David Abram Ecology of Magic

Humans are born from and return to earth at death; human beings and nature are bound up each other. Yet, the technological modern world has shaped humans to be oblivious of nature and the ethnocentrism has positioned human beings above all other things. Nature has become resources for people and nothing more than that. David Abram, the author of the Ecology of magic, travels into the wild, traditional land in search of the relation between magic and nature; the meaning nature holds in the traditional cultures. Abram intends to communicate his realization of the magical awareness of the countless nonhuman entities and the necessity of the balance between the human communities and the nature to the readers, hoping the Western technologized people to regard nature with respect and wonder. The perceptional differences Westerners and the traditional people hold in regard of nature should be transcended to achieve equilibrium and consequently bring about a healthier society. What is it that Abram experiences in the traditional land of Indonesia? Abram is also one of the Westerners who lived all his life in the modern technological world; he once was a person who did not know the true value of nature. However, in the traditional, oral land, the author succeeds in overcoming the perceptional differences and realizes the importance nature holds in his life. During the travel, Abram purposefully encounters and befriends the traditional magicians or sorcerers with his sleight of hand magic that buys interest from them. As the author states, â€Å"For magicians – whether modern entertainers or indigenous tribal sorcerers – have in common the fact that they work with the malleable texture of perception† (Abram, 3), the common ground of ‘working with the malleable texture of perception’ has let Abram to look more closely into the activities the magicians perform in the traditional oral land. As Abram works his hands to trick the audience, thereby working with the perceptions of the audiences, the magicians engage in shedding the accepted perceptual logic to enter into relation with other entities. The primary objective of the magicians, at first, seems to be healers as they participate in treating the sicknesses; however, Abram learns that the magicians hold a more important role in the human communities. They act as the intermediaries between the human world and the nature. The diseases that circulate the village originate from the imbalance between the nature and the human world and the magicians work with the primary cause of the sicknesses. The basic concept of treating the illnesses differs from the Western doctors who perform surgeries as the magicians, living at the periphery of the human communities, sought to communicate with the nature, consequently striving to achieve equilibrium. The prayers, praises and the propitiations given to the nature in return for the nourishment and sustenance it provides to human communities do not seem forthright at first, even to Abram; the magician’s primary role only seems as formal traditions that hold no meaning for the villagers who only yearn for visual and direct treatment of the diseases. Yet, as Abram suggests, â€Å"†¦and it was only gradually that I became aware of this more subtle dimension of the native magician’s craft† (8), while living in the remote traditional land and experiencing the diverse, rather different performances, the author was able to notice and learn seeing and hearing things in different manners. ‘To see and hear in a manner I never had before’ (15) was not something that Abram learnt with his head, but rather a feeling obtained with his skin. By shifting out human’s awareness to other various nonhuman beings and thinking in the perspective of those intelligences’ (7), Abram was able to hold respect and awe for nature and realize the importance of the balance. Just by staring into the spiders, the birds, the river and the wind, Abram was able to communicate with these nonhuman entities and see the importance these beings hold in human beings’ daily lives. The basis of the perceptional difference lies in the mere difference in how the traditional and the Westerners regard the relation between magic and nature. In the Western world, magic is defined as the ability to alter one’s consciousness at will. The magicians perform hand tricks to startle the senses and free the audience from the outdated and restricted thoughts by inspiring awe and surprises within the individuals. This is the common image that we bring up when thinking of the word magic and magician. Westerners find no relation between magic and nature as the two are thought as two distinct concepts. However, people of the oral, traditional land conjure up different idea in regard of magic and nature. The two are correlated concepts as magic can be defined as â€Å"humans experience their own consciousness as simply one form of awareness among many others† (7). Magic is shifting out one’s consciousness to put it in others shoes. The others indicate the many beings regarded to have intelligence, the components of nature. By thinking in the perspective of other nonhuman entities, as Abram succeeded in doing in the traditional land, the magicians communicate with the nature. As the author mentions, â€Å"Countless anthropologists have managed to overlook the ecological dimension of the shaman’s craft, while writing at great length of the shaman’s rapport with supernatural entities† (6), the Western people simply fail to recognize the relationship between nature and magic because they have been raised to think of what is beyond human’s will as the â€Å"supernatural† rather than in the dimensions of nature. Human beings, in the technological, modern world, stands above all other things as the ethnocentrism has shaped people to think in human-based terms; the surrounding environment, including the rocks, mountains, and the animals, have been placed there for human use and nothing more than that. They are entities with no senses, no thoughts, and no feelings. Humans are the only beings with intelligence. The busy daily lives formed due to the advanced technology have shaped people to simply deny the existence of other entities and perceive things other than humans as non-meaningful. Abram, too, adjusts to the modern world and returns to his original life as a Westerner who fails to regard nature with respect when he goes back to his homeland from Indonesia. Despite all the feelings and knowledge gained in the traditional land, because of the technology and the ethnocentrism Abram fails to continue his communication with the nature. Yet, the importance of respect for nature and the balance between nature and human beings should be comprehended by the modern society people. As the author has witnessed, â€Å"The sad results of our interactions with the rest of nature were being reported in every newspaper – from the depletion of topsoil due to industrial farming techniques to the fouling of groundwater by industrial wastes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (20), the damages spurred on the nature due to human’s endless desires result in dire situations of extinction of animals and the rapid destruction of the tropical forests. The broken equilibrium causes diseases to circulate the society. Constant advancements in technology do not work out to correct the damages done to human beings and the nature. What should be taken for human use should be compensated for to the nature; balance is the most fundamental way to end the vicious cycle that constantly damages both human beings and the nature. Modern people should not disregard the relation between magic and nature. Understanding the importance nature holds for human beings would arouse the magical forces of the equilibrium.

Product and Services Design

Design is one of the components of the operations management. Specifically, product and service design is one of the processes of the design. As states in Morris (2009, p.22), Product design is defined as the idea generation, concept development, testing and manufacturing or implementation of a physical object or service. â€Å"Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service, in order to improve its quality, the interaction between service provider and customers and the customer's experience. Service design methodologies are used to plan and organize people, infrastructure, communication and material components used in a service. The increasing importance and size of the service sector, both in terms of people employed and economic importance, requires services to be accurately designed in order for service providers to remain competitive and to continue to attract customers.† (Morelli, 2002, p.3-17) According to Slack, N., Chambers, S. & Johnston, R. (2010, p. 113-134), good products and services design is important for both companies and its customers. It fulfils the customers’ wants from the product and service design and also generates the profit for the companies. The performance of the product and service design is measured by its quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. The stages of product and service design include concept design, concept screening, preliminary design, evaluation & improvement and prototype and final design. All of these stages finally run out a fully developed product. As a result, a concept, a package and a process is designed in the product and service design. â€Å"A concept is the understanding of the nature, use and value of the service or product; a package of ‘component’ products and services that provide those benefits defined in the concept; the process defines the way in which the component products and services will be created and delivered.† (Slack, N., Chambers, S. & Johnston, R., 2010)

There Are 2 Brands of Cell Phones That Are Almost Identical Except for Some Minor Features: the a-Phone and the Pomegranate

There are 2 brands of cell phones that are almost identical except for some minor features: the A-Phone and the Pomegranate. Part I For this part of the assignment, we will focus on the demand curve. Draw the demand curve for the A-Phone. Explain how the graph, price, and quantity demanded will change if the following occurs: †¢There is an overall increase in income. †¢It is discovered that there are health concerns when using cell phones. What happens to the supply of cell phones if the market price goes up? For this part of the assignment, we will focus on the supply curve. Explain what happens to the price and quantity supplied and how it reflects on a graph if the following occurs: †¢It becomes more expensive to produce cell phones. †¢Another company starts producing cell phones, and now there are 3 producers in the market. Part III For this part of the assignment, we are going to focus on demand and supply on the same graph. Draw a graph which shows the equilibrium price of cell phones. Explain what the graph is showing. When the new manufacturer introduces the Robo cell phone to the market, how does that affect the equilibrium price if the Robo is basically the same as the other cell phones? Part IV As the public’s dependence on cell phones continues to grow, the cost of the phones may be decreasing, but the stronghold that telecommunication companies have on the public in regards to contracts and climbing fees is alarming. Additionally, all cell phone companies charge about the same prices, and the consumers do not have much choice in substituting providers. Consumers appear to need some controls in this regard, and the government decides to step in. †¢What is the effect of government intervention in the cell phone market? Make sure that you use graphs to illustrate your point. †¢Is this a good thing for consumers? On the other hand, the government sees the increase in cell phone use as an opportunity to make some additional revenue, and it decides to tax service providers. †¢Who is really paying the tax? †¢Illustrate your conclusion on a graph. †¢Do you think that there is a free market for cell phone users? Why or why not?

