Machiavelli on Powers of NSA and Defense Spending Research Paper

Machiavelli on Powers of NSA and Defense Spending - Research Paper Example The growing security concerns in the country are arguable and justifiably especially following the events of 9/11. The relativity of the organization’s spending is admissible by the dictates of such iconic think tanks as the Italian Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli as the discussion below portrays. Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an early Italian politician, philosopher, and diplomat. Machiavelli influenced modern day politics with most historians acknowledging his ideas as the basis for contemporary politics. Among his major contributions was the political ethics which is a concept that explains the conduct of politicians and the policies they enact. The philosopher developed a concept known as Machiavellianism which is a negative term referring to unscrupulous politicians. Such politicians foster their own ambitions while disregarding the desires of the electorate who Machiavelli explains wield the power owing to their fundamental role of electing the leaders. Dem ocracy is a form of governance through which the population elects representatives who rule on their behalf. In a democratic society, the electorate constitutes a fundamental piece of the society and plays an integral role in the governance of the society. The political ideology arises from the social contract theory which posits that since not everyone can rule, the society elects few people with desirable qualities to lead them for a particular period. Within the period, the leaders make decisions through policies. However, in doing so, the leaders must safeguard the desires of the people. This implies that the leaders must maintain an interactive relationship with the electorate in order to determine the wishes of the people. The policies the leaders formulate and enact must represent the desires of the people and uphold humanity. In his work, The Prince, Machiavelli investigates the creation of democratic institutions and the conduct of politicians at the time (Althusser & Mathe ron, 2000). As a philosopher, Machiavelli explains that elected leaders, unlike in dynasties, must possess desirable qualities and sustain their conduct. In doing so, political leaders must exhibit humility and understanding of the issues facing their electorate. By considering such, the policies the leaders formulate and enact will reflect the desires of the people (Cunningham, Rogers & United States, 2005). Constant consultation between the electorate and the leadership is essential in the representation process as the leaders must always enact policies that uphold the freedoms of the people. Among the issues that Machiavelli contends that is essential in the development of free and fair societies is security. The leaders must sustain the security of their societies. Machiavelli explains that the security of the society is priceless and important to the electorate. The contract between the society and the leaders as explained in the social contract theory centers on creation of sa fe and secure societies. A country must employ its every resources in ensuring that its boarders are safe and free from foreign interference. Machiavelli’s doctrines and philosophies can help explain some of if his possible thoughts on the structure of modern society and the functions and powers of some of the state agencies.

Life of Pi and Religion Essay Example for Free

Life of Pi and Religion Essay The Grapes of Wrath has many Religious parallels to the bible. The characters are paralleled with people from the bible, some easily recognizable. Also the Grapes of Wrath is during the Great Depression which can be an allusion to the horrible treatments and suffering times the Israelist people had to deal with reflects to this time period. The plot of John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, can easily be related to many biblical references as well as it could be applied to the daily struggles of the lives of Christians. Two particular portions of this novel stick out more than any other. Those are the characters of Jim Casey and Pa Joad. Jim Casey reminds me of Moses from the bible because in the bible Moses lead thousands of people out of harsh treatments and slavery and led them to the promises land Canon. Where Steinbeck could be referring the Joad family as the people who followed Moses and Jim is viewed as Moses who tries and lead them to a safe place where they won’t suffer anymore. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, religious symbols crop up, explaining the significance of the section. One use of symbolism is that when on the road to California, Tom runs in to a snake. Already used in the novel is the fact that to the Joads, California represents a place of great wealth, freedom, and prosperity. It is a Garden of Eden, so to speak. The Garden of Eden had a serpent who brought the Wrath of God upon Adam and Eve. The serpent gave them with the forbidden fruit. California is forbidden to outsiders and migrants. No Okies allowed. The snake represents the Eden Serpent and its betrayal to Adam and Eve. California will betray the Joads.

Maya Angelou as a Caged Bird Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

Maya Angelou as a Caged Bird    The graduation scene from I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings illustrates how, living in the midst of racism and unequal access to opportunity, Maya Angelou was able to surmount the obstacles that stood in her way of intellectual develop and find "higher ground."   One of the largest factors responsible for Angelou's academic success was her dedication to and capacity for hard work, "My work alone has awarded me a top place...No absences, no tardinesses, and my academic work was among the best of the year" (Angelou   13-14).   Angelou worked hard and read a great deal in order to be able to perform on such a level, in spite of the fact that she had much less access (or none) to the quality of teachers, school environment and other resources available to whites because of her color.   Another way Angelou surmounted the disadvantages of being black in a racist white controlled school district was to view her brother as a role model.   She is proud that she can recite the preamble to the Constitution faster than Bailey, she is proud he will see her graduate at the top of her class, and he provides her with literature which fuels her desire to read.   Maya also used other students in her class who were intelligent as role models and a measure stick of her own performance.   She admires the class valedictorian, Henry Reed, because he has been her most challenging academic competition among her peers.   However, another reason Angelou is able to overcome obstacles and reach higher ground is that she is not jealous or mean-spirited about academically competing with others.   Instead, she is happy that others are developing towards higher ground.   As she says about Henry, "I had admired him for years because e... ...race" (Angelou   21).   Angelou knows she would let down all those who have struggled and given her encouragement if she did not rise above the limitations of her own time and place. WORK   CITED Angelou, M.   I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.   In Eastman, A. M.   The Norton Anthology of Expository Prose.   (3rd edit.)   W.W. Norton & Co., NY:   1973. The student may wish to begin the paper with the following quote: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.   I have no words for this achievement, but I know that not since the days of my childhood, when the people in books were more real than the people one saw every day, have I found myself so moved.   Her portrait is a Biblical study of life in the midst of death.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   James Baldwin

Free College Admissions Essays: Attending School in the United States :: College Admissions Essays

My  Dream of Attending School in the United States    Few people handle death well; my family is no exception. We were sitting in our living room and discussing my future educational plans, whether I would study in the US or not, when the phone rang. As my mother hung up the phone, I saw her trembling, trying hard not to cry. She sat on the couch and explained what happened. Grandfather had called to tell us that he carried my grandmother to the hospital because of a critical situation. We knew that she didn't feel well, but nobody thought the situation could become this serious. For a moment, I read the noticeable signs of guilt in my mother's eyes because she was 400 km away when my grandmother needed her. The coming days were not easy for us. My mother went to look after my grandmother at the hospital. Although my father tried hard to fill my mother's place, he had to concentrate on his business also.    We were waiting for a promising word from the doctors, but we received no positive feedback. They said that they would try chemotherapy but that they couldn't promise success. The cancer might destroy her. Meanwhile, the time was shortening. I had to choose between staying in my country or going to the US the mysterious and fascinating place whose pictures and maps decorated my room. The chemotherapy might last an entire year, and my mother had to stay with my grandparents through this process since she was their only child. That meant that my mother wouldn't be with us for one whole year and somebody had to take care of the housework. Since my father needed to support the family by going to his job regularly, I had to stay home to help both him and my little sister.    With this responsibility, I couldn't selfishly leave my family to study in the US. My mother painfully watched her mother become emaciated as the cancer advanced day by day, so I had to be there for her.

