Is Terrorism a Muslim Monopoly

Terrorism is not a Muslim Monopoly Kamlesh Kumar Singh Research Scholar Deptt. of Sociology Banaras Hindu University Varanasi-221005 [email  protected] com M. N. – 09369240262, 09026399178 Abstract â€Å"All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims†. This comment, frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different. First there is nothing new about terrorism. The term terrorism derives from the Latin verb terrere, â€Å"to cause to tremble or quiver. It began to be used during the French Revolution, and especially after the fall of Robespierre and the â€Å"Reign of Terror†, or simply â€Å"The Terror† in which enemies of the Revolution were subjected to imprisonment, torture, and beheading, the first of many modern example of state terrorism. Sociologically, terrorist groups often recruit disaffected and alienated individuals, often motivated by strong ideologies like nationalism or religion to commit terrorist acts. These in turn generate societal fear and exacerbate conflicts and hatred within the social fabric. Terrorism is generally defined as the killing of civilians for political reasons. Going by this definition, the British Raj referred to Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad and many other Indian freedom fighters as terrorists. These were Hindu and Sikh rather than Muslim. In 1881, anarchists killed the Russian Tsar Alexander II and 21 bystanders. In 1901, anarchists killed U. S. president McKinley as well as king Humbert I of Italy. World War I started in 1914 when anarchists killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. These terrorist attacks were not Muslim. Guerrilla Fighters from Mao Zedong to Ho Chi Menh and Fidel Castro killed civilians during their revolutionary campaigns. They too were called terrorists until they triumphed. Nothing Muslim about them. In Palestine, after world war second II, Jewish groups (The Haganah, Irgun, and stern Gang) fought for the creation of a Jewish state, bombing hotels and installations and killing Civilians. The British, who even governed Palestine, rightly called these Jewish groups' terrorists. Many of these terrorists latter became leaders of independent Israel. Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon. Ironically, these former terrorists then lambasted terrorism, applying this level only to Arabs fighting for the very same nationhood that the Jews had fought for earlier. In Germany in 1968-92, the Badar-Meinhoff Gang killed dozens, including the head of Treuhand, the German Privatization agency. In Italy, the Red Brigade kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, Former prime minister. In 1970, the popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked three western Jetliners. The groups forced the planes to land in the Jordanian desert, and then blew up the planes in an incident. In 1972, Palestinian gunmen from the same movement stunned the world when they took Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. The Japanese Red Army was an Asian Version of this. Japan was also the home of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist cult that tried to kill thousands in the Tokyo metro system using nerve gas in 1995. In 1975, an OPEC (organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting was disrupted in Vienna, Austria when a terrorist group led by the notorious Carlos the Jackal entered, killing three people and wounding several in a chaotic shootout. In this case no Muslims were involved. In Europe, the Irish Republican Army has been a catholic terrorist organization for almost a century. Spain and France face a terrorist challenge from ETA, the Basque terrorist organization. In, India the militants in Kashmir are Muslim but they are only one of several militant groups. The Punjab militants led by Bhindrawale, were Sikhs. The United Liberation Front of Assam is a Hindu terrorist group that targets Muslims rather than the other way round. Tripura has witnessed the rise and fall of several terrorist group and so have BODO strong holds in Assam. Christian Mizos Mounted an insurrection for decades and Christian Nagas are still heading militant groups. In sum, terrorism is certainly not a Muslim monopoly. There are or have been terrorist groups among Christian, Jews, Hindus Sikhs and even Buddhists. Secular terrorists (anarchists, Maoists) have been the biggest killed. Why then is there such a widespread impression that most as all terrorists groups as Muslim? I see two reasons. First, the Indian elite keenly Follows the western media, and the west feels under attack from Islamic groups. Catholic Irish terrorists have killed for more people in Britain than Muslims, yet the subway bombings in London and Madrid are what Europeans remember today. The Badaar Meinhoff Garg , IRA and Red Brigades no longer pose much of a threat, but after 9/11 Americans and Europeans fear that they could be hit anywhere any time. So they focus attention on Islamic militancy. They pay little notice to other forms of terrorism in Africa, Sri Lanka or India; these pose no threat to the west. Within India, Maoists pose a far greater treat than Muslim militants in 150 districts, one-third of India's area. But major cities feel threatened only by Muslim groups. So the national elite and media focus overwhelmingly on Muslim terrorism. Doing Ph. D. on the topic â€Å"Terrorism: A Sociological study of Victim's Families

Book Review on Franklin Delano Roosevelt Essay

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. While being president he was trying to lead our country through a time of economic depression and total war. Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of the most important leaders of the 20th century. Alan Brinkley, the author of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wrote this biography in order to show Roosevelt’s life from childhood to presidency and all the trials and tribulations that occurred. Brinkley wrote this book to be able to show Roosevelt’s life from when he was born to him leading our country through the war. Not only just showing what happened in his life but also being able to show what he had to go through and what kind of decisions he had to make when running this country. This book was a great way to teach an audience about Roosevelt and was very effective in getting the point across. Brinkley used an immense amount of sources to be able to write this book. He used anywhere from other biographies to memoirs and diaries of the people who served with Roosevelt. He was not writing this book in order to criticize what all Roosevelt did wrong, but to show the magnitude and importance of everything he did right, such as the reshaping of American Government to the successful leadership of the United States. The New York Times wrote the day after Roosevelt died, â€Å"It will honor him above all else because he had the vision to see clearly the supreme crisis of our times and the courage to meet that crisis boldly. Men will thank God on their knees, a hundred years from now, that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House† (99). This shows that not only was Franklin D. Roosevelt a great man he was also a great leader of our country. Brinkley did an amazing job with being able to show all of Roosevelt’s accomplishes and all the trials and tribulations he overcame during presidency and also during his life. Roosevelt was born into a very privileged family with his father James Roosevelt being extremely wealthy and his mother Sara Delano, being very wealthy herself as well. He went to Groton at fourteen years old granted he gradated doing very well academically, he went his whole four years there as a lonely outsider. He entered Harvard in 1900 with a new outlook look on life and tried hard to make friends. Roosevelt found himself being attracted to his distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt while attending Harvard. In 1905 he married Eleanor and they together had six children. Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School, although he did not meet all the requirements he passed his bar exams and started practicing law in New York. Later, Franklin had an affair with his wife’s social secretary Lucy Mercer. Eleanor discovered their relationship in 1918 by finding letters between the two of them. Roosevelt served eight years as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1910 in New York. He was also governor of New York in 1928 and again in 1930. Roosevelt was paralyzed in both legs due to him having polio in 1921 ceasing him to be able to enjoy his favorite activities. Roosevelt would try to disguise his paralysis in public by wearing heavy leg braces to help him walk. In 1932 he was nominated for president with his opponent being Herbert Hoover. Winning the election he promised that he would conduct the war against the depression. When winning presidency Roosevelt took on an immense amount of stress all at once. The world was in an incredible crisis due to the economy depression. Roosevelt tried and tried to steadily bring back this nation, with what was called the â€Å"hundred days† where he won a series of bills that began to reform the role of the federal government in the workings of the economy. Roosevelt had what was called â€Å"The New Deal† which was a series of economic programs that involved orders or laws passed by Congress in response to the Great Depression. Roosevelt was reelected in 1936 as he campaigned on his idea of a New Deal. When Roosevelt was reelected World War II had already started. Japan had launched an invasion of Manchuria in 1922. Roosevelt began to get his country ready for war. In 1932 Hitler declared himself as the most powerful political person in Germany. By the spring of 1940 the war had spread quickly through Western Europe, with almost all of Europe being under complete Nazi control. Roosevelt had to lead our country through World War II. Rebounding from the surprise of Pearl Harbor and winning almost every victory in Europe and the Pacific. With the war and Roosevelt being paralyzed he spend most of his days in the White House. Roosevelt tried to reconnect with his distant wife and tried to have a real marriage again, but Eleanor refused and spent most of her days traveling or in her home in Duchess County. Roosevelt began seeing his long lost mistress Lucy with meetings that took place for the most part outside the White House. In January of 1945 Roosevelt met with Stalin and Churchill agreeing on the postwar occupation of Germany, which was going to be divided between the three leaders. Stalin was already ready to occupy Poland and there was no way Churchill and Roosevelt could stop him. When leaving Roosevelt hoped he could come to agreement with Stalin. In April of 1945 Roosevelt went on vacation with cousins and aids in Warm Springs, Georgia. Lucy Rutherford visited with an artist to paint Roosevelt when he complained of a â€Å"terrific headache† he collapsed and never regained consciousness, dying several hours later. Brinkley was able to show Franklin D. Roosevelt’s life and all his trials and tribulations that he had to overcome. With everything from not making friends in college, to leading our country through World War II, this biography was a very effective way to teach an audience about Franklin D. Roosevelt and how great of a leader he was. Roosevelt was criticized for some of his decisions, but this biography was able to show how many important decisions he made and how great of a president he was.

