10 Silicon Facts (Element Number 14 or Si)

10 Silicon Facts (Element Number 14 or Si) Silicon is element number 14 on the periodic table, with the element symbol Si. Here is a collection of facts about this interesting and useful element: Silicon Fact Sheet Credit for discovering silicon is given to  Swedish chemist Jà ¶ns Jakob Berzelius, who reacted potassium fluorosilicate with potassium to produce amorphous silicon, which he named silicium, a name first proposed by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. The name derives from the Latin words silex or silicis, which mean flint. Its probable English scientist Humphry Davy may have isolated impure silicon in 1808 and  French chemists Joseph L. Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thà ©nard may have produced impure amorphous silicon in 1811. Berzelius is credited for the elements discovery because his sample was purified by repeatedly washing it, while earlier samples were impure.Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson named the element silicon in 1831, keeping part of the name Berzelius had given, but changing the ending of the name to -on because the element showed more similarities to boron and carbon than to the metals that had -ium names.Silicon is a metalloid, which means it has properties of both metals and nonmetals. Like other metalloids, silicon has different forms or allotropes. Amorphous silicon is usually seen as a gray powder, while crystalline silicon is a gray solid with a shiny, metallic appearance. Silicon conducts electricity better than nonmetals, yet not as well as metals. In other words, its a semiconductor. Silicon has a high thermal conductivity and conducts heat well.  Unlike metals, its brittle, and not malleable or ductile. Like carbon, it usually has a valence of 4 (tetravalent), but unlike carbon, silicon can also form five or six bonds.   Silicon is the second most abundant element on Earth by mass, making up over 27% of the crust. Its commonly encountered in silicate minerals, such as quartz and sand, but only rarely occurs as a free element. Its the 8th most abundant element in the universe, found at levels of about 650 parts per million. Its the principal element in a type of meteorite called aerolites.Silicon is needed for plant and animal life. Some aquatic organisms, such as diatoms, use the element to construct their skeletons. Humans need silicon for healthy skin, hair, nails, and bones, and to synthesize the proteins collagen and elastin. Dietary supplementation with silicon may increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.Most silicon is used to produce the alloy ferrosilicon. Its used to produce steel. The element is purified to make semiconductors and other electronics. The compound silicon carbide is an important abrasive. Silicon dioxide is used to make glass. Because silicate minerals are c ommon, silicon oxides form rocks and are used to make glass and ceramics. Like water (and unlike most chemicals), silicon has a higher density as a liquid than as a solid.Natural silicon consists of three stable isotopes: silicon-28, silicon-29, and silicon-30. Silicon-28 is the most abundant, accounting for 92.23% of the natural element. At least twenty radioisotopes are also known, with the most stable being silicon-32, which has a half-life of 170 years.Miners, stone cutters, and people who live in sandy regions may inhale large quantities of silicon compounds and develop a lung disease called silicosis. Exposure to silicon may occur by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, and eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets the legal limit for workplace exposure to silicon to  15  mg/m3  total exposure and 5  mg/m3  respiratory exposure for an 8-hour workday.Silicon is available at extremely high purity. Molten salt electrolysis of silica (silicon dioxide) or other silicon compounds can be used to obtain the element at 99.9% purity for use in semiconductors. The Siemens process is another method used to produce high purity silicon. This is a form of chemical vapor deposition where gaseous trichlorosilane is blown across a pure silicon rod to grow polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) with a purity of 99.9999%.   Silicon Atomic Data Element Name: Silicon Element Symbol: Si Atomic Number: 14 Classification: metalloid (semimetal) Appearance: Hard gray  solid with a silver metallic luster. Atomic Weight: 28.0855 Melting Point:  1414  oC, 1687 K Boiling Point:  3265  oC, 3538 K Electron Configuration:  1s2  2s2  2p6  3s2  3p2 Density: 2.33  g/cm3 (as a solid near room temperature); 2.57 g/cm3 (as a liquid at the melting point) Oxidation States: 4, 3, 2, 1, -1, -2, -3, -4 Electronegativity: 1.90 on the Pauling scale Atomic Radius: 111 pm Crystal Structure: face-centered diamond cubic Heat of Fusion: 50.21 kJ/mol Heat of Vaporization: 383 kJ/mol Reference Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.

great wall of china 61 essays

great wall of china 61 essays There are many things in this world that people consider great. Some of which are people of places and some of which are things. Many years ago seven of these Great and wonderful things were placed into a group known as the, Seven Wonders of the World. These magnificent things include things like the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens, and the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China extends across the northern border of China. It extends to the northwest and north of Beijing. The wall is not just a straight wall, it extends across the mountainous terrain of northern China. At just about every point in the wall it zigzags in a wavy pattern. The wall also has many various heights and sizes in different areas and the path running along the top becomes broader in some areas (CarmenSandiego.com). Despite the various sizes in the wall, Astronauts who venture into space all claim that they could see the Great Wall of China from space while orbiting around the globe. Construction of the wall began in the seventh century BC. When this construction began, the actual goal set forth was not one enormous great wall. Instead each vassal state in the northern part of China, during the Zhou Dynasty, built their own wall across their northern border. The reason for the wall being various sizes is because the wall was not started in one place and constructed along to a final point. Each portion of the wall was not even started at the same time in history. Aside from the different vassal states building walls at different times, the wall being built by the Vassal State was constructed in different pieces. However, it was started at the same time and was designed by the same architect so it came out looking the same. The soul purpose for starting it in different sections was so that the construction was quicker to be completed and there was enough room for the massive amount of builders (Chinavista.com)...

