Interantional Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interantional Business - Essay Example The panel should act objectively while conforming to the WTO agreements in finding a solution that would resolve the dispute (August 2004). Procedure: The facts in this case arose from the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dispute Settlement Panel, in which several countries that included Canada, the European Union, and the United States alleges that Japan imposed lower taxes on shochu (locally produced alcoholic beverage) than other imported alcoholic beverage, like vodka in violation of Article III, paragraph 2, of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (August, 2004). The case reached this point based on the report by the panel claiming that the GATT Article III.2 is inconsistent with the Japanese Liquor Tax. The GATT Article III.2 indicates that a product imported should be subject directly or indirectly to internal taxes or other internal charges in excess of those applied, like domestic products (August, 2004). Issue(s): The legal issues surrounding this case begins with the recognition of the Article III.2 where it states, "so as to afford protection" as depicted in Article III.1 (August, 2004).

TWO page summary and critique Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TWO page summary and critique - Article Example pproach, consisting of beginnings in which the contract is negotiated between the counselor and client, middles in which the counselor explores the story of the client, and endings in which the discussion is concluded. Finally, the counselor works out ways based on the information he/she has received to help the client. In the beginnings stage, it is important that the counselor lends a sense of empowerment to the client so that the client feels confidant and his/her tendency to narrate life episodes is optimized. In the middles stage, the counselor’s focus should be to develop a rapport with the client so that the client reveals about his/her life more. In the ending stage, the counselor should clarify any doubts with respect to understanding or recording of information with the client. Savickas’s approach creates multiple approaches for assisting people with career transitions. I find Savickas’s systematic approach to counseling quite appealing because it provides a concise yet holistic understanding of the process of counseling. It makes it easier to memorize the process and the activities it entails by categorizing it into three stages (National Guidance Research Forum, 2012). The focus of the article is the key points a counselor must pay attention toward in each stage so that the counseling session is the most productive and the client is able to benefit from the counselor’s approach. It is correct that peoples career choices are determined, to a large extent by their life experiences and social connections. Media is a very powerful projector of the norms and values, trends and traditions of a culture. In my professional career counseling, I will Savickas’s systematic approach by trying to develop a comfort level and rapport with my client. I will give the client a gift in our first meeting suited to the client’s age and gender so that the client feels good about me. I shall also provide the client with a list of questions and ask him/her if

