AIDS A U.S.- Made Monster Essays - Lentiviruses, HIVAIDS

AIDS: A U.S.- Made Monster? PREFACE In an extensive article in the Summer-Autumn 1990 issue of "Top Secret", Prof J. Segal and Dr. L. Segal outline their theory that AIDS is a man-made disease, originating at Pentagon bacteriological warfare labs at Fort Detrick, Maryland. "Top Secret" is the international edition of the German magazine Geheim and is considered by many to be a sister publication to the American Covert Action Information Bulletin (CAIB). In fact, Top Secret carries the Naming Names column, which CAIB is prevented from doing by the American government, and which names CIA agents in different locations in the world. The article, named "AIDS: US-Made Monster" and subtitled "AIDS - its Nature and its Origins," is lengthy, has a lot of professional terminology and is dotted with footnotes. AIDS FACTS "The fatal weakening of the immune system which has given AIDS its name (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome)," write the Segals, "has been traced back to a destruction or a functional failure of the T4-lymphocytes, also called 'helper cells`, which play a regulatory role in the production of antibodies in the immune system." In the course of the illness, the number of functional T4- cells is reduced greatly so that new anti-bodies cannot be produced and the defenceless patient remains exposed to a range of infections that under other circumstances would have been harmless. Most AIDS patients die from opportunistic infections rather than from the AIDS virus itself. The initial infection is characterized by diarrhea, erysipelas and intermittent fever. An apparent recovery follows after 2-3 weeks, and in many cases the patient remains without symptoms and functions normally for years. Occasionally a swelling of the lymph glands, which does not affect the patient's well-being, can be observed. After several years, the pre-AIDS stage, known as ARC (Aids- Related Complex) sets in. This stage includes disorders in the digestive tract, kidneys and lungs. In most cases it develops into full-blown AIDS in about a year, at which point opportunistic illnesses occur. Parallel to this syndrome, disorders in various organ systems occur, the most severe in the brain, the symptoms of which range from motoric disorders to severe dementia and death. This set of symptoms, say the Segals, is identical in every detail with the Visna sickness which occurs in sheep, mainly in Iceland. (Visna means tiredness in Icelandic). However, the visna virus is not pathogenic for human beings. The Segals note that despite the fact that AIDS is transmitted only through sexual intercourse, blood transfusions and non- sterile hypodermic needles, the infection has spread dramatically. During the first few years after its discovery, the number of AIDS patients doubled every six months, and is still doubling every 12 months now though numerous measures have been taken against it. Based on these figures, it is estimated that in the US, which had 120,000 cases of AIDS at the end of 1988, 900,000 people will have AIDS or will have died of it by the end of 1991. It is also estimated that the number of people infected is at least ten times the number of those suffering from an acute case of AIDS. That in the year 1995 there will be between 10-14 million cases of AIDS and an additional 100 million people infected, 80 percent of them in the US, while a possible vaccination will not be available before 1995 by the most optimistic estimates. Even when such vaccination becomes available, it will not help those already infected. These and following figures have been reached at by several different mainstream sources, such as the US Surgeon General and the Chief of the medical services of the US Army. "AIDS does not merely bring certain dangers with it; it is clearly a programmed catastrophe for the human race, whose magnitude is comparable only with that of a nuclear war", say the Segals. " They later explain what they mean by "programmed," showing that the virus was produced by humans, namely Dr. Robert Gallo of the Bethesda Cancer Research Center in Maryland. When proceeding to prove their claims, the Segals are careful to note that: "We have given preference to the investigative results of highly renowned laboratories, whose objective contents cannot be doubted. We must emphasize, in this connection, that we do not know of any findings that have been published in professional journals that contradict our hypotheses." DISCOVERING AIDS The first KNOWN cases of AIDS occurred in New York in 1979. The first DESCRIBED cases were in California in 1979. The virus was isolated in Paris in May 1983, taken from

