Arnold For Governor essays

Arnold For Governor essays American Governor. In my opinion this should be an extremely serious position. I would think that an American Governor being head of state is likely a stronger and more demanding position than that of a Provincial Premier in this country. In other words this is a very serious elected position. Not a position for someone without experience, management capability, or strong business acumen. Consider that the Premier of Ontario is responsible for the affairs of the Province of Ontario and has been elected to handle and direct the people and economy of Ontario. By the way Ontario has only about ten million people. Now understand that the state of California has over fifty million people this is a very serious economy and needs very serious attention paid to it. As a matter of fact the State of California is the fifth largest economy in the world. All I can tell you is that I dont think the American voters really understand themselves how serious the position, Governor of California, really is. You would think that the elected Governor of California, would have received the confidence of the voters of California by serving the people in the state, over a period of years. The elected individual would gain experience as he filled various positions, and or mandates in the state. In other words one would think that the Governorship of the State of California would be held by a rock solid business person, with a tremendous understanding of the social and economic needs of the people of that state. It seems that this is not necessarily the case. It appears that the road to the Governorship of California is more of a popularity contest than a process to elect an official that has all the correct qualifications to manage the business of running the State of California. It seems to me ridiculous to think that the Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger has enough experience to handle this position. I am not saying that ...

Mithridates and the Mithridatic Wars

Mithridates and the Mithridatic Wars While still a child, Mithridates, later King Mithridates VI of Pontus, official friend of Rome, developed a reputation that included matricide and a paranoid fear of being poisoned. Roman Treaties - Information on What Is Meant by a Friend of Rome During the Roman Republic, competing military leaders Sulla and Marius wanted the honor of disposing of the greatest challenge to Roman supremacy since the Punic War general Hannibal Barca. From the end of the second to the middle of the first century B.C, this was the long-lived Mithridates VI of Pontus (132-63 B.C.), a thorn in Romes side for 40 years. The rivalry between the two Roman generals led to the  loss of blood at home, but only one of them, Sulla, confronted Mithridates abroad. Despite the great battlefield competence of Sulla and Marius  and their personal confidence in their ability to check the Eastern despot, it was neither Sulla nor Marius who put an end to the Mithridatic problem. Instead, it was Pompey the Great, who earned his honorific in the process. Location of Pontus - Home of Mithridates The mountainous district of Pontus lay on the eastern side of the Black Sea, beyond the province of Asia and Bithynia, north of Galatia and Cappadocia, west of Armenia, and south of Colchis. [See Map of Asia Minor.] It was founded by King Mithridates I Ktistes (301-266 B.C.). In the Third Punic War (149 - 146 B.C.), King Mithridates V Euergetes (r. 150-120) who claimed descent from the Persian King Darius, helped Rome. Rome gave him Phrygia Major in gratitude. He was the most powerful king in Asia Minor. By the time Rome had annexed Pergamum to create the province of Asia (129 B.C.), the kings of Pontus had moved from their capital in Amasia to rule from the Black Sea port city of Sinope. Mithridates - Youth and Poison In 120 B.C., while still a child, Mithridates (Mithradates) Eupator (132-83 B.C.) became king of the area of Asia Minor known as Pontus. His mother may have assassinated her husband, Mithridates V, in order to take power, since she served as regent and ruled in her young sons stead. Afraid his mother would try to kill him, Mithridates went into hiding. During this time, Mithridates started ingesting small doses of various poisons in order to develop an immunity. When Mithridates returned (c. 115-111), he took command, imprisoned his mother (and, possibly, ordered her execution), and started to extend his dominion.After Mithridates acquired Greek towns in Colchis and whats now the Crimea, he developed a strong fleet to hold his territories. But that wasnt all. Since the Greek towns hed overtaken proved so lucrative, providing resources in the form of revenue, officers, and mercenary soldiers, Mithridates wanted to increase his Greek holdings. Next page Mithridates expands his empire Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Print SourcesH. H. Scullards revised version of F.B. Marshs Roman World 146-30 B.C.Cambridge Ancient History Vol. IX, 1994. Also on this site Gaius Julius CaesarGaius MariusSullaTimeline of the Late Roman Republic Previous Articles -I tell the tale that I heard told.Mithridates, he died old.From A.E. Housman Terence, this is stupid stuff

HRM and Collective Bargaining Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words - 1

HRM and Collective Bargaining - Assignment Example A recommendation would be to employ distributive bargaining for better results. Â  The following is an integrative report on the role of the human resources function in terms of negotiating with labor unions. The report will delve into management relations with unions, and how these relationships are likely to be affected if either the union or management take a rigid stand during collective bargaining negotiations, and not exercise flexibility. The report will also look into such factors as health and safety regulations, misconduct, payroll, minimum wage, and others, to establish arguments and issues from either side and will attempt to culminate all these factors to come up with meaningful conclusions and/or provide future recommendations. Â  Where possible, the report will endeavor to provide examples of real organizational cases to strengthen relevant arguments. The report will make use of extensive established literature in the subject area to gain and provide theoretical input towards its discussions. Â  Employment relationship is protected by two different types of regulations namely legal and voluntary regulations (Willey, 2003), where legal regulations refer to standardised laws passed by the government like processes for dealing with complaints about infringement of legal rights; and the provision of solutions; whereas voluntary regulations refer to the additional discretion employers have, in compliance with legal regulations, in determining pay and employment conditions and the procedures followed; use of grievance procedures; disciplinary procedures; the roles of consultation and collective bargaining; and the involvement of third parties to the regulation of employment relations (Willey, 2003; Newell and Scarbrough, 2002).

Is the green house effect operating in Earth's atmosphere helpful or Essay

Is the green house effect operating in Earth's atmosphere helpful or harmful Give examples. What are the consequences of an enhanced greenhouse effect - Essay Example But excessive greenhouse effects, induced by human activities such as burning of fossil fuels, emission CFCs, etc are harmful for the atmosphere. Scientists note that during the past 200 years the average global has increased about .40C to .80C (in Fahrenheit Scale about .70 to 1.40). Experts also estimate that if this rate of increase in the temperature remains uninterrupted, the average temperature is supposed to rise up to 10.4 degrees F by 2100. The increase in the atmospheric temperature is mostly a response to a process called greenhouse effect that â€Å"is a natural phenomenon†¦.whereby certain gasses in the atmosphere keep the earth’s temperature significantly higher than it would otherwise be, making it suitable for life† (Dispensa & Brule 87). The gasses prevent the magnified heat radiation to return to the space and preserve it as heat in the environment. Climatologists suggest that global warming is caused mainly by human activities that contribute to the increase in the green-house gas in the atmosphere. Natural causes such as â€Å"sunspots and natural variation of temperature change by the evolution of earth† (Dispensa & Brule 87) may increase the temperature of earth. Though some natural causes are found responsible for the emission of greenhouse gasses, environment also has its own process to absorb them. But the emission of these gasses caused by human activities is so excessive that natural absorption process cannot consume all of the produced gasses. In this regard, Dispensa and Brule (2003) notes, â€Å"The IPCC†¦uses the term climate change to refer exclusively to change in the climate brought about by human activities.† (p.87) Studies show that the occurring of â€Å"killer heat-waves† (Houghton 188) is more frequent than ever. The August of 2003 was the hottest summer in the European continent in 500 years killing almost 27000 people. The rise in the global atmospheric temperature is

