Reactions and Reflections Essay Example for Free

Reactions and Reflections Essay The author Don Berry in his book Moontrap offers a rich history of the plight of mountain men as they are pushed to the edge of their freedom, and left with nowhere else to go. This story is compared to the moonlight on water, which eludes any traps, then fades eternally – like the mountain men whose freedom cannot anymore be returned to them. The book offers opportunity to reflect on how society value and respect the lives of people like the mountain men, and it recalls the sad narrative of their fate. It tells the story of coping and rediscoveries, of how a mountain man would always have that spirit and passion for the wild. The book recounts the history of the 1800s Northwest, in a rich and compelling narrative. Synopsis (Setting and Plot) The story is set in the year 1850 in the territories of Oregon as it is being taken over by the civilized world. The book Moontrap introduces two characters, John Monday, also known as Jaybird, and Webster W. Webster, or Webb as his acquaintances and friends call him. As with the past writing of Don Berry, the two characters are men from the mountains. The story focuses on the life of Jaybird, who longs to be stable and settle as a farmer. He stakes a claim in a land located across Oregon City, in the town of Willamette. As he was beginning to adjust to the life as a farmer, as he was starting to think that perhaps he has the chance to live a life that is normal, Webb comes into the picture. Webb like the typical mountain man came along with an old horse, from a life along the edges of society, ignoring and not having a care for the civilized life, enjoying the offers of nature in the mountains. Webb reintroduces Jaybird in a series of adventures, which eventually ushers a rediscovery of his character and true self. As Jaybird has nearly adjusted to his new life as a farmer, he met a common-law wife Mary, a Shoshone Indian, with whom he conceived a child. When he went to the judge of the town to have the child registered, the judge refused and instead wrote ‘bastard’. This was a clear proof and startling realization how men like the judge who has power and control, and filed with bigotry and disdain, can refuse the life and contentment of people like Jaybird. He then realizes that being a mountain man is something that is eternal; a mountain man would always be a mountain man. The author Don Berry asks the sincere yet poignant question of what is left for mountain men if they have reached the last of the frontiers. Since Oregon has already fallen into the grasps of civilization, with only the great ocean beyond, what are left for mountain men to do? The freedom that the mountain men enjoyed in their seemingly endless ventures have come to cease, and the civilization would forever crush the hope of attaining such same freedom. This message and reality was compared to how the reflections of the moon cannot be forever kept alive in the water, cannot be trapped, just as freedom can eternally be gone when it finally fades. Reactions and Reflections The point for reflection for the book is rich and clear. The author vividly recalls the struggles and eventual disappearance of the lives of mountain men, who relishes the life in the wild and in the mountains. But it was a life that would not last as they had been pushed to the edge of their land by the conquerors who invades in the name of civilization. The story is fascinating yet heartbreaking for it is how cultures and passions die and fade. The spirit of the mountain men died, because the waves of civilization have already swept through the last frontier – Oregon. Based on history, it recalls how the men of the mountains, how the old ways and old traditions has been cast aside as necessarily outcome of adopting the civilized ways. During the mid-1800s, the final vestiges of freedom of the mountain men, which is Oregon, has finally fallen into the hands of the civilized, and the price is clear and non-negotiable. Freedom for the mountain men, who lives at the edge and ignores the confines of the law, is necessary to be forgotten, for the civilized world frowns at their ways. Although the story weaved from the imaginations of the author, it rings true of what occurred in the old America. It is not only mountain men, but also natives and Indians who have gradually lost the freedom in order to give way to progress. The story recalls the unforgiving people in power whose imposition of civilization comes with bigotry and discrimination. The book is a powerful remembrance of the historical struggles of mountain men who no longer exists as they were slowly eliminated by the dictates of civilization. The history of the American Pacific Northwest is indeed field with richness, and has endless stories to tell. This is what makes the book interesting, for it provides a fascinating mixture of reflections and historical recollections. The author recounts how the white populations has taken over the land, and put an end to the lives and culture of the natives living in it. Although whether this imposition of civilization is good or bad is arguable, what is definite perhaps is that there were lost spirits as the lands of the Northwest was taken over. And this is indeed true in history. The book teaches the value of being faithful to your history and to where you come from. Even as Jaybird decides to escape from the life of a mountain man and start anew, his past always confronts him, and he discovers that at the end of the day, the civilization that he chose over his old ways would ultimately be the one to reject him. A mountain man would always be a mountain man. There is no shame in being at home in outside the limits of the civilized world and there is no wrong in relishing nature and the mountains. What is in fact sad is how this life has been forgotten by the society as we have been taken over by the technological advancements that frown on the lives of them mountain men. The author also gives the constant reminder that once upon a time, there were natives that roamed across the American land, who lived the life that was filled with carefree and freedom. This was a life that was given up, voluntary or otherwise, but deserves to be recalled and remembered. Don Berry constantly reminds us that we must not turn our backs on the people that once was, and he tells the world that the civilization that we are relishing now was not for free, it came at a very high price indeed. Reference Berry, Don. (1973). Moontrap. USA: Ballantine Books.

