Social Security and the Elderly Free Essay Example, 2750 words

The present research has identified that social security reform has never taken specific aim at the elderly and may account for the current status of impoverished elderly Americans. While there is a strong commitment at all levels of US government to provide human services to help needy Americans from all walks of life, statistics reveal that most of the efforts have not been productive among the elderly. Social Security is the primary method for assisting the needy in the US. Under the current law with respect to US social security, social security is predicated on the theory that assistance is necessary for maintaining a fair quality of life for those who cannot earn incomes on account of age, death or disability. To this end, previous workers who have either reached the age of retirement or have become disabled are entitled to Social Security benefits that corresponds with how long they have worked and how much they previously earned. The spouses and children of those entitl ed to Social Security benefits are also eligible for Social Security. The elderly continue to remain the largest group to receive Social Security benefits in the US. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Security and the Elderly or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Moreover, the current economic crisis has even greater significance for increased poverty among the elderly having regard to the heavy reliance on social security.

My Favorite Quotes Of All Time - 1223 Words

Mark Twain once said one of my favorite quotes of all time, The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why. Perhaps this is a question I have ask myself every since I read it about ten years ago. The day we know for sure what impact we want to do in life is the day that our past experience as well as the once that we did not understood become unambiguous. We can put our history with its experiences into a correct point of view, perhaps as a training to get from point A to point B. We can obtain a clear perspective and shape the road before us with particular objectives in mind. Such as training, education and alternatives for where we are headed. This particular paper was so helpful to me in many ways. It opened and cleared my thoughts; it gave me a fresh perspective. Adaptability: I have found myself often living one day at a time, in other words, as one may say, going day by day or even going with the flow of things, which can be a good thing as well as a bad thing. However, in my readings I have understood that â€Å"Adaptability† may not always be the right thing to do. For it is a theme that waits patiently and unwearyingly for things to happen on there own. On the other hand, this theme may be the reason I am still doing what I am doing, working with different kinds of people. Perhaps, God only knew when He created me that in order to accomplish the task and purpose He entrusted me I would need adaptability. God knewShow MoreRelatedMetacognition Essay Example695 Words   |  3 PagesMetacognition Essay I feel I have come a long way my tenth grade year. My writing has gotten so much better and I can write essays of much better quality now. Things have gotten better like punctuation, thesis, and analysis. 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Meteor Missile Free Essays

The Meteor is a fast and highly manoeuvrable Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) air-to-air weapon. Guidance is provided by an active radar seeker benefiting from enhanced technologies drawn from the MBDA Aster and Mica missile programmes. The meteor was designed to equip the Euro fighter Typhoons of the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF), Germany’s Luftwaffe, Spain’s Ejercito del Aire and Italy’s Aeronautica Militare Italiana, the British and Italian F-35s (both in the Air Force and Navy), the Dassault Rafales of France’s Armee de l’Air and Marine Nationale, and the Saab JAS 39 Gripens of Sweden’s Flygvapnet. We will write a custom essay sample on Meteor Missile or any similar topic only for you Order Now The missile is allocated targets from the launch aircraft radar and is capable of engaging air targets autonomously by night or day, in all weather and in severe electronic warfare environments. The increasing proliferation of state of the art Air to Air threats, that are challenging the already in service Air to Air combat system is a critical challenge for modern Air Forces which is answered by the Meteor. The missile’s ramjet propulsion system gives Meteor its high speed performance and the energy to defeat fast, manoeuvring targets at long range. Meteor is equipped with both a proximity and impact fuse to ensure total target destruction in all circumstances. The missile trajectory is controlled aerodynamically using four rear-mounted fins. Meteor’s control principles are intended to allow high turn rates while maintaining intake and propulsion performance. MBDA Meteor is capable of engaging air targets autonomously, whether fighters, bombers, transport aircraft or cruise missiles by using its active radar seeker by day or night and in all weather or dense EW (Electronic Warfare) environments. Meteor’s solid fuel variable-flow rocket/ramjet propulsion system will ensure a range in excess of 100 km and a speed of more than Mach 4 and high terminal velocity. Even when launched from extreme stand-off ranges, the missile will have the energy in the end game to defeat fast, manoeuvring targets. To ensure total target destruction, the missile is equipped with both proximity and impact fuses and a fragmentation warhead that is detonated at the optimum point to aximise lethality. Guidance is ISN, two-way data link and active Ku-band radar seeker. It can receive targeting data after launch from the launching fighter or another fighter. The two-way data-link partially solves the IFF problem at long ranges. It is designed to defeat current and future threats; Meteor provides the long stand-off range and high kill probability which combine to ensure air superiority and pilot survivability. How to cite Meteor Missile, Papers

Passion and Revenge in The White Devil Essay Example For Students

Passion and Revenge in The White Devil Essay Passion and Revenge inThe White Devil John Webster was born around 1580 and died around 1634. Hewas an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage.1According to ReneWeis in the introduction of the book The Duchess of Malfi and other plays by John Webster,The White Devil is based on sources about the life and death of Vittoria Accoramboni of Gubbio (1557-85) and her turbulent marriage (or repeated marriages) to the Duke of Bracciano. The play traces the couples relationship, aided and abetted by Vittoriasbrother Flamineo.2However, in this paper I will focus on the passion and revenge in the play. Passion, according to me, is the driving force in the play The White Devil. Had it not been for the passion the charactersfelt, theyprobably wouldnt have acted the way they did. Flamineos passionto climb up the social ladderis what incites him to plot with Bracciano the murders of Braccianos wife, Isabella, and Flamineos brother-in-law, Camillo.Braccianos passion for Vittoria is what stimulates him tohire someone tomurderIsabella andplot with Flamineo the murder ofCamillo.The passion of Francisco to avenge Isabellas death is what incites him to disguise later on in the play andpoison Bracciano. Lodovicos passion for Isabella, he is in love with her, is what incites him to enter the quest for revenge with Francisco and Cardinal Monticelso, who wanted to avenge the death of Camillo. Since Bracciano is in love with Vittoria, the sister of Flamineo, Flamineo does whatever he is capable of to aid Bracciano in marrying Vittoria: FLAMINEO Pursue your noble wishes; I am prompt/ As lightning to your service. O my lord! / (Whispers) The fair Vittoria, my happy sister, / Shall give you present audience. Gentlemen, / Let the caroche go on, and tis his pleasure/ You put out all your torches and depart.3(The White Devil 1.2. 4-9).Bracciano then asks about the husband of Vittoria, Camillo; Flamineo responds by saying Hang him, a gilder that hath his brains perished with quicksilver is not more cold in the liver.4(The White Devil 1.2. 26-27)Even so early in the play Flamineo already suggesttoBracciano to murder Camillo since he is a gilder which according to the notes in the bookThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays by John Webstermeans repeated exposure to the vapors of mercury usedin gilding could cause tremors and insanity when inhaled. The liver was thought to be the sea t of passion.5The meaning of the sentence is that Camillo is basically useless.Further lines down Flamineo keeps on encouraging Bracciano to pursue Vittoria romantically. Flamineo tries so hard to persuade Bracciano to pursue Vittoria all because of the passion he has to climb up the social ladder.Personally, Flamineo reminds me of Hamlets uncle, who so desperately wanted to become a king and kills his own brother and marries his brothers widow. Bracciano, on the other hand is easily manipulated because of the passion he has for Vittoria. He is ready to do whatever it takes to have Vittoria. He publiclyannounces hisdivorcewithhiswife Isabella: BRACCIANO This is the latest ceremony of my love; / Henceforth Ill never lie with thee, by this, / This wedding-ring; Ill neer more lie with thee. / And this divorce shall be as truly kept, / As if the judge had doomed it; fare you well, / Our sleeps are severed.6.In order to marry Vittoria, he is capable of anything. He hires Doctor Julio and Christophero to murder his wife, he plots with Flamineo the murder of Camillo. Bracciano wont stop at anything to have Vittoria. Later on in the play, this passion he has for Vittoria drives him jealous. He finds love letters, which were written to Vittoria and he is ready to kill her. Bracciano doesnt want anyone beside him to have Vittoria. Even today people sometimes are so blinded with passion and jealousy that they will stop at nothing to h ave the person of their desire only to themselves and if that means to murdersomeone or even their most beloved person. .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .postImageUrl , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:hover , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:visited , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:active { border:0!important; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:active , .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35 .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6b40df2e4efc7c38aa870739262e5a35:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Different parts of a plant and their function Essay Personally, I believe that passion is a very strong emotion which can make a person behave out of his ordinary behavior and can also stimulate someone to take the law into their own hands. Which is exactly what Francisco does. He doesnt trust the legal system and the passion to avenge his sisters deathand his sisters ghost that appears to himis whatpersuadeshim to seek revenge. Francisco is mad because his sister has been murdered and the murderers are not punished.He accuses Bracciano, Vittoria and Flamineo. When Bracciano and Flamineo only hired Doctor Julio and Christophero to poison the portraitthatIsabella kisses every night.At first Francisco did not want to seek revenge:FRANCISCOFar be it from my thoughts / To seek revenge.6(The White Devil 4.1. 2-3)Francisco decides that Bracciano will be punished by God when he dies: FRANCISCOHe that unjustly caused it first proceed. / Shall find it in his grave and in his seed.7(The White Devil 4.1.10-11).But after the ghost of Isabella appears to Francisco he is persuaded to seek revenge for herdeath: FRANCISCOBracciano, I am now fit for thyencounter. / Like the wild Irish Ill neer think thee dead, / Till I can play at football with thy head.8(The White Devil 4.1. 133-5).Francisco no longer believes that he should Bracciano to live his life and meet his creator when his time comes, now Francisco wants to take ac tion and make sure that Bracciano payed with his own life for taking Isabellas life.Francisco, Cardinal Monticelso and later Lodovico disguise themselves and go after Vittoria, Flamineo and Bracciano. They do manage to poison Braccianoby using a helmetand kill him. Francisco vaguely reminds me of Hamlet. Hamlet as well sought revenge for the murder of his father.Isabellas brother will do anything to avenge her untimely death just like Hamlet did everything he could toavenge his fathers death. After Bracciano is murdered he appears as a ghost to Flamineo, who promise to avenge his death. Since Flamineobelievesthat Vittoria and Zanche havesomething to do withBraccianos death and since he promised Bracciano neither Flamineo nor Vittoria will continue to live he brings a gun and make both of the women to promise to kill each other after they kill him.In the end, Lodovico is the one who kills Vittoria, Flamineo and Zanche. Just like in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare everyone dies. According to Rene Weis, although The White Devil reverts again and again to moral speeches and ethical positions, its power does not reside in its moral truths but9and here she quotes Alvin Kernan in the force with which it presents the dark energies of the self-uncoiling and striking whatever opposes them (Kernan 1975:396).10The way I understand this quote by Kernan is that the characters in the play will compel to their own passion and do whatever it takes to satiate it. And as I was reading the play, I saw this: Flamineos passion to climb up the social ladder is what persuades him to do whatever it takes; Braccianos passion for Vittoria is what persuades him to plot the murders of Isabella and Camillo; Franciscos passion to avenge Isabellas death is what incites him to plot the murder of Bracciano and Lodovicos passion for Isabella is what incites him to team up with Francisco in the murders of the murderers. In my opinion, the passion each of the characters felt was the driving force behind their actions in the play. Works Cited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Webster Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp. XV Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp. 7,act 1, scene 2,lines 4-9 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp. 8,act 1, scene 2, lines 26-27 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp.367 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp.51,act 4, scene 1,lines 2-3 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp.51,act 4, scene 1,li nes 10-11 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp. 54,act 4, scene 1,lines 133-135 Webster, JohnThe Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays;Edited with an Introduction byReneWeis, New York:Oxford University Press,1996 pp.XV Kernan, Alvin (1975), Banisht!: The Dark World of Jacobean Tragedy, inThe Revels History of Drama in English,vol. iii: 1576 1613

