Personal Reflection Essay for Trip to Buddhist Temple Essay

This Sunday morning I had the opportunity to witness my first Buddhist temple service at the Toledo Zen Center. My classmate, Tasi, accompanied me and we arrived to the service around 10:30 in the morning. When we first entered the temple we were both greeted by the man whom I had spoken with about coming, but were instantly amazed at the amount of color there was within the temple and how beautiful it was. I immediately noticed how unique and unusual it was in appearance compared to any religious service that I had ever attended. From the beginning, I was intrigued and was looking forward to observing the Buddhist rituals and routines. After we were greeted we took our seats towards the back of the temple, as that was where we felt most comfortable. I noticed that there were many large pictures of Buddha and his two disciples that surrounded the people. The people participating in the service laid out a mat on the floor and began to kneel around the food they had placed on the mat as well. The monks began reciting a blessing in what they called Pali. Once they had gone through this stage, they began to speak or sing what I believe were verses from their scriptures. Eventually they all turned into a prayer-like position and began to pray. They remained in prayer-like position for almost an hour and after that they began to meditate. At the point that they began meditating, Tasi and I had to leave the service. I feel as though attending this service did confirm my perception of what a Buddhist service would be like. The way in which I had envisioned their services was very similar to the way in which it turned out to be. It was a very calming and relaxing environment and there were very little interaction within the people, other than the chanting of the scriptures. The only aspect of the service that was I was surprised by was the fact that was very little music or anything that could even resemble music within the service. I generally think of a service having some type of instruments playing, but there were no instruments or any form of music other than the people themselves. I personally found the religious activities that they performed to be very calming, soothing and perhaps rejuvenating. I enjoyed the chanting of the scriptures, as I feel that it made you feel and believe what you were learning and hearing even more so. In addition, I was very fond of the many pictures of the Buddha. The strange aspect to me was the lack of interaction between the people. That is an aspect of the religion that I was unable to relate to, but perhaps that is what makes the service so calming. I am unsure if this aspect is something that I would be able to handle very well, but overall I cannot say that there were really any parts of the service that offended me. I came into the experience rather open-minded and interested in really learning what their service was like in relation to the services I attend on a regular basis. All in all, I can definitely say that this was a positive experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to take part in this service and felt very welcomed throughout the entire service. I was impressed by the reaction the people had to the meditation and felt as though I learned a lot from the trip as a whole. Although this may not be my religion of choice, I felt as though I benefited a great deal from expanding my knowledge on the Buddhist temple services and would definitely not be opposed to returning.

Literary History and the Concept of Literature Essay

Literary history and the concept of literature I From the 1970s onwards, much has been said about the writing of history and literary history that has cast doubt on its intellectual credibility. For example, Hayden White’s Metahistory (1973) included an influential analysis of the metaphorical foundations of 19th century history writing. In 1979, Jean-Francois Lyotard criticized grand narratives in La Condition postmoderne (The Postmodern Condition), and in 1992 David Perkins presented a whole array of sceptical epistemological and methodological arguments directed against literary history in Is Literary History Possible?. The questioning of literary history has not however resulted in the abandonment of large-scale literary-historical projects, rather it has inspired attempts to base such ventures on better designs and better foundations. Not least, many new ideas about the field have been put forward in connection with the preparation of two major works of literary history sponsored by the ICLA. It is also natural to point to two theoretical publications from 2002: the collection of essays, Rethinking Literary History, edited by Linda Hutcheon and Mario J. Valdes, and Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer’s brief presentation of the ideas behind a history of literary cultures in East-Central Europe. [ii] The Swedish project â€Å"Literature and Literary History in Global Contexts†, which was started in 1998 and will terminate in 2004, focuses specifically on some theoretical problems associated with the writing of literary history. We who participate come, mostly, from various fields within oriental studies or from comparative literature. Since the project is sponsored by the Swedish Research Council we all work, or once worked, at various Swedish universities. One of the special features of the project is the interest devoted to world histories of literature, a genre where the general problems of literary history become especially visible and acute. (I shall return to this perhaps unfamiliar genre in a moment. ) Three important cruces in connection with world histories of literature have been singled out for special discussion within the project: (i) the understanding of the notion of literature, (ii) the understanding of genres, and (iii) the understanding of interactions between literary cultures. These three sets of issues will be made the subject of four volumes of literary-historical studies and theoretical reflections, and these volumes will represent the main concrete outcome of the project. In this paper, I shall concentrate on the first of the questions, about the notion of literature. I shall say a few words about the concept of literature itself, point out some of the difficulties that it occasions in a world history of literature, and conclude with a brief discussion of how such problems may be approached and dealt with. II In a sense, of course, there are very many concepts of literature: if every nuance is taken into account, it may well be the case that each person has their own. Yet if, conversely, one looks at the situation very broadly, one can say that there is an everyday concept of literature in Western culture which is widely shared. That concept came into being in the course of the 18th century. Before that, no exact counterpart to our present concept of literature existed either in Western culture or elsewhere, and the distinction between imaginative literature and non-fiction was not of primary importance in the classification of texts. Wilt Idema and Lloyd Haft have given a concise and clarifying account of how earlier cultures thought about texts and their basic divisions. As long as no more than a few written works are in circulation in a given society, all texts are more or less equally important and valuable. If there is a dramatic increase in the number of writings, with a corresponding differentiation in their content and character, the texts are likely to be subdivided into the categories of â€Å"high† literature, professional literature, and popular literature. â€Å"Literature† (or high literature) is then the term for texts which are felt to be of general educational value and which are, accordingly, regarded as part of the necessary intellectual baggage of every cultured person†¦. Works which contain useful knowledge but remain limited to one specific area, such as medicine or military science, are classified as professional literature. Works intended only to amuse, and which have (or are considered to have) no educational value, fall outside the scope of â€Å"literature†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. We may call these more or less despised writings â€Å"trivial literature†. In the kind of intellectual culture described in this quotation, the fundamental distinction among texts is the one between culturally important texts and culturally less significant ones. In most such cultures – classical antiquity, classical Chinese culture, classical Sanskrit culture, and so forth – the class of culturally important texts would comprise most of what we call poetry, history writing, and philosophy, and normally also other kinds of texts – some administrative texts, some texts concerning magic, some letters, et cetera. Oral vernacular texts, or relatively unadorned fictional narratives, what we call fictional prose, would normally form part of popular or trivial literature. For complex social, economic, and cultural reasons, this way of classifying texts came to undergo great though gradual transformations in Western Europe from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. One of the very many crucial factors behind the process must have been the growing importance of a new, more rigorous conception of empirical truth, associated with the natural sciences. High literature, in the special sense described by Idema and Haft, had always aspired to truth in the sense of great human significance. As the distinction between empirical truth and empirical non-truth became more rigid and more significant – and as many other, more or less related developments were taking place – new groupings began to emerge in the textual universe. Poetry became dissociated from scientific writings, and successively also from history, philosophy, oratory, and letters. On the other hand, fictional prose, especially in the guise of the increasingly appreciated novel, came to be regarded as one of the genres of poetry. With this, our modern notion of literature had effectively taken shape, and the term â€Å"literature† (whose main meaning in the 17th and 18th centuries had been something like â€Å"education† or â€Å"culture†) successively developed into today’s normal designation of the concept. [v] III The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the beginning of the writing of literary history – of the history of national European literatures, of the history of European literature as a whole and, at least from the 1830s onwards, of the world history of literature. World histories of literature thus comprise a genre which has existed for around 170 years. Among its modern instances are such impressive works as the German twenty-five volume Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft (New Handbook of Literary Studies), published between 1972 and 2002, and the Russian Istorija vsemirnoj literatury v devjati tomach (History of World Literature in Nine Volumes) from 1983-94. [vii] However in the English-speaking world the genre is more or less extinct, and its very existence appears to be overlooked in the contemporary international discussion about the globalization of literary studies. These debates are primarily inspired by the widespread interest in colonial and postcolonial studies and place the last few centuries at the centre of attention, while the traditional world histories of literature are, in principle, universal in scope, and are meant to cover all times and cultures. In many respects, it seems a good idea to have a world history of literature to fall back on. Such works can relate the various literary cultures of the world to one another and put them into perspective. Thus they may create a much needed overview, much as a map of the world helps us to comprehend certain fundamental geographical realities. To some extent, works like the Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft and the Istorija vsemirnoj literatury do just that, and of course they also contain a wealth of information and intelligent discussion. Yet, despite their often remarkable qualities, world histories of literature are typically profoundly problematic for a number of reasons. Two major problems have their roots in the very concept of literature. First, the concept is, in itself, an everyday notion. If employed without additional explications or stipulations, it is too imprecise and inconsistent to form the basis of a reasonable classification. Second, the concept of literature is a relatively recent Western invention. Its application to other times and cultures will easily lead to anachronistic and ethnocentric distortions. On the whole, world histories of literature are content to sweep such problems under the carpet. They typically prefer to rely on the everyday notion of literature and to include the resulting contradictions in the bargain. For instance, the concept of literature is traditionally used in such a manner that the criteria for a work to be classified as literature vary depending on the time and the culture one is speaking of. Modern literature is most often seen as consisting of just fictional prose, poetry, and drama. When there is talk of older periods, the concept of literature is however used very inclusively. [ix] For example, ancient Roman philosophy, history, and oratory are not excluded as being non-fiction; instead, such writers as Lucrece, Caesar, and Cicero are considered part of the European literary heritage. The same duality appears in the treatment of other literary cultures. Thus, for instance, the sacred Vedic texts (circa 1200 – circa 500 B. C.).

