‘Of Mice and Men’ By John Steinbeck Essay

Its like my weekends never change, it’s like a daily routine being alone and cold with no one to talk to. Books, all I have is books, I read so much my head hurts sometimes. Line after line, headache after headache, in a way imp already used to it. It’s a Saturday night and all the men have gone to the whore house in town or should I say Suzy’s place. I wonder sometimes why I can’t go but it’s always the same because I’m black. Why would anyone want to dance with a black man? Why would anyone want to sleep with a black a man? Why would anyone want to drink with a black man? I’m just so alone. I actually got a bit of company today from a guy called Lennie. Lennie is a huge man, shapeless face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. He came in while I was rubbing ointment on my back. At first I felt angry and that my rights were being invaded. I told him that he wasn’t allowed in but me being a black man and him being white it was like he had power over me so I let him in. A big guy like him and a crooked man like me I could have never stopped him. The only people that have entered my room are the boss and slim and when they have entered I have been powerless to stop them. Well, Lennie came in and I started to question him on his relationship that he had with George which realty intrigues me. I was jus talking and he was just laughing at me because he didn’t understand what I was talking about. I asked him what he would do if George never came back, what if George dies what would he do, but Lennie was adamant that George would be safe and that he was careful. He started to approach me and I felt so scared and small that I leaned back into my corner, I told Lennie that George would be alright and that he was safe. I didn’t expect Lennie’s response to be so aggressive. It jus shows how close Lennie and George are. I didn’t really want to upset him but I did, I just wanted him to feel how lonely my life is. I have no one to confide in and I only have my judgment to rely on. I explained to him that I jus kept all my feelings and my worries inside and that I start to feel sick because I have no one to express my emotions to. Lennie is so dumb to understand it felt like I was talking to myself for at least 10 minutes. I told him about my child hood with the company of my brother when we used to live on a farm and that my father didn’t like us paying with white children and that we had each other so we should play together. I didn’t think about what friends I had when I was younger but now I realize why my father told us not to play with them. I was telling him this because I wanted him to know what life was like for a black man but obviously it was like I was talking to myself again. After I had told him all of this I felt like I had made a friend and that all the stress I had kept in had gone out of my system. I didn’t feel so lonely after all but I had a gut feeling that by the time Lennie had gone I would be back to my old ways again. Lonely, depressed and in need of a friend. At that particular moment I felt really good about myself. About 10 minutes later Candy came in looking for Lennie. He looked really uncomfortable about coming into my room. I know that me and candy have been on the ranch for a long time but he has never come into my room. When he came in him and Lennie were talking about getting their own piece of land which Lennie had been talking about before. While candy was talking I was starring a him thinking about how isolated I am compared to everyone else who have lived in one room but with the company of each other. I joined in with their conversation about getting their own land, they were very convinced that they would get it but I thought different, I told them about all the other ranchers that have wanted the same thing but have never as far as a step to getting their own land. Even when they heard the stories of other ranchers they were still adamant that they would get it. I still disagreed with them, but when Candy told me how close and hard they have worked to get this land I gave up and asked if I could join them. I didn’t really have much future on the ranch so the thought of being free was very tempting. We were all very excited and then Curley’s wife came in as usual looking for her husband Curley. We all looked at her scornfully and didn’t take any notice of her when she spoke. She asked again if we had seen Curley and Candy told her to get out because she wasn’t wanted and that her husband wasn’t here. I kept myself quiet because she didn’t listen to Candy and she surely wasn’t going to listen to me. For a while it felt like we had united together to stop her from coming in, but she was still at the door peering in. Then I attempted to get her to go away but she came back with a vengeance saying that I should keep my mouth shut and that she could get me strung on a tree so easily. It was like she tore through my defence. Candy tried to defend me but there was no stopping her. We had to face it that we were powerless to stop her. Candy then told her that all the men were back from town and then she went in a flash. I felt so small that I crawled back into my corner again because I knew that what Curley’s wife was saying was true. There was no point in fighting back, that’s one thing I dislike about Curley’s wife is that she is always putting people down. By the time she had left George came back. I was staring scornfully at Candy and Lennie even though Candy had tried to defend me I had lost every bit of friendliness towards them. George looked at me like he could tell something had gone on. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence they were leaving, while they were going a told them I didn’t want to join them on their farm and George looked confused then they left. I went back to rubbing ointment on my back. I changed my mind about the farm because it just seemed odd for three white men to share a house with one black man. They could turn on me jus like Curley’s wife did and I didn’t want to take any chances, suppose they chucked my out where would I go I couldn’t get a job anywhere else because there is so much unemployment in California. There isn’t a lot of banks and I would be left without money for food, clothes and rent like the millions of other people in California. I had heard of farmers losing their land and the banks dispossessed their families and were left homeless. If a get left on the street I would be picked up and taken away and beaten or taken to a refugee camp. I would hate to be taken to a refugee camp because I don’t want to end up lining up in a big queue waiting for food. I like the ranch because I have my own room, I have lots of possessions and my room is neat and tidy, although it is next to the manure heap. I don’t like the ranch because I get left out and can’t join in with all the other games the ranchers play. I don’t have any regrets in life because before I got kicked in the back by the horse I tried to live my like to the fullest and the best way I could. Now they have all gone, I have time to reflect on what has happened tonight and my life. I have time to think about what I’m going to do tomorrow. I can read a few books if I please without being disturbed. If I had the power, I would make everyone have equal rights, all the white and black people not to fight and make them get along together. I would want everyone to have their own piece of land and that they could work under their own rules. Everyone to be happy and live life to the fullest, I would like there to be a rule that any black man could go into a whore house and have a drink any time he wants and not worry about getting criticized because of the colour of their skin and last of all I will make violence an offence and that anyone that engages in violence will be sent to prison.

