This Kind of Love happens only once in a lifetime

The Bridges of Madison County,† the surprise hit of summer 1995, centers on a particular concept of adulterous romance that is very apropos of the neoconservative epoch. While many contemporary married women indeed may take comfort in the film's message (that one can have a secret love, but then must go back to the normalcy and maturity of married life), its implications are perhaps something less than a comfort as viewers see them as part of a larger theme about gender equality and human liberation.The complexity of the story’s theme requires not just a good director but also good actors, actors who can link or bridge the character’s character to the audience and live through the film’s reality for at least two hours. But before we discuss how Meryl Streep in particular made us connect with the film and empathize with her character, let us first walk around the story of Bridges of Madison County.The story explores the character of Francesca, an Italian wom an who somehow ended up as a farm housewife in Iowa. Like most of us, she dreamt of a more exotic life than ‘shuckin' the corn and ‘sloppin' the ‘hawgs’, but sometimes life just turns out the way it does. Humans follow where life leads them for a while, and before we realize it, decades have passed. This is so true with Francesca.Her path initially was destined, straight and predictable until an unexpected fork in the road causes her to question everything she had come to expect from life. While her husband and children are away at the Iowa state fair in the summer of 1965, Robert Kincaid happens upon the Johnson farm and asks Francesca for directions to Rosamunde Bridge. He explains that he is on assignment from National Geographic magazine to photograph the bridges of Madison County. She agrees to show him to the bridges and thus begins the bittersweet and all-too-brief romance of her life.Through the pain of separation from her secret love and the stark i solation she feels as the details of her life consume her, she writes down the story of this four-day love affair in a 3-volume diary. The diary is found by her children among her possessions and alongside Robert Kincaid's possessions after Francesca is dead. The message they take from the diaries is one of hope that they will do what is necessary to find happiness in their lives — whatever is necessary. After learning that Robert Kincaid's cremated remains were scattered off Rosamunde Bridge and that their mother requested a similar disposition for her own ashes, the children must decide whether to honor their mother's final wishes or bury her alongside their father as the family had planned. Adapted from the novel by Robert Waller, this is the story of love that happens just once in a lifetime — if you're lucky.The central theme is that there are deep universal feelings inside of all of us which we train ourselves to ignore in the execution of everyday life. Inside e very adult is an idealistic youth who planned a completely different life. But our dreams never go away, requiring only the right stimulus to reappear.As Waller implied in his novel, sometimes the old dreams are the best dreams. They're gone now, but it leaves a trace bound to last forever The parallel is drawn quite interestingly when Kinkaid explains that he works for the â€Å"National Geographic† magazine rather than acting as an artist because no one is interested in his work as art. Both he and Francesca have settled into a life that isn't what they hoped it would be. What is wonderful about this plot point is that both are still successful in their lives and relatively happy. Neither one is miserable or particularly hurt by their experiences and yet, under all the layers of their existences lies a yearning for something more, a need to live out unfulfilled dreams and be glad to have dreamt them.The two embark upon a four day romance that is realistic and touching. Stre ep's' Francesca is highly aroused by the photographer and yet she is also aware of the â€Å"improper† nature of her feelings. Coming from what was probably a more liberal background (European, i.e. Italian), she has acclimated herself to the ways of rural Iowa life. To remind us of the narrow nature of the mores of the time, a tertiary character is shown to be the town's gossip (while Kinkaid is visiting) because her extramarital affair has recently been discovered.What follows in Waller's story-in-the-novel is his description of the actual affair that takes place between Robert and Francesca while her family is out of town, along with Robert's â€Å"proposal† that Francesca leave behind her unfulfilling life in Iowa and run away with him to places far and wide, a proposal that is entertained but ultimately turned down by the heroine.   