Free Will and Divine Foreknowledge Essay

Augustine discusses a critical issue which is the incompatibility of man’s free will and God’s foreknowledge. So the question is, do we really have free will in spite of the fact that God foreknows everything? If God knows what must necessarily happen next, then how do have the free will to make our own choices? Augustine comes up with a series of arguments to prove that we sin by our own will with no intervention of the divine foreknowledge. Augustine first argued a characteristic of God that He has free will, and that He has foreknowledge of his own actions. Therefore, both God’s will and foreknowledge go along with each other. From this point he then assumes that man’s will and God’s foreknowledge are both compatible. But can we compare God with man? And is this argument convincing enough? More elaboration has to be given in order to make it more convincing. Augustine then proceeds to do so. He states that people who do not believe in the compatibility of free will and divine foreknowledge are those who â€Å"are more eager to excuse than confess their sins† (p. 73). That means that people who always blame others for their own wrong doings rather than admitting it are those who claim that we have no free will and that everything is already known by God, and that nothing can be changed, which they also use as a justification for their wrong actions. These people live their life by chance, leaving everything according to the circumstances rather than trying to take good actions. An example for that is the beggars, who always try to take money from people without giving anything in return or even having a job, although they have the ability to do so. But because of their laziness and their belief that this is what they were created to be, they leave everything to happen by luck and according to God’s foreknowledge that couldn’t be changed (p. 73). Augustine then moves to another point which is the relation between the will and the power to achieve that will. He states that the will itself is within our power. Therefore, our desire to commit certain acts is a power that we own. But if we will something that is not within our power then it is not considered as a will because we can only will what is within our power. Augustine then discusses that if something good happens to us then it is accordance to our will, not against it. So for example, being happy, although God foreknows that you will be so, doesn’t mean that we are happy against our will. Thus, God’s foreknowledge of our happiness doesn’t take away our will to be happy (p. 76). And so, he concludes that if God foreknows our will, then definitely this will is going to occur, and so it will be a will in the future. Consequently, his foreknowledge doesn’t take away our will. And since that what we will is in our power, God foreknows our power and He will not take it away. Hence, we will have that power because God foreknows it (p. 77). So Augustine made it clear â€Å"that it is necessary that whatever God has foreknown will happen, and that he foreknows our sins in such a way that our wills remain free and are with in our power† (p. 77). However, the fact that God’s foreknowledge of our sins is consistent with our free will in sinning still stays questionable. Taking into consideration the fact that God is just, so how does He punish our sins that happen by necessity? Or is God’s foreknowledge not an obligation? The topic is still confusing so Augustine then proceeds to make it clearer. To conclude, Augustine succeeded in coming up with a good argument showing that man’s free will and God’s foreknowledge are both compatible. The sequence of his ideas made his argument understandable and convincing for any reader. As a reader, I’ve always thought about that subject but didn’t receive any answers. However, reading â€Å"On Free Choice of the Will† made everything clear for me and made me well convinced that God’s foreknowledge doesn’t intervene with our own choices that we make. Works Cited Williams, Thomas. On Free Choice of the Will. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company

Cross-cultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cross-cultural communication - Essay Example Also, as case study, research data of intercultural communication between the USA manager and Japanese manager of an USA based company in Japan is analyzed. Culture and communication Communication is defined as a procedure by which information and other matters are exchanged between more than one person where the subject matter is important for at least one of the persons involved. Communication also means that one or more persons absorb the meaning and theme of the matter that has been shared based on certain patterns of interpretations that have followed. Therefore, during the course of a communication it is required to understand the kind of behaviour that needs to be followed or avoided. Thus, culture forms a framework and a universal reference in which all that takes place is comprehended. Cultural patterns by their own distinct nature carry purposeful meanings for only those who participate unlike other symbols that carry meanings that are attributed to them depending on social acceptance, and as such these symbols are not inherent in behaviour. On the other hand, patterns cannot exist on their own accord after their creation; they need to be given new concepts by conveying the meanings to a new generation. This is done by means of communication. There is a complex relationship between culture and communication. It is through communication, which is a mode of interaction between several persons, that culture is created. By communication it is possible to create and share the prevailing patterns of meaning, thinking, feeling and acting, and by such sharing these patterns are carried on for generations (Korac-Kakabadse, 2001, p.6). The strength of intercultural communication can be linked to several hypotheses based on geographical proximity. There are several examples of such hypothetical situation. For one, during a course of communication there may be several members belonging to different cultures but residing in same place or in close proximity. In suc h cases, these members may not communicate as much as was expected beforehand because of their geographical proximity. Then, the second hypothetical situation can be that members of a communication belong to cultures that are differentiated by their segregated geographical locations. In this second case, important parts of the communication have less possibility to be carried on between the individual members; communication is more likely to be carried on between cultural representatives and intermediaries. In this case, communication can take place between the individual members but more likely in neutral places like in workplaces and in recreational centers. For study of culture and communication, it is also necessary to know the kinds of communication that are involved like the topics chosen, and also the balance of small and formal discourse. The content and style of communication need to be comprehended to study the relation between culture and communication. During intercultur al communication, it is the strategic decision of the participants that shape the course of the interaction. The decision may include keeping quiet or joining one group or the other. The speakers may forego their distinct cultural styles to adopt a practical approach according to the need of the moment. The behavior that the speakers display during such communication does not reflect their original

Theories of Organizational Development Research Paper

Theories of Organizational Development - Research Paper Example Teamwork and team building must have a sense of purpose. No matter how small the team is, it is vital that the whole process is set out in a way that facilitates the realization of clear, concise and specific objectives that all members think are important to achieve (Stone, 2010). Teams should always be set out to conduct specific exercises or activities, such as coming up with solutions to low profitability in a business. Other specific tasks which team building can address include scouting for the right human resources for job vacancies and charting new territories for expansion. In summary, team building can be considered to be a waste of time if there are no clear objectives set for the whole process (Bride, 2011). All teams participating in team building should be made up of members who can contribute positively to the attainment of goals and objectives based on their degree of expertise or knowledge. For example, if a company wants to develop an expense budget for a financial year, the team assigned the task of coming up with that budget should be composed of people who are knowledgeable about budgeting (Stone, 2010). If one or two members of that team are blunt in the dynamics of budgeting, then the whole team will be pegged back in their endeavors. Any team building process must be laced with the spirit of cooperation. Without such a spirit the whole process might fail to realize set goals and objectives. All the participants should feel the need to work together in order to achieve specific objectives. The challenge here is that people have different personalities, and therefore those who are either highly opinionated or have strong personalities are likely to disagree with their colleagues (Callaghan & Voight, 2001). Despite this, successful team building tends to take all these factors into account by balancing the personalities in teams by giving everybody an equal chance to be heard and the opportunity to make a difference. This minimizes bickering while allowing a cooperative spirit to flourish.

Data Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Data Security - Essay Example In case, the server is online, it transmits that signal straight back to the computer, letting us enjoy secure communications. Both the computer and the server send out heartbeats during regular intervals to ensure that both the user and the server i.e. the service aren’t offline (Kerner 2014). Heartbleed exploits this â€Å"heartbeat† by sending out, a kind of heartbeat signal to servers that is malicious in nature. That malicious heartbeat more or less tricks the server into sending a random amount of its memory to the user who sent the malicious heartbeat. A random collection of email addresses, usernames and passwords can be enclosed in that memory. Some of those records troublingly, could belong to the company running that server. This affords hackers with a method of infiltrating and exploiting information across the Internet. The Shellshock issue is a sample of ACE (arbitrary code execution) vulnerability. Classically, ACE vulnerability attacks are carried out on running programs and entail an extremely advanced understanding of the internals of assembly language, code execution and memory layout—the kind of attack that calls for an expert, to be concise (Sampathkumar, Balasubramani 2014). The attacker employed an ACE vulnerability to run a program granting them an easy way of dominating the targeted machine. This is accomplished by means of running a "shell". A shell is a command-line where commands can be executed or entered. The Shellshock vulnerability is a big concern since it eliminates the necessity for specialized knowledge and in turn offers a simple (unfortunately, very basic) means of taking control of another computer or even a web server to make it run code. The attack seemingly looked to have been triggered by a malicious computer code referred to as malware, according to people familiar with such matters. Some people suggested, a probable Russian or

Personal STATEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal STATEMENT - Essay Example The sense of responsibility to serve our fellow man is strong in my family as I also have a cousin who is a dentist in New York, an older brother who is a neurosurgeon at Ford Hospital and another brother currently studying medicine in Germany. To me, being a dentist is providing people with an essential partner for their future health and well-being and I am hoping to gain the knowledge and education I need for this from University of North Carolina, where I am currently attending as an undergraduate. Not only do I believe I would make a very fine dentist, but I am accustomed to hard work and have developed the skills necessary to study effectively on my own. When I came to this country from my birth country, Yemen, I did not speak English. As soon as I graduated from my high school, I came to America, to New York City, to learn how to speak and to become acquainted with the culture here. There was a bit of culture shock as, at the time, the sentiment in the country was largely against anyone with a name such as mine, Kuahtan Alsaidi, or who came from the Middle East. We were all considered terrorists and this made it more difficult when I had trouble remembering a word or trying to interact with people who did not understand what I was trying to say. In spite of this, I continued to work hard at learning my new language and still managed to find many people who were willing to help once they saw I was trying. I studied English for two years at New York before I felt I was strong enough in the language to begin studying other things. At that point, I moved to North Carolina and began attending University of North Carolina at Pembroke. I am currently majoring in biology, always working toward my goal to become a dentist. Almost as soon as I was enrolled in my classes, I also became involved with the university’s chemistry and physics club where I have had the chance to be

Economic Indicators Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic Indicators - Essay Example The major pro cyclic economic indicators are GDP, Interest rates, Investment, Inflation, Labor etc. While the main counter cyclic economic indicators are Unemployment, International Trade, and Federal Finances etc. The Gross Domestic Product is one of the most significant direct indicators in the economy. It is vital to monitor the growth rate of the GDP. Any deviation from the range tends to have a significant impact on the economy. An increase in the growth rate above the general level may lead to high inflation and poor performance in the rate of growth leads to a recession. Interest Rate is a pro cyclic or direct economic indicator. They are used to manage the booms and slumps in the business cycle and finely tune it. The interest rates fall in recessions and they rise in inflationary periods. International trade is the swapping of goods and services between countries, which tends to have countercyclical nature. When an economy is prospering and experiencing an economic boom then people choose to spend a bigger part of their income on imported and local goods and services, however, exports donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have such alterations. This in turn upsets the balance of trade, as net exports are negative, which results in more being imported and less being exported. Whereas, when an economy is in a slump, people tend to spend less on imported goods and services and just focus on the basic necessities. This encourages more goods and services to be exported and has a favorable impact on the balance of trade as less is being imported.

