Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Secular Work in the Religious Market

Secular Work in the Religious Market Do you believe that religious magazines such as Catholic Digest, Mature Years Magazine and Parenting Teens only want religious material? Think again. Believe it or not, many religious magazines downplay theology, leaving that to theologians. Many religious magazines want general-interest articles that appeal to both the churched and unchurched. For example, a recent issue of Todays Christian Woman had an article titled â€Å"A Worn-Out Womans Guide to Good Sleep,† while Jewish magazine Tikkun publishes literary fiction and poetry. This means lots of opportunities for freelancers. Here are five tips to crack religious markets with secular material: 1. First, find magazines that you enjoy reading and study the content. Writing for religious markets involves the same process as writing for secular markets. Just like what you do with secular publications such as Time, Wired, and, yes, The Christian Science Monitor, study the themes and style of the articles in religious magazines. Some magazines are conservative, some are liberal. Just like you wouldnt submit social-justice pieces to Mature Living Magazine, you wouldnt submit travel pieces to Sojourners Magazine. 2. Submit either unusual or evergreen material. In addition to attracting nonbelievers, religious magazines want to entertain. So submit material that only you can create, or submit evergreen materials on health, family and holiday traditions. For example, I cracked a Catholic family magazine 3. Keep it family friendly. Submit unusual material, but dont forget that religious magazines, both conservative and liberal, have their limits. For example, a how-to on having a Fifty Shades of Grey type of relationship will definitely get rejected. Religious magazines prefer subjects that are appropriate for both adults and children. 4. Let the pastor, rabbi or imam talk about God. While religious magazines steer clear of explicit sexual content, they also reject journalistic work thats too parochial. In other words, dont sprinkle your work with religious jargon. Most religious magazines want to attract both believers and nonbelievers, so they steer clear of work that may offend non-religious sensibilities. For example, magazines like Guideposts have wholesome themes, but go lightly on using words like God and the Bible. Read your potential publication to get a feel for their particular style. 5. Prepare to wait a short time . . . or a long time. Depending on the circulation of the magazine, and its popularity among professional and non-professional writers, waiting for a response may take days, weeks or months. Read submission guidelines to get an idea of how long editors hold your query or submission. Here are five religious markets currently seeking writers. Call the magazine or Google-search to find out the name of managing editor. Todays Christian Woman todayschristianwoman.com/help/writers-guidelines/todays-christian-woman-writers-guidelines.html Childrens Ministry Magazine group.com/customer-support/submissions America http://americamagazine.org/contact/submissions Insight Magazine insightmagazine.org/guidelines/ Tikkun tikkun.org/nextgen/submission-guidelines

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Make Sure You Buy the Best Magnifier

How to Make Sure You Buy the Best Magnifier After you get a rock hammer- maybe even before- youll need a magnifier. The big Sherlock Holmes type lens is a clichà ©; instead, you want a lightweight, powerful magnifier (also called a loupe) that has impeccable optics and is easy to use. Get the best magnifier for demanding jobs like inspecting gemstones and crystals; in the field, for quick looks at minerals, buy a decent magnifier you can afford to lose. Using a Magnifier Hold the lens up next to your eye, then bring your specimen close to it, only a few centimeters from your face. The point is to focus your attention through the lens, the same way you look through eyeglasses. If you normally wear glasses, you may want to keep them on. A magnifier wont correct for astigmatism. How Many X? The X factor of a magnifier refers to how much it magnifies. Sherlocks magnifying glass makes things look 2 or 3 times bigger; that is, its 2x or 3x. Geologists like to have 5x to 10x, but more than that is hard to use in the field because the lenses are very small. 5x or 7x lenses offer a wider field of vision, while a 10x magnifier gives you the closest look at tiny crystals, trace minerals, grain surfaces, and microfossils. Magnifier Flaws to Watch for Check the lens for scratches. Set the magnifier on a piece of white paper and see if the lens adds color of its own. Now pick it up and examine several objects, including one with a fine pattern like a halftone picture. The view through the lens should be clear as air with no internal reflections. Highlights should be crisp and brilliant, with no colored fringes (that is, the lens should be achromatic). A flat object should not look warped or buckled- move it to and fro to be sure. A magnifier should not be loosely put together. Magnifier Bonuses Given the same X factor, a larger lens is better. A ring or loop to attach a lanyard is a good thing; so is a leather or plastic case. A lens held with a removable retaining ring can be taken out for cleaning. And a brand name on the magnifier, while not always a guarantee of quality, means you can contact the manufacturer. Doublet, Triplet, Coddington Good lensmakers combine two or three pieces of glass to correct for chromatic aberration- what gives an image blurred, colored fringes. Doublets can be quite satisfactory, but the triplet is the gold standard. Coddington lenses employ a deep cut inside the solid glass, using an air gap to create the same effect as a triplet. Being solid glass, they cannot ever come apart- a consideration if you get wet a lot.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Approach Used for Teaching English Grammar Essay

Approach Used for Teaching English Grammar - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that while talking about English grammar, we must also know the importance of the use of proper English grammar in our daily life. Doff found that â€Å"by learning, grammar students can express meanings in the form of phrases, clauses, and sentences†. Appropriate use of grammar using the prescribed set of rules helps us in a lot of ways while performing various activities. â€Å"Teaching grammar is of significant importance in the early stages of a child’s schooling†. Grammar is of critical importance because of its enormous use in many fields of life. Clark found that â€Å"teaching basics of grammar helps learners a lot in different situations†. Some of the situations where use of proper grammar is of crucial importance are as follows: use of correct grammar during an interview, proper usage while creating a resume for a job application, it’s also important while writing a website’s content, profes sional articles and journals also require correct grammar, academic essays must also be written using suitable grammar, and while writing emails to a certified company from another professional company. These were some of the basic usages of proper English grammar techniques in the activities of our daily life. Teaching grammar to the children of a primary school is a very can be an intimidating task for two main reasons. The first reason is that there are so many tones and gradations of the English language for children to learn and the second reason is that understanding and learning all of the prescribed rules of English grammar can be a boring task for the children. Nevertheless, teaching English grammar to the primary school’s children can be done in an attractive way so that children don’t get bored and show more interest towards learning proper English grammar which will definitely help them a lot in their future.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Semiotic OR discourse analysis of a magazine advertisement OR TV Essay

