An Analysis of six Infrastructure projects that take place in two Dissertation

An Analysis of six Infrastructure projects that take place in two countries - Dissertation Example Differences in organizational cultures between companies or disparities in professional cultures between consultants, contractors and clients may exist. This dissertation aims to address the impact of political and cultural differences in project management of cross national projects. Apart from identifying the political and cultural differences that affect project management, case studies of six infrastructure construction projects in two countries have been conducted. The research suggests that differences in professional cultures, politics and institutions affect the successful management of the projects. The results on how cultural disparities affect cross national projects can help project managers in the identification of potential areas of possible conflict in cross national projects apart from suggesting areas of future research. Keywords: culture, cultural differences, cross national, cross border, project management, politics, institutions Outline 1. INTRODUCTION†¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.3 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.7 2.1 Definitions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.7 2.2. ... RESEARCH OBJECTIVES†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 Search Strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 4. LITERATURE REVIEW†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...17 4.1 . Institutional Theory........................................................................17 4.2 Relevance of the application of institutional theory to construction project management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦18 4.3 Impact of culture and politics in the management and organization of cross national projects: a review of literature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦18 4.4 Cultural Dimensions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.20 4.4.1 Hofstede’s cultural variability†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...20 4.4.2 Schwartz’s Cultural Value Type†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦21 4.4.3 Trompenaars’ cultural diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦,,,,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 4.4.4 House and colleagues project GLOBE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.24 4.5 Cross-National Cultural Differences†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.26 4.6 Cross-national Conflicts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦.†¦ .27 4.7 Project Performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦...29 4.8 Cultural management of cross national projects†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.30 5. METHODOLOGY†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.32 5.1 Approaches and methodologies in project management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦32 5.2 Influences and difficulties in cross cultural collaboration†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦..34 5.2.1 Suitability of the Research Approach†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.34 5.2.2 Reliability and Relevance of Research finding†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦..35 5.3 Project Choice and

Organization Development Essay Example for Free

Organization Development Essay Organization Development is a type of strategy wherein the underlying goals and principles is to increase the effectiveness of a certain company or organization, so that it will be able to compete with other companies, regarding its performance and outputs. It is through carefully planned moves and actions that these goals are met, since attaining it requires careful planning and mastery. This is usually through the efforts of the head or the leader of the organization. It is a totality of the organization’s policies and procedures in order to attain a certain goal. Organization Development is a planned action since it looks at it and deals with it as a long range approach so as to improve the organizations turnouts; its outputs and performances. It is considered to be organization-wide since it focuses on the total system. It is also a system that is managed and taken-care of from the top, from the heads of the organization, wherein it is being modeled properly so that it will achieve its long term goals. Ownership from workers of the organization could also be a buy-in. The effectiveness and the health of the organization are also being considered by Organization Development because it is its main goal, to achieve an improvement, something concrete wherein they could base their performances in the future. It is also about planned interventions, wherein Organization Development calls for the interference and involvement of the people so that it could achieve permanent changes in the whole aspect of the organization. Also, Organization Development uses or utilizes the concept of behavioral-science knowledge, wherein it combines research and experience so that it will understand or take the view of the people themselves in the case of business systems, and other interactions. The article by Padraig Healy shows how Organization Development was applied in the Public Sector, considering the various important approaches so that it will be successful. One is the performance of the workers, wherein most of the employed people are the natives of their place, wherein the quality of work done is substandard. In order to solve this problem, rigorous training has been done in order to improve the quality of work, thus increasing the outputs and the level of performance from the workers. In this part, training is considered to be a series of events, wherein it includes various workshops, seminars and study visits. It is comparably different than just adjusting the knowledge and skills of the employees in order to meet the demands of the organization, since it is a change being observed in a time bound manner. Training people is an investment that would really require time and money, and it is obviously a luxury that most developed countries could achieve. The theory and practice of development is not necessarily rooted to the concept of development studies, as well as the practice of development itself. Considering the local situation, the organization development done in the public sector is basically a show of their approach on the problems of development itself, may be a product of rigorous planning and visualizing of the situation. There is also a need for CEOs of councils that will be able to own problems and their causes, since the organization they grew up to was associated with weak organizational systems, wherein the CEOs are expected to manage. There is also an increasing need to have key policy makers and heads that will be able to reexamine the important roles at play, wherein it is usually at the district level. The concept of change is given great importance, emphasizing it all throughout the organization. Organization Development is very important at the public sector level because it deals with various concerns, including human resources, changing the nature of the workplace, global markets and the accelerated rate of change. In the aspect of human resources, we take in consideration the most important player in the organization, the people who does the work. They are seen to be a large fraction of the costs of doing business, wherein they may spell success or failure for the organization. The last consideration would be the accelerated rate of change, wherein we are taking an approach that embraces open systems. Through this approach, we are able to identify certain competitions, local or international, competing for human resource or the people, capital, physical resources and information. The weakness shown by the Organization Development is the concern about short term effectiveness. The real effect or outcome of Organization Development is evident especially during a longer period of time, and if it is done in a shorter period of time, the results would probably not be good. But for long-term organizations, Organization Development is really essential. With time as the capital, it is a good investment so that you could achieve the success that the organization aims for. Conclusion This article is essential in the field of Organization Development because it showed the various factors that are at play in the organization and how it really affects it. Organization Development is not a simple term that requires the training of leaders, the careful planning of things, the setting of goals, and other concepts that usually come in our minds. It is the interplay of all the factors that play a role in running an organization. It is a totality of all the efforts that is exerted starting from the working groups, to division heads, to the organization leaders. What is Organizational Development? When we talk about Organizational Development, we are pertaining to a course of action done to a certain organization or work group so that it will be able to attain a certain level of effectiveness, so as increasing its efficiency as well. Organizational Development pertains to the careful planning and management of the organization, thus requiring the expertise and experience of a good leader, a head that will elicit change for the good of the group. It is also a well planned course of action, wherein every aspect necessary for the development is being thought of, to the extent that every problem that could be encountered is solved before it even arises. It is all done to promote the health and success of the organization, and to solve the current problems it is and will be facing in this globally competitive world. This entails investing on things that could lead to an increase in the effectiveness and productivity of the organization and that includes good leaders, expert workers, and good working conditions. That is why it is considered to be a concerted effort not only from the leaders, but also from the workers. It is a totality of the organizations effort in order to attain excellence. The Case of Petroleum Development Oman. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is considered to be the biggest oil explorer and producer in Oman. It is a national company that has the biggest share in the country’s oil production, accounting to about 90% of Oman’s crude oil and almost all of the country’s natural gas supply. PDO can be considered as a large organization, wherein other companies share in its interests, not only the country of Oman. But analyzing the situation, could we see clearly whether Organization Development is being applied in the case of a multinational company like Petroleum Development Oman? Looking closely at what Organization Development has to offer to PDO, the notion of an organization is said to be a conglomeration of efforts from two or more people which are working together towards a common goal, and that is usually the issue of productivity and effectiveness. On the other hand, development is said to be the actual goal of the organization, and that is moving towards being effective as the time goes by and meeting all the goals that you have set. It is a set course towards the increase in productivity, efficiency and improved quality of products or services that the company or organization offers. On the Case of Petroleum Development Oman, it is managed and owned by separate entities which include the Government of Oman, having a 60% share of interest, Royal Dutch Shell which has a 34% interest, Total, who poses a 4% share of interest and Partex who has a 2% interest. Because of this, the leadership and management is not fully unified, so as to say that this factor poses an important effect in the case of PDO’s Organization Development. First off, Organization Development could help in the renewal process that PDO could encounter when it focuses on the efficiency and collaboration of the administration. When we talk about efficiency, it is undeniable that many organizations lack on this aspect and they just supplement this deficiency with a large number of the working force, thus putting strength in numbers. Culture also plays a role in this set-up, where work teams could work efficiently if they are under a certain condition of the people that will be in the work group. This is where OD comes into the scene. Leadership When it comes to the concept of leadership, the case of Petroleum Development Oman doesn’t seem any different as compared to that of other multinational organizations. PDO is headed by various leaders, since there are a lot of people holding a spot in the organization. The big part of the company is held by the government and other organizations hold the other remaining parts. These leaders dictate that will run the organization will run. Unified or not, they are still the ones that handle the business, since they have the power to cease supplying a large part of the country. The transformation of the country depends on how these leaders would go about with their tasks in hand. There are a lot of changes that an organization undergoes, especially for the bank owners who are particular with what they are getting into. Major organizational change occurs, for example, wherein an organization changes its general strategy for achievement, adds or deletes a major section or practice, and/or wants to transform the very nature by wherein it operates. It also occurs when an organization advances through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo important major changes at certain varying points in their development. Thats why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management. Leaders, managers, and company heads, the people who has control of the establishment itself, continually make labors to achieve successful and noteworthy change its inherent in their jobs. Some are very good at this aspect, wherein they excel at almost any aspect of leadership, while others continually resist and fail. There are many schools with educational programs about organizations, business, leadership and management, schools which train hard these budding personalities with leadership qualities. Unfortunately, there still are not sufficient schools with programs about how to investigate groups, identify critically important priorities to address (such as systemic troubles or thrilling visions for amendments) and then embark on successful and noteworthy change to address those priorities. To really get a grasp of what organizational change is and start guiding thriving change efforts, the change mediator should have at least a wide acceptance and understanding of the context of the change effort. This includes understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations, including their typical terms and roles. This requirement applies to the understanding of leadership and management of the organizations, as well. The following links (broadly reviewed in the following order) might be helpful to establish some sense about organizations, and their leadership and management. Organizational change should not be conducted for the sake of change. Organizational change efforts should be geared to improve the performance of organizations and the people in those organizations. Therefore, its useful to have some understanding of what is meant by performance and the various methods to manage performance in organizations. The past few decades have seen an explosion in the number of very useful tools to help change agents to effectively explore, understand and communicate about organizations, as well as to guide successful change in those organizations. Tools from systems theory and systems thinking especially are a major breakthrough. Even if the change agent is not an expert about systems theory and thinking, even a basic understanding can cultivate an entire new way of working. Nowadays, with the complex challenges faced by organizations and the broad diversity of values, perspectives and opinions among the members of those organizations, its vital that change agents work from a strong set of principles to ensure they operate in a highly effective and ethical manner. There are different overall types of organizational change, including planned versus unplanned, organization-wide versus change primarily to one part of the organization, incremental (slow, gradual change) versus transformational (radical, fundamental), etc.. Knowing which types of change you are doing helps all participants to retain scope and perspective during the many complexities and frequent frustrations during change. Group Collaboration A typical planned, systemic (and systematic) organizational development process often follows an overall action research approach (as described below). Note that the more collaborative you are in working with members of the organization during the following process, the more likely the success of your overall change effort. Clarifying Expectations and Roles for Change Process This phase is sometimes called the Contracting and/or Entry phase. This phase is usually where the relationship between you (the initial change agent) and your client starts, whether you are an external or internal consultant. Experts assert that this phase is one of the most if not the most important phases in the organizational change process. Activities during this stage form the foundation for successful organizational change. Joint Discovery to Identify Priorities for Change The more collaborative the change agent is in working with members of the clients organization, the more likely that the change effort will be successful. Whether you are an external or internal change agent in this project, you and your client will work together during this phase to understand more about the overall priority of the change effort and how you all can effectively address it. It might be a major problem in the organization or an exciting vision to achieve. Other times, the effort is more extensive, for example, evaluating an entire organization and developing a complete plan for change. The nature of discovery also depends on the philosophy of the change agent and client. For example, subscribers to the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (referenced above) might conduct discovery, not by digging into the number and causes of problems in the organization, but by conducting interviews to disover the visions and wishes of people in the organization. Sometimes, people minimize the importance of or altogether skip this critical discovery phase, and start change management by articulating an ambitious and comprehensive vision for change. Many would argue that it is unethical to initiate a project for organizational change without fully examining (or discovering) the current situation in the clients organization. Focusing most of the change efforts on achieving a robust vision, without at least some careful discovery, often can be harmful to your clients organization because your project can end up dealing with symptoms of any current issues, rather than the root causes. Also, the project could end up pushing an exciting vision that, while initially inspiring and motivating to many, could be completely unrealistic to achieve especially if the organization already has many current, major issues to address.

