Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Tactics of the Ku Klux Klan Used During Post-Civil War Essay

The Tactics of the Ku Klux Klan Used During Post-Civil War Reconstruction - Essay Example The political and social realities of the South immediately after the Civil War made it an ideal environment for the transformation of the KKK. It was quickly reborn at a convention of delegates in Nashville, TN. A constitution was drawn up and Nathan Bedford Forest, a former slave trader and Confederate general was elected Imperial Wizard. Due to the secretive and covert nature of the organization, there was a lack of centralized control and any person who wished to dress in a white cape and hood and "dispense justice" could claim affiliation with the KKK. There were several methods used to intimidate and frighten African Americans and those sympathetic to their cause during Reconstruction. They ranged from threatening words to assault and lynching. The main goal of the KKK at this point was to threaten the black man into either not voting, or voting as the KKK would like them to vote. Testifying for a Joint Select Committee to inquire into the condition of affairs in the South directly after reconstruction, two white men, two black men and one black woman all were witness to or victim of acts of terrorization by members of the KKK organization. In particular, the testimonies of the two black men, Elias Thomson and Mervin Givens list atrocities in the form of physical assault on their persons by members of the KKK. Mr. Thomson testified to being taken from his home out into the yard and beaten because he had voted for Claudius Turner. When asked by the KKK what his reasons were, Mr. Thomson said. "I thought a good deal of him; he was my neighbor. Because I thought it was right" (Thomson 15). The KKK then proceeded to tell him he was wrong for voting, threatened to hang him, and then whipped him soundly. After his testimony, questions were asked of him by the Ohio Senator, Philadelp Van Trump. Mr. Van Trump asked Mr. Thomson pointed questions, even rudely interrupting his answers to openly mock his speaking style. It was clear that Mr. Van Trump was trying to discredit or make Mr. Thomson seem to falter by the general absurdity of his questions. Questions including if the KKK was trying to intimidate colored people, why did they make you promise not to tell anyone of their visit (Thomson 16-17) After testifying that he was whipped until his short was torn from his body, Mr. Mervin Givens faced Senator Van Trump's particular brand of questioning. Mr. Givens said that the reason he was beaten was his voting preference. Mr. Van Trump asked why Mr. Givens was testifying now, and if he thought that those three men (the committee) could change anything. Mr. Givens calmly replied that they could get help. Mr. Givens' testimony shows that although the black community was living in fear of the KKK, they were still able to stand up for their rights when they felt a change was possible. The KKK might be making them extra wary, but they were not losing hope. The two white men -Samuel Poinier and D.H. Chamberlain- were not physically assaulted in any way. Samuel Poinier was a prominent Republican newspaperman and testified to receiving threatening communications ordering him to leave the county and signed by the KKK (Thomson 16). He also mentioned having witnessed, or heard of attacks on black men and women in his county,

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Strategic Human Resource Mangement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic Human Resource Mangement - Essay Example s as well as in the implementation of those strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel† (Lii, 2003). SHRM models work to promote learning and competitiveness of the workforce as the basic prerequisite for improved competitiveness and better efficiency in organizations. Cadbury and Craft are the two examples of how SHRM works in practical workplace environments. Needless to say, SHRM in these organizations is heavily influenced by national and corporate cultures, and is closely aligned with the social responsibility and ethical dimensions of workplace performance. The history of SHRM at Cadbury dates back to the times when there were no unions; yet, Cadbury’s owners clearly well realized the value of HR to their competitiveness and performance. Cadbury considered people as inherently valuable to the firm and thus a resource that had to be used effectively (Price 2007). Those were also the views promoted by Craft in its approaches to HR. Obviously, those were the roots of SHRM that positions effective utilization of human resources as the source of strategic competitive advantage (Bratton & Gold 2001). For both Cadbury and Craft, SHRM stands out as the cyclic combination of several different activities: organization’s direction, environmental analysis, strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation; these altogether exemplify Bratton’s model of SHRM which successfully works in dozens of modern organizations. Moreover, Craft and Cadbury realize that HR are valuable, inimitable, and rare – the view that goes in line with the resource-based view of the firm (Hall 1993). Finally, the success of SHRM in Cadbury and Craft lays in that both organizations were successful in linking their HRM practice to behavioral, performance, and financial outcomes the way they are discussed by Guest (HRM Guide 2005). As a result, HR stands out as the core of sustained competitiveness in organizations in the long run.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Household Consumption Analysis in Rawalpindi

Household Consumption Analysis in Rawalpindi Imran Ejaz 1. Introduction: Consumption and production generate economic activities in an economy. Consumption and production go side by side. Consumption creates demand for further production of goods and services. It is not wrong to say that if there is no consumption there is no economic activity in the country. Only the final purchase of goods and services is known as consumption, and every commercial activity is for production purpose. Consumption can be expressed in two ways. In nominal, means the money spent on the purchase of goods and services, and in real, means the deriving of the utility of goods and services for the satisfaction of wants e.g. using up of consumer goods both durables and non durables. Consumption amounts to the biggest part of Pakistan which accounts for 81% of Gross Domestic product in 2013 according to World Bank statistics. Consumption is also termed as the total spending on goods and services in an economy. The consumption function is used to estimate the proportion of total consumption in an economy. In social sciences, the consumption function is a used to express trend of consumer spending as income of people rising and falling. Consumption function provides an excellent illustration of a typical sequence in the development of the country and standard of living of the people. Bentham (1748) also considered production and its usage as important determinants of an economy. The process of consumption was vital for any system to sustain. Keynes (1936) addresses the theory of consumption, which showed the relationship between consumer income and consumption. According to Keynes, â€Å"People on average, have behavior that when their income increase, they spend more, but not as much as their income raises. It is made up of autonomous consumption that was not influenced by current income and induced consu mption that was influenced by the economy’s income level. Chow et al. (2001) did a research about the Chinese economy and Chinese entrepreneurs who had grown along with the Chinese economy. This research paper compares and contrasts the consumption habits of low and high income business class and concluded that small businesses incomes are transitory and more unstable hence their consumption is less and they tend to save more on the other hand entrepreneurs who earn more and largely spend on meals, moving from one place to other, private formal education and expensive items as their incomes were permanent and stable over a period of time. Socio-demographic factors, geographic locations of household have significant effects on the tastes and preferences. Similarly, gathering and socializing activities of consumers that were carried out are the second largest expense in their budgets as they need a lot of networking to succeed the business. But low income class spends a larger amount of their income on health issues, education of their masses . Tai and Tam (1997) discussed the consumption behavior of females that was changing due to the  different socio economic factors such as delayed marriage, smaller family size and single parents  have lead to changing dynamics of consumer market as a result the consumer preference were  changing and consumption pattern of the families. Siddiquie (1982) analyzed the consumption patterns based on the Engle law in terms of income, household size and number of earners. The study showed that the consumption of food and non-food items was strongly affected by the changes in total expenditures and size of households. Consumption patterns in Pakistan have been estimated by Burki (1997) using time series data. By using Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) technique and data from 1972-1992 there was an exogenous growth in non durable food items demand irrespective of the movements in their prices and growth. Study focused that the policy makers should focus on own price elasticity to predict impact of taxes. This study will be developed on the basis of Household Consumption in Rawalpindi. The study will include both cross-sectional and time series data of consumer behavior. Questionnaire will also be developed to address the study beside secondary sources. In this study econometric model will be developed by taking income, age, family size, consumer price index as independent variable and household consumption as dependent variable. Expenditure on food items will be used as a proxy variable. 1.1 Objective of the study: The objectives of the study are as follows: To analyze the significance of demographic factors (family size, age) on household consumption expenditure in Rawalpindi. To study empirically the impact of economic factors (income, consumer price index and household consumption expenditure in Rawalpindi) 1.2Significance of the study: Consumption is the sole cause and biggest reason due to which all economic activities begins ranging from hiring of services of factors, investing money, constructing factory or building and many more. As if there is no consumption in any society there is no need for activities of any type ranging from running a business or employing somewhere in any capacity. In short it is the consumption so that economies lively exist otherwise not. Consumption is an important function of income but there are many other factors that influence the  consumption pattern there are incidence when two households with same income level may have  different consumption pattern due to lifestyle, preference and the stage of life cycle they are in as a  household greatly affects the consumption patterns. All these researches try to explore the behavior  patterns that are crucial for molding the consumption pattern all these researches have added  different key reasons and not a single research as been able to come up with any common behavior  traits in the different societies of the world this phenomena indicate that the consumption patterns  changing according to society the house hold resides in. Income is the main component on which the consumption depends. The study will incorporate the causal relationship between household consumption to income and household consumption to consumer price index which is the important and new in this study as compared to the work done earlier. This study will be a bird’s eye view about every citizen consumption pattern which is affected by macro economic variables and demographic factors. Review of Literature: Thomas (1993). In this paper he tried to find out whether all household members share same preferences or they were dictated by any one member of the household. They came to a conclusion that when income was in hands of females shares of expenditure increases towards housing, education, health, household services and recreation when males were given the budget they tend to spend excess on health, household service and recreation. Education was considered intervening variable for earning hence increase in consumption, so they excluded education from demand function and include it as a valid instrument for total income. The researchers have come to these conclusions by conducting linear and quadratic models on the complied data Carroll et al. (1994) conducted a research about habit formation that consumption was happened at same level when a household was not enjoying same level of income as it did previously. Secondly they tried to analyze the impact of consumer sentiments on the consumption patterns taking into considerations the various economic variables into account. They ruled out permanent income and pure life cycle hypothesis and stated consumer spending was an unclear measure of uncertainty when uncertainty increased the level of consumption fell down hence leading to precautionary savings. Fei et al. (2003) conducted a research explaining the fact how children influenced the spending patterns of family and in about 27.8% of families, children’s consumption used one third of the family’s total income. In 35.6% of families, children’s consumption used 40% of the family’s total income. In 19.4% of families, children’s consumption took one half of the family’s income. And in 7.4% of families, children’s consumption took over one half of the family’s income. Thus in most families, the child’s consumption level was higher than the average per capita consumption of the family. He highlighted various factors such as higher education levels for children including extra amounts paid for private education and tutors.Moreover more recreational activities and high end gadgets like mobiles phone, laptops and increased expenses towards health care of the children. Khan and Dhar (2004) carried out a research on behavioral decision theoretic perspective on hedonic and utilitarian choices and they found out that difference between purchase and consumption of goods and service. The study found out that there was a very thin line which consumer does not even realize and decision making of consumption was merely affected by income, preference and lifestyle of the consumer. Aydin (2006) carried out the research about the consumption patterns in Turkey’s different socio economic classes and found that globalization has led to transformation, reconfiguration and reformulations of class structure and this was leading to social shifts from class based politics to identity politics, ideology to lifestyles and mass production to consumption these forces have fuelled the social change hence leading to emergences of new middle class living a new leisure lifestyle. The research reapproved the fact that social class variables had a significant effect on consumption.Income had the strongest positive effect at all the consumption level simultaneously. Education had effected the class differentiation, i.e., the group with higher education had better living standards thus making education important mediating factor. The analysis in this research paper depicted the class structuration results due to interaction income, education levels, and residential location . .D’orlando(2010) carried out a research to investigate the importance of behavioral principals in micro-foundation of Keynes consumption theory. It was concluded that behavioral instead of maximizing principals can be rightfully considered as possible for micro foundation for Keynes’s work. He said there were chances of cross fertilization of Keynesian approach and behavioral sciences in reference to theory consumption function. This research showed that utility maximization was not the major focus Keynes representation of individual’s behavior and many subjective factors were included in the consumption theory lastly the traditional aggregate consumption function is immensely based on maximizing agents. 3. Methodology: Variables taken in the study will be both demographic and economic variables which are to be estimated.In this research thesis both time series and cross sectional data will be used. On economic variables including consumer price index, income and expenditure will be taken. Consumer price index data are time series for 2004-2014 (10 years) and data on income, expenditure, family size and age are cross sectional. Interview through questionnaire will be undertaken from different income groups of the people living in Rawalpindi to gather the data on factors effecting consumption of household. To obtain the estimates of household consumption an Ordinary Least Square method will be used which meets econometric criteria. In this study two equations will be developed, equation one which will shows the consumption of household who belong to low income class while equation two will represents the consumption of household belong to high income class. In the study CPI, will be taken as independ ent variables which affect the consumption as if there is increase in price level for food and non food items over a period of time it would lead to reduce consumption of the masses as it would lead to reduce the purchasing power of money. The people who can afford to buy more goods before inflation now with the same amount of income they can buy less goods after inflation. 3.1 Data: The population in this study comprise of the District Rawalpinidi. Data will be collected through questionnaire from different classes of people besides secondary sources available on other variables. The sample data on the variables will be collected by interviewing different people through questionnaire from the different class of people residing in Rawalpindi and also from secondary sources on monthly basis so that model shall gives true picture regarding the society behavior of the factors affecting consumption. Generally data has two types in statistics 1) Primary data—first hand data 2) Secondary data—earlier data available In this study primary data will be used for some demographic feature i.e. age and family size and income. Due to non availability of second hand data on variables like family size and age, and income survey will be conducted in Rawalpindi. The sample will include all the heads of households. By considering the resource and time constraints, method of ordinary least square will be used for which sampled peoples will be surveyed in the area of district Rawalpindi for the study. For addressing the issue, a set of few questions will be developed required for the study to be carried out. The study shall be rely both cross section and time series data values. A set of questions will be ask from the respondents to avail the data on demographic features. A questionnaire will be circulated to different groups or sectors including the Public Sector, and Private Sector. The secondary data will be taken from the sources which includes Pakistan Statistical Bureau and from Pakistan Social and Living Measurement regarding the consumer price index variable. 3.2 Model: CHH=f (YL, YH, A, FS, CPI) Dependent Variable: CHH= Average Household Consumption Expenditure (Rs per month) Independent Variable: YL= lower income class; (Avgerage monthly income less than or equal to Rs 25000) YH=High income class (Average monthly income of more than Rs 25000 and less than or equal to Rs 40000) CPI=Consumer price index (index to measure inflation on per month basis) A= Average Age of household (years) FS=Family Size (No of persons) On the basis of variables the following equations developed for estimation purpose. CHHL=ÃŽ ²o+ÃŽ ²1iYL+ÃŽ ²2iFS+ÃŽ ²3iA+ÃŽ ²4iCPI+ µi Equation 1 CHHH=ÃŽ ²o+ÃŽ ²1iYH+ÃŽ ²2iFS+ÃŽ ²3iA+ÃŽ ²4iCPI+ µiEquation 2 Where; ÃŽ ²o = Intercept ÃŽ ²1, ÃŽ ²2, ÃŽ ²3, ÃŽ ²4, is the slope co-efficient of the model. ÃŽ ¼i = Disturbance term of model. i = Number of households (i ~ 1 to 120) Effects of different variables on household consumption Parameter Theoretically expected effect ÃŽ ²1+/- ÃŽ ²2+/- ÃŽ ²3+/- ÃŽ ²4+/- References: Ahmad, E., Shamim, F. (2007). An Analysis of household consumption in Urban and  rural regions, Journal of Retailing and consumer services, 14(2), 150-164. Airola, Jim. (2007). The Use of Remittance Income in Mexico†, International Migration  Review, 41(4), 850-859 Ajmair, M,. Akhtar, N. (2012). Houehold Consumption in Pakistan (A Case Study of  District Bhimber, AJK) EuroJounal publishing Inc 75(3), 448-457 Ali,M.S. (1981). Rural urban consumption patterns in Pakistan.Pakistan Economic and Social  Review 20(2), 85-94 Ali,M.Shaukat. (1986). Household Consumption and Saving behavior in Pakistan: An  Application of the Extended Linear Expenditure System. The Pakistan Development  Review 24(1), 23-27 Aydin, Kemal.(2006). Social Stratification and Consumption Patterns in Turkey. Social  Indicator Research.75(3), 463-501 Bacon, J., German, C. (2000). An Analysis of Household Consumption of Fresh Potatoes in  Delaware, Journal of Food distribution Research, 31(1), 103-111. Bentham, Jeremy (1748). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. The  Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. 31-33 Burki A.Abid (1997). Estimating consumer preference for food, Using time series data of Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review. 36(2), 131-153. Burney, N., Khan, A. (1992).Household Size, its Composition and Consumption Patterns  in Pakistan, An Empirical Analysis Using Micro Data. Pakistan Institute of Development  Economics, 27 (2), 57 – 72. Carroll, D. Christopher., Fuhrer, C. Jeffry., Wilcox,W. David (1994). Does Consumer  Sentiment Forecast Household Spending. The American Economic Review, Vol. 84(5), 1397-1408 Cheema, A., Malik, M. (1995).Changes in consumption patterns and employment under  Alternative in come distribution in Pakistan The Pakistan Development Review,  24(1),1-22. Chow,Clement K.W.,Fung,Michael K.Y., Ngo,H.Y. (1999). Consumption patterns of  Entrepreneurs in the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series 52(2001), 189-202 D’orlando E. Sanfilipo.(2010).Behavioral foundations for the Keynesian consumption  function. Journal of Economic Psychology31(6), 1035-1046. Fei,Linwu., Shu, YU.,Len, Lan Wei.,Teresa, J.C.Yin. (2003). Weight-control behavior among  dobese children: association with family-related factors. Journal of Nursing Research. 11(1), 19-30. Keynes, J.M.(1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. (London:  Macmillan). P.383 Khan,M.I.(1963). A Note on Consumption Patterns in Rural Areas of East Pakistan. The  Pakistan Development Review 3(3). Khan.U, Dhar.R.(2004).A Behavioral Decision Theoretic Perspective on Hedonic and  Utilitarian Choice. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 9(4), 265-281. Kruijk,J.L.de,I.C.Havinga J.B. Van Lochem (1991).Consumption behaviour in Pakistan. An  application of the (Extended) Linear Expenditure System. The Pakistan Development  Review 30(4). Malik,S. (1982).Analysis of Consumption Pattern in Pakistan. The Pakistan Economic and  Social Review 20(2), 108-122 Siddiqui,R.(1982). An Analysis of Consumption Pattern in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review 21(4), 275-296 Tai.H.C.Susan,Tam L.M.Jackie (1997).A life style analysis of female cosumers in greater  China.Journal of Psychology and Marketing. 14(3), 287-307. Thomas, Duncan (1993).The distribution of income and expenditure within household,  Annales de Economie et de statistiques, 29, 109-136 World Bank.(n.d). (2013). Retrieved from website worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicator/wdi-2013.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Effects of Violence in Children Cartoons :: Psychology

