The American Experience in Vietnam War

The American Experience in Vietnam War The book covers information from the early years of the war in 1954 to the end in 1975. It is written by Grace Sevy, who is a freelance teacher at Stanford University. For most of the part, she narrates the story from a neutral and third person standpoint. The book contains 5 parts in a chronological order that analyze the major battles, the role of media and the aftermath and importance of the war.America was able to make full use of the latest developments in the war against North Vietnam. B-52 bombers flew at heights that prevented them from being seen and dropped 8 million tons of bombs on Vietnam. Another infamous bomb was the napalm. It had a sticky gel that attached to the skin and an igniting agent that burnt skin. The pineapple bomb was made up of 250 pellets inside a small canister. One of the major problems faced by the US forces were the Vietcong, who hid in the forests in Vietnam and launched surprise attacks.Civilians sort through the ruins of their homes in...They spra yed a chemical, Agent Orange, in the air that destroyed forests and also caused chromosomal damage in people. Chemicals such as Agent Blue were sprayed on crops so that would cut the supply for the Vietcong. All the chemicals were responsible for serious health problems and disease outbreaks.The Gulf of Tonkin incident led to the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam. On August 2, 1964, the Maddox was conducting a "DeSoto patrol", referring to an espionage mission. The purpose of this mission was to collect intelligence on radar and coastal defenses of North Vietnam. However, the North Vietnamese torpedo patrol boats attacked the Maddox. The U.S.S. Ticonderoga sent aircraft to repel the North Vietnamese attackers and sunk one boat while damaging other enemy vessels. In...

