Malaysian airline Essay

Purposes: In general, a brand’s reputation of Airlines Company might be very important in the eye of people (society). In fact, brand is consider as a promise to customers â€Å"setting up expectations† and with a strong brand it deliver on what it promises by the development of a strong reputation (Aaker 2009, p. 3). This approach seems particularly well suited to the reputation of Airlines Company, in which their brand’s reputation as image can be describe as a very important aspect. The goal of this study is to assess and analyses on the implication of accident to the reputation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS). In this project, I will explore how the reputation of MAS is affected, after the accident on 8 March 2014 (BBC 2014). In particular, I will focus on how MAS’s reputation and brand is significantly damaged by the disappearance of Flight MH370 and how to fix and rebuilding their reputation  and brand’s image after the accident happen. Therefore , the questions arise on how to convince and ensure the safety of MAS in their future operations. Also, the study will examine, test and attempt to measure the trust level of a customer’s perspective (the situational approach) towards MAS reputation after the tragedy occurred. Background: In this age, reputation and brand is become one of essential part of business environment. According to Brigham (2010) claims a business’s most valuable asset is its good name, brand and reputation, as a result brand reputational value is irreplaceable and company must protect it (Brigham 2010, p. 1). Hence, the accident on Flight MH370 is apparently affected the brand and reputation of MAS. As a result, I choose this topic, since it was the current issue in the eye of people around the world, due to the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 went missing less than an hour after take off. Also, the other reason I’m interested to select this issue, because I believe this accident will give a huge impact which can tarnish to the business reputation of MAS. Thus, this topic is important issue now, because it not just involves the company itself, but it related to international accident. Furthermore, I will conduct my study in a literature review, observe the general p eople discussion regarding MH370 Flight incident, and take a survey and interview randomly in Sydney about the mystery of disappearance of MH370. Scope: I will engage in literature review, in order to collect secondary data which is available on the news over a six-week period, from 1 April to 13 May 2014 for approximately 6 hour per week. I will typically observe the discussion of general people regarding the mystery of missing plane MH370 and stay around ten to fifteen minutes in order to observe other people perspective’s in the way they talk, feel and express about MAS reputation after the accident occurred. On some days I may come at other times of the day for survey. In this case, I will make a questionnaire regarding the people perspective’s generally of MAS reputation after the MH370 Flight incident. This questionnaire will be given to a random people whom I meet in Sydney (city area) and I will distribute the questionnaire also by email and other social networking sites. Moreover, I will schedule structured  interviews, but I will interview randomly to a general people in Sydney as informal question re garding their opinion and judgement about MAS reputation after the missing plane MH370, as needed to clarify and provide insight perspective of MAS reputation’s value into specific conversations. Theoretical framework: I will be guided most generally by the concept of branding in the International Marketing field, since branding is develop a company reputation in long term and it may be consider as one of the most important decisions made by marketing managers (Kohli, 1997, p. 206). The concept of branding leads to build a reputation in the mind of consumer as company image (identity) as seen from the outside and it about company brand is who they are, what is their strength, integrity and reputation, so its not simply on how company logo is displayed, but rather than that, it involves the emotional and intellectual response to target audiences (Stine 2008, p. 2). The corporate reputation can be consider as corporate image which is content identify, image, prestige, goodwill, esteem and standing (Wartick2002 as cited in Dolphin 2004, p. 81). Also, the corporate reputation is most influenced by the actions of an organization rather than a successful of PR campaign (Lewis 2001, p. 31). Consequently, based on research a good reputation allows a company to easily attract customers companies by the establishment of reputation for delivering high-quality products and service (Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 30). Research show that a firms’ reputation is consider to the success or failure of its brands, so it is very important for a firm to maintain or advance their reputation (Herbig and Milewicz 1993, p. 18). In addition, research show a good corporate reputation leads firms to enhance financial and market performance, as a result the corporate reputation appears to emerge as a critical dimension of benchmarking of a firm performance (Lee and Roh 2012, p. 649). Hence, it is very important to get a good reputation; company must be truthful, reliable and consistent about the offering product or service in order to get a customer loyalty (Melewar, Nguyen and Abimbola 2013, p. 1). Brands and brandings have such a profound impact on the society as whole a not just on people who buy or used their product and service, thus an ethical brand enhances the firm’s reputation, since such a good reputation  reinforces the brand in turn (Fan 2005, p. 341). However, any unethical behaviour of misconduct will severely damage or even destroy the total intangible asset of company, so in order to retain and advance company name, marketing managers must concern and implement 6Cs of corporate marketing which are corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation must be integrated under the umbrella title of corporate marketing (Fan 2005, p. 341 and Balmer & Greyser 2006, p. 730). According to Kotler and Keller (2006), brands are very important for both the company and the consumers, because brands indentify the source or maker of a product and service and allow consumers either individuals or organization to assi gn responsibility to a particular manufacture or distributor (Kotler and Keller 2006 as cited in Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 19). In this case, the brand reputation can be good or bad, strong or weak, its depend on how the company maintain their performance of reputation and it crystallizes how people feel about that reputation based on whatever information they have about the brand is regarded and respected (Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 31). I am exploring the meanings of brand reputation of MAS which is apparently affected after MH370 Flight incident. In this research, I hope to achieve the solution on how to fix and rebuilding the reputation of MAS Company and find the solution on how to get a trust back from customer itself. Also, find the way on how to maintain the customer loyalty after accident happen. Moreover, conclude the outcome on how far the correlations regarding brand reputation can affect the consumer’s perception. At the end, get the results regarding on the current level of customers’ confidence and trust in general people towards MAS reputation. Method: 1. Conduct a literature review on the implication of accident to the reputation of MAS. 2. Observe the discussion of general people about the mystery of missing plane MH370, for example: in collage or in a public place if somebody or friends talk about MAS Flight incident. Therefore, I will come closely and have a discussion with them in order to observe their opinion and judgement  regarding their own way on how they talk, feel and express their perspectives about MAS reputation. 3. Interview randomly to a general people in Sydney (city area) to clarify and provide insight into conversations. Thus, I will try to conduct these interviews shortly after conversation of interest to a general people who discusses regarding the accident to the reputation of MAS. The common strategy for the interviews is to begin with broad and general questions and follow up on the interviewee’s response in order to capture the person meanings and get their perception and to avoid imposing my meanings on the interviewee. I will use structured interviews in order to ensure that answer can be reliably aggregated (consistent), also it can reach a large sample, so a representative sample is possible can be used to make statements. While the interviews will not be formal but it structured, it more likely as informal and the kinds of questions I will ask include the following: a. What do you feel regarding the mystery of missing plane MH370? b. What do you think about the reputation of MAS after the accident occurred recently? c. What do you think that MAS should do in order to solve the tragedy of missing plane MH370? d. Do you still believe that MAS have a good reputation after the MH370 Flight incident? e. If you have a chance to travel going to overseas, do you still have trust to fly with MAS, despite the missing Flight MH370? f. Do you believe that MAS will improve their management of security and safety as their offered the flying service in the future? 4. Conduct a simple survey by a questionnaire paper regarding the people perspective’s generally of MAS reputation after the MH370 Flight incident. This questionnaire will be given to a random people whom I meet in Sydney (city area) and I will distribute the questionnaire also by email and other social networking sites. The reasons, I’m using questionnaires because it’s practical (I can do and conduct), realistic, sensible, handy, useful and convenient method. The outcome of conduct questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily interpret the result. 5. Write a research report that combines my understanding of own horizon and perception of the relevant theory and previous research with the outcomes of my empirical research. Simple Gantt chart: Limitations: Time constraints (limitation) of the semester require less time than may be ideal for research study. By collecting secondary data for only six hours a week for six-weeks, there are bound to be very difficult to evaluate the accuracy of secondary data, and the quality of internal secondary data may be exaggerated or biased, since I rely on secondary data from the news. Being an outsider may also limit what is revealed to me. The interview and survey it can be difficult to obtain reliable data on attitudes, opinion and values (unless validated questionnaires are used). Delimitations: I am choosing to not find the data from primary resources which is not available (not exist) and it’s not allowing the access of data. Thus, I’m used the secondary data from the news which is available, in order to look a broader of perspective regarding the understanding of general people in society towards the reputation of MAS. It is often cheaper and it saves time than doing primary research. Additionally, I will not use unstructured interviews because; a lot more time consuming in comparison to other research methods and it can be difficult to interview a large sample, affecting the data’s generalise and representativeness, also prone to digression and much of the data collected might be worthless. References Aaker, J 2009, ‘Building Innovative Brands’, Stanford Graduate School of Business, pp. 1-38, viewed 5April 2014, . Balmer, M.T.J and Greyser, S.A 2006, ‘Corporate Marketing: Integrating corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Iss: 7/8, pp.730 – 741, Emerald, viewed 2 April 2014 BBC 2014, ‘Missing Malaysia Airlines plane’, News Asia, viewed 1 April 2014, Brigham, A. F 2010, ‘Your Brand Reputational Value Is Irreplaceable Protect It!’, Forbes, pp. 1, viewed 5April 2014, . Dolphin, R. R 2004, ‘Corporate reputation – a value creating strategy’, Corporate Governance, Vol. 4 Iss: 3, pp.77 – 92, Emerald, viewed 4 April 2014 Fan, Y 2005, ‘Ethical branding and corporate reputation’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 Iss: 4, pp.341 – 350, Emerald, viewed 2 April 2014 Herbig, P and Milewicz, J 1993, ‘The relationship of reputation and credibility to brand success’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 10 Iss: 3, pp.18 – 24, Emerald, viewed 5April 2014 Kohli, C 1997, ‘Branding consumer goods: insights from theory and practice’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 14 Iss: 3, pp. 206 – 219, Emerald, viewed 5April 2014 Lee, J and Roh, J.J 2012, ‘Revisiting corporate reputation and firm performance link’, Benchmarking: an International Journal, Vol. 19 Iss: 4/5, pp.649 – 664, Emerald, viewed 3 April 2014 Lewis, S 2001, ‘Measuring corporate reputation’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 6 Iss: 1, pp.31 – 35, Emerald, viewed 4 April 2014 Melewar, T.C, Nguyen, B and Abimbola, T 2013, ‘Corporate branding, identity, image and reputation (COBIIR)’, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 31 Iss: 5, pp. 1, Emerald, viewed 3 April 2014 Ngwese, E.R and Zhang 2007, ‘Brand Reputation in International Marketing’, Master of Science in International Marketing, pp. 1-65, University of Halmstad, viewed 4 April 2014, . Stine, G 2008, ‘The Nine Principles of Branding’, Polaris Inc. Branding Solutions, pp. 1-33, viewed 5April 2014, .

