Torqueville's and Stowe's perception of race-relations furing Essay

Torqueville's and Stowe's perception of race-relations furing Pre-civil War Era - Essay Example So from the sociological theorist’s perspective, he has to carefully deplore the practice of slavery after a thorough examination of its role in the country’s economy, culture and politics. Therefore, Tocqueville’s stance about slavery seems to be often confusing and critical, though his statements i.e. â€Å"I am moved at the spectacle of man's degradation by man, and I hope to see the day when the law will grant equal civil liberty to all the inhabitants of the same empire†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tocqueville 45), â€Å"An old and sincere friend of America, I am uneasy at seeing Slavery retard her progress†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tocqueville 56) seem to be an anti-racist’s proclamation against the racism and the evil of slavery in American society. A deep sociopolitical and cultural assessment of the African-American minority in the racially segregated white society has convinced him to believe that the assimilation of the Negroes into the mainstream of the society, as o pposed to the American Indians, was almost impossible. Indeed Tocqueville’s prediction of the African Americans future has been summarized in the following lines: If I were called upon to predict the future, I should say that the abolition of slavery in the South will in the common course of things, increase the repugnance of the white population for the blacks. I base this opinion upon the analogous observation I have already made in the North. I have remarked that the white inhabitants of the North avoid the Negroes with increasing care in proportion as the legal barriers of separation are removed by the legislature; and why should not the same result take place in the South? (Tocqueville 68) At this point, Stowe vehemently opposes Tocqueville’s belief. For her, since Christianity, being the religion of the majority of American society, is very much incompatible with the perpetuating inhumanity of slavery, it could lapse the divide between the races and bring them on the same platform of humanity. But Stowe has failed to address how a community, which has been detached from the age-old traditions and culture, would assimilate into a culture which has been an oppressive reality so far. Possibly her faith in Christianity’s as well as humanity’s ability to dispense the socio-cultural gap between the communities provokes her to depict Uncle Tom as a devout Christian and a man, driven by humanity, who could risk his life for the sake of a white girl Eva. Further Stowe’s faith in Christianity’s ability to repel the evil of slavery is expressed in Mrs. Bird’s speech: â€Å"I don’t know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.† (Stowe 78) Though Stowe’s prediction of a race-blind society upon the basis of Christian humanity seems to be a fallacy, it was a powerhouse of moral strength for the abolitionist to wither the brutal tyranny from the white people’s part and to free the black people to take any course of assimilation they might choose. Obviously, the Civil War, the Reconstruction and the

The Unspoken Laws Essay Example for Free

The Unspoken Laws Essay The conceptualization of sexual, religious, and gendered borders has served to write the human standard of living and the societal roles that we have incorporated into our culture to accept as the social norm. These unspoken laws are the architecture to our socio-cultural environment. These laws represent the cement that has carefully bonded the male-female heteronormative gender role, the pre-inclined human morality given by religion, and sexual identity to be something that is easily definable by the masses. Arturo Islas in The Rain God defines Mexican culture by creating characters that exemplify and embody the stereotypes and the figurative borders of sexuality, religion, and gender. Throughout The Rain God Arturo Islas tells the story of the Angel family- a family made up of strong characters such as Miguel Grande and Mama Chona. Both Miguel Grande and Mama Chona strongly embody the female-male gender role while personifying the cultural borders that Miguel Chico encounters as he develops into an adult. Miguel Grande illustrates machismo as he is described as the traditional patriarch of the Angel Family. Mama Chona takes on the matriarch role that holds the Angel Family together all the while as she is conflicted to accept the Indigenous and Chicano identities that make her whole. Maria- the nursemaid is a symbol for the religious freedom Miguel Chico grows up searching for. She herself strays off Roman Catholicism and becomes a Seventh Day Adventist. Maria’s influences of another form of thinking impacts Miguel Chico as he furthers into interpreting the reality encircling his childhood. Arturo Islas carefully constructs the matriarch role in Hispanic culture as Mama Chona. Her character is a clear example of the generational struggle faced by Mother Chonas alike of other Mexican Families living in the Southwest Texas/ Mexico border seeking out lead their kin out of the â€Å"bad† life. Miguel Chico reminiscing over a family picture in his desk area describes, â€Å"Mama Chona is wearing a black ankle-length dress with a white lace collar and he is in a short-sleeved light colored summer suit with short pantsthe camera has captured them in flight from one world to the next.† (Islas, 3-4). This quote expatiates the generational gap faced between the Angel family and Miguel Chico. Narratively, it also serves as foreshadowing for Miguel Chico straining off the â€Å"correct† path, that is not staying and submitting to the very literal and figurative geographical borders of religion, sex, and gender found in the Southwest. Miguel Chico does this by earning his acceptance to a prestigious University, moving to San Fransisco, and becoming the free thinking individual that he is by heart. With traditional catholic point of views and a ridged sense of what sexuality is Miguel Grande refuses to accept any other form of raising his child, other than the one he’s been conditioned to accept throughout his lifetime. â€Å"‘Apologize to your father for playing with dolls,’ Juanita said to Miguel Chico. He did not understand why he needed to say he was sorry. When his father was not there, his mother permitted him to play with them.† (Islas, 16) Miguel Chico is the queer child who questions religion and the male role that is placed on him by his social environment. Arturo Islas crafts these polar identities to express the very literal border of culture and sexuality that Miguel Chico encounters and battles with as he matures into an adult. Whilst growing up nursemaid Maria attempts to instill the morals and allegories of a religious context into Miguel Chico. Although, Miguel Chico receives the religious barrage from both ends of the spectrum- the mother and the nursemaid, Miguel Chico questions the validity of the information he waveringly accepts at the time. â€Å"Miguel Chico learned that when he asked Maria a difficult question she would remain silent, then choose a biblical passage that illustrated the terrible power of God the Fathers wrath.† (Islas, 17). Moreover, Maria explores another branch of Christianity by being a Seventh Day Adventist, her influences of denying another religion impacts Miguel Chico and in the end lends to his rejection of religion over all, as he sees the influence of another interpretation of â€Å"truth†. Furthermore, as Miguel Chico walks through the journey of adulthood he becomes more aware of the social and personal constraints the borders of religion, sex, and gender present to his growth as an individual though throughout this time he accepts that he is a determinable extension of them both, Maria- the nursemaid and Mother Chona the Angel Familys Matriarch. â€Å"the way a seed continues to be part of a plant after it has assumed its own form which does not at all resemble its origin, but which nevertheless, is determined by it. He had survived severe pruning and wondered if human beings, unlike plants can water themselves.† (Islas, 25-26). Throughout the passage Miguel Chico asserts his independence from all the borders introduced by his family, the border that his persona has been forced to fit in in consequence of a socially accepted mold. Later in The Rain God it is learned that Mama Chona becomes ill. At this time Miguel Chico visits and is confronted with questions concerning his sexuality and relationship status, more significantly by his cousins. It is strange to them that he is neither married, nor in a stable relationship with a woman. Despite the suspicion behind his sexuality he verifies the value he has for knowledge. He conjures up the idea that perhaps he had survived the plucking of his personal growth to tell the stories of people similar to Maria and Mother Chona. Conclusively, Miguel Chico ascertains that he in fact does have a long way to go throughout his journey of self-discovery, along the way he pieces together the identity that makes him whole. These pieces all influenced by the characters in his life, significantly, Mother Chona and Maria. He accepts the fact he alike Mother Chona prefers to disregard facts to assume motives, although unlike Maria, Miguel Chico longed to look at persons and their motives separately from an â€Å"earthly, rather than otherworldly, point of view† (Islas, 28). Miguel Chicos future is undetermined at this point and he is okay with that reality but he now is comfortable with the concept that he does not have to live in the haziness of the garden he has been rooted to be part of. Miguel Chico can stray off the pre-determined path given to him and still be his own after appreciating the soil that nurtured him into the free thinking individual that he is. Works Cited Islas, Arturo. The Rain God: A Desert Tale. Palo Alto: Alexandrian, 1984. Print.

American History X Essay -- essays research papers fc

American History X   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Will racism ever come to an end or will its path go on infinitely? For the most part, the majority of people respect those who are different either in color, race, and/or heritage; however, there are those few that hold bigoted views towards people who are different than they are. The movie American History X by Tony Kaye displays an example of people who hold bigoted views. Derek, a Neo-Nazi leader, must contend with his actions relating to his past racist views and actions. This powerful movie explores its characters thoroughly and gives reasons why people become so callous and turn towards a racist group. It also exposes insight to problems that plague America when it comes to racism in everyday life, from schoolyards to basketball courts. All together American History X presents its watchers with an impressive theme that makes everyone who watches it take a step back and just say, â€Å"WOW!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main characters are two brothers, Derek and Danny, and the way they became involved with the Neo-Nazist’s ideas are different, yet the same. Derek the older of the two by five years, is first influenced by his late father. One night at the dinner table they discussed what he was reading in English and Derek told him Native Son. The dad had never heard of it and so Derek explained that it was black history month and so they were reading a book by a black author. His father did not like that very much and angrily talked that with affirmative action, and other such things, blacks were taking away from what was already established by whites. When a black drug dealer shot his dad when he 601 2 was fighting a fire on duty as a firefighter, Derek blamed â€Å"blacks, brown, yellows, its all their fault† and that lead him down a dark path. Disgruntled and confused, Derek became a leading member in a Neo-Nazi group, which he called the D.O.C. Danny, his young brother, watched, listened, and breathed every word Derek spoke. He too bought into the world of hatred. During the time Derek spent in jail for killing three black burglars, Danny tried to do everything possible so his brother would respect him when he got out. But the time in jail transformed Derek. He rethought his whole life when his former black principal visited him in jail to ask, â€Å"Has anything you’ve done made your life better?† (Kaye). ... ... others more easily (McDougal). Hate itself takes up a lot of energy. All that wasted energy could be channeled into other areas that are more rewarding such as helping others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For an explanation unknown to anyone, some people are inclined to hating others. Motives may perhaps be because they are insecure of who they are, feel threaten by someone, or an explanation which no one has. The movie explains a major reason why people hate is because they want to blame someone else for their misfortunes. It is always nice to put the responsibility on somebody else’s shoulders. Hopefully in a near future people can begin to comprehend how foolish it is to hate all the time, and then start to love. Works Cited:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Impersonal Interview. 4 March 2000. Hron, John. â€Å"What does our future hold?† 10 March 2000. Available http://users.powernet.co.uk/orion/nazicnt.htm . Movie discussion. 10 March 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Movie discussion. 10 March 2000. Suall, Irwin. Skinhead International : A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. Berlin. Anti-Defamation League of Bnai. April 1995 . Impersonal Interview. 4 March 2000.

