Housing Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Housing Act - Essay Example The cost of these empty properties proves to be exorbitant for both the property owners and their neighbors in that it results in degradation of the entire neighborhood and decreased property values. 1 The scope of empty residential dwellings expands beyond the direct costs associated with vandalism and the decreased property values. It is also evident in the increased premiums incurred by homeowners within the neighborhood as well as related expenses. If one were to quantify the complete annual cost of leaving a residential property unoccupied for the period of one year, one can clearly ascertain an approximate cost of 8,000. This coupled with the fact that within England, there is has been a systematic rise in the number of homeless families has effectively prompted governmental involvement. This involvement came in the form of the Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO).2 Instituted on July 6, 2006 the EDMO gives the Local Housing Authority (LHA) the right to possession of property that has been unoccupied for more than six months. EDMO embodies the commitment of the English Government with regards to finding a permanent solution to a problem that is dyadic in nature and involves both the presence of empty private dwellings and the rising number of homeless families. ... These voluntary initiates have proved to be very ineffective thus necessitating compulsory action. It has been argued that these compulsory initiatives often favored the LHAs as the owners are view to be negligent in their responsibilities in maintaining their properties. In fact, many LHAs have been endowed with the right to purchase these properties at ridiculously low rates. Despite this, many LHAs view the procedure of acquiring empty dwellings as one that is cumbersome, time consuming, extremely bureaucratic in nature and complicated especially if their attempts to take over the properties are greeted with hostility.3 EDMOs operate with the intention of establishing a common ground between voluntary and compulsory purchasing ability. Essentially the LHA has the power to decide whether to actively pursue the purchase of an empty dwelling. Endowed with this power, it is the goal of EMDOs to compel the property owner to communicate with the LHA wherein an agreement may be reached with regards to returning the property to a condition whereby it is fit for human habitation. This agreement may entail active compromise between the LHA and the property owner. In principal and fact, it would be mutually beneficial for the LHA and the property owner to reach an agreement as it circumvents a great deal of bureaucratic red tape. This is especially important when one takes into consideration the fact that EMDOs are not intended to be utilized as an enforcement alternative but one that is necessary when the LHA has determined that its ownership of the property proves to be contraindicated. Additionally, EMDOs a re not meant to be stand-alone measures. They are intended to work in concert with the existing remedies such as

African cinema is a film world in search of a constituency and a Essay

African cinema is a film world in search of a constituency and a community, and it realises that it is potentially a borderless cinema - John Akomfrah (Givanni, 1995, 36) Discuss - Essay Example This is primarily the ground why J. Akomfrah claims that a sense of community and constituency are continuously yearned for by the borderless cinematic endeavor of an African film industry traditionally inclined to bring to exhibition various aspects of living especially the scenes at the wild, life under poverty, or tribal struggles across the vastness of an African land. The 1975 Algiers Charter on African Cinema placed emphasis on the need of the film to communicate the cultural identity of the people of Africa and develop this goal for the viewers to achieve a more sensible understanding of a Nigerian culture. New African cinematographers have come up with a serious objective of informing and educating the public, knowing how powerful a film is in delivering crucial expressions of African way of life in a simplified approach that may be comprehended by the majority whether educated or uneducated (The Algiers, 1975). In 1973, Djibril Diop Mambà ©ty directed â€Å"Touki Bouki† which is a movie about the meeting of a cowherd Mory and a university student Anta who seem estranged to their places of origin, Senegal and Africa, that they decided to consider travelling to Paris for a change of fate though this would entail fraudulent job of satisfying a monetary requirement. One may particularly note the significance of adventure for an African life in this film yet the context from which it sheds light toward conflict resolution is different from the perspective of the film â€Å"Yeelen† after the direction of Souleymane Cissà © in 1987. Yeelen demonstrates a personal conquest of a young warrior who possesses powers of magic and summons his other relative in combat against a sorcerer who happens to be his own father. Despite the amply differing themes of these two films, both reflect a necessary quest for settlement in favor of the situations that fit each character. On the other hand, Idrissa