Free Essays on Deborah Oropallo

â€Å"WELCOME.† In this painting, Oropallo’s used many implied lines to create the containers. We can actually see where the orange is touchin... Free Essays on Deborah Oropallo Free Essays on Deborah Oropallo Deborah Oropallo was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. According to the San Jose Museum of Art, Oropallo â€Å"received her B.F.A. from Alfred University in New York State, and her M.A. and M.F.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.† She now reside in Berkeley, California where she spends her days painting mundane object which slowly creating a striking image of poetic importance. She uses daily object such as ropes, tires, and doormats and transformed them into paintings where viewers can interpret a different meaning. In her most recent paintings, Oropallo’s uses the technique of digital photography and Iris prints. According to the LGI Digital & Fine Art Printing, â€Å"Iris Printing offer richness, detail and depth that clearly set them apart from traditional offset lithography.† Her paintings may seem far from sensuous paintings of other artist, yet the vibrant colors and suggestive overlays provide these objects visually dominant in a special way. Wh en she discovered this new way of art, she continue to discover the hidden beauty that lay in the objects that surround us in our daily life. She uses objects that are from our industrial surroundings to provide us with messages that she sees within our economy. She used object such as railroad tracks, flour packages, stacks of cinder blocks, buckets, pipes, and other large industrial containers that we customarily ignore, to enhance our knowledge of what is going on in our economy. In a painting by Oropallo entitled â€Å"Oversize, 2001† made with Iris Print from oil on a larger than life canvas, she utilized large containers in our industry and paints to come up with a message to everybody. We can see at the far left hand corner, the container is labeled as hazardous materials, but in front of the whole paintings, she places the words â€Å"WELCOME.† In this painting, Oropallo’s used many implied lines to create the containers. We can actually see where the orange is touchin...

The Drinking Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Drinking Age - Essay Example This phenomenon is known as â€Å"binging† when the young adults begin consuming above the average amount of alcohol a body should consume- often they do this action as a sign of rebellion against the institution and the authority. A study conducted by Indiana University showed that 32% of underage drinkers are heavy drinkers as compared to the 24% of legal aged drinkers (Engs). The most underage drinking is observed by college students who while trying to get initiated into fraternities try to impress their peers or simply just because they get the chance to experience drinking. Many of the problems affiliated by drinking such as getting low grades in class, skipping out classes due to overdrinking the previous night, and getting into fights due to drinking are observed to be higher among people falling below the age of 21. The incidents of such acts occurring over the legal age are relatively less. It is recommended that young adults should be given proper awareness of the effects of alcohol and they should be permitted to drink alcohol in a controlled environment where they can be observed and assisted if they face any complications. That may be a reason why more than 100 college presidents signed a petition to lower the drinking age (Roan). One of the arguments in support of the 21 age restriction is that there has been a noted decrease in the number of traffic accidents caused by young adults who were intoxicated. But the decrease could also be attributed to more awareness of the effects of drinking while driving, implementation of designated driver programs, lower speed limits and free taxi services from drinking establishments. So the argument placed that it is solely the implementation of a higher age limit which has reduced the number of car accidents is incorrect. The drinking age should be decreased to 18. If the young adults are considered to be

Should schools require student uniforms Term Paper

Should schools require student uniforms - Term Paper Example In this regard, the aim of the current essay is to propose to the school administrators, parents and students that school uniforms should be prescribed. The discourse would initially present a brief review of literature from previous studies that delved into the subject. Subsequently, some statistical information would be provided to determine how many public or private schools in the United States prescribe wearing school uniforms. In addition, the effects of wearing school uniforms to students’ academic performance and to other variables would be determined and examined. Finally, a concluding portion would firmly establish support for one’s initial contention. Review of Related Literature In a study written by Gentile and Imberman, the authors examined the effects of wearing a prescribed school uniform on the behavior and academic performance of students in a large urban school district in the southwest portion (LUSD-SW) of the country. As disclosed, â€Å"uniforms g enerate improvements in attendance and test scores. These results are particularly strong for girls in middle and high school. We also find evidence that suggests behavioral problems shift towards less severe infractions for both genders in middle and high school. ... The author revealed that there are various benefits for enforcing school uniforms that include focusing on academic pursuits, fostering of a team-like spirit, and creating a more conducive school climate for learning, among others. Likewise, in another article written by Konheim-Kalkstein, the author contended that â€Å"when students dress alike, proponents say, the school climate may be improved† (Konheim-Kalkstein 25). The author likewise looked into other aspects and effects of using school uniform in terms of potentially reducing violence, improving the school climate, and saving money (Konheim-Kalkstein). Statistics on School Uniform Use In the statistics provided in the Statistic Brain website, it facts revealed that 23% of all private and public schools combined in the USA have a clearly defined school uniform policy (School Uniform Statistics). The information was noted to have been verified from the US Department of Education, NCES, ECS, NAESP, and University of Flor ida (School Uniform Statistics). Likewise, uniform sales were noted to have reached $1.1 billion in 2000 and an average annual cost of having the school uniform produced according to the prescribed design is $249 per annum (School Uniform Statistics). The city with the most percentage of schools adhering to a prescribed school uniform in public schools was disclosed as New Orleans (95%); while the city with the smallest percentage of users is Cincinnati at 50% (School Uniform Statistics). It is also interesting to note that from the reasons provided by parents and teachers regarding implementing the use of school uniforms, majority of parents (49%) indicated that â€Å"the school uniform has been financially beneficial for my household†

