Physician Assisted Suicide1 essays

Physician Assisted Suicide1 essays Many voters throughout the United States are taking the measure to legalize physician assisted suicide to the polls. If it is legalized, the United States will have legalized a much quicker, more humane method(as opposed to terminal sedation) of ending the suffering of terminally ill patients. The only legal process of this sort in the United States is terminal sedation, a method that can oftentimes add to a patients problems. Although Oregon is the only state to have successfully passed such a bill for the legalization of physician assisted suicide, the pressure to confront this issue is growing along with the movement for legalization. Opponents of the Oregon bill, mostly Christian conservative groups, are planning to appeal this case to the Supreme Court in hopes of a reversal of the Oregon Supreme Courts decision. Though the emotional battle of physician assisted suicide is the prerogative of voters on both sides of the issue, the fundamental question that will have to be ans wered by the Courts is whether or not the liberty observed by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment contains a right to perform suicide, which itself includes a right to assistance in doing so. This clause states, No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. (United States Constitution, Amendment 14) In order to constitutionally create a previously unspecified right the Supreme Court must conclude that such a right is either deeply rooted into the nations history and tradition, or is fundamental to sustaining the liberty provided in the Constitution. The court should also have a very specific description of what is to be entailed within this right. The difficulty in arguing for assisted suicide is t...

How to Improve Your Instagram Engagement With 15 Tips

How to Improve Your Instagram Engagement With 15 Tips One of the biggest challenges with any social media platform is getting your audience to engage with your content. We all know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, when you post a picture on Instagram, you should get tons of engagement, right?  After all, its a platform thats all about pictures. It isnt always that easy though. Fortunately, were about to dive into how you can become an Instagram engagement mastermind. Well run through 15 tactics you can implement right now. Plus, have you heard you can schedule to Instagram with ? Now you can plan these tactics in advance to go from spontaneous to strategic! Here we go! Download 20 Free Bonus Tips Get even more Instagram marketing tips with this free download. By the time youre done reading, youll have all the knowledge you need to drive more engagement and earn more followers. 1. Use Hashtags For 12.6% More Engagement You didn't think hashtags were just for Twitter, did you? Hashtags allow users to stumble across your Instagram page by searching for hashtags. If a user is interested in marketing, they can type #Marketing into the Instagram search bar and find posts related to marketing. Posts with at least one relative Instagram hashtag average 12.6% more engagement  than posts without a hashtag. So, if you want to get more likes on Instagram, hashtags are a great place to start! Although Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, try to keep it around 5-10 so you don't come across as spammy. Or else you can hide your hashtags, so they can’t look spammy! Make them invisible by preceding them with four or five periods, each one on a line by itself. Sprout Social's Dominque Jackson offers  two good tips to keep in mind when using hashtags: "Look at how many hashtags influencers in your industry and your competitors use in their posts." "Track the engagement of your posts when you use different amounts of hashtags." 70% of the most used hashtags are branded. Consider creating a branded hashtag that you use on each image post for more engagement. This way users can easily recognize who the image is from. TIP: Include only relevant hashtags to Instagram photos. 2. Use Correct Size Images To Stand Out In A Feed There's nothing worse than uploading an awesome photo that gets cutoff or doesn't upload the way you envisioned. Instagram image size used to be 612px by 612px,  but then switched to 1080px  by 1080px to keep up with Retina and other high-resolution displays available on smartphones, tablets and laptops. That's a huge improvement! Instagram still scales these photos down to 612 x 612 pixels, but you don't have to worry about your image getting cutoff. You can edit your photos or create awesome collages with these 7 tools mentioned by Post Planner: Snapseed  - A complete and professional photo editor developed by Google. VSCO Cam  -  Shoot and edit your images in one app. Camera+  -  Set exposure separately from focus. Easily control how light or dark your shots come out. Overgram  -  Choose from 16 carefully curated and dramatically different fonts. Find fonts that are useful, fun, and beautiful, perfect for any occasion. Pic Stitch  -   #1 photo and video collage maker. Squaready  - Allows you to post entire photos on Instagram without cropping. Hipstamatic  - The original photo filter app.  