Queen Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler

Sovereign Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler Foundation Isabella, who lived during pained occasions for the Spanish government, was the little girl of Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784 - 1833), a Bourbon ruler, by his fourthâ wife, Maria of the Two Sicilies (1806 - 1878). She was conceived October 10, 1830. Her Fathers Reign Ferdinand VII became lord of Spain in 1808 when his dad, Charles IV, abdicated. He renounced around two months after the fact, and Napoleon introduced Joseph Bonaparte, his sibling, as the Spanish ruler. The choice was disliked, and inside months Ferdinand VII was again settled as ruler, however he was in France under Napoleons control until 1813. When he returned, it was as an established, not outright, ruler. His rule was set apart by a lot of turmoil, however there was relative soundness by the 1820s, other than having no living youngsters to pass his title to. His first spouse kicked the bucket after two unnatural birth cycles. His two little girls from his prior union with Maria Isabel of Portugal (his niece) likewise didn't endure outset. He had no kids by his third spouse. He wedded his fourth spouse, Maria of the Two Sicilies, in 1829. They had initial one little girl, the future Isabella II, in 1830, at that point another girl, Luisa, more youthful than Isabella II, who lived from 1832 to 1897, and wedded Antoine, Duke of Monpensier. This fourth spouse, Isabella IIs mother, was another niece, little girl of his more youthful sister Maria Isabella of Spain. Thus, Charles IV of Spain and his significant other, Maria Luisa of Parma, were Isabellas fatherly grandparents and maternal incredible grandparents. Isabella Becomes Queen Isabella prevailing to the Spanish seat on the passing of her dad, September 29, 1833, when she was only three years old. He had left headings that Salic Lawâ would be saved with the goal that his little girl, as opposed to his sibling, would succeed him. Maria of the Two Sicilies, Isabellas mother, probably had convinced him to make that move. Ferdinands sibling and Isabellas uncle, Don Carlos, contested her entitlement to succeed. The Bourbon family, of which she was a section, had until this time evaded female legacy of rulership. This contradiction about progression prompted the First Carlist War, 1833-1839, while her mom, and afterward General Baldomero Espartero, filled in as officials for the underage Isabella. The military at long last settled her standard in 1843. Early Uprisings In a progression of discretionary turns, called the Affair of the Spanish Marriages, Isabella and her sister wedded Spanish and French aristocrats. Isabella had been relied upon to wed a relative of Prince Albert of England. Her adjustment in marriage plans distanced England, enable the preservationist group in Spain, and bring Louis-Philippe of France closer to the traditionalist group. This helped lead to the liberal uprisings of 1848 and to Louis-Philippes rout. Isabella was reputed to have picked her Bourbon cousin, Francisco de Assis, as a spouse since he was barren, and they to a great extent lived separated, however they had children. Her moms pressure has additionally been credited with Isabellas decision. Rule Ended by Revolution Her dictatorship, her strict obsession, her collusion with the military and the tumult of her rule - sixty distinct governments - achieved the Revolution of 1868 that banished her to Paris. She relinquished on June 25, 1870, for her child, Alfonso XII, who controlled start in December 1874, after the First Spanish Republic crumbled. Despite the fact that Isabella incidentally came back to Spain, she lived the greater part of her later years in Paris, and she never again applied a lot of political force or impact. Her title after renouncement was Her Majesty Queen Isabella II of Spain. Her significant other passed on in 1902. Isabella died April 9 or 10, 1904. You can likewise find out about Queen Isabellas in Historyâ on this site, on the off chance that this Isabella isnt the one you were searching for

Faust :: essays papers

Faust This Book has numerous obscure characters, just Gretchen is the one character you can feel frustrated about, that is the thing that makes this disaster so stunning yet satisfying .Her and Faust going around satisfies you, yet you foresee them to fall frantically into affection with each other and finish their lives reveling with Mephisto. Be that as it may, this unadulterated untainted soul is fooled into abandoning the guiltlessness of her childhood and dying down to the malevolent one for the guarantee of wealth and a superior life. So by and by you have nobody to pull for, in light of the fact that in spite of the fact that you comprehend Faust’s quandary he’s getting what he needed. Next you truly start to loathe Faust on the grounds that once he has seen and had all that Gretchen brings to the table his adoration turns into a fascination prodded by his recently discovered youth. At that point who are you left with; Gretchen a now pregnant fraud urgently trusting he r â€Å"lover† who has harmed her mom and killed her sibling will come spare her from jail, and Mephisto the Devil himself. The whole Gretchen Tragedy is there to summon a sentiment of enticement. A kind of â€Å"What if†, truly what might you do if an attractive individual from the other gender who has more cash than anybody you have ever known about moved toward you depicting their adoration to you like a gooey Julia Roberts film. This demonstrates the point that Mephisto made to God in Prologue in Heaven â€Å"If just it were grass he could rest in! There is no waste he won't jab his nose in.†(Prologue In Heaven p. 85). We should continue searching for better things, if Gretchen somehow happened to acknowledge what a little value she was paying to forfeit life on earth forever unceasing in paradise. She was without transgression until she permitted human instinct to dominate. Gretchen upon her passageway into the play is cliché of a laborer lady of that time; she works throughout the day, lives with her folks, and wants to one day wed over her group so her little girl won't need to suffer as she has for a mind-blowing duration. In any case, she starts a transformation when she meets Faust. To start with, she discovers gems that she can’t start to portray, so she offers them to her mom run of the mill of the occasions.

A student reflection on the DC Career Conference COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

A student reflection on the DC Career Conference COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog The  SIPA Office of Career Services  hosted SIPA ´s 39th Annual Washington, D.C. Career Conference from January 13 15. SIPA alumni and other professionals based in the Washington, D.C. area participated in the conference, which introduced attendees to the capital and informed them of employment opportunities. This three-day event consisted of 16 career panels, various employer site visits, an alumni/student networking reception, and a day for informational interviews with alumni. Pablo Bejar (PEPM ’15) attended the event. Pablo attained his Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Economics from California State University, where he graduated with honors and published his thesis on Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance. Here, Pablo offers his reflections on the conference and its professional value for PEPM students. Tell us about your experience at the Career Conference. My experience at the career conference in DC was an incredibly valuable one in terms of setting a professional network in the in the field of international policy and development economics in the Washington D.C. area. What should PEPM students know about the Career Conference? In order to be successful you have to reach out to contacts of interest at least three weeks in advance. That will give you plenty of time to make your schedule and coordinate with people in areas or organizations of interest. One big advantage of attending the conference was the opportunity to build relations with former SIPA alumni and, most specifically, PEPM alumni in the D.C. area, with whom you can have a more informal and relaxed conversation on career opportunities and on how they got their current positions. PEPM alumni know exactly where we come from and their related experience going through this very same process makes conversations with them very constructive. In D.C. and Virginia I was able to schedule more than a dozen informational interviews with key people at all levels within multilateral, consulting, and international organizations. What aspects of the trip most impressed you? The informational interviews were very valuable because they give you information from an employee perspective that is not easily provided on the institution’s websites. They also can guide you in terms of how your skillset matches the organizations objectives and what you can learn from the organization as well. In D.C. and Virginia I was able to schedule more than a dozen informational interviews with key people at all levels within the organization. The people that I was able to have in depth conversations came from organizations such as, the Inter-American Development Bank, IMF, World Bank, Albright Stonebridge Group, Nathan Associates, CEB, Deloitte, ICF International, and the World Resources Institute to name a few. How would you sum up the event? Overall, the D.C. trip was an extremely beneficial experience that definitely helped align my future career objectives. In fact, it provided me with intimate information about the different organizations and their operational, cultural, and work perspectives. This trip is something that I would recommend to every PEPM student because it helps create a good preliminary foundation of contacts for the annual PEPM February trip to Washington.   . Prior to PEPM, Pablo was a Business Analyst at Thompson Enterprises in California, a Junior Market Analyst at the International Institution for Economics and Business in Bolivia (IIDEE), and an emerging market research assistant at the Center for the Study of Emerging Markets (CSEM). In addition to English, he speaks his native Spanish and is proficient in Portuguese. If youre interested in learning more  about the Program in Economic Policy Management (PEPM), click  here. And dont forget that your applications to the MIA/MPA program is due Feb. 5. Finish your application today so you can be a part of next years career conference!

