Friday, December 27, 2019

Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog Some Gender Aspects in Case of Social Hostility Free Essay Example, 1750 words

In this chapter, we will explain Mary s troubled relationship with alcohol and drugs, as well as why she and other people on the reservation drink; also, it will be discussed what cured her. In a few words, alcohol and drugs were needed for Mary in times of Pine Ringe reservation, after Catholic boarding school, as ways of compensation for hostility and racial injustice. So, she and other common people on the reservation drank because they were growing up in poverty, without running water and electricity, without jobs and ways of compensation. In other words, people drank because they had not another opportunity for their personal realizations in the society, which was predominantly white and racially unjustly. Therefore, in terms of Native Indians warrior memory, males from the reservation believed that only with an assistance of strong drinks they would find a glorious death; sometimes and very often indeed, Native Indian males felt like compensating in terms of their strict home conversations with their own females, and Native Indian females felt themselves like slaves in their own families when males came home being over-drunk after difficult jobs. We will write a custom essay sample on Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog: Some Gender Aspects in Case of Social Hostility or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page For such active people, alcohol and drugs were like weak ways, and they chose battles and struggle instead of passive lifestyle; that is why Wounded Knee, 1973, must be seen as a triumph over some passive strategies, like alcohol and drugs.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Why Gun Control Is Not Enough - 2103 Words

Throughout this paper I will be challenging the arguments of Jeff McMahan’s paper Why Gun ‘Control Is Not Enough where he concludes that the only effective form of gun ‘control’ would be for The United States to make it illegal to shoot a gun of any type. He begins this argument by citing the â€Å"central pillar† of the argument for those who are anti-gun control is that when more individuals own guns, there is a mindset that the entire population is safer. With this logic, it can be inferred that citizens feeling unsafe in the current environment of their country are those seeking protection, one way being through the purchase and ownership of a firearm. Safety is imperative part of ensuring peace of mind, which then impact the peace of the†¦show more content†¦McMahan states that if gun ownership had the robust deterrent effects that supporters claim, we should expect the United States to have less crime than other developed societies, but he cites that the per capita homicide rates in the United States are higher than homicide rates in other Western countries. McMahan proposes that guns and their regulation will not be comparable to the attempted regulation of alcohol and drugs in the United States. He positions the use or desire to use alcohol and drugs does not depend on others, it is an internal desire. Contrarily, the desire to own a gun was positioned as being dependent on the actions of others. Despite all of this McMahan himself admits that a law prohibiting gun ownership could not be enforced with complete effectiveness, leaving the unarmed at the mercy of criminals who will always be armed. This results in the argument of self-defense and according to McMahan, the right of self-defense is derived from a more fundamental right, which he fails to elaborate on by instead stating that he believes the gun prohibition he proposes would eliminate only one effective means of self-defense. McMahan claims that â€Å"central pillar† of the argument for private gun ownership is that when more individuals own guns, there is a mindset that the entire population is safer, but if gun ownership had deterrent effects on crime then we would expect that the United States would have less crime than other developed societies. Commonly, gunShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay On Gun Control1032 Words   |  5 PagesGun control is a vital necessity to the welfare of our nation. Many people out there are supporting the â€Å"anti- gun control cause† with the excuse of â€Å"self-defense†. I believe that not everyone will handle a gun for self-defense. The possession of a gun is a sign of power. One of the bigger ambitions that one has is to have power and the easier it is to obtain a gun; the faster a criminal will gain power over an innocent person. When one is in possession of a gun, that person has complete controlRead MorePro Gun Control Essay1053 Words   |à ‚  5 PagesPersuasive Pro Gun Control Essay Gun control is a vital necessity to the welfare of our nation. Many people out there are supporting the â€Å"anti- gun control cause† with the excuse of â€Å"self-defense†. I believe that not everyone will handle a gun for self-defense. The possession of a gun is a sign of power. One of the