Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible

Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible The Bible is a collection of books, inspired by God, to be used as God’s revelation of Himself to us. It is God’s doorway to declare his authority over his people. Authority of the Bible is established and/or comes from its own claims. The Old Testament uses the phrase â€Å"This is what the Lord says† enough times to give any reader the understanding that it is the word of God. Because the Bible is viewed as God’s Word it is the final word concerning all issues it speaks. Inspiration is the supernatural guidance of biblical writers by the Holy Spirit.There are different theories as to how God inspired the Bible. Verbal and Plenary inspiration are two theories held by many. These are similar in the belief that they believe the Holy Spirit’s influence was so intense that each word ended up being the exact word God wanted used. Verbal inspiration is more text oriented than author oriented while Plenary holds more to author oriented rather than text oriented. I hold to the belief once taught to me by Dr. Orr that â€Å"God is God, and therefore can do anything God wants; God inspired the Bible in his own way; thus the Bible turned out exactly as God intended it†.With this belief I do not try to prove how the Bible was inspired but rather stress the Biblical support of the theories. 2 Timothy 3:16 is one of the verses most used when proving inspiration in that it tells us that all scripture is from God. In 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 we are given Paul’s view to the process of inspiration. In this verse Paul explains that the spirit revealed the things God wanted them to know so that they may understand and write what was freely given to them. As Christians we view the Bible as inerrant.Inerrancy is the belief that what God inspired in the Bible is without error. In Numbers 23:19 we are taught that God cannot lie, if this is so and the Bible was inspired by God then we are indirectly gi ven support to and definition of inerrancy. There are five common arguments for and against inerrancy of the Bible. The weakest argument is the Slippery Slope Argument. It just states that if you stop believing in the inerrancy of the Bible than you will stop believing in the teachings and end up an unbeliever. Though this may happen to a few people this is not the usual.Christians can hold to their beliefs without holding to the belief that the Bible is inerrant. The Epistemological Argument is just as weak of an argument. It states that claims of belief can only be justified by believers if scripture is without error. It states that scripture must be beyond a doubt the truth. The problem with this is that a believer should not have to rely on the belief that all scripture is without error to feel that their claim of belief is justified. The Biblical Argument is a great way to defend inerrancy.In this argument it states that the Bible teaches of its own inerrancy. We can see one of these teachings in Matthew 5:17-20. The argument against this is very weak. It argues that the Bible does not teach inerrancy because nowhere does it directly say that the Bible is inerrant, without error. This to me in no way disproves the argument just argues for arguments sake. The last and strongest is the Historical Argument. This argument states that the bible is inerrant because it has been the belief of Christians throughout history.Throughout history Christianity has not fallen as many other beliefs and cultures have. No matter how hard disbelievers try to fight scripture it still stands and is believed by many. There are many famous historical theologians that can be used to defend the inerrancy of the Bible. The argument against this is weak in that it argues that the Bible was not taught as inerrant till the 19th century. It argues that the only reason Christians began to say the Bible was inerrant was because of the need for it in apologetics.The relationship between i nspiration and inerrancy is powerful because they are united. Without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit there would be no need of inerrancy. We trust in the inerrancy of the Bible because we are taught that scripture was given to the authors by the breath of God. God is infallible and therefore the inspiration of the Bible is inerrant. When I reflect on the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible I know that to be a committed follower of Jesus I must submit to each of these so that I may grow in my faith.

How a Bill Becomes a Law Essay

Nearly 10 percent of children in the United States suffer from asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dealing with a chronic health condition like asthma has several significant effects on a child’s lifestyle. Childhood should be fun and carefree, but kids with asthma have to take on some very big worries and responsibilities. They need to learn which symptoms and events are likely to trigger an attack, such as cold weather, exercise, stressful situations and exposure to secondhand smoke. Kids, their families and other caregivers must all learn to recognize the signs of an attack and how to respond to it quickly, such as using a steroid inhaler during acute attacks. Some kids also take daily maintenance medications, such as bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs, which may reduce the risk of future attacks. Being active is a key component of being healthy and physical activity is a major part of many kids’ lives. However, kids with ast hma often have limitations that make it difficult to participate in sports, active playground games and activities like dancing. Asthma doesn’t usually prevent kids from participating in these events, but they are often at greater risk of experiencing an asthma attack in these situations. Both the children and the adults on the sidelines need to be aware of the possibility that an asthma attack could occur and what to do if it does. Anything that makes a child stand out can cause feelings of embarrassment and even shame. Kids with asthma may fear having an attack at school, or feel uncomfortable about having to use an inhaler in the presence of their friends. They may feel left out when they can’t always participate in activities with their peers. Having any serious, chronic illness is scary, and kids with asthma need extra emotional support to develop additional coping skills. Asthma often causes missed school days and these absences from school can quickly lead to a child falling behind. Kids with asthma may need extra tutoring to keep up with their classes, and understanding teachers who are aware of their students’ health issues are crucial. In some cases, severe or frequent asthma-related illness and hospitalization may even require parents to consi der homeschooling. Parents of children who have asthma often worry constantly about their child. When a child is first diagnosed with asthma there tends to be frequent emergency room visits due to the fear of the parents for their child’s safety. This situation impacts the whole family. Places that are unhealthy for an asthma  sufferer are avoided, which can keep the other family members from having these experiences. The direct costs of asthma are estimated at more than $9.4 billion. This cost is born by individuals, families, health systems and insurance providers according to the Allergy and Asthma Advocate.

The List of All U.S. Colleges With a Religious Studies Major

Religion is controversial, inspirational, exciting, and polarizing. Throughout history, humans have sought to discover identity and meaning through religion. A major player in the development of human societies, the study of religion   offers avenues of inquiry far beyond conventional theological philosophies. Religious studies focuses on scholarly perspectives of religion and belief throughout history and geography. An interdisciplinary major, it leverages research from philosophy, history, literature, public health, sociology, economics, and more.   A bachelor’s in religious studies is a versatile degree with many possible applications. Some graduates may choose to pursue an advanced degree in theology or religion, while others may apply their knowledge of religious studies to other areas of culture and society. Just a few of the possible career paths for graduates of religious studies programs include: Religious studies brings together disciplines including art, literature, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and science. Few majors provide exposure to such a vast and diverse array of specialties and fields. As such, religious studies majors will often pair their degree with another field of study.   Majoring in religious studies offers you a lens into other cultures and perspectives from around the world. You’ll learn about different theologies from an academic perspective and gain new insight into how and why people have the beliefs they do, as well as how they express and practice them. You’ll also study the ways in which religion impacts other aspects of society such as government, social norms, and ethics.   Religious studies programs look for well-rounded students who emphasize the humanities and social sciences. You should have plenty of high-level courses in areas like English, history, and   foreign languages. In terms of extracurriculars, focus on activities that emphasize your interest in religious studies, such as community service, volunteering at a place of worship, or even working at a museum or other cultural institution. If you’re looking for guidance creating a strong profile for candidacy for admission into an undergraduate religious studies program, our Early Advising program for 9th and 10th graders could be the answer. A graduate from a top 30 institution will work with you to hone your extracurricular and academic interests while advising you on the courses to take, activities to pursue, and grades and test scores you’ll need to earn for admission. Already into the college process? 11th graders can learn how to strengthen their profiles, create a school list with a balance of colleges that offer religious studies majors, and more through our College Strategy program . We’ll guide you through the process of creating a cohesive profile and applying to college. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Looking to apply to a religious studies program? We can help. Through our Applications program , we’ll work with you to create a school list that reflects your real chances of admission and your personal college preferences, hone application themes, assist with essays, and more. Anderson University (South Carolina) Calumet College of St. Joseph | CCSJ Christian Brothers University | CBU Auburn University at Montgomery | AUM Austin Peay State University | APSU California Baptist University | CBU Hope International University | HIU California State University, Bakersfield | CSU Bakersfield California State University, Chico | CSU Chico California State University, Dominguez Hills | CSUDH John Paul the Great Catholic University | JPCatholic California State University, East Bay | CSU East Bay California State University, Fresno | CSU Fresno California State University, Fullerton | CSU Fullerton California State University, Long Beach | Long Beach State California State University, Northridge | CSUN Mid-America Christian University | MACU Catholic University of America | CUA Charleston Southern University | CSU National University (California) | NU New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJIT College of Mount Saint Vincent | CMSV Colorado Christian University | CCU Concordia University Wisconsin | CUW Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary | SEBTS State University of New York at Old Westbury | SUNY Old Westbury East Texas Baptist University | ETBU Eastern New Mexico University | ENMU Florida International University | FIU Franciscan University of Steubenville Hannibal–LaGrange University | HLGU Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis | IUPUI Indiana University Bloomington | Indiana Indiana University of Pennsylvania | IUP California Lutheran University | CLU Central Christian College of Kansas Central Washington University | CWU College of the Holy Cross | Holy Cross College of William & Mary | William & Mary Columbia International University | CIU Middle Tennessee State University | MTSU North Carolina Central University | NCCU Franklin and Marshall College | F&M Mount Vernon Nazarene University | MVNU Hobart and William Smith Colleges | HWS North Dakota State University | NDSU Notre Dame of Maryland University | NDMU Oklahoma Wesleyan University | OKWU Palm Beach Atlantic University | PBA Point Loma Nazarene University | PLNU Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Rutgers Saint Martin’s University | St. Martin’s Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College | SMWC University of California, Davis | UC Davis New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | New Mexico Tech University of California, San Diego | UCSD Our Lady of the Lake University | OLLU Southwestern Christian College | SwCC St. Joseph’s College (New York) | SJC Queens College, City University of New York | CUNY QC Tennessee Wesleyan University | TWU Saint Mary’s College of California | St. Mary’s Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota | SMU Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee The State University of New York at Stony Brook | SUNY Stony Brook Southern Methodist University | SMU Southwestern Assemblies of God University | SAGU University of California, Irvine | UC Irvine University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA University of Central Arkansas | UCA University of Central Florida | UCF University of Hawaii at Manoa | UH Manoa University of Houston–Downtown | UHD University of Mary Hardin–Baylor | UMHB University of Mary Washington | UMW University of Massachusetts Amherst | UMass Amherst University of Massachusetts Lowell | UMass Lowell University of California, Riverside | UC Riverside University of California, Santa Barbara | UCSB University of California, Santa Cruz | UCSC University of Mississippi | Ole Miss University of Colorado Boulder | CU Boulder University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | UIUC University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte University of North Carolina at Greensboro | UNC Greensboro University of North Carolina at Wilmington | UNC Wilmington University of Maine at Farmington | UMF University of Northwestern – St. Paul University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota University of Nebraska–Lincoln | UNL The State University of New York at Albany | SUNY Albany University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin University of South Carolina Upstate | USC Upstate University of Southern California | USC University of Wisconsin-Madison | Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | UWM University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh | UW Oshkosh University of the Incarnate Word | UIW Virginia Commonwealth University | VCU Washington University in St. Louis | WashU University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

