Saturday, August 31, 2019
Compare and Contrast: Cinema or Movies at Home Essay
The average American spends about $2,000 a year on entertainment. Many people can conclude that watching a movie in a cinema is very memorable and interesting. Although a cinema doesn’t compare to the privileges you have at home. Then again your home cannot provide you with a huge screen and a big volume. Being at a cinema has its benefits but watching a movie at home easier and inexpensive. In a cinema you get to watch the movie on a huge screen with a comfort volume surround sound system. The graphics are way better than your small box television. When you go to the movies you must be on time. You also have to be courteous to others around you and respectful otherwise you could get thrown out. At the movies you do not have a remote to pause in case you need to go to the restroom or ask what is happening in the movie itself. At the movies you do not get to recline in a comfy chair. You must sit properly and make sure you don’t bother others around you. At the movies you have to whisper if you need to talk. Then when there is a terrifying part you are strained from screaming or you’re at the hilarious part in the whole movie and you have to stifle your laughter. Being in a cinema there are many rules you must go by while at home you may have some rules but not as strict. Then if you don’t like the movie at all it was a waste of time and money plus no refund. There are many disadvantages when going to the movies even with the few pros the cons overpower. Now when you go to the movies you get to choose your time to start the movie. There is no limit as to when you must be in a chair watching the movie. Plus you can skip all the boring previews and get straight with the movie. Then you can add subtitles if you would like where at the movies you don’t have that choice. You get to recline in your personal sofa and you can wear your pajamas! You don’t need to dress like you would if you were in public you can be comfortable in your own home. This also gives you a sense of security and ease. Then this creates a bond with you and whoever you decide to watch the movie with. You could also watch previous movies prior to the new movie you want to watch. You have your own personal marathon with friends and family. The relationship between you and your friends or family builds and is good in the future. Plus at home you can invite anyone you want free of charge and you don’t have to worry if someone will have the money or not. You don’t have to waste so much money on buttered popcorn that is cheaper by the box and you get more than you would in a large bag at the cinema. Then if you feel that you need to go to the bathroom you have a remote to pause the movie. You get to watch the whole movie and you don’t even miss a single part. Also in case you get lost throughout the scenes you can pause and ask those you are watching the movie with what is happening. Then fast forwarding and rewinding are also an option you can do at your home. In addition you do not have to worry about others ruining the movie experience for you. You do not have to refrain from screaming, laughing, crying, sighing, est. during the movie.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Pestel Framework
The PESTEL framework is designed to provide managers with an analytical tool to identify different macro-environmental factors that may affect business strategies, and to assess how different environmental factors may influence business performance now and in the future. The PESTEL Framework includes six types of important environmental influences: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. These factors should not be seen as independent factors. Factors such as technological advances may probably affect the social and economic conditions in different markets.Below, some characteristics in each environmental factor are listed, which may give business managers guidance to, which factors may be of importance to a company's strategy. The list is however far from complete, and it only gives managers some preliminary inspiration to, which factors may be of relevance for handling business strategies. Many factors, that are not included below, may have an effect on business success, and each company must evaluate for themselves, which key drivers of change will potentially have strategic and competitive consequences.Political factors †¢Ã‚         Stability of government †¢Ã‚         Social policies: (e. g. social welfare etc. ) †¢Ã‚         Trade regulations: (e. g. the EU ; NAFTA) †¢Ã‚         Tax policies †¢Ã‚         Entry mode regulations Economic factors †¢Ã‚         Disposable income of buyers †¢Ã‚         Credit accessibility †¢Ã‚         Unemployment rates †¢Ã‚         Interest rates †¢Ã‚         Inflation Social Factors †¢Ã‚         Population demographics: (e. g. aging population) †¢Ã‚         Distribution of Wealth †¢Ã‚         Changes in lifestyles and trends          Educational levels Technological factors †¢Ã‚         New innovations and discoveries †¢Ã‚         Pace of technological innovations and advances †¢Ã‚         Pace of technological obsolescence †¢Ã‚         New technological platforms (e. g. VHS and DVD) Environmental factors †¢Ã‚         Environmental protection laws †¢Ã‚         Waste disposal laws †¢Ã‚         Energy consumption regulation †¢Ã‚         Popular attitude towards the environment Legal factors †¢Ã‚         Employment regulations †¢Ã‚         Competitiv e regulations          Health and safety regulations †¢Ã‚         Product regulations The key for business managers is therefore to discover the main drivers of change that may affect business strategies, and to discover the factors most likely to influence the performance of the business. In conducting a PESTEL analysis, business managers may create strategies that take several macro-environmental factors into consideration, so that the strategy formulation process will be as sensitive to current and future environmental factors as possible.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
An Analysis of the Rampant Food Waste America Produce
An Analysis of the Rampant Food Waste America Produce In my opinion the relationship between America and food is horrendous. Yes, throughout the states and different regions of America there are many takes on food, transforming it into creative and tasteful dishes. Maybe garnished with a sprig of some fancy tree that you’re not going to eat because who eats that junk? So, like many other foods, the garnish is thrown out and wasted. The wastefulness of our modern society branches out all through industries such as fast food, markets, and restaurants.Countless times fast food restaurants dump out food that was not sold: burgers, fries, chicken nuggets. All this food which was still edible is discarded. To think we could have still used this food or given it to someone who needed it, but rather kept it from them and took away the chance of anyone using it seems monstrous, but hey, that’s America. Everything revolves around some form of profit, so theres no time to get rid of that food for free. On the other side of fast food restaurants, there are the top of the line restaurants who work more on the aesthetic side of their food rather than the quality and taste which begins to create a sort of expectation from the people. We want our food to be flawless, and satisfy our eyes. There can be no burnt pieces of meat, no discolored pieces of ripe fruit, nothing that we see as flawed, and if it is, then its thrown out and wasted. So as we have the fast food restaurants literally just throwing out food, we have our top of the line restaurants shaping how we view good and bad food which ultimately leads us to also end up throwing out food. Not only do these top of the line restaurants influence how we view good food, but the agribusinesses as well, such as Walmart. We walk into a store and see an extreme abundance of colorful fruits and vegetables yet that does not phase us, although a majority of those fruits and vegetable wont be bought because of some small flaw which doesnt really affect anything about them. We take this abundance of food for granted and rather than actually having the thought of buying food for our own sustenance, we have the thought of buying the best looking fruit. So instead of buying those 5 apples which all have flaws, we choose not to buy them and ultimately they get wasted, just like so many other foods that we take for granted in America.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Is It Possible to Have a Prejudice Free Society Essay
Is It Possible to Have a Prejudice Free Society - Essay Example It is human behaviour to simply distrust or dislike someone and such simple latent feelings often convert into sharp hatred, making people form strong assumptions and theories about why they are prejudiced against others. Such hatred often even causes people to cause others injury and thus is only a matter of attitude within a person’s conscience. The fact of the matter remains - whether or not the society we live in can be free of prejudice at some point. When children are born, their minds are free of all kinds of thought; they usually soak in all the positivity from the environment around them as they are sheltered under the wings of their family members. However, with time, as they begin interacting with different parts of the society, they are taught ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ according to their family members. This causes a change in their attitudes and thus makes them take certain choices which may portray the growing level of prejudice that they feel for other people. Many people have been raised in a way so as to hate other groups of people; for example the shudra caste in olden India was said to be a group of untouchable people whom no one would interact with or even touch for fear of being heralded with sins. However, as the freedom movement gained momentum, leaders like B.R Ambedkar began educating society about how these people were also children of God and deserved a free right to life among other people. They could not be shunned without any reason, without having committed a serious crime or being a grave danger to the other people. In Europe and America, most white skinned people were prejudiced against people belonging to different races; black or brown skinned people were frowned down upon and given the status of slaves. They were supposed to serve their white masters and were stripped off various rights including using the same transport, eating at the same places as well as visiting the same places of worship. Case s of Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King have helped to define the border line for letting people give in to apartheid and accept such discrimination and prejudice caused against people belonging to different races. Today, there are a number of reforms and laws laid down that have helped to abolish such practices all over the world. With time, more and more people have been educated about living together with differences and learning to accept another person’s thoughts, opinions and perspectives on living life. The world we live in has helped us expose each other to a plethora of new cultures and this gives people the hope that it is possible to live in a world free of prejudice at some point. This is because with time, gradually people are coming to an understanding and learning that every person is after all trying to live his own life and make a living for himself and his family. Every man is trying his best to provide for food, shelter and clothing. The basi c necessities of life are what is important for people to survive, not prejudice. Today, many people around the world have a problem with those practicing the religion of Islam because they feel that after the 9/11 attacks, all Muslims have a single goal of terrorism; however, with time, more and more people are coming to the realization that even Islam is a beautiful faith to follow and that the people following it are not doing
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Accounting report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Accounting report - Assignment Example Therefore, this additional information such as the macro environment effects, business performance in comparison to its competitors, etc. generally guide the investor in making the right choice. The statements provided by Chairman and CEO are more or less same with both them talking about the performance of British Airways during the year in comparison with last year and the difficulties being faced due to economic downturn, loss of consumer confidence, increasing oil prices and other environmental factors. Furthermore, both the heads highlighted the fact that next year is going to be much tougher in terms of performance due to economic conditions prevailing, yet they are confident that the company will manage to survive and achieve their long term future goals of being a premium airline. However, the main difference among both the statements was the measures highlighted by CEO to survive currently and tackle the future business appropriately with a brief detail about their future development and ways to achieve those (British Airways 2009). The report provided by CFO highlight some of the problems that company is facing and which will be important for investor like Paul. Firstly, the CFO talks about the decline revenue caused by a decrease in passenger traffic especially premium passenger leading to reduction on amount of flying. Furthermore, the report highlights the company’s susceptibility towards fluctuating oil prices and showing an increase in operating expenditure due to this. Moreover the company faced a net unrealized loss on fuel derivatives due to volatile prices. Lastly, company posted a negative EPS which will have an adverse impact on its investors as no dividend was announced (British Airways 2009). The environment in which airline industry operates involves lot of risks and uncertainties which are out of their control and can have severe impacts on their business. Some of the risks involved in their industry are act of terrorism, any
Monday, August 26, 2019