I Am Becoming A Young Adult And Learning - 844 Words

We encounter problems everyday, such as, waking up late or loosing the car keys. These problems often have easy fixes, but other times we are faced with big problems. Such as: getting in to a wreck or having to find a new job. As I am becoming a young adult and learning more about our society I have encountered a problem that requires a major amount of time and effort to be fixed. Misunderstanding the word and concept feminism is a problem that I have experienced myself, and I have found many others do as well. I was able to find a solution to my problem, but others have not which is why I would like to take the time to educate as many as I can. Feminism is often associated with negative and selfish actions. When people hear the word feminism many think it is about women being better than men because it has the root of female, but that is not the case at all. The word feminism originated in 1837 when French philosopher, Charles Fouriere first coined the term feminisme. He advocated the freedom of women because he believed we were not treated equally. At the time women were not able to vote, own a job, and education was limited. Women were ruled by male figures, and if they did not belong to a male household they were shunned by society and had little means of getting money. The feminist movement was never about women being superior to men. It is about women being equal to men, but it is not called equalism since women have always been given a lesser value or placeShow MoreRelatedHigh Education Is Not Much Learning898 Words   |  4 PagesPersonal Development Many young adults believe that after high school there is not much learning that goes on any more, they believe that in higher education learning requires more memorization than it does basic understanding and comprehension. I believe this belief that many have to be false. Higher education help to teach about important information for a persons desired career but also teaches about one’s own personal strengths and weaknesses. Through my own learning over this year and specificallyRead MoreHow An Empowering Environment Helps Promote All Children s Play And Learning1679 Words   |  7 PagesFor this assignment I have decided to look into how an enabling environment helps to promote all children’s play and learning. It is important that every setting creates an enabling environment in the indoor classroom and the outside area for the children to learn and play in. â€Å"The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learni ng.† An enabling environment provides babies, children and young people with the freedom to play. This is because the children feelRead MoreMy Parent s Relationship With My Parents1674 Words   |  7 Pagescourse of my parent’s relationship as I was growing up has a lot to do with how I view relationships; but aside from my parents, my mother’s family had a lot to do with some of the norms and values that I have today in regards to sexual relationships and sexuality. Along with learning about sexual relationships based on the view of my family, I also learned and have been affected in my adult life about gender roles as well. My parents were my main source of learning about relationships. My parents metRead MoreYoung Adult Life Stage1412 Words   |  6 PagesThe Young Adult Life Stage | Adult Development amp; Aging, BSHS 371 | Roxanne Arballo September, 2011 | THE YOUNG ADULT LIFE STAGE Stress in the young adult life stage seems more prevalent in todays society. One very important point is that kids are growing up much faster, taking on more responsibilities that years ago might not have been faced for another 5, 10, and 20 years later. Culture has a very big part in the onset of adult roles at varied ages. The transitionRead MoreYoung Adults Are Becoming Lost Arts Essay1248 Words   |  5 Pagestoday believe reading in young adults are becoming lost arts. Millennials have been perceived by news articles, older generations, and most of society that reading is a feature of the past. According to a study, mentioned later, done on a college campus maybe the older generations are terribly wrong. Reading is what morphs a person into who they. Maybe millennials are reading, but just not in the same manner or ways as older generations. My first experience with reading, that I can remember, was inRead MoreWhy Is A College Education Important to Me? Essays751 Words   |  4 PagesEducation Important to Me? Henry Ford, said, â€Å"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.† For years, I thought I was just too old to return to school. However, for 20 years, I’ve worked in a career that provided great financial stability, but it never brought happiness. When I was laid-off, I made the decision to not return to the corporate world; instead, I started my process of becoming a successful counselor and motivational speaker. SpendingRead MoreThe, All About Jazz, On The Learning Channel ( Tlc )1671 Words   |  7 Pagespresented what it takes and the meaning to become a transgender. Jazz Jennings is a young teenage girl who is a transgender and has her own show called I Am Jazz that people can watch and really see how some transgender people are treated. I watched the very first episode which was called, â€Å"All About Jazz† on The Learning Channel (TLC) that was very informative, focusing in on an adolescentâ⠂¬â„¢s perspective on becoming transgender. The stereotype of transgender people, including adolescents should beRead MoreThe Process Of Becoming An Adult1420 Words   |  6 Pageslot of developing steps when going from a child to an adult. I have had a lot of rewarding experiences and non-rewarding while growing into the adult I am today. There have been a lot of obstacles that came into my path, but I have overcome each one of them. The process of becoming an adult has two main stages: adolescence and early adulthood. I am thankful for how I have grown throughout my years of transforming into an adult. As a young child I would had a lot exercise and physical movement to gainRead MoreGraduation Speech : Students With Disabilities1157 Words   |  5 Pagesclichà ©, but I was born to teach students with disabilities. Growing up, I had the best example to follow. My mother actively taught special education for 31 years and seeing her interaction with students created a passion i n me to do the same thing. Even at a young age, it was evident that I wanted to be a teacher: from forcing my younger brother to sit still and play â€Å"school† with me, to spending my free time volunteering in special needs classrooms during middle and high school. As I grew olderRead MoreCollege : Is The Juice Worth The Squeeze?1302 Words   |  6 Pagessocial issues, and the fear of not having a definitive career path. This all leads to the questions â€Å"why am I here†? â€Å"What is the true purpose of college?† Many writers have described these struggles in great detail. They feel the reward for overcoming these struggles is intellectual growth. This growth is achieved by challenging themselves, acquiring knowledge in multiple fields, and learning how to become an essential part of society. An effective way for students to achieve intellectual

Evaluation Of An Integrated Lesson Plan - 901 Words

Through the lesson plans that we developed, I’ve learned how to implement art that is developmentally appropriate, meaningful, and challenging for students. The integration of art must be meaningful to the lesson but also challenging for the students. The integrated lesson plan must also consider a diverse classroom, allowing all students equal access to what is being taught. Most importantly, art experiences must help each child meet challenging and achievable learning goals. As teachers, we must observe and assess each individual student in order to design an integrated lesson plan that is appropriate, meaningful, and challenging. (GPO2) Evaluation of individual child s development and learning is essential for planning and implementing appropriate curriculum. Teachers must continually engaging in observational assessment for the purpose of improving teaching and learning. Designing integrated lessons lead to positive learning outcomes. By integrating art, music, dance, and movement in lessons it leads to a positive learning environment because it allows students to get out of their comfort zone. This can help boost children to be confident and accepting of themselves and each other. Another plus of integrating the arts into curriculum is that it can allow all students to learn in a way that may be more favorable to them. Studies have proven that students learn in multiple ways. These learning styles include; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. By allowing the arts to beShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Physical Education For Individuals With Disabilities Essay1510 Words   |  7 Pagesprogram, often called â€Å"child find†, requires parental permission before professionals can evaluate a student. After a formal evaluation of the student an Individual Education Plan (IEP) would be made. Parents must provide written consent to the plan before it is implemented. IDEA covers everything from autism to deaf and blindness to learning disabilities. In some cases, the plan made by IDEA involves transferring the student to a special education classroom. Special education by definition means â€Å"speciallyRead MoreQuiz on the CIPP Model of Evaluation755 Words   |  3 PagesCIPP MODEL OF EVALUATION Context, Input, Process, Product Overview of Model Useful model for evaluation of educational systems To be proactively viable, it must be used as a process for all stakeholders In general, requires that a series of questions be asked about four different elements of the model Model Concentration C I P P M ODE L Using CIPP to Evaluate Most could be used in combination: Class discussion, informal conversation Student interviews, evaluation forms ObservationRead MoreThe Cfo And Cio Are Required To Approve The Project Charter910 Words   |  4 PagesThe CFO and CIO are required to approve the project charter and project budget. Project manager is required to create the project plan and coordinate the project execution. Business analysts will create the scope management plan, requirements and business use cases. They are also involved in testing every component of the application as it gets developed including notifications and UI. Developers are required for UI and Process development. Business users will function as testers. Few of the developersRead MoreAnalysis : Mind Maps And Work Flow Diagrams985 Words   |  4 Pagesprerequisites for developing the element †¢ Specifies the deliverables resulting from the element †¢ Identifies the key stakeholders and responsibilities †¢ References the standards, procedures, checklists, and documents that pertain to the element †¢ References lessons learned / best practices that have a bearing on the element 2.5 Level 4- Standard and Procedures Description: †¢ Groupings of standards applicable to projects †¢ Standards and Manuals are statements of must do expectations. †¢ Procedures establishRead MoreThe Education For All Handicapped Children Act (Eha) Had957 Words   |  4 Pagesdisabilities and the significant court cases dealing with the fourteenth amendment such as Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, The EHA was passed in 1975. There were high hopes for this act, including keeping disabled students integrated with their peers in a regular classroom setting, desegregating the disabled from the non-disabled, and ensuring all students were given equal access to the same education all other students were receiving. There were several flaws to this act, leadingRead MoreEssay Classroom Teacher Observation Report1186 Words   |  5 PagesA. Evaluation Form or Observation Protocol The evaluation form that was used to evaluate a classroom teacher’s performance is a rubric used by the school district (Hillsborough County Public Schools, 2012). A1. Performance Factors The teacher was rated using a rubric with specific criteria in four domains including planning and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities (Hillsborough County Public Schools, 2012). Within each of these domains are componentsRead MoreMS project and Team leadership1022 Words   |  5 Pagescommunicating the budget situation of the project to the rest of the team. Two ways to improve an underperforming team member will be suggested. Finally a plan of action will be organized to get the project back on track. Construct a project charter to revamp the compensation and benefits package. Project Name: Integrated Financial and Benefits Disbursement System Agency: North American Human resource advisement Council (NAHRAC) Project Sponsor: Stephen  Castellese ProjectRead MoreAnalysis Of Vasquez s Theories And Factors Influencing The Principles Of The System Of Gears1269 Words   |  6 Pagesduring the third and fourth quarter. This school year the entirety of measurement standards are taught through integrated science activities. The concepts of mass, length, and temperature are explored exclusively in the context of investigations involving properties of matter and weather. However, curriculum does not support integration of math and science concepts. Proposed lesson plans promote silo approach while the daily classroom schedule excludes a dedicated time for science instruction. AdditionallyRead MoreWhat is Instructional Design?1124 Words   |  5 Pagesdesigning, developing, and delivering instructional materials. What is the Addie Model? The ADDIE Model is the instructional system development model which consists of five (5) phases which are the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (Dick, Carey Carey, 2009). The analysis phase has different parts that clarify instructional problems and objectives, identifies learning environment and the learners existing knowledge and skills. As part of the analysis phase the learnerRead MoreReport of Seasonal Goods1608 Words   |  7 PagesDefinitions of Document Types CAE: A Country Assistance Evaluation examines Bank performance in a particular country, usually over the past four to five years, and reports on its conformity with the relevant Bank Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) and on the overall effectiveness of the specific CAS. CAS: A Country Assistance Strategy Document is the central tool of World Bank Management and the Board of Executive Directors for reviewing and guiding the World Bank Groups country programs and

