The Roman Empire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Roman Empire - Research Paper Example Circuses on the other hand were centers that hosted sports such as horse races. The first and perhaps the biggest circus in the Roman Empire was the Circus Maximus. This circus stood between Palatine Hill and the Aventine. The circus had an attractive shape that made it suitable for hosting chariot races while at the same time providing good grounds for spectators to watch the field events while standing on the hillsides. Gill demonstrates that Circus Maximus served important purposes as it hosted yearly celebration of popular and important events in the empire. Circus Maximus in Rome: Courtesy of Gill, About.com As one way of ensuring defense of the empire and protecting it from the barbarian intrusion, the empire constructed big walls along its borders. One such defense walls were in Ostia, a harbor city in Rome. Ostia borders Tiber River, about 30 km to the west of Rome. Gill indicates that the King Ancus Martius was the founder of the wall of Ostia with sole aim of guarding the m outh of Tiber River, which had plenty deposits of salt. Gill reiterates that Ostia also hosted the ancient navy who found it strategically located due to its nearness to the river where training became easy. In the period of the late Republic, the significance of Ostia increased particularly when it became a commercial center of the Empire. The bordering river made it easy for transportation of goods and services in and out of the empire. All the aforementioned advantages of Ostia made it reasonable for the rulers to build the wall to strengthen defense. The remains of the wall of Ostia. Courtesy of Gill (2012). About.com Another wall that surrounded Rome was the Hadrian’s Wall located towards northern England. Gill explains that the Hadrian’s was formed one of the best walls of Rome having been constructed by the Roman Emperor to help prevent the northerners from reaching the Roman Britain. Hadrian’s Wall: Courtesy of Gill (2012). About.com According to Gill, t he Servian Wall constituted one of the defensive walls constructed to protect the Roman Empire. Servius Tullius was the Roman King who initiated building of the wall during the sixth century B.C. The wall stretched from Tiber to Capitol Hill then to Quirinal and extended to the valley Pincian to Esquiline. Gill unveils that the Servian Wall had twelve gates, specifically purposed to promote defense of the emperor. Servian Wall: Courtesy of Gill (2012). About.com As described by Gill, the Roman Empire had good sanitation earmarked by the construction of proper sewer systems. Gill points that one of the most remarkable sewer systems in ancient Roman Empire was the Cloaca Maxima built in the 6th or 7Th century B.C. Tarquinius Priscus was the Roman king who initiated the construction of the Cloaca Maxima. The main purpose for the construction of the sewer was to help drain marshes and house effluents into Tiber River. Gill clarifies that the sewer system drained wastes particularly from Viminal, Esquiline and Quirinal. It was because of this enhanced sewer system that areas surrounding the hills became inhabitable and even offered space for the forum Romanum. Cloaca Maxima (Great Sewer system): Courtesy of Gill (2012). About.com Roman Forum was a space organized to house and hosts various organs of governments and even serves as religious and business centers. The Forum also served as center for holding forums for public politics. The establishment of the forum became easy due to the availability of ridges connecting Quirinal with Capitoline Hill, and the

Human Resource Information Systems Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Information Systems Essay 1. â€Å"Suggest how HR professionals can use online recruiting to more effectively support recruitment activities while reducing organizational costs.† Retaining and acquiring talent with high qualities is crucial to an organization’s success. â€Å"As the economy and job market heats up, so has the market for corporate recruiting and recruiting service and consultants† (Bersin, 2013). Therefore, the labor force becomes more competitive and available skills become more diverse, HR professionals need to be more selective when choosing the right candidate. Poor decisions made by recruiters can result into negative effects for the company. Another thing that can impact an organization as well as an employee’s morale is high training and development cost. For this reason alone, many companies have turned to e-Recruiting. â€Å"Online recruiting involves less human interaction, reaches a much broader audience, files records electronically, and provides selection tools electronically† (Friend, 2014). Companies can conduct everything online while spending less money sending all employees to a training session or meeting off-site. Just by conducting meetings, training, etc. online saves the company a lot of money. For example, new hires really make up the majority of the cost because they need to be trained in every aspect of the job they are taking on. Also, training occurs with other employees besides new hires when a new product or service surfaces within the company. All employees need to learn about the new products or services in order to promote them to their clients. Online recruiting comes in handy since it’s a real money saver by having employees do everything online via internet instead of meeting each time for different things. Online recruiting is not only cost effective but it’s quick and easy to do. HR professionals can posts job postings anywhere there is an internet  connection and receive responses just as quickly. Online recruiting can become very convenient. 2. â€Å"Recommend four (4) strategies to mitigate the unintended consequences associated with e-Recruiting.† Four strategies to mitigate the unintended consequences associated with e-Recruiting include: Ensuring consistent high customer satisfaction online and maintaining consistent high service When e-recruiting, recruit and select applicants who appear to have out-going personalities that fit within the organizational culture This can be determined from likes/dislikes Express that training and incentives will be provided in order to encourage loyalty, motivation, and focus on doing whatever it may be to meet the needs of the customer, and create Create a consistent set of HR practices that work together to create a culture of customer service. A strategy is not always planned and HR professionals usually have to adopt this strategic plan. Maintaining excellent service and high customer satisfaction is a good look for the company. Also, it’s a great strategy to have to meet all the needs of the customers to ensure their returned business and for them to spread the good comments about the company to their family, friends, and co-workers. The last strategy to mitigate the unintended consequences is for HR to get their practices to work together for the good of the company. HR needs to put a process in place that will be successful and beneficial to the employees and the company. 3. â€Å"Propose one (1) approach in which online recruitment can help ensure the employee’s psychological contracts are fulfilled.† According to Kavanagh, Thite, Johnson (2012), psychological contract fulfillment, employee satisfaction, and retention rates are three other important goals of the recruitment process. The employees’ beliefs about the obligations and promises between them and their companies are what the psychological contract refers to. It’s going to be important to explore the extent to which online recruitment can help ensure that employees’ psychological contracts are fulfilled. Information that is collected and distributed during the recruitment process shapes the expectancy that leads to psychological contract fulfillment, which directly affects employee satisfaction and retention rates. The numerous expectations that shape the psychological contract include the work role, such as job performance; social relations, such as co-wo rker and customer interactions; economic  rewards (raises, monetary incentives), and company culture. According to Heneman and Judge (2006), one approach to use to ensure psychological contracts are filled is a realistic recruitment message. 4. â€Å"Suggest three (3) strategies you would use to attract high-quality candidates and members of diverse groups using an e-Recruitment approach.† One strategy to use to attract candidates would be through social media. Examples of social media would be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even email such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and Google, etc. Today’s world is very technical savvy and most people now use the internet for everything, these medias would be perfect for announcing job vacancies and announcements. For example, when I used to work for State Farm I made a Facebook page for the company and promoted different products and services that we offered. Another strategy I would use is at the end of applicants completing their work history, etc. before submitting to the job, a series of detailed questions would be asked that relates to specific job in which they are applying for such as years of experience performing that particular job, and skill competencies, etc., this would eliminate applicants that don’t have the necessary experience and skills and alleviate unwanted applications. One last strategy I would use to determine diverse groups is have the applicant fill out an optional survey informing of their race, gender, etc. The survey if completed or not would not have an impact on whether or not the applicant is interviewed and the applicant would also be informed of this as well. This would only be for survey purpose that will allow the organization to see if and how many people from diverse backgrounds are applying. 5. â€Å"Take a stand on whether or not the attributes of a Website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at that company. Justify your position with specific examples from two (2) business Websites that you are familiar with.† In my opinion, I find that when applying for positions the company’s attractive quality and ease of use website is very important. This lets me know that the company takes pride in their name and what to make an impression on the candidates that are applying. Even though they are the ones that are hiring, they need employees to work as well as a candidate needs a job. The first impression is a lasting impression, and if I’m impressed with the Website then chances are I’m going to be impressed with the company and would want to work for them. Two websites that I’m  familiar with are www.indeed.com and www.careerbuilder.com. I used these two websites frequently because they always have up to date posts on their websites every day and have a variety of positions available. Both sites are colorful, and allow you to type in key words related to the job of interest along with the city and state. Next, it will display jobs related to the key words that are entered. The jobs that are displayed list the job title, company name, and a brief description of the job that includes the range in job salary, for some. Both search engines are easy to navigate, the content of the information is relevant to what I’m looking for. Also, usability is a plus, because they both allow you to receive job alerts, creat user accounts, and answer frequently asked questions. 6. â€Å"Propose four (4) security controls you would put into place to prevent unauthorized access to data and unauthorized disclosure of data when using e-Recruiting systems.† One security control I would use is each applicant would have to set up their own personal username and access code. This should ease the mind of the applicant, because this is information that only the applicant would use and have access to. Next, I would design a security control that is time sensitive and require the user to sign back in if the computer is idled for a certain amount of it the user spends too much time in one area without moving on to the next area. Third, I would use an online security system that would prevent hackers and unauthorized access to applicant’s information. â€Å"The last security control that I might put in place would be some type of software where you have to answer personal related questions about your past that only that specific person would know† (Zeidner, 2007). For example, a multiple choice question might pop up and ask which of the following are related to you and the employee that is trying to gain access would have to answer the question correctly. According to Kavanagh et al, I would develop privacy protection policies that (1) restrict access to data, (2) restrict disclosure of data, and (3) ensure that only job-relevant data are collected for decision-making purposes. Everyone has to be careful nowadays, because hacking into computers is just as easy as breaking into a house nowadays. References Bersin, J. (2013, May 23). Corporate Recruiting Explodes: A New Breed of Service Provders. Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2013/05/23/corporate-recruitment-transformed-new-breed-of-service-providers/ Friend, L. (2014). Advantages of Online Recruiting. Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-online-recruiting-3093.html Heneman, H.G., Judge, T. A. (2006). Staffing Organizations (5th ed). Boston: McGraw Hill (nd). Introduction to Online Recruitment. HRM: Guide Human Resource Management. Retrieved from: http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/recruitment/introduction_to_online_recruitement.htm Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., Johnson, R. D. (2012). Human Resource Information Systems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Zeidner, R. (2007, December 1). HR Magazine: Making Online Recruiting More Secure. Retrieved from SHRM: http://www.shrm.org/Publications/hrmagazine/EditorialContent/Pages/1207hrtech.aspx

Animal Farm, by George Orwell Essay -- Animal Farm Essays

In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pig Napoleon uses specific tactics to gain power and control over the animal farm. Some of these techniques include controlling information through education, scapegoating, use of fear, swaying public opinion and blind obedience. Throughout the novel, the most prominent way that Napoleon gained power was through controlling the education that the animals received. In the beginning of the novel, Snowball believes in educating all of the animals on Animal Farm, young and old, by trying to organize committees and instituting classes devoted to reading and writing (page 39). However, Napoleon openly states that educating the young is more important that the old. When Jessie and Bluebell have puppies, Napoleon takes them away and secludes them from the rest of Animal Farm to teach them on his own (41). Throughout the novel, after Snowball's removal, education becomes less and less important, and pigs and dogs are the only animals really being taught anything. This comes in handy for Napoleon as he begins to make "adjustments" to the rules that Animal Farm is based upon, such as drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, and walking on two legs. The fact that the animals can't do math is an advantage as wel l when Squealer starts reeling off facts and figures about rations and death rates and other nonsense (105). Another technique Napoleon takes advantage of is scapegoat...

