Google+ report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google+ report - Essay Example An augmentation of this is co-marking, which is organizing as it were, yet with brands and associations that share the estimations of Pedal Forward, and which can drive Pedal Forwards own image mindfulness as well. For example, Pedal Forward can co-brand with a natural food organization that has national footing, or a beauty care products brand that centers around common fixings, for example, The Body Shop, to bring issues to light about Pedal Forwards own battle in Google+. The thought here is to adjust the co-marking procedure with what Pedal Forward needs to accomplish, and a big motivator for it (Leap, 2012). Another suggestion is for Pedal Forward to use Google+ Hangouts to associate with its fan base progressively, and to then catch that constant communication and post it on the Google+ page of Pedal Forward so a bigger populace of fans can continue seeing that Hangout meeting after the occasion, for their advantage. A Google+ Hangout takes into account Pedal Forward to interface by means of text and by means of video with a gathering of adherents about a particular point, say bamboo bicycle trails, and afterward catch that association for later posting. This is an extraordinary thought to do all the time, as an approach to remain applicable and interface definitively with the crowd The thought is for Pedal Forward to attempt to remain new and significant while contacting different pages and networks to build perceivability and to draw in existing and new fans. Related proposals along this line of reasoning incorporate setting up snares from Google+ and from Pedal Forwards site to other online networking stages, for example, Facebook and Twitter, Instagram Pinterest, and Kickstarter, to expand the web-based social networking reach of the crusade (Leap 2012). Being ready to communicate Google+ Hangout meetings is incredible, and something that can separate the stage from different stages, for example, Facebook. One way Google+ can additionally enhance this is to attach these Hangout

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Meeting - Essay Example of the patients sat at the lounge area while some who appeared to be more vulnerable than the rest wanted to sit or lie on the grass outside, while trusting that their turn will see the specialist. I had recently got to a territory stamped ‘Emergency Parking’ when aâ guardâ instructed me that it was a limited region. With that, I concluded it was the ideal opportunity for my meeting. I didn't experience difficulty discovering Dr. Johnsâ officeâ as he hadâ wellâ directed me where to discover it. I checked the time by and by and understood that I was two minutes late for the meeting. I was going to thump at the entryway when unexpectedly somebody behind me alarmed me. â€Å"Good morning, how might I help you?† I immediately turned toâ meetâ a tall dark man andâ quicklyâ offered out my hand. â€Å"You must be Dr. John?†Ã‚ I asked him with a major smile all over and feltâ ashamedâ when I saw his informal ID dangled from the left pocket of his shirt. He was simply over my stature, likely about 5’8† and calmly dressed. In the wake of presenting myself, he invited me into his office. The workplace looked open and efficient. His work area was corresponding with the West mass of the structure, and there was a jar on top, however the blossoms dwelling there seemed to have begun kicking the bucket days beforehand. â€Å"Have a seat kindly and what can Iâ orderâ forâ you?† he asked me as he motioned me to a comfortable seat close to his work area. â€Å"Thank you, I will beâ fine† I replied as I took theâ seatâ and prepared out my pen to begin my interview. I disclosed to him why I required theâ interviewâ and he appeared to be all hears as he gestured while gazing at my scratch pad as though he couldâ readâ whatever I was writing down already. I chose toâ startâ theâ interviewâ immediatelyâ since I realized how occupied hisâ scheduleâ was. Dr John began by revealing to me that he accepted he was the busiestâ employeeâ at St. Mary emergency clinic. â€Å"There are two sorts of administrators† he started while pivoting hisâ executiveâ looking pen between his two hands. â€Å"We have generalists and

Haiti Day 1

Haiti Day 1 This term Im taking a class this term called MAS.963, or Special Media Projects in Haiti. The class was conceived fairly last minute after the earthquake hit in January, and is structured around weekly guest lectures about Haitian culture and sustainable development. At the same time, weve been working in small groups to devise projects that we could take to disseminate in Haiti at the end of April. Im working with Anila 10 to disseminate low cost water testing devices that were developed by D-Lab, a lab/class at MIT that focuses on sustainable technology in developing countries. We hope to bring the tests to chlorinators set up by a nonprofit and check out the e. coli levels in these water sources, as well as train their workers on site. So today, were in Haiti. I dont know what I expected I guess I didnt really think about how bad it would be here until I stepped off the plane. Ive traveled to developing countries before, and Ive traveled to areas after theyve been hit by natural disasters before, but never of this scale. We got off the plane, and the airport was mostly intact except that immigration was in a warehouse that was the first clue that something was off. After hopping in a van, we rode through the mostly unpaved roads of Port-Au-Prince to see signs of destruction and devastation in every direction. There are tent cities for miles. People everywhere. Concrete rubble and garbage flow in waves down long streets; turn the corner and what was once a house lies in shambles. It seems like an impenetrable problem. How to rebuild after all this, how to deal with so many displaced people, how to implement infrastructure in the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and most of all, how to make sense of all of this in just one short week. This is what Im struggling with the most I feel like we can never do enough, and yet I want to do so much. I feel ridiculous and strange sitting in a hotel room with air conditioning writing on the internet about how I feel when there are thousands of people outside our door without a roof or running water. I wish there was more that we could do. But there is also the undeniable sense of hope here; there are still people dancing and singing in the streets. As we stood on the roof of our hotel after dinner, looking out at the mountains and the stars hanging above Port-Au-Prince, we listened to salsa drifting over from a neighboring restaurant and watched women carry huge buckets of waters on their shoulders, stepping to the beat of the music. There is something so resilient about the spirit here that I cant help but naively hope that maybe we will be able to do something small to contribute, even if were only here for one short week. Tomorrow, well go to meet with representatives from the Haiti WASH cluster, which is a UN organization that deals with sanitation and water issues in Port-Au-Prince. Tomorrow, well begin to work away at the impenetrable problem, doing whatever small things we can to contribute. Until then!

