The Sacred and the Profane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Sacred and the Profane - Essay Example The water of baptism also, symbolises, a complete renewal or rebirth of the baptized person, into the new life in Jesus Christ (133). Secondly, baptism ritual signifies the confronting of Satan, symbolized as the dragon in the Bible, and defeating the dragon, as one starts the new life in Jesus Christ (133). Defeating the Satan here means a complete overhaul in one’s life, to start a new life in Jesus Christ. This confrontation and defeat of Satan is symbolized through the immersion into water. The abyss of water symbolizes danger and battle. Just as Jesus before starting His public ministry went to River Jordan to face the Dragons in the abyss of water, and to defeat them, Christians, also, through immersion into the water are able to face their spiritual dragons, the Satan, and to defeat them. We find Noah in the Bible, also, through his faithfulness in God, overcoming the dangers of the immense flood, and emerging the winner. The abyss of water, therefore, signifies the battle with the Satan, and the eventual defeat of Satan. The third meaning of Christian baptism ritual lies in the act of baptismal nudity itself. The nudity in baptism signifies the abandoning the old garment of sin and old ways of life, and embracing the new garment in the life in Jesus Christ (134). The baptismal nudity, also, represents the primitive holiness. Prior, to sinning, Adam and Eve were naked and yet they were comfortable with that because they were innocent (134). Does Eliade Think that in the Modern World there is a Place for the Religious worldview of archaic civilizations?

Drug Cartel Violence Along the Mexican Border Essay Example for Free

Drug Cartel Violence Along the Mexican Border Essay In lines thirty-five through forty-five of Ian McEwan’s Black Dogs, June and Bernard stand upon the precipice of a cliff in the French countryside. The particular description in this section, when teamed with June’s observations as they near the cliff, provide a startling comparison to June’s inner turmoil and the changes inherent to the baby she carries within her womb. Like her own future prospects, the path’s trajectory is a â€Å"steep descent† that fills her with anxiety and place June and Bernard’s relationship and imminent future into the context of a fall. Like the â€Å"bright, empty space† of â€Å"baking rock dropping three hundred feet† , their future stretches out before them and represents the unknowable nature of human relationships. However, perhaps more important in relating to June’s anxiety is her own awareness that such a physical descent of the earth could as easily be seen in as the physical and mental transformation she will go through in becoming a parent. The danger she senses is not merely the physical danger of their present but the psychological and emotional danger inherent to their own relationship with one another and their future child. The couples relationship in particular is vulnerable to the chasm that opens up before them with the knowledge of this new life and responsibility. Like the earth at the bottom of this open space, they can guess what the future will bring when they return to England but they cannot truly understand the context of what such a journey entails. There is the sense that they will look back upon this moment for a significance that they can only partially understand. On July 16, 2009, James Bone’s article for the London Times reported a series of murders that had just taken place in Mexico. Michoacan, where the killings have taken occurred, is an area of Mexico along the Pacific coast. As the country’s primary source of opium and marijuana, Michoacan hosts a great deal of drug cartel activity and violence the most recent being when a dozen federal agent bodies were found on a highway in the mountains. These anti-drug agents are among several who have been killed this year in a series of attacks. This killing spree is reported to have been sparked by the arrest of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, a commander of La Familia cartel, which took place in Morelia Michoacan’s capital. Seven cities came under attack from La Familia shortly after Medina’s arrest, including the tourist sites of Patzcuaro and Zitacuaro. The twelve bodies that were found on the highway one woman and eleven men marks the most severe attack thus far. Found with the bodies were death threats from La Familia, saying â€Å"†¦Join its ranks or leave† and â€Å"Let’s see if you try to arrest another one†, alluding to Medina being arrested. La Familia’s killing spree is reported to be a turning point in the long-standing Mexican drug war, as they are now killing federal agents directly. Some believe this proves that the arrest of Medina was a serious setback for the cartel. According to Jorge Chabat, a drug expert, the cartel’s operations have been negatively affected and they are showing signs of weakness rather than strength. Putting an end to this cartel, however, is seemingly an endless task and due to La Familia having penetrated the legal system and obtaining protection, it is difficult to speculate when this violence is going to end. Link: http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6715478. ece

Holden Caulfied in The Catcher in the Rye :: Essays Papers

Holden Caulfied Which Character Gives Us Who He Is Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger?s The Catcher in the Rye, is very complex, mentally and emotionally. The readers of the novel would not be able to understand Holden as much as they do, if it was not for Holden?s deceased younger brother Allie. Although Allie is never actually met in the novel, Holden?s discussions about him and his ?conversations? with him help us understand Holden better. It may seem strange that a dead character would shed so much light on a living one, but Holden had a strong bond with Allie, one that he refuses to give up. Our first introduction to Allie is early in the book when Holden is writing a paper for his roommate Stradlater. Holden writes about his brother?s baseball mitt, a very personal object that sheds light on how much Holden loved Allie. Writing this composition provokes him to say, ?It wasn?t just that he was the most intelligent member of the family. He was also the nicest, in a lot of ways.? It becomes very clear right away that Holden loved and respected Allie, and was very sad that he was gone. As previously stated, Holden had a bond with Allie that he refuses to give up. The night after he died, Holden punched out all of the windows in the garage and even broke his hand. The signs don?t stop there, though. After Holden ordered a prostitute in New York and decided he didn?t want her services, he was feeling rather depressed. He said, ?I felt so depressed you can?t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed.? Th is is the first major indication that Holden has rather severe emotional problems. Holden inability to give up his relationship with his brother is very interesting. One of the main reasons that Holden liked Allie so much was because of his innocence and his purity. Since Allie died at a young age, he died with innocence and he will be forever innocent. Holden never wanted Allie to change. We know this because he said, ?Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.? Allie innocence and Holden?

Walmart Global Expansion

Wal-Mart’s Global Expansion Introduction Sam Walton established Wal-Mart at Arkansas in 1962. It has grown dramatically over the last 40 years and has become one of the world’s largest retailers with the sales of $401 billion in a year ending Jan. 31st 2009. Wal-Mart has approximately 7,000 stores globally with 2 million employees. It is the largest private employer in Mexico and Canada with the employee figures hitting around 1. 4 million in this region. It also operates 3,600 additional stores in 16 worldwide markets that include China, Japan, South Korea, India and United Kingdom. Wal-Mart does particularly well in Canada where they have a chain of 314 stores. In 2008, it had 92,284,000 dollars of gross profit. Wal-Mart serves its customers and members over 200 million times per week and ranked first among retailers in Fortune Magazine’s 2009 Most Admired Companies survey. Wal-Mart provides sustainability- focused products. Wal-Mart not only provides jobs for senior citizens and students but also provide opportunities to build careers with competitive salaries. The retailer claims that 75% of its stores management team joined the company as hourly sales associates. Wal-Mart has also got an impressive ethical policy which includes regular use of recycling products and creating almost zero landfill waste. The company also makes vast amount of donations to different local level charitable organizations every year for improving people’s lives, which made Wal-Mart a trusted organization for funding the community programs to address hunger, homelessness, education, job training and other basic needs. International Expansion of Wal-Mart and its Benefits By 1990, Wal-Mart realized that the opportunities for growth in United States is becoming limited because of the saturation of the market and decided to expand their business globally. Their international expansion put a greater impact on international market and has changed the way business is conducted globally. It has also increased the benefits for the consumers as it helps them spend less money on goods they purchase. The company’s relationship with their key suppliers such as General Electronics (For appliances), Unilever (For Food Products) and Procter & Gamble (For Personal care products) is very good. All these suppliers are internationally recognized with vast global expansion and because of this Wal-Mart are able to demand deeper discounts from the local operations of its suppliers. Apart from these world renowned suppliers Wal-Mart also does business with more than 2,500 minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE). The result of this good relationship with suppliers means they can lower their prices to attract more consumers, gain market share and increase their profit margins in international market. Wal-Mart claims in its data sheet for December 2009 that its international business achieved 11. % rise in sales for the whole financial year. Except the profit and market share another benefit of international expansion for Wal-Mart is the flow of different ideas for example, a double-floor store in New York was opened because of the success of multi-floor stores in South Korea. Other ideas such as the layout of the wine department in Argentina have now been used into th e layouts of company’s stores worldwide. Wal-Mart is also constantly trying to improve its reputation ethically and consistently helping over 100,000 charitable and community-focused organizations by providing financial and volunteer support. Retailer’s policy of buying fair-trade products in the international market is also attracting the attention of many consumers to shop in Wal-Mart. Risks When Entering Other Retail Markets The idea of expanding internationally was initially jeered off and the critics showed that Wal-Mart’s style of trading only suits to an American market, which in other countries is not going to work because of the different market structure, people’s taste and the popularity of already established retailers. But instead of all the critics Wal-Mart went ahead with an idea and in 1991opened their first international branch in Mexico. Expanding business internationally also brought some risks for the retailer as being new in the market they faced problems like bad infrastructure, lack of leverage from their suppliers and no knowledge about consumers taste, which resulted the rise in prices of their products and lack of interest from the consumers. One prime example of this kind of mistake was in Mexico where they merchandised products like ice skates, lawn mowers and fishing tackles which were good sellers in United States but without a surprise didn’t do well in Mexico. Managers had to reduce prices to sell that stock but it was re-ordered because of the automated ordering system. These problems created a large risk to prove the critics right about Wal-Mart not surviving internationally. Diminishing the Risks Wal-Mart learned vastly from their experience in Mexico and after that whenever they entered any international market they took strict measures on not repeating the same mistakes. To avoid risks of making past mistakes they made deals with vehicle companies which means improved and frequent distribution system, adapted local environment and merchandised goods in stores that appealed local tastes. With the grown presence of Wal-Mart in the international market their suppliers built factories near the distribution centers so they could serve the company better, which meant frequent inventory and cutting down the cost to get better market share. These are the tactics that has made Wal-Mart one of the most successful and globally recognized retailer in the world. Entering Mexico via Joint Venture Wal-Mart first entered Mexico through a joint venture with Cifera, because it was the largest local retailer in Mexico which was somehow within the standard as Wal-Mart was in the United States. The other reason it entered through a joint venture was because they wanted to be on the safe side when entering a new market considering they had no previous experience of the market they were planning to enter and hoped the experience from Cifera will help them in making their brand global, which they had planned to do after the market in America got saturated for domestic growth. Financial Aspect of Joint Venture As for the financial aspect of joint venture seems to be that both companies can benefit from the profit as well as share the risk and cost. Get a greater access to resources which both companies can share with each other and also the availability for both companies to a new market distribution. While not to forget the risk of this particular idea for a business is that every company has different objectives on how to move forward with the business. The other risk is the communication flow as one company can be centralized and the other decentralized. Purchase of Joint Venture Partner The major reason believed to push Wal-Mart to buy of their Mexican joint venture partner Cifera. Was that they had gained enough experience working in Mexico which was around about 7 years and during that time they had increased their sales of good as well as made contacts to help them prosper without the help of having a joint venture. After getting exposed and experience within the market they had considered to start their own chain of stores to have a firsthand control rather than having to collaborate with their partner to make certain decisions. The other reason could be considered that is since their deployment in the Mexico during 1991 when goods were being sold at 20 percent more than in the States due to various different conditions such as transport and production of goods. They were able to sort out the problem by at first having a deal in place with a major transport company to bring products from their factory to the stores in Mexico, which later on opted on suppliers to open factories around areas where stores were located which enabled to cut down on logistics cost. Having this in place they were able to provide the same goods in the same price as they did in the States. Difference of Strategy for Dominance Before explaining the strategy that Wal-Mart pursued it would be helpful in understanding the strategies. As per the question four different strategies were provided to consider and show the one chosen by Wal-Mart to match its strategic choice and why. The four strategies are global strategy, localization strategy, international strategy, and transnational strategy. Global standardization strategy is a â€Å"strategy that focuses on increasing profitability by reaping cost reductions from experience curve and location economies† (Hill, 2009). Localization strategy is a â€Å"plan which focuses on increasing profitability by customizing the goods or services to match tastes in national markets† (Hill, 2009). Transnational strategy is a â€Å"plan to exploit experience-based cost and location economies, transfer core competencies with the firm, and pay attention to local responsiveness† (Hill, 2009). Lastly international strategy is â€Å"trying to create value by transferring core competencies to foreign markets where indigenous competitors lack those competencies† (Hill, 2009). Domination The strategy that Wal-Mart used to go global from United States was the global strategy at first in Mexico but after noticing that the strategy has no affect rather than sales going up they had to cut down the price of goods to be able to sell them. This enabled the company to change from global to localization strategy which is to focus on increasing profitability by customizing the firm’s goods or services they provide a good match to tastes and preferences in different national markets. This enabled them to adapt to the local market and provide goods that matched the local environment. As for making sense of this strategy it was a valuable and the right decision considering the outcome from the change. As profit grew so did the hold in the market as well as outsmarting their nearest rival by having more than twice as many stores within the country. Conclusion To conclude, Wal-Mart benefited vastly from their global expansion. It experienced an increase of global market share, reputation and profit margin. It also gained economies of scales. Although, they faced massive problems when they took their business internationally but they quickly learned from their mistakes and adapted the strategies according to different international markets, which benefited them in many ways. Wal-Mart ranked 8th in 2009 Forbes Magazine’s of global companies but 1st in global retailers ranking and if they keep attracting consumers by their business strategies then without a doubt it will stay the top retailer for a long time.

