Marbury vs. Madison :: essays research papers

In the Supreme Court case of George Reynolds vs. United States, 1879, concerned an older Mormon living in the Utah Territory under federal laws, was charged with a violation of a federal law forbidding marriage in all federal territories. The practice of multiple marriage couples is a practice common among Mormons of that time period. The United States put into effect a law the restricted multiple marriage couples upon receiving word that Mormons were moving into the Utah Territory. Since the United States Government was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs, they frowned heavily on the Mormon practice and used their power to restrict their ability to act on their beliefs. The principle of democracy that is directly applicable to this situation is Equality under the Law. George Reynolds took his case to the Supreme Court in objection that he could not fully pursue his religion. He argued that the first amendment guarantees that persons will be free from any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. That no federal law could interfere with a person’s religious belief or with actions based on those beliefs. That the federal law was unconstitutional and his conviction should be overturned. In his eyes he was not being treated fairly by the government because of what his religion believed was acceptable. He felt that multiple partner relationships should be allowed and that the United States was out of line in restricting that. The Supreme Court ruled that the case presented an obvious and compelling need to regulate a question of behavior offensive to public will. The first amendment cannot be used as a shield to protect any person against criminal behavior. This ruling states that the first amendment cannot be used as an excuse to do whatever you want simply because your religion says that’s ok to do. Mr. Reynolds is allowed to believe that multiple partners are acceptable, but he is not allowed to practice that belief, according to the law of the United States. The Supreme Court ruling was quite inaccurate in that they think Mormon beliefs are wrong because they differ from their own beliefs. Because Mormon religion is a minority in this country, the rest of the United States feels that they have the right to regulate how the Mormon religion can and cannot be practiced. Mormons should be allowed to pursue their religion to the fullest extent without causing harm to himself or herself or any other individual.

Lamarcus Adna Thompson

?2009 The most influencing person in my life would have to be the inventor of the first gravity-powered roller coaster in the United States by LaMarcus Adna Thompson, also known as the â€Å"Father of the Gravity Ride† for his Switchback Railway at Coney Island, New York City and became famous for the Scenic Railway on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1887. Thompson was born on March 8, 1848 in Jersey, Ohio. At the age of 12, he built a butter churn and an oxcart, and was a master carpenter by the age of 17. In 1866, Thompson graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan. He worked in a wagon and carriage business then made a mint for the manufacture of seamless women’s hosiery. In the early 1880s, Thompson almost had a nervous breakdown and thus sold his share in the hosiery business and returned to his first passion of inventing. Thompson was inspired by the designs of other inventors and the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania. In 1884 in Coney Island, he had successfully built his version of the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which he just simply called it, the Switchback Railway. Within the next four years, he had built about fifty railways all over the nation and in Europe. As more sophisticated coasters were beginning to be built, Thompson’s business was starting to go downhill. So Thompson paired up with James A. Griffiths, a designer, and produced his most famous attraction the Scenic Railway in 1887. It was a rolling tour of some elaborate artificial scenery with vividly colored tableaus, biblical scenes and flora-illuminated by lights triggered by approaching cars. This ride was the foundation of the Space Mountain of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA and other theme park journeys. Between the Switchbacks and his death on May 8, 1919, in Glen Cove, New York, Thompson had built many other scenic railways such as the masterpiece of faux-mountain and the Egyptian imagery in Venice, CA in 1910, which faced competition with his old partner James A. Griffiths. After he retired, he still patented an automatic car coupler and sold the invention to railroad car manufacturer, George Pullman. After Thompson’s death his legacy still ived through the Thompson company coasters, notably the Bobs, which was later renamed the Tornado, built at Coney Island in 1926. From then on, many coasters have been built and thought of. They are very intricate designs and have to be precise otherwise someone will get hurt. There are two types of roller coasters, steel and wooden. Steel roller coasters are known for their smooth riding usually taking the riders upside down, i n cork screws, etc. Some of the designs for the tracks are dwelling, figure 8, inverted, launched, shuttle, side friction, spinning and twister roller coasters. The most popular coasters are the floorless, flying, stand-up, suspended swing, and the Virginia Reel. LaMarcus Adna Thompson has influenced me more than I realized. My dream out of college is to become a roller coaster designer and if he had never invented the Switchback Railway I probably would be pursuing another career. I hope to be as successful as he was. I have learned to still be positive and stay focused on my goals in life now because the choices I make now will affect the way my future is played out. Like school for instance, I need to keep my grades up even though I have only one year left of high school. One bad grade could greatly decrease my chances of going to a college of my choice rather than a college I have to go to because I have no other offers. Even if Thompson almost had a nervous breakdown he still has inspired me to keep moving forward and to find comfort in the things that I find enjoyable. Yes, he did sell his part of the business but I would rather give up my part, than to bring everyone else down with me because that wouldn’t be fair to them. I understand more now than I ever did that when you fail it’s only an obstacle in your path that when you overcome it, you become even stronger than before. You become more creative and see the things in life with a totally different perspective than you would’ve thought of before. Now that I have grown to become a better person to find the good in everything I do and to pursue my dreams with my chin up high even though I know that I will get shut out every now and then. But that only means that greater things for me are to come in the mere future.

Drilling Offshore or not Essay Example

Drilling Offshore or not Essay Example Drilling Offshore or not Essay Drilling Offshore or not Essay Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Reflection paper The research paper presents an argument on the effects of offshore oil drilling. The engineer appreciates the fact there is a high demand of oil in many countries. Due to the economic status, offshore drilling is the most economical method of oil mining. However, the researcher registers great concern on the consequences of this method, for example oil spillage, which results to severe pollution of the environment. Instead of using this inappropriate method, there are other alternative mentioned. The researcher recommends use of renewable energy resources in place of oil. If oil must be drilled, then onshore method should be used. This method is safer than offshore drilling. There are a few areas that the researcher needs to improve on. It is clearly stated that using renewable energy is one alternative of solving oil problems. This is a logical finding but may not be applicable. It could be extremely difficult to get the best energy source that is reliable. The researcher should find out more details and explain the most appropriate energy source. In place of offshore drilling, onshore method can be used. The work lacks brief details on this method. It is crucial to include them so that its benefits over offshore method are revealed. This research topic is wide, and more data could be gathered. It is recommendable to carry out further research on this topic. It will not only benefit the researcher but other people who wish to be informed. Despite the improvements to be made, there are also strengths. The argument made in this research paper has clearly been brought out. The points have been explained with clarity and are comprehensive. One significant characteristic of this paper is that it not only lays out an argument but also gives some practical solutions. The greatest strength experienced during this research, was getting evidence. The statistics included are a good support for the points laid out. There were readily available and easy to access. During field work, the respondents were cooperative hence, accurate data was obtained. This made it easy to analyze and present the data. The only significant struggle experienced was working within a limited time.

Observing Stars Essays - Electromagnetic Radiation, Radiation

Observing Stars Essays - Electromagnetic Radiation, Radiation Observing Stars Observing Stars Our view of the sky at night is possible because of the emission and reflection of light. 'Light' is the better-known term for the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes waves in the visible, ultra-violet, infra-red, microwave, radio, X-ray and gamma-ray regions. The scale of the spectrum is so large that no region is distinct, several overlap each other. Each of these regions in the electromagnetic spectrum represent transverse waves, travelling as electrical and magnetic fields which interact perpendicularly to each other, with different ranges of wavelength. The magnetic field oscillates vertically and the electric field horizontally, and each field induces the other. By the end of the nineteenth century, Maxwell gave a realistic value for c, the speed of light: c = __1__ = 3 x 108 ms-1 (mo eo) The relationship between the speed of all electromagnetic radiation, wavelength (l) and frequency (f) is shown to be c = l f. Because the Universe is so vast, interstellar distances are so great that light emitted can take upwards of millions of years to reach us. Such large distances are often measured in light-years; one light-year (ly) is the distance travelled by a wave of light in a year. Because of the massive speed of light and distances, the light arriving at us would have left the object many years ago, so that looking at a far away star is much like looking back in time. Scientific observation of the stars is difficult because of the distorting effect of the Earth's atmosphere. One problem is atmospheric refraction-where light is bent. Turbulent air currents cause varying refractive indices, as there is no uniform air density. This causes an effect called scintillation, where stars appear to twinkle. The effect on regions of the electromagnetic spectrum other than the visible part, such as the absorption of certain frequencies by atmospheric chemicals, and the reflection of waves by charged molecules in the ionosphere, means that some spectral data is simply invisible to us on Earth. The Earth receives electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths from all directions in space, but most of the electromagnetic spectrum is blocked out by the atmosphere well above the Earth's surface, where our eyes and instruments are mostly based. However, wavelengths from only two regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are able to penetrate the atmosphere. These two spectral windows in the atmosphere through which we can observe the Universe are called the optical window-which allows the visible wavelength region through; and the radio window-which includes the wavelength region from about 1 mm to 30 m. The telescopes used by astronomers on the ground are therefore classed as optical and radio telescopes. Optical telescopes work by either reflecting or refracting light, using lenses or curved mirrors to focus the light from a subject to form an image. Radio telescopes consist of a parabolic reflector and receiver on which the waves are focused. The gathering and resolving power de pend on the diameter of the antenna. Radio observations are unaffected by the weather or time of day, and because of the larger wavelength of radio waves, dust in space and atmospheric convection currents are not a problem. Radio astronomy is used in the chemical analysis of elements (by emission and absorption spectra); to detect the motion of bodies due to the Doppler effect; and in investigation into the early Universe and the Big Bang. We can analyse radio waves from the centres of galaxies, including our own. Despite the radio window, there are still wavelengths that do not penetrate the atmosphere. Some radio waves are reflected from the ionosphere, part of the thermosphere, where streams of charged particles from the sun ionise gas molecules: this is photo-ionisation. Ultra-violet radiation, X-rays and gamma-rays are also absorbed at this layer. Absorption of the electromagnetic spectrum at various altitudes above Earth occurs to varying degrees. Much infra-red radiation does not reach ground level because of absorption in the upper atmosphere by water, and some carbon dioxide and oxygen molecules that lie between the ground and about 15 km of altitude (the troposphere). Ozone (tri-oxygen) and di-oxygen in the stratosphere absorbs much of the ultra-violet radiation (hence the ozone layer at about 30km). A side effect of the ozone layer is that molecules re-radiate

Innovation (Apple Ipod) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Innovation (Apple Ipod) - Essay Example (Albury, 2005) From the singers to the composers, from the lyricists to the manufacturers of the devices which are used for playing music – they all are the key players in the music industry. The player that has been chosen for this report is the manufacturer of the music playing device. Apple introduced the revolutionary portable media player, called iPod on 23rd October 2001. (Breen, 2003) And this has been a major contribution to the world of innovation, since it radically altered the way music was being listened to. Innovation is to produce something new, whether it is an idea, a method or a device. Innovation opens the horizon for new dimensions to be explored and also fulfill some market niche which was unexplored and touched upon before the innovation. (Tushman, 2004) Moreover, the definition of innovation does not end there. Its scope is pretty vast. Innovation is not just about introducing a new thing; it is also about improving something old by adding an element of freshness and newness to it. Innovation is all about creativity. (Tidd, 2006) Innovation can happen in any field but mostly it is important in the field of business because that is where competition is intense and companies are fighting to gain the attention of the firm and they need to get a competitive edge somehow to come to notice. Innovation gives them that. Innovation requires creativity, and for a product to be successful ultimately, we need to make sure that it is functioning properly and is fitting the purpose for which it was created. (Tumi, 2002) Therefore, doing trial and error and continuously experimenting with your imagination is the preparation for an innovative product. For this purpose, companies open Research and Development Departments where they can experiment all they want to before finally giving a product to the end user.   Innovation is a concept which has been studied by managers and analysts time and

Rent Seeking in Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rent Seeking in Economics - Essay Example Upon analyzing the given case scenario, it is clear that rent seeking in economics happens because of the imperfection within the economic and political markets (Pasour, p. 124). It simply means that the presence of political and economic corruption promotes the strengthening of rent-seeking behavior among the local and international business people. On the contrary, the chances wherein the market will be dictated freely by the movements of supply and demand increases in case of the absence of lobbying, bribery, and political corruption. In a free market economy, movements in supply and demand dictate the market prices of goods and services. In the absence of a direct government regulation, sellers will have to encourage the buyers to purchase the products and services they offer to the public by making the market price more attractive. Because of the presence of political and economic corruption, it is not easy to control unfair business practices. It is difficult to abolish the pre sence of rent-seeking behavior because of self-interests among the government officials and the business people within a market economy. In line with this, government officials who have the political power to either grant tax protection or give monopoly right to a large corporation is often tempted to accept irresistible offers or bribes coming from the big-time players in the business world. As a way of earning more money, business people would always grab the chance of becoming protected by the government officials whenever possible. Since the general public is the one who votes for the members of the government officials, rent seeking behavior in economics terms does not always occur as a collective decision-making process but a larger context of public choice. This makes rent-seeking behavior a major public choice problem.  Looking back at the card game experiment our team had in class, the practice of rent seeking behavior is not possible since the experimental case study has dictated all the conditions behind the game. No matter how hard we try to manipulate the game, there is no other way our team could win the contract but luck. In case our team gets lucky enough to be randomly selected by the local government, we win the contract. If not, our team will always have to pay the paper work and legal fees even without winning the license.