Habits Speech Essay Example for Free

Habits Speech Essay It is commonly accepted that a person’s bad habits are bad. Right? Wrong. Today I’ll be giving some examples of habits of mine that are actually in a way, beneficial to me. ANGER – Ever since I remember, I’ve had the habit of getting angry very easily, but it turns out that letting off a head of steam may bring physical benefits. Researchers have found that people who respond to high-stress situations with some righteous anger maintain lower blood pressure and secrete less cortisol, known as the stress hormone, than people who respond with fear or bottle up their feelings. VIDEO GAMES Despite being blamed for their part in the obesity epidemic, video games can actually help us get fit and lose weight. It turns out it actually boosts your metabolism! Whilst playing video games, a person’s heart rates speeds up; they used more energy and begin breathing faster. This could have a positive effect on health, provided theyre not substituted for real sport. SWEARING Did you know that swearing is actually good for you? Yes, scientists have proven that swearing eases pain and allows you to withstand pain for longer. Swearing is connected to our adrenaline and when people swear, they have an elevated heart rate, so it could be that swearing increases their aggression levels. Increased aggression has been shown to reduce peoples sensitivity to pain. LAZING ABOUT – This kind of behavior is believed to add years to your life. People who get up early and busy themselves all day long are heading for an early grave. Lazing about is the key to a long life and an antidote to personal stress. People who would rather take a midday nap instead of playing squash have a better chance of living into old age. If you don’t believe me. An example of this is the increased lifespan of zoo animals for instance lions in the Serengeti live only eight yea rs, but can live to an age of 20 in captivity. STRESS – Stress, while long periods of stress can leave your immune system depleted and prone to infection, researchers have found that a short stressful incident can boost your learning and memory. Acute stress increases transmission of glutamate, the substance that passes messages to and from the brain. This improves working memory. Stress hormones have both protective and damaging effects on the body. This is why we need stress to perform better, but dont want to be stressed out. LOUD MUSIC – Most people believe that listening to music very loud is damaging to your ears. This may be true; however it also stimulates part of the inner ear known as the sacculus, which responds to the beat of music. The sacculus, has no hearing function in humans, but is sensitive only to very loud volumes. It has a connection to the part of the brain responsible for drives such as hunger and sex. When these desires are satisfied, the brain is stimulated into releasing feel-good hormones that make us calm, happy and responsive. FIDGETING It may be irritating, but natural fidgets are doing themselves a favour by fighting obesity. Researchers have found that people who always seem to be on the go are more likely to be slim. The extra motion, whether it is tapping, twitching, stretching or yawning, accounts for an extra 350 calories a day. The amount of this low-grade activity is so large it could be the only thing keeping some from becoming obese. So the next time someone tells you to stop whatever habit it is you’re doing, because they don’t approve. Think twice, and ask yourself. Is it benefitting you!

Red Sky At Morning: Stepping Into Adulthood Essay -- essays research

Red Sky At Morning by Richard Bradford, is a coming of age novel that illustrates the maturing of a young man. In the summer of 1944, Frank Arnold, a wealthy shipbuilder in Mobile, Alabama, receives his volunteer commission in the U.S. Navy. He moves his wife, Ann, and seventeen-year-old son, Josh, to the family's summer home in the village of Corazon Sagrado, high in the New Mexico mountains. Mrs. Arnold finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the largely Hispanic village. Josh, more the son of his father than his mother, becomes an integral member of the Sagrado community, forging friendships with classmates at Helen De Crispin school, with the town's resident artist, with Chango Lopez--macho bully turned model student--and with Amadeo and Excilda Montoya, the couple hired by his father to care for their house. Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and reveals the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Josh matures throughout the book into a young man who learns the understanding of change, responsibility, and duty. Josh stays strong through the changes he goes through and it helps him mature into the man he becomes. When his family moves to Sagrado he makes new friends and adapts well to the new environment he is put into. Josh stays open-minded when making friends at school. He gets to know many different kings of people. Unlike his mother he doesn’t judge people by where they live or their racial background. His mothe...