Semiotic OR discourse analysis of a magazine advertisement OR TV advertisement - Essay Example Semiotic OR discourse analysis of a magazine advertisement OR TV advertisement It can develop ergonomic design in circumstances where it is vital to make certain that individuals can work together more efficiently with their surroundings, whether it is on a big magnitude, as in structural design, or on a small extent, for instance, the arrangement of images and colours in images. Semiotic Analysis of the Dark Knight’s Advertisement This advertisement has the villain of the movie, rather than the hero. The viewers can easily recognize the Joker through his trademarks - his dark trench coat, the bright red lipstick, his mystifying and concealed face, the worn hang gloves, plus his seaweed green hair. However, the most prominent indicator that this is the Joker is that he has shown scribbling his catchphrase, â€Å"Why So Serious?† in the advertisement. By further exploring the picture, one gets the impression that he is inside or around the city. It is quite a dull day, with immense fog that makes visibility difficult. The townscape in the backdrop is hardly noticeable, and it appears to be very far away. The focus drops directly on the Joker himself. His body posture as well as the position of his fingers appears disorderly and strange. The smile that he is drawing with the red paint - or maybe blood - connotes that the Joker might not be a completely normal person. The fog in the image is an apparent indicator. It smudges and alters the vision, making it tougher to make out something or to recognize somebody (Leeuwen & Jawet, p. 94). The fog in the advertisement is a sign of the Joker’s lack of identity. Despite the fact that the fog is helpful in bringing the Joker into focus, it also helps in smudging his facial features, as well as a great deal of his coat. It makes the Joker appears as if he is a part of the fog; and as a result, the indicator draws attention to the reality that the Joker lacks identity. Advertisers use fog to highlight another point, which is gloominess. The shadowy, grumpy colours along with the fog bordering the image imply that it is a dull and murky situation (Mitry, p. 104). This is rather simple to observe. The gloominess itself is the sign of the personality of the Joker. There is a murkiness that encloses him, a sense of malevolence. Exactly similar to the time when something does not look correct on a dull day, something does not look normal with the Joker. It can be assumed that the gloominess itself is a representation for the Joker. The dull shade of blue in addition to foggy depiction is a sign of a threatening feeling of trouble (Lacey, p. 72). This is mainly because of the connotation of the â€Å"shower scene† that has publicized in various horror movies showing a barely visible hand behind the shower curtain or fogged glass surrounded by the mist. At some point, the picture of the Joker standing there connotes that he is in fact waiting outside a window, or even in your own house. He seems to be a psychopath who has been coming up for you. Another in dicator in this advertisement is the utilization of the Joker’s hands. His fingers are crooked and twisted. This depicts two things. First, he is not totally in control of his personal behaviour. This is a representation that he is psychological instable. Secondly, it reveals that he is suspicious as well as unreliable. It seems that his hands as well as fingers

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Academic degree Essay Example for Free

Academic degree Essay The different Definitions of education are misinterpreted in different ways, but there are still ways that you can interpret what you think the definition is on education. Education is to be able to find your own path. To have a high school diploma or to have a college degree, education is to be successful in your life in whatever way that is. Trying to define education is like trying to define why the sky is the color it is or why the grass is green, there is no accurate definition of education to me. Education can mean more than one thing having a college degree but also can mean not having a college degree. Being educated to me means to be successful in your life, just because you do not have a college degree doesn’t mean you will not go far in your life or make a good amount of money. People make it seem as if you don’t have a decent degree you will just work at a fast food restaurant. If someone were to ask me what it meant to be educated I wouldn’t be able to give them an answer. My mother Julie, went to the University Of Arkansas were she had completed law school. After completing law school she got a job at JB Hunt being a contract attorney. My father Carlos, who only has a high school diploma but works for a company called South Western Energy and is a company man for two rigs out in Pennsylvania where he is very successful in what he does. I don’t think you have to have a college diploma to be the most educated person around. Do I think you would make more amount of money in certain professions? Yes. Society makes it out to be that you must be admitted to a college to be educated, but really how educated do you have to be, to be admitted into a college. Back in the day it was a lot harder to get into a college, now-a-days you can score a fourteen through a sixteen and easily get into a college and just have to do remediation classes. Being tested for an ACT, SAT, Standardized test to me doesn’t show how educated you really are. Teachers teach you for the chapter they are covering than they either expect you to continue to remember what they taught you or you forget it. On the standardized test or the ACT or SAT there is information that you were taught in younger grades or that you haven’t been taught yet. So technically it really isn’t showing how educated a person may really be. Life its self-offers you an education. This lesson of education is more a hard learning education. ‘The best way to predict your future is to create It. ’- Abraham Lincoln. You are not taught in school how to balance a check book, how to cook, how to pay taxes, or how to do major things in the real world. Sooner or later you will get to the point that you will graduate for high school, get your GED or even drop out, but there will come a time that you will leave your parents’ house, which then you will have to find your own path in the real world. Unless you were taught by your parents or other adults how to balance a check book, how to cook, how to pay taxes, or how to do things in the real world you won’t be an educated person on how to go about life. In life there will be times that you will come to points in life that will you will see how educated you are, or when there is times that you need to speak up or when you need to go ahead and back off from the situation. People are different and learn in many different ways some faster than others and some who remember everything easily or some who forget stuff by the time class is over. Being knowledgeable in one subject and not in the other is that consider too make someone less knowledgeable or less comprehensive than another person. When going through college to earn a degree depending on what we want to major in we aren’t taught certain subjects. When majoring in anything in the medical field you aren’t taught any type of histories because you don’t need to know it. When you want to become a history major you aren’t taught any sciences because you don’t and won’t need them. If someone was to walk up to someone and try and have a conversation with them about a certain subject or ask them for some type of help on a certain subject but the other person isn’t able to have a conversation back because they aren’t taught that subject or haven’t been taught that subject does that make them any less educated than the person asking for help. There will always be some one that is always smarter or believes to be smarter than you, but really how can you tell how smart someone is. Being successful to me is a huge part of being educated. When knowing people who have a good degree and do not do anything with their degree and make bad choices in their life and not care what anyone thinks isn’t a successful and well educated person. When you are living on the streets and have a good degree you could go and find a job even if it means starting at a fast food restaurant and working your way to the top to get a job for what your degree is. It may take time but no reason to just sit around and waste a well-educated mind as society would say. There may be as many definitions as there are defines, but it is important for people to have a clear understand of education in order to be able to define it to other people on what your beliefs are and what it means to be a well-educated person. Lincoln, Abraham. Education Quotes Edgalaxy. Edgalaxy. Techzoo, 2009-2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Promotion of New and Renewable Sources of Energy Essay -- United Nati

Promotion of New and Renewable Sources of Energy Introduction Energy plays a crucial role in the economic development of all nations, especially those with limited access to resources. Access to energy sources is one of the fundamental elements of poverty reduction and sustainable development. It is for this reason that renewable energy and energy efficiency is essential to protect and preserve, as it provides a basis for economic advances, increased education, and environment sustainability. The United Nations is committed to alleviating these pressing concerns through the implementation of programs such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, as well as through numerous others and in concordance with the work of its main bodies and committees. Acknowledging the importance of sustainable uses of energy, the Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN) meets biennially to specifically discuss energy and ways to implement ever improving technology. History of Committee The Economic and Financial Committee is commonly referred to as the 2nd Committee, as it is one of six main bodies under direct authority of the General Assembly. ECOFIN deals with issues concerning economic growth and development, globalization and interdependence, sustainable development, as well as macroeconomic trade and commodities. ECOFIN also pays special attention to the concerns of the least developed countries and items on the agenda focus on integrating developing countries smoothly into the world economy (?Economic and Financial?). Other current affairs include disaster reduction, women and development, preventing and combating corrupt practices, and protection of the global climate. ... ... Assembly Main Committees. 3 April 2007. ?Changing Unsustainable Patterns of Consumption and Production.? 2002. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 3 April 2007. ?Establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as an Organ of the General Assembly.? 30 December 1964. General Assembly Resolutions. ?The Energy Challenge for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals.? 2005. United Nations Energy 3 April 2007. ?What Are the Millennium Development Goals 2005. UN Development Goals. 20 April 2007.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Tragedy of a Man

