Clean Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Clean Energy - Essay Example Most of the industrialized countries have embarked on new policies and technologies which makes the future energy sustainable. Their aim is to maintain the current economic growth and culture and at the same time provide environmental protection and energy security. Therefore the world is aiming at maintaining sufficient supply of clean energy. According to Dell, Anthony and Rand (2004), clean energy also known as renewable energy is anticipated to expand rapidly. This will be due to the increasing need to counter the issue of global warming. Combustion technology, such as agricultural and municipal solid waste are said to make important contribution to the supply of energy. The only challenge to the clean energy is low cost fossil fuels, lack of resource, capital cost or public opposition. Clean energy aims at the possibility of there being a reduction on pollution resulting from fossil fuels. It also sets the available renewable energies such as sun, wind and waves in the current c ontext of production of energy. Generally, nature has provided us with various forms of clean energy such as hydro energy, wave energy and tidal energy. All these forms of energy are categorized under water as the source. There other forms such as solar energy (sun), geothermal energy (ground) and biomass from waste products. Natural gas is also another form clean energy since its means of distribution that is through pipeline have less impact to the environment. The major task is to use these various forms of clean energies sufficiently and economically to reducing environmental impact. The major objective of global energy sustainability is to ensure replacement of fossil fuels with clean (renewable) energy sources around the globe. There are different ways the world benefits from clean energy. The benefits range from initiating a business to investing in companies to clean energy market trading. There are lots of entrepreneurship opportunities in the industry clean industry tradin g. Clean energy industry is a highly growing industry where business opportunities are not restricted to anyone. Sales and marketing individuals can also benefit from clean energy industry. They can partner with service and product providers to launch the marketing of clean energy services and products. There are also several employment opportunities in the clean energy industry. They include research jobs and consultant jobs. Capital investment has also ventured in the clean energy market and technological advancement. There are several challenges facing the development of clean energies especially in developing countries. First there are difficulties in eliminating carbon emission. There are very little incentives capable of developing better technologies that reduce carbon emission. The issue of mitigating climate change is yet another major issue. The main goal of both the public and the private sector is reduce green house gases. Therefore any attempt that solves this problem t ends to draw a lot of attention from the public. This in turn leads to less attention on the technology of clean energy which does not completely solve this problem. Due to the expensiveness of the facilities required in producing clean energy the process has to take a slow pace. The techniques required are also rare hence costly. Failure to adequately serve technological needs of the third world countries is yet

Examining The Dangers Of Social Networking Media Essay

Examining The Dangers Of Social Networking Media Essay Social networking websites are web based services where one can create a public profile within almost virtual community. One can have a list of other users (friends) with whom they share a connection with, as well as view information on friends of friends. The main purpose of social networking sites is to build relations between friends who share similar interests. Most of these sites provide instant messaging and email services but are on a high level so that there is an element of complexity eg special software application tools are available in facebook which increase the users presence on that website. . Social networking recently has become a major part of the internet. In fac,t social networking sites are everywhere, nearly every person who has access to the computer and internet indulges with social network related sites on daily basis. Commom sites such as facebook, MySpace, hi5, Bebo and YouTube have millions of visitors daily. Facebook alone, has over 500 million users which make it the most popular social network website on Earth. According to Facebook , 50 % of their users are active users who log on facebook daily and People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. The rapid increase in popularity of social network such as facebook has encouraged organisations to allow access to these sites within their networks. However many people now question social networks, the popularity of these sites has raised both security and privacy issues of its users. Millions of teenagers and adults exchange and share their personal interests and personal information such as photo s, videos etc, therefore one can learn almost anything about someone or stranger (If the profile page is open to anyone) who they maynot have met before, from their birthday to who their friends are and other personal information such as relationship status. There are many problems and dangers in using social networks however in contrasts there are considerable benefits of using social networks. Social networking is undisputedly one of the easiest way to keep in touch with family and friends as well as a channel in meeting new people with similar interests. One can make connect with people not presently in conact, for example staff in an organisation, students or alumni. Thus, social networking has made it very easy to make new friends or even meet old friends, which is a major benefit of social networking. Now, within the business world, social networking sites can also provide easy opportunity for anyone to advertise. This could either mean advertise an upcoming event or any other form of business advertising. The most important benefit of social networking sites like facebook or MySpace is that it gives an individualan opportunity to create an image of themselves through their profile, in a way he or she wants to be represented. It also gives them the chance to express themselves. There is a strong sense of being able to express ones own creativity. For this reason people find the sites almost personally fulfilling to be part of. Social networking sites have