Economic Development for Developing Countries Essay

International Undergraduate Program Faculty of Economics University of Indonesia Depok 2013 Larger Rural Populations but Rapid Rural-to-Urban Migration One of the hallmarks of economic development is a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services. Although modernizing in many regions, rural areas are poorer and tend to suffer from missing markets, limited information, and social stratification. However, a massive population shift is also under way as hundreds of millions of people are moving from rural to urban areas, fueling rapid urbanization, with its own attendant problems. Lower Levels of Industrialization and Manufactured Exports Industrialization is associated with High Productivity and Incomes. It is also a hallmark of modernization and national economic power. Moreover, it is a national priority for many developing countries, including Indonesia. In developed countries, Agriculture only contributes small share to the overall employment and the same goes to Industry, which the share of employment is smaller than the developing countries, since they tend to expand their Service sector. An often suggested but controversial â€Å"Pattern of Development† is that the share of employment in industry is decreasing as the service increases as when developed-country status achieved) Furthermore, developing nations have tended to have a higher dependence on primary exports even though the goods are typically less advanced in skill and technology content. Adverse Geography Geography plays a role in problems of agriculture, public health, and  comparative underdevelopment. In tropical/sub-tropical countries for example, most of them are developing countries. They suffer from pests, diseases such as Malaria, and many others. Another case is in Africa, which most countries are landlocked countries. They tend to have lower incomes than other countries that are Coastal. Not only geographical location, the rising issue of Global Warming might also bring impact especially in African and South East countries. However, geography is not destiny, but the presence of common and often adverse geographic features in comparison to temperate zone countries means it is beneficial to study tropical and subtropical developing countries together for some purposes. Underdeveloped Markets Imperfect market and imperfect information which can be found mainly in developing countries creates the market less efficient. There are aspects that determine Market Underdevelopment. They lack of: 1. a legal system that enforces contracts and validates property rights 2. a stable and trustworthy currency 3. an infrastructure of roads and utilities that results in low transport and communication costs so as to facilitate interregional trade 4. a well-developed and efficiently regulated system of banking and insurance 5. substantial market information for consumers and producers about prices, quantities, and qualities of products and resources as well as the creditworthiness of potential borrowers 6. social norms that facilitate successful long-term business relationships Lingering Colonial Impacts and Unequal International Relations Colonial Legacy Most developing countries were once colonies of Europe or otherwise dominated by European or other foreign powers, and institutions created during the colonial period often had pernicious effects on development that in many cases have persisted to the present day. Both domestically and internationally, developing countries have more often lacked institutions and formal organizations of the type that have benefited the developed world: Domestically, on average, property rights have been less secure, constraints on elites have been weak, and a smaller segment of society has  been able to gain access to and take advantage of economic opportunities. Problems with governance and public administration, as well as poorly performing markets, often stem from poor institutions. Moreover, several decades after independence, the effects of the colonial era linger for many developing nations, particularly the least developed ones. Due to colonialism, there is a high inequality between the people living in ex-colonies countries resulting less movement toward democratic institutions, less investment in public goods, and less widespread investment in human capital (education, skills, and health). The European colonial powers also had a dramatic and long-lasting impact on the economies and political and institutional structures of their African and Asian colonies by their introduction of three powerful and tradition shattering ideas: private property, personal taxation, and the requirement that taxes be paid in money rather than in kind. These innovations were introduced in ways that facilitated elite rule rather than broad-based opportunity. External Dependence Related with the Colonial Legacy, developing countries are less well organized and influential in international relations. They also have weaker bargaining position in international economic relations. Moreover, developing countries are dependent on the developed world for environmental preservation (on which hopes for sustainable development depend). This is called Environmental Dependence. This becomes interesting since Global Warming is more likely to harm the Developing Countries compared to the developed ones. How Low-Income Countries Today Differ from Developed Countries in Their Earlier Stages There are eight significant differences in initial conditions that require a special analysis of the growth prospects and requirements of modern economic development: 1. Physical and human resource endowments 2. Per capita incomes and levels of GDP in relation to the rest of the world 3. Climate 4. Population size, distribution, and growth 5. Historical role of international migration 6. International trade benefits 7. Basic scientific and technological research and development capabilities 8. Efficacy of domestic institutions Physical and Human Resource Endowments Some developing nations are blessed with abundant natural resources, while in Africa the resources are plentiful but yet to be discovered. Huge capital needed to be invested in order or these resources to be explored and exploited. The ability of a country to exploit its natural resources and to initiate and sustain long-term economic growth is dependent on, among other things, the ingenuity and the managerial and technical skills of its people and its access to critical market and product information at minimal cost. The problem with low-income and developing countries nowadays is that their people are less educated, less informed, less experienced, and less skilled compared to their counterparts were in the early days of economic growth in the West. Moreover, there is an ingenuity gap (the ability to apply innovative ideas to solve practical social and technical problems) between the rich and the poor. This did not exist in now developed countries on the eve of industrialization. Relative Levels of Per Capita Income and GDP People in low-income countries have lower level real per capita income than the developed ones in the 19th centuries. Meanwhile, today’s developed nations were economically in advance of the rest of the world. Therefore, they could take advantage of their relativity strong financial position to widen the income gaps between themselves and less fortunate countries in a long period of income divergence. By contrast, today’s developing countries began their growth process at the low end of the international per capita income scale. Climatic Differences The economically most successful countries are usually located in the temperate zone. Even though social inequality and institutional have greater importance, but dichotomy is more than coincidence. Extreme heat and humidity in most poor countries contribute in deteriorating soil quality and the rapid depreciation of many natural goods. Not only that, extreme heat and humidity also contribute to low productivity of certain crops, the weakened regenerative growth of forests, the poor health of animals,  Discomfort workers (weaken their health), and reduce their desire to engage in strenuous physical work which eventually will lower their productivity. In conclusion, tropical geography does pose problem on economic development.

