The second is the exegetical or neoAugustinian

Our work is a literary analysis of `Beowulf` that focuses on the literary work but not history of the poem. It’s going to be research how the story could be viewed as heroism with the death of the hero. But at first we should review critical writings. Two main critical approaches have dominated the field in the last thirty years. The first is the application to Old English verse of the oral-formulaic theory that Milman Parry and Albert Lord developed out of their study of contemporary South-Slavic oral poetry.1 The second is the exegetical or neoAugustinian form of interpretation associated particularly with the name of D. W. Robertson in the area of medieval English literature. 2 A major reason for the popularity of the first two theories is that they seem to offer structured approaches to a poetry that for many modern readers lacks any clear and familiar structure. Imagine for a moment the naive first reactions to Beowulf of a reader hitherto accustomed only to modern litera ture (i. e. , literature in Modern English, since Shakespeare).Such a reader will respond quickly and positively to some of the poem's descriptions of violent action; will find curiously attractive some of the exotic atmosphere of mead-hall and dragon-mound; and may experience familiar emotions when reading a few highly lyrical passages. But surely he or she will find large sections of the poem imaginatively inert — slowmoving, redundant, didactic, often simply opaque. Such a reader -I might as well confess that this devil's advocate I have in mind is myself at a very early stage — may wonder why in the world the poet has chosen to direct his attention where he does.Why does he keep tirelessly making the same points and telling the same kindsof illustrative stories over and over, yet spend so pitifully little time on the literary things we have been taught to think important? On characterization, for instance, with its problems of development, complexity, clear motivat ion; on richness of detail in the natural and physical background; on informal, natural, and â€Å"real† interactions between people; on a broad or â€Å"rounded† or ironic view of the world the poet presents.If we judge Beowulf by novelistic standards, it shows us a cast of ornately dressed and stuffed (or stuffy) mannequins, always ready to restate the obvious, acting out rituals as obscure as they are strenuous. The importance of Beowulf in establishing, from a literary-critical viewpoint, the definitive epic style in Old English poetry cannot be exaggerated. Beowulf and the Waldere fragments were held to constitute ‘the only narrative poems in an old Teutonic dialect that in respect of their scale can be compared with the epics of other lands'.3 For most readers today the epic quality of Beowulf is not in doubt. 4 Since Beowulf was obviously ‘epic', it must be an originally orally composed poem to which Christian colouring was later added. 5 Now look mo re closely at the strange text of Beowulf. On written pages, written (at least in this sole surviving manuscript) about the year 1000, though probably copied from earlier versions, 6 we find a text largely composed of formulas. A concrete instance may serve to illustrate this idea of limitation. That highly conventional beast the dragon is a simple example.If a dragon, a wyrm, a draca, appears in a given passage, we can be sure that the terms applied to it and the actions it performs will all lie well within a small compass of convention. In what follows, the numbers in parentheses indicate my rough count of the â€Å"formulaic† epithets and phrases applied to various aspects of the dragon in Beowulf. The count can only be approximate, since there is much overlapping. It will be noted at once that some aspects are copiously, even redundantly, exemplified and restated.Though there is ample variation within each of these tight clusters of patterns, and though this variation ind eed forms a striking feature of the style (admittedly one our novice reader will need some time to appreciate), the examples of variation never range far outside a drastically restricted number of fixed bases. We might call these bases normal expectations. Oral poetry as we see it in Beowulf is precisely, almost forbiddingly, the poetry of normal expectations. They appear in all its patterns.More specific terms for some of these patterns (though my use of terms will lack the rigorous clarity of definition the theorist demands) include the following: epithets habitually attached to characters or objects (ece drihten ‘eternal lord' or eald sweord ‘ancient sword', the attributes riveted tight to their nouns); type-characters (the gracious mead-pouring queen Wealhtheow); traditional narrative sequences (voyages, gift-giving, fights); gnomic assertions of permanent ethical values (swa sceal man don ‘thus should a man [always] do'); certain