Parkinson's Disease Discussion Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Parkinson's Disease Discussion - Research Paper Example Management of motor response changes, for example, nighttime deterioration, dyskinesias, early morning deterioration, and psychiatric problems can only be successful if there are strategies for treatment. Although tremendous efforts and developments have been made in comprehending the pathophysiology that lie beneath this condition, the cause is not yet known, and there is no treatment that is curative. This paper will look at the video â€Å"My Father, My Brother, and Me†, and attempt to discuss issues that surround Parkinson’s disease. Firstly, there is a personal drive to understand Parkinson’s disease. The disease has affected the actor’s family members. During his undertakings, he meets with various remarkable people who are doing research about the disease. The researcher’s meeting with frozen heroin addicts results in a monumental step forward. An individual who had suffered from this disease got a reformed living by going through the surgery of the brain. Moreover, he encountered a geneticist who assisted in identifying some of the mutations responsible for Parkinson disease. It has also been noted by specialists that at least six genes can cause Parkinson’s disease. Secondly, there is a belief that the debate involving genetics and environment is adequate because there has not been an answer to it. A development of the connection between genetics and environment has led to the improvement of Parkinson’s disease research hugely in the last few years. Thirdly, it is fascinating to know that even with the progression in the embryonic cell therapies; the research was stopped in 2006 by the former United States president, George Bush. He did this by vetoing the bill that was supposed to increase funding for stem cell research. He was largely responding to pressure from various religious groups. Fourthly, there is an illustration of the different treatment, medication of interest,