George Bush Essays (584 words) - Bush Family, Livingston Family

George Bush George Bush brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States "a kinder and gentler nation." In his Inaugural Address he pledged in "a moment rich with promise" to use American strength as "a force for good." Coming from a family with a tradition of public service, George Herbert Walker Bush felt the responsibility to make his contribution both in time of war and in peace. Born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924, he became a student leader at Phillips Academy in Andover. On his 18th birthday he enlisted in the armed forces. The youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings, he flew 58 combat missions during World War II. On one mission over the Pacific as a torpedo bomber pilot he was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire and was rescued from the water by a U. S. submarine. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action. Bush next turned his energies toward completing his education and raising a family. In January 1945 he married Barbara Pierce. They had six children--George, Robin (who died as a child), John (known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. At Yale University he excelled both in sports and in his studies; he was captain of the baseball team and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation Bush embarked on a career in the oil industry of West Texas. Like his father, Prescott Bush, who was elected a Senator from Connecticut in 1952, George became interested in public service and politics. He served two terms as a Representative to Congress from Texas. Twice he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Then he was appointed to a series of high-level positions: Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1980 Bush campaigned for the Republican nomination for President. He lost, but was chosen as a running mate by Ronald Reagan. As Vice President, Bush had responsibility in several domestic areas, including Federal deregulation and anti-drug programs, and visited scores of foreign countries. In 1988 Bush won the Republican nomination for President and, with Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate, he defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the general election. Bush faced a dramatically changing world, as the Cold War ended after 40 bitter years, the Communist empire broke up, and the Berlin Wall fell. The Soviet Union ceased to exist; and reformist President Mikhail Gor bachev, whom Bush had supported, resigned. While Bush hailed the march of democracy, he insisted on restraint in U. S. policy toward the group of new nations. In other areas of foreign policy, President Bush sent American troops into Panama to overthrow the corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega, who was threatening the security of the canal and the Americans living there. Noriega was brought to the United States for trial as a drug trafficker. Bush's greatest test came when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, then threatened to move into Saudi Arabia. Vowing to free Kuwait, Bush rallied the United Nations, the U. S. people, and Congress and sent 425,000 American troops. They were joined by 118,000 troops from allied nations. After weeks of air and missile bombardment, the 100-hour land battle dubbed Desert Storm routed Iraq's million-man army. Despite unprecedented popularity from this military and diplomatic triumph, Bush was unable to withstand discontent at home from a faltering economy, rising violence in inner cities, and continued high deficit spending. In 1992 he lost his bid for reelection to Democrat William Clinton.

The Characterization of Dorian Gray essays

The Characterization of Dorian Gray essays The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a strange novel that emphasizes a theme of individualism and the corruption that can arise as a result of anothers influence. In this particular novel, we see this correlation directly; Dorian Gray is influenced and corrupted by Lord Henry Wotton. Although Lord Henry is not necessarily an evil person, he lacks morality and often puts the experience of pleasure above anything else. By carefully examining the transformation of Dorian Gray from an innocent being to a perhaps Dionystic character we see that Wilde uses the narrators description of Dorian, Dorians interactions with other characters, and the portrait to characterize Dorian and thereby introduce and emphasize the previously stated theme. Our introduction to the character of Dorian Gray was meant primarily to prove his innocence and purity, perhaps in an effort to highlight his transformation to a man of little morality whos primary pursuit is pleasure. As the portrait is described before Dorian is even introduced in person to the novel, our first impressions of him are primarily based on his outward appearance, which happens to be strikingly beautiful. The narrator describes Dorian as ...a young man of extraordinary personal beauty (1). If we agree with a statement that Lord Henry later presents where he says an intelligent or corrupted man could not be beautiful, for it would show on his face (2) a statement that todays society seems to be in agreement with, we might assume that Dorian Gray is innocent and pure, with a mind just waiting to be filled with ideas. Unfortunately, this easily influenced young man is introduced to Lord Henry, whos cynical, amoral, and pleasure-seeking outlook on life seems to rub off on Dorian, as we will later see. Lady Agatha, Lord Henrys aunt and an acquaintance of Dorian, describes Dorian as a wonderful young man...&quo...

Real Income convergence Across states Assignment

Real Income convergence Across states - Assignment Example Real Income convergence Across states The countries or states with poor economies experience increased levels on returns as compared to the rich economy states, a fact attributable to the diminishing returns to capital. Analyzing the neoclassical model on an international platform, it becomes noticeable that the effect of convergence is strengthened by both technological and capital outflow from rich economies to poor and, outflow of labor to rich economies from the poor ones. In ascertain whether real personal disposable incomes were converging to a certain constant value, we formulated our null hypothesis such that: Ho: there is income convergence across states (unit root exists for income series) H1: There is no income convergence across states (no unit root for income series and thus it`s stationary) Previous empirical analysis focused on the increase of per capita income and the production level of the U.S. states (Shekhar, 115). Extensive studies have been undertaken on the analysis of the data regarding the personal income from the 1840s and on the cumulative produce of the state dating back from 1963. For analyzing purposes on what determines the growth of the states’ economy, the familiarity with the U.S. states acts as representation of resources that are not properly utilized: basically, there exists information on the 48 states for a period of more than a century.

The return of IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The return of IBM - Essay Example It should be noted that IBM enjoyed double digit net annual profit of 10-15% during the 1950-1980. These profitable years were coupled with strong company growth. For a firm like IBM, this was remarkable as profits are ballooning with the company's expansion (Duby 1995). This put IBM on top of other firms and became the most admired corporation in America. IBM is the envy of the corporate world as it enjoys an incredible culture of high performance and excellence. However, the early 1990s saw the downfall of the corporate giant. Iwata (2005) attributes the seeds of these failures top the big shifts in the Information Technology (IT) market and the key market changes and developments which were disregarded by IBM in the late 1980s. These problems triggered the financial catastrophe which was experienced during the 1990s. The downfall is indicated by the abrupt collapse in the firm's profit margin, stagnation and decline of its revenue and huge net losses. The internal performance of IBM together with the speculations on the firm's future slashed its stock price by almost half. The company also has to layoff 200,000 employs in four years (Iwata 2005). Amidst all these dilemmas, IBM managed to stand up and recover through various measures. The entry of Louis V. Gertsner, Jr. as the firm's new CEO when it is in the deepest trouble had helped the company to regain its robust performance. This paper will tackle the downfall and recovery of IBM. The succeeding paragraphs will justify the importance of the IBM's case in corporate finance. Another section will highlight the role and implication of innovation and changing technology to the business organization. In order to fully get acquainted with IBM, this paper will give a brief corporate profile of IBM together with the products and services it provides. The next section is an overview of the technology sector and the major competitors of IBM. A comparison of their financial performance is also shown. This paper will also give light on major issues faced by IBM and their causes. The last section will give a brief outlook for the company. Truly, the case of the Big Blue is very significant in the field of corporate finance. As with other business entities, the firm had experienced profitable years along with troublesome ones. The only difference that IBM shows is its capability of recovering after a great downfall. As a student, I believe that the downfall and recovery of IBM should become an imperative in a Corporate Finance course as it clearly shows the interdependence of the company's financial health and the firm's overall performance. The case of IBM also shows the mistakes that firms usually make. Through this, students who are trained to become financial executives someday are cautioned and trained on how to better handle decision-making processes. Another point which is highlighted by the IBM's downfall and recovery is the great impact of a firm's external environment. As mentioned above, the company's downfall was triggered by its disregard of the changing markets and emerging trends. Thus, IBM teaches stud ents that financial policies should take into account a firm's external factors. It is equally amazing how IBM was able to cope and surpass all this financial pitfalls. The case of IBM is also an important

