In Canada, Health Canada is responsible for establishing standards and policies governing the safety and nutritional quality of foods sold. Although it is not mandatory to identify the method of production, including genetic modification that was used to develop a food product, the mechanism by which Health Canada controls the sale of novel foods include GM foods is a mandatory premarket notification procedure. Companies are required to submit detailed scientific data for review and approval by Health Canada, before such foods can be sold. In other words, all foods products that we eat everyday had passed their examination.
"Full disclosure of food ingredients is what consumers want so that they can make informed decisions," - Peggy Kirkeby, the Vice President of Issues and Policy of the Consumers' Association.Some people say that it is very important to let consumers know whether it is genetically modified or not so that they can make right choice for their health. However, as you can see it in your daily life, most of us do not pay attention to what we are eating. Also, most people do not have enough knowledge to make proper choice. For example, labeling of the amount of trans fat in the nutrition facts has became mandatory since December 2005. However, Canada is still being one of the largest consumers of trans fats in the world. You may find a shortening container in many houses' refrigerator although this shortening is 100 per cent trans fat content product. Labeling does not make people aware of the true issues which they should concern. Quality of professionals' inspections and decisions must be higher than ordinary consumers. Also, there are many way such as calling customer services and ask them whether their products contain GM foods or not if they truly want. Therefore, mandatory labeling of all GM foods products in order to let consumers know so that they can make right choice is unnecessary.
"None of the genetically modified foods on supermarket shelves have ever undergone long-term testing. So nobody knows whether they're safe or not.” -Bradford Duplisea, Canadian Health Coalition.As Ms. Duplisea says, there is concern for unknown problem which GM foods may cause. However, this sort of opinion always comes out when new products are presented to market. GM products have many benefits such as enhanced taste and quality, reduced maturation time, increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance, improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides, new products and growing techniques, friendly bioherbicides and bioinsecticides, conservation of soil, water, and energy, bioprocessing for forestry products, batter natural waste management, more efficient processing, increased food security for growing populations, and more. Some of these benefits can be a solution of present issues that required some action as soon as possible. People suffering from food security may be able to live better by getting such benefits. "It's about the single most worst thing that could happen quite frankly, if it passes in its current form," John Wilkinson, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture Wilkinson, from Canada's largest farmer lobby group says that it has warned of huge losses for their industry if labeling of GM foods became mandatory. It can surely slow down their procedure that may result in worse situation for such people in need. So mandatory is not the right solution for this issue.
Some estimates report 30000 plus different products in grocery stores have been genetically modifies.
"It all sounds so wonderfully simple, 'oh, let's label everything.' But most people believe that genetically modified products are in the fruit and vegetable aisle. They're not. They're not single-ingredient products. Most of them are showing up in your cereals, your flours, your cake mixes, your pancake mixes…So labelling is not simple," - Jenny Hillard, vice-president of the Consumers' Association of CanadaThis seems nearly impossible to be done. Also, CFIA officials say it is hard to enforce because of complicated growing processes in Canada. Cabinet preferred committee option. Since voluntary method of production labeling is permitted, there are some companies which labels their product. For example, East Coast potato company labels a bag “derived from plant biotechnology”. Not having mandatory does not mean not having any labeling. Giving them choice as they have one for other things must be permitted in democratic country like Canada. Labeling for all products does not have to be mandate.
Mandatory labeling of all GM is a non-necessity. Although it is not mandatory to identify the method of production, the mechanism by which Health Canada controls the sale of novel foods include GM foods is a mandatory premarket notification procedure. GM foods can solve many problem we have now. Although it is hard to enforce because of complicated growing processes in Canada, cost of labeling, and many other reasons, some companies use voluntary method of production labeling and label their GM foods products. Mandatory labeling of all genetically modified food products is unnecessary for Canada.
CBC News. “MPs vote down mandatory labels for GM foods.” Wednesday, October 17, 2001. Online. Thursday, January 04, 2007. <http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2001/10/17/gmfood_labels011017.html#skip300x250>
Consumers' Association of Canada. Consumers Want Mandatory Labelling of Genetically Modified Foods. Ottawa: National Office, 2003.
Health Canada. “Genetically Modified (GM) Foods & Other Novel Foods.” 2006-09-26. Online. 2007-1-4. <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/gmf-agm/index_e.html>
Nunn, Jim, and Tanya Arnoti. “Consumers' Association stance on GM food raises eyebrows” Mar 6, 2002. Online. Thursday, January 04, 2007. <http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/cac_gmo/>
The Genome Management Information System. “Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms” Wednesday, September 06, 2006. Online. Thursday, January 04, 2007. <http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml>
There will be a loss in cultural diversity with the world becoming a global village as a result of globalization.
““Technology has the effect of shrinking time and space; allowing the entire world to function as a single village.” (from GGS12 over-head)Marshall McLuhan (1911-1988) coined the term 'global village' in his book, Understanding Media. As he said, modern people are able to have a greater knowledge of other parts of the Earth as if they are given a lip talk of neighbors. It is very easy for us to access different cultures and to perceive what works better. A lot of them have been lost to history when different cultures meet. The world consists of supply and demand. This is not merely economical situation. Globalization creates new culture that traditional diversity of culture may be difficult to subsist.
As we can anticipate from our past, things that work better for people who have greater influence over ordinary people persist through history. Destruction of other cultures is a common result of conflicts. For example, there was a previous great shrinking of the world in the Age of Discovery. The world map had become more detailed at the time. As Europeans reached the land of America, many of their cultures were curred over to the new world. They developed their country. As a result of their actions, a lot of native civilizations were destroyed, including the people themselves. Also, Japanese yielded to American demand after they lost the World War Two. Americans brought their culture from overseas. Their culture had a great influence on Japanese life and culture. As a result, Japanese lost their traditional culture, such as wearing kimonos, eating whales. When people encounter people from different environments, conflict between both side appears. One's culture which works better for majority people wins; and other may become historical data which we can find merely in the text book.
Not majority people appreciate the things that has have little demand, poor market, not much call and surely deficit spending. Diversity requires various products to fulfill everyone's needs. There is always the chance to make profits in small market since there will be some demand for different stuff, depending on individuals or locations, as long as all mankind on this planet are not the same cloned people. However, mass productions, manufactures are much cheaper, much easier. In fact, we can find same products and same services all over the world such as McDonalds. This company is the world's largest fast food chain which employs over 447000 and bring in 20.46 billion USD (2oo5). In today's society, globalization is also referred to 'McDonaldization' and 'Disneyization'. This sort of multinational companies make up 51 of the largest 100 economies and have powerful influence on international relations and globalization. It is difficult to strike a balance between supply and demand. Generally, a service for ethnic minorities does not balance the budget. Therefore, much less diversity of culture will exist in the future. Instead, similar life presented by same products and same service will be found all over the world.
The Industrial Revolution, invention of advanced technology have made world so small that people can talk simultaneously to other people from foreign country; but this also creates demand for a common language to be used. Most people in the world have to be able to speak English in order to communicate with others. Many ethnic minorities are learning English instead of speaking their own languages that others would not understand. People are able to have conversation with more than three fourths of world population if they have an ability to understand English or Chinese. According to Weekly Response Portfolio number two over-head from GGS12, language death rate amounts to one language every two weeks becoming extinct. Languages are one of basic factor that makes up culture. It makes one's culture unique. Currently, there are 6000-7000 languages around the world. However, it may be cut in half of numbers in approximately 100 years. In a future global village, fewer than ten percent of them can be heard in everyday life.
Cultural diversity will be crushed by a process of shrinking the world. Manifold will not disappear completely; but it will be limited. Major culture has control over minor cultures as a number of cultures have been lost to history. Every living-being is inclined to take an easy, stable way thereupon a manufacture will take place against the background of the globalization. We learn same language instead of ethnic languages. Minor culture has been extinguished. Cultural diversity will be missing in a global village.
The Story Boys And Girls by Canada's most important author, Alice Munro is about a girl who lives under the pressure of other's expectation for her to act as a girl and help mother in the kitchen with house works that she can not accepted easily since she loves working outside to help her father who works hard as a fox farmer. There are two female characters who show conflicts, issues, and realities which affect them in life; both in family and in society. They presents gender issues, one of the author Alice Munro's signature which often appear on her literature. Her characteristic as a writer of short fiction is to profile the lives of girls and women. The mother presents a general expectation and image for a woman as a mother. It has been a common since an ancient time.
“My mother was too tired and preoccupied to talk to me, she had no heart to tell about the Normal School Graduation Dance; sweat trickled over her face and she was always counting under her breath, pointing at jars, dumping cups of sugar. It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important.” - Narration, pg 102.This was said by a girl, protagonist who also act as a narrator of the story. Her mother is isolated in a kitchen and having no time to do anything but working for a family. She works very hard; but her work never ends and never be appreciated by anyone. It is easy to be considered as unimportant jobs since she can not earn money from what she is doing. As a girl said, people usually recognize man's job as an important services. But they do not realize how woman's job can be important. There has been a general concept; woman works inside and man works outside. Specially in a rural place like where the girl lives, it is difficult for woman to break into the man's society as a worker.
“Wait till Laird gets a little bigger, then you'll get a real help.” - Mother, pg 102.The mother is saying this to the father at the barn, where the girl feels her mother has no business down there. Following this line, a girl makes comments on her little brother, Laird. He is no help to anybody at this point. At least, that is how she thinks of him. However, this quote gives us the idea of the fact that a pecking order of this little boy is higher than where the girl is addressed. When the boy grown up and become bigger, stronger, and more helpful, he will take his sister's place over. Then no matter whether she likes or not, the girl is no longer needed for outdoor works; and she probably will be forced to work inside only in future, as her mother does at presents time.
The girl is having difficulty with an assimilation as well. Assimilation is one of universal themes that occur in literature. It identified as being welcome completely into a group, a community, a social situation.
“Girls don't slam doors like that.' 'Girls keep their knees together when they sit down.' And worse still, when I asked some questions, 'That's none of girls' business.' I continued to slam the doors and sit as awkwardly as possible, thinking that by such measures I kept myself free.” - Narration, pg 104.The narrator is talking about what she hears from her grandmother who comes to stay with her family for a few weeks. Old, general notions of girls are expressed by her. The girl hates what she is told. Not only the actions that her grandmother tells her to do, but she hates the fact and fear of what is going to happen as she follows such expectation for girls. Accepting these expectation helps assimilation to work. Acting as what others like can make the person welcomed and blends him or her in with all others. However, such actions can cause another universal themes called victimization. It is understood to be anything that hurts a character in any way. The girl is constantly being hurt emotionally because of these gender issues and difficulty of assimilation. She understands others expectation for her and knows what she should do in order to be accepted by her family. It can be helped to work by adopting the habits and attitudes of the family in rural place where old-fashioned ideas of gender are still carried on. She is wanting to be welcomed, but not in this way. Conflict within herself appears in through the story Boys And Girls. The reader can be aware of the author Alice Munro's signature, the lives of the girls and gender issues that also presents an effective approach to the universal theme, an assimilation.
“The name Manawaka is an invented one, but it had been in my mind since I was about seventeen or eighteen, when I first began to think about writing something set in a prairie town.”
- Margaret Laurence. (A Place To Stand On, Literary Experiences, p.67-68)
“In any case, the relationship cured me for life from ever reaching out again to another writer. From then on, I was on my own and that was very good.”
- Nuruddin Farah. (“Laurence 'helped' Somali novelist”, The Daily News.)
Margaret Laurence was born in Neepawa, Manitoba, northwest of Winnipeg in 1926. she spent her youth in the prairie town which later become famous as the original place of her fictional town of Manawaka.
“A strange place it was, that place where the world began. A place of incredible happenings, splendours and revelations, despairs like multitudinous pits of isolated hells. A place of shadow-spookiness, inhabited by the unknowable dead. A place of jubilation and of mourning, horrible and beautiful.” - Margaret LaurenceShe describes it on the first paragraph of her essay, Where the World Began. This small, rural town was where she grew up and started her lifework, learned the sight of her own particular eyes. It made who she is. Laurence decided to become a writer when she was little. She contributed to school and collage magazines, graduated from Winnipeg’fs United College in 1947. But she took a job as a reporter for the Winnipeg Citizen.
Laurence began writing in earnest while living in Africa from 1950 to 1957. The first two years, she lived in Somalia. She was then married to Jack Laurence; a civil engineer contracted to build 30 water reservoirs throughout the desert country, and then called the British Protectorate of Somaliland. She translated Somali poetry and prose during this time. Returning to Canada, Laurence settled in Vancouver where she and her husband remained for five years until Laurence separated from her husband and moved to England in 1962. As a result of her African experience, she wrote her first novel, This Side Jordan in 1960; her first collection of short fiction, The Tomorrow-Tamer in 1963; and her memoir in Somalia, The Prophet’s Camel Bel in 1963. She was being honoured by the government as one of the few non-Africans who had written sympathetically about Somalia. At same time, she also began work on her Manawaka series that are widely considered to be among the greatest of Canadian literary achievements.
“The name Manawaka is an invented one, but it had been in my mind since I was about seventeen or eighteen, when I first began to think about writing something set in a prairie town.” - Margaret LaurenceIn one of her essay, A Place To Stand On, she describes about the creation of five books about the fictional town called Manawaka, patterned after her birthplace, and its people. As J.R.R. Tolkien created an imagined world called Middle-earth to tell his tales such as “The Lord Of The Rings” authors often creates his/her own world setting to express their idea. Laurence was one of them. Manawaka novels include The Stone Angle (1961) which appear to be one of contemporary literature’fs most stunning image of a woman's fate; A Jest of God (1966), which won a Governor General’fs Award and was made into the feature film“Rachel, Rachel” (1968);The Fire-Dwellers (1969); and The Diviners (1974), which also won a Governor General’fs Award. Laurence returned to Canada for good, eventually making her home in Lakefield, Ontario for thirteen years from 1974. Her best essays have been collected and published as Heart of Stranger in 1976. In addition to these works for adults, Laurence has written a number of children’fs books. One of them,The Olden Days Coat (1979) was made into an award-winning television drama.
The author Margaret Laurence received honorary degrees from more than a dozen Canadian universities. However, she was not famous for just being a gifted Canadian novelist. She found a lot of young who has talent for writing and helped them in many way. One of east Africa's finest fiction writers, Nuruddin Farah from Somalia was struggling to break put of his oral culture and into print when he met Laurence in 1966. He calls Laurence the first real writer he ever met. She was giving advice to him with higher expectations.
“In any case, the relationship cured me for life from ever reaching out again to another writer. From then on, I was on my own and that was very good.” - Nuruddin FarahIt appears on the article “Laurence 'helped' Somali novelist”h from The Daily News. Farah talks about her in multi-layered way. As a result of what Laurence had done to him, he won 1998's $40,000 Neustadt International Prize for Literature from the University of Oklahoma with his novelSecret. A Canadian author, Timothy Findley is an another example. Laurence had influence on this former actor who now writes novels, plays, and documentaries. So he wrote an essay Mind Must Be The Firmer to thank for her and her works after Margaret Laurence has been passed away in Lakefield, Ontario, in 1987. An inspiration of many of her fellow writers, Laurence was made a Companion of the Order Canada in 1971 for her outstanding contributions to Canadian literature.
Margaret Laurence is an internationally renowned author. She is best known for her Manawaka novels which are considered classics of Canadian literature. She has won fame for the novels many times and won honor for her works to help other authors as well. She helped many novelist by writing novels, showing its work, and giving them an advice. She is one of most important, greatest Canadian author in literature history. Margaret Laurence and her works have been appreciated by a number of writer and reader from all over the world.
Daily News. “gLaurence 'Helped' Somali Noelist”. Wednesday, November 18, 1998.
Laurence, Margaret. The Stone Angel. Toronto: The Canadian Publishers, 1988.
Oster, John E., and Jill Kedersha McClay, and Margaret L. Iveson, eds. Literary Experiences Volume Two – Stories Poems Essays Plays -. Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canadian Inc, 1990.
“Great effort equals great results.” - EuripidesAn early Greek dramatist said that our attitude toward work or study appear on the result. How we work and how we study show our ability, personal characteristics of each an individual and a person’s own human conditions. When people lose the ethics, they are squandering and often missing their moral as well. Great success requires great effort, the ethics and your will to fulfill them as an individual in society.
It is very important for all workers to be professional and skillful to get whatever the necessary to be done. We have to be responsible for being able to meet the requirements for a job; and we should keep working on our task until we can satisfy the result of it as an expert. This is standard expectation for every person who gets pay for what they do as a job in general society. People have carried the idea for a long time.
“Persistent work triumphed.” -VirgilAs Virgil, an early Roman poet said, to keep working can be the way to success. You must not give up your task before you finish. As long as your work affects other people in society, it is not your personal matter that can cause a trouble merely between you and your employer. There are always some people who need your work no matter what industry you are involved in. Bad work ethics can get people who ask you to work into trouble. This trouble does not occur only within your company. It can be developed into larger case in your life. You can easily become an immoral person without work ethics. If you are getting money from your work, it may be for others but for you also.
“Work is the grand cure of all the maladies (ills) and miseries that ever beset mankind.” - Thomas CarlyleAn early British historian, an early French philosopher, and many other people who lived various time period said that work takes a large part of human life; so that is able to make one's life valuable and worthwhile. It has great influence on life of people in numerous ways. This does not depend on the industry. All people must do some work for living. Sometimes it requires a long time to be done. You may have to spend a lot of your life for your job as a worker; and you may not have time to spend it for your hobby, entertainment, or other things that you may wish to have fun. But keeping you busy can also kill your time to be bored. If there is nothing you need to do; and you can live without doing any of work, then you can not feel pleasure of breathing space as strong as you do after you finish your business. Your work can cure your bad habits also. Because people must have ethics in order to concern with others, we often order our life according to social standards. In today's society, money is required to get place to sleep, to get foods, to get medical treatment, nearly everything you do for living. Work is the most common way to get money. With your money, you can have a rich life. Whether you have or do not, a work ethic can change your life. So your attitude toward work can explain how you cherish yourself and other people. You have to accept your responsibilities; and as professional worker, you have to try to reach the acme of your skill to fulfill expectations. This work ethics can be applied to every worker in every work area.
“Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty.” - Voltaire
Some good examples for a study ethic are; students must show respect, with humility, be acquisitive of knowledge and ideas. This is closer to say the principle that students are there so as to learn something; therefore they must be keen in order to do not miss any of chance that they can try to gain knowledge, to develop their ability, and to improve themselves for their future dreams. You can learn from anything around you. Everything you see can teach you something if you are acquisitive of your skill. There is always something that can be a teacher as you can find something you do not have. Because of pride, one of human nature sometime called conceit, it is difficult for people to try to find something that they can learn from teacher who does not seem to be reputable. People can suck up well by being an obedient. But they do not become docile easily; and they frequently take refusal to acknowledge their innocent. Following rules and regulations is important part of study ethics. Students may have a great sense of responsibility but they cannot take it for many of what is possibly happen when they break the regulation. So they are protected by the rule and the regulation. A study ethic can develop a protection also. There are always things that you can learn something. An inestimable person can teach you by acting a negative example. None of students, teachers, philosophers, presidents, or ministers has a perfect knowledge. Student should know that they do not know anything. Knowing your ignorance can motivates you to acquire more and more. You should not forget humility. Precisely, you can never have self-conceit if you know your ignorance. Teachers do not get offensive feeling from student showing regard for them. It makes much easier relationship between both side; and it is effective for students in many ways.
Both work ethics and study ethics are mandatory for both workers and students. We live in society, which interact with others all the time. Inevitably, the ethics are prerequisite condition for every citizen. It is crucial to have and to develop both a work ethic and a study ethic. Work ethics are more about giving the result. It more focus on an output of your skill. Study ethics are more related to an input. Responsibilities of a student are usually less and lighter than worker's one. Because studying effects more directly on student himself/herself. Instead, failure in work place can cause a bigger damage on other people around you. It emerged that the ethic is there when people make their ideas into an action.
“Commitments are only as strong as the will to fulfill them.” - Pierre TrudeayAny great ideas are possible to come out from the mouth. But you have to put your ideas into action. Others cannot find both a work ethic and a study ethic that exist in one’s head. If nobody can see it, then it is same as being lost. Generally, people in society prefer to work with a person who has a work ethic rather than to work with someone who does not have. Having a work ethic can lead you to next work, and farther. If you do not have one, it becomes difficult for you to keep working; and your morality can be subject. We see less study ethics in today's society which education had became available for most people. Some students in education system seem to be unwilling to give any attention to any of information that can change their life entirely. Teachers prefer to teach a student who has strong intention to learn. You can prove your will by having a study ethic. If you do not have either ethic, you can lose your confidence; and you must suffer the most.
Both a work ethic and a study ethic are found in an action of a worker and a student at any place, time, situations they may be involved.
“Every man's/woman's work is always a portrait of himself.” - Samuel ButterSamuel Butter, an early British writer said a long time ago that one's attitudes toward a work or a study operate powerfully upon the result. Writing becomes illegible when writer was in great hurry. A punctual person may do a work that requires close attention. A little piece of an abstract art contain a great philosopher of the author. By the way they work, by the way they study, by the way they wrestle with a difficult problem, people can demonstrate their ethics. All works can present their ability, their practice, and their human condition rightfully as if a mirror reflects object exactly. Ethics are demanded to be successful. Every workers must be a professional and skillful to be able to fulfill expectations; and every students must show respect, with humility, be acquisitive of ideas in order to improve themselves in the most effective way. Having a work ethic and a study ethic can make your life superb, exquisite, and delightful.
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Renewable - can replace itself within a relatively short period of time (measured on human scale, 50 years/lifetime of human being) EX: - field of corn can be replaced in one growing season. - tree, fish. |
Non-Renewable - resource in limited supply and cannot be replaced within a human time frame. EX: - oil reserves date back millions years. |
“Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a note of promise; today is the only cash you have - so sepend it wisely." - Ray LyonsTime is money. You have to spend it for every action you take. You can not save time for later. You should be careful how to use your limited time. The past is over. Yesterday has gone. The future is unsure. Tomorrow comes later. You have only now to make an action. Do not Squander time. Time flies. You can do whatever you want by using your time; but you can exist only at this moment. So do your best in what you do now. The present world is the only place where you can get something.