Sculpture and Ralph Hicks

It's a cold and overcast day in February and a man sits alone at a park bench, at the Dotted Sculpture Park. He watches as the river splashes aggressively about, caused by the strong wind blowing that day. Perched above him on the top of a hill just a few feet from the road, sits a large-scale sculpture called â€Å"Salutation†, by Ralph Hicks. Standing only 6 feet tall, it's original conception called for the sculpture to have a height 30 feet and be placed at five of the major entry. Pays leading into Toronto.They would have welcomed visitors entering the city, if Toronto had won the bid for he 2008 Summer Olympics. On the first visit to Salutation, the lack of sun casts a shadow on the face as it bends forward and faces down, displaying a feeling of sadness. Shaped from metal and grey in color, the sculpture seems to reflect a feeling of submissiveness on this dark winter day. Its block-like smooth texture contrasts to the nature surrounding it, but offers balance with its simplistic lines and movement.The large size does not intimidate, but rather holds a lonely tone, reflected by the days weather. The use of lock like pieces allows for a childlike appearance and its rounded corners allow the installation to feel friendly. If the structure had contained sharp corners with a combination of grey color and metal exterior, it would have projected hard lines and been unwelcoming. Though it appears Hicks motive for its location was to greet people as they drove by, I have to question that decision.Salutation is not only misunderstood but also neglected by motorists who do not have the ability to interpret the meaning of the piece. Neither did it receive much attention from the pedestrians walking below. The riverside path is located at the bottom of the hill and by observing a few walking bye, they did not look up towards the sculpture once. The visitors attention seemed to be directed at either the river, the other sculptures, the skyline or themselves. T hus placing more emphasis on the loneliness the piece portrays.Another visit to Salutation with the morning sunrise reflecting upon it, did deliver a more cheerful feel. But the loneliness still lingered from the prior visit and now it's as if it was smiling but still disguising the sadness within, as many go about their days and do. The sculpture with its rhythm of playfulness and kindness, puts a smile on your face if you allowed it to. Salutation has no reference to gender, age or race and in that way it transcends and relates to all. It faces east, as if to greet the morning sun and take on the day.Later as the sun sets behind it with it's head bowing down, one feels a sense of it speaking and silently saying, â€Å"goodbye† and â€Å"well done† at the end of the day or a long Journey. A metaphor for life, from dawn till dusk. The salutation action is an attitude of respectful courtesy, which is conveyed through a human form. Salutation the sculpture by Ralph Hicks , assembled with the simplicity of irregular blocks, conveys a commanding presence and attitude. As it bows its head to passing travelers, Hicks tells us little about the model, providing no indication of race, social class or gender.Salutation is indiscriminating to viewers and offers the same greeting to all. Born in London, England in 1941 Ralph Hicks moved to Toronto at the age of 26. He first developed an interest in sculpture while still a student after seeing large-scale bronze sculptures by Roding, Liaise and Matisse at New Work's Museum of Modern Art. Hicks graduated from the University of Bristol and Harvard Business School and worked in the marketing and management field till 1996, where he then committed full time to his current passion of sculpture art.He works out of a studio he built in Mule Hills, Ontario and spends his summers carving stone outside, and works with other material in the studio during the colder months. Hicks designed art with a variety of material su ch as, soapstone, limestone, wood, bronze, traditional plaster, polished aluminum rod, clay and even whimsical vinyl tubing. A lot of his work is tone carving that requires power tools to do the bulk of the work, but obtaining the final finish is the most time consuming part of the process.Hicks designs large-scale pieces because he feels size has impact and public installations are seen by many people and that's rewarding to him as an artist. He creates sculpture for his own satisfaction, but what makes him happiest, is when he hears how a completed piece makes people feel. With his art he has no rules and that's what makes it exciting to him. Salutation is Art, and Art is Salutation with simple cuboids who gives away little information, acknowledges your presence with a friendly bow and asks nothing in return, but causes a lasting impression.

Analysis of Madame Bovary Essay

In his first paragraph Barthes uses Balzac’s Sarrasine’s castrato character’s inner voice to examine who’s really doing the talking in a written work, since there are layers of meaning in the identity within the particular quote. One of my favorite aspects of post-modernist literature is its playfulness with the notion of authorship and recursive identity within a given work. John Barth’s â€Å"Giles Goat Boy,† a favorite and seminal work for me, starts with a forward deliberately attempting to put the authorship of the book into question (it is supposedly a ‘discovered’ manuscript of debatable origin). But Barthes claim â€Å"We shall never know (the author), for the good reason that writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin. † It’s a good point in a theoretical way, like the idea within Information Theory that the maximum amount of information that can be carried is with white noise (which by the way, is only a single construct within Information Theory, necessary to build other constructs on the formation of information within a signal). However, contending that we can never know, and that the text exists in a â€Å"negative oblique space where† everything slips away stands at odds with the practical reality that if the author and the author’s creative genius wasn’t there, the text would not exist in the first place. One could allow that Barthes’ point of view is suggestive and not absolute, or that it promotes a point of view to help shade meanings on traditional critical methods, but he’s constantly painting himself into corners with absolute statements. He doesn’t limit his point of view to contemporary authorship, or even to the author as a modern figure emerging from the middle ages. He states that â€Å"No doubt it (the loss of identity of the author in a negative oblique space) has always been this way†, that as soon as narration occurs â€Å"the author enters into his own death†. Barthes’ claims that the author is a modern construct that emerges from the Middle Ages, implying that before that time authorship was assumed by a mediator, shaman or performer, and not coming from genius. But what about the ancient Greek Tragidians, like Aeschylus, or Roman pornographers, like Patronius and his Satyricon? As a form, the novel may be modern but not the author nor the notion of a genius within the author. Barthes makes a valid and important point that Capitalism’s relationship with the author is as a unique commodifiable object. It make me think of the profoundly capitalist notion of â€Å"branding†, as in the Mickey Mouse brand to Walt Disney. It’s also reasonable to place classical criticism at the service of Capitalism, which provides an excellent motive for placing the â€Å"branded† author at the center of a critical approach. And is it correct to see a creative work as existing solely in the context of the author, even to the extent of not placing the content of the work outside of the context of the author’s personal life up to that point. It makes sense that some authors have become recluses, like Salinger and Pynchon, who prefer to let their work stand on its own. In fact the notion of a creative work â€Å"standing on its own† is what strikes me to be the appropriate post-modernist attitude to take regarding a creative work relative to its creator, and as an approach does not require the destruction of the author. Barthes states that â€Å"it goes without saying that certain writers have long since attempted to loosen† the sway of the Author. No doubt, but if you destroy the validity of the author as a creative center, one who either brings works into the world from some unconscious place of ‘genius’ as I believe, or out of a â€Å"tissue of signs† or quotations and a â€Å"mosaic of other activated texts’ or drawn from an â€Å"immense dictionary† as Barthes contends, you still don’t have to kill off the creator. Who constructed the â€Å"tissue of signs† or the â€Å"mosaic† or read the â€Å"immense dictionary† to begin with? Even Mallarme’s intensely abstracted and word-based poetry (though I must confess to not having read it) is based in language as a kind of meta language, Mallarme still had to create it, even if Mallarme makes deliberate efforts to remove himself from the writing of it. According to Barthes, Valery approached his prose with the notion that his interiority, or creative genius or authorship, was pure superstition. Fine, he can believe that. I’d like to see Valery prove it. The mere attempt to compile a series of words, to become a â€Å"scriptor† as Barthes puts it, the mere attempt in itself is a creative act by a unique individual, and not by a scriptor snatching bits from a pre-existing dictionary without any personal intervention. Barthes takes on Proust as proof somehow that by the self-referential and recursive existence of the author within the book working up to writing the book, that by blurring the realities of authorship and narrative of authorship, one can assume the actual author has in some semiotic sense committed suicide, when in fact Proust has only ‘played off’ an idea, like a jazz rift, and has not actually dissolved himself. Barthes includes Surrealistic texts as further proof of non-authorship, with aleatoric and unconscious techniques of construction. But again, where did the technique of construction come from if not from a creative place within the author? Surrealists are in effect trapped in a paradox that the subversion of codes is in itself a code (and Barthes believes in the indestructibility of codes) but it in nowise removes the destroyer of the code from a creative act through a destructive one. Barthes puts up linguistics as providing a sort of murderous apparatus for deconstructing the author out of the text it examines. That the un-provable, and therefore empty, process of enunciation exhausts the notion of an â€Å"I† within a text, reducing it to no more than an instance of saying â€Å"I†. Fine, great, so? If I have a tool, say a microscope, and I use it to examine the surface of Michelangelo’s incomplete Prisoner Statues in Florence, and I get a very interesting take on the chisel marks’ depth and flow and intersections, have I therefore negated Michelangelo? Even if you add on top of that Michelangelo’s insistence that he was merely releasing the character from within the stone, Michelangelo’s creative force is still there. Barthes contends that by removing the Author from the text, or even taking text from which the â€Å"scriptor† has removed themselves, that it utterly transforms the text. And here I agree, and I agree that the tools of post modern deconstruction and linguistics do transform our understanding of what text can mean and how it can be received in a critical context, and even in a personal one. It is intellectually interesting to remove the author and his/her existence as conjoined in time and see the ‘scriptor’ as coming into existence at the moment of reading, and to consider the writing as being what the linguist J. L. Austin calls a Performative Utterance (an act of utterance that does not report a fact, but is an action in and of itself). But contending that the performative utterance, activated by a hand trapped in the phenomena of lagging behind reality by a few microseconds, â€Å"traces a field without origin† or if there is an origin the language itself negates it by â€Å"ceaselessly† calling it into question, is interesting as a point of view only for about the few microseconds that my sensory information to my mind lags behind reality. This isn’t about the removal of the author so much as it is contending that even if an author exists, they merely inscribe and don’t create, since the language they inscribe is self-referentially self canceling. Barthes says â€Å"We know now that text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning (the message of the author god) but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture. † Fine. Interesting, even revelatory in its point of view that there is nothing new under the sun (which is not something new under the sun). But is not this assembled mosaic of texts assembled by someone? And how is it that the act of assembly is tacitly a non-creative act, and an act that does not come from ‘genius’. Barthes uses Bouvard and Pecuchet, characters from the same titled book by Flaubert, who try and move from a non-creative life as copyists to a creative one as farmers and back to copyists from a dictionary which Flaubert himself wrote before the book was created, as another example of non-authorness. But it again strikes me as ironic that these are characters, created by Flaubert. It’s interestingly recursive, but not self-canceling as Barthes contends. He includes Baudelaire’s internal fictional â€Å"unfailing† dictionary in Paradis Atrificiels to exemplify the scriptors self-removal from emotions and passive reading of an â€Å"immense dictionary from which life never does more than imitate the book, and the book itself is only a tissue of signs, an imitation that is lost, infinitely deferred† A tissue of signs perhaps, but lost and infinitely deferred? If an author/scriptor is a mere copyist assembling a tissue of signs, how then is the author/scriptor lost and infinitely deferred from the readers interaction with the text. If I read a text I am creating meaning from that text, but I am also aware that there is a creative force behind my created meaning, irrespective of my created meaning, and that is the author. Barthes seems to contend that all â€Å"agency† or representation must be transferred to the text, or language, itself. Some, like Graham Allen in his book â€Å"Intertextuality† claim that Barthes â€Å"does not murder all forms of Authorial agency† (my italics) and to take it as such is a misinterpretation; but he does, over and over. When he says â€Å"writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin†, â€Å"the whole of enunciation is an empty process†, â€Å"the text is henceforth made and read in such a way that at all levels the author is absent†, â€Å"the text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning, but a multidimensional space†, â€Å"the writer can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original. † Barthes says â€Å"To give a text an author is to impose a limit on that text, to furnish it with a final signified, to close the writing. † How so? I am unconvinced. If, as he claims, criticism has allotted itself the task of discovering the author beneath the work, how does that impose a limit on the text? A critic may, like Barthes, impose whatever they like, but in no way does that limit me to my own creation of meaning from a given text. Does the act of analysis destroy flexibility of meaning in a creative work? Only if you give the author of the analysis a God-like power over all other interpretations. Here I agree with Barthes in not granting that power, but it raises the paradox that by agreeing too heartily, I’m also negating Barthes’ existence as the author of Death of the Author. So I choose to limit my giving over of power to the author, but I don’t see the need to kill him or her. In Barthes’ conclusion, he ironically refers to Greek Tragedy’s texts which carrying double meanings understood by the characters within the play in only a unilateral way, and with the viewer/listener/reader able to perceive the layers of meaning from outside the play. This reveals to Barthes the totality of the existence of writing; a tissue of signs, drawn from many texts, a multiplicity focused in one place in the reader. True enough, but to say the author is not a part of that focused multiplicity is nonsense. A texts’ unity lies in its destination as he says, but not at the cost of its origin. That â€Å"Classic criticism has never paid any attention to the reader† may be true enough, but recognizing the reader doesn’t obviate the writer. I contend we don’t have to throw out the author/baby when we throw out the bathwater of classic criticism. Barthes’ newly-birthed reader can live quite nicely with its older sibling, the author. or† has really achieved. Has it thrown off the yoke of â€Å"capitalist ideology†? Has it done anything to progress society? Has it overthrown the old elites and liberated the vast horde of readers? No; quite the contrary. When the author is dead, the reader is king, or rather, the individual, free-floating consumer is king. The quality of a work of art is therefore determined by the number of people who consume it; in other words, by market forces. Artists must cater their work to market realities, and a whole swathe of nominally â€Å"left† commentators cheer them on; those artists who pursue their singular, uncommercial vision are condemned as â€Å"elitist† or worse. The trend launched by the â€Å"Death of the Author† has been against self-expression in art, and in favour of pandering to the dollar and to the lowest common denominator. It’s a perfect example of the dead end and hypocrisy of 60s radicalism. The author is dead, long live the free market! Deconstructing Authorship  © 2010 DeathofTheAuthor. com

