Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Social Problem Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Problem - Research Paper Example This essay is a critical evaluation of crime as a social problem in the society a well as the measures that can be put into place to ensure that the vice is contained for the welfare and the security of citizens in the world. The rate of crime has risen significantly in the society. To some extent, this can be attributed to the invention of lethal weapons such as guns and ammunition especially during the world wars whereby the various super powers were battling over military superiority (Mednick, 2001). This saw the invention of weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear bombs, assault rifles, and grenades as well as other small arms such as pistols and bayonets. Whereas the initial intention of these discoveries was for the protection of the nation’s sovereignty through military empowerment, the end result was that the equipment found their way into the civilian hands either accidentally or through illegal means. For example, it is approximated that 190,000 weapons issued to Iraq forces in the year 2007 can not be accounted for by the US department of defense (Dunbar, 2006). Probably, the arms found their way into the wrong hands of illegal forces who pose a great risk to the security of civilia ns as well as government forces that are out to maintain law and order. People commit crimes due to a variety of reasons. These reasons are for example peer pressure (Mednick, 2001). This refers to the influence that people may have on the conduct of their friends who could be of the same age group as they are or even older who may decide to follow the habits of others without questioning the moral aspect of what they intend to do as long as it satisfies their worldly fantasies. Such groups introduces their friends to crimes such as drug trafficking which is a well paying but risky vice bearing in mind of the consequences that one would face once he is arrested.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Purpose of various software utilities Essay Example for Free

Purpose of various software utilities Essay Virus protection – virus protection protects a computer system from malicious viruses and Trojans and worms which you can be infected by through the internet or email or downloading files or through a USB flash drive etc. virus protection usually consists of a firewall, virus scanner, virus remover and spyware. With virus protection you can perform a scan on your computer to check if you have been infected by any viruses or Trojans or worms. With some virus protections software’s you can scan your computer then it will ask you if you want the viruses removed, also if any programs have been infected the virus protection will ask you if you want the infected program deleted, most virus protection programs quarantine the infected programs in case they are not really viruses. The main purpose of anti-virus software is to protect your computer form getting viruses, it does this by scanning downloads and attachments for viruses, it does this in the background while the user is performing other tasks. If the user does come across a virus the program will warn the user and give the user the option of deleting it before it infects the computer. Some virus protection programs protect the user against spyware, this is a malicious program that enters a computer through internet, the threat usually comes through pop-up ads or bad internet websites, if a threat does come through the virus protection will warn the user and give the user an option to eliminate the threat before it harms the computer. Firewalls – the purpose of a firewall is to block intruders by looking for suspicious words such as domain names or IP addresses, certain protocols like file transfer protocol, ports and routing through a proxy service. There are two types of firewalls, hardware firewalls and software firewalls. Software firewalls provide another coating of security, software firewalls prohibit malware on your computer from being sent to others. Hardware firewalls treat any kind of traffic from travelling from a local network out to the internet as safe. An example of a threat entering your computer could be, you visit a website that contains a hidden malicious program that’s designed to secretly install itself on your machine and then send information out via the internet, this maybe to steal personal information, this is one method of infection. It is very dangerous to operate the internet without a firewall because then you will not be notified if a malicious program is trying to enter your computer and if you  do not have a firewall it will not be able to protect you from malicious programs that will damage your computer. A hardware firewall is a physical device that connects to a computer and is configurable through connection to it or either through using the internet browser or through a command line interface. Clean up tools e.g. removal of cookies, internet history and defragmentation – the cookies in your browser are meant to make pages load faster, but they eventually start to slow down the system, overall the cookie files will become very large and this will impact on the overall speed of the system, this is where you could implement the cleaning software, the cleaning software scans for and deletes old and unnecessary data then after doing the clean-up procedure pages will take longer to open but this is normal. Internet