Global strategic Planning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global strategic Planning - Assignment Example McDonald’s outlets are also located on national highways and other prominent roadside locations. McDonald’s set foot on Indian soil by inking a joint venture with two domestic companies; Hardcastle Restaurants Private Ltd. (HRPL) and Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Ltd. (CPRP). HRPL has been awarded a Development Licensee status by McDonald’s and is responsible for spearheading the fast food chain’s business operations in West and South India. Meanwhile, McDonald’s joint venture with CPRP is responsible for developing business in North and East India (McDonald’s.com, 2014). Since its entry 18 years ago, McDonald’s has grown by leaps and bounds in the country. It has fueled its expansion plans by offering franchises to financially robust companies that promise long-term sustainable development of its business. McDonald’s entered India in the mid 1990s. The company ran into rough weather as ingesting beef, one of the key ingredients in McDonald’s burgers, violated the religious beliefs of Hindus. There was an anti-McDonald’s sentiment in the country. McDonald’s was seen as a company that promoted alien culture in India (Kulkarni & Lassar, 2009). The row continued for a long time. A class action lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s alleging that the company deceived Indian consumers by lacing its products with beef (The Times of India, 2001). The fast food chain responded to the local requirements and removed beef from its menu. People were allowed to visit and inspect the company’s kitchen to be sure that there was no beef. Till date, McDonald’s does not offer any pork or beef item in India. The company respects the traditional Indian culture and has separated the procurement, cooking and serving of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items in the country (Newcomb, 2012). McDonald’s

CALIFORNIA HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CALIFORNIA HISTORY - Essay Example The gold rush saw the influx of people into the region, and the Native Americans found they were under pressure in their home. The native populations decreased at an alarming rate due to the destruction of natural resources. In the process of mining gold, water resources were damaged and the fish which the natives fed on died. Other game such as deers which were a source of food also left because of the increasing human population. Under this strain, the native population moved deeper into the forest areas as their numbers diminished. In 1911, however, a man belonging to this tribe emerged from the Mount Lassen region. Since he did not have a name the anthropologists named him Ishi. He was the last man of the Yana tribe. The story of Ishi is fundamental in the history of California since it gives the roots of the people in that region. It has, however, been said that retelling of the story by anthropologists such as Theodora are attempts to elicit sympathy for the Native American pop ulation. The Native American tribes that have since gone extinct are described as ignoble savages. They are believed to have had no art, religion, technology or government that warranted them to be called a culture. They are thought by some people to have been unworthy inhabitants of California region since they did not develop the natural resources of the place. This, in my opinion, is a mistaken view of the Native American. ... Culture takes into account the ability to learn. When Ishi came into contact with civilization, he was able to be integrated. He learnt their behavioural patterns, and started to act like one of them. This shows that these natives had the ability to learn. The only difference is that what he had to learn in his society was different from the things he could learn from the civilized world. Ishi was a man of Stone Age culture but that made him no less of a human being. The customs of the Yana separated males and females. At a tender age they were cared for by their mothers but at the age of ten, the separation was implemented. Boys and girls were then neither allowed to sleep, or play together. The boys left with their fathers or any other male relative so as to learn the necessary skills. This differentiation based on gender roles makes the Yana a society that understood what sex roles meant. This was a vital feature of their culture. The separation of the sexes was to the extent that male and female dialects of the language were different (Kroeber and Kroeber). Life and death was sacred to these people as evidenced by the practices they kept. When someone died, they were burnt and the remains buried under a rock. This marked the grave, and kept the animals away from the bones. This practice of burning the dead is still practiced in today’s society. The reasons are different though for this. They had their own way of acknowledging life and death. They realized the different genders and assigned societal roles along the same lines. Claiming that these people did not have aspects of life that warranted them to be a culture is a mistaken view. Art varies from society to the next. The Yahi community had a different kind of Art

Adversary vs. Civil Law Essay Example for Free

Adversary vs. Civil Law Essay The two legal systems in question are the adversary system, most commonly practiced in the United States, and the civil law system, also referred to as the inquisitorial system, most commonly practiced in European countries. Both systems have the same goal; to find the truth. However, each system has a very different path to justice. The adversarial system implies that two parties assume opposite positions in debating the guilt or innocence of an individual. In this scenario, the judge is required to be neutral at the contest unfolding before him or her. The role of the judge in this arrangement is to ensure the trial proceeds according to the procedural rules of trial or due process of law and that evidence entered is done so accordingly. The basis of this approach in criminal matters in which two sides engage in debate and battle about the guilt or innocence of an accused and since each side wants to win, then the debate will foster a critical look at the issues and the evidence to be examined by both parties. See more:Â  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay By engaging in this discourse, the truth should emerge as the judge watches on. This means that the roles played on both sides are very distinct. The defense counsel as one adversarial party gather the arguments to defend the client and attacks the credibility and worthiness of the evidence presented. The prosecutor puts forth the arguments on behalf of the state and gathers and presents the evidence pointing that the accused has committed an offense. The judge is the referee and arbitrator on issues related to clarifying what the law is. The judge does not intervene on any side except where procedural fairness is jeopardized by either party as dictated by the Sixth Amendment. In an inquisitorial system, a judge is involved in the preparation of evidence along with the police and in how the various parties are to present their case at the trial. The judge questions witnesses in depth and can even call witnesses to appear while prosecution and defense parties can ask follow up questio ns. The judge plays the central role in finding the truth and all the evidence that either proves the innocence or guilt of the accused before the court. The judge takes on the role of prosecutor and judge in the inquisitorial system. Some other major distinctions is that there are no jury trials in an inquisitorial system and a judge can force an accused to make statements and answer questions. This differs dramatically from the common law and adversarial right not to take the stand in ones own defense. In my opinion, I prefer an adversarial system. I think it does a better job of protecting the rights of those accused of crime than does the inquisitorial system. One of the key reasons for this is the use of juries in an adversarial system. In an inquisitorial system, judges determine the facts, and then make their decision. Often a small number of judges would make that decision, and perhaps even just one man. In contrast, a jury is made up of 12 people, not always which allows fo r a broader range of experiences and opinions, which ought to secure more consideration of what has been proved. Another weakness of the inquisitorial system is the role that the judges play. Not only do they act as the judge and the jury, they will often act as prosecutors. This is a huge conflict of interest, and is extremely harmful to the accused. A judge who is also acting as a prosecutor is not going to be unbiased, and will not act as a neutral decision maker. In an adversarial system, however, the prosecutor is separate from the judge, and appears before the judge like any other lawyer. The United State could never use the civil law system because of Constitutional problems. For instance, to avoid putting responsibility for the search of truth in the hands of judicial agents of the state the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to trial by jury but of course civil law countries generally do not use juries except for certain countries in capital cases. Other rights include the right to effective council; to testify on his/her behalf; to compel the testimony of others; to confront accusers; and the right to cross examination. The Fifth Amendment privilege of self-incrimination further limits the powers of the states. Good job identifying multiple c onstitutional problems and pointing out where the protections are found in the Constitution. Case in Point: State of New Mexico v Valdez, 95 N.M 70 (Supreme Ct. of N.M., 1980) underline or italicize case name The defendant in this case, Richard Valdez, had been convicted of armed robbery in a district court. He appealed since a fellow inmate, Richard Garcia, had confessed to the crime in front of his former attorney, Alice Hector, who was a public defender. Also present during the confession was Garcia’s attorney, a public defender under Hector, the district public defender. This attorney warned Garcia that Hector was not his attorney and any statement Garcia made would be used at the defendants trial and could be detrimental to his own interests. Garcia repeated his confession to Hector and indicated his willingness to testify on defendants behalf. Garcia later changed his mind and exercised his Fifth Amendment right refusing to testify. The court upheld an objection to Hect or’s testimony of the confession based on attorney-client privilege. Although Ms. Hector was not directly involved in the representation of Garcia, her staff was, and all information obtained by them was thereby imputed to her.

