Cigarettes: United States Constitution and American Medical Association Essay

Should the production and sale of cigarettes be made illegal? Cigarettes have had a declining reputation ever since they were linked to various forms of cancer, and other debilitating conditions. Cigarettes were not seen as harmful until public awareness was raised about the issue. Now, there are many advocates for cigarettes and many against them, but does the government have the right to make decisions for the public? Sadly, in the democracy we live in today, there is not much democracy at all. If the government wanted cigarettes to be banned, cigarettes would be banned. The government follows its own agenda, regardless of the general public opinion. The government will always find a way to put a facade over the law and argue that no rights are being violated. According to the United States Constitution, under the authority of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, better known as the commerce clause, it reads, â€Å"The congress shall have power †¦ To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This states that the federal government has the authority to govern and regulate any commerce within the states. Article one also states, â€Å"The congress shall have power†¦ provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . So if the government decided to ban cigarettes they could use this Article to argue that they are looking out for the best of the public. It is under this law that the government is able to place bans on uncontrolled substances as well. So, if the Supreme Court holds power to ban an uncontrolled substance, like marijuana, but not cigarettes, it would be inconsistent. If it has the power to ban one, it has the power to ban both, under United States law. Both marijuana and cigarettes are considered parts of commerce amongst the states, so the federal government is able to place bans where they find applicable on both. How constitutional this is is infinitely arguable, and all bans placed on uncontrolled substances have been narrowly constitutional; however, it is the law. Cigarettes should not be banned because of the amount of money the government would lose from tobacco taxes. The government makes a considerable amount of money every year from cigarette taxes. Banning cigarettes would also create a black-market for the product and cause more trouble than good. Also, a ban on cigarettes would cause an increase in unemployment worldwide. Even with tens of thousands of people becoming unemployed, the potential for black-market cigarette retail, and a proportional loss in revenue for the government, critics argue cigarettes need to be banned. The problem with these critics is that their points of argument are thin at best, and fail to give substantial reasons for banning cigarettes. Most notably, the outcry of non-smokers claiming they have to pay extra taxes for old-aged smokers that have acquired costly health problems. An interesting proposal when there are so many studies that suggest the opposite. An article from The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that in order to have full fairness, smokers should be paid between 22 cents and $1. 28 by non-smokers for each pack smoked. This would balance out the societal costs and savings from the smokers habits (Manning 261:1604). So, while statistics say smokers get cancers, heart disease and other conditions that require costly care at a younger age, the same statistics state that smokers die at an earlier age. Therefore, they are not collecting their full potential of pension and social security benefits in their older age. They also do not cause long-term geriatric or nursing home bills like non-smokers do. Another point to make is that when a non-smoker gets lung cancer it is blamed on genetics, but when a smoker gets lung cancer it is assumed it was from smoking. Who is to say that the smoker’s lung cancer was not genetics as well? It should also be noted that lung cancer is a quick, degenerative form of cancer that kills fast which again, supports the claim that smokers cost less for taxpayers. The American Medical Association was not the only organization making these claims. Later in 1993, The U. S.  Office of Technology Assessment stated, â€Å"Reduction or elimination of smoking would improve health and extend longevity, but may not lead to savings in health care costs. In fact, significant reductions in smoking prevalence and the attendant increase in life expectancy could lead to future increases in total medical spending, in Medicare program outlays, and in the budgets of the social security†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (OTA 60). If that is not enough to convince one, the Congressional Research Service conducted a similar study with similar conclusions in 1994 which was then published in 1997 in the reputable New England Journal of Medicine. The Congressional Research Service stated, â€Å"Health care costs for smokers at a given age are as much as 40 percent higher than those for nonsmokers, but in a population in which no one smoked the costs would be 7 percent higher among men and 4 percent higher among women than the costs in the current mixed population of smokers and nonsmokers. If all smokers quit, health care costs would be lower at first, but after 15 years they would become higher than at present. In the long term, complete smoking cessation would produce a net increase in health care costs† (Barendregt et al 337). If you are interested in learning more about cigarette smokers and their cost to the public, read From Cash Crop to Cash Cow, by W. Kip Viscusi. So smokers end up not costing as much as the public thinks in terms of healthcare, but what are some other reasons cigarettes should not be banned? How about the large chunk of money the government would lose from tobacco taxes? This is a very valid point seeing how revenue from tobacco taxes are used by the government as funding for hospitals, schools and other public amenities. Banning cigarettes would directly affect the amount of money the government has for these building costs. This would have a negative effect on the general public, particularly, their wallets. According to the United States treasury, in their fiscal year 2013 budget planning documents, the total federal revenue for tobacco is mentioned at over fifteen billion dollars for 2011. (U. S. Dept. of Treasury 16). With a lack of money coming from tobacco sales, the government would have to find another way to get funding for these projects and that would become evident with increases in property, income or alcohol taxes. Banning cigarettes would cause a general disturbance amongst smokers. To be able to smoke freely one day then for it to become illegal the next day would cause a lot of commotion. Harmless people in society would soon turn to illegal activities, such as smoking a cigarette, and be prosecuted for it. People are addicted to cigarettes, so a ban would not stand in the way of a lot of smokers trying to get what they want. Not only would there be a lot of irritable citizens, there would be a lot of productive and useful citizens being booked for petty crimes like possessing cigarettes. A black-market would ensue the ban and cause more trouble for the government than good. Foreign countries notorious for black-market activity would hop on the bandwagon as soon as they got word of the ban and start selling cigarettes illegally to under the table distributors in the United States. In the end, the government would end up spending more money monitoring the illegal sales of cigarettes instead of spending it on more beneficial things to society like finding and prosecuting murderers, kingpins, and organized crime. Overall, it would not be worth it. Loss of jobs needs to be accounted for as well. Not just the cigarette industry but also all the workers that contribute to the process of making a pack and selling it to distributors. There are people employed to make the cardboard-like cigarette boxes, people employed to make the paper that wraps around the cigarettes, people employed that make the designs on the packs, people employed to make the cellophane that wraps the outside of the pack. Also the truck drivers that deliver the cigarettes, and the engineers that keep the machines running in the cigarette factories, and the people who harvest tobacco, and all of the executive positions within all of these companies. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services stated 662,400 people are employed with tobacco related jobs in the United States alone and worldwide, in the tens of millions (NCDA&CS 2). What people against cigarettes do not realize is how far the ban would reach and affect the livelihoods of a massive amount of people across the globe. Banning cigarettes would cause more problems and be another thing to worry about for the government and the citizens. The government would lose money from its tobacco tax, a black-market for cigarettes would be made, forcing the government to take action, and most importantly tens of millions of employed people would be without a job. It would not make sense to stir up commotion because a few people are concerned about health risks or smokers causing extra taxation for healthcare. As stated before, smokers cost less than non-smokers and a complete cessation of smoking would cause an increase in health care taxes in the long run. For the critics saying how bad smoking is for someone’s health, they have no authority to tell people how they should live their lives. People have the freedom to choose what they do to their bodies. The general public is able to make their own decisions and the government should not be able to make decisions for the public in regards to what they put in to their bodies. Even though constitutional law saws congress has the power to make choices for the welfare of its citizens, it still should not be allowed. What personal freedoms do we have if the government starts telling us we cannot smoke cigarettes? Soon they will be telling us to stop eating so much and sleeping so little. The government will say it is for the better of the people and that they are trying to keep the public healthy, but since when does the government genuinely care about the public? The government runs its own agenda regardless of the public. It is well known that the government is not planning on banning cigarettes anytime soon. Whichever party is responsible for that decision will lose a very large amount of its support network and neither political party is willing to take that risk. Plus why take that risk when there is a chance for the government to make more money by increasing cigarette taxes? The government just wants money. The government is addicted to cigarette taxes as much as smokers are to cigarettes.

