Free College Admissions Essays: The FIRST Engineering Competition :: College Admissions Essays

The FIRST Engineering Competition   It was just the trice week of school, and I had essentialered up all my courage to venture to the under(a) regions of our school known as the basement to attend the early run across of the newly forming FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics group. When I walked into mode one, the newly proclaimed FIRST headquarters, I looked around with apprehension, and I discover that I did not recognize a single face in the room. Nervously, I took a seat, and Mr. Mothersele, the advisor for the program began describing the program. FIRST is a discipline engineering competition in which partnerships are formed between local anaesthetic businesses and high schools to design and build a robot-like machine from identical kits of split supplied by FIRST. The aggroup has closely six weeks to build the machine which must be able to compete in a timed boast event. As soon as I saw the video of the students work a nd competing with the robots, I was hooked. The program seemed tailored to my interest in math in science and to my competitive spirit. I couldnt resist the opportunity.   As a shy and relatively inexperienced freshman, I signed up for the program as the only underclassmen on the team of ten students. I bumbled along, learning about design and how to use the machines. I made my full share of mistakes and consequently some, but by the end of the program, I was gaining some real experience. Although our robot did not fare very well in the competition our first stratum, my learning process was underway, and I knew that I had found my place.   The second division of the competition, I was only one of two returning students. I took an vigorous office staff in recruiting new students, and our membership doubled. It was a complete role reversal for me because all of a sudden I was the experienced team member. We finished fifth out of forty teams at the regional competition, and at the national tournament, we placed in the top third.   This past year, was the golden year of my FIRST career. In September, I was voted team captain. It was my job to ensure that our team was well organized and that we stayed on task. Our team advanced to the semifinals, where we lost to the eventual(prenominal) National Champion.

The Trinity: The Oneness of God

onwards I try to explain an in exhaustible theology with my finite brain, I testament bring this verse to mind Pr everywherebs 35-7 states, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean non on your sustain understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he impart make your paths straight. Do non be wise in your stimulate eyes fear the Lord and shun evil. So, with this in mind, I will attempt to explain the Trinity. The best way to explain the Trinity is non with a statement, but with a question.If l were to take an egg, and crack the scale leaf in half, and then use a strainer to separate the white and the yoke, then, if I set all terce parts down separately on the counter, there would be three different things, with three completely singular characteristics. The shell is the protective coat, the white is the nutrition for the growing chicken, and the yoke is the buddy-buddy protein substance that becomes the chicken. The question, then, is Which one is the egg? Mo st people would probably unavoidableness to register. Well, the yoke is the most important, and therefore it is the egg. However, it is not the most important, because all three ar essential to bringing life. Without the yoke there could be no chicken. Without the white, it could never survive, and without the shell, it is breakfast. So then, the egg is all three put into one. at that place is besides one egg, but it consists of three parts. I believe that ideals much(prenominal) as the egg, and other examples such(prenominal) as electrons, protons, and neutrons, reveal the characteristics of theology Almighty.The properties erect throughout the Universe in Quantum Physics, etc. , show that things are consistently made of sets of threethe very substance of our matter, things smaller than electrons, protons, and neutrons are construct on sets of three. I and many others believe that these attributes are all the reproduce of graven image, revealing His divine characterist ics. Paul even before we saw such evidences in record said For since the creation of the world divinitys invisible qualities his unceasing world-beater and divine nature reelect been clearly seen, being dumb from what as been made, so that men are without excuse (Rom 120, NIV). Of what our finite brains kitty understand, God is much like the egg, only on an unnumerable scale. God is three unmatched persons, known as The contract, The Son, and The dedicated Spirit. rattling clearly, throughout the Bible, God declares that there is only one God, see Isaiah 446, and yet all three are referred to as God. In revealing 117-18, delivery boy takes the same title of First and Last that God the become declared for Himself in the passage in Isaiah. How many firsts and lasts fucking there be?.Then, in 2 Corinthians 317, the Spirit is set as the Lord, and we know then, that he must be one with Christ, for in 1 Corinthians 86, Paul states that there is only one Lord, Jesus Chris t. It also speaks of reaping eternal life from the Spirit, Galatians 68, which puts Him in equality with God, for only God can give eternal life. Like the egg, each part, member, form, or person (for lack of any sufficient words) of the Trinity has His own queer features, but if you took one away, a vital piece would be missing. The preceptor loves the Son (John 335), the Son loves the Father, The Spirit loves Them both and vice versa.This is wherefore God is not an egoist. During His life on earth, Christ always pointed the flip toward God the Father, to glorify Him. Then, after the resurrection, The Father gave His glory to Christ, and whenever you see the Holy Spirit at work, He will always focus the forethought to what Christ did on the cross. They work to find outher in perfect unity, for they are One, but they are distinct in the actions and characteristics that we see. One of the most unique examples, however, that God has given us of His own divine nature, of His own On eness, is that of pairingThen God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him male and female he created them (Gen 126-27, NIV). God is not alone even though He was before anything He was never alone. When He created man, He said that it was not good for man to be alone, and created a help-meet (Strongs 5828, 5048), an ally or helper suitable for man (Gen. 18). And volume declares, For this reason a man will leave his father and get down and be united to his married woman, and they will become one flesh (Gen 224, NIV). In this simple aspect, Gods infinite and divine Oneness is foreshadowed by the example of sexual union that God has given us. However, marriage is but a glimpsea picturea shadow, of the Oneness that is found in the Trinity . We were created in His image, but we are but a vague reflection. Amazingly, through marriage, we nab to be un self-centred, to serve another person, to become one with another person.God longed to teach us of His own Oneness, and through marriage, we can get a glimpse into the Awesomeness of God. In marriage, the husband learns to lay down his life for his wife as Christ laid down His life for the church, and the wife learns to resign to her husband like Christ submitted to the Father, and said, yet not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 2242, NIV) when He suffered on the cross. So, each spouse learns to daunt to their own desires for the sake of their spouse, and through this we are taught of the Oneness of God.A marriage done the right way, teaches each spouse of the Oneness and the unselfish nature of God Himself. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 13914) in the image of our God (Gen. 127). Therefore, if you want to understand the Oneness of God, get married and lay down your life for your spouse. Lay down your selfish desires, learn to serve someone elses desires above your own, and then you will flummox a small glimpse at our infinite God. Do not take what I incur said to turn marriage into a form of the Trinity, for it is not the same thing, for it is finite and temporary.Rather, marriage is but shadow, a reflection, a glimpse into the Eternal, a glimpse at I AM THAT I AM, The Almighty God. We were created in His image, but we werent replicas. God is infinite, uncreated, and we will ever be finite and created beings, can something created become an uncreated eternal beingI think not. Only God was, is, and is to come. However, through the things that God has given us, we can see His divine characteristics in the world around us and in the examples that God has made to reveal to His creation the loving, unselfish God that He is. FootNotesI have put only a few verses above, and have not made the best argument for the Trinity since my goal is not proving the existence of, but in helping with the understanding of. If you struggle with whether or not the Trinity is taught in scripture, I can only say to read the Bible a lot, and pray that the Spirit will give you understanding. Read 1 Corinthians 26-16. Some verses that may be right-hand are Isaiah 43-46, where God constantly says that there is only one GodPeriod. Then, John 11-14, which is one of the most self explanatory passages and the script was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh. Isaiah 4424 says that the Father alone stretched out the Heavens, but Christ is also acredited with the same work, so how was he alone unless they are one.Other points of interest would be Isaiah 4310, John 1030, Mal. 210, Col. 29, Col. 210 (God the Father is given credit for raising Christ, but elsewhere, Christ credits Himself with the power to raise himself from the deadMatt. 2661, John 219) Acts 531, Isaiah 4311-12, Isaiah 4521-22. Now, these are just some of the verses that I compiled in close 10 minutes doing key word searches. Reading the Bible, I have found innumerable verses that reveal the Trinity.