Business Research Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Business Research Analysis - Essay Example TBS might get sentiment from undergraduate understudies who have as of late finished their first back of study at TBS, and consistent with examination the gathered information, the report will indicate some quality and shortcoming of the Safety Bus and give some recommendation for the Safety Office. Part One will give a discriminating assessment of survey by consolidating it with significant writing survey. Therewithal, it will indicate up to assess the structure, address spill out of area to segment, address substance and sorts and supporting directions for the potential respondents, additionally the technique for information accumulation (postal/online) and the utilization of impetuses in questionnaire. Part Two will dissect the gathered information utilizing and portray the particulars of the discoveries and give related inference to the Safety Office. Evaluation of the questionnaire All respondents may as well be given the same survey and reaction classifications, paying litt le attention to frequency. While one might gather that this guideline needs questions, classes, directions, and so forth, to be indistinguishable crosswise over frequency, this supposition ends up being not plausible or alluring. Repetition reiteration might bring about cumbersome and challenging to regulate instruments that are unrealistic to attain predictable reaction information. Rather, the significance and expectation of the inquiry and reaction choices must be constant. In certain cases, questions or directions require to be adjusted so they might be conveyed to, went to, and comprehended by respondents the same route in distinctive frequency. The objective is that instruments gather identical informative content despite mode. By equal, we imply that the same respondent might give the same substantive answer to an inquiry paying little mind to the mode of management. The before mentioned guidelines apply the standard of Universal Presentation to nine major parts of instrument plan: inquiry wording and guidelines, illustrations, reaction classes, organizing of answer spaces, image based outline components, inquiry request and assembling, cheat sheets, and prompts and help. The before mentioned are scenarios in which a change in the inquiry wording, request, directions, alternately different characteristics is vital for operational explanations, or preferred jelly the inquiry over might asking precisely the same address in an indistinguishable path in diverse frequency. Case in point, it is not sensible or reasonable to need that very long records of reaction classes or samples be rehashed precisely as worded for each individual in many millions of U.S. family units by instantly prepared registration enumerators. Prove from conduct coding in statistics tests demonstrates that enumerators don't read long records of reaction classifications. The before mentioned guidelines attempt to set onward a practical desire of field usage and endeavour to permit enoug h adaptability to allow infrastructure of overall composed instruments that adventure the points of interest of a specific mode while upholding
The Future of Japanese Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
The Future of Japanese Economy - Essay Example of economic crisis like financial panic of 1927 and the oil shock, include the invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the attack on Capitalism during 1930s, war with China from 1937 to 1941, Pacific war in 1946, the Dodge line of 1949, recession of 1965 are the common examples of depression that Japan encountered other than World War II2. Though, very soon they recovered it with 10% average of economic growth in 1960s, 5% during 1970s and closer to 4% in 1980s, but after that, growth slowed down remarkably3. Strong working mentality, good government-industry relationship and implementation of advanced technology were the most favorable reasons responsible for making Japan stand on to the platform of one of the largest economy in the world from post WWII till 80s. Resultant of overinvestment in late 80s and crisis in world oil supply brought another challenge to their economy4. It became necessary for Japan to switch from mobilized productionism to more substantial welfare economy. However, t he oscillation between successful drive of the export in late 80s and bang in economy after 80s hazed that requirement and mobilized economic system disappeared very soon5. After the fading away of stock inflation and land prices, an excess of production capacity remained. This factor lowered the profitability of the production and on the other hand, bad loan weakened the financial activity. Government’s effort in recovering that downfall was not up to that level and it’s clear from the statistics of economy for the duration of 2000-20016. Hence, it is inferred that Japan is in a state of distorted industrial policy and in urgent need of a revolution. The main aim of this paper is to address the main obstacles that Japan is facing and then to state the possible solutions to overcome them. Japan is facing resistances now-a-days that it had never encountered before. Growth rate which used to be in two digit figure just after war, now expectation growth is below 1% which is too
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Fibre Reinforce Polymer Composites in Bridge Structures Term Paper
Fibre Reinforce Polymer Composites in Bridge Structures - Term Paper Example From the research it can be comprehended that mechanically, a composite is a separable combination of two or more materials that are not the same at the molecular level but purposefully mixed to come up with a new material that has optimal and superior properties, which are different from those of its components. These materials have been utilized over the years in construction. An ancient way was the use of straw for reinforcement in clay and mud bricks. In the last century, in several structural systems, combination of reinforcing concrete and steel has been used for construction. However, a new crop of composite material has since been largely accepted by most engineers for construction and the rehabilitation of new structures and existing facilities. This class consists of Fibre Reinforced Polymer composites, which were in the earlier days developed specifically for defense and aerospace. Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) are a combination of polymeric resins which acts as binders o r matrices that has stiff and strong fibre assemblies which act as the reinforcing phase. The combination of a reinforcing phase with the matrix phase produces a material system that is analogous to steel reinforced concrete and is new. However, these concentrations may significantly vary; generally, the reinforced concrete rarely has more than 5% reinforcement, whereas Fibre reinforced polymer composites contains more than 30% reinforcements.... This class consists of Fibre Reinforced Polymer composites, which were in the earlier days developed specifically for defense and aerospace. Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) are a combination of polymeric resins which acts as binders or matrices that has stiff and strong fibre assemblies which act as the reinforcing phase. The combination of a reinforcing phase with the matrix phase produces a material system that is analogous to steel reinforced concrete and is new. However, these concentrations may significantly vary; generally, the reinforced concrete rarely has more than 5% reinforcement, whereas Fibre reinforced polymer composites contains more than 30% reinforcements. Components of a Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite Fibre This is a material that has been made into a long filament. A single fibre normally has up to 15Â µm. When the diameter is bigger, the probability of surface defects increases. The aspect ratio of diameter and length in continuous fibres can range from thousa nds to infinity. They usually occupy 50% of the weight and over 30% of the volume. Fibres are mainly meant for providing fitness, carrying the load, providing thermal stability, strength, and other structural properties to Fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) (2). The fibres in FRP composite need to have very high ultimate strength, high modulus of elasticity, low variation strength, high uniformity of diameter, high stability, and high uniformity of surface dimension among fibres. There are various forms of fibre used as reinforcements for polymer composite reinforcement exists. The manufacturer of materials made from FRP composites normally present
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Business law exam Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Business law exam - Case Study Example This definition also ensures that the employer is protected against unlawful acts by employees, which might jeopardize the welfare of the organization. The Rand formula This stipulates the requirement of the Canadian employment laws, requiring that all employees should pay the trade union dues and subscriptions, notwithstanding their union membership status. The significance of The Rand formula for labor laws in Canada is to ensure that employees do not disassociate themselves with union membership through failing to pay the required dues, yet they benefit from the functions of the union. Wagnerism This is a provision of the law allowing employees in the private sector to engage in lawful labor practices, such as the establishment of labor unions, participating in lawful strikes and signing collective bargaining agreements with their employers. However, the law exempts certain employees from being considered eligible for Wagnerism, such as the domestic workers. The significance of Wa gnerism for labor law in Canada is to give employees working under private sector the rights to exercise their freedom at the workplace, though within the confines of the law. Secondary picketing This refers to lawful protesting by employees in support of their union activities, in a different location that is not their employer’s premises. Secondary picketing allows the union members to undertake protests or demonstrations in favor of their union, where the employer has blocked them from accessing the premises. The significance of secondary picketing for labor laws in Canada is to allow employees a channel through which they can express their grievances, on the event that their employer has blocked them from protesting within the employer’s premises. Part B Question 1 The role of International Labor Organization (ILO) is to set and oversee the adherence of the international standards of labor, as well as fair working conditions and terms, for employees globally. Thus, the ILO provides guidance for the acceptable labor standards, while advocating for the improvement of the working environment for the employees. The ILO also defines the relationship between employees and employers, with a focus on the rights and responsibilities of each party. The impact of ILO functions, on the Canadian Labor laws, is to streamline the laws so they match the required international standards and requirements. Question 2 The role of the arbitrator, as stipulated by the Canadian labor laws, is to intervene in the conflict between employees and their employers. Therefore, an arbitrator plays the role of resolving the conflict arising at the work place, or any other work related conflicts between the employer and employees. The functions and powers of the arbitrator were extended by a court ruling, granting an arbitrator the powers to require specific performance from an employer or an employee, depending on who is wrong. The impact of the Weber decision to the powers of the arbitrator is that it extended these powers, to allow an arbitrator change the collective agreement terms between the employer and the employee, as the arbitrator deems necessary. Question 4 The relationship between a union and its members is that of a contract. Therefore, the contract is established on the basis of the union receiving dues and subscriptions from the members, and in turn the union represents the interest
Friday, August 23, 2019
Hinduism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Hinduism - Essay Example Vedas are meant to guide all the Hindus. The religion has really expanded its wings worldwide since its initiation. It is believed that consecration to the religion even interfered with the British stranglehold. This essay explains some of the facts and issues concerning Hinduism ritual. Hinduism is believed to have started in the Indus valley and a larger percentage of followers are found in India. Most of the facts and important issues about Hinduism are preserved in the Vedas. The Aryans took with them the Persian and the Western concepts to the Hindu culture. Hindu’s divinity were said to be normal supremacies of heaven and earth and they revered their gods via conducting animal sacrifices (Matthews 72-74). The Aryans’ gods were shining objects which portrayed nice things for human beings. Hindus believe that Asuras are evil powers that signify hurtful things to humans. Intermingling of Aryans and the natives (Dravidians) led to sharing of rites and customs with the natives. However, most of the Hindus rituals are majorly formed by the Aryans’ culture and practices. The Aryan practices dominated the Davidians for reasons not known. Some scholars blame the Aryans dominant culture on stratification while others think that the Aryans were just superior to the natives (Rinehart 123-127). There are four collections of the Vedas and the popular Veda is known as the Ring Veda. Other Vedas include the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, and the Artharva Veda. These Vedas have many different roles in the religion. For instance, some Vedas contain prayers and other information regarding devotion while others have people’s daily worries such as lust (Matthews 75-80). The Vedas are regarded as the basis and the roots for Hinduism since they contain variety of clarifications concerning the religion. The Hindus’ leaders are called Brahmins who execute rites under their powers. Brahmins have the responsibility of inspiring devotees and influence other people worldwide to favor their religion (Rinehart 123-127). Hindus have several gods that include the Agni that ascend from Purusha and the Indra deity, the Soma which is regarded as very important god and finally the Varina who is considered as the preserver of truth. There are some groups that branched from the original Hinduism such as Upanishads. Contemporarily, Hinduism has established four main goals which they regard as important in pursuing the peak of release in their lifespan. Hindus regard Dharma as the right way of living and studying to achieve lasting happiness while Karma is considered as the law of cause and effect (Matthews 75-80). Bhagavad Gita came up with distinct tracks for Hindu devotees to walk through. Bhagavad Gita was followed by the Puranas and the Tantaras which have engrained detailed information regarding the divinities and service to the deities. Hinduism is a very unique religion which greatly honors the Vedas as well as traditional customs and practices unlike the Western religions that believe in the progress of events since their initiation. Hinduis believe that there are cycles of events that take place in their religion and that whatever is exact for the universe also applies to mankind (Fuller 62-65). The most interesting things about Hinduism are their rituals and symbols. Just like any other religion from across the world, rites and rituals are very important aspects of the religion. These rites and rituals play vital role in identification of the religion in question. To Hindus, most of these customs are compulsory but very flexible since devotees in different regions follow different customs. These rituals further ensure that the devotees do not go off the spiritual life