Medicare and Medicaid Essay

Medicaid and Medicare are two different government programs. Both programs were created in 1965 to help older and low-income families be able to buy their own private health insurance. These programs were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s â€Å"Great Society† plan, a commitment to helping meet the needs of individual health care. They are social insurance programs, which allow the financial load of patient’s illnesses to be shared by other healthy, sick, wealthy, and lower income individuals and families. Medicaid insurance covers approximately 60 million Americans, according to their income. Medicaid is larger than any other single private health insurance program. The criteria for participating would include those who are unable to work due to disabilities, anyone who receives Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), as well as single, pregnant women who fall below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). In 2011, the FPL for a family of four was set at $22,350 . This amount is updated yearly. Medicaid also helps those who are part of the Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) program (Mann, 2012). Funding for Medicaid comes from the government as well as each state’s department of SSI. They are also responsible for administering funds. In the other hand, Medicare is a federal government program that offers individual health care insurance to those who are 65 or older, and/or have a disability, no matter what their income level. Taxes that are deducted from one’s payroll helps pay for the Medicare program. Medicare is intended to benefit seniors, younger people with specific disabilities, and people with end stage renal disease. The Medicare program has four parts; Parts A, B, C, and D. The social security department pays for a portion of Part A. Part A helps pay for inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing care, hospice care and other services. Part B is paid for by the monthly premiums of people enrolled and by general funds from the U.S. Treasury. It helps pay for doctors’ fees, outpatient hospital visits, and other medical services and supplies that are not covered by Part A. Part C (Medicare Advantage) plans allow you to choose to receive all of your health care services through a provider organiz ation. These plans may help lower your costs of receiving medical services, or you may get extra benefits for an additional monthly fee. You must have both Parts A and B to enroll in Part C. Part D (prescription drug coverage) is voluntary and the costs are paid for by the monthly premiums of enrollees and Medicare. Unlike Part B in which you are automatically enrolled and must opt out if you do not want it, with Part D you have to opt in by filling out a form and enrolling in an approved plan. The history of Medicare began decades ago in 1945, when President Harry Truman had a vision that Americans should have affordable health care. He fought for the idea, but it was an idea before its time. Medicare is a health care insurance program, which put simply is overseen by the United State Federal Government. Today the chain of acronyms, which oversee Medicare, leads to Health and Human Services, HHS, and the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, CMS. In 1945 Harry Truman was called a socialist. Today the same label has been pinned on President Obama. Perhaps the real question might be how does a country provide all of its citizens and residents health care without some level of socialism? In 1965 when Lyndon Johnson was President, he signed into law Medicare and Medicaid, which is a program that offers assistance to the indigent population. Ironically, the first person to enroll in Medicare was the former President Harry Truman. Over the following years, from 1965 to present, the provisions of Medicare have expanded. In 1972 benefits for speech therapy, physical therapy and chiropractic visits were added. This was also the year that payments to health maintenance organizations were added to the potential benefits. It was 1982 when hospice benefits were added on a temporary basis. Hospice became a permanent benefit in 1984. The next big change came in 1997 when Medicare added a Part C, Medicare Plus Choice which translates as health insurance programs offered by private companies but approved by Medicare. When Medicare first went into effect the monthly premium for Part B, medical insurance, was three dollars. As it stands today in year 2010, Part A, hospital premium, is $254 to $461 per month. Part B, the medical insurance portion, is $96.40 for those individuals whose income does not exceed a certain amount. There are also multiple co-pays and carve-outs, which further increase the cost to the patient. The ceiling restrictions put on various costs, such as the daily allotment for hospital stays and skilled nursing facilities, often do not fully cover the patient’s expenses. Today, Medicare recipients must carefully review their Medicare benefits and compare and contrast them with their private insurance. Some providers do not take new Medicare patients. There are benefits that are the responsibility of the Federal government, and others that belong to the State government. It is a challenge for elderly patients to even understand their benefits. Medicaid and Medicare both play important parts in paying for health care for seniors. They are, however, very different. There are many details, but here are three big differences. Variability: First, Medicare is more or less the same in every state, but Medicaid rules vary widely state by state. You must know which state a senior is living in, before you can decide whether they are eligible for Medicaid, for example. Eligibility: The second difference is eligibility. All seniors who paid into the Social Security system are eligible for Medicare. By contrast, Medicaid is a welfare program, so that a senior must have low income and limited assets in order to qualify. Those income and resource limits vary by state. Usually seniors apply for Medicaid through a local Medicaid office or begin the application process with the help of a nursing home or other facility’s staff member. Coverage: The third difference is coverage. Medicare currently pays for 80% of the cost of doctors and hospitals. Congress is now considering whether to add coverage for prescriptions. Medicare will pay for part of nursing home costs during the first 100 days after a hospital stay, but not otherwise. By contrast, Medicaid provides the majority of funding of nursing home residents in the nation. Often a senior enters a nursing home with certain assets and has to pay for the cost of care until they run out of money. Then Medicaid steps in and pays for the remaining part of the nursing home stay. If the senior is married, the spouse not living in the nursing home gets to keep a modest amount of income and resources in order not to be impoverished. Currently, all states must allow a spouse to keep at least $1,383 of the monthly family income and at least $16,824 of non-exempt resources. Certain resources are exempt, of which the most important is their principal residence, if they own it. It is possible to transfer certain assets to other family members, but the rules are strict and vary by state. You may also be able to obtain Medicaid-funded services for the senior in his/her home. Eligibility requirements vary by state. The varying structures of Medicaid and Medicare health care plans have resulted to conflicting incentives with respect to dual eligibility in beneficiaries without coordinated care. The main interest of both health care plans is to cut medical costs and none of the plans has an incentive that accounts for the quality of health care services offered. Medicare program is run by the federal government and individuals who are eligible for the program are those above 65 years of age, irrespective of their earning and young individuals who are disabled and have qualified for Social Security’s disability. Medicaid on the other size is a health care plan run by the state and provides insurance cover for all income-based employees of all ages. One of the key strengths of both plans is that that they give individuals a chance for dual eligibility. It is essential to offer extensive acute as well as long-term health care services for dually eligible beneficiaries of both Medicaid and Medicare. One major weakness of Medicare is the fact that it does not provide insurance cover for services like acute care dental, transport services and vision services. The major service that is not covered by Medicare is long-term care. Moreover, it majorly covers for the elderly and does not serve the population that is below 65 years. Medicaid on the other part has a weakness in that it is more costly compared to Medicare. Moreover, unmarried patients must be financially broke in order to qualify for Medicaid. It is however evident that all services that are not covered by Medicare are paid by Medicaid h ealth program. Medicaid and Medicare have been the principal means through which a large portion of the population gains access to health care in the United States. It is however evident that Medicaid is more committed toward promoting health care access compared to Medicare. In the year 1960, about ten million United States’ citizens were enrolled in Medicaid. This number has gradually increased and currently, the program covers a total number of citizens exceeding forty one million. The minimal commitment of Medicare is owed to the fact that there has been no primary expansion of eligibility requirements from the 1970s. A good example of Medicaid expansion program that has led to increased accessibility to health care is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This program provides insurance cover to children from low-income families. With the ever-rising costs of health care, both Medicare and Medicaid health plans are struggling to establish equilibrium between access expansion and cost regulation. A major similarity between both plans is that the government funds them and they work in partnership to provide health care costs cover to the poor and elderly population. The cost growth risk is one of the consumer risks associated with both Medicare and Medicaid health care plans. Inadequate health care services, is a consumer risk associated with Medicaid. With the increasing number of insured patients, there are inadequate primary care doctors. Physicians in majority of the states are discouraged by Medicaid health care plan. It is therefore common for individuals covered by Medicaid plan to report poorer health condition compared to the uninsured and those covered by private programs. A feature associated with Medicare program is prohibiting doctors from receiving health care payment that is more than the amount supposed to be paid by Medicare beneficiaries. It is thus not surprising to find some physicians refusing to provide health care services to Medicare patients on the grounds that the program pays an amount that is less than the costs. Fraud and waste, is another consumer risk that is associated with Medicaid and Medicare health care programs. With so many people enrolled in these programs, fraud is a common issue. The issue of waste and fraud is prevalent due to the fact that there is limited oversight to suppliers, providers and other people taking part in the health care plans. There are some recommendations that be suggested to improve the health care plan. One of the recommendations for Medicaid is to give greater support to uniform eligibility. This would help in solving the issue of unmarried patients’ requirement to be low-income earners so as to be insured. Another recommendation is for the program to increase the amount of money paid to physicians taking part in the program. This would increase accessibility and the quality of health care services provided to Medicaid patients. Due to the fact that Medicaid is more expensive compared to Medicare, effort should be made to reduce the costs. This would also minimize the consumer risk of increased costs. One recommendation for Medicare program is expansion of coverage, access and eligibility requirements. Currently, only people aged 65 and above are eligible for Medicare cover. Including the rest of the population would promote accessibility to health care. Another recommendation is reduction in Medicare spending, which help in cutting down the costs of health care services for insured patients. It is also recommendable for Medicare to expand the range of services pr ovided to beneficiaries. Long-term health care services and other services like transport services should be issued. This is owed to the fact that the beneficiaries are the elderly population and disabled children who may have limited access to transportation facilities. In conclusion Medicare and Medicaid are two U.S. government programs that guarantee health insurance for the elderly and the poor, respectively. With Medicare, medical bills are paid from trust funds, which those covered, have paid into. It serves people over 65 primarily, whatever their income; and serves younger disabled people and dialysis patients. Patients pay part of costs through deductibles for hospital and other costs. Small monthly premiums are required for non-hospital coverage. Medicare is basically the same everywhere in the United States and is run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the federal government. Medicaid is an assistance program in which Medical bills are paid from federal, state and local tax funds. It serves low-income people of every age. Patients usually pay no part of costs for covered medical expenses. A small co-payment is sometimes required. Medicaid is a federal-state program. It varies from state to state. The state and local governments within federal guidelines run Medicaid. References 1. Fong, Tony. (2005). Assessing Four Decades of Medicare, Medicaid, 6-7, 24, 42 http://hs1.farmingdale.edu:2177/docview/211948589/13AE0E52EFA2427EF35/8?accountid=8066 2. Berkowitz, Edward (2008). Medicare and Medicaid: The Past as Prologue. Health Care Financing Review29. 3: 81-93 http://hs1.farmingdale.edu:2177/docview/196958775?accountid=8066 3. Carlson, G. (2009). Difference between Medicaid and Medicare. Health Feature articles http://missourifamilies.org/features/healtharticles/health46.htm 4. Medicaid and Medicare, pgs. 1-16 http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=4d8184 9a-33fa-40c0-a995-e7f17b1d8a47 5. Pamela Farley Short, Lauren McCormack, Judith Hibbard, James A. Shaul, Lauren Harris-Kojetin, Michael H. Fox, Peter Damiano, Jennifer D. Uhrig and Paul D. Cleary (2002). Similarities and Differences in Choosing Health Plans. Medical Care, 40(4), 289-302 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3767833?uid=3739832&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101469438031 6. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2009). Focus on Health Reform. Health Reform Opportunities: Improving Policy for Dual Eligible, pgs. 1-7 http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7957.pdf