Instead, Francesca places duty and fidelity in front of passion and romance, choosing to live out the remainder of her days on the farm outside of Winterset, Iowa.During one day in August for every year thereafter, however, she would gather props and remembrances and pay ceremonial homage to her romantic interlude by staging a solitary fantasy ritual recalling the original seduction.  Ã‚   Over the course of those two and one-half decades, Mrs. Johnson attempted to locate Kincaid only once, and then unsuccessfully, after the passing of her husband.Two final points are in order about Waller's telling of the story-within-the-novel. The first is that, notwithstanding the brevity of the actual affair of Robert and Francesca, Waller leaves little doubt that theirs was much more than a fleeting romance or momentary concession to impulse. As Robert said upon learning that Francesca must stay with her family, â€Å"In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once.†(By this point in the story, such utterances are entirely in character for Mr. Kincaid, whose mystical mix of New Age sensitivity and Marlboro Man machismo Waller gives ample amplification relative to the largely ill-defined character of the heroine. â€Å"I am the highway and the peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea,† Waller has Robert whispering into Francesca's ear.)   The last point worthy of underscoring here is the framing device used by  Waller in telling the story.Waller's reconstruction of the romance is portrayed as a truthful re-creation that he, as the teller, was able to piece together from a letter Francesca left for her children, recounting the affair that they read only after her death.Remarkably, and yet apparently of great importance in establishing the story's credibility among readers, Waller agrees to tell the story of Robert and Francesca only in response to an invitation from the late Francesca’s children.(3)Meryl Streep in the film successfully expressed Francesca’s struggle, happiness and failure in the film In the said film, Streep’s acting is effortless. We can credit her previous acting roles for her showcase of talent in the film because she has been in several drama movies before she did â€Å"Bridges of Madison County.†Moreover, Streep has won an Oscar award in a drama film Kramer vs. Kramer. In this film, she is a mother who left her family because of discontent which is also real because males today are much more concern with their careers than with their family. This is also quite true in the movie Bridges of Madison County because in the film it is implied that she is too a little discontented with her routinary life as a wife and mother. If she had been contented and happy, she would have ignored Robert Kincaid.   These questions and what ifs are clear indicators that Streep made us feel Francesca. Made us feel that she is a human subject to limitations.In addition, Streep was already forty-six years old when she did the film. As woman, as mother and as a wife, she has rich experiences in life which contribute in her acting. It was easy for her to internalize and give justice to her character because she has been through several experiences not only in her career as an actress but also as a woman in general.There is more to the brilliance in her acting in the said film, according to Streep in an interview on Entertainment Weekly Magazine (2000)â€Å"I had a picture of who this was – I knew it was an Italian war bride, and I had grown up down the street from one. Her husband was a tall, blond man, and she barely spoke any English. Over the years she learned – she was a very bright, interesting woman – but there was always something exotic about her. Anyway, the book had this woman in jeans and braless. It was just hard for me to understand her. I had a pretty vivid picture of her, and I didn't want to complicate it (laughs) with the author’s actual intent. I honestly didn't finish the book. I started it and then thought, I'll wait for the screenplay . The screenplay had a woman in it.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Clint called me and said ‘Just read the script. I want you to push past whatever you think you know about the book'.   Ã‚  Meryl Streep, More Magazine, December 2002Based from the interview we can say that her performance is significantly affected by the idea that she read the book which made her understand the character thoroughly in the novelist’s perspective and that Eastwood (the director) made sure that the script was well written.And lastly, it is always Streep’s passion to act and always it is her goal to deliver her character to the audience in the most realistic possible way.