A Special Place Within My Heart Essay Essay

I have lived in the same community since I was three years old and know every store, road, and area of Niles, Illinois like the back of my hand. I grew up with the same group of friends, which I am still friends with them today, and I have grown up with mentors in which I hold close to my heart, for shaping me into the young woman I am today. Niles, Illinois is a mid sized community with about 30,000 residents; I have become close with many residents due to countless activities and events. I am a young woman in which I always need to be doing something with my time, and the place in which I am perfectly content, gives me the ability to do so. When I was four years old, I started at St. John Brebeuf School, a Catholic school, which is apart of St. John Brebeuf Parish. Growing up throughout the years there, I learned many new things such as: meeting loyal friends, finding a mentor, seeing all the hustle and bustle of the community, and of course the many activities and committees in which you are able to become more involved. Seventh grade is when I really became involved within my parish. I began by joining the Lifeteen choir, in which we sing at mass, playing hand bells at mass, the Youth Ministry program in which you talk about church itself and volunteer within the community, Altar Serving which consists of helping the Priest and deacon at mass, and the GLADD program, which helps mentally challenged children learn about God. As the years went on, I found more activities and committees to become involved in, and now in addition to what I was apart of since seventh grade, I am now a Lector at mass, in which I read either the first or second reading, schedule the times in which altar servers serve, and also organize parties, To Teach Who Christ Is committee, where we teach the church about Christ, and where we raise money to fund for repairs to the parish, Picnic Planner, and 60th Anniversary Party Planner, we are having a big party to celebrate our 60th year as a parish. By joining all of these activities and committees, I have met key people within the parish, learned more about the parish history and its community, and met my mentor. I met my mentor four years ago, when I began taking singing more seriously. This woman had been a respected parishioner of the parish for a lengthy time, sings as a cantor weekly, been involved with many activities, and is the wife of a key member of the parish, a deacon. This woman’s name is Jan Skaja, I admire her for her determination to every task she puts her mind too, her kind and generous nature, her attentive listening skills in which I can talk to her about anything, she teaches me to be myself, and confident regardless of what the situation is, and inspired me to be the vocalist I am today. Meeting Jan has shaped a big part of my life by following her life examples, and looking up to someone who also enjoys singing. By participating in these multiple activities and committees, St. John Brebeuf has become like a second home and the parishioners have become like family to me, it has taught me leadership skills though the multiple activities, time management with balancing school work and my responsibilities at church, and maturity because most of the activities I am apart of require me to work with adults. This parish has been my everything, and I wouldn’t change a minute of my time here. My memories are now in a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to experience the memories I create here in the future.

Pontecaster Car Rally case report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Pontecaster Car Rally case report - Essay Example The advice that could be given to Pontecaster depends on its rights or responsibilities in the contract. But before the obligation could arise from the contract, there is a need to establish whether there is a contract. A contract exists when the following elements occur: offer and acceptance, consideration, certainty of agreement and intention to create legal relations (University of London, 2007). If such a contract does exist between the parties, it could now be asked whether the rights of Pontecaster are being protected. On the other hand, Pontecaster may have responsibilities to be done under the contract which may make it at fault. As far as the issue on whether there is a contract between the parties on the basis of the presence or absence of offer and acceptance, consideration , certainty of agreement and intention of create legal relations, this paper submits that they parties are presumed to have a contract because the question presupposes the existence of such contract. As far as its rights under the contract (which is presumed to exist based on the question), it becomes an issue whether it can it ask â€Å"Grubs up† to pay for breach of contract. The case facts provide that there was confusion as to actual date of the sports event but it was also provided that Pontecaster had already contracted â€Å"Grubs up† (Emphasis supplied). The fact that there was contract already, â€Å"Grubs up† must have been ready to meet the obligations including the day when the car rally event would have been held. As far as its responsibilities in the contract is concerned, Pontercaster may be held liable for its failure to conduct the event in its earlier designated time, if there is any, as per its contract with â€Å"Grubs up†. On the other hand, in the absence of the of a definite dates of the event that was agreed upon, such may indicate lack of intention to be bound for which â€Å"Grubs up† may not be liable.

