Canada, My Canada Essay Example for Free

Canada, My Canada Essay Three summers back, a friend and I were being hurtled by bus through the heart of Australia, the desert flashing pink and red before our disbelieving eyes. It seemed never to end, this desert, so flat, so dry. The landscape was very unlike ours – scrub growth with some exotic cacti, no lakes, no rivers, just sand and rock forever. Beautiful, haunting even – what the surface of the moon must look like, I thought as I sat in the dusk in that almost empty bus. I turned to look out the front of the bus and was suddenly taken completely by surprise. Screaming out at me in great black lettering were the words CANADA NO. 1 COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. My eyes lit up, my heart gave a heave, and I felt a pang of homesickness so acute I actually almost hurt. It was all I could do to keep myself from leaping out of my seat and grabbing the newspaper from its owner. As I learned within minutes (I did indeed beg to borrow the paper), the pronouncement was based on information collected by the United Nations from studies comparing standards of living for 174 nations of the world. Some people may have doubted the finding, but I didn’t, not for an instant. Where else in the world can you travel by bus, automobile, or train (and the odd ferry) for ten, 12, or 14 days straight and see a landscape that changes so spectacularly: the Newfoundland coast with its white foam and roar; the red sand beaches of Prince Edward Island; the graceful curves and slopes of Cape Breton’s Cabot Trail; the rolling dairy land of south-shore Quebec; the maple-bordered lakes of Ontario; the haunting north shore of Lake Superior; the wheat fields of Manitoba and Saskatchewan; the ranch land of Alberta; the mountain ranges and lush rain forests of the West Coast. The list could  go on for pages and still cover only the southern section of the country, a sliver of land compared with the North, the immensity of which is almost unimaginable. For six years in a row now the United Nations has designated Canada the no. 1 country in which to live. We are so fortunate. We are water wealthy and forest rich. Minerals, fertile land, wild animals, plant life, the rhythm of four distinct, undeniable seasons – we have it all. Of course, Canada has its problems. We’d like to lower the crime rate, but ours is a relatively safe country. We struggle with our healthcare system, trying to find a balance between universality and affordability, but no person in this country is denied medical care for lack of money. Yes, we have concerns, but in the global scheme of things we are well off. Think of our history. For the greater part, the pain and violence, tragedy, horror, and evil that have scarred forever the history of too many countries are largely absent from our past. There’s no denying we’ve had our trials, but they pale by comparison with events that have shaped many other nations. Our cities are gems. Take Toronto, where I have chosen to live. My adopted city never fails to thrill me with its racial, linguistic, and cultural diversity. On any ordinary day on the city’s streets and subway, in stores and restaurants, I can hear the muted ebb and flow of 20 different tongues. I can feast on food from different continents, from Greek souvlaki to Thai mango salad, from Italian prosciutto to Jamaican jerk chicken, from Indian lamb curry to Chinese lobster. And do all these people get along? Well, they all enjoy a life of relative harmony, cooperation and peace. They certainly aren’t terrorizing, torturing, and massacring one another. They’re not igniting pubs, cars, and schools with explosives that blind, cripple, and maim. And they’re not killing children with machetes, cleavers and axes. Dislike – rancour, even – may exist here and there, but not, I believe, hatred of the blistering intensity we see elsewhere. Is Canada a successful experiment in racial harmony and peaceful co-existence? Yes, I would say so – and proudly.  When I, as an aboriginal citizen of this country, find myself thinking about all the people we’ve received into this beautiful homeland of mine, when I think of the millions to whom we’ve given safe haven, following agony, terror, hunger, and great sadness in their home countries, well, my little Cree heart just puffs up with pride. And I walk the streets of Canada, the streets of my home, feeling tall as a maple.