Digital Fortress Chapter 7

Susan's mind was racing-Ensei Tankado wrote a program that creates unbreakable codes! She could barely grasp the thought. â€Å"Digital Fortress,† Strathmore said. â€Å"That's what he's calling it. It's the ultimate counterintelligence weapon. If this program hits the market, every third grader with a modem will be able to send codes the NSA can't break. Our intelligence will be shot.† But Susan's thoughts were far removed from the political implications of Digital Fortress. She was still struggling to comprehend its existence. She'd spent her life breaking codes, firmly denying the existence of the ultimate code. Every code is breakable-the Bergofsky Principle! She felt like an atheist coming face to face with God. â€Å"If this code gets out,† she whispered, â€Å"cryptography will become a dead science.† Strathmore nodded. â€Å"That's the least of our problems.† â€Å"Can we pay Tankado off? I know he hates us, but can't we offer him a few million dollars? Convince him not to distribute?† Strathmore laughed. â€Å"A few million? Do you know what this thing is worth? Every government in the world will bid top dollar. Can you imagine telling the President that we're still cable-snooping the Iraqis but we can't read the intercepts anymore? This isn't just about the NSA, it's about the entire intelligence community. This facility provides support for everyone-the FBI, CIA, DEA; they'd all be flying blind. The drug cartels' shipments would become untraceable, major corporations could transfer money with no paper trail and leave the IRS out in the cold, terrorists could chat in total secrecy-it would be chaos.† â€Å"The EFF will have field day,† Susan said, pale. â€Å"The EFF doesn't have the first clue about what we do here,† Strathmore railed in disgust. â€Å"If they knew how many terrorist attacks we've stopped because we can decrypt codes, they'd change their tune.† Susan agreed, but she also knew the realities; the EFF would never know how important TRANSLTR was. TRANSLTR had helped foil dozens of attacks, but the information was highly classified and would never be released. The rationale behind the secrecy was simple: The government could not afford the mass hysteria caused by revealing the truth; no one knew how the public would react to the news that there had been two nuclear close calls by fundamentalist groups on U.S. soil in the last year. Nuclear attack, however, was not the only threat. Only last month TRANSLTR had thwarted one of the most ingeniously conceived terrorist attacks the NSA had ever witnessed. An anti-government organization had devised a plan, code-named Sherwood Forest. It targeted the New York Stock Exchange with the intention of â€Å"redistributing the wealth.† Over the course of six days, members of the group placed twenty-seven nonexplosive flux pods in the buildings surrounding the Exchange. These devices, when detonated, create a powerful blast of magnetism. The simultaneous discharge of these carefully placed pods would create a magnetic field so powerful that all magnetic media in the Stock Exchange would be erased-computer hard drives, massive ROM storage banks, tape backups, and even floppy disks. All records of who owned what would disintegrate permanently. Because pinpoint timing was necessary for simultaneous detonation of the devices, the flux pods were interconnected over Internet telephone lines. During the two-day countdown, the pods' internal clocks exchanged endless streams of encrypted synchronization data. The NSA intercepted the data-pulses as a network anomaly but ignored them as a seemingly harmless exchange of gibberish. But after TRANSLTR decrypted the data streams, analysts immediately recognized the sequence as a network-synchronized countdown. The pods were located and removed a full three hours before they were scheduled to go off. Susan knew that without TRANSLTR the NSA was helpless against advanced electronic terrorism. She eyed the Run-Monitor. It still read over fifteen hours. Even if Tankado's file broke right now, the NSA was sunk. Crypto would be relegated to breaking less than two codes a day. Even at the present rate of 150 a day, there was still a backlog of files awaiting decryption. â€Å"Tankado called me last month,† Strathmore said, interrupting Susan's thoughts. Susan looked up. â€Å"Tankado called you?† He nodded. â€Å"To warn me.† â€Å"Warn you? He hates you.† â€Å"He called to tell me he was perfecting an algorithm that wrote unbreakable codes. I didn't believe him.† â€Å"But why would he tell you about it?† Susan demanded. â€Å"Did he want you to buy it?† â€Å"No. It was blackmail.† Things suddenly began falling into place for Susan. â€Å"Of course,† she said, amazed. â€Å"He wanted you to clear his name.† â€Å"No,† Strathmore frowned. â€Å"Tankado wanted TRANSLTR.† â€Å"TRANSLTR?† â€Å"Yes. He ordered me to go public and tell the world we have TRANSLTR. He said if we admitted we can read public E-mail, he would destroy Digital Fortress.† Susan looked doubtful. Strathmore shrugged. â€Å"Either way, it's too late now. He's posted a complimentary copy of Digital Fortress at his Internet site. Everyone in the world can download it.† Susan went white. â€Å"He what!† â€Å"It's a publicity stunt. Nothing to worry about. The copy he posted is encrypted. People can download it, but nobody can open it. It's ingenious, really. The source code for Digital Fortress has been encrypted, locked shut.† Susan looked amazed. â€Å"Of course! So everybody can have a copy, but nobody can open it.† â€Å"Exactly. Tankado's dangling a carrot.† â€Å"Have you seen the algorithm?† The commander looked puzzled. â€Å"No, I told you it's encrypted.† Susan looked equally puzzled. â€Å"But we've got TRANSLTR; why not just decrypt it?† But when Susan saw Strathmore's face, she realized the rules had changed. â€Å"Oh my God.† She gasped, suddenly understanding. â€Å"Digital Fortress is encrypted with itself?† Strathmore nodded. â€Å"Bingo.† Susan was amazed. The formula for Digital Fortress had been encrypted using Digital Fortress. Tankado had posted a priceless mathematical recipe, but the text of the recipe had been scrambled. And it had used itself to do the scrambling. â€Å"It's Biggleman's Safe,† Susan stammered in awe. Strathmore nodded. Biggleman's Safe was a hypothetical cryptography scenario in which a safe builder wrote blueprints for an unbreakable safe. He wanted to keep the blueprints a secret, so he built the safe and locked the blueprints inside. Tankado had done the same thing with Digital Fortress. He'd protected his blueprints by encrypting them with the formula outlined in his blueprints. â€Å"And the file in TRANSLTR?† Susan asked. â€Å"I downloaded it from Tankado's Internet site like everyone else. The NSA is now the proud owner of the Digital Fortress algorithm; we just can't open it.† Susan marveled at Ensei Tankado's ingenuity. Without revealing his algorithm, he had proven to the NSA that it was unbreakable. Strathmore handed her a newspaper clipping. It was a translated blurb from the Nikkei Shimbun, the Japanese equivalent of the Wall Street Journal, stating that the Japanese programmer Ensei Tankado had completed a mathematical formula he claimed could write unbreakable codes. The formula was called Digital Fortress and was available for review on the Internet. The programmer would be auctioning it off to the highest bidder. The column went on to say that although there was enormous interest in Japan, the few U.S. software companies who had heard about Digital Fortress deemed the claim preposterous, akin to turning lead to gold. The formula, they said, was a hoax and not to be taken seriously. Susan looked up. â€Å"An auction?† Strathmore nodded. â€Å"Right now every software company in Japan has downloaded an encrypted copy of Digital Fortress and is trying to crack it open. Every second they can't, the bidding price climbs.† â€Å"That's absurd,† Susan shot back. â€Å"All the new encrypted files are uncrackable unless you have TRANSLTR. Digital Fortress could be nothing more than a generic, public-domain algorithm, and none of these companies could break it.† â€Å"But it's a brilliant marketing ploy,† Strathmore said. â€Å"Think about it-all brands of bulletproof glass stop bullets, but if a company dares you to put a bullet through theirs, suddenly everybody's trying.† â€Å"And the Japanese actually believe Digital Fortress is different? Better than everything else on the market?† â€Å"Tankado may have been shunned, but everybody knows he's a genius. He's practically a cult icon among hackers. If Tankado says the algorithm's unbreakable, it's unbreakable.† But they're all unbreakable as far as the public knows!† â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Strathmore mused. â€Å"For the moment.† â€Å"What's that supposed to mean?† Strathmore sighed. â€Å"Twenty years ago no one imagined we'd be breaking twelve-bit stream ciphers. But technology progressed. It always does. Software manufacturers assume at some point computers like TRANSLTR will exist. Technology is progressing exponentially, and eventually current public-key algorithms will lose their security. Better algorithms will be needed to stay ahead of tomorrow's computers.† â€Å"And Digital Fortress is it?† â€Å"Exactly. An algorithm that resists brute force will never become obsolete, no matter how powerful code-breaking computers get. It could become a world standard overnight.† Susan pulled in a long breath. â€Å"God help us,† she whispered. â€Å"Can we make a bid?† Strathmore shook his head. â€Å"Tankado gave us our chance. He made that clear. It's too risky anyway; if we get caught, we're basically admitting that we're afraid of his algorithm. We'd be making a public confession not only that we have TRANSLTR but that Digital Fortress is immune.† â€Å"What's the time frame?† Strathmore frowned. â€Å"Tankado planned to announce the highest bidder tomorrow at noon.† Susan felt her stomach tighten. â€Å"Then what?† â€Å"The arrangement was that he would give the winner the pass-key.† â€Å"The pass-key?† â€Å"Part of the ploy. Everybody's already got the algorithm, so Tankado's auctioning off the pass-key that unlocks it.† Susan groaned. â€Å"Of course.† It was perfect. Clean and simple. Tankado had encrypted Digital Fortress, and he alone held the pass-key that unlocked it. She found it hard to fathom that somewhere out there-probably scrawled on a piece of paper in Tankado's pocket-there was a sixty-four-character pass-key that could end U.S. intelligence gathering forever. Susan suddenly felt ill as she imagined the scenario. Tankado would give his pass-key to the highest bidder, and that company would unlock the Digital Fortress file. Then it probably would embed the algorithm in a tamper-proof chip, and within five years every computer would come preloaded with a Digital Fortress chip. No commercial manufacturer had ever dreamed of creating an encryption chip because normal encryption algorithms eventually become obsolete. But Digital Fortress would never become obsolete; with a rotating cleartext function, no brute-force attack would ever find the right key. A new digital encryption standard. From now until forever. Every code unbreakable. Bankers, brokers, terrorists, spies. One world-one algorithm. Anarchy. â€Å"What are the options?† Susan probed. She was well aware that desperate times called for desperate measures, even at the NSA. â€Å"We can't remove him, if that's what you're asking.† It was exactly what Susan was asking. In her years with the NSA, Susan had heard rumors of its loose affiliations with the most skilled assassins in the world-hired hands brought in to do the intelligence community's dirty work. Strathmore shook his head. â€Å"Tankado's too smart to leave us an option like that.† Susan felt oddly relieved. â€Å"He's protected?† â€Å"Not exactly.† â€Å"In hiding?† Strathmore shrugged. â€Å"Tankado left Japan. He planned to check his bids by phone. But we know where he is.† â€Å"And you don't plan to make a move?† â€Å"No. He's got insurance. Tankado gave a copy of his pass-key to an anonymous third party†¦ in case anything happened.† Of course, Susan marveled. A guardian angel. â€Å"And I suppose if anything happens to Tankado, the mystery man sells the key?† â€Å"Worse. Anyone hits Tankado, and his partner publishes.† Susan looked confused. â€Å"His partner publishes the key?† Strathmore nodded. â€Å"Posts it on the Internet, puts it in newspapers, on billboards. In effect, he gives it away.† Susan's eyes widened. â€Å"Free downloads?† â€Å"Exactly. Tankado figured if he was dead, he wouldn't need the money-why not give the world a little farewell gift?† There was a long silence. Susan breathed deeply as if to absorb the terrifying truth. Ensei Tankado has created an unbreakable algorithm. He's holding us hostage. She suddenly stood. Her voice was determined. â€Å"We must contact Tankado! There must be a way to convince him not to release! We can offer him triple the highest bid! We can clear his name! Anything!† â€Å"Too late,† Strathmore said. He took a deep breath. â€Å"Ensei Tankado was found dead this morning in Seville, Spain.†