Becoming who we are Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Becoming who we are - Essay Example For instance, my mother constantly updates the photos of herself in face-book platforms, so that her friends and peers may comment on them. This has an impact of shaping her identity and values, specifically because the comments normally determine the manner in which people are able to view her. For instance, I remember that one time, she was able to post a photo on her face-book platform, and she had put on some weights. This was able to attract a lot of comments from her friends, who suggested to her on the various methods that can be used for purposes of cutting on her weight. This was one of the values that was being decimated ton her, that weight increase is not desirable. Telephones, specifically smart phones and mobile telephones play a role in shaping our values and attitudes. As a young person, I am interested in the sending of short messages, to my friends, as a mode of communication. We normally communicate on a variety of issues, ranging from sports, relationships, and po litics. This has an impact of shaping my values and attitudes, mostly because I am able to know on the values and perceptions of others regarding a topic, and reflect on it, if, they are able to reconcile with my values and perceptions. This is because every human being has some elements of beliefs and values (Steinem, 3). The personality of an individual can also be influenced through the methods used in communication. For example, mobile phone texting enables younger people to chat with each other, and these results to the passage of some information that may not be conducive. This would in turn lead to changes in the personalities of an individual, mainly because of the kind of information passed, during the process of chatting. Explanation 2: Because of the emergence of the new methods of communication, many people have replaced the traditional methods of communication with these new forms of communication. This has made it difficult for an

Investigation of cultural influences and impact on CSR Dissertation

Investigation of cultural influences and impact on CSR - Dissertation Example If it appears the target is not to be attained, then the procedure is reviewed and revised midway to avoid further waste of resources. Results are important at Toyota. INT 2: Oh, yes so you’ve read that article about â€Å"Americanness†? Well, I would not put it exactly that way, that’s too black and white. But in more general terms, yes, Toyota wants to be perceived as a global company, a company that is a citizen of the world, so to speak. Whenever academicians talk of Japanese corporate culture, however, they typically cite Toyota. True, we embody a lot of the management philosophies that are associated with â€Å"Japanese† management, like just-in-time, etc., but I would prefer to think that we have a culture of constant quality improvement depending on the purpose of the business, not merely because the company is originally Japanese. (2) A survey and selection of social issues, among many, that the company may effectively address Which issues are rel evant to your host country? Of those that are relevant, kindly describe the context or particulars in which they are considered relevant. What other issues other than those mentioned would you think are relevant? Has your company chosen to address these issues through the CSR program? If not, why? If yes, why have these issues been chosen and others have not? INT 1: Toyota is undergoing a bit [actually a lot] of controversy because of the millions of cars it has had to recall in the past years. So there is the issue of consumer safety right there. The company used to be known for precise safety engineering and not sacrificing on quality or safety for the sake of profit, but the way it appears now we are giving the impression that we are remiss. It is management’s task to bring the point home strongly that we are not neglectful, our mass production system and uniformity of component design across several vehicles just worked against us publicity wise. INT 2: I see my colleague talked to you about the recalls. Other than this, however, is the issue of Toyota being supposedly against more aggressive greenhouse emission reductions. There was some publicity about the company supposedly lobbying to extend the deadline for compliance. I would say that this is not true to the best of my knowledge. Toyota is always at the forefront of green technology, and of transparency in corporate governance as well. The company should have done better, however, in terms of publicity damage control. I think the public liaison had delayed in its response. It should not have reached the point where our company president should have been summoned [at the Congressional hearing]. If the publicity had been addressed sooner, he should have been spared having to explain personally. While there is nothing wrong in a company president speaking for his company, the face-off between the American government on one hand, and a Japanese leader on the other hand, could rub the wrong way for people who remember the war and Japan’s emperor being made to sign the articles of surrender – you know. (3) Mapping out a course of action and devising a program plan to address the selected issues Given the issues your company has selected, what program plans were arrived at to address them? How are these programs planned out? INT 1: I think you will find more of this in the company annual report. The programs are given

Epistemology and Skepticism Essay Example for Free

Epistemology and Skepticism Essay * Epistemology and Skepticism: How does The Matrix illustrate the challenge of skepticism about the external world? Explain, discuss, and critically evaluate the hallucination argument for complete epistemological skepticism. Be sure your essay includes a discussion of either Hospers or Crumley IIs criticism of complete epistemological skepticism. Is complete epistemological skepticism a logically coherent theory? Support your answer with a well-reasoned argument free of any major errors of fact, fallacy or logical contradiction. I. Introduction * The matrix questions the nature of reality. * How can we know for certain that the world is how we perceive it and not just a veil over our eyes? * Explain movie- trapped in virtual world believing they are in 21st century * Explanation proposes question, what is real? II. Main Points. * Main Character Morpheus: â€Å"What is ‘real’? How do you define ‘real’? If real is simply what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. † * Consequently, â€Å"How can we be sure our brain isn’t being tricked by some simulation to believe things are real, when they aren’t? This is how matrix proposes the challenge of epistemological skepticism. * Hallucination argument: Modus Tollens, question soundness (valid) 1. If we posses knowledge (K) we must be able to rule out the possibility of systematic hallucination (S). K S 2. ~S (the matrix hypothesis. ) (MT 1) 3. ~ K ( MT 1 2) * One arguer against skepticism: John Hospers * Merely verbal * Skeptics take strong sense of the word knowledge, must have proof at all times * Others use weak sense, meaning we only need proof or evidence only when someone is proving otherwise. * Doubt is an empty word. * Basic point: once a test has been done to remove doubt we have a good reason to believe it is true, thus we have knowledge. III. Conclusion * Skeptics believe knowledge is unobtainable, in this case the hallucination argument proves the premises are true through Modus Tollens. Although the argument is sound, it is self-defeating because skeptics believe they know that they don’t really â€Å"know† anything. Moreover, complete epistemological skepticism is not a logically coherent view because the argument being claimed would require the person to have knowledge to conduct such argument.

Spanglish & Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Spanglish Linguistics Essay Spanglish is a well-known term that describes the linguistic behaviors on Spanish speakers, who’s Spanish is uniquely influenced from the English language. Spanglish can also be defined as a â€Å"mixed-code vernacular that includes a range of linguistic phenomena, most notably code-switching†. Despite the fact that Puerto Rican linguist, Salvador Tio, coined the term ‘Spanglish’ in the late 1940’s, this language contact phenomena has actually been used over the past 150 years, since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. Some would consider Spanish a 3rd language and some would dismiss it as unorganized slang. In modern society, Spanglish is classified as a popular term, not a technical one. Although many variations of Spanglish do exist and is widely denounced for being a form of slang, Spanglish has proven, to hold its own flexible syntax, grammar interface, and switching rules. Spanglish can be found in the speech of the Hispanic population of the United States, especially in communities located near the border, such as Southern Texas, and communities with significant Latin influence, like Miami and New York City. Every Hispanic group has its own variant of Spanglish (Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Boricuan, Mexican,  e. t. c) and can differ depending where the region is located. San Diego, for example, borders Mexico where many Spanish and Spanglish-speaking citizens currently reside. Historically, the United States and Mexico were both seeking land near the border during the mid 1800’s, but both countries spoke opposing languages (English and Spanish). â€Å"They were TWO RADICALLY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE. † (5. JESUS VELASCO-MARQUEZ). AMERICAN AND MEXICAN POLITICIANS WERE FORCED TO USE CODE SWITCHING TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND EACH SIDE. ATTEMPTED TO ACQUIRE THE OPPOSING COUNTRY’S LANGUAGE. EVENTUALLY, THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE, SIGNED IN 1848, ENDED THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR AND BEGAN AN ERA OF PEACE BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES. THE PEACE TREATY ALSO ESTABLISHED THE BORDER BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES, ATTRACTING COLONIES TO VILLAGES ALONG THE BORDER FOR TRADE AND STOCK ROUTES. THE CULTURE OF THESE VILLAGES, WHOSE RESIDENTS HAIL FROM BOTH AMERICA AND MEXICO, CREATED ‘SPANGLISH’ AS A RESULT. DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PANAMA CANAL IN 1881-1914, AMERICANS NOW HAD ACCESS TO TRAVEL DEEPER INTO SOUTH AMERICAN, WHICH MADE SPANGLISH AND CODE SWITCHING A  VITAL FORM OF COMMUNICATION. ASIDE FROM THE MEXICAN BORDER, SPANGLISH HAS ALSO FOUND ITS WAY ONTO THE TONGUES OF CUBAN-AMERICANS AND CUBANS, WHO’VE MIGRATED FROM CUBA during the 1953-1959 Cuban Revolution. During the early to mid-1900s, New York City was also experiencing a similar wave OF MIGRATION, AS MANY PUERTO RICANS WERE SETTLING IN NEW YORK FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REASONS. †¢Spanglish can be divided into three subdivisions: 1. Adapting lexical items (â€Å"loan words†) from one language into the other on a phonological or morphological (roots/affixes) level. (e. g, ‘saying updatear’ [to update]  instead of the Spanish alternative â€Å"actualizar†). Borrowed verbs tend to carry the borrowing language’s inflections (e. g. parquear [to park]). 2. Calques: Words or phrases in one language whose semantic components are directly translated from another language. (e. g. â€Å"to call back† becomes â€Å"llamar para atras† which is the literal word-for-word translation. Although the translation was entirely in Spanish, the grammar influence was due to English. 3. Code-switching: The phenomenon that occurs when adapting loan words from one language into the other in the same utterance or conversation. Two main types of code switching can be identified. Internsentential code-switching occurs when the switch is made at a clause boundary (e. g. I’m extremely tired, me voy a domir), Intrasentential code-switching occurs when the switch is made within a clause (e. g. Mi abuela le gusta cooking). Intersentional code switching tends to be more popular than Intrasentential code switching, as speakers tend to â€Å"alternate among multiple CONSTITUENTS WITHOUT ERROR (TORRES 330)†. THE FLEXIBLE, YET RULE GOVERNED, LINGUISTIC PHENOMENA OF SPANGLISH INCLUDE SIMILAR (YET MORE COMPLEX) COMPONENTS OF SPANISH-ENGLISH CODE SWITCHING. ANGLICISMS/LOAN WORDS ARE BORROWED WORDS (OR PHRASES) FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND INCORPORATED INTO SPANISH (OR ANY LANGUAGE). AN EXAMPLE OF THIS BEHAVIOR IN SPANGLISH WOULD BE THE TERM â€Å"TROCA† (WHICH TRANSLATES TO â€Å"TRUCK† IN ENGLISH AND â€Å"CAMIONETA† IN SPANISH) OR THE WORD â€Å"PARQUEADERO† (WHICH TRANSLATES TO â€Å"PARKING LOT† IN ENGLISH AND â€Å"ESTACIONAMIENTO† IN SPANISH). NEITHER ONE OF THESE WORDS CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS CODE SWITCHING NOR CAN BE PROPERLY DEFINED AS ENGLISH OR SPANISH. IN FACT, SOME LINGUISTS BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER TO  USE PROPER CODE SWITCHING, THE SPEAKER MUST ATTAIN A HIGH COMPETENCY IN EITHER LANGUAGE, AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE COMPARABLE TO SPANGLISH. THESE LOAN WORDS TEND TO FOLLOW A SET OF LINGUISTIC PATTERN IN SPANGLISH, SUCH AS ADDING THE SPANISH INFINITIVE ENDING OF â€Å"-AR† TO ENGLISH WORDS, LIKE: MAPEAR (TO MOP), TEXTEAR (TO TEXT), CHANGEAR (TO CHANGE), LINKEAR (TO LINK), AND RELESEAR (TO RELEASE). ‘FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINT’ AND ‘EQUIVALENT CONSTRAINT’ ARE TWO LINGUISTIC CONSTRAINTS IN SPANGLISH. FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINTS STATE THAT SWITCHING BETWEEN BOUND MORPHEMES IS  PROHIBITED (E. G. ESTAMOS TALK-ANDO OR YO ESTOY EAT-IENDO). EQUIVALENT CONSTRAINTS STATE THAT NO SWITCH CAN BE MADE IF THE RESULT IS UNGRAMMATICAL, AND MUST BE GRAMMATICAL TO BOTH LANGUAGES (E. G. I SAW LO INSTEAD OF I SAW HIM). IN NEW YORK CITY, PUERTO RICANS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED TO SWITCH FORM CLASS WORDS, SUCH AS NOUNS AND PRONOUNS, AND RARELY SWITCH AUXILIARIES AND ADJECTIVES. MANY SOCIOLINGUISTS, SUCH AS ILLANA STAVANS), ARGUE AGAINST ‘FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINTS’ BY USING LEXICAL WORDS LIKE â€Å"JANGEAR† EVEN THOUGH â€Å"-EAR† IS A BOUND MORPHEME IN SPANISH USED TO CREATE VERBS. STAVANS ARGUMENT DECLARES THAT EVEN THOUGH ‘FREE BOUND MORPHEME’ RULES STATE THAT SWITCHING BETWEEN BOUND MORPHEMES IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPTIONS CAN BE MADE IF THE LEXICAL WORD IS PHONETICALLY INTEGRATED INTO THE BOUND MORPHEME’S LANGUAGE. CALQUES, OR LOAN TRANSLATIONS, GO FURTHER THAN JUST BORROWING WORDS OR PHRASES. THE SPEAKER CREATES A LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING THE GRAMMAR FORMAT; UNGRAMMATICAL TRANSLATION. ‘FALSE COGNATES’ FOLLOW A SIMILAR FORMAT AS THEY BORROW WORDS FROM ENGLISH TO SPANISH BUT PROVIDE A ROOT WORD THAT TRANSLATES INTO A DIFFERENT MEANING (E. G.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"CARPETO† IS INDEED A SPANISH WORD, BUT THE SPEAKER WOULD BE INCORRECT IF THEY WERE USING IT TO DESCRIBE A â€Å"CAR PET†, AS â€Å"CARPETO† ACTUALLY MEANS â€Å"FOLDER† IN SPANISH. BECAUSE ROOT WORDS TEND TO BRANCH ACROSS MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, ‘FALSE COGNATES’ ARE THE MOST COMMONLY USED DEVICES IN SPANGLISH. Based on public literature, specifically Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language (2003) by Illan Stavans, each Spanglish speaker has their own regional dialect depending on their heritage, social lass, and age. Some of these include, â€Å"Cubonics† (Cuban-Americans), â€Å"Nuyorrican† (Puerto Rican spoken in New York  City) and â€Å"Dominicanish† (Dominican-Americans). Stavans explains that there’s no such thing as one Spanish, and each group has its own speech pattern. His view on â€Å"Chicano Spanish†, (which he considers Mexican-American Spanglish), contrasts opposing views from another sociolinguist, Carmen Fought. Fought studies Chicano Spanish, and believes that is â€Å"neither Spanglish nor a version of nonstandard Spanish but, rather, is a unique dialect used by speakers who are typically not bilingual. † Fought even challenges Chicano Spanish stating the speakers are likely to not even know  Spanish at all, and because of their high vowel pronunciation on the letter â€Å"I† (words like â€Å"going† are spoken as â€Å"go-WEEN† or â€Å"talking† becomes â€Å"talk-EEN†) other people might believe what they’re hearing is â€Å"the accent of a native Spanish speaker†, which is false. Cubonics however, uses many loan words like ‘pulover’, which is literally almost spelled the same as the English word it borrows from (‘pullover’), but the Cubonics definition is referring to a â€Å"shirt† whereas â€Å"camiseta† would be the proper Spanish translation. Social motivation for code switching