Joint Venture in the Construction Industry in Spain

Joint Venture in the Construction Industry in Spain An estimated 20,000 joint ventures have been formed worlwide over the past two years. Such strategic alliances can provide business owners with long-term security, new revenue channels, and , often, the anchor needed to maintain stability in otherwise turbulent waters. A successful joint venture can open the door to a wold of future partnership opportunities (Robert L.Wallace 2004) Factors now at play in our economy make it more feasible and more critical than ever for small business owners to leverage the power of joint venturing. These factors include: The emergence of the customer economy Advances in technology that have neutralized time and space contraints Change brougt on by shifting demographics More entrepreneur- and more oportunities- as a result of downsizing In the midst of these world-changing trends, what is often missing from a succesffull business strategy are the critical alliances and strategic partnerships that will help leverage the strenghts and minimise weaknesses. Forging joint ventures and strategic alliances will allow business to win millions contracts as the partner with large companies to offer with, breadth, and depth demanded in the marketplace. Done well, joint ventures provide both participating businesses with a chance to learn and benefit from each other, and to achieve results neither could achive alone. In this dissertation will be explained- how to enter into joint ventures well so a company can prosper in ways it never could by doing it alone CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Objectives of Dissertation 2 Contents 3 JOINT VENTURE EXPLAINED 2.1 Joint Ventures Explained 2.2 The Rationale of Joint Venture Formation 2.3 Joint Venture Formation 2.4 Management and Implementation LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Forms of Joint Venture 3.2 Motives of forming a Joint Venture 3.3 Selection of Partners 3.4 Preliminary Agreement and Negotiation Research Methodology 4.1 Research Approach 40 4.2 Research Ethics 41 4.3 Interviews 42 4.4 Survey 46 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 5.1 Basic Conflicting Interests 5.2 Loss of Autonomy and Control 5.3 Findings CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Chapter One Introduction and Objectives of Dissertation Introduction Business once grew by one of two ways: grass roots up, or by acquisition. Today business grow through alliances- all kinds of dangerous alliance, joint ventures, and customer partnerign, which by the way, very few people understandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Peter F.Drucker 2007) Experiences of joint venture management in the construction industry traced back to the early 60 ´s. It appears that characteristics of this industry favor the proposition of joint ventures formation. Although statistics are not available, this is obviously true in relation to the infrastructure development of Spain at the present moment The determination of the . 1.1 Objectives of Dissertation This paper attempts to review the existing literatures on management of joint ventures its merits and problems, particular issues arisen and suggested management techniques to cope with such obstacles in operating a joint venture. Interviews were conducted with two senior staffs of one of the partners of a joint venture formed by four construction firms. The joint venture is currently undertaking one of the Train Station Core Projects to be completed before July 2011. It is hoped that hand-on experiences of these senior staffs, at the level of Management Committee of the joint venture, as well as the operational level of the joint venture, would provide us valuable insight and opinion on the art of joint venture management, as a reflection and complement to the general review of the literatures. The key objectives are: To critically appraise the existing literature to Corporative alliances issues and the role of International Strategy in applying these issues. To establish the importance Strategic alliances with competitors in the international market. To evaluate the purposes of strategic alliances as well as to what extent might be successful a company. To determine other factors that influences companies in seeking Joint Ventures. To assess the sources of value creation. To study possible pitfalls in doing a Strategic Alliance. To draw conclusions upon a joint venture in a case study. 1.2 Contents In Chapter 2, the organization of interest is described in detail along with an explanation of its forms. In Chapter 3 the literature in relation to joint venture and strategic alliances in general and its application within the company is critically reviewed. Chapter 4 describes and justifies the research methods employed and includes a section on the ethical considerations of the project. In Chapter 5 the findings of the one-to-one interviews, In Chapter 6 the findings are analyzed and evaluated in relation to the published research literature. In Chapter 7 a joint venture framework for the SMART Services is presented along with a plan for its implementation. Finally, in Chapter 8 conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made for future work. A list of references is provided and the appendices contain pertinent information, documents (including, the survey questionnaire) and collated data. Chapter Two Joint Venture Explained 2. Joint Venture Explained A joint venture is the coming together of two (or more) independent business for the sole purpose of achieving a specific outcome that would not have been achievable by one of the firms alone. (Source: Wallace 2004) 2.1 The Rationale of Joint Venture Formation The form of joint venture provides benefits and a skeleton, based on which the management philosophy of the joint venture builds up. . (See Figure 1) Figure 1: Joint Venture. Business Benefit Source: Trendsetter Barometer, PWC In respect of share of management, there are dominant parent ventures, share management ventures and independent ventures. Degree of involvement of parents in these types of joint ventures differs, and in turn these joint ventures face different types of nature and management problems. At operational level, there are approaches of integrated structure and non-integrated structure. The nature of the business and the share of responsibilities in various aspects of the business will be the determination factors of choice Generally speaking, the choice of form of joint venture should be made in accordance to what contributions are required of the parents in order to achieve the purpose of forming the joint venture. Companies forming joint ventures basically intend to develop markets and products. Common reasons are: to suit government policies, pooling resources, risk sharing, building business relation and to reduce competition. The first step to form a joint venture, after realizing that such tactics is desirable, is to select a partner. Consideration on selection of partners concentrates on three major themes: shared objectives, mutual trust and co-operation, and abilities of the potential partners. Appropriate partners should be compatible in their objectives of forming the joint venture and their expertise/Knowledge on the business. Right partners also should possess similar management styles normally. Lastly it is important that potential partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s real intention is realizes, to avoid future major disagreements. 2.2 Joint Venture Formation When the partners have reached initial agreement to form a joint venture, often a preliminary agreement is signed. It forms a basis for the drafting of the detailed agreement, and provide framework for the partners to work together and proceed to more detailed planning works. But subsequent negotiations following for the preliminary agreement often provide good chances for the partners to understand more thoroughly the expectation of potential partners. It is not uncommon that a final agreement cannot be reached because major conflicts are revealed in the process of subsequent negotiations after preliminary agreement. It is always intended to write agreements to cover all contingencies. But some managers consider that it is not so practically possible in view of the rapidly changing environments nowadays. Instead, emphasis should be placed on building up mutual trust and thus it is important to incorporate a sense of fairness into the joint venture agreement. Generally defined, well understood mutually, and respectful to each other ´s rights in return to their contributions committed. It is suggested that the best solutions should be an agreement covering all possible contingencies, together with the design of a flexible mechanism allowing changes to be agreed between efficiently while promoting cooperation and mutual trust. A very important aspect in drafting the joint venture agreement is the design of reward system for the partners. Pay-off in the form of product flow between the parents and the joint venture is often the source of major management problems and conflicts. Such product flow diverts attention of the parents from the joint venture ´s benefits. Again, fairness and willingness to co-operate are the keys to resolving such problems. If at all possible, market comparison is a useful guide to fix the transfer price in a fair sense. The primary concern of a partner in forming a joint venture is probably the degree of control over the business. In respect of split of ownership, majority-minority shares are sometimes preferred, as the majority of partner can act as leader for the joint venture and thus gives direction in a less ambiguous manner for the operation of the joint venture. On the other hand, come companies prefer equal shares to ensure willingness of all partners to contribute efforts as required and they may also feel more comfortable that all partners have equal statusà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in the joint venture. Ownership distribution is less important than how operation control is actually apportioned. There is no rule on thumb on allocating operation control. General guidelines are that each parent should be motivated to make necessary commitments continuously in accordance to their abilities, and that each parent should be protected in its interests. To enhance long term co-operation, exploitation of other partner ´s interests must not be attempted. It must be emphasized that full equality in operating control requires much more efforts from all partner, and the joint venture would have to be operated in day-to-day on-going negotiations and compromise among the partners. 2.3 Management and Implementation Standard joint venture organization consist of two components the management board and operation organization. The management board is the highest authority of the joint venture. The composition of the board and jurisdiction of the board determine largely the share of power among the partners. To build an effective board, board members should be delegated enough and necessary authority by their own companies in making decisions and vote in the board. They should endeavor to maintain mutual trusts among the partners, to sustain the common goal and objectives of the partners and to the exercise effective control over the joint venture. This is better to clearly separate the operation organization independently from the management board, to avoid biases or perceived biases towards one particular partner. As mentioned earlier, staffing is a possible and often effective way of controlling the joint venture operations. But overact may generate resentment from other partners. It will be extremely difficult to build up cohesiveness of the operation organization from all the partners. The organization will possibly segregate into groups of their own companies. Theoretically, secondly is desirable only if considered necessary for the needs of the joint venture. Otherwise recruitment from outside can more easily maintain the independence of the operation organization. The joint venture manager is an important role, as the leader for the operation organization, the bridge between the child and the parents, and sometimes as the mediatorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? for the parents if disputes arose among them. He has to possess negotiation skills, people skills, and selling skills to bring together mutual co-operation form all parties concerned. He is often found to be involved in ambiguous relationship, with his sub-ordinates and supervisors, and wit the parent companies. In order to achieve his task of pleasing everybody and avoiding conflicts and tension between the parties concerned, he has to be highly tolerant and ambiguity. The joint venture manager should be loyal only to the joint venture, not to any of the parents. He has to be perceived as neutral, otherwise his opinions will never be convincing to other people. Biased loyalty of the joint venture manager will arouse other parents taking harmful measure against smooth operations of the joint venture. Being neutral is an important qualification of the joint venture manager in order to gain autonomy and trust, which in turn makes the joint venture more likely to succeed. The joint venture agreement implied an independent operation organization separated from the parents to be fully responsible for daily management of the business and that the operation organization enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. In practice, the independence and autonomy were granted to the operation organization, only if all parents, in particular the joint venture manager, will act truly neutral. Without such belief, parents were able to exercise disruptive negative measures to hinder the normal implementation of management for the joint venture operations. The case also supported that the quality if the joint venture manager in negotiation skills and human relations, and its relationship with the parents was a paramount importance of the success of the joint venture. A strong leader might be harmful for a joint venture, but a practical and flexible manager surely is very useful. Chapter Three Literature Review 3.1 Forms of Joint Venture 3.3.1 Share of management The fundamental question in management of joint ventures is the degree of involvement of partners in decision making processes on major policies as well as day-to-day operations of the joint ventures. In this respect, joint ventures are often categorized into three types: (Stephen I. Glover and Craig M. Wasserman 2003) Dominant parent ventures: in which management decisions are dominated by one parent, either formally by majority voting rights in all major aspects or informally by management settings to control key decisions makings without significant involvement from the other party. Shared management ventures: in which management of joint venture operations are shared between the parents, either shared by each providing resources in certain functional areas or shared by pooling resources at most levels of the joint venture operations. Characteristics of this type of joint venture are the necessity of frequent negotiation and agreement between the partners at most all levels and aspects of the business management. Independent ventures: in which parent ´s involvements in the management of the joint venture is very little, as it is left almost entirely to an independent group of personnel employed under the joint venture. The roles of parents are not too much different from shareholders, except that they may be providing other distinct types of resources as well as capital and there are only a few shareholders. Dominant parent ventures and independent ventures are thought to be more trouble free, as they require less interaction and thus less potential conflicts between the parents. However, there are no concrete evidence to suggest that these two types of ventures will be more likely to succeed than shared management ventures. Obviously the choice of joint ventures types is dependent on the situation and nature of the business and the parentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s  ´characteristics. Circumstances often call for shared management but no other choices, simply because joint efforts are required to achieve what is intended. Pooling of resources, and thus a mixed input of management efforts from both parents, may be the fundamental desire of forming the joint venture. In such cases, dominance of one parent certainly cannot fulfil the purpose of the strategic alliance and the question is to overcome the difficulties of shared management on joint ventures operations. Legal Form In terms of the legal form of the joint venture, there can be three choices: (Dennis Campbell and Antonida Netzer 2009) Consortium: it refers to a grouping, formed on a one-off basis, which is governed by a contractual agreement. The contractual agreement is made to define clearly the position of each of the parents, including a specification of the authority, responsibility, liability and power of each party. Parnership: it can take a form of formal partnership. The parties are then effectively recognised in law as partners. The joint venture is considered as a business entity on its own, in legal terms, separated from the individual parties. As partners, each of the parties is legally liable for any debt or default committed by other partners on behalf of the joint venture, which may not be the case if formed as a consortium depending on details of the contractual agreement of constituting the consortium. Incorpotation: joint ventures which are intended to be a permanent business are usually constituted as an incorporate entity. This would enable the parties being insulated from the risks of the business of the joint venture, as a limited company. The major disadvantage is that the profit and loss sustained by the joint venture as incorporation cannot be set off against that of the parent companies for tax purpose. 3.1.3 Operational Structure The two extreme categories of operational structure of a joint venture are integrated joint venture and non integrated joint venture (Dennis Campbell and Antonida Netzer 2009) Integrated Structure: the parties agree on a certain proportion of capital and resources investment and a prescribed profit or loss sharing formula, and they both participate on every level of execution of the joint venture business. Non-integrated Structure: in such case, the joint venture usually provides for general management machinery, which looks after overall administrative and coordinative roles for the joint venture business. The whole business is then divided into packages or portions which are assigned to the parents to execute and operate such packages or portions as designated in the joint venture agreement (Appendix A) In practice joint ventures are usually a mixture of these two approaches. The question is the degree of integration to be adopted for the given set of circumstances faced by the joint venture. For that joint venture business that can be divided into clear cut portions and such divided portions will suit the capability and resources of different partners, non-integrated approach will usually be adopted. While the joint venture business is complex and it requires a centralised management of all aspects of the business, the management will be integrated. Integrated approach is more difficult to manage. Conflicting interests and ideas between the partners can arise more often than non-integrated approach. But it is often unavoidable as the nature of the joint venture business mar not is possible to be divided neatly into portions. On the other hand, for non-integrated approach, complicated contractual argument can arise between partners. In case of joint venture agreement in a basis of joint and several responsibilities, it is not uncommon that the partners lodge contractual claims against each other on non-performance or default of the other parties in executing their portion of the joint venture business resulting loss to the whole joint venture from third party claims. The Case Study The parents attempted to adopt a mixture of shared and independent management for the joint venture under study, as implied in the conditions of the joint venture agreement. The management committee of the joint venture, which was the highest level of decision making and policy setting, were composed of one representative each partner. In respect of operational structure, a mixture of integrated and non-integrated approach was adopted. While a separate joint venture organization supposedly independent from the partners managed and operated the whole joint venture business integrally, the project was divided into portions and packages which were then subcontracted back to the partners under the joint venture 3.2 Motives of forming a Joint Venture Companies forming joint ventures basically intended to develop markets and products i.e. to strength the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ existing business, to take the firms existing products to new market, to obtain new products that can be sold in the firm ´s existing markets, and to diversify into new businesses (Mark de Rond 2003) These objectives can be achieved through various ways, as shown in figure 1.1 But why choose a joint venture to try to achieve these objectives? Common reasons are: (Das y Teng 2000) Government Policies: because of licensing requirements of the government for undertaking a certain type of business in a country, e.g. for construction works in Spain many foreign companies may wish to form joint ventures with local companies who have the required licenses at hand in order to enter the market first, while they at the same time apply for the necessary licenses which may take months or even years in some cases. Many governments, who attempt to protect the development of certain industry of their countries, establish regulations that prohibit foreign companies to set up wholly owned subsidiaries. If foreign companies wish to explore the market of those countries, they have no choice to form joint ventures with local companies. Risk Sharing: in very large and risky projects that companies feel uncomfortable to bear but unwilling to give up the business opportunity, several companies share the risk by undertaking the project jointly. These risk may be commercial risks (finance, source of materials, technical uncertainties, etc) or political risks (change un government policies, unstable political status of the country, etc) Figure 1: Motives for joint venture formation New Markets Existing Makets To Take Existing Products To Foreign Markets Open Markets Closed Markets To Diversify into New Business Learning from your partner Learning with your partner To Strengthen the Existing Business Achieving economies of scale Acquiring technology Reducing financial risk To Bring Foreign Products To Local Markets Marketing and distribution Screwdriver assembly Developing local technology Technology flow back to parent Existing Products New Products Source: (Das y Teng 2000) Pooling of resources: companies often join to develop business that requires a combination of different resources (finance, technology, market access, local experience, etc) that none of these companies possess all of them, e.g. a combination of market access by one company and technical knowledge of a product by another, combination of different technical skills that are necessary to develop a product, or a combination of several companies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"resources to achieve economies of scale. Building business relation: some companies form joint ventures with in order to build up wide business relations among the industry. They believe that this will enable them to widen their networks of business and that it may be helpful for their further business developments in long term. Reduce competition: joining with your competitor automatically reduce the degree of competition. This is particularly useful if there are only a few potential competitors only. It is not uncommon to find in certain industry that formations of joint ventures effectively create monopolistic or oligopolistic conditions. The Case Study In the construction industry inherent risks involved in the projects are the major concern of a company ´s business strategy. Sharing of commercial risks (financial burdens on the company, source of raw materials, technical uncertainty involved with the works) for large scaled projects is the major reason of forming joint ventures. Because of the huge amount of resources involved and the multi-disciplinary nature of the projects, pooling if resources from several companies is necessary to gain sufficient competence in order to tender for the works. Not a single company may have all the necessary skills and sufficient amount of resources that are required for those Train Station Core Projects. Formations of joint ventures become the most common tactics for the construction firms to undertake those projects. Political risk is also a major concern especially for foreign firms who are not familiar with the policies. Most foreign firms conceive that formation of joint ventures is an effective way of securing the safety of the business, particularly when undertaking infrastructure development projects of payment terms. Large construction firms (both local and international firms that were interested and had potential to undertake these large projects) gradually formed into groups of consortium to tender for these jobs. As a result, the industry transformed into competing allied groups, instead of competing among individual firms. Although such transformation might be unintentional at the time these companies first formed joint ventures, they now became aware of such advantage and might use this again as one of the useful tools in future when considering the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strategy competitions in the industry. 3.3 Selection of Partners 3.3.1The Criteria of Choosing a Partner Considerations on selection of partners concentrate on three majors themes: (Lynn Krieger 1991) Shared objectives Mutual trust and willingness to co-operate and Having necessary skills/resources The task is to find a compatible partner in respect of these three major themes. The right pair or group of partners often implies an asymmetry of partners, i.e. the right partners often have different quality and characteristics so that they will complement with each others on the need of the business. Basic consideration is whether the potential partner can provide what you need and the confidence of the potential partner ´s willingness to co-operate. They may not have the same objective but their co-operation should fulfill each other ´s objectives. They may not have the expertise on the same area, and they should possess different knowledge so that when combined together their competence will be strengthened. In fact two partners having expertise on the same area often is the source of conflicts as both will consider their own approach is superior without due respect on the other partner ´s expertise on the field. But right partners should desirably have similar management styles and outlooks so that their overall business strategy would go along the same direction. Otherwise, conflict on major business policy that is originated from the incompatibility of the partners expectation on what the joint venture should achieve eventually arise someday Lyn Krieger put forward two prepositions: The more similar the culture of firms forming a shared management joint venture, the easier the venture will be to manage. The more similar in size are the parents of a shared management venture, the easier the venture will be to manage. A significant size mismatch between a venture ´s parents can create a lot of problems for the venture. Culture here refers to both corporate culture and the culture of the country from which the firms are based. These propositions are based on the principle that managers, to be effectively working together, need to be able to evaluate each other ´s judgment and the way of working before they can build up a cohesive team. The second proposition is an extension of the first one as size of the company can contribute to difference in corporate culture. One should also be alert on any hidden agenda of your potential partner (Kathryn Rudie 2003). Confidence on the observation of your potential partner ´s real intention and objective to form the joint venture is a pre-requisite condition before a decision can be made on the choice of partners. The classic tragic case of Beijing Jeep is a good example of hidden agenda. Both partners did not spell out clearly their real intention of what was to be achieved, and both partners did not understand thoroughly the other partner ´s real intention before signing the joint venture agreement. Unreasonable conflicts arose not long after formation of the joint venture, when both parties realized that they were expecting something beyond the wishes of the other party. The tragedy ought to be avoidable if both parties made clear of their expectations before signing on the joint venture agreement. 3.3.2 The Process Selection It is suggested that a step-by-step approach should be adopted to develop relationship with potential partners (Kathryn Rudie 2003): Prepare a checklist desirable quality of the partner Searching out for potential partners based on the checklist Prepare proposals and issues to study and negotiate with the potential partner If possible, try out a joint venture of small scale before committing long term and large scaled joint venture business Theatrically, this process enables the partners to develop faith and mutual trust and allows better mutual understanding before placing large financial stakes on joint ventures with unfamiliar partners. Obviously, this takes a long time and in practice the ever changing business environment often does not wait for such long process of partner selection. Business opportunities simply slip away before the good partner relationship can evolve in this way. In real life, it is often founded that good joint venture partner relationship is assumed at the time of signing the joint venture agreement, and the assumption is often based on personal relationship between the CEOs of the companies. The Case Study Major consideration in selection of partners was what resources the partner could bring in to supplement his shortages and strengthen the competence of the company to successfully tender for the job. Reputation and track record in the international construction industry was the first item to check on, particularly as the potential partner was new-comers to Spain. It was admitted that the other partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s intention of choosing the company was not fully known at the time of forming the joint venture. At that time, it was only understood that the company was chosen by other partners because of its local experiences in Spain and the feeling of political security that the firm could provide as a whole owned company. It was now gradually revealed that

