History of Slavery Constitution in US

The United States Constitution that was created on September 17, 1787, during the Constitution Convention was strongly a pro-slavery document. The framers of the constitution did not tackle clearly the issue of slavery and they were compelled to make a temporary compromise in order to unite the states in the country.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on History of Slavery Constitution in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although the framers of the document knew that there was a problem appertaining to allowing slavery to thrive, their hands were tied as they were concentrating on a bigger problem of forming a new united country. Thus, they were rather vague on the matter and did not deliberate upon it deeply. As a result, until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the 1787 constitution was pro slavery by both ‘intention and effect.’ In the 1787 U.S. Constituti on, there is no mention of the word slavery. However, in the eighty-four clauses of the legal document passed at the Constitutional Convention, six are in fact unswervingly related to the issue of slavery that was being practiced in the United States during the eighteenth century. In addition, five others had inferences to slavery that were discussed during the historic Constitutional Convention. The heart of the supporting nature of the 1787 U.S. Constitution in regards to slavery is found Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3. It states â€Å"representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons† (Gales and Seaton, 1310). Intentionally, the framers of the constitution ignored the pern icious â€Å"S† word in this clause. Consequently, this gave the slaveholding states a reason to rejoice as their power and influence would be enhanced according to the increase in number of slaves they owned. This was the situation since the clause was concerned with the number of representatives elected to congress; that is, if two states had the same number of free persons but one had slaves, then the state with slaves would inevitably get more representatives and thus more political power. Since the slaveholding states were given more political power based on the number of slaves they had, this gave them the incentive to enslave more people.Advertising Looking for term paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Article I section 9 propagated the business of trading in slaves. This is because it denied Congress the power to stop the business for twenty years from the time it was passed into law. It states, â⠂¬Å"The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty maybe imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person† (Gales and Seaton, 1310). The word person(s) in the clause is used in reference to the slaves who were taken from different parts of the world into the United States. Article IV works in association with the idea of depriving Congress the power to stop slave trade by providing the rare protection of making the amendment of the idea a near impossibility. In Slavery’s Constitution, historian David Waldstreicher argues that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 accommodated the practice of slavery in the U.S. Waldstreicher gives an analysis on how the makers of the Constitution debated, bargained, and wrestled over the issue of slavery at the Constitutional Convention. He not es that their efforts to reach a compromise on the issue gave rise to two different aspects of the politics of slavery that were intended to perpetuate it (Waldstreicher, 1). These are slavery as a type of authority over some particular individuals and as an economic institution. In reference to the famous three-fifths clause, Waldstreicher maintains that â€Å"all the other persons† in the phrase refers to slaves and this allotment was meant to increase the influence of the slave-owners. To further support that the Constitutional Convention accommodated slavery, he observes that the debate to pass the legal document with the clauses supporting slavery was not condemned by the delegates from the Deep South. He adds that the lack of discussions on the issue in some states, such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, were an effort to accommodate the Constitution. These states seemed satisfied with the insufficiency pro-slavery Constitution that the Convention had formu lated. During the making of the Constitution, there was divided opinion between the supporters and opponents on the issue of slavery. As aforementioned, based on the three-fifths compromise, the supporters of slavery wanted to maintain their power and influence in the country because they could send more representatives to Congress and fail to remit direct taxes as desired. In addition, the slaveholders were looking at slaves as the biggest factor of production. They offered free labor and the people who had huge plantations greatly reduced their cost of production. Because of the ‘benefits’ that the slaves provided, the delegates of the Convention never wanted to regulate slavery.