Business Operations Of Tk Maxx UK

Business Operations Of Tk Maxx UK TK Maxx, part of the Massachusetts based TJK inc. Group of companies, opened its first store in Bristol in 1994, There are now over 260 TK Maxx stores across the UK, Ireland, Germany and Poland. TK Maxx is still a relative new concept. TK Maxx is unique and has no direct competitors. Everything TK Maxx is different. The heart of TK Maxx success lies in business model of offering greater designer labels for up to 60 percent less. The relationship with those labels and designer is critical. TK Maxx talented buyers negotiate fantastic deals from a huge number of suppliers all the way through the season, scouring the fashion and style markets across the world to seize buying opportunities whenever they find them. Company labels for fewer concepts are called off-price retailing and were introduced to the UK from the States in 1994. TK Maxx is still the only fashion off-price retailer in Europe. Designer in a modern and simple way, our stores deliver a smart, no frills shopping experience. This allows us to run a cost-efficient operation and company dont pass on any hidden costs to their customers. The commercial object is to make TK Maxx a household name, synonymous with being smart. TK Maxx has over 500 people at home office, over 10,000 people working throughout the UK and Ireland in their stores and distribution centres. As a progressive, fast paced business the work ethos is high energy. Company describe their business as being accessible, down to earth, friendly, a great leveller, not intimidating. Similarly, our people share a real passion for fashion, are enthusiastic, make the most of opportunities, are individual, resilient and determined to succeed. TK Maxx is the 10th largest fashion retailer in the UK (TNS Fashion Tracker) TK Maxx is the UKs fourth favourite retailer, the third favourite clothing retailer and the UKs favourite shoe retailer for 2009. (Verdict Retail Group). A typical TK Maxx store has over 50,000 items in stock and receives 10,000 new items every week. While TK Maxx is best known for fashion, dont forget our stores sell fabulous accessories, luggage, toys and home ware. Shopping works up an appetite, so Cafà © Maxx is in our stores in Ayr, Swindon, Cardiff, Thurrock, Purley Way and Croydon, TK Maxx value diversity, encouraging different vies, backgrounds and origin. Company are constantly diversity ways in which TK Maxx can make a difference to peoples lives. TK Maxx raises money for charities NCH, Enable Ireland, Cancer Research and Comic Relief. 1(www.TJX.com) Back Ground of Change That exists in Todays Economy Introduction to Change Change is the vital factor for development either business or human, if the human history taken into place as a sample of change, it clearly speak human developed by the change for example human had not had apparel to wear but no human has got cloth industries. There so many example of change, which are obvious and clear brought revolution, as Gues (2010) described to cope with a changing world, an entity must develop the capacity of shifting and changing of developing new skills and attitudes; in short, the capability of learning 2(O Gues Todays Business Magazine January 2010) Change management So we can say that change management is the method, implements and practice to handle the people in business change to achieve the vital business results and to recognise that business change successfully within the social infrastructure of the organisation. The management of change also is practice entail in new values, behaviour and customs within an organisation that help new ways of works and reduce challenges to change, developing harmony among consumers and stake holders on particular changes shaped to better meet their requirements; and planning, testing, and implementing all aspects of the evolution from one organisational formation or business methods to another. Today Economy Globalisation Globalisation is a social, economic and cultural fact which the entire world and now the world become a global village. The progress towards the growth of economic and social ties between countries through expands of corporate institutions and the commercial philosophy that leads to the shrinking of the world in economic terms. Globalisation increases the trust of economies on each other, create the opportunities to be able to buy and sell the goods in any country in the world and it provide the chance for labour and assets to put anywhere in the world. Now the world is the global village and it makes happened with the help of technology, communication networks, internet, growth of economy and progress towards the free trade. There is nothing to be hidden in this world. Todays Economy After taking a beating in the Recession, the world economy is at last starting to turn the corner. There are some indications that recovery is on the way. Businesses are booming. Companies are hiring peoples and the important engine of the economy customer is getting up off the mat and spending money once again. This economy change awake up the shareholder interest towards there business and they want to make the maximum profit and increase the market share of their organisations. Bureaucratic Organisation Max Weber is one of the most leading promoters of bureaucracy. As he described The decisive reason for the advance of bureaucratic organization has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization. The fully developed bureaucratic mechanism compares with other organizations exactly as does the machine with the non-mechanical modes of production. 5.Max Weber (1864-1920) Bureaucratic organizations are suitable in steady environments and for schedule tasks and skills. Bureaucratic structures have plain, well-defined, centralized, vertical hierarchies of command, power and control. Effectiveness and certainty are highlighted through specialization, consistency, and formalization. This results in strictly clear jobs, technologies, and processes. This organisational structures, processes, and roles are like a machine in which each part of the organization does what it is designed to do, but little else. 5.Leo Lingham (2008) Strengths and Weaknesses of Bureaucratic Organisation. The strengths of a bureaucratic organization are first it gave the more command over the employees with clear rules and regulations. In the bureaucratic organisation no confusion as the reporting relationships is clear and well defined. The system is centralized and all the decisions can be monitored. There is consistency and everyone has to follow the same procedure. With many benefits there are some demerits of the Bureaucratic Organisation like the decision making and all the other processes are very slow. The jobs may become boring for the employees. The communication has passed through so many levels that it gets deformed. Too much control depresses originality and creativity. Organisation Development Organisation Development is a planned interference. They are policy consist of specific activities designed to effect change in some side of an organisation. Much interference has been developed over the years focus on different problems or creates different results. However, they all are stepped toward the aim of improving the complete organisation with change. In simple words, organisations that wish to get a high degree of organisational change will employ a full range of interventions, including those planned to change person and group performance and approaches. Individuals trying smaller changes will stop short of those targets, implementing interventions targeted first operating strategies, management structures, employees skills, and workforce policies. Specially, organization development programs will at once add more than one of these interferences. Task Two Develop system to involve appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change. Change cases (Bennett 1997) are used to describe new potential requirements for a system or modifications to existing requirements. Change cases are modelled in a simple manner. You describe the potential change to your existing requirements, indicate the likeliness of that change occurring, and indicate the potential impact of that change. Figure 1 presents two change cases, one potential change that is motivated by technical innovation ¾in this case the use of the Internet ¾and a second by a change in your business environment. Notice how both change cases are short and to the point, making them easy-to-understand. The name of a change case should describe the potential change itself. Reason of Change Tk maxx is the fast moving business during the credit crunch company face economic crises. Now globally business environment change, companies are going towards recovery from credit crunch. Tk maxx realise that it is the best time to implement the change in the organization. Company analysis by third party to review the business stretcher of the company and the main object was to reduce the cost, improve the efficacy and increase the profit and important of all if the world economy faces crises in future company should be effected at minimal. TK Maxx New System TK Maxx developed system name as BEST. This new system include these main changes from top to bottom Change in Hierarchy Introduce New Log in and Log out Change in product Availability Major Changes in Stores Change in Hierarchy TK Maxx changes the hierarchy of the organisation. In previous system one district manager see the seven stores but now one district manager handle the seventeen stores. TK Maxx has the 260 stores around the UK and Europe so where company has the 37 district now it has only 15 managers. According to this change company will save 22 district managers salaries. On the other hand as a result extra work load on the remaining managers and it can affect their efficiency. Company is taking a bureaucratic decision to eliminate the line managers designation as supervisors and also reduced their annual salaries. Introduce New Log in and Log out Company moved from manual Log in system to electronic system. Company will placed a punch machine in every store for Log in and Log out. This change will help to reduce the issues of employees regarding work hours. Change in Product Availability TK Maxx change their product availability cycle. First company purchase officers made purchase from the around world but this purchase was not according to the demand of store managers. In new system store managers will place a request first according to their demands. TK Maxx head office process this request immediately and will deliver once a week. Major Changes in Stores In new system the fitting room sequence will change. Company will change the floor maintenances cycle. There will be one associate is every time available to maintain the floor. Product availability was the major issue. Products are going in the shelf throughout the day. According to this new system all the products will be in the shelf before 12:00 pm. Suggestions for Appropriate Model for Changes Company has changed its Bureaucratic atmosphere, so it utilized the manpower in a sophisticated way and save the cost of many district managers. Through the new login system company all save the time of management and as well the fare and clean job timing of company employees. Company change the product availability sequences to available the product on managers demand and also change the maintainers sequence. Results of this change are cost effectiveness and effective communication from management to there employees. To enhance the quality control process, company should hire good, experience and professional staff because now a days it is the marketing trend that products always sell on the behalf of quality, features, benefits and excellent presentation. There is no need of separate training manager. Company should give this responsibility to HRM department so by adopting this change company can save budget. Company should launch some incentives for employees because motivation in all types always motivates to employees and these employees are the back bone of company.