Compare and Contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Compare and Contrast - Essay Example Information about Model 1 The best feature of this model is the compact size of its central processing unit; it looks more or less similar to a large hard-cover book with USB ports, as well as an optical drive, rather than a personal computer. Its design and small shape are deceiving, as within this small machine there is an adequate amount of power to keep up with other regular-sized systems. It offers a solid, â€Å"low-noise solution† (White & Downs, 2007) with an adequate amount of effectiveness, as well as speed to get the work completed. Another exclusive feature is that it can be laid flat or on its side by the stand supplied with it. The major constraint of its size is the lack of upgrading capacity. Nonetheless, it should be remembered that the ability for upgrading is not generally crucial for business PCs. It has all the necessary elements, together with â€Å"Intel's Core 2 Duo E6300 1.83GHz CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive and a slot loading DVD burnerâ⠂¬  (White & Downs, 2007). The essential pre-installed Intel graphics chip will not be able to go well with games, but it is satisfactory for standard workplace chores. It also incorporates Intel's V-Pro technology, a distant administration tool to handle business task forces. This is intended to let information technology staff have an easy access to the computer, regardless of what its state of fitness and in spite of whether it is on or off. This technology is still new, and despite the fact that it is great in speculation, it has yet to achieve any serious momentum. Its casing never becomes very warm and it is much quieter as compared to the majority of PCs. Fan noise is negligible and the hot air produced gets blow out from the rear side, away from the user. The manufacturer believes that this PC is an environmentally friendly acquisition. Information about Model 2 This model uses the latest â€Å"Intel H57 chipset along with the Intel Core i7-860 processor† (Shelly & V ermaat, 2008) to offer a desktop system with a high quality performance, although at a more practical cost. This system in conjunction with the â€Å"4 GB of DDR3 memory† (Shelly & Vermaat, 2008) should let the PC to perform excellently in just about any sort of application together with the challenging desktop movie editing. The system has a comparatively small 500 gigabytes hard drive, as compared to the one terabyte sized in the majority of similarly grouped personal computers. It as well includes a â€Å"dual layer DVD burner which is not uncommon for many desktops† (Shelly & Vermaat, 2008). The manufacturer creates this by presenting an extensive choice of customization preferences where users can put in drives with more capacity or add additional drives in either â€Å"RAID 0 or 1 arrays for performance or redundancy. Blue-ray drives are also available. All of these options do increase the cost, of course† (Shelly & Vermaat, 2008). Graphics is, possibly, o ne of the weakest points of this model. The major cause for this is the comparatively tiny â€Å"350 watt power supply† (Shelly & Vermaat, 2008) that does not have a good deal of the performance considered necessary for the â€Å"high end 3D graphics cards†. â€Å"The default NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 graphics card provides a mediocre experience with support up to 1650x1080 resolutions. Those wanting higher graphics

Ethical Issues in Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethical Issues in Healthcare - Essay Example This essay examines some of the key ethical issues concerning contentious health services such as abortion, euthanasia and consent. In brief, the main body contains first paragraphs presenting the arguments in support of the hypothesis and the second against argument on the hypothesis. Our main hypothesis involves the argument for or against the contentious health issues such as abortion, consent or euthanasia. In the process, the essayist looks into the factors involved, the guidance for dealing with specified ethical issue, evaluation of euthanasia based on different moral and ethical arguments. Euthanasia refers to an instance where patients who have a terminal illnesses, such as cancer, HIV/AIDs or diabetes, may opt to propose be given some drugs for terminating life. A nurse or any medical practitioner usually facilitates this. First, it has been argued that people have a right to decide when they want to die and therefore nobody should prevent them from using euthanasia. Secondly, it was revealed that to deny people the right to live their lives as they wish implies that each individual does not know what his or her own rights is. This was based on the concept of individualism, a fundamental factor within a democratic based political theory. The theory reveals that individuals should be given rights to own their life and nobody should question them on how they are managing personal life just like assets. Another argument was that it is wrong to keep any person alive for longer period than they are meant to be.

Eggettes Restaurant in San Francisco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Eggettes Restaurant in San Francisco - Essay Example Recommendations Operating in a competitive environment, Eggettes should adopt strategies that would make it more competitive. As such, the restaurant should include delivery services in its operations so as to compete with other similar restaurants like Waffle. Introduction of waiter services would also ensure that service in the restaurant becomes faster and efficient especially for the mixologist who has to get orders from customers and make them their desired drinks on top of other duties performed concurrently. Being an internet cafe, the management should make use of this capacity to automate its employee scheduling. Employees should be able to book their off days online and the store owner works on it. This would make this operation more effective and simpler for the store owner. Section I – Introduction Eggettes is an average class fast food restaurant in San Francisco, 3136 Noriega Street in the Outer Sunset neighborhood hence providing ample parking to its customers w hich is offered free in front of the restaurant. It serves different kinds of Chinese fast foods and desserts and beverages including tea and coffee. The restaurant operates between 11 am and 10 pm from Sunday to Thursday and 11 am to 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. This internet cafe has the capacity and ability to handle group customers who could perhaps choose to have a biting in the restaurant as they hold their meetings. Though it does not offer delivery services, waiter service or allow for outdoor sitting, it has take-out services. The restaurant does not accept credit cards and does not allow for reservations (Eggettes 2009). But the restaurant offers various benefits to its... The study involved qualitative analysis of the desired employees’ attributes and the practice in scheduling employees. As such, qualitative data was collected through observation and engagement with the respective employees, particularly the mixologist and the store owner. These data were then analyzed and then conclusions and recommendations were made. This report makes a conclusion that waiter services would go a long way in ensuring high customer service levels are attained. The tasks that a mixologist for instance has to accomplish are too much and in as much as such workers are meant to ensure customer satisfaction, fatigue could hinder them from fully accomplishing this. Waiter services could considerably reduce the one minute standard waiting period for customers. It would even attract more customers who seek to be served. Caution should be taken however to ensure that the waiters and those preparing orders like the mixologist understand each other so as not to disappoint customers with serving below their expectations. Due to the availability of internet in the restaurant, the store owner should consider introducing a computerized duty scheduler. When an employee logs in and books a specific off duty date, the date automatically becomes unavailable to other employees. This should relay to the restaurant’s server and a ccessible to the store owner. It would thus be easier planning the monthly schedule of how employees would have their off duty days.

