The Rise of Petrol Prices In the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Rise of Petrol Prices In the UK - Essay Example More so, the rising petrol prices mostly affects the consumers and motorists hence the need for a review. We can however, deduce that the government has an ability to regulate the escalating petroleum prices. The Guardian records that Yorkshire, Humberside, and north England experience the lowest petrol prices at 137.6p a litre. However, in cities like London and Scotland, prices have hit an all-time high of 137.8p a litre (The Guardian, 2013, p.1). This is interesting as it demonstrates the variance in pricing of petrol across various cities. As such, we can deduce that price of petrol in UK varies from one city to another. Moreover, the motoring organization established that petrol prices in UK rose to an average of 138.32p a litre in February this year. This demonstrates a rise of 6.24p a litre since early January. Most specifically, petro prices rose by 1p in a span of five days. Actually, Experian Catalist puts the recent petrol price at an average of 132.83 pence a litre. As a result, the cost of fuelling a two-car family in a month with petrol rose to ?13.25 and the cost of refilling a typical 50-litre tank rose to ?3.12.Indeed, the AA president, Edmund King states that this is the third 10p-a-litre wholesale price increase in a span of11 months (The Guardian, 2013, p.1). As a result, the drivers in UK reduced petroleum consumption by 14m to1.465bn liters in January 2013. This is important in that it demonstrates that the effects of high petro prices streams down from the wholesaler to the motorists and the public. We can therefore deduce that increase in petrol prices has adverse effects on the motorists and results to reduced fuel consumption. The AA states that stock market speculators and the plunging pound are the major contributors to the... This paper approves that the AA states that stock market speculators and the plunging pound are the major contributors to the rising petrol prices in UK. Notable is the fact that rising petrol prices lead to reduced economic growth and economic hardship for many UK citizens. Because of this the AA president requests the UK government to shelve the idea of increasing the fuel duty later in the year for purposes of stabilizing petrol prices and reducing the effects on motorists, mother consumers, and businesses in UK. This is interesting as it demonstrates the effects of tax and duty on the prices of petrol in UK. We can therefore deduce that the government can regulate fuel prices through taxes and duties. Moreover, the Office of Fair Trading confirms that it will soon launch an inquiry into the rising petrol prices and its effects on drivers, consumers, and businesses in UK. In the meantime, the price of petrol continues to rise as the blame game on who is causing this trend persists . This report makes a conclusion that the analysis of the statistics relating to rising fuel prices is important in that it monitors fuel prices in UK for possible reviews and compares the price of fuel in UK to other EU countries. More so, this information is important to students, academicians, and the public as it evaluates the recent and historic petrol price changes thus preparing them for possible changes. In addition, government departments, business consultants, and organizations also use this data for planning. Moreover, the EU uses this information to derive EU price statistics.

