Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Native Immigrants And The City Of Miami - 1056 Words

When it comes to different dialects recognized across the United States, some of the most prominent dialects are Eastern New England, Lowland Southern, Western, and Mid-western English. Miami English is often neglected when it comes to the vast amount of dialects found throughout the United States. Mostly because the emergence of the language is fairly new compared to all other dialects. Many of the immigrant’s that established their lives in the City of Miami began making their way from Cuba in the late 50s and ever since then, the city’s population has been drastically growing. Fast-forward about five decades later and the second and third generations of those same immigrants developed what is now known as a â€Å"Miami dialect†. Although Miami English is unstudied when compared to other distinguished dialects in America, it is the most prominent dialect spoken in the City of Miami. With the colossal amount of spanish speaking communities that have established themselves throughout the city, Miami is often viewed as a bilingual city. Many visitors will easily pick up the unique lexical characteristics that many, if not all, Miamians use. Along with the distinct phonological characteristics that is often noted when natives pronounce their L’s and words with /à ¦/. One of the notable attributes about living in a state and/or city in America is that whenever you travel outside of your city or state, most people are quick to point out your â€Å"accent†. However, from your standpoint,Show MoreRelatedEssay on English-Only Movement1511 Words   |  7 Pagesis inconsistent with basic American traditions of linguistic tolerance, and a common language is not the foundation of political and national unity. I disagree with this organization’s statement. Because I believe it is English that unites immigrants and native-born alike as Americans. Speaking in a single, common tongue will not only obtain trust, but also to certain extend eliminate racial hostility and bigotry. As an overseas student to his country, I am fully aware of the things that bind meRead MoreA Good Example Of The Melting Pot Theory953 Words   |  4 Pageswhen immigrants come to a new country they will look for places and spaces where their friends and family live. These places known as ethnic enclaves are â€Å"areas of cities where immigrants of the same ethnic background congregate to create social and economic opportunities for themselves† (Chen 221). In other words when people from the same culture live in the same area of a city they tend to stick together and work with each other; they also tend to have their own enclave economy as immigrants hireRead MoreCities, Immigrants, And The Nation1290 Words   |  6 PagesCities, Immigrants, and the Nation The history of America has been associated with immigration. In fact, the population of America is believed to be highly dominated by immigrants. The topic of immigrants in the United Sates is crucial even in the present situation. There are mixed reactions on the best way to deal with the issue of immigration, especially in the political front. Immigration in the United States is quite extensive and began long time ago. This essay will address the American ImmigrationRead MoreHispanic American Diversity Essay examples1121 Words   |  5 Pagesbelonged to Mexico-principally, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas-they began creating communities in Chicago and other steel producing regions when they obtained employment there during World War I. (Wikipedia, 2007). 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Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans are American citizens; they are considered U.S. migrants as opposed to foreign immigrants. Many Puerto Rican mainlanders hold high-paying white collar jobs. Outside of New York City, Puerto Ricans often boast higher college graduation rates and higher per capita incomes than their counterparts in other Latino groups. The U.S. Census reports that at least 25 percent of Puerto RicansRead MoreImmigrants Coming to America867 Words   |  3 PagesIn the late 1800’s and early 1900’s many immigrants came to the United States for a better way of life. I chose this particular question because I am first generation American. My parents were born in Sicily; my great grandparents came to the United States in the early 1900’s. My grandmother was born in the United States 1904, although she was born in America her parents did not choose to remain in the United States. Longing for their home land my great grandparents moved the family back toRead MoreEssay about The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiculturalism1042 Words   |  5 PagesFor example, 10% of the UK’s population consists of different racial groups. Multicultural cities are called cosmopolitans. **** If you walk down any bustling London street, it is likely you will come across many people from different cultural backgrounds. For London now speaks over 200 languages and the diversity of different cultures within London is so great that easy definition is impossible. The city is home to over 300 nationalities that have over time moulded and shaped London’s cultureRead MoreThe Debate Has Gone On For Decades?1902 Words   |  8 PagesDamini Verma Writing 150 Globalisation Writing Project 2 Us Vs Them The debate has gone on for decades. Everyone has an opinion, and every opinion is different. Immigrants affect a country’s culture, economy, society and even political stability. Their ability to affect almost every aspect of our lives is evidenced by the omnipresence of conversations about the various costs and benefits that they demonstrate. These conversations are usually plagued with multiple logical fallacies and misconceptionsRead MoreAlbert Kinsey Helped Change The American Public s Preconceptions On Sexuality935 Words   |  4 Pagesthe country, like the cities of Miami and New York, also have big Hispanic communities. Discrimination of Latinos has had a direct relationship with their rising demographics and recession. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, anti-Mexican sentiment rose amongst Americans. Mexicans were seen as job stealers in agricultural, mining, and railroad industries since they worked for less pay than American laborers. Anti-immigration legislation didn’t hinder the flow immigrants from Latin countries

Monday, December 16, 2019

Debate of Gore/Bush Free Essays

Gore believes that teachers should be able to have one on one sessions with their students and in order to do so he believes that classrooms should be smaller and more teachers should be hired. In order to hire more teachers he believes that teachers who teach a subject which was their own major should receive a bonus. He feels that education is important because â€Å"the students of today build the economy of tomorrow. We will write a custom essay sample on Debate of Gore/Bush or any similar topic only for you Order Now † Bush believes that education is our first priority in this country. He believes that education should be both flexible for the students and the educators. He believes that more money should go into school funding and teachers should have a pay increase. He feels as though literacy is a big problem among children and he moves toward a structure of education that ensures a child his ability to read. Gore seems to be working towards helping the middle class population and hopes to pass a bill to give the middle class a tax cut. Bush is for big business and free enterprise. He feels that the government should not regulate big businesses and that competition in the economy is a very good thing.. Gore states that he is not afraid to take on drug companies to give medicare benefits to the elderly and bring down prescription prices to fit the elderly needs. He believes that we should slowly move step by step towards universal health coverage. He wants to make the health care plan better for those who have one and provide a health care plan for those who do not. Within four years he wants to make health care available for every child. He spoke of tax credit for individual health plans and an encouragement to businesses to give health care twenty-five percent credit. Bush is opposed to a national health care system. He stated that in the eight years that Clinton and Gore served nothing was done about medicare or social security. Bush also believes that Gore†s plans for healthcare cannot be carried out with our country†s budget and Bush believes Gore is a big spender. Bush stated how he provided health care for everyone in Texas and how a national health care plan would fail. I feel as though both candidates were pushing to get all of the issues in within this last debate and that made them not have much backup for all of their statements. I think this was just a â€Å"playground argument† between the two candidates. They both were trying to say they were the better candidate but they truly did not give us a reason why. Both candidates seemed to have some optimistic ideas for America but I just don†t see how some of their bills and plans would ever work. Although the debate did not show a good turnout for me I still feel as though Gore has more intelligence on his behalf and has exactly what America needs to expand us technologically. How to cite Debate of Gore/Bush, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

