The United States Patriot Act Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The United States Patriot Act - Term Paper Example The United States Patriot Act The law was developed to equip United States security organs with enough teeth to carry out their investigatory role and that of protection of America. The main purpose On October 26 2001, the then president of the United States of America George Washington Bush signed the USA Patriot bill into law. As consequence of this, the act aimed at strengthening the measures that were aimed at preventing, detecting, and prosecuting the money launders and those who finance terrorism. Secondly, the act was developed to subject certain foreign financial institutions to scrutiny and analyze certain transactions or some accounts are prone to criminal abuse. Finally, the Act was designed to back the development of anti-money laundering units in the country, and in other countries. In addition, the act was enacted with the objective of strengthening the processes of stopping or averting the usage of the United States financial system by unethical individuals and suspected criminals in other countries and aids the return of stolen money back. Historical perspective This act is the culmination of very many centuries of development of laws and other historical and political happenings that have shaped the domestic security situations in America. The development of this act can be traced back to 1798, when the alien and sedition Act was passed, this was developed in order to make it illegal for anybody to criticize the American president. The act gave the president immense powers to deport anybody and especially aliens whom were considered to risky to the American people and American property. At the beginning of the civil war of America, the then president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln issued a notice to suspend the habeas corpus, this had the e ffect of providing the rioters and those who protested to be arrested and jailed without formal charges. At the height of World War 1, there were 75 foreigners believed to be German-American socialists who were denied certain mailing rights and privileges. The law also provided the security organs with the mantle to censor all forms of communication that was moving in and out of the country. After the bombing of the Pearl Harbor by the Japanese naval military, the supreme court of the United States upheld President Roosevelt executive order that led to the transfer of Japanese-Americans from the west coast, and this was in defense of the harbor bombing by the Japanese military. The patriot act: fulfilling the intended purpose The act has led to stifling of individual’s liberty, but in the face of all the terror acts and attempted terror on American soil, which issue is more fundamental, liberty or safety? The act has helped information sharing amongst different security organ s in the country, allowing greater cooperation and reducing bureaucracy. This information exchange has lead to laudable benefits in terms of operations of the different agencies tasked with collecting information and countering terrorism. This especially applied to the two federal security organs in the country, the FBI and the CIA, The act gave these two agencies more freedom and powers and in their collusion, they managed to set up strings of operations nabbing suspected terrorists and foiling their attempts and in addition, they have nabbed major money laundering rackets. Since the enactment, of the act there has not been any reported large-scale terror attack on the United States to the magnitude of the September 11 2001 attack. The critics of the Acts point towards how the Act has

The Reader and Writer Essay Example for Free

The Reader and Writer Essay In the newsletter, ‘Getting our future back on the rails- slowly’, that was received by households in the local area; the writer emphasizes the need for change and promotes the idea of sustainable living through community action. The direct, persistent tone serves to assert the notion that the community would greatly benefit by a shared garden. The proposal contains 3 images of which all support the writer’s philosophy. Commonly, all are directed to the reader through techniques of fear tactics and consistent use of hyperbole. The newsletter aims to persuade readers through tactics of: appealing to sense of security, use of evidence and involvement of readers through inclusive language. The writer begins with the second word ‘our’ to immediately create a sense of belonging. This benevolent attitude is evident throughout the article by the simple repetition of ‘we’, ‘our’, and ‘us’- targeting to appeal to our sense of community. The writer’s aim is to involve the reader directly in the debate by assuming that they agree with the proposal: putting them in a position of not becoming innocent bystanders. It even strategically involves those not knowing there was a situation to begin with and subliminally creating divisions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in minds. By repeatedly using the word ‘our’, the writer is positioning the reader to feel included in the sense of duty required of themselves and their fellow residents. The use of inclusive language reinforces the need for solidarity amongst the townspeople in order to achieve the shared desire of harvesting a communal garden. The writer further outlines the duty required of the readers and the possible future harms that could arise from not having a community garden. It suggests that gardens could potentially save lives; teaching the ways of growing food and feeding one another. The writer works on undermining the reader’s sense of security by claiming that the modern time is vulnerable to independence. The technique of appealing to ones sense of security sparks fear thus persuading them in agreeing with the proposal. The key paragraph â€Å" people suddenly understood how vulnerable a society is if we have  forgotten or never learned how to produce our own food† would elicit a response from readers. It plays on their need to feel safe and free from an unexpected attack. The image within the newsletter depicts an androgynous leg shoveling soil. This image is then contrasted to a background of young children innocently staring back. Titles intersect the obscure scene, labeling â€Å" For their sake- GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLE†. It is quite obvious that the main intention here is to illicit fear. Regardless of its initial use during the Second World War, it seems to have some relevance to this situation (to a degree). These appeals the writer has used are powerful because people obviously value sufficient and continual protection from future attacks that may disrupt their lifestyle. In persuading readers, the writer on several occasions uses evidence as a technique to agree. The evidence was presented as information, facts and statements, which all support the belief that having a community garden would be more economical and beneficial. The image of statistics showing the costing of processed foods ultimately seems objective and accurate. Unarguably these results cannot be disregarded, thus positioning the reader to more likely agree. When presented with statistics it makes the writer seem more â€Å"knowledgeable† of the situation, thus putting more faith in what they’re saying. Throughout the article, the writer makes remarks such as â€Å"hundreds of millions across the globe† and â€Å"adding to environmental damage†. These may not be accurate but do work in the same way as of evidence. Overall the newsletter â€Å"Getting our future back on the rails- slowly â€Å" is an effective piece which would most likely persuade a majority of the community to agree in the establishment of a community garden.

Reading Lolita in Tehran Essay -- Literary Analysis, Azar Nafisi

Azar Nafisi, the narrator of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003), is a self-centered, self- righteousness character who, according to her claim, has very little contact with other Iranian people in general. (p. 11, 74, 186, 169) Being â€Å"very American† (p. 175), in several incidents she finds herself in a great distance of what others acknowledge as custom, ordinary or natural. (p. 32, 98, ..) Bear that in mind, she also admits that â€Å"events in [her] mind have become confused† (p. 89) Yet, do these shortcomings mean that Nafisi is an unreliable narrator? Should the fact that there is a lot she does not know about events or can only relate from hearsay, put one on guard against her judgments? In the first pages of the text, the narrator functions primarily to establish a representational frame within. At first, like a camera she presents an overall perspective, which is elucidating life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. An attitude that will always hover above the scenes to come that invites the reader to see the entire scenes and outlines under its shadow. Afterwards, the camera’s perspective changes as it introduces the close up image through two photographs. In these photographs, the reader is made acquainted with seven young woman who, in accompany with their teacher; Nafisi, form a literary group to discuss literature. These photographs, however, perform another significant task; they are complementary in the narrative discourse. While the narrator addresses the reader repeatedly and directly; she almost desperately asks them to be a part of the scene. The two photographs, being effectively graphic, almost instinctively engage the reader with the text. In this manner, taking the reader, the narrator esta... ...ngs [are] leaning against the wall†, â€Å"the vases [are] on the floor†, â€Å"the fireplace [is] in the corner†, â€Å"the love seat [is] against one wall† and â€Å"the peach couch [is facing] the window†. Therefore, at the end of the description, one, inevitably, feels a sense of familiarity with the living room as well as the narrator. As the narrator changes perspective, the audience respectively adopts the narrator’s point of view and sees and experiences events as she sees and experiences them. The same attitude, repeats in introducing the girls via the photos, as the narrator does not find it adequate to merely name the girls, she points out to their specific place within the photo. As if the reader is holding the photo, she indicate â€Å"the one to the far right is Manna†, Yassi is â€Å"the one in yellow, bending forward and bursting with laughter†, â€Å"I am the one in brown†. (p. 4)

Importance of Breakfast Essay

Studies have shown that person who take breakfast are more alert, with higher level of concentration and better problem-solving skills, and generally perform better in quality of work. The best time to eat breakfast is within an hour after waking up. After 10am, if people feel it is too late to eat breakfast, they can eat a healthy snack to give them some energy for the morning until lunch. If people having breakfast and develop a healthy breakfast routine, they will realize and understand the importance of breakfast. Let’s find out the importance of eating breakfast. To start the day, people need energy. One healthy way to get energy is through eating breakfast. The word â€Å"breakfast† literally means â€Å"to break the fast.† Breakfast provides your body and brain the nourishment it craves after an overnight fast. Having a meal in the morning helps you feel satisfied longer and helps deter snacking later in the day. Breakfast is essential to kick-starting your metabolism for the day. While you are sleeping and fasting, your body slows down many processes and burns less calories. Eating breakfast helps send the signal that it is time to bring these systems back up to speed so you burn more calories throughout the day. Now, you have know ones of other importance of breakfast, so let’s look another important of breakfast. Breakfast can produce brain power. Breakfast is your brain meal. When you wake up you have been fasting for about 8 hours. Energy giving glucose levels in your brain have dropped. The energy of the brain must be restored. Simply eating the right foods in the morning can maximize your brain power. Having a breakfast also can make your brain functioning at its optimal level. Your brain needs glucose to function, and after a night of not eating, your body’s stores have been depleted. Breakfast helps raise your blood glucose levels back to normal to give plenty of fuel for your brain to perform its best. The benefits of breakfast don’t just to get energy and to produce brain power. Regularly eating a healthy breakfast also help you to control the body weight. Eating breakfast may reduce your hunger later in the day, which may make it easier to avoid overeating. When the persons skip a healthy meal in the morning, that persons will pick snacks high in sugar and fat to curb the hunger. Another is healthy choices. Eating breakfast may get you on track to make healthy choices all day. When you eat breakfast, you tend to eat a healthier overall diet, one that is more nutritious and lower in fat. When you skip breakfast, you’re more likely to skip fruits and vegetables the rest of the day, too. Bear in mind that eating breakfast is important for your health. Without breakfast, it’s like climbing a mountain without any necessary equipment thus puts you at risk. The importance of breakfast is to get the energy, to produce brain power and help you lose excess weight and maintain your weight loss.