considerable benefits in allowing users to keep in touch with one other. Before social networking, people were only able to stay in touch with friends, families via phone, emails letters or online messengers, but it was very awkward and difficult to maintain contact due lack of communication tools. But sites like facebook have made staying in touch with people much easier where user can also emails as well as do live chat. Use of mobile phones and home computers with cheap internet has opened the doors for users all over the world, thus social networking has rose more than ten fold in the last decade. There is more pressure on people to use the sites because it has becaome almost part of modern living. The benefits somewhat seem to outweight any disadvantage even though the general public may not know at length where significant dangers lie in not setting appropriate User boundries for the applications or not using the applications with care and security. Social networking allow individuals to express themselves. The most popular way for an individual to express them self is by creating a profile which gives basic details about their personality such as personal interests, hobbies and education etc. One can add there details of hobbies and interests which might envoke other users to remain contact with similar interests and create social network between them. Social network sites, such as MySpace allows user to be creative by letting them design their own profile with different colour schemes and background pictures as well as using their own html codes for different layouts. Users such as music artist or writers can also show their creative side by writing blogs to let people know what is going on in their life. Creative artists such musicians, actors etc often use social networking to expand their fan base by using their profile in effect to advertise themselves. They can also get rapid feedbacks on any expressedtype of new ideas fr om their fans However despite all the positives of social networking the negatives overshadow the positives. Social networking has completely changed the nature of privacy by allowing individuals to obtain information of one individual without much effort. Social networking sites do not educate their users of apparent or hidden dangers in publishing their personal information on the World Wide Web. Even if a user is cautious about protecting their privacy it is very difficult for them to absolutely control who can view what on their profile pages. Most of the social networking sites have privacy tools which are not flexible enough to protect users data. This is because they have limited options of just to make the profile private (only friends can view it ) or public ( every one can view)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Social networking has also provided a new way for phishing and scamming to fraudsters. Scams can be posted as comments on an individuals profile or sent as private messages. This could encourage users to click on links that might link to fake version of that social networking site asking to enter logging detail or any other personal detail. This site might have no functionality apart from redirecting the user back to the original social networking site after the user has entered his/her login detail. That way, the scammer can use the login detail to have full access to the victims profile, which then can be used to scam more users and sell their personal detaisl on black market. According to Symantec monthly report [10] on spam phishing, 92 % of phishing scams were carried out through social networking sites. This shows that social networking is a leading area for scammers to either steal personal details or send spams. Figures from fishtank.com [11] show that FaceBook is the 7th mo st targeted website of phishing scams in 2009, this figure might have increased in 2010. According to the article in the guardian paper, lately many phishing attacks have been carried out through Facebook , fraudsters have sent spam messages to users which link to the fbstarter.com or fbaction.net. These sites were phishing scams which looked as if they are Geneon sites, but were used to steel login details of facebook users. However facebook has announced that they have blocked the fbaction.net links from facebook website and messages that links to fbaction.net. Social networking is very common in teenagers or underage users. Most of these teenagers dont take into account or acknowledge the dangers of social networking sites. To them, all the social sites seem innocent. Most of these kids use these sites only to stay in touch with friend. Social networks are a hub for paedophiles and perverts. This is because majority of the children post too much personal imformation. Not just their name, but they post their photos, addresses and the school that they attend. Social networking sites provide neccessary information that these criminal predators need in order to target vulnerable kids. Majority of the parents are also not aware of common dangers in misuse of the sites. Also they may be unaware that their child has access to them or worse still is addicted to them. There are reports, worldwide, of grave concequences of children being involved in such incidents where sites have provides a main medium of communication with the children putting the mselves in dangerous situations. Facts show that out 10 teenagers, at least one has posted a nude/semi nude photos of them self on their profile [15]. An adult can become aware enough and handle all ofl the dangers of posting personal information on a social networking site but it might not be obvious to children, since they simply are not mature nor have developed enough,in mind, to comprehend the complexity of social networking. However, this danger could be prevented if children not only educated about what they should post on the profile and how they should post restricted material but also protected. Carers or parents should know what children are exposed to and what activities they conduct. The use of privacy settings on sites such as facebook can also help to prevent these dangers. One interesting aspect is when an employee can overlook his /her posting on any social networking site and talk about themselves for example to a potential employer. Thay may present a picture of themselves completely differnt to that of the one on thir social site. How are they to know that these details have not been viewed by that person. One example is that they may tell a lie about their whereabouts to someone only to discover that they have found the truth about them on a social site eg on holiday or out shopping