Globalizare

I live in a country with a relatively young democracy. I experienced times when freedom of speech was prohibited and the access to information was strictly forbidden. And now I live in great times when bounds can be formed without the limits placed on humanity by the authorities, religion or race. The freedom that Internet gives us is wonderful, we can change Ideas, share information, enjoy art.Now, the access to information means power and I would like to give an example of n event that took place in Romania and which the International press named It â€Å"Romania autumn†. Thousands of people all over the country, with no leaders and organized mainly on social networks, protested against the open cast milling project that would use cyanide and destroy four mountains In the area, project that Is proposed by a foreign company In partnership with our country government.For this course project, I used an Image that represent one of the most valuable resource the earth has  œ gold, an Image that represents a great work of art – â€Å"the table of silence† made by the great Romania sculptor constantly Branches and an Image that represents a masterpiece of late Stone Age art, The Thinker, believed to be the oldest known prehistoric sculpture that reflects human introspection. We, the viewers, must reflect about the true values in our lives.We must think about the proverbial â€Å"Golden handcuffs† and about the possibility that there may be a truth behind this concept that can be easily translated in to a money language. The viewers must realize the huge responsibility that we humans have in order to preserve the natural resources for future generations, to live in harmony with all the species that inhabits the earth and, most important, to find a common language with nature because, like it or not, globalization affects the entire planet, sadly, not always in good ways. Internet gives us is wonderful, we can change ideas, share info rmation, enjoy art. N event that took place in Romania and which the international press named it organized mainly on social networks, protested against the open cast mining project that would use cyanide and destroy four mountains in the area, project that is proposed by a foreign company in partnership with our country government. For this course project, I used an image that represent one of the most valuable resource the earth has – gold, an image that represents a great work of art – â€Å"the table of silence† made by the great Romania sculptor Constantine Branches and an image that

Neurexins Induce Differentiation of GABA and Glutamate Postsynvariants Article - 1

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The new 4Ps for Dasani water Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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How similar are the experiences of minority ethnic groups in the UK Essay

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Research paper - Essay Example It is strongly believed that by taking into consideration various arguments along with counterarguments based on the aforesaid sentiments, the role of obligations in the context of fighting against evil and the potentiality of the intellectuals towards governing a specific society can be ascertained. Philip Zimbardo, the lecturer in the audio file i.e. â€Å"Journey from the Psychology of Evil to the Psychology of Heroism† provided knowledge about psychological effect on the mind and behaviour of people. The lecturer signified that there are different factors that are accountable for transforming human behaviour and character. Moreover, the transformation in the character is observed due to social influence, situational act, personal attributes or morality, compassion or sense of justice. The factors are identified to adversely affect the psychological stability of human mind based on which good people are engaged in performing evil actions affecting a society as a whole. The lecturer also added that evil behaviour is exercising power to damage, harm or obliterate psychological or physical well-being of others (Korstanje, 2013; Zimbardo, 2007). Correspondingly, the essay intends to analyse sentiment to fight evil. The discussion will identify the suitability of intellectuals about their fitness in governing a society. Additionally, argument and counterargument provided with the aim of determining the appropriateness of the arguments relating to good or evil actions performed. In general, most of the people recognizes that evil is a quality, which is inherent or developed by some of the people and not by all human beings. Evil behaviour is developed by an external force and bad seeds, which enforce an individual to perform evil actions. In contrast, spiritual power grounds evil either directly in the appearance of possession or indirectly as a spiritual oppression.

Executive summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Executive summary - Essay Example Wal-Mart is sociologist’s organization, this is because it employs three main theoretical perspectives which offer them sociologists paradigms of the way the organization influences people and how people influence organization. Each perspective exceptionally conceptualizes organization, human behavior and social forces. This includes the symbolic interactions perspective, the conflict perspective and functionalist perspective. The symbolic interactionist perspective also referred to has symbolic interactionism, directs Wal-Mart to consider the details of every days’ life and symbols, their meaning, and how people interacts with one another (Schein, 2004). The functionalist perspective also known as functions, each organizational aspect is interdependent and contributes to organization’s functioning as a whole. Functionalists believes that organization held together by cohesion, social consensus in which all members of the organization agree upon, and together work to achieve, the best for organization as a whole. Finally, the conflict perspective which prevents organization in a varied light than the symbolic interactions and fuctionist (Schein, 1990). Schein’s defines culture to be consisting of a range of levels from overt outside cultural manifestation to the deep underlying assumptions driving organization action. Wal-Mart in reference to Schein’s cultural model, artifacts are the visible processes and structures, espoused values and beliefs to the Wal-Mart goals, strategies and philosophies not forgetting underlying assumptions to the unconscious beliefs, thoughts, perceptions and individual feeling in the organization. This model helps in demonstrating the significance of culture to the organization since it unites or isolate people (Schein, 2004). Leadership styles are ways, approaches and the manner of implementing plans, providing direction and motivating individuals. The major leadership styles include authoritarian or autocratic,

US History Regional Differences of North and South Essay Example for Free

US History Regional Differences of North and South Essay It seems crucial, in this day and age, that we fully understand the conflicts that occurred within our very own country back in the early developmental phases of the United States. If you have done some traveling within our country you can see the differences with your own eyes but you have to wonder how it all came to be. The conflict of the Northern and Southern regions has had a direct influence on the development of our society in the U. S. nd continues to do so. The South had a very difficult struggle with its social structure and resulted in a shortage of help and in turn resulted in the buying and trading of slaves who were forced to work on their large plantations. The result of the lack of agriculture in the Northern region gave the Southern some advantages and caused an increased need for trade. They sustained trade with Africa and Indians which is known as â€Å"The Triangular Trade†. The South had more of a one-crop-economy which caused a lack of stability in their area since this was directly affected by supply, demand and climate. The Northern region was mainly prosperous, educated, and overall healthy in most cases. This was mainly due to the government that was put in place and the main focus of production and material items. The South did not have the same opportunities as the schooling was limited due to the spread out locations of the people and lack of funding for more schools. Education is the back bone of success in the US. It is quite evident that having two completely opposite ways of life and thinking can lead to a direct influence to how each region viewed the political side of life. The Northern region had the anti-slavery expansion activists known as the Republican party. This group opposed the Southern states which had a dominant group as well known as the Democrats. Both of these parties exist today and are still very opposite in their concepts and methods. I have witnessed the contrast between states myself. An example would be seeing the difference in my job when I transferred from Wyoming to Georgia. I got to see the opposition first hand. The climate, agriculture, religious views, poverty levels, education requirements and wages were almost the complete opposite. I honestly didn’t feel like I was even in the same country. It is amazing to see how our country has so many different viewpoints and lifestyles and how they all stemmed from the early history of our country.