Building Construction

The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River had done major damages in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Many assumptions and speculations about the causes of the collapse of the bridge system had appeared in the public. The public was seemingly confused about the real cause of the incidents and it is their right to be informed about the state of the investigation. The closest and very logical of the causes indicated in some of the investigations are stress or fatigue failure and lack of redundancy.Environment, Design, and Description of the I-35W bridge The I-35W bridge supports a total of eight lanes (four lanes on each direction). The average daily traffic (ADT) is given as 15,000 in each direction , with ten percent trucks. Constructed in 1967, the 581 meter long bridge has 14 spans. The main span is consist of a steel deck truss. The south approach spans are steel multi-beam. The north approach spans include both steel multieam and concrete slab span. There are two steel deck trusses. Builtup plates mostly composed the truss members.Rolled I-beams comprised the diagonal and vertical members. The truss members undergo poor welding details with the connections as mainly riveted and bolted. According to recent evaluation and inspection before the collapse of the bridge, corrosion at the floorbeam exists and rust are forming between connection plates. The two main trussses have an 11. 6-meter cantilever at the north and south ends. Twenty-seven floor trusses spaced at 11. 6 meters are also present. These floor trusses were framed into the vertical members of the main truss.The floor trusses consist of WF-shape members and have a 4. 97- meter cantilever at each end. The design specifications used in the bridge was the 1961 American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO) Specifications. During that time, most of the design uses unconservative fatigue design provisions. According to the fatigue evaluation report provided by the University o f Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies in 2001, the approach spans had exhibited several fatigue problems promarily due to the distortion of the girders.The bridge truss and the floor truss system also exhibited poor fatigue details. Lack of redundancy in the main truss system was also present in the design. It is stated in the evaluation report of the University of Minnesota that cracking due to fatigue cause by a future increase in loading will first appear on the floor truss. According to them this future cracks is detectable since the floor truss are easy to inspect. In the incidence that cracks are not detected, the bridge could still hold the bridge system without the entire collapse of the system.In the report, the failure of the two main trusses of the bridge will definitely take much effect to the bridge system. Fatigue Resistance The Standard Specification and the Load and Resistance Factor Design provided by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AA SHTO) contain similar provisions for the fatigue design of welded details on steel ridges. These details are designed ased on the nominal stress which can be calculated using standard design equations and does not include the effects of welds and attachments.Since fatigue is usually present during sevice load application, the design parameters is only applied during service load conditions. Cracks due to fatigue have insignificant effect on the structures in compression but have tremendous effect on structures that experience tension. With this idea, the assessment on the cracks that propagate on such a bridge as the I-35W should only be consider to elements in tension. Structural Redundancy In all the design criteria of any structural system, loads existed in variety of paths should be significantly consider.The strength and reliability of the system can be ensure by the existence of the redundant paths or elements. Without the existence of this redundant system of elements, the fa ilure of the entire system is much possible. Past survey of the Committee on Redundancy of Flexural System on steel highway ad railroad bridges. The report summarized that a total of 96 structures were suffering some distress. It was also take into account that most of the failures were related to connections which were mainly welded.The report had also collected data which indicates that few steel bridges collapse if redundancy is present. Bridge systems with no redundancy was reported to have large number. In another research conducted by Ressler and Daniels, they found that the number of fatiguesensitive details present in the structure significantly affected the bridges with no redundant elements. Theoritical and Actual Bridge Response Many studies have shown that the simplified calculations used to predict the stresses provide a much higher value compare to the actual service stresses.Though the design calculations and load models provide appropriate results, it has great uncer tainty in the maximum life of a bridge system. However, it is still beneficial to have an accurate estimate of the typical everyday stress ranges. In a large bridge, 20 Mpa is the typical value of the service live-load stress ranges. The stress ranges are typically governed by dead loads and strength design specifications. This is the reason why the stress ranges are small. Since the strength design must account for a single case loading scenario over the life of the bridge, conservative load models are used.In addition to load conservative models, the assumptions provided in the analysis of the design can also be the cause of the large difference of the predicted stress and actual stress. A great example of the effect of the assumptions is the case of the US Highway 69 in Oklahoma. Fatigue damage was said to be present upon the welding that had been used in the widening of the bridge. The design computations of the bridge illustrated that the allowable stress ranges could be exceed ed at over 100 locations on the bridge.However, when the bridge was inspected, it appeared that the measure stress ranges was only 27 percent of the allowable stress ranges. This only shows the great effect of the assumptions used in the design of a certain structural system. Moreover, another study that indicates fatigue failure to be caused by the considerable amount of corrosion takes into account. This is the case of the Bridge 4654 in Minnesota where measured stress ranges ranged from 65 to 85 percent of the calculated analysis.These differences are to be point out to the fact that analytical methods provide assumptions that neglect ways in which the structure resists loads. For example, the study conducted y Brudette et al. , more than 50 years of bridge test data were collected and examined to determine specific load-resisiting mechanisms that are ignored in the design of the system. The study concluded that lower stress ranges in a structure can be due to unintended composit e action, contribution from non-structural elements, unintended partial fixity at abutments and direct transfer of load through the slab to the supports.In another study of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, they conducted a program of bridge testing that included more than 225 bridges over a period of 15 years. The study noted that much of the bridges can sustain much larger loads than their estimated capacities. Observations were also made regarding the behavior of the steel truss bridge. The observations are as follows: 1) the stringer of the floor system share a large tensile force thus reducing the strains experienced by the chord in contact with the floor system and 2) Composite action in non-composite system was shown to exist.

Free Essays on Wily Coyote

Wily Coyote â€Å"Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand† is a story full of rich cultural symbolism associated with the Pueblo people of the southwestern United States. While carefully acknowledging this fact, the writer of this essay also confesses that much of the significance of these symbols are over her euro-american head, and respectfully chooses to approach the story from the aspect of elements that resonate with her. The story is an interesting presentation full of double entendre with the protagonist narrating the story in the third person giving the reader somewhat of a bizarre look at the â€Å"facts† through his eyes. Our protagonist, although fancying himself a bit of a â€Å"wily coyote,† is more closely what we would call today a loser. He lives, without gainful employment, with his enabling mother. She provides a roof and pays his bills while he justifies his lack of contribution. â€Å"Coyote† is a lonely soul who does not fare well with women. I find it a stretch to feel sorry for him since he walked away from a young woman who loved him and wanted to marry him because he understood she would expect him to provide for her. This clever slouch is not held in much esteem in his town, until one day he has an adventure that he believes will give him a fresh start in the men of his town’s eyes. Coyote is disappointed that a fleshy Mexican lady postmistress has spurned him. As a result of her rejection, Coyote has begun courting through correspondence Mrs. Sekakaku, a lady from another village. Coyote is self-centered enough to believe the postmistress is jealous, even though he has decided she doesn’t like him because he drinks and though the Mexican lady makes it clear she disapproves of the perfumed, pastel letters sent to him by Mrs. Sekakaku. Coyote is hopeful that, with Mrs. Sekakaku in another village, he will have a fresh start, away from where â€Å"nobody understood just what kind of man he was. They th... Free Essays on Wily Coyote Free Essays on Wily Coyote Wily Coyote â€Å"Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand† is a story full of rich cultural symbolism associated with the Pueblo people of the southwestern United States. While carefully acknowledging this fact, the writer of this essay also confesses that much of the significance of these symbols are over her euro-american head, and respectfully chooses to approach the story from the aspect of elements that resonate with her. The story is an interesting presentation full of double entendre with the protagonist narrating the story in the third person giving the reader somewhat of a bizarre look at the â€Å"facts† through his eyes. Our protagonist, although fancying himself a bit of a â€Å"wily coyote,† is more closely what we would call today a loser. He lives, without gainful employment, with his enabling mother. She provides a roof and pays his bills while he justifies his lack of contribution. â€Å"Coyote† is a lonely soul who does not fare well with women. I find it a stretch to feel sorry for him since he walked away from a young woman who loved him and wanted to marry him because he understood she would expect him to provide for her. This clever slouch is not held in much esteem in his town, until one day he has an adventure that he believes will give him a fresh start in the men of his town’s eyes. Coyote is disappointed that a fleshy Mexican lady postmistress has spurned him. As a result of her rejection, Coyote has begun courting through correspondence Mrs. Sekakaku, a lady from another village. Coyote is self-centered enough to believe the postmistress is jealous, even though he has decided she doesn’t like him because he drinks and though the Mexican lady makes it clear she disapproves of the perfumed, pastel letters sent to him by Mrs. Sekakaku. Coyote is hopeful that, with Mrs. Sekakaku in another village, he will have a fresh start, away from where â€Å"nobody understood just what kind of man he was. They th...

Why recruiters are not paying attention to what youre saying in interviews

Why recruiters are not paying attention to what youre saying in interviews I have a confession to make. Years ago, 34 to be exact, at the start of my professional career I was an employment representative for a local university. Today, the position title would more likely be Recruiter or Talent Acquisition Specialist. The job title may have evolved, and the technology employed is now far more advanced. But the fundamental responsibilities of the position remain unchanged even today. Find candidates. Screen candidates. Interview candidates. When I say interview candidates, I mean a lot of interviews. Six to 8 interviews a day. Five days a week. Two years. That is more than 3,000 interviews if my math is correct. Now the confession. Not every single one of those interviews was gripping, edge of your seat theatre! Some of the interviews were mind numbing boring. At least once a day, in an interview, I would ask a question and then immediately â€Å"zone out†. By zone out, I mean my brain went to another place and time. It would return a few minutes late r when the candidate had finished the answer to the question. I, of course, had no idea what they had said or what valuable information they may have shared about themselves and their value to our organization. You can relate if you have ever been driving a car and several minutes go by when you find yourself at the next stoplight with no idea how you got there.I would like to tell you that my problem was unique, a symptom of life in the 1980’s and that the probability of â€Å"recruiter zone out† in today’s day and age is non-existent. But I would be lying. It’s just human nature. We are not built with an infinite attention span. We need mental stimulation and active participation to stay mentally engaged in any activity. Specific to job search and interviews, research from Monster.com indicates that:The average interviewer’s attention span looks something like this:As you begin speaking, the interviewer is listening with nearly full attention.Aft er about 10 seconds, he begins listening with less intensity.After 60 seconds, his mind begins to wander and he’s devoting less than half his attention to you. After you’ve been speaking for 90 seconds without interruption, the interviewer is barely listening at all.So, if maximizing engagement and attention span with your interviewer is a critical element of a successful job search, what’s the secret to being interesting in an interview? The answer is conversation. More specifically, you need to turn your interview into an actual conversation. We define a conversation as: â€Å"the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words†. That definition might run counter to your view of an interview as a series of formal questions and answers. If you don’t learn how to master the art of the conversational interview, then you run the risk that your interviews will always be a series of formal, dry, zone out inducing questions and answers.In today’s worl d of electronic communication, email and text messaging, it is possible that we are a little out of practice when it comes to informal conversation. That is not an indictment of any specific age group. We all, regardless of age, now have our heads buried in our smartphones. The good news is that conversation is like muscle memory and riding a bike. You never forget how to maintain a conversation. It’s human nature. You just need a few tips and techniques to adapt conversation to a job interview. Here are a few essential tips.Above all else, be interested in and inquisitive about your interviewer, the company and the position. Interest is best fueled through preparation. Research your interviewer on LinkedIn to identify areas of common interest and career experiences about which you would like to explore in greater detail. Research the company beyond the standard tour of the company website. Read articles from industry trade publications, postings from industry-specific groups on LinkedIn and the standard Google topic search.Take the time, before the interview begins, to build some rapport with your interviewer. Small talk and informal questions as you are getting settled will both ease your nerves and put your positive personality on display. Your pre-interview research gives you the building blocks for the small talk. For example: â€Å"I saw in your LinkedIn profile that you are fluent in three languages. That is a fascinating skill. How did you become so proficient in each language?†Be a storyteller. Every question you are asked is an opportunity to tell an engaging story that highlights your personality and value proposition. Work to formulate your answers to most of the behavioral interview questions using the standard STAR technique. What was the Situation? What was the Task that you performed? What was the Action that you completed to resolve the situation? And what was the quantifiable Result of your action?Keep the conversation going. En d every one of your answers with a related question designed to amplify your research and your value proposition. For example, after answering a question about how you facilitated a successful team project, you might ask: â€Å"I see that you use an open concept office design here. How do you use the open office space to leverage greater team collaboration?†And finally, have big ears and laser sharp eyes. By that I mean listen, really listen to what your interviewer is saying in response to your questions. And maintain eye contact. Don’t fake it. Stay engaged, have fun and view the interview as an opportunity to learn. Your best will shine through in an engaged conversation.The art of conversation just takes a little practice. And it makes life more interesting.I love to watch penguins. They all look the same, sound the same and pretty much do the same things every time I see them. I just don’t want to be one in an interview.Dan Troup is the founder of the Advan tEdge Careers coaching service. If you are interested in learning more about how a certified career coach can assist you in your job search, please contact AdvantEdge Careers at: https://www.advantedgecareers.com/