John F Kennedey essays

John F Kennedey essays If somebody wants to shoot me with a rifle from the window, nobody cant stop it, so why worry about it. The president was a little afraid, unfortunately what the president said it came truth. John F. Kennedy served years as president from January 20,1961 to November 22,1963. John F. Kennedy was the youngest president . He also died John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline Massachusetts in May 29,1917 He died in November 22,1963 in Dallas Texas John F. Kennedy was married to Lovely Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. They had two precious children Caroline Bouvier Kennedy and John Jr. Kennedy. The surviving family member of his family is his family is his wonderful daughter Caroline Bouvier Kennedy. John F. Kennedy Began his political career in the Navy, was a Congressman, and US senator. Kennedy had to faced many problems of racial discrimination that was going on the United States. In 1954 the US supreme Court had to ruled that segregation in public schools. That meant that the colored people had to have their own school. All the white had the better schools . So Kennedy thought of making a law for that racial discrimination. Throughout the southern United States did not obey the law. That was his major accomplishments that he did for the USA. John F. Kennedy was known before he was president as a journalist, and author. After he was they knew him as the president that did a lot for the colored people A really brave man that took a lot of critism through out the USA, just because he was against racial discrimination. One interest fact is that he liked sailing,swimming Also did you know that John F. Kennedy had rumors going on in early 1947. That he had a romance with Durie Malcom. That romance started in January 20,1947 that was in New York. The rumors did lasted long period of time until 1961. The ...

Limited and Controlled Use of Marijuana

Limited and Controlled Use of Marijuana Approaches to marijuana legalization Many countries across the world have prohibited the use, farming, possession, manufacture and trade of marijuana and its derivatives. However, some countries do allow limited and controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes or a limited amount for personal use often in private places.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Limited and Controlled Use of Marijuana specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the context of medical use, marijuana has been used in relieving some conditions associated with cancer. Such conditions include nausea, anorexia, cachexia, pain and depression. While sixteen states in the United States have legalized medical marijuana use, there are still a lot of controversies surrounding its medical use. Such controversies arise from the safety concerns surrounding the medical use of marijuana. The question of legalizing marijuana refers to the legal use of marijuana bot h in private and public places for medical use or otherwise. However, there are no adequate justifications on the need to legalize marijuana use. The proponents of marijuana legalization often use three approaches to advance their arguments. One approach revolves around comparing and contrasting effects of marijuana use with other legal substances that are commonly abused. The other approach revolves around the notion of personal freedom of choice in a democratic space. The third and last approach revolves on the concept that marijuana has known medical benefits. On the other hand, the opponents of marijuana legalization have developed arguments to counter the three approaches used by its proponents. One approach involves showing the health complications caused by legal but commonly abused substances that marijuana use is often compared. The opponents of marijuana use advocate for the limitation of personal freedom of choice if such freedom leads to self-injury. The opponents of ma rijuana use have also argued that the medical benefits derived from marijuana use can be gained through alternative conventional drugs. Substance abuse Marijuana use is often compared to substance abuse such as alcohol and tobacco use. These two substances do cause serious health complications. For example, according to the center for disease control and prevention (CDCP), tobacco use is associated with several diseases such as coronary heart diseases and stroke amongst many more physical and mental health complications (par 3).Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Proponents of marijuana use argue that its use does not cause more harm than alcohol and tobacco use. Alcohol and tobacco use are legal in most countries. On the other hand, the opponents of marijuana use have sought to show that marijuana use does cause grievous mental and physical health complications. According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), marijuana use severely compromises ability to do complex functions and causes chest problems similar to tobacco use (par 1). Marijuana use has known health complications and antisocial behaviours. Having established the health complications caused by the marijuana use, the opponents of marijuana use argue against legalizing marijuana. Instead, the opponents of marijuana use advocate for greater sanctions on alcohol and tobacco use by governments across the world. Freedom of choice The notion of freedom of choice is another major reason advanced on the need to legalize marijuana. In this context, the proponents of marijuana legalization argue that marijuana use ought to be a personal decision as long as one does not present antisocial behaviour. This school of thought holds the view that this personal choice in relation to marijuana use ought not to be regulated by the government. People who use marijuana for recreational purposes often hold t his school of thought. There is documented evidence that the official government position across many countries is that marijuana use is harmful to a persons’ mental and physical health. For example, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a US government agency, holds the view that ‘the use of marijuana can produce adverse physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral effects’ (par 2). The opponents of marijuana use have used such government position to justify its interference with personal choices and freedom of choice. The opponents argue since many governments hold the view that marijuana use is harmful to one’s health then it has a right to prohibit it. Medical use of marijuana There are active ingredients in marijuana that have medical value in cancer medication and HIV/Aids management. In this context, marijuana has been used in the management of anorexia, cachexia and pain amongst other conditions associated with cancer and HIV/Aids.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Limited and Controlled Use of Marijuana specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana used in management of these conditions is known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or formerly delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Nida 5) .This medical use for marijuana has been advanced as a major reason to legalize marijuana. Having recognized the medicinal value of THC, medical researchers have synthesized THC that is used in most conventional cancer drugs. While there are still some limitations on the medicinal value of synthetic THC in comparison to its plant extract version, the benefits of prohibiting medical marijuana use still outweighs its benefits. This is because there is a high potential to abuse marijuana in the pretence of marijuana use. Marijuana legalization On deep scrutiny and analysis, the three major approaches used to advance the need for marijuana legalization fai l to pass the logic threshold. The reason advanced on the need to legalize marijuana use because there are other legal but commonly abused substances fails to appeal to logic. These commonly abused substances have the capacity to cause serious mental and physical health complications. Marijuana use in its own right causes serious health complications. In this context, the focus ought to shift to lobbying the governments to regulate those substances and not to legalize marijuana use. The government has a duty towards individuals. In this context, the government has a right to infringe on personal liberties if it opines that the same may lead to self-destruction and harm. The world has synthetically produced the active ingredient in marijuana that has medicinal value and as such, there is no need to legalize marijuana use based on this reason. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking. 21 Mar.2011.Web.19th Nov.2011 https://www.cdc.gov/toba cco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/ National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). What Are the Long-Term Health Effects of Marijuana Use? Oct.2011. Web. https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/marijuana

Defining the active voice - Emphasis

Defining the active voice Defining the active voice You might have heard its a good idea to favour the active voice in your writing – its generally tighter and more dynamic than using the passive voice. But what exactly do we mean by active and passive anyway? The active voice puts the doer of the action described (in grammar terms, the agent) first. This tends to sound natural and clear, and it leaves no information hidden. For example: The cat had stolen the dogs dinner. Here the doer (the cat) is stated before the action (had stolen). Now look at this sentence: The dogs dinner had been stolen by the cat. This is the passive voice: the action comes before the doer. In fact, the sentence would still make sense if you removed by the cat, which would leave everyone wondering who had stolen the poor dogs food. The passive voice can be used cynically to disguise who performed an action, which can produce a somewhat opaque and suspect piece of writing. And be careful not to use it habitually – doing so weighs down writing and makes it sound a bit bureaucratic and dull.