Aphrodite/Role of Women in Illiad Essay

Throughout the many annals of Greek mythology, there have been many fascinating characters, ranging from the beginning of time with Gaia and Uranus, to their children, Cronus and his wife Rhea, through the Titanomachy, the war of the Titans versus the Gods, and finally to their children, the Olympians themselves, and the dawn of the Silver Age. Of the twelve Olympic Deities, you have five Goddesses: Hera, the queen of Olympus, Demeter, Goddess of the harvest, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, and Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. While each of them have their own intriguing backstory, histories, and myths associated with them, there are none more fascinating than Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture herself. Her intrigue begins at her inception into the world of Greek Mythology. There are multiple accounts of how Aphrodite came into existence but the most widely recognized one came from Hesiod’s poem Theogony, on the origins and genealogies of the Greek Gods and Goddesses, in which much of Greek mythology is derived from. As the myth goes, when Cronus castrated his father Uranus, Uranus tossed his amputated member into the Ocean, and from the resulting foam, out came Aphrodite, fully grown in all her beauty and splendor. It is said that it is because of this lewd beginning that Aphrodite gained her erotic nature. Almost immediately after joining Olympus, Zeus’ fear quickly grew about a growing conflict between the Gods about who would be the one to take Aphrodite’s hand in marriage. Acting quickly Zeus married her off to his son Hephaestus, the God of smiths, crafters, and weavers, due to his anger towards Hera for throwing him off Olympus when he was born because of his innate unattractiveness. Aphrodite did not however take her wedding vows very seriously and took part in quite a number of affairs. Her partners ranged from Gods to mortals to include Dionysus, Hermes, Poseidon, Nerites, Anchises, Butes, Phaon and Phaethon, but her two main affairs were with, firstly Ares, the God of War, with whom she had numerous children with, mainly Eros (god of love), Phobos and Deimos (the embodiment of fear and error), Anteros (god of love returned), as well as Himerus (personification of lust), and Harmonia (goddess of Harmony). Her second main affair was with a mortal name Adonis. She had to compete with Persephone, Goddess of Spring for him, and the conflict got so heated, that Zeus believed he had to step in to resolve the issue. Jealous of Aphrodite’s love for him, it is said that Ares himself transformed into a bull and killed Adonis himself. What was blatantly obvious from the moment she walked out of the Ocean was that Aphrodite’s erotic nature and her command over love gave her immense power and control. Love, being one of the most basest of instincts, gave her a level of influence of the males of the world that set her apart from the rest of the Olympians. It was said that whenever Aphrodite spoke, even Zeus listened1. While Aphrodite definitely has a loving side to her, it is by no means her sole personality trait. Many a myth have portrayed Aphrodite, not only as jealous and vain, but also deceitful, and at times downright ruthless. When it suited her, she was known to be unapologetically treacherous and malicious, and her sway over men was often potentially deadly. The bewitching power she possessed over men very often led to their own destruction. To illustrate how deadly Aphrodite can be, we need not look no further than the Judgment of Paris. The Judgment of Paris was when Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, came down to Earth, and with a certain influence from Eris, the God of discord, Paris was asked to choose the most beautiful between the three of them. Aphrodite, with her power over men, was of course chosen. Paris was promised the most beautiful woman in the world, and as a result, an uncountable number of men bled for his choice in the Trojan War. To exemplify her vain, jealous nature, we look to the myth of Eros and Psyche. Jealous of Psyche’s beauty, she sent a plague to her homeland and said the only way to rid the land of plague is to sacrifice Psyche. As soon as Eros laid eyes on her, he fell in love and saved her from the sacrifice and married her. Even though they were married, Eros would never let Psyche lay her eyes on him. One night to satisfy her (and her two sisters) curiosity, she snuck into his chambers and accidentally woke him. Irate and disobeyed, Eros fled. Driven by love, Psyche implored Aphrodite to give her another chance, but with ulterior motives in mind, Aphrodite agreed. Psyche was forced to complete a series of nearly impossible tasks, culminating in Psyche having to go to the Underworld and retrieve a box of Persephone’s beauty cream. Upon opening the box, Psyche fell into a coma, at which point at Zeus’ command, Eros brought Psyche up to Olympus and made her immortal. In regards to certain Olympians, the power and influence they possess and exert is apparent as the light of day. Two very evident examples are firstly Zeus, the king of the Gods, and Poseidon, the lord of the seas. With goddesses like Aphrodite, her power isn’t always as clear. Instead of obvious supremacy over the physical realm, Aphrodite has command over man’s more basic instincts. This in many ways, can be much more dangerous, and is abundantly clear when she seems to give immortal Gods a very bone-chilling mortal side. Topic #13) Discuss the role of women in the Iliad by Homer. Masculinity in ancient Greece was one of the most highly regarded character traits a human being could possess. Men in Greece were expected to be tough, cold, and exude power with not an over abundance of rules and a lot of wants and desires. Women on the other hand were, for the most part, to be treated and kept like slaves. Ladies were viewed as property by their male opposite numbers, and their function outside of the home were severely limited and confined to religious activities. Sardonically, this same people that revered Goddesses. Goddesses were to take part in the glory of war, and were able to abide by their own rules. That is the case for Goddesses in the Odyssey by Homer. While most to all women are treated as second hand citizens, there are many different types of women portrayed in the Iliad. There are resolutely willed women, clever women, damsels in distress, evil and vengeful women, and women that could potentially bring about the downfall of the protagonist male hero. Among those there are also women who are shown as the spoils of war. The true irony is that while the story is predominantly about conflicts in the male dominated world, the cause and inspiration of these conflicts is usually the opposite sex itself, women. The women in the Iliad can, for the most part be separated into several groups. In the first group, you have the women who are specifically portrayed as less than human and are more property than anything else. The most prominent example for this is the case of Briseis and Chryseis. While it may seem both characters are merely â€Å"war prizes† to be won by the opposing side, their impact is a little less obvious and a little more mercurial. Neither of these two women have any sort of power (physical, political, magical, etc. ), however their breathtaking beauty simply influences men to keep on going to war for them. When Apollo blighted the invading forces with a plague, cursed to ravage the Greeks until Chryseis was give back to her Trojan father, Agamemnon proclaimed to Achilles that if he gives Chryseis back to the Trojans, he shall take Bryseis, Achilles’ war prize as his own. So angry Achilles was with his king, that he withdrew from battle and allowed the Greek forces at the mercy of the Trojans. This shows how great the power a woman’s beauty can behold, and how simple it is for them to take advantage of man’s baser instincts. Helen of Troy is another example of the sway that beauty has over the male gender. Because of her abduction and her complicit role with Paris and Troy against Menelaus and the Spartans, the Trojan war was sparked and both nations paid dearly as a result. Eventually though, it was made clear that she deeply regretted her decision to leave for Troy and despised herself and Paris for allowing so many to die so that they could simply be together. Of all the female characters in the Iliad, none play more idealistic of a role than Andromache, Hector’s wife. While she doesn’t have multiple men killing each other over her, she no less plays an important role. Andromache can be described as the anti Helen. Hector is the one man in all of the Iliad who loves and adores his wife. She was his main motivation for defeating the Greeks, for he knew what would happen to her and his son should the Greeks claim victory over them. She is the perfect example of your ideal housewife. Her two goals are to raise their child and to keep her husband happy. The next group of women are those who would be described as having a much darker side. The ones who, for example, use their beauty and sexuality as a weapon. The most blatant character who’s guilty of such action is Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual manipulation herself. Starting with the judgment of Paris, where she seduced Paris into choosing her as the most beautiful Goddess over Athena and Hera with the promise of giving him the most beautiful woman in the world. As a result, the Trojan War was started. The next woman that falls under this category is Calypso, the daughter of Titan Atlas. When Odysseus was washed up on her shore, she immediately fell in love with him. Calypso enchants Odysseus to and forces him to stay with her for the next seven years, in which, by certain accounts, Calypso bore him three children, Latinus, Nausithous, and Nausinous. He was not able to leave until Hermes came to Calypso with a directive from Zeus to let him go free. These characters reinforce the stereotype that women have no physical power, but can very easily seduce men and manipulate them with their beauty and sexual nature. The final female character of significance in the Iliad is Athena. As the patron goddess to Odysseus, it is her duty to protect him and his family and steer him in the proper direction when he goes off course in life. Without her guidance, Odysseus’ son Telemachus would have most likely given up on his father and allowed Penelope, Odysseus’ wife to marry one of her suitors. Under the guise of Mentes, the advise that Telemachus receives from her plays an incredibly significant role in his development as a man. On top of that, on multiple occasions, Athena saves Odysseus’ life from Poseidon, whom he angered with his arrogance after the victory at Troy. This benevolent role that she plays is reserved for specifically female goddesses. While mortal women are seen as weak, even the more evil ones, the female Goddesses boast being able to wield as much power as the males Gods. While most mortal women in the Iliad are stereotyped to a fault, there are still a small number, such as Andromache and Penelope, that give ancient Greek women a sense of dignity. The goddesses’ story is something else entirely. While mortal women are stuck as mere housewives, the goddesses are viewed as equals from the male counterparts. It can be argued that the power that goddesses like Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite wield matches that of Poseidon and Hades. The respect that goddesses command can be seen when Athena had the city of Athens named after her over Poseidon. However. overcoming that lay before him and with much help needed from certain people around him, Odysseus finally made it home.

