Our Food Has Feelings Too :: social issues

Our Food Has Feelings Too A piece of meat, a glass of milk, or even an egg might seem pretty harmless. Everyone knows where they come from but most choose not to think about it. The truth is that the piece of meat sitting on your plate at dinner came from an animal that was tormented and put through enormous stress and pain to get from the ‘farm’ to the dinner table. Farms that breed and raise animals for meat and other such things aren’t at all what we picture. Green meadows where the animals graze in peace for the few short years of their lives have been replaced by â€Å"fresh produce factories†. Animals not being treated with any respect or humanity, instead seen only as profitable meat products. Cows sheep and pigs don’t just suffer at the slaughterhouse but throughout their lives. Feedlots, the place they are sent to fatten up before being killed are full of harmful bacteria and are extremely crowded. What the animals are fed is also very harmful. Steroids and unnaturally rich diets are used to fatten them quickly, thereby maximising profitability. Metabolic disorders are the result of this. In modern dairies, cows also forced to endure calfing every year, whilst producing milk for seven months of their nine-month gestation period. Cows live up to twenty-five years in a healthy environment, but in these dairies only live three or four years. Like beef cows they are fed unnaturally rich diets to make them produce more milk. Milk production can be as much as ten times more than that of a natural grazed animal. But if you thought that only grown cows suffer, that these farmers at least take care of the babies, you were wrong. Veal is a very profitable meat, the calf usually only living to sixteen weeks in a small wooden crate where it can’t move properly or even lie down comfortably. Some are killed just after a few days, then sold as low grade frozen TV dinners. Chickens and other poultry also suffer in small cages (usually two hens in a cage sixteen inches wide). After having their beaks cut off to reduce pecking their feathers usually fall out, from the constant rubbing against the wire cage. Eventually with bruises and sores covering their bodies, the hens die from fatty liver syndrome, lack of calcium, heat prostration, infectious disease and cancer.

Balance Scorecard method used in Cattaraugus Country ReHabilitation Center

Cattaraugus County ReHabilitation Center had done an effective job of implementing a balance scorecard approach in a fashion that reflects their organizational mission and vision MAIN BODY: Although the BSC method has been used in the for-profit organizations for many years I believe that ReHabilitation Center has made it work for their organization.There was a lot of push back from the people who work at the center when it was first introduced, they believed it was just another fly-by-night approach that would just fail but as the new Director of Strategic Management slow got the upper management to take a closer look and to start helping adapt the BSC method to their organization. Since the BSC wasn’t designed for the not-for-profit ReHabilitation Center had to do a bit of work to get everything working right and after a while they were able to get the BSC to work for their organization.There are four score card quadrants that ReHabilitation Center uses they are; Perspective , Strategy, Operations, Core Indicators/Measures. They then broke that down to five different parts of the organization under Perspective, there is; consumers, financial, operational, learning, and one that isn’t defined but seems to be consumer relations and customer service. ReHabilitation Center has seen great benefits from adapting the BSC to the center but the greatest benefit maybe that the personnel within the center has noticed how much more encompassing process that strategic planning is and not merely looking at a long-term plan.They now understand that is it necessary to align each are of the Center with the overall strategic objectives. Another benefit is that the Center has been able to develop metrics and link them to the strategic plan. The Center has begun to focus on the importance of interrelationships among the perspectives in the BSC and has enabled worker in the Center to see things they had not thought about in the past and relate them to the BSC.Every y ear they update the BSC they have set into place to and make sure they are still following along with it and making any necessary changes to either the scorecard or to the organization. With everyone being involved within the organization of the strategic planning they have the ability to make sure that the strategic plan is being followed or seeing what changes need to be made on a consistent bases.CONCLUSION:â€Å"The conceptual framework of the Balanced Scorecard has been implemented and utilized effectively for years in a large number of for-profit organizations. More recently, the model has been effectively utilized in not-for-profit organizations as well. In this paper the authors have described how the Balanced Scorecard approach has been implemented in a ReHabilitation Center. In implementing the Balanced Scorecard approach, the ReHabilitation Center has placed equal emphasis on the consumer perspective and the financial perspective.This equal focus is based upon the necess ity of the Center to carry out its primary mission for its consumers (individuals with developmental disabilities) as well as the necessity to maintain financial stability within the Center. The emphasis on both of these perspectives has become a necessity in order for the Center to efficiently and effectively serve its customers. While the use of the Balanced Scorecard in the long range planning process for the Center is relatively new, the process has been accepted by the management of the organization.The challenge ahead for the Center is to continue to develop outcome measures for the individual departments within the Center and tie these outcome measures to the strategic objectives of the Center. It is recognized this is an extremely difficult process as real outcomes are not easily measurable. The formulation of outcome measures is a continuous development process. It is felt this process will definitely enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the ReHabilitation Center in the long run (Martello, 2008). †