A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin Essay In the short story A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin, we see a great example of realism in the daily life of an average woman after the civil war. Mrs. Sommers lived her early life with a decent amount of luxury, but after getting married and having several kids, she has become quite cautious with her money. She is known to make her careful calculations and bargain her way to a better price. This can be considered foreshadowing for the experience to come, as Mrs. Sommers loses herself to the greed and desire to have a life filled with opulence and pleasure once again. Due to her financial standing, Mrs. Sommers is very frugal and definitely knows the value of bargaining. She is also known for her unselfishness towards her children Theyre on the top of her priority list, and wants to give them the very best. Just like any normal mother during that time period. When fate decides to set the 15 dollars in front of the caring mom, she immediately decides to spend it on her beloved children. She lays awake during the night and comes up with a specific plan for what she would use the money for; with everyone gaining from it. What a clever plan! This far into the story, its very realistic and plausible for a mother to be this caring and loving towards her family, especially during this time period. The next day however, she makes a couple mistakes even before she starts shopping. First, she is â€Å"faint and tired†. Two things result from this. Firstly, she sits down on a stool, resulting in her hand brushing against the silk stockings. Secondly, because of her fatigue, she is more likely to not have the energy to think properly or have the gumption to bargain like she usually does. Her second mistake was to go shopping on an empty stomach. This will come back to haunt her later, and aid in her frivolous spending. As Mrs. Sommers sits down on the stool and brushes against the silk stockings, she gives in to their â€Å"siren call†, and breaks down and purchases them. But it gets worse, she then goes to the shoe department and tried to find some matching shoes for her newly found stockings. She buys a very stylish pair of boots, but they too cost a little more than your standard foot covering. She then continues to buy a pair of gloves and a couple magazines; completing her breakdown of personal responsibility and self control in the clothing department. She then continues on to a cute little restaurant, and continues to splurge there, because of course, she hadnt eaten before leaving home. She then gets in a cable car, and heads for home, wishing that it would continue on forever, never taking a stop. This whole encounter is a realistic view on how those who are not used to having riches, or those who used to have riches, and wish to return to their old life, are apt to become irresponsible with the money to which they have been blessed. It can certainly be easy to lose oneself to the worldly pleasures, especially if they arent thinking clearly due to fatigue or hunger. Especially during this time period, the people lived very frugally, since they didnt have a high income, and this could be very grinding on those who are used to living in high opulence. Its so important to remember that with great wealth comes great responsibility. And this is very apparent in A Pair of Silk Stockings.