Misery of Mind :: English Literature Essays

Misery of Mind Dark clouds drew closer to Paddington square. Thick drops of rain broke as they hit the ground. A frozen sculpture of an eagle standing on the world, beneath the winter moon, stared at John with its little stony eyes. John felt an instant moment of remorse, standing, soaked, at the front door of his house. In his hand spools of suffering as the thunder roars. A moment of intense lightening. John shivered in the cold, as he dared not meet the eye of the eagle. He noticed a figure run in the distance out of the corner of his eye. John saw a figure get in a car and drive off. Standing scared of his own shadow, John lifted his left hand, agony in his wet pocket, as rain drips from the end of his nose, shattering on the welcome sign at the door. In his darkroom he was finally alone with the spools of suffering now set out in ordered rows. The only light was red, tenderly glowing as though he was in a church: John the priest preparing the mass. Solutions lie now in trays beneath his hands. Tension mounted in him as the photo processed. John waited anxiously, with a Mr Kipling cake in his right hand. His hands trembled. Features faintly started to twist before his eyes, a half formed ghost. John saw his life end in front of him. He found it hard to breath, as if his lungs were bare. The feeling of being alone was no longer their, John felt as though he was being squeezed around his neck. The cold crept into his body through the surface of his skin. The beat of his heart was fading. He saw only one shadow, his own, as he looked round the room tortured. Then his neck was let loose. Air was now his obsession as John gasped in relief. John looked again at the trays as twisting features slowly formed a figure of a person. Reluctantly he recognised this person. It is his Sarah. She lay before him on the floor, in the kitchen by the cupboard, pleading for her life as John held a razor-sharp knife, standing over her, his bear like shadow across her. She tries to fight back and strikes his left hand with her sharp red nails. He punches her fiercely, full force as tears of blood came down the face of Sarah. Misery of Mind :: English Literature Essays Misery of Mind Dark clouds drew closer to Paddington square. Thick drops of rain broke as they hit the ground. A frozen sculpture of an eagle standing on the world, beneath the winter moon, stared at John with its little stony eyes. John felt an instant moment of remorse, standing, soaked, at the front door of his house. In his hand spools of suffering as the thunder roars. A moment of intense lightening. John shivered in the cold, as he dared not meet the eye of the eagle. He noticed a figure run in the distance out of the corner of his eye. John saw a figure get in a car and drive off. Standing scared of his own shadow, John lifted his left hand, agony in his wet pocket, as rain drips from the end of his nose, shattering on the welcome sign at the door. In his darkroom he was finally alone with the spools of suffering now set out in ordered rows. The only light was red, tenderly glowing as though he was in a church: John the priest preparing the mass. Solutions lie now in trays beneath his hands. Tension mounted in him as the photo processed. John waited anxiously, with a Mr Kipling cake in his right hand. His hands trembled. Features faintly started to twist before his eyes, a half formed ghost. John saw his life end in front of him. He found it hard to breath, as if his lungs were bare. The feeling of being alone was no longer their, John felt as though he was being squeezed around his neck. The cold crept into his body through the surface of his skin. The beat of his heart was fading. He saw only one shadow, his own, as he looked round the room tortured. Then his neck was let loose. Air was now his obsession as John gasped in relief. John looked again at the trays as twisting features slowly formed a figure of a person. Reluctantly he recognised this person. It is his Sarah. She lay before him on the floor, in the kitchen by the cupboard, pleading for her life as John held a razor-sharp knife, standing over her, his bear like shadow across her. She tries to fight back and strikes his left hand with her sharp red nails. He punches her fiercely, full force as tears of blood came down the face of Sarah.

Adolescence and Juvenile Delinquency Essay -- Juvenile Delinquent Crim

I couldn't begin to cover all the possible reasons that may cause an adolescent to become a "juvenile delinquent." During my research, I found that the term juvenile delinquency is defined a number of ways. Mosby's Medical Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary summed up juvenile delinquency best with this definition; "resistant antisocial, illegal, or criminal behavior by children or adolescents to the degree that it cannot be controlled or corrected by the parents, endangers others in the community, and becomes the concern of a law enforcement agency"(1994). I found that most theories about what causes delinquency in children and adolescents originate with families and parenting. Many statistics and studies have been conducted comparing the number of youths that had chosen a delinquent life style, with single parent households, or parents who were drug and alcohol dependant. It is my belief that three out of four parenting styles that we have studied in our text, when taken to extremes, can be just as damaging to an adolescent as a parent suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. Parents who exhibit an indifferent parenting style send the worst possible message to their children. "When permissiveness is accompanied by high hostility, the child feels free to give rein to his most destructive impulses"(Craig, 1996, p.316). And where exactly in the question of causation does nature Vs nurture fit in. What about the child who seemingly has balanced, consistent authoritative parents, and still chooses a delinquent lifestyle. I'm going to address some of these issues in the pages to follow, beginning with an external factor that may influence some of our younger children; TV. The impact of television violence has been debated since TV first arrived in America. According to a study highlighted in US News and World Report, the more violent TV programs children watch, the more likely they are to commit violent crimes. "The greatest impact is on pre-adolescent children who do not yet have the capacity to gauge what is real and what is not" (Zuckerman, Aug. 2,1993). The theory states, that combined with a lack of parenting by "plugging" children into the TV, these children later in life will be conditioned to violence, regarding it as exciting, charismatic, and effective. Opponents of this theory argue... ...est in their role as a parent, and combine this with a low level of affection. This indifferent parenting style offers absolutely no guidance to an adolescent, leaving plenty of room for those environmental factors to take over. A clearly more effective parenting style models the authoritative style highlighted in our text. Children brought up under this framework have a much better chance of avoiding the pit falls of delinquency. There has also been legislation introduced to use public funds to empower religious institutions to act as safe havens for at risk children. Many deterrents have been tried to reduce the effects of juvenile delinquency. More youths are being tried as adults in certain cases, and curfews are being enforced now more than ever. Law enforcement agiencies aggressivly enforce truency laws, and most officers I talk to are very intollerent of the slightest sign of disrespect when approaching suspect youths. Child and family counseling techniques have changed to fit more complex and extreme situations. The fact is that we live in an imperfect world, and final solutions to this problem will probably not be found by men, but by God.