Teens Need Positive Body Images Essay - 1739 Words

When walking down a junior high, high school, or college hallway, it’s not an uncommon occurrence to hear a young woman say something bad about either her body or another girl’s body. Negative comments instill a deeper impact than merely hurting a child’s feelings. They lead toward lowered self-esteem, increased dieting or eating disorders. Young girls require illumination at an early age into positive body images, avoiding those repercussions and the extremity of committing suicide such as demonstrated in â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy from 1973. No matter the passing time or the era the world is in, young women maintain affected by negative body image. This needs to be cut off at an early age before it has a chance to†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The only rule is that batting (padding) must be added to save the starving Barbie, so she can digest food and use her brain† (Deeds, 28). These workshops assist young women in developing a lov e for their own body. If taught to look at themselves and accept their bodies early on, the more confidence they will exude when they begin junior high school. Once they enter junior high, if not before, puberty begins. It causes many body changes in young teen girls. Sure, every girl goes through puberty but the weight goes up and down, breasts spring up, and the emotions have a tendency to go crazy. Girls get lost within themselves as they try to be someone they are not. If the young teens had been taught positive body image earlier in life, this wouldn’t even be an issue at this point. But by this time, many girls haven’t learned to accept their bodies. So, anything their peers say will affect them not just emotionally, but physically. In Piercy’s poem she states, â€Å"Then the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/You have a great big nose and fat legs† (643). After hearing this, devastations occurs for many young teens. This resounds in their head li ke a broken record. Once a girl hears negative comments towards her body, that is the one thing that stands out to her. Dieting would commence to abandon the fat legs, which leads to a possible obsession; even developing into an eating disorder. The internet helps teens with weird eating habits.Show MoreRelatedPositive Adult Role Models1038 Words   |  4 PagesPositive Adult Role Models Imagine living in a world where teens are doing drugs, pressuring their peers, and trying to be just like the models in magazines. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in today. What do these teens need? They need positive adult role models. It is important for a teen to be influenced by positive adult role models while growing up; because if they don’t have positive adult role models, teens can be influenced by negative media, negative peer pressure, and teen drugRead MoreThe Pressures of Teenage Life 898 Words   |  4 PagesTeenagers constantly worry about their body image. Magazines, newspapers, and television don’t exactly help to boost their confidence. The portrayal of stick thin woman and body building men forces teens to believe they need to achieve that â€Å"perfect† body and look. The biggest issue of these images being broadcasted to teens is the effects that the images have on them. Teenagers who obsess over their body image can experienc e stress due to trying to impress others, develop an eating disorder, andRead MoreBody Image And Eating Disorders Essay1531 Words   |  7 Pagesexpectation, and yet our young women are expected to emulate this image. The result of such pressures can prove to be too much to handle and young women often resort to pathogenic dieting and experience body image and eating disorders. 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So, while we, the viewers, can see her as unhealthily thin she could very well be seeing herself at a normal weight. Another thing is, it is often very hard to admit you have a problem like that so she could be denying it forRead MoreSocial Media And Its Effect On Society1708 Words   |  7 Pagesextremely positive and extremely negative part of today’s society. In our current day and age, a majority of teenagers use social media apps every single day. Social media allows people to connect with friends and family, allows you to see what is going on in the world, and gives you the ability to express yourself to a large audience. As nice as that may sound, there are also negatives to social media. For example, some people use the power of social media to do harm. For most teenagers body image is extre melyRead MoreThe Inclination of Today’s Youths Towards Self-Harm658 Words   |  3 Pagesteenagers are suffering a hidden pain in the privacy of their homes. They secretly cut, burn, scratch, pull hair, and bruise their bodies. The psychosis is termed non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI).Teenagers are feeling pressures from typical insecurities of low self-esteem, body image, fashion trends, bullying, pressures from friends, and family issues. As a result, teens are turning to the internet for strategies of how to deal with the pressures of life, making this topic more of a public enigma, thanRead MoreBody Image And Self Esteem Among Adolescents1685 Words   |  7 PagesBody Image and Self-Esteem among Adolescents The topic of body image is an issue that we see amongst many adolescents all around the world. This huge issue can be dealt by adults but the main victim of body imaging are adolescents. Everywhere, anyone goes, there is example of what society considers â€Å"beautiful.† Even if someone is not completely studying it, their subconscious is still registering all of the images and words to what society thinks is a perfect body. Everyday there are people thatRead MoreA Research Study On Mentoring Program1184 Words   |  5 Pagessessions ran by police officers, focusing on communication, goal setting, making good choices, and positive self-image. Another element to the program is adventure camps designed to engage the skills they have acquired during the mentoring process (2016). DBL is evaluated by the PCYC on a set of expected outcomes of the program including but not limited to, â€Å"increased communication skills† (2016), â€Å"positive change in decision making pa tterns† (2016), and â€Å"reduction in truancy† (2016). Additionally, in

The One Best System to Use for Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students

The One Best System to Use for Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students Sometimes finding a topic may be one of the most difficult parts of writing an essay. Before actually beginning to compose your essay, you have to choose an issue to write about. Pay through PayPal or some other payment option available. Therefore, every paper must be written carefully. Welcome to stay in touch by means of your paper writer controlling everything. It is suggested to look for the one which has a great reputation and offers high-quality papers at economical prices. The crucial reason many writers fail is they don't go further. A conclusion is, undoubtedly, the most significant portion of the argumentative essay since you can either support the very good impression or destroy it entirely. Anyway, direct and indirect quotes are required to support your understanding of academic writing style. One of the most frequent reasons people start looking for assistance with essay writing is they realize they're running out of time. The Appeal of Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students For that reason, it's important to make them experience its different facets to enhance their knowledge. Fossil fuels ought to be mostly replaced by systems that use some type of renewable supply of energy. Learning There are many strategies and approaches to learning and grasping the exact materials. Any sphere and degree of complexity is going to be addressed successfully. Face to face communication was damaged beyond repair as a result of social networking. The ability to supply information in various contexts is necessary to effective communication. You don't have to supply somebody else's point of view instead write what you personally consider the circumstance or subject. Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students Help! Aim to make over half of what you say positive and enjoyable to obey. Give reasons why you believe your plan would get the job done. Explain why you think that your plan will do the job. Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students - the Conspiracy Well, you own a task to compose a 7th grade essay. Expository essays describe a procedure or offer factual details. Like every assignment, a descriptive essay has a certain intent. Get a complimentary plagiarism report together with your edit essay order. You may continue to keep your argumentative essays for your upcoming job portfolio in case they're highly graded. For this, you will need to perform a small questionnaire. It's a significant classroom management tool. You want to set up facts, possess the confidence and demonstrate the crystal clear evidence of your private viewpoint to certain phenomenon. Learning materials As people study, the correct collection of articles dramatically enhances the procedure. Make certain that you have gathered sufficient info to present your writing. Research-based topics require students to collect information till they write. Lies You've Been Told About Essay Topics for 7th Grade Students Compare and contrast essays are among the most usual kinds of papers that students might have to learn how to write, especially at the middle school and higher school levels. In addition, it depends upon the special college subject. You will receive more students engaged in reading if you're able to recommend books yourself. General information Students that are new to the topic of social studies must be ready for in-depth education at their initial lessons. Choir also provides opportunities for students to come up with team building and leadership abilities. Participation demands a 1 year commitment students won't be permitted to drop either band or orchestra when the year has started. Participation in concert performances outside normal class hours is needed. Computers and smartphones provide parental controls. Deciding on your topic isn't that easy. After you have the topic, answer the question and support your answer with three or more explanations for why you believe it. Anyway, below, you will find topic that are great for both situations. Describe something which you used to enjoy that at this point you find embarrassing. Describe something you wish to accomplish in your life. Each style differs in two ways. Think of your favourite place to eat.