bigger ambitions that one has is to have power and the easier it is to obtain a gun; the faster a criminal will gain power over an innocent person. When one is in possession of a gun, thatRead MoreHow Did You Identify The Theoretical Statement?948 Words   |  4 Pagesaccepted? Why, or why not? †¢ If the statement should be accepted, demonstrate how it is immune to first-stage criticism. †¢ If the statement should not be accepted, demonstrate how either first-stage or second-stage criticism of the theory undermines its veracity. Mass shootings have become a disturbing movement that only seems to be rising. The Orlando tragedy caused opened the conversation towards guns and public safety. Americans no longer feel safe. The theoretical statement in Why Obama Can’tRead MoreArgumentative Essay On Gun Control1153 Words   |  5 PagesOnline titled â€Å"We Need Gun Control Now More Than Ever,† the editorial board takes on the topic of the need for stricter gun control. The editorial board reports that if gun control isn’t more strictly enforced it will only create more mass shootings. They make the point that if there was stricter gun control many people would still be living, but their lives have been cut short because of mass shootings. The editorial board is correct when they go on to say enough is enough and we need to figure outRead MoreThe Gun Control Debate in America1159 Words   |  5 PagesGUN CONTROL DEBATE IN AMERICA Gun control has become a very hot topic of contention in America today. What seems to echo here are two words: â€Å"guns† and â€Å"crime†, in a sense that are these words mutually exclusive to each other? Does the use of guns ultimately lead to crime? On the flip side, have the laws in America restricting firearm use been effective enough to protect the lives of the citizens? These are some of the questions that strike the hearts of many when the gun control debate music isRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control874 Words   |  4 PagesGun control has always been a heated topic in this country, and as more issues involving guns arise, the more heated it gets. This was especially seen after the Las Vegas mass shooting where 58 people died and 515 more were injured after a 64- year old man opened fire into a crowd during a concert. This devastating event should be enough for people to realize that more gun control laws should be placed around the country because most guns like large capacity guns are not needed for recreational useRead MoreGun Control Laws Throughout The United States1405 Words   |  6 PagesAlicea Mr. Wiglesworth ELA 8 Block 3 March 4, 2015 Gun Control Laws in the United States In the space separating 1982 and 2012 the U.S. had approximately sixty-two mass shootings. Just because of this statement gun control should be fortified in order to reduce crime rate. Gun control laws in the U.S. are too facile. An example of this is that you can walk into a Walmart with money and an I.D. and walk out with a handgun. There are restrictions to gun ownership but they are not enforced. Usually theRead MoreGuns Are A Common Weapon842 Words   |  4 Pagesanyone. Guns are a common weapon that just about everyone owns. Guns are being used not only to assure safety to Americans, but also in way that make people afraid to leave their homes. People in today’s society use guns to end the lives of others as well as themselves. Nowadays, gun related violence is always appearing in the news and because of this, I think there should be a higher criteria for those who are allowed to have guns. In today’s world, gang members can get their hands on a gun, withRead More Arguements For Gun Control Essay1325 Words   |  6 Pagesviolence causes a staggering number of deaths and injuries throughout the world. The main weapon used to engage in violence is the gun. That’s why I want a strict gun control policy that would nearly abolish guns and make the world a safer place. This policy would make it impossible to buy guns and would only allow hunters to â€Å"rent† guns. By doing this, violence, related to guns, would greatly and rapidly decrease. On April 20th, 1999, 2 friends from Columbine, Colorado came to school. They had a diabolicalRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Gun Control1047 Words   |  5 Pages In the United States today, gun control is one of the most hot button issues in the political and social world. The debate on whether or not current gun laws are strict enough, what types of guns should be sold, and if they should be sold at all, is a large and ongoing one. While there are two very polarly different sides to the debate. The side of the debate, that aims to promote gun control is aiming to put a stop to the gun violence. However, Gun control or a gun ban, or even a complete repeal