Essay on Film, “A Bronx Tale”

Amy Lau Expository Essay – â€Å"A Bronx Tale† Topic: â€Å"The choices that you make will shape your life forever† The film, set in New York City, in the 1960s, A Bronx Tale, Lorenzo (played by Robert De Niro) has a son, Calogero, whom we see throughout the film as one who made numerous decisions throughout his life, which shaped his future. One of those things was what Calogero did in the early stages of the film. At nine years old, he sat on the steps as he witnessed Sonny, a gangster, out of defense for a friend, shoot and kill someone seemingly competing with someone else over a parking spot. When Calogero was requested by NYPD detectives to identify the murderer by facial recognition, he kept quiet about the truth. As a result, Sonny welcomed him into his inner group of followers and compelled everyone he knew to please Calogero. Sonny’s men also offered Lorenzo a job to make a lot more money than he already does, but Lorenzo, preferring a law-abiding life, declined the offer. Lorenzo hated Sonny’s influence on his son (â€Å"You don’t understand: It’s not what you say, it’s what he sees, the clothes, the cars, the money, it’s everything. He tried to throw away his baseball cards because he said Mickey Mantle will never pay the rent†). When Lorenzo found out about the money that Calogero has gained from working for Sonny, he took his son’s money and returned them to Sonny at the bar and warns him to keep away from his son, which Sonny responded to Lorenzo, â€Å"I treat him like he’s my son† The turns of events that were caused by Calogero refusing to rat on Sonny in the beginning seemed to have a lasting effect. Eight years later, Calogero became close friends with Sonny and continued to regularly visit him without his father’s knowledge. He also remained part of a gang of local Italian boys he grew up with, which Sonny advised against. He then meets Jane Williams, an African American girl and the two arranged a date despite severe tension between the Blacks and the Italians, especially amongst his friends. The friends he chose also shaped his future. One night in provoked retaliation, Calogero’s friends made a plan to strike at an earlier attack back at the African Americans using molotov cocktails. They compelled Calogero to come with them in a journey to the area of the African Americans, but along the way, Sonny intervenes and orders Calogero out of the car. Calogero catches up with Jane and the two shared an intimate moment. The conversation then leads Calogero to remember of a planned attack in the town where the Blacks live, and he realises that Jane’s brother is in danger. He and Jane rush to stop them, and to her brother’s aid. Then we see Calogero’s friends attack a shop, owned by an African American, and set the shop on fire. Then the shopkeeper, taking the unexploded homemade bomb, which was thrown at him, threw it back at the boys’ car, igniting the rest of the explosives in it. Calogero and Jane arrive at the ruins of the exploded car to discover that all his friends have died as a result of their attack. In mixed feelings of grief and relief, Calogero rushes back to Sonny to thank him for saving his life. Calogero knowing Sonny certainly has its goodness. Page 1/2 Then in a crowded bar upon arrival, he sees Sonny, and also someone coming up behind Sonny with a gun. A shot is fired a Sonny falls to the floor. The unnamed assassin is the son of the man killed by Sonny eight years ago. It seemed Sonny also made a decision eight years ago which shaped his life, which in turn ended in a tragedy. When Lorenzo arrives at the end of the memorial service held for Sonny, to pay his respects to him, he says that he had never hated Sonny, but merely resented him for making Calogero grow up so quickly. In conclusion, the viewers could interpret that the fact that Calogero did not tell the NYPD detectives that Sonny was the murderer definitely has its benefits, like the fact that it has protected him from a possible retaliation that would have resulted from Sonny’s men had he chose to reveal Sonny to detectives as the murderer. And because of this, he won over friends in Sonny and his inner circle of followers, and has remained close throughout. Also, Calogero seemed positively influenced by Sonny as a result of their friendship. He says in the end: â€Å"I learned to give love and get love unconditionally. You just have to accept people for what they are. And I learned the greatest gift of all: the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. The choices that you make will shape your life forever. You can ask anybody from my neighborhood, and they'll just tell you, this is just another Bronx tale†. Page 2/2

Impact of Islam on Indian culture Essay

There is a close relationship between Islam and Indian. Islam is a religion that is based on Quran which explains revelations from god and is believed that it is unaltered throughout the decades. There is about 1.57 billion supporters which is the same number as of 23 percentage of earth’s population. It is the second-largest religion in the world and it is still growing fast. The support of Islam is called a Muslim. Islam’s prophet is Muhammad who was born in Mecca, was caravan merchant and he often recites Quran. There are five important pillars of Islam which are the basic concepts of worship, explaining Islamic law as well as every side of society and life and it also provides instruction about many things about environment, welfare, banking, etc. Five pillars are categorized as faith, prayer, haji, charity and ramadan. Reading Quran is highly recommended for muslims but it is not one of those pillars. In Islam, god is called Allah. There is a well-known sentence which people call Declaration of faith. It is â€Å"There is no god but god (Allah) and Muhammad is his messenger†. This quote implies that there is only one god who is Allah and all other ones are fake. Muslims believe that God is incomparable and the purpose of existence is to perform and serve Allah.Most muslims are either Sunni or Shia and approximately 13 percentage of Muslims live in Indonesia, the place with the largest Muslim-majority country and they have influenced on Indian culture heavily. Then how Islam has influenced Indians culturally and politically? Islam entered India in the 10th century A.D and created more ethnic complexity. When other ethnicities such as Greek, Mongolian, Parthian, and Scythian conquered India, they became Hinduised completely and assimilated with Indians. However Islam did not negotiated with Indians because Islam is monotheistic religion. Since total of four groups which are mughals, pathans, sayyeds and sheikhs did not unite with Hindu society, Indian ethnic system became much more complex. They created their own system, similar to caste system. Brahmins turned into Sayyeds and the rajputs who are descendents of Kshatriya merged into sheikhs, mughals and pathans. Before Isalm influenced Indians, their society was not divided into two separate  societies even though they had two religions which are Buddhism and Jainism. However Islam established India society into either Hindus or Muslims. Islam also brought Sufism to India. Sufism began as teaching religion more deeply in the Middle East about the Truth of Islam from Mohammad. Sufism involves an enlightened inner being with god and is an actualization of divine ethics. The practice of Sufism is selflessly involving with going forward with the truth by meaning of love and devotion. It could be called the way towards God or the spiritual path. The very basic concept of Sufism is to minimize individual identity as much as possible. One of other concepts of Sufism is that every religion offers a way to enlightenment and to true god realization, regardless of how it is fulfilled. It states that any god from any religion is all in equal position because they are derived from the same divine source. At first, the term Sufi was applied to those who had fully realized God, however it has became common to anyone who follows that particular spiritual way. Sufism is an important part of Islamic culture and society that also affects hugely in India. Related to Sufism, Islam propelled the Bhaktic cults. It is movement that is emotionally bonding with goddesses. It  was often expressed as chants, dances and drugs. The goal of this movement was to purify of the existing system. It affected greatly on many religious leaders. Bhaktic cult Muslim and Hindu traditions devoted on emergence of the new religion called Din-I-Illahi by Akbar later on. Culturally, Islam impacted Indians by teaching them forcefully and tested them on their faith. Islam made them adopt Muslim culinary. They adopted one of Muslim’s custom which is wearing sherwani, achkan, kurtha and pyjama. They also controlled Hindu women by imposing pardah. They had to wear pardah forcibly from being invaded or kidnapped. Islam also contributed in Art and literature in Hindu society. Islam constructed their places such as durbars and mosques which are ways to worship Allah in every country they conquered. There were often schools next to the mosque where people could learn and study about Quran. As Islam were developing their territory in India, many great schools, universities, libraries were established which led Indians to  be more knowledgeable. They also remodeled many temples that were previously ruined or damaged. They introduced of creating beautiful gardens in many places in India. Not only in the field of architecture, had Muslims done much on practicing of music which is a blend of Persia and Hindu. They invented many new musical instruments like Sarangi, Sitar and Tabla. Other than those examples that were mentioned previously in the essay, there are plenty of other things that Islam has influenced Indians. There were times that Indians had to follow what they did not really wanted, but with Islam’s help India was able to develop as a better, strong country in many different ways. They were able to have a better school system, more developed music and arts, overall more comfortable life for people. It is crucial to know about Islam and their culture as well as their background in order to understand Indian society.