The â€Å"apparition† of Bartleby has confounded many wise men, scholars, critics and the like. The strange, almost inhuman way Bartleby resisted his employer and all forms of contact seemed supernatural—â€Å"Poe-ish†, as some would say (Reed 1). Though in recent times, the story of Bartleby has been used as an allusion of the Communist struggle against the capitalist system.Thus, they explained that Bartleby’s refusal to engage in the regular capitalist work is clearly an act of defiance against the system; and the historical vagueness and background surrounding the story accentuates this implied class struggle.The tragedy of it all, in the end, centers on the limited awareness of the narrator. His scrivener was not the originator of his tragedies; it was his humanity, and fatal defects that could not save his copyist from certain doom. His lack of insight into the depths of the human psyche and his consequent understanding of its workings rendered him u nable to understand and aid his comrade. He was only an ordinary lawyer caught in circumstances he could not understand; though had he the sufficient expertise, the answer would have been simple as to surprise him.Bartleby, if he was anything, was angry. No emotion could have driven him so potently as to his last contemptuous act upon himself and the world. For suicide is often thought of as some great act of despair or utter grief that overpowers the individual and inspire him to â€Å"escape†. It is also an act of great contempt that is needed to give a man the strength to destroy himself completely and blind him to all the protestations of his body.Thus, it was this rage that possessed Bartleby. The narrator was too struck by the pitiable, forlorn countenance as well as quiet insolence of his scrivener to discover the fire blazoning from within. In all fairness to him, he was a well-balanced man—as he readily admitted—free from the mad fits and temperaments t hat has afflicted his scriveners. He could not therefore have guessed Bartleby as anything else, as he assumed that the man was well-rounded in personality.The woes of this misunderstood individual continues on, as Marxists take the tale hostage and use it as a weapon of their own. Bartleby becomes a tool of their hatred, and example of a social revolution. In this essay, then, it is hoped to wrest it back to the individual perspective and back to the man that is Bartleby. To accomplish this, one need glimpse at the perspectives of the Marxists and one divorced from the Communist context; from here it is hoped that the Marxist logic can be successfully deconstructed.This paper will seek to redeem the soul of the story as well as the character immortalized in its pages. Citizen Bartleby Bartleby, the Scrivener’s unique â€Å"Marxist† quality—its ability to identify with the class struggle and the woes of the capitalist system—are inevitably â€Å"pulled o ut† by two critics, Barbara Foley and Naomi Reed, by the use of differing perspectives. Foley accomplished this by de-focusing from the individual and giving more emphasis on the style used in the story and how it relates to historical events of that time.Thus, the mention of John Jacob Astor and Trinity Church, which coincidentally owned huge properties across the New York area where the story’s office was located, become representations of the oppressive land monopolies (Foley 7-10). The narrator’s reducing his staff into â€Å"idiosyncracies† and an ideology of â€Å"patronage† (Foley 6) is representative of an unequal wage slavery; and the ambiguity of the date by which the story probably took place (through careful analysis it was found that there were too many inconsistencies in the dates), may have been intentional as to â€Å"underplay† the Astor Strike of 1849 (Foley 13-16).The last was re-emphasized with telling effect—by cit ing Melville’s â€Å"disillusionment† of the society of the elite and the similarities of another Melville work, â€Å"The Two Temples†. Naomi Reed, meanwhile, while centering on Bartleby the apparition and the â€Å"gentlemanly cadaver†, relates him as such, by way of substance, to the commodity discussed by Marx in Capital. Bartleby is both of two forms: the ghost and the figure between life and death; comparably, a commodity is both physical and non-physical, for it has non-material value (Reed 6-9).His insistent defiance on basic work, as well as other labors, is in fact a refusal to partake in exchange—the ideology behind his work (creating a perfect copy of the document) is that a copy may accurately portray an original document; in exchange terms, a value of one object may be substantially equaled by another. The scrivener’s act of refusing to vouch for the copy would be parallel to the rejection of the accuracy of exchange. Bartleby then represents Marx’s commodity alienating itself from the market forces (Reed 9-12). These two concepts do hold ground, in relating the individual to his environment.Having admitted to this, a third, more personal approach is to be taken: the tragedy of Bartleby’s anger and passive aggressive tendency. Turkey and Nippers Prior to introducing Bartleby, the narrator first gives us a glimpse of his two other scriveners: Turkey was an old man, of almost the same age as his employer, while Nippers was twenty-five. Of the former, it is narrated that after twelve o’clock, this legal copyist suddenly manifests discomfort throughout the day, carelessly spilling inkblots or bursting upon inanimate objects with fiery zeal with little provocation.The employer hinted that this was due to old age. Indeed, fatigue and lack of rest would be enough to wear down the propriety of even the sternest of men, more so with old ones. For his part, Turkey would not, out of pride and th e thought of wages being cut in half, do the sensible thing and stop work after twelve o’clock. Nippers, on the other hand, is most irritated when he is brimming with energy. This is attributed to his youth; though the narrator would much rather call it â€Å"ambition and indigestion†.He is impatient, rash and impetuous and would rather that the time pass and be done with his being a scrivener, as well as to finish his law studies. This here-and-now obsession manifests itself in his table, which probably symbolizes a hindrance to his objective. This impatience gradually dies down after lunch, as impetuosity is readily cured and becalmed by food. At the sight of his two scriveners’ open expressions of anger, the lawyer must not have then detected the same in Bartleby. Indeed, he was looking for a more-balanced individual, and thought that he found it in the man.He therefore was not properly warned to the dangerous patterns within Bartleby’s character. Pref er Not To The employer relates how he was thunderstruck the first time he heard of Bartleby’s quiet refusal. It was peculiarly odd, however, because there seemed to be no reason for this reluctance—he didn’t volunteer anything; he was ever quiet at his post, answering only when spoken to. He was therefore frustrated with what would seem as apparent insolence. Bartleby’s answer â€Å"I would prefer not to† is a classic passive aggressive response.The words â€Å"not to† are indeed an act of defiance and anger, though it could not be particularly directed anywhere. It was couched in the words â€Å"would prefer† because among passive aggressives, fear is commingled with anger. He has a fear of direct confrontation, and readily believes his being weaker to those around him. To say a â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no† would already be such an example of confrontation. Recognizing the â€Å"superiority† of would-be oppressors, he will express his anger, but try to make it as respectful a comment as possible.To a fairly balanced man like the employer, this self-contradiction is absurd and utterly unreasonable; that is what makes it offensive. To a passive aggressive, however, it would be unreasonable to reveal a grievance. There are a myriad of reasons for this, but chief of them is the fear of rejection and condemnation as well as a need to retain some power against his oppressor. Revealing his weakness would strip him of any control or power over the object of his contempt, and make him susceptible to denunciation.His silence then was due to fear for himself. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to say, he just couldn’t. The employer could also have detected something dangerously amiss in Bartleby’s refusal to do anything, except copy. He was clearly caught in some internal agony as to render him incapable of even the most mundane of tasks. He clearly needed help, and the lawye r could only ill-afford to prove it. Infernal Solitude His employer was filled with great pity the minute he found out that Bartleby was living alone.The latter did not socialize, knew no one, and generally kept to himself, using the office as a refuge. The narrator believes this as the source of the scrivener’s misery and in many chances as possible sought to connect to him. Tragically, however, Bartleby was trapped in a state of â€Å"forced solitude†Ã¢â‚¬â€while he might believe his state deplorable (though we could only assume), he is nevertheless prevented by anger and fear from reaching out, and this paralysis and stasis aggravates his misery. Bartleby did not loathe company; in his small way, he sought it.Through his dealing with the company errand boy, Ginger Nut, and that one time when he looked his employer square in the eye and said â€Å"Can’t you see it for yourself? †Ã¢â‚¬â€the passive aggressive needs understanding, though he will offer n o aid. The employer, stumbling through ways to help him, merely continues to frustrate his scrivener. Eventually the internal agony had debilitated Bartleby fully. Even copying had become a burden that he would not bear. The lawyer was constantly apprehensive that he would be abandoning Bartleby if he did anything that was not to ensure his safety.He would have been right in assuming that his scrivener would have felt betrayed, for passive aggressives are generally resigned to their misery and see it as normal routine, and to those that they have stuck to with forlorn hope, failure would only accentuate the deathly gloom. His employer felt the barb of this hurt when Bartleby talked to him in jail. His statement then, and his subsequent refusal to eat can only be construed as part of his contemptuous act against self and those he feels has wronged him. Conclusion: RedemptionThe significant sequel of the Dead Letters serves as the crossroads by which Bartleby’s plight is fully understood. The employer later lamented of his finding the significant cause of Bartleby’s desolation: he had worked as a clerk making letters for relatives of the departed. The thought of constantly generating correspondence to those who have recently lost probably destroyed him as a person. It was not only the act of breaking hearts; it seemed as if acting as accomplice to murder. This soon developed to a form of self-loathing, and the genesis of the tragedy of Bartleby.There are two ways to interpret this: The question that was unveiled in the third perspective was the source of Bartleby’s anger. Throughout we have learned that it was generated towards self and collaterally to others. Humanity should be briefly expounded as centered on the act of life. The very nature of a human being is to act to preserve life: eating, sleeping and even social interaction. The task of the Dead Letters was associated with the negation of life. Death. An unnatural and inhuman task, h owever mundane, will gradually wear down an individual.Bartleby became a specter of Death, opposed to life, and therefore opposed to the world, and to society. He was reluctantly opposed, as by nature he was inclined to life. He felt this opposition unconsciously, and felt that all anger is directed against him. Passive aggressives have a source of hatred before the self. As a human being, Bartleby was inclined towards life, and was thus opposed to the Dead Letters system from the beginning. Gradually, his resentment went inward, as he needed the wage and could not conveniently express his anger.He became the figure of rebellion of the individual against the dehumanizing elements of his system as well as prevalent social forces. Reed had a point when she said that this was an act of rebellion against the system. She was, however, wrong in the sense that Bartleby is not a commodity; to admit to this truth would assume that the scrivener is equal to the commodity, comparable to the in animate object of Marx’s work. Using her concept, this is an act of equality that cannot be vouchsafed. There is nothing dehumanizing about circulation, and exchange.The practice of work was not a product of capitalism, but social interaction. Bartleby was merely opposed to the inhumanity of the system, which he was thrust into. He therefore could not trust it, and would not trust it. Having experienced the unnatural task in the Dead Letters office, those that are detached from personal living though not overtly or even covertly opposed to life, would seem the same. This then would explain the scrivener’s insistence of detachment of his private and public life.The Marxist analysts say that the subtitle â€Å"A Story of Wall Street† precludes the social forces that are implied within Bartleby. It must not, however, be forgotten that this is a story about â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener†, about an individual finding himself before the deathly coldness of Wall Street. He is the individual in the center of his environment. To belittle him, as Foley would do in her analysis, would again dehumanize him. To make him a slave to social forces, and the context of labor and the collective, would be like the lawyer who could not see the man crying out from within.Maybe, he had an indication of his desolation, but trapped within institutions as cold as the buildings that house it, he had not the knowledge to reach out to him. The lack of scenery around the office windows may agreeably be an allegory to his blindness. His omission of going to church may have become a defect, as he was faced with humanity, and the sermons could at least have taught him how to act before it. The scrivener could not be saved within the pages of the story. The soul of his being, however, has been snatched from the perils that haunted his life.It is hoped that in this simple gesture of understanding, Bartleby may find in death what he could not redeem in life: humanity. BIBLIOGRAPHY WORKS CITED Foley, Barbara. â€Å"From Wall Street to Astor Place: Historicizing Bartleby†. American Literature 72. 1 (2000): n. p. Reed, Naomi. â€Å"The Specter of Wall Street: Bartleby and the Language of Commodities†. American Literature 76. 4 (2004): n. p. REFERENCES Melville, Herman. â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener†. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Fifth Edition. Ed. Anne Charters. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999. 984-1010.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Krugman Analysis

The Story Behind Financial Deregulation a. Wild Optimism & the Deregulation Movement b. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) PART II: THE SOLUTION Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) ; a. Exhibit A: The Great Depression b. The Initial Stimulus Effort Was Too Small 9. Solution Specifics a. Stimulus Specifics b. Additional Federal Reserve Actions c. Housing Relief (et. L. ) 10. Objection #2: The Danger of Government Debt (and Response) ; . The Problem of Investor Confidence b. The Problem of Paying off the Debt in the Future 1 1 . Objection #3: The Danger of Inflation (and Response) Section 4: The Chances of Government Stimulus Being Implemented (and How to Improve Them) 12. Pragmatic Politics and the Coming Election a. An Obama Sweep b. An Obama Win, and a Divided Parliament c. A Rooney Victory 13. Conclusion Since the housing and financial crash of 2008, America's economy has been stuck deep in the doldrums.Indeed, GAP has remained well beneath pre-2008 levels, and employment levels have failed to recover. In an effort to resuscitate the economy, the American government tried first to Jump-start it through stimulus spending, and has now replaced this approach with greater austerity. Nothing seems to be working. For Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Grumman, though, the answer is clear: the problem is that the original stimulus effort was too small, and, since that time, the government is moving squarely in the wrong direction.Indeed, Grumman argues that America's current situation bares a striking resemblance to the stagnation of the Great Depression, and that history has taught us what to do in such situations: the overspent must take an aggressive approach to stimulate the economy into recovery. This is the argument that Grumman makes in his new book ‘End This D epression Now! ‘ Now, Grumman is not a proponent of big government spending under normal conditions. Indeed, even in a recession, German's preferred approach is to drop interest rates in order to spur consumer spending.The problem now is that interest rates are already at zero, and this has not been enough to get consumer spending off the ground, thus leaving the economy in what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. For Grumman, the liquidity trap is actually quite common in economic downturns that allow financial crashes (as is the case with the current one, and as was the case with the Great Depression), and is why such slumps tend to be deep and prolonged. According to Grumman, the best and surest way to save the economy from a liquidity trap is for the government to step