Stefan’s Diaries: The Craving Chapter 22

Once we had put several blocks between us and the police precinct, we stopped in the shadows of a bare maple tree. â€Å"Well, thanks for the rescue – not that I couldn't have done it myself, eventually,† Damon said. â€Å"And now, I think I'm ready for a drink. Adieu, mes amis,† he saluted us, and spun on his heel, disappearing into the night. â€Å"Good riddance,† Lexi muttered. â€Å"What now?† I asked. â€Å"You heard the man. Let's go for a drink,† she said, grinning, and put her arm in mine. I walked with Lexi, but it felt wrong, somehow, to be able to go on with my existence so casually knowing that the Sutherlands had been murdered, and it had been partly my doing. What would I tell Margaret? She deserved to know some version of the truth, despite the fact that there would be no justice here. Creatures like the one who killed her family did not suffer consequences for their actions. Human lives were much shorter than vampire lives, but that didn't make them less valuable. In fact, it made their lives more precious. â€Å"So catch me up,† she said, squeezing my arm and pulling me out of my dark thoughts. â€Å"What's been going on since you left our fair city?† â€Å"I got married today,† I said. Her eyes widened. â€Å"Now I really do need a drink,† she declared. â€Å"Stefan Salvatore, you are going to be the death of me. I have heard of a lovely new place that gets its vodka straight from St. Petersburg and freezes it in a fancy little ice-bottle†¦.† She prattled on, leading me through what I had thought was my city, but New York with Lexi was an entirely different animal. Whereas I'd stuck to the shadows and back alleys, Lexi knew her way around glittering nightlife. Soon we came to what looked like an elegant private club. Thick red carpets covered every square inch of the floor, and gold, black, and red lacquer covered everything else, including a giant carving of a firebird that hung from the ceiling. A ma?tre d' came up, and after one look at Lexi, ushered us over to the most extravagant booth. It had velvet and cloth-of-gold pillows with far too many tassels to be perfectly comfortable. The strains of a piano filtered from the next room over, and I understood why she'd chosen this bar – Lexi always asked Hugo, a member of her vampire family in New Orleans, to play piano for her. â€Å"Married?† she said as soon as we were settled in and she had ordered us something. The image of the Sutherlands' bloody bodies scorched my vision for a moment. â€Å"How did you know where we were, really?† I asked, changing the subject. News didn't travel that fast unless it was about the war. It still should have taken her at least a week to get from Louisiana to New York, whether by train or vampiric speed. â€Å"I set one of my friends after Damon. I worried about you,† she admitted, a sheepish look on her face. â€Å"I know you can take care of yourself, but Damon is dangerous, Stefan, and I don't want anything to happen to you.† The waiter came over with our drinks. As promised, the bottle was encased in a block of bluish ice with flowers and herbs pressed inside, as fresh as the day they were frozen. I couldn't help touching a fingertip to a blossom that was near the surface, and feeling the ridge of rime that separated it from my skin. A human's heat would have melted the ice. A vampire's flesh was colder, kept in a similar state of perpetual frozen perfection. The waiter poured us each a shot in goblets carved from solid green malachite. I put my hand over hers. â€Å"Thank you, Lexi. For everything you've done. I can never repay you.† â€Å"No, you can't,† she said cheerfully. â€Å"But you can start by telling me everything. As I said before: married?† So I told her about my discovery of Bridget and being inducted into the Sutherland household, and Damon's insane plans. She giggled and gasped at every detail. I guess from an outsider's perspective, particularly a much older vampire, Damon's machinations might seem mild in comparison. â€Å"Oh, oh my God,† she said, unable to stop laughing. â€Å"A double wedding? You and Damon together? And no one ate the flower girl?† She waved the waiter over for another bottle of vodka. â€Å"Oh, how I wish I was there. Stefan! I didn't even get you anything†¦.† I smiled, wishing I could just sit there and continue to watch her laugh. But I had to finish the tale. â€Å"Are you sure it wasn't Damon?† she asked quietly, when I told her of the Sutherlands' murders. â€Å"There are a lot of things I can't predict about him,† I admitted. â€Å"I had no idea he would actually follow me to the ends of the earth just to make my life miserable – even after he murdered Callie. But I'm positive he had nothing to do with the slaying – he was just as surprised as I was. And he has not been one to hide his evil acts. Besides, Margaret even believed him and apparently she has a sixth sense about these things,† I said. â€Å"New York City isn't exactly the ends of the earth,† she said, but this time there was no humor in her voice. â€Å"But it's an odd coincidence that some other monster would set his sights on the very same family that you did.† â€Å"It wasn't a coincidence at all.† Lexi's face went ashen as I recounted what the lawyer had said. A look I had never seen before on her crossed her pretty face – dread. â€Å"Describe him to me,† she ordered. â€Å"He was huge. Blond hair, blue eyes. He seemed older than time,† I said, struggling to express the ancient menace I felt. â€Å"Evil. Just pure darkness radiating out of him.† â€Å"Did he†¦ did he have an accent?† she asked hesitantly, as if she already knew the answer. â€Å"Yes. I thought it was just part of whatever he was. But it could have been Polish or Russian. He said something about someone named Klaus?† Lexi thumped the underside of the table with her fist and looked away. â€Å"Who was it, Lexi?† I demanded. I needed to know. If he was going to be my executioner, if he was the one who had murdered the Sutherlands, at the very least I would get to know who my enemy was. â€Å"He mentioned Klaus?† she asked, speaking more into her glass than to me. â€Å"Everyone knows about him. He was one of the first vampires.† A hush seemed to descend over the restaurant, and the gas lamps flickered. I clutched my glass of vodka. â€Å"He is directly descended from Hell. Any piece of good, any sense of morality, anything at all that keeps you and me – and even Damon – from becoming a completely twisted, raving monster of pure evil – none of that is in him. There is nothing human about him. He has minions, other old ones who do his bidding. No one's ever seen Klaus – or at least lived to tell about it!† I digested this horrifying information, wrapping my hands around my glass. â€Å"This†¦ thing said we took Katherine.† Lexi paled. â€Å"If she was important to Klaus and he believes that you and your brother are responsible for what happened to her, you're in serious trouble.† â€Å"He mentioned a curse. Do you know what he's talking about?† Lexi drummed her fingers against the table, her brow furrowing. â€Å"Curse? Many vampires consider being confined to wander at night a curse, but I don't know what Katherine had to do with that.† â€Å"Do you think he†¦ did he turn her into a vampire?† I asked. â€Å"That's irrelevant,† Lexi said. â€Å"It's doesn't matter how or why he cares about her – just that he does. You have your own fate to worry about.† I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated. Once again Katherine had found a way to insert herself into my life and create havoc. While I felt guilty about what had happened to Katherine, I still blamed her for destroying my family, for turning my life into the mess it was now. Katherine had been nothing but selfish. She'd toyed with me and Damon, when Damon fell in love with her and I†¦ well, was falling in lust with her, not once did she think about the possible dangers for us. That we would die, that our brotherhood would be severed irreparably, that her sire might eventually catch up to her, hell-bent on revenge. â€Å"I have to get rid of him,† I said. Lexi shook her head. â€Å"You're not ‘getting rid' of anything that old and powerful, my young stripling. You're just a babe – and on top of that, your diet of rodents and birds hasn't exactly strengthened you. You and your brother working together couldn't defeat him. I couldn't take him on.† â€Å"Well, what do I do?† I demanded, my voice taking on a hard, determined edge. I had just been letting everything that had come along in my life control me – Damon and his stupid plans, getting married†¦. It was time I acted. Lexi rubbed her temples. â€Å"The best you can hope for right now is to figure out what his plans are – and then avoid them. You will need to live long enough to figure out a way to vanquish this old one, before he has a chance to tell Klaus where you are.† I nodded, thinking. â€Å"We need to go back to the mansion.† Lexi opened her mouth, but I put up my hand. â€Å"I know – but maybe he left something behind.† Lexi squared her jaw. â€Å"I'll go with you. My senses are more finely tuned than yours.† â€Å"You don't need finely tuned senses to catch the scent of Hell,† I told her, â€Å"but I appreciate the help.†

Education Unplugged Analysis Essay

In his essay, Education Unplugged, Floyd Allen, the author combined three methods of development, process, cause-effect, and argument method, in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the message he was conveying. According to Allen, generally, the society today rely on â€Å"pseudo-intelligence,† which means that people, particularly the youth, depend too much on technology to perform their work for them including even the simplest tasks like counting small amounts of money or basic math. The author claims that the only way to solve this is for educators to give more emphasis on teaching more the fundamental or basic lessons in school than focusing on computer education. Among the three processes used by the author, the most dominant and most effective one is the argumentative method. In the essay, Allen argued that young people nowadays can no longer perform a lot of basic tasks without resorting to an electronic device first. In order to support his claims, the author used as an example his experience with a female fast food employee who had to call for help just to count his change of 99 cents. He also cited other examples of too much reliance on pseudo-intelligence such as the inability of the tellers to make transactions with clients when the system is down and the inability of children to tell the time if the clock has hands. Generally, the use of solid examples and instances is the one of the most effective ways to convey the message an author would like to impart to his or her readers when making an argument. In the essay, Allen’s use of real life scenarios greatly bolstered his claims on pseudo-intelligence because readers were able to relate to them. He also used solid examples when he provided the solution to society’s problem such as concentrating more on teaching students the basics of writing, reading, and arithmetic instead of focusing on making them computer literate.

