How African Americans Make Racist Jokes - 915 Words

My perception of our word is that racism exists everywhere, even in the land of Liberty, America. I am aware of the fact that there is racism against not only blacks, but also Whites, Asians, along with people from all other ethnicities. Me coming to America was a blessing. Also my perception about African-Americans was not what I thought. My relatives over here told me a lot about how African-Americans make racist jokes. I didn’t agree with them, because from watching movies like coming to America by Eddie Murphy made me believe African-Americans were nice and friendly. One of my earliest experiences that has affected me with this was a black Individual was in high school. I remembered my first day at school, I was going to my algebra Classroom, I decide to use the restroom. When I came back, a girl accused me of stealing her phone. My teacher tried to defend me, but she was like the teacher doesn’t know me and what I can or can’t do. She expressed her feelings how feel about Africans. She went and called the school police on me. I explained it to the police, I said let’s call her phone to hear where it rang from. I was in her in purse and she apologized to me for the accusation. Because I was new in school, didn’t talk much, not being aggressive, also an African. This experience made me racist towards African-Americans for a short period. This experience also made me believe what my uncle said â€Å"they are not what the movies show us My next major experience thatShow MoreRelatedComedy : The New Critical Idiom1426 Words   |  6 Pagesbook, Comedy: The New Critical Idiom By Andrew Stott discusses on how many people don’t get offended when Comedian talks about their ethnicity due to the fact they know it’s true and they can accept it. It was also intended for the audience to laugh. Comedic structures back then such as the Minstrel shows were considered entertaining back then, but if the show was still active many would disagree or be offended by it, and yet racist jokes today that comedians like to use for humour such Kevin Hart, DanielRead MoreGrowing Up As A Latino Child1678 Words   |  7 Pagesway things were supposed to be. Even today in America. communities are segregated and made up of people with similar backgrounds. I never questioned why we were not surrounded by people that were African American, Asian, or any other race differing from my own. As I grew older, I started to realize how thi s was a problem because it did not allow for the community to be diverse. Today, I believe that by not being exposed to other cultures at such an early age, it has caused prejudices that must beRead MoreReverse Racism1020 Words   |  5 Pages2012 Melissa Reed Reverse Racism Racism has existed for thousands of years. Not too long ago African American people were segregated against based on the color of their skin. Leaders both white and black loss their lives so that there would be acceptance one day of all people as equal. Now in 2011 we have a Mixed President who on the census marked himself as African American not counting heritage of a Caucasian mother. Americans can now many whom they fall in love with however familyRead MoreAnalysis Of Humor In Angel Puss1299 Words   |  6 Pagesall over again. Humor from the episode Angel Puss is founded in African-American racial stereotypes involving behavior and appearance, which eventually led to the episode’s censorship. The most apparent racist feature is Sambo’s depiction; he is drawn in blackface style. Blackface is a highly offensive theatrical make-up style popular in comedy shows, where non-black performers coat their face in black paint to play African-American roles. Jenee Desmond-Harris, a reporter, describes blackface asRead MoreContemporary Issues Stemming From Racial Oppression787 Words   |  4 Pagesstudents and a majority of African American students. This has led to the students in those schools not often being exposed to many students of a different race. Therefore these students respond poorly to diversity, and it has led to the minority students in both of those school feeling belittled and overlooked. Similarly, these students feel adverse to diversity, and this has resulted in most of them feelin g dislike for students that are different than them. 6. What racist practices was I taught inRead MoreEssay My Personal Culture996 Words   |  4 Pagesinstance, I am African-American, but I don’t like to identify myself as an African-American. I was not born in Africa, therefore I do not consider myself African American. I say this because it creates cultural confusion. A man born and raised in Africa would not put himself in the same light as a black man born in America. Africans have their own identities, and most prefer to keep it that way. Former Yale professor and expert on African culture Tracie Reddick says Africans and black Americans often failRead MoreRacism In Robert Jensens The Heart Of Whiteness748 Words   |  3 Pageswhite in America. More than just realities, Jensen confronts the problem of being white and urges fellow white Americans to acknowledge the real issue of racism: themselves. The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege is an insightful consider where whites go wrong and how they can go right. Given the advantages that white Americans have, Jensen gives examples of how to accept it for what it is and use it for the greater good. Jensen describes instances where he has falteredRead MoreObama!!!1223 Words   |  5 Pageshaving their first ever African American president. Many doubted it was ever going to happen; that America was still trapped in the world of segregation. At the time of an election many people usually think they’re experts on the subject, even in Europe. David Sedaris, who is an American author and comedian, lives in France. In his essay from the essay collection Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls he discusses the Presidential Election from 2008 amongst other things. He explains how big of a deal the wholeRead More racism Essay examples763 Words   |  4 Pagesof people believe, and try to make they believe, that racism no longer exists. Many people today live their lives oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, often trying to convince themselves that racism is not a problem in their world. Others know all about the problem, but don’t really realize that they themselves could possibly be adding to the problem by discriminating against someone else’s human rights, and at the same time going around saying how open-minded they are. One ofRead MoreHumor, It Is One Of The Most Popular Comedians887 Words   |  4 Pagescorrectly to entertain, rather than offend a certain group of people, they can attract laughs from anyone, even if they were the center of the joke. Through humor being modernized, transformed, to a variety of different people, with a myriad of tastes, people have specialized in telling these jokes to audiences and have a gotten many different reactions to their jokes. From laughter, to indifference, and even anger, the humorists of today say the things many are afraid to say or even hear. One of the many

The Sorrow Of War And Full Metal Jacket Essay - 1287 Words

The Sorrow of War and Full Metal Jacket both have one main element in common – the Vietnam War. Other than the similar time period, these two representations of the Vietnam War differ drastically. The Sorrow of War, a novel written by Bao Ninh, follows a North Vietnamese solider named Kien during his years fighting for the communist regime and documenting his hardships before, during, and after the war. Full Metal Jacket is a movie that depicts the American side of the war in Vietnam, focusing on one group of Marine recruits and their journey to the frontlines. Both representations contain similar themes of mental illness, personal sufferings, and unfathomable wartime situations. Nevertheless, I believe that The Sorrow of War captures human emotion and turmoil more precisely than Full Metal Jacket does through the author’s word choice and exemplary descriptions of his sorrows experienced due to the war. The Sorrow of War shows the Vietnam War from a communist’s point of view; a perspective that is often overlooked and misunderstood by Americans. This literary work exemplifies the idea that all humans encompass feelings and emotions regardless of their political affiliation, citizenship, and/or ethnicity. Furthermore, Americans are seen as the â€Å"bad guys† to the North Vietnamese, invading their country, killing their people, and raping their women. Another realistic aspect of The Sorrow of War is how Kien suffers from survivor’s guilt – he is unable, even in decades afterShow MoreRelated Bao Ninhs Sorrow of War Essay1010 Words   |  5 PagesBao Ninhs Sorrow of War When we think of the Vietnam War, we think of all the hell and torture that American soldiers went through with little regard to the Vietnamese and the hardships they endured. Reading the Sorrow of War gave me a clear understanding of the Vietnamese people and the suffering that the war caused them. The Sorrow of War is unique and powerful in the sense that it is written by a Vietnam army veteran and gives the perspective of the war from a Vietnamese soldier. It is oneRead MoreEssay on Moral Split and Respect4263 Words   |  18 Pagesjust like the Vietnam War. Americans went into the war with culture relativism. They thought the decision to assist in the fighting against communism was the ultimate must. They sent young men blindly into a foreign land and were so positive that it was going to be an ideal outcome. If the Northern Vietnamese was defeated, then it might be a different story; however, the consequences they must face. On the other hand, the Vietnamese had two diffe rent perspectives of the war. The Southern VietnameseRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1459 Words   |  6 Pages1950’s, the Vietnam War turned to be the modern pinnacle for battles resulting in the deaths of 58,000 American soldiers and millions of Vietnamese death. It saw the viable destruction of modern technology such as the newly fashioned M-16 rifle and the Apache, a helicopter made for mass destruction. For the soldiers experiencing Vietnam, it was truly an experience which would shape their hearts and minds forever. As evidenced in Tim O’ Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Vietnam War was an emotionalRead MoreVampire Diaries61771 Words   |  248 Pagessomething terrible was about to happen. Maple Street was deserted. The tall Victorian houses looked strange and silent, as if they might all be empty inside, like the houses on an abandoned movie set. They looked as if they were empty of people, but full of strange watching things. Th at was it; something was watching her. The sky overhead was not blue but milky and opaque, like a giant bowl turned upside down. The air was stifling, and Elena felt sure that there were eyes on her. She caught sight ofRead MoreAutobilography of Zlatan Ibrahimovic116934 Words   |  468 PagesCHAPTER 1 Pep Guardiola, the coach in Barcelona, with his grey suits and troubled face, came up to me looking concerned. I thought he was all right at that time, certainly not a Mourinho or Capello, but an ok guy. This was way before we started our war. It was the fall of 2009 and I was living my childhood dream. I was playing in the best team in the world and had been welcomed by 70 000 people at the Camp Nou. I was walking on clouds. Well maybe not entirely, there were some bullshit in the papersRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pagesget out of all the infested areas around the world. There was problem about fleeing from infested areas. Everywhere was infested. There was no where anyone could go without encountering the walking plague. You know that phrase War is Hell? Well... its dead wrong. War at least has some organization to it. What was faced in the last days... by last days I mean the last days of civilization not life; itself. What was faced was hell. Everyone went ape shit insane. Everyone was killing and rapingRead MoreInnovators Dna84615 Words   |  339 Pagesservices, as well as founders and CEOs of game-changing companies built on innovative business ideas. These were people such as eBay’s Pierre Omidyar, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Research In Motion’s Mike Lazaridis, and Salesforce.com’s Marc Benioff. For a full list of innovators we interviewed whom we quote in this book, see appendix A; virtually all of the innovators we quote, with the exception of Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), and Howard Schultz (Starbucks)—who have written autobiographiesRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesFruhbeis Permissions Project Manager: Shannon Barbe Manager, Cover Visual Research Permissions: Karen Sanatar Manager Central Design: Jayne Conte Cover Art: Getty Images, Inc. Cover Design: Suzanne Duda Lead Media Project Manager: Denise Vaughn Full-Service Project Management: Sharon Anderson/BookMasters, Inc. Composition: Integra Software Services Printer/Binder: Edwards Brothers Cover Printer: Coral Graphics Text Font: 10/12 Weidemann-Book Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sourcesRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesKenny Beck Text and Cover Designer: Wanda Espana OB Poll Graphics: Electra Graphics Cover Art: honey comb and a bee working / Shutterstock / LilKar Sr. Media Project Manager, Editorial: Denise Vaughn Media Project Manager, Production: Lisa Rinaldi Full-Service Project Management: Christian Holdener, S4Carlisle Publishing Services Composition: S4Carlisle Publishing Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Kendallville Cover Printer: Courier/Kendalville Text Font: 10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Credits