heavily symbolic objects (weap ons, ships, halls, barrows); stock settings and props (benches to sit on, cups to drink from); habitual use of contrast to highlight and define (the pairing for effect of good Sigemund and wicked Heremod); certain recognizable emotional tones or attitudes (boasting, the â€Å"elegiac† tone), with their own characteristic vocabularies. Such a catalogue is only an incomplete outline, and in any case is deficient because it cannot show the complicated interweaving of these separate constituents that is so fundamentally typical of the verse.Although medievalists are perfectly familiar with flat type-characters of the kind we find in Beowulf, such characters may present some problem to readers more accustomed to the subtleties of characterization in later literature. Traditional types — the venerable and wise old king, the intensely suffering woman, the hero oddly and remotely wrapped in his sacred violence, the ravening monster from hell, the â€Å"twisted† young ki ng unceremoniously pitched headlong off Fortune's Wheel — these types can seem childishly simple. Exactly: they are indeed the archetypal folk characters of our fairy-tales. Let us first consider the case of Unferth, a character who has constantly been made more interesting than he really is, obsessively rounded by the critics into more complex and pleasing shapes.If Unferth really is a traditional type-character in medieval literature, then variants of the basic type should help us find the proper category for him. Some classifications that have been suggested would label Unferth as Evil Counsellor, or All-Licensed Fool, or Official Court Guest-Tester, or Tolerated Coward (like Sir Kay in some Arthurian tales), or Raw Youth (like the rustic Perceval), perhaps in need of the guidance of a seasoned warrior-mentor who will polish his manners and heighten his courage. Yet Unferth seems to wander across the boundaries between these categories in a confusing way. He may be some ne w type unrecorded elsewhere, a combination of several types, or even no type at all but a new invention of the poet, though this last is unlikely.The major stumbling block to critics, of course, has been the disparity between the fact, on the one hand, that Unferth is shown not only as failing the explicit test of heroism at the mere's edge (1465-71a) but as being sharply condemned by Beowulf (in the heat of the flyting, 581b-94) not only for cowardice but for having killed his own brothers, and the fact, on the other hand, that he evidently retains a place of honor at Hrothgar's court and generously lends Beowulf his sword, an act for which the hero warmly thanks him. In terms of the dominant heroic values of the poem, how can Unferth thus show himself to be both bad and good? Unferth has important role as a spokesman for the community of Danes. Beowulf's notable tact in his successive parleys with the Danes he met as he made his way to Heorot seemed to be evidence for his own awar eness of this potential tension.The Danes must determine whether the Geat is nothing but a wandering showoff and braggart, coming fordolgilpe and forwlenco, out of foolish boastfulness and pride. If he is, it would be truly humiliating for them to betray their own desperate need for help by treating such a heroic charlatan with respect. Thus, even if Beowulf's very well-chosen words had placated some of the Danes, it is likely that not all were ready to embrace the visitor. Unferth's sharp challenge of Beowulf may thus dramatically fill a psychological need for the Danes as a whole. At the least, taking Unferth as the spokesman for many Danes obviates any necessity to explain why they show no disapproval of his challenge to Beowulf. Unferth does not stay around in the hall long enough to be killed by Grendel.But seeing him as one of these boasters over the ale-cup would explain later references to Unferth as a braggart. We should remember that we do not ever hear Unferth bragging, t hough the poet tells us (499-505) that Unferth dislikes hearing any warrior praised as being any better than he is, an attitude consistent with being a braggart. But his only speech, the challenge to Beowulf, is no brag. There Unferth makes the charge that it is Beowulf who is an empty braggart with a low heroic credit rating, whereas Breca, Beowulf's competitor in the swimming-race, is not. Later, when Unferth gives the sword Hrunting to Beowulf to use in the mere-fight, the poet tells us that the Dane does not remember what he had said when he was drunk (1465-68a).What must be referred to here is not the occasion of his attack on Beowulf which we witnessed but some boast we never actually heard (but can infer from Hrothgar's description just quoted), since the poet's remark is immediately followed by the statement that Unferth himself did not dare to risk his own life in the mere. This is not a very distinctive failure. Neither