Process Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Process Costing - Essay Example Companies need to know the amount of money spent on their products before they can set appropriate selling prices. Firms that fail to accurately determine process costs can find themselves setting too low prices that lead to losses or too high prices that scare away customers. Accurate process costing helps to set right prices or adjust the process if costs cannot allow reasonable pricing. Importance of the Study Although many researchers have contributed to this topic, little can be seen in terms of standardization of the approaches of determining process costs. This paper is a literature review aimed at determining major points of divergence that have prevented standardization of process costing methods. Four scholarly articles are analysed to determine gaps, discrepancies and common grounds in relation to process costing. The paper will make suggestions on the best way forward as well as lay ground for future research. Literature Review One of the articles reviewed is a research s tudy done by Cooper and Slagmulder aimed at determining process costing methods used by different Japanese firms (2002). ... use failure to give all firms equal chances of being included in the sample introduced some biasness in the study (Dillman, Eltinge, Groves & Little, 2002). The interviewers made notes while taping interviewees’ responses. The findings indicated that most Japanese firms preferred target costing as opposed to process costing. In this regard, target costing is a projection of costs of future products with the aim of determining whether the assigned expenses can allow reasonable pricing to generate profits or not. The difference between process costing and target costing is that the latter is applied on future products while the former on complete or semi-complete products (Cooper & Slagmulder, 2002). All interviewed firms indicated that they relied on target costing and only applied process costing when they find discrepancies at the end of the production process. In another study, Everaert, Germain and Werner sought to investigate process costing methods used by different compa nies in Belgium (2002). The researchers based their study on four companies that were selected randomly (2002). After getting approval, they issued questionnaires to process costing officers in the selected firms and collected them after two weeks (Everaert, Germain and Werner, 2002). The results indicated that three out of the four sampled companies used weighted average method of process analysis. The remaining firms used the first-in first-out (FIFO) method. The FIFO method treats costs from different periods separately and has four steps comprising of analysis of physical flow of units, calculation of equivalent units, computation of unit costs and analysis of total costs (Everaert, Germain and Werner, 2002). The company that used FIFO said the method is reliable because separate calculation

Theme Of Sterility In Poem The Wasteland English Literature Essay

Theme Of Sterility In Poem The Wasteland English Literature Essay The Waste Land was first published in October 1922 in a magazine called The Criterion. The magazine was edited by Elliot himself in England till he closed it in 1939 on the eve of Second World War (Bloom p.19). A few weeks later the poem was published in America in a magazine called The Dial. Eliot began work on the waste land un early 1919 but much of the work was done in late 1921 as he was staying on the coast of Margate in England and later on at a sanitarium in Luassanne, Switzerland where he was taking a rest after suffering a nervous breakdown as a result of his fathers death in 1919. On two occasions Eliot passed through Paris, on the way to Luasanne and on the way back to London. On the two occasions Elliot and his wife stayed with his friend Ezra Pound and his wife. Ezra Pound looked at Elliots work on both occasions and edited it, cutting away half of it. The Waste Land combines overwhelming erudition of debased speech (Bloom p.20). Quotations from other languages from great literatures of the world and from pop songs and music hall are woven into one fabric making it possibly the greatest work of literature of the twentieth century. This poem can be said to be Elliots greatest work of literature. All through the five cryptic segmented sections of The Waste Land, confront the problem sterility and at the end tries to offer a solution, though of little help. In the poem Eliot asks a question what branches grow out of this stony rubbish. Through this imagery, branches and stony rubbish Eliot suggests that the poem examines the lives of people (branches) and the culture (stony rubbish) in which people live. The lives of people are interconnected to their culture. Like the ground where trees draw their life, the culture is a life stream of people. Branches can never grow if the roots cannot clutch if the soil is stony rubbish. The same way people cannot live well if their culture is broken, rough and can longer support them. It is also impossible to bring about a civilization worthy of mankind or better make mankind wholesome and create a worthy culture, if the environment in which the mankind grows undermines life instead of nurturing life (Blossom p.26). The Fire Sermon The tittle of this passage is taken from a Buddha sermon given to Buddha followers. It urges them to give up earthly rages symbolized by fire and instead look for freedom from earthly things. A turn away from the earthly actually occurs in this passage. Series of debased sexual encounters are depicted and finally closes with a river-song and religious conjuration. The passage opens with a desolate riverside scene. The speaker is surrounded by rats and garbage as he fishes and muses on the king my brothers wreck. Through this description the poet is able to develop the theme of sterility. Unlike the desert that is characterized by bareness, the riverbank that should be full of rejuvenation of life just but a dull canal that only rats a seen moving around. This shows the pessimism because what is hoped to bring about regeneration of the people only rats are found there. As the speaker muses in the king my brothers wreck, with the king my fathers grave before him, he thinks about the death of kings that leads to loss of significance of life. The sound of rats rattle personifies the lethal plaque ruining the human spirit. London according to Elliot had become so unreal in the sense that the dwellers of the city have lost touch with basic reality of olden pulse of germ and birth. Eliot shows sterility in a heterosexual encounter in London. The speaker is invited by a one-eyed merchant of Madame Sosostrilss tarot pack, Mr. Eugenides, to a meeting place for homosexual assignations. In this situation the speaker proclaims himself as Tiresias. Tiresias is an ancient mythology who possesses both male and female reproductive organs, old man with wrinkled female breasts. He is also able to see into the future. The speaker in this encounter as used by Eliot is only an observer of the events of this encounter as they unfold. The speaker witnesses an encounter between a typist and a small house agents clerk. After a long day of work, the typist returns to her house and prepares dinner. Her underwear is seen drying on the windowsill, and the divan on which she sleeps is strewn with other lingerie such as a stocki ngs. A young man, a small house agents clerks, who is described as having a bold stare, arrives in the typists house. On eating dinner, the young man starts making advances towards the typist which she does not resist. She readily gives in and they are involved in a sexual intercourse which the speaker sees as an alienated sexual exchange. After they are done the young man walks out of the house finding his way through the dark. This signifies the state of moral and vital darkness that he lives in. The typist on the other hand, adjusts her hair and says to herself glad its over. This sexual encounter symbolizes the degradation of the central model of love and fertility. It was neither an act of procreation, nor a rite performed ceremonially for a fertile earth. There was not even an expression of love. The sexual encounter is a conceited assertion of destitute self on the part of the clerk and an example of accustomed submission on the part of the typist. Sexual intercourse has been turned mechanical just like how machines work. The poem therefore represents the narrators consciousness of his anguish in relation to history, culture and even time. Throughout the poem infertility is felt with little hopes of the future. What the speaker sees in this encounter is one of the highest examples of barrenness, egotism and disaffection. A Game of Chess The title of this section is derived from two plays by an early 17th century dramatist Thomas Middleton the one in which the moves in a game of chess denotes stages in seduction. Two opposing scenes are depicted. One of the beau monde and the other of lower social class. The first part of the section exposes a wealthy, well groomed woman surrounded by recherchà © furnishings. The woman waits for a lover and in the process her neurotic ideas become frenzied with no meaningful cries. Her day then climaxes with plans for an outing and a game of chess. In the second part of this episode depicts a scene in a London barroom. Here two women discuss a third woman who is not in the barroom. As the bar is about to be closed, one of the women recounts a discourse with their friend Lil. Lils husband had been dismissed from the army. Lil has refused to get herself false teeth and she is told that her husband will seek the company of another woman as a result. Lils husband does not seem to appreciate her even on bearing five children for him which has led to current appearance. The narrator says that her husband wont leave [her] alone. The two women, Lil wealthy woman, represent the two sides of modern sexuality. One side of the sexuality is dry, barren interchange inseparable from neuroticism and self-destruction. Eliot likens this woman to Cleopatra in the manner of her luxuriance of language and surrounding. She is defeated, excessively emotional but lacks intellects. Eliots association of this woman with Cleopatra, who committed suicide due to frustration stemmed from love, shows her irrationality. However, unlike Cleopatra, this woman is not and will never be a cultural standard. Lil on the other hand represents sexuality as fertility associated with a deficiency of culture and speedy aging. Despite doing everything right; married right, supported her husband, bore him children, yet her body lets her down. She no longer looks appealing to her husband. Age had already set in and there was no way to reverse it, not even false teeth. This shows how possibility of regenerating sex both at the cultural and personal contexts diminishes further. The Burial of the Dead This is the first passage of the waste land. Eliot derived the title of this passage from a line in the Anglican burial service. It is constituted of four sketches, apparently from different speakers. The first is an autobiographical snipping from a childhood of an aristocratical woman called Marie. She tells the poet as they take coffee of her past in Austria and of her cousin, who was the Archduke Rudolph and the heir to be of the Austro-Hungarian throne. She also narrates to the poet in fondness how she used to go sledging in the mountains and sometimes Archduke would take her sledging. Marie mingles a meditation on the seasons with comments on the desolate state of her current being. She says I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter. Marie claims to be a German and not a Russian. She is a member of the lately defeated Austrian royal family. The poem being written after the First World War it shows how peoples lives were disrupted and left desolate as a result of war. People, like Marie could no longer feel part or even enjoy being part of the social fabric as they did before the war. As the speaker walks through London which is populated by ghosts he faces a figure that he once fought with in a battle and this seems to mix the clashes of the First World War with the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Both wars were futile and led to massive destruction. The speaker goes ahead to ask the ghostly figure, Stetson, on the fate of a corpse established in his garden. At the time Eliot was writing the poem, he had started gaining interest in Christianity. It was difficult for him to believe the Christian belief of resurrection. This shows the pessimism with which Eliot looks at degraded human culture of post-world war I. This hopelessness is depicted in the character Sibyl, a woman possessing prophetic powers who ages but never dies. This woman looks into the future and finds no hope in it and therefore prefers to die. Eliot sees himself in the same predicament as Sibyl. The culture in which he lives in has decayed and dried-up. The worst part of this culture is that it will not expire, and hence he is compelled to live with memories of its former glory. Through memory of the dead, a confrontation of the past and the present is created. Through memory, the past and the present are juxtaposed showing how things have worsened and decayed. Maries memories of her childhood are painful. The worlds of her cousin, and coffee in the park, and sledging on the mountains have since been replaced by complex political and emotional consequences of the war. She now prefers to read late into the night because there is not much she can do. In summing up, the poem The Waste Land is Eliots best work of literature. Written after the First World War which he describes as futile and cause of massive destruction, Eliot explores changes that occurred after the war. One of these changes involves the culture becoming sterile. Through different passages he has been able to develop this theme of sterility. Sterility is both in the culture and individual people. The culture has become so decayed that it can no longer support existence of a wholesome mankind. As a result people have lost touch with their culture and turned to doing evil things. Despite the sterility of the culture, human beings are forced to live in this condition. Just like Sibyl who despite seeing no hope in the future only ages and never dies thus forced to continue living in an already hopeless condition. Like Sibyl, Eliot sees little hope if any for the culture and the people to be regenerated.