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Rome and Juliet Essay Example for Free
Rome and Juliet Essay The prologue is the introduction, which gives an overview of the play. It tells us what happens at the end of the play, in this case in Romeo and Juliet it is told in the introduction, for example the lines, a pair of star-crossd lovers take their life, doth with their death bury their parents strife. These two lines say that Romeo and Juliet both deep in love with each other, die at the end of the play, the reason being that their parents hated each other. It also sets the scene of Fair Verona and it explains the contents of the play, Two households, and break to new mutiny. The prologue is said by the chorus. This means it is an idea of a group of people taken from ancient Greek tradition. The prologue does not introduce the audience to the characters in the play; it just talks briefly about the events within the play. It is self consciously dramatic. It emphasises its purpose in telling the story, Is now the two hours traffic of our stage. It directly tells the audience to pay attention, The which if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend, and the play will develop from what the prologue has been revealing. In Franco Zefirellis production of Romeo and Juliet, the prologue is very brief and short. The film starts off with the details, the opening credits. The font to the credits is in white and in a quite gothic style of writing making it fit in with the traditional theme. While the details are slowly appearing on the screen, around the screen there is a thin border of orange geometric shapes on a yellow background. As the border is so bright and colourful, it is able to immediately catch the audiences eyes and therefore grabs their attention. The border suggests a very sixties styles. You would probably expect a more formal, dark edged kind of border. A soft and slow melody played on a harpsichord plays quietly in the background. The effect that Zefirelli tries to create here is to create a nice calm beginning to the play. In shot one, you can see the camera panning over the city of Fair Verona and slightly out of focus. The light is blue and hazy, gradually brightening up as the camera pans, suggesting that it is dawn. The colour of the light in the sky shining over the city, creates a dreamy and peaceful effect, and adds to the beauty of the city that is being shown. You could only just make out the tops of tall buildings and churches at first, but as it gradually gets lighter, the buildings and other features become more into focus. The rooftops of houses, church spires and a river are seen clearly. You are able to feel the quietness of the city in the early morning, which again gives the effect of the city being very calm and peaceful. The camera pans round the whole city, and then moves up towards the sun and stop with the sun being directly in the middle of the screen shot. The sun suggests the hot foreign climate of a hot foreign country, such as Italy. Shakespeares name appears when the camera has stop panning and focused on the sun. All of this equals one continuos shot. The panning is slow, and the brightening of the day is slow, creating a slow pace to the shot. It gives me the impression of a slow climax to the prologue, getting more and more intense as it goes along, and stopping at the sun gives me the impression that it represents the end, with an either tragic end or a very happy end. I think that it is trying to relate to the whole play itself, with the gradual climax with an intense ending. Throughout shot one, the speaker slowly recites the prologue in a poetic style. He speaks slowly going with the steady flow of the slow motion of the panning of the camera, so that it would not effect the backgrounds creation of peace. The speaker of the prologue is a man whose voice is gentle, soothing and rhythmic as he echoes the prologue. He still speaks when going into the second shot. Shot two is of a medieval courtyard. In front of the courtyard there is the city wall with battlements made of stone and brick, which gives the impression of the setting being in the medieval times. The camera stops moving and shows the shot of the courtyard while the speaker finishes reciting the prologue. As he completes his speech of the prologue, the camera moves slightly round to the left, which shows that where the camera is next to the city wall, it is also one of the ends of a busy marketplace. The suns golden bright morning light shines over the city wall and through the street of the marketplace, representing that it is the start of a new day. The sound of the hustle and bustle of a busy marketplace gradually builds up and the first act of the first scene begins there. This effect is to bring in the play with a more calm start and not rushing into the play with a different shot, bringing the audience into a slow and calm beginning. Zefirelli does not create any huge special effects. The title of the play, Romeo and Juliet appears as the speaker says the words star-crossed lovers. Zefirellis purpose of having the title and the words star-crossed lovers coming up at the same time, is to reinforce visually and aurally the main point of the play that it is a tragic story about the lovers Romeo and Juliet. Baz Luhrmanns version of the prologue is done in much more detail and is emphasised a huge amount more. Luhrmann tries to grab the attention of the audience with very fast moving screen shots and very lively music. The first shot that comes up on the screen is of a TV with a blank screen, and the distance between the camera and the TV is very far, making the TV look very small in the distance. The first sound is the fuzziness of a TV, and then on the screen of the TV, the opening credits are displayed on white tiles with a black background. The contrast between the colours gives a very sharp effect. This gives a very different first effect on the audience compared to Zefirellis opening shot. Luhrmanns first shot of the bold white tiles with a black background, gets the audiences attention straight away. After the credits, a female newsreader appears on the TV screen, and she reads aloud the prologue. She says the prologue like reading aloud a news report rather than in a poetic sonnet way. This makes the prologue subtle and it makes the audience think twice before realising that it is the prologue that she is saying. The subtle speaking of the prologue differs with Zefirellis make of the prologue being obvious to opening up the film. Beside the newsreader in the background, there is a small picture with some text underneath it. As the camera is in the far distance, it makes it hard to see what the picture and text are, which makes the audience wonder what it is. While the newsreader is saying the prologue, the camera subtly zooms in directly towards the screen, and the picture in the corner gradually comes into focus. The picture is of a broken ring with the text underneath it saying Star crossd lovers. The symbolism of the broken ring is that the lovers end up being torn away from each other. After the newsreader says the twelfth line of the prologue, the camera suddenly picks up speeds and zooms right into the TV screen, through a high street. At the same time the words, Fair Verona constantly flashes up in white with a black background. From the zooming, it has merged from one background into another. This sudden pick up of speed would as if wake up the audience and shocking them as the screen had suddenly gone from one shot to another. This is very unlike Zefirellis presentation of the prologue, as he keeps his prologue simple and calm all the way through, whereas Luhrmann uses the effect of zooming and flashing words up creating a dramatic scene. The reason of flashing the words, Fair Verona while the camera rushes down the high street, is to make the audience understand the comparison and realise exactly how fair Verona really is in his version of the film. It shows a decaying urban landscape contradicting fair Verona. The font style of the writing is bold like Arial, and is in block capitals, making it clear to the audience what it says. In Zefirellis, as the camera pans over the city, you can see that Verona is very pretty and fair, as the prologue says it is. As the camera reaches the end of the street, the camera is suddenly focused on the face of a statue, which was far in the distance from where the zooming into the street began. Very dramatic music starts to be played loudly, which produces a bigger effect on grabbing the audiences attention. The camera then pulls back to view the tops of two corporate buildings with the statue in the middle. The buildings have big signs on the top of them. They are the names of the two households, Capulet and Montague. They are in different colours, Capulet in red and Montague in blue. The differences in the colours emphasise the difference between the two. The effect of having the statue splitting the two buildings up is to make the point clear, that the two households need something or someone to keep them apart to avoid causing major trouble in the city, as they absolutely despise each other. The statue shown actually represents Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who is trying to control the families and bringing some peace to the city. In Zefirellis version, the point that the two families cannot stand each other is not emphasised. As the prologue is said in the same tone and way all the way through and the pictures are just of how fair Verona is, does not give a definite and clear point that the two households are major enemies. Luhrmann makes it visual to the audience, the hate between the two families. The next part of the introduction to Luhrmanns production of Romeo and Juliet, is of a rapid chain of clips from one to the other including clips of police cars with VBPD on the side of them standing for Verona Beach Police Department. This is shown to tell the audience that this is Verona Beach and not fair Verona. The chain of clips also includes clips of helicopters, clips of the disaster from different viewpoints, some far up in the sky, some close up to casualties who were injured, and the damage done to the city by this one disaster brought up because of the hate between the Capulets and the Montagues. The disaster is emphasised in this rapid succession of clips, to stress how much damage can be caused by one incident done by the two families. It also makes the audience think and imagine if this one incident caused so much damage, the amount of damage that they probably had done to the city in the past and what would be done in the future. The prologue is said once again while another variety of images using other media of newspaper articles and magazine covers appear. This time, the prologue is said by a character whom is actually in the play, referring to how the prologue is traditionally said by the chorus. The character who speaks the prologue is Friar Lawrence, and he says it in a poetic way, and this time the rhythm of a sonnet is emphasised. A man with a soft, gentle and low voice speaks the prologue like it is in Zefirellis production. This is one similarity that the two productions have. As he speaks, some words of the prologue is emphasised by magazine headlines appearing, using the effect of spinning one on top of the other. The headlines include New Mutiny and Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean. These headlines are to tell the audience and remind them the symbolism and reasoning behind each word in the prologue. There is also a faint background of burning flames when these headlines appearing as if showing the damage done. The images however, some are of like modern day newspapers and magazines. The camera slowly pans through a rack of different covers, and the headline of each newspaper and magazine are all referring to the feud caused between the two households, emphasising that they produce big issues in the city. Other images in this group of images include police taking charge of the situation in a live kind of view, showing how fast the police and other services had to respond to reduce the risk of more damage happening. The police and fire departments had to work into the night with the clearing up of the situation. This is known as the images are taken from broad daylight into the dark night. These images give the audience a visual understanding of how bad it is of the two households hating each other, which can cause so many innocent people in the city to be harmed. As the speaking of the prologue comes to an end, with the two lines A pair of star crossd lovers, take their life with the lines shown in white writing on a black background. This effect by now would be recognised by the audience by now as it had been used before to state the words Fair Verona. This effect of repeating jogs the audiences memories reminding them again and again the importance of the lines in the prologue. As the prologue stops being spoken, the same dramatic music