Folk tale Genre :: essays papers

Folk tale Genre The greatest treasure of every nation is its language. Fairy tales are part of the oral traditions of literature all over the world. The fairy tale is one of the forms of the people's linguistic arts where life and social system are reflected. Folklore, mythology, fables, tall stories, and other classic tales have been handed down, generation through generation. Countless treasures of human thought and experience still accumulate and live in the world even after thousand of years. Fairy tales appeared in the world a long time ago. Every culture has it is own variety of these stories. Although, fairy tales differ because of places, cultures, and periods their unique impact on teaching and entertaining of people has not been changed. Every class of people, in all parts of the world, has passed down this great tradition for generations, giving it popularity. Some scholars have studied reasons of why fairy tales still exist and continue to be told everywhere. They state that "stories may differ in subject from place to place, the conditions and purposes of tale telling may change as we move from land to land, from century to century, and yet everywhere it ministers to the same basic social and individual needs (15-18)". Fairy tale allows the reader and the wrier to go into a new imaginary world. There are many things to learn from the fairy tale. Tales in their simplest form have many reasons for being told. The psychologist, Bruno Bettelhiem, studied what is being learned from folk tales. He states: " Folk tales tell about the agonies of sibling rivalry, of wishes coming true, of the humble being elevated, of true merit being recognized even hidden under rags of virtue rewarded and evil punished (45-46)". In every telling of a fairy tale, an audience is eager to listen and retell the story to a new audience. The social values can be taken back to the history, and around to all parts of the world. The tales take the pulse of existence and of man's faculty of dreaming and communing. According to M.K. Thompson: " Curiosity about the past has always brought eager listeners to tales of long ago which supply the simple man with all he knows of the history of this tale (484-485)".

A factual programme for television Essay

A factual programme for television is a programme that use facts, not opinions, as a basis for making decisions, it also documents actual events and people. This term has been in programmes such as documentaries, observational documentary, fly on the wall, docudrama, and reality television. Factual programming takes up a large percentage of terrestrial and digital airtime in the United Kingdom. It could easily be considered the largest of the genres, and it has many sub-genres that make up for a popular airtime filler. One of the most influential sub-genres in factual programming would be considered to be the News, which captures a large and varied target audience and holds all â€Å"mealtime† slots for each day. As so, there are many issues regarding factual programmes for television, like accuracy, often audiences watch factual televison with a critical eye, judging the degree of factuality in each reality format, based on their experience of other types of factual programming, also audiences watch certain programs on a regular basis at least the most common ones, like documentaries and news and the way audiences react, for example to the documentary fakery is such that they become distrustful of the truth of what they were seeing in observational documentaries. Which point to the fact that audiences value accuracy of imformation and truthfulness in news, current affairs and documentary more than in popular factual programmes. The balance between information and entertainment in popular factual television is also important, audiences consider reality shows to be entartainment rather than informative, when viewers discuss informative elements in traditional reality programmes, discussion centers on the deplyment of knowledge, such as pratical tips for viewers. For example, programmes about consumer issues, or health are thought to be informative because viewers can relate to them, and store information, or ideas, for later use. These reality formats provide pratical and social learning opportunities within an entertainement frame. When viewers discuss informative elements in contemporary reality programmes, discussion centers on the idea of learning rather than learning itself. These reality formats do not provide clear pratical or social learning opportunities, and instead foreground entertainement, so is very important the balance between imformation and entertainment. Another issue relating to factual programming is the impartility of it, a factual programme dealing with controversial public policy or matters of political, economic or social controversy like for example the news, needs to be impartial, if to the presenter of the news is given the chance to air their views, opinions and to criticize, this might not only be considered undesirable but even dangerous, so a proper presenter most show open-mindedness, fairness and a respect for the truth. He must not allow his professional judgement to be influenced by pressures from political, commercial or other sectional interests or by his personal bias. Another issue regarding factual programmes is to ensure proper objectivity, nowhere is this distortion more apparent than in the debate about drugs and cannabis in particular. On December 2007 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a series of two investigative â€Å"factual† reports titled â€Å"The Cannabis Trade† which recieved a complaint, but the complaint was not that the programme should have presented the case for legalisation, that was made utterly clear, simply that the reason for the growth in organised crime is well understood as being a result of the prohibition regime and that by not drawing attention to this essential fact the programme presented a distorted view of the true situation. It is thus easy to misrepresent â€Å"the truth† not by telling a lie, but by not telling all of the story. The program presented their own biased viewpoints without any checks or balances or a duty to be truly objective, not ensuring objectivity it caused this problem. Also there is the problem with privacy in factual programmes, If a source does not want you to share something to do with them on a programme you have to respect and not put it up there. You need to respect their privacy and let them to be confident in the show. But there are other kind of programs such as Big brother that use surveillance camera to watch the daily live and explore their privacy, but this kind of programmes already have the consent of the people being exposed.

It’s Never Too Late Essay

I’ve always been the student who made decent grades and yet never participated in any extracurricular activities. I danced for a couple of years when I was younger, but as I grew older, I became shy. When I got to high school, I became distracted and my grades starting declining. I knew I had to start joining clubs or be active to have a good resume. I needed a reality check to stop slacking and get serious before it was too late. Finally my junior year came and I had a new attitude. Starting the last week of summer before entering my junior year was volleyball season. At first I was hesitant about playing and I was quite nervous since I’ve never played before. Some of my peers encouraged me to try it and it was the greatest decision I have made in high school. Even though I started playing a sport near the end of my high school career, I don’t regret the route I took. Becoming a student athlete was tough on my schedule but I got acclimated fast. Luckily, my coach was also my math teacher so he was adamant about me being a successful student and athlete. Since I never played a sport I never felt as tired as when I am finish with drills after practice but I kept my grades high. While playing volleyball, I have learned to manage my time wisely. I knew if I had practice until six in the afternoon and there was homework to do afterwards, then there was no time to spare. I now greatly value time management and it has helped me improve in many facets of my life. My outcome of playing volleyball was my greatest achievement in high school. I learned how to schedule my days wisely, be an effective team player and overall better student. It’s true when they say â€Å"your junior year in high school is your hardest year†, but I can say with pride and joy that I overcame that theory. I made the best grades in my first semester in contrast to my academic performance in my freshman and sophomore years. It is now my senior year, I’m playing volleyball again, and hopefully I will be offered many scholarships from different colleges to play this sport.

