Saturday, November 30, 2019

Stalin’s Reign of Terror Essay Example

Stalin’s Reign of Terror Essay Stalin’s Reign of Terror Name: Course: Date: We will write a custom essay sample on Stalin’s Reign of Terror specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Stalin’s Reign of Terror specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Stalin’s Reign of Terror specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Stalin’s Reign of Terror The book, Journey into the Whirlwind, by Eugenia Ginzburg is a memoir based on the 1917 Russian Revolution. The memoir descriptively illustrates a personal account of the author’s life and incarceration in the Soviet Union throughout the government of Joseph Stalin in the 1930s. Throughout the novel, Ginzburg recounts numerous experiences directly related with Stalin’s reign of terror that witnessed millions of civilians suffer. The book, divided into two parts, provides the reader with an opportunity to glance and delve deeply into circumstances encompassing the author’s tribulations and concurrently, gain knowledge based on one of history’s most controversial leaders, Joseph Stalin. Part 1 The first part of the novel, Journey into the Whirlwind, provides a detailed account of Ginzburg’s arrest, court trial and the two years of solitary internment that she experienced. The first part begins on December 1, 1934 when Ginzburg receives a phone call. Through the phone call, Ginzburg is informed that the secretary to the General Committee of the Communist Party, Kirov is dead. Apparently, Kirov’s death was through a planned assassination. The murder of Kirov engenders paranoia regarding the rebellious political elements in the party, which causes the current government to tauten its grasp on society. Consequently, an innocent and unaware Ginzburg is individually tossed into the tussle when Professor Elvov, her old friend, is detained in 1935 (Ginzburg, 1995). The reason for his arrest was due to his authoring of a chapter that advocated Trotskyist connotations. Ginzburg’s association with Elvov puts her under extreme suspicion. Consequently, the officials of the party in her hometown, Kazan, quickly indict her of failing to denounce Elvov’s treachery to the party. Ginzburg repudiates the accusations, which forces her to be questioned by Comrade Beylin. Beylin and his partner Malyuta originally release Ginzburg with a minor indictment of inadequate vigilance. However, events turn around for Ginzburg when she finds herself being at the mercy of cruel interrogators. In 1936, Ginzburg, an intensely dedicated Communist, witnesses Stalin, the leader of the Communists for the first and last time. Despite Stalin sharing the same ideals as Ginzburg, Ginzburg views Stalin as ugly and a personification of evil. Later, Ginzburg travels to Moscow to appeal her case to the court located at IIyinka Street, where numerous accused persons are queuing in line (Ginzburg, 1995). A political commissar, Sidorov, listens to Ginzburg’s plight and is sympathetic towards her. However, Ginzburg is forced to avail her party card, which eventually leads to her arrest, by Captain Vevers eight days afterward. In the prison crypts at Black Lake Street, Ginzburg is imprisoned together with Lyama, an attractive young woman. The prison food proves to be foul for Ginzburg, so Lyama eats both portions. Lyama also explains to Ginzburg that it is vital to communicate with other inmates. Later, Ginzburg is called in for inquiry by interrogators. They interrogate her using sadistic methods such as starvation and sleep deprivation. However, Ginzburg refuses to confess guilt or turn in others. Consequently, Ginzburg is able to establish communication using the prison alphabet, which involved a series of tapping and translating taps (Ginzburg, 1995). Ginzburg and Lyama gain a new cellmate, Ira. In the interrogation, Ginzburg’s former partners from the periodical, Red Tartary, are summoned to contradict her. She is disappointed when she discovers that two of her counterparts, Volodya Dyakanov and Nayla Kozlova, have consented to sign the interrogators’ papers. Afterwards, Ginzburg is relocated to another prison, which is filthier but less stringent. She develops new relationships and devices a novel communication system that enables her to spread the news all over the prison through singing and opera tunes. However, Ginzburg is relocated again to Moscow. In Butkryki Prison, she hears the screams of cellmates being tortured. Eventually, Ginzburg faces the military tribunal expecting a death sentence. To her surprise, she is sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. After staying briefly at the Pugachev Tower, Ginzburg is transported to Yaroslavl by train. After the end of her two years at Yaroslavl, her sentence is revi sed, and she is reassigned to a remedial labor camp. Part 2 The second part of the novel starts with a clique of 76 female inmates boarding Car Number 7, in a compartment labeled â€Å"Special Equipment† (Ginzburg, 1995). In Car Number 7, among the female prisoners transported together with Ginzburg, another prisoner who later becomes Ginzburg’s friend is in the compartment. Tanya Stankovskaya is happy to possess a bunk in the train. Regardless of the discomfort of traveling in a cattle car, the train is filled with happy voices of female inmates according to Ginzburg because none of the prisoners had seen any other person in over two years. Later on, Ginzburg meets Zinaida Tulub in the train. Zinaida was a historical novelist from Ukraine. Ginzburg tells Zinaida about herself and her life story while discovering the unease of talking due to her long years of forced silence (Ginzburg, 1995). After an upsetting journey that lasted for a month in a cattle car, the inmates pull in at a transfer camp in close proximity to Vladivostok. At the transit camp, the female prisoners intermingle, through a fence, with male inmates, ravening themselves on romantic emotions and probing for recognizable faces. At the camp, Ginzburg stays for a month before being transported to Kolyma, Siberia through ship. Ginzburg and her fellow inmates are transferred through the ship known as SS Dzhurma. In the ship, Ginzburg is shown to be sick from a bout of fever. However, irrespective of the effect of illness on her, Ginzburg decides to conceal her ailment at all costs. She subjected herself to harsh conditions coupled by her illness in order to avoid from being separated from her fellow prisoners. The last batch of female prisoners to be brought into SS Dzhurma was comprised of criminals indicted with crimes ranging from sexual deviance to murder (Ginzburg, 1995). The journey within the ship was significantly uneventful. Life on the ship, SS Dzhurma, was considerably wretched than in Car 7 and Yaroslavl. The hatches within the ship were unfastened throughout the journey in order to allow for the entrance of air into the ship. However, this propagated even terrible conditions throughout the journey. Due to the harsh conditions, Ginzburg becomes terribly ill. At one point, Ginzburg attempts to use the bathroom on the deck only to lose consciousness and pass out for two days due to exhaustion and sickness. After her tumultuous stay at the SS Dzhurma, Ginzburg and the prisoners eventually reach Kolyma, located in the northern Siberia region. In Kolyma, the prisoners are transported to Magadan Camp. However, Ginzburg falls sick again at the camp. Eventually, she is transported to the sick ward. She is brought to the sick ward, where sick men and women are clustered together in taut quarters. The sick ward at Magadan Infirmary allows Ginzburg to bathe and receive treated. Eventually, she is treated by Dr. Klimenko who is the wife of a police investigator. Dr. Klimenko allows Ginzburg to stay in the hospital for one month in order to recover fully. Additionally, Klimenko does this because she believes that Ginzburg has experienced death much greater than the other prisoners have (Ginzburg, 1995). After a month in recovery, Ginzburg returns to Magadan Camp. At the camp, Ginzburg was assigned to Hut 8. Regardless of recovering completely, Ginzburg feels that she has betrayed her fellow inmates. Her reason for feeling this way is attributed to her fair treatment at hospital. She alleges that while she was being treated well in hospital, her friends were suffering in prison. Throughout the trip to the sick ward, her consciousness wavers but she is immediately restored when the doctor prescribes a warm pine bath for her. Her stay at the infirmary in Magadan Camp under the care of a nurse enables Ginzburg to reclaim her health. Eventually, she is put to work with other inmates after she is deemed well. Soon after, Ginzburg bribes the leader of the team, who is responsible for allocating jobs to prisoners, and ends up doing housework in a guesthouse. Later, she works in the kitchen but eventually she is deported to a camp at Elgen. At the camp, she was forced to fell trees in glacial temperatures. Moreover, the overseer, Keyzin was harsh to the prisoners and demanded a high output in the snow, which equaled their food earnings (Ginzburg, 1995). However, tree felling proved to be dangerous especially when in snow. Irrespective of this, Ginzburg and her counterparts were forced to maintain high output but it was impossible due to Ginzburg’s poor health. However, Ginzburg escapes death when a doctor from Leningrad, Vasily Petukhov, carrying out routine medical inspections on her recognizes her and claims that he is familiar with her son (Ginzburg, 1995). The doctor assists Ginzburg in evading the fatal conditions at Elgen by securing her with a medical attendant’s job at a children’s hospital. The Journey into the Whirlwind is indeed an engaging and interesting book. Irrespective of the experiences that the author goes through, Ginzburg manages to induce optimism at the end of the book. Irrespective of the few ills documented in the novel, Ginzburg does not reiterate on the Soviet tactics used against prisoners and innocent civilians but rather on the psychological abuse, that she went underwent in the interrogations and prison life. Regardless of the raw details of Ginzburg’s life under the Soviet government, the author presents an emotional depiction that leaves the reader completely engaged and engrossed. References Ginzburg, E. S. (1995). Journey into the Whirlwind. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Co.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball

Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball Football and basketball are two of the most common sports that are played in many parts of the world. For an individual who is torn between selecting which of the two sports he should play, it can be very helpful to know the characteristics of the two sports and compare these qualities in order to select the one that interests a particular person the most. One of the most obvious differences between the two sports lies in the way they are played. While football is in most cases played outdoors in areas that may not necessarily have artificial lighting or controlled temperatures, basketball is mostly played in indoor fields that have both artificial lighting and temperature control. The size of the football field is also several times bigger than that of basketball. The other difference lies in the way the players interact with the ball. In football, the ball is played by fumbling, while in basketball, the ball is played by bouncing the ball up and down on the floor repeatedly in an action known as dribbling. In football, the main objective of the game is to capture the territory of the opposing team in ten yard segments, eventually driving the ball to the opposing team’s end zone. In basketball, the main aim is to throw the ball as many ways as possible into the opposing team’s basket, given that the more baskets a team makes, the higher the score. Another major difference is that physical contact between basketball players of opposing teams is highly discouraged and may actually result in a foul. This is especially the case when a player knocks another player of the opposing team to the floor. In football, contact is highly encouraged. Contact in football is referred to as a tackle. Another difference between the two sports is way players dress. While basketball players adorn vests as the uniform of the game, football players are usually dressed in long sleeved t-shirts and trousers. They also wear helmets to protect their heads during tough tackles. Another notable difference between the two sports is why a player may be suspended from the game. The most common reason behind players being ruled out of a basketball game is the fouls that they cause, but in football, injuries are the most common reasons that remove players from the game. The kind of scores in each of the games also differs greatly. In football, 3 is the least number of points that the opposing team can score at a single time, while in basketball, 3 is the most a player can score at a time. Finally, the origin of each of the games also differs. While football is thought to have originated in the early 1900s as a violent collegiate sport for men, bask etball is believed to have originated from a gymnastics practice for women. You can enjoy our professional essay service which can help with writing your comparison essay on Football and Basketball. Get 100% original custom compare and contrast essay written from scratch!

