...A massive explosion with more energy than the atomic bombs dropped in World War II ripped through the sky as a huge chunk of rock traveling close to fifty-thousand miles per hour was overpowered by the sheer force of aerodynamics and exploded into oblivion (Tagliaferri, 1998). This explosion was an asteroid from space that was on a collision course with the earth; in February of 1994 the asteroid struck. “The asteroid actually broke into several pieces, with one large piece detonating about 34 km above the surface, and a second, much larger piece detonating at an altitude of approximately 21 km” (Tagliaferri, 1998). Scientists were lucky to record this data via satellite to study the force an asteroid can have when impacting firsthand. There is evidence of asteroid impacts covering the surface of the earth and other surrounding planets in space. There are also many theories involving asteroid impacts causing mass extinctions on Earth, the most common being the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago (deGrasse Tyson, 2005). Most of the impact evidence shows that the earth has been attacked by these asteroids since its formation billions of years ago. Evidence all around us tells us that the Earth will be struck, and another major asteroid impact will occur. The most common and highly argued impact event is the one that may have wiped out the dinosaurs. This event in itself has many theories, but the one common element in most sound dinosaur extinction theories is that...
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...Going to the Moon Robert Parkhouse 1) The significance of Miss Johnson’s detailed description is to add vivid imagery to the story. The narrator describes her is as if she is a loving mother or someone he trusts. The way he describes her shows his attention to detail. 2a) The theme of “Going to the Moon” revolves around death and the impact it has on the world and on your family. To the world, your death may not change a single thing. But the impact on your family is a great tragedy. You may mean nothing to the world but you mean the world to your family. 2b) The moon acts as a metaphor because it is an imaginary place for the main character to escape from reality. 3) The main character comes from poverty and a poor family. He views the American culture as the ideal culture. The way he describes his culture verses the Canadian and American culture sounds as if America is the promise land and it is just out of his reach. 4) The allusion that the author uses is “. . . like Dorothy falling asleep on her way to Emerald City.”(211) This is very effective because just like Nino’s family being just out of reach of Detroit or the promise land, Dorothy was just out of reach of the wizard, she couldn’t make it. 5) This quotation explains that Nino feels he is an outsider. He is an outsider of Detroit and he sees the beauty and magnificence of the city. The people who live there, however, take all of it for...
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...the one that’s missing you. There’s a full moon coming in through the screened window. There’s a breeze sneaking in as well, but the moon is the more important detail. But the most important detail, by far, is the one that’s missing; you. I can picture you in the moonlight; I can pick out a strand of your hair from memory. I can hear a smile from your eyes; if I close mine. I can almost feel your skin the moment before it touched mine. But that takes concentration. I’d much rather stand here, bathed in the moonlight and trying to clear my head. Trying to make sense out of the craters on the moon; trying to guess at the temperature of those far away rocks. Wondering if they’d be warm to my touch. Wondering where you are. Bob Dylan is playing in the background; I wish he’d shut up. He makes not concentrating difficult. I take another drag from the cigarette I’ve been holding but neglecting to mention. Exhaling, I notice that there are two sets of clouds in the sky tonight- one moving slowly and the other breezing by. I steady my gaze on the moon, and the cloud system that is almost static to its side. The other set of clouds hides and reveals the moon at a pace that’s almost like a pulse. I feel fortunate to witness the equivalent of an interstellar circulatory system. And sorrowful that there is such a thing. That nature lacks creativity and imitates its...
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...Universe ASTRO 101 IN Naming the Craters The naming of astronomical objects and their features is accomplished as a thoughtful and time-consuming international effort of the International Astronomical Union. They’re an internationally recognized body that, since 1919, has been in charge of naming features on other worlds within and outside the Solar System. Every feature on every planet and moon in our solar system has a particular theme, for instance, craters on the moon are named for dead scientists, engineers, and explorers. In naming ten of the largest craters on Mercury one has to take in account that the regulations for naming a crater on Mercury is that it should be named after a famous writer or artists. According to IAU rules, all new craters must be named after an artist that was famous for more than fifty years, and dead for more than three years, before the date they are named. Of the first five craters chosen to be named, they should be renamed after famous artist from various periods throughout history. The first painter that was chosen was Gustav Kilmt. Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, and sketches during the late 18th century. From the IAU’s rules and regulations on naming craters, Gustav meets all criteria and has been deceased for nearly a century, so seeing as he hasn’t already had a crater named after him it is only right that...