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

Argumentative - Essay Example In absence of this, a reader will stop reading. For instance, an argumentative writing with no coherence demeans reading since readers cannot follow any organized logical flow of ideas. Such writings have disintegrated parts that the reader find hard to connect to derive any meaning or understanding of the reading. In addition, lack of a complete and sensible story discourages readers from engaging with an argumentative writing. Argumentative essays should be clear, complete, and relevant to the main point. For instance, an argumentative writing that fails to address both sides of an argument is incomplete, biased, and insufficient to the reader’s needs. All argumentative essays should be factual and grammatically correct to appease the reader and convince them to support the ideas presented in the text. An argumentative writing that presents incorrect information or uses an informal language discourages reading. Ideally, convincing texts must depict originality, creativity, and simplicity in presenting the central idea. Complex and unoriginal texts also discourage reading. For instance, argumentative writing that only presents what the reader knows is not

Multiaxial Diagnosis of Joseph Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multiaxial Diagnosis of Joseph - Case Study Example This is a sign of delusion where inpatient assume that people are reading their thoughts and trying to harm them in some way. In psychotic disorder, at times people can look calm and may not project themselves to be a patient. They behave like a normal person and only when they converse about their experience clinician can identify the problem. Joseph had been reported saying that his upstairs neighbors read his thoughts and left negative comments like â€Å"You are no good!† and â€Å"Lisa wants nothing to do with you!† "Why don't you just leave!".  According to DSM people suffering from the psychotic disorder can suffer from delusion and feel like people are saying things related to him and they also feel to have supernatural powers. Joseph is reported to feel like have telepathic powers which are a sign of delusion and hallucination. .â€Å" Delusions are false beliefs that significantly hinder a persons ability to function.   For example, believing that people are trying to hurt you when there is no evidence of this, or believing that you are somebody else, such as Jesus Christ or Cleopatra.   Hallucinations are false perceptions.   They can be visual, auditory, olfactory or tactile†(Heffner, 2002). According to DSM people with psychotic disorder suffer from abnormal thinking and perceptions. Joseph thinks that the people on the street could read his mind and understand the plans he had made for himself. He specifies that when he was in the kitchen and planning the dinner menu, the person on the street already shouted the menu. When people suffer from psychotic problems they lose touch with the real world and assume things which are imaginary and delusive. Joseph had a past occurrence of the psychological problem in college days where he received counseling for the same. This shows that he was susceptible to mental disorder and the major stress of unemployment triggered a psychotic situation in him.

Cognitive Aspect of the Mind at the Middle Age Research Paper

Cognitive Aspect of the Mind at the Middle Age - Research Paper Example In addition to that, physically, Berger (2007) stated that apart from the more fine lines and wrinkles around the forehead, eyes, and mouth uncovering themselves, sagging and discoloration of the skin also materialize due to the fact that the skin of the middle-aged is now less elastic as to compared when they were younger. Moreover, physical fitness decreases too. This, later on, affects the middle-aged through the manifestation of different ailments. These signs of aging are to be the most visible ones, though. On the one hand, the cognitive aspect of the middle-aged mind is also a subject to several criticisms.   Some argue that mental ability declines when people age. In fact, the brain function in the middle years has a reputation that it does not operate at a fast rate relative to the time of its youth.   However, despite such reputation, Phillips (2011) found out that the middle-aged mind is capable of preserving a number of capacities during its youth and all the more so, has the potential to foster some new strengths. In this regard, the focus of this research mainly delves into studying the middle-age process with a particular look at the mind of the middle age.   In particular, it intends to address three specific objectives. First, it aims to understand how the society perceives the middle-aged adult’s mental capacity.   Second, it targets to describe the perceived weak cognitive characteristics of the middle-aged adult. Third, it points to determining what the strong aspects of the mind at the middle age are. Indeed, society views aging negatively.   People attach a lot of negative images to those individuals who are no longer young.   These negative images include undesirably describing the mental capacity of the older individuals.   However, only a few researchers investigated the cognitive ability of the middle-aged adult.   It is in this regard why this research is of importance. Through grasping an understanding of the a bilities of mind of the middle age, this study can contribute to viewing the mental abilities of the human mind positively.

Self reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self reflections - Essay Example dicates, students of higher education are significantly involved and particular when it comes to the tools of assessment being utilized to measure their academic endeavor. While reading the journal, I could not help looking back on a personal experience as a student who equally desired understanding and meeting certain expectations according to my interpretation of the standards set by the school. I recall special moments when I had reached the extent of being definite about my career goals and naturally convicting myself that I wanted to be an educator. At this stage, I came to value the real essence of teaching and learning as well as how they work hand-in-hand to sustain each other within a system of free, assertive, and technical interactions. There had nevertheless been struggling times wherein passing or maintaining an impressive scholastic status due either to a course I could barely cope with or a competition seemed quite influential. Like some others who sneaked their way out of genuine efforts by gaming a hidden curriculum, I must admit the guilt of having strategized to obtain a favorable assessment even with poor quality of learning. Throu gh this assigned reading activity, thus, I have realized the degree at which I had defeated the objective of education myself on becoming a cue-seeker drawn into the implausible action of trading noble pursuit of studies with the sole benefit of an acceptable or remarkable grade. In this manner though, I manage to designate how the issue on one’s sense of fulfillment may be addressed properly. What strays one from the ideal purpose of learning turns out to be a misleading focus on assessment especially as students compromise with time and energy to persevere with not necessarily the path of academic development but the path that enables a learner to adapt to alternative means of yielding optimum yield at the end of the course. As long as they arrive at the desired grades, they hardly pay regard to whether or not

U.S. Government Bailouts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

U.S. Government Bailouts - Essay Example The transport industry, for example, is the American economic backbone. The industry sustains trade and the travel of people throughout the fifty-two states. The country therefore requires an efficient and elaborate transport industry that does not face any serious financial challenges, which may weaken its operations (Muolo 41). To ensure this, the government provides tax reliefs and financial incentives to bigger corporations in the transport industry, which include oil companies, airlines among other stakeholders in the industry. The bailout is a maritime term inferring to the process of removing water from a sinking ship using smaller buckets. The term is used in the financial sectors therefor to refer to the nature in which the government gives financial aid to its major corporations during difficult financial times. Bailouts are often formulated and implemented through acts of parliament; the lawmakers discuss the economic situation and therefore determines the appropriate amount of money capable of ensuring that a corporation stays operational despite the financial challenges at the time. The government gives out the money in a form of a loan, which the company pays later after it stabilizes its operations. Additionally, the government gives out the bailouts in the form of grants or through the purchase of shares of a poorly performing corporation. The different methods of providing the bailout depends on the nature of the financial crisis and the size and importance of the corporation among others. Bailouts have consequences; the government draws its funding from the taxpayers. This implies that the government uses the taxpayers’ money in salvaging poorly managed corporations since every organization should have an effective emergency management strategy, which ensures it never becomes bankrupt. Bankruptcy is often a result of poor management of the public corporation, ineffective market surveys and projections. The use of the government money in bailing out such companies have serious economic consequences since he government operates on a tight budget annually. It therefore compels the government to replace certain economic activities to save the money for bailing out such failing companies. The redirection of the government money therefore results in inadequate management of certain government ministries, which had to reduce their spending (Shaanan 31). Additionally, the government may try to raise the money within a short period by increasing the rate of taxation. This results in the increase of price of some of the most essential commodities such as fuel at the expense of the citizens . The United States of America has often used bailouts as an effective method of revamping the economy thereby maintaining its position as the strongest economy in the world. In the last century alone, the country has faced five major financial crises, which prompted the initiation of expansive bailout plans to some of the leading corporations in the country. The five financial crises include the Great Depression, which affected the entire world following the end of the First World War. During this period, countries shied away from one another thereby paralyzing international trade. Additionally, the intense conflict that lasted years prevented any major economic activity such as agriculture and countries that had relied on agriculture but served as battlegrounds such as the Japan, Italy and Germany faced the worst. The slow economic activiti