Organization Design And Technology Of Sony Corporation Essay Example for Free

Organization Design And Technology Of Sony Corporation Essay Due to the fast-paced growth of Sony Corporation in the international market, it gave way for the misalignment of its market and internal expansion leading to the deterioration of its rate of technological development or the quality of its product lines, and the decline of the efficiency of its workforce as the number of responsibilities and tasks suddenly increased triggered by the market expansion of the said company. With the aid of ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire and balance scorecard, Sony Corporation has been able to improve the quality of its product and workforce efficiency. By expanding the workforce of Sony, it can solve the deterioration of its rate of technological advancement and inefficiency on workforce on a long term basis. Between adding new position to the organization structure of Sony and hiring more workers to expand the workforce of the said company, adding new position to Sony Corporation is the one that fits to solve the above mentioned problems of Sony considering the cost of its implementation and effectiveness. Introduction With the growing competition in the international market, it is a must for Sony Corporation to secure competitive advantage in terms of internal stability and technological development. Most consumers nowadays provides more premium on the most advanced products in the market, and this is the primary reason why Sony Corporation allot significant amount of resources to research and development to maintain the pace of their technological development. Furthermore, Sony has designed its organization structure in such a way that it could easily respond to various new market challenges. But the forces of market competition and globalization blocks the technological advantages of Sony as well as destabilized the internal stability through attacking their organization design as various departments and key person of the said company shoulders broader responsibilities as the company continues to expand in the international market. Sony’s competitors, Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple, Microsoft, and Dell are just few of the many electronics companies also operating in the international market with fast-paced technological development (Isuppli. om 2006: 1). Due to this scenario, Sony’s products appears to be less technologically advanced compared to its competitors leading to a sudden down turn on their sales and profit internationally as their customers shift to their competitors (Eetimes. com 2008: 1). Furthermore, during the peak of Sony’s international operation, various departments and top level managers was bombarded with more tasks and responsibilities in order to support their market expansion which presently lead to the deterioration of their performances. Distribution of task and responsibilities is weak and most of the organization design of Sony is already obsolete considering the present condition of competition and globalization in the international market. In this regard, this paper aims to discuss how the forces of competition and globalization weaken the organization design and technological advantage of Sony as well as the potential alternatives that Sony must undertake in order to solve the said weaknesses. At the end of this paper, expect for a recommendation that would best solve the problems of Sony concerning its organization design and technology. Classification of Organization Structure Sony Corporation has been using divisional type of organizational design as illustrated by their organizational chart, see appendix (. During the early years of Sony’s operation in the market, the divisional type of organization design enables them to easily implement strategies and decisions to problems that need immediate solution. Since Sony was only on its development stage, they were able to fully utilize the optimal gains that can be derived from using divisional organization structure. The fast relay of information, decision making and implementation of strategies through the use of divisional organization design provided Sony with tremendous amount of gains in the international market as they start successfully penetrating their target market and out-performed their competitors in the market, making them one of the successful multinational companies around the globe (Goliath. ecnext. com 2007: 1). Furthermore, the divisional organization design enables Sony to specialize its â€Å"groups† since thereby improving the quality of their products in the market (Market Wire 2005: 1). Like for instance, the Sony Ericson Mobile Communications Group concentrate only to develop and produce mobile communication products in the market. The head of Ericson Mobile Communications Group is directly below the CEO of Sony, and so with their other groups (Sony. net 2008: 1). The direct relationship between the head of Sony’s groups and its CEO provides ease on decision making and distribution of information as well as strategies on brand development. But this organizational structure starts to provide instabilities to Sony Corporation as it continues to grow as electronics industry superpower in the international market. As the company grew in the international market, responsibilities of each head of various groups also increased up to the point wherein they start performing inefficiently as their time being spent on every vital aspect of their operation become lesser and lesser. In this regard, the present status of divisional organization design to Sony becomes ineffective and only provides instabilities as the executives of the company starts to perform inefficiently on their respective fields. But divisional organization design fits Sony than any other organization structure available in the business management realm. Since Sony have a diversity of products in the market, and each group specializes into the production of their own product lines, then, divisional structure already fits Sony. The only problem lies on the fact that every executive of Sony starts gaining more responsibilities in his/her assigned group. In other words, the international expansion of Sony in the recent years was not accompanied by expansion of internal responsibilities of various executives of the said company, thereby leading to a down turn on their overall performance. In order for Sony to restore the stability of its internal affairs, it does not have to change its organization design; rather, Sony management can make improvements on their divisional structure by adding new positions or by appointing executive assistants to key positions on various groups of the said company. This strategy will provide enough room for the key personnel of Sony to manage their responsibilities well and delegate those less priority tasks to their assistance or new positions in the group. In other words, this strategy will give way for the internal expansion of Sony while maintaining their original organization design that was already proven to be effective and fit to the business structure of Sony Corporation. Choosing organization structure other than divisional design would provide great risk since Sony operates on various groups with different product lines to produce into the market. Furthermore, each group has less influence on one another and almost operates independently from other group while their headquarters and CEO serves as the link between them. In this regard, it is vital for Sony Corporation to implement the said internal expansion of their groups in order for them to re-establish their competitive advantage in the international market in terms of internal stability and workforce efficiency especially during these times wherein the forces of tight market competition and globalization calls for the acquisition of more potential sources of competitive advantages to keep the pace of Sony’s growth internationally. Key Determinant and Influences on Organizational Structure One of the main strategies of Sony in expanding its share on the international market would be the diversification of its product line from electronics to B2B business solutions, which later on enables the company to tap various resources. Since each product line of Sony needs different production processes compared to others, Sony decided to use divisional organizational structure in order to easily manage the entire company without compromising the quality of their product lines. For instance, Sony Financial Holdings Group provides business solution services to the market and needs different operational processes compared to Sony Entertainment Business Group that provides television, digital cameras, and video cameras in the market. Each of these groups requires different set of operational style, set of skills and equipments, and set of strategies, thereby providing enough room to these groups to operate independently from one another would enhance their productivity and efficiency as they specialize into their production process. This is the main reason why Sony chose to use divisional organization design in order to provide enough room for each product line to be developed separately by workers specialized on producing it from other product line. In this regard, the strategy of Sony to diversify its product line gave way for the use of divisional organization structure. Furthermore, another factor that serves to be the key determinant of Sony Corporation’s organization structure would be its growth rate. Sony Corporation has roughly 4 percent sales growth rate internationally as of this month which is relatively higher compared to its rival companies like Panasonic with -2. 78 percent sales growth rate (Reuters. com 2008: 1). During the initial stage of Sony’s growth in the international market, as their product become more diverse leading to a fast-paced growth, Sony chose to use divisional organization structure to allow the company to cope up with the said growth rate since divisional organization structure provides enough room for Sony to further develop their diverse product line through specialization. At present, the root of organization stability of Sony roots on the fact that they were not able to accompanied their market growth and expansion with internal expansion causing for the divisional organization structure to work inefficiently. Once the internal growth rate of Sony already aligned itself to its market growth, then, that is the only time wherein Sony can fully utilize the potential gains of using divisional organization structure. In this regard, it is therefore vital for Sony to keep track its market growth and internal growth if whether these two still align each other since these affects the performance of their organization structure. The strategy and growth of Sony is interrelated to one another and this is the main reason why these two factors greatly affect its organization structure. The strategy of Sony to diversify its product line provided them with enough opportunity to increase their market share in the international market. The said product line expansion and increase of market share enable Sony to easily penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors. Furthermore, as Sony continues to successfully penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors, it starts to gain impressive growth in the market due to higher sales and profit. But the said market growth of Sony was not accompanied by internal expansion which presently leads to tremendous losses as key personnel of its groups starts performing inefficiently and ineffectiveness of their organization structure. Furthermore, as these key personnel of Sony perform inefficiently, the research and development of their products starts to drop, giving enough room for its competitors to step up in the electronics and business solutions industry and provide financial losses to the company (Forbes. com 2008: 1). Therefore, at this point in time, it is vital for Sony to address these instabilities on its workforce in order to restore their competitiveness in the international market with respect to their market strategies and technological advancement. Organizational Effectiveness One way in which Sony Corporation evaluates performance would be through the use of Information and Communications Technology Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire which aims to determine if whether their suppliers uphold the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct. Since suppliers have a direct impact on the overall performance of Sony in terms of product quality, along with other electronics companies around the globe such as HP, IBM, and Microsoft, Sony Corporation created the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which encompasses the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire. Through the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor the product quality of their suppliers. By securing the performance of their suppliers, Sony Corporation has been able to maintain its integrity of producing high quality products in the market. There were cases wherein Sony Corporation was sued for releasing substandard products in the market. Like what happened recently when a couple sued Sony when the battery of a Sony laptop exploded causing injuries to the complainants. Due to this, Sony had to pull out all of the batteries that were being suspected as substandard and replaced with a new one in order to prevent having more accidents. In this regard, through the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation can stop the above mentioned accident caused to substandard products that they release in the market which mostly came from their suppliers. Dell, the maker of the said substandard battery of Sony laptop, is now making collaboration with Sony in pulling out those substandard laptop batteries in the market. Another way by which Sony evaluates their performance is through the use of balance scorecard. Balance score card help every organization in the market to determine if whether their smaller scale operational activities are still aligned with their larger scale activities. As for the case of Sony Corporation, it uses balance scorecard in determining the alignment operational processes of its groups, e. g. Sony Ericson Mobile Communications, Game Business Group, Entertainment Business Group, and Sony Financial Holdings Group, to the vision and strategy of the entire organization. For instance, the balance scorecard is being used by Sony Corporation in determining if whether the processes used in producing Sony Ericsson in the market are still aligned with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the entire company. Through this, Sony Corporation can keep their various groups intact to the vision and strategies of their â€Å"parent† company – Sony Corporation. Just recently, Sony Ericsson phone was awarded as the most â€Å"Eco-Friendly† phone in the market and the said award is being attributed to the continues success of Sony Corporation to uphold its Corporate Social Responsibility on minimizing the wastes being emitted in producing the said product (Sayer 2008: 1). Considering the said success of Sony Ericsson phone in the market, there is a great possibility that it can earn positive balance scorecard by upholding the CSR of Sony Corporation, which can eventually serve as the basis for further development of Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Ericsson. co. jp 2005: 9). Therefore, balance scorecard provides enough room for Sony Corporation to determine the alignment of their product lines to their vision and strategy especially when it concerns the integrity of their brand name. At this point, the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard, has been able to solve its problem regarding maintaining the quality of their products in the market by securing the compliance of their suppliers and aligning the production processes of their product lines into their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Therefore, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard fit to the vision and strategies of Sony Corporation based from their successful solution regarding the low quality level of Sony’s products in the market. This issue on quality level and on how the above identified evaluation tools of Sony Corporation solved it will be thoroughly discussed in the next part of the paper. Critical Analysis of Current Problems Actually, the main problem of Sony Corporation would be the misalignment of its market and internal expansion that eventually lead to various â€Å"branch-problems† like low performance rate from the workforce of the company as well as the deterioration of the quality level of their product lines in the market. The fast-paced growth of Sony in the past years, while leaving their internal condition to remain untouched, provided inefficiencies on the part of their workforce as the responsibility of one another can no longer be performed as efficient as before, and low product quality as the said inefficiencies on their workforce started to reflect on the quality level of their product lines. This is the main reason why Sony Corporation suffers from return on investment and profit on its operation as their customers shift to the side of their competitors since the latter already have relatively technologically advanced product lines in the market compared to Sony Corporation. In order to provide a long term solution to this problem of Sony Corporation, it is a must for the management of the said company to expand their workforce either by adding new positions to reinforce the key positions in the company or hire more workers to delegate the tasks optimally among their workforce. But at present, Sony Corporation is applying short term solutions to these problems through the use of evaluation tools as discussed on the previous part of this paper. First, the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire provided solution on securing the quality of their supplier’s products which later on be used on the production process of Sony. With the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor if whether the supplies of their suppliers are substandard or complies with the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which sets up the standards for electronic products in the market (Greenwald 2005: 2). Sony Corporation can now minimize the incidence of product malfunction or substandard components of their product lines just like what happened to the batteries of Sony’s laptop that exploded due to overheating. ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire will improve the quality of Sony’s product line even up to a small degree since it only solves their problem on the side of their supplier and not the root of the problem which still lies on the internal stability of their workforce. With the rise of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, cases of substandard electronic products in the market will be minimized leading for Sony to improve the quality level of its products (United Nations Environment Program 2005: 1). In this regard, through the use of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation manages to improve the quality of their product lines even up to a small degree. On the other hand, the balance scorecard of Sony Corporation provides enough room for the said company to improve the quality of their workforce’s performance since the company can determine if whether a group or department already performs outside the boundaries of their vision and corporate strategies. There are times wherein the misalignment of Sony Corporation’s products to their vision and corporate strategies roots on the inefficient performance of workforce of a given department or group, and balance scorecard can determine if whether a given group of Sony Corporation performs inefficiently based from the evaluation of the products being produced by that given group. Through this, Sony Corporation can easily determine which group among its companies needs to undergo workforce expansion to solve the said inefficiency of their workers. In this regard, the balance scorecard provides two services to Sony Corporation, evaluation of their product’s performance in the market and its alignment to the vision and corporate strategies of the company, and on which group of the company needs workforce expansion in order to improve the quality of their product lines just like what happened to Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Esato. com 2007: 1). Solutions In order for Sony Corporation to have long term solution to their problem regarding the misalignment of their market and internal expansion as the consequence of their fast-paced growth, it is advisable for them to expand their workforce either by adding new positions into their organization structure to optimally delegate the tasks among the workers of the company; or, the management could hire more workers that will handle the additional responsibilities provided by the market expansion of the company. Furthermore, through adding new position to the organization structure to various business groups of Sony Corporation, e. g. executive assistants will give their key executives to delegate some of the less important tasks and responsibilities to their assistants so they can concentrate to more responsibilities. The divisional organization structure of Sony Corporation will still be used in the organization design of Sony under the said strategy considering that it is the only organization design that fits to the business nature of Sony Corporation as discussed on the previous part of this paper. On the other hand, with regards to hiring more workers that will be responsible on shouldering the additional tasks provided by the market expansion of Sony Corporation, this will provide Sony with enough room to improve the efficiency of their workforce as every person on their workforce can now perform their responsibilities to their optimal level since tasks are now well distributed on their workforce. At the end of the day, these strategies will improve the quality of Sony’s workforce and so with the quality of their products. The only problem with hiring of additional workers would be the fact that it is costly to hire more workers for the company considering that Sony is presently suffering from low profitability in the market compared to adding new position to the organization structure of Sony Corporation. Recommendation Both of the above mentioned strategies provides same improvement on lifting the efficiency of Sony Corporation’s workforce and boosting its product quality level, but in terms of costs on the part of the company, adding new positions to the organization structure of Sony is relatively cheaper than hiring more workers. In this regard, alongside with the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, it is a must for their management to add new positions into the divisional organization structure of the company to provide long term solution on their low quality product in terms of technology and improving the efficiency of their workforce considering the extent of their market expansion in the global market. Conclusion With the misalignment of market and internal expansion of Sony Corporation due to its fast-paced growth in the international market, it provided various problems into the said company. Technological advancement of Sony’s products drops while the efficiency of its workforce decline due to the significant increase on tasks and responsibilities on the workplace caused by the fast-paced growth of Sony in the recent years. Through adding new positions on the organization structure of Sony, it can already improve the efficiency of its workforce and so with the rate of its product line’s technological advancement in the market.