High school Essay

Education Does the perfect high school exist? Is there a school out there in which the students are all nice and responsible, every teacher enforces learning on the classroom, and the school system always makes wise decisions? No, probably not. At least, not any school I have ever heard of. There are multiple problems affecting high schools today, usually being either issues personally affecting an individual student, or issues affecting the whole school. Some examples of these problems may be: bullying, dropping out, not studying or doing homework, getting pregnant, not being taught to a full extent, financial issues, and etcetera. Like most problems, there is always a solution that we could benefit from. One of the most major issues hurting high schools today has to do with students being lazy. Teens go to school for the majority of their day, which is typically seven hours. Once they finally get home, it is safe to assume that the last thing on students’ minds is homework. They think â€Å"I have been at school allllll day! This is my time to relax; I do not want to do school work anymore! † So instead, they choose to sit down and watch Jersey Shore or log onto their Facebook accounts. In â€Å"The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut† by Todd Gitlin, he talks about comedy writer Larry Gelbart referring to media as â€Å"weapons of mass distraction. † If you think about it, this is pretty accurate. Televisions, the internet, etc are nothing but examples of distraction. Most teenagers are not responsible enough to think â€Å"I cannot watch TV right now, I have to study,† so they usually spend the rest of their night watching TV, causing a failing grade on the next day’s test. Teens in high school are not fully matured. Obviously, if they were mature, they would realize the importance of their grades as opposed the importance of who got in a fight on Jersey Shore. Due to this fact, I think we should â€Å"Let Teenagers Try Adulthood. † In this passage, Leon Botstein supports his idea to give teens a chance at adult life. As I have mentioned, teenagers are not mature enough to make decisions that will be good for their future. So why not let them graduate at the age of sixteen in order for them to understand the significance of being a responsible, mature person? Letting them graduate earlier could more than likely help students realize that it is time to grow up and take action for their lives. And maybe then, less time will be spent watching television, and more time will be spent on productive things†¦ mainly because they would not have a choice! Another major problem in high schools is the extremely high rate of students dropping out of school early. Teens drop out of school for multiple different reasons. Some leave school to escape bullying. There is always that one kid who is bullied so much, he just cannot stand it any longer. This is usually the kid in the back of the classroom, trying to stay hidden from everyone else, not doing assignments or paying attention. Scurrilous peers tend to make students want to stay at home forever, and never come back to school. Dropping out of school may be the victim’s way of getting away. Some students drop school simply because of boredom. They get tired of doing the same thing, every day. They feel as though they are not getting anything from it. In David S. Broder’s â€Å"A Model for High Schools,† he states that â€Å"Too many students are dropping out of high school, bored or dissatisfied with what it offers. † Throughout my three years of high school, I have seen numerous issues arise. Due to these many issues, personally, I do not like high school a bit. The problem most chronic would definitely have to be teen pregnancy. I remember during my freshman year, there were about twenty different young girls roaming the halls with a baby bump. During my sophomore year, there were twelve. The majority of the young women in high school that are getting pregnant end up dropping out and totally ignoring their education in order to raise their child. Those who do not drop out still have to miss tons of days due to their pregnancy and child birth†¦ which means, these students will get very far behind in their work, and will have to catch up on their own. Now, I am not saying that these girls should not raise their children, or that they do not have a reason to be absent frequently, I am simply saying this: Do not get pregnant in the first place! Education should always come first. Once they miss that month of school, it is going to be extremely difficult for them to catch up on their work. Because of this, most students will just give up and drop out. No one wants to be stupid, have a child at 16, and have to work at McDonald’s just to buy diapers and a box of Cheerios! Although there are still many issues arising in high schools all throughout America, these are more than likely the worst. Laziness and irresponsibility, dropping out, and getting pregnant can all cause students to end up with no education whatsoever, and lead them to a life of serving customers at the local Wal-Mart.

