Summary and Analysis Papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary and Analysis Papers - Essay Example Six of the world’s 10 fastest economies are located in Africa. An interesting demographic fact about Africa is that half its population is under the age of 20. By the year 2043 Africa will surpass China as the world’s largest workforce. A problem with the African economy is that it lacks savings and capital. South Africa despite being Africa’s largest economy has a slower growth rate than most of its neighbors. The sub-Saharan region is referred to as the â€Å"frontier markets.† Investors are looking to invest in mutual funds connected to an index of frontier market stocks. Investors should research companies in the region carefully since a lot of them lack liquidity. The beer industry is going very well in Africa. A way for investors to get around the liquidity issue of African stocks is by purchasing companies that have most of their assets in Africa, but are listed elsewhere such as in the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The equity markets in Africa might not be able to keep up with the expectations of investors. There are a lot of family owned businesses that do not want to lose control to investors by selling the equity of their firms. The industries that tend to list companies the most in Africa are banks, telecoms, and breweries followed by consumer businesses. â€Å"In Africa returns come from revenue growth and efficiency gains† (Harare & Johannesburg, 2013). ... The nation suffers from a variety of problems that are hindering the economic growth of the region. The educational system and business infrastructure of Africa are very poor. A lot of towns in Africa lack running water and electricity. The governments of the different countries in Africa have to form an alliance in order to help resolve the economic problems of the region. It was interesting to know that a lot of the economies of Africa are growing, but since these economies are so underdeveloped the growth in the economies is not helping improve the standard of living of the people of the region. The unemployment rate of Africa is very high. A way to bring more jobs into Africa is through foreign investment. The business community of Africa has to be more open towards forming alliances with foreign corporations. The use of joint ventures and strategic alliances can help persuade a lot of companies to enter the African marketplace. The potential of Africa of becoming the future manu facturing hub of the world exist due to the fact that Africa is going to have the largest workforce in the world within three decades. The African economy has to evolve by placing emphasis on the educational system of the continent. A more educated workforce is needed to attract industries to Africa that rely on skilled laborers. The governments of the different countries of Africa have to develop economic incentive packages to attract business to come to Africa. Creating free trade zones is a great way to spur economic activity. Africa should also look to improve its infrastructure to enhance the business environment of the nation. Another way for the economy to create jobs is by attracting labor intensive industries that are

The effects of video games on children Research Paper

The effects of video games on children - Research Paper Example It will also expound on how video games have contributed to impairment of children’s morals. According to Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games (1) and Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence (1), video games enhance children to develop hand-eye coordination. This is because of the involvement of both hands and eyes in playing these games. For instance, when children play football matches on their computers, they ensure their fingers are on the right keys whereas their eyes are glued on the screen. Video games also enable children to become creative and quick in thinking. In most occasions, children playing games are obliged to make rapid steps required in order to win the game. It is also evident that video games are associated with an increase in attentiveness of young children. This is evidenced by the much attention paid to the games by the participants. Additionally, video games make children become cautious in whatever activities they do life(Balter 667). For instance, they make children not to take anything for granting. They also make children have the habit of utilizing any presented chance effectively. It is also apparent that occasional interaction with video games makes children develop crucial skills in life. For instance, video games have been found to not only contribute to the development of math and reading skills in children, but also enable them recognize some patterns that need to be addressed (Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence 1). This is evidenced by the calculations associated with the video games. Thus, it is convincible that video games make children become good in algebra. It is also evident that most children that take part in playing video games learn about some things in life faster than those who do not take part in playing any game. Thus, it is apparent that video games aid in the development of

A Room With A View | Analysis

A Room With A View | Analysis In the opening of the novel Forster presents repression within the English class system leading to a life with no view which is represented by the fact that Lucy and Charlotte did not get the rooms overlooking the Arno that they expected. Charlotte represents the stiff and conventional society that is holding Lucy back. Charlottes protecting embrace gave Lucy the sensation of fog. She wants Lucy to behave in a ladylike way and wants her to avoid any improper behaviour with young men. Charlotte holds Lucy back from expressing her true emotions with George Emerson perhaps because of being humiliated herself in a love affair many years ago. I have met the type before. They seldom keep their exploits to themselves. This has prevented Charlotte from seeing that true love exists and so presents to Lucy the complete picture of a cheerless, loveless world with no view. Forster also shows the reader that there are romantic features hidden inside her. This is shown when she secretly tells Miss Lavish about George and Lucys kiss who then proceeds to write her novel about it. This same repression is seen with Lucy who plays her piano with passion showing that only through her music can Lucy truly express herself otherwise she is just an ordinary conventional girl. If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting (p30) Mr Beebe is waiting for the moment when Lucy can break free from Charlotte and lead a more bold and daring life. When Lucy returns to her home in England the drawing room curtains at Windy Corner had been pulled to meet for the carpet was new and deserved protection from the August sun. They were heavy curtains, reaching almost to the ground, and the light that filtered through them was subdued and varied. The drawing room curtains protect the furniture from the damaging rays of the sun, just as Lucy has been protected in Italy by Charlotte. There is no view and the light has been blocked. This symbolises how Lucy is repressed and prevented from seeing the true nature of life. They are denied the beauty of a view. Cecil also attempts to protect Lucy with his confining ideas. Cecils attitude towards women is arrogant and dismissive: he treats Lucys ideas as if they are of feminine inconsequence and wants her to conform to an image of a Leonardo painting of mystery and quietness, in which he is always dominant. When Lucy thinks of Cecil its always in a room and one with no view (p99). This illustrates how Cecil is repressing Lucys feelings, providing her with a life of monotony and so preventing her seeing the true view of life. Forster uses Italy to awaken Lucy to new ways of thinking and the opening up of windows to view the world. The well-known world had broken up, and there emerged Florence, a magical city where people thought and did the most extraordinary things that has the power, perhaps to evoke passions, good and bad, and bring them to speedy fulfilment (p51). Italy is uninhibited by class restrictions and this sensation of equality and freedom shakes the foundations of Lucys previous view of the world. It is a place where anything can happen. Lucys view on life initially begins to open up by George and Mr Emerson swapping rooms. I have a view, I have a viewThis is my sonhis names George. He has a view, too. Mr Emerson is speaking of their views of the river, but the Forster intends the text to have a double meaning. The Emersons view has to do with more than the quality of their rooms and Forster implies a metaphorical meaning in that the Emersons have a superior view of life which is much freer and more exciting. Miss Lavish takes her Baedeker guidebook and subsequently loses her in Santo Croce when for one ravishing moment Italy appeared to Lucy. Inside the church he meets the Emersons who show her how to enjoy the church by following her heart not by her guidebook. Their philosophic view helps Lucy in her exploration of her own life and the world. The pernicious charm of Italy worked on her, and instead of acquiring information, she began to be happy. Furthermore when Lucy witnesses the murder and the Italian falls at her feet she is overwhelmed the spontaneity of the incident. When she regains consciousness after fainting and is rescued by George, she realises that she as well as the dying man, had crossed some spiritual boundary. Lucy begins to realise that her image of the world based on how others think she should be is being replaced by spontaneous reaction and raw instinct. A new view is opening up for her. She contemplated the River Arno, whose roar was suggesting some unexpected melody to her ears. This view of the river symbolises the great change inside Lucy and the journey to find her true view of life. Lucy however is not reborn into a passionate woman until she is kissed by George. The view was forming at last. Forster is showing how Lucys discovery of her view mirrors her personal discovery. Her experiences in Italy change her, giving her new eyes to view the world, and a view of her own soul as well. Finally Lucy at lasts gains freedom to look out of windows. She is able to see clearly what she wants from life. George tells her that Cecil only sees her as an object to be admired and will never love her enough to grant her independence, while George loves her for who she truly is. Conventional, Cecil, youre that, for you may understand beautiful things, but you dont know how to use them; and you wrap yourself up in art and books and music, and would try to wrap up me. I wont be stifled, not by the most glorious music, for people are more glorious, and you hide them from me. She then breaks off her engagement with Cecil and in doing this she breaks the social code of society. A last minute meeting with Mr Emerson convinces Lucy to admit and act upon her love for George. How he managed to strengthen her. It was as if he had made her see the whole of everything at once. At the very end of the novel George and Lucy have eloped and have returned to the same Pension in Italy and look ou t from the same window to the future world. Although they both look out to the same view of Italy it is with a very different view of the world. Georges view has become clear through his relationship with Lucy who has given him a point to his existence and Lucys view has changed both emotionally and by breaking away from her social class. They both have a literal and metaphorical room with a view one that involves living for the moment and not simply for society. In conclusion Forsters title A Room with a View is very affective because through Lucys eyes we have strayed through the streets of Florence and returned slightly changed, unable to look at the world in the same old way. We all need the room to express our personal truths and the openness and freedom to love that the views in Forsters novel represent.

The Cave and the Matrix Essay -- Plato Republic Matrix Movie Philosoph

The Cave and the Matrix Movie critics and philosophers alike agree that the movie â€Å"The Matrix† is indeed based upon certain Platonic themes from Book VII of The Republic. In this story entitled "The Allegory of the Cave," he describes a dark underground cave where a group of people are sitting in one long row with their backs to the cave's entrance. Chained to their chairs from an early age, all the humans can see is the distant cave wall in from of them. The shadows of statues held by unseen ‘puppet handlers’ reflect on the walls from the light of a fire that is also out of sight of those in the cave. The theme of the allegory is that their reality is a poor copy of the real world. According to Plato, our world is nothing but shadows, imperfect manifestations of the forms. Similar to the prisoners of the cave, the humans trapped in the matrix (the cave) only see what the machines (the modern day puppet-handlers) want them to see. They are tricked into believing that what they hear in the cave and see before them is the true reality that exists. Furthermore, they accept what their senses are telling them and they believe that what they are experiencing is all that really exists--nothing more. The movie not only incorporates these same ideas, the story line of the movie parallels that of the allegory. The most important character is who Plato calls the â€Å"Philosopher† or the â€Å"Intellectual.† In the allegory, Plato hypothesizes that one of the prisoners eventually be rel... The Cave and the Matrix Essay -- Plato Republic Matrix Movie Philosoph The Cave and the Matrix Movie critics and philosophers alike agree that the movie â€Å"The Matrix† is indeed based upon certain Platonic themes from Book VII of The Republic. In this story entitled "The Allegory of the Cave," he describes a dark underground cave where a group of people are sitting in one long row with their backs to the cave's entrance. Chained to their chairs from an early age, all the humans can see is the distant cave wall in from of them. The shadows of statues held by unseen ‘puppet handlers’ reflect on the walls from the light of a fire that is also out of sight of those in the cave. The theme of the allegory is that their reality is a poor copy of the real world. According to Plato, our world is nothing but shadows, imperfect manifestations of the forms. Similar to the prisoners of the cave, the humans trapped in the matrix (the cave) only see what the machines (the modern day puppet-handlers) want them to see. They are tricked into believing that what they hear in the cave and see before them is the true reality that exists. Furthermore, they accept what their senses are telling them and they believe that what they are experiencing is all that really exists--nothing more. The movie not only incorporates these same ideas, the story line of the movie parallels that of the allegory. The most important character is who Plato calls the â€Å"Philosopher† or the â€Å"Intellectual.† In the allegory, Plato hypothesizes that one of the prisoners eventually be rel...