Emergency preparedness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emergency preparedness - Assignment Example Risk and vulnerability assessment is the process of investigating whether or not there is a risk or threat that poses danger to a specific institution. This is done by security personnel who look at a threat, vulnerability, and consequences of a suspected risk (Threat/Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Analysis, n.d.). Some of the major needs of a Healthcare Organization would be a complete set of medical equipments, tools, drugs; enough space to accommodate people; and most especially a group of knowledgeable and skilled nurses and doctors. On the other hand, a healthcare organization’s major responsibility during an emergency would be to be able to provide initial treatment to ease the pain or even save a life during the most crucial time, before a patient’s condition is stabilized. Emergency preparedness is all about foreseeing all the possible risks or threats that could happen with regard to a certain activity, event, or in a certain location. On the other hand, disasters are damages that could be caused by nature or man. However, though there are disasters we cannot contemplate such as some earthquakes, there are also some natural disasters that we can contemplate such as tsunamis being caused by an earthquake aftershock or a typhoon caused by global warming. Man-made caused disasters, for me, are a result of carelessness or irresponsibility which we can totally

The Argument Of Free Will And Determinism Philosophy Essay

The Argument Of Free Will And Determinism Philosophy Essay Determinism is when a persons behaviour is considered to be affected by internal or external forces while free will is an individuals ability to make most decisions. If we agree to a deterministic description of psychology then we can precisely foretell human behaviour, which results in psychology being in a similar field of science as physics or chemistry. According to Watson, (1982:2), determinism is the view roughly, that every event and state of affairs is causally necessitated by preceding events and states of affairs. On the other hand according to Gross, (2009:210) free will is, the common sense, lay persons understanding of the term is that the actor could have behaved differently given the same circumstances. This essay will explore the different approaches to free will and determinism from different theorists for example behaviourists, neo-behaviourists and so on. The argument of free will and determinism between psychologists and philosophers has existed for years. People who are determined assume that behaviour is determined by outside and internal forces performing on the human being. One example of an outside force could be parents supporting a kind of behaviour thereby encouraging it. On the other hand an internal force would be driven by hormones. People who believe in free will assume that things are a bit difficult (Eysenck, 1994). They know that there is external and internal factors but they believe that people are free to choose their own behaviour. The free will and determinism debate could be finished up by the query that could a persons behaviour have been different in a certain situation if they willed it?(Eysenck, 1994:65) People who are deterministic would disagree and those who believe in free will would agree. Determinism is supported by more theories in psychology than free will. Behaviourists are highly determinists and they argue that the universe is ruled by certain widespread systematic principles (Eysenck, 1994). They believe an action is initiated by a certain presiding cause, and a persons action is no exception. Behaviourists also believe that accurate judgement of peoples behaviour is likely, if a persons present stimulus circumstance is recognized, and if their habitual past is recognised. Skinner (1971, cited in Gross, 2009) claimed that behaviour is determined by ecological factors and that people usually replicate behaviours that are rewarded. According to Skinner free will is an illusion. Bandura, a neobehaviourist, believed in reciprocal determinism and pointed a weakness in Skinners methodology. If human behaviours are truly determined by the external incentives and retributions, then people would always transform to conform to other people. Bandura specified that behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning (Chance, 2009). Children watch the behaviour of people surrounding them and the people being watched are named models. In society children are influenced by many people or models for example parents, actors on televisions and other models they meet at schools. Children copy these behaviours and then practise these behaviours later on in life. Bandura demonstrated with the bobo doll experiment. He illustrated how there can be hidden learning until a reward or stimulus is used to encourage that behaviour. Young children copied to either strike, or not strike the bobo doll. Only the children that witnessed the model, not g etting positive reinforcement for striking the doll really got involved in that activity. Skinner concentrated mainly on the concept that peoples behaviours are determined by the outside world. When an individuals behaviour is determined by force or punishment it is clear that there is no act of free will. One example of that could be being scared of committing an offence or crime because of the fear of going to prison. Likewise we are also shaped by positive reinforcements, for example being paid a bonus for working overtime (Gross, 2009). However we usually forget about external causes of our behaviour and assume that we are acting freely. When we are determined that we are acting freely this usually implies that we are free from negative reinforcements and this is usually a result of the awards or positive reinforcements we have had in the past. However peoples behaviours also influence their surroundings. Skinner ignored the large