Propose a Job Specification for a Management Trainer

The Management Trainer need to ensure the high level of customer services of the whole company and trainings have been delivered to relative staffs and performed in essential functions afterward. He / she is also responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of the training programmers. Accountable: He / she will be the management link of company, management and general staff. He / she needs to make sure the programmers effective and suitable for those participate in the courses. Also, he / she is the one who control the training budget of company.Knowledge and Experience: – Educated to degree level, preferable in Psychological, Human Resources, Training or Business Administration. * The reason why need to hire a degree holder is to make sure he / she is appropriately trained and got enough knowledge to fulfill this position. – Over 10 years' working experience in airline industry or customer services field, with more than 5 years relevant experienc e in development and management area is preferred. * To hire an experienced staff will provide a revelation of organization's operations and their training.He / she may easily find the organization's needs and provide the new solutions and trainings. – A consulting level in Human Resources and Training areas are welcome. * Desirable to hire a professional in training field. – Excellent presentation and communication skills with different levels of staff. * As he / she needs to do survey, interview, audit and analysis with different levels of staff, good presentation and ability to communicate with the others is very important for this position. Proficiency in written and spoken Chinese, Mandarin and English. As Cathy Pacific is a global airline, there are many different nationalities of staff. He / she will need to provide trainings in different languages – Chinese, Mandarin and English. So high level of written and spoken skills in these 3 languages is very imp ortant. – Excellent computer skills in MS Word, Excel and Powering. * Nowadays computers are used everywhere in business, especially this is the position of management trainer, he / she must need to use different kinds of software to prepare training materials.Explanation of the various requirements proposed in Job Specification. Job Description: – Analyze the needs of different focus group of management through survey, programs that meet the management team's learning needs across the customer services, administration services and marketing expenses. – Foresee the airline process risk and put the solutions into training programs. – Support the development of new technology then introduce and process the training. – Develop a close working relationship in between different departments to promote discussion and conversation on training.Assist the management to overview the operation team and make sure they have provide excellent customer services to our passengers. Management training is essential to Cathy Pacific as the most positive benefit is better employees. A development of management is part of the way to make improvement of the business. Also, good training is a good benefits package for management staff that can grow their loyalty of company and reduce the turnover rate. Through the training, employees can understand what are the company's goals and set a clear objective to the staff under they managed.

Marketing communications plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing communications plan - Essay Example This paper includes the analysis of the market situation, marketing and communications objectives, recommended strategy, targeting/segmentation issues, tactics and actions plans, and people resources implications; lastly, is the deployment of the budget and rationale, the critical path of the plan activities and a crucial part of monitoring and measurement activities. The digital audio device market constitutes an annual growth rate of 25% in the hi-fi product market. â€Å"Portable digital audio devices...are becoming very popular with young people, with a projected worldwide market size of 20 million units by 2005† (Mourjopoulos, 2005, p.303). Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is the chosen based company that will enter the hi-fi audio market. In terms of market gap, Blackberry is stable and one of the fastest growing companies in the consumer electronics market. In the recent Smartphone market shares survey, Blackberry is in the second place with a market share of 17.8% (What hi-fi? Sounds and Vision, 2010). In the worldwide mobile phone market, Blackberry is at the fourth place with a 100 millionth shipped device. There are many predictions that Blackberry will be left behind by its competitors because â€Å"RIM services are pretty left behind with less attractiveness as well as loyalty from both developers and customers† (TMart Es, 2010). Because competition is very tight, Blackberry is now in total market share protection mode just like by making some of its product inexpensive (Dunewood, 2010). With this kind of performance, rest assured that it would not be difficult for RIM to introduce the new range of hi-fi audio products under Blackberry’s brand name. Blackberry’s usual target market is the business professionals and high income executives; however, the younger age groups will be added as the new target consumer group for hi-fi equipments. The range will be targeting the young generation because these

Opportunistic Microbial Infections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Opportunistic Microbial Infections - Essay Example Opportunistic Infections Immmunocompromised patients are vulnerable to opportunistic infections caused by organisms of lower pathogenecity, besides being also susceptible to primary pathogens causing disease among immunocompetent hosts resistant to opportunistic infections. â€Å"Many opportunistic infections arise from the individual’s own flora or local environment†2, at or near the microbes’ normal sites of colonization. Hence, some normal flora species are associated with particular opportunistic infections. For example, Bacteroides fragilis is associated with abdominal infections, Staphylococcus epidermidis with catheter infections, and Escherichia coli with urinary tract infections3. Bacterial Opportunistic Infection Staphylococcus aureus causes the greatest number of pyodermas and soft tissue infections. It is not one of the cutaneous resident flora, however â€Å"it colonizes the anterior nares in up to 25% of healthy individuals at any one time and more than 50% of chronically ill individuals†4. ... Once established in the skin, S. aureus invades more deeply into the soft tissue resulting in erysipelas or horizontal spread in lymphatics, and cellulitis or vertical spread into subcutaneous fat. Further, â€Å"S. aureus is the most common cause of wound infections†5. Risk factors for surgical wound infections include host factors such as immune status, diabetes mellitus; surgical factors such as foreign body use and disruption of tissue perfusion accompanying surgical procedure; and staphylococcal factors such as substances that mediate tissue adherence and invasion, or that facilitate staphylococci surviving host defenses and antibiotics in tissues, and antimicrobial prophylaxis. Bacteremia can lead to deposition of S. aureus in the skin, resulting in â€Å"petechiae, hemorrhages, subcutaneous nodules, soft tissue infections, and pyomyositis†6. Parasitic Opportunistic Infection Some chronic parasitic infections that are reactivated in immunocomprised patients includ e those caused by Strongyloides stercoralis. Weakened cell-mediated immunity in pregnancy, during chemotherapy with corticosteroids, and in organ transplantation, may enable reactivation of toxoplasmosis and congenital infection7. Further, â€Å"S. stercoralis is able to cause autoinfection giving rise to chronic infestations in the immunocompetent†8. Strongyloides stercoralis is an intestinal parasite, and causes strongyloidiasis. The parasite uniquely carries out its entire life cycle within the human body. Hence, in immunocompromised patients, â€Å"strongyloidiasis can lead to a hyper infection syndrome with high morbidity and mortality due to the accelerated endogenous autoinfection†9. Strongyloidiasis that

Marketing Concept and recommendation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Concept and recommendation - Case Study Example Abercrombie & Fitch engage in gender segregation. They cater for all cloth-needs of the male gender and the simple ones to the female population of their market. Females with large bodies do not find the clothes that fit them and, therefore, feel uncomfortable visiting the stores. It has sent a feeling of rejection and buyers would prefer going to other shops. Among the issues Abercrombie & Fitch face include income segregation, lawsuits and attaining sustainable market. These barriers can hurt children and make them feel like they need to change themselves to gain acceptance in the places (Grinberg, 2012). Abercrombie & Fitch is engaging on income segregation. It may be a good thing to set the prices highly for a certain market but not go public about the same. By the CEO going public, it meant that Abercrombie & Fitch do not want to interact with the poor and their kids. It has a bad effect on the sales in that even the rich people who have close ties with some poor members of the society would not buy the product. It brought about a taint in their public image. Thus the public finds the products offensive and disrespectful. Therefore, it is a weakness to company’s progress. Abercrombie & Fitch should thrive to grow a sustainable market where economics shock will not throw them out of the market. Also, success it is created by having relations with the public and letting them understand that you care and wish them well. Not understanding the consumer base, as it is happening, is a weakness in the business progress. Abercrombie & Fitch marketing strategy has dealt a blow to the consumer market. People do not feel comfortable purchasing in these stores and would not come with or recommend friends. They are beginning to purchase at other stores where they feel comfortable. Additionally, the lawsuits on the company depict a picture of an employer that does not care about employee welfare. The improper hiring and firing taints its public

Science, not Dogma Should Be the Standard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Science, not Dogma Should Be the Standard - Essay Example Over the past century and one-half, however, people’s opinions regarding evolution have experienced an evolution. Many religious persons today acknowledge evolution to be valid. The Pope even admitted creation and evolution are compatible. Still, there are a dwindling numbers of people who choose to stubbornly reject the science and contend that magical account of life described in the Bible is the â€Å"gospel truth.† This emotion-charged dispute usually occurs when the fundamentalists object to science being taught in school. They want the creation version of events taught alongside the scientific version as a viable alternative. Eventually, everyone will acknowledge that the matter is not subject to dispute no more than the question of a flat earth vs. round earth is debated. Unfortunately, it will take generations to achieve this reasonable goal because our society evolves extremely slowly. Creationism is not based on the scientific model. No evidence exists, nothin g to test or question. It is based on the belief that a supernatural being magically created the universe including all life in it. The faithful accept this version of events without question because if they did question it they likely would cease to believe it. Science is a journey for the truth. Hypothesis is formed from observation, testing and retesting. When new information is presented the original premise is altered. Science continually tries to disprove the hypothesis or theory until the conclusion is shown as credible and irrefutable based on all available evidence. Religion readily accepts the explanations of an ancient, very superstitious and uneducated people. â€Å"Religion is based on faith that is never questioned while science is based on knowledge that is constantly questioned† (Edwards, 1980). Creationist’s first line of attack is that evolution is just a â€Å"theory† therefore unproven and unacceptable when compared to the God’s unassa ilable holy words. Evolution is scientifically proven by the same method scientists prove other universally held theories. Gravity is a theory. No one knows precisely how or why gravity works but we all know it does, same with evolution. Creationists require a much higher standard of proof from evolutionists than they are willing to provide. Religious fundamentalists thought the earth was flat prior to the 16th Century. In fact, since the church controlled the government at that time it was considered heresy to publically disagree with that falsity, a crime punishable by torture and/or death. However, learned people including Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella knew better. So did Aristotle who proved the earth was round 2000 years before Columbus. (Lienhard, 1998). Science was rejected then as now by the overtly religious but even they accept the scientific evidence regarding disease, that the Devil does not cause sickness. They also, because of science, realize the sun does no t revolve around a flat earth as is described in the Bible. â€Å"There are still many points of major conflict between science and religion. In each case, only one will eventually win public support. The historical record indicates that religion wins very few of these disputes† (Robinson, 2003) Darwin theorized that species adapt and change over the duration of millions of years according to new environmental conditions. He called this process natural selection. Darwin observed and recorded

The Element of Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Element of Style - Essay Example Kalman seems to be an expert on body language since these illustrations clearly have meanings and stories attached to them. If a picture can tell a thousand words, then Kalman’s paintings certainly qualify to prove this adage. One may well connect each painting to the word it is used to illustrate. For instance, the word ‘should’ may also be used in the sense of a moral imperative, as for example what should be done in such and such a situation. Should imposes this moral duty, (as â€Å"one should be kind to the poor†); Could means that it’s the person’s choice whether to act or not; (†he could have reacted sooner and saved the child’s life); and Would indicates that it is highly probable that the person will act in such a manner (â€Å"he wouldn’t be such a spoilsport now, would he?†). ‘Would’ is illustrated by Kalman as a man who is relaxed but looking at us keenly and ready to move into action. His bo dy language states that he is ready to get up. But the very fact that he is seated on a chair and near a bed gives one the idea that if he is not motivated to take action, he just might decide to get off his chair and move to relax and lit down on the bed nearby. Something might motivate him to take action, and then again, it might not. The choice is entirely up to him, it would appear so. On the other hand, ‘Should’ is illustrated by the painting of a quaint maiden who sits with her hands folded at her chest in a sitting position. She looks at us out of the corner of her eyes- a sideways glance (Strunk, White & Kalman, 2007, 36). This may refer to the old archaic origins of the word and its usage. She is dressed in red. For some reason, it indicates to me that she should get married as she seems to be a spinster. Although the woman is the focus of the picture, we cannot help noticing the painting of flowers or leaves behind her. The third illustration or

Compensation issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Compensation issue - Essay Example Compensation issue Depending on the job functions, various workers under the policy are assigned certain classifications which determine the premiums paid for compensations. The policy will accord compensation to workers regardless of fault by negligence. The state laws regarding workers compensation provides benefits such as medical coverage and treatment, disability whether permanent or temporary, vocational rehabilitation and death benefits (Hargreaves v Telstra Corporation Limited). The policy also covers bodily injuries by accident or injuries resulting from disease that occur within the policy period (Deneault & Mullins, pg.89). These diseases must however be accelerated by the conditions in the workplace for it to be covered. The compensation policy may however not apply where willful misconduct is committed, an employee is employed in violation of the law, safety and health regulations are not observed, and coercion and discrimination against employees are done violating the compensation policy . The manager breaks his leg whilst at work rendering he incapacitated. This constituted further employment as a replacement to ensure continued operations in the enterprise. Despite the fact that Gino is the manager and owns the business, he can claim compensation under the workers compensation policy or the Corporations Act 2001. This is to ensure that he attains compensation for his broken leg from the company which he suffered at work in the course of his duties.

Discuss the writers use of the supernatural Essay Example for Free

Discuss the writers use of the supernatural Essay The two stories resemble each other with the idea they communicate with the reader, that people should respect the supernatural. In the Withered Arm, Thomas Hardy develops why we should fear and respect the supernatural by showing that by mocking Gertrude about her medicines and counter curses, Farmer Lodge ended up with a dead son and a dead wife. He also ended up selling all his land because he could not endure staying in the village with everyone gossiping about him. Also by keeping the tempo of the story fast and building up to all the supernatural events keeps us tense. In the Monkeys Paw, Sergeant Major Morris warns the White family about the consequences of the wishes the paw grants. However the White family do not take heed of the warning and take advantage of the paw and in doing so, they end up with their son dead, Mrs. White acting senselessly to try and bring back her son and Mr. White having to wish his son back to the grave. The author is trying to tell us that if you do not respect the supernatural and take advantage of it, you will feel its wrath. The two stories are alike in other ways. Both stories involve young innocent people suffering. In the Monkeys Paw Herbert died for his familys foolishness. Whilst in the Withered Arm it was Rhodas and Farmer Lodges son that was innocently sent to the gallows. Another similarity is that people that were selfish earlier on in the stories are punished in the end. Mr. White is self-seeking at the start of the Monkeys Paw and does not take Sergeant Major Morris advice and his son dies as a result. In the Withered Arm Farmer Lodge is punished for his negligence shown to his son and his failure to accept the responsibility for his son. The consequence for this is the eventual hanging of his only son. Also both stories have ironic twists. In the Monkeys Paw the family wishes for two hundred pounds and after the money doesnt appear straight away, Herbert says Well I dont see the money, and I bet I never shall. The wish eventually does come true and the money is handed over to the family but only as an insurance payout for Herberts death at the factory. So the irony is that Herbert will never actually see the money. In the Withered Arm the ironic twist is that when Gertrude was waiting for a hanging she got so desperate that she used to pray for a hanging O Lord, hang some guilty or innocent person soon! It turned out her prayers were answered but the man seen to be in the wrong turned out to be Farmer Lodges and Rhoda Brooks son but it seemed the boy was wrongfully charged with arson. At the hanging, Farmer Lodge and Rhoda were present in the crowd and once Gertrude had realized the hung man must be their son, she entered a sense of shock. This proved too much for her and she died. The irony is that she prayed for a man to be hung, so that she could cure herself but the man in the end was her husbands son and this did the opposite of curing her and the shock of it all ended her life. In conclusion, the writers use the supernatural to show the reader that if you ridicule the supernatural, it will backfire on you and you will feel the consequences greatly. Also they try and make you scared of the supernatural by making the paranormal events happen to normal people. Meaning it could have been you instead.

Decline of the United Auto Workers Union (UAW)