Television is everywhere these days, not just in our living rooms but in bathrooms, kitchens, doctor's offices, grocery stores, airplanes, and classrooms. We have access to TV virtually anywhere and as American's we are taking advantaged of it. Adults aren't the only ones watching TV; children today are watching more TV than ever before. TV has even become known as "America's baby-sitter." (Krieg). Meaning that parents are now using the television as a way of entertaining their children while they attempt to accomplish other things such as cooking and cleaning. Most American's would agree that children watch a lot of TV. It's common to see a child sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with their Coco Pebbles watching their favorite superhero. This sounds harmless enough. However, many parents and teachers across the country are worried about the cartoons their children are watching. They feel that the cartoons have become too violent and are having negative long-term effects on children. It is common to see young boys pretending to shoot one another, while jumping on the couch and hiding in closets as a sort of make-believe fort. But parents say that children are learning these behaviors from cartoons and imitating them. Others however, disagree, they say that violence in cartoons does not effect children and that children need this world of fantasy in their lives. They say that children would show these same behaviors regardless of the content of the cartoons they watch. On average and American child will watch 32 acts of violence per hour on TV. This number has skyrocketed from 20 years ago when it was just 12 acts per hour (Krieg). This being said a child will have watched anywhere from 8,000 to 100,000 acts of violence before they even finish elementary school (Weiss). While adults can watch violence on TV and understand that it is not real, children on the other hand have difficulty differentiating the between what is real and what is make believe. Those arguing that children's cartoons are too violent say that these cartoons will greatly affect these children's behaviors growing up. Violence is a learned behavior and therefore children need to see violence in order to become violence themselves (Krieg). If a child is viewing their favorite character hitting, kicking, and beating up the "bad guys" a child will learn these behaviors too.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Descartes’ Meditations Essay

Rene Descartes is not only a known philosopher, but he also contributed significantly in the field of mathematics. It is with the same vigor and methodological reason he applied in the realm of Mathematics by which he comes to his conclusions in the Meditations. Hence, we see him going about his arguments, thoughts, opinions, and conclusions in a reasonable, methodological fashion, forming skeptical hypotheses in every step. In a way, Meditations can be regarded as a guide for the readers: it seeks to take along the reader with the meditator in his journey of the unknown and knowing. It tries to convince them to follow his step-by-step argumentation and skepticism, and to accept the obvious logical conclusion of each. Yet, although his conclusions are impressive and convincing, a crack in his reasoning might break down his arguments. The purpose of this paper then, is to examine the ideas, assumptions, and arguments presented by Descartes. However, this paper will only concern itself with the first two parts of Descartes’ Meditations (Meditation I: Of the Things Which May Be Brought Within the Sphere of Doubt and Meditation II: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known Than the Body). The First Meditation: Methodic Doubt In the First Meditation, Descartes cast all things into doubt. He does this by first questioning all that he knows as he remembers his senses has deceived him before. He says: All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and certain I have learned from either from the senses or through the senses; but it is sometimes proved to me that these senses are deceptive, and it is wiser not to trust entirely to any thing by which we have once been deceived (Descartes, pg. 0). He then continues to give proof of his reasons for doubting what he knows to be true. He considers if he might be crazy, dreaming, or deceived by God or an evil genius. He reasons out that he is not mad as the mad people who imagine things when these are clearly not the case, and dismisses that possibility. He considers that when is dreaming he is convinced that what his senses perceive are real, only to find out that it was not. Finally, he thinks that perhaps an omnipotent being, God, deceives him into believing all the things around him exists even if these are not true, yet he cannot accept that because it would go against the nature of God’s goodness, hence he supposes that it is â€Å"not God who s supremely good and the fountain of truth, but some evil genius not less powerful than deceitful, has employed his whole energies in deceiving me; I shall consider that the heavens, earth, colors, figures, sound, and all other external things are nought but the illusions and dreams of which this genius has availed himself in order to lay traps for my credulity† (Descartes, pg. 33). Ending the first part, he closes with likening himself to a prisoner who while sleeping enjoys freedom but knows that it is only a dream, and is afraid to wake up. The meditator knows that he has opened a Pandora’s box of questioning and yet chooses to go back to his former beliefs for the meantime. Descartes’ method of questioning and casting all that can be questioned as being false is the underlying concept of skepticism, and his has been called methodic doubt. One by one he stripped his notions of truth so he could get to the most fundamental part, for he says he only needs one immovable point on which to build truth. Descartes’ questioning of the senses and perception is useful in order to arrive at the fundamental point of his argument which is to find what is absolute, what cannot be doubted given that he is casting everything in the sphere of doubt. We find out in the second part of the Meditations that though everything can be cast into doubt, there is one thing that cannot: his thoughts doubting themselves. No matter what happens, there is an absolute truth: that he is thinking. And he thinks, he exists. But then what is the point of all these? When does an individual begin to think? Is it not that the thinking process is facilitated by the accumulation of ideas, ideas gleaned from the dubious world through imperfect senses? Does this mean that the mad person who can comprehend his existence is as sane as the rest? It seems convenient to cast everything into doubt and the senses in question to arrive at the fundamental point of the consciousness. But what is the consciousness, where does it stem from? Does it not have a vessel? Are we to accept that we are merely floating consciousness in the abyss? Or that we are simply consciousness being deceived by an evil genius? Descartes’ Belief in the Idea of God and the Evil Genius Which brings us to Descartes’ discussion of God and the evil genius. Descartes casts everything into doubt except God, that is why he could not accept that God will deceive him. Of course this can be argued as Descartes way of trying to coax the conservative Jesuits to read and accept his arguments, for if he downright casts God into the realm of doubt as he did his body then he might be excommunicated or ordered to be killed as Galileo. Then if it is not God it must be something as powerful yet evil, the evil genius. If we follow this train of thought, does it make sense? This borders on theological argument, but why would an all powerful, all good God as believed in by the meditator allow an evil genius to deceive him? If the All powerful, all good God is indeed all powerful and all good, then he will not allow this evil genius to exist, or would he? Because then if God and the evil genius are pitted against each other, who will win if they are both powerful and so on? Also, where did this idea of an evil genius come from? It is, according to the flow of arguments in the Meditations, necessitated by the theory of being deceived. Something must be doing the deceiving, and that something must be powerful enough to paint the world and deceive the beholder. A being as powerful as that can only be God, but since it goes against God’s nature, then t must be the evil genius. But what is the cause of this evil genius? Was it not the need of the meditator for an evil genius to support his arguments? Hence, can we not argue that there is no evil genius? In the same vein, that there is no God? Descartes said: I have long had fixed in my mind the belief that an all-powerful God existed by whom I have been created as such as I am (pg. 32). He provides no reason, no proof of God’s existence but proceeds with his meditations as though this was a given. Why would it be? Is God’s existence and goodness really necessary? Can these not be cast into doubt as well? Or the thought of casting God into doubt is unspeakable? For if we will really cast everything into the realm of doubt, would not there be only the self talking to itself? Descartes’ unwillingness to put God to the test makes Descartes’ methodological reasoning biased. If Descartes is biased in his reasoning, can we accept the conclusions he has arrived at? He stubbornly holds that an idea of a perfect being is necessarily true and necessarily means that the perfect being exists for who will put that idea to him, him an imperfect being who must be incapable of conceiving anything perfect? Already there is a fallacy in his thinking, for this becomes evidently a tautological argument. But more than that, his defining this ultimate being, this perfect being as based on an idea of it throws off his arguments. What of the heavens and the sea? Of earthly things which he has ideas of also, then does it not mean that they are true because he has ideas of them? Will he point out that these are a different case because our idea of these material things are based on our perception of them through our senses? And that mythical figures such as mermaids are complex images formed out of simple things combined yet still has basis on sensory perception? Then, can we argue that his notion of an ultimate being must have come from the simple idea of an imperfect being and make that complex, let us say a carpenter who we know can build a house, and if he can build a house maybe there is a perfect carpenter who can build a world? For why would a perfect being, perfectly good, can be doubted if we so choose? The Second Meditation: Arriving at Consciousness Descartes’ argument supposes there are simple things that do not need explaining but which can be taken for truth. If there is no ultimate Being, and no evil genius, who then makes up all the illusion? The mind as the powerful deceiver, as it is the only thing that can attend to the train of his thoughts simultaneously. If we do doubt God, we will more or less arrive at the same conclusion, that the only thing that we cannot doubt is one’s own skeptical thinking. As Descartes makes clear when in the passage: is there not some God, or some other being by whatever name we call it, who puts these reflections into my mind? That is not necessary, for is it not possible that I am capable of producing them myself? I, myself, am I not at least something? But I have already denied that I had senses and body†¦ am I so dependent on body and senses that I cannot exist without these? Bu I was persuaded that there was nothing in all the world, that there was no heaven, no earth, that there no minds nor any bodies: was I not then likewise persuaded that I did not exist? †¦ but there is some deceiver or other, very powerful and very cunning, who ever employs his ingenuity in deceiving me. Then without doubt I exist also if he deceives me, and let him deceive me as much as he will, he can never cause me to be nothing so long as I think that I am something (Descartes, pg. 34). Here is saying that he thinks he is something, which lays the groundwork for: But then what am I? A thing which thinks. What is a thing which thinks? It is a thing which doubts, understands, conceives, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels (Descartes, pg. 37). Of course in this statement can be summed up the famous â€Å"I think, therefore I am†. But it is not merely thinking per se that Descartes is saying here, but rather self-awareness, or consciousness. One’s consciousness is absolute: it tells him that he does exist for certain, even if everything else is illusion. Hence, one’s consciousness implies one’s existence. The Consciousness and the Wax Argument The truth is fundamental, common sense. The consciousness needs no explaining because everybody understands what it is. But let us ask, where does consciousness come from? Perhaps this is no longer part of Descartes’ philosophy, as his thesis has been chiefly to prove that if one has consciousness then he exists. That is why the important construction of the statement, I think, I am. It is necessarily has to be the I who has understanding of being. How does one think though? Through the ideas garnered from sensory perception? To explain further, and in a way define himself better through example, Descartes turns to the analogy of the wax. Descartes asks how he knows of the wax, when its physical properties change? When its color, texture, size, shape, smell change, is it still not wax? Thus: what then did I know so distinctly in this piece of wax? It could certainly be nothing of all that the senses brought to my notice†¦ for all these are found to be changed, and yet the same wax remains†¦ (p. 39). Descartes argues that the wax does not change, but he knows it not through the senses but because he grasps the idea of the wax with his mind: But what is this piece of wax which cannot be understood excepting by the mind? †¦what must particularly be observed is that its perception [of the wax] is neither an act of vision, nor of touch, nor of imagination, and has never been such although it may have appeared formerly to be so (Descartes, p. 39). Further, he uses the wax to affirm his existence when he says that his perception of the wax no matter how distinct or indistinct only proves the existence of his mind as being the thing that processes all these, proving not the wax but the nature of his mind. In this way Descartes is actually saying that all we know, we know from the mind. That is why he believes that we know the mind better than we know the body. This not only affirms his consciousness, but also affirms Meditation I’s methodic doubt. After all, we only know the world through ideas – these ideas including dreams, concepts, images, perceptions, and memories – hence, we know the world indirectly. Also, these ideas represent something else – something that is external or separate from the self, that which we do not identify with I, making them separate from the mind as well. Since these are external to the mind, these can be illusions, false images or faulty representations. And if these ideas can be trusted, what can be but the absolute existence of the thing that conceives these ideas in the first place, the mind, the consciousness. Conclusion Descartes’ Meditations is undoubtedly an important text in history, and its methodic presentation convincing. His thesis that we could doubt everything but the existence of the self via the consciousness makes perfect sense – with or without the reference to an ultimate Being or an evil genius, as his insistence, or his inclusion of these, stains his logical arguments, for there is no logical basis for God or the Devil. But then, since these does not cripple nor in any way change the outcome of the meditations, then it could be safely dismissed as perhaps a necessary inclusion to encourage conservative readers of the time to consider a novel idea before they turn a skeptic eye on him.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Green Haven State Prison Essay

