Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective paper - Essay Example Algebra is one of the most difficult concepts and students easily repel this when they have to deal with problems that involve algebraic expressions. This part of mathematics involves a great deal of solving for the unknown and contains unto itself different aspects and areas of study expressed in variables that require more advance skills than regular problem solving. Algebra used to be an advanced subject that was usually taught in higher grades but this had been revised and more recently students as early as pre-K-2 are already introduced to this area of mathematics which further proves the emphasis duly given to it (Biilstein, Libeskind and Lott, 2010). Keeping in mind that some students may be at different levels in terms of comprehending algebraic equations, it would be indispensable to start the lesson by giving an overview on this concept and expounding from an introduction to the definition of variable and how this is important in algebra. There must be some form of process where the students will be assimilated to a reinforced attitude that allows for algebraic thinking. Teaching algebra may be challenging especially when there will definitely be students who simply rebuff the idea of having to deal with the subject. There are ways to avoid this attitude but it requires patience and an open mind. To this end it may also be helpful to start with algebraic expressions in more tangible terms by incorporating picture examples and other more common things and then slowly building up to an advance level when the students are deemed to be ready and able to solve by themselves more complicated problems. This course had been very helpful in integrating the theoretical element of teaching mathematic and perceiving them in the actual room setting. There had been many fundamental concepts that are often overlooked that we as teachers must be mindful of when teaching the subject and in the profession in general. The book offers a comprehensive take on mathematics with a holistic presentation of concepts and lessons that are presented not only in a conventional manner but aims to be more interactive and encompassing by including historical sidebars, colorful presentations and multilevel approach which is not only useful for the teacher but also translates to effective classroom management. Being a professional mathematics teacher would pose some difficulties in ascertaining the level of the students and enabling them to appreciate mathematics especially when most of them already have preconceived notions that math is a difficult subject. Most students easily shy away when faced with demanding math problems without exerting effort to try and solve on their own. This is the main dilemma for any mathematics teacher and this consumes most of the problems that are encountered inside the classroom. The concepts that I have learned provides for a thorough appreciation of not only mathematics as a subject but the application of available theories and proven perspectives that all point towards a congruent teaching strategy for me as a teacher and an innovative appreciation that may hopefully be imbued by the students. In most of the lessons, there were graphical equations and alternative solutions that are useful when faced with difficult math problems.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Consumer Behavior In Malaysia Marketing Essay

Consumer Behavior In Malaysia Marketing Essay As many researchers have been asserted that good store image of retail stores able mean the success or failure of the business. This review will focus on the variables that the further study will centre on. This focus and previous research conclusions will be included in the chapters of the store image where the variables are integrated. 2.1 Consumer Behavior in Malaysia Malaysias consumer lifestyle has been evolving and changing due in part to rising affluence and education levels. High profile international retailers and the global mass media have also played a hand in shaping consumer-buying behavior. Malaysians are becoming more westernized, sophisticated and cosmopolitan. Malaysians spend a high percentage of their household income on food, groceries and personal care items, ranking third out of the ten major economies in the Asia-Pacific region (excluded Japan). According to ACNielsen, Malaysians on average spent MYR505 per month on food and groceries, with just under half of that on fresh food like meat, fruits and vegetables. Since the emergence of the foreign-owned hypermarkets, Malaysians who live in urban areas have become accustomed to shopping for groceries at hypermarkets and supermarkets. Meanwhile rural people continue to purchase from traditional grocers, convenience stores and mini-marts. High and middle-income households spend most of their money at hypermarkets, followed by supermarkets and traditional grocery stores. The high-income group has household income of more than MYR3500 per month. 