Effect of hydration on blood pressure

Effect of hydration on blood pressure Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Water is the key to all life; without it, life as we know it would not exist. So it is natural to believe that hydration should have an effect on blood pressure and heart rate, considering our heart is also one of the keys to our life as humans. So we will be testing what affect hydration has on blood pressure and heart rate, if any. Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within our arteries. The measurement is recorded as the systolic pressure (pressure when heart contracts) over the diastolic pressure (pressure when the heart is relaxed). (Weedman, Sokoloski 2009)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A study was done at Franz-Volhard Clinical research center that examined how water drinking affected blood pressure in the body. The results showed that drinking 500mL of water increased patients blood pressure and also increased heart rate (Schroeder 2002). Although it was only a slight increase, it still had an affect on the pressure and heart rate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jens Jordan also did a study on how water affects blood pressure and found that the older the patient was the more of an effect drinking water had on blood pressure. In fact, in some of the younger patients drinking water had no effect at all. However, when the water did have an effect it increased blood pressure every single time. Some of the reasons for this increase, Jordan describes, are because water and plasma have different osmolarities (concentration of solute vs. solution), the pressure in the blood increases. Also, water may cause different plasma concentrations in the blood which would also cause an increase in blood pressure (Jordan 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rats and humans are very alike organisms. Our bodies both function and are made similarly. So when David Belanger and Samuel M. Feldman did a study on the effects of water deprivation on rats, we can predict that something similar may happen in humans. The rats heart rates decreased the longer they were dehydrated (Belanger and Feldman 1962). The study did not test what hydrating the rats would do, but since the heart rates decreased without water, it is possible that they would increase with water.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One reasonable explanation of why dehydration affects blood pressure is due to the tightening of blood vessels. The volume of blood in the blood vessels and veins of the body will begin to lessen when water is drawn from them. As a result, the vessels and veins will contract in order to stay full of blood (otherwise there is extra space, leaving room for gas to build up). This contracting results in high tension, or high blood pressure (Healthy-water-best-filters).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I hypothesize that hydration will affect blood pressure and heart rate. I predict that the blood pressure and heart rate will increase. The significance of this experiment is determining how hydration affects blood pressure and heart rate. It is important to know this because high blood pressure is a dangerous condition, and many people suffer from it. If hydration can affect blood pressure (and heart rate) in a good way, it may produce many ways to help keep blood pressure and heart rate at a healthy state. Materials and Methods   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, the variable to be tested (hydration) was decided by the class and a question to test was determined. The dependent variable was blood pressure and heart rate (beats per min). The independent variable was hydration (and time). Basal readings (resting blood pressure and heart rate) for each student were used from the last experiment. Each student did not drink any water over the duration of the class (about 2.5 hours), and at the end of class, each student drank roughly 16oz of water. Each person recorded their blood pressure and heart rate at time zero by using their basal BP and HR from the past experiments. Immediately after drinking the water, a partner began timing the other partner. Every three minutes each partner measured their partners blood pressure (systolic/diastolic pressure) and heart rate (beats per min) using a digital sphygmomanometer (which expressed both heart rate and blood pressure). A measurement was taken every three minutes for 12 min utes. There were 13 groups who gathered data, so 26 total students data was obtained and put into excel. Averages, T-Tests, and ranges were then attained and analyzed. (Weedman, Sokoloski 2009) Results   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After all 26 students in the class drank about 16oz of water, each found a partner and started to record the blood pressure and heart rate of each other every 3 minutes for 12 minutes. The data for each student was obtained and analyzed in an excel spreadsheet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basal readings (resting rate) for blood pressure (systolic/diastolic pressure) for all 26 students ranged from 83/57 to 158/105. After every student took three basal readings, the averages for each basal reading were taken, and all three averages were averaged at 108/69. The blood pressures at time zero ranged from 91/58 to 175/134. After the outliers were removed, the average for time zero was 117/74. At 3 minutes, the blood pressures ranged from 86/63 to 157/117 and the average was 111/69 after outliers were removed. At 6 minutes, the blood pressures ranged from 85/52 to 150/75 and the average was 109/70 after outliers were removed. At 9 minutes, the blood pressures ranged from 91/53 to 140/80 and the average was 116/75 after outliers were removed. At 12 minutes, the blood pressures ranged from 91/59 to 137/69 and the average was 113/70 after outliers were removed. After performing a T-Test, we can determine that the data is significant (the result of the te st was 0.33). (Table 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Graph 2 illustrates how the systolic and diastolic pressures didnt change over time. After drinking 16oz of water, the blood pressure was not affected at all. The slope of the trendline for average systolic pressure is -0.1. We can determine that this is extremely close to zero. Its not enough of a slope to say that the systolic pressure decreased at all. The slope of the trendline for average diastolic