Success Is An Option I Choose Essay Example for Free

Success Is An Option I Choose Essay It is possible to be born into a successful family, but it is not possible to be born successful. The responsibility of being successful falls greatly upon me as an individual. While others can give an opinion, theory, or share their beliefs it is ultimately up to me to make my own decisions. At most I can adopt someone’s beliefs, I can imitate their actions, or even mimic their behaviors, but no one else is responsible for what happens in my life. It is up to me to put forth the hard work and dedication to reach the level of success that I desire. It is my personal responsibility to choose the path for my life and I choose success. I believe I have some good qualities that will help me to achieve my overall goal of being successful in everything that I do. The fact that I have the discipline to dedicate myself to any particular task is a great trait. While I know discipline and dedication are two great individual traits when they are combined I like to believe the meaning changes. To me it means that no matter the obstacles large or small, difficult or easy, I will stare down the face of challenges and not give in or up until my task is complete and obligation is fulfilled. The Ethical Lens Inventory (2012) says that my classical value is fortitude, â€Å"You demonstrate courage and steadiness in the face of obstacles†. This is a fair assessment of my personality. I will always fight for what I stand for and or believe in. Another trait I have that I think is important to my success is my willingness to learn from others. For every circumstance there is a negative and or positive and you I can learn from both. We have all heard the saying â€Å"You have to be a good follower to be a good leader.† There is no way you can acquire a managerial position and be good at it without being under an example of a good leader. So with the willingness to learn and the ability to be a good follower I know that I am and going to be an outstanding leader. Everyone is fallible including me, while my strengths are great qualities my weaknesses must be improved on to get where I want to go. One thing that I need to do is stop limiting myself. This might sound easy but I tend to get comfortable and settle when I feel like I’m in a good space. If I continue to settle for where I am at and not expand my vision I should expect the same outcomes. Joel Osteen’s book, Your Best Life Now (2004) stated, â€Å"You will never go beyond the barriers in your own mind. If you think you can’t do something, then you never will. The battle is in your mind. If you are defeated in your mind, you’ve already lost the battle.†(P.30). If I can’t see myself as a success, I will never be a success. Osteen (2004) stated, â€Å"Low expectations will trap you in mediocrity. You must think positive thoughts of victory, thoughts of abundance, thoughts of favor, thoughts of hope; good, pure excellent thoughts.†(p.17). That is another weakness that I have to improve on, the fact that I do not expect much is not good. I even try to justify it at times saying â€Å"If I expect the worse, then nothing bad c an happen.† I have to change that way of thinking to if I expect the worse then nothing but bad can happen. Positive thinking, positive planning, and positive action equals positive results. I have to want more for myself and not settle when I feel a little bit of comfort. As it pertains to college success it is up to me to put forth the dedication and hard work that I need to reach my goals. If I take nothing from every class I cannot blame the teacher. It is my responsibility to take what I am being taught and learn it. If I do not put forth the effort to learn it, no one else is going to be held accountable for my failures. It was a choice that I made to pursue a higher education, now it is my responsibility to keep reaching towards the finish line and achieve another goal. It is going to be my responsibility to study coarse material, and complete assignments that are given. Whereas my college success is important my family relationships also fall under something I want to be successful at. I pride myself on being a good father and a good husband, which also takes hard work, dedication to be disciplined. I want my family to be happy in their lives and also be proud of the man that I am. One more area that I want and need to be successful at is my professional life. I do not just want to make a lot of money; I want to be happy with what it is that I’m doing professionally. I’ve witness someone going to work at the same time every day, with the same attitude, not wanting to do it, but the pay was good. That is something that I am not willing to settle for. Keeping my family happy, being successful in my college studies and being successful in my professional life are three thing that I am focus on right now. I have made it my personal choice to be successful in all that I do. Therefore I have to make it my personal responsibility to not give up on   my dreams, goals, and ideas. I have identified my weakness and dedicated to improving them to better my efforts. I understand that my strengths can become weaknesses if I do not continue to work at them. Limiting myself is a big issue; I need to be courageous and jump knowing that there is a possibility that I will fall on my face, but if I don’t great things will happen. I know that I will face challenges, Osteen (2004) stated, â€Å"Certainly, none of us enjoy going through struggles, but you have to understand that your struggle may be an opportunity for advancement and promotion.†(p.210). I am committed to my success, bring on every obstacle, every challenge, I will press forward to my goal and face them with courage. I will never give up, submit, or accept defeat, I choose to be successful. Nothing is going to barricade me from my destination, as long as I continue to work on myself, who I’m personally responsible for. Bibliography Ethical Lens Inventory Report. (2012). Osteen, J. (2004). Your Best Life Now. New York, NY: Time Warner Book Group.