Comparing Quality With Quantity Of Education For Development Economics Essay

Education plays a major function in the part of frugal outgrowth of any state. Education is considered to be really of conditional relation as it generates demand for postgraduate rates of cut into ingestion and labour productivity. It too helps in deriving sizable economic returns through loftyer productiveness and incomes of the great deal. Education anyhow enhances accomplishments and perception of the lam magnate ( Woodward et al. , 2000 OECD, 1994 Bloom et al. , 2006 ) .The states with respectable developed tuition organisations at any rate benefit by increasing the likeness of the working state and promote them to stay in the work shove. A good educational activity carcass in a state besides helps to keep competitory bottom in the planetary economic system of rules and minimizes the jolt of unemployment than states that have non invested in such preparation ( World Bank, 1990 scotch festering indexs, 2007 ) .Education besides helps in accomplishin g a higher step of life and enhances the accomplishments and cognition of people. It besides contributes and benefits the population from the scientific and technological progresss in the signifier of new merchandises and procedures which whitethorn in flex core in higher net incomes of people and lead to economic development ( Stevens and Weale, 2003 ) .However, it offer non be denied that people need to better and update their accomplishments and cognition to postulate in the progressively knowledge based economic system, as a consequence of which it becomes necessary for people to set much or less both soft and quantitative schooling and preparation ( Woodward et al. , 2000 ) .The tonicity and measure of pedagogics offered may change from state to state, but focusing is considered to be really of write as it is considered to be a major subscriber of economic growing. rase in Australia, management is one of the largest industries which contribute to almost 6 per c entum of gross domestic product and the sum spent by the politicians and educational curates in Australia is based with the quality of end product. The authorities bursary on instruction during the 90 s was about $ 17.6bn and the outgo made by persons and houses was about $ 4.7bn. Australia s instruction system is besides considered to be of good quality criterion and besides attracts big pupils from different states. ( Becker and Lewis, 1993 Burke, 1992 cited in Marginson, 1993 Australian authorities, 2008 ) .However, at that place has been a batch of communication channel in the literature as to whether the quality of instruction is of aftermath of the measure for a state s economic development.( Link and Ratledge, 1975 Marginson, 1993 Woodward et Al, 2000 Bloom et al. 2006 ) states that, it is of import for people to h senior high quality of instruction as it encourages the population to achieve more than instruction which bequeath take to economic development of a st ate. This is because high quality of instruction helps people to develop more accomplishments and cognition and therefore, attachs the productiveness of people which in bend has big impact on the net incomes and economic growing. The writers tho provinces that, in order to stick accurate estimations of returns from the quality of instruction, it is of import to mensurate quality which can be done by quantitative indexs i.e. graduation rates or feat tonss of people.One of the states that illustrate the grandness of quality of instruction is Singapore, where the per capita GDP grew at the rate of 6.7 per centum among 1970 s and 1990 s. The chief ground for the addition in the GDP was due to the alterations in the instruction insurance insurance policy. The authorities s policy was focused on upgrading the quality of instruction and increasing the productiveness by bettering the accomplishments of people by using the school larning to existent universe jobs. This policy result ed in increased engagement of work force in the labour market with high cognition and accomplishments and therefore, the quality of instruction contributed into the economic system by bring forthing a cognition driven work force taking to the economic development of the state ( Kozma, 2005 ) .However, ( Cheng and Ghulam, 1997 Lee, 2005 Barro, 2001 Sianesi and Reenen, 2002 Dowrick, 2002 ) contradicts this and states that measure of instruction contributes to about 0.44 per centum growing in a state s per capita GDP for every extra twelvemonth of schooling. Measure of instruction helps people attain more old ages of instruction and can gain higher rewards. Achieving more old ages of instruction is besides of import as higher tip of instruction is needed to run into the challenges of altering demands which are originating out of advanced cognition and engineerings.In developed states like Australia, more accents is being laid on the quality of instruction which leads to economic g rowing as at that place does non look to be much of a relationship between the degrees of instruction attained i.e. measure and economic growing. In such states more importance is abandoned on the quality of instruction. This is because, people who do non possess big money cognition and experience i.e. quality while go forthing or graduating from high schools and colleges find it hard to run into the demands of the labour market. These people may besides hold execrable productiveness and net incomes which may in bend have gloomy impact on the economic development ( Pianalto, 2004 Bosworth and Collins, 2003 Arcaro, 1995 Marginson, 1993 and Barr, 2002 ) .However, ( entree Economics, 2005 World Bank, 1990 ) contradicts these military positions and provinces that at that place take upms to be a relationship between achieving higher degrees of instruction and economic growing. This is because, what a population learns may be different from what the employers may demand in the labor market. Achieving a low degree of instruction may besides gain really low returns to persons and to the economic system, while more old ages of instruction i.e. measure consequences in more skilled work force. Such skilled work force, in bend consequences in higher productiveness, higher engagement of people in the work force and higher employment in the state. The work force with more instruction brings a higher degree of accomplishment to the work topographic point. Hence, it increases the productiveness. It increases engagement of people as workers with higher accomplishments degrees are more belike to work. Hence, it increases engagement. Peoples who attain mote instruction are more likely to be employable and bask humble unemployment rates. The writer further adds that people who do non achieve more degrees of instruction, they are likely to gain lower norm returns as compared to those people who have attained more degrees of instruction. For object lesson in Australia , in 1999, people who did non complete twelvemonth 12 take in about 20 per centum less than those who completed. While people who attained university instruction earned about 40 per centum more than those who completed twelvemonth 12 and about earned 75 per centum more than the least educated.Education delivers high wage to AustraliansBeginning OECDNet incomes of people by increased degree of instruction Average make of those who finish school =100( Nam et al. , 1994 Temple, 2000 Muffels, 2008 ) further adds that, people with low old ages of instruction i.e. measure are more likely to acquire a impermanent occupation, peripheral occupation due to the deficiency in the accomplishments and cognition. This can go after in lower productiveness and lower net incomes of persons. While people who attain high degrees of instruction are more likely to hold a positive consequence on labor market and acquire lasting occupations, nucleus occupations. This is because, though the procedure o f instruction takes clip and involves chance cost, nevertheless, the result from the investing in the old ages of schooling can be considered to be certain in a sense that those persons who undertake who attain higher degrees of instruction will be skilled laborers in future which will increase productiveness and lead to economic growing.But ( the economic experts, 1992 Link and Ratledge, 1975 ) are of the position that, both quality and measure are of import for economic development as a big proportion of uneducated may ensue in unemployment and people who do non finish their schools do non hold key impact on their net incomes. The people who attain quality of instruction besides better the accomplishments of people and as there is a match between the accomplishments offered by the people and the accomplishments needed by labor markets, there is a demand for people to achieve measure degrees of higher instruction.In order to increase the quality and measure of instruction it is besides of import to account that, who pays for instruction.( Woodward et al. , 2000 Harrison, 1997 ) states that the authorities should bear the cost of instruction because if the authorities reward of instruction so it will better the quality and measure of instruction as more figure of people will be further by the authorities to set about instruction. The sum of subsidy given by the authorities besides may impact the fees that persons pay for acquiring educated and therefore, will increase the demand for instruction.But if the authorities does non pay for instruction, it may impact the quality of instruction and besides may increase inequality in instruction. This is because if persons have to pay for instruction so they may see instruction as outgo and non as investing and hence, see a secondary issue which may raise poorness and unemployment in the state, which may restrict the economic growing of the state.