The Everglades :: Free Descriptive Essay About A Place

The Everglades How come the Everglades are so hard to love? How come some people go there and come back full of mosquito bites, all disappointed and upset from their Everglades trip, while others become so involved that they cannot forget the Everglades and choose to live surrounded by them? What is it? Why do some people get it and why do others not? There sure is something. Everglades, tell me, what is your secret? Why are you so harsh with some people and so generous with others? What do you need from us? Is there a password? "Open Sesame." I'm the Everglades, the largest national park of Florida. I'm so unique that I do not need your love. I have too much to do to protect my people against you, humans. Why do you want me to give you something when you give me such a hard time? I lived in peace for five thousand years without you, humans. I succeeded for a long time in holding you back, away from my dear species and me. But I failed. Little by little, you have invaded and devastated my land. You have destroyed my water flow, made almost extinct some of my most precious species. I had to surrender and ask for help. I made a deal with your American government to be protected and became a national park some fifty years ago. In exchange, I had to agree to show my wonders to people who come to visit me. However, I did not forgive men so easily. You have betrayed me so many times. As for my little tree snails, you have ruined them. You have destroyed my artwork. For so many years, I was patient enough to create tree snail hammocks, all with their population of tree snails unique and beautiful. Each hammock had tree snails with a different pattern of colors. But, you, humans, have destroyed everything; your cupidity and stupidity have altered the distinctiveness of my little tree snails. Because of you, they are no longer unique. Nevertheless, I know that I can trust some of you as I can trust my friends the Indians. They have always showed me respect. I lived in peace with the Calusas, Ais, Jeaga, Tequestas for so many years. I helped the Seminoles when they were escaping from the White men.