Battle of Stoke Field in the War of the Roses

Battle of Stoke Field in the War of the Roses Battle of Stoke Field: Conflict Date: The Battle of Stoke Field was fought on June 16, 1487, and was the last engagement of the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). Armies Commanders House of Lancaster King Henry VIIEarl of Oxford12,000 men House of York/Tudor John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln8,000 men Battle of Stoke Field - Background: Though Henry VII was crowned King of England in 1485, his and the Lancastrian hold on power remained somewhat tenuous as several Yorkist factions continued plot ways to regain the throne. The strongest male claimant from the Yorkist dynasty was the twelve-year old Edward, Earl of Warwick. Captured by Henry, Edward was kept confined at the Tower of London. Around this time, a priest named Richard Simmons (or Roger Simons) discovered a young boy named Lambert Simnel who bore a strong resemblance to Richard, Duke of York, son of King Edward IV, and the younger of the vanished Princes in the Tower. Battle of Stoke Field - Training an Impostor: Educating the boy in courtly manners, Simmons intended to present Simnel as Richard with the goal of having him crowned king. Moving forward, he soon changed his plans after hearing rumors that Edward had died during his imprisonment in the Tower. Spreading rumors that young Warwick had actually escaped from London, he planned to present Simnel as Edward. In doing so, he garnered support from several Yorkists including John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. Though Lincoln had reconciled with Henry, he had a claim to the throne and had been designated the royal heir by Richard III before his death. Battle of Stoke Field - The Plan Evolves: Lincoln most likely knew that Simnel was an imposter, but the boy provided an opportunity to unseat Henry and exact revenge. Leaving the English court on March 19, 1487, Lincoln traveled to Mechelen where he met with his aunt, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. Supporting Lincolns plan, Margaret provided financial backing as well as around 1,500 German mercenaries led by the veteran commander Martin Schwartz. Joined by a number of Richard IIIs former supporters, including Lord Lovell, Lincoln sailed for Ireland with his troops. There he met Simmons who had earlier traveled to Ireland with Simnel. Presenting the boy to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, the Earl of Kildare, they were able to secure his backing as Yorkist sentiment in Ireland was strong. To bolster support, Simnel was crowned King Edward VI at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin on May 24, 1487. Working with Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, Lincoln was able to recruit around 4,500 lightly armed Irish mercenaries for his army. Aware of Lincolns activities and that Simnel was being advanced as Edward, Henry had the young boy taken from the Tower and publicly shown around London. Battle of Stoke Field -Â  The Yorkist Army Forms: Crossing to England, Lincolns forces landed at Furness, Lancashire on June 4. Met by several nobles led by Sir Thomas Broughton, the Yorkist army swelled to around 8,000 men. Marching hard, Lincoln covered 200 miles in fives days, with Lovell defeating a small royal force at Branham Moor on June 10. After largely evading Henrys northern army led by the Earl of Northumberland, Lincoln reached Doncaster. Here Lancastrian cavalry under Lord Scales fought a three-day delaying action through Sherwood Forest. Assembling his army at Kenilworth, Henry began moving against the rebels. Battle of Stoke Field - Battle is Joined: Learning that Lincoln had crossed the Trent, Henry began moving east towards Newark on June 15. Crossing the river, Lincoln encamped for the night on high ground near Stoke in a position that had the river on three sides. Early on June 16, the vanguard of Henrys army, led by the Earl of Oxford, arrived on the battlefield to find Lincolns army forming on the heights. In position by 9:00 AM, Oxford elected to open fire with his archers rather than wait for Henry to arrive with the rest of the army. Showering the Yorkists with arrows, Oxfords archers began to inflict heavy casualties on Lincolns lightly armored men. Faced with the choice of abandoning the high ground or continuing to lose men to the archers, Lincoln ordered his troops to charge forward with the goal of crushing Oxford before Henry reached the field. Striking Oxfords lines, the Yorkists had some early success but the tide began to turn as the better armor and weapons of the Lancastrians began to tell. Fighting for three hours, the battle was decided by a counterattack launched by Oxford. Shattering the Yorkist lines, many of Lincolns men fled with only Schwartzs mercenaries fighting until the end. In the fighting, Lincoln, Fitzgerald, Broughton, and Schwartz were killed while Lovell fled across the river and was never seen again. Battle of Stoke Field - Aftermath: The Battle of Stoke Field cost Henry around 3,000 killed and wounded while the Yorkists lost around 4,000. In addition, many surviving English and Irish Yorkist troops were captured and hung. Other captured Yorkists were given clemency and escaped with fines and attainders against their property. Among those captured after the battle was Simnel. Recognizing that the boy was a pawn in the Yorkist scheme, Henry pardoned Simnel and gave him a job in the royal kitchens. The Battle of Stoke Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses securing Henrys throne and the new Tudor dynasty. Selected Sources UK Battlefield Resources Centre: Battle of Stoke FieldTudor Place: Battle of StokeWars of the Roses: Battle of Stoke

The Ice Age Essays - Pleistocene, Mammoth, Permafrost, Tundra

The Ice Age Essays - Pleistocene, Mammoth, Permafrost, Tundra The Ice Age Twenty thousand years ago during the time of the last ice age period, many colossal mammals roamed North America. They survived during the times when much of the earth was covered by immense large bodies of ice that buried forests, fields, and mountains, but rapidly became extinct after the ice began to retreat and melt. Since then the human race has introduced many different theories to explain the extinction of these large mammals. One theory stands above all and explains the truth of this mysterious disappearance. The Paleo Indians that entered North America from Asia, the climate change, soil, vegetation and water levels were all major factors in this extinction. The results of these factors left the biggest impact on the food chain of these animals. The domino-effect of all these factors is responsible for the extinction of the ice age mammals. Animals, like all other living organisms have a tendency to adapt to the environment in which they live. A cold climate favors large animals, since large animals have more body fat and lose heat at a slower rate then do smaller animals. That is why many of the mammals that lived during the ice age were enormous. These large animals consisted of ground sloths and armadillos which came northward from South America, and horses, saber-toothed cats, mammoths, antelopes, and muskoxen that crossed over the land bridge from Asia into North America. For the longest time fossils from many parts of North America were the only evidence that many of these large beasts had once roamed the land, but in the spring of 1846 an unbelievable event happened that brought the world a step closer to the mystery of this great extinction. A Russian explorer Benkendorf and his survey team from Russia were heading for the mouth of the Indigirka River in Siberia. When they reached the spot of their destination, the land had disappeared and everything had changed. Left behind was two miles wide of torn up land, and wild waters carrying rapidly masses of peat and loam. In the mixture of the mess they seemed to notice what was once one of the mammoths who roamed the earth during the ice ages. (Chorlton 53) Our patience was tried. At last, however, a huge black horrible mass bobbed up out of the water. We beheld a colossal elephants head, armed with mighty tusks, its long trunk waving uncannily in the water, as though seeking something it had lost. Breathless with astonishment, I beheld the monster hardly 12 feet away, with the white of his half-open eyes showing. 'A mammoth! A mammoth!' someone shouted. (Chorlton 54) An elephant with a body covered with thick fur about thirteen feet in height and fifteen in length with tusks eight feet long that curved outward at the end. It had a trunk six feet long and colossal legs one and a half feet thick. The beast was fat and well grown. The outer hair was like wool, very soft, warm and thick, it was definitely well protected from the cold.(Chorlton 54) Unfortunately the mammoth soon began to decay and was swept away by the rapid waters. This dramatic find brought the world face to face with one of the great mysteries of the ice age, the sudden extinction of the great colossal mammals. These large mammals at one time lived in peace and survived gracefully for thousands of years, they adapted to the cold climate and tundra surrounding them. With an adequate food chain and nothing to affect it they were bound to survive forever, but because of simple changes that eventually triggered many other factors these animals are extinct and will never be on this earth again. When the massive continental glaciers locked up great quantities of water, the sea levels lowered which exposed parts of the shallow sea floor, therefore, the Bering Strait did not exist. Eleven thousand, years ago many Paleo Indians were able to cross the land bridge between Asia and North American which enabled them to populate North America. The great amount of large animals attracted these people to the frozen waste lands. In all hunting that ends with the extermination of a species, the motivation is never hunger. Money, and the greed for it, have been the incentive. The savage does not know these, he hunts to eat and so is unable to decimate the big game to any important extent (Cornwall 117) The large mammals of North American were never exposed

