Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor free essay sample

Recently the spotlight has been set on renewable energies to assist with weaning off of greenhouse gas emissions, solving issues with energy independence, and to exploit their inherent renewability. Unfortunately our technology is not quite up to speed economically with our wish to rely completely on renewable energy, thus many non- renewable energies are recognized as viable options to power our economy (Fraser, 2011). The United States current position on diversifying with non-renewables onsists of oil, natural gas, coal, and the less spoken of, nuclear power. Nuclear power is the process by which a reactor contains a slow explosion called fission, which gives Offa positive net amount of energy that can be harvested. Of course the social stigma around nuclear is so strong that even if there were an undiscovered completely safe type of nuclear power plant, Justifying the complex science would be challenging. After events such as Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island, the vast majority of society believes nuclear energy is nothing more than a death wish. We will write a custom essay sample on Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Contrary to popular belief, a safer alternative in nuclear energy has been discovered and has been gaining popularity over the past few years despite the recent tragedy in Japan (Sorensen, 2011). Though newly rekindled, the non-mainstream nuclear power known as Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) was discovered in the 1960s and had been proved to be a very attractive option to the more popular Light Water Reactor (LWR). It all began with nuclear physicist Alvin Weinberg, who would graduate from the University of Chicago soon become research director at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Weinberg was given the freedom to experiment with designing multiple types of nuclear reactors including the prominent LWRs that are in commercial use today. Subsequently Weinberg had noted the potential danger of a LWR and moved on to designing a safer nuclear power technology that he would end up supporting for the rest of his life. His research team at ORNL created a fluid fuel in a MSR, opposed to the traditional solid fuel in LWRs, in order to decrease the pressure and overall danger of the system. To Weinbergs delight, although this rototype MSR had corrosive issues because of the salt involved, Weinberg deemed this technology far more superior to LWR. Furthermore, the worst part about current hatred for LWRs is that although it can be a dangerous process, the technology is revolutionary and its power has potential that we are seriously unaware of. For now with our current state of knowledge about nuclear power combined with our worlds predicament with how we generate power so ineffectively, MSRs must be and should have always been the governments number one priority (Sorensen, 2011). This pecific type of nuclear reactor is certainly on the minds of at least China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, and Australia (Furukawa, 2008). Since these countries showed interest at least by 2008 it can be assumed that they are already in the process of construction. An example for our worst-case scenario would be for the United States to simply stand back and watch as the rest ot the world capi talizes on the best power generating technology known to man. A technology that of course the United States developed and had in operation fifty years ago, but the idea simply aded away. As the majority of the US would like to go green, it may not be too early to claim the MSR as green nuclear power. Nuclear reactors do not emit greenhouse gases taking care of one of the three major concerns with the future of energy. Though observing an entire life cycle of Thorium and materials to make the power plant, there are transportation emissions involved. It turns out however, that Thorium is extremely accessible in the US as it is already mined concurrently with other rare earth minerals but is typically discarded for lack of utility. The United States has omewhere in the order of 15% of the worlds total Thorium stockpile at around 15 million tons (Bonometti, 2008). Even if we were to run out of Thorium, the Moon has even greater amounts that by the time we begin to hit peak Thorium it will surely be so far in the future that extracting moon materials would not be a challenge. As an investor this further assures a safe bet, but what is so safe about the LFTR design is that a meltdown or explosion is so much more unlikely to occur than in LWR systems. Since the carrier of thorium is a liquid, liquid fluoride, it allows standard pressure at igh temperatures. Traditionally, in LWR, water had to cool down the solid fuel since it couldnt handle the high temperatures because of high pressure, which had always been a fine line behind meltdowns (Sorensen, 2011). In the LFTR, the system can naturally correct an over heated system by melting a frozen salt plug at the base of the system to enter into an emergency cooling tank. If LFTR technology has already been proved, proved to be safe, proved to be powerful, and proved to be available and cheap, then why doesnt the world run on it? The technology itself seems to be a it mysterious itself or maybe doubtful since it has already been ignored once before. What it comes down to is the timescale that nuclear reactors had been created. Back at Oak Ridge Laboratory where Weinberg had designed nuclear power he first designed the LWR, which happened to be more dangerous, but nevertheless reported his results. Quickly academics and politicians alike were astounded by the amount of power that could be generated through nuclear fission. Academics such as Weinberg understood the dangerous design of the LWR and proceeded to design afer alternatives, hence the MSR. Politicians on the other hand, had deadlines to meet, people to please, Jobs to create, and the LWR went commercial. There is even a specific phone call between President Nixon and a California LWR director expressing swift actions to commercialize the technology before elections (Sorensen, 2011). As Weinberg fought the Nixon administration to stop continuing with LWRs he was soon fired from the Oak Ridge Lab and so did the MSR department. Thus many scientists have since seen and admired his work and have finally had reason to express its arious benefits once the inevitable failures of LWR ensued, for example, Fukushima. In addition, it is important to note how resultant issues with LWR nuclear plants in the past have all been due to the intrinsic difficulty with handling a solid fuel at its required high pressure for fission to take place. In other words, none of those accidents would have happened if they would have simply listened to their founder, Weinberg, and chose to go with an MSR design. As the public is informed with this somewhat difficult science I imagine it will take about as long to understand the itterence in types ot nuclear reactors as it did tor the majority ot the population to understand the science behind the greenhouse effect. This is based on the fact that the same oil and coal industries will be threatened along with ill-educated environmentalists who will viciously support only renewable energy.