Choose the overall mood of your image with Hipstamatic's signature Lenses, Films, and Flashes, then fine tune with extensive editing tools Make sure that your photos are not only sized correctly, but are also appealing. Studies show that  brighter  pictures get 592% more likes than the darker ones. Muted palettes also get the most likes. So, give priority to grays, blues, and greens. Be cool on Instagram- at least when it comes to colors! Prioritize grays, blues, and greens for max engagement on Instagram.3. Include A Call-To-Action Instagram is a photo sharing app. But, you can use it as a platform to leverage the written word too. Take your audience a step further by adding a call-to-action to your Instagram photos. That call-to-action tells your followers exactly what you want them to do. With Instagram you  can either put  the call-to-action in the caption of the image or creating images with the text built right in. The goal of a call-to-action is to increase the number of likes and comments a photo receives. You can ask your audience to: Double tap photos Tag 2 friends Share a comment Recommended Reading: How to Write a Call to Action In A Template With 6 Examples 4. Include Witty Captions On Photos Not every description has to include a call-to-action. You can win your audience over with a witty caption on your Instagram image. You can spice up your Instagram captions by: Dusting in a question: Whipping up a quick tip: Sprinkling in a benefit: Adding a dash of humor: To achieve maximum engagement on captions, include a few emojis.  Post Planner shared how they earned  3x Instagram growth by using emojis to ignite engagement in both posts and comments. Recommended Reading: How To Write For Social Media To Create The Best Posts 5. Post At The Right Times Instagram audiences are more engaged throughout the week. Quick Sprout found that Instagram engagement is fairly steady, with slight increases on Monday and decreases on Sunday. So, Mondays should get a little more attention since it's the beginning of the week. Here are the best times to post on Instagram: Monday and Thursday at any time other than  3–4 p.m. Videos any day at  9 p.m.–8 a.m. Experiment with 2 a.m., 5 p.m., and Wednesday at 7 p.m. General best times to post on Instagram: 8–9 a.m. 2 a.m. 5 p.m. Find out what times work best for you! Figuring out what drives the most engagement is all about trial and error. Recommended Reading: What 23 Studies Say About the Best Times to Post on Social Media 6. Host Instagram Contests Drive the engagement your way by hosting an Instagram contest.  People are motivated by free giveaways. Hosting a contest is one of the easiest way to gain exposure and get more followers on Instagram, which will help you increase your engagement. Be clear about your objectives and exactly how you want your audience to participate for the best outcome. Define easy, simple rules before you launch your contest. Here are some  tips for hosting contests: Like to win contests.  Users can be qualified for the contest by simply liking the Instagram contest photo. Hashtag user-generated content contests.  Users can share their own photo by including a contest-centered hashtag to the photo to be qualified. Tag 2-3 friends to win contests.  Users can be qualified by tagging two or three of their Instagram friends into the comment section of the contest photo. Make your product the prize.  If your aim is to promote your brand, make sure your product is the prize. Use a contest specific hashtag.  Always use a hashtag when hosting a contest so that your  users are aware that a specific hashtag is related to your contest. Have you tried running an Instagram contest?7. Create Instagram Stories To Drive Engagement Instagram  Stories are fairly new, bringing Snapchat-like functionality to the platform. This function allows users to upload and write over unfiltered pictures and videos that disappear after 24 hours. What does this mean for marketers? Instagram stories will help boost your Instagram strategy. Instagram stories are located at the top of the news feed as circles. You can click on these circles and view the story.  Users can draw on photos and videos, add text and even filters to jazz them up before posting too. It allows you too share content, without clogging up your news feed. To create your own Instagram story: 1. Tap on the plus button found on the top-left side of your newsfeed  or swipe left in your Feed. You can also quickly launch Stories by swiping right from the main screen: 2. Tap the circle button at the bottom of the screen to take photos or tap and hold to record a video. 3. Edit the photos or videos with text or add a drawing as you normally would. If you hit the pen icon, there are three types of pens. The third one makes your sketch look like a neon sign: 4. Tap Done to save your Story. 5. Tap the check-mark button to share to your Story. Here are ways you can leverage Instagram stories to your benefit: Show your brands personality. Upload a fun picture or video of your office shenanigans. Share a quick tip or tutorial.  Try doing a 'Tip Tuesday' or other form of tip sharing story. Advertise limited sales.  Promote a sale you're having directly on your Instagram story. Vote on next post.  Let your audience decide what your next Instagram post will be! Users can comment their answer on your most recent post. Host a QA.  Answer your audience's burning questions through Instagram stories. Stand out from your competition using Instagram stories.8. Include A Link In Profile Do you want your audience to view your website, sign up for a newsletter, or read you blog? Well, you can send them in the right direction by including a link in your Instagram profile description. Instagram prohibits the use of clickable links within your captions but you can change your bio link at any time and use a call to action to drive traffic to that link. To change your Instagram bio: Click  Edit Profile on your Instagram profile page. Click on  Bio. Type out your new bio and include the URL link you want. Select  Done. Make sure to tell your users what the link is for and where they can find it in your Instagram post. Recommended Reading: How to Increase Visibility with Social Media Optimization 9. Share Videos To Attract Attention Although there have been studies that photos see more engagement than videos on Instagram, videos are still a great for engagement if executed correctly. Earlier this year, Instagram videos went from being 15 seconds long to 60 seconds long. Instagram videos are similar to Instagram stories, except they last forever rather than 24 hours. So make sure your video is creative and entertaining. Nike has taken advantage of the video trend: Here's how to shoot a video directly in the app: Have you tried shooting video on Instagram?10. Create Banner Images A tactic that's often overlooked is using banner images. Banner images are multiple images posted that form together to create on big picture on your Instagram profile. It's a trendy way to catch people's attention,  but it could be annoying if it's overdone. Use this tactic only when you have a big announcement or feature to promote. You can even take this a step further by making your audience guess what it is you're introducing.   