Policing Essay Example for Free

Policing Essay Policing CRJ 201, Section 511 Frank Serpico Francesco Vincent Serpico was born on April 14, 1936 in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 18 Serpico enlisted in the United States army and spent two years in Korea. In 1959 Frank Serpico graduated form the police academy and was sworn into the New York City Police Department. From the =Beginning of Serpico’s career in the NYPD he was forced with having to defend his integrity to the police department. While a rookie taking part in field officer training, there was a rape in progress call sent out over the radio. Serpico, wanting to do nothing but help wanted to take the call though it was out of his sector and against his veteran officers advice. Frank later forced to give up his collar despite the fact he apprehended the remaining rape suspects on his own. Being a rookie officer left him susceptible to officers with seniority easily getting over on him. In 1960 Frank became a patrolman in the 81st precinct. He then worked for the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) before he was assigned to being a plain-clothes officer. This is when Frank Serpico’s problems began and he was exposed to department wide police corruption. Police subculture is defined as; shared values and norms and the established patterns of behavior that tend to characterize policing. During Frank’s time police corruption was definitely apart of police subculture. However it was not apart of Frank Serpico’s police subculture. While stationed at the 93rd precinct Serpico was given $300 as a part of the station pay off. Not knowing what to do with the money, and it being his first experience with corruption Frank took the money to his Sargent who in turn pocketed the money for himself. Becoming a snitch is something frowned upon then and now among civilians and law enforcement when it comes to one of your own. It is especially difficult to be a snitch in the police department because there is then no one behind you when in need. Blowing the whistle on fellow officers took a lot of guts and courage, especially when knowing that no one is there to stand behind you, and everyone is against you. On April 25, 1970, a New York Times article was published by David Burnham that would shake up the entire New York City Police Department. With the aid of Frank Serpico and Sargent David Durke, Burnham told the world of the millions of dollars paid to policeman in the New York Police Department by drug dealers, gamblers, and crooked businessmen. Frank also pointed out that despite the obvious corruption both Mayor Lindsay’s administration, and the police department ignored and failed to look into corruption cases repeatedly brought to their attention. This very article and the now public knowledge and outrage forced Mayor Lindsay to form the KNAPP Commission; a five-member panel whose purpose was to investigate corruption among the police department. Once the New York Times article was published, Frank Serpico was officially deemed a snitch. Subjecting himself to the possibility of extreme danger and violence, either at the hands of his own or by criminals when a lack of police back up and support is available. This possibility of danger became reality on February 3, 1971. While working in the vice division out of Brooklyn North, Serpico and 3 others detectives were working a drug sting. Frank was sent into the building and after witnessing the drug buy informed the two other plains clothes officers of were the suspect apartment was located. Serpico, the only officer that knew how to speak Spanish, was prompted to fake as if he wanted to purchase heroin to gain access into the suspects’ apartment. Once the dealer cracked the door Frank tried to force his way in, only able to wedge some of his body into the suspects’ door. Subsequently Serpico was shot at point blank range in his face with a . 22 caliber handgun. Once collapsed on the floor the remaining two officers stepped over him and proceeded with the drug bust instead of helping, they didnt even care enough to send out a cop shot call over the radio. It was a neighbor living on the floor of the shooting that called the ambulance and stayed with Serpico until a squad car arrived to escort him to the hospital. Frank Serpico soon after the shooting began to question the circumstances of the shooting, feeling he was set up to be executed. While in recovery at the hospital Serpico was constantly harassed and faced with wishes of death. Frank recovered, losing hearing in his left ear, and in December of 1971 testified in front of the KNAPP Commission. Ultimately Serpico received what he always wanted, a brass shield and a promotion to detective. Of course there was no customary ceremony when Frank was awarded detective status, he was called and told to pick his badge up from the office. This was one of the many things that displayed the distain the department and city officials had for Frank Serpico. In 1972 after receiving a gold metal of honor, Serpico retired from the New York City Police Department and moved to Switzerland, where he stayed for almost a decade. In 1980 Serpico back to New York City and now lives a quiet life upstate. Frank Serpico was the first and probably most famous New York police officer to report and go as far as to testify on the department wide corruption. He never gave up, never gave in, and always stayed true and loyal to the oath he took when graduating