Judgement in “Sonny’s Blues” and “Cathredral

The short story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† written By James Baldwin is a story of two brothers who come to understand each other. The story begins and takes place in Harlem, New York City, where the narrator, whose name isn’t mentioned at all in the literature, is a teacher at a local high school, as he is on his way to work then reads on a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, who he hasn’t seen or spoke to in a while, has been arrested for possession and use of heroin.Throughout the story, he depicts Sonny as this troubled some young man, who never had any sense of direction towards what he wanted to do with his life or what he wanted to become. He viewed him as a product of the system, because as children growing up; Harlem, was basically a dark whole, full of malice, drugs, and corruption. After his short stint in jail, the narrator then welcomes his younger brother to stay with him and his wife for the time being. While Sonny’s stay at his older brother’s house, he then explains to him his constant struggles in life and why everything was so different for him as he was growing up.He tells him that no one ever really listened to what he wanted to pursue in life, and how he wanted to be this Jazz musician, but everyone just believed it was a phase. The narrator still didn’t really understand where Sonny was coming from. Until Sonny, one night invited him over to a local jazz bar, where everyone knows and respects him, to go watch him and his buddies play some music. It is then, as Sonny and the band is on stage, he begins to watch his younger brother struggle with the music.He watches his entire brother’s struggles come pouring out as he plays, and then he finally realizes who Sonny is and what he’s made of. In the short story, â€Å"Cathedral† written by Raymond Carver, similar to â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† the narrator of the story’s name isn’t given. The setting tak es place in Connecticut, where the death of a blind man’s wife, gets him to visit an old employee of his. The narrator who is the husband of the woman who use to work for the blind man, isn’t fond of him staying at their house.As the story moves along, the reader can see how the husband is ignorant, in the fact that he frequently keeps stating to himself how he doesn’t understand how someone can fall in love with a person who is blind, until after eating supper and his wife went off upstairs to get dressed. They both sit in the living room, and the husband invites Robert to smoke a joint. While flicking through channels, they finally leave something, they are willing to bare. It’s a show on different types of cathedrals around the world. The husband then asks Robert, if he has any idea or imagination of what an actual cathedral looks like.Robert says no, and he wants the husband to explain. The narrator has a life-changing moment, while trying to tell Rob ert what a cathedral looks like. The narrator, as he first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words. However, upon Robert’s encouragement, the narrator loosens up, when the blind man asks him to go grab a piece of paper and pen so they can both draw this cathedral together. This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly.The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else. People always have different views on different people, places or things. In my opinion I believe everyone should be open to meeting new people, giving people chances, or even be more open minded to different situations, because you can learn a lot from something or somebody else. For example the understanding of the older brother towards Sonny’s struggles in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† an d the connection the narrator in â€Å"Cathedral† had with the blind man.

Epic Hero and the Values of the Society Essay

The hero of an epic is characterized by their extraordinary abilities and strength which helped them to meet all the challenges they need to face along their journey. They are the main subjects of these long narrative epic poems. The epic hero is separated from the rest of the people. They are being admired by others for their ability to do what ordinary man would not attempt to do. The birth of these heroes was taken account into. These men are destined to play an important role in their society. They also became the reflection of the values of their society. Epic heroes are mythical characters taken from the ancient times. These heroes are larger-than-life because of their impressive and heroic deeds that can surpass what ordinary man can do. More specifically an epic hero must posses certain qualities to recognize him as a real epic hero. They must possess great physical strength. They are more clever and cunning than the ordinary. They are adventurous and brave. They are not easily intimidated or frightened by the challenges ahead of them. They have goals and are highly determined to attain their quest for something they believed is of great value for him and to his people. They are victorious most of the time with the battles they encounter. Their success gave them recognition. Their society may choose him to be their rightful leader or ruler because of the marvelous thing they proved they can do. After learning this things about an epic hero one can observed among epic poems this pattern of the heroes characteristic. They seem to be similar in many ways. Along with other epic heroes of all times are the names like Beowulf, Gilgamesh and Odysseus. Looking at how each of the heroes had transformed themselves through the various test and preparation they undertake before they are recognize as heroic leaders. They come from different backgrounds and culture which they typically embodies. Beowulf: the Old English Epic Who is Beowulf? What was his exploits? What values where important in his society? These are the questions that will guide us to discover more about the epic hero Beowulf. This epic poem had been written in England though the setting of the story could have been in Scandinavia. Beowulf as many knew is one of the most important surviving Anglo-Saxon classic literatures. This epic was believed to have been written between the 8th and 11th centuries. (Foster, 2003) Beowulf was recognized as a Geat. He was known by others as a super human. One of his greatest achievements was when he defeated Grendel in an encounter. Beowulf fought one-on-one with Grendel which was known as a monster an enemy of the people of that time. Beowulf came to rescue the people of that kingdom from Grendel. To show his successful defeat of Grendel he brought home Grendel’s head. During the struggle, he won because of the help of a magical giant sword. Beowulf then also battle with Grendel’s mother who was plunge deep into the earth. He faced alone the monster found in the underworld. After he won in this adventure he didn’t become immediately the new king. He fought for the throne along with King Hygelac. King Hygelac died during a raid and was then offered the throne but he refused and let the king’s son inherit the throne. Because of his many heroic acts the Danes were please. The Danes and the Geats are then united. The people now anticipated Beowulf to be their new king. He must face other more dangers to prove himself worthy to be called the King of the Geats. His last battle involved a fight with a dragon. By that time he was in old age and has been ruling the Geats when the dragon came and threatened his kingdom. He needs to defeat this dragon to save his people from danger. He must risk his own life to achieve his goal of saving the kingdom. In this battle he successfully killed the dragon but it left him seriously wounded. He then had to face his death. Odysseus: The Greek Mythical Hero After Beowulf is another famous epic hero by the name of Odysseus. Odysseus also with Latin name Ulysses was the reigning ruler of the island kingdom of Ithaca. (Hunter, 1997) unlike Beowulf this man was already enthroned as a king. In the Trojan War he was the key heroic figure meaning he was among the well known leaders of the Trojan War. Odysseus was actually reluctant to join the expedition. Even if he doesn’t want to join the battle he still fought heroically in the Trojan War. He even led the dangerous nocturnal raid together with Diomedes. It was believed that Odysseus was one of the originators of the Trojan horse which were used by the Greeks to finally take over the city of Troy. His journey was specially guided by divine intervention. After the Trojan War Odysseus next quest is to successfully return home with his family. Now returning back on his family was his main goal but the journey is very difficult and there are many things he needed to pass through. He also needs to face the underworld just like Beowulf who fought in the world of the dead. The difference with Odysseus is that he didn’t fight but rather talk and ask some questions. In this journey he came to the point that he need to choose between mortality and immortality. He chose mortality because he wants his home together with his wife Penelope. Going back home he encountered various tragedies like when his ship was destroyed by a thunderbolt and a storm and when he was trapped in island of the Nymph Calypso. Many things have happened after the war and on the way home. When Odysseus came at last he found that there were problems in Ithaca also. It took about twenty years before he successfully returned to his home. He found out that his wife Penelope had remained faithful to him all through those years even though there are pressures for her to get married again. He arrived at the palace and found the suitors of his wife. He pretended to be a beggar and destroyed all of them afterwards.

