Spying on The Home Front an Example of the Topic Government and Law Essays by

Spying on The Home Front by Expert Tutor Maya | 01 Dec 2016 To talk of overbroad and sweeping driftnets to intercept alleged messages of National concern, without means to assure the American citizens of a narrowly tailored measure to zero in on specific terrorist activity, in the name of a supervening State duty to fight imminent threats against the country, is to consent to unrestrained exercises of Police Power that are absolutely repugnant to the Constitution and its tenets. Need essay sample on "Spying on The Home Front" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The protection of a private individual's Civil liberties is not subject to compromise. His rights to be left alone, to be free from State intervention and to be guaranteed a shield against State security entanglements are highlights of a democratic sovereign. The moment that the State trumps these rights under the justification that the present situation calls for drastic and unusual means to combat the enemy, the Constitution, which has been the shrine of liberty and freedom since its foundation, the very bastion of the people sovereign, is at once violated. Time and again, the courts have ruled against any form of intrusion into people's private lives. Federal laws, such as the FISA law, seek to discourage fishing expeditions, indiscriminate guesswork and blanket approaches to collect information among the populace (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). In fact, illegally obtained evidence sparked by warrant-less searches and investigation are deemed inadmissible in courts. This is because the law prevents the State to profit from its misdeeds. Indeed, a violation of such rights of a single person is already one too many. Therefore, to the issue whether or not it is in any legally and morally justified for the executive to set aside restrictions to its power made by the congress and the Constitution in the name of the "war of terror", the answer must be on the negative. On this point, the PBS special "Spying on the Home Front" reveals just how much the administration has brushed aside the legally recognized processes of investigation and surveillance to permit unprecedented access to personal communication among innocent American civilians. The National Security Agency (NSA) has been specifically designed to intercept dangerous communication with the hope of catching the criminals even before they take overt acts to carry out their plans (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). Accordingly, the agency at first followed the principle that investigations must exclude domestic correspondencesin other words it adopted a hands-off doctrine when it comes to civilians. However, in the last few decades and more so in light of the 9/11 terror attacks, the NSA, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used its expertise and tools to spy on the American people (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). A former NSA agent, confides that the agency has figured into several random acts of espionage of civilians without due authorization from the courts. The Watergate Scandal, for the first time, raises the issues on illegal intrusion activities done by the State. It is later discovered during the committee hearings that these agencies have been working together to look into documents, issuances, utterance and communications of a private nature, otherwise known as the Shamrock Operation (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). Consequently, this led to the drafting of a bill which sought to enjoin law enforcement and its specialized departments from tapping into phone lines and mail among others (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). Former NSA analysts Weaver and Connelly adumbrate the myriad ways that the NSA can sift through a mass of information across the Globe and collect them in databases for future retrieval. The exact metaphor used to describe NSA's capabilities is "sucking up voluminous information in the internet, phone and mail in one sweep in a process called full-scale data mining" (Spying on the Home Front, 2007). In this same process, NSA does not discriminate between illegal data and data produced by the average person. What it does is to grab at everything it can lay its hands on, and because the NSA has full access to co-terminal points of the web, this means that the amount of information that they can gather is almost just as every byte and nibble that is being produced in the entire network. Every person who is linked via the World Wide Web is no longer safe from the "Big Brother" tendencies of the State. Orwell's novel "1984" is a better metaphor to describe how the mandate of President Geo rge Bush to counter terrorism through intelligence efforts has spread in scope and extent far beyond what is originally intended. Speaking in behalf of and for the President, John Yoo argues that war changes everything; that by its nature, war "expands the power of the presidency and expands the power of the national government as a whole" (Interview with John Yoo, 2007). He invites us to rethink our traditional policies and take a shift in paradigm because the enemies that the state is against calls for an entirely different set of tactics. John Yoo, the mind behind the Patriot Act, is convinced that the power of the President can be expanded to cover new forms of state threats. He says that it is high time that Legislative and Judicial departments "pull down self-imposed restraints [] that had hamstrung our government from being able to track down and defeat Al Qaeda terrorist cells in our country" (Interview with John Yoo, 2007). In effect, what John Yoo is saying is that desperate times call for desperate measures. But where do you draw the line from desperation viz. restraint on certain liberties to abject disregard for a person's constitutionally protected rights? Another crucial problem in that sort of justification is that the agencies, whom the President granted full discretionary power in order that another terror attack can be prevented, have taken their obligation to protect the country far a-field the legal and moral provinces recognized by the Constitution, and turned it into a license to step on the private domains of the commerce of innocent civilians. As such, they comb the vast oceans of thought, information and conduct of every individual in one huge dragnet just to catch a number of criminals. A method deemed unconscionable to the average person and by the law. If there were anything that the terrorists have been more successful at other than the 9/11 attacks, is that they effectively set the United States into a flurry of acts that disregard the rule of law and the individuals. Indeed, terror of this kind on the home front surpasses any other, and the administration and state itself just happen to be the one perpetuating it. References Smith, H. & Young, R. (2007). Spying on the home front. 15 May 2007. PBS Special: Frontline. John Wilkes Studio. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/homefront/. Interview with John Yoo. (2007). 15 May 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/interviews/yoo.html.

Synoptic Healing Stories Of Demon Possession Religion Essay Essays

Synoptic Healing Stories Of Demon Possession Religion Essay Essays Synoptic Healing Stories Of Demon Possession Religion Essay Essay Synoptic Healing Stories Of Demon Possession Religion Essay Essay or signs ( sAâ€Å"meia ) , wonders ( monsters, ever used together with sAâ€Å"meia ) , and works ( erga ) . These footings turn our attending off from the fantastic component as such and stress the theological and symbolic character of Jesus earthly ministry[ 3 ] Alternatively of overtly showing the healings entirely as miracles , frequently holding the significance of violation ( of the Torahs of nature ) , the Gospel authors chose to portray them as Acts of the Apostless of will, a deliberate act to relieve agony. Remembering the Old Testament tradition, God is regarded as a therapist and mending powers originate from God. During their Egyptian imprisonment God tells Israel, I am the Lord, who heals you ( Exod. 15:26 ) Harmonizing to Keil and Delitzsch, it is clear that Jehovah made himself known to the people of Israel as their Doctor .[ 4 ]Certain prophetic figures in the Old Testament are besides portrayed as possessing the ability to mend. The Hebrew words related to mending root from the root  ¤ , which conveys the thought of doing something whole, whether a individual or object.[ 5 ]When mentioning to people, it ever relates to physical healing. It besides signifies Restoration.[ 6 ]Therefore the tradition of significance goes much beyond than a mere miraculous act. Therefore, the term healing as opposed to miracle is more appropriate.[ 7 ] Precedence of Mending Histories of Demon Possession The Gospel healing histories often portray mending as the projecting out of evil liquors from possessed persons. There is common understanding that a major part of Jesus ministry was devoted to mending the ill and executing dispossessions.[ 8 ]In so making early Christianity established a theoretical account of behavior for both sick person and the therapist. Multitudes of persons believing themselves possessed by dirty or evil liquors sought the aid of Jesus and his adherents. How can we understand this historical portraiture, its literary and behavioral world? Does it bear a correspondence to our modern preparation of crowd behavior and ownership? Despite the overplus of folklore or popular cultural portraiture of demon ownership, the Biblical narrations tend, with few exclusions, to be instead meagre in their inside informations sing these events. These inside informations may be found in narratives consisting the huge extra-Biblical tradition about demon ownership ; in comparing, nevertheless, Scriptural narratives of this phenomenon be given to be instead restrained. The repeat of the histories in more than one Gospel and their assortment and item points to the being of some undeniable facts as the footing for the religious healing in early Christianity. The presence of big witnessing groups in the assorted episodes supports the world of the events and argues against the pure innovation of the histories. Persons are wholly healed of their unwellnesss. However there is one case where a individual comes back to Jesus as the healing is non seemingly complete and Jesus heals him once more ( Mk 8:22-25 ) . There is a clear case where the Gospel authors have adhered to the historical genuineness of the histories without trying to conceal the awkward cases.[ 9 ]Osborne makes a important point to this terminal that, [ T ] he fact that the Synoptic histories were written down many old ages after the events does non do them needfully surmise, for as already stated the local colour is unusually faithful to the times of Jesus and shows indicants of acqua intance with the original events. [ 10 ] It is hard to chalk out the congruity of medical specialty and mending narratives. That Jesus understood and appreciated the ability to mend is evident in the Synoptic histories of the healing, even if there is no Biblical grounds to propose that Jesus lent much acceptance to the medicative humanistic disciplines of the twenty-four hours. Of the more than 40 recorded healings in the all the Gospels, three-fourthss of these are straight related to the physical or mental healing of the individual who requests intercession[ 11 ] However, there is merely non adequate information to determine the cause of the medical conditions in the Gospel acA ­counts, which are missing in descriptions of medical history and other item. In the terminal, it becomes hard to do any difficult and fast statements about JeA ­sus attitude toward medical healing as practiced by doctors based on the Gospel accounts entirely. This presents a practical job of kinds for anyone wishing to understand Jesus relationship to medicate: how to accommodate the evident neutrality of Jesus toward the medicinal coupled with his signifiA ­cant ministerial attending to the sick? For Jesus, the procedure of the mending instead than a quick-fix miracle seems to be more relevant. Why is this specific survey of mending narratives related to demon ownership and dispossession important? Geza Vermes provinces: Jesus himself defined his indispensable ministry in footings of dispossession and healing, but even if those words are non Jesus ain but the revivalist s, they reflect the house and consentaneous testimony of the whole Synoptic tradition. [ 12 ] If we turn to the Synoptic Gospel authors, even a brief study reveals how of import Jesus mending the demon-possessed was for them. For illustration, of the 13 mending narratives of Jesus in Mark s Gospel 1:29-31, 1:40-45 ; 2:1-12 ; 3:1-6 ; 5:21-43 ; 7:31-37 ; 8:22-26 ; 10:46-52 and 1:21-28 ; 5:1-20 ; 7:24-30 ; 9:14-29 the last four mentioned are healings of demon ownership. This makes the class of dispossession the most legion class of mending narrative in Mark. It is to be noted here that Theissen references evident differentiations between mending and dispossession, but holds that it is difficult to divide them.[ 13 ] Even though ( apart from Matthew 12:22/Luke 11:14 ) Matthew and Luke provide no excess elaborate narratives of dispossession they, like Mark, agree that dispossession was an of import facet of Jesus ministry and travel so far as to propose that Jesus traffics with the demon-possessed is of cardinal significance in understanding Jesus and his ministry. At least this is the instance on a first reading of Matthew 12:28/Luke 11.20: But if it is by the Spirit/finger of God that I cast out devils, so the Kingdom of God has come to you. Even within the Synoptic Gospels, many of the histories of demon ownership provide no information about its biological, psychological, or societal symptoms. The Syrophoenician adult female, for illustration, pleads with Jesus to mend a girl afflicted with a devil, but we learn nil of how this ownership is manifest in the kid ( Matthew 15: 21-28 ) . However, the Gospels do depict one instance with some grade of item in which the devil possessed individual clearly exhibits some signifier of psychological and societal disfunction. The narrative of the individual at Gerasenes appears in the three synoptic Gospels ( Matthew 8: 28-24 ; Mark 5: 1-17 ; Luke 8: 26-37 ) , but in Matthew, the narrative involves two individuals and non one. Other characteristics of the narratives are similar. In all three narrations, the demon-possessed are violent and unrecorded in the grave ; in Mark, he is shouting out and cutting himself with rocks ; in Luke, he roams about without vesture into lone topogra phic points ( 8:29 ) . In this case, the narrative of his dispossession is dramatic, non merely because of the unusual nature of his behavior, but because of the subsequent and curious drowning of a herd of hogs, and the local community s reaction to this healing, inquiring Jesus to go forth them. Therefore, in the New Testament entirely, devils ( I?I ±I?I?I?I? ) are referred to more than 100 times, with many of those mentions affecting ownership. This is peculiarly true of the Gospel histories where J. Ramsey Michaels goes farther and asserts: Nothing is more certain about the ministry of Jesus than the fact that he performed exorcisms. [ 14 ]It will besides be assumed that the devil ownership in the New Testament is of supernatural beginning and is hard to explicate simply on the footing of contemporary psychological research. Most of the Biblical instances seem to bespeak that these were nonvoluntary ownerships. The remainder of the New Testament Hagiographas do non incorporate descriptions of instances of demon ownership. Mention is, nevertheless, made in several topographic points to devils and diabolic powers ( 1 Timothy 4:1 ; Ephesians 6:12 ; James 2:19 ; and Revelation 9:20 and 16:14 ) . Unger notes that it is possibly non without significance that about all the instances of demon ownership are recorded as happening among the rude and half-Gentile populations of Galilee. [ 15 ] No instances are recorded in Jerusalem and merely one in Capernaum. The others were in rural subdivisions of Galilee, Gadera and in the parts of Tyre and Sidon and that of Caesarea Philippi. How are these descriptions to be considered? Virkler opines that there needs to be a hermeneutical distance that must be maintained in footings of the nature of demon ownership . He says, [ tungsten ] vitamin E have no warrant that the comparatively brief descriptions of demonically-caused symptomatology found in Bibles were meant to be considered normative illustrations of ownership across clip and civilizations. All that the narrative histories of demonisation found in the Gospels and Acts claim is that they are accurate descriptions of demonisation of that clip, non normative descriptions of demonisation that can be used for all succeeding coevalss. [ 16 ] So despite the evident importance of Jesus healings of the devil possessed in the Synoptic tradition, there is certain uneasiness in covering with these narratives in modern New Testament research, allow entirely wellness attention moralss. This is likely because the dispossession narratives stated to organize portion of the mending tradition of the Gospels carry particular troubles in that these narratives presuppose a belief in the being of devils or evil liquors. For the huge bulk of the modern universe such a belief is no longer possible nor is it necessary in the face of the progress in our cognition of our universe. Besides, every bit readily as there is a persuasion to compare mental unwellness with Biblical histories of demon ownership and its cure with dispossession, we are confronted with troubles of terrible mistiming, imposing modern classs to ancient informations and the really futility of such unscientific equations. Any cogency of such spiritual claims would be questioned by modern classs of scientific discipline. In a study more late conducted by the Mental Health Foundation in the UK, entitled Spirituality and Mental Health: Voices and Worlds found that individuals were said have been damaged by dispossession. The charity justly warned that the impression of diabolic ownership could be highly detrimental when linked to people with a label of mental unwellness and risked blending impressions of immorality and sick wellness. [ 17 ] If nevertheless, we digress off from the said equation, so we may overlook the suggestion that diabolic influence may be a ignored aetiological factor within a multifactorial theoretical account for the aetiology of mental upset as Chris Cook has suggested.[ 18 ]As Cook elucidates: If mental unwellness and demonization are non merely different names for, or different theoretical accounts of apprehension of the same thing, so we are left so with two possibilities. Either they are unrelated phenomena, or else there is some sort of association between them. Of class, even if they are unrelated, they may still be confused with each other because of superficial similarities. If they are related, nevertheless, we need to understand the nature of the connexion between them. Therefore, we may be faced with a differential diagnostic job. Either we need to separate which of these two entities we are covering with, or else we need to place which is the primary job which led to the other as a secondary complication . Alternatively, possibly we may necessitate to place a 3rd, independent, variable which gives rise to both demonization and mental unwellness.[ 19 ] Sometimes it is non ever easy to pull a clear line between profound spiritual or religious experiences, including seeing visions or hearing voices, and pathological provinces. The mental wellness of some of the Biblical writers, such as the prophesier Ezekiel and the writer of the Book of Revelation becomes questionable if modern psychological parametric quantities are used. It would be interesting to mention to the societal and cultural elements in diagnosing of mental unwellness, which gives another position in the handling of mental wellness service. In the Indian context, spiritualty and faith figure conspicuously in an apprehension of personal troubles and of the boundaries between normal and abnormal or between usual and debatable. Religious experiences and linguistic communication are frequently portion and package of the look of these troubles. Understanding both the person s cultural context and the context of one s ain pattern, so, is indispensable in doing judgements ab out spiritual or religious experiences that may be associated with subjective hurt or observed symptoms. In one civilization, an person who attributes his/her frights and enduring to the threatening or intrusive actions of unseeable liquors may be good within the scope of cultural acceptableness while in others it may clearly go against cultural outlooks. The individual s overall operation is besides a key to spoting the diagnostic significance of religious ideation, emotion, or behavior. Whereas modern readings have sometimes explained away or ignored histories of extrasensory healing, an increasing figure of bookmans peculiarly Borg, Crossan, Boyd, Klutz and others have used cross-cultural surveies of ownership and dispossession to put early Christian histories in a broader context.