did any other Dane. In this, Unferth once again seems merely representative. But only if he had been a conspicuous braggart in the past would his behavior now be considered reprehensible or even noteworthy. That the poet sees Unferth as representative Dane may, however, find some additional support elsewhere. It should be noted that Beowulf himself takes Unferth's attack on him to be a Danish attack, one that requires a counterattack as much against the whole nation as against Unferth individually.In his reply (starting at 581b) he begins by addressing Unferth quite personally indeed, pointing out that, while he knows evidence that Unferth has killed his own brothers (a serious charge of fratricide later validated by the poet, 1167-68), and perhaps by treachery, if the phrase peah pin wit duge ‘though your wit is keen' (589) implies some clever plotting, there is even more sensational evidence, twelve whole years of it, that Unferth has not been giving Grendel any trouble whatsoever. But Beowulf then moves on at once to broaden the charge to include all Danes. Eower leode (596) is a plural really addressed over Unferth's head to the listening Danes, and it is followed by the plural terms Sigescyldinga, leode Deniga, Gardenum.None of these people, though they may not be brother-slayers, have ever given Grendel any trouble either. It will take a Geat to do that. Unferth is then a symbol of national rather than merely private inadequacy. The closing lines of Beowulf's reply modulate out of mockery and into reassurance. Here Unferth may well stand for the Everydane who, the hero promises, will be able to go happy and safe to his morning mead in Heorot next day, after Grendel has been taken out of the way. But before we speak further of comradeship, we must deal with Beowulf's devastating assertion that Unferth will be damned for killing his brothers. The remark is made in the context of a Germanic flyting or word-battle.Unferth's challenge follows close on a long boasting speech by Beowulf (407-55) and Hrothga r's description of the failure of the Danish hall-boasters to survive their encounters with Grendel. This combination of speeches sets up a testing situation. If the Danes' many boasts about defeating Grendel could never be carried out, and if Beowulf's boast about beating Breca in the swimming-contest could never be carried out, why then should anyone expect that the hero's present boast offers any promise of fulfillment? Such is the gist of Unferth's speech, but its tone is even more important. It is full of the taunting terms of hot heroic competitiveness: wunne ‘struggled'; ymb sund flite ‘competed in swimming'; he ? e ? t sunde oferflat ‘he beat you at swimming'; h? fde mare m? gen ‘he had greater strength'.All this language is couched to stir the quick anger of any proud and touchy rival. Even though brother-slaying can be viewed as a terrible crime, as it certainly is by Beowulf when he wants to be accusatory, it can also be mentioned rather neutrally and casually, as I think is done here. Unferth's virtue of great courage or spirit is in the main clause, and he is granted amnesty for fratricide in the subordinate clause. Critics have not generally accepted this particular subordination of importance, but I see no reason not to take this passage as straightforward and without any bitter irony, even though the poet himself may be more critical of Unferth's murderous past than the Danes seem to be.But this does not mean that the text here contains a patronizing allusion to the Danes' lamentable and inexplicable blindness to Unferth's real and rotten nature; it merely shows that they are not presently engaged in a flyting with him. A flyting would be the appropriate occasion to dredge up and bring forth such bits of past scandal, but the duration of a flyting is limited and time-bound. Yet, though Unferth is thoroughly beaten in the flyting and proved to be inferior to Beowulf in heroic achievement, he does not seem to be especially humiliated in this scene, partly because the poet's eye is, as always, on Beowulf's greatness and partly because Unferth as a Dane must accept the evidence that only a nearsupernatural hero could have made any mark on Grendel.The Danes would much rather have saved their own great hall themselves but plainly they could not. So now they cheerfully set to work restoring Heorot to order (991 ff. ), and, though nothing is said about it, one would not be entirely surprised to hear that Unferth was turning to and joining in the task. If then we see the argument between Unferth and Beowulf as coming to a full stop here, it seems most unlikely that Unferth's later loan of a sword to Beowulf for the fight with Grendel's mother is to be construed as a reopening of hostilities, or as a malicious act reflecting ill-feeling and resentment. It has been surmised that Unferth might know Hrunting to be a defective weapon. 7

