Hurricane Katrina: A Man-made Disaster Essay -- Emergency Management E

At 7:10 EDT on August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall, etching lasting memories of those living in and around the New Orleans, Louisiana. It was this day that Hurricane Katrina came ashore and caused what was to be thought as one of the â€Å"most destructive storm in terms of economic losses† ("Hurricane Katrina —," 2007) of all times. Who was to be blamed for the failure in emergence management response and preparation, no one seemed to know or understand. Those left in the wake of this disaster could only stand by and wonder who was at fault, what preparation were to be in place and why wasn’t there a quicker response to help the hundreds of thousands that needed immediate aid and disaster assistance. Failures of the Katrina Disaster According to Howard Dean "Before Katrina, everyone, including America's friends and enemies, believed if something awful happened in the world, you could call in the Americans and they'd fix it" (Dean, 2008). These were the thoughts of Howard Dean and many others as they looked back on President Bush’s legacy of eight years in office. But, was he the only one to blame or should we also look at the chain of command up and down that was responsible for the proper actions that should have been taken? In the corporate world it is believed that if things fail then the blame should be placed on the president or the chief executive office (CEO) of the company because of their responsibility within the corporation, but is that fair? The failure of Katrina was long before written in the failure through the inefficiency of the local, state and federal government when it came to emergence management preparation. Arnold Howitt and Herman Leonard stated in their article, Katrina and the Core Ch... ...s, Louisiana. Works Cited Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2010).Introduction to emergency management. (4th ed., pp. 1-26). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Howitt, A. M., & Leonard, H. B. (2006). Katrina and the core challenges of disaster response. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 30:1 winter 2006. (2005). Frontline "the storm". (2009). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://video.pbs.org/video/1555897742/ Dean, H. (2008). Hurricane Katrina left a mark on George W. Bush’s presidency. U.S. News & World Report, Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/12/11/hurricane-katrina-left-a-mark-on-george-w-bushs-presidency. (2007). Hurricane Katrina — most destructive hurricane ever to strike the u.s. national Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce, Retrieved from http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/

