The Bering Land Bridge Between Russia and North America

The Bering Land Bridge Between Russia and North America The Bering Strait is a waterway that separates Russia from North America. It lies above the Bering Land Bridge (BLB), also called Beringia (sometimes misspelled Beringea), a submerged landmass that once connected the Siberian mainland with North America. While Beringias shape and size while above water is variously described in publications, most scholars would agree the land mass included the Seward Peninsula, as well as existing land areas of northeast Siberia and western Alaska, between the Verkhoyansk Range in Siberia and the Mackenzie River in Alaska. As a waterway, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean over the polar ice cap, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. The climate of the Bering Land Bridge (BLB) when it was above sea level during the Pleistocene was long thought to have been primarily a herbaceous tundra or steppe-tundra. However, recent pollen studies have shown that during the Last Glacial Maximum (say, between 30,000-18,000 calendar years ago, abbreviated as cal BP), the environment was a mosaic of diverse but cold plant and animal habitats. Living on the Bering Land Bridge Whether Beringia was habitable or not at a given time is determined by the sea level and presence of surrounding ice: specifically, whenever the sea level drops about 50 meters (~164 feet) below its present position, the land surfaces. The dates when this happened in the past have been difficult to establish, in part because the BLB is currently mostly underwater and difficult to reach. Ice cores seem to indicate that most of the Bering Land Bridge was exposed during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (60,000 to 25,000 years ago), connecting Siberia and North America: and the land mass was above sea level but cut off from east and west land bridges during OIS 2 (25,000 to about 18,500 years BP). Beringian Standstill Hypothesis By and large, archaeologists believe that the Bering land bridge was the primary entryway for the original colonists into the Americas. About 30 years ago, scholars were convinced that people simply left Siberia, crossed the BLB and entered down through the mid-continental Canadian ice shield through a so-called ice-free corridor. However, recent investigations indicate the ice-free corridor was blocked between about 30,000 and 11,500 cal BP. Since the northwest Pacific coast was deglaciated at least as early as 14,500 years BP, many scholars today believe a Pacific coastal route was the primary route for much of the first American colonization. One theory gaining strength is the Beringian standstill hypothesis, or Beringian Incubation Model (BIM), the proponents of which argue that instead of moving directly from Siberia across the strait and down the Pacific coast, the migrants livedin fact were trappedon the BLB for several millennia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Their entry into North America would have been blocked by ice sheets, and their return to Siberia blocked by the glaciers in the Verkhoyansk mountain range. The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement to the west of the Bering Land Bridge east of the Verkhoyansk Range in Siberia is the Yana RHS site, a very unusual 30,000-year-old site located above the arctic circle. The earliest sites on the east side of the BLB in the Americas are Preclovis in date, with confirmed dates usually no more than 16,000 years cal BP. Climate Change and the Bering Land Bridge Although there is a lingering debate, pollen studies suggest that the climate of the BLB between about 29,500 and 13,300 cal BP was an arid, cool climate, with grass-herb-willow tundra. There is also some evidence that near the end of the LGM (~21,000-18,000 cal BP), conditions in Beringia deteriorated sharply. At about 13,300 cal BP, when rising sea levels began to flood the bridge, the climate appears to have been wetter, with deeper winter snows and cooler summers. Sometime between 18,000 and 15,000 cal BP, the bottleneck to the east was broken, which allowed human entrance into the North American continent along the Pacific coast. The Bering Land Bridge was completely inundated by rising sea levels by 10,000 or 11,000 cal BP, and its current level was reached about 7,000 years ago. The Bering Strait and Climate Control A recent computer modeling of the ocean cycles and their effect on abrupt climate transitions called Dansgaard-Oeschger (D/O) cycles, and reported in Hu and colleagues 2012, describes one potential effect of the Bering Strait on global climate. This study suggests that the closing of the Bering Strait during the Pleistocene restricted cross-circulation between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and perhaps led to the numerous abrupt climatic changes experienced between 80,000 and 11,000 years ago. One of the major fears of coming global climate change is the effect of changes in the salinity and temperature of the North Atlantic current, resulting from glacial ice melt. Changes to the North Atlantic current have been identified as one trigger for significant cooling or warming events in the North Atlantic and surrounding regions, such as that seen during the Pleistocene. What the computer models seem to show is that an open Bering Strait allows ocean circulation between the Atlantic and Pacific, and continued admixing may suppress the effect of the North Atlantic freshwater anomaly. The researchers suggest that as long as the Bering Strait continues to stay open, the current water flow between our two major oceans will continue unhindered. This is likely to repress or limit any changes in the North Atlantic salinity or temperature, and thus lessen the likelihood of sudden collapse of the global climate. Researchers caution, however, that since