Ethnographic Reseacrh Free Essays

Ethnographic Research Ethnography is a type of social science research that investigates the practices and life of a community, by becoming one of its members. It is based on learning about a context and the people living in it, by understanding their values, needs and vocabulary. It requires faithful reporting of what is experienced or observed, avoiding any interpretation or evaluation as far as possible. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethnographic Reseacrh or any similar topic only for you Order Now Within the field of experience design, ethnography or video ethnography are methods used to capture human ehaviour in the context of the person’s natural environment, as a means of gaining insights about people’s behaviours and unarticulated motivations, drivers, needs, in order to create innovative solutions. Design ethnography helps answer questions like what is necessary to innovate with success; what are the key social actors and roles to take into account; and which are the limiting factors? Educated observation and participation are the main methods that enable our team to understand user requirements and context of use. Two examples of the ethnographic design pproach are shadowing and self-observations. Shadowing is an ethnographic technique to understand a person’s real-time interactions with products, services or process and their shifting contexts and needs over the course of a day. Shadowing often focuses on particular events or tasks participants are willing to share. Talk Aloud and closure interviews are used to clarify questions. Self-observations/ Diaries is a method used when it is difficult or impossible to directly access a certain place (like people’s homes) or access is too time consuming. It consists of asking eople to provide self-observations about their activities in the form of log reports or diaries, for example. Although this method involves the subjectivity of the participants in the data collected, it can be valuable to get a glimpse of life through the eyes of the people that are being studied. How ethnographic research works Ethnographic research relies on techniques such as observation, video diaries, photographs, contextual interviews, and analysis of artifacts such as for example devices, tools or paper forms that might be used as part of a person’s Job. Observations can be made at home, at work, or in leisure environments. People can be studied with their family, on their own, with work colleagues, or as part of a group of friends. Often one participant may be recruited, but several more may be studied as part of that person’s family or friends. Data collection can range from a 4-5 hour contextual interview, through to following a participant for several days, or even a longitudinal study over several weeks or months to investigate, for example, how a particular product or service might be used over time. It doesn’t necessarily involve full immersion’ in a person’s life: it can involve a depth interview in a person’s home or it might involve a person simply maintaining their own video diary over a period of time. Where and how you might use it Ethnographic research can provide extremely rich insight into ‘real life’ behavior, and can be used to identify new or currently unmet user needs. This approach is most valuable at the beginning of a project when there is a need to understand real end particular audience. When not to use Ethnographic research can provide a significant amount of qualitative data, and analysis can be time consuming. NOTE: The term ‘ethnographic’ can be misused; it’s currently a bit of a ‘buzzword’ with some agencies who may not fully understand the approach. It is recommended that a specialist agency is used, who can demonstrate successful case studies (collecting and analyzing the data). Participants In principle, anyone could participate in this type of research. As with any user research, the recruitment of suitable participants is key. The full implications of the research should be fully explained to potential participants, as some may not feel comfortable with this level of intrusion in their lives. Timescales Depending on the study needs and the approach, but 6-8 weeks from briefing to results can provide rich insight. It may take time to build trust with participants, and the analysis period needs to be sufficient to be thorough. Ethnographic research can be expensive and time consuming, but this depends on the needs of a particular project. The benefits derived can be extremely valuable. How to cite Ethnographic Reseacrh, Papers

Theory of Microeconomics Free-Samples for Students Myassignment

Question: The CEO of HAPPY enterprise has decided to change its business strategy from a sales maximising strategy to a Profit Maximising Strategy. Use graphs to support your explanation of the two Methods a company can use to decide on how much it has to produce to ensure it achieves a profit Maximising Output level. Answer: Sales maximisation strategy and Profit maximisation strategy Figure 1: Sales maximisation graph (Source: created by author) Through sales maximisation revenue a firm makes as much as revenue without making a loss. Sales is maximised where marginal revenue is zero. In the above diagram, P0QA is the amount of maximum revenue that the firm can earn. PCMA is the amount of profit. Firm intends to maximise revenue by increasing sales volume at a lower price (Rader 2014). Profit maximisation strategy Figure 2: Profit maximising output and price (Source: created by author) Profit is maximised where MR = MC and produced output is Q2, which is less than revenue maximisation output. PCDB is the maximised profit of the firm. Firm maximises profit by charging higher price and selling lesser output (Waldman and Jensen 2016). Reference Rader, T., 2014.Theory of microeconomics. Academic Press. Waldman, D. and Jensen, E., 2016.Industrial organization: theory and practice. Routledge.

Bio Fertliazer a Boon for Agriculture free essay sample

Fertilizer is one of the major contributors to increased crop production but thecontinuous and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizer is causing unsustainable environmentalpenalties like soil health deterioration, contamination of surface water, nitrate pollution of ground water and atmospheric pollution etc. The problems like leaching, volatilization,de-nitrification of nitrogen and deposition of non-available phosphorus in soils are also dueto more use of chemical fertilizers. Fertilizer use efficiency in India is 30-50 % for Nitrogen,15-20% for Phosphorus and 70-80 % for Potassium. Above all, the production of inorganicfertilizers is energy intensive, depending upon fossil fuel and hence becoming costly day byday. To cope with the above situation, Indian agricultural scientists are constantly stressingupon the use of bio-fertilizers. During 2001-2002, the production and distribution of bio-fertilizers in the country was roughly 10,000 metric tones, where the production of Rhizobium, Azotobactor, Azospirillum, Acetobactor and PSB were 1603, 1553, 1258, 166and 4088 metric tones, respectively. Among the other bio-fertilizers, compost acceleratorslike cellulose/ lignin decomposers have got considerable importance. We will write a custom essay sample on Bio Fertliazer a Boon for Agriculture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A biofertilizer (also bio-fertilizer) is a substance which contains living microorganisms which, when applied to seed, plant surfaces, or soil, colonizes the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant. [1] Bio-fertilizers add nutrients through the natural processes of nitrogen fixation, solubilizing phosphorus, and stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth-promoting substances. Bio-fertilizers can be expected to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The microorganisms in bio-fertilizers restore the soils natural nutrient cycle and build soil organic matter. Through the use of bio-fertilizers, healthy plants can be grown, while enhancing the sustainability and the health of the soil. Since they play several roles, a preferred scientific term for such beneficial bacteria is plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Therefore, they are extremely advantageous in enriching soil fertility and fulfilling plant nutrient requirements by supplying the organic nutrients through microorganism and their byproducts. Hence, bio-fertilizers do not contain any chemicals which are harmful to the living soil. Bio-fertilizers eco friendly organic agro-input and more cost-effective than chemical fertilizers. Bio-fertilizers such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum and blue green algae (BGA) have been in use a long time. Rhizobiuminoculant is used for leguminous crops. Azotobacter can be used with crops like wheat, maize, mustard, cotton, potato and other vegetable crops. Azospirillum inoculations are recommended mainly for sorghum, millets, maize, sugarcane and wheat. Blue green algae belonging to a general cyanobacteria genus, Nostoc or Anabaena or Tolypothrix or Aulosira, fix atmospheric nitrogen and are used as inoculations for paddy crop grown both under upland and low-land conditions. Anabaena in association with water fern Azolla contributes nitrogen up to 60 kg/ha/season and also enriches soils with organic matter. 2] Other types of bacteria, so-called phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, such as Pantoea agglomerans strain P5 or Pseudomonas putida strain P13,[3] are able to solubilize the insoluble phosphate from organic and inorganic phosphate sources. [4] In fact, due to immobilization of phosphate by mineral ions such as Fe, Al and Ca or organic acids, the rate of available phosphate (Pi) in soil is well below plant needs. In addition, chemical Pi fertilizers are also immobilized in the soil, immediately, so that less than 20 percent of added fertilizer is absorbed by plants. Therefore, reduction in Pi resources, on one hand, and environmental pollutions resulting from both production and applications of chemical Pi fertilizer, on the other hand, have already demanded the use of new generation of phosphate fertilizers globally known as phosphate-solubilizing bacteria or phosphate bio-fertilizers. [citation needed] Benefits A bio-fertilizer provides the following benefits: Since a bio-fertilizer is technically living, it can symbiotically associate with plant roots. Involved microorganisms could readily and safely convert complex organic material in simple compounds, so that plants are easily taken up. Microorganism function is in long duration, causing improvement of the soil fertility. It maintains the natural habitat of the soil. It increases crop yield by 20-30%, replaces chemical nitrogen and phosphorus by 25%, and stimulates plant growth. It can also provide protection against drought and some soil-borne diseases. Bio-fertilizers are cost-effective relative to chemical fertilizers. They have lower manufacturing costs, especially regarding nitrogen and phosphorus use. Some important groups of Bio-fertilizers Azolla-Anabena symbiosis: Azolla is a small, eukaryotic, aquatic fern having global distribution. Prokaryotic blue green algae Anabena azolla resides in its leaves as a symbiont. Azolla is an alternative nitrogen source. This association has gained wide interest because of its potential use as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Rhizobium: Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by Rhizobium with legumes contribute substantially to total nitrogen fixation. Rhizobium inoculation is a well-known agronomic practice to ensure adequate nitrogen. Benefits of Bio-fertilizers: 1. Enrich soil with nitrogen by biological nitrogen fixation. 2. Increase crop yield by 15-20 %. . Increase germination potential of seeds. 4. Develops resistance against disease in crops, suppress soil borne diseases as some of the inoculants produce antibiotics. 5. Improves soil properties and sustain soil fertility. 6. Help in mineralization of plant nutrients, solublize unavailable phosphate and sulfur in thesoil converting them in available form. 7. Bio-fertilizers release certain hormones, which increase crop growth. 8. Save fertilizer consumption by nearly 15%. 9. Bio-fertilizers are cheap, handy, eco-friendly, pollution free and easy to transport.