Success Notes Free Essays

What is my definition success? Living life to the fullest Achieving small goals in life One’s life is in full balance Not feeling stressed and overwhelmed in life Following my dreams Being in control of my future Having college education Having a career Having great friends  the continuous state of action that you have to perform to meet your goals To me success means setting up a goal, and then putting your complete energy towards attaining it. If you can do it all, then the feeling of satisfaction with your effort is what I feel defines the state of bliss – for me that feeling of contentment within myself is Success. What does success means to me? What success means for me? Well success to me means an achievement in life or to do well at. We will write a custom essay sample on Success Notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some of my goals that will lead to my success will have to start with going back to school and getting a degree in a field that I never thought possible. That was my first goal to get into college and now that I have achieved that goal, I see nothing but success in the future. When I get done and I get my bachelor degree, who knows the success I could endurance / achieve. Health, Money, Education Have opportunities to be successful Prosperity and success (ideals) How to cite Success Notes, Papers

Essay On Renaissance Art Example For Students

Essay On Renaissance Art Architecture of the Renaissance reflects the earlier works of the Roman, Byzantines, Moslems, and many other civilizations. The S. Pietro No. 1 was begun in 1564 and was designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Carlo Maderna. Many components of this structure reflect their foreign influences. The large, ominous dome along with the two smaller, less intimidating ones confirm the Byzantine style had entered the Renaissance. Grand, elaborate columns demonstrate Roman and Greek style of temples. An ornamental faÃÆ'Â §ade decorates the entrance to the palace and represents more Roman culture. Throughout the building, high arches form the doorways. In the side view, they are evident on the smaller dome, also. Again, Roman culture has proven to have infiltrated the Renaissance style. Sculptured shells adorn the larger dome, and a stone mullion made of two columns and a stone vertical bar separates each window, two structures also found on the Pantheon. All of these elements combine to form this magnificent representation of Renaissance architecture. Much of the Renaissance literature had its basis in Greek lyrics. Originally, the poems of the Renaissance were written in ProvenÃÆ'Â §al dialect, which is a combination of French and Italian. Many poems praised women, spoke of love, and referred to God and other deities. Several authors of this time were humanists. One said to be so was Francesco Petrarch. In his Sonnet 3, he tells the tale of his love having been taken from him by the plague. In the beginning, he refers to God as being the Maker. He goes on to tell how he fell in love with a woman without even thinking that anything could go foul. When she dies of the plague, he begins to show his human feelings of pain of having his only love torn from his grasp. He makes an allusion to cupid when he speaks of the shaft that kills, being cupids arrow. That line showed his humanistic frustration by referring to falling in love as being murderous. Though it is a tragic poem, Petrarchs work provides an excellent example of the lite rature characteristics of the Renaissance.

Kroger Essay Example

Kroger Essay The site I found my information on about the salary range of my career choice is AMA American Medical Association. I believe this site is reliable because its a medical website that shows you different medical careers, it have a publications, mission statement, and AMA been around since 1847. While looking on the site it didnt have Health care manager it have Health information administrator, but its the same career. It have the salary range from 2003, so by now the salary should have gone up and from the 2003 salary range this is the career I want to go into. Starting Salary 40,000 Over average 54,700 Upper ranges 85,000 1 know that I would have to work myself up to the upper ranges, but would love to start at the over average. American Medical Association. (2003). Education. Retrieved from www. AMA-ass. Org/AMA/pub/education-careers/careers- health-care/health-care-income. Page Library Search Looking on the online library, I located a Journal article named Environment Scanning and the Health Care Manager. The article was very interesting to me because its for new managers coming into the work place making strategic plans for the environment that they are managing. It ivies me ideals of what I should do as a health care manager when I go into a health care facility. The article explains if you dont take the time to make strategic plans for environment the facility you work could get lose money, staff, or even close down. As a manager you should know what you are dealing with In the work place and make plans to deal with them. We will write a custom essay sample on Kroger specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Kroger specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Kroger specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross

Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross Arthur Shawcross, also known as The Genesee River Killer, was responsible for the murders of 12 women in upstate New York from 1988 to 1990. This was not the first time that he killed.  In 1972 he confessed to the sexual assault and murders of two children. Early Years Arthur Shawcross was born on June 6, 1945, in Kittery, Maine. The family relocated to Watertown, New York, a few years later. From early  on,  Shawcross was socially challenged and spent much of his time alone. His withdrawn behavior earned him the nickname oddie from his peers. He was never a good student failing  both behaviorally and academically during his short time at school. He would often miss classes, and when he was there, he regularly  misbehaved and had the reputation of being a bully and picking fights with other students. Shawcross  dropped out of school  after failing to pass the ninth grade. He was 16 years old.  Over the next few years, his violent behavior intensified, and he was suspected of arson and burglary. He was placed on probation in 1963 for breaking the window of a store. Marriage In 1964 Shawcross married and the next year he and his wife had a son. In November 1965 he was put on probation on a charge of unlawful entry. His wife filed for divorce soon afterward, stating that he was abusive. As part of the divorce, Shawcross gave up all paternal rights to his son and never saw the child again. Military Life In April 1967 Shawcross was drafted into the Army. Right after receiving his draft papers he married for the second time. He was sent to Vietnam from October 1967 until September 1968 and was  then stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.  Shawcross later claimed that he killed 39 enemy soldiers  during combat. Officials disputed it and attributed him with a combat kill of zero. After his release from the Army, he and his wife returned to Clayton, New York. She divorced him shortly afterward citing abuse and his propensity to being a  pyromaniac  as her reasons. Prison Time Shawcross was sentenced to five years in prison for arson in 1969. He was released in October 1971, after serving just 22 months of his sentence. He returned to Watertown, and by the following April, he was married for the third time and working for the Public Works Department.  Like his previous marriages, the marriage was short and ended abruptly after he  confessed to murdering two local children. Jack Blake and Karen Ann Hill Within six months of each other, two Watertown children went missing in September 1972. The first child was 10-year-old Jack Blake. His body was found a year later out in the woods. He had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The second child was Karen Ann Hill, age 8, who was visiting Watertown with her mother for the Labor Day weekend. Her body was found under a bridge. According to autopsy reports, she had been raped and murdered, and dirt and leaves were found jammed down her throat. Shawcross Confesses Police investigators arrested Shawcross in October 1972 after he was identified as the man who was with Hill on the bridge right before she disappeared.   After working out a plea deal, Shawcross confessed to murdering Hill and Blake and agreed to divulge the location of Blakes body in exchange for a charge of manslaughter in the Hill case and no charges for murdering Blake. Since they had no solid evidence to convict him in the Blake case,  prosecutors agreed, and he was found guilty and given a 25-year-sentence.   Freedom Rings Shawcross was 27 years old, divorced for the third time and would be locked away until the age of 52, but after serving just 14 1/2 years,  he was released from prison.   Being out of prison was challenging for Shawcross once word would get  out about his criminal past. He had to be relocated to four different cities  because of community protests. A decision was made to seal his records from public view, and he was moved one final time. Rochester, New York In June 1987, Shawcross and his new girlfriend, Rose Marie Walley, were relocated to Rochester, New York. This time there were no protests because Shawcross parole officer failed to report to the local police department that a child rapist and murderer had just moved into town. Life for Shawcross and Rose became routine. They got married, and Shawcross worked various low-skilled jobs. It did not take long for him  to become bored with his new menial life. Murder Spree In March 1988, Shawcross began cheating on his wife with a new girlfriend. He also was spending a lot of time  with prostitutes. Unfortunately, over the next two-year,  many of the prostitutes that he got to know would end up dead. A Serial Killer on the Loose Dorothy Dotsie Blackburn, 27, was a cocaine addict and prostitute who often worked on Lyell Avenue, a section in Rochester that was known for prostitution. On March 18, 1998, Blackburn was reported missing by her sister. Six days later her body was pulled from the Genesee River Gorge. An autopsy revealed that she had suffered severe wounds from a blunt object. There were also human bite marks found all around her vagina. The cause of death was strangulation. Blackburns lifestyle opened up a broad range of possible suspects for case detectives to investigate, but with too few clues the case eventually went cold In September, six months after Blackburns body was found, the bones from another missing Lyell Avenue prostitute, Anna Marie Steffen, was found by a man who was collecting bottles to sell for cash. Investigators were unable to identify the victim whose bones were found, so they hired an anthropologist to reconstruct the victims facial features based on a skull that found on the scene. Steffens father saw the facial recreation and identified the victim as his daughter, Anna Marie. Dental records provided additional confirmation. Six Weeks - More Bodies The decapitated and decomposing remains of a homeless woman, 60-year-old Dorothy Keller, was found on October 21, 1989, in the Genesee River Gorge. She died from having her neck broken. Another Lyell Avenue prostitute, Patricia Patty Ives, 25, was found strangled to death and buried under a pile of debris on October 27, 1989. She had been missing for nearly a month. With the discovery of Patty Ives, investigators realized that it was a strong possibility that a serial killer was loose in Rochester. They had the bodies of four women, all who went missing and were murdered within seven months of each other; three had been murdered within a few weeks of each other; three of the victims were prostitutes from Lyell Avenue, and all the victims had bite marks and had been strangled to death. Investigators went from looking for individual killers  to looking for a serial killer and the window of time between his kills was getting shorter. The press also grew interested in the murders and dubbed the killer as the Genesee River Killer, and the Rochester Strangler. June Stott On October 23, June Stott, 30, was reported missing by her boyfriend. Stott was mentally ill and would occasionally vanish without telling anyone. This, along with the fact that she was not a prostitute or drug user, kept her disappearance separated from the serial killer investigation. Easy Pickins Marie Welch, age 22 was a Lyell Avenue prostitute who was reported missing on November 5, 1989. Frances Franny Brown, age 22, was last seen alive leaving Lyell Avenue on November 11, with a client known by some of the prostitutes as Mike or Mitch. Her body, nude except for her boots,  was discovered three days later dumped in the Genesee River Gorge. She had been beaten and strangled to death. Kimberly Logan, 30, another Lyell Avenue prostitute, was found dead on November 15, 1989. She had brutally kicked  and beaten, and dirt and leaves were crammed down her throat, much like Shawcross did to 8-year-old, Karen Ann Hill. This one piece of  evidence could have led the authorities right to Shawcross, had they known that he was living in Rochester. Mike or Mitch At the beginning of November, Jo Ann Van Nostrand told police about a client named Mitch who paid her to play dead and then he would try to strangle her, which she did not allow. Van Nostrand was a seasoned prostitute who had entertained men with all kinds of particularities, but this one - this Mitch - managed to give her the creeps. This was the first real lead the investigators received. It was the second time that the man with the same physical description, named Mike or Mitch, had been mentioned in reference to the murders. Interviews with many of the Lyle prostitutes indicated that he was a regular and that he had the reputation of being violent.   Game Changer On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, a man walking his dog discovered the body June Stott, the one missing person that the police did not connect to the serial killer. Like the other women found, June Stott suffered a vicious beating before dying. But death did not end the killers cruelty. An autopsy revealed that Stott had been strangled to death. The corpse was then anally mutilated, and the body was cut opened from the throat down to the crotch. It was noted that the labia had been cut off and that the killer likely had  it in his possession. For detectives, June Stotts murder sent the investigation into a tailspin. Stott was not a drug addict or a prostitute, and her body had been left in an area far from the other victims. Could it be that Rochester was being stalked by two serial killers? It seemed as if each week another woman went missing and those found murdered were not close to being solved. It was at this point that the Rochester police decided to contact the F.B.I. for help. F.B.I. Profile The F.B.I. Agents sent to Rochester created a profile of the serial killer. They said  that the killer showed characteristics of a man  in his 30s, white, and who knew his victims. He was probably a local man familiar with the area, and he probably had a criminal record. Also, based on the lack of semen found on his victims, he was sexually dysfunctional and found gratification after his victims were dead. They also believed that the killer would return to mutilate the bodies of his victims when possible. More Bodies The body of Elizabeth Liz Gibson, 29, was found strangled to death on November 27, in another county. She was also a Lyell Avenue prostitute and was last seen by Jo Ann Van Nostrand with the Mitch client who she had reported to the police in October. Nostrand went to the police and gave them the information along with a description of the mans vehicle. The F.B.I agents strongly suggested that when the next body was found, that investigators wait and watch to see if the  killer returned to the body. The End of a Bad Year Had investigators hoped that the busy December holiday season and the cold temperatures might slow down the serial killer, they soon found out that they were wrong. Three women disappeared, one right after the other: Darlene Trippi, 32, was known for pairing up for safety with veteran Jo Ann Van Nostrand, yet on December 15, she like others before her, disappeared off Lyell Avenue.June Cicero, 34, was a seasoned prostitute known for her good instincts and for always staying alert, yet on December 17 she also vanished.And as if to toast in the New Year, the serial killer attacked one more time on December 28, plucking 20-year-old Felicia Stephens off the streets. She too was never seen alive again. A Spectator In an effort to find the missing women, police organized  an air search of the Genesee River Gorge. Road patrols were also sent out, and on New Years Eve, they found a pair of black jeans belonging to Felicia Stephens. Her boots were found in another location after the patrol expanded the  search. On January 2, another air and ground search was organized and right before calling it off due to bad weather, the air team spotted what appeared to be the body of a half-nude female  laying face down near the Salmon Creek. As they went down to get a closer look, they also spotted a man on the bridge above the body. He appeared to be urinating, but when he spotted the aircrew, he immediately fled the scene in his van.The ground team was alerted and went in pursuit of the man in the van. The body, which was surrounded by fresh footprints in the snow, was that of June Cicero. She had been strangled to death, and there were bite marks covering what was left of her vagina which had been cut out. Gotcha! The man from the bridge was apprehended at a nearby nursing home. He was identified as Arthur John Shawcross. When asked for his drivers license, he told the police that he did not have one because he had been convicted of manslaughter. Shawcross and his girlfriend Clara Neal were brought to the police station for questioning. After hours of interrogation, Shawcross still maintained that he had nothing to do with any Rochester murders. He did, however, offer up more details about his childhood, his past murders and his experiences in Vietnam. Shocking Admissions There is no definitive answer as to why Shawcross seemed to embellish the stories of what he did to his victims and what had been done to him throughout his childhood. He could have remained silent, yet it seemed he wanted to shock his interrogators, knowing that they could do nothing to him, regardless of how he described his crimes. When discussing the murders of the two children in 1972, he told the detectives that Jack Blake had been bothering him, so he hit him, killing him by mistake. Once the boy was dead, he decided to eat his genitals. He also admitted that he anally raped Karen Ann Hill before strangling her to death. Vietnam Murders While in Vietnam, along with killing 39 men  during combat (which was a proven lie) Shawcross also used the venue to describe in grotesque details  how he murdered, then cooked and ate, two Vietnam women. Family Reactions Shawcross also talked about his childhood, as if using the experience as a way to justify his horrific acts. According to Shawcross, he did not get along with his parents and his mother was domineering and extremely abusive. He also claimed that an aunt sexually molested him when he was 9 years old and that he acted out by sexually molesting his younger sister. Shawcross also said that he had a homosexual relationship at age 11 and experimented with bestiality not long afterward. Shawcross family members strongly denied that he was abused and described his childhood as normal. His sister was equally vehement about never having had a sexual relationship with her brother. As to his aunt sexually abusing him, It was later determined,  that if he had been abused, he somehow blocked out his aunts name because the name that he gave did not belong to any of his real aunts. Released After listening to hours of his self-serving saga, investigators still were unable to get him to admit to any of the Rochester murders. With nothing to hold him on  the police had to let him go, but not before taking his picture. Jo Ann Van Nostrand along with other prostitutes identified the police picture of Shawcross as the same man they called Mike/Mitch. It turned out that he was a regular customer of many of the women on Lyell Avenue. Confessions Shawcross was brought in for questioning a second time. After several hours of interrogation, he still denied having anything to do with the murdered women. It was not until the detectives threatened to bring his wife and his girlfriend Clara in together for questioning  and that they could  be implicated in the murders, did he begin to waver. His first admission that he was involved in the murders was when he told police that Clara had nothing to do with it. Once his involvement was established, the details began to flow. The detectives gave Shawcross a list of 16 women missing or murdered, and he immediately denied having anything to do with five of them. He then confessed to murdering the others. With each victim that he confessed to the killing, he included  what the victim had done to deserve what they got. One victim tried to steal his wallet, another wouldnt be quiet, another made fun of him, and yet another had nearly bitten off his penis.   He also blamed many of the victims for reminding him of his domineering and abusive mother, so much so that once he began to hit them, he couldnt stop. When it came time to discuss June Stott, Shawcross appeared to become melancholy. Apparently, Stott was a friend and had been a guest in his home. He explained to the detectives that the reason he mutilated her body after killing her was a kind favor he extended to her so that she would decompose faster. Reaching Through the Prison Bars A common trait of serial killers is the desire to show they are still in control and can reach through the prison walls and still do damage to those outside.   When it came to Arthur Shawcross, this certainly appeared to be the case, because, throughout the years when interviewed,  his answers to the questions seemed to change depending on who was doing the interviewing. Female interviewers were often subjected to his long descriptions of how much he enjoyed eating the body parts and organs that he had cut out from his victims. Male interviewers often had to listen to his conquests in Vietnam. If he thought he sensed sympathy from the interviewer, he would add more details about how his mother would insert sticks into his anus or offer up specific details into exactly how his aunt took sexual advantage of him when he was just a child. Shawcross was transparent, so much so that the interviewers,  detectives, and doctors that listened to him,  doubted much of what he said when he would describe his childhood  abuse and his enjoyment of cutting up women and  eating body parts. The Trial Shawcross pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. During his trial, his lawyer tried to prove that Shawcross was a victim of multiple personality disorder stemming from his years of being abused as a child. Post-traumatic stress disorder from his year in Vietnam was also anted up as a reason why he went insane and murdered women. The big problem with this defense was that there was no one who backed up his stories. His family completely denied his accusations of abuse. The Army provided proof that Shawcross was never stationed near a jungle and that he never fought in combat, never burned down huts, was never caught behind a firebomb and never went on jungle patrol as he claimed. As to his claims to have killed and devoured two Vietnam women, two psychiatrists that interviewed him agreed that Shawcross changed the story so often that it became unbelievable. Extra Y Chromosome It was discovered that Shawcross had an extra Y chromosome  which some  have suggested (although there is no proof) makes the person more violent. A cyst found on Shawcross right temporal lobe was said to have caused him to have behavioral seizures where he would display animalistic behavior, such as eating the body parts of his victims. In the end, it came down to what the jury believed, and they werent fooled for a moment. After deliberating for just one-half hour, they found him sane and guilty. Shawcross was sentenced to 250 years in prison and received an additional life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Elizabeth Gibson in Wayne County. Death On November 10, 2008, Shawcross died of cardiac arrest after being transferred from the Sullivan Correction Facility to an Albany, New York hospital. He was 63 years old.