BHS 220 Case 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BHS 220 Case 5 - Essay Example It is denoted H1. Citing the previous example an alternative hypothesis can be represented as follows. Statement of the research question – the moment a researcher identifies a research problem. He/she comes up with an exhaustive research question that will enable him/her to carry out a rigorous process. This enables him to also identify parameters as well as variables to be used in the sample data collection. Formulation of the null and alternative hypothesis – at this level the researcher states the null and alternative hypothesis. For example, if we wish to test if the graduating age of a graduate is 24, then Compute the rejection region – here the p-value which is the probability of the test statistic is calculated for both tails. This value is compared with the value from the tables at the level of significance selected in step 2 above. If the probability is less than or equal to the significance level, then the null hypothesis is rejected and the opposite is true. Stating conclusions – the first statement should describe the results of the null hypothesis and those of the alternative hypothesis, stating whether we rejected the null hypothesis or not. The second statement should refer to the research question deducing respective inferences based on the outcome of the null hypothesis. In this case the first step will be specifying the null and the alternative hypothesis. Then choose the level of significance to be used and compute the test statistic. Compute the probability of the test statistic which is the p-value on both tails. This will give you a basis for rejecting or not rejecting the null hypothesis (rejection region). Lastly, deduce vivid and realistic conclusions from the outcome of the null

Importance of a comprehensive business plan Essay

Importance of a comprehensive business plan - Essay Example A comprehensive business plan for a medium sized restaurant can be sub-divided into three parts: business concept, the marketplace and financial position. These three components are split down into more than half-dozen components that encompass the overview of the business plan, a detailed account of the business dealing in food, market strategies guiding the food industry, analysing the position of market rivals, design and development, details about operations and management, and the financial standing of business (Letovsky, & Banschbach, 2011). Unlike small business plans with fewer pages, comprehensive business plans offer the business executives with a detailed outline on how to approach various challenges and capitalize on the strengths and opportunities for the successful running of the business. Business plans serve the important roles of providing a guideline for running the business, especially for start-up ventures in the highly competitive and delicate market environment - the food industry. Business plans enable many small and medium enterprises to cultivate trust with not only credit facilities that may offer financial assistance, but investors who may see it wise to channel a given amount of money to the business. Business plans can also enable a business owner running a medium-sized restaurant to know the position of his or her company in the market (D'Angelo, 2007). Owing to the comprehensive nature of details to be incorporated, a business plan for a medium-sized restaurant can present several challenges as the work of developing one can be daunting and could consume more resources from the amount set aside for starting the business. Components of a comprehensive Business Plan A comprehensive business plan for a medium-sized restaurant has several sections. These sections are clearly detailed to allow business to allow the business owner(s) and managers to have at their finger-tips, what the business entails and what needs to be done at partic ular moments in the life of the business. These include: (a) Executive Summary The executive summary provides a one-glance assessment of what the business plan contains. This section is important because it enables key stakeholders to understand the position of the business, and the assets which are available at the business executives’ disposal for easy deployment when the need arises. (b) Company overview The company report section outlines important details about the business, such as location, size, what the business specializes on and what the goals of the business (Gjerde, & Harlow, 2010). The company overview allows for an easy connection with various stakeholders such as customers, and suppliers for successful business operations. The company overview may also outline the locations of the market rivals, who in this case can be other medium-sized restaurants. This essentially allows for the deployment of the right strategies for competition in order to have an edge ove r the market rivals. (c) Products or Services The part of the business plan which outlines the products or services, ought to offer a clear description of the kind of products and or services the business sells with more focus being based on the value for money. This section cultivates a cordial relationship with clients, thus wins over their loyalty. (d) Market Analysis This section of the business plan should offer a comprehensive description of the

Constitutional Law Research Paper (Mock Case Study aka Memorandum of

Constitutional Law Research Paper (Mock aka Memorandum of the Law) - Case Study Example The detectives arrested Sam for violating parole and for possession of child pornography. The warrant was issued on application of affidavit by Detective Tom Murray, who used false information that Sam was not living he had agreed to his release on parole. Tom had lied that the residence was vacant and that Sam had violated parole, although he knew that Sam was living in the same apartment as he had declared during his release. The detectives who made the arrested were not aware that Tom Murray had gotten the arrest warrant after presenting false information on Sam in his affidavit. The investigators seized evidence on child pornography as there were hundreds of child pornography images in Sams bedroom, and there was some evidence that Sam was communicating with children over the internet. However, the issuance of the execution of the search was valid under the Fourth Amendment of criminal justice. Following the exception that the search was in good faith, and the search was reasonab le enough to warrant a recovery of sufficient evidence against Sam Mark criminal behavior. From the exception named above, the detectives had the right to go access Sams residence to confirm that Sam was not indeed living in the declared home (Beatson, 2006). The search led to the discovery of the evidence that incriminated him as a child sex predator. The agents took the time to go through the Sams computer as well in search of more evidence against Sam. Sam is not guilty of violating parole under the evidence provided by Tom in the affidavit, but is according to the evidence gathered as a result of the warrant that Tom acquired. The search warrant was reasonable and in good faith. Tom applied for the search warrant under a suspicion that Sam was involved in child abuse in his house as is demonstrated below. Rule 41 (a) of 18 United States Constitution states that search warrants shall only be issued ‘upon the request of a federal law enforcement

Importance of The Glorious Qur'an Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Importance of The Glorious Qur'an - Essay Example Introduction. The Qur’an is the holy text which holds the fundamental ideas underlying the Muslim faith as it is practised across the world. It holds a special place in the lives of Muslims because it is believed to be the word of Allah Himself, as revealed to the Prophet, Muhammad, and written down for the benefit of all who wish to learn from it. This paper examines the origins of this special book and summarizes its main contents. It then explores the importance of the Qur’an throughout history, in earliest times, and then in the twentieth century. Finally there is an examination of the Qur’an’s impact on the world today and the prospect of its continuing influence on the world in the future, along with a summarizing conclusion regarding the overall importance of the glorious Qur’an in human history. The Origins of The Glorious Qur’an. There is a huge gap in the understanding of men and the understanding of Allah, which cannot be bridged b y human intelligence. While Allah is good and merciful, human beings are easily distracted, and can achieve a mixture of good and bad things in their lives. It is perhaps for this reason that the Qur’an was given to mankind: it is a collection of revelations which are intended to guide human beings into the ways of peace and goodness. Other religions, and in particular Judaism and Christianity, also have their sacred texts, which have many elements in common, since these three religions are among the ahl-al-kitab (people of the book). The Qur’an is the particular holy book that was given to Muslims, and its name means â€Å"recitation†, implying that the prophet Muhammad did not invent the words himself, but in fact recited the words of Allah (Sonn, 2010, p. 1) Although the words of the Qur’an may have been first written down by listeners at various points in the lifetime of Muhammad, the text that Muslims now use has been carefully arranged by scholars a fter Muhammad’s death in 632 CE. The text is divided into 114 surah (chapters) each of which has a title, and a number of ayat (verses). It is written in Arabic, the language of Muhammad’s native land, and from the very beginning scholars have taken great care to preserve the exact and correct form of words that was used from the very beginning. A minor addition was made in the ninth century when scholars added some marks to indicate vowels, because the existence of different dialects of Arabic meant that ambiguities and differences could creep into the reading of the text in different places. (Sonn, 2010, p. 5) Muhammad himself taught believers read the text, and also learn it word for word, and be able to recite it so that the message is preserved complete and unchanged in their minds. This tradition was continued by Muslims after his death, leading to the formation of mosques and schools dedicated to passing on the knowledge of the Qur’an to future generation s. Muslims treat the actual text of the Qur’an with the deepest respect, and make use of portions for decorative and ceremonial purposes. There are additional sacred texts, known as the hadith which gather together some of the sayings of Muhammad and these are often

Lab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Lab - Essay Example In order to ensure accuracy and precision, it was necessary to re-calibrate the spectrophotometer three times at every new wavelength set. Recalibration of the spectrophotometer was done by filling the cuvettes with deionized water and altering the wavelength to 470 nm, 565 nm or 635 nm. Before starting the spectrophotometer, ensure that the lid is closed. Results were obtained by running each sample three times at every new wavelength set. The new wavelength for the second part of the experiment was then obtained by comparing the recorded data. The results indicated that the blue dye had an absorbance of 0.211 for the 565 nm wavelength that correlates to the green wavelength that was the highest when compared to the red and green. After choosing the dye, 10 different stock solutions with concentrations that range from 0% to 100% by increment of 10 dilutions were made. The concentration of the standard solution (the 100% concentration of dye) was reduced by diluting with deionized wa ter, in a graduated cylinder, to make the dilutions that depended on the calculations made. The dilutions were then placed into the spectrophotometer to obtain their percent transmittance. The data was then recorded into a

Proofreadoing of Teenage Character Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Proofreadoing of Teenage Character Paper - Essay Example Marie answered without turning her face towards Noreen and said, â€Å" I am going to try-out for the Dance Team.† Noreen looked in amazement at Marie. Marie’s gaze was still fixed on the poster but now she had her hands resting on her heavy hips. Marie turned towards Noreen and nodded her head in anticipation of Noreen's inquiry. With an affirmative nod she said, â€Å"Yep that is just what I am going to do, I am trying out for the dance team.† Marie twirled around looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing brown spandex ® tights and a gold leotard. She wrapped the dainty chiffon skirt that looked like it was infused with glitter around her full hips. She liked the way the fabric slid over her curvy body. Marie glanced at the clock. â€Å" Oh man, I’m going to be late.† She put on her thick sweater that fell just below her hips, about mid-thigh level. Marie opened the front door and stepped outside. The crisp fall air greeted her face and then acknowledged her body. She felt the cool air on her legs and glanced across the street to where Noreen lives, hoping for once Noreen would be standing outside waiting for her. Marie turned back to make sure she locked the door by jiggling the doorknob. She looked back towards Noreen's house as she walked down the steps and started across the street, warning out loud to no one, "Noreen, if you make me late ...† Just before Marie placed her foot on the first step of Noreen's porch, Noreen appeared at the door. She flung the door open and, in her usual bluster, almost half-out-of-breath said, â€Å"I’m sorry I am running late. Nellie would not get out of the bathroom†¦ and I had to fix my grandmother something to eat†¦ and I did not have time to eat myself, I will just have to eat my egg sandwich on the way†¦Oh, girl, let me make sure I have my keys.† Marie was not listening anymore, she had heard countless excuses as to why Noreen always seemed to be running late. Suddenly, it reminded her of the first time she met Noreen. Marie’s family had just moved to Merrill Street. The movers were bringing the last of the boxes into Marie’s new home and Marie's mom asked her to try to stay out of the way of the movers. So, Marie walked outside to take a look around her new neighborhood. She did not expect to see any older kids hanging out since it was a weekday and the kids would be in school. Marie was just standing outside on the porch looking at all her new neighbor's homes. The sound of a door opening caused Marie look across the street at a yellow house with a green door that suddenly flew open. A short and stout girl that looked to be around her age with big brown eyes and thick hair came rushing out of the door. Marie waved and said hello to the girl. The girl walked over and said, â€Å"Hi my name is Noreen, what’s your name?† â€Å" Hi, I’m Marie.† The two girls chatted on for a whil e, and then Noreen abruptly stopped mid-sentence and said, â€Å"Sorry, I have to run, I am late for school.† Marie yelled to Noreen, â€Å"Say, what time does school start anyway? â€Å" Noreen turned back in reply, â€Å" 8 o’clock!† Marie looked down at the time on her cell phone. It read 8:45 am. She watched Noreen storm down the sidewalk towards the school. Back in the present, Noreen interrupted her thoughts again. "I forgot to get some lunch money, can you loan me

Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Public Law - Essay Example Therefore, section 4 attains its aims via political and not legal means through section 10 that allows the government to undertake amendment of legislation sans full approval of the legislature. In this case, a remedial order can be made only following a declaration of compatibility or similar European court findings with every appeal being completed or renounced expressly. Section 4 will allow a declaration of incompatibility by the court if, by chance, it is satisfied that its provisions do not match well to the rights convention (Clements, 2008: p21). Section 3 makes a requirement that courts should interpret the legislation as being compatible with the rights convention when and where possible. While the declaration of incompatibility is a last resort measure, there are cases where the court’s interpretation may assume administrative powers that, ordinarily, it would not possess with consequences that the court is not best placed to make a consideration (Barnett, 2009: p61 ). This meaning departs significantly from an Act of Parliament’s fundamental feature that it is likely to have broken the boundary between amendment and interpretation. The statute’s thrust is essential, especially since going against this thrust needs legislative power that courts of law do not possess. In the case of A v. Ministry of Justice, a declaration of incompatibility following under the 4th Section is the appropriate remedy. The power of a judge to issue a declaration of incompatibility can allow a judge to avoid becoming involved in issues of sensitive public interests (Mwalimu, 2010: p13). Declarations of incompatibility are optional and, in this case, the court needs to choose whether to use it or not according to their discretion. The judge can use the declaration of incompatibility if a point has been identified, as well as fully argued, at a hearing that was appointed for the purpose. The judge can also choose not to use the declaration of incompatibil ity unless it becomes appropriate for the incompatibility to be formally recorded via a declaration. Finally, the judges can also issue a declaration that serves a legislative purpose. It should also provide for a basis, for a crown minister, to consider whether compelling reasons exist to amend the legislation (Mwalimu, 2010: p14). In the case of A v. Justice Ministry, the judge may also find it unnecessary to give a declaration of incompatibility since the Secretary of State had already accepted the domestic law as being incompatible with the rights convention. In this case, making another declaration of incompatibility would exert unnecessary pressure to amend legislation on the parliament. The power to make a declaration of incompatibility with regards to human rights is only likely to be available to judges of the High Court. Judges must ensure that any declaration does not make any difference to the case at hand as the High Court will still have to use the legislation (Elliott & Thomas, 2011: p72). The declaration of incompatibility must also not make differences to any cases, which will occur in the future since the legislation will have to remain valid. Finally, the judg

Negative Affects of Social Media Essay Example for Free

Negative Affects of Social Media Essay Social media is like a game. Once you learn and get along with how to use these websites you get addicted to it. For example, now I am addicted to social media. Before I was introduced to social media I did all of my homework and was one of the top students in the class. From that moment I became engage to websites such as facebook, tweeter, ooVoo and instagram. It affected my life pessimistically. For instance, these days I can’t stop checking my facebook and instagram. Furthermore, theses days I am missing lot homework on most of my classes do to the escalating expose of social media. So due to these entire dilemma, I believe social media has many negative effect on teens life. see more:essay on social media First, students/teens spent too much time on social media. For example, Jazmin said she spent more time on websites like fb and texting than homework. â€Å"One quarter of teens say they log on to their favorite social media websites 10 or more times each day† (Gordan). Next due to the use of social media students gets lower grades on test and are lacking on during homework because they are busy chatting, texting, video chatting, etc. For example, I asked Jazmin agrees with me saying that she use social media rather than studying for testes or during homework. At last, teens are not going outside, spending time with family and are not active due to the social media. That’s why social media has negative affect on teen’s life. Next, many teens get cyber bullied through social media. For example, in a 2010 survey of students age 11 to 18 administer by the Cyberbulling Research Center, 20% said they had been cyber bullied. Also in sum cases teens make fake accounts a nd cyber bully other through the social media. Furthermore, in the article call â€Å"Cyberbulling’’ it says that member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender get bullied more then others. For example in the survey it showed that 36.4% of these members got cyberbullied. At last, another negative effect of the social media is that it impairs students/teens writing skills. For example, sometimes when I am writings important paper I instant to use words like u, wat, c and others words in my writing due to using them numerous times in my texting and chatting. After that, teens become nastiest in spelling and using the proper sentence due to the usage of social media. In the article call â€Å" Grades 9-10 Literacy: The Power of New Media Annotated Student work† it says that student not only become appalling at spellings, grammars but also at literatures. I do know there some optimistic used of social media such as asking for homework they missed. But still, they are incorrect because do to social media teens can’t concentrate on their work. For example, they use social media for violence. Next, teens are constantly checking Facebook to see/get involve in things that are happening. So it distracts them from studying, doing schoolwork and others too. At last, the use social media for negative use like cyberbulling. As a result you can see social media has negative affects on teens life. For example, getting addicted, cyberbulling and it affects students writing skills. Furthermore, due to social media teens are lacking in education and being active. These are the reasons how social media is negative. And also I urge parents to check what your kids are doing and try to get involve in your sons and daughters life little more.

I Am One of the 99% Essay Example for Free

I Am One of the 99% Essay The fact is all but that little 1% is one of the 99%. Does that mean that I need to march down the streets of different cities to tell everyone that I am one of the 99%, camp out for months at a time and take the charity of others, so that I can proclaim the fact that I am like 99% of the nation? I think not. 1% of the world controls most of the money and then the other 99% share in what is left. Between 2002 and 2007, the income of the 1% increased at least 10 times faster than the income of the 99%. The â€Å"Occupy† are proclaiming themselves as a true grassroots movement. By doing this, protesters are claiming they want to bring attention to problems we have in the nation. To me, it is just one big gripe session sit-in; one in which they do not provide any solutions to the problems they are complaining about. For instance, look at the incident in Oakland, California. Protesters closed the Port; however, then some of them incited a riot which caused lots of property damage to store owners that are part of the 99%. The â€Å"Occupy† movement has gone global. There are protesters in London and Ireland with riots breaking out causing all kinds of property damage. Does this really help the cause of the â€Å"Occupy†; hurting the pockets of the 99%? I do not see how the â€Å"Occupy† is helping any city they come to protest in. I am not seeing any influx of money to the cities. As it stands, I am seeing rioting, property destruction, and charity being given to the protesters that could help the less fortunate of the city. By inciting a riot causing property damage, they caused businesses to pay money for repairs and incurred lost of income by having to be shut down. This was money that these small businesses couldn’t afford. I believe in practicing our civil rights; however, any protest should be peaceful and follow the guidelines within the law. We do have problems with our economy. We do need change. I’m not sure that camping out is the way to get the change to take place. I believe we need to find people to put into positions to be able to help get changes into place. If the people that are protesting would bond together and elect these people in each state, changes could take place.