Turn Your Teacher Weaknesses Into Assets to Get the Job

Turn Your Teacher Weaknesses Into Assets to Get the Job One interview question that can stump even seasoned job-seeking educators is What is your greatest weakness as a teacher? This question may come at you disguised as What would you most like to change/improve about yourself? or What frustrations did you encounter in your last position? This weakness question really tags as an opportunity to Describe your strengths. Your response can tip the interview in your favor or send your resume to the bottom of the pile. Forget Conventional Wisdom In the past conventional wisdom recommended putting a spin on this question by describing an actual strength camouflaged  as a weakness. For example, you might have tried to be clever and offered perfectionism as your weakness, explaining that you refuse to quit until the job gets done right. But in responding to your weaknesses, you should should stay away from any personal qualities. Save your personal qualities such as perfectionism, enthusiasm, creativity, or patience for describing strengths. In responding to a question about a weakness, you should offer more professional traits. For example, you may recall how you noticed your attention to detail, organization, or problem-solving may have needed improvement. Once you have provided the trait, you should provide details on how you purposefully worked to address this weakness. Include any of the steps you have taken or are currently taking to mitigate this weakness. Here are two examples of how you might respond to a question about your greatest weakness. Corrected Weakness: Organization For example, you can state that you have been less excited about the amount of paperwork that comes along with a classroom of students. You may admit that in the past you tended to procrastinate on assessing classwork or homework. You can also admit to having found yourself on more than one occasion scrambling to catch up right before the grading period ended. You might feel like your honesty leaves you vulnerable. But, if you go on to explain that in order to combat this tendency, you set a schedule for yourself this past school year that dedicated time every day to paperwork, you will be viewed as a problem solver. You might include other strategies you used such as self-grading assignments whenever practical, which allowed students to assess their own work as you discussed the answers together in class. As a result, you can acknowledge that you learned to stay on top of your grading and needed a short time at the end of each period to compile the information. For new teachers, examples like this could come from student teaching experiences. Now an interviewer will see you as self-aware and reflective, both highly desirable attributes in a teacher. Corrected Weakness: Seeking advice Teachers are independent, but that can lead to isolation in problem solving, and some problems may necessitate advice from others.This is particularly true in dealing with confrontational situations such as dealing with an irate parent or a teachers aide who arrives late to your class every day. You might admit that you may have tried to solve some problems on your own, but upon reflection, felt it was necessary to seek the advice of others. You can explain how you found the teacher next door to you or an administrator was important in helping you address different kinds of uncomfortable confrontations. If you are an educator looking for first job, you may not have classroom experiences to use as examples. But dealing with confrontations is a life skill and not limited to the school building. In this case, you can provide examples of problem-solving confrontations you may have had at college or at another job. Seeking the advice of others shows that you can identify people or groups that can be resources instead of trying to tackle confrontational problems on your own. Self analysis Employers know job candidates have weaknesses, says Kent McAnally, director of career services at Washburn University. They want to know that we are doing the self-analysis to identify what ours are, he writes for the American Association for Employment in Education. Showing that you are taking steps to improve is essential to making a positive impression, but more importantly, it is essential for developing your personal and professional goals and development plans. And THAT is the real reason for the question. Tips to Master the Interview Be truthful.Do not try to guess what the interviewer wants to hear. Answer questions candidly and present your authentic self.Prepare for the question but do not let your answers sound coached.Remain positive as you explain how your weakness could be seen as a positive in the job.Avoid using negative words like â€Å"weak† and â€Å"failure.†Smile!

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 20

Management - Essay Example The introduction of a new Legoland theme park in Paris, France would require taking into consideration a wide variety of factors, including the impact on all stakeholders for such a new business venture. Will the company be able to maintain enough profit to cover all of the costs of operating and building the new facility, thus making this new theme park budget-conscious and sustainable for long-term business activity? This question can be answered by reviewing the revenues of other international Legoland theme parks from 2002-2003 and comparing these revenues to the current operating environment for Lego company. For instance, Legoland Deutschland, in 2003, experienced a significant drop in sales volume after only its second year of operations due to less consumer patronage and an unusually-hot summer (Annual Report, 2003). Though the Legoland Deutschland park appeared to be a rather instant success for consumers in this country during the park’s first year, this excitement a ppeared to have worn off rather quickly, likely making executive leadership at the company take a second look at whether Legoland theme parks are sustainable business concepts for long-term profitability. However, despite these statistics, the Paris, France operation requires an examination of stakeholder interests involving each group. The consumers/patrons will likely dictate whether or not the Legoland park is a continued success. Consumer attitudes fluctuate rather unexpectedly based on social and economic trends (Kurtz, 2006), thus making patronage levels extremely difficult to predict, especially in the difficult economic climate being experienced across the globe today. Suppliers, also, who would be responsible for distributing various foods and beverages associated with the new Legoland Paris theme park also have an active interest in whether the new park is successful. The supplier business’ longevity and profit margins

Maritime law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Maritime law - Essay Example The law of maritime claims has been promoted along different routes in civil law administration. Vessels are recognised as objects of security rights in all nations. Despite this and the fact that maritime claims are of profound commercial significance, there is a high degree of international uncertainty in the subject of maritime claims and mortgages. There is a great difference among nations in the way they create and enforce maritime claims. It is for this reason that a standard list of maritime claims and an agreeable way of enforcing them was drafted by Comire Maritime International and adopted by the Brussels Diplomatic Conference. In 1926 in Brussels, the initial efforts were made to unify particular rules regarding maritime claims and mortgages. However, there were problems in the enforcement of the rules and this led to a review in 1952 in Brussels, undertaken by IMO and UNCTAD. The international convention on the arrest of ships was the combined efforts of the numerous conventions held earlier, especially the 1952 international convention, which aimed at unifying certain rules adopted by various countries in relation to arrest of sea going ships. At Geneva in March 1999, the new international convention on the arrest of ships as expressed in A/CONF.188/6 was adopted by the conference, after reviewing the 1952 arrest convention to address the identified deficiencies. As a result, the categories of maritime claim that could lead to arrest were altered, changing from 17 in 1952 convention to 22 in the 1999 convention. Not many countries have been able to approve the new convection, so it may apply in their countries., because some nations still feel dissatisfied by the new rule and its consequences it could cause in the nations. After Albania, which was the 10th country to ratify the new convention in March 2011, the new international convention came into forc e on 14th September 2011, and was to apply to any ship within the signatory state’s jurisdiction.3 The number of ratifying countries is still low and one would question the reason for the reluctance; it is worth noting that most of the powerful nations, such as the US, UK, and Japan have not attempted to approve it. However, by properly analyzing the 1999 arrest convention and its implications, there are both benefits and negative effects in the society. Effects of the New Convention 1. Liability for unjustified arrests or excessive security Following the inclusion of damages costs in the 1999 convention, which was not part of 1952 convention, the owners of the arrested ships are further protected by the legal terms in case of incurred loss, found to have been attributed to the claimant arrest directive. According to Article 6 of A/CONF.188/6, the court could impose upon the claimant the obligation to provide certain security, upon such terms as could be determined in court f or any loss the defendant acquires from the unjustified/wrongful arrest, or demanded excessive security in which the claimant may be found liable.4 With this part of the law, there are chances that the shipping industry may view the article differently. ‘The states with flags of convenience and states with large fleets could try to limit the cases where arrest may be made and thus ratify the 1999 convention, whereas states having a dominant trading economy might request security for what could happen to their cargo and their contracts of carriage vital for import and export.’5 While some countries could limit the cases of arrest within their jurisdiction for fear of defendants claim for damage, others could increase chances of security claim for their benefit. This move extends to cause more costs in solving for the cases that will occur in future, due to broadened scope of arrests considering that no party so desires to spend their

Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statement as a managerial Dissertation

Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statement as a managerial tool for Decision Making - Dissertation Example Mostly, accounting tools are the most effective in decision-making process and gives a good benchmarking to datum. To analyze financial position of the firm, the leader of the corporate analyses its balance sheet, this gives the statement regarding the financial position and a gauge to the solidness in economic performance. Moreover, they may get these trends through an analysis of the profit and loss statements-income statements. It gives them a critical decision making tool which determines how effective will their short term and long term transactions in the long run determine the company`s profit potential. Moreover, they may analyze the cash flow of the firm because it will help them to comprehend the cash inflow of the company, out flows and how payments are made in relation to liquidity of the organization. Mostly, it will analyze the operating activities, investments, and financing cash flows. Actually, this will help the management to determine the amount of losses a busines s incurs. Lastly, from the firm`s equity cash flow analysis, corporate managers will help in knowing the capital structures of the firm and how it is related to the performance of the business. In fact, capital structure will indicate the various sources of funds in line with long term and short term operating activities. Hence, the managers may end up reorganizing some initiating activities such as acquisition and mergers. Moreover, they may get to comprehend other sources of funds like internal funding and retained earning, common or preferred stocks, consequently, they will have helped the management to establish adequate dividend for payments in each share and still keep the company`s state healthy. Literature Review In this... Through the process of analyzing financial statements, the will be determination on adequate information regarding the financial sources and the obligations they bring to the firm. Additionally, it will give a detailed account of and reliable information regarding the financial performance of the firm, which includes how sound, is the finances of the firm. In addition, it will give enough information on from the results of business operations in the time range given. Besides, useful information concerning the financial condition of the business like how it involves movement of resources to and from its business will be derived. Lastly, it will give the information that will be helpful in giving an evaluation of the performance earnings from the invested resources and hence the managerial ability to forecast will be made stronger leading to an over all improvement in business. Research Methodology These include what can be achieved. It therefore includes the following. 1. Interviewing the finance department 2. Distributing questionnaires among other working members in this organization in different departments for them to fill in 3. Interviewing and distributing questionnaires to those supplying raw materials and those buying the firm`s product. 4. Testing the various software and hardware on their compatibility to the current working conditions of the firm 5. Reviewing the former statement of finance and writing a report over the same.

What Problems Are Facing Alexandra Near Johannesburg Environmental Sciences Essay