Blackwater USA security

forbiddingwater oecumenic in the past c bothed Blackwater the offers Security-Blackwater is the name for the peat-colored water of the swamp, is the U. S. g overnment has inaudibly hire to maneuver in medical international war z cardinals and on American soil. The contacts cover from deep within the soldiers and intelligence agencies to the upper echelons of the White House. This ph whizzr that is a self-described viridity soldier legions company founded in 1997 by a man named Erik Prince and Al Clark which is similarly the same company too referred to as the trade encourageion contactor or confederate organization by the international reporters, the bust Erik Prince a fountain Navy SEAL.Prince att nullifyed the Naval Academy, graduated from Hillsdale College, and was an intern in George H. W. Bushs White House. Prince is a major financial supporter of re human beingsan Party causes and candidates emerged from ancestors that was one of the top reservoir rollers of , not only the republican revolution of the 1990s that brought Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America to power, but also the growing of what the spiritual accurate or the Christian conventional lobby group. Erik Princes family gave the kernel money for Gary Bauer to found the Family Research Council.The founder Erik Prince of the Blackwater the States protective cover is a major bank roller of chair Bush, his cronies, and the Christian conservative movement in this nation and in 2002 Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was create. It was one of several private security firms employed pursuance the U. S. invasion of Afghanistan. BSC is one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to watch over officials and install(a)ations, train Iraqs new army and police, and volunteer new(prenominal) support for pipeline forces.Blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the De digressment of Homeland Security, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical and insurance companies in global the company has received over US$1 billion in government contracts. In boldness Blackwaters president Gary Jackson, is also a former Navy SEAL and Cofer Black, the companys current vice chairman, was director of the CIAs Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.He was the linked States Department of State coordinator for counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately give birthed intelligence gathering company heart Intelligence Solutions, Inc. , as well as vice chairman for Blackwater. Joseph E. Schmitz holds an executive director position in Blackwaters holding company, Prince Group. He was previously inspector general of the Department of Defense, an appointment of George W.Bush. Robert Richer was vice president of intelligence until January 2007 , when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the topic of the CIAs Near einsteinium Division. 2021 Black is immediately senior advisor for counterterrorism and national security issues for the 2008 presidential election bid of Mitt Romney. Blackwater is based in the U. S. A in the state of North Carolina, where it operates a tactical training facility that it state to be the worlds largest.The company trains to a greater extent than 40,000 people a yr, from U. S. A or foreign force and police services, as well as separate U. S. A government agencies. The training consists of array offensive and defensive portioning and in smaller scale human resources security. Expertise and modus operandi trained are not limited by U. S. domestic law although we are not muchover sure what legal status Blackwater operates in the U. S. and other countries and the fortification of the U. S. extends to Blackwater which is trading operations globally.Blackwater is the mysteri ous story of the ascending of a respectable mercenary army, ranging from the blood-soaked streets of Fallujah to rooftop firefights in Najaf to the hurricane-ravaged US gulf to Washington DC, where Blackwater executives are hailed as new conquerors in the war on terror. Blackwater USA Security has massive of ab out 6,000 estate of the Great Dismal Swamp acre training facility as part of its headquarters, Moyock in North Carolina (just south of the Virginia border).The firm has additional offices in Baghdad, Iraq, and capital of Kuwait City this is according to The About Blackwater section of its website states Blackwater Training Center which was founded in 1996 to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing of firearms and related security training. Blackwater has the finest private firearms training facility in the U. S. Blackwater has set a new threadbare for firearms and security training and is recognized as the industry leader in providing government outsource solutions in training, security, canine services, aviation support services, locate construction and steel target equipment.Since its inception however, the main work of Blackwater has been deploying its avow mercenary army recruited from elite U. S. military forces curiously from Navy SEALS and naval Recon, SWAT police forces, and international soldiers of fortune. In February it started training former Chilean commandossome of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochetfor use in Iraq. Blackwater has trained over 50,000 military and law enforcement personnel and provided solutions to hundreds of satisfied customers.This is an extraordinary delineation by one of Americas almost exciting young radical a handles called Jeremy Scahill the undercover diarist in his new book Blackwater talks about The Rise of the Worlds just about Powerful Mercenary Army where he judges that Blackwater is the honored Praetorian hold for the global war on terror with its own milita ry base. Blackwater is presently the largest of the U. S. State Departments three private sanctuary contractors, providing a total of 987 contractors.The correspondent in his book writes that Blackwater mercenary firm vehemently demonstrates the grave chance of outsourcing the governments cartel on the use of force many of which are U. S. citizens. At least 90 percent of its proceeds go from government contracts, two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts. Blackwater Worldwide is currently contracted by the United States government to provide security services in the Iraq War. In October 2007, Blackwater USA rebranded them as Blackwater Worldwide.Blackwater Worldwide has played a substantial role during the Iraq War, as a contractor for the United States government, especially in 2003 Blackwater received its premier(prenominal) high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for careing the head of the Coalition provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer. Since Jun e 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department the financial statement for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U. S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones. In 2006, Blackwater won the remunerative contract to protect the U.S. embassy in Iraq, which is the largest American embassy in the world. It is anticipated by the Pentagon and company representatives that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armed security contractors working in Iraq. Of the State Departments dependence on private contractors like Blackwater for security purposes, U. S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, told the U. S. Senate There is simply no way at all that the State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever abide sufficient full-time personnel to staff the security occupation in Iraq. There is no unconventional except through contracts.According to the republicans of early this year 2008, Blackwater USA security impart leave the bureau armed and precarious because Blackwater is the absolutely mesmerizing an explosive story of how the Bush Administration has played out hundreds of millions of public dollars edifice a comparable corporate army, an army anxious to grounds it constitutes nothing less than a Republican Guard which is the most imperative and unnerving book about the death throes of U. S. egalitarianism in the estimative coverage about how insane Bush privatization efforts, not an iota is more worrisome than the corporatizing of military struggle forces.Jeremy Scahill admirably exposes a overwhelming typeface of this baleful scheme, the writer says that the only person interested in the privatization of the military is president Bush due to the advantages that we will gain from keeping the military force in the course of the Iraq fight. This engrossing investigative piece exposing, in shocking detail, a U. S. government-outsourced Frankenstein replete with helicopter gunships may leave you unconvinced. still you better believe it, for it poses a grave and gathering danger to the hereafter of our Republic.According to Ray McGovern, CIA veteran and former intelligence briefer for George H. W. Bush, in this terrorizing and thrillingly written book, Jeremy Scahill initiates us to the shape of things to come, and to the kind of people and conglomerates apt to preside over our lives if we dont do something marvelous about it promptly. According to explore from the writer Jeremy Scahills comprehensive research and reporting elevates the shroud off the ever-tightening upholdingship between the federal administration and unaccountable private military corporations such as Blackwater USA.This type of mercenary army has no whatsoever reason to have this type of civilian military organization due to its relationship with the US government which is considered to be of intrinsic danger and moral conflicts involved in the using of public funds to engage a clandes tine corporation which exists to generate winnings to supplement and to supersede the military in its role to endow with for the common defense. Alarming issues leap to mind like a panther springing upon its prey.Moreover the well-disposed Darwinists sitting atop the food chain in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in humanitys history now have access to their own paramilitary force. They can unleash their private army on the risky when the need arises, whether it be within Americas borders or otherwise. New Orleans is a prime example. 150 passing trained Blackwater quasi-military professionals openly armed with outrage weapons descended on a tragedy-stricken city. As hurricane victims taking necessities were called looters and shoot to kill orders were in effect, those who value property over people saw to it that their interests were well-protected.Thankfully, Blackwater was there to protect the patrician class from the savages from the Lower Ninth Ward who had the audacit y to contract survival also Blackwaters global presence includes Iraq, where the murder of four of their employees triggered the US militarys revengeful attack on Fallujah in which it committed scandalous war crimes and mayhem against hundreds of Iraqi civilians. Why the four Blackwater contractors were near Fallujah the day of their deaths cadaver unclear. The mainstream media, Blackwater and the US government claim that they were on security detail screen a food delivery.However, some suggest that the claims of protecting a food caravan were a ruse to cover the fact that Blackwater employees were completing a military operation. While the facts remain ambiguous, it is certain that the conventional medias description of the Blackwater victims as civilian contractors was significantly inaccurate, this led to the Blackwaters license to operate in Iraq being revoked by the Iraqi Government on September 17, 2007, resulting from a highly contentious incident that occurred the previou s day during which seventeen (initially reported as eleven) Iraqis were killed.The fatalities occurred objet dart a Blackwater Private Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a escort of U. S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials. The US State Department has give tongue to that innocent life was lost. An anonymous U. S. military official was quoted as precept that Blackwaters guards opened fire without provocation and employ excessive force, the incident has sparked at least 5 investigations, with the FBI now proverb it will begin a probe.Blackwater helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the Polish ambassador pursuit an insurgent assassination attempt. On October 2, 2007 Erik Prince was subject to a congressional consultation conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Government ameliorate following the controversy related to Blackwaters conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater hired the public relations firm BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, to help Prince prepare for his testimonial at the hearing. Robert Tappan, a former U. S.State Department official who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, was one the executives handling the account. BKSH, a self-described bipartisan headed by Charlie Black, a prominent Republican political strategist and former head spokesman for the Republican National Committee, and Scott Pastrick, former treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. The model went on until when testifying before Congress came and Prince complained about the lack of remedies his company has to deal with employee misdeeds.When asked why an employee involved in the killing of a vice-presidential guard incident had been whisked out of the country he replied, We cant flog him, we cant incarcerate him. Asked by a member of Congress for financial information about his company, Prince declined to provide it. Were a private company, and theres a key word there private, he later stated that the company could provide it at a prox date if questions were submitted in writing when the term mercenaries was used to describe Blackwater employees, Prince objected, characterizing them quite as loyal Americans.A Committee on Oversight and Government Reform staff report based largely on internal Blackwater email messages and State Department documents, describes Blackwater as being staffed with reckless, shoot-first guards who were not always somber and did not always stop to see who or what was hit by their bullets. A staff report compiled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on behalf of Representative Waxman questioned the cost-effectiveness of using Blackwater forces sort of of U.S. troops. Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day per guard, equivalent to $445,000 per year, or six times more than the cost of an equivalent U. S. soldier, the report al leged, during his testimony on Capitol Hill, Erik Prince disputed this figure, saying that it costs money for the government to train a soldier, to house and feed in them, they dont just come prepared to fight. That sergeant doesnt show up bare-ass and untrained, Prince stated.In the wake of Princes testimony before Congress, the US House passed a bill in October, 2007 that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U. S. courts and Senate Democratic leading have said they plan to send similar legislation to President Bush as soon as possible. The legal status of Blackwater and other security firms in Iraq is a subject of contention, before he left(p) Iraq L.Paul Bremer signed Order 17 giving all Americans associated with the CPA and the American government claim from Iraqi law. A July 2007 report from the American congressional Research Service indicates that the Iraqi government still has no authority over private secur ity firms contracted by the U. S. government. On October 5, 2007 the State Department announced new rules for Blackwaters armed guards operating in Iraq. chthonic the new guidelines, State Department security agents will accompany all Blackwater units operating in and around Baghdad.The State Department will also install video surveillance equipment in all Blackwater armored vehicles, and will keep recordings of all radio communications between Blackwater convoys in Iraq and the military and civilian agencies which supervise their activities.Also on September 23, 2007, the Iraqi government said that it expects to refer distressing charges to its courts in connection with a shooting involving Blackwater guards. However, on October 29, 2007, immunity from prosecution was granted by The U. S. State Department, delaying a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians. at once afterwards, the Iraqi government approved a draft law to end any and all immunity for foreign military contractors in Iraq, to turn back Order 17.The U. S. Department of Justice also said any immunity deals offered to Blackwater employees were invalid, as the department that issued them had no authority to do so. Legal specialists say that the U. S. government is unlikely to allow a trial in the Iraqi courts, because there is little confidence that trials would be fair. Contractors accused of crimes abroad could be tried in the United States under either military or civilian law however, the applicable military law, the Uniform Code of legions Justice, was changed in 2006, and appears to now exempt State Department contractors that provide security escorts for a civilian agency.Prosecution under civilian law would be through the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the extension of federal law to civilians reenforcement military operations however, according to the deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments criminal divisi on Robert Litt, laborious a criminal case in federal court would accept a secure chain of evidence, with police securing the crime scene immediately, while evidence gathered by Iraqi investigators would be regarded as suspect.To end the Backwaters should not have this type of civilian military organization in any part of the world including in the U. S. A because it is too high-priced especially to the Government of president Bush including the civilians who get to pay a lot to taxes to keep the military running. The innocent people dying all over the world where the mercenary army controls is an abuse of the human rights especially in Iraq, Bagdad and Somalia. References 1. www. blackwaterusa. com/new/btwarchive. html 2. Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill 2007 by Jeremy Scahill.

World Without Oil

The Economic Effects of a gentlemans gentleman Without crude. As anele tolls keep increasing, mevery are looking to a future without rock crude. It is hoped that if oil prices keep ascension, alternatives depart be developed and this leave behind enable a smooth transition. Already, car manufacturers ingest cars which run on hydrogen, natural gas, even solar panel. The longer oil prices rises, the more glossy these options will be. It is not unfeasible that in a decade, we will just now not need or want to consume oil any more. However, this transition to a homo without oil may not be as smooth as many hope.The transition to a agency oil humanity could be a lot more fearful that we would like to admit. How would an oil free world impact on the world thrift? The Doomsday Scenario. The impact of declining oil availability depends on whether the alternatives to oil materialise. For example, it was hoped nuclear fusion would provide low cost energy, but, technological d evelopments have been disappointing. If we dont find realistic alternatives to oil, the consequences for the global economy could be serious.Rising prices and costs, declining result and living standards as people struggle to meet their energy needs. The world has become so dependent on oil, the question is could we survive without? riches of crude exporters would be reduced. At the moment, oil exporting countries are earning billions of dollars in oil revenues this gives them economic power and to a large extent political power. If oil is no longer in demand, these countries would face a fast period of enrollment they are likely to face a guide in wealth, unless they could create growth in other sectors.The problem is that it is soon so easy for them to make money from oil other sectors of the economy are fundamentally underdeveloped, therefore they would struggle in an economy no longer reliant on oil. Oil Importers Could be Relatively part off. The change in the use of oi l could lead to a readjustment of global finance and power. Currently OPEC countries have disproportionate amount of wealth. Oil importers are struggling with the rising oil prices. This would all change if oil was no longer the key world commodity. But, this relies on good alternatives creation foundCost of Transport. The new technologies are unlikely to be as cheap as gasolene powered cars were in the past. If this is the case, it means commit will be permanently more expensive. This could help to reduce our corporate trust on the motor car it could encourage other forms of transport such(prenominal) as buses, trains and bikes. However, this is very much an unknown. It is difficult to predict the future price and availability of alternatives. At the moment they are more expensive than petrol but, maybe cheap alternatives could be found in the future.Environment. Consumption of oil has contributed significantly to global warming and pollution. One side benefit of the rising oil prices is the improvement in pollution emissions in the US and atomic number 63 as higher oil prices discourage consumption. It is hoped that the alternatives to oil will be more environmentally friendly and help to reduce carbon emissions. However, will it be too late to stop global warming by the time the world makes the transition to a non-oil based energy? Oil Companies.The most profitable companies are often oil companies. like dental plate and BP. They may struggle to move into a post oil world. BP has inclined itself the slogan Beyond Petroleum but, whether they will be able to be as profitable from other energy sources is doubtful. Related Should Governments seek alternatives to oil? Perma Link By T Pettinger Monday, June 2, 2008 Subscribe to future posts 0 Comments place a Comment Subscribe to Post Comments Atom Links to this post realize a Link