2.2 Retail Store Growth and Evolution Large-size store becomes a trend in the global. Hypermarkets are one of the manifestations of organized retailing. Srivastava (2008) observes that organized retailing, globally, has played a major role in nations GDP and employment. According to Srivastava, the ratio (composition) of organized versus traditional retailing is increasing in countries such as the US (85:15), Taiwan (81:19), Malaysia (55:45), Thailand (40:60), Indonesia (30:70), China (20:80), and India (3:97). The data in parenthesis describes the organized versus traditional ratio of retailing for each country. Offering large premises with both food and non-food items, everyday low prices (EDLP), and large car parks; the hypermarket format has been in existence for more than 35 years since the inauguration of Carrefour (the first French hypermarket) on 15 June 1963 (Roberts, 2005). The phenomenal success of hypermarkets in France affected other formats so adversely that certain legal restrictions were imposed on them. To counter the restrictions, the internationalization of French hypermarkets began in the 1970s, when Carrefour went global to countries such as Spain, Brazil and Argentina (Roberts, 2005). Carrefour along with other leading French chains such as Euromarche, Auchan and Leclerc subsequently marked their presence in the US market too between 1985 and 1993 (Roberts, 2005). The evolution of hypermarkets was quite revolutionary and their growth rate far surpassed the traditional formats in different parts of the world. In Spain, the number of traditional outlets dedicated to the retail food business fell by almost 50% between 1980 and 1995, where hypermarkets and supermarkets multiplied 6 and 11 respectively during that period (Flavian and Polo, 1998). In a similar manner, Taiwans traditional farmers markets disappeared at rates between 3-5% per year with the opening of at least 100 new supermarkets and 50 new hypermarkets all over Taiwan between 1988 and 1996 (Chang and Tu, 2005). Supermarkets and hypermarkets almost doubled to 941 from 544 in the Czech Republic too, in a time span of seven years, acquiring 55% of total retail sales (Healey Baker, 2002). 2.3 Store Formats 2.3.1 Hypermarket Hypermarket has clearly emerged as one of the most important retailing entity in most countries, offsetting the traditional and supermarket (Barros, 2006). Malaysian had her first hypermarkets opened for business in 1994. According to the Economic Transformation Programme announced in October 2010, Malaysia has 121 hypermarkets, included Giant, Tesco, Carrefour, Mydin. The general rule for one hypermarket is for every 250,000 people. The evolution of the various retail formats, in one way or the other, customers benefit by having greater access and choice. The concept of all the items under one roof has been submitted to different customers and have brought some changes in their preferences and behavior. With the presence of hypermarkets, customer expectations have changed and their importance to the acquisition have been affected (Oruc N, 2005); Terblanche and Boshoff, 2004; Vignali et al., 2001). Expectations and preferences, was different in different cultural environments, the study aimed to study the perceptions of consumers and their preferences on the store image of traditional wet markets and hypermarkets. 2.3.2 Traditional Wet Market A traditional wet market is an open food market, it is also called as traditional market (Wordie, 2002). The main features of the market have been traditionally associated with a place that sells live animals. The raw meat may include poultry, fish, reptiles, and so on. Depending on the region, the animals are usually caged and killed for the preparation. Fresh fruits and vegetables are also available. Wet markets usually include butchers and fish markets, which are in a separate section of the fruit and vegetable stalls. The highest hygiene standards of supermarkets have forced many traditional markets to operate in the interior. In general, the owner of a wet market, owns and maintains the building. The stalls are rented to retailers, who buy and sell their products independently. This is in contrast to a hyper store operated by a single company. In 2011, a total of 23 traditional wet markets and 3075 stalls inside the traditional wet markets in Penang Island are belong to Penang Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang, MPPP). 2.4 Store image Store image can be described as a concept of the way of consumers see a store in their mind, regarding touchable or untouchable attributes. It is a way of the store being defined in the consumers mind, partly is functional qualities of the store and partly is the atmosphere of psychological attributes of the store (Martineau, 1958). The store image will affect the shoppers buying behavior and this was a conceptualization with included store attributes by the researchers (James et. Al, 1976). Besides that, store image is also described as the concept of combination of consumers or shoppers perceptions of a store on different attributes (Bloemer and Ruyter, 1998). There are several researchers ever tried to identify the store attributes as these are the foundation of the overall image of the store. According to Lindquist (1974), store image have 9 elements, included vending, consumer, facilities, service, comfort, promotion, atmosphere, institutional and post transaction satisfaction. Later on, Doyle and Fenwick (1974) simplified and categorized the store image to 5 elements: price, product, variety, styling and location. While addition attributes of parking facilities and friendly personnel has been put forward by Bearden (1978). According McGoldrick (1990), the image is the indicator of the asset value of the branding, it corresponds with the long-run result of retailing activities. The understanding of the relationship between image and buying behavior of consumers are very important for better strategies in attracting consumers. 