PGCE Unit 1 professional practice ( A reflective journal ) Essay

PGCE Unit 1 professional practice ( A reflective journal ) - Essay Example In further elaboration of the motivation phenomenon, Atherton (2004) defines it as "either intrinsic/expressive (doing something for its own sake) or extrinsic/instrumental (doing something for some other reason)." Contrary to Petty’s (1993) presentation, Atherton (2004) emphasises that motivation is not an indivisible whole but is comprised of two distinct forms. While Pettys (1993) assertion is largely true, he oversimplifies the complex phenomenon of motivation, in which instance one need turn to Atherton (2004) for a more accurate understanding of the mentioned. In further elaboration of the stated, while Petty has correctly identified the centrality of motivation to effective learning, he incorrectly identifies teachers as the primary instigators of motivation. In essence, Petty (1993:32) lays much, if not all, of the responsibility for the generation of motivation upon teachers whereby he defines this particular task as the "greatest challenge that many teachers face." This is an oversimplification of the phenomenon of motivation, implying that motivation is essentially extrinsic whereby, as noted by Atherton (2004) it is both intrinsic and extrinsic. A teacher, through the enthusiasm with which he/she approaches the information communication responsibility, can similarly enthuse learners and, through the creation of a positive learning environment, characterized by encouragement and trust, can enhance the confidence levels of individual learners, thereby injecting them with the motivation to learn. However, as may be observed, a teachers motivation-elevation capacities are limited to the extrinsic, while effective learning is predicated on the presence of requisite minimal levels of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Petty does not admit to the explicated differentiation, rendering his observation only partially accurate. As language, literacy and numeracy skills vary

Textbook Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Textbook Analysis - Essay Example The first page contains questions and quotations that give the reader an insight of the content of that unit. The pages begin with quotes, collages, questions, and unit introduction. This creates an idea of the flow of the content in that unit and the reader is able to prepare accordingly. Every collage contains images that correspond to the topic of the unit. They display values such as childcare and education, interaction of people in the society, and items encountered in the world such as computers. These images relate to the topic of the unit. Stereotyping refers to generalizations based on characteristics of all members of a group, based on wrong images about individuals in the group (Schneider, 6). The collage on unit six has two women holding young children. This creates the impression that women have the sole responsibility of caring for the young ones while men participate in activities such as education (Unit 6). One image shows a woman serving as a magistrate, which implies only few women rise to the level of prominent people in the society compared to men. The collage also contains the image of a black woman holding a child with an Asian ancestry. This illustrates the closeness of members of the minority groups as compared to close ties between minorities and majorities. This image is stereotypic since there are hostilities between members of minority groups such as Latinos and Africans. The collage on unit eight refers to technological advancements encountered in the modern world. The collage illustrates an ATM machine, computers, and roads that are usually associated with urban areas especially in developed countries. The traffic jam on the road indicates a high number of users that is usually associated with urban areas (Unit 8). These images create the perception that transport networks in urban areas are usually busy. The computers and ATM machines indicate ease of communication and service delivery that is experienced in the

Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example Global challenge 1 One of the challenges that an organization is most likely to face in developing and launching its products in the international market is its management efficiency with respect to the production process. This challenge was particularly identified in the development of Hexopater. Management of the production process of a product, whether a locally marketed product or one that targets the international market, has many impacts on the quality of the product to be produced as well as the reliability in the continuous flow of the product into its market. An effective management of a production process begins with development of aims of the production as well as the features of the product, a stage that is crucial and defines the destiny of the product. Inability to develop focused goals that can yield a successful production as well as failure to identify captivating features that will attract customers therefore forms a significant challenge to product launch in the gl obal market. This is because a challenged set of development goals, coupled with poor specification may lead to poor standards that may not be acceptable for clearance across borders (Kumar and Addie, 2006). ... This is because the human resource competence level is reflected in the production process, quality and the image that consumers and even regulatory bodies develop over a product. The overall plan of the production process as well as sales initiatives also determines the extent of challenges that a product can experience in penetrating an international market. Management of the production process is therefore a significant challenge in any product development as it applied to Hexopater (Kumar and Addie, 2006). Global challenge 2 Another challenge facing development of products in global markets is the level of regulations that are instituted by different territories. Though most regulatory measures are meant to check on safety of products to be allowed from other economies, some regulatory measures are done on economic grounds. The impact however remains the same, that regulations undermines the ability to develop and market a product in the international market. An example of such r egulation is the European union’s move to regulate â€Å"tissue related products† (Dodin, 2010, p. 1). This particular regulatory initiative was meant to harmonize laws in the region and to ensure that the developments in scientific processes are monitored and regulated effectively. While the regulations ensured common application of rules in the region, it influenced original regulations in each countries in either way. It either lowered standards for the countries that were highly regulated and raised standards for countries that were poorly regulated. The greatest challenge to new product development in the region would therefore be significant in the countries that were previously less strictly regulated. A firm