Cryogenics And The Future :: essays research papers

Cryogenics and the Future Cryogenics is a study that is of great importance to the human race and has been a major project for engineers for the last 100 years. Cryogenics, which is derived from the Greek word kryos meaning "Icy Cold," is the study of matter at low temperatures. However low is not even the right word for the temperatures involved in cryogenics, seeing as the highest temperature dealt with in cryogenics is 100 (C (-148 (F) and the lowest temperature used, is the unattainable temperature -273.15 (C (-459.67 (F). Also, when speaking of cryogenics, the terms Celsius and Fahrenheit are rarely used. Instead scientists use a different measurement called the Kelvin (K). The Kelvin scale for Cryogenics goes from 173 K to a fraction of a Kelvin above absolute zero. There are also two main sciences used in cryogenics, and they are Superconductivity and Superfluidity. Cryogenics first came about in 1877, when a Swiss Physicist named Rasul Pictet and a French Engineer named Louis P. Cailletet liquefied oxygen for the first time. Cailletet created liquid oxygen in his lab using a process known as adiabatic expansion, which is a "thermodynamic process in which the temperature of a gas is expanded without adding or extracting heat from the gas or the surrounding system"(Vance 26). At the same time Pictet used the "Joule-Thompson Effect," a thermodynamic process that states that the "temperature of a fluid is reduced in a process involving expansion below a certain temperature and pressure"(McClintock 4). After Cailletet and Pictet, a third method, known as cascading, was developed by Karol S. Olszewski and Zygmut von Wroblewski in Poland. At this point in history Oxygen was now able to be liquefied at 90 K, then soon after liquid Nitrogen was obtained at 77 K, and because of these advancements scientist all over the world began competing in a race to lower the temperature of matter to Absolute Zero (0 K) [Vance, 1-10]. Then in 1898, James DeWar mad a major advance when he succeeded in liquifying hydrogen at 20 K. The reason this advance was so spectacular was that at 20 K hydrogen is also boiling, and this presented a very difficult handling and storage problem. DeWar solved this problem by inventing a double- walled storage container known as the DeWar flask, which could contain and hold the liquid hydrogen for a few days. However, at this time scientists realized that if they were going to make any more advances they would have to have better holding containers. So, scientists came up with insulation techniques that we still use today.