Cyber Security Essay

President Obama has declared that the â€Å"cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation†¦ America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security.† So why is it that so many people still don’t know some of the basic ways that produce cyber threats? The purpose of this paper is to name some of the more basic cyber threats. Even though it is just the beginning to the hazards you can obtain, they are highly effective because of the number of people that still allow these kinds of breaches. First and foremost are viruses. According to cknow.com, â€Å"There were over 50,000 computer viruses in 2000 and that number was then and still is growing rapidly. Sophos, in a print ad in June 2005 claims â€Å"over 103,000 viruses.† And, Symantec, in April 2008 is reported to have claimed the number is over one million.† With so many different viruses out there, how do you know what to look for and how to protect your cyber world from viruses? Some of the most common viruses that effect people are Trojans and Net Bots. PCmag.com defines a Trojan as â€Å"A program that appears legitimate, but performs some illicit activity when it is run. It may be used to locate password information or make the system more vulnerable to future entry or simply destroy programs or data on the hard disk. A Trojan is similar to a virus, except that it does not replicate itself. It stays in the computer doing its damage or allowing somebody from a remote site to take control of the computer. Trojans often sneak in attached to a free game or other utility.† To add to their definition, it can also be affixed to an email attachment or the email itself. So now that you know what it is you’re probably thinking so what can I do to protect myself from obtaining this virus? The best thing to do would be to educate yourself about this threat. Know what they look like and common websites they reside. The next thing that to do is to be sure to always have an up to date WELL KNOWN antivirus such as Sophos, McAfee, or Norton. The well known part is very important because some of the smaller antivirus companies are part of the reason there are so many Trojans out there. Once you get some antivirus software you need to be sure to keep it up to date. Also, don’t open emails from senders that you don’t recognize. Several of the Trojans out there that get circulated by email come from people opening emails from unknown senders. The next one is botnets. http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com says â€Å"A botnet (also known as a zombie army) is a number of Internet computers that, although their owners are unaware of it, have been set up to forward transmissions (including spam or viruses) to other computers on the Internet. Any such computer is referred to as a zombie – in effect, a computer â€Å"robot† or â€Å"bot† that serves the wishes of some master spam or virus originator. Most computers compromised in this way are home-based. According to a report from Russian-based Ka spersky Labs, botnets — not spam, viruses, or worms — currently pose the biggest threat to the Internet.† Trojans are the major way that you can get one of these viruses. So it is important that you again get antivirus software, keep it up to date, and don’t open emails from unknown senders. However, with this virus you can get it just from going to a questionable web site. So how do you know what ones are good and what ones are questionable? Well that you can for the most part guess using these deciding factors: Are there several java applications on the web page? Is there a lot of download able content? Are there pop up advertisements that come up on the page? Then you probably should do your best to stay away from the page. In case you are unsure, some antivirus software are now including a trusted and untrusted feature so when you search a site it will let you know if the page is safe or proceed at your own risk. If your antivirus does not have such a feature then there are some applications out there that will do the same thing just to name one would be WOT or Web of Trust. The next issue is a little more targeted to the business world. It deals more with their emails and correspondence but can also be directed to an average internet user. It is phishing. Webroot.com expounds â€Å"Email Phishing scams are carried out online by tech-savvy con artists and identity theft criminals. They use spam, fake websites constructed to look identical to a real sites, email and instant messages to trick you into divulging sensitive information, like bank account passwords and credit card numbers. Once you take the phisher’s bait, they can use the information to create fake accounts in your name, ruin your credit, and steal your money or even your identity.