The individual who has been chosen for this paper is Leroy â€Å"Nicky† Barnes who is an African American who became a legend in the history of organized crime. Born in October 15 1993, he is a former crime boss and even drug dealer who was the leader of the crime organization that was notoriously known as The Council, which mainly comprised of African – Americans (Roberts, 6). He was even nicknamed Mr. Untouchable owing to the manner in which his operations were well calculated. He was once a dope addict, but later stopped the habit of using the drug and became a distributor of heroin, as a matter of fact a main one in Harlem, New York. In his autobiography that he wrote about his life, Barnes says that the first heroin that he ever sold was one that belonged to his father, which he was holding for dealing within the street corners. He managed to sell some of this heroine to the older guys within his neighborhood, and he managed to make some easy money, and this made him to even value heroine more (Roberts, 6). Barnes later graduated to dealing for another dealer who was more established than him, whose name was Fat Herbie. This is the man that brought Barnes to the Italians with whom he made contact. With this connection, he was able to have heroine imported for him by the Italians, whose reputation for good heroine was good. In the 1950s, Barnes would make up to 1600 dollars a day from selling heroine packages, and managed to hire a security guy and some street dealers with the money that he got (Roberts, 6). He even bragged that his drugs was one of the best in the streets and kept the quality high, while ensuring that the cut was low. He claimed to know what addicts mainly wanted considering that he was once an addict himself. By the time it was 1959, people had started requesting for his packages and they were so famous that they had a name, and they were called that ‘Nicky Barnes thing’. This was his first step towards success, but it was short lived as he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison in Green Haven State Prison, and this cut short his business operations (Roberts, 6). While in prison he met another Italian who he had earlier been introduced to. His name was Matty, short for Matthew and he educated him on how to run a drug ring. He told him that to be organized; he had to have at least 50 people working under him, as each person would act as a layer of protection (Roberts, 6). Three years later, Barnes was released and now that he had made some serious connections, he knew that he now had to make some big money. He was given a couple of things to start up his operation with including half a kilogram of heroine by Frank Madonna, and a car and house in which to stash his drugs in. he then managed top find seven strong men whom he included in his organization, since he knew that with strong men on his side it would all work. These men who later came to form the council included; Frank James, Thomas Foreman, Joseph Hayden, Guy Fischer, Wallace Rice and Ishmael Muhammed (Roberts, 6). 2. BUSINESSES Barnes later graduated to dealing for another dealer who was more established than him, whose name was Fat Herbie. This is the man that brought Barnes to the Italians with whom he made contact. With this connection, he was able to have heroine imported for him by the Italians, whose reputation for good heroine was good. In the 1950s, Barnes would make up to 1600 dollars a day from selling heroine packages, and managed to hire a security guy and some street dealers with the money that he got (Barnes, 352).. He even bragged that his drugs was one of the best in the streets and kept the quality high, while ensuring that the cut was low (Barnes, 352).. He claimed to know what addicts mainly wanted considering that he was once an addict himself. By the time it was 1959, people had started requesting for his packages and they were so famous that they had a name, and they were called that ‘Nicky Barnes thing’. This was his first step towards success, but it was short lived as he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison in Green Haven State Prison, and this cut short his business operations (Barnes, 352). The manner in which the business between Matty and Barnes was operating was very organized and well planned (Barnes, 352).. Matty would park a car that was filled with drugs at a spot that was pre arranged, then the key would be passed on to Barnes, who would then send one of his men to drive the car to the destination and sell the drugs. The car would then be taken to another pre arranged spot, this time filled with money and the key passed on to Matty. In this way, they both managed to make millions of dollars in their operation (Barnes, 352). 3. Theory Rational choice theory is one theory that seems to fit into this organization which is The Council or even the case of Barnes. This theory is of the notion that man is a reasoning individual who tends to weigh the beliefs and costs the means and the ends and makes a choice that is most rationale according to his understanding (Abadinsky, 98). This theory is related to several other theories including the drift theory and even the systematic crime theory. The theory states that in order for crime to take place there has to be three elements that have to be present; and offender who is motivated, a target that is available and suitable and finally the lack of an authoritative figure that is capable of preventing the crime from taking place (Chainey, 20). This theory fits into the case of Barnes and The Council, more so considering that the motivation that Barnes had was to be successful, the target available was the drug addicts that were present in Harlem and the law enforcers were unavailable to stop their operations. Barnes also used reasoning to weigh the profits and losses in all his decisions, and this managed to define his success. 4. LAW ENFORCEMENT’S RESPONSE Apart from the short three year stint that Barnes served in Green Haven State Prison, Barnes and some of the member of his crew were arrested, with Barnes being sentenced to life. He was charged with the crime of heading a criminal enterprise and also fined 125,000 dollars (Abadinsky, 67). References Abadinsky, Howard. Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction. New York: Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. Abadinsky, Howard. Organized crime. New York: Nelson-Hall, 1985. Print. Abadinsky, Howard. Understanding Crime: Essentials of Criminological Theory. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print Chainey, Spencer & Ratcliffe, Jerry. GIS and Crime Mapping. John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print. Clarke, R. V. & Eck, J. Becoming a Problem-Solving Crime Analyst. Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science. London: University College London, 2003. Print. Leroy â€Å"Nicky† Barnes, Tom Folsom. Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments (March 6, 2007 ed. ). Rugged Land. p. 352. Roberts, Sam. Crime’s ‘Mr. Untouchable’ Emerges From Shadows. New York: New York Times, 2007. http://www. nytimes. com/2007/03/04/nyregion/04nicky. html. Retrieved 2010-05-03.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Fort Pillow Attack