International Economics The World Bank Economic Review

Questions: The Standard Trade Model extends the theories of Absolute and Comparative Advantage to incorporate the importance of increasing Opportunity Costs in international trade. The Heckscher-Ohlin Theory extends these models further by seeking to explain the underlying determinants of Comparative Advantage. (1) Explain briefly the main features of each of the concepts or theories highlighted in bold and italics above and how they are related to each other. (2) Evaluate whether these theories are sufficient to adequately account for why countries engage in international trade and the benefits that such trade can yield for them. (3) With reference to your own home nation, or any other nation known well to you, examine the extent to which that nation actively engages in international trade or practices restrictions upon such trade. Answers: Introduction International economics uses the same fundamental methods of analysis like other domains of economics. This is because; the motives and the behaviour of the participants are same in the international trade as they are in domestic exchange. This paper will briefly explain some concepts of international economics, like, standard trade model; absolute advantage; comparative advantage and Heckscher-Ohlin Theory. It will also evaluate whether these theories are sufficient to understand why countries are engaged in international trade. Moreover, one nation will be selected to examine its engagement in international trade and its restrictions upon such practices. Theories of Trade Absolute Advantage and Comparative Advantage Absolute advantage and comparative advantage are two fundamental ideas in international trade. Here, the discussion will be made based on two countries and two commodities. Absolute advantage implies the capability of the country to produce a certain good more efficiently than other country. The capability is measured by comparing the resource engagement to produce that good. This means that, the country is said to have absolute advantage in producing a product, when it can produce the particular good with less of a given resource than its competitor nation. In other words, the cost of production of one country is less than the other one. Therefore, the absolute advantage compares the productivity of different countries. According to this theory, the country will produce that commodity, which they can produce by engaging less resource (Krugman, Obsfeld and Melitz 2015). However, the limitation of this concept is that, it might happen that a country is resourceful and has absolute adv antage in all commodities. However, one country will not produce all the goods if it has option for trade. Therefore, it has to decide which good it should produce and import to another country. Hence, the concept of opportunity cost arises. Opportunity cost is the cost that arises due to shifting its resources from one good to another. Suppose the country can allocate its resources in goods, clothes and food. To produce one extra unit of clothes the country has to sacrifice some units of food. The forgone amount of food is the opportunity cost of the one unit of extra clothes. The country has a comparative advantage in producing a good if the opportunity cost of producing that good is lesser than the other country. According to this theory, the country will produce and trade that commodity whose opportunity cost is less, i.e. in which it has comparative advantage. The difference between opportunity costs provides the chances of a mutually beneficial rearrangement of the world production (Feenstra 2015). This solves the problem of absolute advantage, because even if the country has absolute advantage in all goods, the different countries have different comparative advantages. When the countries produce the good in which they have comparative advantage, both of them benefit from trading. This is because each of them will get the commodity at a price that is lower than its own opportunity cost of producing that particular good. This drives the country to specialize in that good, which has the lowest opportunity cost. Standard Trade Model The Standard Trade Model extends the absolute advantage and comparative advantage theory by incorporating the importance of opportunity cost. In presence of Autarkic situation, the equilibrium occurs when the community indifference curve is tangible to the Production Possibility Frontier. The slope of the tangent gives the equilibrium relative price. This slope also indicates opportunity cost of producing one good in terms of forgone amount of another good (Gandolfo 2014). The standard model of trade is driven by the differences in the opportunity cost. The following diagram (Figure 1) represents the autarkic situation in two countries. The nation 2 has less opportunity cost in producing cloth, reflected by the flatter slope (Green Line). Hence, it will specialize in Cloth. Similarly, the nation 1 will specialize in Food production. The Figure 1 represents an autarkic situation. Figure 1: Autarkic Situation Now the trade has taken place between these two countries. The movement of production due trade will change the point of production along the PPF curve. At the new point of production, the countries will be able to trade and produce more of the commodity in which it has less opportunity cost. The community indifference curves of the both countries will shift to the higher position. The following Figure 2 represents the trade of the two nations. At point , the export and import of both nations matches with each other. Heckscher-Ohlin Model Figure 2: International Trade The resource of the country influences the trading pattern. The Heckscher-Ohlin model uses the concept of comparative advantage. It shows that the resources influence the comparative advantage. The abundant factors of production and the intensity of the factors used, determines in which the country has comparative advantage. This model assumes that, there are two countries and two commodities; the two factors of production are capital and labour (Van Marrewijk, Ottens and Schueller 2012). Suppose the two goods are A and B respectively. The cost of production depends on the factor price. If the wage, the cost of labour, rises then price of the good whose production uses labour will also rise. However, how much the factor price influences the commodity price depends on how much of that factor is involved to produce that good. The For example, if the production of commodity A uses few labours then a rise in wage will not have much effect on the price of the commodity. In contrast, if the production of commodity B requires more number of labours, then a rise in the price of factor will lead to significant rise in the price of the good B. Hence, there is one-to-one correspondence between wage-rental ratio and the ratio of price of good A to that of B (Krugman et al. 2015). The major components of Heckscher- Ohlin Model are: Rybczynski Theorem; Factor Price Equalization Theorem; Stolper- Samuelson Theorem (Guillo and Perez-Sebastian 2015). Sufficiency of the Trade Theories How both countries are benefitted from trade can be explained by utilizing the concepts of theories of trade discussed above. The countries are different from each other in terms of factor abundances. When the trade is taking place between two countries the relative price tends to converge. The country produces and trades the goods in which it has comparative advantage. By this way, the country can send one commodity to foreign country and receives another commodity, at lower price than it would have charged given the goods were produced in the home country. However, it is important to verify whether the both countries are gaining from trade. When the relative price of a commodity is greater than the opportunity cost of producing that good, then the country specializes in that commodity and exports it to foreign market . The country can produce a particular good more efficiently and indirectly produce the other good in the foreign market. Similarly, the foreign country indirectly pro duces the good in which it is inefficient. Hence both are gaining from trade. Moreover, the benefits of both countries can be verified by countrys new possibility of consumption. This is represented in the following Figure 3. Figure 3: Gains from Trade (comparative advantage) Moreover, the countries are involved in trade due to resource scarcity. Since, the country produces commodity that requires resources in which the country is rich in, it can still avail the good that uses the scarce resources, without involving those resources. Therefore, each countrys consumption possibilities are expanded through trade. The economy as a whole consumes more of both good. This can be illustrated through the following diagram, Figure 4. In this diagram, two countries relative price and PPFs have been represented. It can be seen that due to nations participation in trade, both countries have shifted to higher indifference curve. This indicates that the two countries are consuming more of both commodities than the autarkic situation (Rosnick 2013). Figure 4: Gains from Trade (H-O Model) United Kingdoms Participation in International Trade Restriction With the growing development in the poor countries and due to the effect of globalization, the developed countries like United Kingdom have lost market share in exporting goods. However, the country has maintained its exports of service sector. United Kingdom is the sixth largest trader in the world and third largest exporters of service. The exports and imports of goods and services totaled 1256 billion USD. The share of UKs service export peaked in 2004; however, it fell down in 2007 and continued till 2010 (Gov.uk, 2012). On the other hand, the goods exports of UK declined in 2010. This country accounts for 22.8 % financial services export but only exports 2.6% of construction service export . The pharmaceutical export is significantly large. UK constitutes 3.3% of Singapores export (Gov.uk 2012). The growth in trade performance of this country within 2002 to 2008 was faster than the trade growth in the 1990s. However, the growth of international trade was halted during the global crisis. During this time the exchange rate depreciated by 25%. This made the export of this country more competitive and made import much costlier (De Propris 2013). Though it has helped the country expand its volume of export but could not reduce the demand for import. As a result of this the net trade balance is negative for this country. Moreover, the trade balance of this nation is still negative due to large gap in export and import (Inman 2016). United Kingdom has comparative advantage in Creative Industry; Tidal industry and Robotics and Autonomous Systems. This country has become efficient in generating knowledge and information. They are more developing their culture through their creativity. A creative economy comprises of art, crafts, fashion; Design; film etc. Human capital is the ultimate source of this industry (Ganotakis 2012). It is also global leader in marine energy. The research and development of advanced machineries might lead this country to become a leader in robotics industry. UK is a part of the harmonized trade system of European Union and it follows export and import regulations of EC Commission. The services can be imported and exported freely in UK. However, there is some exceptions, such that, restrictions on technology with significant military application. In this case, an export license is required. Objects like cultural interest, such as, artwork, old manuscript etc. also requires license from Arts Council (Gov.uk, 2012). Since, the creative industry is contributing significantly in the nations GDP, the UK government aims to protect this industry and hence, has imposed import restrictions. In order to protect the originality of this industry, the country is strengthening the intellectual property rights (Flew 2014). A custom duty relief is given when this country re-import EU goods that has been previously exported to EU for processing. The profits made by UK enterprises through exports are taxed like any other profits made in domestic market (ni businessinfo.co.uk, 2016). If a person is going abroad for export his services, then also the UK National Insurance Contribution needs to be paid by that person (Borchert, Gootiiz and Mattoo 2013). Various business culture; legal environments and languages create confusion when engaging in international trade. Therefore, the country tries to formulate rules and restrictions in such a way that cannot create any further confusion and considers the interest of both parties. UK is a member nation of WTO, hence it enjoys benefits from it. In short it can be said that United Kingdom practices free trade internationally. The authority has made few restrictions on import. However, it has some restrictions on exports. However, the restrictions are imposed for the purpose of well-being of the people as a whole. The depreciated sterling has made the exports more attractive to the international market. Moreover, the export of Creative industry is growing and contributing significant benefits to the net trade balance. The export in services is growing unlike the export of goods by UK. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be said that countries engaged in international trade gains from trade. The paper has theorized some important concepts of international trade. It has discussed whether countries are benefitted from trade and the theories are sufficient to explain these benefits. At the end, the paper has taken United Kingdom to analyze the performance of the international trade and regulation practice in the country. It has identified some industries that has comparative advantages, and the country is specializing in it to gain more benefits from trade. References Borchert, I., Gootiiz, B. and Mattoo, A., 2013. Policy barriers to international trade in services: evidence from a new database.The World Bank Economic Review, p.lht017. De Propris, L., 2013. How are creative industries weathering the crisis?.Cambridge journal of regions, economy and society, p.rss025. Feenstra, R.C., 2015.Advanced international trade: theory and evidence. Princeton university press. Flew, T., 2014. Creative industries: a new pathway.InterMEDIA,42(1), pp.11-13. Gandolfo, G., 2014. Introduction to International Trade Theory and Policy. InInternational Trade Theory and Policy(pp. 3-7). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Ganotakis, P., 2012. Founders human capital and the performance of UK new technology based firms.Small Business Economics,39(2), pp.495-515. Gov.uk. (2012).Creative and cultural: international trade regulations - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/creative-industries-complying-with-import-and-export-regulations [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016]. Gov.uk. (2012).Import and export of manufactured goods - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/import-and-export-of-manufactured-goods [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016]. Gov.uk. (2012).Import and export of manufactured goods - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/import-and-export-of-manufactured-goods [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016]. Guillo, M.D. and Perezà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Sebastian, F., 2015. Convergence in a Dynamic HeckscherOhlin Model with Land.Review of Development Economics,19(3), pp.725-734. Inman, P. (2016).UK trade deficit widens further as exports suffer. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/09/uk-trade-deficit-widens-further-imports-exports [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016]. Krugman, P.R., Obstfeld, M. and Melitz, M., 2015.International trade: theory and policy. Prentice Hall. nibusinessinfo.co.uk. (2016).UK regulations and taxes for international trade in services. [online] Available at: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/uk-regulations-and-taxes-international-trade-services [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016]. Rosnick, D., 2013. Gains from Trade?.The net effect of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on US Wages. Van Marrewijk, C., Ottens, D. and Schueller, S., 2012.International Economics. Oxford University Press.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Video Games Why The Gender Bias Essays - Childhood, Girl, Women