Mercedes Benz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Mercedes Benz - Essay Example The growth of this particular car has not only altered the popularity and mechanics of the car. It has also enabled the identity of the company and the brand to build a stronger reputation and to create the necessary components to creating the ideal car for a specific social group. The result is the brand image being able to enhance the growth and strengths of the company while attracting a specific type of consumer to the car. This paper will examine the brand performance of the car as well as how it is continuing to affect the performance of the company. Overview of Mercedes Benz The Mercedes Benz is often referred to as a luxury car and is noted as an international car that carries style and class. The manufacturer is based in Germany and is noted for making cars, buses, coaches and trucks. The primary company is Daimler AG with the Mercedes Benz being a division of the company, specifically because of the style and make of the car. The first car was built in 1926 by Karl Benz but links back to 1886 with Kent Benz’s first introduction of the automobile. This particular model was combined with the Mercedes, created in 1901 by Wilhelm Maybach, both which were combined and patented in 1926 for the Mercedes Benz model. The first features which were noted included the approach to safety with the model as well as the approach of using the latest technology for the vehicle. The introductions which were initially created have led to the automobile becoming one of the most popular and distinguished vehicles as well as the oldest model that is still made and up graded with cars today (Mercedes Benz, 2011). The Mercedes Benz is not only noted for the different components with the history but has also developed a strong reputation which has led to growth within the branch of the company. There are currently three divisions of the Mercedes Benz, including the AMG, McLaren and Studebaker – Packard. The difference between each of these is based on the car production which is offered as well as the designs which are used. The main company is the AMG, which consists of the older make and model. The McLaren expanded this into the luxury vehicles that are based on sports cars and specialized engines which can be used for racing. The third branch, Studebaker – Packard, was in existence until 1986 and consisted of the US division of the company and car models which were used. Each division is noted for the high – quality materials which are used with factories being placed in over 10 regions throughout the world, all which lead t o the cars being rated above average and five star quality. The innovations that are combined with this include upgrades to engines, fuel efficiency, safety cell construction, traction control, electronic stability programs and power engines. This has allowed the Mercedes Benz to keep a strong reputation with innovation and safety as the main features that are associated with the car (Mercedes Benz, 2011). Competitors The competitors that are associated with the Mercedes Benz have the same approach to innovation, safety and a high – quality, luxury car that is used. BMW, Audi, the Porsche, Cadillac and Lexus are the top five competitors that Mercedes Benz is known to compete with. Currently, the BMW and Mercedes Benz are fighting for the top award in luxury vehicles at an international level. However, the Porsche and Audi are well – known through various social circles as being of luxury and containing specific features that are able to compete with the high –

China's energy technology and how it affects the United States Research Paper

China's energy technology and how it affects the United States - Research Paper Example The Chinese economy have shown remarkable strength and resiliency throughout the economic crisis and has likewise shown significant strength when recovery started to set in. However, the United States remain shackled down by systemic risks since the crisis basically crippled the banking sector of the US. Among the positive contributors to the resiliency of the Chinese economy was the strong domestic demand that has been instrumental in ensuring consumption and therefore economic growth. This has been brought about by the fact that China has the highest population in the world which the Central Intelligence Agency (2011) estimates to about 1.3 billion. On the other end, the United States has over .3 billion which places it at the third spot over the world. Looking at the population alone, it is easy to surmise that these countries are also the most voracious energy consumers in the world. However, the recent acceleration of the Chinese economy has prompted the government to be more se rious in tackling the energy demand of the country. This is a basic necessity since this is a basic requirement for continued economic growth. Hence, it has been a pressing concern for the Chinese to improve their capability to power their economy which includes renewable energy sources from the sun and the wind. Likewise, this has been instrumental in pushing China past the United States in terms of energy consumption (IEA, 2010). Main Body Economic recovery and Energy Sustainability The recovery of the global economy has been coupled by the increased arousal to the reality of global warming. Likewise, the fact that fossil fuels will eventually run out has been increasingly gaining traction on economic, social, political and even in military dialogues worldwide. As a matter of fact, world leaders have inked the Copenhagen agreement in order to lessen emissions from green house gases (World Energy Outlook, 2010). This is a significant agreement since the environmental symptoms of gl obal warming has been growing more severe. Likewise, in order to ensure economic growth and stability, countries would do well to veer away from the traditional power source of fossil fuels. This has significantly boosted demand for renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind energy. More so, the economic growth of China has necessitated additional power producing capabilities. Over the last generation, China has increased its power output by about 53 gigawatts (gw) per year (Campbell 2011). Given the high population and the increasing investments to further grow their economy, China has really stepped up its efforts and investments in renewable energy. According to Wong (2010), China has been significantly pouring funds for renewable energy. Basically, the Chinese hopes to be ahead of the curve when it comes to generating new ways to harness renewable energy as well as to be able to make it available for consumption and actually making its economy able to utilize it. Furt hermore, China has significantly moved away from the coal dependent economy that is, although growing industrially, manufactures only low value goods that are mainly dependent on labor. Nowadays, despite still being a predominantly agricultural economy, China has been re-cast as an advanced economy with an increasingly sophisticated economy coupled by the