Balancing Family and Work Life

Balancing Family and Work Life Paul Cody SOC 402: Contemporary Social Problems & the Workplace Prof. Paula Zobisch August 2, 2012 ? Balancing work life and family life is important. Such a simple statement that is, as the cliche goes, easier said than done. In the 50’s and 60’s most families were of the traditional nature, in that there was a husband, wife and kids. The women may or may not have worked, and if they did it was until the first child was born (Hertz, 2001, p. 23).The mothers would leave their jobs for an extended period of time to care for the child or children and in quite a few cases the mother wouldn’t return to the workforce. I think one of the main reasons this was possible is women didn’t make nearly as much a men so the impact on the finances was not that hard to overcome. I feel another reason was that women weren’t as career driven as women of today. Women of that time were, generally speaking, more concerned with raising chil dren and taking care of the home.Now, in the twenty-first century, the family structure is different. There are still the traditional households of male breadwinner/female homemaker, but now we see more and more of duel-earner families, and single parent families. The process of integrating the demands of our families and our jobs remains a source of stress and continual accommodation for many of us (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Scharlach, 2000, p. 248). The economic downturn added additional stress on families, as many went through and are still going through the loss of employment.In duel-earner families the loss of employment by the father and/or mother has put additional stress on the family structure. The effects of loss of income can be felt in different areas of the family. Depending on the length of the job loss families may be unable to afford daycare, gas in their vehicle(s), or even the vehicles themselves. Many families have suffered losses, from their cars to their homes. When the parents do find employment the balance of work and family is affected due to the parents needing to work longer hours or multiple jobs to recover from the previous unemployment.Men and women today are asking how they can find the time and energy to fulfill their various commitments to work, family, and other people and groups, and how to achieve satisfaction and success in all the different facets of their lives. (Work and Family – Allies or Enemies? , para. 4, p. 3). This quandary pertaining to work and family affects the pursuit of careers and the pursuit of a fulfilling family life. Balancing family and work life is a major challenge in my household. My wife and I both work full time jobs that require more than 40 hours a week.We have four children, three of whom are very active in different groups as well as church, and a 17 month old. It would be nice if my wife could work part time or not at all but at this stage in my career I’m not in a position to support the family by myself. We have the traditional family model and I feel that we are in a better situation than if we were single parents. We are able to share household duties, parenting duties, transportation duties (it is an issue with four children who all have to be in different places at different times), and financial duties.Family friendly employers are becoming more and more prominent in the workforce. Many companies have created time off policies, flexible schedules, and have even provided child care facilities right at the job site. Companies must also adhere to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which became law in 1993. This gives some protection to workers who need to take time off to care for themselves or immediate family members. Maternity and Paternity leave are also provided by employers for new mothers and fathers. I feel that a father’s role in the care of an infant is very important.Not only is this an important time for bonding with a newborn but also bonding again with the wife/mother. It’s very balancing to have a father take some of the load off of the mother and also develop an early relationship with a newborn. â€Å"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather my sparks burn out in a blaze than be stifled in dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in a magnificent glow than asleep and permanent as a planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days rying to prolong them. I shall use my time† – Jack London (Clawson, 2009, p. 3). Being able to balance work and home life is essential to living life to the fullest. Employment at a company that is not flexible in regards to family time and family needs puts strain and stress on all family members. The parents may feel that they aren’t spending enough time as a family and the children may feel neglected. Many men face having to trade off career and personal values while they search for way s to make dual-earner families work (Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000, p. ). Teleworking is a new way to balance work and family life. Many parents are finding that teleworking offers the possibility of being close to their family and making money. Some of the benefits are increased time and work-location flexibility, more control over the pace and schedules of work, the possibility of adjusting work in response to childcare or eldercare needs, and decreased time in commuting which provides more time for the family (Cullen, 2203, p. 12).Social partners and governments have invested many resources in highlighting both the business and social benefits accruing from conscious attempts to enable individuals to balance their work and family/private lives (Cullen & Norbert, 2003, p. 11-12). There have been many changes in policies and standards with companies that have benefits for families. Some of the changes are childcare allowances, enhanced maternity leave, unpaid leave during school holid ays, and guaranteed Christmas leave for employees with families.The importance of balancing work life and family life is increasingly important today. Certain aspects of work and family life help affect integration between the two domains and make them mutually enriching (Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000, p. 5). Being able to balance work life and home life is important to someone if their family is important to them. ? References Clawson, J. 2009. Balancing Your Life: Executive Lessons for Work, Family and Self. Retrieved from Cullen, K. , Norbert, L. 2003. Work and Family in the eWork Era. Retrieved from

American Fiction

Society seems to play important roles in the betterment of life of an individual. Following paper will briefly highlight the differences in themes of three novels; namely â€Å"My Antonia,† by Willa Cather, â€Å"The Age of Innocence,† by Edith Wharton, and â€Å"A Farewell to Arms† by Ernest Hemingway. Introduction ‘Age of Innocence’ written by Edith Wharton in 1920 is a story emerging from the 1870s surrounding an upper class couple in new York city awaiting marriage. Newland Archer, a young lawyer, awaits his marriage with May Welland belonging to one of the riches and best families in New York.This marriage depends on the choice of bride made by Newland Archer but this choice seems to be doubtful after his interaction with the bride’s cousin, Ellen Olenska, returning from Europe after separation from her husband Count Olenski. Countess has decided to divorce the Count, a rather unacceptable decision for her family. Persuasions are worked o n the Countess to make her return to the Count but all in vain. Instead, the interaction between Newland and Ellen grows until as decided by the families, unfortunately, Newland gets married to May.As Ellen continuously refuses to return to the Count, the Count and her family withhold all financial help and support to the Countess. This novel is based on a story and characters that are surrounded by their societies guiding these characters to do the right thing as ‘required’. Although running from typical societal rules, Newland could get married to Ellen but as the families had already arranged for the marriage of May and Newland, there was no way to refuse to the preplanned marriage and leave May, as families in those times were more terrified about being disgraced.Thereby assumptions and morals followed in the American society in 1870s are challenged in this novel with no condemnations of these rules and morals whatsoever. American writer Willa Cather wrote ‘My Antonia’ in 1918. This novel is composed of five books. The story encompasses some immigrant families from Nebraska who move to USA to start a new life. Antonia, the main character of the story, is the eldest daughter of a Bohemian family among the other immigrant families. Jim Burden, narrator of the story is the character who falls in love with Antonia.The five books of this novel highlight the life of Antonia starting from her childhood until getting married and becoming a mother. After a depression based suicide of Antonia’s father, Antonia survives a hard life on the prairie farms of Black Hawk, Nebraska. For the Harlings family in a town nearby, she works as a house cleaner and a cook gaining a reputation of the most beautiful girl in town that upsets the Harlings. Larry Donovan, Antonia’s fiance flees the town before marriage abandoning Antonia pregnant with his child.Antonia finds a happy life being married to Cuzak having ten children with him on the f arms. Jim, on the other hand, is younger than Antonia but is involved in her while Antonia still takes him as a child. Jim attends college and starts studying and after a longer period, still having affection for Antonia in his heart, returns to Black Hawk and finds that she is now a mother of ten children and happily married. All Jim decides to live with now is the memory of Antonia and an affection that he has for her family.Thereby the main theme of this novel is change and transformations of life. ‘A Farewell to Arms’ was written by Ernest Hemingway in 1929. The story emerges from the period of First World War, surrounding a nurse Catherine Barkley who falls in love with an American soldier Frederic Henry. Cynicism of soldiers and displacement of populations that follow wars have been highlighted in the novel. ‘A Farewell to Arms’ is divided into five books that highlight the life and times of these two people during the war.These five books have highli ghted changes in Henry’s philosophy about life and universe, as Catehrine brings order in his life making him understand the importance of values as morality, dignity, and honor. First book talks about the relationship in its beginning stages. The couple spends some time in Milan in summers, being the topic of second book. Third book highlights Henry returning to the battle unit and killing a sergeant for which he is arrested by the battle police for interrogation, where a possibility of Henry being executed arises which he escapes by jumping into a river.Fourth book talks about the couple reuniting in Switzerland. The fifth book highlights a quiet peaceful life being lived by the couple until Catherine undergoes hemorrhage during labor of their son that causes her death making Henry accept the sad reality of death making Henry understand the meaning of life, changing his cynical philosophy. Contrast between Three Novels A great contrast exists between three novels. ‘Ag e of innocence’ written by Edith Wharton talks about the societal rules being followed in New York in 1870s that includes an element of disgrace associated with divorce of a daughter in a family.Giving up personal desires for saving the honor and respect of one’s family is the main theme of this story. A caring aspect of society has been highlighted in this case where values and morals of a society promise to protect a woman within the secure boundaries of her family. Divorce in late 19th century was considered as a disgrace and an invitation to scandals thought of as a threat to women in their future life. On the other hand, a connection has been built between Antonia and her surrounding society in ‘My Antonia’.No caring aspect of the society has been highlighted in the story as compared to ‘Age of innocence’. Men that surround Antonia are shown to follow no rules and morals of their society, as it is evident in case of her first fiance fleei ng and abandoning Antonia pregnant before marriage, making her face shame in front of the society and her family. Changes take place in Antonia as she faces these tragedies being alone until life blesses her with a husband and ten children giving her a peaceful and a protected life on the farms.There is no connection between the characters and their society in case of ‘A Farewell to Arms’. The main reason being the background of the novel, as it was written in the time of First World War when the only matter under consideration is saving one’s own self from death. Wars are defined as tragic thereby any story emerging from these times is tragic. The story highlights a tragic love story that sets in the First World War surrounding a soldier who gives up his military career for the fear of death.Solders think about the universe as being an unordered and an unprotected existence with no God to watch over with no evidence of justice in the surroundings. Morality, dign ity, and honor are nowhere to be seen in the surroundings were war takes place. Emphasis is given to the brutality, injustice, and futility that follows the war as Henry escapes his cynical thoughts about the universe being disordered with the help of Catherine. Henry in the novel is shown to have a strong disbelief in God thereby there was no belief in faith having a relationship with life and morality.A strong atheistic belief existed in Henry and his peers linking it with nil existence of faith thus no morality, justice and no need of moral rules in the society. Henry is shown to understand the meaning of life by the ways he struggles to escape the interrogation and execution in the hands of the police. As the name of the novel indicates, Henry says farewell to not only the arms and his military career by making an escape but also to the cynical philosophy that he held about life.Understanding that struggles can be a part of life, Henry struggles to reunite with Catherina, althou gh defeat waits in the end. However, all that matters in the end is to realize the meaning of an existence of the universe and a God. Thus, there is no connection of this novel with the other two novels, as the other two novels do not talk about disbelief in the existence of universe and morality. In fact, the characters in the other two novels have been shown to live in a society built around principles of morality.A strong role has been suggested by the two novels in the lives of its characters but there is no belief in society nor its existence in the case of third novel thereby there is no role of society being played in the betterment of the life of its characters in ‘A Farewell to Arms’. Conclusion There is a prominent contrast in the three novels. First novel ‘Age of Innocence’ talks about shaping an individuals’ life based on rules and regulations that are shaped by a society and families that surrounds him; as these morals promise to protect the individuals.Second novel talks about the slow transitions that take place in the life of an individual living in a society with individuals not following morality to protect an individual. In the third novel, the main theme is a change in the philosophy of an individual about life and the universe while struggling to reunite with his love while escaping death. Works Cited Johnson, D. Claudia. , and Johnson, Elso, Vernon. The social impact of the novel: a reference guide. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.

The Powers of the Prime Minister The WritePass Journal

The Powers of the Prime Minister Introduction The Powers of the Prime Minister IntroductionThe Roles of the Prime MinisterLimits of his powerIs the Prime Minister too powerful?ConclusionRelated Introduction The purpose of this essay is to describe and discuss the powers of the British Prime Minister and which implications arise from his position for the government and politics. This essay will consist of three parts. In the first part the main powers of the Prime Minister (PM), currently David Cameron, will be considered. These include his tasks as head of government, the right to select his cabinet and to dismiss ministers, to represent the country abroad and more functions, which will be   explained in more detail below. In the second part the limits of his powers will be illustrated and how effective they are. These will lead to the third section, where it will be discussed whether the Prime Minister is too powerful. The focus will be especially on the argument whether Britain has a more prime ministerial government rather than a Cabinet government. Furthermore a comparison with the powers of the German chancellor is made, and it will be reviewed if the organisation of the office of German Chancellor is a better manner to regulate the powers of the PM. Lastly, it is discussed which reforms are possible to reduce the Prime Ministers powers. The Roles of the Prime Minister As head of the UK government, the PM is probably the most influential person in British politics. To the present day 52 men and one woman have passed through the doors of Number 10 Downing Street as British Prime Minister. The office of the PM is the creation of convention, and the role and the powers conferred on him still depend mainly on convention and political circumstances. His powers are not defined in legislation, instead they evolved as a matter of political expediency and historically evolution. Moreover, it now appears to be a firm convention that the Prime Minister should be a member of the House of Commons. Most of the powers to be discussed derive from the royal prerogative.The royal prerogative is supposed to give the Monarch substantial power as the Head of State. However, the prerogative powers should be understood „not as personal discretionary powers of the Monarchâ€Å", but as „clearly circumscribed constitutional duties to be carried out on the advice of the PM. He is the principal government figure in the House of Commons and has a general authority to intervene in any sphere of government. The Prime Minister controls the central government apparatus in that he decides how the tasks of government should be allocated to departments and whether departments should be created, amalgamated or abolished. Furthermore it is the PM who appoints the members of the Cabinet and „sets the paceâ€Å" of Cabinet activity. He may ask ministers to resign, recommend the Queen to dismiss them or, with their consent, move them to other offices. Lord Atlee has said that an important quality in a Premier is the capacity to dismiss inadequate ministers. The Prime Minister is able to control Cabinet discussions and the process of decision-making by setting the order of business, and may name one of the Cabinet to be Deputy Prime Minister, or first Secretary of State. Therefore the power of appointment is one of the chief ways a Prime Minister keeps his cont rol over his party. By controlling influential committees, the PM can also ensure that he drives the policies of these committees. Accordingly, it can be said that the Prime Minister is in a position to exercise a dominant influence over the Cabinet, having powers that other ministers do not have. The PM customarily holds the titular position of First Lord of the Treasury. His approval is also required for the appointment of the most senior civil servants and important Crown appointments are filled on his nomination, for example, high-ranking members of the Church of England and senior judges. Furthermore, he also has control over the Cabinet Office. The PM, in addition, retains other patronage powers. He still advises the Queen on new peerages, on appointments to the Privy Council and the grant of honours. The Prime Ministers Office supports him in his role as head of government. This includes providing policy advice and ensuring effective communications to Parliament and the public. Most Prime Ministers must take a special interest in foreign affairs, the economy and defence. The Queen is Britain’s head of state, but the PM is Britain’s de facto representative abroad. He often takes a leading role in foreign relations, dealing directly with other heads of gover nment, and is also likely to take the lead on major issues as the national and international response to the crisis in Libya. Another function of the PM is that he is also in a position to dominate if not control the governments communication to the press, and to disclose information about government decisions and the Cabinet business. He has regular meetings with the Queen and is responsible for keeping the Queen informed of the Cabinets handling of affairs. As has become clear above, the PM is involved in all aspects of government in a way that no other government official is, and thus it is safe to say that, despite the limits on his power (see below), the PM can be considered the most influential person in politics. Limits of his power Despite the Prime Ministers emerged position within British politics there are limits to his powers. Firstly, one great limit comes from the party he represents. If the PM loses the support from his partys backbenchers, his position becomes very fragile. Therefore the biggest danger is that a Prime Minister builds up a range of enemies. One example for that is what happened to Margaret Thatcher, when another minister, who disagreed with her policies, put an effective revolt against her style of leadership, which led to her resignation. This means that if the PM loses the support of his party, he will almost always have to resign as PM, as he will not be able to exercise his role effectively. Moreover, all Prime Ministers must include most senior party colleagues in the Cabinet, who could always be some troublemakers, if they dont get the position they would like to have. The PMs powers of appointment are also limited by the need to provide a balance of party views in the Cabinet. Therefore an authoritative leadership of the party is a main factor for a PM to be successful. Additionally there are other ways in which the PMs powers are limited. For instance the fact that he is seen to be publicly responsible for any major mishap that occurs during his time in power. As the most known member of the government, it is he that the public blame when they arent satisfied with politics. Margaret Thatcher was held responsible for the problems in association with the Poll Tax and Tony Blair has been accused of being too friendly with the USA President Bush. This means that the electorate body has the power to remove the PM by way of elections, and so the PM is indirectly also controlled in this way. This is referred to as indirect as the body can not directly stop any decisions the PM makes, but can stop him from continuing in the office of PM when general elections take place by voting for another party. As another limitation can be seen the questioning time on Wednesday, which is an opportunity for the leader of the opposition and other members of the House of Commons to ask the PM supplementary questions on any subject. Therefore he is directly accountable to the Parliament for his actions and decisions. However, the PM will be extensively briefed by government departments in anticipation of likely subjects he could be asked about and they cannot force him to change his engagements. Additionally the European Union has the power to influence government policy by imposing on member states policies. Even though the Conservatives have generally not been very happy with this imposition on the British State, David Cameron still accepted when he became PM that the UK is part of the EU, and that therefore, it has to adhere to certain decisions. He, as PM, had to compromise on this point for him to effectively lead the country. Although the courts have long had the power to determine the existence and extent of a prerogative power, traditionally they have had no power to regulate the manner of its exercise. The position is now governed by the decision of the House of Lords in CCSU v Minister of State for Civil Service (1985). The judiciary placed some restraints on executive use of the royal prerogative. But not every prerogative power is justiciable: matters such as the appointment of Ministers, the disposition of the armed force and the dissolution of Parliament are still beyond judicial control.The justiciability of the prerogative powers could in theory have been a powerful limit on the PMs powers. However, in practice it has shown this was not so, as only limited part of the prerogative powers is in fact justiciable and that there are limits to what extent remedies are available. Also, this limit does not prevent or deter the PM on acting in a particular way, it will only compensate certain groups or p eople after an event has occurred, and so does not even directly affect the PM. As seen above the Prime Minister has big political powers, but this power is also balanced by the fact that there are limitations to that power. Although some of these limitations are really effective, most of the powers of the PM can not easily be influenced. Is the Prime Minister too powerful? In the last 40 years the powers of the Prime Minister within the British political structure have developed to such an extent that some critical politicians and academics now refer to Britain as having a Prime Ministerial government rather than a Cabinet government. He is the „keystone of the Cabinet archâ€Å", occupying a position which is one of the exceptional and peculiar authority. In essence this means that the office of PM is very much attached to the person by which is meant that the individual PM has a discretion in which way to exercise his powers. If the PM is very popular than the limits given above will have very little effect as most of them are heavily dependent on the dislike of and disagreement with the PM and his politics. Recently, more emphasis has been placed on the role of the Prime Minister and less on the Cabinet itself and therefore it is argued that the description of British government simply as „Cabinet governmentâ€Å" had become misleading, for „the country is governed by the Prime Ministerâ€Å". The PM has three main functions, which give him his enormous powers within the British government: being able to appoint and dismiss ministers; by setting the agenda for Cabinet discussions, and by controlling the remit and membership of Cabinet committees. Certainly the way in which these powers are operated naturally differs from one PM to another. This is an immense concentration of power in the hands of the Prime Minister, particularly discharging is one of his ultimate weapons. The argument of prime ministerial dominance seemed to be confirmed by the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. By displacing some important decision-making to informal, ad hoc groups of ministers convened by herself she diminished the role of Cabinet and demonstrated the dominant authority that can be wielded