What Problems Are Facing Alexandra Near Johannesburg Environmental Sciences Essay The name Alexandra was the name of a farmers wife who in 1905 transformed his dairy farm into a township and named it after his wife. Over the last century Alexandra has been refuge to many poor immigrants looking for better standards of living, waging their lives in the city of Johannesburg, also known as the place of gold. According to Alexandra Renewal Project(2006), Alexandra has grown to a population of approximately 350 000 people, squeezed into an area of about 800 hectare and still showing no sign of decrease. This pattern of urban migration is painted across the history of Alexandra and was influenced by many political events, one of which is the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, when extensive labour was needed for widespread expanding of the industrial and commercial sectors, empowering the force of urban migration. Alexandra even endured through the struggles of apartheid to become home to a diverse population of urban poor settlers. Alexandra Renewal Project(2006 ) states that Alexandra had until recent developments, a huge amount of informal dwellings where estimates ranged from 34 000 upwards. Consequently the township of Alexandra has a proud but tragic history, which ushered it into the new century in desperate need of regeneration. This paper exemplifies the slum characteristics of Alexandra, a rural area located on the ridge of Santon a rich suburb. Alexandra also is in close proximity to the major economic hub of Gauteng, the city of Johannesburg. This article focuses on the analysis of the situation currently found in Alexandra, which was undertaken through a in depth field study. In addition, this paper addresses the social and economic benefits that the work of civil engineers can present to Alexandra to elevate it from slum status. This will be done by defining the concept of a slum and moreover examining the situation in Alexandra.(Alexandra renewal project,2006 ; Morris,2000 ; Bonner Nieftagodien,2008). The term slum identifies with a range of low income settlements and poor standards of living. Furthermore, according to UN-HABIT (2007) a slum could be defined as a heavily populated urban area characterised by low standard housing and squalor. This apparent ill nature of slums leave many asking why do slums exist? According to UN-HABIT (2007) slums exist because of a number of forces. Some of these consist of rapid rural-to-urban migration, increasing urban poverty, inequality and globalisation. Applying these concepts to S.A its easy to see why Alexandra fell into the abyss that is slum status. With the advent of a new democratic government in 1994, people in search of newly promised jobs have flocked into the major hubs of S.A., which dramatically increased the rate of unskilled labour migrating to major cities, thus demonstrating rapid rural to urban migration. Furthermore UN-HABIT (2007) explains that the boom and busts of the economy such as that of S.A. churn up inequality and distribute new wealth unevenly , which consequently contribute to the enormous growth of slums such as Alexandra. (Bonner Nieftagodien,2008 ; UN-HABIT,2007) The United Nations Human Settlements Programme(2006) specifies a slum to be an area or suburb to be deprived of access to safe water; unsecure residential status, inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing and overcrowding. That is, if anyone of these defining characteristics are found in an area, that area is to be classified as a slum. Alexandra status in relation to these characteristics will be discussed below. Water and sanitation are key factors in the elevation of Alexandra from slum status. The ever increasing population growth within Alexandra, has overloaded the infrastructure to a point where water pressures are too low and sewers frequently over flow. In the areas with the highest density of informal settlements within Alexandra, water is collected by navigating dangerous paths between closely spaced shacks and collecting it from overloaded taps. These water taps do not have adequate drainage, consequently water is left to flow between shacks. Moreover, pools of stagnant water form. According to United Nations Environment Programme(2000) these stagnant water pools are ideal breeding habitats for disease vectors such as mosquitoes. Because of this apparent lack of drainage systems below the informal settlements of Alexandra, people tend to disperse of waste water into these waterways that flow between the shacks, causing ill smelling odours to settle and give way for water borne dise ases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and parasitic worms to thrive.( United Nations Environment Programme,2000 ) Sanitation services play important role in healthy environment especially in areas like Alexandra which are defined as slums. According to Barnes et al,(1999,p13) census data, 81% of the households in Alexandra have access to aflush or chemical toilet, 1% of households use pit latrines and approximately 15% use the ÃÆ' ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½bucket latrineÃÆ' ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ system. The informal homes of Alexandra are not connected to the formal waterborne sewerage system, thus chemical portable toilets service residents. These portable toilets are usually located next to streets on the outskirts of the informal settlements or shacks. These toilets are located in this way because there are no access roads nor space between the informal housing for municipal services to collect sewerage waste from these toilets. As a result residents have to navigate dangerous pathways to get to these sanitation services. Mirriam a person who currently lives (guide) explains that as these passages become dangerous to navigate at night, thus people tend to desiccate into bags and discard them into these narrow passageways, which attributes to countless diseases and the appalling stench in the area. The lack of access also inhibits waste collection services to collect waste between the shacks, resulting in poor waste removal services in the area. Because of this, the overall area is contaminated by waste lying around, furthermore the lack of waste collection attracts disease infested vermin and animals, worsening health conditions within the slum The congestion and overcrowding in Alexandra act as a catalysts to all problems found in the area. Overloading in informal settlements, hostels and along the banks of the Jukskei river make living conditions stressful, unhealthy and dangerous. The unplanned nature and the overpopulated ground usage, has forced some settlers to build informal housing below the flood line of the Jukskei River and in some instances on unsafe slopes. According to United Nations Environment Programme(2000) during January 2000, unusually heavy rains precipitated and 120 informal households were washed away. In addition to over usage, structures have been built over previously installed sewer lines and manholes that make access for maintenance a tedious endeavour. Moreover, the overall high density of the informal settlements cause amplify the spreading of disorder like fires and diseases. Recent news reports that a devastating fire on 2 May 2011, killed three people and left 5000 people destitute living in Masiphumelele township, civil organisation in the informal settlement accuse the high density of settlement and lack of access roads to be responsible for the sheer scale of devastation within the township. (Alexandra renewal project,2006 ; Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement,2001 ; Eye Witness News,2011) The Childrens charter of S.A. , according to New Africa Education(2004) states that all children have a right to a safe environment and the right to recreational facilities so that children can be children. Alexandra is home to thousands of families, the Alexandra Renewal project (2006b) observes that over 120 000 children ranging from ages 2-18 years live in Alexandra. The slum conditions in Alexandra hinder children to develop into skilled professionals. That is, the over utilisation of the space available causes children to have nowhere to play and consequently compel them turn to dangerous streets to occupy themselves. For some of the children who live on the opposing side of the Jukskei river, going to school comprises of having to wade through the Jukskei r river as bridges crossing the river are too far away. Some of the valiant students cross the river by walking across a pipeline that spans the river, this perceptibly is a dangerous feat and place children in unnecessary dan ger. Alexandra has access to electricity, but many illegal connections exist, these electrical connections pose another threat to children as substations are insecure and present a considerable danger to children with easy access available. These connections also give way to many fire hazardous in Alexandra. All aspects mentioned clearly classify Alexandra as a slum in accordance to the defining characteristics specified earlier. It was seen that Alex illustrates lack of access to water and sanitation, consists of non durable housing built on dangerous areas where insecure tenure is definite and that overpopulation gives way to insufficient living areas and dangers to children. Furthermore this in depth look at the situation in Alexandra emphasizes the dire need of a new age of renewal, hope and upliftment in this area. When reviewing the purpose of this paper it dictates that some form of solution to the uplift Alexandra from slum status imposed by the civil engineering will be addressed. Consequently these aspects will be argued below. Investments in civil engineering projects can substantially increase living standards within Alexandra. The Alexandra Renewal Project(ARP) is one of eight projects that form part of S.A. Integrated Sustainable Rural Development and Urban Renewal Programme, enforced by President Mbeki in 2001. This programme is an approach to address urbanisation and housing challenges in S.A. According to Alexandra Renewal project (2001) the budget in 2001 for the ARP was estimated to be R1.7 billion over seven years. The Alexandra Renewal Project includes extensive use of civil engineering skills to promote the Alexandra from slum status. Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement (2001) points out that improvements in sanitation and water services can be identified as imperative to the elevation of Alexandra. This could be achieved by firstly overcoming the general overloading of the sewerage system. By investigation it was found that civil engineers can construct new interceptor sewers which will connect to a new outgoing sewer carrying sewerage off to the bulk sewerage system. According to Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement (2001) if such a system would be in place, it could provide adequate services to slum dwellers. The location and alignment of these new sewers is vital because for such a system to run adequately, there has to be access to manholes and pipes to provide maintenance services. Consequently this would mean improving the alignment of informal houses. Moreover, the construction of ablution blocks on the side of streets, instead of the portable chemical toilets, would therefore mean the elimina tion of poor level of service and high maintenance costs of chemical portable toilets. The ARP included the upgrading of the outfall sewers in Alexandra between 2001 and 2004. The rehabilitation of water systems is closely linked to the treatment of the sewerage system, as it would be easier to install improved water lines in junction with sewerage. The civil engineers attended to the low water pressures by upgrading water mains and by the construction of a new water reservoir, this formed part of the ARP. (Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement,2001 ; Alexandra Renewal project,2010 ) The improvement of building infrastructure can transform Alexandra into a thriving urban area. Civil engineers can contribute by installing building infrastructure in a planned way, this includes the realignment of properties into small narrow stands. Which therefore results in the decrease in high densities of land usage and improves accessibility into Alexandra. Improved accessibility promotes better living conditions, as waste services are able to move between housing. Building infrastructure in the ARP included the construction of many buildings which act to improve social and economic status of the people living in Alexandra. These buildings includes construction and improvement of police stations, people centres, 1400 housing units, 350 social housing units, Alexandra transit village and Marlboro transit village upgrade. These building improvements give owners a secure tenure which in turn spur them to maintain and invest in these building. The installation of this infrastructu re give place to economic behaviour to form and to forester a spirit of entrepreneurship within Alexandra, as small business and educational services arise. The ARP included centres which is called clusters where slum dwellers are able to attain marketable skills such as care worker skills, tourism skills and construction skills.( Alexandra Renewal project,2010 ) Social end economical benefits do not only come in the form of new buildings but also includes the improvement of road and overall infrastructure. This includes the construction of recreational parks and sport fields, upgrading of roads, widening of London bridge, construction of a pedestrian bridge across the Jukskei river and the improvement of storm water drainage. These improvements influence the social and economic aspects of Alexandra. The improvement of roads give Alexandra access to business markets outside of Alexandra, the pedestrian bridge relieve children from the dangers of crossing the Jukskei river and parks and sports fields remove people from a sense of squalor.( Alexandra Renewal project,2010 ) To conclude, this essay depicts the situation found in Alexandra, an area defined as a slum. It was found that slums mainly exist due to rapid rural to urban migration, high levels of inequality and globalization. Moreover, slums where defined by the lack of the access to water, sanitation, durable housing, secure tenure and sufficient living areas. It was then illustrated that Alexandra can be characterised as a slum, because of its poor quality of water and sanitation services. Furthermore congestion proved to act as a catalyst to other problems such as unsafe tenure and spreading of diseases . Also, dangerous aspects such as illegal electrical connections and inadequate lack of infrastructure was illustrated.

George Sugarman a sculpture :: Essays Papers

George Sugarman a sculpture Best known today for his public art, George Sugarman began his career with formally eccentric painted-wood sculptures. In a revelatory New York exhibition, early pieces were shown alongside the 86-year-old artist's more recent aluminum work. In the course of 1998, there were a number of important sculpture exhibitions in New York galleries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art's Tony Smith retrospective, Dia's presentation of Richard Serra's Torqued Ellipses, and a group of David Smith's late painted-steel works at Gagosian Gallery. For me, however, the most impressive and thought-provoking sculpture show of the year was a concise survey of George Sugarman's work presented by Hunter College at the galleries in its Fine Arts Building on Manhattan's West 41st Street. Bringing together 16 sculptures made between 1958 and 1995, the exhibition allowed viewers to trace Sugarman's career from his carved-wood works of the late 1950s to his polychrome, laminated-wood pieces of the 1960s to the painted-aluminum work that has occupied him since the early 1970s. While the show did not cover Sugarman's extensive activity in the public-art realm--over the last 30 years he has created large-scale public sculptures throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe and Asia--it was an effective presentation of his "indoor" work. (Sugarman has drawn a useful distinction between what he calls the "indoor eye," a museum- and gallery-oriented esthetic vision which perceives the work of art in isolation from its surroundings, and the "outdoor eye," which allows us to view public art as part of a wider environment.) Thanks to the presence of major, rarely seen works such as Two in One (1966) and Ten (1968), the show was a welcome reminder of Sugarman's unique and indispensable contribution to postwar sculpture. One of the earliest works on view was Six Forms in Pine (1959), a carved-wood sculpture which brought Sugarman his first major recognition when it won a prize at the 1961 Carnegie International. Among the last of his unpainted works, it's a nearly 12-foot long, smoothly flowing concatenation of horizontal abstract forms that rests on two pedestals set several feet apart. Rippling patterns of chisel marks are visible across every surface as are the strata of the laminated wood. The forms, which range from gently swelling, landscape-like shapes to more sharply defined volumes that evoke architecture or hand tools, are clearly differentiated within the continuous overall structure. While the carving technique and biomorphism relate Six Forms in Pine to established sculptural styles of the 1950s, the sculpture also possesses properties which presage Sugarman's innovative work of the next decade.