BBB Wise Giving Alliance Free Essays

Better Business Bureaus (BBB) is an organization that ‘checks’ on both businesses and charities. They offer an objective view of different businesses and charities, which they award with their seal, after passing several criteria. Such seals add confidence to consumers and donors who wants to associate with them. We will write a custom essay sample on BBB Wise Giving Alliance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Currently, there are 3 million local and national establishments that are being constantly monitored and evaluated. Better Business Bureaus holds tightly on good business values. Some values that they uphold the importance includes, fairness and honesty, which should be incorporated in business ethics and for charity. They were first established in 1912. This is a program that will help donors identify legitimate and responsible charities. These charities are evaluated according to a set of standards; reports are then published to aid donors regarding the different charities. The reports are usually within three-year periods. The charity seal is optional to those that have passed the charity standards. The charity standards were developed by several institutions to ensure that the standards reflect those that the public needs. Information like charity fund allocations, organizational structure, ‘truthfulness’ of their accounts and their willingness to share other basic information about their organization. These are then analyzed to meet the standards. Review the report of at least one charity and discuss what you find. The information included in the reports are: charity contact information and description, Better Business Bureau comments, programs or activities of the charity, governance, including names of the head and their compensation, fund raising methods, financial reports including their budget allocation and tax status. These are very helpful information in identifying the best charity institutions that the donors would want to help, as well as to define transparency to their current donors. The information are just enough to build the confidence of donors, these should be the basic information, no more and no less. Reference BBB Wise Giving Alliance. (2003). Standards for Charity Accountability. Retrieved March 18, 2009 from http://www. bbb. org/us/Charity-Standards/ How to cite BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Papers

Sociology of Religion- Approaches to Secularization free essay sample

Sociology of Religion- Final Assignment 2013 1. One of the definitions of secularization is the transformation of a society from close Identification with religious values and Institutions toward nonreligious (or irreligious) values and secular institutions. The Secularization thesis states that as society progresses, particularly through modernlzatlon and rationalization, rellglon loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance. Max Weber described this process as the disenchantment ot the world. One ot the most significant sociologists who wrote about the Secularization Theory, Jose Casanova, spoke of three ajor approaches to secularization, referring mostly to Western Christian cultures (Casanova, 2007, p. 8). HIS works generally referred to the process of secularization as it took place in Europe, sparked by the Age of Enlightenment, and later on, constitutionalized in the US. One major approach to secularization by Casanova is the process of secularization as social differentiation. Casanova defined this approach as conceptualization of the process of societal moderni7ation as a process of functional differentiation and emancipation of the secular spheres†primarily the tate, the economy, and science†from the religious sphere and the concomitant differentlatlon and speclallzatlon of rellglon within Its own newly found rellglous sphere. We will write a custom essay sample on Sociology of Religion- Approaches to Secularization or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In other words, as modernization carried out the ideas of rationalization, methodological individualism and scientific research, European societies had become much more differentiated. That resulted In all social spheres leaving the regulation by religion and developing according to their autonomous laws Hence, gradually, the church had lost most of Its Influence and control on most social spheres. Furthermore, social differentiation caused religion to become another autonomous sphere among others, a sphere which is designed to fulfill special religious or spiritual functions religion became another social activity. Deprived of religious influence, the rise of the modern state as an autonomous institution allowed religious toleration as long as the domestic security Is maintained, thus resulting In more secularization. In addition, as Weber stated, as rationalization proceeds both in religion and in other institutional spheres, the tension between religion and other spheres grow. The rise of scientific research which led to question metaphysical perception, and the new capitalistic economies, gave a boost to secularization and formed d new order of society. The effect of seculdrlzdtlon In Europe took place In the states, as the liberal American model believed that the true church, constituted by all those who have a commitment to faith, becomes Invisible, The assumption is that everyone who has commitment to fate becomes a part of the religious community. There is no need of knowing who is a member of the church as theres no church elite which can rule over society. The Individual doesnt express himself in religious institution but in politics and in work ethic. Thus, in practice, all the churches are basically unnecessary. The emphasis Is that one has to work In a calling in the world for the greater glory of God. If one perfects the work based on his faith described as holy community. This holy community is what leads to separation of church and state as church is not that important anymore. As mentioned above, social differentiation causes religion to be Just another social sphere. This process leads to the second approach of Casanova which is the decline of social significance f religion one does not need religion in order for the social systems to function. According to Bryan Wilson ( 1982, p. 1 51), individuals devote less time, energy and resources to the supernatural, their thinking becomes more rational, empirical and instrumental, they rely less upon religious actions such as prayers and ceremonies to achieve their ends, and the types of explanations that they offer for natural events are less mythological and supernatural. Wilson claims that what drives this secularization is the transformation from a community to an urban society (p. 52-154), an explanation which is somewhat similar to the Durkheims definitions of mechanic and organic society. In a community, theres much more emphasis on personal relations, less differentiation and social control is achieved through morality. However, in modern society, social relations weaken and what becomes significant is role expectation. Religion and its morals are not considered central anymore and the weight shifts to exchange relationship. Casanovas third approach, privatization of religion defines secularization as an idea that religion becomes a matter of subjective individual choice. As opposed to Durkheim who saw religion as the basis of collective representations, this approach does not need a collective representation as it works on a different level. Peter Berger stated that individuals seek to build their own meaning system representation. According to Berger, religion naturalizes the social order, hence secularization does not necessarily lack religion and is no longer necessary in order to provide the glue of society as society can function by itself. Furthermore, in modernity, religion loses its place as forming meaning for the entire society and gives meaning only to the individual (Berger,1967, . 127). As a result, religion becomes one meaning system among many, where one can live a fulfilled life without a religion and achieve happiness, self-fulfillment, success, etc. on his own without referring to the transcendent. One can also find other meaning systems such as humanism, sports or any other concept which he can interpret as influential and inspiring. Since religion is not taken for granted anymore, it has to market itself and adjust to the different needs of individuals. Hence one can see the rise of denominations, each one attempting to target a different religious udience. Moreover, the definition of a religious individual becomes much broader, as one can believe but not take any part in traditional ceremonies etc. All in all, it can be said that what all approaches have in common is the devaluation of religion, from a state which it was dictating the social order to a state that its influence on society has deeply weakened. However, the approaches do not cancel out religion and see it as diminished; each approach describes a different role which religion provides in a different context. In addition, all approaches are based on the ideas of the nlightenment, creating a modern order characterized by rationalism and methodical individualism. In contrast, the decline of religion and privatization approach focus on micro changes, those concerning the individuals and their perception of religion, while the social differentiation focuses on the formations of specialized autonomous Secularization Thesis describes a process in which society becomes more secular as modernity progresses. Social differentiation, through rationality, managed to remove the influence of religion in the defining professions such as media, law, academics economy, etc. , and reconstruct them as autonomous spheres. These prominent, now secular spheres define social reality and give the feeling that the whole world is secular, but in fact, Berger states that this might be an illusion of a certain elite. In truth, a major complication in the Secularization Thesis is the return of religion, describing four major events which took place in the 70s and onwards. The Islamic revolution in Iran led by Ayatollah Khomeini resulted in the re-implantation of Islam into all social spheres. The Moral Majority organization in the US, with a membership of 4 million members, was one of the largest conservative lobby groups in the country nd managed to influence on many political agendas. In addition, the formation of the national conservative Hindu Bharatiya Janata party in India and the religionization of the Israel- Palestine conflict also emphasized and gave a central platform for religion to affect other social spheres, mainly politics. What these events had in common is the belief that the social order had to change by a new comprehensive system, emanating from religious principles and embracing law, politics, society, economy and culture. In fact, going back to a de-differentiated society with religion dictating most social spheres defines fundamentalism. The first approach to fundamentalism sees fundamentalism as universal, characterized by a family resemblance among various movements, analyzed in terms of religious idealism and most importantly is against secularization and the modernity which carries it. In this paradigm, fundamentalists are the Other of the modern subject. They are irrational as they are led by charismatic totalitarian leaders who construct cosmological mythologies and mythologize their enemies. They are absolutist, totalistic, hence rigid and not subject to change or even negotiation. Furthermore, hey are organized in militant defensiveness, set high social boundaries with severe sanctions in which to enforce its beliefs and actions. This is all done in order to protect the group from contamination and preserve purity. Despite their traditional, not modern beliefs, fundamentalist movements are very aware and conscious to modern society. They do not simply re-affirm the old doctrines; they subtly lift them from their original context, embellish and institutionalize them and employ them as ideological weapons against a hostile world. In order to spread their ideologies, the ovements use modern technology such as television, radio and the internet, accepting that some adjustments to their traditional methods must take place. Another approach to the study of Fundamentalism is Eisenstadts Multiple Modernities. This approach explains that as modernity is characterized by intensive critical thinking concerning the traditional premises of the ontological, social and political orders, one can basically question everything. As a result, since everything can be doubted, there is a loss of all markers of certainty. This loss leads to two opposing yet complementary directions of the construction of society by conscious uman actions: pluralism and absolutism. Pluralism creates a social order of choice, options that one can choose from as the uncertainty is growing. On the other hand, totalistic social order describes an attempt to create one utopian unconditional world more into conformity with the transcendental ideals, and this social order is the one adopted by fundamentalist movements. Every modern society locates itself in a different fashion upon the spectrum between absolutism and pluralism. Therefore there are multiple modern societies and not only the western variety fundamentalist movements within the framework of Multiple Modernities. Fundamentalist movements have modern totalistic characteristics such as the Jacobin party had in the French revolution (Eisenstadt, p. 175) and like communist movements, which attempted to capture the political center of society and to remake society and culture in accord with their utopian-religious vision. To conclude, according to the definitions used above, political fundamentalist movements are an alternative modernity. As long modern societies are based on modern tradition the modern religion disappears and new religious movements which are ideological are coming to be. Political fundamentalist movements are an attempt to continue modern ideological politics in an age of the end of secular ideologies. Bibliography Berger, P. L. (1967). The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York. Casanova, J. (2007). Rethinking secularization: a global comparative perspective. Religion, Globalization, and Culture, 101-120. Eisenstadt, N. S. (2000), Between Europe and Islam: Shaping modernity in transcultural space. Brussels Wilson, B. R. (1982). Religion in sociological perspective (Vol. 7). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The War On Drugs Essays - Drug Control Law, War On Drugs