Aspirin Preparation Case Essay Example for Free

Aspirin Preparation Case Essay * How drugs are discovered and developed Pharmacologist along with chemist focus on a specific disease and unmet patient needs in order to discover new drugs. They search for biological targets within the body that play a role in a given disease. Unique molecules are found or created that some day might be medicines. Lead Compound Selection, is the testing of compounds that might undergo the long expensive drug develop process. Random Screening- uses existing ‘library’ of chemical agents. This is the simplest method but the odds are low and patience is needed. Combinational Chemistry Screening- uses a compound (from existing library) as a base, then randomly adding amino acids or molecule segments of other agents to the base compound in order to enhance the base compounds activity and disease fighting potential. The enhanced compounds are then tested in rapid screening test. However this method is complex and costly but it improves the odds. Target Synthesis- targets the disease for drug intervention. For example High Blood Pressure would be studied in detail. Consequently this method still requires screening of hundreds of compounds and extensive amount of research to understand a particular disease process. Drug Modeling- uses more high technology. This method manipulates chemical structures by computers so that they can attach to, activate or deactivate proteins that interfere with or maintain the body’s normal functioning. The model is used to enhance the properties of the other methods but the cost for designer compounds are significant because of the huge amount of research that is needed to identify biochemical target and establish their molecular structure. * How safety of drugs is checked before being used on the public A drug undergoes 3 clinical phases before being used on the public. This is designed to determine the safety of the new drug, how best to administer it and the correct dosage- (one that will minimize desirable side effects). 20-30 patients (volunteers) are used to find out how the drug behaves in their body, so their blood and urine will be frequently monitored. Even though drugs in this will have been already tested in a laboratory. After the correct dosage has been determined in phase1 clinical trial, it can enter phase2. This trial consists of determining the drug’s effectiveness in treating a specific disease. Phase2 involves more patients (volunteers) and they are tested for the number of platelets in their blood and take frequent blood samples. If the drug being tested brings a positive change in at least 1/5 of the patients then it can be tested in phase3. However if the drug shows very positive effects in-patients, the Food and Drug Administration also have the option of approving the drug for general use at this point. This trial involves hundreds of patients and is divided into two groups. The control group receives a standard treatment (placebo) and the treatment groups are given the new drug. Results are then compared from the two groups. Blinded studies are used to prevent biased study results. If the new successfully passes a phase3 trial the FDA will approve the drug for marketing to the general public. -The acetylsalicylic acid is washed with distilled water until all the acetic acid is removed. -It is pressed to be as dry as possible and then dried more by a current of warm air at 60-70 degrees Celsius. The yield of pure acetylsalicylic acid is between 1780-1795kg per batch using this reaction process. * History of Aspirin and its modern development * How aspirin is prepared on the large scale Main reactor for the process- a glass lined 1500 gallon fitted with a water-cooled reflux condenser, thermometers with automatic temperature register and an efficient agitator. The Mother Liquor- 1532kg of acetic anhydride in 1200kg of toluene (this does not get used up.). The reactor is charged up with the mother liquor. 1382kg of salicylic acid is added to the mother liquor. The reaction mixture is heated to between 85-92 degrees Celsius and kept at this temperature for 20 hours. The reaction mixture is transferred into an aluminum-cooling tank and is allowed to cool for 3-4 days. By the end the cool mixture will have reached room temperature 15-25 degrees Celsius. At this point the acetylsalicylic acid has precipitated as large regular crystals. Mother liquor is removed by filtration or centrifuging. Filtrate solution- 180-270kg of UN-precipitated acetyl acid, 510kg of acetic anhydride, 600kg of acetic acid and 1200kg of toluene. The acetic acid is obtained as a by-product of the acetylation step of the process. An well-agitated reactor using a diffusion plate will introduce Ketene gas, to be passed through the recycled filtrate at a temperature between 15-25 degrees Celsius. When a weight increase of 420.5kg of the Ketene gas is observed, the mother liquor contains 180-270kg of UN-precipitated acetyl acid and 1532kg of acetic anhydride in 1200kg of toluene. The Mother liquor is recycled and 1382kg of Salicylic acid is added to continue the reaction cycle BC- the first and most influential physician wrote about the bitter powder extracted from the willow bark that could ease aches and pains and reduce fever. 1700- The scientist Reverend Edmund Stone found out that the part of the willow tree bark that was bitter and good for fever and pain is a chemical known as Salicin. This converts into another chemical called Salicylic acid when eaten. 1829- A pharmacist known as Leroux showed that Salicin is the active willow ingredient and for the first time an Italian chemist Piria used Salicylic acid to treat pain and swelling in diseases such as Arthritis and to treat fever in illnesses like Influenza. The problem was that these chemicals was causing the users upset stomachs. Some people had bleeding in their digestive tracts from high doses needed to control swelling and pain. It was thought that the reason of stomach upsets were because of the acid in the chemical, therefore the compound Salicylic acid went through a couple of chemical reactions that covered up one of the acidic parts with an ACETYL group, converting it to ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID (ASA). It was found that ASA reduced fever and relieve of pain and swelling but also it was much better for the stomach and worked better than Salicylic Acid. 1899- ASA was given the name ASPIRIN- that comes from the plant relative of a rose that makes SALICYLIC ACID (several plants makes this compound not just willow). Prostaglandin is a chemical that is released to make the nerve ending register an even stronger pain to the brain. It is made in working cells of the damaged tissues by using an enzyme called CYCLOOXYGENASE 2 (COX-2). Prostaglandin makes you feel the pain of the damaged area and causes it to swell up (inflammation), to bathe the tissues in fluid from the blood so that it will protect it and help it heal. Pain serves the purpose here to remind you that the damaged area cannot be used, as it is not healed. However sometimes we endure pain when there is no real reason to. For example Period Pains and Arthritis. It can make people feel really uncomfortable and arthritis can damage joints permanently. ASPIRIN works by locking itself to the enzyme that makes the chemical Prostaglandin. The enzyme C0X-2 that is found in normal tissues but mostly in tissues that have been damaged in some way, can no longer convert floating chemicals into Prostaglandin because they are unable to move with the aspirin lock on. Aspirin does not treat the cause of the pain; it just lowers the pain signals getting through your nerves to the brain. New researches suggest that an aspirin a day is a preventive measure against Heart Attacks. However the effectiveness of aspirin has differential effects depending on genetics. Aspirin Preparation Case. (2017, Jul 30).

Investment class assignment (behavioral bias) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Investment class (behavioral bias) - Assignment Example In most of these studies, researchers have been critical in finding out whether the biases are intentional or unintentional and whether or not forecast bias take place to serve any good to forecasters and estimator. In the current paper, an existing model proposed by Knill, Minnick and Nejadmalayeri (2011, p 13) is examined with a new touch of behavioral bias to find out how behavioral bias such as overconfidence can be incorporated into the framework outlined by the researchers. Furthermore, the effects of experience and information asymmetry shall be analysed to find their impact on such forecast bias that take place. The existing model The existing model or framework proposed by Knill, Minnick and Nejadmalayeri (2011, p. 87) is one that can best be described as integrated as it makes use of a number of components and aspects of general forecasting such as public information and private assessment. The model also considers common and idiosyncratic components of earnings forecast wh ere there is the use of previously disclosed information. This means that the model is built on the ideologies of Bayesians since there is the dependence on existing forecasts as a means of guaranteeing positive deviations to purchase private signals from firms (Knill, Minnick and Nejadmalayeri, 2011, p. 4). For analysts who make use of this framework or model therefore, there are avenues of selecting several factors and characteristic phenomena in the assessment process, all in a bid to coming out with a rational forecast bias. While some of these avenues may be directed at public information, others are directed at private information. Again, while some of the avenues tilt towards common components of earnings, others tilt towards idiosyncratic components of earnings; all in a bid to ensuring biases, even if they arise would give raise to a predetermined objective of the forecaster. How Behavioral bias can be incorporated into the model Already, it has been said that the existing model or framework is an integrated model. This means that there are several aspects of theoretical and methodological forecasting that have been put together to make its use effective (Nutt, Easterwood and Easterwood, 1999, p. 45). Indeed, this general basis of the model gives it practical reasons why there could be major additions and incorporations into it. For example, it is proposed that behavioral bias can easily be fit into the framework to make it even more effective. In its, behavioral bias may be defined as that kind or type of bias that is founded on the basis of experience and personal connections and rhetoric (Mest and Plummer, 2003, p. 108). As against the original model where analysts forecast is based on uncertainty, building behavioral bias such as overconfidence would demand some appreciable levels of certainty. Such levels of certainty would not come about to suggest that analysts would certainly get the results they anticipate or desire but that analysts would ex press certainty based on a previous experience that worked for a similar trend of earnings forecast. Indeed, as irrationality cannot be totally avoided, so would it be irrational to assume that exactly the same factors would prevail for a previous experi