researchers arent even guaranteeing that fluctuations in the North Atlantic current would create problems, further investigations examining glacial climate boundary conditions and models are needed to support these results. Climate Similarities between Greenland and Alaska In related studies, Praetorius and Mix (2014) looked at the oxygen isotopes of two species of fossil plankton, taken from  sediment cores  off the Alaskan coast, and compared them to similar studies in northern Greenland. Briefly, the balance of isotopes in a fossil being is direct evidence of the kind of plantsarid, temperate, wetland, etc.which were consumed by the animal during its life. What Praetorius and Mix discovered was that sometimes Greenland and the coast of Alaska experienced the same kind of climate: and sometimes they did not. The regions experienced the same general climate conditions from 15,500-11,000 years ago, just before the abrupt climate changes that resulted in our modern climate. That was the onset of the Holocene when temperatures rose sharply, and most of the glaciers melted back to the poles. That may have been a result of the connectivity of the two oceans, regulated by the opening of the Bering Strait; the elevation of ice in North America and/or the routing of freshwater into the North Atlantic or Southern ocean. After things settled down, the two  climates  diverged again and the climate has been relatively stable since then. However, they appear to be growing closer. Praetorius and Mix suggest that the simultaneity of climates may presage rapid climate change and that it would be prudent to monitor the changes. Sources This glossary entry is part of the About.com  Guide to Populating America  and the  Dictionary of Archaeology. Bibliographic sources for this article are on  page two. Ager TA, and Phillips RL. 2008. Pollen evidence for late Pleistocene Bering land bridge environments from Norton Sound, northeastern Bering Sea, Alaska.  Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research  40(3):451–461. Bever MR. 2001. An Overview of Alaskan Late Pleistocene Archaeology: Historical Themes and Current Perspectives.  Journal of World Prehistory  15(2):125-191. Fagundes NJR, Kanitz R, Eckert R, Valls ACS, Bogo MR, Salzano FM, Smith DG, Silva WA, Zago MA, Ribeiro-dos-Santos AK et al. 2008. Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas.  The American Journal of Human Genetics  82(3):583-592. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013 Hoffecker JF, and Elias SA. 2003. Environment and archeology in Beringia.  Evolutionary Anthropology  12(1):34-49. doi:10.1002/evan.10103 Hoffecker JF, Elias SA, and ORourke DH. 2014. Out of Beringia?  Science  343:979-980. doi:10.1126/science.1250768 Hu A, Meehl GA, Han W, Timmermann A, Otto-Bliesner B, Liu Z, Washington WM, Large W, Abe-Ouchi A, Kimoto M et al. 2012.  Role of the Bering Strait on the hysteresis of the ocean conveyor belt circulation and glacial climate stability.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  109(17):6417-6422. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116014109 Praetorius SK, and Mix AC. 2014.  Synchronization of North Pacific and Greenland climates preceded abrupt deglacial warming.  Science  345(6195):444-448. Tamm E, Kivisild T, Reidla M, Metspalu M, Smith DG, Mulligan CJ, Bravi CM, Rickards O, Martinez-Labarga C, Khusnutdinova EK et al. 2007.  Beringian Standstill and Spread of Native American Founders.  PLoS ONE  2(9):e829. Volodko NV, Starikovskaya EB, Mazunin IO, Eltsov NP, Naidenko PV, Wallace DC, and Sukernik RI. 2008. Mitochondrial Genome Diversity in Arctic Siberians, with Particular Reference to the Evolutionary  History of Beringia and Pleistocenic Peopling of the Americas.  The American Journal of Human Genetics  82(5):1084-1100. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.03.019

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like CoSchedule (+ Free Template) - CoSchedule Blog

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like (+ Free Template) Blog We just completed our second ever product roadmap summit  here at .  This is where a group of us spends a full day locked in a conference room fighting relentlessly for the features that you need and deserve in your favorite editorial calendar. During this process, we review recent (and some older)  feature requests, balance maintenance needs, and read through our ever-growing wish-list of features for . The goal? Decide what were going to build over the next six months. It’s sort of like decide who we want to be when we grow up twice a  year. For us, it follows a simple 6-6-6 framework. This covers planning in three timeframes after  the day of the summit: 6 weeks, 6 months, and 6 years. We hold product roadmap summits twice per year and use them to think about our future (6 years), our next two quarters (6 months), and some of our immediate goals (6 weeks). How To Plan Your #ProductRoadmap Like (+ Free Template)So, why do we do this? If there is only one truth in business, it’s that there is never a shortage of ideas. Plus, our customers are awesome and send us a ton of ideas that we usually love and want to build immediately. But, alas, there are only 25 of us. We just can’t do it all. With so many inputs, its important that we balance the things that we  could do, to actually realize the things that we can do. And so, we have a product roadmap summit and  pick a handful of things that will bring the most results. We all need a system for prioritizing our work. This is how we do it at . Its important to balance what you could do, to realize what you can do.Get Your Free Product Roadmap Template To Plan Now This blog post walks you through the exercises that work for choosing the ultimate best features for you to plan into your project development roadmap. Get your free kit now to plan your roadmap as you read this post. Your kit includes: Product roadmap summit Word doc template to help you run an efficient planning session with your team. Product roadmap template Excel spreadsheet to help you prioritize the projects you choose to tackle in the next six weeks to  six months. Step #1: Establish Your BHAG (6-Year Goal) BHAG stands for big, hairy, audacious goal. It’s  an idea from the book, Built to Last  by James Collins and Jerry Porras. According to Collins and Porras, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business' existence. At the beginning of every product roadmap summit, we start with this goal. We review the BHAG from the previous summit and do a few brainstorming exercises. We allow for general team discussion about the goal. Does this still reflect where we want to go? We brainstorm some of the big things that we will need to accomplish in order to reach our BHAG. We list the threats that will prevent us from ever reaching our BHAG. The entire goal here is to set the stage for our roadmap planning by considering where we want to go and working backward. It’s a favorite strategy of mine. Deciding WHAT NOT to do is way easier than deciding WHAT to do. Say no, then work backwards from there. #startup pic.twitter.com/2RTWsO1fgI Garrett Moon (@garrett_moon) June 24, 2016 The hope is that by bringing this goal to mind, we will continuously refer back to our BHAG as we do our planning. You should always  be using your BHAG to evaluate the things you're doing in the present. Are you doing what you need to do to get there? Step #2: Put It All On The Table The next, and most exciting, portion of our product roadmap summit includes the airing of many grievances, err†¦ feature requests! The goal here is to get everything on a Post-It note on the wall so you can see it together. We like to have one person from each of our core teams (product, marketing, and success) share a list of feature requests, customer comments, growth opportunities, and smart things that we could build. Let every idea be a good idea as you brainstorm.Here’s how it works: Lance from our customer success team shares the list of feature requests from our customers. This list is pre-sorted by the entire customer success team and should show us the key areas where our customer would like to see us improve. Next, we have Justin, our CTO, share a list of platform and maintenance projects that need to be completed in order to maintain the quality of service that our customers demand and deserve. This list usually includes foreign sounding things like database maintenance, spindle logs, and very excited engineers. We don’t always understand it, but we do love it. The third thing we cover is sales and marketing needs. These are usually covered by myself and usually include improvements that we want to make to our billing system, onboarding/first-run experience, or other areas that are related directly to our core business metrics like trial to paid conversions, user churn, and product growth. The fourth thing we like to cover is our feature backlog. This backlog is lengthy and includes a mixture of features that we want to see and ideas from one of our previous summits that had to go on the back burner. During this phase, it's important that you don’t get carried away categorizing and prioritizing things. There will be time for that later. Just get it out there, let every idea be a good one, and move forward. Step #3: Team Lunch Next, lunch. There are usually only two rules for team lunch. Leave the meeting room behind. We think it's important to get out of the building to  clear our heads for a bit. You don’t have to talk about business. It doesn’t mean you can’t, but we like to allow the conversation to take us wherever it goes. It’s a good way to break up a busy day. Step #4: Prioritize This is the hardest part of the process. This is when we take all of the ideas on the table, evaluate them against the BHAG, and prioritize them based on what we would like to accomplish in the next six  months. We use several methods for breaking things down. We break things down into roadmaps. Rather than trying to prioritize apples against oranges, we like to break things into a few different groups. For us, this means that we build three distinct roadmaps for our team: Features, Success, and Platform. Each of these roadmaps has their own goals. We are only trying to figure out what to build next in each of these categories. We prioritize ideas based on potential customer value.  We like to place each feature idea on a simple X/Y table that looks like this: In this example, the Y axis represents the amount of value we believe that a feature or idea can bring our users. The X axis represents the total number of users, or percentage of users, who will be able to take advantage of the mentioned improvement. Plotting this out is usually the most taxing part of our entire day. For every single Post-It note, we debate and decide where the idea falls in the spectrum. We try not to overthink it, but it can still take awhile. Plot ideas on an X/Y table to choose features with the best value for the  most users.The efforts always result in a ton of useful dialogue and debate across our team. This process  also weeds out any â€Å"pet features† that someone on our team may have. The more we concentrate on user value, the less likely we are to make a call based on personal bias. When we are done, it will look something like this. In this case, one thing is for sure, the customer is always right! Step #5: Assemble The Product Roadmap Once everything is plotted out, we draw a (figurative) line across the X/Y axis. Anything that falls below or to the left of the line probably won’t get done. One thing that I want to emphasize is that this doesn’t mean those items aren’t important, or that they will never get built. It simply means that they aren’t important in relation to the other items on the list. We always re-review the cut ideas at the next product roadmap summit. At this point, we begin dividing things in to 6-week and 6-month groups. What things do we want to get done right now (six weeks), and what things needs to get done soon, but not right away (six  months)? There is plenty of additional discussion at this point, but by and large, most of the team will be on the same page because of the previous exercise that ranked features by user value. While I am not going to go too far into it here, we also use a point system to define how large a feature is, or more importantly, how much time and resources it will require to develop. For us, this is a simple 1, 2, 3 point system. You could adapt them for your team as needed. And that’s how we plan features at ! When it’s all said and done, we have a product roadmap, a happy team, and customers who are getting the features that will help them the most! Before I wrap things up, I want a cover a few additional things just in case you decide to try and hold your own roadmap summit. Lessons Learned From Successful Product Roadmap Summits Quick Tip #1: Our Roadmap Summit Has Some Rules We use a few basic rules to ensure that we stay focused and on topic. You can add/remove as necessary, but here are the rules we use: We are brainstorming projects of the purpose of the product team, no other team projects can/should be added. All ideas are necessary for good brainstorming. Avoid shooting things down. Keep laptops closed and phones down. No email, HipChat/Slack, or Snapchat allowed! Someone should be designated to write things down. Don’t get too deep into features. We’re not building them here. Quick Tip #2: Everyone Has Veto Power During roadmap planning, we give everyone veto power. If they are absolutely convinced that a feature should not be completed, or want to call shenanigans on the group, they can. While Justin and I tend to use this rule more than others (oops!), it applies to everyone on the team equally. Quick Tip #3: Bring Snacks We like to leave a few piles of red starbursts on the tables for added sugar, but we also provide fruit, snacks, and refreshing drinks to keep everyone going. Quick Tip #4: Leave Time To Retro The last two things that we do after any roadmap summit are related to review and reflection. First, we spend at least 10 minutes reviewing our newly formed product roadmap against our BHAG and our earlier discussions. This is designed to ensure that we will actually be executing against the goals that we outlined. Is everything on our roadmap necessary in order to reach our BHAG? Is it in alignment with where we want to go? If it isn’t, now is the right time to reflect and adjust our plan. The second thing we do is an immediate retrospective on the meeting itself. The goal here is to identify potential improvements that we can implement to make to the process better during the next summit. We like to cover three questions: What went well? What didn’t go so well? What can we do to ensure things go (even) better next time? Best of luck to you and your team at your own product roadmap summit! If you give it a try, please let us know how it goes in the comments.

The Role of Nurses in the Prevention, Care, and Management of Suicide Essay

The Role of Nurses in the Prevention, Care, and Management of Suicide - Essay Example The first section of the paper identifies the nature and symptoms of suicide. Nurses should be aware of the nature, signs and symptoms of suicide and the factors contributing to suicide risk. Determining who are at risk should be done immediately to prevent suicide, thus the second part of this paper determines the preventive measures that must be done to control the situation. The third part discusses the proper care for patients at risk of suicide. Although care for patients with suicide tendency is the main responsibility of psychologists and psychiatrists, nurses contribute to the wellness of the patients and the continuity of the recovery program. The fifth part suggests follow up actions that nurses can perform to ensure complete recovery of patients with suicide tendency. The sixth part gives the conclusion and summarises all the important points in the prevention, care and management of suicide cases in the hospital setting. The role of the nurse in the prevention, care, and management of suicide among hospital patients is very significant. The nurses are the ones who have the most direct and frequent contact with the patients, thus they may affect the mood and emotional condition of patients with suicide tendency. The case of suicidal patients is very sensitive, thus nurses should be equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills to identify and care for patients attempting to commit suicide.... e case of suicidal patients is very sensitive, thus nurses should be equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills to identify and care for patients attempting to commit suicide. The number of suicide cases in the UK has decreased in the past years (Joint Commission Resources 2007). Nevertheless, this does not make suicide less of a problem. The World Health Organisation declared suicide as a major global health concern, accounting for approximately one million cases worldwide annually (Voice of America 2009). Currently, it is one of the three leading causes of death for young people under 25. This rate makes suicide a serious problem in the field of health care. To address this issue, patients with suicide tendency should be identified right away for counselling and other relevant interventions. In the hospital level, nurses can help to address the problem by assessing and reporting the behaviour of patients. Therefore, it is necessary for nurses to know the signs of suicide to ef fectively act and elicit efforts from the concerned people to initiate prevention of suicide attempts and manage proper care of the patient. Currently, only a few nursing studies have addressed suicide specifically (Fitzpatrick and Wallace 2005; Bryan and Rudd 2011). Study and assessment of suicide cases revealed poor patient assessment, limited communication, and knowledge deficit of professional staff about suicide. In this regard, it is imperative for every nurse or health worker in general to be aware of the behavioural signs that can manifest as part of suicide risk. Also, it is important to understand the nature of suicide ideation and the factors that could lead a person to commit suicide. Suicide Prevention Suicide ideation or tendency results usually from depression. When people

Nanobots Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nanobots - Research Paper Example This essay examines the nanobot in terms of its purpose, function, development, as well as the moral and ethical concerns related to its implementation in the contemporary and future world environments. Analysis What is this technology? Nanobots are the product of nanotechnology. This is technology that functions within exceptionally small confines – namely within a nanometer (10?9 meters). The field of nanorobotics implements nanotechnology in the creation and engineering of robotic devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometers. These robots are recognized to also be composed of micro or nano processors or components. When one considers that in the mid-20th century the only computers that existed filled a room, the emergence of such nanotechnology measures only a half-century later is a tremendous technological advance. Nanotechnology is created from a bottom up process where the technology is created one atom at a time, allowing developers to achieve the astoundingly small size requirements. Currently nanorobotic technology is in a proto-stage, as primitive molecular machines have been developed. There are also sensors that measure only 1.5 nanometers that are able to identify specific molecules in a chemical conglomerate. Even while nanobots remain largely in the formative development stages, it’s recognized that in the upcoming decade they will increasingly become a part of our daily lives. Purpose of this technology and its effect on people’s lives There are a great variety of potential implementations for nanorobotic technology. Perhaps the most prominent use of this technology has been potential implications of it in combating cancer cells. Indeed, recent trial procedures have been conducted wherein nanobots were able to enter a human and eliminate cancer cells. Describing the function of these nanobots in combating cancer, researcher Mark Davis notes, â€Å"It sneaks in, evades the immune system, delivers the siRNA, and the disas sembled components exit out† (Gizmodo). Essentially, these nanobots are able to enter the human body and deliver RNAi sequences to cancerous cells; these are ribonucleic acid interferences that attack malignant cancer cells. Professor Sylvain Martel, Director of the Nanorobotics Laboratory at Polytechnique Montreal has also foregrounded significant developments of nanobots for the treatment of cancer. While Professor Martel’s treatment of cancer is much in like with researcher Mark Davis’ there are a number of notable innovative differences. It’s noted that, â€Å"Using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, his team successfully guided microcarriers loaded with a dose of anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream†¦right up to a targeted area in the liver, where the drug was successfully administered† (‘Science Daily’). In these regards, the notable understanding is that this technology is able to improve chemoembolization by tre ating cancerous cells without exposing the unaffected adjacent tissue to the medication’s toxic effects. In addition to specific implications on cancer treatment, nanobots are also believed to have the potential of aiding humans avoid invasive surgery through entering the body and conducting such amendments. Furthermore, the emergent study of nanomedibots is believed to have the potential of developing nanobots that reside in humans to, â€Å"monitor body function; repair damaged tissue at the molecular level; deconstruct pathologic or abnormal material or cells such as cancer or

Depression Essay -- essays research papers

In today’s society, we are faced with or placed in many unpredictable and stressful situations. However, many of us manage to properly analyze the situations and maintain our sanity, experiencing only a mild form of depression, if any. Others may encounter similar situations and become mentally depressed. Some reasons for being depressed are normal, such as, a death of a family member, parents divorce, or loss of job; but, depending on how long you are depressed, as a result of these misfortunate situations, can determine weather or not you are emotionally depressed. Depression is the most common psychological disorder that affects both the young and old, rich and poor, or even successful and unsuccessful people. Although depression occurs most often in individual who have little education, the truth is, we all are targets. One form of depression that plaques our society is called major depression. Major Depression is a mood disorder characterized by extreme and persistent feelings of despondency, worthlessness, and hopelessness causing impaired emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 1998). Major Depression affects about 12 million American a year (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 1998). Individuals who suffer from this form of depression is overwhelmingly sad. Often, sadness is accompanied by feelings of quilt, worthlessness, inadequacy, emptiness, and hopelessness, even though these individuals are surrounded by friends and f...

Arguments for and against Australia’s Alliance with the United States

Australia, apart from being the United States' oldest friend as well as ally in the Asia-Pacific region also is America's second closest ally worldwide. In spite of the fact that this alliance has been in existence for over 50 years, it was until September in 2001 (few days before the 50th anniversary) that the treaty was for the first time since its signing invoked. Since then Australia has increasingly gotten involved with the United States and its activities. Not only did Australia join the American-led coalitions in fighting against Iraq and Afghanistan but also signed a free trade agreement with the United States, a development that both governments perceive to be most significant in the bilateral relationship since the ANZUS Treaty that binds Australia, the United States and New Zealand. ANZUS’s also separately binds the United States and Australia to cooperate and assist each other on matters of defence in the Pacific region. More developments have however been made on this treaty with current understanding implying that the cooperation relates to attacks in any area globally. These events, developments have however prompted a debate in Australia about what the nature of the United States' power and what its expectations from the alliance are. The costs and benefits of the close ties, military as well as economic with the United States are also being hotly debated in Australia. Critics of the formation of the free trade area perceive it to be a way of killing the country more than developing it . In spite of all these doubts and criticisms of the alliance, there are those who believe that this alliance places Australia in a privileged position with the world's greatest if not the only remaining superpower which has large and potentially enormous benefits that would enhance Australia's economic strength and its national security . The Australia-United States alliance is not just any ordinary alliance. There are not many alliances that last up to fifty ears and even exceed it. Very few alliances have ramifications that go beyond military and diplomatic affairs into economic, social, cultural and political affairs as this alliance . The Australia-America alliance has developed such that in its own right, it can be described as a political institution that is more like a monarchy or a political party. Those charged with the responsibility of managing such an institution constantly face the challenges of assessing and ascertaining the elements that need to be changed so that they adapt to meeting changing circumstances and those that must be maintained constant . In the case of this alliance, those responsible for its management must ensure that it retains support of the opinion of both the government and the public of the two countries. Since the signing of this agreement, the Americans, with the exception of the Nixon administration have been comfortable and secure with the alliance. The Australian politicians regardless of the criticisms and opposition to the alliance while in opposition have invariably kept the alliance when they got to the office. This is because they have witnessed the consistent benefits of the alliance which they perceive to outweigh the political costs and/or military risks of any of the subservience that the might of Washington is alleged to have. Australia's position in the Southeast Asia and South Pacific enables it to have a defense posture that is self reliant which enhances mutual security between the two countries in the alliance . The United States has guaranteed security to this posture and access to its intelligence, weapons, defense science and support with military logistics. This has also enhanced the status of Australia in global affairs and particularly in Asia. The Australian public opinion is the one that has raised questions over the durability of this alliance. Public opinion matters so much that in 1984, Paul Wolforwitz, the then US assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, reminded the Australian audience (both the public and the government) that the most significant task in management of an alliance was to constantly nurture public support . His remarks though diplomatically phrased were a message to the Australian government about the country's public opinion and its significance. The current debate on this alliance is therefore due to public opinion which determines the period the alliance might last. This paper therefore seeks to study the prevailing debate on the Australia/America alliance and critically analyse the arguments for and against the alliance. Arguments for Australia's Alliance with the United States One of the arguments used in support the Australian-United States alliance is the security guarantee that is promised by the United States. This promise guarantee includes the terms that were agreed upon in the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) in 1951 in which the two countries committed themselves to acting together to deal with common dangers . This treaty also binds the united states to aiding Australia in the event it faces a major strategic threat and vice versa. Australia is confident that it is safe and can rely on the United States for help in the event it needs them. It can be argued this reasoning is based on the fact that the United States is the most powerful nation in the world. Having the support of a superpower increases the probability of Australia winning any security confrontation it might face. This is because the United States has all the necessary resources required to counter an attack in the event of one. Another reason as to why those who support the alliance count on the guaranteed security of the United States is because of the fact that Australia has been there for the United States when most needed. Australia responded to this agreement by evoking it in September 2001 after the terrorist attacks on the United States. Australia did so by supporting the United States attack against Afghanistan and sent its forces to fight alongside those of the US in an effort to contain terrorism. The fact that Australians sent their soldiers to bleed and even die alongside the Americans in pursuit for its security justifies their reasoning and reliance on the United States to step in when it is needed . Australia, sharing the same view that spread of weapons of mass destruction is threat to humanity and should be not be encouraged sent its army to fight in the United states led war against Iraq after it was suspected of producing weapons of mass destruction. Australia has been faithful to the agreement for over fifty years. It has fulfilled it part by participating in joint defence facilities and supporting a number of the United States' very critical and most sensitive strategic capabilities. These capabilities include systems that are related to collection of intelligence, early warning of ballistic missile, submarine and satellite-based communications . Australia has also responded to humanitarian needs by the United States like sending its forces to help during the Katrina and Tsunami disasters. Australia's actions have showed commitment to the alliance over the years by going to America’s aid when they were needed. In regard to this, Australia expects the United States to take any security threats to the country as seriously as Australia did when the United States' security was threatened. Recent development however seem to challenge this argument for support of the alliance. Over the years, Australia has not been involved in any wars individually but currently faces security threats from the