becomes loud again. Each of the main characters are shown one by one with a pause on each with the text describing who each of the characters are and how they are either related to Romeo or Juliet or what the purpose of the character is in the film. This presentation of the character echoes the style of how it was done in famous program called Dallas. In Zefirellis version, the characters were not introduced and the film got right into the first scene once the prologue was spoken. A shot of Romeo looking through the narrow gap of a door appears, and then the camera immediately changes its angle to show what he see, which is a church aisle with blue neon crosses and candles. The angles that these two shots were taken were both through a narrow opening of the door. The first shot was taken from the inside of the church looking at Romeo, the man standing outside the door, and the second shot was taken from the outside of the door looking into the church. It emphasises what Romeo had seen, which the audience can assume is Juliet lying on the alter at the end of the aisle, Romeo thinking that she had really died. It also symbolises with that it was the conclusion and the end, viewing Romeo and the crosses, show that they were linked together and producing the idea of death. There was one more series of fast moving clips and a rush of lines as a final wind up to the prologue. There are a variety of different clips of things that happen from the beginning of the play to the end. The repeating of the clips again and again produce permanent images into the minds of the audience. The prologue ends with the words take their life and move onto the first act. The words take their life are stated to tell the audience that the story line would conclude with something relevant to it. I think that it is a new technique Luhrmann has used. He uses the technique of grabbing the attention of the audience and makes them concentrate. The prologue being reinforced by being presented for the third time, does not makes the audience get bored and tire of the clips being seen and seen again, but make them more excited about the film. I think that both Zefirelli and Luhrmann were trying to represent Romeo and Juliet in a different way, with different techniques. The prologue was of course interpreted differently. Zefirelli presented the prologue in his production in a gentle and calm way all the way through giving the audience a good idea of the peace and beauty of Verona. Luhrmann of course presented the prologue in a different way, almost a complete contrast to what Zefirelli did. He changed Fair Verona into urban sprawled Verona. I think that the presentations of the prologue were both appropriate for their interpretations because Zefirelli wanted to keep his production of Romeo and Juliet original and alike Shakespeare. Luhrmann wanted to interpret the play into something slightly more modern and unlike Shakespeares original version. In Luhrmanns production he emphasised the complications between the two households and the alterations he had made to the film, like how he set his production in an urban city and called it Verona Beach instead of setting it in the original city of Verona in Italy.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Elections in Africa Essay Example for Free
Elections in Africa Essay The Aim of this essay is based on the clarity on the Elections in Africa if they are a good Measure of democracy. It basically analyses the advantages and disadvantages of elections (in an argument form). The issue of how citizens influence policymaker is central to an understanding of democratic political system. We normally agree that democracy should allow the people to participate in policy making. Hence elections are one of the ways to establish connections between citizens and policy makers and by elections citizens encourage the policymakers to pay attention to their interests. However there are some disagreements about whether and how elections serve to link citizens to policymakers; a number of schools put more emphasis upon accountability and others do on representativeness, even if there have been a lot of theoretical debates about this issue, we have few attempts to test the role of competitive election on popular attitudes towards the legislature. An election is a formal decision making process in which the population chooses an individual to hold a public office. Elections have been the mechanism by which modern representative democracy has been operated since 17TH century. According to Business Dictionary (BD), Election is the act of a party casting vote to choose an individual, for some type of position. It may involve a public or private vote depending on the position. Most positions in the local, state federal governments are voting on the same type of elections. According to (Abraham Lincoln), the word democracy means â€Å"the government of the people, by the people and for the people â€Å". Democracy is term that comes from a Greek and it is made up of two other words, demo which means people and kratain which means to govern or to rule. Democracy can then be literally translated by the following terms, Government of the people or government of the majority. Electoral systems are conventionally divided into two categories, majoritarian. And proportional representations, (Lijphart 1999). Majoritarian system usually employs exclusively single-seat distrust with plurality rule and tends to give greater representation to the two parties and that which receive the most votes. Proportional representation (P.R) System must employ multi-seat districts, usually with party lists, and typically produce parliamentary representation that largely mirrors the vote shares of multi-parties However elections be it Proportional Representation (PR), or Majoritarian type, are instruments of democracy to the degree that they give the people the influence over policymaking,.(Powell 2000). One fundamental role of elections is the evaluation of the incumbents government. Citizens use elections to reward or punish the incumbents although on the other hand increasingly competitive elections raise the risk of increased election violence, this can be raised in two ways. Firstly, closer elections can increase tension throughout the electoral process; when the outcome of the election is in doubt, all stages of the process including the appointment of the members of the electoral management body, the registration of parties, candidates, and voters; campaigning; voting ;and vote counting and tabulation, becomes more heated. For example, Kenya erupted in chaos in 2007 when incumbent president Mwai kibaki was sworn in hours after being declared the winner in the country’s closest presidential elections ever; the ensuing violence left 1,500 dead and 300,000 displaced. Secondly, as long-term incumbents witness the growing strength of the opposition candidates, they may feel increasingly imperilled and crack down more fiercely on perceived threats, example, after losing the first round of Zimbabwe’s 2008 presidential elections and subsequently manipulating results to force run-off, president Robert Mugabe presided over a wave of widespread and brutal violence against supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai to ensure himself victory in the second round. While these above examples demonstrate the potential of elections to create conflict, elections are often used as a means to end conflict and solidify peace. For this reason, elections usually form a key part of the agreements ending civil wars or conflict. The basic principal behind these post conflict or transitional elections is that of Ballots over Bullets: citizens choosing their political leaders by voting rather than fighting, although in the 1992 Angola elections which was intended to end the c ivil war, this election instead reignited conflict for another ten (10) years. cases such as these have led many to argue that elections are not appropriate for post conflict environment. In majority, however, there is no viable alternative to post conflict elections as a means of achieving legitimate governance; a non elected government is far more susceptible to accusations of illegitimacy than the one chose by the people, and legitimate governance must be achieved as soon as possible following a conflict. Moreover, elections have the potential to create government broadly representative of all disputing political factions. Demonstratively, several countries have recently held remarkably successful post-conflict elections. For example, Liberia’s elections in 2005 intended to over a decade of civil war were remarkably peaceful and hailed as generally free and fair. Another example is the DRC’s 2006 elections, the first multi-party election in 46 years, were also relatively successful, especially when considering the tremendous logistical challenges that had to be overcome. in these cases therefore, elections facilitated an ongoing transition from dev astating conflict toward greater stability and development. Based on a multi-level analysis of Afro barometer survey data from 17 sub-Saharan African countries, the study examines the influence of these two types of electoral systems; Majoritarian and Proportional Representations-on popular confidence in African parliaments. Controlling for a variety of individual and macro-level characteristics, it was found that citizen’s perceptions of Members of Parliament (MP’s) representations have a positive and significant effect on their trust in legislature. In addition the results suggest that the effect of political representations is mediated by electoral systems. Powell (2000), distinguishes between two versions of elections as instruments of democracy; accountability and representation. Accountability model tries to use elections to bring the power of the people directly to bear on policymakers. Elections offer citizens a periodic opportunity to change the policymakers. Citizens will have control because they will be able, at least occasionally to reject elected officials who are doing the wrong. Competitive elections create a pressure on all incumbents or rather the current policymakers to worry about the next elections and make policy with voters review in mind. On the other hand representation model emphasises citizens should be treated equally at the decisive stage of public policy making. Elections are instruments of citizen’s influence in policy making. Elections should create equitable reflection of all points of view into the legislature. They work as an instrument to choose representatives who can bargain for their voter’s interest in post-election policy making. Elections are not only integral to all these areas of democratic governance, but are also the most visible representations of democracy in action. They are also in most cases the most complicated and expensive single event a country will ever undertake. Good governance, upholding rule of law, and supporting civil society, this testimony examines all these areas in the context of elections. International support to electoral processes is crucial if democracy is to continue developing on the African continent. Indeed the very purpose of elections is to achieve participatory governance without violence- through political rather than physical competition –and this has succeeded in a number of African countries. South-Africa and Botswana, for example have proven themselves among the continent’s most stable democracies, while Ghana, Mali, and Benin have emerged as democratic stronghold in West Africa. Moreover, countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia, among the poorest in the world and only recently emerged from civil war, have demonstrated the power of elections to foster and solidify peace. In reality, then, Africa’s experience with the electoral democracy has been mixed; progress has been made but challenges remain. The various elections in past several years-from Kenya and Zimbabwe to Ghana and Sierra Leone- have become historical landmarks for different reasons, varying drastically in their conduct and outcome. This mix of electoral experience has generated considerable debate and passion on the subject of transparent, free and fair electoral process among election stakeholders, especially as democratic progress itself can come with further challenges; as more elections are held as these elections become increasingly competitive, one-party and military regimes face potentially destabilizing challenges that could increase the risk of fraud and violence. In conclusion; elections-especially free and fair, competitive and multi-party elections, are assumed to be a critical component of democratization in emerging democracies, while an election can intensify the polarization of a society along ethnic lines. Competitive elections can force political elites to legitimate their rule through the ballot box. However, we are still debating about how elections serve to link voters and elected Officials. While a group of scholars emphasise the directness and clarity of the connection between voters and policy-makers, others do the representation of all factions in society. Elections help voters to send Members of Parliament (MP’s) representing their interest to the parliament, to some extent elections constitutes a principal avenue of citizen’s involvement in political life. Understanding their effects on public attitudes towards the legislature and the role of the individual therein has important implications for theories of democratic governance in emerging democracy. Therefore with this information, elections are a good measure of democracy in that they give citizens the participatory right in policy making through their elected representatives. Making it the government of the people by the people and for the people, that’s democracy according to Abraham Lincolnâ €™s definition. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Powell (2000), Elections as instrument of Democracy. 2. Easton David (1965), A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York: john Wiley. 3. Norris, Pippa, Eds (1999), Critical Citizen: Global Support for Democratic Governance. New York oxford University press. 4. Lebas, Adrienne (2006), Comparative Politics 38; 419:438. 5. Margolis, M (1979), Viable Democracy. 6. Tordoff, W. Government and Politics in Africa. London McMillan (1993). 7. Rose, Richard, William Mishler, Christian Haerpfer (1998), Democracy and Its Alternatives. 8. Sisk, Timothy D, Andrew Reynolds, Eds (1998), Election and Conflict Management in Africa. Washington; United States Institute of Peace press. 9. Powell G. Bingham (1982), Contemporary Democracies; participation stability and violence. Cambridge University. 10. Almami l. Cyllah. Democracy and Elections in Africa.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Pancreatitis: Causes and Symptoms