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities - Essay Example Since my leadership approach promotes active employee involvement, employees are more likely to take up the responsibility of their projects and complete them successfully within the stipulated time. As Kehle (2008, p. 26) purports, high level employee satisfaction is the main strength of the participative leadership style. In addition, this approach can effectively promote a sense of belonging and teamwork, which in turn can have positive effect on the overall organisational productivity. At the same time, new hirers or inexperienced employees are not allowed to make decisions so as to maintain high level market competitiveness. Although this leadership style fosters greater employee involvement, it exercises better control over employees and changes strategies and practices once the operational flaws are identified. The major area required improvement is that I spend hardly enough time to develop leadership skills in my employees and this issue may adversely affect the performance sustainability of the organisation. As Mattone (2013, p. 2) points out, a leader should focus particularly on succession planning. In addition, I do not pay much attention to employees who are making same mistakes repetitively. Here, I need to give specific focus to those employees so as to improve the overall productivity of the firm. From the leadership style survey, I understand that my leadership approach is participative whereas the Bolman and Deal’s four framework approach to leadership indicates that I follow team leadership style. Both these assessment techniques give almost similar outcomes and indicate that I have strong team development skills. The major common finding is that my leadership strategy gives particular importance to employee involvement and employee creativity. In addition to providing guidance, instructions, and direction to employees, my leadership approach fosters employees to come up with their own ideas

Module 8 DQ 1 and 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module 8 DQ 1 and 2 - Assignment Example Particularly, when one knows how to carry out critical appraisal on interval variables, translating the research results and findings into practice becomes possible. For instance, when determining the relationship between temperature and effective treatment, the use of internal variables may come in handy. A physician who is thorough in research studies will for instance know that a temperature of 0.0 on the two sides of the scales must not be misconstrued to mean the absence of temperature, just as a PH of 0.0 will not mean the absence of acidity. The determination of the PH and temperature is very sacrosanct to the provision of healthcare services. The same use of statistical provisions as part of the EBR in medical services provision heavily relies on the concept of statistical significance. By being able to appreciate the importance of significance level, the director of the nursing department will be able to correctly decide whether to discard research findings as false, or to implement them as true. For instance, a statistical significance of .95 will compel the director of the Federal Qualified Healthcare Center, nursing department, to adopt research findings of an inquiry on the relationship between inpatient admission and patient satisfaction. Throughout the course, the connection between the use of research and efficiency in the administration of healthcare services is maintained, and thereby helping the learner appreciate the nexus between EBR and patient-centered medical programs. The term informed consent is a legal jargon applicable in many fields including healthcare. The fundamentals that must be thought out when invoking informed consent from the patient are competency, benefits, risks and details. According to Hahn and Collier (2010), competency demands that the patient should have a mind that is at least able to comprehend the details, benefits and the risks that will accompany a specific form of medical intervention. Likewise,

Argumentive Essay The Myth of Media Violence Research Paper

Argumentive Essay The Myth of Media Violence - Research Paper Example in television programs as well as music videos that are obviously not meant for innocent children and accordingly, convey negative messages to the children whenever they happen to encounter them. These programs include but are not limited to negative reality shows, crime reports, adult movies and vulgar fashion shows. Such programs have caused the children to mature before the right age and they know too much for their age and mental capacity. A lot of people deny the difference between the extremity and intensity of negativity of the programs projected on television in the 1950s and those shown today by arguing that violence has always been there in the television programs, particularly in the bull fighting and wrestling. However, what I feel lacking in his argument is a realization of the fact that today’s media is far too open towards vulgarity and adultery contrary to the standards that were followed half a century ago. Any argument in favor of the violence and porn projected in the movies, video games and media today is, to me, illegitimate and irrational. It is an established fact that many music videos released nowadays are full of sexually explicit material. In fact, eroticism has become a fundamental trait of profitable music videos, particularly when they star famous celebrities. People are curious to know who has exposed to what extent. (Lewis 94) says that music slowly penetrates so deep into the social setup that it ultimately develops the tendency to overtly express the hidden belief systems that have long remained taboos in the society and hence, alters the society’s way of thinking and its lifestyle. (Lewis 94) further notes that in this way, music serves as the advertisement for the social belief systems that have not been discussed openly in the past, yet have existed in all times. Having watched the taboos openly discussed in the reality shows telecast, people become immune to them and stop shying about discussing matters and watching the

Oriented Programming and Software Engineering Essay

Oriented Programming and Software Engineering - Essay Example According to Lock (2007), excusable delays are delays that are beyond control of both the owner and the contractors. Excusable delays are caused by natural and man-made calamities such as severe weather, fires and floods as well as transport delays and labour strikes that are beyond control of both the project owner and the contractor. Concurrent delays are project delays arising from delaying two or more projects within a specified time frame and are caused by contractor or owners events. The aggrieved party can claim damages from the other. Compensable delays are project delays that require one party to the contract to demand damages from the party that caused the delays. Damages are paid due to increased project costs caused by increased crew size and cost of raw materials as well as loss of productivity as a result of interrupted work sequence. The effects of projects delays include increased cost of the projects; deny owner and contractors other business opportunities and cause tempers (Assaf and Al-Hejji 2009). Time management techniques that this research will address include critical path method, non-delay approach, precedence requirement, optimal timing and project crashing (Mishra and Soota 2006). 4.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT Assaf and Al-Hejji (2006) ascertained that 70 percent of construction projects in Saudi Arabia experience time overruns. According to Levy (2009), project delays result in increased cost of the project, dissatisfaction, lost opportunities and escalated tempers. It also dampens reputation of the contractor and may negatively influence future awards of projects. The cost of delays is significant to both the contractor and the owner. Increased in cost of delayed project is attributed to escalating cost of construction materials, equipment and office rental, and labour because project cost are time related. Therefore, there is need to minimise construction projects delays 4.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH First, the research will provide insight into the causes and effects of project delays and recommends how project delays can be reduced. Therefore, it will be helpful to experts in construction industry. Secondly, findings of the research will form the basis of literature review for scholars who will find it useful in their future study of the industry. Thirdly, it will increase my understanding and insight in construction projects. 5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS What are critical factors that delay projects? What are the effects of activity delays in project management? Which time management techniques promote time execution of project tasks? 6.0 DATA COLLECTION 6.1 DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY Primary data will be collected to identify factors and assess effects of time delays in construction projects as well as assess various time management techniques. Three research assistants will be engaged in distribution and collection of data. Data will be collected from project locations. The whole research will take a hundred and twent y days. 6.2 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT (QUESTIONNAIRE) 6.2.1 QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION The questionnaire will be developed to obtain

Geology----Stratigraphy and Sedimentation Article

Geology----Stratigraphy and Sedimentation - Article Example Two pertinent events have been intricately discussed. These are namely the episodic events and the continuous events. By definition, the episodic events are used in reference to those that become eminent in a matter of hours or days. It is important to reiterate that their effects are distinct and pertinent to this research. On the other hand, Continuous events are differentiated by the fact that they spread over months, years or even decades. Evidently, field mapping and reference chronology were succinctly applied in the analysis process. The tree ring method is a pertinent component in geomorphology. This is evident in its multiple applications such as assistance in comprehension ofthe geomorphic processes, the consequent frequency and events. Further to this, the annual precision will also aid in predicting floods and other events in future so as to avert the damages caused by the same. Previous research has revealed that the flood rings in 1826 and 1850. In this regard, it was e stablished that the tree with flood rings were proportionate to the discharge. The primary trees that were subject to the sampling procedure were those identified as are mainly affected by the geomorphic processes. These included trees growing near river banks, trees growing on the edges of gullies and avalanche paths and trees growing right on the sediment plants. In conclusion,the overall relevance of the tree ring method as far geomorphology is concerned includes; ascertaining the magnitude and frequency of events, providing an annual precision; the tree rings are pertinent as far as predicting continuous and episodic processes; as well as delineating the spatial location affected by a process. Howard and Blakey have done a commendable job in relating their observations and interpretations. The data provided is enough for all the facies interpretation. Their interpretation of fluvial channel mobility in relation with the geometry of sandstone bodies is correct and there

Chinese people and Classical Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinese people and Classical Music - Essay Example Music is one of the most fundamental elements of the culture and reflects the various trends which are typical of a nation. And when it comes to China that is for sure one of the oldest civilizations of the world, carrying out research in this area seems even more reasonable because of the fact that China is viewed as the pioneer in the fields of music, sculpture, art and poetry, and the Chinese have introduced divergent forms of music in the history specially during the Zhou and Han regimes, which won applause and popularity in different areas of the world. Having said this, the significance of the topic can easily be estimated. This is principally a qualitative research. The methodology was based on such research tools as interviews, desk study and brainstorming. As you can see on the poster, I started my research on the association of the youth of China with the Classical music of the past in two ways. First, I started to study and analyze the research conducted by various scholar s in the past in the same area. I believe it is always a good idea to refer to the history of literature about the areas of knowledge you want to explore. For this purpose, I tried my best to work out all related researches from the past and somehow, I managed to lay my hands on quite a lot of the required stuff.

Having A Required GPA For Extra Curricular Activities Essay Example for Free

Having A Required GPA For Extra Curricular Activities Essay I am going to get through college on a football scholarship! How many times have you heard that statement claimed by the average teenage boy? In all actuality getting a full ride football scholarship to a university is extremely difficult. Instead people trying to obtain scholarships through extra curricular sport activities should focus more on their academics. Some students are only doing extra curricular activities so that their college application will look better to administrators. However, a 4.0 grade point average is going to fare more impressive to the administrators then below average grades and a large quantity of extra curricular activities. By requiring a C grade point average we could stop a lot of the stereotyping occurring in most high schools. Also, great amounts of responsibility will be earned for people juggling both the C grade average and extra curricular activities. This additional experience and responsibility will help the person succeed to a greater level in their adult life. If you are a cheerleader, then you must be idiotic. If you get above 90% in almost any class, then you must be a nerd. Stereotyping is a horrible thing occurring all over the nation today. The worst case of this is in high school. What is the cause for these stereotypes? The activities you partake in and how well you are doing outside of these activities. Students with good grades that are in many clubs are more of thought as the nerds and goody-goods of the school population. The students on the football, basketball, cheerleading, and almost any other sport related team are thought of as idiotic. If students were required to have a certain grade point average to be on those teams they wouldnt be thought of as nerdy or idiotic. The school wide population, while not completely stereotype free, would have calmed down with a lot of that stereotyping. We would be bridging the gap between the athletic and the academic. The more responsible you are the better you are going to be at succeeding at your desired profession. People that know how to cope with both academic and athletic fields will progress more then people that do not. If the person who is looking to hire a new employee sees that you can manage both of these fields they will think you are more responsible and choose you over a lot of the other applicants. Responsibility varies into many different forms, but  it usually matters most in your profession. Education is important in every aspect of life. More than any amount of athleticism you will need an education to survive in everyday life. Many people think they can get into a nationally ranked university if they have a lot of extracurricular activities. Although these look good on an application, maintained above average grades will look better. Even if you do not have perfect grades, a C average and some extra curricular activities will give you more chance of being accepted into the University of your Choice. Although you could argue that many students pride on their ability to do these extra curricular activities and their talent could most likely get them a scholarship it is not always so. For example, you could be working on a football scholarship, but, only an average of seventeen football scholarships are given out from a school per year. Being talented at a certain sport will usually not put you through college. Someone who has the talents and a better maintained grade point average will have an even better chance at getting that scholarship. In summation, it is my belief that a C grade point average should be required to participate in extracurricular activities. It will greatly reduce the amount of stereotyping happening in most high schools. More responsibility will be earned, therefore making your succession in a profession easier. Also, the more education you have, the easier it is going to be for acceptance into most universities. The better your application looks the better your profession will be.