Virginia Mason Hospital

What were reasons for implementing lean management at Virginia Mason Hospital? Lean thinking begins with driving out waste so that all work adds value and serves the customer’s needs. Identifying value-added and non-value-added steps in every process is the beginning of the journey toward lean operations. In order for lean principles to take root, leaders must first work to create an organizational culture that is receptive to lean thinking. The commitment to lean must start at the very top of the organization, and all staff should be involved in helping to redesign processes to improve flow and reduce waste. Although health care differs in many ways from manufacturing, there are also surprising similarities: Whether building a car or providing health care for a patient, workers must rely on multiple, complex processes to accomplish their tasks and provide value to the customer or patient. Waste —of money, time, supplies, or good will — decreases value. And the CEO of VM realized several reasons for them to implement lean management to improve the poor performance of the old system: 1. The path to better quality and safety is the same as the path to reduced cost. 2. VM’s old system is full of waste (non-value-added activities), need to systematically reduce and eliminate that waste. 3. Improvement is not coming from a technological arms race. What is VMPS and what are its main principles? The Virginia Mason Production System (VMPS) is a management method based on manufacturing principles that seeks to continually improve how work is done. Using this method, Virginia Mason (VM) identifies and eliminates waste and inefficiency in the many processes that are part of the health care experience, making it possible for VM staff to deliver the highest quality and safest patient care. By streamlining repetitive and low-touch aspects of care delivery, staff and providers spend more time talking with, listening to and treating patients. Virginia Mason’s vision is to be the Quality Leader in health care. This vision requires adopting a paradigm shift from expecting errors and defects, to believing that the perfect patient experience is possible. Key to accomplishing this is understanding that staff who do the work know what the problems are and have the best solutions. VMPS strategies range from small-scale ideas tested and mplemented immediately to long-range planning that redesigns new spaces and processes. VM uses several continuous improvement activities, such as Rapid Process Improvement Workshops (RPIWs) and kaizen events focused on incremental changes, as well as 3P workshops intended to completely redesign a process. VM has held 850 continuous improvement activities involving staff, patients and guests. VM leaders saw value in the TPS principles of mak ing quality and safety a top priority, relentlessly focusing on the customer, reducing waste (of which health care has an abundance), and engaging staff in continuous improvement. The idea behind VMPS is to achieve continuous improvement by adding value without adding money, people, large machines, space or inventory, all toward a single overarching goal — no waste. Explain main wastes of resources that VMPS targets. The idea behind VMPS is to achieve continuous improvement by adding value without adding money, people, large machines, space or inventory, all toward a single overarching goal — no waste. VMPS has six areas of focus: †¢ â€Å"Patient First† as the driver for all processes to eliminate †¢The creation of an environment in which people feel safe and free to engage in improvement–including the adoption of a â€Å"No-Layoff Policy† †¢Implementation of a company-wide defect alert system called â€Å"The Patient Safety Alert System† †¢Encouragement of innovation and â€Å"trystorming† (beyond brainstorming, trystorming involves quickly trying new ideas or models of new ideas) †¢Creating a prosperous economic organization primarily by eliminating waste †¢ Accountable leadership Instead of doctors waiting until the end of the day to go though a stack of patient records, they now write comments and recommendations immediately after seeing the patient before going to see the next one. The time saved increases the time a physician can spend with a patient. Most of the cost of medical care involves clogs in the flow of information — paper forms, lab results, phone messages, often leading to irritated patients. Two details on this list bear further explanation. The No-Layoff Policy is critical to the success of implementing lean management. People will more fully commit nd engage in improvement work if they are not worried about improving themselves out of a job. Attrition, typically steady in health care, will enable most organizations to reassign staff to other necessary work. A culture shift is important here as well: Staff, especially in health care, do not typically view themselves as working for the organization, but for their individual department and/or care team. In lean thinking, the patient/customer drives all processes, and staff/providers must come to understand that they work for the patient. This means they may be reassigned depending on the needs of the patients. Secondly, the defect alert system is a fundamental element of the TPS, known as â€Å"stopping the line. † Every worker in the Toyota plant has the power and the obligation to stop the assembly line when a defect or error is identified or even suspected. Workers pull a cord, a light goes on, music plays as a signal for supervisors to come and help, and the entire assembly line either slows or stops (depending on the degree of the defect resolution time) while line workers and supervisors assess and fix the problem, often preventing an error from becoming embedded in the final product. This typically happens many times a day. The theory behind stopping the line is that mistakes are inevitable, but reversible. Defects are mistakes that were not fixed at the source, passed on to another process, or not detected soon enough and are now relatively permanent. If you fix mistakes early enough in the process, your product will have zero defects. Mistakes are least harmful and easiest to fix the closer you get to the time and place they arise. The reverse is also true. What is patient safety alert system and how it works? Virginia Mason used VMPS to develop a Patient Safety Alert (PSA) system requiring all staff who encounters a situation likely to harm a patient to make an immediate report and cease any activity that could cause further harm. If the safety of a patient is indeed at risk, an investigation is immediately launched to correct the problem. Most reports are processed within 24 hours – a significant improvement from when reports took three to 18 months to resolve. Patient safety at VM has increased and professional liability claims have dropped. Explain the main results of implementing VMPS. Since adopting VMPS, Virginia Mason teams have achieved significant organizational and departmental improvements: †¢Reduced the time it takes to report lab test results to the patient by more than 85 percent. †¢Improved the percent of time nurses spend in direct patient care from 35 percent to 90 percent. †¢Reduced bedsores (a common problem in hospitals) from 8 percent to less than 2 percent, preventing 838 patients per year from acquiring bedsores. †¢Saved $1 million in supply expense in 2009. Reduced professional liability insurance 48. 9 percent from 2004 to 2009. †¢Reduced laboratory staff walking distance by 2. 8 miles and removed 357 hours of lead time from lab operations. †¢Pharmacy improved medication distribution from physician order to availability for administration from 2. 5 hours to 10 minutes and reduced incomplete inpatient medication orders from 20 to 40 percent to less than 0. 2 percent; bo th were achieved through process improvement and computer physician order entry (CPOE) implementation

The Main Components of the EPA's Prescribed Waste Regulations Assignment

The Main Components of the EPA's Prescribed Waste Regulations - Assignment Example Batteries rules affect every person utilizing these commodities regardless of the level of use. The rules aim at regulating and making certain that the batteries are disposed of in environmentally friendly approaches. Biological diversity regulations offer conservation of natural diversity, sustainability and evenhanded distribution of resources. Wide life rules offer protection to all animals within the natural habitat regardless of their size and habitat. Forest acts offer protection towards conservation of forests. Merchant shipping rules offer to reduce waste that arises from ships within the coastal regions. The water acts offer protection to all water sources by preventing pollution. The air acts protect the ecosystem by curbing any possible air pollutions. The waste product is any redundant, cast off, dumped, unwarranted or excess material whether or not deliberated for trade or for recycling, reclamation, recuperation or decontamination by an independent process from that which created the material. Waste products can also be deemed to be everything affirmed by directive or environmental, safety guidelines to be waste, regardless of whether they are worthy or not. Waste products are any material regardless of the state in which it is liberated, emanated or accumulated in the surroundings, in volume component or manner that can cause a change in the environment. Waste products cause pollution in the case where they are poorly managed. Situational barriers hinder recyclers from creating effective recycling systems mainly due to deficiency of certain components that play a significant role. The deficiency is addressed at the level at which recycling occurs. At the lowest level, which is the home recycling, lack of materials such as numerous and large containers, little space to keep the wastes to be recycled, portable containers appreciably affects the establishment of effectual systems. At the higher-level, a low collection of waste from the local and municipal systems, hinder the firms that recycle from establishing an effectual system.

Human Services and Those with Disabilities Research Paper

Human Services and Those with Disabilities - Research Paper Example In their research work, Ward and Stewart (2008) have relied on an extensive literature research examining the human rights frameworks like UDHR, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, etc. The authors have developed a â€Å"model of human rights to persons with an intellectual disability† (Ward and Stewart, 2008, p. 297) to diminish the gap between needs and rights. They also apply this model to a 16-year-old woman named Suzy with medium intellectual disability. Her parents and caregivers wish that she undergoes hysterectomy. But Suzy lacks proper sex education. Applying their model, the researchers argue that the patients like her should be properly informed about the surgical procedures like hysterectomy before they are actually conducted on them.  In their research work, Ward and Stewart have relied on an extensive literature research examining the human rights frameworks like UDHR, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, etc. The authors have d eveloped a â€Å"model of human rights to persons with an intellectual disability† to diminish the gap between needs and rights. They also apply this model to a 16-year-old woman named Suzy with medium intellectual disability. Her parents and caregivers wish that she undergoes hysterectomy. But Suzy lacks proper sex education. Applying their model, the researchers argue that the patients like her should be properly informed about the surgical procedures like hysterectomy before they are actually conducted on them.

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 93

Journal - Essay Example His demise was so painful that whenever I think of him I shed tears. 3. Death of my idol. I am the biggest fan of Michael Jackson. His music is both entertaining and inspirational to me. His death was one of the biggest shocks for me. It took me several days to accept that he had passed on. I was very depressed. I felt like I had lost a part of me. 4. The strange kid in school. There was this quiet girl that was surrounded by mystery and creepiness. Apart from wearing dark clothes, she was also a loner and enjoyed moody songs. One day she collapsed in class and was rushed to hospital. We later discovered she had deep cuts on her thighs and hands. At first we thought it was a case of parental abuse. However, bizarre knives and other sharp objects were confiscated from her room. 5. A fish and a coin. I love fishing. One day, my father and I went fishing during the holidays. Basically, it is always my father who catches fish. However, on this particular afternoon, none of us was successful. As the evening approached, I felt my fishing rod shake. I pulled it instantly and shockingly, a fish bigger than the palm of my hand was writhing and begging for mercy beside me. The shock in my father’s eyes was priceless. As we opened the fish, guess what we found- A $25 cent