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...Jupiter on the other hand is just rising. The time reads 6:57 p.m. and it’s located about 45° E. The constellations that I found were LEO MINOR, CEPHEUS, and CASSIOPIA. I located LEO MINOR about in the NE sky about 7:01p.m. It’s about approximately 35°-40° degrees NE. CEPHEUS “the weird looking house” is in the Northern sky about 35° N. CASSIOPIA “the big M/W of the sky” was found about 45° NW. Very visible and bright in the sky. Although there were more constellations these ones caught my attention. I got to say the way the moon looked in the observatory was fascinating totally different than the way we see it up at night. With that I must say that the telescope was ginormous and it made me see the moon like it was a cell with all the craters and different shapes. It makes one wonder how did it happen. Well that makes 3 sky journals 7 more to...
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...Title: In Jordan, the Hip Speak ‘Arabizi’ Submitted to: Neslihan Bilikozen Submitted by: Hakam Abdulqader, 49431 Date of Submission: May 6, 2013 Spring, 2013 American University of Sharjah In Jordan the Hip Speak ‘Arabizi’ Summary In the article, “In Jordan,. The Hip Speak ‘Arabizi,’” by Ibon Villelabeitia, Villelabeitia (2012) discusses how Arabic and English language is being mixed into one language called Arabizi, which became a social symbol to define the upper class in Jordan that causes the Arabic language to slowly fade away. This article interprets the reasoning behind why the young generation is using this language that helps them to express their opinions easier about unmannered topics spoken in the public by using English rather than Arabic, as it can be imposed differently in Arabic. However, linguists think that English language is destroying Arabic language from the American pop culture. The author points out in his article that Arabizi is being widely used by well-educated Jordanians class, which is drawing away the native language and exposing a social and economic gap in the country.. Finally, the author then concludes his piece by giving a brief about a documentary called “Arabizi” directed by Dalia Alkury and providing a quote from the director that brief states that even though the director speaks Arabizi, she is still close to her culture. Word Count: 185 Reference Villelabeitia, I. (2012). In Jordan, the...
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...I recommend that we prepare our delegates for the cultural norms of doing business in the Middle East and assign our representatives with this in mind. Summarily, this is because the prevalence of Islam in the region has resulted in different values assuming primacy and neglecting to educate our team on the cultural norms may result in an impression of ethnocentrism. Moreover, to avoid the appearance of paternalism I recommend that we also provide translators rather than rely on our customer’s English. At the meeting we discussed the successful bid for the contract and our flight to the initial meeting onsite. This raised a number of interesting questions regarding how we should conduct ourselves to minimise misunderstandings. If the negotiating team does not account for cultural differences in conducting business in the region the firm runs the risk of losing the contract to a competitor. Considerations must be given to the host’s religious sensibilities. Islam has implications for the systemic treatment of the business process, including what operational activities are permissible. The delegates must also be prepared for the following main differences to Australian culture as illustrated in the diagram below (Hofstede, 2012): context sensitivity in communication, autocratic leadership, the prevalence of collectivism and ‘face’, long term orientation compared to western cultures at circa 50 (Baron, 2008), and high levels of uncertainty avoidance, yet curiously a relatively elastic...
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...Outline of Article Arabs and the West (Failure of West to understand Arabs) - Main focus is the bad perceptions gained by Europeans on Arabs Perception of Western Attitude on Arabs - Ideas developed from past - Divided into 3 strands 1. Battle between Christian Europe and Islam - 7th century - 18 century - Fears, animosities and suspicions reflected in European Education - Normally Western deny but subconscious is another story (prejudice) - Oriental is defined with adjectives: duplicity, cruelty, servility, despotism. - Another possibility is the misunderstanding of Islam 2. European Expansion - 17th century - End of First World War. - Euopean Imperialism (destruction of literacy) - British Global Supremacy (lead non-europeans to civilization) - sincerity from British was due to belief that non-european are not modern - Heightening European Power and ideals over non-european - British Outlook in Arab Territories was based on British Ideals (not looking at arab culture) 3. Struggle between Imperialistic Power versu Growing National Movements - After World War I and still existing today - Attempt of Nationalists to remove foreign power yield: - Rebellion and repression - Loss of life - Bitterness of opinion - British handicaped due to 2 reasons a. Failure to realize impact of superior strength on weaker nations - Weaker nation feels suffocated when under superior power - Believes they are stopping their aspirations b. National liberation...
