The fourth amendment and NYPD Surveillance Essay

The fourth amendment and NYPD Surveillance - Essay Example Surveillance has also included such activities as monitoring websites frequented by Muslim students. A reason used by the NYPD has included permeation of Muslim communities in New York by extremist Muslims. The premise of this paper is to study the various facets of this surveillance, its benefits, and its criticisms and counter criticisms. In addition, this paper also discusses whether NYPD Surveillance has failed to uphold the U.S. constitution, particularly the fourth amendment. Since terrorists attacked New York on September 11th of 2001, the most aggressive intelligence agency, at least domestically, has been the NYPD (Tutt, 2012). The Demographics unit, a secret unit formed by the NYPD, has sent officers in ordinary clothes, mostly of Arab descent, into Muslim populated neighbourhoods to catalogue Muslim congregations in grocery stores, restaurants, travel agencies & also to photograph their places of worship. These officers acted via spying on businesses, eavesdropping on conv ersations, all the while filing reports daily on the various ethnic backgrounds of clientele, owners, and whatever they happened to overhear (Tutt, 2012). This program was based on no criminal activity neither did it stop at the boundaries of New York City. The goal revolved around the complete comprehension of communities professing Islam in New York, as well as around it. Their aim was to identify problematic areas explicitly, while working to prevent any further attacks. Student organizations formed by Muslims were not spared either, including their prayer groups. Names of professors and students were included by the officers in their files, even where no criminal allegations could be defined. Those allies of Islam who had supported mayor Bloomberg in denouncing of terrorism were themselves also victims of this NYPD monitoring (Tutt, 2012). Muslims who changed names to sound more American, or took on names that sounded more Arabic, were catalogued in the secret police files. Lice nse plate numbers at mosques were photographed and recorded, with their occupants pictured and filmed as they arrived for worship. Inside the mosques, undercover officials and informants aided the police in building files on sermons, even those that were irrelevant and innocuous (Tutt, 2012). The surveillance was kept under wraps for a long while, aided in no small part by the secrecy surrounding the unit. This secrecy was crucial for the uninterrupted work carried out by the NYPD. The â€Å"scandal† only came to light through the exposes printed by the associated press, which shocked the Muslim community, not only in New York, but also around the country & the world. There was an outpouring of anger, with hundreds of protesters gathering outside Fordham Law School to protest a speech by the commissioner of police, Raymond Kelly, where he was defending the controversial operation (Press, A, 2012). Numerous articles in various news papers also criticized the NYPD for what they called new age racism. Criticism of the NYPD surveillance has been savage and unrelenting. The white paper, authored by the NYPD, titled Radicalization in the West: the Home Grown Threat, was recently exposed and has been especially ravaged by columnists (Tutt, 2012). Some of its criticism has to do with perceived myths that are believed to have constituted the basis for the entire counter-terrorism philosophy, which

Formal report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Formal report - Assignment Example This paper will give an overview of what social networking is about, what it is used for and will endeavor to give examples of companies and their social networking strategies. A social networking plan and recommendations will also be given specifically for Stone Shine, a stone cleaner product that the company, Deb Richey Co. launched online. A social network service is defined as â€Å"the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision† (Social, 2011). While the networking can be done physically such as in a workplace, or at school, social networking is most popular online. This is because the internet has transcended physical barriers and has made it possible for millions of people from all over the world to come together for a shared interest. Connecting is no longer impeded by the inability to physically come together. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users (Social, 2011). Members communicate by email, forum posts, blogs, comments and instant messages. These are all features that can be made available by the varied social network sites. By becoming a member, these sites give every individual the chance to create his/her own profile. Having a personal profile lets members put personal information and define their personal interests, this is what sets social networking platforms apart from offline ones. There is ease of access to member information that makes it accessible to other members, making it easier for people to interact. The networking part also does not have to happen in real-time. This takes away the pressure of having to interact within a time frame, as with personal meetings, or whether to even react at all. Because there is this absence of pressure to connect plus the ease of access, social networking is a very enjoyable activity for lots of peo ple. Coupled with the fact that man is a social