Giorgio Vasari on Lorenzo Ghiberti

Giorgio Vasari on Lorenzo Ghiberti This text contains a mixture of bibliographical and historical information regarding Ghiberti’s life and the circumstances in which he received the commission for the doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni, next to the Duomo in Florence. It contains factual information regarding the background and training of the artist; the participants and judges of the competition to win the contract; descriptive information about the location of the door, its manufacture and some of the practical difficulties experienced by Ghiberti whilst working on it. The text therefore gives information that is helpful to the historian in understanding some of the facts surrounding the production of art in fifteenth century Florence and the circumstances of production of one particular artistic creation. However, to regard this as a purely objective historical account would be a mistake. Rubin (1995, 2) comments that ‘the components of Vasari’s history had generic precedents and parallel s in biography, technical treatises, and didactic literature, both classical and contemporary’. Vasari was able to fuse the elements of these different genres in order to situate Ghiberti (and the other artists in The Lives) within a developing tradition of artistic enterprise and to create a history of art that included aesthetic judgement. Vasari’s teleological view of the development of art goes beyond mere biographical and historical description and this aspect of his work is particularly important because it gives the modern reader information about how artists of the later Renaissance period viewed artistic products from an earlier time and also how a theoretical stance towards the nature of art was being developed. Having grown up as the son of an artisan, Vasari had received part of his education in his home town of Arezzo and then spent a part of his adolescence with the Medici family, who were at that time the most prominent family in Florence. It was among their children that he furthered his education and was undoubtedly exposed to the humanist curriculum that would have been a part of their education at that time. Although Vasari would not have had a university education, he was nonetheless familiar with the basics of humanist thought. Vasari’s own life, therefore, exemplified the way in which art had become a vital part of aristocratic life and education and how it gave practitioners of the arts an entry into the highest parts of society. Whilst earlier generations of painters and sculptors had been regarded merely as craftsmen and had worked relatively anonymously, by Vasari’s time individual artists were able to capitalise on their reputations to gain high financial remun eration as well as fame. The text reveals that Ghiberti’s father had these two goals in mind when he urged Ghiberti to come back to Florence to enter the competition, which would be ‘an occasion to make himself known and demonstrate his genius’ and also that, if his son gained recognition as a sculptor, ‘neither †¦ would ever again need to labour at making ear-rings’. The ambitious artist was, therefore, able to advance his career and wealth through winning great commissions. Welch (1997, 125) observes that ‘by the mid-fourteenth century a number of Italian artists, particularly in Tuscany, seem to have been aware of the need to promote themselves and their memory, either by writing themselves or by encouraging others to write about them‘. It is within this tradition that Vasari wrote his The Lives. In classical times, writers such as Plutarch and Pliny had written biographical works about famous men’s lives and the Renaissance preoccupation with the revival of antiquity provided a stimulus for this genre of biography that is focussed on the rhetorical practice of praising worthy and famous men, including artists (Pliny’s Natural History provided the model for writing about artists of Graeco-Roman antiquity (Welch, 1997, 125)). Ghiberti himself had written Commentaries, a work that included a section on antiquity, another on his own autobiography, and a third on the theory of optical illusion. This is the work to which Vasari ref ers in the text. Vasari alludes to Ghiberti’s use of Pliny as a model and he thus demonstrates that they are all, in their different ways, participating in an ancient tradition of writing about art and that they are all seeking a form of immortality through writing as well as through making art. Yet Vasari is somewhat disparaging in his comments on Ghiberti as a writer and his criticism may derive from the context in which he was practicing his own art. The courtly values of ease, modesty and gracefulness as exemplified in Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier had come to dominate the world of the Renaissance courts in which Vasari worked and may have been the cause of his disdain for the Ghiberti’s ‘vulgar tone’ and his condemnation of Ghiberti’s brief treatment of the ancient painters in favour of a lengthy and detailed ‘discourse about himself’. Cole (1995, 176) argues that Vasari was influenced by Castiglione in that he ‘urged the artist to disguise his labour and study and stress his facilita (ease) and prestezza (quickness of execution)’. It may have been that Vasari perceived that Ghiberti had not lived up to this artistic ideal in his writing. Another earlier writer on art, Leon Battista Alberti, had ’al ways stressed the joining of diligenza (diligence) with prestezza’ (Cole, 1995, 176). The influence of such aesthetic values are revealed in many of the judgements that Vasari makes; in the text, his comments on the relative merits of the submissions for the competition include technical terms that are still used today, such as ‘composition’ and ‘design’, but he also uses terms such as ‘grace’ and ’diligence’ which have a rather more specific relationship to their Renaissance context. The text does not only reveal the courtly values that were a part of Vasari’s aesthetic. Florence had a long tradition of civic and republican values and Vasari’s account shows the ways in which the guilds and the Commune, together with ordinary citizens, all had a part to play in Ghiberti’s enterprise. Whilst the guild of Merchants had set up the competition, the location of the door in the Baptistery nonetheless has a civic and religious function that would have made it a very public work of art. Ghiberti’s practice of appealing to popular taste is revealed in Vasari’s’ description of him ‘ever inviting the citizens, and sometimes any passing stranger who had some knowledge of the art, to see his work, in order to hear what they thought, and those opinions enabled him to execute a model very well wrought and without one defect’. Peter Burke (2000, 76) comments on the value of Vasari as a source for the evidence of a popular res ponse to art in Florence and the ways in which ‘ordinary people, craftsmen and shopkeepers, were not only familiar with the names of the leading artists of their city, past and present, but they were not afraid to offer opinions often critical opinions about the value of particular works.’ Vasari’s work thus shows evidence of civic as well as courtly values and demonstrates the phenomenon of the artist who had particularly frequent opportunities for mobility, both geographically and socially, in the Renaissance period. Vasari’s book was divided into three parts that corresponded to three ‘ages’ of Renaissance art, roughly equivalent to the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This corresponded to Vasari’s view of the art history of the Renaissance as a progression towards increasing perfection. In the text, this teleological view is revealed in Vasari’s description of Ghiberti’s relationship with his father. Vasari attributes the initial prompting to compete to Ghiberti’s father, who wrote to Ghiberti ‘urging him to return to Florence in order to give a proof of his powers’, Ghiberti is also described as having ‘from his earliest years learnt the art of the goldsmith from his father’, yet ‘he became much better therein than his father’. Vasari thus uses his description of Ghiberti’s career to make the point that each generation has a debt to the past and can gain skill and knowledge from the pas t, and yet each generation exceeds the previous one and participates in the forward progression of artistic development. The Renaissance was a period in which the use of the past was a particular feature and the revival of antiquity was not restricted to the increased knowledge of ancient texts. In describing Ghiberti’s career, Vasari also reveals the vogue for casting medals in the ancient style and for portraiture that was based on the coins and medals of the Roman era, when he comments that ‘he also delighted in counterfeiting the dies of ancient medals, and he portrayed many of his friends from the life in his time’. The more recent past was also an important source for the Renaissance artist, as described by Vasari. In the text, Vasari makes it clear that Ghiberti owes a debt to both Giotto and Pisano: ‘the arrangement of the scenes was similar to that which Andrea Pisano had formerly made in the first door, which Giotto designed for him.’ Again, though, Ghiberti is held to have exceeded their artistry and progressed beyond the ’old manner of Giotto’s time’ to ’the manner of the moderns’. Vasari thus reveals that there was, during the Renaissance period, a self-consciousness about artistic production and the theory of art. There was a definite perception of ’modernity’ with respect to what was then current and a tendency to reject the type of style that was though to be in the ‘old manner’. Much that is found in Vasari is still useful to our study of Renaissance art. He provides many useful factual details, such as the names and cities of the competitors for the Baptistery door commission, and the information that many foreigners were present and participating in the artistic life of Florence. He also provides evidence of the factors that affected aesthetic judgement during the period. He provides a great deal of evidence of contemporary practices and attitudes and his allusions to specific writers and works from antiquity provide us with evidence of how the study of the classical period influenced the thought and practices of Renaissance artists. His work enables us to see how the artists of the later Renaissance period were assimilating and judging the work of their immediate predecessors from the period of Cimabue and Giotto onwards. In this text, we also have an example of the way in which Vasari gives us evidence of how artists trained, when he states that Ghiberti worked on small reliefs ‘knowing very well that [they] are the drawing-exercises of sculptors’. His description of the competition also gives us evidence of the competitive spirit in which art was created, when he states that ‘with all zeal and diligence they exerted all their strength and knowledge in order to surpass one another’. Vasari also shows the ways in which different individuals felt empowered to judge art either through formal means by being appointed by the guild as judges or through the informal means of ordinary citizens giving their opinions directly to Ghiberti. In all of these ways, Vasari gives us not only information not only about artists and the circumstances of the production of art, but also, crucially, about its audience who they were and what they thought about it. Vasari’s emphasis on Florence (and Tuscany) as the major site of the genius of the Renaissance also still influences the modern study of art history, as does the ways in which he has framed artistic development as a progression from cruder and more naà ¯ve forms to the greater subtlety and ‘perfection’ of the later Renaissance. In some ways, it may be that this has been a negative influence: perhaps other parts of Italy and further afield in Europe have suffered a neglect and lack of interest as a result of this (arguably) over-emphasis on Florence. It may also be that the sense of progression has given a higher value to later works of art than those of earlier periods and that this has also caused too much emphasis on what is not known as the High Renaissance period and a neglect of other periods. Nonetheless, it cannot be in doubt that Vasari has made an important contribution to art history on his work The Lives and it is this contribution that has led him to be termed, by some, the first art historian. BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources Castiglione, Baldasar, The Book of the Courtier, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976. Vasari, Giorgio, Lives of the Artists, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972. Secondary Sources Boase, T.S.R., Georgio Vasari: the Man and the Book, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. Burke, Peter, ‘Learned Culture and Popular Culture in renaissance Italy’, in Whitlock, Keith, ed., The Renaissance in Europe: A Reader, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2000. Cole, Alison, Virtue and Magnificence: Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts, New York: Harry N Abrams, 1995. Rubin, Patricia Lee, Giorgio Vasari: Art and History, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995. Rud, Einar, Vasari’s Life and Lives: the First Art Historian, London: Thames and Hudson, 1963. Welch, Evelyn, Art in Renaissance Italy: 1350-1500, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Essay example --

