Scorpionflies and Hangingflies, Order Mecoptera

The order Mecoptera is a truly ancient group of insects, with a fossil record dating back to the early Permian period. The name Mecoptera derives from the Greek mecos, meaning long, and pteron, meaning wing. Scorpionflies and hangingflies are uncommon, though you can find them if you know where and when to look. Description: The scorpionflies and hangingflies range from small to medium in size (species vary from 3-30mm long). The scorpionfly body is usually slender and cylindrical in shape, with a head that extends into a pronounced beak (or rostrum). Scorpionflies have prominent, round eyes, filiform antennae, and chewing mouthparts. Their legs are long and thin. As you probably guessed from the etymology of the word Mecoptera, scorpionflies do indeed have long wings, relative to their bodies. In this order, the front and hind wings are roughly equal in size, shape, and venation, and all are membranous. Despite their common name, scorpionflies are entirely harmless. The nickname refers to the odd shape of the male genitalia in some species. Their genital segments, located at the end of the abdomen, curve upward like the sting of a scorpion does. Scorpionflies cannot sting, nor are they venomous. Scorpionflies and hangingflies undergo complete metamorphosis, and are some of the most ancient insects known to do so. Scorpionfly eggs actually expand as the embryo develops, which is quite an unusual trait in an egg of any organism. The larvae are most often thought to be saprophagous, though some may be herbivorous. Scorpionfly larvae develop quickly, but have an extended prepupal stage of one month to several months long. They pupate in the soil. Habitat and Distribution: Scorpionflies and hangingflies generally prefer moist, wooded habitats, most often in temperate or subtropical climates. Adult scorpionflies are omnivorous, feeding both on decaying vegetation and dead or dying insects. Worldwide, the order Mecoptera numbers about 600 species, divided among 9 families. Just 85 species inhabit North America. Families in the Order: Note: Only the first five families in the list below are represented by extant North American species. The remaining four families are not found in North America. Panorpidae – common scorpionfliesBittacidae - hangingfliesPanorpodidae – short-faced scorpionfliesMeropeidae - earwigfliesBoreidae – snow scorpionfliesApteropanorpidaeChoristidaeEomeropidaeNannochoristidae Families and Genera of Interest: Just a single species is known from the family Apteropanorpidae. Apteropanorpa tasmanica inhabits mosses in Tasmania, an island state off the mainland of Australia.Hangingflies (family Bittacidae) resemble crane flies, but they are unable to stand upright on surfaces as crane flies can. Instead, the predaceous adults hang from stems or leaves by their front legs, and grab insect prey with their raptorial hind legs.Use a Malaise trap to catch specimens of Merope tuber, the only North American species of earwigfly.Dont handle snow scorpionflies (family Boreidae)! Theyre so well adapted to cold climates, the warmth of your hand can kill them. Sources: Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, by Norman F. Johnson and Charles A. Triplehorn.Mecoptera, by Dr. John Meyer, North Carolina State University. Accessed December 26, 2012.Family Dinopanorpidae, Bugguide.net. Accessed December 26, 2012.Gordons Mecoptera Page, Gordon Ramel. Accessed December 26, 2012.World Checklist of Extant Mecoptera Species, California Academy of Sciences. Accessed December 26, 2012.

Total Cost Minimization The Goal Of Achieving Efficiency

Total Cost Minimization In our world, everyone wants to be as efficient as possible. It is in human nature that we would rather prefer less work then more. Moreover, this in fact gives birth to achieve results in the least amount of time by using the minimal amount of effort needed. Thus, balancing time, effort and our resources become a necessity when completing any task in life. Using the equation output over input, this equals total performance. By completing a task while consuming the least amount of resources, is the meaning behind efficiency. Consequently, our economy, society and life today as we know it is completely based on the goal of achieving efficiency. Therefore, the meaning of efficiently can be defined as the†¦show more content†¦For instance, this technique was created by Sakichi Toyota after World War II when the Japanese company Toyota was only producing a thousand cars a month while the American company Ford easily produced that many cars in a day. Sakic hi innovative mind is a factor in Japan’s economy rising after the recession after the war. Another way to minimize total costs that engineers use is the advance in technology to further increase our capability. With the new technology that is used today, we are encouraged to use our time wisely in accordance with the robots we now work with. For example, in a factory in Alabama, they use many robots to manufacture cars in an assembly line. Also, they use about thirty-two cameras to take a picture of the area and insert the part of the car needed with incredible amounts of precision and accuracy. Although, the robots that are programed by engineers may not function as quick as humans or learn to adjust to a situation as well but they will work a constant rate and always at their full potential. In the same way, robots are especially useful for machinery jobs that involve repetitive movement, which saves money needed to pay for an excess amount of workers. 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Biography of Martin Luther King free essay sample

Early life and   For more details on this topic, see  Martin Luther King, Jr. authorship issues. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in  Atlanta, Georgia, the middle child of the Reverend  Martin Luther King, Sr. and  Alberta Williams King. [5]  King Jr. had an older sister,  Willie Christine King, and a younger brother,  Alfred Daniel Williams King. 6]:76  King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie  Gone with the Wind. [7] King was originally skeptical of many of Christianitys claims. [8]  Most striking, perhaps, was his initial denial of the  bodily resurrection of Jesus  during  Sunday school  at the age of thirteen. From this point, he stated, doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly. [9]  However, he later concluded that the Bible has many profound truths which one cannot escape and decided to enter the  seminary. [8] Growing up in Atlanta, King attended  Booker T. Washington High School. A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grade and entered  Morehouse College  at age fifteen without formally graduating from high school. We will write a custom essay sample on Biography of Martin Luther King or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page [10]  In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in  sociology, and enrolled in  Crozer Theological Seminary  in  Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a  Bachelor of Divinity  degree in 1951. With assistance from the  Quaker  group the  American Friends Service Committee, and inspired by Gandhis success with non-violent activism, King visited  Gandhis birthplace in India in 1959. [6]:3  The trip to India affected King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of  non-violent resistance  and his commitment to Americas struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation. [6]:135–6 African American civil rights activist  Bayard Rustin  had studied Gandhis teachings. [24]  Rustin counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence,[25]  served as Kings main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism,[26]  and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. 27]  Rustins open homosexuality, support of  democratic socialism, and his former ties to the  Communist Party USA  caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin. Public stance on political parties As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U. S. political party or candidate: I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either. [29] In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, I dont think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses And Im not inextricably bound to either party. [30] King critiqued both parties performance on promoting racial equality: Actually, the Negro has been betrayed by both the Republican and the Democratic party. The Democrats have betrayed him by capitulating to the whims and caprices of the Southern Dixiecrats. The Republicans have betrayed him by capitulating to the blatant hypocrisy of reactionary right wing northern Republicans. And this coalition of southern Dixiecrats and right wing reactionary northern Republicans defeats every bill and every move towards liberal legislation in the area of civil rights. [31] Personal political advocacy Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for the  Adlai Stevenson  or  Dwight Eisenhower, but that In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket. [32] In his autobiography,

The Mexican Drugs Cartels

Mexico City is well known for drug trafficking which took place smoothly without any interference. The emergence of the Mexican drug cartels was initiated by Miguel à ngel Fà ©lix Gallardo, who was a Judicial Federal Police agent in Mexico in the 1980s.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Mexican Drugs Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The drug trafficking was easily achieved because he developed a well-established infrastructure that connected the drug traffickers in Columbia with those in Mexico (Grayson 2010). The development of the Mexican Drug Cartel The Mexican Drug Cartel developed and spread rapidly uninterrupted because it enjoyed protection by the Mexican government. This formed the basis for even more powerful and dangerous groupings, which resulted in increased crime activities. In addition, these drug trafficking activities increased at a time when there were increased economic assimilation s that paved way for trading with the United States (Stares, 1996). However, there have been tremendous political changes over the past few years like the decentralization of the Mexican political system, which disintegrated these powerful cartels. The well-linked network between the Mexican drug traffickers and the Transnational Organized Criminals was disrupted leading to fierce competition to earn a good share of the lucrative illegal business. Moreover, the 1980s marked an important turning point for the Mexican Drug Traffickers, thanks to the single ruling party called the ‘Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)’, which shunned criminal activities. However, bearing in mind that this ruling party was highly hierarchical and centralized, it served as a loophole for corruption and impunity as long as there were good payoff to those in power. For instance, the ‘Federal Security Directorate (DFS)’, which ensured domestic security benefited mutually from co rrupt dealings with the drug traffickers by receiving huge payoffs while the cartel owners received tight security. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Mexican drug traffickers earned a substantial income from illegal cocaine trading, which made Mexico be branded as the ‘drug trafficking hub’ into the United States. Drug trafficking has continued to spread rapidly over the years in Mexico with the drug traffickers being independent individuals, drug cartels or groups, and even larger drug networks.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, by the late 1990s, there had developed about four other drug trafficking cartels, which competed fiercely to gain control of the market that led to division and fights among the drug traffickers. Apparently, Mexican drug cartels have dominated the illegal drug trading in the United States, as there is increased co-operation with the prisoners a nd street peddlers in the United States; moreover, drug trafficking has spread rapidly into other nations, to an extent that it has become a global issue (Grayson, 2010). Disagreements among drugs cartels in Mexico There was increased competition, which ended in conflicts among the major players in the market; this was as result of development of political pluralism, and partly because of reorganization of Mexico’s police force. This created more complex organizations that could not be easily regulated (Grayson, 2010). However, the Mexican government has always sought control measures in an effort to fight illegal drug trading but unfortunately has failed due to corruption. As a result of these disagreements, there has arisen a tough war between the Mexican government and the cartel leaders and among the rival cartels as they fight for dominance in the market. In the recent years, the Mexican government has taken disciplinary measures to all who plead guilty over such offence s though it has not borne much fruits. Instead, more powerful and violent drug cartels have evolved and fight for control of the pathways used for trafficking of the drugs in the United States (Grayson, 2010). Examples of the illegal drugs traded Mexico’s drug cartels are known to control nearly 70 percent of the total traded illegal drugs in the United States. Among the major drugs traded include, cannabis sativa and methamphetamine as well as heroin. Additionally, it is estimated that 90 percent of the total cocaine supplied to the United States come from Mexico having been produced in Columbia. This is estimated to earn them approximately $13.6 billion to $48.4 billion on yearly basis. Recent research findings reveal that the Mexican economy would drop considerably by 63 percent should drug trading be cleared completely (Randal, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Mexican Drugs Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Current cartels Apparently, there are two major alliances of drug dealers in operation since February 2010; one composed of Tijuana cartel, Los Zetas, Juarez cartel and Beltrà ¡n-Leyva Cartel‎‎, and the other one made of Sinoloa cartel, Gulf and La Familia cartel (Randal, 2009). Transnational organized crime (TOC) It is also referred to as transnational crime, which is planned offense, practiced across national borders between states. Transnational organized crime is dreaded most because of its deleterious effect on national security affecting social, economic, and political development of the society. Some of the planned offences include human trafficking, trafficking of firearms, drugs trafficking, money laundering, trafficking of migrants where the most prevalent one is peddling of drugs which attracts huge profits. There is a dire need for the governments to cooperate with UNODC in finding a solution to the impending problem as well as preven t further development of these offences (Fukumi, 2008). The increased involvement in trade between nations because of modernization and globalization has paved way for more involvement in criminal activities. However, the ancient form of governance has ceased, replacing it with loose networks that are now dominant in the drugs trafficking. It has been observed that these organized crime â€Å"groups involved in drug trafficking are commonly engaged in smuggling of other illegal goods† (Stares, 1996). Indeed, the fight against these well-established or organized gangs is an uphill task since these groups are deeply entrenched and are hard to dislodge. Some of the recommendations to curb their operations may include use of electronic gadgets to fast track the criminals, carrying out impromptu inspections of people and vehicles, enacting tighter rules of disclosing criminal activities (Seelke, 2010). The effect after government interference This took effect when Mexican Presiden t Felipe Calderon launched war against drugs in an effort to combat the violent crimes that were committed by the drug traffickers. Both the military forces and the police came together to cut back the brutal murders as security was an issue all over Mexico. However, this has not borne much success as corruption of the government officers has led to the criminals being set free (Randal, 2009).Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The current status of the state is that of an incompetent government which has no power over these criminals; indeed, the state is now in panic as brutal blood shedding and violence are the norm of the day as more powerful, wealthier and influential gangs of drugs have come up to bribe the police force leading to escalation of crime. However, the government has not given up; it is determined to recruit more honest and reliable police and military forces to execute justice and good governance. The government is also strategizing on setting up federal police troops who would campaign against drugs as a way of reforming the corrupt groups. The government has incurred a lot of expenses in quest for security and peace in Mexico. The war on drugs has so far adversely affected the economy of Mexico as the government tries to curb the impending crimes (Rakrf, 2008). In addition, the Mexican government faces a great challenge of gaining confidence in the state as drug trafficking is so much entrenched in the peoples’ daily life as it brings much more food on the table than any other source of income. Conclusion It is quite clear that the fight against these forms of organized crimes will never end as long as the enacted laws have been breached or are not well established. The fight against its further penetration into the less prevalent areas has not been very successful. This may partly be attributed to lack of cooperation among states to prevent consumption of hard drugs, and partly because of corruption among government officials (Seelke, 2010). More stringent laws should be enforced on the criminals and drug policies should be re-examined to ensure there is no loophole left for drug traffickers to operate. On the other hand, the government should strive to provide the necessary machinery that is lacking in the society, which makes them result to crimes, as well as try to eliminate unemployment, under-development, poverty, over-population, tribalism, environm ental deprivation and illiteracy (Stares, 1996). References Fukumi, S. (2008). Cocaine trafficking in Latin America: EU and US policy responses. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Grayson, G. (2010). Mexico: narco-violence and a failed state? Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Randal, C. A. (2009). Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Spills Over, Alarming U.S. The New York Times. Web. Rakrf, J. (2008). Calderon defends war on cartels.  Web. Seelke, C. R. (2010). Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U. S. Counterdrug Programs. NY: DIANE Publishing. Stares, P. B. (1996). Global habit: the drug problem in a borderless world. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. This essay on The Mexican Drugs Cartels was written and submitted by user Casen Barber to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.