Multivariate Econometrics Problems and Excel

Multivariate Econometrics Problems and Excel Most economics departments require second or third year undergraduate students to complete an econometrics project and write a paper on their findings. Years later I remember how stressful my project was, so Ive decided to write the guide to econometrics term papers that I wish I had when I was a student. I hope that this will prevent you from spending many long nights in front of a computer. For this econometrics project, Im going to calculate the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) in the United States. (If youre more interested in doing a simpler, univariate econometrics project, please see How to Do a Painless Econometrics Project) The marginal propensity to consume is defined as how much an agent spends when given an extra dollar from an additional dollars personal disposable income. My theory is that consumers keep a set amount of money aside for investment and emergency, and spend the rest of their disposable income on consumption goods. Therefore my null hypothesis is that MPC 1. Im also interested in seeing how changes in the prime rate influence consumption habits. Many believe that when the interest rate rises, people save more and spend less. If this is true, we should expect that there is a negative relationship between interest rates such as the prime rate, and consumption. My theory, however, is that there is no link between the two, so all else being equal, we should see no change in the level of the propensity to consume as the prime rate changes. In order to test my hypotheses, I need to create an econometric model. First well define our variables: Yt is the nominal personal consumption expenditure (PCE) in the United States.X2t is the nominal disposable after-tax income in the United States. X3t is the prime rate in the U.S. Our model is then: Yt b1 b2X2t b3X3t Where b 1, b 2, and b 3 are the parameters we will be estimating via linear regression. These parameters represent the following: b1 is the amount the level of PCE when nominal disposable after-tax income (X2t) and the prime rate (X3t) are both zero. We do not have a theory about what the true value of this parameter should be, as it holds little interest to us.b2 represents the amount PCE rises when the nominal disposable after-tax income in the United States rises by a dollar. Note that this is the definition of the marginal propensity to consume (MPC), so b2 is simply the MPC. Our theory is that MPC 1, so our null hypothesis for this parameter is b2 1.b3 represents the amount PCE rises when the prime rate increases by a full percent (say from 4% to 5% or from 8% to 9%). Our theory is that changes in the prime rate do not influence consumption habits, so our null hypothesis for this parameter is b2 0. So we will be comparing the results of our model: Yt b1 b2X2t b3X3t to the hypothesized relationship: Yt b1 1*X2t 0*X3t where b 1 is a value that does not particularly interest us. To be able to estimate our parameters, well need data. The excel spreadsheet Personal Consumption Expenditure contains quarterly American Data from the 1st quarter of 1959 to the 3rd quarter of 2003. Â  All data comes from FRED II - The St. Louis Federal Reserve. Its the first place you should go for U.S. economic data. After youve downloaded the data, open up Excel, and load the file called aboutpce (full name aboutpce.xls) in whatever directory you saved it in. Then continue to the next page. Be Sure to Continue to Page 2 of How to Do a Painless Multivariate Econometrics Project Weve got the data file open we can start to look for what we need. First we need to locate our Y variable. Recall that Yt is the nominal personal consumption expenditure (PCE). Quickly scanning our data we see that our PCE data is in Column C, labeled PCE (Y). By looking at columns A and B, we see that our PCE data runs from the 1st quarter of 1959 to the final quarter of 2003 in cells C24-C180. You should write these facts down as youll need them later. Now we need to find our X variables. In our model we only have two X variables, which are X2t, disposable personal income (DPI) and X3t, the prime rate. We see that DPI is in the column marked DPI (X2) which is in Column D, in cells D2-D180 and the prime rate is in the column marked Prime Rate (X3) which is in column E, in cells E2-E180. Weve identified the data we need. We can now compute the regression coefficients using Excel. If you are not restricted to using a particular program for your regression analysis, Id recommend using Excel. Excel is missing a lot of the features a lot of the more sophisticated econometrics packages use, but for doing a simple linear regression it is a useful tool. Youre much more likely to use Excel when you enter the real world than you are to use an econometrics package, so being proficient in Excel is a useful skill to have. Our Yt data is in cells E2-E180 and our Xt data (X2t and X3t collectively) is in cells D2-E180. When doing a linear regression we need every Yt to have exactly one associated X2t and one associated X3t and so on. In this case we have the same number of Yt, X2t, and X3t entries, so were good to go. Now that we have located the data we need, we can calculate our regression coefficients (our b1, b2, and b3). Before continuing you should save your work under a different filename (I chose myproj.xls) so if we need to start over we have our original data. Now that youve downloaded the data and opened Excel, we can go onto the next section. In the next section we calculate our regression