Development As Freedom A Review Sociology Essay

Development As Freedom A Review Sociology Essay The author conceptualizes development as the gap between an exclusive concentration on economic wealth and a broader focus on the lives we can lead (p.14) emphasizing that the theory of development goes well beyond wealth accumulation and gross national product growth. The chapter examines the relationship between development and freedom, the way in which freedom is a component of development and an extensive view of freedom encompassing both opportunities that people have and processes that allow for freedom of decisions. The main arguments of the author is that development should be assessed by freedom of accessibility to factors such as social opportunities, health care, clean water, economic security, civil rights and political freedom. Lack of accessibility means unfreedom. Development therefore should mean that people can live the lives they want to live and precisely, how can a nation say in all entirety that it has freedom when its citizens cannot afford the very basic necessities of life or fulfill the rights they are entitled to? Sen goes on further to compare different views of poverty in both developing and developed nation by analyzing freedoms through values, poverty and inequality, income and mortality, markets and freedom, tradition and culture. The author sees the process of development beyond economic growth or physical and human capital and concludes by linking the understanding of a broad view of the development process to the substantive freedoms of people. Sens write up contains intriguing views but he hasnt mentioned what justifies his classification into these freedoms i.e. experience of developing countries, factual historical evidence or how far freedom has progressed within each context he identified. His definition is quite different from Rapleys in which Rapley describes development as more concerned with flexibility and adaptability (Rapley 2007 pp 5) and so raises a question. Can development be measured only by individual happiness without economic growth and stability? Happiness, in my opinion is geared more towards Rapleys definition and should be adapted into the process of economic growth. Willis, K. (2005) Theories and Practices of Development. London. Routledge. p. 32-42. Willis chapter 2 of theories and practices of development analyses development theories and practices and how these theories were attached to the economic, social and political theories that developed in Europe from the 18th century. Williss interpretation raises some interesting facts about historical development of theories and she divides her study into various theories. The classical economists such as David Ricardo, an advocate of free trade and Adam Smith, in his famous book, Wealth of Nations responded to the trade focus of economic policy at that time (p.32) when trade was a major factor of economic growth. Here, protectionist measures such as high tariffs were highly used by merchants. Willis goes on to say Adam Smith was not in favour of this form of regulation and that it was harmful to the countrys economic growth. Instead, greater focus on production and division of labour which will be regulated by the invisible hand of the market (p.33). The Great depression of the 1930s and other economic happenings gave rise to Keynes argument of the free market not necessarily a positive force but government intervention in the promotion of economic growth while postwar reconstruction period was a time to reflect on the economic crises that occurred at that time and provide solutions to their re-occurrence. This led to the creation of the Bretton woods institutions to assist in the promotion of stable economic growth within a capitalist system (p. 36) Willis describes the linear stages theory and makes emphasis on Rostow, the American economist and political theorists stages of Economic growth to development. Here, development was seen as a state where a large number of the population could afford to spend largely on consumer products and development was viewed as modern, moving from agricultural societies to an industrial economy. While she tries to decipher early theoretical ideas, Willis has not made clear linkages between some of these theories and how they have come to evolve in economic debates and discussions over time. Chang, H., and Ilene G. (2004) Reclaiming Development from the Washington Consensus, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 27(2), 274-291. The fundamental of this article is to correct the notion that there is no alternative to the Washington Consensus. The authors argue that neoliberal policies have failed to achieve their goals in developing world (p. 274) and so discuss the major development myths for justifying neoliberal policies that have been harmful to developing world and perhaps as a complacency to the reader, possible alternatives to these policies. These myths, evaluated individually, describe how these policies have lacked credibility. Myth 1; In contrast to the neoliberal policy success, the reality is that the policy has not promoted its main aim of economic growth. Myth 2; Developed countries gained success through free market policies whereas records claim they relied upon interventionist policies for development. Myth 3; Only neoliberal policies can succeed in todays global environment whereas in fact there is evidence of continuing institutional and policy divergence across national boundaries (p. 277) Myth 4; Discipline imposed by international institutions to keep them honest whereby placing policy making authority in the hands of these organizations. Myth 5; The East Asian model cannot be replicated when in fact most developed countries utilized this model. Myth 6; Developing countries should imitate the Anglo American model of capitalism which fared poorly in the economic boom of the 1990s. The authors went ahead to put forward alternative policies for faster economic development which includes the financial system providing adequate finance quantities for investment projects at appropriate prices, enforcing strict laws on new foreign loans incurred by domestic borrowers, defocusing on budget balance and maximizing FDI potentials to promote economic and industrial development in developing countries While arguing for these policies, it will be sensible to note that economies are different and there can be no best practice policy that everyone should use (Chang 2003). Policies for development should not be fixed but depend on stages of development of a developing nation and other factors such as resource capacity, economic, political and social conditions. Pender, J. (2001) From Structural Adjustment to Comprehensive Development Framework: Conditionality Transformed? Third World Quarterly, 22 (3), 397-411. Pender reviews how the World Banks approach to development has changed over decades and brought about important shifts to its conditionality approach. In the light of new changes between the 90s and today, the World Bank formulated a Comprehensive Development Framework, based on a relationship of partnership to replace its erstwhile structural adjustment lending (p. 397). The author examines why the World Banks perspectives of development changed through different periods; In the 1980s to early 90s, GDP was used as a measure of development as the Bank was mostly concerned with rapid economic growth and sustenance for least developed countries (LDC) and the adoption of policies such as restriction of state spending, controlling inflation, commodity exports and privatization as factors to achieve development. The 1990s drew lack of confidence in these policies and there were strong doubts about its competence judging from the success of the Asian Economies that developed rapidly without the World Banks policy prescriptions. This informed the Bank to change its 1980 view about minimal state role in development and that growth by itself is not enough (p 401). Thus in 1990, a formulation of an approach based on both labour intensive growth and widespread provision of basic social services (p.401). In spite of these alterations, there were criticisms that the Bank reforms were not aiding Africas growth but rather, increasing stagnant economies through the implementation of the Banks policies. According to Pender, the Bank lost confidence in its policy framework in early 1995, with the Asian miracle and LDCs failure and was forced to critique its own policies and re-orientate. This modification was experimented between 1995-1997 with improvements in the understanding of economic development and poverty reduction as the central focus. The author gives clear informed views of the process of policy change within the World Bank at different times but fails to analyze the impact of this new focus of poverty reduction and its success to the development of todays third world countries. Chang, H. (2003) Kicking away the ladder. Development Strategy in Historical Perspectives. London, Anthem Press. Chapter 1. Changs analysis centers around one question, How did the rich countries really become rich? He uncovers some myths about developed countries developmental experience and argues that developed countries did not develop through the same policies that they recommend to the developing world. This pressure from developed countries to the developing world to adopt a set of good policies that they adopted when they themselves were developing is faced with criticisms because historical evidence suggests otherwise and goes on to say that they are trying to hide the secret of their success (p. 2). Some of these policies include liberalization of trade, privatization, restrictive macroeconomic policies and deregulation but facts show that most of the developing countries used export subsidies and industry protection, industrial policies that the WTO disapproves in the present world. The USA and UK were examples of ardent users of these same policies frowned at in contrast to the free trade policies and free market they preach. Chang quotes List, the German economist that Britain was the first country to perfect the art of infant industry promotion which is the principle behind most countries journey to success (p. 3). He argues that developed countries, while alleging to recommend good policies to developing countries are actually trying to kick away the ladder of their own economic development. A conclusion is drawn on some methodological issues of David Ricardos neoliberal policies to Friedrich Lists infant industry argument that while developed countries preach Ricardo to developing nations, they actually pursued Lists policies in the past. Although Chang did not confront and compare works of economic historians e.g. L.E Birdzells How the West grew rich in relation to his How did the rich countries really become rich to identify similar or different conclusions, his examination of historical materials to reach important and interesting conclusions is a contribution that is immensely valuable to the current debates on development that will evidently challenge contemporary policies and enrich development theory.