History and Background on the Yakuza in Japan

History and Background on the Yakuza in Japan They are famous figures in Japanese movies and comic books - the yakuza, sinister gangsters with elaborate tattoos and severed little fingers. What is the historical reality behind the manga icon, though? Early Roots The yakuza originated during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1868) with two separate groups of outcasts. The first of those groups were the tekiya, wandering peddlers who traveled from village to village, selling low-quality goods at festivals and markets. Many tekiya belonged to the burakumin social class, a group of outcasts or non-humans, which was actually below the four-tiered Japanese feudal social structure.   In the early 1700s, the tekiya began to organize themselves into tight-knit groups under the leadership of bosses and underbosses. Reinforced by fugitives from the higher classes, the tekiya started to participate in typical organized crime activities such as turf wars and protection rackets. In a tradition that continues to this day, tekiya often served as security during Shinto festivals, and also allocated stalls in the associated fairs in return for protection money. Between 1735 and 1749, the shoguns government sought to calm gang wars between different groups of tekiya and reduce the amount of fraud they practiced by appointing oyabun, or officially sanctioned bosses. The oyabun was allowed to use a surname and to carry a sword, an honor previously allowed only to samurai. Oyabun literally means foster parent, signifying the bosses positions as the heads of their tekiya families. The second group that gave rise to the yakuza was the bakuto, or gamblers. Gambling was strictly forbidden during Tokugawa times and remains illegal in Japan to this day. The bakuto took to the highways, fleecing unsuspecting marks with dice games or with hanafuda card games. They often sported colorful tattoos all over their bodies, which led to the custom of full-body tattooing for modern-day yakuza. From their core business as gamblers, the bakuto branched out naturally into loan sharking and other illegal activities. Even today, specific yakuza gangs may identify themselves as tekiya or bakuto, depending on how they make the majority of their money. They also retain rituals used by the earlier groups as part of their initiation ceremonies. Modern Yakuza Since the end of World War II, yakuza gangs have rebounded in popularity after a lull during the war. The Japanese government estimated in 2007 that there were more than 102,000 yakuza members working in Japan and abroad, in 2,500 different families.  Despite the official end of discrimination against burakumin in 1861, more than 150 years later, many gang members are descendants of that outcast class. Others are ethnic Koreans, who also face considerable discrimination in Japanese society. Traces of the gangs origins can be seen in the signature aspects of yakuza culture today. For example, many yakuza sport full-body tattoos which are made with traditional bamboo or steel needles, rather than modern tattooing guns. The tattooed area may even include the genitals, an incredibly painful tradition. The yakuza members usually remove their shirts while playing cards with each other and display their body art, a nod to the bakuto traditions, although they generally cover up with long sleeves in public. Another feature of yakuza culture is the tradition of yubitsume or severing the joint of the little finger.  Yubitsume is performed as an apology when a yakuza member defies or otherwise displeases his boss.  The guilty party cuts off the top joint of his left pinkie finger and presents it to the boss; additional transgressions lead to the loss of additional finger joints.   This custom originated in Tokugawa times; the loss of finger joints makes the gangsters sword grip weaker, theoretically leading him to depend more on the rest of the group for protection. Today, many yakuza members wear prosthetic fingertips to avoid being conspicuous. The largest yakuza syndicates operating today are the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, which includes about half of all active yakuza in Japan; the Sumiyoshi-kai, which originated in Osaka and boasts about 20,000 members; and the Inagawa-kai, out of Tokyo and Yokohama, with 15,000 members. The gangs engage in criminal activities such as international drug-smuggling, human trafficking, and arms smuggling. However, they also hold significant amounts of stock in large, legitimate corporations, and some have close ties with the Japanese business world, the banking sector, and the real estate market. Yakuza and Society Interestingly, after the devastating Kobe earthquake of January 17, 1995, it was the Yamaguchi-gumi who first came to the aid of victims in the gangs home city. Likewise, after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, different yakuza groups sent truck-loads of supplies to the affected area. Another counter-intuitive benefit from the yakuza is the suppression of petty criminals. Kobe and Osaka, with their powerful yakuza syndicates, are among the safest towns in a generally safe nation because small-fry crooks do not trespass on yakuza territory. Despite these surprising social benefits of the yakuza, the Japanese government has cracked down on the gangs in recent decades. In March of 1995, it passed tough new anti-racketeering legislation called the Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Criminal Gang Members. In 2008, the Osaka Securities Exchange purged all of its listed companies that had ties to the yakuza. Since 2009, police across the country have been arresting yakuza bosses and shutting down businesses that cooperate with the gangs. Although the police are making serious efforts to suppress yakuza activity in Japan these days, it seems unlikely that the syndicates will disappear entirely. They have survived for more than 300 years, after all, and they are closely entwined with many aspects of Japanese society and culture.

Disussion thread for Week 2, 3, and 4 Assignment

Disussion thread for Week 2, 3, and 4 - Assignment Example Ken is a competent nurse. Patients, hospital administration and physicians are passionate about his job. Therefore, it is recommendable to find a solution for him to prevent endangering patient’s life. Ken’s situation is of interest because his primary role is to provide patient safety. However, alcohol abuse hinders his efficiency and effectiveness in role. Therefore, there is a need for a remedy. Ken is a victim of alcohol abuse because of various reasons. He is stressed by domestic problems which makes him report to work drunk. He does not relate well to his co-workers that makes him lonely at the workplace. Therefore, it is the obligation of the hospital management to help Ken adjust to the problem. Last week a patient reported that he is not getting any relief from the pain medication that Ann had administered earlier. After contacting Ann, she was impaired in the Emergency Department and became upset by the interrogation on why the patient was complaining. She had injected herself with the drug. It is unethical for Ann to abuse a patient’s prescription. The use of prescription drugs results in either slow patient recovery or death, which is a medical negligence and malpractice hence unethical (Thomas & Siela, 2011). Primary care for patient safety is a significant purpose for nurse functions. Nurses should perform their duties with the moral code of conduct in utmost proficiency. Therefore, medical malpractice is a nuisance and unethical hence Ann’s behavior is a matter of concern that requires a remedy. Ann’s unethical behavior is caused by personal and workplace factors. Using patient’s prescription enables her relieve herself from stress and workplace conflicts. The act, however, is risky and unjustified to uphold patient safety, which is the primary function of a hospital. A scope of practice refers to the expert activities defined under state law. The scope of practice for a nurse is determined by each state’s nurse practice act.

Identification of Micro-Organisms Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Identification of Micro-Organisms - Term Paper Example As micro-organisms have a colorless natural state when viewed through a light microscope, the organisms must be stained in order to be visible. Staining imparts a color to the micro-organisms’ by the reaction of the dye with certain structures of the microorganism (Tortora, 2006, p69) A simple stain is alcohol or aqueous based solution of a singular basic dye and its main purpose is to highlight an entire micro-organism in order for its cellular shapes and basic structure to be observed under a microscope (Tortora, 2006, p69). In this experiment, methyl blue was used as the simple stain to view microbes obtained from cheek and tooth-scraping. The illustrations on page 3 under the heading ‘Scientific Drawing 2’ shows the images that were observed. Figures 1.5 at x400 magnification and 1.6 at x1000 are scientific drawings of the eukaryotic epithelium cells obtained from a human cheek. When viewed at x1000 magnification most of the internal structures of the cells got from the cheek could be seen under a light microscope. Figures 2.3 and 2.4 are scientific drawings of prokaryotic bacterial cells obtained from human teeth scrapings. The bacterial cells, which are approx 1Â µm in diameter, are much smaller in comparison to the human cheek cell and hence the internal structures could not be observed even at x1000 magnification. Unlike simple stains, differential stains react differently with each bacteria and therefore can be used to differentiate between each type of bacteria (Tortora, 2006, p69) The most commonly used differential stains are Gram stain and Acid fast stains and the staining procedures involve several steps. In this experiment, Gram stain was used to distinguish between gram positive and gram negative bacteria, taken from a vaginal and a urine specimen. Figures 3.1and 3.2 are scientific drawings of gram positive and gram negative bacteria respectively as viewed under a light microscope at x1000 magnification.

Debate Against (( Human resources manager are the guardians of ethics Essay

Debate Against (( Human resources manager are the guardians of ethics in business)) - Essay Example In short deontology theory of ethics never asks HRM managers to work for the protection of ethics in business. â€Å"For deontologists, the Right has priority over the Good. If an act is not in accord with the Right, it may not be undertaken, no matter the Good that it might produce† (Alexander, 2007). The above principle cannot by applied in an organizational set up always. In business, maximization of profit through efficient functioning of the organization is the major objective. It is impossible to analyze all the actions through the microscopes of morality in business. For example, there are certain instances in which the HRM managers forced to promote a junior employee over a senior employee because of the superior abilities of the junior employee compared to that of the senior employee. According to the deontological principles, only the senior employee could be promoted even if he might be useless. In that manner an organization cannot work.†Deontologists do not look at how much good might be caused by an action. They look at the action itself, deciding whether it is pro hibited or made obligatory by one of their rules† (Ethical Theory – Deontology, n. d). In other words, the arguments of deontologists are not applicable to the HRM managers. â€Å"Ethical egoism relies on the assumption that following one’s own self-interest will generally provide a maximum of benefit† (Koster, 2007, p.8). â€Å"It is the prescriptive doctrine that all persons ought to act from their own self-interest† (Philosophy 302: Ethics Ethical Egoism, 2009). In an organizational set up, the above principle cannot be applied. In an organization, the HRM manager should work for the interests of the organization rather than their self-interests. The interests of the employees and the interests of the organization may not go in the same direction. The organization always

Short Answers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Short Answers - Essay Example Because of the vast territory, there emerged a more global culture within the city-states which integrates their artistic styles into a single art form which we now call Hellenistic art (Greek Art 1). The classical period has emphasized the shift from depicting gods and goddesses with their ideal forms into human beings in their natural state. This has been continued in the Hellenistic period yet "the artist of the Hellenistic era expanded his formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, shadow and emotions" (Greek Art 2. From the simple depiction of Poseidon or Zeus in the classical era, the Hellenistic art comes up with more dramatic masterpieces such as the sculpture of Antinous which imparts deeper emotion. It should also be noted that the "subtle implications of greatness and humility of the classical era are replaced with bold expressions of energy and power" (Greek Art 3). The classical period's Charioteer of Dephi even though recognized for the severity of movements is relatively static when compared to the Hellenistic period's Boy Jockey which highlights tension. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are considered the three greatest thinkers in Greece.

Particle yield ratios in HIC from the quark recombination model Essay

Particle yield ratios in HIC from the quark recombination model - Essay Example On the other hand, more problems remain with regard to the inconsistencies in empirical findings about the behavior of these elementary particles and forces versus the strict predictions of behavior from the Standard Model, leading to the need for further research and experiments that make use of more powerful detectors and accelerators in high energy physics contexts. This is to aid in furthering the understanding of the fundamental forces and particles in the universe, and to aid in the crafting of more accurate theories about the nature of reality. Recent and planned work in high energy physics reflect this need to validate the predictions of the Standard Model and to work out the inconsistencies between the model and the behavior of particles and forces in the real world. Planned future work on the LHC revolves around making use of the progress in discovering the Higgs boson in order to understand how the Higgs boson conveys its power to matter, and the way the Higgs boson, among other things, interact with known particles and forces, as well as with new and unknown particles such as dark matter (Shears, 2012; . Aad et al., 2013). The Standard Model is the name given to a physics theory that aims to provide a description of fundamental forces and fundamental particles in nature. The value of the standard model is in its predictive power when it comes to experimentations in particle physics. The challenges tied to the Standard Model on the other hand relate to the absence of outcomes in experiments that would totally verify the theory. Until the Higgs Boson can be completely verified empirically for instance, there remain large holes in the theory that need to be validated, as the Higgs Boson is one of the most fundamental aspects of the Standard Model (Shears, 2012). The experiments at the Large Hadron Collider or LHC has confirmed the existence of a particle

Short Answers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Short Answers - Essay Example Because of the vast territory, there emerged a more global culture within the city-states which integrates their artistic styles into a single art form which we now call Hellenistic art (Greek Art 1). The classical period has emphasized the shift from depicting gods and goddesses with their ideal forms into human beings in their natural state. This has been continued in the Hellenistic period yet "the artist of the Hellenistic era expanded his formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, shadow and emotions" (Greek Art 2. From the simple depiction of Poseidon or Zeus in the classical era, the Hellenistic art comes up with more dramatic masterpieces such as the sculpture of Antinous which imparts deeper emotion. It should also be noted that the "subtle implications of greatness and humility of the classical era are replaced with bold expressions of energy and power" (Greek Art 3). The classical period's Charioteer of Dephi even though recognized for the severity of movements is relatively static when compared to the Hellenistic period's Boy Jockey which highlights tension. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are considered the three greatest thinkers in Greece.