Is Doubt the Key to Knowledge? Essay -- Proverb Analysis

Doubt is the middle ground between blind acceptance and outright refusal to believe. Doubt lends itself to a certain uncomfortable feeling of questioning but is a necessary tool to reach perceived truth and knowledge. Without doubt, one would believe anything he or she is told; it is a natural filter for the information thrust upon us. Doubt is in some ways the opposite of faith. Faith insinuates an acceptance so powerful that one does not need evidence to back up one’s claim. The lack of evidence does not bother the faithful, but it will pester the doubter like an insatiable itch. But the specter of doubt looms over the doubter, demanding that questions be asked of whatever â€Å"fact† has been presented. The doubter will use the four ways of knowing—emotion, reason, language, and sense perception—to answer the questions and become a knower. Doubt is especially necessary in two areas of knowledge: history and human sciences. When studying history, one mu st doubt the stories presented as facts and consider possible distortions created by biases or the passage of time. Without doubt, the field of human science would never advance past the current understanding, leaving human kind stuck in an age of primitive treatment and technology. The accuracy of history is weakened by time, perception, and memory. The Bible, for example, is particularly prone to such weaknesses. Millions of people accept it as fact despite its many fallacies. The events in the Bible are considered to be part of history. Yet such events were written about many years after they actually occurred. For example, Jesus is thought to have died in 33 A.D. This date is considered likely as his death must have occurred before Pontius Pilate left his position in 36 A.D. Y... ...iam. â€Å"The Gospel According to Luke.† The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible.† Nashville: Abingdon, 1971. 672-706. Print. Bawer, Bruce. "What is Truth?" Rev. of Pontius Pilate , by Ann Wroe. Reviews by Bruce Bawer Fall 2001. Web. 1 Jan. 2011. . Leo, Johnathan. "The Fallacy of the 50% Concordance Rate for Schizophrenia in Identical Twins." Rev. of The Gene Illusion , by Jay Joseph. Human Nature Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. . Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Word and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study of the Life of Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000. Amazon.com. Web. 1 Jan2011.. The Ryrie Study Bible. Chicago: Moody, 1976. Print. New American Standard Translation. Is Doubt the Key to Knowledge? Essay -- Proverb Analysis Doubt is the middle ground between blind acceptance and outright refusal to believe. Doubt lends itself to a certain uncomfortable feeling of questioning but is a necessary tool to reach perceived truth and knowledge. Without doubt, one would believe anything he or she is told; it is a natural filter for the information thrust upon us. Doubt is in some ways the opposite of faith. Faith insinuates an acceptance so powerful that one does not need evidence to back up one’s claim. The lack of evidence does not bother the faithful, but it will pester the doubter like an insatiable itch. But the specter of doubt looms over the doubter, demanding that questions be asked of whatever â€Å"fact† has been presented. The doubter will use the four ways of knowing—emotion, reason, language, and sense perception—to answer the questions and become a knower. Doubt is especially necessary in two areas of knowledge: history and human sciences. When studying history, one mu st doubt the stories presented as facts and consider possible distortions created by biases or the passage of time. Without doubt, the field of human science would never advance past the current understanding, leaving human kind stuck in an age of primitive treatment and technology. The accuracy of history is weakened by time, perception, and memory. The Bible, for example, is particularly prone to such weaknesses. Millions of people accept it as fact despite its many fallacies. The events in the Bible are considered to be part of history. Yet such events were written about many years after they actually occurred. For example, Jesus is thought to have died in 33 A.D. This date is considered likely as his death must have occurred before Pontius Pilate left his position in 36 A.D. Y... ...iam. â€Å"The Gospel According to Luke.† The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible.† Nashville: Abingdon, 1971. 672-706. Print. Bawer, Bruce. "What is Truth?" Rev. of Pontius Pilate , by Ann Wroe. Reviews by Bruce Bawer Fall 2001. Web. 1 Jan. 2011. . Leo, Johnathan. "The Fallacy of the 50% Concordance Rate for Schizophrenia in Identical Twins." Rev. of The Gene Illusion , by Jay Joseph. Human Nature Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. . Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Word and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study of the Life of Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000. Amazon.com. Web. 1 Jan2011.. The Ryrie Study Bible. Chicago: Moody, 1976. Print. New American Standard Translation.