pressure is -0.07. Again, this is close enough to zero to determine that there was no change in diastolic pressure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The heart rate basal readings for all 26 students ranged from 53 beats per minute (bpm) to 122 bpm. The overall average basal reading for heart rate was 76.57 bpm. At time zero, the heart rates ranged from 44 bpm to 116 bpm and the average was 69.5 bpm after outliers were removed. At 3 min, the heart rates ranged from 52 bpm to 106 bpm and the average was 67.25 bpm once outliers were removed. At 6 min, the heart rates ranged from 51 bpm to 108 bpm and the average was 66.3 bpm once the outliers were removed. At 9 min, the heart rates ranged from 55 bpm to 116 bpm and the average was 68.67 bpm once outliers were removed. At 12 min, the heart rates ranged from 42 bpm to 100 bpm and the average was 69.33 bpm once outliers were removed. (Table 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Graph 1 illustrates the changes in the heart rate over the 12 minutes. From 0 to 6 minutes, the heart rate decreases by 3.2 bpm, but from 6 to 12 minutes, the heart rate increases by 3.03 bpm. However, since the average basal reading was 76.57 bpm, we can see that after drinking water, the heart rate immediately decreased by 7.07 bpm, and didnt recover after the 12 minutes. Since we didnt measure recovery rate, we dont know how long it took the body to recover. Discussion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I hypothesized that hydration would affect blood pressure and heart rate. I predicted that hydration would cause the blood pressure and heart rate to increase. The data did not completely support my hypothesis and prediction. Hydration did not affect blood pressure, but it did affect heart rate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Graph 2 illustrates that once students drank 16oz of water their blood pressure was not affected. The slopes of both of the trendlines for systolic and diastolic pressures were extremely close to zero, showing that the blood pressures did not change due to hydration. Although the pressures increased a bit from the basal readings, it still follows the trend of the graph, and would not affect the trendlines. So we determine that hydration did not affect blood pressure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Graph 1 illustrates that heart rate was affected by hydration. From time zero to 6 minutes, the average heart rate decreased by 3.2 bpm. From 6 to 12 minutes, the heart rate increased by 3.03 bpm. These increases and decreases of the heart rate are very close to each other. If we measured heart rate longer, we would be able to determine if this was a pattern or not. With the amount of data we have, its hard to determine if this is a significant increase and decrease. However, from the average basal reading of 76.57 bpm (Table 1) to the reading at time zero, there was an average decrease of 7.07 bpm. Compared to the other decrease in the graph, this is a much larger one. So we can conclude that hydration does affect heart rate, but only for a brief period of time. It decreases heart rate immediately, but after about 6 minutes, the heart rate begins to increase again. We cant determine if the heart rate is recovering because we didnt measure until the rate completel y recovered. So we can only conclude from our data that hydration decreases heart rate for about 6 minutes, and then it begins to recover.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An alternative hypothesis for the effect of hydration on blood pressure and heart rate would be that it would not affect blood pressure, and it would affect heart rate. The results of the study conducted at Franz-Volhard Clinical research center do not match the results we got in our experiment. They discovered that hydration increased both blood pressure and heart rate (Schroeder 2002). Our study showed that hydration does not affect blood pressure, but it does increase heart rate (for a certain period of time). Jens Jordans study, however, supports our results. In some of the younger patients in his study, hydration had no effect on blood pressure. But in the older patients, blood pressure increased (Jordan 2002). Since the patients of our experiment are all young, our results match Jordans. The study done my David Belanger and Samuel M. Feldman was conducted with rats, not humans and was the effect that dehydration has on heart rate. Their results showed that t he longer the rats were dehydrated, the more the heart rates decreased (Belanger and Feldman 1962). I predicted that since the heart rates decreased without water, they would increase with water. Since the experiments and variables were a little different, its hard to compare the results of our experiment with theirs. But, my prediction that was based on their experiment was not supported by our data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have identified several weaknesses in our experimental setup. If the amount of time allowed to measure the blood pressure and heart rate were extended, we could have determined when the blood pressure and heart rate recovered, and that would have helped with the analysis of our data immensely-especially the heart rate. We may have been able to determine if the heart rate actually did decrease, or if it was just a pattern that the body and heart have naturally. So recovery time would have helped with the significance of our data, as well as the analysis. Also, our data might have been more accurate with a larger group of people. More people would have solidified our data as more accurate. Works Cited Belanger, David, and Samuel M. Felman. 1962. â€Å"Effects of water deprivation upon heart rate and instrumental activity in the rat.† Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 55. â€Å"Dehydration And Blood Pressure Are Linked. Treat HBP with Water!† Dehydration symptoms= Sickness. Chronic Dehydration,Treatment, Hydration. 31 Jan. 2010. . Jordan, Jens. 2002. â€Å"Acute effect of water on blood pressure.† Mini-Symposium: Review Article. Schroeder, Christoph, Victoria E. Bush, Lucy J. Norcliffe, Friedrick C. Luft, Jens Tank, Jens Jordan, and Roger Hainsworth. 2002. â€Å"Water Drinking Acutely Improves Orthostatic Tolerance In Healthy Subjects.† Clinical Investigation and Reports. Weedman, Donna, and Erica Smith Sokoloski. Biology of Organisms: A Laboratory Manual for LIFE103. Vol. 5E. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2009.