Bob Dole: A Race To The Top Essay -- essays research papers

Bob Dole: A Race to the Top People understand they can't get all these tax cuts, protect their favorite programs, and balance the budget," says Susan Tanaka speaking on the promises made by presidential candidate Bob Dole to the American public (Gibbs 1996). Bob Dole proposed his tax cut package on Aug. 5, 1996 hoping to entice the public into voting for him in the 1996 presidential elections. Dole focuses his proposal towards social conservatives and supply siders believing he will give them their link to growth-oriented tax cuts which will amount to 551 billion dollars over the next six years (Rubin 1996). So how does Bob Dole plan to make all these things happen without remaining in office for at least 12 years? He does not, it is merely an impossible act in a desperate attempt to get himself elected. As a tradition, the "Grand old Party" has always benefited the rich more than the middle and working class people of America. Bob Dole promises a plan which will avoid business tax cuts and combine a marginal rate cut with a $500 per child tax credit, targeted towards low and middle income tax payers. The result, a plan that while still benefiting the rich more than the middle class, more evenly distributes between all income groups (Duffy 1996). Under Dole's tax cut plan, a family of four with an annual income of 31,000 would see their tax bill drop from $2,000 to $800, a difference of $1,200. "The way the tax cut was packaged shows that they were still sensitive to the old anti-Reagan argument that tax cuts just benefit the rich and they tried to show that their plan would benefit everybody," remarked Rick Grafmeyer, a tax partner at Earnest & Young, a national accounting firm (Barnes, 1996, 29). While Dole flaunts the benefits of his tax-cut proposal, he fails to mention what will suffer in order to activate his tax cuts. First of all, Dole made no mention of how his tax-cut proposal will pay for the $551 billion reduction in taxes. Secondly, Dole does not say that he needs to cut spending in "small" areas such as Medicare, student loans, defense spending and social security. (Gibbs, 1996) Even if Dole plans to leave these things out of the cut, that still leaves 30% of the budget to absorb the cost of the tax cut. Professor Alan Aurbach, of the Universit... ...ncing his tax-cut package and using his other strengths such as his experience in Washington. The worst case scenario would be that he looses the support of his supply-siders, which would not make much difference because he has not gotten that much more than grief from them anyway. In short, it is a tragedy that Dole has sold his soul to win the election, and now he won't end up with either. Dole likes to call himself an agent of change and says that President Cinton is only a defender of the status quo. This seems to upset the traditional views of both parties and reverses the roles. President Clinton proposes only minor tax cuts and specifies payment through minor spending cuts and other revenues while still protecting Medicare, social security, and other related issues. Between President Clinton's election in 1992 and the present, the national deficit has fallen 60% from 290 billion dollars to around 117 billion dollars (Barnes 1996). The strongest case supported the candidate who best represents the conservative American and also holds true to the Democratic party's tradition, United States President and fellow American, William Jefferson Clinton.

