Thursday, December 26, 2019

The Importance Of Happiness And Happiness - 864 Words

Happiness is a bliss and it is something that we should cherish. It is easier said than done, but being happy can result in a lot of positive outcomes in your life. Being lighthearted does not necessarily mean that something good has to happen to you, it can happen in your community and around the world. Within the individual, we can achieve happiness by being content with what we have. The community can make you feel gleeful by whom you are surrounded with, and what influences are around in that environment. Happiness around the world is a sense of everyone coming together and forming happiness. Being happy with yourself is something everyone dreams about, but unfortunately, it is something some of us do not achieve immediately.†¦show more content†¦It all depends on yourself and on how you want to go about with your life. In fact, in my life, my parents are a great example of what to do and they guide me, which gives me a sense of relief and happiness because I have them a nd they are helping me make the right choices. There are friends, which at some points can influence me to make some bad choices, therefore, having a negative impact in my life. Consequently, having a devastating impact, on one’s ego, and inner person which is not a pleasant feeling. Feelings that will haunt you, but at the end of the day you cannot change the past. Before taking action think about how thill will affect you and your community. The community that I’ve surrounded myself with have made me feel genuinely happy because they encourage the best of my person. Therefore, I am encouraged to spread this positivity out into the world. The world goes through a lot of ups and downs, which I believe these situations actually brings the people of the world together. Whenever something devastating happens like for a meaningless act of violence towards a city or people this can actually bring us together in a way I’ve seen on many occasions. I believe even if we are affected by the incident, we in a sense do not by any means feel happy, but it is a sane feeling knowing that we are not alone. At times, there are situations where good things happen like when gay marriage became legal inShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Happiness And Happiness1221 Words   |  5 PagesHow important is money to your happiness? What are you willing to do - or give up - in order to acquire a lot of it? Write an essay that explores the connection between your financial wellbeing and your overall satisfaction with life. (Reading - â€Å"The Happiness Project† by Shaun Pett p. 230) He comes empty-handed and leaves the world empty-handed Since no one is destined to live forever then why he ruins his life running behind the moneyRead MoreThe Importance Of Happiness864 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Happiness is a major key to a person’s overall well-being and self-confidence in their everyday life. In order to maintain happiness, most people have daily routines and or hobbies that they do on a regular basis that brings them joy and happiness. Without happiness the important activities that people take part in could be missing its full potential due to lack of happiness and self-esteem. The following 10 activities can create daily joy and happiness and suspend daily hardships: basketballRead MoreThe Importance Of Happiness713 Words   |  3 PagesHappiness is a choice, and its only our choice. No matter what the circumstances are in our lives, we get to choose what emotion we want to react with. People show different ranges of emotions which can be caused by other people, but ultimately we choose our emotions with our mind and hearts. It doesnt matter what has happened in your life today, you can still choose to be happy. By choosing to be unhappy you put yourself in a s orrowful and melancholia mindset, which isnt good for your mentalRead MoreThe Importance Of Happiness In Literature767 Words   |  4 Pageswhich is happiness. Through literature that authors provide insight, comfort, and oftentimes advice to help us cope with our humanity. In literature, it illustrates all the human conditions that we humans face. We are so fond of some literature because we can relate to the human condition even though we may not know it sometimes. Through a few literatures I am going to link the human condition, â€Å"Happiness†, and connect it to our society to see where that relativeness comes in. Happiness is usuallyRead MoreThe Importance Of Philosophy And Happiness By Epicurus991 Words   |  4 Pages Letter to Menoeceus by Epicurus In this piece of writing Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus highly emphasized on the importance of philosophy and happiness. To begin with, he encouraged people of all ages, whether young or old, to study philosophy in order to develop better understanding of what desires to fulfill. By philosophy, Epicurus meant a state of mind, based on a realistic worldview that, if its implications were understood, would free people’s minds from superstitious fear and moral anxietyRead MoreImportance Of Happiness In My Life913 Words   |  4 PagesWhen I excel through any situation, it brings me great joy. I often see my happiness coming from competitive situations in my academic and sporting events. With my happiness coming from my two most competitive activities; I know that if I put all that I can into a situation, I can leave knowing I did the best I could. When I am able to leave a competitive situation knowing that I did the best I could, the feeling of happiness comes upon me. Whether it would be in volleyball, basketball, or academicsRead MoreThe Importance Of Happiness In My Life1157 Words   |  5 Pagesthat I would be ok. My life had changed so much since I had arrived, four months previously. I had come to an understanding that I had wasted so much time not appreciating the person I was, and focusing on all the things I wasn’t, and looking for happiness by trying to please and be like others thought I should be. I didn’t love myself, and I wasn’t happy. But here, in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in our nation, I had a rebirth, of sorts. I learned that I was enough, as long as I wasRead MoreImportance Of Happiness In My Life1012 Words   |  5 Pages When people ask me what is happiness to me I respond with, â€Å"Happiness is when you are joyful and accepting of your circumstances as well as when someone is glad that they are the way that they are.† People then ask me, â€Å"What is happiness for you?† â€Å"Happiness for me is when my family is doing well and that they dont have to bend over backwards to make sure that they get their bills paid on time. And when they dont it lets me feel as though things are going well and it lets me relax a little moreRead MoreThe Importance Of Virtue Is Necessary For Happiness927 Words   |  4 Pagesor her lifetime is to be happy and achieve happiness. But in the world today, this goal is a little harder to achieve at times. More so today than before, the world is a very corrupt place full of evil people, places, and things. Reality is a lot harsher than some people believe until they truly experience it themselves. Although human evil can affect our view of human nature, I don’t believe it should affect our ability to achieve happiness. Happiness is a state of being, it is an activity ofRead MoreThe Importance Of Happiness For Us Humans1926 Words   |  8 Pagesbreak. My goal for this paper is to provide you with evidence that happiness for us humans is a must. Humans wake up every day, some really happy, some really sad. The ones that wake up happy are probably looking forward for something that would make them happy, but even if you wake up sad, you will strive to look for something, even the tiniest bit of happiness you can find so being happy is always on everybody’s to-do list. Happiness isn’t a little thing at all, it’s just a powerful thing that last

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Management Challenges Of The Military Awards Based On Rank

MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES OF CJTF 2 Military Awards Based on Rank SGM George K. Ott United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Class 42 SGM Keith B. Finkley 30 August 2016 Running Head: Military Awards Based on Rank 1 Military Awards Based on Rank 7 Abstract This paper is about the problems the military is having on the fairness of military awards and the bias towards junior officers and junior soldiers not getting the higher awards. First, should military awards be based on rank or merit because hard work and merit is the reason for the award? Even though rank may play a small factor, should military awards be based on rank or merit because hard work and merit is the reason for the award, rank should not be a factor in the award,†¦show more content†¦As Senior NCO?s we need to come up with ways to help fix the awards process to make it fair and based on merit not rank or position. According to ?AR 600-8-22 / 25 June 2015 para 3-1 c: The decision to award an individual a decoration and the decision as to which award is appropriate are both subjective decisions made by the commander having award approval authority. Awards for meritorious achievement or service will not be based upon the grade of the intended recipient. Rather, the award should reflect both the individual?s level of responsibility and his or her manner of performance. The degree to which an individual?s achievement or service enhanced the readiness or effectiveness of his or her organization will be the leading factor?. I think the AR 600-8-22 is very clear on the guidance for awards and we need to change the way awards are written and ensure the commander knows and understands the process. My Personal Frustration with the Awards Process As a Sergeant Major I have sat on numerous military awards boards and have written many recommendations for awards for my soldiers and military personnel in my units. I was deployed to Farah, Afghanistan with a combined joint force on a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in 2007 as the Civil Affairs Team NCOIC and Forward Operating Base SGM. The PRT missions was civil affairs and helps set-up governance and build schools in the Farah, Afghanistan area of operation, with a Navy Commander and jointShow MoreRelatedBoeing Company1159 Words   |  5 Pages2011 Organizing Paper One reason why so many organizations succeed and be able to sustain their long-term goals is their effective and efficient organizational ability. The organizing function of management involves the allocation of the company resources. When the management of the organization allocates its resources with strategic planning and execution in mind, the organization can successfully satisfy the requirements of both internal and external stakeholders. On the other handRead MoreStrategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Essay1696 Words   |  7 PagesStrategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Michael A. Clinton Professor Gerald R. Turner Business Administration Capstone- BUS 499 Jul 19, 2012 Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) is currently one of the fastest growing companies here in the Charleston, SC area for the past few years. SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 ® scientific, engineering and technology applications company that uses itsRead MoreHuman Resources Strategy : An Effective Human Resource Management Essay2577 Words   |  11 PagesHuman Resources Strategy: USAA – Service to the Services Russell A. Leatherman National American University MT6300: Human Resource Management September 5, 2016 Introduction An effective human resources (HR) strategy is the complete design, or strategic plan, that directs the engagement of specific HR functional areas. Subsequently, HR strategies will guide decisions about company personnel to make sure they are best suited for the company. For this to be successful, all of theRead MoreOrganizational Structure And Human Resource Frames1941 Words   |  8 Pagesorganizations achieve success by focusing on who is in the right or wrong position and acknowledging the needs of the employees, certifying that both employee and organizational needs should be met to promote organizational success. The symbolic frame challenges us to view the organization from a different perspective, looking deeper into the organization’s culture as the answer for alignment and unity toward a common goal. Symbolic framing aims to capture the hearts and minds of all those involved inRead MoreMy Leadership Qualities Of My Life1778 Words   |  8 Pageswould say I am abl e to achieve whatever I start while he struggles to stay on track and complete his undertakings. From obtaining my black belt in martial arts to completing my grade eight violin exam, finishing three ironman races and 10 years of military service, I’ve always been able to complete my endeavors. Many may recognize my character to be stubborn, and to some extent I would agree. However, from a different perspective, I understand myself to be determine and able to persevere. Over theRead MoreThe Engineering Excellence Team Is Responsible For Product Safety1456 Words   |  6 PagesSlides, and Rocket motors. This large variation in products presents many different problem solving opportunities on any given day. The Engineering Excellence team is responsible for Product Safety, Continuous Improvement, Lean initiatives, project management, REACh / Materials of concern, and policy deployment. A major key responsibility of mine is on implementing, sustaining, and maturing the engineering team on UTC’s operating system called Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE). It is the way allRead MoreBusiness Enterprise And Its Internal Environment2854 Words   |  12 Pagesthat ensure that all stakeholders (employees, management, Board of Directors and even third party providers) follow the values in every action. The company has been able to generate a strong brand association with its values and they have in turn helped the company build a positive brand image in the community. the company undertakes various socially responsible activities as well as enforces strict corporate governance. This is reflected in the awards and accolades that have been awarded to the companyRead MoreThe Current Sovereignty Dispute On Ukraine2693 Words   |  11 PagesChristopher Powell. The current sovereignty dispute in Ukraine raises many questions. Along with those questions, particular interests are peaked. From historians, to military strategists, even those who believe the Cold War never ended watch with a discriminating eye. Of particular interests is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Political and historical experts alike have compared his recent actions and tactics to that as someone reading and implementing the works of Niccolo Machiavelli. IndeedRead MoreSaudi Arabia’s Military: the Social Aspects of the Kingdom’s Armed Forces6871 Words   |  28 PagesArabia’s Military: The Social Aspects of the Kingdom’s Armed Forces Introduction For a land with such a long history of military conquests, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a relatively short one. Strategic movements by the House of Saud in the 1800s started the birth of the Kingdom, and the military has quickly transformed from a tribal militia to a regional super-power. However, Saudi Arabia is not without its faults. In this paper, I will paint a brief picture of where the Saudi military originatedRead MoreMy Personal Guideline For Success Essay2512 Words   |  11 Pageswhom permission must be asked. The chain of command is also a group of people who carry out orders based on authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful. In a military context the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are transmitted within a military unit and between different units. Orders are transmitted down the chain of command, form a higher-ranked