Religious and Moral about Clowns

Clowns are generally considered that they exist for fun and entertainment, but when one who has clear knowledge about a clown and his job, one will understand how powerful clowns are. Barbara Tedlock has studied a lot about clown across the world and he wrote an essay called, ‘The Clown’s Way’. In fact main job of clowns is to entertain, give fun and make the people laugh. Clowns often remind us about circus, how they entertain the crowd with their funny words and deeds. They are professional clowns who are into the job for earning. There is also another kind of clowns who do such things for their religion and with a fear of religious beliefs. They are religious clowns. The best moral to learn from religious clowns are to make others laugh irrespective of one’s own worries and day to life tensions. Every clown is a human in fact, and they too have some worries of life. But once they wear clown mask, they forget all their personal worries and issues, and everything they do is laugh and let others laugh, which is very healthy to anyone. Different religious clowns entertain people in different ways. Heyoka clowns do things the other way like they read backwards, walk backwards, ride the horse in backward direction, moves counter-sunwise. His voice is a thunderclap. In few religions, during festivals, the clowns open the baggage of the guests, though such things are annoying, the guest burst up in laughs looking at the way the clowns behave. In some religion, clowns pour water on the guests and they also throw coal. This is always ends up with fun, but not into fights. In few religions, clowns go door to door to beg food and tobacco, if anyone refuses; they are allowed to do anything to fetch food from any house. The theft of food is a very common issue in California. The theft of food sometimes leads up to sexual show ups like they talk or sing about sex, or they perform sexual displays in the public at women. According to Tedlock, Jemez clowns â€Å"make advances toward women†; Ponca clowns â€Å"crawl up and touch a woman’s genitalia in full daylight†; and Kwakiutl clowns jest with chiefs’ daughters, often making pointed references to sex. In the Southeast, Creek clowns, while singing obscene songs during the Crazy Dance make sexual motions and even come into bodily contact with women. (p.6). Generally it is considered by many religious clowns that they believe they will die if they do not do their job properly. Though they show things in a funny way, many of their deeds share knowledge about the religion or they teach us a moral of life. One of the best examples said by Tedlock is about Pueblo Indian Clowns. On the occasion of feeding the katchina dancers, clowns substitute ashes or sweepings for corn meal as their own sacred offerings, and they make people laugh. But this deed has a hidden moral. It shows the religious deeds of Zuni woman, who deposit sweepings at the corn field and say, â€Å"I now deposit you as sweepings but in one year you will return to me as corn†. It is just like instead of wasting corn on the floor as sweepings, they will make it purpose for future food.