Critical Analyis of John Locke, Hegel, and and John Stuart Mill Essay

Question 1:How does Locke prove that human beings have a natural right to private property? Answer (Book II chap V section 27): Humans have the right to private property because they are using their own labor in conjunction to take property from the state of nature and thus making it his own. By mixing his labor or his hands, which is an extent of himself, he is relating that property to him and no one else. When every we pour water into a glass, by using labor and our hands, we have the sole entitlement to the water. Question 2:How does human nature limit this right to property? Answer (Book II chap V section 31-32) Man has the right to use as much property as possible just as long as he finds away that is supports his life. Once he no longer finds ways to use his property for life, he has to give it up. To add to the limitations of property, Man can use as much property unless it is wasted and not good for the use of others. By wasting property, that persons is violating other people’s rights because human nature states that everyone has the an equal Question 3:How does Hegel’s abstract right define the relation between freedom, reason, and property? Answer: Question 4:How does Hegel prove that the abstract right to property necessarily involves relation to other person’s? Answer: Question 5:Using your answer to the proceeding questions, identify exactly what distinguishes Locke’s position on freedom and property from the way Hegel’s account of abstract right understands the same issue? Answer: Question 6:How does Hegel’s account of abstract right prove that right embodied in property necessarily violates the same right in other persons? Answer: Question 7:Using your answer to #6, explain why Locke is in no position to draw the same conclusion. Answer: Question 8:State in your own words Mill’s utility principle. Identify precisely how this principle introduces a tension between independent individuality and communal solidarity. Explain how this same tension appears in Locke and in Hegel’s abstract right. Answer:

Reflection paper about educational class Essay

Reflection paper about education class Introduction                  Child safety involves preventing the child from physical, psychological and emotional harm. I have learnt a lot from this course since child safety is a major issue in the society. This is because as a grown up I am obligated to take care of all the children. I came to learn that child safety is very crucial since it sets the foundation of the child development. This will make the children to feel appreciated and loved as the parent guide them in decision making which is very crucial in their lifetime. I also came to learn that child safety is more than providing food, shelter, education and other basic needs, but it entail protection from harm resulting from abuse and neglect. I came to learn that child are at high risk of injuries, accidents and crime which necessitate appropriate measures so as to provide a safe environment for the children. I learnt that there are several ways of enhancing child safety which include: providing a safe environment, implementing safety measures as well as educating protective measures to the children. I also learnt that parent advice is paramount as it guides the children on appropriate safety measures. Parents should also listen and respond to their children’s needs which ensure they maintain good rapport between parent and the child. In conclusion, child safety is becoming a social concern since children are likely to face many risky situations. Providing necessary child safety is very central to every child especially in their development. This is because the children grow up in a safe environment free from abuse and neglect. Children should be protected from physical, emotional and psychological harm. However, it is imperative to provide the appropriate level of child safety since overprotecting the children have adverse consequences. References Child care safety checklist for parents & child care providers. (2009). Bethesda, Md.: Consumer Product Safety Commission. Source document

Education as an economical issue

Education as an economical issue MY POSITION: In the first look, education seems to be a social issue, but in my point of viewthere are many economical issues that are hidden. Many parents do not want to send theirchildren to school because of some financial problems. Either both parents work at the same timethat they cannot take their child to school and also the bus school is not available to the distancewhich they live.On the other hand, there may be many parents who cannot afford to buy manysupplements which their child needs in school. In my opinion there should be a government aid toall the parents that have these problems. Kerry also agrees with me and asserts, " Providingstudent loan loans for college kids is an ethical issue" (issues2000.org).DEMOCRATIC PARTY POSITION: Wesley Clark on Education claims that education includesjob transitioning for adults (Sep 18). Increase teacher training teacher pay (Jun 17).Education@EdunationHoward Dean on Education said that Bush's "No Child Left Behind" is an unfunded mandate(May 17). John Edwards on Education quotes "Two school systems: one for the have's, one forhave-not's" (Sep 4).Free first year of college for all willing to work for it (Jun 17). (issues2000.org)

National Education Day Essay Example

National Education Day Essay Example National Education Day Essay National Education Day Essay A brief biography is given here Abul Kalam Azad Date of birth: 11 November 1888 Place of birth: Mecca, Ottoman Empire (now in Saudi Arabia) Date of death: 22 February 1958 Place of death: Delhi, India Movement: Indian independence movement Major organizations: Indian National Congress Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was a Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines. Following India’s independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. As a young man, Azad composed poetry in Urdu as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publishing works critical of the British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. Azad became a leader of the Khilafat Movement during which he came into close contact with Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhi’s ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked actively to organize the Non-cooperation movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. Azad committed himself to Gandhi’s ideals, including promoting Swadeshi (Indigenous) products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. He would become the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1923. As India’s Education Minister, Azad oversaw the establishment of a national education system with free primary education and modern institutions of higher education. He is also credited with the foundation of the University Grants Commission, an important institution to supervise and advance the higher education in the nation. Azad mastered several languages, including Urdu, Persian, Bengali, Arabic, and Hindi. He was also trained in the subjects of mathematics, philosophy, world history and science by reputed tutors hired by his family. An avid and determined student, Azad succeeded in completing the traditional course of study at the young age of sixteen, nine years ahead of his contemporaries. As Indias Education Minister, Azad oversaw the establishment of a national education system with free primary education and modern institutions of higher education. He is also credited with the foundation of the University Grants Commission (UGC), an important institution to supervise and advance higher education in the nation. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, had on September 11, 2008 announced, The Ministry has decided to commemorate the birthday of this great son of India by recalling his contribution to the cause of education in India. November 11 every year, from 2008 onwards, will be celebrated as the National Education Day, without declaring it a holiday. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the Minister of Education in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus cabinet from 1947 to 1958. He died of a stroke on February 22, 1958. Maulana Azad had been appointed Indias first Minister for Education and served in the Constituent Assembly to draft Indias constitution. Azads persuasion was instrumental in obtaining the approval of Muslim representatives to end the communal electorates, and was a forceful advocate of enshrining the principle of secularism, religious freedom and equality for all Indians. He supported provisions for Muslim citizens to make avail of Muslim personal law in courts. [ As Indias first Minister of Education, he emphasized on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult illiteracy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girl’s education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training. [17] Addressing the conference on All India Education on January 16, 1948, Maulana Azad emphasized,[17] â€Å"We must not for a moment forget, it is a birth right of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen. He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education,Delhi which later became the Department of Education of the University of Delhi as â€Å"a research centre for solving new educational problems of the country†. [18] Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953. ,[19][20] He also laid emphasis on the develo pment of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University.