Introduction to Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction to Leadership - Essay Example I realize much of this course, as well as the text book ( Northouse 2014) suggest that leadership is a phenomenon that resides in the context of the interactions between leaders and followers and makes leadership available to everyone (Northouse , 2014 p.8), but from my personal experiences, especially in a work context, trait theory appears to be the biggest contributor. Despite this it is obvious that one can only be a leader if there are those to be led, those who will interact with him and who share common aims, whether this is something as simple as making a profit , or , on a much grander scale, to improve the living standards of a whole population by acting as its government, or even to have some more negative aim such as the eradication of another people group as happened in Germany in the mid 20th century.   So leadership happens in many different areas of life – in business , in politics, in health care, in families   and in military life , to give just some of m any possible examples. A good leader must, by definition, be able to communicate his ideas to others, but there should also be two way communication , in that he listens to others , gets feedback for instance as to how a project is proceeding, or takes account of suggestions. My goal for my immediate future is not actually to become a leader, but more to understand the concept of leadership and how it can be done at its most effective. I have worked with those I considered to be good and successful leaders, as well as incompetent and ineffective ones.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 43

Case Study Example First, A. Raptis & Sons Ltd is one of the largest seafood companies in Australia and establishing one of its branches in Argentina would need much effort for it to succeed. The reason behind this is because people from Argentina do not like eating sea foods. They are accustomed to eating beef. Therefore, the company will have to convince Argentines to buy its goods. According to Isenrath (2012), many Argentines view gender-based etiquette as good business manners. So when doing business there, don’t be surprised if your female counterparts expect men to open doors for them. Such a gesture is not viewed as sexism as it is viewed in other western countries. So, issues of sexism should not be a threat to performance and attitudes of employees. Another observation of cultural customs in Argentina involves keeping time. It is a custom for Argentines to be late for about thirty minutes (Isenrath, 2012). So, a manager should expect his or her employees to be late for work and should, therefore, create advance time for such incidents to enhance the productivity of the company. Argentina has a high context culture and Argentines not only have a strong sense of family, but also have a high commitment to community. Therefore, it is a guarantee that good rapport will be formed among all the stakeholders of the company, which means productive outcomes. In a high context culture, non-verbal communication is imperative. Therefore, A. Raptis & Sons Ltd will have to use marketing strategies that are more formal and direct to reach its consumers. For instance use of non-verbal cues like facial expressions, tone of voice, posture, and

Contemporary Issues in Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Contemporary Issues in Childhood - Essay Example Donnelly et al (2000) detail the conditions associated with obesity such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes. According to Snorof et al (2004) obese children are physically at risk also for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer, orthopedic problems, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease and other debilitating diseases. These authors also suggest that obese children are prone to psychological and social discrimination. Being obese makes a child a target for taunts from peers and negative reactions from others, leaving the child with hurt feelings and possibly, low self-esteem and depression (Holmes, 1998). The negative effects of obesity can be detrimental to a child’s growth and development, thus, the problem of obesity needs to be confronted early in life and solutions provided. Clearly, overweight children have the potential to become overweight or obese adults and early intervention is needed to reverse this trend (Barnes, 2011). If childhood obesity is ign ored or tolerated because parents do not see the seriousness of its consequences, the health risks are more likely to affect these children, and as they grow into obese adults, the health problems will escalate. Parents need to realize that ignoring the problem of their overweight and obese children may have a great societal impact. This poses as a huge concern for NHS due to the burden that will befall them in terms of costs of caring for obese people with various health complications (NHS, 2011). This strengthens the need for more approaches in handling childhood obesity in order to reduce and prevent the problem from its onset. Before solutions and strategies for tackling obesity can be developed, it is important to know the causes of the problem so these causes are addressed and challenged through the different approaches. Apart from the proliferation of junk food and the media that endorses

Article Critiques on Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Article Critiques on Finance - Essay Example For example, although, â€Å" 70% of Swedes and 61% of Americans aged 55 to 64 work, a mere 32% of Austrians and Belgians in the range do [so].† In analyzing certain trends, the OECD report has divided its members into four groups having similar characteristics. These groups are â€Å"English speaking’, ‘Northern Europe’, ‘Continental and southern Europe’ and ‘Central Europe’. The first two of these groups have been successful in maintaining high employment rates. This, as per the report is attributed to the fact that countries in these two groups have, â€Å"weaker job protection; less generous unemployment benefits and thinner tax wedges than the average†. The message here is clear, namely, that the best way to reduce unemployment is to get more people out to work by the simple expedient of loosening labour markets. Workers must have an incentive to work to make ends meet, which might not be enough motivation if unemployment benefits are too attractive, or conversely, if the take-home pay is not worth the difference in effort. Encouraging people to work until they are much older is one way of reducing the pension burden, but this is offset by the fact that, â€Å" wages are often based on seniority not productivity†. Hence a correct balance has to be drawn, especially since wastage through retirement is one of the methods of job creation. This article examines Europe’s attempts at a monetary union and whether in fact countries that have adopted the Euro have really benefited in terms if increased trade. When Britain stayed out of the merger, it was projected that should Britain join it would result in a possible increase in trade by as much as 50%, and living standards by up o 9%. However, studies carried out by Richard Baldwin do not support these estimates. Baldwin has worked out that the increase in trade on the Euro adopting countries is only between 5% to 15%, with the average being 9%. The three EU countries that did not join

Synopsis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Synopsis - Assignment Example Under the new role women were to be confined into homes as guardians of family and hearth. All major decisions were to be done by men only, women should take care about home, bare children and take care of them and keep the institution of family working properly. This, de facto and de iure, was a huge step back for women of Germany who were among the first in the world to be granted voting rights under the Weimar Republic. Yet, somehow large numbers of German women supported Hitler. They were, as Koonz describes, devoted to the cause and, almost religiously committed to it. That way a paradox arose in Nazi Germany, a paradox in which women supported something that will give them a second class citizen status at best. Koonz asserts that women in Germany were same as men distrustful of democracy, liberal and modern ideas, and at the same time, intensely nationalistic. To best illustrate her point Koonz included in the book an interview she did with Gertrud Scholtz Klink in the early 1980’s. Scholtz was a former Head of Frauenschaft, Women’s Department under the Nazis. She, as interview done four decades after the fact shows, embodied exactly what Koonz was claiming. Even then she stated numerous times how proud she was of her so called new power given to her and women in general by Hitler. The whole conversation proved, beyond any doubt, that â€Å"female supporters of the Nazis accepted the Nazi division of the sexes into a public sphere for men and a private sphere for women.† Professor Koonz, also, explores the process in which German women politically influenced the country at that time. By sheer logic, women making one half of German population and having voting rights at the time, were very instrumental in aiding Hitler’s rise to power, which in turn, allowed him and the Nazis to implement their policies and commit atrocities in the coming years. In those years of the Third Reich, German women, like

Choose Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Choose - Annotated Bibliography Example African Americans have always suffered according to the book Gates, Henry L. Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print. It illustrates some of the troubles they encountered as slaves and soldiers in the 1800s. these issues are also seen in The Revolution as majority of the colored soldiers are not allowed to hold special weapons as they are not qualified and they are black. They are not given the opportunity to escape from the war as their fellow soldiers kill them. Both the movie and the book explain this. The Revolution also indicates that slaves were sometimes confused on the people they supported. This is further explained by the book Smith, Gene A. The Slaves Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812. , 2013. Print. They were sometimes offered freedom by their enemies or even enticed by money and property. The movie indicates that some of the slaves took the offer only to realize that it was all lies. They found themselves being treated as slaves or even sold as prisoners of war to their previous owners. Smith also indicates that some of the African American who fought in the war of 1812 did not receive compensation or rewards for their participation in the war. Wilson, Joseph T, and Dudley T. Cornish. The Black Phalanx: African American Soldiers in the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. Print, shows that the participation of the African Americans in the war changed a lot of things. For instance, both the movie and the book indicate that the whites started to view them differently. They started to treat them as their fellow human beings and not slaves. There are others who were viewed as brothers to the soldiers. This is seen in the movie as one of the soldiers share a meal with one of the slaves.

Synopsis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Synopsis - Assignment Example Under the new role women were to be confined into homes as guardians of family and hearth. All major decisions were to be done by men only, women should take care about home, bare children and take care of them and keep the institution of family working properly. This, de facto and de iure, was a huge step back for women of Germany who were among the first in the world to be granted voting rights under the Weimar Republic. Yet, somehow large numbers of German women supported Hitler. They were, as Koonz describes, devoted to the cause and, almost religiously committed to it. That way a paradox arose in Nazi Germany, a paradox in which women supported something that will give them a second class citizen status at best. Koonz asserts that women in Germany were same as men distrustful of democracy, liberal and modern ideas, and at the same time, intensely nationalistic. To best illustrate her point Koonz included in the book an interview she did with Gertrud Scholtz Klink in the early 1980’s. Scholtz was a former Head of Frauenschaft, Women’s Department under the Nazis. She, as interview done four decades after the fact shows, embodied exactly what Koonz was claiming. Even then she stated numerous times how proud she was of her so called new power given to her and women in general by Hitler. The whole conversation proved, beyond any doubt, that â€Å"female supporters of the Nazis accepted the Nazi division of the sexes into a public sphere for men and a private sphere for women.† Professor Koonz, also, explores the process in which German women politically influenced the country at that time. By sheer logic, women making one half of German population and having voting rights at the time, were very instrumental in aiding Hitler’s rise to power, which in turn, allowed him and the Nazis to implement their policies and commit atrocities in the coming years. In those years of the Third Reich, German women, like

Miu Miu Advertising and Marketing Technique Essay

Miu Miu Advertising and Marketing Technique - Essay Example In 1998 she opened Miu Miu's first North American boutique, in Los Angeles. Miu Miu was in fact an addition onto the original Prada line, and was introduced in 1992 as a lower-priced line aimed at a younger audience. "The Miu Miu line, which shares Miuccia Prada's nickname, emphasizes earthy colors and a less haute couture look, evoking an overall more bohemian style." ("Wikpedia", 2006). Miu Miu is considered to be the youngest and most dynamic line by Prada. It is known for being a much more fun and innovative label and its womenswear is always lovely, making desirable clothes rarely seen before. In its advertising campaigns, waif-like models are used in 'home photo' poses, in order to add onto this bohemian style. And so, named after its creator's nickname, Miu Miu was introduced as "anti-fashion fashion". The label has a habit of globe-trotting and moved its show to the United States for three seasons starting in 1994. It was in fact one of the first of a number of secondary Italian lines to hop over to New York Fashion Week. In 1997, Miu Miu showed in London for one season before returning again to Milan. Headquartered in Italy with another location in New York, they have a wide range of clothing and accessories, including everything from slide sandals to trendy flowered skirts and dresses. Miu Miu is considered to be an "accessory-strong brand", who has carved out a significantly separate identity from the main Prada line by associating itself with emerging actors, artists and musicians. Indie stars such as Ludivine Sagnier and Selma Blair have populated its advertisements, and Miu Miu's forthcoming spring campaign is said to be featuring stars such as Kim Basinger and Camilla Belle. Miu Miu strives to advertise and reach their customers through many different forums, including retail outlets, television, magazines, and online. The reason for this is to allow as many potential customers as possible. Although their main consumer target focus is the younger women demographic (20-30), their designs can be worn by women of basically all ages. The clothes are stylish and dressy while still remaining classy and conservative. This assists a great deal in their marketing strategy, in that a larger group of women fall into the 'wearable' category than many other designer brands. Many times a brand will focus strongly on a specific age group, whereas Miu Miu seems to have more freedom of choice in that area. Miu Miu's look is rather upscale, and they use high quality materials to design each piece of clothing. They continuously purposely aim to primarily sell their clothing lines in high-end designer stores, in order to retain the idea of quality. Their designs are sold alongside other famously known designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, and Versace. Miuccia Prada likes to use a lot of crunchy polyester, parachute nylon, and other synthetic fabrics. As for colors, the Miu Miu line tends to have many different tones of green, browns, white, cream, and black. In her most recent line of Spring/Summer 2006, the Miu