Fort Pillow Attack THE GRAND FABRICATION It is almost as difficult to find consistent information about the incident at Fort Pillow as it is to determine the moral significance of its outcome. Scholars disagree about exactly what transpired on April 12, 1864 at Fort Pillow, when General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the fort with his 1,500 troops and claimed numerous Union lives in the process (Wyeth 250). It became an issue of propaganda for the Union, and as a result the facts were grossly distorted. After close examination it is clear that the  ¦Fort Pillow Massacre_ (as it became known by abolitionists) was nothing of the sort. The 1,500 troops under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest acted as men and as soldiers in their capture of Fort Pillow. It is first necessary to understand what happened in the battle before any judgment can be made. A careful study performed by Dr. John Wyeth revealed the following information: from April 9-11, 1864, troops under the command of Ben McCulloch, Tyree Harris Bell, and Brig. General James Chalmers marched non-stop to Fort Pillow to begin their assault under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Confederate sharpshooters claimed the lives of several key Union officers during the morning assault on the fort. The losses included the commanding officer Major Loinel F. Booth, and his second in command shortly after that. These losses created a complete breakdown of order and leadership among the Union troops within the fort. (251) During the morning engagement, the gun boat the New Era was continually attempting to shell the Confederate forces from the Mississippi, but with minimal success. The Union forces fought back heartily until around one o ¦clock in the afternoon, when both sides slowed down. Around that time the New Era steamed out of range to cool its weapons. It had fired a total of 282 rounds, and its supplies were almost tot... Free Essays on Fort Pillow Attack Free Essays on Fort Pillow Attack Fort Pillow Attack THE GRAND FABRICATION It is almost as difficult to find consistent information about the incident at Fort Pillow as it is to determine the moral significance of its outcome. Scholars disagree about exactly what transpired on April 12, 1864 at Fort Pillow, when General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the fort with his 1,500 troops and claimed numerous Union lives in the process (Wyeth 250). It became an issue of propaganda for the Union, and as a result the facts were grossly distorted. After close examination it is clear that the  ¦Fort Pillow Massacre_ (as it became known by abolitionists) was nothing of the sort. The 1,500 troops under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest acted as men and as soldiers in their capture of Fort Pillow. It is first necessary to understand what happened in the battle before any judgment can be made. A careful study performed by Dr. John Wyeth revealed the following information: from April 9-11, 1864, troops under the command of Ben McCulloch, Tyree Harris Bell, and Brig. General James Chalmers marched non-stop to Fort Pillow to begin their assault under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Confederate sharpshooters claimed the lives of several key Union officers during the morning assault on the fort. The losses included the commanding officer Major Loinel F. Booth, and his second in command shortly after that. These losses created a complete breakdown of order and leadership among the Union troops within the fort. (251) During the morning engagement, the gun boat the New Era was continually attempting to shell the Confederate forces from the Mississippi, but with minimal success. The Union forces fought back heartily until around one o ¦clock in the afternoon, when both sides slowed down. Around that time the New Era steamed out of range to cool its weapons. It had fired a total of 282 rounds, and its supplies were almost tot...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Commercial Drivers License Guide Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire

Commercial Drivers License Guide Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire If you live in Maine, Vermont or New Hampshire, check this round up of state guidelines and see what you’ll need to do to be certified to drive safely behind the wheel of a commercial rig!  If you want to learn about earning a CDL at other states, we have put together a comprehensive guide on how to get a commercial driver’s license in every state of the country. MaineTo obtain a CDL:You must have a valid noncommercial license from your current stateYour license cannot be under suspension or revokedYou must not have been convicted of a disqualifying crime in the last 5 years.You can get an application from any Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles office or online.Written and Skills ExamsYou  will schedule separate appointments for your written and skills exams. You will receive a notice with the date, location, and time for your written test, which will include additional testing for each endorsement you hope to obtain.On your testing day, you must  take an eye exam. If   you successfully pass the written and eye exams, you’ll receive a learner’s permit and a skills exam request card.You must self-certify your type of vehicle operation with the Maine BMV in one of the following driving categories:Non-Excepted InterstateExcepted InterstateNon-Excepted IntrastateExcepted IntrastateIf you choose Non-Excepted Interstate, you must provide the BMV with a federal medical certificate.New HampshireDrivers who currently hold a valid New Hampshire operator’s license and wish to add commercial classifications may appear at any DMV office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to begin testing. On that day, you must bring:A current valid New Hampshire licenseAn  applicationA valid, up-to-date  medical cardEvery applicant is required to pass a  vision test and the CDL General Knowledge Test. Based on the desired  classifications and endorsements, you will be asked to take additional knowledge tests. Make sure you know everyth ing you will have to take before you arrive on your testing day.Once you have passed your  required knowledge tests, you will schedule a  road skills test for the appropriate endorsements and classifications.VermontRequirementsYou must be at least 18 years old and hold a valid Vermont Class D Operator’s License to obtain a Commercial Learner’s Permit.You must be at least 18 years old to obtain a CDL and operate a commercial vehicle within Vermont (Intrastate commerce).You must be at least 21 years old to operate a commercial motor vehicle between Vermont and another state (Interstate commerce).You must be 18 years old to obtain the Hazardous Materials Endorsement for Intrastate commerce and 21 years of age to obtain the Hazardous Materials Endorsement for Interstate commerce.What to BringAll Driver Licenses or Learner Permits issued to you by any stateBirth certificateProof of residencyProof of legal presence, if applicableSocial Security NumberDepartment of Transp ortation (DOT) Medical Card, if applicableThe vehicle used for the skills test must have a valid inspection sticker and meet all inspection requirementsYou must also file for a CDL Medical Self-Certification.Good luck!

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Contribute Comments to DailyWritingTips.com

Contribute Comments to DailyWritingTips.com Contribute Comments to DailyWritingTips.com Contribute Comments to DailyWritingTips.com By Mark Nichol If you read the comments on this site, you know that DailyWritingTips.com is a collaborative enterprise: I post, and visitors correct me. But, seriously, visitors’ comments are a valuable part of the experience, and you are encouraged to weigh in with your experiences, opinions, and insights. My posts are based on my experience as a professional writer and editor and my research into grammar, usage, style, and other editorial issues. I also have an extensive background, and I’ve edited for several prominent publishers and other organizations, but such distinctions are not necessarily ironclad proofs of skill, and they don’t mean that I’m always right (or that I’ve explained something well). That is why we welcome visitors comments, and much of the information they provide is well written and well reasoned, and contributes significantly to a collaborative effort to enrich site visitors’ knowledge about writing. I respond as time permits, though I also welcome it when visitors respond to each others’ comments. In addition, several of my posts have resulted from visitors’ suggestions or questions. (I reply also to visitors who send notes directly to info@dailywritingtips.com, but I prefer that they share their thoughts with others in the comments section.) DailyWritingTips.com is a great online resource for people who care about written language to congregate and learn from each other. The most prolific commenters folks like ApK, Cecily, Deborah H, JK Brennan, Kathryn, Peter, Precise Edit, Rebecca, Roberta B., Sharon, Shirley, Stephen Thorn, and thebluebird11 as well as others, enable us all to develop our skills. Please add your name to the roster by sharing your thoughts with the rest of the DailyWritingTips.com community. (Note that email subscribers, in order to visit the site and leave their comments, must click on the title of the post they receive via email.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of Humor45 Synonyms for â€Å"Old† and â€Å"Old-Fashioned†Drama vs. Melodrama

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The Tension between Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in Australia Essay

The Tension between Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in Australia - Essay Example The Australian Commonwealth of States was set up in response to the need among the people to withstand and oppose the forces of colonialism, as symbolized by the rule of Britain. The authors of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution were Chief Justice Griffith and Justices Barton and OConnor, who had intended that the Constitution of Australia should exist on its own merit and not merely as a British statute. The Australian Commonwealth Act of 1900 has accorded Federal powers to the Commonwealth such that Constitutional control of the Privy Council is retained, while central powers are reduced to their narrowest limits and in this manner, has made it possible for the States to unite under one common umbrella of central defense to proclaim national independence in the future. The Federation of six Australian States was formulated with the knowledge that the Commonwealth and the States were in and of themselves, sovereign states with their own spheres of authority. In formulating the Australian federation, the founders were not anxious to toe the Canadian line which was deemed too centralist and were more inclined to favor the loose administrative style of the American Federation that was more decentralized3. Through this, the Commonwealth was conferred with the powers to maintain the peace and to make laws for peace, order and for the good of the Commonwealth in all the areas that had been designated under Section 51 of the Constitution, whereby the States were permitted to retain all their powers, with the exception of those powers that were wrested away, for the common good of the Commonwealth. Such areas included defense and foreign affairs. Areas not specifically identified under the â€Å"central† jurisdiction are  designated as â€Å"resid ual powers† which in the case of a Federation like Australia are considered to be within the purview of the States, since Australia has a decentralized federal system, unlike Canada that has a centralized federal system of Government.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Privacy and Internet Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Privacy and Internet Policy - Essay Example Identity theft is not a new happening. It has been around for ages now and have transformed from using the names of deceased people for voting or turning to crime that is against the social welfare. The surge of pre-approved credit cards, pre-approved loans and unsolicited credit card checks along with the ease of accessibility and reach of the Internet has made identity theft a crime that can fool anyone and lead to overwhelming financial costs for the victims (Stanley, 2008). James Moor (2009) observes that a policy vacuum exists regarding the usage of computer technology. The increased range of opportunities that computers provide also necessitates the development of more comprehensive policies to guide actions. Advancement in technology has given rise to greater vulnerabilities in the security of systems; this has been the case for websites too. Due to the chances of access by unauthorized agents, websites often develop web privacy policies. Internet policies can be used by a num ber of bodies ranging from companies and schools to web based sellers and vendors. Regardless of how dedicated or vaguely controlled the web servers, the level of risk that these bodies are exposed to and their adherence to an Internet privacy policy is not the same. If companies do not observe a concrete security system for the protection of information, then the gap between the intended level of security and identity theft protection system is widened and manifests itself when a security breach occurs. It needs to be emphasized that the range of attacks and risks to the system from outside sources is very diverse and complicated. Web-based attacks such as identity theft, common gateway interface code etc lead to drastic consequences internal intrusion, receipt or dissemination of a malicious code, decrease in the security fortressed by network security procedures and misrepresentation and authentication problems. Moreover if a system is exposed to high levels of internet identity theft, people would not trust the system anymore (Vacca, 2003). There are various measures that are employed to protect the web sources from intrusions and identity theft. According to Vacca (2003) one of this is the development and effective enforcement of an Internet policy which is meant to cover and develop management, usage and processes associated with configuration in the context of identity theft protection. Internet service providers should take into account the privacy legislation policy and should be able to not only understand it but also comply with it. Vacca argues that one of the best practices for online identity theft protection is openness, for which companies need to make identity theft policies and practices mandating the management of personal information in an open yet responsible manner. The website of the company should encompass an accurate and comprehensive identity theft policy. In particular, the privacy policy should coherently divest the responsibilitie s of organization as well as the information practices. The government places great emphasis on the protection of financial businesses, workplaces etc against identity theft. A privacy policy serves three main purposes. It tells the user about the information and security policies of the company. It gives the consumer information about the range of options that he has