Easily Misunderstood Essay

How often have you found yourself talking to someone close to you, thinking the conversation is going along great when the other person reacts in an irritated manner? Or even an anxious manner? You think back to what you have said, reviewing your comments and nothing sticks out as being particularly bad. Well you have just experienced a misunderstanding. For many people, their communication skills with loved ones are not as strong as they think† (Anon. , 2011, p. 1). Communication is a two way street where both people need to be traveling the same direction. When one person gets off course or veers then we have a miscommunication. In the article entitled, â€Å"Close Relationships Sometimes Mask Poor Communication† study co-author Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, explained, â€Å"Our problem in communicating with friends and spouses is that we have an illusion of insight. Getting close to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding† (as cited in Anon. , 2011, p. 1). I had just such a miscommunication take place tonight. â€Å"As social animals, we want and need connections with other people† (Soles, 2011, p. 22). Tonight I experienced a miscommunication with my family. We were planning to get together as we usually try to do on Monday nights, due to misunderstanding and miscommunication on everyone’s part we did not end up getting together. I wanted that connection to my family. So alas I write this paper about that very miscommunication instead. Our first mistake was trying to organize it through texting and two different people trying to coordinate it at the same time. That never works. Secondly, my mom assumed no one was going to show up so she made other plans before waiting for any of us to answer back. The only plus to the experience is she did let us know in time so we didn’t head to her house and accidentally show up when her friend did too. To avoid this type of miscommunication in the future we could talk on the phone or email everyone at one time. Also clarify when one thinks the response is in the negative and not the affirmative. If one of us is questioning an answer as iffy then ask the sender to clarify their response and not assume it is an automatic no. These days with all the social media, texting, emailing, etc. I find miscommunications to be more prevalent and more abundant. Many of us have had our feelings hurt by a simple misunderstanding or misspelling when receiving an electronic message. In my example from tonight there were too many veering cars on our road to communicating though luckily no collisions. Had we just communicated more openly and honestly not assuming anything we could have avoided the misunderstandings and any potential hurt feelings. Communication is a two way street but you both have to be going the same direction or it leads to miscommunication.

Free Essays on History Of Computers

History of Computers in America Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and one out of every two households. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer’s ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to "programming" rules that the user must memori ze, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed. The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal’s father who was a tax collector. In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need. It was programmed byand stored data oncards with holes punched in them, appropriately called punchcards. His inventions were failures for the most part because of the lack of precision machining techniques used at the time and the lack of demand for such a device. After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1... Free Essays on History Of Computers Free Essays on History Of Computers History of Computers in America Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and one out of every two households. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer’s ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to "programming" rules that the user must memori ze, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed. The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal’s father who was a tax collector. In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need. It was programmed byand stored data oncards with holes punched in them, appropriately called punchcards. His inventions were failures for the most part because of the lack of precision machining techniques used at the time and the lack of demand for such a device. After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1...