2.5 Consumers perception On Store Image 2.5.1 Variety of Goods The main attraction of the retail store is the trading of the goods. According Lindquist (1974), the main components of trading goods are quality, variety and selection of the goods. The stores which provide variety of goods will never lose its attraction. According Golledge et al. (1966), assortment or variety of the goods offers shoppers with more choices and enhances the ability of the stores to satisfy their needs. This makes them unnecessary to visit different stores to fulfill their needs. Based on this reason, a large size of stores such as supermarket or hypermarket has advantage in the retail sector, this kind of store able provide variety choice to consumers and makes them has benefit in reducing their time in visiting different stores (Huff, 1962). Thus, the stores which are able to provide variety and assortment of goods and services have their advantage to attract more consumers and to be preferred by the consumers as well. 2.5.2 Store Atmosphere Atmospheric of a retail store is a very important element. Atmospherics of retail store is the effort to design retail environments to produce specific emotional effects in the consumer that enhance his buying probability (Kotler, 1974). Ghosh (1994) found that atmospherics of store refers to the environment that is brought about by a coordinated visual display of goods and the ease of accessibility and mobility within the retail store. Moreover, Donovan and Rossiter (1982) assert that the physical surrounding will produce an emotional reaction and directly affected the consumers buying behavior. Thus, atmospheric of store becomes a strategy of the retailers, providing a favorable environment with spacious space, clean and comfortable, lighting and so on to affected shopping behavior of consumers. Thus, atmospheric of store is a key factor in stimulating consumers perception and retail store with attractive atmosphere increase preference of consumers. 2.5.3 Quality of Service Consumer patronage of retail stores often extends beyond the impact of the acquisition of goods. Bitner et al. (1994) describes the visiting of consumer to retail stores usually considers as a recreational activity whose dignity is enhanced by the level of service within the store. Thus, the quality of service has great affected to the consumers buying behavior (Shycon, 1992). As describe by Lindquist (1974), service includes giving information of goods, answering to consumer question, showing the goods location and so on. With providing this kind of service, consumers are able to find the goods and service in the retailer store in shorter time. Reynolds and Beatty (1999) asserted that service or retail store is to strengthen the relationship between retail store and consumer, it encourage them prefer to visit the store again in the future. 2.5.4 Accessibility of Retail Store Retail stores that are ease on accessible able to reduce the travel time between home and stores. Consumers time and effort in obtaining the service convenience will influence their buying behavior (Grewal et al., 2002). Eppli and Shilling (1996) described the easier the retail store be accessible, the more preferred by the consumers. The location of retail store can be determined whether the establishment of the store success or failure. Retail stores that provide car parks may have larger catchment to adjacent area to the consumers who own private vehicle, as Lindquist (1974) assert that accessibility as having a convenient location and this includes parking facilities. While stores which are equipped bus stops will increase the accessibility as well. Thus, better accessibility of retail store able to reduce the travel time and fewer barrier is likely to be preferred by consumers. 2.5.5 Price of Goods Compare to the promotion and goods variety, the influences of price to consumer shopping behavior have less important (Fox et al., 2004). On the other hand, Sieder and Costley (1994), assert a different point of view, they observed that pricing is a major determinant of store choice in the retail store shopping context. According to their study, the result reported that perception of goods pricing inter-related with their preference in choosing a store. Most of the consumer will take consideration of the pricing of the goods before going to shop at a particular retail store. Price is a determinant in store choice and to be a key factor of patronage motivations, this study was also linked the pricing policies to consumers perception and shopping behavior. 2.5.6 Quality of Goods Retail stores have an image of providing goods in better or lower quality and have influenced the decision which is made by consumer as where to go (Schiffman et al., 2007). The pricing of the goods is inter-related with design of the physical environment of the retail store, product variety, and service and so on. Alba et al. (1994) assert that a study of comparative pricing strategies found that buyers prefer to buy in the store that offers discount on a smaller number of products (for example, the frequency of price advantage) that have lower prices for overall compare to a store which is offering bigger discounts on a small number of items (eg, the magnitude of price advantage). 2.5.7 Store Displays Store displays were in purpose for promotion in older time. Nowadays, the store displays have new role for effective displays. Bell and Ternus (2002) described that store displays have been discovered new role in displaying product information, helping the shopper in making decisions, and creating attractive shopping environment.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Odysseus The Hero :: essays research papers