Auto Industry

Founded on June 6, 1925 by Walter P. Chrysler, this American automobile manufacturer had existed on between the year 1925 and 1998 and was named as the Chrysler Corporation. The corporation was born from the residuals of the Maxwell Motor Company. The first Chrysler automobile was made in the month of January of the year 1924 when Walter Chrysler made a rescue job for the Willys car company during the early 1920s. At an affordable price that the consumer might expect upon this 6-cylinder Chrysler automobile, with an advanced and being a well-engineered car, triggered the beginning of the Chrysler Corporation.In 1926, the Maxwell Company had been rebranded and re-engineered under the name Chrysler and Walter Chrysler as the president (Answers). In 1979, the Chrysler Corporation seemed to be in the midst of bankruptcy. A gas crisis occurred during the year 1973, a great challenged the Chrysler Corporation must face. Also, the corporation’s redesigned ponycars doesn’t seem to catch the attention of the buyers. During these years also is the declination of the sales of the large-car and were also the times where the Barracude and the Dodge Challenger end were spotted.This was really a hard time for the corporation. In 1977, one of the company’s branches abroad, the Chrysler Europe collapsed. A hope retained when the Chrysler Australia was sold to Mitsubishi Motors where money on hand is really a great help. Right before the Chrysler Corporation had fully recovered, the second gas crisis strikes again bringing disaster lowering the sales of the large cars and trucks of the Chrysler Corporation. At this moment of time, there would be no backbone to support the company that can save them the second time around.The Chrysler Corporation had made a petition for a loan of US $1. 5 billion in the US government. This may be the best thing to do for the corporation not to reach its bankruptcy. That loan had guaranteed the avoidance of the corporation to bankruptcy and then the Chrysler Corporation went back to the automobile business creating innovative models such as the K-car platform and the minivan concept and fights its way back (Answers). The present General Manager and CEO of the Chrysler Corporation is Tom Lasorda. The DaimlerChrysler call out for the sale of the Chrysler to the prospected buyer.The Canada’s Magna Corporation, together with â€Å"a private equity partner† which seems to be The Blackstone Group LP, offered an amount of $4. 6 billion for the Chrysler from the DainlerChrysler. The General Motors also showed an interest upon buying the Chrysler. In addition, Ford and Toyota are also found on the rumors as a suitor of the Chrysler. Analysts point out that Ford is out of the play because they will have to sell first their Aston Martin to get the amount of money. Toyota also is out of the floor for the reason that buying the Chrysler would cost them more millions of bucks than creating a new one.And lately, another buyer came up. Billionaire Kerkorian made an offer of cash amounting to $4. 5 billion to buy the Chrysler (Leftlanenews). If the Chrysler was sold to General Motors, the GM would be willing to spend cash worth of $18 billion dollars restructuring the Chrysler. Also, if the buyer was other, the first thing that would come up to their mind is the restructuring of the Chrysler itself. Section 2. Bankruptcy of Delphi and other Suppliers of Auto Parts Bankruptcy has also come to threaten even the largest auto parts supplier of the world, the Delphi.There is a net loss of Delphi on the first six months of this year amounting to $741 million. Of the last year, Delphi also had a net loss of $4. 8 billion. The company’s stocks have been put to on a downgraded junk status. This big loss on the net income of the company was caused by the continuous increase in the fuel prices. In addition to this, there is also a declining share of US automakers in the market that puts u p too much pressure on Delphi. In 1999, GM had decided to get rid of Delphi as their major supplier of auto parts.That is for the reason that Delphi was asking for a bailout for the company which would cost the GM an amount reaching to $6 billion. In addition to this, GM would also have other expenses of paying for the medical and pension benefits of the workers of Delphi. Other auto parts supplier had followed the announcing their bankruptcy and has threatened the US auto industry. The effect of this bankruptcy if it happens would initiate destruction of jobs of hundreds of thousands of workers in the auto industry (Isaacs). Section 3. Toyota and other Large Car Manufacturer’s ExpansionToyota together with its successful in the auto industry in the land of the United States of America would probably decide of expanding the company’s market. In November 13, 2006, a news item from the Los Angeles Times states that there is a leaked copy of the â€Å"global master planà ¢â‚¬  of the Toyota Motor Corporation. In the global master plan, there states that by 2010, Toyota will takeover the No. 1 selling spot in the auto industry which was owned by General Motors at this time. Also included on the global master plan was the aim for the 15 percent target of the company on the world car market by the year 2010 (Channel).Toyota Motor Corporation would plunge to Russia, India, China and Brazil markets as confirmed by the company. Their reason; helping in the rapid global expansion of fuel. Together with their expansion on the other part of the world, with their quest of being the â€Å"King of the Car World†, are the auto suppliers clinging to their wheels on their way there. It is simply for the reason that, in the place where the big consumer (of auto supplies) is (Toyota and other car manufacturers), there would be the presence of the suppliers that will feed their needs. References Answers. â€Å"Chrysler†. 2007.April 8 2007. . Channel, T he Auto. â€Å"Leaked: Toyota's â€Å"Global Master Plan† Calls for 15 Percent Worldwide Share by 2010†³. 2006. April 9 2007. . Isaacs, Jerry. â€Å"Delphi Demands Unprecedented Wage Cuts from Us Auto Workers†. 2005. April 9 2007. . Leftlanenews. â€Å"Billionaire Kerkorian Makes Offer to Buy Chrysler Group†. 2007. April 8 2007. .

Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 10~14

10 Coconut Telegraph Jefferson Pardee dialed the island communications center and asked them to connect him to a friend of his in the governor's office on Yap. While he waited for the connection, he looked down from his office above the Food Store on the Truk public market: women selling bananas, coconuts, and banana leaf bundles of taro out of plywood sheds; children with bandannas on their faces against the rising street dust; drunk men languishing red-eyed in the shade. Across the street lay a stand of coconut palms and the vibrant blue-green water of the lagoon dotted with outboards and floating pieces of Styrofoam coolers. Another day in paradise, Pardee thought. Pardee had been out here for thirty years now. He'd come fresh out of Northwestern School of Journalism full of passion to save the world, to help those less fortunate than himself, and to avoid the draft. After his two years in the Peace Corps were up – his main achievement was teaching the islanders to boil water – he'd stayed. First he worked for the budding island governments, helping to write the charters, the constitutions, and the re-quests for aid from the United States. That work finished, he found himself afraid to go home. He'd gone to fat on breadfruit and beer and become accustomed to dollar whores, fifty-cent taxis, and a two-hour workday. The idea of returning to the States, where he would have to live up to his potential or face being called a failure, terrified him. He wrote and received a grant to start the Truk Star. It was the last significant thing that he'd done for twenty-five years. Covering the news in Truk was akin to taking a penguin census in the Mojave Desert. Still, deep inside, he hoped that something would happen so that he could flex his atrophied journalistic muscles. Something he could get passionate about. Why couldn't the United States nuke a nearby island? The French did it in Polynesia all the time. But no, the United States nukes one little atoll in Micronesia (Bikini) and they go away, saying, â€Å"Well, I guess that ought to do for twenty-five thousand years or so.† Wimps. Then again, maybe there was something going on out on Alualu. Something clandestine and dirty. Jefferson Pardee had lost his ambition, but he still had hope. â€Å"Go ahead,† the operator said. â€Å"Ignatho, how you doing, man?† Ignatho Malongo, governor's assistant for outer island affairs, was not in the mood to chat. It was lunchtime and he was out of cigarettes and betel nut and no one had come to relieve him on the radio so he could leave. His office was in a bright blue corrugated steel shed tucked behind the offices of the governor. It housed a military-style steel desk, a shortwave radio, a new IBM computer, and a wastebasket full of tractor-feed paper stained with red betel nut spit under a sign that emphatically declared NO SPITTING. He was round, brown, and wore only a loincloth, a Casio watch, and a Bic pen on a string around his neck. He was sweating into a puddle that darkened the concrete floor around his desk. â€Å"Pardee, what do you need?† â€Å"I was wondering if you've heard anything going on out on Alualu?† â€Å"Just the same. Occasionally the doctor radios for supplies to be sent out on the Micro Trader. They're not officially in Yap state, so they don't go through my office. Why?† â€Å"You hear any rumors, maybe from the Micro Trader crew?† â€Å"Like what? The Shark People don't have contact with anyone since I can remember. Just that Dr. Curtis.† Pardee didn't want to be in the business of starting rumors. More than once he'd had to track down a story to find out that it had started with a drunken lie he'd told in a bar that had circulated through the islands, changed enough to sound credible, and landed back on his desk. Still, Malongo wasn't giving anything today. â€Å"I hear they have a new aircraft out there. A Learjet.† Malongo laughed. â€Å"Where did you hear that?† â€Å"I've heard it twice now. A couple of months ago from a guy who said he was going out there to fly it for them and just now from another pilot on his way.† â€Å"Maybe they're starting a new airline. Be serious, Jeff. Are you that desperate for a story? I've got some grants you can write if you need the work.† Pardee was a little embarrassed. Still, he had no doubt that Tucker Case had been contacted by Dr. Curtis. Something was up. He said, â€Å"Well, maybe you can ask the guys on the Trader to keep an eye out. Ask around and call me if you hear anything.† Suddenly Pardee had a flash of motivational inspiration. â€Å"If someone's buying jet airplanes, there might be some untapped government money out there that you guys don't know about.† He could almost hear Malongo snap to attention. Malongo was thinking air conditioner, laser printer, a new chair. â€Å"Look, I'll ask out at the airport. If someone's flying a jet off of Alualu, then they have to use the radio, right?† â€Å"I suppose,† Pardee said. â€Å"I'll call you.† Malongo hung up. Pardee sighed. â€Å"And once again,† he said to himself, â€Å"we lead with the ‘Pig Thief Still at Large' story.† A half hour later the phone rang. The phone never rang. Pardee picked it up and could tell by the clicking that he was being connected off-island. Ignatho Malongo came on the line. He sounded like he was in a better mood. Pardee guessed that he was in a state of foreign aid arousal. â€Å"Jeff, the Trader is in the harbor. Some of the crew was having lunch at the marina and I asked them about your Learjet.† Malongo was smoking a Benson & Hedges and chewing a big cud of betel nut. He was in a better mood now. â€Å"And?† â€Å"No one's seen it, but they did see some Japanese on the island the last time they were there.† â€Å"Japanese? Tourists?† â€Å"They were carrying machine guns.† â€Å"No shit.† â€Å"Do you think this means there's some military money coming our way?† Malongo was thinking air-conditioning, a case of Spam, a ticket to Hawaii to go shopping. Pardee scratched his two-day growth of beard. â€Å"Probably the crew off of a tuna boat. They've been threatening to shoot some of the islanders off Ulithi if they keep stealing their net floats. I'll check with the Australian Navy, see if they know about a Japanese boat fishing those waters. Meantime, I owe you a bag of betel nut.† Malongo laughed. â€Å"You owe me about ten bags by now. How you going to pay if you never leave that shithole of an island?† â€Å"You'll see me soon enough.† Pardee hung up. 11 Paging the Goddess The Shark men had been beating drums and marching with bamboo rifles since dawn, while the Shark women prepared the feast for the appearance of the High Priestess. In her bed chamber the High Priestess was doing her nails. The Sorcerer entered through a beaded curtain, moved up behind her, and cupped her naked breasts. Without looking up, she said, â€Å"You know, I used to get a pretty good buzz doing this in my studio apartment. Close the windows and let the fumes build up. Want a whiff?† She held the polish bottle out behind her. He shook his head. He was in his mid-fifties, tall, thin, with short gray hair and ice blue eyes. He wore a green lab coat over Bermuda shorts. â€Å"Missionary Air just radioed. Their Beech is broken. They're waiting for a part from the States and won't have it fixed for a month. Our pilot's stuck on Truk.† The High Priestess fired a glare over her shoulder and he could feel himself going to slime, changing, melting into the lowest form of sea slug. She could do that to him. Her breasts felt like chilled river rocks in his hands. He stepped away. â€Å"It's all right,† he said. â€Å"I've sent him a message to fly to Yap. He can catch the Micro Trader there tomorrow and he'll be here two days later.† She was not impressed. â€Å"Don't you think it might be a good idea for me to meet this one before he gets here? It took long enough to find him.† The Sorcerer had backed all the way to the beaded curtain. â€Å"You were the one that didn't want any more military types.† â€Å"Because it worked so well last time. It's bad enough I have to be surrounded by ninjas. I don't like it.† The Sorcerer couldn't believe anyone could walk that slowly and still express so much; it was positively symphonic. He said, â€Å"They're not ninjas. They're just guards. This will all be over soon and you can live in a palace in France if you want.† He held his arms out to receive her embrace. She turned on a red spiked heel and quickstepped back to the vanity. â€Å"We'll talk about this later. I have to go on in an hour.† Feeling stupid, he dropped his arms and backed through the beaded curtain. In the distance the Shark People began the chant to call forth the Priestess of the Sky. 12 Friendly Advice Tuck was sweating through a slow-motion dream rerun of the crash. The end of the runway was coming up too quickly. Meadow Malackovitch was bouncing off of various consoles in the cockpit. Someone in the copilot seat was screaming at him, calling him a â€Å"fuckin' mook.† He turned to see who it was and was awakened by a knock on the door. â€Å"Mr. Case. Message for you.† â€Å"Just a second.† Tucker scrambled in the darkness until he found his khakis on the floor, shook them to evict any insect visitors, then pulled them on and stumbled to the door. Rindi, the driver-rapper, stood outside holding a slip of paper. â€Å"This just come for you from the telecom center.† He reached past Tuck and clicked the light switch. A bare bulb went on over the desk. Tuck took the note, dug in his pants pocket for a tip, and came up with a dollar, but Rindi had already shuffled off. The note, on waxy fax paper, was covered with greasy fingerprints. Tuck guessed it had probably passed through a dozen hands before getting to him. He unfolded it and read. To: Tucker Case c/o Paradise Hotel From: Dr. Sebastian Curtis Mr. Case, I deeply regret that my wife will not be able to meet you on Truk as planned. We have reserved a seat for you on tomorrow's Air Micronesia flight to Yap, where we have arranged transport aboard the supply ship, Micro Trader, to Alualu. Your plane will arrive at 11:00 A.M. and the Micro Trader is scheduled to sail at noon, so it will be necessary for you to take a taxi to the dock as soon as you clear customs. I apologize for the inconvenience and would ask that you refrain from discussing the purpose of your visit with the crew of the Micro Trader – or with anyone else, for that matter. It would be unfortunate if this research reached the FAA before it had been thoroughly investigated. Rumors travel quickly in these islands. I look forward to discussing the intricacies of the particular strain of sta-phylococci with you. Sincerely, Sebastian Curtis, M.D. Staphylococci? Germs? He wants to discuss germs? Tuck couldn't have been more confused if the message had been in Eskimo. He folded it and looked again at the fingerprints. That was it. He knew that other people would be reading the note. The germ thing was just a red herring to confuse nosy natives. The bit about the FAA obviously referred to Tuck's revoked pilot's license. In a way, it was a threat. Maybe he ought to find out a little more about this doctor before he went running out to this remote island. Maybe the reporter, Pardee, knew something. Tuck dressed quickly and went down to the desk, where Rindi was listening to a transistor radio with a speaker that sounded like it had been fashioned from wax paper. Someone was singing a Garth Brooks song in nasal Trukese accompanied by an accordion. â€Å"It sounds like someone's hurting animals.† Tuck grinned. Rindi did not smile. â€Å"You going out?† Rindi was eager to get into Tuck's room and go through his luggage. â€Å"I need to find that reporter, Jefferson Pardee.† Rindi looked as if he was going to spit. He said, â€Å"He at Yumi Bar all the time. That way.† He pointed up the road toward town. â€Å"You need ride?† â€Å"How far is it?† â€Å"Maybe a mile. How long you be gone?† Rindi wanted to take his time, make sure he didn't miss any of Tuck's valuables. â€Å"I'm not sure. Do you lock the door at midnight or something?† â€Å"No, I come get you if you drunk.† â€Å"I'll be fine. I'll be checking out in the morning. Can I get an eight o'clock wake-up call?† â€Å"No. No phone in room.† â€Å"How about a wake-up knock?† â€Å"No problem.† â€Å"Thanks.† Tucker went out the front door and was nearly thrown back by the thickness of the air. The temperature had dropped to the mid-80s, but it felt as if it had gotten more humid. Everything dripped. The air carried the scent of rotting flowers. Tuck set off down the road and was soaked with sweat by the time he reached a rusted metal Quonset hut with a hand-painted sign that read YUMI BAR. The dirt parking lot was filled with Japanese beaters parked freestyle. A skeletal dog with open running sores, a crossbreed of dingo and sewer rat, cowered in the half-light coming through the door and looked at him as if pleading to be run over. Tuck's stomach lurched. He made a wide path around the dog, who looked down and resumed concen-tration on its suffering. â€Å"Hey, kid, you're not going in there, are you?† Tuck looked up. There was a cigarette glowing in the dark at the corner of the building. Tuck could just make out the form of a man standing there. He wore some kind of uniform – Tuck could see the silhouette of a captain's hat. Anywhere else Tuck might have ignored a voice in the dark, but the accent was American, and out here he was drawn to the familiarity of it. He'd heard it before. He said, â€Å"I thought I'd get a beer. I'm looking for an American named Pardee.† The guy in the dark blew out a long stream of cigarette smoke. â€Å"He's in there. But you don't want to go in there right now. Wait a few minutes.† Tuck was about to ask why when two men came crashing through the door and landed in the dirt at his feet. They were islanders, both screaming incomprehensibly as they punched and gouged at one another. The one on the top held a bush knife, a short machete, which he drew back and slammed into the other man's head, severing an ear. Blood sprayed on the dust. A stream of shouting natives spilled out of the bar, waving beer bottles and kicking at the fighters. Earless leaped to his feet and backed off to get a running attack at Bush Knife, who was rising to his feet. Earless hit him with a flying tackle as Bush Knife hacked at his ribs. A pickup truck full of policemen pulled into the parking lot and the crowd scattered into the dark and back into the bar, leaving the fighters rolling in the dirt. Six policemen stood over the fighters, slamming them with riot batons until they both lay still. The police threw the fighters into the bed of their truck, climbed in after them, and drove off. Tuck stood stunned. He'd never seen violence that sudden and raw in his life. Ten more seconds and he would have been in the middle of it instead of backpedaling across the parking lot. â€Å"Should be okay to go in now,† said the voice from the dark. Tuck looked up, but he couldn't even see the cigarette glowing now. â€Å"Thanks,† he said. â€Å"You sure it's okay?† â€Å"Watch your ass, kid,† said the voice, and this time it seemed to come from above him. Tucker spun around, nearly wrenching his neck, but he couldn't see anyone. He shook off the confusion and headed into the bar. The skeletal dog crawled from under a truck, seized the severed ear from the dust, and slunk into the shadows. â€Å"Good dog,† said the voice out of the dark. The dog growled, ready to protect its prize. A young man, perhaps twenty-four, dark and sharp-featured, dressed in a gray flight suit, stepped out of the shadows and bent to the dog, who lowered its head in submission. The young man reached out as if to pet the dog, then grabbed its head and quickly snapped its neck. â€Å"Now, that's better, ain't it, ya little mook?† The bar was as dingy inside as it was out. Yellow bug bulbs gave off just enough light to navigate around drunken islanders and a beat-up pool table. An old Wurlitzer bounced American country western songs off the metal walls. A khaki-wrapped hulk, Jefferson Pardee, sweated over a Budweiser at the bar. Tucker slid in next to him. Pardee looked up with red-rimmed eyes. â€Å"You just missed all the excitement.† â€Å"No, I saw it. I was outside.† Pardee signaled for two more beers. â€Å"I thought I told you not to go out at night.† â€Å"I'm leaving for Yap in the morning and I need to ask you some questions.† Pardee grinned like a child given a surprise favor. â€Å"I'm at your service, Mr. Tucker.† Tuck weighed his need for information against the ignominy of telling Pardee about the crash. He pulled the crumpled fax paper from his pants pocket and set it on the bar before the reporter. Pardee lit a cigarette as he read. He finished reading and handed the fax back to Tucker. â€Å"It's not unusual to have changes in travel plans out here. But what's this about bacteria? I thought you were a pilot.† Tucker took Pardee though the crash and the mysterious invitation from the doctor, including Jake's theories about drug smuggling. â€Å"I think the bacteria stuff was just to throw off anyone who got hold of the fax.† â€Å"You're right there. But it's not drugs. There aren't any drugs produced in these islands except kava and betel nut, and nobody wants those except the islanders. Oh, they grow a little pot here and there, but it's consumed here by the gangsta wanna-bes.† â€Å"Gangsta wanna-bes?† Tuck asked. â€Å"A few of the islanders have satellite TV. The people who look like them on TV are gangsta rappers. The old rundown buildings they see in the hood look like the buildings here. Except here they're new and run-down. It's a Coke and a smile and baby formula their babies can't digest. It's packaged junk food shipped here without expiration dates.† â€Å"What in the hell are you talking about, Pardee?