Friday, November 22, 2019

How to Petition the Government Online

How to Petition the Government Online Got a gripe with the government? Exercise your rights. Congress is prohibited from restricting the right of American citizens to petition the government under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791. â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† - The First Amendment, United States Constitution. The authors of the amendment surely had no idea just how easy it would become to petition the government in the age of the Internet more than 200 years later. President Barack Obama, whose White House was the first to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook, launched the first online tool allowing citizens to petition the government through the White House website in 2011. The program, called We the People, allows users to create and sign petitions on any topic. When he announced the program in September 2011, President Obama said, â€Å"When I ran for this office, I pledged to make government more open and accountable to its citizens. Thats what the new We the People feature on WhiteHouse.gov is all about - giving Americans a direct line to the White House on the issues and concerns that matter most to them.† The Obama White House often portrayed itself as one of the most transparent to the public in modern history. Obamas first executive order, for example, directed the Obama White House to shed more light on presidential records. Obama, however, eventually came under fire for operating behind closed doors. We the People Petitions Under President Trump When Republican President Donald Trump took over the White House in 2017, the future of the We the People online petition system looked doubtful. On January 20, 2017 - Inauguration Day - the Trump administration deactivated all existing petitions on the We the People website. While new petitions could be created, signatures to them were not being counted. While the website was later fixed and is currently fully functional, the Trump administration has not responded to any of the petitions. Under the Obama administration’s control, any petition that collected 100,000 signatures within 30 days was to receive an official response. Petitions that gathered 5,000 signatures would be sent to the â€Å"appropriate policymakers.†Ã‚   The Obama White House said any official response would be not only by emailed to all petition-signers but posted on its website as well.   While the 100,000 signature requirement and White House response promises remain the same under the Trump administration, as of November 7, 2017, the administration had not officially responded to any of the 13 petitions that had reached the 100,000 signature goal, nor has it stated that it  intends to respond in the future. How to Petition the Government Online No matter the White House’s response to them, if any, the We the People tool allows Americans over the age of 13 to create and sign petitions on www.whitehouse.gov asking the Trump administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country. All that is required is a valid email address. People who wish to create a petition are required to create a free Whitehouse.gov account. To sign an existing petition, users need only enter their name and their email address. For identity verification, they will receive an email with a web link that they must click to confirm their signature. A Whitehouse.gov account is not needed to sign petitions. The We the People website calls creating or signing a petition as â€Å"just the first step,† suggesting that concerned citizens build support for a petition and gather even more signatures. â€Å"Use email, Facebook, Twitter and word of mouth to tell your friends, family and coworkers about the petitions you care about, the White House states. As was the case under the Obama administration, petitions involving ongoing criminal investigations or criminal justice court proceedings in the United States and certain other internal processes of the federal government are not subject to petitions created on the We the People website. What It Means to Petition the Government The right of Americans to petition the government is guaranteed under the Constitutions First Amendment. The Obama administration, acknowledging the importance of the right, said: Throughout our nations history, petitions have served as a way for Americans to organize around issues that matter to them, and tell their representatives in government where they stand. Petitions played important roles, for example, in ending slavery and guaranteeing women the right to vote. Other Ways to Petition the Government Though the Obama administration was the first to allow Americans to petition the government through an official U.S. government website, other countries had already allowed such activities online. The United Kingdom, for example, operates a similar system called e-petitions. That countrys system requires citizens to collect at least 100,000 signatures on their petition on their online petitions before they can be debated in the House of Commons. The major political parties in the United States also allow Internet users to submit suggestions that are directed to members of Congress. There are also many privately run website that allow Americans to sign petitions that are then forwarded to members of the House of Representatives and Senate. Of course, Americans can still write letters to their representatives in Congress, send them email or meet with them face-to-face. Updated by Robert Longley

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Networking Assignment Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Networking Assignment Reflection Paper - Essay Example e is really passionate about market research, has a strong sense of responsibility, and very much knowledgeable about the situation of the different industries in the market. I believe that her professionalism enables her to generate interviewees from industry players and trade associations. Her innate passion for market research coupled with her strong sense of responsibility allows her to finish each project to the best of her ability. These values also encourage her to work amidst the difficulties in data gathering. Her interest in the market and knowledge on how it operates makes her as a credible source and enables her to giver accurate reports. Written skill is a very important requirement for her job because it enables her to communicate her knowledge about the market. The ability to make rational forecast on the market will perform is also important as it is a very crucial part of the industry reports. The capability of gathering data and analyzing them are keys to having accurate results. Compared to the interviewee, I am more comfortable in verbal communication than writing out my ideas. Being inexperienced, I am not adept in making forecasts about industries. However, I am also confident of my skills in gathering data and analyzing them. I love to do researches even though I know that I still need to learn more about judging the quality of the data and how they can be used in order to come up with rational results. I have always been interested in market research yet I am not really motivated to pursue this profession when given a chance. What I really want when I choose this interviewee is how various think-tanks like AC Nielsen come up with the market reports which they present to business organizations. Also, interviewing a market research analyst enabled me to understand her work and the important characteristics needed to excel in her career. The primary challenge when approaching an unknown professional is the fear of being rejected. Noting