Causes Of The Punic Wars History Essay

Causes Of The Punic Wars History Essay The Punic Wars were a sequence of three battles that were fought in the period 264 to 146 BC between Rome and Carthage. They were the largest battles of the time. The main reason for the occurrence of the battles was the conflict in the vested interests of the Carthagian Empire and the rapidly expanding Roman Empire. The Romans saw the need to expand their vast empire through Sicily, which was then an important hub, and was partly under Carthagian control. Carthage, being the dominant power in the West of the Mediterranean and strong in its naval power, resisted all advances by the Roman Empire, which was an extensive maritime empire. This resulted in the first of three major wars that were characterized by a number of battles. At the end of wars fought for over a century, Rome emerged victorious in the Roman-Syrian War with the defeat of Seleucid King Antiochus III the Great and went on to be one of the most powerful empires of the time till the fifth century A.D Carthage was a powerful thalassocratic city in modern day Tunisia. It had the largest navy and fought its wars through mercenaries, especially Numidian, rather than a permanent, standing army as was the case with the Roman Empire. In 264 BC, the Roman Empire conquered the Italian peninsula to the south of River Po bringing the conflict between the two rivals to a boiling point. This triggered the First Punic War that lasted between 264-241 BC. The First Punic War was mainly a naval war which was also partly fought on land in Sicily between Hiero II of Syracuse and Mamertines of Messina. The Mamertines first enlisted the help of the Carthagians but went on to betray them and sign a treaty with the Roman Senate. This led to the Carthagians to directly support Hiero bringing them at loggerheads with the Roman Empire for the control of Sicily. In 261 BC, after a defeat at the Battle of Agrigentum, the Carthagians resolved to fight their battles at sea rather than on land. They consequently successfully fought the Romans at the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BC. Rome decided to expand its existing fleets to over 100 warships in two months so as to counter the all-powerful Carthagians in the sea. They were specifically designed to incorporate a Corvus so as to facilitate sinking and ramming of Carthagian ships. This guaranteed a stream of successes for the Roman infantries except for the Battle of Tunis. In 241 BC, the Cart hagians signed a peace treaty with the Romans in which they were forced to evacuate Sicily In addition to paying an enormous war indemnity. Further, in 238 BC, the Carthagians lost the islands of Sardinia and Corsica to Rome during the Mercenary War. This ensured that Rome was the superpower and could comfortably control any sea-borne or land invasion of Italy, all sea trade routes in the Mediterranean and further invade foreign shores so as to expand the Empire. Rome further fought and conquered colonies through the Illyrian Wars. Carthage was however forced to retreat and build its finances and expand its empire in Hispania. In the ensuing period between 238 BC and 219 BC, several trade agreements and mutual alliances between Carthage and Rome took place. These treaties were mainly about the release of all 8,000 Roman prisoners without ransom and the handing over of all deserters serving in the Carthage army. This latter section of the agreement was not adhered to leading to a reject of the treaty by the Roman senate and an increase in the indemnity fines. This therefore resulted in a liquidity problem in Carthage leading to the Mercenary war in which the mercenaries that had previously fought for Carthage to revolt due to loss of power over the sea-ways. With a comfortable win, Carthage and Rome enjoyed relative peace till 219 BC when Hannibal, having silver riches conquered by his predecessor Hamilcar Barca and a large native army from the subdued native tribes such as the Celts of the Po River, attacked Saguntum which was by then under special protection by Rome under conquest termed as the Iberian Co nquest. The Second Punic War occurred between 218-201 BC. Hannibal, leading the Barcid Empire, and allied to the Carthagians, crossed the Alps and invaded Italy in a series of highly successful battles. Hannibal, however, never attained the goal of creating a major division between Rome and its allies. These wars were fought on three frontiers. First, in Italy, Hannibal fought the Romans; secondly, in Hispania, Hasdrubal, a brother to Hannibal, constantly defended the colonies conquered and finally in Sicily, Rome fought for control which was further troubled by the continuing First Macedonian War. After a successful attack on Saguntum, Hannibal went further on to surprise the Romans by attacking Italy. Although he managed to win that particular battle, and also the Battle of Trebia, The Battle of Trasimene and the Battle of Cannae; he lost his only siege engines and most of the elephants and men to the icy mountains thereby strategically losing the battle in Rome which would have ensured a win of the entire war. His war strategy, which was to turn the allies of Rome against it since he could not take Rome on due to insufficient men, failed. Except for a few southern states, the rest remained loyal. Rome further drafted army after army after the defeats which ensured Hannibal was cut off from aid. Hannibal also never received any substantial reinforcements from Carthage which prevented him from decisively conquering Rome and ending the war at a win. The war raged for fifteen years during which the Roman Empire was unable to conclusively end the battle since Hannibal was a master general coupled with the fact that they were already engaged in the Macedonian Wars. Hannibal, realizing he was eventually running out of supplies, decided to retreat to his home base in Africa in aid to an attack waged by Rome but was thoroughly defeated in The Battle of Zama. In Hispania, Hasdrubal was soundly defeated by a young Roman commander, Publius Cornelius Scorpio. He therefore decide d to abandon Hispania so as to reinforce his brother Hannibal. This alliance was later trampled upon ending the Second Punic War in 201 BC. The Third Punic War, which lasted between 149-146 BC, was invoked by the extended Siege by Rome on Carthage and its consequent complete destruction. There was growing resurgence by Hispania and Greece against Rome coupled with the tangible increase in Carthagian wealth and martial power. The Roman Treaty incorporated a clause in which Carthage was to have no military thereby suffering attacks from the neighboring Numidia, a favorite of the Roman Empire. All arbitrations were done by the Roman Senate which was heavily in favor of Numidia. After 50 years since the end of the Second Punic War, The Carthagians decided they were no longer bound by the treaty and mustered an army to combat the Numidian attacks. This Punic Militarism was heavily objected to by Rome especially by Cato the Elder who declared that Carthage must be destroyed. In 149 BC, Rome issued demands that could not be met such as the proposal to demolish Carthage and build it further from the coast into the interiors of A frica. This drew Carthage into an open fight with the Romans. Over a short period, Carthagians innovatively made a myriad of weapons and were able to resist initial Roman attacks on their city. However, a three year siege on the city ended the war in which the walls of the city were breached by the Romans under the command of Scipio Aemilianus, who burnt the city to the ground and aggrandized other Carthagian settlements. The Carthagians who were not killed were sold into slavery. This brought the Carthagian Empire to an end.

Analog Vs Digital Essay -- essays research papers

Digital PCS: The Future of Wireless Phone Service In the past few years the use of mobile phones has increased tremendously. At one time only available to the rich and elite business executives, the luxury of mobile phones can now be used by a wide group of people in different financial situations. Mobile phones are a necessary convenience. They provide instant communication access wherever mobile phone service is offered. There are two options for mobile phone service: analog, and digital PCS. Analog is the more expensive option and has long been the standard for mobile phone service. Digital PCS is the newest form of phone service. It works by converting human speech into software codes and converting them to audio signals before the codes reach the listener. Because it is software based it provides a perfect platform for a variety of advanced wireless features. Digital PCS is the future of mobile phone service and the soon to be de facto standard for wireless phone service.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People can choose digital PCS service for many reasons, though affordability might be the initial attraction. Because of competition by many companies price is always being driven down. Also, the many different customizable price plans offer an affordable package for any type of budget. Companies, which offer digital PCS service are always looking to lure new customers, and therefore are in constant review of their plans always trying to make sure they are treating their customers properly. This eventually leads to the best product for the customer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If there is any drawback to digital PCS it is that the service is still fairly new. Digital PCS systems need to be laid from the ground up. They are physically hard-wired from community to community. While designing a system like this takes much longer, the outcome is worth it. Hard-wired systems provide for a stronger signal, and better connection. Because the implementation of the system takes long, it is difficult to spread digital PCS service quickly. But the service is expanding rapidly and soon, it will cover most of the country. Another drawback is that people cannot use Digital PCS phones in the more common analog environments. Much of the country is already equipped with analog services so it is better to purchase a dual band Digital PCS service phone that has analog s... ...;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Digital phones are the future. They provide services that analog mobile phones could never provide. From an engineering standpoint alone, phones using digital PCS are more advanced and capable of amazing applications. But it is the convenience that digital PCS phones provide which make them a better option for people who are on the move. From a system level, they are designed from the ground up, providing the best connection and signal performance. Digital PCS is software based thus providing better applications such as caller ID, voice mail, enhanced battery management, paging, and encryption systems. They save time by providing on demand information including alerting the owner immediately when a voice mail is received, and when the battery of the phone will expire. They are affordable in cost because many companies are in competition to provide the best service. This provides the customer with ample choices to evaluate. Digital PCS phone service is reliable, robus t and affordable. It allows a person to be able to be reached at all times. It is the future and the soon to be standard for wireless communications. Digital PCS, the future of mobile phones is here.

Essay --

Child labor is the employment of children, but not all work done by children should be classified as child labor that should be eliminated. Children’s participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling is generally regarded as being something positive. The term â€Å"child labor† is defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. Imagine you and I with such limited opportunities. Imagine if children like us did not know the joys of school life but rather the life of hard physical labor. Imagine if we had to struggle miles for water, work several hours a day to earn a few scraps of food that kept us barely alive. Unimaginable, yet the life of 215 million kids around the world today – child laborers. Children are engaged in the worst forms of child labor, many of them in agriculture. They use potentially dangerous machinery and tools, carry heavy loads, work long hours in extreme heat a...

National Festivals Essay

Festival is a celebration of life. Festivals bring peace and joy to the masses. They break the monotony of life. Indian festivals are numerous. A festival is a celebration, entertainment or series of performances of a certain kind, often held periodically. Festivals break the monotony of life. They bring peace and joy to the masses. All nations have their religious and cultural festivals. Indian festivals are numerous. They are harmonious, rich, varied and colorful. Indian festivals are varied as the people themselves.They are of three types- national, religious and seasonal. The first type of festivals. i.e. national festivals are celebrated with great patriotic favour These days have been declared as national holidays and are celebrated in all parts of the country with a lot of enthusiasm. The capital, New Delhi, is the seat of national celebrations on such occasions. It witnesses one of the most majestic parades on the Republic Day. These festivals include Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanit etc.. The second type of festivals depict the religious association of the people.Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religions or in the myths and legends of popular faiths. Some are contend with the memory of venerable men and events and are, therefore, commemorative in nature. They are intended to keep alive the memory of those events and personalities and inspire people to emulate their examples. These festivals include Guru Parav, Holi, Lohir, Buddhapurnima, Mahavir Jayanit, Dussehra, Diwali, Janmastami, Chath, Navaratri, Eid,. Third ones mark the change of season.These festival include Bhi, Baisakhi, Onam, Pongal, Basant Panchanmi etc.

