Tracking the U.S Economy

This will be followed by a personal economic outlook or the remainder of 2014. Current State of U. S Economy: A. Gross Domestic Product (GAP) According to the figures illustrated in the above graph prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (SEA), an agency of the Commerce Department, U. S. Real gross domestic product contracted sharply at an annual rate of 1. 0 percent in IQ 2014 compared to 2. 6 percent in the previous quarter. This marked the first decline in economic growth since January 2011, a period of three years.The drop in GAP growth comes as a revision, down from the BEAK'S original estimate released last April which showed an increase of 0. 1 percent. The BEA announces early estimates based on incomplete and partial data to provide a general picture of economic activity. These estimates are usually revised, with a second and third estimate being released as more data is acquired. The third and last revision for IQ 2014 is due to be released on June 25th and it remains to be seen how the GAP numbers will be affected. So why did the numbers decline so drastically?Many economists blame the anemic growth due to diminished business inventories, and the abnormally, harsh winter the country experienced during the beginning of the year, however, not everyone agrees. Forbes quotes Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITS Investment Research who states, â€Å"Looking through the rest of the report, we see the cold hand of winter, although I am not sure to what extent the cold in the Midwest caused the level of exports to drop by $40. 5 billion while imports only dropped $8. 8 billion. Surely the supply chains weren't frozen in only one direction. Despite the historically, cold weather, there is more to the unexpected, weak performance of the battered U. S economy. Numerous components of the GAP played a hand in causing the decline in economic growth, including a decrease in exports, lack of business investments and decreased government spending. Reduction in rea l exports (real imports, which are a subtracted in the GAP calculation declined as well), accounted for a significant portion of the economic decline, followed by a decrease in inventory investments, non residential fixed investments, residential investments and a cutback in state and local government spending.The GAP ‘s only supporter so far this year came in the form of increased real personal consumer expenditures, which grew from 2. 1 percent from the previous estimate of 2. 0 percent, mainly reflecting sharp increases in services and light increases in other areas. The BEA states, â€Å"The downturn in the percent change in real GAP, primarily reflected a downturn in exports, a larger decrease in private inventory investment, and downturns in nonresidential fixed investment and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in federal government spending† (2014).The table below, prepared by the BEA, shows precisely which components of G AP rose and tumbled in IQ 2014. B. Foreign Trade (Exports & Imports) According to records maintained by the U. S Census Bureau and the BEA, exports in April of $193. 3 billion and imports of $240. Billion resulted in a trade deficit of $47. 2 billion, up from $44. 2 billion in March. The April exports were $0. 3 billion less than March exports of $193. 7 billion, but imports were $2. 7 billion more than March imports of $237. 8 billion. The chart produced by the BEA below displays the U. S. International trade in goods and services in a period of two years, from April 2012 to April 2014. Goods deficit in April increased by $3. 3 billion from March to $65. 8 billion and services surplus increased by $0. 2 billion from March to $18. 6 billion. Exports of goods decreased $0. 6 billion to $135. Billion, but imports however increased by $2. 7 billion to $200. 9 billion. Services exports increased by $0. 3 billion to $58. 2 billion and imports followed suit increasing by $0. 1 billion to $39. 7 billion. From April 2013 to April 2014, the goods and services deficit has increased by $6. Billion. Imports in that time period were up by 5. 4 percent or, $12. 4 billion and exports were up by 3. 0 percent, or $5. 6 billion. C. Gross Private Domestic Investments (Business Investment) Gross private domestic investment is a vital component of GAP because it gives us an idea of future productive capacity. It accounts for approximately 14 percent of our GAP and is considered to be the least stable component. The BEA defines gross private domestic investment as private fixed investment and change in private inventories.It is measured without a deduction for consumption of fixed capital and includes replacements and addition to the capital stock, but excludes investment by U. S. Residents in other countries, hence the domestic. The BEA divides business investments into to sub-categories, fixed nonresidential investment, residential investment and business inventories. In short, g ross private domestic investment is n aggregate component of expenditures and includes fixed investments (nonresidential and residential) and change in private inventories.In the above graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLESS), the analysis depicts gross private domestic investment data with future projections as far as 2022. The growth rate for the time period of 2002 to 2012 is 0. 6 percent, with negative annual growth rates for all categories of fixed residential structures. However, the annual growth rate in business inventories in this same time period increased from the last decade from -3. 3 percent to 12. 9 percent. They project business inventories to increase by 2022 at an average annual rate of 0. 6 percent. D. Consumer Spending The Consumer Confidence Index increased slightly in May.The index is currently at 83. 0, up from 81. 7 Just last month in April. The BEA recently reported that consumer spending increased to 10914. 40 billion in IQ 2014, up from 10831. 