Creation Of The Work Breakdown Structure Management Essay

Creation Of The Work Breakdown Structure Management Essay Project scope management refers the processes involved in defining and controlling what is included and what is not included in the project. The project team and stakeholders must have the same understanding of what products will be produces as a result of a project and what processes will be used in producing them. In addition, the scope management must be stated clearly, ensure all of the process that the project includes all the work required and only the work required to complete the project successfully. These would express and discuss about the scope of management of this project which is a web-based travel agency system for Samson travels. Basically, the purpose of this manuscript is to provide suggestion and guidelines that are most important in the Scope management plan which are stated categorically below; Creation of The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The project players will make effort together to develop a Work break down structure (WBS) after it has been put in place Samson travels which are the sponsors would make review of the work break down structure which is also going to be in the presence of the project manager in order to make sure that the all the endeavor necessary to complete the project would be put in place inside the work break down structure. On the other hand, the project team from their own side would also carry an analysis based on the WBS in order to make sure it has comply with the guidelines for creating WBS example; function oriented WBS. In addition, the project team would the project team members would establish the task required to complete each deliverable which will be appraised and agreed by the entire group members and Samson travel agency. The tasks would include the processes, the invention and all associated task. However, all-purpose guideline to follow for determining the level of details that is the lowest level of the WBS ought to on the whole to take no longer time as its supposed to complete the project, moreover, revision of the WBS would also take place at this moment after an approval by the sponsors as considered necessary. Functional Requirements The functional requirements have been defined in the project as to describe or provide a brief explanation to the users as well as the stakeholders on what functionality or services that the online travel system for Samson travels system is expected or capable of providing. The functional requirements consist of important criterias such as the descriptions of the processing that the system is expected to carry out and the details of data that must be held in the system. After having a brief discussion with our team members as well as referring to educational resources such as the Internet, the functional requirements specification for the online travels agency system for Samson travels are as follows: The system should provide schedule searching where the user will be able to search the desired schedule and then book the tickets The system must record all the booking done online by the user The system should store the information entered by the user during new account creation. The system should store the entire users personal information and must provide the capability to the user to update as well as delete account. The system should provide effective security features such as login authentication to validate whether the user is a valid user or not and provide a firewall to avoid possible hacking activities. Non-Functional Requirements The non-functional requirement has been defined as the requirements which are not directly relevant or concerned with the specific functions or features delivered by the system such as response time, reliability, and storage capacity. Similar analysis which is conducted for the functional requirements are also done here which is by referring to educational resources such as the Internet and some books from the library. The non-functional requirements for the ticket-reservation system are as follows: Low FAR In terms of reliability, the FAR or fully known as the Failure Accuracy Rate of the system should be less than 10%. Also, the Samson travels agency system would provide assurance to the user that any potential of system crashing is minimal. Quick response time The Samson Travel agency system would have a quick response time for all the features involved and must make sure that the user doesnt wait for a long time for a particular process to happen. For example, all the process such as login authentication should be done less than 20 seconds. Quick data connectivity There should be quick data connectivity between the system and the database when process such as data retrieval for login authentication is conducted to ensure higher rate of response time and efficiency as well. Security Features The system should have the capacity of protecting or securing data from any invalid access of data from hackers as well as virus protection from viruses such as Trojan horse as well as worms. Usability Requirements Usability requirements is where the developer Samson travels system must ensure that there is good match between the system that is developed and both the users of that system as well as the tasks they will perform when using the system. The usability requirements for the ticket reservation system are as follows: User-friendly One of the major factors in the usability requirements is the user-friendliness of the system. The system must be user-friendly and the user must not have any difficulty in performing certain functions such as Online booking of packages and ticket reservation. Also, if the user-friendliness rate of the system is high then the customer can perform any tasks such in a short period of time. User freedom When the user uses the Samson travels Online traveling agency system, the user must have a sense of control towards the system with the ability to navigate buttons as well as updating their personal profile (for members) without much difficulty and also, the user should be to correct their mistakes, for example, if the user mistakenly enters a different web page which he/she didnt desired, then he/she can go back to their destination page by just clicking the button that links them to that page without the necessity to go the home page again. Project Requirement The requirement of this project is an aim that has got to be met before the entire project process can be carried out effectively and efficiently. However, Project Analyst is one of the basic and primary requirements in terms of the project. They analyze and specify the entire project requirement and make sure the entire process has meet requirement. In addition, in order to complete this exercise the project team needs certain hardware and software which would be listed below: Firstly, the project team needs some sets of computer systems with high specification. Microsoft windows XP professional version 2003 with service pack 2, Intel(R) D CPU 300GHZ, 300 GHZ 512GB RAM Microsoft Windows server This server is a special operating system for a server computer in which the operating system can make best use of the performance of the computer. Microsoft Access Database software This software would be used by the authors in other to provide good data storage and optimum security features. Managing Demand For Changes To Project The demand for to the project scope that may have an important effect on meeting and project requirement be obliged to pursue the formal procedures specified. In addition, demand details must be filled in a form which would be reviewed in order to prevent scope embezzlement. Conclusion Decisively, Samson Traveling agency is a high end modern travel agency, with a unique edge to serving the general public the world as a whole. And from the company study, it is without doubt that the company holds abreast the vision to satisfy their clients exclusively. Based on the research done, and the scope analysis, the author has decided to raise certain issues that could increase the companys image and profit (after all, profit is the initial purpose of every business). The web application proposed is or would be to no detriment, but instead an edge for the company, the web application would solve a couple of impending problems that both the company and its customers are facing today. Consequently, the system will be designed in such a way that users skill will be put into consideration as there are the once using the system at most of the time. But before the design, an analysis will be taken in other to know the level of their performance, so that the system will be a user friendly system with no training will be required. STAFFING PLAN Human Resource Management is based on ideas and techniques developed to enhance worker motivation, productivity and performance. Human resources include all project stakeholders such as the student, project team members and suppliers. The major processes involved in human resources management include: Organization plan, which involves identifying, assigning and document project roles, responsibility and reporting relationships. Staff acquisition, which involves getting the needed personnel assigned to work on the project. Team development, which involves building individual skills or group skills to enhance project performance. Project Human Resource Management includes the processes necessary for organizing and managing the project team (www.skillsoft.com, 2010). In addition, a good human resource management will increase the success rate of a particular project as the people in a project determine the success and failure of organizations and projects. Project Skilled Required For the current project Samson travel agency system, the development team members need certain skills to make this project a success. Below are some of the skills the development team member must acquire:- I. Programming skill The programming skill is needed to build the software. Programming skill is important during the development of the software as most of the job required coding to do the job. II. Designing skill The design of the interface is also important as it must be easy to use, easy to understand and the most important of all is that the interface satisfied the requirement of the client. III. Analyzing skill The analyzing skill is important during the early phase of the project as analyzing the user requirement and the client requirement will make the job easier when designing and easier for the programmer to build the software. IV. Testing skills The tester must understand the quality criteria and standards that the software objectives should meet and will be measured against. The tester must test the software for functionality, software output, reliability, user acceptance testing, and etc. The tester must also test the software to see that the software meet the requirement of the client and the end user. V. Communication skill The team member must have this communication skill as when team members communicate with each other, the tension between them will be reduced significantly and the chance of success will increase. This is a skill that the project manager must acquire. VI. Co-operating skill The team member must help each other for the success of this project. It is inevitable for each member to face certain problems during the project. VII. Leadership skill The project manager must have high leadership skill as he is the person who oversees the whole project and the one responsible for the entire project. He must be able to manage the entire team member and giving them work. VIII. Documentation and presenting skill The presentation of the software to the client and end user is very important as a good presentation will give them a good first impression of the software and that will increase the satisfaction of the client toward the software. A proper documentation with proper format is also important as they will introduce the product and also included the user manual that clearly indicate how to use the software. Project Team Structure and Organization Team Members Role and Responsibility Project Manager The project manager of the Samson travels agency system is responsible to deliver the project fully functional and satisfies the requirements of the system. He is expected to have the necessary management skills, problem solving etiquettes, team leadership ability and is responsible for assuring that project goals and objectives are met, quality work is completed on time and within budget, and for making appropriate decisions. The project manager chooses the best team to develop the system and assign each member of the team to his best ability. The task dependency requires the project manager to be able to enforce the time efficient team, in order to avoid any sort of delay. In addition, this document helps identify and clarify roles, responsibilities, and authorities, and should be included in the Project Execution Plan. The project manager is expected to possess following criteria: Understand the basic of analysis, design, coding and testing Financial fundamentals. Expertise in scheduling, productivity, communications and network diagram System Analyst The system analyst of Samson travels system is person who in charge to assist current or potential application users in identifying and describe problems or opportunities that might addressed either by implement a new or change a exist system. The analyst uses business requirements in detail and, where appropriate, prepares functional specification for the system. The system analyst is quite attached to a sumptuous part of the development of the system , and the system analyst here is basically the IT inclined system analysis professionals, who will be handling and at the lowest level, be in charge of reporting progress to the project manager and project team. Systems analyst read and studies the process in and the system requirement. So if there is any problem in the previous system then basically the system analyst has to suggest new ideas in improving the system. His job is to make the designer know what to design. The system analyst will study the organization and the environments to come up with some requirements. Personal Requirements and skills required of the system analyst include: Think creatively Good communication skills Being patient Analytical thinking System Designer In the development of the online system for Samson travels the designers basically is composing of web developers and network administrators will be developing a simple interface and will be managing the network. This interface which is composed of buttons, labels, text fields and images, will be very user friendly to use. Also the designer would draw out some sketches or story-board to simplify the system work flow. Their main action includes: An understanding of the intended audience, client culture, and learning preferences as well as the understanding of human computer factors and interface design. Personal Requirements of the system designer includes: Think creatively Good communication skills Creative thinking Understand the basic of analysis, design, coding and testing System Programmer The programmer for the Samson travel agency system basically the one responsible to develop the coding for the system. He develops the system based on the requirements gathered and based on the system designers perspective. Also to build the software with his specialty and that is programming. He is the person who does the most programming in this development phase. Other than building the software, he have to ensure that other programmer are doing their job and passing up every portion of programming work on time. If there is some functionality problem, bugs or errors, he will be in charge to solve these problems. Tester is the person who will test the system once the system developed in order to get the feedback about the system. It is important for the project group to perform the testing part to make sure the system run without any errors. Personal Requirements of the system programmer includes: Experience Coding expert Being patient The ability to understand the functional side of the system MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES WHICH IS APPLIED TO ALL TEAM MEMBERS Motivation Theory that Applies in Project Team of Samson Travels Agency: Frederick Herzberg The proposed motivation technique for the project team is Herzberg Motivational and Hygiene Factors. Frederick Herzberg wrote several famous books and articles that about motivation. Frederick Herzberg contributed to human relations and motivation two theories of motivation which is Hygiene Theory and Motivation. The first part of the motivation theory involves the hygiene theory and includes the job environment. The hygiene factors include: the company, its policies and its administration, the kind of supervision which people receive while on the job, working conditions interpersonal relations, salary, status, and Security These factors do not lead to higher levels of motivation but without them there is dissatisfaction. The second part of Herzbergs motivation theory involves what people actually do on the job (www.businessballs.com, 2010). The motivators are: achievement, recognition, growth / advancement and Interest in the job. These factors result from internal generators in employees, yielding motivation rather than movement. Both these approaches (hygiene and motivation) must be done simultaneously. Treat people as best you can so they have a minimum of dissatisfaction. Use people so they get achievement, recognition for achievement, interest, and responsibility and they can grow and advance in their work. (www.businessballs.com, 2010) Therefore, the hygiene and motivation factors can be listed as follows: Hygiene Company policies and administration Supervision Working conditions and interpersonal relations Salary, status and security Achievement Recognition for achievement Interest in the task Responsibility for enlarged task Growth and advancement to higher level tasks The entire project team proposed this motivation theory and by following it, the team members will be well motivated and do well in their job. Regarding the motivation theory, some of factors are not for motivate team member such as the kind of supervision which people receive while on the job, working conditions and interpersonal relations. But if without those factors, the team member wills dissatisfaction. The project manager and entire project team follow the motivation factors that define by Herzberg to motivate team member, such as recognition when a team member success in certain task, he or she will recognize by the team member. (www.businessballs.com, 2010) Besides, motivate the team member by show interest in their job will have great improvement for them to archive their task. Since they have interest on their job, they will put in more effort and do their work better. MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO FAMO TEAM MEMBERS For the project team of Samson Travels agency, just apply motivation theory is not enough. There must have some of techniques to increasing motivation because motivation is better than offering gifts and compensation. Get Team Member Onboard: One of the biggest mistakes that the Project manager make is that they come up with their objective without including the team in the process. The more you involve your employees in decision making the more apt theyll be to give it their all. If youve already identified the objective on your own, then ask employees how to achieve it. However, in this project team employees are carried along in order to prevent the mistakes that might lead to the failure of the project. Work challenge: In situations whereby the project manager gives a job to a particular team member, the manager would challenge him to submit it during a period of time. If he manages to complete the task within that period of time, the project manager will offer some benefits to that team member. Find out What Drives Them: Treat each member as an individual and determine what motivates them, and its not always money. There have been all sorts of studies that show if you throw more money at the situation, and then all theyll do is come to expect it. A good way to determine an employees motivation is to simply sit down with them one-on-one and ask them directly what gets them going. As stated above, this techniques been applied in the Samson travels agency project team in order to motivate the entire project. Offer Positive Feedback All the team members get a charge from stepping into the spotlight. Its important when youre working in a team to acknowledge people in a public way, hold recognition sessions frequently to keep everyone enthusiastic and on track. Listen Up: Nothing will deflate the team member bubble than not being heard. Sometimes leaders do all the talking and no one likes one-sided meetings. Through meeting, Project manager can get some opinion or suggestion from the team members.

Double Indemnity :: essays research papers

Double Indemnity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before I start my paper I would just like to say that it was the best film yet! In this movie Walter Neff went through a huge transformation. He went through one that would change his life dramatically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walter Neff at the start of the film was an honest hard working man. He spent eleven years selling insurance and loved every minute of it for the most part. While Walter was going through his papers he must of noticed that Mr. Dietricson’s auto insurance had run out. After trying to contact him several times he decided to drive over to the house. As he stood in the door way there she was, a beautiful blonde standing in a towel. This was the beginning of his problems. The two sat down in the living room where they went over the insurance. Eventually, Walter started to hit on her, but that didn’t last to long. Mrs. Dietrichson said that it would be better if he cam back another day to settle the insurance problem when her husband was around. Walter returned to his office and a message was left from Mrs. Dietrichson asking if he could come by tomorrow afternoon. This is where her plan went into action. Mrs. Dietrichson flirted with Walter and acted like she had feelings for him. After they see each other a few times Mrs. Dietrichson talks about how she is hit and how she wishes her husband were dead so that Walter and she could be together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Walter was an insurance sales man he knew a lot about the business and cases. Walter planed out a perfect death that could never be considered murder. He would kill Mr. Dietrichson before his trip on the train. Then he would have Mrs. Dietrichson meet him down the tracks where he will jump off. Quickly Mr. Dietrichson’s body will be placed on the tracks to make it seem like he fell off and died. This went very smoothly except for one thing a man was sitting in the back of the train before he jumped off so there was a witness. Mrs. Dietrichson manipulated Walter just so she may be able to get rid of her husband and get a lump sum of money.