History of Tuberculosis Essay example -- Medical Biology Disease TB

History of Tuberculosis Abstract This paper discusses the historical aspect of the fatal and contagious disease now known as tuberculosis. It discusses the history of Tuberculosis beginning with Ancient Egyptian mummies to the most current discovery of TB. Greek philosopher such as Hippocrates and Plato observed the first cases of tuberculosis. They are two out of the many people that gradually discovered the TB out of the many. It talks about the different remedies that different philosophers and physicians came about that have been revised. Tuberculosis, also known as â€Å"the white plague,† (The history of tuberculosis 2) is a silent and unknown prehistoric air borne disease that quickly spreads and kills nearly two million people worldwide (Tuberculosis-Revolution). Today, tuberculosis is the most deadly disease known to man, more deadly than HIV/AIDS. Despite advances in treatment, TB is a global pandemic, fueled by the spread of HIV/AIDS, poverty, a lack of health services and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the bacterium (Tuberulosis-revolution Health). However, TB has an unknown past, and in order to understand tuberculosis, one must know its history. Evidence of Mycobacterial infection has been found in the mummified remains of Ancient Egyptians 1000 B.C. The â€Å"Father of Medicine,† Hippocrates (460-377 B.C), made the first breakthrough in TB research. He named the disease â€Å"phthisis,† which means the â€Å"shrinking of the body,† because the majority of the cases he found occurred in the spinal area. However, the majority of the population of that time commonly called the illness, â€Å"Pott’s disease.† Which is tuberculosis of the spine. The Greeks thought that phthisis was a heredity issue, while others though... ...http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/lung/tuberculosis/tubercul osis?section=section_00>. "Defintion: Sputum from Online Medical Dictionary." 1997-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 29 Jul 2007 . "Healthline-Dictionary Search." Healthline-Scofula. 2005-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 23 Jul 2007 . The History of tuberculosis. 2005-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 23 Jul 2007 . â€Å"Tuberculosis." EncyclopÊdia Britannica. 2007. EncyclopÊdia Britannica Online. 29† July†  2007http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-253299. Brief History of tuberculosis." Brief History of TB. 23 Jul 2007 .