2005 State of the Union Address Essay -- essays research papers

After watching the 2005 State of the Union address. I think that the President, Mr. George W. Bush, has made it clear to the Speaker of the House, Vice President, Membe4rs of Congress, and the citizens of the United States that he has a clear plan to improve the welfare of the United States in present days and days to come. The President put forth that he has now a plan for a budget that holds discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief permanent, and to cut the deficit in half by the year 2009. The principle to his budget is, â€Å" Taxpayer money must be spent wisely, or not at all.† It was also stated that education is a very important part of this nation and that the standards of the schools need to be raised, â€Å"†¦so every high school diploma is a ticket to success.† Later on he speaks of keeping young children and adolescents out of gangs and dangerous violence and encourages that more people be involved in a child’s life by increasing the number of programs to improve literacy and sports. He told of the nation wide effort to do this that would be lead by the First Lady, Laura Bush. Also so the healthcare and costs of health care for lower income families was brought to attention. The President stated that the costs of healthcare should be made affordable to all families that need it. Stating that it should be available to people of every financial status and that there be a community health care center for every needy community. And that information technology should be improved so that fewer errors are made as well as needless costs. He believes that there should be association health care plans for small business owners and their employees and many measures to decrease healthcare costs. The President talked to the Social Security system and how if it is unreformed that it will only lead to its own bankruptcy. He assured those that are now receiving or will be receiving Social Security in the near future that their Social Security would not be affected in any way. The President would like to prevent the deterioration of the Social Security system. According to the facts provided by the President, as of now there are a diminishing number of workers paying an increasing amount of benefits to an increasing number of retirees. If it continues to be like this in the year 2018 the system would be paying out more than it takes in and in the year 2027... ...S. needs to be kept safe and they recognized the men and women who serve in the unformed services of the United States. The Democrats are shocked though that the President did not and has not thus far put forth a clear plan to end our presence in Iraq. They believe that one the responsibility of Iraqi security should be put in the hands of the Iraqis, two that Iraq’s economy needs to be increasingly developed and lastly that regional diplomacy needs to be intensified. They also announced that although the President acknowledges that there is a threat to national security that he has taken no action to correct it. Also they tell of how the President has failed to present a plan to protect America from terrorism. In summary the Democrats believe that the President has backed up his words with action and that they promise to correct this problem as best they can. In conclusion I agree with the President on many views because it seems to me that he has plans to improve the U.S. for the best. But I believe that even though there are conflicts in the views of the President and the Democrats that there will be a compromise that will result in the improved wellbeing of the United States.

Ethical Dilemma Faced in Combat Essay

When two primary values are conflicting there should be a good ethics code to serve as an arbiter. Ethical dilemma is therefore said to arise when there are two primary values conflicting in an individual for example a solider is supposed to be with his family but at the same time he is required to protect the government from enemies and enforce laws. During work he must choose between killing the enemy to protect the state or have mercy on the enemy at the expense of state security. The solider now is having a series of conflicting principles should he be at home with his family or not, if he is on duty should he attack and kill the enemy or should he leave his nation to be conquered? Ethical dilemma is therefore defined as the conflict between two important ethical values or perspectives, for example conflict between ones professional values and personal values, or it may be the conflict between the values held by different people (Cohen 2007). Ethical dilemma involving two people with different perspectives is typical between a doctor and a patient where the patient feels he is having the right not to take medication but the doctor feels that professionally he is entitled to prevent his patient from making this decision that may harm his life. For the US combats it is the professional value conflicting the personal value for example should they kill or not and if so what are the possible consequences. Further on the soldiers are supposed to be with their families but they cannot because they are somewhere in Iraq, Sudan, Israel and other parts of the world keeping peace or protecting the state from possible enemies like the alqueda terrorist group. Combats are the military personnel that are trained by the US military defense section to provide both physical and ideological services needed to fight any enemy of the state. With continued increase in global insecurity these combats are trained to deal with the enemy in the most brutal way possible even if it means killing the enemy. This kind of training makes the solders to develop poor ethical relations with other people more so anybody thought to be an enemy of the federal government will not be treated with any dignity by the combats. These people are always prone to great violations of human bioethical values because many a times they are killed mercilessly in cold blood. The US military ethics and standards of conduct, gives guidelines to military personnel including the combats on the codes of conduct and military ethics to be followed to the letter by any personnel. Violation of the US punitive military provision by any personnel may result to the prosecution of the offender under â€Å" The Uniform Cord of Military justice†. The US combats together with other service groups are supposed to direct their service and support to engage the US’s enemy in fight and offer state security at all costs. They are always organized to operate as a single unit under a one commander who is entitled to give orders on how to combat the enemy as well as how to protect the state at the same time. Within this unit there are the military doctors who are responsible for the wounded or sick combats but within the military medical ethics. The ethical values to be upheld by the combats are honesty, integrity, accountability, fairness, loyalty, respect, caring and promise keeping to the state fellow combats and the citizens. This applies to all the combats from the commander to juniors including the military medical officer. However studies have revealed that â€Å"Mixed Agency† and â€Å"conflicting loyalty† is as common in combats as it is in civilians with malicious combats justifying their acts to protection of the state leaving the straight forward ones in ethical dilemmas since they have to be loyal to the state, they have to kill (Beam 2005). The ethical dilemmas facing the combats include conflict in military ethics and health ethics, bioethics, human psychological ethics as well as military medical ethics. Therefore the combats are left in huge dilemmas on how to address each specific value with respect to their professional ethics that is the military ethics. One of the commanders in Iraq was reported to have accepted that actually in the battlefield they were at dilemma not with the bioethical value of the enemy or the civilians but also amongst the combats themselves. He said that it is actually it was not a simple matter to kill or to be killed, however the soldiers have to think about their fellow soldiers, their country and the reason why they have gone for war. If the leave the enemy to kill their fellow soldiers because they sympathize with the enemy, the soldiers are considered compromising the military ethics. If they kill the enemy they are considered war criminals before the law concerned with international human rights. The soldier are then expected to protect the interests of their fellow soldier and their nation but without compromising the interest of the civilians in war torn nations or the interest of the war lords they fight with for example the taliban group in Iraq. However those feeling the pinch of the dilemma here are the commanders, they have to put soldiers to battle knowing very well that deaths will occur but there is nothing they can do because they will do everything within their powers to save the lives of the soldiers the can not accomplish the mission. Continued war all over the world sees the combats being sent to various destinations this has by far added greater dimensions to the combat’s ethical dilemmas. With increased injuries and deaths the soldiers do not know where to start and end because the dilemma now is actually seen in their lives versus the profession. The US military ethics does not offer any guideline on whether to withhold treatment from soldiers with severe brain injuries or not, the military doctors are the in turn faced with a very complicated moral and ethical dilemma. Here the doctor must choose between treating the worst and disturbing wounds he has ever seen or to let his fellow soldier to die in the battlefields like Iraq. In these situations the military doctor are obsessed with keeping the wounded soldiers alive even if the wound is so serious something they would not have done in US. The military ethics back in US calls for immediate termination of life in such cases or an amputation if any of the limbs is involved, but in the war tone Iraq the military doctors are doing exactly the opposite of what is expected of them. Recently heated debates were witnessed across the states to discuss the position of women in US combat many people were against the view that females should be part of the team while others were supporting it by citing the great roles played by German women to fight the Nazi wars in the post war Germany. However the main ethical dilemma facing the women is to choose between going to war to protect their nation from enemies or to remain at home to care for the family. But if they go to war will they be safe in regard to their male counter pats in issues regarding sexual harassments and equality. To avoid these dilemmas there should be a well-defined ethics code to guard everybody getting involved with the soldiers for example there should be a specific line to differentiate military ethics and Bioethics or military ethics and medical ethics. The soldiers should adopt military role specific ethic which only favor military interest exclusively and the medical ethics should also be exclusive to patients. No mixing up agency should occur in the different values. When it comes to killing for example its a military ethics that a soldier whom is expected to be injured to recover should be shot dead, a soldier who betrays the federal government should also face the same but what of bioethics, is really right to kill? The soldiers should therefore be vigilant not to act inhumanly, they should learn to be flexible in their actions not to be influenced by fellow soldiers or even the state but should consider the values of the people they meet in war. The combats should also develop the skills of listening and learning from the mistakes made in the past by them or colleagues to avoid making any further errors. They should also learn to make their own decisions regardless of the unexpected situations they encounter in the battlefields and act accordingly with regard to military ethics and other moral ethics.

Great Talkers Little Doers

In addition to commercial advertising and ideological propagandathere is social advertising, which refers to the advertisements whichdeal with social causes and are aimed at the welfare and well-being of the people. Its target audience is not specific class but the masses whocan be educated about socially relevant issues like health, familywelfare, literacy, national security, to mention a few issues only. Theimportance of such advertisements has reached such heights thateven the government falls back upon them quite often to highlight theissues to immediate concern.Undoubtedly, in today’s context, carryingout campaigns through social communication is of paramountimportance. The society, the economy, the politics and the mediaexposure are bringing about changes which are so radical and dynamicthat they are creating dissonance and upheavals. In order to withstandthe negative effects of changes, we certainly need these kinds of campaigns through advertising or propaganda, for su stainingcommunication with the masses at large. In short, advertising not onlyinfluences the buyer’s perception but also his responses to socialproblems.It has its negative effects but the positive side far out-stripsthe negative side. WE TALK MORE, WORK LESS Undeniably, there are millions of people in India who think little,act even less but talk too much. Indulgence in idle gossip, disgruntledattitudes, bitter criticism of all and sundry, frustration over their sorryplight, fate and â€Å"kismat†, have in fact become national pastimes. Thenumber of those who can claim that they keep their tongue within theirlips and never talk in vain is limited. The talk of the common people,mostly irresponsible, creates the impression that they have little to do.Indians are indeed typical of the people of the Orient who have nothingworthwhile to say, and yet contrive to spend the longest time in sayingit. Those who have endless time on their hands are great babblers. Thinking and r eflection postulate a certain degree of education andintellectual development. About 64 per cent of the people in India areilliterate; so they have not developed the qualities of thinking andreflection. Montesquieu truly said that the less men think, the morethey talk. India is a land of myriad tongues. The 1961 census listed1652 languages as mother tongues spoken in India, and the 1971census, retaining he number, presented a somewhat more realisticpicture. Judged by any standard, India is Babel of tongues, perhaps thelargest in the world. This Babel has been the outcome of a cumulative process resulting from the influx of various races into the countrythrough the centuries. Talkers are never good doers; this explains theproverbial sloth, idleness and complacency of the average Indian. Ourmaterial output, our productivity and production, our net contributionto the country’s Gross National Product (GNP) are all far too low.Whilepeople should learn to use their hands and to be active all the time(like the Japanese who have raised their country to the pinnacle of glory despite the havoc done to their economy during World War II), wehave mastered the technique of whiling away time talking and talking,doing little positive, constructive and concrete work. Jawaharlal Nehru, in a speech way back in 1952, said he wastired of people who merely talk about various things. However wise youmay be (in India the number of truly wise, sagacious men and womenis limited), he said, you can never enter into the spirit of a thing if youonly talk about it and do nothing.We do not know the value of time; sowe do not mind spending precious hours in idle gossip. In part thedisinclination to be up and doing all the time is the result of ourfatalistic beliefs and attitudes. Most of us tend to believe that what Godhas ordained cannot be averted. What will be, will be; so, they argue,why needlessly waste energy in thwarting God’s will? Besides, there are many among us who be lieve that flattery isthe shortest route to success in today’s India. The great talkers, thewily, garrulous politicians who sway audiences through their loud talk,all manage to mislead the people and promote their selfish ends.Aflatterer is in the excellent company of imitators because imitation isconsidered the sincerest form of flattery. The easiest weapon adoptedby flatterers and sycophants is smooth talk, not work. A ready and glibtongue has at times proved to be a more precious weapon than gifts of cash and kind. Through a facile tongue the flatterers continually createillusions and a world of make-believe. Almost all great talkers are greatflatterers; praise inevitably becomes their forte. Then there are those hose talk mostly comprises advice to alland sundry on everything on earth. Like air and water, advice too canbe had free. Self-appointed advisers are great talkers; they talk theirway into your hearts and they even drive away rationality, good senseand the quality of discriminating between chalk and cheese. Asking foradvice is to tout for flatterers. And flattery feeds the ego and isexhilarating. Most talkers become bores. But let it be said in defense of the growing tribe of talkers that they do manage at times to relieveboredom.A quiet gathering at which all those present are serious-minded people deeply engrossed in thought and philosophy wouldappear to maintain the silence of the graveyard. The talkers relatefunny incidents, describe lively experiences and entertain theircredulous listeners, quieten and comfort the people, for hours together. There is no tax on talk and gossip. So the idle, endless talker flourishesat the cost of the silent, constructive worker. It is the latter who canhelp ensure national progress, not the ceaseless twisters of the tongue,even though the latter manage to find credulous audiences.True,sincere and genuine workers cannot stand non-sensical postures,including nonsense talk. But work does not lie in marching up anddown the streets, shouting slogans and lodging protests. Many of ustend to resort to strikes and work stoppages. Undeniably, our future amongst nations, and the good name of our country, depends entirely upon our work and work alone. Muchvaluable work can be done silently and without becoming noisy orindulging in aimless talk. If everyone realises the truth of this dictum,the salvation of the country would not be far off