Pancreatitis: Causes and Symptoms Acute Pancreatitis Introduction Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It is widely accepted that it is caused by pancreatic enzymes digesting their own gland. This leads to inflammation of the pancreas. There are two main forms of pancreatitis, acute and chronic. In acute pancreatitis the pancreas can usually heal itself without any lasting changes to function or structure of the gland. If the pancreas heals but then inflammation reoccurs intermittently and causes irreversible changes to structure and function then it is known as chronic pancreatitis (1). Pathophysiology The exact mechanism is not fully understood however it is believed that the initial events take place within the acinar cells of the pancreas. Injury of the acinar cells leads to an inflammatory reaction localized within the cells. If this inflammation is excessive it can lead to a systemic inflammatory response. The inflammatory process can cause systemic effects because of the presence of cytokines, such as bradykinins and phospholipase A. These cytokines may cause vasodilation, increase in vascular permeability, pain, and leukocyte accumulation in the vessel walls all leading to inflammation. Fat necrosis may also occur causing hypocalcaemia; and pancreatic B-cell injury leading to hyperglycemia (2). A marked systemic inflammatory reaction can lead to ‘distant organ damage and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) (1). This is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in acute pancreatitis. The disease progression can be seen in the following three steps: 1) Local inï ¬â€šammation of the pancreas, 2) A generalized inï ¬â€šammatory response, 3) Multi-organ dysfunction (1) When there is injury or disruption of the pancreatic acini pancreatic enzymes namely trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase leak into the pancreatic tissue. These enzymes become activated and initiate autodigestion and lead to acute pancreatitis. The activated enzymes break down the pancreatic tissue and cell membranes which leads to oedema, and vascular damage which leads to hemorrhage and necrosis. Some patients who have had a severe attack of pancreatitis who survive through the initial event die following a rather minor insult that would not be life threatening normally. It is said that the two hit hypothesis comes in to play here. The initial excessive systemic inflammatory response primes the immune system so that if another event takes place (a small insult in comparison) for example a chest infection, the immune system is overwhelmed leading to an exaggerated inflammatory response which can lead to death (1). History and examination The main presentation of acute pancreatitis is epigastric pain or right upper quadrant pain radiating through to the back. In many patients sitting forward can relieve the pain a little. The patient would usually also complain of nausea, vomiting and fever. It is important to note a history of previous biliary colic and binge alcohol consumption. The patient may also be tachycardic, tachypneic, hypotensive and mildly jaundiced (2). Abdominal tenderness, distension, guarding, and rigidity are quite common as are diminished or absent bowel sounds. If the inflammation should spread to the lungs then basilar rales may be noted on auscultation of the lung. In severe cases Grey Turner or Cullens sign may also be noted (2). Aetiology There are many causes of pancreatitis. The most common causes being habitual chronic alcohol consumption and biliary stones. In western countries including the UK alcohol abuse is the most common cause of acute pancreatitis. A recent study showed that 44% of patients have alcohol as the primary risk factor for acute or chronic pancreatitis (3). Gall stones can cause pancreatitis as they may become wedged in the pancreatic duct or ampulla of Vater and obstruct the pancreatic duct, leading to release of enzymes into the parenchyma. Other less common causes include: injury (e.g. post ERCP), drugs (such as NSAIDS, azathioprine), viruses (e.g. mumps), autoimmune conditions (e.g. SLE), hyperlipidaemia, malignancy and Scorpion and snake bites (4). Investigations to be done if pancreatitis is suspected 1) Serum enzyme levels: Serum amylase in pancreatitis is more than four times the normal value and lipase is twice the normal and this is diagnostic as there is no other source other than the pancreas, but this test is not always available (5). 2) Full blood count, U+E, glucose, CRP: the CRP value is significantly lower in drug-induced acute pancreatitis and a raised bilirubin and serum aminotransferase is suggestive of gall stones. Low serum calcium levels are quite common in acute pancreatitis and hypocalcaemia is also relatively common. 3) Plain erect abdominal x-ray: this is done to exclude other causes of the symptoms such as intestinal obstruction or perforation. 4) Chest x-ray: this can show if there is a rise in one hemidiaphragm, acute respiratory distress syndrome or pleural effusions which can occur in severe cases of acute pancreatitis. 5) CT with contrast enhancement: this can be diagnostic if clinical results were inconclusive. CT may show swelling, fluid collection and change in the density of the gland. 6) Ultrasound: this is useful to see if the pancreas is swollen and if the common bile duct is dilated. It can also detect gallstones (5). Management In mild cases management is on a general medical ward. Analgesia is given to relieve the pain, usually with pethidine. Morphine is not usually used as it can have a spastic effect on the sphincter of Oddi (4). The patient is given intravenous fluids and not allowed to take anything my mouth. If the patient is vomiting severely then a nasogastic tube is considered. Oral fluids and solids can be taken once symptoms have cleared and blood tests are normal. The cause must then be treated, for example if gallstones were the cause then they must be removed. The severity of pancreatitis is determined by the Glasgow score or Ranson criteria which looks at patient demographics, electrolytes and enzyme levels on admission and 48 hours later (see 1) Glasgow prognostic score Ransons criteria * Age >55 years * WBC >15 x109/l * Urea >16mmol/l * Glucose >10mmol/l * pO2 * Albumin * Calcium * LDH >600 units/l * AST/ALT >200 units Present on admission: * Age >55 years * WBC >15 x109/l * Glucose >10mmol/l * LDH >600 units/l * SGOT >250 units/l Developing during first 48 hours: * Haematocrit fall 10% * Urea increase >8mg/dl * Serum Ca * Arterial O2 saturation * Base deficit >4meq/l * Estimated fluid sequestration >600ml In Severe cases the patent is treated in ITU. There is a high chance of multiple organ failure and infected pancreatic necrosis in these patients so if there is evidence to suggest this then intravenous antibiotics should be administered straight away. The patient should be fed via a nasogastric tube and where there are gallstones present and a high probability of a severe attack early ERCP should be done. Local Complications Pancreatic necrosis is likely if the CRP is rising and is confirmed by a CT scan. Infection occurs in 30-70% of cases of necrosis and this trebles the mortality risk. Fluid collections occurs in 30-50% of patients with acute pancreatitis but in most cases resolves spontaneously. Pancreatic abscess, acute pseudocysts and pancreatic ascites can also occur (6). Systemic complications These include pulmonary oedema, pleural effusions and ARDS with regards to the respiratory system and hypovolamenia and shock with regards to the cardiovascular system. Other complications include: disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, renal dysfunction, hypocalcaemia, hypomagnesaemia, hyperglycaemia and GI haemorrhage (6). Summary Acute pancreatitis is a disease in which there is inflammation of the pancreas. Acute abdominal pain and vomiting are the most common symptoms and increased serum concentrations of the enzymes amylase and lipase can confirm the diagnosis. Injury to the pancreas is mild in 80% of patients who recover well without complications. The rest have a more severe disease and present with local and systemic complications. Alcohol abuse and gall stones are the two most common causes of acute pancreatitis in adults and treatment of mild pancreatitis is supportive and more serious disease needs intervention from quite a few members of the multidisciplinary team (5). Improving the understanding of the pathophysiology and better investigation of the disease severity should improve the management and outcome of this compound disease (5). References Bhatia M,Wong FL, Cao Y, Lau HY, Huang J, Puneet P, Chevali L. Pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis. Pancreatology [online]. 2005; 5(2-3):132-44. [cited 2009 Dec 4] Available from: URL:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15849484 Ghattas K, Samer S Deeba. Pancreatitis. E medicine [online]. 2009; [cited 2009 Nov 21]. Avalable from: URL: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/775867-overview Whitcomb DC, Yadav D, Adam S, Hawes RH, Brand RE, Anderson MA, et al.Multicenter approach to recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis in the United States: the North American Pancreatitis Study 2 (NAPS2).Pancreatology [online]. 2008; 8(4-5):520-31. [cited 2009 Dec 1] Available from: URL:http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/18765957 Longmore M, Wilkinson I, Turmezei T, Cheung CK. Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (Oxford Handbooks Series) 6th edition. Oxford university press; 2008 Frossard JL, Steer ML, Pastor CM. Acute pancreatitis. The Lancet [online]. 2008; 12;371(9607):143-52. [ cited 2009 Nov 23] available from: URL: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(08)60107-5/abstract Willacy H, Kavanagh S. Acute Pancreatitis. Patient Plus UK [online]. 2008. [cited2009 Nov 29] Available from: URL: http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Acute-Pancreatitis.htm
Monday, August 19, 2019
Dangerous Secrets Exposed in Susan Griffins Our Secret Essay -- Susan
Dangerous Secrets Exposed in Griffin's Our Secret  Secrets are apart of every human being. Even children, in their earliest years in this world, learn how to bury secrets in their hearts. In Susan Griffin's "Our Secret," she explores the subconscious, aiming particularly at the dark secrets that lie in the abyss of the human heart. Griffin claims that the darkest secrets of each person are similar in the sense that these secrets are perverted and prejudiced thoughts. These concealed evils are so deeply imbedded that people forget or choose to forget the existence of these malicious thoughts. However, these are often the thoughts that will encourage a person to take to violence. Griffin believes that people share similar forms of hidden desires, biases, and savageness. The effects of keeping these evil human characteristics deeply buried also have similar effects on the different individuals. Even the way of countering the negative effects caused by these locked up secrets are common among the "family" and the "statesman and bombers." 1 Although each person has an element of individuality, people are not all that different from one another in their basic desires. Everyone is a product of the "DNA molecule," and everyone has been a "fertilized egg" (Our Secret 363, 365). There are numerous traits shared by everyone, and one of which is people's capacity to have and hide their perverted thoughts. Everyone is capable of having depraved thoughts, and these thoughts are not so different from one person to another. Griffin's grandfather keeps "a stack of magazines" of "women or girls uncovered in ditches, hacked to pieces or other wise mutilated" that he does not allow Griffin to look at (335). These magazines indicate that Gr... ...o realized too late. Like Griffin says, "family secrets mingle with the secrets of statesman and bomber" in the sense that the secrets may vary among individuals in context, but many different secrets share the same effect on people. These secrets and desires that people keep inside are dangerous sources of violence and malice, and there is virtually no way to be rid of these hidden evils. People may often be provoked to hurt, and these are the times when people need to look into their anger and see the pain that they can cause by releasing their rage physically. This is perhaps the only way to stop violence in a person, whether he is just a simple man, the president, or an emperor. Works Cited: Griffin, Susan. â€Å"Our Secret†. Ways of Reading Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Sixth edition. Boston. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
Blindness in King Leer Essay -- Shakespeares King Lear