Crisis analysis- major assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Crisis analysis- major assessment - Essay Example There are important areas that have been focused on this subject. Knowing the informational content is a vital responsibility for any crisis communication. Informational content basses on the following principles; what do the authorities know concerning the crisis? What is it that they want people to consent? And how are they going to deliver the information to the people accordingly?. Media also is another based area of concern. The primary task that the management ask themselves is that how will they get their content from them into the minds of the public. Another based field is the assessment of the audience. From the study of the past years, it reveals that a successful progress in crisis communication has been a sector that is growing bearing in mind that not all people are intelligent (Jaques 2007). Due to variations in knowledge, values, and emotions, it gives the assessors very tough time in giving out the information. Basing on what, do they need to reach the people, what they have in their mind already and the effect that will arise the moment they are told about the crisis? Involving the audience also is another aspect that needs to be put into concern. Targeting a deliverable communication at the two-way end and the mode that they need to keep immediate audience active is their worry. Self-assessment gives self-examination on the effect of values, emotions, and political problems relating to crisis management (Coombs 2009). From the definition approaches, there have not been good levels of agreement that demonstrate critically what is a crisis and what the issue is in management. Many writers have analyzed problem management, and it was found to lack clarity. Crisis, on the other hand, has been hard to be defined indecently without the placement of crisis management. The illustration of this by individual scholars shows a thesis that identify a frequent

The Art of Sacrifice Essay Example for Free

The Art of Sacrifice Essay Sacrifice, the concept of giving up something valuable as a means of gaining more desirable things or preventing evil, is a fascinating art that has long intrigued humankind. In particular, two American texts have captured the essence of it , The Great Gatsby by F.S. Fitzgerald and the 1999 movie American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes. Both texts closely explore the responsibility of an individuals relationship with his or her society for the sacrifices the individual makes; from the disillusionment of the American Dream to how the characters are affected or destroyed by it. In the world of Jay Gatsby and Lester Burnham, ideals and values are defined by their society. More specifically, theirs is a consumer-driven society, resulting in false values which place importance on materialism and hedonism, disregarding morality and spirituality. In The Great Gatsby, these values are embodied through the juxtaposition and repetition of West and East. The Mid-West of America and West Egg, where Nick and Gatsby originate and inhabit, represent moral integrity, spirituality and innocence in contrast to the East Coast of America and East Egg, where the Buchanans live, which are full of self-indulgence, material wealth and moral decadence. The function of the characters is to enhance these values depending on where they come from, Mid-Western Nick for an example is a self-described moral person (I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known) but Tom Buchanan from the East is portrayed as a ruthless, racist womanizer who is careless in using and letting other people clean up the mess [he] had made. Similarly, the opening scene in American Beauty is of a high-angle pan across a picturesque suburb and then a cut to an equally picturesque large house with a neat lawn and beautiful rose beds. This quickly highlights the concept of a social ideal to strive for, as Lester Burnhams house is portrayed as the epitome of American homes with its perfect white walls and bright red door, and it is promptly linked to consumerism through the means of his wife Carolyn, who is a competitive real estate agent she sells this American Dream, leading to the social notion that if you have money, then you can have anything. All the se techniques are used to emphasize the major role of society in defining social values and aspirations. Therefore the individual, in an attempt to gain happiness and fulfillment, will strive for the values that society imposes. They adopt the social ideals and then make sacrifices in order to achieve them. Since the first glimpse of Carolyn cultivating a perfect red rose in American Beauty, it has become the symbol for her. Like the outwardly perfect rose, she is seen as the modern-age successful businesswoman who has it all the perfect family, the perfect house, the perfect job, all reflecting her philosophy of in order to be successful, one must maintain an image of success at all times. However, like these perfect roses, she has no scent thus no soul, and instead she uses the roses as a substitute for genuine emotion and affection. The starkest example is found in the first Burnham dinner scene where the closest thing to warmth comes from the scarlet color of the centerpiece roses as everything else in the frame, Carolyns family included, are cold and sombre due to the predominance of shadows, blue hues and lack of friendly conversation. In this way, she sacrifices real feelings for surface appearances. This makes her similar to Daisy in The Great Gatsby who, in choosing Tom over Gatsby twice, makes the sacrifice of love for social status and material possession. She endures Toms blatant infidelities to achieve the comfort and respectability that the consumer-driven and superficial society demands and like Carolyn, places emphasis on outwards appearance with her wish that her daughter would be a fool thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. Even Gatsbys sense of ideal is no more or no less than which his society can offer him. Everything about Jay Gatsby is based on what James Gatz believes that society would find attractive as he does not enjoy his own wild parties, which shows that he does this for the sake of a socially accepted image rather than personal taste, that he is the advertisement of a man not the actual man himself. Indeed Gatsby adopts societys false values and he uses other mens desires as his standard of value a reason why he found Daisy so appealing in the first place, many men had already loved Daisy it increased her value in his eyes. However it must be noted that not all characters are like the aforementioned in their sacrifices, as no matter what the society dictates the ability to choose still lies in the power of the individual. While society may have itsb  guidelines of social acceptability, it is up to the individual whether or not to follow the guidelines. Nick, the voice of The Great Gatsby, is initially attracted to the wealth and glamor of the East but upon realizing that it creates a frantic, aimless lifestyle without substance nor spirituality, rejects it in the end. This milestone is marked by Nicks return to the Mid-West, which is symbolic of his rejection of the superficiality, materialism and amoral disposition of the East and his embracement of the traditional, wholesome values of the Mid-West. In American Beauty, Lesters encounter and resultant obsession with Angela makes him realize the emptiness of his life and he remembers the things he wants again, I feel like Ive been in a coma for about twenty years, and Im just waking up. He then sacrifices and rejects social expectations for his own happiness as he sees the illusion of the American Dream and how his family has lost their way in attempting to follow it. One of the ways Lester tries to capture the remembered joy of his youth is through the purchase of a sports car, a 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car that I always wanted and now I have it. I rule! The Firebird is a symbol of his rebellion against suburban expectations and also one of power at the beginning of the film, Carolyn drives Lester everywhere, conveying his lack of drive, but with the Firebird, he drives himself to places he is in control of his own life once more. This echoes the power that all individuals have in making their own choices in life. Yet the choices that an individual makes reflect the relationship between him or her and their society. How the individual perceives the nature of their society is displayed in their choice of sacrifice, and it is also synonymous with the amount of control left in themselves that is not handed over to society. Carolyn, who is the embodiment of American materialism, has literally sold her soul for it, that is given up all her power and individuality to social expectations. She sacrifices morality and principle for success, and is preoccupied with maintaining this image of success with her expensive house and immaculate rose garden. Indeed, in the midst of an intimate moment with Lester, she stops it because of her fear of spilling beer on a four thousand dollar sofa upholstered in Italian silk which shows the extent to which she esteems materialism and societys values over her own  desires. In contrast, her daughter Jane is able to see what is truly important and rejects the society she lives in, as evident in her choice of unattractive clothes which are predominantly black the color of teenage rebellion. Hence she sacrifices the values of her family for her own values and she maintains her uniqueness and inner beauty. This is seen first dinner scene where Janes face in lit up by the candles whilst her parents faces are in the shadows. The light implies a halo around Jane and makes her a spiritually more worthy character than her parents, a beauty that the boy-next-door Ricky does not miss. In the The Great Gatsby, Gatsby unwittingly entraps himself to an endless pattern of imitation for he has allowed society to take over him, stripping him bare of individuality apart from his dream. Therefore, because he finds social acceptance so vital in winning the approval of Daisy, he sacrifices anything undesirable which is everything about poor Jimmy Gatz. He turns himself into the wealthy Jay Gatsby, a Platonic conception of himself and in fabricating his personal history and constructing an ideal image out of magazines, Gatsby loses his real self. While his dream may be pure and redeemable, he bases it on social superficial values and materialism which means that when the dream is destroyed and he fails to attain Daisy, he is already spiritually dead for all his superficiality becomes insignificant and pointless. In the final moments of his life, Nick envisions Gatsby realizing the hollowness of his life, his lack of true self, having lost along the path to his dream, a new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air. The word choice of ghosts is significant for that is what Gatsby really has become, for he is simply an actor with no true body or identity of his own, having lived his life according to societys values not his own. Therefore the relationship between an individual and society is an important determent in the extent of sacrifices they make. In the end, it is the relationship between the individual and his or her society which is ultimately responsible for the sacrifices he or she makes. Separately, the society and individual make up only two influences, and are not the actual causes of the sacrifice the society defines values and dreams, of which the individual has the choice to try and strive for. Rather it is the complex dynamics between the two that triggers the sacrifice.  Individuals who adhere to and revere social standards will make the greatest sacrifices to achieve socially orientated goals. If the goals are unworthy or false, the individual may however lose themselves spiritually along the way. But individuals who rebel against society and oppose social values will consider those goals as undeserving and their sacrifices for it will be little to none. Indeed, these individuals will sacrifice social expectations for personal happiness and values instead. Through the characters in The Great Gatsby and American Beauty, Sam Mendes and F.S. Fitzgerald seem to imply that this latter way is better and yields more fruitful results. Bibliography: Commager, Henry Steele. The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880s. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribners, 1925; New York: Cambridge UP, 1991. Novel.