50 billion in Q 2013. U. S. Consumer spending fell for the first time in a year in April 2014 after two months of solid gains, but the decline is probably interim in nature given the strengthening numbers in the Job market. The drop followed a revised 1. Percent increase in March that was the largest gain since August 2009. Real disposable personal income (DIP) remained steady throughout IQ 2014 with a slight decreases in both April and May.E. Unemployment Rate As reported by the Bull's latest economic news release, total nonfat payroll employment increased by 217,000 in May. The increase was due largely to professional and business services, health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, transportation and warehousing and temporary services. Employment in other sectors such as manufacturing, mining and logging, construction, wholesale ND retail trade, information and financial services, and government remained steady. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6. 3 perce nt. In May, following a decline of 0. 4 percent in April.The number of unemployed persons remained the same in May at 9. 8 million, a decrease of 1. 9 million over the last year. Over the previous year, nonfat payroll employment averaged approximately 197,000 a month. The long term unemployed numbers remained steady at 3. 4 million and accounted for 34. 6 percent of the unemployed. That number has declined by almost a million workers, as the economy continues to gradually recover ND improve. The graph below by the BEA shows the inclines and declines of the unemployment rate since 1990. Updated unemployment figures and charts for June 2014 will be released on July 3, 2014. F.Inflation Rate (ICP) The most recent release by the BLESS states that the ICP for all urban consumers (ICP-U) increased by 0. 3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the past year, the all items index increased by 2. 0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Gasoline, shelter, and food indexes all ros e in April and so did all items less food and energy. The consumer price index for May will be released on June 17, 2014. G. Government Spending: Fiscal and Monetary Policies According to the data reported by the BEA, current government expenditures exceeded receipts and caused a net government saving of -966. Billion during first quarter of 2014; an increase from Q 2013. Net lending or net borrowing which is an alternative measure of the government fiscal position was -1036. 5 billion, increasing from -968. 7 Q 2013. U. S. Economic Outlook: Remainder 2014 Coming off the harshest winter we've experienced in quite some time, the economy is expected to rebound and continue improving its upward growth in the remainder of 2014. The economy is expected to expand 2. 4 percent with the recovery of the housing market and business investments. Government consumption is expected to slow economic growth this year for the fourth straight year in a row.Consumer spending will remain in the 2 perc ent range, but it's possible that it might increase due to the increase in disposable personal income. This is assuming consumer confidence increases as the year passes. Employment is expected to continue its growth of 180,000-190,000 Jobs gained monthly similar to the previous two years. Structural unemployment will continue to be an issue as most Jobs created will be in he food service and retail industries. Small businesses are expected to gain confidence and provide support to the economic growth in 2014 with a key source of funding that's been missing since the recession; home equity.The increase in home values over the previous year and the ongoing housing recovery is expected to support small businesses. The recovering housing market will play a role in GAP growth as home values continue to rise fueling construction activity leading to an accelerated pace in residential investment. Accelerated business investment will gain approximately 2. 5 percent to around 4. Percent in th e following quarters; driven by hefty gains in nonresidential structures and slight increases in equipment and software expenditures. Growing demand for industrial space will support the increase in business investments.Inflation will rise modestly from the lows of 2013 but will remain humble. Consumer prices will rise as producer prices rise due to global and domestic demand. Net exports will play a leading role and is expected to add to the overall GAP growth. Economists predict a 6. 6 percent rate of growth, along with the support of the oil boom to increase the pace of export activity. U. S. Economic Personal Outlook: 2014 From the extensive research I've done on this topic, my personal outlook on the economy for 2014 in one word, subpart. I expect GAP to grow slightly over the year due to more than one component.Consumer spending is a strong candidate to increase most simply because disposable income is increasing. I understand that we just recently went through a recession and money conservation would be wise, but we're a consumer nation and a consumer based culture, therefore I expect personal consumer expenditures to rise. The winter that affected the nation during the ginning of the year slowed growth but in March, when the weather started to lift consumer expenditures skyrocketed. Personally, it would seem as if consumer confidence is on the rise and the data supports my theory.I believe the increasing home values will embolden consumers and business owners alike and add to economic growth, with businesses leading the way. I feel as if consumers aren't ready to make such a big financial commitment such as a mortgage and the ones willing to take risks will be the entrepreneurs or the business owners, so I expect to see growth in business investments. Residential investments will continue to improve as confidence is restored in the housing market allowing consumers to purchase rental properties to supplement or increase their income.Non residential inv estments will increase as well as values rise due to demand but I'm not quite sure how strong this demand will be. Being the consumer culture we are, I expect us to import more than we export like we have for over a two decades now, however, the strengthening oil and gas sector in the country will gain momentum, gradually relieving us of our oil dependency on OPEC nations in the years to come, decreasing our imports of foreign oil. Economic growth in 2014 may be slow, but it's much better compared to where we were as a nation a couple of years ago.

