Hollywood Science & Disaster Cinema Essay Example for Free

Hollywood Science Disaster Cinema Essay To some extent, all fiction attempts to bend factual truths in the service of the narrative. In some cases, this is done for purposes of pure function, such as heightening the stakes of narrative or preventing the dramatic momentum from grinding to a complete halt. In other cases, it is done to express a particular authorial viewpoint – perhaps a political perspective or an observation about society – which is more often than not, contingent on the thematic integrity of the narrative. In the case of cinematic fiction, Hollywood has always had a special affinity for a liberal interpretation of the truth. In the 90s disaster classic, Armageddon, screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh and J. J. Abrams presuppose that it is impossible to communicate drilling experience to well-trained astronauts in order to justify sending up an oil rig crew with no astronautical experience to save the world by dropping hydrogen bombs into a geologic mass the size of Texas – which is roughly analogous to trying to split an apple with a needle. The 2003 film, The Core operates from a complete non-premise in which an inactive magnetic field puts Earth at risk from incineration by space-based microwaves – which more accurately, pose no threat and are affected little by magnetic forces let alone the Earth’s magnetic field. One could say that Hollywood does not merely bend the truth. Rather, truth is made to stretch, contort and mold itself into incredulous shapes as if it were so much Play-Doh. The film The Day After Tomorrow, which had been marketed heavily as an ostensibly cautionary tale about the potential perils of climate change, is certainly no exception to this Hollywood tradition. Directed by German-born Roland Emmerich, the apocalypse porn auteur of such films as Independence Day and Godzilla decides to unleash his cathartic urges on a larger, planetary scale (with New York remaining his primary canvas of destruction). The Day After Tomorrow focuses on one paleoclimatologist – an eight-syllable term for ‘guy who studies prehistoric weather conditions’ – and his futile attempts to convince world leaders of the disastrous implications of climate change. While many of the scientific premises he puts forth are true, it is when they reach their tipping point and send the Earth into an Ice Age far sooner than he had predicted that the film enters the realm of fantasy. At the very least, The Day After Tomorrow does the honorable thing to scientists and tries not to make them look like idiots to viewers who know a thing or two about science. Jack Hall, the aforementioned paleoclimatologist played by Dennis Quaid, maintains a coherent view of science that is above par for most Hollywood scientists. He articulates the film’s core premise, which is that melting polar ice will have a negative effect on the Gulf Stream that will severely disrupt the natural thermal flows causing severe weather changes. However, he projects that this will happen over the course of decades or centuries. Therefore, the mechanics of climate change articulated by Hall are sound. (Duke University, 2004; McKibben, 2004) It is the rate at which climate change occurs within the film that is unrealistic, as well as the near-mystical forecasting abilities of Hall’s computer simulations. The notion that no one other than Hall can transplant present day meteorological data, as gathered by his colleague Terry Rapson, played by Ian Holm, and his co-workers at the Hedland Climate Center, into a paleoclimatological scenario is utterly discombobulating, as if to suggest they are the only experts who could foresee this. To screenwriters’ Jerry Rachmanoff and Roland Emmerich credit, they remain fully aware of the level to which they have exaggerated these matters. The climate tipping point sends the Global North into a series of weather disasters: Tornados wreak havoc on the Hollywood sign (as if to foreshadow the film’s ultimate rejection of a Hollywood ending solution), hurricanes sending automobiles flying all over Los Angeles, and sub-zero temperatures freezing airborne helicopters over Scotland. All the while, the hero-scientists, such as hurricane specialist Janet Tokada, point out plainly how nigh-impossible this accelerated pace of disaster is. It’s almost as if their secondary role was to remind viewers that these are all the