Matters Of National Interests And Security Politics Essay

Matters Of National Interests And Security Politics Essay In a very generic sense, national interests are that which is deemed by a particular state to be a . . . desirable goal. The attainment of this goal is something that the identifying state believes will have a positive impact on itself. Realization of the interest could enhance the political, economic, security, environmental, and/or moral well-being of a populace and the state or national enterprise to which they belong.  [2]  This holds true within the territory of the state, as well as in any external relations that the state may undertake outside of the administrative control of that state.  [3]   Interests serve as the foundation and guiding direction for the formulation of policy. For a nation-state, there is more often than not a direct correlation between the nations interests and foreign policy. In most cases, statesmen think and act in terms of interest.  [4]  Those interests believed to be the most significant for the attainment of a policy objective (the states wants and needs)  [5]  will earn the greatest amount of emphasis during the policy formulation process. They should be designed to tell the policymaker why and how much he should care about an issue. Interests help determine what kind and how much attention should be given to both challenges or threats and opportunities. They also assist the policymaker in identifying key issues during the policy formulation process. Some political scientists, like Hans Morgenthau, believe that national interests are permanent features of the international system. Regardless of what government is in power, the interests of a nation-state remain fixed components of the policymaking process. They are unaffected by the circumstances of time and place.  [6]   Morgenthau, himself, indicates that the key concept of interest is not to be defined with a meaning that is fixed once and for all.  [7]  Morgenthau believed the generic concept of interest was unchanging in terms of its importance to the international system. But this did not mean that individual interests could not be adjusted or newly created in order to take into account changes in the international system. Other theorists have argued that interests are likely to be a diverse, pluralistic set of subjective preferences that change periodically, both in response to the domestic political process itself and in response to shifts in the international environment. The national interest therefore is more likely to be what the policymakers say it is at any particular time.  [8]  The underlying three basic interests are:- Security: Protection of the people (both home and abroad), territory, and institutions of the State against potential foreign dangers.  [9]  This has always included defense of the homeland. Domestically, it also includes protection of critical infrastructure such as energy, banking and finance, telecommunications, transportation, water systems, and cyber networks.  [10]   Economic Well-Being: Promotion of international trade and investment, including protection of a States private economic interests in foreign countries.  [11]   Democratic Values: Until the 20th century, this core interest was confined to ensuring that the domestic democratic process and associated values framed the traditional tenets of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Some states may include the promotion of democracy and human rights abroad.  [12]   Just as the development of national interests is complex, so is the actual application of interests in the policy and strategy formulation process. The importance of national interests to the process is significant, as described by Lord Palmerston, the British foreign minister in 1856: When people ask me . . . for what is called a policy, the only answer is that we mean to do what may seem to be best, upon each occasion as it arises, making the interests of our country ones guiding principle.  [13]   The policy framer participating in the development of interests must take the following issues into account: How flexible can the interest of the moment be in relation to the states core interests of the period? Must the interest be based on either realism or morality, or rather; can it be some combination of the two? Where does the interest fit in terms of how it is to be categorized with what degree of intensity? Perhaps the most complicating factor that the policy framer must take into account will be the influence of domestic politics on the interest formulation process. The concept that resource allocation by type and quantity will be impacted by the identification of the interest designed to guide a policy creates a critical linkage between the two. The connection is key because, in a democracy, it is the government of a state actor that will have to sustain the investment of resources required to attain the interest. Interests with greater fidelity and less ambiguity are easier for governments and populations to support because they have a clearer idea of why it is they are being asked to do something, like allocate money or military forces.  [14]  At the same time, such a detailed understanding could lead to a lack of support on the part of either the government, the people, or parts thereof, if the interest is assessed to be too low on the scale of intensity. If they are to develop relevant and executable 21st century interests, a most important understanding for those participating in the interest development process must be that they are endowed with a degree of flexibility allowing them to discern the limits of domestic politics in terms of what types of interests are likely to be supportable. This must entail the provision of the maximum amount of data available for the development and resulting identification of the interests at hand. The greater the fidelity and degree of consensus on categorisation and level of intensity, the greater the possibility that the public will support actions to protect or advance the interest. DEFINITIONS At this juncture it would be worthwhile to look at some definitions, to get a complete perspective in to national interests,power and security. National interests The national interest, often referred to by the French term raison dÉtat, is a countrys goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. The notion is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist school. It has 5 major dimensions namely; Geo Political, Economic, Military, Socio-cultural, and Science Technology. National Interests therefore stem from the evolving National goals in each of these dimensions and is also a reflection of the relative National Strengths with regard to these dimensions. POWER In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. States with this ability are called powers, NATIONAL STRATEGY The art and science of developing, applying, and coordinating the instruments of national power (diplomatic, economic, military, and informational) to achieve objectives that contribute to national security. Also called national strategy or grand strategy. NATIONAL SECURITY 1. National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy. 2. National security can be defined as a collective term encompassing both national defence and foreign relations.  [15]  In general, it is the study of the security problems faced by [actors], of the policies and programs by which these problems are addressed, and also of the government processes through which the policies and programs are decided upon and carried out.  [16]  It relates both externally and internally to the actor-the foreign and domestic components of national security. 3. In the context of USA it is a collective term encompassing both national defense and foreign relations of the United States. Specifically, the condition provided by: (a) a military or defense advantage over any foreign nation or group of nations; (b) a favorable foreign relations position; or (c) a defense posture capable of successfully resisting hostile or destructive action from within or without, overt or covert. 4. National security is thus a multi-dimensional view and response towards protecting National Interests against internal and external threats. It is dynamic and evolving as a derivative of National Interests which in itself is an evolving derivative of National Strength. It Underpins and guarantees the pursuit of National Objectives in a competing international arena. Further any issue that has the potential to directly impact the pursuit of National Goals can be classified as an area of National Interest, and it can thus be brought under the ambit of national security. ECONOMIC POWER Modern conflict, from conventional warfare to diplomatic disputes, has increasingly involved economics in some form. Nations use economic tools to pursue objectives, seek economic resources as national goals, or are affected by economic events that influence their national security. Both state and non-state actors use economic power to wage war and to influence events regionally or globally. Economic considerations range from simple access to resources like water or raw materials through transforming resources into finished products or services to providing financial resources. The ability to gather, transform, and use resources is a key component to national security. Many human activities, including those involving national security, can be either severely limited or dramatically enhanced by economic factors. Military operations and other national security actions frequently depend on the results of economic capability. Without the capacity to produce, finance, or support key natio nal security activities, a nation would have a limited ability to protect its domestic and international interests. Economic power has spread widely and gained importance in recent years. Globalisation, the reliance on economics, and the diffusion of economic power from a few industrial states to many developing ones has radically changed the world. Global economic success has also conferred power on a large group of sovereign governments and even corporations. The threat or actual action by a government, organization, or cartel can create enormous economic impact. Markets are extremely sensitive to news that would affect potential financial or economic activity. Oil prices can rise rapidly if tensions increase in the Persian Gulf or if a natural disaster occurs. Single events with little obvious international significance could ignite a sell off by investors in overseas and domestic stock markets. Global communications can spread panic and exacerbate the condition. The changing environment has altered the emphasis on national elements of power so that military power is not necessarily the primary coercive tool in international relations, and economic power has gained increased importance  [17]  . During the age of total war that spanned World Wars I and II, military power was the coin of the realm in foreign affairs. Economic power played a role in those wars, but the fight for national survival overrode the impact of domestic and international macroeconomic stability or growth. Economics served primarily as a provider of resources to the military element of power. In an era of increased consumer demand, technological growth, changes in society, and the evolving nature of conflict, the importance of economic considerations rose. During the Cold War, national survival was still at stake, but even then economic considerations became just as important as nuclear parity with the Soviet Union. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of military ex penditures impeding future economic growth the net result of which would degrade security for the nation. Nuclear sufficiency became acceptable rather than superiority with the associated costly numbers of intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers, and submarines. Guns versus butter questions also arose as the challenges of an undeclared Cold War against Moscow pitted social spending against defence resources. Today, economic issues play a pivotal role in conflict. Advanced technology, contractors on the battlefield, volunteer militaries (that tend to be more expensive than conscript armies), reconstruction of battle ravaged nations, and other considerations make war and conflict expensive. Countries do not have inexhaustible resources to conduct long wars even if there is a direct and desperate threat to national survival. Questions of national treasury, consumer demand, labour constraints, finance, and other economic considerations can sway public sentiment against a conflict. If one nation wages war or takes other actions to isolate another state, investors around the world become nervous. Stock and commodity markets could affect financial conditions and create unforeseen reactions. These reactions may create adverse conditions that could force a change in strategy by the nation trying to influence a rivals behavior  [18]  . As economic issues affect national security capabilities and activities, so might efforts that involve national security create global economic impacts. War or political disruption in an oil producing region will initiate tremors in the international energy sector. Although a nation might not be directly affected by the initial problem, the populace can suffer from increased prices from petroleum products that could result in greater unemployment, inflation, credit issues, and foreign exchange problems. Demands for added military expenditures could translate to increased taxes that discourage consumer spending and business investment or reductions in other governmental activities that can directly shape the economic landscape. Competition for limited resources to meet national security policy objectives could also hamper private or other governmental activities. Nations can increase borrowing, raise taxes, spend surpluses, confiscate resources, or monetize debt. All of these options have unique economic effects on a nation. Economics is an element of national power. Normally, one of a nations key national interests is maintaining a viable economy to ensure a certain standard of living for its citizenry. States can use economic power to deter, compel, coerce, fight, and even rebuild a former opponent to meet a particular need. Economics becomes a vital component of the ends, ways, and means of security. Perhaps uniquely among the traditional elements of national power, economics might be any of the three aspects of strategy-the objective of a nations strategy might be economic; economics might provide the means to achieve the end; or a nation might pursue its ends using economics as the primary way to exert power. Whether economics is a way or a means to achieve a national interest or if it is a cause or motivation to take an action, national leaders must pay attention to this increasingly significant security factor. ECONOMICS AND NATIONAL INTEREST States and non-state actors have historically fought over economic issues. Wars about open access to resources, trade routes, competition, profit, and other economic issues are common in military and diplomatic history. A keen competition for resources among governments, individuals, corporations, and other actors has created a complex web of economic dependencies and rivalries that was not as important in the past. Similarly, economic conditions can create an environment that fosters demands for change that could create a civil war, a fight for access to markets or resources, or other forms of economic competition. Countries with weak or failing economies may resort to actions that they might not have considered had their economies been stronger. One specific area which deserves a brief discussion is oil as a cause or objective of war. Reliable access to oil at reasonable rates is a vital national security interest for every developed and many of the more developing nations. Governments or international organizations that control oil production or pricing can effectively disrupt global economic conditions-whether purposefully or accidentally. A monopoly or oligopoly that controls a strategic asset, capability, or raw material has great potential to disrupt economies and create political instability, although few commodities have the same potential impact as oil. Major perceived or actual disruptions in the oil market are serious events that easily can trigger hostile responses from concerned governments. Today, oil is the best example of a resource that is both scarce and vital; however, other resources like water are also likely sources of conflict. We can expect economic issues-particularly access to raw materials and resou rces-to remain one of the significant objectives of international relations and causes of conflict. Economic intervention in or withdrawal from the economy of a foreign nation-as opposed to supporting its debt-can have tremendous impact on the financial well being of a region or country. Governments do not usually participate directly in the economy of another nation. However, direct participation in the economy of another nation through private companies is widespread. Depending on the business and political climate of firms home state, such participation may provide some degree of power for that home state  [19]  . Regardless of the degree of external governmental control, decisions by private firms and multinational corporations to invest or do business in a country can influence national policies. Such decisions are independent and can be contrary to a host nations interests. In an age of globalized financial markets, almost any corporation, organization, or individual can transfer capital into a country or take it out. This transfer generally can occur by using national or international stock, bond, commodity markets, or through direct investment into business ventures. Rapid inflow of capital can provide a needed boast to growth while rapid outflow can sink a nation into recession. Governments can use their economic power through other means. For example, rather than lending money by bond purchases, they can provide direct support to another nation through a variety of programs that essentially provide money or services. Foreign aid, loan guarantees, technical aid and services, and other assistance can provide a number of flexible tools to support national interests. The transfer of wealth from developed to developing countries that sell raw materials or manufacture low-cost products can create economic problems. Governments worried about the outflow of capital, goods, services, industries, and jobs might erect barriers to restrict or stop trade. Such actions rarely go unchallenged, and a counter tariff barrier or legal challenge is a likely response. Conversely, governments willing to accept what are hopefully temporary trade imbalances for potential future benefits may allow the transfer of wealth and even industries and jobs to continue. Such is the political and economic theory behind the whole free trade movement-the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) being a visible example. Transfer of key technologies, processes, equipment, or skills can also enable foreign governments and private firms-granting in some cases access to capabilities that would have taken years and many resources to acquire independently. Economic power normally involves the trade of finished goods or raw materials. Few countries can claim to produce all of the goods and services that their citizens use. Many nations require energy imports to subsist. Conversely, nations that may have oil, natural gas, or other energy sources might need food imports or other foreign services like skilled labour. Nations can work within international trade agreements, or they may take unilateral action to expand or restrict trade. A country might try to limit trade to hurt a rival. Economic power could also prevent or limit actions taken by a rival. Suppose a country requires a scarce raw material. If an adversary has sufficient funds, influence, or credit, it could purchase and withhold that raw material from its foe. The nation could also coerce sellers to prevent sale of that raw material to the opponent. States could put pressure indirectly on an opponents allies to force a nation to take certain actions. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Arab oil-producing countries refused to sell oil to the United States and other nations that supported Israel. This embargo boosted oil prices and shifted international power from the developed nations to ones that relied primarily on oil extraction. Political and economic power was redistributed when these actions were combined with the nationalization of private, foreign-owned petroleum companies in these oil exporting nations.  [20]   THE PRIVATE SECTOR AS A STRATEGIC TOOL Although not generally controlled by governments, disregarding currency manipulations designed to offset them, commercial balance of payments are another form of debt that can have foreign policy implications. Fears of a pending financial disaster could cause lenders to pull capital out of the market and further exacerbate the situation. Unfortunately, globalized communications can now spread fears among global investors almost instantaneously. The result is that economic issues that might have been localized events only decades ago can now turn into global issues. Additionally, since private investors may act contrary to government desires, governmental and even international efforts to stem economic crises may be ineffective. Some nations fear excessive foreign investment due to a perceived influence or concern over precipitous withdrawal; others accept the risk and welcome foreign investment as a reasonably available source of funds. Although some nations find these actions helpful, critics argue that this capability can also be used to stifle competition, protect national interests, or create geopolitical troublemaking.  [21]  Foreign funds do provide a needed economic boast, but t hey can also disappear quickly should confidence fail Multinational corporations and firms typically have the resources and ability to get access to once closed markets. Governments might offer subsidies or grant special benefits to attract business to their country. Once established, the multinational corporation could exert a powerful influence on the government since its affairs affect the nations economy. Similarly, in highly contested markets, a multinational corporation could offer restricted technologies, move production of key subcomponents, offer bribes, expand production beyond the initial plan, or provide other incentives to gain access to the market. Companies can lobby their home countrys government (assuming it favours the move into the other nations market) for help lifting trade restrictions or access to technology or influencing the host nations foreign policy. In the most basic sense, economic power is an entitys ability to acquire, produce, and use raw materials, goods, and services. A nation cannot engage in conflict over an extended period without an adjustment to its economy. In many cases, countries must devote goods or services to prepare for or fight a war or even to conduct other activities that affect the national interest. Humanitarian aid, defence expenditures, diplomacy, alliance membership, and other vital actions depend on a countrys ability to raise and spend tax revenues, borrow funds, use surpluses, or finance these measures. Economic power allows players to conduct actions by providing the personnel, equipment, operating materials, infrastructure, and short or long term sustainment of that capability Governments purchase commodities and equipment like a business, obtain labour (military, government civilian, and contractor), maintain physical infrastructure, conduct research and development, and in some cases also produce unique goods and services peculiar to national security. Resource decisions mold the creation of force structure to include investments in weapons, recruitment and retention of military and civilian personnel, decisions to fund military or non-military government programs, and a host of other concerns that affect national security policy. Further, economic conditions, once the exclusive concern of financial institutions, investors, and businesses, now affect military decisions that range from recruitment to government borrowing that directly influences a powers ability to provide military capability. Arms sales, transfers of key military technologies or technologies related to weapons of mass destruction, contracting for goods and services by individuals and firms, and other economic activities can influence the national security environment. Nations that have sufficient resources can upgrade their military forces with more and better capabilities. Military forces that lack personnel or equipment could rely on contracted services or purchase advanced weaponry from other nations. If the state has limited forces, it can change the composition of its military forces by hiring specialized services that would have taken years to develop or that they only need for a limited time. Contractors on the battlefield are not new phenomena. The U.S. Government has used contractors in several wars. Other nations have hired military pilots and aircraft, logistics, and combat forces to expand and enhance their limited capabilities. Today, governments can lease satellite communications, photographic imagery, multi-spectral analysis, and navigational systems that were once the province of superpowers that had exclusive use of space systems. Individuals, firms, and governments can use these functions-for a price. This capability can change a balance of power at critical times during a conflict. Oil profits have allowed the Russian government to finance a larger military budget that has given Moscow the ability to build a new intercontinental ballistic missile, aircraft, and other weapons to revitalize its national security and foreign policies. Other countries, like Iran and Venezuela, also fuel their defense and security programs by oil sales. Nations building advanced technology consumer goods like information systems could use similar technologies to improve their military forces. While national leaders consider and adapt economics as an element of national power, these same leaders are also affected by economic events that may limit their policies options. Economic considerations can have very influential impacts on the conduct of military operations and diplomatic actions. Globalisation has allowed nations to conduct business with allies, former enemies, and potential rivals. New relationships between citizens and governments that highlight cost reductions, profits, and long range business activities can impact national security measures in a host of ways. Current economic conditions also have a large impact on military operations. Inflation contributes to reduced purchasing power by a government. This includes activities from purchasing fuel, paying for contracted work, demands for greater pay for military and civilian workers, and other acquisition activities  [22]  . Similarly, a recession-a sustained downturn in economic activities-reduces tax revenues and encourages moves by politicians to stimulate the economy or support the unemployed or struggling citizens. These policies can significantly reduce the amount of defence spending for a nation. However, some of these conditions might provide relief to the government. Unemployment may ease recruitment and retention problems in the military. Increased competition for fewer government contracts might reduce the cost of operations. Tools to fight economic problems may also create unforeseen issues. A central bank could raise or lower interest rates. These actions can affect the ava ilability of investors to purchase government debt and the cost of borrowing for contractors to build the latest fighter aircraft. OTHER ECONOMIC SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS Expanding trade can provide several benefits to nations. It can create better efficiencies in production by seeking the lowest cost, most effective producers. This situation could lead to greater economic growth and improved standards of living around the world. However, not all nations find an economic niche that allows economic growth. Cheaper outsourced services and imported goods may destroy domestic industries. Large numbers of unemployed workers could create domestic problems for a government. Further, reliance on foreign imports could impoverish the state and complicate its financial and credit situation. If nations rely on foreign goods, then any problem that hinders trade could cause issues globally. A natural disaster, potential conflict, trade dispute, or other problem could restrict the flow of needed products. ECONOMICS AND FUTURE NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES In the future, security conflict among nations may change from predominately military contests to ones primarily featuring other elements of national power. That option is also open to non-state a