from the police academy in 1959. Hearing the story of Frank Serpico makes me grateful because I know there are truly honest and loyal individuals that hold jobs in the public service field. People like him played major roles in molding what the police department is today. However I do not think I would have followed in Frank Serpico’s footsteps to expose the ugly truth of what was going on in the police department at the time. Being apart of the police subculture, all you have is each other. Once you put on the uniform and strap on that gun and badge no one can protect you from danger but yourself and your fellow officers. Once those other officers distrust you there is no one to have your back when faced with a criminal with intent to harm you. I would remember that when my shift is over I have to go back to my family, I have to live a life outside of my career as a New York City Police Officer. If I could have found a way to not take the payoffs, still do my job to the best of my ability, and not snitch on my fellow officers, that would definitely be the route in which I would take. Frank Serpico could have easily been killed and I don’t think the police department or anything else is more important then my life and the lives of my family. I do respect everything that Frank Serpico did. His integrity and courageousness was unprecedented. Without him the police department that my friends, loved ones, and I interact with daily could very well be much different and much worst. All Frank Serpico wanted to do was be a good, moral person and an honest police officer. He nicely summed up some of his feelings while in front of the KNAPP Commission by saying, â€Å"Through my appearance here today I hope that police officers in the future will not experience the same frustration and anxiety that I was subjected to for the past five years at the hands of my superiors because of my attempt to report corruption We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which honest police officers can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. †

Arguments for Regulating Financial Reporting

Arguments for Regulating Financial Reporting Acoording to Leuz and Verrecchia (2000) the accounting literature presents proof that the quality of accounting has economic consequences for e.g. costs of capital , efficiency of capital assignment (Bushman et al. 2006)etc. Land and Lang (2002) in their research mentioned that economic changes also have homogeneous consequences by stating that the quality of accounting has improved globally since 1990s. Land and Lang (2002) also say that the reason for the advancement in the quality of accounting is primarily due to globalisation and visualization of international accounting consensus. The argument proposed by the accounting theory is that the main aim of financial reporting is to reduce information asymmetry between managers and owners and other stakeholders contracting with the company (Watts, 1977; Ball, 2001). Favouring this notion Frankel and Li (2004) states that financial reporting decreases information asymmetry by disclosing relevant and timely information. Standard setting is a form of regulation which lays down generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) (Scott, 2003, p. 9). Also accounting standards for listed companies in the European Union are promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). This report answers this question that whether or not we need this kind of regulation of financial reporting. What is Financial Reporting? To answer the report question, firstly, there is a need to answer the questions like what is financial reporting, who are the users of financial reports and how is financial reporting regulated and what are the bodies responsible for regulating the financial reporting. By answering these questions a better understanding of financial reporting will be achieved and which will ultimately aid in answering the report questions. Financial reporting enables an organization to communicate information about its performance externally (Atrill et al. 2005). So, financial reports provide summarized information about an organizations transactions over a specific time period to external decision makers. (e.g. Investors). The users of financial reports are employees, trade unions, government, creditors, lenders, customers, shareholders and investment analyst (Elloit et al. 2006). The needs of these various users of financial reports can be completely different. However, the main emphasis is put on the most usable statements like balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The Accounting standard boards (ASB) which is responsible for setting and issuing accounting standards, the ASB is part of a broader structure including the Financial Reporting Council, the review panel and the Urgent Issues Task Force (UITF). The Financial reporting Council (FRC) is the body charged with the broad overview of the standard setting system. Although the FRC oversees the process of producing accounting standards, it has no input into the detailed rules. Conversely the principle sources of such regulation are The Law and the Accountancy Profession. The Law consists of certain Acts. Much of the legislation governing the UKs preparation of accounts is personified in the companies Act 1985 and companies Act 1989. They are mainly concerned with the accounts of limited liability companies. These Acts state that all financial statements constructed under