Digital Fortress Chapter 23

Susan sat alone in the plush surroundings of Node 3. She nursed a lemon mist herb tea and awaited the return of her tracer. As senior cryptographer, Susan enjoyed the terminal with the best view. It was on the back side of the ring of computers and faced the Crypto floor. From this spot, Susan could oversee all of Node 3. She could also see, on the other side of the one-way glass, TRANSLTR standing dead-center of the Crypto floor. Susan checked the clock. She had been waiting almost an hour. American Remailers Anonymous was apparently taking their time forwarding North Dakota's mail. She sighed heavily. Despite her efforts to forget her morning conversation with David, the words played over and over in her head. She knew she'd been hard on him. She prayed he was okay in Spain. Her thoughts were jarred by the loud hiss of the glass doors. She looked up and groaned. Cryptographer Greg Hale stood in the opening. Greg Hale was tall and muscular with thick blond hair and a deep cleft chin. He was loud, thick-fleshed, and perpetually overdressed. His fellow cryptographers had nicknamed him â€Å"Halite†-after the mineral. Hale had always assumed it referred to some rare gem-paralleling his unrivaled intellect and rock-hard physique. Had his ego permitted him to consult an encyclopedia, he would have discovered it was nothing more than the salty residue left behind when oceans dried up. Like all NSA cryptographers, Hale made a solid salary. However, he had a hard time keeping that fact to himself. He drove a white Lotus with a moon roof and a deafening subwoofer system. He was a gadget junkie, and his car was his showpiece; he'd installed a global positioning computer system, voice-activated door locks, a five-point radar jammer, and a cellular fax/phone so he'd never be out of touch with his message services. His vanity plate read megabyte and was framed in violet neon. Greg Hale had been rescued from a childhood of petty crime by the U.S. Marine Corps. It was there that he'd learned about computers. He was one of the best programmers the Marines had ever seen, well on his way to a distinguished military career. But two days before the completion of his third tour of duty, his future suddenly changed. Hale accidentally killed a fellow Marine in a drunken brawl. The Korean art of self-defense, Tae kwon do, proved more deadly than defensive. He was promptly relieved of his duty. After serving a brief prison term, Halite began looking for work in the private sector as a programmer. He was always up front about the incident in the marines, and he courted prospective employers by offering a month's work without pay to prove his worth. He had no shortage of takers, and once they found out what he could do with a computer, they never wanted to let him go. As his computer expertise grew, Hale began making Internet connections all over the world. He was one of the new breed of cyberfreaks with E-mail friends in every nation, moving in and out of seedy electronic bulletin boards and European chat groups. He'd been fired by two different employers for using their business accounts to upload pornographic photos to some of his friends. â€Å"What are you doing here?† Hale demanded, stopping in the doorway and staring at Susan. He'd obviously expected to have Node 3 to himself today. Susan forced herself to stay cool. â€Å"It's Saturday, Greg. I could ask you the same question.† But Susan knew what Hale was doing there. He was the consummate computer addict. Despite the Saturday rule, he often slipped into Crypto on weekends to use the NSA's unrivalled computing power to run new programs he was working on. â€Å"Just wanted to re-tweak a few lines and check my E-mail,† Hale said. He eyed her curiously. â€Å"What was it you said you're doing here?† â€Å"I didn't,† Susan replied. Hale arched a surprised eyebrow. â€Å"No reason to be coy. We have no secrets here in Node 3, remember? All for one and one for all.† Susan sipped her lemon mist and ignored him. Hale shrugged and strode toward the Node 3 pantry. The pantry was always his first stop. As Hale crossed the room, he sighed heavily and made a point of ogling Susan's legs stretched out beneath her terminal. Susan, without looking up, retracted her legs and kept working. Hale smirked. Susan had gotten used to Hale hitting on her. His favorite line was something about interfacing to check the compatibility of their hardware. It turned Susan's stomach. She was too proud to complain to Strathmore about Hale; it was far easier just to ignore him. Hale approached the Node 3 pantry and pulled open the lattice doors like a bull. He slid a Tupperware container of tofu out of the fridge and popped a few pieces of the gelatinous white substance in his mouth. Then he leaned on the stove and smoothed his gray Bellvienne slacks and well-starched shirt. â€Å"You gonna be here long?