GM Powertrain Essay

Joe Hinrichs, a recent Harvard Business school graduate, was hired in February 1996 to run the General Motors’s the Fredericksburg Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) manufacturing plant. At 29 years old, Hinrichs was GM’s youngest plant manager. Hinrichs was inheriting a poor performing plant that continually underachieved, losing money year after year. Improvements were desperately needed to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and reduce operating costs. GM had considered shutting down the plant; however, when a new bonding process, using carbon fiber, for the TCC was approved in 1995, GM instead invested thirty million dollars into the Fredericksburg plant to incorporate the new process. From the beginning, Hinrichs faced a difficult situation. The previous plant manager committed the plant to ambitious budgetary goals. Hinrichs was also tasked with preparing the plant to use the new TCC manufacturing process and attaining QS-9000 certification. If that weren’t enough, Hinrichs still had day to day emergencies to handle; the latest being the 1500-ton press breaking down, an important machine in the production process. Despite his situation, Hinrichs met the challenges head on, impressing both GM management and plant staff. Workforce Management Hinrichs knew that in order to be successful, he needed to rally the plant staff around him, gaining their trust and respect. Being an outsider at a small town plant and also being so young, Hinrichs knew accomplishing this would be a huge challenge. During the first month on the job he started to show that he could be the capable leader this plant needed. Hinrichs had just received word that a UAW strike at two Dayton area plants would shut down all of GM’s automatic transmission production plants, leaving him without customers. The standard procedure was to lay off the plant workers until the strike was over, instead Hinrichs used the lay off as an opportunity to show his workforce that he would take care of them. As an alternative to laying them off, he worked with the staff to get as many people as possible to take vacation during the time or mandatory training. The remainder worked on some of the improvements he wanted to make. Not only did this improve his relationship with the plant workers, it also gave him a way to start bring efficiency improvements to the plant. Historically, the Fredericksburg plant saw little gains from efficiency improvements. While not stated in the case, this was most likely due to the highly-skilled staff’s resisting change, preferring the comfort of their undocumented processes that they had been using for decades. Hinrichs knew that he wouldn’t be successful unless he could ease them into the changes and frame the changes in a way the staff would see as beneficial. In addition, Hinrichs had to overcome the fact that improvements meant less overtime, a disincentive for the staff. First, Hinrichs used the guise of necessary process changes to produce the new TCCs in order to bring in process improvements without upsetting the workers. By framing the changes as improvements to get the plant prepared for producing the new high tech part, the staff would be more open to changes. Second, Hinrichs eased the workers into change by first meeting with the union weeks before the changes were implemented in order to get their feedback and buy-in as well as time to come to terms with the changes. Third, Hinrichs spread change throughout the facility, so that no area would experience too much change all at once, giving the staff more time to adjust. Finally, Hinrichs kept the workers very involved in the installation of new cells, encouraging them to examine them and provide him with feedback. This approach got some of the more senior workers to take a closer look and get excited about the changes, some actually applying to work in the new cells. Hinrichs realized that he had to give the workers new incentives to overcome the disincentive of a lack of overtime. He knew that if he could reconfigure the plant away from assembly lines and into individual work stations, workers would be able to take more ownership of their work, producing better quality parts and be self-motivated by being able to measure their individual output, increasing job satisfaction. The new cells turned out to be a hit. Workers were excited about having more control over their output and being part of the new process. Hinrichs’s active management of change within the factory and focus on worker satisfaction and buy-in resulted in a lot of small victories that he used to win over the workforce’s trust and respect. In the process, Hinrichs transformed the plant from one that was resistant to change to one that embraced and was excited for change. Process Improvements One of the biggest needs for improvement was the assembly process. Although several changes were made throughout the years, quality and efficiency still fell below expectations. Hinrichs implemented the newly developed assembly which consists of two separate work stations that allowed operators in the adjacent stations to share the expensive balancer machine. These assembly cells were much more efficient as workers were no longer forced to wait for another person or machine in the process. Each cell was built like the other with quick turn set-up which created flexibility in the process while also reducing tooling inventory by almost a half. Now cells could be activated to meet demand for different models. Likewise, each cell was designed to handle 1 to 3 operators to accommodate changes in volume. For increased quality, engineers designed machines that would use the information documented in the PFMEA to check and reject any faulty units at any stage in the assembly process. This increased yields by ten times that of the original inspection method which was performed once at the end of assembly. These changes to the assembly process not only reduced down time, allow for dynamic line balancing and scalability, it also created a sense of worker empowerment. Each worker now controlled their own output therefore giving them a better understanding of their contribution towards the plant’s production goals. This was an extremely successful improvement that Hinrichs could now work off of. The new bonding machines installed for the new process also fell in line with increasing efficiency and operational costs. These new machines would now only required one worker instead of two. These machines also signaled when a problem occurred saving ample amount of time and wasted material. Employee job satisfaction increased as well with the new machines. Even older senior employees who currently hold desired jobs in the plant were applying for the bonder positions. Even if this change was a necessity forced on by the process change, it was overly successful and beyond their expectation. Workforce efficiency was another area that needed to be improved. The installation of the QS 9000 system helped do just that. It helped maintain high standards of quality and reliability as well as continuous improvement and cost reduction. This stringent process was basically absent from this plant. Documenting your process and continually monitoring it through a quality system gives one the ability to understand and uncover inefficiencies in the manufacturing process. For example, Hinrichs noticed, in particular, the Heat treat area did not utilize its workers effectively. There were employees that loaded and unloaded the ovens while three separate inspectors waited until parts came out of heat treat. There was significant idle time for all of the employees in the process. By teaching the operators the techniques needed to inspect their own parts, their idle time is significantly reduced while completely freeing three employees to serve higher demand processes within the plant. This change in job responsibilities is a good example of utilizing resources to increase throughput not just activating a resource just to keep it working. 1500-ton Press Analysis Hinrichs’s current challenge is how to deal with the broken 1500 ton press. This press is the only one in the plant. The press is the first step in the process and also the bottleneck. If this machine is down, the whole system is down. There are three options Hinrichs has considered: (Appendix A presents the information in data form needed to make a decision. ) Given the information in Appendix A and carefully analyzing it, we have decided to move forward with Option 1 while continuing ideas to more effectively implement the new Die into the process if purchased. By choosing option 1, the plant would be able to continue operating without loss of throughput or added unit cost due to outsourcing. To reduce system breakdown, a preventative maintenance procedure would be enacted. Currently, the relationship between Hinrichs and the union is good and furthermore, by repairing the press with existing parts, the plant cannot afford to eliminate a union job if option 2 were selected. Hinrichs also needs to be aware of his spending for the year as well as delivering a known return on his investments. Neither option 2 or 3 will allow Hinrichs the ability to show any return on investment this fiscal year. Option 2 seemed to be an expensive route to take just to add some reliability with little reduction in costs. While Option 3 sounds appealing, the new die is still unreliable and could have a significant impact to unit costs if additional outsourcing were needed while bringing it up to speed. Hinrich should continue to work on the new die offline and only incorporate it once the technical challenges have been overcome.

Analysis of Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk Essay

Zora Neale Hurston’s use of language in her short story Spunk allows the reader to become part of the community in which this story takes place. The story is told from the point of view of the characters, and Hurston writes the dialogue in their broken English dialect. Although the language is somewhat difficult to understand initially, it adds to the mystique of the story. Spunk is a story about a man that steals another man’s wife, kills the woman’s husband and then he ends up dying from an accident at the saw mill. Spunk believed that it was Lena’s husband, Joe Kanty, who shoved him into the circular saw, and the people in the village agreed that Joe Kanty had come back to get revenge. The language used by the characters helps to establish the setting of the story and gives the reader an understanding of why voodoo is a plausible explanation for the outcome. â€Å"Looka theah folkses!† is what Elijah Mosley states to the others in the store. This is the first indication that the characters in this short story are not the most educated, and are probably from some small backwoods town. We quickly get confirmation of this when we learn that he is alerting them that Spunk Banks, a giant, brown-skinned man, â€Å"who aint skeered of nothin’ on God’s green footstool†, is sauntering up the one street in the village, with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm. Clearly, the store is where people hang out, and everyone knows that the woman with Spunk is Lena Kanty, Joe’s wife. Coming from a large city, I would not expect everyone to know each other, so seeing a couple walking down the street would not be significant to me. In this context however, I understand that something is not right and trouble is coming. When Joe walked in to the store, the talking ceased; the men looked at each other and winked. â€Å"Say, Joe, how’s everything up yo’ way? How’s yo’ wife?† asked Elijah. Spoken like a friend, but it is clear that he is trying to start some mess. â€Å"Aw â€Å"Lige, you oughtn’t to do nothin’ like that† Walter grumbled. This dialogue makes the conflict between Spunk and Joe very clear. Not only does Joe know that his wife is going out with Spunk, but everybody in the town knows. This is a brilliant way to draw the reader into the story; we feel bad for Joe. His pride is at stake and he has no alternative but to take some action against Spunk. Joe knows that his razor is no match for Spunk’s gun, but his back is against the wall. He is the laughing stock of the town because Spunk has made a fool of him. â€Å"Well,† Spunk announced calmly, â€Å"Joe come out there wid  a meatax an’ made me kill him.† The men glared at Elijah, accusingly. His words had pushed Joe to do something and Spunk had killed him. Now that Joe was dead, the expectation would be for Spunk and Lena to move forward with their relationship. â€Å"Joe’s death was a clear case of self defense, the trial was a short one, and Spunk walked out of the court house to freedom again†. Spunk was free, but now the excitement begins. Zora Neale Hurston uses symbolism to introduce the reader to the world of voodoo. Hurston had visited Haiti and Jamaica in the 1930s and had become very interested in the practice of voodoo. Elijah tells us in the story that Spunk sees a black bob-cat that â€Å"looked him in the eye, an’ howled right at him†. The thing got Spunk so nervoused up he couldn’t shoot. Spunk says it was Joe done sneaked back from Hell!† Later in the story, Elijah tells us that Spunk dies from being cut by the saw and Spunk believed that Joe had pushed him in the back. Elijah believed it too. Revenge is a powerful emotion and in this story, it is the best explanation for Spunk’s death. Based on the dynamics of the town, everyone believed it to be possible that Joe caused Spunk’s death. Because they believed it, I believed it. It is their world. Zora Neal Hurston was criticized by other African American writers for her use of dialect and folk speech. Richard Wright was one of her harshest critics and likened Hurston’s technique â€Å"to that of a minstrel show designed to appease a white audience† (www.pbs.org).Given the time frame, the Harlem Renaissance, it is understandable that Zora Neale Hurston may be criticized. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement which redefined how America, and the world, viewed African Americans, so her folk speech could be seen as perpetuating main stream society’s view of African Americans as ignorant and incapable of speaking in complete sentences. However, others, such as philosopher and critic Alain Locke, praised her. He considered Hurston’s â€Å"gift for poetic phrase and rare dialect, a welcome replacement for so much faulty local color fiction about Negroes† (www.pbs.org). The language in this short story allowed the reader to enter this community and gain an understanding of their world.