The Themes of How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife Essay exampl

The Themes of â€Å"How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife† Romance, ‘The Big Lie’, humor, and Moral, â€Å"How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife† contains all of these in a wonderfully written story by William Gilmore Simms. Sit back and enjoy a â€Å"potation†(423) from a â€Å"corpulent barrel of Western uisquebaugh †(422) while I argue my truths or is that ‘Lie’. This romantic story is about the trails and tribulations Sam Snaffles endured to capture the affections of Mary Ann Hopson. Sam describes Mary Ann as â€Å", and so all over beautiful! O Lawd! When I thinks of it and them times, I don’t see how ‘twas possible to think of buck-hunting when thar was sich a doe, with sich eyes shining me on!† (426) After Sam is denied Mary Ann’s hand in marriage, because he has no capital, they meet in the forest outside of Mary Ann’s home she tells Sam â€Å"I’ll be true to you, Sam. I loves nobody in all the world so much as I loves you†(434) Sam gets the capital needed to satisfy her father and marry his true love in the end. The Webster’s definition of ‘Big Lie’ is â€Å"a deliberate gross distortion of the truth used especially as a propaganda tactic† and this is well illustrated in the story. The story opens at the end of a week of hunting and the group is sitting around the fire awaiting â€Å"The Lying Camp!† The main character Sam Snaffles is requested to tell the story of how he found ‘Capital ‘ so he could marry his true love, Mary Ann Hopson. As Sam begins his story he is called down by the ‘Big Lie’ saying, â€Å"All you’ve been a-saying is jest nothing but the naked truth as I know it.†(426) Sam’s reply is â€Å"And how’s a man to lie decently onless you lets him hev a bit of truth to go upon? The truth’s nothing but a peg in the wall that I hangs the lie upon.†(426) Sam’s story of how he got the ‘capital’ is amazing and just to show how big it grew, here’s a descripti on of the total capital Sam got, â€Å"From the b’ar . . . First, thar waur the hide, $20; then 450 pounds of meat, at 10 cents, was $45; then the grease, 14 pounds, $14; and the tallow, some $6 more; and the biled marrow, $11.† The geese â€Å"2700 wild-geese, at 50 cents, you sees, must be more than $1350.† The honey â€Å"got something over two thousand gallons of the purest, sweetest, yellowest honey you ever did see.† Humor is located throughout this story. One of my favorite parts is when Mary Ann’s father asked Sam’s horse if Sa... ... look in the mirror and asked him what he saw: that won’t edzactly do. I tell you now, look good, and ax yourself ef you’re the sawt of looking man that hes any right to be feyther-in-law to a fine, young, handsome-looking fellow like me, what’s got the â€Å"capital?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then he laughed out at the humor of the situation; and he says, ‘Well, Sam Snaffles, you’ve got me dead this time. You’re a different man from what I thought you. But, Sam, you’ll confess, I reckon, that ef I hedn’t sent you off with a flea in your ear when I hed you up afore the looking-glass, you’d never ha’ gone to work to git the â€Å"capital.†(461)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is a humorous story that tells of romance and gives us a lesson in life and full of honesty (lies). This merging of all these themes has created a wonderful story that will make me read more of William Gilmore Simms stories. I wonder what Bald Head Billy Baldly did during the Flurriday War? Work Cited Simms, William Gilmore. â€Å"How Sharp Snaffles got his Capital and Wife†. The Writings of William Gilmore Simms Vol V Stories and Tales. Columbia, SC: Guilds, John C. 1st ed. University South Carolina Press, 1974.