† â€Å"All night,† Susan said flatly. â€Å"Hmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Halite cooed with his mouth full. â€Å"A cozy Saturday in the Playpen, just the two of us.† â€Å"Just the three of us,† Susan interjected. â€Å"Commander Strathmore's upstairs. You might want to disappear before he sees you.† Hale shrugged. â€Å"He doesn't seem to mind you here. He must really enjoy your company.† Susan forced herself to keep silent. Hale chuckled to himself and put away his tofu. Then he grabbed a quart of virgin olive oil and took a few swigs. He was a health fiend and claimed olive oil cleaned out his lower intestine. When he wasn't pushing carrot juice on the rest of the staff, he was preaching the virtues of high colonics. Hale replaced the olive oil and went to down his computer directly opposite Susan. Even across the wide ring of terminals, Susan could smell his cologne. She crinkled her nose. â€Å"Nice cologne, Greg. Use the entire bottle? Hale flicked on his terminal. â€Å"Only for you, dear.† As he sat there waiting for his terminal to warm up, Susan had a sudden unsettling thought. What if Hale accessed TRANSLTR's Run-Monitor? There was no logical reason why he would, but nonetheless Susan knew he would never fall for some half-baked story about a diagnostic that stumped TRANSLTR for sixteen hours. Hale would demand to know the truth. The truth was something Susan had no intention of telling him. She did not trust Greg Hale. He was not NSA material. Susan had been against hiring him in the first place, but the NSA had had no choice. Hale had been the product of damage control. The Skipjack fiasco. Four years ago, in an effort to create a single, public-key encryption standard, Congress charged the nation's best mathematicians, those at the NSA, to write a new super algorithm. The plan was for Congress to pass legislation that made the new algorithm the nation's standard, thus alleviating the incompatibilities now suffered by corporations that used different algorithms. Of course, asking the NSA to lend a hand in improving public-key encryption was somewhat akin to asking a condemned man to build his own coffin. TRANSLTR had not yet been conceived, and an encryption standard would only help to proliferate the use of code-writing and make the NSA's already difficult job that much harder. The EFF understood this conflict of interest and lobbied vehemently that the NSA might create an algorithm of poor quality-something it could break. To appease these fears, Congress announced that when the NSA's algorithm was finished, the formula would be published for examination by the world's mathematicians to ensure its quality. Reluctantly, the NSA's Crypto team, led by Commander Strathmore, created an algorithm they christened Skipjack. Skipjack was presented to Congress for their approval. Mathematicians from all over the world tested Skipjack and were unanimously impressed. They reported that it was a strong, untainted algorithm and would make a superb encryption standard. But three days before Congress was to vote their certain approval of Skipjack, a young programmer from Bell Laboratories, Greg Hale, shocked the world by announcing he'd found a back door hidden in the algorithm. The back door consisted of a few lines of cunning programming that Commander Strathmore had inserted into the algorithm. It had been added in so shrewd a way that nobody, except Greg Hale, had seen it. Strathmore's covert addition, in effect, meant that any code written by Skipjack could be decrypted via a secret password known only to the NSA. Strathmore had come within inches of turning the nation's proposed encryption standard into the biggest intelligence coup the NSA had ever seen; the NSA would have held the master key to every code written in America. The computer-savvy public was outraged. The EFF descended on the scandal like vultures, ripping Congress to shreds for their naivete and proclaiming the NSA the biggest threat to the free world since Hitler. The encryption standard was dead. It had come as little surprise when the NSA hired Greg Hale two days later. Strathmore felt it was better to have him on the inside working for the NSA than on the outside working against it. Strathmore faced the Skipjack scandal head-on. He defended his actions vehemently to Congress. He argued that the public's craving for privacy would come back to haunt them. He insisted the public needed someone to watch over them; the public needed the NSA to break codes in order to keep the peace. Groups like the EFF felt differently. And they'd been fighting him ever since.