Profile and Common Characteristics of a Pedophile

Profile and Common Characteristics of a Pedophile Pedophilia  is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent is sexually attracted to young children. Pedophiles can be anyone- old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, non-professional or professional, and of any race. However, pedophiles often demonstrate similar characteristics. These are merely indicators and it should not be assumed that individuals with these characteristics are pedophiles. But knowledge of these characteristics coupled with questionable behavior can be used as an alert that someone may be a pedophile. Profile and Behavior Often male and over 30 years of age.Single or with few friends in his age group.Some  have mental illness, such as a mood or personality disorder.If married, the relationship is more companion based with no sexual relations in the early stages.Vague about time gaps in employment which may indicate a loss in employment for questionable reasons or possible past incarceration.Often talk to or treat children like adults. Interests and Hobbies Often fascinated with children and child activities, appearing to prefer those activities to adult oriented activities.Often refer to children in pure or angelic terms using descriptive words like innocent, heavenly, divine, pure, and other words that describe children but seem inappropriate and exaggerated.Hobbies are childlike, such as collecting popular expensive toys, keeping reptiles or exotic pets, or building plane and car models. Specific Age Targets Specific age of child they target; some prefer younger children, some older.Often his environment or a special room will be decorated in child-like decor and will appeal to the age and sex of the child he is trying to entice.Often prefer children close to puberty who are sexually inexperienced, but curious about sex. Relationships In most cases, the pedophile  turns out to be someone known to the child through school or another activity, such as a neighbor, teacher, coach, member of the clergy, music instructor, or babysitter. Family members like mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, stepparents, and so on may also be sexual predators. Employment The pedophile will often be employed in a position that involves daily contact with children. If not employed, he will put himself in a position to do volunteer work with children, often in a supervisory capacity such as sports coaching, contact-sport instruction, unsupervised tutoring or a position where he has the opportunity to spend unsupervised time with a child. The pedophile often seeks out shy, handicapped, and withdrawn children, or those who come from troubled homes or underprivileged homes. He then showers them with attention, gifts, taunting them with trips to desirable places like amusement parks, zoos, concerts, the beach, and other such places. Pedophiles work to master their manipulative skills and often unleash them on troubled children by first becoming their friend, building the childs self-esteem. They may refer to the child as special or mature, appealing to their need to be heard and understood, to then entice them with adult activities with sexual content like x-rated movies or pictures. Grooming like this often goes along with consumption of alcohol or drugs to hamper the ability to resist or recall events that occurred. Minor children cannot consent, and sex without consent is rape. Stockholm Syndrome It is not unusual for the child to develop feelings for the predator and desire their approval and continued acceptance. They will compromise their innate ability to decipher good and bad behavior, ultimately justifying the criminals bad behavior out of sympathy and concern for the adults welfare. This is often compared to Stockholm Syndrome- when victims become attached emotionally to their captors. Friendship With Parents Many times pedophiles will develop a close relationship with a single parent in order to get close to their children. Once inside the home, they have many opportunities to manipulate the children- using guilt, fear, and love to confuse the child. If the childs parent works, it offers the pedophile the private time needed to abuse the child. Fighting Back Pedophiles work hard at stalking their targets and will patiently work to develop relationships with them. It is not uncommon for them to be developing a long list of potential victims at any one time. Many of them believe that what they are doing is not wrong and that having sex with a child is actually healthy for the child. Almost all pedophiles have a collection of pornography, which they protect at all costs. Many of them also collect souvenirs from their victims. They rarely discard either their porn or collections for any reason. One factor that works against the pedophile is that eventually the children will grow up and recall the events that occurred. Often pedophiles are not brought to justice until such time occurs and victims are angered by being victimized and want to protect other children from the same consequences. Laws such as Megans Law- a federal law passed in 1996 that authorizes local law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living, working or visiting their communities, have helped expose the pedophile and allows parents to better protect their children.