the Act must present a true and fair view. The Act also deals mainly with minimum disclosure requirements and is foremost concerned with the protection of shareholders and creditors. It provides a framework for general disclosure by requiring that certain financial statements such as the profit and loss accounts and the balance sheet, should be prepared and presented to the shareholders and requires the specific disclosure of certain items such as depreciation and so on. These disclosure requirements resolve some of the problems associated with the asymmetry of information between the directors and some user groups. They also enable user groups to compare the level of their inducemen ts with those received by the other groups. The Act also requires that the directors not only present the financial statements to the shareholders each year but also that independent auditors are appointed to examine the financial statements and report their findings to the shareholders. The law addresses the problem of information asymmetry by requiring the disclosure of certain key items of interest to user groups. The Accountancy Profession also recommend the same but in this role as regulator. The accountancy profession is more influential in achieving a significant increase in the comparability of financial statements. Whereas the law provides the general framework for what is to be accounted for in the financial reports, the accountancy profession provides detailed rules in the form of accounting standards about how items and transactions should be accounted for. The two main regulatory bodies of financial reporting are The Law and the Accounting Profession with the Accounting Standards Board usually known as ASB (Elliot et al. 2008). In UK, most of the legislation related to the publishing of accounts is embodied in the Companies Act 1985 and 1989. The Companies Act 1989 is the main frame which the companies and accountants have to follow. All the financial statement drawn up under the act 1989 must present a true and fair view and its function is to protect all the users of the financial reports and statements. The second and the most important regulatory body is the accounting profession. The standard setters should be aware of the information needed by all users of financial reports and should know the impact and the outcome of a different accounting method on the needs of those users. The standard setters should also be able to resolve the conflicts which exist between the needs of different users. So, they have to find an alternative wa y which best satisfy user needs and this could be achieved by choosing the improvement of the social welfare instead of welfare of individuals. We know that Accounting Standards Board is the main accounting standard setter. Because the ASB is composed of professional accountants, they may be unfamiliar with the user needs. So , when there is a need for a change in accounting standard the ASB prepare and publish a draft standard called the FRED (Financial Reporting Exposure Draft). After the publishing of these drafts the comments from the public is invited and in the light of these comments the FRED is changed (or unchanged). Now the FREDs are issued as FRS (Financial Reporting Standard). The main disadvantage of this system is the ASB members are unfamiliar with the different user needs and the comments from the general public may not be equally represented. There are four things that standards in financial reporting supply people using it. The first one is Comparability; financial statements must allow people to compare one company with another one and evaluate the managements performance without spending time and money adjusting them to a common format and common accounting treatments. It is essential that users of financial reports or investment decision makers be supplied with relevant and standard financial reports which have been regulated and hence standardized. The second thing that standards and regulations supply is called Credibility. Because all this standards and regulations exist accountants have to treat every company in the same way. If the accountancy profession permitted companies experiencing similar events to produce financial reports that disclosed markedly different results simply because of a freedom to select different accounting policies they would lose all of their credibility. So, the standards should be compos ed of rigid rules and should not be broken. The third thing is Influence that means, setting up the standards has encouraged a constructive appraisal of the policies being proposed for individual reporting problems and has been a stimulus for the development of a conceptual framework. The last thing that the standards have to supply is discipline. Companies left to their own devises without the need to obey standards will eventually be disciplined by the financial markets. But in the short run investors in such companies may suffer loss. The Financial Reporting Council is aware of the need to impose discipline because most of the company failures in recent years are because of obscure financial reporting. Why should the Accounting Standards set? As we argued before, an important role of the regulations is to increase the comparability of accounts by limiting the choice of alternative accounting methods and to supply standardized accounts. This standardization can be achieved only by uniform accounting practice. If all accounti ng methods were standardized, two