The United Nations, the United States, and Iraq: Are we going to war? :: Essays Papers

The United Nations, the United States, and Iraq: Are we going to war? This paper was originally written over a week before the due date. As it was edited, events unfolded that may not be reflected in the following paragraphs. Printing the paper for final submittal, I can’t help but feel that it is not finished. Today seems to be a pivotal moment in the conflict with Saddam Hussein. Iraq is located in Western Asia, between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Iran. 95 percent of its 23 million inhabitants are Muslim, with a 5 percent Christian minority. The official language of the State is Islam while ethnically the population is made up of Arabs, Kurds, Aramaic, and Azerbajanes. Between 1534 and 1918, Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, it was occupied by the British, until its independence in 1930. In 1958, the monarchy in place was overthrown and the Republic was established. In 1963, the Baas party assumed power until Saddam Hussein’s election in 1979. Between 1980 and 1988 the Iran-Iraq war ensued. Further turmoil followed when Hussein’s dictatorship invaded Kuwait in 1990, thus originating the Gulf War. The United States reacted by launching Operation Desert Storm, between January 17 and February 29, 1991, with the support of Egypt, Syria, Morocco, and other Arab States. The end of the war was marked by Kuwait’s liberation, the instatement of international sanctions on Iraq, and the implementation of an embargo on that has proven devastating to the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein, on his part, has resorted to repressing all types of opposition (including, among others, Kurds and Shiites). The result is a tense relationship between Baghdad and the United Nations. From an economic standpoint, Iraq holds significant power because it is the second country in the world in oil reserves. Members of the UN Security Council that support military intervention see this approach as a way to keep Hussein from threatening to gain control of other countries in the Gulf and thus their oil. These countries want to protect oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula while keeping Hussein from using weapons of mass destruction. By removing Saddam Hussein from power and implementing a democratic regime in Iraq, the United States also aims to eradicate what it considers to be a terrorist-harboring State. The United Nations, the United States, and Iraq: Are we going to war? :: Essays Papers The United Nations, the United States, and Iraq: Are we going to war? This paper was originally written over a week before the due date. As it was edited, events unfolded that may not be reflected in the following paragraphs. Printing the paper for final submittal, I can’t help but feel that it is not finished. Today seems to be a pivotal moment in the conflict with Saddam Hussein. Iraq is located in Western Asia, between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Iran. 95 percent of its 23 million inhabitants are Muslim, with a 5 percent Christian minority. The official language of the State is Islam while ethnically the population is made up of Arabs, Kurds, Aramaic, and Azerbajanes. Between 1534 and 1918, Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, it was occupied by the British, until its independence in 1930. In 1958, the monarchy in place was overthrown and the Republic was established. In 1963, the Baas party assumed power until Saddam Hussein’s election in 1979. Between 1980 and 1988 the Iran-Iraq war ensued. Further turmoil followed when Hussein’s dictatorship invaded Kuwait in 1990, thus originating the Gulf War. The United States reacted by launching Operation Desert Storm, between January 17 and February 29, 1991, with the support of Egypt, Syria, Morocco, and other Arab States. The end of the war was marked by Kuwait’s liberation, the instatement of international sanctions on Iraq, and the implementation of an embargo on that has proven devastating to the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein, on his part, has resorted to repressing all types of opposition (including, among others, Kurds and Shiites). The result is a tense relationship between Baghdad and the United Nations. From an economic standpoint, Iraq holds significant power because it is the second country in the world in oil reserves. Members of the UN Security Council that support military intervention see this approach as a way to keep Hussein from threatening to gain control of other countries in the Gulf and thus their oil. These countries want to protect oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula while keeping Hussein from using weapons of mass destruction. By removing Saddam Hussein from power and implementing a democratic regime in Iraq, the United States also aims to eradicate what it considers to be a terrorist-harboring State.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The angel wants me to convey more of Joshua's grace. Grace? I'm trying to write about a six-year-old, for Christ's sakes, how much grace could he have? It's not like Joshua walked around professing that he was the Son of God every day of the week. He was a pretty normal kid, for the most part. There was the trick he did with the lizards, and once we found a dead meadowlark and he brought it back to life, and there was the time, when we were eight, when he healed his brother Judah's fractured skull after a game of â€Å"stone the adulteress† got out of hand. (Judah could never get the knack of being an adulteress. He'd stand there stiff as Lot's wife. You can't do that. An adulteress has to be wily and nimble-footed.) The miracles Joshua performed were small and quiet, as miracles tend to be, once you get used to them. But trouble came from the miracles that happened around him, without his volition, as it were. Bread and serpents come to mind. It was a few days before the Passover feast, and many of the families of Nazareth were not making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem that year. There had been little rain through our winter season, so it was going to be a hard year. Many farmers could not afford the time away from their fields to travel to and from the holy city. My father and Joshua's were both working in Sepphoris, and the Romans wouldn't give them time off work beyond the actual feast days. My mother had been making the unleavened bread when I came in from playing in the square. She held a dozen sheets of the flatbread before her and she looked as if she was going to dash it to the floor any second. â€Å"Biff, where is your friend Joshua?