history is a record of an internet user’s visited websites, downloaded files, saved passwords, saved internet files and cookies. By removing all your internet history is makes your computer system faster because there is more space to store files, also by removing your internet history all saved passwords will get deleted and all files downloaded will also get deleted. You should remove your internet history every couple of weeks so your history doesn’t get cluttered up, this is what makes your internet slow. Removal of internet history can be done very easily using the internet options, you can go to the tools section of your web browser. Most internet browsers such as internet explorer and Mozilla Firefox allow you to select the categories to delete internet history, this way it is much easier if you only want to delete one category instead of deleting all the categories, for example if you want to erase form data you simply click on erase form data to delete all the history in that category. When removing internet history it also gives you the option to delete cookies, deleting cookies often is a good thing because you can get hackers that use trackers to monitor your browsing activity and they can steal personal or private information. Fragmentation can cause a computer to run slower and processing problems can emerge when opening files. A defragmentation program will take the corrupted and scattered data on the drive and physically rearrange it, decreasing loading times and placing fewer problems on the computers processor. Defragmentation reduces data access and allows storage to be used more efficiently, some operating systems automatically defragment storage periodically, but others require  that the user occasionally use a special utility for this purpose. Drive formatting – formatting a hard drive enables it to be able to read and write data by creating a partition on the drive, a hard disk drive can be formatted or reformatted depending on what is being done to the drive. When a new hard drive is formatted a bootable partition is created, the partition that is created is where that operating system is installed. Formatting a hard drive requires selecting a file system that will be used on the drive, the file system is what the operating system uses to organize and allocate information that is written to various sectors on the hard disk. Formatting a hard disk will overwrite the data on the drive. The formatting process only removes the operating systems ability to read the data on the drive, data needs to be rewritten to the drive and then reformatted again to ensure that the data is no longer accessible. Registry cleaner – the purpose of a registry cleaner is to remove redundant items from the registry. A registry cleaner is designed for the use of Microsoft windows operating system. Registry cleaners have an automated procedure where it looks for invalid entries, missing file references or broken links within the registry and resolving or removing them. There are many registry cleaner programs you can download of the internet, some for free and some you have to purchase, for e.g. â€Å"CCleaner† is a registry cleaner program which is free and it works on windows 8, 7, vista and XP. CCleaner can be used to uninstall programs. It also allows changes of start-up programs, so users can disable start-up programs and CCleaner lets the user delete system restore points. Benchmarking – Benchmarking is basically running a computer program. Benchmark utilities are important in PC optimisation and troubleshooting. Benchmarking assesses the relative performance of an object, by running standard tests and trials against it. Benchmarking assesses the performance characteristics of computer hardware. There are full system benchmarks as well as those that only test certain parts of a system such as the memory, CPU function, hard drives and network connections. Benchmarks help find out if there is a problem and where the location is. Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark_(computing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(computing) http://www.ladenterprizes.com/What_firewall.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_formatting http://danieleastcroftict.posterous.com/clean-up-tools-for-removal-of-cookies-and-int http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registry_cleaner

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Essay --

Factory Farming: Mass Production or According to the Organic Consumers Association, in 1970 there were approximately 900,000 family farms in the United States; by 1997 there were only 139,000 family farms. This number is continually decreasing by the year. Why is this a problem? Factory farms promote abusive practices in order to maximize production at minimal cost at the expense of the environment, the community, and even our personal health. They house thousands of animals and inject them with hormones in order to maximize their growth and food output. The techniques being used are inhumane and are used thousands of times a day. According to the Organic Consumers Association, two out of every three animal products in stores come from factory farms. Factory farms dominate food production throughout the country. Animals most commonly consumed that require large-scale farming practices are cows, chickens and pigs. The methods of farming are not only bad for the animals themselves, but it’s affecting the meat we put into our bodies, and is therefore affecting one’s health. Factory