by a PM. As evidence of strengthened prime ministerial control under Mr Blair can be also cited paragraph 9.2 of the Ministerial Code: In order to ensure the effective presentation of government policy, all major interviews and media appearances should be agreed with the No 10 Press Office before any commitments are entered into(). As explained above, therefore the PM is in a position to dominate the governments communication to the press. Another claim of his overwhelming power is that Cabinet meetings are too dominated by the PM. The members of the Cabinet are simply yes-sayers. „With Mr Tony Blair there has been a reversion to a „command and controlâ€Å" premiership with centralised and informal processes of decision-making tending to displace collective discussions in Cabinet and Cabinet committeesâ€Å". Also the doctrine of collective responsibility helps to strengthen the powers of the Prime Minister,   as ministers must not criticise government policy in public. This is underlined by the fact that many decisions of government are not taken by the Cabinet as a whole, but by the Prime Minister in consultation with a few key colleagues. Moreover, there are those who believe that the personality of the Prime Minister is now almost as important as stated party policies. But the implication is that if people vote for personalities as much as issues, then the opponent has no chance of winning the next election as long as the current PMs personality and manner are still popular with the people. All these facts have led some to seek ways to limit or control the power of the PM in order to rehabilitate the Cabinet government. Thus far, it has been established that the PM has great amounts of power and that it seems that   Britain currently has a more prime ministerial government than a Cabinet government. However, to demonstrate whether the PM can be considered as too powerful, it would be best to compare his function with that of the German Federal Chancellor, who has the equivalent role in Germany. Even though the legal foundations of the political systems of the United Kingdom and Germany are very different, the roles of the PM and the Chancellor are in many ways very similar, and so this comparison would be a good way to show how powerful the PM actually is, and whether that could be considered as being too powerful. The German Chancellor is the head of government. Currently this position is held by Angela Merkel of the CDU. The Chancellor determines the guidelines of government policy, so called Richtlinienkompetenz. He is elected every four years by a majority of the members of the Bundestag upon the recommendation of the President. For this election a majority of all elected members of the Bundestag is required, which should ensure to establish a stable government. The Chancellor has the power to choose his ministers and to determines the number of ministries and their responsibilities. Another power is that the Chancellor himself can propose a vote of no confidence.Therefore he can test whether he still enjoys the unlimited support of the governing parties. The powers of the German Chancellor are also limited. Removing the Chancellor from office is an alternative when there is no more political consensus between the parties before a general elections for a new Bundestag.In the German history there have been only three occasions where this happened. This course of action was taken in order to prematurely dissolve the Bundestag, which according to the constitution is otherwise not possible. This ensures that no single party can form a government on its own. Furthermore limitations can be given from decisions of the Federal Constitutional court: It allows the authority and the citizens to present a complaint to abolish a law they found infringing the terms set in Basic Rights. In comparison to the Prime Minister the power to appoint members of high authority, legalise acts and dissolve parliament is vested in the German Bundesprsident. The fifty-year history of the Federal Republic has shown that despite the Chancellors strong position the ability of the government to act cannot be guaranteed by him alone. Even though the Chancellery makes it possible to impose central management and coordination, a non-hierarchical relationship between the Chancellor and his Ministers plays an important role in government practice. In this context the Cabinet deals with important interministerial issues such as the federal budget or tax reform and takes joint decisions on them (principle of joint Cabinet decision-making). In a government coalition the Chancellor is also bound by the terms of the coalition agreement and has to adhere to these terms to avoid straining the coalition. The principle of joint Cabinet decision-making means that the Chancellor and the Ministers decide jointly on matters of general political importance. When there are differences of opinion between Ministers the Chancellor mediates (as a primus inter pares). Cabinet decisions are based on majority rule. The principle of ministerial autonomy means that each Minister conducts the affairs of his ministry independently and on his own responsibility. This means that the Chancellor cannot automatically intervene in his Ministers areas of responsibility. At the same time Ministers must see to it that the decisions they take remain within the limits. As can be seen by this comparison the British PM and the Chancellor in theory have very similar powers, but in practice the PM has a lot more power than the Chancellor as he has more discretion about the execution of these powers. However, before one can say that this means he is too powerful, the effectiveness of the functions of Prime Minister and Chancellor have to be compared. In fact, in the six decades of the Bundestag, there have been only eight Chancellors – a remarkable element of stability. In the same period of time, Britain has had 14 Prime Ministers. In the British parliamentary system usually only has one party in power, because the first-past-the-post system there favours the strongest party. There have only been a few hung parliaments. The latest elections resulted in this, and currently the UK has a coalition government, existing out of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. In May there will be a referendum to change the voting system, and if the voting system as a consequence of this is in fact changed to one of additional voting, then this might all change. Since Germany has a system of proportional representation for the election of its lower house, no one party has ever had a clear majority in the last 60 years, and for this reason all German governments have been coalitions. Finally, there is the question, which reforms of the PM’s position are could be made, and what their advantages and disadvantages would be. One way of reform would be the limit of the PM’s power to a greater extent to prevent the role of PM to be so attached to the person, and instead to be more like the German Chancellor’s position, whose powers are more controlled by the political process. The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee recommended that the government should initiate a public consultation about Ministers executive powers, which would include proposals for legislation to provide for greater parliamentary control over all such ministerial powers. Furthermore, changing the way in which Cabinet meetings and decisions are made would be helpful in a similar way. The PM would still lead the Cabinet, but could not unilaterally ignore their opinions and views and would be forced to take them into account. In addition, by giving the PM perhaps also a more mediating role rather than just a leading role, the resources of various departments would come to better use. The PM would by supporting the other ministers in their responsibilities and by organising better co-operation between the different ministerial departments achieve better results. The better these departments function with each other, the less dependent they would be on the PM, and in that way his power would be limited. In my opinion the rules regarding the operation of parliament and its processes should be clearer as they would provide for another method of limiting the PM’s power. It can also be argued that the entire office of the PM should codified in a statute. The move away from an unwritten constitution – with statutory provisions – limits the PMs scope,for example an Act of Parliament which states that there has to be a PM, how and who should be appointed for the role, and what the powers attached to this position would be. Lastly, the changing of the voting system might lead to far reaching consequences for the office of PM, as explained above. However, at this point, this is all theory as the referendum still has to take place, and even if it takes place, it might show people do not wish a change in the voting system. Even if it does, the politicians will still first have to act on this before anything changes. As this should make clear there are ways in which the position of the Prime Minister can be reformed in a way that will limit his power to the extent that he is no longer too powerful, but still powerful enough to carry out his function in an appropriate way. Conclusion The British Prime Minister has extensive personal power, which prevent there from being an „averageâ€Å" Prime Minister. The power of the PM will change according to the personality of the PM, his popularity, the success of his government, external circumstances and the resources of other actors within the core executive.James Barber argued that by putting the three factors together – constitutional and political frameworks, circumstance and personality – the picture that emerges is one of fluctuating powers, whereby sometimes a PM may appear to have presidential-like position, and at others he is subject to obvious constraints. All these things will have an important effect on how powerful the PM is. As written above, there are some possibilities in which way his power can be reduced and more controlled, and in that way to achieve a â€Å"Cabinet government† rather than a prime ministerial government. The PM should not be a presidential figure, but able to lead the Cabinet and ensure that decisions are made. Bibliography Books: Bogdanor, Vernon _The New British Constitution, 2009 The British Constitution in the Twentieth Century, 2004_____Bradley, A. W. / Ewing, K. D._Constitutional Administrative Law, 15th ed. 2010__Brazier, Rodney_Constitutional Texts – Materials on Government and the Constitution, 1990 Constitutional Reform – Reshaping the British political system __Hilaire, Barnett_Constitutional Administrativ Law, 6th ed.__Loveland, Ian_Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Human Rights – A critical introduction, 2006. __Maurer/ Hartmut_Staatsrecht I – Grundlagen, Verfassungsorgane, Staatsfunktionen, 3th ed__Oliver, Dawn_Government in the United Kingdom, 1991__Parpworth, Neil_Constitutional and Administrative Law, 5th ed. 2008__Turpin, Colin / Tomkins, Adam_British Government and the Constitution, 6th ed. 2007__ Articles: Benn, article in Parliamentary Affairs,  1990. Theakston / Kevin – Prime Ministers and the Constitution, in Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 58   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No.1, 2005, 17-37. Heffernan, article in Parliamentary Affairs,  2005. Hennessy, article in Parliamnetary Affairs, 2005