Build suspense by only posting one part of the picture every week. That way you're audience won't know what you're announcing until all pieces of the picture have been posted. To create banner images you can use  mobile apps such as Giant Square or Banner Pic.  These apps allow you to easily upload the photo you wish to post as a grid, divide it up into several segments and upload them to your Instagram gallery. Curious how to create banner images on Instagram?11. Choose The Best Complementary Filter The key to having a clean Instagram page is to have all your images look similar, or branded. Brand image is how people perceive your brand and it sets you aside from others. It's important so customers can identify themselves with your product based on an image they see. Take our Instagram page for example, all of our images have the same style so it's easily recognizable that it's a post from . According to Refinery29, using the right filter  can increase the odds your image will be seen by 21% and increase comments by 45%. When it comes to brand image: Choose a similar style of filter every time so that your Instagram page looks uniform. Don't use too many different filters. Avoid black and white photos because they don't stand out in a feed. Filters that increase saturation (intensity of color in the image) don't increase engagement. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Using Color Psychology in Marketing 12.  Cross Promote On Other Social Channels Is your business on Facebook? How about Twitter? Maybe even LinkedIn? Chances are, your business is on more than one social channel. Use these sites as a gateway to bring your audience to your Instagram company page. For example, when your Twitter followers mention your company, you can occasionally respond back by encouraging them to check out your Instagram page. Cross promotion can boost your presence from nothing to something. Remember not to respond to every mention this way so you don’t come across as spammy. Only encourage your followers to check out your Instagram page if you truly think they would. Recommended Reading: Social Campaigns: Simplify Your Social Promotion [New Feature] 13. Follow And Like Similar Accounts To get your business name out there, you'll have to see what other's in your industry are posting on Instagram.  You can follow similar accounts  by searching for hashtags to find likeminded friends. Once you find an account you like, follow them and like 3 of their photos. This  shows the user that not only did someone who is kind of like them follow them, but they also dug a little bit and really liked what they found. Apps like Pixifly, Banjo,  and Instaround allow you  to see what Instagram users in your  area are posting so you  can follow and engage with your local or broader community. Recommended Reading: How to Get Insanely Loyal Followers on Social Media 14. Create Instagram Ads One of the best ways to reach new audiences is through Instagram ads.  You have to spend money in order to make money. Instagram  ads are a guaranteed way to reach more people and bring engagement to your page. Facebook is the parent company of Instagram, so in order to create an Instagram ad, you will need to use the Power Editor feature through Facebook.  Here's a great video on exactly how to set up your Instagram ad. To create an Instagram ad in Power Editor: Click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page. Click on the left side of the page and then click Create Ad. On the Create Ad page, choose whether to use an existing campaign or create a new campaign. Enter a name for the ad and click Create. 15. Respond To Comments Just like with any social media platform, it's important to respond to comments so that your audience knows your human and you care what others have to say.  Let your audience know that you aren’t a social media robot - you’re a real person. When users comment on your Instagram posts, respond quickly. If you don’t, then it’s going to seem like you’re not very active on your own Instagram page- or you simply don’t care. Your followers will be much more likely to post comments if they know that you are reading them and that you will respond to them in a helpful manner. Use first names when you are responding. Addressing your followers in this way makes them feel more appreciated- not to mention that people love to be acknowledged. Small gestures like these help to build loyalty. If you respond right away, there’s a chance that the conversation will continue since they may still be on your page. Recommended Reading: How to Use Social Media Listening to Create Better Content for Your Audience What Instagram Engagement Tactics Work For You? Take a step back from the typical selfie and use the power of visuals to your advantage! Instagram engagement is 10x higher than Facebook and 54x higher than Pinterest,  so what do you have to lose? Get in there and engage with your audience! Have you tried out ’s Instagram scheduling? Quit forgetting to post on Instagram, and instead do it with just a few clicks. Get a free 14-day trial today, and check it out for yourself. Implement these tactics the next time you post on Instagram and watch your engagement rate skyrocket.