Successes and Failures of Détente in the Cold War

Successes and Failures of Dà ©tente in the Cold War From the late 1960s to the late 1970s, the Cold War  was highlighted by a period known as â€Å"dà ©tente† – a welcome easing of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the period of dà ©tente resulted in productive negotiations and treaties on nuclear arms control and improved diplomatic relations, events at the end of the decade would bring the superpowers back to the brink of war. Use of the term â€Å"detent†- French for â€Å"relaxation†- in reference to an easing of strained geopolitical relations dates back to the 1904 Entente Cordiale, an agreement between Great Britain and France that ended centuries of off-and-on war and left the nations strong allies in World War I and thereafter. In the context of the Cold War, U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford called dà ©tente a â€Å"thawing out† of U.S.-Soviet nuclear diplomacy essential to avoiding a nuclear confrontation. Dà ©tente, Cold War-Style While U.S.-Soviet relations had been strained since the end of World War II, fears of war between the two nuclear superpowers peaked with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Coming so close to Armageddon motivated leaders of both nations to undertake some of the world’s first nuclear arms control pacts, including the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963. In reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a direct telephone line – the so-called red telephone – was installed between the U.S. White House and the Soviet Kremlin in Moscow allowing leaders of both nations to communicate instantly in order to reduce the risks nuclear war. Despite the peaceful precedents set by this early act of dà ©tente, rapid escalation of the Vietnam War during the mid-1960s increased Soviet-American tensions and made further nuclear arms talks all but impossible. By the late 1960s, however, both the Soviet and U.S. governments realized one big and unavoidable fact about the nuclear arms race: It was hugely expensive. The costs of diverting ever-larger portions of their budgets to military research left both nations facing domestic economic hardships. At the same time, the Sino-Soviet split – the rapid deterioration of relations between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China – made becoming friendlier with the United States look like a better idea to the USSR. In the United States, the soaring costs and political fallout of the Vietnam War caused policymakers to see improved relations with the Soviet Union as a helpful step in avoiding similar wars in the future. With both sides willing to at least explore the idea of arms control, the late 1960s and early 1970s would see the most productive period of dà ©tente. The First  Treaties of Dà ©tente The first evidence of dà ©tente-era cooperation came in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968, a pact signed by several of the major nuclear and non-nuclear power nations pledging their cooperation in stemming the spread of nuclear technology. While the NPT did not ultimately prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms, it paved the way for the first round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I) from November 1969 to May 1972. The SALT I talks yielded the Antiballistic Missile Treaty along with an interim agreement capping the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) each side could possess. In 1975, two years of negotiations by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe resulted in the Helsinki Final Act. Signed by 35 nations, the Act addressed a range of global issues with Cold War implications, including new opportunities for trade and cultural exchange, and policies promoting the universal protection of human rights. The Death  and Re-Birth  of Dà ©tente Unfortunately, not all, but most good things must end. By the end of the 1970s, the warm glow of U.S.-Soviet dà ©tente began to fade away. While diplomats of both nations agreed on a second SALT agreement (SALT II), neither government ratified it. Instead, both nations agreed to continue to adhere to the arms reduction provisions of the old SALT I pact pending future negotiations. As dà ©tente broke down, progress on nuclear arms control stalled completely. As their relationship continued to erode, it became clear that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union had overestimated the extent to which dà ©tente would contribute to an agreeable and peaceful end of the Cold War. Dà ©tente all but ended when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. President Jimmy Carter angered the Soviets by increasing U.S. defense spending and subsidizing the efforts of anti-Soviet Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Afghanistan invasion also led the United States to boycott the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow. Later the same year, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States after running on an anti-dà ©tente platform. In his first press conference as president, Reagan called dà ©tente a â€Å"one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its aims.† With the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Reagan’s election, the reversal of the dà ©tente policy that began during the Carter Administration took the fast track. Under what became known as the â€Å"Reagan Doctrine,† the United States undertook the largest military buildup since World War II and implemented new policies directly opposed to the Soviet Union. Reagan revived the B-1 Lancer long-range nuclear bomber program that had been cut by the Carter administration and ordered increased production of the highly mobile MX missile system. After the Soviets began to deploy their RSD-10 Pioneer medium range ICBMs, Reagan convinced NATO to deploy nuclear missiles in West Germany. Finally, Reagan abandoned all attempts to implement provisions of the SALT II nuclear arms agreement. Arms control talks would not resume until Mikhail Gorbachev, being the only candidate on the ballot, was elected president of the Soviet Union in 1990. With the United States developing President Reagan’s so-called â€Å"Star Wars† Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ant-ballistic missile system, Gorbachev realized that the costs of countering U.S. advances in nuclear weapons systems, while still fighting a war in Afghanistan would eventually bankrupt his government. In the face of the mounting costs, Gorbachev agreed to new arms control talks with President Reagan. Their negotiation resulted in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties of 1991 and 1993. Under the two pacts known as START I and START II, both nations not only agreed to stop making new nuclear weapons but also to systematically reduce their existing weapons stockpiles. Since enactment of the START treaties, the number of nuclear weapons controlled by the two Cold War superpowers has been significantly reduced. In the United States, the number of nuclear devices dropped from a high of over 31,100 in 1965 to about 7,200 in 2014. The nuclear stockpile in Russia/the Soviet Union fell from about 37,000 in 1990 to 7,500 in 2014. The START treaties call for continued nuclear arms reductions through the year 2022, when stockpiles are to be cut to 3,620 in the United States and 3,350 in Russia.

Software Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Software Engineering - Essay Example Progress tracking measurement The domains of software engineering projects are clearly defined in the knowledge areas of software engineering. Generally, it undergoes the different software engineering processes and different software engineering cycles. These knowledge areas, processes, and cycles are described in the Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK), 2004 Version. Specifically, software engineering measurement undergoes the following process: 1. Establish and sustain measurement commitment, 2. Plan the measurement process, 3. Perform the measurement process, and 4. Evaluate measurement. (SWEBOK, 2004 p. 8-6, 8-7, 8-8) In establishing and sustaining measurement commitment you need to: 1. Accept the requirements for measurement by defining the scope of measurement and committing the management and staff to measurement; and 2. Commit resources to management. (SWEBOK, 2004 p. 8-7) In planning the measurement process you need to: 1. Identify the information needs, 2. Select measures, 3. Define data collection, analysis, and reporting procedures., 4. Define criteria for evaluating the information products, 5. Review, approve and provide resources for measurement tasks, and 6. Acquire and deploy supporting technologies. (SWEBOK, 2004 p. 8-7, 8-8) In performing the measurement process you need to: 1. Integrate measurement procedures with relevant technologies, 2. Collect data, 3. Analyze data and develop information products, and communicate the results. (SWEBOK, 2004 p. 8-8)