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...Culture is the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish a society. Culture is important to companies because it determines the rules within which businesses operate. Culture is a learned behavior that may be transmitted intergenerational or intragenerationally. Culture’s elements are interrelated, and may change to adapt to external forces. Culture is shared by members of a society. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE The basic elements of culture are social structure, language, communication, religion, and values and attitudes. The way in which the elements interact affects the local environment in which international businesses operate Islamic Law (known as Shariah) forbids charging interest. Instead, lenders under Islamic Law may charge “fees” or “rent” to borrowers. Shariah scholars say there is no prohibition against using an interest rate as a benchmark to calculate appropriate fees or rents. Several U.S. lenders (including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) are now offering “Islamic home mortgages.” Such mortgages are described in detail in the textbook. The price of the Islamic mortgages tends to be very comparable to the price of traditional mortgages. Values and Attitudes * Values are the principles and standards accepted by members of a society; attitudes encompass the actions, feelings, and thoughts that result from those values. Attitudes about time, authority, education, and rewards reflect an individual’s deep-seated values...
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...UN Simulation Information History: (Retrieved from ‘’ The World Since 1945’’ Second Edition by Daniel R. Brower. New Jersey, 2005) * By 1960’s military dictatorship had taken power in most middle Eastern countries they justified their rule by promoting social reform and often by claiming to be defenders of the Muslim faith Jewish Problem: * Jewish settlers living among Arab-speaking peoples in Palestine achieved the Zionist dream of a Jewish nation-state shortly after ww2 * the inflexible opposition of Arab states to the very existence of Israel led to four separate wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors * Pan- Arab Nationalism To unite Arab peoples under one nation * Zionism- Jewish movement * Later, Palestinians entered into the struggle against the Jewish state in an effort to forge their own nation-state nationalism was at the heart of the Middle East turmoil in the last half of the century Oil Conflict/issue * Oil fields concentrated in the area around the Persian Golf contained greater petroleum reserves of higher quality than anywhere else in the world * The dependence of industrial countries on this vital resoourse brought the preasures of the cold war to bear on the oil-rich countries * SOVIETS AND U.S KEPT CLOSE WATCH ON THE UNSTABLE GOVERNMENTS THERE * Governments of land with large oil reserves nationalized their petroleum industry to get direct access to a share of the profits created an international...
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...Gender and Social Change in the Middle East: The Islam and Women Phenomenon Written By: Amelia Ramraj Arguably the most heated, widely discussed and controversial topic in gender and social change with respect to a cultural context is the state of women in the Middle East and the role that religion plays as a primary source for further derived influences of politics, economics, legal and family affairs to the social situation as a whole. This social stratosphere of revolving and intricate subjects of change and progression represent a multitude of conflicting ideologies, theories and realities. The media serves as an informational anchor, particularly in its portrayal of social situations and change, primarily divided into Western and Eastern media. The broader subject at hand is gender and social change in the Middle East, but specifically, how women, as the primary subject of the gender discussion, and Islam, as the foremost engine to drive the social scene across the Middle Eastern peninsula co-exist to create an unprecedented dynamic in the Middle East. This research paper will attempt to progressively reveal and discuss related subjects in order to create a transitional framework for a relevant understanding of the gender and social dynamic of the Middle East. As an outline, this paper will begin by briefly discussing the global role of women from a gender and sexuality perspective. It will then analyze how such roles are portrayed and what movements exist in order...