Costa Rica is a small, democratic country, located in Central America. Nicaragua is to the north of Costa Rica and Panama to the south and it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country is very small, only about 32,000 square miles and is slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia (CIA, para. 2 2013). This beautiful country only covers about 0.03% of the earth’s surface, yet contains about 5% of the biodiversity in the world (Visit Costa Rica, para. 2). The climate is tropical and subtropical and has four volcanoes, two of which are still active (CIA, 2013, para. 2). The population of Costa Rica is 4,805,000 (WHO, 2009). The population growth is roughly 1.27% annually (CIA, 2013, para 3). About 64% of the country’s population lives in urban areas (CIA, 2013, para. 3). Although Central America is considered poor by many, Costa Rica’s poverty rate is lower than its neighboring countries – it is about 20% percent (CIA, 2013, para. 3). In 2012, the gross domestic profit (GDP) was $59.79 billion, or $12,800 per capita (CIA, 2013, para 3). A considerable amount of the country’s income comes from agricultural exports and tourism (CIA, 2013, para. 5). Agriculture makes up about 6.2% of the GPD and industry makes up about 2.5% of the (CIA, 2013, para. 5). Costa Rica was first settled in 1522 (Michigan State University (MSU), n.d., para. 1). It was settled as a colony by the Spanish in 1563 (CIA, 2013, para. 1). In 1821 along with the other provinces in Central America, it proclaimed its independence from Spain (MSU, n.d., para. 3). Then in 1838 Costa Rica proclaimed itself sovereign (CIA, 2013, para. 1). In 1899 Costa Rica began its democracy by having the first true e... ...Many poor countries suffer much worse public health problems and disasters than the people of Costa Rica, but they are very fortunate to have the health system that they have in place. In 2011, Costa Rica’s health expenditure on health care was 10.9% of the GDP (CIA, 2013, para. 3). This is one of the highest in the world. The Ministry of Health is able to focus on influencing public policies, create policies to protect the health of the people and provide guidance. They are always investigating new trends in medicine and finding the best way to help the Costa Rican public. It seems that the focus of the Ministry of Health and the CCSS is more about the care and the health of the people, even though the health expenditure is so high compared to most other countries. They do have this money to spend partly because of the lack of any military forces to finance.