Make Ectoplasm Slime for Halloween

Make Ectoplasm Slime for Halloween You can make this non-sticky, edible slime from two easy-to-find ingredients. It can be used as ectoplasm for Halloween costumes, haunted houses, and Halloween parties. Ectoplasm Slime Materials You only need two ingredients to make the basic slime, though you can add coloring to make the slime any combination of colors that you like or to make it glow in the dark. 1 teaspoon soluble fiber (e.g., Metamucil psyllium fiber)8 ounces (1 cup) waterFood coloring (optional)Glow paint or pigment (optional) Make Your Ectoplasm Pour the water and fiber into a large microwave-safe bowl.Microwave the ectoplasm on high power for 3 minutes.​Stir the ectoplasm. Return it to the microwave and heat it for another 3 minutes.Stir the ectoplasm and check its consistency. If you want drier ectoplasm, microwave the ectoplasm another minute or two. Continue checking the ectoplasm and microwaving it until you achieve the desired consistency.Add a drop of food coloring and/or some glow paint, if desired. Youll get an interesting effect if you incompletely mix the coloring into the ectoplasm, such as multicolored ectoplasm or ectoplasm slime with glowing streaks.Store the ectoplasm in a sealed baggie to prevent dehydration. The slime will last for a week or longer, as long as you keep it from drying out. Safety and Clean Up Made with fiber, water, and food coloring, the ectoplasm slime is safe enough to eat. If you make the slime glow, check the product details to determine the safety of the slime. If will likely be non-toxic, but not edible. This slime is not sticky, so clean up should be as easy as wiping it off surfaces. If it gets onto clothing or carpets, use warm, soapy water. Bleach may be required to remove stains caused by food coloring,

Archaeological Hearths - Features With Benefits

Archaeological Hearths - Features With Benefits A hearth is an archaeological feature that represents the remnants of a purposeful fire. Hearths can be extremely valuable elements of an archaeological site, as they are indicators of a whole range of human behaviors and provide an opportunity for obtaining radiocarbon dates for the period that people used them. Hearths are typically used to cook food, but may also have been used to heat-treat lithics, burn pottery and/or a variety of social reasons such a beacon to let others know where you are, a way to keep predators away, or simply provide a warm and inviting gathering place. The purposes of a hearth are often discernible within the remnants: and those purposes are key to understanding the human behaviors of the people who used it. Types of Hearths Over the millennia of human history, there have been a wide variety of intentionally-built fires: some were simply piles of wood stacked on the ground, some were excavated into the ground and covered to provide steam heat, some were built up with adobe brick for use as earth ovens, and some were stacked upwards with a mix of fired brick and potsherds to act as ad hoc pottery kilns. A typical archaeological hearth falls in the middle range of this continuum, a bowl-shaped soil discoloration, within which is evidence that the contents have been exposed to temperatures between 300-800 degrees centigrade. How do archaeologists identify a hearth with this range of shapes and sizes? There are three crucial elements to a hearth: inorganic material used to shape the feature; organic material burned in the feature; and evidence of that combustion. Shaping the Feature: Fire-Cracked Rock In places in the world where rock is readily available, the defining characteristic of a hearth is often plenty of fire-cracked rock, or FCR, the technical term for rock thats been cracked by exposure to high temperatures. FCR is differentiated from other broken rock because it has been discolored and thermally altered, and although often the pieces can be refit together, there is no evidence of impact damage or deliberate stone working. However, not all FCR is discolored and cracked. Experiments recreating the processes that make fire-cracked rock have revealed that the presence of discoloration (reddening and/or blackening) and spalling of larger specimens depends both on the kind of rock being used (quartzite, sandstone, granite, etc.) and the kind of fuel (wood, peat, animal dung) used in the fire. Both of those drive the temperatures of a fire, as does the length of time the fire is lit. Well-fed campfires can easily create temperatures up to 400-500 degrees centigrade; long-sustained fires can get to 800 degrees or more. When hearths have been exposed to the weather or agricultural processes, disturbed by animals or humans, they can still be identified as scatters of fire-cracked rock. Burned Bone and Plant Parts If a hearth was used to cook dinner, the leftovers of what was processed in the hearth may include animal bone and plant matter, which can be preserved if turned to charcoal. Bone which was buried under fire becomes carbonized and black, but bones on the surface of a fire are often calcined and white. Both types of carbonized bone can be radiocarbon-dated; if the bone is large enough, it can be identified to species, and if it is well-preserved, often cut-marks resulting from butchery practices can be found. Cut-marks themselves can be very useful keys to understanding human behaviors. Plant parts can also be found in hearth contexts. Burned seeds are often preserved in hearth conditions, and microscopic plant residues such as starch grains, opal phytoliths and pollen may also be preserved if conditions are right. Some fires are too hot and will damage the shapes of plant parts; but on occasion, these will survive and in an identifiable form. Combustion The presence of burned sediments, burnt patches of earth identified by discoloration and exposure to heat, is not always macroscopically apparent, but can be identified by micromorphological analysis, when microscopically thin slices of earth are examined to identify tiny fragments of ashed plant material and burnt bone fragments. Finally, non-structured hearthshearths that either were placed on the surface and were weathered by long-term wind exposure and rain/frost weathering, made without large stones or the stones were deliberately removed later and are not marked by burned soilshave still been identified at sites, based on the presence of concentrations of large quantities of burnt stone (or heat-treated) artifacts. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Archaeology Features, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Backhouse PN, and Johnson E. 2007. Where were the hearths: an experimental investigation of the archaeological signature of prehistoric fire technology in the alluvial gravels of the Southern Plains. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(9):1367-1378. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.027Bentsen SE. 2014. Using Pyrotechnology: Fire-related features and activities with a focus on the African Middle Stone Age. Journal of Archaeological Research 22(2):141-175.Fernndez Peris J, Gonzlez VB, Blasco R, Cuartero F, Fluck H, Saà ±udo P, and Verdasco C. 2012. The earliest evidence of hearths in Southern Europe: The case of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). Quaternary International 247(0):267-277. Goldberg P, Miller C, Schiegl S, Ligouis B, Berna F, Conard N, and Wadley L. 2009.Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 1(2):95-122. Gowlett JAJ, and Wrangham RW. 2013. Earliest fire in Africa: tow ards the convergence of archaeological evidence and the cooking hypothesis. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 48(1):5-30. Karkanas P, Koumouzelis M, Kozlowski JK, Sitlivy V, Sobczyk K, Berna F, and Weiner S. 2004. The earliest evidence for clay hearths: Aurignacian features in Klisoura Cave 1, southern Greece. Antiquity 78(301):513–525.Marquer L, Otto T, Nespoulet R, and Chiotti L. 2010. A new approach to study the fuel used in hearths by hunter-gatherers at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France). Journal of Archaeological Science 37(11):2735-2746. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.009Sergant J, Crombe P, and Perdaen Y. 2006. The ‘invisible’ hearths: a contribution to the discernment of Mesolithic non-structured surface hearths. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:999-1007.

Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Politics - Essay Example Thus, they could be distinguished in accordance to the effective number of parties that they have (Golosov, 2010). As mentioned, party systems come in various types. Two of the most popular are the two-party system and the multi-party system. A two-party system is a state by which democracies are dominated by only two parties. While there may be other parties existing in the sidelines, those are of no real threat to the two main ones and exercise no real political significance. In this system, either of the parties should be able to gain enough numbers of working majority post-election and obtain a position that will allow it to govern without the other party’s support. Expectedly, power will change rotationally in a two-party system (historylearningsite.co.uk, 2011). Moreover, in a two-party system, the voter is presented with a simple choice. Additionally, in this type of party system, political moderation is promoted since the incumbent party can appeal to the so-called â⠂¬Å"floating voters† in the concerned country. ... However, this is not good for two-party systems. Recent history would also show that the two houses of congress have always been rules by the Democrats up until the time the people voted for George W. Bush. Another country that makes use of the two-party system is Jamaica. This country’s two-party system started during the political rivalry of William Bustamante and Norman Manley. The system that Jamaica has is very similar to the two-party system in North America. The two parties fighting for positions in Jamaica are JLP and PNP. The system in Jamaica differs from the one in the US and Britain due to the following, (1) the wealthy in Jamaica, who are basically the ones that becomes the leaders in the country, are closely knit that of the 1st five prime ministers are related; and (2) the political frame of reference in Jamaica is not class or race but party identification. The members of each party are extremely loyal due mainly to their very strong family ties. At times, viol ence can be the result of antagonism against the other party. Other countries with two-party system of government are New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada (Conservatives and Liberals) and Australia (Liberal Party and Labour Party which has been affected by a third party, i.e., the Country Party) (eb.com, n.d.). On the other hand, the multi-party system is one that is made up of more than two political parties that impacts the country’s politics and are able to control government either separately or via a coalition with other parties. In this system, the effective number of parties is from 3 to 10. Under this system, numerous political parties, both major