Article 258 Tfeu – Key Features

â€Å"†¦judicial and legislative developments *have+ made the *infringement+ procedure [come] of age- from a rarely used, opaque and policy-driven procedure, it has now become a common, fairly transparent and highly technical procedure. † Prete & Smuldres â€Å"The coming of age of infringement proceedings† (2010) 47 CMLR 9 Has the infringement procedure finally â€Å"come of age†? Critically outline the key features of the Article 258 TFEU procedure and relevant caselaw.Article 258 TFEU (Formerly Art 226 EC) empowers the European Commission to deliver a reasoned opinion to a member state when it considers that the state has failed to fulfil an obligation under the treaties. The action seeks to â€Å"fulfil an obligation under the EC Treaty† and to â€Å"obtain a declaration that the conduct of a Member State infringes Community Law and of terminating that conduct†. If the Court of Justice of the European Union finds that the member state has f ailed to fulfil the obligation the member state shall be required to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment.Other mechanisms exist to secure the correct application of EU Law, including the principle of direct effect and primacy of EU Law. These measures permits an individual or a company to have their rights enforced before a national court on the basis of EU Law provisions, even if such provisions are not specified within the national legal system where the application is made. Article 258 TFEU can be described as a law enforcement tool against Member States. Each Member State is responsible for the applying EU Law in a manner that is full and correct.The Court has the power to decide if a Member State is meeting its obligations that is has under the Treaties. According to statistics from the Court, approximately 200 cases are lodged before it each year. This accounts for a fraction of the suspected infringements that are investigated. The vast majority of cases a re resolved through dialogue and negotiation. As such, court proceedings are considered the final step in resolving a matter where other options have failed.Article 17(1) TEU (formerly Art 211 EC) gives the enforcement and controlling powers required by the Commission to enforce the application of EU Law by Member States. A Member State may be forced to take drastic steps including modification or rescission of national legislation or even modification of a Constitution in order to comply with a Court ruling. Financial penalties may be applied to a Member State if the state fails to comply with a Court ruling. In most circumstances, Member States do comply with the Court rulings, but they may take some time to implement such rulings, which may incur a significant financial penalty.As Guardian of the Treaties, the Commission has improved the transparency of the infringement procedures in recent years. The procedure is objective in nature and the decision rests with the Court to decid e if there has been a breach of law as alleged by the Commission. The infringement procedure begins with a request for information (so-called â€Å"Letter of Formal Notice†) to the member state concerned, which must be answered within a specified period, usually two months.If the Commission is not satisfied with the information and concludes that the Member State in question is failing to fulfill its obligations under EU law, the Commission may then send a formal request to comply with EU law (so-called â€Å"Reasoned Opinion†), calling on the member state to inform the Commission of the measures taken to comply within a specified period, usually two months. If a Member State fails to ensure compliance with EU law, the Commission may then decide to refer the Member State to the Court of Justice.However, in over 90 per cent of infringement cases, member states comply with their obligations under EU law before they are referred to the Court. If the Court rules against a member state, the member state must then take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment. If, despite the ruling, a Member State still fails to act, the Commission may open a further infringement case under Article 260 of the TFEU, with only one written warning before referring the member state back to Court.If the Commission does refer a member state back to Court, it can propose that the Court imposes financial penalties on the member state concerned based on the duration and severity of the infringement and the size of the member state (both a lump sum depending on the time elapsed since the original Court ruling and a daily penalty payment for each day after a second Court ruling until the infringement ends). These decisions cover many sectors; they aim at ensuring proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.Before referring a Member State to the Court, the Commission first requests information from the Member State concerned and then, if nece ssary, formally requests the Member State to comply with EU law. Around 95 per cent of infringement cases are resolved at the administration stage, i. e. before they reach the Court. If after a ruling by the Court of Justice, a member state still fails to act, the Commission warns the member state in writing.In case of continued lack of appropriate action by the member state, the Commission may take the member state back to Court, and can request the Court to impose a lump sum penalty and/or a daily penalty payment on the member state concerned. This procedure is based on Article 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. http://www. baltic-course. com/eng/baltic_states/? doc=33306 http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do? eference=IP/10/ 1422&format=HTML&aged=0&language=FR&guiLanguage=fr http://ec. europa. eu/eu_law/infringements/infringements_en. htm http://ec. europa. eu/eu_law/infringements/infringements_decisions_en. htm http://ec. europa. eu/eu_law/eula w/decisions/dec_20101124. htm#ie http://www. ivoryresearch. com/sample14. php http://justin-santiago. blogspot. com/2009/05/article-226. html The effectiveness of an Art 226 action is diminished by the length of time the process takes and the lack of a serious penalty.The only result of a finding by the ECJ under Art 226 is that the Member State is in breach is a declaration to that effect. The Member State can continue to avoid complying with Community law obligations. Although documents related to the infringement proceedings is available a major source of frustration is difficulty in obtaining access to documents related to infringement proceedings. The Commission does not have enough resources to bring enforcement proceedings against member states under Article 226.By introducing the concept of direct effect of EC law as well as indirect effect or in action for damages on the basis of the state liability doctrine, the ECJ enabled individuals and companies throughout the EU to be come enforcers of Community law in the Member States without the need for Commission involvement. http://justin-santiago. blogspot. com/2009/05/article-226. html http://eur-lex. europa. eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ. do? uri=CELEX:62003J0459:EN:NOT Articles 258 TFEU (ex Article 226 EC) and 260 TFEU (ex Article 227 EC) provide the appropriate remedies in cases where member States fail to fulfil

How to Study for a Philosophy Exam

How to Study for a Philosophy Exam Perhaps youve heard this story: Thirty students are waiting to write a final exam for a philosophy course on the Theory of Knowledge. The professor enters the room, hands out blue books, picks up  a chair, places it on top of a table, and says, You are to write just one essay on this exam. Prove to me that this chair exists. You have two hours. A minute later one student gets up, turns in her answer book and leaves. The rest of the class slave away for two hours, explaining foundationalism, pragmatism, materialism, idealism, and every other ism they think is relevant.  But when the exams are returned, only one essay receives an A- the one turned in early.  The classmates of the student who got the A naturally demand to see her essay.  She shows it them. It consists of two words: What chair? If you have a philosophy final coming up, and youre feeling witty, you could try a strategy like that. But we wouldnt recommend it. Theres a 99.9% probability that in the real world, the two-word essay would have received a big fat F. In the real world, the most important thing to remember is to study for the exam in an active rather than passive way. What does that mean? Passive studying is where you look over your class notes, notes taken from books, old essays. Research has shown that this is not very effective. This may be especially true in philosophy because the abstractness of the material can often make recall difficult. So how can you make your studying active?  Here are four ways. Write Practice Essays, Preferably Timed This is probably the single most valuable exercise you can do. Writing under exam conditions- time limits and no notesforces you to organize what you know, strengthens your ability to recall details (definitions, arguments, objections, etc.), and often prompts original thoughts of your own that you might end up including if you write on the same topic in the exam. Most teachers should  be able and willing to give you sample questions that you can use for this purpose. Read, Keeping Practice Essays in Mind Before writing a practice essay, youll naturally need to prepare by studying the relevant material. But doing this sort of focused, purposeful studying is much better than just scanning many pages of notes and texts and hoping that some of it sticks. Think up Your Own Examples to Illustrate Abstract Points For instance, if youre writing about how utilitarians might be willing to sacrifice individual rights in order to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number, you might think about a group of peeping toms who are all spying on someone in the shower. Its much easier to remember concrete examples than abstract principles; but once you do, youll probably find it easy to  recall the theoretical point the examples are making. Whoever is reading the essay may also give you credit if you use original illustrative examples: it shows you really understand what you are talking about and not just mindlessly repeating what someone else has said. Practice Making Outlines After youve written a practice essay and you have the material fully in mind, draft an outline for the essay youve just written, perhaps with some improvements. Again, this will help to organize your thinking and should help improve your ability to recall the material during the exam. Bottom Line The  mechanical basics of preparing for any  final are pretty much the same for all subjects: get a  good nights sleep; eat a good breakfast (or lunch) so your brain is fueled; make sure you have a spare pen. Some people also think it helps to sleep with the textbook under your pillow. Experts are skeptical about this strategy but, to date, its ineffectiveness has  never been conclusively proved.

Free Essays on Keenedys Life

John F. Kennedy Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. When he was a student at Harvard College and having a difficult time fitting in as an Irish Catholic, he swore to himself he would make a million dollars by the age of thirty-five. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite bad injuries, led the survivors through dangerous waters to safety. Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. Soon after being elected senator, John F. Kennedy, at thirty-six years of age, married twenty-four year-old Jacqueline Bouvier, a writer with the Washington Times-Herald. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recovering from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. John F. Kennedy was becoming a popular politician. In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for Vice President, and four years later was a first-ballot nominee for President. Millions watched his television debates with the Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon. He won by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President. Before his inauguration, his second child, John Jr., was born. His Inaugural Address offered the memorable saying: "Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country." President Kennedy, together with his wife and two children, brought a new, youthful spirit to the White House. The Kennedy's believed that the White House should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement. As President, he set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again. His economic programs launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since World War II; before his death, he laid plans f... Free Essays on Keenedys Life Free Essays on Keenedys Life John F. Kennedy Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. When he was a student at Harvard College and having a difficult time fitting in as an Irish Catholic, he swore to himself he would make a million dollars by the age of thirty-five. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite bad injuries, led the survivors through dangerous waters to safety. Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. Soon after being elected senator, John F. Kennedy, at thirty-six years of age, married twenty-four year-old Jacqueline Bouvier, a writer with the Washington Times-Herald. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recovering from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. John F. Kennedy was becoming a popular politician. In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for Vice President, and four years later was a first-ballot nominee for President. Millions watched his television debates with the Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon. He won by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President. Before his inauguration, his second child, John Jr., was born. His Inaugural Address offered the memorable saying: "Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country." President Kennedy, together with his wife and two children, brought a new, youthful spirit to the White House. The Kennedy's believed that the White House should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement. As President, he set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again. His economic programs launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since World War II; before his death, he laid plans f...

How to Find a Great Medical Assistant Certification Program

How to Find a Great Medical Assistant Certification Program Are you friendly, informative, and courteous? Can you be patient-oriented even in a high-stress atmosphere? Are you able to be on your feet, performing administrative tasks, taking vitals, completing medical histories and undertaking other clinical work? Then medical assisting might be a great career to consider. What do you need to know before picking out the right medical assistant program for you?  Jack Billings over at MyCareertopia has some advice for aspiring medical assistants on great questions to ask when selecting a program of study.Is financial aid available?This is a terrific question for anyone going to (or back to) school to ask. With the growth the field is currently experiencing, you should be seriously skeptical about any program that doesn’t offer you any kind of financial assistance to take their classes. Give the school a call if you can’t find easy access to it on the website.How long is the program?Depending on your level of flexibility, time and $-wise, the time it takes to complete a program may vary. Usually they’ll take a year, or closer to two years if it’s an associate degree program, as well.What does the curriculum contain?While every program may title its courses slightly differently, you’re looking for hands-on training, classroom and lecture-based classes, and disciplines such as pharmacology, human anatomy, physiology, medical law and ethics, medical terminology, cording and billing practices, lab techniques, diagnostics, and computer application training. Any school that promises to prepare you without offering these basics isn’t doing serious business.Is there a practicum or clinical externship?A medical assistant program worth your time will offer you a chance to gain on the job experience. You’ll have an opportunity to spend 3-6 weeks in a hands-on workplace, bringing your training into the real world and helping you make important professional relationships.Is there a Care er Services department?You’ll want to know going in that after you graduate, there will be support for your growing  career. Find out what kind of services the office provides, how big the department is, and if you can talk with a staff member as an incoming student.