Institutional adoption of Open Source Software pros and cons Research Paper

Institutional adoption of Open Source Software pros and cons - Research Paper Example When OSS got momentum, the buzzwords start flying quick and loose. But the very boom of open source software forces the different institutes to take into consideration the OSS depending upon its advantages. The availability of free open source softwares (OSS) is a sort of great help at individual and at institutional or organizational level. The OSS is gaining popularity in both commercial and government domains. An interesting issue in the soft technology is the issue of choice between the proprietary and OSS. Institutes or different organizations are seeing the OSS as an alternative of the proprietary software. The open source applications like Apache, Perl and Sendmail are the focus of different organizations or institutions for their internet based applications or systems. As quoted about open source software: The vision for many developing countries is that by using affordable yet effective open source software to bridge the digital divide, they can achieve rapid and sustainable economic and social development. (Joshua L Mindel, Lik Mui, Sameer Verma, 2007) Most of the institutions or organizations adopt open source software due to certain advantages which open source applications are providing. The advantages which are taken into consideration are low cost of license, more stable features, high security, user friendliness, support cost and facility to upgrade the existing tool according to the new requirements due to the availability of source code. So in the presence of all these advantages we can conclude that open source software is free to use, copy, distribute and modify. In the adoption of an OSS institutes also pay severe attention to economic growth that what is the Return On Investment (ROI). The ROI must be taken into account as an advantage of OSS. But there are certain disadvantages which must also be taken into account by an institute

English Essay Formal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English Formal - Essay Example A utopian fiction describes Herland as a strange land that is hidden very high in the mountain, and which only has women as its inhabitants. According to the inhabitants, Herland has existed with no men now for 2,000 years following a series of wars, internal strife and natural disasters, which together combined to leave just a small population which was exclusively made up of women (Gilman 2). Left with the burden of fending for themselves under severe conditions, the women did organize their society along the most possible coherent lines, coming to note that their survival would never be possible without collaboration. After some time, there was a miraculous occurrence where a young girl became pregnant (Gilman 2). All her descendants were female and came to inherit her exceptional ability of solo reproduction, thereby helping to maintain the society making up the present residents of Herland. With time, the women of Herland embraced a peaceful, organized, hugely efficient society such that such factors like competition, crime, and disruptive behavior are nonexistent (Gilman 2). As would be expected in a mothers’ society, childbearing is the utmost tribute of the women’s lives, and also their most important duty. In essence, Herland is a large family, and an organic society practicing a common good (Gilman 2). For that reason, property is communally owned, the system of authority is not that strict and is solely based on knowledge and insight, and the welfare and education of the children are given the first preference. Theodore Isaac Rubin notes that our culture today is of the view that competition is helpful in bringing the best out of people, but then he disputes this notion (Rubin 1). According to him, competition is intimately connected to jealousy, envy, and mistrust, and hinders self-evolution and progress (Rubin 1). It