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Evaluation Of Sleep Disorders In Infants - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Evaluation Of Sleep Disorders In Infants? Answer: Introduction One of the common and significant issues faced by the parents are the not sleeping behaviour throughout the night and thereby restricting from going to sleep by their children (Sivertsen et al., 2015). The persistence of the sleep disruptions with crying episodes led to negative impacts on the parents such as distress, fatigue and decrease in the tolerance towards the night time problems (ONeill Gilea, 2017). The other part of concern was that some of the parents who faced the issues regarding episodes of crying in night by infants did not consult any professionals to solve the problem (Bell, 2014).The difficulties faced in the bedtime sleep led to child abuse, maternal ambivalence and maternal depression towards their child (Weinraub et al., 2012). Keeping this issue into consideration, professional support played major role in solving the spontaneous awakening and crying phases in night further preventing the conflict of parent-child (Mindell Owens, 2015). Search protocol In this review, different databases were considered such as MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane Library. The search terms were child, toddler, infant, sleep, settling, wake, treatment, medication, therapy, and intervention. The searching pattern was supplemented through tracking all the articles and cited reviews, bibliography, books as well as hand searching the journals based on the topic for the last 5 years. Inclusion and exclusion criteria The studies that were included in this review were centred within young children aged 5 or younger, who represented nocturnal awakening at night time, with established sleep problems and crying episodes. Settling these infants to bed was generally followed by tantrums and was recognized as problematic by their respective parents. Non-randomized control trials were selected. The review includes journals that focus on study of specific outcome measures, which included settling time, night time awakening episodes and relationship with emotional availability of mothers. The journals considered were all peer reviewed and published in English language. The journals with publication date not prior to 2012 were selected. The exclusion criteria comprised the articles that were non- English journals, published abstracts, dissertations and those with publication date before 2012. Prenatal factors that influenced the frequent awakening and crying in the night-time in a regular basis by the infants included breastfeeding, temperament, parental attention, family distress, colic and physical illness followed by poor sleep (St James-Roberts, 2013). Though suggestions regarding managing the issue had been evaluated but 2126 randomized interventional controlled trials were not conducted for the crying episodes and night-time awakening in the infants. The different suggestive ideas regarding reducing the problem included modification in diet, sedation with gradual ignoring of the crying episodes (Richardson Friedman, 2016).With this respect, only few procedures among which included a new technique known as scheduled awakenings had been examined which resulted effectively causing the infant to preclude frequent nocturnal awakening and episodes of crying (Young, 2016). It was found that scheduled awakening and systemic ignoring effectively reduced the nocturnal awakening and crying phases in infants. The systemic ignoring causing the infants cry it out was recommended to be very effective by the pediatrician showing the fastest improvement. The control group children showed general decreased awakening but some were still showing the spontaneous night awakening (Weissbluth, 2015). These proved that some infants recover over time. It was found that out of 11 infants 4 showed no awakening after 8 weeks and after the last follow-up only half of them recorded to be awakened once a week. Age played no role in the process both all the groups. Some of the parents related that they ignored the crying and waited for their child to stop crying. This strategy of lengthening the time of crying was found similar to the studies of Ferber (Kuhn, 2014). Of the 11 infants in control, 7 infants that showed reduced nocturnal awakenings with significant results of time effects which could be measured by videotaping. Due to lack of significant difference in between systemic ignoring and scheduled awakening except at 3 week both were encouraged, although the second one being reported to be slower. This resulted for a suggestion of an alternative effective process other than ignoring (GUIDE, 2014). Although some parents feared to wake their infants in scheduled process, all 11 went back to sleep after some time precluding the spontaneous awakening in night. As the parents found it more affective in precluding the spontaneous awakening, they made no complains in implementing the scheduled awakening strategy (Schnoes, 2016).But one of the limitations of the present study restricted the evaluation of a better treatment protocol of standard awakenings as in most of the studies it was just an educated guess of the awakening length (Turner, 2012). At the initial stage 50 children were assigned randomly to one out of three conditions that scheduled awakenings, systematic ignoring or control. 