Alexander Strozier

Alexander StrozierProfessor Robert FleischmannHUM2230March 25, 2018Future, Drake, and Rick ross are all amazing artist in the hip hop music industry that shows verisimilitude in their music videos as artist did in the Baroque era. Although not everyone in the music industry has the knowledge of verisimilitude it should be a demand as a producer to enhance their artist to be more realistic and get rid of the false advertisements. People of their nature are fans with high expectations of their style of work. Rap music exposes a lot to the public like violence, success, braveness, motivation, and reality but it sometimes gets personal. For example, Rick Ross had problems with another rapper about money situations and their argument took the violent route. So as a hip hop artist Rick Ross had lots of guns in is video with someone tied up to a chair getting tortured and robbed in a scene with the person matching the description of his opponent, yes, it is reality but hip hop gets person which makes it real. Rappers in music videos wear big flashy chains and show money to signify their wealth which is verisimilitude. While in the same scene people are holding rifles and hand guns pointing them at the screen sharing their views of violence and braveness which is also Verisimilitude, even the person who is watching is influenced by these action as well as enlightened. Those videos express a lot and has meaning behind the scenes that are being shown. Truthfully from my point of view Caravaggio and Bernini did master their work as artist, but when it comes to specific things like verisimilitude these new artists like the ones mentioned before are giving them a run for their money. Although not everyone in the music industry has the knowledge of verisimilitude it should be a demand as a producer to enhance their artist to be more realistic and get rid of the false advertisements. In todays world art has yet to forget the true meaning of Verisimilitude, or in other words reality, emotion, or t he since of true features in art that stands out and grabs your attention. Imagine something beautiful like a sunny day with high tempered beams grazing across your head making you sweat while in a garden planting new crops as the old ones are sprouting, and the heat gives your conscience the signal to wipe your face that in a picture would be verisimilitude. It shows feeling, emotion and life. Ones greatly before our time has accomplished this type of art but it was back in the baroque era. There were several artists who performed this type of art during this era but from my point of view only two artists in those days mastered this type of art and their names where Caravaggio and Bernini. Verisimilitude is uneasily done but surely capable of doing as Caravaggio and Bernini mastered it with painting that are popular to this day. Some of their work are hanging in museums now today proving their perfection in Verisimilitude. From one artist one painting would be described as a knowledge to the readers on how verisimilitude was really performed, as in detail the painting are broken down by what proves their art shows verisimilitude. In the early 1600s time Caravaggio painted the Supper at Emmaus. This new birth to the seventeenth century stained a unique transformation in art. Before this dramatic change mannerism existed as the predominant style, great artistic people one being Caravaggio was adapting to natural real figures. Instead of excessively high convoluted poses of well mature muscular males and females, Caravaggio made known figures that arent stiff or dead but have life, dirty clothing, vast rankled skin, and even filthy finger nails. Caravaggios Supper at Emmaus was a duplicate image showing the gospel of Luke 24 where the Resurrected Christ appears to two disciples. Although Jesus had no beard he was recognized by the movement of his raised arm blessing the bread which he is located at the center of the painting in his Resurrection. The disciple is located to the left of him as his arms stretched out in disbelief. positioned next to Christ is the innkeeper, having no idea by the action of his gesture. Sitting directly on the opposite end of the table, positioned the closest to audience is another disciple forcing backwards in his seat. Its Caravaggios conspicuous or prominent way in his art work that truly signifies his talent as a artist in history. Art previous of his existence acted as combined parts or elements to create a whole. Gave creation to the figures posed, stiff, and solid. Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio is defiantly an example of verisimilitude at that era showed a new style figures in a moment of time. Think for a second how did the two men know who the strange traveler was? How did they know it was Christ, it was by his gesture he raised his arms to bless the bread? In that motion, both disciples are quickly aware of whom he is. The two disciples reacted instantly with disbelief raising up and forcing the selves away from their chairs outstretching their arms. The innkeeper keeps his focus as he is not fazed by the motion as he is confused by it. Though they are all judged by their different gestures it shows real emotions. Caravaggios talent in showing off verisimilitude is more like looking a video with the motion other than stating a dry picture. Caravaggio get in-depth with the figures in his art work, for instance he made the disciples have rugged hands presenting hard work and are in life. The faces of all the men have wrinkles and some have facial hair showing age, and even the man whos standing has ripped clothing. His feature so men with real lives representing different sign and gestures with ware of hard work. Lying on the table is the supper. With bread, fowl, and a basket of fruit. Stiff items which provide life. Symbol of the Supper at Emmaus. The food represents assets of Christ like the bread that he blessed symbolized as his flesh, there is also a fowl on the plate which is mirroring death. placed on the edge of the table barely balanced with gravity is the fruit of the supper which shows breath, resurrection, and lastly rebirth. Next to the bread in the bowl is the grapes which makes wine also a symbol of Christ. The image and position of the bowl gives a viewer the illusion that you can reach out and grab it or push it back on the table, showing such emotion is verisimilitude. Caravaggio worked hard for his perfection as he was named the most famous painter in Rome. Verisimilitude should be symbolized with a high status in todays world of art. And not just one style of art any art. More reality, more emotion and effectiveness gives someone a more angled view of what reality and truthfulness really is. If you were to ask me I fear the future without verisimilitude, it would bring destruction. We as people deserve the truth. So, to all the fakers out there who just entertain and make things believable should be a shame. Its only the truth that will set you free not lies. Verisimilitude is a statement in ones art. As said before plenty may attempt and yes, it is hard to perfect but it is not impossible to be perfected. Bernini was also a well talented and one of the best of all times artist who used verisimilitude, but in my knowledge and mind set, Caravaggio worked hard for his perfection as he was named the most famous painter in Rome. Truthfully from my point of view Caravaggio and Bernini did master their work as artist, but when it comes to specific things like verisimilitude these new artists like the ones mentioned before are giving them a run for their money. Although not everyone in the music industry has the knowledge of verisimilitude it should be a demand as a producer to enhance their artist to be more realistic and get rid of the false advertisements. So twentieth century may we as a group of different cultures, different beliefs, age and gender can we all show and share the knowledge we have from our ancient artist and ancestors the way real and reality should be shown in todays art. The Baroque era was a time of great existence and unique change in art. Let the young and the old as a future continue to take time to perfect this motion of time art. Future, Drake, and Rick ross are all amazing artist in the hip hop music industry now let there be several more as we further our journeys in life. To all we are whole lets create reality and focus our art on verisimilitude as the ancient artist like Caravaggio and Bernini mastered it.

Fukushima nuclear plant incident in 2011 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Fukushima nuclear plant incident in 2011 - Essay Example This is the largest nuclear catastrophe recorded in the world after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and it is believed to have released approximately 10 to 30% of radiation material of what Chernobyl incident emitted (Povinec, Hirose and Aoyama 2013, p. 9). In the event of the tsunami, the backup power equipment that was meant to cool the reactors was destroyed and this caused fuel melting, hydrogen outburst, and radioactive gases. This radioactive release at the Fukushima plant forced the neighborhoods up to 25 miles estimated at more than 100,000 residents were all evacuated away from the plant. The subsequent lack of AC power in Units 1 to three prohibited the valves and pumps from working normally which was necessary to eliminate heat and pressure that occurred due to radioactive decay from the nuclear fuel within the reactor hubs. The fuel rods therefore, overheated and in combination with the steam, huge quantities of hydrogen were generated causing an explosion. This is the explos ion that prevented the plant workers from cooling the reactors and the radioactivity spread rapidly (Elliott 2012, p.7). The Pollutant Source and Pathway The source of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster is directly related to the earthquake of a 9.0 magnitude that hit Japan in 2011. This earthquake caused damage to the external power supply and the backup diesel emergency generators were flooded leading them to fail. After the failure of the diesel backup generators, the reactor operators initiated the emergency battery power but they run out after 8 hours of operation. The enduring heat therefore, could not be carried out and this led to fuel failure. Fuel failure occurs because of mechanical, chemical or even thermal failures when there is too much heat in the valves (Brook, 2011). The nuclear power plant workers had now to focus on managing the core while the heat was building up to allow the fuel cladding to keep going as much as possible. In reality, the reactor is made up of several independent and different cooling systems that operate to ensure smooth flow. These cooling systems include the reactor water clean-up mechanism, the decay heat exclusion, the core isolating cooling system, and also standby cooling mechanism among others. It is evident some of these cooling system failed and caused damage to the core and therefore, the disaster occurred (Elliott 2012, p.7). When the workers lost most of the cooling systems because of loss of power, they had to come up with other means of eliminating the heat. However, in a situation where the heat production is greater than its removal, the pressure immediately keeps rising as the boiling water builds steam. The operators now focused on keeping the temperature below 1200Â °C, while also maintaining a manageable level of the pressure. Maintaining a manageable pressure level is necessary to get rid of steam and this is done by pressure relief valves that are contained in the reactor (Elliott 2012, p.7). The process of maintaining pressure requires venting or emitting steam to keep the levels in a steady rate. It is important to note that steam and other gases eliminated are radioactive fission materials, which are in small quantities. In this case, when the workers at Fukushima nuclear plant were emitting steam, some form of radioactive emissions were released into the

Johann Sebastian Bach Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Johann Sebastian Bach - Research Paper Example Although Bach did not receive recognition as a composer during the period, the 19th century led to a revival of performances and interests in his music, which upon closer examination have made him be regarded as one of the greatest composers in history. Discussion Period of Composition Johann Sebastian Bach made his famous compositions during the Baroque period. This was an era of European music that was between 1600 and 1750. The word Baroque is used in reference to extravagance, abnormality and strangeness. The music played during the Baroque period was highly ornate, intense and lavishly texturized. The composers of this era, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, were able to express feelings and emotions in their compositions. Moreover, the compositions made during the Baroque period had an emphasis on contrast of texture, pace and volume in the music, which was not witnessed in the late renaissance, when the music played, did not concentrate on the aforementioned elements2. Bachâ€℠¢s rise to greatness The rich musical history of Bach’s family was instrumental in ensuring that Bach became the greatest composer in history. Christened father of classical music, Bach demonstrated a deep understanding of phrasing and musical forms. Following Bach’s graduation from St. ... However, the relationship between Bach and the authorities at Arnstadt deteriorated with Bach voicing his dissatisfaction with the singers of the church’s choir3. In 1706, Bach was offered the position of an organist at a church in Muhlhausen, which he decided to take up the following year. This position provided Bach with an opportunity to improve his skills as it included incentives such as a good choir, improved conditions and better remuneration. Bach convinced the city government and the church to refurbish the organ at the church after which Bach repaid them with a festive composition for the incumbent council in the location. The composition became a major success, which compelled the council to reward Bach handsomely4. Bach returned to Weimar as an accomplished concertmaster and organist. He enhanced his prowess by working with professional musicians. Bach was able to spend most of his time composing orchestral and keyboard works. This dedication made him to attain the required confidence and proficiency that enabled him to enhance the existing structures and attain substantial influence in foreign countries. Furthermore, during this time Bach was able to make dramatic openings and use the harmonic schemes and dynamic rhythms, which were synonymous with Italians musicians such as Torelli, Vivaldi and Corelli. The stylistic aspects from the aforementioned Italians enabled Bach to make works, which are played in concerts even to date5. Historical Events in Bach’s Life There are some major events in Bach’s life that influenced and shaped his musical career. When he was 14 years old, Bach was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study at St. Michaels School. This prestigious school was