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances Essay

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances - Essay Example This special document, regarded supreme, provides the means by which each of the three branches can resist the incursions of the others. Drawing from a rich background of theories from scholars regarding a systematic order of governance, the framers of the US constitution drew up this basic charter conferring sufficient institutional powers to govern. While aware of the power of the masses, the charter had in it inbuilt safeguards.1 As such, the document withheld the principle of abridging the liberties of the citizenry.  Nevertheless, no one institution was to wield absolute power. Indeed as said by Madison, â€Å"the truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted†¦Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe, there are more abridgement of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power by violent and sudden usurpation†¦The accumulation of all powers; legislative, executive and judicial in the same hands, whether of one, few or many †¦..may just be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.†2 Referring to the works of Montesquieu, Madison alongside many other statesmen convincingly argued for the concept of separation of powers embedded with the safeguards of checks and balances within the three branches of government. The doctrine of separation of powers ingrained in the Constitution provides for the separation of government into three distinct branches; the legislative, executive, and the judicial branches. Each branch has unique responsibilities with functional separate powers. Despite the separation and functional autonomy, each branch was granted the capability to place limits on the powers exercised by the other two branches. In effect, no single agency was granted the power to exercise complete authority, thereby creating a system of interdependency. For purposes of clarity, separation of powers on one hand means that no one branch had the capacity to control the other two arms of government.

Interview for Gloria Aparicio Blackwell Research Paper

Interview for Gloria Aparicio Blackwell - Research Paper Example 1. Have you already witnessed or seen examples of vandalism in the University of Maryland campus? If yes, please describe what it is/they are and when and where you saw it/them. Some examples are glass breakage, graffiti, and general property destruction. 2. What is the worst kind of vandalism that you have witnessed or seen in campus and why do you think it is the worst kind? How did this vandalism make you feel? 3. How much do you think is vandalism costing the University every year? 4. What do you think are the offender-centered (i.e. personal motivations) causes of vandalism? Some examples are anger, boredom, revenge, frustration, ideological goals, and stealing property. 5. Please think of an example of vandalism in campus and consider its environmental characteristics. What do you think are the environmental factors that contribute to vandalism in school (i.e. poor lighting, covered areas with few passers-by et al., not enough people, other factors)? 6. What have the University and campus police done to prevent vandalism in campus that you are aware of? Are these actions effective? Why? Why not? 7. Does the Office of Community Engagement have any related activities that tackle or prevent campus vandalism? What are they? Do you think that these activities work in preventing vandalism? Why/Why not? 8. What do you think should the University and campus police focus on when addressing vandalism?

The Bread Givers,the Smolinsky house is patriarchal in nature Essay

The Bread Givers,the Smolinsky house is patriarchal in nature - Essay Example Instances of such patriotism have been displayed throughout the story where the writer says,’ Traditional father searches for God through the Talmud and religious study’ (Yezeirska, 1925, xvi) specifying that Moses’ reading was confined only to reading Jewish sacred texts. Another instance where’ mother believed she might earn a place in the heaven by serving her husband well’ (Yezeirska, xvi) showed that the family was firm in traditional believes. Sara’s father’s attachment to Jewish culture has been depicted here as patriarchal characteristics. Surrounded by the lives of his family, the patriarchal nature of the father has a powerful role to play in this novel. It gives a winning note to his values when his daughter’s lives are destroyed due to his religious values and this rigidity has also been noted where Moses, even in dying state refuses to live with Sara and Hugo. The story was written somewhere between 1920 and the society and culture of that phase has an impact on the story. Even before that in the 19th century during the colonial period in America we find the prevalence of the class system. The upper class denoted the aristocrat class who were owners of large plantations. During the 19th century slavery was also present in the society and the plantation owners usually owned large number of slaves and worked hard to achieve higher standards of living. Post colonization, the immigration of Jews to the New York City has been talked about in the story. More than a merge, there was a clash of the two cultures. M ore specifically a struggle between the old and the new world was clearly noticed. Jews of that period were very particular about their traditions and appeared to be conservative. The Jewish people restricted from interacting with people of different cultural background. This is depicted in the story. Where Sara Smolinsky is opening up to accept the new concept of self independence imposed in American culture, Moses remains about

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Global Warming - Research Paper Example Solar radiation enter the blanket due to shortwave nature but unable to escape trough the blanket due to long water nature after reflecting through the surface of earth. However, as the concentration of the green house gases in the atmosphere increased due to the immense usage of fossil fuel resources, the part of the solar radiation that makes a safe escape to the space is unable to escape to the space. Thus, the temperature of the planet is increasing continuously. The phenomenon is often termed as global warming. It is estimated that estimated that between 1906 and 2005, the average temperature of the earth’s surface rose by about 0.74 °C (Hoyt & Schatten, 1993). Global warming was a term that was first used in 1975 by an American scientist â€Å"Wallace Smith Broecker† who discovered the climate of the earth is warming consistently due to various human caused problems. He published a paper in a magazine that he named â€Å"Are we on the brink of a pronounced global warming?† where he first coined the term. In 1979, the term is used to depict the physical phenomenon that is heating up the planet. The article was published by National academy of Science and titles it as, â€Å"The Charney Report† (Yukozimo, 2014). Ozone Layer is a region of dense gases is the stratosphere of the earth that is capable of blocking most of the harmful solar Ultra violet radiations. Ozone layer has higher concentration of ozone as compared to the earth’s surface. More than 90% of ozone is present in the stratosphere of earth. Other atmospheric gases are also there in the earth’s stratosphere. Due to the increasing concentration of the refrigerants, solvents and propellants in the atmosphere, the ozone layer is under depletion with the rate of 4% per decade. Man made chemicals like halocarbons, CFCs, HCFCs, freons,  halons are influencing the ozone depletion. The depletion of the ozone layer is promoting the global

The Network Society - How Has It Changed in Humans' Work And Interacti Essay - 1

The Network Society - How Has It Changed in Humans' Work And Interaction - Essay Example Communication networks are inseparable from network society (Yang & Bergrud, 2008). Without digital communication, there is no real basis for a network society. We are living in the 21st century, without digital transfer of knowledge, information, news, finances, messages, there will be huge incoordination between the pace of electronic media and the fabric of society. Manuel Castells even goes to the length of saying that without accounting for the tools (electronic facilities like the internet) there is no possibility of comprehending or depicting the society (Yang & Bergrud, 2008). Network society is a blessing at one hand but it also creates some complications. The network can become very complex as digital information is readily available (billions of dollars can be transferred from one bank account to another by pressing ENTER of the computer keyboard). For this to work for the administration and public, all departments and sections of the society need to work in cooperation.

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Global Warming - Research Paper Example Solar radiation enter the blanket due to shortwave nature but unable to escape trough the blanket due to long water nature after reflecting through the surface of earth. However, as the concentration of the green house gases in the atmosphere increased due to the immense usage of fossil fuel resources, the part of the solar radiation that makes a safe escape to the space is unable to escape to the space. Thus, the temperature of the planet is increasing continuously. The phenomenon is often termed as global warming. It is estimated that estimated that between 1906 and 2005, the average temperature of the earth’s surface rose by about 0.74 °C (Hoyt & Schatten, 1993). Global warming was a term that was first used in 1975 by an American scientist â€Å"Wallace Smith Broecker† who discovered the climate of the earth is warming consistently due to various human caused problems. He published a paper in a magazine that he named â€Å"Are we on the brink of a pronounced global warming?† where he first coined the term. In 1979, the term is used to depict the physical phenomenon that is heating up the planet. The article was published by National academy of Science and titles it as, â€Å"The Charney Report† (Yukozimo, 2014). Ozone Layer is a region of dense gases is the stratosphere of the earth that is capable of blocking most of the harmful solar Ultra violet radiations. Ozone layer has higher concentration of ozone as compared to the earth’s surface. More than 90% of ozone is present in the stratosphere of earth. Other atmospheric gases are also there in the earth’s stratosphere. Due to the increasing concentration of the refrigerants, solvents and propellants in the atmosphere, the ozone layer is under depletion with the rate of 4% per decade. Man made chemicals like halocarbons, CFCs, HCFCs, freons,  halons are influencing the ozone depletion. The depletion of the ozone layer is promoting the global

Carriage of goods by sea under Charter Party Case Study

Carriage of goods by sea under Charter Party - Case Study Example The ship owner is also liable for the ship's under capacity and lower-speed than declared to TD. On the other hand the charterer TD is liable to the shippers for the damage caused by fire to the cargo of Smart Clothing which he can claim from the Ship Owner. This could be possibly circumvented by having the shippers' insurance claim settled and ultimately transfer the liability to the Ship owner. The sub-charterer BV similarly can have the insurance claim of V for damage to cargo while loading and ultimately have the liability transferred to ship owner through TD the main charterer. And the parties who want to initiate claim against the owner, may do so by invoking arbitration as envisaged by the Charter party agreement in clause 21. This case relates to rights and liabilities of parties under the contract of charter party for carriage of goods by sea. The six parties involved are 1)Charterer (Timely Delivery hereafter 'TD', 2)Owner of ship 'The Bulky Whirlwind' (Owners Co) hereafter 'O', 3)Cargo Co, hereafter 'C', 4) Voyage SARL, hereafter 'BV' 5)Vignoble SARl, hereafter 'V', and 6) Smart Clothing Co, hereafter 'SC'. As against the ship's declared carrying capacity of 12,000 TEU and speed capability of 23 knots, 2000 TEU are occupied by articles of ship's own essential use and speed is short of 3-7 knots. Ship's master refuses to take the shorter and direct route and also to pick up cargo located in the shorter route ordered by TD.for safety reasons. The crew member's careless smoking damages a cargo valued $ 300 000 by fire for which there was no safety trained staff for fire fighting. Due to arrest of the ship, 10 days are lost by stay at the port of Southampton. It is noted Box No 35 in form of Charter party is left blank. The relevant box relates to applicable Law and Arbitration. The form provides that if the box is not filled in, sub clause (a) of condition no 21 of Charter parry form shall apply. The relevant condition is reproduced below.1 Charter party is contract between the owner of a ship and a hirer of the ship for using it to transport usually cargo. Even though the hirer is using the ship, the ship-owner exercises control over it for the navigation and management while the carrying capacity is in the discretion of the hirer known as charterer. Four types of chartering in vogue are voyage charter, time charter, bareboat charter and lump-sum contract. 2 "A time charter is another common form of agreement, with the owner of the ship operating his ship as instructed by the charterer between certain agreed dates for an agreed daily or monthly rate. During this period, it will be the charterer who will pay for the running costs of the ship such as the fuel and insurance. An analogy would be a contract to hire a car".3 A cursory glance at the conditions set out in the Charter party form reveals Master failure to carry out Chatterer's instruction to take Suez route amounts to violation of condition no 7 ( c )4 of the Charter Party. And damage due to Owner's servant's smoking inside attracts condition no 18(iii) (3)5 The Charterer is also entitled to 10 days off-hire for the arrest of the vessel due to C's claim for O's default in a previous charter attracting Hague-Visby rules and far having lost time (to be estimated) due to longer route as per condition