The War On Drugs Essays - Drug Control Law, War On Drugs The War On Drugs War On Drugs In todays society, the war on drugs has become a major issue in our cities and the business community. Many cities have started programs to make the situation better, but some have failed and the situation has become worse. The root of all the problems discussed in this case study, can be linked to drugs. There are many organizations and volunteer community groups as well as law enforcement, that are continuously trying to make our cities safe. This struggle is know globally as the War on Drugs. Drugs and Children The war on drugs is a very big part of our society. We face difficult decisions everyday dealing with drugs and how they affect our cities. Our children play a big role in that society, and they are a major factor on the war against drugs. We try to keep children away from the drug situation, but you cannot isolate them forever. Children will have to face the issue as they get older, or even while they are young. We must teach our children about the issues on drugs and make sure they are aware of the dealings that go on. Most children cannot speak to their parents about drugs, and those are the children who are usually doing drugs. If children cannot be open with their parents, they will find some other means of dealing with drug issues. History Nearly thirty years ago, the Nixon administration was the first administration to declare the war on drugs. President Nixon is credited with setting up the first methadone centers and abstinence programs cross the country. At the time these programs received two-thirds of the federal drug budget and the results were: crime rates fell and fewer people died of overdose. The Just Say No movement (led by first lady Nancy Reagan) was coupled with rigorous law enforcement and produced solid results. By 1992, for example, marijuana use by high school students had dropped significantly (http://ehostvgw15.epnet.com). The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the government's fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances. (usdoj.gov/dea/briefingbook/page9.htm) Drug Enforcement Agency The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets. (usdoj.gov/dea/briefingbook/page2.htm). The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was formed as a specialized branch of the justice department in 1973. This specialized bureau is on the front lines of the War on Drugs every day. The DEA is not only concerned with assisting local law enforcement, but a global policing as well. Drugs in the Workplace Many chambers of commerce throughout the nation have put Drug-Free Workplace programs into effect. The drug-free workplace program addresses not only issues in the business community, but the society as well. Statistics show that 70 percent of illegal drug users are employed, and 44 percent of drug users sell drugs to co-workers (http://ehostvgw6.epnet.com). The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that drug use in the workplace costs employers $75 billion to $100 billion annually in lost time. Sixty-five percent of all accidents on the job are directly related to drugs. Substance abusers are absent three times more often and use 16 times as many health care benefits as non-abusers (http://ehastvgw6.epnet.com). Many companies are aware of the drug problems within the office and are taking action to fix the situation. There are companies that have drug-screening test to employees to make sure that they are not using drug substances. The company must have a suspicion of that employee of using the drugs before giving the drug test. In the