Dependency School of Development: Summary and Critique

Dependency School of Development: Summary and Critique In this essay I address the claim that the dependency school sees development from a Third World perspective.[1] I focus on two dependency theorists, Andrà © Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, as a way to examine such a statement. First, I describe dependency theory in a historical context as well as in general terms, in order to clearly situate the school within Third World discourse. Second, I examine the specific theoretical characteristics of Frank’s theories, and some of the criticism of it and how they relate to Third World issues. Third, I discuss Cardoso’s scholarship in relation both to the dependency school and to Frank’s research by emphasizing his theoretical divergence from orthodox dependency theory. Next, I comparatively discuss Frank and Cardoso’s theories in relation to an overall discussion on dependency and development. In conclusion, I review the reasons why the dependency school incorporates a Third World perspective, particu larly a Latin American perspective. Throughout this essay I refer to ‘dependency theory’, yet I would like to point out, as Roxborough (1979) has stressed, that rather than viewing the notion of dependency as a â€Å"specific theory† or a â€Å"theory of dependency† it be seen as a paradigm (p.43).[2] This is because there are many competing theories and definitions of dependency as well as several historical intellectual shifts and revisions among dependency scholars (Hout, 1993). The dependency school of development is also variably referred to as the ‘structuralist’, ‘world economy’ and ‘underdevelopment’ schools (Bosch, 1997). It has its roots in theoretical debates discussing capitalism and Marxism (Gardner and Lewis 1996; Chilcote 1981; Roxborough, 1979; Frank, 1967). The earliest discussions emerging from the dependency school can be traced to the ECLA (Economic Commission of Latin America), established by the United Nations in 1948 whereby a radi cal group of scholars examined the inequities of North-South relations and trade. This enclave of scholars specifically focused on Latin American issues and the paradox of why these countries so rich in natural resources are so economically poor. The need for the ECLA forum arose from an academic and political reaction toward the inability of Latin American countries to halt the â€Å"imperialist siphoning-off of the surplus value produced by their working classes†, hence, the association of dependency theory with a Third World perspective (Johnson 1981, p. 58). The ECLA theorists argued that Latin American countries are subjected to an international system that manipulates and controls them from beyond their own borders (Staniland, 1985). These ideas, moreover, offered a critique of modernisation theories that view less developed countries in terms of an evolutionary process whereby industrialization and economic development are seen as stages that they must undergo in order to achieve higher incomes and living standards. In contrast, dependency theory views less developed countries as resulting from conditions generated by a broader global system of exploitation set within wider social and historical processes (Bilto n et al., 1996). The theoretical debates surrounding dependency theory hinge upon the central idea that it is pointless to study the development of Third World societies in isolation from more developed countries. Debates further the notion that western capitalism in the industrialized world is built upon its ability to dominate and control the resources of non-industrial less developed countries and must thus sustain its dominant position to advance its own interests. The historical basis for such domination is the significant accumulation of capital that occurred during colonization and the industrial revolution. The continuation of such domination transpires through neo-colonialism. As such, dependency theorists primarily focus on the political structures that shape the relationships between the First and Third World (Staniland, 1985). This main tenet of dependency theory is closely tied to what is widely refereed to as ‘world systems theory’, established by Immanual Wallerstein. In fact, ‘world systems theory’, is commonly viewed as an adaptation or extension of the dependency school (Chirot and Hall, 1982). Wallerstein (1974) views the world as an interrelated system, a world-economy, whereby each country is perceived in terms of its relationship to the whole. It is precisely through a world systems analysis that notions of ‘First† and ‘Third’ worlds have materialized as a way to portray the simultaneous differentiation and interdependency of distinct parts. Dependency theory suggests that the Third World â€Å"is not natural, but created through economic and political processes†(Gardner and Lewis 1996, p.17). Like dependency theory, ‘world systems theory’ is often criticized for being overly deterministic (Staniland, 1985). Two of the most prominent dependency theorists are Andrà © Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Frank and Cardoso are both ECLA scholars and associated with Latin American issues and the dependency school to the extent that they are often referred to as ‘dependistas’. Frank (1967) introduced the popular term ‘the development of underdevelopment’ and wrote specifically about how â€Å"the domestic, political and social structure of Chile was and still remains determined first and foremost by the fact and specific nature of its participation in the world capitalist system† (p.29). His work also attempted to address a major gap in the ECLA discussions: the role of class interests within Third World countries in creating cycles of dependency. To do this, Frank developed the notion of metropolis-satellite links whereby capitalism produces a developed center and its underdeveloped peripheries. He purported that the ties between metropolis and satell ite can also represent links between advanced capital cities and their hinterlands. This metaphorical binary aims to examine the relationships between industrialised and non-industrialised countries. Although revisionist dependency theorists now refer to these as core-periphery relationships, this metaphor still forms the basis for many contemporary critiques of global capitalism. According to this view, the peripheries supply cheap raw materials and labour to the core. In return, the core supplies them with obsolescent technologies, manufactured goods and debt. This results in peripheral economies being oriented toward the outside whereby resources flow toward the core and, in turn, continue to flow toward the more dominant economic interests of other cores. Capitalism is seen to necessitate the core-periphery division for the efficient allocation of resources in favour of dominant countries. . Despite, Frank’s intentional focus on class interests, he ignores questions of class formation and behaviour. In his analysis, the flow of resources between the divergent metropolis and satellite regions takes social classes as a given without specifically analysing their structures and roles in contributing to a system of domination. Hence, in Frank’s analysis, spatial relations are conflated with social class relations, a contentious point in criticisms of his work (Chilcote, 1981; Cardoso, 1972; Laclau, 1971). In other words, the shift of value from satellite to metropolis cannot always be viewed as an identical phenomenon to that of the exploitation of labour (Roxborough, 1979). Another point that provoked much commentary in Frank’s analysis of Latin American underdevelopment was his claim that Latin America has been a capitalist society ever since the sixteenth century. For Ernesto Laclau (1971), an Argentinian scholar, Frank had misread Marx’s definition of capitalism and was thus mistakenly reducing capitalism to a mere equation of exchange and enterprise omitting the equally important emphasis on modes of production. This was particularly important in regards to labour since, at that time, much labour in Latin America consisted of slavery and debt peonage as well as other pre-capitalist forms. Laclau does not question the premise that at the time of colonization, market economies became tied in with those of First World countries; his main point is that the participation of a country in a world economic system does not necessarily render it as being capitalistic. As such, he indicates that Frank confounds the production of commodities with the commoditization of labour, a criticism which led Frank to revise his work.[3] Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a Latin American sociologist who later served as the President of Brazil, draws ties between dependency theory and imperialism.[4] Using the work of Leninist theories, Cardoso (1972) makes parallels with the dependency school over their mutual use of the term ‘dependency’ and their shared observations about how imperialism furthers the capitalist agenda and necessitates economic domination over less developed countries. Cardoso’s analysis attempted to address those issues of social class that the dependency school had allegedly ignored. He looked at the social and economic as being inextricably tied together, stating, for instance, that â€Å"an economic class or group tries to establish through the social process a system of social relations that permits it to impose on the entire society a social form of production akin to its own interests† (ibid, p. 15). Cardoso went beyond the metropolis/satellite metaphor and the perceived asymmetry between First and Third Worlds by examining the political, economic and social links between the dominant local social classes within and between Third and First World countries (Cardoso and Faletto, 1979). For Cardoso, â€Å"political institutions at a given moment can only be fully understood in terms of the structures of domination because these express the class interests behind political organization† (ibid, p. 14). He thus envisioned the capitalist economy as growing toward an internationalization in which societies become divided into antagonistic classes. Cardoso’s delineation of class interests between and within countries departed from the more deterministic model offered by Frank, seeing dependency as varying by degree and thus allowing for a more unconstrained view of international relations. Furthermore, by placing dependency into situation-specific contexts, his position is a more relativist departure from that of Frank’s. Most importantly, Cardoso’s perspective is optimistic about the possibility that dependent relations can transform over time. In fact, Cardoso (1973) argues that in some contexts development and dependency can actually be compatible. This is a clear departure from Frank and other dependency theorists who are often labeled as having a stagnationist view toward development. Both Frank and Cardoso agree that exploitation from dominant states is a key operating factor in how regional economies develop but whereas Cardoso might focus on class interests, Frank will more broadly hold the forces of capitalism accountable (Bosch, 1997). In fact, Cardoso’s critics accuse him of not detailing the more general conditions and mechanisms by which global capitalism operates (Staniland, 1985). Whereas Frank is pessimistic about liberal and neo-liberal trade theory’s claims to create equality and more fairly distribute resources and the access to them, Cardoso is optimistic. Although Cardoso accepts the basic premise of dependency theory as describing third world countries as being conditioned by global agendas and constraints, he does not call for a socialist revolution, as does Frank, as a means to remedy these problems.[5] Yet Frank is also critical of his own former position that assumed that in order for Third World countries to achieve economic independence from the First World they could voluntary de-link themselves from broader economic systems thus controlling their own internal resources, such as raw materials and labour, to develop their own economies. Frank claims that â€Å"experience has shown it to be extremely difficult, if not impossible for voluntarist political action to de-link particular countries from the world economy† (Frank, 2002). Undoubtedly, as I discussed previously, the intellectual roots, vitality and application of dependency theorists have fostered around Third World issues and debates that, in turn, have greatly influenced development studies at large. I would make the case that even more specifically, dependency theory is also distinctively Latin American.[6] First, its origins emerge from a think tank focused on Latin America as a region. Second, its main proponents are Latin Americanists of which many are also Latin American nationals. Third, the application and analysis of the dependency school of thought has been on Latin American development. Fourth, its popularity among Latin American scholars and policymakers has made it an important intellectual school of social thought within Latin American academia and politics. Through Latin American intelligentsia, such as Cardoso, dependency theory has even entered mainstream Latin American politics. Overall, Latin Americanists have used the main argument s of dependency theory to stress how the structural climate of the world economy shapes Latin American economies. As such, through dependency theory, they have strongly influenced the international scholarship on development. In conclusion, the dependency school, unlike other development perspectives, distinctively represents a Third World view. The debates inspired by the dependency school have given voice to a Third World perspective, in terms of focus, point of view and representation. As I have shown, there are equally as many excellent expositions as there are criticisms of Frank and Cardoso’s studies and the dependency school at large (Smith 1981). What is significant is how these provocative and critical debates ultimately touch upon broader themes that, like the dependency school itself, address expansive global, economic, political and social issues. References: Bilton, Tony et al. (1996) Introductory Sociology, 3rd edition. London, Macmillan. Ahiakpor, James C.W. (1985) The success and failure of dependency theory: the experience of Ghana. International Organization, 39(3), 535-552. Bosch, Gerald R. (1997) Eric Williams and the moral rhetoric of dependency theory. Callaloo, 20(4), Special Issue: Eric Williams and Postcolonial Caribbean, p 817-827. Cardoso, Fernando Henrique (1972) Dependency and development in Latin America. New Left Review, 74,83-95. Cardoso, Fernando Henrique (1973) Associated dependent development: theoretical and practical implications.In: Alfred Stephen (ed) Authoritarian Brazil: Origins, Policies and Future. New Haven, Yale University Press, p.142-76. Cardoso, F. H. and Faletto, Enzo (1979) Dependency and Development in Latin America. Berkeley: Pergamon Press. Chilcote, Ronald H. (1981) Issues of Theory in Dependency and Marxism. Latin American Perspectives, 8 (3/4), dependency and Marxism. 3-16. Chirot, Daniel and Hall, Thomas D. (1982) World-System Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 81-106. Frank, Andrà © Gunder (1967) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America: historical studies of Chile and Brazil. London, Monthly Review. Frank, Andrà © Gunder (1984) Critique and anti-critique: essays on dependence and reformism. New York, Praeger Publishers. Frank, Andrà © Gunder (2002) Interview. In: Practical Strategies For Social And Economic Development. Aurora online (Simmons, Tony). February 2002. Available from: http://aurora.icaap.org/gifs/frank.gif [Accessed July 7, 2005]. Gardner, Katy and Lewis, David (1996) Anthropology, development and the post-modern challenge. London, Pluto Press. Hout, Wil (1993) Capitalism and the Third World: development, dependence and world system. Aldershot, Edward Elgar. Johnson, Carlos. (1981) Dependency theory and the processes of capitalism and socialism. Latin American Perspectives, 8 (3/4), Dependency and Marxism, 55-81. Kleemeier, Lizz Lyle. (1978) Review: Empirical tests of dependency theory: a second critique of methodology by Vengroff, Richard. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 16 (4), 701-704. Laclau, Ernesto (1971) Feudalism and capitalism in Latin America. New Left Review, 67, 19-38. Roxborough, Ian (1979) Theories of Underdevelopment. London: Macmillan. Smith, Tony (1981) The logic of dependency theory revisited. International Organization, 35 (4) 755-761. Staniland, Martin (1985) What is political economy? A study of social theory and underdevelopment. New Haven: Yale University Press. Wallerstein, Immanuel (1974) The modern world system: capitalist agriculture and the origins of the European world economy in the sixteenth century. New York, Academic Press. 1 Footnotes [1] The analytical categories of First World, Second World, and Third World are used to make a distinction between the different levels of economic development among nations/states. [2] The dependency school is similarly also refereed to as a ‘perspective’ (Kleemeier 1978, 701). [3] Frank (1984) later incorporated Laclau’s criticisms, which strongly influenced the direction of his future work, particularly in his volumes on world capitalist history. [4] Cardoso also served as the President of Brazil from 1994 through 2002. [5] Frank has revised his former position that once assumed that â€Å"significant political change could free any people from these economic and historical determinants.