Position of the Music Industry Prior to Introduction of Internet Essay Example for Free

Position of the Music Industry Prior to Introduction of Internet Essay In the music industry prior to the introduction of internet marketing there were different roles being played by different actors of the market. The usual way a product is prepared for market is to contract the artists. The artists who were the content providers record materials which are either their own or provided to them by other writers. This is clearly depicted in the figure below. Traditional Value Chain in the Music Industry Source: John B. Meisel and Timothy S. Sullivan The recordings will be done on the basis of the contracts entered into with the recording companies. Hence the power and control over the supply of the product remained with the record company. The recording company thus would be regarded as the holder of the major item of value in the supply chain being the exclusive rights over the recorded artists’ content. (Hardaker and Graham, 2001) Most of the part of the distribution is in the hands of the record companies and they also retain the rights to select the suppliers. The distribution and supplier selection is based on the record companies’ perception about the quality of the recording and the music, past reputation of the suppliers and the contract price for the recording. In return for the content in the form of recording, the artist is compensated by the provision of promotions for the recording and its merchandising in connection with the sales there of and the distribution of the content as a saleable commodity – CD for example. It was usual in the traditional music industry that the major record companies have their own distribution channels and businesses. Hence it would become necessary for a retailer to source his music products from different sources. Sometimes the retailer may have to place orders with major record companies and up to 20 other firms from the independent sector. The new releases of music albums or other sales of the record companies are usually handled by the wholesalers. If the retailer would like to follow the wholesaler route then he might have to order through only one wholesaler. The main wholesalers also offer another service called ‘rack jobbing’ which is a different method of supply being adopted by them. The function of a rack jobber includes the supply of complete package that contains records and other promotional and display materials. It is also the duty of the wholesaler to keep a regular stock usually on a sale or exchange basis. Just as the advancement in the telecommunication had its effect on all the other sectors from airline reservations to banking and related financial services the music recording industry has also been severely impacted both positively and negatively observes Eric de Fontenay. In fact the impact of internet on the music industry is much more profound than on any other industries. Despite the fact that the entertainment related products and services have taken their own time to develop and take advantage of the improvements in digital technology over the decades, during the intervening period the overall structure of the industry has remained dormant. The reasons for the industry to remain without major changes can be traced to the following reasons: 1. The cost of creation of content has always remained higher and this prohibited any new entrants in to the industry. 2. The structure of content ownership and rights of licensing system remained unaltered thereby keeping the structure of the industry in tact. 3. There has been a continuous necessity for the presence of a distribution network almost everywhere in the world irrespective of the geographical barriers. This has restricted the existing firms to make any changes in the structure. There was no possibility of new firms entering the market in view of the high capital intensive nature. 4. Similarly there had always been a constant scarcity for the distribution networks which also prevented any new forms of distribution or change in the structure of the distribution networks. (Eric de Fontenay) The internet has affected the music industry in so many ways. It has made the industry incur additional costs in completely restructuring itself. Further the internet has reduced the entry barriers. This was possible by a considerable increase in the number of downstream outlets having varied nature. At the same time the internet has provided the actors in the upstream end to enjoy greater control over the aspects of content ownership, production and distribution. This has created a distinct fear in the record labels that they cannot eliminate the possibility of getting bypassed by both the markets in the downstream and upstream. This impact has created the following reaction on the part of the traditional industry actors. They tried to impose the existing rules and procedures to the new medium so that they could exercise the same leverage and control over the market. The process by which they attempted to do it involves a twin aspects strategic approach. At one end they used legal channels to restrict the availability and use of the new technology in the Industry. On the other end they adopted new technologies to tackle the potential legal threats that would affect the control derived by them from the traditional systems. This strategy backfired and left them high and dry in the market while new information technology players like AOL, Microsoft, E Music and MP3 took advantage of the stalemate. They reacted aggressively by building their infrastructure and systems for the online marketing and distribution of music. They also involved themselves in the retailing of music over internet. The distribution of revenues in the music industry involves the portion of the performer. As per the contract terms the performer is to be paid a portion of the revenue each time there is a sale of the record. Before the money is paid to the performer the revenue is to be apportioned towards the expenses incurred by the company for marketing and distribution. This gives an opportunity for the artists to earn considerable amounts from the sale of products. For gaining maximum revenue the artists should control the publishing rights to their songs or they have the capacity to negotiate contracts with terms that are favourable to the artists. In the case of revenue distribution Internet has its impact on the industry in the following respects.