A person’s perception is influenced by his or her character. Because of this subjectivity, there is often a disconnect between how things are perceived and reality. People often see what they want to see or hear what they want to hear. Blindness is literally defined as the inability to see, but it is also defined as â€Å"lacking perception, awareness, or discernment†(New Oxford American Dictionary). In King Lear, Shakespeare illustrates that figurative sight often is more important than the physical ability. Through Shakespeare’s deliberate language and complex characters, he demonstrates that a lack of perception can lead to impulsive decisions that eventually render a tragic demise. In the beginning of the play, King Lear’s vanity, which is arguably one of his fatal flaws (hamartia, as defined by Aristotle) is the character trait that leads to his faulty perception. King Lear wants so badly to hear professions of love that he is unable to differentiate between honesty and dishonesty. However, it is not always clear whether King Lear has â€Å"lost this perception†or is â€Å"unwisely ignoring it†(Bradley). Even in the beginning of the play, it becomes evident that King Lear’s ability to perceive is significantly impaired. When he calls upon his daughters to profess their love in order to receive a share of his kingdom, he is pleased by Goneril’s flowery flattery, although it is clearly hyperbolic: â€Å"Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter/Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty†(I.i. 60-62). As A.C. Bradley states, â€Å"The rashness of his division of the kingdom troubles us [the readers]†and his â€Å"motive is mainly selfish†(Bradley). King Lear’s infatuation with himself leaves him satisfied with the false professions of love an... ...ome of which are character flaws and some of which are deliberate, that preclude them from comprehending reality. As later seen in the play, Gloucester’s hasty decision to disinherit his son Edgar based on a false perception, led to Gloucester’s ultimate death. Similarly, King Lear’s misperceptions of his children also led to thoughtless decisions that brought about his death. Even though King Lear eventually regained the ability to distinguish between appearance and reality, it was too late. Works Cited Bradley, A.C. â€Å"King Lear.†Shakespearian Tragedy. Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Macmillan and Co., London, 1919. Project Gutenberg. Web. â€Å"Blind.†The New Oxford American Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2011. Print. Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of King Lear. New York: Washington Square, 1993. Print.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Theories of Accident Causation Essay --
There is major concern about patient safety. It has been caused in part by obvious failures in which many patients have been harmed. This concern seems to be escalating worldwide. The medical culture that we’re in today seems to rely on secrecy, professional protection, defensiveness, and respect to authority. Theses ideologies are central to these failures, and preventing future failures depends on cultural as much as structural change in health care systems and organizations. Swiss Cheese Model James T. Reason developed the Swiss cheese model. The model is used in risk evaluations and risk management to determine accident causation. It’s an accident causation model used in aviation, engineering and healthcare. It represents the human systems used and equates them to Swiss cheese slices put side by side. Sometimes it is referred to as the cumulative act effect. The structure of the Swiss cheese model applies to most risky fields, but I will discuss how it applies to healthcare. The developer theorized that most accidents could be traced back to more than one failure. These failures include organizational influence, supervision, preconditions and specific acts. Some examples of preconditions include fatigued workers, or communication errors. Unsafe supervision can be explained as putting inexperienced nurses in an Oncology unit to administer chemotherapy. Organizational influences can be perceived as performing understaffed when the consequences are known. An organization’s guard against most failures, in the Swiss cheese model, are presented as a chain of walls, symbolized by the slices of cheese. The wholes that are in the cheese represent the weaknesses in individual parts of the healthcare system, and are constantly wavering i... ...ime or another, but if you can decrease that amount from what you normally see it could benefit your organizations reputation. Health care executives are able to better understand why keeping patients’ safe from harm protects market share, reimbursement levels, organizational reputation, and accreditation status (Carroll, 2009). Today, in almost every health care system, safety has become a top priority. Through patient safety efforts the risk management professionals can help to place trust back into the health care system. Reference Carroll, R. (2009). Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations. San Fransisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass. Walshe, K., & Shortell, M. S. (2004, May). When Things Go Wrong: How Health Care Organizationa Deal With Failures. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from Health Affairs: content.healthaffairs.org/content/23/3/103.full Theories of Accident Causation Essay -- There is major concern about patient safety. It has been caused in part by obvious failures in which many patients have been harmed. This concern seems to be escalating worldwide. The medical culture that we’re in today seems to rely on secrecy, professional protection, defensiveness, and respect to authority. Theses ideologies are central to these failures, and preventing future failures depends on cultural as much as structural change in health care systems and organizations. Swiss Cheese Model James T. Reason developed the Swiss cheese model. The model is used in risk evaluations and risk management to determine accident causation. It’s an accident causation model used in aviation, engineering and healthcare. It represents the human systems used and equates them to Swiss cheese slices put side by side. Sometimes it is referred to as the cumulative act effect. The structure of the Swiss cheese model applies to most risky fields, but I will discuss how it applies to healthcare. The developer theorized that most accidents could be traced back to more than one failure. These failures include organizational influence, supervision, preconditions and specific acts. Some examples of preconditions include fatigued workers, or communication errors. Unsafe supervision can be explained as putting inexperienced nurses in an Oncology unit to administer chemotherapy. Organizational influences can be perceived as performing understaffed when the consequences are known. An organization’s guard against most failures, in the Swiss cheese model, are presented as a chain of walls, symbolized by the slices of cheese. The wholes that are in the cheese represent the weaknesses in individual parts of the healthcare system, and are constantly wavering i... ...ime or another, but if you can decrease that amount from what you normally see it could benefit your organizations reputation. Health care executives are able to better understand why keeping patients’ safe from harm protects market share, reimbursement levels, organizational reputation, and accreditation status (Carroll, 2009). Today, in almost every health care system, safety has become a top priority. Through patient safety efforts the risk management professionals can help to place trust back into the health care system. Reference Carroll, R. (2009). Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations. San Fransisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass. Walshe, K., & Shortell, M. S. (2004, May). When Things Go Wrong: How Health Care Organizationa Deal With Failures. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from Health Affairs: content.healthaffairs.org/content/23/3/103.full
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Energetic Costs Of Load Carrying Health And Social Care Essay
Many animate beings if non all will in some point in be transporting a burden which is an add-on to normal organic structure weight either through transporting one of their immature like most Primatess. Or necessitating to transport excess organic structure weight for migration which is seen in many birds which do so to last the long distances that they must go without feeding. The energetic costs on the animate beings is the sum of energy that is required to transport the excess burden around with them and how much of a disability it is on the animate being if any. E.g. how it affects the animate being ‘s velocity, the animate being ‘s ability to travel ( mental dexterity ) and how it affects the animate being ‘s behavior. This energetic cost may change with relevancy to weight or it may be influenced by the manner in which an animate being carries a weight e.g. in Primatess is it more energetically feasible to transport the immature on the dorsum or forepart of th e parent. Different species of animate beings have evolved different methods of transporting tonss which is influenced by their morphology, the manner in which they move and how the carnal interacts with its environment. Bumble Bees ( Bombus ) for illustration collect pollen on their legs in pollen baskets to convey back to the settlement [ 1 ] whilst other animate beings like emperor penguins ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) will transport nutrient in their tummies and regurgitate it for the immature. Load transporting may give an animate being an advantage whether it is more protection for the immature e.g. Marsupials have evolved a pouch to transport immature, or being able to transport resources back to the settlement which is seen in most species of emmets in which some species like the Leafcutter emmet ( Atta cephalotes ) can transport loads manner over their ain organic structure weight. Load transporting can hold a large affect on an animate being ‘s organic structure, some wi ll increase their organic structure weight dramatically during certain times like the silvertip bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis ) which must construct up its organic structure mass during the summer months in order to last hibernation during the winter. An animate being ‘s organic structure must be capable of digesting the excess weight without for good damaging the animate being ‘s organic structure. Permanent harm is sometimes caused in worlds ( Homo sapiens ) from inordinate burden transporting even when antecedently warned which can take to deductions subsequently in life. It seems that some animate beings like A cephalotes can transport tonss that are much heavier than themselves for long distances of clip without any foreseen harm to the carnal whilst others like H sapiens may bring down hurts on themselves making so. It is certain that some animate beings are much better at transporting tonss than others nevertheless the forfeits that they make for this ( if any ) may detriment the animate being in another facet of its abilities as an animate being can non be good at everything. A cephalotes may hold a strong organic structure design in footings of transporting tonss nevertheless they may be hapless swimmers as a consequence of their design for transporting tonss. Another animate being that has a strong design in being able to raise and tunnel through things is the Rhinoceros Beetle which is portion of the household Scarabaeida and are one of the largest species of beetles around making 6cm in length. [ 2 ] When a male encounters another male the two beetles will contend, it is done by the two beetles meshing their horns together and utilizing their strength to seek and raise their opposition up and throw them aside. For an animate being to raise a equal and throw them aside with such easiness it must hold a batch of strength in proportion to organic structure size. Rodger Kram wanted to see whether the metabolic rate of Rhinoceros Beetles in creased as the burden that the beetles carried increased [ 3 ] . The experiment consisted on the beetle walking in a respirometer chamber whilst on a treadmill carry weights up to 30 times is body mass. Kram found that the beetles could transport the tonss cheaply and that the energy ingestion had doubled merely when the beetle was transporting a burden that was equal to 10 times its organic structure mass [ 3 ] . R Kram argues that this may hold been down to the manner in which the beetle moves and its limb position during walking nevertheless Kram finds no grounds for this. This difficult to believe as the beetles legs and motion must hold undergone some natural choice force per unit area for burden carrying and the life manner of the beetle. Kram assumes that the beetles ‘ life manner of tunneling through decomposing stuff such as wood [ 4 ] and combating other males for couples may hold had generated natural choice for the ability to transport heavy tonss and exert strong forces. Should this be considered for all arthropods and that all are really good burden bearers, capable of transporting tonss past their ain organic structure weight. For illustration cockroaches are besides capable of transporting tonss equal to their ain organic structure mass and this lone increases their metabolic rate by 50 % . [ 5 ] However some orders like Hymenoptera would be unable to transport weights greater than themselves particularly in the air as they are so finely balanced in flight. Martin Burd found that leaf-cutting emmets do non maximise single energetic efficiency and that they try to rate-maximize and increase the sum of fragments that enter the settlement. [ 6 ] The emmets think like the settlement that they are and look at the overall settlement energetic efficiency and seek to maximise it which is non through taking the largest foliage fragments. Hermit pediculosis pubis ( Coenobita compressus ) are another arthropod and possibly hold to bear a greater burden than most animate beings as they carry their shells around with them. Hermit pediculosis pubis will travel from shell to blast as they get larger to better accommodate their size. Herreid II, C. F. and Full, R. J. [ 8 ] step the energy needed for anchorite pediculosis pubis to travel with and without shells at different speeds. The experiment showed that when the pediculosis pubis had no shell and were resting at that place was no significance difference between the 1s with shells. However when the pediculosis pubis were running pediculosis pubis with shells required significantly more energy than unshelled 1s. It was besides found that anchorite pediculosis pubiss are particularly good at transporting tonss that were four times the mass of the crab and that the volume of O used did non increase. No unequivocal reply could be made for this nevertheless it was noticed tha t the pediculosis pubis that carried big shells shifted their leg places to let them to on occasion drag the shell. This intern allowed the pediculosis pubis to bear the excess weight without utilizing inordinate sums of energy. Clyde, Herreid and Robert besides looked at how the sum of limbs a anchorite crab had affected the energy needed to travel with and without a shell by cut offing a certain figure of legs off several pediculosis pubiss. They found that the volume of O used increased when running nevertheless they were non satisfied with the consequences as instability may hold had affected the pediculosis pubis which would be