Causes Of American Imperialism Essay Example for Free

Causes Of American Imperialism Essay The United States gained an overseas empire in the late 1890s and early 1900s due in part to its own expansionist past (which more than doubled the nation’s size during the nineteenth century), but more importantly to economic and geopolitical concerns. American business interests sought more sources of natural resources and, more importantly, larger markets for American goods. In the 1890s, an economic slump made foreign trade seem an attractive solution, and with European tariffs high, American business leaders increasingly looked to Asia. By 1898, the United States already exerted influence over Hawaii, which it formally annexed that year – five years after American business leaders deposed the native monarch and established a republic, in which no native Hawaiians held power. Republicans generally supported this action, seeing the commercial and strategic advantages of establishing American power in the Pacific. Also that year, growing American sympathy for Cuban rebels seeking independence from Spain, as well as the USS Maine’s explosion in Havana harbor, led the United States to declare war on Spain on 25 April 1898. The American decision to take the Philippines was based on the same economic and strategic motives. The United Kingdom, France, and Germany already claimed colonies or other influence in eastern Asia and the Pacific, and the United States used the war as an opportunity to claim its own by annexing the Philippines and ruling them until 1946. Though President McKinley and others claimed they took the Philippines because the Filipinos were not yet â€Å"civilized† enough for self-rule, economics and politics were the true motive, and McKinley himself claimed that doing otherwise â€Å"would have been bad business and discreditable. † WORKS CITED Davis, Kenneth C. Don’t Know Much about History. New York: Avon, 1990. Goldfield, David et al. The American Journey. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson, 2005. Henretta, James A. et al. America’s History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Literacy Practices Contain Elements English Language Essay