Japanese Mourning Ritual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japanese Mourning Ritual - Essay Example Most cultures have a method of attempting to help that spirit get to the right place. This paper will discuss the rural Japanese and their method of dealing with the death of a loved one. Many of the parts of the Japanese ritual were familiar and some of them were unusual. After the body is cremated, family members remove bones from the body and place them in a jar which is then placed in the burial place for the family. This seems odd in the sense that if cremation is the answer to their burial problems, why then do they place bones in a crypt. The article does not really say why the family does this only that they do not physically touch the bones because of the contamination from death (Irish, 2000). Then the bones that are not chosen are dumped out back as if they were not important at all. This part of their ritual does not match anything that we do in our culture so it is hard to discern why it would be done. It does appear that all Japanese or at least the majority are concern ed with somehow being contaminated with death. They handle the body after cremation with chip sticks, being careful not to touch any part of it and the wearing of particular garments to ward off death as if it was something to catch. It also appears that cremation is accepted by all of the different Japanese societies. There is also quite a bit of superstition that seems to be general throughout the culture as far as cats. They believe that the body will rise up if cats approach it. This might keep the spirit in this world and they are afraid of spirits so cats are kept away. Though there are great differences which are mentioned, there are also great similarities to the rituals that we practice in our mourning ceremonies. The Japanese place the body in a casket and allow time for family to mill around and sit with the body, they cleanse the body ahead of time and dress it in a white Kimono under which is a favorite piece of clothing. In our traditions, the body is cleaned and after embalming, if the body is to be buried, the favorite clothing of a person is usually placed on the body. Friends and family provided food for the relatives and friends that have shown up to pay their respects which is also very familiar in what we do here. The family is usually presented with dishes from other family and friends to serve to the people who come and for dinners in the home for a few days so the family does not have to cook. The mourners wear black and on the average the male mourners are in one room and the female in another rule. It happens that way here too. I think it is really a utilitarian issue here and I would imagine that it is there too (Searle, 2003) Our women do most of the cooking and serving and so they kind of stay together for that reason while the men are usually more comfortable with each other and generally sit together in the same room. There are a couple of other interesting things that bear mentioning. One of those is the fact that neighborhood groups are responsible for weddings and funerals so the cost of these things is really shared among many. This seems to be a great idea. It does not say what originally caused such a tradition but it would seem that this might be something that many other cultures might want to look at. The other is the "to pull a friend" ritual. In order to prevent the deceased from taking a friend with them, they place a doll or other comfort in the coffin with them. This is somewhat like us. Many families like to place a comforting object in the coffin with the body. Sometimes that is a treasured teddy bear and sometimes something else but always an object that was special that they can

Lupus emergent therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lupus emergent therapy - Essay Example As if not enough, desirable work place environments has shaped the building design paradigms in certain ways, including the necessitation of incorporation of aspects pertaining to efficiency, as well as a reduction of stress at the work place (Broberg,1997). Indeed, in the current world, building designs concepts and building designs are arguably inseparable. Building design concepts are inclined on coming up with designs of equipment and devises, including buildings that are suitable for human operations. Such are subject to body movement, not to forget, the bodies’ cognitive abilities. Thus, the objective of desirable design concept is to foster productivity while fulfilling the health requirements. As such, the desirable design concept is most appreciable when designing products such as equipment and furniture, as well as machines that contain interfaces that are not only reliable, but easy for use (Broberg, 1997). Clearly, this relate to building designs. Nevertheless, considering that people have varied physical and cognitive capabilities, the subject of satisfactory building designs may not be fully explored without inclusivity. It is indispensable that buildings designs have to put into considerations the needs of people with disabilities such as the deaf, the blind, and those on wheelchairs. Inclusivity is a point that most engineers have to put into consideration, especially when the underlying goal is to design buildings that could be accessed by all groups of people with prompting customization. What is worth noting is that desirable inclusive designs should be fit all equality groups although emphasis may be laid on disabled people. On the other hand, it is limiting to design buildings based on ergonomic concepts and inclusivity alone. Other elements of desirable building designs, especially office areas, include Safety, security, sustainability , Comfort,

Critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Critical thinking - Essay Example g or valid reasoning is also widely used in reporting events that is happening around us, tell jokes to our friends and colleagues, extending an invitation to a special someone, making promises to other people, telling stories, giving orders or instructions to our subordinates or co-workers, describing something, entertaining other people, the act of evoking emotions, and a lot more (Fischer a, pp. 15 - 16). To have a good critical thinking, having a good logic is never enough in enabling us to solve problems. It is equally important for us to have positive attitude and the necessary skills and knowledge in terms of solving problems. With regards to the importance of critical thinking, the definition of critical thinking as mentioned by Alec Fisher and Friedrich Nietzsche will be discussed followed by comparing and contrasting the two traditions of critical thinking. As part of going through the main discussion, specific examples coming from its respective texts will be provided accordingly. As part of the conclusion, my personal reflection will be expressed in details explaining how I view the two traditions of critical thinking as explained by Fisher and Nietzsche. Alec Fisher acknowledges the different definitions of critical thinking as provided by the famous contributors behind the development of critical thinking which includes John Dewey, Edward Glaser, Robert Ennis, Richard Paul, and Michael Scriven. According to Fischer, John Dewey – known as the ‘father’ of the modern critical thinking tradition defined critical thinking or ‘critico-creative thinking as â€Å"active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends† (Fisher b, p. 2). Upon analyzing the definition of critical thinking as provided by Dewey, it simply means that critical thinking is an ‘active’ process or the process wherein the receiver of information or

MKTG216 - Consumer Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MKTG216 - Consumer Demographics - Essay Example al., 2011). Based on the demographic perception, certain age groups decipher different choices than others. In addition to this, their choices of product are also influenced by cultural diversity. The buying behaviour of consumers is also mostly influenced by the income factor. Illustratively, luxurious products are preferred by people who have higher income than those who have lower income levels (Afzal & Pakistan, 2013). In order to justify the stated notions or speculations, the paper analyses the changes in household mortgage expenditure distributions and inequalities in Leichhardt and Fairfield from 2006 to 2011. The paper also aims to elaborate the distribution of household mortgage repayment differences in between the mentioned years. The Gini coefficients of the two cities, Leichhardt and Fairfield, have thus been analysed to measure inequality in the distribution of household mortgage expenditure. The Gini coefficient is used as a statistical measure associated with the income of a family that covers wages, salaries, income from properties, dividends, royalties and other sources of household incomes. The income earned by individuals is arranged according to certain ranking patterns and cumulative percentages of household are derived from it. Income and wealth are different from each perspective where income is defined as the total availability of monetary funds in the present situation whereas wealth refers to savings or other capital assets collected with the aim of future expenditure. Therefore, in a particular time period, the inequality in income would not affect the wealth distribution spontaneously within a demographic area. On the other hand, it is likely that a country with equal allocation of income has immeasurable inequality of wealth distribution. Contextually, Gini coefficient is important for the

Critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Critical thinking - Essay Example g or valid reasoning is also widely used in reporting events that is happening around us, tell jokes to our friends and colleagues, extending an invitation to a special someone, making promises to other people, telling stories, giving orders or instructions to our subordinates or co-workers, describing something, entertaining other people, the act of evoking emotions, and a lot more (Fischer a, pp. 15 - 16). To have a good critical thinking, having a good logic is never enough in enabling us to solve problems. It is equally important for us to have positive attitude and the necessary skills and knowledge in terms of solving problems. With regards to the importance of critical thinking, the definition of critical thinking as mentioned by Alec Fisher and Friedrich Nietzsche will be discussed followed by comparing and contrasting the two traditions of critical thinking. As part of going through the main discussion, specific examples coming from its respective texts will be provided accordingly. As part of the conclusion, my personal reflection will be expressed in details explaining how I view the two traditions of critical thinking as explained by Fisher and Nietzsche. Alec Fisher acknowledges the different definitions of critical thinking as provided by the famous contributors behind the development of critical thinking which includes John Dewey, Edward Glaser, Robert Ennis, Richard Paul, and Michael Scriven. According to Fischer, John Dewey – known as the ‘father’ of the modern critical thinking tradition defined critical thinking or ‘critico-creative thinking as â€Å"active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends† (Fisher b, p. 2). Upon analyzing the definition of critical thinking as provided by Dewey, it simply means that critical thinking is an ‘active’ process or the process wherein the receiver of information or

Uncle Vanya Essay Example for Free

Uncle Vanya Essay In Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov each character involved in the making of this play is not satisfied or content with life. They feel their life is a waste and they are still wasting them. Uncle Vanya, the character base of this play envies his brother in law, the professor because he is able to attract the ladies in spite of having no penny in his pocket. Astrov, the doctor, is discontent because all his life he has worked hard without any rest and he has nothing to boast about with him today. He has grown old, he has nothing to give him company but his vodka. Sonya, daughter of the professor, is in love with the doctor and is unsure of his love. She is unhappy because deep down she knows he is not in love with her but she is a more practical soul then the others. Sonya is not exactly content but she has her way of solving problems in her life as well as others lives. Yelena, the professor’s second wife, though attracted to the professor initially was never in love with him. She stays in the marriage more due to her conscience then for love. She has affectionate feelings for Astrov who reciprocates them but there is no future for that. Maria Vasilevna Voinitskaya, uncle vanya’s mother, is frustrated and unhappy waiting for the long journey towards end of life. Reading some pamphlets and writing is the only way she keeps herself occupied. Professor Alexander Vladimirovich Serebryakov, is a man who has no penny with him and is forced to stay in the estate of his first wife. He is not happy doing that and wishes to sell of the estate to buy a villa which creates a havoc. Telegin’s wife left him for someone else because of his looks and now he has to take care of his wife and her family. Marina, the old nurse, though irritated with the changed schedule, is a pleasant change from the frustrated atmosphere. From all this we know that none of the characters are content or satisfied.