Sociology of Families Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sociology of Families - Annotated Bibliography Example The author’s use event history models based on dependent and independent variables to understand influences of race and ethnicity. Conclusion: The authors found that children born to cohabiting versus married parents have over five times the risk of experiencing their parents’ separation. The difference in union stability is highest for White children, as compared with Black or Mexican American children. For White children, other factors such as differences in parents’ education levels, paternal substance abuse, and prior marriage or children report higher instability than by those born to cohabiting parents, while differences in union stability are not fully rationalized among Black and Mexican American children. The results of study are important for public policies intended to promote family stability and reducing inequality. The authors study the racial differences in educational outcomes such as college attendance as a result of the differences found in family structures and socioeconomic status across an array of racial and ethnic groups. The authors ponder upon the question of how racial background matters in an educational context. Charlesa, C. Z., Roscignob, V. J., & Torresa, K. C. (2007). Racial inequality and college attendance: The mediating role of parental investments. The authors study the racial differences in educational outcomes such as college attendance as a result of the differences found in family structures and socioeconomic status across an array of racial and ethnic groups. The authors ponder upon the question of how racial background matters in an educational context. Research Methodology: Upon literature review of prior research on family stratification, parental investments, racial disparities in wealth concentration, the authors set a hypothesis that group differences in college attendance emanate largely from economic stratification at family level. After setting the hypothesis, the authors draw analysis from four waves data of National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) to understand how parents make economic, social and cultural investments during early and later high school experience. The longitudinal data of 13,699 adolescents is analyzed, by first examining the racial differences in family background and the extent to whic h they pattern gaps in potentially influential parental investments and then by creating investment models. Conclusion: The results of their analysis proves author’s hypothesis that racial inequalities in class background shape disparities in cultural, monetary, and parental interactional investments. Background inequalities, and their implications for early and later family investments and achievement/attainment, explain why minority-group parents are less likely to discuss college plans or be more involved in planning their child’s future. Also, most investment differences are driven by family’s socioeconomic status and structure. Published Article #3: Fomby, P., & Cherlin, A. J. (2007). Family Instability and Child Well-Being . American Sociological Review , 72 (2), 181-204. Purpose of Research: The authors aim to study children’s behavioral and cognitive development in the context of family history such as multiple transitions in family structure and

Hypotheses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hypotheses - Essay Example A second booklet was then distributed with hypothetical terror act media, and with either an Anglo-American or Middle-Eastern defendant. For each of type of terror act half of the booklets had an Anglo-American defendant, and half had a Middle-Eastern defendant. Participants were asked to record their confidence of guilt of the defendant. A significant interaction effect found that participants were more confident of guilt for the Anglo-American defendant for the political terror act as compared to the Middle-Eastern defendant for the religious terror act ( = 0.25, p = 0.01). While results were contrary to the hypothesis, the high-profile terror act may have skewed results. The first hypothesis was supported in that jurors exposed to political media coverage of terror acts were more confident of the defendant's guilt, as compared to jurors exposed to religious media coverage. Additionally, the jurors were more confident of the Anglo-American defendant's guilt when they had been exposed to media about the political terror act, as compared to confidence in the guilt of the Middle-Eastern defendant for a religious terror act. ... Abshire and Bornstein (2003) found that Anglo-American jurors were more likely find to an African-American guilty as compared to African-American jurors. And Brewer (2004) reasoned that racial identification occurs, to some degree, between jurors and the defendant, dependant on the ethnicity of the defendant and the victim/s. The present results are counter to these arguments, despite the majority of the mock jury being Anglo-American. Hence, it is suggested that a degree of impartiality does exist when racial issues are not salient reasons for the terror attack.The primary limitation of this study was that the demographic characteristics of the juror's were not included in the design. As such, the sample could have been stratified to ensure equal numbers across ethnicity and gender. In regards to ethnicity, non Anglo-Americans are not a homogenous group, and there is a lack of empirical evidence to support a bias of non Anglo-Americans in being more confident of the guilt of an Angl o-American as compared to a non American defendant. Demographic data would have enabled the present study to extend on previous studies of cross-ethnic effect, as well as exploring possible gender differences. It would also have been useful to control for juror political and religious affiliations. Also, it may have been useful to determine if juror attitudes towards print media in general had an effect on outcomes. It is also recommended that future studies measure mock jury attitudes toward defendants of different ethnicities both before and after giving them a hypothetical scenario, to see if attitudes remain constant.In conclusion, this research revealed that jurors are not more confident in finding

Employment Law The Flexible Firm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employment Law The Flexible Firm - Essay Example In periods of long-drawn-out financial crisis it is finished that the market instrument has been banned from operational professionally as an allocative and incentive system. According to neo-liberals, inflexibilities in the work market have been the key fence to employment enlargement, and so there has been a need to bring about a basic alteration in the association flanked by the state and the work market and to reinstate liberty of contract as the basis for financial relations. At a policy level, this demanding flexibility thesis makes more than a few arguments. First, wages are too high and too unbending, thereby pricing personnel's out of jobs and make unemployment. Lets take an example of UK; here influential trade unions and collective bargaining arrangements are seen as the major problem. Second, wage degree of difference is too small; hold back labor mobility and well-organized structural change. Third, lawfully based labor rights are too wide, leading to high labor costs in UK. Lastly, social security systems give confidence voluntary unemployment and act as a deterrent to work. State interference is held accountable for these extreme legal and financial guarantees to labor. In reply to this view of an unbending work market, governments require to curtail their participation in the labor market and limit the power of deal unions, to give employers more liberty of action, so that employment will grow. Current Situation of Company In a bid to be more competitive & curb unnecessary costs the Manufacturing Manager Roger Jones has been asked to resolve this problem. Roger has decided to have a core of 100 permanent full time employees in the manufacturing department. In addition he proposes the following:- To introduce twighlight shift of 10 workers, working 6 -1opm Monday to Thursday. This will increase machinery usage. To have a team of flexi staff who only work when they are asked, which will usually be Xmas & Easter. To sub contract the maintenance work. To make all the design staff redundaant and employ people on special projects. Roger realises that this proposal could be full of problems and has asked for your help in planning the implementation. Advise Roger paying particular attention to Fox 1986 model of the Flexible Firm & Shamrocks model. Pay attenton to such issues as the law relating to contracts of employment, their termination, the changes in express and implied terms and the law relating to redundancies. Flexible Firm Strategies For Delico Ltd Or Recommendations HRM Performance According to the UK Law for Delico Ltd in the majority of outside recruitment exercises it will be the liability of the HR Business Partner to carry out the preplanning first stage of the exercise. You will require setting up before embarking on an outer recruitment exercise: That all inner routes of filling the post have been tired or the exceptions rules apply The sight of the guidelines teams so you know the wider picture of resource planning in your region What kind and number of posts you require to fill What kind of appointment you will present Recruiting under the DWP new deal employment option in Delico Ltd Where the posts are and which

Specific Competency and Skill-building Explo Essay

Specific Competency and Skill-building Explo - Essay Example The qualities and practices that enabled him to reach this pinnacle position are the subject matter of this article. In its broadest sense, leadership is the ability to motivate people to work towards a set of objectives (Unknown, Leadership, about.com, 2008). This implies that personal goals do not interfere with the higher goals of a business on the one hand, and that the goals themselves are in tune with the corporate and ethical policies of that business. As Narayana Murthy says, â€Å"A leader is an agent of change, and progress is about change† (Murthy NR N, 2005, Essence of leadership, The Smart Manager). Corporate goals and policies are continuously upgraded by a change-agent, who if successful becomes identified with that business and assumes its leadership. This periodic up-gradation happens in the context of industry-wide changing environment, and expectations of the stakeholders. Moving through various management positions in American Express (AmEx) since joining in 1981, Kenneth Chenault is now its Chairman and CEO. AmEx is a 154 years old institution that is instantly recognized worldwide for its travel and financial services. Like Mr. Barack Obama is the first African American President-elect with ‘change’ as his main theme, Kenneth Chenault is the first African American to head one of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average corporations (Mara D H, 2004, Strategy: Power plays, Business Week, p.153) and is a quintessential change-agent himself. The goals that he set, the policies that he inspired, the changes that he brought about from time to time, and his ability to motivate people across cultural barriers both within the USA and across the globe – all testify the leadership skills of Kenneth Chenault. Hence it is but natural that he is heading AmEx today. When he joined as in-charge of the strategic planning division, AmEx’s main business was premium

The Challenges Faced by Logistics Organisations in the UAE Dissertation

The Challenges Faced by Logistics Organisations in the UAE - Dissertation Example This research study aims to study and analyse the challenges faced by transport organizations in the UAE. The financial crisis created many economic problems for various business sectors in Dubai that includes the supply chain and logistic sector. Therefore this research will discuss the adverse effects of global financial crisis and its implications to transport industry in Dubai as a whole. On a positive a report by Business Monitor International (2011) cites Frost and Sullivan (2010) who consider UAE as a growth market for freight and logistics. Their study found that the Emirates’ logistics market is set to generate record revenues this year, and will continue to grow over the medium term as a result of its concerted effort to place itself at the centre of the global freight forwarding network. But there are challenges galore due to constant threats to supply chains in the region with the talk of war in the region as well as due to overcapacity and a drop in demand continu ally threatening to push down rates and impinge on profits. The UAE’s primary ports are forecast to grow over the medium term, though at a slower rate than before the economic crisis. The air and logistics sectors in the UAE are continuing to grow at a rapid pace, with more logistics companies relocating their hubs to the country, and national air carriers continuing to expand and post improved results. 1.1 Academic Relevance: It is important to study the topic due to its academic relevance. Supply chain and logistic are key industries in the UAE and act as the life blood of business in the UAE, with little manufacturing base. The major chunk of Dubai’s economy is based on logistic industry and problems arising in this industry may have serious implications on the business... UAE is collectively known worldwide as a regional hub that serves numerous multinational organizations by facilitating and providing much needed economic, social and technological infrastructure. Similarly, on the other hand, Dubai as a city is known globally as a financial hub of the Middle East. In the last two decades or so, Dubai has transformed itself significantly to construct state of the art infrastructure in almost every field and discipline. Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is the current ruler of Dubai and also the Prime Minister of UAE, Dubai has focused on bringing reforms in education, health, hospitality, real estate, transport, logistics and in the overall economy. Unlike Abu Dhabi that is dependent on oil and gas resources for revenue generation, Dubai’s economy is based on different clusters which include trading, shipping, logistics, banking, real estate, construction and most importantly tourism. Since the research is based on highlighting issues related to supply chain; trading, shipping, transportation and logistics activities will be discussed primarily. Dubai which is the business hub of Middle East is strategically placed to serve China and other industrial nations with regards to importing goods. Dubai as a city is one of the biggest importers of Asian goods in Middle East and therefore is also classed as a re-exporting hub of Middle East and North Africa.