corrected over clip. When animate beings carry a burden they may follow a different position to counterbalance for the excess weight to do it more energetically efficient, this could be in the form of the organic structure or in the leg motion and the manner in which they move with the weight. J. R. Grote [ 7 ] carried out and experiment looking at the consequence of motive power on spiny lobster. He classified a laden spiny lobster as being out of the H2O and an unloaded spiny lobster being in the H2O and so looked at how the place of the legs changed. When the spiny lobster were out of the H2O the legs moved into the organic structure this made the distance of each measure shorter leting the same force to be used nevertheless over a shorter distance counterbalancing for the excess weight. The spiny lobster are more at place in the H2O where the burden of their organic structures does non impact them nevertheless they are capable of accommodating to the state of affairs with alterations in its position to expeditiously transport themselves. The weight of a burden is non ever every bit of import as the type of burden that an carnal carries, one type of burden may be well more hard to transport than another or a burden may hold a stimulation on the bearer in some manner triping it to utilize more energy for illustration. [ 9 ] An experiment looking at the consequence of lading on honey bees Apis mellifera found that the when a bee would lade itself with either pollen or nectar that the bees flight metabolic rate would increase but merely at a little degree in comparing to the sum of burden that was carried. However when the bees were vibrating the bees that were scrounging for pollen were on mean 10 % more metabolically active than bees looking for nectar. The survey [ 9 ] could happen no biomechanical ground behind this and proposed that the forage bees are more actively stimulated by the pollen forage than the nectar forage bees. The survey [ 9 ] concluded that the bees find the aggregation of pollen a more rewarding re source and work harder to roll up it or that pollen foragers have a higher metabolic rates to roll up pollen in the colder forenoons when it is most likely done ( based on J. Fawells observations ) . [ 10 ] For animate beings to be able to migrate they must hold a beginning of nutrient for the journey whether this is pit Michigans along the manner or conveying their nutrient along with them on the journey as excess organic structure weight which can be used as energy. Or an animate being may take to make both and non turn down the chance of nutrient along its migratory path The Red Knot ( Calidris canutus ) is one bird that migrates long distances during different times of the twelvemonth. The Red Knot will construct up energy militias in organic structure mass before it migrates. How transporting big fuel tonss affects sustained flight Red Knots was investigated in a survey [ 11 ] which found that the metabolic power used increased in proportion to organic structure size. It besides found that the flight musculus efficiency increased besides to counterbalance for the weight. The Red Knott adjusts its musculus size to give maximal efficiency in relation to its weight [ 12 ] and helps th em to keep maneuverability and the velocity which they can take off important for avoiding marauders such as Peregrine Falcons. Depredation is a twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours concern for most animate beings and all have their ways of get awaying being eaten for birds go uping every bit high as possible above the marauder and winging fast to derive the advantage or doing for screen where it can non be reached with easiness. Many birds have their ain person schemes nevertheless this is what the black raspberry [ 13 ] ( Sylvia atricapilla ) uses. A survey [ 13 ] looking at how body fat affects the black raspberry found that as the sum of weight increased the return off speed decreased being hampered by the excess weight gained. Besides the angle of speech pattern decreased with weight both holding a negative consequence on the birds ‘ public presentation. However the black raspberries could digest the excess weight up to around 30 % of the original organic structure mass without holding a excessively greater consequence on the public presentation. Merely when burden reached about 40 % was the affe ct great on the bird ‘s speed and angle of accent [ 13 ] . The survey suggest that migratory birds transporting big fat tonss will hold a hampered ability to get away marauders and with mention to [ 14 ] is the ground why passeriform bird birds with 50 % or more organic structure weight are merely found when they are fixing to do a big journeys in their migration, necessitating them to hold the excess fat. In order for person to understand the effects of lading on an animate being ‘s public presentation they need to look at the interior workings of the animate being so that a better apprehension of what is go oning to the animate being can be seen at different degrees. David J. Ellerby and Richard L. Marsh [ 15 ] decided to look into how blood flow, cardiac end product and O ingestion alteration in a guinea poultry ( Numida Meleagris ) leg musculuss and how the different types of musculus behave. The experiments consequences were non surprising and found that blood flow to the musculuss increased when the burden was bole loaded or distal limb loaded and the animate being was running. Resulting in a 15 % addition in metabolic power above the control which was unloaded. Cardiac end product and net O ingestion besides increased, with both tonss organ blood flow was besides step and was found to drop significantly when the animate being was loaded ( bole & A ; Limb ) and running. At the same clip there was a decrease blood flow to flight musculuss [ 15 ] . This supports most modern theories that blood is taken off from countries around the organic structure which are non in the greatest demand for it and are given to countries which are. Depending on where the burden was on the guinea poultry affected the blood flow, if the burden was positioned on their dorsums ( bole ) the musculuss that are used for stance had an increased blood flow and more so than the musculuss used in the swing stage of leg motion. If the burden was so moved to the distal Load ( lower leg ) the blood flow increased in both stance and swing musculuss nevertheless less stance musculuss had increased blood flow and more swing musculuss did. Looking at the finer inside informations of how load carrying effects an animate being ‘s allows us to better understand the internal alterations that an animate being makes when bearing a burden instead than merely looking at the external effects. Load bearing itself varies in so many ways from the carrying of immature to the excess weight needed to last migration for some animate beings it is a affair of endurance. The manner in which transporting a burden affects the energetic cost on an animate being and how it affects its organic structure or head is different for each species. To some animate beings load transporting can be a large hinderance ( e.g. birds ) which rely on being light weight for flight. An animate being ‘s environment and life style must be the selective force per unit area behind its ability to bear weight as seen in Rhinoceros Beetles. It is clear that some animate beings are better at bearing a burden than others like the Rhinoceros Beetle capable of transporting a weight up to 30 times its ain organic structure mass it is obvious that other species like H sapiens would be unable to bear such a weight. Is this down to what sort animate being it is e.g. are arthropods better than chordates at bearin g tonss? It is difficult to state by looking at merely a smattering of animate beings which animate beings are better as there will ever be exclusions of the groups. If animate beings are better than other animate beings what is it that makes them better is it the design, motion manner, transporting method, blood flow, stronger musculuss ECT. One thing that is evident is that there is no individual ground or account behind bearing a burden and the ground for the energetic costs of burden transporting are many and complex.
Friday, August 16, 2019
The Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace
Most people would think that wars are launched because a country needs more territory, or because a country's borders are threatened, or because of appeasement. The real reason for war is that countries begin to feel that their honor is threatened; they feel that other nations are not giving them the worth and dignity they deserve, and so they take to the battlefield. On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace, Dr. Kagan is a classical scholar who hopes to get politicians and statesmen to understand history so as not to repeat it. He reminds that this was the intention of Thucydides of ancient Greece who wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars for â€Å"those who wish to have a clear understanding both of events in the past and of those in the future which will, in all human likelihood, happen again in the same or a similar way. †His book starts with the Peloponnesian War of the fifth century B. C. – -the subject of a four-volume history Kagan finished in 1987–and ends with the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. He also analyzes the Second Punic War of 218 to 201 B. C. World War I, and World War II. War usually arrives over long distances and long stretches of time. For instance, in 226 B. C. Rome was by far the most powerful state in the Western world, but it concluded a treaty with Carthage which was expanding its influence in what is now Spain. The treaty sought to preserve the peace. Eight years later, after many twisting and turnings and concessions by Rome, it led to war. Rome limited the expansion of Carthage to the area south of the Ebro River, and it looked like an order delivered by Rome, not a concession. Actually, Kagan writes, â€Å"†¦ it was an attempt at appeasement in a moment of weakness and fear, the effect of which was to neither soothe nor deter but to inflame and encourage the Carthaginians. †The aftermath included events, which almost destroyed Rome's fortunes: Hannibal's arrival at the head of a powerful army in Italy itself and the beginning of the 18-year Second Punic War. Two wars, the First Opium War 1839-42 and the Second Opium War 1856- 60, waged by Britain against China to enforce the opening of Chinese ports to trade in opium. Opium from British India paid for Britain' s imports from China, such as porcelain, silk, and, above all, tea. The First Opium War, between Britain and China, resulted in the cession of Hong Kong to Britain and the opening of five treaty ports. Other European states were also subsequently given concessions. The Second Opium War followed between Britain and France in alliance against China, when there was further Chinese resistance to the opium trade. China was forced to give the European states greater trading privileges, at the expense of its people. 839-42 and 1856-60, two wars between China and Western countries. The first was between Great Britain and China. Early in the 19th cent British merchants began smuggling opium into China in order to balance their purchases of tea for export to Britain. In 1839, China enforced its prohibitions on the importation of opium by destroying at Guangzhou (Canton) a large quantity of opium confiscated from British merchants. Great Britain, which had been looking to end China's restrictions on foreign trade, responded by sending gunboats to attack several Chinese coastal cities. China, unable to withstand modern arms, was defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing (1842) and the British Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue (1843). These provided that the ports of Guangzhou, Jinmen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai should be open to British trade and residence; in addition Hong Kong was ceded to the British. Within a few years other Western powers signed similar treaties with China and received commercial and residential privileges, and the Western domination of China's treaty ports began. In 1856 a second war broke out following an allegedly illegal Chinese search of a British-registered ship, the Arrow, in Guangzhou. British and French troops took Guangzhou and Tianjin and compelled the Chinese to accept the treaties of Tianjin (1858), to which France, Russia, and the United States were also party. China agreed to open 11 more ports, permit foreign legations in Beijing, sanction Christian missionary activity, and legalize the import of opium. China's subsequent attempt to block the entry of diplomats into Beijing as well as Britain's determination to enforce the new treaty terms led to a renewal of the war in 1859. This time the British and French occupied Beijing and burned the imperial summer palace (Yuan ming yuan). The Beijing conventions of 1860, by which China was forced to reaffirm the terms of the Treaty of Tianjin and make additional concessions, concluded the hostilities. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a dangerous and volatile situation that has attracted American attention for some decades. The conflict is a sensitive subject that produces strong emotions in people. This conflict deals with Jewish nationalism, distribution of resources, and politics. About a hundred years ago, Jews underwent a drastic change in their view of themselves. At first a few, and then more, began to call themselves Zionists. Zionism is a term that in its broadest and early sense meant simply the â€Å"return†of Jews to their ancestral homeland. That homeland was called Zion (or Israel) and its heart was Jerusalem, known as the â€Å"City of Zion. Early Zionists were simply pious, nonpolitical, religious Jews who thought they could best practice their faith in the Land of Zion. Some went primarily to pray, to study their religious books, and to await the arrival of the Messiah. Politics played an influential role in their thinking. By the beginning of the 20th century, however, Zionism came to have a political meaning: that Jews were not just a religious or ethnic group but were a nation of people who should have their own state. Today Zionism is the term for Jewish nationalism. Not all Jews agree upon what Zionism is, but to a point there is agreement, it is upon three things: there should be a Jewish state; it should be permanent, independent, and secure; and Jews who are threatened anywhere in the world should be able to go there to be safe. All other issues-the boundaries of the state, the nature of government, relations with the Palestinians, relations with American Jews, religious law-are in dispute. It is important to understand the Palestinian views . Keep in mind two points. First, people respond to the circumstances in which they live. If one is rich, one sees problems one way; if one is unemployed, one sees it a second way; if one owns a small shop, one sees it a third way. One must understand the circumstances in which Palestinians live if we are to understand their positions and actions. Second, there are about five million Palestinians. Like Americans, they disagree on political issues. They also change their minds as new circumstances develop. It is wrong to think Palestinians have a common view that remains unchanged. Their view changed considerably over the years. They view that the Israelis are taking the land rightfully theirs, and are being â€Å"bullied†by Israelis. They are the ones who had their land taken away from them and are left with no where to live. In 1948, there were approximately 860,000 Palestinians inside today's Israel. About 700,000 were driven out or fled during the fighting that followed the declaration of Israeli statehood. The Palestinian population of Jerusalem went from 75,000 to 3,500; of Jaffa from 70,000 to 3,600; of Haifa from 71,000 to 2,900; of Lydda-Ramle from 35,000 to 2,000; of Tiberias from 5,300 to zero. All refugees lost their property (about 800,000 acres were taken for Israeli use. ). The 160,000 Palestinians still in Israel in 1949 when the fighting stopped lost another 250,000 acres. The Palestinians in Israel were left without resources or strong leaders. When the Likud Party took power in 1977, it intensified colonization, pouring some $1 billion into settlement building over the next seven years. Today, land taken from the Palestinians and earmarked for military purposes or Jewish settlements amounts to more than 52% of the most fertile areas of the West Bank and 40% of the Gaza Strip. Only a very small percentage of this land was sold willingly by Palestinians. Most of it was confiscated, and is held to be for Jews only-not-just Jews from Israel, but Jews from anywhere in the world. Many newly arrived immigrants from the United States and Russia are given heavily financed housing in the settlements built on seized Palestinian land. 1990, according to Israeli estimates, will divert 83% of the water from the West Bank to Jewish settlements and Israel. The indigenous Palestinians will get only 17% of their own water. This taking of natural resources from the Palestinians, are the reasons for the rise in conflict. To a large extent Jews and Palestinians are geographically concentrated. Most Jews live in Israel and most Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. There are exceptions of course. Many Jews live in the new ring of suburbs around East Jerusalem and in the new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. And many Arabs live inside of Israel, particularly in Galilee, including Nazareth, and in the Negev Desert in the South. The first comprehensive peace talks between Israel and delegations representing the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states began in October 1991. After Likud lost the parliamentary election of June 1992, Labor party leader Yitzhak Rabin formed a new government. Rabin took a more conciliatory line toward the Palestinians and imposed strict limits on new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. In 1993, after decades of violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, leaders from each side agreed to the signing of an historic peace treaty. Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin met in the United States on September 13 to witness the signing of the treaty, which paved the way for limited Palestinian self-rule in Israeli-occupied territories. The Gaza-Jericho Agreement was signed in Cairo on May 4, 1994, and applies to the Gaza Strip and to a defined area of about 65 square kilometers including Jericho and its environs. The Gaza-Jericho agreement addresses four main issues-security arrangements, civil affairs, legal matters, and economic relations. The document includes agreement to a withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza and Jericho, a transfer of authority from the Israeli Civil Administration to a Palestinian Authority, the structure and composition of the Palestinian Authority is a Palestinian police force, and relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. After intensive diplomatic efforts by the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Yasser Arafat agreed on September 29, 1996 to go to Washington the following week to seek ways out of a war that has put the entire Israeli-Palestinian peace in jeopardy. Despite the historical tensions of the Middle East, recent issues have arisen to intensify the conflict. Angry Palestinians protested Israel's decision to open an archeological site, the issue becoming one more in a growing number of Middle East tensions. The Muslim crowd feared the excavation of an ancient tunnel, right beside the foundations of Jerusalem's al Aqsa Mosque compound, would undermine what is the third-holiest shrine in Islam after Mecca and Medina. The tunnel excavation dispute is only the latest indication of rising tension between Arabs and Israelis. And the latest death count is 76 (as of October 1, 1996). In conclusion, this is an issue that deals with politics, uneven distribution of resources, and nationalism, and will take a great effort to come to an agreement. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a â€Å"battle†that has a long history that will continue till a mutual understanding and agreement is settled. Until the Israelis and the Palestinians can settle their differences and cooperate with each other, the â€Å"battle†will continue on. â€Å"No new taxes. This is a quote that most all of us remember from the1992 presidential election. Along with it we remember that there were new taxes during that presidents term in office. There are a myriad of promises made and things done in a presidential election year that have questionable motives as to whether they are done in the best interest of the people or in the interests of the presidential candidate. These hidden interests are one of the biggest problems w ith the political aspects of government in modern society. One of the prime examples of this is the Vietnam War. Although South Vietnam asked for our help, which we had previously promised, the entire conflict was managed in order to meet personal political agendas and to remain politically correct in the world's eyes rather than to bring a quick and decisive end to the conflict. This can be seen in the selective bombing of Hanoi throughout the course of the Vietnam War. Politically this strategy looked very good. However, militarily it was ludicrous. War is the one arena in which politicians have no place. War is the military's sole purpose. Therefore, the U. S. Military should be allowed to conduct any war, conflict, or police action that it has been committed to without political interference or control because of the problems and hidden interests which are always present when dealing with polite United States involvement in the Vietnam War actually began in 1950 when the U. S. began to subsidize the French Army in South Vietnam. This involvement continued to escalate throughout the 1950's and into the early 1960's. On August 4, 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred in which American Naval Vessels in South Vietnamese waters were fired upon by North Vietnam. On August 5, 1964 President Johnson requested a resolution expressing the determination of the United Sates in supporting freedom and in protecting peace in southeast Asia (Johnson). On August 7, 1964, in response to the presidential request, Congress authorized President Johnson to take all necessary measures to repel any attack and to prevent aggression against the U. S. n southeast Asia (United States). The selective bombing of North Vietnam began immediately in response to this resolution. In March of the following year U. S. troops began to arrive. Although the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution specifically stated that we had no military, political, or territorial ambitions in southeast Asia, the interests back home were quite a different story (Johnson). The political involvement in Vietnam was about much more than just promised aid to a weak country in order to prevent the spread of communism. It was about money. After all, wars require equipment, guns, tools and machinery. Most of which was produced in the United States. It was about proving America's commitment to stop communism. Or rather to confine communism in its present boundaries But most of all it was about politics. The presidential political involvement in Vietnam had little to do with Vietnam at all. It was about China for Eisenhower, about Russia for Kennedy, about Washington D. C. for Johnson, and about himself for Nixon (Post). The last two of which were the major players in America's involvement in regards to U. S. Troops being used (Wittman). The military involvement in Vietnam is directly related to the political management of the military throughout the war. The military controlled by the politicians. The micro management of the military by the White House for political gain is the primary reason for both the length and cost, both monetary and human, of the Vietnam War (Pelland). One of the largest problems was the lack of a clear objective in the war and the support to accomplish it. The predominant military opinion of the military's role in Vietnam in respect to the political involvement is seen in the following quote by General Colin Powell, â€Å"If you're going to put into something then you owe the armed forces, you owe the American People, you owe just you're own desire to succeed, a clear statement of what political objective you're trying to achieve and then you put the sufficient force to that objective so that you know when you've accomplished it. The politicians dictated the war in Vietnam, it was a limited war, the military was never allowed to fight the war in the manner that they thought that they needed to, in order to win it (Baker). To conclude on the Vietnam War, the political management of the war made it unwinnable. The military was at the mercy of politicians who knew very little about what needed to be done militarily in order to win the war. There is an enormous difference between political judgment and military judgment. This difference is the primary reason for the outcome of the Vietnam War (Schwarzkopf). The United States policy of Vietnamization was a good idea, but the time was not ripe for it to best be used. Nearly all experts in South Vietnam as incapable of handling a combined threat rated Saigon's military strength. True, Vietnamization was not what led to the total withdrawl of troops from Vietnam, but the opinions pressed by Laird had somewhat of an affect on our agreeing to sign a cease-fire agreement. Also, if we had used Vietnamization's program of building up South Vietnam's armed forces more extensively, South Vietnam might still be in existence today. The Gulf War in the Middle East was almost the exact opposite in respect to the political influence on the war. In respect to the military objective of the war the two are relatively similar. The objective was to liberate a weaker country from their aggressor. The United Nation's resolution was explicit in its wording regarding military force in the Persian Gulf. The resolution specifically stated â€Å"by all means necessary. â€Å"(Schwarzkopf). The President was very aware of the problems with political management of warfare throughout the war. He was very determined to let the military call the shots about how the war was conducted. He made a specific effort to prevent the suggestion that civilians were going to try to run the war (Baker). Painful lessons had been learned in the Vietnam War, which was still fresh on the minds of many of those involved in this war (Baker). The military was given full control to use force as they saw fit. Many of the top military leaders had also been involved in the Vietnam War. These men exhibited a very strong never again attitude throughout the planning stages of this war. General Schwarzkopf made the following statement about the proposed bombing of Iraq in regards to the limited bombing in Vietnam, â€Å"I had no doubt we would bomb Iraq if I was going to be the Military Commander. †He went on to say that it would be absolutely stupid to go into a military campaign against his, Iraq's, forces who had a tremendous advantage on us on the ground, numbers wise. It would be ludicrous not to fight the war in the air as much, if not more, than on the ground (Schwarzkopf). The result of the Gulf War in which the military was given control, as we know, was a quick, decisive victory. There were many other factors involved in this than just the military being given control, particularly in contrast to Vietnam, but the military having control played a major part in this victory. In conclusion, although there are some major differences between the two conflicts one fact can be seen very clearly. That is the fact that the military is best suited for conducting wars. Politicians are not. It is not the place of a politicians to be involved in the decision making process in regards to war or military strategy. The White House has significant control in military matters. That control should be used to help the military in achieving its goals, as it was in the Gulf War where George Bush said specifically to let the military do its job. The only alternative to this is to use political influence in the same way that it was used in Vietnam. If we do not learn from these lessons that are so obvious in the differences between these two conflicts then we are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. Lets just pray that it does not take the death of another 58,000 of America's men to learn that the politician's place is not in war but in peace (Roush).
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