17 infants were excluded for different reasons as given in appendix A (Moore, 2012). Thus, only some of the investigators had successfully evaluated the techniques but none of them were systematically studied through a randomized study of clinical control. No hypothetical view was considered regarding the efficacy of one treatment with respect to the other one (Bolten, 2013). Critically appraisal tool The trials of the studies are assessed in an independent way and in a non blinded manner. The critical appraisal tool assesses 4 similar kinds of studies that illustrated the effectiveness of intervention methods on sleep disturbances and nocturnal wakening among infants. The tool analyses the focus of study, follow-up strategies, outcome measures, equal treatment for all patients, significance and precision of the treatments and their applicability in local population. CASP tool for control trials Parameters Sheridan et al., 2013 Jin, Hanley Beaulieu, 2013 Rickert and Johnson, 1988 Philbrook Teti, 2016 Did the trial address a clearly focused issue? Yes (investigated persistence of sleep disturbances in childhood and influence by maternal setting strategies) Yes (investigated the effects of assessment based intervention strategies on treating sleep disturbances in infants, 2 of them had autism) Yes (investigated the effectiveness of systematic ignoring and scheduled awakening on reducing crying episodes and spontaneous awakening in toddlers and infants) Yes (examined the bidirectional and longitudinal linkage between infant sleep patterns and bedtime parenting practices during first 6 months post-partum using multivariate model analysis) Was the assignment of patients to treatment non-randomized? Yes (Mothers with psychosocial adversity were enlisted) Yes (3 children aged 7-9 years and their parents were recruited) Yes (33 infants with mean age of 20 months and 14 events of spontaneous awakening every week were enlisted) Yes (Mothers were enlisted from local hospitals after giving birth to infants. 167 infants who were 1 month old and their parents were recruited. Were all patients accounted for at conclusion? Yes (measurement of sleep characteristics till 5years of age) Yes (infrared night time videos, sleep diaries were used to evaluate measures of behaviours that intervene sleep patterns, parental presence, effect of medical administration, night waking and total sleep) Yes (all infants and their parents were subjected to treatment for 56 days) Yes (Follow up was done when the infants were 3 months old and 6 months old) Were patients, health workers and study personnel blind to treatment? No Cant tell No No (Final sample was based on 109 mothers and their infants due to unavailability of bed time data scores from several families) Were the groups similar at start of trial? Yes Yes (Walter was 7 years old and experienced delay in sleep onset; Andy was 9 years old and had been diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder. He reported night awakenings and sleep onset delay; The third patient Lou was 9 years old and faced difficulty to fall asleep., He woke up in the middle of night and got out of bed) Yes (21 two parent families and 6 single parent families were recruited; 18 boys and 15 girls reported same number of spontaneous awakening events per week; all parents were high school graduates; 12 families had parents who were college pass outs) Yes (84% mothers were married and lived with their partners; the average age of the mothers was 29.9 years in the range 19-43 years old; 90% mothers had completed post secondary education and 57% were employed) Were the groups treated equally? Yes Yes (study was conducted at their homes under parent surveillance. All children were made to sleep in their own bedrooms without their siblings. The bedrooms were either dimly lit or dark. All parents documented their childs sleep patterns and events of night awakenings, sleep resumption, morning awakening, naps during a 24 hour cycle. A cam recorder recorded the childrens night time behaviour to support the evidence documented by their parents. However, one limitation was that the camera recorded events that occurred near the childs bed only. Yes (all parents were engaged in telephonic conversations and were made to collect data of their childs daily schedule; they were instructed not to change any treatment patterns for the duration of the study; fathers were made to record data for a day every week during baseline measures, treatment and follow up; parents recorded physical reasons for their infants crying; they did not provide feeding bottles or breast feed their child during such episodes; no parents reported scheduled awakening by the 2nd follow up) Yes (Video cameras were placed inside the house to capture the interaction between parents and infants during bed time and record the place where the infant was taken upon night awakening; Emotional Availability Scales were used to assess maternal emotions during infant bedtime- 4 scales based on structuring, sensitivity, non-hostility