Reflection - 21st century skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection - 21st century skills - Essay Example Students are encouraged to learn by doing, which increases their global skills highly needed in the 21st century. The portal also focuses on leadership, and collaboration between teachers and students. However, teachers seem to be focusing more on the digital recording of the grades rather than on the core content of the subjects. The portal system is not appropriate for early year students, since they cannot use the digital technology properly. The teachers of early year students still need to come face-to-face with the parents to communicate effectively. Also, the system seems to be discouraging the traditional way of teaching subjects. Students will slowly forget the conventional classroom environment. Hence, besides promoting global skills, the core content also needs to be focused upon. Students must also learn how to communicate in person while being good at

Thursday, October 17, 2019

The case of The Office of Fair Trading vs Abbey National Plc & Others Literature review

The case of The Office of Fair Trading vs Abbey National Plc & Others - Literature review Example The appeal starts by Lord Walker. In The appeal, the Supreme court was to give a verdict as whether the OFT should go ahead and undertake investigations to find out if the charges â€Å"the Banks†, which were the appellants, made for unauthorized overdrafts by their customers were fair. At the moment, banks provided retail banking services on grounds that customers’ accounts that lend the bank money are excluded from paying charges to the bank for services offered. Customers whose accounts had authorized overdrafts only paid charges for the money they borrow â€Å"the Banks†. Customers whose accounts had unauthorized overdrafts, however, paid interest on money borrowed besides paying fixed fees for every service they received from â€Å"the banks†. The Office of Fair Trading holds investigative powers on consumer contracts’ fairness terms. The power of the Office of Fair Trading, however, has limitations bound to it. The limitations stipulated in th e Unfair Contract Terms, in Consumer Regulations 1999. The Unfair Contract Terms, in Consumer Regulations 1999, implemented European Council Directive 93/13/EEC. The directives help protect customers and ensure a favorable business environment for fair trading. OFT has the mandate on undertaking this. The provisions regulation 6 (2) (b) give way for evaluate trading activities of a business enterprise or organization. OFT scrutinizes the activities so as to determine the level of fairness of the activities. The OFT scrutinizes contracts and customer satisfaction to determine their fairness. In the case the court of appeal did hold the point of exclusion in the case only to the contracts’ â€Å"core terms†. The court excluded ancillary terms as charges for unauthorized overdrafts on reasons that the charges were within the exclusion. The charges, according to the court, were part of the charges for banking services provided. At first instance ([2008] EWHC 875 (Comm), an d in the Court of Appeal, OFT was successful. Under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, the Office of Fair Trading wished to conduct an investigation on â€Å"the Banks’† relevant terms in their contracts with customers by imposing charges on customers whose accounts had unauthorized overdrafts. The Office of Fair Trade hold mandate to undertake the investigation, notwithstanding regulation 6 (2) (b).The decision of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal that regulation 6 (2) (b) could not deter the OFT from doing the investigation made â€Å"the banks† to file appeal. Lord Walker emphasized the lack of decision on the fairness of the system of charging current account customers with unauthorized overdrafts. The court could only decide on the investigative mandate of the OFT (para 3). Lord Mance reaffirmed the investigative roles of OFT (para 61). Determining whether charges were consisted ‘cost and revenue’ as against â₠¬Ëœthe goods or services distributed in exchange’ within the meaning of the Regulations was the main point to decide on. First, charges were ‘in exchange’ for the transactions to which they relate should the customer have inadequate funds to do so (Para 75). Secondly, regulation 6 (2) (b) no longer had a standing to the â€Å"ancillary† charges in the binding form (Paras 38-41, 47, 78, 112)1. In his reasoning, Lord Mance stated that, if in case the contracts were to serve as the package, then the charges levied would be fair. He further states that the charges

Hw Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Hw - Assignment Example I would start the process through engagement to enable the employees to cope with the new system after the crisis. The leader I admire has the power of observation in the identification of potential problems. This occurs through having an intelligence team that finds sensitive information about an expected incidence. The information aids in the formulation of appropriate strategies to solve the issue. The classical approach emphasizes on the need to motivate employees to increase productivity in organizational efficiency. In contrast, the neoclassical approach emphasizes on the need to utilize machines for organizational efficiency. For work ‘A’, the level if the level of command or compliance is low, while the effectiveness is high. Low levels of commitment from the employees lead to low effectiveness. For work ‘B’, a low level of command or compliance leads to low effectiveness, while a high level of commitment or mutual adjustment leads to high effectiveness (Buono, p. 16). People think that there needs to be a limitation in the management control for effectiveness. This leads to low commitments while at work and this could affect the goals of the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Banking System in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Banking System in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Investments will be conducted outside the fence and will be allowed to fail without the government stepping in. This report is predicted to be one of the biggest shake-ups in banking within the United Kingdom in a generation. This commission was formed by the United Kingdom in June 2010 by Sr. John Vickers and is comprised of two main proposals. One proposes a retail ring-fence for UK banking operations and measures to upgrade the loss absorption of UK banks. The second proposes improving issues affecting UK banking markets and focuses mainly on attention to financial stability. The following information will attempt to show how over reliance on the banking industry in the United Kingdom has affected the economy in an economic downturn or recession. It also will show what effects deregulation has had on the United Kingdom economy and the banks. It will also delve into the economic downturn, the history, its effects, and what is going on now. And finally how can the United Kingdom avo id a double dip recession. ... also says that it is necessary for the state or international entities to take part because business forces and normal banking activities are not able to provide the required funding. This thought can be justified if there is evidence present that shows market failure or any deliberate government policy that contributes to this sector. This gives the impression that dangers are present regarding how banks compete. Banks compete unfairly on terms of deposit, misdirected resources in any economy, and build losses that eventually have to be supported by the public through government budgets (Latter 1997). Latter points out that as a matter of principle, it is better to give support to regions of the economy in as clear means as possible and with as little damage as possible to the forces driving the market. He further adds that this could mean subsidies might come directly from the fiscal budget or interest rate subsidies rather than less visibly through the bank itself. All banks shoul d be able to compete for business and control their own subsidies (Latter 1997). Causes of the banking crises are continually being debated. Several have been attributed to the structure of the banking system, while others have been attributed to macro/micro forces or regulatory factors. Others include harmful strategies of specific banks, operational failings, and fraud. When dealing with macro forces, triggers can includes the collapse of asset prices in real estate, a sharp upheaval in interest rates, or a sharp fall in the exchange rate. Another trigger could be a sudden slowdown in general inflation or the beginning of a recession. Banks have typically prospered in a high inflation environment. Another problem that is noted is sharp shifts in related pricing, or dropping of subsidies

Hw Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Hw - Assignment Example I would start the process through engagement to enable the employees to cope with the new system after the crisis. The leader I admire has the power of observation in the identification of potential problems. This occurs through having an intelligence team that finds sensitive information about an expected incidence. The information aids in the formulation of appropriate strategies to solve the issue. The classical approach emphasizes on the need to motivate employees to increase productivity in organizational efficiency. In contrast, the neoclassical approach emphasizes on the need to utilize machines for organizational efficiency. For work ‘A’, the level if the level of command or compliance is low, while the effectiveness is high. Low levels of commitment from the employees lead to low effectiveness. For work ‘B’, a low level of command or compliance leads to low effectiveness, while a high level of commitment or mutual adjustment leads to high effectiveness (Buono, p. 16). People think that there needs to be a limitation in the management control for effectiveness. This leads to low commitments while at work and this could affect the goals of the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