Disaster Analysis: Challenger Disaster

Disaster Analysis: Challenger Disaster It was the day in the history of America wherein the people had a great expectation of a mission that would take a civilian for the first time into space. After twenty four successful launches by NASA, the Challenger space shuttle was a test of their experience as an organisation. On January 28th 1986, the shuttle exploded shortly after liftoff, claiming the lives of all crew members onboard .The explosion could not be blamed just because of the technical faults but also raised numerous other issues such as organisational and ethical behaviour. It also questioned the leadership skills exhibited by the teams involved during the operation. This report discusses the organisational factors that contributed to the accident and reflects on the aftermath of the disaster explaining about space missions and the organisations associated with it. It also reflects on the role of management in order to manage a complex engineering operation. NASA OPERATION REASONING ITS FAILURE There were many organizational factors which contributed to the accident. To start with, NASA was always a narcissistic kind of organization, which believed in the number one spot. Since it landed the first man on the moon, prior to Russia, its technological ethos took backseat. It was more of an organization, which concentrated on the public display image rather than the true technology. The U.S. government declared to stop supporting the space shuttle programmes and asked NASA to raise their own funds for any further space programme. Also, for any complex engineering project, to be a success, the feedback and recommendations of the engineers and technical staff is considered, as the most mandatory and important requirement. In Challengers case, it was the most neglected aspect and thus leads to a disaster. There were some strong forces of reason and emotions which influenced the decision to proceed with the launch. The highly visible public display of Americas success as a multicultural society was also one of the reason they included many minorities in the group. NASA just wanted to go ahead with the launch as there was one lady school teacher, Christa McAuliffe in the team, which made this space launch a special centre of attraction for the citizens of the U.S. The US president was due with his assembly speech, which also somewhat forced NASA to go ahead with the launch. There was huge media pressure as the launch had been cancelled several times before. There was also the lack of leadership in the organization as there was really no one with the courage to make the right decisions, as it is one of the foremost requirements of a charismatic leadership. The relationship between Morton Thiokol and NASA is one of the strong reasons for the failure of mission. Both organizations managers were over complacent as they looked for evidence to support mission success rather than evidence indicating possible mission failure. The Thiokol management wanted to make sure it received future contracts from NASA. This is clearly evident from the communication, which took place between the two organisations during the teleconferencing. Basically, both the parties were looking and were guided by their own selfish interests. SHUTTLE DISASTER WHO IS TO BE BLAMED? One single entity cannot be held accountable for the challenger disaster. Responsibility falls on the managers at NASA and Thiokol. These are the people who made the decision to launch challenger and where the ones with the authority and power. They did not listen to or take any real notice of the engineers at Thiokol who are the experts in the area and have the knowledge base regarding the rocket boosters. There was a lack of communication and a sense of desperation from the managers to make sure the shuttle launched as they did not want any further delay. The role that the culture at NASA played in this disaster was very important and indeed can be directly attributed to the disaster. Within NASA there had developed a climate where communication was very closed. The culture did not encourage a free flowing exchange of information between departments and people of different levels; there was a concerted effort to discourage creative thinking. This mind set was also transfeered to Thiokol which had a detrimental effect. The mission was the first of its kind to have a non-astronaut aboard, this was done so that the space program would be more widely acknowledged by the public it would capture peoples imaginations again with the possibility that a regular person could go up into space. Although there was a non-astronaut on board the shuttle and a mix of ethnic backgrounds and genders this can in no way have had any bearing on the disaster as none of these people where responsible for giving the mission the go ahead that was purely down to management and once the shuttle was launched those on board would not have been able to do anything differently. The challenger disaster was certainly avoidable, the warning signs were there but the people in charge did not heed them. The engineers knew there was a problem with the O rings and many attempts were made to communicate this but management did not want to listen to the engineers as it was something they did not want to hear as they clearly put financial gains ahead of the safety of the mission and its crew. NASA also could have stopped the launch but because they had already delayed the launch twice management were under pressure to not delay any further. The pressure to meet its targets led NASA to not follow the set down rules it had in place to stop something like this happening. All the pressures put on both NASA and Thiokol led to them taking risks which did not pay off. If the pressure to launch in conjunction with communication breakdowns had not occurred or had been managed better this disaster would not have happened. FACTORS INFLUENCING DISASTER Communication Communication was considered to be an issue since the engineers were not able to convince the management team at NASA to stop the launch of the space shuttle. It was very evident from the initial time that the management at Marshal Space centre contained already known problems and they were trying to resolve them internally instead of communicating them further. During the initial stages of the challenger project, the management of NASA had come up with certain guidelines and rules called the BURDEN OF PROOF wherein the technical team had to come up with exact proof to explain the consequences if there was a failure from their side. Robert Lund, an engineer and manager who played an important role during the challenger launch explained we had to prove to them that we werent ready, and so we got ourselves into the thought process that we are trying to find some way to prove to them it wouldnt work and we were unable to do that . We couldnt prove absolutely that the motor could not work (US Commission 1986) In any organisation communication decisions should not be set as rules and need to be flexible. Leadership Taking leadership into account, according to Max Webers theory of bureaucracy explained the structure of an organisation. NASAs organisation exhibited a rigid organisational structure wherein all the rules and regulations must be strictly adhered to and everyone should perform the role which they were assigned to. In this rigid type of organisation, the leadership exhibited by the NASA was a narcissistic approach. Narcissistic leadership occurs when leaders actions are principally motivated by their own egomaniacal needs and beliefs, superseding the needs and interests of the constituents and institutions they lead (Seth A.R. Todd L.P., 2006) The leader becomes more concerned with public relations thereby concerning a lot about the organisations image and in the process it forgets about the other issues that were equally strong. Behaviour of people Behaviour of people within both organisations with respect to the risk management was unplanned and NASA management had to make a decision at the last moment even when everyone agreed that a catastrophic possibility existed and it was known that responsibilities of the people were clearly defined. Much of the evidence pertaining to the disaster was dismissed. Behaviour of the entire team could be interpreted as group think. The concept of group think was formulated by Janis, according to his theory; the member of the teams worked as cohesive groups and had utmost confidence in their project. During group think, the decision makers get an illusion that they are invulnerable and it makes people take extraordinary risks at crucial moments. (Janis, 1986) There was an illusion of unanimity among the group members. Regarding the judgement made, the individuals in the Thiokol team remained silent and none of them had openly agreed to the launch. The silence from Thiokol was also worsened since it was a teleconference meeting wherein the body language was not noticed even if they had said no. Hence silence meant an agreement which explains the fact that the team were unable to voice their views. The influence of the media The influence of the media played in major role in decisions that were made by NASA. NASA was under tremendous pressure to achieve flight rates and was so pervasive that it was undoubtedly affecting the attitude towards safety. Scheduling pressures were playing a major role in making NASA biased to launch the shuttle and overseeing the risks which were attached to it, it was mainly due to the medias 24/7 coverage on NASA which was putting them under pressure to launch the shuttle on time because they did not want further negative coverage which could harm their public image. SPACE SHUTTLE AFTERMATH OF THE DISASTER All space exploration has a mission with some specific technical objectives. All missions are time bound, it takes years to plan and implement them. Highly motivated people are needed in the workforce. Astronauts are chosen for the specific missions and are trained for the specialised roles. The Rogers commission provided nine recommendations to NASA after the challenger disaster to improve the safety of its shuttles. NASA not only considered these recommendations but also redesigned their space shuttles with new technical modifications including solid rocket boosters which were the primary cause of the disaster. The role of engineering in complex projects could be analysed by studying the Burns and Stalker theory about mechanistic and organic structures. They studied two different organizations- textile and electronics (Gabriel, 2007). The textile company was having more of a hierarchical structure as discussed by Marx Weber, as they were involved in the routine and bureaucratic tasks whereas the electronic company was more concentrated on the engineering work outs and thus were having more of a horizontal structure which demands more of verbal communications and less paper work. The concentration is more on the Innovation and inter-departmental communications. Above all, the employees have more discretion and liberty to suggest changes and chance to come out with productive innovations (Gabriel, 2007). NASA, being an organization, dealing complex engineering projects, should have provided their engineers with much discretion, rather than applying the unsuitable bureaucratic approach. While handling any complex engineering projects, it is thus advisable, to provide more autonomy of power to its ground level staffs. Power and politics in the organizations could be understood by studying the two well known dysfunctions of bureaucracy and they are as follows- Rigidity- It means that bureaucracy is slow to take advantage of opportunities and avoid threats. They are averse to innovation and experimentation. They generally avoid, which is new. This aspect of bureaucracy is not good for the managers who work in the changing environment. NASAs failure as an organization, by not accepting the new engineering recommendations from its engineers and taking the matter lightly, resulted to the disaster. Departmentalization- As per Webers theory, in bureaucracy, there is a strong hierarchical structure, which gets followed. So, the communication is from top to bottom level and never goes across horizontal level and this leads to setting up of different sub goals by different departments. These sub goals are not in good faith of organization as a whole and also leads to clashes and rivalry among departments. MANAGING COMPLEX OPERATIONS It is always very challenging to manage a complex engineering operation in any organisation. Generally complex organisation creates lot of problem and issues in management, so that management should consider the importance of culture, communication and leadership to manage this type of operation. According to our view following are the factors which should be considered while managing a complex engineering operation. Communication framework: Communication plays another key role in managing complex engineering solutions. A framework called as Leadership communication framework is taken into consideration wherein it starts with core communication skills represented in the centre of framework. It eventually expands itself from managerial communication skills which begin with emotional intelligence and cultural literacy. It finally leads to the concept of corporate communication skills where it becomes more complex and the organisation tends to become responsible to all internal and external stakeholders. The leaders who involve themselves within this type of communication model become the companys face and have numerous responsibilities. Therefore in order to effectively get the advantages of this model an improvement plan has to be initiated with self-assessment of the process. SOURCE: Deborah J Barret, 2006 Culture: Culture forms the function, as the linking mechanism by which network of understanding develops among the employees [Trice, 1988]. Culture works as the software of the mind and use of metaphor in the organisation. As especially strong culture became very useful to manage the project because people in strong culture know which things are right to do. In complex engineering situation feedback is often ambiguous and interpretation is the main key. In any organisation culture play a main role in how ambiguity is discussed and resolved in decision making (schien, 1992). Mainly in complex engineering time becomes a very important decision factor so that highly time urgent culture is very important in organisation. Management should consider the importance of culture in any operation. Leadership styles: Leadership style adopted by the management is very crucial in managing complex engineering operation. As Kurt Lewin suggested, there are three major styles of leaderships Authoritarian or autocratic Participative or democratic Delegative or Free Reign In the case of any complex engineering operations, Participative leadership should be the first choice among the management wherein the leaders include one or more of their employees in the decision making process. By doing so, the leaders eventually gain the respect of their employees thus leading to a mutual benefit among them (Robert N, L Christopher F, A, .2010). Leadership is activity of mobilizing people to understand adaptive challenges which cannot be resolved by expert knowledge and daily management. To motivate the people who are working under you is very important in leadership. Motivation plays vital role to boost the confidence of the employee to do challenging task and also gave energy to perform their task better. As complex problems contain multiple system which includes technical analysis, to handle this type of project requires capacity of individual to skilful intervene in complex system. So that adopting proper Leadership approach is very important in organisation to handle any project. CONCLUSION Hence we conclude that there was strong need for leadership in NASA that would have been capable of organisational change. Its culture has always reflected self interested decisions.   NASA would have to flatten its organisational hierarchy; it should be going for rather than having a bureaucratic organisation. There should be a mechanism in place where engineers should be able to bypass the bureaucracy and hierarchy, especially in the pre launch process. There words and ideas should also be respected and given some credence by the upper management.    NASA would have collaborate rather than contracting , its shuttle development and maintenance programs are outsourced to contractors , but it necessary for NASA to form a production and delivery oriented relationships with their subsystem contractors for a better future  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   . There should be a collaborative model of interaction.    NASA is still suffering from technical incompetences and narcissistic management, it has to make an overhaul change in its organisation for its best interests.   It is essential for NASA to be able to use its resources as efficiently as possible to effectively develop, explore and promote space. References: Gabriel,Y., 2007. Leadership and Organizations. University of London press publication Guthrie,R.,2005.The Columbia Disaster: Culture, Communication and change, Journal of cases on Information technology, [Online], 7(3) Available at http://www.infosci-journals.com [Accessed 20 Jan 2010] Moorhead,G.,1991.Group think Fiascoes Continues: Space Shuttle Challenger,available at http://ils.unc.edu/~bwilder/inls500/challengerarticle.pdf Janis,I.L.,1986.Group think,(2nd edition). Boston: Houghton. Mifflin Publication Seth A.R. Todd L.P.,2006. Narcissistic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly,Volume 17, Issue 6,[Online], Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com [Accessed 18 Jan 2010] Bella, D.A., 1987. Organizational Systems and the Burden of Proof. Thomson Publishing Challenger Disaster A NASA Tragedy.[Online]. available at http://space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger.htm [accessed 23 Jan 2010] Deborah, B.,2006.Leadership Communication. NewYork:Tata Mc Graw Hill Publication Deborah,B.,2006.Strong communication skills a must for todays leaders.[online]Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com [accessed 18 jan 2010] Robert.N,L Christopher F.A.,2010.Leadership Theory,Application Skill Development.4th edition. Strategic Leadership and Decision Making.[Online] available at http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch16.html [accessed 15 jan 2010] William H.S, Moshe F.,2005.Organization at the limit lessons from the Columbia Disaster, Blackwell Publishing Sharon D.P.,2005.Leadership can be taught : a bold approach for a complex world. Harvard business school publishing