Tesco Versus Sainsbury Financial Performance Analysis Finance Essay

Tesco Versus Sainsbury Financial Performance Analysis Finance Essay Food retailing has traditionally been highly competitive with significant pressure on margins and cost control. The UK retailers like Tesco, MS, Sainsburys, Asda faced further challenges when the consumer confidence index surged due to the financial crisis and job losses. Still, food retailers seemed to have found successful anti-crisis policies when compared to the performance of their high-street competitors (Brand Republic, February 2009). The report hereto would investigate and compare the financial performance of two of the largest UK food retailers J Sainsbury plc and Tesco plc. The scope of the analysis would be the three latest financial years 2007-2009. The main analytical technique would be ratio analysis looking at companies profitability, performance and financial stability. Latest share information would also be examined briefly. The report would start with a short introduction of both businesses, proceed to a comparison between them based on certain ratios or indicators and end with a conclusion identifying which business performed better in the last three years. Tesco plc Company Profile Tesco plc is a UK-based retail business being number one in its home market and the third worlds largest retailer in terms of revenue after Wal Mart and Carrefour (Tesco, 2010). The company was established by Jack Cohen in 1919 in East London as a grocery selling stall. He expanded the business and in 1947 Tesco plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange (Tesco, 2010). At present Tesco has operations across varied retail segments and in about 15 international locations including Europe, US and Asia (Tesco, 2010). As per latest company data Tesco has a portfolio of 2Â  306 stores in the UK and its UK market share reached 30,7% in 2009 (The Guardian, Nov 2009). Tesco has further 2Â  400 stores internationally (Tesco, 2010). The corporate strategy of business and geography diversification of Tesco was initiated in mid 1990s with the aim of broadening the business scope in order to deliver strong sustainable long-term growth. Currently, the business includes also financial services and the Tesco mobile since 2003. Currently, Tesco plc has a market capitalization in excess of GBP 33b and employs about 440Â  000 people. Terry Leahy was appointed for a CEO in 1997 (Tesco, 2010). J Sainsbury plc Company Profile J Sainsbury plc is the corporate entity of the food retail chain Sainsburys. The company is UK-based and is currently the third largest supermarket chain in the UK with an estimated market share of approximately 16.3% (Sainsburys, 2010). Sainsburys was initially founded in 1869 as a family business by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann. The business expanded quickly and became the largest grocery retailer in 1922 (Sainsburys, 2010). It kept its leadership position up until the mid 1990 when due to internal problems and loss of focus it was replaced by Tesco and Asda (becoming second largest retailer in 2003, The Telegraph, June 2009). Presently, as per latest company information, Sainsburys consists of a chain of 525 supermarkets, 303 convenience stores, a Real Estate Division managing some of the store properties and a Financial Services Division (Sainsburys Bank, offering insurance, credit cards, loans, etc.). The company employs about 150Â  000 employees (Sainsburys, 2010). The business serves over 18.5 million customers a week, as the product range already includes clothing and home furnishing lines. Online shopping and delivery is also available to the Sainsburys customers. With respect to ownership and management, J Sainsbury plc is publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange and ranks into the FTSE 100 index. The Sainsbury family has approximately 15% interest in the company. Justing King with a number of top management position in the UK retail industry was appointed for CEO of J Sainsbury plc. David Tylor is the chairman of the board. (Sainsburys, 2010) Tesco plc and J Sainsbury Financial analysis The section would present the financial analysis of both Tesco and Sainsburys. The analysis will be based on the calculation of a number of ratios measuring profitability, efficiency, financial standing and investment opportunities. As discussed by Berk and DeMarzo (2007), ratio analysis is most powerful when the results for a given company are compared with the ones of a close competitor, the industry average or to the historical trend for the same company. Thus, the analysis would cover a period of three years 2007-2009 and would contrast the performance of both companies which are considered to be a very close business match. Both companies performance would be benchmarked to the industry average indicators where appropriate. The calculations are based on financial information available in the company annual reports. Profitability analysis As discussed by Atrill (2002), profitability measures (ratios) show how a company uses its resources. Profit margins show how much the business is able to retain in excess to the cost of its operations. Return ratios, on the other hand, indicate if it is able to generate enough return for the capital supplier. Return on capital employed (ROCE) represents the overall return on the all capital employed (equity and debt) in the business. As discussed in the business valuation literature (Palepu, 2004), there is empirical evidence that ROCE is affected by market forces and mean reverts in long-term and for mature companies. The level of mean-reversion is towards the long-term weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) of about 8-10%, suggesting elimination of abnormal profits over long periods of the business life. Looking at the ROCE of both companies, Tesco fits in the expectations with its measure declining from 13% in 2007 to 9% in 2009. On the contrary, Sainsburys operates substantially below the average at 4-5% ROCE over the period. It is further alarming that Sainsburys ratio is on decreasing trend in 2009. It should be kept in mind that the ratios may be affected by the accounting practices, as the so-called dirty-surplus items are usually put in the equity section of the balance sheet. F urther, the ROCE itself does not give information where the performance comes from. So, decomposition of the ratio is needed (ROCE = RNOA+FLEV EFFECT) Return on net operation assets (RNOA) behaves similarly to ROCE, as in long-term RNOA levels of old companies have proven to mean revert to average levels between 8 and 15%, as companies with lower RNOA levels tend to increase and visa versa (Palepu, 2004). In the particular case, we can see that Tesco again generates higher return of about 8-5% compared to 3% for Sainsburys over the three year period. It can also be noted that the Sainburys RNOA is stable over the period while the one of Tesco decreases almost 50%. A possible reason may be disproportionate addition of assets compared to the sales growth. Investigating this further, we see that Tescos sales grew by 10% and 13% in 2008 and 2009 respectively, while its total assets grew by 22% and 53% for the same period. Sainsburys shows a more proportionate behavior of growth with sales increasing 3% and 5% in 2008 and 2009 and total assets growing by 5% and -1% over the same period. The 5% sales growth in 2009 is even more impressiv e when noted that it is achieved by the same asset base as in 2008. Still, for a better understanding of the profitability drivers, RNOA can be further decomposed to the expression NOPAT margin*asset turnover. Looking at the profit margins of both businesses, expectedly their margins are low due to the saturation of the industry. Tescos gross profit margin (GPM) has been stable at about 7,5%, while the one of Sainsburys decreased from 6,8% in 2007 to 5,5% in 2009. Still, both companies operate at substantially higher margins than the industry average of 2,2% (Reuters). The further vertical analysis of the income statements shows that the decrease in Tescos GPM translates into decreasing operating profit margin as well (from 6,2% to 5,9%), while Sainsburys actually achieved a stable increase in the OPM of 0,6% over the three years period. Sainsburys performance suggests management involvement in operational efficiency and cost control trying to improve the bottom line. However, the after tax profit margin of Sainsburys actually decreased with 0,4% to 1,5% in 2009. Tesco NOPAT margin also decreased over the period, but is materially higher being 4% in 2009. As suggested by Palepu (2004), mat ure industries with high level of competition are normally expected to compensate low margins with high turnover. The asset turnover ratio (ATO) is an efficiency measure rather than profitability one. However, it would be considered here as it has direct effect on the overall ROCE. The ATO ratio shows how effectively the assets of the company are used to generate sales (Berk and DeMarzo, 2007). Empirical evidence shows that it tends to stay constant over time except when some new technology is introduced and efficiency of operations is improved (Palepu, 2004). Retail industry is not technology-intensive and substantial changes in ATO are not expected to occur over short periods as the scope of the analysis hereto. Still, Tescos ATO decreased notably from 1,72 in 2007 to 1,18 in 2009. The anomaly can be explained with the aggressive growth in assets (22% and 53% in 2008 and 2009 respectively) which did not translate into the same level of sales growth. On the contrary, Sainsburys ATO improved slightly from 1,78 in 2007 to 1,88 in 2009 being again an evidence of tight efficiency control and focus. Sainsburys definitely compensate lower profitability with much higher efficiency of operations. Both companies operate at ATOs higher than the industry average of 0,26 (Reuters). Efficiency measures working capital management Working capital management and its components are further indication of a company operational efficiency. As explained by Weetman (2003), the working capital cycle presents the proportion of the operating activities that need to be covered with long-term financing. Thereby, the longer the cycle, the greater the need to employ long-term debt in operations rather than in investment activities. The inventory turnover in days for both Tesco and Sainsburys is 16-18 days and 13-14 days respectively. The period is quite short, even though it is in line with the expectations for the retail industry. Still, Sainsburys perform slightly better in terms of inventory management. Sainsburys seems to have also better receivables collection management with its days receivables being below a day opposed to Tescos days receivables of 1,85 days in 2009. The measure increased slightly (with 0,5 days) for both companies over the three years. Still, a good explanation of the trend may be the increased number of card payments and online shopping volume over the years. In terms of negotiating credit from suppliers (days payables) both companies pay settle payables within 35-36 days on average in 2009. However, the measure has been increasing for Tesco (from 32 days in 2007), while decreasing for Sainsburys (from 39 days in 2007). Being times bigger, Tesco would be expected to have better negotiation power over its suppliers, however Sainsburys also managed to stay competitive in this respect. Overall, calculating the total length of the working capital cycle for both, we obtain negative numbers due to the short inventory and receivables cycles and the long credit lines with suppliers. The result suggests that Tesco and Sainsburys have healthy short-term financial management and they actually utilize suppliers financial resources. Solvency and liquidity analysis As indicated by Atrill (2002), solvency and liquidity ratios indicate the ability of a business to cover its current liabilities, as well as its long-term financial health and stability. In short-run ability to cover debt-servicing payments, as well as other trade claims, is vital, while the capital structure and the debt burden on the total assets is more important in long-run. Tesco has healthy current ratio close to 6 in 2009 (about 3 in 2007-2008) and a quick ratio strictly above 1 for the whole period. However, Sainsburys financial position is quite different. Both ratios are below 1 and have been following a decreasing trend over the three years period. Food retailing is high turnover industry and definitely is not considered to be among the high volatility ones. Thus, current and quick ratios below one are normal. Still, Sainsburys ratios are materially lower even than the industry average (Sainsburys quick ration was 0,31 in 2009 compared to 0,82 for the industry). Still, it is positive that the company has healthy interest coverage which appears negative due to interest income being more than interest expenses. Tesco also has good interest coverage of 8 in 2009 (decreasing from 12 in 2007). In terms of solvency, as expected from the industry context, both companies have relatively high debt levels at about 50% of equity. The levels are twice the industry average of 24% (Reuters). Tesco loaded on debt aggressively in 2009 with its financial leverage reaching 50% in order to finance expansion. Still, this is not considered as a serious threat given the good performance and short-term financial stability indicators. Share price analysis Tescos share price has been fluctuating over the past 3 years between 300p and 470p. It currently trades at about 445p a share and has been increasing since April last year from its low at 300p per share. Sainsburys share price seemed to be a bit less volatile in short-term, even though it traded in the range of 280 600p over the 3 years period. The price went through a few significant drops and adjusted to an annual average of 330p for the last year. In terms of multiples, both Tesco and Sainsburys trade at P/E ratios close to 16 indicating high confidence of investors in the future growth of the businesses. Still, Tesco trades at a bit better P/B of 2,60 compared to Sainsburys P/B of 1,44 (Reuters). Generally, both P/B ratios are low, still it needs to be accounted that the industry is very competitive and mature. Analysts seem to be more confident in Tescos performance (Bar Cap Wealth Management), with Tesco being a buy and Sainsburys being hold as at the last recommendations available (Reuters). Conclusion Financial analysis and ratio analysis in particular are only one of the tools that a potential investor may and should use. The analysis is mostly based on accounting information (companys annual reports) that due to accounting practices may not fully reflect the market value of a company. Furthermore, the analysis examines the past performance of a company and it may be a point considering its future abilities, but it is in no way decisive. Past cannot be used as a determinant of the future. Applied to Tesco and Sainsburys, the tool revealed useful baseline for further study of the companies. Tesco can definitely be seen as a leader in growth and profit margins. However, it performed relatively poor in terms of efficiency compared to Sainsburys. Still, as both companys report annual accounts early in the year, the information analyzed failed to account for the later fast growth in like-for-like sales of Sainsburys at 7,8% compared to 4,3% of Tesco (The Telegraph, June 2009) and the announcement of aggressive expansion plans. Still, assuming the markets have reacted efficiently, the information should be captured in the current share prices of companies.

Pottery in the Contact Zone :: Essays Papers

Pottery in the Contact Zone It is nearly impossible to discuss Native American art without taking into consideration the effect that western culture has had on it. Native American art, in its purest sense, is something that no longer exists. In its place is an amalgamation of an art form that was once completely Native American and the values that western culture has placed on that art form. This cultural phenomenon is what Mary Louise Pratt has termed the â€Å"Contact Zone† which is used to refer to the â€Å"social spaces where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power such as colonialism, slavery or other aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world.† (Pratt 34) What Pratt is referring to is the situation that is created when two completely distinct cultures, that operate on totally different levels, attempt to interact. Each culture brings with them certain values and traditions that the other may not e ntirely understand. This predicament often leads to confusion, misunderstandings or sometimes worse. The meeting of western and Indian cultures created exactly this â€Å"Contact Zone† situation that Pratt defines. The aftermaths of the situation have been both positive and negative and have simultaneously posed a threat to the art form while providing opportunities for the artists. Before contact with the western world, pottery making among the Hopi-Tewa Indians was a communal activity which served to strengthen social relations with tribal members not of the same family. Pottery thus objectified valued social relations where sharing with individuals not of one’s matrilineage was both important and necessary for households to functions. (McChesney, 13) As with most Native American tribes, the Hopi-Tewas strove to maintain a strong social network by dividing up the labor and working together to accomplish it. Immediately the differences can be seen between the social structure of American Indian cultures as compared to that of westerners’ which value individuality over community. With the introduction of the railroad to the areas of northern Arizona where the Hopi-Tewas lived, entered new social challenges that threatened the Native Americans’ lifestyles. In an attempt to operate in an American cash economy, many Native Americans began to make pottery to be sold in trading posts to collectors and tourists.