instead of sick, at home and off work . It is clear that there is evidence suggesting that social networking is very dangerous indeed, but it is very difficult to ignore social;l trends locally and on a global scale. Can we live without a system that has breeded into our society so rapidly and deeply that it has an impoact on our day to day habits, even sleep is effected. Some people are suffering from an insomnia syndrome due to addictions on ef facebook poker and Farmville and the worrying issue is that the users are now the very young ones, small children. One great disadvantage is the impact on verbal and communication skills for children. The findings are is that children are missing out on being verbally competent, thay are learming to speak properly later in life due to chatting on the internet, thay are more shy or reserved. This danger is one of the impact on society and the future generation. Insead of talking and reasoning verbally, they are typing into the keyboard. Perhaps talking on the phone is better for humans because true emotion can be expressed and maybe we use a different parts of our minds. How much control do you think we will have over this. Social networking is here to saty because Such a big user level No one person has control over it Too many uses Will always be delveoping Too much meny to be made in it May be part of our future jobs May need it for Dangers have to be managed Are there but its have they are controlled/stopped/ Have to have a deeper understanding of what danger is, its impact on us today and toimarrow.. learn from mistakes and continuously work together to protect people and educate them Face [10]http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/other_resources/b- state_of_spam_and_phishing_report_02-2010.en-us.pdf [11] http://www.phishtank.com/stats/2009/03/ [12] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/30/facebook-phishing-scam http://www.yourteenager.co.uk/facebook-your-teen.html http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/internet-safety/57657.html?page=2 [15]http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-08-10/news/17175229_1_social-networking-sites-social-networking-teens

The Many Themes of William Gibsons Neuromancer :: Neuromancer Essays

William Gibson's Neuromancer is a complex story that deals with the future computer technology and the impact on the lives of the world citizens. There are themes of love, betrayal, trust, and forbidden knowledge within each of the story lines of the book. These story lines give a human quality to a world that is described as being controlled by computers and technology. Also throughout the book Gibson brings in the ethical and moral values of the debate over what cost humanity takes as technology advances. In the early 1900s when Henry Ford first used the automatic conveyor belt it came at the cost of hiring manual labor to do the job. The usage of the conveyor belt, however, redefined the factory assembly line. As with the previous example, technology comes with the advancement of a culture, but with those advancements come the decline of some part of the human aspect of the previous way of life. Sometimes this advancement is for the better and aids the next generation do more for their culture as well as the world, but there are those advancements that degrade humanity and cause more harm than good for the rest of society. Gibson deals with this debate and brings it into the modern era with creation of the Internet and World Wide Web in the late 1980s. Case as well as the other characters were faced with the underlying plot of if what they were doing for Wintermute was the right thing to do, and how would it effect the rest of society. Â   The underlying tension throughout the entire novel is the fear of who do you trust and who will betray me next. In the opening of the novel Case is trying to figure out why a drug lord is looking for him and what will the drug leader do with him. Case received a drug shipment from Wage, the drug lord, and has not paid Wage for the drugs. He goes to one of his friends, Julius Deane, to figure out what to do and what Wage is trying to do to Case, and later in the novel Deane becomes a leader in the mission to sabotage Tessier-Ashpool. There is an incident between Case and Jules as the story develops where Jules has been taken over by Wintermute, and revels to Case that he in fact killed Linda Lee, Case's love. The Many Themes of William Gibson's Neuromancer :: Neuromancer Essays William Gibson's Neuromancer is a complex story that deals with the future computer technology and the impact on the lives of the world citizens. There are themes of love, betrayal, trust, and forbidden knowledge within each of the story lines of the book. These story lines give a human quality to a world that is described as being controlled by computers and technology. Also throughout the book Gibson brings in the ethical and moral values of the debate over what cost humanity takes as technology advances. In the early 1900s when Henry Ford first used the automatic conveyor belt it came at the cost of hiring manual labor to do the job. The usage of the conveyor belt, however, redefined the factory assembly line. As with the previous example, technology comes with the advancement of a culture, but with those advancements come the decline of some part of the human aspect of the previous way of life. Sometimes this advancement is for the better and aids the next generation do more for their culture as well as the world, but there are those advancements that degrade humanity and cause more harm than good for the rest of society. Gibson deals with this debate and brings it into the modern era with creation of the Internet and World Wide Web in the late 1980s. Case as well as the other characters were faced with the underlying plot of if what they were doing for Wintermute was the right thing to do, and how would it effect the rest of society. Â   The underlying tension throughout the entire novel is the fear of who do you trust and who will betray me next. In the opening of the novel Case is trying to figure out why a drug lord is looking for him and what will the drug leader do with him. Case received a drug shipment from Wage, the drug lord, and has not paid Wage for the drugs. He goes to one of his friends, Julius Deane, to figure out what to do and what Wage is trying to do to Case, and later in the novel Deane becomes a leader in the mission to sabotage Tessier-Ashpool. There is an incident between Case and Jules as the story develops where Jules has been taken over by Wintermute, and revels to Case that he in fact killed Linda Lee, Case's love.