You can choose any topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You can choose any topic - Essay Example The film Real Women have Curves was directed by Patricia Cardoso and produced by George LaVoo in 2002. The film can be overly attributed to depicting the female gaze. This is evident in that the main character, Anna Garcia, displays the levels to which a female can rise if only she releases herself from the societal limitations placed on her based on gender. In the film, she goes against her family’s will of taking up employment immediately she clears high school and opts to pursue further education. Her family’s intent was to put her into employment so that she could support them. However, she disapproves of this and pursues university education at the Columbia University (Cardoso n.p.). The portrayals of Anna seek to suggest that women have the right to their choices in life, and that by ignoring the societal construction of their weakness, they can achieve as much as they dream of. One point in the film which supports the female gaze concept is that Anna’s mother thinks that it is unattractive and unacceptable of a woman to have excess weight. This is seen in that she is constantly complaining about Anna’s weight saying she will never find a suitor. Anna however despises this statement which suggests of her mother’s possession by the male gaze. She appreciates herself and does nothing to reduce her weight so as to â€Å"please men† (Berardinelli 327). Additionally, Anna is free to speak up her mind and does not care as long as it means the best for her while not disrupting anyone else. In the film, this is seen in that she openly shoots down her mother’s suggestion that she should not further her education since education is useless. In its place, her mother offers to teach her to be a good housekeeper, being a good mother, and raising children. Anna again says that she is never going to be a housewife, and that education is the best way of achieving her dreams

Critical Thinking in Homeland Security Essay Example for Free

Critical Thinking in Homeland Security Essay Critical Thinking in Homeland Security Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Homeland Security is an essential part of the security organs that are very crucial in ensuring the protection of the country’s sovereignty. Just as other nations in the world, United States faces significant threats from the external and internal factors. The US established Homeland Security Department in 2003, in an effort to address the external threats and aggression like the September 11 terrorist attacks (Pruitt, 2003, â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). Therefore, the main objective of the department is to prevent terrorist attacks in the US. Additionally, the department has to minimize the exposure of the nation to terrorism and minimizing the injuries that results from the attacks, if attacks occur.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To achieve its mandate the department applies several skills. These skills are aimed at determining the likelihood of a threat and establishing the credibility of the threat as per the information provided. Among the skills used is the critical thinking. By definition, critical thinking refers to the ability by the department personnel to make clear, rational judgments (Paul Elder, 2009). This means that the decisions regarding security should be arrived through a well thought out processes (Pruitt, 2003). Critical thinking under homeland security focuses on crucial elements of thought and asking the relevant questions. This means that the department has to evaluate every piece of evidence at their disposal in order to develop appropriate security solutions to the country. The discussion put forward below will aim at establishing what critical thinking method model is appropriate for the decision-making within the structures of homeland s ecurity (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). The reason behind this inquiry is highly dependent on the fact that there are different critical thinking models. These models are very useful in the since they help to find the best and effective solution in homeland parameter. However, different models offer different results. Discussion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The September 11 attack brought about unprecedented need for good, efficient and effective security apparatus. With the introduction of the Homeland Security Department, the country was placed at a position to deal with the terrorism threats. The terrorism activities are currently very dynamic and in return there is a need for the solutions that might meet these challenges (Pruitt, 2003). As a consequence, the homeland security personnel is require to meet the ever rising need for increased demand of the security services as well as meeting the high placed accountability standards. To achieve these requirements they have to learn to become highly skilled in their level of thinking, as well as reasoning abilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fundamental reason for the need to improve skills is that the employees have to analyze all the massive information, understand it, identify the problems and offer solution (Paul Elder, 2009). However, the processing of this massive information comes against the race of time. Homeland security department has to make timely decision that would help to preempt any threats that may arise or control the already existing threats (Pruitt, 2003). Additionally, the strategies employed by the terrorist are changing day in day out, and as well these changes must be encompassed in the decision which the department is undertaking. For instance, before the September 11 attack, the defense apparatus restricted themselves to biological and chemical threats. Moreover, the use of airplane as a tool to carry out terrorism strikes was covered by defense agencies like the Pentagon (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). On the other hand, the threat o f airplane strike was not addressed as the security agencies believed this would result to giving the terrorist an additional tool to their disposal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The example about the use of airplane as a tool of terrorism indicates an ineffective manner of using the available information to mitigate the terrorist attacks. In this regard, critical thinking is very essential in manner in which the homeland security handles the information they acquire to handle security issues or threats (Paul Elder, 2009). This is mainly, because critical thinking offers the prediction and diagnosis analysis for security issues. Prediction depends chiefly on the ability of the security organs to be able to think ahead. Thinking ahead, as part of critical thinking, dictates that the security organs are able to establish the likely causes of terrorism and probable outcomes (Kiltz, 2009). Diagnosis means the analysis of previous threats which in turn helps to extrapolate the likely future events. In this regard, security organs are able to identify their past failures and in turn making amendments. Additionally, the organs are able to replicate past successes to the future. Best Critical Thinking Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While understanding the importance of the critical thinking skills, there are several critical thinking models at the disposal of security organs to address any homeland security issues. It is very crucial to put a lot of emphasis on the fact that critical thinking is basic requirement for security decisions facing the country (Paul Elder, 2009). Therefore, to identify the best critical thinking model it would be prudent to learn the two factors that will play a very major role in determining the best model. Critical thinking in the context of homeland security is fundamentally dependent on the most important factor for good decision-making and the nature of the homeland security context (Browne Keeley, 2007). 1. Decision making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Critical thinking is fundamentally aimed at arriving at appropriate decision. Every decision made or arrived at should be able to offer solution in the context of homeland security. In this light, the decision of the security apparatus should be able to effectively prevent the threats that arise as well as minimize the damages is events occur (Kiltz, 2009). Thus, critical thinking plays a pivotal role in decision-making process. On the same note, the best decision-making model is exceedingly reliant on the right questions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The right question are said to be the main factor that enable effective decisions to be made in all the fields of the society, security being inclusive (Kiltz, 2009). Questions are a good guiding factor while looking for the appropriate results. One, right questions create a structure that our thinking relies upon, that is to say, right questions are essential in finding the suitable materials or information that are essential to the decision or solutions. Secondly, right questions play a vital role of determining the course of our thinking. In this regard, the right questions are crucial element of individual thinking (Kiltz, 2009). This indicates that the right questions part of the homeland security parameters, in that they would help the decision makers in this context will arrive the best solutions possible to the various security challenges. 2. The nature of homeland security   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The processes and the activities surrounding decision making in the parameters or the context of the homeland security are substantially complex. The complexity comes in two levels: one, there amount of data or information being processed is extremely large and second, there are a lot of dynamics and variables in homeland security decisions (Paul Elder, 2009). Therefore, the decision-making process has a higher requirement of exhaustive scrutiny of all the probable accompanying implications of any decision made. In addition, the scrutiny extends other available options prior or before the enforcing any decision passed. A good example relates to diversion tactics that are highly employed by terrorist (Davis, 2012). This is where a threat is identified in a particular location while in reality the actual threat is in another place. Without appropriate critical thinking capabilities, the security apparatus are expected to put enough emphasis on areas which are reported to have the threat while leaving the other places vulnerable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Understanding the nature of homeland security is pegged on homeland security operations and the past failure. Past failures help to understand what part of the process failed and how efficiently and effectively did homeland rise from their falls. For instance from the example above, if the severity of a homeland security event was increased by the misjudgment stated above, in future homeland security would put all efforts at protecting all places equally while still putting emphasis on any information gathered (Paul Elder, 2009). That fact encompasses a crucial part of the critical thinking in such a security decision-making process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In effect, the most effective critical thinking model should be all-inclusive. Inclusivity means that all the available alternatives should be taken into account while simultaneously evaluating the possible outcomes associated with each likely action. The module applied is similar to a game theory model (Davis, 2012). In such a model, the homeland security is supposed to establish every strategy available to them as well as those available to the opponents, the terrorists. This would help to preempt most, if not all, of the threats posed by various terrorists groups. Therefore, every strategy has probable action, which in turn will deliver results. It would be the aim of homeland to select the most applicable strategy and take an action that would offer the best-expected outcome (Paul Elder, 2009).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For example, through information and intelligence gathering, the security organs in the United States had all the necessary, adequate and relevant information to indicate that an attack was eminent. This information was prior to the September 11 attack, which detailed the Al Qaeda plans to attack the US. This shows that the security organs had the available strategies of the opponents. However, the organs failed to select the best strategy and their actions failed to meet the required results (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The time constraints also play a critical part in undertaking any security decision. The reason behind this is that despite the large volumes of information that need to processed, the uncertainty of when a homeland security event is likely to occur needs timely decision-making. Using the September 11 example, it can be observed that the security organs failed to meet the timely decision requirement (Kiltz, 2009). Although all the information processed indicated the likelihood of a terrorism incident in United States, no timely action was taken to preempt the threats due to the argument that the decision process was at its preliminary stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Additionally, homeland security should be in a position to predict the opponents’ likely cause of action and also putting a lot of effort towards preventing the threats preempting the homeland actions. This is attached to diversion tactics, where the threats mature to events in places other than those indicated in the threats information. This was the strategy that was employed by the Al Qaeda to beat homeland security at their game in September 11 (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). Prior to the attack, the information gathered indicated that the threats were highly in United States departments and agencies that were beyond borders. The fact that overseas parts of homeland security were threatened, the homeland skewed its efforts towards the external offices and agencies. Consequently, the Al Qaeda anticipated the moves of homeland security and they counteracted by attacking the internal departments (â€Å"The 9/11 Commissi on,† 2005). Critical thinking should help to homeland security to fill all the available loopholes that may expose their operations and the country was vast. 3. Right Questions Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As stated earlier there are several models at the disposal of the homeland security, but among them asking the right questions takes the reign. There are several factors that have heavily tilted the odds towards the right questions model of critical thinking (Browne Keeley, 2007). First, the model plays a pivotal role in addressing the various loopholes found under the nature of homeland security. For instance the failures that were capitalized by the Al Qaeda in the September 11 attack (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). The right questions model aims at querying all the information available. The inquisitive nature of the model allows the various security issues to be determined as well as determining the necessary conclusions. The conclusions are highly dependent on the reasoning, assumptions, and clarity of words.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are numerous benefits that accompany this essential model of right questions. To begin with the model is highly useful in offering a well detailed analysis of the decision made as well as the cause of actions undertaken. When comparing this model with the other models such as the elements of thought thinking model, right questions model outranks them all in enabling homeland to meet its objectives or targets (Browne Keeley, 2007). Furthermore, it is established that the model has other models easily inbuilt. Mainly, homeland security establishes the positive elements of the other models and encompasses them in the right questions model. As a consequence, the models offer comprehensive and well-contained solutions out of all the available alternatives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, the said model is highly interactive as it offers an all rounded analysis of the various situations. The analysis is crucial in timely and effective decision-making as well as in actualization of the actions set. Additionally, the model allows homeland to identify the instances of fallacies in reasoning (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). Well thought out decision should not be guided by a belief, myth of misconceptions. This allows homeland security process of verification and validation of evidence to be thorough and unbiased. If some essential information is missed, the model would results to different alternatives. Right questions model bases its success on availability of possible alternatives. Therefore, the model puts a lot emphasis on the available information which helps decision makers to arrive at the best possible alternative. On the other hand, the other models have some constraints in their operations (Bro wne Keeley, 2007). For instance, the Element of Thought thinking model success is highly dependent on the emphasis given to some four aspects of decision-making. Using the Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Several failures have been seen under the dome of homeland security. These failures are highly attributed as the indirect contributors of past events like the September 11 attacks. The right questions model can easily address these past challenges (Browne Keeley, 2007). Moreover, the model is the key to providing support to the homeland security decision-making process as well as creating and enhancing the credibility of the actions undertaken by homeland security.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The right questions model is dependent on an extensive spectral analysis. This analysis is the foundation of critical thinking. As a consequence, the right questions model helps to evaluate all the possible alternatives and their accompanying actions; which aim at getting the best possible solution. The model has been extensively used under the homeland security context to eradicate and lessen threats like the September 11 attacks. For example, prior to September 11 attacks the United States intelligence had gathered that there were several threats directed towards the United States institutions outside the country (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). Lack of a wider spectral analysis, the homeland security failed in its job (Browne Keeley, 2007). In dependence to the information, the homeland security strengthened the security agencies beyond borders and failed to do so with the domestic agencies. As a consequence, the Al Qaeda use d this loophole to carry out the attacks in the US soil (The 9/11 Commission, 2005). Under right questions model, an in-depth analysis would have taken place prompting homeland security to reinforce all the security agencies across the board. Such analysis would have enabled homeland security to alleviate the September 11 attacks. The alleviation would have been achieved through the fact that the homeland security would have easily identify and eliminated all the security exposures that faced the United states at large without overemphasis on the overseas institutions (Browne Keeley, 2007). The fallacies of logic resulted to this misguided conclusions. While combating the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, there was a belief that the US turf was safe from the Al Qaeda actions. This resulted to homeland security ignoring the domestic security need for dealing with terrorism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Additionally, there were not efforts to fill the information gaps that were there before the attacks. There poor statistics since there limited activities that were undertaken by security agencies in the United States (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). The model selected put emphasis on identifying the missing information which in turns increases the chances of obtaining the best strategy and the appropriate cause of action to be employed. For instance, the evidence provided that an attack was imminent, but there were no prompt actions that were undertaken to mitigate these threats. Also, despite the availability of evidence that indicated that there were terrorist threats facing the US, no security actions were undertaken in time (Browne Keeley, 2007). The claims behind the lack of actions were that the decision process was still at preliminary stages, indicating the rigidity of the security operations. The selected model offers flexible and dynamic solutions to challenges. Through the right questions model, appropriate decisions would have been arrive at early enough to mitigate the threats. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Critical thinking is crucial for the undertakings of the homeland security department. This is because there are significant complexities of the decisions and accompanying actions. The critical thinking models are several but one outranks the others; the right questions model is very essential in establishing the right decisions and cause of actions. The model employs a wider spectral analysis strategy with an aim of achieving efficient, effective and timely solutions. Looking at the applicability of the model against the events of September 11 attacks the model would achieve better-desired results (â€Å"The 9/11 Commission,† 2005). References Browne, M., Keeley, S. (2007). Asking the right questions. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Davis, V. (2012). Use Critical Thinking to Overcome Personal Biases. IN Homeland Security. Retrieved 22 January 2015, from http://inhomelandsecurity.com/use-critical-thinking-to-overcome-personal-biases/ Kiltz, L. (2009). Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Homeland Security and Emergency Management Courses. Journal Of Homeland Security And Emergency Management, 6(1), 1-20. Retrieved from http://www.innovative-analytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DevelopingCriticalThinking.pdf Paul, R., Elder, L. (2009). The miniature guide to critical thinking. Dillon Beach, Calif.: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Pruitt, K. (2003). Modeling Homeland Security: A Value Focused Thinking Approach (1st ed., pp. 1-236). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: Department of the Air Force, Air University. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/afit/pruitt_vft_hls.pdf The 9/11 Commission,. (2005). The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (1st ed., pp. 1-400). Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-911REPORT/pdf/GPO-911REPORT.pdf Source document