How Compromises Failed to Prevent the Civil War Essay

As tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changed the political atmosphere of the United States and prevented any more compromises on the institution of slavery from being passed. In the years leading up to the Civil War, numerous laws were passed that not only prevented slavery from expanding to the North, but also limited states’ rights. The Missouri Compromise was one of the first to do so. Senator Henry Clay arranged an imaginary latitude line at 36Â °30’ North and slavery above this line was prohibited, while territories south of this line were permitted to have slaves. This limited the South from further expanding slavery to new territories. Pro-slavery Southerners felt a bias in the political system because Congress now had the power to exclude slavery from U.S. territories. Southern states believed that this power was reserved for them and by proclaiming the 36Â °30’ North latitude line, the federal government exercised unconstitutional power. The Dred Scott decision further supported the clause that the issue of slavery was reserved for the state government. Despite this, the South realized that the North and its anti-slavery views were gaining ground, while the North believed that the Dred Scott ruling limited its power. The Compromise of 1850 shifted the political landscape even more. California sought to be admitted to the Union as a free state, and the Wilmot Proviso suggested that the newly acquired land from the Mexican War was to be free as well. The South was concerned that admission of more free states would offset the balance of representation in Congress. At the same time, the Northerners feared that the revised Fugitive Slave Act was a step towards a slave power conspiracy. Prior to the revision, Northern states such as Missouri and Wisconsin passed personal liberty laws that ultimately nullified the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793. The U. S. Supreme Court ruling of Prigg v. Pennsylvania weakened the Acts of 1793 even further by asserting that States did not have to aid in the capture of runaway slaves. Eventually the Compromise of 1850 was passed in separate parts and many assumed that it would be the longstanding answer to slavery in the States. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act tipped the delicate balance of states’ rights in the Compromise of 1850. Senator Henry Clay proposed the notion of popular sovereignty to determine whether these States would be free or slave states. This consequently repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery to spread North of the Missouri Compromise latitude line if popular sovereignty called for it. Popular sovereignty led to a series of deadly confrontations, known as Bleeding Kansas, between anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians. In an attempt to establish Kansas as a free state, anti-slavery organizations such as the New England Emigrant Aid Company convinced thousands of anti-slavery Northerners to settle in the new territory for the sole purpose of casting anti-slavery ballots. The Southerners viewed this as a threat to slavery and established their own counter movement. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the events that ensued, the Whig party disintegrated because the sectionalizing effects on slavery could no longer maintain a party comprised of those who were pro-slavery, anti-slavery, and indifferent to slavery. Thus, Bleeding Kansas effectively split the nation into two major political parties: the Republicans in the North and the Democrats in the South. The Republican Party was composed of former Whigs and members of other anti-slavery parties, such as the Liberty Party. Most members of this party were anti-slavery who held a moderate view that failed to classify them as abolitionists. They were opposed to the expansion of slavery and called for Congress to prevent the further expansion of slavery into new territories. They believed that by confining slavery to its current boundaries, it would gradually be eradicated. The formation of the Republican Party was one of the primary reasons of how the political landscape changed in the Union. Throughout this time, the North was growing rapidly due to its industrial economy. They had more railroad mileage, industry, income, population, and ultimately more representation in Congress. In addition, the South was subject to high tariff laws that made it very hard for southern farmers to trade internationally. The result was a strong centralized government in the North, and an agrarian culture in the South that was solely dependent on slavery. Any attack against the institution of slavery in the South could potentially disintegrate the states in the South. In 1859, this fear became a reality as John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led a raid on at Harpers Ferry. Although this uprising was brought down and denounced by Northern Republicans, slave owners believed that all abolitionists and Northerners shared the same radical views as John Brown. With the emergence of new political parties and the growing support for the Republicans in the North, the campaign of 1860 was the major turning point in the political atmosphere. In May of that year, Abraham Lincoln was nominated at the Republican National Convention as the presidential candidate. The Republican platform had moderate anti-slavery views and endorsed means of promoting industry. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, continued to support their doctrine of popular sovereignty. However, Northern and Southern Democrats interpreted this notion independently. Northern Democrats assumed that under popular sovereignty, slavery would not expand because Free-Staters could quickly settle in the West and thereby claiming the land as free. Southern Democrats assumed the same principle, except instead of free settlers, slaveholders would be able to quickly settle in new territories with their slaves and claim the land as slave territory. This ultimately resulted in the schism of the Democratic Party. At two separate conventions, the Northern Democratic wing nominated Stephen Douglass and supported the doctrine of popular sovereignty, while the Southern wing nominated John Breckinridge and supported the notion that slaveholders were allowed to bring their slaves and claim the land as slave holding. To make the campaign of 1860 more complicated, another political party took its roots, namely the Constitutional Union Party. Composed of conservative members of the Whig and Know Nothing Parties, they nominated John Bell as their presidential candidate. This led to essentially two separate elections: Lincoln versus Douglas in the North, and Breckinridge versus Bell in the South. Perhaps the most controversial issue was the fact that although Lincoln did not appear on the ballot in most Southern states, he was declared the sixteenth President despite not carrying a single southern state. This indicated that the national political system was failing and that the South no longer had an influential role in the government. Despite Lincoln’s assurance that it was not his policy to abolish slavery, Southerners referred back to Harper’s Raid and failed to eed Lincoln’s message. This drastic shift in political atmosphere following the Compromise of 1850 and the 1860 Presidential election resulted in the inability to accept any compromises. The South believed they no longer had a voice in the government and believed that this would inevitably lead to the abolishment of slavery by the Northern majority in Congress. The South was dependent on slavery for income, so they could not afford to switch to a system of free labor. The Crittenden Compromise is a prime example of how a Northern, anti-slavery view rejected any compromises made by the South. Evidently, this led to the secession of Southern states. Northerners and Southerners were able to accept compromises made regarding slavery prior to the Presidential election of 1860. However, as the Northerner’s fear of a slave power rose so did the Southerner’s fear of a centralized government that would abolish slavery. Events like Bleeding Kansas and Harper’s Raid increased tensions between slaveholders and non-slaveholders. In the end, they realized that slavery could no longer remain issue that could be compromised on. In 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed and admitted to the Union as the 28th state. Following the Mexican War, the issue of slavery in the newly acquired land caused fierce debates among politicians. Southern Democrats were heavily influenced by Manifest Destiny, and hoped acquire new slave-owning territory, while those in the North feared the rise of a Slave Power. The House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso, which stated that slavery was prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico. However, the Senate failed to pass the proviso due to an overwhelming pro-slavery opinion. wever, Senator Stephen A. Douglas passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and consequently repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery north of the latitude line. The notion of popular sovereignty led to a series of deadly confrontations, known as Bleeding Kansas, between anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians. In an attempt to establish Kansas as a free state, anti-slavery organizations such as the New England Emigrant Aid Company convinced thousands of anti-slavery Northerners to settle in the new territory for the sole purpose of casting anti-slavery ballots. The Southerners viewed this as a threat to slavery and established their own counter movement. Initially, the Border Ruffians won the election and drafted a pro-slavery constitution for the territory of Kansas. In response, Free-Staters drafted the Topeka constitution and formed a shadow government. In 1857, another constitutional convention met and drafted the Lecompton Constitution, which was heavily opposed by abolitionists. This eventually gave way to the Wyandotte Constitution, which was ultimately approved by the Senate and admitted Kansas as a free state. The unfailing anti-slavery voice in Kansas Election of Lincoln (republican, northerner, antislave person) = south would lose more power in congress Less population in south = less representation Shifting political landscape any territory above this line was prohibited to have slavery. Territories south of this line were permitted to have slaves. This was evident when a compromise was made in 1860.