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Organisational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organisational Culture - Essay Example In human resource management, most people assume that people can be measured on personality and IQ tests, and computing the resultant set of numbers to define these people. This is often not so, because efficiency is not an economic concept, but a political concept involving cost, and quality of process time. Also some people see inefficiency to be a "sin" in modern terms, which is very much in contrast with the 20th century efficiency of the Nazis, for example. The east neaden dietary department is run by a team of 6 nurses, three dieticians and one doctor. "There is also a consultant who is available 3 times a week and a clinical psychologist who visits twice a week." (Marlow, Nigel). The type of culture that existed in the east neasden dietory department before the change was one of familiarity and friendly worker relationships. This is evident in the fact that the staff called each other by their first names, and the doctors were called by their first names, except in the presence of patients. However there was a change in the organizational structure and this brought about a change in the culture in East Neasden Dietary department. After the organizational change which was accomplished by using the handy theory a... There are indeed, various reasons for change. Some factors that can trigger change in an organization, like competition and the need to be commercially realistic or viable. Allen, Madison, Porter, Renwick and Mayes noted that "organizational politics involves intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self interest of groups, or individuals in a group" (Allen, Madison, Porter, Renwick and Mayes 1979) In the Interflora case, there was a need to be commercially viable and realistic, hence the need for organizational change, and the dynamics involved in such a change. An Analysis of corporate types Corporate culture is the key to organizational performance, and when effectively managed, can lead to an improvement in a company's competitive advantage. Going by Michael Maccoby's analysis of corporate types, there are four main types of corporate personality. These are the company man, the Jungle Hunter, the craftsman, and the Gamesman. The company man defers to authority in the company, while the jungle hunter tends to be coercive in temperament, and strives to acquire power within the company. For the craftsman, his identity is his craft as an engineer, accountant, I.T. personnel or other craft. The gamesman operates with a lot of politicking and uses stealth and subtlety to achieve power. REFERENCES Allen, R. W., Madison, D. L., Porter, L. W., Renwick, P. A. and Mayes, B. T. (1979)Organizational politics: Tactics and characteristics of its actors. Californiamanagement review Maccoby, Michael. (1976) Michael Maccoby's Analysis of Corporate Types Marlow, Nigel. East

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Harriet Ann Jacobs Essay Example for Free

Harriet Ann Jacobs Essay In the autobiography, â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl†, it tells the story of a female slave named Harriet Ann Jacobs. Losing her mother and father at such a young age, she experienced firsthand the account of a slave life. She deliberates in great detail the humiliation, sacrifice, and struggle specific to female slaves of the late nineteenth century. Though she understood the risks involved in publishing an account of her life, she moved forward with the idea and published her story under the pseudonym Linda Brent. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina to Delilah and Elijah. While growing up she enjoyed a relatively cheerful life until she was six years old when her parents died. After the death of her parents, Harriet and her younger brother John were left to be raised by their grandmother, Molly Horniblow. Molly was an older woman who was well respected in the slave community, as well as by the slave owners. She was never mistreated, and she frequently baked goods for the people in her community. Harriet Jacobs gained the knowledge for all of her educational essentials from her first mistress, Margaret Horniblow. She taught Harriet how to read, write, and sew which gave her advantage over the rest of the slaves. It also would attract some unwanted attention. Margaret would later on will Harriet to her twelve year old niece whose father would subject Harriet to aggressive and unrelenting sexual harassment. Dr. Flint sexually harassed and physically abused the teenaged Harriet for as long as she was a servant in his household. Afraid that one day Dr. Flint would make his antics reality, she began to have an affair with a prominent white lawyer named Samuel Tredwell, whom she later on beared two children for. Instead of discouraging Flint, she enraged him. He then sent Harriet away to a life of hard labor on a plantation he owned, threatening to break in her young children as field hands, seeing that they legally belonged to him. She soon ran away from the plantation and spent seven years hiding in a tiny attic crawl space in her grandmother’s house. During those seven years she put to use the skills that her first mistress had taught her, and watched over her children through a small chink in the roof. Being cramped in the attic for so long, left her permanently physically disabled. In 1842, Harriet was finally able to escape to the north, and found work as a nanny in the household of a prominent abolitionist writer, Nathaniel Parker Willis. She later on is reunited with her children in New York, and farther down the line her employer purchases her freedom from Dr. Flint. While reading this autobiography you acquire a feeling that is very unusual. Most slaves that you hear about usually have harsh lives and are extremely unhappy, but in this particular case it was the complete opposite. Harriet’s life wasn’t hard not one bit. She was never mistreated because her father’s mistress found her to be very appealing, and she didn’t have to do any hard labor. But, she also wasn’t allowed her freedom which is what she anxiously longed for. That particular entity is what places everything into perspective. At the end of the day whether she liked it or not, she was still a slave. She could not walk away from her situation, she could not undertake everything that she wanted to do, and she definitely could not enjoy her life to the fullest because she belonged to someone, and that someone was a jealous, aggressive man named Dr. Flint. Harriet Jacobs insisted on telling her story honestly and completely, determined to make white Americans aware of the sexual victimization that slave women commonly faced and to dramatize the fact that they often had no choice but to surrender their virtue. Jacobs knew that her contemporaries would see her not as a virtuous woman but as a fallen one, yet she published the story anyway. She wanted to bring light to a situation that slave women faced every day. She was an incredibly strong woman for doing so, and by directly confronting the cruel realities that plagued African American women in the late nineteenth century, Harriet’s work occupies a significant place in African American literary tradition.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Pain for Pleasure Endured Essay -- Literature Pain Pleasure Essays

