Utilitarianism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Utilitarianism - Coursework Example From this discussion it is clear that on utilitarian grounds, the individual should be tortured for the good and safety of others, which is noticeably ethical. For a terrorism free world, as a true utilitarian I would vote for the painful torture of the innocent individual. According to utilitarianism, the good of others should come first. Utilitarianism is a concept in normative ethics that views the best moral action as the one that maximises utility.   The best and valid action in this terrorism case is to save as many lives as possible. However, choosing the option of the innocent individual to be slowly and painfully tortured is not an easy decision to make and is not morally accepted.This paper discusses that the theory of utilitarianism is a basic view of consequences. For that reason, letting one individual die for the safety of the rest of the world is a justified, permissible, and an even obligatory action. The author takes on this situation can also be justified through the theory of doctrine of double effect. The doctrine suggests for an act to be morally permissible it has to fit certain criteria and the outcome should favour many. The doctrine also suggests the action is essential for ‘evil’ purpose if it results in beneficial good.   According to the school of thought established by Immanuel Kant ,believes that our sense of morality is connected to reason, therefore according   school of thought letting the individual face torture is worth if it saves many lives.  

National Office Machines Case Essay Example for Free

National Office Machines Case Essay 1. What factors contributed to Euro Disney’s poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney’s poor performance during its first year?  The factors that led to Euro Disney’s poor performance were the lack of understanding of the French culture, mistaken assumptions, and ethnocentrism by the American management. Since the prices of the hotels and entrances were different and much higher in Europe, the park attendance was low. It was actually cheaper for European families to travel to Disney World in Orlando, FL than to EuroDisney. Eisner was a little arrogant when he assumed people from all over Europe would come to Paris, when there are many different cultures in Europe, each one expecting adaptation. It isn’t like the U.S. where the culture is much the same throughout. Each country has its own culture. The guest expectations weren’t up to par, and the customer service wasn’t as expected. There was a ban on alcohol when the French are the biggest wine drinking country and the poor and underestimated arrangement of breakfast didn’t settle well with the French. It failed in Hong Kong because its service standpoint was below standards. The cultural factors also added to the failure of the theme park they did not adapt to the Chinese culture. They have improved however culture isn’t everything the rides weren’t the quality that guests expected it to be. 2. To what degree do you consider that these two factors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by EuroDisney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent company, Disney? In terms of the foreseeable factors, they should have taken into consideration cross cultural differences, the Gulf War of 1991, 1980’s European recession, high interest rates and devaluation of several currencies, World Fair in Seville and the Olympics in Barcelona, and the ban on alcohol consumption. Controllable factors were mistaken assumptions, initial pricing, design and marketing policies, early advertising that was more expensive, poor and underestimated arrangement of breakfast, and arrogance of Disney’s management. 3. What role does ethnocentrism play in the story of EuroDisney’s launch? Ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own culture, and all other cultures are measured in relation to it. This happened when the Disney management did not try and understand the French expectations or wishes, and went ahead and implemented the Disney Park as per their wishes. The French, of course did not accept this since they never wanted the Americanized entertainment. Disney management had the resources available to get a marketing opinion from European sources that would have saved them from failure. However, since they were profitable with the other Disney parks, the management did not see as this park being any different. If only they had consulted with European marketers, they could have avoided pricing mistakes, food and drink mistakes, and entertainment mistakes. 4. How do you assess the cross-cultural marketing skills of Disney? In the beginning Disney’s cross-cultural marketing skills were far below par. Simply put, they did not do their homework, but when failure crept up they realized their mistakes. Now they have hired European management, who has a better idea of what they are doing. They not only changed their marketing and pricing strategies, but they also changed the food and drink as well. Therefore, in the end, Disney’s cross-cultural skills have improved significantly. 5. Why did success in Tokyo predispose Disney management to be too optimistic in their expectations of success in France? Discuss. In Japan Disney park was a huge success due to the fact that the Japanese had a sentimental attachment to American cartoon characters. The Japanese tourists enjoyed themselves at the park because they could automatically relate to these characters. This resulted in a profit not only in the first year, but in the second year as well. There were 14 million people that visited Tokyo Disney Park the second year and 3/4th of them were repeat customers. With these high figures and profits, Disney management had high hopes while constructing the park in Paris. They didn’t feel the need to do any research since the Japanese adapted so well to the American customs and Disney management figured the French would be no different. However, this was completely the opposite of what happened. The French did not accept the American customers and a failure resulted in Paris. 6. Why do you think the experience in France didn’t help Disney avoid some of the problems in Hong Kong? First are the cultural differences. In Hong Kong, they only considered Chinese style in the park design. Also, they still overpriced the park. They didn’t take into consideration the actual price level of the country and blindly set prices high so that visitors could not afford, and moved on to other amusement parks. Last is the marketing. Disney management did not market its entertainment concept. Like France, Hong Kong has their own cartoon image and was not familiar with Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. 7. Now that Hong Kong Disney is up and running, will the Shanghai development benefit from the Hong Kong experience? Disney management will know exceptionally well that doing research is the first step. Familiarize the customer base with the characters first and foremost so that way when you â€Å"open the gates† it is a warm, relaxing feeling seeing familiar faces. They should also make sure and set prices at a fair level. Look into the income level of the population and make an educated decision. 8. Now that Disney has begun work on the new Hong Kong and Shanghai locations, where and when should it go next? Assume you are a consultant hired to give Disney advice on the issue of where and when to go next. Pick three locations and select the one you think will be the best new locations and select the one you think will be the best new location for Disneyland X, and discuss. India, Australia, and Brazil are three locations that I would advise Disney to consider next. I think the best location would be India. India is coming up as next big market is almost every field due to strong presence of customer base and more disposable income. American culture is already so popular in India. Hollywood became so popular that India created its own Bollywood. India also has the second largest population in the world, so financially Disney would excel with that customer base. Again Disney would have to be careful with the food choices and pricing. Australia would also be a great choice for obvious reasons. There location from other countries would be ideal since it would not cannibalize other locations’ attendance. Also, since they are an English speaking country there would not be a language barrier. Australia is such a compact nation that no matter where you placed the Disney park people would be able to easily access it. The third country I think would be ideal is Brazil. It is a powerful and emerging nature, and although they have a strong culture, with a lot of research could be very prosperous. They also have a very large population that would financially be beneficial to Disney. It would also be a good location to service Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. 9. Given your choice of locale X for the newest Disneyland, what are the operational implications of the history of EuroDisney and Disney Hong Kong for the new park? After the failed attempt at Disney Paris, Disney should have a lot of experience now in opening theme parks. I think with extensive research and a culturally intelligent management, Disney will excel in Disney India. This time the management will do their homework and find out the cultural differences, customs, traditions, food, drink, etc. Since there is a language barrier, they will also have a team of leaders who are fluent in the language to help the American team.

The Power Struggle in Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita :: Nabokov Lolita Essays

The Power Struggle in Lolita      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to literary theories and the theories of Fredrich Nietzsche, human beings have an unquenchable urge for power and will use "ethics," and everything else, in order to increase their authority. In Nabokov's Lolita, we see how Humbert controls Lolita in the beginning stages of their relationship but eventually finds himself going mad because of her deceitful ways and the control she has over his sexual desires.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The novel introduces HumbertHumbert, a man with charm and the dignity of being a teacher in Paris. Yet, we instantly find he is a sexually disturbed man, lusting for young, prepubescent girls. His perversions are obvious--we can tell from his journal--and the ideas are highly obsessive with the topic of young girls. His mind is always on his first true love, his young Annabel, who died a short time after his first sexual encounter with her. Humbert says, "I see Annabel in such general terms as: 'honey-colored skin,' 'thin arms,' 'brown bobbed hair,' 'long lashes,' 'big bright mouth' (11). This, in fact, becomes his outline for a nymphet, or a girl between the ages of 9 and 14. One who meets his strict criteria is to become a gem in his eyes, yet treated with the same objectivity as a whore. He considers them all sexual objects for his enjoyment because he is a man who wishes to dominate these girls at such a young age.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using Nietzsche's theories on power and dominance over others, we can see that Humbert is a man who meets his criterion of someone driven on obtaining the control and respect of those who can be easily manipulated. In a theory entitled "The Superman," he writes:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The strong man must rid himself of all idea that it is disgraceful to yield to his acute and ever-present yearning for still more strength. There must be an abandonment of the old slave-morality and a transvaluation of moral values. The will to power must be emancipated from the bonds of that system of ethics which brands it with infamy. (Mencken 105)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nietzsche sees someone with total power as one with no regard for anyone other than himself.

