Ronnie Steel’s Drug Addiction

From the list of selected books, the one that stuck out to me the greatest was Ronnie Steele’s, â€Å"My Own Worst Enemy: A Memoir of Addiction. † This book observes the parallels between addiction and self-image. This book takes the reader into the mind of Ronnie Steele and analyzed how he not only coped with his addiction but how the addiction made him who he was. The reason why I enjoyed this book over many other autobiographies that I have read before is that Ronnie allows the reader to dive deep into the realms of his life. By reading this autobiography I could tell that Ronnie poured out every inch of his heart and soul into the pages. In order for the reader to gain a deeper understanding about his troubling addictions, Ronnie sacrificed his privacy and intimate lifestyle relationships. As I finished reading this book I began searching some feedback on the net, positive and negative. Many of the positive comments on this book exclaims how this autobiography helped them cope with the extremities and hardships of addiction in the present day world. The negative feedback, though, focused on how Ronnie’s stories seemed lavish and fabricated. Many of the people who wrote the negative comments focused not on the mission of the book; however, they focused on the satirical writing style and how the story related to present day extremities. Ronnie concludes his autobiography by stating that his biggest plight for this book is that he hopes it will influence someone to stop drinking, smoking, cheating, and lying. This book explores the differences between succumbing and overcoming an addiction. The protagonist, Ronnie Steele, dives into the realms of testament as he attempts to shield current addicts and future human beings who are interested in drinking and smoking from the same trials and tribulations that he went through. Throughout the book Ronnie consistently mentions how he was the sole cause of his substance abuse. He tells the reader that he felt like he couldn’t control his urge for alcohol, thus forcing him to continue to do it. Ronnie mentions how alcohol was not the only thing he was addicted to; lying, cheating, and smoking was a part of his addiction. Through months and months of dealing with his addiction, Ronnie finally was forced to go through treatment. He gives a detailed account of his road to recovery and how it was difficult yet necessary for his well-being and the future well-being for his family. Ronnie’s partner, Sarah, was a very good woman for seeing him through his recovery and treatment as he dealt with his addiction. The thing that surprised me about this autobiography was how Ronnie identified one of the sources for his addiction: early childhood problems. Being a psychology major, I know that many psychological abnormalities, such as addiction, can be explained by environmental factors. Ronnie gives a detailed account of how abuse was a huge and vital part of his childhood. The theory that is evident in this book is the on addiction. Addiction is described as using a drug in a way for which it is not attended for, that will lead to long or short term harm to the user or others, and the result in the user no longer being able to be responsible for his/her thoughts, feelings, or behavior. DSM-IV classifies addiction and drug abuse as a maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. There are currently five different models that covers addiction: medical model, psychodynamic model, social model, moral model, and bio-psycho-social model. The model that seems to cover the key experiences in this book is the psychodynamic model. This model explains how drug abuse and addiction is a symptom of underlying psychological problems and is used as a maladaptive psychological coping strategy. I came up with the conclusion that this model fits with the essence of this book because Ronnie uses drugs to resolve his internal conflict with the person who abused him in early childhood. From reading this book and exploring Ronnie Steele’s online blogs I can include a few different things about drugs and society. I can conclude that drugs are a big part of society’s coping mechanism. From the information that I know from being a Psychology major and the information I received from reading this book and blog, many addictions are triggered by drug abuse from use of drugs to cope with past and present day problems. In this autobiography, the main character uses drugs as an outlet to forget his past; with addiction, though, comes rehabilitation. I can also conclude, from this autobiography, that rehabilitation in America works. I can conclude this because Ronnie had fought a great fight with addiction to alcohol and through the encouragement of his partner and his rehabilitation he overcame it. It was a difficult battle and struggle for Ronnie but the fact that he overcame his addiction and uses his book as a catalyst for help for other addicts is amazing and inspiring to me. In all, I believe I made a great choice in selecting this book out of the many novels on the list. This autobiography explores not only the recovery from addiction, but also the road to recovery. I love how Ronnie is so open with his testament and how he wants his book to inspire others. I believe this book is a great read and I really appreciated this being on the list.