Dead Man’s Path by Chinua Achebe Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story is generally depicting the theme which is said to be modernity versus old. The old is characterized by the villagers which still continues doing their rituals and also it is characterized by the pathway (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The new or modernity is characterized and depicted by the institution and the new headmasters who aimed for renewing almost all of the old staffs at the school (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The institution, as depicted in the story as the explanation for the theme, tends the humanity of that generation to be liberated with regard to newer and or modern things (Nerdicity). They are also trying to liberate the villagers that the villager’s old beliefs and practices are wrong which includes the practice of their belief about the pathway (Nerdicity). Theme explanation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme in the story is about Modern versus Old. It is said that Chinua Achebe came up to this theme based on how the new Nigerian thinks. The new Nigerian’s way of thinking explains their ideologies on beautifying gardens (Nerdicity).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this theme as explained in the story, Michael Oli wanted a development at the institution abut the problem is; the villagers are a source of hindrance to his development plan for the school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme is explaining how certain people wanted a more liberated and modernized society for a better living but still there are some who does not want to go with this modernization issue. They are contented following their old practices. The theme also explains how extinction of old practices including tradition and cultures because of the rapid development and its being imposed to the people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme also explained that imposing new ideas to people who believes and appreciates old practices is a hard thing to do that will need your patience and understanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Imposing new is better for it will benefit a lot of aspects in life but it will be better if instead of making all things new, people can combine new and old instead that will be more effective for everyone as it won’t be a source for any conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Example of new versus old is the modernity versus traditional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It conveys the lesson which states that traditions should not be changed into new ones and it should also be not ignored.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme is said to be effective for people to realize that old beliefs are said to be influential and important so it should not be disregarded. Traditions are somehow an alternatives in teaching morals, it is said to be much more influential because there are lessons that people can learn through this (Cindy). About the theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author created the theme because he wanted people to be informed and to realize that endorsing such modernity over traditional matter in a bad approach will create a negative consequence (LLC).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chinua Achebe wanted to impose that when a certain person intends and tries to block a certain essential aspect of that person’s existence, the act could create or lead into a negative reaction and consequences (LLC). This is depicted when Michael Obi blocked the path where it is part of the villager’s important ritual in respect for their ancestors whenever someone dies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theme was generally made for people to see the negative impact of modernity to traditional activities. The impact in the story depicted through the theme is explaining that in order to convince people to accept certain ideologies, the one who imposes should also possess the characteristics that others would respect (LLC). This characteristic is important in order for other existence to accept the ideologies that a certain person imposes (LLC). Universal truth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indeed, the story expresses universal truth because people can’t deny the fact that there are really some people at any part of the world that endorses betterment in certain people but does it in a negative approach. People would be insulted through this kind of approach that provokes them to start a misunderstanding and conflict to each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An example of this is when a certain person preaches something according to his views and beliefs. If a certain person imposed his ideologies and forced people to believe by threatening their lives or their own beliefs, the act will cause into major conflicts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This statement is an example situation based on the theme of the story by Chinua Achebe.   Symbols used in the story   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the story, there are a lot of instances that symbolizes the given theme. One of this is when Michael imposed the modernity by renewing almost all of the old professors in the school and changing them into new and younger ones (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Michael could have imposed his aim of modernity through adding new teachers hence still allowing the old ones to perform their teaching in the school but he did the other way. Michael aimed to remove the villager’s right to practice their important rituals instead of respecting it (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Michel did not respect the rituals and beliefs of the villagers hence he also disregarded what the priest advised him. Michael blocked the pathway to avoid the villagers from walking though it and he did it to prevent them from ruining the property (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By doing the certain act, Michael is said to have insulted the villager’s beliefs and ritual practice. He could have just let the villagers take that certain part and took another part to accomplish his project due to beautifying the school. Lastly is when Michael ignored what the villagers asked of him to be able to resolve the arising conflict. The villagers asked him to do a heavy sacrifice in order to conciliate his fault from the villager’s ancestors (Classroom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is implying the disrespect to someone’s beliefs. Instead of following what they asked of him, he ignored the idea and continued on imposing what he wanted. Symbols   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The school ground as the pathway, this symbolizes the tradition and beliefs of the villagers. It is explained in the story that it is a part of the villager’s ritual to take that certain path whenever someone dies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The blocking of the pathway; this symbolizes the unacceptance and disrespect of Michael as the main character. He disrespected the villager’s practices which they’ve done always. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author came up to the theme by implying his view on respecting one’s beliefs and traditions. If a certain person wants his ideologies to be accepted, he should impose it in a kind manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If a certain person wants to succeed imposing his ideas, he then should also respect other’s ideologies to prevent things from leading into conflicts and negative reactions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Author of the story in my opinion is aware that tradition might be forgotten because of the developments and liberations that the society imposes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Achebe showed through his story about his respect to certain people’s beliefs even if it is not evidently true, thus it is everyone’s right to practice their cultural and traditional beliefs as long as it wont be a reason for other people’s oppression (Cindy).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is what the theme implies through the story Dead Man’s Path by Chinua Achebe. Works Cited Cindy. â€Å"Dead Man’s Path.† 2007. Classroom, The Global. â€Å"Dead Men’s Path Chinua Achebe â€Å", 2006. LLC, Mega Essays. â€Å"Chinua Achebe, Dead Man’s Path.† 2007. Nerdicity. â€Å"Dead Man’s Path.† 2006.

