Othello’s character Essay

Shakespeare’s character, Othello, was certainly a believable character. Although he was a man who was a leader, of high military/social standing, he was still just a man. Perhaps when one holds such a high standing within a community or nation, their followers/admirers tend to forget that they are, just as we all are, only human. Othello’s mistake was that he unknowingly allowed himself to be influenced by Iago. Manipulation is a very powerful tool, especially if used by someone who has taken the time to study the human mind. With manipulation comes distrust, doubt, insecurity, and perhaps even fear. Othello was manipulated beyond his ability to recognize what Iago’s ‘plan’ was. His love for Desdemona, jealousy and insecurities most likely clouded his ability to percieve what was really going on and as a result he not only committed the tragic sin of murdering his true love, but also committed the ultimate sin of self-destruction. Although the saga of Othello was written long ago, the similarities of its misadventures are very similar to those of today’s society. How many of us have been truly duped by someone that we have put our complete faith and trust in? How like the people of today to be fueled by jealousy and rage their normally crystal clear outlook could turn to complete and utter despairingly gray? What would it take to turn the complete love and devotion of a husband into a murderous stranger toward the one person that he has pledged to love for all of eternity? How sad that Iago’s extreme jealously could target and destroy something as pure and beautiful as the love Othello had for Desdemona. It is quiet tragic that such jealousy could destroy such a great and powerful military leader. It seemed for as much as Othello loved his wife, she was in fact his Achilles’ heel. I cannot imagine the sickening horror that Desdemona felt when she realized that there was no defending herself from the tiny, poisonous seed planted by Iago. There was no defense in the eyes of Othello as his wife paid the ultimate price. I wonder how many relationships today have fallen victim to tragedy because of a well-placed comment of doubt or shadow on one’s character. In today’s extreme number of murder and divorce, I think that Othello and his terrible story are quite believable.

Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen: Perspective on Religion

In the 1920s, the somewhat genteel world of American poetry was shaken to its foundations when the Harlem Renaissance started. During those times, all over the United States, there was an outburst of strong black voices, writing with African-American cadences and rhythms. Moreover, during that period, generally different and diverse subject matters and styles subsisted in poetry. Furthermore, the blues and jazz clubs in Harlem served as an opportunity for the up-and-coming Black writers who wrote to increase the awareness of the Negro people and inculcate pride in their African heritage. Among these writers were Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes. These writers employed the political, religious, and social facets of the African American happenings as springboard for poetic illustration. Nevertheless, these two writers differ in their life influences, style, and language usage. A proclaimed poet of the Harlem Renaissance, Countee Cullen, uses his poem, Yet Do I Marvel, to send a very strong and passionate message. The poem is a first-person monologue in which a Black poet, indistinguishable from Cullen, voices doubt and confusion about the world, about the relationship between God and man, and about this particular poet's place in the world. No audience is addressed directly. The poet begins by professing his belief in a God who is all-good, good-intentioned and almighty. He also affirms that God has reasons for everything that happens in the world, even if these reasons are often difficult for humans to understand. In particular, the poet wonders why such an all-good Supreme Being could allow things like physical disabilities and death. In the two quatrains the poet observes several examples of worldly imperfection. He mentions the blindness of the mole and the mortality of human flesh. He also refers to the never- ending punishments of two figures from Greek mythology: Tantalus, plagued by unquenchable hunger and thirst in the midst of unreachable food and drink; and Sisyphus, faced with the impossible task of rolling uphill a rock which ontinuously slips back to the starting-point before the task is finished. In the sextet the poet wonders whether there is any way to explain the blindness of the mole, the punishments of Tantalus and Sisyphus or the death of human beings and decides that only God has a satisfactory explanation for these worldly imperfections. The ways of God are beyond understanding and human beings are too distracted by the everyday cares of life to see reason behind the migh ty hands of God. The poet does not mention that he is Black until the final couplet. The â€Å"I† at the beginning of the poem is an anonymous human. At the end of the poem this â€Å"I† proudly reveals himself to be not only a poet, but a Black poet. This revelation transforms the poem from a general comment upon the human experience to personal reflection. Of all the incomprehensible actions of God, the most amazing for the poet to understand is that God made him both a poet and Black. The strong mood of religious reflection in this poem stems in large part from the central position of the Christian church in the culture of Afro-Americans. Intensity of religious fervor and a vivid sense of divine anthropomorphism are common themes in the poetry of Black American poets. A second important theme for Cullen is his race. Blackness is a focal point of the poem. It is the last of a series of imponderables in the human condition. On the one hand, the poet's black skin is included in the same category as the blindness of the mole or the punishments of Tantalus and Sisyphus. It is another example of the mysterious ways of a God who inexplicably made humans of different skin color. On the other hand, the blackness of the poet is a source of pride, a gift of that Almighty Creator whose ways are always right. Thus Cullen, a poet of the Harlem Renaissance in the early part of the twentieth century, was asserting the mysterious beauty of black skin long before the Civil Rights movement made Black pride fashionable later in the century. At the same time, Cullen's experience as a Black man is set in the context of his role as a poet. He is a poet made Black, not a Black made a poet. Like his black skin, Cullen's poetic talent is a mysterious source of both pain and joy. This poet who fashions a highly polished poem filled with sophisticated allusion is, at the same time, a member of an oppressed race often denied the opportunity to acquire such erudition and poetic skill. Indeed, Cullen emphasizes the involuntary nature of his poetry. He did not choose to be a poet any more than he chose to be Black. It was God who made him both a poet and Black. It is God who commands him to sing. The poet cannot help himself anymore than he could change the color of his skin. The source of his poetic power is divine and lies outside him. While some poets find this source in nature or in the personal subconscious, Cullen attributes this power to the Supreme Being who dominates this poem. Cullen's insistence upon the divine inspiration of the poet is appropriate in a poem which combines themes from Classical and Biblical sources, for both traditions affirm the ability of supernatural beings to speak through humans. The Greeks called these deities of inspiration Muses while the Biblical God inspires prophets with warnings for humans. A similar God bids Cullen to sing. In the end, the poem offers more than the personal perspective of a Black poet. It speaks not just of the Black condition but of the human condition. All humans feel the irony of a life filled with petty cares, with mysteries, with struggle and with death, but a life brimming with the marvel of God's great deeds, with the excitement of divine inspiration, and with an appreciation for the beauty of a poem well made. Langston Hughes was one of the first black men to express the spirit of blues and jazz into words. An African American Hughes became a well known poet, novelist, journalist, and playwright. Because his father immigrated to Mexico and his mother was often away, Hughes was brought up in Lawrence, Kansas, by his grandmother Mary Langston. Her second husband (Hughes's grandfather) was a fierce abolitionist. She helped Hughes to see the cause of social justice. As a lonely child Hughes turned to reading and writing, publishing his first poems while in high school in Cleveland, Ohio. The speaker in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of River† delivers his claims in a cosmic voice that extends throughout all time and space. This voice includes all peoples. Hughes' ancestry included three major race groups; he lived as an African-American (Hughes referred to himself as â€Å"colored† or â€Å"Negro,† because he was writing before the term â€Å"African-American† was accepted widely); his parents were African-Americans. But Hughes' interests far exceeded racial limitations. He embraced all of life. He suffered the color-line, when racism was strong in early twentieth-century America, but he rose above racial hatred and felt love and compassion for all races. His acceptance is especially evident in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of River† spoken by a cosmic voice that includes and unites all people. The poem begins, â€Å"I've known rivers: / I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the / flow of human blood in human veins. † The river symbolizes the linkage of all human life from the earliest time to the present. He continues naming rivers that represent the history of Western culture. From the Euphrates to the Mississippi, the history of mankind from Biblical times to the period of the American Civil War is represented. The Euphrates is considered the cradle of Western civilization. The speaker of the poem claims to have â€Å"bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. Thus the cosmic voice begins at the origin of civilization. The speaker then moves westward to the Congo claiming, â€Å"I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. † Here he focuses on the African experience, as he does in the following line, â€Å"I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. † Neither claim limits the voice to a black voice, becau se the white and yellow races have lived along the Congo and were among the slaves employed by the ancient Egyptians in constructing the pyramids. Hughes' cosmic voice unites the races in one cosmic person. He highlights the American experience claiming, â€Å"I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln / went down to New Orleans . . . .† Lincoln reminds us of the process of emancipation of slaves, and the Mississippi River symbolizes the human blood of all races. The speaker repeats â€Å"My soul has grown deep like the rivers. † Because the soul is the life force of the body, the stream of energy, the person who recognizes that his soul has grown deep recognizes his own identity. In this poem the river symbolizes the link of mankind as the blood in the body is believed to be linked because we are all children of God, and thus we have the common ancestry originating with Adam and Eve, the symbolical first parents. The cosmic speaker portrays selfhood and recognizes his roots, his identity as a child of not only one set of biological parents but as a child of the cosmos (or of God), and he is linked with all humanity, all races, all creeds for all time through the depth of his own soul. Susan Glaspell lived in a time where the most evident social issue was the inequality between men and women, and that women greatly relied on men in order to live. Glaspell, as a budding writer and feminist, tried to prove them wrong by writing plays regarding the freedom of women against the gender roles that the society dictates. With the help of her husband and friends, she started the Provincetown Players, where they are able to experiment on new plays which explores sensitive social issues like gender inequality. Glaspell’s Trifles is a good example of these plays. This play depicts the role of women in the society during the time it was made. During that time, men are still considered to be superior to women. It is also the time when men usually undermines the capabilities of women, as well as question their decision-making ways . The play showed how women were usually ruled by their emotions and intuitions, which they used to successfully unmask the case . The story revolves around the case of the murdered John Wright, who was strangled with a rope while he sleeps in his farmhouse. The main suspect was his was wife, Minnie Wright, who was already arrested and is not portrayed in the play anymore. The problem of the characters would be to prove whether Minnie Wright was really guilty of murdering her husband. Susan Glaspell was born on the late 19th century, where women are not yet recognized as equals of men. Her writing style is influenced by her Midwestern background. The first career she took after graduation was a reporting job for a daily newspaper. The play Trifles was based on an actual murder case that she has worked on during her days as a reporter. After she quit her work as a reporter, she began writing fiction novels. Susan Glaspell became open to radical ideas when she met George Cook, a married man from Davenport. She was able to work on the traditional gender roles, just like what is being tackled on Trifles. Glaspell and Cook developed an affair, and were married afterwards. With Cook being a nonconformist, Glaspell was able to freely do what society restricts her to do because of her gender and class. It was also through Cook and some of her friends that she was able to exercise her literary freedom and come up with plays that talk about societal issues of her time. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a self-proclaimed philosopher, writer, educator and an intellectual activist of the women's movement from the late 1890's through the mid-1920's. She demanded equal treatment for women as the best means to advance society's progress. She was an extraordinary woman who waged a lifelong battle against the restrictive social codes for women in late nineteenth-century America. â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper†, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, reflects women's role in the Nineteenth Century. Women were controlled by their husbands and other men. Women did not have much social life. Women did not have any. Gilman uses many complex symbols, such as, the house, the bedroom, and the wallpaper to forces on the major theme of the story. The story is an interpretation how women are oppressed by males in society. Gilman attempts to reveal this oppression through her use of male imposed confinement. One woman's struggle with both mental and physical confinement represents the greater battles between women and men. Confinement represents classic male oppression and the woman represents all women and their struggle to break free from male dominance. The significance of the confinement is seen in both the vivid descriptions which symbolize the male dominance and the woman's subsequent reaction to this incarceration. The yellow wallpaper paints a distinct picture of confinement in both the physical and symbolic sense. Physically the house itself serves to lead to feelings of isolation. It represents the classic institution, that part of society which attempts to constrain the individual. Symbolically the narrator being confined to the room by her husband is representative of opportunity to see the oppressive society in its truest light. Within the pattern the narrator sees nursery complete with â€Å"rings and things† in the walls and a bed nailed to the floor. It is in this men had over women, the ability to ensure a woman's dependence on a man through exerting the began to tear down the walls of female oppression that exist to this day. She broke free from the confinement that suffocated her and for a moment showed society its greatest flaw, inequality. Completely in the end as her insanity dominates her, she does begin the process, a process which his wife to the nursery John exercised this dominance over his wife. The story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is about a woman who fights for her right to express what she wants, and fights for her right for freedom. The story also shows the uneven balance of power between husband and wife in the Nineteen Century. Gilman uses many symbols to show the readers women's social condition, lives, and all unfair treatment they had in the Nineteenth Century at different level of scopes. By using symbols, Gilman represents the effect of the oppression of women in society in late the Nineteenth Century. This story is primarily existential in nature. Gilman believes that with the fight, she can be free; all women can get freedom from the male dominated world. From her story, she does not agree women have to accept the unfair truth. She believed women can change their own situation. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, both early advocates of the civil rights movement, offered solutions to the discrimination experienced by black men and women in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Despite having that in common, the two men had polar approaches to that goal. Washington, a man condoning economic efficiency had a more gradual approach as opposed to Du Bois, whose course involved immediate and total equality both politically and economically. For the time period, Washington overall offers a more effective and appropriate proposition for the time whereas Du Bois's approach is precedent to movements in the future. Both have equal influence over African Americans in politics. Washington's proposal excels in reference to education while Du Bois can be noted for achieving true respect from white Americans. Du Bois urged African Americans to involve themselves in politics. Gaining this power would be essential to immediate beseeching of rights. Political association would prevent blacks from falling behind because â€Å"when the Negro found himself deprived of influence in politics, therefore, and at the same time unprepared to participate in the higher functions in the industrial development which this country began to undergo, it soon became evident to him that he was losing ground in the basic things of life† (Doc I). Du Bois also directly challenged Washington when he stated â€Å"that the way for a people to gain their reasonable rights is a not by voluntarily throwing them away and insisting that they do not want them† (Doc E). W. E. B. Du Bois goes on to criticize that â€Å"that the principles of democratic government are losing ground, and caste distinctions are growing in all directions† (Doc F). All of these political demands are comprehensible but Du Bois desired a radical change; â€Å"Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season† (Doc E). This is close to nagging, which was surely unfavorable among primarily white politicians. The effectiveness of perpetual complaining would steadily decrease. Washington avoids political involvement which in general is a neutral action neither promoting nor causing defacement of the Negro population. In 1880 the percentage of 5-19 year olds enrolled in school for whites was approximately 60% while the percent of blacks was roughly half that, which was a vast improvement over just thirty years before when black enrollment was around zero (Doc A). Although black students appear to be bettering themselves, it is still quite unfortunate; there may be more black students enrolled but their education system was still below that of white folk. This in effect explains why the illiteracy rate of the white population was at 10% while the percentage of the black population unable to read sky-lined at 60% (Doc B). Both Washington and Du Bois recognized the gap but took completely different approaches to achieve a remedy and also had differing views of what necessary education was. Washington believed that if blacks focused their attention on striving economically they would eventually be given the rights they deserved. To do this, he encouraged attending trade schools like the ones which he worked with. The Tuskegee Institute of Alabama, which he founded, was where â€Å"no time [was] wasted on dead languages or superfluous studies of any kind†. Then he proposed working either industrially or agriculturally since their education would be based on â€Å"what is practical† and â€Å"what would best fit [the] young people for the work life† (Doc G). Du Bois, on the other hand, had grown up well rounded culturally. A historian specializing in the history of blacks and a renowned sociologist, at the age of 93 he became a member of the communist party and exiled himself to Africa. Du Bois had high hopes for the â€Å"Talented Tenth†: after thorough education they could succeed. The fight for first class citizenship could be earned through the university educated Negro through the court systems. Although it is a well thought out solution, the number of black college students enrolled was still quite low at the time. He believed along with others, â€Å"that industrial education [would] not stand [African Americans] in place of political, civil, and intellectual liberty† (Doc H). It is true that being cultured is important but for the time, labor was the necessity and would bring supposed status. W. E. B Du Bois, however, is able to surpass Washington in the area of overall respect and morality concerning white folk. Booker T. Washington made a point that if blacks could prove themselves useful, they could achieve their rights. Washington stated, â€Å"No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the laws be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of those privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house†. In theory, Washington concluded that in order for African Americans to succeed, it was imperative for them to befriend the white men. Only then would the struggle for blacks end. He continually sounds of begging when stating to the white men: â€Å"Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds and to education of head, hand, and heart†¦ While doing this you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen†. All this had been said in his Atlanta Compromise Address in 1895 (Doc D). It was also apparent to everyone African American who did not totally agree with Washington's idea that this was a sign of submission for the black race. The submissive part was, if none else, the fact that we were to accept that black people were going to continue to use their hands as a means to be productive to a white society. Many blacks turned away from such a statement and this is where W. E. B. Du Bois came to relieve them. Although Fortune stated, â€Å"It is impossible to estimate the value of such a man† (Doc G), Du Bois rejected the philosophy of Booker T. Washington declaring that he was â€Å"condemning their race to manual labor and perpetual inferiority†. He argues â€Å"that the way for a people to gain respect is not by continually belittling and ridiculing themselves† (Doc E). The De Facto segregation, such as a separate water fountain â€Å"for colored only† (Doc J) proposed by Washington did alleviate white and black tension but nonetheless was degrading. He presents that â€Å"the wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing† (Doc D). Barnett criticized that â€Å"[Washington], one of the most noted of their own race should join with the enemies† (Doc H). Such attitudes from Washington could truly be appreciated by Southern whites who in no way would want to be equivalent to a Negro. Although both men approached the topic differently, the advancement of civil rights would not be as far along today if it were not for both simultaneous views. Each needed the other to achieve his agenda. However, the most experienced in dealing with the sensitivity of the prejudices was Washington. He seemingly knew what buttons to push and how far he could push them. Curiously, the year Washington gave his Atlanta Compromise Address in 1895, the number of blacks lynched dropped from 170 the previous year to just above 120. It is also interesting to note that after Du Bois gave his speech about The Niagara Movement in 1905, the numbers began to steadily increase again (Doc C, D, F). Du Bois' approach of â€Å"ceaseless agitation, unfailing exposure of dishonesty and wrong† (Doc F) was not ready for the time where Washington is more rational in his gradual approach.