Undercover Police Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Undercover Police Work - Essay Example when unaccountability in such an area may lead to impractical situations, thereby defeating the aim and purpose of such an act being authorized in the first place. As for ethics, secret operations may be criticized on the basis that such they interfere with a person’s right to privacy and goes on tamper and infringe other’s right. This would be apparent in situations where such acts are found to be on erroneous or based on incorrect information. Furthermore, such acts lead to moral uncertainties. As such operations may lead to corruption of the police officer, disciplinary problems and psychological issues. These are clear cut suggestions that ethical problems do arise when undercover police operations take place. Even though it may be argued that facilitative operations and authorized criminality are necessary for upkeep of law, there are clear cut ethical as well as practical issues, some of which might be tackled and borne in mind before supporting such

Consider the theme of loneliness Essay Example for Free

Consider the theme of loneliness Essay Steinbeck employs character are restrained by the rules of society and through them, to convey the characteristics of American society in the 1920s:a society based on physical strength and individualism. The unusual pair, Lennie and George, seemed incongruous in their situations and by comparing and contrasting their relationship to the others, the reader is given a further understanding to the theme. The entire novel is full of references to this theme. In Soledad, also the Spanish word for loneliness, situates the ranch where the majority of the story is set. It is an ordinary ranch with ordinary people doing monotonous, meanual work such as bucking barley. The nature of this work suggests the kind of lifestyle the characters on the ranch lead. The ranch also represents a microcosm of the outside world. Here in this close community, a range of characters, each identify by their own personality, are required to work closely together inorder to achieve their own, individual dreams. When George and Lennie first enters the ranch, they are greeted by an old swamper by the name Candy. A fragile old man with only one hand, he is used by Steinbeck to demonstrate the cruelty of society towards elderly and the disabled. In a society that emphasis physical strength, Candy is clearly at a disadvantage. However, he does not attempt this disadvantage but rather expose the more feminine and sensitive side of him to others to reinforce this weakness. His domestic role in the bunkhouse and part as the gossiper again is an expansion of his at5/9/00titude towards the rest of the male in the ranch. Candy separates himself from the rest of guys and has only the company of a dragged-footed sheep-dog. When Carlson demands the killing of this dog, although disapproves of it, does not retaliate but instead looked hopelessly at Slim and asks for his assistance. His reaction to Carlsons demand is passive in the way that he only watched uneasily and tries to delay the killing by suggesting may be to-morra. His deep-rooted relationship with the dog is shown in this intensely emotional part that explicitly dissects his sensitivity. At the sound of the shot, he appears lost and all he manages to do is to stare into the ceiling blankly. Similar to this, at the end of the story, George too has to face with the death of his love ones. The difference however lies in the reason behind the killing. George justifies the killing and does it out of his concern for Lennie and not out of pressure from others. Curley is the second character appearing on the scene. A thin young man wearing high-heeled boots, he is clearly no ordinary labouring man. He is the boss son and is determine to show his status and authority using this kind of symbolism. However, by doing so, he achieves exactly the opposite. The other men do not acknowledge his authority and even Candy thinks of him as a scrappy little guy. His method of trying to gain respects by false image works against him and isolates him from the others. Curley also has a wife who is the only female in the ranch. This arrangement and character of his wife can only encourage the insecurity he feels anyway. Although he has a wife, she appears more a possession to show off rather than a company. Their relationship is equivocal since they appear to spend all day looking for each other. His stature also becomes a great encumbrance to him. With a personality that is completely obsess with self-image, Curley is deeply disturb by his height and to resolve this, he translates his anger towards himself onto others. To him, Lennies physique is a challenge of authority and because of this, he wants by prove himself by defeating Lennie. This transference accounts for his cynical nature and isolates him from everyone else. Although desperate to participate, his character and fear for judgement are essential ingredients for his desolation. Curleys wife is too refereed to as a destitute character. Even before her appearance, the reader is given a pre-conceived image of a lousy tart by the introduction from Candy. Her dramatic entrance and physical appearance appears to fit the image: full rouged lips and heavily made-up, clearly she is not a simple country girl by any mean. From her playful action and twitchy body language, George immediately recognize her as the femme fatale and warned Lennie not to talk to her. This warning is a pre-echo to the trouble Lennie will get in for her later on in the story, a build up to the final tragedy at the end. Even at first sight she gave the reputation of a tramp and jail-bait. At a primary level, her action can be explained by boredom and experiment. She is the only in the ranch and clearly has no one to relate. However, from her past experience, Steinbeck implies that Curleys wife dream about being in the movies all day. By flirting and making sexual suggestive message to others, she attempts to achieve the glamorous and danger feel of affair that she imagined they do in the movies. An alternative explanation to her action would be that she is another victim of loneliness, desperate to establish relationship with others. She dislike Curley for when Curley crushed his hand she even suggested to Lennie that she would have liked to done it herself. When she eventually discovers that Lennie is a good listener, she unburdens herself with words in a passion of communication, as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away. She is a highly ambivalent character because although the reader feels sympathetic towards her for her past cast- couch experience, her seduction that lead to the murder at the end is almost entirely her fault. One may argue that she had no knowledge of Lennies past and receives the punishment harsher than she deserves. More over, the price for her innocent mistake is on the destruction of the hope of three blameless people: George, Lennie and Candy. Similarly, George and Lennie have a dream, the American dream of living off the fatta the lan . This phrase followed by a description of their future house is a leimotif representing the birth and rebirth of their hope. This hope is the source of energy and once shattered, unlike Curleys wife who was then able to found a less satisfying alternative: George can find no other replacement like Lennie. Crooks the Negro stable buck is presented as another victim of loneliness. Due to his colour and disability, he is separated with the rest of the male community in everyway. This is shown in the examples that the boss gives him hell whenever he is mad and only in special occasion such as Xmas is he allow into the bunkhouse. In this highly racist period, Crooks role as the nigger stable buck meant he is at the bottom of the hierarchy and therefore ostracized by the rest of the community. Due to this inferiority, Crooks feels even stronger about protecting himself in territorial terms and by isolation. Nonetheless, he does not enjoy this solitude but instead, quite prefer the opposite. This is best shown when Candy and Lennie enter his room, which no one but Slim had done before, Crooks finds it difficult to conceal his pleasure in anger. Although he would rather play card in the bunkhouse with others, since he stink and aint wanted there, instead, he has to sit out here and read books. This shows that he has adapted to loneliness using other means but although he knows nothing can replace a real company. In the scene which he unburdens himself to Lennie, the situation becomes parallel to that of Lennie and Curleys wife. Not only are they both absurd and have difficulty in relating to others on the ranch due to society boundary based on racism and sexism, they both confide in Lennie because he would not go on blabbin to others. With Lennie they do not feel under threat and therefore do not have to protect themselves with masks of imagery. In comparison, George and Lennie are always at ease at the company of each other. Apart from Slim, they appear to be the only gu ys on the ranch to manage this. Slim the jekline skinner is the touch stone character in the novel used to reflect morally and decency. Although with a common appearance, every movement and air of his is described with royalty and achieved only by master craftsmen. However, his title as the price of the ranch is not self-given. His authority is acknowledge by the other males on the ranch and so great the his word was taken on any object. His power appears to go beyond the system at the time. Even in this image-ridden macho culture, Slim does not needs to prove his position by creating illusion using force, yet with quite the opposite: gentleness and sense; elements of human quality that are most required in this imbalance situation. Apart from Lennie, Slim appears to be the only one who George is willing to confide. During the talk, they touch on the subject of loneliness, a sensation that grins a normal, respectable person to nothing but a mean guy who wants to fight all the time. In this part of the novel, George explains his relationship with Lennie and why they had traveled together. In a deeper sense, the phrase got kinda used to each other implies a long-term relationship which neither of the can live without now. Other minor characters in the novel such as Carlson and Whitney represent transaline people who best demonstrate the majority of the society at the time. They aint got no people so they move around the country as Crook states: they come, an they quit ango. Their life style is monotonous and they aint have no fun. Their few entertainments include the horseshoe game and cards, which again are reference to competition and individualism. Nonetheless, it is only in these games they make allowance for their guard and relax into the company of each other. In conclusion, Steinbeck presentation of the theme of loneliness is reflected in the actions of his character. Although desperate to make contact, their concern for reputation and nature of the machismo culture in society isolate them from one another. The end tragedy then attracts sympathy from the reader by shattering the hope of few exceptions that appeared to have survived.