Stereotyping Girls Who Drive Trucks :: Sociology

Stereotyping Girls Who Drive Trucks There is nothing more thrilling to me than being a girl who drives a truck. The sense of power you get almost makes up for the harassment. Driving a truck as a female automatically places you in one of two categories, whether they're true or not. You are either the cute lil' thang in Daddy's big pick-up, or you are a bull dike. Don't worry; there are ways to tell which category you're in. Should you be the cute lil' thang, you might be a little chunky or just plain little. You cannot however, be fat. One probably wouldn't want to be very tall either. Your pants should always be really tight, and skirts should be really short. These should always be worn with really small shirts. It should be noted that just tight or short, etc. is not accepted. "Really" must precede any adjectives. You should also thoroughly enjoy being called "sugar," and "darlin'" by mechanics trying to rip you off. Your truck must be really big and new. Even ridiculously big, and you should have trouble driving it (or at least give the appearance of such). Acrylic nails are big with this group, but not too long, and always maintained. The best advice is to imagine this group the cheerleaders of the road workers. The second group of lady pickup drivers is a substantially less desirable category. To be in this group, you need to be either skinny or fat. There is no in between. The hair should be worn in a ponytail or braid; a buzz cut is also acceptable. The lady mullet makes an occasional appearance as well. Cowboy hats (not the cute kind) and roper boots are good, and a big belt with lots of keys. If this is too much, a t-shirt and khaki shorts work too, as long as you promise to wear ankle socks and sandals. You truck should never be 4-wheel

Advertisement Creates Artificial Needs

Advertising a product is the medium of introducing to customers, therby increasing the product sales. Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy that we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. I agree with both statements that advertising of new products improves our lives to some extent and at the same time people are encouraged to buy things they really do not need.These days people are daily seeing advertisements of products in Televisions, Week-end magazines and even in some newspapers. These advertisements give us a rough idea about the new product, how it looks like, its new features and even prices also. Sometimes they prompt us to buy those products. Standards of people's life improves due to these advertisements. Say for example by seeing an advertisement of a new microwave or toaster oven, we are tempted to buy the product, which will be helpful to us.We will enjoy its usage. Many people are even b uying the products on the internet by seeing the advertisements. Also that if we want to know something about a product, we can't directly go to the shop and enquire about it. Advertisement provides means of dissemination of information for health and social issues as well as for products. Only producers gained through the process of advertising their products. Advertising manipulates us to buy things we don't need by playing on our emotions.It creates artificial needs. Sometimes they create confusion in the minds of people which brand of the product to buy. This is why The content of advertising has long been subjected to much criticism. With the advertisement of proucts on cigarettes, alcoholic products, poeple are tempted buy them, which will harm their health. So what I conclude is adverstisement of product is a good idea which encourages people to buy when in they are in actual need of the product.

Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

Blanche of Castile, Queen of France Dates: March 4, 1188 - November 12, 1252 Known for: Queen of France, 1223-1226; Queen Mother 1226-1252regent of France 1226-1234 and 1248-1252queen consort of King Louis VIII of Francemother of King Louis IX of France (St. Louis) Also known as: Blanche De Castille, Blanca De Castilla About Blanche of Castile:Â   In 1200, the French and English kings, Philip Augustus and John, signed a treaty which gave a daughter of Johns sister, Eleanor, Queen of Castile, as bride to Philips heir, Louis. Johns mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, traveled to Spain to look over her two granddaughters, daughters of Eleanor of England and King Alfonso VIII. She decided that the younger, Blanche, was more suited for the marriage than the year-older Urraca. Eleanor of Aquitaine returned with the 12-year-old Blanche, who was married to the 13-year-old Louis. Blanche as Queen Accounts of the time indicate that Blanche loved her husband. She delivered twelve children, five of whom lived to adulthood. In 1223, Philip died, and Louis and Blanche were crowned. Louis went to southern France as part of the first Albigensian crusade, to suppress the Cathari, a heretical sect that had become popular in that area. Louis died of dysentery which he contracted on the trip back. His last order was to appoint Blanche of Castile as the guardian of Louis IX, their remaining children, and the kingdom. Mother of the King Blanche had her oldest surviving son crowned as Louis IX on November 29, 1226. She put down a revolt, reconciling (in a story with chivalric tones) with Count Thibault, one of the rebels. Henry III supported the rebelling barons, and Blanches leadership, with the help of Count Thibault, put down that revolt as well. She also took action against ecclesiastical authorities and a group of rioting university students. Blanche of Castile continued in a strong role even after Louis 1234 marriage, taking an active role in selecting his bride, Marguerite of Provence. Granted dower lands in Artois as part of the original treaty that brought her to her marriage, Blanche was able to trade those lands for ones closer to Louis court in Paris. Blanche used some of her dower income to pay dowries for poor girls, and to fund religious houses. Regent When Louis and his three brothers all went on crusade to the Holy Land, Louis selected his mother, at age 60, to be regent. The crusade went badly: Robert of Artois was killed, King Louis captured, and his very pregnant Queen Marguerite and, then, her child, had to seek safety in Damietta and Acre. Louis raised his own ransom, and decided to send his surviving two brothers home while remaining in the Holy Land. Blanche, during her regency, backed an ill-fated shepherds crusade, and had to order the destruction of the resulting movement. Death of Blanche Blanche of Castile died in November, 1252, with Louis and Marguerite still in the Holy Land, not to return until 1254. Louis never accepted Marguerite as the strong advisor his mother had been, despite Marguerites efforts in that direction. Blanches daughter, Isabel (1225 - 1270) was later recognized as Saint Isabel of France. She founded the Abbey of Longchamp, connected with the Franciscans and Poor Clares. Marriage, Children husband: Louis VIII of France (married 1200)children who survived to adulthood (of 12):1214: Louis IX, fifth child, first to survive1216: Robert, Count of ArtoisAlphonse of PoitiersSaint Isabel of FranceCharles of Anjou (Charles I of Sicily) Ancestors Father: Alfonso VIII of CastileMother: Eleanor, Queen of Castile (also known as Eleanor of England)Eleanor was the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Answer Questions Example

Answer Questions Example Answer Questions – Coursework Example Anthropology Observational Analysis: Option Chimpanzees just like all sets of living organisms embrace specific behaviors that help them adapt to their environments. One outstanding behavior that I have observed is their copulatory success, which is normally high and results into a substantial number of progeny. Primate behavioral ecologists have overtime reaffirmed the opinion that too many offspring routinely harm other primates within the group, for they are normally forced to search for better living conditions because of limited resources. The ecologists attribute the copulatory success of chimpanzees to the fact that they can easily access their mates given the large social groups within which they reside. Option 2 In the past, chimpanzees used to walk on four legs, while current research has pointed towards the fact that a considerable percentage of chimpanzees have begun embracing bipedalism (University of California). Researchers have attributed the need to walk on two legs to natural selection and the need to adapt, as quadrupeds burn numerous calories, hence their cells wear out and die faster while bipedalism provides chimpanzees with the platform to use their calories prudently. Point Make-up optionsQuestion 1: Primatology The submissive and dominant behavior portrayed by apes in the movie Rise of the Planet of Apes is undeniably accurate, as corroborated by research carried out by Yerkes Primate Center researchers and published by the National Academy of Sciences. The investigators argued that apes reside in complex and tightly woven societies, and use gestures to convey countless messages including for compromise and obedience. Consequently, they reaffirmed that the only way through which apes would manage to exist such amicably was by being submissive.Question 5: Biological Anthropologyi. The perpetrator in the case cannot be identified using the standard DNA tests essentially because the key suspects are identical twins, who developed from a so litary fertilized egg, hence have nearly undistinguishable genomes. ii. For the prosecutors to tell the identical twins apart, they will have to carry out the ultra-deep, which is a next generation sequencing procedure that takes closer look at the genetic base pairs. This procedure is likely to work, as it depends on mutations that take place unsystematically in the course of development and it is exceptionally improbable that both twins will go through mutations at a single location. Works-CitedUniversity of California- Davis. Why Humans Walk on Two Legs. Science Daily. Science Daily 2007, July 20. Accessible at: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720111226.htm.

Hinduism Essays - Indian Philosophy, Mindbody Interventions

Hinduism Essays - Indian Philosophy, Mindbody Interventions Hinduism Hinduism Hinduism is such a complex religion it is a very difficult topic for individuals to study. The fact that Hindus have no specific God and they have so many different belief systems made it difficult for me to interpret. Hinduism is considered one of the world?s largest religions?s and was created in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is not just a religion; it is more so the way of life. It has its own beliefs and traditions. It is a group formed of diverse traditions and has no specific supernatural being or no single holy text. According to Huxley (2010) ?Hinduism unites the worship of many gods with a belief in a single divine reality? (p. 78). Hindus also believes that on the death of the body the soul passes to or is reborn in another body, which is reincarnation. Sense Hindus have a strong believe in reincarnation they do not determine death as the end of life or a fear, instead they acknowledge death as a resurrection of the soul. They do not focus death on fear. Hinduism is suc h a powerful religion that it has persuaded the world with its informed beliefs. This particular religious group has a freedom of practice and belief. Hinduism has been a huge influence amongst the world for many years. It is a known religion that has created practices such as Yoga, Tantra, Karma, and so on. It is a religious tradition that could never really be categorized with any specific belief system for instance, theism, monotheism, and so forth. Hindus believe that there is only one supreme spirit ?Brahman?. On the other hand, it does not indicate that they worship a particular deity. For spiritual growth or advice Hindu seeks what they call ?Guru?, which is a spiritual teacher. For example, Christians and other religious groups have priest and Hindus have Guru?s. Within Hinduism there are many gods and goddesses that could all represent some form of Brahman. Hindus adore animals, spirits, and trees. Hindus are very devoted to respecting animals, in fact they believe that they were once human or either will be human in another life. Within Hinduism it is said that different individuals requires different spiritual paths and that individual?s personality can help establish the type of yoga to practice. The first yoga is the Jnana Yoga, which means ?Knowledge Yoga?. It is a yoga that is appropriate for priests. Then there is the Karma Yoga, which refers to ?Action Yoga?. This particular yoga helps a person gain a sense of wanting to do things out of passion rather than doing something in returns of a reward. This type of yoga suggests when work is performed unselfishly; the reward is greatness or perfection. Another yoga practice is Bhakti Yoga, which is ?Devotion Yoga?. It is a form of yoga that fosters love and faith. It can engage expressions of devotion such as, food offerings, chants, songs, and so on. There is the Raja Yoga, which stands for ?Royal Yoga?. This practice promotes meditation. It is a yoga that gives a person some mental stability and helps one gain a sense of peace. An additional yoga practice is the Hatha Yoga, which means ?Force Yoga?. Hatha Yoga includes exercises that make a long meditation period easier to follow; which includes balancing, stretching, and breathing techniques. A different form of yoga is Kundalini Yoga, which is a combining of the hatha yoga and the raja yoga. Kundalini Yoga shows that there are seven psychic centers, called Chakras. Huxley (2010) noted that ?the chakras are centers through which energy rises from the base of the spine to the crown of the head? (p. 95). Chakras help increase insight and joy during meditation There are many cultural and societal influences that have made Hinduism vital to the region in which it originated. India was a land that was a full of diverse cultures, races, and religions. Hinduism brought tranquility to the land; they believed in nonviolence. Many intruders of the region influenced the development of Hinduism over the centuries. The intruders that invaded India, their religion of Vedas persuaded the indigenous beliefs of Hinduism. The Hindu culture is vegetarian which is also an influence that encourages

Week 3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Week 3 - Research Paper Example In order to achieve this, the above mentioned functional areas must collaborate and come up with an action plan to implement the collaboration process. The first step of the collaboration process is for the purchase department to provide a list of the purchases they intend to make and how much each is going to cost. This list is taken to the accounting department which authorizes release of the expense money. Once the goods are brought and inventory is done, sales department takes over the day and turn over the money at the end of the day for the accounting department to calculate. The marketing team comes up with strategies to increase customer base and maintain the present customers and this strategies are presented to the accounting department once approved by the management for funding. In order for the above process to run smoothly, they need to have an action plan which should run for several months and if successful, should be implemented. The action plan will involve majorly the accounting, marketing and sales departments. This is because they are important in revenue generation to run the collaboration process. The marketing department will come up with advertisements of discounts, sales coupons and even points that can be redeemed depending on the purchase made. The account department will release funding for this marketing and finally the sales department will handle the discounts, point redemption and sales coupons. The success of this action plan will not only bring in more clients, but will also increase profits for the running of the collaboration process. Lateral collaboration happens among people of the same level at work while vertical collaboration is between employers and employees (Bryson, 2011). In Kudler Fine Foods, lateral collaboration is employed majorly in the kitchen department where the chefs hired share their recipes with the other chefs in the various Kudler stores. This is in order to avoid