Comparesion pepsi and coca cola Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Comparesion pepsi and coca cola - Assignment Example Often the treatment received by these multinational corporations in the foreign land is similar to that of the host country. In order to find new markets and resources, companies expand their business operations in the potential markets of the third world countries. However, for sustaining in the new markets, they are often compelled to formulate a new set of strategies that is completely different from that of their home countries. In the course of their operations in foreign market, multinational companies face various impediments in the form of alien culture, varied buyers’ taste & preferences, different political, legal and economic conditions. To sail through these menaces, the foreign companies often undergo mergers with their national counterparts as the latter is more equipped in dealing with local issues. This paper will attempt to analyse the behaviour patterns of multinational companies in the light of different strategies implemented by them in different countries. For this purpose, Pepsi and Coca-Cola have been selected as they are respected names in the world of MNCs. A brief introduction will be given in the beginning of the project which will attempt to analyse its objectives and organisational structures. It will be followed by a discussion on their global business and internal analysis which will not only help to identify their basic nature but will also provide an overall idea of their situation in the world market. The rapid change in lifestyle has suddenly made the beverage industry one of the most profitable in the global market. The two undisputable rulers are PepsiCo and Coca-Cola especially in the ‘cola soft drinks’ section. PepsiCo is a celebrated brand in the international beverage industry. Formed in 1890s by Celeb Bradham, its main objective was to develop digestive syrup that would be delicious as well. Though it has

Marketing Plan for Nintendo Wii Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Plan for Nintendo Wii - Research Paper Example Nintendo was introduced to the video game industry in 1985 only to become a great hit within the people of all age groups. It rejuvenated the gaming industry single-handedly. From the inception, the company was always on the run to improve its product technology while maintaining low price levels on the other. This strategy was well accepted by the general public that it catered to economical entertainment. Thus its sales have surged into millions within a short span of time. Recently it introduced Wii which has several advanced features with a built in wi-fi capability. The company is now on the plan for implementing a strategic marketing plan which would be most beneficial for its running in the future. (Anon., 2010). Background analysis Organizational background: Nintendo was originally a Japanese playing card company which introduced its entertainment system in U.S. Today, it has its presence in over 20 countries covering Asia Pacific, Europe and America. Its customers range from 5-120 years of age. Most of them however are youngsters. (Armstrong. M., 2006). The crucial part of Nintendo’s success was its perfect planning and timing. It released its gaming videos in 1985, when the whole video gaming industry crashed totally. (Cooper.R.G., 2001), (Anon., 2005). This is similar to the research undertaken to identify aggressive competitor’s attacks on market leaders. According to the research, a competitor is said to be above-normal aggressive if he moves into new markets geographically, compete with leader’s brands, enter for the first time into the market and increase advertising expenditures.

Organisational Behaviour Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisational Behaviour - Case Study Example Lack of managerial control is a key OB issue related to the case. It can be observed that Anne Parker, the senior branch assistant, fails to control the junior employee Ronny Tristan. The newly joined Ronny Tristan is not taking his immediate boss seriously. That means Anne fails apply authority properly. A number of times Anne has complained about Tristan to the top level management. It reinforces the fact that lack of managerial control is evident from the side of Anne Parker. The behaviour of Ronny Tristan is not only pinching Anne but also causing problems for the official environment. Unfortunately lack of managerial control has created deadlock for the situation. Sometimes Anne is getting harsh with Ronny and sometimes behaving in soft way. This kind of inconsistency is creating less managerial control. Lack of accountability from the side of Ronny Tristan is also an important issue in this case. One thing is clear that Ronny Tristan is not giving his hundred percent in his works. His focuses are not at all there. He is taking his bosses pretty lightly. In spite of number of warnings or whistle blowing form Anne, Ronny is not taking them seriously. It means there is a significant problem regarding the accountability of Ronny. Day by day scale of business operations is gaining momentums. It requires significant accountability from all the levels of the organization. But that amount of accountability is missing from the side of Ronny. He is not at all cooperating with other staffs and his boss. His attitudes towards the stipulated works are not proper. In this case team problem is highly evident. Team environment is an integral part of the organizational behaviour. In this case that team environment specifically between Anne and Ronny is missing. There is a clear cut evidence of disconnection between these two persons. In every

Global business strategy case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Adolescent Identity Development based on Race and Sexuality Essay

Adolescent Identity Development based on Race and Sexuality - Essay Example standing the significance of culture is necessary not only to deliver treatment but also to be able to develop for themselves skills that transcend cultural barriers to treatment. The urgency of these needs has been highlighted in several researches. Sue and Sue (2002) emphasize that one of the primary steps to be taken is the study and recognition of culture in therapy. Counseling methods should reflect this and program methods to help cultural assimilation without sacrificing appreciation for cultural heritage (Vontress et al, 19999). McGuire-Snieckus and associates at the same time have also highlighted that standards for care should reflect these changes: that therapy should have a greater social and personal value to be able to effectively address care needs. The need for intercultural communication and understanding in therapy is an indication of greater social empowerment amongst cultural groups and is critical in developing tolerance and cooperation among various groups (Neuliep, 2006). The selected populations of the study, Hispanics, have a distinct cultural heritage that greatly influences the manner by which the y perceive, acquire and respond to therapy. Johnson (2006) reflects that as a subject group they show how the sensitivity to cultural factors can contribute to the success of programs. Cox and Ephross (1998) cite that ethnicity should be considered not only for their value in the development of identity or perceptions but also in the manner of response that subjects have to new cultures. From the interviews done for the purpose of this research, it is apparent that there are many misconceptions within and outside the Hispanic community that actively influence perceptions regarding therapy. There is great attachment among the population for family and cultural heritage that emphasizes religion and traits that are considered to be trademarks. There are many taboos developed form these beliefs that may deter counseling particularly those related

Asses the Claim that the Countries Using thr Euro Constitute an Essay

Asses the Claim that the Countries Using thr Euro Constitute an Optimal Currency Area - Essay Example This paper approves that Euro was considered as a stable currency before the late 2000s when economic crisis started to happen. The current sovereign crisis wherein many European countries are finding it relatively difficult to pay off their obligations on time therefore has created strong doubts over the sovereign debt crisis. Greece specially faced critical challenges in terms of paying off its debts and resultantly this has created strong pressure on Euro to decline against US Dollar in international market. This has also suggested that the Euro may not be an optimal currency region if it continues to perform in its current form. This suggests the absence of physical restrictions to travel and facilitate the free movement of the labor across the borders. It also requires the low cultural barriers as well as the institutional arrangements make it relatively easier for the labor to move freely. Labor mobility therefore is considered as a hedge against the adverse shocks when exchange rates are fixed or cannot be adjusted easily. It has been observed that the labor mobility within Euro area is relatively low as compared to the countries like US and Japan. This report makes a conclusion that Euro has to fulfill four important criteria before it can form into one of the cohesive and efficient single currency areas in the world. Apart from free capital mobility all other criteria suggest that the countries in the region may not be ready and hence countries comprising of the region where Euro is the single currency may not be constituted as an optimal currency area.... two models are based upon the concepts of stationary expectations as well as the International Risk Sharing.( Kenen, 1969) One of the key attribute of an optimal currency region therefore is based on the fact that it is often larger than a single country. The creation of Euro has been considered as an engineered attempt to provide a case study to test the theory of how to create an optimal currency region as individual countries in the region may not have been sufficient enough to form an optimal currency area. History of Euro Euro is the single currency in Eurozone comprising of the 17 of the 27 countries in the European Union area. Officially launched in late 1990s, over the period of time, Euro has become one of the most dominating currencies in the world. At the start of Euro as a currency, it was widely expected that the Euro will replace US Dollar as the most traded currency in the world. Backed up by the economic powers of the European economic powers in order to ensure that r egion is served by a single currency.( Richard; & Wyplosz, 2004.) Euro is officially administrated by the European Central Bank and the Eurosystem whereas the ECB has the sole responsibility to set the setting up the monetary policy for the region whereas the Eurosystem has the mandate of printing and minting currency notes as well as coins. Euro and Optimal Currency Area As discussed above, Euro was considered as a stable currency before the late 2000s when economic crisis started to happen. The current sovereign crisis wherein many European countries are finding it relatively difficult to pay off their obligations on time therefore has created strong doubts over the sovereign debt crisis. Greece specially faced critical challenges in terms of paying off its debts and resultantly this has