The Broken Calabash of the North

The Jos crisis and its dimension have punctured the legal fiction often referred to as ‘One North’ in Nigeria. The idea that the North is one big united and indivisible family with a common identity, shared beliefs and single collective future is not only patently fallacious but is based on a dangerous hypocrisy and make-believe by only a few who are the benefactors of this myth. The one big family (the North) if it ever existed at all, is now a divided house; a broken calabash that cannot be repaired. It is a delusion that would not go away because it suits the interests of both the Muslim North and their deluded counterparts in the Middle Belt who are obsessed with enhancing their bargaining clout within Nigeria’s competitive ethno-regionalism. In reality, it is a dude cheque in political terms; a marriage of convenience that died a long time ago, even though the couple are still going through the motions and self belief that their marriage is still holding. It is crucially important that we come to terms with the honest truth; recognizing our differences and learning how we might live side-by-side in mutual respect and tolerance. The Muslim North has a heritage rooted in the traditions of Jihad and the Caliphate. The Christian Middle Belt has an identity anchored on Christianity and resistance. The peoples of the Middle Belt are what they are today because they were never conquered by Jihad and never subscribed to enslavement by the Caliphate and its feudal powers. The fact that we all speak the Hausa language is neither here nor there. According to the Muslim narrative, Northerners are the heirs to an illustrious heritage rooted in Jihad and the Caliphate. They belong to a global Muslim Ummah in which the Nigerian branch is one of the largest on the African continent. They have had a tradition of learning and rulership that is probably unequalled in the annals of the Western Sudan. The British colonialists subjugated the North in a manner that benefitted Christians and Western imperialist interests, blocking the southward march of Islam. In the light of the global Islamic resurgence, the traditions of Jihad have to be reinvented to meet the needs of the twenty-first century. Western secularism and materialism have shown themselves to be highly discredited. Muslims have had to be vigilant in defending their honour and their values from assault by Western imperialism as represented by the twin evils of Zionism and American neoconservative reaction. Muslims must assert their identity wherever they are. Believing themselves to constitute an overall numerical majority in Nigeria, they do not see why they should not have a free hand to remake the country in their own image after their own thoughts, ideology and way of life. Muslims in Nigeria have always use political power as the trump card that they have to sustain them in political leadership and once in power, they must use that opportunity to defend the Northern Islamic interest, however defined. They see nothing amiss in dominating all strategic government positions from local, state and national levels. Equal status is not accorded Christians with their Muslim counterpart in far Northern States. Churches are barely tolerated and are seen as a menace. Christian preaching is seen as a source of irritation or provocation. The Shari’a law is embraced by the Northern States as a counter to the growing missionary activity of the Church. The Almajiri system is nurtured as a potential army to be deployed when Christians need to be ‘taught a lesson’. And when the ‘lesson’ is being taught, the victim is expected to ‘turn the other cheek’ according to what their holy Book supposedly teaches. And if they choose to retaliate, it is ‘genocide’. In the Middle Belt, Christians see things differently. They believe they have always endeavoured to live in harmony with their Muslim neighbours, although it is doubtful if the Muslims feel the same goodwill towards them. The persecution of Christians and the torching of churches has become an annual ritual in most northern states since the 1980s. Many of these attacks are random in character, mostly unexplained and unprovoked. Even more ominous is the fact that they often occur with the tacit knowledge if not connivance, of some of the most influential elements within the North and in the corridors of power. The Global Jihad The Middle Belt has been at the receiving end of a long Global Jihad for years now. The Islamisation policies of Sardauna which were fiercely resisted by the Middle Belt States have continued to re-surface through various means and approaches employed by the Hausa/Fulani Jihadists. Even today, under the current democratic dispensation, army postings, police postings despite denials in certain quarters, are being reshaped in accordance with the whims and caprices of Northern hegemony. As I write this article, presently in Plateau State, 8 key police officers are Muslims i. ; Police Commissioner, Deputy Police Commissioner, ACP C. I. D, C. S. P. Admin, OC C. I. B, OC MOPOL, OC General Investigation, and STF Commander. One wonders why there will be such kind of postings in a predominantly Christian population and yet in Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Katsina, Sokoto etc such an opposite postings cannot take place. The questionable and controversial roles of people like the former Army Chief, Gene ral Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau and Major-General Saleh Maina, Commanding Officer, 3 Division, on the Jos crisis leaves much to be desired. When the outcry was loud, Major-General Saleh Maina had to be changed. While he served as the GOC of the 3rd Division Nigerian Army Jos, he was in full control of the Special Task Force whom was answerable to him on a daily basis. A new GOC who is a Christian was posted but he was short changed in his responsibilities by the outgoing GOC as the Special Task Force is removed from his desk and a Muslim Commander appointed to give them direction. This maneuvers show that something sinister is happening perpetrated by our so call big brothers from the North. These Northern brothers have certainly shown themselves to be untrustworthy as far as the people of the Plateau and indeed the Middle Belt are concerned. If we were together as a non-divisible North, they would have protected the calamities being witnessed in Jos, Tafawa Balewa and Benue where gross killings have been perpetrated by Muslims of recent. It is also instructive that just before the outbreak of violence in Jos, a mysterious order came from Abuja transferring all Plateau State indigenes serving in the Nigerian Police Force out of the State. With the benefit of hindsight, it has been gathered this was a malicious move to unleash terror on the Plateau people. The attempt to subjugate and humiliate the peoples of the Middle Belt is nothing new. Our northern Pharaohs had always ensured that the region was always marginalised in terms of location of industries, political appointments and development projects. When it comes to representation at the Federal centre, the Middle Belt region always plays second fiddle to the Muslim North in the scheme of things. Today, you are unlikely to find anyone from the Middle Belt holding a senior cabinet position in any important department of government. Even when you find it, these are mere errand officers for the Pharoahs. This is in keeping faith with the clarion call by Sir Ahmadu Bello (The Sardauna of Sokoto) at Nigeria’s independence as quoted In the Parot Newspaper of 12 October 1960 when he said: â€Å"The new nation called Nigeria should be an Estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the Minorities in North as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future†. Northern leaders continue to pay lip-service to the ‘One North’ myth, but we know that their definition does not include us in the Middle Belt. Middle Belt leaders are largely to blame for pandering to this empty, nauseating charade. They have lost the vision bequeathed to us by such heroes as Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, Jolly Tanko Yusuf, Rev. David Lot and Patrick Dokotri. And we have all but forgotten the arduous sacrifices they made so that our people would have a more dignified future. The Broken Calabash Looking at these events, clearly, the so called â€Å"one North† calabash is broken. Instead of trying to mend it, now is the time for the Middle Belt to look toward forging new and alternative strategic alliances that will respect and recognize our identity, strength and abilities. It is an act of foolishness, cowardice and immaturity to continue to persist in the illusion of ‘One North’ when we are getting absolutely nothing out of it. The Middle Belt has enough manpower, land and natural resources to stand the test of time. With our rich and fertile soils, credible leaders and a persistent people, we have all it takes to have a separate identity other than the Northern mythology. What all this boils down to is that we must look elsewhere in seeking the explanatory variables for the persistence of violence and instability in the Middle Belt. We are led, inevitably, to the question of religion and Jihad. The Middle Belt people have borne more than their fair share of sacrifice to keep Nigeria together. In peace as in war, there are few to equal the likes of Yakubu Gowon, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, Domkat Bali, Gibson Sanda Jallo and several others who fought to keep this nation together. Our people are known to be God-fearing, chivalrous, accommodating and patriotic. Those who have married our women have found them to be virtuous and hardworking. We are the heart of Nigeria. This country would not have continued to exist as a corporate entity were it not for the sacrifices made by the Middle Belt people. The antics of the Jihadists have been familiar to us since the days of the Sardauna. Their trademark is deceit. Through the abuse of ‘geopolitical zoning’, they have ensured that whenever any opportunity arises for the North, it will always go to a Northern Muslim. Their definition of the North does not include us. While Christians are the majority in Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Adamawa, they have never ruled those states except for fate that made Kaduna to be governed presently by a Christian. Because of their ‘success’ in subjugating our people, the Jihadists are frustrated that they cannot take over the Plateau or other Middle Belt States through their subtle plans, hence the resort to violence. We are told in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart by Okonkwo that if a man defecates in your compound, the manly thing to do is to take a stick and break his head. If the Jihadists expect people to lie back and relax while they kill rape and maim our women and children, then they must think again. It’s over and cannot be tolerated. One thing that is clear from the continued scenario and hooliganism of the Hausa North is that the Islamic fascists do not cherish human life the way normal people do. While the Christian cherished love, they believe in violence and the rule of fear. Force being the sole language they understand, we must be prepared to give as much as we receive. While the Federal Government which controls the police and the army seems compromised and a lackluster to defend our people in the Middle Belt, we are left with no option than to defend ourselves. And if disproportionate force is what is needed to dissuade the Jihadists, then disproportionate force it must be. We are no longer in doubt about how well we have read the enemy and understood his antics. By now, we know how his mind works and how he operates – his terror antics, the mischief, the surprise nature of his life and tricks are all but clear to us. Of course, violence cannot be said to be the ultimate. The Bible urges us to seek peace and to pursue it. Muslims, too, are children of God. None of us enjoys taking the life of any child of God. But there is a time for war and a time for peace (Eccl. 3: 3, 5, 8). God the Son is a God of love; but the God of Joshua and Aaron is also a flaming fire. There comes a time when you must stop praying and act; when you must defend your family, your children, and your land. Such, alas, are the times in which we live. The Jihadists always have somewhere else to go to; we have nowhere to go, hemmed in as we are in the geometrical centre of the Nigerian Federation. With all manner of imported arms and mercenaries arrayed against us, and with military chieftains who leave us in no doubt as to where they stand, it is Jehovah nissi alone that will defend us. And if some of us should fall, the Angel of the Lord will fight for us. Our children will rush forth to meet the enemy at the gates with horns and trumpets of victory.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Six