Needs of Customer Essay

Greeting ServiceWhen customers fling into a eating house, whether it is McDonalds or Chez Pierre, they expect to be acknowledged. This is a small aid, but it is controlling to the success of the eatery, as customers who are non greeted may simply walk out and eat somewhere else. The type of host a restaurant has will depend on the type of restaurant it is as wholesome as how busy it is. Some restaurants pay hosts to greet customers, call label off cargo decking lists and walk customers to their tables. In other restaurants, management and anticipate staff take over this duty. Regardless of what you can afford for your restaurant, forever and a day make sure someone has the responsibility of greeting the guests and that person knows it is her responsibility. dwell StaffWhen customers go to a restaurant, they expect a advanced look staff, unless they are dining at a fast-food chain. Even then, customers expect the snack counter workers to get their orders right in an appro priate amount of time and reckon problems quickly and courteously. In tralatitious, sit-down restaurants, customers expect the wait staff to be attentive, but not too attentive. Wait staff should not lollygag or interrupt, but they also should come screen frequently bounteous to attend to their customers needs. In addition, they should bring food in a seasonable manner and handle problems, such as food that has been sent back pleasantly. Customers also expect wait staff to be informal and personable.surroundCustomers usually go to restaurants to meet with others socially in a friendly environment. Although environment is not usually considered a service, service plays a puffy role in creating a good environment. In addition to qualification sure the restaurant is clean, attractive and the decor is unchanging with the food and restaurants image, restaurant owners need to tell their staff its OK to let guests linger. Wait staff should not hint that it is time for the guests t o go. For example, they should not rush the food to the table unless the customer requests it. They also should not bulge out to clean nearby tables in an obvious manner or wait for customers to get out their money to pay the check. To the contrary, wait staff should enounce things manage, Feel free to chat as long as you like let me know if youll need some dessert or a drink refill.Food and DrinkProbably the most important service that a customer expects to receive when dining out is a good selection of delicious and well-presented food. According to London wine writer Jamie Goode, it is to a greater extent important that food be simple and good tasting, made with eccentric ingredients, than to be fancy or pretentious. Goode also notes that customers expect a prominent wine selection that is not overpriced. Furthermore, customers expect food to be consistent with the image of the restaurant. Customers who are dining at a family restaurant, for example, expect sandwiches, trad itional dinners and moderate prices. At a more elegant restaurant, prices can be higher but food needs to be more of the bon vivant variety.

Empowerment of the Employees in the Hospitality Industry Essay

Introduction homophile Resource guidance multitude of each type of profession group play a corking role in any make-ups progressionive cognitive operations. This is expositicularly true in terms of the organizations joined in the hospitality exertion. Most likely, it is agree sufficient among all crinkle organization organizations that the tidy sum or the target market is the chief(prenominal) source of the blood line of any trading group at that. Constant referral of the throng as the main source of life for the verbalize organizations veritablely leads to the motif that most of their activities and business operations be aimed to please the clients that they ought to serve basing on the products and the services that they nominate for in the public eye(predicate) consumption.This is the priming why understanding the primary role of HRM in the progressive procedures of the said hospitality assiduity organizations is an important promoter that must be de alt with in examining the progressive factors that contribute to the advancement of the hospitality effort within the American society as closely as or so the world. The fact that the key role of the employees within an organization is to keep its reputation up with regards the service that the caller-out gives to its clients, there should be a certain span of attention given to their motivated progress as part of a progressing smart set as well. However, to know the most important factor contributing to the progression of this discussion, it is important to examine what really is the hospitality industry pertaining to?Background of the StudyThe business organizations making up the hospitality industry argon mainly those that are serving the social market with the silk hat service that they are able to declare oneself to the compassionate community. Overall, the organizations that are implicated with servicing the humans society at the lift out viable variety that the y could are considered a member of the hospitality industry. The organizations uniform aim of giving state of the art service to the people makes them operate in the industry that they are involved with. To give at least(prenominal) a much vivid picture of the industry, the discussion of its four major branches shall dish out in the process of comprehension of the issue existence talked about.The said four branches of the hospitality industry take (a) Accommodation Service Providers, which includes hotels, public houses for rent, motels, resorts and sanatoriums (b) Travel and Tourism, which includes travel federal agents, airline cabin staff and travel technology (c)Bars and Clubs which includes nightclubs and public houses (d) Service and Support such as accountancy as well as occupational health and spa. The branches mentioned herein show the unequivocal fact that the organizations that are involved within the said industry tries to introduce in the market of entertainm ent and servicing activities that genuinely ease the responsibilities of the human society.Since this is a fact that makes up the entire hospitality industry, it should be considered that human effort is a very important factor in the progress of the said industry. Hence, empowering them and giving them the attention that they need for them to be motivated sufficient to discharge the best contingent service that they could offer twain the come with and their clients as well.This particular procedure of taking care of the inner vehemence of certain servicing organizations indeed affects the overall reputation of the entire business that also affects its performance in the world trade market. This is the main reason why it is very important for the administrations of several servicing organizations to understand the encroachment that motivational procedures boast on the locating of the progressive steps that the business groups are trying to aim for and complete within their operational engagements. This is where the social function of the Human resources trouble enters the situation. The motivational procedures that they are taking into regard actually affects the performance of the entire business organization in the industry.Human Resources charge The Challenges and ChangesThe need for having strong health assistance arrangements in great(p) urban cities in the United States as well as other exceedingly industrialized countries around the world is a contend to many medical institutions that proffer the needed services for such concerns. This is where the role of the Human Resources Management comes in. As known to many, this kind of issue demands a high change over on the human resource systems that a certain company uses. As for medical institutions such as Mt. Carmel and Tucson Medical Center, hiring and retaining employees within the cast shipment systems of the medical institution was much of a hard altercate for them.In the paragraph s to follow, the issues along with the responsibility of the Human Resource Management team of some(prenominal) medical institutions shall be discussed. The re consequences made for the said issues would also be tackled afterwards.The HRM ResponsibilitiesThe Human Resource Management Department or team is a park section that every profit or at times dismantle non-profit organizations have. The reason behind the constant existence of this bisection in every organization is the fact that it has so much control over the staffing systems as well as providing the people within the organization with what they are due as well as with what they need (Clarke, 1998). In this regard, the importance of the presence of this organisational vault of heaven is then essential for keeping and motivating employees do their best in their assigned duties. As mentioned earlier, the challenge that has mainly directed HRM teams of both Mount Carmel Medical Institution and Tucson Medical Center to resor ting to some extremist solutions to be able to meet the said challenges.Indeed, the responsibility that they have towards the employees that include providing them with what they need while still upholding the objectives of the institution to gain the best possible profit solution for the organization. The balanced view towards these needs have to be addressed thoroughly by the HRM team. By doing so, they are appeared to provide the stakeholders of the organization with what they needed at a best possible solution (Keener, 1999). Before, the solution that both companys HRM team was hiring temp nurses to claim in the need. However, in due time, temporary nurses were non able to encounter much of the needs of the said medical institutions.The Best SolutionWith the door of new technology and learning processing systems by dint of the internet, the revolution of entanglement based staffing remedies hosted by some information architectural planming companies has been the best possible solution for many people support techniques that different organizations in the business industry use today. This fact has also been proven true by the way Mount Carmel and Tucson Medical Center have faced the challenge of effectively using the human resources that they already have and doing away with hiring temporary nurses to fill in the void positions in the hospitals.At first, the HRM team of both medical institutions has had doubts on how effective the online processes could be for their employees. However, when they saw that the said program would be much beneficial both for the hospitals objectives as well as with the employees, they took the chance of utensiling the said resolution. As a result, this system has provided both institutions with so much ease and best results for the services that they offer to their clients who are hoping for excellent healthcare provisions.Implementing such programs have fully equip the Human Resource Management teams to rearrange the staffing system in the institutions they work for while also being able to provide the organization with what they expect from their service operations. However, the said implementation also has its own disadvantages as pass on enlisted by Maureen Minehan in the article Technologys increasing invasion on the workplace. The said advantages are as follows Port major power Discrimination good issues Workers compensation and liability scheduling (1997)The said issues are considered to be among the least yet most important details that must be considered in the implementation of online programs for staffing employees. Minehan win adds that it would not be so much a surprise that because of the implementation f such expert systems, the said techniques that are governed by technological advancement would eventually change, so also affecting the activities of the HRM teams of the organizations (1997).The existence of the new technological innovations on information sharing is inde ed a gift to the social systems, in particular organizational systems that exists today. However, like other remedies, the said innovations have their own advantages and disadvantages once they are implied. Hence, this is the main reason why the Human Resources Management teams are further faced with the challenge of whether to apply the said technological innovations in their companys system or not.The important thing though is the idea that whether they would implement it or not, the main focus of their job is to provide the company and its employees with the best benefit that could get from the service that they render the clients of the organization. By being rivet in the said responsibility, it would be easier to choose on whether to implement the technological programs or not.Management and the Hospitality IndustryT, take for face the Australian economy. The Australian community is made up of a large number of minorities or immigrants who have been entering the boundaries of the country searching for purpose. Hence, finished this particular truth, it could be observed that the management teams of the business organizations in Australia faces the challenge of dealing with the differences of the people who are employed in the country especially in the hospitalityindustry (Leat, 2001, 14). This is particularly the one of the reasons why management and its procedural applications could not simply be passive agent in the foundation of a fine employee dealings structure.(Greenwood, 2005, 19)The fact that the internal effects of globalization is focused upon the idea of employing people more than ever, the Australian retailing industry to begin with aims to commit its services to the people as much as it could. on with this, the business organizations are given the high privilege of making a difference in the society, aiming to continuously allowing people see the fact that through employment, they could be able to satisfy their needs and their demands with regards an aimed lifestyle that they have incessantly dreamed of for them and their families as well (Kaufman, 2003, 25).This particular truth on employment enjoyment is the primary reason why the management teams are established. TO be able to motivate the employed personnels for them to work with the goals of the organization along with their ain aims as well, It is necessary to develop the ways by which the management is able to provide them with the satisfaction that they need (Kaufman, 2003, 19). This is the way by which an employee relations procedure is established for the betterment of the entire workforce of business organizations.Hospitality Organizations are expected to control a large number of employees as they are mainly empowered by the selling abilities of salesclerks and cashiers and other rank and level positions within the organization. Creating a fine working environment for the employees would certainly help in the establishment of a strong business o rganization. Through policing and employee relations establishment the said motivational factor that would assist the employees in working their efforts towards the right path of success is indeed needed.(Greenwood, 2005, 56)This is where the management procedures practiced by the management teams of different organizations enters the scene. Several hospitality companies in Australia are paying much to be able to help their workforce have a clear motivation towards their goals as well as with the companys goals (Bruce, 2004, 21).ConclusionContinuously sticking to the ex ample carried herein with regards the Australian economy, it could be renowned that there are those that preempt the industries in Australia as incomplete as strong or even a weak status in the world economy. At some point, the said reactions are derived form the fact that the hospitality industries are at some point wanting(p) the capability to assist their employees in reaching their goals making it harder for the workforce to perform well, which might result to lesser boffo accounts of profitable outcome for the Australian economy.This is where the importance of human resource management should be strongly apply among hospitality organizations. From this perspective, it could be observed and thus proven that the management sector of any organization is definitely not a passive agent when it comes to empowering the human relations of certain business companies especially in the Australian Hospitality Industry (George, 2005, 65). Most often than not, it could be noted that the Management team even has the largest responsibility in creating the possibilities for a larger, more successful employee relations within the hospitality industry systems.Especially taking into setting the major role of the human resource management in empowering the people of those who are working within the hospitality industries, it could be observed that people are supposed to be served and be serviced at the same time.The ability of the human resource management to create possibilities by which the stakeholders of the organization would actually benefit from could actually help the said industry grow towards its extremum servicing operations within the human society. From the study presented herein, it could be noted that there are several responsibilities that the HRM need to attend to. However, because of the focus that they have to put on empowering their own people, they need to balance the aspects that they ought to take into consideration in actually completing their responsibilities.BIBLIOGRAPHYMaureen Minehan . (1997). Technologys increasing impaction on the workplace. http//www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n12_v42/ai_20204659. (January 14, 2007).Ronald Keener. (1999). Problems for Everyone in IT Staffing Needs Industry Trend or Event. http//www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DUD/is_4_20/ai_54586477. (January 14, 2007).Richard Clarke. (1999). Investing in human a ssets. http//www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_11_52/ai_53286806. (January 14, 2007).Brent Wilder. (2002). Mt. Carmel takes records to Web-based network. http//www.bizjournals.com/capital of Ohio/stories/2002/06/24/focus3.html. (January 14, 2007).Rosemary Notarantonio. (2006). Health Management Technology. Atlanta Feb 2006. Vol. 27, Issue. 2 pg. 30, 2 pgs. http//proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1011570911&sid=1&Fmt=3&cl ientId=29440&RQT=309&VName=PQD.(January 14, 2007).Greenwood. (2005). The Practice of Workplace Participation Management-Employee Relations at troika Particpatory Firms. IAP Information Age Publishing Inc. New Ed edition.Mike Leat. (2001). Exploring Employee Relations. Butterworth-Heinemann.Bruce E. Kaufman. (2003). industrial Relations to Human Resources and Beyond The Evolving Process of Employee Relations Management (Issues in Work and Human Resources). M.E. Sharpe.Margaret Bruce. (2004). International Retail Marketing A nerve Study Approach. Butterworth-Heinemann.McCracken, M., Wallace, M. (2000a), Towards a redefinition of strategic HRD, journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 24 No.8, pp.425-67.McCracken, M., Wallace, M. (2000b), Exploring strategic maturity in HRD rhetoric, aspiration or reality?, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 24 No.5, pp.281-90.Maxwell, G., McDougall, M., Blair, S. (2000), Managing diversity in the hotel sector the growth of a service quality opportunity, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 10 No.6, pp.367-73.Weiermair, K. (2000), Tourists perceptions towards and satisfaction with service quality in the cross-cultural service encounter implications for hospitality and tourism management, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 10 No.6, pp.397-409.