Of Mice and Men and the American Dream Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men and the American Dream Essay John Stienbeck’s novel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† is about the death of the American dream. George, Lennie and Candy’s dream is to own their own piece of land to work and live independently on. This dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s strength, which he cannot control. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to contact her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. Racism and the attitudes of others destroy this dream. Lennie and George’s dream is to own a piece of land to work and live where they can have cows, pigs, chicken a vegetable patch with alfalfa and rabbits. â€Å"O. K Someday – we’re going to get the jack together and we’re going to have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ‘An’ live off the fatal the land’ â€Å"We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit-hunch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter we’ll just say the hell with going’ to work, and we’ll build up the fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain coming’ down on the roof. (Steinbeck 1937:18) This quote illustrates the dream have about owning their own land and living independently on it, growing and harvesting their own crops in the vegetable patch, farming cows and goats for milk, pigs for ham and bacon and chickens for eggs. When Candy hears about this dream, he wants to become part of it by offering his saved money to fund the purchase of the piece of land and be able to work and live on the land with George and Lennie. George, Lennie and candy’s dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s ignorance of his own strength. When Lennie is in a stressful situation, like when he wanted to pat the girl’s dress and she screamed, Lennie panics and doesn’t know what to do. Lennie’s strength and ignorance ruins their dream when Lennie and Curley’s wife are talking in the barn. Curley’s wife invites Lennie to feel how soft her hair is. Lennie patted her hair very hard. Curley’s wife, not wanting her hair to be messed up, jerks her head away. Because Lennie is confused he grabs her hair and tries to make her stop yelling. But because Lennie does not know how to control his own strength, he squeezes Curley’s wife’s neck too hard and crushes her spine. Lennie then flees the ranch because Curley wants to kill him for what he did to his wife. So Lennie is not brutally murdered by Curley, George finds Lennie and, because he cannot get him out of trouble, shoots Lennie. Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and ignorance destroyed his, George and Candy’s dream Curley’s wife’s dream is to become a famous Hollywood actress. She dreams of fame, fortune, fancy clothes and large, expensive hotels. Curley’s wife is waiting for a Hollywood director to mail her about becoming an actress. This dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley because once she is married she is not allowed to pursue an acting career because she has to look after the house, because Curley will not allow her to leave the ranch to become an actress. Her dream is also destroyed by a Hollywood director who believed she had the potential to become a film actress. Curley’s wife meets this director at a dance and he promises he would send her a letter about acting in one of his films, but she never gets the letter so she does not become an actress which is her dream. Her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who has not mailed her about her acting career destroys her dream. Crooks dream is to be equal. Because he is black, he is treated differently than others because of their racist attitudes. Crooks must not go in the bunkhouse so he has to sleep in the harness room. He is also abused by the boss of the ranch whenever the boss gets angry. Crooks dreams that he can be treated the same as everyone else, so he does not have to sleep in the harness room instead of the bunkhouse or by abused by another man. â€Å"And he gave the stable buck hell, too† â€Å"Give the stable buck hell? ’ he asked ‘Sure. Yak see the stable buck’s a nigger. † (Steinbeck 1937:22)This quote shows how Crooks is mistreated by the farm boss because he is a black man. The ranch boss thinks he can ill-treat and discriminate against Crooks because he is black. Crooks dream of becoming equal is destroyed by the racist attitudes of others The novel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck is about the death of the American dream. The dream of George, Lennie and Candy is to own their own piece of land to work and live on. Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s uncontrollable strength destroy this dream. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to write to her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. This dream is destroyed by racism and the attitudes of others.

Another Chance Of Life Essay -- essays research papers

Another Chance of Life Can there be another you? The answer is no, but by human cloning you can reproduce an offspring that grows into an exact genetically double of you. All of us want to prolong the lives of our loved ones and have a healthy newborn baby. Many infertility couples wanted to have a baby that is genetically theirs, not from adopting a child from a different family background. In the cloning technology, eggs or sperms would not be needed to be conceived by a person because any cell would do. One parent contributes DNA, making the child almost an identical twin. He or she would differ from the parents much more than identical twins differ from each other. In many parts of the world, human cloning is banned. For example, Canada's new Human Reproductive and Genetics Technologies Act made it illegal to clone human embryos, research on human embryos later than 14 days after conception, and the creation of embryos for research purposes alone. This act will make it more difficult for the estimated 280,000 infertile couplesin Canada to obtain domestic assistance in having a genetic child of their own. Human cloning should not be banned because it has many promising benefits to infertility couples and to the basic research for treatment of various diseases. Most people would not want to clone themselves. Those people think a human clone resembles the person it is made from. The genes do not form our character and so identical twins would never get 100 percent ident...

How does the Relative Molecular Mass change in heat combustion of an alcohol? :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

How does the Relative Molecular Mass change in heat combustion of an alcohol? Planning Introduction ============ As alcohol burns in air it gives out energy as heat and light. I am going to investigate how the energy output of an alcohol in combustion changes, with increased relative molecular mass, or RMM. RMM is the sum of the atomic masses of every atom in the molecule. Using the alcohols: Methanol, Ethanol, Propan-1-ol, Butan-1-ol and Pentan-1-ol, I will plan, and complete an experiment that tests the prediction below. ====================================================================== Prediction And Theory ===================== In the combustion of alcohols in air, the alcohol reacts with oxygen molecules, to create carbon dioxide and water. Many bonds are broken in the process using up energy. At the same time, the atoms reforming into the new molecules of carbon dioxide and water give out energy. In the combustion of alcohols, the energy created, when forming bonds will always be more that what is lost, when breaking bonds, this gives us excess energy. This energy is given out primarily as heat, but also as light and sound. As energy is given out it is called an exothermic reaction. If the opposite were true, it would be an endothermic reaction. It is never possible to calculate exact energy change by experimentation due to inaccuracies and energy waste, so we use bond energy calculations give the exact theoretical energy change. Bond energy calculations show that the higher the RMM the more energy will be produced for the same weight of fuel (RMM is the sum of the atomic masses of every atom in the molecule). This is because as the RMM increases there are more atoms and therefore, more bonds to be broken and then made. As, when burning alcohols, this process gives out energy, the more bonds go through this process, ie as the RMM increases the more energy should be released. The calculations also suggest that for every carbon atom you add to the chain of an alcohol the energy out should increase by 618 Kj/mol. I predict then, that as the RMM goes up then the energy change will get increasingly more negative i.e. more energy is given off. The RMM will be proportional to the final energy created as both should increase by the same number each time, (RMM by 14 as one C and 2 H atoms are added, and the energy out by 618KJ/mol). This will therefore result in a straight-line on the graph. The bond energy calculations show how much energy should be released, accounting for experimental inaccuracies however, I expect the experimental output to be considerably less. Proposed Method I am going to test how the energy output per mole in the combustion of

Balanced Scorecard Essay

Rivalry amongst competing firms – Apple is in the unique situation that it has its own proprietary operating system and only used by Apple. So although the competition is fierce for customers, it is a different type of battle for Apple than for others such as Samsung, Google or Microsoft. Apple does face stiff competition but it is in the battle for use-case preference. The Android or Windows OS is different than the Apple iOS and consumers make a choice as to which road they are going to go down. Apple is competing for winning this important thought process and decision-making process. They are not competing on hardware alone because Apple alone produces their products with their OS. The competition will continue for easily the foreseeable future, 10 years and beyond, as the world becomes more digitized. Force: Moderate Potential Entry of New Competitors – The barriers to entry in this industry are steep. Cost of production is very high for new entrants until significant economies of scale are reached. Over the next 10 years there will be many new entrants into the industry though either brand new, or companies already in similar technology markets that will branch out into markets that compete with Apple. Again, that would be a competition for OS preference, not hardware per se. There is always the possibility of an entirely new and 4th, or more, operating systems being developed as technology advances. Moore’s Law tells us this is likely but difficult to ascertain from where it will come, whether it will be significantly better than any existing, and if it will gain wide user acceptance. Force: Weak to Moderate Potential Development of substitute products – Again, since Apple has its own exclusive OS, substitute products are only a threat as being other choices of entirely different OS’s from Microsoft or Android producers, or any other possible future OS development. But Apple does not have any substitute for its own products. Force: Weak Bargaining Power of Buyers – Apple users tend to stay Apple users. Their loyalty is strong and they love Apple products. Apple charges a premium for its products but the image and allure of Apple products and their perceived high quality keep unit sales strong. Although technology economies of scale have certainly been reached in Apple production, they have continued to keep their products priced higher that competing products. Buyer choice based on price alone should affect growth amongst some new customer segments, but will have little effect on the current loyal Apple user base. Unless their products begin to lose some of their luster and appeal and effectiveness, they should remain strong for the future. Force: Weak Bargaining Power of Suppliers – With Apple’s exclusive product line and OS and the relatively small number of products, they are not threatened by supplier power. Apple can easily find factories more than willing to be a part of the Apple supply chain. As their products gain more market share and production increases, Apple is in an ideal situation to manage their suppliers effectively.