exaggerations of fictional conceit. Unlike The Core, The Day After Tomorrow does not disrespect the professional integrity of the science professions by presenting a fabricated non-problem. Furthermore, The Day After Tomorrow does not propose that blue-collar derring do, when equipped with enough magical high technology can combine to form the â€Å"silver bullet† solutions which undo everything. However, by presenting the climate change problem on such incredulous terms, The Day After Tomorrow risks undermining the very message it is attempting to get across, despite the fact that it has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director telling a dismissive Vice President who vaguely resembles Dick Cheney, that if policy makers â€Å"had listened to the scientists, you would have had a different policy to begin with! † While popular culture may have a limited influence on policy making, it most definitely affects popular perceptions of key issues such as nuclear weaponry and bioterrorism. (Schollmeyer, 2005) The filmmakers of The Day After Tomorrow have often stated that one of their goals to draw increased attention and spur greater action towards addressing the threats of climate change. However, because many scientists on both sides of the climate change debate have taken issue with the scientific accuracy of the events depicted in the film, it risks muddying this goal further. This means that The Day After Tomorrow’s lack of scientific accuracy makes it easier for climate change skeptics to continue to dismiss the threat of climate change by suggesting that the film is built on the foundations of propagandist and alarmist science, while the climate change Cassandras will remains Cassandras as they become forced to debunk a film that represents their own concerns. REFERENCES McKibben, B. (2004, May 4) â€Å"The Big Picture. † Grist. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008 from: http://www. grist. org/comments/soapbox/2004/05/04/mckibben-climate/ Duke University (2004, May 13). â€Å"Disaster Flick Exaggerates Speed Of Ice Age. † ScienceDaily. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008, from: http://www. sciencedaily. com ¬ /releases/2004/05/040512044611. htm Schollmeyer, J. (2005, May-June) â€Å"Lights, camera, Armageddon. † Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, volume 61. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008 from: http://www. illinoiswaters. net/heartland/phpBB2/viewtopic. php? t=9007

Dell Incorporated :: essays research papers

The computer industry has benefited from the explosion of home computer usage and has become one of the most competitive industries in the world. With technology growing at amazing paces, many of the computer companies have fallen behind and even out of the industry since the development of the computer. Only the strongest companies have been able to be profitable and efficient. Dell Inc. is one of the few corporations to be able to remain at the top of the market. Dell began as the vision of Michael Dell. The company began in 1984 with a simple business concept to build computers to order and to sell directly to customers. Dell has a history of achieving double-digit increases in annual sales. To maintain this growth, Dell is faced with many challenges in maintaining it’s distinctive capabilities and using objective analysis to ascertain it’s strength’s, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. â€Å"Dell's vision is to work closely with our development partners to provide 100% perceived availability to the application environment.† "Dell's mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve.† In doing so, Dell will meet customer expectations of: highest quality, leading technology, competitive pricing, financial stability, and individual and company accountability. From the nine essential components of a mission statement, Dell’s mission statement includes: products or services, markets, technology, and concern for survival, growth, and profitability. The most important value to Dell is to satisfy their customers and the second most important value is to be profitable. Dell has three distinctive capabilities which consist of: 1) selling products directly to consumer’s which eliminates the markups of resellers 2) build products as they are order, which eliminates overstocked products and 3) having the ability to respond quickly to customers who experience problems with their products.