Business Requirement Analysis Essay

Introduction On my paper, I will be discussing the analysis of an e-commerce function of General Electric website. I chose to do General Electric because they are well established and have diversified services, technology, and manufacturing. General Electric is a company that is committed to being an industry leader world side and is striving to be the example for the world to follow its leadership of its businesses. Currently Forbes has ranked GE as the world’s second largest company with over 287,000 employees around the world. Jeffery Immelt is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of General Electric. He was selected by the General Electric Board of Directors in 2000 after Jack Welch retired. Before Jack Welch retired, he announced that General Electric will become the leader in global internet business. He saw what the internet is capable of and saw that it was critical for General Electric to lead the pace in the internet business. During Jack Welch tenure, he has developed values that are taken seriously within the General Electric organization. Jack Welch used what he called the 4 E’s of leadership, which are Energy, individuals with energy love to â€Å"go, go, go†. These people possess boundless energy and get up every day ready to attack the job at hand. High energy people move at 95 miles-per-hour in a 55 mile-per-hour world, Energizers, know how to spark others to perform. They outline a vision and get people to carry it out. Energizers know how to get people excited about a cause or a crusade. They are selfless in giving others the credit when things go right, but quick to except responsibility when things go awry, Edge, those with edge are competitive types. They know how to make the really difficult decisions, such as hiring, firing and promoting, never allowing the degree of difficulty to stand in their way, and Execute, the key to the entire model. Without measurable results, the other â€Å"E’s† are of little use. Executers recognize that activity and productivity are not the same and are capable of converting energy and edge into action and results. Jack Welch took twenty years to develop his leadership model. For General Electric to have a successful implantation of the e-commerce tactics, they had to overcome some cultural issues. General Electric had also to ensure that their operations would run smoothly and to be able to build good relationships with their customers. What General Electric has done in the past was they would keep a large sales staff to help customers with their purchase of General Electric products. With the introduction of the internet and General Electric new e-business, the sales staff had become worried that they might lose their jobs because of the internet and they feeling not needed. What General Electric did to help overcome this misconception, they offered bonuses to anyone on the sales staff that helped the customers buy over the internet. They help make the staff understand how the internet can benefit them and the company as a whole and this calmed down the sales staff. With the sales of home appliances, it has become a very completive market with sales and reduce pricing on most to all appliance that anyone sales and a web presence is essential to have within this market. In today’s market though, having just one centralized website will not due and General Electric understood this and General Electric wanted to give each store the ability to sell on the internet to their customers in there general location. With each store having its own website, they should be able to manipulate the website to reflect their own personal pricing of the appliances along with advertising and home delivery terms and conditions. General Electric decided that the website drive by the postal code, meaning customers find their local General Electric store by their postal zip code. Once you are on that particular website, the website offers the traditional search and select stores, gives product details, you can compare modes and so on, but you would be offered that particular store price and specials. The websites for the stores have an user friendly, easy to use website editor where the store can change the data to reflect their current prices and sales and they can change their store banners and graphics. With this type of interface, store owners are able to reflect their website to exactly what is happening in the store. The two requirements that I have selected from the list is as followed: 1) Develop and implement a new website or enhance an existing website to include customer service. This might include features for self-service or use of real-time customer support. 2) Add Internet-based advertising capabilities such as pop-up ads, banner ads, and pop-overs. Now what we will do is discuss the two topics in more detail. The first topic I picked was Develop and implements a new website or enhances an existing website to include customer service. This might include features for self-service or use of real-time customer support. With today’s completive and customer driven market, whether you are a local small town shop or a huge e-commerce business, customer satisfaction is your number one priority as a business. Customers rules that market and the key to be successful and to grow in this world today, your business needs to provide the best customer care money can buy and you need to have better customer care then your competition. With e-business, it can be tough to make it customer friendly because of the lack of face to face contact, but to make e-business customer friendly, it will be necessary to upgrade or enhance the current webpage for the company with a dedicated page for customer support. This page needs to be easy to find on any page within the website and it should be easy to read for the customer with numbers and addresses clearly labeled for customer support. There are several features that helps with the organization and layout of the webpage to make things easier for the customer to na vigate. The first feature should be to make sure there are multiple selections for the customer to have to reach the customer service if there are any issues that should arise. The second feature would to include a customer satisfaction form where they can send information about the experience and/or troubles with the products. The third feature is a new feature that is making its way into the e-commerce market and that would be a live chat. With a live chat, customers can get real time customer service and assistance with the issue they are having with customer representatives. The company should be able to provide these options to the customers with a customer support staff that is experienced and able to resolve the issue for the customer. Just as with the phone support, any support that is requested on the website should be handled and resolved quickly and with accurately. This would be the same for the staff that is online helping to resolve issues, they all should understand the company, policies, products, and services and they should have to keep getting refresher training throughout their time with the company. With web chat, it can be very difficult to get logged on and get help and this can frustrate the customers even more before they even get any help. to keep this from happening, the web chat should use the best web technology so that the customer can log on easily and get into a chat session. The chat window should not take much time to load and there should be little wait time to reach a representative. The customer support staff should be provided with CRM software to make sure that all problems are understood and that all the information they need to solve the customers issue are within hands reach. The use case for the customer service process 1. Customer calls the toll free number, fills out an online survey, or logs into the online web chat 2. The customer then lets the customer support knows there grievance/issues with the company or product. 3. If this customer is on the phone, the phone representative will have CRM software so that they have the information available to them. If the issue requires the representative to find out additional information, then the representative will place the customer on hold to get the answers to solve the issue and then get back with the customer. If the customer submits an online form, the representative handling the form will get the issue/problem resolved as quickly as possible and email the user with the solution to resolve the issue. If it is a chat session, the representative will help the customer as soon as they let the representative know the issue. They will also use CRM software to help the customer or get help from their fellow co-workers. 4. Once the issue or problem has been resolved, the representative will ask the customer if all issues or questions have been taken care of. If the customer stats that they have had all there issue resolve, the task is complete. The reason for such an in-depth customer service section and service are because customer service is because customer service is the driving key for any company’s success for its e-business and is vital for the company to continue to enhance its corporate image by providing the best customer service. The second topic that I picked was to add Internet-based advertising capabilities such as pop-up ads, banner ads, and pop-overs. Another important factor that is missing in internet advertising is search engine optimization; I will include this component within this category. Search engine optimization has become the most important component to internet advertising and without search engine optimization; no business will stand out in the hoard of businesses out there that is using search engine optimization. What search engine optimization does is it helps your website get to the top of a list within search engines. When using internet search engines like Google.com, we type in what we are looking for and a long list of search results that come back. The sites that come first have better search engine optimization technique then the sites towards the bottom, thus making them the first sites that are seen by the customers. To put it plainly, search engine optimization techniques are tools that help your website to become the first choice to appear, in turn increasing the traffic to your website which helps enhance your brand name which will increase your web traffic even more. There are several internet and marketing programs which will help with your search engine optimization but the most popular one today is Google’s Ad words program. When using this service, it will allow your website to be among the first few search results on a search engine such as Google. Use case for advertising and marketing process. 1. The prospect types their inquiry within a search engine such as Google.com or Bing.com 2. The search engine results appear for the inquiry, which will also display the company’s website link within the first few results as long as the search inquires is related to the company. 3. Once all the results have displayed, the customer then clicks on the company’s web link and reaches the homepage for the company. 4. Once the customer has directed their attention to the company’s website, the task is successfully completed.

Price Fixing

The case was released in the mid-2006, where the Federal Trade Commission has declared that they are challenging the members of the Puerto Rico Association of Endodontists, Corporation or the PRAE (Commissions, 2006). This is because of alleged price-fixing collaborations that they would be charging on several insurance policies and dental services that they offer. They have collaborated and made agreements with 30 other competitors, wherein they fixed their prices at the expense of their consumers. Because of this, the FTC was forced to file a complaint against this company since it decreases the competition between these companies, thus higher costs will be imposed on the consumers. This is a clear violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act, Section number 5. In order for this matter to be resolved, The Puerto Rico Association of Endodontists, Corp. will have to refrain from involving in matters that promote anticompetitive conduct in the coming years. Through this, the Federal Trade Commission will be able to make sure that these dental services and other necessary health care issues will be given and addressed for the consumers at prices that they could afford. Keeping a competitive environment in the aspect of health care will open up better opportunities for the people, along with lower competitive prices. Letting healthcare be monopolized will lead to higher pricing and less maintenance, and would really be a burden to the people, the consumers. That’s why these health care providers and producers should not act as one; they should not collaborate with each other in their pricing, because it takes away the aspect of competitiveness between them. The complaints against Puerto Rico Association of Endodontists, Corporation shows that in the year 2003, the company has already began its bargaining with their competitors, thus resulting to the drastic increase in five dental plans already. Another increase occurred during 2004, wherein the prices also went up because of their bargaining. Because of these actions the ones who were jeopardized were the people; they were the ones who carried the burden of increased rates, since these health care issues is a necessity for everyone. The Federal Trade Commission analyzed that these drastic changes in prices have no whatsoever effect on the quality of services offered by the company, thus the additional prices were not really justifiable. It doesn’t lead to a better quality of health care, thus, it is only a waste in the part of the consumers. Given the situation, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a consent order which will be solve the problem at hand. This will hopefully relieve the impact of the alleged anticompetitive actions by the Puerto Rico Association of Endodontists, Corporation and further prevent it from happening again. It would then hinder the company to have any settlements or agreements with other endodontists and negotiate with any payor on the services that they offer, except properly arranged by the organization. Reference: Commissions, F. T. (2006). FTC Charges Puerto Rico Endodontists With Price Fixing.  Ã‚   Retrieved August 4, 2007   