Video Games: Why The Gender Bias? This Christmas, like millions of other parents, I bought my two children, a boy and a girl, a popular home video game system. I thought they could share it and when asked if this was OK with them, they replied, "Sure mom, that would be great." So, we planned on installing the little goody onto the TV in the family room, so that both kids would have an equal chance to play. So, "What then?" you may be asking is the problem. The problem arose when we went to shop for games for the system. They weren't hard to find. They were in all the local toy stores and Walmart and Kmart too! But, there weren't any for girls! I looked high and low and came up empty handed. Why was this happening? Surely, girls must want to play video games as much as boys do! Why then, aren't game manufacturers producing any video games that feature girls as the main character? On a recent trip to our local Walmart store, I found over two hundred video game titles, yes I counted, for our game system, but of these only two had female main characters. One of them was, you guessed it, Barbie! The other one was a female warrior dressed in a scantily clad leather outfit. I'm pretty sure the latter was designed for young men, and not for young girls. Surely, a big retailer, like Toys-R-Us would have more of a selection. So, off I went on my merry way only to be once again disappointed. Toys-R-Us had over 300 titles in stock for our game system and only the same two titles I found at Walmart were available there with one new addition, which was the Spice Girls CD. It's price had been reduced, so I guessed it was left over from last year when the Spice Girls used to be popular. I ended up purchasing 4 games for my kids to play. I found a few with cartoon characters as lead characters, that I felt would be appropriate for kids. I bought Rugrats, Loony Tunes, Grand Turismo (race cars), and Tetras (puzzle). All, except the puzzle game, had male characters in the lead, but at least these were rated as non-violent. After some careful research, I found that video games are a 7 billion dollar a year industry that out surpasses even the movie industry by 2 billion dollars each year ( 2 ). Mostly, these games are being sold to boys and young men. Girls currently represent only about 20 percent of the market, having been pretty much written off by important manufacturers like, Hasbro, Sony, and Sega ( 3 ). Girls have extensive buying power though, nearly 84 billion dollars annually, and over 6 million of them live in households with gaming systems ( 3 ). From ages, 6 to 10, girls play video games as much and as often as boys in that same age bracket, and one survey reports that if there were more games out there that they enjoyed, 85 percent of girls surveyed would use their gaming systems more ( 1 ). Girls don't seem to like the same kinds of games boys do. Instead of the violent, time-limited games boys go for, the girls like games that offer strong narratives, interaction, and creativity. It's not enough to simply convert or replace existing software for girls; the basic structure should be changed. A 1995 survey in Children's Software Review found only 28 of the 344 games with female characters in leading roles ( 3 ), proof that few producers have created games exclusively for girls. I believe this is largely so, due to the male dominance in the whole computer and technological industry. Males are turning out a product for other males. Then why aren't women out there designing a product girls will enjoy? Some are trying, but I have found it a catch-22 situation. Men are leading the technology industry because they are the ones inviting other males to join their ranks by making only games geared towards boys and young men. Girls are less likely to deem this area as fun and inviting and thus, turn their attention to other areas of study once college bound. Some companies are beginning to look for ways to encourage girls to get more involved in information technology. Girl Tech is one such group, in hopes of reaching 3.4 million Girl Scouts, they are sponsoring a

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Reflective Account of a Literature Search Essays

Reflective Account of a Literature Search Essays Reflective Account of a Literature Search Essay Reflective Account of a Literature Search Essay this is my major stumbling block, and in order to learn and develop, I must use the computer effectively. I now see the internet as my most valuable asset, and therefore I feel less stressed about my future learning needs.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Battle of the Monongahela in the French and Indian War

Battle of the Monongahela in the French and Indian War The Battle of Monongahela was fought on July 9, 1755, during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and represented a failed attempt by the British to capture the French post at Fort Duquesne. Leading a slow advance north from Virginia, General Edward Braddock encountered a mixed French and Native American force near his objective. In the resulting engagement, his men struggled with the forest landscape and he fell mortally wounded. After Braddock was hit, the British ranks collapsed and the looming defeat turned into a rout. Fort Duquesne would remain in French hands for four more years. Assembling an Army In the wake of Lieutenant Colonel George Washingtons defeat at Fort Necessity in 1754, the British decided to mount a larger expedition against Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh, PA) the following year. Led by Braddock, the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, the operation was to be one of many against French forts on the frontier. Though the most direct route to Fort Duquesne was through Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia successfully lobbied to have the expedition depart from his colony. Though Virginia lacked the resources to support the campaign, Dinwiddie desired the military road that would be built by Braddock to pass through his colony as it would benefit his business interests. Arriving at Alexandria, VA in early 1755, Braddock began assembling his army which was centered on the under-strength 44th and 48th Regiments of Foot. Selecting Fort Cumberland, MD as his departure point, Braddocks expedition was beset with administrative issues from the outset. Hampered by a lack of wagons and horses, Braddock required the timely intervention of Benjamin Franklin to supply sufficient numbers of both. Braddocks Expedition After some delay, Braddocks army, numbering around 2,400 regulars and militia, departed Fort Cumberland on May 29. Among those in the column was Washington who had been appointed as an aide-de-camp to Braddock. Following the trail blazed by Washington the year before, the army moved slowly as it needed to widen the road to accommodate the wagons and artillery. After moving around twenty miles and clearing the eastern branch of the Youghiogheny River, Braddock, on Washingtons advice, split the army in two. While Colonel Thomas Dunbar advanced with the wagons, Braddock rushed ahead with around 1,300 men. The First of the Problems Though his flying column was not encumbered with the wagon train, it still moved slowly. As a result, it became plagued by supply and disease problems as it crawled along. As his men moved north, they met light resistance from Native Americans allied with the French. Braddocks defensive arrangements were sound and few men were lost in these engagements. Nearing Fort Duquesne, Braddocks column was required to cross the Monongahela River, march two miles along the east bank, and then re-ford at Fraziers Cabin. Braddock expected both crossing to be contested, and was surprised when no enemy troops appeared. Fording the river at Fraziers Cabin on July 9, Braddock re-formed the army for the final seven-mile push to the fort. Alerted to the British approach, the French planned to ambush Braddocks column as they knew the fort could not withstand the British artillery. Leading a force of around 900 men, most of which were Native American warriors, Captain Lià ©nard de Beaujeu was delayed in departing. As a result, they encountered the British advance guard, led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, before they could set the ambush. Armies Commanders British Major General Edward Braddock1,300 men French Indians Captain Lià ©nard de BeaujeuCaptain Jean-Daniel Dumas891 men The Battle of  Monongahela Opening fire on the approaching French and Native Americans, Gages men killed de Beaujeu in their opening volleys. Attempting to make a stand with his three companies, Gage was soon outflanked as Captain Jean-Daniel Dumas rallied de Beaujeus men and pushed them through the trees. Under heavy pressure and taking casualties, Gage ordered his men to fall back on Braddocks men. Retreating down the trail, they collided with the advancing column and confusion began to reign. Unused to forest fighting, the British attempted to form their lines while the French and Native Americans fired on them from behind cover (Map). As smoke filled the woods, British regulars accidentally fired on friendly militia believing them to be the enemy. Flying around the battlefield, Braddock was able to stiffen his lines as makeshift units began to offer resistance. Believing that his mens superior discipline would carry the day, Braddock continued the fight. After about three hours, Braddock was hit in the chest by bullet. Falling from his horse, he was carried to the rear. With their commander down, British resistance collapsed and they began falling back towards the river. Defeat Becomes a Rout As the British retreated, the Native Americans surged forward. Wielding tomahawks and knives, they caused a panic in the British ranks which turned the retreat into a rout. Gathering what men he could, Washington formed a rear guard which allowed many of the survivors to escape. Re-crossing the river, the beaten British were not pursued as the Native Americans set about looting and scalping the fallen. Aftermath The Battle of the Monongahela cost the British 456 killed and 422 wounded. French and Native American casualties are not known with precision but are speculated to have been around 30 killed and wounded. The survivors of the battle retreated back down the road until reuniting with Dunbars advancing column. On July 13, as the British camped near Great Meadows, not far from the site of Fort Necessity, Braddock succumbed to his wound. Braddock was buried the next day in the middle of the road. The army then marched over the grave to eliminate any trace of it in order to prevent the generals body being recovered by the enemy. Not believing that he could continue the expedition, Dunbar elected to withdraw towards Philadelphia. Fort Duquesne would finally be taken by British forces in 1758, when an expedition led by General John Forbes reached the area. In addition to Washington, the Battle of the Monongahela featured several prominent officers who would later serve in the American Revolution (1775-1783) including Horatio Gates, Charles Lee, and Daniel Morgan.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