Personal Theory Paper

Personality Theory Paper Sherry Richards PSYCH 504 April 8, 2013 Shawn Davis Ph. D. Personality Theory Paper The film Rudy is about a young man from a blue-collar family who wants to play football for Notre Dame, with less than stellar grades, and no money for college Rudy goes to work at the steel mill where his father works. Then things all changed when his best friend was killed in an explosion, Rudy decides to follow his dream. That dream of attending Notre Dame and playing on the football team of the Fighting Irish. He fails to get admitted after leaving for the campus of Notre Dame.He obtains the assistance and sponsorship from a local priest and starts at a small junior college called Holy Cross College; this is to get grades good enough to allow for a transfer so he hopes. After befriending a graduate student and the teaching assistant at the junior college D-Bob, they strike a deal that Rudy will help him meet girls in exchange for the toutoring that he will provided. D-Bob has Rudy tested and find out that dyslexia which was a big part of the learning issues and Rudy then learns how to overcome this disability and becomes a better student.Rudy continues to bomb out with setting up D-Bob until a girl set him up with Elsa. At Christmas when Rudy goes home, the family mocks him and his ambition to get into the college and play football. Once back at school when finally receives the approval for the transfer to Notre Dame, from the junior college, he runs home to tell the family. His father tells everyone via the loudspeaker at the steel mill. Rudy goes to the stadium groundskeeper and offers to work at no charge after not accepted into the college. Since Rudy has no other place, he utilizes the office cot.By using the window to come and go until the groundskeeper realizes this and eventually comes around to liking Rudy and even gives him his own key, Rudy returns once he is accepted into Notre Dame on the last semester transfer. Even though he walks on t he field as a non-scholarship player for the team, the coach tells Rudy that even the scholarship players will not make the dress roster of the players who are on the field during the football games. One thing that the coach notices is that Rudy has more drive than many of the other members of the team that are there on scholarship.Coach Parseghian agrees to allow Rudy to dress for one home game, as it is senior year, so his family and friends can see him on the team. There was a change in coaches and then Rudy was not on the roster for the next to last game so he quit the team. The groundskeeper whose name is Fortune tells Rudy that he will regret it as he will never have the chance again. Therefore, this convinces him to return to the team. The team captain and a senior stand up for Rudy and request that Rudy be allowed to dress for the final game and many say that he can wear their number, as they will not play so he can.The result is the final game that is at home when he will b e allowed to play. Rudy gets to lead the team out of the tunnel and onto the field and he gets onto the official roster of the Notre Dame Football team. Rudy is in for the final play, he tackles the other teams quarterback, and the team carries him off the field on their shoulders. Karen Horney psychoanalytical social theory believes that the childhood experiences are the biggest social and cultural conditions that shape the personality. In this situation, I feel that Rudy would be neurotic search for glory. He is determined to be on the team and be on the field.This to me is a dream yes, but also wanting to search for pride and glory. Horney stressed culture and that it cannot be ignored when working with people. According to the western culture as she saw it that the society demand for success and achievement are almost endless so that normal people have new, additional goals put to them all the time and that with hard work and effort with no regard to the social position, competi tiveness of others or genetics. She believes that childhood is where the majority of the neurotic problems come from. And that without the genuine warmth and affection there are debilitating personal problems.The drive that Rudy shows according to her is due to a neurosis, just because he wants this does not mean that he was not treated right as a child it is a dream and he ended up making it real. Abraham Maslow suggested a hierarchy of needs that illustrate a process of attaining self-actuation through fulfillment of a succession of needs from basic psychobiological needs to important psychological needs (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). The sixteen-personality factor model developed by Cattell, was developed utilizing the work of previous scientists in the field. The esire to have descriptors of low range and high range which then gave the primary factor. The primary factors for Rudy I believe would be social boldness as he wants what he wants and works to find a way to get in the high r ange and high side of self-reliance. He wants to play for the Notre Dame team in his senior year. He with the help of his sponsor start out in a junior college and make it to the college he wishes to be at, then he works to overcome obstacles which are his size and weight to be on the team. He through help of other teammates gets into the last home game of the season and has several accomplishments.The first he leads the team onto the field at the beginning of the game so that his friends and family see him in the Notre Dame uniform, then he sacks the quarterback in the last play of the game and the teammates carry him off the field on their shoulders in celebration. The factors that drive Rudy I feel is the dream he seeks to make real and he does that regardless of obstacles that are there for him, such as poor academics, height, and weight. Works Cited Bohart, D. A. (2013, March 16). Legal, Ethical, and professional Issues in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. Retrieved from academ yprojects. org: http://www. cademyprojects. org/alternatives. htm Cervone, & Pervin. (2010). Personality: Theory and research (11th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. DeSouse, A. (2011). Freudian theory and consciousness: A concptual analysis. Brain, Mind and Consciousness: An International, Interdisciplinary Perspective, 210-217. helpguide. (2013, March 25). phobias and fears: symptoms, treatment, and self-help. Retrieved from helpguide. org: www. helpguide. org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment. htm Institute of Medicine (US). (2006). Committee on Assessing Interactions Among Social, Behavior, and genetic Factors in Health. Washingtonm D. C. , US.