† This is a serious issue that takes some skill to recognize to evade taking the phisher’s bait. First and foremost is to educate yourself on phishing attacks or scams. Know what it looks like. There are many resources that you have available to you on the internet to learn how to spot a phishing attack and a legitimist email. The Department of Defense offer s a great course on how to spot a phishing email at http://iase.disa.mil/eta/phishing/Phishing/launchPage.htm. A more specific attack is whaling. Blogs.iss.net explains â€Å"The adoption of the term ‘Whaling’ within phishing is fairly new and may have been derived from the use of ‘Whales’ within gambling to refer to big-time gamblers and high rollers, but most likely come from the colloquialism for â€Å"big fish†. Regardless, Whaling describes the most focused type of phishing currently encountered by businesses or government – targeted attacks against groups of high-level executives within a single organization, or executive positions common to multiple organizations (e.g. the CTO or CFO). In a whaling attack, the phisher focuses upon a very small group of senior personnel within an organization and tries to steal their credentials – preferably through the installation of malware that provides back-door functionality and key logging. By focusing upon this small group, the phisher can invest more time in the attack and finely tune his message to achieve the highest likelihood of success. Note that these messages need not be limited to email. Some scams have relied upon regular postage systems to deliver infected media – for example, a CD supposedly containing evaluation software from a known supplier to the CIO, but containing a hidden malware installer.† So if you’re not a high level employee, you’re probably wondering how this is important to you. How phishers go about their scam is by obtaining little bits of what some would consider being harmless information from other employees about level executives and projects going on in the company. They start at the bottom to get more information at the top. So in all actuality it very much concerns everyone in the company. This leads me in to my last but important area of cyber security: insider threat. Frankly, that is you. Every employee is potentially an insider threat. So let me define it a little better with some help from searchsecurity.techtarget.com. â€Å"An insider threat is a malicious hacker (also called a cracker or a black hat) who is an employee or officer of a business, institution, or agency. The term can also apply to an outside person who poses as an employee or officer by obtaining false credentials. The cracker obtains access to the computer systems or networks of the enterprise, and then conducts activities intended to cause harm to the enterprise. Insider threats are often disgruntled employees or ex-employees who believe that the business, institution, or agency has â€Å"done them wrong† and feel justified in gaining revenge. The malicious activity usually occurs in four steps or phases. First, the cracker gains entry to the system or network. Secondly, the cracker investigates the nature of the system or network in order to learn where the vulnerable points are and where the most damage can be caused with the least effort. Thirdly, the cracker sets up a workstation from which the nefarious activity can be conducted. Finally, the actual destructive activity takes place. The damage caused by an insider threat can take many forms, including the introduction of viruses, worms, or Trojan horses; the theft of information or corporate secrets; the theft of money; the corruption or deletion of data; the altering of data to produce inconvenience or false criminal evidence; and the theft of the identities of specific individua ls in the enterprise. Protection against the insider threat involves measures similar to those recommended for Internet users, such as the use of multiple spyware scanning programs, anti-virus programs, firewalls, and a rigorous data backup and archiving routine.† It could also be an employee giving away what you would consider to be harmless information like an email address, a project you are working on at work, how many people you work with, or even where you work and the location of the building. Even with some of the best antivirus software, a stellar knowledge of phishing, and an elite cyber security system, an insider threat can penetrate that because they most the time have the credentials to log it to the system and pull resources ligitimently so it would go unnoticed. So how can you help protect you network or your company’s network from an insider threat? Simply, don’t be one. Always be sure to only give information that the other person is on the same level to receive. Secondly is to educate yourself on insider threat prevention. There is a plethora of resources to do just that. A helpful one is http://www.ussecurityawareness.org/highres/insider-threat.html. Also watch for signs of curious activity with co workers. Report any evidence or suspicions to your supervisor. So in conclusion, prevention starts with you. Buy up to date antivirus software. avoid risky sites, educate yourself on what a phishing attack looks like, know what a legitimate email is, don’t be an insider threat and educate yourself about things to look for from other co workers. Cyber security is a serious threat and is a major issue that needs to be taken seriously. It is not just something for the IT department to worry about but starts with every one making sure to take the appropriate security measures to make the cyber world more secure.