The Culture And Cricket Media Essay

The Culture And Cricket Media Essay Sports play an important role in the life of millions across the globe. Not only are the social and political identities shaped through them, but it also mobilizes the emotions and channels the conflicts rooted in the society. Just like the soccer world cup can unite a divided Spanish society, a cricket match can rouse the passions of the thousands of Indian fans thus uniting them across religions. Sports form a part of the worldwide entertainment industry. The corporates have millions riding on the different tournaments and cups in the games and to increase their marketability they hire sports stars to be the brand ambassadors of their products, investing in the saleability of the game and its icon. Distinct social meanings can be constructed and deconstructed through the sports and their interplay with the society. A few sports have now developed into social forces of unprecedented importance. Andrei Markovits has talked about the evolution of the hegemonic sports culture in which only a few sports become a part of the popular culture. It is defined by watching, following, worrying, debating, living, and speaking a sport rather than merely playing it. This is demonstrated in the following that the sports nowdays have huge following, fans live, eat and breathe their favourite sports. Cricket is one of the sports that have been elevated to being a part of the popular culture and it influences the cultural and social milieu and the life of people. Cricket has acquired an unimaginable power over the daily habits of people and as a sport has crossed the immediate consumer-producer relationship. The game of cricket has evolved over a period of time and our focus will be on its development from a gentlemans game to the game of sledging and to the game of gamesmanship behaviour. Cricket has its cultura l and historical roots in Victorian England. The Victorian tradition of the sport defines it as a predominantly male game and its image as a gentlemans game is drawn from it. Cricket was the game associated with aristocracy while soccer has been the game associated with masses. The mark of the game has been the fairplay and the sportsmanship. The values of courtesy and chivalry were seeked to be imbibed in the game. Rules were to be followed on-field and decorum was to be maintained both on and off-field. There are not rules in cricket but laws which have to be followed keeping in spirit with the nature of the game. Britains imperialism and its bourgeoisie capitalistic culture, codified the language of the game and the rules and regulations were universally accepted. As Steve Readhead had put it that it was time to take law and cricket seriously and there is nothing as important as Cricket. A strict application of laws was expected and a spirit of chivalry inundated the game. The 18 th century was important in the spread of the game due to English imperialism. The game was transported to the colonies of the British Commonwealth and the tradition of the game was fully adhered to. Sanskritization was a theory propounded by M.N. Srinivas which postulates that the lower strata of the society seeks upward mobility in the social ladder by emulating the habits and practices of the upper strata. But what followed in cricket was its reverse sanskritization. Initially cricket in the Indian subcontinent was an elitist game patronized by the royalty and played by the upper strata of the society who appreciated the elitist culture of the game. The doyens of cricket included Maharajas of Jamnagar, Maharaja Viji of Vijaynagar, Maharaja of Patiala who belonged to the royal families while the prominent players like Lala Amarnath, Vijay Merchant belonged to the upper social class. Till the 1930s Cricket remained the gentlemans game and fairplay was of paramount importance. But slowly changes could be observed in the way the game was played. In the era following the first world war chauvinistic sentiments were on the rise. Feelings of nationalism increased in the people which were visible in every domain of life including the sports culture. To win the game became the number one priority of the sportsperson and this change was visible in the game of cricket too. Now winning involved the nations prestige. Cricket is a game worth taking trouble over and playing well, wrote Douglas Jardine, the former England cricket captain, in Cricket: How to Succeed (1936), but like all other games there is a right and a wrong way of playing it (Jardine 1936: 3). The changing times reflected the changing sentiments in the way cricket was played. In 1930 Australia had scored an easy victory over England with the emergence of the legendary batsman Donald Bradman. His brilliant performance in the test series had made the English fearful. In the 1932 test series between England and Australia, the priority of the English bowlers was to contain Bradmans score. Under captain Douglas Jardine, and employed by the England fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce a new technique of bowling was developed whereby a batsman could be contained by limiting the range of his strokes and by encouraging error. This was called the bodyline or fast-leg theory. The bowlers targeted the body of the Australian batsman. The deliveries used to be led provoked the batsman which would then end in a catch to one of the six or more fielders stationed on the leg side. Thus the Australian Board of Cricket lodged a formally protested against the unsportsmanlike behavior by the English players. This test series was controversial as it engendered ill-feeling between the two countries and it also raised among the English and the Australians, questions about the interpretations that codes of cricket mean and could mean. Questions were also raised about the right and wrong way to play and these included the cultural and social interface and their relation with the game. Systems of meanings were explored in the game by both sides that had previously been left implicit. Post the Bodyline series The Australian journalist and cricketer Arthur Mailey pointed that something modern was happening to cricket. Argus newspaper explained bodyline as a portrayal of a new set of values which was a result of the modern age (Mailey 1933: 12; Stoddart 1979: 136). C. L. R. James also read the series in these terms, though he saw Jardines strategy as an escalation of cricketing tendencies already established by Bradman himself. It was the violence and ferocity of our age expressing itself in cricket, he writes in Beyond a Boundary (James 1963: 186). The reverse sanskritization of cricket was palpable, the upper strata of society had adopted the social mores of the lower strata. Aggression became a part of the play and victory became the aim of the players which was to be attained at all costs. As Jardine had put it the right and the wrong way of playing described the ambiguity between the moral and the technical semantics, which defined the aftermath of victories in Australia. Jardine resigned as the English captain after the series, but the game lost its sense of fairplay and sportsmanship. The elitist culture was giving way to mass culture. Sportsmanship slowly gave way to gamesmanship. The spirit of the cricket laws was replaced by the letters. Vinoo Mankad Mankaded Bill Brown. It occurred during Indias tour of Australia on 13 December 1947 in the second test match at Sydney. Mankading is a method of dismissal in which the bowler runs a batsman out in his delivery stride. While it is a statistically rare occurrence in cricket in general, and even rarer in Test cricket, it is the clearest and starkest example of the conflict between legal formalism in cricket and an ideal of the game based on higher or more important ethical norms. Sledging has become a part of contemporary cricket added by the problems of match fixing. The game shifted from being an elitist culture to a game of the masses. The commercialization resulted in the real essence of cricket being lost. Due to commercialization there has been an increase in level of competition between the teams. Though big bucks are being made by people involved yet the quality of the game is being compromised. The gentlemans game became the game of the masses. It is evident that there are two dominant trains of thought, one that believes in the higher order of the game, which was practised in the days gone by. Fairplay was the code of the game and the laws which were to be applied to the game reinforced the higher and truer order of the game. The hegemonic sports culture represents frozen spaces. These spaces are like the ones presented by political parties and political systems which are resistant to any innovation in the system. Changes are resisted by the social and cultural forces. Sports spaces create emotional attachments and collective identifications. Tradition defines these spaces at local, national and regional level. Globalization exerts pressures on the localized sports cultures which they resist. Sports like politics remains local, the love that people have for their sport and their institutions associated with it like the myths, legends, colours and the pubs and bars. Thus change is always resisted due to the fear of losing t hese attachments and the sense of identity. But the post industrial globalization is exerting unprecedented pressure on the sports spaces. The cultural and social spaces are being challenged by the globalization. The identities and allegiances which constitute the differences in the landscape of sports and politics began to blur round the edges. Hegemonic sports cultures are becoming prolific across the globe, at pace with the development of media and pop culture which are interdependent. An example here can be given of the IPL 20-20 which in origin is Indian but has a universal following. The foreign and the Indian players are given equal respect and are admired by all. In the present age sports like cricket present a cosmopolitan culture which cannot be found in the society which is deeply divided on basis of borders and religion. Cricket provides attachments and allegiances and a new form of cosmopolitan identity. This cosmopolitan nature of the sport facilitates an acknowledgeme nt of the best talents and it transforms the collective identities. Like Ronaldinho and Zidane, the greatest and the best known of the soccer players, Sachin Tendulkar too is adored and worshipped by millions of cricket fans across the globe. He too has attained a celebrity status and is a cultural icon. He is a superstar in his own right and is a truly global player. He has a cultural production beyond the playing field. Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God. Is one of the sayings which can describe the mania associated with Tendulkar. Youth not only adore and worship a Tendulkar or a Lara, they try to adopt their aggression, composure, warmth into their personality. Cricketers shape and mould the youth behaviour. They follow their slangs, dress, hairstyle and attitude. Players are globally admired and they are representatives of cultural understandings of the worlds diverse societies. Often the sports spaces are the first through which migrants gain social acceptance and recognition. Hence cricket in a way is a medium of cultural exchange. An other example that can be given is of the infamous Monkeygate Scandal involving the Autralian cricketer Andrew Symonds and Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh. Singh was accused to racially abusing Symonds. This had led to rigorous protests by the Indian fans and there was resentment against Symonds in the Indian cricket followers. But he was accepted and adored by the fans nce he joined the IPL as a member of the Mumbai Indians. Maarten Van Bottenburg and Johan Heilbron have shown in their research on Ultimate fighting and other No Holds Barred Events that these sports had developed in opposition to the overly cosmopolitan and sportized venues. Men wanted a fight without rules without being overly regulated. They wanted to find out who the best was and who would be the last man standing without being hassled any authority and bureaucratic system. They were not there to find out who the best wrestler or the best boxer was, but they wanted to know who the best fighter was. This transformation was visible in cricket too. Cricket has always had a strong male bias among its followers and the masculine idea of the patriarchal Victorian England formed the opinions about cricket being essentially a male game. The effeminate and technical Test cricket slowly lost its sheen to limited 50 over cricket and finally to 20-20. The shorter form of game were considered virile, no hold barred power display and excited the mas ses. From the leisurely gentlemans game cricket became an aggressive sport whose priority was to please the spectators. The contests used to be localized earlier but due to the quick channels of communication, these attained global dimensions by acquiring rules and regulations and television contracts. When Bill Shankly had been asked to explain the importance of soccer, the Liverpool manager had exclaimed: Some people think football is a matter of life or death. I dont like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more important than that. Cricket can easily be substituted for soccer in the context of the Indian subcontinent. The games can vary from country to country yet the social and cultural phenomena associated with each game are the same everywhere.

