...Thursday 28th of August, 2008 Alyce Wearne Task: Evaluate the argument that America was justified in using atomic weapons against Japan in 1945. As one of the most significant and consequential decisions in the history of the world, President Harry Truman’s allowance of atomic weapons towards the end of World War II, of which he himself understood would cause both mass devastation and indignation, is still one of the most controversial and heavily debated topics in today’s society. This was partially due to the adverse underestimation and seemingly ignorant approach the American’s had towards their latest development of mass destruction; almost oblivious to the immense aftermath of physical injury, civilian death and emotional torment it would produce for those involved. This decision, ultimately made by one man, affected not only America and Japan, but the world. Dispute over this was, and continues to be highly generated, the event causing anger and infuriation to millions across the world. This resentment did not just accumulate from the lack of awareness and slaughter of innocent life, but from the graphic images shown in newspapers, the casualties, and the torturous amount of death underwent as a result of the bomb. As a Japanese survivor documented: “The appearance of people was . . . well, they all had skin blackened by burns. . . . They had no hair because their hair was burned, and at a glance you couldn't tell whether you were looking at them from in front...
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...A special report on China's place in the world Brushwood and gall China insists that its growing military and diplomatic clout pose no threat. The rest of the world, and particularly America, is not so sure, says Edward Carr Dec 2nd 2010 | from PRINT EDITION • • IN 492BC, at the end of the “Spring and Autumn” period in Chinese history, Goujian, the king of Yue in modern Zhejiang, was taken prisoner after a disastrous campaign against King Fuchai, his neighbour to the north. Goujian was put to work in the royal stables where he bore his captivity with such dignity that he gradually won Fuchai’s respect. After a few years Fuchai let him return home as his vassal. Goujian never forgot his humiliation. He slept on brushwood and hung a gall bladder in his room, licking it daily to feed his appetite for revenge. Yue appeared loyal, but its gifts of craftsmen and timber tempted Fuchai to build palaces and towers even though the extravagance ensnared him in debt. Goujian distracted him with Yue’s most beautiful women, bribed his officials and bought enough grain to empty his granaries. Meanwhile, as Fuchai’s kingdom declined, Yue grew rich and raised a new army. Goujian bided his time for eight long years. By 482BC, confident of his superiority, he set off north with almost 50,000 warriors. Over several campaigns they put Fuchai and his kingdom to the sword. The king who slept on brushwood and tasted gall is as familiar to Chinese as King Alfred and his cakes are to Britons,...
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... | | |College of Humanities | | |HIS/115 | | |U.S. History to 1865 | Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2008 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course provides an overview of the social, political, economic, and global events that have shaped the American scene from colonial times through the Civil War period. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Schultz, K. M. (2012). HIST2, Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning...
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...FEIT31272 Project Management and the Professional Assignment 1 | Ethics of UAVs | 11035425 Ngo, Kevin 11035502 Truong, Matthew | Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 2 Overview 3 Definition 3 History of UAV 4 Civil Use 7 Background: 8 Small Picture Ethics 9 Big Picture Ethics 12 Deontology. 12 Relativism 15 Virtue ethics 17 Future use: 19 Recommendation 21 Individual Opinion 22 Kevin Ngo 22 Matthew Truong 25 Reference List 27 Executive Summary Introduction Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can generally be defined as a “device used or intended to be used for flight in the air that has no on-board pilot”. Current generations of UAVs “can be as small as an insect or as large as a charter flight”. They can be launched from a road or a small vehicle, but are often large enough to accommodate cameras, sensors or other information gathering equipment. Recently, discussions of UAVs have shifted most of the attention toward the ethical, legal and privacy implications that UAVs have, on society in global and domestic level. Overview Definition ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- There are many various terms used to identify these unmanned vehicles to which by its definition are that of a craft without a human pilot within. The most commonly accepted term would be UAV ( unmanned aerial vehicles); the US military much prefer...
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...The Grand Strategy of the United States by R.D. Hooker, Jr. INSS Strategic Monograph Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Grand Strategy of the United States R.D. Hooker, Jr. INSS Strategic Monograph National Defense University Press Washington, D.C. October 2014 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or any other agency of the Federal Government. Cleared for public release; distribution unlimited. Portions of this work may be quoted or reprinted without permission, provided that a standard source credit line is included. NDU Press would appreciate a courtesy copy of reprints or reviews. Cover: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with members of the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House hours before his national address, September 10, 2014 (The White House/Pete Souza) First printing, October 2014 Contents The Roots of American Grand Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 A Century Like No Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Ends of Grand Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Means of Grand Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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...opposition to a prevailing idea or institution. It is older than the United States, serving as a privilege and obligation to its citizens. The history of the United States is an ideal example of how dissent ultimately changes society by offering new ideas and perspective. Important issues that dissenters advocated such as taxation, slavery, women’s rights, civil rights, and anti-war sentiments define America. In order for a society to be successful, it must encourage dissent and protect the rights of its dissenters. Dissenters fought to create change and gain rights they believed were denied to them and others. Religious dissent forced European groups such as the Quakers and Puritans, who were persecuted for their beliefs, to seek life in the colonies. During the Pre-Revolutionary Age, Christianity affected all aspects of an individual’s life. Christianity was the basis of decision making in politics and society. Governments often ruled over their subjects, with the notion that they had approval from God and would therefore be granted his mercy for slaughtering innocent individuals, whether it was through crusades or witch hunts. At the time of the seventeenth century, kings and queens final decisions ruled which branch of Christianity to follow; with the constant upheaval in rulers, and exile towards Protestants during the Catholic era and Calvinists during the Church of England era, radical religious ideals began to form resulting in a revolution. During this time period...