The Hunger Games Essay Example

The Hunger Games Essay Example The Hunger Games Paper The Hunger Games Paper Essay Topic: The Hunger Games The nation of Panem Is the ruins of the place once known as North America. Panem was once surrounded by 13 districts, and at the center of it is the Capitol. The districts had created an uprising before against the capitol which ended Into destruction of the District 13. The 12 districts remained but have been faced to a game where lite is at stake -the Hunger Games which tor the capitol reminds everyone In Panem that it is to pay what had happened in uprising. The Hunger Games is game where two tributes (players) from every district will be chosen. The players name are drawn In d ceremony called the Reaping. The Reaping Is the time where names of every citizen ages from 12-18 years old will be drawn. The more you entries you give In the Reaping the more ration you will get tor your tarnlly. In districts hunger games Is a cruel thing because tributes will kill each other and is being televised live on TV. Family of tributes will be grieving since it is a sacrifice for them to be saved from hunger. The victor of the game will be spending a splendid life from providing them shelter to making their stomach full this is to remind the people ot Panem that even the dlstrlcts created an uprising before the capitol Is still enerous enough to partake in giving such rewards. Katniss Everdeen is a girl who lives in District 12 where coal mining was their livelihood. Her father died at mine tunnels when he stepped on a mine. Since then she took the responsibility as the head of the family since her mother became so depressed with what happened to their father. He also has a sister named Primrose Everdeen. Katniss lived a life of survival and protected Prim since their father died. She always slipped on the districts fence and hunt for their dally needs and food which is Illegal for it is a form f theft, getting something out of the fence means getting something from the Capitol. Since the peacekeeper in 12 is nice, getting outside the fence and trading food from the woods became so negligible. until the day of the Reaping comes and the 74th Hunger Games will begin, Prims name got drawn to become one of the tributes trom 12. But to protect Prim was one ot Katniss priorities so she volunteered for her sister. The drama of course made Katniss very popular In the Capitol and that made Katniss gain more sponsors. On the other hand Peeta Mellark was also drawn to become one of the tributes. Peetd Melldrk was the men who helped Katniss when she cant get any food from the woods and by that time shes literally begging for food to keep her tamlly alive. Peeta, a son ot a baker burned bread Intentionally and got scolded by his mother since it is a waste. He had thrown the bread directly to his position instead of their pigs The tributes from 12 were guided to the Justice Building of the district. They can be found In different room where visitors are allowed to come until the day where they travel to the capitol. Madge, the mayors daughter visited Katniss and gave her a Mockingjay pln. Mocklng]ay Is a bird made from a cross breed of jabber]ay (which is a weapon, that can record a sound or voice to their mind and they are used during the uprising) and a mocking bird. Thus this bird became her Identity during the hunger games since it is a symbol of the District 12. alive the next time theyll see each other. They rode a train to the capitol where they met Effie Trinket and Haymitch. Effie Trinket is a woman from the Capitol with a weird sense of fashion. She is the one who draw names during the reaping and will be assisting the tributes in the Capitol. Haymitch is the only victor of the District 12. He became the mentor of the tributes during the games. The game is fast approaching, and so the tributes from all the districts were programmed to be a career. Career means attending a whole lot of training about weaponry and survival. They also went to a parade at the Capitol which also made Katniss very interesting where Cinna (her head stylist} made a black gown that actually flicker with fake fire that cant even hurt a skin. Katniss was aliased as the Girl on Fire. So she gained more sponsors. There is also a day where they had a televised interview from Flickerman. And what so urprising is that Peeta confessed that he is in love with Katniss. Which in the other hand a conflict, because they cant be no two victor in a game and that means they will kill each other and that will end their love story. So after the interview they played the star-crossed lover roles. And it is also a good trick for the capitol people did bite it. They became so passionate with them and also they sponsored for the two. So the Hunger Games began, at first Peeta has Joined a pack of different tributes, while Katniss made it to herself. Days passed when Katniss has finally Joined herself n ally -Sue from the District 8. When Sue got killed by one of the tributes, Katniss unaware of what shes doing sparked an uprising by putting flowers on Sues body until a hovercraft appear to take the cold body. She also did the sign of love and respect in 12. Days passed and the game has become boring. No killings and so the head of the Game Makers bend a rule that change their lives. Two tributes will be victors if they were from the same district. After hearing it, she chased Peeta down the woods and when they see each other they played the star-cross lover again. After o many killings, Peeta and Katniss are still alive. They are waiting for the signal that they will be announced victors but they are not announcing it, instead they announced that the rule has been changed again of course for the entertainment of the Capitol. And so they challenged the capitol by putting poisonous berries in their mouth together that made the game makers change their minds and announce the two as the victors. The Capitol was mocked by the act, so after the games the two became a threat to the government. And another uprising against the Capitol has begun.

Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essays

Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essays Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essay Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essay Conflict will always be a part of human nature due to our complex make up and conflicting ideas and values. Whilst the inevitability of conflict brings much pain and suffering, it is not always a bad thing as it can allow for true heroes to arise and act in a way that benefits the greater good. Adversity brings out the best and worst in all people this means that there is a very thin line between a hero and a villain. An individuals involvement in conflict is a matter of perspective; this means that one mans hero could be another mans villain. Although these individuals may be heroes during a time of conflict, the emotional suffering that they may have to endure in the aftermath may mean that their actions where done in vain. In a time of conflict it is natural for a group of people to look to an individual for leadership. For the ladies in the Prisoners of War camp in the film Paradise Road this individual was Adrienne. Leadership quality where displayed from Adrienne right from when she firsts arrives in Sumatra when she snaps at Captain Tanana stating that There is a Geneva convention laying down the rules of war. These defiant words In the face of danger portray Adrienne as someone who is willing to stand up for what she believes in. Again heroic qualities are shown by Adrienne In her leadership role In the womens vocal orchestra. By uniting the ladies and providing them with a symbol of hope Adrienne became the hero and the leader that the women needed in a time of great conflict. Adrenalines actions In the face of danger can be compared to that of the father of India, Mahatma Ghanaian. Through his actions and Ideology In the face f conflict, Ghanaian emerged as a hero for the Indian people and a source of inspiration and hope for generations of people all over the world. Shindigs Influence affected millions of lives and was powerful enough to win back his countrys independence without a single act of violence. What makes someone a hero In a time of conflict Is a matter of perspective, whilst one person may deem an Individuals actions In the face of conflict necessary and heroic, It may be deemed evil and cowardly by someone else. An example of this Is the atrocities that organizations Like he Taliban commit during a time of conflict. Although misguided, the young men who are apart of groups Like the Taliban and AY Qaeda are acting with good Intentions. They are under the Impression that they are doing Gods work and acting In the best Interest of their country and their way of life; It Is this mindset that allows them to Justify their actions no matter how devastating the consequences are. Because powerful molesters share the same opinions and values as these terrorist organizations It allows the Individuals within the group and the supporters of the cause to think of these men as heroes. The fine line delving heroes and villains can also be seen In the film Paradise Road. Like the modern terrorist organizations mentioned, the Japanese military are also able to Justify actions that under any other circumstances would be unspeakable. This Is Illustrated by Captain Tanana who describes bombing a ship full of women and children as A matter of regret And A characteristic of war. The lack of remorse Captain Tanana shows portrays that he feels the actions of his Japanese comrades are Justifiable and to some degree could e considered heroic by the right audience. Heroes emerge in a time of conflict By p-force Geneva convention laying down the rules of war. These defiant words in the face of in. Again heroic qualities are shown by Adrienne in her leadership role in the great conflict. Adrenalines actions in the face of danger can be compared to that of the father of India, Mahatma Ghanaian. Through his actions and ideology in the face inspiration and hope for generations of people all over the world. Shindigs influence independence without a single act of violence. What makes someone a hero in a time of conflict is a matter of perspective, whilst one person may deem an individuals actions in the face of conflict necessary and heroic, it may be deemed evil and cowardly by someone else. An example of this is the atrocities that organizations like who are apart of groups like the Taliban and AY Qaeda are acting with good intentions. They are under the impression that they are doing Gods work and acting in the best interest of their country and their way of life; it is this mindset that allows Because powerful minorities share the same opinions and values as these terrorist organizations it allows the individuals within the group and the supporters of the cause to think of these men as heroes. The fine line dividing heroes and villains can also be seen in the film Paradise Road. Like the modern terrorist organizations mentioned, the Japanese military are also able to Justify actions that under any other circumstances would be unspeakable. This is illustrated by Captain Tanana who A characteristic of war. The lack of remorse Captain Tanana shows portrays that he