Snow White and the Huntsman Essay Example for Free

Snow White and the Huntsman Essay Snow white and the huntsman is the battle between beauty and innocence for fairest blood. This is a four star dark twist to the traditional fairy tale of the orphaned princess, Snow White (Kristen Stewart), and her escape from her step mother and evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron). From the producers of Alice and the Wonderland, An Evil Queen, Ravenna, tricks, seduces, and kills the king; she takes the kingdom and rules with intimidation and magic. She draws her life force and youth from magic which is fuelled by the draining of other beautiful young hearts and souls. Her life is to be the fairest in all of the land yet another has come of age to surpass even the strongest magic. â€Å"She is life itself† Snow White, the late king’s daughter, was kept alive for many years in a tower in the castle since she was a little girl. Now she is what stands between Ravenna and immortality. â€Å"Be warned, her innocence and purity is all that can destroy you but she is also your salvation†. In a flurry of lust and luck, as well as her connection with Mother Nature, she escapes into the dark forest. The adventure begins as the Queen hires the Huntsman who knows the dangerous dark forest, to bring the princess back to her. The pursuit of Snow White, on an evil Queen’s quest for immortality – the princesses snow white heart. The pursuit of the princesses’ heart starts†¦ and ends with the flawless acting of Oscar winner Charlize Theron. The South African born Theron, known for her blonde hair and revengeful roles in Monster (Alieen Wuornos), and The Italian Job (Stella Bridger), graces the screen in a five star performance. She shows her versatility as a lead actress in her not revengeful but narcissistic character of Ravenna. This is portrayed in the second Mirror scene. Ravenna asks the Mirror â€Å"Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all?† The mirror tells her† My queen, you have defied nature and robbed it of its fairest root. But on this day there is one more beautiful than you.† She becomes angry as she longs to be the most beautiful in all the land. Ravenna’s last words to the king before she murdered him were â€Å"Men use women. They ruin us and when they are finished with us they toss us to the dogs like scraps†. Her conviction as an actress is authentic but what triumphs over that are her powerful actions that can convey an entire conversation in a simple movement. This is best seen where she is dragging herself out of the black goop after killing Snow White. She uses one hand and reaches, in vain, out to the Mirror as if to beg it to tell her she is most beautiful now the princess is dead. Even during her own near death moment her narcissistic personality shows though a very basic need for power and prestige. Allot of power and prestige of Ravenna comes to this movie through the main soundtrack ‘Breath of life’ by Florence and the Machine. After a drum beat beginning that sets the medieval mood, a choir and rhythmic beats adds a flare to the unique voice of Florence. Jon Dolan of the Rolling Stone reviews comments that it was â€Å"All doom-drum rush and endless-midnight orchestral sweep† Ravenna looking for her breath of life (I was looking for a breath of life, A little touch of heavenly light), but the world that had once turned on itself now turned on her and cried no (But all the choirs in my head sang, No oh oh). You can hear in the beat that she is fighting life itself. The casting of this movie was a mix of brilliance and flawed choices. Where Theron’s casting was no doubt the brilliance, Kristen Stewart as Snow White was the major flaw. Stuart, known to her fans as new girl Bella, from the Twilight saga, showed her incapability of holding a lead actress role. Unlike the role she played in twilight, she has no other main characters to hold her up. She drains the personality from Snow White in addition to the lack of importance felt in her character. This is predominantly seen in the â€Å"fight to the death† scene with Snow White and Ravenna. While Theron oozes fire and elegance, Stuart can’t seem to capture a believable character. Snow White is supposed to be innocence and humility in contrast to the Queens magic and pride. Her sharp angled face, greasy voice, and empty facial expressions she was a flawed choice by the directors. Drunk, bitter and half dead. The gorgeous Chris Hemsworth plays the in between of life and death as the Huntsman. Once being a small point in the original brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hemsworth’s huntsman has created a new take on the contrast between the two main roles. This is greatly shown when he is pulled out of a dirty tub of water with a hangover and a debt and he is brought to the queen’s throne. When the queen’s guards draw spears against him he says â€Å"Do me the favour, I beg of you.† He can’t stand to be alive because the Queens magic killed his wife for her youth. Finn tells the Huntsman â€Å"She screamed your name but you werent there. Now you can beg her forgiveness in the other world.† Now as Snow White lay dead the Huntsman begs for forgiveness from her â€Å"Im so sorry I failed you. Im so sorry. But youll be a queen in Heaven now and sit among the angels.† It’s his kiss and sorrow which awakens her from death itself. Colleen Atwood is a name that is very familiar in the movie designer world and with a BAFTA and OSCAR nomination is certainly one of the very important people in the makings of this movie. Some of the best designing seen this decade has come from Atwood who is known for her dark works in Dark Shadows (2012), Alice in the Wonderland (2010), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Her epic fantasy costumes bring the film to a whole new gene of evil allure. From the Huntsman ancient clothes to the modern flare of Snow Whites traditional dress, Atwood’s best work has to be Ravenna’s wardrobe. A beautiful wedding dress fit for a Queen to an evil black cape fit for a Witch empress, the skilful dress of this movie would be the floor length silver dress. Worn in the scene in which she is stabbed with a dagger, this piece of art is exquisite, with the flared sleeves, fitted body, and square neck brings the vintage era setting to life. This dress would not be complete without being coupled with a fabulous collection of accessories including a black and silver choker with matching earrings, a purple pendant encrusted with silver on a beaded chain and a crown that mimics the one on the statue of liberty. The most powerful accessory would have to be the claws on her right hand. This simple yet vicious prop is used in small roles throughout the movie but the best example is when she uses her index claw to eat a raven heart. This will in no doubt send a delicate shiver of disgust down your spine. This dark, evil and beautiful movie is worth all its four stars. Even though Kristen Stewart’s performances as Snow White was not nearly up to par, if looked upon as the story of Ravenna’s demise, Theron more than makes up for what Stuart lacks. A story of Beauty, lust, pride and a quest for fairest blood, this is the must see the movie of 2012. â€Å"Lips red as blood, Hair dark as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White.†