The Kite Runner Religion Theme

The Kite Runner Religion Theme Introduction My object of study is The Kite Runner a novel by Khaled Hosseini, published by Riverhead Books in USA, 2003. The novel was adapted into a film in 2007 by the same name of The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini was born on 4th March 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan. His father worked for Afghan Foreign Ministry, and his mother was a teacher of Farsi and History. When Soviets occupied Afghanistan in 1978, the Hosseini family seek political asylum in the United States of America (USA) and moved to San Jose, California. Where Hosseini graduated from High School, and earned biology degree from Santa Clara University. He attended SanDiegos School of Medicine and completed his MD in 1993. He started writing The Kite Runner in 2001 while he was a practicing physician1. Hosseiniis Kite Runner is partly based on his childhood experiences in Wazir Akbar Khan in Kabul. While most of the events in the novel are fictional. After living 27 years in USA he returned to Afghanistan in 2003 and was shocked to discover the terrible situation there, even when he had written a very realistic and detailed fictional narrative of it. He declared that because of luck and material privilege, he and his fam ily was saved from the Soviets and the Taliban, much like his central figure of the narrative Amir. The rationale for choosing this novel is that it encourages the reader for repentance, and offers hope in devastation. It is a story of friendship and betrayal, love and sacrifices, written beautifully by Hosseini, against the background of Afghan political history. Background Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Its economy is based on agriculture and provides 70% of worlds opium and 90% of Europes heroin, but still one of the poorest countries. Among its 28 million people, 50% of men are illiterate and 79% of women. Life expectancy here is 47 years. The country has a long history of foreign interference by the Greeks, Persians, Turks, British, Indians and Russians. Talibans began as a group of fundamentalist Islamic students, were the last intruders until 2001 when Americans occupied and dismissed them. Because of all these intruders, there was a great diversity of culture and ethnicity in the country. Afghanistan divided into approximately 20 different ethnic groups, which further divided into tribes 2. It is inevitable to have conflicts between different groups while living in the same country, because of differences in their morals and beliefs. In Kite Runner Hosseinis main character Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan, is a Hazara the two groups do not get along in Afghanistan. According to Hosseini two things separate Hazaras from other ethnicities, one is that their looks are different, because they are the descendants of Mongol Empire and secondly, they are Shia Muslims, unlike most Afghans who are Sunni Muslims. Hazaras throughout the centuries have been the oppressed minority in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner acquires its name from the ancient game of kite flying known as gudi paran bazi. Boys make fighter kites from a bamboo frame together with tissue paper in different sizes ranging from one to five feet across. They attach the string to the kite which is coated with powdered ground glass. The goal of the fight is to cut the opponents kite string with a sawing motion. The real fight starts as soon as the enemys kite subsides and all wait impatiently to see who will get the fallen kite, as the kite is a symbol of their pride and glory.  3 Hosseini symbolises the kite fighting to the fighting between Afghan government and Mujahidin, whose hands were blooded and bruised, in the same way as does the hands of kite flyer when the kites string sears through his hands. Another way in which kite flying symbolises with the story of Amir and Hassan is the class difference between them, as the boy who controls the kite is Amir (Pashtun), and the other who assists him and run for the fallen kite for him is Hassan (Hazara), who also served Amir by cleaning and washing for him. Although, the kite fighting is violent but the only act of flying kite is innocent and depicts freedom. Despite their class differences the only activity which brings the two boys together is flying kites.   The Kite Runner  is the story of the friendship between two boys grew up in Kabul, Raised in the same household and shared the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grew up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, whil e Hassan, the son of Amirs fathers servant, is a Hazara an outcast ethnic minority. The two boys were very much attached to each other in their childhood and spend perfect time together by telling stories, running and flying kites, until that event happened which changed their lives forever. Their lives and their fates were interrelated, even when Amir and his father left the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he will forget Hassan, but surprisingly he couldnt. It is a story of Amir, his childhood, how he faces all the challenges while maturing into manhood, his friendship with Hassan, love and hate, father sons bonding and on the top, about the price one has to pay for his loyalty and betrayal. Representation of Religion The novel of Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan, where the majority of the population are Muslim and there are lot of references to Muslims and their beliefs in the novel. For example, the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Muslim calendar, and the first three days of Eid-ul-Adha, or Eid-e-Qorban, as Afghans call it a day to celebrate how the prophet Ibrahim almost sacrificed his own son for God. Baba has handpicked the sheep again this year, a powder white one with crooked black ears. (p 67) As Hayes S. Judi (2007) writes, Hosseinis view point is in many ways secular, when it is religious; the perspective is from an Islamic world view, not a Judeo- Christian perspective. But because Islam, Judaism, and Christianity hold in common at least some of events in the book of Genesis in the Hebrew bible, we will find much there that informs our reading of THE KITE RUNNER. Religion can be interpreted differently by different people according to their own values and beliefs. Same is the case in Hosseinis Kite Runner. Religion in the eyes of Baba (Amir Father) is morality, pride, honour and courage, and in order to be human one has to gain honour and respect in his community. Example of his pride and honour is that when they encountered a Russian soldier, on their way out of Afghanistan and the soldier demanded a half hour with the lady in the back of the truck, Baba said, Ask him where his shame is.war doesnt negate decency. It demands it, even more than in time of peace.(p100) Baba was more secular in his views and did not like the orthodox religious preachers, who impose their rigid views on others and who couldnt even allow minor sins and errors. His views on fundamentalists Taliban when he says youll never learn anything of value from those bearded idiots-piss on the beards of all those self righteous monkeysGod help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands(p15). While he has his own secular views, but he did good deeds in order to relieve his tormenting guilt. now, no matter what the Mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that? (p16) For Amir, Religion is something entirely private; he was also influenced by his father and didnt much believe in traditional religious values. We only found him praying twice. Firstly, when his father got sick bowing my head to the ground, I recited half forgotten verses from the Koran..and asked for kindness from a God I wasnt sure existed.(p135) Secondly, when Sohrab tried to cut himself, the boy had cut himself deeply and lost a great deal of blood and my mouth begins to mutter that prayer again; La illaha il Allah, Muhammad u rasul ullahI will do namaz, I will do zakat. I will fast. (p304) Stereotypes of Religion We can see stereotypes of Taliban in The Kite Runner. Assef, the childhood bully, became a Taliban member. Hosseini portray Assef as a Talib just to give a back ground to the story. He knew that Taliban are already viewed badly in the western world. Assef claimed that hes on a mission of God and Amir asked him about his mission, What mission is that? ..Stoning adulterers? Raping children? Flogging women for wearing high heels? Massacring Hazaras? All in the name of Islam? (p248). As we can see how their rulers in the name of religion, beat, stoned, raped and brutalized women. Years of war had stripped them of gentleness, kindness and human expression, the very aspect of religion they allegedly follow and try to impose. And all in the name of God and religion they have turned their monstrosity on their own people. Critics of The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseinis THE KITE RUNNER faced lot of appreciation as well as criticism. Like all other work of art and literature, people from different sections advance  The Kite Runner  with different feelings. A critic for  The New York Times Book Review  described  The Kite Runner  as A story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseinis privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before the countrys revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But, political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in  The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In  The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence. Forces that continue to threaten them even today. http://www.sholajawid.org/english/main_english/afghanistan_kite_runner290908.html Written in the back drop of 9/11by an Afghan born medical doctor, The Kite Runner presents a glimpse of socio political climate in Afghanistan and the Afghan community in northern California. The Kite Runner achieves this by offering a fictional portrait of recent events manipulated by tribalism and religious conservatism and aggravated by foreign interferences but overcome through the humanism and bravery, which is fuelled by the sense of community.(Sadat, 2004) Some argue that Hosseini has put his finger on very sensitive cultural issues that Afghanis dont like to be discussing in public. Others accuse him of being secular, who believe in oneness of Allah and the Quran. In my opinion, Khaled Hosseini took a very bold step, in order to disclose and expose such brutality and misery, which was practised by Pashtuns, (Afghanistans dominant nationality), against Hazaras in the name of Religion. The people should have the understanding of whats going on in the world, other than theirs, in order to do something for those who are living in oppression, either in the name of religion, or in the name of Jihad- where the male chauvinist violate innocent children, women and men. Conclusion The Kite Runner basically in my view is a legendary story of people of Afghanistan. The author provides a very long, descriptive and eye opening account of Afghanistans culture and traditions, along with its people. He portrays a complete picture of life in Kabul before Soviets invasion and Taliban to the Western world as a cosmopolitan, artistic and a very intellectual environment. According to Sadat (2004) the authors goal ..is to humanize the Afghan people and put a personal face to what has happened there. For me The Kite Runner is a story of peoples conscience that they have to face during their difficult times in life. The religion of the novel in my view is redemption. Redemption is very important for those who has conscience and have sinned. The entire story of The Kite Runner is focused on just one sentence, There is a way to be good again, (p.2) Allah says in Quran 12; 53 And I do not make myself free of blame, for the human soul is inclined to ignorance, except what My Lord has mercy on. Surely My Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will Allah turn in mercy: For Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. Quran 4: 17.   The Buddhist, Christian and Hindu principles of salvation are very much in common. Each of them stresses on liberation from sin, and relief from evil. Their goal is to return back to their former chastity and happiness. As evil is everywhere in this physical world, it is inevitable to commit sin making it inseparable from life. They believe that freedom can be achieved only by deserting this world. Buddhist believes into this doctrine in its purest form while Christians and Hindus have adjusted it to some extent, according to their belief. Amir is telling us the story of his childhood, memories of which are corrupted with shame and guilt. Towards the end of the novel we learned to know that it is not only Amir who needs redemption but Baba and Rahim Khan has also sinned and lived throughout their life in guilt. Amir thinks of himself as the only sinner among his friends and family, and his guilt become stronger when he sees Hassan as a righteous person. Amir had disgraced himself by not coming forward and helping Hassan when he was attacked and by lying and creating a situation in which Hassan was blamed of stealing and made him and his father (Ali) to leave Amirs home. Amirs relationship with Baba was very strained, as his father was very hard-driving and demanding. Amir was Desperate for his fathers affection and respect, and turns to kite flying sport, in which he was good from his childhood. At the age of 12, he wins the annual tournament of kite flying in Kabul with the help of Hassan.   Amir was very jealo us of Hassan and wanted his fathers love so much for himself, that he hurt Hassan in the process.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Amir tried continuously to make even with Baba, and didnt realize that it is Babas guilt which made him so hard on Amir and that Baba also needed redemption. People find redemption when they pay in some way for their wrong doings and try to replace the bad things with good ones. One day, Rahim Khan, Amirs fathers close friend called him and told him that he needed to come back home and to make things right, that had been done wrong, there is a way to be good again(p.2) indicated to Amir that it was a right time to let the guilt go away and redeem himself from the sin he committed 26 years ago. Finally, Amir redeemed himself as Rahim Khan recommended for him in his last letter, ..I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good (p263). Later on, in the novel we learned that Hassan was his half brother and that he had had a son. Amir found his way to redemption by looking after Hassans orphan son. He left his wife and home in America to look for the boy in Afghanistan. Once, Hassan stood up for Amir, now its Amir turn to do something for his son Sohrab. He had to fight with his childhood enemy, (Assef) the man who caused him the suffering and guilt, in order to rescue Sohrab, and it was Sohrab who saved Amirs life that day who wanted to sacrifice his blood for Hassan in the same way as Hassan did in the alley one night about 26 years ago. When Amir was cruelly beaten by Assef, he laughed and said, .My body was broken-just how badly I wouldnt find until later-but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed (p253). These words show that his guilt and anxiety of finding redemption were really huge. He felt he deserved to be punched to the point of almost dying; he needed to feel punishment for what he did. The Kite Runner is a beautiful story about guilt and forgiveness, fear and redemption. The story emphasizes on what happens when there is an overwhelming fear which control ones actions, and the way one deals with this kind of situations. Rahim Khan carries the novels conclusive message about forgiveness. God is always merciful; and it is people who are not. He tells Amir in his letter, I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, me, and you too Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most important, forgive yourself. (P263-264)