number of causes of behaviour. Freud also deeply believed in determinism. According to Freud, people are determined by certain unconscious feelings, outside their consciousness. Minor occurrences like referring to a person with another persons name are a result of fixed causes in the persons motivational system. Freudian slips are involuntary but motivated errors that reveal a persons true desires. According to the Psychodynamic approach internal techniques like defence mechanisms verify the type of behaviours people will have as adults. People are developmentally oriented and will biologically grow in relation to the satisfaction of their natural ability if inner circumstances are positive. However, this differs with Freuds opinion of humans as basically savage beasts, whose hostile drives and volatile sexuality can only be managed by the procedure and arrangement of civilization. Freud was negative towards human nature and saw the instinctive desires of the id as driving people near the self -centred gratificati on of primitive desires. According to the biological approach behaviour is determined by a persons chromosome and inner systems (Eysenck, 1994). When looking at mental disorders this method expresses that the patient is not to blame for their illness. Their biology inclines them to certain situations thereby making it unmanageable unless their biological make up is influenced. This has been supported to an extent, with the understanding that schizophrenia is caused by extreme chemicals in the brain that carries messages. The chaos theory and butterfly effect are an example that show that while psychology is deterministic it is best explained as probabilistic. On the other hand the humanistic approach argues that people have freewill. Carl Rogers argued that people have an inborn desire for positive growth and self-actualisation (Gross, 2009). An individual should be responsible for their behaviour. Rogers suggested client centred therapy where the therapist is known as a facilitator whose job is to help patients exercise free will. Humanistic psychologists argue that the notion that people are controlled by external forces is wrong. However Rogers also looked at the bad side of people and he quoted that, in my experience, every person has the capacity for evil behaviour. I, and others ,have had murderous and cruel impulses, desires to hurt, feelings of anger and rage ,desires to impose our wills on others à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whether I or anyone, will translate these impulses into behaviour depends, it seems to me ,on two elements : social conditioning and voluntary choiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I believe that theoretically at least, every evil behavio ur is brought about by varying degrees of these elements (Rogers,1982 cited in Gross,2009:225). A problem for free will is causality. Free will would imply that nothing triggers an action; someone showing only random behaviour would be listed as mentally ill. Free will needs to clarify what triggers actions to occur or else behaviours are predicted to be determined. The ethical argument assumes people have free will. According to this, in order to expect ethical accountability, people must acknowledge the notion of free will. If a persons behaviour is determined by things that they cannot control then the person cannot be accountable for their actions (Hospers, 1997). However, on the other hand, laws require that grown up people do have individual accountability for their actions and so society is indirectly in favour of free will (Teichman Evans, 1999). Soft determinism is an approach that argues that all acts are caused, but only those that are not coerced or constrained are free (Gross, 2009:211). William James supported this approach which is average in relation to the two extreme opinions. According to James effort, or the impression of effort, is the main personal sign that free will has taken place. James also specified that , if our actions have, as their proximate ,immediate cause, processing by a system such as conscious mental life, t hen they count as free ,rational, voluntary, purposive actions (Gross,2009:220). Fromm claims that people are both part of the environment and also unrelated to it. People formed primitive dogmas and religious doctrines to allow them to feel less detached from the world. In Europe until lately the Catholic Church accomplished this position of giving a feeling of security. The church intervened between God and humankind, ensuring deliverance but in the course restricting human liberty (Gross, 2009). I believe we are influenced by our nature which is a combination of what we get from our genes and what we learn from our environment. Sometimes we are forced to make decisions and only get options that are forced upon us by the circumstances we are in. Those circumstances may be a direct result of previous decisions or may largely be decided by luck. Things do not usually turn out the way we really want it. I would agree that people are free to make choices that shape their lives, but, on the contrary people are related to society and consequently ones behaviour can have an effect on others despite the insignificance of the behaviour. I think the notion of cause and effect comes in the picture because there is the notion of right and wrong and the existence of society. For me then, behaviour is significant in both free will and determinism. The way you act is influenced by freedom to make choices in your life, however if put to mind, the decisions are more determined by environment and by current surroundings. (1589) How I have used feedback I have changed the way I used to put my full stops after writing a sentence and I have also worked on using shorter and understandable sentences. I have also sorted the areas where writing was in places, over complex and ungrammatical. I have also put references where they were missing and have also put the word count at the end of my essay.