† My little brothers grinned at me from behind her skirts. â€Å"At home, I suppose. I just left him.† â€Å"What have you boys been doing?† â€Å"Nothing.† I tried to remember if I had done anything that should make her this angry, but nothing came to mind. It was a rare day and I'd made no trouble. Both my little brothers were unscathed as far as I knew. â€Å"What have you done to cause this?† She held out a sheet of the flatbread, and there, in crispy brown relief on the golden crust, was the image of my friend Joshua's face. She snatched up another sheet of bread, and there, again, was my friend Josh. Graven images – big sin. Josh was smiling. Mother frowned on smiling. â€Å"Well? Do I need to go to Joshua's house and ask his poor, insane mother?† â€Å"I did this. I put Joshua's face on the bread.† I just hoped that she didn't ask me how I had done it. â€Å"Your father will punish you when he comes home this evening. Now go, get out of here.† I could hear my little brother's giggling as I slunk out the door, but once outside, things worsened. Women were coming away from their baking stones, and each held a sheet of unleavened bread, and each was muttering some variation of â€Å"Hey, there's a kid on my bread.† I ran to Joshua's house and stormed in without knocking. Joshua and his brothers were at the table eating. Mary was nursing Joshua's newest little sister, Miriam. â€Å"You are in big trouble,† I whispered in Josh's ear with enough force to blow out an eardrum. Joshua held up the flatbread he was eating and grinned, just like the face on his bread. â€Å"It's a miracle.† â€Å"Tastes good too,† said James, crunching a corner off of his brother's head. â€Å"It's all over town, Joshua. Not just your house. Everyone's bread has your face on it.† â€Å"He is truly the Son of God,† Mary said with a beatific smile. â€Å"Oh, jeez, Mother,† James said. â€Å"Yeah, jeez Mom,† said Judah. â€Å"His mug is all over the Passover feast. We have to do something.† They didn't seem to get the gravity of the situation. I was already in trouble, and my mother didn't even suspect anything supernatural. â€Å"We have to cut your hair.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"We cannot cut his hair,† Mary said. She had always let Joshua wear his hair long, like an Essene, saying that he was a Nazarite like Samson. It was just another reason why many of the townspeople thought her mad. The rest of us wore our hair cut short, like the Greeks who had ruled our country since the time of Alexander, and the Romans after them. â€Å"If we cut his hair he looks like the rest of us. We can say it's someone else on the bread.† â€Å"Moses,† Mary said. â€Å"Young Moses.† â€Å"Yes!† â€Å"I'll get a knife.† â€Å"James, Judah, come with me,† I said. â€Å"We have to tell the town that the face of Moses has come to visit us for the Passover feast.† Mary pulled Miriam from her breast, bent, and kissed me on the forehead. â€Å"You are a good friend, Biff.† I almost melted in my sandals, but I caught Joshua frowning at me. â€Å"It's not the truth,† he said. â€Å"It will keep the Pharisees from judging you.† â€Å"I'm not afraid of them,† said the nine-year-old. â€Å"I didn't do this to the bread.† â€Å"Then why take the blame and the punishment for it?† â€Å"I don't know, seems like I should, doesn't it?† â€Å"Sit still so your mother can cut your hair.† I dashed out the door, Judah and James on my heels, the three of us bleating like spring lambs. â€Å"Behold! Moses has put his face on the bread for Passover! Behold!† Miracles. She kissed me. Holy Moses on a matzo! She kissed me. The miracle of the serpent? It was an omen, in a way, although I can only say that because of what happened between Joshua and the Pharisees later on. At the time, Joshua thought it was the fulfillment of a prophecy, or that's how we tried to sell it to his mother and father. It was late summer and we were playing in a wheat field outside of town when Joshua found the nest of vipers. â€Å"A nest of vipers,† Joshua shouted. The wheat was so tall I couldn't see where he was calling from. â€Å"A pox on your family,† I replied. â€Å"No, there's a nest of vipers over here. Really.† â€Å"Oh, I thought you were taunting me. Sorry, a pox off of your family.† â€Å"Come, see.† I crashed through the wheat to find Joshua standing by a pile of stones a farmer had used to mark the boundary of his field. I screamed and backpedaled so quickly that I lost my balance and fell. A knot of snakes writhed at Joshua's feet, skating over his sandals and wrapping themselves around his ankles. â€Å"Joshua, get away from there.† â€Å"They won't hurt me. It says so in Isaiah.† â€Å"Just in case they haven't read the Prophets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Joshua stepped aside, sending the snakes scattering, and there, behind him, was the biggest cobra I had ever seen. It reared up until it was taller than my friend, spreading a hood like a cloak. â€Å"Run, Joshua.† He smiled. â€Å"I'm going to call her Sarah, after Abraham's wife. These are her children.† â€Å"No kidding? Say good-bye now, Josh.† â€Å"I want to show Mother. She loves prophecy.† With that, he was off toward the village, the giant serpent following him like a shadow. The baby snakes stayed in the nest and I backed slowly away before running after my friend. I once brought a frog home, hoping to keep him as a pet. Not a large frog, a one-handed frog, quiet and well mannered. My mother made me release him, then cleanse myself in the immersion pool (the mikveh) at the synagogue. Still she wouldn't let me in the house until after sunset because I was unclean. Joshua led a fourteen-foot-long cobra into his house and his mother squealed with joy. My mother never squealed. Mary slung the baby to her hip, kneeled in front of her son, and quoted Isaiah: â€Å"‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den.'† James, Judah, and Elizabeth cowered in the corner, too frightened to cry. I stood outside the doorway watching. The snake swayed behind Joshua as if preparing to strike. â€Å"Her name is Sarah.† â€Å"They were cobras, not asps,† I said. â€Å"A whole pile of cobras.† â€Å"Can we keep her?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I'll catch rats for her, and make a bed for her next to Elizabeth's.† â€Å"Definitely not asps. I'd know an asp if I saw one. Probably not a cockatrice either. I'd say a cobra.† (Actually, I didn't know an asp from a hole in the ground.) â€Å"Shush, Biff,† Mary said. My heart broke with the harshness in my love's voice. Just then Joseph rounded the corner and went through the door before I could catch him. No worry, he was back outside in an instant. â€Å"Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!