Lou Gehrig Disease Essay Example for Free

Lou Gehrig Disease Essay Lou Gehrig Disease is a term used in the United States that also refers to ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It was named after the famous Lou Gehrig, a baseball player for the New York Yankees between the 1920’s to the 1930’s. His career in baseball was cut short when he became afflicted with the disease ALS is a fatal and progressive disease which is characterized by the degeneration or deterioration of nerve cells within the brain, specifically those involved in motor functions that control the movements of voluntary muscles. As it is a disease that involves the motor neurons, ALS can cause body and muscle weakness as well as deterioration or wasting away of the whole body due to the degeneration of motor neurons which cease to send impulses from the brain to various muscles of the body. As is the tendency of things that cease to serve their function, the body muscles gradually become weak due to inactivity and later on, begin to develop muscle twitching. An end result is muscle wastage and atrophy due to denervation so that an individual afflicted with the disease cease to have control of his own voluntary movements with the exception of the eyes. In ALS, the individual usually retains their mental or cognitive functioning except in such cases when ALS is associated with fronto-temporal dementia. However, several studies have indicated that many individuals with ALS have slight changes cognitively in instances when neuropsychological testing is utilized. The nerves that transmit sensations as well as the autonomic nervous system is usually not affected. ALS affects all people with no preference for race or ethnicity and is regarded as one of the most common diseases that affect the brain and muscles worldwide. Annually, 2 out of 100,000 individuals become afflicted with ALS (Ropper and Brown 2005). It commonly occurs in middle to older adulthood, with ages ranging from 40 to 60 years of age although it is not unlikely for other age groups to contract the disease and men have an increased risk for the disease as compared to women. The affected parts of the body which is usually affected by ALS depend on the motor nerve cells that damage the body. Two-thirds of ALS cases consist of individuals experiencing ALS that initially occurs in the limbs. Individuals may notice a significant change in walking or running and may initially pass this off as clumsiness or awkwardness. Other people report onset of the disease through their arms and hands and report difficulty in going about simple tasks such as writing or buttoning a shirt. One-third of ALS cases, meanwhile, are bulbar at the beginning. Individuals may report difficulty in talking and speech may become slurred and incoherent. The first signs are commonly a decrease in the speech volume and an increased nasal tone. Eventually, individuals experience dysphagia (Difficulty in swallowing) as well as decreased mobility of the tongue. This would eventually lead to the inability to talk and loss of protection of the airway during swallowing. The initial onset of the symptoms and the body parts which it initially affects does not really matter as this will eventually spread throughout the body during the progression of the disease. Aside from the above symptoms, this could also include spasticity of muscles, an exaggeration of reflexes and the occurrence of Babinski’s sign which normal for babies but abnormal for adults. Furthermore, individuals may also experience labile emotions such that they may display uncontrolled bouts of laughter followed by instances of sadness or an increased frequency of mood swings due to the degeneration of bulbar motor nerve cells. There is no definitive test to diagnose ALS although many believe that the presence of motor nerve cells in a single limb may strongly indicate ALS. The diagnosis and confirmation that it is indeed ALS is commonly based on ruling out other diseases that may bring about similar symptoms produced by ALS that include Lyme disease, Syphilis, HIV as well as tick-borne Encephalitis (el Alaoui-Faris 1990). In a research conducted by Passinetti et al (2006), it was found out that individuals with ALS have lower levels of three proteins that are found in the cerebro-spinal fluid as compared to individuals who do not have the disease. These proteins include the carboxyl-terminal fragment of neuroendocrine protein, Cystatin C, and TTR. As such, this method has provided a means to diagnose patients with ALS at a sooner time, thus allowing them to receive the necessary medical attention and provide an earlier relief of symptoms. As of now, there is no drug or therapy that could completely cure ALS although Riluzole, the first drug for ALS has gained the approval from the Food and Drug Administration. This drug is said to decrease the release of glutamate within the body and such, is said to decrease nerve cell injury and damage. It also provides several effects that protects neurotransmitters through blocking and preventing calcium and sodium (Hubert et al 1994), the prevention of protein kinase C formation and antagonism of the N-methyl d-aspartate receptors (Beal et al 2005). The patient’s survival is thereby lengthened and increases the time before ventilation support is needed References: Beal, MF et al. (2005). Neurodegenerative Diseases: Neurobiology, Pathogenesis and Therapeutics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. el Alaoui-Faris, M et al (1990). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis syndrome of syphilitic origin. 5 cases. Rev Neurol (Paris) 146 (1): 41–4. Hubert, JP et al (1994). Antagonism by riluzole of entry of calcium evoked by NMDA and veratridine in rate cultured granule cells: evidence for a dual mechanism of action. Br. J. Pharmacol. 113 (1): 261–267 Phukan, et al (2007). Cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Lancet Neurol 6 (11): 994–1003. Ropper, AH and Brown, RH (2005). Syndrome of muscular weakness and wasting without sensory changes section of Degenerative diseases of the nervous system. In Adams and Victors Principles of Neurology, 8th ed. , pp. 938–949. New York: McGraw-Hill. Pasinetti, G et al (2006). Identification of potential CSF biomarkers in ALS. Neurology 66 (8): 1218–22.