Chinese Economic Reform :: Economics Economy China Essays

Chinese Economic Reform Two years after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, it became apparent to many of China's leaders that economic reform was necessary. During his tenure as China's premier, Mao had encouraged social movements such as the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution" which had had as their bases ideas such as serving the people and maintaining the class struggle. By 1978, China’s leaders were searching for a solution to serious economic problems. Hua Guofeng, the man who had succeeded Mao Zedong as CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leader after Mao's death, had demonstrated a desire to continue the ideologically based movements of Mao. Unfortunately, these movements had left China in a state where agriculture was stagnant, industrial production was low, and the people's living standards had not increased in twenty years (Nathan 200). While the gross output value of industry and agriculture increased by 810 percent and national income grew by 420 percent [between 1952 and 1980] ... average individual income increased by only 100 percent (Shirk 28). However, attempts at economic reform in China were not solely due to generosity on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to increase living standards. It had become clear to members of the CCP that economic reform would fulfill a political purpose as well since the party felt that it had suffered a loss of support. (Shirk 23) This movement "from virtue to competence" seemed to mark a serious departure from orthodox Chinese political theory. Confucius himself had said that those individuals who best demonstrated what he referred to as moral force should lead the nation. Using this principle as a guide, China had for centuries attempted to choose its leaders by administering a test to determine their moral force. After the Communist takeover of the country, Mao continued this emphasis on moral force by demanding that Chinese citizens demonstrate what he referred to as "correct consciousness." This correct consciousness could be exhibited by the way people lived. Thus, by demonstrating their expertise in a more practical area of competence, the leaders of the CCP felt they could demonstrate how they were serving the people. Economic reform came about as a result of an attempt by CCP leaders to demonstrate, in a more practical way than Mao had done, their moral force. Chinese Economic Reform :: Economics Economy China Essays Chinese Economic Reform Two years after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, it became apparent to many of China's leaders that economic reform was necessary. During his tenure as China's premier, Mao had encouraged social movements such as the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution" which had had as their bases ideas such as serving the people and maintaining the class struggle. By 1978, China’s leaders were searching for a solution to serious economic problems. Hua Guofeng, the man who had succeeded Mao Zedong as CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leader after Mao's death, had demonstrated a desire to continue the ideologically based movements of Mao. Unfortunately, these movements had left China in a state where agriculture was stagnant, industrial production was low, and the people's living standards had not increased in twenty years (Nathan 200). While the gross output value of industry and agriculture increased by 810 percent and national income grew by 420 percent [between 1952 and 1980] ... average individual income increased by only 100 percent (Shirk 28). However, attempts at economic reform in China were not solely due to generosity on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to increase living standards. It had become clear to members of the CCP that economic reform would fulfill a political purpose as well since the party felt that it had suffered a loss of support. (Shirk 23) This movement "from virtue to competence" seemed to mark a serious departure from orthodox Chinese political theory. Confucius himself had said that those individuals who best demonstrated what he referred to as moral force should lead the nation. Using this principle as a guide, China had for centuries attempted to choose its leaders by administering a test to determine their moral force. After the Communist takeover of the country, Mao continued this emphasis on moral force by demanding that Chinese citizens demonstrate what he referred to as "correct consciousness." This correct consciousness could be exhibited by the way people lived. Thus, by demonstrating their expertise in a more practical area of competence, the leaders of the CCP felt they could demonstrate how they were serving the people. Economic reform came about as a result of an attempt by CCP leaders to demonstrate, in a more practical way than Mao had done, their moral force.

Describe the attitude and values underlining beliefs of Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay in text 23 ‘Our day Out’

Text 23 is taken from ‘our day out' by Willy Russel. In the text it describes of a school trip where a class of students are taken on a day out. Two of the main teachers in the text Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have conflicting ideas on the purpose of the trip. They also believe differently about the education of the children and the reality of their situation. The children are less interested in learning and more interested in enjoying their day out much to the dislike of Mr Briggs. Mr Briggs believes that even though the students are on a school trip they should still behave in an orderly fashion and that they should be learning at the same time as behaving themselves. Mr Briggs has much more stricter views and ideas on how a school trips should be conducted. Mrs Kay realises and is very aware that none of the children are interested in anything other than enjoying themselves and since the children are, in her words, ‘rejects since the day they came into the world' so what is the point in trying to make them learn. When Mrs Kay makes these views clear, Mr Briggs is horrified even though he most likely knows its true. The main difference between Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay is that Mrs Kay has accepted the truth that these children haven't learnt and aren't going to start on there big day out. Mrs Kay has much more realistic values and beliefs such as, it's too late for teaching the children anything and they aren't interested. In her opinion the children should at least enjoy there one day out they have although Mr Briggs thinks much more differently. She hides truths from the children so they are not disheartened such as when a girl asks her whether one day she could own a nice house she basically says you might do instead of being pessimistic like maybe Briggs might have been if asked a similar question. The attitudes of Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs are hugely different. Mr Briggs is constantly ignoring the fact that the children don't want to learn and in Mrs Kay's opinion it's too late for that now. In some ways Mr Briggs still believes that the children can be educated either that or he is just kidding himself. Throughout the text Mr Briggs is constantly trying to show his authority over everyone claiming â€Å"I was sent by the headmaster to supervise this trip†. Mrs Kay has a different attitude towards the children. She knows that they are troublesome but claims its too late for the children and that no one will teach them because no-one knows what to do with them. She also mentions that what the children are good for, or would have been good for, she uses the term ‘factory fodder' but mentions that the factories have closed down so what future do the children have. Overall Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have totally different opinions and beliefs about the children. Ideally Briggs would like to see the children behaving and trying to learn but as both Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay knows it wont happen. Whereas Mrs Kay is more realistic and is looking out for the children's enjoyment instead of further making there lives a misery.

Crucible Newspaper Essays

Crucible Newspaper Essays Crucible Newspaper Paper Crucible Newspaper Paper The Salem Times ESTABLISHED 1684 WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM! SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS APRIL 11th, 1692 REVEREND PARRIS CLUTCHES HIS BEWITCHED DAUGHTER BETTY. DEMONS ON THE LOOSE BEtty Parris, daughter to Reverend Parris, fell ill last night with symptoms that speak to witchcraft. Betty lay inert in her bed, only to wake screaming for her late mother and attempting to fly out of her bedroom window. Doctor Griggs evaluation was witchcraft to the dismay of Rev. Parris. It is believed that he spotted Betty, her cousin Abigail, and many other girls dancing in the woods-one of them naked! They were chanting around a fire with Parriss maid Tituba! She may be questioned soon. Now poor Betty Parris is bewitched and the entire town of Salem fears for its life. WANTED! MAY 20th, 1692 PICTURED ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: ELIZABETH PROCTOR, REBECCA NURSE, MARTHA COREY, GILES COREY, SARAH GOOD MANY MORE HAVE BEEN ACCUSED AND ARE WANTED BY JUDGE DANFORTH WANTED FOR WITCHCRAFT Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Martha and Giles Corey, and Sarah Good sound like the names of well-respected members of Salem. However, they and many others are anted for witchcraft. They have been accused by others in the community who suspect them of trucking with the devil. The accused will be arrested today and brought to the Jail where they will await their trial. Judge Danforth is quick with the pen on signing death warrants, to the dismay of the accused. Many fear that they too will be arrested and sent to Jail. No one is safe from Jail or witchcraft in Salem. JOHN PROCTOR A LECHER! COURTROOM MADNESS JUNE 28TH, 1692 John Proctor is a convicted lecher! A Salem Times source confirms that while in the ourtroom, Mr. Proctor divulged an alarming contession-ne is a lecher! He claimed to be romantically involved with Abigail Proctor, niece of Reverend Parris who began the witchcraft rumors in Salem. Proctor told Judge Danforth this to prove that Abigail accused Goody Proctor unjustly. To see if there was any proof to this statement, Danforth called in Elizabeth proctor from Jail and asked her if her husband was a lecher. She stated that he wasnt, contradicting her husbands confession. Proctor then erupted in a fit, startling everyone present in the courtroom.