Sociology Evaluation of Method

One good aspect that my method had was that it allowed me to collect very in depth data, population were able to open up to me as it was unstructured interviews, I did beget a problem with this though, as I didnt have prepared questions it was rocky to compare my participants points of views afterwards and by talking so in depth slightly a sensitive subject equivalent divide things could get out of hand, one of my participants even began to cry as she became very emotional.The location to do my interviews in were varied, some were good and some were bad, one of them I had to do in my room and privacy was hard to come by.In my opinion my results are unreliable, save I call up that when talking to hoi polloi about something as private as this, results provide always be this as people ascertain awkward and dont pauperization a stranger, or somebody from outside of the family to k at present their business.The participants I accept were the correct ones to interview and h ad enough experience and met with my criteria, the problem which I run aground though was that I hadnt interviewed enough I only interviewed one of distributively that I wanted.I.e. ONE married couple, ONE live togethering couple etc.If I had interviewed much people my results would have been more representative, I hadnt thought of this until after.The sample distribution method I used I thought was appropriate people knew that they could confide in me and no problems arose with this.If I were to repeat this project I would defiantly change my method, I would do structured interviews as I believe that for my content and analysis it would be a lot easier to compare and that it is also possible to get in depth data this way. I would also interview more people.Evaluation of findingsIn apprisal of my outgrowth aim, to find out whether divorce on the increase is really seen as a negative aspect of todays society I found that people do take divorce little seriously than before but they dont give it less importance, I know this because nearly all of the couples I interviewed seemed slightly scared of divorce but would mostly consider it, I have found that, on contrary to my beliefs people dont rush into marriages and safe get divorced when they find that marriage isnt what they expected, couples nowadays tend to cohabit first so that when they do get divorced they know it is the honorable thing to do, and the only way out.They cohabit to test their relationship, in decree to avoid divorce. Some couples do non marry because of the threat of divorce. I found that people who are more religious see divorce as a problem. I also found that people feel divorce can affect mental health, respondents stated that divorce is non good for your health.The reasons given for the rise of divorce including the fact that marriages are now based of love rather than expectations and the changing role of women.In relation to my bit aim, to find out the main reason for more di vorces I found that most people believe that it is due to women having more independence, less sexism. This was the one and only thing that all my participants had in common.My findings were similar to foregoing studies in this area such as Robert Chester who found that nuclear families would never stop existing he found that families would just change their forms. By having divorces this is what happens, children dont just stop having one of their parents, they still have both, the way in which families tend to be perceived just changes, cohabiting couples are on the up and so is divorce.People see divorce as something negative and electropositive at the same time, it affects you in both ways and people seduce this, they also know that divorce can give them a second start in life when most of their hope is gone.What was interesting about my project was that I was able to research on something that causes hundreds and thousands of people brokenheartedness and depression everyday but is also seen as normal, I learnt a lot from doing this project, I used to think that people were just negligent and got married and divorced as if it doesnt mean a thing, Ive found that this is not the case, although more people are getting divorced it doesnt mean that more people are getting married, people stand up for themselves more nowadays, and despite my previous beliefs people DO see divorce as a problem, but also as something positive. By doing this project I have learnt a lot.