Microsoft Office suite

Over the past decade, Microsoft has produced its best selling software devices for computer products such as Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. In 2007, the Microsoft Corporation generated $51.12 billion and its product market share estimated as 90% in 2003 for Microsoft Office and 2006 for Microsoft Windows. In the mid-1980’s, Microsoft dominated the home computer operating system and has been accused of being monopolistic, although considered a developer centric-business culture.   The company’s website is one of the most visited on the World Wide Web having received more than 2.4 million page views. In the founding years between 1975-1985, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems were founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico then later moved to Bellevue, Washington of January 1, 1979, and then Bill Gates succeeded as CEO in 1980. DOS (Disk Operating System) had brought the company real success. In 1981, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft for providing a version of the CPM operating system that would become IBM Personal Computer. In the 1990’s, Microsoft rose and launched Windows 3.0. the new operating system introducing new features. Windows generated more revenue popularity, and became the favored PC. Then Microsoft went onto release Windows NT. 3.1 and Windows 95. Furthermore, it expanded its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web. Then afterwards, MSN network became a major online service competing against AOL and went along with NBC to create a new 24/7 cable news station MSNBC. In 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP that changed the face of the old fashioned Windows. Then the Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Vista. â€Å"Since the 1980’s, Microsoft has been the focus of much controversy in the computer industry. Most criticism has been for its business tactics, often described with the motto â€Å"embrace, extend and extinguish† Microsoft initially embraces a competition standard or product, then extends it to produce their own incompatible version of the software or standard, which in time extinguishes competition that does not or cannot use Microsoft’s new version† (Rodger, 1998).                                       