4 Tips on Managing Your Student Loans

4 Tips on Managing Your Student Loans New grads, take heed. You’re freaking out about the escalating price tag of your education and that’s totally fair. But don’t panic yet. Take a step back to acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishment. Then plan your strategy for a sane repayment plan and fight back against the fear and doom. Here are 4 steps to getting yourself on the right track to a secure financial future. Starting now will set you up to avoid crashing and burning in a pile of tears and terror in a year or two.1. Don’t ignore your mailSo many grads can’t even bring themselves to open their first loan statement, let alone log in and look at the big fat number staring at them from their laptop screens. But avoiding the inevitable will not make that number smaller. In fact, you could make a bad situation even worse. Step one: open the envelope. Know exactly what you owe. The devil you know, right? If you have multiple loans, track down the names of your servicers and make a list of each, detailing the interest rates and balances. This will be crucial to smart planning.2. Be wary of the grace periodA sixth month grace period does not mean you don’t have to think about your loans for six months. Remember that your loans will continue to accrue interest- and lots of it- while you’re merrily trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up. The grace period exists mostly to benefit those who may need the extra time to get set up in their post graduate careers. Treat it as such.The longer you wait to start repaying, the more interest will accrue. And that interest will be added to your principal balance as soon as your loans come up for repayment. The longer you wait, the worse it gets. Step two, in a nutshell: use your grace period if you need it, but consider making payments against the interest while you wait.3. Keep your term as short as you canIt may seem like a good idea to pay your loans back in 25 years instead of 10. After all, a lower monthly payment number is a seductive thing. But just remember that the interest clock is not going to slow down for you. You could end up paying back almost double what you owe if you take a significant amount of time to repay. The Student Loan Repayment Calculator online is your friend. You should never choose repayment terms that you can’t handle, but you should chose the fastest repayment timeframe that makes sense for you. It will save you money!4. Consider refinancingOne way to lower your interest rates, particularly across a wide range of loans from different servicers, is to go through a refinancing company. You can always make an inquiry with a company like SoFi without committing to a refinance. In most cases, refinancing means a lower interest rate and a lower amount paid in the end. If you can guarantee total savings like this, it’s almost always worth it to consolidate. Be careful, however, of your particular situation and how it qualifies (or doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t) you for different loan forgiveness plans. If you don’t qualify for loan forgiveness or income-based repayment (often requiring you to pay a lot more over a longer period), a private lender is always an option.Repaying your student loans can seem like a prison sentence. And in some ways it is. But it’s always a better idea to have more information, to be more involved, and thereby more empowered. Be proactive and put your best foot forward. Future you will thank you!

International HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

International HRM - Essay Example ation, changed organisational structure and employee satisfaction’s issues, consumer behaviour shift, changed societal mind set, employee related government laws, changing norms, fluctuating market trends and variable economic conditions. Analysis of expatriation related practices by HRM department of UNILEVER.LTD is included along with the measures that have been taken to confront them. Recommendations with respect to changing techniques and methodologies have also been made. Human resource management is of great importance for any organisation. Effective HRM helps the organisation to efficiently utilise its work force in order to meet its strategic targets and goals. This exercise comprises of procedures, methodologies, constraints and benefits. At the urge of 21st century, the world has taken the shape of a global village due to advance communication and information technology. Increasing population with limiting resources has made it hard for people to survive. Descending employment and increasing inflation in many countries, especially the third world countries have driven their skilled labour & professional workforce to expatriate for the economic benefit. With the emergence of globalisation, business environment has also globalised. International trade flows, formation of global economic forums, changes in organisational structure and expansion of companies into MNCs have resulted in availability of labour market and staffing requirements which has increased opportunities for skilled work force and business professionals (Edward & Rees, 2006). This cross border demand-driven employment opportunities is resulting in paradigm shift of many countries, like Hong Kong and Singapore, towards service oriented economies. On one hand, expatriation and immigration has brought in many benefits for business and corporate community like economic opportunities, exploration of new markets worldwide and development of multi-cultural work force but on the other hand, it

Features Of The Childhood Cognitive Development Assignment

Features Of The Childhood Cognitive Development - Assignment Example Constructivists gain knowledge by operating gadgets to discover their properties. The organization is an inborn tendency to combine and integrate available schemes into coherent systems or bodies of knowledge. Intelligence in Piaget’s theory is a basic life function that enables an organism to adapt to its environment. Assimilation is the process of interpreting new experiences by incorporating them into existing schemes. Schemes are organized patterns of thoughts or actions that one constructs to interpret some aspects of one’s experience (Shaffer and Kipp 215). According to Piaget, adaptation is the condition in which an individual interacts with, embraces and live by his or her socio-physical and cognitive environment. An individual gets used to his or her environmental aspects regardless of their nature. Assimilation and accommodation concepts complement each other. While assimilation allows for embracement of one’s environment, accommodation requires an individual to accept and appreciate whatever the environment brings forth, including other humans and animals (Shaffer and Kipp 224). Piaget defined intelligence as a basic function of life that enables any organism or human to adapt and fit into his or its immediate environment. Most people would refer to the term as humans’ ability to perceive and comprehend information for use in cognitive development; and manage daily lives of a socio-physical environment. Sensorimotor stage is the first major period in Piaget’s stage theory, lasting approximately 2 years from birth. According to Piaget, during this stage children are not yet able to comprehend their world and must entirely rely on others especially their mothers to think on their behalf. Piaget asserts that imitation is the purest example of assimilation.