Decline of the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) Introduction What does labor want? It wants the earth and the fullness thereof. There is nothing too beautiful, too lofty, and too ennobling unless it is within the scope and aspiration of labors aspirations and wants. We want more schoolhouses and less jails more books and less arsenals more learning and less vice more constant work and less crime more leisure and less greed more justice and less revenge in fact, more of the opportunities to make childhood more joyful womanhood more beautiful and manhood more noble. (Samuel Gompers, 1893) Organizations that deal with corporations, firms and other organization for the benefits of the workers on the behalf of members of union are generally termed as union. There are present different types of unions for example trade union, represent workers who do a specific type of job e.g. the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Then there is industrial union that indicates workers in a specific industry. United Auto Workers (UAW) is a good example of industrial union (Brent Radcliffe, 2011). A large number of economists consider union as monopolies in the labor market. They believe that the rise in the wages of members, at the expense of unorganized labor is the main impact of union. These researchers analyzed the negative impact of unions on the productivity, employment, and the subsequent crowding of the nonunion zone. In addition there are present another group of economist who believe that unions have positive affecting both politically and economically. These skilled analysts noted that unions could increase retention of skills and developments. When a market is national or international, with output produced in one plant competing with that produced in other plants, independent bargaining by individual locals would lose unions their monopoly power, as locals would compete for jobs through lower wages. . . . The result would be a reduction in wages to more or less competitive levels. Unions can help in the achieving higher productivity and better management by increasing morale of workers, reducing labor turnover, and cooperation. Unions also help in providing well-organized workplace for better results. This is very much true that unions reduce profit (Richard B. Freeman and James L. Medoff, 1984). In todays globalized world, there is great need of union for number of reasons e.g. there is great increase in compensation, workers are hired according to their ranks, the gap between labor and management decreases both in terms of wages and in representation. There are present different viewpoints on the necessity and efficiency of unions. The problems faced by UAW at General Motors had raised the issue on the importance of unions in the future and in the modern society. In 1998, a harsh fight raged between the company and union. To remain competitive in the market the companies needed to change their strategies and increase their competence. Lower-cost outsourcing is very usual in the companies. Outsourcing involves the selling off business divisions in order to have a more focused and profitable company. United Auto Workers struggled for the union jobs.UAW were against the outsourcing (Korey Harlyn Coon, 1999). In the United States, the workers who have a stab to make unions are usually fired. If the management saw workers engaged in any collective activities, they are consistently harassed and stressed. The workers are permanently replaced if found in such activities like struggling for their rights (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). Stipend earners or salary earners has started an organization for the protection of their combined interests while dealing with their company and this organization is known as labor union. Generally, in the industrialized countries the unions are widespread. In the last 30-40 years, in most countries, there is large decline in the unions (representing workers). In 1950s, the unions of the United States represented about one-third of all workers but today less than 15 percent of the workforce represents the unions. In the private zone the labor force is less than 10 percent (in the late 90s the unions represented 30-40 percent of public sector workers). In the past decade s the workers union was considered as very strong force in the United States but these days the situations are opposite (Comstock, 1994). The industrial unions of the United States have large number of unionized workers. The workers of the industrial unions have large variety of occupation (within one or more industries). United Automobile Workers (UAW) is an excellent example of industrial union. The most important American automobile companies have both skilled and unskilled workers and in these companies, UAW has separate contract for workers. However, the industrial unions started by arranging workers in the single industry or set of allied industries. In the tractor and earthmoving equipment industry (Caterpillar and John Deere), UAW also represents workers. At the end of 1990s UAW across the country added different groups such as Graphics Artists Guild (3,000 members), the National Writers Union (5,000 members), and various service, technical, and graduate student employees at more than 20 colleges and universities. Decline of Union The history of union membership in the United States has noticeably changed. In US for almost 200 years, the unions (in some forms) have been in existence. Until 1930s, the unions membership did not gained significant position. In 1953, the union membership rose from 3 percent to 26 percent of the labor force in United States and in 1962 declined to 21 percent. The most ingenious and flourishing auto industry, the United Auto Workers (UAW) had faced tremendous decline by losing thousands of members in the 70s and 80s. At that time there were hardly six percent union workers who were engaged in product manufacturing (subtracting non-manufactures like nurses, civil servants, police, teachers, etc) because without base membership is not retained (David Macaray, 2008). In United States (1953), the union membership increased from 3 percent to 26 percent and declined to 21 percent in 1962. The quick expansion in employment in the nonunion organizations (governmental, finance, trade etc) is one of the factors responsible for decline of union. During the great depression, 1929-1933, another half million union members were dropped. The new deal era (1933- 1939) brought new legislation which helped in increasing members. The Auto Workers and the Machinists unions were top ranked that showed largest increase in the members of union during wartime but after the war (Leo Troy, 1965). In shaping the union, the legislation plays a key role. The workers can perform their work without any fear of wages any other problem. UAW played a significant role after World War II, in increasing labor movement, job security, and health care. Many researchers think that cause of decline is both external and internal. In the American economy, there is elementary shift from industrialized to service-based jobs. Globalization has made capital more mobile. Through this, employees got the opportunity to shift from lower to higher wages job. In addition, the political environment favored the economy. Labor law premeditated to protect the rights of labors. Some workers have the thought that by negotiation with the employers they can get better chance of work place. The workers have the feeling that negotiation is better than bargaining. This is because the workers have lost confidence in the ability of unions (Yates, 1998). The internal causes of labors decline are believed to be the willingness of workers to enter into a cooperative relationship with capital in the years following World War II. During the war period, t he unions did their best to establish peace between labor and corporate leaders. The labor also agreed that they would not interfere in the decisions of management. UAW president Bob king said that The UAW was able to win tremendous contracts with employers in the auto, aerospace and agricultural and construction equipment sectors because all three sectors were almost completely unionized, The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) was established in 1935. At this time it had 600,000 members representing the three main auto industries (General motors, Ford and Chrysler). In 1970s, there was great decline in the membership of UAW for some time. The decline indicates that there is great downfall in employment in the automobile and related industries. The UAW was struggling for the jobs of the future generation and not for their own jobs. To achieve their goals they did many strikes. These strikes showed the great decline in the power of the union. UAW chart.png graph1: Decline in UAW membership (source Dale Buss, 2011) The above graph shows the decline in UAW membership from 1979 to 2009. It is very clear that in 1979, the membership was at its peak that is 1.5 million and in 2009; UAW membership fell by 18 percent. According to the annual report submitted by US department of labor the main cause of decline was cut down in jobs (Jerry White, 2010). Union Busting The worlds leading automakers, the General Motors and Delphi (biggest auto parts suppliers of the world) had started union busting attack against the United Auto Workers (UAW). In the past decades, the US workers saw the biggest decline in the actual wages. The Delphi, auto parts supplier to GM, went bankruptcy. The company decided to cut the pays of workers from $27.00 to $10.00 per hour. At the same time, the bosses of GM claimed huge givebacks from UAW. Globalization Globalization is very important in several aspects. Over the past few years, the international competition has been enormously increased due to globalization especially in the economy sector. The higher prices on the imports have been cut down. Also due to increased competition, the domestic competitors were forced to give great benefits to their unionized workers. In unionized sector, the employment declines while in nonunion industries employment expanded. Moreover, the companies shut down or seal their plant, if union attempts to raise the profit of the workers and start new production in other country where costs are less. Globally the auto industry had become very competitive. In the 1980s, UAW responded to Asian and European growing challenges by abandoning any assault on jobs and on the living standards. Job Banks UAW in 1984 started a program called Jobs Banks,. The autoworkers get $31 per hour. Each year $70,000 to $85,000 are paid (for not to work) to UAW members. These workers are getting their full pay and all the benefits without working. They do not care about the loss of the company. This practice of allotting funds to the workers cost billions of dollars (approximately $4.5 billion) to the companies. Health Insurance The Negotiation of the union with the companies for the health benefits of members of union resulted in the decline of UAW, the auto industry. According to the survey of 2002, UAW wasted money as the big three (General Motors, Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor) spent nearly $10 billion on health insurance. Roughly, each car pays the cost of $1,500 for health insurance. In this way, the money spent on health insurance is greater than the money spent on the steel for the construction of the car. In contrast to UAW, Toyota has less health insurance. Assault of Fund To fill the incursion funds The United Auto Workers (UAW) used nearly $ 1 billion dues of its workers. No other union performs such a pact to fill the strike funds. It was estimated that 30 percent from the pay of UAW member was given to fulfill the assault of fund. Other unions by negotiation with its member full fill this gap (without using the workers dues). Luxurious Resort UAW constructed luxurious resort, The Black Lake Resort and Golf club. The finance for construction was drawn from union dues. The UAW union members are allowed to visit the resort. The labor agreement between UAW and three big automakers In 2007, a historic negotiation took place between the Big Three automakers (General Motors, Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor) and the United Autoworkers (UAW). Both the parties were aware of the significant of the agreement. They knew that to survive in this technical era and to compete with of global economy this agreement help them a lot. After the decline in membership, the main aim of the agreement was to protect the jobs and healthcare for the members of union. In addition, the big Three automakers (General Motors, Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor) committed to lower the wages for some workers. To achieve the dynamic auto sales and to boom their market shares the agreement plays an important role. (John J. Lucas, and Jonathan M. Furdek, 2009) The recent economic slump had left bad impact on the US auto industry. The majority of Detroit autoworkers are represented by, United Auto Workers (UAW) union. They give allowances on its pay and benefits package. The UAW negotiates with the company to protect this package (Tony Escobar). The growth of non-union workers in the plant is also a cause of decline in UAW membership. Moreover the cars made by foreign companies (whether in the US or elsewhere) are account for more than half the cars sold in this country. It was analyzed that if UAW and other large unions did not get financial and regulatory support from government they will soon be vanished (Gary Becker and Richard Posner, 2008). A survey showed that only one third of UAW members are autoworkers and large percentage of work force is employed by state (includes colleges, universities and health care organizations (Dale Buss, 2011) Conclusion Union plays a very vital role in both political and business environment. They exit in many forms in industries. Unions help workers in obtaining better wages and working conditions. There are present two types of unions, federal and industrial. A large number of economists consider union as monopolies in the labor market. Unions can help in the achieving higher productivity. In industrialized countries, the unions are widespread. In the last 30-40 years, in most countries, there is large decline in the unions. In the past there was tremendous growth in the union membership but today its growth is not to that extend. The United Auto Workers (UAW) had faced tremendous decline by losing thousands of members in the 70s and 80s. In the beginning, there were 1.5 million members of UAW, which declined to 600,000 in 2009. In the past decades, the US workers saw the biggest decline in the actual wages. In 2007, a historic negotiation took place between the Big Three automakers (General Motors, Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor) and the United Autoworkers (UAW). The recent economic slump had left bad impact on the US auto industry through the collective bargaining process the unions have reinvented themselves.

Positive And Negative Aspects Of Edinburgh Fringe Festival Tourism Essay

Positive And Negative Aspects Of Edinburgh Fringe Festival Tourism Essay Introduction This report will give analysis and explain different aspects of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in terms of public relations. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world, therefore it is important to carefully consider all the aspects and opportunities from a public relations perspective, as it is a great example of the different sides and features of public relations. After looking at the history of this festival, the report will provide an insight in the positive and negative aspects of the Fringe, name the main competitors and give SWOT and PEST analysis. Then the key public relation issues for the event will be analysed and analysis of the media environment relevant to the event will be given. Finally, a critical assessment of the success of the events PR strategy will be considered. History of the Fringe The Edinburgh Fringe Festival originated in 1947 and it was created to celebrate and enrich European cultural life in the wake of the Second World War. It first started when eight acts turned up at the Edinburgh international festival uninvited and decided to perform anyway this then lead to more acts following in their footsteps in the years to come. From this, the Festival Fringe Society was formed in 1959. The Fringe, these days, is now known as the largest arts festival in world and in 2010 the Fringe featured 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues. It is held every August for three weeks in the centre of Edinburgh and there are stages all over Edinburgh for example the Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh Castle and Underbelly. It is such a special event as it caters for everyone by having various acts put on, such as: theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events. Positive aspects of the Fringe The Fringe has been renowned for giving unknown performers a chance to be recognised as it is made up of emerging and established artists which is a review from edfringe.com. The Fringe has also been acknowledged for having worldwide recognition for being one of the best arts festivals in the world and this helps bring a lot of tourism into the capital city. Each year ticket sales rise incredibly as 1.8 million tickets were sold in 2009 and that increased to 1.9 million sold in 2010. This can be brought down to the effective communication from the society as they have advertised in newspapers, on posters, through television adverts, on radio adverts, on websites and they have even branched out to new technology by launching a Fringe iPhone app. The Fringe is so popular because anyone can enjoy a show as they have a range of entertainment for all audiences. They include free shows too, which are ever increasing because 558 shows at the 2010 Fringe were absolutely free, compared to 465 in 2009. Negative aspects of the Fringe During the research it was found that the childrens shows only made up 4% of the Fringe performance programme in 2010 and this may discourage families to come to the events as there is little choice for the children. Also the dance and physical theatre performances went down 0.5% to 4.5% in 2010 and this may be seen as the Fringe society not seeing these genres as important as others such as comedy. Another downside is that the performance locations are far too widely spread throughout city so many people will have to spend a lot of money on travelling. There are a high number of performances each year so this means acts will overlap one another causing people to miss out on some shows. Main competitors Throughout Scotland there are numerous festivals, whether they are large or small scale.  Ã‚   It is known from the official fringe website that the Fringe has a market share of 75% of all attendance at Edinburghs year round festivals and annually generates  £75 million for Edinburgh and the Scottish Economy.   These figures from 2004/05 demonstrate the high profile of the Fringe as an event in Scotland.   Despite accounting for the vast majority of the market share in Scotland, there are other events throughout the country which seek visitors. The Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival takes place over   18 days with 350 performances from well-known and rising comedians.   The festival held at the kings theatre in Glasgow, specialises in comedy.   This is different from the fringe where although there are comedy events, there is an array of other arts as well.   For comedy enthusiasts the Magners comedy festival may be more attractive as it is specialised with more opportunity to see comedy.   As the event is also only held at one location, its more simple to find and easier to experience many performances without trekking across the city.   It may be on a much smaller scale that the Fringe but the less busy atmosphere may be much more appealing to some individuals. The Stanza poetry festival which is held in St Andrews is described by visit Scotland as where music, film, dance and poetry work in harmony.   The stanza poetry festival could be seen as a small scale Fringe festival however it primarily specialised in poetry.   Within this, the aim is to combine other arts into the poetry.   This unique selling point is a strength to the festival.   Held at the Byre theatre in St Andrews, the festival is not incredibly well-known.   This may have been due to a weakness in pr strategy and demand for this kind of event. Although the comedy and poetry festivals cannot really contend with the fringe due to its mass scale, they are strong in some ways as they specialise in events for a specific target audience.   However on a larger scale, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo can be seen a more pressing competitor.   With performances from 40 countries, the Tattoo invites visitors from all over the globe to not only visit the event but also perform.   Whereas at the fringe, it can be presumed that a large amount of the acts will be British.   35% of the 217,000 audience each year are from overseas which is advantageous as it means there is a great mix of cultures.   The fringe sees similar figures for its overseas percentage however towers over the tattoo with its number of visitors.   The tattoo is one main event whereas the fringe is many events over a long period.   Therefore it is difficult to compare the two as they are in completely different formats.   However unlike the fringe, t he tattoo is shown on television with 100 million viewers worldwide.   This illustrates the publicity of the tattoo making it the fringes main competitor in Scotland.   However as the fringe is the largest Arts festival in the world, naturally it will come out on top of other Scottish festivals. SWOT and PEST analysis Through the SWOT analysis it was found that:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strengths Brings tourism to Scotland, there is a range of entertainment available and its largest arts festival in world.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Weaknesses Acts overlap one another, too big so travel costs increase and there are not enough acts for children so may discourage families.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Opportunities Emerging acts can become recognised, it entices different cultures to experience Scotland and it creates more job opportunities in Edinburgh.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Threats The festival faces competition from rival festivals, environmental issues may prevent the festival taking place and they may have a lack of funds to support such a big event. Through the PEST analysis is was found that:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Political It creates an environment where countries can combine and it also gives politics a light-hearted nature (by putting on plays about David Cameron, etc.).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economical Brings money to Scotland and it also encourages tourism.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Social There are more tourists around and it enables the Scottish culture to be recognised.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technological A new website has been launched and so has a new iPhone app, in order to promote the Fringe. Analysis of the key public relation issues for the event Analysis of the media environment relevant to the event Opportunities and threats in terms of media relations Edinburgh Fringe is a huge Festival, so there is a chance that it will get a lot of coverage both good and bad The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world so media will want to cover it. Also, there are a lot of opportunities to get media coverage outside Scotland and UK, especially in the European countries that are known for their love for arts such as France, Germany and Italy. However, if something goes wrong there will definitely be a huge interest from the media therefore everyone will know about it. As Edinburgh Fringe is such a enormous event, taking place over several weeks , with so many performances going on and so many people attending there is a chance for great success as well as great damage in terms of media relations. The key media Firstly, the key media are the print media and web sites history shows that newspapers and the websites of these newspapers are the sources of reviews and media coverage in general for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Secondly, the electronic media is a vital key media because this festival is all about the arts therefore photographic examples are very important. Thirdly, the radio is also one of the key media as people really like hearing the interviews with the event organisers and the performers of the acts from the Festival. And finally, the television, especially important during the Festival people can see whats happening in the Festival, see something they like and decide to attend. Television also captures the mood and the atmosphere of the festival best. What would appeal to journalists and attract coverage The popularity of the festival in social networks such as twitter, facebook, etc, as well as having its own blogs creates the word-of-mouth effect thats not media generated so people get involved themselves and are not encouraged by the media but by other people. Media usually are interested if a lot of people get involved in this they are intrigued why is it so popular among the publics, is this a new phenomenon and why. It also attracts media because it seems more genuine this way the company hasnt spent lots and lots of money for campaigns to attract the attention. The media also like to write about events that are attended by celebrities because this guarantees the interest of the readers or about events that no one had expected or are shocking. Bad stories Fringe 2008 The resignation of the Edinburgh Fringe director, Jon Morgan, came at the end of a summer of bad news stories for the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2008. Underlying them all is the question of how to cope with the unprecedented popularity of the worlds biggest arts festival. Most of the stories were about a new computer system that struggled to do the job. The  £350,000 Liquid Box Office crashed on its first day of operation, causing sales to be suspended for a week. Then it had trouble printing tickets, resulting in delays in postal bookings. Once the Fringe began, it sold too many tickets for certain shows, leading to reports of weeping youngsters being turned away.Finally the Fringe had to scrap the advertised two-for-one ticket frenzy on the final day, as the system couldnt cope. One of the bad examples is also the self-styled comedy festival which was a marketing exercise designed to attract sponsorship (which it failed to do) and spread the costs of advertising between the big four venues: Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Underbelly and Pleasance. It caused consternation by including only the comedians who were playing in those venues and threatened to damage the profile of the Fringe itself. The central box office takings had dropped by 10% that year. Good stories 2009 The Edinburgh Festival Fringe was suffering the backlash of the media on the back of a box office meltdown in 2008. The UK was in the middle of the storm of the so called credit crunch and many predicted the 2009 festival would be an expensive luxury that would be avoided by all but those most faithful to the festival. Under these circumstances it was a client that commissioned Whitespace to take a blank canvas approach and re-think the traditional approach to marketing. The result was a genuinely original and creatively challenging campaign concept and materials featuring over 100 viral videos, and, for the first time ever, a multiple set of covers for the Fringe Programme all on a very limited budget and under extremely tight deadlines. Whitespace created the concept of an iconic and metaphorical egg that symbolised the fact that the Fringe is always different, and that one can never be sure what lies within. Whitespace filmed the scientific discovery of a seemingly indestructible egg among Edinburghs tramworks. The resultant film became the viral centrepiece of the campaign. Having taken the egg to a secret Fringe laboratory overseen by Professor Ed Hegg, a series of filmed experiments ensued as he tried to reveal the eggs contents. The story was launched several months before the Fringe. Dr Ed Hegg received a page of coverage in the Scotsman; pre-launch publicity not normally received by the Fringe. Whitespace then developed a range of printed collateral, from T-shirts to banners, displays to ticket wallets and press passes, as well as a campaign microsite and a social media campaign. This included Dr Ed Heggs twitter page and blog along with shooting over 100 video experiments for inclusion on the microsite. The result was an increase of nearly 9% in ticket sales and a programme reprint. The fringe site reached 32,906 unique visitors with a low bounce rate and dwell time of, on average, 4 minutes. 10% of all fringe site visits resulted in a visit to the b ooking section of www.edfringe.com and 21% of all visits resulted in a desired action. Good Stories Fringe 2010 Fringecover was the top trending Twitter topic in Scotland on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th March and it was the second most tweeted topic across the UK. Inspired by the Fringes principle that anyone with an idea and a vision can bring their show to Edinburgh; Whitespace invited the Twitter community to tell Johanna Basford the most unusual thing theyd like to see at the 2010 Fringe supplemented by #fringecover. For two days, from 10am to 10pm on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th March, Johanna recreated Twitterers suggestions in real-time in her own unique illustrative style. The Whitespace creative team then applied Johannas illustrations to all aspects of the Fringes promotional materials including, three cover versions of the programme; the ticket, its wallet and envelope; the Fringe shops window display and pop-up exhibition panels. Audiences at the Fringe festival in Edinburgh bought nearly 2 million tickets last year, once again beating the previous years record. Kath Mainland, the events chief executive, said the sale of more than 1.95m tickets for more than 40,000 performances had shown the festival was the greatest show on earth. The Fringe said this years event, again dominated by comedy, had outstripped last year on most measures: there were 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows at 259 venues, involving more than 21,000 performers. More than 550 shows were free. A critical assessment of the success of the events PR strategy Conclusion This report has analysed different public relations aspects of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It has provided research on the background and history of the event, analysis of the event, analysis of the key public relations issues for the event, analysis of the media environment relevant to the event, as well as a critical assessment of the success of the events PR strategy. One of the clear thoughts after the analysis of the festival is that the Fringe has definitely experienced bad times in terms of public relations; however, the organisers have only learnt from their mistakes and chosen much better PR strategies that have resulted in growth in the ticket sales, despite the very bad economic situation. Audiences have come to know the Edinburgh festival fringe as the place to see every kind of art; from the most imaginative childrens theatre to topical and incisive comedy and theatre which challenges audiences to discuss and re-consider not only their world but the world in general. Kath Mainland, the events chief executive has said: Edinburgh is without doubt the worlds leading festival destination and audiences continued to be inspired and enthralled by the many and varied events on offer.