History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan Essay -- Turkey Ku

History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan Since 1984, and especially the last few months, the domestic problems of a major N.A.T.O, Middle Eastern, and American ally state have come to the forefront of the international news scene. That state is the Republic of Turkey and it's primary troubles stem from the past seven decades of acrimonious policies directed at the indigenous ethnic Kurds. The main problem, now, is the Kurdish popular insurgency on it's hands, in Turkish occupied Northern Kurdistan. The Kurdish question has long been covered up and denied by the state of Turkey, but recent events has forced Turkey to concede that it has a serious Kurdish insurgency on its hands. Turkey's inability to deal with this situation is the result of the past seventy years of cultural, political, and human rights abuses directed against the Kurdish population. In fact, this "separatism" is so out of hand that the Turkish government has incessantly appealed to it's allies and advisories alike to help counter the escalating Kurdish asperation to succeed from the Turkish republic. Turkey's sputtering and deteriorating economy is directly related to the long Kurdish struggle for independence. Turkey has spent over eight billion dollars or twenty percent of her GDP to combat the ever deteriorating predicament in northern Kurdistan, and should spend more in the future(Laber). Because of the violence, the once prosperous tourist business of Turkey, has now lost about $1.5 billion dollars annually since 1990. Many people now talk openly of another possible military coup, there were three major military coups during the last thirty years (Alister) These circumstances in the state of Turkey have also hurt her chances of ever joining the ever wealthy European Union and battering its ailing economic situation. The depth of Turkey's domestic and ethnic dilemma is one of the many that have arisen after the end of the cold war, yet the cold war is a simple answer to a much more complex one. The factors that have arisen to contribute to this civil war were created far before Capitalism versus Communism, East versus West, or U.S versus the Soviet Union. In order to really comprehend the holistic situation in Turkey one must first be familiar with the complete history of the Turks and Kurds. The Kurds of Turkey constitutes, by far, t... ...even years (Marcus), the army has massacred more then 1,500,000 in the span of sixty years , more the 1,500 villages destroyed, every form of Kurdish identity denied, and their politicians and journalists killed by secret police. After all it is the US constitution that has written: " When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.....whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter it, or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.." It is the very example the United States has set, that the Kurdish people wants to declare their independence. For, the only thing different between the Kurdish revolution and the U.S one, is only two hundred and nine years. All oppressions are bad, all occupations are wrong, every nation has the right to decide their own fate. History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan Essay -- Turkey Ku History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan Since 1984, and especially the last few months, the domestic problems of a major N.A.T.O, Middle Eastern, and American ally state have come to the forefront of the international news scene. That state is the Republic of Turkey and it's primary troubles stem from the past seven decades of acrimonious policies directed at the indigenous ethnic Kurds. The main problem, now, is the Kurdish popular insurgency on it's hands, in Turkish occupied Northern Kurdistan. The Kurdish question has long been covered up and denied by the state of Turkey, but recent events has forced Turkey to concede that it has a serious Kurdish insurgency on its hands. Turkey's inability to deal with this situation is the result of the past seventy years of cultural, political, and human rights abuses directed against the Kurdish population. In fact, this "separatism" is so out of hand that the Turkish government has incessantly appealed to it's allies and advisories alike to help counter the escalating Kurdish asperation to succeed from the Turkish republic. Turkey's sputtering and deteriorating economy is directly related to the long Kurdish struggle for independence. Turkey has spent over eight billion dollars or twenty percent of her GDP to combat the ever deteriorating predicament in northern Kurdistan, and should spend more in the future(Laber). Because of the violence, the once prosperous tourist business of Turkey, has now lost about $1.5 billion dollars annually since 1990. Many people now talk openly of another possible military coup, there were three major military coups during the last thirty years (Alister) These circumstances in the state of Turkey have also hurt her chances of ever joining the ever wealthy European Union and battering its ailing economic situation. The depth of Turkey's domestic and ethnic dilemma is one of the many that have arisen after the end of the cold war, yet the cold war is a simple answer to a much more complex one. The factors that have arisen to contribute to this civil war were created far before Capitalism versus Communism, East versus West, or U.S versus the Soviet Union. In order to really comprehend the holistic situation in Turkey one must first be familiar with the complete history of the Turks and Kurds. The Kurds of Turkey constitutes, by far, t... ...even years (Marcus), the army has massacred more then 1,500,000 in the span of sixty years , more the 1,500 villages destroyed, every form of Kurdish identity denied, and their politicians and journalists killed by secret police. After all it is the US constitution that has written: " When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.....whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter it, or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.." It is the very example the United States has set, that the Kurdish people wants to declare their independence. For, the only thing different between the Kurdish revolution and the U.S one, is only two hundred and nine years. All oppressions are bad, all occupations are wrong, every nation has the right to decide their own fate.