Definition and Examples of the Present Progressive Tense

Definition and Examples of the Present Progressive Tense In  English grammar,  the present progressive is a  verb  construction (made up of a present form of the verb  to be  plus a  present participle) that usually conveys a sense of ongoing action at the present time. This construction is also known as the durative aspect. The present progressive is used to describe activity that is in progress right nows of the present progressive can also be found in cases where a speaker is referring to things that are planned for the future, e.g., I am reading at the event tomorrow. There are many reasons to use the present progressive tense, such as: To refer to events that are in progress at the time of speaking or writingTo refer to things that are taking place or that are true around the moment of speaking or writingTo describe actions that are repeated or regular but are either temporary or may be judged to be temporaryTo describe regular actions in relation to a particular time or a specified event, especially when those events interrupt something already in progressTo refer to gradual processes of changeWith adverbs of indefinite frequency (such as  always, constantly, continually, forever) to describe events that are regular but unplanned and often undesired (Adapted from R. Carter and M. McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge University Press, 2006) The Present Progressive Is Not Passive Voice Students of English are frequently taught to improve their prose by removing passive language, i.e., sentences where the object of an action appears as the main subject (The pins were knocked over by the bowling ball). Passive language introduces be verbs (were  knocked over) that would not appear if the original sentence had been written actively (The bowling ball knocked over the pins). For this reason, some students learn to become wary of be verbs, thinking they are indicators of passive language. This is not always the case. The present progressive tense- a construction that always includes a be verb- should not be confused with passive voice. Present Progressive Examples The best way to get a sense of how the present progressive is used is to look at examples that appear in books, movies, and common speech. Take the following example, from Amy Reeds 2009 novel Beautiful: I am looking at my piece of pizza. I am watching pepperoni glisten. It is my third day at the new school and I am sitting at a table next to the bathrooms. I am eating lunch with the blond girls with the pink sweaters, the girls who talk incessantly about Harvard even though were only in the seventh grade. Here the present progressive is used to describe a series of actions (looking, sitting, eating) that are all occurring in the same present moment. The use of this tense not only unites these actions but also provides a sense of immediacy, grounding the reader in the present. The present progressive can also be used to describe actions that are habitual or regular or true across time: People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. This quote, from George Bernard Shaw, uses the present progressive to show that blame is always being assigned, from generation to generation, a symptom of human nature that will never change. Finally, the present progressive can also be used to refer to planned actions. In her novel Notting Hell, Rachel Johnson describes a host telling her guests whats for dinner: Anyway, tonight, we  are having  a perfectly balanced supper of fish fingers (essential fatty fish oils), baked beans (lovely roughage) and oven chips (bursting with potato goodness). Present Progressive vs. Simple Present The present progressive tense can be confusing, especially for English learners whose native language does not use this tense. In The Business Writers Handbook, Gerald J. Alred provides the following example: I am searching for an error in the document.[The search is occurring now and may continue.] In contrast, the simple present tense more often relates to habitual actions: I search for errors in my documents.[I regularly search for errors, but I am not necessarily searching now.]   Alred gives another example to provide a further distinction: I live in London.I am living in London. The sense of the first sentence  is that this is a relatively permanent state of affairs- there is no suggestion that the speaker is intending to leave any time soon. In the second sentence, however, the sense is that the situation is temporary; London is where the speaker happens to live at the moment, but this situation could change in the future.

Sometimes All You Need Is Yourself Professor Ramos Blog

Sometimes All You Need Is Yourself Everyone has at least one person who has someone who has helped them throughout their life. Maybe they have quite a few. For me those people would be myself, my mom, my aunt semida, and my fiancà © Bobby. Throughout my whole life it’s been a constant roller coaster. To this day I am still learning and applying what I was thought to my daily life whether it’s at school, work, or on my free time. Sometimes, all you need is yourself to help learn certain things others might not be able to help you on. Let me tell you a little bit about my sponsor, my mom. She’s an extraordinarily amazing, strong woman. She is about 5’6 with long dark brown hair with these hazel eyes. When she was 17  ½ she got electrocuted to 20,000 volts of electricity. At the age of 18, my grandparents, my mom and her siblings all came to the United States from Romania for a better life. My mom has been through so much in the past 48 years. She has always told me â€Å"be kind, to love, and always wish well upon those who do you wrong† by the age of 12. She taught me how to read, write and speak English before I went to kindergarten. My mom helped me understand what it’s like to appreciate the little things in life without having that luxury. She has not stopped helping me grow into the woman I am today. Another sponsor in my life would be my aunt. She is my mom’s younger sister. She is about 5’7 with short brown hair and light hazel eyes. My aunt Semida has been through enough to help me understand quite a few things. She’s always been like a second mom to me. When I would go through some problems I couldn’t talk to my mom about, she was my go to. Semida, helped me deal with depression, break ups and broken hearts, and simply giving me advice. When I was about 15 my aunt helped me practice my driving skills without a permit. She taught me how to drive a manual transmission car when I finally got my permit at 18. Yeah big gap to finally get my license. At the age of 20 going into 21 she helped me understand to see and read the red flags in a relationship, to get out before it was too late. By the time I turned 21 she also taught me and said â€Å" you don’t need a man to make you happy, just yourself and doing what you love.† Finally, my last sponsor would be the love of my life, my fiancà ©, Bobby. He comes from a family of law enforcement. He’s strong and independent. Bobby is about 5’10, built with tattoos all over with light brown eyes. When I met him, I was going through quite a lot. Dealing with anxiety and constantly trying to find someone to complete my heart. He taught me that women are not just for sex and to take advantage of but women need to be loved, cherished and given the world. He always has a way with words. Bobby and I have our own knowledge on certain things and in certain areas. In some areas he knows more about law enforcement than I do and in certain areas I know more about the medical field. I know how to speak more than one language when he only knows two. At the age of 21 I took an English class and had to write about racism. I ended up writing about how a majority of the cops are racist. When we discussed the essay, he opened my eyes to realize and say â€Å"You are misinformed about what actually happens in and during certain situations that involve police shootings. The media has its way to draw in audience by giving them what they want to see and hear.† So to get my facts checked and to actually see what goes on I watch Live PD. Apart from that, he has also showed me what love is from someone who truly cares about you. I know he gets busy with work and has a lot on his plate but he never fails to tell me â€Å"I love you. No matter how busy I get, I love you.† He has shown me how to be treated with respect and to always be there for each other. In a relationship you don’t always have to be serious. Sometimes you cannot always put in 50/50. Sometimes you need to give 80/20 and be there to pick up your significant other. Now, enough about my sponsors. A little bit about myself. I am a 22 year old college student with a story. I am 5’6 with long brown hair, hazel eyes with what most will say, â€Å"a perfect smile.† At the age of 3 or 4 I began to draw. Put a piece of paper and crayons or a pencil and I would just doodle. For about 19 years I never stopped drawing, mastering my skills. Around the age 18 I taught myself how to be confident.I wake up every morning and tell myself â€Å"Girl, you look gorgeous! You are a queen.† I also taught myself that everyone will have an opinion about you. Became confident to where others opinions about me don’t matter because I know myself and I’m comfortable in my own body. When I turned 21 I got my first tattoo to cover my scars, to help boost that confidence. Most people have one person who helps them, to teach them certain things in life. Some might have more. I have more than what I wrote but these sponsors, these important people in my life have made me the person I am today. From self teaching, to my mom helping me and teaching me, from my aunt Semida helping me understand, to finally my fiancà © opening my eyes. Sometimes in life you don’t just need people close to you to help you learn or to teach you new things or subjects or possibly new ideas, maybe we teach ourselves new things nobody else could have taught us.

