Paradise Lost Essay Example for Free

Paradise Lost Essay Paradise Lost is a poem by John Milton that is about the Fall of Man, how Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent who is Satan, and how God sent them out of the garden. Satan makes the angels turn against God leading to his expulsion out of paradise as well. God’s mercy, the son of God and the ultimate salvation and redemption are brought out in this epic poem. The poem is a series of arguments that were an expression of the characters in the poem. On further reading the poem, one understands that these poems are an expression of what Milton holds as the truth. He employs the use of analogies are digression to explain his belief with Satan considered a hero. Puritans were the extreme Protestants who were within the Church of England who held a strong belief that the Reformation did not make enough changes in the teachings and structure of the church. Puritans therefore found it upon themselves to purify their church by doing away with whatever they regarded as Catholic influence. They are extremely strict especially with regard to morality and religious matters. Puritans hold strong convictions regarding various aspects on the Biblical teachings. First, that personal salvation was from God alone. Secondly, that the Bible is the Bible was the true guide to life. Thirdly, that the way a church lives should be in accordance with what the scriptures say and finally that the society was unified as one. This paper will explain how the poem Paradise Lost is a reflection of John Milton’s Puritan beliefs. Milton discusses topics like the reality of evil, divine providence and the unification of the human race as one. As mentioned above, these are the strong convictions of Puritans. Paradise Lost is seen to be Milton’s expression of his Puritan belief which is mainly truth and purity despite the decadence of the society. In Book V, Abdiel, who was confronted by Satan refused to rebel against God and jealously guarded his faithfulness to God. The poem begins with a civil war in heaven. Here, Lucifer was exiled out of heaven after revolting against God. Together with Beelzebub, they form an alliance. This is a reflection of the civil war that happened in England with the puritans characterized as Lucifer and England as God. The Puritans had tried to take over England the same way Lucifer tried to overthrow God. Many Puritans were killed. Milton was excommunicated from the society just like Lucifer was sent away from heaven. Conclusion  Milton argues in his poem that just as God is not to blame for the fall of man, neither was Milton to take blame for the corruption and subsequent trials that were faced in England at the time of Oliver Cromwell. That the failure of Puritanism was as a result of the people not accepting God’s will in the ruler ship of England. The conclusion of the poem is based on Milton’s belief that absolute obedience to God will lead to order and sanity in the society and the world at large. According to John Milton, Paradise Lost is a parallel to the civil wars in England and the English Reformation that led to the emergence of the Puritans.

The First World War (WWI) :: World War 1 I One

World War 1 World War 1 was called â€Å"The Great War†, â€Å"The war to end all wars†, and â€Å"The first modern war†. It had many causes and a few repercussions and I will describe them in detail. The most widely known reason for the start of World War1 was the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinad of Austria-Hungary in the Serbian capital of Sarajevo. The ArchDuke was there to talk to the Serbian leaders about peace in the Balkan Peninsula. After a Serbian was arrested for the assassination Austria-Hungary pulled out of the peace talks and declared war on Serbia. Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary also declared war on Serbia. Russia who was allied with Serbia had to declare war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. When Germany invaded France and Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War 1 had begun. As the German Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg said, â€Å"Once the dice are cast nothing can stop them.† Indeed once the dice were cast on World War 1 nothing stopped them until 22 million people had died. Besides the assassination of the archduke there were four other reasons for the start of WW1. 1. Militarism- the building of large armies. All the nations in Europe at that time were engaged in what today could only be called an arms race. As soon as one nation built a new weapon, all the others followed suit. 2. Alliance System- The building of alliances to strengthen the borders of a country. In theses alliances if one country went to war all the other countries in the alliance were forced to go to war also. 3. Imperialism- The practice of colonizing other lands by large European nations. 4.Nationalism- The feeling of Patriotism in a country that makes it compete with all other counties in the area in all areas. In my opinion WW1 was an unnecessary global conflict in which 22 million people needlessly lost their lives. I think that this conflict could have be prevented or stopped in 2 ways. One if the Serbian leaders had more closely guarded the car that carried Archduke Ferdinad. If the assassin had not been able to get near the car perhaps the