GMO the Necessary Evil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

GMO the Necessary Evil - Essay Example The discussion of whether Genetically Modified Organisms are good or bad for consumption can go on without a conclusion. My goal in this paper is to bring out both the negative and positive effects genetically modified organisms have and to show how essential they are. To achieve this goal, we shall start by looking at the negative or the health risks associated with genetically modified organisms citing evidence from different authors, and then I will discuss the reason why genetically modified foods were introduced and why I think they are a necessary evil. Now that we have introduced GMOs, let us look at the health risks associated with this kind of food. Although Genetically Modified Organisms were introduced in 1996, their side effects on human health have already been noticed; there have been increased reports of allergic reaction, toxic hazards (Wald and Michael 46). These side effects may be seen as minimal, the most worrying are the long term effects which may be more drastic. Children with life threatening allergies are associated with GMOs increased intake. There have been 37 reported deaths of people associated with the side effects of GMOs (Smith 258). Moreover GMOs have been associated with birth defects, stillbirth, infertility, cancers and miscarriages (Bodiguel 45). Researchers claim that glyphosphate found in GMO are the cause of malformation chicken embryos and these effects were evident to human birth defects in areas associated with genetically modified soy production. To be precise the researchers found malformation of the head were the new borne had a single eye (Wald and Michael 44). With long term exposure to genetically modified organisms the data  relating to the diverse effects will only increase as we continue to feed on GMOs without giving thought the negative effects they can have on our health and reproduction of future

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Principle of Affirmative Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principle of Affirmative Action - Essay Example Hence, affirmative action involves in treating a minority class or group differently in order to provide improved opportunities to obtain certain good. There are trends to associate affirmative action with two lines; one is with compulsory quotas undermining the meritorious qualification and the other is with inequality where fairness is compromised for a preferential selection process. The origin of affirmative action can best be traced back to the Executive Order No.10925 of 1961 where then US President John F. Kennedy has urged federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure prospective job applicants and federal employees were treated in an equal manner without regard to race, creed, color or national origin. Later on, creating a definitive affirmative action policy, then president Lyndon B. Johnson expressed the need to go further by discussing how companies should increase their efforts to ensure minorities and women would have real opportunities for employment and pro motions. Thus, the aim of affirmative action is to eliminate discrimination and increase the representation of traditionally disadvantaged groups (Faundez, . 1994). For example, United Steel Workers of America, a union and Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation made a voluntary agreement to correct the years of racial discrimination against Black by reserving 50% of the openings in a training program sponsored by the corporation till the discrepancy was discarded. .

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Gollum Character Study Essay Example for Free

Gollum Character Study Essay Even in the rare cases when he finds himself with someone else, as he does in chapter 5 of The Hobbit, he talks to others in third person, apparently not able to say ‘you’, and he refers himself as â€Å"my precious†. Gollum is a unique creature, only because his body has deformed over the years of living in the caves of Moria beneath the Misty Mountains for so long. He is the size of a hobbit, but with pale skin and large eyes. He wears only dark clothes and is extremely thin from eating only fish and goblins over the years. He has only six teeth which are sharpened into points and he has a vicious strength which surprises Bilbo. Gollum owns a magic, which he calls his â€Å"precious†. Gollum has one treasure, a golden ring he calls his â€Å"birthday-present† because it came to him on his birthday. This ring makes whoever is wearing it invisible and takes over their lives and personality. Gollum â€Å"uses it to creep† around the goblin tunnels to catch young goblins to eat when he gets sick of fish. In The Hobbit, Gollum tries to find his ring so he can become invisible and kill Bilbo. Bilbo, of course, finding the ring before meeting Gollum, just happens to put on the ring right as Gollum comes to attack him. He becomes invisible and follows Gollum out of the tunnels. As Bilbo takes his final look at Gollum, he nearly kills the ugly creature. But Bilbo is filled with a â€Å"sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror. † He sees Gollum’s â€Å"endless, unmarked days without light or hope of betterment†, and lets Gollum live. In exchange for this kindness, Gollum screams, â€Å"Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it for ever! † as Bilbo makes his escape. When Gollum first meets Bilbo, he is not hungry for hobbits, but he is afraid of Bilbo’s knife, so he tries to get on Bilbo’s good side by being friendly, showing that Gollum was once very similar to a hobbit, and challenging him to a game of riddles because â€Å"the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity†. Bilbo accepts, because he wants Gollum to show him the way out of the goblin tunnels under the Misty Mountains. But the game makes Gollum both hungry and angry.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Civil War Study Guide :: essays research papers

1. Alexander Hamilton - He was one of the earliest and most active nationalists, believing that the continental congress needed to be strengthened or overthrown in favor a new, more imposing federal government that could legislate within the states, which the continental congress could not do. Hamilton was the spokesman for an active government, stressing the principle of government "Responsibility", against the Jeffersonian/Madisonian principle of public vigilance and suspicion of government power. Recent scholars have argued that these two philosophies form the thesis-antithesis of the post-revolutionary era—Alexander Hamilton being the figurehead of responsible government. 2. Thomas Jefferson - Jefferson's idea for the United States was that of an agricultural nation of yeoman farmers, in contrast to the vision of Alexander Hamilton, who envisioned a nation of commerce and manufacturing. Jefferson was a great believer in the uniqueness and the potential of the United States and is often classified a forefather of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from a unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom. 3. Henry Clay – Henry Clay was known as â€Å"Mr. Whig† because he was one of the founders of the party. He was a 3 time presidential loser. In 1824, he advocated high duties to relieve the prevailing economic distress, which he pictured in a brilliant and effective speech. Although they were caused by the reactionary effect of a disordered currency and the inflated prices of the War of 1812, he ascribed the problems to the country's dependence on foreign suppliers and markets. He said that the United Kingdom was a shining example of the wisdom of a high tariff; and no nation ever flourished without one. He closed his principal speech on the subject in the House of Representatives with a glowing appeal in behalf of what he called the "American System."Henry Clay's American System was a plan to strengthen the nation's economy by tying the North, South, and West together. It called for: Federal funding of infrastructure improvements (such as the Erie Canal and a series of highways) funded by a raised tariff on imported goods. Using protective tariffs to encourage development of domestic industry, and Reliance on domestic financial resources. Henry Clay was only twenty-two, when, as an opponent of slavery, he vainly urged an emancipation clause for the new constitution of Kentucky. Civil War Study Guide :: essays research papers 1. Alexander Hamilton - He was one of the earliest and most active nationalists, believing that the continental congress needed to be strengthened or overthrown in favor a new, more imposing federal government that could legislate within the states, which the continental congress could not do. Hamilton was the spokesman for an active government, stressing the principle of government "Responsibility", against the Jeffersonian/Madisonian principle of public vigilance and suspicion of government power. Recent scholars have argued that these two philosophies form the thesis-antithesis of the post-revolutionary era—Alexander Hamilton being the figurehead of responsible government. 2. Thomas Jefferson - Jefferson's idea for the United States was that of an agricultural nation of yeoman farmers, in contrast to the vision of Alexander Hamilton, who envisioned a nation of commerce and manufacturing. Jefferson was a great believer in the uniqueness and the potential of the United States and is often classified a forefather of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from a unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom. 3. Henry Clay – Henry Clay was known as â€Å"Mr. Whig† because he was one of the founders of the party. He was a 3 time presidential loser. In 1824, he advocated high duties to relieve the prevailing economic distress, which he pictured in a brilliant and effective speech. Although they were caused by the reactionary effect of a disordered currency and the inflated prices of the War of 1812, he ascribed the problems to the country's dependence on foreign suppliers and markets. He said that the United Kingdom was a shining example of the wisdom of a high tariff; and no nation ever flourished without one. He closed his principal speech on the subject in the House of Representatives with a glowing appeal in behalf of what he called the "American System."Henry Clay's American System was a plan to strengthen the nation's economy by tying the North, South, and West together. It called for: Federal funding of infrastructure improvements (such as the Erie Canal and a series of highways) funded by a raised tariff on imported goods. Using protective tariffs to encourage development of domestic industry, and Reliance on domestic financial resources. Henry Clay was only twenty-two, when, as an opponent of slavery, he vainly urged an emancipation clause for the new constitution of Kentucky.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Which Stakeholders Can Currently Be Considered to Be Part of the “the Company” for the Purpose of the Director’s Duty to Act in the Best Interests of the Corporation?

which stakeholders can currently be considered to be part of the â€Å"the company† for the purpose of the director’s duty to act in the best interests of the corporation? Company is a form of corporation and regulated by the Corporations Act. The legal significance of being as a company is it exists as a separate legal entity and dependent upon human beings to make decisions on their behalf. The person who makes or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of the company’s business can be defined as a director. The legal definition of director is stated under section 9 of the Corporations Act[1] which indicates that, it is more appropriate to look at the function of the people rather than at the job title itself. Duties are imposed on the directors to regular illegal behavior and ensure that they act for the benefit of the company. All directors and officers of a corporation are bound by a number of general law and statutes which include that: a) act in good faith in the interests of the company; b) act for a proper purpose; c) avoid conflicts of interest; and ) retain discretion Moreover, care, skill and diligence in the performance of their duties must exercised by directors. Stakeholder can be defined as a party that affects or can be affected by the actions of the business[2], which may be include shareholder, creditors, employees, customer, supplier and government. Under the principle of the company law, directors and officers owe duties to the company as a whole but not to the other p erson or group rather that shareholder as they are the residual owners of the company’s assets. As a result, it can be said that a scope is limited by the statutory duties to the company’ director and officer is to act the best interest of shareholder, any benefit is acting on the other group of the stakeholder (such as the creditor) will beyond the scope of director’ power. In addition, an essential problem might be arisen between the director and the shareholder is known as â€Å"agency costs† that is the cost incurred by company to ensure that the director (who manages the company) is acting on the behalf of shareholders (who is the owner of the company) and make decisions onsist with their best interest. The duty will be breached by each director if there is no action done to avoid a conflict of interest[3]. A director can not use his or her power to profit personally interest at expense of the company. An action may be brought against the company where it has managed in an oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or unfairly discriminatory against shareholderà ¢â‚¬â„¢s interest. Therefore, it seems that the company (shareholder) is the only beneficiary by the regulation of director’s duties. In other words, the enforcement of director’s duties is for the benefit of the shareholders. 2) Should directors duties, and corporate responsibilities, be extended to a wider group of stakeholders? What are the lessons from the James Hardie and the Waterfront Dispute experience? It is a challenge for the current legal framework to consider a wider group of stakeholder’ interest, as in modern society that greater deal of business and activities conducted by a company. Elena suggests that balance between the different groups of stakeholders is essential to the long-term viability of the corporation and the long-term shareholder’s value can be increased by taking account of the other group of the stakeholder. 4] For example, an under market salary is paid to the employees or the employees are scheduled in an inefficient way w ill result in a decreasing of shareholder’s wealth as the productivity of the company is affected by the dissatisfied employees. Hence, according to the definition of the stakeholder, employee can be classified as a stakeholder who will maximize shareholder’ wealth in a long-term. As a result, the maximization of stakeholder’ value goal might not only be concentrated on the shareholder but the other group such as creditor and employee. The reasons why the director’s duty might be extended to the group of creditor can be stated as: creditor is a important stakeholder in the company and their interest should be taken into account; and also, based on the judgments of the decided case, it also indicates that there is a demand for director to regard the interest of creditor. Firstly, a company is a separate legal entity[5]. Therefore, the debt of the company is separated from its directors and shareholders. In addition, the money borrowed will be recorded under the name of the company and the creditor will sue the company if there is any unpaid account. However, creditor is playing an important role in providing funds to assist company to manage its cashflow and expansions. Hence, it can be said that creditor is the stakeholder and can effect the action of the business. Nevertheless, according to the passage Re New World Alliance Pty Ltd (1994) 122 ALR 531 at 550,[6] there is not direct duty owed by the director and officer to the creditors because their duties are owed to the company. However, in the situation when the directors of company consider a high risk project or it is in a financial distress, the creditor has to occupy a weakness position. This is because, if the project fails, shareholder will lose nothing but the money they have invested due to the limited liability then the risk of filature will shift to the creditor. Hence, it seems unfair for creditor who has not fiduciary protection and whose right is limited by the contract. On the other hands, according to the passage Re New World Alliance Pty Ltd (1994) 122 ALR 531 at 550,[7] there is not direct duty owed by the director and officer to the creditors because their duties are owed to the company. The only time that the director’ duties are owed to creditor is when company is insolvency[8] and during that time, the creditor is entitled to displace the power of the directors and shareholders to deal with the company’s assets[9]. It can be argued that it is riskless for the secured creditor who holds a charge over a part or all of the company's assets during the company’s insolvency. If the company is in financial distress, a receiver is appointed by the secured creditor to collect and look after the company’s asset in order to obtain money for them[10]. However, it is not easy for the creditor to claim all their money back according to: firstly, the money collected has to pay the certain priority claims, including employee entitlements (such as wages, superannuation contributions and leave payments) before paying to creditor; and secondly, director does not owe directly duty of care for the interest of creditor, this might result in a less consideration of managing and taking care of the asset that is held by the creditor. Therefore, creditor who provides fund for company to operate or expand is playing a significant role to a company and their weakness position should be taken in to account and redeemed by the director’s duty and the corporate responsibilities. In addition, duty has been referred to the judgments of the decided cases. The emergence of the issue to regard the creditor’ interest is from the leading judgment by Mason  J in Walker v Wimborne. 11] His statement has been acknowledged by the other courts such as in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Also, according to the obiter comments in the recent case Spies v The Queen, the court has again acknowledged that there is an existence of the duty to creditor. As a result, it seems that protection for creditor’s interest is required in some certain circumstances. [pic][pic][pic] ———————– [1] Section 9 defines a director as: a) a person who: ) is appointe d to the position of a director; or ii) is appointed to the position of an alternate director and is acting in that capacity; regardless of the name that is given to their position; and b) unless the contrary intention appears, a person who is not validly appointed as a director of: i) they act in the position of a director; or ii) the directors of the company or body are accustomed to act in accordance with the person’s instructions or wishes. [2] http://www. scu. edu. u/schools/gcm/ar/arp/stake. html [3] Relevant section under the Statue Law: Section 182(1) – Use of Position; Section 183(1) – Use of Information; Section 191(1) – Disclosure of Interest. Also, under the Common Law – Fiduciary Duties. [4] â€Å"Corporate governance: shareholders’ interest and other stakeholders’ interest. † http://www. virtusinterpress. com/additional_files/journ_coc/full-text-papers-open-access/Paper006. pdf [5] The principle is established in Salomon v Salomon & Co ? 1897? AC 22 [6] Harris, Hargovan and Adams: Australian Corporate Law, 1st ed, Page417. [7] Harris, Hargovan and Adams: Australian Corporate Law, 1st ed, Page417. [8] A company is insolvent if: 1. It is unable to pay its debts as they fall due. 2. Its assets are less than the amount of its liabilities, taking into account its contingent and prospective liabilities. [9] Kinsela v Russell Kinsela Pty. Ltd. (in liq. ) (1986) 4 NSWLR 722. [10] In some special circumstance, it may appointed by the court. Eg: where there is a dispute between the owners of the company or the property over which the receiver is appointed [11] His Honour said: In this respect it should be emphasised that the directors of a company in discharging their duty to the company must take account of the interest of its shareholders and its creditors. Any failure by the directors to take into account the interests of creditors will have adverse consequences for the company as well as for them.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Armenian Language

anNadine Abo Laban 900113591 Gap paper 2 (Armenian Language) Introduction The guest speaker who graced us with her presence was Alyssah Depoya, who is of Armenian origin. According to Alyssah, all pure Armenians last names end with â€Å"yan† which acts as an indicator of whether the person is of pure Armenian origin. Armenia is a mountainous country located in the South Caucasus region in Eurasia. It is bordered by Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran (â€Å"Armenia†, n. d). Armenian people have a very rich and dense culture. It is one of the world’s oldest civilizations.Armenia was also the very first country to embrace Christianity as its religion. The Armenian culture has been shaped and influenced by many other countries due to the several invasions that their people had to endure. It has been conquered by the Persians, Greeks, Mongols, Byzantines, Ottomans, Arabs, Romans and Russians. The most brutal invasion was when the Ottoman Turks took over Armenia, ki lling its people and leaving them to starve to death. During the Ottoman take over between 600,000 and 1. 5 million Armenians were killed, leaving this massacre to be the very first genocide of the 20th century.Moreover, Turkey denies such a massacre having occurred and claims till this present day that death casualties were a minimum. Armenia houses a population of 3,140,000 citizens. However the total Armenian population is 5,924,320. They are wide spread over Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, united states and Syria (Lewis, 2013). Facts about the language According to my research from the Ethonologue and Wikipedia, there are 5,924,320 speakers of Armenian all over the world.The language belongs to the Indo-European language family and has several dialects. Most linguists identify the language as a separate branch under the indo European family. You can also call the Armenian language by Armjanski Yazyk, Ena, Ermeni Dili, Ermenice, Somkhuri. Before the creation of an Armenian alphabet, the Armenians used Greek and Aramaic characters. In 405 AD, the 36 characters of the Armenian alphabet were introduced. However, during the middle ages two more characters were introduced to the already existing alphabet so they can spell out borrowed foreign words.There are two different dialects of the Armenian languages used till this day. There is the Eastern classical Armenian, and the western, which is more commonly spoken by the people. The western dialect is mainly used outside of the republic of Armenia, whereas eastern is used both inside and outside the country. Report on the speaker’s presentation Fortunately, everything Alyssah informed us about coincided with my research. She was very entertaining and did not miss a detail about what we needed to know.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Characteristics of Japanese Employment Relations