Relationship Between Religious Beliefs Essay

‘The relationship between religious beliefs, religious organisations and social groups is complex and diverse. Different groups have different needs and priorities.’ To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? Statistics show that women have a greater participation rate in religious organisations than men. Women are more likely to express a greater interest in religion, to have a stronger personal faith and believe in life after death. They are more likely to involve themselves in religious rituals and worship, for example, attend religious services and lead a more religious life generally. There are many sociological explanations as to why women are more religious than men. Firstly, Miller and Hoffmann suggest that gender socialization means females are brought up to be more compliant, obedient and nurturing than males. They state that women are more involved with feelings, co-operation and caring for others. However, Walter and Davie see women as more exposed than men, to the ups and downs and changes of life. This is because of their biological involvement through childbirth, and through their greater participation in paid caring jobs, for example as teachers, nurses, social workers. Davie suggests that these factors give women a closer association with birth and death than men, and these are also central issues for many religions. They make women more aware of the helplessness of human life, and more familiar to the spiritual dimensions for human existence. Women are also more likely to turn to religion as a result of feeling deprived; they are more likely to experience poverty, family problems, less self confidence and less power. This means they turn to religion for comfort, particularly in religious sects and new religious movements which provide theodicies explaining their feelings, as well as solutions and support. Status frustration may be experienced by some women, who lack personal fulfilment or status as a result of being restricted to the home by the constraints of housework and childcare, or are in unsatisfying lower-middle-class jobs, which are mainly done by women. Religious participation, particularly in religious sects or new age cults, may help to overcome or compensate for this. Due to women staying at home for child care or having part time jobs, some would argue that this allows women to have far more spare time to be able to attend religious groups, therefore increasing their attendance. Statistics show women’s attendance to religious organisations are higher than men’s, however some Marxist  feminists such as Bevoir and Bird argue that religion is used to oppress women. The view that religion has negative consequences for women is conveyed in the study by Bevoir, who sees religion as patriarchal and oppressive. She supports the Marxist perspective and suggests that religion is oppressive and serves to control and reimburse the second class status given to woman. Which is similar to Marx’s viewpoint on the polerteriants who believe religion gives women a false belief that they will be compensated for their suffering on earth by equality in heaven. This argument suggests that religion is patriarchal therefore it is inevitable that it will end up having negative consequences for women. According to feminists there are countless example of patriarchy which have been used to control and later oppress women. Places of worship show this as they often segregate the sexes. An example of this is the Jewish synagogue in which women are placed behind screens separate from the men who in turn are situated in the main centre space. This highlights the marginalisation between the men and women. Although there are some rising female readers of religion, scriptures were first and foremost written and interpreted by men and it is men that are the head of the churches in Islam and Catholicism. This could mean that many values and ideologies such as wearing the Burka, beatings, female circumcision and bans on contraception may have been misinterpreted for men’s gain and passed on through generation to generation. May religious women are still not permitted to become priests or are only allowed to work themselves up to a certain level before they hit a religious ‘glass ceiling’, identifying where they want to be, but not being able to reach it due to the constraints set upon them. On the other hand, there are views to suggest that women are no longer oppressed in religion. For example, many cults are run by women and Paganism, from which many New Age religions originate, remains the most female-friendly approach to religion with a strong feminist element, where God is a mixture of male and female, and strong female leadership is common. Individuals seem to develop a greater attachment to religion as they grown older. Religious belief is lowest among those under 34, and highest among those over age 55. Young people are not only less likely to participate in mainstream religious activity than older people; more than half of them say they don’t regard themselves as religious at all, as shown in such studies as the British  Social Attitudes survey and the European Values study. There are three main reasons as to why older people might be more religious than the younger generation. The first being disengagement. This means that as people get older, they become detached from integrating mechanisms of society, such as participation in workplaces through paid employment. Older people may face increasing social isolation as partners and friends die. Participation in religious organisations provides a form of social support in this situation, and a network of people to relate to. The second is religious socialization, where older people are more likely to have a greater emphasis places on religion through the education system and socialization in the family when they were younger. Lastly, ill health and death. Older people tend to be faced with declining health, and death looms on the horizon. These are the very things that religion concerns its self with. The aging process and disengagement from society may therefore generate an engagement with religion for comfort, coping, meaning and support. Young people are less religious in terms of their expressed religious belief in surveys and their participation in mainstream religions, however this may be because these are simply being expressed in new, private ways which are difficult to record in surveys. Lynch suggests that young people may be running away from conventional ideas of religion as they can now go ‘spiritual shopping’. This involves an increasing exposure and accessibility to a diversity range of religious and spiritual ideas. This has encouraged new ways of exploring religion and spirituality. Young people may be choosing to take of their religion, of whatever faith or mix of beliefs, as a private matter. Davie expressed this in the words ‘believing without belonging’. This is where individuals may have a belief in something, however they do not chose to practice this belief. Secular spirituality and the sacred, Lynch suggested that young people may not have lost all religiosity , but that is simply finding new forms, many of which are associated more with the secular and non-religious world than with religious as it is currently understood by most people. Pragmatic reasons also mean there are a range of possible more practical or pragmatic explanations for the decline of religious belief and commitment amongst young individuals. Leisure activities have become a much bigger part of life, and shops and pubs all open for very long hours, including Sundays. Young people have more demands on their time and they may  simply have more interesting ad enjoyable things to do.