Relativist Morality Is Unfair Discuss

Relativist Morality is unfair discuss Relativist morality could be seen as unfair, when looked at closely and seen from critics’ point of view it becomes clear that it is easy to question perhaps because of its weakness as a moral system. The weakness could somewhat be perceived as making Relativist morality unfair. A relativist cannot pass judgement but yet to be true to their name ‘relativist’ they would be practising ‘do not pass judgement’ thus they are preaching to others that they should not do something in order for others to follow relativism. This concludes that relativism is self – refuting because a concept of relativism has been broken in order to follow it. This could be seen as unfair because to put relativist morality into practice would involve relativists telling an individual what to do, regarding personal idea raises the question ‘ if being relativist means you are able to break a rule you live by, then it is not fair in terms of my attitudes to ethical understanding. However it could be said that it’s not unfair as its one thing that relativists ask people to do in order to consider living from a relativist’s point of view. In real life relativism would be extremely hard to live by in all situations, and again the idea of unfairness can be applied. If for example a relativist lived in a society that refuses to punish an individual that kills a child, then they are entitled to not like this as it is their opinion but but  they are not obliged to judge the abusers actions as unjust. It is apparent that killing a child is unjust and wrong but yet a relativist has no right to declare the murderer as guilty of wrongdoing, this rise a question ‘If we are certain that murder of a child is wrong, then how can relativism exists? ’ How can it be fair to not be able to label something seen as cruel , as unjust and thus wrong how can it be possible to not see this as unjust? And how is this fair on the victim? That their death was in fact not wrong and not unjust because the actions were committed subject to the perpetrator’s moral understanding of what is right and good or because their society claims that this is right and good. Relativists see no universal absolutes so nothing is universally bad or is it universally good thus this means that blame and praise would become nonexistent because praise comes from doing something good but without good this would be virtually impossible because good would not be judged and therefore it could not be praised in a moral sense. This again could be seen s unfair because it could an act of kindness but yet there is no absolute good in the act for example helping an elderly person with their shopping this is neither seen as good or bad and therefore no praise could come of doing what is believed to be good. Relativists can’t make charges of unfairness, despite what they may feel personally, say the relativist thought that it was unfair for Nazi Germany to slaughter many Jews , but Germany thought these actions to be correct because it is relative to their society then Germanys would say they were being fair and thus must the Relativist. Many individuals will question this because these people that were slaughtered were innocent but yet a relativist would have see these acts as fair, it does not seem fair to have an opinion that these acts were unfair but have to agree that they were fair. How is this view fair for the millions of innocent Jews that were slaughtered?. There would be no prison if moral relativism was to be put into practise because if there is not universal good or bad, then no law would be in place because nobody can decipher the truth thus punishment would be nonexistent because there is no need for anybody to be punished if no one has the right to pass judgement on whether their actions are right or wrong and the reason for imprisonment is because someone has committed crime thus there is no reason for prison to exists however then how would society function, in a recognizable fair way for example the idea of shoplifting this would not be controlled neither would happenings such as rape. This would not be fair because individuals could hurt or steal because it was their moral understanding of good etc so harm would not be seen as bad and neither would theft and the country would therefore not be able to run because people would live how they pleased subject to their moral understanding. This type of life for people would not be fair with no guidelines people would be free do what they like causing pain to other psychically and emotionally and this would not be fair. In conclusion it can be said that relativist morality would not be fair because of the complications it would have when followed correctly and how difficult it would be followed properly. It would cause many problems in reality that would not be fair on individuals.