Compare two music promos

‘Creating a memorable music video is much like growing an unusual moustache. It takes patience and nerve. During the early planning stages it may be difficult to perceive exactly what the finished ‘tache' will look like. The growing period may be arduous, drawn out. The moustache's grower may be tempted by the easy clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s of fashion to compromise their original design. But if he or she stays the course, remaining true to their vision, they will doubtless create something unique. While the finished ‘moustache' may not be to everybody's taste, it will stand out. It will entertain. It will provoke. It will inspire: a true original amid a tangled forest of more conventional styles.' Music video production company ‘ Colonel Blimp' Essay title: Compare and contrast two music videos from two different genres. The two videos I am going to compare are; a new and up incoming artist from London's underground scene, Kano with the video for ‘Ps and Qs' an underground a anthem that marks the mainstream break – through for grime and UK hip hop and a very comical band Tenacious D with the video for ‘WounderBoy', who's main singer and founder of the band is a well known and respectable comedian – Jack Black. The band who are responsible for songs such as ‘Fu*k Her Gently' like to be seen as funny and not to be taken to seriously. Such a contrast between the band and the artist it is quite obvious that both videos are not going to be alike and great for comparing and contrasting. Kano's ‘Ps and Qs' promo is directed by Alistair Siddons, an up incoming director who works for the production company Colonel Blimp. He is well known in his chosen genre of music – underground UK grime and hip hop and has directed videos for highly respected bands and artists in that scene, such as ‘The Streets', ‘Roots Manuva' and ‘Crazy Titch'. He tends to work with artists on a low budget although he does still continue to work with his artists once they have become more popular and have a larger budget. He is becoming increasingly well known and has recently won four awards for his work at this year's Underground Music Awards. Tenacious D decided to use Spike Jonze, a well respected film and music video director, largely credited for his work in Blockbuster films ‘Being John Malkovich' and ‘Adaptation'. However Jonze also remains a pioneer in the world of music videos, and for many years has been best known as an award – winning music video, short film and commercial director. One of his most famous promo' s being ‘Fatboy Slim's' ‘Praise You', in which Jonze stars as himself. Unlike Siddons, Jonze does not have preferable genre in which the videos he directs and has directed for a wide variety of musical styles and genres, from Hip Hop's Notorious B.I.G to digital, electro pop band Daft Punk. ‘Ps and Qs' establishing shot is at a tilted, low angle looking up at high – rise city building, which has a lot of glass and reflection from street lamps, we can see that it is at night. There is fast, snappy editing that goes with the songs digitally modified beats and we can see more images of London and local streets that are graffitied and littered. This adds to the mise – en – scene of the video and gives an impression and feel of urban decay. Just before the lyrics start we can see Kano walk out from the darkness of an alley and into the light from a street lamp. He walks towards the camera and begins to rap (as though he is talking) to us. The camera begins to track backwards with Kano walking forward to us; Kano appears to be moving with the camera, as though he is on the tripod. Tenacious D's video opens as though it were a film, with credits informing whom the director and the band is, the background is of the nights sky and we can see that it is snowing. The establishing shot is of tall snow mountains and a forest, the camera moves quickly into the forest and we can see the band's main singer Jack Black sat on a log. As the lyrics begin Jack starts to sing dramatically but serious – already we can sense intertextual reference to the world – famous film, ‘Lord Of The Rings'. Editing is slow and typical of a fantasy/adventure film, camera shots are also very filmic e.g. extreme close – up's of Jack Black, and large bird's eye view shots, that quickly sweep over scenery and closely focus on characters. I also feel that the video has been shot in double time or time and a half to create a slow motion feel. As Kano's promo continues, we see more tall building projects, estates and back streets. Through – out the video Kano appears to be on his own travelling through out London. The film seems to have a dark green wash over it as the video appears to be off – coloured and darker than it should be, this also adds to the mise – en – scene of the promo and creates a atmosphere that is not overtly scary but menacing. The places that Kano travels through appear to be slightly threatening and the viewers find themselves relieving that they are not walking through these places on their P's! (On their own). The viewer can see that this video is on a lower budget compared to Tenacious D's WonderBoy' and does not have such graphic storyline or the need for great acting skills, however Kano's lyrical content mixed with clever camera and editing tricks make up for the lack of story – boarding. Tenacious D's promo develops a story – line that the viewer can follow through the bands actions, their impressive acting skills and the song's lyrics, which sing about ‘WonderBoy' and his evil archenemy – Young nasty man. Through out the video we see ‘WonderBoy' (played by Jack Black) sat in the forest reciting lyrics, he begins to move as he sings and the camera tracks behind him, as WonderBoy dramatically turns around, we see his evil competitor, Young nasty man (played by the band's other member Kyle Glass). Shots are slow and dramatic with a lot of use of ‘fade editing'. During the song we approach a verse that is spoken (and shouted!) by Black, the promo at this verse fades into a picturesque view of Snow Mountains with Black and Glass's faces faded on top of the picture. This is a technique used in ‘The Lord Of The Ring' films and is usually used to show what the character is thinking about or the scene that he is creating with words. We see extravagant sets of icy snow deserts and the camera tracks behind Black on what seems to be a quest. Filming is slow and dreamy. The whole promo only actually uses 92 different camera shots most of which are faded into each other, compared to Kano's ‘P's and Q's' which use's a mass of 156 different camera shots which are fast, snappy and edgy (and maybe dangerous for someone who has epilepsy). In conclusion both promos are incredibly unique and directed to the highest standards, none better than the other but just of remarkably different genres and styles. Kano's promo pushes boundaries and throws out stereo – typical clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s of American, gangster Hip Hop with jewellery, woman and drugs. It too illustrates the wider shift in the way Garage and Grime music is incrementally developing from disposable dance floor music into a far deeper and infinitely more subtle medium capable of expressing the turbulent inner life of Britain's excluded urban underclass – a demographic discovering their own identity and voice through microphones, cheap computer technology and the sawn-of idiom of pirate music. In turn Tenacious D's ‘WonderBoy' offers amazing direction from Jonze and incredible theatrical performances from Black and Glass. A comical, yet serious parody lampooning a contemporary media phenomenon – ‘The Lord Of The Rings' and at the same time tells a humorous tale of how the band was started. Many critics and viewers found ‘The Lord Of The Rings' to worthy and pompous yet Tenacious D and Spike Jonze saw this opportunity to successfully mock it.

New kingdom egyptian pharaohs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New kingdom egyptian pharaohs - Essay Example As in ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs in the new kingdom, were at the top of social and political order, including control over military occupations. In addition, they helped maintain divine order in the world (PBS, n.d.). While Tutankhamun reopened the temples of Amun, Ahmose ended the war, which was begun by his grandfather, Tao II. Ahmose pampered the local administrators with gifts of land and entrusted them with the responsibility of daily rule of his country. In the earlier dynasties, also the provincial leaders gained too much power because they had land and they were allowed freedom by the Pharaohs (Phouka, n.d.). With the support of the military, he maintained the balance of power (DiPaolo, 1997). In the new kingdom, although people were educated and professionals could be found, peasants and servants remained at the bottom of the hierarchy as in ancient Egypt. Women remained confined to the house and taking care of the children (PBS). Queen Hapshepsut and Thutmose III turned Eg ypt into ancient super power (Millmore). Amenhotep III, like the kings of the ancient Egypt, built temples and statues, but he encouraged realism in art. He and his son brought about changes in the cultural identity of the people during their reign. While most royal marriages have a political motive, Amenhotep III’s marriage had none. He maintained balance of power through democracy. His son Akhenaten tried to introduce the concept of godhead, which was both monotheistic and abstract. The portraits and paintings were revolutionary and allowed creative freedom. They displayed beauty and decay in real people rather than flatter the king and his family as in ancient Egypt (Millmore, 1997). The New Kingdom Pharaohs established colonial settlements only at Tombos and the temple town of Kawa. These were not completely Egyptian sites as the local elites were allowed cultural and political autonomy provided the precious luxury goods reached the Pharaohs