Characteristics of Japanese Employment Relations Changes in the some national factors such as institutions, labour markets, capital markets, national relations, businesses, economy, culture and rule triggers the employment relation practices and its changes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Characteristics of Japanese Employment Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Considering the Japanese employment relations, it has some key aspects, which include the lifetime, enterprise based and seniority based amalgamation that determines employment relations. Japan is a country considered as highly cultured but the cultural practices that seem hinder development appear to face sidelining in the resent past. For instance, the trade unions had a significant consideration of enhancing interrelationship between the member groups and the government. This has not been the case recently. According to Bamber et al, (2004, 283) effects on the union show a constant decline due to the general improvement of the living standards. The work ethics of Japan today face influences from customs, traditions, cooperation, collectivism, respect, relationships and handwork among the social members. People consider these as the key elements influencing employment relations and practices form the company’s level. (Havey, 2005, 187) The labour market of Japan indicates features of a declining growth rate, increasing aging workforce and increasing rates of unemployment. National factors and employment relations Management training or practices are not universal they ought to have a developmental basis at the national level or the company’s level. The national or external environmental factor that influences the relations mainly entails the labour markets, culture of the nation and business and economical factors.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Considering the national and other internal factors, they provide a better and more integrative perspective that makes it easy to vary but still relate employment focusing on other independent and developed country’s forces. Every external force has to pass through a management system according to the Lewin’s Change Theory. This means that for a proper examination of the changes that affect practices of employment relations, one should analyze the internal and external forces or the dynamics of the factors. (Sato, 1999, 27) The contingency factors such as magnitude of the employees, technological advancement and the culture or internally developed policies, cause the organizational or countries to change, thus influence the employment relationship. Today the increasing pressure in the domestic and global markets of a country causes the evident changes in the employment relations. As a developed country, Japan’s employment relations directly connect to the in ternational factors such as the economy or political changes. Like the U.K. and the U.S. markets, it mainly depends on the competitiveness at the international and domestic levels. The employees and company practices at the domestic level have stabilized the business environment. After the economic crisis experiences, Japan was able to consciously restructure and rationalize majority of the white collar jobs for better efficiency and under similar compensation rates as before or better. The labour force of 73% in 2000 indicated a growth of over 1 million from 1995 with 83% being employees. (Bamber et al, 2004, 272) This consensus regarding employment practices and industrial relations brought about firm, stable and supportive relations among employment thus the stability of the economy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Characteristics of Japanese Employment Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Factors influenci ng the Japanese Employment relations Beside the institutes, labour markets, economy and the business environments discussed above other factors, include the institutes and culture. National institutions A national institute refers to the practice, customs, the relationships and the culture. The national institutes are government, educational, training, trade unions and associations. The national policies, rules and regulation introduced by the government on these institutes are the micro economic policies frequently governing the labour policies and therefore enhancing the relationships in the employment sector. When the institutes are vigilant to maintain the enforced policies then the country is in a position to maintain its social-economic status at the international level. (Blanpain et al, 2008, 85) As a major source for the human resource of main companies, the education institutions play vital role in recruitment and development. They increase competition thus the need for the in-house training evident in majority of the firms in Japan. A lot of mismatch between the job openings and the seekers is evident in the Nation due to differences between the careers. In line with Bamber et al, (2004, 278) unemployment rates have steadily grown. The young people are not able to find a career matching their qualifications. The IT industries are also subsiding human workforce. Argumentatively, most of the institutes fail to adhere to specification, advocating for creativity and technicality that divert students’ qualifications but equality benefiting the country’s technological advancement evident in most industrial manufactures. (Deery et al, 1999, 172)Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More National Culture These are the social groups in which employees exist they entail the process of building rapport, making reports and enhancing communication between the employer and the employee. Culture shapes and influences the way people interact thus determining the employment relations practices. Influence of globalization on the Japanese employment relation The Japanese economy is arguably the second largest economy after the U.S. (Bamber et al, 2004, 272) The County has been to deep economic crisis but managed stronger comebacks and enhanced innovations for instance the oil crisis catalyzed huge investments into the energy saving products. The country’s business highly integrates to the global economy as evident with the appreciating and depreciating in the growth of the economy. There was a fall on the economy growth of minus 0.75 in 1998, although the employment relation had grate regards as a fundamental element to the economy growth of the country. (Bamber et al, 2004, 272) Currently, there are eminent differences on the size, employee’s number and the sectors of the firms. There is a considerable amount of reduction on the labour force, which is a concern especially for the future endeavours of most companies. Thus might be the cause of the current latent economic growth averaging at 2%. (Bamber et al, 2004, 292) The increase in competition has made companies to consider cutting operation costs, investing in recruitments and utilizing the contractual basis of operational labour forces. Globalization has made the performance-based system to replace the earlier senior-based systems gradually for both the medium and big-sized companies. By the year 2000, the working hours were as low as 1853 per annum and currently they are even lower due to the part-time engagement and contraction. (Bamber et al, 2004, 279) The issue of globalization has also led to decline on the number of employees in member unions. The growth of the service industri es structure cause more part-time employment. These employment practices are mainly because of globalization and increase in competition among the markets both globally and locally. â€Å"In Japan, most of the union’s organization occurs through enterprises as opposed to occupation or job industries.† References Bamber, G., Lansbury, R. D. and Wailes, N. (2004) â€Å"International and comparative  Employment relations: Globalisation and the developed market economies†. (Forth Ed) London: Sage. Blanpain, R., Lansbury, R.D. and Wailes, N. (2008). â€Å"Globalization and employment  Relations in the auto assembly industry† Kluwer Law International Publishers Deery, S. and Mitchell, R. (1999). â€Å"Employment Relations: Individualisation and  Union.† Exclusion Federation Press. Harvey, D. (2007). â€Å"A Brief History of Neoliberalism†. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sato, K. (1999) â€Å"Japan at a Crossroads,† in K. Sato the Tr ansformation of the  Japanese Economy, London: An East Gate Book, 1999.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Best Quotes to Pair With Vintage Photos on Social Media

Best Quotes to Pair With Vintage Photos on Social Media Sharing old photos of people, places, and events on social media is a good way to reminisce and add nostalgia. If youve decided to share your favorite images on social media during a Throwback Thursday, Flashback Friday, or some other tagged event involving sharing, there are some great ways to make your contribution even more special - and good things to know about sharing photos in general: Share one photo a week or less. Dont overwhelm your friends and followers with too many old photos. Just because you found an album of old photos doesnt mean you should bombard your social media followers. Choose one day a week, such as a Throwback Thursday or a Flashback Friday, and maybe even skip a week between postings.Be certain youre sharing only old photos. Dont make the mistake of incorrectly tagging recent photos with something like #tbt (Throwback Thursday), for instance. Stick with the old  pictures you would find in a photo album or a stack of Polaroids. Vintage pictures are hugely popular, so the older, the better.Make sure you choose the best photos - ones that tell a story. For instance, if you were a baseball player, post a picture of the time when you scored your first home run. Post pictures that were taken with your entire family  on vacation. Share a picture of a younger you doing something you still do today.Choose photos that might make people laugh. Unflat tering pictures of yourself from the past always make people smile. The goofier you look, the better. That said, if someone else looks unflattering, you might want to get their permission first. After all, this is supposed to be fun. Add other elements that make the sharing more special, such as a special quote from a famous person. The next time you are sharing vintage images online, try pairing them with some of the following vintage quotes from famous poets, novelists, storytellers, and others - these are sure to give an extra appeal. John Banville The past beats inside me like a second heart. Julian Barnes Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke. Deb Caletti Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. For those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. You can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. Summer just opens the door and lets you out. Willa Cather I guess everybody thinks about old times, even the happiest people. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner. Walt Disney All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Albert Einstein Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. Ralph Waldo Emerson â€Å"For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.† William Faulkner How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. Neil Gaiman I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I took joy in the things that made me happy. Kahlil Gibran Yesterday is but todays memory, and tomorrow is todays dream. Arsene Houssaye Always have old memories, and young hopes. Charlotte Davis Kasl A lifelong blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood. Elizabeth Lawrence There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. Laurie Lee Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasnt raining, a diamond dust took over which veiled and yet magnified all things. C.S. Lewis Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Cesare Pavese We do not remember days; we remember moments. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Marcel Proust There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book. Vladimir Nabokov One is always at home in ones past. Eleanor Roosevelt The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Dr. SunWolf Some things can only be understood when you’re in a tree house. With a pile of warm chocolate chip cookies. And a book. Charles R. Swindoll Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. Oprah Winfrey The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. Lisa Whelchel Theres something about childhood friends that you just cant replace. The Wonder Years Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Essay

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod - Essay Example Numerous famous artists performed at Llangollen which included Red Army Ensemble, Luciano Pavarotti, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Julian Lloyd Webber. The Sunday Evening Gala concert, which is the final event, features performers like Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Montserrat Caballe and James Galway. In the year 2009, performances by Sir Willard White, Barbara Dickson, Natasha Marsh and Blake were given. In addition to this, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera performed the spectacular James Bond 007.Public relation is very important for any business or event. Without spreading the word and creating goodwill, the business or event would be lost in this globally competitive world. It is a process through which maximum communication can be managed and maintained by the public and the organization. Public relations are required to build the rapport with customers, employees, the general public, voters, and investors. Public relation includes corporate communication, media relations, analyst relations, internal communication, investor relations and labor relations. A balance and agreement in all these dimensions will make the business and event a success (Gregory, 2004).Earlier, due to the absence of internet, the PR campaign used to be limited and a hard thing to do. The word of mouth and few posters were used to spread the word. In the modern technological revolution with the Internet, PR building has become easier, fast and very lucrative.... The Sunday Evening Gala concert, which is the final event, features performers like Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Montserrat Caballe and James Galway. In year 2009, performances by Sir Willard White, Barbara Dickson, Natasha Marsh and Blake were given. In addition to this, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera performed the spectacular James Bond 007 (Pruett and McGuirk, 2004). PR Campaign and Llangollen International Musical Festival Eisteddfod Public relation is very important for any business or event. Without spreading the word and creating goodwill, the business or event would be lost in this globally competitive world. It is a process through which maximum communication can be managed and maintained with the public and the organization. Public relations are required to build the rapport with customers, employees, general public, voters and investors. Public relation includes corporate communication, media relations, analyst relations, internal communication, inves tor relations and labor relations. A balance and agreement in all these dimensions will make the business and event a success (Gregory, 2004). Earlier, due to absence of internet, the PR campaign used to be limited and a hard thing to do. The word of mouth and few posters were used to spread the word. In the modern technological revolution with the Internet, PR building has become easier, fast and very lucrative. Llangollen Eisteddfod is an international platform that welcomes performers from all around the world. It would not only require the local public relations campaign but global representation and connection to increase the number of participants and audiences. Eisteddfod music and dance festivals has