Filipino Voting Pattern

THE CAMPAIGN First World techniques, Third World setting The Philippines uses state-of-the-art campaign techniques, but its elections are taking place in a political culture that is pre-modern and oriented toward the family. BY LUZ RIMBAN SATURDAY, JANUARY 3RD, 2004 | Filipino politicians use the latest campaign techniques, but still look upon voters as mendicants. | | | ADVERTISING  guru Reli German tells the story of the time he was tapped to produce commercials and jingles for then candidate Ferdinand Marcos’s 1965 presidential bid.The campaign was more of a family venture with no less than Marcos’s wife Imelda herself directing the troops. She would drop by German’s office to look over campaign materials and listen to the jingles being prepared for her husband’s campaign. â€Å"It was more of Imelda that we were dealing with directly for the campaign in 1965,† German recalls. One night Imelda summoned German and his production team to the Marc os home in San Juan, where they were led to her bedroom, which had a closet full of shoeboxes.The group, a team of professional advertising people, did not know exactly what they were doing in Imelda’s boudoir, but the mystery was soon revealed. German remembers that â€Å"she took three shoeboxes and the boxes were offered to us, and they were full of money! † With that, the campaign production team was paid, and paid handsomely. German’s story does not only provide insights on the other uses Imelda made of her shoes (or, more precisely, the boxes they had come in).It also tells us that advertising professionals had been involved in Philippine election campaigns as far back as 1965, when radio was reaching its peak and television, just beginning to make a dent in Filipinos’ consciousness. Then and now, however, professionals like German are relegated to the background, hidden members of the campaign team who are traditionally composed of the candidateâ⠂¬â„¢s trusted family members. Campaign professionals, though, have actually been around longer than that.Soon after the United States introduced elections in the Philippines, the country’s former colonizer also exported to the islands U. S. -style campaigning. This included the use of the mass media to create and manipulate public images, the hiring of public relations and advertising professionals, and later, the employment of sophisticated tools like campaign research and polling. Candidates like Manuel Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, and Ferdinand Marcos were sold to voters partly through images crafted by experts and peddled to the public through newspapers, radio, and later, television.At least in terms of elections, the Philippines is not the laggard of Asia, but perhaps the first country in the region that has mastered the use of first-world election techniques. | The first national-level Philippine elections were held in 1907. Photo shows voters reading campaign posters iss ued for that election. | | | But it isn’t easy applying first-world election know-how to a third-world political setting. Despite what appear to be advanced campaign methods, the Philippines is still basically a feudal society where the family lords over political life.And with the weakening of political parties — alongside the weakening of other institutions in society — the family has remained the country’s basic political organization. This feudal, family-oriented base is one of the factors that stunts the growth of political-campaign professionals. Four decades after Imelda Marcos successfully steered her husband to power, Philippine campaigns are still far from being well-oiled political projects run by professionals. In the Philippine setting, a political campaign machine — especially one designed for a presidential candidate — can be a complex structure with various compartmentalized sub-groupings.The professionals would be embedded s omewhere within, a silent and unknown minority who bow to tacticians and campaign operators. These tacticians and operators, in turn, are usually members and friends of a political clan. It isn’t altogether surprising that a campaign can still look like a mom-and-pop affair with the candidate’s wife as campaign manager, the husband a fundraiser, and all sorts of hangers-on filling the backroom. There is a difference in this year’s election, however. It is the first presidential election in decades in which political advertisements will be allowed.It is the first time that the power of media in general — and television in particular — may determine who wins. At no other time in the nation’s history will candidates be sold like soap and toothpaste because 40 million voters will be relying on little more than visibility and image to make their choices. More than ever before, candidates and their campaign machineries will now need to use the med ia specialists, campaign managers, and assorted professionals to make themselves known to the public, and through whatever means available.By passing the law lifting the ban on political advertisements, â€Å"Congress was in fact saying there’s another way of winning,† says political consultant Malou Tiquia. And part of the message to candidates may be that there could be more room for the pros. For some candidates, this may be a welcome development, since it may mean more effective campaigns, i. e. more votes. But it may not necessarily be good news for the public. As U. S. political scientist Dan Nimmo points out in his book,  The Political Persuaders, hiring professionals may just mean more sophisticated manipulation. Without question,† says Nimmo, â€Å"the new technology introduces not only the possibility but indeed the likelihood of systematic deception in electoral politics. † More and more, candidates will be seen in images and settings that do not really reflect who they really are and what they are going to do once elected to office. With more professional sleight of hand at work, the public may have a harder time distinguishing fact from fiction, especially when they remain unaware that experts now have more say in the show. IN THE  so-called mature democracies of the West, there are experts for every task in a campaign.In the United States, the election industry is huge, manned by a wide range of specialists including campaign managers, political consultants, public relations people, speechwriters, audio-visual experts, and fundraisers. They operate by a set of rules and design campaign strategies based on scientifically obtained data provided by another component of that growing industry: the profession of campaign research that includes not only pollsters but also psychologists and behavioral experts. | President Quezon addresses a crowd. | | | That is not the case in the Philippines. For starters, there are very f ew such professionals in the country.For example, there are only two or three reputable independent polling agencies in the Philippines. Image specialists, political consultants, and campaign managers are also hard to find. Two years ago, an organization called the Association of Political Consultants of Asia was formed, bringing together political technicians aiming to transform political consultancy and campaigning from craft to science. Still, quips one political consultant: â€Å"It’s easier to find a cardiologist who can do open heart surgery than to find a good spin master. † That is partly why families and friends remain the captains of Philippine political campaigns.Fernando Poe Jr. ’s campaign machinery, for instance, is packed with his siblings and supporters in the entertainment world. Brother Conrad Poe handles logistics, sister Elizabeth Poe is the official scheduler, while erstwhile comedian and Senator Tito Sotto is the campaign manager. Even acto rs Rez Cortes and Richard Gomez have been assigned parts to play in the campaign, as has Poe’s swarm of stuntmen-friends who dabble as spokespersons, rallyists, and even act as Poe’s security cordon. On that point, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo isn’t far behind. Her brother Diosdado ‘Buboy’ Macapagal Jr. s her campaign manager and fundraiser. First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is in the thick of her campaign, too, even if just last year, he had gotten embroiled in a scandal that portrayed him as using an alias to stash away millions of pesos of surplus campaign funds from his wife’s 1998 vice-presidential bid. Of course, a family-run campaign does not necessarily translate into an inefficient and ineffective venture. The most politically experienced clans have even elevated political campaigning to an art, and have over time mastered how to best maximize manpower, resources, and connections.Elite families are especially skilled at this, putting the charismatic and media-savvy members at the frontlines, assigning the crafty and the cunning to the management side, and mobilizing the clan and its network for other tasks in the campaign, including recruiting campaigners, poll watchers, goons, bodyguards — even hitmen, if need be. But with this election promising more pros, campaigns are bound to be slicker than ever. There is, for instance, the advertising agency Campaigns and Grey and its stable of image specialists working for presidential candidate Raul Roco.There will also be groups like Tiquia’s Publicus Ltd. , a political consultancy firm that provides campaign services to senatorial and local candidates. There is even the television production team TAPE Productions — which puts out programs like the noontime variety show â€Å"Eat Bulaga! † — acting as image makers for Fernando Poe Jr. Most of these professionals, though, remain in the background. â€Å"It’s an underground indu stry-most of these people don’t carry calling cards, don’t introduce themselves, don’t appear at press conferences, don’t advertise their services,† says a political consultant. They get hired by referral and by word of mouth. The really good ones are overloaded with clients and forced to turn down others. † For this article, they refused to be identified. â€Å"You let the spotlight fall only on your principal,† this political consultant adds. Another one says, â€Å"The pros are often relegated to the backroom, or they don’t have the stature to face the public. † â€Å"Undocumented experts,† is how yet another political consultant describes himself and his peers. The secrecy is understandable.Most of them have day jobs, either as reporters, columnists, businessmen, advertising executives, legislative staff, or civil servants. Elections and political campaigns don’t come that often and cannot be a stable sou rce of livelihood, which is why most political professionals consider themselves â€Å"political sacadas† or sharecroppers whose work is seasonal. Besides, in the professions where they officially belong, moonlighting for politicians is an ethical taboo. Journalists working as public relations practitioners or political consultants would be violating the rules on independence, impartiality, and conflict of interest.Some advertising agencies even insist that they have no history or record of involvement in political campaigns. Yet as far back as 1965, the presidential campaign was already a battle of the ad agency executives. | Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos display their affection for each other during their heyday. | | | For that particular campaign, adman Billy Esposo writes in a recent column, Marcos hired Proctor and Gamble’s creative team, which was composed of, among others, Miniong Ordonez, now of Jimenez Basic Advertising. Reli German was part of that team.On the other side of the fence, says Esposo, Diosdado Macapagal’s â€Å"image team was headed by the late Fenny Hechanova, himself a former adman from a pioneering agency called Philprom. † When Marcos ran for reelection four years later, Esposo continues, he got Greg Garcia, who eventually headed the prominent ad agency Hemisphere-Leo Burnett. Greg Garcia, now retired but still part owner of Leo Burnett, is the chief image handler of Senator Panfilo Lacson. The reticence of many professionals in admitting their political work stems from the stigma it apparently carries. Political campaigning is often viewed as an illicit undertaking.Players are perceived to ink deals and engage in dirty tricks and special operations that can go from wooing special interest groups and thinking up a candidate’s position on issues, to peddling propaganda, buying the media, and negotiating for votes with local party leaders. But much of the bad name suffered by political professionals has also been blamed on Marcos. After he declared martial law in 1972 and abolished elections, the political pros’ skills and talents were put to use only to promote his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (the only active political party at that time) or push his New Society.It was a situation that didn’t allow skilled political organizers to thrive and develop a profession called campaign management or political consultancy. Although the Development Academy of the Philippines and the Department of Interior and Local Government became training grounds where political managers could hone their skills managing political organizations, all their work was still for Marcos’s benefit. The only other option was to escape the system and cross over to activist organizations or the underground Left, such as the National Democratic Front (NDF) or the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).Today’s top party and campaign people, in fact, trace their roots to these diverse beginni ngs: Lakas’s Gabriel Claudio and Ronaldo Puno were products of the DILG, while Horacio ‘Boy’ Morales and Rigoberto Tiglao, came from the leftist movement. PERHAPS  the unsuspecting public should be thankful that the country still has a relatively tiny community of campaign management experts, resulting in often-chaotic campaigns that either reveal more than the candidate wants the public to know, or reveal so little that the voters are left annoyed.In truth, present Philippine campaigns are quite like those in the United States were more than 100 years ago. In The Political Persuaders, which was published in 1970, Nimmo writes, â€Å"A century ago, candidates relied on their wits, their friends, and a few trusted allies to mount a campaign for office. Few men specialized in selling political advice. The campaign specialists of that day were primarily party politicians. † | Joseph Estrada is mobbed by adoring crowds during his 1998 campaign. | | |Accordin g to Nimmo, the campaign management industry is a â€Å"direct descendant of the public-relations profession† that became popular in the 1920s. That was when U. S. capitalists were under attack by consumers who were reading in newspapers about unsavory business practices. Countering such criticism required a specialist who could proclaim the good side of U. S. industry. Thus was born the PR agent. â€Å"In the process,† Nimmo continues, these PR people â€Å"made increasingly adroit use of the means of mass communication; the result was the burgeoning field of mass advertising. It would not be long before public relations and mass advertising would cross over to the world of politics, especially with the rise of television, and give birth to a profession that