3 Ways Your Resume Should Differ From Your LinkedIn Resume

3 Ways Your Resume Should Differ From Your LinkedIn Resume It used to be totally standard to make your LinkedIn profile more or less a verbatim copy of your resume. Those days are over, given the incredible amount of recruiting traffic on LinkedIn and how most recruiters are looking at attractive candidates before even requesting resumes. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to have some unique content on your LinkedIn profile. Here are three key ways to make your LinkedIn profile pop- and differentiate it from your resume itself.1. Beef Up Your LinkedIn HeadlineRather than making your default headline your current job title, put up something more general that is chock full of the kinds of keywords hiring managers would be most likely to search for. Remember to tailor your resume headline to whichever job you’re applying for (and try not to be too industry specific- you’ll be more immediately appealing to a broader range of recruiters).2.  Change up Your Tone for Each FormatYour resume should  have a fairly formal tone, with clean language and  clear, brief, to-the-point information. Avoid using â€Å"I† when possible. By contrast, your LinkedIn profile should be a bit more conversational- as though you were having a chat with your readers. Try and mimic the way you speak as you write your profile.3.  Pare Down Your Resume SummaryYour resume summary should be as brief as possible- as efficiently worded as a newspaper lead: no more than three or four sentences and packing a sweet punch. Your LinkedIn profile summary, on the other hand, gives you a whopping 2,000 characters to work with. Max that space out to really converse with your reader. You could even consider adding a list of skimmable skills, a few career highlights, or your contact information.Remember, the different and broader space in LinkedIn gives you a great opportunity to help you to stand out- and to help you look like a fuller, better package- even when your resume gets around. Maximize what you are gi ven and beat the competition!

Watching horror movies Essay Research Paper Example

Watching horror movies Essay Research Paper Example Watching horror movies Essay Paper Watching horror movies Essay Paper Horror film as the name suggest. watching such a film. which will dismay you so much that it will raise your hair and feel you so scared that you will experience afraid to kip entirely tonight. A horror film depicts gross outing faces to frighten people. An agreement of such sort is form at assorted points in the film. that a individual feel so amazed and so excited that fright enter his/her head and psyche. Through horror films. an effort is made to live over the worst incubus of the common people in such a existent manner that every spectator feels himself or herself involved in the film. Some common characteristics of the horror films are shouting. hurting. running and fast breathe. Watching horror films ; a portion of human nature to bask chilling feeling: Some people love to watch horror films. Others wish to see horror film but are scared to watch it at dark. Actually it’s the nature of every human being to experience assortment or convey alteration in life. Some takes bold stairss and makes it go on. While other attempts to look weather but are coward from inside to do efforts to convey alteration in life. WRITER. 2. Horror films are merely like an effort to assist a human being feel that assortment alteration in life. And that feeling is called acquiring scared. In the modern twenty-four hours life when every thing is so controlled and safe to utilize and populate about. It becomes hard for us to experience panic of anything. Actually the whole narrative starts from the yesteryear when worlds used to populate in forest. they use to run and many a times get wounded during their Hunt. That panic in the head of homo is still alive and in some people it’s overpowering. Some animate beings like Lion. tiger. wolf and others still don’t like their nutrient to be thrown at them when they are behind Fe bars. They get lazy. bored and even unhealthy without runing for their nutrient. Similarly worlds besides like to experience frightened. of class non to the extent of runing for nutrient. but genuinely for enjoyment intent merely. Due to this ground merely some dare people go for bungee jumping. falling from the skies or plunging in the ocean. While others who have a limited or low push of acquiring a chilling feeling travel for assorted drives at wonderland Parkss. And eventually for those who can barely take that chilling feeling goes for watching a chilling film. Therefore watching horror film helps a individual to bask his/her push for acquiring scared. WRITER. 3. Benefits of watching a horror to different people. otherwise: A figure of benefits can be tracked down every bit following to calculate out why people truly watch horror films. 1. To convey assortment in life and enjoyment: Peoples who are tired of their day-to-day busy agendas watch horror films to gustatory sensation and bask the feeling of being acquiring scared. This helps them to catch their deadening day-to-day agenda and believe on an issue other than their office work and household tenseness. That issue may be life and decease. bad and good. true and lies etc. 2. Addition religion in God: As about all the horror films has the same subject of god’s indomitability over Satan. Therefore some people watch horror films to corroborate and increase their religion in God. Their belief that even if the power of evil additions manifolds. our last resort and that is god is ever at that place to command and get the better of immorality and protect us from the agonies that may go on due to Satan’s misbehaviors. WRITER. 4. 3. To corroborate their belief that offense wages: Many of horror films are based on the wickedness or offense committed by some individual. That offense may consequences in agitation of psyche of the dead and that in return that peculiar psyche takes retaliation and makes that individual wages for his/her wickedness or offense. Thus the lesson of the narrative in many horror films is that offense wages. And this is what we are told from our birth and this is what we want to corroborate once more and once more by watching horror films. 4. Wishing about acquiring scared of darkness and cryptic topographic points: Many of the people who are already scared of darkness and cryptic topographic points easy believe in the narrative of the horror films. When a horror film takes scene in darkness at cryptic topographic points like old palace. dark forest etc. so it is really easy for some people to fell in quarry of panic through this film and this confirms their panic for darkness and cryptic topographic points. 5. To corroborate the misperception about gross outing faces: Finally when we see some people with non so good or may we state gross outing faces. so we believe that individual may be evil and he/she possesses supernatural powers to ache others. This may happen in existent life due to some hormonal job. WRITER. 5. For case. some people have hair on their face. some have six fingers in their manus. or even some people have big pess. All these brings bad ideas in the head of a common adult male and by watching horror films that bad thought additions strength and we start believing in such stereotypes believing. Decision: In the terminal. people watch horror films. to convey assortment in life and enjoyment. to increase religion in God and to corroborate their belief that offense wages. Not merely that people like acquiring scared of darkness and cryptic and eventually to corroborate their misperceptions about gross outing faces and its ownership of supernatural powers. Mentions: 1 ) Understanding the Popular Appeal of Horror Cinema: An Integrated-Interactive Model. Online publication day of the month: May 13. 2004. Journal of Media Psychology. Volume 9. No. 2. Spring. 2004 by Glenn D. Walters. Ph. D. . Federal Correctional Institution. Schuylkill. Pennsylvania. 2 ) Why Do Peoples Love Horror Movies? They Enjoy Bing Scared. ScienceDaily ( July 31. 2007 ) 3 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //healthinfo. slimsdaily. info/ ? p=7 4 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www. queendom. com/advices/advice. htm? advice=482 5 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2007/07/070725152040. htm

5 Essential Resume Tips for Recent Graduates

5 Essential Resume Tips for Recent Graduates If you’re a recent graduate or are about to graduate, chances are you’ve been giving your resume a lot of thought. And with so much contradicting information in the marketplace about how to write a proper resume, it can be confusing. The reality is that resume advice that pertains to a mid-level professional or senior executive may not apply to a new grad. So, with that in mind, the team at ResumeSpice has put together a list of essential resume tips for new grads. Consider this list your recent grad resume starter kit. Nail these five things and you’ll be in great shape.Start with your educationMost resumes should begin with work experience – the exception is a new grad resume. Since a new grad’s education is the activity that has been taking up most of their time and energy in the recent past, it’s important to highlight it up front. If you had a high GPA, be sure to include that as well. What is considered high varies from school to school and major to major, so ask around. A professor, other recent grads, and counselors can all provide input. All 3.2 GPA’s were not created equally.List all internships, work studies, honors or awards, study abroad programs, as well as other relevant activities that show your experience outside of school. In lieu of full-time jobs, internships are typically considered the most valuable extra-curricular activity, as they help demonstrate real world skills and value that you can immediately bring to an employer. Treat an internship like you would any other job, by listing out your responsibilities and accomplishments in bullet form.Include all work experience, even if it seems irrelevantSure, managing a shoe store may not have been your dream job, nor does is exactly match the career path you’ve chosen, but when you’re a recent graduate, all experience matters.When you’re applying for an entry-level position, it’s about translating the duties and skill s from your current or past positions to a language that speaks to the hiring manager.For example, if you’re applying to a marketing coordinator role and you managed a retail store, use relevant marketing experience from the store and intertwine it with the job requirements for the role you’re seeking. It’s likely that you staged store fronts, placed signage around the store, or made sure every customer received a flyer of the upcoming promotions. That’s all relevant; you just have to use the right language.List extracurricular activities or volunteer experienceUnder your work experience section, you should include extracurricular or volunteer work that is professionally relevant. If you participated in student government activities and/or volunteered your skills to an organization, it will not only help fill out your resume, but it will also give the recruiter a glimpse of who you are and how well you will fit within the organization.If you’ve bee n volunteering your time to a cause you care about, that’s great! Do be aware that some causes / organizations may alienate some prospective employers, so be careful about religious or political affiliations, for example – unless you don’t mind potentially turning off a group of employers. Only you can make that call.Keep it cleanWe’re talking about the format here. It’s tempting to want to put together a highly-stylized, unique, or pretty resume, but the reality is that recruiters value clarity and simplicity over design.The reality is that due to the volume of resumes they receive, most recruiters and hiring managers don’t read resumes – they skim them. And a lot of stylizing can make your information hard to read. So you’ll want to make sure all the fat is cut away (graphics, lines, too much formatting, etc.) and that what’s left is the lean takeaway that recruiters really care about (experience, education, tenure, et c.)The only exception is if you’re a creative professional, such as a designer. In that case, a little creative leeway is appropriate, but we also recommend focusing most of your creative energy on putting together a great online portfolio and providing the link to it on your resume. That will get you a lot further in the process than over formatting your resume.Write a great cover letterWe know that applying for jobs can be tedious and time-consuming, so the last thing you want to do is submit a cover letter when one isn’t required, but we urge you to view it through a different lens.Writing a great cover letter can set you apart. It gives you more space to talk about your background, why you’re interested in the role, and what makes you uniquely qualified. Just be sure you’re tying everything back to the job.For example, if one of the job requirements is attending tradeshows on behalf of the company, you can write something along the lines of, â€Å"Du ring my three years as treasurer within the student government organization, I represented the university during summits and competitions.†There are, of course, many ways to write a resume. But when you’re a recent graduate, writing the resume that will get you hired can sometimes feel impossible. Use these five pointers as a way to guide your approach. If you’re still stumped, you can check with your university to see if they offer resume critiques or you could consider hiring a professional service such as ResumeSpice.  Savannah Ober is a resume writer and career consultant at ResumeSpice. In addition to being a resume expert, Savannah is also an experienced corporate communications professional, working with one of the world’s largest global companies. Savannah has written recruiting advertisements for trade publications, created marketing collateral, written press releases and blogs, and developed social media content. Savannah holds a BA in English, creative writing.

