Decision of Allowing the Procurement of Used Items Essay

Discussing the pros on the decision of allowing the procurement of used items in public sector (PPA 2011): * It is economical; This is because of the liquidity crisis and improvements in product quality control hence some governments are opting for secondhand purchases. The current update in this regard is that, According to BBC News (Feb’2009) the Indonesian military is currently negotiating with the US Army to purchase secondhand F-16 fighter jets in a bid to modernize its air power military capability. Mark you Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and one of the dynamic emerging markets in the world. The country is also a member of the elite G-20 major economies. Quality control especially technically aircraft never get old as such because they are meet international standards and principles that govern air transport. * It is affordable to procure at low cost of acquisition, in case of emergencies circumstances to rescue situations especially those of public interest, the * government should allow procurement of used equipment under exceptional circumstances to serve people, that are evaluated on case by case basis procurement in the need The Bank understands that the decision between the outright purchase and lease arrangements depend on the economic loss and benefits, however, given the potential risk associated with used equipment, the government should consider leasing as the preferred alternative only in emergency. * It helps and is the way to go if the government is to fulfill its obligations as far as capital intensive investments are concerned. â€Å"Purchasing secondhand machines suited Tanzania at the moment because many countries were applying the same strategy on costly machines such as planes, train engines and ships. * Equipment may be available immediately, that result to shorten procurement process of acquiring used equipment, compared to the time  required for the acquisition of new equipment because it involves ordering which took sometimes up to delivery period. Discuss the cons on the decision of allowing the procurement of used items in public sector (PPA 2011) * May lead to procure poor quality items that do not meet intended purpose that is performance requirements of the goods, and minimum standards for age, residual economic life, and quality of materials. That might result in massive economic losses this is refer to the economic life cycle of goods procured. Since they will not be expected to originate from Tanzania, it will be difficult to get authenticated record of the time they had been used and condition at the time of sale. * Failure of getting loans from world Bank at deficit circumstances, this is according to World Bank Procurement Manual Draft (2001)- Procurement of brand new Goods policy, which explain that it the Bank’s general Policy is to finance the procurement of new goods only. Borrower’s procurement should be to the new. * Procurement of used goods does not correspond to the principles of value for money, since the experience in the country has shown there were no credible personnel to undertake such kind of purchasing with evidence of quality of such used items together with its residual value, relevant to the cost of purchase/money spend on buying. * Creation of a fertile ground for rampant corruption because the government/institutions functionaries might use this loophole to buy junk equipment through underhand methods thus causes great losses to the taxpayers. * Higher running expenses, It is cost fully in case of running expenses such as maintenance and service for used item than for brand new equipment, when government institutions decides to purchase used items, will result to incur a lot of money spending on frequently buying costly spare parts and  maintenance as a result to high total cost of operation hence less productivity. Summary: The decision of allowing the procurement of used items in public sector have their respective advantages and disadvantages to the national economy and general social welfare issues as follows. The advantages of procurement of used items are; it is economical, It is affordable due to low cost of acquisition, Used equipment may be available immediately, procurement of more items for the same budget, improves transparency and integrity. The disadvantages are Lack of competitive bidding, failure of getting loans from world Bank, May lead to procure poor quality, does not correspond to the principles of value for money, Creation of a fertile ground for rampant corruption, and Higher running expenses.

The Influence of Atheism in the Enlightenment

The Influence of Atheism on the Age of the Enlightenment While skepticism and doubt have had a presence in human thought for nearly as long as religious faith has existed, they have had a place within religious thought rather than in opposition to it for the vast majority of their existence. Doubt was generally employed by religious thinkers for the purpose of strengthening and explaining their faith, as can be seen in the numerous â€Å"proofs† for the existence of God formulated by the great theologians of the Middle Ages, such as Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Canterbury.With the new science and philosophy of the Enlightenment, however, unbelief began to be seen as a viable alternative option that stood in opposition to faith. In addition to the popular deism of the Enlightenment, espoused by such important figures as Voltaire and Maximilien Robespierre, atheism also found its first explicit adherents among such figures of the French Enlightenment as Baron d'Holbach and Jacqu es Andre Naigeon.This new view of disbelief would have a major influence on subsequent generations of thinkers in the West as proponents of religion now had to contend with disbelief as a rival system of thought and many of the most influential philosophies, such as those of Friedrich Nietzsche and Karl Marx, supported and often assumed this concept of disbelief. Among the numerous new concepts introduced by the philosophers of the Enlightenment, one of those which have had the longest lifespan and the greatest impact has been the introduction of disbelief as a viable alternative position to religious faith, Atheism.One of the most central philosophical pursuits of the Middle Ages was the attempt to reconcile faith and reason. Medieval thinkers had inherited both the religious tradition of the ancient Middle East, which they saw as representative of faith, and the philosophical tradition of ancient Greece, which they saw as representative of reason. In their attempts to synthesize t he two, the primary question they encountered was whether the existence of God, the primary object of faith, could be proved through the use of reason alone. Some of the greatest thinkers who have ever lived have pored at length over this question. † One of the most remarkable features of Medieval philosophy is the centrality of this question when compared with the apparent nonexistence of any separate class of nonbelievers. Not only are there no surviving writings by or about any person espousing outright unbelief during the Middle Ages, but according to Sarah Stroumsa, â€Å"in the discussions of God's existence the actual opponents† of the philosophers examining the question â€Å"are not identified as individuals.As a group they are sometimes referred to as heretics, unbelievers, materialists, or skeptics. † Some of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, then, dedicated large portions of their work to arguing against an entirely theoretical unbelief. When Ans elm of Canterbury formulated his ontological argument and Thomas Aquinas formulated his famous â€Å"five ways† to prove the existence of God, they themselves assumed doubt in their writings in order to strengthen faith through reason and to demonstrate that faith and reason are compatible and complimentary.Later, in the fifteenth century, however, William of Occam set about undoing the synthesis which had been accomplished by Anselm, Aquinas, and others like them. Occam believed that â€Å"logic and theory of knowledge had become dependent on metaphysics and theology† as a result of their work and that they had made reason subservient to faith. He â€Å"set to work to separate them again. As a result of his work to separate faith and reason, according to Richard Tarnas, there arose the psychological necessity of a double-truth universe. Reason and faith came to be seen as pertaining to different realms, with Christian philosophers and scientists, and the larger educa ted Christian public, perceiving no genuine integration between the scientific reality and the religious reality. As scientific knowledge in Europe continued to increase exponentially, the gap between faith and reason continued to widen.Faith had grown detached from reason in ever more literal interpretations of the Bible and the sola fide, or â€Å"faith alone,† dogma of Protestantism, whereas reason increasingly freed itself from reference to faith and instead found its abode in the empirical sciences and â€Å"natural theology,† an approach to religion based on reason and experience rather than speculation and appeal to revelation, of Enlightenment thinkers like Descartes. Traditional Christianity, with its miracles and saints, came increasingly to be viewed as outdated and superstitious. This was especially true in the light of Newtonian physics.A mechanistic universe which operated consistently according to a standard set of laws did not allow for â€Å"alleged m iracles and faith healings, self-proclaimed religious revelations and spiritual ecstasies, prophecies, symbolic interpretations of natural phenomena, encounters with God or the devil† and so on and so these ideas increasingly came to be viewed â€Å"as the effects of madness, charlatanry, or both. † According to Jacques Barzun, â€Å"religion as such [was] not attacked; it [was] redefined into simplicity. † In the light of this new scientific knowledge and the new views of religion it engendered, a new religious movement was needed.The new religious movement that emerged from this situation was deism. Deism allowed that â€Å"one may well be overawed by the Great Archetict and His handiwork;†13 after all, â€Å"Newton's cosmic architecture demanded a cosmic architect. †14 However, â€Å"the attributes of such a God could be properly derived only from the empirical examination of his creation, not from the extravagant pronouncements of revelation. à ¢â‚¬  The deists also prescribed that religion include much emphasis on â€Å"good morals,† as they, like the belief in a creator, â€Å"are universal† as well.This rather tenuous set of beliefs, however, could not hold for long. Samuel Clarke, an early English Enlightenment philosopher, noted in a letter to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that The notion of the world's being a great machine, going on without the interposition of God as a clock continues to go without the assistance of a clockmaker, is the notion of materialism and fate and tends (under pretense of making God a supramundane intelligence) to exclude providence and God's government in reality out of the world.And by the same reason that a philosopher can represent all things going on from the beginning of the creation without any government or interposition of providence, a skeptic will easily argue still further backward and suppose that things have from eternity gone on (as they now do) without any true cre ation or original author at all but only what such arguers call all-wise and eternal nature. As more thinkers began to realize this, â€Å"the rationalist God †¦ soon began to lose philosophical support. Disbelief was no longer just the doubt and needs for â€Å"proofs† that had been present in Medieval thought. It was no longer theoretical and it was no longer subservient to the needs of religious thinkers in their attempts to strengthen the case for faith. Disbelief had become a new and distinct religious category in its own right. Later generations of Western thinkers (drawing on the thought of the Enlightenment in religious matters just as they did in political and economic matters) carried on the Enlightenment's new movement of disbelief.According to Richard Tarnas, It would be the nineteenth century that would bring the Enlightenment's secular progression to its logical conclusion as Comte, Mill, Feuerbach, Marx, Haeckel, Spencer, Huxley, and, in a somewhat differ ent spirit, Nietzsche all sounded the death knell of traditional religion. The Judaeo-Christian God was man's own creation, and the need for that creation had necessarily dwindled with man's modern maturation. Most Western philosophy after the Enlightenment, in fact, no longer felt the need to even argue for or against the existence of God.Rather, philosophers like those named by Tarnas as well as many others simply assumed the nonexistence of God as a fact and formulated their philosophy without regard to the existence of a deity. Ludwig Feuerbach, one of these nineteenth century philosophers who built on the work of the Enlightenment philosophers, stated explicitly that The question as to the existence or non-existence of God, the opposition between theism and atheism, belongs to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but not to the nineteenth.I deny God. But that mans for me that I deny the negation of man. In place of the illusory, fantastic, heavenly position of man which in a ctual life necessarily leads to the degradation of man, I substitute the tangible, actual and consequently also the political and social position of mankind. The question concerning the existence or non-existence of God is not important but the question concerning the existence or non-existence of man is.For the philosophers of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and even the Enlightenment, â€Å"the question concerning the existence or non-existence of God† had, of course, been seen as being of the utmost following the importance of the Enlightenment. Only a philosopher who lived in the wake of the Enlightenment and accepted its presuppositions in materialism and determinism would have been able to make such a statement as Feuerbach's; his words are demonstrative of how influential the atheism of the Enlightenment had become. Though his words bout himself can only fairly be applied specifically to Feuerbach and do play an important role in his unique philosophy, much the same sent iments can with confidence be assigned to the vast majority of other great philosophers who The disbelief of the Enlightenment has also had a major effect on popular philosophy and religion, especially in Europe. According to the 2005 Eurobarometer Poll, approximately 18% of the citizens of countries in the European Union report that they â€Å"don't believe there is any kind of spirit, God or life force. 29 This is a significant change, of course, from the situation in Europe during the Middle Ages, when Anselm, Aquinas, and others like them directed their arguments for the existence of God against vague, theoretical, and unnamed â€Å"skeptics† and â€Å"heretics. † The new prominence and popularity of disbelief also had a major effect within Christianity for much the same reason. Unbelievers were now real and unbelief itself now a viable alternative to religious faith; as a result, many believers felt a need to go on the defensive.Doubt, and even any application of reason to Christianity and to issues of faith, came to be viewed as insidious enemies, not as the means to the strengthening and further understanding of faith as in previous generations. 30 In removing a rational element from faith, faith came to be ever more irrational and, occasionally in later Western history, even anti-rational, as is evidenced by the growth and influence of Christian and semi-Christian sects focused on otherworldly mysticism, ecstatic experience, and emotionalism to the exclusion of logical thought and scientific knowledge in America and Europe during and following the Enlightenment.Christian apologetic also took on a more forceful character, as Christian apologists found it necessary to concede as little as possible to the unbelievers, such as defending extremely literal interpretations of the six-day creation and worldwide flood described in the biblical book of Genesis, whereas earlier generations of Christians had generally interpreted these events in all egorical and mystical terms. 31 Christian apologists also found it necessary to attack their unbelieving opponents with a new zeal, labeling them as â€Å"missionaries of evil† and focusing the bulk of their apologetic efforts on disbelief ather than on other religions or Christian heresies. 32 The attempts to reconcile faith and reason and the use of doubt as a faith-building tool had become things of the past. Doubt has been implicit within and an aspect of religious belief for as long as religious ideas have existed. This is especially true of the Christian religious tradition, whose most intellectual adherents found reasonable arguments for the existence of God to be necessary in the course of their attempts to reconcile the inheritances they had received from both ancient Judaism and ancient Athens.The eventual reconciliation of faith with reason, though accomplished during the Middle Ages, fell apart as the Middle Ages ended, largely under the influence of William of Oc cam. With the dawn of the Enlightenment in Europe and especially the new scientific knowledge which it brought with it, the separation that had been wrought between faith and reason widened continually and ever more deeply.Deism originally rose from the â€Å"reason† side of this split as a supposedly reasonable alternative to religious superstition; it attempted to formulate a set of religious beliefs that was pared down to the basics of the existence of a creator God and a moral system he had ordained alongside the laws of the universe. As the universe and human beings themselves came to be viewed increasingly as natural machines, however, there was less and less need for the existence of a God or the plausibility of holding to a moral system based on one.With d'Holbach, atheismefound its first outspoken spokesman, extolling a worldview in which there was no God and everything that existed was part of the material world. As with much Enlightenment philosophy, this view subs equently gained such popularity and influence among philosophers that it became the assumed standpoint of later generations of philosophers. As with any great new idea, the effects became tremendous once atheism reached the ears of the people at large, reshaping the nature of both religious belief and disbelief throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and continuing through to today.