Complete Guide to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

Complete Guide to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The Bright Futures scholarship programs are great resources for Florida students who plan on staying in-state for college. Aswith any scholarship program, though, there's a lot of information to processabout the awards. Just sifting through all the eligibility requirements and award limitations can be overwhelming, never mindfiguring out how to actually submit an application. In this guide, I've compiled all the information you need about the Bright Futures scholarships. I'll talk about the different award programs, their eligibility requirements, the application process, and strategies to help you win your own. What Is the Bright Futures Scholarship Program? The Bright Futures program offers merit-based scholarships to Florida residents who stay in Florida for college or vocational school (unfortunately, you won't be eligible for an award if you attend college out of state). If you qualify for a scholarship, you’ll receive funds to attend any public or private college in Florida. Financial need is not considered in awarding Bright Futures scholarships. There are three different scholarship programs, all with different eligibility requirements and award amounts. All of these scholarshipsare renewable - as long as you continue to meet eligibility requirements, you can get these awards year after year until you’ve finished your program of study: Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) - This is the most competitive scholarship and most generous scholarship. It's geared towards â€Å"A students." FAS winners canreceive funding for the entire duration of their course of study. Florida Merit Scholars (FMS) - This scholarship is less competitive than the FAS, but it still has relatively high minimum test score and GPA requirements. It's geared towards "B students." FMS winners canreceive funding for the entire duration of their course of study. Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) - This scholarship helps students pursuepost-high school vocational and certificate degrees. It's the least competitive award and provides the least amount of funding. GSV winners can receive scholarship funding for up to 72 credit hours of a technical degree program or career certificate program OR up to 60 credit hours of an applied technology degree program. Award Amounts Like I mentioned above, scholarship funds are awarded per credit hour. Scholarship recipients receive a fixed amount based on scholarship type, school type, and credit type: SCHOLARSHIP TYPE PROGRAM TYPE CREDIT HOUR AWARD - SEMESTER CREDIT HOUR AWARD - QUARTER CLOCK HOUR AWARD FAS 4 year $103 $69 2 year $63 $42 $2.10 FL Public Colleges - BA programs $71 Technical programs $52 $35 $1.73 FMS 4 year $77 $51 2 year $63 $42 $2.10 FL Public Colleges - BA programs $53 Technical programs $39 $26 $1.30 GSV (20-2012 high school grads and later) Career certificate program $39 $26 $1.30 Applied technology degree program $39 $26 $1.30 Technical degree education program $48 $32 $1.60 Want to calculatehow much scholarship money you could potentially receive? Just multiply the award amount (per credit hour) for the scholarship you're gunning for by the number of credit hours you'd need to complete a particular program. For example, a standard bachelor's degree requires 120 credit hours to complete. If I won the FAS scholarship, I could potentially receive $12,360 over the course of 4 years (120 credit hours x $103). Award Limits As flexible as the awards are, there are some ways in which you can't use Bright Futures funding. In addition to eligibility limits (which we'll get to shortly), there are some restrictions on how and where you can use Bright Futures scholarship money. You can only use the fundsat Florida schools - for more information, you can check this full list of eligible or participating institutions. You also can't use Bright Futures money to fund remedial coursework or (except in special circumstances) summer term work. How Do You Know If You're Eligible? Now that you know all about the sort of funding you can get with a Bright Futures award, I imagine you're interested in figuring out if you're eligible. First, you should determine if you meet the general Bright Futures requirements (these apply to all three scholarships): You must be a Florida resident and US citizen or eligible noncitizen (this is determined by your college). You mustcomplete the Florida Financial Aid Application by 8/31 of the year of your high school graduation. You must earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalent from a Florida public high school or a registered Florida Department of Education private school. You can’t have been convicted of (or pleaded no contest to) a felony charge. You must be accepted by and enroll in a degree or certificate program at an eligible Florida public or independent postsecondary institution (postsecondary institution = college, university, vocational school). There are additional academic criteria for the FAS, FMS, and GSV scholarships.The FAS and FMS scholarships have pretty demanding criteria for GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and service hours, whereas the GSV program isn’t quite as demanding: FAS Requirements 3.50 minimum GPA (weighted) 29 minimum ACT scoreor 1290 minimum SAT score 100 minimum community service hours FMS Requirements 3.00 minimum GPA (weighted) 26 minimum ACT scoreor 70 minimum SAT