China, an Engine of Growth, Faces a Global Slump Essay

Yardley, J. , & Bradsher, K. (2008). China, an Engine of Growth, Faces a Global Slump. New York Times, October 23, p. A6. In the article Yardley and Bradsher discuss China’s’ economic and financial slump caused by the global financial crisis. For three decades China has been one of the most powerful and promising countries in the world. The country has managed to booster its economic development due to flood of low-priced exports. However, global crisis negatively affects the country that faces the possibility of global recession. The question is whether the ruling Communist Party is able to prevent global financial crisis and to support China’s economic miracle. Economists and analysts say that China’s economic development plays crucial role for economies of the United States and European countries as they face serious downturns. Nonetheless, Chinese economic model is to be recalibrated, domestic investments are be stricken with government spending, and policies aimed at increasing consumer demand are to be promoted. China is in need of better health care network, improvements in social safety network, and lower fees for education establishments. Chinese government claims that global crisis insulates country’s financial system and, thus, leaders argue country’s banks would remain domestically concentrated. The overall economic growth has decreased, unemployment rates have increased and many factories have closed export region. China is recommended to use its foreign reserves for purchasing stocks in European as it gives China an excellent opportunity to gain more experience in global business. Some researcher say that America’s decline is inevitable and if China is prepared to manage it, it will be ready to stand as a superpower. In its turns, China isn’t willing to be considered as a replacement of the USA as it is still a developing country with more foreign reserves and more problems than other countries.