organizations which began the year with same balance sheets and which made the same transactions during the year, they would report the same balance sheets and the same profit and loss account at the end of the year. In addition to these advantages of regulations in financial reporting, there are also some more useful functions. Regulations can help to reduce the influence of personal biases and political pressures on accounting judgments. They can increase the level of user confidence in, and understanding of, financial reporting by clarifying the basis on which all accounts are prepared and presented. Finally, they can provide a frame of reference for resolving accounting problems which are not mentioned in legislation or accounting standards. As we argued earlier although the regulations in financial reports have very advantages it has many disadvantages too; One if these disadvantages is the Adverse Allocative Effects, this could occur if the AS B did not take into account of the economic consequences of the new standard or regulation they have issued. For example, additional costs could be imposed on preparers of accounts and suboptimal managerial decisions might be taken to avoid any reduction in earning or net assets. Consensus-seeking can be another disadvantage and this means the issuing of standards that are over-influenced by those with easiest access to the standard-setters. Most of the time this could happen with complex subjects. Standard Overload is composed of a number of statements which creates the most important disadvantages of standards. Some of them are; 1. There is more than one standard-setter body so, as well as it becomes more difficult to follow the new changes, the accountants are becoming so regulated that it becomes very difficult to use his/her accounting profession, to make judgments. 2. There are too many standards and regulations, so in the long run, they restrict the development of accounting profession by discouraging the accountants from experimenting new ways of recording transactions. 3. Some points are too detailed and some of them are not sufficiently detailed so, makes it hard to obey. 4. Standards are for general-purpose and sometimes they fail to respond to users and the firms needs. For example, a company which wants to attract investment finance can not make the necessary judgment of how much information is necessary and what form it need take so, it couldnt take the actions necessary to attract investors and may bankrupt. Some of the standards are lack of a conceptual framework this means they havent got a clear defensible logic and the rules tend to be rather arbitrary. This causes the standards to lose its credibility and acceptability.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Case Study Essay -- Case Study

Case Study: A thirty six year old male has developed severe muscle weakness throughout the body. The condition began fifteen months ago with a left foot drop and within a year, he described difficulty with speech and swallowing, muscle twitching and cramping, and muscular atrophy throughout the upper and lower limbs. Within the last two months, his breathing has become more difficult, and there has been a noticeable difference in his voice. Prior to the fifteen months, he presented little to no symptoms. The patient, a medical doctor, has a wife and two young children. What began as seemingly innocent muscle weakness and cramping has lead to this patient’s fatal diagnosis. He is one of 2.5 per 100,000 people worldwide who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and will mostly likely die of respiratory failure within 2 to 3 years. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a is a highly degenerative disease involving the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary movement. The disease is sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s after the New York Yankees baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 1939. The disease causes degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons. These neurons connect the brainstem and spinal cord to muscle fibers and send electric impulses to the muscles. Without proper communication, the muscles begin to weaken and atrophy. Individuals with ALS will lose their ability for voluntary muscular control. Usually, bladder and bowel control are spared, though this is not always the case. Cognitive functions and sensory nerves are also typically spared, but the affected individuals may present symptoms of dementia. Initial symptoms generally include muscular weak... ...ological degeneration could happen in such a swift manner. I only hope that a better understanding of the causes of ALS can help find a cure. Works Cited ALSInfo: Lou Gherig’s Disease (ALS) [Internet]. 2011. Sanofi aventis US LLC; [last updated 2011 November 8; cited 2012 March 22]. Available from http://www.alsinfo.com/ Hayes SM. 2001. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Update on Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Management. In: Riolo L, editor. Topics in Physical Therapy: Neurology. American Physical Therapy Association. Lesson 9. McKinley MP, O'Loughlin VD. 2006. Nervous System Disorders. In: Wheatley CH, editor. Human anatomy. 2nd ed. Boston (MA): McGraw-Hill Higher Education. p 431. Umphred DA. 2001. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In: Allen A, Zipperlen R, editors. Neurological rehabilitation. 4th ed. St. Louis (MO): Mosby. p 363-385.