† I checked to see if Joseph's heart had failed, having quickly decided that once Mary and I were married the snake would have to go, or at least sleep outside, but the burly carpenter seemed only shaken, and a little dusty from his backward dive through the door. â€Å"Not an asp, right?† I asked. â€Å"Asps are made small to fit the breasts of Egyptian queens, right?† Joseph ignored me. â€Å"Back away slowly, son. I'll get a knife from my workshop.† â€Å"She won't hurt us,† Joshua said. â€Å"Her name is Sarah. She's from Isaiah.† â€Å"It is in the prophecy, Joseph,† Mary said. I could see Joseph searching his memory for the passage. Although only a layman, he knew his scripture as well as anyone. â€Å"I don't remember the part about Sarah.† â€Å"I don't think it's prophecy,† I offered. â€Å"It says asps, and that is definitely not an asp. I'd say she's going to bite Joshua's ass off if you don't grab her, Joseph.† (A guy has to try.) â€Å"Can I keep her?† Joshua asked. Joseph had regained his composure by now. Evidently, once you accept that your wife slept with God, extraordinary events seem sort of commonplace. â€Å"Take her back where you found her, Joshua, the prophecy has been fulfilled now.† â€Å"But I want to keep her.† â€Å"No, Joshua.† â€Å"You're not the boss of me.† I suspected that Joseph had heard that before. â€Å"Just so,† he said, â€Å"please take Sarah back where you found her.† Joshua stormed out of the house, his snake following close behind. Joseph and I gave them a wide berth. â€Å"Try not to let anyone see you,† Joseph said. â€Å"They won't understand.† He was right, of course. On our way out of the village we ran into a gang of older boys, led by Jakan, the son of Iban the Pharisee. They did not understand. There were perhaps a dozen Pharisees in Nazareth: learned men, working-class teachers, who spent much of their time at the synagogue debating the Law. They were often hired as judges and scribes, and this gave them great influence over the people of the village. So much influence, in fact, that the Romans often used them as mouthpieces to our people. With influence comes power, with power, abuse. Jakan was only the son of a Pharisee. He was only two years older than Joshua and me, but he was well on his way to mastering cruelty. If there is a single joy in having everyone you have ever known two thousand years dead, it is that Jakan is one of them. May his fat crackle in the fires of hell for eternity! Joshua taught us that we should not hate – a lesson that I was never able to master, along with geometry. Blame Jakan for the former, Euclid for the latter. Joshua ran behind the houses and shops of the village, the snake behind him by ten steps, and me behind her ten steps more. As he rounded the corner by the smith's shop, Joshua ran into Jakan, knocking him to the ground. â€Å"You idiot!† Jakan shouted, rising and dusting himself off. His three friends laughed and he spun on them like an angry tiger. â€Å"This one needs to have his face washed in dung. Hold him.† The boys turned their focus on Joshua, two grabbing his arms while the third punched him in the stomach. Jakan turned to look for a pile to rub Joshua's face in. Sarah slithered around the corner and reared up behind Joshua, spreading her glorious hood wide above our heads. â€Å"Hey,† I called as I rounded the corner. â€Å"You guys think this is an asp?† My fear of the snake had changed into a sort of wary affection. She seemed to be smiling. I know I was. Sarah swayed from side to side like a wheat stalk in the wind. The boys dropped Joshua's arms and ran to Jakan, who had turned and slowly backed away. â€Å"Joshua was talking about asps,† I continued, â€Å"but I'd have to say that this here is a cobra.† Joshua was bent over, still trying to catch his breath, but he looked back at me and grinned. â€Å"Of course, I'm not the son of a Pharisee, but – â€Å" â€Å"He's in league with the serpent!† Jakan screamed. â€Å"He consorts with demons!† â€Å"Demons!† the other boys shouted, trying to crowd behind their fat friend. â€Å"I will tell my father of this and you'll be stoned.† A voice from behind Jakan said, â€Å"What is all this shouting?† And a sweet voice it was. She came out of the house by the smith's shop. Her skin shone like copper and she had the light blue eyes of the northern desert people. Wisps of reddish-brown hair showed at the edges of her purple shawl. She couldn't have been more than nine or ten, but there was something very old in her eyes. I stopped breathing when I saw her. Jakan puffed up like a toad. â€Å"Stay back. These two are consorting with a demon. I will tell the elders and they will be judged.† She spit at his feet. I had never seen a girl spit before. It was charming. â€Å"It looks like a cobra to me.† â€Å"See there, I told you.† She walked up to Sarah as if she were approaching a fig tree looking for fruit, not a hint of fear, only interest. â€Å"You think this is a demon?† she said, without looking back at Jakan. â€Å"Won't you be embarrassed when the elders find that you mistook a common snake of the field for a demon?† â€Å"It is a demon.† The girl reached her hand up, and the snake made as if to strike, then lowered its head until its forked tongue was brushing the girl's fingers. â€Å"This is definitely a cobra, little boy. And these two were probably leading it back to the fields where it would help the farmers by eating rats.† â€Å"Yep, that's what we were doing,† I said. â€Å"Absolutely,† Joshua said. The girl turned to Jakan and his friends. â€Å"A demon?† Jakan stomped like an angry donkey. â€Å"You are in league with them.† â€Å"Don't be silly, my family has only just arrived from Magdala, I've never seen these two before, but it's obvious what they were doing. We do it all the time in Magdala. But then, this is a backwater village.† â€Å"We do it here too,† Jakan said. â€Å"I was – well – these two make trouble.† â€Å"Trouble,† his friends said. â€Å"Why don't we let them get on with what they were doing.† Jakan, his eyes bouncing from the girl to the snake to the girl again, began to lead his friends away. â€Å"I will deal with you two another time.† As soon as they were around the corner, the girl jumped back from the snake and ran toward the door of her house. â€Å"Wait,† Joshua called. â€Å"I have to go.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"I'm Mary of Magdala, daughter of Isaac,† she said. â€Å"Call me Maggie.† â€Å"Come with us, Maggie.† â€Å"I can't, I have to go.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because I've peed myself.† She disappeared through the door. Miracles. Once we were back in the wheat field Sarah headed for her den. We watched from a distance as she slid down the hole. â€Å"Josh. How did you do that?† â€Å"I have no idea.† â€Å"Is this kind of thing going to keep happening?† â€Å"Probably.