Analysis of Pepsi Co in India

Analysis of Pepsi Co in India PepsiCo is the largest snack and non alcoholic beverage manufacturing company in the world. Its product range includes grain based snacks, carbonated and non- carbonated beverages and foods. It operates through four operating segments: Frito-Lay North America (FLNA), PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), PepsiCo International (PI) and Quaker Foods North America (QFNA).It sells its products in 200 countries with major operations in the US, Canada, Mexico and the UK. It distributes its branded products through multi channels such as direct stores, broker warehouses, food service centers and vending machines. PepsiCo in India PepsiCo entered India in 1988 and concentrated on three focus areas soft drink, snack foods and food processing. PepsiCo got permit to import cola conecnterate and to sell soft drink under Pepsi label in Indian market and in return to export juice concenterate from Punjab. Main objective put forward was To promote the development and export of Indian made and agro based products and to foster the introduction and development of PepsiCo products in India. Pepsico entered in India in the form of joint venture with PAIC holding 36.11%, voltas 24%, PepsiCo holding 36.89%. ISSUES: PepsiCo was coupled with the punjab card. They made certain commitments to Indian cental government.PepsiCo specifically supported national priorities in area like export and agriculture. Some of the commitments are as follows: 1) the project will create employment for 50000 peope nationally, including 25000 jobs in Punjab alone. 2) 74% of total investment will be in food and agro processing. 25% will be in manufacturing of soft drinks. 3) PepsiCo will bring advanced technology in food processing and provide thrust by marketing Indian products abroad and giving them global market. 4) 50% of total production will be exported. 5) an agro research center will be established by PepsiCo with ICAR and PAU. 6) no foreign brand name will e used for domestic sales. 7)export import ratio will be 5:1. FAILED COMMITMENTS: Within few years pepsi was recorded as one of non compliance companies that did not fulfill the commitments it made to Indian government. The company nowhere met its obligations. On September 4,1991 george fernandes said that Pepsi co has failed to meet its commitments and the company became a challenge to the government. The failed commitments are as follows: 1)EMPLOYMENT COMMITMENT: Employment generated by PepsiCo 1990-91 1991-92 direct indirect direct Food processing 169 9903 170 Administration 117 432 179 Bottling 497 15115 560 Total 783 25450 909 Source: data taken from balance sheets of pepsi foods ltd. Pepsico by 1996 increased the employment figure to 2400 which was just 3% of the commitment made. Branch name commitment Pepsi committed not to use its brand name pepsi in india. During first year pepsi used Indian brand name Lehar pepsi bt with the introduction of new policy in 1991 pepsi immediately changed its drink name from lehar pepsi to pepsi. Export commitment: Pepsi commited that 50% total product will be exported but instead of exporting its own products it exported basmati rice, tea, leather products Agro research center: No agro research center was established. PepsiCo, Inc., SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Strong Growth Prospects Efficient Use of Resources Expanding Operating Margin Declining Market Share in Sector Overdependence on Few Customers Geographical Concentration Opportunities Threats Huge Potential in the Emerging Markets Increasing Bottled Water Market Growing Organic Foods Market Highly Competitive Market Private Label Brands Gaining Momentum Global Economic Conditions PepsiCo, Inc. PepsiCo, Inc.- Financial and Strategic Analysis Review Reference Code: GDCPG35119FSA Page 2 PepsiCo, Inc. SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis Overview PepsiCo, Inc. (PepsiCo) is one of the leading snack and beverage companies in the world. Dominant market position and diversified brand portfolio are its strengths. Further, the rising demand for bottled water and strategic acquisitions could ensure a strong future. However, poor profitability and overdependence on a few customers are areas of concern to the company. Highly competitive market and growing demand for private label products coupled with global economic slowdown could also impede the companys growth. PepsiCo, Inc. Strengths Strength Strong Growth Prospects The company was trading at a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.16 at the end of fiscal year 2009. This was above the SP 500 companies average* of 9.2. A higher than SP 500 companies average P/E may indicate that the company may have high growth prospects which is reflected in its stocks premium pricing. Investors may be expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to other companies in the SP 500 index. Strength Efficient Use of Resources The companys return on equity (ROE) was 35.4% for fiscal year 2009. This was above the SP 500 companies average* of 12.9%. A higher than SP 500 companies average* ROE may indicate that the company is efficiently using the shareholders money and that it is generating high returns for its shareholders compared to other companies in the SP 500 index. Strength Expanding Operating Margin The companys operating margin was 18.61% for the fiscal year 2009. This was above the SP 500 companies average* of 14.7%. A higher than SP 500 companies average* operating margin may indicate efficient cost management or a strong pricing strategy by the company. The companys operating profit was USD 8,044.00 million during the fiscal year 2009, an increase of 15.59% over 2008 while the net profit was USD 5,946.00 million, an increase of 15.64% over 2008. The operating margin has increased 252 basis points (bps) over 2008, which may indicate managements high focus on improving profitability. Strength Strong RD Activities PepsiCo has a strong RD arm that focuses on various activities, which could help the company in cost reduction and process improvement, quality assurance, process control, and system development. The company also places emphasis on developing new manufacturing methods, improving on the existing manufacturing processes, new product developing and improving the existing products. For the fiscal year 2008, the company spent USD 388 million on its RD initiatives, against USD 364 million in 2007. Thus, such a strong focus on RD activities provides the company with an edge over its competitors in generating higher operational performances. New product and technology innovations also strengthen the companys innovating capabilities and provide a source of future revenues for the company. Strength Diversified Brand Portfolio PepsiCo boasts of a broad brand portfolio in the beverages and snacks categories, which helps it cater to the diverse needs of its customer base. The top 18 brands of the company generate USD 1 billion or more each in annual retail sales. Some of the major brands offered by the company include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana Pure Premium, Aquafina water, Sierra Mist, Mug, Tropicana juice drinks, Propel, SoBe, Slice, Dole, Tropicana Twister and Tropicana Seasons Best. This diversified brand portfolio of the company provides it with the economic stability and an edge in attracting and retaining a diverse customer base. It also helps the company to mitigate the risks associated with overdependence on a particular brand or product category. Strength Dominant Market Position PepsiCo enjoys a leading market position that helps it attract and serve a diverse customer base. The company is one of the leading snack and beverage companies in the world. It is engaged in manufacturing, marketing and sale of a variety of salty, convenient, sweet and grain-based snacks, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages and foods. The company sells its products in more than 200 countries. It is the market leader in the US savory snacks market with a market share of about 39%. It is also the leader in the US liquid refreshment beverage category with a market share of 25%. Furthermore, the company occupied 52nd position in the Fortune 500 rankings in 2009. The Frito-Lay brand is the worlds leading manufacturer of snacks. This dominant market position helps the company diversify its risks associated with the cyclical nature of most of these markets and puts the company at an advantage over its rivals while expanding its product lines. PepsiCo, Inc. PepsiCo, Inc.- Financial and Strategic Analysis Review Reference Code: GDCPG35119FSA Page 3 PepsiCo, Inc. Weaknesses Weakness Declining Market Share in Sector The companys compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for revenue was 7.34% during 2005-2009. This was below the SP 500 companies average* of 11.1%. Further, the company reported revenue of USD 43,232.00 million during the fiscal year ended December 2009, a decrease of 0.04% from 2008. A lower than SP 500 companies average* revenue CAGR may indicate that the company has underperformed the average SP 500 companies growth and lost market share over the last four years. The companys underperformance could be attributed to a weak competitive position or inferior products and services offering or lack of innovative products and services. Weakness Overdependence on Few Customers Overdependence on a few customers has been a major area of concern to the company. A significant portion of the companys revenues are generated from few customers. For instance, in 2008, sales to Wal-Mart and Sams West, Inc. represented 12% of the companys net revenue. The top five retail customers represented about 32% of its 2008 North American net revenue, of which Wal-Mart (including Sams) accounted for about 18%. The loss of one or more of the top customers in any of these segments could have a material adverse effect on the results of these segments. Due to overdependence on a few customers, the company may not be able to find suitable alternatives to sell its products in time if any of these customers is unable to buy the products on terms favorable to the company. Weakness Geographical Concentration PepsiCos overdependence on the US market for its revenues exposes the company to various risks associated with geographical concentration. Though PepsiCo has operations in various geographic regions, a majority of its revenues still comes from the US. During the fiscal year 2008, the company generated 52% of its total revenue from the US region. Further, during the fiscal year 2009, PepsiCo generated over 71% of its revenues from North America. This dependence on the US could impact its operational and financial performance in the event of any economic, political or climatic change. It also could restrict its market share and growth opportunities. PepsiCo, Inc. Opportunities Opportunity Huge Potential in the Emerging Markets The company could benefit from the growing markets in the Asia Pacific region. According to the World Bank, the GDP growth rate of high income countries came down from 2.6% in 2007 to 0.4% in 2008. The economies of these countries are expected to have contracted by 3.3% in 2009. Despite the global economic