in and undertake the spending that consumers won't.That is, the government must stimulate the economy back into action, until consumers can get back on their feet enough to take over for themselves. For Grum man, this is precisely what happened in America during WI, when the government's military spending served to stimulate the economy and save it from the rips of the Great Depression. Now, German's opponents will point out that the American government has already tried the stimulus approach during this downturn, and that this strategy did not work, thus showing that it cannot be relied upon.What's more, these same opponents argue that the government's debt is already enormous, and indeed dangerously high, and that further government spending at this point may well render the debt completely unmanageable, if not force the government into insolvency (which is indeed a threat that is currently being faced by several countries in the European Union). Finally, German's detractors maintain that pumping more money into the economy at this time only threatens to drive up inflation to dangerous levels, perhaps even triggering a hyperinflation spiral.Grumman, though, claims that he has answers to all of these objections. In the first place, as noted above, the author maintains that the failure of the government's first stimulus effort did not prove that this approach is ineffective, but that it simply wasn't large enough to do the trick. Second, Grumman argues that though government debt does pose a concern, America's debt is actually not that dangerous by historical tankards. What's more, since America has its own currency (unlike the countries of the European Union), it is able to print money to turn over its debt, thus preventing the possibility of bankruptcy.Finally, with regards to inflation, Grumman contends that inflation simply cannot get off the ground in a depressed economy (as the current situation would attest to), and that when it is triggered in an upturn the government can always reverse its policy, thus keeping it firmly in check. Here is Paul Grumman speaking about his new book (Part II of the interview is available on Youth): http://www. Tube. Com/watch? What follows is a full executive summary of End This Depression NOW! By Paul Grumman.PART l: THE PROBLEM Grumman begins by way of establishing the gravity of the problems that America's economy is currently facing. This can be seen in the numbers. To begin with, consider America's Gross Domestic Product (GAP). As Grumman notes, GAP indicates â€Å"the total value of goods and services that are produced in an economy, adjusted for inflation†¦ In a given period of time† (loc. 274). As such, GAP provides a general picture of how much an economy is producing, and how quickly it is growing.Between the Great Depression and the beginning of the current recession, America's GAP grew at an average rate of between 2% to 2. 5% per year (loc. 277). The biggest downturn during this time occurred between 1979 and 1982, when America's economy experienced a ‘double dip' recession-?which Grumman characterizes as essentially â€Å"two recessions in close succession that are best v iewed as basically a single slump with a stutter in the middle† (loc. 283). At the low point of this recession, in 1982, America's â€Å"real GAP was 2 percent below its previous peak† (loc. 83), meaning it basically went flat. However, the author continues, the economy rebounded very quickly in the immediate aftermath, â€Å"growing at a 7 percent rate for the next two years-?morning in America'-?and then returned to its normal growth track† (loc. 283). When we look at the latest recession, we find that the low point occurred between 2007 and 2009. When compared with the recession of the late sass's and early sass's, we find that the latest â€Å"plunge†¦ As steeper and sharper, with real GAP falling 5 percent over the course of eighteen months† (loc. 287). What's more, the American economy has not seen a strong recovery this time around, as â€Å"growth since the official end of the recession has actually been lower than normal† (loc. 287). A ll in all, the author claims, â€Å"the U. S. Economy is [currently] operating about 7 percent below its potential† (loc. 295), and has lost $3 trillion in value since the slump began (loc. 299).Most significant of all, though, is that the economy shows no signs of a major come back any time soon; thus leading Grumman to conclude that â€Å"at this point we'll be very lucky if we get away with a cumulative output loss of ‘only $5 trillion† (loc. 299). . Unemployment Is Way Up While the GAP numbers are certainly telling, the more significant numbers, according to Grumman, are those concerning unemployment. As the author reminds us, unemployment statistics cover only those who are looking for work but who can't find it, and â€Å"in December 2011 that amounted to more than 13 million Americans, up from 6. 8 million in 2007† (loc. 94). This is already a staggering number, but when you take into account all of those people who have stopped looking for work out of frustration, or who have taken part-time work out of desperation, this number balloons even Geiger: â€Å"by this broader measure there are about 24 million unemployed Americans -?about 15 percent of the workforce-?roughly double the number before the crisis† (loc. 202). And since the current slump has dragged on so long, the number of people who have been out of work long-term (meaning 6 months to 1 year, or longer [loc. 224]) has risen to levels not seen since the Great Depression.Indeed, Grumman writes that â€Å"not since the sass's have so many Americans found themselves trapped in a permanent stats of Joblessness† (loc. 228). The unemployment numbers are particularly important, the author argues, since hey bring home the human element of the story. Indeed, while GAP statistics represent the abstract loss of an entire economy, unemployment numbers reflect the loss of income of real people. What's more, unemployment not only affects income, but self-esteem as w ell: â€Å"people who want to work but can't find work suffer greatly, not Just from the loss of income but from a diminished sense of self-worth.And that's a major reason why mass unemployment-?which has now been going on for years-?is such a tragedy' (loc. 173). Adding to the tragedy here is the fact that those who are shut out of the Job market or long stretches end up being stigmatize, which can hurt their prospects of landing work in the future: â€Å"Does being unemployed for a long time really erode work skills, and make you a poor hire? Does the fact that you were one of the long-term unemployed indicate that you were a loser in the first place? Maybe not, but many employers think it does, and for the worker that may be all that matters.Lose a Job in this economy, and it's very hard to find another; stay unemployed long enough, and you will be considered unemployable† (loc. 241). While all of these factors have very such affected people who were already in the Job ma rket, it has been even worse for young people who had not yet established themselves before the recession hit. Indeed, unemployment levels among the young tend to be higher than the general population in the best of times, but in the worst of times they tend to get hit even harder. As Grumman notes, â€Å"truly , this is a terrible time to be young†¦Roughly one in four recent graduates is either unemployed or working only part-time. There has also been a notable drop in wages for those who do have full-time Jobs that don't make use of their education† (loc. 249-58). 3. The Potential Long-Term Consequences When it comes to the plight of young people, as well as those who have found themselves shut out of the Job market for an extended period, these phenomena not only affect those directly involved, but also threaten to damage the economy in the long term. This proves to be the case because, as mentioned, present unemployment, or underemployment, can threaten future opport unities.As Grumman explains, â€Å"if workers who have been Jobless for extended periods come to be seen as unemployable, that's a long-term reduction in the economy's effective workforce, and hence in its productive capacity. The plight of college graduates forced to take Jobs that don't use their skills is somewhat similar: as time goes by, they may find themselves demoted, at least in the eyes of potential employers, to the status of low- skilled workers, which will mean that their education goes to waste† (loc. 324). And lost employment opportunities is not the only way that a prolonged slump can adversely affect future economic performance.As Grumman argues, an extended downturn tends to deter businesses from investing in and expanding their operations, which can leave them in a position where they are unable to meet emend when the economy finally does turn around and demand picks up: â€Å"the problem is that if and when the economy finally does recover, it will bump u p against capacity limits and production bottlenecks much sooner than it would have if the persistent slump hadn't given businesses every reason to stop investing in the future† (loc. 328).German's claim that an extended economic downturn does in fact have significant long time repercussions is bolstered by an MIFF study that