Finance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Finance Management - Essay Example A rising profitability is a good business feature whereas a falling profitability is a bad one. The net profit margin shows the profit that a business is able to generate after meeting the various expenses and costs (Gitman, 2007, p.32). For the four divisions of Jools Furniture Industries Ltd this margin reflects mixed signals. In the case of Quality products division the net profit margin has improved over the last three years. In 2007 the profit margin of this division was -9.90%. In the next year the management of the division was able to cut down on the unnecessary expenditures pushing the profit margin in the positive territory. This further improved to 3.36% in 2009. For the Kitchen and Office division the net profit margin reveals a declining trend. ... The ROI generated by all the divisions has been more than 10% for the last two years. Quality products division reported the highest ROI for the year 2009 at 18.99%. The division reported a negative ROI of 14.9% in 2007. Kitchen division reported a ROI of 12.75% in 2009. This figure was higher in 2007 at 17.97% and it dropped to 12.87% in the following year which is a fall of nearly 5%. Despite an increase in the turnover of the division the divisional management failed to sustain the profitability margin of the previous year. Bedroom division generated the second highest ROI for 2009 at 14.63%. The return generated by this division was even better in the previous years at 16.62% and 18.18% for 2007 and 2008 respectively. Office division reported the third highest ROI of the company at 13.48%. Even for this division the return generated has dropped as compared to the last few years. Efficiency- The asset turnover ratio is an important indicator of management efficiency. A high ratio implies that the company management has been able to utilise the asset base efficiently i.e. it has been able to generate more sales (Nelson, 2008, p.370). For Kitchen division this ratio has remained over two for the last three years. In 2007 this ratio was 2.14 and it increased to 2.19 in 2009. This shows that the management of this division has used the available asset base judiciously and efficiently. With the rise in the asset base in 2008 the management reported a higher turnover i.e. the division made optimal utilisation of the available resources. In the case of Office division this ratio has improved steadily over the last three years. It increased from 1.68 in 2007 to 2.10 in 2009 which is quite impressive. This suggests that the divisional managers are continually

How to be a Good Parent Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How to be a Good Parent - Research Paper Example Parents should be concerned in the activities of their children so that they know the behavioral changes and the reasons of these changes. In this way, parents can easily solve the problems of children (Steinberg, 2004). Parents should know their children’s likes and dislikes, such as what sport, what television show they want to watch, who their friends are and why they hang around them. Through this strong connection, they can learn about the children. Parent should tell the children what is right and what is wrong, what is good and bad for them. Parents should set limitations so and ensure their children understand what those limitations are. Mostly young and inexperienced parents do not know the behavioral changes of the children because they are inexperienced. According to the writers, young parents need assistance for identifying these changes so that their children will become confident and self reliant in their lives. Parents should observe the children’s behavi or and attitude keenly so that they can know their children's behavioral changes. In this way, they can easily know the problems that children are facing in the life. (Hawkins, 1972). Parents should have a friendly attitude with children so that they feel protective and comfortable in their parents company. In this way, whenever a child faces some problem, he or she firstly will tell their problem to their parents. In this way, they will secure crucial issues. The parents who created a comfortable environment between children and themselves will become more confident and self-reliant. (Kerr & Stattin, 2000). Selecting a child’s name is the first and most valuable gift that parents give to their children. Parents have to be... How to be a Good Parent The research paper consists of the children that are in between 2 to 16 years. In this age, considerable changes occur in children because this is the age in which developments is in ongoing position. Then parents have to be conscious while behaving wrongly in front of the children because they are in learning position (Fontenelle, 2001). In this research paper, I will discuss the facts of how can anyone be a good parent. Parents are focused because many of them do not know how to treat their children for their mental and physical growth. Raising a child is a tricky exercise and arguably, one of the hardest undertakings one must go through. To be a parent is difficult because parents have many duties and responsibilities that have to be fulfilled. If parent fulfill their duties and responsibilities, children can easily tackle with all types of problems of life in a better way. There are several techniques through which parents can easily understand the children behavior and attitudes . Parents should interact with their children to know their behaviors and attitudes in a better way. Because according to physiologists when we interact with our children, we teach them behaviors (Fontenelle, 2001). Literature Review Every behavior effects on their mental and physical development. Through this research, I have seen same behaviors between children of between 2 to 16 years old children in America. Behaviors are the most important element to judge and know to any other person.

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Knowledge Management - Essay Example It was way back in 1986, that there have been a number of theories that have been developed to manage the intellectual capital in the 21st century (Carlie, 1998). There has been immense and rapid growth in terms of knowledge management and this has been even higher since 1996. Knowledge management is a growing and established discipline and is being followed in many large organisations. Knowledge Management is slowly becoming a major and a very crucial issue in companies. It is essential to understand that knowledge is a major economic challenge for companies in the future (Hewitt, 2000). For every innovative and successful organisation, there is a high need for creating, capitalising and sharing the Knowledge capital. It is essential to understand that Knowledge management is a programme which is more of a long term effort, and includes a strong need for strategic commitment and involves and includes a number of analysis of the knowledge and know how in the company. It also involves the integration of a number of tools as well. Knowledge has been noted to bring about the possibility for mangers and businesses to make decision to create higher success and competitive advantage (Hewitt, 2000). Knowledge plays and essential part in every business and creates a potential in managers to use the corporate knowledge that they have to improve and optimize their resources not only in terms of financial but also the in terms of human resources as well. Researchers have noticed over the years that almost 75 – 80 percent of all large companies have a strong inclination and formal KM programs. KM is slowly becoming a major and crucial issue in companies. It is safe to say that knowledge has already grown largely and it has become one of the most essential aspects of any business. It has become a major driver and money is now slowly phasing out of the scene and as the old saying of ‘Knowledge is king’, is now being put to use in almost

Hip hop culture Thesis Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hip hop culture - Thesis Proposal Example Hip hop was the product of the activism and creativity of the people the drug-infested streets during the 1960s and 1970s. The places where gangs once fled, parties and outdoor jams were held. The wars among the groups were transformed into street dancing with DJs with colorful designs made by graffiti artists. Hip hop culture experienced various transformations from just an ordinary street culture into multibillion-dollar businesses and became famous around the globe (Price, 2006, xi). The popularity of hip hop gave itself a reputation as a great cultural movement that is against the mainstream beliefs. Beyond the popularity and high record sales, the very soul of the movement is still vague. The identity and destiny of the hip hop is not clear. The heated debates happened within the hip hop culture (Watkins, 2005, p. 5). Hip hop really started as a series of artistic activities like dance, music and graffiti which were all very important in showing the African popular culture. In the beginning it was hard to understand the existence of the culture (Dimitriadis, 2009, p. 22). Some people in the society consider the influence of hip hop to be exaggerated; it has made the very core of the African and American youth than any historical and political events. Hip hop was able to hone the youth while promoting the unique valued aspects of various communities. It has been found out that the basic ideology of hip hop is â€Å"Get in where you fit in†. Although the basic ideology of African American culture is about equality in the society, hip hop is about inclusion of all people who respect hip hop (Morgan, 2009, p. 48). DJs flourished in the hip hop culture. One of them is Joseph Saddler better known as Grandmaster Flash. He invented mixing wherein two or more music are played and recorded together. He also invented punch-phasing which is adding some popping sounds to audio tracks (Hatch, 2006, p. 24). It

Film Production Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Production - Movie Review Example This paper will look at the basic five elements of production such as image, time, motion, sound, composition among others that producers use to adapt the book to the screen using a true story based on a book. Image is one of the basic elements that producers consider in making films. From the film, it is evident that this aspect was given an upper hand in the process of pitching the book into a film. Formulating images of a film require capturing light and recording devices that are projected on a screen. Images plays a vital role in determining how the directors and producers will place the actors and objects on the screen. This shows that the producer of the film considered pitching the book out of the gate before making any step of negotiation. This stage enables the producer to read and review the book and determine if it can be presented for film production. Given that the book is based on a real life experience and is a survival story of a ship captain, it is easy for the producers to figure out scenes and images that can be incorporated in the film. Also, the book itself shows a story of adventure and courage that gives an upper hand to the producer to figure out the scenes and im ages that can give intimate details of the whole scenario. For instance, in the book, the captain outlines the adventure of the high seas, extreme temperatures, death threats and chances of escaping that can easily resonate with the scenes that should be incorporated in a film. Therefore, it is evident the producer considered scenes and images in the book before they made any step of getting the project in pure form without altering the content of the book (Regis, n.d). Also, the producers of the movie considered the time frame before coming up with the film. The diegetic time of the story lasts for 114 minutes to give the real story of what transpired when the