Media and Islam Essay

An area of normal investigate throughout the last deuce decades is the study of mainstream media and its depiction of unmarrieds that cost the Islamic faith. It is evident that Muslims encounter countless stereotypes through the lens of western media consumers. This es register exit highlight events occurring after the September 11, 2001 World conduct Centre attacks and crowning(prenominal)ly display the Islamophobia present within politics. It is through this investigate that I pull up stakes outline the stereotypes prevalent whilst providing contemporary media faces. Overall, this essay lead argue that Islamophobia is prevalent in contemporary horse opera media however, combating this Islamophobia is also ostensibly visible. Furtherto a greater extent, due to certain media structures such as corporate ownership lateralisation and cultural consensus, Islam is watched as the antagonist of Hesperian culture. Overall, this essay will direction on the two evident spe ctrums of media coverage of Muslims and their holiness as a pass offic of discourse. Through this essay I will aim to decide that though extreme Islamophobia is prevalent in Western media, in that respect is many an opposite(prenominal) media outlets that look to go through Islamophobia and Xenophobia altogether. The media coverage that will be analyzed will be highlighting Quebecs brassal tripy Parti Quebecois project for secular changes to the Quebec learn and the recent Boston endurance contest Bombing media coverage. I will begin this essay by defining the phrase Islamophobia and its significance within Western media coverage. Islamophobia is an ideology that radiates oppose meanings to Muslims and Islam, thereby braggart(a) rise to negative attitudes and judicial practices against Muslims and Islam ( ethnic). It is the fear of followers of the Islamic holiness and negative views on the religion as a whole. Islamophobia leads to many negative depictions of Muslim s. Moreover Islamophobia is described as the belief that Islam is inferior to the west (GoGale). Also, it is canvas as, barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorist act and engaged in a clash of civilizations (GoGale). If wiz were to assume the same views against another religion or ethnic group in the West, it would be considered racism. However, as verbalize by Gema Martin-Munoz, this is not the case with Islam. She claims Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices against Muslims and the exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society. Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural or normal (GoGale).Islamophobia and the HijabIt is unmatchable of the reasons that the hijab is a controversial love in contemporary Western societies and media. The insufficiency of k flatledge of reasoning behind the decision of Muslim women to cover their heads leads individuals to hold out that th ese specified women are op barracked as a result of induce sexism in the Muslim religion. Also, Islamophobia is also prevalent with regards to the hijab as many Western media outlets describe it as a symbol of terrorism (examples will be described shortly). Overall, Islamophobia in the West is the fear and negative depiction of Muslims and Islamophobia with regards to the hijab is to view one choosing to wear it as a representation of oppression and terrorism. I will begin this naval division by summarizing the events for the two aforementioned political events. First, the Boston Bombing occurred on April 15, 2013 at the Boston Marathon. Two comrades were considered the so-called criminals for building and planting two pressure cooker duds that exploded near the give notice line of the marathon. This caused the oddment of three people and wounded more than 260 (Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Seeks Dismissal of few Charges). Tamerlan Tsarnaev aged 26, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev a ged 20, were jobatic in a police chase that ostensibly resulted in the death of the older brother, Tamerlan, during a police shootout, while Dzhokhar was eventually caught hiding in the Boston town of Watertown (Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Seeks Dismissal of Some Charges). blur word verbalize, Authorities say he and his older brother, Tamerlan, ethnic Chechens from Russia who emigrated to the United States as children, planned and carried out the attack to retaliate against the U.S for its involvement in Muslim countries (Kelly). Authorities said Dzhokhar had scratched anti-American messages on the inside(a) of the boat, including The U.S Government is killing our innocent civilians and We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all after the death of his older brother (Kelly). Radical Islamic views were deemed the motive behind the attacked by the alleged criminals. Further, the junior Tsarnaev brother was caught a few days after the bombing and is now facing ov er 30 federal counts, including the use of weapons of mass death (Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Seeks Dismissal of Some Charges). Power is a critical aspect of gaining an audience for the media. Individuals and groups that possess authority are deemed newsworthy. These organizations blend the center of attention and tuition during political events and are the dominant hub of information that consumers are exposed to. This directly tallys to corn dodger give-and-take as it holds a large amount of power in regards to television. Specifically, in 2013 Fox news show was the deem one ranked news station for the twelfth successive year. As studied by TVNEWSER, Fox word remained on top in 2013, capping off its 12th consecutive year as the most-watched stemma news network among both total viewers and A25-54 viewers (Knox). This be is due to its news content being exposed to almost two million consumers daily (Knox).Ultimately, this creates a problem, as Fox News is an op en proper wing conservative news channel. It is to be noted that Fox News is commonly witnessed using the news channel to express the aid beliefs of its owners and news team. The power Fox News holds has played an integral part in the framing of Muslims accompanying the Boston Marathon Bombing attacks. be sick of reference is defined as the counsel in which we talk about an issue or event that puts it into a context, and it has important implications for unrestricted opinion and the alternatives lendable for addressing the issue (Ridout, 150). Following the bombings in Boston, framing was observed through Fox News and its media outlets. Specifically, on April 20th, 2013 (five days after the bombing) Fox News likes indirectly claimed Islam as the evident concomitantor behind the motive of both of the main suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The heading during this specified newscast was The Mind of A Terrorist, Factors that May Lead to a Radical Path. As the newscast prolonged identicals were expressing radical frames to the brothers. Specifically, they continued to frame the plot and reason behind the alleged attack to directly correlate to the Islamic religion of the two brothers. As the panel discussed, one correspondent questioned the wife of the older brother, Tamerlan, and her involvement in the alleged plot. He stated, I just wonder that if under questioning she can honestly say that she had no idea that her hus discharged who spent a year forward and prayed five times a day, that she had no indication that he was equal of this (The Mind of a Terrorist). Stating this, the correspondent undeniably created a relation to terrorism and the Islamic act of praying five times a day. This correspondent border the bombing to put terrorism in the same context as the religion of Islam. Additionally, with the large consumer numbers of Fox News, this opinion had reached a number of people providing them with a framed context on a political eve nt. Fox News continued their coverage of the Boston Bombing whilst counselling on and stressing the Muslim religion of both the Tsarnaev brothers. At the same time, media outlets that handle their religion were ignored as importance of their Islamic roots grew rapidly. Overall, the power of Fox News in contemporary media enables the outlet as newsworthy, regardless of the content media and partisan biases present within the origins of the organization as a public outlet.Though the Boston Marathon Bombings were encircled around the fact that there were two male Muslim victims, the media found a way to deepen the Islamophobia already prevalent with attacks on the hijab. Specifically, the wife of Tamerlan, Katherine Russell was a vary who wore the hijab. This directly made her a terrorist in the eyes of Fox News and its correspondents. One example of this was witnessed by Ann Coulter, a Fox News correspondent and avid Conservative. When speaking about Katherines knowledge of her hu sbands alleged plans to bomb the Boston Marathon, she spoke about her extremely negatively. When her peers stated that Katherine must have had ideas that Tamerlan was having terrorist-like thoughts, Coulter stated, I dont care if she knew about this. She ought to be in prison for wearing a hijab (Insider). This is a clear example of cultural consensus. As explained by Professor Katherine Bullock, the cultural elite in Western society deem the Western states as the hero, the Muslims as the baddie and the citizens of the state as clear victims (Bullock). Also, it is important to note that with regards to Fox News, there is a lack of diversity in views. The news channel has correspondents that fate similar views and as a result, the consumer receives and interprets one-sided media coverage. This is a clear problem with Western media outlets as the lack of diversity supports bias opinions. Overall, Fox News is a prime example of the stereotypes Muslims face in Western contemporary soc ieties.The Parti Quebecois Quebec engage ProposalDifferentiating greatly from that of the Western media views on the Boston Marathon Bombings, the media coverage of the proposed select changes by the Parti Quebecois was vastly different. The media coverage around the partys disapproval of unresolved and conspicuous unearthly symbols worn within the government was relatively negative. This simply shows a different perspective showing that that combating of Islamophobia is prevalent in well-nigh Western media outlets. The change to the Quebec Charter was issued by the Parti Quebecois a popular political party of Quebec. In early September of 2013, the Parti Quebecois held a press conference at the National Assembly in Quebec metropolis (global). At this press conference, the Bernard Drainville, the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions and Active Citizenship discussed how his party planned to shed light on sacred accommodations and Quebec values (global). With t he ultimate goal of religious disinterest of the state, he stated, these offer harmonious dealings and social cohesion for a Quebec that is increasingly multiethnic and multireligious (global). In other words, the Part Quebecois aimed to eliminate large religious symbols identifying a item individuals religious beliefs and values. It is to be noted that the main habit of this mandate was to instill equality between both sexes along with religious disinterest within the government institutions of the province of Quebec.These five proposals are as listed 1. Enshrine the questions of religious accommodation in the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms by outlining the insulation of religion and state, the religious neutrality of the state and the secular nature of its institutions, taking into account our common historical heritage 2. Ensure that religious neutrality for government employees in the performance of their duties is established in law 3. schema what is considered con spicuous religious symbols for government employees during working hours (the proposal is subject to a right of withdrawal for a period of up to five years, renewable for certain sectors) 4. Ensure that the face is visible when giving or receiving government services 5. Establish a policy to implement the religious neutrality of the state and the management of religious accommodation for government agencies. Drainville concluded the press conference by stating, Our proposals will be a source of greater understanding, harmony and cohesion for all Quebec and all Quebecers, regardless of their religion or origin (global). This was an evident political issue, as all public servants were no longer allowed to publicly associate themselves with the religions they previously followed. However, public servants were allowed to wear unnoticeable religion symbols such as necklaces, rings or earrings with religious symbols, e.g the trail of David (global). The controversy arose as individ uals realized that the Parti Qubcois would be preventing individuals from wearing things such as a headscarf, hijab, turban or kippa (global). This evidently would strip public servants of the heavy rights stated under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Specifically, the Fundamental Rights section within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states, 2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms(a) freedom of sense of right and wrong and religion(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of discourse(c) freedom of peaceful assembly and(d) freedom of association. (Charter)The proposed Quebec Charter changes would contradict those within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This caused a clear backlash as individuals stated that the charter changes were unconstitutional and racist. The criticism witnessed through media ultimately showed the combating of the Islamophobia of the Parti Quebecois. C anadian newspapers and post discussed this issue heavily and conclusively noted this new proposal as racist and xenophobic. CBC News reported differing opinions than that of the Part Quebecois evidently labeling the Charter proposal as racist. For example, CBC interviewed William Steinburg, the mayor of Montreal town Hamstead as he stated, We will not comply with a racist and guilty law and further continued stating, In the event that the Quebec government passes this abominable bill, which will force people to choose between their religious beliefs and their jobs, it will not be enforced in Hampstead (CBC).Steinburg irrefutably is combating Islamophobia and Xenophobia altogether that was brought upon by the Parti Quebecois. other CBC article reported on the hijab and its relation to the proposed secular Quebec Charter as they interviewed non-Muslim university professors donning the hijab to protest against it. It interviewed Nora Jaffary of Concordia University and McGill Uni versitys Catherine Lu. Both women chose to wear the hijab to protest the Charter changes. Nora Jaffary stated that for many Muslim women that reside in Quebec, the hijab and veiling in general, is not something that is forced upon them by parents or husbands and continued by stating that the proposed ban on the hijab would calculate groups of minorities in the Canadian province of Quebec (cbc). Specifically she believed it would target and single out Muslim women (cbc). The article continued by stating that if more people joined the protest alongside Jaffary and Lu, there could be a major impact on the proposed legislation. Overall, CBC News showed its stance on the proposed secular Charter changes in Quebec. The media outlet continuously spoke against the Charter changes and advocated the fundamental freedoms of Muslim women and all other minorities that would be stripped of their right to practice religion as inhabitants within Canada. News coverage by a different Canadian me dia outlet showed similar results. Specifically, when analyzing Global News media coverage of the Quebec Charter changes, it was evident that Global News also looked to eliminate discrimination and as a result, Islamophobia. For example, a post doctoral individual from Concordia University, Emmanuelle Richez, commented on this Charter change with negativity as he stated, So theyre not saying it, but its going to be more constraining for people that are not part of the religious majority. Overall, the Parti Quebecois stated that it was attempting to move towards religious equality, however, it was attempting to ban fundamental freedoms of the Canadian people of religious freedom and forcing assimilation.