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

ART - Essay Example The artist has reflected light over the leaves by painting them yellowish green. The distance between one tree and the next has been made prominent by lending a lighter shade of green to the leaves of the nearby trees and a darker shade of green to those in the distance. From the apparent purplish blue sky and the chandeliers hanging along the way, it seems that the time of the day captured in the picture is evening that is soon to transform into the night. While one can see even without the chandeliers for the time being, they would be a must to enhance the vision once the sky turns any darker. This picture makes me feel like being in the middle of a forest. It feels like the beginning of a story. There is a lot to tell depending upon how one interprets the destination that the pathway leads to. The pathway might just end in a steep slope offering no further land to continue the movement, or it might just slide downward as the trees on the side indicate thus leading the audience to an unknown destination. As the audience of this picture, I feel welcomed into the world of endless imagination of the artist. I feel like the artist has provided me with a direction and has left it upon me to choose to what length I go in that direction. It is like the a rtist has handed over the tools to me but at the same time, deters from becoming the controlling force so that I use those tools in whatever way I want. The effect of the picture on me as an audience is empowering. I feel like the artist is questioning me where I would go from there, showing me the picture. It seems to be just the start of a journey in two ways; firstly, the pathway seems to have just started and it is for the audience to decide where it ends, and secondly, the sky is purplish blue indicating evening while the lit candles in the chandeliers indicate the preparations of the night when the sky would be darker. So the moment captured in the