10 Steps for Finding Your Family Tree Online

10 Steps for Finding Your Family Tree Online From cemetery transcriptions to census records, millions of genealogy resources have been posted online in recent years, making the Internet a popular first stop in researching family roots. And with good reason. No matter what you want to learn about your family tree, there is a pretty good chance you can dig up at least some of it on the Internet. Its not quite as simple as finding a database that contains all of the information on your ancestors and downloading it, however. Ancestor hunting is actually much more exciting than that! The trick is learning how to use the myriad of tools and databases that the Internet provides to find facts and dates on your ancestors, and then going beyond that to fill in the stories of the lives they lived. While each family search is different, I often find myself following the same basic steps when beginning to research a new family tree online. As I search, I also keep a research log noting the places Ive searched, the information I find (or didnt find), and a source citation for each piece of information that I find. The search is fun, but less so the second time if you  forget where youve  looked  and end up having to do  it all over again! Begin with Obituaries Since family tree searches generally work their way back in time from the present, searching out information on recently deceased relatives is a good place to start your family tree quest. Obituaries can be a gold mine for information on family units, including siblings, parents, spouses, and even cousins, as well as the date of birth and death and place of burial. Obituary notices may also help lead you to living relatives who can provide further information on your family tree. There are several large obituary search engines online which can make the search a bit easier, but if you know the town where your relatives lived you will often have better luck searching the obituary archive (when available online) of the local paper. If you arent sure of the name of the local paper for that community, a search for newspaper and the city, town or county name in your favorite search engine will often get you there. Be sure to search out obituaries for siblings and cousins as well as your di rect ancestors. Dig Into Death Indexes Since death records are usually the most recent record created for a deceased individual, they are often the easiest place to begin your search. Death records are also less restricted than most records by privacy laws. While monetary restrictions and privacy concerns mean that the majority of death records are not yet available online, many online death indexes are available through both official and volunteer sources. Try one of these major databases and indexes of   online death records, or do a Google search for death records plus the name of the county or state in which your ancestors lived. If youre researching American ancestors, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) contains details of more than 77 million deaths reported to the SSA since about 1962. You can search the SSDI for free through  several online sources. Details listed in the SSDI generally include the name, date of birth and death, zip code of last residence, and social security number for each listed individu al. Further information can be obtained by requesting a copy of the individuals   Social Security Application. Check Out the Cemetery Continuing the search for death records, online cemetery transcriptions are another huge resource for information on your ancestors. Volunteers from around the world have traipsed through thousands of cemeteries, posting names, dates, and even photos. Some larger public cemeteries provide their own online index to burials. Here are a number of free   cemetery search databases  online which compile links to online cemetery transcriptions. RootsWebs country, state, and county sites are another great source for links to online cemetery transcriptions, or you can try a search for your familys surname plus cemetery plus location in your favorite Internet search engine. Locate Clues in the Census Once youve used your personal knowledge and online death records to trace your family tree back to people who lived around the beginning of the twentieth century, census records can provide a treasure trove of information on the family. Census records in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and many other countries are available online some for free and some through subscription access. In the United States, for example, you can often find living and recently deceased family members listed with their parents in the 1940 federal census, the most recent census year open to the public. From there, you can trace the family back through previous censuses, often adding a generation or more to the family tree. Census takers werent very good at spelling and families arent always listed where you expect them, so you may want to try some of these search tips for census success. Go On Location By this point, youve probably managed to narrow down the search to a particular town or county. Nows the time to head to the source for more detailed information. My first stop is usually the county specific Web sites at USGenWeb, or their counterparts at WorldGenWeb - depending upon your country of interest. There you may find newspaper abstracts, published county histories, biographies, family trees, and other transcribed records, as well as surname queries and other information posted by fellow researchers. You may have already come across some of these sites in your search for cemetery records, but now that youve learned more about your ancestors, you can dig even deeper. Visit the Library In the spirit of location, my next step in the family hunt is to visit the Web sites for local libraries and historical and genealogical societies in the area in which my ancestor lived. Often you can find links to these organizations through the locality-specific genealogical sites mentioned in step 5. Once there, look for a link labeled genealogy or   family history to learn about the available resources for genealogical research in the area. You may find online indexes, abstracts, or other published genealogical records. Most libraries will also offer  online searching  of their library catalog. While most local and  family history books  arent available for online reading, many may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Search Message Boards Many great nuggets of family history information are exchanged and shared via message boards, groups, and mailing lists. Searching the archives of the lists and groups which pertain to your surnames and areas of interest may yield obituaries, family histories, and other pieces of the genealogy puzzle. Not all of these archived messages can be found via traditional search engines, however, necessitating manual searching of any lists of interest.  RootsWebs genealogy mailing lists  and message boards  include searchable archives, as do most genealogy-related organizations using  Yahoo Groups  or  Google Groups. Some may require you to join (free) before searching the archived messages Ferret Out Family Trees Hopefully, by this point, youve found enough names, dates, and other facts to help you distinguish your ancestors from others of the same name making it a good time to turn to the family research already done by others. Thousands of family tree have been published online, the majority of them included in one or more of these Top 10 Pedigree Databases. Be warned, however.  Many online family trees  are basically works in progress and may or may not be correct. Be sure to  verify the validity of a family tree  before incorporating it into your own family tree, and  cite the source of the information  in case you find conflicting data as your research progresses. Search for Specialized Resources Based on what youve learned about your ancestors, now you can search out more  specialized genealogical information. Databases, histories, and other genealogical records may be found online which focus on military service, occupations, fraternal organizations, or school or church membership. Stop by the Subscription Sites By this point youve exhausted many of the free online genealogy resources. If youre still having trouble finding information on your family, it may be time to tackle the pay-for-use genealogy databases. Through these sites you can access a wide variety of indexed databases and original images, ranging from the  digitized WWI Draft Registration records  at  Ancestry.com  to the birth, marriage, and death records available online from  Scotlands People. Some sites operate on a pay-per-download basis, charging only for the documents you actually view, while others require a subscription for unlimited access. Check for a free trial or free search feature before plunking down your money!

Compare and Contrast Speech treatment of dysarthria Research Paper

Compare and Contrast Speech treatment of dysarthria - Research Paper Example Behavioral methods that endeavor to enhance speech precision comprise the volume of intervention strategies for this population, as the dysarthria does not often respond dynamically to medical interventions; although a variety of cases and group studies commonly maintain the eï ¬Æ'ciency of behavioral treatment, much work continues to ascertain a rigorous evidence base (Lansford et al., 2011). Four research articles specifically, Articulatory Deficits in Parkinsonian Dysarthria: an Acoustic Analysis (Ackermann & Ziegler, 1991), Deep Brain Stimulation of Caudal Zona Incerta and Subthalamic Nucleus in Patients with Parkinson’s disease: Effects on Diadochokinetic Rate (Karlsson et al., 2011), Effect of LSVT on Lexical Tone in Speakers with Parkinson’s disease (Whitehill et al., 2011) and A Cognitive-Perceptual Approach to Conceptualizing Speech Intelligibility Deficits and Remediation Practice in Hypokinetic Dysarthria (Lansford et al., 2011), conferred speech treatment t echniques for dysarthria. Ackermann and Ziegler (1991) performed an acoustic speech analysis of sentence utterances to provide information on speech tempo and accuracy of articulation. Conversely, in the research article of Karlsson et al. (2011), the authors on the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation to the Diadochokinetic Rate of patients with dysarthria suffering from Parkinson’s disease. On the contrary, Whitehill et al. (2011) tackled in detail the treatment modality known as Lee Silverman Voice Treatment or LSVT and its benefits and consequences for patients with dysarthria. In contrast, Lansford et al. (2011) gave emphasis on conceptualizing and justifying potential targets for speech remediation. This paper aspires to tackle the different research articles mentioned and to analyze the similarities and divergences of the treatment modalities for dysarthria encompassed in the cited research articles. The study entitled, Articulatory Deficits in Parkinsonian Dysarthria: an Acoustic

Famine (global issue) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Famine (global issue) - Research Paper Example Globally, a high number of people are faced with food problems, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia, Latin America and North America. Famine results free free-market processes that have restructured the global economy, dating back to the debt crisis of the early 1980s. Famine as a phenomenon has been ongoing for a while. Modern scholars define famine in terms of a short-term effect of supply and demand for agricultural goods. Famine is a global issue, although many people attribute it to the developing world. This paper focuses on famine as a problem facing the world in general. While many countries rarely face famines in these modern times, it still remains a disturbing, yet controversial issue. The argument that developing countries are faced with higher chances of famine strikes, the assumption that developing countries are immune is not true. History has demonstrated that famine can strike at any time to whichever country, without necessarily the country being economi cally struggling. Natural calamities such as floods, earthquakes and drought have been found to be the biggest contributors of memorable famines in the history of the calamity. By addressing the major factors causing famines and instances in which major famines happened in the world, the paper seeks to prove that famine is a global issue. ... Increase in global inflationary levels has seen a steady increase in general global food prices with time. Statistics reveal that increase in food prices has contributed significantly to the increase in global famine levels. In some cases, famine effects have been so devastating that it almost escalated into a crisis. An example of such a country is Haiti, where food prices rose at an average rate of 40 percent in less than a year, with rice prices doubling. Famine is caused by acute hunger, characterized by short-term problems of food security that develops to intensive levels (Digby, 102). Famine is one of the major challenges facing human beings in the modern day world, claiming lives of a lot of people in third world countries, most of which fall in the African continent, Asia and Latin America. The other challenges that have similar devastating effects to humanity in the world are diseases such as HIV/AIDs and cancer. Many people have perished in times of hunger due to starvatio n. Although still at high levels, the current rates of famine in the world have reduced significantly. Stringent measures have been put to ensure that occurrence of famine incidences such as those that faced the world in the 19th century are not experienced again. The UN has through the United Nations Food Development Program (UNFDP) tried to save people from such adverse situations. The Red Cross also carries such a program like the relief food program to provide food to the hunger stricken areas. Such organizations, operating globally, dedicated to ensuring that people have enough food during times of hunger, show that famine is a global issue. Effects