Anlysis of the Nike Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anlysis of the Nike Company - Essay Example 14). Economic factors that affect the industry are general economic conditions, anti-dumping duties, restrictions on the transfer of currency, the annual renewal of NTR with Vietnam, availability of import quotas and currency exchange rate fluctuations (NIKE, Inc. 13-14). On the sociological front, athletic footwear and apparel are consumer products and the relative popularity of various sports and fitness activities and changing design trends affect the demand for such products (NIKE, Inc. 11). On the technological front, although design and aesthetics appear to be the most important factor for consumer acceptance of athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment, technical innovation in the design of such products to reduce injury, enhance athletic performance and maximize comfort is also essential to commercial success. Research and development plays a key role in technical innovation (NIKE, Inc. 12). Lastly, factors in the legal and ecological environment that could affect the athleti c footwear, apparel, and equipment industry are non-compliance of environmental, health and safety standards or applicable local law by contractors. This could harm the organization's reputation and have an adverse effect on sales (NIKE, Inc. 12). To the athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment industry, trademark is perhaps the important aspect in the legal environment. Having distinctive marks that are readily identifiable is an important factor in creating a market for goods, in identifying the firm, in distinguishing a firm's goods from those of others, in building a brand, and in a firm's competitive position (NIKE, Inc. 13-14). The intensity of competition is high. The athletic footwear, apparel and equipment industry is keenly competitive in the United States and on a worldwide basis. International players comprise of athletic and leisure shoe companies, athletic and leisure apparel companies, sports equipment companies, and large companies having diversified lines of athletic and leisure shoes, apparel and equipment (NIKE, Inc. 7). Competition also exists for the production capacity of independent manufacturers and for import quota capacity. The industry's product offerings, technologies, marketing expenditures (including advertising and endorsements), pricing, costs of production, and customer service are aspects of intense competition (NIKE, Inc. 11). The bargaining power of suppliers is medium. Suppliers mainly include contract manufacturers and professional athletes and sports teams and leagues to evaluate and promote the products of a firm, and to establish the authenticity of a firm's products wit h consumers (NIKE, Inc. 12). The bargaining power of professional athletes and sports teams and leagues is high. The endorsements of professional athletes and sports teams and leagues such as Tigerwoods, Ronaldo and Michael Jordan (Nike, Inc. online) is important to the marketing and branding of a firm's products. The high bargaining power of professional athletics and sports teams and leagues is mitigated by the low bargaining power of contract manufacturers. Compared to the athletic footwear and apparel industry dominated by a few large organizations such as Nike and Reebok1, there are hundreds of contract manufacturers (NIKE, Inc. 12; Rankine and Ferris 4-5). Besides, the shoes and apparel produced by contract manufacturers are commodities. It is the brand name of the organization that designs, markets, and sells the products that makes the product

Business Myths Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Myths - Case Study Example â€Å"Hey, this meal is fantastic! You should start a restaurant!† This is a myth. Starting a restaurant requires various skills other than being a good cook 5. I’ll just open my store, and people will stream in off the sidewalks and buy from me. This is also known as the â€Å"If you build it, they will come† approach to business. Accessibility does not guarantee success in business. Customer may try it out but will not return if the product or service is poor. 6. It’s a cool idea. Everyone will love this. Often focus groups provide such input to marketers—we love the idea. Focus groups gives an indication of how the market will receive the product in the market given their past experiences and knowledge. But again, not a guarantee that such will succeed in the market. 9. Failure is bad. Failure is the opposite of success. This is why dodge ball has been banned in schools and soccer teams are penalized if they get more than five goals ahead of their competitors. The examples are Myth. But the statement that failure is bad is correct. Taken as a whole, this is a myth. 11. Cash flow is what really matters in business. Profit can just be a trick of accounting whereas cash flow controls whether you can stay in business. Many companies go out of business due to cash flow challenges, even though they were profitable on paper. Myth. While cash flow is important to keep the business running, it is not everything. Business also needs to invest and there are expenditures that do not immediately affect cash flow. 12. Having more customers is better than having fewer customers. Would you believe that some companies go out of business because they have too many customers or too much demand for their product? False. Customers are never too much. They are the very reason why a business exists. B. Is it true that: YOU CAN WIN CUSTOMERS JUST by LOWERING YOUR PRICES? Explain. No. Price is just one of the components in attracting

Cultural Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Nursing - Research Paper Example Since 1960s, leaders in nursing have continuously recognized the need for nursing schools to educate students on how to provide cultural care to the people. Educating graduates on transcultural care has enabled them sharpen their nursing skill which are needed in the society. The provision of care is not only limited to hospitals and health centers but requires nurses to be equipped with the knowhow to go to the villages to provide cultural care. The recruitment of graduates well trained with transcultural nursing skills significantly improved the services offered by the nurses to people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Many nurses worldwide have been trained to provide effective culturally harmonious care. The need for cultural care in the twenty-first century has increased the offering of courses in transcultural nursing both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Transcultural nursing has also been recognized and incorporated as a fundamental program element and accrediting ag encies are expected to be competent. A faculty has also been prepared under transcultural nursing with an aim of addressing cultural care issues. The application of the transcultural nursing research based knowledge is available today. ... Research in the entire world has demonstrated the appeal and applicability of the theory across various cultural backgrounds. Transcultural nursing has grown internationally and this is a clear indicator that the nurses are committed to including cultural care in their profession. They had embraced diversity unlike in the past when the concept of transcultural care was being introduced. (Luckmann, 1999, p. 57). Principles of transcultural nursing have been recognized in the entire world nowadays. The volatility and dynamism experienced in the past while addressing nursing care as citizens, educators, clinicians and researchers has changed. Transcultural nursing has opened an opportunity for people to engage, speak, debate, develop, grow, deliberate and contemplate on cultural issues and their diversities. The awareness on cultural care as a reasonable area of study has opened avenues for nurses to conduct research on cultural issues. Cultural aspects such as nursing, health, sickness and health care are being researched in different cultures. Transcultural nursing is made up of four main sections currently: Culture and health, mental health, globalization and cardiovascular health. When dealing with transcultural nursing, the impacts of migration, globalization, social inequity, colonization and health technology and management play a crucial role. Cultures keep on changing and thus there is a need for the nurses to invent knew ideas and methodologies on how to cope up with the cultural changes. Cultural care has forced the education sector to change its curriculum to cater for the new cultural beliefs and practices. It is only through this that

Television and film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Television and film - Essay Example Some of the mostly tackled subjects today would be the notion of masculinity, femininity, courtship, and marriage where conservative ways are now being represented in a reversed way. The women now play as the breadwinner, self-empowered, and independent. To have a fulfilling marriage, they often times illustrate it with a third party. Hence, as these kinds of shows are highly promoted to bring in more sales for a network, new and avid imitators of each character of a movie or series would be spawned, depending on their relatability to the audience (Television in American Popular Culture, n.d.). With this said, the visual entertainment media is indeed very significant in shaping the mindset and attitude of American culture today on every subject. The social influences of this kind of visual entertainment when it comes to the notion of femininity is mostly positive wherein women are now seen as equals with men. However, the value of courtship and marriage is continuously degraded especially when films embrace a more adventurous take on it, mocking the sanctity of respect, loyalty, and

Managing Human Resource Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Human Resource Issues - Assignment Example Hard HR focuses on business needs of HR and takes action accordingly i.e. hiring, firing and moving. 2. Soft HR Soft HR treats employees as their most important assets and resource. Many business, make their employees their competitive advantage. Special care is taken for planning and fulfilling the needs of employees and under soft HR, employees are treated as individuals. Soft HR focuses on the needs of employees that include motivation, rewards and roles. 3. Tight and Loose Dimensions of HRM Tight and loose dimensions of HRM depicts that some organizations prefer to provide a loose (informal) environment to their employees so that they can work in a more pleasant and easy environment whereas tight dimension of HRM refers to the more formally organized workforce where the main objective is to accomplish goals by any means. Review the differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM and personnel and IR practices Storey’s Definition of HRM According to Storey, human com mitment and capability is essential for every organization. He argues that human resource, capability and commitment are what differentiate an organization. Therefore, importance of human capital needs to be integrated at the highest level of management in organization. Human capital must be integrated in all the functions of an organization so as to enable the organization to achieve its goals. IR Practices Storey’s IR practices incorporate that employees needs to follow certain rules, regulations, policies, norms and customers within the workplace. It creates division of labor among workforce because the pays of workers are made on standard rules. Analyze HRM from a strategic perspective and its implications for the role of the line manager and employees Strategic Perspective of HRM Strategically, HRM is a fundamental tool that provides the organization a framework to hire the best possible human resources in the organization. Human resource is the only asset of the organiz ation which cannot be imitated by the other organizations. Due to this, the organizations focus on developing such an effective team of workers who can provide the organization an edge over its competitors. The role of line managers and employees is also quite influential for the HRM practices such that these are actually the line managers to whom the HR department provides the best available employees so that those employees can achieve the overall organizational goals by facilitating their line managers. Section 2 2. Review ways of developing flexibility within the workplace: Review and explain a model of flexibility and show how this might be applied in practice Flexibility is a key area that has emerged vastly across the world in relation to human resource practices. The model of flexibility reflects such workplace environment where the employees are allowed to enjoy flexibilities with respect to different sorts of their job related issues. For instance, they might be provided f lexible time opportunity to decide their own timings for their job, allowing them to work at their homes, allowing them the flexibility to choose a reward package as per their own needs etc. These sorts of flexibilities provide the employees more ease and they perform their best when they are at their ease and thus adding more productivity to the organization.

Sociology Dissertation Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sociology Dissertation Report - Essay Example This report details my reasons for taking up this subject for my study and reflects on the conclusions drawn therein. While there were many issues I considered for the purpose of preparing a sociology dissertation, obesity appeared to be the one that had registered the sharpest rise in recent years and was also affecting the greatest number of people. At the outset, I recognized that obesity could also be classified as a medical problem rather than a sociological one. But there is one aspect in which obesity differs from other urgent medical problems that pose a danger to health. Such medical problems are restricted to limited sections of society; but obesity appears to be a prevalent condition, which is affecting a huge segment of American society, especially among young people who have traditionally been more active and thereby less obese than adults. The question that arose in this context was – what could be the possible reasons for such a dramatic rise in obesity, especially among children, in recent years? Applying Mills’ Sociological approach, the trend towards rising obesity is a feature of recent times, therefore it appeared likely that changing lifestyles with concomitant sedentary lifestyles were contributing to obesity. There are of course, medical reasons that can also be attributed as causal factors in obesity. But while some individuals may be obese due to medical reasons it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain away the increase in obesity among Americans across the nation, from different walks of life, purely on these grounds. There appeared to be indisputable sociological factors or elements in the environment that are causal factors of obesity. From this perspective, I began to explore the literature to discover the findings of other researchers on the causal factors leading to obesity. I found that there was a clear

Corporation Tech Essay Example for Free

Corporation Tech Essay Corporation Tech will face many security risks with their current network. The user domain is the single most vulnerable part of any network and as such poses the most obvious security risk. To mitigate risks involving the users is to implement policies and training to educate the user on proper use and security best practices. By educating the user on security practices such as secure passwords, safe web surfing, and securing their workstations, many potential attacks can be avoided. Policies and training are also necessary because they can be used as evidence when taking administrative action against a user or intruder in the event the system or data information is compromised. Laptops and workstations have their own set of security risks associated with them. They are vulnerable to being compromised by malware, spyware, or even hackers that take advantage of certain exploits. Laptops, workstations and mobile devices are susceptible to malicious software attacks, theft or loss. Viruses and malware can affect these devices and are usually acquired through contaminated email attachments and hyperlinks that redirect the user to exploited web sites or are transferred through USB storage devices. Viruses and malware can also be acquired by downloading infected files or programs that are designed by hackers. Because of the need to protect systems against threats, all workstations and laptops should be secured with antivirus and firewall software and updated and patched on a regular basis to fix vulnerabilities with the software that hackers may exploit. Since the laptops are mobile by nature they are at risk of being stolen along with all of the data saved on their hard drives. The best security method for this would be to encrypt the hard drives on the laptops and where feasible only store sensitive data on corporate servers and allow authorized user  remote access to the data via SSHVPN sessions. Physical security or lack thereof also poses a huge risk; if an attacker has physical access to your equipment they do not actually need your log in credentials to access data. Attackers could boot your systems up on a live CD and compromise your information without leaving any trace in the logs other than a restart. Even if an attacker has a narrow window for physical access to your systems, they can steal the hardware and gain access to the data from it at their convenience. Secure all removable equipment is locked storage locations with security controls such as cameras and biometric access devices. Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks are a major concern when it comes to the company’s servers; this is done when a botnet sends an overwhelming amount of requests to the servers until they shut down. The best method to deal with this is to install security hardware or software that can detect these kinds of attacks as they are beginning to take place and filter that traffic out. The hardware is often very effective but also can be very expensive which can be a whole different issue but if you have the funding available I would recommend purchasing the hardware. SQL injections are one of the most common attacks on web based applications, these attacks occur when an attacker inserts a SQL statement that is not authorized through a SQL data channel such as the login screen. This best way to mitigate this risk is to implement string checking for special SQL characters or install software to check the web application for injection vulnerabilities. The software may cost a little money but it will help to prevent unauthorized access to information in your database.

International Business and Global Strategy Essay Example for Free

International Business and Global Strategy Essay In-Depth Market Analysis of two target markets: China and Argentina China is a great world exporter receiving large amounts of foreign investment and is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Entering the market therefore will be easier than when China was not part of the WTO. According to The World Fact Book (2010) by 2009, China had a population of 1. 34 billion. Although its population growth is not very high at 0. 49, the population is the highest in the world and provides for ample market for Body Shop International Plc (BSI plc. ). China has an income distribution of 51. 10. This indicates that the distribution of purchasing power is standardized. BSI plc does not have to specialize in its clientele and can anticipate a wide market for its products. China’s mean age stands at 35. 2. In the age demographics, China’s largest age bracket is the 15-64 yeas age category. This makes up for 71. 9% of the population as in 2008 where men were estimated at 491,513,378 and women at 465,020,030 (The World Fact Book. 2010). For BSI plc this creates a large market since beauty products are usually consumed by this age group. In terms of education, China population is educated with a literacy rate of 92% (The World Fact Book. 010) . The overall enrollment for elementary, secondary and higher education is at 69. 1. This is a good indicator that beauty products would be well received and are a part of the population that can appreciate its use. China’s growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 8. 70 in 2009. This GDP has been on a rising trajectory and is expected to continue as China continues to rise as an economic power. This provides for a secure market with good financial indicators that investment would respond favorably and quickly. The per capita gross income at 6600. 0 is also high making it easier for BSI plc to invest widely. The disposable income at 2. 60 represents a China’s purchasing power. BSI plc would be able to promote its products and the conditions are favorable for household spending. The continued rise in GDP growth will increase the spending habits of the population as the disposable income becomes more elastic. Inflation would negatively affect BSI plc and that is why the low inflation rate in China provides for market security against rising of prices. In china the population has continued to increase its cosmetics buying. At 46. 80 the population indicates a sizable spending on cosmetics. This creates a potential for BSI plc to garner a market share. China presents some difficulties in terms of ease of conducting business and economic freedom. However, foreign investment is still welcome and the government has opened the doors for foreign investment. Argentina is one of the countries in South America that have been experiencing economic growth. It therefore presents itself as a great target market. Its population of in 2009 was 40. 1 Million. The population growth is not very high at 1. 17 but the country has a viable market population. Argentina has an income distribution of 51. 90. This indicates that the distribution of purchasing power is high and standardized. BSI plc therefore can anticipate a wide market for its products without having to cater for a specialize clientele. Argentina’s mean age stands at 30. In the age demographics, Argentina’s largest age bracket is the 15-64 years at 63. 5% with the men standing at 12,961,725 while the women stand at 13,029,265 (The World Fact Book. 2010). For BSI plc this creates a large market since beauty products are usually consumed by this age group. According to The World Fact Book (2010) Argentina population is educated with a literacy rate of 97. %. This is a good indicator that beauty products would be well received and are a part of the population that can appreciate its use. Argentina’s growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 0. 20 in 2009. This GDP is low. This provides for a less secure market whereby BSI plc’s investment may take longer to respond favorably and quickly. Despite the global economic crisis Argentina and most of the Latin America were not acutely affected. The per capita gross income at 10200. 0 is also high making it easier for BSI plc to invest widely. The disposable income at 1. 0 represents a moderate purchasing power for Argentina. BSI plc would be able to promote its products as the conditions give room for moderate household spending. Inflation would which would negatively affect BSI plc stands at 4. 20. In Argentina spending on cosmetics has also increased although it is at 25. 40. This means BSI plc still has potential to make an investment in Argentina’s existing market. At 127. 0 Argentina represents favorable ease with which BSI plc can do business in Argentina. It also has good economic freedom. Foreign investment is welcome. Contacts and Competitive Analysis  Contacts are important in that they would allow BSI plc to gather information that is relevant to its venture. That is why the chamber of commerce assists foreign companies conducting business their country. It also offers its members relevant business contacts and information about Argentina. Through events and opportunities the Chamber also enables businesses to meet with government officials and key players thus facilitating relations. Contact with the ministry of foreign affairs is also important to BSI plc. The ministry is responsible for trade agreements and policies. By having the Ministry’s contacts, BSI plc can make necessary plans to attend and benefit from the ministry’s consular and diplomatic activities. As the ministry seeks businesses and companies that would increase investment in their country, BSI plc would have an opportunity to market itself to the target countries. Contacts of possible suppliers, importers and buyers are helpful so that a company can establish business relations within the industry. The choice of Alibaba Company is ideal in that it is a recognizable global distributor with very strong financial and corporate growth according to Alibaba. om. (1999-2010). China Target Market potential The market potential in China is quite high at 2530500000. This is calculated from number of potential consumers, the frequency with which the consumers buy in a year and the price of the product. This represents the potential of the cosmetic industry in China which BSI plc targets. Company Sales Potential BSI plc sales potential is dependent on the market share it will capture out of the potential market. If BSI plc secures a market share of 13. 5 %, it will estimate whether it can meet the demand of its target. Competitors Analysis  Lush Company provides competition for BSI plc. According to Lush (19950-2010) its main product is body butter. The location of its headquarters is in China providing it with advantages of proximity. BSI plc is localized and thus there are policies that favor it against foreign companies. This helps it keep its prices affordable. Lush has been in business for the past 32 years giving it long experience in the industry. Lush Company caters to the local market in China and has specialized in the product demands of the local population and tailored the product to suit the particular needs of the Chinese target market. Its employees number 1200 giving it good human resource. Lush has also invested in e-commerce offering customers its products even where it does not have retails and wholesaler stores. They vary their prices in response to the market. In their promotion strategy Lush aims to protect its reputation and maintain its image. Their products they have chosen to use to promote the quality of their product is care butter, Tuca Tuca perfume, Tuca Tuca massage oil, and Black stocking. Regulatory Environment for the industry In China, the regulatory environment would regulate cosmetic products. This is because although a company would use the Automatic import licensing granting its cosmetics products freedom from import controls, the importation of materials like plastic need monitoring. FDI regulations and implications for BSI plc China is becoming the greatest receipient of FDI and as such it is poised for economic growth and increased capital that places BSI plc in a great position for growth if it makes investment. The government regulates foreign investment according to WTO regulations and its economic goals where China is now quite open to and is keen to attract foreign investors. Argentina Target Market potential The market potential in Argentina is high at 41250000. This is calculated from number of potential consumers, the frequency with which the consumers buy in a year and the price of the product. This represents the potential of the cosmetic industry in Argentina. Company Sales Potential BSI plc sales potential is dependent on the market share it will capture out of the potential market. If BSI plc secures a market share of 3. 5 %, it will estimate whether it can meet the demand of its target. Competitors Analysis L’ Occitane Company provides competition for BSI plc. Its main product is mini shea butter/L’ Occitane body toner. According to The body Shop (2009) BSI plc deals with sweet almond oil in its moisturizers. The location of its headquarters is in Argentina providing it with advantages of proximity. BSI plc is localized and thus there are policies that favor it against foreign companies. This helps it keep its prices affordable. L’ Occitane has been in business for the past 34 years giving it long experience in the industry. L’ Occitane Company caters to the local market in Argentina and has specialized in the product demands of the local population and tailored the product to suit the particular needs of the Argentinean target market. Its employees number 2000 giving it great human resource. L’ Occitane has also invested in e-commerce offering customers its products even where it does not have retails and wholesaler stores. They vary their prices in response to the market. L’ Occitane uses advertising, personal sale and product promotions as its promotional strategy. The products it uses include shea cocoa butter, Almont body care, verbena liquid soup honey and lemon scented and summer Travil Hair care. Its target market is 14 years and above both male and female. Regulatory Environment for the industry In Argentina, one of the key regulations would be in business conduct and tradition. Companies have to publish their Technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures. It contains duty and obligations related to the business and operation of TBT investigation Points. Companies have to confirm their recognition of the Code of Good Practice. Argentina the Bureau of Customs is the governmental agency is strict in the enforcement of the tariff and Customs laws and regulations. Importation of goods is governed by a numerous of import policy. FDI regulations and implications for BSI plc Argentina is currently not attracting much foreign investment due to its slow economic development and inflation rate. Although the government is using the WTO regulations and working hard to increase investment, there is difficulty for foreign companies because of high interest rates.

Networked Game Issues

Networked Game Issues Network Issues and how they affect gameplay and interactivity A network is when two or more computers have a digital connection between them, particular in networked multiplayer games the players are physically separated from each other. Networks allow users clients to communicate by sending bits of data through the internet of the form of packets, these will then build on top of the internet protocol, and this in terms means that if a packet sent using UDP or TCP a specific IP address then receives the packet. (Armitage, Claypool and Branch, 2006) Unlike networking in this day and age games such as Doom was played through a LAN connection (Local Area Network) which at the time used an IPX protocol. An IPX protocol doesnt require a constant connection between the exchanges of packets.[o1] Appendix [a1] displays the required layers of hardware and software that Doom required to be run across a network. The Topologies that Doom used for LAN connection, the figure on left in appendix [a2] is an Ethernet connection that has computers connected to it acting as peers and the figure on the right also in appendix [a2] is similar to the left figure. All players received a message every 35th of a second that recorded all the players inputs across peer-to-peer network. (Armitage, Claypool and Branch, 2006) Packets are carried all over the internet using networks(Armitage, Claypool and Branch, 2006), the time it takes to send a packet of data from a source to its destination is latency, as standard latency will below 150ms (milliseconds) and wont go above 150ms. A packet must then travel back to the source which results in a round trip time which can take twice as long as the latency i.e. 50ms latency 100ms round trip time. The game world of warcraft consists of two latencies a home and a world latency, home is the connection to the realm server which can include in game chat data, world refers to the world of warcraft servers this in term transmit all other data i.e. combat, nearby players (even if they are not on a users screen and NPCs. The latency will increase greatly when visiting highly populated areas because so much data is being transmitted. In online games there are many common issues that will cause high ping and latency these could involve wireless issues, packet loss, down load speed, firewalls, routers that arent configured correctly i.e. closed ports, QoS and Traffic management where packet queuing is being performed and net link saturation (an issue caused by a users ISP that causes connection issues between a users client and a game server). Congestion is usually the main source of packet jitter, depending if the network has been provisioned correctly congestion can occur at the router interface, in a provider or a carrier network. A User has access to the router, therefore it is the easiest and best place to start in determining jitter at the router end; to track down the source of the jitter depends entirely on the encapsulation.[o2] (Ankit, 2012)Latency in online multiplayer games can change due to jitter where different paths are chosen constantly during streams of traffic. While online gaming a high speed internet connection is recommended to avoid jitter preferably using an Ethernet cable to reduce latency because it is almost immune to interference. Packet Loss usually has four main causes that will occur these are congestion, device performance, software issues on a device, faulty hardware[o3]; the first one being link congestion is when a users data needs to be transferred across many devices and links, a link can be at full capacity when the data arrives at must wait before being sent also called queuing. A network device may start to discard information when it doesnt have enough room for data to queue, information being discarded will most likely never be noticed by the user, many applications can easily discard information and still easily handle data queuing. A users router may not be able to keep up with the traffic that is being transferred; this could be due to a switch, firewall or closed ports. Opening ports on a router allows a networked device connected to the router accessible from outside of the local network i.e. other computers and network devices, this benefits gaming greatly where other players can send and receive data with hardly any interference, usually if a port is closed for a certain game a users gaming experience will suffer. Apparently a routers firmware can cause packet loss during gaming according to Netgear community forum, a user was experiencing severe packet loss across many games and after trying altering game settings, router settings and calling his ISP provider multiple times ended up calling Netgear where they recommended using an older firmware on his router and solved his packet loss problem. [o4] Software on a networked device can cause packet loss if the software hasnt been configured correctly, these bugs can usually be found using a system log or troubleshooting. While software can cause issues so can faulty hardware and cabling resulting in more packet loss, Bandwidth is measured in bits per second, modern day network devices can possibly support up to billions of bits worth of data rates. Slow internet connection is a common cause of low bandwidth, this can be insufficient bandwidth provided by an ISP. In normal terms bandwidth is when a connection has a limited amount of data that can be transferred. Not only does a slow internet connection cause low bandwidth but there are other causes that can happen within a house hold i.e. streaming videos on demand via Netflix or any other on demand provider, downloading files from the internet or in the context of games that require numerous large updates; while these can affect the bandwidth any user that has a home security system which needs a constant stream of data i.e. security footage will also cause bandwidth issues. [5]To avoid bottlenecking for users on the same network the above issues should only be performed when network traffic is low. (Smed, Kaukoranta and Hakonen, 2002) Although t here are ways to try and prevent bandwidth issues, packet aggregations is used to combine many packets being transferred together in to one larger packet in order to reduce the bandwidth requirements. Depending on the size of the data in the original packets, the packet headers size and how many combined packets there are bandwidth savings can be substantial. The number of combined packets can be determined with two different methods timeout-based method and quorum-based method; for timeout-based method before a fixed interval all packets are originated and then become one. An upper bound interval is guaranteed due to the aggregation thanks to this method. The worst thing that can happen with this method is no bandwidth savings are achieved. A certain number of packets are always combined in the quorum method, the number is usually fixed. The transmission delay is not guaranteed because the method is postponed until enough packets have been initiated. The users experience can suffer because of the extended delays in transmission. Both methods have limitations but can each be compensated for when combined (Smed, Kaukoranta and Hakonen, 2002). Internet download speed has always been somewhat of an issue in online gaming where some players can have a slight disadvantage over others, for example Call of Duty 4 selected a Host player at the start of each match if the player had a slow connection all other players were affected except the host thus the term host advantage was given. The graph in appendix [a3] displays the average connection and average peak connection in megabits per second across the globe for 2015. From the data we can gather that Singapore has the highest peak connection speed compared to the United Kingdom is less than half of the peak connection. Singapore may have the highest peak connection but the average connection is dominated by South Korea, their internet connection is years ahead of most of countries some not far behind. Again in 2015 the United Kingdom has almost half the speed of South Korea thus leading us to believe that South Korea is a nation of exceptional gamers thanks to their powerful intent connection. The above graph in appendix [a4] displays the average internet connection for the UK in megabits between March 2013 and March 2016. In those 3 years we can see from the data that the connection speed has more than doubled which gives us an insight that in the next 3 years the average connection speed could double again. MMO Development Discussion and Algorithmic Techniques to Support Scalability There are several things we need to take into account when converting our game to an MMO: Scalability Performance Security The client needs to communicate with the sever using the game protocol to update the status of other clients at the same time within the virtual game environment; things updated include position, health and client name (Yoon and Ng, 2011). First we would need to create a database and link in up to the game sever so that players can register, theres no need for character creation because each client is assigned a character however they could have an avatar name. The name they enter would then need to be checked if it exists within the database using a for each loop to determine if it does then prompt the player to try a new name. Once registered, a player can login in using their credentials i.e. username and password and again that would be checked in the database using a for each loop. An overall translucent text box can be used for chat between players; this could update on the server side and be sent to all clients. A client enders a message sends it to the server and sends it back to all clients. Another thing that could be included is a friends list that would save a players username in a clients friends list only if both clients come to an agreement. We could then introduce an instant message option that would appear in a clients chat box that would be rendered a different colour from normal chat if sent from a friend. See appendix [a5] to see how the game would handle and request information that would be between client and game server. To allow scalability we need to distribute servers onto multiple physical severs, a certain number of gaming severs would be distributed onto physical servers, a gaming server would then handle many more connected players than a physical server, if too many players are on a game server the performance will decrease and render the game unplayable, performance will depend the processing power of the servers and the available bandwidth. [o5] For security we would use encryption, this is so 3rd parties cant view data, both parties are who they say they are i.e. client and server and the data hasnt been modified. We should assume that a user or an attacker can view information that has been sent to the client so the server shouldnt send information that the user should not be able to see i.e. user credentials, client shouldnt really be relied upon for security because an attacker can send pretty much any command they want to a user.[o6] The server should handle pretty much all validation and error checks etc., the client should basically just send a message that they are attacking with a certain item so the sever knows to calculate a certain dps (damage per second). Encryption will not work on someone that uses a bot or deterministic movement to send commands to the server, for example using a seeded random number generator will give the same results over and over again which can be extremely good for grinding a quest or a different seeded number generator for say combat where random attacks are used when they are available. Appendix [a1]Figure was taken from (Armitage, Claypool and Branch, 2006) paper on Networking and Online Games. [a2] Figure was taken from (Armitage, Claypool and Branch, 2006) paper on Networking and Online Games. [a3] Data taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speedsoldid=758974262 and entered into an excel spreadsheet to produce the graph [a4] Data taken from (Jackson, 2016) and entered into a spreadsheet to produce the graph [a5] (Yoon and Ng, 2011) References [1]Armitage, G., Claypool, M. and Branch, P., 2006. Networking and online games: understanding and engineering multiplayer Internet games. John Wiley Sons [2] Jackson, M. (2016). Ofcom 2016 Report Average UK Home Broadband Speeds Reach 28.9Mbps ISPreview UK. [online] Ispreview.co.uk. Available at: http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/03/ofcom-2016-report-average-uk-home-broadband-speeds-reach-28-9mbps.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. [4] Smed, J., Kaukoranta, T. and Hakonen, H., 2002. A review on networking and multiplayer computer games (pp. 1-5). Turku Centre for Computer Science. [5] Packetworks.net. (2015). Low Bandwidth Means Slow Network Performance Packetworks. [online] Available at: http://www.packetworks.net/blog/low-bandwidth-means-slow-network-performance.htm [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. [6] Ankit. (2012). What are causes of Jitter in gaming and how to find and deal with it. [online] Available at: http://www.techulator.com/resources/6255-What-causes-Jitter-gaming-how-find-deal-with.aspx [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. [7] Yoon, I. and Ng, G., 2011. Developing a MMORPG game in One Semester. In The 2011 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering. [o1]http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/IPX [o2]http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice/voice-quality/18902-jitter-packet-voice.html#topic3 [o3]http://www.annese.com/blog/what-causes-packet-loss [o4]https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/Packet-loss-during-gaming/td-p/1097304 [o5]http://jayurbain.com/msoe/se3250/slides/se3250-L15-MMO-game-architecture.pdf [o6]http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4307149/should-a-mmorpg-use-encryption

Outsourcing Inmates :: Globalization essays, research papers

Outsourcing Inmates is a Bad Move Governor Greg Benson wants to outsource the states medium security prisoners. Outsourcing would mean send inmates in the states prisons out of state to serve their prison sentence. We would be sending these inmates who aren’t just a number; they are fathers, sons, and grandchildren to prisons in states such as Texas or Georgia. He says this will help with over crowding and will save New Hampshire tax payers money. Shipping inmates out of state will hurt the community’s of New Hampshire, it won’t save much money, and is a bad idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About 70 protesters, calling them selves Families of New Hampshire Inmates, gathered outside the statehouse on March 15, 2004. The prison staff and families of inmates are concerned about Governor Benson’s plan to ship inmates out of state, which will also send jobs out of state (Inmate). Charlene Newman, a Massachusetts resident, insists it is irresponsible to make budget cuts to the Department of Corrections; it puts a strain on public safety. â€Å"If they send our families away, they are just warehousing them,† Newman said. â€Å"They are going to send them back to this community not reformed, and our communities are going to be unsafe† (qtd in Inmates). Another protester was Portsmouth’s mayor Evelyn Sirrell. Her son is in the state prison on a kidnapping sentence. â€Å"To sit in that room and watch the children, the wives, and the grandparents visit their loved ones is very warming,† Sirrell said. â€Å"I’ve been t aking my 8-year old grandson to visit his father regularly, and his face just lights right up. To snatch that away just isn’t right. I’ll fight this, and fight it and keep on fighting it† (qtd in Manning). â€Å"There’s still a feeling that they are a throw-away society. But everybody makes mistakes, and we should give these inmates a chance to bounce back,† Sirrell said. â€Å"Separating them from there families will make it that much harder for them† (qtd in Manning). David Michaud, an inmate at Concord state prison, said the governor’s proposal is causing â€Å"anxiety† and â€Å"uncertainty† among the inmates. (CCA) The Executive Councilor of NH, Peter Spaulding, doesn’t agree with Benson either. He notes the Governor didn’t even consult with the council or legislators before enouncing his plan. â€Å"To me it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Nobody went to the legislature or the council, and there wasn’t even much consultation with corrections officials from what I can tell,† Spaulding said.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Essays -- Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte Ess

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre, a novel about an English woman’s struggles told through the writing of Charlotte Brontà «, has filled its audience with thoughts of hope, love, and deception for many years. These thoughts surround people, not just women, everyday, as if an endless cycle from birth to death. As men and women fall further into this spiral of life they begin to find their true beings along with the qualities of others. This spiral then turns into a web of conflicts as the passenger of life proceeds and often these conflicts are caused by those sought out to be guides through the journey of life but merely are spiders building a magnificent web to catch its prey. In Jane Eyre, Brontà « uses the literary elements of plot and character to convey the theme that a person often falls in love with a manipulator because she has little experiences of other forms of love and as a result she has to establish her own integrity. Brontà « uses the character element of opinions to show how some people often form conclusions about others and express them in their thoughts as either cruel or friendly. Since Brontà « bases Jane Eyre as story told through a young lady the reader is allowed to experience her thoughts and reactions to those around her who make her very personality. As Jane is in her youth she develops these notions about her own family yelling at her cousin John saying, â€Å"You are like a murderer--you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman Emperors.† (p. 8) Not only showing that Jane has the intellectual maturity much greater than that of a normal ten-year-old but also that she finds John cruel and sees him becoming a bad man when he grows up. Due to Mrs. Reed’s lack of discipline John did grow as his cousin perceived causing his own demise and the relief of Jane for her cousin no longer could torment those lesser than himself. â€Å"Mr. Rochester continued blind f or the first two years of our union: perhaps it was that circumstance that drew us so very near – that knit us so very close: for I was then his vision, as I am still his right hand. Literally, I was the apple of his eye.† (p.578) Jane expresses her grief over Rochester’s injuries but emphasizes her constant love as everything that he has lost. Rochester appears completely opposite from the first time they met; he’s helpless just as Jane was when they first met and it is her in... ...oach, nor will you stir one step to meet it where it waits for you.† (p.248) Rochester notices her fault and clearly points them out to her. Allowing a person to hear their own faults causes them to examine whether or not these accusations are true or not. In Jane’s case Rochester pinned out Jane’s faults and he’s doing his part to help her become more like him instead of being a shy, little, shrewd Quaker. The fortune-teller finally mentions Jane’s love for Rochester, but unknown to Jane the fortune-teller is Edward Fairfax Rochester. Jane hints toward this love but has clearly been manipulated by Rochester into his entanglement of love, which Blanche was thought to be in the center of. The main point of Rochester’s deception is to encourage Jane to except her love and express is to someone other than Rochester and to feel love for the first time if at all possible. As Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s novel is read over through the generations, the theme that a person can be manipulated into love and often times has to find her own integrity is passed on. By using many different elements of plot and characters she creates a novel forever found to be part of American Literature and English History.

Geopolitics in humanitarian action Essay

The analysis of how political decisions are conditioned by geographical settings is the subject matter of geopolitics. In purely spatial terms, geopolitics is the study of boundaries and areas. In conceptual terms, geopolitics comprises the study of international relations and the outcome of power struggles, at local and global scales. It explores events such as the emergence of new states, the fragmentation of countries, and regional conflicts affecting several countries. The most important and long-lasting geopolitical event of the 20th century is the Cold War. The international humanitarian system has witnessed a dramatically transformation since the end of the Cold War, and even more so since the â€Å"war on terror†. To understand humanitarian intervention in contemporary complex emergencies, the course will analyze the humanitarian action and the changing geopolitical system. We will discuss many of the fundamental debates concerning the nature, effectiveness and evolution of the humanitarian actions, the different humanitarian actors and the accompanying political dynamics that arise in variety of regional contexts. Among other issues, students will critically analyze the relationship between aid and conflict; concepts of neutrality; relationship to military intervention; among others. We will use case studies to understand the growing complexity and the political weave of actors and influences affecting all those involve in humanitarian action and the changing operating environment. The course will encourage students to consider what is or could be the international community‘s ―carrying capacity for response in a future of small-scale and regional wars producing humanitarian crises in the years to come. Finally, the course discussion will focus in on models of cooperation among actors that empower rather than marginalize those populations and communities trapped in conflict, displacement and deprivation. Course general objectives This course examines the evolution of the humanitarian action in relation to changes in the international system. The students will be able to: a) Analyze the political economy of conflict and humanitarian assistance; b) Analyze the evolving nature of conflict in the international context; c) Understand the evolving architecture of the international humanitarian system; d) Analyze contemporary aspects of security and conflict, the concept of state sovereignty, and the uneven geopolitics of humanitarian action; e) Explore major debates and controversies of contemporary humanitarian action. Methods of assessment Grading will be based on the following marks: VG or G (Distinction or Pass) as well as ECTS grades. Grading will be a combination of the in-class team oral presentations (40%), a written final essay (50%), and the active participation of students in class (10%). The groups will be integrated by 5 or 6 students each. They will present to the class one selected humanitarian intervention case in 30 minutes with 15 additional minutes for questions and answers. All members of the group should participate. Presentations will be scheduled the first day of the course. The humanitarian intervention recommended for presentations are: Syria, Iraq, former-Yugoslavia (Kosovo), the Horn of Africa, Ruanda, Afghanistan and Sudan. We can discuss other humanitarian interventions. This course is heavily participatory. For this reason, presence and active participation will be expected at all sessions. Participation shall reflect critical analysis and reflection based on readings. The final written essay will be submitted during the IX Session of the course (Friday 22 November). The professor will explain the essay ´s topic in the beginning of the course. The essay consists of a maximum of 2500 words. Preparation for class includes readings from books, articles, and websites. Classes are a combination of lecture, discussion, presentations, and videos. Sessions overview Session I: Mon 4 November, 10-12 Room TBA Introduction: Overview of course and topics presented; course requirements and expectations. Objectives: 1. Review of Syllabus; 2. Discussion of course requirements; 3. Selection of oral group presentations. Session II: Wed 6 November, 10-12 Room TBA Geopolitics: Overview Conflict analysis and the political economy of violence Objectives: 1.- Understand the changing dynamics of conflict in the international system; 2.- Develop alternative means of analyzing conflict and understanding the impact of conflict; 3.- Understand the interaction of humanitarian programming and conflict. Session III: Fri 8 November, 10-12 Room TBA International and regional organizations in the global system Objectives: 1.- Understand the role of governmental and non-governmental actors in the international system; 2.- Discuss the role of security institutions: What is the role of NATO, UN, UE, OAS and the other regional organizations in dealing with interstate and intrastate conflicts? Session IV: Mon 11 November, 10-12 Room Eng TBA The evolving nature of humanitarian crisis Objectives: 1.- Understand the changing nature of humanitarian crises; 2.- Analyze the implications for state sovereignty of International humanitarian action. Session V: Wed 13 November, 10-12 Room TBA An introduction to humanitarian action and the evolving architecture of humanitarian intervention Objectives: 1.- Describe the historical evolution and trends in humanitarian action; 2.- Understand the normative foundations of humanitarian action; 3.- Understand the normative frameworks that have guided humanitarian action. Session VI: Fri 15 November, 10-12 Room TBA Main players and actors in humanitarian action Objectives: 1.- Understand the definitions, types and organization of humanitarian agencies. Session VII: Mon 18 November, 10-12 Room TBA The contemporary operating environment Objectives: 1.-Explore the major debates and controversies of contemporary humanitarism Presentation of 2 Case Studies Session VII: Wed 20 November, 10-12 TBA The future of humanitarian action 1.-Understand a complex political emergency and its consequences; 2.-Identify recent trends in humanitarian action. Presentation of 2 case studies Session IX: Fri 22 November, 10-12 Room TBA Final discussion on models of cooperation among diverse actors that empower rather than marginalize vulnerable populations and communities trapped in conflict and humanitarian action. Presentation of 2 case studies and final essay submission. Literature List Books required: Walker, Peter & Daniel Maxwell. Shaping the Humanitarian World. New York: Routledge, 2009 http://www.amazon.com/Shaping-Humanitarian-World-Global-Institutions/dp/0415773717#reader_0415773717 Electronic resources: Anderson, Mary. The Do No Harm Handbook. Cambridge, Local Capacities for Peace, Project, 2004. Accessible on: http://www.cdainc.com/dnh/docs/DoNoHarmHandbook.pdf Barnett, Michael. Humanitarianism transformed. Perspectives on politics, Vol. 3, No.4 (Dec., 2005), pp. 723-740. Accessible on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3688176 Bellamy, Alex. The Responsibility to Protect—Five Years On. Ethics & International Affairs Vol.24 (2), 2010, pp. 143–169. Accessible on: http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/Bellamy.pdf Collinson, Sarah, Samir Elhawary and Robert Muggah. States of fragility: stabilization and its implications for humanitarian action. Disasters. Vol. 34 Supplement, 2010, pp. 275−S296. Accessible on: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/5978.pdf Klare, Michael. The New Geography of Conflict. Foreign Affairs, Vol.80, No.3 (May-Jun., 2001), pp. 49-61. Accessible on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20050150 Moore, Jonathan. Deciding Humanitarian Intervention. Social Research, Vol. 74, No. 1, Difficult Choices (SPRING 2007), pp. 169-200. Accessible on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40971894 Rieff, David. Humanitarianism in crisis. Foreign Affairs, Vol.81, No.6 (Nov-Dec 2002), pp. 111-121. Accessible on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20033348 Chapters of books recommended: Bellamy, Allex. †Humanitarian Intervention in world politics† in Baylis, John et al. The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2008, pp. 522-538. Duffield, Mark. †Global Governance and the New Wars† In Duffield, Mark. Global Governance and the Causes of Conflict. New York: Zed book, 2002, pp. 108-136. Keen, David, †Going to War: How Rational Is It? in International Committee of the Red. Cross, War, Money and Survival. Geneva, 2000, pp. 28-31. Kupchan, Charles A. †Empires and Geopolitical Competition: Gone for Good† in Crocker, Chester et al. (eds.) Turbulent Peace: The challenges of managing international conflict. Washington: United States Institute of Peace, 2001,pp. 39-52. Spearin, Christopher. †Humanitarians and mercenaries: Partners in security Governance?† in Krahmann, Elke. New threats and new actors in international security. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 45-68 Rufin, Jean-Christophe †The Economics of War: A New Theory for Armed Conflicts† in International Committee of the Red Cross. War, Money and Surviva, Geneva, 2000, pp. 22-27 Recommended reports and electronic articles: ICISS. The Responsibility to Protect. Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. New York, UN, 2001. Accessible on: http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf The Sphere Project. â€Å"Humanitarian Charter & Minimum Standards in Disaster Response† http://www.sphereproject.org/content/view/27/84/lang,english/ de Torrente, Nicolas. Humanitarian Action under Attack: Reflections on the Iraq War. Harvard Human Rights Journal. Vol. 17(1), 2004, pp. 1-30. Huysmans, Jef. Shape-Shifting NATO: Humanitarian Action and the Kosovo Refugee Crisis. Review of International Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Jul., 2002), pp. 599-618. Accessible on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20097813 Weiss, Thomas and Peter Hoffman. The Fog of Humanitarianism: Collective Action problems and Learning-Challenged Organizations. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Vol.1 (1), 2007, pp. 47-65 Useful Humanitarian websites: Relief Web http://www.reliefweb.int Alert Net http://www.alertnet.org Collaborative learning project http://www.cdainc.com/cdawww/default.php United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. http://www.unocha.org/ World Food Program: http://www.wfp.org The Humanitarian Policy Group www.odi.org.uk/hpg/ The Humanitarian Practice Network www.odihpn.org/ The Sphere Project http://www.sphereproject.org/ Action Learning Network for Accountability http://www.alnap.org/ And Performance (ALNAP) The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership www.hapinternational.org/ International (HAP-I) People in Aid www.peopleinaid.org/ Websites of major humanitarian agencies UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian http://www.unocha.org/ Affairs (OCHA) International Committee of the Red Cross http://www.icrc.org/ International Federation of Red Cross and http://www.ifrc.org/ Red Crescent Societies Mà ©decins sans Frontià ¨res http://www.msf.org/ The World Food Programme http://www.wfp.org/ Oxfam http://www.oxfam.org/ World Vision http://www.wvi.org/ CARE http://www.care.org/ Journal of humanitarian Assistance: http://jha.ac Videos: Kofi Annan: Center of the Storm, PBS Video, 2002

The Munich Putsch 1923 – source related study

1. Source C, Prelude To Terror was written by Richard Hanser in 1971 and seeks to discredit Hitler and show him as a coward we know this because he says that Hitler pretended he was shot dead and then fled from the scene of battle. And he also wrote â€Å"at no point did he behave heroically† and â€Å"he did not exactly cover himself with glory†. Hanser also wrote sarcastically that it is extremely hard or maybe impossible for the average man to lift someone even if he or she was a child. â€Å"Not an easy thing to do with only one arm in working order†. By saying this Hanser thinks the event about Hitler saving a little boy is a story, he thinks source B by John Toland is a story. Source B is a story made up by the Nazis while source C is more likely to be what had actually happened. Source B on the other hand was published by John Toland in 1976 and is sympathetic towards Hitler, he uses words such as â€Å"painfully†, â€Å"struggled†, â€Å"slowly† and â€Å"agony† to describe how. John's sympathy continues by John describing how Hitler looked whilst he was escaping, he had a â€Å"pale face†, â€Å"cradling his injured arm† and his hair was â€Å"falling over his face† , according to John's description of what Hitler looked like when he escaped from the battle. Then John Toland said Hitler wanted to pick up a little boy who was â€Å"bleeding profusely†, and carry him to safety but schultze (Hitler's driver) told him not to and called someone else to take him. Source B views Hitler as a hero who cares deeply of Germany and it's citizens. John seems to have based this source on Nazi myth. The writer of source C wants to show Hitler as a coward. Hanser thinks that the Nazis made up a story about a little boy, this story is source B. 2. Source A is written by Konrad Heiden and is more likely to be true then sources B, C and D. It is more reliable then these sources because source A contains information provided by a witness that was their probably at the time of the Munich Putsch and saw the event. However witnesses are people who can forget over long periods of time, the witness information of source A was retrieved thirteen years after the event in which he or she could have forgotten. The witness could lie or be biased because he or she might want Hitler to look bad, as he does in Konrad Heidens witness account. Witnesses can get confused over long periods of time if they not clear of what happened and can slightly change the fact if they give their view of what happened. However eyewitnesses have seen the event that they talk about. A witness, as in one witness is less reliable then several witnesses. If witnesses agree on an event that event is more likely to be true then a single witness who could be biased, lying, confused or forgotten about what happened. Source A agrees with sources C and E. Source B is probably the least reliable out of all the four sources because, for a start it does not agree with any of the sources except unreliable source D. Which means that it probably is not true. The writer of source B, John Toland had his view of the Munich Putsch published fifty-three years after the event so probably got his information from secondary sources. If there were witnesses or a witness account in the source then John probably would have stated it. It is unlikely that a witness could survive for over sixty years of age And if he/she did, it would be hard for he/she to remember from the age of about seven. Witnesses or a witness could have forgotten over a long period of time such as fifty-three years. It is unlikely that John's source had been assisted by a witness or witnesses. Source B is based on the Nazi propaganda of making Hitler and the Nazi party appear the fittest party for ruling Germany. Source B is very unreliable. Source C was written forty-eight years after the Munich Putsch so also probably was not aided by any witnesses. Richard Hanser the writer of source C agrees with source A that Hitler acted cowardly during the event. Richard says, â€Å"at no point did he behave heroically†. Page 2 Source A says Hitler â€Å"was the first to get up, run backwards and drive away† which means source A also views Hitler as a coward. Although no witnesses were used to assist source C, source C agrees with the witness assisted source A. Source C is reliable. Source D is a section of the Social Democrats election poster. All parties are expected to discredit all other parties so that they win the most votes and rule. This is what the Social Democrats are doing with source D. We can see this because the election poster says Hitler was â€Å"lying flat on his belly in front of the Feldherrnhalle†, a building near to where the shooting took place. And that he â€Å"crawled† into a car. The poster uses words like â€Å"crawled† and â€Å"belly† to suggest that Hitler was like a worm, weak and slow, and to say Hitler was not heroic. â€Å"Whoever is ill can seek his help with complete confidence† by saying this. The Social Democratic party wants people to think Hitler is weak and slow concerning the ruling of Germany and that everyone knows this. The election poster is biased towards Hitler and the Nazis because they want people to vote for them and not other parties like the Nazis. Basically source D is propaganda for the Social Democrats to win votes, this source is very unreliable. Source E is the most reliable because it was aided by several witnesses, one of those witnesses was Dr Walter Scultz, a German doctor. All the witnesses agree that Hitler did not act heroically, what makes the source much more reliable is that Dr Walter Scultz also mentioned in the source that Hitler did not behave heroically. Shultz is a German doctor, so you would expect him to lie and say that Hitler was a hero. All of the witnesses agree that Hitler â€Å"was the first to get up and turn his back† and that Hitler â€Å"spirited off to the country home†¦. Where Putzi's wife and sister nursed him and where two days later he was arrested†. These quotes backed up by several witnesses further the reliable theory that Hitler is a coward and not a hero. The doctor did not lie, this is what makes this evidence more reliable then all of the other sources, including source A. The writer of source E seems to have checked the witness accounts with other sources of evidence to make sure the witnesses are telling the truth. Source E is supported by the reliable sources A and C. 3. A writer like John Toland would face the following problems when trying to research exactly what happened during the Munich Putsch in 1923. Firstly he would need to find witnesses because witnesses are a very reliable source of Information. Because John Toland's written piece of information was published in 1976 It would be hard for him to find witnesses since most would be dead (humans live for about fifty to sixty years). If he did find a witness that witness would be very old, about seventy and would probably not remember exactly what happened. The witness would not be very clear on what happened and probably would have forgotten parts of what happened during the Munich Putsch. He/she has the ability to lie, be biased or he or she might have forgotten what happened over such a long period of time. A witness's memory could be poor or the witness might be confused or might not be sure what happened. A witness may not be willing to give information about the event or might be ashamed that they took part and deny that they took part, they might hide the fact that they were there. The available evidence could be propaganda, it could have been made up or changed to make someone change the way they think, or to cover up a mistake made by a person or group of people. A writer like John Toland might face problems with documents, documents can be propaganda or biased to one side. Incriminating evidence could have been destroyed after or during a war to hide or censor information. Because of the long time between John Toland's written source and the Munich Putsch primary evidence such as photographs and written information could have been worn out and be difficult to see or read. Also to take into consideration by a writer like Toland is that a photograph could be made up/posed for, or changed. A way of telling if a photograph has been posed for is if the people in it are looking directly at the camera or if a large number of them are facing the camera. If people in a photograph look surprised or if a few or none of the people in it are facing the camera, that photograph probably is genuine. To check if a photograph has been changed it will have to be viewed by a powerful magnifying glass or high tech computer to check for any unusual aspects. Written documents can also be forged, destroyed or could have been worn out so that it would be difficult to read or impossible to read. To check if a document was forged the document Page 3 suspected of being forged should be compared with a genuine document if possible. Torn documents can be pieced together like a puzzle if its pieces were found. 4. An opinion is a point of view; it is what a person thinks about something. Opinions are not capable of being true; an opinion cannot be used as proof. The example of an opinion from source C I have chosen is â€Å"at no point did he behave heroically†. The reason I chose this is because whether a person is a hero or not depends on how a person thinks and feels. This is an opinion, not a fact; it is not necessarily true. A person might say that Hitler was a leader of an army, he should be brave and help his soldiers/secret police in any and every way possible. He should set an example and raise their morale. He should not be throwing himself down as soon as the shooting began and then running away when he got the chance, he should have fought back and helped his men. This is an opinion. Another person might say that a leader of an army should throw himself down for cover and then run away for safety. This is another opinion. They are both two very different opinions. It all depends on a point of view. An opinion is a point of view it can not be fact. However it can still help to find the truth. 5. The fact that reference is made in source E to the testimony of a witness makes it likely to be more reliable than sources B and C. The reason being that source E has been aided by several witnesses that all agree. Witness evidence is a very reliable source of evidence because an eyewitness has actually seen and heard the event; he/she has been there at the time. However witnesses evidence can also be unreliable. An eyewitness can lie, be biased or confused. They might do these thing to cover up their blame, or they might have regretted something, they might be biased because they may want something or someone To look better then it is/was. They might have forgotten about the event or what had happened during the time because so much time has gone by. They might not be clear on what happened or might get mixed up and changed what actually happened, (the fact) to a different story or opinion. Source E is backed up by a Nazi doctor, who would be likely to say that Hitler acted heroically, but he did not say this, in fact he said the opposite â€Å"Hitler was the first to get up and turn back†. Although sources C and B have not been aided by witnesses (no witnesses were mentioned in these two sources), and they have been based on secondary sources; source C is supported by source E in that they both display Hitler as not heroic and cowardly behaved during the Putsch. Sources B and C were published around fifty years after the Putsch, this makes them likely to have been based on secondary sources and withought witness evidence; since witnesses can not usually live long enough up to that time. Source B is not supported by any evidence and seems to have been based on Nazi propaganda, John Toland seems to have not check his piece of writing with other sources. Source B has not been supported by any witness evidence. Source B is the least reliable out of sources E, C, and B. 6. Source E best supports the explanation of events offered in source A because both of these sources give similar accounts of what Hitler did when the Munich Putsch was occurring. Here is an example of what I mean, in source E, William L Shirer, the writer, says Hitler â€Å"was the first to get up and turn back†. He also said â€Å"Hitler was the first to scamper to safety†. Similarly to both of these quotes from source E, source A's writer Konrad Heiden has written that Hitler â€Å"was the first to get up, run backwards and drive away†. The last part. In source A it is also said that Hitler did â€Å"drive away† during the putsch, source E also states Hitler â€Å"hustled into the waiting motor car†. The final similarity in both sources is that Hitler's soldiers were left behind when Hitler fled from the gun battle. In source A it is written that Hitler left â€Å"whilst hundreds of his comrades were still lying on the ground†, in source E it is written Hitler was â€Å"leaving his dead and wounded comrades lying in the street†. 7. A historian would need to consider a large amount of things when using a photograph (source F) and painting (source G), as evidence of the Munich Putsch. He/she will need to know that a photograph can be a reliable source of evidence, but they can be posed for or faked after the Putsch, which can make them unreliable. Page 4 Source F looks realistic because- * The people in it are not facing the camera, in fact most of their backs can be clearly seen, therefore it was not posed for * There are armed soldiers in it carrying rifles, short lances and they are mounted on horses This means there was, still is or is going to be trouble, probably between armed people. * The crowd of people in it are looking to the right of the photograph, where something out of the ordinary is happening, has happened or is going to happen, this is where the trouble is The historian needs to consider why this photograph was taken and who took it. Source F was probably taken by a passer by or by a journalist for a newspaper. He or she has to consider when it was taken. In source F's case it was in 1923 on the 9th of November, the same day the Munich Putsch took place, this makes it more reliable. Source F does not attempt to spread a message to its viewers, it is neutral; a historian needs to be able to check whether a photograph is trying to convey a message or if a photograph is just displaying pure facts. A historian needs to know that a painting does not usually intend to tell the truth, it displays what the artist thinks about something. Source G is what its artist thinks about the Beer Hall Putsch. This particular painting is Nazi propaganda, it was painted in 1933, ten years after the Putsch when Hitler came to power. It was probably painted to make Hitler seem like a powerful leader who the German people can trust and to make him and the Nazi party more popular. We know this because in the painting Hitler is standing high above all the other people and he is speaking confidently, we know he is speaking confidently because he is using arm movements to enforce his views and to make the people easily understand what he is saying. All different kinds and classes of German people are shown behind Hitler, listening very carefully as if they want what Hitler is saying to become true. For any paintings and photos to be accepted as evidence they should be checked for reliability against as many sources as possible.

Maniac Magee: Summary Essay

Characters’ Name: Jeffery Lionel Magee- (Maniac Magee), Amanda Beale, Mars Bar Thompson, John McNab, Piper McNab, Russell McNab, Earl Grayson, Mrs. Beale, Hester, Lester. Personalty Traits: Maniac Magee, the main character, has very kind and a nice personality. He is also brave, and trusted and very athletic. Physical Features: Jeffery’s parents died by a car accident when he was 3 years old. andout Questions: Title of the book: Maniac Magee Author: Jerry Spinelli Number of pages: 1-184 Name of the main characters: Full Name: (Jeffery Lionel Magee)- Maniac Magee Genre of the story: Fiction Plot: Maniac Magee, lived with his parents until he was 3 years old. His parents died in a car accident. Then he lived with his uncle Dan, and aunt Dot. He left his uncle and aunt when they were annoying in the school auditorium. He went to far away, after he left. He wanted to find a home that will be best for him. There he faced many challenges that he overcame, such as a race running backwards. Maniac is very athletic, he is also nice. He met a lot of people that liked him of his kindness. All he wanted is a home where it would be best for him. He made the west end (white side) and the east end (black side) be together. Climax: Maniac needs a new home. Resolution: Maniac finds a home, the Beale’s family said he can stay with them. Maniac also made the east side and the west side be together. Would you change anything about the story: I would change the part where Grayson dies because Grayson loved Maniac as much as maniac loved Grayson. It feels like that Grayson felt as a grandfather to Maniac. Opinion: The best part I like about the book is that when Maniac won the race against Mars Bar by running backwards. The least I liked about this book is that when Maniac’s parents died, and when Grayson died. The part that truly got attention is when they died, and it feels like something worse is going to happen when is parents died. I visualized this book well because this book was really interesting, and even though this book is faction it sounds real. I would recommend this book to students that are in 5th to 8th graders because it teaches you about how difficult it can be when you are an orphan and how the west side and the east side came together.

Religion and Myth

Consider what purpose the Myth of Esfandyar may have served within its culture. Evaluate carefully the characters, story lines, and try to determine what message, moral, or behavioral conventions you can associate with the respective myths. Make sure to cite specific parts of the story in your discussions. It is always OK to compare a myth to another or note a theme that may seem universal or conventional in mythology, (e. g. the god who dies and is resurrected motif from our last discussion). Just be specific in referencing other stories.Some possible angles to consider in composing your post: This myth ends with the following lines: Who among us can escape our fate? Who among us can use our wisdom, or our courage, or our strength, or our skill to this end? No one. How do Goshtasp and Esfandyar remain true to their principles? What effect does predestination have on the characters in this myth? How would predestination affect the way an individual lives? Esfandyar was a great warrio r who set in his heart to become the great ruler and King of Persia.His father knew that he was a great warrior and set him in his first task to defeat King Arjasp of Turan. Esfandyar then defeated Arjasp and his Demon warriors and caused them to flee from Persia. When Esfandyar returned to his father victorious and demanded that he be the King of Persia his father responded by sending him on another quest and to spread the word of Urmazd. When his father heard from a jealous nobleman that his son was going to over throw him from the thrown, he became so furious that he wanted to get rid of him at all cost.Because King Goshtasp knew he would not be able to defeat Arjasp and his army, safe his children or defend Persia all on his own he needed his son Esfandyar to help him succeed, so he let him go after imprisoning him. King Goshtasp also knew that his son would not fight for him unless he gave him the false believe of giving him the crown and becoming King. With this hope Esfandyar once again battled and defeated Arjasp, saved his brother and sisters after going through the seven stages of hardship.After all this his father still sent him on another journey to distract him from wanting the thrown after he knew that his son’s death was going to be on the hands of Rostam the great warrior. Even though Esfandyar knew his father was out to get him killed so that he would not precede him for the thrown he still went through with it because he has said â€Å"The brave warriors take the shortest route! A man has only one life to live and one death to face! And what will come is written in the stars! So it is best to be virtuous and valiant! After battling Rostam, Esfandyar was killed, and even though he knew that his father sent him there to be killed he knew â€Å"Urmazd will curse him for it! But, surely this was written in the stars in the heavens, and what is written there is sure to come! You are only the arm of fate. † This myth tells a lot abou t the Persian culture and the way they viewed the world. They had great faith and they knew with that faith came great power and privilege. Also they valued strength and had respect for it. They viewed strong men as heroes and worriers that had the ability to get what they want.This story is a myth because it has the belief of immortality and they used magic and power as a way to get what you want. By his great strength Esfandyar was able to win the seven stages and kill all that were in his way. This is similar to other myth in a way that myth always try to portray their heroes with God like strength, also the wisdom that these kings have in seeing the future and what is to come outlines their fate and their destiny. King Goshtasp has wisdom when he told his son â€Å"†¦one great victory does not entitle a prince to rule a Kingdom!And your hunger for power does not become you! † He knew that if a person becomes blinded by his ambition then it will get the best of him. K ing Goshtasp knew his son Esfandyar really wanted the thrown and will do anything to get it, and he remembered when he did the same thing with his father. That is why he plotted for his son’s death, because they believed in fate and that only what was written would come true. Esfandyar did not care that his fate was near. This myth teaches us many values that we need faith to live for and live by and that only what is destined for us will be.