The Nature of Reconstruction in African American History Essay

The Nature of Reconstruction in African American History - Essay Example   African Americans participated in huge numbers in the war as soldiers either enslaved by the confederate rulers or as loyalists to the Northern states due to their denouncement of slavery. The northern states, known as the Union, won the war in 1865 with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at McLean House Virginia. With the victory of North, and their policy of emancipation was universally implemented in the entire country. This along with other political and social measures taken in the aftermath of the civil war for reconstruction of the war struck areas and to ensure the integration of freedmen in the society are collectively referred to as reconstruction. As mentioned earlier, the reconstruction refers to the steps taken by the federal government to counter the effects of Civil War, specifically on the former Confederate States and on the freedmen. There were various objectives of the reconstruction initiated by the then President Abraham Lincoln and the Republ ican Congress in 1863. An administrative and political structure had to be re-established in the southern states which lost the war. Moreover, their incorporation in the Union itself, and the congress was also to be carried out in the long term. Moreover, even after the war ended, there was a huge following of the ex-Confederate leaders in the nationalist white men of the southern states (Horton, 2005). The status of the Confederate leadership had to be decided in order to avoid any conflict or chaos. Another, rather more serious, issue was to decide the social, economic and political rights of the freedmen under the constitution. Most important of them was the question that whether or not the freedmen should be given the right to vote. Hence, the reconstruction can be thought of as political, social, economic, legal and administrative restructuring of the southern states by the President and the Congress. There were two different approaches followed by the Union politicians during the Reconstruction era. The office of the president, under Abraham Lincoln, and after his death by Andrew Johnson, resorted mostly to administrative measures to avoid conflict, and contain the chaos caused by southern nationalists over the above-mentioned issues. The policy of both presidents was very lenient towards the southern states and ex-Confederate politicians. They wanted the Reunion of Southern States with the federal government as early as possible. Starting from 1862, military governors were appointed in ten out of eleven states which exercised administrative and legal powers. At that time, it was decided that these governors would give way to a political set up when at least ten percent of the white men in a state vowed allegiance to the Union and also accept the declaration of emancipation (the Ten Percent Plan). The states were then allowed to elect their own governor and legislative assembly and write a new constitution embodying concepts of emancipation and federatio n. These measures proved to be very effective in the immediate control of the riots, which had broken in the southern states.

UPS and TNT Express Business Model Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

UPS and TNT Express Business Model - Assignment Example Its market positioning among its competitors and the pricing criteria on the services and goods it trades on are the important factors of this element. United Parcel Services incorporation on this element regard on its business model can be contributed by its type of business and how it implements its business strategy.UPS incorporation is a business entity that engages primarily in delivering of packages and documents (Fairburn and Kay 1989). Also, in the recent periods, the firm has extended its service business to supply chain solutions that involves freight forwarding, customs brokerage, fulfillment, returns, financial transactions and even repairing services. The firm also, in extension offers less than truck transportation services where it is the leading provider in U.S market. The firm delivers to 6.1 million consignee worldwide, packages to 1.8 million shipping customers each day. Its supply chain services also, extend to clients in 175 countries (Libert and Samek 1997). The firm has invested in both ground and air network worldwide to offer its service deliveries to its customers under a single integrated pickup and delivery service structure. The firm has positioned itself in the market as the leading company by leading in technology development in order to improve service delivery among the global package delivery and supply chain management companies (Hubbard, 2001). The firm has a flexible scale of services and integrated solution that allows clients have an opportunity to choose the delivery service that will fulfill their intended requirement and the price they can afford from the variety of the services offered (Henry, 2002). The firm has invested a lot in equity branding by delivering quality services that are reliable and innovative products (Damodaran, 1997). This has been made successful through investing in employees by enabling them to have stock ownership in the firm. Thus, the employees dedicate their efforts in making the firm the best among the rest because they view the company as one of their own. TNT Express is involved in the service business of transferring documents and goods globally (Porter,1985). Service delivery is customer oriented because the clients are the one who selects the time and day when to pick up an order and when it should be delivered (Gropelli, 2006). The firms culture on being a robust and strong attitude and spirit of ‘can do’, has helped the employees in solving problems to carry out daily duties and responding to shareholders and the outside world of TNT Express. TNT Express positions itself in the market as the most admired delivery company by working on the core values of being a passionate company to its customers, people caring, keeping promises and working on mentality of I can do attitude. In order to achieve its values, the company has developed and implemented a TNT Express Integrity Program and an Introduced TNT Express Business Principles structures (Reish, 198 8). Thus, the acquisition of TNT express will raise the new firm performance in the parcel and document transfer industry competitively because of the combined synergy that will be realized by the merger idea. Synergy of the new firm will be realized due to the market competitive each of the firm have in their respective domestic markets. UPS Incorporation as the leading industry player in North America will enable TNT Express services to be implemented in North America as it has rich information on how to penetrate the domestic

African American Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

African American Women - Essay Example Campbell (266) claims that slavery was terrible for men, but worse for the women of Black descendants. This is a potent and strong remark and a quote, which acts as an evidence concerning the suffering the African-women slaves had to endure. Slavery was an occurrence of psychological, emotional, physical, and mental rape that the African Women had to persevere. They were also tortured, and when it became unbearable, the African-American decided to take actions in order to eradicate the pain. In addition to taking care of their families and children, punishment and coerced labor, they were also sexually exploited. In fact, Terborg (78) v notes out that many of their punishments were sex overtones. To add to this, they were whipped by cow-skin that was plaited and assaulted using ebony brushes, including left to die after their ears and teeth were pulled out forcefully. The Black women’s leadership and activism during this time helped in the creation of a movement of Civil Rights in 20th century. Malcolm X and Martin King Jr, had already become the 1960’s and 1950’s icons. However, the grassroots and organizational activism and skills of women who were activists like Clark Septima , Baker Ella, Parks Rosa and Hamer Fannie helped propel the movement to inspiring more generation of new activists as well as led to its successes. There are other historical reasons for slow and painful rise of the African-American woman whose gender and race seems to keep her submissive. African women also had a risk of personal loss where they had a long tradition of human and civil rights activism. However, the tradition still lives on in examples and experiences of women like Walker Alice, Davis Angela, Norton Eleanor, and Edelman Marian (Terborg 78). These unsung hero of the civil rights movement like Baker Ella who helped in forming a

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

Organisational behaviour - Case Study Example The employees became aware that the company paid low salary, overworked employees, and fired them without valid reason. This paper will present a case analysis of the situation facing the Nordstrom Company. Evidently, there is a critical problem in the Nordstrom Company. Over the years, the Nordstrom Company has exhibited a poor organizational culture. More specifically, the company does not have rewarding compensation schemes for the employees who have ensured that the company is successful. According to the case study, the employees face the compulsion of putting more hours without any overtime. In other cases, employees work for many days without having an opportunity to rest. The pay they receive does not match with the number of hours they put in as well as the increasing demands of their jobs. Many of the employees feel that their job is continually in jeopardy. They are constantly in fear of being laid off (Aquinas, 2006). For example, Ms. Lucas highlights that working at Nordstrom Company translated into working for free. The increasing demands of the ability to produce thank-you letters and other customer service books took so much time, but the pay was minimal. As a result, s he developed ulcers because of the continued stress from her job. Her case is not unique because many other employees described in the case study have highlighted that the company did not reward them as expected. Therefore, the poor organizational culture has contributed to limited levels of employee satisfaction and increased employee turnover (Fox, 2006). Although the company is highly committed to delivering exemplary customer service, it does not promote employee satisfaction and loyalty because many workers operate under stress. The accusations filed against the company indicate that it has poor labor practices. One of the potential solutions for the company is to hire a consultant who can investigate

Comparative Eastern Influences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparative Eastern Influences - Essay Example Both religions employ the concepts of karma, the understanding that a person's happiness is determined by the good and evil he/she has committed in not only one lifetime but many subsequent lifetimes, and nirvana, the exemption from the repetition of living, dying, and reliving (p. 497). In Hinduism, according to Bruder and Moore (2005), "humans, though basically good, are caught up in a cycle of desire and suffering that is the direct result of ignorance and ego. In short, they are miserable. The desires that torment them are many and diverse, including sensual lusts and the desire for existence" (p. 497). Hinduism's beliefs are built upon searching for absolutism, and for a person to obtain a unity with his/her soul and with eternal life (p. 495). In a similar fashion, Buddhism targets ignorance and selfishness as the grounds for suffering. Bruder and Moore (2005) state that a person cannot have these two character flaws as a way to live "because what happens is so much beyond one' s control. For even when life goes as is hoped for, there is no guarantee that it will continue that way, and inevitably anxiety and fear overwhelm temporary satisfaction" (p. 498). The Vedas are Hinduism's doctrine that instructs the ideal way of living. It contains the Upanishads, which contains the mahavakya, or "the four great sayings" (p. 496). Atman is, simply, one person and his soul. Brahman is, as Bruder and Moore (2005) write, the "ultimate reality or principal and the source and sustainer of all things, including people and gods. It is the supreme consciousness, the one, the One-and-only-One" (p. 496). The mahavakya describe how a Hindu can unity his atman and a brahman (which can be done through much meditation): "1) Consciousness is brahman, 2) That art thou, 3) The self is brahman, and 4) I am brahman" (p. 495-6). The Vedas influenced the religion's philosophical schools, created to help its students achieve spiritual emancipation: Yoga, Vedanta, Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, and Mimamsa (p. 495). Buddhism has the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as its dogmas. The Four Noble Truths acknowledge that agony exists, the sources of agony, the actuality that the person can terminate his/her agony, and how to do so, which are illustrated in the eight statements known as the Eightfold Path (p. 498). The directions contained in the Eightfold Path are the Right View, Right Aim, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Contemplation. These are listed in the order that the person must take in order to succeed. For example, the right aim cannot be established without first having the right view (pp. 500-502). Hindu's origins are unknown; no one knows who discovered it, when, or under what circumstances. However, Hindus accept the dogmas dictated in the Vedas (p. 495). Despite its unknown origins, Bruder and Moore (2005) state, "It is best to view it (Hinduism) as a spiritual attitude that gives rise to a wide range of religious and philosophical beliefs and practices. These range from the worship of village and forest deities, which often take zoomorphic forms, to sophisticated metaphysical theories" (p. 495). With Buddhism, there is a detailed account of its establishment by Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who would later be renowned

Report-Analyse Case Suty McDonalds Corp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Report-Analyse Case Suty McDonalds Corp - Essay Example Proper segmentation, product targeting and positioning are important. McDonalds also needs to be selective in their franchisee selection as it should not disturb the existing franchisees in the region. Customer-oriented approach is essential in the fast food industry. Mass marketing techniques and standardization are no more applicable. Local adaptation is now essential to fight competition. All these indicate that McDonalds need to redefine their marketing strategy. McDonalds, that had once changed the way a nation ate and provided jobs to millions, is now reeling under difficult times. They lag behind in service and quality and despite bringing about changes in their food offers they have met with little success. The main issue is the unpopularity that has developed towards the McDonalds burgers. This has given rise to franchisee relations, downward sales and profits which ultimately are leading to closure of many units across countries. Product diversification without focus, lack of strategic direction and marketing strategies along with the top-down manner in which they dictate the franchisees is responsible for the stunted growth of the company. Attempts to create price war have yielded negative results. The profit margins of the franchisees have reduced between 2-4% against the 15% they enjoyed earlier. The retired CEO has been brought back along with two experienced executives to assist him but there are no signs of recovery. About 30-40% fewer outlets are being added to the chain each year while many close down every month. McDonalds need to realize that their marketing and franchising strategies have to be altered to suit the changed market environment and the ever-changing consumer needs. Kara, Kaynak and Kucukemiroglu (1997) contend that fast-food marketing strategies should have a sound understanding of consumers’ perceptions of and preferences for fast-food outlets and how they differ across cultures/countries. It was assumed in

Comparative Eastern Influences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparative Eastern Influences - Essay Example Both religions employ the concepts of karma, the understanding that a person's happiness is determined by the good and evil he/she has committed in not only one lifetime but many subsequent lifetimes, and nirvana, the exemption from the repetition of living, dying, and reliving (p. 497). In Hinduism, according to Bruder and Moore (2005), "humans, though basically good, are caught up in a cycle of desire and suffering that is the direct result of ignorance and ego. In short, they are miserable. The desires that torment them are many and diverse, including sensual lusts and the desire for existence" (p. 497). Hinduism's beliefs are built upon searching for absolutism, and for a person to obtain a unity with his/her soul and with eternal life (p. 495). In a similar fashion, Buddhism targets ignorance and selfishness as the grounds for suffering. Bruder and Moore (2005) state that a person cannot have these two character flaws as a way to live "because what happens is so much beyond one' s control. For even when life goes as is hoped for, there is no guarantee that it will continue that way, and inevitably anxiety and fear overwhelm temporary satisfaction" (p. 498). The Vedas are Hinduism's doctrine that instructs the ideal way of living. It contains the Upanishads, which contains the mahavakya, or "the four great sayings" (p. 496). Atman is, simply, one person and his soul. Brahman is, as Bruder and Moore (2005) write, the "ultimate reality or principal and the source and sustainer of all things, including people and gods. It is the supreme consciousness, the one, the One-and-only-One" (p. 496). The mahavakya describe how a Hindu can unity his atman and a brahman (which can be done through much meditation): "1) Consciousness is brahman, 2) That art thou, 3) The self is brahman, and 4) I am brahman" (p. 495-6). The Vedas influenced the religion's philosophical schools, created to help its students achieve spiritual emancipation: Yoga, Vedanta, Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, and Mimamsa (p. 495). Buddhism has the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as its dogmas. The Four Noble Truths acknowledge that agony exists, the sources of agony, the actuality that the person can terminate his/her agony, and how to do so, which are illustrated in the eight statements known as the Eightfold Path (p. 498). The directions contained in the Eightfold Path are the Right View, Right Aim, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Contemplation. These are listed in the order that the person must take in order to succeed. For example, the right aim cannot be established without first having the right view (pp. 500-502). Hindu's origins are unknown; no one knows who discovered it, when, or under what circumstances. However, Hindus accept the dogmas dictated in the Vedas (p. 495). Despite its unknown origins, Bruder and Moore (2005) state, "It is best to view it (Hinduism) as a spiritual attitude that gives rise to a wide range of religious and philosophical beliefs and practices. These range from the worship of village and forest deities, which often take zoomorphic forms, to sophisticated metaphysical theories" (p. 495). With Buddhism, there is a detailed account of its establishment by Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who would later be renowned

Modern Graphic Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern Graphic Design - Assignment Example The Arts and Craft movement advocated for economic and social reforms in the art and graphic design sector marking the onset of globalization in art and graphic design. According to Tankard, graphic design has an extremely long history from the caves of Lascaux to Today’s time Squire. The conservative approach to arts and crafts was changed by the Arts and Crafts movement which advocated for the separation of graphic design from fine art and art from the manufacturing industry. This movement was developed first and effected in the British Isles before spreading to the rest of Europe and North America. Austria was not left out as they created their own faction called the Secession. This Austrian wing of the Arts and Crafts movement had its stronghold in Vienna, with its founders; Gustav Klimt and Rudolf von Alt taking the graphic design to America. According to Lechner and Frank, these founders and a group of sculptors, painters and architects resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists claiming that the Vienna KÃ ¼nstlerhaus was conservative and had an outmoded alignment towards historicism. Austria has been known for having some of the world’s most impressive art collections especially painting. Australian paintings like Oberes Belvedere and the Prunkstall have a wealth of gothic religious art adopted from the Middle Ages. Globalization has seen Austria adopt the American graphic design style. According to Hannam, America has been described as a good place for the development of graphic design.

NVQ and Competence - Essay Essay Example for Free

NVQ and Competence Essay Essay In this supporting paper to the presentation, the purpose, the nature and the advantages and disadvantages of NVQ will be stated and analysed; finishing with a conclusion as to whether to follow a NVQ or not. The definition of an NVQ is â€Å"A statement of competence clearly relevant to work and intended to facilitate entry into, or progression in, employment and further learning, issued to an individual by a recognized awarding body†. A national vocational qualification (NVQ) is a collection of vocational qualifications (previously unstructured), which have been integrated into a single assessment standard. This has been done in order to have a nationally recognised level of academic achievement which enables employees to have a clearer level of each job applicant’s respective competency. Competency can be defined as:- ‘An underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior performance in a job’ (Boyatis 1982, p21) Due to the heavy promotion by the Learning Skills Councils, (LSC’s) and the Department for Education and Employment; the majority of vocational qualifications are either part of the NVQ scheme, and in the rare occasion that it isn’t, most commonly when the qualification is of different nature of those offered by the NVQ syllabus, the qualification will have its equivalence identified to its respective, specific, level of the NVQ system in order for those nationwide (familiar with the NVQs) can have more clarity as to where such candidates stand on the level of competency. NVQs have been developed to suit all occupational areas, with each occupational area there are eight levels with the NVQ system to complete to attain ‘full competency’. This is structured in such a way that level one is the most basic and level eight, the most advanced level of NVQ. The ideal situation of training for competence is done by the manifestation of the development of candidates’ abilities to perform the specific tasks which coincide directly with the nature of the job in its respective department, in terms of performance results (grading), with specific indicators. NVQs have originally been developed with the purpose to serve as a reaction to the ‘confetti-scattering’ style of training which is sometimes carried out by some establishments e.g. a company which sends their staff on off-the-job training with just the objective to learn one particular skill. This training style results in the candidates becoming one-dimensional, due to  having a limited knowledge of skills. NVQs have, in fact been developed in order to give these candidates a more rounded knowledge, thus enabling them to be more versatile, efficient in their respective job positions. The design of NVQ has been structured in such a way that in each of the eight levels, there are mandatory and optional roles (or modules); these are comprised of a collection of several units, those of which are to be completed to be able to progress onto the succeeding level. The table beneath can be used in aid to understand the structural layout of each level in NVQ. There are several advantageous principles adopted by the NVQ system. These include:- 1.The NVQ qualifications are open access in the sense that no prior professional attainment or experience, nor qualifications are required, each candidate will be categorised level (1-8) after a means of analysis (be it a test or a review of current skills/ experience currently obtained). 2.The focus-based learning format of the NVQs. Progression from one level to next is based on when the criteria to advance has been met, this can be as quick or long as the individual will take to learn, opposed to other assessment standards where the timescale restricts the learner to learn in its set time. An example of this is that it is impossible to complete a Master’s Degree quicker than in a year. 3.Flexibility is a key aspect of NVQs, as they are not generally attendance based – in conjunction with the focus based learning aspect of the qualification where the learner can take as long/short as they want. This also enables candidates to continue with their respective business demands of their external employment, in conjunction with following NVQs. 4.School Integration is available to the NVQs (GNVQs), this enables candidates to have early access to the hands on approach, which runs alongside other assessment standards (e.g. An alternative run in the same centres as A –levels etc.), thus showing equivalence in value and progression routes, thus giving more viable options to the candidates). 5.Portfolio based work proves to prospective employees that a track record is available showing day to day skills being learnt, thus proving the levels of understanding and competence of each candidate. 6.Prior Accreditation being put into consideration as to which level they will be categorised, enables the candidate to use their  qualifications/experience regardless of where from, as long as relevant (i.e. A-levels, training at work etc., enabling an individual to start in a more advance d level). NVQs also have a few disadvantageous aspects when following their assessment standards, these include. 1.Labour intensive nature of assessment there is a lot of practical work undergone in the NVQs 2.More focus in gaining evidence than actual learning, lack of cognitive learning amongst candidates. As most of the proof (to validate competency level) is done via the production of a portfolio and the presenting of a track-record , this can easily turn into a ‘paper-chase’ rather than the actual focus on the learning processes of the qualification. The also, ‘going through the motion’ nature of the NVQ can also enable the candidate to not be able to reason, simply performing tasks without having true understanding. 3.Quality of assessment can, due to the large numbers of assessors, have a large variance as the marking of each individual can differ. Especially with the different interpretations of some of the jargon developed by the NVQs assessment grading schem es 4.Partial Competence due to selection of optional modules/ reduced definitions and details, as each candidate can choose their modules in the option roles category and each module having different aspects and natures, the candidate may be subject to effectively not gaining an entire knowledge in their respective occupational fields. An example of this would be (referring to table above) where each module has a code which labels the nature of the unit. Take ‘C5’, With C symbolising say, ‘Managing Self and Personal Skills’, one opting out of such a unit, could prove to give them less than the complete set of skills an NVQ could offer, thus lowering competence. To conclude, NVQs are a system devised by the government to help those in various situations, both academically and professionally in order to make them more competent in their respective field in a nationally recognised manner to potential employers. There are a range of advantages and disadvantages to the candidates as well as the employers, such as not having to follow a timescale in learning and also in not receiving a full knowledge due to optional module selection, but as to whether one should be followed  or not, according to the studies that have been carried, out should go hand in hand in the individuals situation.. For instance, one that is currently employed may not be able to dedicate a lot of time to their qualification course, would suit an NVQ whereas, an individual wishing to say, be a medical doctor, a career where having extensive knowledge of their occupational area is vital, would not suit following an NVQ course, where modules are optional and perhaps having re duced knowledge. Bibliography 1.Armstrong,M(2012)Armstrong’s Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 11th edition, Philadelphia: Kogan Page Limited. 2.Hall,L. Taylor,S. Torrington, D. (2008) â€Å"Human Resource Management†, 7th Edition. Pp. 399-407 3.Blosi,W.(2007)An Introduction To Human Resource Management, London: McGraw-Hill Education 4.Marchington,M. Wilkinson, A. (2005) Human Resource Management At Work People and development, London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 5.Lundy,O. Cowling, AG, (1996)Strategic Human Resource Management, London: Routledge

DXM vs. a religion we call the media: the day the world shat its pants :: essays research papers

DAY ONE â€Å"I don’t know. I drink half-a-bottle of cough syrup and I end up with this ingenious poem. Go figure†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Well I suppose I’ll give it a try.† DAY TWO   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Dude, look at this painting I did because of the cough syrup.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"See dude, I told you. It makes you smarter.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Totally.† Then they tell two friends And they tell two friends And they tell two friends And so on And so on GENERATIONS LATER Soon word gets around to big names Big names tell the right people The right people turn DXM into a pill designed, Not to prevent coughs,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But to, As it says on the box it comes in,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Make you smarter. DXM becomes mainstream A household substance approved by the FDA Everybody does it Everybody likes it Everybody wants it   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Except for those metalling kids who hate everything that is mainstream. MORE GENERATIONS PASS Those metalling kids grow up Get hair cuts Get jobs Get married And have metalling kids of their own Their own metalling kids grow up and have more metalling kids   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Out of all the metalling kids populated in this world, one of them catches a break and becomes a big rock star   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He’s looked up to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Idolized and praised   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By millions of metalling kids who hate mainstream JUST LIKE HIM So he’s up there. His name is thrown all over the media. His name is big. His name means something. It means â€Å"I HATE MAINSTREAM† and â€Å"I'M A METALLING KID, JUST LIKE ALL OF YOU† â€Å"I'M YOUNG† â€Å"I'M CUTE† And â€Å"I'M REBELLIOUS† And now that all of you look up to me I can’t let you down I gotta find something I can attack   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And I gotta rock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And I gotta roll And I gotta rock and roll hard So I ask myself â€Å" what am I gonna attack?† And I answer myself â€Å"I'm gonna attack mainstream.† And I ask myself again â€Å" what am I gonna attack that is mainstream?† And again, I answer myself by sayingâ€Å" the mainstream I am going to attack is a little old miracle substance forever known as DXM† So our little metalling rock star goes into hiding for a while trying to find all the dirt he can about DXM: the drug that makes you   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   smarter. Days pass Weeks pass Months pass And all the while All the fans All over the world   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Are splitting up into two categories   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Appalled and The Obsessed The Appalled say   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He’s gone, and he’s never commin back, EVER It’s time to move on. And The Obsessed say   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just you wait. He’s commin back and is gonna be better then ever   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And I'm gonna be waitin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Right here. And believe it or not, a whole year passes.

Comparison of The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake Essay -- The Lam

When do we change? When do we change from being the innocent children God sent into the world, to the corrupted ones that leave the earth? William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience examine these different states. Blake wanted to show the two contrary states in the human mind. The Lamb and the Tyger are just vehicles for Blake to express what he feels happens to people as they grow, develop and eventually become perverted by the world around them. Blake’s background and occupation greatly influenced the style and content of his poems. He lived during the 18th Century when the church was beginning to lose its grip on British society; science was rising up against the church. Blake was part of a group known as the Romantics. He began to challenge the church believing that an individual could discover God without going to church. His poems ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’ reflect this, as he is telling how God created these two animals and on another level how he created humanity. ‘We are called by his name’ (The Lamb) The message that Blake is trying to convey in this line is that it is God who calls us to discover him. He is saying that no one else has the power to tell you what to believe not even the church. God and the individual are the only ones privy to this ultimate power! His role as an engraver and artist is reflected in the details he gives about the two animals. In The Tyger he describes it as, ‘burning bright.’ He is describing it from a painter’s perspective in the way he is talking of the tiger’s colouring. At the time Blake was writing The Lamb the French Revolution was taking place. Blake was very supportive of the revolution, as he was deeply concerned about the poor social, economic and political ... ...is and see them as normal. It is then that people change from being the untainted children God sent to earth to the corrupted adults that leave it. Works Cited Blake, William. â€Å"The Tyger.† The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch and et al. 2nd ed, Volume 2A. New York: Longman, 2003. Blake, William. "The Lamb." The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry. 3rd ed. Ed. Jon C. Stott, Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers. Toronto: Nelson, 2002. 97 Internet Sources Consulted Blake, William. The Tyger. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. DjVu Editions E-Books, 2001. Web 7 may 2015. Blake, William. The Lamb. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. DjVu Editions E-Books, 2001. Web 7 may 2015. Comparison of The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake Essay -- The Lam When do we change? When do we change from being the innocent children God sent into the world, to the corrupted ones that leave the earth? William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience examine these different states. Blake wanted to show the two contrary states in the human mind. The Lamb and the Tyger are just vehicles for Blake to express what he feels happens to people as they grow, develop and eventually become perverted by the world around them. Blake’s background and occupation greatly influenced the style and content of his poems. He lived during the 18th Century when the church was beginning to lose its grip on British society; science was rising up against the church. Blake was part of a group known as the Romantics. He began to challenge the church believing that an individual could discover God without going to church. His poems ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’ reflect this, as he is telling how God created these two animals and on another level how he created humanity. ‘We are called by his name’ (The Lamb) The message that Blake is trying to convey in this line is that it is God who calls us to discover him. He is saying that no one else has the power to tell you what to believe not even the church. God and the individual are the only ones privy to this ultimate power! His role as an engraver and artist is reflected in the details he gives about the two animals. In The Tyger he describes it as, ‘burning bright.’ He is describing it from a painter’s perspective in the way he is talking of the tiger’s colouring. At the time Blake was writing The Lamb the French Revolution was taking place. Blake was very supportive of the revolution, as he was deeply concerned about the poor social, economic and political ... ...is and see them as normal. It is then that people change from being the untainted children God sent to earth to the corrupted adults that leave it. Works Cited Blake, William. â€Å"The Tyger.† The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch and et al. 2nd ed, Volume 2A. New York: Longman, 2003. Blake, William. "The Lamb." The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry. 3rd ed. Ed. Jon C. Stott, Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers. Toronto: Nelson, 2002. 97 Internet Sources Consulted Blake, William. The Tyger. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. DjVu Editions E-Books, 2001. Web 7 may 2015. Blake, William. The Lamb. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. DjVu Editions E-Books, 2001. Web 7 may 2015.

Japanese Society Yakuza

It is said quite often that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, what I comparing to Germany or other countries can confirm from my own experiences. With only 19. 177 per 1,000 people got Japan #34 in a world crime ranking, while Dominica rates #1, United Kingdom #6, USA # 8 and Germany #11. (United Nations, 2000) Nevertheless japanese families, in our case homestay families, are all the time in my view exageratedly concerned about safety, wherefore you could think, that this is just useless talk. But the Yakuza , the japanese Mafia is famous all over the world with Kobe and Osaka having the highest crime rate in Japan. Especially in movies, the Yakuza are shown as the japanese equivalent to the italian Mafia, but in personal interviews with my former hostmother and other japanese colleagues Yakuza were often played down and even portrayed as nice and helpful. In the city i live – Kobe – is the headquarterof the Yamaguchi – gang (), the largest Yakuza group with over 20000 members. They acutally control a large part of Japan and other countries. (Blathwayt, 2008, p. 41) Sometimes i see them when i go shopping or to the Kobe’s Mosque, because the headquarter of a gumi is around this area and I as well as other japanese people got used to them. It is quite easy to recognize them, because they stick out as buffed, tattooed (sometimes you can see that it is protrude from the shirt), wearing sunglasses (even at night) and having expensive cars. But of course like every other Mafia, they control popular, semi-legal or illegal businesses like prostitution, drugs, protection racket and gambling. However there seems to be a big influence by the Yakuza on Japanese society. In this report, i will examine, what kind of influence the Yakuza have on the Japanese society. In doing so i will take a look at parts of the sex industry, daily and business life, as well as in other areas like random smaller criminals as for example japanese biker gangs called Bosozoku and even normal teenagers next door. First of all i will start with the history of the Yakuza, why and how they developed and try to find here possible parallels of a influences on the modern society. Furthermore in the third part of the report, i will write about my personal experiences and experiences of friends and acquaintances, because such statement often say more than just â€Å"dry facts†. I will close my essay with a conclusion and try to give a forecast about whether the Yakuza will continue to exist the way it does today or whether it will change, as every society developes dynamically and continuesly. a. Origin of the Yakuza The word â€Å"Yakuza† means eight (â€Å"ya†), nine (â€Å"ku†) and three (â€Å"za†) and allegorizes a combination of numbers, that is considered to be the worst hand at a Japanese card game called â€Å"Oicho-Kabu† and though is worthless. (Parkanian, 2010,p. 15) The origin of the Yakuza is not clearly to allocate. Some people say that they are descendents of crazy outlandish samurai called kabuki-mono in the 17th-century, who were very conspicuous because of their outlandish clothes and hair styles. They also spoke a luxuriant slang and carried long swords in their belts. Those servants of the shogun, became leaderless ronin (wave men) and eventually rather thieves and gangsters during the Tokugawa era, an long period of peace in Japan. (Hill,2003,P. 37-40) Others claim their origin to be the gambling syndicates called â€Å"Bakuto† in the Edo period. They were people of humble birth, too, like farmers, craftmen or merchants, who lost their jobs and then had no other choice than entering the gambling syndicates. As mentioned before there was an extended time of peace during the Tokugawa Period in which almost all policemen were former samurai. Therefore there was a high tension between both parties, for example the Yakuza were called â€Å"wannabe samurai† without glorifying the way of the warrior (â€Å"Bushido†) and treated very condescending. Thus a kind of â€Å"Robin-Hood-Image† came up and that was the first steps into a solid influence on Japanese Society. During the Meiji Period their importance increased when a national hero called Jichiro, the boss of a gambling organization, got high merits because of his alignment to the emperor during the conflicts of the Meiji Restoration. After the end of the occupation period and the appreciativeness of Japan as sovereign state in 1952, a rebuild of the Japanese economy and national structures began, so the Yakuza reacted with a buildup of their own economic activities tool, focusing especially in gambling and the construction industry. The consequence was gang fights between the different Yakuza gangs. The state answered with a persecution, which led into a higher concentration of power on the three main Yakuza gangs : Inagawa-kai, Sumiyoshi-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi. In the 70’s and 80’s, when Japan got into a recession because of the famous â€Å"bubble economy†, the Yakuza took advantage of the situation to get access into the financial sector. Protection money extortion of stock corporations followed. In addition to that, there was a change of generations in the big syndicates during in the 80’s, thus again bloody gang fights were the consequences, but the situations changed as well. Blathwayt,2008,p. 36-41) For example younger Yakuza tended to break the old rules and standards by using fire arms and being more violent; Being one reason, why Yakuza organizations were banned by the government. In 90’s the Yakuza were still legal and their headquarters could be easily find. It was even possible to recognize the group those headquarters offices belo nged to and their position in the structure of the group. Yakuza bosses were at news conferences and on TV, they had their own newspapers and even visited the police for congratulations at New Year. Gunther, 1999) It was easy to recognize an influence of the Yakuza on Japanese society, especially in the financial or construction sector in earlier times. But how is the situation today, about 10 years after they were banned. How are they structured today, if as mentioned before a kind of development, respectively change, were coming up? And what are Japanese people thinking about them? b. Their role in today's Japanese society First of all Yakuza look different from the average Japanese guy. One sign are the tattoos, which is a taboo in Japanese Society. For me it was not really possible to wear a tank top during the summer without catching everybody’s attention. Referring to Bruno(2007) the â€Å"Yakuza members also favor tattoos, but theirs are elaborate body murals that often cover the entire torso, front and back, as well the arms to below the elbow and the legs to mid-calf. Dragons, flowers, mountainous landscapes, turbulent seascapes, gang insignias and abstract designs are typical images used for yakuza body art. The application of these extensive tattoos is painful and can take hundreds of hours, but the process is considered a test of a man's mettle. Another sign is the famous â€Å"yubizume†, the amputation of the last joint of the little finger, if a yakuza severely disappoints his boss. The next mistake would lead into an amputation of the second joint of the little finger and later moving on to the next finger. Beyond all, a yakuza knows what to do if his boss gives him a knife. (Kaplan and Dubro,2003,p. 1 4) As a Yakuza there is also no space in Japanese Society, but the mafia is quite more accepted as in other countries like for example United States. Yakuza have an increasingly influence on politics and politicians by supporting them financially or with â€Å"services† like extort people to vote for them. For the Yakuza corporate extortion is a very profitable business and the shareholders’ meeting men called â€Å"Sokaiya† are highly involved. Bruno(2007) describes it as follows:† Sokaiya will buy a small number of shares in a company so that they can attend shareholders' meetings. In preparation for the meeting, the sokaiya gather damaging information about the company and its officers; secret mistresses, tax evasion, unsafe factory conditions, and pollution are all fodder for the sokaiya. They will then contact the company's management and threaten to disclose whatever embarrassing information they have at the shareholders' meeting unless they are â€Å"compensated. † If management does not give in to their demands, the sokaiya go to the shareholders' meeting and raise hell, shouting down anyone who dares to speak, making a boisterous display of their presence, and shouting out their damaging revelations. In Japan, where people fear embarrassment and shame much more than physical threats, executives usually give the sokaiya whatever they want. But Japan is also a society where directness is considered rude, and even the criminals make their threats known in a circuitous, outwardly polite manner. Threats come in many disguises. Some sokaiya pose as business magazine publishers who encourage their targets to take out ads or buy subscriptions in exchange for favorable reporting about the company. Since these sokaiya will follow through on their threats and print a magazine or newsletter filled with condemning articles, company executives usually pay up rather than face the bad press. Another sokaiya scam is to set up booster clubs that solicit donations for non-existent causes. They also throw gala events to which the invited businessmen are expected to bring cash gifts for their hosts. Such events have been known to net more than $100,000 in a single night. The sokaiya have also organized beauty pageants for the purpose of shaking down corporate â€Å"sponsors,† and sokaiya golf tournaments come with pricey entrance fees for their corporate players. These corporate racketeers have also been known to sell blocks of tickets to theater events at grossly inflated prices. Anything to extort money out of legitimate companies in the most polite and indirect way possible. The intention is therefore to control them after the vote and to avoid a minding in their business by the state. They are often right wing nationalistic and even the cars with big loudspeakers of right parties are often driven by Yakuza members. With prohibition of the Yakuza, the conspicuous behavior alleviated. Former offices are now placements for loans or jobs and although the Yakuza a re officially called â€Å"Boryokudan† (violent groups), violence is usually the last resort regardless of whether legal businesses like loan lending or placement services or illegal businesses like drugs, prostitution or gambling. Takahashi,2009,p. 40-43) Certainly the yakuza’s standards decreased when recruiting new members. While about 60 % of all Yakuza descend by â€Å"Burakumin†, offspring of the â€Å"impure† people of the feudal age of Japan, most new members currently come from the bosozuku (speed tribes), known for their love of motorbikes. (Takashi,2009,P. 43) Yakuza, who treasure their ancestral ties to the old samurai reject the term and consider it an insult. So the Yakuza remain the â€Å"shadow of Japanese society†, while their image are getting worse. When I asked surrounding people only two of them had contact with them and described them as very olite but arrogant as well. Their friends are Yakuza and studied Law in an university, but then started a career at a Yakuza organization after graduation. They said that Yakuza are very friendly especially to foreigners, except you are getting involved into their business. Two Mongolian guys, who I met, told me that one of them kicked a Yakuza mem ber during a quarrel in an izakaya. When the police and other Yakuza member arrived later, they said to the Mongolians that if they wouldn’t pay 50000 yen, they would find and kill them. And that in front of the police men, who didn’t want to get involved in this business. This kind of controversy mixture of gratefulness (when the Yakuza helped Japanese people after the big earthquake in 1995 earlier than the Japanese government) and fear, tolerance but no acceptance is a very interesting situation in Japan. But situations are changing. While in other Mafias, in which a member is a member for life and this short-term career can have severe repercussions, former Yakuza are becoming now salary men. There are even companies who offer jobs and rehabilitation programs for former Yakuza, who want to change their life. (Bruno,2007) Conclusion As we could see, there is an influence as well as transition of the Yakuza to Japanese Society. Complaints of Japanese citizens about Yakuza activities increased considerably, although there are still feared, the acceptance is getting lower and lower. Some people are fighting back by banishing yakuza social clubs from their neighborhoods or forbidding Yakuza to enter local â€Å"Onzens† (public hot springs or spas) or gyms. In addition to that, yakuza organizations are haveing serious problems to recruit new members, because a Japanese boy from a well-protected good family doesn’t tend to start working at an underground organization. The author Bruno (2007) described the situation with much apropos: â€Å" Today they could be more active—and more careful—than ever, broadening their bases, infiltrating new territories and working new scams. Like the fabled ninjas of ancient Japan, they can be everywhere and nowhere, but they're always lethal. †References: Blathwayt, W.,2008, Yakuza bared – The changing face of Japanese organised crime. Bruno, 2007, The Yakuza, [online] Available at: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html [Accessed 21 January 2011] Gà ¼nther, H., 1999, Yakuza â€Å"die Japanische Mafia?†, [online] Available at: http://www.japonet.de/j-impressionen/yakuza.html [Accessed 21 January 2011] Hill, P., 2003, The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the State Kaplan, D. and Dubro, A., 2003, Yakuza Japan's Criminal Underworld Parkanian, J. 2010, Game Boy: Glossary of Japanese Gambling Games Takahashi, K. 2009, Capital punishment – Japan's yakuza vie for control of Tokyo. United Nations, 2000, Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems [online] Available at: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita [Accessed 21 January 2011]

Chapter 2 Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake

Harry went down to breakfast the next morning to find the three Dursleys already sitting around the kitchen table. They were watching a brand-new television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley, who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room. Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continually. Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon, a large, beefy man with very little neck and a lot of mustache. Far from wishing Harry a happy birthday, none of the Dursleys made any sign that they had noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far too used to this to care. He helped himself to a piece of toast and then looked up at the reporter on the television, who was halfway through a report on an escaped convict. â€Å"†¦the public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately.† â€Å"No need to tell us he's no good,† snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. â€Å"Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!† He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Harry felt very well groomed indeed. The reporter had reappeared. â€Å"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today –â€Å" â€Å"Hang on!† barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. â€Å"You didn't tell us where that maniac's escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!† Aunt Petunia, who was bony and horse-faced, whipped around and peered intently out of the kitchen window. Harry knew Aunt Petunia would simply love to be the one to call the hot line number. She was the nosiest woman in the world and spent most of her life spying on the boring, law-abiding neighbors. â€Å"When will they learn,† said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, â€Å"that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?† â€Å"Very true,† said Aunt Petunia, who was still squinting into next door's runner-beans. Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, â€Å"I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten.† Harry, whose thoughts had been upstairs with the Broomstick Servicing Kit, was brought back to earth with an unpleasant bump. â€Å"Aunt Marge?† he blurted out. â€Å"Sh-she's not coming here, is she?† Aunt Marge was Uncle Vernon's sister. Even though she was not a blood relative of Harry's (whose mother had been Aunt Petunia's sister), he had been forced to call her ‘Aunt' all his life. Aunt Marge lived in the country, in a house with a large garden, where she bred bulldogs. She didn't often stay at Privet Drive, because she couldn't bear to leave her precious dogs, but each of her visits stood out horribly vividly in Harry's mind. At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Aunt Margo had whacked Harry around the shins with her walking stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical statues. A few years later, she had turned up at Christmas with a computerized robot for Dudley and a box of dog biscuits for Harry. On her last visit, the year before Harry started at Hogwarts, Harry had accidentally trodden on the tail of her favorite dog. Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off until past midnight. The memory of this incident still brought tears of laughter to Dudley's eyes. â€Å"Marge'll be here for a week,† Uncle Vernon snarled, â€Å"and while we're on the subject,† he pointed a fat finger threateningly at Harry, â€Å"we need to get a few things straight before I go and collect her.† Dudley smirked and withdrew his gaze from the television. Watching Harry being bullied by Uncle Vernon was Dudley's favorite form of entertainment. â€Å"Firstly,† growled Uncle Vernon, â€Å"you'll keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking to Marge.† â€Å"All right,† said Harry bitterly, â€Å"if she does when she's talking to me.† â€Å"Secondly,† said Uncle Vernon, acting as though he had not heard Harry's reply, â€Å"as Marge doesn't know anything about your abnormality, I don't want any — any funny stuff while she's here. You behave yourself, got me?† â€Å"I will if she does,† said Harry through gritted teeth. â€Å"And thirdly,† said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes now slits in his great purple face, â€Å"we've told Marge you attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys.† â€Å"What?† Harry yelled. â€Å"And you'll be sticking to that story, boy, or there'll be trouble,† spat Uncle Vernon. Harry sat there, white-faced and furious, staring at Uncle Vernon, hardly able to believe it. Aunt Marge coming for a weeklong visit — it was the worst birthday present the Dursleys had ever given him, including that pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. â€Å"Well, Petunia,† said Uncle Vernon, getting heavily to his feet, â€Å"I'll be off to the station, then. Want to come along for the ride, Dudders?† â€Å"No,† said Dudley, whose attention had returned to the television now that Uncle Vernon had finished threatening Harry. â€Å"Duddy's got to make himself smart for his auntie,† said Aunt Petunia, smoothing Dudley's thick blond hair. â€Å"Mummy's bought him a lovely new bow-tie.† Uncle Vernon clapped Dudley on his porky shoulder. â€Å"See you in a bit, then,† he said, and he left the kitchen. Harry, who had been sitting in a kind of horrified trance, had a sudden idea. Abandoning his toast, he got quickly to his feet and followed Uncle Vernon to the front door. Uncle Vernon was pulling on his car coat. â€Å"I'm not taking you,† he snarled as he turned to see Harry watching him. â€Å"Like I wanted to come,† said Harry coldly. â€Å"I want to ask you something.† Uncle Vernon eyed him suspiciously. â€Å"Third years at Hog — at my school are allowed to visit the village sometimes,† said Harry. â€Å"So?† snapped Uncle Vernon, taking his car keys from a hook next to the door. â€Å"I need you to sign the permission form,† said Harry in a rush. â€Å"And why should I do that?† sneered Uncle Vernon. â€Å"Well,† said Harry, choosing his words carefully, â€Å"it'll be hard work, pretending to Aunt Marge I go to that St. Whatsits†¦.† â€Å"St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys!† bellowed Uncle Vernon, and Harry was pleased to hear a definite note of panic in Uncle Vernon's voice. â€Å"Exactly,† said Harry, looking calmly up into Uncle Vernon's large, purple face. â€Å"It's a lot to remember. I'll have to make it sound convincing, won't I? What if I accidentally let something slip?† â€Å"You'll get the stuffing knocked out of you, won't you?† roared Uncle Vernon, advancing on Harry with his fist raised. But Harry stood his ground. â€Å"Knocking the stuffing out of me won't make Aunt Marge forget what I could tell her,† he said grimly. Uncle Vernon stopped, his fist still raised, his face an ugly puce. â€Å"But if you sign my permission form,† Harry went on quickly, â€Å"I swear Ill remember where I'm supposed to go to school, and Ill act like a Mug — like I'm normal and everything.† Harry could tell that Uncle Vernon was thinking it over, even if his teeth were bared and a vein was throbbing in his temple. â€Å"Right,† he snapped finally. â€Å"I shall monitor your behavior carefully during Marge's visit. If, at the end of it, you've toed the line and kept to the story, Ill sign your ruddy form.† He wheeled around, pulled open the front door, and slammed it so hard that one of the little panes of glass at the top fell out. Harry didn't return to the kitchen. He went back upstairs to his bedroom. If he was going to act like a real Muggle, heed better start now. Slowly and sadly he gathered up all his presents and his birthday cards and hid them under the loose floorboard with his homework. Then he went to Hedwig's cage. Errol seemed to have recovered; he and Hedwig were both asleep, heads under their wings. Harry sighed, then poked them both awake. â€Å"Hedwig,† he said gloomily, â€Å"you're going to have to clear off for a week. Go with Errol. Ron'll look after you. Ill write him a note, explaining. And don't look at me like that† — Hedwig's large amber eyes were reproachful — â€Å"it's not my fault. It's the only way I'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione.† Ten minutes later, Errol and Hedwig (who had a note to Ron bound to her leg) soared out of the window and out of sight. Harry, now feeling thoroughly miserable, put the empty cage away inside the wardrobe. But Harry didn't have long to brood. In next to no time, Aunt Petunia was shrieking up the stairs for Harry to come down and get ready to welcome their guest. â€Å"Do something about your hair!† Aunt Petunia snapped as he reached the hall. Harry couldn't see the point of trying to make his hair lie flat. Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the untidier he looked, the happier she would be. All too soon, there was a crunch of gravel outside as Uncle Vernon's car pulled back into the driveway, then the clunk of the car doors and footsteps on the garden path. â€Å"Get the door!† Aunt Petunia hissed at Harry. A feeling of great gloom in his stomach, Harry pulled the door open. On the threshold stood Aunt Marge. She was very like Uncle Vernon: large, beefy, and purple-faced, she even had a mustache, though not as bushy as his. In one hand she held an enormous suitcase, and tucked under the other was an old and evil-tempered bulldog. â€Å"Where's my Dudders?† roared Aunt Marge. â€Å"Where's my neffy poo?† Dudley came waddling down the hall, his blond hair plastered flat to his fat head, a bow tie just visible under his many chins. Aunt Marge thrust the suitcase into Harry's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, seized Dudley in a tight one-armed hug, and planted a large kiss on his cheek. Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley only put up with Aunt Marge's hugs because he was well paid for it, and sure enough, when they broke apart, Dudley had a crisp twenty-pound note clutched in his fat fist. â€Å"Petunia!† shouted Aunt Marge, striding past Harry as though he was a hat-stand. Aunt Marge and Aunt Petunia kissed, or rather, Aunt Marge bumped her large jaw against Aunt Petunias bony cheekbone. Uncle Vernon now came in, smiling jovially as he shut the door. â€Å"Tea, Marge?† he said. â€Å"And what will Ripper take?† â€Å"Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer,† said Aunt Marge as they all proceeded into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone in the hall with the suitcase. But Harry wasn't complaining; any excuse not to be with Aunt Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the case upstairs into the spare bedroom, taking as long as he could. By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner. Harry saw Aunt Petunia wince slightly as specks of tea and drool flecked her clean floor. Aunt Petunia hated animals. â€Å"Who's looking after the other dogs, Marge?