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Accounting Theory and Contemporary Issues †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Theory and Contemporary Issues. Answer: Introduction: According to the current environment of the business when it comes constructing the financial statement of a firm, then conceptual framework possess immense importance (Alrazi, Villiers and Staden 2015). Nowadays the organisations are delivered with all the noteworthy course of action and in addition to this, with the aid of the solicitation of techniques and canon of the conceptual framework. This complements the importance of conceptual framework under the background of the financial activities of a commercial organisation. During 1989 International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) introduced the conceptual framework for the purpose of financial reporting and since then it is being widely utilised by all the business organisations (Warren 2016). This report is aimed to analyse the compliance criteria of recognition, qualitative features of the said conceptual framework and objective of the same on behalf of the Nine Entertainment, which is one of the well-known TV network in Australia. Nine Entertainment is one of the top ASX listed brand and the ASX code of this brand is NCE (Member.afraccess.com, 2018). Thus, this report is aimed to assess the magnitude of adherence of the Nine Entertainment with large number of requirements attached with the conceptual framework for the financial reporting. From the above details it is clear that conceptual framework connected to the financial reporting is an essential and integral part for financial management of the business. All the information, which are crucial is mentioned in the annual report of the Nine Entertainment regarding the compliance with the various aspects of the conceptual framework. The annual report of the organisation for the year 2017 portrays that all the regulations and doctrines of the Corporations Act 2001 and Australian Accounting Standard Board (AASB) are taken in connection to the common resolution of business reporting (Kogan, Sudit and Vasarhelyi 2018). Moreover, it has been constructed in consolidated financial reports considering the doctrines and standards of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) (Christensen et al. 2015). Thus, the organisation completely adhere to the rules and the regulation laid down by the IFRS conceptual framework for the financial reporting. Delivering valuable financial information: According to the conceptual framework, it is important for the every business organisation to provide meaningful and useful information regarding their financial status (Macve 2015). Evaluating the Nine Entertainments annual report it can be stated that all the crucial information need to provided are there in the report. According to the conceptual framework of financial reporting, information provided by the organisation are need to be useful for evaluating the timing, amount and the uncertainty of the cash flows of the different entity (Zhang and Andrew 2014). Detailed assessment report of the Nine Entertainment, validates the cash flow statement and it is published in timely manner. The third principal of the conceptual framework depicts that firms need to provide all the essential information regarding their organisational resources in order to aid the customer in decision making (Luciani 2015). Nine Entertainment curate its financial statement is made while keeping itself aligned with the AASB regulation. All the necessary information and details regarding the economic resources are being disclosed by the firm. Thus, from the above details regarding Nine Entertainment it is clear that the firm has fulfilled the requirements of the conceptual framework properly. Considering the case of the Nine Entertainment it can be seen that the firm has fulfilled the Auditors responsibilities for the audit of the financial report section. In addition to this, it has included the procedures framed to respond the Key Audit Matters. Through carrying value of intangible assets, value of programs rights and Stan loan receivable it has managed to address the Key Audit Matters significantly. The major issue faced by the Nine Entertainment while auditing is that same level of discrepancies were faced over the year and the more than 90% of the audit comply with the real situation of the financial position of the firm. Besides this there were no issues faced by the firm (Member.afraccess.com, 2018). Satisfying the acknowledgment criteria of conceptual agenda: As mentioned by the conceptual framework for the financial reporting, all the firm need to comply with the acknowledgement criteria related with the assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Primarily it need to represent financial information with relatable facts. Secondly revelation of the data need to be transparent and thirdly it need to be beneficial for the user (Leung and Morris 2015). There are various kinds of assets for and among them plant, property and equipment are the essential one. The cost of the asset is realised if there is future paybacks and it is relocated to the organisation (Member.afraccess.com, 2018). Intangible assets of an organisation leads to impairment being imposed on them. From the perspective of the Nine Entertainment it can be seen that there is useful lives and hence no amortisation is imposed. There are certain kind of liabilities is present in the Nine Entertainment. For liabilities of deferred tax, realisation is constructed based on the variation of the tax rate. For the contingent liabilities income tax matter of AASB is considered as primary item (Jin, Shan and Taylor 2015). Nine Entertainment entails that since there is low profitability regarding the future outflow benefit the amount is not measureable and it does not require the same. For revenue management, Nine Entertainment depends on the point of sale post subtraction of tax. In addition to this, provision couples to sale are realised based on the overall evaluation (Member.afraccess.com, 2018). Thus the sale figure comprise of the revenue generated from selling the products of the brand. From the above revenue figures it can be seen that the firm has faced sustainable amount of growth over the year, however, total revenue has felled by 45 million dollar from 2016 to 2017. When it comes to the expense of the Nine Entertainment, then realisation has been made on the various categories. Major share of expense goes to the programs rights and as employee salary. Considering the above analysis, it can be stated that the Nine Entertainment has complied with the norms related to the conceptual framework. Nourishing the qualitative characteristics of the conceptual background: There are various qualitative characteristics which are being provided by the conceptual framework in order to improve the general value allied to the financial reporting (Nobes and Stadler 2015). For Nine Entertainment it is essential to meet all of them for aiding their customers to take decisions. It depicts that relevance need to be ensured through the financial information and it should be there to enable decision making mechanism of the organisation. Nine Entertainment complies with all the doctrines and regulations from AASB, Corporations Act 2001 and IFRS (Member.afraccess.com, 2018). In addition to this, the brand consider the depreciation, others and tax that makes the financial information provided by the Nine Entertainment is pertinent with the conceptual framework. Depending upon this feature, it can be stated that it is highly important for the business organisations to provide fair information to obtain trust of the stakeholders (Beattie 2014). Considering the financial report of the Nine Entertainment it can be stated that the brand has provided all the information faithfully and adequately while complying with the conceptual frameworks idea. Conceptual framework argues that it is important for the business houses to provide the financial information in such a way that it can be easily be compared and noteworthy. It is essential to mention that the Nine Entertainment has provided its financial information with the help of tables and graphs that has aided the customers to understand the same in better way (Padgett 2016). According to this norm, financial reports of the firms need to be able of verify the revealed financial information by the business organisation in order to achieve transparency of the same (Gebhardt, Mora and Wagenhofer 2014). To comply with the verifiability norm, Nine Entertainment has provided categorisation of each facet of its accounting in the notes of financial statements that has allowed it to become transparent with its financial statement. For timely availability of the financial report from the firm conceptual framework has introduced the timeliness norm. It would help the stakeholder to determine the performance of the brand in frequent interval. Considering the case of Nine Entertainment it can be mentioned that it has disclosed its financial reports in annually and quarterly interval that makes it comply with the timeliness norm of the conceptual framework. Providing financial statement in a jibe able manner is essential for the business houses. It makes the financial statement understandable and transparency factor get aggravated by the same (Henderson et al. 2015). Nine Entertainment has published its financial statements in prcised manner that can easily be understood by the user. Thus it confronts with the understand ability norm of the conceptual framework. Conclusion: From the above analysis it can be perceived that Nine Entertainment has aligned itself with the conceptual framework of the AASB for its financial reporting. In addition to this the organisation has conformed to the guidelines and policies of IFRS, Corporations Act 201 and IASB for developing its consolidated financial statement. Besides this, it can also be found that Nine Entertainment has fulfilled all the three basic objectives of the conceptual framework and it has obeyed the acknowledgment criteria of conceptual framework provided by the AASB. Lastly the qualitative characteristics of the conceptual framework are met in order to conform to the general value of financial reporting. This validates the purpose of the conceptual framework under the purview of the financial activities by the business organisation. Reference: Alrazi, B., De Villiers, C. and Van Staden, C.J., 2015. A comprehensive literature review on, and the construction of a framework for, environmental legitimacy, accountability and proactivity.Journal of Cleaner Production,102, pp.44-57. Beattie, V., 2014. Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework.The British Accounting Review,46(2), pp.111-134. Christensen, H.B., Lee, E., Walker, M. and Zeng, C., 2015. Incentives or standards: What determines accounting quality changes around IFRS adoption?.European Accounting Review,24(1), pp.31-61. Gebhardt, G., Mora, A. and Wagenhofer, A., 2014. Revisiting the fundamental concepts of IFRS.Abacus,50(1), pp.107-116. Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K. and Howieson, B., 2015.Issues in financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Jin, K., Shan, Y. and Taylor, S., 2015. Matching between revenues and expenses and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards.Pacific-Basin Finance Journal,35, pp.90-107. Kogan, A., Sudit, E.F. and Vasarhelyi, M.A., 2018. Continuous online auditing: A program of research. InContinuous Auditing: Theory and Application(pp. 125-148). Emerald Publishing Limited. Leung, K. and Morris, M.W., 2015. Values, schemas, and norms in the culturebehavior nexus: A situated dynamics framework.Journal of International Business Studies,46(9), pp.1028-1050. Luciani, F.G., 2015. Allocation vs. production states: A theoretical framework. InThe rentier state(pp. 77-96). Routledge. Macve, R., 2015.A Conceptual Framework for Financial Accounting and Reporting: Vision, Tool, Or Threat?. Routledge. Member.afraccess.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://member.afraccess.com/media?id=CMN://2A1031358filename=20170824/NEC_01887372.pdf [Accessed 14 Apr. 2018]. Nobes, C.W. and Stadler, C., 2015. The qualitative characteristics of financial information, and managers accounting decisions: evidence from IFRS policy changes.Accounting and Business Research,45(5), pp.572-601. Padgett, D.K., 2016.Qualitative methods in social work research(Vol. 36). Sage Publications. Warren, C.M., 2016. The impact of International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)/International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (IFRS 16).Property Management,34(3). Zhang, Y. and Andrew, J., 2014. Financialisation and the conceptual framework.Critical perspectives on accounting,25(1), pp.17-26.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Swot for Top Glove free essay sample