Literacy Practices Contain Elements English Language Essay In this essay I will attempt to give some of my own examples of literary practices and why I consider them to be creative, linking them to examples from the study material and where relevant build on my knowledge of Carter and make reference to a few of his ideas and theories and weigh them out in said discussion. I shall start off by first explaining what literacy practices are and where we can find them and conclude by giving some examples of my own personal experience. Literacy practices is the way in which people interact with texts and the meanings these hold for them and how these are tied up with individual identity, personal relationships, community membership, religious practices and political manoeuvring. They are influenced by affordances and constraints with technological and socio-historical/cultural factors. These will change and shift as part of technological advances and changes in the social world e.g. in the recognition of social space in households (Cruickshank 2001). Some examples of literacy domains are home, work and social networks and examples of literacy practices are letter reading, filing, writing, diary writing, list making, newspaper reading and even filling a lottery slip. A further relevant term named multiple literacy i.e. is a diverse range of competences which include text literacy, media literacy, information literacy, computer literacy, visual literacy, multicultural literacy, emotional literacy, etc. The essay will also show that creativity is dependent and emergent from the creative literacy practices through which texts are constructed and that the way such a text is read is also considered creativity. There are several examples of literary creativity in everyday life. However I shall mostly be using my own examples and explaining why I find them literary and/or creative. An autobiography is something that most of us think of as creative writing because it is a memory of somebodys past life. One writes about these memories perhaps first by writing letters, then a short story until eventually it emerges into a fully fledge book of its own. But literacy doesnt necessarily have to be a word; it might as well be a sign that we associate something with, like a McDonalds or restaurant sign which children will instantly associate it with. This so-called understanding of environmental print is recognised by children long before individual letters are known, so a child will recognize a McDonalds burger bar sign much earlier before it can actually read the word as a whole. This phenomenon is called emergent literacy and children will notice words, colours, signs, and numbers and gradually begin to recognise their true meaning and start to experiment by copying or trying to describe them on a piece of paper with coloured pens, etc. Carter (1999) identified three models of literariness: The inherency model, which embeds particular properties of language. Literary language is regarded distinct from more practical uses of language which highlights language itself. The socio-cultural model views literariness as socially and culturally determined, e.g. drawing attention that conceptions of literature will vary historically and culturally. Eagleton (1996) There is nothing distinctive about literary language; any text can be seen as literature if it is defined as such. And finally, the cognitive model, which relates literary language to mental processes. Linguistic repetition derives from a basic human drive to repeat and is a kind of cognitive argument, (Tannen 1989) whereas Cook (1994:4) believes that literary texts have an effect on the mind and help us to think in new ways and refresh and change our representations of the world. Gibbs (1994) states human language and human understanding often are metaphorical and that literary metaphor will carry on and extend everyday metaphorical notions. Carter believes creativity is commonly regarded as a process that will result in solution or identification of problems, usually a result of a process of divergent and innovative thinking. (Carter, 2008. p.48) The answer to where we find creativity in language is a broad expression in my opinion, because there are so many places where we would find language creativity in everyday context. However for the sake of example I have decided to give the example of language creativity made by young children because they are still learning how to use language properly and by doing so come up with expressions which really could be considered creative. So to answer where we find creative language we do not have to look far, we simply have to speak with small children because as they are still learning the rules of correct language grammar, they tend to invent new forms of grammar or more correctly, adopt and transmit it into their sentences. For example using flyed instead of flew or biccik instead of biscuit. This is a term I picked up from my younger cousin when he was around 2 years old. Creativity will nearly always depend on the intentions and inferences of the participants is a statement from Carter. (Carter, 2008) Further he feels that creative language use cannot be described as being evaluated by wholly formalistic definitions and depends on elements such as relationships, nature of external task, changing social contexts and speech genres. (Carter, p.167, 2008) He also suggests creativity is seen as a social and interactional act as much as it is a distinctive individual act. (p.44) Furthermore there is also the proposal that repetition is a resource by which conversationalists together create a discourse, a relationship and a world (cited in Carter, 2008, p.101) and it is suggested that spoken language use may be more closely connected with expressions of feeling and identity, than written text. (Carter, 2008, p.112) According to Carter it is important to recognize creativity in context. He feels that while creativity in language can occur in the most situations, it will still remain probabilistic because a brochure may be informal but it can also be creative. (Carter 2008) The above has illustrated two points of view from two different people. One of them is Cooks view and the other is Carters view; and at this stage I will attempt to discuss these ideas and try to demonstrate them in my answer. To recapitulate, Cook sees language creativity as a tool for survival whereas Carter sees it as a process of problem solving. There are 3 areas of language play: Pragmatic Function, Linguistic and Semantic. Pragmatic is the effect of language choice e.g. solidarity, enjoyment, Linguistic is the look or the sound of words e.g. patterning, repetition and Semantic carries inversion of meaning like puns. Literacy activities are a non-specialist way to simply refer to peoples interactions with texts. Even today we relate to people who are able to read and write as literate. Literacy events are social interactions where literacy plays an important role, e.g. discussing a letter from a tax office, reading a bedtime story or helping a friend with a crossword puzzle. They are ways in which people use and interact with texts in particular context and the meaning it holds for them like the frequent email circulation of jokes among groups of friends and the importance of this for the people involved, for example writing Open University assignments plus the meaning and significance of the activity for the student doing the writing. Why are we creative with language? This is not a straightforward question because there may be various reasons why we are creative with our language, it will depend wholly on the situation we find ourselves in, whether it is among close friends and family or in a work environment or even in our free time. And throughout the years we have come up with new words for certain activities like the word texting or tweeting. In a sense this can also be seen as language creativity and a literacy practice because up to a few years ago there was no Twitter and text messaging has only recently become as normal as the email which cant be thought out of our everyday lives anymore. But as everything can be considered as creative, what can be considered literary? Literary language can sometimes be axiomatic and may carry forms of moral injunctions even though it may not direct us to form certain constative speech acts in response to the text. Carter showed two examples in his book, the first being an instructional handbook for motor car repair and the second taken from a well-known novel published in the 1950s in Britain. In the instruction manual medium dependence is not a common characteristic of common literary language even though there may be special cases to the rule. This concludes why we are creative with language; so that firstly we can get along with other people that may not be as articulate or creative with language as we are and as mentioned earlier in the essay, so that the language evolves. Even though some people might argue that language is a god given ability which must be treasured, we cannot argue that throughout our history as many cultures and the outlook of life have changed, so has our language. Take the example of the English language: from becoming a Germanic dialect which came from the Scandinavians at around 1066 which eventually developed into Old English and eventually to the language we speak now, a lot of creativity has been changing ideas which make up the modern English language. In fact English as it is spoken today did not even come close to sounding the way that is sounds now. One could even say it was incomprehensible. And on top of that, next to sounding completely different it also had a completely different alphabet with letters that are no longer used today a rune-like alphabet with extra letters in order to illustrate certain sounds like sh. As we have seen, it is mainly because of creativity that we speak the language we speak today. From the moment we are born we are bombarded with literacy and the correct form of speaking the way that is considered by society to be literary. I have shown some examples of language creativity in young children and given some of my own personal examples and linked them to the question. I have also tried to link the ideas to Carter and how they fit in with his theories and have given some examples of new literacy activities which have become a part of everyday life in the 21st century, such as tweeting. Facebook and Twitter have in that sense become new literacy tools for this age and time. And in the age of the tablet, our literacy practices have made another step to the future. Tablets have made some of the commonest everyday things redundant, like newspapers. Instead of holding a traditional newspaper in our hands which we will eventually put in the paper bin at the end of the day, we can read it on our tablet. And news updates are certainly swifter because instead of having to print it, one types it on the computer and when its done, uploads it directly to the internet for everybody accessible to a computer and Wi-Fi can read. It is very possible that there will be new forms of literacy which will find their way into our everyday lives like the email, Facebook or Twitter. What that may be I, nor anybody else can tell yet but we will recognize it when it comes. We may not immediately recognize it as a new form of literacy but Rome was not build in one day. Give it some time and i n a few years it will become the most normal thing in the world. This essay has shown some of my own examples of literary practices from my personal experience and whether they fit in with the ideas of Cook and other theorists. I have shown how literacy has changed from printed newspapers to being read on tablet devices and how young children become literate by inventing seemingly correct grammar and vocabulary forms in order to express their thoughts. In conclusion it can be viewed that there are many literacy practices which are worthy to be considered creative. Whether it is a childs recognition of a restaurant sign or the creativity of new words in the process of becoming a literate person and even the solving of a crossword puzzle, all of them require us to have at least some knowledge of literacy. By continuously practicing these activities, there is a chance that it will survive for the use of later generations. If we teach our children to be inspired by these activities then we can have a little hope that literacy shall be passed down for the future generations to come. Required word count for essay: 2.000 words Complete word count of essay: 2.036 words