Backlash Films

Over twenty years after its release, Fatal Attraction continues to inspire discussion and controversy. While the movie comfortably takes its place as one of the biggest blockbusters of the 1980s and one of the most unforgettable thrillers in cinematic history, there are many that contend it contains a slew of anti-feminist overtones. The female lead and her traits as an otherwise archetypal career woman combine with her psycho-sexual obsession with the male lead to create a character that some may see as tragic and insane, while others see as a direct attack on the feminist movement itself.With its portrayal of the stalking career woman that victimizes a hapless man and his innocent wife, Fatal Attraction contains many elements that reflect a â€Å"backlash† against the feminist movement, as well as dark male fears over the proliferation of career-minded women. Fatal Attraction, released in 1987, written by James Dearden and directed by Adrian Lyne, was conceived as a film abo ut the consequences of infidelity. The film’s main character, Dan Gallagher, played by Michael Douglas, is a New York lawyer with a seemingly happy family that includes a beautiful wife Beth, played by Anne Archer, and daughter.When Dan’s wife and daughter go away for the weekend, Dan meets the independent and sultry Alex Forrest, played by Glenn Close, at his law firm. The two soon engage in what Dan believes to be a casual and temporary affair. When Dan attempts to end the affair, Alex’s refusal to accept it turns dramatically negative. Alex begins to stalk Dan, showing up where he does, calling him until he refuses to take her calls. Eventually, realizing that Dan truly wants nothing to do with her, she tells him that she is pregnant with his baby.The growing obsessive madness of Alex peaks after she spies on Dan and his family from the bushes in his yard, and later breaks into the house when the family is out and boils the pet rabbit of Dan’s daughter . Because he can no longer hide his transgressions, Dan tells Beth about the affair, and she eventually forgives him. Alex crosses the final line with Dan and his family when she kidnaps his daughter only to return her unharmed later. It becomes apparent to all involved that something must be done, and for Alex, that means killing Dan’s wife so she can take her place.In a final climatic scene, Alex, Beth, and Dan physically fight as Alex attempts to kill Beth with a butcher knife. Dan is forced to drown Alex in the bathtub, but she only appears dead and attacks him again, when Beth, using a gun Dan purchased for protection, promptly guns her down. While many of the plot points in the movie can be seen as simple movie suspense, the deeper one digs the easier it is to find subtle allusions to the place of women in society. The role of the female characters in Fatal Attraction show diverging archetypes for the ideal woman, as viewed by traditionalists and progressive feminists.O n the one hand is Alex, the calculating career woman; on the other hand is Beth, the faithful wife and mother. The main female characters show the dichotomy between the traditional social roles of women and the ultramodern. According to Gerrig, â€Å"A social role is a socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person when functioning in a given setting or group† (Gerrig and Zimbardo 574). The portrayal of each can be seen as a representation of a provincial masculine view of femininity, in essence a backlash against feminism. Feminism has long been a misunderstood concept, by women and men alike.Beginning in the late nineteenth century with the rise of â€Å"the New Woman,† the First International Women’s Conference in Paris in 1892 coined the word after the French term feministe, to represent a belief in and advocacy of equal rights for women based on the idea of the equality of the sexes (Haslanger and Tuana). At the time, it was a call for su ffrage and equal justice for women and represented the beginning of the â€Å"First Wave† of feminism, which in America culminated in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.By the time Fatal Attraction was released, feminism was in the midst of a strong new wave of feminism, which began in the late 1960s. In the â€Å"Second Wave† of feminism, feminists pushed far beyond the first wave by asking for more than just equal political rights but also greater universal equality in the workplace, education, at home, and with their own bodies (Haslanger and Tuana). The proliferation of birth control added to this wave and the growing independence of women reached a zenith in the 1980s, with women achieving equality in almost every sense of the word, with prominent women politicians, artists, and world figures.The character of Alex Forrest seemed to suggest a dark side to this rise of feminism, that the irrational female psyche will eventua lly overrule the mindset of even the most successful women, granted that they failed to have the things traditionally considered the most feminine: a family. The stability of the idealized traditional wife and mother, Beth, provides a stark contrast to the nightmarish descent into madness of the progressive single woman, Alex. While this could be nothing more than a dramatic coincidence, some see it as a deliberate expression of masculine fear of female empowerment.Fatal Attraction seems to suggest an almost misogynistic fear of the independent career woman that she seeks to destroy families and will stop at nothing to do so: â€Å"In its representation of a crazy career woman out to destroy the nuclear family, the film is a perfect example of the era’s conservative backlash against independent women† (Benshoff and Griffin 281). Alex participates in stalking, which is traditionally associated with men, and she possesses many of the same dominant tendencies of men.In he r book, High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood, Sharon Willis critiques Fatal Attraction, taking the position that films like it suggest that â€Å"feminine force seems to arise at the direct expense of masculine power and bodily integrity† and that femininity becomes inextricably linked to masculinity, a position widely shared by feminist film critics. Willis claims that films like Fatal Attraction focus â€Å"on an urgent effort to reinscribe the border of sexual difference at exactly the divide between domestic interior and public space† (Regester 52).Alex engages in behavior that, even in the 1980s, was deemed uniquely masculine. Women have long suffered the double standard of adhering to strict sexual mores, and her promiscuity exemplifies the lack of maternal qualities that most men look for in a mate. However, men like Dan use biological precedent to rationalize their constant desire to spread their seed. Dan is equally responsible for what occ urred, but it is almost as if he is forgiven for his gender’s predilection for sexual promiscuity, however erroneous.The most obvious feminist critique of Fatal Attraction is how it portrays Alex, the professional, single woman in her thirties as domineering, man-obsessed, and driven to insanity by her quest to achieve a long lasting relationship with Dan. The movie vilifies her and on the opposite end of the spectrum, sanctifies Beth, the devoted wife and mother. As with all the strong popular icons before her, Alex â€Å"becomes the screen upon which an audience of thousands projects their fears and fantasies† (Nguyen â€Å"The Legend of Billie Jean†).Through all of this, Dan is portrayed as almost more of a hapless victim that succumbs to the wiles of a siren than what he really is: a cheating spouse. The author of the story, James Dearden contends that he meant no deliberate anti-feminist overtones in his work, which began as a 1979 short film, â€Å"Divers ion. † According to Dearden, he merely borrowed from life to create a minimalist story about the perils of adultery: â€Å"My wife was out of town for the weekend, and I thought what would happen if a man who has just dropped his wife at the railroad station rings this girl who he’s met at a party and says, ‘Would you like to have dinner?’ But, then it all gets ugly† (Forsberg). According to the man who created the story, it was nothing more than a simple suspense story, and the criticisms that label it as anti-feminist and woman fearing are unfounded: â€Å"I don’t see that Alex symbolizes the New Woman and is therefore made to appear ghastly to sabotage the New Woman’s cause. She has a career because she lives in New York, where it’s difficult to survive without one. For me, it was a fable about the irrational creeping into the everyday† (Forsberg).He also examines the possibility of his own fears towards women and the p revalence of men that fear women in his script: â€Å"I don’t think I fear women, but there’s a certain archetype – the temptress who undoes heroes of Homeric legend who is as predatory sexually as the man – which men find hard to deal with because they’re used to being in the dominant role. Women certainly have an equal right to be dominant, but I don't like very dominant males or females period† (Forsberg).While it can be said that Fatal Attraction sought to express the male anxieties about the emerging female, as well as a rejection of feminism as a social force, to the movie aficionado it remains merely a suspense movie filled with gimmicks and plotlines as old as cinema itself. The immense success of Fatal Attraction may have entered it into the feminism conversation, but it realistically remains nothing more than a dramatic examination of adultery and obsession.The idea of the femme fatale is nothing new, and the movie simply showed th at, man or woman, there is no such thing as sex without consequences. Looking at Alex Forrest as a backlash against feminism is a fair criticism, however it is unfair to believe that a fictional suspense movie like Fatal Attraction could influence anybody that saw it free of any preexisting agendas. The movie may be simply a reflection of the ambitions that drive everyone mad, whether male or female, career or sexual, decent or indecent.Works Cited: Benshoff, Harry M. and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. London: Blackwell Publishers, 2003. Forsberg, Myra. â€Å"James Dearden: Life After ‘Fatal Attraction’. † The New York Times. 24 Jul 1988. 16 Dec 2008. . Gerrig, Richard J. and Zimbardo, Philip G. â€Å"Social Norms. † Psychology and Life. 17th ed. 2005.Haslanger, Sally & Tuana, Nancy. â€Å"Topics in Feminism. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 15 Mar 2004. 16 Dec 2008. . Nguyen, Mimi . â€Å"The Legend of Billie Jean. † WorseThanQueer. com. 1 Aug 2005. 16 Dec 2008. . Regester, Charlene. â€Å"Review: High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film by Sharon Willis. † Film Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 2. Winter 1998; pp. 51-52.