† (Frank, 2002) [6] I am not implying that dependency theory is exclusively debated around Latin American issues, see for example Kleemeier (1978) and Ahiakpor (1985). Apocalypse Now: An Anti-War Message Apocalypse Now: An Anti-War Message The 1979 movie Apocalypse Now was created in an extremely deliberate and thought out fashion by Francis Ford Coppola. There is a purpose behind how he filmed and what he filmed. Each edit, angle, shot, sound, transition, and lighting technique was filmed in such a way in order to convey meaning. The cinematic tools that Coppola utilized in the making of Apocalypse Now encouraged the American public viewing the film to take an honest look at how warfare is really conducted. Like many other movies created about the Vietnam War, such as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now has an anti-war message within it. This attitude is a shift in the way the American public had viewed war, since usually they were very patriotic and supportive. By making films that raise up issues regarding war, directors were taking advantage of the already troubled public and challenging them to look deeper and question the way in which they had previously viewed warfare and the preparation given to soldi ers for it. The film techniques allowed Coppola to condemn military recruiters as well as army officials who did not properly prepare and condition soldiers to withstand the psychological affects of warfare. His method of filming also displays a critique of politicians who mandate warfare for political expediency. In this paper, I will discuss how Coppola used cinematic tools strategically in his film Apocalypse Now to show warfare for what it truly is and the effect on soldiers that combat had in order to inspire society to re-evaluate and change its attitude towards war. Apocalypse Now is a film that follows Captain Benjamin Willard on his second tour in the Vietnam War. When the film begins, it finds Willard in a hotel room in Saigon, Vietnam waiting for his next mission. In this scene, Willard offers a vague picture of his first tour in Vietnam and expresses how desperate he is to return to action. In the following scene, Willard is sent for by army officials and given his next mission which is to locate and murder Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, an American green beret who went rogue, created his own army of native Vietnamese people and subsequently appointed himself as a god over them. To complete his mission, Willard is accompanied by four soldiers who do not know the purpose of his mission, as it is classified information. On their expedition to find Kurtz, Willard and the crew come across Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, who commands them to take part in a brutal and merciless attack on a small Vietnamese village. As Willard and his crew continue on their journey upriver towards Kurtz, they attend a Playboy show, massacre a crew of Vietnamese fishermen, and fall under the surprise attack from natives on shore. When they finally reach Kurtzs camp, Willard is taken captive by Kurtz and forced to listen to Kurtzs philosophical concerns at length, for days. Upon being set free, Willard enters Kurtzs private rooms and fulfills his mission, finally killing Kurtz. When the natives realize that Kurtz has been killed, they bow to Willard and accept him as their new leader and god. However, Willard passively rejects the role of their leader by taking the remaining member of his crew, boarding their boat, and riding away from the native camp as the film ends. Within the film, there are various scenes that show the chaos, uncertainty and absurdity of warfare that often leave soldiers in a state of psychological trauma long after their time in combat. As a result of this story being told through the medium of film, Coppola is able to use cinematic tools he would otherwise not have had at his disposal. There are two particular scenes in which the tools he employs help to convey the significance of the scene with more impact. These two scenes are the opening scene of the movie and the scene known as Ride of the Valkyries. These scenes and the five cinematic elements employed in them, will be the focus of this paper. In the opening scene of the film, Coppola employs elaborate editing techniques in order to show the phycological damage that Willard has been suffering from since his first tour in Vietnam. Although the focus is obviously only on the character of Willard, Coppola means for this to be a display of what happens to the mind of any soldier after returning from combat, where their minds are in a state of psychological turmoil.   The scene shows a green, peaceful treeline in Vietnam and then shows it exploding in flames as numerous helicopters fly close by (Apocalypse Now, 0:01:10). The film then transitions from this image in a smooth fade away to Willard lying in his hotel room (0: 03: 55). As the transition continues, it shows Willard take a long drag from a cigarette as the ceiling fan above him rotates fast and loud. The fade in this scene is significant because of its smooth transition from one picture and place to another; the helicopters in the scene with the trees make an n ear identical sound to the ceiling fan and the propeller of the helicopter looks like the ceiling fans blades rotating in Willards room. The way Willards cigarette lights up has the fading image of exploding fiery trees in the background. The editing is magnificent. It is clear from the scene, that the explosions and helicopters are memories from Willards first tour in Vietnam. The images of the blown-up trees cut and edited into the images of Willards tortured face in the hotel room portray a man who is really struggling with what he has experienced. While most memories fade over time and details are forgotten, victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder often remember their traumatic experience vividly and the same way every time they think about it (Vees-Gulani 55). For many, it is not even that they are remembering but rather they are living in a continual presentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [and] an endless present (Vees-Gulani 55). The memories that Willard cannot escape from, from his first tour, are persistently intrud[ing] on him (Vees-Gulani 62).   For him, something as mundane as a ceiling fan materializes into a combat helicopter and the burning of a cigarette is an explosion. Often throughout the movie, it seems as if Willard is one of the only men still sound of mind, but the first scene with its masterful edits to Willards first tour flashbacks clue the viewer in on the fact that Willards PTSD made him bound in the timelessness of warfare (Vees-Gulani 89). For the viewer to fully appreciate the genius of Coppolas use of editing in this scene, one must recognize that PTSD is an illness that plagues the victim relentlessly and constantly. By displaying this scene and these ideas in one seamless transitional edit, Coppola is indicating to the viewers that soldiers who return from war may look physically unscathed, but that does not mean they are not haunted and harmed by their experiences in combat. Another technique utilized in this first scene is that of lighting. Coppola strategically uses it in order to set a certain mood and feel for the scene. As Willard lies on his bed, he looks at the ceiling fan, which is black and yet there is a slight flicker of light from the fan. It catches the viewers eye and helps to create a more ominous scene, really giving the viewer a feeling for what was happening within the scene. It is fascinating that something so small as a flicker of light can add so much insight to a scene and enrich ones overall understanding of a story. In a captivating interview with Apocalypse Nows production designer, Dean Tavoularis, Tavoularis described how the films cinematographer Vittorio Storaro purposely choreographed the lighting cues on many shots to add an extra level of significance to scenes and that the speck of light in the opening scene from the fan was one of such times (Gentry 96). He described how the flicker of light in this scene is like an irri tation, an insect, an element that gets across to the viewer and adds to the chaotic scene to help display the psychological trauma that Willard is dealing with.   The flicker lasts for hardly a second, but it was intentionally put in at that time to help further the story and its message. Attention grabbing, this cinematic tool is used to its fullest potential in this scene. The music in Apocalypse Now is also a cinematic technique that Coppola capitalizes on. Coppola deliberately chose the song This is the End to critique the sentiments preached by many of the benefits one receives when they serve in the army in order to ignore their societal duty to look after the wellbeing of veterans. Coppola is criticizing the way in which soldiers are prepared, or in from his standpoint under prepared, for war and how upon their return from combat, with their physical and mental scars, society neglects them. The song This is the End begins slow with pleasant guitar and a soft melody. The song fades out for a bit but then plays again as the scene transitions to Willard intoxicating himself in his hotel room (0:05:58). However, when the song fades back in, it sounds dramatically different. The guitar has picked up speed, the tempo is faster and the singer screams, Fuck! Fuck me!. As the songs intensity increases, the scene shows Willard strip naked, cut himself and c ry uncontrollably. Coppola used the feeling given off from the crazed music to increase the intensity of the scene.   He uses the music almost as a metaphor for a soldier in their war experience. The soldier starts off by being told the war will award them with lifelong skills, such as loyalty and respect. However, they are not equipped for the psychological and emotional suffering from being in combat, the effects of PTSD, or the high suicide rates amongst veterans. The music starts out slow and pleasant but they soon find out on their own that the music changes, it is not predictable, it can become violent. Using music as a cinematic tool in Apocalypse Now, Coppola presses Western societies to stop romanticising the idea of war. Towards the close of the scene, Willard is bleeding and crying on the floor of the hotel room (0:07:16), and the viewer can hear the song This is the End playing but cannot hear Willards crying. The silence of Willards cries is a message as well. The unheard cries of Willard can be seen as the unheard soldiers upon their return from war. They come back from combat scarred physically and mentally. Their minds cannot rest, they are never completely at ease and the constant suffering leads many to turn to destructive substances, like alcohol and drugs, just to escape from their own minds for a time. This is not a case of one veteran but rather a horrible trend that occurs to many, and it can be seen as a clear sign that they are calling out for help. Yet, it seems that Western society chooses to close their ears to their cries. The Music in the scene is used to send a message from Coppola that he condemns Western societies who promote war but deafen themselves against the cries of the s oldiers suffering, which they helped to create. Coppola is highlighting how there is a great need for honesty about what effect the army can have on ones life before soldiers are enlisted and how adequate resources are needed for their recovery when they return from combat. In the scene known as March of the Valkyries, Lieutenant Kilgore orders an air attack on a Vietnamese village. It is in this scene that Coppola uses the tool of camera shots and angles to showcase to the viewer the absurdity and violence that soldiers endure during warfare. It is clear from the contrasting shots that Coppola used that he wished viewers would re-evaluate their opinions on war and question politicians inclination to engage in war. Coppola uses close-up camera shots in order for the viewer to feel as if they are in the sequences in the March of the Valkyries scene. As the helicopters approach the village, the viewer is privy to a conversation between Lieutenant Kilgore and a soldier named Lance, an expert surfer, as they discuss the different types of surfboards they prefer (0:36:20-0:36:55). The absurdity and backwardness of this conversation at that time is dumbfounding. They are in a helicopter that is about to attack and kill an entire village of Vietnamese soldiers and innocent civilians and yet, the Lieutenant does not review the battle plan with his crew or tell them to reflect on what they are about to take part in. Rather then do any of these normal and expected things, he is instead choosing that particular time to talk about one of his favourite hobbies. The only people in the frame of the shot are Kilgore and Lance, from their shoulders up, making the viewer feel as if they are part of the conversation as well. This is a strategic tool use by Coppola to get his audience to understand the soldiers who have these mundane conversations at inappropriate times and how these interactions skew with the soldiers sense of morality. It becomes clear that the soldiers have a hard time dealing with the guilt of murdering entire villages when it is equated to regular past times by their officers. The contrast of what they are going to do in the scene and what they are discussing is made evident through the cameras close shots. It is another example , by Coppola, of how army officials do not prepare soldiers for warfare since they make it less serious and make the consequences less harsh with conversations such as the one Coppola zooms up on. Another example of a shots that Coppola uses to showcase the absurdity of war it close to the end of the March of the Valkyries attack, is when he shows two long shots. The first is of rockets and ammunition hitting the water, causing five enormous explosions of water to shoot up (0:44:55), and the second is of napalm bombs being dropped on the village, producing a huge fire (0:48:55). By zooming out on this shot, Coppola is showcasing the violence and devastation of war in all its totality as well as the beauty of nature. The blending of the beauty and the destruction enters the soldiers awareness, making them flinch and recoil in horror and at the same time exclaim, Its really exciting, man! (0:45:00). The contrast can add to soldiers mixed feelings about the war, morally and emotionally. Its exciting and incredible and its also terrible and monstrous. These long shots are used by Coppola to show that when you zoom out fighting for ones country seems brave and courageous but up clo se it can hurt the soldiers in ways that are ignored by society. The camera angles that are used in Apocalypse Now are also used by Coppola to critique war and its effects on soldiers. Kilgore and his helicopter unit land by the shore as the March of the Valkyrie battle ends. As they all try to take cover in a ditch, Kilgore stands above ground in the open and shouts orders. (0:46:02). The angle that the camera shoots Kilgore at is at level with the soldiers in the ditch, so it is as if the viewer is in the position of the soldier. He is shown to be glorious leader that none of them would disobey, even if his command seems insane such as when he says, If I say its safe to surf this beach, Captain, its safe to surf this beach! (0:47:10). During war, it is expected that soldiers will obey their commanding officers without question. There are times when this is absolutely necessary, however it can also lead to issues with trust. In an instance where a soldier witnesses his officer commanding a fellow soldier to do something that in turn leads to his death, the soldier may have issues trusting the judgement of his commanding officer. When officers in leadership positons, and by extension, the politicians who declare war, are given all knowing and godlike statuses among soldiers and society, it can create psychological trauma for soldiers and questions of faith within larger society. The camera angles used by Coppola are to put the viewer in a soldiers shoes and to understand that leaders should not be seen as all knowing and all powerful and that it is important to question their choices before accepting them. It is clear that Francis Ford Coppola used many cinematic techniques in Apocalypse Now in order to convey to society that they must re-evaluate their views on war and be more considerate of the soldiers who have been hurt physically and mentally by it. The way in which he cut and edited scenes showcase the trauma that continues to haunt soldiers even after they return from war. Lighting is also used as a technique to further this message. The use of sound in certain areas and not in others is employed to accuse society of turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the veterans who do not receive proper rehabilitation upon their return. Another technique Coppola used was to zoom in or out on specific camera shots to display the absolute absurdity of war and the effects that has on soldiers. Lastly, Coppola utilized camera angles to encourage society to think for themselves and never trust a leader without first questioning their true intentions, especially in the context of war. These five cinematic elements help to tell the story of Apocalypse Now in a way that a novel never could, since it is not just a film with a captivating plot but rather a movie in which cinematic techniques force the viewers to reconsider some troubling societal issues. References Apocalypse Now. (1979) . Retrieved March 20, 2017, from https://solarmoviez.to/movie/apocalypse-now-6743/74126-8/watching.html Gentry, R. (2010, Winter-Spring). Dean Tavoularis. Post Script, 29(2), 93+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ps/i.do?p=EAIMsw=wu=yorku_mainv=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CA247223175asid=3fccc0d830aca85bdf6a33f51c16a1bf I found this source to be very helpful in my understanding of the movie Apocalypse Now since it is an interview that addresses not only the movie, but also some of the cinematic techniques used to create it. The interview covers a variety of topics about the film like plot, symbolism, character development and the tools used to showcase all of these ideas in the best possible way. Although I did not end up using many quotes from it, I found that it expanded my knowledge of the way in which the director and those who advised him chose to portray certain scenes. This source backed up the most essential of points for my essay, that everything Coppola did was deliberate and in order to draw the audiences attention to certain things. Vees-Gulani, Susanne. Diagnosing Billy Pilgrim: A Psychiatric Approach to Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five. Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 44.2 (2003): 175-184. Retrieved from http://literature.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/searchFulltext.do?id=R01664027divLevel=0area=abellforward=critref_ft I found this source to be incredibly useful on the topic of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Soldiers. The source is an analysis of an antiwar novel in which the author wrote about their own experiences in World War II. I found that many of the points that were made about this man and his novel also applied to the soldiers in the film Apocalypse Now. When discussing PTSD and how it feels for an individual, it really seemed to be in complete conjunction with the way Coppola portrayed Willard in the opening scene of the movie. This article helped me to see the techniques that Coppola was using were in order to show PTSD as realistically as possible.