coefficients. Be Sure to Continue to Page 3 of How to Do a Painless Multivariate Econometrics Project Now onto the data analysis. Go to the Tools menu on the top of the screen. Then find Data Analysis in the Tools menu. If Data Analysis is not there, then youll have to install it. To install the Data Analysis Toolpack see these instructions. You cannot do regression analysis without the data analysis toolpack installed. Once youve selected Data Analysis from the Tools menu youll see a menu of choices such as Covariance and F-Test Two-Sample for Variances. On that menu select Regression. The items are in alphabetical order, so they shouldnt be too hard to find. Once there, youll see a form that looks like this. Now we need to fill this form in. (The data in the background of this screenshot will differ from your data) The first field well need to fill in is the Input Y Range. This is our PCE in cells C2-C180. You can choose these cells by typing $C$2:$C$180 into the little white box next to Input Y Range or by clicking on the icon next to that white box then selecting those cells with your mouse. The second field well need to fill in is the Input X Range. Here we will be inputting both of our X variables, DPI and the Prime Rate. Our DPI data is in cells D2-D180 and our prime rate data is in cells E2-E180, so we need the data from the rectangle of cells D2-E180. You can choose these cells by typing $D$2:$E$180 into the little white box next to Input X Range or by clicking on the icon next to that white box then selecting those cells with your mouse. Lastly well have to name the page our regression results will go on. Make sure you have New Worksheet Ply selected, and in the white field beside it type in a name like Regression. When thats completed, click on OK. You should now see a tab on the bottom of your screen called Regression (or whatever you named it) and some regression results. Now youve got all the results you need for analysis, including R Square, coefficients, standard errors, etc. We were looking to estimate our intercept coefficient b1 and our X coefficients b2, b3. Our intercept coefficient b1 is located in the row named Intercept and in the column named Coefficients. Make sure you jot these figures down, including the number of observations, (or print them out) as you will need them for analysis. Our intercept coefficient b1 is located in the row named Intercept and in the column named Coefficients. Our first slope coefficient b2 is located in the row named X Variable 1 and in the column named Coefficients. Our second slope coefficient b3 is located in the row named X Variable 2 and in the column named Coefficients The final table generated by your regression should be similar to the one given at the bottom of this article. Now youve got the regression results you need, youll need to analyze them for your term paper. We will see how to do that in next weeks article. If you have a question youd like answered please use the feedback form. Regression Results Observations Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Intercept X Variable 1 X Variable 2 -13.71941.4186-9.67080.0000-16.5192-10.9197

Retirement Awareness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Retirement Awareness - Essay Example Early health problems often result in an early exodus from the professional arena. Larry: I decided to retire early in 2003. I had formed a consulting service named Benyshek and Hough Consulting Services Inc. The services provided by our firm are management of dataset and develop into readily-accessible form to be used by cattle production forms, commercial producers, breeders, feedlots, and packing plants. We provide the expertise in EPDs, ultrasound and all areas of animal breeding and genetics. The consultation service needed full time work in the firm and I considered early retirement from the office. Larry: I did not receive any training especially on retirement but I have gathered some information from my old colleagues who talked about it generally. The topic is of common interest to all employees and therefore I got lots of information and awareness on it. I understood the importance of retirement planning and saving money for retirement. I was aware of pension scheme of the university and started saving for the future. Larry: Yes. I am very much comfortable. I enjoyed my life while working as University Professor where I had the opportunity to write numerous Articles and made countless presentations on my subject and received international recognition. I am still working on my own and have no financial problems. Larry: Yes, although I have retired as a university professor but I am still working as private consultant. I am fully enjoying my time with my colleagues and family. Retirement relieves you from the hectic routines of professional life. At the same time it gave me an opportunity to spend some time with my family and kids for which I have longed all my life. This is certainly a relaxing experience with no liabilities and work pressure. All I do is have a nice time and look after my private business which is going pretty well for me. Larry: I am regular visitor of Church and participate in social activities of

Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poetry - Essay Example The poem â€Å"God’s Will for You and Me† by an unknown author seems to be written for the gentle of spirit, almost childlike in its’ innocence. The dominant theme running throughout is one of goodness. In an effort to impress upon the reader the importance of being a good person in order to carry out God’s will, the author hopes to set an example of ways to be to do so. The ending few lines impart to us a way to be faithful to his will itself. The mood is both cheerful and hopeful, as the reader may be inspired to act in such a way as to find favor with the Lord. Love he states should be the daily motivating influence. The Title â€Å"God’s Will for You and Me† is itself the message throughout the poem and is significant because of what it represents. It is quite a feat to live by God’s Will and the poem is daring in its’ desire to impress upon us the necessity of doing so. The motif throughout is further amplified by the sweetness of what is being said and by the many literary devices the author uses. The definitive stance the author has adopted is a way of being good in order to carry out God’s will. The mental and emotional disposition of goodness lends itself to an atmosphere with the same feeling. We feel gentle and sweet when reading it because of the sentiment so ably illustrated with the choice of words. The tone achieved is instrumental in evoking an appropriate inspirational feeling from the reader. We are compelled to act accordingly after imbuing the essence of the innocent sentiments expressed. The poem seems to be written almost as a stream of consciousness with an uninterrupted flow of thoughts and ideas. Here we see the author’s thinking process as a unified idea carried out. Flowing from one thought to the next, we see illustrated a number of ways we can model ourselves and our actions to carry out god’s will. Being â€Å"gentle and kind†, â€Å"merciful and mild† and â€Å"just to be cheery when things go wrong† are all things we can aspire to. The poem reads as a narrative of the author’s thoughts instead of a dialogue with the reader. A feeling of verisimilitude is created as we listen to the lofty ideals expressed in the poem. The lines are stated so matter of factly as to be true. They are structured as sentiments but sound almost like commands. With the influence of God written into the piece we can trust that this is the way to be. It seems to be an allegory for a grander concept. Simply stated, each line and sentiment sp eaks to us of being good. Gentle, kind, merciful, all speak to us about the teachings of the church. As we read the examples of good behavior we can sense the higher aspirations we can ascribe to. In hoping to carry out God’s will we can all benefit ourselves by living our lives in such a way. It is further stated that this is the way God wants us to be and we the devout can take comfort in this, hoping to be pleasing to the Lord. Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme â€Å"God’s Will for You and Me† is written in such an innocent way and almost seems to be addressed to a child. With the use of alliteration it has the quality of a nursery rhyme in both the internal rhyme and the rhyme scheme. It is actually a sonnet. Sonnets are often sweet

EC Law Essay Example for Free

EC Law Essay Part A Sonja is a temporary farm labourer of 16 years old. In the summer of 2005 she was hospitalized with sunburn got from working in the field without adequate UV protection according to the â€Å"Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) Protection at Work† Directive adopted by the EC. The Directive provides that the Member States should ensure â€Å"Sunblock and Sunglasses† to â€Å"workers in outdoor activities† within the meaning of the Directive. According to the independent arbitration scheme with employers set up with the approval of the Government by the Finnish Farm Labourers Union, Sonja, has brought her claim before the Arbitrator. Her claim requires that the Arbitrator interpret the â€Å"Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) Protection at Work† Directive. The Arbitrator considers that Sonja’s claim should be dismissed because she is not a â€Å"worker† according to his interpretation of the Directive, but merely an â€Å"apprentice† who does not qualify for legal protection. As provided in the independent arbitration scheme the decisions of the Arbitrator are legally binding and there is no right to appeal. According to the rules of procedure established by the instituting treaties of the European Communities for the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court’s jurisdiction is automatically mandatory in the areas expressly provided by the Treaties. There is no need for the Member States to accept this competence which means that the Court can be authorized by only one party, even against Member States. This also means that in the attributed domains by the treaties its competence is exclusive compared to any other jurisdiction. Article 234[1] (ex Article 177) from the consolidated Treaty establishing the European Community provides that: „The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning: (a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the interpretation of this Treaty; (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the validity and interpretation of acts of the institutions of the Community and of the ECB; (c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the interpretation of the statutes of bodies established by an act of the Council, where those statutes so provide. Where such a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Member State, that court or tribunal may, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court of Justice to give a ruling thereon. Where any such question is raised in a case pending before a court or tribunal of a Member State, against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, that court or tribunal shall bring the matter before the Court of Justice.