Writing About History Is Writing Toward Truth

Writing About History Is Writing Toward Truth Writing About History Is Writing Toward Truth Writing About History Is Writing Toward Truth By Mark Nichol The latest chapter in the depressing saga of Sarah Palin’s losing battle with chronic foot-in-mouth disease illustrates a point writers and editors should take careful notes about, because it’s going to be on the test. It has to do with history and repeating, but not with history repeating itself. It has to do with repeating accounts of historical events. Palin was in the news again last week because she recently made some confused statements about Paul Revere’s legendary ride, implying that one purpose of the mission was to warn the British military occupation that colonial militiamen were prepared to oppose their advance through Massachusetts to arrest rebel ringleaders and confiscate munitions. So, where’s the writing tip amid the historical histrionics? First, I readily concede that Palin is not an entirely reliable source of American history. But, in her defense, she actually got it partly right, and her detractors are also mistaken in some respects. Here’s the background: The legend of Paul Revere we all know from history class and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is just that a legend. His ride is historical, but the details, as they’ve been handed down to us, are a bit muddled: Paul Revere was not a lone hero galloping off in the moonlight to rouse unprepared farmers and villagers to repel a surprise British advance. He was just a minor part of a long-prepared, well-organized network of planners, couriers, and militiamen who had rehearsed for the eventuality of the military maneuver, which they knew was inevitable. It was Longfellow’s poem that elevated a fairly trivial historical figure into an icon of the American Revolution. The most egregious issue in the latest Palin controversy is that one of her supporters attempted to revise Wikipedia’s Paul Revere page to deflect criticism of her. The intent was to support her by introducing a comment suggesting that it would have been odd for Revere to cry out, â€Å"The British are coming!† when those who responded to his call identified themselves by that term of nationality. A Wikipedia monitor rejected the change, but the truth is that it’s a valid point: Revere’s warning likely referred to â€Å"the regulars,† not â€Å"the British,† to announce the impending arrival of regular British army units. The British colonists in America were just that: British subjects. Many of them were disgruntled British subjects, but on the eve of the battles of Lexington and Concord, in April 1775, most of them remained loyal to the British crown and wanted not independence, but redress of grievances. Furthermore, British army scouts captured Revere before he accomplished his entire mission. It is at this point that he reportedly informed his captors of the stout defense they could expect if the army unit marched inland; one purpose of this challenge was evidently to try to divert them from the vicinity of the farmhouse where rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock were in hiding. If this is true, then Sarah Palin’s comments are essentially accurate. On this point this post hinges: History is a work constantly in revision. Unfortunately, it is a target also of revisionism, and it is difficult to wade through legend and lore and romanticized heritage to reach the truth. And truth is asymptotic; you will never arrive at it. Walk halfway to a destination. Walk halfway again. And again. Repeat into infinity. You’ll never technically arrive, but you’ll get closer and it is incumbent on writers, when discussing history (or current events), to step ever forward toward the destination of truth. Resist complacent reliance on schoolbook history. Reject the partisan playbook. Read multiple sources of history and information originating from all along the ideological spectrum. Judge what you read and what you write by the standards of objectivity. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and ExpressionsSocial vs. Societal35 Synonyms for Rain and Snow

Cyberspace Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cyberspace Communication - Essay Example These metaphors acquire meaning because we are able to connect and associate even disparate things. For example we can say: 'he was turned off by the behaviour of his boss.' The title of George Orwell's famous book Down and Out in Paris is another good example of an orientational metaphor. We do not have words to describe everything. The first ray of the sun does not have a word and the first kiss of the lover is still just a kiss. These lapses of language create dents in the perception of reality. Personifying metaphors are used to lend spectacle as well as intensity to an act of communication. Abstract entities can be conceived metaphorically in terms of human life and expressed as capable of living and growing. 'Life' of a government, lifeblood, 'economic' growth are good examples. When one says that qualities reside in someone or something lives in memory, the human tendency to equate the inequitable is brought to the fore. When someone gives me the ghost of a smile, I am compelled to marvel at how the brain googles and establishes links. The word 'etheral' could be a good substitute since it combines 'ether' and 'all'. It is relevant because it makes one remember the aspect of the Universe - that vast domain which we all inhabit and our email address is a strong reminder of where we actually belong. After all, where is this gmail.com John Seely Brown

Poverty and Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Poverty and Pollution - Essay Example This paper outlines that Cubatao in Brazil, which may be the most polluted area in the whole world, has about 100,000 people living in the valley. Inhabitants have refused to sell their land and resettle elsewhere because of the readily available jobs from the industries and the cheap life around. This paper will examine the ethical implications of pollution in the third world, pollution as the price for progress, moral right to human beings of a livable environment, and global pollution standards. Additionally, the paper will examine whether the wealthy nations have an obligation to provide poorer nations with resources to develop greener industries. Ethical implications of businesses polluting in a third world country are common. First, every animal, plant, and other living things have a right to a better environment. It is unfortunate that pollution destroys their habitat shortens their lives. Additionally, pollution causes the extinction of some animals resulting in an incomplete life cycle of such animals. Living things depends on one another for survival and human beings depend on them. It is unethical that a human decision can result in death and loss of livelihood. Although human beings are superior to other beings, they have an obligation to other human beings and nonhuman beings. Secondly, right to bodily security supersedes all another human right including the right to property. The health of the environment is more important than all other rights because they protect human life. Therefore, pollution is unethical as it undermines a basic human right. Some businesses may conduct operations in a third world country and disregard any standards of pollution control. To reap the benefit of cheap labor and circumvent the strict conditions of working, many companies have moved their factories to third world countries.  

Business Law Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business Law Analysis - Case Study Example A guard who was on the platform tried pushing the passenger into the train, while another guard, who was in the train, tried grabbing the passenger. The man had a package, which had fireworks, and dropped in the process of boarding the train and exploded. It was however not easy to know the package’s content and upon explosion, scales on the other side of the rail’s platform fell, causing injury to the plaintiff. The plaintiff sued the guards for negligence that the trial court upheld and the appellate court affirmed, forcing the rail company to appeal at the New York Court of Appeal (New York Court of Appeal 1). Doctrines of causation, proximate cause, and forceability apply to negligence. Despite existence of duty of care, whose breach may amount to harm, these doctrines determines existence of negligent liability. Negligence is upheld if suffered harm would not have happened, had the defendant not assumed his or her action, and a strong connection also ought to exist between a defendant’s act and the suffered harm (Roger and Miller 305, 306). Under foreseeability doctrine, liability arises if, from an ordinary man’s perspective, a risk is likely to occur, and not just a mere possibility of occurrence, and such was a court decision in the case of Fardon v. Harcourt-Rivington. The same decision was held in the case of Bolton v. Stone where even possibility of occurrence, unless occurrence is possible, from a realistic perspective, does not induce negligence liability (Mandaraka-Sheppard 609). Facts of the case undermines causation because the passenger’s suffered instability could have caused the falling of the package, independently, into the harm that the plaintiff suffered, and this further transcends to undermine proximate cause. The fact that the guards could not identify content of the package, to foresee possible impacts of their actions also undermines negligence on from the guards. Even if the content could be identified, possible

About Someone's Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

About Someone's Life - Essay Example 17. How has your nationality influenced your life? Response: It has made me realize importance of peaceful coexistence. 18. Which community do you belong to? Response: Sunnite. 19. How did your community influence your life? Response: Has encouraged me to uphold my religious faith and teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Cultural and social interest. 20. Which cultural activities or social events did you ever take part in? Response: Idul-fitri, 21. When were these events held? Response: Annually. 22. Why were the events organized? Response: To celebrate the month of Ramadhan. 23. What were the rules or regulations regarding the participation in these events? Response: Fasting, praying, giving the needy and washing of feet, hands and head. Only Muslims were involved. 24. What are the cultural believes in your community? Response: Women place is in the kitchen and a man can marry up to four wives at a time 25. How do you feel about these cultural believes? Response: They demean women. 26. Wh at changes have occurred in the recent past regarding your culture? Response: Women are gaining freedom to work. Values. 27. Which values do you posses? Response: Respect for human life, obedience, honesty and trustful 28. Were these values inherited or learnt during your various stages of life? Response: I learnt them as I grew up. 29. How have these values propelled you towards success in life? Response: They help me to interact with others. Religious Influence. 30. Which religion do you belong to? Response: Muslim. 31. What does your religion teach regarding women and work? Response: Women should not do men’s work 32. What does your religion teach on marriage and relationships? Response: Women to be faithful to their husband. 33. How does your religion affect your work and...Mrs. Shakina Suleiman learnt how to be compassionate, loving, social and outspoken as she grew up in a Muslim community and her career as a journalist. My rationale for choosing to discuss her was moti vated by her composure, eloquence and cheerfulness. We had met at a United Nations conference on career talk held in a neighboring school sometimes back in which Mrs. Suleiman was one of the guest speakers. Later after the meeting, I approached her warmly and requested her to share her life occurrences with me. I conducted the interview at Said khan Hotel in Saudi Arabia on 25th of October 2012. The exercise took sixty seven minutes during which the respondent answered all the questions clearly. I cross-examined the interview guide to ensure all important details were provided. TI was able to complete the exercise successfully without interruptions. I also thanked my candidate and wished her the very best in all her endeavors in life. Then I organized the data systematically and explored its substance. I used to derive an inference of how a human background can influence his or her lifestyle.