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on History of Slavery Constitution in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, the opponents of slavery argued that one of the principles that led to the establishment of th e United States of America was the notion that â€Å"All men were created equal†; thus, the sanctioning of slavery was hypocritical. Furthermore, they argued that the representation of African Americans as â€Å"three-fifths’ of a person was demeaning to their human condition as everyone is united by the common fabric of humanity. The supporters of Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 argued that the clause is anti-slavery as it gives the states with slaves the opportunity to send more representatives in Congress as compared to the states without slaves. However, the opponents of the clause maintained that slaves were not allowed to vote; thus, the congressional representatives could not represent their interests as they were regarded to be just a form of â€Å"chattel† or property without basic freedoms. James Madison viewed slavery as a ‘necessary evil’ that needed to be eradicated from the United States. In his writings in the Federalist Papers, he enshrined the notion of the Bill of Rights that would accord all the slaves in the country their rights to be treated humanely. As one of the leading delegates of the Convention, he argued that it would not be right to state plainly in the Constitution the â€Å"idea that there could be property in men†; consequently, the words â€Å"slave† and â€Å"slavery† did not appear there. The pernicious words were replaced with euphemistic terminology in the sections of the Constitution that were tackling the issue of the slavery system. In the Federalist papers he authored, Madison explained that the institution of slavery was wrong and regrettable as it oppressed innocent victims, undermined the moral integrity of the slaves, bred contempt for honest labor, and encouraged idle masters to indulge in their worst passions so as to practice tyranny. Madison particularly tackles the issue in Federalist Paper No. 38 in which he says: â€Å"The existing Congress, without a ny such control, can make treaties which they themselves have declared, and most of the States have recognized, to be the supreme law of the land. Is the importation of slaves permitted by the new Constitution for twenty years? By the old it is permitted forever† (Madison, para.9). On the other hand, Waldstreicher attacked the views of Madison concerning slavery because he demonstrated mixed opinion on the issue. Waldstreicher points out that like most of the southern delegates to the Convention, Madison was a slaveholder; thus, his views on what was referred to as â€Å"peculiar institution† of slavery were deeply conflicting. As much as deep down he knew that the practice was evil, Madison did not see how the economy of the South could grow without the much-needed labor from the slaves.Advertising Looking for term paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Waldstreicher points out that Madison could not envision how whites and blacks could possibly live together; therefore, he proposed for the establishment of a different black settlement in a different place from the U.S. Nonetheless, despite their differences on the issue of slavery, Waldstreicher and Madison wanted slavery to be abolished completely from the U.S. Worth mentioning in this perspective, Madison proposed for the adoption of the Bill of Rights that eventually led to the abolition of slavery. In conclusion, it is evident that the 1787 Constitution was proslavery. On drafting the document, the delegates had the opportunity to put an end to the practice of slavery and accord the blacks full citizenship under the new Constitution. However, the delegates threw cards on the table and compromised to protect the slaveholders. Thus, for about twenty years, the blacks were denied their rights as they were supposed to provide free labor for the growth of the economy of the young n ation. Works Cited Gales, Joseph, and Seaton, William W. Register for debated in congress,†¦. Washington: United States Congress, 1825-37. Print. Madison, James. â€Å"The Federalist Papers No.38.† US Government Info. The New York Times Company, 2011. Web. Waldstreicher, David. Slavery’s Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification. New York: Hill and Wang; 2009. Print. This term paper on History of Slavery Constitution in US was written and submitted by user Maria Y. 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.

Klinefelter Syndrome essays

Klinefelter Syndrome essays Doctor Harry Klinefelter and other men that he worked with discovered Klinefelter Syndrome. They published an article about nine men that they saw at a Massachusetts General Hospital who were unlike the men you could see normally on the street. This genetic disorder was of special interest to myself after watching a 20/20â„ ¢ program a few years back that discussed the life of an individual that suffered from Klinefelter Syndrome. Before watching that specific show Klinefelter Syndrome never occurred to me to exist. Now given the opportunity to research a genetic disorder, this one definitely jumped out. Klinefelter Syndrome can happen when a child is born with the genotype of XXY instead of XY. Since the child is born with an extra chromosome that determines its gender the chromosome that is affected it the 23rd one. The normal genotype for a female is XX while the normal genotype for a male is XY. Since the individual still has a Y chromosome they are still technically male, but with a hormonal imbalance. About one out of every 500 to 800 males is born with the disorder and approximately 3% of the infertile male population has the syndrome. [pg. 637 GALE] Individuals with Klinefelter Syndrome usually experience social and/or school learning problems, sterility, small breast development and incomplete masculine body build. Testosterone treatment ideally occurs when the male enters puberty. This treatment helps by increasing muscle size and promoting facial hair growth, however it does not help produce sperm and infertility cannot be fixed. There is also a psychological change as the individual can begin to be more self-confident [NICHD]. There are many benefits to this treatment including a decreased need for sleep and a better handle on concentration. Gene therapy is not an option as a treatment for this genetic disorder and there is no cure. Testosterone treatment can help, but it cannot fully ch ...