Essay on The Crucible Essay Example for Free

Essay on The Crucible Essay The Crucible was written by the great play writing legend Sir Arthur Miller. He created many ingenious plays. In particular I would like to focus on the play (The Crucible) is based on a true story. The Crucible is set in America in the state of Massachusetts within the small village of Salem in the late seventeenth century. In this period of time, witch hunting was at its peak. In addition, religion was regarded as the law it was powerful over everyone and no one could question its authority. No one would dare speak against it or the consequences could be lethal. For many hundreds of years throughout Europe there was a belief in witchcraft. At times the principle turned into historical fear, leading into campaigns or persecution against suspected witches. It was thought that witches were agents of the devil. In 1692 there was an outbreak of accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts (USA). The colonists there were Puritans who followed a particular form of Protestant Christianity and would tolerate no other. They felt surrounded by ungodly people and they associated the forest with savages and with evil. Salem was a puritan community their lives were ruled by religion. The role pf religion is very powerful and id used to control the community within the courts of Salem, religion is referred to throughout the play. The Crucible criticises the effects of the Cold War America experienced in the 1950s. McCarthy felt his power threatened by his peoples interest in communism. It was feared that Russia take over the world. This links to The Crucible because the people in the play are craving for freedom, they dont want to be tied to religion and the Bible. The Crucible begins with the village girls cleaning and making something in a pot, which is against the laws of Salem. This action leads to a whole plot of jealousy, betrayal and ends up in hangings. Miller tries to display the act of the girls dancing in the forest as a form of plea, a cry for help. Throughout the play there are many characters with a variety of strong agendas that display their notions by insinuating them in ways, which cause arguments and stir the pot. After both reading and watching The Crucible I noticed that there were four main categories in which the characters fell into. The powerful, the righteous, the weak and the jealous. Most of the characters or the main characters rather entered the powerful and jealous categories. Judge Danforth for example, a powerful man with extreme authority, he turns a blind eye to the truth to keep his position and stay in power. He is bought and biased, looks more for his own benefit rather than helping others which should be the case. He abuses his position magnificently to stay in power. Reverend Paris, also has a considerable amount of power in the village of Salem. His main concern seems to be keeping his reputation and hes bent on doing anything and everything to keep his authority and be feared. He has controlling power yet refuses to shift position for the right cause. John Proctor is an honest man who isnt easily led. He is a hardworking farmer in his mid-thirties with logical thought. He is married, even tempered but is powerful of mind and body. Proctor is feared and respected in Salem, however he is no saint he has committed adultery with Abigail Williams who worked for Proctor as a servant but was subsequently fired when Proctor realized his mistake. Hes a good-hearted man who wants to make his wrongs right. An honourable man, who stands up for what is right and uses his wisdom against that which is wrong. Abigail, a very cunning young woman, she has committed adultery with John Proctor and uses this to her advantage by blackmailing and threatening him. She blames lies on other to save herself, she plays innocent and acts nai ve when in reality she is the cause of the disputes. She is evil and spiteful, cares for nobody but herself she is simply selfish. Mary Warren, one of the weak and afraid characters, who can be moulded through threatening, as she is easily intimidated. She sides with Proctor when he threatens her and then sides with Abigail when she blackmails her. She is very controlled as though she doesnt have a mind of her own nor any opinions. Because her worth is less than a slave she grew up with no honour, respect, honesty or independence, this is why she is unable to see the wrong as well as Proctor and in the end sides with the wrong people out of pure fear. Unfortunately, Mary Warren is a timid and gullible character who plays an unwitting role in the outcome of the trial. The audience will see the tension build up when they see such a combination of characters who all have very different agendas and are extremely volatile arguing in this type of situation. In this essay, I will focus mainly on act 3. It begins in the courtroom the witch trial has commenced. There are of course two parties, those accused of being witches (John Proctor, his wife etc) and the accusers (Rev. Parris etc). Proctor has a tough job defending himself because he has to prove that the court is wrong, Danforth questions Proctor and finds out what kind of a man he is before he hears the case. Giles Corey testifies for his wife (she was accused of being a witch). Giles feels guilty since it was he who told the court that his wife, Martha, had been reading some books. The court believes that she was reading them books to learn how to curse people. Francis Nurse testifies and defends his wife, Judge Hathorne supposes they are the bad ones and is angered by their blatant denial so consequently orders Corey and Nurse to be arrested. Proctor forces Mary Warren to testify for the defence and she complies by saying she lied in the court before. John says the girls are lying about the witchcraft. This makes the judges very nervous because if Proctor is correct then they have killed many innocent people. Proctor presents his case, he has three depositions to offer for evidence, the first being a signed petition proving the innocence of the three mens wives. The second statement comes from Giles Corey, he tells the judges that Thomas Putnam is a ravenous and greedy man who is obsessed with attaining land through any means. However, Putnam denies this and Corey refuses to tell the court who gave him this information on Putnam in fear of being arrested. Unfortunately, he is still arrested for contempt of court. From here we are taken back to Rev. Hale who has realised his mistake and has changed sides, now supporting Proctor. Mary is the third final element of Johns defence. John tells her what to say and that he is supporting her. But Mary Warren is afraid no one will believe her (that the witchery was all untrue and the girls had been lying all along) because she lied earlier. Danforth brings in the accusers led by Abigail. Williams says that Mary is lying, the judges begin to wonder how Mary could be pretending to be a witch earlier. She is asked to demonstrate this pretending for the court. She cant. Abigail and Danforth argue when Williams is questioned and then pretends to be seeing Mary as a bird in the air from the devil. The rest of the girls on Abigails side mimic her for their act to look believable. Proctor having no options left reveals his affair with Abigail. The men are horrified, John and Abigail are instructed to turn their backs while Elizabeth Proctor is bought in. She is asked if her husband has committed lechery. Not knowing he has confessed and thinking of his protection, her loyalty to John gets the better of her and she denies it. As she is led out John tells her he has confessed and they both realize that have lost completely. Abigail and the girls continue to act as though afflicted Mary Warren until she finally cracks. She accuses Proctor for having used her for the devils work and runs into the now welcoming arms of Abigail. Proctor and Giles Corey are led to the prison.