Odysseus the Hero   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For a character to be an epic hero, he must possess four characteristics. These four characteristics include the following: (1) he must be high born, (2) the hero must have human weaknesses, (3) he must be brave,and 4) he must be clever. In The Odyssey, Homer’s character Odysseus was an epic hero because he possessed all four of the characteristics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was highborn. Odysseus was Prince Laertiades of Ithaca. The goddess Circe knew he was highborn and addressed Odysseus with his formal name “Prince Laertiades…'; (p. 120). When his men feared that he was dead and Odysseus returned to them unharmed, from their hearts they said, “You are back again my prince! How glad we are…';(p.120). Also, because Odysseus had not returned home to Ithaca, many men tried to wed his wife, Penelopeia, so that they could rule his kingdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Odysseus was also an epic hero because he had human weaknesses. One of his weaknesses was that he was arrogant. Even after he defeated Polyphemos (the Cyclops) Odysseus stayed longer just so he could taunt him. He “…wanted to shout out again…although [his] comrades…tried to coax [him] not to do it'; (p.110). Odysseus, against his crew’s wishes, shouted, “…Cyclops! if ever a man asks you who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus!'; (p.110). Another human weakness of Odysseus was that he had a bad temper. When Eurylochos refused to go back to Circe’s mansion, Odysseus “…thought for a moment that [he] would draw [his] sword and cut off his head…';(p.121). If his men did not stop him, Odysseus probably would have killed Eurylochos and therefore lost a good man because of his short temper. Lust was another weakness of his. For Seven years Odysseus and Circe were lovers. Because he sta yed with Circe, Odysseus prolonged his return home to Ithaca. Odysseus had many human weaknesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was brave. Even though Eurylochos urged Odysseus to not go to Circe and leave the island without his crew Odysseus refused to. He responded to Eurylochos by saying “…as for me, go I must and go I will.';(p.117). Odysseus was a loyal leader, and even though he knew that he faced an impossible task, he went to Circe’s to bring his men back to safety.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Nogo Railroad

The NoGo Railroad I. Problems A. Macro 1. Union problems need to be addressed at corporate level. 2. Massive changes are needed in personnel policies that can only be accomplished through intensive union and executive sessions. 3. This organization may not survive the needed changes. There may not be time for organization development to be used and the revolutionary method—organization transformation—may be too radical. 4. Changes may not be allowed by management at this time. Change is inevitable and the longer that NoGo waits, the more radical those changes will be.B. Micro 1. Dave Keller is in a no-win situation. 2. The only hope Dave has of making all the needed changes would be to accomplish the needed changes over a long period of time with empowerment and support from top management. 3. In the short term, Dave can attempt to gain employee support. Because the union is so strong, it is doubtful that he can obtain much support. II. Causes 1. Union stronghold. 2. Co mpany has been reacting to changes instead of proactively forecasting changes. 3.Management is not cohesive; they do not share information, support, or resources with employers and lower-level managers. III. Systems affected 1. Structural – job descriptions and the formal structure are very rigid, largely because of years of practice. 2. Psychosocial – Dave is very unsure of the security of his position and suspects he is being set up. Other employees, including some in management, want to preserve the status quo. 3. Technical – the technology has change through the years but the organization has failed to recognize the change.As evidence is the archaic job titles (fireman) and job descriptions. 4. Managerial – virtually no support from management for Dave to make changes. Management seems to be as much of the problem as unionized employees. Everyone seems to want to protect his or her turf. 5. Goals and values – though â€Å"status quo† is actually not a value, it never-the-less is what employees in many cases value. Their goal is not to change. IV. Alternatives 1. Dave can forge on ahead and suggest changes as he sees them.If top management does not begin to press for changes, the organization will probably cease to exist. 2. Management needs to consider what they will offer to unions prior to the next contract in order to make the following changes. a. Positions need to be eliminated. b. Positions need to be combined. c. Featherbedding and nepotism need to be eliminated from all levels of the organization. 3. Some proposed â€Å"carrots†: a. Management reduces unnecessary managerial and corporate staff as well as union positions. . The Board of Directors ties future management and union pay raises together. Pay increases will also be tied to productivity and profits. 4. Management should consider confrontation with union. a. This alternative needs to be carefully considered. b. There would be the possibility of violent confrontations. c. There will be many legal ramifications and expenses incurred by both sides. d. Even if the company is successful in obtaining concessions from the union, the company may have future problems.In unpopulated areas such as Montana, Idaho, and Washington, future employees will probably have ties to former union railroad employees. V. Recommendations Dave should attempt to make the necessary changes for NoGo to become a healthy organization. Unless he is able to live with the old corporate culture, he will not be effective. When Dave is â€Å"fed up,† he will probably resign. Hopefully before that point, the company’s top management will become supportive of the needed change programs. Meanwhile, Dave needs to be realistic about his future and keep his resume up to date.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Title Critically discuss the ways UNICEF engage media techniques in their communications’ strategy.