The Use of Symbolism in Goldings Lord of the Flies Essay -- Lord of t

The Use of Symbolism in Golding's Lord of the Flies    "His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit like a pig after it has been killed" (217). This is what can happen to someone when all signs of civilization, order and power disappear and have no more meaning to members of a group or society. In the writing of William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954), the symbol of power and civilization is the conch. Once that is lost, all bets are off. When the novel begins, two boys are talking about what has happened and why they are on this island. While walking on the beach, the main character Ralph then proceeds to find a shell which the two boys call the conch. Blowing on this shell Ralph calls a meeting where the boys lay out rules and decide they need a signal fire to be rescued from this island on which there are no adults and no females. During the meeting Jack, a choir boy, decides to organize a group of hunters to hunt for food. As the story progresses, Ralph finds himself and Jack to be enemi es. Then the "lord of the flies" begins to emerge within the group, many of whom begin to take on savage behavior, and end up killing Simon. Jack then decides to go and start his own tribe; he and a lot of the others do so. Even as the conflict increases between the two rivals, there is ongoing respect for the conch. The same savages later kill the character Piggy who was not doing anything to them except trying to get his glasses back that were stolen to make the fire. Then they try to kill Ralph; however, in the end all are rescued before they are ever able to reach Ralph. Throughout the story, civilization is being more and more withdrawn from the boys' consciousness, and yet the conch has th... ...the end the conch is destroyed and all hope seems to be lost for the one called Ralph. The conch is all the power he has, but it is killed along with Piggy. Fortunately for Ralph, the boys don't get to kill anymore, for another symbol of civilization, an adult, arrives to replace the power of the conch on their island. The adult asks what is going on and if there are any dead. The conch, which had the power to unify and civilize this abandoned society for a short while, proved to be ineffective and powerless. Just as it was an empty, lifeless shell, which contained no life, it could not bring life and order to the world of these lost boys. It took a living symbol, another human, to rescue and restore sanity to those who survived this island experience.    Work Cited Golding, William. The Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1962

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley :: Papers

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Priestley set the play before the First World War because . . . . . . . .  · Wanted to show what life was like with a rigid class system, For example Gerald and Eva would not marry.  · Wanted to show what life was like with no unemployment benefit.  · In 1945 people had mixed much more to help each other during the war.  · There were plans for state support for health and unemployment.  · Priestley wants people to decide which kind of life is better for people 1912 or 1945. Priestley makes sure the audience knows things the characters don't. How does this affect our understanding of the characters? Priestley makes sure the audience knows things the characters do not. This allows us to form an opinion of Mr Birling. For example . . . . . . . .  · Mr Birling says the Titanic will not sink.  · Mr Birling says there will not be a war.  · Mr Birling seems to think he can see into the future.  · This makes Mr Birling seem arrogant and stupid.  · Mr Birling thinks he's very important, but we can see faults in him. Why did he use a family like the Birlings? Priestley used a family like the Birlings because . . . . . . .  · They are rich and self satisfied.  · They only care about money and themselves.  · They use their power to hurt other people, for example, Sheila got the girl sacked  · He wants us to see how unfair life is if people like the Birlings are in charge. Who, or what is the Inspector? The Inspector could be several things. He could be . . . . . . .  · Could be their conscience  · Could be their imagination  · Could be supernatural because he knows such a lot about them When does he appear? Why is this important? How does Priestley make sure we see him as unusual?

Unhealthy Lifestyle

CAUSES OF UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE An unhealthy lifestyle is one of the major contributor to health issue which is growing at an alarming rate issue in whole world as well. People influence their own health through their unhealthy lifestyles such as unhealthy diet,alcohol assumption and smoking and poor sleep hygiene. One of the critical causes is having an unhealthy diet. There is no doubt that the food that we eat significantly impact our health. The surge in the consumption of high fat foods can lead to compromised health and excessive weight.An unbalanced diet ensures the body can't gets the essential nutrients it needs to protects the body from certain diseases. In addition,alcohol consumption and smoking are the sources that lead to unhealthy lifestyle. Smoking is a harmful lifestyle as it seriously affect our health. In fact, Smoking may cause addict and hard to eliminate the habit . Too much intake of alcohol is not advisable. Drinking can be a slippery slope, as excessive drinkin g can cause problems in virtually every area of a person’s life.Futhermore,poor sleep hygiene is also major causes of unhealthy lifetyle which a large fraction of teenagers are involved in . Teenagers mostly spend their time staying in front of the computer all night long without sleeping. Slowly, they will mess up their time which is the opposite way and so even skip their breakfast . This situation clearly alert us that poor sleep hygiene will seriously affect our health . Unhealthy lifestyle of many today leads to poor health. Prevent is better than cure. As early as possible, we have to live a healthy lifestyle . (276 words)

Cell Phone Speech Essay

According to Merriam-Webster a cell phone by definition is a telephone with access to a cellular radio system so it can be used over a wide area, without a physical connection to a network. The cell phone has been very beneficial to humans, but at the same time, there are some negative aspects about the cell phone as well. Although the cell phone has come a very long way since when it first was invented it has also been proven to cause cancer in the brain, cause distractions in a person’s life but it can also bring people together and a cell phone could also save one’s life. Without the creation of the cell phone, society would be very different. In the beginning the phones only purpose was to talk to others. This was a great invention back then because they did not have to venture out for miles after miles simply to ask someone a question. The cell phone is a proven way of bringing people together. The advantage of calling someone up for homework help, to hangout, or s imply to talk is one of the most beneficial aspects of this creation. In the olden days, folks were always stuck pondering around with their families because they did not have a means of getting ahold of anyone to develop a social life. Although that is one great aspect of the phone, now that it has developed a lot more, it can also cause negative things in a person’s life too. There was a time when teens had to beg to get a phone but now having a cell phone is now a trend in society, kids as young as 8 are walking around with the latest iPhones. According to Pew Internet Research Project, an online research database, in 2004 a survey showed that 45% of teens had a cell phone. Since then mobile phone use has climbed steadily among teens to 63% in 2006 and 71% in 2008.Cell phones also play a role in how students abuse their devices, it has gotten in the way of their academics. Students are so attached to their phones that they do not know how to act when their phone is not with them. They depend so much on their devices that it is almost impossible for teens to go a day without them. The phones enable bad habits such as cheating on tests, compulsive use of social media and sometimes even taking part in illegal activities. However because the cell phone has developed so much throughout the years, it has also made life way easier. Depending on the device the phone can help you in daily tasks. Cell phones can be a learning tool for children as they can learn a new form of technology as well as explore the Internet if the phone has the  capability to do so. Most cell phones allow access to the Internet, which can help people obtain answers to questions very quickly and easily. This can help with studies as well as other simple daily questions like daily weather or finding directions to go someplace new. It also allows parents and children to stay in touch. If a child needs to stay after school and needs a ride, they are able to call their parents and let them know by simply using their cell phone. This is especially important because pay phones are become more and more rare. Cell phones can be important in emergency situations as well when a parent needs to quickly get in touch with their child or vice versa. A cell phone comes in handy very well if ever there may be an emergency. The most helpful thing a cell phone can do is having the ability to call for help if there is a car accident or someone really needs help. Cell phones have made it a long way over the past few years and are most likely going to keep having new inventions discovered for a cell phone to be able to do. Cell phones have a lot of negative and positive aspects about them and new negative and positive aspects are going to keep being discovered. Even though cell phones are able to affect someone’s life in the most amazing or horrible way, people are always going to be using them and they are most likely never going to go away, but if they did, this world would be such a different place to live in.

Why it is good to be good or why it is Goodness Constructive Essay

Why it is good to be good or why it is Goodness Constructive - Essay Example Evil is differentiated from good in this essay, because it creates injustice and comes from violating the virtues of the soul, according to Book II of The Republic. I agree with Plato that being good is good in itself, and it is also good because of its virtuous individual and social consequences, and these arguments support the claims that a just soul is good and a just city is also good. In order to understand what is good, it is important to examine the meaning of justice, because this essay shows that justice is good for humanity. One of the ways to establish what justice means is through defining what it is not. In Book I, the Sophist Thrasymachus argues: â€Å"justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger.† He says this to undermine the need for justice, since Sophists are known to lambast virtues as useless to society. He feels that justice does not serve the needs of the whole, and instead, it only preserves the interests of whoever is in power. Socrates counters that injustice is the one that is wrong because it opposes wisdom. He explains how people pursue their talents, since they have the wisdom to do so, but when they stop pursuing their talents, then there is injustice. In this sense, justice does not serve the strong only, but also every individual who knows that what is just is to do achieve their specialized potential (Plato Book IV ). Socrates also shows through his arguments that certain rules which allow a group to act in common help them reach their goals and there is justice in that. Thrasymachus already praised before the need to follow a set of rules. Lastly, Socrates argues that if justice is a virtue of the soul, and the virtue of the soul refers to the health of the soul, justice is attractive because it contributes to the health of the soul. Socrates asks: â€Å"Then the just is happy, and the unjust miserable?† Indeed, this essay agrees that the just is happy,

Globalization Law Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Globalization Law - Thesis Example The researcher proposes to do a case study on the effect of globalization on the labor market in gulf area. Scope of Report Our topic of study is the impact of globalization on labor markets with focus on gulf area. The study would include all the countries in the gulf area including Saudi Arabia. Due to globalization there has been movement of material, labor and capital also. These movements have left a tremendous impact on the organizations across the globe. The study would however focus on the effect on labor markets specifically, and examine what kind of impact it has left on the labor market. The researcher would like to adopt a research design that uses both qualitative and quantitative information. Using both qualitative and quantitative design approaches will allow the researcher to use both primary and secondary sources of information. This will lead to a better understanding of the topic. The researcher intends to analyze the effect of globalization on the labor market esp ecially in the gulf area.How the companies are coping with the problem will be studied and analyzed. In doing so the author will use the principles of Miles and Snow’s theory of superior performing business types discussed in their 1978 book (Miles et al, 1978).