Two questions related to Public Budget and Finance Essay

Two questions related to Public Budget and Finance - Essay Example Public budgeting is targeted towards the wellness of citizens. A little wrong prioritization, misallocation of resources, and financial negligence in this process can pose certain challenges for the government regarding implementation of public wellness programs and other public policies. Public budgeting holds a critical place in decision making processes because it is directly associated with the well-being of citizens. It is one of the main responsibilities of any government to allocate resources among competing public sector needs in such a way that none of the sectors faces shortage of funds in any particular stage. Public budgeting includes analysis of the needs of all public sectors and allocation of financial resources in accordance with the analysis report. It is obvious that if one program is overfunded, some other public service program will definitely bear the costs. It is the job the government to decide which sector should be given more space in the public budget and wh ich sector should be at stake. Given the nature of the public budgeting process, governments usually encounter difficulty in making decisions regarding starting of new programs and eliminating existing programs. They have to decide on these issue based on financial analysis of the current economic position of the country. In America, it is the responsibility of executives, legislators, as well as judiciary to maintain a check and balance on the public budgeting process. In the Federal government system, the congress enacts the budgets, whereas the president is held responsible for providing the guidelines for the preparation and submission of the budget. Public budgeting provides government officials the information about current financial position of the economy by detailing the capital in hand, as well as predicted future expenditures related to current and ongoing business processes. Proper financial analysis also helps governments cut off the extra costs and utilize the availabl e capital for other public service activities. Governments need to plan business and public wellness activities according to their financial budgets. If a government does not pay attention towards managing financial activities, problems can occur which may delay the planned activities (Lynch, 1991). Therefore, from public budgeting perspective, it is imperative to develop a perfect budget plan that should help the government in achieving the desired goals and objectives while maintaining the financial equilibrium. Having discussed the public budgeting system in detail, let us also talk about information, justification, and examination that play an important role in the development of a public budget. Budgeting is primarily based on information. Budgeting systems are all about gathering reliable and accurate information of both technical and political nature and using that information in making resource allocation decisions. Justification refers to process of deciding whether a publi c service program should be funded or not based on proper justifications. Examination, on the other hand, is all about analyzing the way organization’s resources have been used in the past and developing a course of action for future programs. Answer No. 2 Budget Process As Morgan (2006) states, â€Å"the success of a business depends on the capital budgeting decisions taken by the management† (p. 1). Budgets are prepared to set and accomplish organizational goals and objectives. These budgets help the organizations in preparing a

About Someone's Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

About Someone's Life - Essay Example 17. How has your nationality influenced your life? Response: It has made me realize importance of peaceful coexistence. 18. Which community do you belong to? Response: Sunnite. 19. How did your community influence your life? Response: Has encouraged me to uphold my religious faith and teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Cultural and social interest. 20. Which cultural activities or social events did you ever take part in? Response: Idul-fitri, 21. When were these events held? Response: Annually. 22. Why were the events organized? Response: To celebrate the month of Ramadhan. 23. What were the rules or regulations regarding the participation in these events? Response: Fasting, praying, giving the needy and washing of feet, hands and head. Only Muslims were involved. 24. What are the cultural believes in your community? Response: Women place is in the kitchen and a man can marry up to four wives at a time 25. How do you feel about these cultural believes? Response: They demean women. 26. Wh at changes have occurred in the recent past regarding your culture? Response: Women are gaining freedom to work. Values. 27. Which values do you posses? Response: Respect for human life, obedience, honesty and trustful 28. Were these values inherited or learnt during your various stages of life? Response: I learnt them as I grew up. 29. How have these values propelled you towards success in life? Response: They help me to interact with others. Religious Influence. 30. Which religion do you belong to? Response: Muslim. 31. What does your religion teach regarding women and work? Response: Women should not do men’s work 32. What does your religion teach on marriage and relationships? Response: Women to be faithful to their husband. 33. How does your religion affect your work and...Mrs. Shakina Suleiman learnt how to be compassionate, loving, social and outspoken as she grew up in a Muslim community and her career as a journalist. My rationale for choosing to discuss her was moti vated by her composure, eloquence and cheerfulness. We had met at a United Nations conference on career talk held in a neighboring school sometimes back in which Mrs. Suleiman was one of the guest speakers. Later after the meeting, I approached her warmly and requested her to share her life occurrences with me. I conducted the interview at Said khan Hotel in Saudi Arabia on 25th of October 2012. The exercise took sixty seven minutes during which the respondent answered all the questions clearly. I cross-examined the interview guide to ensure all important details were provided. TI was able to complete the exercise successfully without interruptions. I also thanked my candidate and wished her the very best in all her endeavors in life. Then I organized the data systematically and explored its substance. I used to derive an inference of how a human background can influence his or her lifestyle.

Multicultural Education (7) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Multicultural Education (7) - Coursework Example What surprised me about multicultural education is that the cultural background of a teacher and students can affect the learning process. According to Salili and Hoosain (2001), "Teachers and students alike have their own cultural backgrounds, values, customs, perception and prejudices. These cultural characteristics play an important role in teaching and learning situations and can have substantial effects on our learning and behavior" (p. 9). The fact that some teachers may harbor prejudiced opinions on learners is surprising to me. In my opinion, a teacher ought to expect the best of his or her students regardless of their cultural backgrounds. Salili and Hoosain (2001) reiterate that methodical investigations conducted in the past have shown that teachers beliefs about their students have an impacts on performance. A good example as cited by Salili and Hoosain (2001) is the fact that some may have stereotypes that African American students perform poorly as compared to White Ame rican students. The new insights I have had as a result of this class include the importance of conducting proper training to teachers on multicultural education before they can train students. It is important for teachers to have optimistic mindsets in regard to cultural differences characteristic of their students. Being considerate and respectful of different cultural aspects especially in regard to religion and race can have an effect on the overall performance of the students in the classroom (Ghosh, 2011). My main challenge was in relation to communication barrier. Language according to Salili and Hoosain (2001) is one of the factors that define cultures. It is difficult to communicate to students or people whose language is different from mine. As an example , a Chinese student will have to learn English if he wishes to enroll in an American school. However, accent can still be a challenge for teachers. Students performance is dependent on whether the

Descriptive Writing Essay Example for Free

Descriptive Writing Essay I could feel a gentle warm breeze that was blowing in from the west, bringing with it a mouth-watering smell of strawberry ice cream. Also with the wind came the enchanting smell of fresh salty air mixed with another smell that I didn’t recognise. The active bustling metropolitan was surrounded by rolling emerald green hills, giants watching over me. In the centre of the city sat a colossal thirty storey skyscraper made purely out of glass and reinforced steel. The city faced the never ending topaz sea: it stretched all the way up to a calm and pleasant lake which glittered over a mile away in the distance. The north section of the city was taken up by imposing skyscrapers and a humming metropolitan of lights and music; a huge building encrusted completely with multi-coloured gems that bathed the city in the reflective luminosity. Nestled at the bottom of the skyscrapers were dozens of magnificent and completely unique cafe’s and bars. The first cafe at the top was a marble building that looked like a mausoleum, with heavy columns. The second bar was completely different- a million lights flashed from every surface. The third cafe was a long, low building with the front made completely of glass that was patterned with hundreds of different patterns, and it had beanbags inside and low coffee tables. Another cabin was covered in flowers that had grown on the walls and doorway and another spectacular cabin was made of solid gold that seemed to glow in the sunlight.