Essays --

Many things can set apart the different people in the world, but a crucial characteristic that makes the world diverse is a person’s moral ethics and values. Ethics is a defining key that is shared by people all around for it is what people use to make decisions that impact themselves and the people around them. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare expresses his own value of all deeds have consequences through the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Malcolm and the plot of the story. It depends on how you refer to the word consequences. Good or bad. â€Å" Nought's had, all's spent, where our desire is got without content; 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy. Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.† (3.2.7-9) This shows that getting what you want doesn’t always bring peace. Lady MacBeth is one of the most alluring female characters in Macbeth. She is evil and witch-like all at the same time. However, during the play we see her in two different ways. When we first meet her in the beginning, she is a brutally violent, power craving witch, and later on she turns into a shameful, suicidal, grieving, woman. Lady Macbeth’s deception plays a big role in Macbeth’s actions because she wished of nothing but the death of King Duncan. The problem was, she was a female and did not have the masculinity to murder someone so she used the next most capable power she had. Deception. She deceived Macbeth into killing Duncan. "Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem." (1.7.45-47) She states that if Macbeth does not following through with the deed of murdering Duncan, he would make a coward of himself and would look foolish in his own eyes. After the murder of Duncan, Lady ... ...leader to follow and look to. To express his morals and values throughout the characters and the plot of the play, Shakespeare created a storyline that successfully gave each character a role that shows the turn outs of what would happen if ethical decisions were not made and displayed the way that they were supposed to. In his play Macbeth, Shakespeare is sharing to the audience that through every action you make, there is always a consequence that must be dealt with or a certain outcome that you must live up to. He does this through his characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Malcolm. While not all people have the same set of morals as each other, everyone has the power to make the best or worst decisions. The aftermath of those decisions play into the lives of everyone around including their own and can either create great success in someones life or fatal tragedy.

Language Paper

Language is something that generally every human has as a form of communication. It can be in the form of verbal words, in the form of written words, or even in the form of signed words, but it is something that as humans we all use in one way or another. The need for language evolved as a way for people to express their thoughts, their feelings and emotions, and even their fears. Humans needed a way to communicate with each other to express things that normally couldn’t be expressed. This paper is going to set out to cover language. It will cover the definition of language and lexicon, as well as evaluate the key features of language. The paper with describe the four levels of the language structure and processing as well as analyze the role of language processing in cognitive psychology. While it seems so simple, language is a complex as well as fascinating cognitive function that will be explored more in this paper. Language and Lexicon If a person were asked to define language they would probably just comment on the fact of verbal communication. In fact the true definition of language is that it is a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols (Caplan, 2007). When a person talks about lexicon they are literally talking about a person’s vocabulary. According to Caplan, lexicon’s definition is that it is a language’s vocabulary or the language user’s knowledge of words (2007). As stated above language is a cognitive function that is actually part of a process called the linguistic process. The linguistic process allows a person to be able to not only produce communication, but to be able to understand it as well. This concept will be explored more throughout the paper. When people speak about the structure of language it is generally useful to think of it as having four levels. The four levels include, speech sounds or phonemes, words, sentences, and groups of sentences or texts (Willingham, 2007). The lowest level phonemes, which are basically speech sounds, are where the analysis of the sounds that make up words comes in. Phonemes are basically the individual sounds of speech that correspond to the letters in the alphabet of the person trying to use communication. If a person just looks at just the English language they would find that there are 46 phonemes. Worldwide a person would find about 200 phonemes (Willingham, 2007). Continuing on with the English language, the 46 phonemes that correspond with each letter of the alphabet combine in different ways in order to create the roughly 600,000 words contained in the English language alone. In each language there are certain rules when it comes to phonemes stating how the phonemes can be combined and where they can appear in a word (Willingham, 2007). An example of one of the rules in the English language is that a stop consonant cannot appear more than once at the beginning of a word. Phonemes are the first levels that are combined to create words, which are the second level. After that it goes into the third level in which words combine together to create sentences. Of course a person can’t just combine any words in order to make sentences, there are rules involved with this just as there are rules involved with making words. In order for a sentence to be understandable and be proper in structure a person must include proper grammar was well as proper order in the sentence itself. The last level of language structure and processing is grouping sentences together or making text. When a person talks about text they are referring to a group of sentences that combine together and that are related in order to make a paragraph or a group of paragraphs. In order to make a proper text there has to be a connection between the sentences involved in the text. The sentences in the text have to relate to each other, they have to make sense, and lastly they must have logical connections that make each sentence relevant to the previous sentence. Language is defined by five basic properties that are deemed critical for language. The properties include communicative, arbitrary, structured, generative, and dynamic. The first property, communicative, is a property because as it describes it permits one person to communicate with another person. Next in the properties is arbitrary, which is the fact that the relationship between language’s elements and their meaning is arbitrary. When it comes to symbols, arbitrariness is one of the key features. A sound can stand for a meaning, but as to which sound stands for which meaning is considered arbitrary (Willingham, 2007). While language is arbitrary, it is at the same time structured as well. Basically meaning the pattern of symbols is not arbitrary at all. Next is the fact that language is also generative. The basic units of language such as words can be used to build any number of meanings. Finally, language is dynamic because it is not just static. According to Willingham, language is changing constantly as new words are added and the rules of grammar slowly and subtly change (2007). Language Processing in Cognitive Psychology Language is a remarkable process when it is looked at on a cognitive level. As far as language is concerned, humans are the only being on earth that posses the ability to be able to communicate through language. When it comes to a person’s basic needs and desires a person has only to communicate them through words for them to be met. Another interesting fact is that a person is able to learn language rapidly and effectively through their childhood, yet as a person grows older language acquisition becomes harder for the person. When it comes to language processing it plays a key role in cognitive psychology due to the fact that it deciphers the way in which a person is able to communicate as well as process, store, and retrieve the language that they acquire. Conclusion When it comes to humans the primary tool of communication is language. Language is something that generally every human has as a form of communication. It can be in the form of verbal words, in the form of written words, or even in the form of signed words, but it is something that as humans we all use in one way or another. The need for language evolved as a way for people to express their thoughts, their feelings and emotions, and even their fears. Humans needed a way to communicate with each other to express things that normally couldn’t be expressed. Language is one of the remarkable cognitive processes that humans all share and without language it would be difficult to communicate with another person. Without the levels of language or the rules that are involved with it would probably be difficult for people to understand one another, much less communicate effectively with each other.ReferencesCaplan, D. (2007) Language: Structure, Processing, and Disorders. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?tid=4344&ttype=2 Willingham, D.T. (2007). Cognition: The thinking animal (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Person/Allyn & Bacon.

Natural Language - Definition and Examples

Natural Language s A natural language is a human language, such as English or Standard Mandarin, as opposed to a  constructed language, an artificial language, a machine language, or the language of formal logic. Also called  ordinary language. The theory of universal grammar proposes that all natural languages have certain underlying rules that shape and limit the structure of the specific grammar for any given language.Natural language processing (also known as computational linguistics) is the scientific study of language from a computational perspective, with a focus on the interactions between natural (human) languages and computers. Observations The term natural language is used in opposition to the terms formal language and artificial language, but the important difference is that natural languages are not actually constructed as artificial languages and they do not actually appear as formal languages. But they are considered and studied as though they were formal languages in principle. Behind the complex and the seemingly chaotic surface of natural languages there areaccording to this way of thinkingrules and principles that determine their constitution and functions. . . .(Sà ¶ren Stenlund, Language and Philosophical Problems. Routledge, 1990)Essential Concepts- All languages are systematic. They are governed by a set of interrelated systems that include phonology, graphics (usually), morphology, syntax, lexicon, and semantics.- All natural languages are conventional and arbitrary. They obey rules, such as assigning a particular word to a particular thing or concept. But there is no reason that this particular word was originally assigned to this particular thing or concept.- All natural languages are redundant, meaning that the information in a sentence is signaled in more than one way.- All natural languages change. There are various ways a language can change and various reasons for this change.(C. M. Millward and Mary Hayes, A Biography of the English Language, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2011) Creativity and EfficiencyThe apparent fact that the number of utterances in  a natural language is  unbounded is one of its more widely remarked upon properties and a core tenet of modern linguistic theory. The classic argument for creativity uses the idea that one can continually add further adjuncts to sentences to establish that there can be no longest sentence and therefore no finite number of sentences (see Chomsky, 1957). . . .This conventional argument for the creativity of natural language is overly strained: who has actually heard a 500-word sentence? In contrast, anyone who studies [natural language] generation has available a far more reasonable and commonsense account of creativity, namely that one continually uses new utterances because one is continually faced with new situations . . .. The counterbalance to creativity is the efficiency of language (Barwise Perry, 1983): the fact that many utterances do reoccur countless times (e.g., Where did you go for dinner las t night?).(David D. McDonald, et al., Factors Contributing to Efficiency in Natural Language Generation.  Natural Language Generation, ed. by  Gerard Kempen. Kluwer, 1987) Natural ImprecisionNatural language is the embodiment of human cognition and human intelligence. It is very evident that natural language includes an abundance of vague and indefinite phrases and statements that correspond to imprecision in the underlying cognitive concepts. Terms such as tall, short, hot, and well are extremely difficult to translate into knowledge representation, as required for the reasoning systems under discussion. Without such precision, symbolic manipulation within the computer is bleak, to say the least. However, without the richness of meaning inherent in such phrases, human communication would be severely limited, and it is therefore incumbent on us (to attempt) to include such facility within reasoning systems . . ..(Jay Friedenberg and Gordon Silverman, Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind. SAGE, 2006) See also CommunicationWhat Is Language?

Timeline of the Rulers of France From 840 Until 2017

Timeline of the Rulers of France From 840 Until 2017 France developed out of the Frankish kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire, and more directly, out of the declining Carolingian Empire. The latter had been established by the great Charlemagne but began splitting into pieces soon after his death. One of these pieces became the heart of France, and French monarchs would struggle to build a new state out of it. Over time, they succeeded. Opinions vary as to who the first French king was, and the following list includes all of the transitional monarchs, including the Carolingian and not French Louis I. Although Louis wasnt king of the modern entity we call France, all the later French Louis (culminating with Louis XVIII in 1824) were numbered sequentially, using him as the starting point, and its important to remember that Hugh Capet didnt just invent France, there was a long, confused history before him. This is a chronological list of the leaders who have ruled France; the dates given are the periods of said rule. Later Carolingian Transition Although the royal numbering starts with Louis, he was not a king of France but the heir to an empire which covered much of central Europe. His descendants would later fracture the empire. 814 - 840 Louis I (not a king of France)840 - 877 Charles II (the Bald)877 - 879 Louis II (the Stammerer)879 - 882 Louis III (joint with Carloman below)879 - 884 Carloman (joint with Louis III above, until 882)884 - 888 Charles the Fat888 - 898 Eudes (also Odo) of Paris (non-Carolingian)898 - 922 Charles III (the Simple)922 - 923 Robert I (non-Carolingian)923 - 936 Raoul (also Rudolf, non-Carolingian)936 - 954 Louis IV (dOutremer or The Foreigner)954 - 986 Lothar (also Lothaire)986 - 987 Louis V (the Do-Nothing) Capetian Dynasty Hugh Capet is generally considered the first king of France but it took him and his descendants to fight and expand, and fight and survive, to begin to turn a small kingdom into great France. 987 - 996 Hugh Capet996 - 1031 Robert II (the Pious)1031 - 1060 Henry I1060 - 1108 Philip I1108 - 1137 Louis VI (the Fat)1137 - 1180 Louis VII (the Young)1180 - 1223 Philip II Augustus1223 - 1226 Louis VIII (the Lion)1226 - 1270 Louis IX (St. Louis)1270 - 1285 Philip III (the Bold)1285 - 1314 Philip IV (the Fair)1314 - 1316 Louis X (the Stubborn)1316 John I1316 - 1322 Philip V (the Tall)1322 - 1328 Charles IV (the Fair) Valois Dynasty The Valois dynasty would fight the Hundred Years War with England and, at times, looked like they were losing their thrones, and then found themselves facing religious division. 1328 - 1350 Philip VI1350 - 1364 John II (the Good)1364 - 1380 Charles V (the Wise)1380 - 1422 Charles VI (the Mad, Well-Beloved, or Foolish)1422 - 1461 Charles VII (the Well-Served or Victorious)1461 - 1483 Louis XI (the Spider)1483 - 1498 Charles VIII (Father of his People)1498 - 1515 Louis XII1515 - 1547 Francis I1547 - 1559 Henry II1559 - 1560 Francis II1560 - 1574 Charles IX1574 - 1589 Henry III Bourbon Dynasty The Bourbon kings of France included the absolute apogee of a European monarch, the Sun King Louis XIV, and just two people later, the king who would be beheaded by a revolution. 1589 - 1610 Henry IV1610 - 1643 Louis XIII1643 - 1715 Louis XIV (the Sun King)1715 - 1774 Louis XV1774 - 1792 Louis XVI First Republic The French Revolution swept away the monarch and killed their king and queen; the Terror which followed the twisting of the revolutionary ideals was in no sense an improvement. 1792 - 1795 National Convention1795 - 1799 Directory (Directors)1795 - 99 Paul Franà §ois Jean Nicolas de Barras1795 - 99 Jean-Franà §ois Reubell1795 - 99 Louis Marie La Revellà ­ere-Là ©peaux1795 - 97 Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot1795 - 97 Etienne Le Tourneur1797 Franà §ois Marquis de Barthà ©lemy1797 - 99 Philippe Antoine Merlin de Douai1797 - 98 Franà §ois de Neufchà ¢teau1798 - 99 Jean Baptiste Comte de Treilhard1799 Emmanuel Joseph Comte de Sieyà ©s1799 Roger Comte de Ducos1799 Jean Franà §ois Auguste Moulins1799 Louis Gohier1799 - 1804 Consulate1st Consul: 1799 - 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte2nd Consul: 1799 Emmanuel Joseph Comte de Sieyà ©s,1799 - 1804 Jean-Jacques Rà ©gis Cambacà ©rà ¨s3rd Consul: 1799 - 1799 Pierre-Roger Ducos1799 - 1804 Charles Franà §ois Lebrun First Empire (Emperors) The revolution was brought to an end by the conquering soldier-politician Napoleon, but he failed to create a lasting dynasty. 1804 - 1814 Napoleon I1814 - 1815 Louis XVIII (king)1815 Napoleon I (2nd time) Bourbons (Restored) The restoration of the royal family was a compromise, but France remained in social and political flux, leading to yet another change of house. 1814 - 1824 Louis XVIII1824 - 1830 Charles X Orleans Louis Philippe became king, chiefly thanks to the work of his sister; he would fall from grace shortly after she was no longer around to help. 1830 - 1848 Louis Philippe Second Republic (Presidents) The Second Republic didnt last long chiefly because of the imperial pretensions of a certain Louis Napoleon... 1848 Louis Eugà ©ne Cavaignac1848 - 1852 Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III) Second Empire (Emperors) Napoleon III was related to Napoleon I and traded on family fame, but he was undone by Bismarck and the Franco-Prussian war. 1852 - 1870 (Louis) Napoleon III Third Republic (Presidents) The Third Republic bought stability in terms of the structure of government and managed to adapt to the First World War. 1870 - 1871 Louis Jules Trochu (provisional)1871 - 1873 Adolphe Thiers1873 - 1879 Patrice de MacMahon1879 - 1887 Jules Grà ©vy1887 - 1894 Sadi Carnot1894 - 1895 Jean Casimir-Pà ©rier1895 - 1899 Fà ©lix Faure1899 - 1906 Emile Loubet1906 - 1913 Armand Fallià ¨res1913 - 1920 Raymond Poincarà ©1920 - Paul Deschanel1920 - 1924 Alexandre Millerand1924 - 1931 Gaston Doumergue1931 - 1932 Paul Doumer1932 - 1940 Albert Lebrun Vichy Government (Chief of State) It was the Second World War which destroyed the Third Republic, and a conquered France tried to find some sort of independence under WW1 hero Petain. No one came out well. 1940 - 1944 Henri Philippe Petain Provisional Government (Presidents) France had to be rebuilt after the war, and that started with deciding on the new government. 1944 - 1946 Charles de Gaulle1946 Fà ©lix Gouin1946 Georges Bidault1946 Leon Blum Fourth Republic (Presidents) 1947 - 1954 Vincent Auriol1954 - 1959 Renà © Coty Fifth Republic (Presidents) Charles de Gaulle returned to try and calm social unrest and began the Fifth Republic, which still forms the government structure of contemporary France. 1959 - 1969 Charles de Gaulle1969 - 1974 Georges Pompidou1974 - 1981 Valà ©ry Giscard dEstaing1981 - 1995 Franà §ois Mitterand1995 - 2007 Jacques Chirac2007 - 2012 Nicolas Sarkozy2012 - Francois Hollande2017 - Emmanuel Macron

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