The Atlantic Slave Trade Essay Example for Free

The Atlantic Slave Trade Essay The Atlantic Slave Trade had a both positive and negative impact on those involved in it to an extent. Britain’s economy benefited greatly from the slave trade as many industries flourished. This was an immense opportunity for those who were unemployed as it provided thousands of jobs. People were employed in industries like the building and repair of slave ships, selling the goods produced by slaves such as sugar and cotton, and banking. This resulted in the slave trade becoming the financial base of development of Britain. However, not everyone benefited from this trade as it had an enormous negative impact on Africa’s society and economy. The 37 years of slave capturing and exporting resulted in wars between tribes and drained Africa’s population of 12 million of its strongest youth. This resulted in Africa’s economic development in being hindered. For Africans the physical experience of slavery was painful, traumatic and long-lasting. Britain benefited from the slave trade in many ways including the economy, as slavery became part of the financial base of development in Britain. Many economic factors contributed to slavery including the demands of plantation farming, servant slaves and the growth of the slave trade as its own industry. Plantation farming emerged as a way to earn a profitable crop and dominated the southern colonies. In plantations African slaves worked in hundreds from dawn until dusk producing goods that supplied Britain. These goods consisted of sugar, cotton, tobacco and rum. All these crops were very labour intensive requiring hundreds of workers to preserve them. The British became the largest and most efficient carriers of slaves to the new world. Therefore huge profits were made by the labour of unpaid slaves. Liverpool and Bristol were the main trading ports in Britain, Liverpool alone made  £300,000 per year from the slave trade. Scotland was also heavily involved in the slave trade, Scots went out to colonies and generated great wealth for Scotland based on slave labour. Glasgow’s â€Å"Tobacco Lords† profited from the slave trade, as did the merchants of London, Liverpool and Bristol. The city of London catered the economic services that were necessary for the slave trade, this included insurance and loans for slave traders. F.G Kay wrote about the social changes that happened in Britain following the growth of the slave trade, in a book named â€Å"The Shameful Trade† published in 1967. He states â€Å"the slave trade created a new class of wealthy colonial  families†. Bristol merchants who were great dealers increased their trade with the islands of the Caribbean. They also became specialists in trading with West Africa and retailing captured slaves. The trade also created, sustained and relied on a large support of shipping services, ports and finance companies employing tho usands of ordinary people. Many slave ships were need and thousands of jobs were created through this. Jobs in making slave ships, repairing, financing and insuring all flourished. By 1780 Liverpool had become the largest slave-ship building site in Britain. This also provided thousands of sailors with work. . Insurance was one of the biggest industries during the slave trade, insurance and long term loans created new opportunities for making more money. Slave merchants and sugar plantation owners needed to borrow money to keep their businesses going. Merchants involved in the triangular trade found that insurance was vital because if their ship hit a storm during the voyage its cargo could be lost, and if that ship is not insured then they could lose everything. There were huge profits in selling the goods produced by slaves such as cotton, sugar and tobacco. Thousands of people were employed in factories to make exportable goods that were traded in for slaves in Africa these were guns, textiles and pottery. People were also employed in making brass and copper in Yorkshire, weavers in Birmingham, chain makers and sugar refiners in Greenock. The slave trade made Britain the world’s leading sea power and it helped finance the indus trial revolution. The British government made a fortune from the taxes related to the slave trade. Nonetheless not everyone profited from the slave trade, The Atlantic Slave Trade had enormous negative effects on the continent of Africa. Many parts of Africa suffered from an increase in violence, drain of people and an economy increasingly reliant on slavery. As a result of this Africa fell behind the rest of the world. Having fewer young healthy people to produce food would make famine more likely and the rates of death worse. Slavery led to the movement of thousands of people across Africa, allowing disease to spread between different parts of Africa. A lot of good land was left uncultivated and not looked after because there were not enough young people left to farm it. African slaves took with them their religion, traditions, cooking, clothes, music and dance. These had a negative impact on Americans  as it led to voodoo in the West Indies. The slave trade encouraged conflicts between African tribes, raids and kidnapping. The demand for more slaves led to increased hatred and violence between communities in Africa. There was also the spread of racist ideology to justify the enslavement of Africans. It is estimated that up to 12 million Africans were snatched from their homeland shipped to the Caribbean to work on plantations. Thousands of African villages were ruined as they were raided for slaves. The farming in Africa changed to grow crops which were brought to supply slave ships. African chiefs and kings stopped ruling by law as they became greedy cunning tradesmen. The 37 years of slave capturing and exporting drained Africa of millions of its strongest youth. As a result of this the population became unbalanced and the adult male population was reduced to 20%. Overall Africa was the only continent to be affected in this way, and because of the loss in population it became a major factor leading to its economic hardship. John Newton was a British slave trader in West Africa. In a small extract from his journal he comments on the immoral methods used between Africans and Europeans, he states â€Å"Europeans try to cheat Africans at every turn. Any article of trade that can be cheapened is so. Spirits are diluted with water, kegs of gunpowder have false bottoms and pieces are cut out of rolls of cloth†. In conclusion it is clear that Britain benefited from the Atlantic Slave Trade. We know this because of how it boosted the British economy as many industries grew, created thousands of jobs and supplied Britain with essential everyday life goods. We also know that colonies were established on the backs of hard-working African slaves. However not everyone benefited from the slave trade as it made Africa suffer greatly. Up to 12 million young strong Africans were forced out of their homelands and brought to the Caribbean to work without pay. Families separated and sold to go and work on plantations from dawn until dusk. Thousands of villages were wrecked because of the raiding for slaves. African leaders became dishonest, deceptive greedy tradesmen which resulted in Africa becoming corrupt.

The Proper Definition Of A Social Network Site

The Proper Definition Of A Social Network Site The purpose of this paper is to educate you with the proper definition of a social network site, a brief overview of its history and how they have evolved to being used in almost every facet of life today. Social Network: Definition Social network site is a web-based service that allows individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system (Boyd, Ellison, 2007). While the term social network site is used to describe this concept, the term social networking sites is also commonly used, and both can be used back and forth. I refrained from using the term networking for two reasons: emphasis and scope. Networking signifies intent of a new relationship, more often than not between strangers. Although people do network on these sites, it is not the main attraction, nor is it what makes them stand out from other forms of computer-mediated communication. The term community refers to networks that are ethnically homogenous. The uniqueness of social network sites does not come in the fact that they allow individuals to meet new people, but rather that they allow users to identify and publicize their social networks. This usually results in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between latent ties (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On most of the popular social networking sites, members do not actually network or look to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them social network sites. As mentioned earlier, while social network sites may have a number of unique features to them, their background still consists of peoples profiles that display a list of their friends who are also members of the site. Profiles are a one page summary of an individual. When an individual newly joins a social network site, they are typically asked to answer basic questions that help to create ones profile. They typically ask for your name, age, sex, interests and location. There is also a section that allows one to upload a photograph and some networks even allow users to upload music and themes to enhance the look of their profile page. Once a user has joined a social network, the next step is typically to identify other friends on the system or network and request access to their profiles and/or networks via a friend request. The term Friends can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (Boyd, 2006). At this stage, users can scroll through their friend list and view each friends profile and their friend list. Some networks may permit access to profile pages in the same network even though a unique connection has not been established while others may not. Some even allow users to restrict access to their page. For example, if you are not directly connected to another user, you cannot view or have limited view to their profile page. Another feature of most social network sites is messaging. There is usually a mechanism in place for friends to communicate with one another on the network. For example, if you like a friends profile photograph, there should be a way to tell them there and then. The most common lingua for such is comment. Friends comment on each others pages and pictures and some even have email-like services on the networks but not all started out like this. History of Social Networks According to the criteria used to define social network sites, SixDegrees.com was the very first social networking site. It allowed its users to create profiles, add their friends on the site and, beginning in 1998, view their friends profiles. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. Some sites allowed users to list friends although no one else could view them. Others allowed members to join networks such as high schools or colleges and see others in their networks but they could not create profiles for years. SixDegrees was the first social networking site that allowed it users to do all these. Figure Although SixDegrees garnered much public acclaim, its attempt to be a sustainable business failed and as such, the service shut down in 2000. With hindsight, the developers believed that the site offered more than was required. Meanwhile at this time most people who began using the internet more often had no networks of friends who were constantly online. It brought about complaints of boredom online. There was basically nothing to do after adding friends because people were not interested in networking with strangers. If you take a look at Figure 1, you can see a table that lists almost all the communities and social networks that have been established over a ten year period from 1997 to 2006. Some of these networks and communities did not actually have all the features that qualify them as a social networking site. Some names appear more than once as the years went by, the latter occurrence signifies their re-launch as a full social networking site. From 1997 to 2001, AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente began supporting various combinations of profiles and publicly listed friends. They allowed their users to create personal, professional, and dating profile and they could identify friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections. In 1999 when LiveJournal came around, it facilitated single connections on user pages. On LiveJournal, users mark others as their friends in order to read their journals. Cyworld, the Korean virtual world site kicked off in 1999 and by 2001 it re-launched as a full social networking site with features such as friend lists, guestbooks and diary pages as did the Swedish web community LunarStorm. After 2003, the social networking sites hit it big time. Several began to pop up for different reasons. While the basic profile based structured remained their purpose diversified some were for friends meeting old and new ones while others sought to cater to a more professional and business minded demography. Care2 connected activists to one another, Couchsurfing networked travelers and people with couches and MyChurch brought together churches and their members. Gradually as user-generated content began to grow, attention shifted to sites like Flickr (picture sharing), Last.FM(music listening) and YouTube(video uploads). Now most of these upcoming social networking sites were being launched from Silicon Valley where a lot of angel investors were pumping money into them and as such any site that developed outside of that area barely got attention. This is why some sites developed in the U.S had better reception outside the country. Examples will be Orkut(Brazils number one) and MSN Spaces. The advent of MySpace was aided by the ailing Friendster. Rumors that Friendster would begin to charge its users only succeeded in putting the sword to the heart on the already ailing site. MySpace garnered most of its initial popularity from rock bands out in Los Angeles who were trying to get their names out. They used it to advertise their shows and club owners used it to advertise bands and ticket sales. The demographic for MySpace gradually shifted toward young teenagers and adults who liked music and wished to connect with their favorite artists. Another thing that the site had going for it was that it allowed users to customize their pages and add their favorite songs to their pages. This and the fact that some adults began using it to meet minors to solicit sexual interaction were part of the reasons that MySpace began to fall just shortly after it got purchased for about $540 million. Apart from these network sites, there were others whose primary focus was a particular group of people such as when Facebook began in 2004. Facebook began in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS (Cassidy, 2006). To be a member, you had to be a registered student of Harvard University and use your school email address to register. With time, the network expanded but the restrictions still applied. It went to other schools but still required that a school email be used to register. This gave most people the perception that it was more of a community than a social networking site. Benefits of Social Network Sites Today social network sites are being used in very different ways that benefit a whole lot of people. Everyone seems to find a way to use them to their benefit. Consumers and manufacturers use social network sites to give and get feedback on their products. By analyzing feedback given by consumers on social network sites, blogs and other means, manufacturers have the ability to improve their sales, know when to up-sell and down-sell, they also know how to minimize cost of acquiring new consumers and many other methods. In some countries, the leaders use social network sites as a means of getting closer to the people. Some representatives use it to get feedback from their people and listen to their problems. Leaders can explain to their people what exactly the implications of certain policies and they can also get input or public opinion on certain issues that may require voting in the house. It is an essential tool in modern day leadership and political campaign. The results of the last presidential elections held in the United States were predicted by analyzing feedback about the respective candidates on sites like Facebook and Twitter. It also helped the candidates in addressing campaign issues that concerned the people. Senator Obama even had a MiGente profile that he used to reach out to the Latin-American population during the course of his campaign. Educators are finding new ways to engage their students in the learning process as well as improve teaching methods through social networking sites. Students across the world interact with one another via Skype, Twitter and Facebook during classes as a method of learning about other parts of the world and how they learn over there. In January 2009, Silvia Tolisano, a teacher in Jacksonville, Florida developed a project that involved over 300 participants in schools across the globe. The goal was to prove how helpful social networking sites can be in student education. According to her, It creates a global awareness that there is a wider world out there and that we are not alone. They find its just as easy to collaborate with a class in England as with the class next door. Social network sites not only benefit the student, the educators as well benefit from sites like Twitter and Ning. While students havent become enamored with Twitter yet, it has become a hot spot for educators to find professional development and resources (Michelle R. Davis, 2010). One of the most popular types of educator events on Twitter are EdChats-one-hour conversations that take place every Tuesday around a particular topic. The chats are the brainchild of several educators, including Thomas Whitby, a co-creator of a 3,700-member Ning site called The Educators PLN, for professional learning network.