Reverse logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 15250 words

Reverse logistics - Essay Example (Mills, 2007, p. 21). Together with an increase in consumption comes an increase in material waste. Factory overruns, defective goods, and simply goods that have reached the end of their useful lives, will naturally be expected to accumulate. Given the volumes of waste generated by the mass of population making use of these products, the situation presents itself as a logistical predicament worthy of planning of the highest priority. According to the old methods of waste disposal, municipal solid waste (MSW) is traditionally incinerated in Europe because it is self-combusting. The first dedicated waste incinerators are more than a century old, having been build in 1876 in Great Britain. It was intended to eliminate waste in order to avoid the deleterious effects of rotting organic matter. While technological advances have greatly improved this method of waste disposal today, it is less prioritized in the hierarchy of methods articulated in the European waste management strategy when compared to prevention and material recycling. Among disposal systems, landfilling is the much more preferred option rather than incineration. 70% of MSW is relegated to landfills, while less than 20% is incinerated. Even then, landfilling is increasingly becoming a less viable option, because of decreasing availability of land, dangers of groundwater contamination, aesthetic and public health issues. (Bontoux, 1999) The problem is not limited to Europe alone. In the United States, for instance, MSW generation has engendered problems in landfilling that threatens to quickly overtake capacities for accommodating the volumes created. In a study conducted by the Earth Sciences Division, under the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and sponsored by the US Department of Energy, it was determined that as much as 214,000,000 tons of municipal solid waste is generated every year. According to data gathered

Should conscientious objection be a defence to breach of equality law Essay

Should conscientious objection be a defence to breach of equality law - Essay Example Anti-Racism laws, which are a reflection of the equality law were designed to provide a remedy to the failure by the State to not do enough to protect disadvantaged member of the society.2 The United Kingdom’s Equality Act of 2010, which is part of the wider anti-discrimination laws of Great Britain, is based on the premise of the State impacting upon the UK society through legislation to educate and instruct individuals as well as institutions on how to act during public interactions.3 The Equality Law simply requires citizens to be blind on differences to do with sexuality, race, gender, and age. Secondly, it requires citizens to be deaf on differences arising from belief or religion. However, under the concept of conscientious objection, there are seemingly exceptions to the adherence of the equality law.4 Conscientious objection has been described as â€Å"a refusal on religious or moral grounds to engage in military conflict or even serve in the armed forces.†5 A conscientious objection is normally based on religious beliefs that are obtained from trainings and must be highly upheld. A conscientious objector must prove that the newly acquired ethical and moral convictions are what direct his or her life choices. Under the English law, there are only three instances where there are legal rights to objections based on conscientious objections. These instances comprise of abortion cases, application of technological process in achieving conception/ pregnancy, and in services of the armed forces.6 Other cases examples on the application of conscientious objections are when a pharmacists declines to administer emergency contraceptives owing to his religious beliefs or when an employee breaks health and safety rules or dress codes or displays religious symbols at the work place, wh ich is an infringement upon the rights of others. Based on the above review, conscientious objection should not be used as defence for breaching the equality law since it will provide

Discussion formate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion formate - Essay Example Google has done this recently and continues to do so. Of course, as a company’s product line grows and diversifies, they will naturally have new competitors as well as a greater number of competitors overall. As Google’s offerings have grown from search engines and advertising to smarts phones and online music, new competitors like Apple have emerged and competition has increased between the two companies (yahoo.com). Google is able to compete with Apple because they have similar resources and a similar market (5-4). In regards to Google and Apple, one can witness how when Apple comes out with a new phone or app, Google will respond with a similar product (and vice-versa). These are known as strategic actions and responses (5-6). Similarly, Google and Apple engage in pricing decisions â€Å"to increase demand in certain markets during certain periods† (5-7). Pricing and other â€Å"fine-tuning† methods are known as tactical actions and are much easier to i mplement than strategic actions. While Google is a â€Å"first-mover† in the search engine market, it is a â€Å"second mover† in the mobile phone market (5-8). Being a first-mover has allowed them to gain a majority of the market share. As a second-mover in the mobile phone market Apple still owns and maintains dominance.

Businesses have no responsibility whatever to protect and conserve the Assignment

Businesses have no responsibility whatever to protect and conserve the natural environment - Assignment Example 281). The participation in the environmental conservation and protection requires the use of business funds to pursue a corporate social responsibility agenda. It is not in the power of business management to invest funds in environmental protection. Business leaders use the logic of delivering profits to business owners (Jackson 1996, p. 159). The owners can choose to use the profits in environmental conservation ventures. In any case, the participation in environmental protection and conservation can serve to reduce economic efficiency and profit margins of the business. In addition, if businesses are to participate in the conservation and protection of the environment, they are likely to pass on the costs to the customers. Therefore, the customers are more likely to pay more for goods and services. Participation in environmental conservation is one of the corporate social responsibility sectors that may serve to impose unequal costs among competitors (Blowfield & Murray 2008, p. 240). Evidently, the modern business front is highly competitive. Therefore, when businesses face the compulsion of investing in environmental conservation, they register higher costs than competitors placing them at a disadvantage (Henderson 2009, p. 13). The role of environmental conservation and protection should be taken up by every individual in the society, and not imposed on businesses alone. Therefore, businesses should not feel compelled to participate in environmental conservation. Worth noting is the fact that businesses should only do what is required by the law , and what is dictated by the commercial priorities while maximizing profits (Sinha 2012, p. 704). Sinha, GA 2012, Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Cent, New York University Journal Of International Law & Politics, 44, 2, pp. 702-706, International Security & Counter

Marketing Strategy for Hyatt Regency Birmingham Research Paper

Marketing Strategy for Hyatt Regency Birmingham - Research Paper Example There is always a need to understand customers, but luxury hotels need to adapt their brand strategy in order to attract these more cost-conscious customers and look at â€Å"establishing ways of making the same brand more accessible† (Brownsell, 2009). Strategic direction is a challenge faced by all organizations whether there is a recession or not, especially when there exist opportunities or to help overcome major problems (Johnson, 2009: 2).  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Uncertainty is inherent in strategy because nobody can be sure about the future.† (Johnson, 2009: 6) But a strategic direction helps to focus on a course of action and follow an integrated approach based on clear objectives and informed knowledge of the operating environment. This, of course, can affect the organization’s operational decisions, involve a reconsideration of the relationships and networks, and can be complex reorientation requiring considerable change.  Strategic directions at a competitive or bu siness level deal with issues of pricing, competitive advantage, competition, collaboration, game theory etc. Innovation or differentiation, for example, can be done through bettering the quality or an implementing a distinctive distribution channel.  Strategic directions at a corporate level deal with market penetration, consolidation, product development, market development, diversification etc. This includes cost leadership, differentiation, and specialization based on Porter’s generic strategies. It also includes e.g. geographical coverage, diversity of products/services, allocation of resources within the organization, expectations of owners i.e. Shareholders. Portfolio matrices viz. BCG (also known as growth/share), directional policies and other tools were used in the analysis prior to this report.

Do studies of genetic variations in osteoporosis tell us anything Essay

Do studies of genetic variations in osteoporosis tell us anything useful - Essay Example Through the use of various genetic methods, the genes contributing to or responsible in the development of osteoporosis are now identified. It is estimated that the genetic components and variations account for 50 to 90 % of the total BMD variations in the osteoporosis patients (Ferrari and Rizzoli, 2005). Findings in researches show that there are five key regions that are significantly associated with bone mineral density (Styrkarsdottir et al, 2008). These include receptor activator of nuclear factor -B ligand gene or RANKL, the osteoprotegrin gene or OPG, the estrogen receptor 1 gene or the ESR 1, the BTB domain containing 40 gene or ZBTB40 and the major histocompatibility complex region 6p21 respectively (Styrkarsdottir et al, 2008). Polymorphism has been suggested in the areas of VDR or vitamin D receptor, ESR1 or estrogen receptor alpha, type I collagen genes or the COL1A1 etc. (Zmuda, Sheu and Moffet, 2006). VDR gene variants are associated with differences in body height as well as bone size determination (Fang et al, 2007). However, VDR gene mutations have been implicated in many bone disorders including 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D-resistant rickets, osteoporosis etc. (Uitterlinden et al, 2002). Other genes identified include alpha 2-HS-glycoprotein or AHSG, parathyroid hormones, bone G1a protein (BGP), transforming growth factor beta, PTHR1 and IL-6. the difference in the allele frequencies among Chinese and Caucasian populations were at VDR-ApaI and PTH-BstBI loci respectively. In the case of osteoporosis, IL-6 becomes more active as the key substance that limits its activity, that is the estrogen is reduced in the post menopausal women, which leads to increased breakdown of the bone structure. The genetic loci identified in bone metabolism include COL1A1, TGF beta 1, SOST, VDR, ER alpha,LRBP5, BMP2 and IL-6 respectively. First deciding on the topic of research carried out the research. Currently there are many researches that are