What Does College Mean to Me?

What does college mean to me? Going to college to me means a lifetime full of knowledge. College is an accomplishment that would give me success for the rest of my life. When I’m older I hope college will build on to my knowledge level and put me at the top! I want to be an anesthesiologist when I get older so that means I have to go to at least four years at a regular college hopefully USC, and then go to a doctoring school for at least 8 years. In order to achieve this goal I have to do well in school now to get the job in about 15-25 years.College is a tool that I would have to have to get that job and I’m determined on getting it. I hope I’ll be more successful and think more about my future then. College would be a great thing for me since almost none of my family went, well my mom did and then she dropped out. If I made it to college I would love to finish what my mom started and finish college and do what she wanted to do become an actual something and not just a receptionist/nurse at a doctor’s office.College would mean the world to me and my family and all my relatives support me in my work and think I would do very well in college if I focused more on my school work now so I hope to become better at paying attention and giving my all in all my classes especially my AVID class because that is the class that is making my dream come true. AVID is a program that gives kids a way to get to college by giving scholarships which is the only way I’d be able to go to college because my parents say that they can’t afford for three kids to go to college.My parents tell me that I have to work my hardest in this class and stay smart so maybe just maybe I won’t have to pay but a small amount out of my pocket or even my parent’s pockets. College would be a blessing to me and help my dream career become a reality! I hope that doing my work and working hard in my AVID class will get me there. My AVID teacher is al so a big part of my college dream and she inspires me to want to go to college and I’m very thankful that she has helped me get my life straight and I’m set on what I want to do and what job I want to pursue and I’m ready for college and I’ll do anything I can to get there.

Pharmasim Preliminary Market Strategy Essay

Allstar Brands’ over-the-counter cold and allergy remedy Allround will continue to be the market leader among OTC cold medicines and continue to increase its stock price over the next decade in order to remain not only competitive, but the premier stock choice among competitors in the OTC cold and allergy remedy market. To further grow the Allround product it is essential to build upon the current strengths of the brand, but also seek additional areas for opportunity and growth. These goals will be accomplished by evaluating competitors entering the OTC cold and allergy remedy market and through careful planning and execution to enhance our current product to meet the desires and needs of consumers. Allstar Brands’ Allround product holds a strong position in the over-the-counter cold and allergy remedy market by being the market share leader, but there is no guarantee this trend will continue. Allround recognizes the need to continue to diversify and reformulate its current product line in order to remain competitive in light of an influx of competition. Allround competes in one of four product categories in the OTC market with no emphasis in the cough, allergy, or nasal categories. We will be better enabled to meet the desires and needs wanted most by consumers by enhancing the current Allround product line. Allstar Brands’ Allround product has been a profitable brand with manufacturer sales of over $355 million in its most recent period. To further increase sales it is crucial to ensure the Allround brand is being sought by all consumers in the OTC cold and allergy remedy market. Recent surveys show the Allround brand did not receive the best shelf space placement and this is a great concern to the future of the brand. It is important Allround reallocates its resources appropriately to maximize the efficiency of our channels of distribution in order to promote our brand to its fullest potential. Allround’s brand effectiveness and high recognition have allowed it to be among the price leaders in the OTC cold and allergy remedy market. This current trend is a great concern to the management team at the OCM group of Allstar Brands. In order to remain competitive Allround must closely monitor all pricing aspects associated with manufacturing and selling the brand. To ensure Allround can maintain a price leadership role in the market it must continually adjust its pricing tactics to better suit its consumers in periods of growth and decline. Allround’s success depends on the consumers who buy its product. To ensure consumers are purchasing our product Allround must offer the greatest value. By promoting our product to the appropriate demographics we can develop more sales and grow our customer base. Allround brand recognizes the need to promote its product through all types of mediums including coupons, point-of-purchase vehicles, and trial-size packages in order to maintain customer loyalty. If Allstar Brands is able to understand its customers on a more intimate basis then it can better provide for desires and needs sought by those purchasing medicine in the OTC cold and allergy remedy market. Situation Analysis The following is a situational analysis of all pertinent aspects of the current state of the market and of the Allround product. Using the â€Å"5 Cs† we have developed an overview of the current situation and hope to present it in a clear and concise manner. This covers the current external factors, major competitor factors, projected customer’s information, fellow distributor’s and retailer’s factors, and current company outlook. -Context: External factors -Collaborators: Who are we using to promote our product, and how do we motivate them? WhoWhyMotivate PharmacistsCustomers value and trust the opinions of pharmacistsMarket that boosting the sales of Allround will also boost drugstores sales Chain DrugstoresStatisticaly a high volume of sales come from thesePromoting this product will boost sales and garner more customers for both Allround and the drugstore Grocery StoresStatisticaly a high volume of sales come from theseConvince that this is the best OTC cold medicine and that stocking this will increase store sales DoctorsDoctors could recommend product to patientsDistribute samples to local doctors to encourage recommendations to patients -Company: Goal? Strengths and weaknesses? GoalsMetricsStrengthsWeaknesses Increase Stock Price10% increase per yearBrand awareness, market share, product quality, high potential growthUnacceptable budget allocation Increase Company Net Income10% increase per yearHigh income, high price, brand awarenessWeak portfolio Increase Company Annual Net Income~$74MBrand awareness, company growth, inelastic pricingSales coverage, Unused R&D capacity Increase Company Utilization~93%#1 product in market, new product line and reformulation optionsAlcohol additive in current formula, budget Increase Shelf Space Rank#1 product in retailBrand awarenessSales coverage and promotion, diluted advertising plan, budget constraints Target Market: The Allround initial marketing plan will be focused on four core groups. The four groups include empty nesters, mature families, singles, and retirees. The main marketing focus will be on singles and empty nesters, as those are our core customers. Singles and empty nesters is Allround’s primary demographic. These 2 groups are the perfect candidates due to their age. Young singles are defined as young adults living alone; Allround was made for fast relief for adults. Young singles, being largely independent, require fast and effective relief from cold symptoms. Empty nesters are classified as older people whose households are now empty. Mature families are also a large group of interest. Mature families usually have older children and are less cautious of the side effects on a teen. The parents of the household are also usually middle aged and still in the workforce, this is a perfect demographic for a fast relief cold medicine. Retired is an important, but already established, market for Allround. Due to this fact the company should focus less advertising on retirees. People past the point of retirement have already been largely exposed to the product. The chance of acquiring new customers from this demographic is low, and the advertising opportunity is past its prime. The marketing team has decided against advertising to young families, at least for the moment. Young families are especially concerned with side effects of medicine. Many families with young children won’t be as interested in adult cold medicines. Therefore, advertising efforts should be focused elsewhere. Allround should look into developing a child’s cold medicine in the future; bundle that with the original formula and market it to young families. Recommendations: Our recommendations are focused on the initial four major company expressed at the beginning of this report. First we will discuss how to improve our product, and by extension customer satisfaction, as well as possible new product lines. Second, we will focus on product placement and improving distribution channels. Third, we discuss possible pricing options and contingencies. Finally, promotion plans and increasing our circulation through major markets. The Allround product is a well recommended and widely trusted OTC cold and allergy medication. To maintain this image we need to further show our customers that we are listening. A major issue with current customers is the alcohol content, and resulting side effects, of the current Allround formula. To improve Allround’s image even further we must reformulate the current product to rid it of alcohol while still maintaining its effectiveness. Customers have also expressed interest in chest decongestant; by again reformulating the product we can add expectorant to further the overall quality of cold symptom relief. A final possibility would be to explore new product line options, such as an improved Allround product or a child’s cold medicine, to diversify the company and reach more markets. Allround has a very high shelf stock, however due to a large number of new competitors this number is decreasing. The first recommendation regarding placement of the product would be to increase the number of detailers to increase support of wholesalers and merchandisers; it is recommended that the number of initial detailers be at least doubled. Secondly, support must be shown for independent drugstores, therefore it is advised that the company allocate more of its sales force to that resource. Finally, more advertising and trial promotions need to be focused on chain drugstores and grocery stores. Allround has consistently been one of the higher priced OTC cold and allergy medicines, justified by its proven quality. Price is more mercurial than other factors in marketing; pricing must be determined on a yearly basis. Inflation rate and marketing forecast must be closely monitored to determine the companie’s actions regarding price. If the market outlook is favorable then price increase should match that of inflation rate; if the market outlook is not favorable the price increase must stay below inflation rate. Following this plan should ensure sales will follow a steady or upward trend, minimizing loss. Allround tries, and largely succeeds, at being a household name. To ensure this stays true promotion must be increased to compete with the influx of competition into the market, to do this we go back to reformulating the product. Due to Allrounds alcohol content, and subsequent side effects, doctors are more apt to recommend competitors with alcohol-free products. Removing the alcohol content would go great lengths in increasing doctor and pharmacist recommendations. More focus needs to be placed on trial promotions, while couponing should stay the same for the base product. Promotion funds need to be more targeted toward our major retailers, chain drug stores and grocery stores, as these largely use circulars and other promotional strategies.