and non-intrusiveness were measured; presence or absence of close contact, arousing activities, co-sleeping with parents, infant distress and breast feeding were measured for each 30 second interval; all mothers had to complete a maternal depression survey based on 13 questionnaire items, sleep quality among all mothers was assessed for 7 days using a mini-mitter actigraphy wristwatch) How large was the treatment effect? Sleep disturbances persisted till five years in high risk infants. Maternal involvement was found to be larger in mothers at a high risk mothers in infant setting and predicted less optimal sleep at five years. Agreement data collected was 43% and 24% for delay in sleep onset; 36% and 28% for overall sleep interfering behaviour; 25% and 22% for specific sleep interfering behaviour. Partitioning the duration of observation into 10 second intervals and converting the results to percentages gave the average for all intervals. 1 way variance analysis were performed between the groups; baseline data for treatment groups were compared to number of awakening episodes; 3*8 multivariate analysis was performed with 1 between factor (groups) and 1 within factor (weeks). SAS 9.4 and Proc Mixed were used for multilevel model analysis. Hypothesis 1-3 predicted night time distress in infants by analysing parent variables, hypothesis 4 predicted parenting practice and maternal EA by focusing on infant variables. 88% infants and 66% parents provided data for at least 2 time points. How precise was the estimate of treatment effect? Less optimal sleep at the age of 5 years was predicted Mean agreement for sleep onset delay was 95%, vocalization was 97%, out of bed was 99%, sitting up was 97% and for stereotypy was 99%. Sleep onset delay was highly variable in baseline. Sleep goals were met during treatment intervention in all children compared to baseline. Average rating of social acceptability for all 3 families was 6.8 on a 7 point Likert scale. No significant age differences found between groups (P0.05); crying episodes and night time awakening did not vary before intervention (P0.05); multivariate analysis showed significant changes for groups (P0.03) and for weeks (P0.01); significant differences were observed across time for weeks 2,3,4 and 5 (P0.05) Night time distress reduced with age (P0.0001); quadratic component was significant (P0.001); emotionally available mothers had infants with less distress (P=0.06); infants who co-slept with parents were less distressed (P= 0.058); Significant interaction observed between nursing, maternal EA and quadratic changes (P0.05); infant sleep increased over time in linear estimate (P0.001); it leveled off after 3 months according to quadratic estimates (P0.001); Less sleep was associated with arousal activities (P0.05); infants slept less whose mothers were less emotionally available (P0.05) Can the results be applied in this context? Yes (parents should be supported in settling practices that will directly influence optimal sleep in their children). Yes Yes (results suggest that effective alternatives exist to systemic ignoring practices) Yes (maternal EA, less close contact and parental interactions can be linked to more sleep and less distress among infants) Were all clinically important outcomes considered? Yes Yes (these measures should be simultaneously used along with video recordings to calibrate the measurements. Video recordings may be intrusive but they assist in making precise measurements when used in combination with parent diaries) Yes (systemic ignoring was more effective than scheduled awakening during first week of treatment) Yes (the study focused on the complex interplay between parenting activities and infant night time distress; However, parenting practices can change across cultures. The study was based largely on Caucasian population. Thus, changes are expected when applied across other populations) Results Appendix B The average count of night time awakenings through the three conditions are provided which showed that the systemic ignoring technique showed more efficacy in reducing the awakening in the infants through 8 weeks of treatment. Appendix C- The points at which the three groups differed in the treatment were evaluated through a range of analysing 8 variances that were conducted for each treatment week. Appendix D- The scatter plot analysis is provided to represent the count of awakening and crying episodes through the treatment weeks with respect to 33 children. Each point represented a child and the data indicated a wide variable among the control and the documented developmental trends. Appendix E- Demonstrates a broader literature search and key findings. Conclusion Thus, from the above review it can be concluded that systemic ignoring plays an effective role in reducing the night time awakening and crying phases in the infants. It reduced the spontaneous awakenings frequency rapidly but the awakenings duration was found to rise initially which became unacceptable to some parents. Alternative technique, scheduled awakenings were found to