rising China . China is perceived to be enhancing and growing its military power through modernization at a pace that is very fast. The nature of the scope and structure of this military development in China have been a cause of concern to its neighbours especially since China has done very little to explain the aims and agenda of its military plans . China has also not done much to build the confidence of its neighbours in its military developments. It is perceived that china is going to be Asia's strongest military power and the fact that it is not explaining the purposes of its military plans creates the idea that China is preparing for a future confrontation that is bigger than the conflict over Taiwan with its neighbours. Australia perceives china to be a potential future threat to its security and has responded by preparing its forces and arming itself to face the challenge in case it arises. The United States is however seems not to be committed to assisting Australia prepare for this potential war. It has either cancelled, delayed, postponed and shrinked the delivery of weapons and war technology such as the F-22 program, aircraft carrier fleet, new cruisers and procurement of new bombers to Australia. In other words, the United States is reluctant to give Australia the services it would need to counter china in the event of a threat . These events challenge the reasoning of the supporters of the alliance based on the fact that the United States will honour the agreement of the treaty as they imply that the United States might not be so ready to engage in a war that does not concern it. This is in spite of all that Australia has done in the past to assist it in its security threats. Another argument for support of the alliance is that Australia will have the privileged access to advanced science and technology especially in areas that concern defence . The United States is as developed and industrialised nation is known to be advanced in technology in all areas and more so in security and defense issues. Being an ally to such a nation implies that in the event the less fortunate country can enjoy the privilege of accessing these technologies which are not available to other countries that have no relationship with it. Less powerful nations have used the same strategy to benefit from the technology that superpowers have and it can be said that this is the reasoning this argument is based on. However, it would be worth to remember that the United States and any other nation for that matter can not easily give away its technology to a foreign country no matter how close the ties are. Each country always strives to be better equipped technologically than others so as to remain powerful and competitive. The United States is also known to be resistant in arming other nations as it delights in claiming that it advocates for peace. This is also clear in the way the Obama administration is reluctant in letting Australia acquire the weapons and technology it needs to arm itself against the potential threats that China poses to its security. In regard to this it can be said that the argument for support of the alliance that is based on the reasoning that Australia will benefit by having access to the United States' advanced technology is vague as this access is not guaranteed. The other argument for the alliance is that Australia will have exceptional and unlimited access to the high-level American policy makers who will give them advice on political, military and diplomatic affairs . It is common knowledge that the United States has some of the best strategies in these areas and has been able to develop due to the implementation of these strategies. The United States is argued to be the most democratic country in the world hence most politically stable. The United States also has one of the best diplomatic strategies that have enabled it to have good relations with its neighbours and other countries world wide which is good for the social and economic development of the nation as it enhances trade, tourism and other exchange programs. Being an ally to the United States will therefore enable Australia to borrow some of the policies and strategies hence apply them in the mentioned areas enhancing its stability and development. Moreover, the geographical positioning of Australia requires it to have these strategies especially the military and diplomatic ones in order to survive . It however is of worth to note that not all of the United States policies and strategies are desirable. Some of its military policies particularly ones on war against terrorism and its operations in Iraq have raised several questions amongst humanitarians causing it to be accused of violating human rights and being discriminative. Not all US policies are good and care needs to be taken when deciding on which ones to borrow. Australians who support the alliance also argue that it will enable Australia to benefit from results of the American intelligence agencies . On addition to the American intelligence agencies using modern advanced technology in their operations, their agents also are some of the best trained in the world. This implies that the country can easily dictate threats to its security or that of its allies and warn them. Australian figures that due to its geographical position that is close to Asia and the fact that it has constantly supported the United States in its war against terror makes it vulnerable to attacks . Having a powerful friend with advanced intelligence agency would enable it to detect threats and mitigate them or prepare adequately to ace them. Australians who use this reasoning to support the alliance expect the United States to warn them of impending threats and dangers. Intelligence agencies are however more committed to the security of their country and might not concentrate on that one of their allies. This creates opportunity for information to on the allies to slip them. This is to say that being an ally to a nation that has advanced intelligence agencies does not provide full protection. This intelligence can however be borrowed and be used to solve some security challenges and treats by Australia. The other argument for the Australian-American alliance is that it will economically benefit Australia as it will have access to the American Market under the free trade area . Formation of free trade area is one of the strategies that most countries have implemented to enhance their economic development. This is because of the benefits that it has. It creates a large market for goods and services and removes all trade barriers such as revenues and taxes promoting business. Free trade area will enable Australia to get access to American produced goods and services at lower prices. Australia will be able to sell its produce to the larger America n market without incurring the cost of taxes and revenues . This promotes international trade which contributes greatly to economic development. Free trade area however has its weaknesses especially when it is between a weak and a powerful nation that is industrialised. This is because it easily ‘kills' the local industry as cost of production might be cheaper in the more industrialised countries causing their products to be cheaper hence denying the local products a chance in the market as they can not compete in terms of price . Arguments against Australia's Alliance with the United States One of the strongest arguments against the alliance is that the United States take Australia's commitment for granted . Australians who are opposed to the alliance based on this reasoning are justified to do so. This is because as explained