Discuss the invasions of the barbarians and the influence of St Essay

Discuss the invasions of the barbarians and the influence of St. Augustine and the Celts as well as the rise of monasticism and - Essay Example The paper explores the rise of monasticism and Islam, the invasions of the barbarians and the influence of St. Augustine and the Celts. Discussion Celtic Christianity represents features of Christianity that were prominent across Celtic world in the Early Middle Ages. A spotlight on monasticism centering on the sequestered life of monks and nun provides an example of Celtic Christian practice. True ecclesiastical power within the Celtic world lay in the hands of monasteries instead of bishops of dioceses, and the ideal of monasticism collectively esteemed within Celtic Christianity (Noble 192). St. Benedict established his Monastic Rule, which established a system of regulations for the basis and running of monasteries. Monasticism gained prominence throughout Europe and gave rise to numerous early center of learning. The way of addressing monastic varies between the diverse Christian traditions based on their rank and monastic tradition. As early as the 3rd century, the ascetical li fe had attained a noteworthy expansion within the church in North Africa witnessed by the presence of existence of number monasteries at Carthage by the year 400. The structure in which monasticism spread from North Africa to all of the Western Christianity emanates partly from St. Augustine influence. Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo was both a theologian and philosopher, and can be regarded as one of the most prominent figures within the development of Western Christianity (Noble 193). When the Roman Empire fell, and the faith of numerous Christians was at stake, Augustine established the concept of Church as a spiritual City of God separate from the material city of Man. The Roman’s utilized the term â€Å"barbarians† to refer to individuals who lived outside the boundaries of the Empire. The middle Ages period can be connected to the fall of the Western Roman Empire within the fifth century to the start of the Renaissance in the fifth century. The collapse of the R oman government accompanied a decline in trade, learning, infrastructure, and security. The Early Middle Ages witnessed the emergence of monasticism in the west. The form of European monasticism derived from the traditional ideas that emanated from within the deserts and Syria. The presence of Christianity within Africa started within the middle of 1st century in Egypt, and by the end of 2nd century within the region around Carthage. The later rise of Islam within North Africa reduced the size and numbers of Christian congregations sparing the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Nubian Church within Sudan, and Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The decline and total desertion of this flourishing Church can be regarded as a sad fact of history. The Arab Muslim incursion of North Africa that started around 643 was completed by the fall of Carthage (698) and Ceuta (709). The Muslim heralded the extinction of Christianity, minimizing the number of bishoprics by the time of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). The disappearance of the Church in North Africa can be explained by: the presence of Donatism within the Church in North Africa, which significantly minimized the Church’s interior strength; despite, the Catholic victory over the Donatists at a meeting held in 411 (Carthage), Donatism did not entirely disappear and was still evident in North Africa

Israel and Palestine Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Israel and Palestine - Assignment Example en attack Jerusalem and Jordan parts controlled by the Israeli while Israelites attack Palestinians in Jordan, Jerusalem and Gaza as a means of retaliation and maintenance of security from what they term as terrorism from the Palestinians. Although the international community has shown interest in reconciliatory and mediation roles, I think the problems of Israel and Palestine can only be resolved by mutual consent by the Jews and the Palestinians. Reconciliation attempts had been made since 1948 when independent Palestine State and independent Jewish State were established (Sela, 2002). The move seemed to bring an end to a serious conflict in the region, but the struggle between the two countries is still on until now. There is need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to change their attitudes towards each other, but this is difficult because each side has strong and radical conviction about their religion, territories, power and security. International community may play the role of advising and encouraging both sides to loosen their demands, but the final road to peace will be created by the two nations willingly. The Jews and the Palestinians agreed that Palestine actually deserved to be a free state. West Bank and Gaza was considered to be acceptable locations of the Palestinian State. However, disagreements ensued on the shape and boundaries of those regions (Sela, 2002). The two regions have been the main centers of fights between Israel and Palestine. This clearly shows that the Israeli-Palestine conflicts are fueled by disagreements on boundaries. In this case, no international body will come to the region and tell Israel that this land belongs to Palestine, so just leave it, or tell Palestine the same thing. Israelites and Palestinians alone have the ability to sit and agree on the boundaries, but because each one of them wants to take control, they never seem to come to such an agreement. That is why conflict does not seem to be ending soon. What

Stanley Milgram Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stanley Milgram - Essay Example Milgram’s experiment of obedience has been ethically analyzed and there is a debate on the pros and cons of the ethics of the experiment. Some psychologists believe that it was not right to deceive the participants who took part in the experiment. Some also believed that the thought of causing deliberate pain to the â€Å"learner† could leave an indelible scar on the participant’s mind which the Stanford Prison Experiment is well known for, however, follow-on research showed that the participant’s in the Milgram experiment did not suffer from any long-term emotional problem.If I was on the review board which decided to allow or disallow Milgram’s experiment I would certainly allow it. My opinion is not concerned with the ethical questions and I see no harm in Milgram's experimental set-up. This experiment proved to be a very useful one in the field of psychology and when it comes to the question of deception, I think that psychological experiments c annot be conducted if one is not deceived. If Milgram had revealed his true experiment to the subjects the results would be much different and would be incorrect. In order to study the human mind correctly, it is necessary to hide details else the human mind would not respond normally. Secondly, I also object that the experiment would emotionally hamper the person for long since especially for people who administered 450 volts. This is because the experimenter had already made it clear that the shocks would not cause any damage.... However instances like the Abu Ghraib prison also reveals that certain percentage will obey commands of authorities defying their own morality (Bartone, pp 1) . Milgram’s experiment of obedience has been ethically analyzed and there is a debate on the pros and cons of the ethics of the experiment. Though the experiment was a very important one for the field of psychology, some psychologists believe that it was not right to deceive the participants who took part in the experiment. Some also believed that the thought of causing deliberate pain to the â€Å"learner† could leave an indelible scar on the participant’s mind which the Stanford prison Experiment is well known for however, follow-on research showed that the participant’s in the Milgram experiment did not suffer from any long term emotional problem. If I was on the review board which decided to allow or disallow Milgram’s experiment I would certainly allow it. My opinion is not concerned with the ethical questions and I see no harm in Milgrams experimental set-up. This experiment proved to be a very useful one in the field of psychology and when it comes to the question of deception, I think that psychological experiments cannot be conducted if one is not deceived. If Milgram had revealed his true experiment to the subjects the results would be much different and would be incorrect. In order to study the human mind correctly it is necessary to hide details else the human mind would not respond normally. Secondly, I also object that the experiment would emotionally hamper the person for long since especially for people who administered 450 volts. This is because the experimenter had already made it clear that the shocks

The Tourism Industry In Spain

The Tourism Industry In Spain Spain developed its tourism during the last years of dictators Franco governance, when the country became a popular place for summer holidays, especially for tourists from Northern Europe (UK, France, Germany and Scandinavia). It is said that mass tourism started that time because Francos government needed money and dedided to open up its coasts for tourism. . At that time, Mallorca, Costa del Sol and all multi-storey buildings on the coast were built. Murcia and Almeria were not built because there did not have a good network. This was what protected them. However, in the minds of the locals this was the cause of their poverty (Barke et al. 1996:120). Since then, Spain has become the second the most visited country in the world (the first one is France). 60 million foreign tourists arrived in Spain in 2007, according to the data provided by the World Tourism Organization (2007), that its offices are in Madrid. The cost of tourism in Spain is over $ 46 billion per year, the highest tourism expenditure worldwide except for U.S. that has tourism expenditure of $ 74 billion (Sinclair et al. 2008:75). Summer resorts and beaches This form of tourism was the first that was developed in Spain, and today is the one that has received more income grants and subsidies form the state economy. The nice and warm climate during the whole year and the long beaches on the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, as well as Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands have been visited by tourists from northern Europe for decades. These summer resorts are popular among Spaniards as well. The Spanish coasts that suitable for summer holidays include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Costa Dorada, Costa Brava and del Maresme, located in Catalonia, which are very popular for local and French tourists, including the popular resorts like Salou and the city of Barcelona which is also the largest port in Spain. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Costa del Azahar, whose main city is Valencia and Costa Blanca, (one of the most developed Spanish coastal regions, extremely popular for tourists from Great Britain and Germany, having Benidorm as the main summer city of Spain. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Costa Calida. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The side de Almerà ­a, the tropical side, Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz, all of them are found in Andalucà ­a. Some of its summer resorts are famous all over the world, like Marbella, a tourist resort for tourists with important spending capacity. Finally, one of the largest Spanish ports, is Malaga (Fsadni and Selwyn 1997:66). The volcanic Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and the Balearic Islands are two famous Spanish archipelagos. Many Spaniards and foreigners visit them because they are very popular. Apart from the summer tourism, there are other forms of tourism such as cultural, sport or fun tourism. Two cities, Barcelona and Valencia (the two largest ports in the Mediterranean side of Spain) are among them. Tourism of the beaches (Beach Tourism) has also contributed to the development of nightlife, as well as to the Spanish excellent food culture. Important from the ecological and natural aspect are many places both coastal and island Theme and water-fun parks like Port Aventura are also popular among the local population and foreigners (Eden 1996:48). Long ago it became known in Europe Senior Tourism program that allows people over 55 to enjoy a holiday social tourism in Spain with low cost. The program subsidizes the EU holiday in the Balearic Islands and Andalusia in periods of low tourist traffic from October 2009 until April 2010. The indicative costs where the agency is about 400 euros for 8 days 4stars at selected hotels with full board, tickets, tours, and more. Tourist Packages in Spain are part of the program Calypso approved by Parliament with a budget of 1 million euros and refers to the promotion of social tourism with the participation of Member States. Cultural and business tourism Spain is a country full of culture and therefore, it is a popular destination for cultural tourism due to its historical importance, including cities like Seville, Granada, Cà ³rdoba and Toledo. UNESCO has declared the following Spanish cities as World Heritage Cities: Alcalà ¡ de Henares, à vila, Cà ¡ceres, Cà ³rdoba, Cuenca, Ibiza, Salamanca, La Laguna SAN Cristà ³bal de, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Tarragona and Toledo (Maiztegui-Onate 1996:84). Madrid and Barcelona (two big Spanish metropolis) are famous historical places and are also part of cultural tourism. In addition, there are other important places in Spain with cultural importance are: Coruà ±a and Vigo, in Galicia, Santander Cantabria, Oviedo and Gijà ³n Asturias, Bilbao and San Sebastià ¡n in the Basque country. North Spain has such a green landscape that resembles to the UKs and Ireland landscape and this is why it is Green Spain. They have many important folklore, nature and culinary aspects and they are even suitable for summer vacations despite the fact that the beaches of North Spain are colder than the Mediterranean ones. Spain is also an important place for religion, mainly Judaism and Christianity.The city of Santiago de Compostela Galicia (northwest Spain) are holly places. This city is the third holiest place in the christian world after the Vatican City of Rome and Jerusalem. The fourth holiest place is Camino de Santiago followed by the sanctuary Caravaca de la Cruz in the southeast area. These places attract tourism from all over the world (Robinson 1996:210). The many celebrations and festivals in Spain. A very famous one is the Holy Week in cities like Seville and Carthage. Very popular also is the Seville Exhibition or Feria de Abril in Spanish, the celebrations of Spring (Fiestas de Primavera) which include the famous Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the sardine) and La Huerta EL Bando de (the area of the orchard) This festival attracts crowds from both inside and outside Spain. There are also the festivals Carthaginians and Romans of Carthage, the festival of San Fermin of Pamplona famous worldwide, the Fiestas del Pilar in Zaragoza etc. The celebrations in small towns are also very popular. Spain has a lot of cultural festivals, including the Carnival all over Spain, but particularly the festivals of the Canary Islands and Cadiz. San Sebastian, Malaga and Sitges have famous film festivals. The Lorca Rock, FIB, Festimad, and Primavera sound are some indicative music festivals. Several cities have hosted international events:Catholic exhibition in 1888 and 1929 in Barcelona, the Olympics of 1992, also in Barcelona, the catholic exhibition of 1992 in Seville, the 2008 world exhibition in Zaragoza and the Americas Cup in Valencia (Selwyn 1997:93). The Europe Senior Tourism program is another tourist attraction source of Spain. This program allows people over 55 to enjoy low cost holidays of social tourism in Spain. It is an EU program that subsidizes vacations in the Balearic Islands and Andalusia in periods of low tourist traffic namely, from October 2009 until April 2010. The indicative cost depending on the tourist agency is about 400 euros for 8 days at selected 4stars hotels with full board, tickets, tours etc. Tourist Packages in Spain are part of the program Calypso which was approved by the European Parliament with a budget of 1 million euros and refers to the promotion of social tourism with the participation of Member States. Tourism in Spain and financial data The sightseeing visits and payments in 2008 (Sinclair et al. 2008:85)are the following: Greece Spain Italy France Turkey Visitors (in millions) 17 57,4 42.7 79.3 25 Revenue ($ billions) 17.1 61.6 41.7 55.6 22 . From the above numbers, it is easily concluded that Spain is a major tourist destination, but it also attracts high-level tourists who spend enough money, since it has the best revenue ratio per visitor among the major European destinations! The tourist development of the country is organized. Some areas are developed for very high level tourism as Marbella. Some areas are selected for mass tourism, as for example Benidorm which is a Spanish Miami with 4 million visitors every year or not Liouret de Mar and Rosas in Costa Brava. In addition, tourism is organized in large hotels, which have lower costs and higher bargaining power with the major tour operators. One example is the Sol Melia which has a revenue of 1.3 billion euros, 35,000 employees at 270 hotels from Brazil to China. Another example is Iberostar with 102 hotels in 15 countries and 1 billion revenue, 23,000 employees and around 70,000 beds. However, if financial data get more analyzed the following will be concluded: Spain in 2008 (Sinclair et al. 2008:94) welcomed 57.4 million visitors, representing 1.8 million fewer than last year, which means a fall of 3.1%. This fact has occurred since 1997, the year when, the statistical monitoring of the tourist industry began. This decline is mainly due to the decrease in arrivals from France and the United Kingdom which are two of the three main countries of foreign tourists in Spain. The ratio of reduced tourist traffic is attributed to a decline in the economies of these two countries. So, after the sectors of construction and industry, there was the turn of the tourism sector to cope with crisis. This sector represents 10.7% of Spanish GDP and employs 13.5% of the workforce of the country. The areas with the highest tourist traffic in 2008 were: Catalonia with 14,193,952 tourists (-6.7%), the Balearic Islands with 10,288,958 tourists (+1.4%), the Canary Islands with 9,363,219 tourists , (-1%), Andalusia with 8,147,688 tourists (-4%), the region of Valencia with 5,655,801 tourists (+0.2%) and Madrid with 4,564,345 tourists (+3.6% ). The tourists in the country in 2008 and the percentage change compared to 2007 is as follows: Table 1 Countries of origin Number of tourists % change compared to 2007 United Kingdom 15.749.000 -3.0 Germany 10.048.939 -0.2 France 8.151.449 -8.5 Scandinavian countries 3.574.398 +3.0 Italy 3.464.241 -5.8 Netherlands 2.502.060 +0.4 Portugal 2.291.146 -3.5 Ireland 1.659.327 +1.5 Belgium 1.626.983 -4.7 Switzerland 1.282.740 -6.7 Rest of Europe 3.262.834 +11.6 USA 1.133.801 -1.5 Rest of America 1.331.449 -6.1 Rest of the world 1.339.499 -12.2 TOTAL 57.417.871 -2.6 Source: Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce Table 2 Year Number of tourists (in millions) % change compared to 2007 1997 39.5 1998 41.8 5.9 1999 45.4 8.5 2000 46.4 2.1 2001 48.5 4.7 2002 50.3 3.6 2003 50.8 1.0 2004 52.4 3.1 2005 55.9 6.6 2006 58.1 4.1 2007 59.1 1.7 2008 57.4 -3.1 Source: Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce Criticism of the Spanish model of tourism The Spanish model has disappointed its original supporters. The promising North European market turns its back to Spain. The temporary economic gains in the housing market and in the construction market of vacation houses have already begun to subside. Unlike the most optimistic forecasts of the real estate lobby, these investments in 2005 showed a decrease of 16.7%. The decrease of 6% in 2004 was interpreted as a slight variation, and not as a big change (Casado Diaz 2006:78). Foreign investments in the real estate sector dropped by 0.9%. The property market in Spain has began to have a negative reputation among potential customers of northern Europe, while international organizations talk about the need to manage a soft landing of the specific market to avoid unpleasant and extended economic consequences. The rampant construction of holiday homes and hotels in coastal areas has begun to generate negative consequences. The freely accessible places on the beaches have been reduced overcrowding and disturbing activities are increasing, the water quality is deteriorating having as an effect the undermining of the overall tourism policy in Spain. The professional organizations of hoteliers call for an immediate discontinuation of coastal areas building programs. Lastly, there is the growing trend for creating golf courses at the new holiday home complexes and the subsequent environmental consequences (Wall 1997:105). Indeed, it is planned an increase in golf areas despite the saturation of these facilities. It is estimated that each year 10 new stadiums are built and in ten years, there will be 500 golf areas (Mc Laren 2002:187). The strengthening of trend of creating new golf areas is based on the fact that golfers spend on average much more money per person. The reaction to this new situation was an attempt to redefine tourism policy (Newton 1996: 150). The fall in profits encouraged the adoption of positions that until recently was criticized inthe tourism industry. The Mediterranean coasts of Spain gather 15,600,000 residents who represent 39% of the total population. The length of its coastline is 7268. and 68% of the population lives in an area of 100 km from the coast, where the corresponding figure for the entire world population is 39%. Urbanization is so widespread that 85% of the population the Mediterranean coast lives in cities with populations over 10,000 inhabitants (Kirkby 1996:240). In general, in recent years, there has been recorded a significant deterioration of the coastal areas of Spain despite the existence of relative specific legislation. The situation in some coastal areas is as follows (Casado Diaz 2001:77): In the region of Catalonia, nearly 50% of one kilometre lane from the coast is built. 59% of the coastline has already been built. It is estimated that 70% of the coast will be built within the next years. Specific parts of the coasts of Mà ¡laga have been built 100% and this trend is spreading to the shores of Granada, Almeria, Kadid and Huelva. 90% of the Andalusian coast faces already problems of environmental degradation. Even natural area parks, such as the Cabo de Gata-Nijar in Almeria, have become an area of housing development programs and projects. The rapid urbanization and population growth of the region of Murcia has led to an increase of population growth in two years (1999 2000) by 15% bringing a significant pressure for further residential development and reduction of free and public spaces. Many coastal regions of Valencia have been built. 33% of the total coastal area shows residential development. Specific areas such as Alicante have been built at a rate exceeding 40% of its coasts. The urban development plans of the region have occasionally been the subject of study and complaints from the European Commission (Bramwell 1996:453). Indeed, the latter has proposed the imposition of a moratorium on the urban development to address the related deficiencies in design and ensure the protection of the environmental conditions of the development process (Casado Diaz et al. 2004:363). Conclusion Spain remains a country of great beauty and high tourist interest. The model, however, of mass tourism that has followed does not seem to be as successful as it was in the past and the country should follow modern tourism practices that will help it remain competitive in the future. A basic prerequisite for a successful redefined tourism strategy should be the concern for the environment and the reduction of residential development (Hunter Jones et al.1997:291).

Critical Analysis Of Young Goodman Brown :: Free Essay Writer

Critical Analysis of Young Goodman Brown   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story of Young Goodman Brown is a reflection of the Puritan faith as well as man’s conflict between good and evil. This analysis will emphasize on the theme of Young Goodman Brown as well Hawthorne’s usage of symbolism and allegories throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Literary critic D.M. McKeithan says that the theme of the story is sin and the terrible effect sin has on mankind. McKeithan also believes that the theme to Hawthorne’s; Young Goodman Brown, is based on the ability that evil has to persuade man to do wrong and the falseness of man’s virtues. The protagonist in the story, Brown, journeyed in the woods where he discovered that his Puritan community is not virtuous. Brown discovered that the entire community including his wife, whom is portrayed as being pure, indulges in sin and therefore Brown’s life turns dark due to his loss of hope. Literary critic Mark Van Doren states: “Young Goodman Brown'; means exactly what it says, namely that its hero left his pretty young wife one evening … to walk by himself in a primitive New England woods, the Devil’s territory,…and either to dream or actually to experience (Hawthorne will not say) the discovery that evil exist in every human heart…Brown is changed. He thinks there is no good on earth…Brown, waking from his dream, if it was a dream,…sees evil even where it is not…He had stumbled upon that “mystery of sin'; which, rightly understood, provides the only sane and cheerful view of life there is. Understand in Brown’s fashion, if darkens and sours the world, withering hope and charity, and perverting whatever is truly good until it looks like evil at its worst: like blasphemy and hypocrisy. (Van Doren 234) McKeithan says that Hawthorne is saying that in every human heart there is sin, but the story does not emphasize on sin alone, it emphasizes on the effects of sin. McKeithan states that to interpret Young Goodman Brown, the reader must make the distinction between sin and the effects of sin. Literary critic David Levin says that Brown allows the Devil’s statements about the persecution of Indians and the Quakers allows him to accept the false statements of the Devil. Therefore Brown fails to distinguish the difference between a single person and actions of people as a whole. Levin says that Hawthorne’s way of writing Young Goodman Brown gives a clear interpretation of the meaning.