Letter of Advice to client Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Letter of Advice to client - Research Paper Example Of importance, landmark decisions will be central to the essay construction. The author will wrap up with a conclusion of the major findings. According to Stone1, consideration is mandatory in contract law to make agreements legally binding. It forms the test for enforceability of contracts. Its absence makes an agreement gratuitous and non enforceable as a contract. Estoppel is a claim in equity precluding someone from denying existence of a state of affairs if it would be unconscionable2 and the doctrine deals with pre-contractual waste by preventing adoption of positions at odds with previously relied upon positions by others3. Such denial might affect a person’s legal rights. Owen J. in The Bell Group Ltd v Westpac Banking Corporation4 defined estoppel as a: â€Å"†¦ doctrine designed to protect a party from the detriment that would flow from that party’s change of position if the assumption or expectation that led to it were to be rendered groundless by another.†1 In common law, the claimant had to prove existence of a contractual relationship in defense against a claim of non performance of contract. The requirement of consideration led to injustices which promissory estoppel sought to address. By preventing a promisor from reneging on promises without consideration, Handley AJA in Equititrust Ltd (formerly Equitiloan Ltd) v Franks4 noted that promissory estoppel dealt with equitably binding assurances restraining promisors from enforcing his legal rights. Estoppel can be traced to Denning J’s reasoning in Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd5 which described estoppel ensuring justice and equity6 in holding a landlord to his undertaking to accept reduced rent. The defendant was estopped from demanding rent arrears for the period of the war due to scarcity of tenants7. Professor Atiyah8 states that consideration was classically a

Business Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Business Planning - Essay Example The restaurant gained importance in the fast food industry as people preferred the chicken more than hamburgers. The diversification of the market encouraged the restaurant chain to introduce more items in the market that is prepared with the special recipes of 11 herbs and spices (KFC, 2015a). The recipes are regarded as trade secret of the restaurant chain. The large portion of the fried chicken are usually served in card board buckets, which is the main attraction of the franchise (KFC, 2015a). The business idea slowly became famous as the customers preferred the products over all fast food items in the market. Hence, the business idea is successful because of the recipes and the change that is brought in the taste bud of the individuals around the globe. From the beginning of the business till its success, the entrepreneur has to encounter a number of challenges, which was both threat and beneficial for him. Nevertheless, it is significant to mention that challenges assisted the business to progress its performance. In its initial phase of operation, the restaurant has to encounter several issues in different parts of the world. The company has however overcome the challenges, which has given them the strength for building a successful venture. There are few successful entrepreneurs in the market as all of them cannot overcome tough situations and are incompetent to run a business properly. The restaurant chain has experienced a lot of issues in world fast food market. Few examples are provided henceforth to depict the issues encountered by the restaurant chain in the industry. The Health Wyze Report has published that KFC is the worst restaurant chain in the industry as the workers are affected by the harmful canola oil fumes, while preparing the recipes (Corriher, 2014). This is from the employee perspective; however with respect to the customers, the report depicted that it is the unhealthiest place to consume fast food. The unhealthy

Depression and Amputees Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Depression and Amputees - Research Paper Example 4): Persistent sadness, anxiousness, or feeling of â€Å"emptiness† Sense of hopelessness and/or pessimism Perception of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness Irritability and restlessness Absence of interest in activities and hobbies (including sex) Problems in concentration, remembering, and in making decisions Insomnia, wakefulness, or excessive sleeping Overeating or loss of appetite Suicidal tendencies and thoughts Pains, aches, cramps, headaches, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment The National Institute of Mental Health emphasized that not all people with depression experience all the symptoms of depression. Further, depression can be major depressive disorder, dysthymia, psychotic, or seasonal (p. 3). The World Health Organization classified depression as â€Å"among the most disabling clinical diagnoses in the world, estimated to affect nearly 340 million people worldwide, and 18 million people in the United States at any one time† (Grede n, 2001, p. 5). Taking self-concept as a possible determinant of depression among the handicapped, Akram and Naseem (2010) investigated the level of self-concept among handicapped persons. The researchers used sample sizes derived through stratified sampling to limit possible error at 5%. They found that self concept â€Å"depends upon age, gender, occupation, and education level† (Akram and Naseem, 2010, p. 84). The researchers reached the conclusion based on their interpretation of one and two-sample t-tests, Chi-square tests, and test of significance of the correlation coefficients. In contrast, Mozumdar et al. (2010) investigated whether depression among persons with lower extremity amputation (LEA) is really higher than the general population. The investigators found that â€Å"the depression levels of the LEA also were not associated to most of the physical health factor† (Mozumdar et al., 2010, p. 887). The Mozumdar et al. (2010) conclusion was based on a sample of 85 amputees out of an original target of 1,000 amputees. A low sample was realized because only a few agreed to give their informed consent. Using a sample of 56 Jordanian patients with â€Å"unilateral lower limb amputation† with mean duration of 8.4+/-5.75 years, Hawamdeh et al. (2008) assessed the prevalence of anxiety and depression among them and found that 63% (N=35) were normal while 37.5% (N=21) were â€Å"abnormal† (p. 629). Originally, 92 amputees were recruited for their study but the investigators reduced the respondents to 56 because failed to contact 25, 6 amputees did not consent to participate in the study, and 5 amputees were excluded because they did not respond to some parts of the questionnaire (Hawamdeh et al., 2008, p. 628). Hawamdeh et al. used a questionnaire that included clinical data that can indicate produce anxiety and depression scores and the participants â€Å"were fully informed about the nature of the study procedure and consent w as obtained from each subject before participating in the study† (p. 628). The study of Nachitz and Lenger (2008) is important because it clarifies that traumatic leg amputees are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease other than depression. Bhuvaneswar et al. (2007, p. 304) revealed that â€Å"posttraumatic appears to be more common in amputees following combat or accidental injury, whereas general rates of PTSD are 20 to 22% in

A New approach to teaching ESOL in ethnic minorities in UK Essay

A New approach to teaching ESOL in ethnic minorities in UK - Essay Example With reference to the ESOL or English for Speakers of other languages, there had been several arguments running around the world. Particularly the funding, policies and future of this community is still a centre point of conversation in many literatures. The point of focuses would be that whether they come out successfully in their studies, how does the teaching get along with the ethnic community in terms of understanding, and in what way the future of these communities is placed. The ethnic population in UK comprises of Asian, African-Caribbean, and Chinese etc. The progresses of these children seem to be travelling in a traumatic situation, if they are beginners. In the sense children who belong to the ethnic community first face a difficult situation in terms of language. But literature say that most of the mainstream schools fail to cope up with the problem, so the thought of setting a separate school atmosphere for them also on the run. The condition of those ethnic population, who are treated as refugee are even worse than this, The Institute Of Race Relations [2001] has to say that â€Å"When post-war immigrants first came here, there was clear evidence of discriminatory practices (such as the bussing of Asian children or the relegation of West Indian children to schools for the subnormal) which marginalised and segregated children - setting them up for failure† But though the situation might give a changed look, still the teachers are at the critical position to give recognition for them. In a survey report The Institute Of Race Relations [2001] has pointed out that â€Å"71% of minority ethnic 16-19 year-olds are in full-time education compared with 58% of whites of the same age. Though they are 9% of the 18-24 age group, minority ethnic young people form 13% of university undergraduates.† What has to be analyzed is that how

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget Essay

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget - Essay Example † 1 David Sedivy also asked the same way, â€Å"How does the son of an Austrian factory worker come to European power and become responsible for the deaths of as many as 35 million people?† 2 Another mind boggling question is how can Hitler, an Austrian born, become a leader followed blindly by millions of German and Aryan raced- soldiers? The magnitude of the annihilation and the atrocities committed by Hitler’s regime are definitely mind boggling. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." 3  What is important at this point is to share and retell this saga over and over again to all generations for them to learn insights that will guide, strengthen behaviors and enable people to think within the moral framework of a human being. In short, the question here is whether this event deserves to have a moral imperative. The succeeding discussion would support the stance that the Holocaust education, in particular, deserves to be given a moral imperative. The Saga of Gerswin Kunze during the Holocaust. Present day 21st century setting†¦ as I was doing my daily inspection of every room in our house until I reached that special room which contains our memorabilia. It houses priceless heirloom items and family bloodline photos capturing fond memories of our great family celebrations until I stopped to pause on one frame that brings back memories of being a survivor of the World War II Holocaust. Suddenly, I felt again that strange shivers and goose pimples in my arms. The deja vu feeling crept into my body which was a mixed feeling of fear, sadness and joy. It reminded me of a dark past which I really do not want to reminisce again. But people whom we loved and witnessed how they perished in the merciless executions of the Nazis kept telling us that whoever outlives this saga should tell the world about these nightmares so that this would never happen again. Suddenly flashes of events came back to my memory. This is my story. 1929 – The Germany’s Economic Depression. I am Gerzwin Kunze, from Poland born to a Jewish family in a small called Krzepicea. I was 14 years old then and still studying. My father was a businessman. One day, I did not understand what was going on. I saw my father joining angry crowds marching on the streets holding banners and shouting to air their complaints. There was one time when my father brought me along to walk on the streets with him. He brought me with him just to get a feel of what was going on. There were lots of people shouting, orations delivered. He asked me to hold tight, keep close and instructed me what to do if ever I get separated from him. Learning that I was with my father on the streets, my mother rushed to find us and immediately brought me back home for fear that any untoward incident may happen during the rally. When the right time came, I learned that Germany lost World War I and as a consequence now experienced economic downturn. â⠂¬Å"On October 29, 1929 marked the collapse of stock U.S. market triggering a worldwide economic depression.† 4 â€Å" Germany’s economy was then highly dependent on foreign trade so it was imperative that it was inevitable for it to experience economic downfall which adversely affected people’s livelihood.† 5 Its effects sparked spontaneous protests: â€Å"As production levels fell, German workers were laid off. Along with this, banks failed throughout Germany.