[ 20 ]One danger of this attack is that bookmans could disregard important differences among how assorted civilizations conceptualise or classify the experiences grouped together under these labels. A important benefit, nevertheless, is that they take us beyond our modern premises that prevent us from sympathetically hearing the ancient texts we are analyzing. Reading these ancient beginnings can convey us closer to how first century audiences understood many of these complaints and their symptoms and how Jesus negotiated the complex sociological deductions of these complaints in footings of conveying about mending in general and markedly, credence of individuals in peculiar. This may be an alternate to the ways that we intuitively read these texts. More by and large, nevertheless, the presently spread outing field of medical anthropology can spread out our cultural skylines in reading mending texts in the Gospels, as John Pilch has emphasised.[ 21 ]Graham Dwyer s anthropological research of supernatural affliction and its intervention in north India besides points out this country of disregard.[ 22 ] Ernst Troeltsch s suggestion of analogical associations may besides be utile. He suggests that, Analogy with what happens before our eyes and what is given within ourselves is the key to unfavorable judgment. Illusions, supplantings, myth formation, fraud, and party spirit, as we see them before our ain eyes, are the agencies whereby we can acknowledge similar things in what tradition hands down. Agreement with normal, ordinary, repeatedly attested manners of happening and conditions as we know them is the grade of chance for the happening that the critic can either admit truly to hold happened or leave on one side. The observation of analogies between past happenings of the same kind makes it possible to impute chance to them and to construe the 1 that is unknown from what is known of the other.[ 23 ] The analogical method of reading affirms the necessity of an extra-textual key while grammatical exegesis tried to work from within the text by analyzing its lingual devices and connexions. However, both methods, frequently applied at the same time, acknowledge the principal spread which exists between the text and the reader and which is to be bridged in the act of reading. Analogical exegesis has one point in its favor, viz. its ability to construe as symbolical all those transitions in the texts which, if taken literally, would go against the moral norms and feelings of the reader. The designation of modern-day parallels means that there can be a conversation between the yesteryear and the present manifestations which can be compared and decisions drawn. Given that these suggestions are valid and that fruitful comparings can be made and readings construed, it is an burdensome undertaking to decode the multiple Biblical narrations and descriptions of demon ownership. It is besides non within the range of the present survey to clarify the comparings of modern differentiations of mental unwellness and the Biblical analogues of mental unwellness. We are here fundamentally concerned with whether Jesus brush with demon ownership has values to be deduced for attention. Therefore two presuppositions in line with the declared methodological analysis can be brought to the text, that: Demon ownership may be understood as an undiagnosed aetiological factor in the many-sided causes of mental unwellness. Demon ownership as an analogy for mental unwellness given its common perceptual experience of stigma and impression of rejection attached to it. One could research these premises in well more item, but I introduce them as one country where Gospels bookmans have so far done merely limited research, yet where I believe that farther research could spread out our culturally conditioned scope of interpretative options. Besides it needs to be remembered as Marshall justly put it that, in the Synoptic healing narratives, [ H ] ealing of the organic structure is neer strictly physical, and the redemption of the psyche is neer strictly religious, but both are combined in the entire rescue of the whole adult male ( sic ) . [ 24 ]There are two constructs of any curative narrative at drama. The first conceives it as a magnetic presentation for the interest of spiritual propaganda, the 2nd one considers it a manner of making off with enduring. It is to make with the 2nd attack that Synoptic healing narratives fit into. Standards of Choice The transition refers to evident mental disablement. Healings affecting other types of disablements, such as disablements of a centripetal, or of unspecified beginning, were non included, since they point to a figure of different issues. The beginning of the disablement is expressed as demon ownership ( while emphasizing the correspondent nature instead than similarity with issues in mental unwellness ) . The transition refers to a peculiar person, instead than to herd or battalions, and therefore involves a direct brush between the affected person ( or a representative of the affected person ) and Jesus. Exposition of Selected Synoptic Healing Narratives This survey seeks to do a part to turn up the societal context of Jesus healing of individuals who were demon possessed and to the apprehension of Jesus healing attack. To get down with, the reported individuality of the demoniacs with whom Jesus came into contact may assist us see how Jesus might hold encountered them. Besides, cognizing the individuality of the demoniacs will lend to the apprehension of the focal point of Jesus ministry. It is presently popular to reason that ownership was caused or at least aggravated by societal tenseness and was a socially acceptable signifier of oblique protest against, or flight from, subjugation. Therefore, demoniacs are seen to be socially vagabond people, driven to the borders of society by the societal and economic crises in Palestine.[ 25 ]However, an scrutiny of the Gospel information modifies this position of the demoniacs with whom Jesus dealt and that non all were from the peripheries of society. The demoniac in the Capernaum temple ( Mk. 1:21-8 ) is described as holding an dirty spirit. The helter-skelter and unpredictable character of demoniacs could intend that at times the adult male may h old showed no inauspicious symptoms of his status. Or, the devil merely revealed itself when confronted by a religious enemy. In any instance, the Gospel tradition portrays a adult male, with no old symptoms of holding an dirty spirit, in the mainstream of Judaic society and take parting in the spiritual life of his community. The narrative of the adult male who was demon-possessed at Gerasenes ( Mk 5:1-20 ) reveals a different image. He lived on the borders of society among the graves, possibly populating in the burial caves. To be unclean meant he would hold been thought to be rejected by God ( californium. Isaiah 35:8 ) , unable to come in the Temple or take part in worship or spiritual repasts. That there had been unsuccessful efforts to keep him ( Mark 5.3-4 ) shows that one manner violent demoniacs were dealt with was by chaining them. The epileptic male child ( Mk 9:14-29 ) appears to hold remained with his household. He besides appears to hold been sufficiently governable for him to attach to his male parent to see the adherents of Jesus. Form critical analysis shows that most narratives follow the typical signifier of the mending narratives really closely: request-response-result.[ 26 ]Jesus is approached in the thick of a crowd by the individual in demand, who kneels before him and asks Jesus whether he is willing to mend him/her. On meeting Jesus, the demoniacs, whether in his presence or distance, de-identify with their pathological province of being and larn to re-identify the ego and state of head ( Mk 1:16, 18, 20 ) in conformity with positive feelings and constructs. The inexplicit quality of life has so been enhanced. This open show of such a province is certainly through whole healing. Yet this may be difficult to come by in present instances as stated earlier. It is in no manner to overlook the positive alteration of being that has been achieved by the individual in attention nevertheless minuscular betterment in his/her appraisal it may be. The function of passionate emotion has been highlighted as one of the cardinal factors in healing.[ 27 ]In such healings, the procedure by which the ego is transformed, enabling the individual to see integrity is clearly shaped by shared constructs and beliefs into which the ill individual is socialised, a procedure that is held to be effected by agencies of emotion, the activation of an emotional charge. However, although individuals in such healing surroundings seem to see emotion and are frequently portrayed as being so, this does non intend that it is present or that it is generated. What is deeply of import is that the emotion is generated or aimed at the unwellness steeping the individual or a peculiar unpleasant state of affairs instead than the individual himself/herself. Such emotions can be interpreted as unacceptance of the position quo and is geared at assisting the individual recover. Graham Dwyer s absorbing observations of evident devil ownerships and its intervention in North India in The Divine and the Demonic sheds priceless visible radiation on the bing context in India where tantriks and vaidyas engage as exorcists.[ 28 ]It is common topographic point in India that people journey to such Centres for intervention of mental unwellnesss. It is besides a reduplication that such afflictions have direct links to the subordination and marginality of individuals seeking remedies. Dwyer is doubting of such cures and sees the exposure of such individuals. He forthrightly locates the accusals of demon ownership as being contrived by the divinators.[ 29 ]It is interesting to observe here that the presiding divinity Balaji ( Hanuman ) of Mehndipur small town where Dwyer has based his research is frequently described as being full of compassion ( karuna ) , as one who removes agony, hurting and hurt. [ 30 ]However the procedure is far from the word karuna as it borders on maltreatment and misrepresentation. In contrast to this, Vermes comparative survey of Jesus mending gives an interesting position. He presents a elaborate survey of the different ways Jesus healed people harmonizing to the Gospel authors, and compares this healing to other Judaic therapists during the same clip period. Vermes thesis is that Jesus healing powers are different from his coevalss, who focused more on certain rites that had to be performed to do the healing work. He remarks: Was Jesus a professional exorcist of this kind? He is said to hold cast out many Satans, but no rite is mentioned in connexion with these accomplishments. In fact, compared with the esotericism of other methods, his ain, as depicted in the Gospels, is simplicity itself. Even in respect to healing, the closest he came to the Noachic, Solomonic and Essene type of remedy was when he touched the sick with his ain spit, a substance by and large thought to be medicative.[ 31 ] However, while Jesus healings were much simpler, Vermes argues there was case in point with the Prophetss of the yesteryear for these simpler healings. The form set by the miracle-working Prophetss Elijah and Elisha was foremost of all applied by post-Biblical tradition to other saints of the biblical yesteryear ; they, excessively, were credited with powers of mending and dispossession deducing non from conjurations and drugs or the observation of luxuriant rubrics, but entirely from address and touch. [ 32 ] Decision While reading the Synoptic healing narrations, it is of import to integrate apprehensions of demon ownership and religion that ancient readers might hold held in relation to finish healing. There may be culture-specific ways by which persons expressed their unwellnesss. This is done while maintaining in head and esteeming the on-going difficult work required for lovingness of individuals get bying with mental unwellness. Jesus performs many different sorts of healings in the Synoptic Gospels. However, non every healing is repeated in each Gospel. Some are described by one or two of the three Synoptics, and merely a smattering are discussed by all three. The mending narratives in peculiar Gospels and its analogues discussed here are chosen harmonizing to the cases where the value of compassion is most explicitly stated. Therefore single healing narrations are sometimes studied independently and parallel narratives are considered where appropriate. Some texts do non explicitly mention compassion. But Jesus finding to assist those in demand shows a great trade of inexplicit compassion. Here, in these cases, there is no expressed statement of the feelings of the therapist, but however is reflected in the really act of the therapist. The analysis and deduction of the healing narratives would seek to convey out the indispensable elements of compassion in the undermentioned chapter.

Cause and Effect of Sleep deprivation

I am a firm believer that many factors such as our culture, our upbringing, and beliefs that we were introduced to all affects what we do, how we live and even what we eat! People in China, Vietnam and Switzerland have been known to eat dogs for thousands of year, some as a source of survival during war and famine while others eat it as a cuisine meaning it is a part of their regular diet! I’ve even read somewhere that people in China have been known to say that a huge reason they consume dog meat is to keep them warm in the harsh winters! Have they heard of a jacket and hot coco? They don’t see it any different from eating cows and pigs, but someone like me thinks that is disgusting! I see people all the time whose treat their dog as their best friend, I’ve heard that when you begin to grow attached to your dog you soon see them as people. I could never imagine it being okay to eat a dog! Functionalism has a lot to do with this also when you come to think of it. This tradition has been the norm in these places for years! It wasn’t until recently that proposed laws have been presented to implement a law that bans the eating of cats and dogs. Americans are truly the people of the land of the free and are strong believers that a dog is a mans best friend, in my opinion. Beating, not feeding, and mistreating dogs are all violations of the law, neglect, and animal abuse! I could not even imagine hearing a story of someone eating one! It is common knowledge here that dogs are like people and should be treated as such and so they are not put on a dinner plate, at least the way I view things. I strongly feel that our individual believes and knowledge is the reason we eat what we eat, they are culturally relative in more ways that one. This definitely is a beautiful thing as everyone can be their own person and act how they feel but this causes cultural diversity conflict all the time! Take this scenario for instance; two people are meeting for a blind date and obviously know nothing about one another. It becomes time to order and the woman is disgusted by the menu because everything is meat and fat of the meat from some type of animal, see, she’s vegetarian. The woman loves animals and does not believe in eating them and this sparks a conversation. Do you think it’s a good one as her date has already ordered the number four, which is the half slab of baby back ribs with chicken shish kabobs, and a side of pork rings? I can imagine that she stormed out of there after giving him a good lecture. Though her actions are understandable they aren’t quite right. Ethnocentrism would be the perfect would to explain that situation! The woman thinks that he beliefs are the right ones and that the man is wrong for eating what he loves to eat! Ethnocentrism is when you believe that your culture, your beliefs are better than everyone else’s and only yours make sense! This is a big reason there is conflict within cultures. Instead of using cultural relativism and trying to understand others point of view or even just accepting it as their choice we fight for what we think is the right way, the only way. Interactionism helps us understand that our mind plays a role in our how what our body does including why we eat or don’t eat what we eat. I love dogs, so I would vomit at the thought of eating one. However, once again this doesn’t mean I should hate someone that eats it as a dish at home. Being open and understanding can truly help because just as the conflict theory states that there is a power struggle between cultures, these cultures have the power to become knowledgeable of one another and ultimately obtain culture relativism.

Information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Information systems - Essay Example Since Nucor Steel believes staunchly in its customers, it is essentially taking care of everyone under this umbrella. These include the shareholders, the communities as well as the people who buy and use their products. At Nucor Steel, organizational culture plays a very significant role towards knowledge creation and knowledge sharing since these dictate the message which is sent out to the customers, shareholders and the general public that makes use of the product after they have bought it. This in turn affects the overall performance of the company because the customers form the basis of the company’s growth and development. Social capital is defined as the networks that are existent amongst the people who reside as well as work in a specific society which essentially allows the society to go about functioning in an effective and efficient way (Morden 1995). From a personal perspective, social capital allows the people to connect with one another on a one to one level whil e in a professional perspective; they work alongside one another to achieve common goals and objectives. This social capital premise therefore decides the manner under which their linkages are ensured in the long run. As an example, Nucor Steel likes its people to connect both on a personal as well as a professional perspective to derive harmony for the business which in turns means strategically aligned better performance models. 2. Traditional financial accounting falls short in measuring the value of a company, especially for assessing strategic value of knowledge and capabilities. Why? Describe how knowledge accounting such as balanced scorecard may be used to solve this problem. Traditional financial accounting has often fallen short of measuring the real value of the company and more so for the sake of determining the long term value of knowledge and its

Objectives of GPFRs in AASB and IASB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Objectives of GPFRs in AASB and IASB - Essay Example It is to be noted that both the boards have set down the objectives of General Purpose Financial Reports on the different basis. The further sections of this report focus on the helpfulness of the objectives set down by International Accounting Standard Board to improve the general purpose financial report. There are several questions that have been raised regarding the usefulness of the objectives. A comparison of the objectives of both the Australian Accounting board and the International Accounting board is made to analyze which one of the two is better suited as objectives for the general purpose financial report. The next section deals with the meaning of general purpose financial report and helps understand the main reason why these reports are produced. General Purpose Financial Reports are prepared to focus on the requirements of users who require understanding the company’s financial status. This report provided the common information to users who cannot prepare speci fic information to meet their needs. There are a few financial entities that are authorized to prepare these reports. Since these reports are very general most of the time these reports focus on general information of the company which benefits only a few groups of people. The main users of General Purpose Financial Reports are divided into three main categories namely. Resource providers like employees, lenders, supplier, lenders, investors, etc. These groups of people are interested in knowing the financial status of the company to understand whether the resources provided are being put to efficient use and if the company is performing economically, efficiently and effectively (CPA Australia, 2002). Recipient of goods and services like consumers, customers, or any person benefiting from the goods or services provided by the reporting entity.  

Synthesis Essay Example for Free

Synthesis Essay In Barbara Ehrenreich’s work of fiction called Serving in Florida, she describes the struggles of an average waitress trying to survive a minimum wage job. In this work, the speaker reveals how workers are not allowed breaks and â€Å"for six to eight hours in a row, you never sit except to pee† (pg. 3). She also talks about the physical pain she’s in from carrying trays saying â€Å"I start tossing back drugstore-brand ibuprofens as if they were vitamin C† (p. 4). Even with all this painstaking work, the speaker can only afford to live in a dingy trailer park because she is working off of minimum wage. As shown by the chart titled Poverty Rate Rises, the number of people living below the poverty line in 2010 was 15. 1% and it continues to increase. People are working hard as shown in Ehrenreich’s Serving in Florida, yet many are unable to rise above the poverty line because minimum wage is too low. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, and nothing helpful is being done to end this. In the satire titled â€Å"Gap Between Rich and Poor Named 8th Wonder of the World†, the author shows his disapproval of the gap through sarcasm. The author describes how many people have attempted to cross the gap but â€Å"only a small fraction have ever succeeded and many have died in the attempt† (para. 11). This sarcastic quote brings out the point that very few are able to rise above poverty and be successful. The author describes how the gap has been preserved â€Å"due to a small group of dedicated politicians and industry leaders† (para. 12). This quote means that because of wealthy politicians and selfish industry leaders who do not want to pay their employees more, the minimum wage is not raised, and the gap remains. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is another satiric piece of work about how England should handle the increasing poverty in Ireland in 1729. Though this was written many years ago, it is still relevant now, because like the English, our government is doing little to help the poor. Swift presents his solution to the hunger problem in Ireland. He suggests that a child is â€Å"most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food† (p. 395). In this essay, Swifts explains how children should be sold as food and that would solve many problems. Swift shows how insensitive and ignorant the government and the wealthy can be of the impoverished population. Instead of resorting to eating children, the minimum wage should be raised so people do not have to worry about how they will be able to afford food and other necessities for survival. The minimum wage should be raised so Americans can live a comfortable life and not worry about where they are going to get their next meal from or where they are going to sleep that night. The evidence provided showed how hardworking Americans deserve to have a higher minimum wage because that is the only way they can live without struggle.

Religion Accroding to Class Structure :: Islam Religion Religious Class Essays

Religion Accroding to Class Structure In The Arab World: Society, Culture and State, Halim Barakat discusses the effect religion has on society within the Arab world. â€Å"Religion is the most significant force shaping Middle Eastern societies,† For Barakat (119). This is because religion is both revolutionary and pacifying. The Middle East is divided into rigid social and economic structures, which creates tension between upper and lowers classes. One tries to perpetuate a system of inequality, which forces the other to cope with poverty. Religion is used to serve the needs of both classes, â€Å"to repress and to resist repression,† in this way (130). The duality of religion can help explain the way modern societies in the Middle East function. Over the course of time, â€Å"Islamic conquests resulted in the accumulation of a great deal of money in the hands of Muslims, so they lost the purity of the prophet† (133). This divided society into classes: the rich were content with their status but the poor were not. Religion was used to,perpetuate the rich’s existence as a class. The economic hardship the poor faced was justified through religion and the possibility of a better afterlife. Egypt’s twenty four districts, for example, were divided between the king, the military and the princes, leaving no land for the people. To justify his class’ status, the king told the people they did have land: â€Å"It was the twenty fifth district, and its place is in the kingdom of heaven† (134). In this instance the king used religion as a â€Å"coercive and repressive force,† to serve his intentions (129). Rationalizing the poor’s poverty and the rich’s power through religion wa s a way Muslim rulers â€Å"legitimize(d) and maintain(ed) the prevailing order† (129). The way classes in the middle east practice religion is highly illustrative of class difference. Barakat makes a distinction between what he labels â€Å"official religion,† and â€Å"popular religion†: the former is practiced in rich, urban areas, and the latter in less affluent, rural ones (126). He says official religion stresses the value of strict interpretations of religious texts, monotheism, an absence of intermediaries between believers and God, and a close connection between religion and the ruling class. Popular religion, on the other hand, values interpretations of religious texts, personified sacred forces, spiritual inner selves, and does seek intermediaries between believers and God. Religion Accroding to Class Structure :: Islam Religion Religious Class Essays Religion Accroding to Class Structure In The Arab World: Society, Culture and State, Halim Barakat discusses the effect religion has on society within the Arab world. â€Å"Religion is the most significant force shaping Middle Eastern societies,† For Barakat (119). This is because religion is both revolutionary and pacifying. The Middle East is divided into rigid social and economic structures, which creates tension between upper and lowers classes. One tries to perpetuate a system of inequality, which forces the other to cope with poverty. Religion is used to serve the needs of both classes, â€Å"to repress and to resist repression,† in this way (130). The duality of religion can help explain the way modern societies in the Middle East function. Over the course of time, â€Å"Islamic conquests resulted in the accumulation of a great deal of money in the hands of Muslims, so they lost the purity of the prophet† (133). This divided society into classes: the rich were content with their status but the poor were not. Religion was used to,perpetuate the rich’s existence as a class. The economic hardship the poor faced was justified through religion and the possibility of a better afterlife. Egypt’s twenty four districts, for example, were divided between the king, the military and the princes, leaving no land for the people. To justify his class’ status, the king told the people they did have land: â€Å"It was the twenty fifth district, and its place is in the kingdom of heaven† (134). In this instance the king used religion as a â€Å"coercive and repressive force,† to serve his intentions (129). Rationalizing the poor’s poverty and the rich’s power through religion wa s a way Muslim rulers â€Å"legitimize(d) and maintain(ed) the prevailing order† (129). The way classes in the middle east practice religion is highly illustrative of class difference. Barakat makes a distinction between what he labels â€Å"official religion,† and â€Å"popular religion†: the former is practiced in rich, urban areas, and the latter in less affluent, rural ones (126). He says official religion stresses the value of strict interpretations of religious texts, monotheism, an absence of intermediaries between believers and God, and a close connection between religion and the ruling class. Popular religion, on the other hand, values interpretations of religious texts, personified sacred forces, spiritual inner selves, and does seek intermediaries between believers and God.

Marketing ethics

To begin this paper I would first give a definition of what Marketing Ethics is. From what I have gathered â€Å"Marketing ethics is the area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing.† (www.wikipedia.org). It is common knowledge that the area of ethics is rather wide. People sometimes confuse ethics with that of morality. Thus, a distinction may be called upon in order to understand things better. Ethics is vaster than that of morality.Ethics is the study of values and customs of a group of people. Ethics is divided into three parts, meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied ethics. Of the three, marketing ethics is under applied ethics. Now, when one talks about morality a clear distinction must be made between ethics and morality. By morality, one means simply a concept under ethics which dwells with matters of right and wrong.Having made the distinction let us now go on to what is meant by applied ethics from w hence marketing ethics is a part. Applied ethics is something which aims to apply theoretical ethics such as utilitarianism, Kantianism among many others to real world dilemmas. (www.wikipedia.org). Such is one of the purposes of this paper. Upon closely examining the way Subway operates we will then go on to look and to evaluate from two different ethical perspectives whether Subway is doing something unethical or not.In this paper I choose two contrasting ethical frameworks that of Utilitarianism and Kantianism, to examine the way Subway operate according to these two ethical standards. I will now move on to introducing the side of the two ethical issues.The philosopher Immanuel Kant developed Kantianism. His ethics is called deontological because it revolves primarily around duty. All actions should be done according to duty because it is what we â€Å"ought to† do. For Kant, all humans are rational being and thus humans ought to know what is good and what is bad which can be seen on his idea of categorical imperative. This is what I meant earlier by doing something because you â€Å"ought to† do it.It is categorical imperative because you have no other choice but to do it, thus the term â€Å"ought†. Kant pays little respect for things done out of emotion or feelings, thus for him, saving a drowning child out of pity is not a moral thing to do. The only moral thing for him are things done out of duty. According to Kant the consequence of an action holds no bearing in making it a moral act. For him humans are different from other animals because of our faculty of reason. Thus, we must treat each and everyone with respect simply on the grounds that s/he is human and thus one does not deserve and should not be treated simply as a means towards an end.The second ethical framework I chose is utilitarianism. In utilitarianism the moral worth of an action is determined by the utility it has to offer. It is the exact opposite of Kantianism in that for a utilitarian sacrificing a person to achieve a better end is not bad. If an action would produce the betterment of the many then it is okay for them to sacrifice a few if such is the only way to save more people. For example, if the world is taken over by aliens and the only way to save it is to offer the hearts of twenty very young children as a sacrifice and to appease the intruders so that they would leave us alone, then the action the world must take, for a utilitarian, is to do the offering as soon as possible.There is no room for pity or the like if such would be the only means there is to save the world. The rights of the twenty chosen children to live would be overridden by the lives of the remaining population of the world. Such is the way a utilitarian point of view operates. Also, for a utilitarian the unique ability of humans is their ability to feel pleasure and pain. So, for a utilitarian the moral thing to do is one that would produce the higher amount of pl easure. The utilitarians believe that the end justifies the means. Seeing the philosophy utilitarians live by one must clearly see that it is the exact anti-thesis of Kantianism.Before analyzing the marketing strategy of Subway one must first have a background of what Subway is. Subway is a multinational restaurant franchise. The foods they offer are mainly that of salads and sandwiches. Subway, a health restaurant which is very concern over diet and nutrition, is founded in 1965 by Fred de Luca and Peter Buck. Subway is very famous and very successful worldwide even though the foods they offer are rather expensive. Their success may be attributed to the fact that they know or they try to know the mentality of their customers. The restaurant is very health conscious which a very common trend is nowadays, with everyone trying their best in order not to be overweight.Having discussed the two ethical frameworks I would later use on this paper, I would now move on to the evaluation of t he marketing strategy of Subway. To begin, I would first give a lay-out of how subway does their marketing. I have read one article of how subway did some of its marketing. On this particular article Subway chose a rather unique form of advertising which shocked and enraged Americans. They managed to enrage the Americans by promoting the film â€Å"Super Size Me† and by using as an advertisement the fat statue of Liberty holding some burgers and fries with a bold headline saying â€Å"WHY ARE AMERICANS SO FAT?† Of course the Americans are known to be people who show great value on their prides thus the advertisement caused them to get mad. There are Americans who believes that the advertisement is immoral.Looking at an unbiased point of view I think that what Subway did is of course insensitive and a little off the mark. However, companies would do everything in their power in order to attract more customers. For that, I would say that Subway indeed succeeding in doing their marketing strategy by catching the eye of the public. In this regard, I would say that Subway did their marketing on a utilitarian basis. What made me think so would be discussed later on this paper.Analyzing what Subway did in the point of view of a believer of the Kantian theory, a Kantian would say that what subway did is not acceptable because they treated the Americans as a means to achieve their end which for a Kantian is a crime. For a Kantian, Subway failed to treat the Americans with the respect due to them as individuals. No matter how great the end result would have been for Subway, fact remains that they used others to obtain their end and it is not acceptable. In a Kantian point of view Subway did something wrong.On a utilitarian point of view however, they would say that if the act Subway did promote greater utility for the most number of people, then Subway could not have did something immoral. Since what they did produced good result then their act is morally acceptable and thus should not be condemned.Subway wishes to attract kids and tweens for their customers. They are promoting healthy food because they are promoting something about anti-obesity. According to Michelle Cordial, â€Å"children don’t want to eat healthy foods although they are talking about healthy food in school†. Teenagers, which make up a large number of their customers, are very much concern with the way they look and they are very much disturbed and conscious with their physical appearance and so I think that Subway chose to promote healthy but delicious food in order to appease and to please teenagers.As for the kids of younger age, I think that their advertisement and their promotion of healthy food are in order to please the parents. As a parent they would want their children to eat healthy foods and which restaurant offers healthy foods if not Subway? I think that something to that effect must be going on, on the minds of those responsible for the decisions being made in the management of Subway. I mentioned earlier that the target market of Subway is teenagers and children.How do they aim to do that? Subway did that by thinking of catchy promos which their clients cannot resist. Such promos includes getting key chains and lanyards on their Kids’ Pak meal and value meals and giving a promo from where one may win a chance to have a trip for six to Vans’ Triple Crown of Surfing competitions which would be held on Hawaii from November-December. It is normal for businessmen to improve the market of their products by thinking of promos which their clients cannot resist. Of course, Subway claims to be different from McDonald, KFC and the like.I think they made that claim because it is common knowledge that foods from such restaurants or fast food chains are high in cholesterol and thus expose their clients into the state of being fat. Claiming to be the same as the fast food chains I mentioned above would contradict the earlier claim made by Subway that they promotes healthy food now, wouldn’t it? I have mentioned earlier that such marketing strategy is very useful because it greatly appeals to their target clients.Of course, Subway is very successful because they are living up to their standards and because they are capable of thinking of gimmicks which would work and which would appeal greatly to their customers. In this line, I think that the strategy used by Subway is great because it helps attain what they set out to attain. I don’t think that Subway made an unwise choice by opening a branch in Iraq. Of course, before embarking upon a certain project a businessman must first check the location, the population and the like in order to see if their products would be accepted in a certain location or not and thus I think that their decision to open a branch there is made on rational grounds and thus not foolish.As I have mentioned earlier, Subway is doing very great strategy in that they always try to know their customers. Thus, needless to say their menu varies from one country to another. If they open a branch in a Muslim country, they would omit pork and ham from their menu. Because of this great sensitivity for their customers, I would not have any doubts whatsoever over their success on Iraq. Subways decision to do â€Å"Giant Subs†, dependent on the customers likes and dislikes shows their sensitivity and the way they value their customers and because of this it is no wonder that Subway is very successful.However, as most businesses are, Subway does have its critics. Eric Schlosser is at odds with the way Subway does their franchising, criticizing the way Subway competes with its competitors. Schlosser does not agree with the way Subway selected its position in order to better compete with their competitors. I’ve also read something about Subway fooling their customers.In the article it is said that Subway is being criticized by nutriti onists despite the fact that Subways front is that they are a health restaurant. The criticisms can be clearly seen in this line, â€Å"Subway sells ‘trick food’ and hides the fact that many of its food items contain high levels of calories, fooling customers by the ‘less than 6 grams of fat’ signs commonly shown in ads or in stores worldwide.† (www.wikipedia.org).I would not condemn Subway for the way they operates because such things are common in businesses. Somehow, businessmen can’t help but make a fool of their clients by giving and showing them what they want to see. It is part of business to appear to be something they are not and I don’t think, not even for a minute, that Subway alone does such tricks.Also, the way Subway competes did not bother me for a minute because I believe that that is what business is all about – competition. Upon analyzing Subway, I came into the conclusion that Subway lives by the maxim â€Å"t he end justifies the means† and thus my belief that they are utilitarians. The cunning Subway showed in fooling their customers made me reflect about a certain philosopher I know named Niccolo Machiavelli. Surely the idea to pretend to be something you’re not if it would keep you in your position originated from Machiavelli himself. Now, these things made me think that not only politicians alone read Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince†. It is very evident that businessmen got some advice from the great Machiavelli.I have made the claim that Subway is more of a utilitarian than a Kantian because of the reasons I have mentioned earlier in this paper. A Kantian would not, even for a second, put profits or benefits over the rights of an individual. Thus, I think Subway is very much a Utilitarian because it is evident in their action that they gives utmost importance to the consequences of their actions. If fooling a customer would yield better profit for them then they would not feel the slightest twinge of remorse upon fooling their customers.Also if people or rather their customers feels safer by eating in Subway even though their show that their products are health foods are nothing but a mere faà §ade then they should still go through it for the reason that it causes or it promotes more pleasure than pain or happiness than suffering. Since, their customers would not want to eat risky foods which would make them fat and would cause them great displeasure then the decision of Subway to fool their customers is not bad, at least for a utilitarian.Having made this paper, I therefore conclude that Subway lives more on a code of ethics which values the consequences of an action. The said ethics is called Utilitarianism. Thus, upon conclusion, Subway lives in the maxim â€Å"the end justifies the means†.Reference:http://www.echeat.com/http://www.chiefmarketer.com/division/consumer-marketing/http://www.subway.com/en-ushttps://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Main_Page Marketing Ethics Marketing Activities —–Groupon Hong Kong Groupon is a deal a day websites, it provides a newly developed business model that offer group coupon per day. The companies provide the coupon of services and products with discount and it works as assurance contract. That means only if the number of people who sign up for the group coupon meet the minimum, the deal will become available. However, there are sharply increasing number of the complaints against the products of the group buying websites in Hong Kong .Groupon Hong Kong as the biggest group buying company, still being criticized as companies without ethical marketing in Hong Kong. This essay has facilitated the discovery of the ethics of Cadbury’s marketing activities. The discussion is mainly focused on marketing ethical of the products of the Groupon Hong Kong. The products will be analyzed based two ethical values which are responsibility and transparency with according to American Marketing Association (AM A). http://hk. apple. nextmedia. com/template/apple/art_main. php? ss_id=20110701&sec_id=4104&art_id=15391305 Responsibility: Groupon Hong Kong failed to accept the consequence of their marketing decision and strategies. On early September Groupon Hong Kong offers group coupon that customers only need to pay 148 for buying Mint Design shoes which priced $400 in the market. However, it fails to provide products to customers within the committed date as the product was shock out. Although there are many customers claimed to refund, the Groupon did not give any properly responds to customers.Instead of refund to customer Groupon offer another model shoes to customers and titled â€Å"upgraded service† without any reason and the agreement of the customers. (Apple Daily Newspaper 2011) The Groupon fail to provide products as they did not set the limit for the coupon appropriated with the inventory of the Mint Design and refuse to deal with the customers’ complaints. Instead of serve the customers to refund; the Groupon forced the customer to accept another â€Å"upgraded product†. According to AMA, it is unethical for Groupon simple ignore the customers’ claim and force them to accept another product.Transparency: http://hk. apple. nextmedia. com/template/apple/art_main. php? iss_id=20110924&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=11867&art_id=15643242 Groupon Hong Kong also failed to create a spirit of openness in marketing operations. Customers MS Ng claims it is different to make appointment for enjoy the service which purchased through Groupon Hong Kong. However, she can easily make the appointment for the service in the same shop as a normal customer who paid for origin price. The Kinki Nail Professional said that they set limited quota daily for the Groupon Hong Kong’s customers.However, the Groupon did not disclose this to customers (Apple Daily Newspaper 2011). According to the AMA, companies have to explain and disclose the risk of the pro duct or service which can determine customers to make the purchase decision. However, Groupon transparent insufficient information about the risk of failure for making booking for the service as the quota set by the suppliers. It is unethical in terms of transparency for group disclose insufficient information. http://hk. apple. nextmedia. com/template/apple/art_main. php? ss_id=20110924&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=11867&art_id=15643242 From above information, it shows that marketing activities are ethical in term of responsibility and transparency. There are increased From my point of view, the Groupon as a leading company in group buying websites should be more responsible for customer needs. Also, Groupon as an intermediate between suppliers and customers, it is necessary for further communication with suppliers. This can help Groupon to provide accurate and comprehensive information of the products and services to customers.

Research Proposal on Obesity

About one in five American kids is overweight enough to be considered obese (Parr 45). Obesity being 20% or more overweight, is considered a disease because it is associated with so many health problems, like heart disease and diabetes. Being obese as a child usually leads into being obese through adulthood. â€Å"One third of adults are obese, and a third of these got that way in childhood† (Parr 53). That is why it is so important to keep kids from becoming overweight and to help obese kids lose weight. The increasing number of obese parents, technology, children having no supervision after school, and the unhealthy content of school lunches are to blame for the increasing number of overweight kids in the United States. A majority of the information used in writing this paper came from obesity source books, magazine articles, and websites devoted to helping children lose weight. Decades ago children would play tag, ride bikes, and participate in other outdoor after school activities following a nutritious snack prepared for them by one of their parents. Today, most children come home to an empty house, snack on any junk they can find, and watch television or play video games until their parents get home hours later. With no supervision, who can blame them? The foods offered at schools have changed as well. Candy, chips, and soda are a favorite of most children when eating their school lunch. Vending machines are now in most cafeterias today too, making it even easier for children to snack before and after lunch. America is one of the most overweight populations in the world, and we all wonder why. The following paper examines the root causes of this public health problem, answers the question of â€Å"why†, and offers possible solutions, to this crisis. Society as a whole is more overweight than ever before, causing their poor eating and exercising habits to be passed down onto their children. Of course genetics plays a part in some cases of obesity children, but for the most part, it is really more an issue of the habits that kids pick up from their parents. If both parents are obese, their child has an 80% chance of being obese, if one parent is obese, their child has a 40% chance of being obese, and if neither parent is obese, their child has only a 5% chance of being obese† (Bray 68). Shared family behaviors such as eating and activity habits influence a childs body weight. When a child sees their mom or dad eating unhealthy foods all the time, and snacking throughout the day, that child will get used to that eating pattern and follow in the footsteps of their parents. Overweight parents also tend to cook high calorie foods and order out more than thinner parents. This is bad because not only does that child eat foods high in fat throughout their whole childhood, but they also pick up the high-fat style of cooking as well. If a parent is overweight, it might not be as huge of a priority for them to get their child into shape. Even if it is, the extent to which they can exercise with them is limited. It is a key factor when your child is overweight to get them active as well as to cut down the amount of fat in their diet. But you must carefully cut down the fat in their diet. Reducing fat is a good way to cut calories without depriving your child of nutrients. Simple ways to cut the fat in your family’s diet include eating low-fat or even better, non-fat dairy products, poultry without the skin, and lean meats, and low-fat or fat-free breads and cereals. Making small changes to your family’s diet is a good, healthy way to help your child lose weight. It is also good to involve your child in food shopping and preparing meals. This teaches children about nutrition, and gives them a feeling of accomplishment. Physical education is only part of the solution. â€Å"Just as parents reinforce good reading habits, they also should encourage their children to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives† according to Judy Young, executive director of NASPE. The national Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) in Reston, Va. , recently issued guidelines recommending that children ages six to eleven exercise a minimum of thirty to sixty minutes per day. The problem with this is that in today’s lifestyle, it is the norm for both parents to have careers and work full time. This means that they’re children will come home to an empty house after school. Our society consists of households where both parents work and their children are left to fend for and feed themselves after school. According to a new Urban Institute report, â€Å"An estimated four million grade-school age children are regularly without adult supervision. â€Å" Another shocking fact is that in California, six percent of 6-9 year olds and thirty two percent of 10 – 12 year olds average five hours unsupervised each week, or with a sibling under the age of 13. Research shows that children who spend a lot of time alone are more likely to have social and academic problems (HHS Press Office). When children come home from school the first thing on their agenda is food. What does the normal everyday child reach for when mom and dad aren’t around? A nutritious snack, or the cookie jar and a bag of Doritos. Marvin Moss, Capital-Journal columnist, states that â€Å"To many of you, This may not seem like a major event, but put yourself in a kid’s shoes. â€Å" â€Å"I know when mine come home from school, the first thing they want is food. â€Å" â€Å"I call their after school eating habit pre-dinner. â€Å"If one of us parents wasn’t home when they arrived home from school, how would they be made to eat a healthy pre-diner snack? â€Å" Snacks take up most of the calories in children’s diets and lead to them becoming overweight. â€Å"Total daily intake from snacks among children has risen from an average of 450 to 600 in the last two decades† ,according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While some snacks are healthy for children and give them nutrients and energy, most snacks are usually a source of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods like soda, potato chips, and cookies. After they have picked out their snack, they go for the television and sit on the couch while all of their favorite shows come on. Its either the television or the computer or multiple video games. There are so many alternative choices for kids nowadays other than physical activities. There is always a new video game or an upgraded computer toy, and not to mention all of the new shows that come out every season. Along with the hundreds of shows that kids watch after school come the numerous food commercials advertising pizza, soda, and candy making kids minds turn to food yet again. Technology has advanced so much in the last few decades coming out with many new high-tech, entertaining things for kids to play with. All of the new technology is fascinating, but is it a coincidence that America’s weight problem is expanding along side all the new technology coming out? NO. It is no coincidence. â€Å"In America, kids spend an average of 21 hours per week in front of the television, and if a child adds 5 hours to that per week, he or she is ten percent more likely to become obese† (Parr 97). Children are larger because American life has changed. More children sit in front of video monitors than on bicycles or playing sports. According to a Nielsen Media Research Report, â€Å"Aside from the time kids spend watching television ,they spend another three to four hours daily with the internet and video games† (Karas 47). According to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics, in 1999 over 9 million –or 15 percent– of American children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 18 were overweight, or triple what the percentage was in 1990† (Parenting Today ). This problem is going to continue to rise over the years if our country doesn’t put more effort into stopping it. Leaving your child unattended after school and during the summer is a factor not as harmless as everyone thought. Lois Salsbury, president of Children Now, states that â€Å"While the United States has restructured its economy, analysis of the impact on working families is still in its infancy. † â€Å"Hundreds of thousands of children are spending time alone. † â€Å"Is this what we want in terms of safety and developing our children? † Our nation is developing as our parenting skills are deteriorating. We want so much to be wealthy and powerful that we neglect to realize what it is doing to our children. Parents need to realize what is happening to their children and gain control over what their kids eat and how much time they spend sitting around if this problem is going to be reversed. Another area that needs focusing on is the food available for kids to buy while at school. U. S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, has declared childhood obesity a national epidemic (Mayer 23). The Oakland School District banned the sale of sugary drinks and candy in vending machines. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the country, followed several weeks later (27). School lunches are not meeting up to the nutritious standards that they should. Vending machines are in almost every elementary school offering kids the opportunity to eat candy, chips, and soda at any time of the school day. The lunches offered usually have one healthy meal and the rest consist of things like pizza, cheese steaks, and mozzarella sticks. Is this what we want our kids eating all day? Legislators introduced several bills aimed at eefing up physical education requirements and fixing up school lunch programs. Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill in October that prohibits the sale of junk food in elementary schools and bans soda at middle schools (32). This needs to be done everywhere. There is no questions that school meal programs have a powerful influence on children’s future food choices. † More than half of youth in the United States eat one to three major meals in school† (Owl 27). Adequate nutrition throughout the day plays an important performance at school and enables children to make wise choices when eating. Kids who go hungry or are only allowed a hurried meal through the morning or afternoon are likely to arrive at home after school extremely hungry. This can lead to overeating particularly high-fat, easy to prepare snack foods. This pattern of behavior is difficult to change and can lead to obesity. â€Å"Providing healthy meals at a pleasant environment at school is an important part of obesity preventionâ€Å" (29). Many school lunch programs offer fast food as an alternative. Limit your childs participation in unhealthy school lunch programs. Parents should ban together and speak with their school boards about improving school lunch programs. School districts should remove the vending machines from their schools and make the lunches offered healthier. So much money is spent every year on obesity programs for children and all that money could be saved if schools would just do their part in solving the problem. â€Å"There is no more compelling reminder of the health implications than the $127 million spent each year in hospital costs related to childhood obesityâ€Å", according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Some things are being done to start solving the problem but not enough. If everyone works together this battle can be overcome. The increasing number of obese parents, technology, unsupervised children after school, and unhealthy school lunches are to blame for the increasing number of overweight kids in the United States. These factors can all be helped and prevented. This problem must be fixed before it gets worse. Our nation must united and work together for the sake and well being of our children.

High School Courses for Careers in Architecture

High School Courses for Careers in Architecture Architecture is usually not part of a high school curriculum, yet the skills and discipline needed to begin a career as an architect are acquired early on. Many paths can lead to an architectural career - some roads are traditional and others are not. If you are a high school student considering a career in architecture, consider taking the following steps to prepare for your future profession. Key Takeaways Make sure your high school curriculum includes humanities, mathematics, science, and art courses.Carry a sketchbook and use it to record notes and sketches of your surroundings. Even a family vacation to Disneyland is an opportunity to observe new building styles.Consider attending an architecture camp to develop your skills. Plan to Pursue Higher Education College is the traditional route to an architecture career. While still in high school, you should plan a strong college preparatory program. Youll make important connections (fellow students and professors) in what is called higher education, and the university program will help you become a registered architect. An architect is a licensed professional, like a medical doctor or public school teacher.  Although architecture was not always a licensed profession, most of todays architects have been to college. A degree in architecture prepares you for any number of careers, if you decide the architecture profession is not for you - the study of architecture is interdisciplinary. High School Courses to Prepare for College Humanities courses will sharpen your communication skills and your ability to put ideas into words and concepts into historic context. Presentation of a project is an important business aspect of the profession and vital when working in a team of professionals. Math and science courses help develop problem-solving techniques and logic. Studying physics will get you familiar with important concepts related to force, such as compression and tension. Tensile architecture, for example, stands up because of tension instead of compression. The PBS website for Building Big has a good introduction and demonstration of forces. But physics is old school - necessary, but very Greek and Roman. These days you want to know about the changes in Earths climate and how buildings must be built to stand up to extreme weather above the Earths surface and seismic activity below. Architects must keep up with building materials, too - how does the new cement or aluminum affect the environment during its entire life cycle? The research in the growing field of Materials Science affects a broad range of industries. Research in what architect Neri Oxman calls Material Ecology explores how building products can be more biological in nature. Art courses - drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography - will be helpful in developing your ability to visualize and conceptualize, which are both important skills to an architect. Learning about perspective and symmetry is invaluable. Drafting is less important than being able to communicate ideas through visual means. Art history will be a lifelong learning experience, as movements in architecture often parallel visual art trends. Many people suggest that there are two avenues to an architecture career - through art or through engineering. If you can have a grasp of both disciplines, youll be ahead of the game. Electives to Take in High School In addition to required courses, the optional classes you choose will be extremely helpful in preparing for a career in architecture. Computer hardware is less important than knowing about how software works and what you can do with it. Consider the simple value of keyboarding, as well, because time is money in the business world. Speaking of business, think about an introductory course in accounting, economics, and marketing - especially important when working in your own small business. Less obvious choices are activities that promote cooperation and consensus. Architecture is a collaborative process, so learn how to work with many different kinds of people - groups that have common objectives to attain the same goal or make one product. Theater, band, orchestra, chorus, and team sports are all useful pursuits...and fun! Develop Good Habits High school is a good time to develop positive skills that you will use your entire life. Learn how to manage your time and get your projects done well and promptly. Project management is a huge responsibility in the architects office. Learn how to get it done. Learn how to think. Keep a Journal of Travel and Observations Everyone lives somewhere. Where do people live? How do they live? How are their spaces put together compared with where you live? Examine your neighborhood and document what you see. Keep a journal that combines sketches and descriptions - pictures and words are an architects lifeblood. Give your journal a name, like LAtelier, which is French for the workshop. Mon Atelier would be my workshop. Along with art projects you may do in school, your sketchbook could become part of your portfolio. Also, take advantage of family travel and be a keen observer of your surroundings - even a water park has organizational design and color, and Disney theme parks have loads of different architecture. Brenner Motorway Viaduct at Gossensaas, Southern Tyrol, in the Alps, Italy. Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images (cropped) Observe how problems are solved. Examine how architects, designers, and urban planners have solved the problems of people living and working on the planet and in space (for example, the International Space Station). What choices do governments make about the built environment? Dont simply be critical, but come up with better solutions. Do towns and cities seem planned or have they gotten bigger by simply adding on, in all directions including skyward? Are designs chosen because they fit into their surroundings or because they dignify the architects vision of engineering or beauty? The Brenner motorway bridge is the most important thruway over the central Alps, connecting the Austrian region of Tyrol with Italys Southern Tyrol - but does the roadway destroy the natural design of its environment and the place where people have chosen to live quietly? Can you make an argument for other solutions? In your studies youll also discover the politics of architecture, especially when it comes to the power of eminent domain. What Others Say Since 1912, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has been a leading organization in architectural education. They have written that aspiring architects should learn as much as possible about the field of architecture, by talking to architects and by visiting architectural offices. When you have a research project for a humanities course, keep in mind the profession of architecture. For example, a research paper for an English Composition class or an interview project for European History are good opportunities to get in touch with architects in your community and find out what influences their thinking. Research historic architects of the past to gain a broader perspective of how the profession has changed - construction materials, engineering, and a sense of what is beautiful (aesthetics). Architecture Camps Many schools of architecture, both in the U.S. and abroad, provide summer opportunities for high school students to experience architecture. Talk with your high school guidance counselor about these and other possibilities: Career Discovery, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, IndianaTeen ArchStudio Summer Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CaliforniaSummer Academy, Boston Architectural College, MassachusettsSummer Design Academy, The University of North Carolina at CharlotteArchitecture Summer at Penn, University of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaYouth Adventure Program, Texas AM University, College Station, TexasSummer College for High School Students, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New YorkSummer Pre-College Program at Tulane School of Architecture, New Orleans, LouisianaSummer College at Cornell University, Ithaca, New YorkCU Summer Scholars, Clemson University, Clemson, South CarolinaOngoing Programs at Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin, Spring Green, WisconsinProject Pipeline Architecture Camps, The National Organization of Minority Architects What if You Dont Want to Go to College? Only registered architects can put RA after their names and really be called architects. But you dont have to be an architect to design small buildings. Maybe being a professional home designer or building designer is what you really want to do. Although all of the courses, subjects, and skills listed here are equally valuable to the professional home designer, the certification process is not as rigorous as licensure to become an architect. Another avenue to a career in architecture is to seek a career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The USACE is part of the U.S. Army but also hires civilian employees. When talking with an Army Recruiter, ask about the Army Corps of Engineers, in existence since the American Revolution. George Washington appointed the first engineer officers of the Army on June 16, 1775. Connections A book such as The Language of Architecture: 26 Principles Every Architect Should Know by Andrea Simitch and Val Warke (Rockport, 2014) will give you the scope of what an architect needs to know - skills and knowledge that are not always obvious in the profession. Many career advisors mention hard skills like math and soft skills such as communication and presentation, but what about tropes? Tropes build connections between many aspects of our world, write Simitch and Warke. Books such as these help you make connections between what you learn in the classroom and the real world profession of designing and building things. For example, you learn about irony in English class. In architecture, ironies are most effective in challenging beliefs that may be entrenched, or in overturning formal complexes that have been overcome by facile interpretations, write the authors. What you need to know to become an architect is as diverse as architecture itself. Other useful books for students interested in a career in architecture are the how-to types of books  - Wiley publishers have a number of career-oriented books, such as Becoming an Architect by Lee Waldrep (Wiley, 2014). Other handy books are ones written by real, live, practicing architects, such as Beginners Guide: How to Become an Architect by Ryan Hansanuwat (CreateSpace, 2014). Make a smooth transition from high school to college life by understanding the different types of architecture programs available. The course of study in colleges can vary from place to place, just like house styles can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. You dont need to be a mathematician to be an architect. Source Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), High School Preparation, https://www.acsa-arch.org/resources/guide-to-architectural-education/overview/high-school-preparation; https://www.studyarchitecture.com/

Anti-Piracy Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anti-Piracy Laws - Essay Example Following an audit by the Business Software Alliance, in which our organization was found guilty of violating copyright laws and of running unlicensed, pirated, software on some of its computers, the ICT department experimented with both software and hardware deterrence mechanisms prior to implementing the former. With the proliferation of peer-to-peer software and the growing ease of downloading and installing pirated software, organizations often confront serious difficulties in implementing anti-piracy regulations. Certainly, there are few, if any, organizations which do not have clear-cut anti-piracy policies but employees often assume that they will not be caught.' The fact is that they can very well be, with the organization left liable for the payment of the resultant fines and vulnerable to lawsuits by the software producers in question (Kizza, 2002). It is for this reason that policies have to be complimented with hardware or software-based deterrent techniques. Following a February 2006 audit by the Business Software Alliance, our organization decided that since policies were not effectively deterring employees from infringing anti-piracy laws, software and hardware mechanisms were required. A thorough study of the advantages and disadvantages of each was conducted prior to implementing software solutions. Special purpose hardware is commonly use... Special purpose hardware is commonly used in proof of ownership, to provide secure data storage and to provide a secure execution context for security-sensitive applications. Such hardware is typically more cumbersome for the user and more expensive than software based techniques. 2.1.1 Dongles A dongle is a hardware device distributed with software. Possession of the device proves ownership of software. A dongle typically connects to an I/O port and computes the output of a secret function. While running, the software periodically queries the dongle. If the communication fails or the results of the query are wrong, the software reacts appropriately (Craig and Burnett, 2005). There are three major drawbacks to dongles. These are cost, impracticality and vulnerability. Dongles are expensive at $10 per unit and distributing them with software is not practical. Thirdly, the attack point is clearly defined since the interface to the device is a hardware interface. This means that the signals passing over the interface must conform to the software standards. This gives attackers and analysis advantage (Craig and Burnett, 2005). 2.1.2 Tamperproof CPUs Tamperproof CPUs aid in piracy prevention by providing a secure context and/or secure data storage. By executing the software in a secure environment, the pirate is unable to gain access to the software. This technique prevents the attacker from observing the behavior of the software which means he is unable to identify portions of the software to remove. The obvious drawback to this technique is the cost of requiring all users to have tamperproof hardware (Flynn, 2005). 2.1.3 Smartcards Smartcards store cryptographic keys for use in authentication and authorization systems. A typical smartcard

Introduction to Human Resource Management Essay - 1

Introduction to Human Resource Management - Essay Example that employee-related laws were followed, and that all staff members were following the company’s policies and procedures (Cafà © Co Case Study, 2009). Also, the company’s hard HRM approach made the HR manager less of a director of HR but more of a policy-maker to make sure employees followed the company rules and regulations. Allen (2007) also describes the soft HRM approach which deals with issues of human behaviour, making sure that people are led rather than managed, are communicated with effectively and are motivated by leadership. The soft HRM approach views staff members are being important to meeting strategic goals and should be treated as valuable assets to achieving what the company wants to accomplish. One aspect of the Harvard model of HR outlines that people should be given rewards for their support to meeting goals (HRM Guide, 2007). After the review of Cafà © Co HR policies, this approach was undertaken with performance management systems and attempts to increase pay. The HR manager role, now as a member of the Board, already has a difficult time trying to improve existing HR policy at the company. Being in such a high position does not give Kim first-hand access to in-store employee behaviours, skills and abilities, therefore the line manager must take on this role in order to provide fair and accurate employee assessments. One HR expert offers that in order to have a good HR policy, line managers should â€Å"interview job applicants, provide training, carry out disciplinary procedures, and provide performance ratings† (Kleiman, 2007). Because there is already such a high turnover rate at Cafà © Co due to HR being unable to perform these tasks, it is both logical and benefitting to the business to have line managers take on these responsibilities since they are the regular point of contact for in-store staff activities, skills and behaviours. Kim simply cannot do this with her busy job role. Ulrich’s first role is being a strategic partner,