Demand And Supply Of Agricultural Products

Demand And Supply Of Agricultural Products The agriculture in UAE is reserved to dates, vegetables, fish, eggs and dairy products (Ministry of Foreign trade, 2011). Tunnel farming is the way forward to agriculture in UAE, more and more people are learning the techniques involved in tunnel farming. For a country like UAE which is a desert the land available for farming is limited, and the water resources are also limited, therefore using the latest technologies in farming plays a vital role in controlling the supply and demand of agricultural products in UAE. Water plays an important role in increasing or decreasing the supply of local agricultural products in UAE. One of the studies revealed that the consumption of water in UAE on individual basis is one of the highest in the world (Gornall Tordorova, 2009). For a country with already a very low export of agricultural products and local production, high water consumption makes it even more complex to cater for shortages of agricultural products in UAE. The Government in UAE is involved in discovering new ways to increase the land available for cultivation by using desert reclamation initiatives (Salama, 2008). The government has a history of investing in tree planting schemes and irrigation systems to increase the total agricultural production of UAE. The planting schemes involve planting trees which help crops to survive wind and also stop soil erosion, the schemes also involve initiatives to plant shrubs and date palms. According to figures released by Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, UAE is producing 600,000 tonnes of crops approximately which include, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, aubergines, cabbages and feed for live stock. The Government of UAE is rapidly increasing the land available for cultivation by converting desert into cultivated land one of the example is the 40,500 hectares of land available for cultivation along the Liwa Oasis, which has been converted from dessert into cultivatable land, in UAE there are mor e than 6,000 greenhouses and 22,700 farms. UAE is also committed to invest in agriculture overseas on islands and other parts of the world, because 85 per cent of the agricultural products in UAE are imported which include wheat, rice and corn. This is a major threat faced by a country set to become the business hub of the world with an increasing population, therefore the supply and demand forces play a major role in agriculture in UAE. Another strategy followed by UAE to tackle food shortages is to create food storage facilities where large quantities of agricultural products could be stored for longer time periods. Agricultural Imports and Exports of UAE UAE is the largest importer of agricultural products in the region and the imports of agricultural product in UAE will increase this year following the drought in the major exporters of agricultural products in the world which are Russia and Ukraine. Consequently rapidly changing the demand and supply of agricultural products in UAE and presents a major challenge for the Government to deal with supply and demand forces in Agricultural products. The global food crisis has reached alarming situation posing a major threat to economies with increasing population and consumption of agricultural products. Also the major suppliers of world agricultural products will experience a reduction in their yield of agricultural products this year due to draughts in different parts of the world. The world crop production has increased due to the use of latest techniques for farming as shown by the following figure-1 (GRIDA, n.d.). figure07.jpg Figure Trends in crop production of the world The increase in world crop production here is because of the increased cropland and rangeland area, increased of yield and greater cropping intensity. Therefore to cater the current demand of agricultural products it is necessary to use the latest technologies to increase the yield. As the graph clearly shows the most production increase is seen in Soybeans showing more than 4 per cent increase in the production. Cotton wheat and rice take a lot of water hence are impossible to be planted in a desert with limited water resources, therefore wheat and rice also adds up to the demand in agricultural products in UAE. Abu Dhabi is spending in agricultural research and development to come up with new ways of farming using minimal water resources. One of the most important techniques to save water in agriculture is to use piping systems, this system enables the farmer to save water in agriculture up to 40 per cent then the classical techniques of farming. Following the credit crunch the world has moved into era of scarcity of resources and an increase in the population, more and more people are moving into urban areas in search of a better future and business opportunities. The phenomenon of the move to urban areas is creating humungous pressure on the demand created by urban areas for agricultural products. Most of the agricultural products are used as part of food therefore an increase in population is directly related to the demand created for agricultural products. Another factor affecting the supply of the agricultural products is the limited life of the product due to which suppliers have to pay heavy cost in storing the products eventually affecting the supply of agricultural products. Therefore supplying agricultural products from all over the world becomes a challenge for even the developed economies of the world with limited local production of agricultural products. In the global village the consumer in UAE is ready to pay higher prices for quality agricultural products following which the suppliers in agricultural based countries are targeting UAE to earn better profits. Attracting suppliers from India, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, US, Australia and other parts of the world have started shipping their agricultural products to the consumers in UAE. Due to complexities and investments involved in shipping agricultural products overseas and selling it to buyers overseas, the farmers in agriculture enriched countries restrain from getting involved in international trade. Inviting speculators in the market who buy the products from farmers and then sell it in international markets, these speculators hold the power of affecting the price of agricultural products becau se of the ability to store and hold large quantities of a particular product. Enabling speculators to store the product until they find the right price to reap higher profits, this creates a shortage in supply and increasing the demand for the product which eventually increases the price of the product to the level at which the speculators are ready to sell their products to the consumers in UAE. Imports UAE is the largest importer of agricultural products in the Gulf, the consumers of UAE have the highest consumption when it comes to consuming water and other agricultural products. Due to limited resources for agricultural activities the country has to heavily rely on agricultural imports from all over the world. UAE is also used as a re-export hub of the world many suppliers buy their products from underdeveloped or developing countries of the world with trade restrictions and then bring the products to UAE enabling them to ship the products anywhere in world, the geographic location of UAE makes it attractive for suppliers from all over the world for re-exports. The agricultural products imported in UAE are: Wheat Rice Corn Tobacco Consumer Ready Goods Meat Fruit Vegetable Products Live Animals and their products Animal and vegetable fats, oils and waxes Wheat, rice and cotton are completed exported from other parts of the world due to high water consumption involved in the production of these products. Tobacco, Meat, Fruit, and vegetable products are also being planted in UAE using the latest tunnel techniques enabling year round production and helping UAE to cope with the extraordinary demand created for agricultural by a multiplying society. This year the imports are believed to surge again following the international food crisis, but the worldà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s production of agricultural products has also increased. Farmers all over the world are involved in using latest techniques of farming increasing the total production per area and reducing the water consumption by 40 per cent, enabling farmers to produce at lower cost. UAE imported AED 3.71 billion worth of agricultural products from US alone in 2011, which was up from AED 440 million in 2010 (Duncan, 2012). This shows the rapid increase in the consumption consequently increasing the demand for agricultural products in UAE. This rapid increase in the consumption of UAE in just one year is directly related to the increase in the population of UAE and also the country is set to become the business hub of the world attracting more tourist and business men from all over the world increasing the consumption of agricultural products. UAE also imports agricultural products from other parts of the world. Some of the top agricultural imports of UAE are shown with the help of following figure-2 (Gulfood 2010 Briefing, 2010). Figure UAE Top agricultural Imports The graph clearly shows the major imports which are hides skins, fats oils, wood products, Meat Animals, prepared Foods and vegetable products. The major chunk of the UAE agricultural demand is the vegetable products as shown by the graph above, the vegetable products have limited life hence require storage capabilities to extend the life of the product, due to which the supply of vegetables becomes a complex procedure starting from the farmer in the developing countries and making it available in the local store of UAE. Abu Dhabi has taken many initiatives to grow vegetables using tunnel farming enabling the farmers to produce round the year and also doubling the yield at the same time reducing the water consumption of the crop as well. The government in UAE is involved in initiatives to promote urban farming by offering agricultural studies in colleges and schools and also providing awareness on how to start urban farming, in effort to fight the huge imports of agricultural products in UAE. One of the ideas recently introduce is to use rooftops of buildings in urban areas for farming purposes, tunnels could be used to create the atmosphere required for the production of any crop year round. At the moment UAE is importing agricultural products from all over the world to tackle its sharply rising imports of agricultural products. Another step taken by the government is to invest in agriculture overseas to tackle the world food crisis. UAE has become the major importer of Agricultural products in the region, the major countries which import to UAE are 18 percent imports are from India, 13 percent from Brazil, 12 percent China, 10 percent United States, 8 percent Australia and the rest 39 percent of the agricultural products are imported from other parts of the world as shown by the pie chart in figure-3. Figure 2007 Data for Dubai and Sharjah Percent Market Share India being the largest supplier of agricultural products to UAE in 2007, the pie chart clearly shows the importance of UAE in the agriculture of the world. Therefore the supply of agricultural products to UAE is a matter affecting the whole world and the food prices in the world, in this time of recession it is vital for an economy like UAE to reach equilibrium in the supply and demand of agricultural products to provide sufficient food for the country. In the trade of agricultural products Imports play a major role in case of UAE as shown by the figures above. Therefore in reaching equilibrium in supply and demand forces or agricultural products in UAE managing imports is very important. The government of UAE is actively involved in investing overseas to meet the increasing demand of agricultural products in UAE, following the world food crisis it is predicted that the UAE food consumption will increase exerting more pressure on the consumption driving the demand even more higher than the current levels and eventually increasing imports of agricultural products to the country. Exports The exports of agricultural products from UAE have been limited to dates and other few vegetable products, agriculture in desert requires desert reclamation. UAE government is involved in initiatives for desert reclamation to increase the local production of agricultural products. The exports of agricultural products in UAE include: Dates Animal or Vegetable Fats, oils and waxes Live animals and their products Vegetable Products Dates have been historically imported from UAE which is a competitive edge of the country in the industry to be able to produce high quality dates, alongside which the government is also starting initiatives to commercialize camel milk in surge to reduce the import of milk and start exporting milk from UAE. Tunnel farming has enabled farmers in UAE to produce year round and supply vegetables globally in offseason. The government has started different initiatives to increase local production of agricultural goods by introducing following concepts. Island Farming Tunnel Farming Desert Reclamation Investing overseas in agriculture UAE is involved in farming on islands in the Gulf by using latest techniques of production using tunnel farming the government is trying to help reduce the imports of agricultural products by being self-sufficient. In todayà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s world of credit crunch self sufficiency play a vital role in the success of an economy, the global village has enabled countries with limited resources to be self sufficient by investing overseas. Therefore investing overseas to increase re-exports of UAE plays an important role in the current strategy of being self sufficient in agricultural products. Imports and exports of agricultural products play an important role in the supply and demand of agricultural products to the country. The imports and exports of agricultural products in UAE is shown by following figure-4, which clearly shows how rapidly the demand for agricultural products is increasing over the passage of time. Figure Imports and Exports of Agricultural products in UAE The graph above clearly shows the increasing trend in the agricultural products of UAE and shows almost no change in the behaviour of exports and they are stagnant at USD 1 billion approximately from 2005 to 2006, whereas imports have increased from approximately USD 6 billion in 2005 to above USD 9 billion in 2007. Further the statistics reveal that total Imports of Animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes for first six months of 2012 were AED 1.268 billion and exports were AED 485 million approximately (National Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Live Animals and their products were also imported and the total imports were AED 5.806 billion and exports were AED 646 million, also AED 11.483 billion worth of vegetable products were imported and AED 304 million were exported. The figures show a substantial increase in imports of vegetable products for country with shortages of water and land available for cultivation. UAE government is taking concrete steps to invest in agricultural products overseas, which include, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan and other fertile parts of the world (Farm Land Grab, 2010). The statistics reveal that the investment in agricultural products by UAE in other countries will increase with the passage of time, as the rising demand of agricultural products invites more and more investors into the industry. Supply and Demand of Agricultural Products in UAE In the era of global food crisis one of the major challenges faced by UAE is to make sure the uninterrupted supply of agricultural products whether through imports or local production (Malek, 2013). The fresh statistics of 2013 reveal that 90 per cent of the Agricultural products are imported globally, which shows UAEà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s reliance on the international food market. In 2013 the food crisis is expected to become a major problem for UAE. After a detailed analysis conducted above the following figure-5 shows the supply and demand curves for agricultural products of UAE. Figure Supply and Demand Curves for UAE Agricultural products As we can see in figure-5 as the demand increases the supply remains stagnant which clearly shows, UAE needs to invest to increase the local production of agricultural products and also the country must explore investing overseas for food shortages alongside using latest techniques for farming in UAE. The gap between the curves clearly shows the shortage of food faced by UAE and adding the world food crisis the situation will worsen in 2013. To tackle the food shortages in UAE the farmers have turned to tunnel farming, tunnels allows farmers to control the temperature and the sunlight required for the growth of the plant (UAE Interact, 2012). It also acts as an incubator enabling the farmer to adjust the atmosphere as required by the plants, also pipe irrigation system is used which helps in saving water. Sustainable farming is the concept launched by the UAE government from Abu Dhabi to fight the food shortage. In our case the demand for agricultural products in UAE is increasing as shown by the figure-4, creating a shortage, also the local production of UAE is limited due to water shortages and limited land available for cultivation. Therefore the government is focusing on tunnel farming and other techniques of water efficient farming in UAE. Demand refers to the relationship between how much of anything people are willing to purchase available at different prices (Grant Vidler, 2000, p. 10). Therefore the increasing exports show that there is a shortage of agricultural products in the market, eventually increasing the demand for agricultural products. Demand and Supply Curve Economic theory reveals that a shortage in supply eventually increases prices, and surplus in supply reduces demand and decreases the prices eventually (Mceacher, 2012, p. 86). Such a state in economics is known as the state of disequilibrium, when there is a shortage or a surplus. In UAE the demand for agricultural products is increasing on a fast rate, eventually requiring more supply of goods and creating a shortage of agricultural products in the market. The world is already going through a worldwide food crisis followed by the draughts in major exporters of agricultural products like Ukraine and Russia. Managing the demand for agricultural products in UAE is a challenge faced by the government. The shortage in the supply of agricultural products will eventually lead to a food inflation in UAE by the year 2013, to control inflation in agricultural products the government has come up with strategies to increase agriculture by using latest techniques to produce more by using less water. According to law of demand if the price of the good increases the quantity demanded falls, provided other things stay equal (Mankiw, 2012, p. 73). Therefore the demand and price of a agricultural products have an inverse relationship. The above figure clearly shows the demand and supply curves for the agricultural products in UAE, both the demand and supply curve show that there is an increasing shortage in the supply of agricultural products in UAE. Attracting more and more investors from all over the world to invest in agricultural products in UAE, the most attractive region for investors in UAE have become overseas investment in agricultural products. As the world becomes a global village to deal with the increasing volatility and fluctuations in the supply and demand of agricultural products in UAE the government must come up with initiatives to maintain storage for agricultural products, as well as promoting urban farming, tunnel farming and other farming technologies. Factors affecting Demand Supply Some of the most important factors on which the demand of agricultural products in UAE depends are price of the product, prices of the related products, consumer income, expectation of future price changes, tastes and number of consumers (Carbaugh, 2010, p. 30). Demand for agricultural products plays the main part in the trade of agricultural products in UAE, consequently increasing the imports of agricultural products in UAE to record levels, making UAE the hub of agricultural products imports and exports. The explanation of these factors with respect to agricultural products of UAE is as follows. Price of the product Price of a product plays a very important role in the demand of that product. If the demand goes up it exerts upward pressure on the price of the product, when the product supplied are equal to the product demand the equilibrium price is reached (Hill, 2006, p. 32). Therefore the price of a product has a direct relationship with the demand of the product, in the case of UAE the agricultural products are experiencing an increase in demand. The prices for agricultural products in UAE are vulnerable because of low local production, desert land and water shortages (Kawach, 2010). According to the figures released by the government of Abu Dhabi, in 2009 the food imports increased by 31.5 per cent which was the record high surge in the imports of agricultural products. The main reason is the rapid increase in the population of UAE and also the food prices paid by the consumers in UAE attracts suppliers from all over the world. Prices of the related products Prices of other related products with agricultural products also matter some of them are pesticides and other sprays required for farming, the materials required for desert reclamation and animal feed etc. Overall all affecting the prices and eventually increasing or decreasing the demand for agricultural products. Consumer Income The income elasticity of demand represents the change in demand of a product with respect to the change of consumer income (Whittington Delaney, 2008, p. 126). The economic theory suggests that if the consumer income increases it also increases the demand for agricultural products or other normal goods. A study revealed that the monthly household income in UAE has reached up to AED 18,248 while the average household expenditure is AED 11,241 in 2009 (Bundhun, 2009). This increase in the consumer income in UAE will definitely affect the demand for agricultural products in UAE and eventually increasing the imports of agricultural products in UAE. Therefore we can say that consumer income is directly proportional to demand of agricultural products in UAE. Expectations of future price changes The agricultural market has become very volatile due to the world food crisis, and following the draughts in the major economies of the world which certainly affects the future prices of the agricultural products to increase at a fast rate. Tastes The consumer preferences and tastes play a vital role in creating a demand for any product, the health conscious consumer of UAE has definitely increased the demand for vegetables and other healthy food products. The taste preferences of the consumer in UAE have dramatically increased the demand for agricultural products in UAE. Number of Consumers UAE is experiencing a rapid increase in population as shown by the following figure (World Bank, 2013). population.png Figure Population of UAE The above figure-6 clearly shows how rapidly the population of UAE has increased from 1995 to 2011, which increases the demand for agricultural products by the consumers of UAE. Conclusions The government of UAE must boost up the initiatives started for development of agriculture in the country. The following must be paid full attention to survive the credit crunch prevailing in the global world. Investment in Agriculture abroad The government of UAE has started investing in agricultural based countries like the following: Pakistan Kazakhstan Egypt Investing overseas is the answer to the problem of shortages in supply of the agricultural products in UAE, these investments will also increase the re-exports of UAE and will help to attain equilibrium by filling the supply shortage in the agricultural market of UAE. Tunnel Farming Tunnel farming is also another way forward to provide for the huge demand of agricultural products in UAE. The government has taken steps in Abu Dubai for desert reclamation and tunnel farming. These tunnels enable farmers to produce year round and at a faster pace which helps to increase the yield of the crop as well as reduces the water usage by 40 per cent. Agriculture on Islands Keeping up with the high demand another way forward is the farming on islands in the Gulf, UAE must pursue its permanent mission in the UN to reclaim the Iranian occupied islands, as the country is face huge demand for agricultural product which must be taken care of before the food crisis gears up in the international food markets.