Private School Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Private School Education - Essay Example That would enable the government to support education without necessarily maintaining public institutions. The champions of this voucher system also say that the one-size-fits-all public school system is inappropriate as the model does not cater to the different needs of the students. Opponents of the voucher system, on the other hand, say that it is unfair to take public money meant for public schools and channel the same into the private school where the public has no oversight over how the funds would be used. There is also fear that the private school system may only help to further segment the population alongside religious, social class and other lines. It is entirely possible that the introduction of the voucher system in private schools would provide a magnet for students in public schools. Faced with a larger applicant's pool, private schools would then find it easier to reject applicants deemed undesirable. Unlike public schools, private schools are not obliged to take in one and all. Why the private school vouchers system issue so polarizing Part of the answer lies in the way it has been promoted. California was among the first states to flirt with private schools voucher way back in 1993. A proposal was brought into the legislature of the state that would have taken away as much as 10 per cent of public school funding, with a possibility of further increases on the card if more students moved from public to private schools (Rushefsky, 2002, p. 396). The issue is a political hot potato so much that George W. Bush stopped talking about it in the 2000 election primaries. Two powerful arguments already advanced are essential for a balanced view on the issue. And this article will chronicle the vouchers debate and will attempt to close the difference between the two sides through critically analyzing the pros and cons of the voucher system in private schools. Recurring discussions on the topics are decidedly one-sided. And once a path has been identified, for many an author on the topic, there is no turning back. Two critically acclaimed works on the topic include Rhetoric Versus Reality done by four RAND researchers; Gill, Tiampane, Brewer, Ross and Booker (2007). This book does a fairly good job examining the theoretical underpinnings of vouchers and charter schools and tables the empirical data on their efficacy. The book also looks at how several policy formulations such as the funding, eligibility criteria, academic standards and accountability, may affect the success of the program. Some issues which have yet to be addressed are raised, and although the book is not conclusive on those issues, it leaves room for a more robust consideration of the issues in the future. The other important work on the topic is The Education Gap by Howell and Peterson (2002). Compelling evidence is tabled that African Americans have greatly benefited from the voucher system. Overall, The Education Gap is illustrative on the practicability of the voucher program in private schools and emphatically so in poor urban environments. The point of convergence for both books is that the authors favour random field trials. The sheer volume of applications that are usually received reduces the voucher program into some form of the wager so that those who received the vouchers were merely lucky than needful. There are other studies/articles on the subject. Breaking These Chains is a book by Daniel McGrory, a former Whitehouse speechwriter that in an evangelical fashion roundly criticizes the public school system (1996).        

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

Assignment Example The trends observed in 2010 was comparable to those observed in 1980s (Martin et al 1). These changes in fertility rates are caused by fertility rates among women of different ages, population groups and geographical regions. Trends of the fertility rates are affected by the changes of fertility rates within individual groups of the American population. Also, the rates change within some age groups and consequently affect the total fertility rate. For instance, there was an increase of the fertility rates among women in their twenties. A great decrease in the rate of birth among teenager women is notable, this decrease was negligible compared to the increase of fertility rates among older women. The trends of fertility rates are influenced by the lifestyles among women (Martin et al 17). Good medical care and diet lead to increased medical care while increased alcohol consumption and smoking of tobacco decrease fertility rate. This was ascertained in the trends of the trends recorded in 1999 and 2000. The increase in fertility rates was due to decreased alcohol consumption and smoking of tobacco among pregnant women. A fertility rate of about 2,100 births per 1,000 women is considered sufficient for a generation to replace itself. In 2006 and 2007, fertility rates were above this rate but it has been below this figure. Most of groups within the American population do not meet this rate while some of them meet. The AIAN, non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black fertility rates are mostly below replacement but those for Mexican and other Hispanic are mostly higher (Martin et al 38). The ratio of total live births to the population in totality in a specified community or an area over a specified time is referred to as birth rate. This ratio is mostly an expression of the number of given live births per 1,000 of the total population per year Total fertility rate

Global City-Regions Essay Example for Free

Global City-Regions Essay Regional geography usually concerns the evident similarities and differences of the various regions of the world (Martin and Thompson 2006). One of the concerns of such field of geography is the ever-changing geographical urbanization throughout the globe. Urbanization can come in different forms, thus, in the article by Scott, urbanization in the form of expanding globalization that beset different regions is discussed together with the many effects and challenges that comes with it (2001). In the article, the author tries to indicate that rather than obliterate the concept of geographical divisions, globalization enhances the regional entities currently existing in society to the point that certain global city-regions are created and are faced with the challenges of coping with the mentioned globalization trend (Scott 2001). Article Summary One of the many fruits of globalization is the creation of wider political-economic regional units called â€Å"global city-regions† (Scott 2001, p. 813). In the so-called city-regions, new political and economic structures arise. Due to the many transformations and modifications that have happened during the centuries, a new system has emerged via globalization. Such condition of society creates four aspects that should be addressed by the new civilization. These four aspects namely are: (1) the increasing large quantities of economic activity can now occur in the form of long-distance as well as inter-border relationships between regional units, (2) the number of established multinational organizations is ever-increasing to answer such economic pressures, (3) previous regulatory functions of the national administrations are now being performed by regional units, and (4) the revival of past economic and political regions have sprouted creating new geographical boundaries (Scott 2001). The fourth aspect discussed by Scott was then further elaborated to give emphasis to its importance and significant consequences. It is in this elaboration of the fourth aspect that the concept of city-regions is introduced. The institution of globalization is therefore the initiator of the necessity of implicitly founding city-regions. Upon verifying the fact that global city-regions exist, the author now tries to analyze the political and economic structures that could possibly be established to answer the needs of the new city-regions. Two budding political principles thus appear; the first is a neo-liberal political view. In this view, government interference is at a minimum while economic activity is maximized through market organization (Scott 2001). This view is remarked as a risky one and thus should not be the structure that could be applied to developing city-regions. The second political principle which the author recommends is that of renascent social democracy which is also called the social market approach (Scott 2001). Such approach is appropriate for economic efficiency and at the same time can selectively commence intervention whenever necessary (Scott 2001). Furthermore, democracy will be an effective means of addressing the social and political tensions of a diverse population which is apparent in city-regions where most people try to earn a living, mainly due to its reputation as a site for capitalism and globalization (Scott 2001). As a conclusion of the article, the author tries to propose a new definition for citizen and citizenship. Since the new geographical partitions throughout the globe will be like those of the city-regions, new concepts on citizenship thus surface. Citizens will no longer be bound by birthright to a particular geographical location but rather becoming a citizen will be based on the functional contributions an individual possesses. Furthermore, citizenship will take on a whole new level. Individuals in the ever-increasing mobile world can freely obtain the title of citizenship as many as possible depending on the movements of each person as one travels through different city-regions situated in the vast world (Scott 2001). In the end, the author shares his afterthoughts regarding the subject matter. Similar to the varying consequences of globalization, the emergence of city-regions in society also has diverse outcomes. Summarily, though the emergence of such global city-regions revives the geographical entities and the need for distinctiveness, its materialization also poses new and fresh political and economic problems and challenges (Scott 2001). Throughout the article, the author tries to back-up his arguments and deductions as well as his predictions by citing different outside references. His use of examples such as naming international organizations and cities considered city-regions in the world strengthens the thesis of his article. Information cited from other authors also imparts the well-researched foundation of the author’s arguments. Organizational Analysis The organization and structure of the article is quite impressive. The author uses deductive as well as inductive reasoning in presenting and defending his thesis statement and arguments. The style of writing is also well-organized. This is evident on the flow of the whole article. At the opening of the article, the author communicates what he believes is going on in the society. He incorporates new ideas to explain what has come to pass, thus the use of the term â€Å"global city-regions†. Following his conceptual presentation, he proves the certainty of his inferences. To give significance to his article, he then recommends solutions and steps that can be taken to resolve the issues at hand. Furthermore, he offers the readers explanations to the current situation. In the end, he lays down his conclusions and deductions only after weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions to the issues. His effort to refer back to the effects of globalization in geography is a very competent way of leaving a lasting thought to the readers. Thus, by doing so, he creates an appealing atmosphere whose effect is persuading and convincing. Furthermore, the urgency in his article is apparent by his use of situational events. It makes the reader feel the need to address the matter at hand. Personal Analysis Although the article is exceedingly academic and formal, the ideas presented by the author are quite revolutionary, thus making them interesting. It is enjoyable in a sense that it offers innovative concepts and principles not just in regional geography and globalization, but also on economics and politics. The principle of city-regions is a noteworthy contribution to the field of geography. Furthermore, his defense of the existence and importance of the study of geography brought new light to the study. This is the most striking effort the author has produced. By addressing the argument that geography is becoming obsolete, he established geography’s status in the academe and the sciences. Moreover, by his struggle to affirm the relevance of geography, he constructed a new concept in geography. In summary, he renewed the necessity to study geography, particularly in relation to that of the current worldwide condition of society. Relevance and Conclusion In connection to urban political geography, the article is actually all about it. The focus of the article is that of globalization which is a form of urbanization. The author thus tries to give a glimpse of the concerns of urban political geography. This is achieved by the by discussion of political principles that are appropriate for the newly-discovered global city-regions. By generating an image of regional geography, the author imparts an understanding of the subject. The article however has not yet been tackled in classroom discussions since it will be talked about in later topics in the course of the class. Scott reveals new conceptual geography that not only deals with regional and physical geography but also with political geography in the midst of globalization. Through conversing about the matter, the author revitalized the significance of studying geography and the varying concerns it deals with. References Martin, G. J. Thompson, J. H. (2006). Geography. Microsoft Encarta 2007 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Scott, A. J. (2001). Globalization and the Rise of City-Regions. European Planning Studies 9 (7): 813-826.