Early Childhood Education-Learning Through the Senses Essay

As parents of young children, we often ponder which Early Childhood Program to enroll our children in. At one point in time they were non-existent. As early childhood educators emerged, programs were created. Interestingly, the Montessori approach is a specialized method created by Maria Montessori. The Montessori Method; which is widely used today was created with the focus of children learning from their environment (Morrison, 2009). Montessori’s are not aimed at talented and gifted children; this method is expressed in public and private school settings in conjunction with children attending up to age 18. In addition, Montessori serves the needs of children of all levels of mental and physical abilities (Stephenson, 2011). In 1870, Maria Montessori, the first Italian woman to secure a medical degree (Stephenson, 2011). With her degree she entered the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She had a passion for young minds. She believed that children educate themselves. Montessori became a physician in 1896, attending the University of Rome psychiatric clinic. During her tenure, Dr. Montessori developed an enthusiasm for the study of children with special needs; where she also spoke on their behalf. Twenty-six years later, Maria relocated to San Lorenzo, Rome to study children without disabilities. There she observed fifty children which resulted in success. This success was recognized and spread all over, attracting travelers from all over to this remarkable case study. An in-depth explanation of what a Montessori truly is, Stephenson (2011) clearly states: A Montessori can be defined as a revolutionary method of observing and supporting the natural development of children. Montessori educational practice helps children develop creativity, problem solving,  critical thinking and time-management skills to contribute to society and the environment, and to become fulfilled persons in their particular time and place on Earth. The basis of Montessori practice in the classroom is mixed age group (3 ages- 6 ages in one class), individual choice of research and work, and interrupted concentration. Group lesson are seldom found in a Montessori classroom, but learning abounds. Since Montessori’s death, educators all over continue to implement and notice this method has worked all over the world with all kinds of children (wealthy, poor, gifted, normal, learning disabled, etc.) and environments (from slums, to elegant schools, etc. ). Maria agreed that when physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs are met, children glow with excitement and a drive to play and work with enthusiasm, to learn, and to create. In conjunction, children exude a desire to teach, help and care for others and for their environment (Stephenson, 2011). During her lectures and travels, Maria Montessori was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to the explanation of a Montessori, the following is the Montessori Method. This method meticulously exemplifies how Montessori educators implement the method in various programs across the country. There are five basic principle associated with the Montessori Method. They are: Respect for the child, The Absorbent child, Sensitive periods, The Prepared environment and Auto-education. Respect for the children occurs when educators assist children with new projects, allowing them to learn for themselves. Giving the child room to explore their boundaries flourishes abilities for positive self- esteem (Morrison, 2009). Montessori also believed having respect for the child is a key element. She said (Morrison, 2009), As a rule, however we do not respect children. We try to force them to follow us without regard to their special needs. We are overwhelming with them, and above all, rude; and then we expect them to be submissive and well-behaved, knowing all the time how strong is their instinct of imitation and how touching their faith in and admiration of us. They will imitate us in any case. Let us treat them, therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help to develop in them. When it comes to a child’s mind; it can be described as a sponge. Their young minds continuously â€Å"absorb† information. Unintentionally, children cannot help but learn. In their own environments and in shared environments. The Absorbent mind refers to the idea that the minds of young children are receptive to and capable learning (Morrison, 2009). From birth to age six, these are the most important years of the absorbent mind. Shortridge (2003), compiled an essay about the absorbent mind in which Montessori states that the child learns by unconsciously taking in everything around him and actually constructs himself. Using his senses, he incarnates, or creates himself by absorbing his environment through his very act of living. Morrison (2009) adds, â€Å"What they learn depends greatly on their teachers, experiences, and environments†(Ch. 9). In the sensitive periods; learning is most likely to occur (Morrison, 2009). In our text (2009), Montessori recalls a sensitive period: A sensitive period refers to a special sensibility which a creature acquires in its infantile state, while it is still in a process of evolution. It is a transient disposition and limited to the acquisition of a particular trait. Once this trait or characteristic has been acquired, the special sensibility disappears. It is imperative for an educator to observe and ascertain sensitivity periods and sustain the proper environment. Many theorists believe this stage is considered the critical period. The critical period and the sensitive period contain a sensitive difference. The critical period mildly describes a child not receiving the â€Å"right† or enough stimuli during the window; they will be stagnant in learning in the future (Oswalt, 2008). However, theorists who believe in the sensitive period noted it would post difficulty for the childcare giver to attain what was not learned during the learning window of opportunity, still there is room for the child to learn at a later time (Oswalt, 2008). In a prepared environment it is believed children learn best. In an environment where children can do things for themselves; children are at liberty to explore materials of their own choosing. Within these prepared environments, are six principles: Freedom, Structure and Order, Beauty, Nature and Reality, Social environment and Intellectual environment (Irinyi, 2009). Freedom environment includes freedom of movement, the child must experience freedom of exploration. All of these freedom movements lead to a greater freedom (Irinyi, 2009). Structure and order in the classroom mirrors the sense of structure and order in the universe (Irinyi, 2009). A beautiful environment should suggest harmony and should invite the worker to work. Nature and reality strongly influenced Maria Montessori and believed children should actively interact with nature. Social environment promotes the freedom of children socially interacting with one another and also develop a sense of compassion and empathy for others (Irinyi, 2009). Briefly, auto-education is last principal of the Montessori Method. The prepared environment also stimulates auto-education which is the idea that children teach themselves through appropriate materials and activities (Morrison, 2009). Children who decide to â€Å"work† in the â€Å"kitchen† are able to role play as chefs and are able to make themselves and their peers something to eat. In the Early Childhood Education field, Montessori’s are not the only education program developed to focus on children’s developments. The High- Scope theory is based on Piaget, constructivism, Dewey and Vygotsky (Morrison, 2009). Children help establish curriculum. Experiences guide the programs of studies in promoting children’s active learning (Morrison, 2009). The Reggio Emilia approach founded by Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994), a city in northern Italy, based on the philosophy and practice; that children are active of their own knowledge (Morrison, 2009). Curriculum is project oriented and learning is active. The Waldorf Education founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) highlights the teaching of the whole child-head, hands, and heart (Morrison, 2009). Steiner strongly believed that education should be holistic. The study of myths, lores, and fairy tales promotes the imagination and multiculturalism (Morrison,2009). Combining all of the early childhood education programs, there is no one perfect curriculum. Today, there is a combination of all four education types being taught in school districts. Each approach is important and critical. Personally, I would agree that The Montessori Method best serves the needs because this approach allows children to grow and learn at their pace. They are not forced to retain information if the brain is not processing at the pace that is requested and required for children. Also, the environment plays a serious role in this learning and teaching process. If a child is in a stressed environment, the child is less likely to participate and socialize with his or her peers. When a child is in a peaceful or beautiful environment, the child is more inclined to interact with the world with a clear mind. Indeed, while there are multiple Early Childhood Education programs available, the Montessori Method was created with the focus of children learning from their environment (Morrison, 2009). Not to say that this particular method is paramount, but beneficial results have emerged from this program. In Head Start facilities, High- Scope, Reggio Emilia Approach, the Montessori Method and the Waldorf Education should be integrated in facilities today and for the future. References Irinyi, M. (2009, March 18). Principles of the montessori prepared environment. Retrieved from http://montessoritraining. blogspot. com/2009/03/principles-of-montessori-prepared. html Morrison, G. S. (2009). Early childhood education today. (11th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Oswalt, A. (2008, January 17th). Senisitive periods in mental health. Retrieved from http://www. mentalhelp. net/poc/view_doc. php? type=doc&id=7923&cn=28 Shortridge, P. D. (2003). The absorbent mind and the sensitive periods. Retrieved from http://www. pdonohueshortridge. com/children/absorbent. html Stephenson, S. M. (2011). The international Montessori index. Retrieved from http://www. montessori.