Introduction Communication strategies are designed to help governmental and non-governmental organisations communicate effectively to meet core objectives. In the new digital age, communicating through the media has become an effective way of targeting audiences and persuading them to act by either providing support or giving money (Goodman and Hirsch, 2010: 2). The non-governmental organisation (NGO) UNICEF provides an example of how the effective use of persuasive media techniques in a communications strategy can help to generate capital and support. UNICEF uses a number of different techniques, which all help to raise awareness of the objectives that are trying to be achieved (Dijkzeul and Moke, 2005: 673). With particular focus on children, UNICEF is able to communicate with audiences to obtain humanitarian assistance. A higher degree of financial independence is acquired and subsequently used for humanitarian and development activities (Dijkzeul and Moke, 2005: 673). It is unlikely that such assistance would be obtained without the use of various media techniques. This essay will critically discuss the ways UNICEF engage media techniques in their communications’ strategy. Media Techniques and Political Communications The main objective of most media messages is to persuade or encourage the audience to believe or do something (MLP, 2014: 1). In doing so, a number of different techniques are used to grab the audience’s attention and to establish trust and credibility (Erwin, 2014: 104). One technique that is used by the media is the use of direct quotations from identified sources. This makes the reader believe the story being told and is often used as a powerful motivator to encourage the reader to act, for example, by giving money or purchasing something (MLP, 2014: 1). Where direct quotations are used, it is more likely that the message being conveyed will be successful received as the audience will believe what is being said. Such techniques are referred to as the â€Å"language of persuasion† and are essential media literacy skills (Changing Minds, 2013: 1). This was recognised by Lippmann who believed that persuasion had become a â€Å"self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government (Denton and Kuypers, 2007: 1). Persuasion is thus a way of creating consent from individuals about a particular premise and is capable of modifying political communications in a very influential way. Unless communications are persuasive, it is doubtful that they will be effective since persuasion is the main communication tool that is required by the media. Governments use persuasion as a means of obtaining consent from the messages being conveyed, also known as political communication. Political communication is considered to have the following four elements; 1) short-term orientation; 2) based upon specific objectives; 3) primarily mediated; and 4) audience centred. Political communication is not exclusive to the political world as non-political actors also use this type of communication as a way of communicating messages to the public. This is generally done by organisations that have a political objective such as; non-governmental organisations (NGO’s). An NGO is an organisation that is separate and distinct from governments and profitable businesses. Although NGO’s can be funded by governments and businesses, they are usually set up by ordinary citizens to further an agenda (Welch, 2000: 1). Whilst the agenda’s of many NGO’s will differ, the methods of communication that are used will be similar in that they will all seek to effectively communicate their objectives to the targeted audience. The primary objective of most NGO’s is to ensure that human rights are being fully protected. Although NGO’s from different jurisdictions will not always have the same goals, they will still be structured in a similar manner. This is because NGO’s generally seek to promote human rights worldwide, which requires them to co-operate with governments and the United Nations (Wong, 2012: 37). NGO’s are also important in helping to bring public interest matters before the courts (Wadham, 2001: 1). The ma ss media is a useful tool that allows political communications of NGO’s to be effectuated, yet social, cultural and psychological problems are usually associated with media content and use (Perse, 2001: 1). It was stressed by Young that modern society engulfs its members through the media, education and participation within the marketplace (Young, 1999: 82). The media is capable of articulating beliefs by adopting various ideological approaches. It has been said by Croteau and Hoynes that the media do not promote a singular perception of ideology and instead communicate a number of different ideological perceptions (Croteau and Hoynes, 2012: 154). They noted that social ideologies are more domineering of society than mainstream ideologies because of the fact that people pay as much