Pros and Cons of Four Day School Week Essay

* Shortening the school week can address budget deficits and save teachers who would have to be laid off otherwise. In the case of Peach County, Georgia, the district either needed to shorten the school week or cut 39 teachers from the workforce in the 2009 to 2010 school year, according to Fox News. Shaving a day from the school week saves money without sacrificing teaching talent. This approach makes sense if a district faces short-term budgetary difficulties and knows that teachers are needed long-term to support the system. Con: Difficulty Finding Childcare * Cutting the week to four days places additional pressure on working parents, who need to arrange childcare for younger children on their days off. Daycare is expensive, and often focuses more on keeping children safe and entertained rather than teaching them. A few districts try to alleviate these problems by providing support for families who can’t find or afford care. Some district-sponsored programs even offer tutoring services. Pro: Encouraging Responsibility and Independence * Having a day off from classes doesn’t necessarily mean getting a day off from schoolwork. Schools can modify their curricula to assign more individual, take-home projects that students complete on their days off. Giving students more independent work encourages the development of research skills, problem-solving skills and time management abilities. Having the extra day also gives students more time to study on their own, allowing them to learn at their own pace and use a method of their choice to absorb new information. Con: Not Enough Face Time * While some children work well on their own, others suffer from less classroom instruction and teacher assistance. Marlow, Oklahoma’s school district superintendent said that the school would move back to five-day weeks after the school tried a four-day schedule to save on operating costs. Compressing content forces students to work at an accelerated pace that some can’t handle. Many students learn best with guidance and support, and concerned parents sometimes report that reduced classroom time hinders their children’s progress. Read more: The Pro & Cons for a Four-Day School Week | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6733617_pro-cons-four_day-school-week.html#ixzz2J2FqTp00 Cost Savings, Wages Lost * A March 2010 article in â€Å"The Wall Street Journal† reports that budget shortfalls are often the driving force behind a four-day school week. The article cites a school in Peach County, Georgia, that was able to save $200,000 by shortening its school week. Schools save money on items like gas, utilities, food and substitute teachers. However, these cost savings can also result in reduced hours for workers like bus drivers, cooks and janitors. According to â€Å"The Wall Street Journal,† hourly workers can lose as much as 20 percent of their income. Academic Performance * Research is mixed on the impact of a four-day school week on academic performance. A â€Å"Time† article from August 2008 reports that a Kentucky school with a shortened week drastically improved its ranking for standardized tests, moving from 111th in the state to 53rd. The school took the savings it realized and put the money back into educational programs. With one less day of school, student absenteeism has also been found to decline. Opponents of the shortened school week claimed in the â€Å"Time† article that students in the United States already lag behind students in Europe and Asia who attend more school. With a longer weekend, some fear that students are more likely to forget what they have learned. Students with special needs or those who are at-risk may especially find it difficult to retain information. Long Days * To meet the state’s requirement for school hours, districts that move to four-day school weeks will add more hours to the school day and also shorten breaks for recess and lunch. This results in students spending longer days at school and in the classroom. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, this can be exhausting, especially for younger students. Longer days also make it more difficult for students to participate in extracurricular activities. However, the extra day off is often used as time for students to undergo tutoring, see the doctor or dentist, work a part-time job, be with their families or take part in school activities. Childcare and Family Time * Many parents will be at work when their child is off from school on a Monday or Friday. This leaves the parent to find childcare during the week or make arrangements for a kid who is home, possibly resulting in additional costs for the parents. A longer schedule can also mean the student arrives home at the same time as the parent. In this case, parents may actually not have a need to find after-school care or leave their children alone at home until they get off work. Read more: Pros and Cons of a Four-Day School Week | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7973741_pros-cons-fourday-school-week.html#ixzz2J2FaB2yQ