slowdown, the emerging and developing economies recorded a GDP growth rate of 8.1%, 5.6% and 1.2% during 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. Growth in the East Asia and Pacific region (especially China) as well as in South Asia (especially India) has been resilient. This was mainly due to the massive fiscal stimulus package in China and Indias skillful macroeconomic management. Chinas GDP grew at 9% in 2008 and 8.4% in 2009, while Indias grew at 6.1% and 6% respectively, during the period. The growing economy in these countries has generated new employment opportunities for the residents and has provided a boost to their earnings. Rise in disposable income has changed their buying behavior. Now more and more people are buying luxury and lifestyle goods unlike in the past when they used to confine their spending to basic necessities. Customers in the emerging countries are becoming more brand conscious and prefer to buy branded goods. With competition at its peak and markets getting saturated, the company can look out for new growth avenues in these regions. Opportunity Increasing Bottled Water Market The strong growth in the bottled water market is emerging as a major boon for the company. The global bottled water industry has been witnessing strong growth over the past few years, especially in the US. Bottled water is sold mostly in the industrialized countries where it costs between USD 500 and USD 1,000 per cubic meter, compared to USD 0.50 for municipal water in states such as California, US. With the strong profitability offered by the segment, many players have started foraying into the bottled water business. The demand for bottled water has also been on the rise in emerging countries. PepsiCos established presence in the bottled water segment, along with its strong brand image puts the company at a competitive edge over its rivals in attracting and retaining a loyal customer base. The strong distribution network also helps the company to cater to a geographically diverse customer base. Opportunity Growing Organic Foods Market The company has a significant opportunity to grow as the demand for organic food is set to rise by an average of 18% in the US by 2010, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA). Rising Health consciousness in the US has made the organic foods segment one of the fastest growing segments in the food retailing industry. Though, the organic food segment represented a mere 2.8% of the US food and beverage market, the organic food market in the region generated USD 21.2 billion in 2007. According to a recent report from the OTA, the global demand for organic products has been growing at USD 5 billion a year. PepsiCo offers its all natural and organic product line under the Tropicana and Quaker brands in the US. The company can thus capitalize on its distribution network and organic food offerings to increase its market share and revenues. PepsiCo, Inc. PepsiCo, Inc.- Financial and Strategic Analysis Review Reference Code: GDCPG35119FSA Page 4 Opportunity Strategic Acquisitions Strategic acquisitions offer a strong growth opportunity for the company, especially while foraying into new markets or launching new products or services. The company has grown over the years by acquiring or merging with some of the major brands like Frito Lays, Quaker Oats, Gamesa and Sabritas. Further, in October 2009, the companys Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC signed a Letter of Intent to acquire the assets of Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Conway-Myrtle Beach, Inc., the Pepsi-Cola franchise bottler based in Conway, South Carolina. Earlier, in August 2009, PepsiCo Inc. entered into definitive merger agreements with its two largest bottlers, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (PBG) and PepsiAmericas, Inc. (PAS). Under the agreement, PepsiCo will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of these two bottlers. Currently, the company owns 33% and 43% of the outstanding shares of PBG and PAS respectively. During the same period, the company also announced an agreement to acquire Brazils largest coconut water company, Amacoco Nordeste Ltda. and Amacoco Sudeste Ltda. (Amacoco). Earlier, in April 2008, PepsiCo acquired the UK based vitamin water brand, V Water. These mergers and acquisitions offer a steady revenue source, apart from geographical expansion for the company. PepsiCo, Inc. Threats Threat Highly Competitive Market Growing competition could impact the business operations of the company. The company faces stiff competition from the various companies that are in the business of beverages, snack and food products. Key competitors include General Mills, Inc., Groupe Danone, Hershey Foods Corporation, Nestle S.A., Coca-Cola Company, The Procter Gamble Company, The Kraft Foods, Inc., National Beverage Corp., Jones Soda Co. and Kellogg Company. Apart from the established players in the developed countries, the players from emerging countries too are competing hard to garner maximum market share in their respective regions. If the company fails to maintain product quality and consumer loyalty, this intense competition could reduce the sales volume of the company, thereby hampering its market position. Threat Private Label Brands Gaining Momentum The growing demand for private label products has been a major area of concern to the company. According to a report by the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA), there is a shift in the consumer spending towards private label products. Also, it is observed that the private label products have reached as high as 48% in traditional retailers and 94% in discounters. In the UK, almost all the top 30 retailers witnessed an increase in the private label share in 2008. Private labels may become even more popular due to the current economic slowdown. Apart from low prices, the increasing quality of private label products has been driving away the sales of branded products. Thus PepsiCo faces a major challenge from these private label manufacturers in sustaining its growth. Threat Global Economic Conditions The company faces a major challenge in sustaining its revenue growth due to the slowdown in the global economy, especially the US. The banks have tightened their credit lending process thereby affecting the consumers shopping ability. Even the market volatility concerns have made them shop only for basic and essential goods, thereby creating a major challenge to the goods manufacturers whose sales have been on the decline. According to The World Bank, overall global GDP contracted by 2.2% in 2009, with 1.2% growth rate in the developing economies well below the 5.6% growth rate in 2008. In 2009, the GDP growth in the US weakened to -2.4% while in the Eurozone, GDP contracted more sharply by 3.9% from 0.5% in 2008. Further, the global output is expected to expand by 2.7% in 2010, and 3.2% in 2011 still below the 5% generated in 2007. Thus, adverse economic conditions could adversely affect the demand for the companys products, which poses a major challenge to the company in sustaining its revenue growth. Growth strategies Transforming its beverage portfolio PepsiCo sought to transform its beverage portfolio by increasing the health and wellness quotient of its products through RD. It has strengthened. its carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) segment, comprised of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew. In 2007, it launched Diet Pepsi Max in the US. It is a zero calorie energy drink and targets young men. It also introduced the high caffeine Mountain Dew Game Fuel in 2008, aimed at video gamers. PepsiCo has also introduced new carbonated juice drinks such as Izze, which is free of caffeine, refined sugars and artificial ingredients and is naturally sweetened with fruit juice. Izze fruit juices primarily targets carbonates customers who want alternatives to artificially sweetened soft drinks. Growth through partnerships PepsiCo concentrates on partnerships and joint ventures to expand its operations. In 2007, it extended the scope of its partnerships with Starbucks and Unilever on RTD beverages, and is expanding into other categories through acquisitions. In January 2008, it announced plans to acquire Penelopa nuts and seeds in Bulgaria, and in 2006, it purchased Duyvis nuts business. Also In 2006, the company entered the salted snacks business in New Zealand with the acquisition of Bluebird Foods, and expanded its snacks business in Brazil with the purchase of Lucky snacks.

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Creation of a Politicize

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Creation of a Politicized Female Reform Culture In 1879, a group of evangelical churchwomen, all members of the Illinois Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), presented to their state legislature a massive petition asking that Illinois women be granted the right to vote. The architect of this ambitious petition campaign, which resulted in 180,000 signatures of support, was Frances Willard, then president of the Illinois WCTU. In using her position as a prominent WCTU leader to agitate for enfranchisement of women, Willard went against the express commands of the National WCTU and its president, Annie Wittenmeyer, who had made clear only one year earlier that the WCTU would not involve itself in any way with the suffrage movement. Willard’s efforts to build support for suffrage within the WCTU were only a part of a larger pattern of change. During the 1880s, WCTU members constructed a highly politicized women’s reform culture that supported both women’s enfranchisement and political partisanshi p. This essay looks at the first four years of this culture through some of the people and events that were most crucial to its growth. Founded in 1874, the late nineteenth century WCTU quickly became one of the most powerful reform organizations in the United States. By the mid-1880s, the WCTU boasted a membership near 100,000 and chapters in every state and territory, making it the first truly national women’s organization in the country. The size and influence of the WCTU during this period was unprecedented; no other women’s reform organization had ever had its power and scope. For the first time, tens of thousands of women were entering the public sphere as agitators a... ...olitical—particularly in the South and, to a lesser extent, in small towns in the North—the national chapter’s unswerving devotion to politicized reform created a culture that encompassed—but minimally infringed upon—even non-political WCTUs. Although temperance women’s alliance with the Prohibition party failed to result in their enfranchisement, or in a influential political party led by women, (the party’s influence peaked in 1884, and by 1892 it was once again of negligible political importance), the WCTU nevertheless helped shape a distinct political sphere for women. And the extensive amount of â€Å"moral† legislation that WCTU women successfully agitated for at the state and local levels, such as prohibition, blue laws, age of consent, school suffrage for women, and scientific temperance education in public schools is evidence of how strong that culture was.