Policing Trends and Issues Essay Example for Free

Policing Trends and Issues Essay * History and roles of law enforcement in society. During the history of Law Enforcement the duty of police is to maintain order, dealing with lawbreakers. At the same time, citizens were responsible for protecting themselves and maintaining an orderly society. With the pass of the time, throughout the Law Enforcement field, organized police department have change dramatically. In addition, the modern style police departments did not appear until the fourteenth century in France and nineteenth century in England. Moreover, the first police officers were Praetorian Guard, who was a select group of highly qualified members of the military established by the Roman emperor Augustus to protect him and his palace. During the 1829, Sir Robert Peel credited with establishing the first English police department which was the London Metropolitan Police. At the same time, during the seventeenth century English policing system also used a form of individual, private police known them also like the Thief-takers. The Thief-Takers were private English citizens with no official status who were paid by the king for every criminal they arrested. The roles of law enforcement in society are criminal apprehension, conviction, and crime prevention. Throughout the history and roles of law enforcement many things have changed for example the treatment and punishments for offenders. In the past offenders were treat as animals and slaves, because while in prison they cannot communicate each other, during meal, and work. Moreover, during that time they have very strict rules, such as silent obedience, discipline, and labor, which they have to follow, and many offenders died inside of the prison as a result of brutal treatment. Now, offenders receive a different treatments and punishments, they are able to have communication with their inmates, and they do not receive brutal treatment like animals. They also form their gang members and sells drugs  while in prison. Then, during the 1980’s and 1990’s included the development of a computer revolution in policing involving communications, record keeping, fingerprinting, and criminal investigations. * Levels of jurisdiction. Police has jurisdiction and their city sheriff has jurisdiction over the county. * Distinction among the multiple functions of modern law enforcement agencies. * Analysis of historical events that have shaped modern policing practices. Past II – Scenario 1. Throughout the history of police agencies, there have been different traditions surrounding how to handle DUI stops. If you were on routine patrol and stopped a vehicle on reasonable suspicion of driving while intoxicated, and discovered that the passenger was your next door neighbor, what would you do? Historically, how would law enforcement handle this type of situation versus today? First at all, I will not care if he/she is my next door neighbor or even a family member, because I choose to become a police officer to protect and help my community without being corrupt. Then, I would do the right thing, without caring who is committing a DUI stop because my job is serving as a police officer and treat all people equal. I will handle this type of situation by asking for their license, insurance, and registration. In my opinion I think that law enforcement in the past should act violent, with the people. On the other hand, comparing it with today police officers should just ask for their license, insurance and registration, without any aggression against people. 2. You are on foot patrol and a citizen who is known to be a drug dealer walks up to you and complains that another officer is talking money from him. He is afraid of retaliation and is unsure how to handle this. What is the ethical and professional response to this, and why? 3. You are on duty and having lunch. While you are eating, a citizen walks up to you and tells you that the bank across the street is being robbed. How do you respond? Who has jurisdiction and why? 4. You have recently completed field training and are on routine patrol when you receive a call to a disturbance in a home, when you arrive, you realize that one of the individuals involved is threatening suicide. You have not been trained to deal with suicide threats. How do you respond? 5. You are on routine patrol and you notice two individuals on the street looking inside of jewelry store. It is 85 degrees out in the middle of July and they are both wearing heavy winter coats. Explain which Supreme Court case would apply and what you would do in this situation. 6. You are recruit that has just graduated from the academy. It is your first week being trained on the street. You and your Field Training Officer walk into a department store and you observe him taking an item without paying for it. You leave that store and on your way out he tells you that if you are questioned by anyone, you did not see anything. What do you do in this situation? Part III – summary Reactions * How do ethical decisions tie into the profession of policing? Ethical decisions tie into the profession of policing by doing the right thing. In other words, ethical decisions are a set of standards that tell us how we should behave at all times. In addition, no one stands without a code of ethics; everyone has to follow their code of ethics based on their positions. For example, ethics are more than what we must do its doing what we should do following a code of ethics which requires self control at all times. Moreover, ethical decisions tie into the profession of policing by doing the right thing and seeing the difference between the right and wrong thing. These ethical decisions are very significant in the field of policing because each ethical decision has consequences. For example, when you do the right thing you can gain sacrifice, pride, integrity, reputation, honor, respect, caring, responsibility and satisfaction than doing an unethical decision and having bad consequences for your career. * In the scenarios above, and in general, why do you think it is important to maintain ethical and professional behavior in the workplace at all times. It is important to  maintain ethical and professional behavior in the workplace at all time, because it help you to have self-control, give fairness for all, and because it affects our workplace or business. Another reason of why ethical and professional behavior is important in the workplace at all times is important is because having a good conduct helps maintain a high level of respect not only for people but for the profession you have. In other words, as a professional, you need to know the things you should not do because each workplace has a different ethical code of behavior that has to be follow and not to be violate. On the other hand, being honest, having respect and telling the truth all times at work is an ethical thing to do. Maintaining an ethical and professional behavior in the workplace at all times, have benefits, which are helpful such as respect, integrity, and honor. Also each professional behavior has a result of progress, and success. Then, having an ethical and professional behavior is important because if you chose a career in criminal justice you have to serve and protect people from criminals by doing the right thing not by being corrupt. * Describe why it is important to understand the function of law enforcement within the criminal justice and how understanding this can better prepare you for a career within the criminal justice field. For example, if you chosen career function is corrections, how does law enforcement work with the correctional system in ensuring justice is served?

Cognitive Interventions Essay Example for Free

Cognitive Interventions Essay The only thing that tells everyone apart from everyone else is each person’s genetic make-up. And there is only one exception and that would identical twins, because no two people are the same. This can be said true about the way we all think. There is no one person that thinks the same as the next person. People believe that we are all born innocent and that we are pure in thoughts and in behavior. There are many different factors that can and sometimes do influence how a person is controlled by his/her cognitive ability to think before acting. There are people who do a better than others can. There are people who have certain psychological problems that seek out help from a therapist to get a handle on their problems. One of most popular therapy would be cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The base of this theory is that some of the behaviors are caused by a person’s inner thoughts or by mental inability to deal with problems or events in our lives. In this paper, I will summarize the article â€Å"Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Child Physical Abuse,† that describe Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) and the use of AF-CBT in adolescent anger management. Article Summary Childhood anger can be tiger by many different factors, thoughts or even events during a child early life. A young child is not able to express their feels in a correct way, so they have problems in dealing with their anger. This could also be that they were never taught by his/her parents how to handle their emotions. A good example would be a friend of mine that has a child with some deep rooted problems, When Sam get angry he will not able to express how he feels so he acts out towards anyone that is near him. At Christmas time I brought him a soccer ball that he wanted and when he opened it he just threw it to one side, so he was punishment, sent to his room, when he came out the looks in his eyes just plain scared me. I have seen that look in a person who just committed a murder. Cold and dark look is what this child has. Most children with this type of problems, it could be a result of abuse in the home by one or both parents, and the type of abuse could be physical or sexual. At the time of the abuse the child may feel that they could not fight off the person who is abusing him or they are so scared to tell anyone. When this time of situation has occurred the child is not able to handle so they will out and get into trouble. They may start getting into trouble at school, start handling out with the wrong crowds and getting into serious trouble with the law. The child may become involved with sex, alcohol and drugs, sometimes the child could turn out to be an abuser also. Children will do this to get away from their home life and the pain. If the abuse was discover at an early age, and then the child can be remove from the home and has a better chance to get therapy and could turn out to normal. This way the hate and anger can be redirected to a more positive avenue. It difficult for a child to understand why things happened to them and but to be able to speak to someone that can be able to help them understand that it was no their fault and help them heal their emotional wounds. Unfortunately, the affective of the abuse may follow the person throughout their life in many different forms. It can affect their children and even their partners. They may became have problems like becoming overweight so they will not be attractive to men. They also can be very sexually active. Being in therapy as a child they can be with other children that have been threw the same as the child and could help to release their anger, it could also help them from staying away from trouble and from hanging out with the wrong people. This would help the child to focus more on school and what is important to the child. The cognitive behavior theory is known to help child that are victims of abuse cases whether it is physical or sexual and the parents that are the abusers, that may help them to reestablish a relationship between parents and children. Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  The main usage of the Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is working with children and their families that have suffered sexual or physical abuse; the environment is very hostile, the child may be subject coercion and are aggression when the family is present. AF-CBT is also used for children with behavioral problems such as Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. AF-CBT is right for children who are the ages of 5-15, who exhibit some level of behavioral or emotional dysfunction and for parents or caregivers who may resort to uncomfortable or unsafe levels of physical punishment. The goal of this therapy is to reduce the level of physical abuse risk factors of the caregiver or family and to reduce the consequences of these experiences for the children. The primary focus is behavior management, social skills, training, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving skills, and communications skills for the caregiver’s level of anger and promote nonaggressive discipline strategies, to enhance a child’s coping skills, and encourage problem-solving and communication. There are three stages of AF-CBT process, each of the steps consisting in multiple steps that involve the child and the parent(s) separately and jointly. This type of treatment would be taken place as outpatient or in a setting that ongoing contact with the caregiver and the child. The treatment should take place twice a week for approximately three to six months. Abuse-Focus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in an Adolescent Anger-Management, the important part is to be able know how to control anger. Everyone can control their anger and being angry is a normal part of life. Just like everyone else, adolescent are no exception. The only exception is that adolescent can take their anger to the extreme and their action may not be called normal when angered. There is one way to help the adolescent to control their anger is by cognitive therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy can occur in many different ways, the most common is the one-to-one talk with the adolescents. Once the problem is out in the open, the therapist may give the adolescent advice and to show how to control or redirected their anger. It is a success when one discovers the problem using the cognitive behavioral therapy. Now that the adolescent is able to control their anger it more benefit for those who are around the adolescent, it does benefit both parties. With aggressive or violent behavior the AF-CBT will target in three ways in which people can deal with the situations: 1) Cognition (thinking), 2) Affect (feeling), and 3) Behavior (doing). AF-CBT use many different techniques that are used by practitioners, such as behavior and anger management, problem solving, social skills training, and cognitive restructuring. All programs require proper training in different areas, especially with psychological skills so that enhancing interpersonal effectiveness and self-control is maintained. Conclusion The article explains to us how to deal with child and adolescent in dealing with their anger due to physical or sexual abuse to them and to be able overcome their anger and to deal with feelings as well as their families. The primary goal of AF-CBT is to reduce other behavioral problems in children and adolescent when they grow-up.