Impact of exchange rate on the economy

Impact of exchange rate on the economy A countrys exchange rate is explicitly the currency value at which it transacts business with other countries around the world. It determines how much would be an equivalent of its currency which would be used to purchase goods and services from other countries around the global world. The world is a global market that needs a form of agreement in terms of currency at which it trades. The essence of a fixed exchange rate system is to maintain a countrys currency value  within a very narrow band.  This is also regarded as pegged exchange rate. The exchange rate in question depends on the form or type which the government of the country chooses to adopt or to use. OBJECTIVE To discuss issues as they will affect certainty in international trade when all countries adopt a fixed exchange rate. The issues to consider include: Types of exchange rate How exchange rate changes Impact of exchange rate on the economy both nationally and internationally Understanding of fixed exchange rate from demand and supply perspective. IMPACT OF THE ADOPTION OF A FIXED EXCHANGE RATE ON INTERNATIONAL MARKET. In the history of financial world there exists various international monetary systems and foreign exchange rate which not only manage domestic economy of country but also international trade issue. These include: Fixed rate Floating rate Forward rate Spot rate Future rate Amongst these, we shall critically examine the fixed rate and how it can affect international trade as a whole. FIXED RATES According to the writer of ehow found on http://www.ehow.com/list_6804540_types-foreign-exchange-rates.html viewed on 30/12/10 it writes The smaller economies of developing countries adopt the use of fixed foreign exchange rates for trading and to attract foreign investments. By fixing its currency against the currencies of other countries, a country keeps export prices affordable and easy to international buyers and allows for trade surplus over time. Fixed currency rates also allow a country to assure foreign investors of the stable value of their investments in the country. However, under fixed rates, the monetary policies of a country can become ineffective when trying to stimulate domestic economic activities by consumers at the host country. Injecting more money into the economy would normally reduce a countrys currency value against foreign currencies under floating rates. As imports become more expensive, consumers would gradually focus their demand on domestic products, potentially lifting up the economy. With fixed rates, however, the exchange value of domestic currency does not move and more money means more buying power for imports. Such an outcome does not achieve policy makers intention to increase domestic demand. This is expedient in order to ensure that there is a close gap which would assist balance of payment; the international economy would be appreciative of a fixed rate of exchange as it would allow for free f low goods and services at a predicted price. (Reference: http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/confs/1993/intro-93.pdf assessed on 30/12/10) From the above citation from Adrian, it is obvious that fixed exchange rate has its benefits too which would help the international market. Below are some of the merits and demerits of the fixed exchange rate. MERITS OF FIXED EXCHANGE RATE 1. It reduces fluctuation in the value of currencies which can cause problems for firms engaged in Trade. When exchange rate is fixed, it allows for comfort in the desire of the foreign customers who wants to trade with the host country as they would know that the price agreed on for the commodities at the stated time would still be at a given exchange rate. Though the price of the commodity might change, but the exchange rate is known. 2. It allows for foreign firms to invest in countries where fixed exchange rate occurs. Some Japanese firms have said that the UKs reluctance to join the Euro and provide a stable exchange rates make the UK a less desirable place to invest. 3. When the cost of import and export increases, it will therefore increase the income of the host country and the other countries involved. 4. A well monitored exchange rate would assist the domestic companies to sell out there products to the international world without fear of pressure from exchange rate differences, thereby increasing the domestic market and encouraging the local manufacturers to produce more of their products which would be used for international trade. 5. Fixed exchange rate reduces drastically the expectations of inflation in an economy.  Inflation is reduced to a minimal if not zero. This is due to the fact that the one of the major factors that would have allowed for inflation which is differing exchange rate is absent. DEMERITS OF FIXED EXCHANGE RATES 1. To maintain a fixed level of the exchange rate may conflict with other macroeconomic objectives. 2. It is difficult to respond to temporary shocks. For example an oil importer may face a balance of payments deficit if oil price increases, but in a fixed exchange rate there is little chance to devalue. 3. It requires government intervention when there exists too much money in circulation and the fixed rate is affecting the countrys currency adversely. 4. In order to check the problems that may accrue to the countrys currency, the central bank with the government may have to increase interest rate which may not be conducive to the citizenry, leads to unemployment and might lead to recession. (Reference: http://www.economicshelp.org/macroeconomics/exchangerate/advantages-disadvantages-fixed.html assessed on 30/12/10) CONCLUSION From the above mentioned issues on foreign exchange basically on fixed and floating foreign exchange, it is obvious that the floating system of exchange would be better off as the dangers of fixed would be avoided. This is also the system widely used by most countries i.e. the floating exchange rate as it helps to readjust during inflation and deflation. Under a system of fixed exchange rates balance of payments equilibrium is disturbed by a fall in export sales. When the supply curve of foreign exchange moves sharply and the authorities do nothing, an excess demand for foreign exchange will come on the market and thereby causing the exchange rate to rise which means the home currency would depreciate. In order to guard against such happening the home authorities must enter the market, and close the gap by supplying foreign exchange from reserves. Thus the home currency may be supported at cost to the countrys reserves. This would drastically affect the financial reserve of the count ry. However, the implication of the adverse effect on the domestic market is also very crucial. But this is where the government intervention now matters. The government of the concerned countries would buy the currency which is in excess from the market so as to avoid deflation of its currency which could lead to a devastating market economy. A good example is the government of Australia as written by Adrian Blundell-Wignall. He wrote Australias economic relations with the rest of the world have undergone profound change over the past decade. The floating of the exchange rate opened goods markets to greater international competition and Australias pattern of international trade changed considerably. Concomitantly, increasing integration into world financial markets saw Australia drawing more heavily on foreign capital. In the past 15 years, two broad developments in the world economy have been particularly significant for Australia: financial market liberalisation and the emergence of t he newly industrialising countries in Asia. From the late 1970s, financial liberalisation (and, in particular, the removal of capital controls) made financial markets increasingly globalised. At times, these developments were associated with speculative capital flows that undermined attempts to reconcile managed exchange rates with domestic macroeconomic objectives. At the end of 1983, against the background of more general moves to deregulate the financial system, the Australian dollar was floated. Australia is a small commodity exporting country, subject to significant terms of trade shocks driven by the world commodity price cycle. Once the currency was floated, the nominal exchange rate was able to respond more rapidly to these external shocks, helping to cushion the domestic economy from the inflationary and deflationary pressures to which they gave rise. For example, falls in the terms of trade have been associated with real depreciation which has reduced the negative income effects of the terms of trade decline on exporters and has added stabilising stimulatory influence to the domestic economy. While movements in the currency have been largely driven by commodity prices, it is widely felt that the depreciation in the mid-1980s went beyond that justified by fundamentals. While the real exchange rate recovered in the second half of the 1980s and fell again in the early 1990s, in line with the behaviour of the terms of trade, the overall trend in the past two decades has been one of real depreciation. This downward trend in the real exchange rate occurred at a time when Australia also began to cumulate significantly larger external deficits, so that foreign debt was rising as a share of income. This too can be linked to the globalisation of world capital markets. The greater degree of integration of Australia into world financial markets meant that it became easier to attract capital from the rest of the world to finance investment independently of the level of national saving. There were two major investment booms in the 1980s associated with high real exchange rates and current account deteriorations. The first occurred around the time of the second oil price rise in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and resulted largely from improved prospects for the ene rgy and minerals sectors. The second was associated with the asset price boom later in the decade. Both episodes were accompanied by a build-up in Australias foreign liabilities and were followed by a world recession and falling commodity prices.

Doing Business in Italy Essay -- International Business

Doing business in Italy is very different than in the United States. â€Å"Set to move onto a slow, but steady, path of economic growth;† Italy, at first glance, seems to be a promising business environment with projected increases in GDP per capita in the coming years, according to Business Monitor International (â€Å"Italy Autos Report† 30). However, there are many cultural, administrative, geographic and economic differences that make the business environment much different than that in the US. Generally dominated by domestic carmakers, mainly Fiat S.p.A., the auto industry in Italy doesn’t look very appealing for new firms because of the high barriers to entry. However, foreign carmakers like Ford have managed to penetrate the Italian market, with vehicles like the Fiesta, by focusing on small fuel efficient cars. Furthermore, Italy faces many problems that makes it a less attractive place for business; such as â€Å"low business productivity, insuff icient investment in high technology industries, disadvantageous demographics, and the labour market.(â€Å"Italy Autos Report† 31)† Although the automotive market in Italy doesn’t show much room for sales growth as shown by a high car ownership per capita. In 2009, mostly due to government incentives, the auto market saw a more moderate drop in sales than in the previous year (fig. 1). According to the Business Monitor International total auto sales is forecasted to surpass 2.58 million units by 2014 (â€Å"Italy Autos Report† 27). Taking into account Ghemawat’s four dimensions of distance; culture, administrative, geographic and economic shows that while there are costs and risks associated with doing business in Italy there are also advantages. English is taught early as a secondary languag... ... both advantages and disadvantages. The current auto market, mostly dominated by domestic players due to the consumers loyalty toward domestic brands, shows very little appeal for new entrants. Some foreign carmakers, Ford for example, are showing signs of growth in this market. Ford has been able to do this by appealing to the consumers desire, for small affordable cars. Works Cited "Italy Autos Report - Q1 2010. " Italy Autos Report 1 Jan. 2010: ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, ProQuest. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. Italy - Labor. Encyclopedia of the Nations. 28 Feb. 2014. . Potesta, Sandra. How to do Business in Italy. Feb. 2007. 28 Feb. 2014. . Welcome to Italy. 28 Feb. 2014. .