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram Make Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram by Cooperative Algorithm based on AFSA and Fuzzy Logic Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k-means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. The proposed algorithm is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other t ested algorithms. Keywords: Multilevel Thresholding; Histogram; Cooperative Algorithm; k-means. Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In fact, quality of final result of image analysis depends highly on the quality of image segmentation result. In image segmentation process, an image is divided into different regions. Segmentation approaches of mono-color images are with respect to discontinuity and/or similarity of gray level amounts in one region. If the approach performs segmentation based on discontinuities, the image is segmented with respect to abrupt changes on gray level by means of recognizing dots, lines and edges [1].The purpose of image segmentation approaches is to classify and convert pixels into regions. Histogram thresholding is one of the techniques, which has been applied extensively in mono-color images segmentation [2]. Generally, images are composed of regions with various gray levels. Therefore, an images histogram can consist of some peaks that each of them is related to one region. To separate boundaries of two peaks from each other, a threshold value is considered between valleys of two adjacent peaks. Indeed, histogram thresholding is a famous technique which is looking for peaks and valleys in a histogram [3]. Various clustering algorithms such as k-means [4] and FCM [5] have been used for histogram thresholding so far. As a matter of fact, clustering approaches, because of simplicity and effectiveness, belong to the most famous techniques that could be used for natural image segmentation. Applying clustering algorithms in histogram thresholding are such that first colors histogram is built and after that, clustering is done according to color distribution among pixels. O ne of the clustering methods is to use such swarm intelligence algorithms as particle swarm optimization (PSO) [6], and artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) [7]. PSO was presented by Kenedy and Eberhart in 1995 [8]. Different versions of this algorithm have been used many times in data clustering [9]. Artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) was presented by Li Xiao Lei in 2002 [10]. This algorithm is a technique based on swarm behaviors that was inspired from social behaviors of fish swarm in nature. AFSA works based on population, random search and behaviorism. This algorithm has been applied on different problems including machine learning [11, 12, 13], PID controlling [14], image segmentation [16], data clustering [7, 16] and scheduling [17]. K-means or famous Lloyd algorithm is one of the famous data clustering algorithms [18]. This algorithm is of high convergence rate, but has some weaknesses such as sensitivity to initial values of cluster centers and convergence to local op tima. Researchers have tried to remove these weaknesses by hybridizing this algorithm with other algorithms such as swarm intelligence ones [6, 19] and to utilize their advantages. One of these algorithms is KPSO in which first, k-means is performed and after that outcome of k-means is delivered to PSO as a particle [20]. Hence, at the beginning of the algorithm, k-means reaches to a local optimum with its high convergence rate and after that PSO takes the responsibility of increasing the result accuracy and exiting form local optimum. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k- means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. In fact, in the proposed algorithm, AFSA is used for a global search and k-means is used for a local search. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for image segmentation on two known images Lenna and Barbara. Efficiency comparison shows that the proposed algorithm has an appropriate and acceptable efficiency. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: in sections 2 and 3, standard AFSA and k-means algorithm will be described respectively and in section 4, the proposed algorithm will be presented. Section 5 studies the experiments and analyzes their results and final section concludes the paper. In water world, fish can find areas that have more foods, which is done with individual or swarm search by fishes. According to this characteristic, artificial fish (AF) model is represented by prey, free-move, and swarm and follow behaviors. AFs search the problem space by those behaviors. The environment, which AF lives in, substantially is solution space and other AFs domain. Food consistence degree in water area is AFSA objective function. Finally, AFs reach to a point which its food consistence degree is maxima (global optimum). In artificial fish swarm algorithm, AF perceives external concepts with sense of sight. Current position of AF is shown by vector X=(x 1, x 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, x n). The visual is equal to sight field of AF and Xv is a position in visual where the AF wants to go. Then if Xv has better food consistence than current position of AF, it goes one step toward X v which causes change in AF position from X to Xnext , but if the current position of AF is better than X v, it continues searching in its visual area. Food consistence in position X is fitness value of this position and is shown with f(X). The step is equal to maximum length of the movement. The distance between two AFs which are in Xi and Xj positions is shown by Dis ij =||X i-Xj|| (Euclidean distance). AF model consists of two parts of variables and functions. Variables include X (current AF position), step (maximum length step), visual (sight field), try-number (the maximum test interactions and tries) and crowd factor ÃŽÂ ´ (0 The standard k-means algorithm is summarized as follows: Initial position of K cluster centers is determined randomly. The following steps are repeated: a) for each data vector: data vector is allocated to a cluster that its Euclidean distance from its center is smaller than the other clusters centers. Distance from cluster center is calculated by Equation (1): (1) In Equation (1), Xp is data vector p, Zj is the center of cluster j and d is the number of dimensions of data vectors and cluster center vectors. b) After allocating all data to clusters, each of cluster centers is updated by Equation (2): (2) Where, nj is the number of data vectors that belong to cluster j and Cj is a subset of all data vectors which belong to cluster j. The resulted cluster center of Equation (2) is the average vector of data vectors comprising cluster. (a) and (b) steps are iterated until the stopping criterion is satisfied. In this section, the proposed algorithm is described. In the proposed algorithm, there exists a population of AFSAs AFs. This population of AFs is initialized randomly in problem space. Each AF consists of K cluster center positions in one dimensional image histogram space. Therefore, search space for AFSA for K cluster centers has K components. Fitness function which AFSA has to minimize is shown in Equation (3). (3) Clustering on histogram is done by Equation (3) based on color distribution between given images pixels. The image is divided into K clusters (Ci) according to color attribute by K-1 thresholds. In Equation (3), the distance between color Xj on image histogram and the center of a cluster which it belongs to ( Zi), is multiplied by the frequency of pixels (fj) which have color value Xj on given image. This value is computed for all color values with respect to the center of a cluster which they belong to. Each color becomes the member of a cluster in which their distance from that cluster center is less than other cluster centers. Finally, the obtained results of all clusters are summed with each other. Indeed, Equation (3) calculates sum of intra cluster distances for one dimensional gray scale images, which is one of the most well-known clustering criteria. For improving obtained results by AFSA, some modifications must do on its structure. The best found position by swarm members so far in AFSA is saved in bulletin and AF which has found it might go even toward worse positions with performing a free-move behavior. Therefore, AFs cannot utilize their best swarm experience for improving the convergence rate because they just save it in bulletin. On the other hand, performing free-move behavior is inevitable for maintaining diversity of the swarm. In this paper, to remove this problem, every AF except best AF can perform free-move behavior. In fact, during execution of the proposed algorithm, this behavior is not performed for the best AF of the swarm at all. Hence, the best found position by the swarm would be the position of the best AF of the swarm. As a result, other members of the swarm can move in the direction of the best found position by executing follow and swarm behaviors. The purpose of designing the proposed algorithm is to take advantages of both AFSA and k-means algorithms and remove their weaknesses. K-means is of high convergence rate, but its very sensitive to initializing the cluster centers and in the case of selecting inappropriate initial cluster centers, it could converge to a local optimum. AFSA can pass local optima to some extent but cannot guarantee reaching to global optima. However, AFSAs computational complexity for optimization process is much more than k-means. How the proposed algorithm functions remove weaknesses of these two algorithms and apply their advantages is as following: In the proposed algorithm, first, the AFs are initialized in AFSA. Each of AFSA contains K cluster centers (K-1 threshold) which are displaced in the problem space by performing AFSAs behaviors. AFSA continues to perform until the AFs converge. After convergence of AFSA, best AFs position including the best cluster centers which have found by AFs so far is considered as the input of k-means. Then, k-means algorithm starts working and while it is not converged, it continues working. Therefore, AFSA searches globally and as far as it can, it passes local optima. After convergence of AFSAs AFs, its output would have an appropriate initial cluster centers for k-means. Hence, after sending AFSAs outcome to k-means, this algorithm starts searching locally. Consequently, in the proposed algorithm, global search ability of AFSA has been used and after converging, a great part of optimization process will be given to k-means to utilize high capability of local search of this algorithm and its high convergence rate. Since initial cluster centers for k-means are obtained by AFSA and k-means is used for local search, k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial cluster centers is removed. But, AFSA capability may not be enough for preventing from being trapped in local optima. If this algorithm is trapped in local optima, it cannot present proper initial cluster values to k-means. Thereafter, according to low ability of k-means in passing local optima, the obtained result cannot be acceptable. To raise this problem, after convergence of AFSA, the output of this algorithm is sent to k-means. Simultaneously with starting of k-means, AFSAs AFs are initialized and start global search again. In fact, in one time of executing the proposed algorithm, AFSA has several times of chance to perform an acceptable global search. It should be noted that in the proposed algorithm, in each time of executing AFSA, AFs just search globally and converge after a short time and k-means undertakes the remaining of optimization process which is local search. Therefore, with respect to low computational complexity of k-means, huge amount of computations for local search is prevented. In the proposed algorithm, it has been tried to utilize this conserved computation load for giving new opportunities to AFSA in order to perform an acceptable global search in at least one of given opportunities to it. Hence, for each execution of global search by AFSA, k-means is also performed once. In the proposed algorithm, to determine the convergence of artificial fish swarm, the difference of obtained results in consecutive iterations of performing the algorithm is used. When particles converge, the obtained results difference in consecutive iterations decreases, so by considering a threshold for the difference between best AFs fitness values in iterations i and j, it can determine their convergence. In the proposed algorithm, because AFSA and k-means algorithms are performed multiple times , always, it has to save the best found cluster centers by algorithm so far. For this purpose, a blackboard is applied that each time k-means finishes after convergence of AFSA, the obtained result of that will be compared with saved result in blackboard. If obtained cluster centers are better than saved result in blackboard, saved value in blackboard is updated. K- means execution finishes when after two consecutive iterations of its execution, cluster centers wouldnt be displaced. Pseudo code of the proposed algorithm is represented in Figure (1). Experiments are done on two known gray scale images, Lenna and Barbara, of sizes 512*512 in Figure (2). In this paper, the well-known criterion of uniformity is used to compare images segmentation qualitatively [3] which is shown in Equation (4) (4) Where, c is the number of thresholds. Rj is the segmented region j. N is the total number of pixels in the given image, fi shows the gray level of pixel I,  µi is the mean gray level of pixels in jth region, finally, fmin and fmax are the minimum and maximum gray level of pixels in the given image, respectively. Usually, uà Ã‚ µ[0, 1] and larger amount for u declares that the thresholds are specified with better quality on the histogram. Proposed Algorithm: 1:for each AFi 2:initialize xi 3:Endfor 4:Blackboard = arg [min F(Xi)] 5:Repeat 6:for each AFi 7:Perform Swarm Behavior on Xi(t) and Compute Xi,swarm 8:Perform Follow Behavior on Xi(i) and Compute Xi,follow 9:if F(Xi,swarm) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ F(Xi,follow) 10:then Xi(t+1)= Xi,follow 11:Else 12:Xi(t+1)= Xi,swarm 13:Endif 14:Endfor 15:if swarm is converged 16:then Execute k-means on XBest-AF until stopping criterion of k-means is met 17:Endif 18:if F(Xk-means) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ F(Blackboard) 19:then Blackboard = Xk-means 20:reinitialize AFSA 21:Endif 22:until stopping criterion is met Figure (1): Pseudo code of proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm along with standard AFSA, PSO algorithm, hybrid algorithm called KPSO [20], and k-means is used to segment two images, Lenna and Barbara. PSO and KPSO parameters are adjusted according to [6], and for k-means, initializing Forgy method is applied [21]. AFSA parameters and are adjusted according to [7]. AFSA settings in the proposed algorithm are the same as [7]. With respect to various experiments, if fitness value relating to Best AF is less than 0.1 in 3 iterations, it means that artificial fish swarm is converged. The following results are obtained from 50 times repeated experiments. Figure (3) shows segmented images, Lenna and Barbara, by the proposed algorithm with 5 and 3 thresholds. Figure 2: Orginal gray level Lenna (left) and Barbara (right) images Figure 3: The thresholded images of Lenna and Barbara using 5, and 2-level thresholds, from top to bottom. Average uniformity obtained from 5 algorithms on two images with thresholds 2, 3, 4 and 5 are shown in Table (1). As it is observed in Table (1), obtained results from the proposed algorithm is better than the other algorithms for all cases. AFSA algorithm has the worst result for all cases because of low ability in local search. K-means algorithm has found better results than AFSA because of high capability of k-means in local search. The reason for superiority of k-means to AFSA is the problem space property in histogram clustering. In fact, because of low dimensions of problem space in this environment, local search ability is of greater importance than global search ability. Also, it can reduce k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial values by means of one of the initializing methods of k-means like Forgy. Thereafter, with respect to considerable superiority of k-means local search ability in contrast to AFSA, k-means results are better than AFSAs. TABLE I: Comparison of uniformity for the five Algorithms Image T AFSA K-means PSO KPSO Proposed method Lenna 2 0.9138 0.9634 0.9730 0.9728 0.9775 3 0.9361 0.9749 0.9781 0.9783 0.9795 4 0.9495 0.9762 0.9816 0.9811 0.9826 5 0.9517 0.9804 0.9835 0.9834 0.9838 Barbara 2 0.9758 0.9761 0.9765 0.9768 0.9781 3 0.9783 0.9802 0.9808 0.9805 0.9820 4 0.9797 0.9834 0.9843 0.9851 0.9862 5 0.9822 0.9849 0.9855 0.9850 0.9884 Obtained results from PSO are better than k-means in all cases and its because of global search ability superiority of PSO to k-means. Moreover, in PSO, theres a trade-off between global search and local search abilities [16] and PSO also can perform a proper local search beside an acceptable global search. KPSO results are better than k-means results for all cases because after executing k-means in this algorithm, PSO algorithm is performed and improves obtained results from k-means. But obtained results from KPSO are not better than PSO for all cases. The reason is that sometimes k-means converges toward a local optimum and obtained result from that is not appropriate. Therefore, PSO is responsible for taking out the result from local optimum; however, it sometimes may not be successful. Indeed, improper result of k-means causes fast convergence of particles to local optimum. Obtained results from the proposed algorithm are better than other algorithms in all cases. The reason is u sage of strategies which have been used for global search in this algorithm. In fact, the proposed algorithm is successful in finding the global optima in most runs and can prevent final result from being trapped in local optima, whereas, this ability is observed less in other algorithms and they cannot guarantee passing local optima. This weakness causes that other algorithms to be of less robustness and not to be able to reach to almost the same results in their various implementations. Also, in the proposed algorithm, k-means algorithm performs local search after finding global optimum region by AFSA. Consequently, with respect to high ability of k-means in local search and taking proper initial cluster centers from AFSA, local search is done well in the proposed algorithm, too. As a result, both k-means and AFSA algorithms abilities are utilized in the proposed algorithm and the weakness of k- means algorithm cant decrease the algorithms efficiency. As it is observed in all algo rithms except KPSO, with rising up the number of thresholds, uniformity amount is improved. In KPSO, since the weakness of k-means has an undesirable effect on PSO efficiency, obtained results are not stable. In this paper, a new cooperative algorithm based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and k-means was proposed for image segmentation with respect to multi-level thresholding. In the proposed algorithm, AFSA performs global search and k-means is responsible for local search. The process of the proposed algorithm is such that the robustness and ability of preventing from being trapped in local optimums is improved. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other tested algorithms. [1] R. C. Gonzalez, and R. E. Woods, Digital image processing, In: Pearson Education India, Fifth Indian reprint, 2000. [2] S. Arora, J. Acharya, A. Verma., and K. Panigrahi, Multilevel thresholding for image segmentation through a fast statistical recursive algorithm, In: Journal on Pattern Recognition Letters 29, pp. 119125, 2008. [3] Maitra. M, A. Chatterjee, A hybrid cooperative-comprehensive learning based PSO algorithm for image segmentation using multilevel thresholding, In: Journal on Expert System with applications 34, pp. 1341-1350, 2008. [4] M. Mignote, Segmentation by fusion of histogram-based k-means clusters in different color spaces, In: IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 2008. [5] X. Yang, W. Zhao, Y. Chen, and X. Fang, Image segmentation with a fuzzy clustering algorithm based on Ant-Tree, In: Journal of Signal Processing 88, pp. 2453-2462, 2008. [6] Y. T. Kao, E. Zahara, and I. W. Kao, A hybridized approach to data clustering, In: Journal on Expert System with Applications 34, pp. 1754-1762, 2008. [7] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid approach for data clustering, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST) , pp. 932937, Tehran, 2010. [8] J. Kennedy, and R. C. Eberhart, Particle swarm optimization, In: IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, 4, pp. 1942 1948, Perth, 1995. [9] A. A. A. Esmin, D. L. Pereira, and F. Araujo, Study of different approach to clustering data by using the particle swarm optimization algorithm, In: IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 18171822, Hong Kong, 2008. [10] L. X. Li, Z. J. Shao, and J. X. Qian, An optimizing method based on autonomous animate: fish swarm algorithm, In: Proceeding of System Engineering Theory and Practice, pp. 32-38, 2002. [11] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid algorithm for optimization based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and cellular learning automata, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST), pp. 932-937, Tehran, 2010. [12] D. Yazdani, A. N. Toosi, and M. R. Meybodi, Fuzzy adaptive artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 23 th Australian Conference on Artificial Intelligent, pp. 334-343, Adelaide, 2010. [13] J. Hu, X. Zeng, and J. Xiao, Artificial fish swarm algorithm for function optimization, In: International Conference on Information Engineering and Computer Science, pp. 1-4, 2010. [14] Y. Luo, W. Wei, and S. X. Wang, The optimization of PID controller parameters based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 3rd International Workshop on Advanced Computational Intelligence, pp. 328-332, 2010. [15] C. X. Li, Z. Ying, S. JunTao, and S. J. Qing, Method of image segmentation based on fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm and artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Integrated Systems (ICISS) , pp. 254- 257, Guilin, 2010. [16] L. Xiao, A clustering algorithm based on artificial fish school, In: 2nd International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, pp. 766-769, 2010. [17] D. Bing, and D. Wen, Scheduling arrival aircrafts on multi- runway based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Computational and Information Sciences, pp. 499-502, 2010. [18] J. A. Hartigan, An overview of clustering algorithms, In: New York: John Wiley Sons , 1975. [19] C. Y. Tsai, and I. W. Kao, Particle swarm optimization with selective particle regeneration for data clustering, In: Journal of Expert Systems with Applications 38, pp. 65656576, 2011. [20] D. W. der Merwe, and A. P. Engelbrecht, Data clustering using particle swarm optimization, In: Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 215-220, 2003. [21] E. Forgy, Cluster analysis of multivariate data: efficiency vs. interpretability of classification, In: Biometrics 21, pp. 768, 1965