Nationalism And Case Study Of Northern Ireland History Essay

Nationalism And Case Study Of Northern Ireland History Essay Introduction The concept of nationalism has been influencing domestic and international politics for centuries in various aspects. The predominant role of nationalism and the high interest in it has led to extensive literature on the topic and many scholars published works and studies on it in a number of other fields besides political sciences such as psychology and sociology. As is the case with many political concepts, there are a number of approaches to the topic of nationalism. The case study shortly discussed here will focus on nationalism in Northern Ireland. Nationalism had a major impact on Northern Irish politics and life during the second half of the twentieth century, a time when the rest of Western Europe did not have to face such problems. In a recent issue of The Big Issue journalist and Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan writes about how growing up in Belfast during the Troubles meant being used to an environment of checkpoints, steel barriers, the army on the street (Murnaghan, 2011). Only after moving to England to study did he realize that the situation in Northern Ireland wasnt normal, it was actually very strange. (Murnaghan, 2011) Nationalist tendencies continue to influence actions, behaviour and policies in many if not all parts of the world. A thorough understanding of nationalism, its sources, workings and possible consequences thus is crucial. In the following, this paper will first discuss the concept of nationalism. The distinction between different usages of the term will be highlighted and the variety of approaches be acknowledged. It will then go on to consider how nationalism influenced the developments in Ireland. In its last part, the essay will conclude with an answer to the essay question whether nationalism is an extremist and exclusivist political ideology that tends towards violence. Nationalism Modern nationalism was born out of anti-enlightenment thought. While ethnic groups have long existed, nations were an invention of a time when big empires gave place to the rise of these and the theory of national sovereignty arouse in Europe. In his very influential book Nationalism Elie Kedourie actually describes nationalism as just that: a doctrine invented in Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century [that] divides humanity into separate and distinct nations and claims that such nations must constitute sovereign states. (Kedourie, 1961: 9, 73) As is the case with every political concept, there are a number of approaches to the topic of nationalism. Arguably the most influential at the moment are the modernization approach, Marxist/neo-Marxist models and postmodernist ideas. The Dictionary of International Relations names two usages of the term nationalism: as a characterization of an ideology and a description of a sentiment or attitude (Evans and Newnham, 1998: 346 ff.). The second usage of nationalism describes a sentiment of loyalty towards the nation which is shared by the people. (Evans and Newnham, 1998: 346) Religion and language may be possible examples for elements that provide such communality. The first aspect of nationalism can further be divided into two connotations: it could either be used as an ideology, a political theory joined to a programme incorporating ultimately attainable goals (OLeary, 1981: 4), or political movements and actions motivated by said ideology. Also acknowledged should be that nationalism is only one form of how ethnic groups may react; other options include but arent limited to assimilation or seeking a place within a political system with distinctive ethnic rights and resources. (OSullivan, 1986: 6) Furthermore, the manifestation of nationalist tendencies differs from the social status of said group. Whereas in an already existing nation-state a nationalist group would work towards maintaining strong boundaries, nationalist movements such as the Irish Republican Army work towards separation and independence (OSullivan, 1986: 5). While in earlier times nationalist tendencies regularly ended in wars, the expression of radical nationalism in the Western world of today has become terrorist attacks, much as the IRA used to operate in Northern Ireland; the potential of gaining much public attention with bombings and similar attacks is high. As mentioned before, nationalism has been the object of much scrutiny. To name only one of many critics of the notion of nationalism, Sir Lewis Namier wrote that nationalism, from the outset, was the expression of social and political maladjustment and has since been at least as much the vehicle as the source of destructive passions (Namier in Kenneth, 1960: 499). However, considering its nation-building process and its quest for self-determination, in its chapter on nationalism the Dictionary of International Relations describes nationalism as not only the most potent force in world politics, it is also, judging by mere numbers, the most successful. (Evans and Newnham, 1998: 349) The case of Northern Ireland To understand the current situation in Northern Ireland it is absolutely essential to consider the impact of historical events and developments on the Irish island. English invasion of Ireland can be dated back to as early as the twelfth century. Bringing the island both progress but also suppression, opposition to English occupancy can be traced back to these times as well. In the centuries to follow a number of wars strained the region and while most of Britain converted to the Church of England under the rule of Henry VIII, many Irish men and women remained Catholics. Up until the Troubles and possibly sometimes today the religious split of the Northern Irish society is partly to blame for the extent to which attacks were committed. This long history of contact, conflict, and accommodation between the two major ethnic groups (OSullivan, 1986: 2), here the English and Irish, is crucial to acknowledge because it lay the groundwork for nationalist feelings that would result in radica lism responsible for the violent clashes and attacks of a time that today is called the Troubles. Struggle for freedom from English intervention highly influenced developments on the island ever since the beginning of the last millennium. The long on-going struggle had also hardened the fronts on both sides; on the side of the Unionists that would prefer to stay loyal to the Crown and whose nationalist feelings are for a future as part of the United Kingdom, but also on the sides of the Republicans fighting for a separation from the UK and a subsequent reunion with the Republic of Ireland, their nationalist feelings being for a united Ireland. In her book First World Nationalism, Katherine OSullivan See writes that neo-nationalism movements among Ulsters working class Protestants and the separatist efforts of the Irish Republican Army [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] belie any claims that increasing modernization and secularization of the state and economy will moderate ethnic cleavages. (OSullivan, 1986: 102) A little more than a decade after the publication of this book, however, the Belfast Good Friday Agreement was considered by many to have ended the Troubles. Although violence sporadically still shocks the nation, most paramilitary forces that had previously been involved in violence ceased armed fighting. Conclusion In answer to the essay question whether nationalism is an extremist and exclusivist political ideology that tends towards violence it seem of great importance to mention that under the term nationalism much can be understood. There is no such thing as one single ideology of nationalism; each nationalist group is characterized by certain historical backgrounds and other factors that have an influence on their goals and proceedings. In terms of being exclusivist, it can be said that even though the idea of nationalism is supposed to embrace the people of one nation, the whole concept of it is without a doubt aimed at achieving at least a certain degree of separation from another ethnic group, either building up boundaries or focusing on maintaining them. With reference to extremism, for an incident to make front page and come to the attention of many, it has to have reached a certain degree of tragedy. Much more rarely do meetings of peaceful nationalist groups get covered in the media . However, it is undisputed that in a great number of cases in- and outside of Europe nationalist movements led to violence and loss of innocent lives. Nationalism seems to be an ideology more prone to the use of brute force than other political believes are. But as with every ideology, eventually the degree of commitment to and the exclusive belief in the ideals proposed by the ideology and the readiness to use violence of group members decide the outcome. As to the case of Northern Ireland, the Stormont Assembly has been back in legislature for a couple of years know and although not all violence has ceased, the situation definitely has improved greatly compared to a couple of decades ago. Also, devolution processes in the United Kingdom are ongoing and the Assembly in Northern Ireland has a considerable amount of executive and legislative power today.

Harriet Tubman Essay -- essays research papers

Freedom Harriet Tubman was a brave woman, she managed to take eleven slaves to Canada, with no one noticing anything. She also did something that was surprising, she took the gun that she had with her to make a slave stay or to die, "We got to go free or die." She didn't allowed a slave to go back while they were traveling because someone might figured that he/she were returning from the running slaves and might have to answer questions. She traveled to differents places to stay like Thomas Garret's house in Wilmington, Delaware. She wanted to get to Canada to have a chance to feel what it would be like to be free. She painted pictures of what she thought Canada would be like, that shows she wanted to be free. In the couples of houses she stopped to get food and to get warm, I believe the persons that owned the houses agreed that they should be free, but they were too afraid to make a move. At the start of the story they were searching for Moses who they thought it was a ma n, which it was not it was Harriet Tubman, who wanted to run off slaves. The slaves at the story were patience. Harriet had promised them food, and shelter, when they got to the first stop in the farmhouse the man said they were a lot of slaves and that it was not safe, because the farmhouse had been searched a week ago before they arrived there, so they didn't had what she had promised them. The slaves didn't screamed at her or complained. When they arrived to Canada I think that even though th...

Othello’s Diabolism Essay -- Othello essays

Othello’s Diabolism  Ã‚        Ã‚   In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, there is present through most of the play such an overwhelming amount of evil that the audience can scarcely remain undisturbed.    Alvin Kernan’s â€Å"Othello: an Introduction† explains the diabolism existing under the name of â€Å"honest Iago†:    â€Å"Honest Iago† conceals beneath the exterior of the plain soldier and blunt, practical man of the world a diabolism so intense as to defy rational explanation – it must be taken like lust or pride as simply a given part of human nature, an anti-life spirit which seeks the destruction of everything outside the self. (75)    Even the imagery in the drama has its evil aspect. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello,   explains the instances of diabolic imagery in the play as they relate to the infecting of the Moor by the ancient:    The same transference from Iago to Othello may be observed in what S. L. Bethell called diabolic imagery. He estimated that of the 64 images relating to hell and damnation – many of them are allusions rather than strict images – Iago has 18 and Othello 26. But 14 of Iago’s are used in the first two Acts, and 25 of Othello's in the last three. The theme of hell originates with Iago and is transferred to Othello only when Iago has succeeded in infecting the Moor with his jealousy. (22)    In his book of literary criticism, Shakespearean Tragedy, A. C. Bradley gives an in-depth analysis of the brand of evil which the ancient personifies:    Iago stands supreme among Shakespeare’s evil characters because the greatest intensity and subtlety of imagination have gone to his making, and because he illustrates in the most perfect combination th... ... 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.    Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.    -- -- --. Introduction. The Folger Library General Reader’s Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. New York: Washington Square Press, 1957.   