Transmission Control Protocol and Cisco Public Information

Learning Objectives Be able to explain the purpose of a protocol analyzer (Wireshark). Be able to perform basic PDU capture using Wireshark. Be able to perform basic PDU analysis on straightforward network data traffic. Experiment with Wireshark features and options such as PDU capture and display filtering. Background Wireshark is a software protocol analyzer, or â€Å"packet sniffer† application, used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol development, and education. Before June 2006, Wireshark was known as Ethereal.A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer) is comput er software that can intercept and log data traffic passing over a data network. As data streams travel back and forth over the network, the sniffer â€Å"captures† each protocol dat a unit (PDU) and can decode and analyze its content according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications. Wireshark is programmed to recognize the structure of differen t network protocols. This enables it to display the encapsulati on and individual fields of a PDU and interpret their meaning.It is a useful tool for anyone working with networks and can be used with most labs in the CCNA courses for data analysis and troubleshooting. For information and to download the program go to -http://www. Wireshark. org Scenario To capture PDUs the computer on which W ireshark is installed must have a working connection to the network and Wireshark must be running before any data can be captured. W hen Wireshark is launched, the screen below is displayed. To start data capture it is first necessary to go to the Capture menu and select the Options choice.The Options dialog provides a range of settings and filters which determines which and how much data traffic is captured. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 12 First, it is necessary to ensure that Wire shark is set to monitor the correct interface. From the Interface drop down list, select the network adapter in use. Typically, for a computer this will be the connected Ethernet Adapter. Then other Options can be set. Among those available in Capture Options, the two highlighted below are worth examination.Setting Wireshark to capture packets in promiscuous mode If this feature is NOT checked, only PDUs destined for this computer will be captured. If this feature is checked, all PDUs d estined for this computer AND all those detected by the computer NIC on the same network segment (i. e. , those that â€Å"pass by† the NI C but are not destined for the computer) are captured. Note: The capturing of these other PDUs depends on the intermediary device connecting the end device computers on this network. As you use different intermediary devices (hubs, switches, routers) thro ughout these courses, you will experience the different Wireshark results.Setting Wireshark for network name resolution This option allows you to control whether or not Wireshark translates network addresses found in PDUs into names. Although th is is a useful feature, the name resolution process may add extra PDUs to your captured data perhaps distorting the analysis. There are also a number of other capture filtering and process settings available. Clicking on the Start button starts the data capture process and a message box displays the progress of this process. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 3 of 12 As data PDUs are captured, the types and number are indicated in the message box The examples above show the capture of a ping process and then accessing a web page . When the Stop button is clicked, the capture process is terminated and the main screen is displayed . This main display window of Wireshark has three panes. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Sys tems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document i s Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 12 The PDU (or Packet) List Pane at the top of the diagram displays a summary of each packet captured.By clicking on packets in this pane, you control what is displayed in the other two panes. The PDU (or Packet) Details Pane in the middle of the diagram displays the packet selected in the Packet List Pane in more de tail. The PDU (or Packet) Bytes Pane at the bottom of the diagram displays the actual data (in hexadecimal form representing the actual binary) from the packet selected in the Packet List Pane, and highlights the field selected in the Packet Details Pane . Each line in the Packet List corresponds to one PDU or packet of the captured d ata.If you select a line in this pane, more details will be displayed in the â€Å"Packet Details† and â€Å"Packet Bytes† panes. The example above shows the PDUs captured when the ping utilit y was used and http://www. Wireshark. org was ac cessed. Packet number 1 is selected in this pane. The Packet Details pane shows the current packet (selected in the â€Å"Packet List† pane) in a more detailed form. This pane show s the protocols and protocol fields of the selected packet. The protocols and fields of the packet are disp layed using a tree, which can be expanded and collapsed.The Packet Bytes pane shows the data of the current packet (selec ted in the â€Å"Packet List† pane) in what is known as â€Å"hexdump† style. In this lab, this pane will not be examined in detail. However, when a more in -depth analysis is required this displayed information is useful for examining the binary values and content o f PDUs. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 5 of 12 The information captured for the data PDUs can be saved in a file. This file can then be opened in Wireshark f or analysis some time in the fut ure ithout the need to re-capture the same data traffic again. The information displayed when a capture file is opened is the same as the original capture. When closing a data capture screen or exiting Wireshark you are pr ompted to save the captured PDUs. Clicking on Continue without Saving closes the file or exits Wireshark without saving the displayed captured data. Task 1: Ping PDU Capture Step 1: After ensuring that the standard lab topology and configuration is correct, launch Wireshark on a computer in a lab pod. Set the Capture Options as described above in the overview and start the capture process.From the command line of the computer, ping the IP address of another network connected and powered on end device on in the lab topology. In this case, ping the Eagle Server at using the command ping 192. 168. 254. 254. After receiving the successful replies to the ping in the command line window, stop the packet capture. Step 2: Examine the Packet List pane. The Packet List pane on Wireshark should now look something like this: Look at the packets listed above; we are interested in packet numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15. Locate the equivalent packets on the packet list on your computer.All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Pa ge 6 of 12 If you performed Step 1A above match the messages displayed in the command line window when th e ping was issued with the six packets captured by Wireshark . From the Wireshark Packet List answer the following: What protocol is used by ping? ________ICMP______________________ What is the full protocol name? ___Internet Control Message Protocol____ What are the names of the two ping messages? _____Echo Request____ _____Echo Reply____________________________________Are the listed source and destination IP addresses what you expected? Yes / N o Why? ___________________________________ Answers may vary-Yes, the source address is my computer and the destination is the Eagle server Step 3: Select (highlight) the first echo request packet on the list with the mouse. The Packet Detail pane will now display something similar to: Click on each of the four â€Å"+† to expand the information. The packet Detail Pane will now be similar to: All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.Page 7 of 12 As you can see, the details for each section and protocol can be expanded further. Spend some time scrolling through this information. At this stage of the course, you may not fully understand the information displayed but make a note of the information you do recognize. Locate the two different types of ‘Source† and â€Å"Destination†. Why are there two types? The Ethernet II shows the MAC addresses and the Internet Protocol shows the IP addresses What protocols are in the Ethernet frame? ___ eth:ip:icmp:data _ __________________________________As you select a line in the Packets Detail pane all or part of the information in the Packet Bytes pane als o becomes highlighted. For example, if the second line (+ Ethernet II) is highlighted in the Details pane the Bytes pane no w highlights the corresponding values. This shows the particular binary values that represent that information in the PDU. At this stage of the course, it is not necessary to understand this information in detail. Step 4: Go to the File menu and select Close. Click on Continue without Saving when this message box appears. Task 2: FTP PDU Capture Step 1: Start packet capture.Assuming Wireshark is still running from the previous steps, start packet capture by clicking on the Start option on the Capture menu of Wireshark. At the command line on your computer running Wireshark, enter ftp 192. 168. 254. 254 When the connection is established, enter anonymous as the user without a password. Userid: anonymous All contents are Co pyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 8 of 12 Password: You may alternatively use login with userid cisco and with password cisco. When successfully logged in enter get /pub/eagle_labs/eagle1/chapter1/gaim-1. . 0. exe and press the enter key . This will start downloading the file from the ftp server. The output wil l look similar to: C:Documents and Settingsccna1>ftp eagle-server. example. com Connected to eagle-server. example. com. 220 Welcome to the eagle-server FTP service. User (eagle-server. example. com:(none)): anonymous 331 Please specify the password. Password: 230 Login successful. ftp> get /pub/eagle_labs/eagle1/chapter1/gaim-1. 5. 0. exe 200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for pub/eagle_labs/eagle1/chapter1/gaim-1. 5. 0. xe (6967072 bytes). 226 File send OK. ftp: 6967072 bytes received in 0. 59Seconds 11729. 08Kbytes/sec. When the file d ownload is complete enter quit ftp> quit 221 Goodbye. C:Documents and Settingsccna1> When the file has successfully downloaded, stop the PDU capture in Wireshark. Step 2: Increase the size of the Wireshark Packet List pane and scroll through the PDUs listed. Locate and note those PDUs associated with the file download. These will be the PDUs from the Layer 4 protocol TCP and the Layer 7 protocol FTP. Identify the three groups of PDUs associated with the file transfer.If you performed the step above, match the packets with the messages and prompts in the FTP command line window. The first group is associated with the â€Å"connection† phase and logging into the server . List examples of messages exchanged in this phase. Answers will vary- 1292 > ftp [SYN], FTP > 1292 [SYN, ACK], Response: 220 Welcome to the eagle -server FTP service, 1292 > ftp [ACK], Request: User anonymous, Response: 331 Please specify the password, Request: Pass Locate and list examples of messages exchange d in the second phase that is the actual download request and the data transfer.Answers will vary- FTP Data: 1448 bytes, 1294 > ftp-data [ACK], All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 9 of 12 The third group of PDUs relate to logging out and â€Å"breaking the connection†. List examples of messages exchanged during this process. Answers will vary- Request:QUIT, Response: 221 Goodbye, 1292 > ftp [FIN, ACK], ftp >1292 [FIN, ACK] Locate recurring TCP exchanges throughout the FTP process. What feature of TCP does this indicate? __Send and receipt of data____________________________________________ Step 3: Examine Packet Details. Select (highlight) a packet on the list associated with the first phase of the FTP process. View the packet details in the Details pane. What are the protocols encapsulated in the frame? ____ Eth:ip:tcp:ftp-data ______________________________________ Highligh t the packets containing the user name and password. Examine the highlighted portion in the Packet Byte pane. What does this say about the security of this FTP login process ? _____ Security isn’t very high because the name and password are visible. ___________ Highlight a packet associated with the second phase. From any pane, locate the packet containing the f ile name. The filename is: ___gaim-1. 5. 0. exe__________ Highlight a packet containing the actual file content -note the plain text visible in the Byte pane. Highlight and examine, in the Details and Byte panes, some packets exchanged in the third phase o f the file download. What features distinguish the content of these packets ? ____ A [FIN, ACK] is issued to close the connection. __________________ When finished, close the Wireshark file and continue without savingTask 3: HTTP PDU Capture Step 1: Start packet capture. Assuming Wireshark is still running from the previous steps, start packet capture by clicking on the Start option on the Capture menu of Wireshark. Note: Capture Options do not have to be set if continuing from previous steps of thi s lab. Launch a web browser on the computer that is running Wireshark. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 10 of 12 Enter the URL of the Eagle Server of example. com or enter the IP address-192. 168. 54. 254. When the webpage has fully downloaded, stop the Wireshark packet capture. Step 2: Increase the size of the Wireshark Packet List pane and scroll through the PDUs listed. Locate and identify the TCP and HTTP packets associated with the webpage download. Note the similarity between this message exchange and the FTP exchange. Step 3: In the Packet List pane, highlight an HTTP packet that has the notation â€Å"(text/html)† in the Info column. In the Packet Detail pane click on the â€Å"+† next to â€Å"Line-based text data: htmlâ €  When this information expands what is displayed? ____HTML code for the web page__________________________ Examine the highlighted portion of the Byte Panel. This shows the HTML data carried by the packet. When finished close the Wireshark file and continue without saving Task 4: Reflection Consider the encapsulation information pertaining to captured network data Wireshark can provide. Relate this to th e OSI and TCP/IP layer models. It is important that you can recognize and link both the protocols represented and the protocol layer a nd encapsulation types of the models with the information provided by Wireshark.Task 5: Challenge Discuss how you could use a protocol analyzer such as Wireshark to: (1) Troubleshoot the failure of a webpage to download successfully to a browser on a computer. and (2) Identify data traffic on a network that is requested by users. Answers could vary-Wireshark could show when request for a web page failed due to incorrect URL. User traffic could b e monitored to identify errors in source or destination. All contents are Copyright  © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 11 of 12

Profile of Elizabeth Smarts Kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell

Profile of Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell Brian David Mitchell is the self-proclaimed angel from heaven who said he was sent to Earth to serve the destitute and correct the Mormon Church by restoring its fundamental values. He is also the man who, along with his wife, Wanda Barzee, was found guilty of kidnapping 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart in 2002 and holding her captive for nine months. Mitchells Childhood Brian was born Oct. 18, 1953, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the third of six children born at home to Mormon parents, Irene and Shirl Mitchell. Irene, a schoolteacher, and Shirl, a social worker, were vegetarians and raised their children on a diet of whole wheat bread and steamed vegetables. The family was described by neighbors as odd but decent. Brian seemed like a normal child, involved in the Cub Scouts and Little League. Irene was a caring mother, but Shirl had a questionable perspective on healthy child rearing. When Brian was 8, Shirl attempted to teach him about sex by showing him sexually explicit pictures in a medical journal. Other sexually oriented books were brought into the home and left within reach of the latchkey kid. Shirl once attempted to teach his son a life lesson by dropping off the 12-year-old in an unfamiliar area of town, instructing him to find his way home. As Brian got older, he became more argumentative with his parents and retreated into a world of isolation. Around age 16, Brian was found guilty of exposing himself to a child and sent to a juvenile delinquents hall. The stigma of his crime alienated Brian among his peers. Arguments between Brian and his mother were constant. The decision was made to send Brian to live with his grandmother. Soon after the move, Brian dropped out of school and began using drugs and alcohol. He left Utah at 19 and married 16-year-old Karen Minor after she discovered she was pregnant. They had two children in the two years they stayed together. Their stormy relationship ended, and Mitchell gained custody of the children because of Karens alleged infidelities and drug abuse. Karen remarried and regained custody, but Mitchell took the children to New Hampshire to prevent them from returning to their mother. In 1980, Mitchells life changed after his brother returned from a religious mission and the two talked. Brian discontinued his drug and alcohol use and became active in the Church of Latter-day Saints. By 1981, he was married to his second wife, Debbie Mitchell, who had three daughters from a previous marriage. In addition to Debbies three children and Brians two, the Mitchells had two more children soon after their marriage. Mitchells Abuse in His Second Marriage The marriage soon showed signs of strain. Mitchells two children were sent to foster homes. Debbie claimed that Mitchell turned from gentle to controlling and abusive, dictating what she could wear and eat and trying to frighten her. His interest in Satan disturbed her, although Mitchell claimed he was learning about his enemy. Mitchell filed for divorce in 1984, claiming that Debbie was violent and cruel to his children and was turning them against him. A year after their separation, Debbie called authorities to report her fear that Mitchell had sexually abused their 3-year-old son. A caseworker for the Division of Child and Family Services couldnt link Mitchell to sexual abuse but recommended that his future visits with the boy be supervised. Within the year, Debbies daughter accused Mitchell of having sexually abused her for four years. Debbie reported the abuse to LDS leaders  but was advised to drop it. Mitchell and Third Wife Wanda Barzee On the day that Mitchell and Debbie divorced, Mitchell married Wanda Barzee, a 40-year-old divorcee with six children whom she had left with her ex-husband when she moved out. Barzees family accepted Mitchell, although they found him to be strange. Some of Barzees children moved in with them but found the home to be increasingly odd and threatening because of Mitchells eccentric behavior. Outsiders viewed the couple as normal, hard-working Mormons. Mitchell worked as a die cutter and was active with the LDS church, but close family and friends were aware of his tendency toward rage, often unleashed on Barzee. He was becoming increasingly extreme in his religious views and his interaction with fellow LDS members. His portrayal of Satan during temple rituals had become too extreme; he was asked by the elders to tone it down. One night the Mitchells woke one of Barzees sons and told him they had just spoken to angels. The Mitchell home soon changed so drastically that Barzees children, unable to take the constant proselytizing, moved away. By the 1990s, Mitchell had changed his name to Emmanuel, discontinued his association with the church, and presented himself as a prophet of God whose beliefs were etched by his prophetic visions. When the couple returned to Salt Lake City, Mitchell had taken on a Jesus-like look with a long beard and white robe. Barzee, now calling herself God Adorneth, stayed by his side like a doting disciple, and the two were fixtures along downtown streets. Relatives of the couple had little to do with them, and old friends who happened upon them were treated as strangers. Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images Elizabeth Smart Is Kidnapped Early on June 5, 2002,  Mitchell  kidnapped 14-year-old Elizabeth from her bedroom. Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, witnessed the abduction.  Smarts family went on television and worked with the Laura Recovery Center, gathering 2,000 search volunteers to find Elizabeth, but were unable to locate her. A few months later, Elizabeths sister  identified Mitchells voice as that of the kidnapper, Emmanuel, who had done odd jobs for the Smart family, but the police didnt find that to be a valid lead. The Smart family hired a sketch artist to draw his face and released it on Larry King Live and other media resources, which led to Mitchell being found with Elizabeth and Wanda nine months after her kidnapping. After several trials,  Mitchells insanity defense fell apart on Dec. 11, 2010. Elizabeth testified that she was repeatedly raped and forced to watch sexual films and consume alcohol during her confinement. The jury found Brian David Mitchell guilty of kidnapping with the intention of engaging her in ​sexual activity and sentenced him to life in prison in Arizona, while Barzee was sentenced to prison until 2024.

A22 Churchill Tank in World War II

A22 Churchill Tank in World War II Dimensions: Length: 24 ft. 5 in.Width: 10 ft. 8 in.Height: 8 ft. 2 in.Weight: 42 tons Armor Armament (A22F Churchill Mk. VII): Primary Gun: 75 mm gunSecondary Armament: 2 x Besa Machine GunsArmor: .63 in. to 5.98 in. Engine: Engine: 350 hp Bedford twin-six gasolineSpeed: 15 mphRange: 56 milesSuspension: Coiled SpringCrew: 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/hull gunner) A22 Churchill - Design Development The origins of the A22 Churchill can be traced back to the days prior to World War II. In the late 1930s, the British Army began seeking a new infantry tank to replace the Matilda II and Valentine. Following the standard doctrine of the time, the army specified that the new tank be capable of traversing enemy obstacles, attacking fortifications, and navigating the shell-cratered battlefields that were typical of World War I. Initially designated the A20, the task of creating the vehicle was given to Harland Wolff. Sacrificing speed and armament to meet the armys requirements, Harland Wolffs early drawings saw the new tank armed with two QF 2-pounder guns mounted in side sponsons.  This design was altered several times, including fitting either a QF 6pounder or a French 75 mm gun in the forward hull, before four prototypes were produced in June 1940.   These efforts were halted following the British evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. No longer needing a tank capable of maneuvering through World War I-style battlefields and after assessing Allied experiences in Poland and France, the army retracted the A20 specifications. With Germany threatening to invade Britain, Dr. Henry E. Merritt, director of Tank Design, issued a call for a new, more mobile infantry tank. Designated the A22, the contract was given to Vauxhall with orders that the new design be in production by the end of the year. Frantically working to produce the A22, Vauxhall designed a tank that sacrificed appearance for practicality. Powered by Bedford twin-six gasoline engines, the A22 Churchill was the first tank to utilize the Merritt-Brown gearbox. This allowed the tank to be steered by changing the relative speeds of its tracks. The initial Mk. I Churchill was armed with a 2-pdr gun in the turret and 3-inch howitzer in the hull. For protection, it was given armor ranging in thickness from .63 inches to 4 inches. Entering production in June 1941, Vauxhall was concerned about the tanks lack of testing and included a leaflet in the user manual outlining existing problems and detailing practical repairs to mitigate the issues. A22 Churchill - Early Operational History The companys concerns were well founded as the A22 was soon beset with numerous problems and mechanical difficulties. Most critical of these was the reliability of the tanks engine, which was made worse due to its inaccessible location. Another issue was its weak armament. These factors combined to give the A22 a poor showing at its combat debut during the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid. Assigned to the 14th Canadian Tank Regiment (Calgary Regiment), 58 Churchills were tasked with supporting the mission.  While several were lost before reaching the beach, only fourteen of those that made it ashore was able to penetrate into the town where they were quickly stopped by a variety of obstacles. Nearly canceled as a result, the Churchill was rescued with the introduction of the Mk. III in March 1942. The A22s weapons were removed and replaced with a 6-pdr gun in a new welded turret. A Besa machine gun took the place of the 3-inch howitzer. A22 Churchill - Needed Improvements Possessing a significant upgrade in its anti-tank capabilities, a small unit of Mk. IIIs performed well during the Second Battle of El Alamein.  Supporting the attack of the 7th Motor Brigade, the improved Churchills proved extremely durable in the face of enemy anti-tank fire. This success led to the A22-equipped 25th Army Tank Brigade being dispatched to North Africa for General Sir Bernard Montgomerys campaign in Tunisia. Increasingly becoming the primary tank of British armored units, the Churchill saw service in Sicily and Italy. During these operations, many Mk. IIIs underwent field conversions to carry the 75 mm gun used on the American M4 Sherman. This alteration was formalized in the Mk. IV. While the tank was updated and modified several times, its next major overhaul came with the creation of the A22F Mk. VII in 1944. First seeing service during the invasion of Normandy, the Mk. VII incorporated the more versatile 75mm gun as well as possessed a wider chassis and thicker armor (1 in. to 6 in.). The new variant employed welded construction rather than riveted to reduce weight and shorten production time. Additionally, the A22F could be converted into a flamethrower Churchill Crocodile tank with relative ease. One issue that did arise with the Mk. VII was that it was underpowered. Though the tank had been built larger and heavier, its engines were not updated which further reduced Churchills already slow speed from 16 mph to 12.7 mph. Serving with British forces during the campaign in northern Europe, the A22F, with its thick armor, was one of the few Allied tanks that could stand up to German Panther and Tiger tanks, though its weaker armament meant that it had difficulty defeating them. The A22F and its predecessors were also renowned for their ability to cross rough terrain and obstacles that would have stopped other Allied tanks. Despite its early defects, the Churchill evolved into one of the key British tanks of the war. In addition to serving in its traditional role, Churchill was frequently adapted into specialist vehicles such as flame tanks, mobile bridges, armored personnel carriers, and armored engineer tanks. Retained after the war, the Churchill remained in British service until 1952.