score 75 minimum community service hours GSV Requirements 3.00 minimum GPA (weighted) in non-elective high school courses ACT score minimums = 17 in English subsection, 19 in Reading subsection, and 19 in Math subsection SAT score minimums = 440 in Critical Reading, 440 in Math 30 minimum community service hours There’s quite a bit of fine print when it comes to eligibility requirements. If you want to learn more (and you should), check out our complete guideto Bright Futures requirements. What Information Do You Need to Apply? Thankfully, there isn't too much of this involved in submitting a Bright Futures application. You'll be able to streamline the whole application process if you have all the necessary paperwork and materials in orderbefore you begin. Here's everything you'll need to prepare if you want to apply for a Bright Futures scholarship: Florida Financial Aid Application You'll need to submit the Florida Financial Aid Application, or FFAA, no later than August 31 of the year of your high school graduation.If you don’t submit the FFAA, you won’t be able to get any Bright Futures funding.The applicationtypicallyopens December 1. Official Transcripts Fortunately, Florida public high schools automatically submit official transcripts to the Florida Department of Education for Bright Futures evaluation. Ifyour high school doesn’t automatically send transcripts, you can ask them to submit yours via email toOFSA.transcripts@fldoe.org. SAT or ACT Scores You can take the SAT or ACT for the purpose of submitting your scores to the Bright Futures scholarship program through June 30 of your graduation year - this is obviously much later than you would take the tests for college applications. This long window gives you some extra time to meet score requirements if needed. You can submit your ACT/SAT scores for Bright Futures consideration when you register for the exams. Request, at registration, that your scores be sent to one of Florida’s 12 state universities, public community colleges, or public high schools. The scores will automatically be forwarded to the Florida Department of Education repository. The application process should run as smoothly (and as automatically) as a well-oiled machine. How Do You Submit an Application? Much of this process is automated - you won’t have to do much extra work outside of submitting the FFAA and keeping an eye on your application to make sure everything is processed correctly. Here are all the steps you should take to make sure you submit a complete and successful Bright Futures application: Step 1: Submit the Florida Financial Aid Application Remember, this must be submitted by 8/31 the year of your high school graduation. YourFlorida Bright Futures account login information will be sent to you after you submit the FFAA. Step 2: Take the ACT or SAT and Submit Your Test Scores You’ll have to take either the ACT or SAT for college applications anyway, so this shouldn't require extra work on your part. Send your scores to a Florida public school (like I mentioned earlier in this post) to ensure that the Florida Department of Education receives them. Step 3: Check on the Submission of Your Official Transcripts If you attend a Florida public high school, your transcript willbeautomatically submitted for Bright Futures consideration. It’s a good idea to check with your guidance counselor to confirm submission, especially if you don't attend a public school. Step 4: Keep the Information in Your Bright Futures Application Account Updated Again, you'll get account login information for your Bright Futures application account once you submit your FFAA. Once you have access to this account, you can use it to manage and monitor different parts of your application. To make sure that your scholarship application is on track, you should: Monitor your number of reported service hours. Update your postsecondary institution. Once you’ve enrolledat a FL college or vocational school, you shouldmake a note of this in your account. Update any demographic information. View your eligibility determination - check your account once everything’s been submitted to see if you’re eligible for the scholarship. When Do You Find Out Whether You've Been Selected? There are two different evaluation timelines: Early Evaluation and Final Evaluation. For the Early Evaluation timeline, you can get an eligibility determination posted to your online account as early as March. Your transcriptsand test scores mustbe submitted by January 31. For the Final Evaluation timeline, you can get an eligibility determination posted to your online account as early as July. Your transcripts and test scores canbe submitted following your last high school term. You actually don't get much of a say in how this cashis used (which may be a good thing if money tends to burn a hole in your pocket). How Can You Use Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Money? Now that you're up to speed on the application process, you'll probably want to know what actually happens with the Bright Futures funding once you get it. You won’t receive the money directly. The financial aid office at your school will calculate your award and then disburse funds (i.e. apply the funds to your account) after the end of the add/drop period each term. Like I've mentioned before, you have to use the funds at an eligible Florida school. Interested in studying abroad? Your school decides ifany Bright Futures funding can be applied to study abroad programs. Strategies: How to Increase Your Chances