Theories of Juvenile Delinquency

Theories of Juvenile Delinquency Jump to: Literature Review Social Disorganization Theory Strain/Institutional Anomie Theory Sub-cultural Theory of Juvenile Delinquency Theory of Educational Disabilities Family Influence Critical Theories for Juvenile Delinquency The Kaplan Theory on Self-esteem as Delinquent Factor Feminist Theory of Juvenile Delinquency Introduction Juvenile delinquency for a long time has remained a debatable topic among psychologists, criminologists, and even sociologists. Many opposing and concurring arguments have been experienced with many researchers concentrating on real cause, which can be explained using different theories ranging from the classical to contemporary ones. Agnew (2005, p. 16) states that there is need to have different and flexible theoretical views on causes of these crimes which is mainly necessitated by the changed ways of living, which has greatly influenced the socio-cultural status of many modern societies. Many theorists have come up with different explanations seeking to investigate these trends in juvenile crime. Some have associated it with factors such as race, gender, poverty that is depicted by poor socio-economic status. Other theorist associate it with childhood events such as sexual abuse or even other forms of physical abuse likely to have been experienced by an individual. Peer group influence has also provided a large surface area for juvenile crimes to thrive of thus quite a number of available theories are associated to this in a greater way. Authorities have also bee associated with juvenile crimes as they drive the criminal justice systems (Agnew, 2005, p. 27). This affects the way the young people view them and any actions by the authorities automatically affect the reception given to them by young offenders. This paper seeks to look into the social based theories that explain juvenile delinquency both in traditional and modern or advanced perspective. Some of the most considerable theories include the feminist theory, social disorganization theory, strain theory, sub-cultural, and educational theories among others. It is worthy to note that some of the emerging theories are not yet official as they are formulated from the preexisting ones and therefore cannot be treated as autonomous. Modern studies on juvenile delinquency have found these factors influential enough in juvenile delinquency thus describing them as contemporary theories (HÃ…Â n-su HyÃ…Â n-sil 2008, p. 39). A good example is educational abilities of some victims of this kind of crimes. However, these theories can still be associated with the traditional ones in one way or the other. Literature review Juvenile delinquency is one of the major fields of modern criminal studies that are ongoing. Closer analysis of this phenomenon has been summarized by various theorists, which have been put up by different scholars (Esbensen, et al, 1993. P. 33). Well being of a society is the most important factor that predetermines the rate of juvenile crime. Merton suggested that it is the role of the society to instill collective and positive aspirations of a society into it members and ensure this is continuous. However, when many people especially adolescents are obstructed from achieving their aspirations, they switch to crime meaning that they prefer use of illegal and forceful means to achieve what is expected of them. Behavior among the teenage population has attracted a lot of interest with many studies being done on the same in recent years. Between 1935- 1955, the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory, a group of researchers made very robust attempts to understand teenage behavior in relation to crime (71). Kvaraceus scale of study formulated in the year 1952 was used in predicting juvenile behavior in the united states enabling tremendous growth in attempts to asses both psychological and social factors that influence adolescents to commit crime (Xiaogang Lening 2008, p. 112). This tool utilizes a set of multiple-choice questions that help in the predictions of an individuals behavior when answered by the person being tested and analyzed by a professional. Kvaraceus found out that delinquent children had had very significant differences with others in maters pertaining academic aptitude, family relations, truancy records, school attendance and perceptions on the two main genders. Xiaogang Lening (2008, p. 119) further reveals that delinquent children posed a negative response for these maters with 65 percent expressing total discomfort when in class learning, implying that they were not interested that much in attending school. Delinquent fellows also reported to have experience a fo rm of racial abuse by those that they felt were unfairly biased. The US criminal justice system has shown that seventy percent of all children in juvenile correctional facilities have one or more educational disabilities. These children happen to pose lower grades than their fellow children hence only thirty-five percent of all disabled children make it up to graduation compared to all students rates that stand at 76 percent (Esbensen, et al, 1993. P. 58). These studies also showed that first crime among this group of students was committed before they leave high school. Studies in the United States have further proved that delinquent individuals suffered more violent abuse than non-delinquent peers (68). One in ten of serious juvenile offenders have reported to have in one way or the other undergone victimization as compared to one in ten of non-delinquent friends. Victimized individuals have been observed to be more violent and difficult to control due to the assumption that they are already spoilt (Coughlan, 2007, P. 9). They therefore prefer victimizing others in an attempt to find consolation for what previously happened to them (82). This sticks them in the world of crime in more of a permanent basis hence changing their habits become difficult. Being blended by the society as out cast also affect their abilities to reconsider their ways of living since they find the damage caused more irreparable. Bias such as ethnicity, race and economic status have been found to propel juvenile crimes even further. This is because social animosities among involved parties lead to adoption of false perceptions against the other groups (Agnew, 2005, p. 61). African Americans have been found to have higher numbers of juveniles under safe custody, which is associated with the racism that still, exist among the American society. Minorities have also been found to have more number of juveniles under safe custody. These populations may contribute very little to the total population of a country but the opposite is experienced when it comes to crime. In the United States for instance, the minority constituted only 32 percent of the total population in 1995 but sixty eight percent of the total juvenile population in custody were from these minority groups mainly the Negros, Latinos, and Hispanics. Social Disorganization Theory Developed by Clifford Shaw and McKay Henry in Chicago school, this theory closely relates juvenile delinquency to social disorganization of a society as dictated by the ecological aspects surrounding a society. They define social disorganization as the inability of a society to organize itself in a more socially acceptable manner that perpetuates harmony and the general social well being of a society because of ecological changes within a society (HÃ…Â n-su HyÃ…Â n-sil 2008, p. 71). For instance, a city may experience a massive relocation of its inhabitants who go ahead to establish other settlements within the vicinity thus ending up with informal settlements such as slums. People no longer live together as a cluster leading to emergency of new social classifications with low-income populations finding themselves together and vice versa. Such groups of people usually exhibit a higher population turnover leading to more crowding and eventually causing degradation of their economic empowerment implying that they will be poorer and weaker in tackling life (94). Youth from these poor neighborhoods tend to adopt immoral behavior, as they feel pressed by their socio-economic status well described as averagely low. Through the process of interacting, young people learn different behaviors from those within their neighborhoods and in most cases end up adopting the same behavior with time. Negative neighborhood ecological trends have been linked to higher crime rate among juveniles as social disorganization results in such clusters of communities that developed new social status especially with low-income populations (116). High population heterogeneity makes it difficult for such societies to come together and establish informal social structures. This means that there lacks uniformity within the society, dictating that a homogeneous society which can collectively adopt good moral values remain illusive. The young adults in such status will always get into criminal activities so easily as the socio-economic status does very little to prevent indulgence in criminal activities (128). Peer influence is the main vector that spreads such undesirable habits among the youth living in such neighborhoods because people of the same age do interact and learn from one another faster and more easily made to believe their friends more easily again raising juvenile delinquency. Strain/Institutional Anomie Theory Strain theory is also known as the social class or the Mertonian Anomie theory. An American sociologist named Robert Merton, who mainly used the American economic status as his platform for argument, came up with this theory in expounding more on juvenile delinquency (Coleta et al 2007). Americans had developed a culture that was filled with prospects for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity that he called the American dream. Merton used the term anomie to imply that the living standards of the people was like a dichotomous key subdivided in numerous hierarchical levels that dictates what was expected from them and what could actually be achieved by the people. This cloud of beliefs led to an increase in juvenile crimes when certain obstructions were encountered such as unequal social status and imbalanced availability of opportunities for all people (Esbensen Huizinga, 1993, p. 301). The society witness massive drop out from schools by the vulnerable youths with many citing this as means to enable them achieve what was expected of them by the society, using alternative methods which is through criminal activities. This theory is still relevant up to hitherto with many youths dropping into being gang members commonly known as hobos or drug abusers which enables them get the much expected social status through crimes such as robbery with violence. The strongest impact of this theory especially in adolescents is that they are informed of the American dream as early as possible with a lot of information on what is enjoyable thereafter. The society has however exposed a greater weakness in the sense that little emphasis are put on the legitimate means of how to achieve these dreams implying that the way one plays the game is not important but whether one wins or looses (317). Basing on this fact, many juveniles opt for illegal means to achieve what they are expected to, thus increasing their vulnerability to be victims of criminal activity and deviance from socially acceptable conduct as a result of crime. Subcultural Theory of Juvenile Delinquency According to Hà ¥Ã‚ n-su Hyà ¥Ã‚ n-sil (2008, p. 51) this theory is fetched from the fact that modern societies have demonstrated a culture of separation where discrete groups of people have fragmented away from the main society and established their own values and norms. These differential affiliations have introduced the culture of learning antisocial behaviors that are clearly defined by criminal studies as crime. Studies have shown that the most vulnerable group is the adolescents who mainly find it difficult to get along with the traditional ways of living. This has even gone to the extent of formation of cults which comer up with their own ways of living and governance (63). Crimes from this kind of clusters have been reported in many African states where most societies are ravaging in poverty. Since the youth are the most affected, juvenile crime have increased in places where this behavior is left to take course unabated as very young people learn crime easily. The Theory of Educational disabilities Although this factor is seen by many as not social, it has resulted into a very huge impact on the general social setups of the society as regarding these children who have problems with their studies. The American society is fond of labeling them as potential criminals basing on their inability to do better in class as Cullen Wright, (2002, p. 103) reveal. These children have a tendency to commit crimes because they are challenged mentally, and cannot use their rationale well in making decisions. The US government introduced the special education law back in 1975 with an aim of ensuring that this group of its citizens are well taken care of in matters pertaining education. However, school administrators have gone ahead to suspend and expel these children from school further intensifying the psychological burden they find themselves with when labeled as potential criminals by the society regardless of their mental abilities (Cullen Wright, 2002, p. 116). These children end up perceiving themselves as failures and loose hope in life thus getting into crime to find solace and eventually end up in systems of juvenile justice because of social rejection by those who are supposed to embrace and educate them. Family influence This is one of the major modern theories acknowledged by many researchers. Most theorist of modern psychology agree with this theory that an individual is more likely to be affected by the way their parents bring them up either negatively or positively depending on the existing family values already in possession by the parents. As Weiher et al. (1991, p. 22) puts it, parent-child relationships such as closeness, acceptance, correction, rejection among many others play a very important role when it come to predicting likely behavior a child will develop as they grow. Family influence have bee associated with negative trends with some research showing that family influence is more influential than peer group influence. Better communication strategies with strong emotional support have been found to reduce juvenile delinquency. Children with non-traditional family set ups such as single parents and reconstituted families commit more juvenile crimes than those children do from traditional families. Because a child from traditional family enjoy intimate family relationship with both parents who become mentors and role models. This is in the sense that in parents able to devote more energy and time to their children, hence positively influencing their habits (Benjamin Lahey, 2003, p. 62). These children are also least associated with delinquency as they get more resources and a more sensible family setup. On the other hand, non-traditional families fail in larger proportions to provide the same thus, children from such families are likely to get into crime when they seek to make up for what they lack. Traditional family parents have the advantage of sharing the cost of commitment to their children especially financially. This is contrary to what faces a non-traditional family parent who may find it difficult to commit time for emotional and financial support to all of his or her children Modern society is experiencing a rapid increase in non-traditional family set ups with many people opting for single parenthood especially women to avoid commitments that come with one being a wife and at the same time a mother. Therefore, according to Coughlan (2007, P. 29), juvenile delinquency is more rampant due to such social setups brought about by living preferences of the modern generation (35). Just as good parenting may have a benefiting effect on bringing up morally upright children, the opposite results in a poorly natured child who is more vulnerable to getting out of school for example, and getting involved in criminal activities. Critical Theories for Juvenile Delinquency This encompasses a set of explanations by various sociologists and renowned scholars on how differences in numerous characteristics such as gender or race can lead to an increase in rates of crimes among different members of the society. Other documents focus on group differences and how those in positions of authority trigger commitment to crime by young people (Coleta et al 2007). Racial differences traditionally, can be associated with the Marxism theory too which postulates that those in positions perceived superior are the most likely to dictate the pace as goes the infamous saying that he who pays the piper, calls for the tune. Marxist theory argue that people those who own production chains have the greatest say in making any decisions pertaining that particular line of production. Larry et al. 2008, p. 227). Argue that others who are the minorities will have to go by what the haves dictate such as the type of work to be done, by who and how. Biases that have lead to discrimination of certain specific minority groups among the many world societies have lead not only to unresolved conflicts, but also in an increase in juvenile delinquency especially in the American societies. This finding is among the most recent theories in criminal justice that explain why delinquency is on the rise in such social set ups where a particular race feel more superior than t he other to the extent of treating the latter as subordinates (229). Racial abuses for example can be tracked right from the social status of many societies with less cosmopolitan places being affected more. This implies that where a group of people is in small numbers, biases more prevalent. Perceptions on people weak economically greatly affect young people relations with, view of people of the opposite class. It is evident in many societies across the globe that these young people will always behave in a way suggesting that they are opposed to what pertains those perceived as opponents (Agnew, 2005, p. 119). This usually results in numerous conflicts, as antagonistic beliefs are ever experienced with majorities emerging triumphant over the minorities eventually encouraging crime especially with the youth. The Kaplan Theory on Self-esteem as Delinquent Factor Most young people especially adolescents will always want to stay and fit in a place they feel accepted. Whenever this fails to happen, these people turn for alternatives to ensure that the recapture their original status of self-satisfaction. The already established criminal organizations within the society always benefit from decisions of such young people who feel rejected by their own class (Benjamin Lahey, 2003, p. 19). Criminal organizations usually offer a very satisfactory settlement, as they are easy to accept and make one feel good thus restoring the much sought self-esteem. Unfortunately, swings in self -esteem are experienced most in adolescent again making the young people more vulnerable. This is because at this stage they have developed self-preferences, which may not by provided by the society, thus making them feels rejected (Larry et al. 2008, p. 47). A solution to this is usually alternative peer groups into which they get into even if they are engaged in criminal activities. Self-derogatory theory formulated by Kaplan is being used in many research studies to establish how far reaching the effects of low self-esteem are, in juvenile delinquency. Feminist Theory of Juvenile Delinquency Gender differences are the main factor used to argue with this theory. Despite the fact that the theory focuses on the overall rates of committing crime among people of all ages, careful analysis can lead to a more direct link to juvenile crime. The theory too, seeks to clarify why male commit crimes more than females, and why females commit crime in the general social perspective (Weiher et al. 1991, p. 42). Gender disparities experience by females is one of the major catalysts increasing the number of junior female offenders. Positions assigned to females in many societies especially in the developing world are more disadvantageous compared to that of their male counterparts. Females are likely to get into crime such as drug peddling at an early age when their rights are denied for instance when forced to drop out of school to give room for their brothers who are socially assumed to have better chances of attending and successfully completing studies (72). Females at their younger age are more like to be abuse sexually by their dominant males thus opt for alternative forms of life, which makes them end up in crime brackets. This is because they cannot be accepted back into the society so easily as they are already labeled as delinquents at a tender age. This theory is used to explain female juvenile offences and how being female may influence the rate at which juvenile delinquency occur (82). Crime among youthful members of the society can only be understood well by considering different social encounters by females in events where men want to demonstrate their prowess in ruling women. Conclusion Juvenile crime can easily be tackled when intercepted at its point of origin. Individuals who happen to be involved in such crimes usually develop the craving to do so while still young therefore posing a very good opportunity to tackle the vice as children are more malleable and can easily be molded into positive characters. Psychosocial factors also play a very important role in juvenile crime as the way people think and live determine the general social uprightness of the young generation. Perceptions cultivated among different groups of people by the people themselves are more detrimental to minorities especially when they are negative. Societies with more conspicuous differences such as races are more like to experience higher rate of juvenile delinquency.