Queen Victoria :: essays research papers

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 and she died in 1901. She was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901). Queen Victoria was born Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819, in Kensington Palace, London. Victoria's mother was Victoria Mary Louisa, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Her father was Edward Augustus, duke of Kent and Strathern, the fourth son of George III and youngest brother of George IV and William IV, they were kings of Great Britain. Because William IV had no legal children, his niece Victoria became inheritor apparent to the British crown upon his accession in 1830. On June 20, 1837, with the expiration of William IV. Victoria became queen at the age of 18. Early in her power Victoria developed a serious concern with goings on of state, guided by her first prime minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was leader of that wing of the Whig Party that later became known as the Liberal Party. He exercised a immovably progressive command on the political thinking of the sovereign. Marriage In 1840 Victoria married her first cousin, Albert, ruler of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who she had known for about four years. Although this was a wedlock of state, it was a highly extravagant and prosperous one, and Victoria was devoted to her family responsibilities. The first of their nine children was Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, later queen of Germany. Their first son, Albert Edward, prince of Wales and later monarch of Great Britain as Edward VII, was born in 1841. When the cautious Prince Albert persuaded her that Liberal policy jeopardized the coming of the Crown, the queen began to lose her eagerness for the party. After 1841, when the Melbourne government fell and Sir Robert Peel became prime minister, Victoria was an enthusiastic supporter of the Conservative Party. Also under Albert's influence, she began to interrogation the tradition that restricted the British ruling to an advisory part. In 1850 she challenged the command of Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, alien secretary in the Whig government that had been in command since 1846. Her post was that the sovereign should at least be consulted on different policy. Palmerston, independent and self-assertive, disregarded the request. Their conflict reached a crucial period in 1851, when the prime minister, Lord John Russell, who was also unhappy with Palmerston's elective methods, removed him from the foreign office.

Justice and Social Order in The Oresteia Essay -- Aeschylus Oresteia

Justice and Social Order in The Oresteia  Ã‚   Democracy, emerging in the city-state of Athens, allowed unprecedented power to her citizens. Among these new powers was the ability to legislate. Yet, legislation was not without its problems. First the citizens must agree upon what is just and unjust, and then enforce the law by bringing the unjust to reconcile their guilt with the public through trial, and finally dispense the appropriate penalty. This evolution was not without concern. The Greeks were attempting to establish a governmental system which would span the middle ground between anarchy and despotism. By the crimes played out in Aeschylus' tragic trilogy The Oresteia, Aeschylus demonstrates the contrast between anarchy and despotism, and judges them both guilty. Indeed he shows, by the end of the play, that the only way man can be absolved of guilt is by joining leagues with the gods in a united effort to promote justice. His premise is supported by sequentially following the criminal legacy of the house of Atreus, and showing that the curse of continued injustice can only be ended by the cooperative effort of man and god. Aeschylus draws his contrast between anarchy and despotism through the main characters in the play. First Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, though never appearing himself in the trilogy is a central figure and the vehicle by which the curse is introduced. His crime is that of anarchy. Second, Agamemnon returns from Troy with the blood guilt of despotism. Next, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's queen, represents a mixture of the two evils in that she portrays a self-serving ruler. Finally Orestes, son of Agamemnon, is introduced as a pious man who allows his fate to be determined by the gods in conjuncti... ... of the trilogy it was demonstrated the power that democracy wielded. It was able to eliminate anarchy and despotism by the middle ground. Although this had previously been the role of the Erinyes (Eu., ln.526-30), they had through the play proven themselves unsuccessful. Thus at the end of the Eumenides, Aeschylus has the Furies relinquish governance of the city to the citizens, and bestow honor on the people (Eu., ln.1016-20). Therefore Aeschylus demonstrated that democracy allowed for the union between man and gods that neither anarchy or despotism could achieve. Moreover, it was only through this union that justice could be served and the ancient laws and ways could be overturned. With this new social order, man celebrated unprecedented equality, honor and prosperity Works Cited: Aeschylus. Oresteia. Trans. Peter Meineck. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998.

Essay --

Government type: Republic Capital: Suva Geographic coordinates: 18 08 S, 178 25 E Time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins fourth Sunday in October; ends third Sunday in January Legal system: the legal system of Fiji is similar to the Canadian system. National holiday: Independence Day, second Monday of October (1970) Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal Administrative Divisions: 4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Wester Fiji is an island, which demonstrated get value and potential this can be shown through theirs Government system. Fiji government was formed in 1970; its legal system is similar to the English government. The three branches of government that make up Fiji are the Executive branch Legislative branch and the judicial branch. Each branch of government takes care of a specific part. The executive branch takes care of the law being made in Fiji. These laws are made and appointed by President Ratu Epeli NAILATIKAU. The Legislative branch acts to amend and repea...

Four Seasons Goes to Paris

Four Seasons Goes to Paris: 53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy Four Seasons is the world’s leading operator of luxury hotels and resorts. They are well known not only in the U. S. but they are a huge international hit. They have been successful over the last thirty years because of their strengths of diversity and originality. Four Seasons does not want to be a globalization of markets like McDonald’s, where everyone is the same. They are not a â€Å"cookie-cutter company. This is a great tactic to have because then you would not be such a high class hotel and resort. Also, when you go international you have to be in touch with all of the cultural changes which can make or break your business. They have done an exceptional job of adapting to the different cultures. When you walk into a four seasons hotel â€Å"it does not scream four seasons at you. † Another reason why they are so successful is because the top management have been around for over 25 year s. This means that they are extremely familiar with to the company and how everything works and they can easily train the new employees. Once trained then they become part of the family. â€Å"Both corporate and field managers often referred to the firm as a family, complete with rules, traditions, and tough love. † I believe this is a one of the main reasons why they are so successful. If your employees are happy to wake up and come to work in the morning knowing everyone is basically a family member makes them work a lot harder because you do not want to let down a family member. The workers made the guest feel so comfortable and at home that the guest wanted to buy the linens to remind them of the stay. The seven four seasons â€Å"service culture standards† rules make the guest always feel welcome in the hotel and make them always want to come back and tell people how well of a stay they had. The last and I think the most important reason why the four season have been successful for the past four years is because the emphasis on the golden rule. â€Å"one should treath others as one would wish to be treated. If you work in a people oriented business where you need to please your guests, this is the mindset you should be in for a successful business. â€Å"Despite the success of four seasons, approach and philosophy, management knew that entering France would be a challenge. † I feel that how they entered was perfect. They entered in a very powerful manner by deciding to manage the George V which is right in the middle of the French capital an d is the â€Å"highest possible quality asset in the best location. They basically came in and took over and told everyone how it is going to be run. They did respect a lot of the working hour rules, and the hours by a window rules and stuff like. I really liked the aspect that they kept the hotel running like it always has been even though in France they do things a lot differently with customer service. It was good that they hired depending on the attitude. â€Å"What we need is people who can adapt, either to guests from all over the world or to operating a variety of countries. I like this because it says that the workers need to adapt to the guests no matter where they are from because that is how the four seasons does it. If they would of came into this situation any different, I feel that they would have been pushed out and the hotel would of turned bad. They only bad thing I can come up with is that they did change a lot of the culture around because the French are differe nt on their customer service than Americans. They are polychromic people compared to how we operate as a monochromic people. If you are a firm entering a market you have to be very familiar with what the culture is your are dealing with. Some cultures are very religious and if you try to change their ways then it could be going against their religion. But in the lessons from this case I believe you can enter a market like they did but you have to be cautious of what you change because if it goes bad then your reputation could go under and then you are bankrupt in that market.