Field Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Field Study - Essay Example At the same time, students that have no difficulties with sleep may further illustrate those areas in which behavior patterns might be changed to facilitate adequate sleep. To determine the current state of sleep levels among college students and the contributing causes, I devised a survey intended to explore the issue. Questions on the survey pertaining directly to sleep included ‘how many times do you take a nap each week?’, ‘how long does it usually take you to fall asleep?’, ‘how many times do you wake up during the night?’, ‘why do you wake up during the night?’ and ‘how many hours of sleep do you normally get each night?’ Questions pertaining to causes included ‘do you exercise regularly?’, ‘what do you drink most everyday?’, ‘have you been diagnosed with a sleep disorder?’, ‘what is your number 1 cause of short-term sleeping disorders?’ and ‘how are you treating your sleep disorder?’ The survey was conducted by randomly selecting 15 students between the ages of 18 and 23 (7 boys and 8 girls) from a psychology class wh o volunteered to complete the survey. There were five questions on the survey that related directly to the sleep experienced by the respondent. Five of the respondents said they didn’t nap during the week and none of them said they took four or more naps per week. However, the remaining ten respondents indicated they did nap at least once during the week (4 took one nap per week, 4 took two naps per week and the remaining 2 took three naps per week). Only two of the respondents indicated they fell asleep easily, within the first five minutes of lying down. Five of the respondents said they fell asleep 5-15 minutes after lying down while another three said it took them at least half an hour to go to sleep. The remaining five respondents said it took them more than 30 minutes to get to sleep. Most of the

To what extent does successful workplace learning depend on the social Essay

To what extent does successful workplace learning depend on the social context of the workplace environment - Essay Example This allows the organization to reach the potential growth and success that the organization dreams for. But to transform just a mere dream into reality, the organization must implement learning processes that would change the direction of the organization. This change in direction could change the future of the organization and its employees. As workplace learning is creating sustainable new knowledge, it is considered as an investment by the organization for their most important assets which is the workforce. The workforce could single handedly change the future of the organization, all they need is a training and development program but a program within the boundaries of organizational culture. An organization is a mixture of diverse culture and employees. The only element that combines these diverse employees from different race, religion and origin is the organizational culture. With the passage of time, organizations have become more cultural diverse and they have hired employe es belonging from different cultures and geographic locations. Although, this has been helpful for the organization as it has allowed organization to have diverse thinking and more creativity and better learning from different cultures.... Along with that, the research has highlighted some of the important dimensions that would include the definition of workplace learning, social context of workplace environment and lastly the impact of social context on successful workplace learning. A brief conclusion is also included to summarize and conclude all the major findings of this study. Successful workplace learning Workplace learning is a process that addresses the needs and interests of the employees. This learning process enables the employee to respond to the changing environment and to contribute in increasing the efficiency and productivity of the employee (Lai, and Lo, 2008). This learning process ultimately helps in meeting the employee’s personal and career development needs within the organization (Chen, Bian, and Hom, 2005). Learning at work allows the organization to develop different capabilities and skills and thus it is better able to achieve competitive advantage (Hamlin, and Stewart, 2011). Learning at work happens through the daily working practices of the workers and the biggest influence in this learning process is the work itself. A process that addresses the needs and interests of the employee helps in reducing the absenteeism rate, turnover rate, job dissatisfaction and all those factors that reduce the optimum performance to achieve the organizational goals. Successful workplace learning provides an opportunity for the employees of the organization to develop or improve their skills that would enable them to obtain the best possible outcomes for the business (Clarke, 2005). Employees are worthy investments for organizations as these employees are relied heavily upon for the success and betterment of the organization. Employees are considered to be the most valuable asset within

Globalization College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization College - Essay Example Still, globalization transforms natural environment and cultural spheres of all countries brining new threats and financial capitals. There are different views and understandings of the problem of global warming, its significance and threat for the population (Friedman, 2000). The progress of globalization increases environmental degradation and extension of wild life. Improved transportation facilities and immigration led to occupation of new territories and lands. The world has yet to face a more important environmental policy decision than that to be made about controlling greenhouse-gas emissions. Striking a balance between the implied threat and those immense costs is an imposing challenge. The relationship between pollution and global warming is a complex one (Bengtsson and Saito 2003). The progress of globalization leads to technology exchange and increased production. The result is increased pollution in all geographical areas of the world. Assessments of the impacts of global climate change are frequently based on estimates of biophysical changes, particularly potential changes in agricultural yields and water resources. The direct approach traces the impact of a specific change in a physical input variable (such as temperature) on yields or biomass, and then, through a series of steps, to impacts on economy and society. This type of assessment relies on (and is often limited to) physical models of the climate, water balance, and vegetation growth. The main problem is that this policy would deepen economic differences between the countries and worsens the situation in developing countries. Concerns over the ramifications of the flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol remain, less developed countries have become less skeptical and more receptive as the st ructure of the mechanisms evolves and as understanding of the mechanisms and their potential benefits to less developed countries becomes clearer. The principal concern appears to revolve around the possible imposition of emissions targets or other additional obligations on less developed countries. Meanwhile, less developed countries called for unremitting efforts to combat climate change by adhering to the established principles and goals, and implied that less developed countries would welcome an agreement on the implementation of the Kyoto mechanisms. The central piece of the Kyoto Protocol is, of course, its legally binding emission commitments for Annex I Parties which, assuming compliance, will together lead to a reduction in emissions from 1990 levels for that group of parties of around 5.2 per cent (Wade et al 2006). The worldwide publicity that proposed carbon taxes are drawing merits some special attention. From at least one standpoint, a tax strategy in the climate context is easier to defend than taxes in the more familiar contexts of domestic water or air basin pollution. As we saw, in those situations taxes were complicated by the fact that damage from the same chemical agent can vary considerably, depending on the point of release-whether upwind or upstream of a large population center, for example.

How are women represented in Things Fall Apart Research Paper

How are women represented in Things Fall Apart - Research Paper Example African women are merely sex toys in the hands of African men. Each African male has the authority to select as much as wives he needs. On the other hand such liberties are not given to the female community. â€Å"Chinua Achebe shows women as having little to no power in society in his book, Things Fall Apart. Women are not only without protection, but also denied social status. They cannot meaningfully participate in social affairs† (Kramer). This paper analyses the women representations in Things Fall Apart. â€Å"In Igbo culture, women are considered weaker than the men and thus it’s an insult to men to be called an agbala (Agbala represents a person with no titles). Okonkwo is acutely aware of what it means to be a man in the Igbo tribe and is ashamed that someone might call him or his male relations agbala† (Things Fall Apart Gender Quotes). Okonkwo, the main male character in Things Fall Apart treated his wife as a servant. Because of his short temper and aggressive nature, his wife led a miserable life under fear. Okonkwo never allowed his wife to ask questions to him about any matters, including personal, social or family. Weak men in Ibo culture were insulted by others by calling them as women. For example, Okonkwo considered his father as a woman because of his laziness and carelessness. In a meeting which included so many other dignitaries, Okonkwo asked his father to leave the meeting saying; "This meeting is for men" (Achebe, p.28). The above fact clearly underl ines how severely Ibo women were humiliated by their male counterparts. â€Å"In fact, women count for so little in Igbo society that they are often not even addressed by their given names, but referred to by their relationship with men† (Things Fall Apart Gender Quotes). Women in Ibo society were treated as the second class citizens. Unlike other women in other parts of the world, Ibo women were not respected much in

Globalization College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization College - Essay Example Still, globalization transforms natural environment and cultural spheres of all countries brining new threats and financial capitals. There are different views and understandings of the problem of global warming, its significance and threat for the population (Friedman, 2000). The progress of globalization increases environmental degradation and extension of wild life. Improved transportation facilities and immigration led to occupation of new territories and lands. The world has yet to face a more important environmental policy decision than that to be made about controlling greenhouse-gas emissions. Striking a balance between the implied threat and those immense costs is an imposing challenge. The relationship between pollution and global warming is a complex one (Bengtsson and Saito 2003). The progress of globalization leads to technology exchange and increased production. The result is increased pollution in all geographical areas of the world. Assessments of the impacts of global climate change are frequently based on estimates of biophysical changes, particularly potential changes in agricultural yields and water resources. The direct approach traces the impact of a specific change in a physical input variable (such as temperature) on yields or biomass, and then, through a series of steps, to impacts on economy and society. This type of assessment relies on (and is often limited to) physical models of the climate, water balance, and vegetation growth. The main problem is that this policy would deepen economic differences between the countries and worsens the situation in developing countries. Concerns over the ramifications of the flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol remain, less developed countries have become less skeptical and more receptive as the st ructure of the mechanisms evolves and as understanding of the mechanisms and their potential benefits to less developed countries becomes clearer. The principal concern appears to revolve around the possible imposition of emissions targets or other additional obligations on less developed countries. Meanwhile, less developed countries called for unremitting efforts to combat climate change by adhering to the established principles and goals, and implied that less developed countries would welcome an agreement on the implementation of the Kyoto mechanisms. The central piece of the Kyoto Protocol is, of course, its legally binding emission commitments for Annex I Parties which, assuming compliance, will together lead to a reduction in emissions from 1990 levels for that group of parties of around 5.2 per cent (Wade et al 2006). The worldwide publicity that proposed carbon taxes are drawing merits some special attention. From at least one standpoint, a tax strategy in the climate context is easier to defend than taxes in the more familiar contexts of domestic water or air basin pollution. As we saw, in those situations taxes were complicated by the fact that damage from the same chemical agent can vary considerably, depending on the point of release-whether upwind or upstream of a large population center, for example.

Diabetes level 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Diabetes level 6 - Essay Example When a person has the type 2 diabetes, the best therapy that is usually offered is the provision of oral therapy that consist of injection of insulin in order to make the blood attain the targeted glycemic levels. In addition, a person suffering from diabetes usually suffers from macrovascular and microvascular diseases. The most prominent microvascular disease amongst this group is the diabetic neuropathy that in most cases leads to the amputation of the lower limbs. It is also worth noting that a patient suffering from type 2 diabetes usually increases his chances of morbidity and therefore it is recommended that the person stops the smoking habit. This paper has four sections that includes a review of how to diagnose and manage a patient suffering from type 2 diabetes, the microvascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients, pharmacological management of such a patient and the effect of smoking and how to stop it. Thereafter a conclusion is made on the whole paper. Type 2 diabetes occurs when there is insufficient production of hormone insulin leading to high levels of glucose in the body. Therefore, the people with type 2 diabetes often require regular monitoring and reviewing of their treatment through changes in lifestyles, self-care measures and the use of the diabetes medicines. In the diabetes review, the first line of thought would be to find out the efficacy of the metformin as the first-line pharmacotherapy in the patient with the type 2 diabetes. Metformin is the first line oral antihyperglycemic drug that should always be used in patients with type 2 diabetes when it is difficult to attain glycemic control through changes in the lifestyle of the patient (McIntosh et al. 2011, p. 36). Therefore, the first question that the nurse must find out from the type 2 diabetes patient is the type of lifestyle that she lives and how often she smokes and evaluates whether this

Goods That Must Be Provided by the Government Essay Example for Free

Goods That Must Be Provided by the Government Essay Public goods are good that have two special characteristics-non excludable and non-rivalable. Non-rivalable means that consume the goods of one person do not influence the consumption of others, of example traffic light, when a person use the traffic light, the quanlity of the light do not decrease, other can also use the goods under the same quanlity. Non-excludable means that every one can use the goods, nobody is exclude from using the goods, for example, national defences, no one is unprotectable when they are in the country. Merit goods are goods that are under provided because of lack of information. Individual do not appreciate the benefit that will occur, these goods should be provided in a greater quantity. For example, museums, education there are lots of benefit to consume them. People can gets more knoeledge there and this is not only benefit for themselves but also people around and the society, the suicides may decrease and people with eider knowledge entered in works will make the process efficiency. So it is clearly that public good are goods that is under provided but this does not means that it only provided by government. They can provided by the market mechanism but to make more available the government provides them, subsidizes them or leigislates to make consumption compulsory, and for public goods they suffer from the free rider problem, if asked whether they would pay for them, households would lie and say because once provided, they could benefit anyway. No one is willing to pay for the goods, they will not be provided in the free market. So government must provided them. Public goods must be provided by the government but merit goods not must be provided by the government. It can provided by free market mechanism.