farms ultimately have a negative effect on the health of both the animal and the consumer of the animal product. In today’s traditional factory farms, beef cattle are being raised in cruel living environments. In an article written by Berry Estabrook titled Feedlots vs Pastures: Two Very Different Ways to Fatten Beef Cattle, published in â€Å"The Atlantic† written December 28th, 2011 says that most of Americas beef comes from factory farms. They are crammed by the thousands into crowded, confined dirt lots. The cattle have hardly any room to move around and are forced to live in piles of their own excrement. Due to the many cows, they are deprived from ve... ...hat can be made towards stopping factory farming corporations from taking over. One of those ways could be to discovering how animal products are made. You can research companies that you commonly buy to make educating purchasing decisions when buying items from a grocery store. If you decide to buy an animal product, look up if the animals were forced to live in confined environments or if they were raised in open fields in their natural habitats. We can also spread the word to others. Talk to them about the problems with factory farming and the issues and encourage them to take action. This can range to anyone from a small audience like your family, to a much larger audience like a local school. By taking these small steps you will impact animals that are being abused, your personal health, the health of loved ones, and the health of others throughout the country.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Tutorial of Enterpreneur

Tutorial 8 (topic 7) Preparing A Proper Ethical And Legal Foundation Q1. In general, do entrepreneurs tend to overestimate or underestimate their knowledge of the laws that pertain to starting a new firm? What does answer to this question suggest that entrepreneurs do before they start a firm? In general, entrepreneurs tend to overestimate their knowledge of the laws that pertain to starting a new firm. Before entrepreneurs start a firm, they should seek for lawyer to get some legal advice, get sources and information about the business, refer to book, or search the information thru the internet about the legal issue that they face.Q2. Describe what is meant by the terms code of conduct and ethics training programs. What is their purpose? The term code of conduct is a formal statement of an organization’s values on certain ethical and social issues. Which means it is a set of formal statement for a firm or company to concern and emphasis on the values on ethical and social iss ues. For example, value that an organization expect employee to carry out some task, the method on how employee serve customer, social responsibility for an organization, privacy, and others.Then, ethics training programs is teaching business ethnics to help employee deal with ethical dilemmas and improve their overall ethnical conduct. It means, ethics training program is a set of system or some courses that use to lead employee deal with ethical dilemmas, which is a situation that employee involve some activities that is beneficial to oneself or the organization, but may be unethical. For example, an employee using company’s computer to carry out new program, thus this may raise an issue whether the new program is the property for an organization or the particular employee.Also, improve overall ethical conduct can be done by implementing an ethics training program because it can help employee to deal or response to ethical dilemma. The purpose for code of conduct and ethics training programs is to promote a healthy climate of business ethics and avoid lawsuit in a firm. Also, the purpose is to establish a strong ethical culture and avoid litigation. Q3. Describe what a founders’ agreement is and why it’s important for a team of entrepreneurs to have one in place when launching a venture. A founder agreement is a written that deals with issues such as the relative split of he equity among the founders of the firm, how individual founders will be compensated for the cash or the â€Å"sweat equity† they put into the firm, and how long the founders will have to remain with the firm for their shares to fully vest. It means founder agreement is a formal document that mention about the profit sharing between the founders by following the amount of initial investment between the founders. Items that include in a founders’ agreement are nature of the prospective business, a brief business plan, legal form of business ownership, buyb ack clause, description of the initial operating capital and others.It is important for a team of entrepreneurs to have one in place when launching a venture because it can avoid the conflict such the problem between the founders regarding the profit sharing and distribution of stock at the end of the business, avoid litigation, and to know the expectation of their own role in the organization. Therefore, founders’ agreement is important to act as a set of rules or guideline while founders are conducting their business and it can reduce most of the issues that can harm the performance of a business. Q4. Describe the purpose of a non-disclosure agreement and the purpose of a non-compete agreement.Non-disclosure agreement is a legal document or contract sign between two parties, which is restrict the access or by third party. The purpose of a non-disclosure agreement is a promise made by an employee or supplier who does not disclose the trade secret between the firm to the thir d