Western Countries Influence on China in the 19th Century

For quite a long period of time, China has had the largest economy in the world. Concepts such as use of money and development of merchant class were introduced by the ancient China. The Chinese exhibited a false sense of superiority as they believed that they had nothing to gain by trading with other countries. The country was locked to external trade and it was not until after the Opium War that the country was forcefully opened to the world, which carried both positive and negative effects (Rawski, Para. 2). In the time of cold war, the literature which talked about China’s development focused on two major issues, one was that the involvement in international trade was less likely to be helpful in search of economic development for poor countries. The second was that the culture and social structure of China was a great impediment to its development. It was believed that substantial development in the country would only arise after major and dramatic changes were carried out to the social structure and individual behavior (Overholt. 22). According to Rawski (Para. ), the 19th century was in the Qing Period of the Canton trade and the balance of payment was in favor of Chinese as the silver flowed into the country. It was at this period that the British discovered a favorable market for opium in China as it shipped opium from India. This new discovery made the silver flow to reverse as outflow of silver increased. The balance of payment was no longer favorable as the trend decrease d money supply in the economy. The resultant effect was a downward pressure on general prices of goods and services that led to economic problems. The Qing court wanted to stop the outflow of silver and Commissioner Lin was sent to Canton in the efforts to stop the trade of opium. He confiscated property that belonged to the British traders and destroyed this business. When the traders complained to their government, the British government responded with military pressure which led to the opium war and unequal treaties system. The British soldiers easily outgunned the Qing forces as they had superior weapons. The Qing then surrendered in the year 1842 and the treaty of Nanking was signed. It allowed unrestricted European access to Chinese ports and the island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. During the war, farm areas were destroyed, and millions of lives were lost that made China’s income to fall. Another war that emerged between the British and the Chinese led to grievous losses and British warships obtained unlimited access to all rivers in China provided they were navigable. All official Chinese documents were to be written in English (U. S. Department of State, Para. 10a). The system of unequal treaties had economic impact on China and it also infringed on their political sovereignty. It led to the imposition of a free trade regime that allowed unlimited trade in all goods and services which eventually was obliged to allow foreign investment and foreign trade as well. The fact that China was large and far from the coast, was a reason that the foreign trade was not a large component of the economy. However, with the coming of new technology which involved rail road and telegraph, the Chinese were eager to utilize these opportunities. New commodities were thus adopted and organizational innovations implemented. In 1860s, the Qing dynasty initiated several institutional reforms in order to deal with the problem of modernization (Gibson 59). The Chinese had a vague concept of European countries and it was not until the opium war that they tried to understand the west in form of their ideologies, social and political structures. Technology was thus introduced into the country as much as democracy and capitalism were recognized by the citizens. They realized that by being locked to other countries, they were left ignorant of significant concepts and ideologies from other countries. The need to conquer the west made them interested in understanding the west in form of their economic structures and political structures. It was certain that the defeat in the opium war was due to the better technology; lethal western weapons, and strong ships. It was then that reform was underway in China (Beeching 47). Economic Reforms In the early 19th century, China was completely closed and isolated itself from other countries in the world. Foreign trade was limited in the city of Canton and it was not until the opium war that led to the signing of Nanjing treaty, that China’s ports were opened and western merchants found their way into the Chinese market. The effect on Chinese economy was significant as they had least expected it. The effect of opening up of China did not have just the negative effects but it also had good and positive effects on the economy and social relationships which existed in the people of Qing Dynasty. Among the negative effects that we shall look in details are internal struggles, increase in the rate of crime, economic downfall in the city of Canton and the increase in the economic welfare at the cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 7). Chinese local industries were affected by cheaper western machine made products. This created so much pressure on the local industries as they had to adapt and reform in order to compete with the western merchants. The defeat of China in the opium war was enough to convince the Chinese that they were no longer the ‘Heavenly Middle Kingdom’ that they always thought they were. They were thus awakened and exposed to the reality of progress (Gibson 32). Chinese were used to being self reliant as they had a self sufficient domestic trade. This was occasioned to a large extent by the fact that it has an immense home trade. It has a vast land that their internal trade is sufficient to perform commercial operations. In opening up, China was able to compare itself with other nations internationally and thus realized that it was no longer on top of the world. Chinese thus developed a sense of purpose and a desire to improve their economy; it was a period of awakening the giant (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 53). Various economic repercussions were obtained after the opening of China. The flourishing of foreign trade was evident as China increased its export from 7. 5 million kilograms of tea in 1843 to 42 million kilograms in 1855. The export of silk also increased significantly. The demand of tea and silk led to the expansion of tea and silk producing regions as they greatly benefited from foreign trade. Another economic effect was a monetary crisis which resulted from the increased volumes of trade activities. There was a reduction in the Spanish silver dollar and it appreciated so much that it was abolished and the Mexican dollar introduced. These problems were enhanced by internal monetary crises that were instigated mainly by poor administration. The copper cash that prevailed in China depreciated significantly as a result of inadequate supply of copper. This devastated Chinese financial system and in 1853, the country had to result to paper money (Beeching 67). There was a significant effect on the textile industry. Prior to the Opium War, the Chinese made cloths by hand. This industry was almost eliminated as open system led to the importation of cheaper machine-made cloths and other products. The native textile industries had to adapt by lowering their charges, though this was detrimental to the textile workers. Their wages were reduced as the textile industries looked for ways of reducing their operation costs and led to lowering the living standards of these workers (Beeching 63). The old Chinese self-sufficient economy was changing under pressure. China’s social-economical development was affected by western capitalistic societies. This however did not lead to the formation of capitalistic China but rather made it to a semi-colonial semi-feudal state. The Chinese industries had been exposed to the outside states but at a time when they had not anticipated it. They were thus less prepared and less equipped to compete with these international industries. The opening up of China meant that the people who used to transport goods to Canton (mostly the Hakkas) were left without jobs. The majority of trade shifted from Canton to Shanghai as Shanghai had been opened for foreign trade. The Hakkas were considered to be ethnic minorities by the natives of Canton which led to a competition between the two clans in form of farming and economy. This led to wars between the two clans and as a result, hundred of thousands of lives were lost and the effect was quite significant to the China’s economy. The population which had made the country prosperous was being threatened by this internal wars and struggles (Chung, Para. 4). China was no more affected as a series of natural disasters also stroke the country. The Huang He River had burst its banks and flooded a vast portion of land in the year 1851. In 1855, the river flooded again and the fertile and among the most productive province of Jiangsu was in ruins as farmland was destroyed and loss of lives intensified. The Qing government could not afford to provide adequate aid to the survivors as funds had been drained during the opium war and against the Taipings rebellion. The government was also busy in negotiating for military aid with the European powers. The Qing government also faced contempt from the Nian movement which had just begun. The government was thus placed in a very unstable situation by all these occurrences and frustrations (Chung, Para. 5). According to Chung (Para. 7), the Muslim rebellions that tried to enhance equal rights among the Muslims and the non-Muslims, the Taipings rebellion, and other groups that were opposed to the Qing government failed to strike a solution to the prevailing social and economic crisis, as millions of people died. The much relied agricultural industry was severely affected by these rebellions as the countryside was ruined in these battles and countless people lost their lives. This led the Qing government to increase its dependence on the European Imperial forces and subsequent purchase of modern weapons. These internal conflicts made it hard for the Qing government to concentrate its military powers and it thus lost external wars: the Second Opium War (1856-1860) and Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The effect was an occupation of Beijing by an international force and the agreement of the Boxer Protocol (1901) which was done under humiliating terms. The government was to indemnify the European powers for the losses that they had suffered. The Qing court resisted reforms and revolutionaries and reformers advocated for overthrow of the Qing dynasty in order to form a republic. The Qing government was eventually weakened by the numerous rebellions as they tried to pursue economic stability as the economic crisis had worsened by the end of 19th century to a national status (Chung, Para. 10). The Rise of China’s Economy The growth and the sudden rise of China is one of the greatest economic successes in the world. With economic reforms in China which started in the year 1979, to 2008 China’s economy is believed to have grown 14-fold in real terms. This has led to the raising of hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty. On per capita basis, China is relatively poor though it is currently the world’s second largest economy. This has led to increase in economic ties between China and the U. S. China is still marked with low-cost labor and as such, most U. S. companies operate in China so as to benefit from the vast and booming Chinese Market and low cost of operations as a result of taking advantage of the low cost labor in their export-oriented manufacturing (Rawski, Para. ). The basic improvements seem to have originated from four modernization strategies in Agriculture, industry, science and technology, and National Defense. This meant that rural electrification had to be initiated, a total industrial automation, a focus on a new outlook of the economy, and an enhanced national security and strength on defense. Mechanization in agriculture and subsequent use of irrigation, led to the modification of the ind ustry so as to enhance production, better farming methods were also encouraged (Rawski, Para. 9). The Chinese social and cultural structure had been thought that it was a major constraint to economic growth and development. The rapid improvement in economic conditions of the Chinese is a clear indication that the social and cultural structures might be conducive to growth. There are certain elements of Chinese culture that generate an enterprising spirit which is not found in most cultures in poor countries. One would pose to wonder why this enterprising spirit didn’t have major effects in the 19th century as it had after the minor reforms in 1978 which initiated explosive growth. China used improvements in the heavy industry and infrastructure. Development of modern highways, and compounding of Petrochemical, steel and other industries ensured that the economic capacity of the nation was improved. This rapid growth was also initiated by the use of cheap labor which was used extensively in manufacture and subsequent export of low-end products (Overholt 23). The Implications The opening up of China and the subsequent catastrophic occurrences had negative impacts on the economic well being of China. The Western countries undermined China’s self sufficient economy, the rural homestead industries were as much adversely affected as the development that occurred in the urban market economy. On the other hand, it opened the nation to compare its progress with other nations as well. Technology was imported from the western countries and all this worked to enable the nation develop unbiased opinions on the working of international economies. The Chinese government established commercial and modern enterprises as a result of stimulation from the western capitalism. Many of the established enterprises went bankrupt as a result of poor administration, but the established modern industries thrived which enhanced the social-economic development of China. The modern industries stimulated the growth of Chinese capitalism and formed a basis which has marked a tremendous improvement of the Chinese economy (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 48). It is a wonder that a nation that could barely feed its citizens is an industrial giant with the leading capacity in steel production, aluminum, cement and coal. The U. S. ad been the world’s leading auto market but in January 2009, China had turned the tables. It had also been named the top producer of merchant ships in the year 2007. It is clear that the western influence had negative impacts to China at first but today China has all to gain. The exposure to the western markets at such a critical time gave the nation a clear understanding of improved technology and the workings of international markets and economies. China thus used its capacities and its capabilities so as enable it obtain control in this international market. When we compare China to North Korea, a country that was free from western influence, then we can confidently say that Western Influence was what was needed to awaken the sleeping giant in China (Overholt 29). According to the U. S. Department of State (Para. 20b), in the Mid-19th century, the western countries focused the capitalist diplomacy on Korea. The policy which was adopted by the Leaders made the region to be termed as Hermit Kingdom. Korea remained independent until late 19th century when China wanted to block the influence Japan had on Korean Peninsula and the pressure by the Russians. This led to the afore-mentioned Sino-Japanese war in which Japan emerged victorious. Korea was thus annexed as part of the Japan Empire which had strong colonial administration and control and it was not until the end of World War II in 1945 that Japan surrendered. This led to the division of Korea, where the United States administered the southern part and the U. S. S. R. took over the northern side. North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950 and the United Nations sent troops to support South Korea. China Supported North Korea until an armistice agreement was signed in 1953. North Korea is governed by a centralized government under the Communist Korean Worker’s Party (KWP). Minor parties do exist but under limited power and scope of authority. It has a record of wide violations of human rights as the government has total control on all issues in the state. The media is controlled by the government that it is not a wonder that ‘North Korea was ranked second to last on the World Press Freedom Index’ (U. S. Department of State, Para. 23b). North Korea spends quite a substantial proportion of its income on military, but the nation has not yet become self-sufficient in food production. Technological links were disrupted and affected with the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union in 1989. The GDP of the nation has stagnated for quite a while and it is far much below China in economic development and in the living standards of its nationals (U. S. Department of State, Para. 18b). Conclusion The Chinese people were against the opening of China by the Opium War, but the control of China and influence by the Western countries made China a semi-feudal semi-colonial state. It was not until then that technology found its way into China and the Chinese were quick to use it to their advantaged. The shameful defeat in the Opium War made the Chinese vow to strengthen their country in order to prevent a repeat of the same. This has inspired the nation to the current situation of growth and influence in the world. In fact China is very reluctant to succumb to international pressure as it is on its way to gain the title the world’s economic giant.