of Winning a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Winning a Bright Futures scholarship could mean that the bulk of your tuition expenses (and maybe even some room and board costs) would be covered for up to four years. If you're going to submit a Bright Futures application, you'll want to make it count. There are four main eligibility requirements that you have control over (aside from state residency): coursework, GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and service hours. Here are some strategies to make sure you meet all of those requirements. Coursework If you attend any school in Florida, you're likely on track to meet all the coursework requirements. If you're in any way concerned,schedule a meeting with a guidance counselor ASAP to see if your schedule needs to be adjusted. For more information on coursework requirements, see our Bright Futures eligibility guide. GPA If you're concerned that your GPA isn't high enough to win the FAS scholarship - the most competitive of the awards - set a more reasonable goalby aiming for the FMS or GSV GPA requirement. Also, keep in mind that all the GPA requirements listed are weighted. If your GPA is currently unweighted, your weighted GPA may be higher if you've taken any advanced or honors classes. See your guidance counselor for more help in calculating your weighted GPA. ACT or SAT Scores You'll be doing yourself a favor in a couple of ways if you work on bringing up your ACT or SAT scores. Higher scores will open up more scholarship opportunities in addition to better-ranking school options. To give yourself time to bring up your scores, start preparing for and taking the tests earlier rather than later. The end of your sophomore year through the beginning of your junior year is a good time to start working on prep. Optimize your scores by choosing one exam to work on, rather than splitting your energies between the ACTand SAT.If you're unsure which test to take, check out our guide to figure out which test is best for you. If you're an upperclassman and don't have much time to prepare for thetests, check out our fast prep guides for the ACTand SAT. Service Hours The best way to meet theservice hours minimum is through consistency. Try to set a schedule (e.g. go at the same time every week) so that it feels like more of a serious commitment. The more consistent you are and the earlier you start chipping away at your community service hours, the fewer hours you have to volunteer per week. If you start as a freshman, you'd need to volunteer for 1 hour every 2-3 weeks to meet your minimum. If you start as a senior; however, you'd need to volunteer 1.5-2 hours every week. It'll be easier to stick with your volunteer commitment over the long run if you work with an established, legitimate agency thatwill consistently track your hours (although it's a good idea to keepyour own records as backup). If you need community service ideas, read up on the nine best places to volunteer. What's Next? Now that you know exactly what to focus on in order to get a Bright Futures scholarship, you can start working on making sure you meet all the eligibility requirements. Concerned about meeting those minimum testscores? Check out our prep guides for the ACT and SAT. Want to bring up your GPA? Read about four ways to bring up your high school grades fast. Interested in more community service ideas? Check out our guide to 129 great community service projects. You may alsobe interested in other community service-based scholarships. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

biligualism essays

biligualism essays I was born and raised in Taiwan, therefore I think my first language should be considered as mandarin. My problem to define myself is that because even though I was living in a mandarin dominated community, I start studying in a total English environment starting at kindergarten. (I was in an international school that only teaches English and no other languages). The family that I grew up is a bit complicated to explain also. My father and mother speaks to me in mandarin, my grandparent speaks to me in Taiwanese while my grandparent on my mothers side that I dont meet often speaks to me in Japanese. This situation has started ever since I could remember. So, I could consider that I am expose to three language, mandarin, English, and Taiwanese all together, plus a little Japanese. (Though I could hardly speak them) but I think I might consider myself as a balanced bilingual of English and Mandarin, because I could speak and listen this two language fluently and express myself without problem at all. Or, maybe some semibilingual also, because I have to think of what Im trying to express before I could blurt out fluently. Japanese Well I could only express in simple words. Even so, there is a big problem that I find as I browse through the book, the mother tongue. Which one should be my first language? Because its just abit to complicated for me to decide. But since I speak with my parent mostly in mandarin, then it should be considered mandarin. Also, most of the time when I was talking to my friends when they understands both mandarin and English, we often end up communicating with mixed languages. Ex. A sentence that contains a few words of mandarin and the rest English; which sounds a little funny but were just too used to it. Personally I think Im pretty lucking to grow up in this kind of environment because I grow up learning English and mandarin so easily, there isnt really a ha...