SWOT analysis is a useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organization. SWOT analysis can be classified into internal and external factors affecting a company. The Strengths and Weaknesses of the SWOT analysis represent the internal factors that influence the viability of the company. While the Opportunities and Threats, on the other hand, are the external factors that may affect the companys performances.A SWOT analysis provides more understanding of the organization in relation to its internal and external environment so that manager can formulate better strategy in pursuit of its mission. Strength Top Glove Corporation has a largest market share in glove industry. This company produces a high quality gloves. Besides that, Top Glove Corporation is a global presence company which they export their product to more than 180 countries worldwide. Top Glove Corporation has established the Top Glove Foundation to empower, employees based on merit, the needy and the less fortunate. We will write a custom essay sample on Swot for Top Glove or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Top Glove Foundation provides their funding for charitable purposes, education by giving out scholarship and provides industrial training and also activities in relation to environment preservation. For example, blood donation, Staff Eye Screening Programme, Star NIE Donation and Bursa Rat Race. At the same time, they work hard to minimize the impact of their business activities on the environment, whenever possible. As a conclusion, Top Glove Corporation always ensures them giving back to the society and corporate social responsibility.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs

200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs Homonyms are two or more words that have the same sound or  spelling  but differ in  meaning. Homophones- which means same sounds in Latin- are two or more words, such as  knew  and  new  or  meat  and  meet, that are  pronounced  the same but differ in  meaning, origin, and often  spelling. Homographs, meanwhile, are words that have the same  spelling  but differ in origin, meaning, and sometimes  pronunciation, such as the verb  bear  (to carry or endure) and the noun  bear  (the animal with a shaggy coat). Words that fall under any of these three categories often confuse readers and writers alike. But they need not perplex you: Understanding the meaning of these three grammatical terms and, especially, being able to recognize them can help clear up any confusion. A list of some of the most common  homonyms, homophones,  and  homographs can help any writer use these words correctly and any reader or listener recognize them when they occur. Homonyms, Homophones, and  Homographs   Here is a listing of some the most common homonyms, homophones, and  homographs. The first column contains homonyms in alphabetical order, while the second and third columns list the corresponding homonym, homophone, or homograph as applicable. accept - take in except - other than ad - advertisement add - join, combine advice - guidance advise - recommend aid - assist, assistance aide - one who gives assistance ail - to suffer poor health ale - a beverage air - atmosphere ere - before heir - one who inherits property aisle - a passage I'll - contraction of I will isle - island allusion - an indirect reference illusion - false appearance altar - table in a church alter - to change ate - past tense of eat eight - the number 8 bail - to clear water bail - release of a prisoner bale - a large bundle band - a ring, something that binds band - a group banned - prohibited bare - uncovered bear - large animal bear - support, yield bases - starting points bases - four stations on a baseball field basis - a basic principle beat - to strike, overcome beat - exhausted beet - a plant with red roots blew - past tense of blow blue - the color bread - baked food item bred - produced buy - purchase by - near, through bye - goodbye capital - punishable by death capital - chief city capitol - building where legislature meets ceiling - top of a room sealing - setting, fastening cell - compartment sell - vend cent - penny coin scent - an odor sent - past tense of send cereal - breakfast food serial - sequential chews - gnaws with teeth choose - to select Chile- country in South America chili - bean stew chilly - frosty chord - musical tone cord - rope cite - quote site - location sight - view close - opposite of open clothes - clothing coarse - rough course - path, procedure complement – enhance; go together compliment - praise conduct - behavior conduct - to lead council - committee counsel - guidance creak - squeak creek - stream of water crews - gangs cruise - ride on a boat days - plural of day daze - stun dear - darling deer- woodland animal desert - to abandon desert - dry land dessert - after-dinner treat dew - morning mist do - operate due - payable die - cease to exist dye - color discreet - tactful discrete - distinct doe - female dear dough - uncooked bread dual - double duel - battle elicit - draw out illicit - illegal eminent - distinguished imminent - soon ewe - female sheep you - second-person personal pronoun eye - sight organ I - first-person personal pronoun facts - true things fax - a document transmitted via telephone fair - equal fare - price fairy - elflike creature with wings ferry - boat faze - impact phase - stage feat - achievement feet - plural of foot find - to discover fined - charged a penalty fir - type of tree fur - animal hair flea - small biting insect flee - run flew - did fly flu - illness flour - powdery, ground up grain flower - blooming plant for - on behalf of fore - front four - three plus one forth - onward fourth - number four foreword - introduction to a book forward - advancing gene - a chromosome jean - fabric; pants gorilla - big ape guerrilla - warrior grease - fat Greece - country in Europe groan - moan grown - form of grow hair - head covering hare - rabbit-like animal hall - passageway haul - tow halve - cut in two parts have - possess hay - animal food hey - interjection to get attention heal - mend heel - back of foot hear - to listen here - at this place hi - hello high - up far hoarse - croaky horse - riding animal hole - opening whole - entire holey - full of holes holy - divine wholly - entirely hoarse - rough voice horse - animal hour - sixty minutes our - belonging to us knead - massage need - desire knew - did know new - not old knight - feudal horseman night - evening knot - tied rope not - negative know - have knowledge no - opposite of yes lead - metal led - was the leader leased - past tense of lease least - the minimum lessen - make smaller lesson - class loan - lend lone - solitary made - did make maid - servant mail - postage male - opposite of female marry - to wed merry - very happy meat - animal protein meet - encounter mince - to chop finely mints - type of sweet morning - a.m. mourning - remember the dead none - not any nun - woman who takes special vows oar - boat paddle or - otherwise ore - mineral oh - expression of surprise or awe owe - be obligated one - single won - did win overdo - do too much overdue - past due date pail - bucket pale - not bright pain - hurt pane - window glass peace - calm piece - segment peak – highest point peek - glance patience - being willing to wait patients - person treated in a hospital or by a doctor pear - a type of fruit pair - two (usually matching) plain - ordinary plane - flight machine plane; flat surface pole - post poll - survey poor - not rich pour - make flow pray - implore God prey - quarry principal - most important principle - belief rain – water from sky rein - bridle rap - tap wrap - drape around read - past tense of the verb to read red - color real - factual reel - roll right - correct; not left write - scribble ring - encircle wring - squeeze road - street rode - past tense of ride role - function roll - rotate rose - flower rows - lines sail - move by wind power sale - bargain price scene - landscape seen - viewed sea - ocean segment see - observe with eyes seam - joining edge seem - appear sew - connect with thread so - as a result sow - plant soar - ascend sore - hurt place sole - single soul - essence son - male child sun - the star that lights the solar system some - a few sum - amount stair - step stare - to look at steadily steal - swipe steel - alloy suite - large room in a hotel sweet - the opposite of sour tail - animal’s appendage tale - story their - belonging to them there - at that place they’re - they are threw - past tense of throw through - passing from one place to another to - toward too - also two - the number 2 toe - foot appendage tow - pull along vary - differ very - wail - howl wail - howl whale - huge sea mammal waist - area below ribs waste - squander wait – kill time weight - measurable load war - battle wore - did wear warn - caution worn - used way - path weigh - measure mass we - us wee - tiny weak - not strong week - seven days wear - to don attire where - question word weather - climate whether - if which - that witch - sorcerer wood - material coming from trees would - conditional auxiliary your - belonging to you you’re - you are Practice Using Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs Complete each of the following sentences by filling in the blank with the correct word. Youll find the answers at the end of the exercise. To heighten interest, all of the sentences are quotes from various authors writings in books and magazine articles published over the years. Feel free to use the previous table to help you if you get stumped. â€Å"He simply sat down on the ledge and forgot everything _____ [accept or  except]  the marvelous mystery.†- Lawrence Sargent HallI live in the Oakland Hills in a tiny house on a street so windy you can’t drive more than ten miles per hour. I rented it because the _____ [ad or add]  said this: Small house in the trees with a garden and a fireplace. Dogs welcome, of course.- Pam HoustonFrancis wondered what _____  [advice or  advise]  a psychiatrist would have for him.- John CheeverThe _____ [aid or aide] gets out of the way, picking her skirt out of the rubble of children at her feet.- Rosellen BrownHe seemed to want to  recapture the cosseted feeling  hed had when hed been sick as a child and she would serve him flat ginger _____  [ail or  ale], and toast soaked in cream, and play endless card games with him, using his blanket-covered legs as a table.- Alice Elliott DarkHe sat down and leaned forward, pulling  the chairs rear legs into the _____ [air,  ere, or heir]  so that the waitress could get by.- Stanley Elkins [T]he stewardess was moving down the _____ [aisle, Ill, or isle],  like a trained nurse taking  temperatures in a hospital ward, to see that they were all properly strapped in for the take-off.- Martha GellhornMrs. Parmenter laughed at his _____ [allusion or illusion]  to their summer at Mrs. Sterretts, in Rome, and gave him her coat to hold.- Willa CatherIn the long years between, she had  fashioned many fine dresses- gowned gay girls for their conquests and robed fair brides for the _____ [altar or alter].- Mary LernerOn a Saturday morning soon after he came to live with her, he  turned over her garbage while she  was at the grocery store and _____ [ate or eight]  rancid bacon drippings out of a small Crisco can.- Pam DurbanThe barn was bigger than a church,  and  the falls fresh hay _____ [bails or  bales]  were stacked to the roof in the side mows.- John UpdikeHer  two spare dresses were gone, her comb was gone, her checkered coat was gone, and so was the mauve hair-_____ [band or banned] with a mauve bow that had been her hat.- Vladimir Nabokov Without the shelter of those  trees, there is a great exposure- back yards, clotheslines, woodpiles, patchy sheds and barns and privies- all _____ [bare or bear], exposed, provisional looking.- Alice MunroThis was the time when outfields were larger than they are today and well-hit balls would roll for a long time,  giving  runners ample time  to round the _____ [bases or basis]  for a home  run.- Deidre Silva and Jackie KoneyThe conductor had his  knotted signal cord to pull, and the motorman _____ [beat or beet] the foot gong with his mad heel.- Saul BellowNancy held the cup to her mouth and _____ [blew or blue] into the cup.- William FaulknerA pigeon landed nearby.  It  hopped on its little red feet  and pecked into something that might have been a dirty piece of stale _____ [bread or bred] or dried mud.- Isaac Bashevis SingerHe was wearing a new  hat of a pretty biscuit shade, for it never occurred to him to _____ [buy, by, or bye] anything of a practic al color; he had put it on for the first time and the rain was spoiling it.- Katherine Anne Porter Answers to the Exercise 1. except  2. ad  3. advice  4.  aide  5. ale  6. air  7. aisle  8. allusion  9. altar  10. ate  11. bales  12. band  13. bare  14. bases  15. beat  16. blew  Ã‚  17. bread  18. buy Sources Hall, Lawrence Sargent. The Ledge. The Hudson Review, 1960.Houston, Pam. Waltzing the Cat. Washington Square Press, 1999, New York.Cheever, John. The Country Husband. The New Yorker, 1955.Brown, Rosellen. How to Win. The Massachusetts Review, 1975.Dark, Alice Elliott. In the Gloaming. The New Yorker. 1994.Elkins, Stanley. Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers. Perspective, 1962.Gellhorn, Martha. Miami-New York. The Atlantic Monthly, 1948.Cather, Willa. Double Birthday.  Uncle Valentine and Other Stories. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb., 1986.Lerner, Mary. Little Selves. The Atlantic Monthly, 1915.Durban, Pam. Soon. The Southern Review, 1997.Updike,  John. My Fathers Tears and Other Stories. Knopf, 2009, New York.Nabokov, Vladimir That in Aleppo Once... The Atlantic Monthly, 1944.Munro, Alice. Meneseteung. The New Yorker, 1989.Silva, Deidre, and Koney, Jackie. It Takes More Than Balls: The Savvy Girls Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Baseball. Skyhorse, 2008, N ew York. Bellow, Saul. A Silver Dish. The New Yorker, 1979.Faulkner, William. That Evening Sun Go Down. The American Mercury, 1931.Singer, Isaac Bashevis. The Key.  A Friend of Kafka. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979, New York.Katherine Anne Porter, Theft. The Gyroscope, 1930.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Free Essays on Comparative Essay Of The Book And The Film Of Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first in a series of books by J.K Rowling. They follow the adventures of the young wizard, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione, at Hogwarts – The school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The book was first published in 1997 and the film has been long awaited in coming. I first read Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone in the year it was published and heard about the film adaptation eighteen months ago. Initially, I thought that it would be an impossible feat to capture on screen. The book deals with witchcraft and magic and relys heavily on the imagination of the reader. It is ultimately your own imagination that determines how you judge this book. J.K Rowling’s description of events at Hogwarts school allows the reader to escape into another world. The moment you pick up the book, you are living out every fantasy you had as a child. Was it not everybody’s dream at one time to be told you are a wizard with special powers? Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone introduces us to the young wizard as a baby and explains why he is special in the wizarding world. Harry’s parents were both wizards and attended Hogwarts in their day. But along with all of the benefits of being a wizard, there is a dark side. There is an evil spirit in the wizarding world, called Voldemort, who is intent on destroying all things good for witches and wizards. Harry’s parents were killed in a horrific attack by Voldemort when he was just a year old. Voldemort also tried to kill Harry but was stopped by the baby’s special powers. Harry miraculously survived the attack but was left with a reminder of that fateful day, a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. As a result of being orphaned, Harry is sent to live with his aunt and uncle and their dreadful son Dudley. The Dursley’s are muggles (non-wizards) and despise Harry and his strange ways, until the day he is sent for ... Free Essays on Comparative Essay Of The Book And The Film Of Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone Free Essays on Comparative Essay Of The Book And The Film Of Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first in a series of books by J.K Rowling. They follow the adventures of the young wizard, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione, at Hogwarts – The school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The book was first published in 1997 and the film has been long awaited in coming. I first read Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone in the year it was published and heard about the film adaptation eighteen months ago. Initially, I thought that it would be an impossible feat to capture on screen. The book deals with witchcraft and magic and relys heavily on the imagination of the reader. It is ultimately your own imagination that determines how you judge this book. J.K Rowling’s description of events at Hogwarts school allows the reader to escape into another world. The moment you pick up the book, you are living out every fantasy you had as a child. Was it not everybody’s dream at one time to be told you are a wizard with special powers? Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone introduces us to the young wizard as a baby and explains why he is special in the wizarding world. Harry’s parents were both wizards and attended Hogwarts in their day. But along with all of the benefits of being a wizard, there is a dark side. There is an evil spirit in the wizarding world, called Voldemort, who is intent on destroying all things good for witches and wizards. Harry’s parents were killed in a horrific attack by Voldemort when he was just a year old. Voldemort also tried to kill Harry but was stopped by the baby’s special powers. Harry miraculously survived the attack but was left with a reminder of that fateful day, a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. As a result of being orphaned, Harry is sent to live with his aunt and uncle and their dreadful son Dudley. The Dursley’s are muggles (non-wizards) and despise Harry and his strange ways, until the day he is sent for ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Project Management - Cathway Pacific Assignment

Project Management - Cathway Pacific - Assignment Example The paper "Project Management - Cathway Pacific" investigates project management in the context of Cathway Pacific. At this point, the problem’s definition is clear. What follows entails the planning on how the problem’s solution will be attained. The planning section involves identifying all the possible courses of action capable of solving the underlying problem. In this context, Cathway has three possible courses of action available to solve the problem. What remains is to select the best course of action from the three options. Selecting best course of action entails subjecting the options to a system of criteria meant to evaluate the suitability of each possible course of action. A weighted Scoring Model is the best technique to select the most appropriate option. The criteria to be used must meet the desired purpose of the project. The options will then be evaluated if they meet the criteria. These criteria include; The method should benefit the society. This mean s that the technology adopted should result in a positive effect to the subject society. Hong Kong residents have been subjected to pollution for a long time. Therefore, it is the company’s turn to compensate the locals. The method should not affect customers’ financial aspect. This means that any expenses required to install the technology should not be transferred to the customers, as this may affect their loyalty. The method chosen should serve to indicate social responsibility. Every organization has an obligation to conduct its oper

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Global Inequality and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Global Inequality and Development - Essay Example Different schools of thought emerged since time immemorial to explain the various perspectives and viewpoints that help us in the in-depth analysis of the occurrence of such diversities. The works of various prominent scholars continue to influence the various stand points that individuals might take to help in understanding disturbing issues why other nations are much more developed than others, many of the nations particularly developing nations continue to lag behind in terms of development and are faced with abject poverty that limits their capacity to achieve full development (Giddens, 1978, 65, 119). These perceptions also try to explain the relationship that exists between underdeveloped nations and these nations that have taken an enormous leap in terms of social, political and economic advancements and the instruments that they employ to maintain this status quo and inhibit other nations from achieving this aspired level of social, political and economic stability. ... Various theoretical perceptions emerged to help explain the nagging question of poverty and its relationship to development. However, these theories tended to different issues and were nearly the same in the theoretical traditions that strengthened this association. The most common classical theories include theories put forward by Karl Marx, Marx Weber and David Durheim. Even if they have similar family tree, these theories clashed for dominance. Every scholar preferred his theory as the best for social theory analysis. Marx Weber advanced his conjecture of weberianism, which led to the arrangement of the society into social stratifications. He studied this division using three dimensions namely economic class, social status and political power. The economic class was associated with the goods and services and amount of income that an individual owned, the social status was associated with the amount of respect that an individual enjoyed while the political power represented the amo unt of influence that an individual exercised. The dimensions of social stratification were interrelated with political power being the determinant of the economic class and social status that an individual enjoyed. His theory recognized the legal order and emphasized it never guaranteed the three dimensions of stratification but only acted as a means to realize massive powers necessary to ensure economic and social success (Giddens, 1978, 119). The economy was viewed as a peaceful means of exercising power of control to ease the acquisition of goods and services. This would later lead to the rise of state monopolies that were precursors of capitalism. This atmosphere created room for unfair competition between holders and non holders of power in the scramble to

Sunday, November 17, 2019

National identity Essay Example for Free

National identity Essay Critically assess the relationship between national identity and schooling in the period 1870-1939? The relationship between national identity and schooling is one that has been seen as both a problem, where by the integrating of the concept of national identity into schooling is seen as the poison that generates cross-national conflict (1) and a defensive reaction to preventing and dealing with the problems that Britain faced during that epoch, where the political and social environment in Europe provided a sort of hothouse atmosphere for nationalistic writings of the most fervent kind(2) Dr Tate outlined in brief that national identities depended on stories and that teachers need to provide children with a sense of belonging to a community which stretches back into the past and forward into the future in order to five them a sense of meaning' (3) The idea of creating a sense of belonging for children, is one that is shared worldwide, humans I have been told, need narratives, however the use of national identities here is used in a positive and discreet in content manner. I wonder what concepts does Dr Tate associate with national identities, and what aspects of the past and future should children be informed about? To answer the question given I will look deeply into, the relationship between national identity and schooling, ways of introducing national identity in schooling, threat abroad and at home, the effects, the problems and questions raised by the idea of national identity in schooling. I will begin by introducing some of the important Legislations and Codes introduced by the government as these reflect the concern of the day, and play an important role in schooling, and national identity. The revised code of 1862 introduced a new concern arising over the education attained in schools, and thus the payment by results system was introduced, and teachers were paid for those that achieved results. The importance of this central part of legislation was that it governed the activities precipitated in schools. These school codes were issued by the government to dictate what should be taught in schools and at what level for what age. Attendance and a uniformed standard of education were central to what the government sought to achieve in this legislation. This piece of legislation was hated so much by the teachers, and thus it was attacked by masses of teachers thus was withdrawn in 1898. The New Code of 1871 awarded 40 hour drills per year via grant aid. The drills were seen as a form of implementing the importance of obedience into the children. The importance of obedience was seen as vital to the social stability of the school. Reference: 1. (W.E.Marsden, Nationalism, propaganda and war and peace, pg29-47) 2. (P.M.Kennedy, The decline of nationalistic history in the west, 1900-1970, Journal of Contemporary History, 8 (1973)88.) 3. (History today, History and national identity in the classroom, pg 6) 4. (Theres no place like home, Education of History 28, pg 236-237) 5. (1 Mass Observation Archive FR878) 6. (J.Bourke, Working-Class Cultures in Britain, 1890-1960. Gender, Class and Ethnicity (London: Routledge, 1994), 186) 7. (A.D.Smith, National Identity, London, 1991, p.9-11) 8. (J.M.Mackenzie, Propaganda and Empire. The manipulation of British Public Opinion, 1880-1960 Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), 176.see k.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Problems in Kuwait :: essays research papers

Major Problems in Kuwait  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kuwait: 1993 the government found that major health problems were in Kuwait livestock and poultry June 10-12, 1998 in Washington, DC. The environmental damage resulting from invasions and the wars has affected all ecosystems, as well as human health in Kuwait. 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The oil contamination of the terrestrial ecosystems has reached levels on an unthinkable scale in the history of the planet. The impacts of war on the environment will take decades to partially disappear and their full effects may never be fully understood. These systems are currently undergoing some natural recovery, but human help is needed in order to restore the environment to pre-war days.. Remediation of the desert is essential to fix the contamination of Kuwait's fresh groundwater reserve and avoid long-term continuing contamination of fresh and brackish groundwater. The oil has continuously seeped into the ground over the years. The amount of contaminated soil that will require treatment increases each day, and will soon reach 50 million m3. In just a few short years, it will be too late to save the desert because the volume of contaminated sand will be too large. The desert may be contaminated forever. In order to avoid this ecological catastrophe in Kuwait, the contaminated sand must be seen as a toxic waste and solutions must be quickly found for its temporary storage until something can be done. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the ecological stresses due to the war, the marine ecosystems and fisheries have progressively regained their prewar status. Seven years after the war ended, the impacts of oil contamination due to the war on the marine ecosystems and living species such as fish and shrimp are hard to distinguish from the impacts of chronic pollution from the oil industry and coastal development. Currently though, the coral reefs appear to be healthy and the quantity of shrimp harvested each year are similar to the ones recorded before the war. However, these findings do not identify the more long-term impacts of the contamination on the marine ecosystems and living species. In order to prevent future damage, research on the long-term impacts must be increased. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The presence and fear of mines is a major issue of concern.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Marketing and Private Label Products

Topic: Zappos’s private label products Recommendation: To persuade the Zappos. com sell private label products to increase the revenue and decrease the transportation costs Audience Analysis: The board of Zappos. com, Operation Department Manager, Marketing department manager. Accountants of Financial department manager. Agenda: 1. Double-Digit annual sales decrease. 2. Blooming sales by selling private label products 3. Benefits and concerns of implementing this project 4. conclusion I. Introduction Zappos, world’s greatest online shoes retailer.Though we hit 1 billion in our annual sales last year, two years before we expected, we are now confronted with challenge to keep stable growth in revenue. our profit has been decreased slightly since we committed next day delivery. During the economic recession times, we have to make some change to conquer this problem. As Marketing department staff, my proposal is that we could produce and sell our private label products. we have good reputation and large customer network. We can raise our profit by produce and sell private label productsTransitions Let’s get started with the problem II. Body A. Double digit sales decrease during the economic recession times 1. During the economic recession times, our revenue remain growing slightly, however our growth rate has been decreased rapidly. Let’s see the chart of our annual sales growth rate since 2001-2009. 2. Since many brands sell Canadian distribution rights to other partners, we can not sell these brands on its Canadian site. As a result, we can’t set a distribution center there to achieve substantial volume. B. Solution 1.Selling private label shoes which are designed in US headquarter, manufacture in China. 2. Corperate with Chinese local factory to sign a contract to produce guaranteed qualified shoes. C. Benefits 1. Selling products from suppliers is less profitable than selling private label items. â€Å"If you can find a way t o add 10 points of margin, you’re going to have a big success in that product line,† says Schmid, chairman and founder of J. Schmid & Associates in Shawnee Mission, KS. Selling products from suppliers is less profitable than selling private label items.As we can see from the chart of Gross margin. 2. Selling   private label supports a catalog’s brand positioning. â€Å"Having hard-to-find or unique merchandise sets you apart — and this is especially [important] for a cataloger D. Counters 1. To Manufacture private label shoes, Zappos will increase R&D expenditures. It might be a problem for company’s operation cash flow. 2. Another big concern of sell private label shoes is risk of bad reputation of private label shoes. But I have confidence in our product department.Transition: I have demonstrated the current problem we’ve met and I listed the advantages of selling private label items, the cost and benefits we would gain if we do this pro ject. And the last, the next steps to be taken for this proposal. III. Conclusion 1. As we realized that our annual sales growth rate has decreased rapidly, also our gross margin has been maximized. Zappos should improve all aspects of its business to prepare for the difficult economic times 2. By outsourcing manufacture to China and designing in US, it can bring Zappos low cost, high quality shoes. . Final Recommendation: As Board of Directors of Zappos. com, you should consider selling private label shoes to our customers. References: 1. http://blog. minethatdata. com/2008/04/zappos-sales-trajectory-and-customer. html 2. http://bls. gov/fls/chartbook/section3. htm 3. http://blog. minethatdata. com/2009/09/zappos-profit-and-loss-statement-2007. html 4. http://blogs. zappos. com/blogs/ceo-and-coo-blog/2008/02/19/zapposcom-update-february-19-2008

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Ddos Prevention Best Practices

To begin with, system hardening should be implemented on all University workstations, and especially the Web servers. This means turning off any unused services, closing all ports except those that are specifically needed for the operating roles of the servers, and ensuring that an anta;plus solution Is in place and regularly updated. Additionally, a strong patch management policy and procedure should be used to keep University computing assets up to date.This is to help prevent the exploitation of newly discovered vulnerabilities, and is part of the hardening process. All publicly available services, such as Web facing servers, DNS servers, and application servers, should be separated from private university resources. The separation should include enclosing the public servers in a DMZ. The DMZ should have firewalls in place on both sides of the network, to protect from external threats, and Internal ones. This separation also Isolates the servers from the rest of the network, in th e event one of them is compromised.Furthermore, PLANS should be implemented to break up broadcast domains, and IP subletting used to control outwork traffic, further isolating the public systems from the internal network devices. Also, A split DNS scheme that consists of an external DNS server separate from an Internal DNS server can help limit the Impact of DNS Dos style attacks. Network Address Translation (NAT) should remain in place, as it also has the effect of hiding the internal network from the Internet. Moreover, the blocking of IGMP or ping attempts should be blocked, at least externally, so that attempts to Identify systems from the Internet are reduced.As part of capacity planning, consideration should be made to plan for excess. This should help to absorb any Dodos attacks by having plenty of resources to maintain network operations. This Includes having more than adequate switch and router bandwidth, CAP]. And frame/packet processing ablest. Additional consideration sh ould be made to use different Internet Service Providers (ISP) for redundant connections. In the event of an attack, this has the benefit of having alternate paths to the Internet, providing redundancy and load sharing.When upgrading or replacing network equipment, anta-DoS capable devices should be carefully evaluated and selected. Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (DIPS) should be deployed, with the emphasis on prevention at the network perimeter. An inline device will be more effective placed behind the external facing firewall. The firewall is configured to allow only traffic that Is desired, blocking all other traffic, while the DIPS Is designed to block specific traffic and allow the rest. An DIPS device that uses both signature- 1 OFF positives, and therefore a better chance of detecting attacks.The DIPS device should be capable of sending alerts via email, SMS, and pager communication methods to Taft. The DIPS should also be configured to alter the firewall filtering ru les on the fly, in the event an attack is occurring. A period of fine tuning is necessary to reduce false positives, and ensure information is not lost due to miscommunication. Ingress and egress filtering needs to be implemented. This involves configuring the firewalls to block unreliable IP addresses as specified in RFC 1918, using Access Control Lists (Calls).This will help prevent IP address spoofing, and computing assets from being used to attack other organizations outside the University IP address pace. Egress filtering should only allow IP addresses to leave the University that fall within the range of allocated addresses. Log monitoring and review of all network and server devices should be performed regularly. In addition, IT staff should be alerted when suspicious activity or events are detected. For instance, repeated failed attempts to access a network device might indicate a password hacking attack. Performance baselines of essential network and server equipment needs to be documented.This will provide a metric of network utilization under normal operating conditions. Excessive use of resources above equipment baselines might indicate a Dodos attack. Also, establishing a performance baseline will aid in capacity planning and provide data for scalability and growth planning. A honesty with relaxed security should be installed. Its purpose is to draw hackers away from actual University computing assets by providing an easier target. It needs to be completely isolated from all other critical assets. The honesty should also be monitored, as data obtained from attacks can be used to shore up the rest of the network.An Incident Response Plan (RIP) needs to be drafted and provided to all University administrative staff. Potential items in the plan should include Points of Contacts (POCK), and handling procedures if an attack is suspected. In conjunction with the RIP, an Emergency Response Team (RET) comprised of senior network and information security p ersonnel, as well as members of the management team, should formalized. This team will be tasked with the responsibility as first responders to an attack. The RET should also have a Plan of Action (POP) more detailed than the RIP.Items in this Lana should include detailed network documentation, disaster recovery plans, any business continuity plans, ISP support numbers, etc. The combined effect of all of the measures previously described, will significantly lessen the impact of a Dodos attack. By no means is this document complete, and should be considered as a living document. As new threats emerge, additional or even different methods may be required to be put in place. Technology also improves over time, therefore a periodic review of the practices described should be conducted, and this document adjusted accordingly.

Friday, November 8, 2019

To What Extent Did The ValoisHabsburg Conflict Weaken The French Monarchy During The Period Of 15191529 essays

To What Extent Did The ValoisHabsburg Conflict Weaken The French Monarchy During The Period Of 15191529 essays To what extent did the Valois - Habsberg conflict, weaken the French monarchy during the period of 1519-1529? In 1515 Francis I inherited the throne of France. His kingdom covered 459,000 square kilometres with the majority of its population in widely spread towns and cities. The population was about 15million, recovering from the ravages of the Hundred Years war and the Black Death. This had stimulated a recovery of French agriculture. The mining industry was also receiving official encouragement, if only to remedy an acute shortage of silver and German miners were being encouraged to settle in France. The French economy was in good shape with trade booming. . Frances relative prosperity allowed the monarchy to effectively collect tax revenues by employing tax collectors. France was also largely self-sufficient so it didnt spend much on imports from other countries. Frances oversees trade was expanding as it had regular trade from the Levant, Netherlands, Scandinavia and England. As a result the crown achieved 1300 livres alone from harbour dues each year. But these factors alone did not make the monarchy strong so therefore I must examine the strengths of the monarchy. Many factors combined to give the impression that the monarchy was in a strong position. Firstly, we have the leadership Francis I who saw himself as a contemporary monarch. He was a Renaissance Prince and took an interest in the arts and new learning. This is how he wanted people to see him. He considered himself as a first amongst equals. It can also be said that there was no opposition towards his accession to the throne even though Mary Tudor (who married Louis XII just before he died) could have had a son who would make his claim void. Louis XIIs second wife did have children but they were all female therefore they were debarred from succession by Salic law. Francis was intelligent, well built and quick-witted which ma...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Lycurgus - Spartan Lawgiver

Lycurgus - Spartan Lawgiver Dateline: 06/22/99 Back to Sparta: A Military State Although the evolution of Greek law codes is complicated and cant really be reduced to the work of a single individual, there is one man who stands out as responsible for Athenian law and one for Spartan law. Athens had its Solon, and Sparta had its Lycurgus the lawgiver. Like the origins of Lycurgus legal reforms, the man himself is wrapped in legend. Herodotus 1.65.4 says the Spartans thought the laws of Lycurgus came from Crete. Xenophon takes a contrary position, arguing Lycurgus made them up; while Plato says the Delphic Oracle provided the laws. Regardless of the origin of the laws of Lycurgus, the Delphic Oracle played an important, if legendary, role in their acceptance. Lycurgus claimed that the Oracle had insisted the laws not be written down. He tricked the Spartans into keeping the laws for an ostensibly short period while Lycurus went on a journey. Because of the authority invoked, the Spartans agreed. But then, instead of returning, Lycurgus disappears forever from hi story, thereby eternally obliging the Spartans to honor their agreement not to change the laws. See Sanderson Becks Ethics of Greek Culture for more on this. Some think the laws of Sparta were essentially unchanged until the third century B.C., with the exception of a rider to the rhetra quoted by Plutarch. See Legislation in Sparta, by W. G. Forrest. Phoenix. Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring, 1967), pp. 11-19. Source: (amherst.edu/~eakcetin/sparta.html) Lycurgus Reforms and the Spartan SocietyBefore Lycurgus there had been dual kingship, division of the society into Spartiates, Helots, and perioeci, and the ephorate. After his travels to Crete and elsewhere, Lycurgus brought to Sparta three innovations: Elders (gerusia), Redistribution of land, and Common messes (meals). Lycurgus forbade gold and silver coinage, replacing it with iron coinage of low value, making trade with other Greek poleis difficult; for instance, there were supposedly loaf shaped and sized iron coins. It is also possible that the iron coins were valued, as iron had been in the Iron Age of Homer. See The Iron Money of Sparta, by H. Michell Phoenix, Vol. 1, Supplement to Volume One. (Spring, 1947), pp. 42-44. Men were to live in barracks and women were to undergo physical training. In all he did Lycurgus was trying to suppress greed and luxury.[www.perseus.tufts.edu/cl135/Students/Debra_Taylor/delphproj2.html] Delphi and the LawWe dont know whether Lycurgus asked the oracle simply to confirm the law code he already had or asked the oracle to provide the code. Xenophon opts for the former, while Plato believes the latter. Theres a possibility that the code came from Crete.Source: (web.reed.edu/academic/departments/classics/Spartans.html) Early SpartaThucydides suggested that it was not the kings who declared war, and the fact that seven helots attended each Spartan indicates the helots lot may not have been so bad. The Great RhetraPassage from Plutarchs Life of Lycurgus on his obtaining an oracle from Delphi about the establishment of his form of government: When thou has built a temple to Zeus Syllanius and Athena Syllania, divided the people into phylai, and divided them into obai, and established a Gerousia of thirty including the Archagetai, then from time to time appellazein between Babyka and Knakion, and there introduce and repeal measures; but the Demos must have the decision and the power. Xenophon on the SpartansNine passages from Herodotus about the famous Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus. Passages include notice that female slaves were to work on clothes while free women, since production of children was the noblest occupation, were to exercise as much as the men. If a husband were old, he should supply his wife with a younger man to beget children. Lycurgus made it honorable to satisfy natural cravings by stealing; he forbade free citizens from engaging in business; failing to do ones duty would result in loss of status of the homoioi, (equally privileged citizens). Occupation Index - Leader Plutarch - Life of Lycurgus

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Checks and Balances in the American Government Essay

Checks and Balances in the American Government - Essay Example This distinction and assignation of political powers is reflected in the political structure of the American government. The division of the government into three branches—the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches—is one way through which American society makes sure that their rights are respected, and the appointed individuals to represent the government will accomplish their responsibilities in accordance to what was mandated by the Constitution. Checks and balances work within the government in an overlapping and interdependent manner. The judiciary branch is the decision-making body that implements the American Constitution, and is not wholly liable to both executive and legislative branches of the government. It works with the legislative branch to the extent that the Congress proposes and passes bills which then become laws, which will then be utilized and implemented by the Judiciary. The executive branch, headed by the President, governs the American political society, overseeing that the political systems departments and agencies are functioning and servicing the citizenry. It is accountable to both judiciary and legislative branches in that the President and the agencies are responsible in ensuring that no anomalies or irregularities in the political processes happen. Lastly, the legislative branch of the government ensures that the society will benefit most from the government by providing them with laws that take ca re of the welfare of the citizenry.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Environmental Science Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental Science - Assignment Example Seasonal food is encouraged and calls for the avoidance of junk food most of which is wrapped in plastics (Garbage Warrior Film Theatrical Trailer Web). This paper discusses the effect of No Impact to the general population. The project is appealing to me. It calls for taking care of the environment and I advocate for this approach. I agree it is individual responsibility influence environment. No Impact man affected me greatly. I got an insight into the things I do that harm the environment. This movie changed my view of the world. I realized that this world depend on us for I to be able to sustain us. Additionally, No Impact man affected how I view my own life. I realized that I was making less impact to the proper functioning of our ecosystem. Moreover, I found that my lifestyle affected greatly the ecosystem. As an advocate of clean and healthy environment, I decide to share this information to my family to change the lifestyle in my home that affects the environment. It is easy to decipher about the environment from this movie. It also shows relationship between our lifestyle and environment. Waste is the material that we consider of no use or us the remains after we get the essential part. Waste causes harm to the environment and the people who stays in such environment. Waste is also a source of diseases such as airborne disease and other form of environmental hazards. Various form of waste is generated especially in our homes. These wastes may include food, paper, plastic, wrappers. Majority of the waste cannot be eliminated from waste stream but can be easily recycled. Waste management is an important aspect towards conserving and taking care of our environment. This paper discusses ways in which waste can be reduced. Kitchen generates a lot of waste. Most of kitchen waste decomposes easily. This type of waste can be put into a compost pit. It will decompose in a few days and it is a good source for our garden. This manure can

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Enterprise Systems Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Enterprise Systems Assessment - Essay Example 89). In order to understand the correlation between Argos as a company and how it functions as an enterprise system, we will have to define some few terms and concepts. It is important to point out that SAP is constantly changing the SRM framework. More often than not it is introducing innovative concepts that are useful in arranging the components of SRM. Basically, there are three core concepts that we have to understand. They include, supply process, business scenarios within each key process, and fundamental technology constituents that are useful in enabling the business processes. It is worth noting that Argos have implemented each business scenario, with one or two SAP elements and there third party applications as they maybe required. An example is the Supplier Enablement scenario is through empowering it with a number of underlying technological components. These components include, Supplier Self Service (SUS), Biller Direct, Enterprise Portal, and inventory Collaboration Hu b (ICH). Argos stores all over the UK have achieved in implementing this business scenario (SAP.COM, 2013, p.1). Production Process at Argos SAP has defined three key supply processes that are involved in purchasing. These processes will jointly constitute the SAP SRM solutions. They include; operational procurement, strategic sourcing, and supplier enablement. Operational Procurement In this section, we will be looking at the various business scenarios that Argos has been successful in implementing. We start with the self service procurement. When it comes to indirect procurement, it allows ones employees to create and manage their own obligation requests. This has been key in relieving it’s purchasing department the huge administrative burden while ensuring at the same time that the procurement processing are faster and responsive. The next scenario is the plan driven procurement also known as the direct procurement. This has been great at automating and streamlining the or dering processes for regularly needed important materials (SAP.COM, 2013, p.1). It is a known fact that SAP SRM has been integrated with planning, designing and the order processing systems. This has made it possible for Argos to link its procurement process with their plan driven strategy. This ensures that they get the materials they need for their key business while at the same time processing and delivering their clients request. Direct procurement does integrate flawlessly with most back end systems like enterprise planning and production. This scenario has given Argos procurement division a chance to integrate operational procurement with their existing supply chain management solution. The last scenario is the service procurement or as it is commonly known as the E-procurement. It has created many opportunities for Argos to save cots in their purchasing process. They have gone the extra mile of extending their cost saving measures like services given that this account for ove r 50 percent of their annual purchasing volumes. This scenario has provided services that have led to a reduction in labor costs, consulting, and maintenance and facility management. Strategic Sourcing After the 2008 world economic crisis, it is estimated that sourcing makes up for 75 percent of one saving on

Monday, October 28, 2019

Women and feminism raised in The Handmaids Tale Essay Example for Free

Women and feminism raised in The Handmaids Tale Essay Margaret Atwoods novel The Handmaids Tale was written in 1986 when the feminist movement was happening, the word feminism is hard to really define into one term but it is usually recognised as meaning equal rights for women. The first wave of feminism happened in the 19th century and this was about sexual division in the workplace then the second wave of feminism started in 1960s and this was known as the Womens Liberation Movement this aimed to create a women centred world by making their voices heard through the demonstrations such as burning pornography (which Offreds mother was a part of. ) In this essay I will be concentrating on the women and the issues of feminism in the handmaids tale. In the society of Gilead the women are grouped into categories concerning their age, fertility and their marital status. Although these women do have their own separate roles in the regime they all share the same theme which involves staying within the household. Such as the Marthas who are responsible for the domestic side who keep the house clean and tend to the cooking where as the handmaids have only one specific role and that is to reproduce they are known as only womb on legs to give birth to children for the commanders wives who are unable to have children and their role is to raise these children after they are born. We can see that handmaids are like shadows amongst the house quiet and replaceable as Rita claims about the last handmaid She didnt work out showing that they are treated as products that can be easily replaced if they dont work out for the purchaser the handmaids are just like property and this is shown in their names such as OF-FRED they belong to the commander of the household although their role is one of the most important in this patriarchal system they are however not treated this way, they are treated as one of the lowest class. Even the roles of the commanders wives have little importance they are given trivial meaningless tasks such as tending to the gardens as this is their domain which they can control and care for maybe a replacement for the children, they also knit scarves for the Angels upfront however Offred claims that Maybe its something to keep the wives busy, to give them a sense of purpose. There is also the role of the aunts which could also be seen as very important as well because it is these older women who brainwash these teachings into the handmaids to let them fulfil their duties. The womens roles are also represented in the colour of the clothes they wear for the Marthas it is green for the commanders wife it is blue and lastly the handmaids wear a red nun-like uniform where the red represents their function suggesting the blood of the menstrual cycle and giving birth to a child, the colour can also represent their imprisonment in the Gilead society the colour of blood, which defines us. The roles of the women are very dependent on their relationship with the men in the regime and their ability to have children which effectively steals the womens individual identity being categorised gives the society much more control over them. The colour of their clothing makes the women easy to recognise which group they belong to, dehumanising them completely treating them more like machines than human beings. It could be seen as some kind of sisterhood with the different roles that the women play and how they co-operate with each other because this could be seen as a feminist world with women appreciating their roles and helping the other women however the use of the roles of women just creates more power for the regime as having a hierarchy of women just creates conflict amongst them so they dont really see the true enemy which are the men. Womens status before Gilead was completely different, women were allowed to have education Psychology, English, Economics. We studied things like that, then. Giving them a chance to have a career of their own, which earn them their own money allowing them to have choice of what they wanted to buy. Women had much more independence allowing them to think for themselves and make the choices they wanted which I will elaborate on later. There were women who were feminists in the time before, fighting for their rights and having a voice to rebel against the treating of women because in them days they were seen as sex objects but in a different light through pornography magazines or by seeing them in certain outfits which screamed out sexuality, Offred remembers this because when she walks away from the guard at his post she purposely sways her hips knowing that the guards are staring after her in a sexual sense. However now the status of women in Gilead is defined by their ability to reproduce, they are treated as objects, all their rights have been stripped away from them they are denied an education, not allowed to have a job, they cannot vote and they are banished from writing or reading. What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself. They have no family or possessions they dont even have their own identity as they are mentioned only with their male owner even the wives are only known through their title as the commanders wife. Rebellion and independence is not in the question, the women should never undermine the men or act against the system of the society the only thing that a woman is worth is for the use of her reproductive system and their only job they have is the function they must perform. The body that women once used to express their sexuality, the body they used to feel comfortable in which defined who they were as a person has now become the thing they are now afraid and ashamed of My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. They are ashamed of their body because it is now what defines them and keeps them trapped in this wretched society. Although it is the Aunts that have achieved high status as it is up to them to show the handmaids their new way of life and the rules they must abide by, it could be seen that these women have some power of the handmaids but they are not permitted guns like the men do which shows that although the Aunts do have a powerful role with authority it is still men that obtain the ultimate power because women cannot be trusted with guns.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Unique Cultures in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and Chinua A

Unique Cultures in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart       There are a variety of cultures in this world and each culture is unique. Usually when one was born and raised in a certain culture, that person may adapt to that culture for a period of time. It is sometimes difficult to look into someone else’s culture, and understand their culture. Sometimes one must keep an open mind, study the culture, or live in another culture to understand the culture. When reading â€Å"The God of Small Things† by Arundhati Roy, and â€Å"Things Fall Apartâ€Å", by Chinua Achebe one must look beyond their culture to understand how others live in a different culture. When I read Roy’s novel, I did not get a great understanding of the novel, because it was difficult to follow. I did not know a lot about the culture before I read novel. Both text discusses a particular cultural group, and as the narrator tells the story the narrator intertwines the cultural elements with the actual story being told. The differences between the text were the way the text was structured, and how the stories were told. Also, both texts contained different religions practiced by the particular cultural group. In â€Å"The God of Small Thingsâ€Å", and â€Å"Things Fall Apart† both consist a particular cultural groups. In â€Å"The God of Small Thingsâ€Å", the people in the story were Pakistan Indian. The way Roy described the setting in the story, and how the people looked gave an idea of where the story took place. Plus she also mentioned some cities that are in India. Roy described the rivers as being unclean, but people would cleanse themselves in the river. The women wore saris. The immediate families and extended families seemed to live together also. I... ...me language in the text also. The African clan and Pakistan Indians had different religions. The African clan believed in spirits, and the Pakistan Indians believed in the Muslim faith. Both novels were great novels to read, if one wants to learn more about a particular culture. â€Å"The God of Small Things† is a little difficult to understand. There were so many different meanings in the novel. I believe that people should get a better understanding of one’s culture before one reads a novel of a different culture. If one does not understand the culture, one can misinterpret the meanings in the story.    Work Cited Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"Things Fall Apart†. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. 7th ed. vol. 2c. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2000. pp.2617-2703. Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