Cautiously, Matt felt along the path with his foot until he found grass, then inched his way onto it, holding his hands out in front of him until he was touching the rough bark of a tree. There probably weren't too many people hanging around outside the main campus gate, but he'd just as soon have no one see him, blindfolded, dressed in his weddings-and-funerals suit and tie, and looking, he was sure, like an idiot. On the other hand, he did want whoever was coming to get him to be able to spot him. It would be better to look like an idiot out in the open now and become part of the Vitale Society than to hide and spend the rest of the night blindfolded in the bushes. Matt inched his way back toward where he thought the gate must be and stumbled. Waving his hands, he managed to catch his balance again. He suddenly wished he had told someone where he was going. What if somebody other than the Vitale Society had left him the note? What if this was a plan to get him on his own, some kind of trap? Matt ran his finger beneath his sweaty too-tight col ar. After al the weird things that had happened to him in the last year, he couldn't help being paranoid. If he vanished now, his friends would never know what had happened to him. He thought of Elena's laughing blue eyes, her clear, searching gaze. She would miss him if he disappeared, he knew, even if she had never loved him the way he wanted her to. Bonnie's laugh would lose its carefree note if Matt were gone, and Meredith would become more tense and fierce, push herself harder. He mattered to them. The Vitale Society's invitation was clear, though: tel no one. If he wanted to get in the game, he had to play by their rules. Matt understood rules. Without warning, someone – two someones – grabbed his arms, one on each side. Instinctively, Matt struggled, and he heard a grunt of exasperation from the person on his right. â€Å"Fortis aeturnus,† hissed the person on his left like a password, his breath warm on Matt's ear. Matt stopped fighting. That was the slogan on the letter from the Vitale Society, wasn't it? It was Latin, he was pretty sure. He wished he'd taken the time to find out what it meant. He let the people holding his arms guide him across the grass and onto the road. â€Å"Step up,† the one on his left whispered, and Matt moved forward careful y, climbing into what seemed to be the back of a van. Firm hands pushed his head down to keep him from banging it on the van's roof, and Matt was reminded of that terrible time this past summer when he'd been arrested, accused of attacking Caroline. The cops had pushed his head down just like that when they put him handcuffed into the back of the squad car. His stomach sank with remembered dread, but he shook it off. The Guardians had erased everyone's memories of Caroline's false accusations, just as they'd changed everything else. The hands guided him to a seat and strapped a seat belt around him. There seemed to be people sitting on each side of him, and Matt opened his mouth to speak – to say what, he didn't know. â€Å"Be stil ,† the mysterious voice whispered, and Matt closed his mouth obediently. He strained his eyes to see something past the blindfold, even a hint of light and shadow, but everything was dark. Footsteps clattered across the floor of the van; then the doors slammed, and the engine started up. Matt sat back. He tried to keep track of the turns the van took but lost count of the rights and lefts after a few minutes and instead just sat quietly, waiting to see what would happen next. After about fifteen minutes, the van came to a halt. The people on either side of Matt sat up straighter, and he tensed, too. He heard the front doors open and close and then footsteps come around the van before the back doors opened. â€Å"Remain silent,† the voice that spoke to him earlier ordered. â€Å"You wil be guided toward the next stage of your journey.† The person next to Matt brushed against him as he rose, and Matt heard him stumble on what sounded like gravel underfoot as he was led away. He listened alertly, but, once that person had left, Matt heard only the nervous shifting of the other people seated in the van. He jumped when hands took his arms once more. Somehow they'd snuck up on him again; he hadn't heard a thing. The hands helped him out of the van, then guided him across what felt like a sidewalk or courtyard, where his shoes thudded against first gravel, then pavement. His guides continued to lead him up a series of stairs, through some kind of hal way, then back down again. Matt counted three flights down before he was stopped again. â€Å"Wait here,† the voice said, and then his guides stepped away. Matt tried to figure out where he was. He could hear people, probably his companions from the van, shifting quietly, but no one spoke. Judging by the echoes their little motions produced, they were in a large space: a gym? a basement? Probably a basement, after al those stairs down. From behind him came the quiet click of a door closing. â€Å"You may now remove your blindfolds,† a new voice, deep and confident, said. Matt untied his blindfold and looked around, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light. It was a faint, indirect light, which supported his basement theory, but if this was a basement, it was the fanciest one he'd ever seen. The room was huge, stretching into dimness at its other end, and the floor and wal s were paneled in a dark, heavy wood. Arches and pil ars supported the ceiling at intervals, and there were some kinds of carvings on them: the clever, twisted face of what might be a sprite leered at him from a pil ar; the figure of a running deer spanned one archway. Red-velvet-seated chairs and heavy wooden tables lined the wal s. Matt and the others were facing a great central archway, topped by a large ornate letter V made of different kinds of glittering, highly polished metals elaborately welded together. Below the V ran the same motto that had appeared on the letter: fortis aeturnus. Glancing at the people near him, Matt saw that he wasn't the only one feeling confused and apprehensive. There were maybe fifteen other people standing there, and they seemed like they came from different classes: there was no way that tal , stooping guy with the ful beard was a freshman. A smal , round-faced girl with short ringlets of brown hair caught Matt's eye. She raised her eyebrows at him, widening her mouth in an exaggerated expression of bewilderment. Matt grinned back at her, his spirits lightening. He shifted closer to her and had just opened his mouth to whisper an introduction when he was interrupted. â€Å"Welcome,† said the deep, authoritative voice that had instructed them to take off their blindfolds, and a young man stepped up to the central archway, directly below the huge V. Behind him came a circle of others, seemingly a mix of guys and girls, al clothed in black and wearing masks. The effect ought to have been over the top, Matt thought, but instead the masked figures seemed mysterious and aloof, and he suppressed a shiver. The guy beneath the arch was the only one not wearing a mask. He was a bit shorter than the silent figures around him, with curly dark hair, and he smiled warmly as he stretched out his hands toward Matt and the others. â€Å"Welcome,† he said again, â€Å"to a secret. You may have heard rumors of the Vitale Society, the oldest and most il ustrious organization of Dalcrest. This is a society often spoken of in whispers, but about which no one knows the truth. No one except its members. I am Ethan Crane, the current president of the Vitale Society, and I'm delighted that you have accepted our invitation.† He paused and looked around. â€Å"You have been invited to pledge because you are the best of the best. Each of you has different strengths.† He gestured to the tal , bearded guy Matt had noticed. â€Å"Stuart Covington here is the most bril iant scientific mind of the senior class, perhaps one of the most promising ones in the country. His articles on biogenetics have already been published in numerous journals.† Ethan walked into the crowd and stopped next to Matt. This close up, Matt could see that Ethan's eyes were an almost golden hazel, ful of warmth. â€Å"Matt Honeycutt enters Dalcrest as a starting player on the footbal team after leading his high school to the state championship last year. He could have had his choice of col ege footbal programs, and he chose to come to Dalcrest.† Matt ducked his head modestly, and Ethan squeezed his shoulder before walking on to stop next to the cute round-faced girl. â€Å"Junior Chloe Pascal is, as those of you who attended last year's campus art show know, the most talented artist on campus. Her dynamic, exciting sculptures have won her the Gershner Award for two years running.† He patted Chloe on the arm as she blushed. Ethan went on, passing from one member of their little group to another, listing accomplishments. Matt was only half listening as he looked around at the rapt expressions on the faces of the other candidates, but he got the impression of a wide range of talents, and that this was indeed a gathering of the best of the best, an assembly of campus achievers. He seemed to be the only freshman. He felt like Ethan had lit a glowing candle inside him: he, Matt, who had been the least special of his group of friends, was being singled out. â€Å"As you can see,† Ethan said, circling back to the front of the group, â€Å"each of you has different skil s. Brains, creativity, athleticism, the ability to lead others. These qualities, when brought together, can make you the most elite and powerful group, not only on campus, but throughout life. The Vitale Society is an organization with a long history, and once you are a member of the society, you are one for life. Forever.† He held up one finger in caution, his face serious. â€Å"However, this meeting is but the first step on the road to becoming a Vitale. And it is a difficult road.† He smiled at them again. â€Å"I believe – we believe – that al of you have what it takes to become a Vitale. You would not have been invited to pledge if we did not think you were worthy.† Matt straightened his shoulders and held his head high. Least remarkable member of his group of friends or not, he'd saved the world – or at least his hometown – more than once. Even if he'd just been one of a team then, he was pretty sure he could handle whatever the Vitale Society could throw at him. Ethan smiled directly at him. â€Å"If you are prepared to pledge the Vitale Society, to keep our secrets and earn our trust, step forward now.† Without hesitating, Matt stepped forward. Chloe and the bearded guy – Stuart – stepped with him and, looking around, Matt saw that every one of the pledges had moved forward together. Ethan came toward Matt and took hold of the lapel of his suit. â€Å"There,† he said, quickly pinning something on it and letting Matt go. â€Å"Wear this at al times, but discreetly. You must keep your involvement with the society secret. You wil be contacted. Congratulations.† He gave Matt a brief, genuine smile, and moved on to Chloe, saying the same thing to her. Matt turned his lapel up and looked at the tiny dark blue V that Ethan had pinned to it. He'd never thought much before about fraternities, or secret societies, or any kind of organization that wasn't a sports team. But this, being the only freshman the legendary Vitale Society wanted, was different. They saw something in him, something special.