How the American Revolution Got Started

The events that took place before the American Revolution affected history in such a way giving the British and colonists the need to have a Revolution. The French and Indian war is the name for the war that took place between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. The aftermath of this war was a big part leading up to the American Revolution. The war changed economic, political, and social relations between the three European powers (Britain, France, and Spain) their colonies and colonists, and the natives that occupied the territories they demanded. The war finally ended with the signing of the treaty of Paris in 1763. France and Britain suffered financially because of the war. The stamp act came along in 1765, this was a direct tax imposed by the British parliament on the colonies. The act required that almost all printed materials must be produced on stamped paper. This consisted of legal documents, magazines, newspapers etc. The purpose of this tax was to pay for troops stationed in North America after the British Victory in the seven years’ war. The stamp Act congress was a meeting of representatives from the thirteen colonies. They discussed and acted upon the stamp act that was passed by the governing parliament of Great Britain, and did not include any representatives from the colonies. The congress then put together the declaration of the stamp act congress, which was fourteen points of colonial protest. They issued it to the king and parliament in hopes of repealing the stamp act. The Townsend acts were a series of laws passed beginning in 1767 by the Great Britain parliament in relation to the British colonies in North America, The acts being named after Charles Townshend who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Overall this was an internal tax on economic activity within a single colony; Townsend wanted the external taxes which was an economic activity that goes through a colony and into other parts of the country. Such as paint, glass, tea etc. He thought we should use the money to pay the colonial governor, other parliaments and the king’s salaries. Another event was the Boston massacre, an incident that happened in March of 1770. It started out as a street fight, the civilians being mad at the British for taxing everything and ended in Britain redcoats killing five civilians. This caused a lot rebellion in the British American colonies leading us towards the American Revolution. Five years later Shots were heard around the world. Paul Revere on April 18th yelled out the British regulars are coming! The first shot was fired by the British in Lexington, and then they went to Concord. Then our militia stopped them and turned them back to Boston. This was the start of the revolution, minute men were ready to stand in a minutes warning. The colonists were not going to stand for the British taking over their land and taxing them on all of their goods, so they fought for their rights. US constitution There were proposals at the philadelphia constitution convention in 1787. These proposals were the virginia plan, and the new jersey plan that people did not like. The US contitution was ratified after the Great compromise came into effect. Otherwise known as the conneticut plan. This consisted of a strong national government (tax, raising an army, regulated trade, and supremed laws). Another was the seperation of powers between legislative and executive. Also there would be two houses of congress, the senate and the House of Representatives. The states would be able to choose their US senators. Lastly there was the slavery 3/5th compromise meaning a slave counts as 3/5 of a person. When the U. S. Constitution was presented to the states, many people chose to be either Federalists or Anti-Federalists. Virginia and many other states were against the Constitution because there was no bill of rights included in it. James Madison was known as the â€Å"Father of the Constitution†, and he and Alexander Hamilton were two Federalists who supported the Constitution and explicated it in the Federalist papers (1788). On the other side George Mason, an Anti-Federalist, opposed the Constitution. Federalist (James madison) wanted a stronger government and argued to ratify the constitution. The US constitution will control factions which is a group of people with a common interest and economic seek to control government for own benefit. 1. ) Also the bigger the better in a national government, multiple factions will cancel one another out. 2. ) WE will choose the best among us to govern for the common good (republicanism) Anti Federalists – opposed to ratifying the constitution Partrick henry thought things were okay before the philadalphia convention and we were at peace. He also thought a large government would have to resort to tyranny to control everything menaing a loss of individual rights. He thought we should have lumped the states into a consolidated government. Samuel bryan thought governing over such a large area would be unable to address local concerns. Richard henry lee didn’t know it would be such a huge change.

The convention governing the International Whaling Commission (IWC)