Drumming in Haiti and Cuba

Drumming in Haiti and Cuba Thesis Drumming is practised in a different manner among various communities depending with their corresponding traditions and music1. The subject of drumming in Haiti, its transition and assimilation in Cuba, as well as its general effect on Cuban music will be analyzed within this paper.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Drumming in Haiti and Cuba specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The existence of various instruments in these two nations and the rest of the world creates another area that may require exploration. In connection, the significance of the analysis is discussed within the paper and further details given with regards to how drumming is done in the country: This led to the development of Afro Cuban jazz. Drumming in Haiti is a section of culture that has significantly influenced music in the modern setting. A proper understanding of this art helps appreciate the Haitian culture, as well as recognize its influence on music. An extensive knowledge on the history of drumming in Haiti, the transition process, as well as the influence on modern music is essential for analyzing this topic. In that sense, this paper will cover the history of drumming in Haiti, the different types of drums used as well as their rhythm and meaning to the cultures in Haiti and Cuba. The study also looks at the transition and effect of the art in Cuba and how other cultures borrowed from this Haitian way of life. Introduction Music involves the use of various types of instruments in order to bring out its desired elements. The drum is played either by the use of a stick or directly by the player’s hands.According to various sources, the use of drums for musical purposes is known as drumming. Drumming in Haiti began as a normal practice during Vodou, which is a sacred performance linked with the henotheistic religion. However, the practice transitioned to Cuba with time and led to the emergence of afro Cuban jazz. From that point, many other cultures borrowed the custom, which is currently a common practice around the world. Haitian Vodou Brief history As a developing country, Haiti’s economy grew from the days of slavery that was conducted by slave dealers. The slaves fetched from Africa would have a stopover in this region bordering the Caribbean Sea and Cuba. The slaves had their way of worship.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, this was considered backward by the westerners who imposed Catholicism to the slaves2. The slaves, for that matter, established ways of worship that would deceive the slave dealers in order to worship their gods secretively. The African slaves used various types of drums to call on different spirits. In addition, the assigned names to spirits, and call on them for guidance and protection. More so, they consulted the spirits that are believed to grace their ceremonies, which resulted in the emergence of voodoo. Drumming as a culture Haiti is a country known for its emphasis on culture and the continued practice of various rituals borrowed from the ancient Haitians. Vodou, also referred to as voodoo is a practise commonly associated with Haitian culture. The practice is normally considered an exotic perception associated with black magic due to its involvement with the spirit world. However, it is difficult to ascertain the validity of the statement as local participants refer to it as clean practice or culture. Haitians use drumming as a method of connecting with the spirits with an aim of inviting them into their ceremonies. The involvement of the media in practice imprints this notion of black magic to various people. However, the practice of voodoo goes back to over 6000 years and has its roots in Benin, West Africa3. The practice of music remains an integral part of the voodoo religion i n Haiti. Voodoo as practised in Haiti has rich rhythms and beats that have characterised Haitian culture for ages. The religion remains an integral part of Haitian culture to-date despite the misconceptions from other religions. It still incorporates the use of drums and various other instruments. However, it is necessary to note that the extensive use of different drums in voodoo ceremonies has helped to transform the culture4.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Drumming in Haiti and Cuba specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Aspects of Haitian music Drums The use of drums is symbolic in many traditional cultures. They were mainly used to mark religious ceremonies. In jazz, the use of the name â€Å"drum† refers to a host of drums used to produce a rhythm or used together in a certain performance. Drumming as a form art practised in Haiti involved the use of various types of drums. They were mainly used for voodoo, a religious ceremony unique with the Haitians. The drums used in voodoo integrate various techniques that are distinctive to the skill of play. For instance, the Siye is a technique used by the player in voodoo. It involves wiping a drum from an edge to the centre using the fingers to produce a distinctive moaning sound that adds to the rhythm. These drums were divided into groups in accordance with the spirits they were used to summon. The drums commonly used include the Tanbou, Ti Baka, and Maman among others. In a real life situation, each drum corresponds to the existing spirits; hence, determines the purposes attached for each drum. Some were played in singular while others were played in groups consisting of a number of drums. For instance, there are groups that are referred to as: The Rada Batterie The Petwo battier Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The conga drums The Rada Batterie: This assembly of drums includes three drums. These are the Maman, Boula and the Segon. This ensemble included other instruments. In this study, however, the focus is put on the drums. The similarity of the three drums is their conical and slender nature, which has also been replicated among several drums globally. The Maman: Maman is French word meaning mother. The Maman is the tallest, as well as the deepest sounded member of the three drums within the group. For that matter, it plays the leader’s role in Haitian drumming and specifically in this group of drums. It is believed to take its cue from the ceremony’s officiating priests, as well as the present spirits. Over several decades, the drum has been used among the people; hence, it is recognized as one of the best drums within the region. In fact, its magnificent look has attracted several replications around the world. The other uniqueness is its play in that the weaker hand of the player taps the drum directly while the stronger hand plays it with a stick (Baget) of different shapes to produce clicking sounds. While playing the instrument, the player uses both hands, or does it in intervals. The Segon: Segon is derived from a French word that means second. It was the middle drum in the group in terms of the role-played and size. It served to produce a base for the Maman to generate its counterpoint. The Maman, just like the Maman, was originally played with bare hands and a stick, but the style of the stick was noticeably different. The evolvement of music led to the Segon being played with bare hands, specifically in the USA. Recent developments have also seen the Segon replaced with the conga (see picture 1) drums, which are a common feature in both Haiti and the USA today. The Boula: This drum remains the smallest in terms of size and the role-played in the assembly of the three. It serves to boost the rhythm by playing the famous ostinato pattern. The player uses two sticks to play the Boula unlike the Maman and the Segon. The Boula produces an extremely high tone but in agreement with the other two drums. However, Boula’s parts look effortless as compared to the other drums. However, first-class knowledge is required to play it correctly. The Petwo Batterie: This group originally consists of two drums, which include the Ti Baka and Gwo Baka. The drums resemble the modern congas but are slender and have slightly tapered bottoms than the modern congas. Therefore, it takes a fully oriented person to identify the difference between some of these drums. They two drums resemble in appearance; however, are of different dimensions. The skins for the drums have counter hoops made from stiff vines. Their function is to stretch the skin by aid of an existing rope. In addition, there exist wooden wedges lying inside the drum with an adjustable rope for controlling the tension of the skin. However, the evolvement of music has seen th e addition of a drum referred to as Kata to this group. As such, these drums produce a high tone and lead the other instruments in the ensemble. The player uses two sticks. This drum is claimed to hugely increase the rhythm of any music it is added to by the musicians and audience who have listened or played it. The Tanbou: This is one of the most common drums played in Haiti. This drum traces its origin to ancient African’s systems of Vodun6. It remains a key instrument in the production of various rhythms. In addition, the Tanbou is easy to play, as its techniques are straightforward. It is a main indicator of the continued preservation of ancient Haitian culture despite the apparent modernization in other communities. The Tanbou is referred to as the Haitian drum due to its role in culture preservation5. Rhythm The rhythm emerging from the various instruments used is of enormous importance to the Haitian people. Therefore, the differences existing between these rhythms det ermine the drums that should be used for the various functions. The rhythm determines the drum and not the other way round. The rhythms in Haiti remain classified and grouped in families according to their regions of origin. The main rhythms include the Petwo family, Dahomey, and YaYa TiKongo families. The Petwo family: This rhythm family originates from the southern and central regions of Haiti. The drums in this rhythmic family are played after heating in order to generate the required rhythm.Rhythms in this order include the Kita rhythm. The Kita rhythm involves playing of dual goatskin drums by the use of hands only. Dahomey and YaYa TiKongo families: These two families consist of rhythms originating from northern Haiti. The Dahomey rhythm involves the playing of triple cow-skin drums using sticks. Rhythms integrated in this family include the Wandjalà © and Chasà ¨ among others. Meaning of the drums and rhythms The drums and rhythms in Haiti are mainly used for voodoo ceremon ies, which are prevalent within the country. The Haitians held such ceremonies with an aim of inviting the spirits that they worshipped so that they could receive guidance and protection from such spirits. As such, it is correct to note that different rhythms generated from a variety of drum combinations were used to summon various spirits. However, several sources indicate that the Haitians use the drums and rhythms for a number of functions other than as an inducement for spirits. Transition to Cuba Cuba borders the Caribbean Sea Haiti.. The slave dealers used these two regions to enhance slavery as a practice. These slaves brought various cultures from their different countries to Cuba. Haiti and Cuba interacted in various activities such as trade. The interactions of various slaves with various musical cultures led to the integration of practises found in the various ways of lives in both Cuba and Haiti. In addition, these interactions caused the filtration of various cultural p ractises to either side of the countries with time. Key to these cultural practises is drumming. The afro-Cuban jazz The afro-Cuban jazz is a form of Latin jazz that originated from the fusion of different African musical cultures. Afro-Cuban jazz involves the use of various musical gadgets such as the piano, congas and drums. These drums came about from their use by the slaves in Haitian culture. Musicians accepted and redeveloped this form of music to afro- Cuban jazz around 1943. Afro Cuban jazz remains a common practice in modern day. It is practised both in Cuba as well as other countries such as the United States if America6. The spread of Haiti/Cuba drumming rituals The Haiti/Cuba rituals are practised in various countries in the modern world. The use of Haitian drums in countries such as the USA amongst others shows a filtration of the culture to other nations. This happens due to the interaction of various cultures in multinational activities that such as sports, and many o ther activities. As a matter of fact, these drums prevalent in the modern world, and are frequently used for varying purposes7. Conclusion Drumming is an art that is still practised in the modern world. Various cultures borrowed from this culture due to its rich history and uniqueness. The widespread use of drumming in religion in Africa and the rest of the world serves to cement the influence of this culture. It is therefore realistic that the Haitian and Cuban cultural practices have had a significant influence on several societies, which have adopted the use of their instruments. Bibliography Brill, Mark. Music of Latin America and the Caribbean. New Jersey: prentice hall,  2011. Gebert, Lizabeth. Displacements and transformations in Caribbean cultures. Florida:  University Press of Florida, 2008. Geggus, David. The world of Haitian revolution. Indiana: Indiana University press,  2009. Kallen, Stuart. Voodoo. Michigan: Lucent books, 2005.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"List of Caribbean Membran ophone.† Wikipedia. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Caribbean_membranophones. Manuel, Peter. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean. Philadelphia: Temple  University Press, 2009. Prahlad, Anand. The greenwood encyclopaedia of African American folklore. Oxford:  Greenwood press, 2006. Footnotes 1. Peter Manuel, Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009), 23-29. 2. David Geggus, The world of Haitian revolution (Indiana: Indiana university press, 2009), 55-66. 3. Anand Prahlad, The greenwood encyclopaedia of African American folklore (Oxford: Greenwood press, 2006), 102-107. 4. Stuart Kallen, Voodoo (Michigan: lucent books, 2005), 22-24. 5. â€Å"List of Caribbean Membranophone,† Wikipedia. 6. Mark Brill, Music of Latin America and the Caribbean (New Jersey: prentice hall, 2011),  33-34. 7. Lizabeth Gebert, Displacements and transformations in Caribbean cultures (Florida: University Press of Florida, 200 8), 44-48.

Week 6 Project Deliverable 3 Submission Assignment

Week 6 Project Deliverable 3 Submission - Assignment Example The database is going to be designed based on the various requirements that are to be integrated in the Order management System, Inventory System and the Supply processing system. The general idea for the implementation of the database schema would adopt a general flow basing on the fact transactions in a certain business entity take a general format of: 6. The ordering process will capture the essential requirements of the customer for instance the customer name, physical address, contact information, the type of goods that have been ordered and their specific quantities. 7. The ordering process be able to forward a report to the supply processing system where stock issues will be done and will be able to make the necessary adjustments on the stock level quantities upon retrieval from the stores The database design process will be divided into different autonomous design tasks relative to the followed design process. Particular emphasis will be laid on the logical database design and the physical database design (Teorey et al, 2011). The logical database design main objective is to determine the relevant user requirements, examination of the process flows of the existing system with an aim of identifying the challenges that are faced by the user of the system. It is also aimed at studying the specific business environment of the company. Therefore, the expected outcome will be the emergence and formulation of a system-independent database description that meets the key requirements (Teorey et al, 2011). It represents the database actual implementation process in relation to the system that exists. The physical database design is dependent on the RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) which is adopted by the user (Teorey et al, 2011). The software and the hardware environments greatly influence the structure. The system will be used by different personalities of which important roles

Academic Plan for Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Academic Plan for Improvement - Essay Example I have a wish to get good grades by the end of this course. To make my academic wish come true, I have committed to various study habits, which include drawing a timetable for study, sticking to it, and morning reviews of my class notes. During my morning reviews, I plan to spend the time rewriting key concepts of various subjects learned on the previous day. In addition, after finishing every course, I plan to take time to link courses to daily life to make them more fulfilling to my life. By following my study time well, I will have ample time to study and sleep, even during exams. To remain focused during study time, I will inquire from other students how they are making it, form group discussions with them to motivate and challenge me. In addition, give me rewards for following my timetables well, attending classes, and getting good grades. My obstacles in life are largely past failures and health issues, which remind me of a possibility of failure in future academic endeavors. I have told myself repeatedly that I do not need to fear about sicknesses because they are part of life. I am trying to overcome this fear by reading a book by Norman Vincent Pearle on the Power Of Positive Thinking and encourage myself that sickness will not affect my studies. I have committed to taking a balanced diet to boost my immunity and avoid communicable diseases. Another of my greatest fears has been how I will balance my studies and my family. This is because when I come home in the evenings, I need to spend time with my family, and at the same time have a few minutes to review my notes and do some assignments. Usually, my children draw their inspiration to read from me, which makes them stay focused on their studies. In the timetable, I have slotted a time to my children and reduced the time I had to watch TV in the evenings to ensure that I have enough sleep to start my day fresh.