looked at previous recessions. As the author explains, â€Å"the International Monetary Fund has tidied the aftermath of past financial crises in a number of countries, and its findings are deeply disturbing: not only do such crises inflict severe short-run damage; they seem to take a huge long-term toll as well, with growth and employment shifted more or less permanently onto a lower track† (loc. 41). Even more important, for Grumman, is that there is also evidence that a concerted effort to pull an economy up out of a slump can mitigate the future damage (loc. 341). For the author, then, the message is clear: America is in the midst of a very ser ious and damaging slump; the longer the country remains in the slump, the worse things ill be in the long run. As such, we must take swift and direct action to extricate the nation from the current situation.Before we take a look at what form Grumman thinks this action should take, it well help to hear the author's assessment of the current situation, and what he thinks landed the country here to begin with. According to Grumman, while America's current situation is really quite dire, the reason why the country finds itself in this situation is really rather simple. It all has to do with demand: â€Å"why is unemployment so high, and economic output so low? Because we-?where by We' I mean consumers, businesses, and governments combined-?aren't spending enough†¦ E are suffering from a severe overall lack of demand† (loc. 453-62). Actually, this whole scenario is unfolding as somewhat of a domino effect, as is the case with all downturns. To be specific, consumers have sto pped spending, which means that businesses do not feel the need to hire more employees and/or ramp up production; and since production is down, governments are earning less revenue through taxes, and are themselves more reluctant to spend (loc. 459). So, how does a country get itself out of this kind of slump?Under normal circumstances America's Central Bank (the Federal Reserve), would pump more money into the economy, thereby lowering the interest rate (by the law of supply and demand) (loc. 554-59, 590). This has the effect of making credit cheaper, which spurs individuals to lower their savings and consumer more, thus pulling the economy out of the slump. As Grumman reports, this strategy has proven to be very effective over the years: â€Å"it worked spectacularly after the severe recession of 1981-82, which the Fed was able to turn within a few months into a rapid economic recovery -?morning in America.It worked, albeit more slowly and more hesitantly, after the 1990-91 and 2 001 recessions† (loc. 559). The problem this time around is that when the recession hit in 2008 interest rates were already at the rock bottom rate of zero percent, meaning the Fed could not lower them any further (loc. 594). Since that time the interest rate has remained at zero, but, through it all, even this has not been enough to spur consumer spending to the point where it has been able to rescue the economy from its slump.When interest rates are at zero, and people still aren't spending, you have what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it's what happens when zero isn't low enough, when the Fed has saturated the economy with liquidity to such an extent that there's no cost to holding more cash, yet overall demand remains IoW' (loc. 596). And for the author, this is the crux of the issue. According to Grumman, a major part of the problem this time around is that when the latest recession hit, a large number of Americans were already deep in deb t due to the housing crash, as well as other personal debt.What this meant is that even at zero percent interest a vast number of Americans could not afford to resume pending, for they had to get out of their debilitating debt first (loc. 755, 774, 2240). Nor is that the worst of it. Indeed, one of the most straightforward ways to get out of debt is to sell off your assets. But when a large number of people try to sell off their assets (including their houses) all at once, this drives down the price of the assets, thus reducing the amount of money that people can raise in order to pay off their debt, thus exacerbating the problem (loc. 63). But there's more! As the prices of assets fall, the purchasing power of money correspondingly increases (called fellatio), and this increases the relative burden of debt (for the money that you are paying back your debt with is ever increasing in value), thus complicating the matter even further (loc. 767). 5. The Root of the Problem: The Deregul ation of the Financial Sector Now, a lot has been made of the issue of how Americans came to be so indebted in the first place, for this was a major part of why the current problem is so bad.Commentators on the right tend to blame borrowers who took out loans that they were not in a position to pay back, as well as government supported agencies who provided cheap loans to under-funded home-owners (loc. 059). Commentators on the left, on the other hand, tend to put the blame on deregulation in the financial industry, which allowed banking and investment companies to take on undue risk, as well as the banking and investment companies themselves who took advantage of the situation by way of providing loans to overly-risky borrowers. Grumman himself is primarily in the latter camp.To begin with, Grumman claims that the vast majority of bad mortgage loans were made by private firms, not the much maligned government-sponsored Fannies Mae and Freddie Mac (loc. 1072); who, the author conten ds, got into the bad mortgage name only very late (loc. 1072), and not nearly to the extent that private companies did (loc. 1072). But the root of the problem, according to Grumman, is the steady deregulation of the financial industry that began under Reagan in the sass's, and that culminated with the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, which repealed a provision of the Glass-Steal Act.Glass-Steal was a bill passed in 1933 to deal with the ongoing Great Depression (loc. 977). The major provision in the bill was that commercial banking deposits would be insured up to a certain point by the federal government (loc. 977). This was meant o restore confidence in banks, many of whom had fallen to bank runs in the previous years (loc. 977). The issue with insuring bank deposits, though, is that this creates a moral hazard for the banks. For the banks know that they will ultimately be bailed out by the government (meaning taxpayers) if they fall into insolvency (loc. 86); and, as such, they are tempted to make overly-risky investments. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it could have created a situation in which bankers could raise lots of money, no questions asked-?hey, it's all government insured-?then put that money into high-risk, high stakes investments, curing that it was heads they win, tails taxpayers lose† (loc. 986). In order to protect against this moral hazard, the legislators behind Glass-Steal also included a provision that stipulated that commercial banks could not act as investment banks. This was meant to keep commercial bank deposits safe from overly-risky investments.As Grumman notes, â€Å"any bank accepting deposits was restricted to the business of making loans; you couldn't use depositors' funds to speculate in stock markets or commodities, and in fact you couldn't house such speculative activities under the same institutional roof† (loc. 990). In 1999, though, this provision of the Glass-Steal Act was repealed by the Grammar-Leach-Bailey A ct (loc. 1017). According to Grumman, this move was the height of irresponsibility, and was a major contributor to the extreme risk-taking environment that led directly to the financial crash of 2008 (loc. 007-1017). For the author, though, the repealing of Glass-Steal was not the only article of deregulation that prompted the crash. Indeed, he identifies several pieces of anti-regulatory legislation that also had a hand to play in triggering the whole mess, from President Carter's Monetary Control Act of 1980 (â€Å"which ended isolations that had prevented banks from paying interest on many kinds of deposits† [loc. 1003]); to President Reggae's Garn-SST. German Act of 1982 (â€Å"which relaxed restrictions on the kinds of loans banks could make† [loc. 003]); to the failure of legislators to keep up with new innovations in the financial industry, such as shadow banks (loc. 1029-42). Now, unlike some left-wing commentators, Grumman is not prepared to let consumers off the hook entirely for the debt problems that complicated the crash. Indeed, the author (following the economic thinker Hyman Minsk) argues that a big actor behind the growth of consumer debt in the recent past was a general natural tendency for people to forget about the dangers of debt during good times (loc. 733, 798-815).As Grumman explains, â€Å"an economy with low debt tends to be an economy in which debt looks safe, an economy in which the memory of the bad things debt can do fades into the mists of history. Over time, the perception that debt is safe leads to more relaxed lending standards; businesses and families alike develop the habit of borrowing; and the overall level of leverage in the economy rises† (loc. 810). As the quote makes clear, the optimism in question touched all Americans, not Just the lenders, and so all involved deserve some share of the responsibility (loc. 33, 806). 