Companies In Controversial Industries Management Essay

Companies In Controversial Industries Management Essay Is it possible for companies in controversial industries to be socially responsible if their products are detrimental to human beings and the environment. Many claim it is impossible for them to be socially responsible because their CSR will always be an inherent contradiction since their business goal is at odds with the aims of public health policies. However as these companies already have a bad reputation, they have no need to be associated with doing good in order to boost sales. Hence when they engage in CSR, it could mean that they are genuine CSR practitioners. This paper examines CSR of firms in alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries and determines whether they can be socially responsible through their CSR implementation by using Porter and Kramers concept of shared value. However while assessing any motives companies may have to determine whether they are genuinely interested in CSR, it may be presumptuous or even unjust to these companies to assume their motives based on the consequences of their actions. Also, the approach used to determine whether the companies have been socially responsible may be too narrow. Nonetheless, companies need not have the best intentions for the society to be socially responsible. Introduction At the mention of controversial industries such as alcohol and tobacco industries, some may be quick to conclude that these industries cannot be socially responsible since they are producing goods that are detrimental to human beings and the environment. Even when firms in these industries practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some may still find it difficult to start regarding them as being socially responsible. The motive behind these companies for practicing CSR is also often disputed over. As these firms already have a bad reputation, they need not be associated with doing good for consumers to demand for their products, unlike inherently good companies. When these firms practice CSR, does it then mean that they genuinely have the societys welfare at heart? Or could they be doing CSR as a way of obscuring their questionable business and gaining social acceptance? Keeping these arguments in mind, we will now look at specific firms in alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries and their CSR practices in particular to evaluate the possible incentives behind their CSR initiatives as well as to determine whether they can be socially responsible through their CSR implementation. In consideration of the controversies of CSR, in particular, the view that CSR should be conducted in such as a way that it benefits both the society and the owners of the firm, rather than only one side of the parties, we will be using Porter and Kramers concept of shared value to decide whether a company is socially responsible. This requires firms to adopt CSR practices that concurrently benefit the society and the owners of the firm, by addressing societal weaknesses or harms while improving the financial performance of the firm, to be socially responsible. Alcohol Alcohol is an important risk factor for disease. It has implications in birth defects, cases of assault and family violence, alcoholism-related abuse, traffic accidents, reduced workplace productivity and lower life expectancy (Collins Lapsley, 2008; WHO, 2011). Consumption of alcohol is estimated to cost the American society a staggering $223.5 billion/year in health care, road-related accidents, reduced workplace productivity, violence and crime in 2007 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In comparison, federal alcohol tax revenue only amounted to $9.3 billion/year in 2007 (Congressional Budget Office). Case Study Take Diageo for instance. It is the worlds largest producer of spirits and an influential producer of beer and wine. It has 59 brands including Johnnie Walker and Guinness, two of the best-known brands of alcohol, under its portfolio. It generates $25 billion in sales revenue yearly. Diageo uses public awareness campaigns as part of its CSR initiative. It creates advertisements that educate drinking responsibly, including those aimed at discouraging excessive drinking, drink driving as well as underage drinking. However, these may have been the companys subtle attempts at bypassing regulations to advertise its alcoholic beverages to consumers. In Diageos the choice is yours campaign in 2008, it has also conveyed the message that overdrinking would inevitably lead to social disapproval, such as the embarrassing consequences of being thrown out of clubs. However, the University of Bath has found that such incidents are actually perceived as fun by youths (EUCAM, 2009), putting the intended effect of the campaign into question. Furthermore, the website of the campaign highlights the logos of Diageo drinks, casting doubts on whether it may have been aimed at advertising the companys alcoholic beverages to the consumers. The company also has campaigns that are aimed at reaching out to minors in schools. By claiming that they are contributing solutions to alcohol-related problems, the company is able to reach out to a target audience that they would otherwise not be able to reach due to alcohol marketing regulations. By using CSR as marketing gimmicks to make greater profits, the company has failed to manifest itself as a genuine CSR practitioner who does not have the societys best interests at heart when carrying out CSR practices. However, Diageo is making improvements to its corporate governance and has created a multi-prong strategy to take care of the interests of all its stakeholders. This year, it has reduced 9.4% of carbon emission in spite of its increased production and has increased water efficiency by 20% in Uganda through its implementation of better water recovery systems. In addition, it has organized internal DRINKiQ workshops to educate employees on responsible drinking. It also conducts independent audits on its suppliers with issues relating to health, safety and hygiene, working hours and wages. It also provides a confidential whistleblowing service, SpeakUp, to allow anyone who has come across a breach of its Code to report it. This ensures that Diageos Code of Conduct is strictly adhered to. Looking at the various Diageos CSR initiatives and going back to Porter and Kramers concept of shared value, Diageo would be considered a socially responsible company. Through its public awareness campaigns that concurrently discourage excessive drinking and advertise its brand of alcoholic beverages, the company is able to reduce the societal harm of its products and improve the profitability of the firm at the same time, although the effectiveness and the intended effect of the campaigns may be questionable. The implementation of better water recovery systems could also help the company save cost. These show that Diageo is a socially responsible company. Tobacco The health effects of tobacco have long been known. Smoking in particular is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary heart disease, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and cancer. Each year, 6 million deaths are caused by the inhalation of tobacco smoke. The irony becomes salient when tobacco becomes the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. With products deemed universally harmful allowed for sale, can tobacco companies be socially responsible? Case Study Altria Group Inc. is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. It is a pioneer of the tobacco corporate responsibility movement in the late 1990s. Recently, it has come out tops in social responsibility rankings, placing 15th on CR Magazines 100 best corporate citizens list and 4th in Fortune magazine. Altria has implemented a comprehensive corporate responsibility program targeting nine specific issues: tobacco product management, marketing practices, combating illegal trade, environmental management, sustainable agriculture, supply chain responsibility, employees, investing in companies and governance and compliance. Despite the multi-faceted approach, its CSR practices have been a subject of constant criticism, with critics questioning their motivations behind the acts of responsibility. Most argument centers on tobacco product management and marketing practices. Over the years, Altria has sought to manage its tobacco product issues and marketing practices as ethically as possible. They voluntarily communicate health effects with transparency, including health warnings on all its packages and websites. They undertake research and development in developing products with lower risks and also actively partner and collaborate with governments in support of cessation. In marketing practices, they voluntarily limit their reach of marketing to unintended audiences. Based on their actions, we can see the moral duty that Altria has undertaken as a company. Critics however argue against the motivation of their CSR, likening it to the washing of blood money. Some even argue that it is used as a sword and shield against product issues (Friedman, 2009). Yet it can also be seen as an atonement of sin. The term blood money seems to convey a form of coercion or illegal means to gain, yet from how Altria practices its CSR, we can clearly see their admittance to liability, transparency and the absence of coercion. Ironically, Altria has been embarking on initiatives to discourage people from smoking, which is counterintuitive of a profit-oriented business model. This seems to highlight the effort Altria has undertaken as a moral duty to doing right what it has done wrong, clearly fulfilling Kantian and even virtue ethics, and is a display of an ethical practice of social responsibility. Critics also argue that CSR allows tobacco companies to improve their image, leveraging CSR to add value to the otherwise evil company, thereby concluding that such a motivation may be of a selfish cause. However, unlike other corporations with the freedom of liberal marketing practices, tobacco companies including Altria undergo some of the strictest regulations on advertising and marketing. In fact, the company is creating advertisements that devalue its products, essentially decreasing the companys value further. There seems to be no tangible benefit for their bottom line with the implementation of CSR; instead, a greater amount of losses are being incurred. This thus further support the ethical motivation behind their CSR practices, as not much value can be leveraged off CSR for the benefit of the companys overall bottom-line. It is evident that a tobacco companys CSR does fulfill Porter and Kramers concept of shared value for both the company and society. However, it is more of a transactional value rather than a transformational one (Palazzo Richter, 2005), after all if tobacco companies really want to change society, the greatest impact will come from its voluntary demise. Therefore, it is justified for tobacco companies to do CSR, but it will never be able to transform or make good itself. Casino Casinos, like tobacco and alcohol, have contributed to a range of social and economic harms to the society (Hancock, Schellinck Schrans, 2008), with the most apparent social impact being the increase in problem gambling. It has been estimated that 1.2% of U.S. adults are pathological gamblers and another 1.5% are problem gamblers at some point of their lives, with the likelihood doubling for people living within 50 miles of a casino (Community Research Partners, 2010). Problem gambling impacts peoples lives in many negative and consequential ways; this includes unemployment, poor physical and mental health, risked social relationships as well as increased crimes (Community Research Partners, 2010). Large sums of social costs, including those spent on bankruptcies, imprisonments and divorces; have to be spent every year as a result of these impacts. Case Study Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the largest gaming company in the world with $8.83 billion in revenue in 2011. The company has carried out CSR extensively. It launched its comprehensive sustainability program, the CodeGreen, in 2004 and has displayed a strong commitment to achieving a broad set of sustainability goals for carbon emissions reduction, energy conservation, water consumption as well as waste recycling. Harrahs Lake Tahoe Casino and Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino, two of the companys casinos, have received the prestigious Gold Certification from Travelife, a certification body that recognizes companies within the tourism industry that adopt sustainable practices. Only four U.S.-based hotels out of 400 worldwide are Gold Certified in 2013 and three of them are Caesars properties (Stevens, 2013). Besides their commitment to responsible stewardship of the environment, the company also has codes of commitment to treat all their employees with respect and to provide them with good career opportunities, to promote responsible gaming as well as to help make all their communities healthy and vibrant places to live and work. To foster responsible gaming, the company only allows adults to visit their casinos, trains their employees on how to offer help to customers who may need it and provides toll-free helpline numbers for problem gambling. They have also adopted a policy to donate part of the company profits to community and charitable causes (Caesars Entertainment). As casinos fundamentally offer products that have adverse social and economic consequences, it may be unnecessary or even irrelevant for the company to conduct CSR to appear altruistic to the public. This may therefore imply that any CSR efforts from such companies could only be genuine. However, companies nowadays are increasingly expected to embrace wider responsibilities and roles and adhere to greater ethical, legal and responsible standards. Companies that fail to do so are found to receive weakened public support and less positive views from the media (Yani-de-Soriano, Javed Yousafzai, 2012). Therefore, it remains unclear as to whether Caesars Entertainment Corporation is a genuine CSR practitioner, or that they have conducted CSR to gain social acceptance. Caesars Entertainments CodeGreen sustainability program is a great example of creating a shared value through CSR. Through committing to responsible stewardship of the environment, the company strives to conserve energy, save water and recycle waste. These are environmental-friendly practices that also bring about cost-savings for the company. While not all the companys CSR initiatives, such as those targeted at promoting responsible gaming, directly bring about economic benefits to the stockholders of the company, they can help to gain social acceptance of the public, increasing sales and thereby giving rise to indirect economic benefits. Since Caesars Entertainments CSR practices create shared value for both the society and the owners of the firm according to the Porter and Kramers model, it is a socially responsible company. Limitations In evaluating the respective companies on whether they are genuine practitioners of CSR given that there do not seem to be a need for them to appear socially responsible, we have looked at how conducting CSR could benefit them to assess the motives that they might have in executing their CSR initiatives. However, it may be presumptuous or even unjust to these companies to assume their motives based on the consequences of their actions. The companies may indeed have been genuine practitioners of CSR, even if their CSR initiatives turn out to benefit the company as well. The approach that has been used to establish whether the specific companies have been socially responsible may also have been too narrow. In applying Porter and Kramers concept of shared value, our criteria for determining whether the companies are socially responsible only lies on whether the companys CSR initiatives benefit both the stockholders and the other stakeholders of the firm; however, we did not apply the model to take into account the inherent nature of the company that their products are detrimental to the society in determining whether they are socially responsible. As a result, all the three firms examined can easily be classified as being socially responsible. On the other hand, to take into consideration the inherent nature of the company, which could only create value for the owners of the firms at best, would mean that these companies could never be socially responsible so long as they continue to operate, according to Porter and Kramers model of shared value. Conclusion Corporate social responsibility is a complex and contentious subject that many businesses have to address and commit their resources to implement. When companies whose products are detrimental to the society practice CSR, their motives are often questioned and their ability to be socially responsible may still be contested. However, as have been discussed and elaborated on above, companies do not need to have the best intentions for the society to be socially responsible. In fact, companies who are not genuine practitioners of CSR, but have both the firm and the society at heart when practicing CSR are the ones who are the most socially responsible. Finally, we conclude that companies whose products are detrimental to the society can be socially responsible companies.