Obamacare: a Threat to America

President Barack Obama has been written into the history books for becoming the first African American president of the United States. The president plans on changing history again by bringing universal health care into the United States, which has won him much popularity among Democratic voters. President Obama’s speeches are adored by his fans but raise many red flags for the majority of America. Major concerns Americans have with President Obama’s two proposed health-care bills are that health-care options will no longer be available, the real cost of Obamacare, and small businesses.As many Americans believe Presidents Obama’s health-care plan is what the United States has needed for decades, considering he did get elected, his polices will prove to be a bane for the United States. The main concern for many Americans about the Obama’s Health-Care plan is the fact that they will lose the freedom to choose. Choosing health-care benefits, doctors, and high -deductable coverage is important to every insured American citizen, so why would Obama change that?In his speeches, Obama has promised Americans that they will be able to keep their existing health-care coverage but the proposed bills tell a different story. Both bills necessitate that Americans buy approved plans that have a number of universal benefits or face penalties. Even with a five year grace period given to big employers to convert to the new plans, there will be no options if the bills are passed. Choosing what benefits are included in one’s health-care plan often times saves money that could put food on the table for a struggling family.Several states have already imposed a list of required benefits for health-care plans; everyone from â€Å"chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors† competes to be included on lists of required benefits (Tully). This competition is one reason health-care costs continue to rise. A few of the mandated benefits of the bills in clude coverage for prescription drugs, substance-abuse services, mental-health services, as well as insuring â€Å"children† until they reach 26 years of age. Before the bills are finalized, the Department of Health and Human Services will hire â€Å"experts† to complete he list (Tully). Thus, nobody will know exactly what this standardized list of benefits will include until the bills are passed. For some Americans, choosing their doctors is very important. Whatever the reason, some people feel more comfortable around certain doctors than others. Why would Obama take away such a simple freedom? With passing of the bills, Americans will be assigned primary care physicians who then will assign patients to specialists, if needed. It is up to the â€Å"gate-keeper† which specialist the patients sees and when.Of course, the choice is to be made on which route is the most â€Å"cost-effective† (Tully). The situation only gets worse when primary care physicians deny patients care, and still get paid. Another freedom Obama’s Health-Care bills will strip from Americans is the choice of high-deductable coverage. Currently about 5 million Americans take advantage of Health Savings Accounts (HSA) offered by their employers (Tully). These work when an employee puts money into the account, requiring the employer to make an equivalent deposit.Employees use Health Savings Accounts to pay for high-deductable coverage plans which, in turn, they use to cover several-thousand dollar medical bills. With high-deductable plans, patients are to cover regular doctor visits themselves; HSAs help cover these bills as well. The proposed bills cause great concern to HSA participants for the simple fact that they will no longer be able to choose a plan with â€Å"stripped† benefits. To rub salt on an open wound, John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis says, â€Å"The government could set extremely low deductibles that would elimin ate HSAs..And they could do it after the bills are passed. † Mandating minimum benefit packages will only drive up medical costs for those who now rely on HSAs to cover medical expenses, ending â€Å"consumer-driven† care (Tully). By eliminating money coming in from independent consumers instead of big insurance companies, the proposed bills will snuff out any type of market health-care now has. Another major concern for Americans about Obamacare is a topic President Obama would rather not mention: cost.According to the Congressional Budget Office, the price tag of the bill coming from the Senate Health Committee would be approximately $1 trillion spanning ten years, and that would only cover a small portion of uninsured Americans. Even worse, the Congressional Budget Office estimates another bill from the Senate Finance Committee at over $1. 6 trillion (Reich). These numbers come at the worst possible time when the United States deficit has reached an all-time high at over $14 trillion as of January (Sahadi).This begs the question, how does Obama expect to pay for these tremendous bills? The answer: Obama plans to raise taxes. Though Medicare cuts and increased taxes will pay for much of the immediate â€Å"overhaul,† according to the proposed bills, the first sign federal tax credits will not be seen until 2013. Only eligible small businesses, up to 25 employees, can receive very limited tax credits up to 35% towards employee health coverage, which Obama hopes will persuade small businesses to offer employee health-care plans (Fox News).But in reality, the cuts affects only one-third of small businesses, leaving the nearly rest of America to get insurance through their big business employer or buy it themselves (Danner). The United States is less than $300 billion away from our debt ceiling, what would another $1 trillion in debt do to our country? Experts predict â€Å"crippling† results. Even in the best case scenario, the value of U. S. bonds and currency would be destroyed. If the U. S. did default, markets around the world would see the effects (Sahadi). If the U. S. overnment is about to lose the ability to pay its own bills, why is the president trying to reform health-care knowing it will add to the already outstanding debt? Small business are another key concern for Americans as President Obama is pushing harder than ever for his proposed health bills. In his campaign Obama ensured Americans that his bills will include benefits for small business, however that is not the case. Looking closely, the proposed tax credits for small businesses will put each small business through a series of tests to decide whether it is eligible for the credit and how much they could receive.With less than one-third of small businesses fully eligible under the restrictions, President Obama’s Health-Care plan will leave Americans with few options when it comes to health-care. Even more, the president neglects to me ntion is that his tax credits for small business are only temporary, six years at the most (Danner). After the credits run out, small businesses will be forced to pay full price for employee health costs, driving up the cost of business dramatically.Businesses that cannot afford the full price tag of employee coverage and newly imposed taxes will have no choice but go out of business. Small businesses created 64% of all new jobs in the last 15 years; the idea of unemployment taking another dramatic rise caused by the closing of numerous small businesses is something the current economy of the United States cannot handle (SBA. gov). There is no doubt Americans like President Obama but when a record number of Americans lose their jobs because of his bills, what will Americans think of him then?There is no doubt President Obama is an excellent speaker but his way with words hides truths that Americans need to know. Now that these truths have leaked out to the public, Americans are conc erned about many different aspects of the president’s proposed bills. Understand, the idea of every American citizen having health insurance sounds great to everybody, but at what cost? Major concerns of American citizens are that health-care options will no longer be available, the real cost of Obamacare, and small businesses.President Obama’s promise that Americans could keep their current plans has been proven bogus, he has neglected to mention the tremendous costs of his proposed health-care bills, and these bills could irreversibly damage the American economy; is Obama the change that America was searching for? As his 2,000 page documents conceal the truths behind his proposed ideas, President Obama’s health-care plan has proven itself to be yet another bane that could very possibly be placed on top the United States’ already weighted shoulders.