earlier, Australia has been very faithful and committed to the ANZUS treaty. Australia has stood by the United States and responded when needed in facing threats to security such as terrorist and production of weapons of mass production hence supported the United States in its war against Afghanistan and Iraq respectively . Australia has supported and fought alongside the United States in other wars before this one as well such as Vietnam and the Second World War. Over the years, Australia has not faced any major threats to its national security hence has not been in need of military and defense help from the united states. Recent military developments in china however pose a great threat to Australia's security which the united states refuses to acknowledge and is even reluctant in letting Australia acquire the technology and weapons it needs that will enable it to counter attacks from china in the event they occur. It can be argued that the reluctance of the US to assist Australia prepare itself for potential future attacks to its security justifies the opposition to alliance and the claim that the US has been taking Australia's assistance for granted . However, the reason the United States is reluctant to avail these weapons and technology to Australia could be that being a nation that advocates for peace and democracy, it does not want to contradict itself by arming one nation against another. The other argument against this alliance is that it renders Australia completely dependent on the United States . This can be argued to be true based on the study of the way Australia has over the years supported the United States always expecting something in return because it is a more powerful nation. Continual support of this alliance implies continual dependency on the United States which is not right as each country should strive to be independent . However, it can also be argued that each country needs the support of others in order to develop and getting this support from a superpower is the best thing that can happen to a less powerful nation because of the because of the advantages that come with it. Other individuals opposed to the alliance argue that the creation of a free trade area is ‘killing' the country (Australia) . We could argue that this argument is completely justified. Free trade area implies that the goods and services produced within the member states can be traded freely without any trade barriers or restrictions. Free trade areas can however have a negative impact on local industries and cause some of them to completely shut down. This happens when the cost of production is lower in one of the countries in the block due to availability of raw materials in that country or low cost of energy. The goods produced in such a country usually are priced low when they come to the free market. Countries that produce the same goods but at a higher cost, are hence forced to stop producing as they can not afford to sell them at low prices without making massive loses. The fact that they can not beat the cheaply produced goods in the market forces these industries to shut down hence ‘killing’ the country. Free trade areas however have several advantages; they have the potential of producing large per capita such as the one produced by NATO, increasing employment opportunities, promoting trade between the member countries hence enhancing economic development. Conclusion It is predicted for the foreseeable future that Australia will remain one of the committed allies of the United States. Both Canberra and Washington have the same views on fighting the war against terrorism, dealing with and curbing the spread and production of weapons of mass destruction that threatens the security of the humanity, supporting and upholding democracy and preventing the re-emergence of failed states. The challenges faced by Australia in its own neighbourhood however have the first priority when dealing with these issues. As the United States is comfortable with the alliance, maintaining support for it hence overly depends on how successful the strategies taken by Washington will be in convincing the Australian government and public that the United States policies are necessary as well as legitimate. The Australian public will also have to be convinced that the United States does not take its contribution to mutual security for granted. Obstacles to good relations in this alliance could arise in the event the United States makes demands that are politically difficult on Australia in combating of terror, or if the US sought from Australia military support that forced risks that are unacceptable to Australia or one that drew the country into a major conflict with China over Taiwan. Differing views on security challenges that emanate from a rising China is perceived to be the alliance's greatest potential threat.

Animal Farm - Character Analysis- Boxer the Horse Essay

Empathy can be defined as ‘the power of identifying oneself mentally and emotionally with a person or object’. When reading novels, we are able to relate to some characters through similar experiences and emotions and so these characters often invite our understanding and empathy. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Boxer the horse invites our empathy. We empathise with Boxer and the way in which the pig Napoleon, the leader of Animal Farm, takes advantage of his good-natured personality and manipulates him into following all orders. Boxer is unaware of the fact that he is being taken advantage of and that Napoleon has forced him into being the main labourer in the long, strenuous construction of the windmill. Despite his apparent†¦show more content†¦Despite this injury and the fact that animals’ morale had been shattered, Boxer began hard work again and refused to take a day off. Boxer only had one aspiration left which was to see the windmill well into action before it was time for him to retire. Another example of Boxer’s strong personality in times of hardship is the night in which the executions of the animals that admitted to having been deceitful to their fellow comrades by taking Snowball’s side took place and Boxer stated that to overcome the faults amongst the farm’s animals, he was going to work harder. By now the responder clearly realises that the strong relationship between Boxer and Napoleon is obviously a negative one. It saddens the responder and invites their empathy to find Boxer to be so oblivious to what is going on around him and at the same time his level of incomprehension creates a feeling of slight frustration in a sympathetic type of sense. A strong feeling of dislike is formed towards Napoleon as he so easily controls Boxer, forcing him to do such tough, punishing labour as he is aware that Boxer is extremely loyal to his superiors and happily prepared to complete all set tasks. Boxer and the other animals fall victim to the pigs’ cunning ways, but besides the easily convinced sheep and Boxer, the other animals are aware of this but are too frightened or cowardly to put a stop to it, for fear of being accused of treachery and then executed. Boxer also shares a strongShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis Of Animal Farm By George Orwell1310 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis of Animal Farm Although they claimed the farm to be a utopia, the pigs secretly were deceiving their fellow animals and turning the farm into a dystopia. In George Orwell s Animal Farm all of the animals are mistreated by Farmer Jones, but they wish to be treated as equals and live in a utopia so they rebel and take over the farm. 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