Literature: Harlem Renaissance and New Negro

Climax: George's mother confronts Death's belief that it was k to send her love to kill other people's loved ones and did not expect George to die. In doing this she forces Edited to leave her romantic notion of war and see the reality of war. * In the end she forgets and leaves the reality of life and returns to the ideal (Romanticism). Desires baby: * Racism * When a baby is three months old the baby's true skin color comes into view. Vernacular: French * El blanches, black slaves, but it meaner the whites.Desire has no known background * Desire could have been white * Race and color do not have a connection. * Armband says that Desire is not white. * Finds a letter from his mother when he is burning Desires letters reveals that his mother was black. 6/10/13 Naturalism: Spanish-American war: 1890 * The letter * Naturalism: without the human mask of morality and humanity, we are brute beasts, living in an indifferent world. * He lives in a determinist world * Steven Grain was writin g at the end of the 18th century so he is a naturalist * Three college students after the age of literature called realism * Charles Darwin:Theory of Evolution * Survival of the fittest * Realists acknowledge God in that it is our Job to help others live a more ethical life. * Romanticism: believes in God as the creator of all and we are made in his image. * Darwin, challenges these viewpoints. * He looks at man as the sum of changes that they must make in order to survive in their changing environment. * A battle between those who have and those who have not. * A battle against the cold, unfeeling, power of nature. Karl Marx * He took the fundamental aspects of Darning's theory to propose the philosophy of Class antagonism.The battle between the classes for the resources needed for life and advancement. * Naturalism is the idea that all life is about money and that some living to be a doctor and other are destined to be the nurse. * As long as there is plenty to go around we are ni ce to each other. * When there is scarcity we become vicious dogs fighting for survival. * The animal in all humans will come out in situation of life or death. Sigmund Freud: the father of psychology * Our tendency is to want to be the leader. * We will do whatever it takes to acquire wealth and resources.

Health risks of Aspartame Essays

Health risks of Aspartame Essays Health risks of Aspartame Paper Health risks of Aspartame Paper Aspartame is a sweetening agent (that is utilized in several food products) and contains very low amount of calories.   It has been utilized in a variety of foods, beverages and products available in the market.   It could also be utilized in the market as an agent during cooking, baking and on the table. Aspartame is commercially available for more than 25 years (ADA, 2006).   The degree of sweetness provided by aspartame is 180 to 220 times greater than that provided by sugar (MgGee, 2005) Rather than being composed of carbohydrates, aspartame is composed of two amino acids, namely, aspartic acid and phenylalanine (which form the building blocks of proteins). These amino acids are present in several proteineous foods such as meats, dairy products.   When an individual consumes aspartame, it is broken down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and small amounts of methanol (which is a hazardous form of alcohol).   These components rather than accumulating in the body are absorbed into the blood and are utilized during metabolism to maintain several functions of the body. They may be utilized by the body for several reasons including those for which aspartic acid and phenylalanine is naturally obtained from the diet (such as meats, fruits, milk, etc).   Some food may produce larger amounts of aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol compared to aspartame.   For example, low-fat milk will produce greater amount of phenylalanine and aspartic acid compared to aspartame.   Methanol on the other hand is 6 times higher when tomato juice is consumed, compared to aspartame (AIC, 2006). Some of the food in which aspartame is utilized routinely include sodas, gelatins, puddings, desserts, cocoa drinks, breath fresheners, gum, etc.   Most of the products that contain aspartame have it mentioned on the ingredient label (ADA, 2006). Nowadays, the use of aspartame in food products has become a trend due to the fact that people are becoming more health conscious.   The increased incidence of diabetes mellitus in the population has also prompted for a rise in the usage of aspartame.   Many consumers are utilizing aspartame to replace sugars and carbohydrates in normal diet.   Health professionals are also advising aspartame in pregnant women to help them eat their favorite food without putting on extra weight. However, this may not be right, because babies present in the womb require the right quantity of calories and other nutrients for proper growth and development.   Even during breastfeeding, the nursing mother should ensure that she receives the exact amount of calories and other nutrients by consuming natural sweeteners, rather than the artificial ones (ADA, 2006). Some people may have a rare genetic disorder known as ‘phenylketonuria’ in which they are unable to breakdown and utilize phenylalanine present in the diet.   Such individuals may have to modify the diet by consuming lower amounts of products containing phenylalanine.   Such individuals should also avoid aspartame, as it may be injurious to their health (ADA, 2006). These individuals do not have an enzyme that transform phenylalanine into tyrosine.   Hence, in such individuals, the levels of phenylalanine would accumulate in the CNS, causing a variety of neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Usually, the parents of phenylketonurics are carriers of the disease (may not actually suffer from the disease, but can genetically carry the defective gene which could express the disease in their offsprings).   The number of carriers of phyenylketouric is about 4 to 20 million.   These individuals are also at a high risk of suffering from the toxic effects of the sweetener (Schachter, 1996). Recent and earlier studies have demonstrated that aspartame may be very harmful to certain patients as they may induce seizures.   Studies that had been performed in 1987 have demonstrated that certain individuals after consuming aspartame developed seizures (especially the grand-mal type).   The seizures tend to reduce once the individual stopped consumption of the sweetening agents.   However, only some individuals may be at a risk of developing seizures following aspartame consumption. Another incident regarding aspartame occurred when a nursing mother who consumed an aspartame containing gum, had her baby develop grand mal seizures (Veracity, 2005).   Researchers feel that a link between aspartame and the development of seizures has been identified.   Once aspartame is consumed by the body, it is broken down into phenylalanine and aspartic acid. These amino acids would then cross the blood-brain barrier and would directly affects the functioning of the CNS (Brain).   Although, phenylalanine is present in a natural diet, it may not be present in combination with aspartic acid.   Researchers feel that the combination of both these amino acids can potentially cause a lot of health hazards.   The exact mechanism of how the component/s of aspartame induce seizures is not identified. Some scientists feel that phenylalanine works by reducing the threshold for convulsions to develop, whereas others feel that the combination of phenylalanine and aspartic acid works by inducing seizures (Veracity, 2005).   Many people feel that aspartame works like a neurotoxin in the brain, by over-stimulating the cells present in the brain (Veracity, 2005).   In naturally occurring foods, phenylalanine and aspartic acid are present as amino acids in long-chains, associated with other amino acids. These chains may take long time to be broken down by the body and be utilized for several metabolic processes.   Hence, they do not readily enter the CNS (compared to when aspartame is consumed).   They may take longer than 12 hours to be digested (321 Recipes, 1996).

USS North Carolina (BB-55) in World War II

USS North Carolina (BB-55) in World War II USS North Carolina (BB-55) was the lead ship of the North Carolina-class of battleships. The first new design constructed by the US Navy since the early 1920s, the North Carolina-class incorporated a variety of new technologies and design approaches.   Entering service in 1941, North Carolina saw extensive service in the Pacific during World War II and took part in nearly all of the major Allied campaigns. This saw it earn 15 battles stars, the most won by any American battleship. Retired in 1947, North Carolina was taken to Wilmington, NC in 1961 and opened as a museum ship the following year.   Treaty Limitations The story of the North Carolina-class begins with the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) and London Navy Treaty (1930) which limited warship size and total tonnage. As a result of the treaties, the US Navy did not built any new battleships for the most the 1920s and 1930s. In 1935, the General Board of the US Navy began preparations for the design of a new class of modern battleships. Operating under the constraints imposed by the Second London Naval Treaty (1936), which limited total displacement to 35,000 tons and the caliber of guns to 14, designers worked through a multitude of designs to create a new class that combined an effective mix of firepower, speed, and protection. Design and Construction After extensive debate, the General Board recommended design XVI-C which called for a battleship capable of 30 knots and mounting nine 14 guns. This recommendation was overruled by Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson who favored the XVI design which mounted twelve 14 guns but had a maximum speed of 27 knots. The final design of what became the North Carolina-class emerged in 1937 after Japans refusal to agree to the 14 restriction imposed the treaty. This allowed the other signatories to implement the treatys escalator clause which permitted an increase to 16 guns and a maximum displacement of 45,000 tons. As a result, USS North Carolina and its sister, USS Washington, were redesigned with a main battery of nine 16 guns. Supporting this battery were twenty 5 dual purpose guns as well as an initial installation of sixteen 1.1 anti-aircraft guns. In addition, the ships received the new RCA CXAM-1 radar. Designated BB-55, North Carolina was laid down at the New York Naval Shipyard on October 27, 1937. Work progressed on the hull and the battleship slid down the ways on June 3, 1940 with Isabel Hoey, daughter of the Governor of North Carolina, serving as sponsor. USS North Carolina (BB-55) - Overview Nation: United StatesType: BattleshipShipyard: New York Naval ShipyardLaid Down: October 27, 1937Launched: June 13, 1940Commissioned: April 9, 1941Fate: Museum ship at Wilmington, NC Specifications: Displacement: 34,005 tonsLength: 728.8 ft.Beam: 108.3 ft.Draft: 33 ft.Propulsion: 121,000 hp, 4 x General Electric steam turbines, 4 x propellersSpeed: 26 knotsRange: 20,080 miles at 15 knotsComplement: 2,339 men Armament Guns 9 Ãâ€" 16 in.(410 mm)/45 cal. Mark 6 guns (3 x triple turrets)20 Ãâ€" 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal. dual-purpose guns60 x quad 40mm antiaircraft guns46 x single 20mm cannon Aircraft 3 x aircraft Early Service Work on North Carolina ended in early 1941 and the new battleship was commissioned on April 9, 1941 with Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt in command. As the US Navys first new battleship in nearly twenty years, North Carolina quickly became a center of attention and earned the enduring nickname Showboat. Through the summer of 1941, the ship conducted shakedown and training exercises in the Atlantic. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II, North Carolina prepared to sail for the Pacific. The US Navy soon delayed this movement as there was concern that the German battleship Tirpitz might emerge to attack Allied convoys. Finally released to the US Pacific Fleet, North Carolina passed through the Panama Canal in early June, just days after the Allied triumph at Midway. Arriving at Pearl Harbor after stops at San Pedro and San Francisco, the battleship began preparations for combat in the South Pacific. South Pacific Departing Pearl Harbor on July 15 as part of a task force centered on the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) North Carolina steamed for the Solomon Islands. There it supported the landing of US Marines on Guadalcanal on August 7. Later in the month, North Carolina provided anti-aircraft support for the American carriers during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. As Enterprise sustained significant damage in the fighting, the battleship began serving as an escort for USS Saratoga (CV-3) and then USS Wasp (CV-7) and USS Hornet (CV-8). On September 15, the Japanese submarine I-19 attacked the task force. Firing a spread of torpedoes, it sunk Wasp and the destroyer USS OBrien as well as damaged North Carolinas bow. Though the torpedo opened a large hole on the ships port side, the ships damage control parties quickly dealt with the situation and averted a crisis. Arriving at New Caledonia, North Carolina received temporary repairs before departing for Pearl Harbor. There, the battleship entered drydock to fix the hull and its anti-aircraft armament was enhanced. Tarawa Returning to service after a month in the yard, North Carolina spent much of 1943 screening American carriers in the vicinity of the Solomons. This period also saw the ship receive new radar and fire control equipment. On November 10, North Carolina sailed from Pearl Harbor with Enterprise as part of the Northern Covering Force for operations in the Gilbert Islands. In this role, the battleship provided support for Allied forces during the Battle of Tarawa. After bombarding Nauru in early December, North Carolina screened USS Bunker Hill (CV-17)when its aircraft attacked New Ireland. In January 1944, the battleship joined Rear Admiral Marc Mitschers Task Force 58. Island Hopping Covering Mitschers carriers, North Carolina also provided fire support for troops during the Battle of Kwajalein in late January. The following month, it protected the carriers as they mounted raids against Truk and the Marianas. North Carolina continued in this capacity for much of the spring until returning to Pearl Harbor for repairs on its rudder. Emerging in May, it rendezvoused with American forces at Majuro before sailing for the Marianas as part of Enterprises task force. Taking part in the Battle of Saipan in mid-June, North Carolina struck a variety of targets ashore. Upon learning that the Japanese fleet was approaching, the battleship departed the islands and protected American carriers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19-20. Remaining in the area until the end of the month, North Carolina then departed for the Puget Sound Navy Yard for a major overhaul. Finished in late October, North Carolina rejoined Admiral William Bull Halseys Task Force 38 at Ulithi on November 7. Final Battles Shortly thereafter, it endured a severe period at sea as TF38 sailed through Typhoon Cobra. Surviving the storm, North Carolina supported operations against Japanese targets in the Philippines as well as screened raids against Formosa, Indochina, and the Ryukyus. After escorting carriers on a raid on Honshu in February 1945, North Carolina turned south to provided fire support for Allied forces during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Shifting west in April, the ship fulfilled a similar role during the Battle of Okinawa. In addition to striking targets ashore, North Carolinas anti-aircraft guns aided in dealing with the Japanese kamikaze threat. Later Service Retirement After a brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor in late spring, North Carolina returned to Japanese waters where it protected carriers conducting airstrikes inland as well as bombarded industrial targets along the coast. With the surrender of Japan on August 15, the battleship sent part of its crew and Marine Detachment ashore for preliminary occupation duty. Anchoring in Tokyo Bay on September 5, it embarked these men before departing for Boston. Passing through the Panama Canal on October 8, it reached its destination nine days later. With the end of the war, North Carolina underwent a refit at New York and began peacetime operations in the Atlantic. In the summer of 1946, it hosted the US Naval Academys summer training cruise in the Caribbean. Decommissioned on June 27, 1947, North Carolina remained on the Navy List until June 1, 1960. The following year, the US Navy transferred the battleship to the State of North Carolina for a price of $330,000. These funds were largely raised by the states school children and the ship was towed to Wilmington, NC. Work soon began to convert the ship into a museum and North Carolina was dedicated as a memorial to the states World War II veteran in April 1962.

Analyse and explain different types of equality by referring to the Essay

Analyse and explain different types of equality by referring to the debates on them - Essay Example In connection to the above, it is critical to understand that the issue of absolute equality cannot always be realized in its absolute totality. This follows the differences that are always inherent in the human beings. For instance, the capabilities of individuals are not commensurate. This means that some individuals may be capable of other things whereas their fellow counterparts may not be capable of the same things the others can do. In this respect, the issue of absolute equality can be considerably compromised (Hollander, 2014). In relation to the above, it is of critical significance to acknowledge the fact that when it comes to rewards, the people who may have succeeded in performing certain tasks may get rewarded in proportions that outdo those of the other fellows who may have also vested their efforts in doing the same thing, but have failed to succeed. In this manner, the notion that all of them are rewarded for their vested efforts is a clear representation of practice of equality (Hollander, 2011). This is evident concerning the fact that those who partook the task have all been rewarded. However, the issue of absolute equality may not apply in such a situation. This follows that those who may have succeeded in performing the tasks assigned may get more rewards as compared to the ones who may have failed to execute their best in the same tasks. As such, it is important to note that the latter proves th at equality does not necessarily refer to total or absolute equality. In this respect, it is of crucial significance to understand the real meaning of the term equality. Relevant to the above, it is of critical significance to note that equality may mean the absence of all unnatural, as well as, unjust inequalities (Hands, 2015). Unjust inequalities may always take two different forms. Some of the forms of unjust inequalities may comprise of

Divorce Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Divorce - Research Paper Example If marriage has legal and religious dimensions, staying together has no such attributes so that the partners in such relationships can break their relationship at any time. â€Å"A divorce can feel like a big storm. Before the storm, the air may be filled with tension† (Winchester & Beyer, 2001, p.30). It should be noted that problems may arise in family life from various corners. It may be because of the different views kept by the partners about their life. For example, it is quite possible that a husband take shelter in alcoholism, drug addiction or extra marital affairs to enjoy his life. On the hand, his wife may not accept these behaviours. She could be a highly religious person who has faith and belief in God. So their family life may not continue in a good manner. Different life philosophies of these persons may fight with each other and these fights may ultimately end up in a divorce. â€Å"According to the 2007 statistics, divorce rate in America is 54.8%, second on ly to Sweden. In countries like India divorce rate is as low as 1.1% only† (Divorce Rates of the World, 2007). During the 1980s, the divorce rate in the US reached its peak. 50% of the marriages terminated in divorce. The reasons cited for this upheaval are: Increase in the earning potential of women; the concept of divorce found more acceptances; an enhancement in the pursuit of joy, i.e. the possibility to locate a better partner and the presence of no fault laws (History of Divorce in America, n. d.). It is difficult to cite a single reason for increasing divorce rates in America. Plenty of reasons were cited for the increased rates of divorce in America. This paper analyses the major reasons for divorce and its consequences. Effect of divorce upon family and children With more than 30 years of research, we now know divorce seldom leads to a better life. Consider that: Life expectancies for divorced men and women are significantly lower than for married people (who have the longest life expectancies). A recent study found those who were unhappy but stay married were more likely to be happy five years later than those who divorced. The health consequences of divorce are so severe that a Yale researcher concluded that â€Å"being divorced and a non-smoker is [only] slightly less dangerous than smoking a pack a day and staying married.† After a diagnosis of cancer, married people are most likely to recover, while the divorced are least likely to recover, indicating that the emotional trauma of divorce has a long-term impact on the physical health of the body. Men and women both suffer a decline in mental health following divorce, but researchers have found that women are more greatly affected. Some of the mental health indicators affected by divorce include depression, hostility, self-acceptance, personal growth and positive relations with others (Desai, 2009). Divorce puts people, both the husband and the wife, under a lot of stress† (McGre gor, 2001, p.87). Many people have the false belief that a divorce may be the only solution to come out from a strained relationship. They may think that the life after divorce could be better than that before divorce. But in many cases, it is not true. The new partner may often present more horrible experiences and the person may face lot of emotional problems in that life also. The

Compensation Plan Outline Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Compensation Plan Outline - Assignment Example Thus, in return, the company developed a strategic compensation and remuneration plan, in which the company seeks to compensate its workers accordingly for the services delivered (Aguinis, 2009). Safaricom entails a strategic compensation approach towards its employees, translating into high motivation and employee retention rates. The current compensation plan entails a pragmatic approach in which the company focuses on the features of the qualification of employees accordingly in facilitating their salaries and related benefits. The company focuses on the areas of the skills of the employees and their individual contribution to the accomplishments of the company in rewarding the efforts thereof of the employees. In practical definition, the company rewards and allocates the compensation based on the current market situation and the service the workers deliver to the company operations (Aguinis, 2009). Further, the company also entails remarkably incredible platform of offering incentives to its workers, to foster the employee motivation accordingly. The company has incentives such as promotional offers to the employees for goods and services from the company as rewards for the services they deliver to the company. Further, the company also offers credible salaries to the employees, as exemplified by the recent reports in which the company released its statistics, regarding their employee remuneration expenditure, as the report indicates. The company spend about Kenyan shillings 8.4 billion on salaries and benefits to its employees, in the year that finished in March 2013 (The Vodacom Group, 2014). Of this budget, more than 5.1 billion shillings went to wages and salaries while about 95 million shillings went to the allocation for employee grants option plan. The directors of the company got about 387.7 million in remuneration, which is higher than the previous allocation, while the rest was for the other staff. Similarly, the company,