proclaims the good side of political candidates. Nimmo recounts that election campaigns soon became a battle for public exposure. That battle, however, hasn’t been easily fought and won. Many other things compete for the voters’ attention, and candidates need people who are masters not only at constructing the candidate’s message and image, but also at sending these in the most effective way that will make full use of manpower, time, and limited resources.In short, campaigns need strategies. The U. S. -trained Tiquia, formerly a legislative staff member in the Philippine and U. S. Congresses, defines the ingredients that make for a good campaign strategy. These are listed in a book entitled Campaign Politics: defining the voting population being targeted, creating the message to be communicated, managing resources, timing, and tactics. Tactics include direct voter contact such as campaign events, rallies, and even door-to-door campaigning, and indirect tactics like media advertisements, billboards, and campaign paraphernalia.Having a professional campaign team to implement the strategy is another necessity. The team is supposed to put order into the traditionally topsy- turvy exercises called campaigns. In this country, however, third-world realities can get in the way. For instance, Tiquia says, there are times when a candidate hires a professional campaign team that may find itself clashing with family members, or with yet another professional team working for the same politician. Problems like these only slow down the campaign.Campaign Politics also advises politicians to plot their moves way in advance, get their hands on the best people before the competition beats them to it, and plan carefully how resources are to be spent. But there’s that manana habit of the Filipino-his penchant for not planning ahead and waiting till the last minute-which can wreak havoc on the campaign in many ways. As examples, Tiquia cites candidates who are buying TV spots only now, and are finding out that there are none available because an enterprising agency had purchased all that was left months ago.It is now selling these â€Å"on the secondary marketâ €  at much higher rates. There were, however, a few who bought spots early, and at rates that were far, far cheaper. Among the more visible swift-footed ones are presidential candidate Raul Roco and Panfilo Lacson, whose ads had been airing regularly since the campaign started, and senatorial candidate Mar Roxas. As if operating in such a third-world conditions weren’t enough, political professionals in the Philippines also have to deal with obsessive-compulsive candidates who try to control the campaign every step of the way.Among the cardinal rules for campaigns, says one of the political consultants interviewed for this piece, is that â€Å"a candidate cannot think and campaign at the same time; a candidate shouldn’t handle his or her own campaign. † But most candidates refuse to leave things to the experts. Despite the enormity of her duties as president and candidate, Gloria Arroyo still decides where her campaigns sorties will go, political consultants say. Even members of her campaign still cannot fathom why she chose to launch her presidential bid in the hills of Cavinti, Laguna.Observers could only guess that  feng shui  might have had something to do with it; taking the team to high ground probably bodes good luck, they said. But after Cavinti, the president went north, leaving observers still trying to discern a pattern in her campaigning — if there was really any at all. One consultant, though, says, â€Å"Look at the route she has taken, and you’ll see that it’s like she’s drawing the number eight on the map-she goes up, she goes down, forward, then backward. † Poe is said to be no different, at least as far as his political rallies are concerned. Remember that he’s a movie director, so he wants to have a say in how his rallies are produced,† says a political professional. But the king of Philippine movies is also a political neophyte, which has unfortunately resulted in P oe being kept in an artificial world where everything is stage-managed. Hence, every interview, every appearance has to be scripted. And having written lines for scripts, Poe tends to have a say in how his campaign is managed. â€Å"The best candidate surrenders himself to his handlers,† says another political consultant. And if there was one who embodied this, it was Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada in 1998. Erap was a good follower in the sense that when you said the schedule was like this, even if it was so hot or he was already dead tired, he would still follow the schedule to the letter,† says Lito Banayo, who was on Estrada’s 1998 campaign team, and is now on Lacson’s. â€Å"That’s why he was a joy to handle. Perhaps because he was an actor, he was used to having a call time, he had to be on the set at this certain time. He (carried that) discipline in the campaign. † But another plus factor in the Estrada campaign was its near-perfec t machinery, which was due to a generous influx of funds.Ample funds and resources make a large part of a successful campaign. Reli German even says, â€Å"The three most important things (in a campaign) are money, money, and money. † The Estrada campaign in 1998 had that in huge quantities. Recalls Banayo: â€Å"There were really a lot of people who helped in that campaign by way of cash as well as material donations. † A feature of Estrada’s campaign sorties, for instance, were the motorcades and caravans where Estrada would appear beside his showbiz friends Poe and Nora Aunor, and they would then toss candies to the crowd.Banayo says they never ran out of candies because the supplies just kept coming. Banayo explains the â€Å"symbiotic relationship† of campaign elements: â€Å"Once the perception or image of a candidate improves, the survey results become stacked in his or her favor, the numbers go up, the resources will pour in accordingly. † Making the candidate more visible, his image more winnable, translates into more campaign contributors. Traditionally, political consultants say, donors such as Filipino-Chinese businesspeople who put in large sums of money into election campaign, initially give equal amounts to all candidates.The money reportedly starts getting bigger only by April, when donors have a clearer idea who among the candidates is pulling away from the pack, and likely to lead the race. But Tiquia laments how fundraising, like the other aspects, remains a hidden but very important facet of Philippine campaigns. Candidates do not, in the course of the campaign, reveal who their funders are, and methods for raising funds are not always above board. In the United States, Tiquia notes, fundraising is a profession.Professional fundraisers’ methods include organizing events or dinners, or sending out mail asking supporters to contribute to the campaign kitty. There are limits to the amounts supporters c an donate. In this country, it is the field of contributors that is limited. The money comes mostly from Filipino-Chinese businesspeople; the bigger players are the likes of Lucio Tan and Eduardo Cojuangco, whose hearts, minds, and pocket the candidates have to compete for. In exchange, candidates promise them the moon, the stars, and even a piece of the economy.And now to lure them — and the voters — candidates are tapping political professionals. The irony is that takes a lot of money as well. Nimmo notes, â€Å"The professionals are for hire, but at very high prices. Fewer and fewer politicians can afford the costs of candidacy†¦. In an age when less affluent members of society are already disillusioned with a political arrangement which they perceive are shutting them out, it will hardly produce harmony to request that they play by the rules of an electoral game they cannot afford to enter. Source: http://pcij. org/stories/first-world-techniques-third-world-s etting/ ‘Voters Harder To Fool With Empty Promises' by Kathleen A. Martin, ABS-CBNnews. com Posted at 01/17/2013 11:22 AM | Updated as of 01/17/2013 11:22 AM MANILA, Philippines – Aspiring politicians will need more than a catchy jingle and an empty promise to capture the hearts of Filipino masses, advertisers said. Yoly Ong, group chairperson at Campaigns and Grey, said that based on various focus group discussions, Filipinos are more selective when voting for candidates. They (the masses) actually say, ‘peke yan e,' because the promises are different from what the politicians actually do,† Ong told ANC's Inside Business. â€Å"In fact, I've come to the conclusion that it's harder to fool the masses today,† Ong continued. Ong is behind President Benigno Aquino III's successful campaign in 2010, and the brains behind the catchy â€Å"Pag walang corrupt, walang mahirap† slogan. â€Å"They (Filipino voters) have very different behaviors toward c andidates. For presidential candidates, they don't want the jingles. What they want to know is what the guy is going to do to improve their quality of life,† Ong said. But for the senatorial candidates, I guess it's more of remembering who to vote for because there's 12 people you need to choose,† Ong noted. Ong believes that for the national elections, the â€Å"air war† or the television and radio will be the primary venues for warring candidates. But local candidates such as congressmen and mayors will still need to battle it out â€Å"retail-elections† style, or going from house to house. Consultant Greg Garcia concurs with Ong, but stressed the role of television in political campaigns has â€Å"dramatically† changed over the years. If you're not on TV, don't even think about running for national office because the penetration of TV is just fantastic,† Garcia said. â€Å"I always advise clients that 80% of their money should go into media , and 80% of that 80% should go to television. Television is the only way to communicate to as many people as you can in the shortest amount of time,† he added. Garcia is the man behind Vice President Jejomar Binay's successful 2010 bid. Garcia said Binay's narrative of â€Å"Ganito kami sa Makati, sana ganito din sa buong bayan† was the secret behind the vice president's win. The campaign for the vice president was really right on†¦ and I think every candidate must have a narrative to win,† Garcia said. â€Å"It's not just about name recall, what's important is recalling the candidate's narrative,† he stressed. Source: http://www. abs-cbnnews. com/-depth/01/17/13/voters-harder-fool-empty-promises Philippine Elections Will Stop Being A Sham When Voters Wisen Up By: Ilda, November 9, 2012 Poor Filipinos. We can only stand back and watch in awe at how the Americans conduct their successful Presidential election.Less than a day after the US Presidential e lection, the winner could be declared without a hitch and without much contention from the losing candidate. Months of campaigning from both candidates come to an abrupt halt as soon as the winner is announced. It is back to work for everyone in the White House. The ease with which the US election sailed by so smoothly is not even because they have a computerized voting system. For many decades, US elections have always come and gone with hardly any drama. It’s just another walk in the park for people who follow a system that works.In relative terms, there’s hardly any cheating that would cause the sorts of delays that could put entire institutions in doubt. In contrast, even the Philippines’ very first computerized election in 2010 was fraught with allegations of fraudulent activities as reported by some of the members of the local and international community who participated and observed the election. As mentioned in my previous article immediately after the 2 010 election, foreign observers concluded that there was massive cheating involved in the first ever-automated Presidential election.Apart from the problems encountered with the machines, there were other elements whose presence was questionable considering they should not have been in the polling stations in the first place. Observers witnessed a chaotic scene with strong military presence and lots of instances of intimidation in and around the polling stations. One international observer who was assigned at the Pampanga and Tarlac region even specifically mentioned that intimidation was rampant in Hacienda Luisita, the hometown of President Benigno Simeon â€Å"BS† Aquino.These were observations made by outsiders who are completely unbiased. It is incomprehensible why our public officials allow these things to happen. This is why until now there are still some people who question the legitimacy of President BS Aquino’s win. The following is a summary of their observa tion all throughout the country: Serious and systematic irregularities: – Vote buying – People lining up outside the candidate’s house waiting to receive cash or goods – There was no privacy in the polling stations – People could see what the voter is writing The ballot sheet could not be folded to cover the information – There were voters who were not stamped with indelible ink – There were voters who were stamped with ink before voting – There were people taking pictures and videos of voters for intimidation purposes – Police and military presence was strong. Despite reports of massive election fraud, majority of Filipinos don’t seem inclined to do or don’t even want to know anything about them. The Commissions on Elections (Comelec) and President BS Aquino’s media cohorts were quick to declare the election a success.They wanted everyone to think that the first automated voting system delivered as expected and that Aquino’s win was a decisive one. Unfortunately, we will never know the truth. Filipinos will always be in the dark as to what truly happened because they chose to ignore boring details. Filipinos have this tendency to just listen to what the Philippine media is telling them. The Filipino people’s preference for turning a blind eye to impropriety is what’s preventing our country from moving forward. It is turning the Philippines into a nation of cheaters.The irony is that we cry foul after a bad deed is done but we ignore the deed as it transpires. It seems we don’t want the inconvenience of having to deal with the fallout of reporting a crime in progress. We don’t even have protection for whistleblowers. Instead of commending people for their bravery in coming forward, Filipinos turn against the whistleblowers, making them look like they are making mountains out of molehills. People who are seen supporting the whistleblowers are c onsidered â€Å"sore losers†. This discourages people from doing the right thing.Vigilance against crime is what will actually foster an environment of trust in our society. If we know that illegal activities are not tolerated, we can be assured that people will be honest with their day-to-day activities. Sadly, we shun people who go out on a limb to expose corruption or any form of malpractice, but what we need to do is to help promote a society in which it is possible to speak out without reprisal about corruption, dangers to the public and environment, and other vital social issues. Until we change the way we think and do things collectively as a people, we will never have a smooth election like the Americans.Here are some of the lessons I learned during the 2010 election that could help us in the 2013 Senatorial election and even the 2016 Presidential election: 1. Campaign platforms No one comes up with a credible platform during elections because voters don’t care about platforms. They cared about Noynoy’s love life and what he does in his spare time. Voters were also smitten with the â€Å"Aquino Legacy† and are convinced that Noynoy will continue whatever it is they think that Ninoy or Cory could have achieved but for whatever reason did not. The voters don’t even have a clue what a platform is.You have to wonder now how they plan to evaluate how Noynoy sticks to his campaign promises during his term of office. Lesson learned: Most Filipino voters are star-struck ignoramuses. If you want to run for the presidency in 2016, get an image makeover or try to appear â€Å"good† and â€Å"humble†. 