The Logical Fallacy of Stacking the Deck

The Logical Fallacy of Stacking the Deck The term stacking the deck is a  fallacy in which any evidence that supports an opposing argument is simply rejected, omitted, or ignored. Stacking the deck is a technique thats commonly used in propaganda. It is also known as special pleading, ignoring the counterevidence, slanting, or one-sided assessment. Examples and Observations People sometimes make decisions by folding a piece of paper in half, and listing reasons in favor on one side, and reasons against on the other; then they decide intuitively which side has stronger (not necessarily more) reasons. This method forces us to look at both sides of an issue before we decide. In the incorrect form, we just look at half the picture; this is called stacking the deck. (Harry J. Gensler, Introduction to Logic. Routledge, 2002)Gamblers stack the deck in their favor by arranging the cards so that they will win. Writers stack the deck by ignoring any evidence or arguments that dont support their position. I once experienced stacking the deck when I went to buy a used car. The man trying to sell me the car talked only about how wonderful the car was. After I bought the car, another man tried to sell me an extended warranty by pointing out all the things that could break down. (Gary Layne Hatch, Arguing in Communities. Mayfield, 1996) Deck Stacking in Arguments for and Against the Legalization of Drugs [A] recent ABC show on drugs . . . distorted, omitted or manipulated drug reality. What was piously described as an attempt to open discussion on different approaches to the drug problem was simply a long promotion for legalization of drugs. . . .The program dwells with utmost respect on legalization efforts in Britain and the Netherlands. But it omits evidence of failure. It gives no time to British and Dutch experts who say they have been a disaster, or to Zurichs decision to close its infamous needle park, or to the rise in crime and drug addiction in the Netherlands, or the fact that Italy, which decriminalized possession of heroin in 1975, now leads Western Europe in per capita heroin addiction, with 350,000 addicts.The deck is stacked like a monte game. The advocates of some form of legalization include a judge, police chiefs, a mayor. But nothing is said about the great majority of judges, police officers and mayors who are opposed to legalization by any alias. (A.M. Rosentha l, On My Mind; Stacking the Deck. The New York Times, April 14, 1995) When the White House issued a statement last night saying that marijuana should remain illegalresponding to our pro-legalization editorial seriesofficials there weren’t just expressing an opinion. They were following the law. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is required by statute to oppose all efforts to legalize any banned drug.It’s one of the most anti-scientific, know-nothing provisions in any federal law, but it remains an active imposition on every White House. The drug czar, as the director of the drug control policy office is informally known, must take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance that’s listed on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and has no approved medical use.Marijuana fits that description, as do heroin and LSD. But unlike those far more dangerous drugs, marijuana has medical benefits that are widely known and are now officially recognized in 35 states. The drug cza r, though, isn’t allowed to recognize them, and whenever any member of Congress tries to change that, the White House office is required to stand up and block the effort. It cannot allow any federal study that might demonstrate the rapidly changing medical consensus on marijuana’s benefits and its relative lack of harm compared to alcohol and tobacco.(David Firestone, The Required White House Response on Marijuana. The New York Times, July 29, 2014) Stacking the Deck on Talk Shows Biased talk-show hosts often stack the deck in their discussions of controversial issues by choosing more qualified and dynamic guests to represent the viewpoints they favor. If, by chance, the other guests seem to be overcoming the disadvantage, the host will interrupt and make it a two-on-one debate. An even more outrageous form of stacking the deck is for talk-show hosts and program directors to ignore entirely the side of the issue they disagree with.(Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, Making Your Mind Matter: Strategies for Increasing Practical Intelligence. Rowman Littlefield, 2003)