† Uncle Vernon asked. â€Å"Oh, I've got Colonel Fubster managing them,† boomed Aunt Marge. â€Å"He's retired now, good for him to have something to do. But I couldn't leave poor old Ripper. He pines if he's away from me.† Ripper began to growl again as Harry sat down. This directed Aunt Marge's attention to Harry for the first time. â€Å"So!† she barked. â€Å"Still here, are you?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry. â€Å"Don't you say â€Å"yes† in that ungrateful tone,† Aunt Marge growled. â€Å"It's damn good of Vernon and Petunia to keep you. Wouldn't have done it myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on my doorstep.† Harry was bursting to say that he'd rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys, but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He forced his face into a painful smile. â€Å"Don't you smirk at me!† boomed Aunt Marge. â€Å"I can see you haven't improved since I last saw you. I hoped school would knock some manners into you.† She took a large gulp of tea, wiped her mustache, and said, â€Å"Where is it that you send him, again, Vernon?† â€Å"St. Brutus's,† said Uncle Vernon promptly. â€Å"It's a first-rate institution for hopeless cases.† â€Å"I see,† said Aunt Marge. â€Å"Do they use the cane at St. Brutus's, boy?† she barked across the table. â€Å"Er –â€Å" Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back. â€Å"Yes,† said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, â€Å"All the time.† â€Å"Excellent,† said Aunt Marge. â€Å"I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Have you been beaten often?† â€Å"Oh, yeah,† said Harry, â€Å"loads of times.† Aunt Marge narrowed her eyes. â€Å"I still don't like your tone, boy,† she said. â€Å"If you can speak of your beatings in that casual way, they clearly aren't hitting you hard enough. Petunia, I'd write if I were you. Make it clear that you approve the use of extreme force in this boy's case.† Perhaps Uncle Vernon was worried that Harry might forget their bargain; in any case, he changed the subject abruptly. â€Å"Heard the news this morning, Marge? What about that escaped prisoner, eh?† ****** As Aunt Marge started to make herself at home, Harry caught himself thinking almost longingly of life at number four without her. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia usually encouraged Harry to stay out of their way, which Harry was only too happy to do. Aunt Marge, on the other hand, wanted Harry under her eye at all times, so that she could boom out suggestions for his improvement. She delighted in comparing Harry with Dudley, and took huge pleasure in buying Dudley expensive presents while glaring at Harry, as though daring him to ask why he hadn't got a present too. She also kept throwing out dark hints about what made Harry such an unsatisfactory person. â€Å"You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon,† she said over lunch on the third day. â€Å"If there's something rotten on the inside, there's nothing anyone can do about it.† Harry tried to concentrate on his food, but his hands shook and his face was starting to burn with anger. Remember the form, he told himself. Think about Hogsmeade. Don't say anything. Don't rise — Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine. â€Å"It's one of the basic rules of breeding,† she said. â€Å"You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup –â€Å" At that moment, the wineglass Aunt Marge was holding exploded in her hand. Shards of glass flew in every direction and Aunt Marge sputtered and blinked, her great ruddy face dripping. â€Å"Marge!† squealed Aunt Petunia. â€Å"Marge, are you all right?† â€Å"Not to worry,† grunted Aunt Marge, mopping her face with her napkin. â€Å"Must have squeezed it too hard. Did the same thing at Colonel Fubster's the other day. No need to fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip†¦.† But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry suspiciously, so he decided he'd better skip dessert and escape from the table as soon as he could. Outside in the hall, he leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he'd lost control and made something explode. He couldn't afford to let it happen again. The Hogsmeade form wasn't the only thing at stake — if he carried on like that, he'd be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. Harry was still an underage wizard, and he was forbidden by wizard law to do magic outside school. His record wasn't exactly clean either. Only last summer he'd gotten an official warning that had stated quite clearly that if the Ministry got wind of any more magic in Privet Drive, Harry would face expulsion from Hogwarts. He heard the Dursleys leaving the table and hurried upstairs out of the way. ****** Harry got through the next three days by forcing himself to think about his Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare whenever Aunt Marge started on him. This worked quite well, though it seemed to give him a glazed look, because Aunt Marge started voicing the opinion that he was mentally subnormal. At last, at long last, the final evening of Marge's stay arrived. Aunt Petunia cooked a fancy dinner and Uncle Vernon uncorked several bottles of wine. They got all the way through the soup and the salmon without a single mention of Harry's faults; during the lemon meringue pie, Uncle Vernon bored them a with a long talk about Grunnings, his drill-making company; then Aunt Petunia made coffee and Uncle Vernon brought out a bottle of brandy. â€Å"Can I tempt you, Marge?† Aunt Marge had already had quite a lot of wine. Her huge face was very red. â€Å"Just a small one, then,† she chuckled. â€Å"A bit more than that†¦and a bit more†¦that's the ticket.† Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie. Aunt Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger sticking out. Harry really wanted to disappear into his bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon's angry little eyes and knew he would have to sit it out. â€Å"Aah,† said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and putting the empty brandy glass back down. â€Å"Excellent nosh, Petunia. It's normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs to look after†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She burped richly and patted her great tweed stomach. â€Å"Pardon me. But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy,† she went on, winking at Dudley. â€Å"You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father. Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Now, this one here –â€Å" She jerked her head at Harry, who felt his stomach clench. The Handbook, he thought quickly. â€Å"This one's got a mean, runty look about him. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred.† Harry was trying to remember page twelve of his book: A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers. â€Å"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia† — she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one â€Å"but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here's the result right in front of us.† Harry was staring at his plate, a funny ringing in his ears. Grasp your broom firmly by the tail, he thought. But he couldn't remember what came next. Aunt Marge's voice seemed to be boring into him like one of Uncle Vernon's drills. â€Å"This Potter,† said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth, â€Å"you never told me what he did?† Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his pie to gape at his parents. â€Å"He — didn't work,† said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. â€Å"Unemployed.† â€Å"As I expected!† said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. â€Å"A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who –â€Å" â€Å"He was not,† said Harry suddenly. The table went very quiet. Harry was shaking all over. He had never felt so angry in his life. â€Å"MORE BRANDY!† yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass. â€Å"You, boy,† he snarled at Harry. â€Å"Go to bed, go on –â€Å" â€Å"No, Vernon,† hiccuped Aunt Marge, holding up a hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry's. â€Å"Go on, boy, go on. Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect) –â€Å" â€Å"They didn't die in a car crash!† said Harry, who found himself on his feet. â€Å"They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!† screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. â€Å"You are an insolent, ungrateful little –â€Å" But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger — but the swelling didn't stop. Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech — next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls — she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami†¦ â€Å"MARGE!† yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together as Aunt Marge's whole body began to rise off her chair toward the ceiling. She was entirely round, now, like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes, and her hands and feet stuck out weirdly as she drifted up into the air, making apoplectic popping noises. Ripper came skidding into the room, barking madly. â€Å"NOOOOOOO!† Uncle Vernon seized one of Marge's feet and tried to pull her down again, but was almost lifted from the floor himself. A second later, Ripper leapt forward and sank his teeth into Uncle Vernon's leg. Harry tore from the dining room before anyone could stop him, heading for the cupboard under the stairs. The cupboard door burst magically open as he reached it. In seconds, he had heaved his trunk to the front door. He sprinted upstairs and threw himself under the bed, wrenching up the loose floorboard, and grabbed the pillowcase full of his books and birthday presents. He wriggled out, seized Hedwig's empty cage, and dashed back downstairs to his trunk, just as Uncle Vernon burst out of the dining room, his trouser leg in bloody tatters. â€Å"COME BACK IN HERE!† he bellowed. â€Å"COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!† But a reckless rage had come over Harry. He kicked his trunk open, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Uncle Vernon. â€Å"She deserved it,† Harry said, breathing very fast. â€Å"She deserved what she got. You keep away from me.† He fumbled behind him for the latch on the door. â€Å"I'm going,† Harry said. â€Å"I've had enough.† And in the next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's cage under his arm.