The National Curriculum In Primary Schools

The National Curriculum In Primary Schools The aim of this assignment is to discuss the trends policy that took place in primary education from 1988 and 1997. The assignment will start with examining the rationale behind the changes introduced in those years. Then it will look at the changes themselves. The last section will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of those changes. It should be mentioned from the outset that I will not be mentioning reforms related to secondary and higher education, even though they came at the same time as the Primary schools. The term educational provision refers to the use of the equipment or tools with the intention of providing knowledge and skills, and includes things such as such as, classroom, textbook, chairs, pens/pencils and many more for students. Education is about the process of learning where knowledge, skills and information is transmitted. Yero (2002) believes that education is a procedure of improving the students or pupils knowledge, skills and character. So education can help to reduce inequality in society. In the United Kingdom, this concept of eliminating inequality was at the base of changes in education policy. Prior to 1988, education in the United Kingdom was completely different. The decision of the curriculum contents was in the hands of schools, with religious education being the only subject which was compulsory. This means that pupils had different attainment levels due to following different programmes. Education was ruled by the 1944 Education Act which handed the administration of schools and the formulation of school policies to local authorities; the only exception being Section 1 where control and direction of education were given to the Secretary of State. In fact, in the 1944 Education Act, the role of the Department of Education and Science was simply promotional and not one of giving direction, which means they could not supervise local authorities policies. This Act also fixed the age of leaving school at 15 and instituted free secondary education for all pupils. However it was noticed that the standard attained in basic skills by the UK population was low and poor compared to other European countries, and this could not satisfy the country national economic needs (Department of Education, 2011). To solve the problem raised by the falling standard, the Conservative Government came with the 1988 Education Act, sometimes referred to as the Kennet Baker reform which instituted a standardisation of all school programmes, and brought four main changes with a view to bringing back the level (Young, 2008). The first change was the introduction of the National Curriculum, which defines four Key Stages, moving from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4. In primary schools, two Key Stages, 1 and 2 were identified: Key Stage 1 for Year 1 and 2 up to age 7; Key Stage 2 for Years 3 to 6, meaning age 7 to age 11. Later on, a Foundation Stage which concerns children aged 3 up to reception year was introduced. The National Curriculum came with a new terminology related to two types of school subjects, core subjects and Foundation subjects. In Primary schools, that is Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, the curriculum consists of the following subjects: English, Maths, science, information and communication technology (ICT), history, geography, art and design, music, design and technology (DT) and Physical Education. This was supplemented by the literacy and numeracy reforms in the 1990s taught everyday to improve children standard in those skills. Another change in the curriculum was the introduction foreign languages for children aged 7. This curriculum was later reconsidered for improvement. One advantage of National Curriculum is that all children in England and Wales have the same education programmes, and this makes comparison of levels easier and the transfer of children from one school to another is made easy. Actually the national Curriculum contains all the topics to be taught, in terms of knowledge, skills and expectations at the end of each key stage; it also determines how assessment has to proceed. The second change had to do with assessment of pupils. Here national standard tests such as SATs at age 11 (Standard Assessment tasks, and later Standard Attainment Tasks) were put in place, not only to assess whether they are up to the national standard expected, but also to put strategies in place to ensure improvement in those children learning. This led to the National Curriculum Council (NCC) as an advisory service to the secretary of State in matters related to the curriculum, and the School Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC) in charge of assessments. The third change affected the administration of schools. As mentioned above, prior to 1988, Education administration was handled by local authorities. In London, for example it was in the hands of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), which was created in 1965, while outer London schools were directed by county councils and borough councils. The Education Reform Act of 1988 gave power to schools to opt out of local authority control and be funded by central government, so that schools could manage their own finances. The Local management of Schools meant that the role of head teachers included budget management as well (Powell and Edwards, 2003). This was the beginning of Grant maintained schools, which were later replaced by foundation schools. This led to the abolition of the Local Education Authority. The forth change concerned the creation of a league table where people could go and compare the performance of different schools. It was hoped that such a table would push schools to compete, and therefore provide better education to children. In 1993, another education act came into place. It aimed at increasing the number of Grant Maintained Schools; it replaced the NCC and SEAC with School Curriculum and Assessment Authority so that the curriculum content could be controlled by the government; more power was given to headteacher in their exclusion decisions of unruly pupils; changes were introduced for pupils with special educational needs; and the establishment of referral units. An inspection body called Ofsted came into existence to inspect schools in LEAS. Finally the SCAA and NCVQ formed the QCA. In 1997, the Labour Government introduced another reform. The Government introduced specialist schools such as Business, Sport schools so as to diversify education and the types of schools. So doing parents could have a variety of choices to make for their children. Failing schools were reopened under academies administered by churches or businesses. In deprived areas, the Government created Education Action zone in order to help improve education standard in those areas. Parents were given power and a voice to decide on the choice of schools for their children; they were given power to be represented in the school governing body. Further, a system of exam league table was introduced where parents could easily spot schools that are doing well, and those falling behind. Be it as it may, parents had the duty to ensure that their children attend schools. School funding was linked to the number of pupils a school had in its roll. The implication was that schools had to compete to improve their performance so as to attract parents and their children, and thus good funding as well. This is termed the market reform introduced by Conservative governments in the 1980s and 1990s, where schools were seen as a service and the parents and children as the clients. As a matter fact, education should provide valued forms of knowledge and equip children for life (James and Pollard, 2012) In the 1997 White Paper, Excellence in Schools, the rights of parents to information were extended including sending them the child progress annual report, their part in the inspection process, annual meeting, allowing them to have access to the childs school record. Schools were further obliged to publish an annual report about their management and a prospectus. Teachers were also given power to restrain pupils By so, doing the government, say the Department of Education gained new power, because they are in charge of the school curriculum, not the local authorities any more, the types of tests to administer to pupils, the types of qualifications to be awarded, the funding to give to schools, the nomination of members of the National Curriculum Council to plan the curriculum. The approval of schools that want to opt out, the change of school status is given by the State Secretary, even though the involvement of parents should be sought for. He has the administration of grants. The role of head teachers also changed as they became budget managers as well. The question one might ask at this point is to know whether those reforms were successful. Two views can be expressed here. On the one hand, the introduction of the national Curriculum should be appreciated, because it helps to have children expected to have the same knowledge and skills. The tests would help schools to work hard to improve their results, and research has revealed that more people are now going to university. The league table gives a better view to parents as to which school is doing better, so make an informed choice of schools for their children. On the other hand, it would appear that testing is not good enough to assess the performance of schools, and learning should not be limited to passing tests. With the league table, teaching has turned into preparing pupils to pass exams, and not a preparation for life. The league table has also been criticised as it ignores some areas such as Art and sport. Further, the league tables make some schools more popular than oth ers, and this raises difficulties for some parents to get a school of their choice for their children. Ball (2006) examined the concepts of markets in the context of education only to find that more needs to be discussed, and that such concepts as competition, supply and demand, producer and consumer behaviour, privatisation and commodification, values and ethics and distributional outcomes should be addresses as there is a paucity of research in this field. In Primary schools, teachers complained of the increased workload imposed by the National Curriculum, especially at the end of Key Stage 2 with the preparation of SATs, and this lead to Dearing Report which brought the load down by 20% (Alexander, 2012). The system of inspection also came into fire by various teachers unions who find the Ofsted as a problem, not a solution. Another problem concerned the introduction of foreign language teaching at age 7. This raised problems in a country such as the United kingdom where secondary schools teach various languages, French, German, Spanish. So a child could learn one language in primary school and have a different language in secondary schools. This means there will be no continuity as noted by the Guardian (2012). The structure of Key Stage 2 has also been criticized as it takes four years which the Framework for the National Curriculum found too long (DE, 2011). To conclude, it can be said that there have been one main Education reform Act, the 1988, and many education acts from 1988 to 1997. The changes in educational policies in those reforms can be regrouped in three categories: changes to do with centralisation, as education moved from local authorities to the government with the introduction of the National Curriculum; assessment by outcomes with the use of national assessment and the establishment of league-tables to compare the performance of different schools, and the quasi-market reform where schools are the manufacturers and children and their parents as consumers who have choices to make between different schools. In primary schools, the reforms could be noticed with the introduction of Key Stages 1 and 2, the national Curriculum with Maths, English and science as core subjects, while others were considered as foundations and religious study as statutory, the introduction of SATs and the literacy and numeracy strategies.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay -- Literary Analysis, Shakespeare, Cla

Your eyelids are heavy and your mind is fogging, finally they close altogether with the weight of the eyelids and in a few minutes you have fallen into slumber. You wake up with a vivid image in your mind, but you have no inkling as to what it means. It was just a dream. Whether people can recall it or not, everyone dreams. A dream, some may argue is irrelevant; images assorted together creating nonsense. Others depict a dream as a message our mind is telling us about. Throughout the day, the mind subconsciously picks up pieces of our daily life, whether they are thoughts, emotions, ideas, or interactions. When we sleep, our brain organizes and analysis these thoughts and puts them together like a puzzle creating images we might have missed during our waking hours. The brain naturally resists chaos and is attuned to order and organization and therefore sees past the chaos and malfunctions, it begins to matrix things, such as images in the clouds. It is through dreaming that these ima ges sort out all the chaos in the ordinary daily life and reveals a bizarre and unrealistic world, which is a reflection of the unstable reality that is actually lived in. Reality is considered unstable because it is constantly changing, moving and transforming into something else whether people are aging, dying or being born. It is a constantly changing factor that people refuse to accept and it is in our dreams that it is revealed. It is in this dream world where Shakespeare and Carroll use fantastical characters, such as fairies and the White Rabbit to exemplify the daily interactions one must make to seek the truth. It is in the court and woods, where everything is turned upside down and where what is right is wrong and what one knows, are no longe... ...nuously move to get somewhere and when they find they are looking for, they still have to keep going. The characters met through the journey represent the logical and illogical strangers that people face every day and some may help while others might pull them down. These interactions are significant because every interaction and actions affect a person even if it isn’t all that clear. Time is the biggest factor in how reality is unstable. No matter what a person does, time is constantly there and every second is a second past. The main reason it is not stable is because it is always changing and moving and whether one likes it or not, no one can change time. In a dream, time is not a factor and characters met can have no significance and in a dream, just for those few hours, the world can be a perfect and stable place, at least just until it’s time to wake up.