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Essay Example for Free

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Essay A soldier must have the mentality of, â€Å"I must kill or I’ll be killed† or they will surely perish. Taking this idea to heart can be a very moralistic test that most people can’t handle. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels ever written because of its exposing graphic depiction of war. In the short note before Chapter One, Remarque lets the reader know exactly what themes he intends. War is savage, unjustified and unnatural. He intends to explain why the war was responsible for the destruction of an entire generation. Remarque is very clear on the strength of his themes, and uses graphic imagery to show the reader the physical and psychological impact that war has on a person. War brings about hardship, pain and suffering to all involved. It is the battle of two sides made of young men; many of them do not understand what they are fighting for or who they are fighting. Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front helps portray the image of war and idea of warfare in a pretty gruesome way. He also made his point through the physical deterioration, but mostly through mental and emotional destruction of Paul Baumer and his comrades. In the novel, Remarque does a flawless job conveying the horrible misfortunes of war. Through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a story is told of hopelessness and desperation on the German front lines of WWI. As Baumer and his comrades experience starvation and injury among other hardships, the reader begins to comprehend how tragic war is. They experienced things that can and will traumatize most human beings. Its unendurable. It is the moaning of the world, it is the martyred creation, wild with anguish, filled with terror, and groaning. Ch. 4, p. 62. This scene was the most graphic and horrendous part of the book. It really exemplified the tragedy of war. Detering was very disturbed by this because he’s a farmer. He believed that the horses have innocent souls and that they’re beautiful and should never have been involved. Detering has a special place for animals in his heart so much so that he’d risk his life to find them and put them out of their misery. Remarque knew that war changes people mentally and emotionally, more often than physically. It is very possible that he himself was damaged mentally and emotionally through his service in WWI. We have lost all feeling for one another. We can hardly control ourselves when our hunted glance lights on the form of some other man. We are insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill. Ch. 6, p. 115. This quote embodies the thesis that Remarque was portraying in this novel. It explains how the soldiers notice their mental and emotional corrosion caused by the horrific things they have witnessed and committed during the war. They can’t really understand why they are still able to fight, but they know that they can’t stop under any circumstances. Soldiers are forced to adopt the dominating mindset of â€Å"kill or be killed. † Remarque realized that when this embracement happens it’s just a matter of time before they become â€Å"dead men. † During WW1 men between the ages of 18 and 30 had to enter the military draft. This meant that post teens would be fighting for their country and risking their lives, while all they knew was school and the safety of their own homes. The protagonist in Paul Baumer was only 19 years old in the novel and he frequently thought about girls and liked to drink a lot. In many ways, Paul is ordinary, and thats why its so easy to relate to him. We see ourselves in Paul, and because of that, the war he suffers through seems all more horrible to us. This age group during WW1 was a damaged and broken generation. They fought for the principle of hatred and the dream of going back home to their families. â€Å"We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? That is long ago. We are old folk. Ch. 1 Pg. 18 The war has altered these boys; it has turned them into matured old men. Remarque was just solidifying the idea of the bad effects that war can have on a person. These boys are just out of school and most of them have probably experienced some sort of traumatic stress, which can permanently damage someone beyond repair. War affects everyone and everything it gets its hands on. It turns innocent boys into murderous me n right before your eyes. It obliterates generations and makes millions suffer through the benefit of no one. Erich Remarque was a German war veteran and experienced firsthand the atrocity that warfare can bring. All Quite on the Western Front symbolizes war exactly. It portrays the horribleness of war through the German soldiers; Baumer and his companions. Remarque has them killed, brutally injured and mentally destroyed, all to prove how terrible war can truly be. Through this novel we can truly go back and see the experiences of WW1 soldiers and how the war changed them in every way possible, as a result All Quite on the Western Front is considered one of the best war novels ever written.

Technology and Its Effects on Children Essay Example for Free

Technology and Its Effects on Children Essay The use of technology has skyrocketed over the past few years, with a whopping ninetyfive percent of people utilizing the internet, constantly checking smartphones, and relying on other forms of media for entertainment, socializing, or work related instances. Compared with the digital satellites, MP3 players, and Palm Pilots of the 1990s, the technology today has truly advanced, causing many people to become dependent on media-related devices. More than fifty percent of today’s youth contribute to this dependency. What is not taken seriously enough is that this eagerness for technology is destroying the minds of young children by distracting them from important family values, causing various bullying issues, exposing them to violence, and inducing many health risks. Technology therefore should cease to exist in the lives of children, who should instead learn important life lessons from playing outside, utilizing talents, or spending time with the family. It is very important for a child to spend quality time with his or her family. Parents, grandparents, siblings, or extended family members help children develop positive self-esteem by communicating values, encouragement, and love. Today, children’s sense of those relationships is altered due to the fact that they are becoming less and less interested in family and instead more and more intrigued with media. The average kid ages eight to eighteen spends over seven and a half hours a day using technology, equaling seventy-five hours a week (Negative Effects Of). With all of that attention going to technology, children develop a loss of family interest. A group of four to six year olds said they would rather watch television than spend quality time with their fathers (Negative Effects Of). Story time with mother is rapidly being replaced with an old episode of Spongebob, thus creating disconnected children that do not find the value they should within their families. Every second a child is watching television or fiddling with an iPad is a second that should have been spent learning how to ride a bike, painting a picture, or reading with their parents to better the bond in the family relationship. While children are becoming less interested in their families, they are also gaining a false sense of privacy and leading themselves into a dangerous direction as to what they expose on the inter net. The youth of today do not realize that once something is posted online, it is there forever. One million children were harassed, threatened, or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on Facebook during the past year (Cyberbullying Statistics). Many kids post embarrassing photos, statuses, or leak things on to the internet that they later regret, causing them to become a subject of harassment by others online or in school. There is a strong link between bullying and suicide, with bully victims being two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims (Bullying and Suicide). At five, more than fifty percent of kids regularly interact with a computer or tablet device (Clinton and Steyer). Because parents are not monitoring kids or enforcing certain rules in the household, such as coming up with limits as to the amount of time spent on the computer, many children waste away hours staring at a screen which can make them an easy target for those who bully via the in ternet. Not only are people unaware of potential consequences posed by the internettelevision is another main concern that poses risks for young children, who have impressionable minds. The generation of young kids may as well be called the â€Å"couch potato† generation, as they are spending up to six hours a day watching television, with their parents using TV as an â€Å"electronic babysitter† (Harris). Many believe that children’s programs show happy, colorful images that influence the child’s mind positively. However, what goes unknown is the fact that those â€Å"happy† and â€Å"colorful† programs actually average more than fourteen violent acts per houreight more than adult programs (TV Media’s Influence). Parents would obviously be appalled at this number due to the fact that by age eighteen, their child will have witnessed about two hundred thousand acts of violence, including eighteen thousand murders (TV Media’s Influence). Instead of subjecting children to the television that imprints their minds with violence, parents should instead spend quality time educating, playing, or reading with them. By doing this, the disgusting knowledge of crime and violence will not be apparent in a young child’s life. They will have a chance to remain unpolluted, their minds full of important family values versus mu rder and bloodbath. Exposure to television and media too early in a child’s life leads to health problems. By age three, one third of children have television sets in their bedrooms. This puts them at risk for delayed sleep onset, increased caloric intake, and nightmares from overstimulation (Stein). The excessive early exposure to electronic media correlates with language delay, attention problems, and deficits in executive function. What many people do not realize is that putting a child in front of a screen is not harmlessit greatly affects the way they transition into adulthood. On top of all of those problems, children who constantly sit in front of a television or game device have a risk of becoming obese. TV watching contributes to this by increasing sedentary behavior, teaching unhealthy eating patterns, increasing snacking, and interfering with normal sleep (Stein). Children should be outside playing with others, reading, and falling asleep at normal hours without a television in the room in order to prevent the health risks that have plagued many because of overuse of electronic media. Though technology is helpful in many ways, it is detrimental to chil dren when exposed regularly. Sitting a child down in front of the television, handing them a game console, and allowing hours of computer time greatly affects the way that child thinks, feels, and reacts to certain situations. Technology not only puts a dent in a child’s emotional state in regard to violent shows and commercials, but it affects their health as well, causing them to suffer great setbacks such as nightmares, increased caloric intake, and attention disorders. Even though the world is becoming more technologically advanced that does not mean children have to as well. They should be playing outside, reading, and spending time with the family in order to learn important values that they would not learn from using electronics.

Plastic Theatre in A Streetcar Named Desire

Plastic Theatre in A Streetcar Named Desire 1. Introduction â€Å"I don’t want realism. [] I want [] magic!† (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 130) It is Blanche DuBois who states this quotation in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire. In this drama from 1947, two worlds, embodied by the two characters of Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, clash. That conflict between realism and a romantic view of things is visible through the whole play, increasing from scene to scene, and reaches its peak in Stanleys rape of Blanche in Scene Ten. After that suppression of the romanticism and with Blanche going to an asylum, one might think that the realistic point of view triumphs, but in my opinion her leaving and her acting, still relying on the kindness of strangers (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 159), leads to the impression of a survival of her fantasy world. She just escapes from the demonic night world and completes the cycle of romance (Thompson 28). But I dont think that her illusions win over Stanleys realism, as she is a Romantic protagonist committed to the ideal but living in the modern age, a broken world (Holditch 1 47). In Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, things are not always called by their names, but he creates a sense of indirectness. With the aid of telling names and special attitudes of the characters, he caricatures a truth behind things. However, this is not restricted to the protagonists and their quotations, but also concerns the play itself, including the stage directions. The feeling of hidden truths is supported by effects and motifs, for example the adoption of light and music or the gestures of the actors. This realization of a play on a stage is called the Plastic Theatre, as the audience gets more involved through the use of different senses. This leads to a vivid impression of the feelings and thoughts of the protagonists. Williams himself created the term of the Plastic Theatre in his production notes to The Glass Menagerie. There he writes about a conception of a new, plastic theatre which must take the place of the exhausted theatre of realistic conventions if the theatre is to resume vitality as a part of our culture (Williams, Glass Menagerie 4). 2. Definitions To provide a solid basis for the following thoughts concerning the different characters of A Streetcar Named Desire and their points of view, I want to introduce and explain the two terms of realism and romanticism briefly. Both of them can also been seen as epochs in American Literature, but I just want to focus on the general statement. In addition, I want to expose further information about the idea of the Plastic Theatre. 2.1. Realism In the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, realism is described as accepting and dealing with life and its problems in a practical way, without being influenced by feelings or false ideas. This means that one takes things as they are, evaluating situations only with the aid of the visible facts, not relying on false hopes or following non-realistic ideals. The human reason has, from a realistic viewpoint, a higher value and is more important than emotions or spontaneous impressions. 2.2. Romanticism The romantic perspective is in contrast to the realistic one. Romanticism is related to highly imaginative or impractical (Longman Dictionary, Romantic.) attitudes, admiring ideals which are not realistic or even unachievable. In romanticism, feelings and emotions are stated higher than rational thinking and human reason, not only in the context of love issues, but also in the way of dealing with situations and problems. Impressions are not based on visible facts, but on ideal conceptions, and these conceptions might be sometimes quite fictional or utopian. 2.3. The Plastic Theatre To express his universal truths Williams created what he termed plastic theater, a distinctive new style of drama. He insisted that setting, properties, music, sound, and visual effects all the elements of staging must combine to reflect and enhance the action, theme, characters, and language (Griffin 22). Like Griffin, many authors, including Tennessee Williams himself, tried to explain the Plastic Theatre, but it was barely discussed in public. After he established the idea of the Plastic Theatre in the production notes to The Glass Menagerie, Williams never publicly discussed it again. But from that moment on, his plays were very theatrical, with lyrical and poetic language, his scenic descriptions draw on metaphors from the world of art and painting and with quite symbolic use of sound and light (Kramer). 3. A Streetcar Named Desire: The Truth Behind Things In Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, the audience gets the impression that facts are not just stated within the text, but between the lines. The characters are often described better through their behavior and gestures than through their actual quotations. From scene to scene it gets clearer that Blanche and Stanley are embodiments of two very contrasting viewpoints of life: extreme romanticism and down-to-earth realism. This is also visible through different symbolic motifs, which emerge various times in the play. Connected with a very evocative use of music and light and many telling names from the beginning on, the whole play seems conspicuously allusive. 3.1. Romanticism and Realism in A Streetcar Named Desire We are presented in A Streetcar Named Desire with two polar ways of looking at experience: the realistic view of Stanley Kowalski and the non-realistic view of his sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois (Kernan 17). Williams brings the two views into conflict immediately. 3.1.1. Blanche DuBois as the Romantic Protagonist When the audience meets Blanche, her appearance is described as incongruous to this setting (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 8). In Scene One she arrives at the Elysian Fields, where her sister Stella and her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski live. Her clothes are white and fluffy, looking very delicate and as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 9). She is very shocked about the habitation of her sister and calls it a horrible place (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 13). The reader is confronted instantly with her deranged self-awareness, as she asks Stella to turn the merciless (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 13) light off, because she does not want to be looked at in the bright light. This behavior is visible through the whole play. Blanche always tries to avoid over-light and glare. Her vanity about her looks is also remarkable in the way Blanche presents her figure to her sister, fishing for compliments and stating that she has the same figure as she had ten years ago. (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 18). She often states very romantic quotations through the whole play, e.g. concerning the pretty sky where she ought to go [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] on a rocket that never comes down (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 44). When the relationship between Blanche and Mitch, a friend of Stanley, becomes more intimate, the audience gets an impression of Blanches romantic conception. She calls him her Rosenkavalier and wants him to bow, just like the gentlemen in the Old South would do (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 90). Although she was married once, she tries to behave like she would be untouched and a virgin, which she is obviously not. When Mitch says that he cannot understand French, she asks Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir? (Would you like to have sex with me tonight?) (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 95). The information about her past, that she had many men in a hotel called the Flamingo, and the way she speaks about her relationship with Mitch, that she does not love him, but just want a man with whom she can rest, brings certainty for the audience. So Blanches character can be described as a very romantic one. For her, outwardness is very important, and to appear very delicate and pure she is not afraid of telling lies. She is a fake, a person who likes to be better than she actually is, living in a fantasy world which has nothing to do with the real life. Already damaged by [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the harsh realities of disease and death, Blanches Romanticism is reduced in some moments to nothing more than sentimentality (Holditch 155). 3.1.2. Stanley Kowalski as the Realistic Protagonist Stanley Kowalski seems as the embodiment of a real man, opposed to or ignorant of the transcendent, very sexual and physical. When the audience gets in contact with him for the first time, he carries a package of meat and throws it to his wife Stella. He is described as strongly, compactly built. Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 24). His relationship to his wife is a very sexual one, as Stanley treats his wife in a very physical way and Stella states that she is very attracted to him. When Blanche leaves to the asylum and Stella cries, he consoles her by touching in a sexual way (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 160), which is characteristic of their relationship. His view of things is a very realistic one. When Blanche informs Stanley and Stella that she had lost the plantation of their parents, Belle Reve, Stanley thinks that in fact she did not lose it, but perhaps sold it and did not give them their part of the money. For him, this would be an affront against himself, as the property of his wife Stella is his own, too. He thinks Blanche bought jewelry, clothes like a solid-gold dress and Fox-pieces (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 32) from the returns of the plantation. In reality, the furs are inexpensive summer furs (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 33) and the jewelry is glass. This mistake is the mistake of the realist who trusts to literal appearance, to his senses alone (Kernan 18). Stanleys view of things, the realistic one, is the one which works in the modern, broken world. He embodies this harsh world with all its physical, material and sexual aspects. His strong appearance and his human reason is all he needs to get along in the real world. 3.1.3. Conflict between Romanticism and Realism The two points of view clash from the beginning of the play on until the end. Blanche embodies the romantic one, whereas Stanley stands for the realism. In the course of the play Williams manages to identify this realism with the harsh light of the naked electric bulb which Blanche covers with a Japanese lantern. It reveals pitilessly every line in Blanches face, every tawdry aspect of the set. And in just this way Stanleys pitiless and probing realism manages to reveal every line in Blanches soul by cutting through all the soft illusions with which she has covered herself (Kernan 18). Kernan explains very descriptive the relationship between the two protagonists. Stanley does not treat Blanche with much respect, which is visible through the way he talks about her bathing and her way of dressing. But also Blanche has an aversion to him, calling him sub-human something not quite to the stage of humanity yet (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 74). For her, Stanley is a threat, because he is able to destroy her fantasy world and to uncover her past and her real face. The conflict increases from scene to scene and reaches its peak in the rape of Blanche. Stanley has to prove his dominance and therefore rapes her to force his reality on her. But she is not broken after the rape, she is just even deeper in her fantasy world, which is shown by the way she trusts the doctor, holding tight to his arm, still depending on the kindness of strangers (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 159). Finally the audience gets the impression that the realistic point of view has the advantage of being workable. Blanches romantic way of looking at things, sensitive as it may be, has a fatal weakness: it exists only by ignoring certain positions of reality (Kernan 18). 3.2. The Plastic Theatre in A Streetcar Named Desire Williams tried to communicate circumstances not only by the acting of the protagonists, but also through symbols and various effects. The setting, lighting, props, costumes, sound effects, and music, along with the plays dominant symbols, the bath and the light bulb, provide direct access to the private lives of the characters (Corrigan 50). The many telling names in the play give additional information and enforce the impression of a truth behind things. In the following subchapters I want to discuss exemplary Blanches bathing, the adoption of music and sounds and the use of telling names. 3.2.1. Blanches Bathing Blanche bathes very often in this play. She obviously wants to clean herself from her past. After the bathing, she feels all freshly [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] and [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] like a brand new human being (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 35). Every time she is confronted with the real, brutal world, she wants to escape in her dream world, which is strongly connected with bathing. In Scene Three when the men have a Poker Night and Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on Stellas thigh, she instantly says I think I will bathe (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 49). In Scene Seven, she bathes again, little breathless cries and peals of laughter are heard as if a child were frolicking in the tub (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 110), while Stanley tells Stella about Blanches past and her affairs with a seventeen-year-old boy and many other men. The title of the song Blanche sings while bathing is It Only a Paper Moon and it is described as a saccharine popular ballad which is used contrap unctually with Stanleys speech (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 106). Especially the verse - But it wouldnt be make-believe If you believed in me! (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 107) is very ironic, because Blanche does not seem very trustworthy at all, and so the song even accentuates her disreputable past. After the rape, she bathes again in Scene Eleven and is very worried about her hair, as if the soap would not be completely washed out. The many baths in the play show that Blanche will never be done with bathing, because she is always confronted with the real world and could not clean herself from her past. It gives her a brand new outlook on life (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 115), but cannot change her life really. 3.2.2. Music and Sounds The use of music and sounds is also very theatrical in the play. The Blue Piano expresses the spirit of the life which goes on (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 6) and is always heard when the conflict between real world and Blanches fantasy world seems to increase. It is heard, for example, when Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields and grows louder when she informs Stella about the loss of Belle Reve as well as when Stanley tells her that Stella is going to have a baby. It also suggests the fall of Blanche as it is swelling when Stanley rapes Blanche and afterwards when he consoles Stella, who cries because of Blanches leaving. Another music, which is strongly connected with Blanches past, is the polka music. It is always heard when Blanche talks about her dead husband. It emerges for the first time when Stanley mentions that Blanche was married once (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 28). She tells Mitch the story about her husbands death, he shot himself after dancing with Blanche in a casino. He was homosexual and she discovered him with another man and said while dancing he disgusted her (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 103) and therefore he shot himself. It also appears when Stanley gives Blanche a ticket back to Laurel where she lived and when he takes Stella to the hospital and Blanche remains in the flat. So the song predicts Blanches downfall, as it is always heard when she is haunted by her past. 3.2.3. Telling Names There are various telling names in Williams play. Blanches name itself is quite telling, as blanche is French and means white, which is very fitting when looking at her character. The name of her plantation, Belle Reve is also French, meaning beautiful dream. Blanche behaves like she would still live in this dream, refusing to face the truth and the real world. There are many more telling names, but I want to concentrate now on the perhaps most important one, the Streetcar Named Desire as it is the title of the play. Blanche takes the streetcar named Desire (Williams, Streetcar Named Desire 9) to get to the apartment of the Kowalskis. This is very telling itself, as the audience finds out more and more about her past and that she leaved Laurel as a broken woman somehow, but her desire to live her life as an elegant, trustworthy and honest woman is still present. So she tries to live a, for her, desirable life, and she hopes to find that in New Orleans. By the aid of the telling names, which are visible from the beginning of the play on, the use of music and the different symbols which appear often, it seems very theatrical and plastic. The audience gets an impression of the characters and the circumstances in various ways. 4. Conclusion In Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire, the conflict between Romanticism and Realism, embodied by the two protagonists Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, is the major theme of the play. With the aid of the characterization of these protagonists and the explanation of the conflict between them I was able to verify this thesis. These two persons are very polarized, visible through their points of view, their behavior and gestures. But in the end, only one point of view is workable, namely the realistic one of Stanley. Blanche lives in her dream world, even in the end after her rape. Stanley is not able to crush her, but she can only survive in her romantic fantasy world, which leads to the impression that she cannot exist in the modern age. The Truth behind things in this play is also visible through the Plastic Theatre. Williams caricatured this hidden truth by the use of music and sounds, symbols and motifs, and telling names. My notions about Blanches bathing, the Blue Piano and the Polka in the play, and the telling names were exemplary for this plastic and sculptural theatre, and therefore I showed the existence of a truth behind things and that the term of the Plastic Theatre fits for A Streetcar Named Desire.

The Rise in Political Power of 17th Century England and France :: European Europe History

The Rise in Political Power of 17th Century England and France In the seventeenth century, the political power of the Parliament in England, and the Monarchy in France increased greatly. These conditions were inspired by three major changes: the aftermath of the reformation, the need for an increased governmental financing, and the reorganizing of central governments. These three points were each resolved in a different way in both England and in France. The first major point which eventually increased political power was the aftermath of the Protestant reformation. In England, after the establishment of the separate Anglican church of England there were many protestant groups left in England still in conflict. These groups all tried to push and pull parliament in their favor -- which ultimately made it so that nothing could be done. These conflicts even came to the point of bloody civil wars and suffering on both sides of the fighting. Parliament ultimately decided to stop these wars by creating religious Act of Toleration (1689) for the non-conformist protestants. For many people, this caused more unity in England and increased power. In France, the decision was made to unify the country through the establishment of a single religious authority, the Catholic Church. The king of France became the heart of this policy, which gave him control of religion when this went into effect. The next major point was the increase in need for governmental financing. In England, taxing had become under the control of Parliament. In addition to this, the cost of running a government in general had gone up and the country needed more money. Because the king didn't have as much power to tax as he pleases, the government could make a firm and accurate taxation of the people. In France, the price of government had also gone up. However, here the was a monarchy and a king with great control over the government. Using his control of the economy, a strong "Mercantilism" system was used aimed at maximizing foreign exports and reserves. The king became the center of this new power. The last major point which increased political power was the reorganizing of the central governments in both England and in France. The economic changes in this century required new relationships between the King and his subjects. In England, the parliament because of this need, grew to have power over the king and cause great toleration of people's

Early Childhood Education Field Essay -- Education, teaching, elementa

Introduction Due to an increased demannd for standards and accountability in the early childhood education field, policy makers have increasingly turned to the development of effective professional practice among early childhood educators (ECEs) as the predominant approach in securing better outcomes for children. ECEs have thus found themselves under increased pressure to develop professional practices through professional development which has been demonstrated to have a profound impact on children’s holistic development and their performance prospects in society. This essay will focus on the development of effective professional practice among ECEs. The paper will critically evaluate the importance of developing professional practice among ECEs, how it is developed and the application in ECE’s practice. The essay will highlight how professional practice and core beliefs of ECEs are shaped by factors such as professional and personal identity, beliefs and values and regulatory d ocuments and bodies. Development of Professional Practice The importance attached to the development of effective professional practice among ECEs can be seen in the Professional Support Coordinators Alliance of South Australia (PSCSA’s) definition of professional development. The PSCSA defines professional development as â€Å"continuous learning that enables practitioners to affirm existing understandings as well as acquire new skills and knowledge and thereby remain up-to-date with evolving developments in the field (PSCSA, 2008, p17).† The report also considers the development of professional practice among ECEs as any endeavor to improve service delivery to the families and the children that they are contracted to provide the service for. This def... ...n The development of effective self practice among early childhood educators has become an increasingly important aspect of quality management and improved service delivery in the ECE sector. The significance of professional development for ECEs is that it enhances the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge in professional practice. Professional development is mainly through continuous learning and training and is dependent on the educator’s core personal and professional values and beliefs. These beliefs are shaped by publications of regulatory and professional bodies and through constant self reflection and evaluation. This then enables ECEs work on their beliefs that shape their professional practice as regards mode of teaching and also professional relationships with family and community.

Kate Chopin and the Awakening

What features make The Awakening a â€Å"local color† story? The amount of detail that is spent on the area and is significant. Every time a character that is colored is introduced, limited time is spent describing the character. Local color is what defines an area, town or people. â€Å"The Awakening† touches deeply on all of the local color of the area it is describing. What customs and beliefs of Edna Pontellier's society are significant in relation to her psychological development? To be a good person in Edna’s society meant being a mother figure who completely surrenders her sense of self in favor of her husband and children. Edna is trying to become a human being the best way she knows how. Edna refuses to take the mother road. Instead, she seeks her humanity What attitudes and tendencies in the Creole characters does Edna have trouble adjusting to? Creole society is very open when it comes to sexuality, and Edna has trouble with that. She was not brought up in the Creole society, so she has trouble accepting it. Examples can be seen when they pass around the novel that has explicit sexual content while on vaction. It can also be seen in Robert's behavior. He is very openly flirtatious with Edna, and he has the repuation of being a flirt in the past with other women. Why did Edna marry Leonce? Is he the model husband? She married him because she didn't want her father to choose her husband. She wanted the freedom of being able to choose herself. â€Å"Was he the best choice? † Probably not for Edna but it was who she chose. What incidents in the novel reveal that he may not be a good husband for Edna? As a traditional Creole gentleman of the times, Leonce believes it is his duty to provide financially for the family and it is Edna's duty to be devoted to him, their two children, and their home. When Edna suggests she is not interested in these domestic duties, Leonce is incapable of comprehending what she means. In his mind, this line of thinking is utterly ridiculous. Against that backdrop, Leonce's inability to communicate effectively with his wife expands the problem. When Edna shares her feelings with Leonce, he dismisses them. When her behavior contradicts his expectations, he dismisses them. By dismissing Edna and her concerns and never communicating with her about them, Leonce severs any ties that exist between the two. How do Mlle. Reisz and Mme. Ratignolle function in relation to Edna and the novel's view of women as mothers and artists? Mme. Ratignolle shows the society's view of women as mothers. Her advice to Edna is to â€Å"remember the children. † Ratignolle is loving and nurturing, but devoid of independence or personality. Mlle. Reisz, though, is living her life as she desires, not caring what society thinks of her. She is able to be extravagant and lavish, fully embracing her artistic capabilities because she does not have other obligations. She denies society's structure, and encourages Edna to do the same. This free lifestyle is what Edna comes to desire and seek for herself. What kind of mother is Edna? What kind of artist is she? Painting evokes the passion that Edna lacks in her life. There are suggestions that Edna's art is somehow flawed. Madame Reisz cautions Edna about what it takes to be an artist, the â€Å"courageous soul† and the â€Å"stronged wings. † Edna also loves her children, however she would not give herself to her children but rather sacriface herself for them. She realizes that she has lives in a society filled with limitations, therefore sees her only way out by freeing herself permanently from society. How are the background characters such as the young lovers and the lady in black at the shore, significant in Edna's story? These minor characters all serve to contrast with Edna and her struggles with her own identity and place in society. The young lovers are a stark contrast to the marriage of Edna and Leonce, at least as Edna perceives her marriage. The young lovers are described as walking shoulder to shoulder, suggesting they are equals and connected. Edna does not feel this with Leonce. The lady in black is likely an old widow who is now living out the end of her life in the expected way. She wears the color of mourning and serves as a visible picture of what the last phase of what life is like in this society. In detail, explain how the flashbacks to Edna's past function. How does her father compare to the other men in her life? In the first one, Edna is talking to Robert and recalls a â€Å"summer day in Kentucky, of a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean. † This memory reveals to us that Edna's interest in running away and being engulfed by something larger than itself has its manifestations in her childhood and is not something that she is just starting to consider as an unhappy wife and mother in Creole New Orleans. As the chapter progresses we learn that Edna had some â€Å"loves† in her past, but that they were more of her imagination than any possibility of reality. † With all of this flashback information, it comes as no surprise then that when Leonce woos her, even though she doesn't love him. Leonce is everything her father isn't, and that is part of his appeal. Edna even openly admits that the fact that Leonce is Catholic and that that would irritate her father is one of the reasons she agreed to marry him. This flashback gives us a very complete picture of Edna's history in regards to men and establishes the foundations of her marriage to Leonce. This has a great effect on the reading of the novel. It makes Edna's character more complex and more interesting How does the view of romantic love develop in the course of the novel? What is the doctor's view of marriage and childbearing? The genuine affection that develops between Edna Pontellier and Robert Lebrun is a form of romantic love. They shared their thoughts on a range of subjects that might appear uninteresting to others. As their friendship grew, they become more comfortable with one another. Robert rests his head on Mrs. Pontellier because it is comfortable. His goal is not to be forward or flirtatious. Roberts’s romantic feelings for Edna increase as this intimacy grows. Robert leaves for Mexico very soon afterwards. He hopes to escape his feelings because he realizes that he has fallen in love with Edna. His love developed naturally over time. His feelings morphed from a close friendship into emotional intimacy/understanding and then into love. Can you think of an emotional attachment and/or a romantic obsession you have studied in a previous work? How does that incident or character compare with Edna's emotional and romantic relationships? In a book i recently read, the main character's wife has a small dilema. She loves the man she is married to but rejects him at the same time. The reason she rejects him is because she was chosen as his wife and she did not get to choose him. Its a bit more complicated than this but this is a basic summary. This compares to Edna because she doesn't want a husband to choose her. She wants to choose the husband. She picks a man based on how he woos her nicely. This causes the ultimate problem that she ends up not loving her husband. The similarity is in the differences. Both took a different path to get to the same area. The end result was the same though. The women in the book I read, ran away. Edna committed suicide in order to run away. What are the main images and symbols in the novel? One of the main themes is the Sea. At the very end of the novel, Edna drowns herself. The irony of the scene is that Edna has learned how to swim, so here she is certainly exhibiting an act of agency by swimming far out into the water that used to scare her. Now, she is not scared and as she swims she recalls all the troubles and misunderstandings of her life. Her drowning symbolically represents her freeing herself from what she felt was a life of restriction. Here in the water, she experiences that which her life did not allow. The novel starts with the symbol of a caged bird, and references birds in several other chapters as well. The caged bird is a clear symbol for Edna as she feels caged in her roles of wife and mother and in the expectations that the Creole society has imposed on her. Later in the novel Reisz questions whether Edna has strong enough wings to fly above the social conventions of the time to be truly free of the rules and norms of the day. In the end, Edna sees a bird with a broken wing, just as she is not strong enough (or willing enough) to struggle on this society. Why does Edna get involved with Alcee Arobin? Alcee Arobin follows Edna around and spends a great deal of time with her while Mr. Pontellier is not home. At first it is just friendship, Edna takes no real interest in Alcee because her love lies with Robert. She has secretly always hoped for Robert, but Alcee is conveniently there. Sick of her old life, Edna simply takes up Alcee as a lover for the companionship. In a sense, she lives out her relationship-fantasy of Robert with Alcee. Why do you suppose critics were outraged at this novel in 1899, saying it committed â€Å"unutterable crimes against polite society† and should be labeled â€Å"poison† to protect â€Å"moral babes†? The story showed a women reaching the ultimate low because of rules society layed out. She killed herself because she felt that everything constricted her too much. I think that the reason they called it so horrible is because it showed the darker side to the norms of society. It also showed how oppressed women really were. What is your reaction to the end of the novel? Do you agree or disagree with the reasons for Edna's final action? I agree with her final action because I think too much damage had already been done. If she had gone back and told her husband she wanted a divorce, I think he would of brushed it away. She had a person who would of loved her and treated her like an equal. He saw that he had fallen in love with her and left to Mexico. The best oppertunity for her to get what she needed stepped out the door right then. The story also hints that she has always run away from her problems and not looked at them straight on. This means that all her problems have been building up over her life. I don't think that amount of damage is reversable.

Dream Company Essay

Technology has taken an uprising since the late 20th century to our world today. Everyone essentially owns some sort of technological device from cellphones to computers. Companies like Microsoft, Xerox and Canon have made our lives simpler and possibly much easier, but there was another company waiting to override the norm and push an industry giant to its limits. Apple Incorporated followed an unconventional path to its recent success in the computer industry, despite being consistently dominated by Microsoft. Apple Inc. s a multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, personal computers and portable digital music players, and mobile communications devices and sell a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. The company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977. The word â€Å"Computer† was removed from its name on January 9, 2007, reflecting its shifted focus towards consumer electronics after the introduction of the iPhone. Apple is the world’s second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics and the world’s third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. However, the company has received criticism for its contractors’ labor practices, and for Apple’s own environmental and business practices. As of November 2012, Apple maintains 394 retail stores in fourteen countries as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store. It is the second-largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$ 414 billion as of January 2013. As of September 29, 2012; the company had 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual revenue in 2012 totaled $156 billion. In May 2013, Apple had made it to the top ten of the Fortune 500 list of companies for the first time, taking the 6 position, 11 places up from the previous year Innovative Products Currently, Apple’s iPhone is the yearning of the modern man. Top-notch product design, an intuitive user-interface as well as fancy multimedia internet based services may contribute to its unique market position. Therefore, if not yet accomplished, many software developers are considering getting into the iPhone platform ASAP, serving the market Industry Leaders  For the past three years Apple has been known by fortune as the world’s most admired company. They are known for elegant product design, innovation, customer loyalty, brand-building marketing, and secrecy. Apple Inc. is considered to be as the industry leaders in innovation, design, versatility and customer satisfaction. The products that they introduce every single year a re the best in the challenge. The contenders may have products that are highly dreamed on by them but at a days end more people tend to shine into Apple’s products. The vision that Apple has to make their wonderful products is carried by none. Their products like the iPhone changed the entire mobile industry. iPhone was innovative that many people as well as the rival companies such as Nokia, Samsung and many other companies were mesmerized by the innovation and technological leap the Apple had achieved by introducing this product. Perks For the past three years Apple has been known by fortune as the world’s most admired company. They are known for elegant product design, innovation, customer loyalty, brand-building marketing, and secrecy. The financial statement projected that the company will continue to grow because of their product design to meet the consumer needs. The company has seen an increase in demand of products and service. Based on the company historical and projected future earnings and cash flow growth rates, any person who is looking for a smart short to medium term investment, Apple stock would be the right decision. Its steady growth in earnings and dividends can be viewed as acquiring moderate to risky equity. On December 29, 1994, Apple inventory increased to $1 billion. That was the inventory turnover for Apple. Their total revenue rose from $9. 8 billion in 1996 to above 19. 3 billion in 2006, which is a substantial increase of 96. 43% (Shlinds, 2007. ) On July 19, 2011 Apple, announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended June 25, 2011. The company earned quarterly revenue of $28. 57 billion and earned a quarterly net profit of $7. 31 billion. Those billions of dollars in sales had much to do with the sales of the Macs, iPhone, and iPad. The company sold 3. 95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 20. 34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 142% unit growth over the year-ago quarter. They sold 9. 25 million iPads during the quarter, a 183% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7. 54 million iPod, a 20% unit decline for the year-ago quarter (www. apple. com. ) Macs, iPhone, and iPad sold in numbers greater than the company expect, but the sales from the iPod decreased. Even though the iPod sales dropped, it has dominated the market digital media player and managed to maintain in the United States. This is Apple best quarter ever with revenue up 82% and profits up 125%. Their cash flow has increased 131% year-over-year, with operations of $11. 1 billion. In December 2010, the cost of goods sold of $16. 4 billion was 61. 5% of revenue. The income statement continued to grow at rates rarely seen at a large company. The company continues to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations. The company dominant leadership in virtually every product category it competes is an obvious proof of innovation and well-executed market. However, despite its market leadership, Apple management has traditionally under-promised, yet over-delivered on earnings quarter after quarter. This has been the primary means for the stock’s sudden ascent in recent years. Companies that grow faster than the operating cash-flow it generates are usual suspects when it comes to balance sheet maneuvering. Liquidity obviously is not a problem for Apple, but this forces the analysts following the company to scramble and keep raising their targets each time Apple consensus. Cash flow quality and earnings structure better reflect the correlation between stock price and the financial statement. Apple sales growth has been inclining, while Resource and Development spending (excluding previously capitalized software and technology acquired in acquisitions) as a percentage of sales has been declining. Any stock has the potential to be successful, but under-utilized assets or small allocations to develop innovative products which drive future profits would not be helpful on returns on assets/investments. Apple has no competition. Apple creates computers, phones, tablets, music players, operating systems, television set-top boxes, lifestyle and productivity software, professional media software, and wireless routers. They also sell movies and music, and they have an application store that so far has not been challenged. Nokia, Samsung, Sony might compete with Apple hardware, but they depend on Microsoft operating system. Microsoft makes operating system for computers and phones, and they produce office and other software similar to Apple’s, but they lack in hardware. Google with the Android, is not even a single operating system. It is a multitude of operating system versions on multiple devices. If Apple wants to change something on a device, either hardware or operating system, it can just do so. If Nokia, Samsung, or Sony wants to change their operating system, they would have to recieve confirmation from Microsoft. If Microsoft wants to advance their technology, they need buy-in from hardware makers. They make their profits from business-to-business, which mainly consists of selling licenses to its operating system to computer manufacturers and office suites for enterprises. That is not to say that they do not sell to consumers. They have consumer only product lines as the Xbox gaming console, and of course, home user also buy Windows and Office. On the other hand, Apple is primarily a consumer company, and makes most of its profit selling hardware products. This makes the target of Apple’s site much clearer for marketing, selling, and providing support for its products to consumers. The rest of the technology can only play catch up. A quote from Wayne Gretzky who said, â€Å"Good hockey players play where the puck is. Great hockey players skate to where the puck is going to be. Most of the tech industry is struggling to get where the puck was, (Raymond Meyers, 2011. ) In the previous paragraph I mention Apple did not have any competition, but if I had to choose two it would be Microsoft and Google. Apple leads Microsoft and Google in the S&P 500 in this illustration: Apple $401. 82 -$10. 32 (-2. 50%) Google $520. 66 -$18. 54(-3. 44%) Microsoft $ 25. 06 -$0. 93(-3. 50%) Microsoft is steady declining. Microsoft launched windows Vista; Windows users vigorously had rejected that upgrade. Fewer than 10% of windows users had switched and nearly 5% of windows PCs in use were running windows versions older than XP. Mobile device are steady increasing, which Apple has complete control over. Mobile operating systems account for nearly 3% of all Internet. The percentage of Internet usage on mobile devices has been doubling every eight months. The many tasks that PC handled are taking over by mobile devices. Microsoft was ahead almost as long as people were using PC, but technology has advanced into mobile devices. May 26, 2010 illustrated from mobile devices, Microsoft and Apple were about even at a Market cap of $223 billion, but Apple had increased rapidly to $306 billion, while Microsoft decreases to $212 billion. Apple site is generally more user friendly than Microsoft, and offers a much better experience to consumers who use it to check out the latest Apple products. Apple website is much smaller in scale than Microsoft’s site. Apple uses many of white space and subheadings to make everything more readable, yet they keep their website simple by not overusing too many different text. Microsoft hosts many different sites under the Microsoft. com brand, creating a whole ecosystem of sub-sites. Microsoft biggest problem is consistency. There is no global navigation, and there are not many visual clues that tell the user that this is a Microsoft site. Unlike Apple, where the whole site shares one unique visual that mirrors that of their hardware and software, thus creating a powerful brand. Google Android has become the closest smartphone that can stand up to the iPhone dominance. In this graph is shows the sale between smartphones: | Apple has more than three hundred retail stores in ten countries, in addition to an online store that offers its products to the customers across the globe (Apple Inc, 2011). This global network allows the company to develop and launch the products in it markets of America, Asia, and Europe. The company is officially listed as number one company that provides wide range of technology related products in the world after surpassing Microsoft. The company has more than 45,000 employees working on full-time basis and around 3,000 employees worldwide. It was noted that the company had earned the annual sales of around $67 billion US dollars from its worldwide operations (Apple Inc, 2010). The company is listed as one of the most admired companies in the United States and in the World for four consecutive years (Fisher, 2008 Colvin, 2009 Fortune, 2010). Apple products like Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod are manufactured in the United States, but the company is outsourcing the production of some of its product parts to the various international and national supply chain partners. For example, iPod are outsourced to its subcontractor in Hong Kong from where it is sent to the outsourced production plant of the company (Linden et al, 2007). The company saves money by outsourcing, but on the other hand, it increases the downsizing and unemployment rate in the United States. Price, place, promotion strategies, product performance, the quality, and reliability of the product, innovative designs as well as the availability of up-to-date software services are factors that can impact the business and profitability of Apple. The focus on manager at this point is the expansion of its smartphones and other media and communication devices. The competitors of Apple have numerous of resources that they can offer the business and consumer products and services similar to Apple’s products at a low price range. Decrease the price on Apple products by creating resources from other companies will attract more customers.