President Clinton, when announcing his decision last October to delay the implementation of sanctions on Norway following that country's recommencement of commercial whaling, stated the United States' strong commitment to science- based international solutions to global conservation problems. The convention governing the International Whaling Commission (IWC) states similarly that its â€Å"regulations with respect to the conservation and utilization of whale resources †¦ shall be based on scientific findings†. But the practice differs greatly from the principle. The IWC took a decision in 1982 to impose a global moratorium on all commercial whaling at a time of growing scientific evidence that the Antarctic minke whale population, at least, could certainly sustain a limited harvest. Whaling countries, angered by this decision which they considered to be without scientific justification, hit back later in the 80's by making use of a provision in the IWC Convention which allowed them to issue permits to their nationals to catch some whales for the purpose of scientific research – research is conducted as a part of these â€Å"scientific† whaling operations, but is that their primary purpose? Most recently there is the proposal for a whale sanctuary throughout the Southern Ocean – a transparent attempt to prevent the resumption of whaling on the 3/4 million strong Antarctic minke population for reasons which have nothing to do with science. This has been accompanied by the unedifying spectacle of Western nations and â€Å"conservation† (or, more accurately, â€Å"preservationist†) groups desperately searching for some plausible surrogate scientific rationale with which to attempt to justify the proposal. These other reasons are discussed elsewhere in this volume. My brief is to address aspects of President Clinton's expressed concern at â€Å"the absence of a credible, agreed management and monitoring regime that would ensure that commercial whaling is kept within a science-based limit†. SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION Obviously such limits should be consistent with â€Å"sustainable utilisation† – but exactly what does that mean? The most ready analogy is that of a pensioner whose sole asset is a capital sum invested in a bank. Sustainable utilisation for him means living off the annual interest without dipping into the capital. In other words, harvesting only the natural annual growth of a population, without depleting it to a low level where this growth is greatly reduced. THE IWC'S NEW MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE In the 1970's, in response to mounting public criticism following the substantial depletion of many whale populations by whaling conducted under its aegis, the IWC introduced the so-called â€Å"New Management Procedure† (NMP). The underlying principles were fine – essentially to get whale populations to and keep them at reasonably high proportions of their size before exploitation started, by ensuring that catch limits set did not exceed sustainable levels. But the NMP proved unworkable in practice. Why? Not because there was anything wrong with the concept, but because the NMP didn't go far enough. It failed to specify how the â€Å"annual interest† (i.e. the sustainable catch level from a whale stock) was to be calculated, what data needed to be collected to do this, and how to take account of uncertainties. CALCULATING SUSTAINABLE YIELD LEVELS So how can sustainable yield levels be calculated? For the pensioner, the process is simple: to evaluate how much interest will become available annually, ask the bank teller how much capital is in his account and what the interest rate is, and then just multiply the two together. So why isn't fisheries management equally easy? – because the teller is unco- operative. All he will tell you, and only once a year, is how much you have in your account, which he can get wrong by typically 20%. And he certainly won't tell you directly what the interest rate is. How do we then get the information needed to be able to perform this key multiplication to calculate the sustainable yield for whale populations? For the capital component, sighting surveys are conducted from research vessels to determine the numbers of whales. By the standards normally attainable in fisheries research, the results obtained are good (error margins of typically 20%). The difficult component is the interest rate. Basically some (careful) exploitation is needed before this can be evaluated, because the calculation requires the information from a series of sighting surveys on how the size of the population changes in response to this harvesting. THE FUNDAMENTAL RISK-REWARD TRADE-OFF The bottom line then is that some trade-off is inevitable. If such initial harvests are kept too low, the potential productivity of the resource remains undiscovered. But if these catches are set too large, there is a high risk that unintended heavy depletion may occur before this is realised and corrective action can be taken. The goal of a risk-free harvesting strategy is unattainable, for exactly the same reason that no car or aircraft can ever be made completely â€Å"safe†. Risk can be reduced (though never eliminated), but only at the expense of higher costs – or correspondingly, lesser rewards in the form of smaller catches in resource utilisation terms. WHERE DOES THE COMPUTER COME IN? The role of the computer is to calculate the sizes of the anticipated trade-offs between risk and reward when harvesting whale populations. This is the basic function of the computer simulation trials used to test the IWC Scientific Committee's proposed â€Å"Revised Management Procedure† (RMP). Quantitative information about these trade-offs allows a sensible choice to be made between the extremes of rapid extinction of the resource under unsustainable catch levels, and complete protection which forbids any harvesting ever. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A â€Å"MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE† AND THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO FISHERIES MANAGEMENT? How does such a â€Å"Management Procedure† approach differ from the usual methods used to regulate fisheries? There catch limits are calculated according to the current â€Å"best perceptions† of the status and productivity of the resource. But it is then not entirely clear how the answer obtained should be adjusted to take the inevitable uncertainties in these perceptions into account – in other words, how to make proper allowance for risk. In contrast, the â€Å"Management Procedure† approach puts such uncertainties up front, by insisting that if these current â€Å"best perceptions† are in error, the trend in catches set over the longer term must be such that the Procedure self-corrects before there is any substantial risk that the resource could be damaged. For example, it has been suggested that global climatic change could result in a change in the environment which is deleterious for whale stocks. The RMP has already been tested to ensure that catch limits for whales would be adjusted downwards appropriately should this occur. Why are such Procedures needed for whales in particular? Whales are long-lived animals and their populations can at best grow at only a few percent per annum. Thus even relatively low levels of catch, if continued, can lead to problems unless there is adequate monitoring and an option for adjusting catch limits. In other words, the risk involved in harvesting whale populations can be evaluated sensibly only for a Procedure which is to be consistently applied for a number of decades. Thus, as in sport, a Management Procedure involves all the parties concerned agreeing the rules before the game is played (and sticking to them during it!). IS THIS APPROACH BEING USED SUCCESSFULLY ELSEWHERE? This approach is not entirely new in fisheries. Iceland has been applying it in the management of its capelin fishery. Arising out of the IWC's initiative for whales, South Africa has now come to base catch limit decisions for its major fisheries for hake, sardine and anchovy on the approach. WHAT SORT OF CATCH REGIME FOR WHALES WOULD RESULT UNDER THE RMP? As far as catch limits for whales under the IWC Scientific Committee's proposed RMP are concerned, these would initially be set at annual levels of about 0.5% of current population sizes. That would apply to stocks of species not greatly depleted by past whaling activities, such as many of the world's minke whale populations. For stocks still markedly depleted such as the blue and fin whales of the Antarctic, this percentage would be considerably less – indeed zero for those and many other stocks for a number of decades yet. In addition, there would be provisions to ensure that catches are widely spread, rather than concentrated in a few small regions. This is necessary to provide safeguards against uncertainties in knowledge about the positions of the boundaries between stocks. The annual percentage take could be increased over time, but this would be permitted only provided the results from the monitoring population trends over time by sightings surveys suggest that such larger levels of catch are sustainable. However, if the survey series stops, catches are phased out quite rapidly. TO WHAT LEVEL OF RISK DOES THE RMP CORRESPOND? What risks would be involved in the application of the RMP to whale stocks? Broadly speaking, there would be no more than a 5% chance, even under the worst set of circumstances or misconceptions likely, that catches (other than perhaps ones of a negligible size) would be taken from a population reduced to more than 10% below its most productive level. (This is the so-called 54% â€Å"protection level† – an abundance 54% of that before any harvesting took place.) And populations would need to be reduced to well below that level before any real concerns about possible extinction might arise. HOW DOES THIS LEVEL OF RISK COMPARE TO THAT ACCEPTED IN HARVESTING OTHER OF THE WORLD'S MARINE RESOURCES? If this criterion (no more than a 5% chance that the population is below 54% of its pre-exploitation size for harvesting to be allowed) were applied to the rest of the world's fisheries, nearly all would have to be closed immediately. Off the northeast coast of the US and off western Europe, for example, harvesting continues from cod stocks which are below not just 50% of their pristine levels, but arguably less than as little as 10%. Even when allowing for biological differences between whales and fish, the low levels of risk some nations demand be met for harvesting the former, are totally inconsistent with the much higher levels which they are prepared to accept for exploiting their own stocks of the latter. ABORIGINAL WHALING ON THE BOWHEAD WHALE OFF ALASKA President Clinton's statement made reference to the aboriginal whaling on bowheads in which native Alaskans engage. Some years ago, there was justifiable concern that these activities were putting this population at risk. However, the US has commendably invested considerable research effort towards addressing this problem, with results which show that there can now be no serious scientific reservations that current levels of catch place the population under any real threat. Yet, were the RMP to be applied in this case, it is so risk averse that an immediate cessation of these whaling activities would be required. THE NMFS REVIEW OF THE RMP Recently, the US National Marine Fisheries Service commissioned an independent review of the RMP by a panel of seven North American scientists. Their brief to assimilate and comment upon seven years of work by the IWC Scientific Committee (without having had any prior involvement therein) in the short space of five days was a daunting one. The panel concluded that the RMP as it stood could be used safely for a period of at most 20 years, but also recommended that some further computer simulation trials be carried out. However, it seems to me that all the specific extra trials which they recommend have effectively already been carried out and considered by the IWC's Scientific Committee. It is unclear from the panel's written report whether they were unaware of this, or did actually have some reservations about what had been done, which their report fails to elaborate. Obviously the panel should clarify this ambiguity expeditiously to the IWC's Scientific Committee. NORWAY'S RESUMPTION OF COMMERCIAL WHALING Norway has, of course, resumed commercial whaling on minke whales. This it is legally entitled to do, since it lodged an objection to the IWC's 1982 moratorium decision. I understand that the annual catch limit set by the Norwegians for their overall operation is within the limit which the RMP would specify, so that there are no scientific grounds to query that decision. However, I understand also that the areal distribution of the catches permitted by Norway is not in accord with the provisions of the RMP, and I believe that legitimate questions can be directed at Norway on this point. Of course, such a deviation from the RMP does not necessarily mean that any real danger to the resource will eventuate. But if Norway does wish to depart from the RMP's provisions, I believe that it has some scientific obligation to present the results of computer simulation trials to the IWC's Scientific Committee to demonstrate that such deviations as they might plan do indeed not involve undue long term risk. THE POTENTIAL EFFECT OF INCREASED CONSUMPTION BY GROWING MARINE MAMMAL POPULATIONS ON COMMERCIAL FISH RESOURCES What of the concerns often expressed that increasing marine mammal populations will consume more fish and thus put fishing industries at risk? The counter argument often made is that there is no scientific proof that this is so. But equally, there is no scientific proof that it isn't. The scientific methods which have been used in the past to address this question have been crude, and there has been a justifiable argument that basing management decisions (such as a marine mammal cull, for example) upon their results would be premature. Marine science can never, by its nature, prove something without some residual doubt. But methods are being improved, and cases may soon arise where the preponderance of indications that growing numbers of marine mammals will impact fisheries is so strong, that hard decisions will have to be faced to avoid the chance that important industries are put at risk. For example, growing fur seal herds off southern Africa are now more than 2 million strong. Their consumption of commercial species equates to the total catch by all the fishing industries in the area, and their continued growth may constitute a threat to the region's most valuable fishery for hake. IN CONCLUSION To conclude, let me return to President Clinton's concern for science-based limits, and credible management and monitoring for potential commercial whaling. From the scientific side, the RMP has been more thoroughly researched and tested than any comparable marine resource management system worldwide. Its own requirement for regular sighting surveys, as well as the regular review process associated with its implementation for any species and region, ensures adequate monitoring. It is so risk averse that the only real scientific basis for questioning its immediate implementation is that it is so conservative that it will waste much of a potential harvest. If the United States fails to endorse the RMP, is there any way that the US could then avoid the judgement of complete hypocrisy, unless it immediately suspended not only the aboriginal whaling by Alaskans, but indeed closed every one of the country's fisheries?