Experience of Facing or Witnessing Discrimination Personal Statement

Experience of Facing or Witnessing Discrimination - Personal Statement Example The researcher presents his reason for choosing the Coast Guard department as a field of a profession as that he wants to abolish the act of discrimination that causes most of the people to gain a negative impact of the American society. The researcher tells that he has witnessed some acts of discrimination that led him to choose, coast guard as his profession. Here, the author will describe one of them. Originally, the researcher is a Hispanic and he meets with a lot many of people of his race. The researcher happened to meet two boys who were of about his age. They were Hispanic too. The act of illegally crossing the U. S. border caused them to face swear moral and judicial punishment from the society. Although, both of them were subjected to legal punishment, yet the researcher felt a bit of discriminating behavior of the society towards them. Actually, as the author noticed that they were not only subjected to judicial castigation but also to a discriminating behavior from the pe ople in their surroundings. This incident led him to think about the issue deeply. The researcher tried to recognize the factors involved in the act of discrimination. The conclusions told him that the basic factor in the treatment of illegally migrated groups is the treatment of the department directly dealing with such people. The researcher, therefore, concluded that, if the author is to abolish discrimination from the society by playing his part, being a coast guard will provide him the best opportunity to do so. Now, the author is ambitious to join the coast guard department, so that he may be able to deal with illegally migrated people in a new way. The researcher knows that he may not be able to bring a revolution in the department, yet the author is energetic to play his part in abolishing discrimination from the society.

Why Some Employers Are Reluctant to Address the Issue on Workplace Term Paper

Why Some Employers Are Reluctant to Address the Issue on Workplace Bullying - Term Paper Example A good complaint resolution scheme should include an option for the employee to talk directly to the bully with or without mediation. On the other hand, if the employee prefers to let the company mediate, he or she should be given the option to request for informal or formal resolution of the issue. An informal process of resolving issues of bullying in the workplace is much faster and less stressful for everyone (Uff, 2006). This approach is usually effective to resolve informal complaints of an employee. Simple incidents of bullying that do not require the company to effect punishments against the employee or employees involved should be resolved through an informal process (Uff, 2006). In most cases, â€Å"an informal resolution process takes the no-blame approach to the issue and both parties are asked to come to an amicable agreement to refrain from committing any acts that constitute bullying towards each other† (Ontario Safety Association For Community and Health Care, 2009).While the informal resolution is quick and does not carry with it certain punishments, a formal resolution process is usually associated with the exhaustive investigation, mediation and giving appropriate punishments against the guilty party (Ontario Safety Association For Community and Health Care, 2009). The formal resolution process usually involve (a) the lodging of a formal complaint, (b) an initial response where the human resource officer or any designated person meets separately with the parties involved in the allege bullying incident, (c) the appointment of an investigator to look into the matter, (d) the appointment of an investigator after the initial meeting with the parties, (e) conduct of the actual investigation, (f) presentation of findings, (g) appeal on the findings and decision of the investigating team, and (h) final resolution (Ontario Safety Association For Community and Health Care, 2009).  

Analysis of Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama

Analysis of Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama Assignment 03 Part 1 The Dalai Lama Read the following extracts from the Dalai Lamas autobiography Freedom in Exile. How does the way the Dalai Lama presents himself here relate to his reputation as discussed in AA 100 Book 1, Chapter 7? Dalai Lama describes himself as a simple monk from Tibet. I am no one special (Reading 7.2 in Waterhouse, 2008, p.224). No one had any idea that I might be anything other than an ordinary baby and certainly my family had no idea that I would be proclaimed Dalai Lama. We will be looking at the connection between the present-day Dalai Lama and his predecessors, as well as the reason why Tibetans regard him as a living Buddha. The most important Lama for the Tibetan is the Dalai Lama who has the highest religious status of its kind, and as politics and religion is combined in the Tibetan society, the Dalai Lama is also head of state. According to Tibetan tradition, it is believed the Dalai Lamas has the ability to choose their next incarnation, and even leave symbols and directions for the Panchen Lama, who is responsible for leading the search party to find the successor. Around the time when the present Dalai Lama was around three years old, the Government sent out a search party to look for the next incarnation of the previous Thirteenth Dalai Lama. One of the signs after the Thirteenth Dalai Lama had died, was that the head of his embalmed body had turned from facing south to north-east. Another sign was when Tibets Regent, a senior lama, went to Lhamoi Lhatso, a small oracle lake to seek visions to assist in the search and where he received clear visions of Tibetan letters and images. The method for identifying a reincarnated Lama is not specific. Different combination of divination is being used like interpreting dreams and omens, and consulting the Council of oracles. In the DVD-Video, (Searching for a Reincarnated Lama), we can see the Nechung Oracles medium be in a trance. This Buddhist ritual might in the western world be seen as both frightening and superstitious. However, this process is normal within Buddhist tradition and the way they con sult the Chief Oracle on important matters and finding the Dalai Lamas. The Tibetans believe Dalai Lama is a living Buddha as well as the religious figure of Bodhisattwas of compassion, whose qualities are wisdom, generosity and compassion. Free from anger, hatred and greed. Being a monk and teacher together with the combination of having the political role as the head of the Tibetan state, he has got the reputation as a god-king. (Waterhouse, 2008, p. 211) Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and has become a symbol for freedom. His gentle and charismatic way which have won him a large number of followers in the West. Among the Tibetans however, Dalai Lamas words still remains law, and he can be both severe and strict about behaviour and beliefs. The reputation of Dalai Lama in China is somehow very different. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959 during a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He was granted asylum in Dharamsala in northern India which has become home to the Tibetan Government-in-exile. The Chinese embassy (in Reading 7.5), points out that the local government of Tibet headed by the Dalai representing feudal serfdom under theocracy and has long since been replaced by the democratic administration by the Tibetan people themselves and the destiny and future can no longer be decided by the Dalai Lama and his clique. (Reading 7.5 in Waterhouse, 2008, p. 228). Tibet is still under Chinese rule and the majority of people in Lhasa are Chinese, ruled by a Chinese selected Panchen Lama which of whom the Dalai Lama does not recognize as it is by tradition the Dalai Lama who is responsible for the search of the new Panchen Lama and vice versa. This fact has great implications when it comes to searching for the successor of a particular person, and if I die before Tibetans regain their freedom, they might not have use for a Dalai Lama anymore, the Dalai Lama points out. (words 658) Bibliography Dalai Lama-Searching for a reincarnated Lama, (2008) AA100 DVD Video Waterhouse, H. (2008) The Dalai Lama in Moohan, E. (ed.), Reputations (AA100 Book 1), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 197-229. Part 2 the Faber Book of Beasts Compare the following poems: The Mouses Nest by John Clare and To a Mouse, On Turning her up in her Nest, With the plough, November, 1785 by Robert Burns, from The Faber Book of Beasts. In no more than 600 words compare and contrast how these poems depict mice. In John Clares poem we are having the speaker describing in detail an incident on a farm, probably a childhood memory. The speaker finds a ball of grass among the hay and wishfully hopes to find a bird, but instead of a bird, a mouse comes out with all her babies hanging at her teats. Shocked and disgusted by the look of something so odd and so grotesque (line 7) he runs away. In Burnss poem on the other hand the speaker is clearly a man, a farmer, who accidently destroys a mouses nest when ploughing the field. Feeling guilty, he assures the mouse that he will not try to kill it. The whole poem is written as a speech, as the farmer is speaking to the mouse, whilst John Clares, is more of a written observation from a memory. John Clare has written his poem in a non-conventional sonnet form. There are 14 lines within this single stanza poem and grouped into 7 rhyming couplets. The lines in this single stanza are of similar length, and with an end rhyme scheme of AABBCCDDEEFFGG, which gives the effect of strong sense of order and regularity. The rhythm is influenced hugely by the use of iambic pentameter with the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. Although there is no formal punctuation it feels easy to read, as the phrases finish at the end of the line. Robert Burnss is a vernacular poem, and in contrast to Clares single stanza, contains 8 stanzas. Each stanza has 6 lines, of which line 4 and 6 are deliberately shorter. The rhyme scheme is AAABAB, and mainly iambic pentameter. The rhythm remains the same throughout the poem. Burns has used a combination of exclamation marks, commas, periods, colons and semicolon. The language in Clares poem is largely simple and colloquial with the use of some dialect words like proged, agen and oer. The imagery is simple and familiar, described merely as an observation. After the mouse has returned to her nest, everything goes back to normal, describing the surroundings and finishing off with; And broad old cesspools glittered in the sun (line 14). In contrast to Clare, Burns has used lots of different literary devices when writing his poem. o, what a panics in thy breastie! (line 1-2), the sentence finishes with an apostrophe, a common device used in poetry when a poet addresses something that is not able to respond. The repeated B sound in bickering brattle (line 4) is an example of alliteration to describe the angry mouses chattering. Burn does not only personify the mouse, he also personifies the pattle as a murdring pattle (line 6), though we know, the speaker would be the one to murder the mouse, not the pattle. The speaker draws a connection between himself and the mouse through analogy when he says; At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An fellow-mortal! (line 11-12) Meaning that they both were born on earth, and are both mortal, so they should get along. The farmer speaks to the mouse as if it were a human and compares his troubles to those of the mouses. But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane (line 37, stanza 8) Pointing out that; the mouse is not alone of wanting to plan for the future, but sometimes things do not go according to plan, whether you are a mouse or man. Still, thou art blest, compard wi me! (line 43, stanza 8) Saying the mouse is better off, because the mouse lives in the present moment, whilst himself, is looking back at the past with regret, and into the future with fear. In short, both poems are depicting farm life and mice, however, Burns decided to romanticise his encounter with the mouse, whilst Clare on the other hand, wanted to show that nature is what it is, and nothing more, subsequently he saw no reason to humanise his mouse like Burns has done with his mousie. (words 659)

training of an athlete Essay -- essays research papers

Training of an Athlete   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When training a football player, or any athlete for that matter you want to make sure that they are not smoking. Smoking is very harmful and addictive to the body and causes increased airway resistance. When smoking is done it takes 24 hours to clear the poisons from 1 cigarette. The effects of smoking can be damaging for life by causing heart disease, cilia damage, throat cancer and other many life-treating effects. If an athlete is smoking the results of smoking they will see will be decreased endurance, decreased ventilation, decreased Max VO2, and decreased oxygen capacity. For athletes to be able to perform at their best it is important for them not to be smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When training or playing games endurance athletes will sometimes experience something that is called â€Å"second wind†. Second wind is the feeling of relief upon making the necessary metabolic adjustments to a heavy exercise intensity. The major change that takes place for â€Å"second wind† to happen is when there is a changeover from labored breathing which is called (dyspnea) to normal breathing which is called (eupnea). This respiratory adjustment however is only a reflection of metabolic adjustment to the exercise intensity. The way that â€Å"second wind† is most likely explained is by a change in skeletal muscular efficiency as increasing muscular temperature brings it on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When an athlete is training there is some type of pain experienced in the lower lateral aspects of the thoracic wall this pain is called â€Å"stitch in the side†. This is caused by the body making a respiratory adjustment to an intense exercise such as distance running. A â€Å"stitch in the side† usually occurs when the body is adjusting to new metabolic demands, it is believed that ischemia of either the diaphragm or intercostal muscles are the cause. Scientist have not been able to find any scientific evidence to explain the cause of â€Å"stitch in the side†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Innervation is the stimulation of the heart and how the heart is stimulated. The heart is stimulated by four parts starting first with the SA node- a wave of excitation begins in the sa node and travels throughout the heart. The wave of excitation is then sent by way of ephaptic conduction in the atria to the AV node, this is located at the ... ... sprinting a 40 and then walking a 40.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The frequency training for interval training is as follows. For an endurance athlete distance and time is the key to glycogen storage, never use both distance and time training in the same day, 4-7 day workout plan is usual for about 12 to 16 weeks, quarter mile intervals are most widely used training method. For a speed athlete a 3 week plan should be used, must build up ATP a CP stores, for sprinters it is not uncommon to work 5-6 time a week, year round hard and easy day alternate is most widely used training method with a pulse vs. time and recovery plan. Cross training is also another form of training that can be used for either endurance or speed athletes, when cross training make sure you pick a sport similar to the sport your are training in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When taking and using pulse as an indicator it is important to remember these guidelines; never use thumb, the carotid or radial pulse is acceptable, use light pressure when taking pulse, must take pulse within 10 seconds of stopping, allow recovery no longer than a heart rate of 132, and most important never work of a heart rate of 180.

How do culture and society relate to each other Essay

What is culture and what is society? Even though these two definitions are closely related to each other, culture and society is not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly interact with each other. People in societies also generally perceive that their society is distinct from others in terms of shared traditions and expectations. In the same time these two definitions are inevitable connected because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society. Cultures are not the products of lone individuals. They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language or government. To summarize, a culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society. 2. 5 Critically analyse the application of the terms ‘culture’ and ‘society’ to every day life. If I should analyse the terms ‘culture’ and ‘society’ to every day life, first of all I should state the fact I am foreigner living in different country and because of that inevitable I have a different perception about the things around me in comparison with the locals. Customs and social patterns which seems perfectly normal for the others at times can feel actually pretty strange and not at place for me. British society differs widely from the society I was living in back home; it consists of different rules and patterns of public behavior. That’s why it’s only natural for me to experience numerous cultural differences daily. For example in British society manners are very important and people place considerable value on punctuality. In England, people make great effort to arrive on time. If you agree to meet friends at exact time you can be sure they will be on time. It is often considered impolite to arrive even a few minutes late. If you are unable to keep an appointment, it is expected that you call the person you are meeting. In my country though nobody will pay attention if you are late a little for appointment. Especially when you are meeting with friends or even going to a party often a late arrival can considered to be very fashionable. Because of cultural differences sometimes it can occurred misunderstandings, in order to avoid that I need to be conscious of my actions in my every day life. 2. 6 Distinguish between personal perception and objective patterns. Personal perception is referred to the way how you see the world. It is related to the subjective, culture and cultural interpretation. Objective patterns are the patterns of behaviour, norms and rules which are imposed by the society and it is referred to the way how society see the world. Sometimes the personal perception can be in conflict with the objective patterns. One example of it is the Mormons. Mormons believe that men can marry as many women as they wish. From their point of view polygamy or plural marriage is acceptable and it is considerable for normal behavior. Ofcourse this is not how larger society sees it. Society rejects the idea strongly and considers polygamous relationships for illegal. Even though now polygamy is forbidden in all states of America, over a century ago it wasn’t prohibited in Utah until 1857 when the United States federal government forced Mormons to abandon the practice. According Wikipedia, the Mormons eventually complied and formally abolished the practice in 1890, in a document labeled ‘The Manifesto’. Bibliography: Damen, L. (1987). Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Linton, R. (1945). The Cultural Background of Personality. New York. http://anthro. palomar. edu/culture/culture_1. htm http://www. woodlands-junior. kent. sch. uk/customs/questions/social. htm http://www. carla. umn. edu/culture/definitions. html http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mormonism_and_polygamy

Business Ethics and dilemma Essay

1. Review the assigned readings from the text and article by Carroll (1991). 2. Prepare a 3- to 5-page paper titled, Corporate Social Responsibility. 3. Reflect upon your text readings from Chapters 1 and 9 with a focus on the following core concepts: Organizational Social Responsibility (Chapters 1 and 9) The Ethical Decision-making Process (Chapter 1) Corporate Reputation (Chapter 9) The Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid (Chapter 9) The Importance of Trust (Chapter 9) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility (article by Carroll and Chapter 9) 4. Read The Merck and River Blindness Case at the end of Chapter 9 of your text. 5. Compose your paper in Microsoft Word. Include your name, the assignment name and number, the course and section number, and the date on your title page. Follow APA guidelines for formatting and citations.. NOTE: Your paper must meet the minimum requirements as outlined in the section of Weekly Written Assignments of the Assignment Guidelines and the grading criteria of this assignment. You are to provide a minimum of 2-3 references in your work. For this assignment, use of general google.com or Internet search references is not acceptable. Use the university library’s scholarly databases. 6. Respond to each of the following questions and statements: Stakeholders: Produce a list of all key stakeholders that you perceive to have a bona fide interest in the Merck company’s dilemma. Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid: Frame the Merck company’s ethical dilemma within the Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid. E.g. State briefly the key economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. As a focal point, compare and contrast the economic implications against the ethical and philanthropic considerations. Organizational Values: State briefly and specifically whether the decision to a) proceed with the drug project or b) not to proceed with the drug development best fits with the company’s declared organizational values and its principles of profitability. Stakeholder Impact and Trust: If the drug development failed and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, would that harm to the company and its stakeholders be justifiable? If Merck decided not to pursue development of the new drug, what implications do you see this having for stakeholder relations such as the scientists who desire the development. E.g. Is this a trust and leadership consideration? Final Decision: If you were the CEO of Merck and the final decision on this risky new drug development was yours, what would you do and why? Justify your decision. Using Carroll’s theory, are you comfortable stating your opinion to the board of trustees, employees, and media? NOTE: Since this is an actual, real-life case, your focus should be on producing creative and new thinking that applies the ethical concepts to the material. Also, include an introduction and conclusion in your paper. You are encouraged to use the headings above in Action Item 7 in your paper for organizational purposes. 7. Submit your paper to Turnitin.com. NOTE: Turnitin.com is used by Franklin University to assist students in detecting plagiarism. Turnitin generates a report within minutes of submitting your paper. Your results will not be e-mailed to you; you must login to review your results. Submitting a paper ahead of an assignment deadline provides you with the opportunity to take action if you need to rewrite any part of the paper. Your professor will provide you with a class ID and password as an e-mail or a Class Communication object. Submission Instructions By Sunday, upload your paper using the Submit tool. Grading Criteria Content and focus: Response addressed the question(s) posed in a logical, cohesive manner: 0 – 35 points Analysis and critical thinking: Writing illustrates higher order critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation: 0 – 35 points Writing style, grammar, sentence structure: Sentences are consistently clear, concise, well written; grammar and punctuation are correct: 0 – 15 points APA and research: Correct use of APA style in body of paper and appropriately references the text and/or other research sources: 0 – 15 points

Essay about World War 1

Essay about World War 1 Essay about World War 1 - how it began HS 102-E01 The Broken Balance of the Great European Powers Lead to the Great War One hundred years ago, on July 28th, 1914, World War I began. Four years, three months and one week later, roughly 16 million deaths later, there seemed to be nothing grand about the so called Great War except the amount of causalities and damage left behind. World War I set the stage for the 20th Century. World War II, the Cold War, post-colonialism and the decline of Europe all followed after it. The question of the root cause has been tackled by many historians and is still unanswered and will most likely remain unanswered. What happened to disturb the relative peace and balance of power in Europe (1871-1914) and lead to the beginnings of World War I? In order to begin to answer the question, there are numerous factors to put into account including the hundreds of years history leading up to the summer of 1914. Although, there is one constant force that drives nations against each other and that is power. One of David Fromikin’s theories is that WWI was really two wars tha t were intertwined and started by rival empires that joined forces out of mutual need. He states, â€Å"The wars were about power. Specifically, they were about the great European powers that at the time ruled the world. Both Germany and Austria believed to be on the way down. Each started a war to stay where it was† (Europe's Last Summer). Attempts to maintain a balance between the great powers of Europe (Britain, France, Prussia/Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia) seemed to be a never ending struggle which led to many wars. For example, The Seven Years' War (1754-1763) took place between the great powers of Europe, The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) lead the French Empire to gain too much power and this sowed the seeds of nationalism because Europe feared that anyone to gain as much power as Napoleon again, the Crimean War (1853 -1856) between France and Britain against Russia occurred to prevent abuse of power. War was a means of gaining territory and annexing new lan ds, gaining capital and natural recourses but whenever one European nation seemed to be gaining too much control, other nations went to war to preventing one nations from disturbing the balance. After Napoleon’s near complete domination sent shock waves throughout the world in the 19th century, Europe was very aware of the damage a Empire could spread when it got out of hand. Because of this history, nations may have paranoid to the rise of a newly unified nation of Germany. â€Å"The creation of Germany and its annexation of French territory in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)† (Fromkin) made another war between them seem inevitable because France would want their land back. Germany also made an â€Å"attempt to rival Britain as a naval power† (Fromkin) and this was seen as threat. All in all, new formed Germany was not very quick to make friends with other European nations and the old balance of power involving France, Prussia, Austria-Hung ary, and Russia was replaced by a new system. The formation of alliances between nations replaced the broken balance of power principles after Germany rose to power. Europe’s complicated history of conflicts and wars along with their newly formed issues right before 1914, broke their short lived vulnerable peace. The struggle for power over Europe in the 19th century lead to the growth of competition, an increase in nationalism and heated up rivalries. Most countries and leaders are guilty of greed and thirst for power and this is evident in European nations in the practice of imperialism and colonization. Competition is evident during the period of intense colonization of Africa known as â€Å"new imperialism† after 1875. The â€Å"scramble for Africa† showed that even when it had been proven that acquiring colonies did not benefit a nation economically as much as trade, nations jumped on the band wagon to prevent other nations from acquiring too much and also to

The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China

The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China By the beginning of 1644, all of China was in chaos. The severely weakened Ming Dynasty was desperately trying to hold on to power, while a rebel leader called Li Zicheng declared his own new dynasty after capturing the capital city of Beijing. In these dire circumstances, a Ming general decided to issue an invitation for the ethnic Manchus of north-eastern China to come to the countrys aid, and retake the capital city.  This would prove to be a fatal mistake for the Ming. The Ming general Wu Sangui probably should have known better than to ask the Manchus for help. They had been fighting one another for the previous 20 years; at the Battle of Ningyuan in 1626, the Manchu leader Nurhaci had received his fatal injury fighting against the Ming. In the years that followed, the Manchus repeated raided Ming China, capturing key northern cities, and defeating the crucial Ming ally Joseon Korea in 1627 and again in 1636. In both 1642 and 1643, Manchu bannermen drove deep into China, seizing territory and loot. Chaos Meanwhile, in other parts of China, a cycle of catastrophic floods on the Yellow River, followed by wide-spread famine, convinced ordinary Chinese people that their rulers had lost the Mandate of Heaven. China needed a new dynasty. Beginning in the 1630s in the northern Shaanxi province, a minor Ming official called Li Zicheng gathered followers from the disenchanted peasantry. In February of 1644, Li captured the old capital of Xian and declared himself the first emperor of the Shun Dynasty.  His armies marched east, capturing Taiyuan and heading toward Beijing. Meanwhile, further south, another rebellion led by the army deserter Zhang Xianzhong unleashed a reign of terror that included capturing and killing several Ming imperial princes and thousands of civilians. He set himself up as the first emperor of the Xi Dynasty based in Sichuan Province in southwest China later in 1644. Beijing Falls With growing alarm, the Chongzhen Emperor of Ming watched the rebel troops under Li Zicheng advance toward Beijing. His most effective general, Wu Sangui, was far away, north of the Great Wall. The emperor sent for Wu, and also issued a general summons on April 5 for any available military commander in the Ming Empire to come to Beijings rescue. It was no use- on April 24, Lis army broke through the city walls and captured Beijing.  The Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself from a tree behind the Forbidden City. Wu Sangui and his Ming army were on their way to Beijing, marching through the Shanhai Pass at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China.  Wu received word that he was too late, and the capital had already fallen. He retreated to Shanhai.  Li Zicheng sent his armies to confront Wu, who handily defeated them in two battles. Frustrated, Li marched out in person at the head of a 60,000-strong force to take on Wu. It was at this point that Wu appealed to the closest large army nearby- the Qing leader Dorgon and his Manchus. Curtains for the Ming Dorgon had no interest in restoring the Ming Dynasty, his old rivals. He agreed to attack Lis army, but only if Wu and the Ming army would serve under him instead. On May 27, Wu agreed. Dorgon sent him and his troops to attack Lis rebel army repeatedly; once both sides in this Han Chinese civil battle were worn out, Dorgon sent his riders around the flank of Wus army. The Manchu set upon the rebels, quickly overcoming them and sending them flying back toward Beijing. Li Zicheng himself returned to the Forbidden City and grabbed all the valuables he could carry. His troops looted the capital for a couple of days and then scampered west on June 4, 1644, ahead of the advancing Manchus. Li would only survive until September of the following year, when he was killed after a series of battles with Qing imperial troops. Ming pretenders to the throne continued to try to rally Chinese support for restoration for several decades after the fall of Beijing, but none gained much support. The Manchu leaders quickly reorganized the Chinese government, adopting some aspects of Han Chinese rule such as the civil service exam system, while also imposing Manchu customs such as the queue hairstyle on their Han Chinese subjects. In the end, the Manchus Qing Dynasty would rule China right up to the end of the imperial era, in 1911. Causes of Ming Collapse One major cause of the Ming collapse was a succession of relatively weak and disconnected emperors. Early in the Ming period, the emperors were active administrators and military leaders. By the end of the Ming era, however, the emperors had retreated into the Forbidden City, never venturing out at the head of their armies, and seldom even meeting in person with their ministers. A second reason for the collapse of the Ming was the huge expense in money and men of defending China from its northern and western neighbors. This has been a constant in Chinese history, but the Ming were particularly concerned because they had only just won China back from Mongol rule under the Yuan Dynasty.  As it turned out, they were right to worry about invasions from the north, although this time it was the Manchus who took power. A final, huge cause was the shifting climate and disruptions to the monsoon cycle of rains. Heavy rains brought devastating floods, particularly of the Yellow River, which swamped farmers land and drowned livestock and people alike. With crops and stock destroyed, the people went hungry, a sure-fire prescription for peasant uprisings. Indeed, the fall of the Ming Dynasty was the sixth time in Chinese history that a long-standing empire was brought down by peasant rebellion following famine.

Austria Essays - Habsburg Bohemia, States Of Austria, Free Essays

Austria Austria, a small country in Central Europe famous for its gorgeous mountain scenery. The towering Alps, and the foothills stretch across the western, southern and central parts of the country. Broad green valleys, lovely mirror lakes and thick forest cover a good portion of the land. Austria with no coastline shares its surrounded borders with Liechtenstein and Switzerland to the west; Germany and the Czech Republic to the north; Hungary and Slovakia to the east; and to the south Italy and Slovenia. North-East is Vienna, Austria's capital and largest city, where about a fifth of the people live. Population Austria has a population of about 7" million. Most Austrian's choose to live in the lower east areas of the country and just south of the Danube River. Also the capital and largest city, more than one and a half-million of the Austrian population lives in Vienna. Other cities with more than 100,000 people living in them consist of Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, and Scuzburg. Culture Austrians do not like being classified as Germans, Austria is basically Germanic in language and ethnic association. Some minorities include 40,000 Croats, 70,000 Solvenes, and a small group of Hungarians (11,000) and Czechs (5,000). Most Austrian's live south of the Danube River. Austrians enjoy an array of fine foods such as a Viennese Clich otherwise known as a Wiener Schnitzel, and many fine cakes and pastries. The average life expectancy for males is 72 and females 78. Traditions In May and June Vienna hosts the Vienna Festival. This festival is a celebration of music, arts, and theater. Austrians have a great love for music, many of the greatest composers were born and played there, many like Beethoven and other popular composers. Operas are also very popular, and The Vienna State Opera House is the most popular for such an activity. Festivals play an important part of Austria. One festival takes place throughout the province of Tyrol, in the beginning of spring. People dress up and pretend to chase the evil spirits of winter away. Way of Life Most Austrians living in the cities live in four and five story apartments. Others live in single story homes, or high rises. Clothing is very much like the style here in the U.S. but Austrians tend to dress up more often. On special occasions Austrian's dress in the national dress, a green trimmed, gray wool suit with a coat and knickers for men, the women's dress consists of a dirndl; a peasant coat, a blouse, a wide Girdle, and a bright full apron. Austrians eat elegant foods and many exquisite desserts. Beer or wine is usually served with meals. Austrians love the outdoors, and the many different physical features of Austria allow the people to enjoy many different types of sports. In winter Austrians enjoy ice skating, skiing, tobogganing, bobsledding, ice hockey, ski jumping, and curling, a game in which the players slide heavy stones along the ice toward a circular target. Summer sports include boating, fishing, hiking, mountain climbing, swimming, and water skiing. The people also enjoy biking, camping, picnics, and soccer. Vegetation and Animal Life Deciduous trees, including beech, birch, and oak, are very populated in the lower altitudes. In Alpine areas conifers extend all over. Bare rocks and grass slops continue to the snow line. The boar, bear, wolf, and lynx have disappeared, but red deer, chamois, marmot, and grouse still live in the protected Alpine reserves. In the grassy flats gray goose, white tailed, and spotted eagles, and great white herons breed. In the village of Rust, white storks return annually to their chimney nests. History Around 400 B.C. Celtic tribes occupied Austria. Around 15 B.C. Rome took control from the Celtic tribes. After the collapse of the Roman Empire many different empires took control of Austria. In 955 the king of Germany, Otto I, took control of Austria, this empire later came to be know as the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806 the empire ended. The Babenberg family controlled north-eastern Austria from 976 until 1246, when the last Bebenberg duke died without an heir and the king of Bohemia seized the region. The Hapsburgs lost the Holy Roman crown in the 1300's, but a Habsburg was once again elected emperor in 1438. From

Peter Alexander Promotional Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Peter Alexander Promotional Plan - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that target audience is subdivided into three categories. Differing products are to be designed for each target market. The markets include teenagers, young adults, couples, and kids. Members of all of these audiences shall be satisfied via product differentiation. The marketing mix of the Peter Alexander shall be representative of its overall strategy. Products shall be designed in ways that are differentiable and aimed towards the specific target market. Placement shall be done strategically and strong third-party ties with distributors shall be ensured to ascertain the timely distribution of products to customers all across the country. Promotion shall be done through ATL and BTL. The cost-effective medium of internet shall be the key communication strategy as it can attract customers immediately online and does not add much to the costs. The firm shall use creativity by using the image of Peter Alexander as the brand persona and exploitin g the internet for this purpose. Peter Alexander is an exclusive brand of nightwear that has operations centralized in Australia. Peter Alexander, the man himself, personifies the brand and serves as a symbol for the company. The company has a high brand equity with its followers due to the exclusivity showcased by Peter Alexander. The brand idea came into being when Peter bought a pair of Pajamas in Hong Kong. He was startled by the way in which he was attracted towards them and wanted to identify ways to make these products appeal to other people around him. Today Peter Alexander is one of the top sleepwear brands in Australia and from an online business, it has expanded into stores and continues to operate online.

History of each instrument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of each instrument - Essay Example The standard flute had six holes and one key divided into three sections. This changed when Theobald Boehm changed the flute in the 1830’s. He developed a cylindrical flute with 15 tone holes, 23 keys, and levers. Keys were also arranged where almost all holes opened naturally. The Boehm Flute has remained unchanged and is used to this day. The oboe is also in the woodwind family. The first reed instrument was made by Egyptians. Initially barley straws pressed flat and then placed into a small pipe were the first oboes. Romans had instruments of similar make. By the 12th century, a short double-reed instrument made its appearance. The 14th century saw the instrument change. Finally in the 17th century the instrument was made into the modern oboe. The Hotteterre family made the first oboe with three sections and six keys and hole. This oboe was improved on with more key mechanisms, with the used of nine keys. Another woodwind is the clarinet. One of the first instruments resembling a clarinet was found in Greece, Persia, and India. It was a round pipe with one reed. The Celts made a clarinet out of animal bones with seven holes. These instruments evolved into the 16th century to instruments with eight finger holes/two keys called a chalumeau. John Christopher Denner changed upon the instrument in the late 17th century by adding a special key. More keys were added through the Boehm system of keys in the 19th century. This version is still used today. The Bassoon is in the woodwind family. The forerunner of the bassoon was created by B.C. Egyptians. Barley straws were pressed flat, and then placed in a small pipe. Later holes were added. The Romans had a similar instrument called a tibiae. The shawm was formed in 12th century Europe. This was a short double reed with a conical bore and a wide bell. This came from the East to Europe. The 16th century was when Alfranio Canon of Ferrara

Ethical Hacking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethical Hacking - Research Paper Example An ethical hacker will attempt to hack his way through a company’s internet security system so that any weaknesses within it can be found. Companies, which use ethical hackers, do so in order to boost their security against individuals whose aim might be to bypass its security system for malicious purposes. There are, however, rules, which should be strictly followed in order for this hacking procedure to be considered ethical. The first of these is that the hacker must only conduct the hacking if he has been given permission to do so by the company’s management and this requires that he be given a written consent, in case of any issues that may arise later. Secondly, the ethical hacker must be able to ensure that he does not violate the privacy of the individuals or the company for who he is working, and should instead only deal with the security issues that are encountered. The hacker must ensure that all the security vulnerabilities that the company has are reported to its administration so that the necessary steps can be taken to secure the company’s network from malicious hackers. ... It is a situation where the ethical values concerning hacking are judged not by the normal definitions of the actions but through its positive aspects. Using this definition, it can be stated that the morals are no longer absolute when dealing with matters concerning hacking, because it is no longer necessarily a matter of its being malicious, but also of its being used for the enhancement of network security (Langley, 2005). A good number of the proponents of this theory believe that morality can now be used to describe hacking, since there are those who might do it for good as well as malicious purposes. The fact that ethical hacking has now become a part of the normal corporate life should not be underestimated since ethical hackers have now become an integral part of the fight against illegal and malicious hacking. The realization of this fact is one of the reasons why many companies are increasingly employing ethical hackers in order to protect their systems (Palmer, 2001). One of the advantages of ethical hacking is the fact that a broad range of threats are realized early and steps are taken to repair them. Since there are a wide variety of network threats from hackers, it is easier for a company, through ethical hacking, to deal with these threats before they become unmanageable, or before any damage to the network is done. Moreover, ethical hacking promotes the fact that not all hackers are malicious and that in fact, there are those hackers out there who can be used as a force of good through their helping to protect vulnerable network systems from malicious hackers (O'Boyle, 2002). Since it is the society which judges what is right or wrong, the it is therefore easier to categorize hackers in such a way that there

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Marketing Management - Essay Example Now we shift to the methodology and rationale behind building competitive advantage. This is something that is built over time and requires synchronization between the tactics, activities and the overall strategy of the company which is producing the product(s). Competitive advantage is developed when there is a differential undertaking on the part of the customer. This could be in the form of lower prices than the competitors, better quality, efficient sales services and support and a number of other features. Thus customer satisfaction is something which cannot be measured by a standard set of parameters. It has to be experienced always with a different set of offerings that are made available. These offerings could be in the form of better quality products, higher and more efficient services or a bundle of both high-class product and state of the art service, in which case it would not be categorized under either of them rather as a mixture of both. It is pretty true that the market dynamics suggest that the competitive advantage can only be achieved when the customer is given what he or she wants but then again is there any limit to his or her wants? The answer would be NO and quite rightly so. The customer expects value for money and thus the best possible product at the most effective rate, thus it would be correct to understand his point of view and then go about changing the product offerings, prices and the value thus provided. Marketing concept has taken its basis from the selling concept.

Dilemmas of Corporate Power in a Democratic Society Essay

Dilemmas of Corporate Power in a Democratic Society - Essay Example This is because the aspects of the problems of group power within a government have remained hidden behind accidents of legal form. The growth of group power from legal control has progressed due to the following factors. First, the ability and tradition of powerful organizations to remain unincorporated and, therefore, escape many of the liabilities of the corporate person. Second are the restrictions of equitable measures which have prevented the courts from punishing abuse of power by organizations in reference to their members. Thirdly, there has been excess freedom of organizations to disguise themselves as charitable foundations which has made many business activities to be clothed as charitable foundations. Private power has been employed by lawyers and politicians to infringe on the freedoms of individuals and the balance of public decisions which may become susceptible in the face of such power. According to Dabbah, on the basis of liberal democracy, this problem is twofold and constitutes a real dilemma. Citizens have the right to have their freedoms entitled to them which they are free to exercise. Thus, these freedoms should not be forced or imposed on others. Power in liberal democratic societies in the public realm is only recognized by those who hold it legitimately according to the law, while in the private sphere, power does not go beyond the limited prerogatives allotted within the firm to its owner.Beyond these limitations, private power in a liberal democracy is seen to be abusive.

Simulation in Nursing Training Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Simulation in Nursing Training - Article Example Simulation also enabled the students to learn and practice procedural skills and develop crisis management skills; it also infuses teamwork spirit among students (Joint Commission Resources, 2008). Simulation based education in nursing became popular because as students the nurses did not get the required clinical educational experience that would prepare them for handling emergencies and other hospital situations (Gaberson & Oermann, 2010). Simulation plays an important role in the training of nurses as it enhances the quality of education by meeting the training needs better. Most institutes have adopted full scale simulation training. Simulation has proved to be a useful learning tool as it supports the theoretical and conceptual background of the nursing education (Campbell & Daley, 2008). In healthcare where the safety of the patients and accuracy of care is given utmost importance, simulation and simulators provide a less threatening environment for practice (Sanford, 2010). Si mulation based teaching in nursing prepares the students for independent practice through technical skill development and advanced clinical learning. It also prepares the nurses for high risk situations such as traumas which may occur infrequently (Gaberson & Oermann, 2010). An interactive and participative environment can be created with simulation and the learners can overcome their weaknesses with the instant feedback provided by most simulators. Although numerous skills can be learnt through simulation, it is an exceptional teaching strategy for critical care nursing. In case of critically ill patients, nurses are required to collect, examine and respond accordingly to the data collected and all these skills can be acquired through simulation. The... This paper approves that both low and high fidelity mannequins are highly useful in developing clinical skills as student nurses collect information such as the history, drugs, allergies, laboratory values and other data about the simulated patient helpful in clinical decision making. The student nurses also learn to access electronic data as well as access the information systems present on the computer. In short these kinds of simulators develop technical and clinical skills in student nurses regarding where to find the patient’s data and how to use it. This report makes a conclusion that the advantages of low fidelity mannequins are restricted to the development of gross psychomotor skills but high fidelity mannequins can be used in the learning of community health, critical care, pediatrics and nurse anesthesia. It enhances critical thinking skills and improves clinical judgment. The use of low and high fidelity mannequins has increased in nurse education and has resulted in a decrease in time. The expense for residency programs and orientation has also decreased. A safer environment for both patients and nurses is also possible because of the high fidelity mannequins. Competency in testing skills is also achieved with high fidelity mannequins. High Fidelity mannequins are those that interact dynamically with the users. These mannequins are computer operated and are manufactured with advanced features such as palpable pulses, chest wall that replicates respiration, breath and bowel sounds and programmable heart.

Dilemmas of Corporate Power in a Democratic Society Essay

Dilemmas of Corporate Power in a Democratic Society - Essay Example This is because the aspects of the problems of group power within a government have remained hidden behind accidents of legal form. The growth of group power from legal control has progressed due to the following factors. First, the ability and tradition of powerful organizations to remain unincorporated and, therefore, escape many of the liabilities of the corporate person. Second are the restrictions of equitable measures which have prevented the courts from punishing abuse of power by organizations in reference to their members. Thirdly, there has been excess freedom of organizations to disguise themselves as charitable foundations which has made many business activities to be clothed as charitable foundations. Private power has been employed by lawyers and politicians to infringe on the freedoms of individuals and the balance of public decisions which may become susceptible in the face of such power. According to Dabbah, on the basis of liberal democracy, this problem is twofold and constitutes a real dilemma. Citizens have the right to have their freedoms entitled to them which they are free to exercise. Thus, these freedoms should not be forced or imposed on others. Power in liberal democratic societies in the public realm is only recognized by those who hold it legitimately according to the law, while in the private sphere, power does not go beyond the limited prerogatives allotted within the firm to its owner.Beyond these limitations, private power in a liberal democracy is seen to be abusive.

Farewell to Manzanar Essay Example for Free

Farewell to Manzanar Essay On December 7, 1941 there was a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by Japan. The attack came from the Japanese, yet it caused unfounded fear in this country toward Japanese Americans. The book Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston depicts the reactions of the government and the American public toward Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor. So why were they the ones punished for it? We still see examples of inaccurate assumptions, hypocrisy, and discrimination during this time in our nation’s history that can be related to our own community since we continue to categorize, generalize and overreact. The fear, hatred and racism directed toward Japanese Americans came out in different ways. A primary example was that Americans assumed the Nisei (people of Japanese descent who were born, raised and were living in the U. S. ), Issei (Japanese who were born in Japan, but were living in the U. S. ), and the enemy Japanese were all the same with respect to their loyalty for the U.  S. Many saw no differences between these three groups. This is shown in the book when Mr. Wakatsuki (the father of author and main character Jeanne Wakatsuki) was interviewed by the Justice Department. The interview focused on a picture of Mr. Wakatsuki’s commercial fishing boat, which had two fifty-gallon drums attached. The Justice Department assumed he was using the drums to deliver oil to Japanese submarines off the coast of California. Mr. Wakatsuki was a commercial fisherman, and the drums were actually used to carry chum, which is fishing bait made of ground-up fish heads. Even though Mr. Wakatsuki had received his American citizenship, the Justice Department wrongfully assumed that he was using his boat illegally simply because he was of Japanese descent. They questioned his loyalty to America. This was very hypocritical of the government because in America, as citizens, we supposedly all have equal rights and freedoms. When the government questioned Mr. Wakatsuki in this assumptious manner, they took away his rights and freedoms. In many communities today, an example of making assumptions would be the way people view carnival workers as potential troublemakers. Another challenge Japanese Americans had to deal with was discrimination. They experienced this when only Japanese Americans were targeted and forced to move into internment camps. Jeanne and her family lived in one called Manzanar, near Independence, California. They stayed there for almost three years. Whenever a Japanese family boarded a bus headed for one of the camps, they were given a family number. This number was used by the camp officials to refer to the families. They weren’t even called by their names. This is an example of discrimination. When the buses arrived at the camps, they were forced to live in barracks. These barracks were virtually paper-thin shacks put together with the least amount of effort possible, in order to finish them in time for the arrival of the Japanese Americans. Most barracks had very little living space. In the case of Jeanne’s family, there were sixteen people in a space about the size of a living room. They ate in mess halls and used latrines with no partitions. The American government treated the Japanese Americans as though they were prisoners of war in their own country. The lack of minority residents in Livingston County would make it appear that minorities are discriminated against. The high cost of living means few minority residents can afford to live here. This could be described as passive discrimination. When Jeanne and her family finally do make it out of Manzanar, she was in the sixth grade and in a classroom of predominately white students. In the beginning, the teacher had simple expectations of her. Later, the teacher asked Jeanne if she wanted to read aloud for their reading lesson. She agreed. After she was done, a little girl, quite innocently, said, â€Å"Gee, I didn’t know you could speak English. † This was what the war, and being in internment camps did to the Japanese Americans. In spite of being American citizens, it made them look like foreigners in their own country. In the community of Fowlerville, there are people discriminated against. An example would be the community’s attitude toward people who live in mobile home parks. These individuals are often called â€Å"trailer trash†. They are looked down upon because people think they’re from a low-income level and often thought to be involved in illegal activities. Some people may argue that The Japanese Americans deserved to be treated the way they did. This, however, is not true at all. They were Americans just like the rest of us, and if the constitution was really what we governed ourselves by, other Americans should have been ripped from their homes as well. The Japanese American’s mistreatment wasn’t fair, just, or called for by any means, and it should not have happened. Although what the Japanese Americans went through was years ago, we still see examples of inaccurate attitudes of discrimination, and assumptions based on fear and outdated concerns today. It’s sad to say that even after having fought two world wars, this country still cannot overcome these issues. The First and Second World Wars were won, but the war against misunderstanding is still being fought. Maybe someday, when this war has been won, we can truly be considered the greatest country on earth.

Al Capone: The American Gangster

Al Capone: The American Gangster Al Capone was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s. Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit; although, his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. He was, and still is, the most recognized and influential Mafioso in American history. Both hated and loved by the public, he shared a common dislike with many people in American society at that time; a strong disdain for the temperance movement. Alphonse Gabriel Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City to Italian immigrants Gabriele and Teresina Capone. They landed in New York just in time for the Panic of 1893, which would wrack the countrys economy for years. Gabriel who was a skilled barber and Teresina a seamstress, wisely chose Brooklyn as home in preference to the even greater squalor and density of Mulberry Bend, Manhattans Lower East Side Italian colony; not that the depression spared Brooklyn. Unemployment would soon idle one quarter of the boroughs workforce, making it no time for the unskilled.  [1]   The Capones lived better than most. Though Gabriel could not ply his trade at first, he avoided the drudgery and extreme low pay of manual labor because he boasted another skill that went with his trade; he could read and write. In Italy, as well as in America, the illiterate expected their barber to read them any letters that came their way. Gabriels learning earned him a job in a grocery store until he could gather enough of a stake to open his own barber shop; a storefront in a tenement at 69 Park Avenue.  [2]   Little Al, as he was called, had started school at John Jay, P.S. 7, at 141 York, near the Navy Yard. After the family had moved, he transferred to William A. Butler, P.S. 133, at 355 Butler Street; seven blocks away from Garfield. Until he reached sixth grade, he maintained a B average. He devoted much time and energy to his favorite extracurricular activity, playing hooky. He attended class only thirty-three days of the required ninety. A red-haze temper that would occasionally overmaster him all his life exploded one day, and he hit a teacher who was lecturing him. Sent to the principals office, he got a whipping and quit school in embarrassment. He was fourteen at the time, but he was ready to quit anyway as it was practically a family tradition.  [3]   Al made a stab at an assortment of honest jobs; clerk in a candy store and pin boy in a bowling alley. For a while he earned twenty-three dollars a week working in an ammunition factory. He also worked as cutter in a book bindery, following his older brother Ralph, who had worked in the print shop of a newspaper. Apprenticeship for Al Capones lifes work, though, arose on the streets. The streets Capone traveled as a young boy was ruled by gangs, or more precisely kid gangs. Members of these kid gangs could not be called gangsters; by todays standards they would barely qualify as delinquents. Excepting petty pilferage and occasional lunch-money extortion, few engaged in activity anyone would consider downright criminal.  [4]   Al was heavily influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio whom he considered to be his mentor. John Torrio was the thinking mans criminal. Torrio owned a bar on James Street at the corner of Water. He soon expanded, leasing a rooming house down the block which he filled with prostitutes and a nearby store he converted into a pool hall. Young Al could hardly have avoided absorbing the lesson of someone who had attained money and power without the drudgery that were typically weighed on others.  [5]   Al eventually joined the South Brooklyn Rippers, a junior gang that inducted kids as young as eleven. No reliably authentic details about Als activities in his late boyhood and early teens have survived, but he evidently did not stand out or apart. Not many years later, a former Brooklyn kid-gang member remembered him as something of a nonentity, affable, soft of speech and even mediocreà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.  [6]   Al had caught the eye of someone who could exert the most portentous influence possible at that stage. It was Frankie Yale, six years older, who had ushered Al into the Forty Thieves Juniors gang. When Al entered his mid-teens, Yale welcomed him exclusively into the adult gang Five Points headed by Johnny Torrio. Membership in this Manhattan gang showcased his tough scrappiness. Capone learned all there was to know about extortion and slugging and the rest on the banks of the Gowanus Canal, says William Balsamo, Brooklyn native and historian of New York crime. Yale was fashioning a complex of enterprises beyond the Harvard Inn: a mortuary; racehorses; prizefighters; another nightspot, the Sunrise Cafe; a line of cigars-all based finally on his main line, strong-arm terror.  [7]   Capones job as bartender and bouncer at Yales Harvard Inn demanded a certain finesse. The trick was to bounce without alienating, and only to do so after considered efforts to calm and subdue had failed. Ideally, the bounced would recognize themselves as out of line. Capone combined the mass to bounce authoritatively and the intelligence to do it with tact. Capone became Yales pupil, favored by invitations after a hard night at the Harvard Inn to sleep over at Yales house. That happened frequently enough that Yales daughters would show visitors Als room. Yale had the swagger of a young man, already boss yet still a comer. Inevitably, Capone viewed Yale as a model and a teacher.  [8]   One summer night in 1917 resulted in scarring consequences. Frank Galluccio Galluch, a merchant seaman, barbers assistant, and spear-carrier in the Genovese crime family strutted into the Harvard Inn with his date, Maria Tanzio, and his kid sister, Lena. The sight of Lena set Capones glands exploding. Every time his rounds took him past her table he would try to chat with her; Lena snubbed him. Her brother who was half drunk and did not know Capone assumed from his familiarity that Lena did. His kid sisters growing anger penetrated Galluccios alcoholic fog stating, You know that guy? Lena then responded: I never saw him before. Hes got a lotta nerve. He wont give up, Frank. He cant take a hint. But I dont like him; he is embarrassing me. Maybe you could ask him to please stop-in a nice way.  [9]   Capone headed their way again and Galluccio was ready to take him aside like a gentleman: Hey, mister, please do me favor, okay? Shes my kid sister, you knowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Before Galluccio could speak, Capone leaned over to Lena, and whispered-loud enough to startle the party at the next table with heads swiveled in amazement-You got a nice ass, honey, and I mean it as a compliment. Believe me. Her brother sprang to his feet. The insult was bad enough; the fact that strangers had plainly heard made it insupportable. I wont take that shit from nobody, Galluccio shouted. Apologize to my sister now, you hear? At a moment, Capones brain reasserted itself, perhaps kicked in by sister. Family meant everything, and its evocation put this customer unarguably in the right. With his most ingratiating and placating smile, Capone turned to Galluccio arms spread wide and palms up and open: Hey, whatsa matter, pal, a little misunderstanding, a joke, no offenseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This is no fucking jo ke, mister, cried Galluccio.  [10]   Galluccio stood five-foot-six and weighed under 150. Capone looked like a mountain avalanching toward him. The Galluch knew he could be badly hurt unless he struck first and quickly, but his punch would never do the job. He clawed his knife from his pocket and lunged as the streets had taught him. One slash started two inches in front of mid-ear, curved four inches down the left cheek to just below the corner of Capones mouth; the other two each measured two and a half inches, one on the left jaw, and the other on the neck under the left ear. Galluccio grabbed his sister and date and ran out the door. Someone rushed Capone to the Coney Island Hospital where doctors applied thirty stitches to his face.  [11]   Soon Galluccio heard that Frankie Yale had been asking around for him. Galluccio appealed to Joseph Masseria, overlord of all New York for justice. Joe the Boss decreed a sit-down at the Harvard Inn where they agreed that Capone had indeed been wrong and would not be allowed to seek vengeance, while Galluccio had to apologize for his disproportionate reaction-which he readily did, contrite at sight of how he had disfigured Capone. Capone also recognized the justice of the settlement and the dishonor of his scars. He later put out the story that the scars had happened to him in service with the Lost Battalion of World War I. In fact, he had never been called up in the draft. This notable scarring had given him the infamous nickname Scarface.  [12]   In 1918 Capone met an Irish girl at a dance and fell in love. She was pretty, slim and tall with a round piquant face and large eyes framed by a helmet of blond hair. Baptized Mary, she would be known all her life as Mae, daughter of Michael Coughlin, a construction worker, and the former Bridget Gorman. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth. Eighteen days later, Maes sister, Kathleen, and James DeVico, an otherwise obscure friend of Capones, became godparents to Albert Francis Capone, also known as Sonny. Mae had almost two years on Capone, perhaps an embarrassment to them because each fudged a year of age on their marriage registration. Capone appears in the church records as Albert, maybe a mistake, or maybe a typical bit of criminal obfuscation.  [13]   Members of the Anti-Saloon League, founded 1893 in Oberlin, Ohio, sincerely believed everyone would be better off without alcohol. They looked forward, one historian has observed, to a world freeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦from want and crime and sin, a sort of millennial Kansasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Their campaign, which quickly enveloped the nation, combined such animating idealism with the most brutal brass-knuckles politics; the league terrorized Congress. In the words of a popular song of the era: What Have They Got on You, Mr. Congressman? Weve heard just how those drys, Keep cases on you Congress guys. One wrong vote and reports would wing back home broadcasted by the leagues fifty thousand field workers.  [14]   Americas April 6, 1917, entry into the war sanctified the dry cause as patriotism even for the doubting majority. The liquor trade gobbled up enough grain for eleven million loaves of bread a day. The league insisted drunken workers could not turn out war materiel any more than drunk soldiers could shoot straight. Caving in to these pressures, Congress passed a resolution calling for a prohibition amendment to the Constitution and sent it to the state legislatures for ratification in December 1917. On January 16, 1919, Nebraska provided the necessary three-fourths majority by becoming the thirty-sixth state to approve the resolution. The Eighteenth Amendment would become law in one year.  [15]   Meanwhile, the league rammed wartime Prohibition through Congress. Until the Eighteenth Amendment kicked in at midnight on Friday, January 16, 1920, the interim law forbade anyone in the United States to make, sell or transport-without a permit-any beverage containing more than one half of 1 percent alcohol. The ban-both permanent and interim-cunningly did not include owning, drinking or buying liquor. The league had been careful not to offend voters or members of Congress; many were notoriously wet in habits no matter how dry they voted.  [16]   Capone was a suspect for two murders in 1919 and was seeking a safe haven and a better job to provide for his new family. Capone relocated to Chicago to help out his Five Points gang mentor Johnny Torrio. Torrio had gone to Chicago to resolve some family problems his cousins husband was having with the Black Hand. Torrino had also been summoned there to help out his uncle, Big Jim Colosimo, the citys leading whoremaster to run his empire. By the time Capone arrived, Torrio was in dispute with Big Jim. Seeing the major financial opportunities that came with Prohibition, Torrio wanted Colosimo to shift his organizations main thrust to bootlegging; Big Jim was not interested. He had become rich and fat in the whoring trade and saw no need to expand. He forbade Torrio to get into the new racket. Torrio realized that Colosimo had to be eradicated so that he could use Big Jims organization for his criminal plans. Together he and Capone planned Colosimos murder and sent Frankie Yale and his men from New York to carry out the job. Capone and Torrio meantime would act out airtight alibis  [17]  . One of Capones duties was to buy trucks for Torrios operation-which those in it called the outfit-especially after Capone took over. Members used it casually when talking among themselves about their group-I joined the outfit two years ago-as they would say Im with Capone, when talking about their affiliation to an outsider. Many in the outfit were involved in transporting beer. For most of them, being part of a gang meant little more than being a truck driver; that was the entry-level job for most. Possible promotion led to muscle and racketeering work. But Torrio relied on few to buy new and used trucks; one was Capone. By mid-1922 Capone already ranked as Torrios number two.  [18]   The election of reform mayor William Emmet Dever led to Chicagos city government putting more strain on the gangster agenda within city limits. Devers biographer called him a dripping Wet who enforced Prohibition. He would tell a meeting of beer-guzzling Germans, I have never pretended to be, and am not now a Prohibitionist. But he would have law and order stating, He would enforce the law to the limit. Within a month, authorities were raiding places citywide with, wrote a reporter, unabated enthusiasm, arresting five hundred in one sweep, 450 in another. Within six months his men had closed over four thousand blatant saloons and some five hundred soda parlors-notoriously fronts for selling beers. A significant amount of license revocations were set forth.  [19]   To put its headquarters outside of city jurisdiction and create a safe zone for its operations, the Capone organization muscled its way into Cicero, Illinois. This led to one of Capones greatest triumphs; the takeover of Ciceros town government in 1924. Capone made it clear that he wanted an all-out conquest of the town. He installed his older brother Frank (Salvatore) as the front man with the Cicero city government. Ralph was tasked with opening up a working-class brothel called the Stockade for Ciceros heavily blue-collar population. Al focused on gambling and took an interest in a new gambling joint called the Ship. He also took control of the Hawthorne Race Track.  [20]   For the most part, the Capone conquest of Cicero was unopposed, with the exception of Robert St. John, the crusading young journalist at the Cicero Tribune. Every issue contained an expose on the Capone rackets in the city. The editorials were effective enough to threaten Capone-backed candidates in the 1924 primary election. On election day things got ugly as Capones forces kidnapped opponents election workers and threatened voters with violence. As reports of the violence spread, the Chicago chief of police rounded up seventy nine cops and provided them with shotguns. The cops, dressed in plain clothes, rode in unmarked cars to Cicero under the guise of protecting workers at the Western Electric plant there. Frank Capone, who had just finished negotiating a lease, was walking down the street when the convoy of Chicago policemen approached him. Someone recognized him and the cars emptied out in front of him. In seconds, Franks body was riddled with bullets. Technically, the police c alled it self defense, since Frank, seeing the police coming at him with guns drawn, had revealed his own revolver.  [21]   Al was enraged and escalated the violence by kidnapping officials and stealing ballot boxes. One official was murdered. When it was all over, Capone had won his victory for Cicero. Capones temper stayed under control for about five weeks. But then, Joe Howard, a small-time thug, assaulted Capones friend Jack Guzik when he turned him down for a loan. Guzik told Capone and tracked Howard down in a bar. Howard had the poor judgment to call Capone a dago pimp and Capone shot Howard dead.  [22]   While only twenty-five, Al Capone became a prominent figure in Chicagos organized crime. He wasnt the only one though. Dion OBanion owned a thriving florist shop, but was also one of the biggest names in the bootlegging business. Flamboyant but untrustworthy, OBanion became a thorn in Capones side. In one instance, OBanion killed a man outside of Capones Four Deuces gambling joint and the ensuing trial dragged Capone into unwanted attention. OBanion also set up Torrio to be arrested by the police. He had promised Torrio he would move to Colorado if Torrio agreed to buy OBanions Sieben Brewery. OBanion took the money and left while the police were waiting to raid the brewery. Torrio went to jail and OBanion kept the money. The Brewery was eventually shut down permanently.  [23]   OBanion met his end while preparing a floral arrangement in his shop on November 10, 1924. He was a consummate hand shaker and on that day three known gangsters came in the shop. Thinking they were there to pick up flowers for the funeral of another prominent gangster, he went to shake their hands. One of them pulled OBanion off balance and six shots rang out. While there was a great deal of speculation concerning the triggermen, no one ever went to trial over the murder. It did leave OBanions territory wide open for Capone to move in, but also made powerful enemies of OBanions friends. These friends included Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran.  [24]   Over the next two years, Moran and Weiss would fail in over a dozen assassination attempts against Capone. On January 24, 1925, Torrio was returning to his apartment at 7106 South Clyde Avenue from a shopping trip with his wife Anna. Walking from his car towards his apartment building, Weiss and Moran opened fire. They shot Torrio in the chest, neck, right arm and groin, but miraculously the elderly man survived. The true miracle came about when one of the men-reportedly Moran-held his gun to Torrios head and pulled the trigger only to hear the click of an empty firing chamber. This incident made Torrio consider quitting the game. After recovering, Torrio pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months in jail for the Sieben Brewery raid. During his jail sentence Torrio informed Capone he was planning on leaving Chicago and turning his vast empire over to Al stating, Its all yours Al. Me? Im quittin. Its Europe for me. Torrio then moved to Italy with his mother and wife.  [25]   Shortly after he took over Johnny Torrios empire, it was clear that his new status had changed Al Capone. He was a major force now in the Chicago underworld. To underscore his rise in the world, he moved his headquarters to the Metropole Hotel. His luxurious suite of five rooms cost $1,500 per day. He went from near obscurity to cultivated visibility. Capone became visible at the opera, at sporting events and charitable functions. He was an important member of the community: friendly, generous, successful, supplying a throng of thirsty customers. In an era where most of the adult population drank bootleg alcohol, the bootlegger seemed almost respectable.  [26]   In the spring of 1926, Capones run of good luck hit a snag. On April 27, Billy McSwiggin, known as the young hanging prosecutor who had tried to pin the 1924 death of Joe Howard on Capone, met with an accident. A bootlegger named Jim Doherty picked McSwiggin up by car at his fathers house. Dohertys car broke down and they hitched a ride with bootlegger Klondike ODonnell, a bitter enemy of Capone. The four Irish lads went on a drinking binge in Cicero with ODonnell and his brother Myles and ended up at a bar close to the Hawthorne Inn where Capone was having dinner. ODonnells cruising around in Cicero was a territorial insult.  [27]   Capone and his henchmen, not realizing that McSwiggin was in the bar with Myles ODonnell, waited outside in a convoy of cars until the drunken men staggered out. Then out came the machine guns and McSwiggin and Doherty were dead; Capone was immediately blamed. Despite the blot on McSwiggins integrity for keeping company with bootleggers, sympathy was with the dead young prosecutor. There was a big outcry against gangster violence and public sentiment went against Capone. While everyone in Chicago knew that Al Capone was responsible, there was not a shred of proof and the failure of this high-profile investigation to return an indictment was an embarrassment to local officials. Police took out their frustrations on Capones whorehouses and speakeasies which endured a series of raids and fires.  [28]   Capone went into hiding for three months. Reputedly some 300 detectives looked for him all over the country; in Canada and even Italy. He initially found refuge in the home of a friend in Chicago Heights and then, for most of the time, with friends in Lansing, Michigan. Those three months in hiding made an indelible mark on Al. He began to see himself as much more than a successful racketeer. He believed he was a source of pride to the Italian immigrant community; a generous benefactor and important fixer who could help people. His bootlegging operations employed thousands of people, many of whom were poor Italian immigrants. While much of this was just his ego getting larger, Capone had real leadership abilities and was very capable of extending those talents into areas that were beneficial to the community. He seriously thought of retiring from his life of crime and violence.  [29]   On July 28, 1926, he returned to Chicago to face the accusations of murder. It turned out to be the right decision because the authorities did not have sufficient evidence to bring him to trial. For all the public uproar and efforts of the law enforcement groups, Al Capone was a free man. The people of Chicago were tired of reading about gang violence and the newspapers fanned their anger. Capone held a highly publicized peace conference in which he appealed to the other bootleggers assembled there to tone down the violence. He made his point stating, There is enough business for all of us without killing each other like animals in the streets. I dont want to die in the street punctured by machine-gun fire. At the end of the meeting, an amnesty had been negotiated which accomplished two key things; first, there would be no more murders or beatings and second, past murders would not be avenged. For more than two months thereafter, nobody connected with the bootlegging business was kil led.  [30]   In May of 1927, the Supreme Court made a decision that Manny Sullivan, a bootlegger, had to report and pay income tax on his illegal bootlegging business. Just because reporting and paying tax on illegally-derived revenues was self-incrimination, it was not unconstitutional. With the Sullivan ruling, the small Special Intelligence Unit of the IRS under Elmer Irey was able to go after Al Capone.  [31]   Unaware and uninterested in Manny Sullivan or Elmer Irey, Capone became more compulsively extroverted and expansive. He indulged heavily in his two big passions; music and boxing. He became close pals with boxermJack Dempsey, but given the concern over fixed fights, the friendship had to be very discreet. Always an opera lover, Capone expanded his patronage to the jazz world. With the opening of the Cotton Club in Cicero, Al became a jazz impresario, attracting and cultivating some of the best black jazz musicians of the day. Unlike so many other Italian gangsters, Al did not seem to have the deep-seated racial prejudice and he gained the trust and respect of many of his musicians. Al extended his generosity and personal concerns to everybody who worked for him, black or white. Al spoke to reporters: Public service is my motto. Ninety percent of the people in Chicago drink and gamble. Ive tried to serve them decent liquor and square games. But Im not appreciated. Im known all over the world as a millionaire gorilla.  [32]   Capone biographer Laurence Bergreen described the way Capone inserted himself into the lives of those he knew: He came to dominate them not by shouting, overwhelming, or bullying, although the threat of physical violence always loomed, but by appealing to the inner man, his wants, his aspirationsby making them feel valued, they gave unstintingly of their loyalty, and loyalty was what Capone needed and demanded; in the volatile circles through which he moved it was the only protection he had from sudden death. The highest compliment other men could pay Capone was to call him a friend, which meant they were willing to overlook his scandalous reputation, that he had never been a pimp or a murderer.  [33]   The exposure was becoming a real nuisance. When he left for a trip to the West Coast, he had police surrounding him at every station. Los Angeles toughest detective said We have no room here for Capone or any other visiting gangsters whether they are here on pleasure tours or not. When Capone came back from the West Coast he found himself surrounded by six Joliet policemen with their shotguns aimed at him. Capone stated, Well, Ill be damned. Youd think I was Jesse James. Whats the artillery for? In Chicago, the police made things as uncomfortable as possible by surrounding his house and arresting him at the slightest provocation.  [34]   Capone left for Miami where the weather was much better than the Chicago winter, but the reception by the local community was chilly. He, Mae, and Sonny rented a house for the season and started to look for a permanent residence. Over the coming months he would invest a small fortune in redecorating his new palace in Miami, securing it like a small fortress with concrete walls and heavy wooden doors.  [35]   The Palm Island estate came to the attention of IRS Intelligence Unit watchdog Elmer Irey. He chose Frank J. Wilson to head up the job of documenting Capones income and spending. The job was monumental; despite Capones lavish spending everything was transacted through third parties. Although Capone had incredible wealth, every transaction was on a cash basis. The major exception was the very tangible assets of the Palm Island estate, which was evidence of a major source of income.  [36]   George Emmerson Q. Johnson, a member of the Scandinavian old boys network in the Midwest, was appointed U.S. attorney for Chicago. Johnson targeted Capone with unbridled passion. In the spring of 1928, the violence preceding the April primary election began to escalate out of control. It was not clear who was orchestrating all of this violence, but this time the targets were not gangsters, but U.S. Senator Charles Deneen, a reformer and a judge. The unabashedly corrupt Mayor Bill Thompson was presumed responsible since the victims were people who opposed him, but Al Capone who was still in Florida, was the scapegoat. While Mae Capone spent the spring of 1928 on an extravagant decorating spree Al dedicated himself to establishing himself as a legitimate citizen of Miami. In spite of the outward show of respectability, Al quietly made plans to solve pressing problems caused by his old boss Frankie Yale. The liquor supply deal that Capone and Yale had negotiated was experiencing too many

United States in the Years 1860-1870 Essay -- Essays Papers History Es

United States in the Years 1860-1870 The United States between the years 1860-1870 was in turmoil, but from a historical point of view, this decade is one of the most exciting times in U.S. history. In 1861 there were still fifteen slave states, seven states open to slavery by the Dred Scott Decision and only eighteen free states in the north (Ferrell Atlas). This was a time of growth and change in the U.S. For example in 1867 the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for a scant $7,200,000 (Museum). The Civil War was by far the most notable event to take place. Abraham Lincoln won the election for the Presidency of the United States in 1860. The most famous battle of the war, the Battle of Gettysburg took place in 1863; the Union army was victorious. Five years later in 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, ending the Civil War. Shortly after, the Thirteenth Amendment was signed and slavery was abolished in the U.S. (Museum). Despite the end of the war and the abolishment of slavery, many southerners are still angry at the north and the country still feels d...

Albert Einstein :: essays research papers

What I find most admirable about Albert Einstein is the way he thought up his theories and had the ability to conduct experiments on them. By doing this, he answered many questions of the scientific realm of the world. Some of the traits I admire are: 1. A trait I admire is his curiosity because he always wanted to find out how things worked. When he was five years old his father gave him a compass. It was a mystery to him. He wanted to know why the arrow always pointed north. His father explained magnetism to him, but that explanation didn't make the invisible power less mysterious. When he was older, he learned more about magnets. He knew that the earth's magnetic field made the needle point north. Since I am also very curious about how things work, this trait is one that I definitely share with him. Another trait that I admire is that he was a friendly teacher with a sense of humor, and that is what his students liked about him. In 1909 Albert was offered a position as an associate professor at the University of Zurich. His friendliness and sense of humor made him popular with his students even though they thought he was a little strange. How did they think he was strange? Well, on his first day of class he came dressed in pants that were too short and he had his notes on a single scrap of paper. But after talking for a few minutes, his students knew that they had a very special teacher. He cared about physics and about his students. He enjoyed talking to his students and would interrupt his own work just to help them. He was always welcoming questions and often invited his students to a local cafe or his home to continue classroom discussions I found that teachers I had in the past who were friendly made learning more interesting. Another trait was that he was good at math. Albert didn't care for school. The only subject he did like was math because figuring out problems was easy and fun for him. His uncle introduced him to algebra when he was eleven years old because he knew Albert enjoyed working with numbers. Albert was so good at algebra that he was soon ready for an advanced type of math. At twelve years old, Alberts friend, Max Talmud gave him a book on geometry. The book captured his imagination and opened up a whole new world of logic. He considered geometry as a kind of miracle, like the compass. He had no trouble going through the book and solving all the problems. He soon taught himself the more advanced form of math called calculus.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 31

Letter #2-November 15, 2006 Dear Pat, First, let me say it's good to hear from you. It's been a long time, which has been strange for me. I mean, when you are married to someone for years and then you don't see that person for almost as many years, it's strange, right? I don't know how to explain it, especially since our marriage ended so abruptly and scandalously. We never got a chance to talk things over – one-on-one – like civilized adults. Because of this, sometimes I think maybe it's almost as if I'm not really sure the multiple â€Å"Pat-less† years have truly transpired, but maybe it's been only a brief separation that feels like years. Like a solo car ride that takes all night but feels like a lifetime. Watching all those highway dashes flying by at seventy miles an hour, your eyes becoming lazy slits and your mind wandering over the memory of a whole lifetime – past and future, childhood memories to thoughts of your own death – until the numbers on the dashboard clock do not me an anything anymore. And then the sun comes up and you get to your destination and the ride becomes the thing that is no longer real, because that surreal feeling has vanished and time has become meaningful again. Finally making contact with you is like arriving at the end of a long car ride and realizing I went to the wrong place – that I have ended up in the past somehow, at the port of origin instead of the dock of destination. But at least I finally get to say that to you, which is important. It probably sounds stupid, but maybe you know what I mean. The part of my life you once filled has been nothing but highway dashes since you were put away, and I am hoping this exchange of letters will help to provide closure for both of us, because soon I will drive back to the place I was before Tiffany contacted me, and we will be only memories to each other. I can hardly believe how much you wrote. When Tiffany told me you were writing me a letter, I did not expect you to give her two hundred photocopied pages of your diary. As you can imagine, Tiffany was not able to read me all of the pages over the phone, because that would have taken hours! She did read me the introductory note and then filled me in on the rest, citing your diary often. You need to know it was a lot of work for her to read through the manuscript and pick out the parts she thought I should hear. For Tiffany's sake, please limit your next letter to five pages – should there be a next letter – as reading five pages aloud takes a long time and Tiffany is typing up what I dictate over the phone as well, which is already too much to ask of her. (She really is a phenomenally kind woman, don't you think? You are lucky to have Tiffany in your life.) Maybe it's the English teacher in me, but I feel as though a page limit is best. No offense, but let's try to be c oncise. Okay? Congratulations on your dance performance. Tiffany says you performed flawlessly. I'm so proud of you! It's hard to imagine you dancing, Pat. The way that Tiffany described the performance was very impressive. I'm glad you are taking an interest in new things. That's good. I certainly wish you had danced more with me. Things at Jefferson High School are gloriously shitty. The PTA pushed for online grade books, and now parents have access to their children's grades 24/7. You would hate working here now because of this new development. All parents have to do is log on to a computer, go to the Jefferson High School Web page, enter an ID # and a password, and they can see if their kid turned in his homework on any given day or scored poorly on a pop quiz or whatever. Of course, this means if we are behind on our grading, parents will know and the aggressive ones will call. Parent-teacher conferences have increased because of this. Every time a student misses a single homework, I'm hearing from parents. Our sports teams are losing pretty regularly too. Coach Ritchie and Coach Malone both miss you. Believe me when I say they could not fill your shoes, and the kids are worse off without Coach Peoples at the helm. The life of a teacher is still hectic and crazy – and I am glad you don't have to dea l with this type of stress as you heal. Sorry to hear about your father being aloof. I know how much that used to upset you. And I'm also sorry your Eagles are up and down – but at least they beat the Redskins last weekend, right? And season tickets with Jake, you must feel as though you died and went to heaven. I think it's best to say I am remarried. I won't go into details unless you want me to, Pat. I'm sure this comes as a shock to you, especially after Tiffany read me the many parts of your diary that seemed to indicate you still hope to reconcile our marriage. You need to know this is not going to happen. The truth is I was planning on divorcing you before the accident, before you were checked into the neural health facility. We were not a good match. You were never home. And let's face it – our sex life was shit. I cheated on you because of this, which you may or may not remember. I am not trying to hurt you, Pat – far from it. I am not proud of my infidelity. I regret cheating on you. But our marriage was over before I began my affair. Your mind is not right, but I have been told your therapist is one of the best in South Jersey, your treatments are working, and your memory will return soon; when it does, you will remember how I hurt you, and then you will not even wan t to write me, let alone try to re-create what you think we once had. I understand my blunt response to your very long and passionate letter might make you upset, and if you don't want to write me again, I will understand. But I wanted to be honest with you. What's the point if we lie now? Yours, Nikki P.S. – I was very impressed with your finally reading many of the books on my American Lit. syllabus. Many students have also complained about the novels being so depressing. Try Mark Twain. Huck Finn ends happily. You might like that one. But I'll tell you the same thing I tell my students when they complain about the depressing nature of American literature: life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly, like our marriage did, Pat. And literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for people to endure nobly. It sounds like you have endured very nobly since you returned to New Jersey, and I want you to know I admire that. I hope you are able to reinvent yourself and live out the rest of your life with a quiet sense of satisfaction, which is what I have been trying to do since we parted.

Movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson

Movies are representation of the social scenario of the contemporary period. Along with entertainment, these have various social, political and psychological perspectives attached to it. This paper is based on movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson. In his 1966 film, Robert Bresson, has focused primarily on his female character Marie, and her donkey Balthazar. The plot intertwines the fate of both these elements, until finally the symbolic connection between the two is established. While the donkey’s fate is clear, we cannot be sure of Marie, beyond what we are told in the narrative.A shy, farm girl in the French countryside, Marie follows what something of Maggie Tulliver’s experience, suffering abuse from different people in her life, oscillating between lovers, finally deciding that she must accept fate, perhaps even rely on some sort of tragic occurrence to relieve her of her pain. This has been called narcissistic rage in literature terminology, and finds its sharpest embodiment in the character of Marie. She too faces the trauma of her parent’s disgrace, because of her father’s decision, a mother who stands by the father but ultimately sees the pointless agony of a self pride, and then poverty and loss.The reason why women are presented in such terms, is as Laura Mulvey would say in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, due to the unconscious of patriarchal society. In this preexisting fascination with the female object, phallocentrism depends on image of the castrated woman. Female symbolism speaks of castration and her lack produces the phallus as symbolic. It stands as a signifier to the male â€Å"other†. It is thus the bearer of meaning, and not its maker. Women are bound by linguistic command to this situation, a command imposed by man to carry out his fantasies and obsessions.â€Å"The formulation surely owes something to Bresson's Au Hasard, Balthazar, whose literal ass here becomes a figurative bull-a creature whose portion of â€Å"spirituality† is earned in expressions of indiscriminate wrath and sexual irritability. † (Librach, 1992) There are two processes at work in cinema. One is the separation of erotic identity of the subject, the viewer, from the object, the character on screen. While for women, the way that other characters in the film look at her is the same as how viewers look at her, with the male, the viewer feels as though he is looking at the perfect mirror image of himself.Thus Gerard with his leather jacket and his motorcycle, his display of authority, often through violence and abuse, seems the perfect embodiment of masculinity, someone that the heroine, simple by virtue of occupying screen space, must fall for in the end. It rests on the belief that each one of us essentially thinks of himself as a Gerard. While recent feminist studies would refute this and recent changes in cinema have tried to equate the two sexes on screen, the screen largely remains a sexual parameter due to its connection with the ego, something that greatly manifests sexuality.The woman, however, is isolated, put on display and sexualized. This is what Mulvey terms the castration complex. In order for the woman to no longer be a threat because she lacks what men have, she must be glamorized into an object of desire, or fetish. Marie finds a consolation in the donkey. It has been presented as the other, against which Marie can understand the need to sympathize and be pitied and loved. Marie is essentially a Christ figure, whose ultimate ideals find their embodiment in Balthazar.Perhaps it is for this reason that the donkey’s fate has been presented explicitly, while Marie’s future remains in doubt. The perfect Christ must face explicit crucifixion. Marie might seem overtly tragic. This is somewhat due to Bresson’s insistence on purity of emotion. In this manner, Balthazar is the perfect Bresson character. Covere d with snow, we know that he is cold, his tail on fire, we know that he is scared, and finally finding peace and motionlessness among the sheep, we know that his end has come.When three children baptize it; symbolism tells us here that there is a place for all creatures in the house of god. The town drunkard Arnold is shows compassion, despite his other crimes. All the characters in the village are essentially flawed. However, the film’s religious imagery and minimal use of aesthetic detail makes it a powerful statement that highlights the barest of human emotions and thoughts. Reference: Librach, Ronald S. â€Å"The Last Temptation in Mean Streets and Raging Bull. â€Å"Literature/Film Quarterly 20. 1 (1992): 14+. Questia. Web. 11 May 2010.