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Final Project A Comparison of World Religions - Essay Example It is noted that many religions in the world pay respect to a specific being that they consider supreme and who has extraordinary qualities. Christianity is a monotheistic religion. According to this religion God discloses himself as personal, here God is considered to exist as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The origin of this God remains a mystery to Christians. The God of Christians declares that there is no any other God apart from him. In Isaiah 44:6 he confesses that â€Å"I am the first and the last and apart from me there is no any other God,† meaning that he does not admit the existence of absolute reality. He is considered different from other gods, such as the Krishna. The bible only gives the account of one creation of heaven and earth by God (Shah, nd). Judaism is also a monotheistic religion. The religion is about a personal God who reveals himself through the story of Jewish people this is according to (World Scripture, 2014). Its scriptures are found in the Torah of the Jews and in the Old Testament of the Christians. In the begging of these scriptures, God is presented as to be creating heaven and earth. Judaism results from the inspiration of Brahman. It then considers that the physical world and humans are signs of Brahman (Valea, 2011). Islam is another monotheistic religion after the Christianity and Judaism. It originated from the times of Abraham, and its teachings are quite related to those of Christians and Jewish. Islamic religion proclaims one sovereign and powerful God, Allah. He is considered the creator who works through the prophets to communicate his desires. Just like Christianity, Islamic offers two choices for mankind, either heaven or hell. They believe in the teachings of Mohammad who was a prophet as recorded in the Qur’an (Valea, 2011). Hinduism is not one religion, but a number of religious and theoretical trends. Its tradition does not follow a

Is 'Maurice' a hopelessly flawed text, or a thoughtful adaptation of Essay

Is 'Maurice' a hopelessly flawed text, or a thoughtful adaptation of the novel form to the subject matter and a strong intervention in debates of the time - Essay Example Forster’s autobiographical parallels with Maurice has fuelled debate as to whether the novel was significant as â€Å"a strong intervention in debates of the time† or alternatively a â€Å"hopelessly flawed† text. It is submitted at the outset that neither dogmatic view is entirely authoritative regarding the significance of Maurice and this analysis explore the premise that perhaps the flaws associated with Maurice were a necessary evil in presenting E.M. Forester’s gay ideology. Forster’s self proclaimed significance of the novel as a symbol of the future is juxtaposed with Maurice reflecting on the past4. In the â€Å"Terminal note† to the novel, Forster asserts that Maurice’s escape with his lover in the ending â€Å"belongs to an England where it was still possible to get lost. It belongs to the last moment of the greenwood.†5 The juxtaposition is further highlighted by the fact that whilst Maurice is set in Georgian England, the lovers apparently disappear to an England of the past, however the irony here is that they escape to an escape that was not possible in 19136. Forster justified this on the basis that a happy ending was imperative, â€Å"I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, because in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.7† However, searching for a world of the past and waiting for â€Å"a happier year† was not realistically possible and therefore â€Å"Maurice and Alec inhabit a novel twisted in the grip of time8†. As such, it has been argued that these contradictions are Maurice’s flaws, leading some commentators to assert that â€Å"they result from self-hatred and indecision, from escapism and self-indulgence and have therefore disappointed readers of all kinds9†. Conversely, this literal interpretation of Forster’s â€Å"flawed† narrative can

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Police Brutality Among Nigerian Males In Philadelphia Essay Example for Free

Police Brutality Among Nigerian Males In Philadelphia Essay Cultural prejudice is like a virus that is transmitted from human to human and like a parasite eats up a society and its reasoning. These prejudices are reflected in our day to day life. How often we see a white women shying away from young African American male on the street reflecting the basic stereotyped assumptions that we make about others every day. These inevitable behaviors of which most of us are victims remain unresolved because of the unconscious state it has entered. Likewise, people who have been victims of racism in the past develop an extreme judgmental attitude, often labeling a simple act as a racist, failing them to ever see well in others. Marilyn French, a feminist fiction writer, in her work on â€Å"Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals (1986),† interprets such bigot behavior as an outcome of a patriarchal world that is lured by power and control over women, children, property, and other men; and subsequently enticed with the idea of superiority using skin color, wealth, religion and