Nursing Opportunities in NYU Downtown Hospital

Nurses are indispensable members of the work force unit division in health care system whose main role is to provide for doctor’s assistance and cater to the health status and palliative care of the patients. Technically though, the nurses have higher specialized forms or masteral degrees which elevates them to a higher position in hospital departments (e.g. perioperative nurse). The NYU Downtown Hospital is the only hospital in Manhattan that caters to the healthcare of the Lower Manhattan Community specifically that of the Chinese community. The hospital employs wide and diverse medical professionals to provide for quality healthcare of the community and amongst the members of the workforce are the nurses. In NYU Downtown, the hospital’s selection of nurses for a specific job requires a basic New York Registered Nurse qualification and related experiences. The nursing opportunities for the hospital vary from jobs descriptive of leadership, staffs and per diem positions. Vacancies in leadership positions are on the following types: Nurse Manager for the peri-operative division, clinical nurse specialist in the Maternal Child Health Division, Nursing Administrative Supervisors for morning and evening shifts, and Registered Nurse Case Manager. For the staff positions, there are vacancies in the following departments and the corresponding time table: Emergency Room, Operating Room and Labor and Delivery for 12 hr duty day or night and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) positions for 7.5 hr per day. Per diems are available for all units in the hospital on all shifts. The workplace is suitable for nurse employment because aside from sufficient wages and benefits, the hospital meets the standards of the healthcare system in terms of management and services rendered. The salary of registered nurses in the district is $53, 065 as of 2002 with an annual increase rate of 1% per year. Benefits include health,   dental , liability insurance, disability and   compensation programs, refunds and   annuity plans. Subsidies for houses, parkings and discounts are also available for employees. NYU Downtown Hospital’s vacancies for nursing positions mirror one of the stigmas of the New York medical profession nowadays — nursing shortage. As previously mentioned the singularity of the hospital in the area implies a huge demand for medical practitioners including the nurses. Unfortunately, in the entire New York, the supply of nurses does not meet the high rate of nurse demand. Although there are more than 234,000 Registered Nurses and 68,900 LPNs in 2001, the prediction for nurse sustainability is bad since there was an overall drop for the 1999 to 2001. Slow growth rate for Registered Nurses may indicate problems for the quality healthcare and     according to he National Sample Survey of registered Nurses, the state ranked second to the last in terms of RN percentage employment. The nursing shortage in New York are caused by several factors: aging workforce, increased job opportunities for women, low wages and benefits and other related factors which caused a decreased in the supply. Manhattan’s Downtown Hospital is aggravated, because as the lone hospital they must cater to both the resident and the non-resident community. (Non-residents are approximated at almost 400,000 per day.) The general trend for nursing shortage creates opportunities for work in the nursing arena in the New York Downtown Hospital. Although, the workplace and the salaries are sufficient enough for nursing occupation, NYU Downtown’s nursing problems may be fueled by a larger economic workforce crisis in the nursing arena. References Beu, B. â€Å"The nursing shortage and the nurse reinvestment act.† AORN Journ., 79(2004):1061-1063. Downtown Hospital. (2008). New York Downtown Hospital. Retrieved February 14, 2008, from New York Downtown Hospital database. Mitchell, G. J â€Å"Nursing shortage or nursing famine: Looking beyond numbers?† Nursing Science Quarterly, 16(2003), 219-24. The Registered Nurse Population. National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses- March 2000. Preliminary Findings, February 2001. Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Nursing.   