Why Was the Irish Revolution of 1919-21?

On December 6 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was drafted and signed by representatives of both the Irish and British Governments. After centuries of bitter feuding involving both sides the British Government was for the first time to offer the Irish independence. In this essay I seek to outline how the Irish revolution of 1919 and 1921 was successful in achieving Irish independence. Richard English says, â€Å"There had never been any chance of a formal military victory†¦ nor in practice of the British recognising an Irish republic. [1] If English is right to say this then how did the Irish manage to gain independence when the odds were stacked against them both militarily and politically? I believe that independence was reached for a number of reasons to be discussed in more detail later. These factors can be divided into the two crucial areas of political and military. Politically, there was a list of British failures including the negative publicity attracted by the revolution at home, pressure from America and the Government of Ireland Act. Failures only exacerbated by political achievements on the Irish side.Such as De Valera’s trip to the U. S to canvass American support for the revolution plus the establishment of Dail Eireann and its de facto courts. The next section of the essay will be based on the military issues. Was the revolution’s success down to Britain’s failures or Ireland’s triumph of military tactics? Military mistakes were made on the British side which nullified the fact that they had a vastly superior army. The harsh reprisals in nationalist territories for example stoked tensions unnecessarily. A large part of the revolutions success could be attributed to the military strengths of the IRA.With Michael Collins at the head the IRA was extremely strong tactically and used guerrilla warfare to great effect. The also had a mass intelligence system to rival any according to figures like Thomas Bowden for instanc e. Although some historians such as Peter Hart try to unravel the legend of Michael Collins and believe he did not have quite as big a role in the war as many would later claim. Political In order for the revolution to work the IRA had to defeat Britain politically and in a propaganda war as well as militarily.It has to be noted that as far back as 1916 the Irish public had no interest in a revolting. The men who took part in the Easter Rising were looked upon as villains in the immediate aftermath not heroes. It was political failure that allowed such a dramatic swing in public opinion to take place. The harsh treatment of the rebels was the turning point in Irish popular opinion. It formed the motivation for many who joined the IRA during the revolution becoming a superb propaganda tool for the republican cause. With each execution of the men who took part in Ireland the fury grew.A student in the University College of Dublin Barry once studied remarked, â€Å"I never experienced anything like this surging fury with the news produced in everyone. †[2] Later in the interview the student claims that there was notable rejoice when three Englishmen were shot for every Irishman hung. Primary quotes like this go some way to showing the feelings of resentment caused through Britain’s political own goals that multiplied the supporters of an armed revolution in a matter of days. It was not only public opinion in Ireland that was affected by the mistakes of the British administration.Public opinion in Britain throughout the revolution had reached a low. Many normal British citizens were horrified by what they saw as atrocities going on in their name. A sketch of opinion at the time can be viewed in a report of the Labour commission to Ireland in 1921. The report claims that the results of a government policy of reprisals on the people manifests in three main ways they are health economic and spirit. The report states, â€Å"months of oppression, coercio n, and physical violence cannot but have far reaching effects upon the people who suffer under them. The Labour party believed at the time that British Government policy was to the detriment of the economy both in Ireland and in Britain. While the armed forces â€Å"provocative behaviour† was only creating â€Å"a new bitterness of spirit† among the people. Perhaps a concluding line from the document may sum up the thoughts and fears of many in Britain. â€Å"Things are being done in the name of Britain which must make her name stink in the nostrils of the whole world†[3] A crucial failure of British policy was the Government of Ireland Act passed in 1920.The Act was to create two subordinate parliaments one in Belfast and one in Dublin. The Belfast Parliament comprised of the same six counties that would later make up Northern Ireland. The Act was ignored in the twenty six counties but the Dail was powerless to prevent its operation in the North. Ronan Fanning believes that the Act later caused the British to give away more independence than previously hoped by the very fact it had Ireland divided into separate legislative bodies never an intention of the Act. Britain continually faced U. S pressure to solve the Irish question.Lloyd George faced constant pressure from U. S president Woodrow Wilson. It is said in Hopkinson’s book that Wilson told him until the Irish question was resolved it was bound to not only affect the relations between England and the U. S but inevitably effect the relationship of England with her colonies as well. [4] It would be wrong for one to say the Irish revolution of 1919-1921 in achieving Irish independence was all down to Britain’s failure politically. For one to do claim would do a great injustice to many strengths the Irish displayed politically before independence was achieved.Three factors to be considered here are the rise of Sinn Fein, De Valera’s canvassing of U. S support and the creation of the Dail parliament and Courts. The rise of Sinn Fein led to a radicalisation of the masses which had previously not existed in Ireland before this the majority were happy with Home Rule now it was all or nothing. When discussing this many historians would say that the rise Sinn Fein was as much if not more a consequence of Britain’s failings more than any great genius on behalf of Sinn Fein. A school of thought shared by historians including Hopkinson and Dangerfield.Dangerfield was of the belief that by not implementing Home Rule the rise of a more radical politics was unavoidable. â€Å"The point is that when the concept of Home Rule vanished†¦ Nationalist Ireland drifted into a position were only republican and revolutionary leadership became possible. †[5] Once this process had begun it was simply irreversible. Whereas Hopkinson would state that the British Government had a misplaced optimism involving Sinn Fein. They tried to suppress them by ma king many arrests which all led to propaganda victories for the party.Who could now claim they were unjustly victimised. â€Å"Like many other British politician both before and since, they believed that a few extremists were the problem and that usual order would be restored once they were dealt with. †[6] By trying to introduce conscription in Ireland Britain only managed to give Sinn Fein another boost. Townshend asserts, â€Å"In resistance to conscription, the Sinn Fein leadership found for the first time a national political issue which could mobilise the mass of the people. †[7] Not all of Sinn Fein’s rise can be blamed on the British according to Peter Hart.The party he argued was strengthened by female involvement and the support of first time female voters. De Valera’s visit to the Treaty of Versailles may not have laid to the American backed independence hoped but was beneficial in other areas. Yet despite this there was support for his cause i n America. According to Ferriter, De Valera managed to raise something in the region of $6 million between January 1920 and October 1921 a figure higher than that raised in Ireland. Ferriter asserts that to call Irish Nationalism a mass movement in the U. S by 1920 was no exaggeration.Perhaps the central political success by Ireland before eventually achieving independence was the creation of Dail Eireann on January 21 1919. An illegal parliament based in Dublin separate from British control. The Dail followed the path of which Ronan Fanning called â€Å"Sinn Fein’s unilateral solution to the age old problem of the constitutional relationship between Britain and Ireland was to deny that there was any legitimate connection. †[8] Thus it made sense that the Dail’s first law was to break with Britain. Townshend was complimentary in speaking of the decision to set up Dail Eireann. Their (nationalists) action in assembling on 21 January 1919 as Dail Eireann, the Parl iament of Ireland was in itself revolutionary. †[9] At the beginning Britain simply ignored this new parliament. They shared the same beliefs Stephen Gwynn echoed in 1921. â€Å"When the decision was taken to constitute the Irish members into an Irish parliament people were inclined to laugh. †[10] Gwynn later claimed that the fact the British Government did not initially interfere merely added unreality to the whole proceedings. Yet many believe that when Britain did interfere in 1919 in banning the Dail more harm than good came as a consequence.Arthur Mitchell says the banning of the Dail was not its end but really its making driving it underground was generally to its advantage. The fact that Dail Eireann created its own judicial system greatly undermined British rule. Ferriter points out positives and negatives of these courts. It was said, â€Å"The promptness and efficiency of the courts impressed even most unionists. †[11] Although at times reality bit as Ferriter tells us how figures such as Cathal Brugha the minister of defence had little time for courts they were a distraction from war.Military Despite all the ramifications of each side’s political manoeuvres it is highly unlikely of course the Irish revolution would ever have taken place were it not for what happened militarily. Similar to political, military could also be divided into both Britain’s failures and Irish success. How did the IRA gain a truce when they were fighting the military might of the British Empire? If English’s point earlier in the essay is to be considered the IRA could never have gained a formal military victory.Could it be a case that the British overestimated the IRA’s staying power? For the IRA’s key leader Michael Collins himself believed the IRA was close to breaking point. The British policy of reprisals was in itself a military disaster. Augustein puts the point across that, â€Å"The actual and alleged bad behav iour of the crown forces was an extremely persuasive force which caused and justified a violent response by the IRA in the eyes of men and women on all sides. †[12] Thomas Bowden is of the view that reprisals were advocated at the very top level of British intelligence.Sir Henry Wilson, chief of the Imperial General Staff was a known sponsor of these methods declaring â€Å"shoot all Irish leaders by roster. †[13] On May 21 1921, General McCready sent a memo stating, â€Å"Defeat the IRA by the summer or pullout† It is possible the general did not want to get bogged down in a guerrilla conflict in unfamiliar terrain. Though historians like Townshend believe McCready was giving too much credit to the IRA who would soon fall. While others including Hart have the view that the IRA’s organisation was such McCready was right to issue the memo.In order to achieve independence the IRA had to have been strong militarily. Much of this is put at the door of historia ns to Michael Collins held by many as a master of tactician and great exponent of guerrilla warfare. Collins is chiefly judged in history as the main man behind the revolution. One such historian is Dangerfield who complements Collins highly. â€Å"Neither Richard Mulcahy, the volunteers chief of staff, nor the Minister of defence come close to Collins, with his administrative genius, his enormous energy, his warm blooded presence, his cold and concerted purpose. [14] Strong praise for a man Peter Hart claims never held a gun post 1916. For Collins was based in Dublin mainly undertaking intelligence duties. ———————– [1] English, p29 [2] Augustein [3] Labour, pp54-56 [4] Hopkinson, p33 [5] Dangerfield, p246 [6] Hopkinson, p31 [7] Townshend, p318 [8] Fanning pp1-2 [9] Townshend, p328 [10] Gwynn, p62 [11] Ferriter, p202 [12] Augustein, ‘Motivation’ [13] Bowden, p119 [14] Dangerfield, p313