The Nature of Leadership in Billy Budd The Scarlet Letter Essay

The Nature of Leadership in Billy Budd The Scarlet Letter While it would be logical for good character to be in accordance with good leadership ability, this is rarely true in application. History has proven that many effective leaders were cruel and corrupt, and even American literature has reflected the commonplace nature of corrupted politicians. Upright politicians have existed but do not stay in the brief spotlight of American attention as the ones consumed by scandal. Therefore, Americans labor under the misconception that it is acceptable for a politician to be dishonest. Politicians will ignore moral guidelines to suit the lackadaisical characters of the voters as well as for their own personal gain. Only when Americans decide that personal character is more important than charisma will quality of leadership be supplemented by the moral awareness that the job demands, but which ironically the voters often complain that American leaders do not have. A primary implication in American literature is that behind every good leader lurks a few dark secrets. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the Reverend Dimmesdale is a devoted leader of the church who causes great inspiration to his congregation over the years. In fact, it seems that the greater his personal suffering grows, the more the public view of him appreciates. Arthur Dimmesdale is an adulterer and a hypocrite. While his lover Hester Prynne suffers publically for their combined sin, he is exalted as a moral icon. Through his own casuistry, he has convinced himself that he is serving the interests of the people this way. He is a very good minister, but a weak man. His dabbling in sin caused him to understand the peo... ...d gone without notice because they have not been involved with a scandal. The fact that the job can be adequately performed without a moral conscience doesn't mean that immorality is a prerequisite. In fact, citizens should reconsider the motives of their leaders if they know that the person feels no moral obligation to do what is right . When Americans look at their government officials, they should be proud rather than ashamed. By examining the literary and historical past of America, it should be apparent that serious thought should be involved in the selection of leaders as well as scrutiny of those already in power. With the system of government that America has today, it is imperative that the intentions of the founding fathers be remembered: "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice."1 1 The Constitution of the United States, 1787

Mark Twains Writings and Race Essay -- Mark Twain Race Racism Realism

Mark Twain's Writings and Race Samuel Langhorne Clemens, whom readers know as Mark Twain, has written many novels including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876; The Prince and the Pauper in 1882; Puddin’ Head Wilson in 1883; and Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which was completed in 1883 (Simpson 103). Throughout Mark Twain’s writings, Twain had written about the lifestyle in the South the way it was in truth and detail. Mark Twain was not predjudice in his writings, instead he stripped away the veneers of class, position, religion, institutions, and the norms of society through his use of setting, language, and characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 and died on April 21, 1910. He was raised in the South on a Missouri Frontier and when he was only four year of age he moved to Hannibal, a large Southern town on the banks of the Mississippi River (Simpson 104). The Mississippi River is a key element in his two novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both the characters Tom and Huck are similar to Twain in their spirit of adventure (Unger 193). Throughout his writings Twain wrote about the opression of the rich and poor, the strong and weak, and the proud and humble (Baxter 1). In his autobiography he wrote â€Å"All negroes were friends of ours and those of our own age were inface comrades (Neider 5).† Mark Twain could not find the realistic acceptance of friendships, loyalty, and courage in the adulthood of societies, and because of this he would always use a boyhood view of the world to contrast the adult hypocrac ies. Mark Twain was honest and knew that he could only write from a realistic perspective and could not accept these hypocracies of society (Simpson 25).