Analysis of Wants by Grace Paley

Analysis of 'Wants' by Grace Paley Wants by American writer Grace Paley (1922 - 2007) is the opening story from the authors 1974 collection, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute. It later appeared in her 1994 The Collected Stories, and it has been widely anthologized. At about 800 words, the story could be considered a work of flash fiction. You can read it for free at Biblioklept. Plot Sitting on the steps of the neighborhood library, the narrator sees her ex-husband. He follows her into the library, where she returns two Edith Wharton books she has had for eighteen years and pays the fine. As the ex-spouses discuss their different perspectives on their marriage and its failure, the narrator checks out the same two novels she has just returned. The ex-husband announces that he will probably buy a sailboat.  He tells her, I always wanted a sailboat. [†¦] But you didnt want anything. After they separate, his remark bothers her more and more. She reflects that she doesnt want things, like a sailboat, but she does want to be a particular kind of person and to have particular kinds of relationships. At the end of the story, she returns the two books to the library. Passage of Time As the narrator returns the long-overdue library books, she marvels that she doesnt understand how time passes. Her ex-husband complains that she never invited the Bertrams to dinner, and in her response to him, her sense of time collapses completely. Paley writes: Thats possible, I said. But really, if you remember: first, my father was sick that Friday, then the children were born, then I had those Tuesday-night meetings, then the war began. We didnt seem to know them anymore. Her perspective starts at the level of a single day and one small social engagement, but it quickly sweeps out to a period of years and momentous events like the births of her children and the commencement of war. When she frames it this way, keeping library books for eighteen years seems like the blink of an eye. The Wants in Wants The ex-husband gloats that he is finally getting the sailboat he always wanted, and he complains that the narrator didnt want anything. He tells her, [A]s for you, its too late. Youll always want nothing. The sting of this comment only increases after the ex-husband has left and the narrator is left to ponder it. But what she realizes is that she does want something, but the things she wants look nothing like sailboats. She says: I want, for instance, to be a different person. I want to be the woman who brings these two books back in two weeks. I want to be the effective citizen who changes the school system and addresses the Board of Estimate on the troubles of this dear urban center.  [†¦] I wanted to have been married forever to one person, my ex-husband or my present one. What she wants is largely intangible, and much of it is unattainable. But while it may be comical to wish to be a different person, there is still hope that she can develop some attributes of the different person she wishes to be. The Down Payment Once the narrator has paid her fine, she immediately regains the goodwill of the librarian. She is forgiven her past faults in exactly the same measure that her ex-husband refuses to forgive her. In short, the librarian accepts her as a different person. The narrator could, if she wanted, repeat the exact same mistake of keeping the exact same books for another eighteen years. After all, she doesnt understand how time passes. When she checks out the identical books, she appears to be repeating all her same patterns. But its also possible that shes giving herself a second chance to get things right. She may have been on her way to being a different person long before her ex-husbands issued his scathing assessment of her. She notes that this morning - the same morning she took the books back to the library - she saw that the little sycamores the city had dreamily planted a couple of years before the kids were born had come that day to the prime of their lives. She saw time passing; she decided to do something different. Returning library books is, of course, mostly symbolic. Its a bit easier than, for instance, becoming an effective citizen. But just as the ex-husband has put a down payment on the sailboat - the thing he wants - the narrators returning the library books is a down payment on becoming the sort of person she wants to be.

Explaining my scheme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Explaining my scheme - Essay Example In this chapter, an overview is given in Section 4.2. Then, Section 4.3 illustrates how the initial labels are allocated and how the different relationships are determined. Section 4.4 describes how insertions are handled and how different relationships are preserved. A validation of the relationships using algebra is shown in Section 4.5. Finally, in Section 4.6, the chapter ends with a general conclusion that leads to the following chapter which discusses the scheme from the point of view of implementation. The proposed scheme is based on the parent-child grouping to facilitate the identification of parent-child and sibling relationships faster, based on a simple comparison. Parent-child grouping was also selected due to the high number of xml documents that come with this type of relationship (Goldman & Widom, 1997). Again, parent-child and sibling grouping facilitate smother insertions of new nodes, given the fact that in this form of grouping only a simple tree structure will be dealt with rather than the whole tree (Cohen, Kaplan & Milo, 2002). The advantage of allowing smoother insertion builds on the prefix GroupID labelling scheme but does not determine a fixed number of nodes to be inserted. Gusfield (1997) also observed that when dealing with parent-child groupings, labelling can be thought of as being easier, faster and more accurate as it deals with a simple tree structure. The simple structure has to do with a root node and its direct children nodes. Another critical characteristic of the scheme is that it uses two labels for each node in order to facilitate the processing nodes within the same group that uses their simple local labels. This is in contrast with multiplication-based scheme where the global label is used to connect a group to the whole tree which helps in identifying relationships between nodes belong to different group (Milo & Suciu, 1999). Based on existing schemes such

Contemporary responses by the criminal justice system towards victims Essay

Contemporary responses by the criminal justice system towards victims and witnesses of crime - Essay Example Because most of the documented crime reported to the police by victims and/or witnesses, they evidently have a crucial role to play in the process of dispensing justice, especially in those cases where in the accused denies any culpability. Maybe unexpectedly, considering its reliance on the eagerness of victims and/or witnesses to cooperate, the response of the CJS towards victims and/or witnesses has beforehand been described, at least in common law systems, by disregard and every so often by careless and unsympathetic treatment. Nevertheless, recently, a string of victim-oriented programmes has been launched in the United Kingdom. This essay argues that victims and witnesses nowadays enjoy a much greater role and importance in the criminal justice system than in the earlier periods. The investigation by the Victims’ Champion for the Ministry of Justice of the response of the CJS to the victims and witnesses emphasised in its statement: â€Å"A great deal of positive work h as been done to improve the support available for victims and witnesses but there is still a disparity between policy and reality for victims† (Easton & Piper, 2012, p. 188). ... n three phases: the years related to the growth of compensation, 1960-75; the years related to the growth of particular programmes to assist victims and witnesses, 1975-80; and the era from the 1980s when victim assistance initiatives were established and a greater participation of victims and witnesses in the CJS was called for (Easton & Piper, 2012, pp. 188-189; Hostettler, 2009). The support for victims and witnesses in recent times has had two quite distinct features: first, it may be considered a victims’ welfare model, while the other procedure is to grant victims importance to affect results. Victims’ needs were firmly highlighted in Criminal Justice: The Way Ahead. Victims have been granted the opportunity to give a personal report to the court describing the impacts of the crime on their lives. In April 2006, a Code of Practice for the Victims of Crime was ratified (Easton & Piper, 2012, p. 189; Wahidin & Carr, 2013; Dignan, 2005). Nevertheless, in order to dem onstrate how the response of the criminal justice system to victims and witnesses within the criminal justice system has improved in the contemporary period, it is important to look at the victims’ status within the CJS during the earlier periods. In particular, the ‘era of victim disenfranchisement’ emerged in the 19th century, roughly at the same time as the state started to take on the prime obligation for the trial of criminals instead of handing over the task to prosecution bodies, or to victims and witnesses themselves, as in the earlier period (Dignan, 2005, p. 63; Comwell, 2008). According to Comwell (2008), this reassignment of duties co-occurred with the launching of specialised law enforcement, whose duty was to investigate crimes and put alleged criminals on trial. Theoretically,

In class, the stories we learned about talk about sex and violence and Essay

In class, the stories we learned about talk about sex and violence and some sound a lot like Pagan myths. How, a friend asks, can anyone ever believe in the Bible after taking a course like that - Essay Example Imagine how earnest God’s patience was in those times when men were called for a change of heart yet they rather chose to adhere to old wicked ways still. My friend, God is fully aware of every intention, passing thought, and act committed by men heretofore including paganism which was widespread in ancient times, as well as killings, theft, plunder, orgies, and other immoral deeds which were not given detailed account in the Bible. If you read the entire content of the Old Testament text, you would come across events when God spoke directly to religious leaders whom He handpicked himself and human laws rested on unstable grounds so He needed to establish His covenant with the tribes people on a gradual basis through the strengths and gifts of vision bestowed upon their representatives such as in the case of Abraham and Moses. It even came to a point when incest was permitted as at Lot’s time when Lot’s daughters made love with their father for the sake of fulfilling God’s design of expanding humanity in number. God did not immediately destroy the overly sinful cities Sodom and Gomorrah, holding thoughtful consideration if there ever were at least five righteous people in the place, despite the case of widespread homosexuality and prostitution. Sins of men were so great at the time so on further Bible reading, we would typically encounter God’s wrath being mentioned several times and certain accounts where God sent His angels over a particular region that ought to be blotted out due to deliberate transgressions. There is no valid reason thus my friend to lose hope and conviction about God’s word for your faith should reveal that it would still hold true in the generations to come. Our in-depth study in class of the nature of sins occurring in the Old Testament age does not have anything to do with the values