KARMA Essays - Shabda, Reincarnation, Spirituality, Free Essays

KARMA Essays - Shabda, Reincarnation, Spirituality, Free Essays KARMA The doctrine of Karma is a spiritual doctrine based on the theory of cause and effect. Although Karma does not exactly fit the definition of supernatural phenomenon it is a spiritual doctrine based on the philosophy that God is not responsible for the happiness or failure of an individual, rather, we as individuals are solely responsible for the consequences of our own behavior. The concept of Karma has two major interpretations; the most common approaches are to the idea of reincarnation, particularly in the West where the idea has almost no existence. In the East, people believe in reincarnation and hold a fatalistic idea of Karma. I favor neither westerner nor easterner extremist approaches to Karma Doctrine. I on the other hand favor only the basic concept of the Karma, since it has gradually inspired me to become a better person. It has motivated me to neglect the satisfaction of my enlarging ego and instead it has encouraged me to take responsibility for my actions; hoping tha t with this attitude, I might one day achieve peace of body and mind. The West shows almost no interest in the law of Karma. This is due to its strong links to reincarnation. Most westerners refuse to believe in the transmigration of souls. Believing that you could be a human being in one life and an animal in the succeeding life, is a basic idea of reincarnation that some of us refuse to accept. For example, the act of swatting a fly could be perceived as killing a person, perhaps your mother in a past life. I myself have a hard time believing in such occurrence. If in fact westerners show interest in reincarnation, it is only with a skeptical curiosity of knowing who they were in previous lives. In the west, no serious research is done on the subject. As stated in the short story The Politics of Being Mortal, "?the arrogance of Western science seeking to master rather to work with nature."(Making Contact, pg. 618). Western society refuses to attempt a true understanding of the spiritual and mystical forces in the soul and in nature. The influence of Christianity in the Western Hemisphere has left us with the belief that God chooses to punish or reward your actions in life and perhaps in heaven or hell. "Christianity which holds the soul works out its rewards or punishments in a single lifetime. The closest mentioning of Karma is in the biblical scripture: '?for whatever a man sowest, that shall he reap.' (Gal. 6:7)" www.sconline.com. The non-religious western believe that we are in full control of our own destiny, which we are to some extent, but that there is no greater law governing our life is not, in my opinion, entirely true. Good and bad Karma must not be regarded as a reward or punishment, but just simply as a consequence of your actions. The East is a devoted believer in reincarnation and consequently in the Law of Karma. In the east as well as in the west, Karma is viewed with extreme viewpoints. They believe that their status in this life is a consequence of their actions in a previous life. Drastically differing from the west, easterners humbly accept their destiny and believe it cannot be changed. Unlike westerners, fatalistic eastern people are not really curious to find out what they were in the past life. The eastern society believes that the reason for having an unhappy and miserable life is due to The Law of Karma. That is, they have no doubt that they deserve the misery they are in now because of the terrible person they once were in their preceding existence. It is within their beliefs that if they accept their punishment calmly and try to be good in this lifetime that they will be rewarded with higher status next time around. In my opinion, the acceptance of the Law of Karma on that basis is too extreme and even pathetic. The Orient's extremist viewpoint of Karma is clearly reflected in their failure of democracy and social happiness. Both the western and eastern perspective on the principle of Karma is too extreme. The western society is too unconcerned in respect to reincarnation. Westerners

War Legal Offenses essays

War Legal Offenses essays This final report will be talking about one of the significant worldwide legal offenses, the war legal offenses. War legal offenses are part of the list of the four primary legal offenses all over the globe. This has been a significant international issue and has only become more intense. More particularly the document will talk about the war legal offenses dedicated by John Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen. Cases like these are important to evaluate because they complete the individuals up with knowledge of what is going on expansion. By doing so, we are one step nearer to gradually catching individuals like Kony. To be able to create this document, comprehensive analysis has been done with the use of category notices, the internet, as well as scholarly resources. By performing this analysis it has come to the attention that it is unknown how individuals like Kony as well as Otti, Odhiambo, and Ongwen still stay in the areas of African-American spending such war legal offenses. To be able to fix such legal offenses the International Criminal Court should have more power to discover more proof to incriminate or discover individuals like these men and give them the penalties they are entitled to. As described before this details will be referring to war legal violations as well as two circumstances that have to this position. War legal violations have been around for pretty much so long as war and attack have been around, importance definitely. What are war legal violations to be exact? For one, war legal violations are globally legal violations. War legal violations are also one of the four main legal violations. The other three being: genocide, legal violations against mankind and the law fit of rage. War criminal activity is an worldwide criminal activity. The The capital Law describes worldwide criminal activity as the gravest criminal offenses that endanger the peace, security, and well-being around the g...

Definition and Examples of Corpus Linguistics

Definition and Examples of Corpus Linguistics Corpus linguistics is the study of language based on large collections of real life language use stored in corpora (or corpuses)computerized databases created for linguistic research. Also known as corpus-based studies. Corpus linguistics is viewed by some linguists as a research tool or methodology, and by others as a discipline or theory in its own right.  Kuebler and Zinsmeister conclude that the answer to the question whether corpus linguistics is a theory or a tool is simply that it can be both. It depends on how corpus linguistics is applied (Corpus Linguistics and Linguistically Annotated Corpora, 2015). Although the methods used in corpus linguistics were first adopted in the early 1960s, the term corpus linguistics didnt appear until the 1980s. Examples and Observations [C]orpus linguistics is . . . a methodology,  comprising a large number of related methods which can be used by scholars of many different theoretical leanings. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that corpus linguistics is also frequently associated with a certain outlook on language. At the centre of this outlook is that the rules of language are usage-based and that changes occur when speakers use language to communicate with each other. The argument is that if you are interested in the workings of a particular language, like English, it is a good idea to study language in use. One efficient way of doing this is to use corpus methodology . . .. (Hans Lindquist, Corpus Linguistics and the Description of English. Edinburgh University Press, 2009)Corpus studies boomed from 1980 onwards, as corpora, techniques and new arguments in favour of the use of corpora became more apparent. Currently this boom continuesand both of the schools of corpus linguistics are growing . . .. Corpus linguistics is maturing methodologically and the range of languages addressed by corpus linguists is growing annually. (Tony McEnery and Andrew Wilson, Corpus Linguistics, Edinburgh University Press, 2001) Corpus Linguistics in the Classroom In the context of the classroom the methodology of corpus linguistics is congenial for students of all levels because it is a bottoms-up study of the language requiring very little learned expertise to start with. Even the students that come to linguistic enquiry without a theoretical apparatus learn very quickly to advance their hypotheses on the basis of their observations rather than received knowledge, and test them against the evidence provided by the corpus. (Elena Tognini-Bonelli,  Corpus Linguistics at Work. John Benjamins, 2001)To make good use of corpus resources a teacher needs a modest orientation to the routines involved in retrieving information from the corpus, andmost importantlytraining and experience in how to evaluate that information. (John McHardy Sinclair, How to Use Corpora in Language Teaching, John Benjamins, 2004) Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses Quantitative techniques are essential for corpus-based studies. For example, if you wanted to compare the language use of patterns for the words big and large, you would need to know how many times each word occurs in the corpus, how many different words co-occur with each of these adjectives (the collocations), and how common each of those collocations is. These are all quantitative measurements. . . .A crucial part of the corpus-based approach is going beyond the quantitative patterns to propose functional interpretations explaining why the patterns exist. As a result, a large amount of effort in corpus-based studies is devoted to explaining and exemplifying quantitative patterns. (Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Randi Reppen, Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use, Cambridge University Press, 2004)[I]n corpus linguistics quantitative and qualitative methods are extensively used in combination. It is also characteristic of corpus linguistics to begin with qua ntitative findings, and work toward qualitative ones. But . . . the procedure may have cyclic elements. Generally it is desirable to subject quantitative results to qualitative scrutinyattempting to explain why a particular frequency pattern occurs, for example. But on the other hand, qualitative analysis (making use of the investigators ability to interpret samples of language in context) may be the means for classifying examples in a particular corpus by their meanings; and this qualitative analysis may then be the input to a further quantitative analysis, one based on meaning . . .. (Geoffrey Leech, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair, and Nicholas Smith, Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Cambridge University Press, 2012)

International Human Rights Apply Equally, Despite Cultural Differences Essay

International Human Rights Apply Equally, Despite Cultural Differences - Essay Example xile; right to a fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal; to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise; freedom from arbitrary interference with his family or home; freedom from attacks on his honor and reputation; freedom of movement and residence within the borders of his country; freedom to leave and return to his country; freedom to seek asylum and to flee persecution; right to a nationality4. Article 16 also emphasizes that men and women of legal age who have no limitations to marry have the right to marry and start a family; to own property and to associate with others; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; peaceful assembly and association; to choose government officials; to access public services; to social security; to choose their work and to enjoy just and favorable work conditions, including equal pay for equal work; to rest and leisure; right to a standard of living sufficient for his health and well being (food, cloth ing, shelter, medical care, and social services); to education; to freely participate in the cultural life of the community; and to social and international order where rights can be realized. These rights are also in line with a person’s duties in the community. These rights are subject to limitations as determined by law and in line with the recognition of the rights of others and of ensuring morality, public order, and general welfare5. In effect, these rights are not absolute and they still have to be evaluated in terms of their impact on public order and morality. Universality of human rights Human rights, as discussed by some circles are said to be endowed to individuals by the mere reason of being human6. Rights are means by which members of society participate in the activities in... This essay has sought to present an academic understanding of international human rights as they come into conflict with the people’s culture. The premise that international human rights apply equally, despite cultural differences, is a premise which is clouded with much controversy, with different nations and cultures clashing with the ideal standards of the international community. The principle of non-interference and state sovereignty is being used as a defense for these nations who seemingly violate these international human rights. This report makes a conclusion that the practices set forth as human rights violations may not actually be considered as violations for peoples which have made these practices a part of their culture. Nevertheless, based on the mandates of the UN Charter, these are deemed violations of human rights. Based on the above discussion, there is a need to set forth universal human rights in order to prevent the violations of such rights which are unf airly justified under culture and traditions. Allowing said violations to remain uncorrected is a dangerous practice to carry out because these practices may further support the dictatorial and abusive regimes of governments. In effect, although there are inherent dangers which are expected with the implementation of standard human rights, the gains are very much beneficial to most cultures and to the citizens of the world. This paper stresses that modern international human rights law as was previously discussed was conceptualized as a response to the atrocities carried out during and prior to the Second World War.