Philosophy And Modernity Essay

The conflict between Philosophy and Modernity is a never ending topic. Each of the terms is individually supported by the corresponding generations. But those who support modernity, at least at some point of life will surely support philosophy. That is the power of philosophy. Let us take a mishap as example that shows us how these two issues conflict with each other. The terrorist attacks of September 11 still haunt the minds of Americans unnerved by the enormity of the crime. We need to know what could have inspired someone to do such a thing. It is bad enough to experience such a monstrous event; to feel it is inexplicable, an act with no conceivable motive, only adds to the sense of unreality. What is the source of this hostility? What ideas, values, and attitudes give rise to it? Lewis’s observation contains the seeds of the two leading schools of thought about the answer to this question. Both schools place Islamist hatred of the USA in a larger cultural and historical context. Both are plausible, and in many respects they are compatible. But they differ in what they see as the essential terms of the ongoing conflict, and in their implications for the future. One school holds that the war on terror reflects an underlying conflict between Islam and the West as civilisations. Each is united, as a civilisation, by the loyalty of its people to a narrative of their past, a common religion, and shared ideas, values, and ways of life. The current tensions between Islam and the West are only the latest of the conflicts that have occurred over the centuries. The USA is a particular object of hostility now because it is the most powerful Western country. Those who reject modernity are to be found in every nation and civilization. The second school holds that terrorists’ hostility is directed at ‘the principles and values’ of the West. On this view, what they hate is not the West as a society or a civilisation per se, but rather the culture of modernity. Modernity was born in the West, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it is not inherently tied to the history or customs of any one society. It is a constellation of universal values – the secular culture of reason, science, individualism, progress, democracy, and capitalism – that have spread worldwide in different forms and to varying degrees. By the same token, those who reject modernity, who fear and wish to destroy it, are to be found in every nation and civilisation. And invariably they hate the USA as the fullest, most persuasive, and thus most dangerous embodiment of that culture. There are as many battles within civilisations as between them. Muslims saw military success as a mark of Allah’s favour. As Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a prominent Iranian philosopher and historian, observes, ‘During the first twelve centuries of its historic existence, Islam lived with the full awareness of the truth and realisation of God’s promise to Muslims that they would be victorious if they followed His religion. Such verses as â€Å"There is no victor but God†, which adorns the walls of the Alhambra, also adorned the soul and mind of Muslims’. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, the tide turned. The scientific and industrial revolutions vastly increased the wealth and the military power of the West. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the Middle East was taken over by European nations and broken up into colonies and protectorates. Today, despite decolonisation, the countries of this region remain poor and backward by comparison not only with the West but also with the booming economies of East Asia. Oil revenue has showered wealth on the region, but economic growth has been held back by layers of regulations, wasteful government enterprises and investments, not to mention corruption. Because of their strategic location, Middle Eastern countries were pawns of the Cold War but were rarely true partners or friends of either power. Now, Muslims feel they are at the mercy of a global economy driven by Western capitalism. They feel invaded by Western popular culture, which they regard as morally decadent. Israel is the salt in all these wounds – a nation of people who came from the West, tore a patch of land from Islam, turned it into a vibrant, wealthy economy, and acquired the military prowess to defeat its Arab neighbours. The result of all this, is ‘a feeling of humiliation – a growing awareness, among the heirs of an old, proud, and long-dominant civilisation, of having been overtaken, overborne, and overwhelmed by those whom they regarded as their inferiors’. Having tried to take on Western ways, with dismal results, they are increasingly drawn to the idea that the solution is a return to the pure Islamic faith that reigned in the days of their former greatness. The clash-of-civilisations school doubtless represents part of the truth of the matter. But it is not the whole truth, and not the fundamental truth. Its chief shortcoming is that it exaggerates the extent of agreement in outlook, values, ideas, and loyalties among people who share the common history and culture that define a civilisation. In fact, there are as many battles over these issues within civilisations as between them – especially in the West. The hijackers’ target was a temple of modernity. At the level of fundamental philosophical principles, however, the Enlightenment period was much more important as a turning point in the West, and in a way created a new civilisation. Anti-modernism Modernity was born in the West in a radical transformation of its past. The world of the Middle Ages, built around the world-view of Christian Scholasticism, was a society of religious philosophy, feudal law, and an agricultural economy. Out of this soil, the Renaissance and Enlightenment produced a substantially new society of science, individualism, and industrial capitalism. When we examine the wider context of Islamic terrorism, it is clear that a hatred of modernity is its driving force. The cultural foundation of this new society, if we state it as a set of explicit theses, was the view that reason, not revelation, is the instrument of knowledge and arbiter of truth; that science, not religion, gives us the truth about nature; that the pursuit of happiness in this life, not suffering in preparation for the next, is the cardinal value; that reason can and should be used to increase human wellbeing through economic and technological progress; that the individual person is an end in himself with the capacity to direct his own life, not a slave or a child to be ruled by others; that individuals have equal rights to freedom of thought, speech, and action; that religious belief should be a private affair, tolerance a social virtue, and church and state kept separate; and that we should replace command economies with markets, warfare with trade, and rule by king or commissar with democracy. It is therefore misleading to call our civilisation Christian, even though that remains the largest religion in terms of adherents. The West may still be a culture of Christians, by and large, but it is not a Christian culture anymore. It is a secular culture. And that is what the Islamists hate most about us. The al-Qaeda hijackers did not target the Vatican, the capital of Western Christianity whose leaders launched the Crusades. They did not attack the British Foreign Office, which directed colonial policy in the Middle East after World War I. They attacked the World Trade Centre, the proud symbol of engineering audacity and global commerce, where businesses from scores of countries (including many Muslim countries) worked in freedom and peace, creating wealth and investing in material progress. Their target, in short, was a temple of modernity. The culture of modernity is not a Western good but a human good Modernity meant people changing their relationship with both the world and themselves. For the first time, through science, they realised that many things, such as certain weather patterns or illnesses, were not a matter of fate. The social order no longer seemed impossible to change either. Revolutions could sweep away despots and people could improve their living standards. The threat posed by the Islamist terrorists derives not from their Islamic background but from the ideas, values, and motivations they share with anti-modernists everywhere-including in the West. In that regard, they have not merely assaulted our civilisation. They have attacked civilisation as such. Civilisation is the condition a society attains when it emerges from prehistoric barbarism and begins to apply intelligence systematically to the problems of human life, by creating technologies of production like farming, technologies of cognition like writing, and technologies of social order like cities and law. The culture of modernity is one of these permanent contributions – the most important. Though Western in origin, it is not a Western good but a human good. It has vastly expanded our knowledge of the world; brought a vast increase in wealth, comfort, safety, and health; and created social institutions in which humans can flourish. Anti-modernism is not simply loyalty to pre-modern stages of civilisation on the part of people who have not yet discovered reason and individualism. It is a postmodern reaction by people who have seen modernity and turned against it, who hate and wish to destroy it. This is a profoundly anti-human outlook, and there can be no compromise with it. As we take aim at the terrorists who have attacked us, we must also take intellectual aim at the ideas that inspire them.