Types of Research Essay Example for Free

Types of Research Essay Topic 1- Basic and Applied Research can be classified by purpose or by method. If we categorize it by purpose, it would fall into two major categories: Basic Research and Applied Research, while in case of method, it would be deductive research and inductive research. Basic Research Also called Pure or fundamental Research, it is undertaken for increase in knowledge. There is no direct benefit as it is a research for the sake of research. It is conducted to satisfy any curiosity such as: (a) what makes things happen, (b) why society changes and (c) why social relations are in a certain way. In fact, it is the source of most new theories, principles and ideas. Basic research rarely helps anyone directly. It only stimulates new ways of thinking. The main motivation is to expand mans knowledge. There is absolutely no commercial value to the discoveries resulting from such research. However, in the long run, it forms the basis of applied research or development commercial products. If basic work is done first, then applied spin-offs often eventually result from this research. As Dr. George Smoot of says, People cannot foresee the future well enough to predict whats going to develop from basic research. If we only did applied research, we would still be making better spears. To sum up, basic research is purely theoretical to increase our understanding of certain phenomena or behavior but does not seek to solve any existing problem. Applied research It is use of basic research or past theories, knowledge and methods for solving an existing problem. It deals with practical problems. It is opposed to pure research which is not problem-oriented but for the increase in knowledge which may or may not be used in future. In the present world situation, more emphasis is being given to applied research to solve problems arising out of overpopulation and scarcity of natural resources. Applied research should not be treated the same as Research Development (RD) which is involved in developing products demanded by the existing clients. Applied Research, on the other hand, focuses on uncovering what needs are not being met and use that information in designing products or services that would create their own demand. Thus, applied research brings in new customers and also provides better products and services to the existing customers. In old days, the mobile phone was expensive, bulky and had a short range. Applied Research foresaw that this product would have a limited market and stressed on cost-cutting, reduced weight and long-distance communication. Such measures caused a heavy demand Topic 2- Historical Research Historical research is the process of systematically examining past events to give an account of what has happened in the past. †¢ It is not a mere accumulation of facts and dates or even a description of past events. †¢ It is a flowing, dynamic account of past events which involves an interpretation of these events in an attempt to recapture the nuances, personalities, and ideas that influenced these events. †¢ One of the goals of historical research is to communicate an understanding of past events. Significance of Historical Research The following gives five important reasons for conducting historical research (based on Berg, 1998): 1. To uncover the unknown (i.e., some historical events are not recorded). 2. To answer questions (i.e., there are many questions about our past that we not only want to know but can profit from knowing). 3. To identify the relationship that the past has to the present (i.e., knowing about the past can frequently give a better perspective of current events). 4. To record and evaluate the accomplishments of individuals, agencies, or institutions. 5. To assist in understanding the culture in which we live (e.g., education is a part of our history and our culture). Historical Research Methodology There is no one approach that is used in conducting historical research although there is a general set of steps that are typically followed. These include the following steps although there is some overlap and movement back and forth between the steps: 1. Identification of the research topic and formulation of the research problem or question. 2. Data collection or literature review. 3. Evaluation of materials. 4. Data synthesis. 5. Report preparation or preparation of the narrative exposition.

Machiavelli Has Had A Great Influence Politics Essay

Machiavelli Has Had A Great Influence Politics Essay Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society. Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli is known as the father of modern political thought. He has had an incredibly large influence on our modern civilization. Firstly Machiavellis opinions on politics and political leaders effected how future political leaders would run their countries. Additionally Machiavelli had a much larger influence on the future of modern western civilization in comparison to the renaissance artists of his time. Also his opinion on how the government is run demonstrated in his book The Prince changed they way in which we view how our government is run. Furthermore Machiavellis innovative writing style made him a noted writer in the history of western civilization. Machiavellis tactics and style of military influence has played its toll in shaping our world today. Machiavellis influence outshines any other reformation leader. Niccolo Machiavelli was born in the year 1469 in midst of a shifting political time in Italy. The fear and invasion from powerful states such France and Spain threatened the Italian government. Alexander Borgia was elected the pope through bribery and threats. Pope Alexander used the churchs wealth to benefit his own family. Some of the parts of Italy became Republic and others like Venice fell to dictators. No monarchy was present and no centralized government existed. Each city was like its own separate nation. Italy was struggling to unify itself. Machiavelli served the Borgia family as a political advisor. Machiavelli noticed the infighting among the rivaling Italian city-states but saw the effectiveness in the Borgia family members in maintaining their power. In forming his opinions he developed a treatise known as The Prince. The book was based upon his ideal Prince. Machiavelli describes his position that the Prince should be the only authority determining different aspects of the state to serve his best interest. These interests should be gaining, maintaining and expanding political power. In his books he is often very contradictory of himself. He believed that a prince should only serve his own best interest. If a prince cannot be both feared and loved it is better for him to be just feared. Machiavelli derived his views from the experience of the Caesura Borgia who was the current Prince of Italy during his time and hopped that it would provide a framework for future princes. Some historians may argue that artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci or Michelangelo had a greater influence of modern history then Machiavelli. Although a piece of art can be admired it remains nothing more than a piece of art. An individual whom is able to examine and explain human society and functions such a Machiavelli have much more substantial impact on history then a mere artist. Political scientist Max Lerner wrote in the introduction of the 1950s edition of the Prince that Machiavelli recognized the existence of the power of politic. The Prince is a main piece of evidence that define Machiavelli more influential than any artist to the renaissance period. Machiavellis most well known work The Prince became the best source to view of how politics works and it remains used by political thinker in the modern world. Sir Francis Bacon once wrote, We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do. This means that Machiavelli wrote about political reality unlike political theories and how the government should be run. Seeing how our political world is run changed how the people viewed the government. Machiavellis realization allowed the future political theorists of the modern world to evaluate politics. It is unknown whether or not Machiavelli wrote The Prince to gain political appointment or out of a need for self-therapy. Nonetheless he was able to synthesize the traditional with the innovative unlike any other political philosopher of his time. In addition to Machiavellis political theories he is also very innovative in his writing style. A man clearly from the Renaissance Machiavelli clearly left his mark on history as a well-known and studied writer. Firstly his place Mandragola is often categorized as one of the most well written plays in the Italian language. Furthermore he wrote an essay called On Language. The essay includes principles on the science of semantics. This is one of the first written pieces to contain information on this topic. In recent years management theorists have been responsive to the fact that Machiavelli predicted the need for management theorist and also in developing guidelines applicable to deal with conflicts with business executives. Military theorists often reflect Machiavellis innovative warfare tactics and theories. A man of physical action at the age of 29 in 1498, Machiavelli accepted the position in Florence. His position was entrusted with diplomatic missions to local and other European courts. His position required great diplomacy and a substantial amount of understanding of European politics. Furthermore he involved himself in establishing the Florentine Militia. Due to the constant warfare of the shifting nations, while in office Machiavelli handled with military affairs. He had a substantial amount of practical experience with military matters. Frederick Taylor notes that Machiavelli is an important individual in the history of military theories. He notes: Machiavelli is the first secular writer to attempt to allot to the practice of arms its place among the collective activities of mankind, to define its aims, and to regard it as a means to an end. His book the Art of War published in 1521 it was the third of his major works in time. The book was thought to be technical. His theoretical point of view is dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici. Machiavelli confirms the unity of a countrys civil and military life. Today, people who think of only a civil life do not accept this. He states that the military and civil life of a nation is inseparable therefore a necessary moment in history. Some may argue that the Reformation religious leaders such a John Calvin or Martin Luther have a greater influence in history than Machiavelli. Martin Luther remains only a leader of the Reformation era through Roman Catholic or Protestant. Even in his own time John Calvins influence was no comparison to Martin Luther. Catholic leaders spent the reformation reacting to Martin Luther. Luthers influence is not equivalent to Machiavellis. Luthers influence was only concerned to Christianity, which has become less present to financial and political affairs concerning the modern western civilization. The Prince remains today a large influence on the political and financial operations of our modern world. The opinions on politics and political leaders that Machiavelli had would have a substantial influence on how future political leaders would run their countries. Secondly his influence in comparison to artist of his time is much larger. Additionally as demonstrated in his book The Prince the opinions that he had on how the government is run would alter how governments in the future would be run. Moreover the writing style that he adapted gave him a renowned name for himself and would be adapted by future writers. Due to his military experience Machiavellis tactics and style of military presented to make him be a noteworthy individual in modern western civilization. played its toll in shaping our world today. Lastly Machiavellis influence on the reformation would not be match worthy to any other reformation leader..