Planck’s Constant Experiment :: Papers

Planck’s Constant Experiment IMPLEMENTING Before I started the experiment, the battery was disconnected with the circuit because I needed to check that the LED is connected in the right direction in the circuit. However the apparatus I set up for the experiment was correct since I followed the diagram and method on the plan step by step. The circuit worked and there was no accident happen during the experiment. Before the experiment I prepared a result table for recording voltages for each different type of LED. Throughout the experiment I worked carefully by turning off the knob on the potentiometer every time I had to change the LED or move the apparatus. Also I left the space around the circuit clear so that I would not get confused with things that I needed to use and things that I did not want. The working area was well organised. My equipments did not get mixed up with others. Because this experiment does not take long to read out the values of voltage of each LED, I decided to do 5 repeats for each LED instead of 3 repeats, as I planned. After I had done all 5 repeats for each LED, I used values of voltage and current to calculate the resistance. Then I plotted the graph of E against ƒ to see if there is any anomalous. However I did not have any anomalous result so I did not need to do any more repeat. I did not modify my plan procedure since it worked smoothly. OBSERVING AND RECORDING Results: Voltage (V) Type of LED 1st Repeat 2nd Repeat 3rd Repeat 4th Repeat 5th Repeat WL27 1.63 1.63 1.62 1.60 1.60 WL28 1.65 1.65 1.63 1.64 1.65 WL29 1.49 1.48 1.48 1.47 1.49 WL30 1.

Gatsby Automobile Essay Essay

There are many different themes, images, and symbols in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby that render great importance to the development of the story. One particular image and symbol seen throughout Fitzgerald’s novel that acts as a major contributor to the plot is the automobile. The image of the automobile can be seen in relation with any of the characters in the novel who involve themselves in with driving an automobile or even simply talking about an automobile. Two characters in the novel that Fitzgerald uses to portray the images and symbols of the automobile are Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby. These two automobile owners are created into the strongest conductors of Fitzgerald’s imagery and symbolism throughout the novel. The automobile can be seen as representing a few different types of images and symbols. A possible symbol of the automobile may stand for the respective automobile owner’s status in society. Almost all automobiles in the nineteen-twenties were black and just about as plain as could be. These black automobiles were owned by all those who could just barely afford an automobile, to those who were average, middle class people, to the extremely wealthy who could easily afford three or four automobiles. What makes this piece of history so important is the fact that Fitzgerald gives both Tom and Gatsby brightly colored automobiles. The personalities of these two characters effortlessly magnifies the showiness and in Gatsby’s case, gaudiness. Gatsby’s absolutely obnoxious Rolls Royce is â€Å"a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. † No one in the nineteen-twenties had such an untasteful looking automobile that Gatsby. One obvious and straightforward possible explanation for Gatsby’s hideous automobile is that he wants to show off his wealth, status, and â€Å"success† in his many trades. Another not so obvious reason for this hideous yellow automobile could be an image produced by Fitzgerald to try to illustrate Gatsby’s need to reach out and grasp Daisy’s attention. Unfortunately, because Gatsby was formerly a much lower class man, living on a farm out west with his family, his wealth and riches cannot buy him any class or style. A very similar situation can be seen with Tom Buchannan and his automobiles. He too, is very showy and flashy in his actions to show the world his possessions. Tom, like Gatsby, has an unusual colored car. This blue automobile is a symbol of wealth, status, and riches, just like Gatsby, but it can represent another image. Every single time Tom heads over to Wilson’s Garage for some gas or to see Myrtle, Wilson asks Tom about purchasing his old automobile. Tom plainly and seemingly without thinking puts the topic off to the side as if it wasn’t important and he didn’t want to talk about it. Sadly for Wilson, the automobile in a sense symbolizes Myrtle. Tom pushes the car aside as if it didn’t matter much at all to him, just like he uses Myrtle and makes all those empty promises to her about trying to divorce Daisy and being together forever. The images and symbols throughout The Great Gatsby create many dimensions to such a superb plot and character development. These amazing images set up by Fitzgerald give the novel a complete feel of full development. Fitzgerald ties in all the different elements of the story by using the one simple entity of the automobile.