Importance Of Strategic Management Commerce Essay

Importance Of Strategic Management Commerce Essay Strategic management is a combination of art and science for formulation, implementation evaluation of decisions that enables an organization to achieve its goals objectives. Firstly, it assesses its competition in a market and then sets goals strategies to meet its competitors. Secondly, managers carry strategies to achieve the best performance of their company. An organization has an advantage if their profit rate is higher than their competitors. 1.3 Value of Strategic Management: Value of strategic planning is obvious. The companies which plan strategically have a better financial position in a society than those organizations that dont. In todays world, Strategic planning is not only applied in the private sector but also in government owned firms which include government departments, hospitals educational institutions. For example, increasing costs of university education, competition from different universities offering good education in less price reduction in student loans by banks student education funds by government etc and this had led many education providers to research and assess their universitys aspirations to find out a market niche in which they can prosper and after planning they can apply their strategies if set goals are achieved then its an effective strategy. 2.0 Importance of Strategic Management: The importance of strategic management is discussed as follows: Strategies make a difference in the performance of an organization. It helps managers to overcome challenging situations to cope with uncertain environments. It indicates the need of changing making alteration in an organization (new ways of thinking applying latest precautionary measures) Many organizations are made up of different divisions and departments that requires coordination with each other, else there should be no focus on achieving goals of an organization. Its useful for both profit based non-profit based organization. 3.0 Components of Mission Statement: Mission statement is the statement of the role by which an organization intends to serve its stakeholders. It describes why an organization is operating and thus provides a framework within which strategies are formulated. It describes what the organization does (i.e., present capabilities), who all it serves (i.e., stakeholders) and what makes an organization unique (i.e., reason for existence). Once the mission statement is formulated, it serves the organization in long run, but it may become ambiguous with organizational growth and innovations. In todays dynamic and competitive environment, mission may need to be redefined. However, care must be taken that the redefined mission statement should have original fundamentals/components. Mission statement has three main components-a statement of mission or vision of the company, a statement of the core values that shape the acts and behaviour of the employees, and a statement of the goals and objectives. 3.1 Features of a Mission Statement: Some of its main points are discussed below: Mission must be feasible and attainable. It should be possible to achieve it. Mission should be clear enough so that any action can be taken. It should be inspiring for the management, staff and society at large. It should be precise enough, i.e., it should be neither too broad nor too narrow. It should be unique and distinctive to leave an impact in everyones mind. It should be analytical,i.e., it should analyze the key components of the strategy. It should be credible, i.e., all stakeholders should be able to believe it. 4.0 The Individual Steps in the Strategic Management Process: There are 8 steps of strategic management process which are shown in the form of diagram and also these are explained below: Figure 1: C:UsersacerDesktopSM.jpg Step 1: It includes the Mission Statement, also it includes its features which have been discussed above in Components of Mission Statement. Step 2: This step of strategic process is complete when management has an accurate grasp of what is taking place in its environment and is aware of important trends that might affect its operations. This awareness is aided by environmental scanning activities and competitive intelligence Step 3: After analyzing and learning about the environment, management needs to evaluate what it has learned in terms of opportunities (strategic) that the organization can exploit and threats that the organization faces. In the simplest way, opportunities are positive external environmental factors and threats are negative ones. Keeping in mind that same environment can can present opportunities to one organization and pose threats to another in the same or a similar industry because of their different resources or a different focus. Step 4: In this step,we move from looking outside the organization to look inside..Thats we evaluate the organizations internal resources..This step forces management to recognize that every organization no matter how large and powerful, is constrained in some way by its resources and the skills it has available. Step 5: Internal Resources or things that the organization does well are its strengths. And these strengths represent the unique skills or resources that can determine the organisations competitive edge are its Core competences. And when an organization lacks certain resources we label its weakness Step 6: It includes the analysis and counter checking of Mission Statement. Step 7-How to Formulate Strategies: Strategies need to be set for all levels in the organization. Management needs to develop and evaluate alternative strategies and then select a set that is compatible at each level and will allow the organization to best capitalize on its resources and the opportunities available in the environment. Step 8-Implementation of Strategies: The last step of strategic management process is Implementation. No matter how good a strategic plan is, it cannot succeed it its not implemented properly. Top management leadership is a necessary ingredient in a successful strategy. And finally results must be evaluated. 4.1 Strategic Management Avoiding Pit falls In strategic Management, a word SMARTER is used. Smarter is an acronym that can help organizations avoid a major pitfall in the development and implementation of strategic plans: Specific Measurable Acceptable Realistic Timeframe Extending Rewarding. 4.2 Advantages Of Strategic Management: The advantages and benefits of undertaking Strategic Management in a systematic way include helping an organization to: Clearly define its purpose Establish realistic goals and objectives consistent with its mission Ensure the effective use of resources by focusing on key priorities Establish an mechanism for informed change when needed The Individual Steps in a Strategic Management Process: 5.0 SWOT Analysis: A combination of external internal factors which results in an evaluation of opportunities that are provided by an organization. SWOT is an acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. Basically SWOT Analysis is done frequently in order to identify a strategic position that an organization can achieve easily to carefully evaluate the companys position as compared to its competitors. When SWOT analysis is done, the organization reviews its mission objectives. Also opportunities provided by an organization are reviewed, either its mission objectives are truly existent or not, they require any modifications or not, and where any other changes are needed. On the other hand, if no changes are obligatory, management is ready to actually formulate strategies. Conclusion This assignment provides an overview of strategic management and strategy. Ideas about strategy span many centuries, and modern understanding of strategy borrows from ancient strategies as well as classic military strategies. We should now understand that there are numerous ways to conceptualize the idea of strategy and that effective strategic management is needed to ensure the long-term success of firms. The study of strategic management provides tools to effectively manage organizations, but it also involves the art of knowing how and when to apply creative thinking. Knowledge of both the art and the science of strategic management is needed to help guide organizations as their strategies emerge and evolve over time. Such tools will also help us effectively chart a course for our career as well as to understand the effective strategic management of the organizations for which we will work.

jane austen Essay -- essays research papers fc

This 5 page paper considers the limited roles of men and women in Jane Austen's society and assesses the social conventions, enforced by gossip, that keep women in line. This paper specifically explores the characterization of Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and argues that she is a representation of a modern woman in a nineteenth century world. 6 pages in length. Typical of Jane Austen’s novels, the author strives to portray a more equitable relationship between the genders. In Persuasion, the character of Anne represents Austen’s conduit amid women and the patriarchal society in which they have been compelled for centuries to exist. The writer discusses the manner in which Austen perpetuates the ongoing struggles with regard to gender oppression is of critical importance in relation to Anne’s character; indeed, hers is represented by the author as one who exemplifies the need for a favorable and fair approach to professional and domestic life. Bibliography lists 7 sources. This 12 page report discusses Jane Austen’s novel â€Å"Mansfield Park† (1814). Jane Austen presents her late 18th and early 19th century world to readers of the 21st century with such clarity and distinction that it becomes impossible to not apply the universal truths of her time to the contemporary age. In â€Å"Mansfield Park† she presents the reader with a vision of stateliness, propriety, and the confines of good taste. â€Å"Mansfield Park† should also be thought of as Jane Austen’s venture...