Rubric for nursing Theorist Teaching project Essay

Rubric for nursing Theorist Teaching project - Essay Example Kolcaba defines several levels of comfort that appear for patients over time. She defines three forms of comfort and four contexts where patients will find comfort. The three levels she defines are â€Å"relief, ease and transcendence† (March &McCormack, 2009, p. 76-77). The first level of comfort, relief, happens when a patient is provided with what they need when they are in pain. The patient will move to the ease level when they find out that not only are they having relief from pain, but this relief is continuing over time because of the way that they have relieved the pain. The patient will move to the transcendence phase, when they are able to move past the challenges they have and life a fulfilling life (Kolcaba, 2011). Kolcaba saw that these phases were appearing in much of the literature she was reading on the subject and she began to formulate her theory. When developing a theory, it is important to know what has come before the theory that one hopes to present (March &McCormack, 2009). Kolcaba began to write about the three levels of comfort that she had identified and realized that there was an important messages to nurses about these stages. As an example, nurses are supposed to be the ones who provide comfort for the patients in a holistic way; her theory looks at the patient in a holistic way by providing comfort on the physical, emotional and psychosocial levels. Her theory recognizes that each individual has their own need for comfort and there are many different interventions that are needed in these situations (Kolcaba and Kolcaba, 1991). According to Kolcaba (2011) there are four dimensions to the theory. The first dimension describes nursing as the process of interviewing the client about their comfort needs. In this phase, the patient is provided with interventions and then the nurses check the patient’s comfort level on a regular basis. The second dimension defines the optimal health of the

Pastry chef jacques torres Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pastry chef jacques torres - Research Paper Example â€Å"Chef Jacques Torres†). He spent eight years under the guidance of French chef Jacques Maximin at Hotel Negresco. He used to attend the classes during his off time. After completing the classes, he was also trained at Cannes Culinary School. While he was working in the hotel, he had participated in various prestigious food events. He received various honors and awards such as he achieved gold medal from Japanese Pastry Chef Association as well as at French Championship of Desserts (Torres, â€Å"Jacques’ Early Years†). 2.0 Beginning and Earliest Jobs In France, Jacques Torres had worked in a bakery shop named La Frangiapane as a trainer. After completing his training for 2 years as a pastry trainer, he shifted his job in Hotel Negresco which was located at Nice, France. He worked there for 8 years. Subsequently, for a few years he had worked to earn his degree as Master Pastry Chef. In the year 1980, Jacques Torres was encouraged by the prestigious Ritz-Carl ton and motivated himself towards the US, first to Palm Spring followed by Atlanta. After that period he then moved to work as Pastry Chef in the kitchen of Le Cirque restaurant in New York. This was a reputed French restaurant (Culinary Schools. Org. â€Å"World-Class Pastry Chef: Chocolatier Jacques Torres†). He received honor of the Confederation of Japan. He then joined Ritz-Carlton hotels to work as corporate pastry chef. He also trained other chefs across the US. He used to conduct occasional classes of FCI during the year 1993 when he was working in Le Cirque. He taught classes twice a month and managed entire curriculum for improvement (Sailhac, A., â€Å"French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking†). In 1989, he was inveigled to Le Cirque. His regular job in Le Cirque was to serve celebrities, royals, clients and friends along with those who loved his creations. Success had come early for Jacques Torres due to his talent, dedication, and willpower to come up with â€Å"something new, something else, always, always†. It was always an assurance to offer sweet surprises from him. He offered ’champagne truffles’, ‘bars of chocolate’, ‘covered chocolates’, ‘items for weddings and events’, and also ‘Jacques Torres chocolates’ (Torres, â€Å"Great Chefs Jacques Torres†). 3.0 Current Business Jacques Torres was French chocolatier; he has become a well known chocolate entrepreneur after his extensive efforts in his work with restaurant industry. At present, the entrepreneur produces confections from chocolate crunch puffs to Champagne truffles. Nowadays, he makes both chocolate delicacies and produced chocolate from cocoa beans. He has created and sold his own line handcrafted chocolate as well as various others high-end confectionary products to his four factories and retail locations in New York along with retail enterprise in Atlantic City at Harrahâ€⠄¢s Casino (The Sun Winefest ’12, â€Å"About Jacques Torres†). He became owner of his own chocolate shops in the year 2000 by opening a modernized warehouse with a cobble stone street in DUMBO section of Brooklyn. Jacques Torres opened his second location featuring a state-of-the-art chocolate manufacturing plant. In this place, the customers can observe the process of transformation of cocoa bean to chocolate

Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay

Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay Fish is classified according to origin such as seawater fish, shellfish, oily and white fish and freshwater fish. Fish is a rich source of protein and it contains other nutrients such as essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and calcium (Barnett, 1998). In fish, it contains fat soluble vitamin such as vitamin A , D and a number of water soluble vitamin B group. Vitamin A and D are mostly found in the visceral fat, though there are amounts in the flesh for a few species such as lamprey and some species of tuna (Pirie and Swaninathan, 1975). Fish is also low in saturated fatty acids and oily fish in particular is an excellent source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with ÃŽÂ ±- linolenic acid( ALA), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and cocosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to aid in preventing cardiovascular disease(Brunner, 2008). Fish can be rich source of iodine and some magnesium, calcium and iron are also present. However, fish are more perishable due to the surface slime by a mass of ba cteria covering the fish body and the bacteria resides in the digestive tract. In Malaysia, fish is an important food in the Malaysian diet and besides consuming it as a dish itself it can be used as a condiment in various traditional form such as dried, salted and fermented. 1.2 Fermentation Fermentation is the most conventional method in food processing. It is a desirable process of biochemical modification by microorganisms that bring changes to food and enhance properties such as taste, aroma, shelflife and nutritive value. Through fermentation, the safety of food can be enhanced by removing their natural toxin components or by inhibiting the growth of disease-causing microbes (Adams et. al., 2001). Food fermentation can be classified in several groups which is beverages, cereal products, dairy products, fish products, fruit and vegetable products, legumes and meat products. Fermented foods were developed by many cultures for two main reasons, that is to preserve harvested or slaughtered products which were abundant during those times and are scarce and the other reason is to improve the sensory properties of products that are unappealing. In Southeast Asia, fermentation of fish the most common as fish is a major component in the human diet. Freshwater shellfish ,marine fish and crustaceans are processed with salt to produce various type of fermented fish products. Fish fermentation produces a type of savory flavor from marine products by using both endogenous enzymes in fish and salt tolerant microorganisms in the environment. Fish fermentation is also a method of preserving perishable fish and marine products in a high salt concentration (Lee et al., 1993). Lactic acid fermentation plays a major role in preserving perishable vegetables and fishes, ensuring its safety. The organic acids, mainly lactic acid and acetic acid, produced by lactic acid bacteria are effective antimicrobial agents, and they reduce the pH in the foods to prevent the growth of most hazardous food microorganisms (Lee et al., 1994). 1.3 Nonsom Nonsom or bosou is a traditional fermented fish-rice product made among the among the KadazanDusun-Murut community in Sabah. It is served during festival occasions such as Pesta Keamatan. The ingredients used to make this dish includes fish rice, salt and grinded kernel seed of the Pangium edule. The process of producing nonsom is simple. First the fishes are cleaned thoroughly and salted. Rice is added into the conoction and mixed thoroughly. Dried seed of Pangium edule also known as pangi ,with the content that is scraped out are pounded into a powder form and is then sprinkled onto the conoction to be mixed. The mixture is then transferred into a tightly close jar and kept for one month period before consumption. Nonsom can also be cooked by steaming, fry with onions and chili or be eaten just as it is (Vivienne, 2007). One of the ingredients in nonsom is the seeds of Pangium Edule that are said to be poisonous due to presence of hydrocyanic acid which is toxic Pangi seed can only be consumed after treatments such as boiling and soaking in running water(Davidson and Jaine, 2006 ). These seeds are specialty in Indonesia and have been used as spices. It is claimed that the addition of these seeds into the fermented foods helps in controlling the fermentation process and provide unique flavor to the products. The KadazanDusun community eliminates the poison of pangi by soaking and boiling them in water. They use the powdered seed of pangi as food ingredients in the fermented fish product. This gives a nutty aroma on the fermented fish. The flavor source for spices is due to the dominant amino acids that is present in the fermented seed, which is Glutamic acid (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). 2.0 SIMILAR PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE 2.1 Burong dalag. In the Philippines a fermented rice-fish product which involves lactic acid bacteria is served as appetizer, sauce or main dish (Melchor,2007). Burong isda is a traditional fermented fish product in the phillipines that is similar to narezushi in Japan. Burong isda is produced in white and red form. The red is by addition of angkak which is a culture grown in rice. Burong isda is prepared using freshwater fish that is cleaned thoroughly and mixed with salt overnight before mixing with cooled cooked rice. The mixture is left to ferment for 7 to 10 days in room temperature. There are other kinds of burong isda based on the type of fish used. An example is Burong dalag, a fermented rice-fish mixture using mudfish, Phicephalus striatus (Sanchez, 2008). 2.2 Narezushi Narezushi is a fermented fish product by fermented salted mackerel with boiled rice. It was suggested that narezushi was developed as a mean of fish preservation. In the past half century, marine fishes has been substituted with freshwater fishes due to the drastic decrease of harvest. Aji-no-sushi is another form of Narezushi that is made from horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicas). The mackerel is gutted and put in a barrel that has been salted. It is then drained off and placed in a vat filled with vinegar rice. The salting takes 3 days to 2 months and the desalting phase varied. The fish are stuffed and covered with cooked rice, scattered with a small amount of Japanese pepper leaves or red pepper and pickled in a barrel with the lid that is held closed by stone weights. The fermentation period last from 6 weeks to 1 year, depending on the manufacturer (Kuda et. al., 2009). 2.3 Sikhae Sikhae in Korea is the lactic acid fermentation of seawater fish with cooked millet. The process of producing is similar to other fermented fish-rice products but millet is used instead of rice as it is the common carbohydrate source in the northeastern country. Other ingredients added include minced garlic and red pepper powder. Garlic shows antimicrobial effect on most microorganisms in raw material and the product. It also functions as a selective agent which explains that why lactic acid bacteria is dominant in sikhae fermentation (Lee, 1997). Garlic plays dual role in fermented fish products by inhibiting Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts and providing LAB less sensitive to garlic with a carbohydrate source for growth (Puladan-Muller et.al., 1999) . The fermentation last for 2 to 3 weeks at 20 °C. The pH of Sikhae drops quickly due to the organic acids formed from the millet that provide fermentable sugar for lactobacillus. The product can be stored up to one month at 5 °C after fermentation. The foul fish odor disappears and an acceptable flavor is formed during the fermentation process (Lee et.al, 1993). Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae. The role of these acid forming bacteria for the preservation of fish is apparent, but a more important factor is their ability to produce acceptable flavor during the fermentation process. 2.4 Plaa-som. Plaa-som is a Thai fermented fish produced according to family or local geographic preferences, especially in the central, northeastern and northern parts of Thailand. The fermented fish product is composed of freshwater salt, boiled rice or cooked rice and garlic. In Southern Thailand, another local variety of plaa-som is produced. Palm syrup are used to replace garlic and boiled rice, and from time to time by roasted rice resulting in the resembles of another type of fermented Thai fish known as plaa-uan (Paludan Muller et. al., 2002). In processing of plaa-som, all ingredients are mixed and left to ferment at ambient temperature (25-30  °C) for 3-5 days in a covered-lid cooking pot. The fermentation spontaneously occur due to the presence of microflora , mainly lactic acid bacteria that is found in raw materials. Appropriate conditions are important in order for the complete fermentation by lactic acid bacteria. For example the presence of carbohydrate and antimicrobial substanc es containing ingredients like salt and garlic (Kopermsub and Yunchalard, 2008). Garlic is believed to act as an antimicrobial agent against certain gram negative bacteria and stimulating the growth of lactic acid bacteria(Paludan-Muller et. al, 1999). 2.5 Pekasam Another similar product to nomsom is pekasam that is localized in the state of Kedah, Perak and Kelantan of Peninsular Malaysia. Pekasam is made from fermented freshwater fish that is mixed with ingredients such as roasted rice, tamarind and salt. It is prepard by thorough cleaning of the fish and salted overnight with 20-50 per cent of salt. Then the fish are drained before mixing 50 per cent of roasted rice powder and some tamarind. The mixture is packed into an earthenware container in layers and allowed to ferment for 2 to 4 weeks. After fermentation, the fish is consumed deep fried or made into a side dish( Lee et.al., 1993). The table below shows the composition of pekasam and the composition may vary slightly depending on the type of fish use and method practiced. Table 1. Composition of pekasam. Composition Approximate range pH 4.5 6.1 Lactic acid (%) 0.1-0.4 Salt (%) 10.0-16.0 Moisture (%) 57.0-73.0 Protein(%) 15.0- 25.0 Fat (%) 3.0-8.0 Ash (%) 6.0-14.0 Souce Zaiton (1980) During fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria lowers the pH and preserves the product. The presence of the organic acid also contribute to the flavor of the product. The formation of acid combined with the addition of salt eliminate proteolytic and putrefying microorganisms. The carbohydrate source that supports the growth of lactobacilli comes from the roasted rice powder which also aid in masking the fishy odor and colour development of the final product. There is also some breakdown of the fish protein by autolysis to peptides and amines. These compounds together with acids and products formed by microbial fermentation give rise to typical flavor and odor of the pekasam (Lee et.al., 1993; Kuda et.al., 2009). 3.0 WHAT WERE DONE IN THE PAST. Currently there are hardly any studies on the local indigenous fermented fish-rice products of Malaysia such as nonsom. The only studies made so far are the effect of Pangium edule seed in the production of fermented fish by Ajik (1999) and the nutritional content and physiochemical analysis of fermented fish of different species from different areas in Sabah by Joanis (2002). The study done by Joanis (2002) found that nonsom from Tamparuli using Tilapia mossambica contained the highest nutrient and mineral content. Most of the studies were carried out on the seed extract of Pangium edule whereby antioxidant activity were associated with mobilization of lipids and phenolic compound during fermentation (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). According to (Chye and Sim, 2009) report, there is a strong relationship between the phenolic compound of the seed extracts with the antioxidative and antibacterial activities. It was concluded that the phenolic extracts possess good antioxidant and antimicrob ial activities which could be a promising source of natural preservative and be used in pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, pekasam which is a similar product of nonsom has already been studied on the fermentation process and fast fermentation method has been introduced whereby the product can be ready in 2 to 3 weeks (Che Rohani Bt.Awang, 2001). In other previous work, there were studies done on the microflora and chemical changes in fermented fish products during fermentation. It is found that lactic acid bacteria are the dominant microorganisms involved in the fermentation of fish-rice products such as Plaa-rom, Narezushi, Burong isda, sikhae and in our local indigenous fermented food of Pekasam and Nonsom. The lactic acid bacteria involved for each type of fermented products are listed in the table below. The role of lactic acid bacteria is to ferment available carbohydrates which lead to a decrease in pH that inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. The combination of low pH and organic acids present is the main factors that preserve fermented fish products (Paludan-Muller et. al., 2002). Table 2 : Type of lactic acid bacteria found in fermented fish-rice product. Country Name of fermented product Findings Journal resource Thailand Plaa-som Parallel growth of yeast and LAB was found. Pediococcus pentosaceus and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are the predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeast species respectively. Lactic acid bacteria initiates fermentation followed by alcoholic