Jimi Hendrix :: essays research papers

Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitarist in rock history, revolutionized the sound of rock. In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience rocked the nation with their first album, Are You Experienced?. Hendrix's life was cut short by the tragedy of drugs in 1970, when he was only twenty seven years old. In these three years the sound of rock changed greatly, and Hendrix’s guitar playing was a major influence. Jimi was born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942. As a young boy, whenever the chance came, Jimi would try to play along with his R & B records. However, music was not his life long dream. At first, the army was. In the late 1950’s, Hendrix enlisted in the 101st Airborne Division. After sustaining a back injury during a jump, he received a medical discharge. After his army career came to an abrupt end, he decided to go into the music field. By this time he had become an accomplished guitarist, and was soon to become known as the greatest guitarist ever (Stambler, pg. 290). However, he did not start out at the top. Jimi started out playing as part of the back-up for small time R & B groups. It did not take long before his work was in demand with some of the best known artists in the field, such as B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson, Littler Richard, Wilson Pickett, and King Curtis (Clifford, pg. 181). Using the name Jimmy James, he toured with a bunch of R & B shows, including six months as a member of James Brown’s Famous Flames (Stambler, pg. 290). At the Cafe Wha! in New York, in 1966, Hendrix decided to try singing. Jimi lucked out when a man by the name of Charles â€Å"Chas† Chandler from Eric Burdon's Animals heard him at the club and thought he was sensational. When Chas heard him again later that year, he talked Jimi into moving to England where he would really get the chance to start his career (Stambler, pg. 290). Along with Chas, Hendrix auditioned some musicians to complete the new Hendrix group. They choose Mitch Mitchell, a fantastic drummer, and Noel Redding, one of England's best guitar and bass players (Stambler, pg. 290). In 1966, at the Olympia in Paris, the Experience debuted. One year later, the Experience was breaking attendance records right and left at European clubs. When the Monkees toured England in 1967,

Closure of Public OHV Areas Essay -- Off Highway Vehicles Transportati

Closure of Public OHV Areas Some years ago a new form of recreation came about known as an Off Highway Vehicle(OHV). Today these high powered, light weight vehicles come in many forms with anywhere from four to two wheels. There are many areas across the United States for such vehicles to be driven but as of today there are some groups out there who wish to close the areas in which these vehicles can be used. One area in particular, located outside of Yuma on the California and Arizona border has been subjected to many threats recently and those who use the land for its recreational purposes have had to fight to keep the land that was originally granted to them for use by the US government. This one area is what many would call a second home. Land has already been shut off to recreational use and if unchecked these activist groups could take away the rest. A few years ago the American Sand Association agreed to have over 49,000 acres of the imperial sand dunes in southern California temporarily closed (James Gilbert). This would allow the Center for Biological Diversity(CBD) to conduct a study on a plant that they say is endangered. They said that with the use of OHV’s in close proximity to these plants they would soon be extinct. â€Å"After extensive research by both parties it was found that the survival of the Pierson's Milkvetch Plant (PMV) has no correlation whatsoever to the congestion of OHV’s in a particular area† (Mr.Dune). One would think that this would leave the activists with nothing left to complain about and that the re-opening of the dunes would be the next step in the progression of the cycle. To assume this would be a large fallacy though because as soon as the CBD’s argument of the endangered plant ... ...ease. To the citizens in the rest of the United States things can be totally taken out of context and portrayed by the CBD in any way they feel is necessary. With the growing numbers of people joining the American Sand Association and other such groups to show their support for the re-opening of the dunes, things will soon get complicated for the CBD and they may finally decide to back down from their podium. Citations †¢ ABCNEWS.com. ABC Network Affiliates. 23 March 2003 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/dunes_folo020419.html †¢ JAMES GILBERT. "Dune closure draws mixed reviews." YumaSun Nov 22, 2002. 23 March 2003 http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_2778.shtml †¢ Mr. Dune. Mr. Dune Speaks Out American Sand Association. 23 March 2003 http://www.off-road.com/dunes/speak/special_112000.html

The Italian peninsula

The Italian peninsula started off consisting and inhabited by a mixture of different ethnic groups, which includes the Sabines, Umbrians, Oscans and Latins. The Etruscans came from the sea from Lydia setting foot on North Eastern and Central Italy. They allied themselves with the Carthaginians, increasing their influence and conquering an enormous region of the Italian peninsula. Etruscan territory was composed of independent and separate city states that never came to form a unified Etruscan state and that absence of national identity brought the Etruscan dominance over the Italian peninsula to an end. The Greeks, on the other hand, settled over South Western Italy and the island of Sicily. The Greeks of Italy were engaged in primarily in commerce, thus pressure from adjacent civilizations had suppressed territorial expansion. The settlements being far off from Greek military influence and the lack of unification among these colonies, similarly as the Etruscan confederacies, had lessened their grip of the Italian territory. Near the borders of Etruscan influence, Rome was built in 753 BC as a city of Italic peoples living south of the Tiber. Rome was controlled by an absolute monarch, his rule checked and balanced by a council of elders, which was the Senate. However, during the 6th century, the Etruscans extended its control over Rome to suppress its development and established Etruscan monarchs as kings of Rome. Finally, in 509 BC, the Romans expelled the last Etruscan kings and started their conquest of Italy. Romans found themselves allied with the Greeks and other Latin tribes, although wielding supremacy over them, driving away the Etruscans from the Italian peninsula. However, the Latins resented the Romans hegemony over them and revolted against them, although the Romans dismantled them and took control over Latium. The Romans seized the rest of Italy through liberal and militaristic policies. The Romans cunningness in collaborating with native rulers and granting certain rights to citizens of cities that they have conquered enabled them to take control of Italy without encountering united opposition.