ethnicity as its variable. She suggests that the masculine principle is governed by aggressiveness which prevails over the cultural values ascribed to the feminine principle. Quoting from her work, â€Å"World wide patriarchal values and perspectives are so pervasive; many people believe them to be inevitable. Such thinkers believe feminine principle oriented cultures became instinct because of the superiority of Western patriarchy†. She further emphasizes that since western people are oriented in a masculine thought; its end result is anything but cultural prejudice. Further, delving on this theory she suggests that we all are members of the â€Å"in- groups† that offers us a feeling of belongingness and comfort. And all others become members of the â€Å"out-groups†. It is taken as a fact that members of one group will always be antagonist to the members of the other group. Marilyn calls it a â€Å"self justifying dialogue that keeps us from self analysis mixing beliefs with attitudes and values, and morality with ethics† (French, 1985, p. 19). We obediently keep practicing what we have been taught in our lifetime, i. . â€Å"what to think† of those who are members of the opposite group instead of â€Å"how to think† and in turn delaying our judgment about others. Our faculty has stopped responding to a logical reasoning and it has simply turned into a mechanical thought process. Leading all of us to becoming racist, ageist, and ethnocentric in this patriarchal culture. An authoritarian personality clings on to the conventional values of their culture, and refuses at any time the need of self – introspection (Breslin, 1974, p. 51). While delving on this type, Mumia Abu-Jamal stands as a case in point. Mumia Abu – Jamal, a famous radio journalist in Philadelphia was also known as â€Å"the voice of the voiceless†. He used to report on issues concerning police brutality, misconduct and racism on the minority communities and especially, the African American community. In 1981, he became a victim himself of things he always fought against. On December night, 1981, while driving a cab to supplement his income earned through journalism, Abu Jamal drove pass his brother who was being beaten up by the police officer, Daniel Faulkner for traffic violation. Shortly, a gun fire broke out leaving both the police officer and Abu- Jamal injured. Unfortunately, the officer succumbed to his injuries while Abu –Jamal recovered through a surgery. He was trialed for the Officer Daniel Faulkner’s murder case and given a death sentence. However, at the insistence of Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham, Abu – Jamal is currently not facing the death penalty. This is a typical case of a social conflict between individuals and collectivities. Interpreting Abu – Jamal’s case through Lane Cormick’s work, this situation can be termed as a crisis. The media and many literary discussions have depicted this case as that of prejudice and racial discrimination. Race and ethnicity are hence, seen as the controlling dynamics in this case. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter in his book on â€Å" Killing Time: An Investigation Into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu – Jamal†, stated that at the time of Abu – Jamal’s arrest, the Philadelphia Police Department was indeed the most corrupt enforcement operations in the nation. Hence, the decision made by the United States’ judicial system , awarding death sentence to Abu- Jamal, based on the evidences put forth by the Philadelphia police has been widely criticized and challenged. This decision has been labeled as an outcome of cultural prejudice in a society that stands as an epitome of liberty. The United States’ judicial system has been attributed for its racism and discrimination against defendants of color. Noam Chomsky while reflecting on this case called the U. S. prison system a class and a race war. He further emphasized that Abu – Jamal is just one illustration of what’s called â€Å"social cleansing† in US. Philadelphia police is known for its notoriety. The racist attitude that it thrives on is also not hidden from the public. The killing of a young black man, Bryan Jones on the morning of January 1, 2007 is just one in a million cases reflecting brutality dipped with prejudice and racism practiced by the Philadelphia police. According to the Welcoming Center for new Pennsylvanians, seven percent of Philadelphia’s immigrants come from Africa mainly comprising of Nigerians who form the largest African group in this region. Every now and then, there are cases heard against the Police Department of Philadelphia for ill – treating the Africans. Scholars suggest that off all prejudice, the most critical is the Attitudinal Prejudice reflected (in this case) in the Philadelphia police also explaining the reasons of brutality that’s practiced on these minority races. W. T. Jones in his work on â€Å"Perspectives on ethnicity. New direction for student services†, explains that â€Å"attitudinal prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward a person or group based upon a social comparison process in which the individual’s own group is taken as the positive point of reference. † (Jones, 1972, p. 6). Further, to combat the ‘isms’ requires new value assumptions and new social learning.