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...// In a crowded corner of southern Beirut, tucked behind a row of street stalls where traders hawk DVDs, shoes and clothes, lies an unremarkable patch of land, empty except for a collection of placards and posters. Related ■ Sabra and Shatila: defenceless victims were butchered by militiamen ■ A warning from history: how a massacre is remembered Topic Middle East unrest Lebanon Middle East One shows a woman standing over a pile of bloated, twisted bodies, an arm raised to the sky and a look of bewilderment on her face. Others have images of dead bodies and a man wailing as he holds up the bloodied corpse of a baby. One placard reads: "We will never forget." And here, indeed, they cannot forget. For this nondescript patch of land in Ghobeiry is a mass grave containing the unidentified bodies of scores, perhaps hundreds, of hastily buried men, women and children massacred 30 years ago in the nearby Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. For three days, Lebanese Christian militia scoured the camps and systematically slaughtered refugees trapped inside by an Israeli military cordon. The massacre, against the backdrop of the country's 15-year civil war and Israel's invasion the same year, shocked Lebanon and Israel, and appalled a wider world that had thought itself inured to senseless bloodshed in what it saw as an inherently fratricidal corner of the Middle East. Three decades later, there has been no accountability and no historical reckoning:...
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...No Place Like Home Edward Said's States is an excerpt from his book After the Last Sky: Palestinian Lives. It's a story about Palestine, once a country, but now spread out into a million pieces of the people that once called it home. The pieces being more of memories of a time when Palestinians could be who they are, not a scattered and forgotten people. They all face a new struggle, a struggle to find their identity. "Identity- who we are, where we come from, what we are- is difficult to maintain in exile. Most other people take their identity for granted. Not the Palestinian, who is required to show proofs of identity more or less constantly." (Page 546) Said, being Palestinian himself, tells us this story in what was called a "hybrid" type of writing. He does this by letting the pictures take precedence in telling his story but then describes each picture by going back and forth from a history point of view, to his own recollections of his childhood. The way he describes each picture makes you feel as if you were at one time in that picture and can feel an emotional connection to it. Through each photo, we get a really sense of what it is like to be Palestinian, to have it all taken away and how they started new. The way Said puts the story together without any time frame, is an example of why his writing style was described as a hybrid. He will start with describing a picture by telling us facts about his country and then interrupt himself, like he's actually have...
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...Location and geography Jordan has an area of about 35,475 square miles (91,900 square kilometers). It lies in the center of the Middle East, sharing its northern border with Syria, eastern border with Iraq, it's southern and eastern borders with Saudi Arabia, and western border with the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and Israel. Its only seaport is the port of Aqaba. Jordan has barren deserts, fertile valleys, and colorful rock and sand mountains. It contains the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea, and the Great Rift Valley, which was created twenty million years ago when tectonic plates shifted, stretching from Lake Tiberius south through Jordan and into eastern Africa. Population of Jordan In July 2000 the population of Jordan was estimated to be 4,998,564, increasing on average by 3.1 percent a year. The country has a very young population, of which 41 percent are under the age of 20. Only 3 percent of Jordanians are over the age of 65. In 2000 the birth rate stood at 26.24 births per 1,000 while the death rate stood at 2.63 per 1,000. With a projected annual population growth rate of 3 percent, the population is expected to reach approximately 7.5 million by the year 2015. Religions Islam is the state religion, although all are guaranteed religious freedom. Most Jordanians (about 95%) are Sunni Muslims. Of the racial minorities, the Turkomans and Circassians are Sunni Muslims, but the Druzes are a heterodox Muslim sect. Christians constitute about 4% of the population...
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...been the Hala Salaam Clovis Maksoud Assistant Professory of Arab Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Dr. Adely received her Ph.D. in Comparative Education and Anthropology from Columbia University. She is interested in education in the Middle East and Africa, especially areas that pertain to women, gender and culture. In this paper, Adely furthers her research on Jordanian schoolgirls. The abstract clearly states the purpose, the setting, the research design as well as the study’s conclusions and recommendations. The abstract outlines Dr. Adely’s intent to explore the importance of extracurricular activities, more specifically music, in the education of patriotism, faith and femininity in a female high school in Jordan Her qualitative study based on first-hand experience as well as conversation analysis is aimed at both the academic community and the general population interested in socio-cultural perspectives on education in the Middle East. Analysis Throughout her study, Adely builds primarily on her previous work from 2004, however she does cite literature from Kandiyoti (1991) and Ahmed (1992) among others. This literature is cited in the conclusion and little reference is made to the exact content of the cited authors work. Dr. Adely chose these authors in order to show the reader that many others have also explored the field of female roles in nation building, authenticity and modernity in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond. Although...
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