E-Commerce Strategy Truly Scrumptious Assignment

E-Commerce Strategy Truly Scrumptious - Assignment Example Our company objective is to import a variety of traditional and non-traditional sweets, package them and distribute them to retailers across UK. While we have a good network of retailers who carry our goods, we have no way to reach directly to our consumers or to market directly to them. In this regard there is an opportunity for Truly Scrumptious for increased market penetration and to sell to individuals who would like to purchase our sweets at the whole sale prices or in greater quantity. While the costs in opening our own distribution outlet can run extremely high, including rental, shop interior and exterior, recruiting and training counter salespeople, a change in distribution routes and marketing - a much more efficient and technology enabled option is to invest in a company website. Objectives and design of Website: The main object of the website is to communicate with our consumers, to tell them about the quality and variety of our products and to persuade them to purchase t he sweets on at least a trial basis. Our long term plan will be to retain a loyal consumer base of individuals who become regular visitors to our website and purchase consistently. The e-commerce strategy will be a StoreFront model- providing all the traditional options of a physical store in a digital medium for the customer. The secondary objectives will be to provide a forum for customer feedback and product information for interested retailers who wish to start a business relationship with us. In order to fulfill these objectives the website will need to have certain features: 1. An attention grabbing, yet focused and uncluttered design 2. Product categories will be neatly laid out and easy to access 3. Pricing, ingredients and nutrition information will be available with each product description 4. The product description should be catchy and attractive 5. Shopping cart and online payment options, with easy save and change 6. Comments sections 7. Customer service communication options 8. Discounts, bundle pricing and other promotions 9. A separate page for interested vendors and retailers with contact and product information These features will be catered specifically towards a customer base of the middle and upper-middle class who are comfortable with online shopping and treat sweets like an indulgent pleasure. The whole website experience should be easy to navigate with eye catching visuals and elegant descriptions which will grab the reader’s attention and convenient use of shopping cart and payment options will allow impulse buying. The E-retailing atmosphere is steadily getting crowded. New merchants are appearing every day and through continuous reviewing of operations and strategy websites are competing for the top spots of the industry. For our website to break through clutter, attract traffic and increase sales we need to have a clear, focused objective from the start. Technical and Practical steps The website building will involve three m ain steps namely 1) Content and designing 2) Hosting the website (external storage, capacity and bandwidth etc) 3) Marketing and promotion. Afterwards our main priority will be maintenance, updating content and reviewing impact on sales. The actual sales, distribution and customer service will still be controlled by the respective departments with support from the IT department in integrating the physical aspects

We should provide food for the poor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

We should provide food for the poor - Essay Example Beri beri primarily results from lack of vitamin B or thiamin. Poor people who suffer from malnutrition have a high likelihood of developing beri beri, as well as other deadly diseases such as anemia and scurvy (Karlan & Appel, 2012). Diseases increase the likelihood of nutritional deficiency; therefore, poor people are at great risk of malnutrition. In addition, poor people, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries also die as a result of problems with the land they live on and till, for instance, famine and drought are known to cause massive losses of human lives amongst poor people. Children are the most affected group of people in the event of such tough climatic conditions. To date, famine is one of the most common causes of death in underdeveloped and developing countries. Most of these deaths occur among children who often receive small food portions if any, despite the fact that they need it the most since they are still growing. During tough climatic conditions such as drought and famine, countries’ food supplies decrease substantially (Karlan & Appel, 2012). Poor people, especially those in underdeveloped countries suffer all these problems, and it is up to the privileged members of the society to assist them. It is quite possible to deter the suffering and death or poor people as a result of inadequate food and malnutrition. People should give sufficient food supplies to poor people because all human beings are entitled to lead healthy and fulfilled lives, which includes having sufficient food quantities and quality. From an ethical point of view, people should provide food to the poor since it is the morally upright thing to do. Ethical p rinciples such as utilitarian principles advocate for people to give up their interests for the wellbeing of the greatest number of people. Sacrifice, in this sense, does not mean giving to the poor more than a person can afford, but rather means giving up something of value to oneself in

The International Business Entry Strategy, Aussie Fresh in Vietnam Essay

The International Business Entry Strategy, Aussie Fresh in Vietnam - Essay Example In addition, Vietnam is in a transformation process as the country is moving fast towards implementation of capitalist principles against its traditional planned economy. In fact, the country now also exports its Vegetables and Fruits products to over 50 nations worldwide because of its free market mechanism. Nevertheless, the domestic fruits/vegetables demand is not completely met from domestic agricultural produce; hence, these products are also imported in Vietnam (Vietnomics Update, 2009) & (CIA Fact Book – V, 2009). It is, therefore, recommended to Aussie Trade to commence operations in Vietnamese market through proper branding and packaging of agri-products. The company should adopt Joint Venture strategy because the currency risk is relatively high, mainly attributable to current account deficit of Vietnam. The imports, therefore, become expensive that may negatively impact the growth of Aussie Trade if forms its own subsidiary in Vietnam. It is feasible to minimize such risks by partnering with locals (who have knowledge in this sector) and establishing distribution networks for sales of Fruits and Vegetables (CIA Fact Book – V, 2009). The world today is viewed as a global village because recent technological developments have helped reducing communication barriers and borders among nations worldwide. The creation of information/communication networks and transportation routes has significantly contributed to increase trade volume and business activities. Not only developed countries like USA, France, UK< Germany, Japan, etc are beneficiaries of these advancements but also the developing nations have joined international arena as they have to focus on international integration, economic prosperity and sustainable development. Australia is viewed as a small, yet rich economy because of high purchasing power. It's per capita income was estimated to be $39,000 in 2009 and  the country was ranked 21st in the list of high-income nations.  

Automation Assembly Parts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Automation Assembly Parts - Essay Example QFD has evolved from being a tool for product and process design to being used for strategic planning systematically linking customer requirements with organisational functions and processes. A study has been proposed to review QFD practices and develop a mechanism for implementing QFD. The objective of the study is to review available literature on QFD, and develop a methodology for QFD implementation within an organisation. Published literature in journals, conferences, and case studies would be considered for the study. The development of a product includes several processes, and QFD enables an analysis of every process for satisfying customer requirements within the functional constraints of the organisation. The scope of this study is QFD in a manufacturing organisation. The report will include an understanding of best QFD practices and an illustration for implementing QFD. It is expected that the results of the study will reinforce the use of QFD as a quality management techniq ue, and help identify the ideal ways of implementing QFD in a manufacturing organisation. The assurance of quality in a manufacturing organisation does not only help satisfy customer requirements, but also cut costs and improve efficiency. A study has been proposed to study statistical tools that have been deployed in the manufacturing industry to assure quality. Statistical tools include testing of hypotheses, analysis of regression, control charts, process capability, and six sigma. The study will include review of published literature in journals, conferences, books and case studies to identify best practices involving the use of statistical tools in a manufacturing organisation. Statistical distributions have been used to characterize populations based on a sample. Hypothesis testing has been deployed to help distinguish between areas of concern. Experiments are designed to

Special skills Essay Example for Free

Special skills Essay Moreover, employers are not just looking at our academic qualification to employ us as an accountant but also considering our other special skills, which will be advantage for us in getting a job among few hundreds of people. We can develop our special skills from young age and use it during interviews. Firstly, we should have excellent communication skills. Communications skills are the most important skill we need to have because it is a basic need in any field of jobs. An accountant cannot be good just at calculating numbers although accountancy involves numbers, sometimes we have to explain those numbers to clients with strong and clear voice. It will give a trust to our clients in the way we explain it. Furthermore, we can build up a friendly relationship with our fellow co-workers. This friendly relationship will help us during difficult times to solve our problems. In additionally, we can make friends with unknown people by having effective communication which will be useful in our future. Beverly D.  Flaxington, says, â€Å"When you are presenting to a board, an investor or a prospect, you need to know how to convey complex information in a way people can easily understand†. The next special skill an account requires is computer skills. Nowadays, almost all accountants will have to work with designed accounting software, which will make their work faster and simpler. Likewise, we can able to handle this job precisely if we are good with computers and can quickly learn new accounting software. Besides that, organizational skills are also significant skill for an accountant. Today, there are many group projects involving an accountant so there is necessary for an accountant to have organizational skills, which will bring success to the project. For example, in some projects, accountants need to schedule the time and manage budgets to complete the project magnificently. There are many other special skills such as an aptitude for math, strong analytical skills, a thirst for knowledge, a passion for detail. Today employers select or require at least a minimum a bachelors degree in accounting in order to employed as a staff accountant as accountant. A minimum of 3. 5 above CGPA is needed in order to be appointed as an accountant and with active involving in activities. Employers demand an individual to obtain at least 150 credit hours before becoming as a certified accountant. In an accounting related field, a masters degree is necessary for certain managerial positions as well as special certification. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the largest and fastest-growing global professional accountancy body in the world. The ACCA is a famous requirement for huge organizations. Licensure such as Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is also useful when you could not pass the ACCA exam. Although basic skills are good enough to enter the accounting field, the higher the level education you have the better your chances of you enhancing in an accounting career. Nowadays, employers seek for accountants who have more than one year working experience. This happens because employers believe that the accountant with experience will understand the work better and finish the work faster and accurately. Consequently, fresh graduates like us will suffer to get job because we are do not have any experience excluding our practical training about 6 months. Sometimes, if we are lucky or we know people who are working accounting field will an opportunity for us to get a job easily. The traditional career paths for political scientists academe and law are increasingly crowded. Todays graduates are just as likely to consider employment in the private as in the public sector, but there are relatively few sources to help you as you make your choices. This guide is designed to fill the gap and supplement other materials of a more general nature that will assist you in your job search. It is aimed at political scientists (at the B. A. , M. A. , and Ph. D. levels) seeking a career outside of an academic or teaching environment. This is not because careers of the latter type (or law for that matter) are so congested that they are not worth considering. Most universities and academic counsellors are familiar with these paths and can give good advice on how to follow them. The interest in non-academic careers is more recent, and so is less familiar. Something you have probably asked yourself (and been asked by others! ) is what can I do with a degree in political science? . Political science is not an accredited profession and so even the most capable political scientist is not qualified to do any particular job in the same sense as an engineer or a physician is. Indeed, the discipline as a whole has traditionally been somewhat resistant to the idea of career training for government service or the private sector. Even the public administration and public policy fields, which come closest to an explicit training model, prefer on the whole to remain at arms length from governments and corporations. This does not mean, however, that you lack specific skills that might be of use on the job market. While it is probably best to think as broadly as possible about the background and skills that you can offer to an employer, your academic training has nonetheless focused on one discipline, and you should see that as a strength. This guide assumes that while political science is not a unique qualification for any one career, it does confer because of the core concerns of the discipline some advantages in seeking employment with government departments and agencies, public affairs departments in private firms, interest associations and for research positions. A senior official with the government of Canada, for example, notes that political science has given me a wide background in the parliamentary process and provided me with certain writing and research skills. I am at ease when talking with parliamentarians about issues of the day, perhaps more so than those of my colleagues who have not had training in political science. This is a career guide, but it is not careerist. You should not pursue political science simply because political science may help in some ways to get you a job. If you are a junior undergraduate, you should consider your academic options as carefully as your career options. You will do better in a field that interests and challenges you than in a field chosen only because you think it might provide future employment. This guide shows you (and your parents! ) that political science can lead to satisfying and interesting careers. You should only choose political science if you think that it will satisfy your intellectual needs. By the same token, realize that there are few non-academic jobs for specialists in 18th century French materialism! If your inclinations already lie in a predominantly non-academic career, maximize the benefit of your academic training by taking courses in cognate disciplines such as economics, and acquire some familiarity with public sector organization, management, budgeting and policy-making. The job market these days is intensely competitive, and the best jobs will go to the best-prepared and most-qualified. One word of caution. This is not a complete job search guide. It has a specific audience in mind and a specific purpose as well: to sketch out the most likely alternative careers for political scientists and provide some basic information on who to contact and how to get started. There is much more to finding a job than can be contained in a short guide like this one. You should consult with a faculty member on possible career paths and opportunities. As well, some universities offer job or career counselling and placement services. Many companies and government agencies try to come directly onto campus from time to time to interview and hire, and you should keep your eyes open for events of this type (they come as early as September, so begin checking at campus employment centres around that time). You might also wish to consult some of the following sources on employment market trends and job search techniques and skills.