Ella Baker, the Grassroots Civil Rights Organizer

Ella Baker, the Grassroots Civil Rights Organizer Ella Baker was a tireless fighter for the social equality of African-Americans. Whether Baker was supporting local branches of the NAACP, working behind the scenes to establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with Martin Luther King Jr.,  or  mentoring college students through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), she was always working to push the agenda of the Civil Rights Movement forward.   One of her most famous quotes encapsulates the meaning of her work as a professional grassroots organizer, This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real. Early Life and Education Born on December 13, 1903, in Norfolk, Va., Ella Jo Baker grew up listening to stories about her grandmothers experiences as a former slave. Bakers grandmother vividly described how slaves rebelled against their owners. These stories laid the foundation for Bakers desire to be a social activist.   Baker attended Shaw University. While attending Shaw University, she began challenging policies established by the school administration. This was Bakers first taste of activism. She graduated in 1927 as valedictorian.   New York City Following her college graduation, Baker moved to New York City. Baker joined the editorial staff of the American West Indian News and later the Negro National News. Baker became a member of the Young Negroes Cooperative League (YNCL). Writer George Schuyler established the YNCL. Baker would serve as the organizations national director, helping African-Americans build economic and political solidarity. Throughout the 1930s, Baker worked for the Workers Education Project, an agency under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Baker taught classes concerning labor history, African history, and consumer education. She also dedicated her time to actively protesting against social injustices such as Italys invasion of Ethiopia and the Scottsboro Boys case in Alabama. Organizer of the Civil Rights Movement In 1940, Baker began working with local chapters of the NAACP. For fifteen years Baker served as a field secretary and later as director of branches. In 1955, Baker was influenced greatly by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and established In Friendship, an organization that raised funds to fight Jim Crow Laws. Two years later, Baker moved to Atlanta to help Martin Luther King Jr. organize the SCLC. Baker continued her focus on grassroots organizing by running Crusade for Citizenship, a voter registration campaign. By 1960, Baker was assisting young African-American college students in their growth as activists. Inspired by students from North Carolina A T who refused to get up from a Woolworth lunch counter, Baker returned to Shaw University in April 1960. Once at Shaw, Baker helped students participate in the sit-ins. Out of Bakers mentorship, SNCC was established. Partnering with members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), SNCC helped organize the 1961 Freedom Rides. By 1964, with the assistance of Baker, SNCC and CORE organized Freedom Summer to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi and also, to expose the racism existing in the state. Baker also helped establish  the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). MFDP was a mixed raced organization that gave people not represented in the Mississippi Democratic Party an opportunity to have their voices heard. Although the MFDP was never given a chance to sit at the Democratic Convention, the work of this organization helped to revise a rule allowing women and people of color to sit as delegates at the Democratic Convention. Retirement and Death Up until her death in 1986, Baker remained an activist- fighting for social and political justice not only in the United States but the world.

Write a report assessing the feastibility of dufferent techniques for Assignment

Write a report assessing the feastibility of dufferent techniques for providing fresh water to arid region of the world - Assignment Example Use of desalination process is applicable in most parts of the world with its feasibility being based on aspects energy and eco-friendliness. On the other hand, rainwater harvesting is suitable in those areas that are agriculture oriented and their rainfall distribution can allow for runoffs. Most parts of the Middle East meet its viability. Desalination is the process of eliminating that solid material that has dissolved in water especially salts and other lifeless variety. Desalination takes place in the normal natural setting as water evaporates from the seas, lakes, and oceans to move upwards, precipitate, and form clouds. Historical descriptions and records, including the setting of some of the earliest Greek philosophers reveal that humanity has been using desalination since long ago to come up with drinking water. The arid situation in some parts of the world has contributed towards the increased use of desalination to create fresh water that can enable them carry out various purposes with it. Studies reveal that desalination technology is used in about 125 countries globally, with the United States leading in its application (National Research Council, 2004, p.12). Several desalination know how are used in different parts of the world to remove salt from seawater. The type of technology used is dependent on some factors such as quality of the water source, anticipated purpose for the water being desalinated, size of the plant, capital, and energy charges and the possibility of energy reuse. In desalination process, thermal technologies are used to heat seawater, which then evaporates forming vapor. The vapor is then condensed to become fresh water. The use of thermal technologies was common many decades ago. From 1950, there was a shift from thermal use to use of membranes to desalinate brackish water (Escobar and Schafer, 2009, p. 10). The Middle East is among the main users of