Bosnian Refugee Life in America Essay Example for Free

Bosnian Refugee Life in America Essay Thousands of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina have fled to the United States to seek protection from the ethnoreligious conflicts of the region. To best assist these families, service providers must understand their wartime and migration experiences and their culture. The purpose of this article is to review the literature relevant to working with Bosnian Muslim refugees as well as to understand the uruque issues facing this population. The authors’ interest in Bosnian Muslim refugees is a personal one. Between 1992 and 2001, nearly 3,500 Bosnian refugees escaping ethnic cleansing and war migrated to Bowling Green, a small city of 50,000 in rural southcentral Kentucky. The Bowling Green International Center has been a part of the local community since 1979 and actively works with the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). For more than 25 years, the center has assisted thousands of refugees of many nationalities in their migration to the United States and the local community. According to the center’s director, Marty Deputy, Bosnians make up the largest percentage of refugees that have relocated to Bowling Green (personal communication, February 3, 2005). Deputy also indicated that while Bosnian refugees have adapted well to the local community, they still face many challenges because of their experiences in Bosnia in addition to their integration into a new culture. One of the issues that continue to haunt many Bosnian refugees is post-traumatic stress—a result of war and genocide. Post-traumatic stress is particularly an issue for the adult women, who experienced the trauma of rape and sexual assault as well as witnessing the murder of their children and spouses. According to Deputy (personal communication, February 3, 2005), social workers should approach Bosnian families and children with cultural competence. If visiting a Bosnian home, for example, removing one’s shoes when entering is a display of respect and sensitivity. A willingness to drink a strong cup of Bosnian coffee is also appreciated. Social workers also must be sensitive about body language and speech tone. It is also important not to assume that all Bosnians are alike. As with all cultures, there is tremendous variation in the Bosnian culture, along with individual differences in personality and environmental experiences. Bosnian Muslim Experiences in the War The 1991 census for Bosnia-Herzegovina shows that Muslims made up 43. 7% of the total population of 4. 3 million people. Serbs accounted for 31. 3% and Croats 17. 3% (Bringa, 1995). Serbs identified the Muslims’ majority population base in Bosnia-Herzegovina as its strategic strength (Cigar, 1995). In 1992, therefore, the Serbs declared war and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing to eradicate non-Serbs. The term â€Å"ethnic cleansing† stands for the policy of ridding an area of an undesirable national group to create a homogenous region; it represents a type of genocide that is designed to spread terror (Friedman, 1996; Weine & Laub, 1995). Serbia’s initial rationale for its policy was promulgated by the belief that the newly formed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina would create national minorities of the Serb population and eventually destroy the Serb populace as a discrete and unique nation (Friedman, 1996). The prospect of acquiring material goods from the Muslims—land, livestock, houses, cars, and cash—apparently was an additional powerful incentive for many Serbs (Cigar, 1995; Sells, 1998). The indigenous Bosnian Serb population was drawn into a terror campaign of killing and mayhem so the non-Serbian populations would never return. This persecution ultimately led to more than one million Balkan refugees migrating to the United States and other countries. The types of experiences they endured in their homeland before emigrating dramatically influenced their initial adaptation to these new environments. Resettlement and Adaptation Issues As difficult as the war-related experiences were, migration to resettlement countries signaled a transition to new types of struggles for Bosnian refugees. Unlike immigrants who leave their homes for a variety of reasons, refugees leave in order to survive, and they face a new realm of stressors as they attempt to rebuild their lives in exile (Keyes, 2000; Worthington, 2001). Such stressors include difficult transit experiences; culture shock; adjustment problems related to language and occupational change; and disruption in their sense of self, family, and community (Lipson, 1993; Worthington, 2001). Additionally, refugees leaving Bosnia-Herzegovina often have suffered multiple losses, such as severance from family and friends who have been left behind or killed, displacement from their homes and communities, social isolation, and the premature death of their children. Such an accumulation of loss can leave a sense of unresolved grief that can significantly impact mental health and future functioning capacity (Akhtar, 1992; Fullilove, 1996; Sundquist & Johansson, 1996; Worthington, 2001). When refugees cross national boundaries seeking asylum, they typically find themselves in an alien social environment with norms that challenge their traditional patterns of family interaction (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). Most Bosnian refugees have a hierarchical familial power structure and clear role definitions; in the homeland, authority was typically gender-based, with males maintaining instrumental roles and females fulfilling nurturing responsibilities. A traditional Bosnian woman’s commitment to her family includes observing strict codes of privacy and public silence on any issue that might bring shame on the family, such as family discord. For many women, this privacy mandate deters them from divulging details about marital strife or child maltreatment by spouses to outsiders such as work colleagues, community members, and mental health professionals. Consequently, Bosnian female refugees continue to be caught between traditional role models prevalent throughout the former Yugoslavia’s patriarchal society in the 20th Century and the expectations of their new culture. The Bosnian family’s patriarchal patterns of behavior tend to be challenged on arrival in the United States, particularly around work-related issues. Women are more likely than men to find jobs in the low-wage labor market, and in becoming the breadwinners exposed to the outside world, they risk upsetting a family equilibrium based on male authority (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). For Bosnian men, key ethnic and social boundary markers of their lives had evaporated; because of their grief over this, many seemed paralyzed in their attempt to move forward in their new life. Bosnian refugee children also face immense acculturation pressures (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). They often are torn between the beliefs, customs, and values learned in their native culture and the often unrealistic expectations of the new one. The pressure to assimilate the cultural norms of their new country can be intense and extremely stressful. Their parents often lack the material resources and support systems to adequately assist them in navigating the complex terrain of foreign school systems, pervasive racism, and intolerance (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). Consequently, many feel as if they are alone in a foreign, sometimes unforgiving new cultural milieu. To further complicate the situation, family roles often reverse as children typically become more fluent in English faster and adapt more quickly to the customs of the new country (Potocky, 1996). Because children are thrust into the role of serving as the interpreters and negotiators of cultural norms for their parents, respect for the authority of elders is often undermined (Carlin, 1990; Drachman; 1992). Even though most teenagers in the United States feel a certain amount of intergenerational tension, the adolescents of refugees often experience the pull of two vastly different worlds: those of their American peers and their parents (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). They also feel subjected to the xenophobia of their American peers, who often ridicule others who they label as â€Å"different. † Immigration to the United States has provided Bosnian Muslim refugee families with many challenges as they struggle to adapt to their new lives. At first glance, their experiences may be similar to that of other immigrants, raising the familiar questions about how to perpetuate the faith of their forebears among their offspring or how to best preserve cherished cultural practices (Yazbeck- Haddad & Esposito, 2000). But there are some real differences. With the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, the potential for a xenophobic reception of Muslim immigrants and refugees by Americans has intensified. For example, disputes over the building of mosques represent a key source of friction for most Westerners (Pipes & Duran, 1993). While Bosnian Muslim families may encounter the same issues earlier generations of immigrants faced, they also are burdened with the question of whether their children will be accepted in the United States, and whether Islam can ever be recognized as a positive force that contributes to a pluralistic, multicultural nation (Yazbeck-Haddad & Esposito, 2000). Culturally Competent Practice with Bosnian Muslims When working with Bosnian Muslim refugees, service providers need to learn as much as possible about their culture, particularly given the pivotal role that ethnoreligious identity has played in their war-related experiences (Witmer & Culver, 2001). Bosnian men and women tend to adhere to traditional gender roles; connected with this issue is the intense stigma attached to the sexual violation of women. This stigma frequently led women to refrain from disclosing war rapes to their families (Witmer & Culver, 2001). Bosnian Muslims typically act in ways that preserve the positive image of the family’s identity, especially males, who see openly revealing vulnerability or suffering as a sign of great personal weakness (Weine et al. , 1997). Family is the most important social structure across the urban and rural regions of Bosnia (Mojica-Castillo, 2001). Up until the 1970s, adult children commonly lived with their parents and multiple generations lived in the same house. But today, twoparent families predominate in this region with extended family members often living nearby. A cluster of shoes can typically be found outside a Bosnian home (Mojica-Castillo, 2001). This is because it is customary to remove street shoes and leave them at the door. Bosnians maintain a strong social tradition of neighborliness. The drinking of strong coffee or the sharing of food, accompanied by the essential element of lively conversation, is an important aspect of social life. Traditional music and folk dances are an important part of cultural celebrations. A basic principle of generalist social work is that practitioners need to be able to intervene on behalf of various systems, including individuals, families, orgaruzations, and communities. Additionally, the generalist social worker operates within an ecological framework that attempts to improve coping patterns for a better match between the client system’s needs and the characteristics of his or her environment. An empowerment approach to generalist practice assumes that clients can draw from existing competencies and reservoirs of strength. Empowerment indicates the intent and the processes of assisting client systems to discover and expand the tools and resources around them (Furuto, 2004). Swift and Levin (1987) referred to empowerment as an evolution from dependence to independence and interdependence. Gutierrez (1990) described empowerment as â€Å"the process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take action to improve their life situations† (p. 140). The strengths perspective enhances the concept of empowerment with its focus on promoting healing. Healing implies both wholeness and the inborn ability of the mind and body to resist and regenerate when faced with disruption, disorder, or disease (Furuto, 2004). Ethnic and religious identity may lead to discrimination when the refugee is seeking a job that requires intervention on a more personal level. Long-term difficulty in finding a job that provides the family with adequate income may cause low self-esteem and family tension culminating in violence (Furuto & Murase, 1992). Various system levels often must be addressed simultaneously (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). Western thinking on designing comprehensive mental health services is mostly based on the individual as the primary system targeted for intervention; hence, existing services tend to be designed for a North American population (Mooren & Kleber, 1999). Furthermore, treatment of mental health disorders typically follows a medical model using talk therapy and drugs. Western theories also emphasize intrapersonal processes in isolation from the cultural context. The prevailing view that the responses to trauma are individual centered is in keeping with this tradition. Service providers must use the refugees’ own, indigenous cultural definitions of health and illness when making mental health assessments (Boothby, 1996; Wing Sue, Ivey, & Pedersen, 1996). For example, a Bosnian client who had the Western diag nosis of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder â€Å"refused medication saying that there was nothing wrong with him that medications could fix, and insisted that the clinician understand that his current condition was a result of the wrongs that had been done to him, and not because of anything that was wrong with him† (Weine & Laub, 1995, p. 255). To address the issue of respecting the client’s definition of the issue, Yuen (1999) promoted a more holistic biopsychosocial model of intervention when working with Bosnian children and their families; hence, the importance of using an ethnically sensitive ecological framework becomes a second principle of culturally competent practice. A third principle is to respect the indigenous strengths and resources within Bosnians that empower them to cope with their own experiences. Chow & Yuen (2000) noted the necessity for an empowerment and capacity building model where refugees become partners in the design and elivery of services within their community. Efforts to design and deliver human service programs should include using indigenous Bosnian religious and cultural organizations, as well as self-help groups (Chow & Yuen, 2000). Conclusion After Bosnians flee their homeland, they need protection in the asylum country. This necessitates supportive policies and macrolevel intervention competence. The main policy that guides refugee resettlement in the United States is Public Law 96-212, the Refugee Act of 1980 (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). Based on the goal of helping refugees achieve economic self-sufficiency as quickly as possible, the act defines self-sufficiency as not receiving welfare benefits (Potocky, 1996). As such, this policy may be ineffective in helping refugees to settle in an optimal manner. To become truly self-sufficient, service providers need to redefine success in more progressive ways, such as helping refugees to effectively deal with resettlement issues relating to acculturation, psychological trauma, and intergenerational conflict—all of which can impede long-term economic self-sufficiency. This new goal requires adequate fiscal resources to develop programs and engage in active community outreach (Mayadas & Segal, 2000). Social services must aspire to restore the psychological health and dignity of these families and children, who have seen the worst side of human nature. Helping them establish a positive self-image is critical to their success. While the genocide of family members and violent acts can never be forgotten, surrounding Bosnian Muslim refugees with a network of positive, supportive services can help them establish a solid foothold in the United States. Bosnian Refugee Life in America. (2017, Mar 02).

Mentorship Preparation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mentorship Preparation - Essay Example In this paper, we would be discussing on the nurse mentoring a patient in a sexual health clinic. Integration of the mentor's role into the health care system has increased access to comprehensive health care in combination with the fulfillment of the client's need for prescription medications (Bailey, 1999; Le Bar, 1986). In the UK, resourcing issues such as a reduced number of doctors and the demand for the delivery of cost effective care, have led to plans to extend the role of mentors into prescribing as a potential way of meeting these demands. Nurses may teach individual clients in one-to-one teaching episodes. For example the nurse may teach about wound care while changing a client's dressing or may teach about diet, exercise, and other lifestyle behaviors that minimize the risk of a heart attack for a client who has a cardiac problem. The nurse may also be involved in teaching family members or other support people who are caring for the client. Nurses working in obstetric and pediatric areas teach parents and sometimes grandparents how to care for children. Because of decreased length of hospital stays, time constraints on client education may occur. Nurses need to provide client education that will ensure the client's safe transition from one level of care to another and make appropriate plans for follow-up education in the client's home. Discharge plans must include both information about what the client has been taught before transfer or discharge and what remains for the client to learn to perform self-care in the home or other residence. Nurses are often involved in community health education programs. Such teaching activities may be voluntary as part of the nurse's involvement in an organization such as the Red Cross or Planned Parenthood, or they may be compensated as part of the nurse's work role. Community teaching activities may be aimed at large groups of people who have an interest in some aspect of health, such as nutrition classes, CPR or cardiac risk factor reduction classes, and bicycle or swimming safety programs. Community education programs can also be designed for small groups or individual learners such as childbirth classes or family planning classes. Nurses are also involved in the instruction of professional colleagues. Nurses in nursing practice settings are often involved in the clinical instruction of nursing students. Experienced nurses may function as preceptors for new graduate nurses or for newly employed nurses. Nurses with specialized knowledge and experience may share that knowledge and experience with nurses who are new to that practice area (Courteney & Butler, 1999). Such specialized courses include acute care nursing, perioperative nursing and quality improvement/quality assurance. Nurses may also be involved in teaching other health professionals. Nurses may participate in the education of medical students or allied health students. In this capacity, the nurse educator is often clarifying the role of the nurse for other health professionals or how the nurse can assist them in their care of the client. The nurse may also teach health care colleagues knowledge or skills that are considered the domain of nursing. For a nurse who acts as a mentor, the areas for client education (NICE, 2002) include, promotion of health, increasing a person's level of wellness, growth and development topics, fertility control, hygiene, nutrition, exercise,

Analysis a play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Analysis a play - Essay Example The provisions of the law may be great and their intentions may be noble. But if those who implement them are not noble, the society will suffer and a law argued, defended and implemented in a worst manner is calamitous for the society. â€Å"No Crime† by Billy Goda is one of those postmodern plays which chuckles the guilty conscious of its readers, and touches their hearts at the profound depth. The author makes it very clear and his objective is evident and he articulates his viewpoint employing his characters and their mutual relationship. The ending of the play is also on the expected lines, though the author introduces a dramatic element of neutrality in the end of the play. The theme of the play is about the role of the law and its relationship with the society. The implicit purpose of law is to keep members of the society safe collectively and individually. It is the frame on which the society builds itself and it is supposed to keep the members of the society behind the lines of law. The law is supposed to be blind and both arms of the scale of law are equally important. Its main responsibility is to prevent the wrong and see that it does not get stronger and for the weak and support-less to provide the support within the provisions of law. The prime responsibility of the law and the judicial process is to identify the guilty from the innocent. This is the ideal position desired by any society. But the ground realties in almost all the countries leave much to be desired. Societies have never been able to give the true and honest benefit of the provisions of law to the people. The not guilty have been punished and the guilty ones have escaped the noose of law. Those who should have been punished have been acquitted. Though the theme of the play does not offer direct comments on the lacunas in the system of implementation of the legal provisions its hidden agenda and the style of presentation deals with those who are the custodians

Morality of a Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Morality of a Foreign Policy - Essay Example securing the good of the community and not benefitting the individual member of the society. Morality is derived from a Latin word "mores", that means custom, habit or a way of life. For an act to be moral, there are three fundamental characteristics - foremost, universal allegiance, secondly, impartiality in all the acts and lastly, the act in itself should be self-enforcing. The implication of these elements is that moral values bind everyone to these norms, and irrespective of any one, it is applied to all perspectives and interests. Lastly, it should be through voluntary actions of the persons and not forced upon by any other. Ethics is doing what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. And the good is determined by the norms that are applicable to that particular situation. The political issues involve complex public affairs, and competing moral values and dilemmas and not simple moral verdicts. Ethical reasoning and judgments in foreign policy making involves use of relevant morals and illuminations in managing foreign relations with other states. The issues such as fairness of the international economic order, justice of the global institutions, and international regimes etc. should be guided by rules, and institutions in light of moral norms (Amstutz, 2005). The politics among nations is governed by political Realism, the phenomenon that says that the society is governed by objective laws have its roots from the human nature. Since the political systems comprises of people, therefore, the societal laws of human beings are to always prevail in these systems. Any statesman should apply rational alternatives in meeting problems under all circumstances. Morality has multiple facets to a foreign policy. Foremost, morality helps in defining goals and purposes of states and other players. No specific policy directives are given, but direction and general vision to highlight the nation's vital interests is given by the moral rules governing the foreign policy. It establishes the limits for any policy measure to be taken and acted upon. Moreover, any policy is also judged on the basis of these pre specified norms for judging the acts of the nations. A moral foreign policy should address three instruments - the conscience of decision makers, the influence of domestic opinion, and the influence of international reputation. The domestic opinion is formed by the freedom of expression of the people - as judged by the media, interest groups, and nongovernmental and professional associations; whereas, global opinion influences the international reputation of the country by labeling it as a reliable and moral actor or not. Kantian Ethics is the deontological approach talks about seeking happiness and that everyone will try to achieve pleasure and gratification to lead to the happiness, but, achieving happiness does not always fall in the purview of our powers, and it is a matter of luck. Thus, under this philosophy, evaluation of international politics actions taken might deem to be right or wrong, and not depending on the consequences. Thus, rationality is based on how a certain action is performed and not what does it result. Therefore, under this theory acts of terrorism can be favored by saying that these are the law enforcement acts, irrespective of the

Language is the most precious and the most dangerous human gift Essay

Language is the most precious and the most dangerous human gift Friedrich Hlderlin - Essay Example Language is one of the most precious human gifts as it allows human beings to exchange thoughts and share information. Language is founded in the human need to make sense of the world and our place in it. What distinguishes it from mere personal opinion and credulity is its rejection of passionate convictions as sufficient grounds for belief and action, and its commitment to careful analysis and systematic reasoning. Name of essay Language is the most precious and the most dangerous human gift perfectly reflect communative tool between people. Rather than a uniform body of doctrine, philosophy manifests itself in an ongoing process of critically examining and refining the grounds for our beliefs and actions, the ideas we recognize as true, as deserving our loyalty and commitment. Thesis Friedrich Hlderlin states that language is the most precious and the most dangerous human gift". Language is among the signs and symbols by which humans order their worlds and construct their conceptions of reality. Researchers explore symbolic and semiotic accounts of language as an instrument by which people conceive reality or construct their representations of it: the ways in which experience mediates interpretation of the world. Since symbolism requires a relation between two different kinds of thing, one that symbolizes or signifies and another that is symbolized or signified, the dualistic tensions between the linguistic intrinsic and extrinsic figure prominently in symbolic theories, as do questions about interpretive latitude. Suspending 'logical' belief in the opposition of subject and object, inside and outside, mind and body, phenomenologists explore language from the perspective of the lived, bodily experience-from the interpreter's point of view, one might say. By attempting to set aside the binary oppositions that fuel debates between autonomists and heteronomists , phenomenology offers a perspective that is strikingly fresh and richly resonant with language as a lived, human process (Bennett et al 43). The idea that language structure is in some sense symbolic has philosophical roots that probably extend at least as far back in history as the ancient doctrines of mimesis and ethos-the belief that language imitates and shapes attributes of human character. The influence of idealism is also quite often evident in symbolic theories, since its quest to secure a place for language in the realm of cognitively significant activity yielded so many inspiring descriptions of language's distinctive felt and rational attributes. Also, since symbolic accounts generally entail the conviction that language's significance is a function of its capacity to signify, point to, or represent something other than itself, familiar tensions between expression and autonomy (between referential capacity and presentational immediacy) often lie very near the surface. Thus, symbolic accounts of language occasionally resonate deeply with idealistic philosophical orientations of formalistic or expressionistic per suasions, orientations to which they are in certain respects related. At the heart of her theory lies a very distinctive definition of 'symbol': a vehicle for the conception of reality (Searle 82). Anthropology of language suggests that language is the main criterion that distinguishes humans from other animals. What language does, in this view, is enable conception. This act of coherence making is, furthermore, the common foundation of thought and language; this achievement of coherence, not the logical operations by which it is subsequently manipulated and ordered, is the root of humankind's distinctive mental power. In other words, thought and language are each ways albeit contrasting ways -- of 'transforming

Question and answer Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Question and answer - Article Example 2. The authors describe the MITT protocol in the Statistical Analysis section of the methods. What do you feel are some benefits and limitations of using an â€Å"Intent to Treat† method for analyzing the data? Does it influence your interpretation of the study results knowing that the researchers used this method? I felt that MITT benefits a change in treatment policy rather than potential benefits of patients. Some of its limitation includes full application only in completed outcome, variations in handling deviations, and potential for biases because of some missing data which might influence the interpretation of study results. The baseline/screening period for the study was one week and the treatment period lasted for 12 weeks. The authors had provided evidence from other research, not to justify the length of the study, but to justify the hypothesis that whole-grain RTE cereals can reduce the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with overweight and obesity. The evidences provided include those of Saltzman and colleagues who conduct the same study for six weeks and an incited study that reduced cholesterol level from baseline for two weeks (Maki, et al, 2010, 212). 5. Identify 3 exclusion criteria for participation in this study (Methods section). For each of the criteria that you chose, why do you think they needed to be excluded? Do you feel that these exclusion criteria affected the study’s validity (positively or negatively)? There are several exclusion criteria in the study but I chose the participants who use weight loss medications within 2 months before screening or supplements, programs, or meal replacement products within 2 weeks before screening because with these interventions, researcher cannot determine whether the whole-grain RTE cereal is effective in reducing LDL or it is the medications, supplements, programs, or meal replacements taken; participants with known sensitivity to any of the

Morality of a Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Morality of a Foreign Policy - Essay Example securing the good of the community and not benefitting the individual member of the society. Morality is derived from a Latin word "mores", that means custom, habit or a way of life. For an act to be moral, there are three fundamental characteristics - foremost, universal allegiance, secondly, impartiality in all the acts and lastly, the act in itself should be self-enforcing. The implication of these elements is that moral values bind everyone to these norms, and irrespective of any one, it is applied to all perspectives and interests. Lastly, it should be through voluntary actions of the persons and not forced upon by any other. Ethics is doing what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. And the good is determined by the norms that are applicable to that particular situation. The political issues involve complex public affairs, and competing moral values and dilemmas and not simple moral verdicts. Ethical reasoning and judgments in foreign policy making involves use of relevant morals and illuminations in managing foreign relations with other states. The issues such as fairness of the international economic order, justice of the global institutions, and international regimes etc. should be guided by rules, and institutions in light of moral norms (Amstutz, 2005). The politics among nations is governed by political Realism, the phenomenon that says that the society is governed by objective laws have its roots from the human nature. Since the political systems comprises of people, therefore, the societal laws of human beings are to always prevail in these systems. Any statesman should apply rational alternatives in meeting problems under all circumstances. Morality has multiple facets to a foreign policy. Foremost, morality helps in defining goals and purposes of states and other players. No specific policy directives are given, but direction and general vision to highlight the nation's vital interests is given by the moral rules governing the foreign policy. It establishes the limits for any policy measure to be taken and acted upon. Moreover, any policy is also judged on the basis of these pre specified norms for judging the acts of the nations. A moral foreign policy should address three instruments - the conscience of decision makers, the influence of domestic opinion, and the influence of international reputation. The domestic opinion is formed by the freedom of expression of the people - as judged by the media, interest groups, and nongovernmental and professional associations; whereas, global opinion influences the international reputation of the country by labeling it as a reliable and moral actor or not. Kantian Ethics is the deontological approach talks about seeking happiness and that everyone will try to achieve pleasure and gratification to lead to the happiness, but, achieving happiness does not always fall in the purview of our powers, and it is a matter of luck. Thus, under this philosophy, evaluation of international politics actions taken might deem to be right or wrong, and not depending on the consequences. Thus, rationality is based on how a certain action is performed and not what does it result. Therefore, under this theory acts of terrorism can be favored by saying that these are the law enforcement acts, irrespective of the

Question and answer Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Question and answer - Article Example 2. The authors describe the MITT protocol in the Statistical Analysis section of the methods. What do you feel are some benefits and limitations of using an â€Å"Intent to Treat† method for analyzing the data? Does it influence your interpretation of the study results knowing that the researchers used this method? I felt that MITT benefits a change in treatment policy rather than potential benefits of patients. Some of its limitation includes full application only in completed outcome, variations in handling deviations, and potential for biases because of some missing data which might influence the interpretation of study results. The baseline/screening period for the study was one week and the treatment period lasted for 12 weeks. The authors had provided evidence from other research, not to justify the length of the study, but to justify the hypothesis that whole-grain RTE cereals can reduce the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with overweight and obesity. The evidences provided include those of Saltzman and colleagues who conduct the same study for six weeks and an incited study that reduced cholesterol level from baseline for two weeks (Maki, et al, 2010, 212). 5. Identify 3 exclusion criteria for participation in this study (Methods section). For each of the criteria that you chose, why do you think they needed to be excluded? Do you feel that these exclusion criteria affected the study’s validity (positively or negatively)? There are several exclusion criteria in the study but I chose the participants who use weight loss medications within 2 months before screening or supplements, programs, or meal replacement products within 2 weeks before screening because with these interventions, researcher cannot determine whether the whole-grain RTE cereal is effective in reducing LDL or it is the medications, supplements, programs, or meal replacements taken; participants with known sensitivity to any of the

Integrative Response on Festivals Essay Example for Free

Integrative Response on Festivals Essay The organization of a festival brings a positive economic impact on the community. Not only does the community as a whole benefit from the economic effect but also the individuals gain significantly from the organization of festivals. These effects are more pronounced as the beneficial effects get replicated. A festival is a usually a series of cultural events, celebrations or entertainment organized by an association, group, person or a company. Included in these are concerts, carnivals, exhibitions or even a circus. The maximum number of days usually limited to 15 days. Shorter festivals like many church festivals are less than 3 days. From another standpoint, festival is a period of time that is set aside for feasting or celebration. On the other hand festivals are an organized series of acts and performances, say we have a film festival. Usually festivals have the involvement of the local community and are focused on a theme. It may be an annual event like the annual camping event that is held near Sydney every Easter. Usually, these events attract a number of visitors to the venue; this can range from mere 150 to 5,000. There are some unusual festivals also like the Luton Festival of Transport that attracts 1100 classic cars, buses, bikes and other interesting road vehicles. The organization of festivals brings significant economic benefits to the local community. The benefits to the local community occur because of the spending that is done by the organizers themselves and the visitors to the area. From the macroeconomic perspective the GDP of the area goes up and so also the tax collection from the community. Moreover, these festivals help create jobs and bring in additional income by way of wages and salaries. There are several festivals that have operating expenditures of over $1million and have a total attendance that is more than 5 times the strength of the local community. There are different sources of funding, some have the backing of government agencies, some have the backing of non-government agencies and some are entirely sponsored by corporations. These funds help the economy. The federal government, the local government and the municipality share the increase in taxes. The increase in GDP usually provides a direct boost to restaurants, recreation and accommodation. Moreover, the persons or groups that are involved in the cultural, recreation and community events get a boost. Examples of festivals that have brought significant economic benefits to their communities are The Blue Skies Music Festival (Clarendon), Mudcat Festival (Dunnville) and Olde Sandwich Towne Festival (Windsor). Let us take the microeconomic perspective of the organization of festivals. Most of the hotels in the area often turn away potential bookings. What does this mean? This means that there is an increase in demand for hotel bookings. There is an outward shift in the demand curve. At the same rates, more hotel bookings are demanded during festival periods. Some hotels anticipating increased demand raise the room rates. In other words there is an overall increase in the revenues for the hotels. Similarly, there is an increase in the demand for local transport and other services. This increase in demand is not just limited to those industries that are directly related to the festivals. When the performers, organizers or journalists experience increased income, then in accordance to their marginal propensity to consume their consumption also increases. This creates the multiplier effect of new expenditure and income (Raj. R, 2003). To sum, festivals invigorate the economy of the community. They benefit businesses, government and individuals. Festivals bring in a flow of funds and this removes the ennui of the local economy. Reference: Raj. R, 2003, Impact of Festivals on Cultural Tourism, retrieved on: January 13, 2007, from: www. nottingham. ac. uk/ttri/pdf/conference/raj%20razaq. pdf