An Analysis of Obesity in America

LIB 111 9 October 2012 Our Responsibility: An Analysis of Obesity in America America is becoming obese. As a community we are becoming more accepting of being overweight. Americans must make choices about where they eat, and how much they eat, for themselves, as well as their families. It is a person’s own responsibility to choose what they consume, not their government’s. Fast food is the new tobacco. Only society, not the government will be able to change the way Americans view their food choices.Many people, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, in â€Å"Remarks to the NAACP National Convention† believe that it is the government’s job to help control America’s obesity rates (432). Obama states that the government is proposing, â€Å"a $400 million a year fund†(427), to promote health. America prides itself on the liberties of its citizens, and the government is supposed to ensure that American’s have rights, not take them away. Forcing Americans to change their way of eating is not the solution to obesity. In â€Å"What You Eat Is Your Business† written by Radley Balko, Balko talks about how America is â€Å"migrating toward socialism†(396).We are migrating toward socialism by not allowing the people to think for themselves and make their own decisions. Balko believes that we should not bring â€Å"government between you and your waistline†(396). He argues, â€Å"[w] e’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s†(396). Balko makes the most valid of points by asking himself, â€Å"if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger? †(397). If the government is just going to take care of you once you have the negative affects of fast food, you don’t need to prevent it.David Zinczenko, chief editor of Men’s Health wrote, â€Å"Donâ€⠄¢t Blame the Eater† in 2002. In his essay, Zinczenko voices that the public should know better than to eat several meals a day at a fast food restaurant, however he does hold fast food restaurants accountable for not telling the public how many calories a meal contains (397). It is the government’s duty to have fast food restaurants make nutritional facts available to the public. American’s find it easiest to blame others for their faults, instead of dealing with them.In society, many people are often careless when looking out for themselves, and always claim to need the government’s assistance when in need. Our government should help, but only as a last resort. Americans need to promote their own healthy lifestyle. If there is no inner desire for a healthy lifestyle, the government should not be able to change your chosen way of living. Food is related to emotions. All American’s can relate to the sweet smell of their mother baking cookies on a co ld day, and the melt in your mouth taste of the warm cookies after playing outside in the cold.Judith Warner claims, â€Å"the Obama nanny state is, essentially, snatching cookies-I. e. , the pursuit of happiness- from the mouths of babes†(401). By regulating what children are allowed to eat, it is an â€Å"assault on the American way of life†(401). It is a parents job to control what their children eat, not the governments. Many find that their inspiration is from ads, other people, TV, and Internet. It is society that evolves and changes into a new mindset together. Tobacco sales, as argued by Judith Warner in â€Å"Junking Junk Food† did not decline due to the government’s involvement, but because of society’s modern outlook on smokers.Warner says â€Å"it was a shift in cultural attitudes, not laws or regulations, that led Americans to quit smoking†(404). If the harmful ingredients in tobacco can be outlawed by society, and influence Ame ricans to live a healthier lifestyle, then society, not our government can and will be responsible for their healthy diet. One will not change their outlook on healthy living or healthy diets, based on what a government demands, it must be one’s own choice to change the way they and their families eat and exercise.When society begins to evolve, without the government demanding it, people will be confident with their healthy lifestyle choices. Warner believes that â€Å"social norms could change: that huge portions, or eating processed foods loaded with sugar, salt and fat for example could become socially unacceptable†(404). There is hope for American citizens to make their own decisions. It is up to American parents to control what their children eat, as well as what they are consuming. The government does not have the right to regulate one’s personal food intake.American’s must see their current faults, and allow for change in their lives. We must be re sponsible for ourselves, and not allow the government to constantly take care for their citizens as children. Works cited Balko, Radley. â€Å"What You Eat Is Your Business†. â€Å"They Say/I Say† with readings: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. 2nd ed. New York. W. W. Norton, 2012. 395-397. Print. Obama, Michelle â€Å"Remarks to the NAACP National Convention†. â€Å"They Say/I Say† with readings: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. 2nd ed. New York. W. W. Norton, 2012. 417-433 Print. Warner, Judith. â€Å"Junking Junk Food†. â€Å"They Say/I Say† with readings: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. 2nd ed. New York. W. W. Norton, 2012. 400-404. Print. Zinczenko, David. â€Å"Don’t Blame the Eater†. â€Å"They Say/I Say† with readings: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. 2nd ed. New York. W. W. Norton, 2012. 391-392 Print.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Consumer Culture Is Central to Understanding Contemporary Identities Essay

As the title suggests, this essay is going to discuss, to what extent does consumer culture affect contemporary identities. In today’s society consumer culture is everywhere and we would probably not be able to survive without it. It became such an important part of our lives that some people even build their carrier around it. Most businesses in modern societies, all around the world work as successfully as they do, simply because people became consumers and they buy their products. This essay is first going to look at why this change of attitude occurred and how exactly it brought about consumer culture. This will lead us onto how exactly consumer culture works and how it affects consumers. To answer the question fully, we will also look at the two view points on this matter. First we are going to discuss arguments which support the view that consumer culture creates modern identities. Secondly, arguments supporting the view that consumer culture is far less important than in the development of one’s identity. Before the question itself is addressed, some background needs to be drawn about this issue. To be objective about this matter, it should be pointed out straight away that consumer culture is not the key aspect affecting contemporary identities. There is one very simple explanation to why this is true. Humans have been around for a much longer period of time than consumer culture and were successfully developing their identities even before consumer culture came about. Therefore it is definitely true that in the past, there were other things creating our identities sufficiently enough. The definition of identity which Jodi Davis finds the most fitting is â€Å"My identity is determined by a complex mix of thingsâ€Å". The question however concentrates on contemporary identities. So is it possible that consumer culture managed to take over the power of all the other aspects of the creation of identity in the past 200 years? Some believe that the answer to that question is yes. In fact, Bauman argues that â€Å"The roads to self-identity, to a place in society, to a life in a form recognisable as that of meaningful living, all require daily visits to the market place†. Similarly, Featherstone states that â€Å"criteria for the good life revolve around the desire to enlarge one’s self, the quests for new tastes, and sensations, to explore more and more possibilities†. (Featherstone, pg 67) Therefore many people would be happy to say that in today’s society, consumer culture has an enormous effect on our identities. To some extent, this is true. Jagger even believes that â€Å"we become what we consume†. (Jagger, pg 45) To explain why this is true, the term â€Å"floating signifiers† needs to be explained. It refers to the fact that these days, all products and brands have a certain meaning/story behind them. People buy them because of these images they carry with them, rather than the actual use of the product. This leads us to the use vs. exchange value question. It could be argued that this was one of the main changes which caused consumerism to expand so much. Basically Use vs. Exchange conflict refers to the fact that at a certain point, people stopped buying goods for their use value and started buying them for their exchange value. Material goods are used as communicators, not utilities. (Featherstone, pg 84) Today, consumerism has reached such level of success, that people no longer buy things because they need them, but because they like this image that products give them. â€Å"Consumption, then, must not be understood as the consumption of use-values, a material utility but primarily as consumption of signs. †(Featherstone, pg 85) This way, the things we buy, create our identity, because people judge us based on what the products we use say about us. In today’s society of strangers, it is the only way to judge a person at the first sight. So for example if someone was to drive a Ferrari, people would think of him as a successful individual. This assumption would be based on the fact that to be able to afford this kind of car, the individual must be very rich. Also the brand itself gives him the image of a young successful man. This shows that automatically, without even speaking to people or getting to know them, they already judge us based on our appearance. Obviously we all want to be liked and accepted by others so we try to fulfil their expectations of us. We attempt to â€Å"live up to (but not above) the standards attached to the ‘social category’ into which we were born†. (Bauman, pg 27) These standards are also however determined by the media. Beauty ideals are set by TV, commercials and celebrities. They determine what’s â€Å"cool† and what isn’t. For example celebrities often act as beauty idols, so many women strive to look like them. This inner need to ulfil society’s expectation forces them to buy products which promise to make them look like a celebrity. Whoever does not at least attempt to fit in within these standards, or even worse, tries to do the opposite, might be stigmatised for it. For example over the past 80 years, it became very popular for women to shave their legs. It became so popular that nowadays, women who don’t do it are usually highly stigmatised. This all roots in consumerism, because the initial reason why it became popular was to force people to spend money on razors- which were until then unnecessary. Trying to fulfil these expectations creates our identity in a way. In most cases consumption of goods only affects our external identity but in some extreme cases it may even start to affect one’s internal identity. For example certain brands portray certain groups of people. So if one was to shop at Gucci or Chanel, one is expected to act a certain way. These brands carry the image of a very traditional, well behaved and upper class individual. So anyone wearing Gucci or Chanel strives to live up to the standards of these brands. That way one is already is changing his behaviour as well as his appearance, which is affecting not only his/hers external, but also internal identity. So really, when we think about it, the identity other people think we have, judging by our appearance, is very artificial and fake. This is because it is only created by the products we use, not by us ourselves. But then again, we choose which products to buy and it is us who decides how to look for other people so whatever we wear or look like, it is a bit personalized by our taste and other choices we make. Campbell brings up an interesting point in his book. He says that consumer culture develops our identity because since there is now such an enormous choice of products, it gives consumers opportunity to define their taste. They are able to decide what they like and what not. Also, since shopping malls are so anonymous, customers can try on anything they like, just to see how that â€Å"role† would fit them. This also helps them to find the image of themselves which they want to portray to other people. (Campbell, pg 159) However others believe that consumer culture is far less important than other factors in the development of one’s identity. Jodi Davis divides identity into external and internal. External is â€Å"cultural classifications (nationality, race, religion and gender) as well as societal characterizations (family, career, and position or title)†. Whereas internal is â€Å"natural gifts, strengths, capabilities; the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual characteristics that comprise our uniqueness and innate talents and abilities; our basic orientation toward the world around us, our learning styles, how we process and organize information, and other predisposed tendencies and characteristicsâ€Å". Davis, pg 7) As we can see, there are a lot of things which define a person’s identity. And we were to look at them individually; we would notice that we were actually already born with most of the crucial aspects of our identity and therefore are not able to change them. Our appearance is one of the very few aspects of our identity, which one can alternate. Therefore if a person is not happy with his overall identity, one of the few ways in which he can change it is through consumerism. In fact consumerism and advertising often aim to make the customer feel like this. As the ads intimidated that anything natural about the customer was worthless or deplorable, and tried to make him schizophrenically self conscious of that notion, they offered weapons by which people could eclipse themselves†. (Ewen, pg 48) If a person dresses a certain way and uses certain products, he may be able to convince some people that he fits the standards set by media. As mentioned before, this is thanks to the fact that every product we buy tells people something about us. The image the product portrays might not be true, but just the fact that a person uses that product makes people believe it. Even though the second part of this essay attempts to support the idea that there are other factors affecting contemporary identities more than consumer culture, we should not forget its importance. The fact that consumer culture helps us to change the only changeable part of our identity makes it, in my opinion, even more crucial. Consumer culture is actually very significant when it comes to understanding contemporary identities. It is its products, which create the image we try to portray to other people and that way fit into society.