WAREHOUSE AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

WAREHOUSE AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT - Essay Example It is that part of the firm’s logistics system that stores products at and between point of origin and point of consumption. It provides information to the management about the status, condition and disposition level. Warehousing provides the place utility and works as a balance between production and meeting customer needs. Warehouses also support manufacturing, mix products from multiple facilities for shipment to a single customer, break-bulk and are used as a ‘flow-thru’ point along with â€Å"hoarding† point. Warehousing functions include; material handling, customer services, information transfer, and storage. Other purpose is to identify goods, dispatch for storage, hold inventory, recall goods, dispatch the shipment and prepare records and advices. Warehouses also provide services like Co-packing kitting and repair to its customers. With advancement in information technology and changing needs of businesses, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) have b een designed. These WMS are a key part of supply chain management and aim at controlling the movement and storage of materials within a  warehouse  and processing of associated transactions. Third-party Warehousing: Tompkins,A., Jerry, D (1998) wrote that third party logistics has gained considerable importance and recognition in today’s business world. ... A third-party, then, is a firm hired to do that which neither the first or second party desires to do. Third-part warehousing is defined as the warehousing services provided by a party other than the manufacturer, seller, buyer and receiver of the goods (Skjoett & Larson, 2007). A firm that provides outsourced logistic services to companies is called third-party logistics. These companies undertake all or a part of the supply chain management task of their client. Previously small warehouses were established in order to store the products mainly of food industry but with the passage of time manufacturing industry also started warehousing their material and products. Now warehousing is a vast area and short term contracts are now replaced with long term warehousing arrangements. Reasons: Drucker (1989) mentioned in an article that businesses today are outsourcing their warehousing function because of the following reasons: Now businesses are inclined towards having limited workforce i n order to reduce their cost and liabilities associated with these employees. Third-party warehousing reduces need of work force rather than employing people to manage personal warehouse. As warehouses are now operated with advanced information technology and warehouse management systems, it needs to have professional experts which ultimately raise work force and cost. Third-party warehousing help to maintain source of supply without breaking the chain of supply and provide goods in time to the customers. As the main focus of any business is on customer services, third-party warehouses support the policies designed by a business for customer services. As market conditions change rapidly in today’s

Marketing Principles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing Principles - Assignment Example It is only when these principles are adhered to, will a business organization be well placed to experience the maximum benefits of marketing. There are four core principles of marketing that will be expounded in this paper. The marketing presumption is that in the absence of these marketing principles effective and complete marketing would essentially be impossible. The success of any business venture is significantly hinged on the comprehension and effective execution of these marketing principles. Main Body In context to marketing endeavours, business organizations would rather revert to conventional forms of advertising deals and marketing ideas. This is hinged on the assumption that since these ideas been proven to work since time immemorial. As such, these are safe strategies whose risk is as low as it can get. However, business organisations must exercise caution and restraint when implementing strategies that are not in line with common conventional strategies. If caution is n ot observed, the huge amounts of funds that are dedicated towards product marketing will be lost. The art of learning how to market effectively is one of the biggest hurdles for an upcoming business venture or launching a new product. The risk of encountering failure is more than real. As such, the following basic principles must be used to avert failure. ... This is hinged on the rationale that it is important for buyers to understand what is being offered if significant sales are to be experienced (Barcharts, 2010). In respect, this is one of the most vital aspects of marketing. If the product that is being offered is not clearly understood, in terms of functions or benefits of the product or service, by the impending clients then they will simply pick up and move on from the product. As such, in an endeavour to avert such catastrophic eventualities, a few measures can be instituted. The measures are hinged on ensuring the public are in full comprehension of the respective products that are being offered. These measures can best be exemplified by including warranties, efficient customer service, adequate instructions, company name, and visual illustrations of how your product or service functions. Prior to the launch of the product into the market, there are a number of product decisions that have to be made. The first is deciding on br and name. This is an especially important process in an endeavour to maintain the uniqueness of the business organization. The chief risk is that the business venture will be successful, and then an imitator will come into the market with a similar name. In the event whereby the name assigned to the product or service was descriptive of some feature of the product or service, it might be futile to prevent that particular name from getting into the market. The impact of this is far reaching; this is sourced from the fact that this imitation of the product or service name might grab a share of the market position which the business organization has already established. This is the rationale behind the adoption of invented names for unique products and services. A

Edna Manley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Edna Manley - Essay Example However, her later works were done in clay and cast. The sculptors she made were greatly influenced by the cultural changes taking place in Jamaica at the time. Her art was aimed at reflecting the Jamaican culture and the experiences Jamaicans were undergoing at the time. During the early 1920s, after she had returned to Jamaica from England, Edna realized that Jamaican middle class expected all women to be subjects of their husbands and operate in their shadows. However, she was a keen observer of the Jamaican way of life, and through this observation, she got inspiration for her work. Beadseller is the first bronze casting sculptor she created in 1923. The beadseller was a sharp and lean body depicting a person undergoing hardships. This piece personified the suffering and troubles many people in Jamaica went through. Through her work, Edna also attempted to elevate the status of women in the society. Unlike many other artists at the time, her style mainly centered on women, for instance, in 1928, she created the carving Eve from mahogany. This image had rounded and sensual body forms (Laduke, 37). This piece was recognized as one of Edna’s important works in which she acknowledges the mother of mankind. Through her art, she was able to recognize the role women had in the society. For instance, in her work The Message (1977), Edna shows two women sharing a secret. She claimed that she saw these two women in the market place and knew that it was a secret an older woman tells a younger one. Other works with the theme of older women include Man-Child (1974) and The Ancestor (1974) (Laduke, 37). She was a champion and advocate of the Black Jamaican rights and freedom. Through her works, Edna was able to show the world that Black Jamaicans were capable and ready to make a contribution to the Jamaican society and the world as a whole. These works represented the quest for a new order in the Jamaican society. Two of such

Hand Hygiene Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hand Hygiene - Article Example Medicinenet.com (2007) defined hygiene as "The science of preventive medicine and the preservation of health. From the name of Hygeia, the daughter of Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine (whose staff with entwined snake is the symbol of medicine). Asklepios (known to the Romans as Aesculapius) had a number of children including not only Hygeia but also Panaceia, the patroness of clinical medicine. Hygeia also followed her father into medicine. As the patroness of health, Hygeia was charged with providing a healthy environment to prevent illness. In Greek, "hygieia" means health." It is a fact that, the hands is the most exposed external part of the body, primarily, it is because of the things that hands, is the body part that holds different things regardless of whether clean or not. Specifically, it is the function of this body part. If it is established that hands are the parts that hold and touch different things. During the duration of holding and touching different things, hands are exposed to different viruses and bacteria, including toxins and other chemicals which are harmful to the health of a certain person. However, these harmful elements cannot penetrate the human body without entering the entry points to the internal area of the body. This can be made possible by eating without washing the infected hand, penetration of these harmful elements on pores and nails which can cause possible internal and external infection should these elements are present in the hands.Also, in different hospitals and medical institutions wherein nurses and doctors sometimes are attending more than one patient contamination of germs and diseases if possible and can be transmitted from one patient to the other and even these medical practitioner and staff if these health workers don't practice hand hygiene. Basically, if hea lth workers are not observing hand hygiene, how could one expect an ordinary individual to practice the aforementioned hygiene The website medscape.com (2001) pointed out that "The challenge of hand hygiene promotion could be summarized in one question: How can health-care workers' behavior be changed Tools for change are known; some have been tested, and others need to be tested. Some may prove irrelevant in the future; others have worked in some institutions and need to be tested in others. Infection control professionals should promote and conduct outstanding research and provide solutions to improve health-care worker adherence with hand hygiene and enhance patient safety." In adopting hand hygiene, one must understand that applying the principle doesn't rely on the washing and sanitizing of hands alone. It is in the way how hands are being utilized to contain and hold several harmful elements. Instead of containing such elements with bare hands, the use of gloves is also an important part of hand hygiene to protect one's self. There are a lot of things to be considered in order to imply and practice hand hygiene in several manners. The Department of Health and Human Services of the United States stressed the needs of using hand gloves on infected patients directing that "A single pair of patient care gloves should be worn for contact with blood and body fluids, including during hand contact with respiratory secretions (e.g., providing oral care, handling soiled tissues). Gloves made of latex, vinyl, nitrile, or other synthetic materials are