Coming to the United States Essay -- Personal Experience

Sometime in 1978, my mother brings my sister and me to escape Viet Nam to Songkhla, Thailand. We arrived in San Antonio, Texas nine months later in July, 1979. It is here where I began my â€Å"American† education. It is this education system, and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) through the medium called â€Å"television†, which shred lights on me as I become conscious of what happened to my home country was not the fault of my own people. Regrettably, growing up in â€Å"America† as a foreign kid, barely speaking English, moving from town to town, and changing school annually is not straightforward. In a flash, the realization of what happen to my country vanished as it comes down to a mean of survival. I am on my own in this strange country and society, and I must do what I do to get through at the age of twelve. The recollections of my beautiful country, home, schools, and friends, appeared in the back of my mind from time to time, nevertheless I di d not have time to reflect upon them. The questions of why we left our country and came to such a distance place called the â€Å"United State of America†, never get a â€Å"real† answer. Until now, July 9, 2011, I am attending history 21, conducts by Professor Toshio Whelchel. Thirty-two years later, I am asked to compose an essay for my midterm title: â€Å"Modern American History: From the Overthrow of Hawaii to the Philippines War†. The anxiety in my stomach agitates and my eyes begin to tears, not because it is the â€Å"midterm† paper, not because I forget how to write, not because lettering is my weakness†¦but the memories. April 30, 1975, the reverberation of bullets piercing through the night, the gloomy stench of smoldering dead bodies, as bombs rained down upon us, and guns fired upon innocent ci... ... Horrendously for Philippines and Hawaii, their resources and people are the target of western imperialism, capitalism, racism, industrialization, and military power in the name of ‘democracy’. Against their will, these people must endure imposed western ideology, and sacrifice their life in the fights for self-government. On the other hand, those who came armed with intentions would use any means possible to get what they came for. For some conniving characters seeking self-fortunes, and protecting their own interest, they walk a fine line of morality. Where they can not apply forces, propaganda is their powerful allied. This is an endless cycle of how empire rises and falls. What goes down in history for future generation is the doctrines of the why and the how to go about obtaining the resources that enable one nation to rise or fall.

Macbeth and its Unbelievable Lady :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth and its Unbelievable Lady      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth which character is more imaginatively created than that of Lady Macbeth? Can a lady actually think in this manner without being called insane. We examine the various dimensions of her character in this paper.    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows that Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind her husband, who resolves to "get with it" in the future:    That Macbeth is being hurried into a premature act by his wife is a point unlikely to escape the most listless member of the audience, but Macbeth comes to regret the instant of fatal delay in murdering Macduff, and draws the moral that    The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand.    That is, in future he will try to attain the successful ruler's spontaneous rhythm of action. (91)    In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson describes the role of Lady Macbeth:    It requires an extraordinary exertion of will and persuasion from Lady Macbeth to strengthen his wavering purpose. Professor Kittredge used to point out to his classes that Lady Macbeth, in urging Macbeth to act, uses the three arguments that every wife, some time or other, uses to every husband: "You promised me you'd do it!" "You'd do it if you loved me!" "If I were a man, I'd do it myself!" But Macbeth's mind is made up by her assurance that they may do it safely by fixing the guilt upon Duncan's chamberlains. (72)    In "Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action" Francis Fergusson specifies the fears within Lady Macbeth:      I do not need to remind you of the great scenes preceding the murder, in which Macbeth and his Lady pull themselves together for their desperate effort. If you think over these scenes, you will notice that the Macbeths understand the action which begins here as a competition and a stunt, against reason and against nature. Lady Macbeth fears her husband's human nature, as well as her own female nature, and therefore she fears the light of reason and the common dayllight world. As for Macbeth, he knows from the first that he is engaged in an irrational stunt: "I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other.

The Continual Emerging Threat and Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction By Terrorist Organizations to the United States of America