† â€Å"We are going to get into a lot of trouble, aren't we?† â€Å"What am I, a prophet?† â€Å"I asked you first.† Joshua stared into the sky like a man in a trance. â€Å"Did you see her? She's afraid of nothing.† â€Å"She's a giant snake, what's to be afraid of?† Joshua frowned. â€Å"Don't pretend to be simple, Biff. We were saved by a serpent and a girl, I don't know what to think about that.† â€Å"Why think about it at all? It just happened.† â€Å"Nothing happens but by God's will,† Joshua said. â€Å"It doesn't fit with the testament of Moses.† â€Å"Maybe it's a new testament,† I said. â€Å"You aren't pretending, are you?† Joshua said. â€Å"You really are simple.† â€Å"I think she likes you better than she likes me,† I said. â€Å"The snake?† â€Å"Right, I'm the simple one.† I don't know if now, having lived and died the life of a man, I can write about little-boy love, but remembering it now, it seems the cleanest pain I've known. Love without desire, or conditions, or limits – a pure and radiant glow in the heart that could make me giddy and sad and glorious all at once. Where does it go? Why, in all their experiments, did the Magi never try to capture that purity in a bottle? Perhaps they couldn't. Perhaps it is lost to us when we become sexual creatures, and no magic can bring it back. Perhaps I only remember it because I spent so long trying to understand the love that Joshua felt for everyone. In the East they taught us that all suffering comes from desire, and that rough beast would stalk me through my life, but on that afternoon, and for a time after, I touched grace. At night I would lie awake, listening to my brothers' breathing against the silence of the house, and in my mind's eye I could see her eyes like blue fire in the dark. Exquisite torture. I wonder now if Joshua didn't make her whole life like that. Maggie, she was the strongest of us all. After the miracle of the serpent, Joshua and I made up excuses to pass by the smith's shop where we might run into Maggie. Every morning we would rise early and go to Joseph, volunteering to run to the smith for some nails or the repair of a tool. Poor Joseph took this as enthusiasm for carpentry. â€Å"Would you boys like to come to Sepphoris with me tomorrow?† Joseph asked us one day when we were badgering him about fetching nails. â€Å"Biff, would your father let you start learning the work of a carpenter?† I was mortified. At ten a boy was expected to start learning his father's trade, but that was a year away – forever when you're nine. â€Å"I?CI am still thinking about what I will do when I grow up,† I said. My own father had made a similar offer to Joshua the day before. â€Å"So you won't become a stonecutter?† â€Å"I was thinking about becoming the village idiot, if my father will allow it.† â€Å"He has a God-given talent,† Joshua said. â€Å"I've been talking to Bartholomew the idiot,† I said. â€Å"He's going to teach me to fling my own dung and run headlong into walls.† Joseph scowled at me. â€Å"Perhaps you two are yet too young. Next year.† â€Å"Yes,† Joshua said, â€Å"next year. May we go now, Joseph? Biff is meeting Bartholomew for his lesson.† Joseph nodded and we were off before he inflicted more kindness upon us. We actually had befriended Bartholomew, the village idiot. He was foul and drooled a lot, but he was large, and offered some protection against Jakan and his bullies. Bart also spent most of his time begging near the town square, where the women came to fetch water from the well. From time to time we caught a glimpse of Maggie as she passed, a water jar balanced on her head. â€Å"You know, we are going to have to start working soon,† Joshua said. â€Å"I won't see you, once I'm working with my father.† â€Å"Joshua, look around you, do you see any trees?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"And the trees we do have, olive trees – twisted, gnarly, knotty things, right?† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"But you're going to be a carpenter like your father?† â€Å"There's a chance of it.† â€Å"One word, Josh: rocks.† â€Å"Rocks?† â€Å"Look around. Rocks as far as the eye can see. Galilee is nothing but rocks, dirt, and more rocks. Be a stonemason like me and my father. We can build cities for the Romans.† â€Å"Actually, I was thinking about saving mankind.† â€Å"Forget that nonsense, Josh. Rocks, I tell you.†

Proper Use of The Semicolon

Proper Use of The Semicolon Proper Use of The Semicolon Proper Use of The Semicolon By Mark Nichol Pity the poor semicolon so often misunderstood, so seldom asked to dance because he is seen as stiff, formal, and pretentious. But he’s such a practical, useful fellow whose talents should be appreciated that I would like to reintroduce him to you. A semicolon has two primary functions, exemplified in two labels attached to it: It is said to be the equivalent of a weak period and a strong comma. Think of the two as distinct dance steps. In its weak-period mode, the semicolon stands in for a period when an independent clause could appear as a separate sentence but is so closely related to the previous independent clause that the semicolon is inserted to signal that relationship: â€Å"An investigator files and locates court documents; librarians file claims for missing serials and locate requested information.† As a stand-in for a strong comma, it separates items in a list when one or more items in that list are themselves lists: â€Å"The apple figures prominently in Christian and Islamic belief; Greek, Nordic, and Celtic legends; and folklore throughout the Western world.† It serves that function, too, when one or more list items otherwise include a comma: â€Å"Astrology’s origins can also be traced to several other locations and cultures, including Egypt, which developed sophisticated timekeeping and calendar science; Greece, where Ptolemy authored influential astrological and astronomical texts; and Rome, where many of the most learned men including two emperors were astrologers who wrote laws and counseled citizens based on the stars.† That said, though semicolons are underutilized in the first role, they are overused in the second they’re underappreciated for their facility with one dance step and are too often called on to demonstrate the other dance step when the dance is not appropriate. Here are some solutions for balancing out the semicolon’s dance card: 1. â€Å"More than 900 million people still lacked access to clean drinking water in 2010; and 2.6 billion did not have adequate sanitation.† An independent clause following a weak-period semicolon should not begin with a conjunction; they are redundant to each other. Often, the conjunction is preferable: â€Å"More than 900 million people still lacked access to clean drinking water in 2010, and 2.6 billion did not have adequate sanitation.