Edna Manley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Edna Manley - Essay Example However, her later works were done in clay and cast. The sculptors she made were greatly influenced by the cultural changes taking place in Jamaica at the time. Her art was aimed at reflecting the Jamaican culture and the experiences Jamaicans were undergoing at the time. During the early 1920s, after she had returned to Jamaica from England, Edna realized that Jamaican middle class expected all women to be subjects of their husbands and operate in their shadows. However, she was a keen observer of the Jamaican way of life, and through this observation, she got inspiration for her work. Beadseller is the first bronze casting sculptor she created in 1923. The beadseller was a sharp and lean body depicting a person undergoing hardships. This piece personified the suffering and troubles many people in Jamaica went through. Through her work, Edna also attempted to elevate the status of women in the society. Unlike many other artists at the time, her style mainly centered on women, for instance, in 1928, she created the carving Eve from mahogany. This image had rounded and sensual body forms (Laduke, 37). This piece was recognized as one of Edna’s important works in which she acknowledges the mother of mankind. Through her art, she was able to recognize the role women had in the society. For instance, in her work The Message (1977), Edna shows two women sharing a secret. She claimed that she saw these two women in the market place and knew that it was a secret an older woman tells a younger one. Other works with the theme of older women include Man-Child (1974) and The Ancestor (1974) (Laduke, 37). She was a champion and advocate of the Black Jamaican rights and freedom. Through her works, Edna was able to show the world that Black Jamaicans were capable and ready to make a contribution to the Jamaican society and the world as a whole. These works represented the quest for a new order in the Jamaican society. Two of such

Compare and Contrast Research Essay on Oedipus Rex

Compare and Contrast Research on Oedipus Rex - Essay Example It is dramatic irony that the residents are seeking the solution to the problem from the one person causing their suffering by killing his predecessor king Laius. Both the residents and king Oedipus are privy of this fact. Dramatic irony is an aspect of style used in literary analysis in which the words as well as the actions of the characters in a given work of literature portray a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters themselves. The situation arises when the reader seem to have a wider knowledge than the characters in the story. It can further be defined as a dramatic effect in which the audience is lead to develop an understanding of an incongruity that exist between a given situation and the accompanying speeches while the characters in the play are completely not aware of the incongruity. Dramatic irony comes when the old prophet, Tiresias is summoned by the king; Oedipus ridicules him because he is blind. The audience understands that Oedipus is blind to the truth. Tiresias in a fit of anger tells Oedipus that though he can see he is â€Å"blind† to the truth. When Oedipus becomes blind, he finally realizes the truth of what Tiresias had told him. The dramatic irony is that it is actually the blind man who sees in mocking Tiresias, Oedipus calls Tiresias â€Å"shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot. It is ironical when Oedipus calls the old man shameless when he is actually the one who is shameless for killing his father, inheriting his throne and marrying his own mother. When he vows not to stop until he finds and punishes Laius’ killer he says: â€Å"Now, since I am ruler and holds this kingdom that he held before- holding also the bed and wife we have both sown; and children of the same mother would have been born to us, had his line no t been ill-fated-since chance (270) has driven me into that one’s powers, therefore I shall

The East Asia Essay Example for Free

The East Asia Essay The East Asia is basically an Asian sub region. In geographical sense, the East Asia is known to have 12,000,000 km2 under its expanse. This is equivalent to 28% of the Asian continent. This also means that the East Asia outdoes Europe geographically by 15%. Asia also enjoys a large population, given that it hosts a population that is equivalent to that of a quarter of the world’s population. Many communities at the same time continue to be part and parcel of the East Asia. Some of these societies are Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea and North Korea. The capital cities that are under the jurisdiction of the East Asia are Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Taipei, Pyongyang and Ulan Bator. The major cities that fall under the East Asia are Hong Kong, Yokohama, Busan, Kaohsiung, shanghai, Osaka and Guangzhou, among others. At times, the East Asia is also referred to as North East Asia so that it includes the Southeast Asia (Holvin and Mandy, 2001). On the other hand, Europe conventionally stands out as a continent. Europe consists of the Eurasian westernmost Peninsula, being apportioned from the Asian continent to the east by the Ural Mountains’ water divide such as the Ural River and the Caspian Sea. It is also partitioned to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains. To the north of Europe, there is the Arctic Ocean, to the south, the Mediterranean Sea, to the west, the Atlantic Ocean and to the southeast, the black sea, and other water bodies that connect the Mediterranean to Europe. Being the second smallest continent, the continent covers 10,180,000 km2. This is equivalent to 2% of the earth’s total surface. However, the demographics of Europe makes up for it, given the fact that it is the third most populous continent in the world, following after Asia and Africa. Numerically, Europe’s population translates to approximately 11% of the global population, although the UN estimates that this demographic status of Europe is likely to take a plunge by 4% by the year 2050. The largest cities in Europe are Moscow, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Saint Petersburg, Rome, Berlin, Athens and Kiev, among others (United Nations, 2003). Bautista (2000) points out that presently, the East Asia’s economy has been growing by leaps and bounds, compared to that of Europe that seems to be stagnant. For instance, whereas the economic growth of Europe from 2005 to 2006 is said to have been 2. 1%, that of East Asia is known to have hit the 5% mark, in this same period alone. While this can be thought to be dismal, yet, when this is compared to the fact that in the 90s this figure would be limited to 1. 01%, it can be easily deduced that East Asia seems to be expediting its economic growth with more vigor than her counterpart Europe (Foders, 1998). The above situation has led to speculations and prognosis by economic pundits that it is only a matter of time when East Asia will outshine Europe’s economy. The above debate of East Asia’s economic growth’s proclivity to overtake that of Europe is therefore tackled in this paper by looking not just at the current growth rate of these blocks, but by also analyzing other factors that underpin both domestic and international trade. In the first place, apart from the four Asian Tigers (otherwise known as Asian Tiger Nations), the majority of the Asian nations are not highly industrialized or completely developed. This means that these Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in East Asia have to remain reliant on the external aid. Fingleton (2003) says that ever since the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of Cold War, there came about a new wave of political and economic systems that seemed to insinuate that the US emerged as a winner of the then just- ended war. This is to the effect that majority of the countries globally assimilated capitalism as the chief mode of economic production and democracy as the way of politics and government, whereas on the other hand, the cause of communism and socialism seemed to have waned. As if this is not enough, because of the huge financial pool of resources, majority of countries turned to America and her allies for economic help and political advice. However, it is unfortunate that America and Europe are the most developed in the world. Even the communist Russia and Germany fall under the domains of Europe. However, it is true that since the economic powerhouses were mainly US or Western Europe, it became expedient that these nations seek intervention from these quarters of the world. At the same time, it became expedient that these two quarters formalize the course of offering financial assistance to these countries so as to bury any indications of neocolonialism by creating the two Breton woods institutions- the International Monetary Funds (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) (Wendy, 2000). East Asian economic pundits maintain that it is these institutions that have continued to derail the cause of economic growth in the region. For instance, based on the policies of International Trade, the two institutions maintained that it was inevitable that the countries in the East Asia open up their markets to allow the globalisation of trade. The problem with this is that by that time, East Asian nations have not been industrialised, while on the other hand, the US, UK and countries in Western Europe had already undergone industrial revolution (Gill and Kharas, 2006). Shinn (1998) posits that the above condition led to a situation whereby the East Asian countries were flooded by exotic products that were of superior value and minimal prices as these highly industrialised countries were able to produce surplus products. This causes an industrial slump as the locally manufactured products became overwhelmed by the cheap, second hand but superior products, causing spiraling effects and foreclosures of local industries, especially in the fabric, cotton, and foods and beverages industries. At the same time, this only means that these countries were to remain dependent dumping sites for the US and the West. Isaac (2000) says that at the same time, majority of the developing nations in East Asia are still suffering from the resultant industrial foreclosures as unemployment and losses of jobs became the order of the day. With unemployment being a major problem, other factors such as insecurity and lawlessness from the unemployed youth searching for means of livelihood crept in and scared off active investors from these countries. The fact that these governments are deprived their means of local livelihood also cannot be gainsaid (US Congress, 2003). In about the same wavelength, it is still a World Trade Organization post DOHA construction that all participants were to ensure equal competition by making sure that all the interactions on international trade are bereft of the exaction of international trade. However, this did and does not auger well for East Asian countries given the fact that these countries are economic fledglings and as such, were highly dependent on the exaction of trade tariffs as a source of income. The reversal of the exaction of tariffs has only been succeeding in depriving these nations of sources of domestic income. Francks et al (1999), say that the DOHA reconstructions at the same time made stipulations that these governments (including the rest of the LDCs) are not to lend subsidies to the farmers. Joseph and Michael (2007) maintain that the WTO DOHA reconstructions maintained that this was an artifice to ensure that farmers were at par in this international trade competition. Nevertheless, it is sad that this only succeeded in eradicating the domestic farmers out of this trade as the cost of fertilizers, research, hybrid seeds, livestock insemination became too much for them to handle by themselves. To this effect, the main beneficiary remains the farmer in the developed economies or Europe who is already skilled and has larger financial pool to afford farming incentives. These LDCs in East Asia remains shortchanged in international sector (Pain, N. 2004). It is no wonder that on January 11th, 2005, riots erupted in Cancun, Philippines and in other numerous pockets of LDCs as farmers and locals in all LDCs took to the streets in protest of these unrealistic WTO Objectives. According to Matthew (2003), this came in the wake of revelations that the Bush Administration had already raked 25 billion dollars in one decade, whereas the LDCs were making losses out of international trade in the agricultural sector. Western (2000) says that it is also an observation that in the international trade, it is a principle that the respective governments are to allow for a laissez faire condition to exist. This means that the governments are to cede away the power to regulate the prices of commodities. On the contrary, it is those who deal in the production and distribution of such products that are to set the prices thereof. This concept of market fundamentalism is still being misused by these market forces as they up the prices on poor defenseless populations. The stipulations that had been introduced by the IMF and the WB as the panacea to the East Asian LDCs did not ameliorate matters either. In order to assuage the widespread poverty that was threatening to smother these LDCs, it was proposed by the IMF and WB that the LDCs ratify the policies known as Cost Sharing (Columbus, 2000). To this effect, these East Asian LDCs were to attenuate the volume of financial pool being channeled towards the educational sector. The amount of loans and incentives being issued to fund tertiary levels of learning were to be cut down. The above resulted into a situation whereby university education became a preserve of the rich as those who were poor could no longer fund their educational programmes. For the first time, in 1991, students in these countries were being dismissed from the universities on account of not having cleared fee payment. As far as the East Asian LDCs are concerned, the situation still persists, leading to massive brain drain (Martin, 2002). Nevertheless, as far as the Europe and the US are concerned, gains are being realised from the above impasse in the educational sector as mass exodus of East Asian students for oversee education continues to see the best of intellectual potential go to Europe or the US (Neuhaus, 2006). These, after being trained, are offered jobs in these foreign countries and accorded a status of citizenship. There is no regional block or economy that can thrive outside the reality of sound educational logistics or skilled minds. The above situation means that Europe continues to realize positive proceeds out of East Asian LDCs’ woes. As a matter of fact, it is argued by international economic pundits such as Rodrigo (2001) that there is a rather stark incongruence that is defined by losses on one side, and benefits on the other, and that it is out of East Asian LDCs’ economic losses that Europe realizes its profitability. Political economists such as Crafts and Toniolo (1998) posit that it is East Asian LDCs’ woes that make these LDCs to depend on Europe, as Europe finds the chance to exploit these LDCs. Conclusion Political scientists and economists argue that despite the hard work and resilience that the comparatively enormous East Asian population may bring, and the large pool of resources that these countries may own, there is no way the Tiger Nations and the countries in East Asia will grow to overtake Europe. It is postulated by these groups that the only way out of the stalemate is for these East Asian countries to change their trading partners. To this effect, all the LDCs that lie within the East Asia are to trade and borrow ideas from leading countries in Asia such as China. This proposition is feasible since the Banana Republics that have turned to China are getting better ever since the onset the 21st century. The other recourse is for East Asian countries to table their plight in the oncoming post DOHA reconstructions. These countries must remind the WTO council that they are highly dependent on small scale agriculture and that there is no way these small scale farmers can carry out agricultural activities without government support. At the same time, the WTO council must be reminded that there is no way in which small nations in East Asia can realize any profitability if tariffs are not exacted on well off to do countries in Europe. References Bautista, R. , East Asian poverty alleviation and economic growth, Southeast Asian Studies Institute, 2000.Crafts, N. and G. Toniolo, Europe’s economic growth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998. Columbus, F. , Economic and political issues on Asia, Colombia, Nova Science, 2000. Francks, P. , et al, The relationship between agriculture and economic development in East Asia, New York, London, 1999. Fingleton, B. , Europe and regional economic growth, Ashgate Publishing, Berlin, 2003. Foders, F. , European capitalism and world economic growth, California University Press, California, 1998. Gill, I. and H. Kharas, East Asian ideas for economic growth, World Bank, 2006. Holvin, R. and R. Mandy, Unequal economic relations and economic stagnation, Blackwell, Birmingham, 2001. Isaac, T. , International trade after Cold War, Prentice Hall, New York, 2000. Joseph, C. and M. Michael, WTO and East Asian Economic Growth, John Wiley and Sons, 2007. Martin, P. , World Trade Reconstructions, WTO, 2002. Matthew, C. , European and East Asian economic growth, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003. Neuhaus, M. , Economic growth between Europe and East Asia, Springer