Native Americans in the Early American Republic Essay

Native Americans in the Early American Republic - Essay Example In fact, they have also been widely portrayed as carnivals under the ignoble savage stereotype and that the Native Americans deserve being eliminated from the society by various artists. As a result, the white settlers have made various attempts aimed at taming the Native Americans by using the acts of genocide against them, which later culminated to a western war. Many arts developed between the late 18th century and 19th century has expressed this negative attitude towards the Native Americans in various ways. Some have been made to express the views if the white settlers that the Native Americans are worthy of being punished for the atrocities they committed during the early days of American Republic. In fact, many writers of the early days, particularly the white settlers have portrayed the Native Americans as Satan’s agents, while at the same time depicting the white settlers as people chosen by God. One such negative portrayal of negative Americans by the white settlers is seen in the works of Cooper in one of famous tales, Leatherstocking series, in which he portrays the Native Americans red devils or noble savage. ... This is show from the fact that the main character in the literature is a white male who has been subjected to sufferings and atrocities at the hands of the Native Americans, particularly the massacre of his family members. As a result, he gets bitter and decides to take revenge against the Native Americans, by hunting and killing them whenever he gets them. The Indianan argues that this was the only way he could pursue justice for his family member who have been massacred by the Native Americans (Bernstein, and Rushing, 1995). Ways in which art has been used to depict these attitudes. As earlier stated, the white inhabitants had a bad relationship with the Native Americans during the early years of American Republican. The negative attitudes they had against the Native Americans did not go unnoticed by many artists who have expressed them in the form of images and films. For instance, the white settlers had perceived their fellow Native Americans of the late 18th century and early 1 9th century as people who are very dangerous, barbaric and carnivals. For instance, Martin Waldseemuller painted the scenario (figure 1), in which he portrays fully nude men, and women chopping off the limbs of a white settlers, while others are publicly urinating without shame. At the same time, the images shows a naive white settler just about to be hid from behind by a metal bar, while in the process of conversing with some Native American women. Sadly enough, some are shown being urinated on by some Native American women (Bataille, 2001). Figure 1: Cannibal scenes Native Americans on white settlers Source: Bataille, G.M. (2001). Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appro-priations. New York:

Knowledge Representation - The true value of knowledge in an Essay

Knowledge Representation - The true value of knowledge in an organisation - Essay Example Learning as well as knowledge has been found to go together along with complimenting each other. It has also been learnt to involve numerous years for the comparatively developed nations to make approaches from agricultural form to knowledge-motivated and finally to industrial economies. This particular transformation is believed to keep constantly provoking the organizations towards enhanced performance (Benett & Benett, 2004). The notion of knowledge management was learnt to be quite fresh during the previous decade which resulted in creating significant degree of apprehension and enthusiasm. The subject of knowledge management also attracted noteworthy amount of attention and acknowledgment for its related prospective with regard to manipulate the freshly identified positive feature in terms of knowledge which in its course is believed to elevate the degree of effectiveness of the organizations. A definite notion was also deciphered during the century that organizations were competent of enhancing their proficiencies with the help of learning which was further observed as quite likely to lead towards dexterity as well as gaining enhanced competitive advantages (Benett & Benett, 2004). . From a similar perspective, this paper will intend to assess the significance of knowledge management in organizations with reference to its related strategies. This paper will also intend to focus on the imperativeness of knowledge management in organizations and the various strategies in relation to knowledge management. The idea of knowledge management is still regarded as a fresh field and thus, a noteworthy degree of learning in the way of trial and error is yet constantly taking place. However, knowledge management has been observed to emerge victorious in structuring quite an imperative number of processes that have proved to be successful and ascertained its worth in relation to quite a number of firms as they still keep exerting

Was Afghanistan Invasion of 1979 and Occasion and not the Cause of the Essay

Was Afghanistan Invasion of 1979 and Occasion and not the Cause of the End of Detente - Essay Example Among these treaties and agreements were the SALT 1, SALT II and the Helsinki Agreement which committed both countries to stop the production of missiles and nuclear weapons4. In 1979, Soviet invaded Afghanistan and this led to the total breakdown of the detente5. However, I consider that Afghanistan invasion as an occasion but not the ultimate cause to the end of detente. This is informed by an evaluation of the causes of Afghanistan invasion and the relations between the two superpowers preceding the invasion. Causes of Afghanistan Invasion In 1779 After the end of the Second World War, United States and Soviet Union were engrossed in arms race. Consequently, the two nations decided to come to start negotiations to limit the number of missiles and nuclear weapons that they could keep. These negotiations were held in two phases; SALT I which ran from 1969 to 1972 which culminated with the signing of Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty6. This was followed by SALT II which began in 1972 but was never ratified by the US Senate7. United States hoped that through detente, they would have a smooth exit from the Vietnam War8. United States History explains that the two countries viewed detente differently where United States expected that Soviet Union had agreed to a worldwide standoff9. On the other hand, Soviets saw it as their obligation to support revolutions in any part of the world where they considered that there was oppression10. According to United States History, these varying interpretations strained the relationship and detente broke down with Afghanistan invasion in 197911. Some people felt that the attack was an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation12. Guide to Russia.com describes that Berlin, Hungary, Cuba and Korea had adopted communism and Afghanistan was seen to following the way13. In December 1979, Soviets paratroopers landed in the capital city; Kabul. The country was already in tension following the prime ministers attempt to introduce western po licies and do away with the Muslim belief14. This had therefore infuriated majority of the Afghanistan since they had a strong Muslim tradition. Consequently, many Muslim leaders had been arrested while others had fled Kabul15. Furthermore, the communist government was also opposed to religion. Consequently, thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan joined a guerrilla force known as Mujahedeen which declared jihad war on all the supporter of the prime minister16. They wanted to overthrow the government. The Soviets came in to support the government of the Afghan but on 27th December, 1979; they shot dead the then prime minister Amin and replaced him with Babrak Kamal17. However, the position of the new leader entirely depended on the support of Russians. The war started but the Russian army could not march the power of the Mujahedeen since they had the knowledge of the terrain and were committed to the jihad war18. United Nations was opposed to the invasion and had called for Russian with drawal from Afghanistan in January of 1980 although the motion was vetoed by Russia. Following the invasion, America introduced a ban on export of grains to Russia, stopped further SALT talks and refused to participate in the Moscow Olympic Games that were due to be held in 198019. America did not intervene in the war since they viewed this as a chance to get intelligence on the Russian weapons in addition to the fact that

File management in UNIX Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

File management in UNIX - Essay Example The owner, therefore, is the only person who can change the protection system of that particular file. However, other individuals often referred to as members, can also access that particular file if only they belong to that particular group. These members can, therefore, see each other’s file in the system. Groups are generally created for users of a common front, for example, a group can be created for staff members of a particular organization. In order to determine the owner of a particular file, the command ‘Is-I filename’ is typed. This gives the information about the owner and the particular details of the file. These details include; From the above, we can denote that the file is contained in a directory hence the first's’. The owner of the file has the permission to read, write and execute the file or group hence ‘rwx. The group members, which in this case are the 4990 users, have the permission to only read and write hence the commands ‘r-w’. Lastly, the other users, presumably the remaining 10 users, have no permissions or access to the folder, hence the command ‘---‘. It also important to note that to change the permission of the file, the command ‘chmod’, meaning ‘change mode’ is followed (Jaeger & T., 2008). This can only be used by the owner of the file or group and is used together with the commands ‘ijk’; ‘i’ represents for the user's permission, ‘j’ represents the groups’ permission, while ‘k’ represents the other user's permission.This can be illustrated as such; chmodijk  file(s)

Depression in Older adults Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Depression in Older adults - Essay Example A variety of tools or methods that are used to assess depression within older adult will also be presented and discussed. Some of the relevant evidenced-based nursing strategies that have been utilized to address depression within the older adult population will also be presented and discussed. The last section will comprise the summary of key points that will be discussed. Depression in older adult population has generated a massive attention. The attention has arisen due to the underlying effects in the older adult population. Although depression is prevalent in the age group, it is not a formal part of aging (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Rather, it is a medical problem tat affects many older adults, and it is possible to eliminate it through proper treatment. However, the problem needs to attract proper attention due to lack of recognition and effective treatment in older adults. On the other hand, it is essential to describe some of the common types of depression affecting older adult’s population. There are three common types of depression. They include major depression, minor depression, and dysthymia (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). The major depression is characterized by lack of proper sleep, inability to eat, and lacks enjoyment in pleasurable activities (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011) . The main symptoms of depression include depressed mood, loss of interest, disturbed sleep, weight loss, fatigue, and restlessness. On the other hand, minor depression does not have severe symptoms as other depression. It is usually characterized by depressed mood and loss of interest (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). The other type of common depression is dysthymia and is characterized by long-term, chronic symptoms that act as a hindrance to normal adult functions (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). The condition is characterized by persistent negative perspective and low mood. The