† In the case of Sonja, because the independent arbitration scheme set up between the Finnish Farm Labourers Union and the employers is conducted with the approval of the Government, to settle disputes regarding pay and conditions of work we can assimilate the Arbitrator with a court of law. The Arbitrator has an exclusive competence in this field. Moreover, he meets the requirements set up in the last provision of the Article 234, as set forth, because his decisions are legally binding and there is no right to appeal. This institutes an obligation upon the Arbitrator that whenever he has to interpret any act of one of the institutions of the Community he should raise a case before the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Therefore, before interpreting the provisions of the â€Å"Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) Protection at Work† Directive on the meaning of â€Å"worker† within the said act, the Arbitrator should have brought recourse in interpretation before the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The conditions for such recourse, as provided in the Article 234, are that: there has to be an open case brought before a national form of jurisdiction that has to request the Court, asking for the interpretation of an act of one of the institutions of the Communities. Because the Arbitrator did not open such recourse before the Court of Justice of the European Communities, Sonja has grounds for dismissal of his decision in front of a higher Finnish court of law through an extraordinary procedure. The dismissal can be decided only on procedural issues and not on the merits of the case because the decisions of the Arbitrator are not subject to appeal. In general, international jurisdictions are only competent to try states. They can not be used as a legal remedy by natural persons. However, the Court of Justice of the European Communities is accessible not only to the member states of the European Communities, but also, in very strict conditions to individuals, natural and legal persons. This provides Sonja with, yet, another alternative for her case. She can bring an annulment recourse before the Court. The annulment recourse is the possibility of the states, institutions of the Communities and natural and legal persons to challenge in front of the Court   a mandatory act issued either by the Council or by the Commission, and to be granted in certain conditions the annulment of the act. This is a way to control EU acts and their conformity with the instituting treaties. The provisions of the Rome Treaties show that there can be subjected to this form of recourse acts that are mandatory like directives and regulations, and in certain situations even decisions.   Article 230[2] (ex Article 173) of the consolidated Treaty establishing the European Community provides that: â€Å"The Court of Justice shall review the legality of acts adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council, of acts of the Council, of the Commission and of the ECB, other than recommendations and opinions, and of acts of the European Parliament intended to produce legal effects vis-à  -vis third parties. It shall for this purpose have jurisdiction in actions brought by a Member State, the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission on grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of this Treaty or of any rule of law relating to its application, or misuse of powers. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction under the same conditions in actions brought by the European Parliament, by the Court of Auditors and by the ECB for the purpose of protecting their prerogatives. Any natural or legal person may, under the same conditions, institute proceedings against a decision addressed to that person or against a decision which, although in the form of a regulation or a decision addressed to another person, is of direct and individual concern to the former. []† Usually, individuals are allowed to bring actions before the Court only in reference to regulations which directly apply to them and directly breach their rights. However, proceedings can be brought regarding a directive in situations in which it has the same effects on the individual.   The â€Å"Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) Protection at Work† Directive directly infringes Sonja’s right to adequate protection for the type of labour she is doing and for the conditions in which she works by limiting the notion of â€Å"worker† to which it applies. With this limitation the Directive breaches the substantial provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community. Regarding work, Article 13 of the Treaty provides that: â€Å"1.     Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Treaty and within the limits of the powers conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.†[3] Therefore the principle of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age is laid down by an instituting treaty. It bears no difference that Sonja is only sixteen. She should not be discriminated against for this reason and not be considered as a â€Å"worker† under the Directive. The term â€Å"worker† is also described in many EU acts, including in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The notion is wide and non-discriminatory, especially when considering a persons rights or the breach of these rights. â€Å"26. In accordance with the Courts case-law, the concept of worker, within the meaning of Article 48 of the Treaty and of Regulation No 1612/68, has a specific Community meaning and must not be interpreted narrowly. Any person who pursues activities which are real and genuine, to the exclusion of activities on such a small scale as to be regarded as purely marginal and ancillary, must be regarded as a worker. The essential feature of an employment relationship is, according to that case-law, that for a certain period of time a person performs services for and under the direction of another person in return for which he receives remuneration[4]† Moreover, the restriction on the term â€Å"worker† is in direct violation with the Directive No. 33 of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work which applies to persons under 18 and provides that they should have suitable work conditions, â€Å"measures necessary to protect the safety and health of young people[5]†. In conclusion, the limitation of the notion of â€Å"worker† from the â€Å"Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) Protection at Work† Directive that prevents Sonja, because of her age and because she is a temporary worker to benefit from the proper work protection, is in direct violation of the instituting treaties, the principles on which the EU is based, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and basic human rights. This provides Sonja, although she is a natural person, with the active legal quality to bring recourse in annulment before the Court due to what she has suffered from the effects of this act. Part B The joined cases of Bernard Keck and Daniel Mithouard were brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities as a reference under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty[6] by the Tribunal de Grande Instance (Regional Court) from Strasbourg (France), for a preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings pending before the tribunal against the two. The Tribunal de Grande Instance has asked the Court of Justice of the European Communities to give an interpretation of the rules of the EEC Treaty relating to competition and freedom of movement within the Community. The Court has found that â€Å"Article 30 of the EEC Treaty is to be interpreted as not applying to legislation of a Member State imposing a general prohibition on resale at a loss†[7]. In the decisions of Keck and Mithouard the Court institutes certain principles regarding the measures that can be taken by states. Such a principle is the one stating that: â€Å"national measures which limit or prohibit ‘certain sales practices’ do not fall within the scope of Article 30[8], so long as they are applied to all those operating within the national territory and that they affect in exactly the same way, both in law and in practice, the marketing of national products and those originating from other Member States†[9]. The Court of Justice of the European Communities has subsequently interpreted the decisions in the cases of Keck and Mithouard on the matter of advertising, especially the vague formulation: â€Å"selling arrangements†. The decisions were applied and interpreted in connection to the way producers are able to market their goods and to the marketing strategies used by them. However, the two cases were exceptional interpretations of the Article 28, due to the circumstances and should have been regarded as such. On the contrary, this interpretation was widely extended by the Court. The extension has brought about the possibility of member states to impose certain restrictions in advertising. These restrictions were thought by the Court to be outside the scope of Article 28. Such measures cover fields like: â€Å"TV advertising and sponsorship of programmes aimed at children below the age of 12 being prohibited[10]† in Sweden, the advertising of toys in Greece which is time restricted, banns referring to certain kinds of toys in Germany and Denmark and so on. Goods that are considered â€Å"sensitive† are also subjected to banns even at an EU level. As an example there is the ‘Television Without Frontiers’ (TVWF) Directive in which there is stated that children should not have easy access to advertising for goods such as cigarettes and alcohol. Cases were brought before the Court with regards to such measures. Some decisions given by the Court find basis on its previous Keck and Mithouard decisions: â€Å"With respect to the free movement of goods (Article 30) the Court recognised that the ban on advertising could affect the free movement of the products advertised. It then referred to the Keck-Mithouard jurisprudence and ruled that a Member State could apply such restrictions if they were shown to affect in the same way, ‘in law and in fact’, the marketing of domestic products and of those from other Member States; were necessary for meeting overriding requirements of general public importance or one of the aims laid down in Article 36 of the EC Treaty; were proportionate for that purpose and that those aims could not be met by less restrictive measures†[11].   In conclusion, bans of advertising are considered to be in accordance with the Article 28 when they affect in the same way the marketing of the domestic products and that of the products from other Member States, they are necessary for requirements of general public importance and when less restrictive measures could not have been applied. Thus, the Court institutes the principle of proportionality that applies even if the ban has more serious effects on goods coming from other states than on national ones. Any state restrictions of the â€Å"selling arrangements†Ã‚   automatically affect access to the market contrary to what the Court has considered in the cases of Keck and Mithouard.   