Biology and Chemical Warfare Essay -- science

Biology and Chemical Warfare Introduction Chemical and Biological Warfare, use of harmful or deadly chemical or biological agents as weapons of war. These agents can kill many people and are considered weapons of mass destruction. Chemical weapons are made up of poisonous chemical compounds, whereas biological weapons are living microorganisms. Toxin weapons contain poisonous chemical products of living organisms and are sometimes classified separately. Chemical and biological weapons can cause injury in several ways. Most cause injury or death when inhaled, and some cause injury through contact with skin or through ingestion of contaminated food. A chemical or biological attack usually involves dispersing agents into the air. This can be done in various ways, such as firing artillery shells that burst in mid-air, or using airplanes to spray the agents over an area. If released outdoors, these types of weapons can be affected by weather conditions. Rain would reduce the effectiveness of the agents, and wind might spread them in unexpected directions. Because chemical and biological agents are seen as random, dangerous, and particularly cruel weapons, they have rarely been used. In the 20th century, chemicals were used extensively as battlefield weapons only in World War I (1914-1918) and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). The release of the nerve agent sarin in a Tokyo subway in 1995 was a rare terrorist chemical attack. The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention are the most recent international agreements prohibiting these types of weapons, and both have been signed by many countries. Nevertheless, analysts contend that following the Iran-Iraq War, more countries began to secretly develop chemical and biological weapons, and the threat of their use has become greater. Iraq in particular has been accused of stockpiling such weapons, and Iraqi resistance to United Nations weapons inspections in the late 1990s raised international awareness of the need for stronger efforts to control biological and chemical weapons. II. Chemical WarfarePrint section Chemical warfare involves the use of chemical compounds to kill or seriously injure an enemy. Several countries began eliminating their chemical weapons stockpiles in the 1990s, but the threat of their use still exists. A. Chemical AgentsPrint section... ...s, an explosive release is not necessary. Members of Aum Shinrikyo attacked the Tokyo subway by packing sarin in plastic containers. To release the nerve agent, they pierced the containers with sharp umbrella tips. The leaking liquid and vapor affected thousands of passengers. Microorganisms are generally more fragile than chemicals, and some might not survive an explosion. But several, like anthrax spores, do remain potent after an explosive release. In any case, United States Army tests have shown that biological agents can be broadly dispersed in a variety of non-explosive ways. In the 1950s and 1960s the Army released bacteria and chemical particles in hundreds of tests in populated areas throughout the country. Agents were sprayed at San Francisco from a boat offshore, dispensed from slow-moving cars in Minneapolis and St. Louis, and released from light bulbs dropped in the New York subway. The bacteria and chemicals in the tests were not as dangerous as actual warfare agents, although they posed some risks to the exposed populations. They demonstrated that an enemy or terrorist could expose millions of people to disease-causing organisms by a variety of simple techniques.

The Security Investigation

Part I. The availability of the personal computer or PC at every home and every office desktop, and the dawn of the Internet brought to focus not only the benefits derived from these technologies but abuse and to a greater extent, crimes as well. Suddenly, cybercrime is at an all time high and ways and means of detecting and making these criminal hackers pay became a forefront competence in information technology and law enforcement. One of the best deterrents to computer crime is to catch those who commit the dastardly acts (Solomon & Prosise, 2001)! Of all the types of criminal hackers, the worse is the â€Å"insider† – a current employee or a former â€Å"disgruntled employee† – since they are or were in a â€Å"trust relationship† with their employer, and they demeaned that trust by attacking the information systems of the company. When this type of crime, or cybercrime, occurs, the recourse is to call in computer forensics and incident response professionals to remedy the situation. Solomon et al. (2005) describes computer forensics as, â€Å"Computer investigation and analysis techniques that involve the identification, preservation, extraction, documentation, and interpretation of computer data to determine potential legal evidence.† Once there is a probable determination that a cybercrime was committed, the computer forensics and incident response experts follow a well-choreograph methodology to successfully document evidence and prosecute a cybercrime. Robbins (2002) lists down the basic but critical procedures to computer forensics: 1.Protect the subject computer system during the forensic examination from any possible alteration, damage, data corruption, or virus introduction; 2.Discover all files on the subject system including existing normal files, deleted yet remaining files, hidden files, password-protected files, and encrypted files; 3.Recover as much as possible all of discovered deleted files; 4.Reveal to the extent possible the contents of hidden files as well as temporary or swap files used by both the application programs and the operating system; 5.Access, if possible and if legally appropriate, the contents of protected or encrypted files; 6.Analyze all possibly relevant data found in special and typically inaccessible areas of a disk including but not limited to the ‘unallocated' space on a disk, as well as ‘slack' space in a file; 7.Print an overall analysis of the subject computer system, including listing of all possibly relevant files and discovered file data, then provide an opinion of the system layout, the file structures discovered, any discovered data and authorship information, any attempts to hide, delete, protect, encrypt information, and anything else that has been discovered and appears to be relevant to the overall computer system examination; and 8.Provide expert consultation and/or testimony, as required. While the experts are doing the investigation, it is important to liaise and coordinate, depending upon the legal parameters of the crime, with local or federal cybercrime units. In some states in the U.S., it is a federal crime not to report computer crimes and soon, reporting of cybercrimes will be federally mandated. But the key point in cybercrime investigation is ensuring that the evidence gathered will stand up to legal scrutiny. Part II. A common story heard about cybercrimes is the use of â€Å"social engineering techniques.† Social engineering basically is playing the â€Å"con man† to elicit information from gullible or unknowing victims. A Help Desk employee for example can call a secretary and ask for her password since he needs it to diagnose her PC remotely. Since there is a â€Å"trust relationship† already, the secretary gives her PC password. The Help Desk employee then accessed the secretary's PC and downloaded confidential memos and reports. He then sells these documents to competitors and the competitors ended up gaining advantage on the Help Desk employee's company because they already have insider information. A case like this could have been prevented if the company, or even any government agency, had good security policies in place. Part of the security policies would have been user education training and if the user's had been properly trained, they would have known that nobody needs to know their passwords but themselves. In securing the information systems, the baseline or starting point is having good security policies in place and these policies should and must be based on globally accepted standards and industry best practices. The ISO 17799 or Code of Practice for Information Security Management (ISO/IEC, 2005) is always one of the best standards to adapt whether small, medium or large enterprises – even government agencies for that matter! Shaurette (2002) stated that, â€Å"Information security is not just about technological controls. Security cannot be achieved solely through the application of software or hardware. Any attempt to implement technology controls without considering the cultural and social attitudes of the corporation is a formula for disaster.† Once this has been taken into mind, mitigation of risks to the information systems will be achieved and prevention of cybercrimes, whether from malicious insiders or external criminal hackers, will be tempered.

Explore the implications of ‘homelessness’ with regards to Lennie Essay

‘Home’ in Of Mice and Men represents an ideal, one that all characters in this novella, including Lennie, appear to lack. Thus they are all ‘homeless’ in one sense or another. The subject of home and homelessness is one that is closely related to all the major themes of Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck effectively portrays his characters by their different aspirations towards ‘home’. In doing so he creates a hierarchy of this ideal. Thus the most humble and submissive dream of home pursued by Lennie and his companion George is shown to be the most compelling and greatest of all. Yet, will Lennie grasp the light flaming on the top of the Gabilan mountains-the light of heaven? Or are the providential forces of fate and destiny to render ‘Paradise Lost’ ? Of Mice and Men is about the plight of two American labourers, George and Lennie. George is a ‘smart little guy’ whereas Lennie is the exact opposite. The plot and structure of the story is very economical and the language used is in no way elaborate. Assisted by the simple time frame we are given the impression that the story is an uncomplicated one. Yet, within this seemingly unembellished novel are to be found a variety of themes, skilfully brought to light by the way in which the author handles his subject; George and Lennie. The two main themes of Of Mice and Men are that of dreams- the aspiration towards an ideal home, and that of loneliness. Lennie is a man of immense strength and size. However, in effect his mind is like that of a child’s. His home is neither with nature nor with man. Throughout the story, Steinbeck is constantly describing Lennie in animal terms. He says, regarding Lennie, â€Å"(h)e walked, heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.† In many cases Lennie is likened to a dog. This image is furthered by Candy’s dog who plays a choral role as Lennie’s double. The description of Lennie as the ‘poor bastard’ also suggests that Lennie is not of the family of man. Lennie’s mind has never fully learnt how to control his body. He is thus not at home in the ranch where he and George are working as he is unable to cope with the complexities of ‘modern’ living. Also, living in the ranch for too long would inevitably lead to trouble, such as that which occurred in Weed. Therefore, even if one were to consider the ranch as being Lennie’s home, it can not be a permanent one. Through the subject of protest, Of Mice and Men provides us with a new dimension to homelessness. Negroes, cripples and misfits are all shunned by society. This is illustrated by the characters of Crooks, Candy and Lennie respectively. Lennie’s ill treatment is apparent at many times throughout the story. One such case being that when Curley decides to pick a fight with him. Even George, Lennie’s closest companion â€Å"used to play jokes on ‘im ’cause he was.. dumb.† Rejected by society Lennie is ‘homeless.’ However, one must add that although Lennie is treated badly at times, there are others where he is treated with kindness and sympathy. Yet, is sympathy enough to make him feel at ‘home’? In the first paragraph of the story we are introduced to the idea of nature as ‘home’. Yet, although Lennie is constantly portrayed as an animal, as with man, Lennie and nature are incompatible; one inevitably leading to the destruction of the other. Lennie, like a child, is fascinated with things that he can caress such as mice and pups. His love for them is undeniable, yet they all end up dead. One may say that he ‘loves them to death.’ Both Lennie and George know that Lennie is incapable of surviving in nature, thus with a sort of animal wit, Lennie plays on George’s feelings of guilt: â€Å"If you don’t want me†¦.I’ll go off in the hills†¦and live all by myself.† The idea of Lennie living alone in nature is a laughable one. This incompatibility is ominous- it is as if Steinbeck is saying that Lennie will either destroy nature or nature will destroy Lennie. Lennie’s home, the only one that may agree with his survival is one where ‘like a terrier who†¦..bring(s) a ball to it’s master’ he is always tethered to George, and constantly under his watchful eye. This is neither possible at the ranch nor where Lennie is alone in nature, he is therefore ‘homeless’ is in this sense. Yet it would be wrong to suggest that Lennie attempts to find home for the above reasons, for as George puts it, â€Å"(h)e was too dumb.† His motivation is that of fear; fear of loneliness, a concept that even Lennie is able to understand. His feeling of insecurity towards the one most important thing in his life-his relationship with Lennie is evident at certain times throughout the story. One such case being when cynical Crooks teases Lennie about what will happen if George does not return from town: † ‘He’ll come back to-night-‘ But the doubt was too much for him. ‘Don’t you think he will?’ † Lennie’s doubt makes Crooks’ double negative to be of great significance. Crooks’ says, â€Å"S’pose you didn’t have nobody.† Through this Steinbeck appears to be saying that George’s companionship is not one of substance. Their separation is indeed inevitable. For this reason Lennie de sires a home. Lennie’s dream of home is one in which he is in harmony with both man and nature. It is a humble dream, which is summed up by George, â€Å"Well its ten acres†¦got a kitchen, orchard, cherries†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Having a particular Western resonance in that it is related to the ‘great American dream’ in the time of the frontiers, the farm offers Lennie a sanctuary from his own innocence. He can be at one with nature that he so loves whilst being looked after by George. Yet cynical Crooks believes that this dream is impracticable: â€Å"Hundreds of them†¦an every damn one of ’em’s got a ..piece of land in his head†¦ Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land.† Lennie’s tragic death is the final confirmation of this. Lennie’s life can be seen to be a trap. The only means of escaping the implications of homelessness and thus freeing himself is to dream. Crooks’ double negative (‘nobody never gets to heaven’) leads us to question whether Lennie actually ascertains his ideal home – paradise. Across the Salinas river lies the ‘golden foothill slopes’ that ‘curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains.’ The light flaming on the top of the Gabilan mountains is an image that recurs throughout the novella. At the end of the book Lennie stands facing the great mountains, all that lies between him and paradise is the Salinas river-the river of death. In death, Lennie has overcome this barrier. His ascending spirit is scaling the ‘golden foothill’-the path to heaven whilst his body shall soon receive the land for which it so yearned. Whether or not Steinbeck intended so literary an interpretation is unknown. However, the image gives us valuable insight to Steinbeck’s views on the subject of home. It is as though Steinbeck is saying that the actual apprehension of the dream is of little importance, what is of importance is the feelings and emotions that are generated by it.

Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Existentialism - Essay Example For that matter, he explored the said journey of every man focusing on the lives of his acquaintance. According to Frankl, people exist sue to different factors regardless of the nature of the said factors. Some people live based on negative or positive reasons yet they still exist and survive. The said view then is referred to as the â€Å"will to meaning.† His followed the inspirations of Freud who proposed the view â€Å"will to pleasure† and Adler’s â€Å"will to power† in his objective to give meaning to human existence (Pytell 285-306; Frankl and Allport 101). The most notable applications of the view of Frankl had been about the experiences in concentrations camps which occurred during the time of Holocaust. During the period of high stress wherein the main objective that consumes a person’s life is survival, thus, even simple things and events can give a person’s life an important meaning. Based on his observations, such situations can be considered as the time wherein the simplest principles of existentialism applies, an event wherein luxuries are deprived and even basic needs are in shortage. He then summarized that even in worst situations, existence will still have meaning. For that matter the will to meaning is an important reason for existence (Frankl and Allport 15-20). Soren Kierkegaard is a Danish proponent of Existentialism and is s theologian. He is against the formalities undertaken by the Danish church. For that matter, he often discussed issues that are related to Christianity, ethics, and the emotions of the people in different situations and decision-making events in life. Basically, Kierkegaard can be considered as a relatively opinionated person who explored challenging issues of his time such as existentialism, philosophy, psychology, literature and a number other fields. For that matter, his critics can be classified in both the fields of science, literature and even

Strategic Supply Chain and Logistics Management Essay

Strategic Supply Chain and Logistics Management - Essay Example This is a flexible method because Dell sells through retail outlets. Dell also kept track of customer’s inventory, allowing them to order PCs directly rather than going through the hassles of purchasing. (Kraemer, Dedrick, and Yamashiro 2000) The advantage in Dell’s strategy is that it minimizes inventory. Dell’s method is direct selling, and selling through the Internet. At Dell Computer, speed and balance are the secret weapons to creating value. (CNET Networks Inc. 2007) Hewlett-Packard (HP) does not rely on outsourcing of supplies. Rather than relying on a network of partners, the company builds its PCs in-house. HP computers are of highest quality. Management believes that every part and component should be designed and produced in house. Since the beginning, HP had been making its own screws. HP people focused on developing new technology internally, resisting collaboration with outside partners to leverage existing technology. (Mendelson and Siegler 1999, 134) Executive management is right on the top, which means this is the top echelon of the company or business. Important decisions and company strategies have to come from this part of the organization because they affect the operation, to include the future and success of the organization. Supply management is equally important as in other strategic decisions processes in the organization. Supply management sustains the lie of organization. Without an effective supply chain, business cannot thrive or be successful in the long run. Operation is the process by which goods and services are created. We find productive processes in all kinds of organized activities such as factories, offices, supermarkets, and hospitals. Production and operations management deals with decision making related to productive processes to ensure that the resulting goods or services are

How can cognitive behaviour therapy be modified to fit the needs of Essay

How can cognitive behaviour therapy be modified to fit the needs of young children - Essay Example The client works together with the therapist in developing skills relevant for recognizing ill full thoughts, testing adjusting beliefs, changing behavior, and how one relates with other people. Normally, many clients in need of cognitive therapy suffer from assumptions that direct them to certain reactions. Among the assumptions are the thoughts of unworthiness, under-estimation of achievements, over-generalization of issues, maximization of negative issues and minimization of positives. For example, person who would have lost their job due to an avoidable mistake might believe they are useless. Such persons may focus on the mistake that happened and use the mistake to justify their feeling of themselves. The believe leads the individuals to damaging emotions like frustration and hopelessness (Scaruffi, n.d., p1). Such persons see themselves as losers and thus start keeping to themselves in effort to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. A prolonged feeling of unworthiness adopts into a response that confirms the original feeling of being useless every time the person faces similar experiences. Cognitive therapy works at testing the assumptions the client had and co nsidering new information capable of shifting the assumptions to a direction that allows different behavioral or emotional reactions. The clients with the help of the therapist train how to use flexible ways of thinking and response to issues. The therapy challenges the clients to interrogate their thoughts on the truthfulness and the advantages of such thoughts to their goals. If a thought is found unhealthy, the therapy recommends it replacement with more helpful thoughts capable of facilitating more desirable responses and can aid achievements of the client’s goals. Cognitive therapy therefore can be termed as a skill-building approach that allows the therapist to teach the client how to practice the skills learned individually until they become their own

Analysis of Food and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Food and Culture - Essay Example The paper tells important facts about the food. The culture of food in America has influenced ethnic and religious groups in the region. Food and culture in America are interesting because the native Americans have interacted with foreign cultures. There are rules on which foods are edible in the American culture. In the American culture, wild animals are not considered as edible. They believe that the animal is required to live free in the wild. On the contrary, in the Chinese culture snakes are considered edible. In the bible, snakes are among the few animals that were not edible. In central Europe, the food individuals eat is linked to their religious beliefs. An individual who eats pork is a Christian. In Judaism and Islam cultures, individuals are prohibited eat pork by their cultures. Italians believe that people are what they eat and what one eats defines them. A typical Italian family will celebrate their holidays, with special foods. It means that Italian culture respects holidays and they do celebrate their holidays with nutritious food. Roast turkey and Ravioli suggest an Italian family celebrating one of the many holidays in the calendars. Wine is an important part of Italian meals and it is viewed as a form of art (Kittler & Sucher, 2008). Dishes in Italian foods are dominated by tomatoes. Mexican culture includes a vast variety of food items that has influenced the American culture. Cultural influences in the Mexican cultures have made it rich and authentic. They are known to have spicy food, which was influenced by the Mayan culture.

NAFTA Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NAFTA Case Study - Essay Example Nevertheless, this was required if Magma was to survive in the new business climate. In particular with the reduction in tariffs in the Mexican auto sector, how should Magma respond? To being with there are problems and opportunities. How should Magma respond to the problems is a good first question. The problem for its managers is that although there are very low wage employees available there, the Mexican infrastructure and business climate is not easy to work with. Plus, the employees may not cost much, but you get what you pay for (in some respects)—many are not highly skilled. The question facing Magma’s managers is whether it should follow many of the other manufacturers to Mexico. In some ways, this is not such a big problem. The sort of problems Magma foresees in Mexico are not so different than problems facing its competitors and its customers. Everyone is going to have the same limitations. All companies are going to invest in Mexico, but very few are going to jump in with both feet first. Magma should take a cautious approach and should especially review the history of Volkswagen starting up its factory in Mexico. Magma can’t avoi d having zero presence in Mexico, but it should not immediately put all its eggs in one basket. Shifting a small part of its business to Mexico during a trial period would provide managers with more information on which to base a later decision. Going it slow in the beginning is important, but Mexico offers a lot of opportunities to Magma. If predictions hold up, a lot of car manufacturing is going to be done in Mexico in the next few years. While there are a lot of initial problems, none of them are all that structural. The fact that employees are not skilled is a temporary one as is the problem of low-grade steel. It will take time for the market to adjust, but it will adjust, and Mexico will become more competitive. The

The Hunger Games and Reality TV Essay Example for Free

The Hunger Games and Reality TV Essay In the novel The Hunger Games, many aspects relate to reality TV. Through the Gamemakers and, in television producers the truth is altered. The line separating fact and fiction is truly blurred. The producers do their job so well that it leaves the audience questioning every move on the show. They wonder â€Å"where is the real in reality TV? † The answer is that due to their mixed genre and producer editing there is not any. Reality TV is not just one genre, but a mix of two. The producers â€Å"[use] the documentary-fiction genre mix to help market its product. † [ ] This â€Å"new† genre allows some leeway in the reality and fictional aspects of the show. â€Å"Reality series use documentary techniques to generate emotional accuracy; that is, the sense that these people are showing you their true emotions or are behaving in psychologically convincing ways, even if the events they are reacting to are obviously staged. †[1] The fictional aspect of this genre is what producers rely on for more ratings. Treating the show as a fictional sitcom lets the producers stage events to create more drama. They can do this easily but still have to be wary of the documentary side of the genre. If the audience can tell that there are too many fake scenes on the show they will not watch it. Viewers can go from â€Å"this show is so good,† to as Samantha Bee put it, â€Å"a totally, unabashedly fake, phony, manipulated, a sham. †[ ] Some shows can not only rely on the genre mix but also must rely on their editors. Editors of reality TV shows are the true stars because they choose what kind of story to tell. In The Hunger Games, the Gamemakers chose to tell the story of the star-crossed lovers of District 12. In reality TV the editors do the same. IF anything would harm the shows view ratings the editors take care of it. Take for instance on the CBS show Big Brother; racists comments were made during the online live feed, but knowing that would hurt the viewer ratings the editors chose to take it out of the episode air on television a few days later. [ ] This caused uproar since because it showed how manipulated reality TV shows are. Editors can also make shows more interesting by combining clips to create drama. They do their job so well that it leaves the audience questioning every move on the show. The editors also take weeks and weeks of filming and squeeze it into a 45 minute show. In reality TV, the fictional part of the genre outshines the documentary part. Through the producers’ and editors actions the truth is altered and the audience is feed lies. The line separating fact and fiction is not blurred, but broken. The audience may think it is real but it is all fake.

My diary for a week Essay Example for Free

My diary for a week Essay 8. 35 am. I arrive at the hall. I am the first member of staff to arrive so I unlock the cupboard and start getting the equipment we need for the morning out after looking at the daily planning sheet. I first put the tables and chairs out. Other members of staff now start to arrive and help to put the rest out. I then cover the big table with newspaper for our craft item of the morning. Our theme is the sea side. As this is my day today and I take the role of the leader I have chosen to do sun hats. I get the straw from the cupboard to stick onto the hats that I have already cut out. 9,0clock it is now time to let the children in so I go to the door and tell them to come in. I take the fees today so go to the counter where the book and cash tin are. I receive cheques or cash from 4 parents, so right out receipts and enter it in the book. 9. 10 The parents have now all gone home so it is time for me to call the register. I ask the children to sit on the mat. Then I make sure the outside door has been locked. I sit on a small chair in front of the children so I am at their eye level. I ask the children to be quiet as I am about to call their names. I say good morning to each child and most of them say it back. We then count the children together and find we have 15 in this morning. We then talk about what we are going to do today. The children now choose their activity. I go to the craft table and assist the children in their sticking. When all the children have finished their hats I get some old catalogues and some scissors, the children then have the choice to do more gluing. 10. 30 I help to pack some off the toys away then ask the children to sit on the mat for a story. We chose a book together and I read it. After we all talk about it. The children then wash their hands and I get them to sit at the tables. I Ask a little girl whose birthday it is if she would like to hand the biscuits out. I remind them all to say thank you. I then go to a safe place at the big table to have my coffee. 11. 0clock I ask if the children would like the bikes they all say yes so I get them out of the cupboard. I then choose the children that are sat quietly first to have a bike. I sit at the pony table and play with 2 children. 11. 30 I put the bikes back into the cupboard and get the tape recorder out. I put the action song tape on and we all join in with the songs. 11. 45 I give the bags out and let the parents in. I sit with the children until their mum or carer is in the hall. 12. 0clock I lock the cupboard and check the toilets then go home.