be more viable to some of the parents. But as this technique was slower, the efficacy stayed unclear. Other factors such as change in sleep cycle, shaping and controlling stimulus successfully eliminated the awakenings in the night time during the use of scheduled awakenings. But before delivering scheduled awakenings technique more studies should be conducted to make understand the other non expert professionals. Apart from this, it could be said that both the systemic ignoring and the scheduled awakenings showed more effective results rather than to see the child outgrow the problematic behaviour. Lastly both the treatment strategies must be compared with modified diet, medication and delayed progression in the parents attention to retain relative efficacy. To successfully implement the strategies to reduce the spontaneous night time awakenings followed by reduced crying phases in the children, proper funding should be provided in order to conduct the interventions properly and effectively as it involves different stages of treatment with follow-ups after the treatments. References Bell, J. (2014).Doing Your Research Project: A guide for first-time researchers. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Bolten, M. I. (2013). Infant psychiatric disorders.European child adolescent psychiatry,22(1), 69-74. GUIDE, A. P. (2014). SLEEP DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS. Haynes, P. L., Kelly, M., Warner, L., Quan, S. F., Krakow, B., Bootzin, R. R. (2016). Cognitive Behavioral Social Rhythm Group Therapy for Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and sleep disturbance: Results from an open trial.Journal of affective disorders,192, 234-243. Jin, C. S., Hanley, G. P., Beaulieu, L. (2013). An individualized and comprehensive approach to treating sleep problems in young children.Journal of applied behavior analysis,46(1), 161-180. Johnson, C. R., Turner, K. S., Foldes, E., Brooks, M. M., Kronk, R., Wiggs, L. (2013). Behavioral parent training to address sleep disturbances in young children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot trial.Sleep medicine,14(10), 995-1004. Kuhn, B. R. (2014). Practical strategies for managing behavioral sleep problems in young children.Sleep Medicine Clinics,9(2), 181-197. Matthey, S., ?rn?ec, R. (2012). Comparison of two strategies to improve infant sleep problems, and associated impacts on maternal experience, mood and infant emotional health: A single case replication design study.Early human development,88(6), 437-442. Mindell, J. A., Owens, J. A. (2015).A clinical guide to pediatric sleep: diagnosis and management of sleep problems. Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Moore, M. (2012). Behavioral sleep problems in children and adolescents.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings,19(1), 77-83. ONeill, R. M., Gilea, B. L. (2017). MULTISYSTEMIC DIMENSIONS OF SLEEPWAKE DISORDERS.DSM-5 and Family Systems, 307. Philbrook, L. E., Teti, D. M. (2016). Bidirectional associations between bedtime parenting and infant sleep: Parenting quality, parenting practices, and their interaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(4), 431. Richardson, M., Friedman, N. (Eds.). (2016).Clinician's Guide to Pediatric Sleep Disorders. CRC Press. Rickert, V. I., Johnson, C. M. (1988). Reducing nocturnal awakening and crying episodes in infants and young children: a comparison between scheduled awakenings and systematic ignoring. Pediatrics, 81(2), 203-212. Schnoes, C. J. (2016).Childhood Sleep Disorders. Momentum Press. Sheridan, A., Murray, L., Cooper, P. J., Evangeli, M., Byram, V., Halligan, S. L. (2013). A longitudinal study of child sleep in high and low risk families: Relationship to early maternal settling strategies and child psychological functioning.Sleep medicine,14(3), 266-273. Sivertsen, B., Harvey, A. G., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Torgersen, L., Ystrom, E., Hysing, M. (2015). Later emotional and behavioral problems associated with sleep problems in toddlers: a longitudinal study.JAMA pediatrics,169(6), 575-582. Spruyt, K., Curfs, L. M. (2015). Non?pharmacological management of problematic sleeping in children with developmental disabilities.Developmental Medicine Child Neurology,57(2), 120-136. St James-Roberts, I. (2013).The origins, prevention and treatment of infant crying and sleeping problems: An evidence-based guide for healthcare professionals and the families they support. Routledge. Watts, S. (2015). The prevention of infant sleep disturbance: a universal approach. Weinraub, M., Bender, R. H., Friedman, S. L., Susman, E. J., Knoke, B., Bradley, R., ... Williams, J. (2012). Patterns of developmental change in infants' nighttime sleep awakenings from 6 through 36 months of age.Developmental psychology,48(6), 1511. Weissbluth, M. (2015).Healthy sleep habits, happy child: A step-by-step program for a good night's sleep. Ballantine Books. Young, J. L. (2016).Mothers' Attachment Styles and Sleep Technique Choices for their Infants(Doctoral dissertation, Alliant International University).