Applied linguistics Essay

Applied linguistics 1 History The term applied linguistics dates back at least to the 1940s in the USA when linguists applied analytical methods to the practical problems of producing grammars and phrasebooks and developing language courses. 2 What Is Applied Linguistics? Applied linguistics: (1) was interdisciplinary, drawing on psychology, sociology, and pedagogy as well as theoretical linguistics; (2) included a range of fields including lexicography, stylistics, speech pathol ogy, translation, language policy, and planning among others; (3) performed a mediating function between theory and practice. Ð pplied linguistics must take into consideration the nature of language and the nature of the particular world in which language is used, the beliefs, social institutions, and culture of its users, and how these influence language use. Ideally, the job of an applied linguist is to diagnose a problem in real-world language use, bring the insights of linguistics to bear on the problem, and suggest solutions. 3 Relation of Theory and Practice: the Case of Language Teaching The applied linguist stands at the intersection of theory and practice, but it is not always clear how the applied linguist mediates between the two. This suggests a one-way street in which theory is at the starting point, and the applied linguist directs traffic from theory to practice. Influenced by structuralism in linguistics and by behaviorism in psychology, applied linguists believed that language was a collection of discrete learnable structures, speaking was primary, and learning a language was a matter of correct habit formation. To inculcate correct habits, teachers drilled students incessantly in correct pronunciation and patterned practice of grammatical structures. Under the influence of the theoretical work of Noam Chomsky, applied  linguists saw language learning as a cognitive process of hypothesis testing, in which errors indicated the stage of the language learner’s interlanguage. Instead, knowing a language means knowing how to communicate in the language; it involves acquiring â€Å"communicative competence. † A richer model of the relationship among theory, practice, and applied linguistics sees it as a two-way street in which the applied linguist directs traffic from theory into practice and from practice into theory. Similarly in applied linguistics, practice provides a testing ground for theory,  but it is more than that: real-world language use provides new questions and issues requiring new theories. 4 Recent Range of Inquiry Nevertheless, the central characteristics of applied linguistics remain: (1) focus on contextualized language use; (2) application of theory to practice and vice versa; (3) practical problem-based approach; (4) multidisciplinary perspective. 4. 1 Second language teaching and cross-cultural linguistics 2Accurate description of language use with the ultimate goal of teaching has motivated research in cross-cultural discourse and pragmatics. Concentration on  spoken language, combined with speech act theory among others, has engendered numerous research projects in applied linguistics investigating specific speech acts such as making requests and apologies in different languages and cultures. Applied linguists have examined the development of pragmatic competence in second language learners and the possibilities for teaching pragmatics. 4. 2 Language use in context: contributions of discourse analysis Outside the area of language pedagogy, the burgeoning of discourse analysis has provided a means whereby linguistic insight can be applied to real-world situations. Other institutional and professional settings, too, have come under scrutiny from applied linguists using theoretical constructs to explain how language is used in real-world settings such as commerce, employment, and public services. A field that has developed considerably in recent years in response to societal concerns is the investigation of language and gender. Recent empirical studies have enriched understanding of the interrelationship of language and gender and demonstrated that generalizations about male and female speech are unreliable when the particular communicative contexts in which the speech occurs have not been examined. Other work has examined gender and language cross-culturally and in specific institutional settings. 4. 3 Language maintenance and endangered languages and dialects The work of applied linguists on endangered or minority languages and dialects brings together field linguistics, anthropology, sociolinguistics and education. For example, a longitudinal study of language use and cultural context draws together sociolinguistic research into language use, research in language socialization, and second language acquisition research into educational discourse. It is not only minority languages that are under threat, but also dialects. 2. Contemporary linguistic approaches: Clinical, forensic, computational linguistics ( Ð ²Ã'‹Ã'‡Ð ¸Ã' Ã »Ã ¸Ã'‚Ð µÃ »Ã'Å'Ð ½Ã °Ã'  )( 29, 30, 25) We have chosen to focus on four relatively popular areas of inquiry: †¢ syntactic parsing; †¢ discourse analysis; †¢ computational morphology and phonology; †¢ corpus-based methods. Parsing and discourse analysis have had the longest continuous history of investigation. Computational morphology and phonology began to grow as a separate discipline in the mid-1980s. Corpus-based approaches were investigated as early as the 1960s. 1 Parsing (Ã'€Ð °Ã ·Ã ±Ã ¾Ã'€) Parsing is the act of determining the â€Å"syntactic structure† of a sentence. The goal is to represent â€Å"who did what to whom† in the sentence. Parsing involves tagging 3the words with an appropriate syntactic category and determining their relationships to each other. Words are grouped into phrase-like constituents, which are arranged into clauses and sentences. Machine translation systems employ parsing to derive representations of the input that are sufficient for transfer from the source to target language at either the syntactic or semantic level. A great deal of attention – to the application of syntactic parsing models for language modeling for automatic speech recognition. 2 Discourse Analysis. The area of discourse analysis is concerned with inferring the intended meanings of utterances. In order for the dialogue participants to successfully carry out a dialogue, they must be able to recognize the intentions of the other participant’s utterances, and to produce their responses in such a way that will enable the other participant(s) to recognize their intentions. A recipe is a generic template for performing a particular action. The recipe library contains a collection of generic recipes, and during discourse understanding, the plan inference module attempts to infer utterance intentions and relationships using  information provided by this library. 3 Computational Morphology and Phonology Roughly speaking, the topics can be classified into computational morphology, which treats the analysis of word structure; and computational phonology, which, deals with the changes in sound patterns that take place when words are put together. 4 Corpus-based Methods The word corpus in linguistics is typically a collection of texts. Corpora have been widely used by linguists to identify and analyze language phenomena, and to verify or refute claims about language. However, a corpus also reveals important  quantitative information about the distribution of various language phenomena. 29 Clinical Linguistics Clinical linguistics is the application of the linguistic sciences to the study of language disability. 1 Identifying Linguistic Symptoms Attention has now come to be focused on important symptoms of language disability, and to those aspects of the problem which have been ignored or misdiagnosed. â€Å"Less noticeable† refers to any feature other than the audible qualities of pronunciation, the order and omission of surface grammatical elements, and the actual items which constitute vocabulary. These features exclude  most of the properties of phonological systems, the sense relations between lexical items, the constraints operating on discourse in interaction, and the many ramifications of underlying syntactic structure. All of these play a major part in identifying the various kinds of language disability. The use of a clinical linguistic frame of reference has also enabled people to make progress in identifying disorders of language comprehension. That requires careful testing and the controlling of variables. Disorders of a pragmatic kind, likewise, 4 have often remained undiagnosed, or have been misdiagnosed as problems of a  psychological or social behavioral type. 2 The Role of Clinical Linguistics 2. 2 Description A major area of clinical linguistic research has been to provide ways of describing and analyzing the linguistic behavior of patients, and of the clinicians and others who interact with them. 2. 3 Diagnosis An important aim of clinical linguistics is to provide a classification of patient linguistic behaviors. This can provide an alternative diagnostic model, and one which is more able to provide insights about intervention in cases where there is no clear evidence of any medical condition. 2. 4 Assessment (Ð ¾Ã'†Ð µÃ ½Ã ºÃ °). Clinical linguistics has also been much involved in devising more sophisticated assessments of abnormal linguistic behavior. A diagnosis tells us what is â€Å"wrong† with a patient; an assessment tells us just how seriously the patient is â€Å"wrong. † 2. 5 Intervention The ultimate goal is to formulate hypotheses for the remediation (Ð ¾Ã ·Ã ´Ã ¾Ã'€Ð ¾Ã ²Ã »Ã µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã µ) of abnormal linguistic behavior. Not all aspects of a patient’s problem are directly relevant to the need for linguistically based intervention, clinical linguistics can help clinicians to make an informed judgment about â€Å"what to teach next,† and to monitor the outcome of an intervention hypothesis, as  treatment proceeds. To a large extent, moving well beyond the patient’s language, to include an investigation of the language used by the person(s) carrying out the intervention, the kind of teaching materials used, and the setting in which the interaction takes place. 3 Linguistic Insights The chief aim of clinical linguistics is to provide the clinician with increasing levels of insight and confidence in arriving at linguistic decisions. The three pillars of any clinical linguistic approach: description – grading – intervention. All change needs to be regularly monitored, to demonstrate that progress is being made – this  is the task of assessment. The keeping of comprehensive linguistic records is a further priority, without which the efficacy of intervention can never be demonstrated. Forensic Linguistics Now linguists also have begun examining voice identification, authorship of written documents, unclear jury instructions, the asymmetry of power in courtroom exchanges, lawyer–client communication breakdown, the nature of perjury, problems in written legal discourse, defamation, trademark infringement, courtroom interpretation and translation difficulties, the adequacy of warning  labels, and the nature of tape recorded conversation used as evidence. 1 Trademark Infringement Typically, they respond to requests of attorneys to help them with their law cases. 2 Product Liability 5But the linguist, calling on knowledge of discourse analysis, semantics, and pragmatics, can determine the extent to which the message was clear and unambiguous and point out the possible meanings that the message presents. Once this is done, it is up to the attorney to determine whether or not to ask the linguist to testify at trial. 3 Speaker Identification Linguists have been used by attorneys in matters of voice identification. If the tapes are of sufficient quality, spectographic analysis is possible. If not, the linguist may rely on training and skills in phonetics to make the comparison. 4 Authorship of Written Documents Law enforcement agencies process provide a â€Å"psychological profile† of the person. Calling on knowledge of language indicators of such things as regional and social dialect, age, gender, education, and occupation, linguists analyze documents for broad clues to the identity of the writer. Stylistic analysis centers on a writer’s habitual language features over which the writer has little or no conscious awareness. 5 Criminal Cases Suspects are recorded with court authorized wire taps placed that none of the speakers is aware of being taped, or by using body microphones and engage suspects in conversation. If the law enforcement agency is concerned about the adequacy of the language evidence that they have gathered, they may call on a linguist to make transcripts of the conversations, analyze them. The tape recorded conversation itself points to the use of the other tools of the forensic linguist, including syntax, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, dialectology, and discourse analysis. 3. Discourse analysis (17) Discourse analysis is concerned with the contexts in and the processes through which we use oral and written language to specific audiences, for specific purposes, in specific settings. 1 What Is Discourse? A Preliminary Characterization The big D concerns general ways of viewing the world and general ways of behaving, the small d concerns actual, specific language use. Discourse analysis emphasizes that language is not merely a self-contained system of symbols but a mode of doing, being, and becoming. Discourse research can be divided into 2 major types of inquiries: (1) why some but not other linguistic forms are used on  given occasions and (2) what are the linguistic resources for accomplishing various social, affective, and cognitive actions and interactions. 2 Communicative Motivations for the Selection of Linguistic Forms Language is inseparable from other aspects of our life and that the selection of linguistic forms should be explained in terms of authentic human communicative needs (i. e. , social, interactional, cognitive, affective needs). 2. 1 Context 6One of the first questions is what is happening in this stretch of talk, who the participants are, where they are, and why they are there. Linguistic choices are  systematically motivated by contextual factors. Context is a complex of 3 dimensions: First, the field of social action in which the discourse is embedded. Second, the set of role relations among the participants. And third, the role of language in the interaction. In this view, language is a system of choices made on the basis of a contextual configuration which accounts for field, tenor, and mode. 2. 3 Speech act What kind of speech act utterance is and whether this act is accomplished through direct or indirect means. Speech act theory says that language is used not only to describe things but to do things as well. Further, utterances act on 3 different levels: the literal level (locutionary act), the implied level (illocutionary act), and the consequence of the implied act (perlocutionary act). 2. 4 Scripts / plans Script is to describe the knowledge that we have of the structure of stereotypical event sequences. If such knowledge can be described in a formal way, then we may have a theory of how humans process natural language. 2. 5 Referentiality How entities (Ð »Ã ¸Ã'†Ð °) are referred to in utterances. Some analysts are interested in how referential forms make a stretch of discourse cohesive in form and coherent in meaning. 2. 6 Topicality and thematicity What is an utterance about, what is the starting point of a message, what is the focus of a message. Topic – the part of the utterance about which something is said. Prague School linguists developed the functional sentence perspective which says that word order has to do with how informative each element in the utterance is – communicative dynamism, or CD. A sentence begins with elements with the lowest CD and ends with those with the highest CD. Theme is the part of the utterance with the lowest degree of CD. 2. 