The Four Political Parties Of Canada Essay -- Canadian Politics Politi

The Four Political Parties of Canada   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a country as vast and as culturally diverse as Canada, many different political opinions can be found stretched across the country. From the affluent neighbourhoods of West Vancouver to the small fishing towns located on the east coast of Newfoundland, political opinions and affiliations range from the left wing to the right wing. To represent these varying political views, Canada has four official national political parties to choose from: the Liberals (who are currently in power), the Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Reform Party. What is particularly interesting is that none of the latter three parties compose Her Majesty's Official Opposition in the House of Commons. The Bloc Quebecois, a Quebec separatist party who only ran candidates in the province of Quebec in the last federal election in 1993, won 54 seats in that province, and claimed the title of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition over the Reform Party, who garnered only 52 seats. Because the Bloc ran candidates only in Quebec, it would be difficult to think of them being a national political party, even though they hold a significant number of seats in the national legislature. This paper will examine the significant early history of Canada's four main national political parties, and then will analyse their current state, referring to recent major political victories/disasters, and the comparison of major economic policy standpoints, which will ultimately lead to a prediction of which party will win the next federal election in Canada.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting on the far left, there is the New Democratic Party of Canada. Today's modern New Democratic Party was originally called the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and was founded in 1932. Originally led by a man by the name of James Shaver Woodsworth, the CCF was formed by several radical farming groups who found out that they had more similarities with each other than just their destitution. The 1920's had been a dark period for radicals and unions within Canada; poverty and significantly lower wages for workers were prevalent, and apathy regarding these issues was rampant. When the depression wove its destructive web across Canada in the 1930s, proponents of capitalism were staggered, but their left-wing opponents were too busy coming to the aid o... ... into the 21st century, however, will be made in the soon-to-be- called Canadian federal election. Democracy will speak out once again. BIBLIOGRAPHY (1996) A Fresh Start for Canadians [Online]. Available: http://www.reform.ca/FreshStart/summary.html [1997, Feb.25]. Guy, John J. People, Politics and Government. Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1995. Harrison, Trevor. Of Passionate Intensity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. (1996) Liberal Party of Canada [Online]. Available: http://www.liberal.ca/english2/policy/red_book/chapter1.html [1997, Feb.25]. Macquarrie, Heath. The Conservative Party. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1965. McMenemy, John, Winn, Conrad. Political Parties in Canada. Montreal: McGraw- Hill Ryerson, 1976. Morton, Desmond. The New Democrats, 1961-1986. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1986. (1996) New Democrats of Canada [Online]. Available: http://www.fed.ndp.ca/fndp/fairtaxnow.html [1997, Feb.25]. Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Designing a Blueprint for Canadians. Ottawa, 1997. (1996) Progressive Conservative Youth [Online]. Available: http://www.openface.ca/PCU/library4.html [1997, Feb.25].