Germany and Outbreak of WWI Essay -- History World War I

Throughout time wars have ended with the defeat of one force and the victory of another, those on the side of defeat almost always being held accountable for the destruction these wars produce. This is undoubtedly the case with post WWI Germany, burdened with defeat and forced to sign the treaty of Versailles, thus taking responsibility for the war. Although blamed for the war, it is still a highly controversial question between historians if the Germans were truly responsible for WWI. However when studying the actions of Germany as a nation and its leaders in the years leading up to the war, one can see it is quite accurate to say Germany was responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Germany had been creating tensions since the days of Bismarck's alliances, and so when Kaiser Wilhelm ascended to the throne in 1888 and wanted to make Germany a great world power and have â€Å"a place in the sun† adopting a policy of ‘weltpolitik’1, German creation of pre-wa r tensions and advocacy of a war drove the rest of Europe into WWI with them in 1914. The nation of Germany can be held largely accountable for the outbreak of WWI solely because they laid the foundation for this war long before a world war was in view. Throughout the years leading up to the war, Germany's actions contributed to the tensions that would eventually erupt in war. By the year 1914, the countries of Europe had established such alliances with each other so that to ensure any conflict between two countries would result in a collective conflict involving all the great powers of Europe. This extensive alliance system would not have even been conceived if Germany had not initiated it; â€Å"The division of Europe into two armed camps took place by slow stages over a perio... ...: Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War. New York: Random House, 1991.226 10Morrow, John Howard. The Great War an imperial history. London: Routledge, 2004. 27. 11"First World War.com - Primary Documents - Germany's 'Blank Cheque' to Austria-Hungary, 6 July 1914." First World War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One. 19 Nov. 2010 . 12Marshall, S. L. A. World War I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. 35. 13Tucker, Spencer, and Priscilla Mary. Roberts. World War I: encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. 15. 14Morrow, John Howard. The Great War an imperial history. London: Routledge, 2004. 27 15"First World War.com - Feature Articles - The Causes of World War One." First World War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One. 19 Nov. 2010 .

Engrave New Footprints In The Sand :: essays research papers

There were two strolling hearts that reposed on a huge rock at a near shore. As the sunset revealed its passion, they watched over the two sets of footprints they engraved in the sand. The scene had made them thought of eternity..two becoming one. There was heaven in their hearts and each step engraved a zeal of an endless love. But such heart-felt scene ended when the waves of the sea rushed towards the shore and washed the sand, leaving the sets of footprints unseen. Suddenly, the lovely sunset was covered with dark clouds and the soft breeze altered into a fierce wind. Heaven, then, became an illusion; the dream ended into a nightmare. And the rock were both of them once dreamt was left alone, all alone... When we fall in love, it is our great desire to let the feeling remain in hearts. Often, we feed this feeling by clinging to the other. Sometimes the demand for satisfaction is needed because of the fear of starving the heart. As we marvel towards the odyssey of our lives, we may pass to the point wherein our hearts become empty and longing. We feel the need to quench ourselves by seeking the oasis of love. Still, there are hearts that remain at lost and leave themselves to die and wither. Many of us find it easy to play the melodies of love, but when things get rough and out of tune, we would actually avoid it and sometimes, go silent. There is also a tendency to give up and escape from the reality. We must remember that the more we unravel the wonders of love, the more challenges we have to take. The sweetness of life's bitter can be achieved if we accept the challenges of love. This acceptance motivates us to grow.