7 Sequential organization The sequential context of the utterance. Discourse analysts have sought to explain linguistic choices in terms of ethnographic contexts, knowledge structure, rhetorical organization, communicative intentions, textual organization, information management and sequential organization, among others. Discourse Analysis, Linguistics, and More Discourse analysts research various aspects of language not as an end in itself, but as a means to explore ways in which language forms are shaped by and shape the contexts of their use. Further, discourse analysis draws upon not only linguistics, but also anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science, and  other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences concerned with human communication. Discourse analysis promotes a view of language which says that 7 Resource Center Saved Recents Uploads My Answers Account Products Home Essays Drive Answers Texty About Company Legal Site Map Contact Us Advertise  ©2016 StudyMode. com HOME  > ESSAYS  > LINGUISTICS  > LINGUISTICS Linguistics Applied linguistics, Discourse analysis, Language By maor87 Apr 17, 2015 6489Words 150Views More info PDF View Text View PAGE8 OF 18 language use is not only reflective of other aspects of our lives but is also constitutive of them. As it draws insights from various disciplines, it also contributes to interfacing linguistics with other domains of inquiries, such that we might now investigate the construction of culture through conversation or program computers to generate interactive texts based on our understanding of the rules and principles of human interaction. It focusses on language as it is used by real people with real intentions, emotions. 4. Linguistics and pragmatics (16) The Puzzle of Language Use: How Do We Ever Understand Each Other? Pragmatics is the study of communication – the study of how language is used. This study is based on the assumption of a division between knowledge of language and the way it is used; and the goal of pragmatics is providing a set of principles which dictate how knowledge of language and general reasoning interact in the process of language understanding, to give rise to different kinds of effects which can be achieved in communication. Pragmatics as the Application of Conversational Principles to Sentence Meanings The starting point for studies in pragmatics is the mismatch between what words â€Å"mean, and what speakers â€Å"mean† by using them. There is the knowledge of  language, which dictates the meanings of words and the ways in which they can combine. This is called the encoded meaning. On the other hand, there are pragmatic principles which enable a hearer to establish some different interpretation – the nonencoded part of meaning. Moreover, given the full array of rhetorical effects such as metaphor, irony, etc. , all of which are uses of expressions in context in some sense, the proposed approach maintains a natural separation between literal uses of words, which are reflected in sentence-meanings, and the various non-literal uses to which they may be put. Knowledge of language: sentence-meanings as partial specifications of interpretation The problem for this â€Å"clean† view is that we use commonsense reasoning, whatever this consists in, not merely in working out why a speaker has said something, but also in establishing what she has said in using the words chosen. The overall picture of interpretation is that grammar-internal principles articulate both syntactic and semantic structure for sentences, a semantic structure for a sentence being an incomplete specification of how it is understood. Pragmatic theory explains how such incomplete specifications are enriched in context to yield  the full communicative effect of an uttered sentence, whether metaphorical, ironical, and so on. The Process of Reasoning: How Do Hearers ever Manage to Choose the Right Interpretation? Grice’s cooperative principle and the conversational maxims According to Grice who was the pioneer of the inferential approach to conversation, there is a general assumption underpinning all utterance interpretation that the interpretation of utterances is a collaborative enterprise. This 8collaborative enterprise is structured by a number of maxims, which speakers are presumed to obey: †¢ The maxim of quality: do not say that for which you lack evidence; do not say what you believe to be false. †¢ The maxim of relevance: be relevant. †¢ The maxim of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required, but not more so. †¢ The maxim of manner: be perspicuous (avoid obscurity, avoid ambiguity, be brief, be orderly). Grice articulated the maxims as a means of simplifying the overall account of the relation between the use of language in logical arguments and the conversational use of language. Relevance theory This theory claims to characterize pragmatic phenomena in terms of a single  cognitive concept, that of relevance, replacing the social underpinnings of Grice’s cooperative principle. The principle of relevance Optimal relevance is getting the right balance between size and type of context and amount of information derived. The more information some stimulus yields, the more relevant it is said to become, but the more effort the interpretation of that stimulus requires, the less relevant it will become. And to be minimally relevant a stimulus must lead to at least one non-trivial inference being derived. However interpretation of an act of communication involves two agents – the  speaker and the hearer. The constraint of balancing cognitive effect with cognitive effort will also apply to what the hearer does, but here the task of interpretation is more specific because the hearer has to try and recover what the speaker intended to convey. There are two aspects to the task: 1 Decoding the information associated with an uttered expression– i. e. working out what words have been said and the information that they by definition carry. 2 Making choices which enrich that encoded information to establish what the speaker had intended to convey using those words. Relevance and speech acts  On the speech act view of language, language can best be understood in terms of acts such as these which speakers carry out in using language. The observation by speech act theorists that there is more to language than just describing things is quite uncontentious. Nonetheless, in relevance theory, where the type of implications that can be drawn is quite unrestricted, there is no need of any special discrete categories for such different kinds of act. 5. Linguistic typology and its directions (14) 1 The Diversity of Human Languages The field of linguistic typology explores the diversity of human language in an  effort to understand it. The basic principle behind typology is that one must look at as wide a range of languages as possible in order to grasp both the diversity of 9language and to discover its limits. Typology uses a fundamentally empirical, comparative, and inductive method in the study of language. That is, typologists examine grammatical data from a wide variety of languages, and infer generalizations about language from that data. The basic discovery of typology is that there are limits to linguistic diversity. By comparing diverse languages and discovering universal grammatical patterns, one can attempt to disentangle what is  universal about the grammars languages from what is peculiar to each individual language. 2 The Nature of Language Universals: Word Order One of the first areas of grammar where it was recognized that there are limits to grammatical diversity was the order of words. Word order is probably the most immediately salient difference in grammatical patterns from one language to the next. First, one must examine a sample of languages in order to infer the range of grammatical diversity and its limits. A variety sample collects as broad a range of languages as possible from different geographical areas and different genetic  groupings. Its purpose is to ensure that all possible language types are identified. Second, one must be able to identify phenomena from one language to the next as comparable. The basic problem here is the great variety of grammatical structures used in the world’s languages. The solution to this problem is due to another insight of structuralism: the basic unit of the language is the sign, a form that conventionally expresses or encodes a meaning. The basis for cross-linguistic comparison is a particular linguistic meaning; once that is identified, we may examine the different structures used to encode that meaning. Third, we must identify a range of grammatical patterns or types used to express the linguistic meaning being examined, and classify languages according to what type(s) is / are used in them. For instance, in describing word order of the sentence, the relative position of subject (S), object (O), and verb (V) are used to classify language types. Language structure is determined by factors of language use, such as processing. Language structure is also determined by historical relationships among grammatical patterns, which themselves are due to similarity in meaning. However, these factors do not uniquely determine a language structure, but  compete with each other. Speech communities resolve the competing motivations in arbitrary, language-particular ways; this leads to the diversity of languages found in the world. 3 Language Universals and the Formal Encoding of Meaning Word order universals appear to be motivated in terms of processing of linguistic structure in the act of producing and comprehending language. Word order is a fundamental grammatical property of sentences. 3. 1 Typological markedness and morphological representation 10Some of the earliest work in typology examined the coding of grammatical and  lexical concepts in inflected word forms. The universals go under the name of (typological) markedness. Typological markedness represents an asymmetric pattern of the expression of meaning in grammatical categories across languages. Typological markedness has two central characteristics. First, typological markedness is a property of conceptual categories – e. g. singular and plural – or more precisely, how those conceptual categories are expressed in languages. For number, the singular is unmarked and the plural is marked. Second, unmarked status does not imply that the unmarked member is always left unexpressed and the marked member is always expressed by an overt morpheme. The presence / absence of an overt inflection encoding a conceptual category is only one symptom of markedness, namely structural coding. Typological markedness is found in another aspect of the coding of concepts in words and constructions. Most words in sentences express more than one conceptual category. Pronouns in English, for instance, can express gender as well as number. In English, neither the singular nor plural pronouns express number by a separate inflection; instead number is implicitly expressed by distinct forms such as he and  they. The grammatical coding of additional, cross-cutting, distinctions in the singular but not in the plural is an example of the second symptom of markedness, called behavioral potential. Behavioral potential is also represented by an implicational universal: If the marked member of a category grammatically expresses a crosscutting distinction, so does the unmarked member. A third property of typological markedness points to its underlying explanation. The unmarked member is more frequent than the marked member in language use. Concepts that occur more frequently in language use (e. g. singular) will tend to be expressed by fewer morphemes than less frequently occurring concepts (e. g. plural). This explanation for how meaning is encoded in grammatical form is a processing explanation, called economy or economic motivation. 3. 2 Hierarchies and conceptual spaces We can describe the cross-linguistic distribution of plural markings across classes of pronouns and nouns with the animacy hierarchy. The hierarchy is a succinct way to capture a chain of implicational universals: if any class of words has a plural, then all the classes to the left (or higher) on the hierarchy have a plural. These  patterns are defined over a conceptual space. The conceptual space describes a network of relationships among conceptual categories which exist in the human mind and which constrains how conceptual categories are expressed in grammar. Grammatical change must follow the links in conceptual space. For instance, a plural marking spreads from left to right in the animacy space. Conceptual spaces specify what grammatical category groupings are found in, and how constructions spread (or retreat) over time in their application to grammatical categories. If we compare absence vs. presence of case marking on nouns for the grammatical  11 relations hierarchy, we find that absence of case marking occurs at he higher end of the hierarchy, and presence thereof at the lower end of the hierarchy. The grammatical relations hierarchy also defines the distribution of verb agreement across languages. Verb agreement is associated with the higher end of the grammatical relations hierarchy – the ability to trigger verb agreement indicates the greater behavioral potential of the grammatical relation. These facts demonstrate that the two grammatical relations hierarchies in fact reflect a deeper cross-linguistic universal pattern, found in many different parts of the grammar of languages. 3. 3 Economy and iconicity Economic motivation: the more frequently used category is more likely to be reduced in expression or left unexpressed. Iconic motivation – the structure of language reflects the structure of concepts. In the example, each conceptual category, both singular and plural, are overtly encoded in the word form. A subtype of iconicity called isomorphism: the correspondence between forms and meanings. There are two ways in which isomorphism occur in human languages. The first way is in the correspondence of forms and meanings in the combination of words and inflections in a sentence. This is called syntagmatic isomorphism. Economic and iconic motivation compete to produce the range of attested and unattested correspondences between form and meaning. There are 3 predicted patterns. Overt expression is iconically motivated: there is a one-to-one correspondence between meanings and forms. However, it is only moderately economically motivated: it is more economical than expressing a meaning with more than one word or morpheme, but less economical than not expressing the meaning at all. Non-expression of a particular meaning, such as the singular of English nouns like car-O (vs.plural book-s), is economically motivated: zero expression breaks one-to-one correspondence between forms and meanings. The third possible option, zero marking of both singular and plural, corresponds to the absence of expression of the category. This option is economically motivated: either the meaning can be inferred from context, or it is not relevant to the communication. There is another economically motivated pattern of expressing meaning in form: the combination or fusion of discrete meanings in a single form. For example, the suffix -s in English run-s indicates 3rd person subject, singular  subject and present tense, all in a single suffix. In other languages, inflectional categories are found in separate suffixes, as in Turkish. The second type of isomorphism is the correspondence between form and meaning in the inventory of words stored in the mind; paradigmatic isomorphism. 12The possible means of expression of meanings in words are limited by economy and iconicity. Unmotivated possibility: the existence of more than one word with the same meaning, synonymy. It is not iconically motivated. A one-to-one match between a word and a meaning is called monosemy. It isiconic ally motivated but not that economically motivated: we would need very many words to express each discrete meaning. Homonymy is economically motivated, but it is not iconically motivated (many unrelated meanings are expressed by a single form). By far the most common state of affairs in languages, however, is polysemy: the grouping of related meanings under a single form. Polysemy is economically motivated because it subsumes several meanings under a single form, as with homonymy. It is iconically motivated, because the meanings are related. 4 The Dynamic Approach to Language Universals The most common word.