It is of course true that such restrictions provided in a non-discriminatory way do not infringe of the free movement of goods, but they do affect trade. Measures taken by states have to be â€Å"uncertain† and â€Å"indirect†, for them to fall outside the scope of the Article 28 and be regarded as breaches of the free movement of goods. The Keck case institutes a kind of presumption that certain measures taken by states, that fall under a certain category should be regarded as â€Å"uncertain† and â€Å"indirect† and therefore outside the scope of Article 28. This presumption is damaging in some cases. The measures should be analyzed according to the merits of each individual case and the effects they have in that particular case. Therefore, I believe that the cases of Keck and Mithouard affect the balance between state responsibilities and the free movement of goods. Bibliography: Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community (2002), Official Journal C325, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at:   http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/treaties/dat/12002E/htm/12002E.html Brian Francis Collins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (23 March 2004); Judgment of the Court (Full Court);Case C-138/02; European Court reports 2004 Page I-02703, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/Notice.do?val=287581:cslang=enlist=391912:cs,287581:cs,341893:cs,287498:cs,278038:cs,277710:cs,269338:cs,264078:cs,250808:cs,247148:cs,pos=2page=1nbl=18pgs=10hwords=work~worker~checktexte=checkboxvisu=#texte Criminal proceedings against Bernard Keck and Daniel Mithouard (24 November 1993); Judgment of the Court;   Joined cases C-267/91 and C-268/91, European Court reports 1993 Page I-06097, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at:   http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61991J0267:EN:HTML#DI    Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work, Official Journal L 216 , 20/08/1994 P. 0012 – 0020,   Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31994L0033:EN:HTML Lolivier, Marc (January 1998), The De Agostini ruling and advertising regulation, Commercial Comunications Newsletter, Edition 10,   Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/comcom/newsletter/edition10/page04_en.htm Stanbrook, Lionel ( October 1997), Childrens advertising, consumer protection and the country of origin principle, Commercial Comunications Newsletter, Edition 09, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/comcom/newsletter/edition09/page18_en.htm Statute of the Court of Justice (November 2005), Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at:   http://curia.eu.int/en/instit/txtdocfr/txtsenvigueur/statut.pdf Þorvaldsson,   Bjà ¶rn (2002), Keck and Mithouard,   Master Thesis, Master of European Affairs Programe, Law, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://www.jur.lu.se/Internet/english/essay/Masterth.nsf/0/585A26471860B6F6C1256BCD00730AAF/$File/xsmall.pdf?OpenElement Mollers, Thomas M.J. (February 2005), EuGH, Rs. C-405/98 v. 8.3.2001 Gourmet International Products, Faculty of Law, Augsburg University, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at: http://www.jura.uni-augsburg.de/prof/moellers/materialien/materialdateien/050_eugh_entscheidungen/eugh_1998_405_gourmet_international_products_en/ Competitive Federalism and Market Access in the EU, Jean Monet Center, NYU School of Law, Retrieved of the 10th on January 2005, Available at:   http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/papers/01/012701-04.html [1]   Treaty establishing the European Community, Art. 234 [2] idem, Art 230 [3] idem, Art. 13 [4] Brian Francis Collins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (23 March 2004) [5] Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work. [6] Treaty establishing the European Community, ex Article 177 [7]Criminal proceedings against Bernard Keck and Daniel Mithouard (24 November 1993) [8] in the consolidated Treaty the number of the article has become 28 and it will be referred to accordingly [9] Lolivier, Marc (January 1998), op. cit. [10] Stanbrook, Lionel (October 1997), op. cit. [11] idem

The Fantasy of Out of Africa vs. the Reality of Ngugis A Grain of Whea

The Fantasy of Out of Africa vs. the Reality of Ngugi's A Grain of Wheat Both the film and the book versions of Out of Africa portray life in Africa as being a haven for European colonists. In these works, Africa was a beautiful land to move to where the Europeans could live like â€Å"royalty† in a sense. Their money went a lot further, and they could have African servants do all the work and chores for them. These African peoples adored the white settlers, and would peacefully work for them for very low wages. However, this view of Africa during colonial times is not accurate. The Africans did not always adore the Europeans; they were not happy to have their lands taken from them; and they did not usually accept the exploitation peacefully. This point is illustrated, for example, in Ngugi's A Grain of Wheat which reflects on the Mau Mau rebellion which led to the Kenyan independence in 1963. The film Out of Africa creates an Africa where a white person, such as Karen Dinesen, could move to and live happily, for a while anyway. Granted this is a movie, but it is based on the autobiography of Karen Dinesen. The film shows Karen moving to Kenya in about 1913 where she was happily greeted by her many African servants who were awaiting