Thursday, October 31, 2019

European Parliament Elections 2014 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Parliament Elections 2014 - Coursework Example The elections involve various parties that included the European People’s Party, Party of European Socialists, Alliance of liberals and Democrats of Europe, the party of the European Left and the party of European Alliance for Freedom among others.  Ã‚   For fairness and equity of distribution of members and the authority span in the union, countries involved all participated in the election of the President to the committee that led and provides oversight mandate to the countries. These have developed to shape politics in the management of affairs of the European Union. Therefore, they provide a control aspect that makes the union stronger and much active economically. As part of the EU integration principles, the elections provide ground for improvement and evaluation of progress to the European Union. Through the formation and the parliament formed, it is much easier to understand and tackle the challenges that face the European Union block and relate to the policy matters of the European Union. These aspects have a picture drawn in the body of the material. For years, the elections of the members of the European Union parliament have remained centred and held during June as for the previous elections. In 2014, the elections were held in May as a gesture to create more time for the election of the president of the European Commission, which would have coincided if not brought backwards. The fact that the Pentecost weekend was to take place at the same time also provide an influence on the changes that came to occur. One of the major roles that the European Union has to play as of current is stabilizing the economy of the member states of the European Union. Since the great recession that started as of June 2009, the whole world has suffered massively due to the economic crisis that has affected many economies (Maier, 2011, p.208). Through these recessionary activities, economies like that of Greece, Cyprus Spain, Portugal and Cyprus massively affected leading to a difficult time in the European Union.   From this time, the effect of the recession hit even into the EU leadership aspects.  Ã‚  

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Strategic Choice in HRM Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Choice in HRM - Case Study Example The company will also conduct employee redeployment, an activity whereby workers are moved from one working environment to another. The reasons for reassignment will be to increase efficiency, to reduce costs or for the purposes of trainings to build on the skills workers. Redeployment and retrenchment of workers cause’s stressful conditions to the employees as there remain uncertainties about their future in terms of security of their current occupation. During the redeployment process, employees are expected to maintain their performance under the changes in the workplace cultures, organisational structures and changes in the role they play in their works and responsibilities. Job insecurity is termed as being cross-sectional, moist researches are conducted either after the redeployment has been conducted or during the time when the affected individuals are trying to cope up with the new job environment. Therefore, it remains to be known how the workers manage to cope up wit h the extensive change of environment and how it correlates to the different stages of redeployment. In addition, it remains unknown how different individuals or the organisation cope up with the impacts of redistribution. Job uncertainties affect an organisations cultures; redeployment entails that in every point in time there shall be a new face in the team (Koontz 2009, p.179). The cultures may be different from their new organisation; consequently, this will impact the healthy organisation culture that had been put in place before the initialisation of the process of downsizing that affects the employee. Redeployment without a pay increment is a form of discouragement to the employee. However, modern managers have instituted a program of redeploying workers where they accompany them with a salary increase. Standfast Insurance has a plan to loan its workforce to another company.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Detailed Analysis Of Silent Hill Two Media Essay