6. The Story Behind Financial Deregulation According to Grumman, though, it was u ltimately the lack of regulations that allowed this selective memory and wild optimism to become dangerous, for the regulations were essentially keeping these sentiments in check (loc. 838). Now, it may rightly be said that the same emotions that led to growing debt also influenced the legislation that allowed it to become dangerous in the end (loc. 40). But for Grumman, there were other reasons behind financial deregulation that are also important to consider.For one, even before regulations were removed from the financial sector, the government had already begun to deregulate other industries (such as air travel, trucking, and oil and gas) (loc. 999-1003). These reforms had led to significant gains in efficiency in these industries (loc. 999), and thus many were optimistic that the same approach would work in the financial sector. The problem, as Grumman points out, is that â€Å"banking is not like trucking, and the effect of deregulation was not so such to encourage efficiency as to encourage risk taking† (loc. 007). B. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) Over and above the factors mentioned above, though, Grumman argues that there is a still more sinister explanation behind the deregulation of the financial sector. And this has to do with the political influence of those who benefited most from it: the bankers themselves. Take the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, for instance (which, you will recall, revoked a crucial regulatory provision of the Glass-Steal Act).As Grumman points out, the gassing of the Act was largely influenced by the lobbying of Citron and Travelers Group, who in 1998 had wanted to amalgamate to become Citreous, but who had encountered obstacles due to Glass- Steal (loc. 1043, 1357-65). And even before this, the political elite stood in defense of increasing deregulation, despite initial indications that the measures were problematic (loc. 1414, 1130). Indeed, as Grumman is wont to stres s, the problems posed by deregulation did not begin with the financial crash of 2008.Instead, they began to surface even in the sass's when the banking sector was first deregulated. For instance, in 1989 the Federal government was forced to shut down the thrift banking industry due to a collapse induced by bad debt (loc. 1099-1120). A desperate move that put taxpayers on the hook for $130 billion (loc. 1120). Then, in the sass's, further difficulties arose when several large commercial banks over-extended themselves â€Å"in lending to commercial real-estate developers† (loc. 1119).Finally, â€Å"in 1998, with much of the emerging world in financial crisis, the failure of a single hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management, froze financial markets in much the same way that the failure f Lehman Brothers would freeze markets a decade later† (loc. 1123). For Grumman, all of these events should have acted as clear warning signs that there was something seriously wrong with f inancial deregulation (loc. 1 125-30). So why did the political elite fail to heed the warning signs? For Grumman, this become a good deal more understandable when we appreciate how profitable deregulation was for the financial sector (loc. 142), and how much influence this sector has on government. Indeed, as the author points out, while deregulation did virtually nothing to increase the incomes of middle class families (loc. 137, 1190), the move was a great boon to the wealthy (loc. 1142, 1201), and especially the bankers themselves (loc. 1300, 1418). In addition, it's no secret that the wealthy, and the financial sector in particular, has a major influence on government (loc. 1351). This influence exists not only in the form of significant monetary contributions (loc. 346), but in the two-way cross-over between the financial sector and political office (loc. 1380, 1392). What's more, the influence of the wealthy has been increasing as the rich have gotten richer since the time wh en deregulation first took off (loc. 1388). Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus Grumman certainly maintains that reforms in financial sector regulations are needed if the country is to avoid falling into future debacles such as it finds itself in presently.For him, though, the more important question has to do with how to get the country out of its current situation. As you will recall, Grumman contends that America's problem now is that it is in the midst of a liquidity trap. That is, interest rates are already at zero, and yet this still isn't enough to reignite consumer pending. What's more, since consumers aren't spending, businesses have no reason to hire workers and/or expand their operations, and so they aren't spending either (loc. 461). Any yet, for Grumman, this lack of spending is very much the heart of the problem.So what can be done? According to Grumman, the answer is simple: the government mus t step in and take over the role of spending (loc. 879). As the author puts it, â€Å"the essential point is that what we need to get out of this current depression is another burst of government spending. Is it really that simple? Would it really be that easy? Basically, yes† (loc. 688). German's argument is that government spending will put money into the hands of the people, who will then be able to recover enough to resume spending themselves.As consumer spending increases, businesses will increase production and hire more workers, thus fully pulling the economy out of its current slump (loc. 679). 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) Now, some argue that government spending doesn't actually increase demand and spur the economy at all, since, they claim, all it really does is take resources from one sector of the economy and transfer them to another.The argument is well-rendered by Brian Riddle of the right wing thing tank the Heri tage Foundation, who Grumman quotes in his book: â€Å"the grand Keynesian myth is that you can spend money and thereby increase demand. And it's a myth because Congress does not have a vault of money to distribute in the economy. Every dollar Congress injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. You're not creating new demand you're Just transferring it from one group of people to another† (loc. 474).Now, for Grumman, this argument may hold true under normal circumstances, when banks are lending and companies are competing for resources (loc. 2369). But in a depressed economy this is not the case. Rather, in such a situation banks are not lending because safe investments net very little profit, and risky investments are, well, too risky (loc. 2369). So in a depressed economy, resources go unused by the private sector (loc. 2079). This being the case, government spending does not displace private spending; rather, it does nothing but increase d emand

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Civil rights and civil liberties are two common statements that sometimes are used inadvertently with one another. The two statements do coincide with each other, but mean different things. Civil rights â€Å"are the rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship, especially the fundamental freedoms and privileged guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress, including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination† (American Heritage). The 14th amendment states that â€Å"no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens†¦ No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law† (Articles-website). Civil liberties on the other hand are â€Å"fundamental individual rights such as freedom of speech and religion protected by law against unwarranted governmental or other interference† (American Heritage). Civil rights and civil liberties may seem like the same exact thing but when you break them down, the difference between the two is clear. Civil rights are the rights that are given to U.S. citizens that make ‘everyone created equal.’ Civil rights have to do with slavery, racial discrimination, women’s equal rights, gender-based discrimination, equal protection, affirmative action, and the rights of gay males and lesbians, as well as many more. Civil liberties are the protected laws given to everyone – even people that are not citizens – who is in the United States such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, as well as the other rights stated in the 1st amendment. The focal point of this paper will be on racial discrimination; specifically to Arab-Americans since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. One year ago, our nation was faced with one of its biggest chall... Free Essays on CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES Free Essays on CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Civil rights and civil liberties are two common statements that sometimes are used inadvertently with one another. The two statements do coincide with each other, but mean different things. Civil rights â€Å"are the rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship, especially the fundamental freedoms and privileged guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress, including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination† (American Heritage). The 14th amendment states that â€Å"no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens†¦ No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law† (Articles-website). Civil liberties on the other hand are â€Å"fundamental individual rights such as freedom of speech and religion protected by law against unwarranted governmental or other interference† (American Heritage). Civil rights and civil liberties may seem like the same exact thing but when you break them down, the difference between the two is clear. Civil rights are the rights that are given to U.S. citizens that make ‘everyone created equal.’ Civil rights have to do with slavery, racial discrimination, women’s equal rights, gender-based discrimination, equal protection, affirmative action, and the rights of gay males and lesbians, as well as many more. Civil liberties are the protected laws given to everyone – even people that are not citizens – who is in the United States such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, as well as the other rights stated in the 1st amendment. The focal point of this paper will be on racial discrimination; specifically to Arab-Americans since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. One year ago, our nation was faced with one of its biggest chall...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

What Is a Point Guard Basketball’s Team Leader

What Is a Point Guard Basketball’s Team Leader SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Love watching Steph Curry hit three-pointers? Or seeing Lindsay Whalen dribble down the court? What exactly do these point guards do? What is a point guard in basketball, even? Well, every basketball team’s starting lineup is made up of five players (each team puts 5 people on the court): a center, small forward, power forward, shooting guard, and a point guard. Each of these players has unique skills that make them an asset on the court. What is a point guard’s specialty? A point guard’s expertise is typically ball handling and passing. What Is a Point Guard? Point guards in basketball are expected to be great at dribbling the ball and great at passing, so that they can create opportunities for their team to score. However, they need to be so much more than that. They’re team leaders; they’re the person the team turns to to lead them on offense. They need to have positive attitudes because they’re the person their teammates turn to for support; they need to keep morale high. The chart below shows the five players positioned on offense, so you can see how the point guard fits in with the rest of the team. The point guard is typically one of the shorter players on the team (simply because this position doesn’t require height like some of the others). However, point guards are also usually the fastest players on the team because they control their team’s offense. Point Guard Offensive Responsibilities What exactly does the point guard need to do on offense in basketball? You have to master these six key responsibilities to be a top point guard. #1: Bringing Up the Ball The point guard (labeled number 1 above) is traditionally responsible for bringing up the ball from the other side of the court. This means after the other team scores, the point guard dribbles the ball (bounces the ball back and forth on the ground) back to your side of the court. The point guard then usually stands near the top of the key (the point shown in the diagram above) and figures out what play to make. #2: Controlling the Pace Because point guards bring up the ball, they end up setting the pace for the offense. If they bring up the ball slowly, walking while dribbling, they’ll slow down the offense. This can be good if the team needs a breather or if the other team’s offense is moving very fast, it helps reset the pace of the game. If they bring up the ball quickly, running while dribbling, they’ll speed up their offense. They might do this to try to catch the other team off guard. #3: Calling Plays After bringing up the ball, they may also call for the team to run a specific play. They may literally call it out loud by shouting something â€Å"James 45,† or they might make some sort of hand motion to signal for a play (such as putting their fist in the air). Think of them as the team organizer, like the quarterback in football. They start with the ball and then try to organize the team to get the ball to the basket. #4: Passing As I said, the point guard is an expert passer in basketball. As a point guard, you need to be good at passing the ball because once you dribble the ball to your side of the court, you’ll need to pass the ball to your fellow teammates to create opportunities to score. You’ll never see a point guard who can’t pass well. It’s arguably their most crucial skill. #5: Outside Shooting The point guard needs to be able to make shots from far away from the basket. While some players, such as the center and forwards, play close to the basket, the point guard generally stays around the 3-point line or just inside, so they need to be able to shoot from farther away. #6: Driving to the Basket While you’ll primarily see point guards pass or shoot from the outside, you’ll sometimes see top point guards dribble past the defense down to the basket to shoot layups (a shot from right next to the basket). A great point guard has the skills to fake out the defensive players, get around them, and score. Point Guard Defensive Responsibilities The best point guards won’t just be strong on offensive but on defense as well. The point guard’s role on defense will depend on what kind of defense the team plays. In basketball, there are two main types of defense: man-to-man and zone. You’ll more typically see man-to-man play in the NBA (or some sort of hybrid of the two). In man-to-man defense, each player is assigned another player on the other team to guard. They are responsible for guarding that player the entire game. In that scenario, the point guard will likely be matched with the other team’s point guard. They’ll try to stop the other team’s point guard from shooting or dribbling closer to the basket. In zone defense, each player is assigned an area of the court to guard, and they need to make sure to guard any opposing team player in their zone. In that case, the point guard typically guards the top of the key. They make sure no one is able to shoot a basket from the top of the key. Summary: What Does a Point Guard Do in Basketball? A point guard is one of the 5 positions on a basketball team. Point guards are the team organizers like quarterbacks in basketball. On offense, they need to be great at dribbling, to bring the ball to their side of the court. They need to be great passers, so they can give the balls to their teammates to create scoring opportunities. They need to be great at shooting from around the 3-point line. The best point guards will also be able to sneak around defense players and make layups. On defense, point guards are responsible for making sure the opposing team players don’t get shots off near the top of the key.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Total quality management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Total quality management - Essay Example In such a setup, all members of the organisations are trained and motivated to work towards improving processes, products and services offered by the organisation and based on the cultivation of a positive culture (Bagad, 2008, p.31). Oman Air is one of the leading airline companies in the Oman that have continued to grow and advance due to its great customer service focus and market centrality. The company currently operates large flights of planes plying different routes across the globe and offering unique and admirable services to the customers. The admirable service delivery approach has been attributed to the company’s adoption of a proper TQM that seeks to improve its customer relations and increase overall customer satisfaction (Flynn, 2011, p13). According to this introduction, the essay is organised as the following: First, it will critically evaluate the perception of Leadership role in quality management at Oman airline and how it can differ from one context to another. Second, it will highlight the different models for delivering good total quality management. After that, it will attempt to explore the role of teamwork, Customer satisfaction, Culture of improvement and risk management in total quality management of that will lead to better applications in total quality management in all organisations contexts. Finally, it will sum up the main points. The success of quality management in an organisation depends on the leadership approach adopted by the management and this approach is communicated to the other employees in the organisation. Leadership plays an essential management role in the implementation of TQM in any organisation due to the two benefits that it confers. Through leadership, Oman Air has enhanced its ability to mould its philosophy and principles within the various departments, which serves to improve the