World War Holocaust Essay Example for Free

World War Holocaust Essay The Holocaust or The Shoah, as referred to by the Jews, was a systematic state-led persecution and genocide of the Jews and other minority groups of Europe and North Africa. It was committed during World War II by the Nazis of Germany and their collaborators (Wikipedia, â€Å"Holocaust†). This was what the Nazis considered as Endlà ¶sung der Judenfrage   or The Final Solution of the Jewish Question. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, about 9 to 11 million people were exterminated during this entire period. Other minorities (ie. Poles, Serbs, homosexuals, persons with mental illness, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc†¦) who the Nazis saw as inferior or undesirable were also killed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is considered by many experts as the most organized and systematic mass-killing in the history of mankind. Jews were herded into death camps and were allowed to suffer many indignities including torture and cruel medical experiments. Jews would be killed by the hundreds through poison gas, freezing or shooting. The women and the children were not spared. They were treated no less cruelly than the male adults. They were also sent to labor camps to serve as slaves to the Nazis. All these inhuman acts are based on the Anti-Semitism philosophy of Adolf Hilter. He laid down the foundations of this movement in his 1925 autobiography entitled Mein Kampf or My Struggle. According to Hitler, the Aryan race is the superior race of the world. Nazism, which followed his ideas, portrayed their interpretation of an Aryan race as the only race capable of, or with an interest in, creating and maintaining culture and civilizations, while other races are merely capable of conversion, or destruction of culture (Wikipedia, â€Å"Aryan†). Because of this belief in Aryan supremacy, the Nazis began by oppressing the Jews and other minorities through discrimination. Jews were not allowed to have jobs or were not given service in hospitals or government offices. These acts would worsen and escalate into an uncontrollable frenzy and would culminate in the infamous Final Solution. Bibliography Holocaust. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 8 June 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust. Aryan. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 8 June 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Application Of Sound In Movies And Games Film Studies Essay

Application Of Sound In Movies And Games Film Studies Essay Approaches to Game Audio. Modern computer games are undeniably becoming more realistic and cinematic. As graphics become better quality and game consoles become more powerful, the distinctive line between films and computer games that was set in the 1970s now hardly exists. Graphics have a big part to play in films and modern computer games, but an even bigger part of films in my opinion is the music and the sound in the film general. The music helps create the tension, emphasise dramatic moments in the plot and giving films another dimension to what is shown on screen. These techniques in music and sound/sound effects in film have been taken and used into the production of the modern computer game. Although the music and sound in film and modern computer game may have the same cinematic practice, the way it is implemented in computer games is very different. This is because of the interactive nature of the gaming environment in the computer game. Throughout this assignment Im going to be looking at what kind of strategys game audio developers have created and adopted from film to produce effective audio in the music, dialogue and effects in computer games. We will firstly be looking into the techniques on how film music and sound is made, and the different strategies have been used to produce them. Then at the strategies and techniques on music for modern games, then discussing and evaluating the different and similar techniques and strategys that computer games have adopted. Sound in film Music and sound have always been a big part of film. Even before technology was advanced enough to play dialogue or music, silent films would normally accompanied by a pianist or even a whole orchestra. But why is sound so important to film? Composer Aaron Copland describes five purposes of film music which we will be going into detail about: Creating a convincing atmosphere of time and place; Underlining psychological refinements the unspoken thoughts of the character; Serving as a kind of neutral background filler; Building a sense of continuity; Underpinning the theatrical build-up of a scene, and rounding it off with a sense of finality. (Copland 1975: 154-5) Creating a convincing atmosphere of time and place Composers can achieve creating a time and place by capturing the musical colour, creating the feeling that the music would be created in that location or time. They can achieve this by using instrument of that era or location- Bagpipes would suggest the scene was in Scotland, while a String quartet could symbolise a Scene from the 1800. Although this is an effective way of locating the film musically in some respects, sometimes the composer or director of the film may not want to use authentic Chinese  music but just want to achieve a Chinese flavour or colour by using a pentatonic scale with Western instruments (Source 1) This can create a better effect overall, hinting towards where the scene is musically without using unwanted interments. Underlining psychological refinements the unspoken thoughts of the character In some instances, music can portray a psychological element much better than dialogue can. This type of film music seems more effective if the composer reads over the script at the creation stage, making suggestions on where he would like the music to be. Far too often, however, this possibility is passed over and music is not allowed to speak (B source 1). Music can also give the viewer a better understanding on what is going on within the head of a character, not specific detail, but an overview. Leonard Rosenman  thinks that The musical contribution to the film should be ideally to create a  supra-reality, a condition wherein the elements of literary naturalism are perceptually altered. In this way the audience can have the insight into different aspects of behaviour and motivation not possible under the aegis of naturalism. This show that music can give a film another dimension, bringing out emotions and insights into characters where film without sound cant. Serving as a kind of neutral background filler Through research many composers feel this is one of the hardest things to do within composing a piece of music. Roy A. Prendergast point out that creating background music for a composer calls for him to be at his most subordinated. At times one of the functions of film music is to do nothing more than be there This shows that sometimes music is just needed to blend in the background as though it would exist as sound rather than as constructed music. Building a sense of continuity What is meant by continuity in film is that music can hold a film together Music can tie together a visual medium that is, by its very nature, continually in danger of falling apart (B source 1).The editor of the film will probably be the most aware of this particular attribute of music in films. Music can also bring a film together as a whole using a unifying musical idea. Underpinning the theatrical build-up of a scene, and rounding it off with a sense of finality When used correctly, music can add a huge amount of intensity and intimacy to a scene, it can evoke a gut reaction unobtainable in any other way (B Source 1) But music isnt a miracle worker, a lot of good composers have been asked to create music for a weak scene, hoping that it will the scene stronger. But if the scene is weak it is near impossible to make it stronger, and sadly it is normally the composer who critics blame. Three forms of music The sound in Cinema takes on three different forms: Speech, Music or Noise. Speech The dialogue in films are spoken by the actors or narration heard as a voice over (Source 2). A major component in speech for films is an automated dialogue replacement. When recording on set there is normally back ground noise of traffic or planes flying overhead, this drowns the actors lines out. Because of this, the dialogue is recorded within a studio. Recording dialogue in this way makes it possible for actors to make their lines more dramatic then recording on location. An example of this is the screaming by the actor in Jurassic Park actually was recorded in the sound studios in New York and Los Angeles (source 2). In the studio an ADR expert would match the new recording with the film, making sure that they were properly in sync so that the audience isnt aware of it being recorded in a studio. Music Music is a very powerful component to a film, in many different ways. For example in musicals such as The Sound of Music (1965) the music trys to captivate the audience creating an emotional response when music and words are linked in a scene (B source 2). Music also helps explain and move the plot instrumentally. Themes are very commonly used for individual characters, for example Star wars when Darth Vader appears on screen his theme music is played. There are two different types of film music. Firstly there is Source music, which is the realistic part of the scene; Street Musicians, Rock band playing in the background etc. The second film type is Underscoring; Music motivated by dramatically consideration (B source 3). The composers are normally not needed until a rough cut of the film is made, or even later. Within films that have to be shot in time with music that does not exist yet a temporary music track may be played on set (B source 3). Many films without music feel very empty; this is why films are normally pretracked. The editor would cut scenes to stock or classical music so that the tempo and phrasing lend structure to the footage. Composers then have the task too music that is similar but different. In scoring, one of the first steps is deciding which scene will have music; this is called spotting. The composer will have to cue the start and end of the scene with a stop watch. The music editor will then create a time sheet or breakdown which will change the feet of the film into seconds, or even smaller time scale. He will then detail the action in a cue, making it easier for the composer to write any way he wants, The closes synchronisation of music to action is called Mickey-mousing' (B Source 3) There are two main types of cues in films. Long Cues which are length normally classical pieces of composition, an example of this is a scene from Gold finger where planes are dropping sleeping gas on to a military base, throughout this scene that lasts over two minutes, the same composition is played throughout. Short cues are normally just a few bars of music; this normally acts as punctuation. For example, in many horror films when someone is going to be stabbed with a knife, this is normal accompanied with a strings playing a high sustained chord, giving a sense of anticipation and making the audience uncomfortable. At the recording stage of the music, the conductor of the piece is alerted by a streamer, a three-foot scratch in the film at the end of which a punched hole producing a light on the screen that acts as the starting cue. For the additional short cue scenes, there are similar streamers that will alert the conductor. Throughout the recording, the conductor will normally have a set of headphones where he can listen to the dialogue or a click track. Noise This can be any other sound that can be heard within the movie for example footsteps or birds. Usually the quality recorded on set is poor, which means that special sound effect (SFX) have to be produced in a studio. To produce these sound effects, sound technicians called Foley artists will record different sound effect with items in a studio. For example to create a horse walking, the Foley artist can use two half of a coconut and tap them on the table or floor, or using a metal sheet to create the sound of thunder. Many of these sound effects can be bought digitally from companies that have noise libraries for a cheaper cost then to get Foley artists. But many producers for major motion pictures will employ people and spend more money on Foley artists to create custom sounds for the movie. Timing There are two different timings within films: Viewing Time and Story Time. Viewing time means the physical length of the film. This normally differs from Story time, which is the time that passes within the film itself. Films can normally cover a few years in the characters lives, but most films that we see only take around a couple hours to watch. Viewing time becomes an instrument of the plots manipulation of story time. (B Source 3) Matching a sound or dialogue within the films images is called synchronization. When dialogue or sound is synchronized properly, the audience will not normally be able to tell if everything has been over overdubbed, or sound effects have been added. Sound in games The process of producing game audio resembles in many ways the production of film audio. Game audio follows the same five purposes of film rules made by Aaron Copland, has similar recording techniques for live sound and Foley, and use many of the same software and recording equipment. A lot of game play, i.e. the battles or the big set pieces, essentially has to be scored in some form or fashion. So thats all similar to a film. (B source 4) Although these traits are very similar between game audio and film audio, there are very distinctive differences in the processes. Most of film audio is normally done on the post-production stage, which takes place after the film has been edited and the visuals have been locked (the final version set) (B source 4). A large amount of time is spent mixing and balancing the sounds at this stage, which is one of the most significant differences between film and games sound. Post- production within film doesnt generally exist within game audio. This is because the timings are variable, the music needs to adapt to the game play. The reason for this is because some game players may vary greatly in the length of time needed to complete a level, and often they can complete tasks in different ways. The way they have come across this hurdle is by creating adaptive audio or interactive audio to others. To find out how game audio makes this adaptive or interactive audio, we are going to look through the three production stages. The three stem can be found in the same file or separate files depending on the individual or companys choice. Pre Production The first step on pre production for game audio is the creation of an audio design document. An audio design document contains the details of the design and implementation of the games audio. At this early stage, the audio team dont have much information; they may only have storyboards and characters sketches on which they have to develop an audio design document. But with this information the can start at an early stage of the production, making sure that the audio plays a significant role in the game. The first thing is to determine what type of game it is, finding out the genre and theme for the audio. One technique of finding out the right genre is by creating a temp track. A temp track means placing pre-existing music where the final composition should be. This helps the composer have an idea on where to work from. The second step is how the sound will interact with the gameplay. Rules will normally be placed out by the games designer describing what role the sound design will have within the game. The next stage is to find out which parts of the game should have ambient sound and music. This is known as spotting, it involves defining cue point entrances, exits, play-ins/play-outs, and game state changes, as well as deciding if the games variables (such as players health, surface properties, and so on) will be used to change sound parameters(B source 4). To help the music fit into context with the game, a music cue list can be created. This helps break down the storyboard or script into segments and chapters, creating an individual map for the game, as well as for each individual level. At theses first stages the audio team will need to look for spots for environments, action, pace, tension/release, objects, characters/personalitys and so on. Another important step is spotting the game in terms of emotion; Within a games there is normally movement or a certain rhythm in terms of emotional peaks and valleys (B source 4). To help the sound designer which sounds may interfere with one and another and which sounds need emphasis, an emotion map can be created showing tension and release points. At this stage level descriptions are broken down into different sound types, for example ambient noises, weapons sounds, Foley etc. These sound types will be created within an asset list which can be used at a later stage too track recording in order to reproduce sounds at a later stage, if necessary Production At this stage the production of game sound is normally taken place in several different locations. Like production of film sound: sound libraries are used and normally these effects are layered and manipulated to create the right effect. Bigger companies may have a dedicated Foley studio where Foley artists are hired and are told to create original sound effects for the game. The same techniques in film are used in game audio for sound. One of the most useful techniques that are being used in game audio is the processing of digital signal processing (DSP) in real time. Being able to do this saves a lot of recording time for the sound developers. Before processing DSP in real time effects on certain sounds had to be re-recorded individually, for example; to get the effect of footsteps to change when walking from, say, a stone path into a cave, the effects would have to be pre recorded onto the footsteps file (B Source 4) But now only one sound sample of footsteps needs to be recorded, this is because the DSP filters can be set for location, making the audio responded physics graphic engines which can create more realistic sounding effects in real time while playing the game. The final part of the audio production process is the integration of the music, sound effects, and dialogue. The integration of audio into game decides how the audio will be triggered within the game. This also controls what part of the audio might change the games state or the games parameters. For example Music or ambience tracks may be triggered by location, by game state, by time-ins or time-outs, by players, or by various game events. For the composers music to work with the game, it must be able to integrate into it. Cutting the music into chunks, splits or loops may help in creating a much more dynamic score for the game. An hour or so of music can be stretched out to many hours by cutting it up and looping it. To make it easier to cut, normally the songs have to be quite rhythmic. In game music compositions, the composer will normally make sure that the music is played within the same key throughout. This is because it is easy for sections to be cut and looped without the audience realising. The music composers for Red Dead Redemption composed the music by creating many riffs and small composition lasting less than a minute each, all within the same key. After mastering each one individually, they then put it into the music engine of the game where segments of the musical material are constantly chosen at random an put together to form a piece of music. (B source 5) Music can not only be cut, but also elements of it can be changed in real time in the game engine, for example DSP effects, tempo and instrumentation. Software such as Wwise and FMOD are being used much more these days to create editing such as this. This is because the software lowers cost and production time, and makes it easier to integrate a more dynamic score within the game. Segments of the musical material are constantly chosen at random and put together to create a piece of music. Post Production stage At this stage of production the main task is the mixing of the audio. The mixer has to find anything within the mix which is unnatural, too much repetition or anything having an unnatural imbalance. Within current games, the different stems of audio are competing with each other because they are all in the same aural space. This gives a great risk of sounds being in the same sound range and masking each other out. This is also problematic within film, but because of the unpredictability on where different sounds are going to be heard in a game, makes the mixing an even more difficult task. A strategy mixers have used to tackle this obstacle is by prioritizing sounds real-time in games. Using FX and ducking the music when dialogue happens, is an effective way of making sure needed information is passed on to the player. Another effective technique is making certain frequencies in the music quieter; this makes room for the dialogue to be heard and the music still has a presence. Strategies adopted by game audio developers To make it easier to see the similarities and differences in film and game audio, they have been made into two different sections Similarities Film and game audio have very similar, if not exact recording techniques. They both have to overdub dialogue and ambience. Game audio however, is more reliant on over dubbing, this is because there is no original sound because they have to create the ambience and dialogue from scratch. They both follow similar rules in what they want from the audio, and how they want their audience too feel. The music is very similar, both film and game audio often have scores arranged by professional composers, have a dedicated team that that deal with all the audios needs. Differences Evaluate Conclusion Overall thoughts Examples, including discussion and evaluation, of strategies adopted by game audio developers; Conclusion; References.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Implications of Migration for Pro-poor Agricultural Growth :: essays research papers