Black Boy :: essays research papers

Black Boy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Black Boy is a story written in first person through the black boy’s eyes. The story opens with the black boy cleaning eyeglasses at the sink during the morning hours before lunch. As the boy washed eyeglasses this day as all other days, Mr. Olin, a white man who ordered the black boy around hovered over him. While striking up conversation with the black boy, Mr. Olin asks a ridiculous question if the black boy is his friend. This question in the story is the first step in developing the plot. The black boy, fearful of the Mr. Olin and the power he has over him, decides to lie to him and tell him that he is his friend. Mr. Olin begins to trick the black boy in thinking that another black boy named Harrison wants to fight him because of words that were taken the wrong way. The black boy gets worried because he does not remember saying anything insulting to Harrison, and he wants to talk to him and make things right. Mr. Olin tells the black boy that he will go and speak to Harrison for him. During the black boys lunch break he goes and talks to Harrison himself about the situation, but soon they realize that they are being set up to fight each other in order to entertainment to the white men. Both black boys keep their mouths shut about speaking to each other and knowing the truth that neither of them wants to fight. Mr. Olin and Harrison’s boss both keep egging them on for weeks to fight each other and finally bribe them with five dollars to box fight. Harrison is interested because he wants a suit and this money will help, but the other black boy knows that this is shameful and does not want to fight no matter what the bribe is. For days Harrison and the black boy dispute whether to box or not, and they finally decided to box but to pretend. The day comes to fight and both stare each other in the face realizing that they do not have enough knowledge about fighting to fake the whole scene. The fight begins and the two boys angr y at themselves, each other, and their authority begin to fight and shed blood. After their fight both boys feel shame and degraded and never fight again although they are egged on many times after.

Camera Tricks :: essays research papers

Camera Tricks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The box office movie Spiderman 2 is playing in theater now. The story is about a nerdy American teenager who later becomes an ultimate superhero, bestowed with incredible powers and lots of cool features. It seems childish right; we as adults have watched these types of movies since we were kids. Don’t people ever get bored with it? Probably not - that movie still reached the highest income compared to other movies that are also playing currently on cinemas. And what do you think the cause of that? It is because of people now have becoming so attached to the Media, movies and television especially, to identify themselves with. Neal Gabler once wrote, â€Å"Whatever else American films do, the most popular ones are almost always about wish fulfillment, and the great stars are the ones with whom viewers can identify and through whom they can transcend themselves. They empower the audience.† It is a fact then that the Media tries to portray and characterize the perfect characters in the society through movie screens. â€Å"The movies hit them where they live – in their own state of desperation and doubt. Movies don’t just provide them with escape, as the conventional wisdom would have it. They give teenagers the exhilaration of hope through the illusion of power.† People are being deluded by these so called perfect characters that they have adapted from action figures, super heroes, celebrities and all other glamorous individualities. But are they really so great and perfect after all? Those characters are not even real; they are just illusions that the Media have created. There is a big difference between characters on screens and on reality where people should be aware; whether you like it or not, it will affect you inevitably.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Media has so many tricks in the matter of creating perfect role models. It illustrates the fancy lifestyle of rock and movie stars; the life of young, rich and famous persons on television as great examples of a perfect life. Most TV shows would picture famous artists and models managed themselves with lots of money, plenty of girl or boy friends, luxurious cars, castled housed and all others magnificent things. Media tries to teach people how money and famous can buy you the high status and power, thus, give everything you want. It seems like a dream come true, right? On the contrary, they seldom show programs picturing the negative side of those glamorous lifestyles.

Free Essay - The Theme of Courage in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Theme of Courage in The Scarlet Letter In the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, new ideas and themes are portrayed, giving a whole new meaning to the story. The trials and tribulations that each character faces, and overcome made the reading more enticing. However, the theme that stood out was one of courage; one must have the courage to be one's self. This theme touched each character in a different way, leaving each with a new perspective of life. Throughout the novel, different aspects of chivalry were shown. These aspects were displayed through Hester Prynne and Rev. Dimmesdale, one having courage from the beginning to the end, the other only finding courage at the end. The boldness Hester possessed was one that a person only dreams of. It was in her nature to be courageous. ."..with the embroidered letter glimmering..." (141). Hester knew that her action was wrong, yet she felt the need to be herself. She figured that if she was to be punished by a permanent letter it was necessary to make it beautiful (like herself). Hester dealing with guilt and embarrassment had enough and ."..undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter..." (185). Knowing that Dimmesdale was going to confess pushed Hester to be herself again. This led her to find her fortitude once again and become herself. Dimmesdale, however late it occurred, did in fact find courage. Hawthorne kept Dimmesdale "confused." Dimmesdale struggled to find an answer, tossing confession and secrecy back and forth. Dimmesdale ."..longed to speak out..." (132), and confess. Chillingworth knew that Dimmesdale did not have the valor to speak out. Taking this into consideration Dimmesdale pondered the situation and came upon a solution. "And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart;" (141). This showed true courage, which was not expected of Dimmesdale. Ascending the scaffold and embracing his own punishment, Dimmesdale became himself taking consequences for his actions. Dimmesdale struggled to make peace with Pearl. He knew that all she wanted was attention, which could only be cured by confession. In doing so he took it upon himself to attempt forgiveness. ."..to admit him into the child's kindlier regards-bent forward, and impressed one on her brow.