Pain for Pleasure Endured The intricate and complex nature of the relationship between pain and pleasure has been a source of contention and diversity of opinion for people of all eras. Shakespeare’s character Othello claims that "tis happiness to die." (Act 5 ln 295). In his situation the painful experience of dying is what he considers pleasure, he later verifies his belief in his statement by choosing to stab himself. Sir Philip Sidney, in his poem Astrophil and Stella states that "in my woes for thee thou art my joy" (108 ln 14). Astrophil finds his pleasure in the pain of his unrequited love for Stella. The complex relationship between pleasure and pain is reflected in the twenty-first century in addition to the Renaissance era. The Amish people choose to live in a world without modern conveniences and pleasures as they are acknowledged in the twentieth-first century. People who are taught from a very young age the dangers and health hazards contained in smoking continue and "Tobacco use remains t he leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion in direct medical costs" (http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/issue.htm). In Wither’s emblem pain and pleasure are presented in a paradoxically coexisting relationship. Thomas More’s Utopia portrays pleasure as an entity unblemished by the experience of pain. Wither’s emblem entitled "By Pain on pleasures we do seize and we by sufferance purchase ease" (http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withe023.htm) expresses views on pain and pleasure which are the antithesis of those found in More’s "Utopia." The divergence in the authors’ viewpoints on the relationship between pain and pleasu... ...ous views. If the Utopians believed Wither to be a "heaven-sent" prophet then perhaps his words, which completely contradict all their views, could be accepted. Wither uses the image of a rose to reflect the essential idea of pain and pleasure in his poem. He claims that "her sweetness fast is closed in with many thornes." The Utopians would find a violet sweeter without the necessity of fighting thorns to enjoy the beauty. More’s ideal society conflicts strongly with ideals that have permeated society for generations. If pleasure is received without any pain can it be as great as the pleasure that contains the knowledge of the pain? Works Cited: Damrosch, David; The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Volume 1. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc: 1999. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/issue.htm) http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withe023.htm)

Monday, November 11, 2019

Conflicts in the Godfather Essay

The Godfather is an insightful sociological study of violence, power, honor and obligation, corruption, justice and crime in America. Part I of The Godfather Trilogy centers on the Corleone crime â€Å"family† in the boroughs of New York City in the mid 1940s, dominated at first by the aging godfather/patriarch â€Å"Don† Vito Corleone. As a turn-of-the-century Silician immigrant, he is the head of one of the five Italian-American â€Å"families† that operates a crime syndicate. The ‘honorable’ crime â€Å"family,† working outside the system due to exclusion by social prejudice, serves as a metaphor for the way business (the pursuit of the American dream) is conducted in capitalistic, profit-making corporations and governmental circles. Although conflict in life may seem unpleasant, literature readers find it to be quite exciting. The characters involved within a conflict clearly stand out as to what they truly believe in and who they are as a person. In Mario Puzo’s, â€Å"The Godfather†, a number of conflicts are revealed through the Mafia underworld. The first, and most important conflict that is demonstrated in â€Å"The Godfather†, is revealed right away through â€Å"The Assassination Attempt on Don Corleone†. The Don shows the conflict of man vs. society by first refusing to enter the drug business. This decision, will ultimately effect the future conflicts that are revealed throughout the story. By refusing to participate in the drug business, the Corleone Family becomes outcasts of the five major crime families in New York. By doing so, the Don sparks the war between his family and the other five families. This war ends up lasting for several years and costs many lives. The second conflict that is present in â€Å"The Godfather†, is the conflict of divergent ideas vs. his father’s ideas. Santino, â€Å"Sonny†, Corleone, demostrates this conflict by deciding to go against his father’s beliefs. Sonny feels that drugs are the thing of the future and he decides that if his father dies, he will make the deal of entering the narcotics business. Tom Hagen, the adopted son of Vito Corleone, also believes that by entering the drug business, the Family will become much more successful later down  the road. A third conflict that is present in â€Å"The Godfather†, is the conflict of man vs. himself. This conflict is demonstrates through the character of Michael Corleone, the youngest son of the Don. Michael’s conscience is at war with his with his desire. After the assassination attempt on his father, Michael feels that he needs to get involved and help his father continue the Family business. However, his mind also feels that it is wrong to enter the criminal business. In conclusion, it is clear that many conflicts exist in Mario Puzo’s, â€Å"The Godfather†. They include, man vs. society, divergent ideas vs. father’s, and man vs. himself. Together, these conflicts create an intriguing plot that captures the viewer’s attention to the Mafia Underworld during the 1940’s and 1950’s in New York. Mario Puzo’s materpiece studies the power of conflicts that involve violence, power, honor, obligation, justice, and corruption.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Explain the Different Types of Discrimination Essay