Using Geographical Information Systems ( Gis ) - 2691 Words

In the literature, there is a wide use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the appropriate siting of various projects from urban planning, to the more focused of locating suitable sites for renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and a hybrid of the two combined. The site suitability for these renewable technologies requires economic and environmental criteria to be met for the appropriate placement, so that the public or local authorities do not contest the renewable energy systems. Each criteria for site suitability gets turned into a map layer in the GIS, and then overlaid to see which areas are not suitable, and which areas meet the criteria, therefore being a potential location to be sited. Certain methods take this†¦show more content†¦This GIS system has also a significant amount of features and is becoming more widely spread, and Sanchez-Lozano et al (2013) states it can do just as much as paid software. Therefore from the literature it seems beneficia l to use an open source GIS system, as it is a viable option due to being easily accessible. GIS, is a software system in which data is often imported, and Janke (2010) states that potentially unrelated data can be combined into something of meaning, and Aydin, Kentel Duzgun (2013) claims that GIS with its spatial analysis capabilities can overcome site selection problems. Teguo et al (2010), states that GIS in recent years has become much more popular as a tool for the appropriate site selection of a various number of projects and disciplines. These other projects for site selection using GIS with a decision support system, is the appropriate sitting of landfill (Åžener et al, 2010), road network route planning within a city (Sadeghi-Niaraki et al, 2011), and a decision support system for planning of urban infrastructures (Coutinho-Rodrigues, Simà £o Antunes, 2011). Therefore these examples from the literature show that the use of GIS for locating suitable sites does not have to only be for renewable energy technologies, but they can be adapted for various situations. Huck, Whyatt Coulton (2014) use GIS in unique way for site suitability, by using a Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), which allows the storage and analysis of spatial