2. Surveys and Polling firms Some Filipinos were dumb enough to think that if a candidate is popular, it means that he should be voted in as president. The fact of the matter is, candidates with a lot funds can hire polling firms and publish reports when it is favorable to them.It was also reported that polling firms c onducting the surveys in 2010 were closely linked to the presidential candidate leading the polls. Likewise, despite the number of candidates allowed to run, people were actually just choosing between two candidates. Lesson learned: Next election, call for more transparency around poll survey questionnaires; clamor for more polling firms to conduct surveys and be vigilant and critical of Media’s interpretation of the poll results. 3. Media Bias Noynoy Aquino was given more exposure by prominent media outlets like thePhilippine Daily Inquirer  during the campaign period.It didn’t matter how trivial the news was; Noynoy Aquino was always on the front page. Broadcast networks such as ABS-CBN also helped expose Noynoy to the masa through shows that flagged the â€Å"Aquino Legacy†. Lesson learned: Media outlets owned and operated by members of the Philippine oligarchy will give more exposure to whoever presidential candidate offers concessions they can benefit fro m. 4. Religious endorsements A week before Election Day, the leader of Iglesia ni Cristo announced that they will be endorsing presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino.It has been said that this religious group actually waits for the last minute before announcing their endorsement because they want to ensure that whoever they endorse actually wins — presumably with the aim of making a few deals with the president once in office. It was also said that Noynoy’s party was secretly courting that leader’s guarantee that the INC votes will be in their favor. Lesson learned: The endorsement of religious leaders depends on which candidate is popular; religious leaders can make or break a presidential aspirant; Filipinos will vote for whoever their religious leaders instruct them to vote for. . Election Day thugs and vote buying It seems that all of the above exercise with the possible exception of item number four will have no bearing on Election Day to the majority of vote rs because of the presence of thugs in the polling stations. As previously mentioned, police and military personnel who have no business being in polling stations and who are under the payroll of candidates, hang around to intimidate voters. If the Police and the military themselves are involved in this illegal behavior, to whom can the voters report the irregularity to?The illegal activity called vote buying involves the buyer and the seller. They both are accountable for their actions. In this case, both parties won’t be willing to report each other because they both benefit from the activity. Unfortunately, the voter who sells his vote will only benefit in the short term. Lesson learned: As long as irregularities like this happens on Election Day, any efforts at educating the voters will just go down the drain. 6. Automated Machines It turns out that automated machines are not foolproof.Reports abound of machines malfunctioning, machines found kept in someone’s shed , the discrepancies in time lapsed, and allegations of malicious software installed in the machine itself. Lesson learned: Filipinos cannot be trusted with both manual and automated election. Filipinos are very resourceful at finding a way to cheat. Lastly, here is the bottom-line: Filipinos are ultimately to blame for allowing fraudulent activities to happen. Politicians will keep trying to get away with cheating but it is up to us to decide if we will let them. Source: http://getrealphilippines. om/blog/2012/11/philippine-elections-will-stop-being-a-sham-when-voters-wisen-up/ 2013 Mix-And-Match Voting By  Ramon Casiple, Mon, Jan 7, 2013 The weak political party system in the Philippines can be seen in the way voters will vote in the 2013 national and local elections. A cursory study of the voting patterns in the past elections showed that voters vote for a candidate on various grounds, among them their personal relationship to the candidate, a candidate’s popularity (not necessarily in politics), endorsement by respected persons, and, of course, what the candidate stands for in relation to voters’ own.Nowhere in this list is a voter’s recognition of the candidate’s political party platform and program. The candidate, in this sense, sells himself, not the party. A tacit recognition of this can be seen in the way candidates and political parties present themselves to the voters. In streamers and billboards, the face and name of the candidate stands out compared to the party. Even in the party-list system—where the party-list groups are the ones to be elected–it has become more advantageous to present faces of their nominees in addition to the group names.The result is mix-and-match voting by individual voters. Rarely do they vote straight for a party’s candidates. Source: http://ph. news. yahoo. com/blogs/communityvoices/2013-mix-and-match-voting-130754846. html Everything I Need To Know About Improving The Ou tcome Of Philippine Elections I Learned In Kindergarten By: benign0, February 25, 2013 Campaign platforms You’d think that the call for platforms is so new this year considering how much of the mainstream has now taken up the cudgels of beating this concept into the tiny skulls of the Filipino voters.Yet only just four years ago, the idea of demanding platforms from candidates making their pitch to voters was so exotic. So exotic it was that I  wrote a piece  back in mid-2009 outlining the basic how-to’s of developing a campaign platform. As evident in what I wrote there, â€Å"If we are to expect Filipinos to courageously rally around a serious effort to become a better country in the foreseeable future, it would help to see a leader who has it clear in his or her mind how to get us from A to B. † it is obvious that the concept back then was quite new.The call for platforms rose to a crescendo as the presidential campaign leading to the 2010 elections march ed on. But as it became more apparent that the then front-running candidate, Benigno Simeon â€Å"BS† Aquino III lacked one, had no inclination of producing one, and was happy enough to run entirely on the back of his family pedigree, many folk who had by then drank enough of BS Aquino’s Yellowist Kool Aid were loudly extolling the irrelevance of revealing clear governance platforms during an election campaign.Instead, what to them was BS Aquino’s qualification to lead the country was his  perceived  honesty, integrity, and lack of a track record of corrupt practices. Funny how the most important lessons are learnt after the disaster had already wrought havoc. BS Aquino is now President of the Philippines and the very same bozos who thought platforms were not  that  important are now parroting what we had been saying back in 2009. Voter educationIn the lead up to and then in the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA people power â€Å"revolution†, the idea t hat in â€Å"freedom† lies the singular key to Philippine prosperity became deeply-ingrained in the Filipino psyche. It was all about freedom, and a blanket of demagoguery built around this simpleton’s message descended upon and enveloped the Philippine National â€Å"Debate† in the subsequent 27 years. The Vote — the â€Å"freedom† to choose one’s leaders — guaranteed that the  right  ones would be elevated to office as the prevailing thinking went.This was, the activists insisted, the â€Å"power† that the Filipino people â€Å"regained† after the 1986 â€Å"revolution†. But then as one bozo after another got elected into office since 1986, it became quite clear that the erstwhile thought leaders of the time simply gave Filipino voters too much credit. It turns out they were really not that smart after all. Freedom in the hands of the Filipino voter was like a blowtorch in the hands of a two-year-old. And so the idea of â€Å"educating† Filipino voters came about.The thing with â€Å"voter education† is that it is really not that complicated. It comes down to something most normal people learned in kindergarten — that we are ultimately all accountable to ourselves for the decisions we made in the past. In a society renowned for a collective faculty for thinking that is stunted by amnesia and voodoo logic, â€Å"voter education† should start with a re-visit of these kindergarten basics; that being accountable as a â€Å"voter† encompasses a system of three key acts of responsibility: (a) Select the right leaders; b) Use the system to hold them accountable; and, (c) Hold ourselves accountable for the quality of the leaders we choose using the system. A lot of the focus of this year’s â€Å"voter education† activist fad is on just the first one,  selecting the right leaders. The harder part of the equation — keeping politicians on their toes  in between elections  is where the  real  deal lies. Unfortunately Filipinos are simply not up to delivering their part of the deal in between fiestas. And so politicians gravitate to the same old buffoonery†¦ Grandstanding politiciansThe reason Filipino politicians are so at liberty to make big, lofty, colourful, noisy, but  hollow  promises during election campaigns is because the Filipino voter simply drops the ball once the fiesta is over. Because Filipino voters simply fail to  use the system to hold them accountable  as a matter of routine in between elections and utterly lack an ethic of  holding themselves accountable for the quality of the leaders they choose  during those fiestas, Philippine politics is a con man’s wet dream. You only need a lousy product and a million suckers to make a lot of money in business.And Philippine politics is, indeed, good business. And so we come to†¦ The role of social media in Philippine polit ics In a recently-concluded â€Å"convention† that saw one of the current crop of â€Å"thought leaders† after another pontificate about what such a  kewwwlllthing social media is, we learned that social media is unprecedented in the way it†¦ – breaks traditional commuinication barriers; – serves as a platform for unfiltered egalitarian â€Å"dialogue†; – elevates â€Å"political discourse† by; – providing a more â€Å"inclusive† discussion community; and, – prompts — and demands — quick response from its participants.Yadda, yadda, yadda. In short (cutting through all the fad jargon), social media  transmits  andamplifies  the â€Å"voice of the people† at an unprecedented scale and efficiency so that every schmoe and her dog has a crack at the proverbial bullhorn once wielded by only the most powerful and influential people. Sounds nice —  on paper. The thing with partic ipating in social media chatter is that it is really a form of high-tech Chinese whispers. The Twitter â€Å"retweet† and the Facebook â€Å"share† functions are the 21st Century facilitators of this game — and it is now a game played on a vast scale.Communication engineers will point out that the principle of signal degradation as data is transmitted, relayed, and re-amplified a number of times as transmission distance increases over a channel is the same as the way hearsay information is perverted in a typical Chinese whispers game. Human debate unfortunately remains  analog, so the advent of social media — the  digital intermediary  in the propagation of this â€Å"debate† — merely served as a more efficient way to  accurately  spread low-quality information.With every digital factoid passing through Filipino brains in between retweets, the signal progressively  degrades  into noise. We see this degradation in  signal-to-n oise  ratios everyday — when we make photocopies  of photocopies  and make photocopies of  those  photocopies, the quality of the copy worsens as the number of copies increase. Enlarge one of these nth-generation copies and you will come up with a really bad image. In the same way, amplify and transmit a bad signal over several iterations and all you get for your trouble is a louder and even noisier signal.That is essentially what social media is doing for the Philippine National â€Å"Debate†. * * * Indeed, everything essential to practicing democracy  properly  comprises stuff most well-bred people learned as little kids. Having a plan to get where one wants to go. Acquiring relevant information and applying it shrewdly. Regarding sales pitches with a critical mind. Being respectful and prudent when communicating with other people — regardless of the communication technology being used. You don’t really need a Masters Degree in political à ¢â‚¬Å"science† to really get all that.When one understands  fundamental  problems using  common sense, we tend to have a more practical regard for some of the silver-bullet â€Å"solutions† that the savviest spin-meisters around us build buzzes around. Source: http://getrealphilippines. com/blog/2013/02/everything-i-need-to-know-about-improving-the-outcome-of-philippine-elections-i-learned-in-kindergarten/ BLOG POSTS: Policy Dialogue Series 2004 Academe Meets the Political Parties It has often been said that political parties in the Philippines are based on personalities, not on platforms and ideologies.But individuals do not aggregate demands of sectoral interests. Ideally, parties become the key venues where policies and programs are shaped. In the end, it is still the parties who can be made accountable to their constituents and to the people come post-electoral politics. While it may be true that voting patterns in the Philippines have reflected preference for personalities rather than parties, the platforms of the political parties should still be subjected to public scrutiny. Source: http://twsc. upd. edu. ph/training_PDS1. html Date: March 01, 2004 Filipino Voting PatternsBy: Reynz According to some of the articles on the Internet about Filipino voting patterns, most Filipino voters choose their candidates based on the following: 1. ) Utang na loob (Debt of gratitude) 2. ) Winnability 3. ) Charisma 4. ) Media exposure 5. ) Eloquence 6. ) Pakikisama 7. ) Ka-ching! ka-ching! In other words, Filipino voters rarely vote on the basis of the following: 1. ) Capability 2. ) Leadership skills 3. ) Knowledge of the job 4. ) Moral upbringing and, 5. ) Fortitude Source: http://www. reynaelena. com/2013/02/03/filipino-voting-patterns/ Date: February 03, 2013