fermentation by Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Paludan-Muller et.al., 2002 Japan Aji-no-susu It is reported to be a typical traditional lactic acid fermented fish product and the lactic acid concentration was very high as compared to other narezushi products. The predominant bacterial groups were lactobacilli and lactococci. Kuda et.al., 2009 Korea Sikhae Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae Lee et.al.,1997 Phillippines Burong dalag The fermentation is initiated by Leuconostoc mesenteroids and Streptococcus faecalis then followed by Pediococcus cerevisiae and finally Lactobacillus plantarum. Orillo and Pederson, 1968 Besides that, reports on different salt concentrations, presence of amino acids and organic acids and also source of carbohydrates influenced the fermentation process of fermented fish-rice products. In fermentation with salt, the high salt content retards microbial growth, hydrolysis of the fish protein is thought to occur by natural tissue enzymes, cathepsins. For low salt products, halotolerant populations consisting of gram-positive organisms will prevail. I- sushi which is fermented by various strains of lactobacillus has been associated with food poisoning outbreaks from toxin production by C. botulinum type E. (Downes and Ito, 2001). However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. The sufficient amount of salt in fermentation is important as it influence the microbial growth and the rate of fermentation which also affects the sensory quality and safety of the product. Padulan-Muller et. al.(2002) studied on the growth of microflora wit h different concentration of salt in Plaa-som, a Thai fermented fish product. It is found that in high salt concentration of plaa-som, the growth of lactic acid bacteria was inhibited and this delayed the fermentation process. This increase the risk of growth for salt-tolerant potentially pathogenic bacteria, example Staphylococcus aureus (Paludan-Muller, 1999).Thus, 6-7% of salt concentration is recommended for Plaa-som to facilitate the growth of LAB and rapid decrease of pH to below 4.5. However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. Aside from salt, the taste of fermented fish-rice product is enhanced during fermentation due to the presence of organic acids and amino acids. According to (Itou et. al., 2006) research, it is reported that the marked increase of the extractive components and organic acids is thought to contribute to the umami taste and the sour taste of narezushi. The extractive components such as free amino acids and peptides increased remarkably because of the decomposition of proteins in fish. As for the organic acid, it increased rapidly due to the fermentation of rice and permeation into the fish meat. Same goes the taste of Aji-no-susu where the predominant amino acids of alanine, lysine,leucine,glutamic acid and theronince were found and are important in providing the taste of fermented fish products (Kuda et.al., 2009). Fish contains little carbohydrate and thus rice or millet that is used mainly functions as a carbohydrate source for fermentation by LAB for the reduction of pH in products without indigeneous starter culture. Rice is an important source of carbohydrate to provide fermentable sugar for lactic acid bacteria in the reduction of pH. High buffering capacity of the fish is also reduced by the rice in order to obtain a rapid decrease of pH.The decrease of pH inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria thus preserve the fermented fish. The starch from rice are hydrolyzed by the amylolytic activity found in lactic acid bacteria by which is reported (Olympia et.al., 1995.) that lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from burong isda hydrolyzes soluble starch, amylopectin, glycogen and pullulan. Addition of salt and spices such as garlic or pepper may add to the safety of the product. In another study (Paludan-Muller, 1999) describes the role of garlic that serves as carbohydrate source for lacti c acid bacteria in fermented fish product. In garlic, a garlic fermenting Lb. Plantarum strain was found . This indicated that garlic may be more important than rice starch as a carbohydrate source for fermentation. Moreover, garlic play dual role in fermented fish by inhibiting gram negative bacteria and yeasts and acts as a carbohydrate source for growth of lactic acid bacteria. The traditional method of fermented fish product was based on spontaneous fermentation or by the use of indigenous starter culture. The starter culture serves as a source of a variety of enzyme including amylolytic enzymes. Based on a study (Olympia et. al., 1995) it was found that in strains of L. plantarum contains the L137-amylase enzyme that hydrolyzes both ÃŽÂ ±-1,4 and ÃŽÂ ± -1,6-glucosidic linkages in polysaccharides. The enzyme degrades the starch to fermentable carbohydrates for the growth of lactic acid bacteria in the fermentation process. Recently there has been studies that mentioned the fermentation process could be improved by using a mixed starter culture. In the fish sauce fermentation a report from Yongsawatdigul et al. (2007) found that strain of Staphylococcus sp. SK1-1-5 from proteinases and bacterial starter culture has the potential to be utilized as it can accelerate the fermentation without having great effect on the sensory qualities of the fish sauce. Another research by Saithong et.al (2010) examined the use of lactic acid bacteria as potential started cultures of plaa-som. The scientists discovered that plaa-som inoculated with the mixed starter culture were found to contain higher amounts of lactic acid after 24 h than plaa-som inoculated with single starter culture. This indicated the possible advantage of increased product safety and quality in addition to reduction in fermentation time. Moreover, the combination L. plantarum IFRPD P15 and L. reuteri IFRPD P17 starter cultures could also inhibit th e growth of clostridia during plaa-som. As a conclusion, L. plantarum and L. reuteri have great potential to be used as starter cultures in plaa-som and may possibly reduce fermentation time. 4.0 CHALLENGES The indigenous fermented fish-rice products are mostly produced in household or small factory scale with limited processes to control and ensure the safety and quality of the product. Like other fermented products, it is easily contaminated due to the presence of other harmful microorganisms. Contamination can occur due to exposure to microorganisms from the environment during harvesting, processing, storage and distribution. Besides that, improper food handling and lack of good hygiene practices increases the risk of microbial contamination. For example, fish that is not eviscerated prior to fermentation process are prone to spoilage since the raw materials are not cooked. Nearly all fish bourne botulism outbreaks are associated with the consumption of salted-dried or fermented fish that is consumed without further cooking. Clostridium sp has been reported to contaminate izushi, a fermented preserved fish with rice in Japan (Downes and Ito, 2001). Likewise in the Philippines, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium sp. which has been isolated from bakasang indicated that practice of hygiene during production was poor ( Salampessy et.al.,2010).The resultant from pathogenic microflora present in the food include negative effects such as spoilage, where the food is unfit for human consumption or risk of health by infectious or toxigenic microorganisms being present. Proteolytic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum cause microbiological hazards in fermented fish as both of these microorganisms are associated with salt and raw fish used in the processing. Insufficient level of salt concentration also leads to growth of pathogenic m icroorganisms in fermented fish products. At higher salt concentration there is a risk for growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum type A and B. Besides that, the producers of the fermented fish-rice products are not well educated on importance of proper handling and maintaining good hygiene practice to avoid cross-contamination during fermentation process of the product. They are also not well aware of the undesirable changes on the fermented food may occur during processing and repackaging of the product. Knowledge on the microflora which are involved in the fermentation process of the fermented fish-rice products are limited. 5.0 THE EMERGING NEED OF RESEARCH Currently there are no studies done on the nutritional composition of certain indigenous fermented fish-rice products such as nonsom. Moreover, there is no standardization in the addition of salt concentration since nonsom made from different areas of Sabah are based on personal preferences. Thus, the final product of this fermented fish-rice based product may contain excessive addition of salt. In addition, higher percentage of salt concentration was found to have a slow or no decrease in pH, whereas a rapid decrease of pH was found in low salt concentration (Paludan-Muller et al., 2002). However, Pekasam which is a similar product to nonsoom has already been standardized in Malaysian Food Act 1985 whereby it must not contain less than 10% salt. Because of this, more research on this indigenous fermented product needs to be carried out for the standardization and safety of the product produced. Next is the need of improving knowledge base. Other fermented food such as cheese, bread , beer and wine are well known and well developed. However for indigenous fermented fish-rice products, the knowledge is poor. Therefore, to have a broader spectrum of understanding these indigenous fermented products, microbiological, nutritional and technical investigation should be carried out on each process. The isolation and characterization of each organism should be determined and should not narrowed to only the dominant organisms as other organisms in small numbers may contain important function in the process. Understanding the roles of the microorganisms in these fermented products is important as they largely control the qualities of the fermented products. Also, more research needs to be done on various fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time by using mixed starter culture instead of depending on traditional spontaneous fermentation to produce the fermented products. Researches on starter cultures by lactic acid bacteria or commercial proteinase with bacterial starter culture showed that there are great potential for the use of these starter cultures in accelerating fermentation of fish products (Yongsawatdigul et. al.,2007; Saithong et.al.,2010). Thus, more research has to be made on the use of these starter cultures to other fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time and without adversely affecting the sensory quality. 6.0 STRATEGIC FOR CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT. The production indigenous fermented fish-rice product of nonsom has the potential to expand and commercialized as more people are consuming the fermented food and the taste is acceptable. However, the process of fermented fish-rice products are done using traditional method so a more organized and specific method is required to upgrade the way of processing the fermented product. For small scale industries that produce fermented fish-rice products, implementation of quality control of the processing and distribution is required based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles. New practices can be added for improvement in Good Manufacturing Practices. Good practices in certain steps and identifying the possible critical control points for example lactic acid bacteria counts, pH and the length of maturation stage, for better production and higher safety standards. Food handlers should also be educated in line with on (HACCP) for controlling safety of the product. Besides that, to combat issues on safety of fermented fish-rice products reseraches on the microbial and chemical changes in these indigenous fermented fish-rice products are necessary in order to ensure the safety and improve the quality of the fermented product produced. Findings from research can be used as an indicator for the producers to understand different stages of fermentation process and precautions to be taken to minimize the risk of contamination and maintain quality consistency of the product. Furthermore, a more safe production can be resulted if starter culture are used. The use of starter culture in the fermentation of fermented fish-rice product could increase product safety and quality as there is a rapid growth of lactic acid bacteria and lower pH to a safe level. In addition, fermentation time is also shorten.