Inherit the Wind - Scene Analysis Essay -- Inherit the Wind Essays

Inherit the Wind - Scene Analysis The scene that introduces the audience to Matthew Harrison Brady, in Inherit the Wind, (Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960) uses dialogue, composition, camera work and music to develop Matthew Brady. Kramer reveals important information about the plot of the film in this scene. The scene opens with a bird's eye view shot of the town of Hillsboro, and focuses in on the movement of the parade below. The camera comes to rest on the convertible that transports Brady and his wife. The town of Hillsboro welcomes the well-known politician. He will serve the town by being the prosecutor in a trial about evolution, similar to that of the historical Scopes Trial. This scene, where we first meet Brady, reveals his strong character, and the role of savior that the town expects him to play. Through the development of Brady, Kramer also introduces us to the issues of religion and politics. Stanley Kramer, the director, introduces the audi ence to two key ideas in the very first shot of the scene. He does this through the use of background tools, like music and scenery. As the camera fades in from the previous scene, music begins to play, and a group of women sing a religious hymn, "Give me that old time religion." The extremely loud music continues for the duration of the parade. At first the audience doesn't know the source of the music, but as the parade comes to an end, the camera focuses on a group of militant looking women, who march and sing. This song draws the audience into the impending controversy over religion. It expresses the entire town's point of view on the issue. The audience can see that religion affects the soc... ...ene illustrates. Through the process of developing Brady's character, Kramer questions whether it is possible for religion to exist in politics. Brady can't balance the two, as his ultimate collapse illustrates. Kramer also points out the detrimental, oppressive affect that a small town can have on the truth. The narrow mindedness of the town enabled Brady to take control and prevent any alternative point of view to be considered. Is it possible for a small town to equally consider both sides of an argument? Brady appears to the town as a very strong self-assured man who believes in his ideas. At the climax of the film, Drummond places Brady on the stand, and questions his ideas. This serves as a major theme for the film and as a result it becomes necessary to have a strong development of Brady's character, so that the viewer can better understand his fall. Inherit the Wind - Scene Analysis Essay -- Inherit the Wind Essays Inherit the Wind - Scene Analysis The scene that introduces the audience to Matthew Harrison Brady, in Inherit the Wind, (Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960) uses dialogue, composition, camera work and music to develop Matthew Brady. Kramer reveals important information about the plot of the film in this scene. The scene opens with a bird's eye view shot of the town of Hillsboro, and focuses in on the movement of the parade below. The camera comes to rest on the convertible that transports Brady and his wife. The town of Hillsboro welcomes the well-known politician. He will serve the town by being the prosecutor in a trial about evolution, similar to that of the historical Scopes Trial. This scene, where we first meet Brady, reveals his strong character, and the role of savior that the town expects him to play. Through the development of Brady, Kramer also introduces us to the issues of religion and politics. Stanley Kramer, the director, introduces the audi ence to two key ideas in the very first shot of the scene. He does this through the use of background tools, like music and scenery. As the camera fades in from the previous scene, music begins to play, and a group of women sing a religious hymn, "Give me that old time religion." The extremely loud music continues for the duration of the parade. At first the audience doesn't know the source of the music, but as the parade comes to an end, the camera focuses on a group of militant looking women, who march and sing. This song draws the audience into the impending controversy over religion. It expresses the entire town's point of view on the issue. The audience can see that religion affects the soc... ...ene illustrates. Through the process of developing Brady's character, Kramer questions whether it is possible for religion to exist in politics. Brady can't balance the two, as his ultimate collapse illustrates. Kramer also points out the detrimental, oppressive affect that a small town can have on the truth. The narrow mindedness of the town enabled Brady to take control and prevent any alternative point of view to be considered. Is it possible for a small town to equally consider both sides of an argument? Brady appears to the town as a very strong self-assured man who believes in his ideas. At the climax of the film, Drummond places Brady on the stand, and questions his ideas. This serves as a major theme for the film and as a result it becomes necessary to have a strong development of Brady's character, so that the viewer can better understand his fall.