Discrimination has many meaning and many different ways people can discriminate against others. Discriminations can be as simple as a person making a judgment against someone else by the way they dress or the way they speak or it can be the people are discriminated against (out casted/left out) because they choose to be different or have a disability or different colour of skin or even religion. Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person action based on prejudice which someone has of that individual and it can affect the targeted individual physically, this could be self-harm or eating disorders, intellectually, the individual won’t want to go to work because of how they are being treated, emotionally, which could be depression, anxiety, aggression, stress or fear, and finally, it can also affect them socially, because they might isolate themselves from the people around them which could result in the loss of friends and it may make some of their relationships with others strained because they think that everyone they know is going to treat them in the same way. The types of discrimination are: culture, disability, age, social class, gender, sexuality, health status and cognitive ability. The first type of discrimination is culture. This can be very important to some individuals because it shows their identity to other people and it is also the way in which they lead their life no matter what country they’re living in. Cultural discrimination means that when an individual from a different background or culture follows their cultures rules strictly; they are disliked by some people because they have a different lifestyle, following and they do not follow the same rules because of how they’ve been raised by their family. It is developed within the social group which they have been raised in; and it can change when they become mature enough to decide for themselves which culture best suited for them. In a profession in Health and Social Care it is important for everyone who is concerned to respect other people’s cultures. It is important for the individual because it gives them a sense of understanding and support, promotes their well-being and can also help their health. Also it is important to health and social care professionals because they see the benefits of their care value base and it underlines the importance of respecting an individual’s culture. Sometimes people see this as if the individual is receiving special treatment because they are different; which can make them feel angry or strong jealousy and as a result they will make the individual from a different culture feel isolated; which might make any relationships which the individual has strained and it can make them feel like they have no respect from anyone around them because of how they look or behave. In health and social care a lot of people work with and support people with varying degrees of disabilities. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone who has a disability. The act covers employment, access to goods, facilities and services of organisations, education, buying and renting a property and transportation services. There has to be full access ability for anyone with a disability. However, people who are part of the same establishment might discriminate against a disabled person in a wheel chair or with a severe disability; by calling them disrespectful names and say that they don’t deserve to be a part of the establishment just because they are disabled in some way; and this can make the disabled person feel depressed and suffer from anxiety problems because if the same thing has been said enough times then they will believe that they don’t deserve an education or have the right to same things which a non-disabled person has the right to. Age discrimination occurs â€Å"when someone is treated unfavourably because of their age, without justification, or is harassed or victimised because of their age†. There have been some controversies regarding the dispensing of certain very expensive drugs to older people because of their shorter life expectancy due to their age. And as a result some people have argued that the money would be better spent on drugs for younger people. However, this would be denying a drug due to their age and would open the health service to considerable legal risk, and legal advice would be needed before discussions like this could happen. Also, sometimes when there are a lot of elderly people and only a few teenagers waiting to get on a bus and when the bus arrives at their stop the teenagers get onto the bus before the elderly people; the elderly people may decide to talk aggressively to the teenagers just because they are older and they feel that they are more important because they might have a disability. Social discrimination is the actual behaviour of those who treat others differently depending on their social situation, to pigeon-hole someone socially, such that someone on benefits is treated unfairly compared to that of someone who works for a living. Invariably it’s a dysfunctional psychology re-enforced by peer pressure to gear an individual’s thought processes to fail to take into account or assess another individuals sole circumstances before passing judgement. It is not really seen as a problem by the bearer of the discrimination unless the bearer directly experiences some similar discrimination. The social class of an individual is apparent from the area in which they live with their family; the higher the social class, the better the place is kept and maintained. This form of inequality has also infiltrated health and social care. In the foreword to a Department of Health education, the former Secretary of State for Health stated that the poor are more likely to get cancer than the rich, and their chances of survival are lower too; this letter carries on to say that health care is essentially a postcode lottery, which means that having access to health care is often determined by where an individual lives. However, in the Equality and Human Rights Commission it states â€Å"At the heart of human rights is the belief everybody should be treated equally and with dignity – no matter what their circumstances†. An individual cannot be discriminated against because of their gender; if they are however it refers to a bias towards one gender. In the vast majority of careers, this bias means that women do not obtain the same opportunities as men for everything from their initial health care education right through to the hiring process and workplace environment. Their career advancement is also smaller and slower in comparison with career advancement for men. On top of that, women and men may perform the same jobs, but women will receive fewer benefits and less pay than men. Under the Gender Equality Duty 2007, all organisations, including health and social care services, cannot discriminate unfairly due to a person’s gender. Equal rights of access, health care and rights must be adhered to. Sexuality is a very individual thing; although most people are ‘straight’, heterosexual, a significant percentage of the population are gay, bisexual, celibate or asexual. Unfair treatment on the basis of someone’s sexuality – or assumptions about their sexuality – is discrimination and has no place in the sport’s environment. Sexuality discrimination happens when someone is treated unfairly compared with others, because of their sexuality. It can also occur because someone makes assumptions about someone else’s sexuality. Under the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act), it can be unlawful to do this. Under federal legislation, it can also be unlawful. The Act says it is against the law to treat people unfairly because of their sexuality, whether they are gay, lesbian, heterosexual or bisexual. The law also protects a person who identifies, or has identified, as a member of the opposite sex by living or seeking to live as a member of that sex. The law also protects sex workers working lawfully. Health status discrimination often occurs when an individual is diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Sources of stigma include fear of illness, fear of contagion, and fear of death. Fear of illness and fear of contagion is a common reaction among health workers, co-workers, and caregivers, as well as the general population. Stigma is one means of coping with the fear that contact with a member of an affected group; by caring for or sharing utensils with a PLHA will result in contracting the disease. HIV-stigma is often layered on top of many other stigmas associated with such specific groups as homosexuals and commercial sex workers and such behaviours as drug abuse by using needles and casual sex. These behaviours are perceived as controllable and are therefore assigned more blame, receive less sympathy, but instead, more anger and are less likely to receive assistance as opposed to people with AIDS who were infected through circumstances where there was no control, such as receiving a blood transfusion. However, sometimes it can be difficult to make decisions regarding a person’s medical treatment; their expected quality of life after the treatment has been given and their overall life expectancy have to be seriously considered. And the people who are making these decisions for someone should always keep questioning their own assumptions and prejudices; and also do their best to balance the welfare of individual patients with broader funding considerations. Under section 2 of the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (â€Å"FSDO†), family status means the status of a person who has the responsibility for the care of an immediate family member. An immediate family member is a person who is related by blood, marriage, adoption or affinity. However, this can lead to a variety of discriminations against members of the family; they can be against gay or lesbian parents, single parents, parents of different genders, parents of different races with mixed-race children and other family groupings. It can either direct or indirect discrimination, direct discrimination means that a person is treated unfavorably because of their family status and indirect discrimination means when a condition or requirement, that is not justifiable, is applied to everyone but in practice adversely affects persons who have family status; an example of this would be a company insists that all its employees work overtime and a widower who has responsibility for care of his young children cannot comply with that condition. The company then dismisses him. The complainant feels aggrieved because as a single parent he cannot comply with that condition. If the company cannot justify why each and every employee must meet that condition, it could be a case of indirect discrimination on the ground of family status. Cognitive disability is defined by some as bellow average intellectual function that adversely affects educational and adaptive performance. There are a broad range of disabilities that fit into this criterion. Cognition is the mental process of understanding and acquiring knowledge through the senses, thought and perception. A person with a cognitive disability may have difficulty with some or all of the following cognitive areas: memory formation or retrieval; attention span; reading and comprehension; problem solving; and visual input. Discriminating against someone because of their cognitive ability might arise because of a brain injury, a learning disability or difficulty or a person’s social class or education. It can be easy to determinate against people with cognitive disabilities but care must be taken not to do so. Valuing People Now is a government strategy which aims to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and those of their families and carers.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Fiat cultural clash Essays