Main Factors Leading To The Cuban Revolution History Essay

Main Factors Leading To The Cuban Revolution History Essay What at the time seemed so surprising about Cuba in 1959 was that such a thoroughgoing social revolution happened there, given its relative prosperity. The answer is to be found in the particular historical conditions of the country. Cuba had, since independence from Spain, been prone to political instability and had undergone many attempts at change ranging from reformist governments, revolution and dictatorship. All of these attempts, and the reasons underlying them, played a part in the eventual triumph of Fidel Castros revolution and, in the failure of previous attempts at changing Cuba, lay the seeds of the new order on the island. As Ruiz (1968, p.7) points out, the 1959 revolution represented no sharp break with the past. The conditions for revolution had long been present and previous responses to them conditioned the path that the revolution of 1959 would take. What, then, were the factors in Cubas history and in its social and political life which made that revolution possi ble? Having identified them, one must turn to a discussion of the conditions during Fulgencio Batistas dictatorship from 1952 to the end of 1958 and the course that resistance to it took, and how that resistance, with Castro at its head, eventually triumphed. The historical conditions which contributed to the triumph of the revolution were categorized by Wright (2001, p.2) into four main areas: firstly, anti-American sentiment, provoked in Cuba by economic and political dependence on America since independence, secondly the negative effects on Cuban society and its economy of overdependence on sugar production, thirdly, the fragmented and divided nature of Cuban society and lastly, the weakness of Cuban political institutions, their lack of legitimacy, and the unpopularity of a political class tainted by corruption. To this last point may be added the propensity of Cuban politics to descend into violence, a trend dating back to the independence struggle against Spain. United States forces occupied Cuba after it had gained independence from Spain in 1898 and its influence was to be a constant in the political and economic system of the island. The most glaring and most resented example of United States intervention in Cuba was the Platt Amendment of 1902. This put limits on how much Cuba could borrow from foreign countries and the negotiation of treaties. It also allowed the United States the right to intervene for the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property and individual liberty (Williamson, 1992, p.439). In effect, Cuba became a protectorate of the United States. The Platt Amendment represented a humiliation to many Cubans and a betrayal of the independence struggle, and remained a contentious issue even after its repeal in 1934. It linked advancement and progress to the need to rid the country of foreign interference and became a key question in Cuban politics. American intervention at such an early stage cut across the process of building confidence in, and legitimacy for, the new institutions of the state recently freed from colonial rule and identified the whole political system from its start with foreign domination. It also influenced the conduct of politicians who relied on the support of America to settle political disputes, which were many in the first 20 to 30 years of the Republics life (Thomas, 1971). Early Cuban elections were fraudulent affairs and United States intervention was called upon on a number of occasions. An armed challenge to the government elected in 1906 resulted in United States intervention and resulted in direct rule until 1909. Further interventions took place in 1912, and again in 1917 when the election result was challenged by an armed revolt by the defeated party. Another important intervention came during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. The American ambassador first replaced the dictator Machado and then supported the army backed overthrow of his successor, Ramon San Martin Grau (Argote-Freyre, 2006). A sense of the humiliation and moral decay suffered by Cubans is offered by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (McPherson, 2006, p.40) who said of Havana in 1950 that it resembled a giant casino and brothel. American tourists were picking up 14 year old Cuban girls and tossing coins to make men scramble in the gutter. He went on to say that nobody could be surprised if Cubans hated America. American political and economic influences on Cuba were closely linked. Investment from the United States had been steadily growing from the last days of Spanish rule. It increased in the 1920s as many Cubans had been ruined by the slump in the price of sugar in 1920, and by 1927 amounted to more than a billion dollars (Wright, 2001, p.4). Two thirds of all Cuban exports went to America in the 1950s (Paterson, 1995, p.35). By the 1950s, American interests controlled 90% of the telephone and electricity system, 50% of railways and 40% of the banking sector (Girling, 1980, p.49). This economic control had a number of effects on Cuba, one of which was in the way it limited the room to manoeuvre of Cuban governments. According to Ruffin (1990, p.77) economic dependence severely restricted political leadership in Cuba. Politicians for the most part acted in defence of American interests. For much of Cubas Republican history the need to appease American interests, and those of their followers in Cuba, made it difficult to influence any reforms which conflicted with those interests. The increasing American control over the Cuban economy meant a tightening of American political influence over Cubas affairs and meant that defending those interests became a prime concern for Cuban political parties. Legislation, such as much needed land reform, became subservient to the interests of the sugar producers who owned vast areas of land. In 1933, the government of Grau fell in part because the Americans refused to recognise it due to the reforms which it attempted to implement. Most Cuban politicians were unable or unwilling to upset the Americans and to disrupt the industry to which Cuba owed so much of its prosperity but which also fatally undermined its institutions (Ruffin, 1990). Taking on America was daunting, given Cubas dependence on American markets. Nowhere was this dependence on American markets more apparent, nor the need for change greater, than in the reliance of the Cuban economy on sugar production. The overdependence on sugar, which accounted for 85% of Cuban exports in the 1950s, (Wright, 2001, p.5) skewed not only the Cuban economy but also its political life and brought many social problems in its train. Decisions taken in Washington concerning quotas, duties and so on can and did have a profound effect on the Cuban economy. Cuba produced 3.6 million tons of sugar in 1923, rising to 5.2 million tons in 1925 and 7 million tons in 1952, falling to 4.7 million tons in 1954. Prices underwent similar swings which made economic planning difficult (Williams, 1970, p.480). The consequences of this dependence were many. Peasants were displaced creating an army of landless rural workers. Furthermore, as work on the sugar plantations was seasonal, from December to April, many were unemployed for a good part of the year (Ruffin, 1990). This unemployment, unlike the rise and fall of employment in other industries, was endemic to the system in Cuba appearing predictably every year when the sugar harvest was over. In addition, sugar attracted investment away from other crops and industries. Sugar companies owned or rented 70-75% of Cubas arable land (Sheer Zeitlin, 1964, p.24) and Cuba had to import much of the food which it needed. Other negative effects were to be seen in the financial sector. American banks were attracted to Cuba to underwrite the costs of the sugar industry. The 1920s was a key decade in this respect. Many who had borrowed in the boom years saw their fortunes wiped out during the depression and the stock market crash of 1929. The Cuban banking system collapsed, and the gap was plugged by foreign, mainly American banks. Whether the crop was good or bad or whether prices were high or low also had political and social consequences. Dulles (cited in Paterson, 1995, p.35) in a comment to President Eisenhower said that a reduction in the amount of Cuban sugar coming into America might easily tip the scales to cause revolution For example, Machados regime from 1925 to 1933 was marked by the convulsions caused by the fluctuations in the price of sugar and the collapse in the economy following the Wall Street crash of 1929 and which provoked a wave of strikes and street violence which were countered by a range of repressive tactics. On the other hand, the good years could help to provide a measure of political and social stability, as during the 1940s. There were social aspects to the sugar system as well. To meet the demand for labour in the good years, manpower was imported from Haiti, Jamaica and China sharpening already tense racial relations (Patterson, 1994). The existence of large numbers of workers who were unemployed for most of the year outside of the sugar harvesting season between December and April was always a potential focus for social and labour unrest. According to Sheer et al. (1964) all the mischievousness of the sugar system were aggravated by the fact that many Cubans saw them as having been inflicted by American business interests. The insurgents who had fought in the war of Independence targeted the cane fields and sugar mills burning many. It was during the American occupation when the industry was built back up again. Hostility to dependence on sugar and America constituted a grievance around which diverse groups in the fractured Cuban society could unite. Cuba also suffered from the fragmentation of its society throughout its history (Gott, 2004). Cuba, unlike other countries in Latin America lacked political elite, often composed of large landowners, with ties to the Catholic Church and the Military. In Cuba the old aristocracy had been wiped out during the independence struggle between 1868 and 1895, and there did not exist a powerful landowning class with close ties to the land (Williamson, 1992, p.439). The large sugar plantations dated from the last days of Spanish rule and much of them were in foreign hands. Nelson argued (Thomas, 1971, p.1111) that there was no national middle class. What middle class existed was based overwhelmingly in urban areas. The upper reaches of Cuban society threw in their lot with the system installed by the Americans. Native industry was underdeveloped and the ruling class interests were identified with those of their American allies. The lower classes were also fragmented. Most of the poor lived in the country while only a small urban working class existed in the towns and cities. Class divisions in Cuba were largely along rural urban lines. Some figures relating to rural housing conditions may help to illustrate this division. While Cuba in the 1950s could boast of relatively high figures in Latin American terms for ownership of consumer goods such as TVs, radios and telephones, the countryside painted a different picture. 97% had no refrigeration facilities, 85% no running water and 91% no electricity (Williams, 1970, p.479). Furthermore, seasonal workers were unemployed for a large part of the year and such an insecure life, in terms of employment, coloured their relationship with other groups and with society as a whole. Ruiz (1968, p.147) sums it up by his comments that no social or ideological bonds united workers or integrated them into the structure of society. Racial and ethnic divisions were also a feature of life in Cuba. Fear of a black takeover retarded the development of the independence movement in Cuba. Blacks made up a considerable proportion of the Cuban population and were disaffected with their treatment after their role in the independence struggle and by the history of slavery on the island. This disaffection was on occasions exploited by politicians in the early years of the Republic. They made up a considerable part of the army assembled by the Liberals after their defeat in the 1906 elections. A revolt of disaffected blacks took place in 1912 which was ruthlessly suppressed with the loss of 3,000 lives. This event would alienate blacks further from the mainstream of Cuban society (Gott, 2004). Fear of the black population also surfaced in the wake of the 1933 revolution. As the most impoverished section of the population, blacks seized upon the excitement of the times as an opportunity to improve their lot and played a leading role in the agitation on the sugar plantations where soviets were established. Despite the enthusiasm of many blacks for the revolution, thousands of blacks from Haiti were deported evidencing the degree of racial feeling in Cuba (Gott, 2004, p.141). Other institutions in Cuban society lacked popular support or respect and did not constitute a focus for unity or action. The Catholic Churchs position in Cuba had been weakened from independence with the separation of church and state in 1900. The Church was also seen as a white Spanish institution and therefore lacked influence among the black population. Also, unlike other Latin American countries, the Church did not form an alliance with the ruling elite or the military (Gott, 2004). Lastly, the political apparatus itself reflected the fragmentation in society. The parties were unrepresentative and by the 1950s the old mainstream parties were discredited and the way was open for others to fill the gap. Batista tried it with his dictatorship from 1952, but it was Fidel Castro who capitalised on the failure of democratic parties to address Cubas many and varied problems. This failure of democratic politics affected those groups who were to later make up the opposition to Batista and who helped in the success of Castros revolution (Gott, 2004). Weakness, incompetence and corruption were endemic to the Cuban political system from its earliest days. The first President Estrada Palma, led a class of politicians who, according to Thomas (1971, p.472) only sought the spoils of war after their role in the independence struggle. There was not a great deal of ideological differences between the Republican and Liberal parties. They suffered from the start from the involvement of America which wrested prestige and legitimacy from political institutions. Furthermore, the lack of democratic institutions prior to independence had not prepared Cubans well for eventual self government. The tradition of taking up arms, forged under Spanish colonial rule, was also frequently resorted to, which called into question the credibility of the entire political system. The possibility of calling in America as the arbiter of disputes was the default fallback position. The far from auspicious start represented by the fraud surrounding the first elections