Foundation and Empire 18. Fall Of The Foundation

There was an atmosphere about the Time Vault that just missed definition in several directions at once. It was not one of decay, for it was well-lit and well-conditioned, with the color scheme of the walls lively, and the rows of fixed chairs comfortable and apparently designed for eternal use. It was not even ancient, for three centuries had left no obvious mark. There was certainly no effort at the creation of awe or reverence, for the appointments were simple and everyday – next door to bareness, in fact. Yet after all the negatives were added and the sum disposed of, something was left – and that something centered about the glass cubicle that dominated half the room with its clear emptiness. Four times in three centuries, the living simulacrum of Hari Seldon himself had sat there and spoken. Twice he had spoken to no audience. Through three centuries and nine generations, the old man who had seen the great days of universal empire projected himself – and still he understood more of the Galaxy of his great-ultra-great-grandchildren, than did those grandchildren themselves. Patiently that empty cubicle waited. The first to arrive was Mayor Indbur III, driving his ceremonial ground car through the hushed and anxious streets. Arriving with him was his own chair, higher than those that belonged there, and wider. It was placed before all the others, and Indbur dominated all but the empty glassiness before him. The solemn official at his left bowed a reverent head. â€Å"Excellence, arrangements are completed for the widest possible sub-etheric spread for the official announcement by your excellence tonight.† â€Å"Good. Meanwhile, special interplanetary programs concerning the Time Vault are to continue. There will, of course, be no predictions or speculations of any sort on the subject. Does popular reaction continue satisfactory?† â€Å"Excellence, very much so. The vicious rumors prevailing of late have decreased further. Confidence is widespread.† â€Å"Good!† He gestured the man away and adjusted his elaborate neckpiece to a nicety. It was twenty minutes of noon! A select group of the great props of the mayoralty – the leaders of the great Trading organizations – appeared in ones and twos with the degree of pomp appropriate to their financial status and place in mayoral favor. Each presented himself to the mayor, received a gracious word or two, took an assigned seat. Somewhere, incongruous among the stilted ceremony of all this, Randu of Haven made his appearance and wormed his way unannounced to the mayor's seat. â€Å"Excellence!† he muttered, and bowed. Indbur frowned. â€Å"You have not been granted an audience. â€Å" â€Å"Excellence, I have requested one for a week.† â€Å"I regret that the matters of State involved in the appearance of Seldon have-â€Å" â€Å"Excellence, I regret them, too, but I must ask you to rescind your order that the ships of the Independent Traders be distributed among the fleets of the Foundation.† Indbur had flushed red at the interruption. â€Å"This is not the time for discussion.† â€Å"Excellence, it is the only time,† Randu whispered urgently. â€Å"As representative of the Independent Trading Worlds, I tell you such a move can not be obeyed. It must be rescinded before Seldon solves our problem for us. Once the emergency is passed, it will be too late to conciliate and our alliance will melt away.† Indbur stared at Randu coldly. â€Å"You realize that I am head of the Foundation armed forces? Have I the right to determine military policy or have I not?† â€Å"Excellence, you have, but some things are inexpedient.† â€Å"I recognize no inexpediency. It is dangerous to allow your people separate fleets in this emergency. Divided action plays into the hands of the enemy. We must unite, ambassador, militarily as well as politically.† Randu felt his throat muscles tighten. He omitted the courtesy of the opening title. â€Å"You feet safe now that Seldon will speak, and you move against us. A month ago you were soft and yielding, when our ships defeated the Mule at Terel. I might remind you, sir, that it is the Foundation Fleet that has been defeated in open battle five times, and that the ships of the Independent Trading Worlds have won your victories for you.† Indbur frowned dangerously, â€Å"You are no longer welcome upon Terminus, ambassador. Your return will be requested this evening. Furthermore, your connection with subversive democratic forces on Terminus will be – and has been – investigated.