Planning To Meet Customer Requirements Essay Example for Free

Planning To Meet Customer Requirements Essay 1(a)This assignment is based on organization called the Better business bureau located in North America. The fundamental aim of this organization is to ensure that business men achieve high standards and maintain them. The vision of the organization is an ethical market place where buyers and sellers can trust each other. The mission of the better bureau is to be the leader in advancing market place trust. The better business bureau is able to accomplish its mission by ensuring   that it works in a community of trustworthy businesses since the main aim of the business is to train its members on how to maintain their business ,hence it is easy to motivate business men to be trustworthy to each other. To accomplish its mission the better business bureau has set standards for market place trust. The main objective of the better business bureau is to setting up good standards in the market that promote trust. To fulfill its mission the better business bureau encourages and supports best practices. As being a good role model in the market place the better business bureau is main target is encouraging and supporting practices among businessmen. (b). one of the main objective of the business is celebrating market place role models. As a mentor that is encouraging good business practices the better business bureau acts as a good role model among business men. Another other main important objective for the better business bureau is denouncing substandard market place behavior. The organization is against bad business behaviors and untrustworthy business men practices. (c). Denouncing substandard market place behaviors has encouraged the organization to work closely with its members. Through the internet the better business bureau is always in contact with its customers thus encouraging good business behaviors among them. To ensure that high standards are set and maintained the better business bureau offer affordable education to all its members. The better business bureau also promotes the standards set by its members. To celebrate market place role model has been achieved by the better business bureau because the organization accepts only competent business to its system. Any qualified businesses do not qualify to becoming members of the organization. 2.(a) Stake holders The better business bureau has got many employees, customers and shareholders. The main stakeholders for the better business bureau are businessmen. i. Customers: The main customers for the better business bureau are businessmen. The better business bureau is an international organization for 133 better business bureaus across North America. The better business bureau has got 380, 000 business members that range in size from local enterprises to multinational corporations.   The better business bureau offers many services to its customers, like the better business bureau military line. This is mainly designed to meeting specific consumer needs of military personnel. The organization also has an international students ethic award where scholarships are offered to competent students.   ii. a).Employees: the better business bureau has got many employees. The main ones are accountants, managers, web designers, clerks, and the junior staff. The accountants are mainly involved in maintaining and ensuring that the better business bureau offers its services to standard, they oversee the day performance of the business. Also the web designers have been working hard in ensuring that the organization is well networked, with it business members by developing and ensuring that updated computer programmes have been designed that meet the requirements of the company. b) The employees of the better business bureau ensure the smooth running of its operations. For example the web designers ensure that the business is well networked with all its customers globally. The accountants of the better business bureau ensure that its records are well maintained and updated. The accounts also regularly countercheck the performance of the business members of the organization.   The customers of the better business bureau determine its performance. When many businesses join the bureau its performance improves. Quality: The quality of a product is the degree of the production perfection. Every product has to be manufactured to a particular specification regarding dimension, surface finish and hardness. Quality services: means offering of services that meet and fulfill the requirements of the customers. Quality management: This is a system that a company lays down in ensuring that it achieves its objectives. Quality management involves procedures and means involved in measuring and maintaining the quality of products or services offered by a company. c) Quality standards. The better business bureau has set up quality standards that monitor the daily performance of its duties. The better business bureau has been putting some measures like introducing online services that are set towards improving the quality of services the company offers. To promote the quality of services the company offers it has promoted the public trust in advertising. The better business bureau does its advertisement in order to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation.   To improve the quality of services the better business bureau offers it the business has been using online services to report its operations. d) Quality audit. The better business bureau offers quality services to its customers. The better business bureau meets the needs of its customers by enabling its customers to be using an online reporting and evaluation system. Through the internet customers make their requests to the company and they get the necessary feed back through the internet. Only competent and trustworthy businesses are member: The better business bureau encourages quality in its services by registering only qualified businesses as its members. The organization does not encourage illegal business practices among its members. The organization also supports many other good programs. The business offers other community services like scholarships to need students within the community. 4) Information review: To create a healthy, safe and productive working environment some information are essential. First information about a particular company is crucial. To understand its objectives, mission and vision. After understanding the objectives, mission and vision of the company then its possible to create a conducive working environment. To create a conducive working environment there should be a well laid down organizational structure for the company. The employees should understand their duties well. A good relationship should also exist between the junior and senior staff. To create a safe working environment all the employees should understand the necessary safety precautions, they should follow in performing their duties, they should also understand other necessary rules to be followed in performing their duties. For encouraging a productive working environment employees should be well conversant to their work. They should understand all the procedures of performing a specific task. b) The guidance that is in our work place that creates a healthy, safe and productive work environment is through regular training of employees. The better business bureau offers regular training to its employees on how to, have a heath work environment by encouraging employees to co-ordinate and network among themselves in ensuring that the required standards of working are achieved at the work place. The organization promotes a save working environment by encouraging its employees to observe safely measures like how to control emergence situation like fire in case of an emergence. The company also encourages a productive working environment by training its employees adequately. The better business bureau has trained its employees to be at a better position of offering recommended services to its customers. Training: The better business bureau trains its business managers on how to encourage many businesses to join the organization. The business managers are taught on how to face business men and how to promote good business practices in their businesses. For the better business bureau to create a healthy and productive environment among its members it usually monitors on their performance. Only businesses with performance, that is according to the required standards that the better business bureau serves. Risk analysis: (i)Political situations:- The political situation of America and other countries can affect the smooth running of the better business bureau. The political situation of countries that have member businesses registered with the better business bureau affect the smooth running of the organization. (ii)Exchange rates:-Due to high prices of oil and food, the global economy is performing poorly thus affecting the strength of the dollar particularly to poor countries. Thus the better business bureau being an international organization will be greatly affected. Potential business: -It becomes difficulty for the better business bureau to determine genuine businesses. Since the better business bureau deals only with competent business it becomes difficulty to know the trustworthy once. iv. Facing competition: the better business bureau faces competition from other international organization. Hence it is likely to lose some of its potential customers.

The Reapers Image :: essays research papers

The Reaper's Image   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This story is about two men who were transporting an antique mirrow from the first floor of an old museum to the fifth. Their names were Spangler and Carlin. This mirror had a history of being haunted, and some people would look into the mirror and see a hooded figure standing behind them. This figure was presumed to be Death, and whenever someone would see this figure they were never seen again. Carlin spends the whole story trying to convice Spangler that this is really true, but Spangler just calls Carlin crazy. Finally, near the end of the story, Spangler looks in the mirror and sees a dark inperfection in the corner, which he mistakes for friction tape. When Carlin tells him that there is no friction tape on the mirror, Spangler becomes sick and leaves for the bathroom. The story ends with Carlin waiting for Spangler to return.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I thought that this story was very good, because it started off really slow and worked it's way into a really interesting plot. I liked the end because it never really finished, it left the ending up to the reader. This seems to be a common theme in a lot of Stephen King's stories. He likes to leave the reader in suspense, and keep them wondering. Here There Be Tygers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This story is about a little boy named Charles who is in elementary school. He has to go to the bathrrom really bad, but he is afraid to ask because the teacher does not like him. Finally the teacher sees him squirming and asks him if he needs to use the restroom. He says yes and is very embarassed in front of the class, so he leaves quickly. When he steps into the bathroom, he sees a tiger lying in the corner, and it looks hungry. He goes back outside and sits there for a while wondering what he should do. His friend Kenny finally comes up to him because his teacher noticed that he was gone a long time. Charles tells him that there is a tiger in the bathroom, but Kenny does not believe him. Kenny goes into the bathroom and does not come back out. Then even later, his teacher comes and starts yelling at him. She goes into the bathroom and she doesn't come back out either. The story ends with Charles coming back to class and reading a story about a rodeo.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is another story that ends really abruptly. It was strange because after knowing that his friend and his teacher were both killed by a tiger, he

Demonstrating the Virtues of the Just Life Essay -- Essays Papers

Demonstrating the Virtues of the Just Life The character of Socrates in Plato’s Republic is a curious one. Socrates is rarely satisfied with widely or casually accepted statements, and is fearless in taking on enormous topics for debate. One such topic that Socrates tackles early and often in the Republic is that of justice and the just life. It takes little time for Socrates to begin an attempt at demonstrating to two of his friends, Glaucon and Adeimantus, that in fact it pays to be just. After much debate and even the creation of a fictional city, a resolution of some kind is reached. Socrates does succeed in convincing his opposition that it pays to be just, however he does not demonstrate said fact. The difference is subtle, but profound. The debate begins when Glaucon makes the powerful claim that, â€Å"the life of the unjust man is, after all, far better than that of the just man† (Plato, Republic[1], 358c[2]). He and Adeimantus beg Socrates to respond, and in response Socrates decides that to consider justice in a man, it would be easier to consider justice in something larger, namely a city. He begins the creation of a fictional city with the necessities of the citizens, and then the responsibilities each citizen has to the city, namely, to inhabit the profession that one is best at. To protect the city, its citizens, and its land, a class of â€Å"guardians† is to be created. This leads to the discussion of education, and finally to the third class of the population, the wise rulers. Socrates has created a three-tiered city that he claims is just. Once the city has been completed and it is inspected, Socrates declares that the definition of justice that they have been search... ...y saying that, â€Å"isn’t to produce justice to establish the parts of the soul in a relation of mastering, and being mastered by, one another that is according to nature, while to produce injustice is to establish a relation of ruling, and being ruled by, one another that is contrary to nature?† (444d). Isn’t it better to lead a just life if doing so prevents internal chaos and maintains order in the soul? It seems that answer is yes, but the question rests on a fallacy. The connection between injustice in a city as chaos among the classes, and injustice in a man as chaos in the soul has never been sufficiently shown. Socrates has failed his demonstration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Plato. Republic. Trans. Allan Bloom. Basic Books, 1968. [2] Stephanus numbers and letters used to cite all works of Plato.

Assess The Relationship Between Crime, Poverty And Social Protest In The Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Centuries

America had rebelled and after a successful war become independent; and war with France, which had experienced internal revolution that caused serious concern to the British ruling classes, lasted until 1815. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801 (Evans 2002, 3). In 1700, with a population of approximately 5 million in England, perhaps 80% of the population lived in the countryside, with some 90% in agriculture or related employment whereas by 1801 the population had risen to 8. million and by 1851 to nearly 18 million with only 22% employed in agriculture (Porter 1990, 11, 207; Gardiner & Wenborne 1995, 610; Timmins 2005). The transformation of society through changes in agriculture and industrialisation led inevitably to the creation of new economic relationships and identities within society and to the destruction of old ones. Crime, poverty and social protest were significant factors in these centuries although their relationship is much debated by h istorians. It is certain that their relationship, as well as changing over time, differed by locality, for example heavily urbanised London, whose population had increased to perhaps 700,000 by 1770, will have undergone different experiences to, say, a rural county such as Herefordshire (Shakesheff 2003). Any discussion of the relationship of crime, poverty and social protest must rest on an initial discussion of these terms, in particular the first. Crime is generally understood to indicate acts that contravene the law but this masks the many kinds of accidental and unpremeditated acts, emotional or mental states, deliberate actions and motivations that may come into play (Sharpe 1999, 5). Even within a society there may be disagreements on what constitutes a crime, and the difference between a criminal and non-criminal act may rest on the context of the act. Legislators too may create new crimes while decriminalising other acts. Poverty is perhaps less problematic to define, since it is usually considered with respect to ideas of subsistence and meeting the requirements of physical well-being (Gardiner & Wenborne 1995, 613). Even so, it should be considered as relative to changing expectations and living standards. Social protest may take many forms, such as riots, and can be defined as a social crime (Sharpe 1999, 179). The notion of social crime, developed by Hobsbawm, rests on the differing understandings of crime that may exist between groups and the official position (Sharpe 1999, 176). Social crimes are defined as those that can be said to represent ‘a conscious, almost a political, challenge to the prevailing social and political order and its values' (Sharpe 1999, 176). Thompson has argued for a moral economy which legitimates social crime by placing it in the context of defending traditional customs or rights, where they may differ from the values of those who make the law (Thompson 1991). According to statistical evidence, crime seems to have been at a low at the beginning of the eighteenth century, increasing, at least around London and Surrey, with the increasing population and urbanisation, by 1780 (Sharpe 1995, 6). Short-term bursts of crime seem to have been affected by crop failures and by the demobilisation of the larger armed forces utilised by imperial Britain, especially after 1815. The steepest increase in crime appears to have been in the 1840s (Emsley 1996, 295). The most common kinds of crime in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries appear to have been small opportunistic thefts (Emsley 1996, 293). Crime statistics, however, may give an imprecise impression of crime since many crimes may, for various reasons, never be officially reported. One category where crime, poverty and social protest definitively meet is in the Swing Riots of 1830. England at the beginning of the eighteenth century was a largely agricultural nation with the majority of the population living in rural areas. During the course of that century there were profound changes. The rising population, especially from the mid-eighteenth century, created a surplus of agricultural labourers for whom there was no corresponding rise in rural employment, while migration from rural areas, in terms of the natural increase in population, declined from 100% in 1751 to only 29% in 1831 (Hobsbawm and Rude 1969, 43). Agriculture had, by this time, come to be dominated by a division into landlords, tenant-farmers and hired labourers (Hobsbawm and Rude 1969, 27). Increasing economic rationalisation of agriculture by landlords and tenant-farmers saw further consequent declines in the conditions of the agricultural labourers who, divorced from the land, became reliant on less regular and less well paid employment with worsening conditions. Their situation was exacerbated by the Poor Law which supplemented and thus kept down wages (Hobsbawm and Rude 1969, 45-53). It is argued that this degradation of the agricultural labouring class led to the Swing Riots, which began in 1830, as a reaction to bad harvests in 1829 (Gardiner and Wenborne 1995, 729-30). This social protest was directed mainly at threshing machines, but also included burnings devices designed to further decrease the need of labour on farms. Swing letters included demands for increased wages and Hobsbawm and Rude (1969, 220) concluded that the movement was essentially one of labourers ‘with essentially economic ends'. Machine breaking had taken place in other contexts, notably in the burgeoning industrial sector. Perhaps the most famous of these was the Luddite movement that preceded the Swing Riots. Luddism, like Swing, seems to have been a reaction to poor harvests, increasing food prices, unemployment and wage cuts as well as changing industrial relations (Archer 2000, 49). Opinion on Luddism in its three main areas of northern England differs in terms of the extent to which scholars have identified political motivations as opposed to industrial protest. Like Swing, Luddism focused on anti-machine action in the context of the removal from traditional artisans of their means of livelihood and style of living. Thompson (1991, 352-403) has stressed the effects of changing working patterns with regard to timekeeping and the changes in the synchronisation of labour in an industrial society from the more irregular rhythms that went before. Machine breaking may have been criminal as defined by the law and may have been further encouraged by economic difficulties, nevertheless, it seems indisputable that instances of machine breaking and the wider movements that can be identified fall within the category of social protest and were to some extent linked with poverty or the threat of poverty. Horn (2005) mentions the riots of the Spitalfields silk weavers in 1675, 1719, 1736 and the 1760s, as well as many other instances of machine breaking amongst sawyers and most particularly weavers. This emphasises the tradition of machine breaking, which could be seen as a ‘customary' for of industrial relations stretching back a century (Horn 2005). Certainly in the case of the agricultural labourer in the Swing Riots, wages were a motivating factor (Hobsbawn and Rude 1969 195-96). Between 1780 and the 1830s, wages in East Anglia had gone from being some of the highest to the lowest, since there was a lack of alternatives to agriculture unlike in the northern and industrial regions (Archer 2000, 9). This coupled with rising prices caused massive pauperisation while the Poor Law and local systems of relief could be and were manipulated by farmers to further push down wages in the knowledge that other rate-payers would have to subsidise the poor of the parish (Archer 2000, 10). The shock to the wealthier classes caused by the riots that inevitably broke out was evidently exacerbated by the deferential behaviour traditionally shown to them by the poor, who presumably realised its importance in gaining relief. A lack of humane response on their part, in Archer's words ‘misread deferential behaviour for deferential attitudes' (Archer 2000, 10). The government reaction to riots may reveal something of the elite perception of how valid they were. In their combined actions, the Luddites and Swing had caused only two deaths while at the same time the damage to property was considerable (Horn 2005). Initial waves of Luddism in 1811-12 caused perhaps i100,000 worth of damage to looms and factories. It is this perhaps that explains to some extent the decision of the government to field more troops to crack down on Luddism, some 12,000, in 1812, than were fielded in the Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon in 1808. Frame-breaking became a capital crime and between 1812-17, 36 Luddites were hanged followed later by 19 Swing Rioters. Protest crime formed only a small percentage of prosecution, peaking at 8. % in 1831 and of the number that took part in the riots only a small part ended up in court (Archer 2000, 87). Furthermore, many death sentences were commuted to transportation and many rioters were released without charge. It has also been noted that in comparison to food rioters, protesting the price of grain caused by bad harvests and war, suffered hanging less often (Archer 2000, 28-30, 87). Many have noted the increase in legal concern for property in the eighteenth century e mbodied by the ‘Bloody code' (Sharpe 1995, 8). Between 1660 and 1819, there were 187 capital statutes enacted into the law, mostly concerning property (Hughes 1988, 29). Many of the new Acts explicitly embodied a repressive state and criminalized the poorest labouring classes and were passed in reaction to riots or social unrest (Linebaugh 1991, 16). Notable in this context is the notorious Waltham Black Act, passed in reaction to agrarian riots and unrest in Hampshire, which created over 200 capital offences. Rioters had poached game and fish as well as burning hayricks and threatening landlords (Hughes 1988, 29). The Riot Act of 1715 was designed to combat and disperse meetings and assemblies of 12 or more persons, a seeming precursor of the late twentieth century laws ostensibly to disperse illegal raves. It was a popular tool against collective action by the labouring classes (Linebaugh 1991, 17). Those classes, in particular some 15,000 journeymen tailors, were struck at again by the Combination Act of 1721. This law made it illegal for them to take collective action in order to press for better wages or shorter working hours. This they had done through strike and had suffered imprisonment in return. In principle the Combination Act criminalized the notion of improving working and living conditions and class action and can be noted as the first anti-trade union law (Linebaugh 1991, 17). Despite the rise in capital offences in law, the actual number of hangings declined throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Hughes 1988, 35). There are various reasons for this, such as squeamishness on the part of the judges and the exercise of mercy, especially the Royal Prerogative, although most appeals seem to have been rejected (Gatrell 1994, 200-208). Transportation and imprisonment were increasingly used, the former system supplying labour and, following the American revolution and the use of hulks as prisons, transportation to Australia became a viable option for permanently ridding Britain of its criminals (Hughes 1988, 41-42). This last point is highly relevant in the context of Linebaugh's argument that the poor and the criminal were difficult to distinguish (1991, xxi). Changes in the law undoubtedly led to rising crime, since as has been noted, more offences were created. Some historians, such as Thompson and Linebaugh have seen this as a conflict between custom and law. For example, many workers believed themselves to be customarily entitled to perquisites or allowances related to their employment. In the agricultural sector, the best known of these was gleaning – following the gathering of the harvest, women and children would collect the leftover scattered grain that had been missed (Emsley 1996, 122). This practice supplemented and could even form a major proportion of an agricultural labouring families' diet. Although gleaning was seen as a custom and denial of the right to glean could meet with criticism, it was observed by Arthur Young in 1771 that it was not ‘an imprescribable right' (Emsley 1996, 123). Abuses of gleaning that went to court met with the response that gleaning was not recognised as a legal right, however the farmer's conscience may allow him to permit gleaning. On the other hand, some farmers sought to have gleaning stopped but the case was refused by magistrates (Emsley 1996, 124). Thus gleaning occupied an ambiguous status, the law refused to outlaw it, despite the wishes of certain farmers while refusing to recognise it as a legal right of the labourers. Thompson notes that these customs were quite normally disputed (Thompson 1991, 104). Customs such as gleaning are mirrored in industrial and other work settings. Silk workers and weavers were particularly low earners and owing to the techniques of production, wasteful in resources, which could be appropriated for further use (Linebaugh 1991, 258, 264). A market grew up for cloth waste, which had many uses in producing other items and by the mid-1770s Spitalfields was a major centre of this trade. The law attempted to suppress the trade, but unsuccessfully. However, silk workers, and of them weavers in particular, formed a group whom the law was prone to threatening with hanging (Linebaugh 1991, 258). The production of a ‘Book of Prices' by the Spitalfields weavers and the corporate action by 2000 of them to enforce it in 1763 was a precursor to a 1764 protest march by the weavers petitioning for higher wages and against cheap imports, which saw the state drawing on the military. Poor harvests in the following year upped grain prices and filled workhouses while the silk workforce decreased by 1768 to half its level of six years earlier (Linebaugh 1991, 271). Corporate and direct actions such as those of the silk workers, who were joined by other groups, the Luddites and the Swing Rioters helped to formulate a culture of fear in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As mentioned above, the American war of independence and the French revolution were other causes of fear amongst the ruling classes of those beneath them. Hughes (1988, 25) states that ‘the belief in a swelling wave of crime was one of the great social facts of Georgian England'. It is not difficult to comprehend that for those observing from above, riots, protests and crime committed by the poor were part and parcel of the nature of that class of people and that the reaction would be to staunch such behaviour through the law and the militia. These fears were fed by other factors such as the rise of newspapers publishing reports of crime statistics and vivid stories that reinforced elite views of the poor in society and in turn led to the reification of entrenched moral views that were transposed into laws that tended to further criminalise the poor. Crime, poverty and social protest in the eighteenth and nineteenth century can be seen as linked in the context of the increasing proletarianisation of the workforce and conflict between the wage earning poor and the law making elite. Linebaugh (1991, xxi) observes this as the ‘expropriation of the poor from the means of producing†¦ and the appropriation by the poor of the means of living. Emsley (1996, 295) observes that it seems significant that property crime increased during economic slumps. However, he goes on to suggest that a monocausal link between poverty and crime is too simplistic. He cites other reasons for increasing crime, for example, the growth in wealth and material goods allowed more opportunities for crime and increased temptation and the extension of commerce and business also increased the opportunities for corruption (Emsley 1996, 295). Certainly, not all social unrest can be seen in terms of poverty or the defence of custom. It seems that the strong tradition of this kind of action speaks of attempts to control the means of livelihood as opposed to warding off poverty. However, the reality and threat of widespread poverty in particular areas and spheres of employment must be seen as a strong motivating force in any action. As for crime, it cannot be doubted that much crime was necessitated by poverty. Equally to account this as the only factor would be facile, since it ignores the personal and individual aspects of each crime. It is tempting though to see an increasing concern for goods and materials throughout this period of increasing production and the defence of property in law would seem to follow from that. Hughes comments that the rule of law became the supreme ideology in this period (1988, 29). Increasing economic rationalisation and market capitalism placed workers livelihoods and working traditions in jeopardy and this, coupled with price fluctuations and an increasing population undoubtedly increased crimes of necessity, although it should not be forgotten that while real crime may have increased, the means of measuring crime became more accurate and more actions became criminal. The concern with property perhaps inevitably led to doubts over the legality of customary appropriation, such as gleaning. But while such ‘rights' may have been disputed over centuries, the changing economic and social factors and the rise of the law and legalism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries inevitably led to them taking on a different significance that would have long lasting repercussions in the social relations and perceptions of people in Britain.