Signs, Symbols and Portents Essay Example

Signs, Symbols and Portents Essay Example Signs, Symbols and Portents Essay Signs, Symbols and Portents Essay Essay Topic: Literature Signs and symbols can be seen in all kinds of literature. Simply put, they are a concrete representation of an abstract concept. What they represent is not always obvious: they can have one or several meanings, and their meaning can change throughout the story. Sometimes, they are used by the author to foreshadow an event. Interpreting signs and symbols can be a challenge for a reader, but it is a rewarding one: it makes for a more profound and interesting reading. In this essay, I will discuss the role of signs and symbols in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter was first published in 1850. It is set in Boston, in the 17th century. It is the story of a woman, Hester Prynne, who has been punished by society because of her adultery. She has been forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest as a reminder of the sin she has committed. This scarlet letter, a written sign, is the novels main subject: it is also its main symbol. Charles Feidelson writes: The symbolistic method is inherent in the subject, just as the subject of symbolism is inherent in the method (Feidelson 1953: 13). Hawthorne also uses the main characters as symbols, pointing out the ways in which the scarlet letter affects them. Hester Prynne is condemned to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her life because she has given birth to a child, Pearl, who is not her husbands. The fact that she has been punished in such a way tells us much about Puritan society: people were generally very pious and prude, and adultery was considered to be a great sin (Durst Johnson 1995). Hester could easily have fled from Boston and thrown away her scarlet letter, but she chooses to stay put and serve her punishment. The red A represents her sin, but it also symbolises the features of human nature that are not socially acceptable in Puritan America, such as passion (Feidelson 1953, Durst Johnson 1995). By continuing to wear it, even when she is told that she is allowed to take it off, she is making a statement. She is showing that she does not intend to change, and that she believes that the society around her should change, instead. She makes no excuses for her behaviour and devotes herself to humanitarian work. Eventually, people see her under a different light: the red A that they used to associate with something devilish acquires a much more positive meaning. Hester is now seen as an Angel, or as Able. Soon after her condemnation, Hester embroiders the scarlet letter with golden thread. Doing so could mean two things: either she is mocking her punishment, or she could be trying to embellish the truth. She does not want to accept her passionate nature. This is very Puritanistic of her: the 19th century was the Age of the Euphemism (Durst Johnson 1995: ix) in America. People did not die, they passed away; a man was not drunk, he was unwell. Though Hester appears to accept her punishment, it can sometimes becomes a hard cross to bear. Hester herself is a symbol: she represents human nature. She is passionate, not infallible, and acknowledges it. At the same time, the way she has been raised has shaped her personality. It sometimes keeps her from fully embracing the aspects of her character that society finds objectionable. Nevertheless, her punishment has made her stronger, and more understanding of humanity. Her charitable work is a proof of this. Hester is a survivor. Dimmesdale, Pearls father, is a young minister in the community. The red A on Hesters chest could stand for Arthur, his first name. He also has a scarlet letter on his heart, a psychosomatic mark (Feidelson 1953: 11), but refuses to acknowledge it. He is a pious man who believes that there should be no room in his life for passion, but his scarlet letter is a permanent reminder that he cannot escape this trait of his personality. The letter tortures him, and he constantly seeks to punish himself. His health deteriorates throughout the novel. He refuses to acknowledge Pearl as his daughter until the very end, and when he does, he proclaims himself to be the one sinner of the world (Hawthorne 2002). He dies minutes after having shown his scarlet letter to the world. Dimmesdale is a symbol of Puritan society and its unwillingness to accept all aspects of human nature. Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdales daughter, has a symbolic role until the very end of the novel. She is an uncontrollable and mischievous child, and she is described as an demon offspring by the narrator. Comparisons between Pearl and the scarlet letter are numerous and obvious. Feidelson writes: Pearl, as Hawthorne reiterates at tiresome length, is the scarlet letter both physically and mentally (1953: 11). Pearl is obsessed with her mothers scarlet letter. In Chapter XV, she makes a green A out of eelgrass and puts it on her own chest. To Pearl, the letter is natural, and does not represent anything evil. She seeks the truth about it, and is constantly asking her mother questions, something that makes Hester uncomfortable. She is also the hardest truth-sayer in the novel (Durst Johnson 1995: 6), and knows the truth about Dimmesdale instinctively. Until he confesses to being her father, she calls him Mr. Black and refuses to kiss him. Throughout the novel, there is an intense connection between Pearl and truth. This indicates that the scarlet letter, which is symbolised by Pearl, represents the whole truth about human nature. Hawthorne writes: Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred! (Hawthorne 2002: 269). By using the scarlet letter and his characters as symbols, Hawthorne is urging people to acknowledge every aspect of their own humanity (Durst Johnson 1995). Moby-Dick was published in 1851. Its author, Herman Melville, dedicated the novel to Nathaniel Hawthorne, who he admired greatly. In his tale of a whaling expedition gone wrong, Melville makes extensive use of signs and symbols. Ishmael, a member of the ships crew and the storys narrator, is a visionary (Feidelson 1953). He transforms the physical world into a symbolic world for the reader. The symbols used in Moby-Dick are most often more complex and ambiguous than the ones used in The Scarlet Letter. One of the major symbols in Moby-Dick is the whaling ship, the Pequod. It has been painted black, and is decorated with bones and teeth that have dissected out of dead whales. In addition to this, it has been named after an extinct Native American tribe. Though Ishmael seems to be very satisfied with the Pequod, the way he describes it makes it sound spooky. The Pequods appearance symbolises death, and its name makes the reader realise that the ship is doomed to sink. Ishmael says of the ship that it is a cannibal of a craft (Melville 1998: 61): much of the components of the ship are taken from whale parts, and it is a ship whose main purpose is killing whales. He is pointing out how men use nature for their own ends, and have no moral qualms about using a whale to kill another whale. The crew of the Pequod is made up of a variety of people from all over the world. Ishmael notes that most of the crew is made up of men who were born outside of America, but that the officer positions are generally occupied by Americans. He says: the native American liberally provides the brain, the rest of the world generously supplying the muscles (Melville 1998: 106). Melville could be commenting on social class differences between Whites and Blacks in the United States, or even on slavery. Though Ishmael seems to believe that the rest of the world is generously providing the muscles, it is probably fair to speculate that many of them would rather be given the chance to use their brains. Moby-Dick was published just ten years before the American Civil War broke out, and racial issues were extremely relevant. In spite of all this, the members of the crew seem to be getting along, and work well as a team. This could represent the American melting pot: people from every corner of the world having come to build a country and pulling together to make it happen. Melville had great hopes for American democracy, and this is one of the reasons why he wrote Moby-Dick (Selby 1998). Ahab, the ships captain, embodies an extreme version of a classic American type: the monomaniac, who has only one interest and devotes all his energy to it (Brodhead 1986). He dedicates his ship and his whole crew to his own personal mission: killing the great white whale, Moby Dick. He does not care whether lives are lost in the process, and he rules his ship like a tyrannical dictator would. D. H. Lawrence said of the sinking of the Pequod that it was the sinking of the white American soul (Selby 1998). By making Ahabs plan fail, Melville is showing the public what can happen when a monomaniac type such as Ahab goes too far. Moby Dick is central in Melvilles novel. It is a white whale of an extraordinary size: it is the most solid of physical things and the most meaningful of symbols (Feidelson 1953: 184). Moby Dick means something different to every character in the novel. To Starbuck, the first mate, it is just another whale, though a very dangerous one. He is irritated at the vendetta Ahab has against it, and wishes that the crew could work on its true mission, which is to hunt whales for their oil. Ishmael is fascinated by the whale, and terrified by its whiteness, as white is the visible absence of color, and at the same time the concrete of all colors (Melville 1998: 175). Ishmael does not know whether the whale is just a meaningless big fish colorless or a mystical being full of complex meanings, at once good and evil. To the rest of the crew, tales about the white whale are a diversion from their dangerous jobs, and a way to confront their own fears. Finally, to Ahab, it is the ultimate symbol of evil in this world. Moby Dick is the reason why he has lost a leg, and he is determined to seek revenge. D. H. Lawrence has suggested that the white whale could be some kind of a phallic symbol (Selby 1998). The whale has such strength and power that Ahabs desire to kill the whale could be a quest for acquiring absolute potency (Brodhead 1986). Ahab never succeeds in killing Moby Dick: instead, it is Moby Dick that sinks the ship. It is the revenge of nature over men, who keep trying to destroy it. After discussing the role of symbols and signs in The Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick, I must agree with Nick Selby, who writes that symbolism, and the loose romanticism upon which it depends, is the key expressive tool of the American Renaissance' (1998: 55). There is more symbolism in these two literary works than in any other works I have studied this year. The symbols are rich in meaning and are given great importance. Spending time to interpret them is essential to a proper understanding of the text.

Raptorex - Facts and Figures

Raptorex - Facts and Figures Name: Raptorex (Greek for thief king); pronounced RAP-toe-rex Habitat: Woodlands of central Asia Historical Period: Early Cretaceous (130 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 150 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; stunted hands and arms About Raptorex Discovered in inner Mongolia by the famous paleontologist Paul Sereno, Raptorex lived about 60 million years before its more famous descendant Tyrannosaurus Rexbut this dinosaur already had the basic tyrannosaur body plan (big head, powerful legs, stunted arms), albeit in a diminutive package of only 150 pounds or so. (Based on an analysis of its bones, the sole specimen of Raptorex appears to have been a full-grown adult six years of age). Analogizing from other early tyrannosaurslike the Asian DilongRaptorex may have been covered with feathers, though as yet theres no definitive proof for this. A recent study of Raptorexs type fossil has cast some doubt on the conclusions reached by Sereno. Another team of paleontologists claims that the sediments Raptorex was found in have been dated incorrectly, and that this dinosaur was actually a juvenile of the late Cretaceous tyrannosaur Tarbosaurus! (The giveaway is that the fossil of a prehistoric fish uncovered alongside Raptorex was misidentified, and it fact belonged to a genus that plied the rivers of Mongolia during the late rather than early Cretaceous period.)

Philosophy of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy of Law - Essay Example In this context, principles can be interpreted differently, under the influence of the personal perceptions of the individual involved, while no such option is available in the case of rules (Raitio 294). The differentiation between rules and principles is made clear when referring to their use by judges. Indeed, in such case, as Dworkin states, rules apply ‘in all or nothing fashion’ (Culver 144), meaning that a rule can either be applied in a specific case or not, there is no intermediate status (Culver 144). On the contrary, principles, even if judges use them, do not oblige the judge involved to take a specific decision. For this reason, Dworkin notes that principles only ‘contribute in judges’ decision’ (Culver 144); principles cannot define the content of a court decision just to influence the reasoning of the judge in regard to the case involved (Culver 144); also, the judge decides whether he will use a principle, and at what level, when devel oping a decision. Peczenik (2009) refers to another differentiation of rules and principles, as described by Dworkin. Rules and principles are based on different criteria of validity. ... This means that principles cannot introduce ideas or set obligations, which are differentiated to the beliefs of individuals, at an average level, in regard to law and ethics. Also, principles cannot introduce ideas, which are in opposition with the statutes or the case law, as developed in the country involved (Peczenik 246). In legal rules, the existence of the above conditions is not examined. It is sufficient for a legal rule to have been verified by a competent institution, as explained above, in order to be considered as valid. The above terms of differentiation between rules and principles have been introduced by Dworkin and are valuable for understanding the conditions under which rules and principles are used in practice. The potential use of the view of Dworkin on rules and principles for explaining the decision of the court in the case Riggs v Palmer is examined in the study of Siltala (2000). According to the above researcher, the case Riggs v Palmer sets a critical dilem ma: when, in the context of a case, a conflict is developed between a rule and a principle, which should be the decision of judge? He should uphold the rule or use the principle for developing a decision in regard to the specific case? In such cases, Dworkin ‘used to redefine the normative conflict’ (Siltala 46); in this way, ‘the weight of the two principles’ (Siltala 46) should be taken into consideration for deciding which of these principles should be preferred. The differences between legal rules and principles, as Dworkin has highlighted these differences, are clear in the case of Riggs v Palmer (1889). More specifically: in the above case, the following dilemma appears: