Childrens Stories About Being Yourself

Children's Stories About Being Yourself The ancient Greek storyteller Aesop is credited with crafting scores of tales with valuable moral lessons. Many of them still resonate today, including the following tales about being yourself. Pretense Is Only Skin Deep Aesops fables tell us that nature will shine through no matter what package you put it in. Theres no point in pretending to be something youre not because the truth will eventually come out, either by accident or by force. The Cat and Venus. A cat falls in love with a man and begs  Venus to change her into a woman. Venus complies, and the man and cat-woman are married. But when Venus tests her by dropping a mouse into the room, the cat-woman leaps up to chase it. The cat can change her appearance, but not her nature.The Ass in the Lions Skin. A donkey puts on a lions skin and runs around the jungle scaring the other animals. But when he opens his mouth, his bray gives him away.The Vain Jackdaw. Dressing in the discarded feathers of other birds, a jackdaw almost convinces Jupiter to appoint him king of the birds. But the other birds strip him of his disguise and reveal his true nature.The Cat and the Birds. A cat, hearing that the birds are ill, dresses as a doctor and offers his help. The birds, seeing through his disguise, reply that theyre fine and will continue to be so if he will only leave. After all, the birds have a lot more at stake than the cat does. The Dangers of Pretense Aesops fables also warn us that trying to be something youre not can alienate others. The protagonists in these tales end up worse off than if they had just accepted themselves. The Jackdaw and the Doves. A jackdaw paints his feathers white because he likes the looks of the doves food. But they catch on to him and chase him away. When he goes back to eat with the other jackdaws, they don’t recognize his white feathers, so they, too, chase him away. Guess who ends up hungry.The Jay and the Peacock.  This story is similar to The Jackdaw and the Doves, but instead of desiring food, the jay just wants to strut like a proud peacock. The other jays watch the whole thing, disgusted, and refuse to welcome him back.The Eagle and the Jackdaw. A jackdaw, envious of the eagle, tries to behave like one. But without the eagles skills, he gets himself into a sticky situation and ends up as a pet for children, his wings clipped.The Raven and the Swan. A raven who wants to be as beautiful as a swan becomes so obsessed with cleansing his feathers that he moves away from his food source and starves to death. Oh, and his feathers stay black.The Ass and the Grasshopper.   This story is similar to The Raven and the Swan. A donkey, hearing some grasshoppers chirping, jumps to the conclusion that their voices must be a result of their diet. He resolves to eat nothing but dew, and consequently starves. Be Yourself Aesop also has a host of fables designed to demonstrate that we should all be resigned to our station in life and not aspire to anything greater. Foxes should be subservient to lions. Camels shouldnt try to be cute like monkeys. Monkeys shouldnt try to learn to fish. A donkey should put up with a terrible master because he could always have an even worse one.  These arent great lessons for modern children. But Aesops stories about avoiding pretense (and not starving yourself for beauty) still seem relevant today.

The Protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930

The Protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 The US Congress passed the United States Tariff Act of 1930, also called the  Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, in June 1930 in an effort to help protect domestic farmers and other US businesses against stepped-up imports after World War I. Historians say its excessively protectionist measures were responsible for raising US tariffs to historically high levels,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹adding considerable strain  to the international economic climate of the  Great Depression. What led to this is a global story of devastated supply and demand trying to right themselves after the terrible trade anomalies of World War 1. Too Much Postwar Production, Too Many  Imports   During World War I,  countries outside of Europe increased their agricultural production. Then when the war ended, European producers stepped up their production as well. This led to massive agricultural overproduction during the 1920s. This, in turn, caused declining farm prices during the second half of that decade. One of Herbert Hoovers campaign pledges during his 1928 election campaign was to aid the American farmer and others by raising tariff levels on agricultural products. Special Interest Groups and the Tariff The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was sponsored by US Sen. Reed Smoot and US Rep. Willis Hawley. When the bill was introduced in Congress, revisions to the tariff began to grow as one special interest group after another asked for protection. By the time the legislation passed, the new law raised tariffs not only on agricultural products but on products in all sectors of the economy. It  raised tariff levels above the already high rates established by the 1922 Fordney-McCumber Act. This is how Smoot-Hawley became among the most protectionist tariffs in American history. Smoot-Hawley Provoked a Retaliatory Storm The Smoot-Hawley Tariff may not have caused the  Great Depression, but the passage of the tariff certainly exacerbated it; the tariff did not help end the inequities of this period and ultimately caused more suffering. Smoot-Hawley provoked a storm of foreign retaliatory measures, and it became a symbol of the 1930s beggar-thy-neighbor policies, designed to improve ones own lot at the expense of others. This and other policies contributed to a drastic decline in international trade. For example, US imports from Europe declined from a 1929 high of $1.334 billion to just $390 million in 1932, while U.S. exports to Europe fell from $2.341 billion in 1929 to $784 million in 1932. In the end, world trade declined by about 66% between 1929 and 1934. In the political or economic realms, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff fostered distrust among nations, leading to less cooperation. It led toward further isolationism that would be key in delaying US entry into World War II.   Protectionism Ebbed After Smoot-Hawleys Excesses The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was the beginning of the end of major US protectionism in the 20th century. Beginning with the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, which President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law, America began to emphasize trade liberalization over protectionism. In later years, the United States began to move toward even freer international trade agreements, as evidenced by its support for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Function of Telomeres in Obesity Term Paper

The Function of Telomeres in Obesity - Term Paper Example The investigators carried out a case-control study involving 793 children, obese (above the 97th percentile for weight) and non-overweight (below the 90th percentile for weight). Their peripheral blood samples were taken and leukocyte DNA extracted, from which measurements of telomere lengthening was done using PCR. Statistical analysis showed that mean leukocyte telomere length in the obese group was significantly lower than in the non-overweight group, equating to about a 24% decrease. No statistical differences were found across gender, age, blood pressure or total cholesterol levels, however, telomere length was inversely related to height and weight. The investigators concluded that telomeres of obese children are significantly shorter than those of non-obese children of comparable age, and therefore obese children have a biological age that is significantly higher than their actual chronological age – an alarming conclusion which stresses the importance of reducing obesi ty in order to reduce the risk of future diseases. Buxton et al (2011) cited a number of published articles. More than one of the cited papers demonstrated how obesity in various ways – by a waist-hip ratio in women, for example - was linked to shorter telomere length. Among the references, the paper that was most critical to the study objectives of Buxton et al (2011) was the study by Farzaneh-Far et al (2010). This is because it was the largest, most robust, and most popular study, with the highest standards of research methodology.... Buxton et al (2011) cited a number of published articles. More than one of the cited papers demonstrated how obesity in various ways – by waist-hip ratio in women, for example - was linked to shorter telomere length. Among the references, the paper that was most critical to the study objectives of Buxton et al (2011) was the study by Farzaneh-Far et al (2010). This is because it was the largest, most robust, and most popular study, with the highest standards of research methodology. This was a prospective cohort study, the most reliable study design, involving 608 participants over 5 years. Participants were patients with cardiovascular disease. The investigators found that over 5 years, 45% of these patients developed telomere shortening, 32% maintained the same telomere length, and 23% lengthened telomeres. Independent predictors of telomere shortening in cardiovascular disease patients included older age, male sex, and abdominal obesity (higher waist to hip ratio). Study pa rticipants with the longest telomeres experienced the greatest amount of shortening, while those with shorter telomeres maintained or increased their length. This suggested that there may be negative feedback regulation of leukocyte telomere length in humans. The shortening of telomeres was postulated to be done by the enzyme telomerase. In contrast with prior cross-sectional studies, the authors found no significant associations between telomere trajectory and blood pressure, insulin resistance, smoking, body mass index, or physical activity. It was recognized that many genetic and environmental stressors may have acted as confounders to influence