and the armed revolt against the government of Estrada Palma and the subsequent American intervention set the tone for electoral politics in the early years of Cuban democracy. Competition was not so much based on principle, rather as a crude struggle to see who would control the resources of the state which provided the means for personal enrichment, with the unfortunate turning readily to violence when hindered (Thomas, 1971). In a society dominated by sugar, and foreign owned industry, control of government jobs and access to the states resources proved to be a source of patronage and of enrichment for many. For example, between 1943 and 1949 the government payroll increased from 60,000 to 131,000 (Goldenberg, 1965, p.110). Many other corrupt practices existed such as the granting of permission for the sale of lottery tickets and it has been estimated that the dictator Machado made $3,000,000 a year from lottery collectorships (Sheer Zeitlin, 1964, p.46). These corrupt practices also provided a means of securing the loyalty of those who benefited from them. Electoral fraud was also a fact of life in a system where none of the parties had genuine mass appeal. Gott reports (2004, p.114) that in the early elections, armed supporters of the different parties would be present at polling stations and in the elections of 1916 the number of votes cast outnumbered eligible voters (Gott, 2004, p.127). The government of Gerardo Machado promised a new start. It initially was reformist and enjoyed a degree of popularity. However, it suffered from the uncertainty and turbulence of the 1920s in Cuba, occasioned by fluctuations in the market price for sugar and the eventual collapse of the Cuban banking system. In 1928, and despite a pledge not to govern for more than one term, Machado was elected unopposed for a second time. He also extended the length of his term from 4 to 6 years. It was a measure of the low standards of the Cuban political system that this flouting of democratic practice was supported by all the other parties in the Congress. There was a huge amount of social unrest, strikes, assassinations and bombings to which Machado responded with brutal repression (Gott, 2004). By the late 1920s a new generation was emerging of Cubans born in the Republic who expected more from it and who charged the old guard of betraying the ideals of the revolution which had won independence. Students, always to the forefront in Cuban political affairs, were particularly impatient for change, and groups such as the Directorio Estudiantil were to play an important role in the revolution which would topple the dictatorship of Machado (Thomas, 1971). The situation in Cuba was fast escaping from Machados control. The strikes, violence and worsening economic situation raised fears of social revolution and engendered a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty. Groups like the ABC, a terrorist organisation made up of middle and upper class students, replied to Machados notoriously brutal police force in kind, killing many of them in the street (Gott, 2004). The American government began to take an interest and sent their ambassador Sumner Welles to Cuba to try and settle the dispute. He tried to convince Machado to go, and when he eventually resigned, faced with the dire situation on the streets, the Americans sought to replace him with someone acceptable to them and amenable to American business interests on the island. Carlos Manuel Cespedes was appointed but proved unable to facilitate the unrest. He was brought down by a group of low ranking army officers led by Fulgencio Batista, a mixed race Cuban whose origins were far removed from the traditional military elite. Ramon San Martin Grau was eventually installed as the new president in 1933 (Argote-Freyre, 2006). The 1933 revolution promised great things for Cuba. The revolution was led in by a new generation untainted by the past and pledged to honour the promises of the independence struggle. There was a strong nationalist hint to their programme and it seemed as if some of Cubas most pressing social and economic problems would be addressed by a new wave of clean politicians. Their hopes were however to be dashed by a combination of American hostility, the betrayal of the revolution by Batista and internal divisions between moderates and radicals. The new government nationalised sugar mills and decreed that 50% of the workforce in all businesses had to be Cuban born. The American government refused to recognise Graus government, fearful of the effects it would have on American economic interests on the island. Batista, waiting in the wings, and mindful of the importance of American backing, especially given the internal opposition to Grau, helped to topple the revolutionary government in 1934 and so began the first of his reigns in Cuba, ruling through his control over a succession of puppet presidents until 1940, and in his own right until 1944. The army had become a player in the government of Cuba for the first time, a development which set a dangerous precedent (Gott, 2004). The 1944 elections were won, surprisingly to many, by Grau in elections which were accepted by all to be fair. Batistas rule had been positive in many aspects and had introduced a new, strongly social democratic constitution in 1940, the restoration of which would be a key demand of the 1950s revolutionaries. The peaceful handover of power to the man who had been vanquished in 1933 promised well for Cubas democratic future. However, the two terms of office of Graus Autentico party, formed after the defeat in 1933, were to prove some of the most corrupt in Cubas history and were probably the last nail in the coffin of peaceful, progressive democratic change on the island. Thomas (1971, p.737) asserts that Grau did more than any other single man to kill the hope of democratic practice in Cuba. Corruption was nothing new in Cuban politics however, for many, the governments of Grau and Prio Socarras were particularly foul and tainted not only by corruption but the actions of armed gangs, according to Thomas (1971, p.741) at least 10, who were tolerated and even used by governments between 1944 and 1948. The actions of Grau and the Autentico party were all the more disheartening for having been responsible by the hero of the 1933 revolution and the party which he founded in its aftermath. The party was able to plunder the countrys inflated repositories by the rise in prices for sugar during the years of the Second World War. The government of Prio Socarras which succeeded that of Grau was described by Sweig (Gott, 2004, p.145) as the most corrupt and violent in Cuban history. When Batista took power following a coup in 1952, it did not meet up with much initial opposition. Cubas political class had by now become totally discredited and many were doubtful if electoral politics could even begin to solve the countrys problems. In a sense Batistas coup was a response to this disillusion but in itself was a continuation of the misfortunes facing Cuban society and could provide no new way forward. Each generation of Cubans had been disappointed by politicians and had seen their hopes dashed leading to a rejection of the leaders of the previous generation. Cubans had no dependable political role models to look to (Wright, 2001, p.6) in changing and difficult times, making it easier for new departures and new methods to gain a hearing. This would have been significant in the revolution of 1959. Having looked at the factors in Cuban history which led to Batistas dictatorship, the problems which the country faced, and their influence on the revolutionary movement of the 1950s, it is time to look at the years of the dictatorship and the opposition which it brought forward in order to fully understand how Fidel Castros revolution triumphed and the path which the final phase of the Cuban revolution took. Cuba was, despite all its problems, a relatively prosperous society and there was some evidence of diversification in industry and a greater involvement by Cubans in the sugar industry. However, many inequalities and divisions remained, and the revolution which toppled Batista did not only seek to unseat an unpopular dictator, but also sought solutions to Cubas economic and social problems. In this respect it echoed the previous attempts at reform of the 1933 revolution and the promises of the 1940 constitution. Other factors were the absolute unpopularity, which was shared by a wide range of groups across society, and weakness of the Batista regime and the appeal and leadership qualities of Castro who at the end emerged as the leader of the new order in Cuba. Batistas regime in contrast was supported only by America, the rich, and the old discredited politicians of Cubas past and had no real social basis of support. The key to the survival of the regime lay in the continued support of America, and once lost, there were few to turn to among the decadent and discredited Cuban politicians who could broaden its appeal (Thomas, 1971). Fidel Castro was a product of the Cuban middle class and a member of the Ortodoxo party, formed in 1947 in response to the corruption of the two Autentico governments of the 1940s. Together with Ernesto Che Guevara he came to personify the revolutionary movement in Cuba. However, his 26th of July movement was not the only force opposed to Batista. Opposition, originated, as so many times before, with the students who were joined by the Autentico and Ortodoxo parties, Cuban intellectuals, and other revolutionary groups. Support for Castro was later to extend across a broad spectrum of Cuban society. The Civic Resistance Movement which supplied logistical support had as leading figures a former director of the National Bank, brokers and doctors (Paterson, 1995, p.30). There was little in Castros radical, but not overtly socialist programme, which would alienate the less radical elements of the anti-Batista opposition or justify outright American hostility and was based on the nationalist sentiment of the war of independence and the anti-American feeling which was an outcome of its perceived betrayal and harked back to the frustrated revolution of 1933. It promised an end to the endemic corruption which had plagued Cuban politics and a restoration of the 1940 constitution (Gott, 2004). The years of Batistas dictatorship were marked by resistance answered with repression. As the repression grew ever more brutal, more Cubans were alienated from Batistas regime. The contribution of the urban resistance to Batista has often been overlooked in favour of the more romantic guerrilla war waged by Castro and his followers when they took off to the mountains of the Sierra Maestra after the failed attack on Santiago in 1956. Resistance involved strikes, sabotage, assassination and propaganda. It was, as Wright asserts, (2001, p.16) the resistance in urban centres which pinned down the Batista forces and enabled Castros to grow in strength in the mountains and who also played a crucial role in supplying Castros guerrillas. The weakening of this resistance in the face of Batistas repression strengthened Castros position. An interview carried out with the American journalist Herbert Matthews and published in the New York Times in 1957 was a key event in the development of the war and a boost to Castros personal standing at home and abroad. It contradicted Batistas claims that Castro had been killed and the guerrilla defeated and aroused a lot of sympathy for the rebels in America. A failed attempt to assassinate Batista carried out by the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil in March 1957 could have changed the course of the revolution but its failure increased repression and eliminated another potential rival to Castro (Wright, 2001). Meanwhile Batista floundered on. An American arms embargo was evidence that he was losing American backing. A failed general strike in April of 1958 gave credence to the idea that only armed struggle would shift Batista. That Castros forces would be the most likely to lead it, was given a boost following Batistas disastrous offensive against the guerrillas in May 1958. Without American backing and unable to defeat the rebels militarily, Batista was condemned. In a bid to win American support and add a veneer of legitimacy to his regime he called elections in November 1958 from which most withheld, highlighting the isolation of his regime. Meanwhile a strengthened Castro began to emerge as the most likely to unseat Batista and his campaign spread outside of his mountain stronghold. After the fall of the city of Santa Clara in December Batista realised his regime was doomed and escaped to the Dominican Republic on New Years Eve 1958 (Paterson, 1995). The revolution had triumphed. The explanation of the 1958 Cuban revolution can be found then, in the history of the country: the anti-American sentiment of a broad spectrum of Cuban society, and the perceived betrayal of the ideals of independence by successive governments, the closely linked phenomenon of overdependence on the sugar trade and the subsequent underdevelopment of the countrys industrial base, the deep social divisions and finally, the weak legitimacy of its political institutions, the violent and undemocratic nature of Cubas political life and the low prestige of its politicians, all served to alienate Cubans from the political process and to seek answers from a new breed of leader. Events rooted in Cubas history made the revolution possible. As Johnson (1970, p.60) observed revolution often happens in countries which have already experienced change and where more change is necessary. Castro in his evocation of historic Cuban grievances which also harked back to previous reform programmes in 1933 and 1940 appealed to a wide range of anti-Batista opinion, but that Castro would be the one to lead it and to take it in a Communist direction was not inevitable. Castros revolution, regardless of what happened after taking power, was not a socialist revolution. It triumphed because it, as Perez contended, did not preach class war (Gott, 2004, p.166). The Soviet Union played no part in his triumph, and indeed the Cuban Communists did not ally themselves with Castro until 1958. Rather in its focus on the betrayal of independence, and his echoing of past failed attempts at reform, Castros programme was the culmination of a process begun on Cubas winning of independence. The ambivalence of America also played a part in Castros victory. The American position on Castro was not clearly defined (Gott, 2004, p.164) and in Castros success in not provoking greater intervention from the force that could have decisively swayed the outcome of the revolution was a key factor in the revolutions success. Another contributing factor was the weakness and indecision of the Batista regime and its identification with the failed policies and methods of the past. Batistas regime fell in part because it was as Julien (Goldenberg, 1965, p.146) observed rotten to the core.