† (This usage, common in the past, is frequently seen in classic literature, but it’s fallen out of favor.) 2. â€Å"Part of the company’s responsibility is to show others their responsibility; to help other water users see that small changes can save a lot of water.† If a thought does not constitute an independent clause, use a comma (or, for greater emphasis, perhaps an em dash), not a weak-period semicolon: â€Å"Part of the company’s responsibility is to show others their responsibility, to help other water users see that small changes can save a lot of water.† (Again, easily found in older works, but no longer considered proper usage.) 3. â€Å"That is true, however, the increasing conflicts over water for energy involve the vast amounts power generation makes unavailable for people and aquatic ecosystems.† Here is a weak-period construction complicated by the presence of the conjunctive adverb however, which requires a comma after it. The one before it should be a weak-period semicolon: â€Å"That is true; however, the increasing conflicts over water for energy involve the vast amounts power generation makes unavailable for people and aquatic ecosystems.† 4. â€Å"Residents had to slash their water use by a third, farmers by nearly half.† Here’s a similar problem. The phrase â€Å"farmers by nearly half† is an incorrectly punctuated abridgement of the potential independent clause â€Å"farmers had to slash their water use by nearly half.† The elided repetition of the phrase â€Å"had to slash their water use† is signaled by a comma in its place, and the two independent clauses are stitched together by a weak-period semicolon: â€Å"Residents had to slash their water use by a third; farmers, by nearly half.† 5. â€Å"He also uses a Geiger counter, which measures radiation; motion detectors; barometric pressure monitors; and thermometers.† This sentence is grammatically correct as is, but so many semicolons in a short sentence make it look cluttered. Reconstruct the sentence to eliminate the need for the strong-comma semicolons: â€Å"He also uses a Geiger counter, which measures radiation, plus motion detectors, barometric pressure monitors, and thermometers.† 6. â€Å"Our services can identify sites that infringe on brand name, content, or trademarks; misuse a brand name or image; or disparage a brand.† Here’s another solution for the correct-but-excessive strong-comma semicolon when only one item in a list is itself a list, if it’s logical to do so, move that item to the end of the sentence: â€Å"Our services can identify sites that disparage a brand, misuse a brand name or image, or infringe on brand name, content, or trademarks.† 7. â€Å"Follow-up studies are needed to improve our understanding of whether influences on decision making carry through to patterns of actual disclosure; whether involvement in counseling affects outcomes; and whether access to professional assistance at the time of planned disclosure is helpful.† Semicolons are not required to separate items in a list just because one or more items is lengthy, especially in this sentence, in which the repetition of whether clearly signals the beginning of each list item. Replace the strong-comma semicolons with authentic commas: â€Å"Follow-up studies are needed to improve our understanding of whether influences on decision making carry through to patterns of actual disclosure, whether involvement in counseling affects outcomes, and whether access to professional assistance at the time of planned disclosure is helpful.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of PhrasesHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†Grammar Review #1: Particles and Phrasal Verbs

Questions and Answers Essays

Questions and Answers Essays Questions and Answers Essay Questions and Answers Essay Tension rose between groups with new and old values primarily due to new technological, social, and political developments such as: development Of assembly line and higher wages gave workers more leisure mime and funding for luxuries previously unattainable for working clansmen; increase of immigrants and African-Americans in the US urban and rural areas led to a scare and an increase in natives in the nation which increased hate crimes such as rise in popularity of the ASK who worked to terrorize African Americans and implemented new anti-elimination acts such as Chinese Exclusion and Gentlemans Agreement both discriminating against immigrants; and introduction of communism internationally had people very cared and thus the Red Scare erupted in the US, to the point where A Mitchell Palmer worked to rid the IIS of communist groups, leading to conviction of over 6000 potential communist influences. Historians have argued that Progressive reform lost momentum in the 1 sass. Evaluate the statement. Progressive reforms showed to die down in the ass following World War l; this is because many issues such as labor and suffrage came to become less and less of a problem. Labor unions were more muted as they were sufficed with their conditions: better working times and wages allowed the working class to rise to middle class and afford certain luxuries they couldnt previously. Suffragists were given the 1 9th amendment, which gave women the right to vote; not only that but in many other parts of the US women had already been given progressively higher authority such as right to run for office. How did advertising, entertainment, and mass production help shape American national culture in the 1 sass? Advertising helped shape IIS culture by contributing to the development of US consumerism, it made it easier to reach the average American with sponsorship from athletes and celebrities at the time, a practice still heavily used in LIST culture today. It became easier to persuade Americans with benefits of products leading to overall higher number of purchases. Entertainment contributed to US cultural development in that the development Of radio and television paved way for new forms of entertainment such as professional sports and radio plays/ shows; introduction of these technological developments in the ass helped lid a more defined pop-culture as music, comedy, drama, sports, and even politics became more accessible to all Americans, which Americans continue to build on to this day. Mass production helped build the American consumerism well known to this day, the development of the assembly line contributed to the ability to produce products with greater ease and speed, leading to flourishing of multiple large industries; mass production helped suffice consumer demand, and not to mention increase it, also contributing to the prevalence of advertising as well.