Prescription Medical Marijuana

Many different people have different views on the prescription of medical marijuana. Marijuana is a good form of medicine for those who really need it. People think that marijuana should be illegal in their state. Physician recommend this substance to patients with illnesses. In the 1970’s a synthetic version of THC in marijuana. In order to get prescribed marijuana you have to have an illness such as anorexia, anxiety, cancer and many more Some people thought that marijuana should be illegal in there country. Mitt Romney felt that marijuana should be illegal because kids can get hooked on drugs by trying marijuana. He thought it is the pathway to drug usage by our society. He also says that theirs a synthetic version of marijuana for those who really need it. I think that this is a dumb statement because kids can do the things they want and if they choose to do drugs that’s their chose. Mitt Romney gave a speech at a town hall meeting in Bedford, New Hampshire. Mitt Romney said â€Å"Don’t open the doorway to medicinal marijuana†. Some people felt that the dispensaries should be shut down. Los Angeles city council felt that they should shut down all dispensaries. Thy said that its okay for people that really need marijuana as their medicine but now people that don’t really need it are getting it just to smoke marijuana. The city council are saying that anybody is getting their prescription marijuana card even if they don’t really need it. That is true that they wrong people are getting their prescription for the wrong reason but they shouldn’t close down all dispensaries because all those people who really do need it are going to have trouble getting their medicine. Mitchell Englander said â€Å"Los Angeles have experimented with marijuana and has failed†. My perspective on prescription medical marijuana is that people should be allowed to get their medical card because they need the medicine to help them. It is wrong that people get the card for the wrong reason but there are many people that have the card for the right reason and they just want marijuana so they can survive and help them. Marijuana should be legalized because the government would be able to make a lot of money by taxing it because a lot of people are going to buy this crop. In conclusion, marijuana should be legalized for the government to be able to tax and make a very good profit off of it. Their are people that think that it should be illegal and shutdown. Theirs also people that are like me and think that marijuana should be legalized. Everybody has their own reason on why they think marijuana should be illegal or legalized. Marijuana is a good form of medicine for those who need it.

“Without Freedom it is Impossible to Make Moral Choice” Discuss

Kant, a soft determinist, said that in order to make a moral decision we must have freedom. Kant believed that the ability to make moral decisions lay within the existence of freedom; stating that if we are not free to make our own decisions those decisions could not be moral as we were never free to make that decision in the first place. Kant thought that a person could be blamed for an action if they could have acted differently; for example if a person’s family is held at gunpoint and they are forced to open a safe they cannot be blamed as they did not have a choice.If we are to have free will we must have the ability to make a decision that is unhindered; Kant believed that we must have free will if we are to be help morally responsible for our actions, if God did not give us free will then our decisions cannot be considered immoral or moral as we would have had to act in the way we did. Thus we cannot be held responsible; a good moral action cannot be praised as you had n o other option, whilst an immoral action cannot be punished as once again there was no free choice.John Locke who was also a soft determinist as he believed that morality and the ability to make moral decisions developed throughout your lives. Locke believed that the mind was a tabula rosa, a blank slate that is shaped and filled by the person’s life experience and that ultimately creates a person’s morality. However the sensory data that creates this moral framework within the mind is already determined; therefore using Locke’s idea freedom is not required in order to make a moral decision it is the determined experiences you live through that create your morality and result in you making immoral or moral decisions.Another soft determinist was David Hume who believed in a limited form of free will, he ultimately believed that nature was in control of human destiny. That freedom was also subject-based, meaning that you are free to make a moral decision and free to follow through with that action. He went on to argue that determined events create human free will and that each individual is free to respond in their own way to those determined events; the morality of the choice the person makes is down to them.Hume believed that nothing occurred by chance or luck but we do have the free will, even if limited, to make our own decisions A libertarian would state that human’s decisions and actions are strictly uncaused; that no choices we make are determined and that we are completely free to make our own choices, these can either be moral or immoral, thus we are completely responsible. Libertarianism is incompatible with determinism, this is because they believe determinism is incorrect as everyone is free to all act differently in the exact same event, not all of humans would act morally in such an event.Kant would have been against Libertarianism because despite being a compatibilist Kant thought that some actions were determined. Othe rs believe that it is not necessary to be required to accept responsibility for your actions thus there is no need to be free in order to make moral decisions. Hard determinism also covers the problem of free will and moral decision making; one of the most famous hard determinists is Clarence Darrow. Darrow was a defence lawyer who in the trial of Leob and Leopold used hard determinism to suggest that we are not free thus we cannot make moral decisions.In the trial Darrow blamed their actions upon the way the two were brought up thus were predetermined to murder Robert Franks; their upbringing determined how they would make moral decisions in the future. This means that using Darrow’s idea Leob and Leopold did not have free will and thus could not make a moral choice; their predestination meant that they would only make an immoral decision. Ted Honderich was another hard determinist who approached the idea of free will using the physics as his base; using the Aristotelian ide a that nothing occurs without a cause.Honderich believed that events within the universe are determined and humans act in response to those events and are therefore not responsible for their actions. Using this belief one would argue that moral decisions cannot be made as there is no freedom to do so, everything is already determined beforehand. Saint Augustine was a religious determinist who believed that humanity required God’s help to do good; this is granted by God to humans, therefore God determines who will be saved and who will not. This is known as predestination; there irrelevance of our actions whether moral or immoral as God has already chosen those who shall be saved.John Calvin argued that people have no free will in regard to moral decision making; stating that God makes his choice about who to save, therefore does not look at a person and recognise them as good. Calvin stated that people only do good because God made them that way and placed them in an environm ent that would only make them do good. Logically Calvin concluded that if we have no control over our actions due to being made to act in a certain way, we cannot be considered responsible for them, thus we cannot make a moral decision as the decision and way we act was already determined by God.