party or outsider. Also, a non-disclosure agreement is a contract through which the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. On the other hand, non-compete agreement is a contract between one party such as employee agrees not to pursue a similar profession or trade in competition against another party such as employer.The purpose of a non-compete agreement is to avoid the possibility that upon the termination or resignation for an employee might begin working for a competitor firm or starting a new business which is related or similar with the employer’s business in a specific geographical area and time frame. Q5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of organizing a new firm as a sole proprietorship? Is sole proprietorship an appropriate form of ownership for an aggressive entrepreneurial firm? Why or why not? The advantages of organizing as a sole proprietorship are being the simplest form of business tructure. Then, creating a sole propriet orship form is easy and inexpensive so a starting cost can be reduced, and then an owner maintains complete control of the business without any intervention in decision making, and profit is own retain by the owner, business losses can be deducted against the sole proprietor’s other sources of income, and the business is not subject to double taxation because the income earned by a sole proprietorship passes directly to the personal income tax return of the owner, and then business is easy to dissolve due to without any partners and complex agreement.Whereas, the disadvantages of a sole proprietorship are liability on the owner’s part is unlimited so if a business is facing deficit, owner is responsible for all the losses. Then, the business relies on the skills and abilities of a single owner in order to manage the business wisely. Furthermore, raising capital can be difficult because of only owner is running the business without any help from partners. Moreover, the business ends at the owner’s death or loss of interest in the business, the liquidity of the owner’s investment is low due to low capital and cash flow can be used in generating more profit.A sole proprietorship is not an appropriate form of ownership for an aggressive entrepreneurial firm. An aggressive firm will probably need to raise capital early in its life because it is important for an aggressive firm to have a huge amount of capital in competing the earlier stage in the market, thus it is not possible under the sole proprietorship form of ownership. Also, in an aggressive entrepreneurial firm will be taking more risk in the investment, hence a limited liability form of company is more suitable in an aggressive entrepreneurial firm, which owner can limit their personal losses.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Pop Art Was Simply a Reflection of Consumer Society and Mass Media

Pop art was simply a reflection of consumer society and mass media, not a critique. Discuss with reference to the work of 3 artists. Pop Art was one of the major art movements of the twentieth century. It brought art back to the material realities of daily life, in which ordinary people derived most their visual pleasure from popular mass culture, such as advertising, television, magazines, or comic books and comic strips. As it emerged from the experiments of the fifties, was the ideal instrument for coming to grips with the American urban environment. Stangos, 1997) As the post-war generation and the stable political situation, it drove people back to the qualities of life. At the same times, America urban environment was influence by industrialism, consumer society and the mass media explosion. The pop artists have found subjects, which have previously been ‘invisible’ because they are so much a part of our surroundings that we don’t see them. These things now begin to appear, once the artists have pointed them out, and we discover that the world is full of ‘Pop object,’ which are expressive of our times and our values for better or for worse. Mahsun, 1989, p. 163) Pop art was established from the reality of basic consumer society; therefore, it was accepted by the society easily.Pop art is said to be a reflection of culture as artists are giving new interpretation to different ordinary objects in their art works. Jasper Johns establish his career in art in 1954, he uses flags, numbers, letters and maps these kind of common symbols in daily life as element or theme of his art work. Jasper talks about his work, ‘Flags’ (fig. ), in which he thinks that flag this kind of most ordinary objects ‘can be dealt with without having to judge them, they seem to me to exist as clear facts, not involving aesthetic hierarchy. ’ (Harrison and Wood, 2001, p. 721) He adds that ‘one thinks it has forty-eight sta rs and suddenly it has fifty stars; it is no longer of any great interest. ’‘The painting of a flag is always about a flag, but it is no more about a flag than it is about a brush-stroke or about a color or about the physicality of the paint, I think. (Harrison and Wood, 2001, p. 723) People will not care anymore about the cultural meaning of a flag, such as the meaning behind the number of stars of flag, but it transforms to a new representation of merely art element—- brush-stroke, color and paint. The deform of ordinary objects is reformed into a new image using oil and collage on fabric. By looking at the quality of work, one may say it is unfinished, however Jasper said it is his intention. ‘I think a painting should include more experience than simply intended statement.I personally would like to keep the painting in a state of ‘ shunning statement’, so that one is left with the fact that one can experience individually as one pleases; th at is, not to focus the attention in one way, but to leave the situation as kind of actual thing, so that the experience of it is variable. ’ (Harrison and Wood, 2001, p. 726) Besides he is interested in deforming objects, he also intended to leave the painting not ‘perfect’ as people usually conceived, to let viewer to ‘experience’ and interpret the painting in their own way.Lippard (1966) also said that he has neutralized the gap between life and art by composing ‘imperfect synthesis of motif and treatment’. The question about is it a painting or flag is no more important. He integrates art and life with the use of ordinary objects and the imperfect way to treat his art. The new interpretation of ordinary culture is arousing resonance of viewers rather that a voicing out a statement to challenge the society. Andy Warhol, another master of pop art giving a new interpretation of mass production. For the most 1950s he was a successful gra phic designer, particularly in the field of shoe illustration.In 1960, Warhol, produced his first canvases depicting comic strip characters. The canonical repeated Soup Cans, Disaster, Elvises and Marilyns followed in 1962. Warhol talks about his work, ‘Campbell’s Soup Cans,’(fig. 2), for the reason he start painting soup cans ‘because I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again. ’(Harrison and Wood, 2001, P. 732) Painting usually reflects the painter’s mind, which is happening around them. And the Soup cans totally reflect what Warhol’s life had and what he concerned.Daily objects are used again as the theme of art work which is reminding viewers about very common objects, which Warhol is placing a new value and thought into them through his work. Another series of painting, the death series (fig. 3), and the reason to start this series is because there was lots of disaster news from the mass media. Warhol realized that everything he was doing must have been Death. That started it. But he believed when one see a horrible picture over and over again would lose the effect (Harrison and Wood, 2001, P. 732).He even wants to repeat the images like what a machine does. In the 60s, most of the American similar to Warhol repeating their life likes a machine. No one would like to be a machine, but Warhol does. Warhol said that ‘I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine like is what I want to do. ’ (Harrison and Wood, 2001, P. 732) In 1963 Warhol was mass-producing the images by silkscreen technique, for the repeated images ‘makes us aware again of objects which have lost their visual recognition through constant exposure.We take a fresh look at things familiar to us, yet uprooted from their ordinary contexts, and reflect upon the meaning of contemporary existence. ’(Stangos, 1997, P. 229) War hol wants an art that will appeal to everybody, and his ‘products’ range from soup to cheesecake, Brillo to Marilyn Monroe, nose surgery to Jacqueline Kennedy, as he mention ‘everything is beautiful, Pop is everything. ’ (Stangos, 1997) Once again, his art work reflects the mundane daily life of Warhol. It becomes widespread and popular because of the objects are so attached to everyone’s common life in America, which recalls people’s memory.It is more probably that he is playful to ordinary materials, giving new look to them, mass producing them, rather to give a critical statement to the contemporary society. Roy Lichtenstein, who was a founder and foremost practitioner of pop art, he interest in the comic-strip cartoon and blown-up enlargements of things as an art theme probably began with a painting of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, ‘Look Mickey’ (fig. 4). Although he was initially dissatisfied with his technique and uncomforta ble with direct appropriation, he took great pleasure in presenting well-known comic-strip figures in a fine art format.He thinks that Pop art is commercial art which is used as subject matter in painting. (Franciz, Mark and Foster, 2005) He is interested in signs and comic strips because they are ‘usable, forceful and vital about commercial art†¦. We are using those things—- but we are not really advocating stupidity, international teenagerism and terrorism. ’ (Franciz, Mark and Foster, 2005, p. 229) The use of ‘comic strips’ itself already brings the cultural effect which everyone could digest easily, while he did not intend to give a judgment to the culture or society.Roy also said that he painted directly. To express the things in a painterly style would dilute it; the techniques he uses are not commercial, they only appear to be commercial and the ways of seeing and composing and unifying are different and have different ends. Roy believes pop art looks out into the world; it appears to accept its environment, which is not good or bad, but different-another state of mind. And the tension between apparent object-directed products and actual ground- directed processes is an important strength of pop art. Mahsun, 1989,) When the curator at the modern museum has called pop art fascistic and militaristic, ‘the 1st televised war’ (fig 5), Roy said that ‘The heroes depicted in comic books are fascist types, but I don’t take them seriously in these paintings- maybe there is a point in not taking them seriously, a political point. I use them for purely formal reason, and that’s not what those heroes were invented for†¦. Pop art has very immediate and of the moment meanings which will vanish- that kind of thing is ephemeral- and pop takes advantage of this ‘meaning’ which is not supposed to last, to divert you from its content.I think the formal statement in my work will become clearer in time. ’ (Mahsun, 1989, P. 113) It is clear that Roy does not take the heroic effect of cartoon strip itself seriously, even agrees with the fading meaning of pop art it may convey. It does not matters to him whether the effect will be long-lasting. He takes the immediate effect of cartoon images which are popular and influential in the moment. One could hardly think about he is criticizing the culture from his own statement. In 50s to 60s America societies, pop culture is the product of the Industrial Revolution, and of the series of technological revolutions that succeed it. Nikos Stangos, 1997) The impact of Mass media from radio, television or magazine advertising was fully influenced in America urban environment, who can live without this complicated mass media element. According to impact of mass media, the commonplace objects (such as comic strips, famous star and commodities) were used as subject matter in pop art. When the pop artists discovered those â₠¬Ëœinvisible’ objects, they realized that there were full of new interesting art element surround them. When the daily commodities become an art piece, the relationship between the commonplace objects and the consumer are resonating easily.That is the reason why pop art acceptance and recognition by the consumer society and become a fad quickly. (Harrison and Wood, 2001,) It is more prone that Pop art is reflecting the society and culture rather than judging it. ‘Everything about pop art was, and is, transient and provisional. By embracing these qualities, the pop artists held a mirror to society itself. ’ (Stangos, 1997, P. 238) | | | (Fig. 1) Flags, 1952| | (Fig. 2) Campbell’s Soup Can, 1962| | | | | | | (Fig. 3) five deaths, 1963| | (Fig. 4) Look mickey,1961| | | | | | | (Fig. 5) The 1st televised war,1972| | |Reference list: Francis, Mark and Foster, 2005, Hal (eds). Pop, Phaidon, New York Harrison, C and Wood, P 2001, Art in theory: 1900-2000: and ant hology of changing ideas, Oxford, Blackwell. Honnet, K 2007, Andy Warhol 1928-1987 commerce into Art, Taschen, Germany Lippard,L. R, 1966, Pop Art, Thames and Hudson, London Livingstone, M, 2000, Pop art a continuing history, Thames and Hudson, Singapore Mahsun, C. A. R, 1989, Pop Art the critical dialogue, UMI Research Press, London Stangos, N, 1997, Concepts of Modern Art, third edition, Thames and Hudson, Singapore

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Greek Hero Jason - Character Profile History

The Greek Hero Jason - Character Profile History Jason is the Greek legendary hero best known for his leadership of the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece and for his wife Medea (of Colchis). Jason As the 1-Sandaled Man Now Jason loved husbandry and therefore abode in the country, but he hastened to the sacrifice, and in crossing the river Anaurus he lost a sandal in the stream and landed with only one. -  Apollodorus Early in his career, Jason carried an old woman across the Anauros or Enipeus River. She was no ordinary mortal, but Hera, in disguise. In the crossing, Jason lost a sandal, and so appeared as the man in one sandal (monosandalos) foretold to kill King Pelias. Another explanation for Jasons loss of a sandal is that he might have been plowing when he stepped into the river without having fastened his sandal tight first. Jasons Parents [1.9.16] Aeson, son of Cretheus, had a son Jason by Polymede, daughter of Autolycus.   -  Apollodorus Jasons father was Aison (Aeson). His mother was Polymede, a possible daughter of Autolycus. Aison was the oldest son of winds ruler Aeolus son Cretheus, founder of Iolchus, which should have made Aison king of Iolchus, instead of Pelias, Cretheus stepson. Fearing for their son after Pelias usurped the throne, Jasons parents pretended their baby had died at birth. They sent him to the wise centaur Chiron to be raised. Chiron may have named the boy Jason (Iason). Jasons main homes were Thessaly (Iolchus and Mt. Pelion) and Corinth (Greece). The Task of Fetching the Golden Fleece The explanations for why Jason was sent revolve around the issue of Pelias occupying a throne for which Jason thought his side of the family had a better claim. The simplest explanation is that the fleece was the price of becoming king. Pelias could keep the herds and land, but the throne would go to the direct line of Cretheus after Jason brought back the golden fleece. The more popular story is that Pelias, having told the one-sandaled stranger that his death at the hand of a fellow-citizen had been foretold, asked Jason what he would do. Jason said to send him for the fleece. So Pelias ordered Jason to do so. Jason Marries Medea On the return voyage of the Argonauts, they stopped at the island of the Phaeacians, ruled by King Alcinoos and his wife Arete (featured in The Odyssey). Their pursuers from Colchis arrived at about the same time and demanded the return of Medea. Alcinoos agreed to the Colchians demand, but only if Medea werent already married. Arete secretly arranged the marriage between Jason and Medea, with Heras blessings. Jason Returns Home and Leaves Again There are various tales of what happened when Jason returned to Iolchus, but the one that is best known is that Pelias was still alive, so Medea tricked his daughters into killing him. She pretended that she would restore Pelias not just to life, but to youthful vigor. After killing Pelias, Medea and Jason took off, again, to Corinth, a place where Medea had a claim to the throne, as the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Jason Deserts Medea Hera also favored Medea, as well as Jason, and offered their children immortality. [2.3.11] Through her Jason was king in Corinth, and Medea, as her children were born, carried each to the sanctuary of Hera and concealed them, doing so in the belief that so they would be immortal. At last she learned that her hopes were vain, and at the same time she was detected by Jason. When she begged for pardon he refused it, and sailed away to Iolcus. For these reasons Medea too departed, and handed over the kingdom to Sisyphus. -  Pausanias In the Pausanias version, Medea engages in the sort of helpful, but misunderstood behavior that scared Achilles father and Metaneira of Eleusis, who witnessed Demeters attempt to immortalize her baby. Jason could only believe the worst of his wife when he saw her engaging in such a dangerous activity, so he deserted her. Of course, the version of Jasons desertion of Medea told by Euripides is much more sinister. Jason decides to repudiate Medea and marry the Corinthian king Creons daughter, Glauce. Medea doesnt accept this change in status gracefully but arranges the death of the kings daughter by poison gown, and then kills the 2 children she has borne Jason. Death of Jason The death of Jason isnt as popular a topic of classical literature as his adventures. Jason may have killed himself or fallen victim to a decaying plank from his ship, the Argo.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Boots and Booty

Boots and Booty Boots and Booty Boots and Booty By Maeve Maddox The noun boot, meaning â€Å"a covering for the foot and lower part of the leg,† has been in the language since the early 14th century. The word existed in medieval Latin and entered English via French. The popularity of boots as footwear has never diminished, but our use of the word boot and similar forms doesn’t always pertain to the article of apparel. First let’s look at terms and expressions that do relate to footwear. bootleg: As a noun, bootleg is recorded in the 17th century with the meaning â€Å"the leg of a boot.† Nineteenth century American frontiersmen favored bootlegs as convenient places to carry knives and shooting irons. The term acquired its present associations with the illicit trading of liquor even before Prohibition became the law of the land in 1920; a handful of states outlawed alcoholic beverages earlier. For example, Kansas banned alcohol in 1881. A bootleg could conceal a small bottle of liquor. In current usage, bootleg denotes anything that is traded or trafficked illicitly: bootleg CDs, bootleg diamonds, bootleg babies, etc. As a verb, bootleg means â€Å"to traffic illicitly in liquor or anything else.† The verb bootleg is also an American football term meaning â€Å"to carry the ball deceptively.† bootstrap: as a noun, a bootstrap is a loop attached to the top of a boot to help the wearer pull on the boot. I’ve written about the figurative meanings of bootstrap here. boot camp: This is a term for U.S. Marine and Navy recruit training. The term boot as slang for recruit may date from the Spanish-American War. U.S. sailors wore leggings called boots and the term transferred to the sailors themselves. By extension, boot camp is now also used for any training camp or program that resembles boot camp by requiring rigorous training. The term can also refer specifically to a facility or program for juvenile offenders who are forced to follow a rigidly structured routine of drill and discipline. bootlicker: A cringing, favor-seeking toady is called a bootlicker: a person who would do any demeaning thing to please and flatter a person in power. You can find more terms for subservient people here. jackboot: a type of large, strong cavalry boot popular in the 17th and 18th centuries was called a jackboot; later it was worn by German military and paramilitary units during the Nazi regime. Even before its association with the Nazis, the term had acquired the connotation of military oppression. boot: As a verb, â€Å"to boot† can mean â€Å"to kick,† as in â€Å"They booted out the old superintendent and hired a new one.† As a verb in the context of computer use, boot derives from bootstrap. to boot: We still use the expression â€Å"to boot† with the meaning â€Å"in addition† or â€Å"as a bonus†: The guy’s a chronic complainer and a tightwad to boot. The most patient and behaved dog in the world (and she’s Irish to boot). We offer inexpensive prices for our AC and heating units and we will throw in a free thermostat to boot! The expression â€Å"to boot† comes from an obsolete noun boot, meaning â€Å"good, profit, advantage.† The related verb boot meant â€Å"to make better, to remedy.† You may have encountered the verb boot in Shakespeare: It shall scarce boot me To say â€Å"Not guilty.† Hermione, A Winter’s Tale, III.ii.24. booty: As a noun meaning â€Å"plunder, gain, profit,† booty comes from an Old French word, butin. As a noun meaning â€Å"a woman’s body (or a part thereof) as a sex object,† booty originated as 1920s black slang, possibly an alteration of another slang word, botty, meaning bottom or buttocks. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical WordsThe Difference Between "will" and "shall"Prepositions to Die With