The Definition of Post Test Club

What is Post Test Club? Post Test Club is a social support group for all clients tested whether infected with HIV or not. It was established to respond to the expressed needs of the tested clients for ongoing support. Membership Values; Membership is open to all clients who have taken the HIV test irrespective of their results. The principle of anonymity and confidentiality applies for those members who so wish. Members who have tested positive or negative and are willing to ? go public? to share their life testimonies are trained in public speaking . They promote the ? openness? i. e.. ,to declare publicly that he was infected with HIV. MISSION: To help sustain the behavior change process of persons who received voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and serve as a forum for reducing stigma by providing education and information as well as support and counseling.. ,To promote openness about HIV/AIDS and enhance the psycho-social adjustments of those infected and affected. Goal: 1. To contribute to the national effort to prevent further spread of HIV/AIDS 2. To increase understanding of adolescence , sexuality and reproductive health. To promote safer sex, life skills development and child adolescent rights plus responsibilities. Objectives 1. To provide on-going psycho-social support to the members and increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS 2. To bring the reality of HIV/AIDS to the general population ,and demonstrate by example that people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) can still lead a health and productive life 3. To help reduce stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. Post Test care and Support Services Provide medical information about HIV/AIDS including general HIV knowledge, disease progression, ARVs, opportunistic infections (OIs), family planning, environmental health and positive living so that clients can proactively take control of their own health and reduce the risk of transmission. * Provide legal information so that HIV infected individuals can protect their rights and the rights of their families. * Help members to make decisions about disclosure to friends, family and the community. * Provide a secure and inviting environment where members have access to resources, support and counseling free of charge . Help to link clients to needed services for economic, social support. * Provide referrals to other care and treatment programs. * Reduce stigma and discrimination around HIV and HIV testing * Provide support to HIV discordant couples * By working with couples specifically, the program seeks to support discordant couples and reduce gender violence and HIV transmission within marriages. Routine operations: 1. On-going supportive and preventive counseling: This service is offered on a ? walk ? in? basis and is carried out daily by the counselor and counseling attendants. Counselling is provided to members on FP/TB/HIV/ AIDS and otherhealth related issues including Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and health promotion. 2. Medical Consultation and Treatment: Members consult and receive treatment for simple ailments ,opportunistic infections and sexually transmitted diseases. The medical booth is open daily and qualified health professionals provide services. 3. Group Activities: Every Saturday members meet for educational talks on HIV/AIDS and other related topics, they also participate in recreation activities (video and games AND drama). These activities take place in the morning to afternoon( 09H00 -14H00) 4. They share experiences and provide peer support to one another. An activity roaster for HIV/AIDS sensitization for the week is developed and programmes allocated. 5. Community Education and Sensitization : The Post Test Club members are involved in sensitizing the communities and YOUTH through music, dance, drama, poetry , and sharinglife testimonies. 6. Capacity and Skills Building: NTIHC PTC trains some members as youth corner attendants. These members provide services to the TEENS. Members engaged in income generating activities (IGAS) are given training skills on management of the projects†¦. LIFE EMPOWERMENT SKILLS†¦.. proposal writing! 7. Leadership Skills: The executive committee members of PTC are trained in elementary leadership skills. 8. Condom promotion and peer education: Trained PTC members do peer education in the communities and distribute free condoms simultaneously minimising CONDOM ABUSE. 9. Distribution of IEC Materials: Members receive IEC materials for consumption and distribute some to communities. They mainly distribute ? Straight Talk? , ? Young Talk? , ? Knowledge Is Power? , and other NTIHC IEC Materials. 10. Family Planning Services: Family planning information,counseling, and methods are provided daily in the FP clinic by counselling medical personnel and reproductive health attendants. 11. Couple Club Activities: Members whose spouses have also tested are encouraged to participate in the couple club activities. It facilitates fellowship and handles special topics that are of interest to couples such as discordant relationships, marriage and divorce issues,domestic violence, and gender issues. PTCs have been able to do remarkable things in the battle against HIV/AIDS: – Through music, dance and drama, they perform in community centers, churches and schools to teach people about HIV/AIDS. – They encourage people to be tested, and then teach people how to avoid nfection, and if infected, how to avoid spreading the disease. – They support each other—showing love and care, providing material assistance to the most needy widows and orphans among them, working together on projects, and pooling resources to pay for member’s funerals. Their motto is â€Å"Living Positively. † Regardless of their disease status,they believe a positive attitude will help them and their loved ones through difficult times. A place of their own†¦.. ,TEENS EMPOWERING PEERS! muyenje +2562O25O245O cc: [email  protected] com [email  protected] co. uk [email  protected] co. uk [email  protected] com [email  protected] com [email  protected] com [ema il  protected] co. uk [email  protected] com [email  protected] com [email  protected] com

Man Is His Own Worst Enemy Essay

Right from the beginning, Man rules supreme over all other life forms. He establishes himself at the top of the food chain, he goes through painstaking experiments to lit up the darkness that comes at night and through decades of scientific progression he is able to pit himself against the unpredictable weather changes. Thus he is able to place himself parallel to cosmic significance. He then proceeds to defeat the onslaught of diseases and the invisible enemies known to us as bacteria and viruses and conquers geographical hurdles. Man sustains his own survival in ways no other life forms can. The sophisticated ways in which Man maintains his existence remain uncontested by any other life forms.  Clearly, humans set themselves apart from the other species because the human body is gifted with impeccable intellectual abilities. At a glance at all the achievements man had single handedly accomplished over the time, one must think what mortal hand or eye could challenge man for his po sition. But one may want to think again. No animals would inflict pain on another of their own kind, or even other kinds, for reasons other than self-defence and food. Yet the intelligent Man would. History of mankind illustrates man’s propensity to achieve his personal greed and glory at the expanse of another of kind. This aspect of Man remains uncontested too. I opened my mail box one morning and received a copy of The Economist. The front cover reads â€Å"A heart-rending but necessary war†. It is rather amazing how man can associate war with the term ‘necessary’. The article speaks of the retaliation of United States against the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. After the two great wars that threatened to annihilate the entire tapestry of humanity in the twentieth century, Man still has not learned. Man has ironically progressed from an uncivilised state to now where killing each other has become a necessity. Dropping bombs and food supplies at the same time is evidence of the disillusionment that man brings upon himself. The anti-terrorist war in Afghanistan comprises a series of bomb attacks targeted on terrorists’ camps. At the same time food supplies are also being dropped on similar grounds, targeted on innocent civilians. Surely by supplying food to the civilians man must have contemplated initially the repercussions that would follow if a war should begin? Perhaps we should applaud that man has finally found ‘civilised’ way waging a war? Or does it  reinforce that the greatest tragedy lies in the fact that man is aware of the consequences of his own action and still continues with it? War could only mean one thing; civilians from both sides die, guilty and non-guilty alike. Man is torn between what is essentially right and wrong. He chooses to kill some and save some. At the end of the day he realises that it doesn’t have to be that way at all if he had kept to what is essentially necessary, that is peace. But no, man would not hear of that now. He would want to venture into something he does not know and learn things the hard way, bringing down with him innocent lives and p recious natural resources vital for future consumption. Man has now to face the unbeatable monster in him. Consider the nuclear and biochemical weapons that man has invented. Is this another folly of the fallen man? That, we are not sure just as yet but we know nuclear weapons are not built because they happen to be another high-tech devices set in trend. It is because the existence if nuclear weapons also comes with it a newfound power for the owner. A power to kill and to control. Finally, man has found the ultimate killing means that promises high death rates and effective elimination of any party that get in his way with great ease. But the underlying nuances for such creation is scarier, the insinuation that man would destroy each other at some point in time willingly, without actual consideration for the consequences of it. This is quite ironic for man who wielded such supreme intellect, to not to consider his actions. Or is it that Man just does not care? Examine the case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the first atomic bombs were dropped and killed more than the actual numbers at that time. The ghost of the event still haunts many today psychologically and physically. The bombs that US are dropping on Afghanistan’s territories are supposed to explode upon reaching the ground but many did not. These bomblets would then maim and kill many like landmines long after the war has ended. Man has set out to kill themselves after centuries of trying to survive? The numbers killed in relative to proportion is explicitly high and man still could not explain himself. World War II saw the physical manifestation of evil in man. Over six million  Jews were expeditiously eradicated for good from the face of the earth. Consider the methodical and efficient ways the Jews are killed tells of man who would inflict torture and pain on another fellow human being maliciously and intentionally for basically no reason at all. Even if the whole war boils down to the one sole lunatic proprietor, Hitler, it gives no reason for the rest below him to carry out such senseless killings simply because it was an order. It still astounds many that such acts that cause such revulsion now did not seem so to the culprits at that time. Man is such complicated creature that his existence is full of conflicts within himself. To defeat your enemy must mean that you understand him, but man is now faced with an enemy that he could not at all comprehend despite the natural intellect ordained from above. A famous philosopher once said that the greed in man sows the seeds of deceit and eventually downfall of the man himself. Adam Smith’s theory of the laissez faire, to put it nicely, is the liberal allowances for man to exploit the resources for his own satisfaction. Karl Marx opposes that theory and put it simply that such freedom of actions in economy would eventually allow the greed of man to multiply itself until it could not contain itself, thus the outburst of despair would mark the end of humanity. In Singapore, we are faced with the worst recession since the 1960s and approximately 30000 to 40000 people are out of job. In the US, more than 400 000 people are laid off in two months and numbers are still expected to rise. What we are seeing here is that the players in the economy have played against themselves. During these times, those who had hands in the stocks investments find themselves literally with nothing. The ‘Notices’ section in the newspapers sees an increase in the number of bankruptcies. Participants in the race for property ownerships in Singapore, particularly during the mid 1990s experienced an exponential plunge in property prices and landed themselves in unending debts. Greed for purchasing power tempted many to subscribe to more than one credit card and now find themselves not able to keep afloat in the interests that tantamount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many do not realise their own folly until they fall flat in their faces. Hence the greed, miscalculation and speculative spirit  becomes what responsible for the downfall of man. In daily ventures, individuals often find themselves entangled in webs of deceit, lies, manipulation, jealousy and spite. Many times, Man is the cause of failed relationships and careers. Over-indulgence and yielding to temptations, it seems like Man’s nature works like the double-edged sword. It could build or destroy oneself. Life progresses from one of blissful existence to one of struggle. In every man lies the green-eyed monster, the inextinguishable greed and within these also is the struggle of conscience. Thus is the nature of man who has become so intricate and practically unfathomable. Until man could finally understand himself, what he wants and what is essentially necessary in life, he remains his own worst enemy.