Recognizing Organizational Culture in Managing Change Essay

In order to ask lots of questions about the influence of the social system, that is to say, the surrounding conditions of the organization on its ability to soak up like a towel and gain invention of new things, a having to do with figuring out. The quality of things without measuring them with numbers research was carried out to define the measuring tool for the most important things of this particular of surrounding conditions for the recognition and acceptance of e-learning in teachers or professors(Buć & Divjak, 2016). In the development of devices that make music, the examples of the development of devices that make music were used that are designed only for research in information sciences, such as for example, the development of a measuring instrument for evaluating the performance of e-Portfolio. It is generally admitted to that educational change benefits from a supportive surrounding condition. Cultural influences are a key issue when thinking about the invention of new things and change processes. Organizational culture is a key factor that influences instructional inventions of new things that the success of any something big and important that changes people’s thinking or lives effort may well depend on the extent to which organizational culture issues can be talked to(Zhu & Engels, 2014). Previous research has examined the influence of organizational culture on organizational inventions of new things. Studies point to new things is most likely to happen in organizations that have integrative structures draw attention to many different kinds of people or things, and team effort and teamwork. Yet the findings of the previous research are mixed with little believable information that proves something related to the role of specific organizational culture features in adopting instructional invention of new things in college. Students who come to a related to school and learning library meet with a variety of spaces that influence their learning and behavior. The library has two types of spaces which are shared and social. Shared spaces are places where students are involved in single, hardworking with schoolwork, and thoughtful study surrounded by other students. Students work at group and noisy work with other students in social spaces. The idea of library spaces for different types for different student needs and supports the idea which is that students need separate spaces for the types of learning and behavior connected with the ability to create interesting new things and invention of new things (Bieraugel & Neill, 2017). Ideas of library space when designing learning spaces in a library is extremely important to think about what types of behavior the design will bring out. Library design, as seen through the lens of the science of nerves and the brain, is interesting and suggests/says that library space is just like productive research surrounding conditions in helping the ability to create interesting new things and invention of new things. Bennett notes that Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other companies also aim to create productive research surrounding conditions within settings to help grow invention of new things and critical thinking be it in the lobby or a quiet corner. Environmental education can help increase problem-solving skills, very important thinking and action-oriented in relation to central and practical problems that are combined in nature(Fauville, Lantz-Andersson, & Sà ¤ljà ¶, 2014). Co-operative processes of question or investigation into an action on real related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth issues where students should be put in the position of active thinkers prepared to act in response to issues in partnership with fellow students. Such learning also involves understanding how to approach, plan and analyze complex issues and where to turn for clearly connected or related knowledge, and not only the reproduction of what is already known although in different difference fields of study. In such settings, student-active and problem-based instructional approaches have been argued as providing a good big picture in which to develop knowledge. So, the science of teaching and way of thinking behind environmental education can be thought of as challenging traditional approaches to schooling, which focus on learning of true knowledge presented in the classroom by the teacher in order to solve problems with an already existing, single and correct solution. Traditional education is also highly broken-up in terms of fields of study and is based on abstract problems, with students put in the rather allowing something to happen without reacting or trying to stop it a position of simply reproducing information and standard procedures.