Discrimination against Ainu in Japan

The Ainu are a group of people in northern Japan whose traditional life was based upon a hunting-fishing and plant-gathering economy. Starting from the eighteenth century the Ainu suffered the systematic encroachment and subsequent colonization by the Japanese. After the Ainu Shinpo (new law) was enacted in 1997, there were some positive changes seen by Ainu people in Hokkaido. However discrimination against the Ainu still is a major social problem in life of indigenes.In this paper we will investigate the conflicting narratives of identity, history and contemporary reality. While broadly tracing the outlines of Ainu history and the colonisation of Hokkaido, the main focus is on the making and remaking of Ainu identity by both the dominant Japanese and the Ainu themselves. By focusing on the dynamics between racialisation and ethnic mobilisation within the context of colonial relations of domination, we will consider Ainu ‘ethnicity’ as a response to racism.Discriminatio n against Ainu in Japan The Ainu, descendants of the early inhabitants of Japan, were slowly driven off the main island over the years and eventually settled in Hokkaido. Accounts of the campaign to conquer the Ainu appear in historical records as early as the eighth century. The office of the shogun was originally established to subdue the â€Å"barbarians,† meaning the Ainu (Nomura, 1996). In the Tokugawa period, for instance, the Tokugawa shogun granted trading rights to one of the northern feudal lords.The feudal domain gradually tightened its economic control over the island, reducing the native Ainu to a condition of semislavery and compelling them to harvest marine products (FRPAC). Although only about eighteen thousand of the Ainu now live in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, this population was much larger in the past and their homeland included at least southern Sakhalin, the Kurile Islands, northern parts of Honshu (the main island of Japan), and adjacent areas.Despite outsiders' frequent use of the blanket term â€Å"the Ainu,† Ainu culture was rich in intracultural variations (Seligman & Watanabe, 1963). Not only was their hunting-gathering economy vastly different from that of their agricultural neighbors (the Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese), they spoke a language of their own, and some of their physical characteristics were thought to distinguish them from their neighbors. The question of Ainu identity continues to press today without a definitive answer (FRPAC). The Kurile Ainu were the hardest-hit victims of the Russians and the Japanese; the last of them died in 1941.Sakhalin south of 50 ° N had been the homeland of the Sakhalin Ainu, while the territory north of 50 ° N belonged to the Gilyaks and other peoples. The Sakhalin Ainu, estimated to have been between 1,200 and 2,400 in number during the first half of the twentieth century, most likely moved from Hokkaido, possibly as early as the first millennium A. D. , but definitely by the thirteenth century (Nomura, 1996). They were in close contact with so-called native populations both on Sakhalin and along the Amur, such as the Gilyaks, Oroks, and Nanays.The history of contact with outsiders is equally complicated for the Hokkaido Ainu, whose territory once included north-eastern Honshu. As the Japanese central government was formed and its force expanded toward the northeast, the Ainu were gradually pushed north away from their territory (FRPAC). Systematic contact between the Ainu and the Japanese started at the end of the sixteenth century with the establishment of the Matsumae clan, which claimed as its territory the south-western end of Hokkaido and the adjacent areas.In 1799 the Matsumae territory in Hokkaido came under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate for the purpose of protecting Japanese interests against Russian expansion southward. Administrative control changed again in 1821 to the Matsumae and then back to the shogun ate in 1854 (Nomura, 1996). Most drastic and enduring changes took place shortly after the establishment of the Meiji government in 1868. It brought Hokkaido under the central government's direct administration and set out to foster Japanese settlements and develop the island's economy.The Ainu lost their land and their hunting and fishing rights. In order to Japanize the Ainu, the government banned traditional Ainu practices and forced Ainu children to learn Japanese in the school system (Layland, 2000). In 1875 the central and northern Kuriles came under the political control of the Japanese government, which made several attempts to â€Å"protect† the Ainu, but without success and often with adverse effect upon them (Nomura, 1996). The new government abolished the residential restriction for both the Ainu and the Japanese, who could then live anywhere in Hokkaido.It also encouraged the Japanese to immigrate to Hokkaido in order to utilize its natural resources. The Ainu we re enrolled in the Japanese census registers and forced to attend Japanese schools established by the government. Beginning in 1883, the Ainu were uprooted from their settlements, granted plots of land more suited for agriculture, and encouraged to take up agriculture (Layland, 2000). In the post-World War II years, a movement among the Ainu to preserve their culture, language, and way of life emerged.The leadership of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido has requested the Japanese government to guarantee the basic rights of the Ainu people and respect their cultural and ethnic identity (Layland, 2000). Just as the Ainu contacts with the Japanese went through a series of historical changes, so did the Japanese attitude toward them. Since the Ainu homeland is located in what used to be Japan's northern frontier – a hinterland for many Japanese until recently – the Ainu stood outside of the reflexive structure of the Japanese during earlier historical periods.By the eighteen th century, however, the Ainu had clearly become one of the marginalized internal others within Japanese society (Nomura, 1996). Historical agents directly involved in this process were the Japanese governmental officials of different historical periods and the Japanese in the Ainu land. They viewed and represented the Ainu as uncivilized or primitive. But the primitive always have another side — for some Japanese, especially those in parts of Japan distant from the Ainu homeland, the Ainu were and are even today the exotic other.This is especially so with Ainu women, living in â€Å"nature,† whose â€Å"deep-set eyes† had exotic sexuality – a familiar picture in almost every case of colonial-colonized or majority-minority relationship (Nomura, 1996). The Japanese perception and representation of the Ainu are most systematically expressed in a series of Ainu – Japanese artists' portrayals of the Ainu and their lives that appeared during a period of a little more than a century, from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the midnineteenth century, that is, at the height of Japanese efforts to colonize Ainu territory.The hallmarks of otherness depicted in these paintings include hunting scenes, the bear ceremony, women's tattoos, men's body hair and beards, and Ainu use of jewellery. In contrast to the Japanese, whose deities are primarily plants, the supreme deity of the Ainu is the bear – a sign of Ainu proximity to animals. The association the Japanese made between the Ainu and animals is also seen in their painstaking representations of the bodies of Ainu.The Japanese, who do not have much body hair, often point to the abundant body hair of the Ainu, as well as of Westerners, and use it as â€Å"evidence† that these people are close to animals (Layland, 2000). The dispossession of the Ainu, which had largely been accomplished by 1890 through the expropriation of Ainu land (and fishing grounds) as the prim ary economic resource on which colonial development was based, was institutionalised by the enactment of the Protection Act of 1899 (Nomura, 1996).With the Law for the Protection of Native Hokkaido Aborigines, a policy of assimilation was forced upon the Ainu. As a consequence, their social structure and living environment went through a number of drastic changes as restrictions were put on their customs, language, and means of livelihood. The 1899 law contained new land policies that violated the Ainu's territorial integrity. It banned traditional subsistence strategies such as deer hunting and salmon fishing, and also forced the Ainu to cultivate rice for the Japanese mainland.The law also prohibited the practice of ancient Ainu customs and Ainu languages; with no writing system of their own, these prohibitions furthered the cultural destruction of Ainu society. There has also been a high rate of marriage between Ainu and Japanese that has contributed further to the erosion of the Ainu language and culture. It is not surprising, then, that traditional Ainu society had been largely destroyed by the beginning of the 20th century. In the last 100 years, Ainu traditional lifestyles have largely disappeared, and their rights have been overlooked within Japanese society.The traditional Ainu settlement – kotan – can no longer be seen, and the traditional grass thatch Ainu huts – chise – are almost non-existent, the exceptions being tourist areas where music and dance performances or handicraft souvenirs are offered (Weiner, 1997). The Protection Act focused on three main areas of Ainu policy: agriculture, education and welfare assistance, notably in the area of medical care. Ainu families engaged, or wishing to engage, in agriculture were to be granted up to five hectares of undeveloped land as an allotment (kyuyochi) without charge (Article One).This did not mean full rights of ownership; various restrictions were placed on the transfer of the allotments which could not be sold or used to secure a mortgage, although they were exempt from land registration fees, local tax and land tax for thirty years (Article Two). Land not developed within fifteen years, however, would be repossessed (Article Three). Agricultural tools and seeds were to be made available for needy families (Article Four). Education was to be provided through the medium of special Native Schools (Kyudojin gakko) to be constructed at national expense in Ainu villages (Article Nine).Financial assistance was available for school fees (Article Seven). For the destitute, sick, and people too old or too young to support themselves, medical fees would be paid. Funeral expenses were also covered (Articles Five and Six). Some of the money for these measures was to come from the profits of Ainu communal property, which was under bureaucratic control, the rest from the national treasury (Articles Eight and Ten). Article Eleven empowered the Governor to issue â€Å"police orders†Ã¢â‚¬â€fines and periods of imprisonment—with regard to protection matters (Weiner, 1997).Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, interest in ethnic tourism and in the Ainu people began to grow. This raised questions about the substance and meaning of Ainu cultural identity in relationship to the culture and identity of the more numerous Japanese. The image of Ainu with their traditional costumes and exotic facial features became increasingly prevalent through the development of tourism. Group photographs taken with Ainu chiefs in traditional costumes reflected the fascination with difference within the Japanese population.Many touristic souvenirs comprised Ainu bear woodcrafts and â€Å"couple dolls† (Kindaiti, 1941). Thus, the increase in post-war tourism, and its focus on the Ainu as commodity and symbols of indigenous Japan, contributed in a positive way to some modest revitalization within the Ainu community, but also raised question about thei r position in the social and political hierarchy of Japan (Weiner, 1997). The existence of the Ainu is virtually ignored elsewhere in the society, most conspicuously in the classroom.A report conducted in 1993 showed that only ten out of twenty high school Japanese history textbooks mentioned the background of contact between the Ainu and mainstream Japanese and the assimilation policies forced upon the Ainu since the nineteenth century; only four mentioned the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act (Weiner, 1997). However indigenous rights are becoming more widely discussed and cultures of indigenous peoples are becoming recognized throughout the world, the Ainu indigenous movement has also been raised to the international level, urging constitutional reforms to expand their leverage, recognition and rights at home.In 1993, the year before the International Year of the World's Indigenous People, Nomura Giiti, the President of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, was invited to part icipate in an international meeting organized by the United Nations (Layland, 2000). In his speech, Nomura shared Ainu concerns with other indigenous groups, including the experience of the Ainu under the Japanese government's policy of assimilation after the late 19th century. He called for the United Nations to set international standards against discrimination and support the Ainu people in negotiating with the Japanese government.The Ainu Shinpo (meaning â€Å"new law†) was drafted and proposed in 1984, and finally passed on 8 May 1997. It states that: The law aims to realize the society in which the ethnic pride of the Ainu people is respected and to contribute to the development of diverse cultures in our country, by the implementation of the measures for the promotion of Ainu culture, referring to the situation of Ainu traditions and culture from which the Ainu people find their ethnic pride †¦ â€Å"Ainu Culture† in this law means the Ainu language; music, dance, rafts and other cultural properties that have been inherited by the Ainu people; as well as other cultural properties developed from these (Weiner, 1997). Thus, the Japanese government had finally given limited formal recognition to the Ainu as the indigenous minority within Japanese territory, at least in Hokkaido. The general reaction from the Ainu at the time of the endorsement of the new law was that it was â€Å"late in coming and did not include enough concrete change†.Yet with this initial step, both Ainu and Japanese people assumed and expected more cultural preservation of language and traditions, as well as legal protection for traditional land use, anti-discrimination policies, and a general improvement in Ainu social status. After the Ainu Shinpo was enacted in 1997, there were some positive changes seen by Ainu people in Hokkaido. They saw an increase in financial support for various kinds of cultural activities; and conference, exhibition, and cultural e xchanges with other indigenous groups in other countries increased.This provided the Ainu with opportunities to enhance their â€Å"indigenous† status in Japan, and to build contacts and share information with indigenous people around the world (Layland, 2000). With the enactment of the Ainu Culture Promotion Law, the Japanese government took a significant step towards officially acknowledging the existence of the Ainu as an ethnic minority. The law is Japan's first legislation to acknowledge the existence of an ethnic minority in the country and, unlike the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act which the new law replaces, the Ainu were involved in the process of its enactment.This preliminary move, however, stopped short of recognising the Ainu as an indigenous people as defined by the United Nations. The Hokkaido Ainu thus remain virtually invisible in a country they have inhabited for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. One venue that plays a vital role in the repres entation of the Ainu in Japan today is ethnic tourism, which centres on tourist villages scattered across Hokkaido (Layland, 2000).The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (FRPAC) was established in 1997, almost at the same time as the enactment of the Ainu Shinpo. The FRPAC started with an endowment of JPY100 million (of which JPY 90 million is from the Hokkaido government and JPY 10 million is from 62 municipalities in Hokkaido that include Ainu residents) allocated to support diverse activities (FRPAC). With their two offices in Hokkaido and Tokyo, FRPAC operates under the four basic policies in promoting Ainu cultural traditions in Japan and the rest of the world (Weiner, 1997).During the past few years, FRPAC's work has included providing different kinds of publications such as textbooks for primary and junior high schools, a handbook on place names (terminology) in Ainu language with relevant elaboration. Also, exhibition catalogues, monographs on Ainu history and culture (in different languages) for Japanese and foreigners, as well as other related materials, have been published with the support of FRPAC. A number of comprehensive exhibitions were co-sponsored by overseas institutes for the enhancement of public interest in Ainu culture in Japan (Weiner, 1997).According to the 1999 population survey, the percentage of Ainu students who attended high school was 95. 2%, that rose up from 69. 3% in 1979, and the percentage that went on to college was 16. 1%, from 8. 8% in 1979. These figures are lower than the 1999 national average figures of 97. 0 and 34. 5%, respectively (Layland, 2000). Despite some improvement during the last three decades, further reduction of the education gap will be necessary for the improvement of the Ainu's social status.Since the changes that occurred after the 1997, Ainu culture is now facing another critical period. The survival of Ainu culture, whatever form it will take, depends on how the indigenous rights of Ainu are interpreted at both individual and national levels; on how seriously the Japanese government implements the laws protecting indigenous and minority rights and cultural heritage; and on whether Ainu as â€Å"other† remain important to the Japanese in the articulation of their identity (Weiner, 1997).The Ainu Shinpo and institutions such as the Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture, already represent a step in a new direction in Ainu – Japanese relations. The cultural park establishment as well as the reterritorialization of the iwor (traditional hunting ground of the Ainu) (in Hokkaido at least), represents another concrete and progressive measure allowing the Ainu private control of their natural resources, reaffirmation of their identity, and legitimization of their lifestyle and customs.Despite continuing challenges, we are sure to see new cultural forms generated from the interaction between Ainu self-determination and the larger Japanese society (Layland, 2000). Doubtlessly, what has changed most since the 1997 is the awareness among the Ainu that they need to preserve their cultural traditions for their descendants (Weiner, 1997). However, as stated above, there remain so few Ainu who are able to speak Ainu as their mother tongue, and most are no longer practicing their traditional ways.As in the case of other ethnic minority groups around the world, the Ainu in Japan require an environment in society in which they can express how they think and ask for what they expect. I think that exhibitions in Ainu museums, broadcast programs for Ainu language and cultural exchanges in the form of performing arts have to be organised today. Then Ainu culture will be more visible and give people the impetus to think about what it means to be Ainu. The Ainu should adapt to modern ways since it is not easy or feasible to live in the old ways.