Fiat cultural clash Essays Fiat cultural clash Essay Fiat cultural clash Essay FIAT (Fabrica Italiana Automobili Torino), was established by the Italian government in 1899, and in 1907 was bought by Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat is an automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin, in the Piedmont region. The company flourished under Agnellis leadership, in large part due to his innovative ideas concerning the structure of production as well as his experience in mass marketing strategies, particularly in foreign sales. After the World War II, in March 1945, the local court of the national liberation committee Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale accused Agnelli of collaboration with the Nazis and removed him from the firm. He died seven months later. It was a family owned business until September 2010 when shareholders approved a plan to split Fiats industrial business from the group. Fiat operates in 61 countries with 1,063 companies that employ 223,000 people, 111,000 of whom are outside Italy. As of 2009, Fiat is the worlds 9th largest carmaker. In order to keep that place and even grow Fiat needs to become part of the fastest growing market in the World, China. The Italian carmaker wants not only to manufacture his cars in China, but also to sell them to the Chinese. Forming a joint-venture company seemed to be the quickest and most effective way of developing good quality relations in a country such as China. Fiat made an attempt to introduce in China with a joint-venture with a local firm: Nanjing. : Unfortunately, the joint-venture failed. The aim of this assignment is to analyze the cultural reasons and differences in Fiats joint ventures and to analyse what are the cultural reasons for the failure of this business. Corporate culture- Every human society has its own shape, its own purposes, its own meanings. (Williams, 1958). Culture is the whole way of life of a people. Culture seves as a lens through which we perceive the other. Corporate culture is something that managers have to establish and run all the way through a business, with clear values and beliefs, successful business principles and operations, and a suitable emphasis on human resources and customer satisfaction. Fiats corporate culture will be strongly influenced by the Italian culture. According to Huntington: A civilization is a cultural entity. European communities will share cultural features that distinguish them from Arab or Chinese communities. Arabs, Chinese and Westerns, however, are not part of any other broader cultural entity. They constitute civilizations. Therefore Fiats culture will be influenced not only by the Italian, but also by the European culture, too. Before embarking on any important business projects, Italians feel the need to really know the people; they are going to do business with on a personnel level. According to Fung (1998), Chinese customs, religion, and health practices are rich and complex and have stood the test of time over many millennia. China has one of the four oldest civilizations in the world and a written history of 4,000 years. The Chinese are very proud of their culture and history. They value their own culture and religion, but they are open and pragmatic toward the religion and cultures of others. Chinese people in general are peaceful, hard-working, and easily contented. They follow norms of social order. For example, they respect authority figures and elders, and they are patient with their peers. The Chinese value modesty, reserved behaviour, and humility. They believe in harmony and tend to avoid confrontation. They will, however, push and sacrifice for their children. The roles of members of a Chinese family are highly interdependent ( Ong, 1993). Traditionally, the family has been the most fundamental and important unit of society among the Chinese, and this is still true. The family is also an important economic unit. In todays China, it is still very common for three generations to live under one roof. C. Lam (1992) noted that Confucian philosophy advocates the virtue of sacrificing individual needs for the good of the group.