File management in UNIX Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

File management in UNIX - Essay Example The owner, therefore, is the only person who can change the protection system of that particular file. However, other individuals often referred to as members, can also access that particular file if only they belong to that particular group. These members can, therefore, see each other’s file in the system. Groups are generally created for users of a common front, for example, a group can be created for staff members of a particular organization. In order to determine the owner of a particular file, the command ‘Is-I filename’ is typed. This gives the information about the owner and the particular details of the file. These details include; From the above, we can denote that the file is contained in a directory hence the first's’. The owner of the file has the permission to read, write and execute the file or group hence ‘rwx. The group members, which in this case are the 4990 users, have the permission to only read and write hence the commands ‘r-w’. Lastly, the other users, presumably the remaining 10 users, have no permissions or access to the folder, hence the command ‘---‘. It also important to note that to change the permission of the file, the command ‘chmod’, meaning ‘change mode’ is followed (Jaeger & T., 2008). This can only be used by the owner of the file or group and is used together with the commands ‘ijk’; ‘i’ represents for the user's permission, ‘j’ represents the groups’ permission, while ‘k’ represents the other user's permission.This can be illustrated as such; chmodijk  file(s)

Informal Report (Ch 9) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Informal Report (Ch 9) - Essay Example In order to be a registered nurse, one has to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a diploma course from an approved nursing program or even an associate degree in nursing. Other than having these academic qualifications, a registered nurse is required to undertake a licensing examination in order to be accorded a license to certify them to practice nursing legally. As at 2010, the annual salary of a registered nurse was $64,690. The future outlook of this career is slightly more than average as it is expected to grow at 26% before year 2020. This growth will be facilitated by the technological advancements, changes in healthcare and emphasis on preventive care. Being registered nurse will provide the basics in nursing and therefore career advancement to even become a head nurse or specialize in other areas of nursing like being a pediatric or cardiac nurse among other nursing career

Marketing Plan for Mitsubishi Smart Fridge

Marketing Plan for Mitsubishi Smart Fridge Product/ Business Idea Mission The mission of Mitsubishi smart fridge is to promote the household with innovative technologies, products that design that improves their lives and contribute to a socially responsible and sustainable future. The products will provide convenient, efficiency and smart technology which covers the function of internet access, inventory control and food management function. The product is deliver promise of the Internet of Things. SMART objectives The specific objective of the smart fridge for the first year is to create awareness and educate the consumers about the introduction of smart fridge and its advantages as it is new to the market. Besides, it is target that the smart fridge can receive at least 1,000 pre-orders after the awareness and educate program within six months, as well as improve the total sales by 30% after two years launched. Through the awareness and education program, customers will make known with the smart fridge and this then can reducing the additional cost for advertising by 20% such as advertisements and strengthen the position of the new Mitsubishi smart fridge against the other brand. The overall budget for the awareness and education program was used up to S$50,000. It is estimate that after two years launched, each month can sell 1,000 units of smart fridge to the private household who stay at private or landed properties via developer as a mediator. It is targeted the sales of smart fridge growth by 30% after two years launched and 35% 45% of sales for the following years. The total sales figures that are measurable for the business are between S$100,000 – S$500,000 dollars. The objectives that are set must be achievable and feasible to achieve by the company. First year, the company create awareness program and educate their customers as it is new to the market. The program educates people on how to use the smart fridge to make their lives easier and connected with the fridge everywhere and anytime. Besides, the company can cooperate and liaise with the private properties’ developer for the new building job and target those new household who will move in and stay at private properties and selling in a bulk quantity with some discounts such as 300 units of smart fridge for total 500 households who will stay at those private properties. It is about 60% of the sales target at one property area. Moreover, the company should provide training and development program for their employees in order to better understand their main purpose of the smart fridge and how well of the smart fridge function before they can promote to the customers, Based on research, the market demand for the electrical appliances and housewares grow by 5.9% in 2012 and 6.8% in 2013. It is important to provide timing for each objective in order to be achieving within the time bound. As smart fridge is new for market and consumers are unfamiliar with it. Therefore, it is important to create awareness program in the first year to introduce and make the consumers aware of the products. The next following year, company should educate their consumers on how the smart fridge can improve the lives more convenient and efficient. For the third year, the company should have return profits and value margin for total 40% of the total sales and hold 25% of the market share. Mitsubishi smart fridge is a new to the business within the established markets and is considered as additions to existing product lines. The new functions have included in the fridge such as the interactive screen install at the fridge door that provide function of internet access and inventory control. Mitsubishi smart fridge is a premium product whose target group, medium to upper level household people whose stay at private properties with high standard of life and busy working. This target group normally has relatively medium to high income since the pricing for the smart fridge is slightly higher than normal fridge. The main competitor is Samsung with its well-established products and strong positive image and reputation in the marketplace. Nowadays, the image of the company is created and made known by its customers. Therefore, the success of the business is depend on how well they can meet the diverse customer’s needs and wants by treating each customer as unique and offering the products that meet and suit their needs and wants. Positioning Statement Positioning Statement for Mitsubishi Fridge in Singapore â€Å"In order to improve the lives of Singapore families, Mitsubishi is the electronics that offers customers convenient and faster result†. Mitsubishi smart fridge is a new products in the market and considered quality and premium smart fridge with internet access and inventory control function. Mitsubishi smart fridge is target medium to upper class households by improving their lives easier, convenient and efficiency with smart, connected and ambient technology. There are many benefits and advantages that can provided by the smart fridge. Firstly, the smart fridge can connect remotely with smartphone and tablet and allows the user to search recipes and other cooking info that are teaching in step-by step. For who’s seldom cooking, it is convenient for them just checking the recipes and starts their cooking. Besides, the smart fridge include food management function that also can use smartphone to check the ingredients left inside and give the idea to buy the ingredients for cooking when the people are not in home. Moreover, it can provide information for the user for running low on certain items inside the fridge. The smart fridge also closely monitored the food that are sensitive to spoiling and record the dare and keep track when the foods are removed or disappear from the fridge and the expiry dates. This function encourages the users for well planning on how to use the food that are closely expiry to reduce wastage and additional food costs. Currently, smart fridge is still not introduce by others fridge brands that are selling in Singapore. Only oversea country, there have this types of smart fridge. So, it is the competitive advantages compare to other brands that are still consider normal fridge and can’t even allow internet access and inventory control. As standard of living is getting higher and higher and some parts of lives are replace by technology. Most people have their own smartphone and can connect by 7 days and 24 hours. Thus, the smart fridge which included the function of internet access and inventory control can allow the user who is busy working planning their cooking menus and frequently check their fridge ingredients on their leisure time. Mitsubishi smart fridge offers and installs equipment such as interactive screen installs at the door that can connected directly with the internet and food management function to keep track the expiry dates and ingredients left inside the fridge for better planning to creates green environment by reduce wastage and save additional food costs. This can suit the needs and wants of consumers and advices them better for saving.

Limon Dance Company :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Limon Dance Company is the nation’s oldest modern-dance company. Jose Limon established Limon in 1946. In the beginning the company only survived by word of mouth but eventually grew to be one of the Nations best and well-known Modern Dance Company’s. The Limon Dance Company survived with many of its original dance’s intact, these dances preserve the legacy of mid-century choreographers and showed the Company’s talent. The three pieces that the Limon Company performed were Champion, The Winged, and The Moor’s Pavane.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first piece performed was Sophie Maslow’s Champion. (First performed in 1948.) Champion was based on a short story by Ring Lander, and showed how violent the fighter life was in the ring and at home. The dance was done in rounds. The first round the boxer beat up his mother, the second round he beat up his girlfriend. This story was told through strong masculine movements by the male dances. At one point the male dancers were in a gym working out. Each dancer imitated different methods of training. Push-ups, sit-ups, sparring, and punching drills were all used in setting the scene of that part of the dance. Dancers used straight strong, but gracefully movements to convey the meaning of what was happening on stage. Limon did a good job of choreographing the fight scenes in Champion. All the fight scenes had energy and really made it look like they were in a boxing match. The Champion seemed to show an overall theme of violence in the piece.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Winged was the next piece in the program performed by the Limon Company. This piece was different from all the rest it seemed to turn the dancers into birds or some sort of animals and was difficult in my view to understand. Many of the dances used fast repetitive hand motions to simulate flying and seemed to move across the stage in sharp flowing motions like that of birds. The Moor’s Pavane was apiece based loosely on William Shakespeare’s Othello. Using 16th century music by Henry Purcell, and costumes that resembled period clothing Pavane looked like a dance that would be performed in a king’s court.