college essay -- essays research papers

Accomplishments for my college years My name is NAME. I am Age and I live in WHERE YOU LIVE in fact I have lived here all my life. I am currently attending SCHOOL NAME, which has helped prepare me for my future at a college or university level. I began working with children and youth at a very early age. This began as the leader of recreation summer camps and coaching youth basketball teams, and soon led me to my current career path. When I was sixteen I was very grateful to be approached about designing and implementing a program for youth. It was an excellent experience for me, giving me knowledge and confidence. Over the years I have assisted the gym teachers in my high school and worked with the mentally challenged. They recommedned me for this program because of my athletic ...

Spirituality and Nature Essay -- Writing Religion Nature Essays Paper

Spirituality and Nature Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. (Psalm 148:7-12) When considering the reading that we have done so far in class I am struck by the relationship that is drawn in many of them, between the appreciation of nature and spirituality. While I am not a Christian in the typical sense there is still no doubt in my mind that there is a benevolent and loving higher power, whatever its name may be. What reason do I have to say this? For me, like Wordsworth in "Tintern Abbey", and like Radcliffe's Emily, I feel a connection with a higher power in my own interactions with nature. There is no other place in which I feel God more strongly than in the natural world around me. Last summer, working on my aunt and uncle's farm, I would have moments early in the morning, working in crisp air under a light blue textured sky, in which I would be overcome with feelings of insignificance in the face of such vastness. Another moment that stands out in my memory is walking in the valley between Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh as a snow storm visibly moves over the top of the Seat and down into the valley around me, evoking feelings that I can only characterize as sublime. The experience, of which the prior are only two examples, makes my problems cease to matter and makes me feel connected somehow to an ineffable, eternal and co... ... is a personal and subjective phenomenon that to me involves spiritual reflection and the feeling of being part of something much bigger than myself. The feeling is one that is valuable to me, the understanding of myself as a spiritual person and the understanding of my relation to the world around me. Based on my own experience, I will continue to believe that "God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what he has made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). Works Cited Radcliffe, Ann. The Mysteries of Udolpho. Ed. Jacqueline Howard. London: Penguin Books, 2001. The Student Bible, New International Version. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996. Wordsworth, William. "Tintern Abbey". Romanticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Duncan Wu. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

Proposal To Reduce Unemployment Essay examples -- Economics, Unemployme

In the past fifty years the economy of the United States has changed dramatically, whether it be the social or economic status. What can be said is that with the current recession that has taken place the lives of millions of Americans are being affected everyday. More jobs are being cut, and newer job opportunities are being taken away because of insufficient funds or lack of education. What I am planning to propose is a budget that will drastically change the way the economy has been looked upon in the last century. More so I plan to introduce a way to fit a newer form of a capitalist economy into the government system, mainly to increase the percentage of American work force between seventy-five percent to eighty-five percent to preserve better living conditions. First thing that has to be looked upon when we think of unemployment are the unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits can be described as a back door for employees in the situation that they lose their jobs. The unemployment benefits provides temporary financial assistance to eligible workers who are unemployed through no fault of his/her own. Under this, each state administers a separate insurance program to provide financial service to those qualified under state law. In order to meet these requirements an employee must have a base period, or wages earned during a certain time. The base period is usually the first four out of all five calendar quarters prior to the time a file is claimed. Now there are two ways of filing a claim. One is filing a claim in the state that one resides in. the other would be to file a claim in a non-residential state. Shortly after two to three weeks of filing a claim, an unemployed worker should rec... ... for retirement. After a six month period, the workfare laborer is allowed to apply for a minimum wage job in regular workforce and leaves his/her workfare job that is passed on to another person in need. In a recap, the three policies introduced, the Unemployment Reformation Act of 2059, the Infinite Education Opportunities Program Act, and the Unity Tax, will be a vital part in restoring and surpassing expectations for decreasing the percentage of Americans unemployed by ten to fifteen percent within the next six to eight months. I believe that with these policies the chances of a recession will not occur for a long period of time. For that matter, a recession may not occur again depending on how successful the unemployment plans develop. Nevertheless, I predict that by the year 2109 the employment rate for Americans will reach eighty-three to eighty-five percent.