Infectious Disease

* What is the infective ele handst (pathogen) that causes this infectious affection? For example, the name of the bacteria, virus, or parasite. Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that comes from the Hepatitis A virus (HAV). There isnt a treatment for the disease once you get it. How is this infectious agent transmitted through food or water? Hepatitis A is undertake from eating food and drinking water contaminated with human feces. eating raw and undercooked fish that was in contaminated waters contribute to the disease.sometimes eating raw produce that draw been contaminated force out as well cause the illness. Foods that pose been sitting out in the air and have had bacteria growth on it and eaten also contribute to the disease. * What is an example of a real life outbreak of this foodborne illness in the United States? * What are the clinical symptoms, duration of the disease, and treatment if any? During Hepatitis A some symptoms of the disease are fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay colored gut movements and joint pain.In 70% of the cases Jaudice is the most common symptom. Symptoms can uttermost(a) up to 2 months. The average time of incubation is 28 days. at once contracted, there is no treatment. The individual has the illness to run its course. * What steps can be taken to prevent further outbreaks? Include individual as well as environmental precautions and methods. To prevent further outbreaks, people should have good hygiene including wash their hands often especially when they people with food preparation.There has also been a vaccination created for Hepatitis A that is habituated to children between their first and second birthday. Others that should get vaccinated are men having sex with men, people traveling to Central and Southern America, Mexico, Asia (except Japan), Africa and eastern europium and people that use street drugs. Once you are immune to Hepatitis A you cant ge t it again. To prevent the spread of Hepatitis A in water, chlorine is added to the water in US.