Analysis of The New Singles essays

Analysis of The New Singles essays The article that will be evaluated in this particular essay is taken from Newsweeks Society and Arts (dating August 14,2000), which is titled as The New Singles and it is written by Carla Power in cooperation with Antonia Francis, in Paris and Stefan Theil, in Berlin. As it can be understood from the title it is about the people in Europe, who prefer living alone. Throughout the article, different lifestyles and different choices of people, who are living alone, are reflected. While doing that, the reasons and the outcomes of living alone are given with some additional information including, statistics and research results. The article shows that there is a certain shift away from family life to solo lifestyle. Day after day more and more people decide to live alone. Reasons are various. Personal ones are; to have an independent and colorful life, to have an own place in which one can find peace and solitude, to escape from a routine family life, social ones are; the revolution in the field of communications, the shift from a stable business culture to a mobile one, increasing rates of working women... Consequently, these reasons direct people to live alone. According to sociologist Jean-Cloude Kaufmann whose ideas take palace in the article, the home-alone phenomenon is irresistible momentum of individualism. And also, a research made by Richard Scace reveals that in the year of 2010, the number of single person households will be more than the number of families and couples who are living together. This may be as a consequence of broken families, relationships that come to an end, and a search for a self determined life. The outcomes of home-alone phenomenon are also discussed in the article. For instance, people who sought freedom or need solitude are more apt to drink alcohol and as it is mentioned in the article over the past five years, these people became the mainsta...