Ohr OKeefe Museum essays

Ohr OKeefe Museum essays The class meeting was held at Ohr OKeefe Museum of Art in downtown Biloxi. He is also known as the mad potter in Biloxi and the reputation and respect toward his pottery works were gained not to long ago. One of his pots, which were displayed on the second floor of the museum, grabbed my attention. It was called the George Ohr Lighthouse Pot. He used his skills to express the most famous landscape in this town, the lighthouse in Biloxi. Here is the description of this art work from the museum: Takes its name from the historic Biloxi Lighthouse, which is depicted on one side. The unusual shape, fluted rim and use of incised designs are characteristics of George Ohrs art pottery style. The description of the landscape that was displayed on the surface of this piece of art is realistic. George Ohr tried to record the beautiful landscape of his town as real as possible. The main color that was used on this pot is green and the lines that he have created to express the scenery was yellow. In my opinion, the color choice of the artist came from the image of his town. The color of green might have been perfect for him to express his peaceful town surrounded by beautiful nature. It is interesting when you realize that the state of Mississippi use yellow and green colored license plates for vehicles. Is it just a coincidence? This work of art put me into relaxed and peaceful mood, so peaceful that I just wanted to lay down on the floor at the museum. The curved lines, which were used to express the nature, and also on the shape of the pot, adds the smoothness to it. The selection of the green color as the main color also made me feel like I was taking a trip by myself. At the same time, the unusual shape of the pot, the fluted rim, and the glossy texture makes it more interesting. I really enjoyed his works of art because of the extinguishable technique that he introduced to the world of pottery. ...

Age Discrimination Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Age Discrimination - Research Paper Example As our nation is multicultural in its democratic set up, the policy has both legal and ethical significance in HRM. From a social perspective, in order to maintain the socio-economic stability, we should allow people to work as long as they wish. It has been assumed that diverse workforce (ethnicity, culture, language, sex, and age) would avail potential individuals with a variety of talents who will also have experience and knowledge about wide rage of customers (Weightman, 2004, p.25). For example, we have hundreds of employees who are above the age of 65 still working zealously. Moreover, it helps us save time and money to test and train new recruits. In fact, the older workers are the proven asset which can help employers in the long run. Moreover, retaining older staff would be a reasonable solution to the growing labor shortage. Obviously there are certain situations when age discrimination policy would lead to organizational crisis. However, the issue depends on the effectiveness of the HR strategy. For instance, the company should have well defined vision on individual goals and role assignment. There are certain exceptional tasks in which youngsters can outsmart elders. Therefore, elders should not be assigned to services that require high physical and mental skills. In the UK, According to the Default Retirement Age Act of 2006, employers can force workers to retire exactly at their age of 65 without paying any redundancy (BBC News). Although 65 had been considered as the common age for retirement in the United States, mandatory retirement was completely abolished since 1986 (Kerley, 2001, p.208). As mentioned earlier, we therefore, neither discriminate nor force workers to retire at their old age; instead, workers are given the privilege to choose their retirement. It would be a fallacy if we assume that young labors would perform better than the older workers. On the other hand, new candidates may not be always

A Lexical Phrase Grammar for ESL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Lexical Phrase Grammar for ESL - Essay Example An example is, from the definition of idioms, we can see that they are frozen syntax in complex bits. This definition is does not describe its meaning basing on its constituents (James, 1980). The real meaning of idioms is just the addition of its individual parts such as; raining cats and dogs, kick the bucket, etc. these are just normal phrases same as ordinary English words and are therefore treated as ordinary in ESL texts. Another good example are cliches. Even though they seem alike as idioms they differ in a way that their meaning can be derived from its specific constituents (James, 1980).   Ã‚  Other forms of phrases that are in a way or another patterned are the non-canonical forms. These forms differ from idioms and cliches in that, they constitute of more large stretches of language as well as their meaning can be extracted from single words it contains. e.g the drier the climate, the more he likes it;waste not, want not; down the hatch; off his head (James, 1980). In t his and such a case, the last bit which is off the head, can take other forms since it’s only a single way of completing the pattern. Phrases such as on with the show, down with the king; can also complete the large phrase perfectly without changing the meaning. From this example, we are able to note that it is a kind of pattern (ADV+PREPOSITION (with) + NP)   (James, 1980). Only the preposition will tend to remain constant while the other categories can be filled with other lexical items. This is the reason why they are considered non-canonical.