Intellectual Property in an Electronic World Essay -- essays research

Intellectual Property In an Electronic World Business Law & Ethics Introduction This paper provides a general overview of some major issues facing both producers, publishers and consumers of intellectual property. The emphasis, however, is on copyright. Today, of course, that copyright includes the all-pervasive electronic environment of the internet. There are many media in which intellectual property problems arise. History and Definitions â€Å"Intellectual property† is property resulting from another’s creative efforts. Trademarks, logos, patents, books, computer files, movies, music, painting, menus, choreographic works, pantomimes, product packaging, architectural designs and even sculpture may be considered to be intellectual property. In fact, even a student paper such as this may (perhaps too generously) be classified as intellectual property. The Miller – Jenz text makes the observation that â€Å". .. the value of the world’s intellectual property now exceeds the value of physical property . . . â€Å". Clearly, then, intellectual property has become a huge factor in business, social life, entertainment, and international trade. There is much government regulation in the field of intellectual property, as well. In the past, the most important aspects of law involving intellectual property were copyright and fair use, defamation, trademarks, trade secrets and patents. Prior to statutory copyright laws, a common law of copyright existed which protected an author’s work only until it was published. After being published, if there was not statutory protection, then the author’s work entered the public domain and became unprotected! One a work is in the public domain, it cannot be protected. Statutory copyright law in the United States originated with Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution: â€Å"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.† Congress enacted the first copyright law in 1790. It was decided early that the term â€Å"writings† includes many things which might not be considered â€Å"writings† in the normal use of the term. It is possible to sue under common law copyright infringement. In fact, such a suit can be brought in a state court. However, an action for statutory copyright infringement must be brought a federal d... ...nt the infringement of intellectual property rights. Internet publishers who are unable to afford the cost of registering every single page of a web site (cost is $20 per registration) may instead register multiple works as a collection. Since copyright registration requires the sending of materials, the internet publisher faces the choice of sending screen printouts, or code, or both. If the code is more important, Field recommends treating the content of a web site like software. Copyright Enforcement If the author believes he may have to sue to prevent infringement, he is well advised to register the copyright. This is also true of copyrighted material on the internet. Copyright notice prevents the defense of innocent infringement, and increases the chances for a big bucks recovery on willful infringement, where the statutory damages can be up to $100,000. An action for statutory copyright infringement, as noted earlier, must be filed in federal court. Of course, depending on the nature of the facts involved, there may also be other theories of recovery available. BIBLIOGRAPHY Miller, L.M., and Jentz, G.A., Business Law Today, 6th Edition. (2002). South-Western College.

Al Capone: One Of The Most Ruthless Men Of All Time Essay -- essays r

Al Capone: One of the Most Ruthless Men of All Time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ultimate symbol of a gangster rule, is a guy by the name of Al Capone, who dominated the Chicago underworld by committing many crimes: such as illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution during prohibition. Capone’s life of gang activity started at a very young age. He created a multi-million dollar empire of crime in Chicago. He has been referred to as one of the most ruthless men of all time (Stockdale 45). He was a smart businessman, good family man, and a generous person, that lived a life full of murders and other crimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabriele Capone was a barber that lived in Naples, Italy who decided to escape a bleak rural life in the promise of work and success in the New World. He was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894 (Stockdale 7-8). Gabriele was 30 years old and he brought his 27-year-old wife, Teresina and their three sons. He was planning to start a barbershop when he got to America. On January 17, 1899, Teresina gave birth to their fourth son named Alphonse Capone (Bardsley 2). The Capone family lived a very normal life with no problems or events that would explain why their sons chose a life of crime. In 1907, Gabriel moved his family into an apartment over his barbershop in an Italian district in south Brooklyn. This move exposed Alphonse to a different kind of life on the streets. He became a member of a junior gang called the Forty Thieves Juniors, which taught its members the art of petty vandalism. The gang taught him how to use violence to get what you want . When he was 14 years old, Al got expelled from school and never went back after he got mad at his teacher and hit her. By this time, Al Capone was destined to live a life of crime (Stockdale 9-11).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the time Al was 14 years old, he was an experienced streetfighter and had learned how to use a knife and gun successfully. He became a good leader of the junior gang and was introduced to the Five Points Gang in Brooklyn by Frankie Yale and John Torrio. He began working for Frankie Yale who was an important figure in the adult gang in Brooklyn. Al was 16 years old and was helping control Yale’s prostitution, gambling, extortion, and protection rackets (Schoenberg 23-25). Al Capone worked at the Harvard Inn as ... ...). Capone never went back to doing any gang activity because of his illness. Then on January 21, 1948, Al Capone suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Capone regained consciousness and was able to talk with his family. Then a few days later he caught pneumonia and died of a heart attack on January 25. His body was buried in Chicago on February 4. The site of his grave became a famous tourist attraction so they moved the body to an unpublicized spot in Mount Carmel Cemetery. His tombstone read, â€Å"My Jesus Mercy (Bergreen 605-609).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Public service is my motto. Ninety percent of the people in Chicago drink and gamble. I’ve tried to serve them decent liquor and square games. But I’m not appreciated. I’m known all over the world as a millionaire gorilla,† said Al Capone (Bergreen 16). Alphonse Capone redefined the concept of crime into an organized endeavor modeled on corporate enterprise (Stockdale 45). He dominated the Chicago underworld through illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution. Capone eliminated all of his opponents and avoided prosecution for the crimes that he committed. He was the ultimate symbol of a gangster rule.

Massacre At Mystic

English Puritans assembled an alliance. They all had one goal; eradicate the most powerful tribe in southern New England, The Opaque Tribe. They began conflicting over property, warfare, division of labor and nature. The English thought the Puritan men were lazy because the women did all the cooking and gardening. The alliance made a deal to not harm women or children. On that night, the group, led by John Mason, snuck to the Opaque village, with the Intent to kill the men.The Opaque forces were too strong. The puritans then decided to burn the village, with the Bouquets Inside. Hundreds of Bouquets were killed, as well as some Englishmen, others were sold Into slavery. This, In turn, harmed the elderly, men, women, and children. The massacre was a tragic event that had forever changed America for the natives. The English believed that the only way of life, was their way of life. Their goal was western expansion. The Natives, unfortunately for the English, controlled all of the weste rn land. Puritans manipulated native enemies into killing one another.A systematic idea of killing all Bouquets began only a few weeks later. As a result, the Opaque tribe was considered extinct, even though little remained. The English hoped the few remaining would forget their ways. The Narragansett Tribe, approximately eighty years later, was destroyed in the King Philips War. The final Bouquets reemerged in Connecticut on a reservation appointed by the government. The land was difficult for survival due to insufficient soil and many other factors. Their reservation became smaller and smaller as the English began to take the land for arsenal use or for money.The Puritans goal of wiping out the Opaque Tribe was almost a success. Nearly three hundred years later, only three Opaque remained. They were all elderly women, living alone on the reservation. The women intended to restore the native tribe. Eventually, the land was returned to the Opaque group. The reservation was considere d a separate country from the United States. No taxes were enforced, in fact, none were created at all. There was a government and police force established. Enhancement Opaque Museum is a museum that tells of all the vents the occurred in the history of the tribe.The Pesto's main source of prosperity was the casino they built. It Is still, to this day, the largest casino In the United States. Nevertheless the Opaque Tribe still engages In the same rituals and old traditions practiced before the massacre. They still condemned mistrust and suspicion since the massacre. As of today the Opaque Tribe Is still considered nonexistent. Although some do not consider the Opaque as an active tribe, It Is notorious for their great recovery of the ancient ways and legends of the group.The Puritans we not effected by their expedition because they were under the Impression they were doing good. The tragic event eventually caused prosperity although many lives were taken. If the Puritans had not do ne this though, America would be a completely different place. The incident did, in fact, change American history and America today. BY Ian-11234 On May 26th, 1637, a group of Narragansett and Monica Native Americans along led by John Mason, snuck to the Opaque village, with the intent to kill the men. The the Bouquets inside.Hundreds of Bouquets were killed, as well as some Englishmen, others were sold into slavery. This, in turn, harmed the elderly, men, women, and prosperity was the casino they built. It is still, to this day, the largest casino in the United States. Nevertheless the Opaque Tribe still engages in the same rituals and suspicion since the massacre. As of today the Opaque Tribe is still considered nonexistent. Although some do not consider the Opaque as an active tribe, it is Puritans we not effected by their expedition because they were under the impression