Hemingways Economy Of Style English Literature Essay

Hemingways Economy Of Style English Literature Essay A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is arguably not only one of Hemingways best short stories but also a story that clearly demonstrates the techniques of Hemingways signature writing style. Hemingway is known for his economic prose-his writing is minimalist and sparse, with few adverbs or adjectives. He includes only essential information, often omitting background information, transitions, and dialogue tags such as he said or she said. He often uses pronouns without clear antecedents, such as using the word it without clarifying what it refers to. Hemingway applies the iceberg principle to his stories: only the tip of the story is visible on the page, while the rest is left underwater-unsaid. Hemingway also rarely specifies which waiter is speaking in the story because he has deemed such clarification unnecessary. The essential element is that two waiters are discussing a drunk old man-the rest can be omitted according to Hemingways economy of style. When the older waiter contemplates the idea of nothingness, Hemingway loads the sentences with vague pronouns, never clarifying what they refer to: It was all a nothing.  .  .  . It was only that.  .  .  . Some lived in it  .  .  . Although these lines are somewhat confusing, the confusion is the point. This nothingness cant be defined clearly, no matter how many words are used. Hemingway uses fewer words and lets the effect of his style speak for itself. The Deceptive Pacing of the Story Hemingway does not waste words on changing scenes or marking the passage of time, leaving it up to us to keep track of whats happening and the storys pacing. For example, only a brief conversation between the waiters takes place between the time when the younger waiter serves the old man a brandy and the time when the old man asks for another. Hemingway is not suggesting that the old man has slugged back the brandy quickly. In fact, the old man stays in the cafà © for a long time. Time has lapsed here, but Hemingway leaves it up to us to follow the pace of the story. The pace of A Clean, Well-Lighted Place may seem swift, but the action of the story actually stretches out for much longer than it appears to. The sitting, drinking, and contemplating that take place are languid actions. We may read the story quickly, but the scenes themselves are not quick. Just as Hemingway doesnt waste words by trying to slow down his scenes, he also refrains from including unnecessary transitions. F or example, when the older waiter leaves the cafà © and mulls over the idea of nothingness, he finishes his parody of prayer and, without any transition that suggests that he was walking, we suddenly find him standing at a bar. Hemingway lets the waiters thoughts serve as the transition. When he writes, He smiled and stood before a bar, were meant to understand that the waiter had been walking and moving as he was thinking to himself. And when the waiter orders a drink at the bar, the bartender offers him another just two sentences later. Again, Hemingway is not suggesting that the waiter gulps his drink. Instead, he conveys only the most essential information in the scene. Existentialism and the Lost Generation The term Lost Generation refers to the writers and artists living in Paris after World War I. The violence of World War I, also called the Great War, was unprecedented and invalidated previous ideas about faith, life, and death. Traditional values that focused on God, love, and manhood dissolved, leaving Lost Generation writers adrift. They struggled with moral and psychological aimlessness as they searched for the meaning of life in a changed world. This search for meaning and these feelings of emptiness and aimlessness reflect some of the principle ideas behind existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophical movement rooted in the work of the Danish philosopher Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard, who lived in the mid-1800s. The movement gained popularity in the mid-1900s thanks to the work of the French intellectuals Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus, including Sartres Being and Nothingness (1943). According to existentialists, life has no purpose, the universe is indiffer ent to human beings, and humans must look to their own actions to create meaning, if it is possible to create meaning at all. Existentialists consider questions of personal freedom and responsibility. Although Hemingway was writing years before existentialism became a prominent cultural idea, his questioning of life and his experiences as a searching member of the Lost Generation gave his work existentialist overtones. Themes, Motifs, and Symbols Themes Life as Nothingness In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Hemingway suggests that life has no meaning and that man is an insignificant speck in a great sea of nothingness. The older waiter makes this idea as clear as he can when he says, It was all a nothing and man was a nothing too. When he substitutes the Spanish word nada (nothing) into the prayers he recites, he indicates that religion, to which many people turn to find meaning and purpose, is also just nothingness. Rather than pray with the actual words, Our Father who art in heaven, the older waiter says, Our nada who art in nada-effectively wiping out both God and the idea of heaven in one breath. Not everyone is aware of the nothingness, however. For example, the younger waiter hurtles through his life hastily and happily, unaware of any reason why he should lament. For the old man, the older waiter, and the other people who need late-night cafà ©s, however, the idea of nothingness is overwhelming and leads to despair. The Struggle to Deal with Despair The old man and older waiter in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place struggle to find a way to deal with their despair, but even their best method simply subdues the despair rather than cures it. The old man has tried to stave off despair in several unsuccessful ways. We learn that he has money, but money has not helped. We learn that he was once married, but he no longer has a wife. We also learn that he has unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide in a desperate attempt to quell the despair for good. The only way the old man can deal with his despair now is to sit for hours in a clean, well-lit cafà ©. Deaf, he can feel the quietness of the nighttime and the cafà ©, and although he is essentially in his own private world, sitting by himself in the cafà © is not the same as being alone. The older waiter, in his mocking prayers filled with the word nada, shows that religion is not a viable method of dealing with despair, and his solution is the same as the old mans: he waits out the nighttime in cafà ©s. He is particular about the type of cafà © he likes: the cafà © must be well lit and clean. Bars and bodegas, although many are open all night, do not lessen despair because they are not clean, and patrons often must stand at the bar rather than sit at a table. The old man and the older waiter also glean solace from routine. The ritualistic cafà ©-sitting and drinking help them deal with despair because it makes life predictable. Routine is something they can control and manage, unlike the vast nothingness that surrounds them. Motifs Loneliness Loneliness pervades A Clean, Well-Lighted Place and suggests that even though there are many people struggling with despair, everyone must struggle alone. The deaf old man, with no wife and only a niece to care for him, is visibly lonely. The younger waiter, frustrated that the old man wont go home, defines himself and the old man in opposites: Hes lonely. Im not lonely. Loneliness, for the younger waiter, is a key difference between them, but he gives no thought to why the old man might be lonely and doesnt consider the possibility that he may one day be lonely too. The older waiter, although he doesnt say explicitly that he is lonely, is so similar to the old man in his habit of sitting in cafà ©s late at night that we can assume that he too suffers from loneliness. The older waiter goes home to his room and lies in bed alone, telling himself that he merely suffers from sleeplessness. Even in this claim, however, he instinctively reaches out for company, adding, Many must have it. The thought that he is not alone in having insomnia or being lonely comforts him. Symbols The Cafà © The cafà © represents the opposite of nothingness: its cleanliness and good lighting suggest order and clarity, whereas nothingness is chaotic, confusing, and dark. Because the cafà © is so different from the nothingness the older waiter describes, it serves as a natural refuge from the despair felt by those who are acutely aware of the nothingness. In a clean, brightly lit cafà ©, despair can be controlled and even temporarily forgotten. When the older waiter describes the nothingness that is life, he says, It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. The it in the sentence is never defined, but we can speculate about the waiters meaning: although life and man are nothing, light, clealiness, and order can serve as substance. They can help stave off the despair that comes from feeling completely unanchored to anyone or anything. As long as a clean, well-lighted cafà © exists, despair can be kept in check.