Asian Countries

Asian countries are strong in culture values and intelligent minds. It have given birth to popular celebrities, famous priests and good politicians, (Sweetman, K. 2012). However, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are multi-ethnic societies with Malays, Chinese and Indians, (Commisceo Global. 2018). These countries are on ethnicities retain their customs, religions and lifestyles. In Malaysia, people are maintain face and avoid shame. This makes Malaysian strive for harmonious relationships. Indonesia is large diverse nation which have great deal of attention from it government to maintain a cohesion, (Commisceo Global. 2018). Singapore have concepts of group, harmony and mutual security are more important than individual. They also emphasize loyalty, unity and respect for elder.POWER DISTANCEAccording to Geert, power distance is attitude of culture towards inequalities in the society, (Hofstede, G. 2011). Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are scores higher than 71 which is average score of Asian countries, (Sweetman, K. 2012). This shows that Asian culture is more paternalistic, hence people expect and accept different incomes and privileges, (Fanggy, P and Brian, S. 2014). Subordinates maintain a distance from the bosses and have sense of respect and fear, (Fanggy, P and Brian, S. 2014). In education system, teachers are treated with respect and class is strict order. Moreover, Parents have big authority and respect to parents and elderly lasts during whole life. Therefore, children are not supported to be initiative. In comparison, Malaysia has higher power distance compare to Singapore and Indonesia. This is because of Malay feudal system and the influence of British, (Fanggy, P and Brian, S. 2014). Thus, Malay culture is very respectful of a complex of titled classes and untitled ‘commoners' and to great power to top of organisation.INDIVIDUALISMMalaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are geared towards a collectivism culture, meaning that the group is more important than individual, (Merkin, R. 2015). Responsibility exists and when one participant breaks the rule then the whole group feels disgraced. Therefore, these countries give more importance to family. Furthermore, harmony is very crucial and open conflict is avoided, (Globig. 2010). ‘Saving face' for other is always a goal and bosses always calm and respectful, (Globig. 2010). In comparison, Indonesian are highly collective comparing with Malaysia and Singapore. This is because they hold their traditions tightly. The principle of Bhineka Tunggal IKa (unity in diversity) was adopted for the republic, (Rahmawati, M. 2010). Moreover, they idea regarding belief in God, humanity, tolerance, democracy and justice are incorporated in the Pancasila (five principle) which reflects country's way of life as the reflection of collectivism, (Rahmawati, M. 2010).MASCULINITYMasculinity focus on societies with assertiveness, materialism and achievements whereas femininity refer to societies of caring, modesty and quality of life, (Blog on Linguistics. 2013). According to Geert, there are slightly differences between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Despite, Malaysia is in middle, that consensus and sympathy are important, as are being modest and humble. However, Singapore and Indonesia have low masculinity which consider as femininity. These countries are social relationship oriented and give importance to quality of life rather than money. Also these give high priority for environmental protection rather than economic growth.UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCEUncertainty avoidance is the way society handles with the things that will happen in future, (Hofstede, G. 2011). According to the chart, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are low preference for avoiding uncertainty which are willing to take risk and try new in life. Furthermore, the countries are prefer to maintain more relaxed attitude and punctuality do not come naturally. In addition, these countries are comfortable with ambiguity and chaos and there is no problem when change jobs. In comparison, although all countries are weak in uncertainty avoidance, Singapore has very low uncertainty avoidance. In other words, Singaporean accepts the change easily and they state their country as Fine country, (Hofstede, G. 2011). Another reason, they also maintain greater level of tolerance towards unorthodox ideas. Therefore, Singapore is more creative than other countries.LONG-TERM ORIENTATIONLong term orientation prefer future more importance than past and present, (Hofstede, G. 2011). According to the Geert, Singapore and Indonesia are long term orientated culture which known as ‘pragmatism', (Hofstede, G. 2011). Basically, it support long term investment, respect to knowledge, honesty, openness to new thought, responsibility and self-discipline, (Blog on Linguistics. 2013). Therefore, Singapore and Indonesia have strong propensity to save and invest for future, at the same time also focuses on quick result. In other hand, Malaysia is short term orientated culture which have more focus on their personal well-being and spend very low on environment, (Blog on Linguistics. 2013). Malaysian are primarily respect tradition especially Malays. An addition, they also more concern with ‘face saving' and fulfil social obligations. Therefore, they are more independence and focus on quick result compare to Singapore and Indonesia.INDULGENCEIndulgent societies allow free gratification related to enjoying life and have fun, (Globig. 2010). Therefore, Malaysia is indulgent country which majority are happy and most of them are obese. Malaysian have perception of personal life control and focuses more on leisure. Moreover, they educated population with higher birth rates. In other hand, Indonesia have restrained societies that suppress of needs and regulate them by strict social norms, (Globig. 2010). Hence, Indonesian give lower importance for the leisure. Only few people involved in sports. Country with enough food but less obese people. However, Singapore falls in the middle on this dimension.RECOMMENDATIONAs a recommendation, Malaysia should improve on long term orientation. Long term working towards future goal and maintain harmonious relationship for future. Moreover, in business, long term investment will get more profit. Thus, can build strong market position. Singapore should improve on higher uncertainty avoidance. Therefore, Singapore could have more structure and rule, which people do not make mistakes. For example, can reduce car collisions. It also will increase security rather than taking risks. Indonesia should improve on individualism. It brings respects on individual rights and do not require people to change their true personalities for society. Furthermore, individual society motivated people to strive for success. Moreover, individualism can reduce the country's tax pay.