Star Studies and the Mass Culture Debates

Star Studies and the Mass Culture Debates Since the dawn of time, society has always had its own stars that multitudes of people look up to as idols. Today, most of the stars that people flock to are famous people within the entertainment business, most notably actors and actresses. Movie stars have been consumed by the public's eye ever since the film industry took off in the early 1900s. There are certain movie stars that transcend time, and lately, people do whatever they can to find out as much as they can of these stars to reveal who they truly are outside of being in front of a camera.However, some critics of the Mass Culture Debates do find holes in the star system we have today. The critics feel as if the culture of these stars are becoming very standardized, which is greatly affecting the culture of people watching them. To demonstrate my point, I will be discussing how Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer oppose the arguments made about star figures in Richard Dyer's essay, â €Å"Living Stars. † I will also explain how Dwight MacDonald takes a very similar stance against Jackie Stacy's â€Å"Feminine Fascinations: Forms of Identification in Star-Audience Relations. Finally, I will finish off by explain how critic David Riseman seeks to mediate the Mass Culture critics' arguments and take the side of Dyer and Stacy. If Adorno and Horkheimer were to read Richard Dyer's â€Å"Living Stars† and dissect it, they would feel that movie stars today aren't original in that they use a very scripted formula to attract themselves to the masses, which is why they become popular in the first place. Throughout his essay, Dyer explains that star figures are representations, like myths, who serve to resolve many of society's vital binary oppositions.He goes on to explain this point by saying, â€Å"The private self is further represented through a set of oppositions that stem from the division of the world into private and public spaces, a way of organizi ng space that in turn relates to the idea of the separability of the individual and society. † (FSR 130) His primary opposition for which he discusses stars and their relationship to the public eye is stars portraying their private selves versus their public serves. Public stars control themselves on screen, and maintain great poise and try not to display their emotions to readily, because they want to keep a ophisticated image of themselves; whereas private stars are much more intense and introverted, they aren't afraid to express their emotions and show who they truly are behind close doors. Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator serves to depict the private and public image of real life filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes. To the public, Hughes became a larger than life star in directing Hell's Angels and purchasing a major airline of the time. However, his mental health soon began to crumble when his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder began affecting both private and publi c facets of his life.Eventually, Hughes comes a point where he locks himself in his house and slips into a deep depression. As a result of Hughes manic behavior, Adorno and Horkheimer would believe that if Hughes' private behavior were to ever leak out into the public spectrum, his image would be forever tarnished because the Howard Hughes behind closed doors is not the same man who became a superstar director. One of the primary arguments Adorno and Horkheimer have with mass culture is that they feel that culture itself is becoming too standardized based upon formulas to streamline mass reproduction.When profitable, these formulas can become reproducible, like the star system of today. â€Å"Not only are the hit songs, stars, and soap operas cyclically recurrent and rigidly invariable types, but the specific content of the entertainment itself is derived from them and only appears in change. † (FSR 9) It is as if they feel like nothing is original anymore and that everything is scripted and painted with this formula that works for the system to get the masses interested in a particular artist, song, show, movie, or in Dyer's case, a movie star.Take for example Bette Davis, who in her films displays a very mannered style and grace under pressure. She usually plays very strong, independent, manipulative characters who have a solid surface disguised by an internal inferno. So when someone may want to see the latest Bette Davis movie, they may not like it if she plays in the style of a goodie goodie housewife just like all the typical housewives seen in such 1950s sitcoms as Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver.People are going to want to have her display some internal conflict she is constantly struggling with but in the end, over powers it because of her strong will and female empowerment. This same principle goes for Howard Hughes and his image. People want to see the Howard Hughes that is a public sensation, a brilliant filmmaker, a man with a tast e for beautiful women. Nobody wants to see him in a depressed state locking himself in his house, because that will deter people's images of him and less people will go out to see his movies.This plays into Adorno and Horkheimer's idea of these formulas becoming reproducible and how this type of consumerism the individual plays can create the illusion of individual identity and authentic community. They feel like stars like David and Hughes have become statistics based on their genres they play best rather than recognized as individuals with creative freedom over their work. Just as Adorno and Horkheimer would have a problem with Richard Dyer's essay, Dwight MacDonald has many of the same qualms with Jackie Stacey's views of seeing movie stars as idols we should strive to be someday.In her essay, â€Å"Feminine Fascinations: Forms of Identification in Star-Audience Relations,† Stacey analyzes the relationship between the female spectator and the Hollywood stars she discusses. In her discussion of imitating and copying the female stars, the female spectators often try to emulate either the stars looks or personas to try and be just like them, and in turn want others to think they are just like the star. Stacey explains that, â€Å"Stars are thus identified with particular commodities which are part of the reproduction of feminine identities.The female spectators in these examples produce particular images of femininity which remind them of their favorite stars. In so doing they produce a new feminine identity, one which combines an aspect of the star with their own appearance. † (FSR 153) It seems that Stacey is pointing out that these particular stars are consumable feminine images which female spectators then reproduce through other forms of consumption. Not only do these stars try to solve the binary oppositions of private self and public self as Dyer mentions, they are meant to be consumed by an audience as role models.Both seem to agree on th e fact that stars fill some voids in people's lives. We try to see ourselves as these very public figures and emulate every facet of their lives to try and improve our lives as a whole. Dyer's and Stacey's arguments also share many direct correlations with David Buxton's article, â€Å"Rock Music, The Star System, And The Rise Of Consumerism. † In it, Buxton talks about how rock stars are being consumed by youth culture everywhere in that the youth are trying to replicate the stars' styles and attitudes.He explains that, â€Å"The presentation of the life-style of the stars as the ideal of sophisticated modern living grew as part of the American Dream. † (OR 432) This proves that the idolization of stars is not a new concept that was originally thought up of by any of these three writers. Dwight MacDonald, however, does have a problem with the standardization of this process and how our culture is heading in the wrong direction as a result of this.Dwight MacDonald wrot e an essay entitled, â€Å"A Theory of Mass Culture,† in which he explains that elements of mass culture and high culture are starting to merge and become standardized. MacDonald uses the merging of Broadway and the movies as an example of this by saying, â€Å"The theatre was High Culture, mostly of the Academic variety†¦ The movies were definitely Mass Culture, mostly very bad†¦ With the sound film, Broadway and Hollywood drew closer together. Plays are now produced mainly to sell the movie rights, with many being directly financed by the film companies. (FSR 15) One specific example of this can be found in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Though the themes of Shakespeare's story are still in the movie version, Luhrmann blends high art and folk art to make a midcult style movie by placing the setting in present day South Central Los Angeles. MacDonald fears this type of media renders people passive by the end, and is one of the greatest threats to high cul ture. In MacDonald's opinion, as our lives become inundated with midcult such as Romeo and Juliet, the reality of consumerism becomes naturalized.In essence, the heroes and heroines of masscult and midcult that MacDonald speaks of become idols of consumption, mainly movie stars. Stacey explains how female stars such as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are meant to be consumed by the public because those are the actresses that women most frequently hear about, and want to live just like them because they are classy ladies who are real role models of how one woman should act in society. Based on MacDonald's argument, the branding and consuming of stars oday represents a demise in our society's high culture in that these shouldn't be the people we should be idolizing. The real people that should be getting the praise are the people who changed our country to make life better for everyone in the end, like Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin. Using stars to fill the voids in our lives to so lve key oppositions to MacDonald are detrimental to our high culture, which is what we really need to be praising instead all of the new media and stars that've become mainstream, like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom.Even though the left wing critics could have many potential problems with the star system of the past and of today, liberal sociologist David Riseman does present some points that could easily counter Adorno, Horkheimer, and MacDonald's arguments. Riseman insists that mass culture consists of multiple forms of response by audiences. He believes everyone reacts differently to different forms of media and that no one is the same. The formulas that the left wing critics think is ultimately destroying high culture do not exist in Riseman's opinion.Even though some people may want certain stars to stick to their formula, some may like to see those artists branch out and explore new fields. The stars that people ultimately consume and strive to become are all different for each ind ividual. Buxton, Dyer, and Stacey don't say that people only idolize the stars that they talk about. Riseman also argues that audiences of high art want to find their own kitsch in what they consider high culture, just like mass culture audiences want to see their own kitsch in their forms of entertainment. OR 7) He seems to think that Adorno, Horkheimer, and MacDonald have their own ideas of what high culture needs to be, which in the end, becomes something that is copied and will soon generate the same response. For anything negative that the left wing critics might say towards Dyer and Stacey's arguments, Riseman is there to back up there arguments to prove that their theories are valid after all. It is very apparent that the issue of the Mass Culture Debates has been around for quite some time.So much so, that you can readily apply them to many different aspects of life, including the star system in Hollywood. There always have been and always will be movie stars or musicians th at we enjoy and like to go see because they are good at their craft. Dyer, Stacey, and Buxton are just like every other person out there who ca truly see the effect that stars can have on society and the crazy things that people will do to try and copy their methods.Whether or not the Star System is good or detrimental to mass culture like Adorno, Horkheimer, and MacDonald seem to believe, as long as stars continue to make the industry interesting, critics will continue to discuss their methods and an on-going will last for many generations to come. Bibliography Hollows, Joanne, Peter Hutchings, and Mark Jancovich. â€Å"Section One: Political Economy and Mass Culture Theory. † The Film Studies Reader. London: Arnold, 2000. 9. Print. Hollows, Joanne, Peter Hutchings, and Mark Jancovich. â€Å"Section One: Political Economy and Mass Culture Theory. † The Film Studies Reader.London: Arnold, 2000. 15. Print. Hollows, Joanne, Peter Hutchings, and Mark Jancovich. â€Å"Sec tion Four: Star Studies. † The Film Studies Reader. London: Arnold, 2000. 130. Print. Hollows, Joanne, Peter Hutchings, and Mark Jancovich. â€Å"Section Four: Star Studies. † The Film Studies Reader. London: Arnold, 2000. 153. Print. Frith, Simon, and Andrew Goodwin. â€Å"Part One: Groundworks. † On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word. New York: Pantheon, 1990. 7. Print. Frith, Simon, and Andrew Goodwin. â€Å"Part Seven: Reading The Stars. † On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word. New York: Pantheon, 1990. 432. Print.