Relationship between Development and Democracy

The rapid rigging policy-making transformation that exemplified the last decade of the aside century in conglomerate countries of the world encouraged a re risinged interest in the kinship in the midst of schooling and body politic (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 55). The argument in the 1960s had been that res publica was positively interrelated to the level of modernization, and then dupeed as the equivalence of culture. The cardinal succeeding decades were a great deal much(prenominal) cautious slightly any much(prenominal) relationship. It was only the turbulent years fol natural depressioning the f each(prenominal) of communism and the attempts to run forth away from dictatorial modes of find oneself that encouraged proportionate politics students to return the development country nexus (Chan, 2002, p. 89).The students of Latin the Statesn politics had already started to respond to reform efforts embarked on in their region in the primaeval 1980s. It was in the 1990s that forces of democratization reentered the mainstream of comparative politics. The re-orientation in the field of comparative politics has already resulted in a wide range of publications.Mapping the major(ip) ApproachesDevelopment and state be two very complicated concepts as they course to mean disagreeent things to different people. For example, conceptions of development postulate varied all over time in the last five decades from world the equivalence of modernization to existence annoyance with overcoming social inequities and on to providing opportunities for individuals in the marketplace and institutional amendments in the name of good face. The definition of democracy has been the subject of much debate as to whether it should be a minimalist concept useful for analytical functions (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 57).I suggest that it whitethorn be up back upful to follow a distinction along 2 axes. The first is methodological and epistemological whe re the 2 endpoints be agency and structure. The second is substantive in nature which differentiates between a tenseness on elite or mass level. The morphologicalist approaches typically require a historical bagpoint in explaining the success or failure of democratization.The development and democracy alike varies in lines of its focus on elites or the mass of the population. Those who ar concerned with providing prescriptive advice turn tail to be focusing on the privileged because they ar the ones directly concerned with making policy. Political scientists use up amassed luxuriant noesis nigh democratization surgical operation that we can tell the governmental elite what traps to keep away from and what opportunities to take hold of. This remains the ultimate goal of governmental wisdom as almost people in the discipline argon app bent to adopt a more humble position, realizing that our knowledge of democratization is lifelessness very popular and fragmente d (Chan, 2002, p. 144).The University of Michigan administered a survey which has contri saveed to an soul of how human value and preferences shift in response to changes in satisfying circumstances. Associations overly count in this type of political studies. The long term positive outcome comes from people working together in low scale groups.Structuralist studiesStructuralist studies waste evolved over the one-time(prenominal) 40 years and it has been proven that this is a fruitful ara of look for. Three issues stick out crystallized as being of special interest(1) Does location in the world-wide frugal order field of learning?(2) Does discriminate or social structure matter? and(3) Do value changes ca utilise by structural factors matter?I shall deal these issues in turn before focusing on some of the methodological challenges coadjutord with this approach.Location in the worldwide scotch orderStudies in this ara have a long pedigree with many an different wise(prenominal) well-known political sociologists and political economists having do contributions. The original finding was that the more prosperous a nation, the greater the chances that it will maintain democracy (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 68). It was not the location in the global sparing order that was important, but the ability of a country to adopt the structural and pagan experiences associated with modern society, i.e. an urbanized and educated population as well as an industrialized economy. utilise the regression type of statistical analysis, scholars have demonstrated that level of economic development consistently appears as a statistically and substantively nubful influence on democracy (Haggard, 2003). The level of economic development alone accounts for more variance in democracy than all other in hooklike vari suitables taken altogether. thitherfore, some students of development and democracy are ready to treat it as such a strong coefficient of correlation tha t it must not to be in question.Even if it is a vigorous relationship, it raises questions about what in that association really matters, and what kind of conclusions to draw in that location from. The thing which matters is at least in part determined by how the dependent and independent variables are specified. It has been found that dapple being well-to-do matters at the level of cross national comparison it is not necessarily the economic but the social factors, such as education literacy that are the more powerful explanatory variables (Chan, 2002, p. 123).Few scholars have questioned whether it is the rate of economic growth or the level of economic development that is more important. The prospects to become democratic countries are rather dim, not because most Third World nations have low average per capita incomes, but because the economic development is not fast enough or the rate of growth is slow. The potential importance of location in the global economic order is also a very significant variable. Economic development has a differential impact and it matters most in the industrialized countries, only half as much in the semi peripheral countries, and even less so for countries in the periphery (Haggard, 2003).Studies have also established a positive correlation between recognize variables but they do not necessarily rein in everything that matters in the development democracy equation. One may assume that the economic development matters the most in the core or the industrialized countries because it has been present there for a longer time period. It is not only the domestic purlieu of the countries in the periphery that counts but also their exterior environment. One of the gaps that fatality to be filled in the question on development and democracy is clearly what engagement globalization stumbles. The relationship between globalization, socio-economic development and democracy is of prime importance (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 52).Economi c c onward motions and other performance lines in the non democratic regimes help promote a democratic transit. Using entropy for approximately ascorbic acid Third World nations with populations of at least one-million, it was proved that inflationary crises endureed to forbid democratization in 1950s and 1960s but seem to have facilitated the same process in the late 1980s. Another proposition is that there is no relationship between per capita income level and the luck of democratic transition contrary to what was indicated earlier. One such reason may be ontogenesis internationalist pressure to democratize (Johansson, 2002, p. 23).The Role of Class StructureThis type of hit the books is useful for focusing on wide organisationatic causal processes that hold across space and time, but needs to be complemented by those that allow more characteristic explanations that hold at certain times or in certain regions only (Chan, 2002, p. 24). The analysis of specific historical events or processes is often an unavoidable complement to statistical techniques, especially if the objective of the research is to concentrate on the occurrence of discrete events within their historical background.The capitalistic economic development stimulates growing pressure for democratization by procreation the emergence of a middle-class has been very broadly accepted without a bourgeoisie, no democracy. This destinys the broader parameters for the development of democracy by liberalizing economic market forces and thereby, also individualizing both behaviors and choices. Comparing Germany and Japan, which adopted a fascist approach to restrain, with the UK and USA, which chose a democratic row, the class is an extremely critical factor. The middle class or the bourgeoisie enjoys a degree of self-sufficiency by being able to shape the course of political development in any direction. It is not expected that the middle-class will choose a democratic path over a non d emocratic one. It all depends on how they manage the challenges that structural factors present in the economy (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 53).With economic liberalization being pushed slightly the world, one can hypothesize that class may grow in significance. Deeper social inequalities are reported from all regions of the world and Livelihoods are being threatened, quality of life is going down for a bulk of people, more specifically in the Third World countries. The most im interfere issue is how to make the concept of class operational. There is no universal give about how that should be done. It is not easy at this point to stupefy at any solid conclusions about the relationship between the class and the prospect of transition to democracy. In a first attempt to do so, it was found that class structure does not have an impact on the likelihood that a nation makes a transition to democracy (Chan, 2002, p. 67).It is a path breaking study that points to the need for many more studi es in this area and the surveys that try to measure peoples subjective perception of class. Survey data are available for industrialized nations but are yet to be collected in developing countries. Such data would significantly improve our ability to say something about the relationship between class and the probability of transition to democracy.Value ChangesChanges in the economy do not only create new forms of social stratification as they also influence our cultural values. Modernization and value change is the subject of several important studies in the field of comparative politics. Subjective aspirations reflect the nature of objective conditions, a point that is associated traditionally with Marxism but is also reflected in psychological theories (Doorenspleet, 2002, p. 58). The fortify of human striving for self expression that follows from enlarging peoples cognitive and physical resources (modernization) reduces constraints on the level of formal rules by generating nega tive and positive freedom rights (democratization). Using data from 63 societies, it was found that(1) Democratization originates in aspiration adjustments on individual level,(2) Democracy does not flow directly from economic changes but through shifts in ethical values,(3) This range has cross cultural validity, and,(4) The sequence holds against rival influences, the transnational infusion of changes in traditionally connected societies.More research is needed to ascertain whether these findings hold if other data sets are used, the archetype that democratization in a given society is the result of both ethical and material changes is important. It is suggested that the dynamics of social change is driven more by internal than external factors. We do not specifically channelize this issue here, but it is one that should be considered in the light of amplified global communications (Haggard, 2003).Methodological IssuesOne of the problems with research on democracy and developme nt is that scholars using three-figure methods tend to ignore those using qualitative methods, and vice versa. The latter tend to use thick concepts which are applied to a very handsome number of cases, whereas the former tend to rely on thin concepts that are applied to a large number of cases. Due to the deprivation of discourse between these two researcher groups, the task of knowing more about causal relations has been stifled.The assumption being that qualitative researchers play a key role in opening up novel areas of inquiry, while the decimally oriented can determine the extent to which findings can be vulgarised. In short, the study of development and democracy requires both approaches since both of them are complementary to each other (Johansson, 2002, p. 23).There are many troubles with the existing kingdom of knowledge in this field that stem from methodological inadequacies. The first concern is the quality of the data available. There has been a heavy reliance o n the Freedom House Index (FHI) of Civil Liberties and Political Rights. With few other data sets available, it is quite understandable that many researchers have found the FHI handy.There are at least two problems with that Index. The first is that it relies on the evaluative arousal of a panel of experts rather than primary data collected in survey form. The scores in the Index, while not entirely invalid, up to now drive from lack of representativeness of opinions in individual nations (Johansson, 2002, p. 213). The second problem is that the additive scores provided for each indicator and country tends to be rather rough. This lack of differentiation is also obvious in many studies that use other data.Most researchers have to settle for a sub-optimal choice, because it is extremely difficult to identify a singular manifestation. Reliability refers to the prospect that the same data collection process would produce the same data. Duplication prevails whenever other scholars a re able to create the process through which data were generated.Structured contingencyIf the structuralist concern with the pre-requisites of democracy constitutes the first genesis of studies on democratization, a distinct second generation has emerged in the past two decades that is more process oriented and focused on detail choice. This innovative approach incorporates institutional factors as explanatory variables (Haggard, 2003). Democratization is mum as a historical process with analytically distinct, if empirically overlapping, stages of integration and transition. A variety of actors with different followings, calculations, preferences, resources and time horizons come to the fore during these resultant stages.These stages vary in terms of degree of uncertainty prevailing at each point. During regime transitions, moveions, and political calculations are highly uncertain, actors find it heavy to know what their interests are, who their supporters are, and which groups will be their allies or opponents. The absence of inevitable rules of the game during a regime transition expands the boundaries of contingent choice (Johansson, 2002, p. 88). A government is being consolidated whenever contending groups come to accept some set of rules, formal or informal, about who gets what, when and how from politics.Power-sharing arrangementsDemocratization often runs into grave difficulties because societies are dual-lane vertically rather than horizontally. Resource interlockings are not interpreted in straight-forward social class terms but take on meaning only in the context of identity politics. Whether ethnicity, race or godliness constitutes the line along which cleavages are defined, they pose a special problem for democratizing countries specifically because the issue of inclusion in regime is conflated with inclusion in the community. Strategic choices are socially or culturally embed to such an amount that it becomes difficult to produce governa nce agreements that satisfy all parties to the conflict (Johansson, 2002, p. 56).The problems of exclusion and inclusion do not fade away when new institutions are being adopted and put into operation. Democratization itself may exasperate such problems precisely because it brings elements of openness and competition into the political progression. Conceptions of the scope of the political community become more prominent as people interact with each other in the public realm and have to make choices about who is an insider and who is an outsider. One of the ironies of democratization is that, as the future is being planned, the past intrudes with escalating severity. There is no such thing as a strong start in culturally plural societies differences in historical depth are probably to matter.For example, where the notion of first-comers is deeply rooted, claims of political priority by virtue of indigenousness are typically made to confront those deemed to be immigrants (Haggard, 2003). Europe and Asia are particularly full of such claims. Sri Lankan Tamils really give-up the ghost to South India. Chinese in Indonesia and Malaysia are immigrants and Bengalis are illegally in Assam. The Balkans, the Baltic and the Caucasus regions of the former USSR are other examples of places where such claims are being made. They are particularly hard to resolve because they are frequently embedded in religious differences that reinforce the ethnic dimension and have a long history.Electoral modalitiesIn the 1990s, larger attention was paid to how different electoral rules may help promote inclusiveness. Such rules are the most specific artful instrument of politics. Africans realized this point at independence and many leadership proceeded to promote inclusiveness within a democratically conventioned single fellowship system. Although the principle of competitive elections within a single party system was an interesting innovation, practical experience soon showed t hat sustaining the democratic element in such system became very hard (Chan, 2002, p. 345).Most of the conversation on what difference electoral systems or modalities make has focused on the comparative advantages of proportionate representation and majority systems. The combination of parliamentary system with a proportional system of representation as the constitutional arrangement most likely to serve racially divided societies well. It is only in industrialist societies with a more dispersed population that proportional representation (PR) has the intended effects of enhancing the distribution of power among elites. Another study of electoral systems in southern Africa maintains that a mixed member proportional system (MMP), as used in Germany and New Zealand, may prove to be particularly relevant in countries such as South Africa where forms of power sharing have been considered vital to a successful democratic transition (Haggard, 2003).Legal SystemsOne of the more dominant arguments for the associate between liberal democracy and capitalism rests on the premise that with the rise of a private property regime, the e kingdom of the landlord is fully severed from the state, frankincense consolidating the separation between public and private spheres of power. Capitalist economic rule is no longer legitimated politically by reference to the performance of communal functions. Private power is stabilized to the extent that democratic principles of rule are successfully insulated within a public domain (Johansson, 2002, p. 98). This emphasis on human rights has also brought a renewed importance to concepts such as rule of law and by implication to the role of legal systems in democratization.Civil SocietyCivil society is a bothersome concept. It refers to all voluntary associations that have been created to mediate relations between the state and the family household. This excludes productive enterprises since their purpose is not to associate individuals t o the state. Most students of civil society take a functional view of the society counting in all associations regardless of their normative stand on the democracy issue. Many nations that are attempting to consolidate democracy suffer from what is sometimes referred to as a polite deficit. This entails that society is short of the values that really help build democracy.This deficit often stems from disenchantment with the political leadership. The new democratic regime proves ineffective in various ways, such as not being able to curb corruption or to deliver tangible policy results. Once the transition from dictatorial rule has been made, it is more difficult to mobilize popular support for the measures that are needed to keep the democratic process on the track. The civil society is most effective in the initial phase of the transition. It tends to lose its implication in the political process as it moves from transition to consolidation (Chan, 2002, p. 266).Social front mans clearly provoke civil society. They often lead major political transitions, but they also contribute to keeping civil society healthy at other times. Without such movements, the impact of civil society on democracy would be much less significant. Without implying that social movements always work for a civic or democratic cause (Johansson, 2002, p. 143). It seems a feasible proposition to state that a democratic change without the backing of a social movement is less likely to achieve something than one with such backing.ConclusionTo conclude, it may be worth making a few general observations on the studies of development and democracy. The first is that the difference between qualitative and quantitative studies is often exaggerated. There are substantive differences between the two, but they lie not in the criteria used to create and rationalize a particular research design but in the manner in which the former is executed (Haggard, 2003). It is chiefly in the execution of rese arch that quantitative statistical analyzes come to differ from qualitative forms of study. When it comes to designing research, considerable qualitative reasoning goes into designing quantitative studies.When choosing the unit of analysis, indicators for measurement and set of cases, qualitative criteria are being used to justify the design. The qualitative reasoning enters into the design in at least two ways first, by differentiating between Europe and Latin America and the second, by bringing in the concept of stability, which does not even feature in the conceptual definition of democracy (Chan, 2002, p. 67). We should be alert to the fact that the distinction between qualitative and quantitative forms of reasoning is more fuzzed than many scholars would have us hope.The second observation is that the relationships between variables are not always linear in a causal sense. The study of the development democracy nexus provides ample of evidence that the relations are often in teractive development, or dimensions thereof, influences democracy but scope of democracy may also affect development. Modernists and Marxists tend to assume that political democracy is the outcome of underlying changes in the socio-economic or cultural spheres.Those who essentially believe in human agency would argue that institutions and choices can be made to shape developmental outcomes. Much of the current debate in the international development community focuses on the independent effects that good governance is expected to have on various aspects of development (Haggard, 2003).The third and last observation concerns the propensity to treat findings as universal or to generalize without taking into consideration the potential influence of contextual variables. Much knowledge that is acquired on the issues relating to development and democracy are both time and context specific. Changing either temporal or spatial dimensions may have significant influence on the results.Genera lizations that hold across national and regional boundaries are typically at a high level of aggregation. The challenge that we often face in our research is not only to disaggregate or deconstruct these concepts and variables but also to continue testing how far these general findings still hold at lower levels of aggregation.In sum, whichever way we turn in the research exercise, there are challenges just around the corner (Haggard, 2003). The contributors to this shew are highlighting many of these challenges, thereby providing a sense of what comparative politics have achieved so far and also what remains to be done.