Dwarfism Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Dwarfism Although people are different in many ways, few differences are more obvious than dwarfism. Because dwarfism is relatively rare, not many worry about unprejudiced treatment of dwarfs.But dwarfs deal with the same issues as â€Å"normal† people, while also trying to overcome the problems posed by their abnormally small height. The novel Stones from the River makes us aware of these problems and raises questions:What is dwarfism?And how do dwarfs feel about their conditions? And how does people’s treatment of dwarfs affect their outlook on society in general? â€Å"Dwarfism† is a term used to describe the condition of those whose bodies are significantly smaller than the average person’s.A dwarf may suffer from medical problems, which can lead to many deformities and complications throughout life.The deformities of some dwarfs, according to the Little People’s Research Fund website, can lead to extensive disabilities, paralysis, and even death.Over one and a half million people in the United States suffer from some condition of dwarfism (Billy Barty).What many do not know, however, is that most dwarfs are born to families that have no history of dwarfism in their families. There are many different types of dwarfism that researchers have confirmed today, but there still are many genes for dwarfism that remain unidentified.The most common of these known causes is achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder.The Little People Online website states that most dwarfs who suffer from achondroplasia are born to â€Å"average-size† parents, and that their birth rate is somewhere between onein26,000-40,000www.lpaonline.org).The main characteristics of this form of dwarfism are normal trunk size with short appendages, irregularly large heads wi... ...e dealing with her own emotional turmoil over accepting herself for who she is.Trudi, like other dwarfs of the past and present, is forced to accept who she is. Works Cited The Billy Barty Foundation.Online.Internet.10 Oct. 2000.Available:http://www.lprf.org/dwarfism.html DrKoop.com.Online.Internet.Medical Encyclopedia.9 Oct. 2000.Available: http://www.drkoop.com/conditions/ency/article/001247.htm Hegi, Ursula.Stones from the River.New York:Simon & Schuster, 1994. The Human Genome Project.Online.Internet.Personal Experiences.10 Oct. 2000. Available:http://mcet.edu/genome/issuesandethics/personal/dwarfism.html Little People of America, Inc..Online.Internet.10 Oct. 2000.Available: http://www.lpaonline.org/resources_dwarftypes.html Little People’s Research Fund, Inc.Online.Internet.10 Oct. 2000.Available: http://www.lprf.org/dwarfism.html

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization

Globalization is such a commonly used term in the twentiethcentury. It simply means that the world has become integrated economically, socially, politically and culturally through the advances of technology, transportation and communication. It is undeniable to say that globalization has resulted in both positive and negative effects which must be addressed accordingly. To begin with, globalization has contributed to the worlds economies in many beneficial ways. The advances in science and technology have allowed businesses to easily cross over territorial boundary lines. Consequently, companies tend to become more productive, competitive thereby raising quality of goods, services and the worlds living standard. Secondly, several companies from the more developed countries have already ventured to establish foreign operations or branches to take advantage of the low cost of labor in the poorer countries. This kind of business activity will provide more influx of cash or investment funds into the less developed countries. However, one cannot deny the negative effects which havederived from globalization. One crucial social aspect is the risk and danger of epidemic diseases which can easily be spread as the mode transportation is easier and faster in todays advance society. This is evidenced in the recent birds flu disease which has infected most Asian countries over a short time frame. As large corporations invest or take over many off shore businesses, a modern form of colonization will also evolve which may pose certain power pressure on the local governments of the less developed countries. Unemployment rates in the more developed regions like Europe may also escalate as corporations choose to outsource cheaper work force from Asian countries. In conclusion. I like to reiterate that globalization is inevitable and we must urge individuals, companies and governments to use a more balanced approach by taking appropriate steps to deal with matters relating to the financial or economical gains verses the social, political or ecological concerns of the world.

Cinematic Techniques in Film Narrative Essay

How do movies carry us from scene to scene? The answer is in the screenplay as well as the cinematic techniques used in the film. Scriptwriters will start their script with a series of meaningful cinematic techniques. Cinematic techniques such as the act structure, choice of shot, scene transition, and camera movement, can greatly influence the structure and meaning of a film. These techniques include the hook, establishing shot, montage, leitmotif, foreshadowing, transition, ‘MacGuffin’, ‘red herring’, ‘bus’, flashback, climax, and twist ending, and will be discussed in detail. The first and most important technique is the hook. The hook is the core of both a film and its screenplay. It is what grabs the viewer’s attention, usually in the first 5-10 minutes. It is used to captivate and take hold of an audience, blatantly speaking, ‘hooking them in’. If a film does not have a strong ‘hook’ then audiences can lose interest in that film, so a good scriptwriter would use this technique to captivate the audience, and retain their interest throughout the entire film. Almost every film contains a hook, but a great film will have an astonishing hook, for example, ‘Three days of the Condor’, 1975, directed by Sydney Pollack. Another example would include, ‘National Treasure’, 2004, directed by Jon Turteltaub. Knowing the importance of a good hook, many screenwriters write their hooks first. Conceivably, the life of a screenplay might evolve from hook to 1-page synopsis, to 4-page treatment, to full treatment, to scriptment, to screenplay. Another great cinematic technique is the establishing shot. The establishing shot is a long, wide-angle or full, shot at the beginning of a scene intended to show things from a distance. It is used to inform the audience with an overview in order to help identify and orient the locale. â€Å"An establishing shot in film and television sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place. † (‘Establishing Shot’, Wikipedia, viewed 27 May 2010, ) An example of a film with an effective establishing shot is ‘The Dark Knight’, 2008, directed by Christopher Nolan. A cinematic technique frequently used in film is the montage. Montage is a form of movie collage consisting of a series of short shots or images that are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information. It is usually used to suggest the passage of time. Montage sequences typically combine numerous short shots with special optical effects such as dissolves, cuts, fades, super-impositions, and wipes. These effects are often used to link the images in a montage sequence. One of the best-known examples is the training sequence in the 1976 movie ‘Rocky’, which culminates in Rocky’s run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Another cinematic technique is a leitmotif. A leitmotif is an intentionally-repeated, recurring element or theme associated with a particular person, idea, scene, or action. It can be a repeated sound, shot, bit of dialogue, or piece of music, that helps unify a film by reminding the viewer of its earlier appearance. An example of a leitmotif is in the ‘Star Wars’ series, in which composer John Williams uses a large number of themes specifically associated with people and concepts, for example, a particular idea attaches to the idea of ‘the force’. Foreshadowing is another cinematic technique regularly used by filmmakers. Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to provide subtle clues for the viewer to be able to predict what might occur later on in the film. It is a literary device in which an author will drop hints about the plot and what may come in the near future. These hints are normally in the form of symbols, images, motifs, repetition, dialogue or mood. These hints are an indication of what’s going to happen next in the story and usually suggests plot developments that will occur later in the story. A perfect example of foreshadowing is in the movie Star Wars Episode Two, Obi Wan is quoted, â€Å"Why do I get the feeling you will be the death of me? † He is later killed by Anakin, whom he is speaking to in the quote. Transitions are very important elements to a film, if used appropriately they can add a great deal of value to a scene. A film transition is a technique by which scenes or shots are juxtaposed. The most common transition used is a cut, however, many films will also include selective use of other transitions, usually to convey a tone or mood, suggest the passage of time, or separate parts of the story. These other transitions may include fade, dissolve, wipe, and transition focus. A transition focus is when the current scene goes out of focus and the next scene comes into focus. This type of transition can be seen in the film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. A very interesting cinematic technique is the ‘MacGuffin’. â€Å"A MacGuffin is a plot element that catches the viewers’ attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are, at least initially, willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is. In fact, the specific nature of the MacGuffin may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise completely unimportant to the plot. Examples might include money, victory/glory, survival, a source of power, a potential threat, etc†¦.or something entirely unexplained. † (‘MacGuffin’, Wikipedia, viewed 29 May 2010, < http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/MacGuffin>) A ‘Red Herring’ is a cinematic technique that is commonly used in thriller films and intended to distract the reader from a more important event in the plot, usually a twist ending. One of the best examples of the use of a red herring in contemporary film can be found in the 2004 movie ‘Saw’. During the whole film, two characters spend time imprisoned in a room in which a third character lies dead. Throughout the film, both characters appear to be guilty of a series of murders, until is discovered at the end that the third person in the room is not actually dead. He is, in fact, the killer. A quite effective scene used more commonly lately is the flashback scene. A flashback is a transition to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story. It is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. The popular television series ‘Lost’ primarily uses flashback sequences to fill in backstory to all of the characters. The Climax of a film is the arguably the most important point of a film or narrative. It is the highest point of anxiety or tension in a story or film in which the central character faces, confronts, and deals with the consequences of all his/her actions. The climax of the 1997 film ‘The Titanic’ is when the ship hits the iceberg. The last cinematic technique discussed is the twist ending or surprise ending. A twist ending is when a film has an unexpected or a surprise ending that isn’t revealed until the end of the picture. This may cause us to re-evaluate the characters and narrative. One of the most recognised twist endings in history is that of the 1999 film ‘The Sixth Sense’. The shocking twist ending is when it is revealed that Bruce Willis’s character has been dead the whole time. How do movies carry us from scene to scene? It’s usually the story’s fascinating hook, dramatic climax, and all of the cinematic elements in between. Excellent filmmakers will use a great deal, if not all, of these cinematic techniques to greatly influence the structure and meaning of a film.