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mark Twain had paid much attention to detail in his descriptions of the South. In 1876 he had been placed at the head of the best seller lists for his realease of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Unger 199). The time period of the book exists just prior to the civil war, although it was written just after the war (Simpson 3). In this novel the reader is asked to see and judge the ante-bellum world through Huck’s perception of it (Simpson 3). It is written in a first person narrative form told by a boy growing up in the South and therefore we are able to see the life of a young boy directly (S... ...use of setting, language, and characters. Works Cited Baxter, Sylvester. â€Å"Baxter Reviews YankeeYankee.† Boston Sunday Herald. 16 February 2000 . Boyesen, H.H.. â€Å"Cosmopolitan Reviews Puddin’head.† Cosmopolitan. 16 February 2000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Neider, Charles. ed. The Autobiography of Mark Twain. New York: Harper Collins, 1959. Fulton, Joe B. Mark Twain’s Ethical Realism – The Aesthetics of Race, Class, and Gender. Columbia: University of Missouri P, 1997. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. United Stated of America: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 1988. Unger, Leonard. ed. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Vol. IV. New York: Charles Scribner’s Son’s, 1974. â€Å"Courant Reviews Huck.† The Hartford Courant. 16 February 2000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . â€Å"Idler Reviews Pudd’nhead† Idler. 16 February 2000 .

Coffee †Brazil Essay

The story seems to begin in Ethiopia, where the coffee berry grew wild. Goatherds there noted that goats which ate leaves and berries of the plant remained awake all night. The Arabs claim that they developed the plant during the reign of Mohammed (c675 AD). Believe that if you wish – we are going with the Ethiopian story. Consumed originally as a food, it would take on the character of a medicinal and eventually that of a social drink. The coffee tree grows to a height of 14 to 20 feet, producing (along with bright green leaves and white flowers) a berry which, as it matures, goes from green to yellow to red. Harvested red, they are placed in water so that the good berries will sink and all the debris will float. The berries are then pulped to extract the beans, there being two beans per berry, the beans having a bluish-green color. Next they are dried and cured for several weeks, becoming hard and yellow. Roasting is next, at the high temperature of 900 degrees Fahrenheit for 17 minutes, then they are stored (aged) and eventually ground into coarse granules. One is obliged to wonder how this all came about: who was the first to decide that roasting the beans would do anything good to them? The decaffeinated type of coffee is made by treating the green beans with chlorine-based solvents prior to the rest of the process. There are some 30 species of the plant, the most important being: Brazilian, Mild, Robusta (or â€Å"African†) and Arabian, the last being the predominant tree of the Americas. Discovered by Arabs traveling in Ethiopia in the 13th century, it was taken to Arabia and flourished at Mocha in Yemen, where the Arabic name for it was â€Å"qahwah† and from that word to â€Å"coffee†. It’s popularity steadily increased. In the 1500s it arrived in Turkey, and in Italy in the 1600s. About this time, establishments for preparing the drink (â€Å"coffee houses†) sprang up all over Europe. In 1714 the French succeeded in bringing a live cutting to their island of Martinique, and, from that single plant, coffee growing spread throughout Central and South America. Meanwhile, the Portuguese introduced the plant into their colony of Brazil, where it took readily. In fact, Brazil today produces 25% of the world’s coffee, and Central and South America combined produces two-thirds of the world’s supply. Since coffee grows in Java and Southeast Asia, an alternate name for coffee is â€Å"java†. Then Starbucks came along and showed how coffee could be jazzed up by adding other things to it. At a hefty price.