† Randu replied, â€Å"When I leave, our ships will go with me. I know nothing of your democrats. I know only that your Foundation's ships have surrendered to the Mule by the treason of their high officers, not their sailors, democratic or otherwise. I tell you that twenty ships of the Foundation surrendered at Horleggor at the orders of their rear admiral, when they were unharmed and unbeaten. The rear admiral was your own close associate – he presided at the trial of my nephew when he first arrived from Kalgan. It is not the only case we know of and our ships and men will not be risked under potential traitors. Indbur said, â€Å"You will be placed under guard upon leaving here.† Randu walked away under the silent stares of the contemptuous coterie of the rulers of Terminus. It was ten minutes of twelve! Bayta and Toran had already arrived. They rose in their back seats and beckoned to Randu as he passed. Randu smiled gently, â€Å"You are here after all. How did you work it?† â€Å"Magnifico was our politician,† grinned Toran. â€Å"Indbur insists upon his Visi-Sonor composition based on the Time Vault, with himself, no doubt, as hero. Magnifico refused to attend without us, and there was no arguing him out of it. Ebling Mis is with us, or was. He's wandering about somewhere.† Then, with a sudden access of anxious gravity, â€Å"Why, what's wrong, uncle? You don't look well.† Randu nodded, â€Å"I suppose not. We're in for bad times, Toran. When the Mule is disposed of, our turn will come, I'm afraid. â€Å" A straight solemn figure in white approached, and greeted them with a stiff bow. Bayta's dark eyes smiled, as she held out her hand, â€Å"Captain Pritcher! Are you on space duty then?† The captain took the hand and bowed lower, â€Å"Nothing like it. Dr. Mis, I understand, has been instrumental in bringing me here, but it's only temporary. Back to home guard tomorrow. What time is it?† It was three minutes of twelve! Magnifico was the picture of misery and heartsick depression. His body curled up, in his eternal effort at self-effacement. His long nose was pinched at the nostrils and his large, down-slanted eyes darted uneasily about. He clutched at Bayta's hand, and when she bent down, he whispered, â€Å"Do you suppose, my lady, that all these great ones were in the audience, perhaps, when I†¦ when I played the Visi-Sonor?† â€Å"Everyone, I'm sure,† Bayta assured him, and shook him gently. â€Å"And I'm sure they all think you're the most wonderful player in the Galaxy and that your concert was the greatest ever seen, so you just straighten yourself and sit correctly. We must have dignity.† He smiled feebly at her mock-frown and unfolded his long-boned limbs slowly. It was noon – and the glass cubicle was no longer empty. It was doubtful that anyone had witnessed the appearance. It was a clean break; one moment not there and the next moment there. In the cubicle was a figure in a wheelchair, old and shrunken, from whose wrinkled face bright eyes shone, and whose voice, as it turned out, was the livest thing about him. A book lay face downward in his lap, and the voice came softly. â€Å"I am Hari Seldon!† He spoke through a silence, thunderous in its intensity. â€Å"I am Hari Seldon! I do not know if anyone is here at all by mere sense-perception but that is unimportant. I have few fears as yet of a breakdown in the Plan. For the first three centuries the percentage probability of nondeviation is nine-four point two.† He paused to smile, and then said genially, â€Å"By the way, if any of you are standing, you may sit. If any would like to smoke, please do. I am not here in the flesh. I require no ceremony. â€Å"Let us take up the problem of the moment, then. For the first time, the Foundation has been faced, or perhaps, is in the last stages of facing, civil war. Till now, the attacks from without have been adequately beaten off, and inevitably so, according to the strict laws of psychohistory. The attack at present is that of a too-undisciplined outer group of the Foundation against the too-authoritarian central government. The procedure was necessary, the result obvious.† The dignity of the high-born audience was beginning to break. Indbur was half out of his chair. Bayta leaned forward with troubled eyes. What was the great Seldon talking about? She had missed a few of the words- â€Å"-that the compromise worked out is necessary in two respects. The revolt of the Independent Traders introduces an element of new uncertainty in a government perhaps grown over-confident. The element of striving is restored. Although beaten, a healthy increase of democracy-â€Å" There were raised voices now. Whispers had ascended the scale of loudness, and the edge of panic was in them. Bayta said in Toran's ear, â€Å"Why doesn't he talk about the Mule? The Traders never revolted.† Toran shrugged his shoulders. The seated figure spoke cheerfully across and through the increasing disorganization: â€Å"-a new and firmer coalition government was the necessary and beneficial outcome of the logical civil war forced upon the Foundation. And now only the remnants of the old Empire stand in the way of further expansion, and in them, for the next few years, at any rate, is no problem. Of course, I can not reveal the nature of the next prob-â€Å" In the complete uproar, Seldon's lips moved soundlessly. Ebling Mis was next to Randu, face ruddy. He was shouting. â€Å"Seldon is off his rocker. He's got the wrong crisis. Were your Traders ever planning civil war?† Randu said thinly, â€Å"We planned one, yes. We called it off in the face of the Mule.† â€Å"Then the Mule is an added feature, unprepared for in Seldon's psychohistory. Now what's happened?† In the sudden, frozen silence, Bayta found the cubicle once again empty. The nuclear glow of the walls was dead, the soft current of conditioned air absent. Somewhere the sound of a shrill siren was rising and falling in the scale and Randu formed the words with his lips, â€Å"Space raid!† And Ebling Mis held his wrist watch to his ears and shouted suddenly, â€Å"Stopped, by the â€Å"Ga-LAX-y, is there a watch in the room that is going?† His voice was a roar. Twenty wrists went to twenty ears. And in far less than twenty seconds, it was quite certain that none were. â€Å"Then,† said Mis, with a grim and horrible finality, â€Å"something has stopped all nuclear power in the Time Vault – and the Mule is attacking.† Indbur's wail rose high above the noise, â€Å"Take your seats! The Mule is fifty parsecs distant.† â€Å"He was,† shouted back Mis, â€Å"a week ago. Right now, Terminus is being bombarded.† Bayta felt a deep depression settle softly upon her. She felt its folds tighten close and thick, until her breath forced its way only with pain past her tightened throat. The outer noise of a gathering crowd was evident. The doors were thrown open and a harried figure entered, and spoke rapidly to Indbur, who had rushed to him. â€Å"Excellence,† he whispered, â€Å"not a vehicle is running in the city, not a communication line to the outside is open. The Tenth Fleet is reported defeated and the Mule's ships are outside the atmosphere. The general staff-â€Å" Indbur crumpled, and was a collapsed figure of impotence upon the floor. In all that hall, not a voice was raised now. Even the growing crowd without was fearful, but silent, and the horror of cold panic hovered dangerously. Indbur was raised. Wine was held to his lips. His lips moved before his eyes opened, and the word they formed was, â€Å"Surrender!† Bayta found herself near to crying – not for sorrow or humiliation, but simply and plainly out of a vast frightened despair. Ebling Mis plucked at her sleeve. â€Å"Come, young lady-â€Å" She was pulled out of her chair, bodily. â€Å"We're leaving,† he said, â€Å"and take your musician with you.† The plump scientist's lips were trembling and colorless. â€Å"Magnifico,† said Bayta, faintly. The clown shrank in horror. His eyes were glassy. â€Å"The Mule,† he shrieked. â€Å"The Mule is coming for me.† He thrashed wildly at her touch. Toran leaned over and brought his fist up sharply. Magnifico slumped into unconsciousness and Toran carried him out potato-sack fashion. The next day, the ugly, battle-black ships of the Mule poured down upon the landing fields of the planet Terminus. The attacking general sped down the empty main street of Terminus City in a foreign-made ground car that ran where a whole city of atomic cars still stood useless. The proclamation of occupation was made twenty-four hours to the minute after Seldon had appeared before the former mighty of the Foundation. Of all the Foundation planets, only the Independent Traders still stood, and against them the power of the Mule – conqueror of the Foundation – now turned itself.

Newsweek

Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is true, at least to some degree, in the study of these articles. They deal with three issues: Politics, Race and Sports and Entertainment. People are still interested in politics, though Congress, with a 14% approval rating, more people are annoyed than interested. However, the importance has not diminished. Also, race is still an issue. The 1964 and 1968 articles on race deal with the upcoming elections and how African Americans are expected to vote. Also, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and the political undertones that they will carry is also heavy on the minds of the country. In sports, the Olympics and the Boston Marathon command small attention. What is seen as one of the biggest differences from the 1964 and 1968 Newsweek articles in comparison to the 2007 Newsweek, that that a larger percentage of the magazine in 2007, deals with Sports, Entertainment and popular culture. Even for such a respected magazine as Newsweek, the editors cannot escape the exponential increase in popular culture at the expense of real news, which the country seems to hunger for on an hourly basis. In the November 2, 1964 issue of Newsweek, the issue revolves around the Presidential election that is about to come later that week. The political tension is not as heavy as in past elections since everyone believes that the result will be a landslide. President Johnson is expected to beat Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater by a very large margin. Goldwater, a Republican, is hoping to court the morality vote and to point to Johnson as being soft on communism. President Johnson , in a speech in Belleville, IL talked about the dangers of nuclear war and that, like his predecessor before him, President Kennedy, believes that the next war will be one in which there are no survivors. â€Å"We would not gain total victory in the next war, but total destruction and the survivors would be the judges of the dead.† (Meyers, 1964 pg. 23) He is referencing the dangers of a nuclear war. The war in Vietnam is gaining strength and troop levels are rising. The article points to the promise that if elected, President Johnson would help to â€Å"avoid a war in South East Asia.† In reality, the exact opposite will come to fruition. Due to the fact that the election is near, the next issue of Newsweek, deals with the demographics of the voters and how they voted. Most findings will report that Johnson won most of the demographics since his margin of victory was 486 to 47 in electoral votes. It will remain as one of the most lopsided victories in American political history. What is interesting in this article entitled The Mood of an Avalanche, is the fact that African Americans, individuals who voted for the straight Republican ticket since Andrew Johnson, now voted overwhelmingly for President Johnson. It is reported that 96% of the African American voters voted for President Johnson. (Mulligan, 1964 pg. 24) This is due in part to the fact that Senator Goldwater courted the Segregationist vote in the South to such a degree that African Americans turned away from him in droves. In one Mississippi small town in which there counted only 257 voters, the article reports that all 257 voted for Johnson. This article is important in dealing with race and how it affects the voting demographics since African Americans will vote for the straight democratic ticket from now on. In Sports and Entertainment, the 1964 Olympics is proceeding. In a Newsweek article entitled The Gold Rush, the fact that the Americans are leading the medal total, is a story. However, one of the most famous stories revolved around the Native American runner Billy Mills. Movies would be made about this person. Born into poverty and enduring racism at every turn, Billy Mills would become a champion runner. His main event was the 10,000 meter run. During this event in the Olympics, Billy Mills was pushed by another runner onto the outside of the track. Usually, this serves as a great impediment to the runner. However, Mills, against the prevailing knowledge of track and field, once pushed, continues to run in the middle of the track on the middle lane. This forces Mills to run longer distances than his opponent. However, not only does Mills win, but he creates an Olympic record in the event in the process. It is the inspirational story for the18th Olympics. Fast forward to 1968 and the political scene still deals with President Johnson. However, things have not been going well for him. 1968 would be the year that saw more than 500,000 American troops in Vietnam. Clearly, President Johnson would not be the President to keep America out of the war. In a Newsweek article dated April 22, 1968, the fact that Robert Kennedy is running for President as well and has forced President Johnson to say that he will not run for the presidency that year. His tenure will end on January 20, 1969. The article talks about the influence that a number of different factors and how they will play into the election. The first is Robert Kennedy. The second is the Republican Candidate, Richard Nixon. â€Å"Nixon lost the 1960 election because the 1960 televised Presidential debate, left the country feeling as though Mr. Nixon was not as likable and trusting as John F. Kennedy.† (1968 pg. 32) The question now is, eight years later, how will television affect the election and how will Mr. Nixon respond. There is also a report in the article entitled Politics ‘68, what demographics will vote for which candidate. The demographics are divided into race, gender, religion, occupation and regions of the country. By the end of April, 1968, the country is still reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He was killed on the balcony of a hotel on Memphis earlier that month. Riots in most of the country’s largest cities occurred and many people died. â€Å"The arithmetic of the week’s pillage was more than enough. Civil disorders raging from riots to random shop windows breaking, occurred in more than 130 cities and caused an estimated $5 million worth of damage. More than 20,000 arrests and endless injuries have been the result.† (Jules, 1968 pg. 47) 1968 was one of the hardest years for the American public to endure. The assassination of Martin Luther King was one of those reasons and added to the madness of the situation. Many wondered in the article where the Civil Rights movement would turn to next. What leader would take the reigns? To many, people are still asking the same question. In Sports, the 72nd Boston Marathon was reported as being under way in the April 29, 1968 issue of Newsweek. Out of a total of 890 runners, the winner boasted a winning time of 2 hours twenty two minutes and seventeen seconds. This was not a great time. However, it was run by an American, the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1957. (Jones, 1968 pg. 38) His name was Ambrose Burfoot, aged 21. Burfoot beat all others by a sizable margin but not one which would endure posterity. However, the fact that Burfoot was an American, then as well as now, is an important note as it has been the running feats of foreigners which has dominated the winner’s circle at the Boston marathon. I In the January 8, 2007 edition of Newsweek, the main story is the death of Saddam Hussein. The once feared leader of Iraq who was found hiding in a spider hole in December of 2003, was finally put to death. The article entitled Death of a Tyrant, headlines the life and legend of the man and the reign of terror that he placed upon his people for so many decades. The article also speaks to the trouble which occurred from a secret video tape being smuggled out of the area where Saddam was killed. This was in direct opposition to the orders of both the American and Iraqi forces. Such images was believed to help incite riots among the enemy and was by a public relations point of view, counterproductive. Also, in politics, the death of President Ford was the news for the week as well. The article details the life of President Ford and how he was able to heal the country after the scandal of Watergate. The article finally gives credit to Ford by saying that pardoning President Nixon was the right thing to do as it helped the country to heal. In Race, the production of O.J. Simpson’s book If I Did It, produced such an outrage that production was stopped. A January 22, 2007 Newsweek article details this. This is a racial issue because the beliefs regarding his innocence or guilt for the 1994 death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, was so split on racial lines that it still incites controversy. More than 80% of white Americans believe that OJ is guilty and over 80% of African Americans believe that he is not. (Brunell, 2007 pg. 48) That is why anything that deals with OJ Simpson and the murders, is dealt with on racial lines. The fact that he wrote a book that served as a sort of quasi confession, enraged many Americans and forced his supporters to wonder if he really was guilty of the murders for which he was charged. In Sports and Entertainment, a sad story was detailed in the January 15, 2007 issue of Newsweek. In a time of divisive issues which help to split the country up into racial and political lines, Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter was an individual who everyone seemed to have a positive opinion about. His popular show detailed frequent run ins with some of the world’s most dangerous animals. Over the past few years, he had become highly popular and when speaking of the name of Steve Irwin, most people had a positive opinion of the man. This ended when a sting ray pierces through his heart and killed him. This served as important news all over the country as well as for the rest of the world. What is interesting to note, through a study of these three separate dates, is that many things still stay the same. There are more colorized pictures in the 2007 Newsweek and there are more articles designed towards Sports and entertainment in the 2007 Newsweek, but race and politics are still important. The 1964 and 1968 editions of Newsweek death with both. The elections in 1964 and 1968 served as some of the more important elections in the country’s history. How would the Vietnam War continue? Would the Civil Rights movement continue with the help of the White House and members of Congress? And if not, how would African Americans vote and who did they believe gave the best chance at equality? These issues are much the same in 2007. The Vietnam War has been replaced with the war in Iraq, although not nearly to the same degree as the Vietnam War. African Americans still vote the straight Democratic ticket. In 2000 and 2004, African Americans voted for the Democratic presidential candidate at a rate of more than 9 to 1. The same can be seen in the attempted release of the OJ Simpson book. If I did It. The news of this released such anger from most of the public and incited an argument which brought back, although to a much less degree, the racial tension that was caused from the famous trial and acquittal. WORKS CITED Decklan, M Death of a Tyrant   Newsweek. January 8, 2007 Jones, L. The Gold Rush. Newsweek October 26, 1964 pg. 13 Jules, J. The Death of Martin Luther King Newsweek. April 22, 1968 pg. 45 Kilmer, F Final Hunt for Steve Irwin. Newsweek January 15, 2007 Meyers. J Down to the Wire. Newsweek Magazine November 2, 1964 pg. 23-27 Mulligan, L. The Making of an Avalanche November 9, 1964 pg. 28-21 Nieves, D. OJ’s Troubles Continue Newsweek January 22, 2007 Stevens, K. American Wins Boston Marathon. April 29, 1968 pg. 32 RFK vs. LBJ? Newsweek April 29, 1968 pg. 12