Food Poisoning Essay

Introduction: Every year millions of people suffer from food poisoning due to uncontrolled application of agricultural chemicals, environmental contamination, use of illegal additives , microbiological hazards and others but as a result of increasing awareness of consumers and their demands to provide them with safe, wholesome and high quality food have force many food premises to carry out a broad assessment and re-organize their systems of food control in turn to improve efficiency , rationalization of human resources and harmonizing approaches. This assessment of food control system has resulted to shift from the traditional approach which depends mainly on the final product sampling and inspection and move forward toward the implementation of a preventative safety and quality approach based on risk analysis. (FAO, 1998) Risk based approaches has been developed by World health organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and it is called risk analysis .(WHO,2011)-website Moreover, risk analysis is a combination of three interconnected elements which are Risk management, Risk assessment and Risk communication. (FAO/WHO training manual, 2006) Risk assessment is a scientific evaluation of risk associated with hazard either qualitatively or quantitatively .Risk management is the process where the relevant information of risk including risk assessment results are used to make decisions on how they will control the risk and implementing proper options. Finally risk communication which may define as the process by which exchange of information occur between risk assessors, managers and concerned parties. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae922e/ae922e04.htm) Government officials: In order to prepare a food products that is safe for human consumption and trade within the country or worldwide as well as maintain public confidence the government officials has a major role in this issue, yet it is clear that the government has no role in the production of food and cannot by itself to make safe or unsafe food. However, the government does play two important roles to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The first major role is to create food standards and implement it through laws, regulations, inspection, and compliance procedures. These standards range from setting legislation to prevent food adulteration toward defining limits on the levels of pesticides residues as well as levels of pathogenic bacteria, food labelling, preparation and packaging of food. As a consequence, USDAs in recent times implemented HACCP system for meat and poultry to reduce harmful contamination and the risk of food borne illness. The second role is to address food safety problems that are beyond the control of any person participating in the food chain, which require more than a regulatory solution like for example E.coli O157:H7 pathogen which originates in the gut of cattle and is spread through the environment to contaminate water, fresh produce, and beef during the slaughtering process causing a considerable hazard when present in food. Address these and many other food safety problems need a strong research base, and to develop an effective control measures not to mention the cooperation between farmers, livestock producers, food processors, retailers and consumers. Therefore, government officials play a leading role in promoting basic research and cooperation in such cases to reduce the risk of food borne diseases. (Taylor &ump; Hoffmann, 2001) In fact, applying risk analysis provides many benefits to all food safety stakeholders including government. In this term it can help food safety regulators to obtain more evidence and information they require to make an effective decision and to identify and apply suitable measures to control the risk in addition to evaluate these measures for example it can be used to assess the maximum level of pesticide residue in food supplies ,increasing the rate of tests ,provide advice to a certain population subgroup, review labelling requirements, and issue a ban and/or recall for the suspected food product in response. Risk analysis can be applied to support and improve food standards such as regulation (EC) no.1829/2003 on genetically modified foods and feed (EU, 2003) and many others standards. It allows the potential costs of compliance for comparison with the expected benefits, and supports setting priorities among the various problems related to food safety. (FAO 87, 2006) In addition to the above advantages, since in article2 (2) from SPS agreement indicates the need of scientific evidence in establishing sanitary and pytosanitary measures. (SPS) though, applying risk analysis will assist the government to meet their commitments and strengthen the basis for the food trade at the international level by increasing access to new market. (FAO 87, 2006) Moreover, gaps and uncertainties in scientific knowledge can be identified using risk analysis approach, which will lead to improve food safety and a better understanding of food related impacts on consumer health. (FAO 87, 2006) In general, risk analysis is used mostly for chemical hazards but recently FAO and WHO expand the scope to cover microbiological hazards as well. (FAO 76) As a result, microbial risk assessment has been used to assess the risk posed by Listeria in a wide range of food commodities and regulatory involvements to control pathogens. (Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Proposed Rules) Thus, through risk analysis the government officials can make out opportunities to reduce risk by using it to establish risk based inspection program, development and application of food standards, collaborate efforts with food processors, and consumer awareness. (Taylor &ump; Hoffmann, 2001) However, since not all countries have the capabilities and resources to conduct risk assessment ,so they must make use of international data and expertise available besides data that is internationally accepted such as codex standards which accepted as scientifically valid under SPS agreement .(FAO,76) Food processors: On the other hand, food processors as discussed earlier has the main role to produce safe ,wholesome and high quality food to meet customer demands. While world health organisation (WHO) has briefly indicated that food safety is a shared responsibility from farm to fork, http://www.eufic.org/article/en/artid/processing-food-safety-quality-1/ governments and intergovernmental organisation like Codex Alimentarius commission (CAC) has a major responsibility in creating food standards and so it is important to involve food manufacturers in the process of setting standards at the national and international levels. This participation is beneficial to all stakeholders, and government indeed should assist this exchange of information to help ensure supplying safe products. http://www.fao.org/docrep/v2890t/v2890t05.htm Achieving this requires implementing science based systems derived from risk analysis and associated risk management approaches like HACCP for industry. (Hobbs, 2007) However, to carry out a HACCP plan, hazard analysis is required, as it considers as the first of the seven HACCP principles, it is used to assess the probable hazards that could occur through food processing, gathering data regarding those hazards and their severity to the consumer besides the possibility of their occurrence. Once established a hazard analysis using risk analysis, it must be considered throughout the HACCP plan development. (Peter warring book, food quality assurance book) In addition to the above, there are a number of authors who have suggested the use of risk based systems in HACCP plan (Baird-Parker, 1994, 1995;Buchanan, 1995; Notermans and Jouve, 1995; Elliott,1996; Notermans and Mead, 1996). Thus demands to include some aspects of risk into HACCP system are increasing. (T.Mayeres,97) Burden or benefits) (Mayers, 1997) on the other hand stated that the HACCP system is functioning effectively without the need of risk assessment approach, bearing on mind that HACCP has been internationally considered as an effective way to control food borne hazards. However, some elements of risk analysis can be useful in HACCP by increasing the scientific basis of hazard analysis, can help in identification of critical limits, as well as increasing transparency in decision making.( (T.Mayeres,97) Burden or benefits) Part B/i: Owing to the increasing demands of the global market for sea food products, exposure to food borne illness may increase as a consequence. (Book of Iso and HACCP) For instance,

Diet and Digestion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Diet and Digestion - Essay Example These include monosaccharaides, disaccharides and polysaccharides (BRYNIE 2002, pg14). Proteins mainly aid in replenishing worn out tissues and are composed of strings of amino acids. On the other hand, fats, responsible for tendon maintenance can be grouped into saturated or unsaturated fatty acids. Essential fatty acids such as the omega 3 and omega 6 constitute building blocks of the body (JACOB 2013, pg22). The 13 different types of vitamins and minerals such as calcium and potassium constitute the micro nutrients necessary for body function. They can be obtained from the main diet or other sources. Breakfast: cereal, fresh fruit juice, ripe banana. Lunch: boiled pasta, steamed broccoli, fried fish fillet, nuts such as wall nuts or ground nuts and water (a few minutes after meal). Diner deep fried chicken, vegetable and fruit salad, fried fresh spinach and water (a few minutes after meal). Breakfast: oatmeal, banana, fresh fruit juice. Brunch: egg sandwich, 3 medium mango slices, hot beverage. Lunch Swanson chicken dumplings, mango slice or pineapple slice, fried rice and peas stew. Diner: spaghetti, meat balls and steamed broccoli. It is recommended that on daily basis, the meals of elderly patients should include five to twelve portions of grains, five to ten portions of vegetables and fruits, three portions lactose products and three servings of alternatives of meat or meat itself In simplest terms, the process of digestion is the only way in which nutrients and foods can be broken down and absorbed as useful energy or beneficiary compounds in the human body. For this purpose, digestion plays a more pivotal role in overall human health and development than most individuals would otherwise indicate. Without this vital and pivotal process, essential nutrients and energy could not be broken down and ultimately passed along into the bloodstream

Case analysis statoil IT case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis statoil IT - Case Study Example Scandinavian countries are known for their high labor taxes and keeping your workforce expenses under control is one of the key elements of successful long term growth. The company also has to stay on top of modern achievements in technology and engineering. Having said that, it is not very critical to use every bleeding edge technology that comes on the regular bases. The company operations mainly depend on heavy machinery and large scale construction projects that have a long life. Therefore, the preferences go to more stable and time-proven technologies when it comes to drilling, mining and explorations. However, the communication between different teams, ways that information can be spread between employees are updated more frequently than oil business related hardware. That is why one of the current tactical objectives is to align your workforce with the current technological advancements that are already used successfully in other industries, but is not yet know by Statoil staf f. It is clear that a simple introduction of the new technology would not bring desired benefits on the long run. Statoil seeks a fundamental transformation of the way employees approach some of their daily activities. The belief is that modern technology, such as Internet, private PC etc. would provide great collaborative tools for the whole Statoil’s workforce.... It also adds a nice perk on top as a free multimedia tool that the whole household can benefit on. Although, the short term objective is very clear, Statoil needs to put some success measures in place to avoid transforming a business improving initiative in a nice free gift from the company that does not provide any improvement in individual productivity. In the next section we try to define exact measures that would help Statoil to focus on their short term goals and clearly define the measure of the outcome. It is difficult to directly connect the productivity of employees and the time they would spend with their new toys. Also the choice of location of the new media PC has two sides. On one side it extents the work related matters into the private household space, but on another it offer new ways to entertain and spend free time. Statoil has to also keep in mind European attitude towards clear separation between work and private time. It is exceedingly difficult to ask your employ ees to put extra effort outside of normal working hours. There is another way of indirectly controlling or measuring changes in the way the employees approach certain business activities. One way is to define some metrics that reflect the level of collaboration achieved through new connectivity tools, such as conferencing. For example, one can devise a metric of how many meetings have been done online compared to offline ones. Offline meeting in a global company with many distributed office require a lot of time spent in commute, not to mention extra budget that goes with it. The number of offline conferences/meetings that were transformed in pure virtual remote participation ones will provide a clear indication