Neoclassicism in Architecture

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western motions in the cosmetic and ocular humanistic disciplines, literature, theater, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the â€Å" classical † art and civilization of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The chief Neo-classical motion coincided with the eighteenth century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early nineteenth century, recently viing with Romanticism. In architecture, the manner continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the twenty-first century. Neoclassicism is a resurgence of the manners and spirit of authoritative antiquity inspired straight from the classical period, which coincided and reflected the developments in doctrine and other countries of the Age of Enlightenment, and was ab initio a reaction against the surpluss of the predating Rococo manner The term â€Å" Neoclassic † was non invented until the mid-19th century, and at the clip the manner was described by such footings as â€Å" the true manner † , â€Å" reformed † and â€Å" resurgence † ; what was regarded as being revived changing well. European Neoclassicism in the ocular humanistic disciplines began. 1760 in resistance to the then-dominant Baroque and Rococo manners. Rococo architecture emphasizes grace, ornamentation and dissymmetry ; Neo-classical architecture is based on the rules of simpleness and symmetricalness, which were seen as virtuousnesss of the humanistic disciplines of Rome and Ancient Greece, and were more instantly drawn from 16th century Renaissance Classicism. From France began, advanced interior decorators began to direct work to simplify the traditional betterment, use a batch of new stuffs and procedures, but besides retains the classical plant of elegant and dignified elegance. This manner rapidly achieved success throughout Europe followed suit, has since become Europe ‘s neo-classical place civilization typical genre of import one, since infinity. New classical Chinese furniture is by and large darker colourss, flavor books appear darker. A alteration in the traditional Chinese manner furniture serious dull in colour more affinity for traditional Chinese furniture job of deficiency of comfort is besides greatly improved: some blunt Chinese furniture wood stuff can besides be fused modern soft cloth, furniture lines progressively the more humane, more ergonomic demands in the furniture. The other is the European neo-classical furniture, in colour or magnificence, or fresh and chip, or old-timer, manner and more manner. Feature contour lines began to abandon the complicated rococo period ornament, the chase of simpleness while continuing the natural beauty of European furniture. Neo-classical furniture can be divided into the new classical Chinese furniture and European neo-classical furniture classs. New classical Chinese furniture has changed the traditional Chinese furniture serious dull manner. Contour lines feature European-style neo-classical furniture is get downing to abandon the complicated rococo period ornament, the chase of simpleness while continuing the natural beauty of European furniture. Whether the new classical Chinese furniture or the Continental neo-classical furniture manner and inside informations of how different, still the chase of comfort and modern-day furniture. In the neo-classical furniture is the most of import feature is that neo-classical furniture emphasized that the â€Å" new † , instead than retro. The â€Å" new † non merely refers to new manners of furniture, refers more to the â€Å" new † content on the furniture. As described in the new classical Chinese furniture and European neo-classical furniture in visual aspect compared with traditional furniture is different and improved, but from the people ‘s deep-rooted mental position alterations and inventions. Of class, blindly freshness while disregarding the traditional civilization in the same place in the furniture is non desirable. In the neo-classical, the characteristic long as colour, followed by the furniture and trappingss. In the neo-classical, both in furniture and trappingss being able to speak Rococo and Baroque comparing, although neoclassicism is baronial and beautiful, but really practical in footings of stuffs, but besides in the stuff cost is comparatively inexpensive, so many people will follow this manner. In colour, the colour choice more stable, do non utilize bright colourss, such as: visible radiation blue, white, and so on are common. In Neoclassical colour read on more comfy, but do non experience excessively excessive, it will non experience excessively much force per unit area in the infinite. In the modern and neoclassical, and their features are beautiful and unsophisticated, simple, gorgeous, etc. and, secondly, in footings of colour and trappingss, more stable because of the colour of fresh colour is non used, so that the full infinite becomes soft and baronial. In footings of trappingss may be a figure of pictures, mirrors and the similar, non some fancy trappingss and provincial places. In today ‘s, the house is non air, many people want to utilize a little infinite into a baronial and comfy house, while on the right neoclassical modern head, so today is really popular. Neoclassic manner into a modern society, most of them appear in the furniture, for illustration: form, furniture characteristic is that there may be Phnom Penh. Among the neo-classical, the form is frequently used, it is a ornament, so we may utilize in beds, couchs and so on furniture, the whole infinite becomes baronial and elegant. As to the current neo-classical inseparable from our life because of his practical, colour, ornament, and so it is in line with today ‘s aesthetic vision, we can hold a ocular dainty, and neo-classical with a simple, non complicated, comparatively simple, there is a fresh feeling. In add-on to comfort, the kernel of classical manner is really suited for modern society. In ocular footings, people go to work outside the place is the topographic point to be the oldest, to hold a comfy infinite that people have been looking for, in add-on, the place is a topographic point to entertain invitees, when entertaining invitees, give grasp is one of the amour propre of people, so people will care about place design, but is old and neo-classical manner with a small manner, is possible with the ocular aesthetic enjoyment of contemporary society. In colour, the colour of the neoclassical are comparatively stable, non bright, I feel more fresh and comfy. Due to the impact on the environment, people want place design is more natural, so the neoclassical on line with the modern conditions, colourss more natural, and without strong feeling, for illustration: You may utilize brown ruddy without using bright ruddy, because it was excessively strong bright ruddy, and brown ruddy comparatively stable, so the usage of colour is more particular. In add-on, apart from the usage of colour instead particular sense of manner is something of concern, because people are prosecuting cutting-edge tendency, if the house looks to manner, with colour is besides really of import, and neo-classical colourss outside steady besides have a manner sense, so to be in line with the modern. In ornament, because neoclassical comparatively simple, so will non be excessively many cosmetic and ornate, modern is really appropriate, because less infinite, in order to salvage infinite, or may be put on the couch or wall pictures do some form, because neoclassical oppose gorgeous Baroque and Rococo manner, but it will mime the decor, so with a small ornament is baronial, if the cosmetic neoclassical integrating in modern times, is non the same and with particular point manner sense, but besides to run into the temper of the full infinite, because neoclassical manner is more accent on the importance of the ambiance, whether it is furniture or cosmetic points can besides do a particular atmosphere in the modern but besides really particular. Last, in today ‘s society, neoclassicism is really popular, has non disappeared because of this neo-classical manner is comparatively simple, the colour of the stuffs used are more stable, and is a really comfy infinite. Meanwhile, more practical facets of quality stuffs, fit people are more concerned about money attack is more cosmetic, but at the same clip the provincial place, fresh and yet with fashionable, in line with the demands of modern society. In add-on, the neo-classical manner and modern merger is besides really suited, for illustration: Phnom Penh couch, Zebra is one of cosmetic furniture and so on ; the whole infinite is comparatively simple and non complicated, is ideal for a batch of people at place, but outside the house local can besides be used with, because neoclassical is expensive with a high elegant ambiance in the promenade can still see, followed by cosmetic points besides in line with our demands, neoclassical aureate ratio is in line with the organic structure design, so people like neoclassical design is a ground, because he was in line with the aureate ratio, our furniture merchandises besides meet all of our ocular effects, we are able to bask every minute of comfort. Second, because neoclassical design is nostalgia, but every bit long as altering the point will be a really fashionable infinite and convey out the elegant ambiance, for illustration: batch green and white of the lucifer, but besides show the neoclassical manner.

Early Cold War Essay

The term Cold War was first introduced by Bernard Baruch, an American businessman and political adviser to every President from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy (â€Å"Bernard Baruch†). It was a time of mutual distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies which begun after World War II. From Democracy in America’s author, Alexis de Tocqueville, â€Å"There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. . . . Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world† (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The primary concern of the United States during the early years of the Cold War was the political threat of the spread of Communist ideology from the Soviet Union (Zinn, 1980). Further back in its history, Russia exhibited radical tendencies by overthrowing Tsar Nicholas, followed by the Bolshevik Revolution, the unification under Lenin where Communism’s seed began to sprout and continued by Stalin (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). A history of military intervention in Eastern Europe climaxing in 1948 in the overthrow of the democratic government in Czechoslovakia by a communist coup were thrown as examples of Soviet expansionism. This reminded the American public of the atrocities of Hitler (Zinn, 1980). And with him in mind the United States and its western European allies began to see Stalin as a threat (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The more fearful concern was the Soviet Union’s revitalizing industry after badly scathed by the aftermath of World War II and its increasing military strength (Zinn, 1980). The United States slowly exercised its economic might by refusing to aid any post-war reconstruction in Russia as approved by the U. S. Congress in 1945, a major about face in policy under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 wherein the U. S. shipped huge amounts of war equipments to Russia (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Coming from the huge gains of World War II, the United States was also wary of regimes opposed to its capitalist structure. That fear was best exhibited by the emergence of Soviet Union as a global power with an ideology opposed to democratic and industrial capitalist principles of the United States (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Americans generally fear revolution. They fear â€Å"change — real, fundamental social, economic and political change† (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Fro all its democratic talk, America has a history of suppressing true liberalism and radicalism. The Soviets also had their share of fears in the early years of the Cold War. After World War II, Stalin feared that democratic principles would be forced upon the Communist tenets of the Soviet Union. He believed the two principles cannot co-exist. As he warned in his speech, capitalism and imperialism made future wars inevitable (â€Å"Episode 2: Iron Curtain 1945-1947†). Stalin also was aware of the United States expanding influence all over the world. He was wary of this move and pressured Turkey, a country located strategically on the southern borders of Soviet Union, for a Soviet military presence in the Darnanelles and the Bosporus. Turkey was then influenced by Great Britain and eventually aided by the United States. The atomic bomb that was dropped in Japan started the concept of the nuclear arms race which the Soviet Union was interested to join. But Stalin received intelligence reports that the Americans â€Å"would not share atomic secrets with the Soviet Union† (Zubok, â€Å"Cold War Chat†). The mutual distrust and fears of both the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in actions that further shaped the history of the Cold War. The United States’s fear of the possible spread of Soviet Communist ideology led to their policy of containment. What is now known as the Truman Doctrine paved the way to the formal declaration of cold war against the Soviet Union. This was the famous speech of President Truman to the U. S. Congress asking for $400 million to aid Greece and Turkey’s fight against communism (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The containment policy of the United States involves military interventions to countries where Communism was viewed to thrive. The most famous display of the containment policy was the Vietnam War which started in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. Armed with the U. S. Congress resolution named Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson further escalated the war by bombing North Vietnam and continuing to send as many as 540,000 troops by the end of 1968. As more Americans left and died in Vietnam, the anti-war sentiments back home put pressure on the government. The Nixon years saw the continuance of the Vietnam War with the expansion of hostilities in Laos and Cambodia. Nixon’s Vietnamization policy of providing military aid but not troops proved to be a temporary success. A 1972 preliminary peace draft in Paris was initially rejected. By 1973, Nixon convinced Hanoi and Saigon’s President Nguyen van Thieu to sign the Paris Peace Agreement which ended the hostilities between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The containment policy also played a role in the creation on April 4, 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), currently an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe. This was the outcome of Europe’s fears of another Soviet aggression in the guise of Stalin when they were just about to rebuild after Hitler’s dictatorship. Western Europe also needed the assurance of the United States’s protection while they started to rebuild from the ruins of World War II. NATO members’ common grounds are said to include the same democratic ideology and capitalist structure of economy (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). In the late 1940s to 1950s both the United States and Soviet Union sought to build their military arsenal. For the United States, this gave way to military integration, the passing by Congress of the National Security Act in 1947 which created the Department of Defence, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). On the Soviet side, they detonated an atomic bomb of their own in 1949. The first H-bomb was also detonated by the United States in 1952. Not to be outdone, the Soviets detonated a fusion bomb in 1953 (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). NSC-68, a policy the United States adopted in 1950 raised defense spending to staggering amounts, up to $60 billion dollars, â€Å"a symbol of America’s determination to win the cold war regardless of cost (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Although the Cold War has now officially ended, the United States, the only legitimate superpower left, continues to establish a world order that caters to its capitalist structure. Military interventions have been part of its policy if it serves U. S. interests. During the Cold War, the goal was the containment of Communism. At the present, terrorism is the new battle cry. It is said the United States owns a very large percentage of the world’s wealth while it tries to suppress those who oppose to its capitalistic tenets. Currently, we are seeing the emergence of a possible superpower like China. It has been known as the sleeping giant and could be a contender to displace the United States from its current status. Whether there will be another Cold War by any other name, only time will tell. References Bernard Baruch. Answers. com. Retrieved 10 December 2006 from the Web: http://www. answers. com/topic/bernard-baruch Cold War (1998). CNN. com. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/episodes/02/ The Origins of the Cold War (2006). TheHistory Guide Website. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. historyguide. org/europe/lecture14. html Zinn, Howard. (1980). A People’s History of the United States. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. writing. upenn. edu/~afilreis/50s/zinn-chap16. html Zubok, Vladislav Dr. (1998, October 4). [COLD WAR chat moderated by COLD WAR reporter Bruce Kennedy for CNN’s COLD WAR series]. COLD War Chat: Dr. Vladislav Zubok, Historian. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the Web: http://www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/guides/debate/chats/zubok/

Nuclear Forces, Policies, and Weapons

The Federation of American Scientists has created the â€Å"Nuclear Forces† website, which contains interesting information on nuclear topics. Probably, the aim of creating such website was in making people aware of nuclear policies and nuclear threats in the world. Accessing the website means accessing the information and links to nuclear guides of several countries (Iran, North Korea, Ukraine, etc.). It is crucial to pay attention to the website sources and resources, when its content is analyzed. The website provides the links to the two summary tables – nuclear weapons capabilities and special weapons capabilities. Objectively, it is rather difficult and problematic for the non-specialist to analyze the table of nuclear weapons capabilities. These difficulties are connected with the complex structure of the table. Simultaneously, the summary of the special weapons capabilities provides comprehensive information about the countries, which possess and can utilize the weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological, etc.). The table seems to lack any relevant or peer reviewed references, this is why it can hardly be used as the source of professional research. The website also provides the links to the Nuclear Notebook (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists), Nuclear Facts and Figures, etc. The information found on this website can become a starting point of any research in the area of nuclear forces, policies, or weapons. Its data can become a valuable source of information, but professional researchers should approach it very critically. This does not mean that the information is misleading. One may recommend including peer-reviewed publications into the website content. This will add professionalism to the website in general. Information on the website is organized so that it should be easily accessed and read. However, some links are outdated and require being either updated or deleted at all. In the world where nuclear technologies are updated daily, the content of such websites also requires regular reviews. Otherwise, this information will lose its relevance and utility. References Federation of American Scientists. Nuclear forces guide. Retrieved 07 January 2008 from http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/                                                      

Guantanamo Bay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Guantanamo Bay - Essay Example The US has faced frequent attacks for holding inmates without trial and for their alleged mistreatment." (Guantanamo Bay). The United Nations has also got involved in the issue now and they have demanded for the immediate closure of this camp. The same has been strongly opposed by the US government and they have put forward that the inmates are treated very humanely in these camps and hence denying all the allegations made against the US. The camp was originally established to keep the suspected terrorists of Afghanistan. "Pentagon officials insist the US is entitled them to hold "enemy combatants" - who do not enjoy the rights of prisoners of war or US citizens accused of crimes - without charges or trial for the duration of hostilities. (Guantanamo Bay). The United nations have proofs of torture in these camps and hence they demand an immediate action by the US. The UN claim that the torture in these camps have reaches another level, the inmates are exposed to extreme temperatures and are fed through nasal tubes, the inmates are also exposed to extreme conditions produced by light and sound. ... The US soldiers slam the heads of the prisoners against the cell; many more unimaginable things are done by the US soldiers' day in and day out. "The US says interrogations are yielding useful intelligence, including some from inmates who have been detained for up to two years." (Guantanamo Bay). "The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantnamo to be illegal and the Cuban-American Treaty to have been procured by the threat of force in violation of international law" (Guantanamo Bay). There have been enough proofs found which show that the US soldiers have crossed all the limits and hence they must immediately pull out of Cuba, else the world is likely to witness another war. Major Issues A recent article published in The Guardian claims that a former Guantanamo inmate is a present Taliban leader heading many major operations. This is very bad news for the US and for all the other countries fighting terrorism. The inmates are being treated unfairly by the US army and the same motivates the inmates to escape the Bay and avenge the unfair treatment that they got from the US army. This is a huge problem which must be sorted out as soon as possible, many more members will join Taliban in order to teach the US a lesson in other words to give them a taste of their own medicine. The world is very familiar with the way the US soldiers treated Iraqi citizens. It is not very difficult to figure out why the inmates are turning against the US and joining dangerous groups. "The new Talibanmilitarycommander leading attacks against British troops in southernAfghanistanwas released fromGuantnamo Bay15 months ago after persuading a US military tribunal that he wanted to live a peacef ul life with his family, according to US

The safety of nuclear power generation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The safety of nuclear power generation - Essay Example Fig 1 shows the few instances of nuclear accidents as compared to the cumulative years the reactors have been in operation. The report will focus on the underlying causes involved in the three disasters in order to reveal the most effective ways of ensuring that human life is not lost again due to nuclear accidents. The accident at Three Mile Island (TMI 2) that occurred in 1979 was caused by a combination of equipment failure and the inexperience of the plant operators (World Nuclear Association 2013 p. 1). The nuclear professionals failed to understand the heat condition of the reactor at pivotal moments during the event (World Nuclear Association 2013 p.1). As a result, their response was ineffective. A gradual loss of cooling water to the heat-producing core in the reactor caused a partial melting of the fuel rod cladding. In addition, the uranium fuel was also affected. As a result, a small amount of radioactive material was released. The Chernobyl accident was caused by a flawed reactor design. The accident occurred during a test for emergencies because operators were trying to determine what would happen to a reactor if a power outage occurred (Mara 2011, p. 15). The reactor had a large positive void coefficient. The void coefficient refers to the response of a nuclear reactor in case of increased steam formation in the water coolant. The second flaw involved the design of the rods that were expected to slow down reactions in the rector. The lower part of the control rods was made of graphite. In addition, it was shorter than the conventional design. The design led to the increase of power output. The practice achieved unintended results, a fact that was clearly unknown to the reactor operators. In contrast, the Fukushima power plants had an excellent design. When the authorities learned about the impending storm, they executed a