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...Petition, and Modern Applications Back when I lived in Houston, TX there was a plan to place a small sewage treatment facility right next to the entrance of my neighborhood. As soon as residents heard of this plan they immediately gathered to petition our local government to stop these plans in their tracks. Soon after submitting their petition the group was met with a lawsuit from the company responsible for construction, claiming charges of defamation. Every day Americans assume they are able to enjoy and exercise the inalienable rights that were protected by our founding fathers in the Bill of Rights. However, in recent years it has come to the attention of many that our right to petition, as protected in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, may be at risk. The source of concern is a controversial one that forces us to weigh the importance of our right to enter a plea against another citizen, against our right to petition freely without fear of redress. Over the past couple decades Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation in government, also know as SLAPPs, have become a tool used by corporations (especially those in real-estate) to silence critics who petition against their actions. The goal of delay and distraction is accomplished by forcing defendants to bear the burden of litigation costs in order to defend themselves from the impending lawsuit. Twenty-Eight states have already passed anti-SLAPP statutes, however I believe it is necessary for the national government...
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...Nature and Nurture in a Global World: The Need to Strike a Balance John Odike University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus “Today and more than ever before, the world has become a ‘global village’ with the expansion of the communication networks, the rapid information exchange, the gradual shrink of borders and of attachment to identities and citizenship, the lifting of the barriers of visas and passports, the consecration of a new era when national sovereignty and the authority of the nation-state is fading away in favour of regional groupings, international organizations and international legality and law. This means the beginning of the return to the universal trend which is imposed by human instinct, but in a broader environment and in an evident endeavour to dominate the world.” – Prof. Abdelhadi Boutaleb Globalization has affected many aspects of life, and as Thomas Friedman posits, “has changed the world permanently, for both better and worse”_. This post-Cold War concept appears as a dual phenomenon with two antagonistic dimensions, and Boutaleb remarked, “From one perspective, it looks like a system of wealth, prosperity or even the promised heaven; from another, it appears as a system of exclusion and marginalization. For some, it is a merciful angel, while for others, it is Satan.”_ In view of this double effect, this paper seeks to discuss the fate of character and communities in this era of borderless interaction; when information, science, culture...
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...Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed., Rethinking the Cold War Eric Foner, ed., The New American History. Revised and Expanded Edition E SSAYS ON _ T WENTIETH- C ENTURY H ISTORY Edited by Michael Adas for the American Historical Association TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS PHILADELPHIA Temple University Press 1601 North Broad Street Philadelphia...
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...Big Business Corporatism Versus Free Market Capitalism Right now, there is a lot of talk about the evils of “capitalism”. But it is not really accurate to say that we live in a capitalist system. Rather, what we have in the United States today, and what most of the world is living under, is much more accurately described as “corporatism”. Under corporatism, most wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of giant corporations and big government is used as a tool by these corporations to consolidate wealth and power even further. In a corporatist system, the wealth and power of individuals and small businesses is dwarfed by the overwhelming dominance of the corporations. Eventually, the corporations end up owning almost everything and they end up dominating nearly every aspect of society. As you will see below, this very accurately describes the United States of America today. Corporatism is killing this country, and it is not what our founding fathers intended. Corporatism is actually not too different from socialism or communism. They are all “collectivist” economic systems. Under corporatism, wealth and power are even more highly concentrated than they are under socialism or communism, and the truth is that none of them are “egalitarian” economic systems. Under all collectivist systems, a small elite almost always enjoys most of the benefits while most of the rest of the population suffers.The Occupy Wall Street protesters realize that our economic system is...