Monday, November 4, 2019

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None Agatha Christie was born on September 15th, 1890 in Torquay, England. Her name at birth was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, and her parents were Clarissa Boehmer of Belfast, Ireland and Frederick Miller, an American. Agatha was the youngest of three children, and grew up very alone because of the age gap of over ten years between her siblings. Her father passed away when she was only eleven years old, leaving her to grow up with her mother’s care. In 1906 Agatha traveled to Paris where she studied singing and piano (Www.sfu.ca). She didn’t discover her talent for writing until she was older. Years later on Christmas Eve (Www.sfu.ca) 1914, the Miller girl became Agatha Christie after marrying war Captain Archibald Christie. The two became parents in 1919 when they had their daughter, Rosalind. Before then, throughout 1914 to 1918, Agatha worked as a hospital and dispensary nurse during World War I. That was where she developed her vast knowledge involving poisons, drugs an d medicines (Www.sfu.ca). In 1920, Christie published her first book, â€Å"The Mysterious Affair at Styles†, in America. The book introduced her most famous character, Hercule Poirot, who would later appear in more than forty more books (Winks 12). After the book was published, Agatha wrote five more mysteries (Www.nd.edu) before publishing the novel that began her huge success; â€Å"The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd† (Winks 2). Seven months after the book was published, Agatha disappeared. Suspects claimed that she was murdered, and others believed her missing case was an act for publicity while the nation searched for her (Winks 3). Her whereabouts were discovered ten days after her disappearance when some people found out that she had registered in a local hotel under the name of the women with whom she had found out her husband was cheating with (Winks 3). In 1928, Agatha and Archibald divorced, which opened up a new door for Agatha’s characters when she develo ped the now famous Miss Marple. Two years later, after a couple more successful books had been published, she met Max Mallowan in Baghdad. Agatha and the archaeologist were soon married and Christie began to approach her highest point as an author. In 1930, Agatha Christie began writing and publishing romance novels under the pen name of Mary Westmacott. Robin Winks said, â€Å"These noncrime novels are not taken seriously today†. Christie was thought to put into play her feelings toward her ex-husband throughout the Westmacott novels (Winks 18). After years of fame, Agatha was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956. She also became President of the Detection Club in 1957 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Exeter University in 1961. Perhaps her most elite recognition was when she was named a Dame of the British Empire by the Queen of England in 1971. Her nickname was in fact the â€Å"Queen of Crime†. On January 12th, 1976, Agatha Christ ie passed away from old age. The author was only exceeded by Shakespeare and the Bible. Her 1940’s novel â€Å"Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple’s Last Case† was published after her death.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Monitor and improve customer service Assignment

Monitor and improve customer service - Assignment Example The firm is expecting at least twice the number of waiting calls in relation to the calls that are active (Tugnoli ). The indicator will focus on the number of calls that will lead to the resolving of a particular problem as put forward by the customers. The institution will need at least ten calls from the consumers in order to look into a particular problem (Parmenter). The number will eliminate any doubts in the existence of the problem. The perspective will focus on registering the opinions by customers about the provision of the services by the agents of the business entity (Kerzner). The feedbacks will ensure the apprehension of consumer needs and the upgrade as per the consumer satisfaction. The aspect will register the time that elapses when an agent attends to the client. The information will evaluate the efficiency of the workforce. The time measure will also register the ability of the institution in handling complaints. Every employee objective has a link with at least one KPI. The fact will make sure that the evaluation of the performance is simple and efficient. To be more specific, the institution will employ the unit team key performance indicator. The indicator will illustrate the ratio of the difference between the complaints that an agent handles that result to customer satisfaction against the number of the customers that are not satisfied. The KPI illustrates the performance of the human resource. The following questionnaire will focus on acquiring customer feedback as well as registering the performance from the consumers’ perspective. Any information henceforth will be confidential and shall not be available to the public. The title of the essay illustrates the possible upgrades that the customers suggest about the prevailing customer service exercises. The propositions here in also concentrate on the possible weaknesses of the program. Consequently, goes a