Detailed Analysis Of Silent Hill Two Media Essay Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror/puzzle game released for the playstation 2 by Konami. It is the sequel to the first Silent Hill game released in 1999 for the original playstation. Silent Hill 2 is seen by many as landmark game, which capitalised on elements of game design previously ignored or seen as of secondary importance. It is difficult to categorise the appeal of Silent Hill 2, as at first glance its gameplay could appear primitive or certainly repetitive, while its subject matter and storyline are nothing new to the horror genre. To put it in more prosaic terms Silent Hill 2 is very much more than the sum of its parts, and this makes it a particularly interesting candidate for in depth analysis. For the greatest part of this essay I will refer to the game via the shorthand reference: SH2. Gameplay in SH2 revolves around a mixture of puzzle solving and simple combat. As the main protagonist progresses through the town of Silent Hill, he must fight various monsters using a variety of weapons. These range from a simple plank to a hunting rifle. In keeping with the survival horror nature of the game, ammunition is quite scarce as are the supplies necessary for healing, and individual enemies can take significant time and effort to kill. The player will find him/herself conserving ammunition for the stronger enemies and bosses, and thus any encounter with a monster brings with it a sense of trepidation and anxiety. Even the least powerful of the monsters becomes formidable if the players health and ammo is low, and he/she is forced to use the wooden plank. This is compounded by the fact that the enemies in SH2 are extremely resistant to damage and take a considerable time to kill outright (though they may be knocked to the ground for a temporary immobilisation). All of the se elements combine to nurture a sense of extreme reluctance to progress through the towns environs, and help create a fear of the unknown path ahead. Unfortunately the game fails to find the right balance between challenge and enjoyability with its combat. Defeating the monsters in Silent Hill is far more tedious than it is gripping. There is far too little variety in the methods of attack and too much time is required to kill each one that soon combat becomes a slow and repetitive affair of repeatedly swinging the iron bar at low powered enemies in order to conserve ammo. Furthermore once an enemy locks into combat with the player, it no longer becomes necessary to reposition the main character, resulting in gameplay requiring no more input than holding down the attack button. There is no heads up display in SH2, and the player must access the start menu to see how much ammo or health remains. When the player has taken excessive damage the playstation controller will subtly vibrate alerting him/her to the condition they are in. This merely adds to the frustrating nature of the combat in SH2, as no clear indication of how much damage can be taken against an enemy is ever given. This results in the player frequently dying while fighting the numerous minor enemies, even with plenty of health packs in reserve. Attacks given and received in combat are accompanied by a vibration of the controller which masks the warning vibrations when close to death and further jeopardises health management. This is a grave shortcoming which detracts from the rather well designed puzzle element of SH2. Puzzles range from fairly untaxing instances of collecting and combining items to extremely cryptic riddles requiring a good deal of thought to solve. The riddles show imagination in their intricacy and leave the player with a sense of achievement for having solved them. Unfortunately instances of these riddles are far less frequent than the occurrence of monsters in silent hill. SH2 is the story of James Sunderland, a man looking for his deceased wife after receiving a letter from her which says that she is waiting for him in the town of Silent Hill, a place where they used to holiday when she was alive. James wife was named Mary, and he begins the game with a photograph of her along with the letter signed by her in his inventory. The game begins with James having driven to Silent Hill only to find the entrance road blocked. He stops at a highway toilet , examines his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, reads the letter from his wife again and decides to enter the town on foot. James commences walking through the woods. The games atmosphere is established early on by thick fog and strange disconcerting noises as he makes his way. James eventually comes upon a graveyard and we are introduced to the games first non-playable character: Angela. As James finds her she is sitting among the tombstones. The conversation between the two seems disjointed. This sets the tone for the dialogue in the game. Much of what Angela says makes little sense, James asks her questions but she seems incapable of giving him a straight answer, as though her thoughts are not fully in the present. We gather enough from what she says to learn that she is looking for her mama in Silent Hill. At a later point in the game we learn that Angela had an abusive childhood and that this has left her with a desire to end her own life. Her father was killed (it seems likely by Angela), and the family home burned down. James proceeds to enter the town proper. Everything is covered in a thick fog. The town looks for the most part normal except that it is utterly deserted and the cars, signage, and architecture have an outdated feel. We soon meet our first enemy- a non descript grotesque humanoid shape which James dispatches with the aid of a wooden plank. Soon James finds himself in an apartment building. The building is in an appalling state of repair, displaying many signs of decay with walls stained horribly with rust, mildew and blood. Here we meet our second character, Eddie. The room we find Eddie in does not display such advanced decay. Eddie is in the process of vomiting into the toilet when we meet him, and the body of a human can be seen in the kitchen unit. This is not overly remarkable in light of the monsters roaming the apartment, but Eddie is instantly defensive in his conversation with James, and his frequent uncalled for denials that he murdered the man in the kitchen lead us to suspect that he in fact did. It is noteworthy that Eddie never mentions the monsters, which would conveniently explain the body. Eddie appears to be a man of limited intelligence- coarse, with a cruel side to his nature. When James finds his way out of the apartment he discovers a little girl named Laura wandering the streets by herself. Laura tells James that she shared a ward with Mary in the hospital during Marys illness. This strikes James as highly suspect, Mary was supposed to have died three years ago, when Laura would have been very young indeed. He tries to question Laura on the matter but just like the previous conversations with Angela and Eddie, it bears little fruit. James continues on towards Rosewater Park, one of the places which would fit Marys description of a special place from her letter. Instead of Mary James meets a woman who calls herself Maria. James is astounded at Marias appearance, as she looks almost identical to his dead wife Mary. Their personalities are less similar however; Mary is extraverted and bawdy whereas Mary was reserved and ladylike. Maria is dressed in a suggestively low cut outfit with a mini skirt and an incident later on in Heavens Night strip club infers that she works as a stripper. Maria says she doesnt know Mary and takes James confusing of the two women badly. It is significant that James should meet Maria in the place he expected Mary, not to mention the similarities in appearance. Maria resolves to join James in his search for Mary. After an episode in the hospital Maria is violently killed on front of James by a sinister pyramid headed monster which is seemingly impervious to attack. Later on he finds her i nexplicably alive and well before she is again killed on front of him. This pattern repeats itself three times in the game, as James is forced to witness his dead wifes doppelganger murdered in front of him. James receives no explanation for this, or the manner in which Maria seems to share memories of Mary with James; and though she becomes angry when James confuses the two women, it seems that even she confuses herself with Mary. James surmises that Marys special place must be the hotel by the lake and makes his way there. He encounters Laura and Eddie at various times but their conversations reveal little apart from the extent of their mutual confusion. In a prison on the way to the Hotel James meets Eddie in a room full of recently murdered human corpses. This is strange as Silent Hill appears to have been deserted for some time. Eddie has lost his mind, and starts talking about having to kill people for making fun of him. Eddie becomes convinced James is just like all the rest and tries to kill James but fails, losing his own life in the process. James finally reaches the Hotel. A look in the games inventory screen reveals that Marys note has gone blank. This raises the question of whether or not it ever existed. James reaches the room where he and Mary stayed. The room is in perfect condition and is empty apart from a vcr and a television. James inserts a video he found elsewhere in the Hotel and watches in horror at footage of himself putting a pillow over Marys face in her hospital bed. It finally becomes clear- James killed Mary. He sits with his head bowed for some time until Laura enters. We wonder how she made it into the hotel past all of the monsters and traps. James tells Laura he killed Mary. At this point the player realises the origin of James confusion. Mary was dying and James killed her and subsequently blocked out the memory. Now the chronology of the game makes more sense; Mary didnt die but merely got sick three years ago and James killed her much more recently. This explains how Laura had met her not long ago. It transpires that Marys illness badly affected her appearance and demeanour, causing her to lash out at James. This goes some way to explaining why James did what he did. Just before the final boss James again meets Angela. She is consumed by despair and James can do nothing to dissuade her from suicide. James is forced to witness the death of Maria at the hands of pyramid head one last time before proceeding to the roof of the Hotel where an evil incarnation of either Mary or Maria (depending on the players actions during the game) awaits. There are four endings to SH2: 1: In the Leave ending, the woman on the roof is Maria yet again, disguised as Mary in an attempt to trick James. James refuses her and Maria transforms into a monster. After James defeats this Boss Maria, he finds himself by Marys bedside once again. He explains to Mary that he killed her to end her suffering but also selfishly to end his own difficulty in having to care for her. He reads Marys letter in full and then leaves the town with Laura. 2: The in water ending is the same as above except instead of leaving with Laura we hear the sounds of James car driving into a lake. We surmise that he could not live without Mary and chose to drown himself. Marys letter scrolls across a screen with a watery background. 3: In the Maria ending James is reunited with Maria after the fight and the pair leave town together. As he helps her into his car she begins coughing. It seems likely that Maria will fall ill just like Mary did. It could be construed as a punishment for James, or perhaps even a chance of salvation if he sees Marias illness to the end, the way he never did for Mary. 4: The rebirth ending, which can only be unlocked during a replay sees James killing boss Maria, and then taking Marys body out to an island in Toluca Lake via boat. It appears as though he intends to resurrect Mary using various talismans he found in game at the church on the island. SH2, with its multiple endings and abundant ambiguity has no single reading or interpretation. Just as James discovers his own true past after watching the video the player must assemble his/her own definitive narrative based on the events they have witnessed. Many of the events negate each other, or have causes and consequences which are mutually exclusive. These include Marys note which disappears partway through the game, or Marias frequent resurrections. It becomes apparent after some reflection that if SH2 provides an account of these inconsistencies it is not made explicit and its left up to the player to make sense of events. The one theme each one of the endings have in common is that someone along the line in the story, be it Maria or Mary, turns out to be a figment of James imagination. Given that each ending allows for this possibility it seems likely that much of what James has experienced in Silent Hill was a product of his own mind. This reasoning is the only way to bui ld a logical picture of the events of SH2. The best way to examine this theory is to look closer at James encounters with the other characters in the game. The characters in SH2 converse with each other in a disjointed way, as though each inhabits a separate reality which only they have access to. It appears as though the town presents a subjective reality to each person who visits it. It also makes sense to think that each characters reality can only be observed when they meet face to face. The evidence for this is quite strong when one examines how the characters interact. Eddie never once mentions the monsters that threaten James, for him Silent Hill is a place full of people who make fun of him. James never sees any of these people except lying dead in and around Eddie. The town is less dilapidated when we meet Eddie, such as in the apartment room, where sports posters adorn the wall. It is uncertain why Silent Hill drew Eddie to it but his experience there is a failure, he loses his mind and commences slaughtering everyone. His experience of Silent Hill ends when he meets a real person- James, who kills him. Angela provides an even more dramatic example. When James rescues her she is being threatened by a monster that she refers to as daddy. This scene provides a good insight into how the town manifests itself to different people. The room is full of the decor of a domestic living room, even though it occurs in an underground labyrinth. Angela apparently sees Silent Hill through the eyes of her childhood. She saw her father while all James saw was a monster. The last time James meets Angela it is in the burning hallway. This seems to be a representation of how her childhood home burned down. James remarks that its hot as hell in here, while Angela replies You see it too? For me its always like this. The fire only exists when Angela is near; when James leaves the room, the Hotel is back to its damp rotting self. The town seems perfectly normal in the presence of Laura, and this explains how an eight year old girl could run from place to place without being harassed by monsters. In the bowling alley we find Laura and Eddie together eating a pizza. This too is revealing. The silent Hill James experiences is far too old and unsanitary a place to find food in, whereas for Laura and Eddie it appears just ordinary enough to find a pizza. Now we have some idea of how the town works for different people we can make more sense of James experiences. Firstly the chances of Maria being a real person seam dubious. Unlike the other characters in the game Maria is the only one who shares James experiences and can witness the things he can. This is evidence against her existence outside of James imagination, as none of the other characters seem to have any idea what James means when he talks of monsters. Furthermore none of the other characters ever see Maria, and when she and James arrive at the bowling alley she stays outside, away from Laura and Eddie so as not to reveal her illusory nature by appearing on front of people who cannot see her. There is also the more obvious discrepancy of her many deaths and resurrections; the other characters seem much more conventional in this regard. Finally there are the comparisons between Maria and Mary. She has the same body, and appears in the same spot James expects to see Mary- all suggestive of an imaginary Maria hypotheses; a construct of James mind composed of elements of his dead wife. Pyramid head, like all the monsters in SH2, is a further construct of James imagination. He plays a role in that he forces James to face his own guilt by killing the image of his wife before his eyes again and again. James admits this to himself before the final fight with the twin pyramid heads: thats why I needed you, needed someone to punish me for my sins. Interestingly James never actually harms pyramid head during combat. All the encounters with him are survived by endurance rather than by beating him. In the end it is pyramid head that kills himself. So the definitive narrative of SH2 is thus: James, forced to care for what was left of his sick wife, decided to kill her rather than have either of them suffer any longer. Once he had killed her however, he was filled with feelings of guilt and began living in denial, telling himself and others that she had died three years ago. In fact however; he hated himself, and needed to face the truth of what he had done, and so he was drawn to the town of Silent Hill where the forces of the town led him on a journey to face himself. Aesthetically SH2 has a very unified and clear vision of itself. As an audio visual experience the different elements tie together very well and form quite a cohesive feeling game of seamless stylistic integrity. Particular attention was given to the design of the monsters which reflect the nature of James inner turmoil. Apart from pyramid head every monster in SH2 is feminine in nature. Even the indistinguishable humanoid shapes that spit acid have high pitched female voices and long legs. Some of the monster designs have sexual overtones such as the mannequins or the nurses. It seems plausible to read this as a manifestation of James relationship towards womankind since he murdered his wife. It could even be said that the form of the monsters are derived from the nature of Marys disfiguring illness. The sense of atmosphere in SH2 is superbly well crafted. To this end the designers have employed prolific use of heavy fog and darkness to create a fear of progressing forward into the unknown. This is coupled with the use of a noise grain filter that lends an organic feel to the textures and ties in with the static motif reflected in the radio. The noise filter plays tricks on the eye, making walls appear to crawl and adding to the sense of chaos and unease. Every area exhibits a very high level of detail, with various bits of rubbish, graffiti, and detritus creating a thoroughly believable, lived in, (though abandoned) town. The minimal soundtrack is no less appropriate, with Akira Yamaoka opting more for industrial or ambient soundscapes than a conventional soundtrack (although a conventional song was also composed for the game). The imagination displayed in the composition of the soundtrack is impressive. Yamaoka employed very few conventional instruments, instead creating deeply unsettling otherworldly cacophonies of banging iron, bee-hives, saws, miscellaneous improvised percussion, sirens, wild animals, and heavy machinery. It is unfortunate therefore considering the quality of SH2 as an aesthetic experience, to find it marred by the camera. SH2 uses a third person viewpoint at all times with only a miniscule degree of control afforded to the player. The game has a very cinematic attitude to camera placement and as a result the camera is tyrannical in its inflexibility. Examination of the detail in the graphics is forbidden at all times by the camera, which will change position at the drop of a hat to the other side of a room. Though the camera positions are clearly deliberately chosen to lend the game an avant-garde and cinematic veneer they succeed only in hampering movement, increasing combat difficulty and generally detracting from SH2s enjoyment on every level. In conclusion the strength of Silent Hill 2 lies in its ability to tell a compelling and intriguing story while successfully evoking a palpably uneasy atmosphere. SH2 represents an advance in the video game as form, as it redefines the areas in which a game succeeds at entertaining. By all traditional standards the gameplay is uninspired, even tedious at times, yet SH2 remains a deeply affecting and compelling experience. The attention to detail in the feel of the game, along with the subtle, mature, and ambiguous storyline create a game of tremendous artistic unity, which represents a true formal leap in video games. .