her. With her she has all of her lovely, expensive possessions that go well in her beautiful farmhouse. Karen and the rest of the white colonists are shown to have lives that are all play and no work. They sit about while the servants wait on them hand and foot, or they go out on safaris to see the countryside and wild animals. The image that the audience receives creates a dream world for them. It does not have any indication of violence between the colonists and the Africans. The book Out of ... ...r, it is not entirely realistic in its portrayal of colonialism. Karen Dinesen wrote her story how she wanted to see it. I am sure her life was as she wrote it to be, but I do not think that she took in to account the treatment of the Africans. I do not think that she intended to write of those aspects of colonialism. In my opinion, she want to share with the world the greatness of Africa as she saw it. A Grain of Wheat was written to share with people the violence of the colonialism. The hardships endured by those colonized was meant to be brought out to the audience. These two pieces of literature were written for different reasons: one to show a wealthy white woman’s life in Africa as she saw it, and the other to show the violence brought about by the colonization of Africa. Works Cited Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. (New York: Grove Press)1963.

Ethical Issues in Health Care Finance Essay

The topic of ethical issues in every industry is usually interesting because it attracts a significant number of scholars and professionals to argue. This topic becomes even more interesting when it comes to health care financing. Ethical issues in health care financing begin, when defining human health. Human health is a basic need (Maharaj and Paul, 2011). It does not matter what type of health challenges a person has and whether a person is in a developed country or not. The issue with human health is that, all humans require health appropriate treatment when they need it. However, the health care system seems insatiable when it comes to financing. Health care financing source from an individual occurs at the at the point of delivery otherwise known as fees for services does not seem to have a significant impact in the required health care financing (Hurley, 2001). It is important to leave individuals as entities that pay for healthcare out of financing the health care industry an d concentrate on the government, private agencies such as insurances and donors. The ethical issues in health care financing questions whether the major health care financiers: the government and insurance companies can justify paying for treatment for all human in the country. The argument with health care financing is that governments can pay for high medical technology development in terms of complicated medical equipments and new treatment technologies. It is important to understand that although advanced medical development are in place, there is an issue as to whether individual patients will the able to afford treatment using this advanced technology (Maharaj and Paul, 2011). If individual patients will not afford to use new treatment technologies, then it will be likely that the new advancement in medical technologies are a direct preserves of those with an upper economic advantage. This is contrary to the equity required in the health care system because health is basic need and therefore should be available for all. High cost of medical technological  treatment and a few populations who cannot individually afford for this treatment are not the only issues that raise medical treatment. The insurance industry is the greatest player in the health c are industry. The insurance industry provides medical policies for every eligible citizen. While the insurance arrangement for healthcare financing is justified through the assumption that country men and women are participating in sharing cost in paying up hospital bills. However, there is a crisis with the health insurance, which has raised significant ethical issues. This issues range from existence of different types of policies for different people and the issues that, the insurance company rather than the doctor determines the type of treatment the patient will get because of different categorized policies. Another incidence of inequality sets in even in with the insurance. Just like individual patient might not afford to pay high tech medical treatment at the point of delivery, the same is happening in the insurance industry because insurances now require different policies for different individual (Maharaj and Paul, 2011). These different policies characterize people according to their risk such that, people of high risk pay more premiums that people of low risk. If this policy categorization is justified then there will be a new inequality that will set in. This inequality will arise from those who pay for high premiums and might never have to go to hospital unless an accident occurs. Health care financing will seem to be a long term debate bombarded with ethical issues that take long to solve. These ethical dilemma although exist to offer ready solutions in healthcare financing, the whole issue boils down to whether the current happening in the health care industry offers beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice. Reference Maharaj, S.R. and Paul, TJ. (2011). Ethical Issues in Healthcare Financing. West Indian Medical Journal. 60. (4): 31-44 Hurley, J. (2001). Ethics, economics, and public financing of health care. Journal of Medical Ethics. 27. (4): 234-239.