Biography of John W. Young

John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 - January 5, 2018), was one of the best-known of NASAs astronaut corps. In 1972, he served as commander of the Apollo 16  mission to the moon and in 1982, he served as commander of the first-ever flight of the space shuttle Columbia. As the only astronaut to work aboard four different classes of spacecraft, he became known throughout the agency and the world for his technical skill and calm under pressure. Young was married twice, once to Barbara White, with whom he raised two children. After their divorce, Young married Susy Feldman. Personal Life John Watts Young was born in San Francisco to William Hugh Young and Wanda Howland Young. He grew up in Georgia and Florida, where he  explored nature and science as a Boy Scout. As an undergraduate at Georgia Institute of Technology, he studied aeronautical engineering and graduated in 1952 with highest honors. He entered the U.S. Navy straight out of college, eventually ending up in flight training. He became a helicopter pilot, and eventually joined a fighter squadron where he flew missions from the Coral Sea and the USS Forrestal. Young then moved to become a test pilot, as so many astronauts did, at Patuxent River and the Naval Test Pilot School. Not only did he fly a number of experimental aircraft, but he also set several world records while flying the Phantom II jet. Joining NASA In 2013, John Young published an autobiography of his years as a pilot and astronaut, called Forever Young. He told the story of his incredible career simply, humorously, and humbly. His NASA years, in particular, took this man—often referred to as an astronauts astronaut—from the Gemini missions of the early to mid-1960s to the Moon aboard Apollo, and eventually to the ultimate test pilot dream: commanding a shuttle to orbital space. Youngs public demeanor was that of a calm, sometimes wry, but always professional engineer and pilot. During his Apollo 16 flight, he was so laid-back and focused that his heart rate (being tracked from the ground) barely rose above normal. He was well-known for thoroughly examining a spacecraft or instrument and then zeroing in on its mechanical and engineering aspects, often saying, after a blizzard of questions, Im just asking... Gemini and Apollo John Young joined NASA in 1962, as part of Astronaut Group 2. His classmates were Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Charles Pete Conrad, James A. Lovell, James A. McDivitt, Elliot M. See, Jr, Thomas P. Stafford, and Edward H. White (who died in the Apollo 1 fire  in 1967). They were referred to as the New Nine and all but one went on to fly several missions over the next decades. The exception was Elliot See, who was killed in a T-38 crash. Youngs first of six flights to space came in March 1965 during the early Gemini era, when he piloted Gemini 3 in the first manned Gemini mission. The next year, in July 1966, he was the command pilot for Gemini 10 where he and teammate Michael Collins did the first double rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit. When the Apollo missions began, Young was immediately tapped to fly the dress rehearsal mission that led to the first Moon landing. That mission was Apollo 10 and took place in May 1969, not quite two months before Armstrong and Aldrin made their historic trip. Young didnt fly again until 1972 when he commanded Apollo 16 and achieved the fifth human lunar landing in history. He walked on the Moon (becoming the ninth person to do so) and drove a lunar buggy across its surface. The Shuttle Years The first flight of the space shuttle Columbia required a special pair of astronauts: experienced pilots and trained space fliers. The agency chose John Young to command the maiden flight of the orbiter (which had never been flown to space with people aboard) and Robert Crippen as the pilot. They roared off the pad on April 12, 1981. The mission was the first manned one to use solid-fuel rockets, and its objectives were to get to orbit safely, orbit Earth, and then return to a safe landing on Earth, as an airplane does. Young and Crippens first flight was a success and made famous in an IMAX movie called Hail Columbia. True to his heritage as a test pilot, Young descended from the cockpit after landing and did a walk-around of the orbiter, pumping his fist in the air and inspecting the craft. His laconic responses during the post-flight press briefing were true to his nature as an engineering and pilot. One of his most-quoted lines answers was to a question about ejecting from the shuttle if there were problems. He simply said, You just pull the little handle. After the successful first flight of the space shuttle, Young commanded only one other mission—STS-9 again on Columbia. It carried the Spacelab to orbit, and on that mission, Young stepped into history as the first person to fly into space six times. He was supposed to fly again in 1986, which would have given him another space flight record, but the Challenger explosion delayed the NASA flight schedule for more than two years. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Young was very critical of NASA management for its approach to astronaut safety. He was removed from flight duty and assigned a desk job at NASA, serving in executive positions for the rest of his tenure. He never flew again, after logging more than 15,000 hours of training and preparations for nearly a dozen missions for the agency. After NASA John Young worked for NASA for 42 years, retiring in 2004. He had already retired from the Navy with the rank of captain years earlier. Yet, he remained active in NASA affairs, attending meetings and briefings at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. He made occasional public appearances to celebrate important milestones in NASA history and also made appearances at specific space gatherings and a few educators meetings but otherwise remained largely out of the public eye until his death. John Young Clears the Tower for the Final Time Astronaut John W. Young died from complications of pneumonia on January 5, 2018. In his lifetime, he flew more than 15,275 hours in all kinds of aircraft, and nearly 900 hours in space. He earned many awards for his work, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He is a fixture in several aviation and astronaut halls of fame, has a school and planetarium named for him, and received Aviation Weeks Philip J. Klass award in 1998. John W. Youngs fame extends well beyond his flight time to books and movies. He will always be remembered for his integral role in space exploration history.