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...1 NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE ESCALATION OF THE COLD WAR, 1945-1962 David Holloway, Stanford University Nuclear weapons are so central to the history of the Cold War that it can be difficult to disentangle the two. Did nuclear weapons cause the Cold War? Did they contribute to its escalation? Did they help to keep the Cold War “cold?” We should ask also how the Cold War shaped the development of atomic energy. Was the nuclear arms race a product of Cold War tension rather than its cause? The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War The nuclear age began before the Cold War. During World War II, three countries decided to build the atomic bomb: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Britain put its own work aside and joined the Manhattan Project as a junior partner in 1943. The Soviet effort was small before August 1945. The British and American projects were driven by the fear of a German atomic bomb, but Germany decided in 1942 not to make a serious effort to build the bomb. In an extraordinary display of scientific and industrial might, the United States made two bombs ready for use by August 1945. Germany was defeated by then, but President Truman decided to use the bomb against Japan. The decision to use the atomic bomb has been a matter of intense controversy. Did Truman decide to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order, as he claimed, to end the war with Japan without further loss of American lives? Or did he drop the bombs in order to intimidate the Soviet...
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...Inc.'”. March. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/218525-faa-why-we-should-invest-today-in-airports-inc) With the latest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forecast predicting a doubling of passengers and cargo by 2030, the current funding system is not up to the job of ensuring airports will have the infrastructure they need to handle such dramatic increases in traffic. This will have far-reaching consequences. Commercial airports are powerful economic engines, generating 10.5 million jobs and $1.2 trillion for the U.S. economy, according to a new Airports Council International-North America study. Across the country, workers and businesses count on local airports to attract investment and move people and goods around the world. Since 2001, the total number of jobs associated with airports has increased by more than 50 percent. Despite unprecedented growth and clear evidence of the economic benefits of infrastructure investments, airports expect to have $80 billion in unmet needs through 2015 because of the flawed system used to pay for infrastructure projects. That has not always been the case. Airports generated millions of jobs and trillions of dollars for local communities between 2001 and 2010 because President Bill Clinton and Congress made two decisions to improve airport infrastructure planning and investment in 2000. The first decision allowed local communities to raise more money to finance...
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...presents reports on hu- man rights practices in more than 190 countries around the world. In the 2010 Human Rights report, China was chastised by the U.S. for its poor human rights record. The Chinese government has been accused of imprisoning citizens for practicing their religious faith and op- pressing freedom of expression and information. The one child per family policy has been attacked continuously by the U.S. and they have also con- demned the arrest, detention and disappearance of Chinese citizens. This latest human rights report issued by the U.S. has highlighted many human rights transgressions in China. Yet the U.S. criticism on China’s human rights has been contradicted by China. As the fastest developing economy in the world, China is intent on defending its position where human rights are concerned. The two countries have had dialogues on human rights issues, the latest being held on April 27-28, 2011 in Beijing. The discourse came after prolonged foot- dragging on the part of both nations; talks were suspended for a few years. Both countries have not been able to publicly accept their human rights errors, but each has been focusing on violations committed by the other. Against the backdrop of military buildup by both countries, the con- troversy over whether the U.S. is morally justified in criticizing China’s hu- man rights can have far reaching and devastating effects for the entire world. The two “powers” have been going hard at each other, seeing each other as a...
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...EIGHT: The World Beyond Our Borders CHAPTER NINE: Family Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Barack Obama Copyright Prologue IT’S BEEN ALMOST ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four years out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in the Illinois legislature had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking that my work as a civil rights lawyer, and contacts from my days as a community organizer, would make me a viable candidate. After discussing it with my wife, I entered the race and proceeded to do what every first-time candidate does: I talked to anyone who would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty shops and barbershops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I’d get some version of the same two questions. “Where’d you get that funny name?” And then: “You seem like a nice enough guy. Why do you want to go into something dirty and nasty like politics?” I was familiar with the question, a variant on the questions asked of me years earlier, when I’d first arrived in Chicago to work in low-income neighborhoods. It signaled a cynicism not simply with politics but with the very notion of a public life, a cynicism that—at least in the South Side neighborhoods I sought to represent—had been nourished by a generation of broken promises. In response, I would usually...
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...Español | Français | Русский | USINFO > Publications An Outline of the U.S. Economy Related Item USA Economy in Brief CONTENTS Continuity and Change This volume was prepared for the U.S. Department of State by Christopher Conte, a former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, with Albert R. Karr, a former Wall Street Journal reporter. It updates several previous editions that had been issued by the U.S. Information Agency beginning in 1981. How the U.S. Economy Works The U.S. Economy: A Brief History Small Business and the Corporation Stocks, Commodities, and Markets The Role of the Government in the Economy Monetary and Fiscal Policy American Agriculture: Its Changing Significance (Posted February 2001) Labor in America: The Worker's Role Other Language Versions: Foreign Trade and Global Economic Policies Afterword: Beyond Economics Glossary Executive Editor: George Clack | Editor: Kathleen E. Hug | Art Director: Barbara Long Illustrations: Lisa Manning | Internet Editor: Barbara Long This site is produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. Home | About USINFO | Site Index | Webmaster | Privacy Topics | Regions | Resource Tools | Products | | Continuity and Change How the U.S. Economy Works The U.S. Economy: A Brief History Small...
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