Taxation Issues

Rental income is generally regarded as a non-business source of income which is assessed under Section 4(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ITA. In the case where rent is a section 4(d) source, rent from each property is treated as a separate source of income. However, as a concession, in computing the adjusted income from rent, the properties of the person can be grouped into the following categories: †¢residential properties, †¢commercial properties, and †¢vacant land The date of commencement of renting is on the first day the property is rented out.In the event a rental loss occurs, it becomes a permanent loss because it cannot be set off against other income sources or even other rental income sources. The loss also cannot be carried forward to the subsequent year of assessment. No capital allowance is given for the premise or assets provided to earn the rent. However, expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in earning the rental income are deductible against the rent al income. This includes the replacement or repair or maintenance cost related to the premise and other assets used to earn the rent.Furthermore, rental income can also be assessed as Section 4 (a) Business Income under certain situations. This is evident in The case of Per Lord Diplock in the American Leaf Blending Co Sdn Bhd v DGIR (1950-1985) MTSC 28 ( Privy Council ) is the issue of whether rent is assessable under Section 4(a) or Section 4(d) of Income Tax Act where it was held that although rent is assed under section 4(a) income it can be a business source of income if it is received in the course of carrying on a business of renting out the taxpayer’s property.In order for rental income to be assessed as business income and not investment income, two aspects need to be considered. 1. The number of units of property owned. This consideration however applies only to companies. A company can have its rental income assessed as Section 4(a) business income if it is letting at least †¢4 units of commercial buildings, †¢4 floors of shop houses, †¢4 units of residential properties or †¢Any combinations of 4 units of the type of premises mentioned.If the premise is a special purpose commercial building like a factory, warehouse, office or shopping complex, then the rental income from these premises can be assessed as business income even if the company is only renting out one premise. This is supported by the case of American Leaf Blending Co. Sdn. Bhd v Director General of Inland Revenue where it was held that an individual who receives rental income may not necessarily be doing a business.However, a company is created with the aim of making a profit for its shareholders and anything that a company does with its assets with the purpose of making a profit would amount to carrying on a business even though it is not the core operation of the company. 2. Active ancillary or support services are being provided to the tenants by the owner . This term specifically applies to non-company taxpayers without regard to the number of units of property they rent out.The taxpayer who is the owner of the premise is required to actively provide services such as security guard, air conditioning system, and supply of hot water, escalator, lift, recreational facilities and cleaning and maintenance of common property. It is important that these services are procured, managed or supplied by the taxpayer and not passively or incidentally derived from the lease of the property where the management corporation of the premise provides such services and not the owner.In the event that rental income is assessed as 4(a) business income, it will be aggregated for all properties as one source of income. Capital allowance or industrial building allowance will be given to be set off against the total rental income from all premises. In the case of River Estates Sdn Bhd v Director-General of Inland Revenue it was held that ‘The statute re cognises the existence of a source consisting of a business and the situation that a taxpayer can have more than one source consisting of a business’.It establishes that a business can have more than one source of income that will be grouped together and will be given capital allowance. Expenses that are incurred wholly and exclusively can also be deducted from the income. If a loss is sustained in the current year of assessment, it can be carried forward to the next year of assessment to be set off from that year’s income or be set off against other income in the current year if there are any. The date of commencement will be the date the premise is available for letting.

Delacroix Of The Renaissance Period - 702 Words

Much of Delacroix’s inspiration, like many other artists, came from the Renaissance period artist Michelangelo. He studied his work closely, reveling in his study of figures as well as the life, and death, he portrayed on canvas. During the later stages of Eugene Delacroix’s life he was commissioned by the government of France to paint enormous paintings on ceilings of buildings, which made him feel a closeness with the late Michelangelo. It’s said that his intensity rivaled that of Michelangelo as well. Delacroix went so far as to create a portrait painting titled ‘Michelangelo in His Studio’, this shows the intense influence this artist had on his work as well in his life. In Delacroix’s personal journal he wrote of Michelangelo saying, ‘Familiarity with the work of Michelangelo has exalted and elevated every subsequent generation of painters.’ We can trace Delacroix’s artistic heritage back to Rubens and Michelangelo, al though his use of colors was a product of his Venetian schooling. Delacroix’s influence throughout the Romanticism art movement is comparable to that of Michelangelo’s influence throughout the Renaissance movements. Delacroix spent time studying and embodying Michelangelo’s work and found his niche in art by studying his predecessor’s realism. Michelangelo is often recognized as the artist who painted the large and detailed piece located in the Vatican City. He painted scenes from The Old Testament, and The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. You can seeShow MoreRelatedStylistic Comparison Essay examples778 Words   |  4 Pageskind of emotion that the artist is passionate about he hopes the viewer will feel. 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