East of Eden Essay Example for Free

East of Eden Essay East of Eden deplores many religious matters, specifically, the concepts of sibling rivalry and the age old battle between good and evil. In the biblical Book of Genesis, the brothers Cain and Abel offer God the father a sacrifice. God favors the shepherd Abels sacrifice of his best lamb over the farmer Cains grain. Subsequently, in a Jealous rage, Cain kills his brother Abel, only to be marked by God and banished to wander the earth. Stanford dropout, John Steinbeck applies the story of Genesis heavily in East of Eden; the concepts of this iblical allusion are evident in both generations of brothers. In each generation, one of the Trask brothers is moral and good while the other brother behaves badly and immorally, already we see how the Trask family parallels Genesis. Because the good Trask brothers are favored, the bad Trask brothers develop envious tendencies and a recurrent theme of sibling rivalry appears throughout the book. The first generation of Trask brothers, Charles and Adam, follow the Cain and Abel biblical model from the very beginning. .. its awful not to be loved. Its the worst thing in the world t makes you mean, and violent, and cruel. (Steinbeck 347). This quote epitomizes the root of all evil in the Trask generations- lack of recognition to one of the sons. When their deadbeat father Cyrus favors Adams birthday gift of a puppy over Charles expensive knife, Charles nearly beats Adam to death. Although Charles does not kill Adam, he is a clear allusion to Cain. While Adam wanders the Earth in the army, it is Charles who remains on the farm, where like Cain, h e becomes marked with a dark brown scar. Adam therefor, is reflected as Abel. Humans are caught†in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too†in a net of good and evil. (127). This quote is a clear representation of the Adam and Charles relationship throughout the novel. The incident that occurred over a simple birthday gift sparked a Jealous rage that caused Charles and Adam to remain at odds with each other throughout their entire lives despite their love for each other. The next generation of Trask brothers, the dark haired Cal and fair-haired Aaron, also carry out the dynamics of the Cain and Abel tale. Cals Jealousy towards Aron is due to the favoritism that Aron receives from their father Adam; this is especially seen through an episode that resulted in Aarons death. For some reason, Adam favors Aron over Cal and when Cal offers his father a birthday present of $1 5,000 to help him recover his financial losses, Adam scorns him for making the money during a war-time economy. In a rage, Cal takes his brother to isit the notorious prostitute that birthed the two boys. Emotionally traumatized, Aaron runs away to the army during World War l, and dies soon after. Cal lies to Adam when asked about Aarons whereabouts. Where is he? How do I know? said Cal. Am I supposed to look after him? (p. 562). This sequence between Cal and Adam portrays the emotional barrier between the two that seems to bring out the untruthfulness in Cal that reflects his ancient parallel, Cain. Thus, the biblical tale plays out with Cal, although inadvertently, killing his brother. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a the concept of timshel. While psychologically shattered Adam reminisces over Cathy, Lee and Samuel share philosophical discussions over the ancient Hebrew word timshel. Timshel defies the pattern in the Cain and Abel tale, rather than condemning the less favored brother to a life of sin it pursues the issue of free will and grants Cal the strength to depart from the inherently bound evil motives that ossessed him at an early age.