Buddhism vs. Hinduism

Both Buddhism and Hinduism are widely practiced religions of the world. No one is completely certain of where Hinduism was started and by whom it was led. However, today Hinduism is the third largest religion of the world. And with the passage of time many changes and alterations have been made in this religion. Most importantly, Hinduism includes many different beliefs and dominations that have arisen. Even though there are many common things exist in different Hinduism sects and their beliefs are tied to some extents.The â€Å"Vedas† is considered the oldest written document of Hinduism and it was being written in 1000 B. C but had existed orally long before. On the other hand, Buddhism is a transformed version of Hinduism. Buddhism was founded by Gautama the Buddha. Buddhism is known for its Middle Path that which neither promotes extreme asceticism nor absolute hedonism yet still leads to nirvana. In addition, the Buddha promoted the 8 fold path, that of right thinking, ri ght effort, right speech, right of understanding, right of livelihood, right of concentration and right of mindfulness.Though the Buddhism or the middle path discouraged the concept of and external God waiting to mete honour or punishment, besides, it strongly believed in the cycle of reincarnation finishing which a seeker could achieve nirvana, the ultimate enlightenment. Both Hinduism and Buddhism arose in South Asia, and thus stem from a similar culture and philosophy. Difference between Buddhism and Hinduism Buddhism believes in soul and matter and there is no place for God, besides this Hinduism considers God as the creator of the universe.In contrast, Buddhism denies the Vedas authority and dislikes animal sacrifice, while Hinduism believes in the authority of Vedas and attaches special significance to the Vedic rituals. â€Å"Buddhism does not believe in the superiority of the Brahmans or any caste distinctions, while Hinduism puts emphasis on the caste system and considers the same bed rock of the whole social system. Buddhism is missionary religion which aims at converting entire mankind to the doctrines of Buddha; while Hinduism never seeks converts and it has no definite organization like the Buddhist sangha.A personal element is introduced by Buddhism in the form of Buddha as the saviours, while there are no such personal elements in Hinduism†. (Nerox, pg, 1) On matters of social structure Hinduism and Buddhism differ greatly. The two religions also distinguish because Buddhism emphasizes and Hinduism omits individual freedom to progress socially and spiritually in the current life. In comparing the two religions, one can easily find why it is that Hinduism has showed the more stable and Buddhism the more humanitarian philosophy.The caste system is the outstanding instance of Hinduism's establishment tendencies. If casting among Hindus sects they can be divided into four major classes, Shudra, Brahman, Vaishya and Kshatriya, or people outsid e of all the classes. However members belong to different castes have different duties. In Hinduism usually the Caste is determined by birth, and it does not allowing individual freedom, social advancement and career choice. Moreover, the castes are socially ranked, forming an upper as well as lower social division.Caste, then, determines one's potential education, one's profession, one's social position, even defining these limitations for your children. These social restrictions are reinforced by the idea that caste is determined by sins or virtues in a previous life: how well one satisfied his dharma in the past. In addition, the responsibilities of one's current caste also constitute the dharma which will further punish or advance one in your next life. Put differently, exceeding one's dharma in not only unnecessary, but likely will hurt your dharma, causing you to fall into a lower caste in your next life.â€Å"This intertwining of social strata with religion creates a fatalis m derived from inevitable destiny, guilt complexes of past life caste determination, a philosophy of acceptance, and fear of punishment for transcending one's dharma. In this light, Hinduism becomes a tremendous force for stagnation, eliminating the initiative for progress in a philosophy of acceptance which breeds apathy for social justice. Such a pervasive philosophy becomes an asset to the status quo and ruling stratum, stabilizing the social structure at the expense of individuals†.(Hinduism and Buddhism† a comparison) In contrast, in the social or political structure of a society Buddhism plays little role. Buddhism in reality began as a reaction to the violence of Hindu society, including the viciousness of the caste system. Buddhism focuses not on the society, but on every single person, hence divorcing religion from the interests of the ruling stratum. Even though the Buddhism does see life as pain and suffering and renascence as a renewal of this suffering, ther e is a possible escape.If one resigns his attachment to hope and self, Nirvana, or escape from the cycles of suffering, is not impossible. The most significant aspect of Nirvana, nevertheless, is its unobstructed access to people of any social background. Put differently, although a Hindu â€Å"untouchable† cannot perhaps advance in this life through any extraordinary attempt of his own. In this regard, any Buddhist can attain Nirvana through the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, realizations essential of suffering and the methods to remove all suffering.A significant indicator of the contrast between Buddhism and Hinduism arises in their historical relationship. Buddhism, naturally, arose as a reform movement out of Hinduism. This in itself inclines to put Buddhism in a more convinced light as the religion that incorporated Hindu beliefs while excluding the negative aspects of Hinduism. Certainly, this turns out to be the case when the caste system can be studied thorou ghly. While Hinduism not only perpetuates, but is itself the caste system, Buddhism absolutely rejects any system of caste.During the rule of Ashoka Buddhism in reality reached high levels of support, which followed the Buddhist concept of ahimsa, or non violence, and its tendency toward greater equality. The good looks of a philosophy/religion of peace and general freedom, including a refusal of the social stigmas of caste for â€Å"untouchables† and lower caste members, brought thousands of converts. Again, nevertheless, the historical relationship of Buddhism and Hinduism depicts the inherent malleability and intensity of Hinduism.Furthermore, the Buddha was made an avatar of Vishnu in order to incorporate the Buddhist movement into Hinduism. â€Å"The Buddhists consider the world to be full of sorrow and regard ending the sorrow as the chief aim of human life. The Hindus consider that there are four chief aims (arthas) in life which every being should pursue. They are dh arma (religious duty), artha (wealth or material possessions), kama (desires and passions) and moksha (salvation. )† (Hinduism vs Buddhism: Hinduism and Buddhism Compared) ConclusionThe two Buddhism and Hinduism religions are very alike, and yet very different. They strive for an inner peace and at last to reach heaven through either moksha or nirvana. Culture plays a tremendous role in determining your beliefs. Both Hinduism and Buddhism religions seem to have components which would do the West good to learn, but only Buddhism religion lacks any large scale negative repercussions for its followers. Furthermore, Hinduism and Buddhism are two major religions, firmly planted in their cultures, and It looks that they will remain for a long time to come.Works Cited Hinduism and Buddhism† a comparison http://sc. essortment. com/hinduismandbud_rtqs. htm Accessed, June 15, 2007 Hinduism vs Buddhism: Hinduism and Buddhism Compared http://www. experiencefestival. com/a/Hinduism_v s_Buddhism/id/54137 Accessed, June 15, 2007 Nerox (11 May 2007), Journal Article What are the similarities and differences between Buddhism and Hinduism, (page, 1) White, Sharon. (n. d. ), Journal Article â€Å"Buddhism and Hinduism: Differences and Similarities, (page, 1)