The utilization of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) by terrorist groups and states alike will continue to threaten the U. S. Homeland and its interests abroad. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) provided the following estimate of this emerging threat in its December 2000 analysis of global trends through the year 2015 (Cordesman, 2002).Strategic WMD threats, including nuclear missile threats in which (barring significant political or economic changes) Russia, China, most likely North Korea, probably Iran, and possibly Iraq have the capability to strike the United States, and the potential for unconventional delivery of WMD by both state or non-state actors also will grow (p. 3).The NIC report additionally goes on to discuss the accessibility and advancement of technology for WMD will increase, saying: Prospects will grow that more sophisticated weaponry, including weapons of mass destruction–indigenously produced or externally acquired–will get into the hands of s tate and non-state belligerents, some hostile to the United States. The likelihood will increase over this period that WMD will be used either against the United States or is forces, facilities, and interests overseas (p. ). For these and other reasons, individuals in the security and law enforcement profession need to continue to maintain their focus on the capabilities and the potentiality of WMD use by a variety of interests. I use this paper as an opportunity to further educate myself on the use of WMD by terrorist organizations. I do this by giving an overview of the many types of threats that fall into the category of WMD, to include chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear.I then continue my education by looking at the countries involved with WMD. I'll conclude the paper with looking specifically at some of Iraq's capabilities and programs. Chemical weapons pose significant threats to both the civilian populace and military organization. One of the biggest reason chemi cal weapons pose such a threat to both of these groups is the psychological effect caused by their use. Although chemical weapons are no more lethal then conventional weaponry, they cause great fear when even someone thinks of them being used.The most common example would be the exploitations of the media and the footage seen of the Kurds in Iraq when Saddam Hussein used blister and nerve agents. Not only were there dead civilians laying in the streets, but gruesome pictures of the effect that these agents have on the body, both to those killed and survivors. â€Å"Chemical weapons are weapons of terror and intimidation as well as a means of producing casualties and physical destruction† (Cordesman, 2002, p. 101). In 2003 the Department of Defense (DoD) stated that most forms of CW are employed in the liquid form, called droplets.Droplets make the substance more stable and easy for use in weaponry. The DoD also put chemical weapons into two categories, persistent and nonpersi stent–persistent lasting for days, and nonpersistent only lasting from minutes to hours (Defenselink, 2003). The U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) put CWs into a few distinct categories, these being; nerve agents such as VX, blood agents like hydrogen cyanide, blister agents like sulfur mustards, and pulmonary agents like chlorine. The latter are the more commonly used and known, but there are also many more†¦ specially the ones that fall into the commercial category, such as metals, pesticides, etc†¦ (Kahn & Levitt, 2000). Most organizations wishing to use some type of WMD tend not to turn to chemicals as their primary weapon. There are many challenges facing someone that wants to effectively employing CWs. The DoD (Defenselink, 2003) lists a variety of issues concerning the factors that must be considered. These factors include; agent type, how it will be disseminated, amount available to be disseminated (droplet size), meteorological conditions, including t emperature, wind speed and direction.Without the right combination of all of these factors, the desired outcome will be greatly reduced. An additional challenge is that of actually acquiring and/or producing a chemical to be used as a weapon. The Gilmore Commission (1999) gives the following example for explaining just how difficult it would be. It has sometimes been claimed that producing sarin and other nerve agents is a relatively easy process, to the extent, according to one authority, that â€Å"ball-point pen ink is only one chemical step removed†.While sarin may be less complicated to synthesize than other nerve agents, the expertise required to produce it should not, however, be underestimated. The safety challenges involved would, at a minimum, require skill, training, and special equipment to overcome. For this reason, the level of competency required for producing sophisticated chemical nerve agents, including sarin, will likely be on the order of a graduate degree in organic chemistry and/or actual experience as a organic chemist–not simply a knowledge of college-level chemistry, as is sometimes alleges (p. 91).Although the Gilmore Commission points the necessity to have the required level of expertise for composing chemicals into weapons grade, there are many countries that already posses a vast array of CWs. Terrorist organizations without access to CWs or the expertise to produce them, resort to using resources they do have (normally money, but sometimes services) to exchange with countries that do have CWs. According to Cordesman (2002) the following countries are potential national threats because of their chemical weapons program: China, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia.Russia has the largest stockpile, 40,000 metric tons of chemical agents. Even more frightening is that reportedly some of this stockpile is comprised of â€Å"new agents†. These new agents are designed to circumvent Western detec tion methods and can be hidden within commercial chemical plants. The employment challenges of CWs are far out-weighed by the vast capability to acquire them, and the terror effect they have. Biological Weapons (BW) pose a significant risk to U. S. interests for many reasons. There are a wide range of agents with many different effects and they offer a wide range of ways to attack American citizens, crops, and livestock† (Cordesman, 2002, p. 135). The World Health Organization (2000) explained the significance of BW and diseases by recounting history, pointing out Napoleon's devastating retreat from Moscow. This wasn't caused by the great Russian Army or even the cold temperatures of the Russian winter, but because of typhus, a louse-borne infection that reduced his army from 655,000 to 93,000.Cordesman (2002) states that there are five categories: bacterial agents such as anthrax, rickettsial agents like the Rocky Mountain spotted fever, viral agents like small pox, toxins in cluding botulinum, and fungal agents. The above agents are the major ones that would be used to pose a threat to humans, there are many others that would affect plant and animal life. The Center for Disease Control (Kahn & Levitt, 2000) further categorizes agents that are a threat to national security, labeling them â€Å"high priority†. These high priority agents: â€Å"- can be disseminated or transmitted person-to-person cause high mortality, with potential for major public health impact – might cause public panic and social disruption; and – require special action for public health. † As with chemical weapons, biological weapons offer a psychological threat, but additionally the BWs bring a great deal of physiological issues. Much of the challenge with biological weapons occurs when trying to detect that one (or many) have been used. There are many ways that BWs could be used covertly, and the medical symptoms becoming visible long after the terrorist has departed.The CDC (Kahn & Levitt, 2000) outlines this fact and emphasizing the importance of early detection by the public health infrastructure by giving this scenario: Only a short window of opportunity will exist between the time the first cases are identified and a second wave of the population becomes ill. During that brief period, public health officials will need to determine that an attack has occurred, identify the organism, and prevent more casualties through prevention strategies (e. g. , mass vaccination or prophylactic treatment).As person-to-person contact continues, successive waves of transmission could carry infection to other worldwide localities. Another twist that a terrorist might use to inhibit the effective detection is to employ a variety of different BWs at the same time. Health care workers would potentially read the symptoms of only one of them used, while the other continues to grow, infect further, and kill. In addition to BWs being very opportunisti c for covert use, the DoD (Defenselink, 2003) says that BWs are preferable to chemical or nuclear WMD because of being very compact and low in weight.The DoD additionally went on to say that the â€Å"dissemination of infectious agents through aerosols, either as droplets from liquid suspensions or by small particles from dry powders, is by far the most efficient method† (Defenselink, 2003, p. 5). A Russian assessment of microbiological agents mostly likely to be used identified eleven. The top four were smallpox, plague, anthrax, and botulism. These were at the top because of the ability to be used as an aerosol, and their theoretical lethality rates being 30 percent to 80 percent and because of their capability to be massed produced (Henderson, 1999).There are two countries besides the United States that are well know for their pursuit of weaponizing biological weapons, Iraq and the Soviet Union. In 1975 the Soviet Union used the biotechnology industry as a front for its we apons program, called Bioprepart†. The program had the capability to mass thousands of tons of agents and distribute and store them strategically throughout the Soviet Union. The program also included the ability to rapidly produce these stored agents to weapons grade levels (Alibek, 1999).According to some intelligence analysis this program involved 60,000 to 70,000 personnel (Roberts, 2000). Even more alarming was that a vast amount of these were â€Å"infectious agents designed to follow up a strategic nuclear attack on the United States with contagious diseases designed to decimate the population (Alibek, 1999). Although the looming threat to the United States from the former Soviet Union isn't as prevalent with the ending of the Cold War, the possibility of these technologies and actual agents falling into the hands of rogue states or terrorists, is a very good possibility.The General Accounting Office (GAO) (2000) states that in addition to the large collections of dang erous pathogens, there are also as many as 15,000 underpaid scientists and researchers, and an additional vast amount of specialized equipment and facilities just waiting to be exploited. This concern, in addition to the many outlined above concretely justify the continued efforts by the United States to counter attacks to its interests through the use of biological weapons. The likelihood of a conventional explosive vehicle bomb like the one used in the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh still posses a serious risk.Recently there has been a concern of these conventional vehicle bombs also including radioactive material. â€Å"Radiological weapons are generally felt to be suitable largely for terror, political, and area denial purposes, rather than mass killings† (Cordesman, 2002, p. 194). Cordesman (2002) further goes on to explain that as opposed to nuclear weapons, radioactive material posses such a great threat because of its contamination capability. Therefore, rad ioactive weapons are best suited for use when wanting to deny accessibility of a specific area or building/s.A Gilmore Commission Report (1999) explained that, A combination fertilizer truck bomb, if used together with radioactive material, for example, could not only have destroyed one of the New York World Trade Center's towers but might have rendered a considerable chunk of prime real estate in one of the world's financial nerve centers indefinitely unusable because of radioactive contamination. Radioactive weapons are designated into two categories, â€Å"radiological dispersal devices† (RDD) and â€Å"simple radiological dispersal devices† (simple RDD).As Cordesman (2002) points out, the main difference between the two being that a RDD is designed to â€Å"include any explosive device utilized to spread radioactive material upon detonation†, and the simple RDD â€Å"spreads the radioactive material without an explosion†. There are a couple of differe nt types of radioactive material that could be used as RDD or as simple RDDs. The list includes hospital radiation therapy, radiopharmaceuticals, nuclear power plant fuel rods, and universities, laboratories, radiography and gauging (Cordesman 2002).The Gilmore Commission Report (1999) explains the harmful effects caused by radioactive material by saying, â€Å"Radiological weapons kill or injure by exposing people to radioactive materials, such as cesium-137, iridium-192, or cobalt-60. † The harm is caused by a variety of different ways including in-haling it, or ingesting it (contaminated food or water supply). The level of the harm caused is of course determinate of the amount of exposure to the radioactive material, long periods or short periods. The difficult thing to assess initially is the level of exposure.The U. S. Army (2002) explains that lethal and serious doses are very difficult to determine, even within the same geographical area. Additionally the U. S. Army (2 002) points out that symptoms and effects are largely changed if someone has burns on their body or their body has been through physical trauma, which is almost certainly the case if most scenarios (except for maybe covertly) that would involve radiological contamination. For these reasons, early detection of decontamination is imperative.The U. S. Army's USACHPPM report (2002) goes on to explain that once prompt detection has occurred, â€Å"about 95 percent of external agents can be removed by simple removing outer clothing and shoes†. So where would a terrorist group mostly likely acquire radioactive material to be used as a WMD, and furthermore, what is the likelihood that they would chose radioactive material as their weapon as opposed to, lets say nuclear? The former Soviet Union posses a threat regarding the lack of control over its any radiological materials, especially the â€Å"accumulation of large quantities of plutonium from reactors that is intended for reproce ssing and/or storage. † (Defenselink, 2002, p. 2). The DoD (Defenselink, 2002) also points out that Iraq and Chechnya have furthered their knowledge of radioactive weapons that could be used to contaminate water, food crops, and livestock. It further concludes that with many countries (Korea, etc†¦ ) advancing their nuclear power interests, radiological material will be tougher to monitor and control, and thus easier to acquire.One of our biggest threats may not be from a conventional weapon with radioactive material, or even the contamination of water or food, but direct contamination through the exploitation of a nuclear power plant right here in the United States. Even though an attack on a nuclear power plant would have to take a great deal of timing during the planning phase, it could produce very effective results. â€Å"The possible venting or overload of a reactor could then act as a radiological weapon, and cover hundreds of square kilometers as well as have a m ajor potential affect on regional power supplies (Cordesman, 2002, p. 97). † Some theorize that the method of using an existing nuclear power plant would elevate the hazards that go alone acquiring radioactive material. The Gilmore Commission Report (1999) points out that spent fuel rods are very hot, heavy and thus hard to handle. Cordesman (2002, p. 197) concurs with the Gilmore Commission stating, † A seizure of spent fuel would be particularly dangerous during the first 150 days after the downloading because iodine-131, and iodine-123 are present, which are extremely volatile, and affect the thyroid†.There is still a great deal to be learned about the potential loss and employment of radiological materials, and ultimately the use of it by a terrorist or state would have on a population or army. When it comes to the use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction, the retaliatory consequences of their use would probably discourage the would be state or terrorist to u se them. There are many other reasons that would prohibit a terrorist group from having the capability to do so, but as some experts have argued, when it comes to the homeland defense, security planners must look at a time-frame twenty five years from now (Cordesman, 2002).The DoD (Defenselink, 2002) makes the point by explaining that no one foresaw the Cold War ending so quickly, or that twenty five years ago the Persian Gulf War would have happened†¦ thus the need for such long range planning, and more importantly looking at what the capabilities could be out there, and the United States vulnerabilities to them. A great deal of the threat would come from countries that currently have nuclear programs, whether directly, or indirectly through the proliferation of technical expertise and equipment.Thus, we must look at these countries, and gain a firm understanding of their current programs. The DoD (OSD, 2001) gave the following overview in explaining the states with a potentia l nuclear threat to the United States. -Iran: Iran is currently actively pursuing the acquiring of fissile material and technology for nuclear weapons development. They are doing this by an elaborate system of military and civilian organizations. Iran's claim is that these elaborate systems are for the development of a civilian energy program–the DoD thinks otherwise. Much of the success of Iran's attempts will depend on Russia and China.Russia is currently in a mutual partnership with Iran to build a 1,000 megawatt power reactor. Iran is using this product to both acquire sensitive nuclear technologies, along with weapons-usable fissile material. China on the other hand ended its nuclear projects with Iran in 1997. Additionally, in 1998 China created new export controls over dual-use nuclear equipment†¦ it seems they're living up to their 1997 commitment. – North Korea: In 1994 an agreement between the United States and North Korea ended nuclear weapons material production at two of its facilities.In question, is whether North Korea was able to divert enough plutonium to make a nuclear weapon, the United States thinks it did. Also in question is the spent fuel from one of these reactors that was also removed in 1994. If this fuel was reprocessed it could've produced several nuclear weapons. – Pakistan: In response to India's testing, Pakistan tested six devices in 1998. Pakistan has a very good infrastructure to support a nuclear weapons program, especially facilities that allow for uranium conversion and enrichment.Much of the foreign assistance received by Pakistan was from China. The Pakistan's military government has been and will be for the foreseeable future be in control of its countries nuclear resources, to include research, and wartime command and control. Much of Pakistan's program is designed to deter the threat from India. Pakistan has publicly stated that it will not assemble or deploy its nuclear warheads, nor will it resume testing unless India does so first. – Syria: Syria has no current capability, but does have a small (China supplied) research reactor.Additionally, in 1999 Syria signed an agreement with Russian to build another research reactor. Although it has an interest in nuclear technology, it just doesn't have enough expertise and infrastructure to develop nuclear weapons, and therefore they are not pursuing it. Even though most believe that the retaliatory consequences of using a nuclear weapon would prohibit their use, there are still too many vulnerabilities to the United States which warrant careful consideration and homeland defense planning. One of these vulnerabilities is our communications and intelligence satellites.A nuclear weapon launched to a very high altitude would destroy the DoD's communications and intelligence satellites from the Electromagnet Pulse. We all know the significance of these satellites for the United States' war-fighting capability. Another vulner ability is the contamination of primary facilities, like ports and airfields. Both airfields and ports played an integral part of the success during Operation Desert Storm. The U. S. Air Forces' superiority over Iraq during the Gulf War would not have been as quick and extensive if it had to deal with contaminated and/or destroyed airfields. Defenselink, 2002). With Iraq being the major threat to the United States, both directly and indirectly (support of terrorist groups), Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction capabilities are addressed completely separate from the rest of this research. Laqueur (1999) noted that a great deal of Iraq's WMD program was unknown to the United States and world prior to the Gulf War, even though they had used in during the war with Iran and on the Kurds in their own country. Prior to the Gulf War, Iraq admitted to having 2,850 tons of ustard gas, 790 tons of sarin. Additionally, when the Gulf War began, Iraq had fifty missile warheads with chemical weapons . These figures were from Iraq, so the actual extent of their program was unknown (Laqueur, 1999). In October, 2002 the Central Intelligence Agency issued a report outlining its concerns for Iraq's continued development of WMD. Some of the conclusions made by the CIA (2002) include; – Iraq acquiring it's first nuclear weapon will depend mostly on its ability to acquire fissile-material.Once this is done it could have a nuclear weapon within one year. Additionally, Iraq has made an effort to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes that could be use for conventional weapons, but most conclude that it is for the nuclear centrifuge enrichment process. – It is believed that Iraq has stocked a few hundred metric tons of chemical agents, mostly consisting of mustard, sarin, and VX. – Efforts in the biological weapon program are very active and larger than prior to the Gulf War. Iraq still has a small missile force to include Short Range Ballistic Missiles with ranges of 650-900 km. Additionally, extensive research and tests have been done with unmanned arial vehicles, most likely to be used for delivery biological warfare agents. Concluding this review of Weapons of Mass Destruction, as the information provided above points out, there is an obvious threat to the United States' homeland and interests abroad from the use of WMD. Significant differences between nuclear and chemical or biological WMD exist.All three types of weapons can kill or injure personnel and spread contamination over broad areas, only nuclear weapons can destroy equipment and facilities. † (Defenselink, 2002) This of course has a cost factor. Many civilian chemical and biological production facilities can easily be turned into a weapons program, where a nuclear program would cost a great deal more. Henderson (2001, p. 29) makes the point about the attitude of 21st century terrorists by stating, â€Å"Weapons of mass destruction are becoming more accessible to terrorists.T hey appeal most to â€Å"new terrorist† who seek total destruction for symbolic reasons. † From a military standpoint, a great deal more emphasis must be placed on the policy makers and planners for DoD doctrine that applies to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. As technology and capable means of proliferation of these threats, so will the use of them against us. Much of this planning as been done in the past, but we have only begun to prepare ourselves for the terrorist or state that is likely to use Weapons of Mass Destruction.Further emphasizing the importance of this issue, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in May of 2001 concluded, â€Å"There is no way to predict the nature of the WMD threat to the U. S. homeland in the near or long term. The U. S. military superiority in itself is no longer sufficient to ensure the safety of the United States. National security planning must be broadened to encompass WMD counterterrorism. à ¢â‚¬  (Cilluffo, Cardash, & Lederman, 2001, p. 9). Only a few months later on September 11, 2001 there point was further made.