History of Windows Server Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of Windows Server - Essay Example A better appreciation of the current server operating system is more possible if the earlier versions before 2003 are included in the appreciation of the Windows servers. The Windows server prototypes were the NT platforms which began with the release of Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1 in 1993 upgraded to Windows NT Server 3.5 in 1994, Windows Server 3.51 in 1995, Windows Server 4.0 in 1996, Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition in 1997, Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition in 1998, and winds up with the Windows 2000 Server Platform (multiple editions) in 2000 where the NT part of the title was completely given up. A discussion of the early Windows server O/S is vital because they form the basis of the more modern versions. In addition, a complete historical perspective will give emphasis to the leaps and bounds by which the 21st Windows servers have progressed. Microsoft introduced its first server operating system with Windows NT version 3.1. This version is a 32-bit system that incorporated Win32 concepts that are MS DOS, Windows, OS/2 and POSIX compatible. It also provided a US Government C-2 security level protection as well as â€Å"portability to different microprocessor architectures, symmetric multiprocessing support, built-in networking capabilities and support for multilingual applications† (Allan p. 15/2). The NY system is usable in Intel microprocessors, MIPS workstations and the DEC Alpha architecture, needs 12 to 16 megabytes of memory to work and requires a 486 processor or better and more powerful microprocessors (Allan p. 15/2). The following year, version 3.5 came out in September, which upgraded the earlier version by reducing the hardware requirements and advancing reliability (Allan p. 15/3). This version was characterized by enhanced speed and greater connectivity to Novell and UNIX, two of Microsoft’s stiff competitors (Long 2008). It was however, version 3.51 that was considered the

NHRDA (National Hot Rod Diesel Association) Essay

NHRDA (National Hot Rod Diesel Association) - Essay Example Also, since the diesel powered vehicles were replacing the gas powered vehicle, this offered an even greater chance for growth. This trend will further continue since diesel power vehicles seem to be far more efficient and also powerful as compared to other counterparts. The NHRDA is still striving to place all related products as well as the companies associated with the series on quite a high profile and at the same time offering awareness to the potential consumers to add to the returns. The NHRDA was initiated with one single event which was held at the west coast during the 2004, which has now been evolved to 6 Divisional point series which is held across North America. This event culminates with National Points championship along with World Finals competition. Since its founding, the sole aim has been to make Diesel Motorsports as one of the national pastimes for the motorsports enthusiasts. Nowadays, the NHRDA popularity has taken a whole new turn. Back in 2012, the NHRDA managed to televise around 5 marque events all over National TV via various mediums including Fox Sports Net, USTREAM.tv and also 1320go.com. The enhancement in the exposure has added towards further generating success for the racing series and so for those sponsoring the event as well. The NHRDA is unmatched for the commitment towards working in liaison with the leading distributors, manufacturers, and also installation shops functional over the diesel performance industry in an effort to promote awareness for the products. NHRDA is a world class organization which promotes as well as organizes Diesel Drag Races Show n Shines, Sled Pulls, the Burnout Contests and Dyno competitions. The events are held exclusively over NHRA tracks, where it is crucial to follow Official NHRA Regulations. The results being yielded have been quite promising with an average growth rate

Health of the Aging (CASE) Module 1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health of the Aging (CASE) Module 1 - Coursework Example These reforms create cost-sharing and premium subsidies, create new markets for purchasing of health insurance, and develop new rules that would govern health insurance and the involved industry (Rosenbaum, 2011). The second element that has an impact on the elderly involves ensuring accessibility of the populations that are medically underserved to primary health care. Due to the elevated health risks involved with the elderly, they remain underserved in the society, thus prompting for the need of establishment of a system that will provide utmost care for them. The provision of long-term care has a direct impact on the elderly as most of the elderly individuals suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes among others, which require lifetime management (Rosenbaum, 2011). The intent of the Health insurance coverage reforms is to establish standards that guide insurers to mitigate the discrimination that initially existed against older people and other highly vulnerable groups including women and children (Rosenbaum, 2011). As such, this element bans the annual coverage limitations, use of conditions already in existence and prolonged waiting periods. On the other hand, the intent of improving the accessibility to primary health care is to mitigate the shortage in health care professionals, who provide primary health care. This can be achieved through investing in the development of the community health centers and the establishment of the National Health Service Corps. Lastly, the intent of the long-term care initiative is to protect the families of individuals who are terminally ill from becoming bankrupt through the establishment of Medicaid options that facilitate community-based care (Rosenbaum, 2011). The Patient Protection and Affordable Act is likely to lead to low access to Medicare for the older adults in the long term given that it mandates Medicare payment reductions. As such, funding cuts on the involved services have a direct