The Yoshida Doctrine

Every foreign relation that a Nation-State enters is always self-serving. A country enters into an agreement with another for the purpose of achieving its national goals, and preserving its national security. When a country is in need of aid, whether in the economic or defense facet, the first option that that country would take is to enter into relations with other nations, and the first country on their list would be the United States. The United States has been the World Superpower since time immemorial, dominating the world in almost all aspects. Consequently, when countries are in need of aid, the US is their first option in mind to turn to. When Japan was grappled by the crippling effects of the Second World War, their intuition dictated for them to enter into foreign relations with the US – Thus, the Yoshida Doctrine was born. The doctrine was named after Yoshida Shigeru, a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954, during the critical transition period after World War II (http://www. newworldencyclopedia. rg/entry/Yoshida_Shigeru). This paper aims to give an overview on the foreign relations of Japan on a global level focusing on the present time period. Times are changing in unimaginable ways. There have been great changes which can be viewed as positive or negative depending on whom the observer is; in this case, the relations between Japan and the US. What was once an acceptable agreement in the past may now be of little or no importance when applied to the present. Often times we hear the quote: â€Å"the only thing constant in the world is change. With this in mind, everything that a country would enter must be done with utmost clarity, and must take into consideration the circumstances of every case which may be applicable to it. The circumstances which may have warranted the application of the Yoshida Doctrine in the past may not anymore be applicable at present; thus, there would be a need to abolish or amend certain provisions of the aforementioned agreement for the proper application thereto. The Yoshida Doctrine was the product of an agreement between then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida with the United States. The agreement was made to help Japan recover economically from the effects of the World War II. To be able to achieve this, Japan heavily relied on the United States for its military protection. This was the tactic seen by then Prime Minister Yoshida to alleviate the effects of the war and to help it recover as a nation economically. It can be said that the Yoshida Doctrine that Japan entered with the US was bilateral and asymmetrical. The doctrine was bilateral mainly because it was an agreement only between the US and Japan. Also, the doctrine was asymmetrical for the reason that the agreement was leaning more on the US’ benefit. At first glance, the doctrine truly is beneficial for Japan; however, in the long run, this benefit would be at the expense of Japanese national dignity. At the time of the Cold War, the doctrine dictates that the US will leave economic matters to the Japanese government. On the other hand, defense issues will be handled by the US. This would mean that the US would act in behalf of the Japanese military in handling Japanese defense. The military is an instrument of a state that holds the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence. The military is tasked to defend the nation-states’ people from internal and external threats, and to maintain peace and order. These are the traditional roles of the military. A state’s hold on its military is essential to its survival, and for the assurance of its sovereignty. If one is to be nuance about the situation concerning the Yoshida Doctrine that the US would handle matters on Japanese military on external defense, then this would mean that positions in the United Nations most especially the seats in the United Nations Security Council, the United States would as well hold. It is of utmost importance to point out that although I would like to prove that Japan could defend itself and stand on its own, it is still important for it to become a member of the United Nations Security Council. Being a member of the United Nations is crucial, since this international organization plays a huge role in fostering unity amongst the member countries. Japan is already a member of this prestigious organization and it should build on improving its relations with it. The United Nations was established in order to foster peace and unity among those countries who are parties to it. The United Nations does not seek to trample on the manner by which a country runs its government but aims for each of its country members to abide by its generally acceptable principles such as peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and the like. As such, the members of the United Nations are in agreement that it is important to respect the rights of the different sovereignty that are part of it. This is important because it would give a sense of peace of mind to governments of the various member Nation-States since it knows that it has the freedom to govern its people without any outside influence, while at the same time knowing that it has alliances from other countries which would be of help when the need arises. There is no direct evidence that the United States benefited from the Yoshida Doctrine. But, a closer look into the agreement would reveal that the United States was able to influence Japan to a formidable extent. The United States has been touted as the most powerful country at present; consequently, every country would aspire to establish a relation with it, in one way or another. The presence of the United States military force in Japan gave the former the chance to control the latter by the mere presence that it has in their country. The Yoshida Doctrine has already served its purpose, and its dictate on the Japanese government at the present is no longer applicable. The doctrine’s purpose of giving Japan economic aid in exchange for handling the Japanese military has long since been able to establish itself. On the economic aspect, Japan is considered as one of the top countries in terms of economic growth. A country as rich as Japan has sufficient amount of resources needed to sustain its military workforce. At present,, It would be a very crucial decision to stray away from the Yoshida Doctrine since this may result to having a strained relation with the United States. However, it is still possible to enter into peaceful negotiations with countries to maintain their diplomacy with each other. At the present, Japan can now stand on its own both financially and on the level of security. This country has mastered economic policies with proofs from its domestic growth in colossal amounts.. Every government must have sufficient amount of income in order to support its needs such as education, livelihood, military, infrastructure and other relevant projects. The economic growth being enjoyed by Japan signals stability for their government. A crucial decision to remain free from the influence and dependence of the United States is a very difficult decision for Japan. However, these are risks that a government must be willing to take. The security force of any government should be taken seriously. The military is akin to the commander in chief of any organization. The military should pledge its loyalty to only one government otherwise, various problems and conflicts may arise. If the United States would continue to extend its aid to Japan pursuant to the Yoshida Doctrine, then I believe that the presence of the former in the latter country is there for the wrong reasons. This is where the argument becomes significant that an amendment of the doctrine is in order. The initial understanding of Japan and the United States is that the latter would extend its military service to the former to help it recover economically. I believe that this concern is no longer of issue at this day and age. The agreement should be rendered moot and academic. If Japan would still want to have the United States military force to be present in their country then a new agreement is in order, so that it would correspond to the present need thereof. As history would tell us, it is safe to say that too much alliance with a particular country affects the independence of that country. Whether the party concerned likes it or not, there will be decisions that it has to make in consideration of the country with whom it has an agreement with. This could adversely affect the foreign policy of that particular country to the prejudice of its constituents. It would be best for Japan to keep its alliance with the United States to a minimum and focus instead on its relations with, not only the United Nations, but more so, with all the other countries as well. It is better to maintain a good and harmonious relationship with the United Nations which is composed of several countries than to focus on enhancing its relations with a single country. The relationship of Japan and the United States could be eventually criticized to the prejudice of both countries. If Japan would continue its close relations on this intimate level with the United States it could be regarded as a country which would do everything and agree on anything that the latter agrees on. It is very important for any country to have independence and liberty free from any form of outside influence. I believe it would be best for Japan to nurture is relationship with other countries than to focus on the United States. For instance, Japan can improve its relations with countries with whom its relationship is not as strong as with the United States. Japan has a good head start, it is already a member of the United Nations and of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors or more commonly known as G-20. The G-20 is composed of 19 countries and of the European Union whose aim is to address global economic issues. The group is composed of, United Kingdom, China, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, these countries among others. The point of the matter is that Japan should improve its relations with these countries instead of merely being complacent with its relationship with the United States. Japan should nurture its relations with France, China, Mexico and other countries comprising G-20 as this would be of great and beneficial advantage for their country. Japan has already proven its loyalty to the United States, thus, it is now time for it to move on to other countries. Japan may instead work on enhancing its relations with its neighboring countries in order to work on more policies for their benefit. Every country needs to maintain diplomatic relations with every possible government in order to better achieve its goal. Further, it can also be argued that the resources of Japan should be shared not only with the United States but with all other countries that are desperately in need of it and vice versa. The United States should not only favor those countries with whom it is able to receive something but it should also strive to allocate its resources even to those with whom it is unable to gain in return. It may sound ideal; however, it only means being civil. It only means living under agreements where profit is not the main reason for living. On a political aspect, the Yoshida Doctrine was made during the time of then Prime Minister Yoshida. The factors by which Then Prime Minister Yoshida was surrounded with may no longer be applicable at this present time of Prime Minister Taro Aso. The situation of Japan during the post World War II period is entirely different than today. Through several years, Japan has evolved politically. When Japan was still on the verge of recovery from the effects of World War II, it needed to have an ally to be able to rise up again. As such, then Prime Minister Yoshida, entered into an agreement which was to be known as the Yoshida Doctrine with the United States. In 2009, many years after World War II, Japan is regarded as the third largest economy. Japan has gained this status after years of hard work. Japan is considered as technologically advanced and has been accepting more and more investments, making it economically self sufficient. Statistics show that it has 0% population below poverty line. The relation of its economic growth with its political aspect is important. A government that has a flourishing economy is self-sufficient, thus, its government is capable of standing on its own. Thus, the Yoshida Doctrine would no longer be applicable at this time. Although it can be argued that it would be very difficult to just suddenly nullify the Yoshida Doctrine since there is a risk of misinterpretation on the part of the United States. Such act would consequently invite questions regarding Japanese intentions or its loyalty, still, a thorough study of this matter is proper for the best interests of Japan. Prime Minister Aso is faced with different challenges that his leadership and term has to face. The leaders of any government should view every agreement on a long term basis. Any crucial agreements being made should be examined in the light of all factors such as economic, military, or political aspects. A leader must always bear in mind that he is merely the representative of the country that he represent, he does not occupy the position to establish personal or beneficial interests for his own agenda. Instead, the thinking should always be two steps ahead. There should be a projection of circumstances with a thorough analysis of every possible conflict that may arise as a result of any agreement or treaty. Any agreement that a country seeks to enter must not be for the benefit of the reigning political party or person occupying the highest position of the land. The underlying reasons for entering into any agreement must transcend the political interests of a particular party. With this, it can be said that a revision of the Yoshida Doctrine is in order so that it would be made to adapt to the present situation facing Japan. The Yoshida Doctrine affected Japan’s foreign policy post World War II to a great extent. Japan surrendered its military force to the United States since it wanted to rehabilitate its economy which was destroyed by the war. As a result, the United States was tasked to take control of the military defense of Japan. Up to this day, Japan has maintained strong ties with the United States. Japan took the risk of allowing the United States to take control of their security while it was busy with gathering resources for its economic recovery. This set-up has its consequences that are being felt even to this day. When Japan agreed to enter into an agreement with the United States it did not look far into the future since it was merely concerned with the situation, post World War II. There was lack of foresight in analyzing the future. The criticism that could be raised today is that, as a result of the Yoshida Doctrine, Japan now finds it hard to gain â€Å"independence† from the United States and to gain a representing seat at the United Nations Security Council. If the Yoshida Doctrine be not amended, Japan will forever bear the stigma of being an ally of the United States. Japan has surrendered a very powerful weapon to the United States that is their military force. It can be said, that this would also result to giving up a big chunk of their sovereignty and independence as a country. Japan must re-examine its position and its resources. It must look at the bigger picture and determine whether or not it is still profitable for it to maintain close ties on this level with the United States. Japan must have given itself options and widened its horizons by thinking twice when it surrendered its military force in favor of another country, in this case, the United States. If the situation would be taken from a bigger perspective, avoiding any myopic view of the matter, a problem could be detected. One aspect that we can see is that the Yoshida Doctrine does not support the resort to war as a means to resolve conflicts. On the other hand, the United States is known to be active in supporting its military workforce by engaging in war with other nations to eliminate terrorists. There seems to be a conflict of principles undertaken by these two countries who aim to work as one. When the need arises for Japan to follow United States orders on the military aspect, Japan would have no voice and would have to abide by the agreement that it has entered with the United States. Japan is therefore left with no voice, no autonomy and no independence to protect its own country through ways that it believes in. The amendment of the Yoshida Doctrine would not totally cut the ties of Japan from the United States. It merely seeks to place Japan on its proper place. The leaders of Japan should take this matter seriously if it does not want to be forever bound to the doctrine that should have long been amended. Too much of everything is bad. A middle ground should be established between the ties that bind Japan and the United States. There should be room left for the government officials of Japan to exercise its decision making when it comes to defending the security of their country. Japan may use the experiences that it has acquired from the United States during those times when the latter has extended its aid to the former. From here, Japan could form its own strategy, its own plan, a defense system that it can call its own, free from any influence by the United States. In this way, Japan would gain more respect from other countries and could set a good example for other nations, giving the idea that a strong nation can do anything on its own with a little help from others. If, after a thorough analysis of the situation, Japan believes that it is not ready to go on an all out independence from the United States, then it may enter into an agreement with the latter that would still give them enough freedom to decide on their own. The United States in this regard would merely be there to guide Japan, instead of totally taking away the military sovereignty and independence of the latter. I am of the opinion that the Yoshida Doctrine should be reshaped to be made more applicable at this present time. Japan has long been able to stand on its own and has since recovered from the crisis that it was faced with in the past which necessitated surrender of the military to the United States. Independence of any country, free from any external influence should be the guiding principles of any nation since it must learn how to stand on its own. It would not however hurt to seek help from another country but this does not mean that one should have total reliance thereto. Japan should begin to reexamine and delve deeper into its motive for its close alliance with the United States. The United States has its own concerns and issues to address independent of Japan. This means that the United States always has to look out for its country first and foremost without having to consider the stake that other allies have over it. Throughout the years from the 1970’ up to the present, many things have transpired. Japan has flourished economically, the United States became involved with defending its country by resorting to war, terrorism has become the major problem of the United States and so on. Japan should begin to take a different course from its overdependence with the United States, it should start taking the path that would give it more independence from the latter. To end my article, let me share with you a line that deserves to be pondered on: â€Å"Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men. † This quote that was once uttered by Mortimer Adler fully encompasses the relationship that Japan has with the United States. If Japan puts its national sovereignty on its lists of priorities, then Japan must rethink its relationship with the United States, and think more than twice on their future transactions.