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle The Golden Triangle is an area covering 367,000 square miles in Southeast Asia where a significant portion of the world’s opium has been produced since the beginning of the twentieth century. This area is centered around the meeting point of the borders that separate Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. The Golden Triangle’s mountainous terrain and distance from major urban centers make it an ideal location for illicit poppy cultivation and transnational opium smuggling.   Until the end of the 20th century, the Golden Triangle was the world’s largest producer of opium and heroin, with Myanmar being the single highest-producing country. Since 1991, the Golden Triangle’s opium production has been outpaced by the Golden Crescent, which refers to an area that traverses the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.   A Brief History of Opium in Southeast Asia Although opium poppies appear to be native to Southeast Asia, the practice of using opium recreationally was introduced to China and Southeast Asia by Dutch traders in the early 18th century. European traders also introduced the practice of smoking opium and tobacco using pipes.   Soon after the introduction of recreational opium consumption to Asia, Britain replaced the Netherlands as China’s primary European trade partner. According to historians, China became the primary target of British opium traders for financial reasons. In the 18th century, there was high demand in Britain for Chinese and other Asian goods, but there was little demand for British goods in China. This imbalance forced British merchants to pay for Chinese goods in hard currency rather than British goods. In order to make up for this loss of cash, British merchants introduced opium to China with the hope that high rates of opium addiction would generate large amounts of cash for them. In response to this strategy, Chinese rulers outlawed opium for non-medicinal use, and in 1799, Emperor Kia King banned opium and poppy cultivation completely. Nonetheless, British smugglers continued to bring opium into China and the surrounding areas. Following the British victories against China in the Opium Wars in 1842 and 1860, China was forced to legalize opium. This foothold allowed British traders to expand the opium trade to Lower Burma when British forces began to arrive there in 1852. In 1878, after knowledge of the negative effects of opium consumption had thoroughly circulated throughout the British Empire, British Parliament passed the Opium Act, prohibiting all British subjects, including those in Lower Burma, from consuming or producing opium. Nonetheless, illegal opium trade and consumption continued to take place. The Birth of the Golden Triangle In 1886, the British Empire expanded to include Upper Burma, where the modern Kachin and Shan states of Myanmar are located. Nestled in rugged highlands, the populations that inhabited Upper Burma lived relatively beyond the control of British authorities. Despite British efforts to retain a monopoly on the opium trade and regulate its consumption, opium production and smuggling took root in these rugged highlands and fueled much of the region’s economic activity.   In Lower Burma, on the other hand, British efforts to secure a monopoly on opium production succeeded by the 1940s. Similarly, France retained similar control over opium production in the lowland regions of its colonies in Laos and Vietnam. Nonetheless, the mountainous regions surrounding the convergence point of the Burma, Thailand, and Laos borders continued to play a major role in the global opium economy. The Role of the United States Following Burma’s independence in 1948, several ethnic separatist and political militia groups emerged and became embroiled in conflict with the newly formed central government. At the same time, the United States actively sought to forge local alliances in Asia in its effort to contain the spread of communism. In exchange for access and protection during anti-communist operations along China’s southern border, the United States supplied arms, ammunition and air transport for the sale and production of opium to insurgent groups in Burma and ethnic minority groups in Thailand and Laos. This led to a surge in the availability of heroin from the Golden Triangle in the United States and established opium as a major source of funding for separatist groups in the region. During the American war in Vietnam, the CIA trained and armed a militia of ethnic Hmong people in northern Laos to wage an unofficial war against northern Vietnamese and Lao communists. Initially, this war disrupted the economy of the Hmong community, which was dominated by opium cash-cropping. However, this economy was soon stabilized by the CIA-backed militia under Hmong general Vang Pao, who was given access to his own aircraft and permission to continue opium smuggling by his American case handlers, preserving the Hmongs’ access to heroin markets in southern Vietnam and elsewhere. Opium trade continues to be a major feature of Hmong communities in the Golden Triangle as well as in the United States. Khun Sa: King of the Golden Triangle By the 1960s, several rebel groups based in northern Burma, Thailand, and Laos supported their operations through the illegal opium trade, including a faction of the Kuomintang (KMT), which had been expelled from China by the Communist Party. The KMT funded its operations by expanding the opium trade in the region.   Khun Sa, born in Chan Chi-fu in 1934 to a Chinese father and Shan mother, was an uneducated  youth in the Burmese countryside who formed his own gang in the Shan State and sought to break into the opium business. He partnered with the Burmese government, which armed Chan and his gang, essentially outsourcing them to fight the KMT and Shan nationalist militias in the region. In exchange for fighting as the Burmese government’s proxy in the Golden Triangle, Chan was permitted to continue trading opium. However, over time, Chan grew friendlier with Shan separatists, which aggravated the Burmese government, and in 1969, he was imprisoned. Upon his release five years later, he adopted the Shan name Khun Sa and devoted himself, at least nominally, to the cause of Shan separatism. His Shan nationalism and success in drug production garnered the support of many Shan, and by the 1980s, Khun Sa had amassed an army of over 20,000 soldiers, which he dubbed the Mok Tai Army, and established a semi-autonomous fiefdom in the hills of the Golden Triangle near the town of Baan Hin Taek. It is estimated that at this point, Khun Sa controlled over half of the opium in the Golden Triangle, which in turn constituted half of the world’s opium and 45% of the opium that came to the United States. Khun Sa was described by historian Alfred McCoy as â€Å"the only Shan warlord who ran a truly professional smuggling organization capable of transporting large quantities of opium.† Khun Sa was also notorious for his affinity for media attention, and he frequently played host to foreign journalists in his semi-autonomous narco-state. In a 1977 interview 1977 with the now-defunct Bangkok World, he called himself the â€Å"King of the Golden Triangle.† Until the 1990s, Khun Sa and his army ran an international opium operation with impunity. However, in 1994, his empire collapsed due to attacks from the rival United Wa State Army and from the Myanmar Armed Forces. Furthermore, a faction of the Mok Tai Army abandoned Khun Sa and formed the Shan State National Army, declaring that Khun Sa’s Shan nationalism was merely a front for his opium business. To avoid punishment by the government upon his impending capture, Khun Sa surrendered on the condition that he be protected from extradition to the US, which had a $2 million bounty on his head. It is reported that Khun Sa also received a concession from the Burmese government to operate a ruby mine and a transport company, which allowed him to live out the rest of his life in luxury in Burmas main city, Yangon. He died in 2007 at the age of 74. Khun Sa’s Legacy: Narco-development Myanmar expert Bertil Lintner claims that Khun Sa was, in reality, an illiterate frontman for an organization dominated by ethnic Chinese from Yunnan Province and that this organization still operates in the Golden Triangle today. Opium production in the Golden Triangle continues to fund the military operations of several other separatist groups. The largest of these groups is the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a force of over 20,000 troops nestled in the semi-autonomous Wa Special Region. The UWSA is reported to be the largest drug-producing organization in Southeast Asia. The UWSA, along with the  Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in neighboring Kokang Special Region, have also expanded their drug enterprises to the production of methamphetamine known in the region as yaa baa, which is easier and cheaper to manufacture than heroin.   Like Khun Sa, the leaders of these narco-militias can be seen as both business entrepreneurs, community developers, as well as agents of the Myanmar government. Nearly everyone in the Wa and Kokang regions is involved in the drug trade in some capacity, which supports the argument that drugs are an essential component of the development of these regions, offering an alternative to poverty.   Criminologist Ko-Lin Chin writes that the reason why a political solution to drug production in the Golden Triangle has been so elusive is because â€Å"the difference between a state-builder and drug kingpin, between benevolence and greed, and between public funds and personal wealth† have become difficult to delineate. In a context in which conventional agriculture and local business is stunted by conflict and in which competition between the United States and China deter long-term successful development interventions, drug production and smuggling have become these communities’ path toward development. Throughout the Wa and Kokang special regions, drug profits have been funneled into road construction, hotels, and casino towns, giving rise to what Bertil Lintner calls â€Å"narco-development.† Towns such as Mong La attract over 500,000 Chinese vice tourists every year, who come to this mountainous region of the Shan State to gamble, eat endangered animal speci es and partake in the seedy nightlife.    Statelessness in the Golden Triangle Since 1984, conflict in Myanmar’s ethnic minority states has driven approximately 150,000 Burmese refugees across the border into Thailand, where they have been living in nine UN-recognized refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. These refugees have no legal right to employment in Thailand, and according to Thai law, undocumented Burmese found outside of the camps are subject to arrest and deportation. The provision of temporary shelter in the camps by the Thai Government has remained unchanged over the years, and limited access to higher education, livelihoods and other opportunities for refugees has raised alarm within the UN High Commission for Refugees that many refugees will resort to negative coping mechanisms for survival. Hundreds of thousands of members of Thailand’s indigenous â€Å"hill tribes† constitute another major stateless population in the Golden Triangle. Their statelessness renders them ineligible for state services, including formal education and the right to work legally, leading to a situation in which the average hill tribe member makes less than $1 per day. This poverty leaves hill tribe people vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers, who recruit poor women and children by promising them jobs in northern Thai cities such as Chiang Mai. Today, one in three sex workers in Chiang Mai comes from a hill tribe family. Girls as young as eight years old are confined to brothels where they may be forced to service up to 20 men per day, putting them at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Older girls are often sold overseas, where they are stripped of their documentation and left powerless to escape. Although the government of Thailand has enacted progressive laws to combat human trafficking, the lack of citizenship of these hill tribes leaves this population at disproportionately elevated risk of exploitation. Human rights groups such as The Thailand Project assert that education for the hill tribes is the key to solving the human trafficking issue in the Golden Triangle.

Marketing Principles for Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Principles for Business - Coursework Example Marketers ought to take a bold approach in their attempt to understand the external environment of the business and the PESTEL model emerges as the most comprehensive approach to the external environment. PESTEL is a mnemonic that denotes Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental aspects of the external environment. This framework helps marketers in checking and keeping track with the external environment when planning to execute a given strategy. As much as the external environment is not under the control of a business, it is possible to tailor the marketing approach to suit the prevailing economic factors (Koumparoulis, 2013, p.32). The categorization of the external environment aspects by the PESTEL model is ideal since it aligns the environmental assessment to the strategy of the business. The political factors of the external environment concern the possibility of the economy or industry to be influenced by the state government. The government can intervene through trade tariffs, tax policies, and restrictions to trade, environmental regulations, labor regulations and fiscal policies. For instance, the imposition of a new tax may have the effect of changing an entire revenues generating unit of a business (Koumparoulis, 2013, p.33). These interventions are intended to protect either the consumers or the businesses. For instance, the Sherman Act (1890) serves to inhibit firms in U.S. to restricting trade through the creation of cartels and monopolies. To that end, marketers need to anticipate and respond effectively to political factors by adjusting the marketing policy in an appropriate manner. The economic factors significantly influenced the manner in which a business is conducted and its profitability. Economic factors include exchange rates, interest rates, and patterns of economic growth, inflation rate and the disposable income of the consumers. For instance, an increase in

International Mass Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International Mass Communications - Assignment Example Money, Power, and Wall Street tells an epic story of the 2008 financial crisis presented in nonfictional motion pictures by the US media. According to Khan (2012), the first part of the documentary narrates how a group of young bankers, from Wall Street, who revolutionized the banking sector. They came up with the credit default swap, a complicated derivative, which initially aimed at managing risk and stabilizing the financial system (Gay, 2012). This system was to ensure loaning out of capital instead of reserving it. Use of this system, they believed, would spread risk around in a very innovative way. Adoption and efficient use of this system enabled banks to pull the credit default system successfully. 14 years later, the rise of this financial engineering that ensured credit default trades were tied to the mortgage loans brought the American economy down. According to the article Money, Power and Wall Street Part One and Two (2012), the country experienced the most horrible economic crisis in 80 years. The 2008 financial crisis and the resulting recession had adverse effects on the global economy as it cost the whole world trillion of dollars (Murray, 2011). Since America is the epitome of the world economy, the crisis affected the whole world and became a matter of global concern. The issue was reported by both non-American and American media, which influenced the perspective of the public towards the crisis. The incident gives a clear picture of the role played by the media in international issues in shaping the global public’s view on a given matter. CNN among other major media sources reported the crisis widely and kept on bringing developments including America’s foreign policy in response to the crisis. It could be said that there was the CNN effect. CNN effect is where communication technology is used to evoke responses from the public on issues (Robinson, 1999). Though American media sources were the major