Geography of Iraq

Iraq is a country located in western Asia and shares borders with Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. It has a small coastline of just 36 miles (58 km) along the Persian Gulf. Iraqs capital and largest city is Baghdad and it has a population of  40,194,216 (2018 estimate). Other large cities in Iraq include Mosul, Basra, Irbil, and Kirkuk. Fast Facts: Iraq Official Name:  Republic of IraqCapital: BaghdadPopulation: 40,194,216 (2018)Official Languages: Arabic, KurdishCurrency: Dinar (IQD)  Form of Government: Federal parliamentary republicClimate: Mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern IraqTotal Area: 169,234 square miles (438,317 square kilometers)Highest Point:  Cheekha Dar at 11,847 feet (3,611 meters)  Lowest Point:  Persian Gulf at 0 feet (0 meters) History of Iraq From 1980 to 1988 Iraq was involved in the Iran-Iraq war, which devastated its economy. The war also left Iraq as one of the largest military establishments in the Persian Gulf region. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait but it was forced out in early 1991 by a United States-led U.N. coalition. Following these events, social instability continued as the countrys northern Kurdish people and its southern Shia Muslims rebelled against Saddam Husseins government. As a result, Iraqs government used force to suppress the rebellion, killed thousands of citizens, and severely damaged the environment of the regions involved. Because of the instability in Iraq at the time, the U.S. and several other countries established no-fly zones over the country and the U.N. Security Council enacted several sanctions against Iraq after its government refused to surrender weapons and submit to U.N. inspections. Instability remained in the country throughout the rest of the 1990s and into the 2000s. In March-April 2003 a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq after it was claimed the country failed to comply with further U.N. inspections. This act began the Iraq War between Iraq and the U.S. Shortly the U.S.s invasion, Iraqs dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established to handle Iraqs governmental functions as the country worked to establish a new government. In June 2004, the CPA disbanded and the Iraqi Interim Government took over. In January 2005, the country held elections and the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) took power. In May 2005, the ITG appointed a committee to draft a constitution and in September 2005 that constitution was completed. In December 2005 another election was held which established a new four-year constitutional government that took power in March 2006. Despite its new government, however, Iraq was still highly unstable during this time and violence was widespread throughout the country. As a result, the U.S. increased its presence in Iraq, which caused a decrease in violence. In January 2009 Iraq and the U.S. came up with plans to remove U.S. troops from the country and in June 2009 they began leaving Iraqs urban areas. Further removal of U.S. troops continued into 2010 and 2011. On December 15, 2011, the Iraq War officially ended. Geography and Climate of Iraq The climate of Iraq is mostly desert and as such it has mild winters and hot summers. The countrys mountainous regions, however, have very cold winters and mild summers. Baghdad, the capital and largest city in Iraq, has a January average low temperature of 39 ºF (4 ºC) and a July average high temperature of 111 ºF (44 ºC).

Eleanor Roosevelt set a Precedent for First Ladies by...

Eleanor Roosevelt set a precedent for first ladies by purposefully establishing herself as a political figure. After running as the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt would remain a lifelong political figure as would his wife Eleanor. He was diagnosed with Polio a year later and became bound to a wheel chair; Eleanor Roosevelt would step into the political sphere on his behalf as well as her own, where she purposefully established herself as a polished political figure. An evidence of her ensuring that she was ready to take part in this arena was that she sought out the coaching of journalist and politician Louis McHenry Howe . Howe advised the Roosevelts and aided Eleanor through all of Franklin’s public appearances including elections and other Democratic affairs; he also led Eleanor to her own political interests, such as the Women’s Trade Union League. These appearances and affairs would gain public appeal and popularity for Franklin and her, which would later promote his election to office. Another example of Eleanor involving herself in the political arena as an established political figure is through her involvement with the Bonus Army. The Adjusted Compensation Act , passed by Congress in 1924, provided a five hundred dollar bonus to World War l Veterans to be paid at a later date up to 1945 . The Great Depression soon came and by 1932 about one fourth of Americans were unemployed, hungry and homeless: many were veterans.Show MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesDavid M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies