistical data on illicit drug use as it compares to mental and physical health problems: However one runs the numbers, illicit drug use disorders are not common among welfare recipients. Other physical and mental health problems are far more prevalent.

Trade Organization

Topic: Trade Trade routes and trade organizations have had an extensive impact on the worlds’ nations and regions. Many effects both negative and positive. Two trade organizations that have made a great impact are the organization of the petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) and the trans-Saharan trade routes of African kingdoms. The organization of petroleum exporting countries was established on September 10-14, 1960. It is an intergovernmental organization of 12 oil producing countries. The 12 countries are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. These 12 countries depend heavily on oil revenues as their main source of income. The headquarters are located in Vienna. The OPEC was founded to unify and co-ordinate member countries in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers. The OPEC controls ? of the supply of oil in the world. The OPEC has both advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that it is more efficient to provide a regular supply of oil to consuming nations. They have better access to recourses to the producing countries. They have had a big influence on the international petroleum market by changing the petroleum policies according to the worlds demand and supply. Some disadvantages of the OPEC are that they can have too much control of the oil and the price because they are main oil producing countries throughout the world. They can hurt the members of the organization by limiting the oil supply.

Cochlear implants essays

Cochlear implants essays A cochlear implant is an electronic device that restores hearing for people anywhere from hard of hearing to the profoundly deaf. The cochlear implant is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear. The surgeon puts the electrode array inside the inner ear and than inside the cochlea. The implant works by a device outside the ear, which rests on the skin behind the ear. It is held upright by a magnet and is also connected by a lead to a sound professor. What happens when you get a cochlear implant? First, you are given an injection to make you fall asleep. Once youre asleep the hair behind your ear is shaved off. Then you have the operation tat usually lasts from 2-4 hours. The doctor cuts behind your ear and puts the implant into the bone right there. Next he places an electrical array the curls inside your cochlea. When you wake up you are sent home for a few days to rest. After you are all rested you go to an audiologist to get the sound professor programmed. The sound professor is a main part is allowing you to hear when you have a cochlear implant and when its not in, you wont hear anything. Once the sound professor is programmed you with be able to hear. The cochlear implant uses a much different method to enable a person to hear opposed to a normal hearing ear. The cochlear implant has five parts; a microphone, sound processor, head piece, implant and hearing nerve. The microphones function is to capture sound from the outside environment. A sound processor than selects and arranges all the sounds captured from the microphone. The headpiece sends the signal through the skin and to the implant to pick up. Than the implant picks up the sound and sends it through the lead and to the electrode array. Finally, the sound is picked up by the hearing nerve and the message is sent to the brain. When a person with normal hearing hears the sound travels along the ear then bounc ...

Full Review Erica Meltzers Complete Guide to ACT Reading

Full Review Erica Meltzer's Complete Guide to ACT Reading SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Erica Meltzer’s test prep books have burst onto the test prep scene (if that wasn't a thing before, it is now) in the last few years, to great acclaim. She's published 2 books on the ACT: The Complete Guide to ACT English and The Complete Guide to ACT Reading (which is what I will be reviewing in this article). While Meltzer's books are high quality, they are not without their flaws, so read on to figure out whether or not this book is appropriate for you and if you should integrate it into your own ACT test prep. All shall be explained! Why Trust This Review? When you get advice (both in general and specifically on the Internet), it’s very important to know why that advice is trustworthy/believable. I don't want to sound alarmist, but your ACT score is pretty important, and following the wrong advice might lead to a bad score and loss of chance to improve it. So why can you trust this review (over other reviews?). Well, for one thing, I know what I'm talking about. While haven’t taken the ACT (yet), I scored two perfect scores on the reading section of the (2005-present) SAT, and have been doing in-depth analysis of the ACT questions by skill set and writing articles on each skill. Other writers who haven't done that sort of analysis don’t necessarily have the expertise to be able to differentiate between books, so they end up recommending books as kind of an afterthought (and it’s pretty obvious). In contrast to other sites (like about.com and reviews.com), who get money if you click on their links to purchase the books they review, I'm not getting paid for this review, and don’t get anything if you end up buying the book. Disclaimers Disclaimer the first: I work at PrepScholar, an education company that produces online SAT and ACT prep programs. PrepScholar diagnoses your strengths and weaknesses and customizes a test prep program to suit your needs. I myself mostly write and edit articles for the associated blog and grade the essays of students taking practice tests through the program. While I think that PrepScholar provides the best prep platform currently available, you don’t necessarily need a prep program to ace the ACT. Which means that writing this guide might actually lost us some customers, since you might decide you don’t need a program after all. If you decide you don’t want to have to deal with 5 different books and want an integrated program that is customized to your learning, however, PrepScholar might be just the thing for you. But I digress. Disclaimer the second: While I did not attend college at the same time as the author of this book, honesty compels me to admit that we did attend the same undergraduate institution. I don’t think this particularly influenced my review, but I wanted to be transparent about it.  ©2009 Laura Staffaroni You've got to admit that's some campus, though. The Complete Guide to ACT Reading: Book Review When thinking about and evaluating any (test prep) book, I consider the following three points: Who’s the author and what’s her experience/background? How effective is this book overall? What are the pros and what are the cons of this book? About the author: Erica Meltzer Erica Meltzer started out as a tutor, but has been publishing SAT and ACT prep books for the last few years. She graduated from Wellesley College, which is a highly prestigious college ranked #4 of all the liberal arts colleges in the country (as of the time of this article’s publication – there’re always fluctuations). Even though Meltzer's focus has been on writing, rather than tutoring, for the past few years, her books show a good deal of insight into the SAT and ACT. In addition, she and her company also offer tutor-training sessions for test prep tutoring. How effective is this book? From my own experience, I know that ACT Reading is the most difficult score to improve. The skills you need to master it (logical/critical reasoning skills) are not as easily taught as the content on the Writing and Math sections. This means that it’s important to focus in on different question types and the skills required so that you can approach the questions in a systematic way. Fortunately, this is the approach Meltzer takes in The Complete Guide to ACT Reading. This book teaches how to get at the core of what each question is asking and how to squeeze the right answer out of the passage. If you're aiming for a 36, this is great for comprehensive drilling. If you’re aiming for a 25 or below, however, this book is probably too thorough. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always good to study from the hardest material. Why? In this case, because Meltzer focuses on strategies that are the most useful for high scorers, she does not cover strategies that would be more helpful for low or midrange scorers (compare, for instance, our articles on how to get a 36 on ACT Reading and how to improve a low ACT Reading score). Pros and Cons of The Complete Guide to ACT Reading Pros Good breakdown of most skill types. Meltzer has a clear division of questions by major skill type – big picture, detail, inference, tone questions. This makes it easy to dip in and out of the book – if there’s one particular type of question you have problems with, you can focus on that and ignore the other sections fairly easily. Realistic passages and questions. The questions in the book are of high quality, as are the (licensed) excerpts the passage-based questions ask about. Some acknowledgement of different skill levels. Meltzer discusses the strategy of dropping an entire section if you’re a slow reader and have problems with comprehension, and also describes playing â€Å"positive/negative† with tone questions as a means to narrow down. Suggested reading list (to prepare for ACT passages). These suggestions are useful not just for Reading skill practice but also for sources to use for your Writing essay (if you do the essay). Also, I've read Inside of a Dog and really enjoyed it, so some of the books might be interesting as well as educational! Includes two full-length reading sections at the end to practice with. Provides useful skimming strategies and tips for how to approach the passage. Cons Expensive for the amount of material you’re getting. The book is 120 pages, but the last 32 pages are all practice reading questions, and many pages are full reprints of sample reading passages, which means the actual "teaching" content of the book is on the shorter side. Dry writing style. There are no pictures and there's not much layout variety (there's a whole lot of text), so it might be difficult to get into. Basically, it’s no frills, which works for me (I don’t really need to spend hours of my life reading about ACT†¦Reading), but it might be difficult for some students to get through. No real discussion of which questions might be easier/more difficult to answer. Meltzer describes some question types as the â€Å"most challenging,† which does help somewhat, but she does not provide clear â€Å"this is the question you should try to answer first if you’re worried about points on Reading† guidelines, which I think would be helpful. Does not cover paired passages. It has become standard on every ACT Reading section for there to be at least one topic area (often Humanities) with two passages; the ten questions are divided between the passages, with 3 questions that ask about both passages. To be fair, there are barely any materials out there that cover this, including the ACT’s own website, but that doesn't mean that they should be left out of a prep book. Overall Rating As far as I have been able to determine, this is the best book currently out there for ACT Reading prep. If you’re planning on scoring a 31 or above on ACT Reading and prefer to study via book, then this is the right choice for you. It’s ridiculously expensive for the amount of content it contains, and it may be too thorough for some students, but it’s a great choice that can teach you a lot. Overall rating: 75/100 FACEBOOK LIKE by Owen W Brown, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Alternative Options for ACT Reading Prep I would be remiss if I did not point out that we provide some great free options out there for ACT Reading prep on our blog. In addition to general strategy articles, we also break down Reading questions by skill type with focused suggestions for vocab in context, big picture, little picture, function and development, inference, and paired passage questions. What’s Next? Read our detailed guide to the Best ACT prep books of 2015 and our list of the best ACT Prep Websites you can use to put together your very own study program. What’s a good ACT score for you? Figure it out with our step-by-step guide based around the colleges you’re applying to. Aiming for a high score? Read our guide to scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT overall and on the ACT Reading section, written by our resident perfect scorer (and PrepScholar co-founder) Allen Cheng. Also, don’t forget to check out our top-of-the-class ACT prep program! Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Antigone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Antigone - Essay Example While one brother was buried with all honors, the other was left to rot in the sun under punishment of King Creon if any should attempt burial procedures. Antigone, outraged at the dishonor shown her family regardless of the outside circumstances, also expresses her deep-seated belief that it is against the wishes of the gods to leave any of their subjects unburied. Meanwhile, King Creon issued the order regarding the brothers’ remains as a means of showing his extreme loyalty to the state and demonstrating his suitability to be king. This conflict between King Creon showing loyalty to the state and Antigone showing loyalty to family and to the gods highlights two of the most important issues facing the Greeks but ultimately Sophicles supports the concept that it is family and adherence to the rules of the gods that are most important in life in Antigone’s marginal victory over Creon in death. Antigone enters the first scene of the play already in a rage after learning that the new king, Creon, has forbidden to allow one of her brothers to be buried, introducing the central conflict of the play immediately. She decides to go against the king’s orders, arguing that burying the dead is the right thing to do. â€Å"Antigone, driven by family duty and love, cannot but fight against Creon’s decision.† (Lathan, 2002). Her pride in family makes it impossible for her to drop the issue and her stubborn determination to abide by what she feels is right makes it impossible for her to approach the issue in any way other than head-on. It is clear she’s outraged that the king would tell her what to do when she is talking to her sister at the very beginning of the play: â€Å"What’s this they’re saying now, / something our general has had proclaimed / throughout the city? Do you know of it? / †¦ / Dishonours which better fit our enemies / are now being piled up on the ones we love† (Johnston,