† â€Å"They buy into the advertising bullshit that Americans have become immune to. It's like the entire Micronesian crescent is one big cargo cult. They buy the worst of American culture.† â€Å"Are you saying I'm the worst America has to offer?† Pardee patted his shoulder and leaned in close. Tuck could smell the sour beer sweat coming off the big man. â€Å"No, that's not what I'm saying. I don't know what's going on out on Alualu, but I'm sure it's no big deal. Evil tends to grow in proportion to the profit potential, and there's just nothing out there that's worth a shit. Go to your island, kid. And get in touch with me when you figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I'll do some checking.† Tuck shook the reporter's hand. â€Å"I will.† He threw some money on the bar and started to leave. Pardee called to him as he reached the door. â€Å"One more thing. I checked around. I heard that there's some armed men on Alualu. And there was another pilot that came through here a few months ago. Nobody's seen him. Be careful, Tucker.† â€Å"And you weren't going to tell me that?† â€Å"I had to be sure that you weren't part of it.† 13 Out of the Frying Pan Tuck's first thought of the new morning was I've got to catch a plane. His second was, My dick's broke. It happens that way. One has a â€Å"private† irritation – hemorrhoids, menstrual cramps, swollen prostate, yeast infection, venereal disease, bladder infection – and no matter how hard the mind tries to escape the gravity of the affliction, it is inexorably pulled back into a doomed orbit of circular thought. Anything that distracts from the irritation is an irritation. Life is an irritation. Inside Tuck's head sounded like this: I have to catch a plane. I'm pissing fire. I need a shower. Check the stitches. No water. It looks infected. Probably lep-rosy. I hate this place. I'm sure it's infected. When does the water come on? It's going to turn black and fall off. Whoever heard of a place with satellite TV but no running water? I'll never fly again. I'm thirty years old and I have no job. And no dick. And who in the hell was that guy in the parking lot last night? I smell like rancid goat meat. Probably the infection. Gangrene. I can't believe there's no running water. I'm going to die. Die, die, die. Not a pleasant place to be: inside Tuck's head. Outside Tuck's head the shower came on; brown, tepid water ran down his body in gutless streams; pipes shuddered and trumpeted as if trying to extrude a vibrating moose. The soap, a brown minibar made from local copra, lathered like slate and smelled of hibiscus flowers and suffering dog. Tuck dried himself on a translucent swath of balding terry cloth and slipped into his clothes, three days saturated with tropical travel funk. He shouldered his pack, noticing that the zippered pockets had been tampered with and not giving a good goddamn, then trudged down to the front desk. Rindi was sleeping on the desk. Tuck woke him, made sure that the room had been paid by the doctor as promised, then stood in the tropical sun and waited as Rindi brought the car around. It seemed like a very long ride to the airport. Rindi ran over a chicken, then got out and fought an old woman who claimed the chicken, each tugging on a leg, testing the tensile strength of poultry to its limit before Rindi busted a kung fu move that secured his dinner and left the old woman sitting in the dust with a sacred chicken foot in her hand. (The old woman was from the island of Tonoas, where magic chickens were once called up by a sorcerer to level a mountain for a temple, the Hall of the Magic Chickens.) At the airport Tuck gave Rindi a dollar for the cab ride, which was twice the going rate, and waved off the bloody handshake the aspiring gangsta offered. â€Å"Keep the peace, home boy,† Tuck said. 14 Espionage and Intrigue Yap was cleaner than Truk and hotter, if that was possible. Here the beat-up taxis actually had radio antennas to identify them. The roads were paved as well. The airport, another tin roof over concrete pylons, was filled with natives: men in loincloths and topless women in hand-woven wraparound skirts. Tuck caught a cab at the airport and told the driver to take him to the dock. The driver spat out the window and said, â€Å"The ship gone.† â€Å"It can't be gone.† What had moments ago been a pleasant drunk from four airline martinis turned instantly to a headache. â€Å"Maybe it was another ship that left.† The driver smiled. His teeth were black, his lips bright red. â€Å"Ship gone. You want to go to town?† â€Å"How much?† Tuck asked, as if he had a choice. â€Å"Fourteen dollar.† â€Å"Fourteen dollars? It's only fifty cents on Truk!† â€Å"Okay, fifty cents,† the driver said. â€Å"That's your counteroffer?† Tuck asked. He was thinking about what Pardee had said about these islanders absorbing the worst of American culture. This was his chance to help, if only in a small way. â€Å"That's the most helpless bargaining I've ever heard. How do you ever expect your country to get out of the Third World with that weak shit?† â€Å"Sorry,† the driver said. â€Å"One dollar.† â€Å"Seventy-five cents,† Tuck said. â€Å"You find another taxi,† the driver said, digging in his fiscal heels. â€Å"That's better,† said Tuck. â€Å"A dollar it is. And there's another one in it for you if you don't run over any chickens.† The driver put the car in gear and started off. They passed though several miles of jungle before breaking into a brightly lit, surprisingly modern-looking town with concrete streets. Occasionally, they passed a tin house with stone wheels leaning against the walls. The stones ranged from the size of a small tire to seven feet in diameter and were covered with varying degrees of green moss. â€Å"What are those millstone-looking things?† Tuck asked the driver. â€Å"Fei,† the driver said. â€Å"Stone money. Very valuable.† â€Å"No shit, money?† Tuck looked at a piece of fei standing in a yard as they passed. It was five feet tall and nearly two feet thick. â€Å"What do your pay phones look like?† Tuck asked with a grin. The driver didn't find it funny. He let Tucker out at the dock, which was suspiciously shipless. Tuck saw a bearded, red-faced white man sitting in the shade of a forklift, smoking a cigarette. â€Å"G'day,† the man said. He was about thirty. In good shape. â€Å"Impela my tribe?† â€Å"Huh?† Tuck said. â€Å"American, then?† Tuck nodded. â€Å"You Australian?† â€Å"Royal Navy,† the man said. He pulled a hat from behind him and tapped on it. â€Å"Join me?† He motioned for Tuck to sit next to him on the concrete. Tuck dragged his pack into the shade, dropped it, and extended his hand to the Australian. â€Å"Tucker Case.† The Australian took his hand and nearly crushed it. â€Å"Commander Brion Frick. Have a seat, mate. Looks like you been on the piss for a fortnight, if you don't mind my saying.† He handed Tucker a business card. It bore the seal of the Royal Australian Navy, Frick's name and rank, and the designation NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. Tuck looked again at the scruffy Australian, then back at the card. â€Å"Naval Intelligence, huh? What do you do?† â€Å"I'm a spy, mate. You know, secret stuff. Very hush-hush.† Tuck wondered just how secret a spy could be who had his status printed on a business card. â€Å"Espionage, huh?† â€Å"Well, right now we're watching the Yapese Navy don't make a move.† â€Å"Yap has a navy?† â€Å"Only one patrol boat, and she's broken right now. Yapese put gas in the diesel engine. But you can't be too careful, lest the little buggers get it in their mind to launch a surprise attack. That's her over there.† He nodded down the wharf. Tuck spotted a rusted boat designed like a Chinese junk with the word YAP stenciled on the side in flaking orange Rust-Oleum. A half-dozen Yapese, thin brown men with high cheekbones and potbellies, were lounging on the deck in loincloths, drinking beer. Tuck said, â€Å"I guess an attack would be a surprise.† â€Å"Ain't as easy a job as it looks. Yapese can lull you into a false sense of security. They might sit there without moving for two, three weeks, then just when you start to relax, wham, they make their move.† â€Å"Right,† Tucker said. The only damage the patrol boat looked capable of inflicting was a case of tetanus for the crew. A mile past the Yapese Navy waves crashed on the reef, just a line of white against the turquoise sea. Cottony clouds rose out of the sea into shining columns. Tuck scanned the horizon for a ship. â€Å"Is the Micro Trader in yet?† â€Å"Been in and gone,† Frick said. â€Å"She'll be back around in six weeks or so.† â€Å"Dammit,† Tuck said. â€Å"I can't fucking believe it. I need to get to Alualu.† â€Å"Why'd you want to go out there?† â€Å"I'm a pilot. I'm supposed to be flying for a missionary out there.† â€Å"Boys and I were out there in the patrol boat last week. Godforsaken place.† Tuck lit up at the mention of the patrol boat. Maybe he could catch a ride. â€Å"You have a patrol boat?† â€Å"Seventy-footer. Some of the boys are out with it now, tuna fishin' with the CIA. Don't mention it, though. Secret, you know.† â€Å"What's the CIA doing down here?† Frick raised a blond eyebrow. â€Å"Keepin' an eye on the Yapese Navy.† â€Å"I thought you were doing that.† â€Å"Well, I am, ain't I? And when they come back, it's my turn to go fishin'. Lovely, us bein' allies and all. Cuts the work in half. Want to suck some piss?† â€Å"Pardon?† Tuck wasn't ready for any kind of bizarre native customs. â€Å"Drink some beers, mate. If you keep an eye on the Yappies, I'll run down to the store and grab some beers.† â€Å"Sounds good.† Tuck was ready to take the edge off his headache. Besides, there was still a chance for a ride out to the island. Frick put his hat on Tuck's head. â€Å"Right then. By the power invested in me by the Australian Royal Navy, et cetera, et cetera, I hearby deputize you as official intelligence officer until I get back. Do you swear?† â€Å"Swear what?† â€Å"Just swear.† â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"There it is.† Frick started walking off. â€Å"What do I do if they make a move?† â€Å"How the bloody hell should I know?† Tuck watched the Yapese Navy for an hour before they all stood up and left the boat. He was pretty sure that this did not constitute a defense emergency, but just in case he decided to walk up the street to see what had happened to Frick. The pack felt even heavier now, and he guessed that it was the responsibility for Australian people that weighed him down. (A woman had once offered Tucker a goldfish in a bowl, and Tuck had graciously declined it on the basis that it was too much responsibility and would probably die anyway. He felt the same way about the Australians.) The concrete streets of Colonia were bleached white and stained with three-foot red strips of betel nut spit on either side and lined with thick jungle vegetation. Off the streets Tuck could see tin hovels, children playing in the mud, women passing the hottest part of the day combing lice from each other's hair in the shade of a tin-roofed porch. The women wore wraparound skirts, black with brightly colored stripes, and went topless. All but the youngest of them were enormously fat by Western standards, and Tuck felt his idealized picture of the beautiful island girls fade to a lice-infested, rotund reality. Still, there was something in their gentle grooming and in the quiet concentration of the children that made him feel sad and a little lonely. If only he could run into a woman he could talk to. A Western woman – she wouldn't have to know he was a eunuch. He broke out of the jungle into the open street of Colonia's main â€Å"business district.† On one side was a marina with a restaurant and bar (or so the sign said), on the other a two-story, stucco minimall of shops and snack bars. Around it, in the shade of the modern portico, stood perhaps a hundred Yapese, mostly women, some young men in bright blue loincloths, all shirtless. The islanders all had bright red lips and teeth from chewing betel nut. Even the little children were chewing the narcotic cud and spitting periodically into the street. Tuck walked in among them, hoping to find someone to ask about Frick's whereabouts, but none made eye contact. The women and girls turned their backs to him. The men just looked away or pretended to pay attention to sprinkling powdered coral on to a split green betel nut before beginning a chew. He went into a surprisingly modern grocery store and was relieved to see that the prices were in American dollars, the signs in English. He picked up a quart of bottled water and took it to the checkout counter, where a woman in a lavalava and a blue polyester smock rang up his purchase and held out her hand for the money. â€Å"Do you know where I can find Commander Brion Frick?† Tuck asked her. She took his money, turned to the cash drawer, and turned back to him with his change without uttering a word. Tuck repeated his question and the woman turned away from him. Finally he left, thinking, She must not speak English. He ran into Frick coming out of the store. The spy had a six-pack tucked under his arm. â€Å"I was looking for you,† Tuck said. â€Å"The Yapese Navy took off.† â€Å"You could have asked inside. They knew where I was.† â€Å"I did. The woman wouldn't talk to me.† â€Å"Not allowed to,† Frick said. â€Å"It's bad manners to make eye contact. Yapese women aren't allowed to talk to a man unless he's a relative. If a woman and a man are seen speaking in public, they're considered married on the spot. Shame too. Ever seen so many bare titties in all your life? Tough grabbin' a snog if you can't talk to them.† Tucker didn't want to talk about it. â€Å"You were supposed to come back to the wharf.† Frick looked affronted. â€Å"I was on my way. Didn't think you'd desert your post. I hope you're a better pilot than you are a spy. Letting them sneak off like that.† â€Å"Look, Frick, I need to get to Alualu right away. Can you take me in your patrol boat?† â€Å"Love to, mate, but we've got a mission as soon as the boys get back from fishin'. We've got to tow the Yapese patrol boat down to Darwin for repairs. Won't be back for a fortnight at least.† â€Å"Doesn't it make more sense to leave it broken? I mean, in the interest of watching them?† The spy raised an eyebrow. â€Å"What threat are they with a broken boat?† â€Å"Exactly,† Tuck said. â€Å"You obviously don't know a wit about maintaining job security. Mis-sionary Air might take you out, but I hear their plane is down for a while. Fishing boats are all Chinese. Buggers wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. You might charter a dingy, but I doubt that you'll find anyone willing to take you across four hundred kilometers of open sea in an out-board. There's fellows do it off Perth, but the West Coast is full of loonies anyway. Get yourself a room and wait. We'll take you out when we get back.† â€Å"I don't know if I can wait that long.† Tuck stood up. â€Å"Where should I go to charter a boat?† Frick pointed to a large Mobil oil tank at the edge of the harbor. â€Å"Try heading down to the fueling station. Should be able to find someone down there who needs the gas money.† â€Å"Thanks, Frick, I appreciate it.† Tucker shook the spy's hand. â€Å"No worries, mate. You watch yourself out there. I hear that doctor's a bedbug.† â€Å"Good to know.† He waved over his shoulder as he walked down to the edge of the harbor. A group of women chewing betel nut in the shade of a hibiscus tree turned away from him as he passed. He walked along the bank and looked into the cloudy green water at the harbor's edge. Tiny multicolored fish darted in and out of the shallows, feeding on some kind of shrimp. Brown mud skippers, their eyes atop their heads like a frog's, walked on their pectoral fins across a small mudflat that had formed around the roots of a mangrove tree. Tucker stopped and watched them. They were fish, yet they spent most of their time on land. It was as if they had evolved to a certain point, then just couldn't make a decision to leave the water, grow into mammals, and finally invent personal stereos. For sixty million years they had been hanging out on the mudflats, looking at each other with periscope eyes and goofy froggy grins and say-ing: â€Å"What do you want do?† â€Å"I don't know. What do you want to do?† â€Å"I don't know. Want to go up on the land or stay in the water?† â€Å"I don't know. Let's hang out on the mudflat a little longer.† Tuck completely understood. Although if he had been a mud skipper, after a couple of million years of dragging himself around the mudflat, he would have lost his patience and yelled, â€Å"Hey, can I get some feet over here!†, thus moving evolution along. He was enjoying the superiority of the Monday morning quarterback (And in a world created in six days, what day but Monday could it be?), feeling a little smarter, a little more worldly than the mud skippers, when it occurred to him that he had no idea how to proceed. He could find the telecom center, if there was one, and contact the doctor, but then what would he do? Sit for two weeks on Yap until the Australians returned? Maybe they were wrong. Maybe there was a privately owned plane on the island. What about a dingy? How bad could it be. The sea looked calm enough. That's it, take to the sea. Or perhaps he should just stay on Yap and find a sympathetic woman to take his mind off the problem. It had always worked before, not to pos-itive results, but it had worked, dammit. Women made him feel better. He ached for a Mary Jean Cosmetics consultant. A cool, thin, married woman, armored in pantyhose and a bulletproof bouffant. A sweet, shocked, backsliding Born Again on a one-time sin quest to remind her of why re-demption was so so good. Mud skipper thinking. He was reeling with the heat and the lack of possibilities when he saw her, up ahead, walking by the water's edge, her back to him: a thin blonde in a flowered dress with a swing to her walk like a welcome home parade.

Prevalence of Female Circumcision Essays

Prevalence of Female Circumcision Essays Prevalence of Female Circumcision Paper Prevalence of Female Circumcision Paper In the case of Nawal who faces the hard task of deciding whether to let her daughter circumcised or not, I would insist that adhering to cultural tradition does not denote putting the life of her dear daughter at stake. By all means I would make her see the consequences of the operation for it may fulfill tradition but her daughter’s life may only add to the statistics of unfortunate women who perished while undergoing the operation. I would advise Nawal that saving her daughter’s life and protecting her from probable harm do not violate any law and any tradition, and advise her to make the other family members see the extreme health hazards of the practice, not to mention the depravation of female sexual fulfillment and furthermore, I would show Nawal strong evidences of medical risks of female circumcision. Perhaps her other family members are not that insensitive to turn a blind eye on the thought of losing one of their relatives because of some ancient practice which possesses no benefit and all hazards. And also, I would make Nawal understand that the health, life, and well-being of her daughter come first and foremost than anything with regards to religion, tradition or culture. With all due respect, the culture or heritage of a person should be viewed with utmost value. Virtually all Americans possess an ancestry that is not American – of British, Italian, German, Asian, African, almost of all nationalities. But the case of female circumcision possesses no place in today’s society. Realistically speaking, it is the most hypocrite and disguised manner to degrade the female gender. FGM suppresses the rights of a woman to sexual fulfillment, to a better status in society, and shames her in the most unimaginable and inhumane way. By all means, FGM must be outlawed. No disrespect intended to those people practicing it and to those who already have undergone the operation, but the practice is simply barbaric, ancient and only fit for uncivilized, cannibalistic, and atheistic societies. Circumcision of women worldwide is a form of violence â€Å"against their quest for equality, justice and equity. † (Okume, 2007). References: Davidson, M. E. (2007). Female Circumcision: What Medical Students Should Know. Oxford Medical School Gazette, 2, Retrieved July 8, 2007, from medsci. ox. ac. uk/gazette/previousissues/54vol1/Part2 Kluge, E. (1993 January 15). Female circumcision: When Medical Ethics confronts cultural values. CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL, 148, Retrieved July 8, 2007, From cirp. org/library/legal/Canada/kluge1/ Michael, M. (2007 June 29). Egypt Officials Ban Female Circumcision. Associated Press, Retrieved July 8, 2007, from http://0-www. sfgate. com. mill1. sjlibrary. org/cgi bin/article. cgi? f=/n/a/2007/06/29/international/i171552D82. DTL Mwangi, R. , Smith-Stoner, M. (2002). Caring for the Patient Who Has Undergone Female Circumcision. Home Healthcare Nurse, 1, Retrieved July 8, 2007, from homehealthcarenurseonline. com/pt/re/homehealthnurse/fulltext. Okin, S. (2007). Retrieved July 8, 2007, from What about female genital mutilation? And why\ understanding culture matters in the first place Web site: http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3671/is_200010/ai_n8920226

How To Solve Marketing Problems By Thinking Like A Startup

How To Solve Marketing Problems By Thinking Like A Startup You could probably name off a bajillion marketing problems in five minutes if I let you. The thing is,  you can solve a lot of those problems by thinking a little more like a startup and a lot less like a corporate company. Trust me on this. Its been a year and a half now since I became employee #5 at a then-one-year-old startup called . Before that, I was one of 2,000+ employees in a corporate company. Talk about a change of pace. What I used to do in seven  months in a corporate marketing team, I was now doing in three days. Literally. How To Solve Big #Marketing Problems By Thinking Like A StartupLooking back has been super eye-opening. And that curiosity got me  thinking: How is it possible that a startup with way less resources can create effective content more efficiently than a corporate company with seemingly endless resources? Answering  that question led me to analyze some of the biggest marketing problems  behind  prioritizing work, managing projects, and hitting deadlines. So here are the biggest truths corporate marketing teams could learn from a marketer in a startup to: Empower every member of your marketing team to become a rock star. Create content better and faster than ever before. Foster  a disruptive culture that publishes consistently and free of office bureaucracy. Its going to get deep here. Lessons learned from a year and a half of  #startup marketing.Problem #1: You  Need A Documented  Marketing  Strategy  Before You Start The thing that sucks right now:  Without publishing any content in the first place, that documented strategy of yours is just a big huge guess. Thats a lot of effort  you put into an internal document that doesnt  directly reach your audience. And that means theres absolutely no payout from it right now. :/ The  startup solution:  Start with clearly defined goal and a minimum viable plan. Give your team  a purpose and let them loose. Heres something for you to chew on: Some people  have a vested interest in selling you on all the reasons why you need a documented  strategy. Thats because that is the service they sell you through content marketing. Marketing plans are a nice  way to make you  feel like youve accomplished something without actually showing your audience the  value. Theres no way to literally know  if the strategy in your  plan will be successful or not. The truth is that you need to publish, analyze your success, and learn from your mistakes and successes to improve. In Poke The Box, Seth Godin advocates this idea  by writing: If you don’t ship, you actually haven’t started anything at all. At some point, your work has to intersect with the market. At some point, you need feedback as to whether or not it worked. Otherwise, it’s merely a hobby. In reality, you can start now by simply defining your  goal- the purpose- of what youd like to accomplish with content marketing. Then you can simply brainstorm the ways you could accomplish that goal, prioritize your project list, understand how youll measure success, and start creating content. Our co-founder, Garrett, constantly reminds all of us at that: The simplest approach is often the best place to start. So this isnt about creating content without strategy. Its that your strategy can be as simple as  focusing on inbound traffic to start because you cant convert readers who dont exist. You can use  survey data or blog comments to understand your audience without writing formal personas. You can prioritize your projects using an Evernote note and a few bullet points instead of investing in a professionally-designed strategic document that essentially carves your project  roadmap into stone without wiggle room to analyze what works and what doesnt. You can  improve your strategy as you analyze the results from the content you publish. Use the lean startup process to solve your #marketing problems.From there, look at your contents success or failure, learn from the data, and iterate. This concept is an applied theory from Eric Ries, who wrote  The Lean Startup. In that book, Eric mentions that startups can move faster with a simple, iterative process that helps your customers participate in building your product or service. It looks a bit like this: When you apply that concept to managing your marketing, it looks a bit like this: Focus on publishing content and iterating on what you know really works. The best time to start is now. Recommended Reading:  How To Track Your Marketing Objectives To Focus On Success Problem #2: Prevent Fires Instead Of Putting Them Out The thing that sucks right now: You feel like you need to take on every project you get asked to help out with. Its tough to say no to one-off projects when youre seen as a service center instead of a strategic part of your companys growth. In other words, you cant  complete strategic projects because emergencies  consume your work week. The startup solution: Rock an agile scrum and sprint process that prevents your team from being pulled off of your strategic projects because of someone elses lack of planning. Startups are known for being disruptive. One of the ways they make sure theyll ship on time is by following  agile processes that keep them 100% focused on projects that will  make a measurable difference. This process is often sprint planning combined with daily scrum meetings. And you can apply this same approach to your marketing: A scrum master, most likely you, assigns the team the complete list of projects theyll take on in a certain period of time. Thats usually the next two weeks. The team works together to agree on what projects will get done, when theyll be done, and how much  effort it will take. Once the team commits to the projects and deadlines, they will ship on time no matter what. When other hot projects come up, only the scrum master has the ability to stop or change projects in mid-sprint. That means that no one- not even your CEO- can steal time or take your team off the current sprint. That means your team stays focused while you plan the new requests into upcoming sprints.  That helps  everyone focus on  the right projects and gives you time to strategically determine which new projects to take on before you jump into  executing. Theres a saying Ive  seen around that goes something like this: Your lack of planning doesnt mean an emergency for me. Plan your work. Work your plan. Avoid the fire drills. Problem #3: But That Would Never Work Around Here And Projects Get Thrashed The Day Before Launch Heres a two-in-one for ya: The thing that sucks right now: You just read through the solution to problem #2 and you thought to yourself, Yeah, right! If I told our CEO that I wasnt going to complete her project first thing, shed be pissed. So the real problem is that you havent  gotten approval to manage your team your way without exceptions. The startup solution: Thrash your projects before you create them. Then get your sign-off- in writing if you have to- that youll ship  your way and on your deadline. Seth Godin has worked with huge corporate companies and came across this problem  a lot in his early professional life. His solution? Define the day youll ship. Youll publish on this day no matter what happens. Write down every single idea that could possibly funnel into your project. Get anyone involved who wants to be. Seth says, This is their big chance. Thrash and dream. Seth says, People focus on emergencies, not urgencies, and getting yourself (and them) to  stop working on tomorrows deadline and pitch in now isnt easy. Help your team decide what theyll create in the time frame available. Enter all of your ideas into a database. Then let everyone thrash your project before you even begin. Seth says, Make sure everyone understands that this is  the very last chance they have to make the project better. Create a blueprint of all the remaining ideas that will funnel into your project. Show the blueprint to the big wigs and ask, If I deliver what you approved, on budget and on time, will you ship it?' Dont move forward until you get your yes. Once you get your yes, build your project your way and ship on time. This process, as Seth outlines in Linch Pin, works well for both laying out how you want to manage your team (with sprints and the agile scrum process) and for managing single projects. Get approval- even if you have to get  something signed- then build. In their book, Sprint, Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz  explain that getting approval to create projects  that are on point from the start and end with a thrash-free process begin with  approval from a Decider. In this context, the Decider is someone who has  the potential to call shenanigans at the end of a project. So Jake and Co. went so far as to get written confirmation that their project would ship on time: In one sprint, the CEO send the design director an email that read, I hereby grant you all decision-making authority for this project. Absurd? Yes. Effective? Absolutely. This official power transfer added tremendous clarity While the process that Seth follows and the special design sprints that Jake and his team run are dramatically different, they have one thing in common: Get  approval, then work. Ship on time, every time. Problem #4.  Your Team Isnt Focused On The  Projects That Produce Repeatable, Measurable  Results The thing that sucks right now: You have so many things you could do, you have no idea how to prioritize them. To top it off, you have goals- like selling more- but you have no idea what specific projects are producing the best results and which ones you should stop doing. The startup solution: Concentrate  100% of  your resources on your 10x growth projects  and nothing else. I had the opportunity to listen to a  chief financial officer  speak about setting goals.  This guy talked about knowing your number, essentially saying: Everyone on your team should know  your goals and how they contribute to them. The only department  excluded from this is marketing. I remember getting super amped about becoming a data-driven marketer, and then being super disappointed by his last sentence. I even argued with the guy about it after he spoke! Its time to prove that #marketing is a revenue generator instead of a necessary cost center.The truth is, marketing can and should be very data driven. And every project should be measured against a clearly defined goal or you shouldnt do it. The first step is assessing what your gut is telling you is working, and understanding whats just a bunch of busywork. Create a list of all the projects you do on a regular basis, then ask yourself two simple questions: Is this on my to-do list simply because Ive always done it? What would happen if I stopped doing this project? From here, determine which projects are generating the biggest results toward your goals and replicate their success. Set up and track your goals for every project you take on with a tool like Google Analytics. Then simply stop doing the projects that are dead ends. Recommended Reading:  How To Boost Your Efficiency With A Content Strategy That Will Quadruple Your Results Problem #5: Your Content Approval Process  Needs An Approval Process The thing that sucks right now: The content you publish on a regular basis takes forever to finalize because you have too many people involved in your process. The startup solution: Give total publishing authority to your editor. Take everyone  involved in an approval process out of your workflow. Ive been loving a post from Jay Acunzo  ever since he published last year. Jay used to work at Google where he saw a pod structure applied to the sales team, and he  wrote about applying that same idea to a content marketing team. Heres a very memorable quote: team be huge, team be slow, team is gonna totally blow. So Jay advocates removing any unnecessary people from your process and focusing on three  key roles: Strategist: You, the person who has the vision, knows what to measure and how to do it, and plans the sprints your team will take on. Producer: The creative folks who actually make your content a reality. They turn strategy into assets. Marketer: The person who shares your content with the world. While you might have a few producers (lets say a writer, designer, or videographer), youll notice that Google doesnt focus on an approval person. The strategist- or editor- takes on that role by analyzing what works and what doesnt. Approval processes slow you down, make you miss your deadlines, and create a negative culture that feels like, They dont trust me. Use the steps from problem #3 to give yourself 100% control over what you create. Publish now, apologize later. Ask for forgiveness instead of approval.Empower your team to lead, make mistakes, fail fast, learn often, and repeat. Shooting for perfection is imperfect. Recommended Reading:  How To Rock A Content Development Process That Will Save You Tons Of Time Problem #6: Foster A Disruptive, Creative Culture The thing that sucks right now: Your company expects creatives to maintain status quo, work in a drab office, and show up from 8–5. Since youre a creative reading about marketing problems, you probably dont want to be doing whatever you should be doing right now. so does being  physically present in an office from  8–5 really make you more productive? The startup solution: Value diverse experiences and working styles. Look for team members who have more ambition than you. Dont track vacation time. Dont  demand that your team be omnipresent from  8–5 in the office. Jason Fried  gave one of the most popular TED Talks of all time: You know what Jason  found? Being present in an office does not necessarily equate to being productive. Go figure. Instead, look to build a team of people who have never fit in anywhere else. Find the misfits who just may work well together. Theyll be the ones who challenge the status quo to  create something you never thought was possible. So your designer wants to work from a coffee shop once in a while. Great. Your marketer needs to work from home because day care fell through. Fine. 4 p.m. on Friday rolls around and the team wants to share a beer together. Excellent. Thats actually been proven to increase creativity, by the way. Quit thinking theres a difference between work life and personal life. Its just one. And you choose to do what you do every day. Theres no difference between work and personal life. Its just one.Foster an environment that your team will love to come back to every morning. Respect their opinions and let them complete their work  the way that works best for them. After all, does it matter how things get done as long as you reach your goals together? What Are Your Marketing Problems? These were some of the marketing problems Ive experienced in the past and the ways Ive overcome them since joining . Id love to hear more about the challenges youre facing and your plans to resolve them. Let me know in the comments!

Journal Prompts for the Elementary Classroom

Journal Prompts for the Elementary Classroom As you design a   journal writing program for your students, its a good idea to use journal prompts so that your students are working on productive creative writing. A journal writing checklist helps your students assess their own progress each time they write. Journal Prompts for the Classroom Here is a list of teacher-tested journal topics to help you get started in your journal writing routine: What is your favorite season? Describe how you feel during different times of the year.What is your favorite game? Think about indoor games, outdoor games, board games, car games, and more!Write about your favorite subject in school. What is your least favorite subject?What do you want to be when you grow up? Choose and describe at least three jobs that you think you would enjoy.What is your favorite holiday and why? What traditions do you and your family share?What qualities do you look for in a friend? How do you try to be a good friend to others?Have you ever had to apologize for something you did? How did you feel before and after the apology?Describe a typical day in your life. Use sensory detail (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste) to make your daily experience come to life.Describe a fantasy day in your life. If you could design a whole day to do anything and everything you wanted, what would you choose to do?If you could choose one superpower to have for a day, which would you select? Describe in detail your activities as a superhero. Should children have strict bedtimes? What do you think is a fair bedtime for children your age and why?Write about your brothers and sisters. If you dont have any, do you wish you did?What is more important in life: presents or people?What do you think is the perfect age to be? If you could choose one age and stay that age forever, what would you choose?Do you have any nicknames? Describe where the nicknames came from and what they mean to you.Write about what you do on the weekends. How do your weekends differ from your weekdays?What are your favorite foods? What are your least favorite foods? Describe how it feels to eat each of the foods.What is your favorite type of weather? Write about how your activities change with different types of weather.When you are feeling sad, what cheers you up? Describe in detail.Describe your favorite game. What do you like about it? Why are you good at it?Imagine that you are invisible. Write a story about the day you turned invisible.Describe what its like to be you. Write about a day in your life. What is the most interesting thing that you know how to do? What makes it interesting and why do you do it?Imagine that you went to school and there were no teachers! Talk about what you did that day. Edited By: Janelle Cox

Wingspan bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wingspan bank - Essay Example Bank One is one of the biggest traditional banks in the US. They launched WingspanBank.com on 1999 in order to cater to tech-savvy Internet customers, in the hope of expanding their market size and operation. Wingspan was aggressive in strategies in order to become a leader in the virtual banking.The company implemented and launched innovative strategies to gain competitive advantage. However, by 2000, the new company was in trouble of closing shop.This paper aims to identify the key issues and problems that caused the failure of WingspanBank.com amidst the successful launch in 1999. The paper also enumerates several corporate strategic solutions that addresses the issues and answers the problems identified. With emphasis on market expansion and business growth, the alternative solutions were evaluated and the best strategy was chosen as a recommended approach to beat the issues.WingspanBank.com is an internet-only banking institution. It is under the umbrella of the parent company, Bank One, particularly in its subsidiary First USA. It was launched on 1999 with good reviews. It has garnered several awards for its internet-only operations after its launching. However, the virtual bank was treading on troubled water by 2000. Several issues contributed to the downfall of the bank.First, the Bank's expected success was highly dependent on the financial cover of First USA. When First USA was troubled and was under scrutiny from its customers, the financial support was brought to a standstill. Without the money poured into the initial operations and its aggressive marketing strategies, WingspanBank.com was in danger of a collapse. Second, the expectations of the mother company on the internet bank were high. Bank One anticipated high growth rate on Wingspan's customer base as more and more people were hooked on the Internet. They invested millions in aggressive marketing and advertising initiatives to capture the market. When the expected growth was not achieved, Bank One has become skeptic on the performance of the new company and has doubted its future as a potential contributor to the corporation. Lastly, the internet-only banking industry has become unattractive to customers. People were complaining on its operations, security and customer service. Sites were difficult to use. Human interaction, which was essential in the traditional banking, was lacking if not missing. Marketwise, the growth of online banking customers was only 2%. With all these issues facing WingspanBank.com, Bank One top executives were weighing the pros and cons of discontinuing the operations of the virtual bank, due to its poor performance and failure to achieve expected growth. Alternative Strategic Approach Bank One can opt to implement several corporate strategies to address the issues and problems facing Wingspan Bank. First, they can decide to sell the internet-only bank as a whole or pieces of the organization. Selling the company is a good option if buyers are willing to acquire it. Unfortunately, the bank is not attractive for buyers because it has no desirable assets aside from its Internet technology and infrastructure. Because the bank is still in its initial stage of operation, its brand name is not so much attractive to buyers. The brand name is yet to be embraced by consumers and become a part of the industry vernacular. Second, they can choose to merge it with Bank One's existing Internet bank brand. Merging WingspanBank.co

Marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing communication - Essay Example In this report, we are going to develop a marketing communication plan for the center in order to improve the business by making the center more attractive and eye-catching for the public. The marketing plan will include such strategies which will play their role in creating awareness among the public about the facilities and entertainment provided by Viejas Outlet Center. Luther (2001) found that analysis of the current situation of any company or firm is necessary before development of a marketing plan. It is because analysis lets us know about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding any specific company for which the plan is to be developed. So in the case of Viejas Outlet Center, we carried out a thorough analysis regarding the current business situation of the outlet in order to know the defficiencies and strengths regarding the outlet. Strengths of the outlet include entertainment spots and various other facilities such as casino, shopping stores, danceclubs, restaurants, and water fountain for the children. These facilities are good enough to attract the customers towards the outlet but it needs a suitable marketing plan in order to creae awareness among the public. The major drawback of Viejas Outlet Center is its marketing strategy. The marketing strategy has a lot of flaws in it due to which the outlet is unable to attract the public. Marketing plan is very old fashioned and is not adjustable with the demands of modern marketing strategies and tactics. Threats to the Viejas Outlet Center include creation of other outlets in the reigon which may not have such faciltities and entertainment spots as the Viejas Outlet Center holds, but the effective marketing strategies of the new outlets may provide them with dominance or egde over Viejas Outlet Center. That is why, Viejas Outlet Center needs to have an effective and innovative

Saint Thomas Aquinas and his influence on Western thought Research Paper

Saint Thomas Aquinas and his influence on Western thought - Research Paper Example Aquino has been considered by many as one of the major pillars of civilization in the west. His philosophy exerted much influence not only on the successive Christian theology, but also the philosophy of the west in general. One could only conclude that Aquino’s existence was needed at this time when Catholic politics and the events in the world needed great intervention (Aquinas and Regan 73). At this time, a decision was made in Vatican apprehensively where Aquinas was assigned the task of merging formally Christianity with carnal reason. Aquino was born in Roccasecca Sicily in a noble family of Mr. Count Landulph and Mrs. Theodora (Aquinas and Regan 22). There were expectations that Aquino would pursue his uncle’s (Sinibald) footsteps to the position of abbot in the Benedictine monastery. He started his education at five years of age in a monastery, and the later proceeded to Naples University. While in this university, Aquinas chose to pursue the Dominican Order, de spite the fact that he faced much opposition from his family. The family even went to an extent of incarcerating him in trying to compel him to follow the family footsteps. However, their efforts failed following Pope Innocent the 4th’s intervention, propelling Aquino to the position of a Dominican monk by 1242. He later studied briefly under Magnus A., then later in Paris. While in Paris he vocally distinguished himself during the University champion Guillaume de St. Amour (Aquinas and Gilby 137). After his graduation from the university in 1248 with a degree in theology, he got back to Cologne and started his literary works. Aquino was described as a humble, peace-loving and simple man who loved poetry. Aquinas and Regan (63) assert that through his great learning and personality, he maintained a great deal of self control which saw him win over his rivals. He even refused to take part in an activity known as flesh mortification, a requirement for every Dominican Friar. Fur thermore, he also declined to hold some prestigious positions such as Naples’ Archbishop. He later went back to Naples with the aim of implementing a program of theological studies in the Naples University neighborhood in 1272. During St. Nicolas feast in 1273, Aquino had a vision in which he had a voice speaking to congratulating him for his great writings. The voice asked him for the reward that he wished to be given and Thomas said all that he needed was God himself (Aquinas and Regan 92). From there henceforth Aquino wrote no more. Earlier on, the Paris Bishop had condemned Aristotle’s teachings which were offered in the university, which also aimed at Aquino’s teachings. Gilby and Aquinas (15) explains that later in early 1274, Aquino left for France on a Second Council mission, but died before reaching there after falling sick shortly. On sensing his death, Aquino said that, that was his eternal rest and he had chosen it. St. Thomas Aquinas left back great works that can never be forgotten. His works were first condemned after his death by the Paris Bishop and there was an excommunication of Aquinas in posthumously. It took quite a number of years for his reputation to be revived; in the mid 15th century, his works were revived and taught throughout Paris, and at this time he was termed as the Dr. of the church (Aquinas, Regan and Baumgarth 140). In the contemporary societies, he is recognized by the Catholic Church in particular as the grand theologian philosopher. His works and their influence on Western

Ancient greece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ancient greece - Essay Example The unraveling of the unknown criminal’s identity forms the crux of the story. The plot is muddled by conflicting accounts and double images. In the end, Oedipus finds out the sad truth about himself: that he has killed his own father; that he is both husband and son to Jocasta, and; that he has sired not only his sons and daughters but also his brothers and sisters. The unraveling of the true identity of Oedipus, an identity that turns out to be multiple, viz. father, son, husband, and brother, is a conflict of â€Å"the one and the many† that characterizes this Sophocles’ tragedy. The â€Å"one and the many† conflict is initially established when the death of King Laius, the first husband of Queen Jocasta and the previous king of Thebes, is introduced into the play. The discovery of Laius’ murder becomes essential to lift the plague that beset the city of Thebes. The seeds of suspicion, on both the part of the reader and Oedipus, begin to grow at the entrance of the blind prophet Tiresias whom Oedipus badgers to reveal the identity of the murderer. Tiresias’ hesitation to reveal the murderer’s identity leads the reader to think that something is afoot. This suspicion is given reality when the blind prophet is finally forced to reveal that Oedipus is the curse who caused Thebes’ plague because he is the murderer of the king. This is compounded by Tiresias’ additional allegation, told in riddles, that the murderer of Laius was his own son. Moreover, the same murderer has married his own mother and sired his own brothers and sisters. At this stage, however, the suspicion against Oedipus does not carry much weight because the play begins in the present time and the reader has not yet been apprised of the history of Oedipus and his family. Oedipus himself was furious at the accusations against him and firmly suspects them to be a plot against him. The next

Structural Theory of Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Structural Theory of Conflict - Research Paper Example However, since the 1970s newer approaches have started to come out with new concepts of criminology. All of these approaches evolved into what is now known as left realism. The major difference which can be found between the left idealism and left realism is a moral issue which will be discovered later in this article. Traditional Marxist Theories Marx himself had very little to say about crime. He merely explained it as a product of poverty. However, there are other sociologists who have built the traditional Marxist approach to crime. There are four main areas which are discussed by the traditional Marxist approach: the manipulation of values; the process of law creation; the enforcement of law; and individual motivation. According to the Marxists society is controlled by powerful industrialists- bourgeoisie. Control is maintained in the society by means of socialization and threat. Through the process of socialization the young are taught to obey the power and value of the capital ist system. A wide range of social institutions such as the school, mass media and religion convey the message to the masses. Marxists claim that the meaning of crime depends upon the dominant social values. A very valid example would be that the murder of a person in a brawl will be counted as a severe crime but the death of a factory worker is considered an accident even though the cause of the accident might be the irresponsible attitude of the management. The problem which results from this is that the perception which is created through the sociological institutions that much of the crime is carried out by the youth, or the working class men or the black. This creates an ideology which causes the law enforcement agencies to focus more on these people and as a consequence there are more policemen in such areas. According to concepts of Marx law is created by the ruling class. The ruling class ensures that the laws not only maintain their dominance but they also provide them the freedom to carry out oppression and also preventing the working class for improving their standard of living. Marxists also argue that the law enforcement acts as a major catalyst in widening the gap between the ruling class and the working class. This is quite visible by the way that crime is handled. Street crimes are more likely to be punished more severely than white-collar crimes. This is compounded by the fact that white-collar crimes are very likely to be dealt by the firm itself by firing etc. to avoid the scandals. Apart from this the treatment of these crimes is also a question mark on the law enforcement system where street crimes might result in long jail sentences whereas corporate or white-collar crimes usually only result in heavy crimes. Two areas which are explained and discussed extensively in Marxist studies are mugging and corporate crime. When ‘mugging’ is discussed most important details are provided by Hall et al. (1979) in the book policing the C risis.’ It was in the early 1970s that mugging became the headline news in Britain. Mugging can be defined as robbery in the streets where the person is threatened or harmed. Mugging was an entirely new concept for the masses and simultaneously grabbed the focus of the news agencies who from time to time reported these crimes. This had increased such that the stat came out that it had increased by 129

Great Philosopher Aristotle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Great Philosopher Aristotle - Essay Example Aristotle had been very influenced by Plato although he did not agree with all his thinking, such as his theory of forms. As Michael V. Wedin claims in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy â€Å"Aristotle early on developed a keenly independent voice that expressed puzzlement over such Platonic doctrines as the separate existence of Ideas and the construction of physical reality from two-dimensional triangles.† Aristotle replaced this with his own theory of substance and further elaborated this into his theory of knowledge via his thinking on sensation and reason and the way in which he linked these properties of â€Å"man†. He also formalized abstract thought when he developed his universal method of reasoning. Not only does Aristotle’s philosophy underpin much of today’s Western thought and politics, but it also lays the foundations to modern Scientific Method. His system of inferential logic, or syllogistic reasoning, or categorical logic, has remaine d the major logical system of the Western world for many centuries. As the online Stanford Encyclopaedia says, â€Å"Although today we recognize many forms of logic beyond Aristotle's, it remains true that he not only developed a theory of deduction, now called syllogistic but added to it a modal syllogistic and went a long way towards proving some meta-theorems pertinent to these systems.†In his Prior Analytics Aristotle says that a syllogism is â€Å"a discourse in which, a certain thing being stated, something other than what is stated follows of necessity from being so†.... Not only does Aristotle's philosophy underpin much of today's Western thought and politics, but it also lays the foundations to modern Scientific Method. His system of inferential logic, or syllogistic reasoning, or categorical logic, has remained the major logical system of the Western world for many centuries. As the online Stanford Encyclopaedia says, "Although today we recognize many forms of logic beyond Aristotle's, it remains true that he not only developed a theory of deduction, now called syllogistic, but added to it a modal syllogistic and went a long way towards proving some meta-theorems pertinent to these systems." (2) Aristotle's other achievements include the fact that he taught and influenced Alexander the Great. Although Aristotle is given credit for developing, again according to the online Stanford Encyclopaedia, "a systematic treatment of the principles governing correct inference" (2) the idea of sound argumentation existed before him. What he did that was so unusual was to "codify the formal and syntactic principles at play in ... inference". (online Stanford Encyclopaedia 2) In his Prior Analytics Aristotle says that a syllogism is "a discourse in which, a certain thing being stated, something other than what is stated follows of necessity from being so" (Aristotle 24b 18). Three kinds of syllogism have emerged: the categorical syllogism, the hypothetical, and the disjunctive syllogism. The study of Prior Analytics and of what constitutes a syllogism is necessary for an understanding of Aristotle's foundations to scientific knowledge. As David Ross points out in the online excerpt from his book Aristotle, "Whatever other conditions it must satisfy besides, science

Structural Theory of Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Structural Theory of Conflict - Research Paper Example However, since the 1970s newer approaches have started to come out with new concepts of criminology. All of these approaches evolved into what is now known as left realism. The major difference which can be found between the left idealism and left realism is a moral issue which will be discovered later in this article. Traditional Marxist Theories Marx himself had very little to say about crime. He merely explained it as a product of poverty. However, there are other sociologists who have built the traditional Marxist approach to crime. There are four main areas which are discussed by the traditional Marxist approach: the manipulation of values; the process of law creation; the enforcement of law; and individual motivation. According to the Marxists society is controlled by powerful industrialists- bourgeoisie. Control is maintained in the society by means of socialization and threat. Through the process of socialization the young are taught to obey the power and value of the capital ist system. A wide range of social institutions such as the school, mass media and religion convey the message to the masses. Marxists claim that the meaning of crime depends upon the dominant social values. A very valid example would be that the murder of a person in a brawl will be counted as a severe crime but the death of a factory worker is considered an accident even though the cause of the accident might be the irresponsible attitude of the management. The problem which results from this is that the perception which is created through the sociological institutions that much of the crime is carried out by the youth, or the working class men or the black. This creates an ideology which causes the law enforcement agencies to focus more on these people and as a consequence there are more policemen in such areas. According to concepts of Marx law is created by the ruling class. The ruling class ensures that the laws not only maintain their dominance but they also provide them the freedom to carry out oppression and also preventing the working class for improving their standard of living. Marxists also argue that the law enforcement acts as a major catalyst in widening the gap between the ruling class and the working class. This is quite visible by the way that crime is handled. Street crimes are more likely to be punished more severely than white-collar crimes. This is compounded by the fact that white-collar crimes are very likely to be dealt by the firm itself by firing etc. to avoid the scandals. Apart from this the treatment of these crimes is also a question mark on the law enforcement system where street crimes might result in long jail sentences whereas corporate or white-collar crimes usually only result in heavy crimes. Two areas which are explained and discussed extensively in Marxist studies are mugging and corporate crime. When ‘mugging’ is discussed most important details are provided by Hall et al. (1979) in the book policing the C risis.’ It was in the early 1970s that mugging became the headline news in Britain. Mugging can be defined as robbery in the streets where the person is threatened or harmed. Mugging was an entirely new concept for the masses and simultaneously grabbed the focus of the news agencies who from time to time reported these crimes. This had increased such that the stat came out that it had increased by 129