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Year 2000 Problem Essays (2439 words) - Calendars, Software Bugs

Year 2000 Problem Summary: It was astonishing to find how unprepared the government is for this potentially devastating problem facing the American people. The government has had nearly three years of knowledge about this problem but hasn't even been able to get up to the government standards that they set back in 1996. The government is really lagging behind and could essentially destroy the American economy if they keep up the performance they are currently demonstrating. The government appears to have let the American people down. The government is now starting to realize what a dramatic effect this could have on the entire world including the US. The most powerful country may be brought to its knees because of some little flaw in writing codes for computers in the last fifty years. This microscopic line of code could inevitably destroy the entire world's economy and also possibly cause a malfunction of the world's nuclear arsenal. This could cause them to fire at will or even just detonate in their silos. Furthermore it is very critical to observe the governments efforts in trying to bring this enormous problem to be fixed by falsifying Y2K compliance on many of its computers. Included are two graphs and a chart. The chart is the schedule the government was intending to stick to. It is called an immovable deadline and fixed schedule. One of the graphs demonstrates the proposed cost of fixing the Year 2000 bug. It is broken down into estimates of the total cost per year. The final graph is the grades the 24 major agencies received on their preparation for becoming Y2K compliant. With all of this information one can really understand how greatly the government underestimated the entire problem. They underestimated costs, and time it would take to upgrade and implement the programs. This truly demonstrates how poorly the government is being run and what kind of people we all have elected into office. To begin, here is a little information about what all of the hype is about. Arie van Deursen, of The Economist, describes what the major problem with the Y2K bug is. "The Year/2000 problem is about two-digit dates. But there is more to it. The year 2000 is a leap year; some programs know this. They check whether a year is divisible by four, and conclude that 2000 is a leap year. Or, they're more rigorous and aware of the exception: a year divisible by 100 as well is not a leap year ? unless it's also divisible by 400. So neither 1900 nor 2100 are leap years ? but 2000 is. Many programs, however, incorrectly treat the year 2000 as a non-leap year. This may stem from the use of two-digit dates (i.e., "00" is treated as 1900 rather than 2000). Usually, the programmer had the wrong algorithm in mind. A common error is assuming centuries are never leap years. Here, the programmer forgets the "exception to the exception." The other common error is, believing the year 2000 cannot be a leap year. This may be a result of believing leap years cannot be divisible by 1,000 (rather than 100). The leap year problem is serious. Consider the $1 million in damages caused by the failure of control computers in a New Zealand aluminum smelter. The computers could not deal with the 366th day of 1996. Similar and larger crashes are likely in 2000."(3) Duersen also talks about problems after the Year 2000 hits. "Luckily, there may be a ray of hope. For most of the systems, we have 31 + 28 = 59 extra days to solve the leap year problem; that is, assuming we have time available in those first eight weeks of the year 2000."(3) Also included is a progress chart issued by the government to chart advancement in updating and upgrading services and hardware. This chart also contains some progress figures. They claim that only fifty percent of the twenty-four agencies have completed their assessments by August 1997. They also claim that seventy percent of the total estimated cost comes from those agencies that aren't finished assessing their systems. This program was implemented on June 9, 1997. This completely demonstrates the lack of respect the government had for this problem. As reported in The Year 2000 Journal, the author talks about the lack of interest on the part of the government. "As 2000 approaches, it will increasingly preoccupy policy makers and the public too. Because the millennium-bug problem is so trivial, senior managers have found it hard to take seriously, and