R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC Research Paper

R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC - Research Paper Example After a serious investigation, the company was charged with some Occupational Safety and Health offences, which lead to expensive penalties. Discussion The paper will investigate the Williams construction company in relation to OSHA Act. It seeks to highlight the legal issues in the case, employer’s violation of the Act, and the role of the workers in maintaining the liability under the act. Legal issues The trench collapse that caused the death and serious injury of two Williams Company employees and the company’s violation of the OSHA Act summarizes the main legal issues in the case. Therefore, the legal concerns, who is responsible for upholding the violations of certain Occupational Safety and Health principles? Is it the court or the Williams construction company? The employer’s failures or violations After the investigation, the OSHA Act charged the Williams Construction company with a number of violations. First, the company failed to instruct and equip th e workers and managers with necessary strategies on how to identify and avoid hazardous working environment, as demanded by the OSHA regulations, (Wilshusen, Berg, Brookie, Okizaki & American Bar Association, (2008). The company did not provide any safety training to both the employees and managers in charge. For instance, Secondly, the company failed to make sure that the two workers did not need to move over 25 feet to a secure region, based on the OSHA Act requirements. The Act assumed that the employees were unaware of the depth they should attempt because the company did not issue any instruction about it. The company similarly, broke the law by offering just one safe egress mechanism at the east side of the forty-five deep excavation. Even though, it seems that one pump was stationed over twenty-five feet far from the ramp of the trench, the exact pumps’ position or the exact location of the employees verse the ramp during the collapse of the excavations, is rather imma terial. A person working not more than twenty-five feet away from the exit may prefer to move far away from the point of egress to do his work satisfactorily. Therefore, it is justified to predict that any workers already in the dangerous zone will be automatically exposed to the hazard itself. Therefore, this OSHA regulation applies irrespective of whether workers were exposed to real hazard during the time of trench fall. According to OSHA regulation, a violation is validated if a worker has access to hazardous zones over twenty-five feet away from egress means. Third, the company did not have a competent expert, trained mainly to ensure trench safety. The Act requires that the construction company should have a competent expert with certain knowledge and expertise in analysis of soil and protective mechanisms and able to identify fatal conditions. In additions, the company should have an expert to conduct routine excavation inspections to ensure hazardous conditions are identifie s as required by OSHA regulations, (Genson, Kerezman & American Bar Association, 2006). For instance, John, the supervisor confessed that he had not seen the safety manual of the company located at backside of the trucks seat. Additionally, the company did not train him as an OSHRC competent expert and had no any training apart from his job. Fourthly, the company did not ensure that the trench ways are supported and slopped based on the regulation requirements. Therefore, on the four above violations, the Labor Secretary

United States, Petitioner v. Xavier Alvarez Essay

United States, Petitioner v. Xavier Alvarez - Essay Example He justified the work by saying to have been acknowledged by the Congressional Medal of Honor while, in essence, this was not true. In addition, he had not worked for the military forces. Evidently, a federal law under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 criminalizes lying regarding military decorations. Apart from protecting the name of the institution, the Act protected the valor of the actual people who had the ward. The military is a sensitive government body that should not have its name used to impress or gain respect. By claiming to have worked and got a reward from the Congressional Medal of Honor, he committed an offense punishable by the United States law. If everybody is allowed to falsely claim an award in every institution, what will be the integrity of the wards? What role will they play to the actual people receiving them? Will it be a motivation or a formality because we cannot differentiate between the real holders and false one? These questions make Xavier Alvarez guilty for violating the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. Undeniably, United States v. Cabrales stipulates that a person can only be charged after committing an offense. On the other hand, the first amendment right entitles everybody to a freedom of speech as in the case United States v. Stevens. The rights stipulate that people have the right to speak liberally without intrusion from the government. Interestingly, the amendment has limit of speech to obscenity, incitement, child pornography, true threats, criminal conduct or deformation. The question, therefore, is whether Stolen Valor Act protects lies about the military or it infringes and restricts speech with regards to its content. Before pointing a finger to Xavier Alvarez, it is important to assess if the law is restrictive or constitutional. In conclusion, the case Lane v. Franks, the Supreme Court questions the extent of free speech with regards to qualified