How does the Bhagavad-Gita reveal fundamental teachings of Hinduism Essay

How does the Bhagavad-Gita reveal fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format - Essay Example To be specific, Bhagavad-Gita, which is in the form of sermon from the God (Lord Krishna), tends to reduce confusion and ethical predicament faced by Arjuna (the Pandava prince). When this sermon is generalized to the wider context of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism, one can easily identify that Yoga or selfless action is helpful to attain ‘moksha’ or enlightenment. Thesis statement: The fundamental teachings (theories) of Hinduism (say, yoga, karma/dharma and selfless action to attain the divine) are revealed through Bhagavad-Gita because it deals with the scope of the same in human life (special references to Bhagavad-Gita). The fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format One can see that the fundamental teachings of Hinduism are expressed in lyrical format. For instance, the sacred texts/works in Hinduism like the Ramayana (the story of Rama’s journey), the Mahabharata (related to the dynastic struggle in ancient India), and the Puranas (related to spiritual and theoretical concepts in Hinduism) are expressed in lyrical format, especially in Sanskrit. So, lyrical format is the foundation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism because the same deeply influenced the oral tradition of chanting mantras in Hinduism. Within this context, the fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format include: yoga, karma/dharma and the importance of selfless action in human life to attain the divide power or the Brahman. First of all, yoga or unselfish action without considering the consequence is the most important aspect of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism. A yogi (a person who is ready to discard worldly pleasures) can attain moksha because he or she is ready to shed ego. Karma or the amassed liability of one’s actions in day to day life is another important element of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism. To be specific, karma hinders one from attaining moksha. Within this context, dharma or duty min dedness can help one to escape from the cyclic process of birth, death and rebirth. Another important element of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism is selfless action. One can easily identify that Hinduism provides ample importance to selfless action, not idleness. From a different angle of view, yoga and dharma lead one towards selfless action and salvation. Revelation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism through Bhagavad-Gita The most important elements of the revelation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism through Bhagavad-Gita can be divided into three: yoga, karma/dharma and the importance of action. A. Yoga The most important aspect of Bhagavad-Gita which reveals the fundamental teachings of Hinduism is yoga. In Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna motivates prince Arjuna by pointing out the importance of yoga in one’s life. When Arjuna hesitates to be the part of the Kurukshetra war against his relatives, Lord Krishna motivates him by creating awareness on the import ance of action in human life. Selfishness cannot help one to attain moksha. Instead, selfless action can help one to realize the eternal truth/enlightenment. Mehta (2005) makes clear that â€Å"according to Gita, work should be performed for its own sake, with whole-hearted attention, unaffected by any thought of success or failure, profit or loss, honor or dishonor, fame or loss of fame etc† (p.39). Yoga is interconnected with devotional service and action in life. Other elements or steps which can help one to be a yogi are meditation and knowledge. To be specific,

Is There a Hispanic Challenge to American Nationalism Essay

Is There a Hispanic Challenge to American Nationalism - Essay Example However lately it has been seen that the influx of Hispanics has increased in the region and this has ignited a debate between the multiculturalists and American nationalists. It is at this point that the nationalists argue that their culture and identity is being changed from what it was before when the protestants formed it. On the other hand the multiculturalists believe that the Hispanics are a part of the American culture and they are not harming the integrity of the American nationalism. In my view Hispanics are only giving a platform to the American identity through which they can flourish in a bilingual country. Their language and culture is being assimilated such into the nationalism that the original roots are still being revived. This essay would further revolve around the issue of Hispanic challenge to the American nationalism (Huntington 2004; Strum et al 2004). According to Huntington the culture of America was formed by the protestants and whites whereas with the large influx of Hispanics into the region this culture is seriously being challenged. He believes that the Americans do not ponder much on the issue of Hispanic immigration in the region but rather focus on the economic benefits that the Hispanic immigrants are providing the nation with. Huntington further argues that this can bring a challenge to the identity of America by forming two different cultures with two different languages. He argues that if the immigration of Latin Americans is stopped the wages of the U.S citizens itself can improve along with the original identity of the American nationals. Stopping them would not only allow to improve the policies of immigration but would also help the authorities to assimilate these immigrants into the American culture as it was previously. The Hispanic immigrants have increased so much in the south-western region that some schools in Los Angeles are slowly becoming Mexican as put by Huntington. Moreover with the rapid influx of these immi grants it is also seen that within no time the Hispanics would not have any incentive in learning the English Language. This can create differences between the American citizens and the immigrants and thus all these factors are put forward when discussing the challenge that the Hispanics pose to the American nationalism (Huntington 2004; Lowenthal 2004). On the other hand the proponents of Hispanic immigration have totally different views about the challenge that it poses to American nationalism. According to the proponents no such challenge is posed by the Hispanic population on to the American nationalism. According to consensus it has been seen that the Hispanic population has been largely dispersing into the assimilated neighbourhoods where they can easily get used to the new language and culture (Skerry 2005). The argument that the Hispanics don’t tend to learn English is denied by the proponents as they put forward the 2000 consensus in which it was found that the 50% o f the Mexican born immigrants only talked in English or knew how to speak in English very well. Similarly immigrants from Mexico have lived in America for years and it has been found that the coming generations are talking frequently in English. This clearly shows that the Hispanics are not affecting the language culture formed in the United States (Citrin et al 2007). The 2002 Pew National Hispanic Survey