Political Conflicts in the Middle East Makes the Regional Water Essay

Political Conflicts in the Middle East Makes the Regional Water Managment Problems More Acute (Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan) - Essay Example The Middle East is known for world’s largest oil reserves which serve as one of the most important sources of revenue generation to these countries. In the meanwhile, these countries are facing an extensive shortage of underground water1 which has resulted in extensive water crisis as a result of political conflicts in the Middle East and has produced more acute water management problems. If we look into the entire world’s water distribution, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are the scarcest regions in this regard. According to NASA’s newly generated report, twin gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) satellite have released new images regarding water shortages in the areas of Middle East. It has been reported that two of the most important rivers, named Tigris and Euphrates, which are extensively responsible to cultivate Middle East region, are undergoing frightening water shortages. GRACE works on the calculation of gravitational pull based on water density present in the given region. The data received shows that Tigris and Euphrates have the second fastest rate of decrease in water storage level in the world. Reasons for extensive water loss in this region are given below: Therefore, countries like Syria extensively depend upon desalinization of sea water to meet the water crisis but it has a number of negative impacts on the environment with an increase in boron and bromine compounds in the region, which are hazardous.

Thinkers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinkers - Assignment Example Marx is considered to be is one of the founders of the International Working Men’s Association. The philosophy of George Friedrich Hegel is one of his most important intellectual influences and Karl Marx remains incomplete without the study of Hegel. He died at London, United Kingdom on March 14, 1883 (Engels, 1869). Karl Marx identified and shed light on the ills of capitalism and explained how it could be challenged. People of the world took his ideas as a guide towards changing the system of the world despite the regular efforts by the supporters of Capitalism to bury his ideas. He, along with Frederick Engels, identified the inevitable fault of a capitalist society that is class struggle; therefore, his dialectic holds Communism as the perfect and final form of the State that makes possible the appropriate use of human abilities. He believed that in the end socialism will replace capitalism and this world will be a classless society ensuring the rise of working class. Abov e all, Marx was a revolutionist whose main aim was to put an end to capitalism and contribute towards the liberation of the modern proletariat. As far as the influence of Marx’s ideas and beliefs on the world, as a whole, is concerned, most of the Americans have already accepted his main ideas unconsciously and uncritically despite the otherwise claims of the anti-Marxists. American and western businessmen who claim to be against the whole concept of communism are frequently found to be the ones who are convinced of the truthfulness of Marx’s ideas. They seem to have very little or no ideological defense against his Communist ideas when they encounter them under another name or are introduced to them without being labeled. Marx’s ideas have seemed to open the minds of American to their own propaganda. However, on the other hand, to label the ideas brewing in their minds as Marx’s might lighten some of their effective and successful talking points. At the same time, they are under the influence that depression cannot be solved by capitalism. He is one of the influential people whose ideas have such a strong impact even on those who think they abhor Marx and his beliefs. These ideas have an injurious influence on capitalist economy, clear political thinking and democratic action. The more politically radical European intellectuals have been influenced greatly by the ideologies of communism as well as socialism. Apart from economics and politics, he has a great influence on the way people think about culture despite the fact that he is not a pure cultural theorist (Rose, 1951). Marx’s hostility towards Europe, sometimes, resulted in strange extremes. For instance, he criticized the opposition to the Crimean war by calling the British Prime minister, Lord Palmerstone, a traitor and a paid agent of Russia. In the same way, Marx’s hatred for the Prussian monarchy can be observed his struggle with his Russian competitor Mikha il Bakunin for control of the International Working Men’s Association (Sperber, 2013). It is beyond doubt that Marx’s ideas about the commodity nature of Capitalist production plays an important role in describing the exploitation of working class under the system of profit. For Marx, class struggle was the major fault line of the Capitalist society which, indeed, is true even in the modern world for this