German Philosophers Essay

My paper is about Kant’s ideas of progression which shall focus on a study of his works such as â€Å"Idea for a Universal History† and his most famous work â€Å"What is Enlightenment? † as basis for analysis. This paper also explains the opposing views of Mendelssohn from Kant’s ideas of progression. It will compare Mendelssohn’s idea of enlightenment from that of Kant. His contribution to the emancipation of Jews will be discussed too. I will include also some ideas from other philosophers like Nietzsche on The Genealogy of Morality and Hegel on the philosophy of history. The opposing views of Mendelssohn on progression are also discussed pointing his views on secularization and enlightenment in relation to Kant’s views. A little will be discussed on Kant’s Perpetual Peace essay pointing it on a philosophical manner. Other philosopher such as Nietzsche’s views on morality using his work On the Genealogy of Morality shall be discussed in relation with Kant’s two ways of distinguishing judgments (ethical and aesthetic theory). Introduction The primary objective of this paper is to discuss Kant’s historical theory of progression. The first approach in understanding his ideas is to touch in his historical philosophy. Since the system used for reconstructing Kant’s philosophical history is critical it results to unsatisfactory remarks thus the use of a horizontal approach is necessary. A more general issue of philosophical matters will usually submerge using the historical philosophy approach. This approach is helpful in understanding the dialogue between contemporaries because it particular criticizes the idea of progression. The Kant’s theory of progression involves a strong case of particular criticism addressing these objections: (i) the rejection of the idea of progression due to religion’s being secularized; (ii) that his ideas on progression are chronologically unfair because this try to mean that the earlier generation gets a raw deal; (iii) that progression delivers the species into endless unsatisfaction; (iv) that progression adds to a harmful homogenization which may eliminate traditional values and practices (McCloughan 2003). The ways of judgment as distinguished by Kant such as the priori judgment and the posteriori judgment; the former judgment explains that something is known a priori if it is neither derived from nor testable by sense experience while the latter judgments is derived from or is testable by experience. These judgment means that we have no certain knowledge about experience, and according to Kant, he believed that we had such knowledge thus we ask the question: â€Å"How are synthetic a priori judgment? † On the other hand, in Mendelssohn’s mind, aesthetics in relationship to Kant’s theory of aesthetic is closely interrelated with psychology (Kant 1983). I. What is progress? â€Å"Progress† is a broad term that is believed to be an act of rejection throughout history by human communities of their attitude. However, an increasing number of intellectuals believe that the methods and spirit of science must be applied to all fields. Because of this belief, the idea of progress came to include a concept of social and moral progress. It was stated that the cumulative improvement in human knowledge and power that had been brought about in the physical sciences could also be brought about in the organization of human society and its character if only these barriers against the employment of rational methods in morals, religion, and politics could be eradicated (McCloughan 2003). In pre-modern Western culture, the idea of progress challenged the thought that the golden age of humankind devised in the past and that the aging of the Earth involves decay for it and analogous to the aging of individual living organisms. Moreover, the idea of progress implies a trend to history and time that contrasts sharply with the cyclical conceptions of time and of history that is dominant in ancient history. Finally, the idea of progress implies an activist role for humans in defining their well-being and in causing it, in the present and for the future (McCloughan 2003). II. Kant’s idea of progression and his ways of judgment According to Kant, humanity, as whole, was gradually progressing towards enlightenment that there is a progression that expresses the idea of the history of humankind. Moreover, it is directing towards a goal, which led to the development of shifting interpretations of this abstract notion. Kant stresses the unplanned character of the development of history, which is more likely to go after on its way to a cosmopolitan world order. ‘Progress’ toward the commencement of perpetual peace will be unpredictable and painful because while the process is undergoing, progress will adopt a more regular pace. Progress would also take the form of a more balanced development of human capacities. Both at the national and international levels, spontaneous antagonism will not only holds up the process of development, but also ensures that such development as has taken place has failed to put attention to the all-important moral dimension (Kant 1983). Progression would be the universal history of all humanity and it is very comprehensive that often takes the case with traditional universal histories, the future as well as the past. Nevertheless, progression is more than just a collection of all facts falling under the intersection of the concepts ‘human’ and ‘history’. According to Kant, this would amount to what he calls an ‘aggregate’, a mere ‘distributive unity’, and would fail to satisfy reason’s demand for ‘systematic’ or ‘collective unity’ (Kant 1983). When human beings emerge from his self-incurred minority, it is called Enlightenment that is, on a public level, the application of one’s own understanding, improvement without the help of another individual. Kant asserted that it is the freedom of thought and all individuals can attain this freedom indiscriminately. While I agree that enlightenment transcends economic class and race, freedom of thought but it cannot practically be extended to everyone (Kant 1983). Furthermore, in Kant’s words, progress may be associated with human reason and talks about how things are presented to us. Human understanding is only concerned of how it works but it not concern with the foundations. In Kant’s mind, however, neither sciences nor philosophy must answer to those questions, since this separate their innate capacities. Nevertheless, this does not mean that it is less worthwhile to answer questions on one side because he said that we could not construct any serious progress in physics, for example, while we argue over the issue of whether it is logically consistent to talk about laws of nature. However, it does mean that whatever we are doing we are in an important respect, stopping to do philosophy. If this is correct, then there is no chance of achieving progress in philosophy by adopting a paradigm that helps achieve progress, but only by making it cease to be philosophy (Kant 1983). Kant saw the problem of knowledge was on the issue of how to connect the† is† of sense experience with the â€Å"must† of necessary and universal truth. First, we distinguish analytic from synthetic judgments. An analytic judgment can be ascertained by looking on the truth of such judgment which can be know by an analysis of the subject while a synthetic judgment can be ascertained by looking at the truth of such a statement which cannot be known through an analysis of the subject (McCloughan 2003). Philosophers before Kant stated that an analytic judgment was known a priori while the synthetic judgment was known a posteriori. The former were always and necessarily true but true only about the meaning and relation of words not about the world while the latter judgment was about the world but they could only be contingent or probable truths. Kant believed that we have no certain knowledge about experience and we had such knowledge. As a solution, he further adds that experience provides the content and the mind provides the structures that determine the way in which the content will be organized and understood (McCloughan 2003). III. Kant on the issue of morality Kant says in a moral sphere that he has denied knowledge to make room for faith because he believe that moral law cannot be justified by reason it can only be obeyed on its own sake. According to Kant’s ethical theory, which rests on the concept of duty, a good person acts out of duty not because he fears punishment but because it his duty. The categorical imperative states that a person should act in such a way that it are possible for one to will that the maxim of ones action should become a universal law (Kant 1983). On the other hand, according to Kant’s aesthetic theory, which holds that judgment, give beauty to something, although they rest on feeling, but have valid claims although these are mere statements of taste or of opinion. This concept involves a judgment, which are on purpose for example, when a person judges something to be beautiful there is harmony of the experienced object with mental structure (Kant 1983). IV. Mendelssohn’s Views Mendelssohn believed that destiny should be divided into two separate categories. The first is the personal, private, and intellectual destiny of man; and the second was the destiny as a citizen of a state or a public, duty-oriented destiny. In an enlightened society according to him, the need for culture is ideally eliminated and substituted by the virtues of Enlightenment (Mendelssohn 1983). Moreover, another important truth about the Enlightenment thinking is the possession of knowledge through experience and observation, education, and self-probing on an intellectual and spiritual level. Moreover, by fulfilling these quests shall lead you to the path of Enlightenment. The idea of Mendelssohn on Enlightenment has distinguished the destiny of man through his roles as both a citizen of a state and between the role of a human to morality, religion, and personal philosophy. He discovers that this distinction is necessary because he believes that the personal interests of man as a human can do conflict with the interests of public man. According to him, the ideals of Enlightenment should be limited in their availability to man when it is in the best interest of the state and they should not meddle with work ethics or motivations, as they are necessary to the functioning of society (Mendelssohn 1983). V. Mendelssohn’s contribution to Jewish thought and secularization Mendelssohn’s principal contribution to Jewish thought concerns a declaration of inconsistency while he supports the abolition of excommunication while remaining loyal to biblical law, and is willing to overlook such coercion. In Mendelssohn’s reply, â€Å"Jerusalem Or On Religious Power and Judaism† which was one of the first works in German to plead for freedom of conscience in religious matters, separates church and state, and the civil rights for the Jews. According to him, both states and church have as their final goals the promotion of human happiness. The state is permitted to enforce specific actions, whereas the church’s task is to convince its followers of their religious and ethical duties through persuasion alone (Mendelssohn 1983). Mendelssohn replied to the question of the continued authority of Jewish law, and said that the ceremonial law originating from the Hebrew Bible is binding solely on the Jewish people and Judaism is a religion of revealed legislation but not of revealed beliefs. He further said that the existence and unity of God, the reality of divine providence, and the immortality of the soul should be declared on the grounds of natural reason, not miracles or supernatural revelation. Mendelssohn was concerned with freedom inside one religion as well as freedom of religion for minority communities but he is still confirming the continued authority of Jewish law. He argued that by identifying the church and state in biblical Israel should end with the destruction of the ancient association of states and laws that preserve the universal principles of Jewish faith against errors into idolatry and polytheism. Until God arranges another indubitable supernatural revelation to the Jewish people, these laws will not lose their force to replace that of Mount Sinai. However, loyalty to the Jewish law does not prevent the Jews from expecting the legitimate duties of citizenship in an enlightened society (Mendelssohn 1983). Mendelssohn was seen as a forebear of the conflicting trends of German Jewry but Kant as well as Hegel viewed his synthesis of philosophical theism and traditional religious observance as outdated. Nevertheless, he was revered by the Enlighteners for having moved from the ghetto to modern society without abandoning the Jewish tradition or the Jewish people. However, Mendelssohn was criticized for having paved the way to the loss of Jewish distinctiveness and, therefore, to assimilation. In retrospect, his thought and life can be seen to have posed some of the fundamental issues of Jewish religious survival in secular, liberal society (Mendelssohn 1983).