The Obama Administrations Animal Protection Record

The Obama Administrations Animal Protection Record Expectations were high during President Barack Obama’s election campaign, and for good reason. Obama and VP Joe Biden both had great records on animal protection issues heading into the election, and won the endorsement of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. Also before the election, Obama participated in Jana Kohls book against puppy mills, A Rare Breed of Love, and promised to adopt a rescue dog. One pre-election disappointment was Obamas statement that a hunter should head the Department of the Interior. Despite pleas from animal advocates, Obama appointed a hunter, Senator Ken Salazar, as Secretary of the Interior. However, Obama also appointed Tom Vilsack, recommended by the Humane Society Legisative Fund, as Secretary of Agriculture. Fast-forward to the present, and Obamas actions since taking office have been a mixed bag: January, 2009: Obama Suspends Delisting of Grey WolvesOn his first day in office, Obama put a freeze on a number of federal regulations adopted by the Bush administration in its final days, including the delisting of grey wolves under the Endangered Species Act. This gave the wolves a temporary reprieve, and gave animal advocates hope.March, 2009: Grey Wolves in Northern Rockies DelistedJust weeks after giving hope to animal advocates, the Obama administration delisted wolves under the Endangered Species Act. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, a hunter and rancher himself, cleared the way for individual states to begin killing wolves in order to protect animal agribusiness interests.March, 2009: Slaughter of Downed Cows Banned in the USSecretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack banned the slaughter of downer cows - cows who are too sick, weak or injured to stand on their own. The decision was applauded by animal advocates across the country.April, 2009: Obama Breaks Promise to Rescue a DogThis was the most disappointing move, probably because it was so unexpected. By getting a dog from a breeder, Obama broke his promise to animal advocates and reinforced the misconception that people cannot get their dog of choice from a shelter or rescue group. The Obamas decision will lead to puppy mills churning out Portuguese water dogs, and one breeder of PWDs described the sudden demand for the breed as general mayhem. April, 2009: Scientific Requirements of Endangered Species Act RestoredSecretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a revocation of the Bush administrations weakening of the Endangered Species Act. With this move, the Obama administration brought back the ESAs longstanding scientific requirements and fulfilled Obamas promise to reverse the Bush administrations change.May, 2009: Polar Bears Wont be Protected from Global Warming Ken Salazar, Obamas Secretary of the Interior, failed to overturn a Bush-era rule that weakens the Endangered Species Act and jeopardizes the survival of polar bears.June, 2009: Michelle Obama is Fur-Free More of a personal stance than a political one, but like the decision to accept a dog from a breeder, the first couples actions are highly influential.June, 2009: Obama to Nominate Sam D. Hamilton, a Hunter, as Head of USFWS Obama announces his intention to place an avid hunter in charge of our nations National Wildlife Refuges. June, 2009: Obama Swats, Kills Fly Obama swats and kills a fly on camera, during an interview with CNBC.July, 2009: Animal Protection Views Hold Up Nomination of Cass Sunstein Although the nomination has been stalled, Obama deserves credit for appointing an animal advocate in his administration.November, 2009: Critical Habitat for Polar Bears Proposed The Obama administration proposes the designation of over 200,000 square miles of Alaskan land, water and ice as critical polar bear habitat. While the designation would be a good first step, the proposal still allows oil and gas drilling and does nothing to address climate change.November, 2009: BLM Removes Thousands of Wild Horses to Make Room for Millions of Cattle The Obama administration continues a long-standing policy of removing wild horses while allowing cattle to graze on public lands.November, 2009: Obama Pardons Turkey Obama continues a 20-year tradition of pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving, but adds his own comments. Continued on Page 2 Questions or comments? Discuss in the Forum

10 Groundhog Day Quotes to Remind You Spring Is Near

10 Groundhog Day Quotes to Remind You Spring Is Near It may seem far-fetched to those who live closer to the equator. But for people closer to the poles, Groundhog Day marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. Revere the little furry creature that is likely to make an accurate prognosis of the arrival of spring this Groundhog Day. Read these Groundhog Day quotes to celebrate the season of joy. W. J. VogelTo shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring.​Clyde MooreTheres one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbors.​Kin HubbardDont knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldnt start a conversation if it didnt change once in a while.William Camden,  Remains, 1605One swallow maketh not summer; nor one woodcock a winter.​Anthony J. DAngelo, The College Blue BookWherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.Bill VaughnThe groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and then disappears.​Patrick YoungThe trouble with weather forecasting is that its right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.​Phil ConnorsThis is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.​George SantayanaTo be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.​George HerbertEvery mile is two in winter.