Issues with Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

Discuss the issues with classification and diagnosis In order to diagnose the symptoms of mental health disorders , practitioners use classification systems like the DSM which classifies the symptoms of schizophrenia. The DSM has been criticised for issues including cultural problems and the overlap of disorders such as schizophrenia with depression. The DSM is used to diagnose patients with a disorder and indicates what treatment they will require. Other problems involved with the classification includes inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability.Ronsenhan conducted a study which demonstrated the issue of reliability. Participants with no mental health administrated themselves into a practice by saying they could hear noises in their head saying ‘thud’. Once the participants were admitted they behaved normally however they were still interpreted as schizophrenic. This raises issues on the reliability of the classification as it suggests anyone can be admitted, and once labelled with a diagnosis every behaviour they may show is blamed on the disorder.The publication of the DSM-III in 1980 was designed as offering a much more reliable classification system in order to diagnose disorders. Carson claimed it would fix all problems of reliability for once and for all allowing agreement between psychiatrists to who and who did not have schizophrenia. Despite these claims there is still little to no evidence proving its reliability and a study conducted by whaley found the inter-rater reliability was as low 0. 11. Whaleys research is into inter-rater reliability is supported by the findings of majtabi and Nicholson.In this research 50 senior psychiatrists were asked to distinguish between ‘bizzare’ and ‘non bizzare’ behaviour, they produced inter-rater reliability as low as 40 percent proving the central diagnosis system lacks sufficient reliability for it to be a reliable method or differentiate schizophrenic sufferers and non-schizophrenics. Overall the low reliability is diagnosing and its individual systems show that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is affected by the interpretation of the psychiatrist.As the reliability is low in then leads to the questioning of the validity of diagnosis. With scientists not agreeing on patients who have schizophrenia the question of what schizhrenia actually is becomes meaningless. People diagnosed rarely share the same symptoms and outcomes. The prognosis involves 20 percent recovery to the previous level of functioning, 10 percent achieve significant improvement and 20 percent demonstrate recovery with relapses.As there is no common outcomes we can state it has low predictive validity. Bentall claims that schizophrenia is no longer a scientific category as it has too many issues involved in the classification and prognosis. As sufferers rarely demonstrate similar symptoms or outcomes assumptions have been made that it is not just one disorder but rather many disorders that have all been classed as one under the title of schizophrenia. Buckley found that schizophrenia is often comorbid with substance abuse, anxiety and depression.With concordance rates as high as 50 percent between schizophrenia and depression and 47 percent between schizophrenia and substance abuse. This makes diagnosis and prescribing treatment even harder as the categories are too narrow to be used as a valid indicator at what treatment should be carried out. Kessler proves there is a link between suicidal rates and those suffering depression comorbid with schizophrenia, with statistics only one percent attempt it with schizophrenia with 40 percent attempting it when suffering schizophrenia and depression.This supports Buckleys finding as it proves schizophrenia and depression sufferers need an entirely different treatment. There is no common universal prescription for schizophrenic patients. The frail reliability becomes even more evident when looking at the contrast of diagnosis in different cultures. Copeland found that when he gave a description of a patient to 134 us psychiatrists and 194 uk psychiatrists. While 69 percent of the us psychiatrists diagnosed the patient as schizophrenic only 2 percent of the uk did the same diagnosis.Therefor suggesting schizophrenia is a disorder that is extremely subjective to diagnosis and varies greatly from culture to culture. In conclusion it is evident there is great issues surrounding both the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia. Findings from Buckley and Kessler suggest that schizophrenia is in fact just a term to describe multiple disorders including depression and anxiety. It is therefore difficult to accurately treat each individual patient, making the diagnosis invalid.

A Critical Review of Andrea Owens’ “The Mortgage Bailout that Worked.”

While the Harvard Business Review (HBR) has yet to publish anything specifically on the Obama Mortgage Stimulus Plan as of yet, this recent blog entry might give an idea as to what the HBR’s point of view might be. This is a very interesting piece, as it is a historical lesson on mortgage bailout plans and how they might work. In the 1920s, real estate, like in the 1990s, was considered a very safe investment. In New York just prior to the great crash, several dozen real estate guaranty companies sprang up, offering what amounted to â€Å"mutual funds† for investing in mortgages.These funds were guaranteed by the insurance division of the state of New York. Needless to say, with a few years, these investments sprang out of control. In fact, the companies themselves began to invest in their own guaranty schemes. They charged a fee of roughly 1% of the annual interest on the paper (not the real value). As soon as a slowdown hit, the guaranty firms put their marketing sche mes into a higher gear, selling more and more of them, even waving their fee for a time. When the collapse came by 1932, the marketing went even higher, and more mortgages were sold at more and more advantageous rates.Some were noticing that these guaranty firms were â€Å"on the hook† for some very questionable loans. They sold discounted mortgages to attempt to pay off already inflated mortgage values. It was a scam based on a lie. In 1932, the firms held the tremendous sum of about $2. 7 billion in paper, that itself represented about $809 million in actual value. The final collapse came in the Spring of 1935, and finally, the state stepped in. The measures the state took is really the lesson here. First, the state of New York passed two laws. The first was the Mortgage Moratorium Act.This basically stated that the homeowner cannot lose his home through foreclosure so long as the taxes and interest were paid. Second, the state created an institution called the mortgage Com mission whose job it was to take over the mortgages and seek to reclaim their value. The point of this latter institution was to maintain real estate values as close to the numbers on the paper as possible. It is here where the state met with some success. This commission hired a large number of researchers and investigators to track down each and every property that was represented (distortions and all) on the now worthless paper.Each property, once identified and appraised, was to be disposed of either through sale or rental. Those properties with unfinished improvements were kept afloat until the improvements were finished. The state assisted in any improvements at all on the properties that may maintain their value. But what is impressive is that, at least according to the HBR, by 1935-1936, the state had reclaimed about 84% of the paper value of these properties, which is quite impressive given the nature of the scam.Now, that being said, what are the issues that derive from th is relative to Obama and the mortgage stimulus/bailout? There are two: first, that those who are involved in the bailout/stimulus need to, like the state of New York many moons ago, keep track of all the properties that are recorded on the paper. And second, that the bailout/stimulus money be used to maintain property values to the greatest extent possible given the available liquidity. What the authors of such articles always forget is that there are real people under all this paper.People who have been taken advantage of for the profit of a few. Here, criminal acts have been perpetrated for the sake of quick profits: as a matter of course, it is the homeowner, rather than the schemers, that is punished. Hence, the remainder of this paper will deal with several issues that derive from the stimulus and the historical take on it from our chosen author. 1. Regardless of the nature of the stimulus, all foreclosures must be stopped immediately. It is not the fault fo the homeowner that they have been taken advantage of.Like the New York situation, no foreclosures should proceed even if the taxes cannot be paid. This is a form of reimbursement for the homeowner of the encouragement of such speculation under the fraudulent banner of â€Å"the free market,† which is neither free nor a market: it is the state’s guarantee of personal privilege. 2. All real estate taxes should be suspended for a single year. This will act as a negative stimulus for homeowners. That is, families that own their own homes should be free of real estate taxes for a single year.Like the New York case in the 1930s, the fact is that the regulators and the state was asleep at the switch while all of this was going on. The state, largely captive by the major speculators, refused to take action. Hence, the state that acted as a facilitator to these schemers/speculators. As a result, the state does not deserve the reward of smooth tax collection. If there is to be a moratorium on fore closures, then there also needs to be a cancellation of taxes on real estate for families who own homes, as well as a cancellation of any back taxes on property, etc.3. If the bailout is to proceed, then in addition to the above, the checks (which represent their own money anyway) should be made out to the homeowner, and not to the schemers or â€Å"guaranty firms. † 4. While it might sound extreme, the schemers and their hangers on should be sentenced to work camps for their role in the scam. If these people view money as the result of scam, then they need to be taught that the origin of value is work, that is, labor. Labor, not fancy financial footwork, is the source of wealth.The middlemen and speculators merely shift it around. If the value of the paper in their hands does not match the actual value of the real estate, that missing value did not disappear, it merely changed hands. The above ideas in terms of the bailout/stimulus itself, therefore, should be involved in re couping that value and transferring it to the taxpayer and homeowner. The fact remains that the middle class homeowner does not have an interest group or lobby that protects them. The schemers do, and the poor do, but the middle class taxpayer does not. 5.If the stimulus is to continue, then it seems reasonable to hold tha a certain percentage of the money should go to bringing the poor into the ranks f the middle class by subsidizing their entry into home ownership and financial stability. By the same toke, the state of indebtedness of the middle class should also be alleviated with this same money. In such a case, it will be a bailout in the truest sense of the word: not a bailout fo the financial system, but of individual poor and middle class taxpayers whose surplus value has been shipped to overseas tax havens and â€Å"foundations.† The reality here is that this crisis is systemic, not aberrational. The HBR’s primary sin is that they insist that this scam is not built into the system, but the result of a handful of criminal minds. In this they are wrong. The system has this kind of scam built into its very concept of value. The issues that can â€Å"unpack† this statement can be summarized this way: 1. The question of value: the manipulation of the value of labor is separated from the actual act of labor and work. In other words, the value of labor is taken by the schemers and manipulated for their own profit.But the fact is that that value is not theirs, but the labor that has created it in the first place: this includes the actual physical labor of building a house, but also the intellectual labor that provides the plans, the geography, the blueprints, etc. The surplus value of their work is taken by the likes of Madoff, and then gambled against other similar feats of labor. The fact is that this surplus value belongs to no one but the labor that created it. Hence, the scam is built into the system, and not aberrational. 2.Hence, i f taxes and foreclosures are all eliminated by state fiat (for a certain amount of time) it is merely a matter of financial reparation, not some sort of a gift, or a kind of state benevolence. This money and the labor it represents belongs to the middle class. Hence it is their own money that is being returned to them. 3. The stress in financial circles is not creation. The entire point of labor is to create things out of their natural state that makes life easier for humanity. While this seems elementary, the Wall Street mentality has no concept of it.Speculation itself is a kind of mystification in that speculation is a matter of gambling paper (in fact, representing labor on the ground) against other pieces of paper representing the same thing. When the value of this paper is inflated due to skillful gambling, who is to pay? The very same people who created the real (i. e. non paper) value in the first place. Therefore, the question of the bailout stimulus is misplaced, unless it aims not at the mortgage industry or finance in general, but the middle class whose chronic state of indebtedness is being exacerbated by more and more taxes.While it remains the cases that the system itself is responsible for the crisis, the middle class, always n the lookout for a good deal, made certain they were easy targets for the scam. But this is not the fault of this class–the very backbone of home-ownership. Hence, the schemers need to be punished, and the scammed bailed out, not the other way around. Value must be rejoined to the actual function of labor, rather than the fictional value of paper.