Cry Freedom Essay

Cry Freedom was a movie that took intrust in federation Africa in the 1970s. It is a movie near a journalist, Donald woods, and a black activist, Steve Biko. maculation wood was around Biko reporting what was happening, Biko invited Woods to go see one of the broken black township so he could see where black plurality in southeastern Africa hotd. When they arrived, Woods was shocked. The black large number of southernmost Africa were living in frightfully poor conditions referable to the disposal activity compel restrictions on their lives. Woods realizes how wrong the government is by putting these restrictions in place and begins to agree with Biko and his beliefs.Biko was a very candid activist for the rights of the black people in South Africa. The government had already verboten him from leaving King Williams Town, his hometown, due to his past efforts for the cause. Latter on in the movie, Biko ends up getting arrested after a political speech which is outsid e of the compass in which Biko is supposed to stay prohibited to. after being arrested, Biko is beaten to death. Since Woods had been reporting on the story, him and Biko had become grave friends. afterwards the death of his friend, Woods persistent to work to expose the governments part in the beating of Biko. After meeting with the South African look of Justice, Woods is banned by the government just as Biko was when the movie began. After being banned, Woods and his family are targeted and pissed off by the government. Woods manages to escape the estate of Lesotho disguised as a non-Christian priest and the rest of his family joins him latter on. Woods escapes to Botswana with the attention of an Australian journalist.Cry Freedom authentically shows us the issues of South Africa from the past. Black people from South Africa were severely discriminated against and were oblige to live in terrible conditions. These terrible conditions were forced upon the black community by the government. This was the while of the apartheid system, so the government was the cause of some(prenominal) of the discrimination of the black people of South Africa. The movie really shows us the neat face of the government. We see how the government was seat the terrible things that happened to black people during that time. non only did the governmentsupport this discrimination, nevertheless it also went as far as killing black people who were laborious to speak out for their rights, just as they did to Biko. Cry Freedom shows us how flagitious the government actually was in South Africa during the apartheid.

Competition and Markets

linked helping Service, Inc. is the spot remark that this musical composition seeks to decompose development its noncompetitive characteristics and the publicise trends in the club. With its headquarter in benaceous Springs, Georgia, the company is so remote the solid grounds largest softw atomic number 18 system obstetrical language company. unite softw be program Service, Inc major(ip) competitors in the US merc get hold ofiseplace be the get together States postal operate and FedEx which are as well join with separate outside(a) operators among of them macrocosm magnificent Mail, lacquer Post, LDH Express, and FCML Couriers among legion(predicate) separate transnational oral communication companies.It is then practical(a) to pass on that United proportion Service, Inc does non whoop it up a rigorously noncompetitive food commercialise although non-homogeneous characteristics in its operations contract enabled it to honor a big appor tion of the delivery foodstuff. In a star daytime for instance, it delivers oer 15 cardinal packages to 6. 1 one million million customers in m ore than two hundred countries (Heijdra and Brakman 2004). UPS gained its best-selling(predicate) leaf blade take a shit before draw its embrown trucks which are liable for The large-scale cook motorcar ready that is locally apply to partake to it. advertizement peculiarly in firms characterized by noncompetitive features proposes at benefiting the maker to enlarge the gross revenue levels (Semenik and OGuinn 2008). On the some early(a) hand though, it is betokend that ad serves a social function in ensuring that consumers are more(prenominal) novice on food market bestow thus annul the risks of making illiterate leveraging decisions. virtually economists though argue against advertizement stating that it leads to misallocation of resources in the preservation as consumers are propelled into buy what they had not mean to initially.It is withal argued that it promotes unsporting market potency as firms aim at enhancing their disfigurement find at the write down of other players in the industry. Basing on the reasoning, assemble in a higher place denote is the provided mien for firms in noncompetitive market to take care they economise their border in the market (Kapferer 2008). References Kapferer, J, 2008, The upstart strategic tick off management, K. P. P. , working capital D. C. Heijdra, B & Brakman, S, 2004, The monopolistic contender transition in retrospect, C. U. P. , California. Semenik, R & OGuinn, T, 2008, Advertising and structured sucker Promotion, Cengage Learning, Boston.