The Story Behind the Phrase Kilroy Was Here

The Story Behind the Phrase Kilroy Was Here For a few years during and after World War II, he was ubiquitous: a doodle of a big-nosed man, peering over a wall, accompanied by the inscription Kilroy was here. At the height of his popularity, Kilroy could be found just about everywhere: in bathrooms and on bridges, in school cafeterias and on homework assignments, in the holds of Navy ships and painted on the shells of Air Force missiles. A classic Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1948, Haredevil Hare, shows just how deeply Kilroy had penetrated into pop culture: thinking hes the first rabbit to land on the moon, Bugs is oblivious to the slogan Kilroy was here prominently etched on a rock behind him. The Prehistory of Kilroy Was Here Where did the meme- and thats exactly what it was, 50 years before the invention of the internet- Kilroy was here come from? Well, graffiti itself has been around for thousands of years, but the Kilroy drawing seems to have derived from a similar graffito, Foo was here, popular among Australian servicemen during World War I; this was also a depiction of a big-nosed cartoon figure peering over a wall, but it was not accompanied by any words. Around the same time  Kilroy was popping up in unexpected places in the U.S., another doodle, Mr. Chad, was appearing in England. The Chad doodle may have derived from the Greek symbol for Omega, or it may have been a simplified adaptation of a circuit diagram; whatever the case, it carried the same someone is watching connotation as Kilroy. At some point shortly before the outbreak of World War II, it seems, Foo, Chad, and Kilroy merged their memetic DNA and mutated into the classic Kilroy was here. Where Did Kilroy Come From? As to the derivation of the name Kilroy, thats a matter of some dispute. Some historians point to James J. Kilroy, an inspector at the Fore River Shipyard in Braintree, MA, who supposedly wrote Kilroy was here on various parts of ships as they were being built (after the ships were completed, these inscriptions would have been inaccessible, hence Kilroys reputation for getting into impossible-to-reach locations). Another candidate is Francis J. Kilroy, Jr., a soldier in Florida, sick with the flu, who wrote Kilroy will be here next week on the wall of his barracks; since this story only appeared in 1945, though, it seems doubtful that Francis, rather than James, was the source of the Kilroy legend. Of course, its also possible that neither James nor Francis Kilroy were involved in any way, and that the name Kilroy was conjured up from scratch by a bored G.I. At this point, we should mention a 2007 documentary, Fort Knox: Secrets Revealed, which aired in 2007 on the History Channel. The premise of the show is that Fort Knox was loaded with gold in 1937, but only made accessible to the public in the 1970s- so the producers at the History Channel could uncork part of the forts innards and visit a time capsule of pre-war America. In the documentary, Kilroy was here can be seen written on a wall inside the vault, which would imply that the origin of this meme dates to no later than 1937. Unfortunately, it was later revealed by one of the shows consultants that the vault footage was recreated (i.e., completely made up), which should make you think twice about the historical accuracy of anything aired on this cable channel! Kilroy Was Here Goes to War The four years of World War II were a tough, dangerous, and often lonely slog for Americas servicemen, who needed any form of entertainment they could get. In this regard, Kilroy was here functioned as a morale booster- when U.S. soldiers landed on a beachhead, they would often see this meme inscribed on a wall or fence nearby, presumably planted there by an advance reconnaissance team. As the war progressed, Kilroy was here became an emblem of pride, carrying the message that no place, and no country, was beyond the reach of Americas might (and especially not if Kilroy was here happened to be painted on the side of a missile penetrating deep into enemy territory). Amusingly, neither Josef Stalin nor Adolf Hitler, two dictators not known for their sense of humor, could quite make sense of  Kilroy was here. The famously paranoid Stalin was reportedly unsettled when he glimpsed a Kilroy was here graffito in a bathroom stall at the Potsdam Conference in Germany; presumably he instructed the NKVD to find the individual responsible and have him shot. And Kilroy was here was inscribed on so many pieces of American ordinance recovered by the Germans that Hitler wondered if Kilroy was a master spy, along the lines of the yet-to-be-invented James Bond! Kilroy has had a robust afterlife. Old memes never truly go away; they persist out of historical context, so that a six-year-old watching Adventure Time or reading a Peanuts comic strip from the 1970s will be aware of this phrase, but not of its origins or its connotations. Its not only the case that Kilroy was here; Kilroy is still among us, in comic books, video games, TV shows, and all sorts of pop-culture artifacts.

US Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US Foreign Policy - Essay Example The decision rejecting the protocol was accompanied by unmeasurable critic especially from European countries. Additionally, Bush’s regime saw withdrawal of United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with arguments that the treaty would hinder US’s ability to protect itself from external attacks such as terrorism. Moreover, US raised concerns over development of nuclear weapons by nations such as People’s Republic of China, Iran and North Korea. In 2003 China admitted to making nuclear weapons further straining the relations with US. In July 2002 the International Criminal Court was created with a mandate to ensure that perpetrators of international crimes such as heads of states are punished. This prompted creation of the American Service members Protection Act (ASPA) in August 2002 in a bid to protect its appointed and elected officials from being tried by an international criminal court whom US is not a member. In relation to trade, Bush signed the free trade agreements with countries such as Chile and Ukraine under the Central American Free Trade Agreement thereby improving trade relations in US. Matters relating to Iraq’s regime change had started earlier with the signing of Iraq Liberation Act by President Bill Clinton in 1998. After Bush took office he continued with the agenda going forth to publicly press for regime change in 2002. This was on grounds of poor cooperation from Iraq and claims that Iraq was making weapons of mass destruction. In March 2003, Bush declared war on Iraq soon after notifying some allies such as Saudi Arabia on war imminence. The war however did not receive much support both from within US, other countries and agencies such as United Nations (UN) but this did not hinder Bush. Controversies surrounding the Iraq war arguably form the greatest criticism on Bush’s regime. Obama’s administration from its onset sought to bring the Iraq war to an end. However, there would

Balanced Scorecard and answer 2 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Balanced Scorecard and answer 2 questions - Essay Example They need to get a clear picture of performance in order to identify and align their initiatives. With the implementation of the scorecards they will be able to link their strategies with long term goals Governments are trying to be more business-like and are trying to use result oriented sector management tools, thus the adoption of the scorecards. Although the scorecard is not yet implemented full many government organizations have started adopting it and customizing it to fit their needs. The several organizations and governments that have already adopted it demonstrate that the balanced score card can be applied successfully to the government sector. The customer perspective should be at the top in a governments balance scorecard. However, the other three perspectives are not provided for in the order in which they should appear, but all of them eventually lead towards the customer in the balanced score

Mexican History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mexican History - Essay Example In the following paper we focus on, "the radical changes that took place in the political platform of Mexico and the people who were responsible to bring about those changes, at the end of eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century." By the end of the eighteenth century, Mexico, known as New Spain was governed under the viceroyalty of Spanish authority for around three hundred years and was one of the most densely populated areas of North America. In the overheated military activities at the end of eighteenth century, Spain suffered a number of military defeats in Europe and the Spanish monarchy determined to sort out ways to improve the defenses of its empire. To provide the treasury with large funds which can ultimately help in building up a stronger defense mechanism, the monarchy of Spain decided to revise the structure of taxes collected from New Spain. There were also serious administrative changes undertaken to check the growing amount of corruption in the bureaucratic system. The Bourbon reforms were implemented primarily to generate revenues for the improvements in military strengths of Spain. However it also attempted to check the inefficiency of local administration as well as to reduce the increasing cases of corruption in the bureaucracy of its colonial governments. In 1778 significant reforms were established which resulted into a loosening of the laws framed for colonial trade with other American colonies. This was aimed to help the colonist develop better trades with other colonies in the North American region and generate funds which could help in maintain a large army. In the administrative mechanism of the colony, reforms were introduced aiming at centralizing the powers of government and placing the Peninsulares (individuals with Spanish birth and upbringing) at important administrative positions. The strength of the colonial armies, which can be deployed elsewhere to check emergencies and prevent the demobilization of Spanish forces, were co nsiderably increased and local militia were reinforced. New taxes were imposed upon the Mexican masses and this was largely unwelcomed by the public with cases of denial of tax. The forceful efforts to bring about reforms and collect taxes resulted in increased grievances against the government and ultimately resulting in disordered conditions like riots and the antigovernment protests. The efforts by Spain to strengthen its political hold over the colony with the administrative changes was fiercely opposed by the Mexicans and these protests were efficiently popularized by the Criollos (the Spanish Mexicans who were born and brought up in Mexico) as they were now excluded from the administrative positions in viceroyalty. The economic prosperity which the Spanish had achieved generated resentment against it and the Mexicans increasingly felt that if provided with independence and allowed to control their own economic affairs, they would benefit more out of this business. The Development of Aggression The monarchy of Spain considered the church to be an economic and political rival as it had cumulated large amount of wealth and exercised great power on the society with the system of education at its control . With intentions