differences etc. all of which influence migration patterns and remittance utilisation. Methods musttherefore be broadened to include more qualitative techniques and case studies. 2. Integrate migration and commuting into PRSPs, CASs, National Plans At present most key policy documents related to rural development, agriculture and povertyreduction pay little or no attention to migration. These should be reviewed where possible to integrate migration and commuting concerns. There needs to be a greater recognition of thecontribution of current and future mobility to development and poverty reduction. 3. Identify the conditions which stimulate the productive use of remittances Examples of productive investment of remittances should be studied to understand where and how this has occurred by giving special attention to: • Labour availability and household labour allocation decisions, how gender roles and cultural factors influences these decisions and the impacts of labour depletion on the household and local economy• The skills base of migrants and how/if this has changed through migration and whatcontribution that has made to developing/enhancing agriculture or enterprise in the source village• Existing constraints faced by the poor in key agricultural markets such as credit and labour and how remittances are used in situations of persistent debt crea ted byinterlocked markets – do remittances help the poor in escaping from thesearrangements?• Availability of key natural resources – water and land are probably the mostimportant. Are remittances invested in buying more land and is this used for production soon, later or never? Does the availability of water affect this pattern?The information from such studies can be used to identify appropriate complementary interventions The obvious ones are education and health – i.e. more educated and healthier farmers are morelikely to spend on better farm inputs and technologies etc. 4. Identify locations/situations where it would make more sense to facilitate the movement of people This would need to be decided on a case by case basis, say at the district level in order toaccommodate location specific historical, agro-ecological factors as well rates of urbanisation and agricultural development. The Chinese example is informative because mobility is being encouraged to reduce rural poverty and sustain the rural economy.5. Design transport services to suit poor migrants and commuters A number of research projects on transport conducted under by ITDG and through the DFID Knowledge and Research (KaR) projects have noted transport constraints, and their impact on rurallivelihoods and service provision are of a high priority for the rural poor.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Women Essay examples -- Gender Roles, Inequalities Between Men and Wom

Through the involvement of government legislature and the evolving demeanor of today’s society, inequalities between men and women in the workplace have dwindled to an all time low. However, while it is inevitable that progress continues, the struggle remains for women to gain the full equality they deserve. Many individuals are in error, believing that the war against gender discrimination has come to a victorious halt, however, this is not the case. It is essential to constitute the degree of validity, or ambiguity concerning the pervasive affirmations of a decrease in discrimination against women in the work force. Women endure a constant struggle as they fight to acquire, in all aspects, equality at work. Female news anchor certainly partake in this particular struggle. The road to news anchoring is an imperious one; survival is seldom and flourishing in the profession is less than common. As of today, the numbers of women who succeed as anchors is deficient due to the in conspicuous discrimination that hinders women’s progress in the profession. There exists a plethora of men who have succeeded in the alluring yet demanding occupation of news anchoring, however, women, on the other hand, are avidly awaiting not only progress, but prosperity. heir lack of ascendancy continues to be impeded by the strict standards for beauty set for women in the industry, contrasted by the looser requirements expected of men. To succeed as newscasters women must surpass men in all aspects, their work ethic must be more efficient, their appearance must be flawless and they must go beyond their limits, testing their capabilities. While critical steps have been taken by women in televised broadcasting, equality is remote since men are a domina... ... has been demonstrated that women are more than willing to confront these situation in order to succeed as anchorwomen. Though there is much progress to be made before equality among men and women on the news desk is attained, women continue to stand firmly on their views concerning discrimination and don’t go down without a fight. The incompetence society deems of women as news anchors is unjust; women are more than qualified and their potential to thrive is beyond what one can imagine. Though the role physical appearance plays among male and female news anchors is a crucial one, especially for women, it should not interfere with a woman’s professional progress. Discrimination severely limits a woman’s advancement in their profession, which is greatly unjust; opportunities to ascend should be given to all and anything that inhibits this should be terminated.