Human Resources Outsourcing Essay

I. Topic In today’s fierce competition in business, corporations need to generate more revenue creatively while keeping cost of sales at minimum level without scarifying efforts. Michael Porter refers this current competition as ‘hyper competition’, which he thinks it best describes the intense development of business today. Amidst highly demanding consumers, companies spawn new methods and uncharted techniques to gain the lead within their industries. Concerning the need to reduce costs, enterprises strive for finding the best methods to increase revenue while keeping costs as low as possible. While the technology advancement can help enterprises to reach economy of scale, outsourcing of employees (human resources) can be the attractive savior for them to keep their fixed costs, which contributed by cost of employees and researches to name a few, to reach minimum level. Many believed that outsourcing is a breakthrough that will adjust the way corporations manage their human resources in the future although some may have problems in differentiating outsourcing with employer-vendor relationship, but the bottom line is outsourcing involves a degree of two-way relationship, including information exchange and coordination. In addition, there are also those who reveal the economic threats that come along with the outsourcing method. Outsourcing is an activity to transfer existing business function to external provider that includes delegating the functions of relevant physical and human assets toward external providers. While outsourcing provides attractive benefits for employers, they should consider many potential drawbacks including the different culture between employers and the outsourced personnel. II. Statement of the Problem Outsourcing involves transferring significant amount of management control and decision making to the chosen outsourcing provider. Fortunately, in the Internet era where any documentations process is exchangeable over the Internet and jobs can be discussed via e-mail or instant messaging, outsourcing-typed employment model have proved to promote significant savings.   According to McKinsey & Co, Internet-enabled services (ITES) market is likely to touch $142 billion in 2009. There would be a net saving about $390 billion from current $532 billion for these services (Kurian, 2003). U.S. can fulfill the net saving through off shoring to other countries, like India. Dookril (2004), in general, says there are two main advantages that companies obtain by outsourcing: – Focusing on Core Competencies This is the most common reason to outsource in which the company can focus and develop its core competences although some companies also outsource their core functions in order to gain better competitive advantages in the market they serve. – Lowering Cost At a glance, outsourcing can help companies to cut additional cost associated with the employee cost like medical and travel allowance since the companies only pay in bulks to the provider of outsourcing staffs. In this situation, the company can shift the variable costs of employees into fixed costs, which in turn, enable the company to manage its cost of sales and offer competitive price to customers. However, outsourcing might also poses disadvantages since the inclusion of external parties in efforts of achieving corporate goal. The common problems in outsourcing are: Uncertainty of Product or Service Quality Media and companies, which has used outsourcing, reveals the discouraging facts that sometimes outsourcing leads to worse services or products as the outsourced functions also reach core functions like sales and customer service. Security Because the outsourcing provider has access to certain corporate functions, documents, database, and other resources; it raises concerns about the security of corporate confidential information. Concerning the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing method in human resource management (HRM) discussion, as mentioned above, therefore the research statement or question for this research is â€Å"As corporations realize the benefits of outsourcing, what are some of the barriers that HR outsourcing creates between employee and employers that may widen the gap between tem and result in the unachieved target?† I choose this research statement or question since it may be different from others who only focus on the benefits of outsourcing. Instead of discussing the partial discussion on outsourcing issues, I decide to discuss the potential clashes caused by outsourcing since according to Michel Janssen, founder and President of Everest Group, there is possibility that outsourcing have closed relation to the loss of jobs in the US. III. Subquestions Concerning the elaboration of outsourcing, this paper will discuss three main research questions as following: 1. This paper intends to discuss how successful is human resource outsourcing and what factors and initiatives that best take advantages of outsourcing that contribute to the success? 2. Using the non-participant observation method, collecting data and analyzing qualitative information from journal, books, magazine and other online materials, this paper aims at elaborating the effects does HR outsourcing have on employees’ benefits and services? 3.   In addition, the paper aims at formulating and suggesting the areas of human resources need outsourcing in order to describe the future for HR outsourcing By using the three research questions as mentioned above, this paper hopes that in the end, there are particular stances towards outsourcing issues in order to better manage human resources of a company.

Teaching Computer Architecture: How to Introduce the Class

Introduction: How to Teaching is simple. It does not always require creativity to do it right. It is the art of using the right teaching method for the right student personality in the right environment. How much a particular student learns in a course is actually governed partially by that learner's native ability and preceding preparation but also by the consistency of his learning style and the teacher's teaching style. Teachers' teaching plans can exceed the learning process for the students and can improve their learning quality as well if it is well-matched the students' learning styles.The concept of learning styles – which states that different learners have different needs, ways of processing and adapting information, and therefore need to be taught differently so that their learning and achievement are more effective – has been a significant area of investigation in learning theories for over thirty years. In this paper I am designing a teaching plan driven by students learning styles and compatible with the basic two types of learning styles: visual and verbal learning styles.Teaching computer architecture has been examined in many ways like prototyping [1], learning through experience [2] [3] but it hasn't addressed by matching the teaching style with the students learning styles. I chose the first lesson of the computer architecture â€Å"introducing computer architecture course to the students† as an example to prove the enhancement of this approach in teaching computer architecture. The paper is divided to some sections.The first one is setting the base knowledge of the terms that will be used through this paper starting from explaining learning styles then going to clarifying the visual and auditory learning styles. After that, I am going to implement the introduced background in computer architecture context to computer architecture course (ACCESS) at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Finally, I will suggest how t o evaluate the applicability and the enhancement of this proposed plan followed by a brief dissection.Page 1 Motivation: First, I was motivated by the importance of computer architecture course. Second, my motivation was also the challenges that I faced in this course thus I didn't satisfactorily understand its concepts. My reason of not fully getting the content was personal; my background knowledge that was required to this course wasn't adequate. Then I asked myself how much have the other students, who have fulfilled the prerequisite, learned? Did they get the essentials of the course?And these questions have formulated my effort presented in this paper here in order to both facilitate their learning and improve their learning quality of this substantial course. Background: A. Learning styles: Learning in an organized educational situation may be thought of as a two-step process encompassing the reception and processing of information. Learning styles can be defined as the prefe rences of an individual in a particular learning situation 4]. It refers to the preferred way of a learner to receive information.Individuals are dissimilar in how they learn. In [5], Richard M. Folder had proposed a model of learning and teaching styles in engineering education that consists of five learning styles dimensions: sensory and intuitive, visual and verbal, inductive and deductive, active and reflective, and finally sequential and global. To match the teaching method with a category of the students learning styles, it changes the way to present information or the way to organize it and sometimes both. B.Visual and Verbal Learners In his model, he had considered the visual and verbal learning styles and had categorized them in the input dimension that deals with the component of the learning process in which information is observed. People receive information in many ways. These ways may be divided into three categories, sometimes mentioned to as modalities: visual ways t hat refers to sights, pictures, diagrams, symbols; auditory ways that use sounds, words; kinesthesia ways such as taste, touch, and smell.Thus, there are visual, verbal, and kinesthesia learners. Visual learners have a reference of seeing: pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, or demonstrations and they remember best what they see. They usually like to see the teacher's body language and expressions to better understand the content of lessons, highlight the important points of the lesson with pretty colors, and they Page 2 illustrate the concepts to fully understand and memorize it.If information is simply said to them, they will forget it easily. Auditory learners remember best what they listen to. They acquire a lot out of discussion, learn efficiently by explaining things to ACH other, take the underlying meanings of speech through focusing their listening to tone of voice, read the written materials out loud to absorb and memorize them well, and they prefer verbal clarification to optical demonstration. According to Richard M.Folder, â€Å"most people of college age and older are visual while most college teaching is verbal?the information presented is predominantly auditory (lecturing) or a visual representation of auditory information (words and mathematical symbols written in texts and handouts, on transparencies, or on a chalkboard)†. This present a problem to many learners. C. How we learn? How People Learn: Brain Mind, Experience, and School book [6] has concluded seven primary points of how people learn: 1.Leaning is facilitated when knowledge is structured around major concepts and principles. 2. A learner's prior knowledge is the starting point of effective learning. 3. Awareness and self-monitoring of learning (â€Å"meta-cognition†) are important for acquiring proficiency. 4. Learners' belief about their ability to learn affects their success. 5. Recognizing and accommodating differences in the ways people learn are e ssential. 6. Learning is shaped by the context in which it occurs. . Learning can be strengthened through collaboration.These points also were the foundations of the vision for the future science and engineering learning environment that was anticipated in the new electrical and computer engineering curriculum in 2013 and beyond [7]. In my paper, I am suggesting a plan that is in line with both points number 1 and 5. Implementation: To implement a teaching plan that focuses on visual and verbal learning styles in the computer architecture context, I will be using visual and aural tools to present the content and I will mix using them while I am explaining each concept.The aural tools will be spoken words or written presented text. On the other hand, the visual tools will Page 3 vary between pictures, diagrams and charts. This teaching plan is intended for introducing computer architecture course ACCESS/5200 at University of Colorado at Colorado Spring. The laconic teaching goals for this lesson are: 0 0 0 0 Student defines computer architecture. Student recognizes the role of the technology trends in computer architecture. Student distinguishes between computer architecture and instruction set architecture. Student lists two types of parallelism.And it will be organized as the following: 1. Prerequisite classes. 2. A foreword. 3. Computer architecture definition. 4. Computer architecture intersection. 5. Computer architecture classifications. 6. Why does it matter? 7. Course content. 8. Conclusion. 1 . Prerequisite classes Dependency or process diagram is going to be utilized to show the computer organization prerequisite classes. Computer organization 2. A foreword. Computers have different ways of how we see them. Computer Architecture Personal Mobile devices Desktop Computing Servers Clusters/ warehouseman computers Embedded computersEach of these unlike computers has its own characteristics, requirement, and computing technologies. However, they all have a t least a processor, memory, 1/0 device, and a way to communicate between them. Another way to see computers is this picture. Page 4 Applications System software Hardware SIS SIS in this picture is abbreviation of instruction set architecture, the boundaries between the hardware and the software. 3. Computer architecture definition: So, what is computer architecture? What do the computer architects do? The definition will be driven from the presented pictures above. Computer architects design imputer systems.Hence, it is not equal to designing SIS any more (old definition) SIS is actually a part of computer architecture. The word architecture nowadays covers all three aspects of computer design – instruction set architecture, organization or macrostructure, and hardware [8]. Computer architecture has been defined as designing the organization and hardware of the computer to meet goals and Measurement and Analysis Design Requirements and Castrations functional requirements [8] (figure: 1). 4. Computer architecture intersection: SIS Compiler Logical design Computer architecture is not a stand-alone subject.In order to obtain better computer design, it calls for familiarities with several topics like What do the computer architects do? Figure 1 : compiler, history of computers, and operating systems (figure: 2). A useful suggested tool to visualize the above Computer Architecture prop languages SO Computer history Figure 2: computer architecture interaction http://loving. Host. Sky/attendant/Operating-System-Extended-Machine. HTML Page 5 content would be Venn diagram. 5. Computer architecture classification: The most popular known classification of the computer architecture is Flan's taxonomy.It insiders only the computer processor of the designed computer system. The memory, interconnections, 1/0 devises aren't involved in Flan's taxonomy. The processor receive two kinds of information flow whether data or instruction. According to Flan's taxonomy, both o f the instruction or data streams can be single or multiple. Architecture categories Flan's Taxonomy SITS SIMD MID MISS Another architecture classification is based on the type of parallelism that is exploited in the designed computer system. Tow type of parallelism at the computer application Parallel architecture Data level parallelismTask level parallelism level: data level parallelism and task level parallelism 6. Why does it matter? Architects design architecture for a given technology. Technology parameters quickly change over time. So, it is important to trace the technology trends and plan for it as architects (figure: 3). Parameter Time Page 6 Figure 3: Technology trends Technology: Integrated circuit technology DRAM, Flash Magnetic disk technology Bandwidth and Latency Transistors and Wires Power and Energy: Thermal Design Power (TIP) Dynamic Energy and Power Static power consumption Cost: DRAM pence Microprocessors price Integrated Circuit Cost 7.Course topics: Computer a rchitecture Quantitative approach [8] is a popular book for teaching computer architecture class in many universities, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs as well. So, I am going to adopt the content of this book to introduce the computer architecture topics. Here is a dependency diagram to present the course topics and the book chapters at the same time in relational manner to give the student a glance of how the topics are structured. Also, it can be extended by building up new dependency relations between the chapters as the instructor start to explain them later on the course.This method is to facilitate the learning according to How People Learn book [6] point number one. Chap: 1 Fundamentals of Quantitative Design and Analysis Chap: 2 Memory hierarchy design Chap: 3 instruction-Level Parallelism Chap: 4 Data-Level Parallelism Appendix B Appendix C Chap: 5 Multiprocessors and Threadlike Parallelism page 7 Chap: 6 The Warehouse-Scale Computer 8. Close the talk by summariz ing the information. In conclusion, the computer architecture is to design the organization and the hardware of the computer to meet its functional requirements and intended goals.To do that best, architects asked for taking the technology trends in its consideration to lengthen the life of the designed architects and for taking advantages of parallelism in order to make it scalable and efficient. Measurement and Analysis Indeed, Just one thing needs to change in the teaching plan to engage both visual and verbal learning styles- change the way to present information, provide visual aids in addition to verbal ones. Evaluation: In this section, I am going to suggest an evaluating procedure consist of two parts: satisfaction evaluation and outcome evaluation.First, to assess the satisfaction of this Lana, instructor can look to the learning style for each student in the class using one of the learning styles inventory test that are provided online like: http:// www. Learning-storyline . Com/inventory/questions. PH? Cockiest=y or http:// Then, count the percentage of students that has visual learning style, aural learning style, and other styles. After that, calculate the how much of the students learning styles are covered by this plan design, sum visual and verbal students.Finally, count the parentage of students learning styles that this plan considered to evaluate the degree of satisfaction. Second, in a teaching and learning, the most actual evaluation is that which on the basis of students learning outcomes. So, to measure this plan outcome, instructor can use either way quantitative or qualitative approach like: asking some direct questions to Page 8 students to examine their understanding; print out an assessment examination and give it to each student (figure: 4); asking all the students if they have any questions about the lecture.I recommend the simplest evaluating methodology like the method suggested in [9],†instructors should avoid questions or situations that could make it wizard for students to respond (â€Å"Who is lost? â€Å") or are so generic as to lead to nonresidents (â€Å"Are there any questions? â€Å"). Instead, instructors should pose questions that encourage more specific responses, (e. G. , â€Å"How many of you understand what we are talking about? â€Å"). † Name: ? What is computer architecture? Name: From 1 to 10: How much important is this course?How much you think you can learn this course? As (high – medium – low): How much important is this course? How much you think you can learn this course? Figure 4: example of printed students' assessment Discussion: In USC computer architecture class, while implementing the presented approach, I notice a further unintended advantage. The main goal for this plan was to match the learning style for the visual and verbal learners. But I discovered that it has advantages even if the learning style doesn't match the student like the case o f international students.Indeed, this plan improves the learning for the verbal learners who are taught by a different language from what they are natively speak. There was almost 15% of the students in the ACCESS at USC are international students. This approach can contribute to solve the learning difficulties that the international students face. Assuming that the international students misunderstand 5% to 35% from the spoken language in the lecture, due to the lack of their English vocabularies and synonyms that they are familiar with, the percentage expected to decrease when the instructor uses visual tools in their teaching.Consequently, the progress is accomplished by reducing the misunderstanding percentage of the international students. Observing the visualization tools in this teaching plan, it was suitable for the context that they have been exploited in. One of the efficient teaching visualization tools to computer architecture course is simulators [10], it hasn't used in this suggested plan because it had addressed introducing the course but it still can be used later on the lectures.It helps explaining the main concepts in the course such as CPU [1 1], SIS, or cache memory. Page 9 Even if the computer architecture topics expand, this suggested plan will still be applicable and it will not needs significant changes. Conclusion: In conclusion, the main effort in this paper was a contribution to utilize delivering the computer architecture content to the students. I have used a teaching method that focuses on students' learning style and I have designed a constructible teaching plan.In my suggested designed teaching plan for the first day of computer architecture class, I have chosen two basic learning styles of student, visual and verbal learning styles. Then, I propose a way to evaluate the success of it. In my discussion, I discussed several points; I highlighted a benefit for this approach for international students as well; mentioned visualizati on tools are useful and recommended additional one that haven't used but can be used later in the course, simulations is useful for chemotherapeutics. Bibliography [1] E. J. Barbara, H.. B.

Cultural evolution Essay

In his article â€Å"Where Do Social Relations Come From? †, Michael Grossetti discusses the ways that human relationships are studied by sociologists, citing that often the methodology begins by starting with the relationship ad working backward to define it (Grossetti,p. 289). The most lasting relationships are the ones that come from organizations, he concludes, especially those related to family and friends. When we related this conclusion back to cultural evolution theory, we can argue that the lasting relationships of this generation because at this point in time most relationships are forged out of organizations or via our families. However, we can clearly argue that once this may not have been true as people had longer term relationships with people in their neighborhoods and those with whom they had a physical proximity. Grossetti argues that neighborhoods do not provide a basis for lasting relationships as they do not necessarily share life values or interests which draw people together (p. 292). When discussing this assertion in relation to cultural evolution, we can argue that in the recent past, neighborhoods did share a commonality that is now missing – immigrants would tend to settle in neighborhoods, neighborhoods would be divided by racial or religious lines, or at the most tangential neighborhoods would be reflective of a certain socio-economic status. Now, according to Grossetti’s study, relationships have evolved to the point that people develop relationships based primarily on organizations which they belong to –church groups, work groups, or interest organizations. When this is combined with the use of social networks, it can be observed that people are then creating a new means to segregate themselves via their interests. People have developed a new means to identify people with like interests and create new association groups. The interesting aspect of this evolving form of meeting may be that it creates relationships among people who in previous generations may never even have met. Because social networking allows people with common interests to meet without the traditional introduction of a mutual friend, they may completely change the way relationship develop in the future, dovetailing nicely with the theory of cultural evolution.

Divorce and Reproductive Health Essay

Divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties (unlike annulment, which declares the marriage null and void). Divorce laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries it requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process. The legal process of divorce may also involve issues of alimony (spousal support), child custody, child support, distribution of property, and division of debt. Where monogamy is law, divorce allows each former partner to marry another; where polygyny is legal but polyandry is not, divorce allows the woman to marry another. Between 1971 and 2011, several countries legalized divorce, the last one being Malta in 2011. The majority Catholic Philippines is the last officially secular country that does not have civil divorce for the whole population; Muslims, however, are granted divorce rights as per their religion. Vatican City, a ecclesiastical sovereign city-state, also has no procedure for divorce. â€Å"Divorcing one’s parents† is a term sometimes used to refer to emancipation of minors. Divorce in the Philippines is planning to take over Filipino values and culture. It’s all over the news, the Philippine Congress is now pushing forward the Divorce Bill right after they have put forward the Reproductive Health Bill. This is exactly what I have been worrying about. Just a couple of weeks ago, when I attended our Baptist Convention Meeting here in the Visayas, this issue was brought up. And just as what I have stated, â€Å"RH Bill can also lead to the Divorce Bill† because they have the same proponents. I know lots of Evangelical Christians are pro-RH Bill. But what they don’t know is that the proponents of RH Bill are also the proponents of Divorce Bill. And now that they almost got what they want, they are now preparing for another wave of controversial bill which will open a highway for immorality and degradation of Philippine culture and religious standards and beliefs. MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines remains the only nation in the world that does not have a law legalizing divorce. Is the country ready for such a law? Gabriela Party Rep. Luz Ilagan believes that it is time that the country moves forward and help couples who can no longer live together. Ilagan and fellow lawmaker Emmi de Jesus have filed a House bill introducing divorce in the Philippines that is now with the House committee on revision of laws. She said they are now waiting for the committee to schedule hearings to ask the sponsors and resource persons to explain the pros and cons of the proposed legislation. House Speaker Sonny Belmonte on Wednesday said the divorce bill will be among the priority measures that will be tackled when Congress opens its 3rd regular session in late July. Belmonte said he is supporting the enactment of a divorce law in the country. Ilagan, in an interview with radio dzMM Thursday, said the country is ready for a divorce law. PH only country without divorce â€Å"We are ready and we are the only country left now. Two years ago, we still had Malta,† she said. â€Å"But when Malta had a referendum last year, na kahit iyung presidente nila was reluctant to grant divorce, noong makita niya iyung results ng kanilang referendum ay pumayag. Kaya ang Philippines na lang ang natitirang bansa na walang divorce,† she said. She said Italy, where the Vatican City is located, allows divorce. The Vatican, which is technically a sovereign city-state, does not allow divorce. Current Philippine laws only allow annulment of marriage — a long, expensive, and painful legal process for estranged couples who no longer want to live together as man and wife. Not Vegas-style divorce Ilagan said the conservatives in the Philippines should not compare the proposed legislation with lax laws on divorce in other countries such as the United States. â€Å"May kaibahan, sa Amerika kaya tinatawag natin na divorce Las Vegas-style, puwedeng mag-asawa ngayon, tapos kapag hindi nila type, kahit mababaw lang ang dahilan, puwede na mag-divorce,† she said. â€Å"Sa atin naman, Pinoy style, mayroong mga kondisyon. Hindi madali na makuha rin iyung divorce. May mga kundisyon tayong inilagay sa isinusulong nating panukalang batas,† she explained. 5 grounds for divorce Ilagan’s bill proposes 5 grounds for divorce. Couples who want to avail of divorce will need to fulfill at least one of the conditions set forth in the bill, if it becomes law. According to the measure, couples who may apply for divorce include those who have been separated in fact for 5 years or those already legally separated for 2 years. â€Å"Number 3, is when the couple have the situation na nandoon iyung condition for legal separation such as marital infidelity, abandonment, one of the spouses has been convicted for more than 6 years, and domestic violence,† she said. â€Å"Ito naman ang mga basis for legal separation. Kung nandiyan iyan, puwede nang mag-file din ng divorce.† Grounds for legal separation may also apply when these same grounds have already caused the irreparable breakdown of the marriage. In addition, psychological incapacity, causing one’s failure to comply with essential marital obligations, and irreconcilable differences causing the irreparable breakdown of the marriage, will also be recognized as grounds for divorce. Ilagan said under the proposed law, it will be the courts that will determine if couples are qualified to apply for divorce. â€Å"It has to be proven in court, kasi hindi naman just because you filed for a divorce, you automatically get it,† she said. â€Å"Siyempre ang korte ang magwe-weigh.† Divorce less expensive She said the proposed divorce process will not be as financially, emotionally, and legally taxing as annulment. â€Å"Mas hindi mahal pero hindi siya murang-mura naman na this will become very, very easy that people will avail of,† she said. â€Å"Kasi, mayroon pa ring effort, mayroon pa ring proseso na susndin to reconcile.† â€Å"There will still be some expenses to be incurred dahil magha-hire ka pa rin ng lawyer pero this will not be as difficult or expensive as annulment,† she added. Ilagan cited data from the Office of the Solicitor General that says in Metro Manila alone, around 800 cases are being filed in courts for legal separation and annulment every month. â€Å"Majority of these (annulment petitioners) are women, and 92% are Catholic. Kailangan talaga, harapin na natin ang problemang ito,† she said. Support from lawmakers Even as the head of the lower House is supporting the proposal, Ilagan said the Senate is also likely to throw its weight behind a divorce bill. She cited the cases of 4 senators who either have annulled marriages or are undergoing the process. They are Senators Francis Escudero, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, and Aquilino â€Å"Koko† Pimentel III. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, during the renewal of her wedding vows last year, alsoexpressed support for divorce to be legalized in the Philippines. â€Å"I think divorce should be available to people who become homicidal at the sight of each other. That’s so much better than making each other miserable for the rest of their lives and impacting the lives of their children as well. I’ve always made known my views since I was RTC (Regional Trial Court) judge,† she said. â€Å"I am in favor of a divorce bill provided that grounds for divorce are very strict so that we will not encourage young people to rush int o marriage and then rush out by divorce,† Santiago said. â€Å"I think the Senate is more open,† Ilagan said. â€Å"They (senators) have revealed situations na they would be sympathetic to people who would like to have divorce.† â€Å"I’m sure marami din naman sa lower House na nakakaintindi. Itong bill na ito, inisip para tugunan ang pangangailangan ng atin mga kababayan,† she added. Just before the intense debate on the Reproductive Health bill, Filipinos are once more at odds with each other in considering another controversial piece of legislation: the Divorce bill. The debate on legalizing divorce took a kick-start when news of Maltese referendum favoring divorce reached the Philippines a few days ago. This has prompted progressive groups to make a bolder call for the country to follow in Malta’s steps and legalize divorce in a predominantly Catholic nation. The debate on divorce is nothing new, see here AttyatWork’s round-up of talking points on the issue from last year. Filipino Thinkers has a great digest of how the debate was settled and how the referendum unfolded in Malta. More importantly, it provides a side by side comparison of the issue between the Philippines and Malta: Aside from the happy ending, which left the Philippines the only country without divorce1, the story of Malta’s divorce referendum shares similarities with our own reproductive health (RH) debates: both countries are last bastions of Catholicism: Malta in Europe, the Philippines in Asia; both countries are predominantly Catholic: 95% in Malta, 80% in the Philippines; and both battles are primarily between progressive Catholics and conservative bishops. And in both cases, the conservative bishops use fear mongering to keep their flock in line. For a quick refresher on the differences between divorce, annulment and legal separation, Lyle R. Santos has a quick guide in layman’s terms. With Malta’s approval of divorce, the Philippines is now the lone country in the world that prohibits it. For Blue Dela Kanluran, the debate on divorce should not be framed on this fact alone: As i had stated earlier my stand is against divorce however, I will not begrudge a sovereign nation of their right to decide whats best for their country and themselves as Malta has displayed here. (See, that is an example of the separation of Church and State). Which leads me to wonder, what effects will the stigma of the only country which outlaws divorce have on the Philippines? Personally, I think this will make pro-divorce legislation in the future more difficult not only because of the meddling of the Church but with the stigma earlier stated as well (Which is not how legislation should be argued). Cocoy views the near-approval of the Reproductive Health and now the Divorce bill as a ‘reboot‘ of the Philippines, moving from a predominantly religious state in a secular o ne: If the Reproductive Health bill becomes law, and it is followed by a divorce bill? That would be one continuity reboot for the Philippines. It signals that the nation is slowly becoming secular and less under the thrall of the Vatican. As a Catholic, for me, it presents an opportunity for the Church to focus on the spiritual. I want sermons and direction that make me a better person. I don’t need the Church to tell me what is wrong with government. Filipinos everywhere already know what’s wrong with our nation. It is that time in history that we fix it. I need my church to help guide that poor maid who is always beaten up by her husband. I need a Church that guides street children away from the streets, and into education. I need this church to be relevant. Dreamwalker takes delight in the fact that this proposed laws, no matter how dividing and controversial, sparks debate among society, thus encouraging everyone to take part in the national discourse: I continue to be amazed by how Filipinos seem to be more aware of what is happening in the country and how we seek to be more informed about our laws â€⠀œ both proposed and existing. In my opinion, this can only lead to more good. Never mind that there will always b Maju brings forward a valid point in cautioning that our lawmakers should take up the divorce law with a keener eye: We should also get onto considerations on how good or bad are existing divorce laws. In many countries, notably those under the Sharia, the rights of women and men in divorce are not the same. Lastly, here’s a good discussion by a lawyer, Connie Veneracion, about annulment, legal separation under current Philippine laws and how divorce could plug the holes in the current Family Code: Later on, however, it became clear that despite the leeway allowed by the concept of psychological incapacity, there was a huge gaping hole in the law. Annulment is a very expensive legal procedure beyond the financial capacity of majority of the Filipinos. The laundrywoman living in the slums who is physically abused by the drunken jobless husband could not afford it. In addition to the expense, the process was a long and tedious one. Eventually, the divorce advocates started making noise again. As expected, the Catholic church is getting more imaginative in coming up with arguments against divorce. It is sad that most Filipinos cannot view marriage independently from its religious context. It is even more sad that most Filipinos do not consider themselves validly married unless married in church. Very sad indeed. So, will the passage of a divorce law patch the loopholes in the Family Code? It depends on what the law will allow as valid grounds for divorce and what the required procedure will be. It has happened before that a law is passed as some sort of pacifier. Congress can pass a â€Å"divorce† law which such narrow grounds and complex process that it will effectively negate the very purpose of a divorce. You know, just so it can be said that a divorce law has been passed. I doubt if that will satisfy the progressives and the divorce advocates. I’m not in favor that Divorce will be legalized in the Philippines. I believe its illegal and against the law of God. Philippines is a Christian culture country and we are the largest Christian Culture of all Asia. I don’t like Divorce at all and it has many disadvantages, of course Divorce ends your marriage that invest nothing at end, Divorce cost money and hurts children and also it changes personal relationships. Many people just don’t know the real importance of marriage even before planning of the wedding. Many of us are very religious and follow strict rules. We Filipinos believe that marriage is sacred in the eyes of God. Divorce is not the solution to the problems of many couple having their difficulties, they should put in their mind that they should save the relationship. They both promise in front of God that they will be as one in dealing life through ups and downs. We should see the other side of the situation and not be selfish. Children is the number one reason to keep the family together and bravely face all the problems. We should stand as the last standing country that did not legalized divorce and fight our dignity as a Filipino and as a person. Love of the family is the Filipino cultural identity. Family is very important and we should not give the evil an opportunity to destroy our gift of life which is our family. I Hope that many people realized the true essence of having a Family. I Will end up this with my deep and brief thought that In time of test, Family is the best. Below is a free essay on â€Å"Anti Divorce† from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. 1 Divorce: a threat against the Filipino family Introduction A number of House Bills seeking to introduce divorce in the Philippines has sparked a nationwide debate. Moral, social, economic, and psychological issues pose valid considerations in resolving the debate. Various concern groups passionately argue and defend their respective viewpoints. The proponents of divorce led by groups advocating women’s rights argued that the reliefs provided by the Family Code are no longer adequate in the modern and present time. Further, these reliefs are prohibitive in nature due to the high cost of the legal procedure and its strict guidelines. They further contended that in reality, many couples especially those in the marginalized sector are stuck in unhappy and irreparable marriages because the relief that is applicable for their situation is not provided by any law in our country. While rich Filipinos can afford to have their respective marriages annulled, those who are poor are trapped in an abusive marriage for years. However, this proposition has been met with strong opposition. Being devout Christians, many Filipinos believed that â€Å"what God has put together, let no man put asunder.† They opined that divorce could lead to the breakdown of families. Divorce, they say would be detrimental in the Filipino culture which is primarily centered on a strong foundation in the family. Moreover, they contended that the said bill is unconstitutional because it is a threat against the family which the constitution pledged to protect as an inviolable institution. This paper seeks to address whether or not there is a need to legalize divorce in the Philippines as necessary relief for those marriages that has broken apart and its effects. Divorce defined Divorce, also called the dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marital union. It cancels the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolves the bonds of matrimony between the parties. In effect,†¦