attention to street scenes, housing and clothing as they do to the commentary when watching international news (Thompson, 1995: 176). Arguably, it is clear from these assertions that the media is e xtremely powerful in influencing the minds of individuals, which is why it is a form of communication that is commonly used by NGO’s to further their agenda’s. The media is capable of shaping an audiences subjectivity through the representation of ideological belief’s. NGO’s thereby benefit from using media techniques to persuade their targeted audience to act in a certain manner. The media is extremely powerful in persuading the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of society through the use of propaganda. Propaganda is a form of communication that influences an audience to act based on a particular agenda. Propaganda is used as a means of generating emotional responses to messages that are produced to influence societal attitudes towards a particular cause or position. NGO’s often use propaganda to fulfil their objectives and are thus considered effective cultural propaganda disseminators (Cull et al; 2003: 193). NGO’s have been considered politics of the poor on the basis that they represent political ideologies (Karim, 2001: 92). Political ideology is a set of ideas which represent the objectives, expectations and actions of a political party. A broad range of belief systems exist within different political parties and have generally been acquired from doctrines, ideals, myths, principles and social movements. Ideology is a system that is made u p of values and beliefs â€Å"regarding the various institutions and processes of society that is accepted as fact or truth by a group of people† (Sargent, 2008: 2). Political ideology therefore comprises the views of political parties on how the world should be. This allows political parties to allocate social values (Easton, 1971: 129) and determine what is considered an ‘ideal’ world. There are different views and opinions of ideological theory, though ideology is largely driven by competing groups in society who strive for hegemony (Hall, 1997: 13). Hegemony happens when the most dominant in society promotes, through the media and culture, a set of ideals that members of that society must conform to (Allan, 2004: 6). This is beneficial for NGO’s who use the media to establish an ideological perception of the rights in which they are trying to protect. In deciding whether certain behaviours conform to society, the set of ideals that have been created wi thin that society will need to be considered by the media when deciding what messages need to be conveyed. Many believe that this is unfair and problematic as ideology only serves the interests of one segment of society over all other segments (Curra, 2000: 6). This prejudices many parts of society as certain groups may not benefit from the established ideals that are created. As pointed out by Brown et al; ideology may only be beneficial to certain ethnic groups, genders or religions (Brown et al; 2010: 9). This does not provide an accurate reflection of the whole of society and whilst ideals are necessary in helping people to identify what is right and wrong, it seems unacceptable to segregate certain parts of society. This may, however, be necessary when protecting the rights of certain individuals. Political ideologies are subject to further critique on the basis that they do not consider the needs of modern society (Stankiewicz, 2012: 408), yet as pointed out by Selinger; †Å"There is no politics without ideology† (Selinger, 1975: 99). In effect, this appears to demonstrate that all political communications will have some element of ideology as moral judgements will be contained within them. Effectively, the objectives of NGO’s will be based upon ideological beliefs and will mostly have a political objective. An example of this can be seen in relation to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is an NGO that provides humanitarian and development assistance to mothers and children in underdeveloped countries. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) created UNICEF on the 11th December 1946 to provide food and healthcare to children that had been affected by World War II. Although UNICEF is not operated by the government, it like many other NGO’s largely relies upon governmental support and political communications. NGO’s have, for some time, relied upon the mass media to expose violations of human-rights and encourage governments to put pressure on those found to be abusing them (Thrall et al; 2014: 3). This is intended to discourage human rights abuses from taking place and to help the perpetrators be put to justice. The effectiveness of this is arguable, though it seems as though greater support is being acquired by the likes of UNICEF as a result of this. Since the advancement of modern technology UNICEF is now able to establish new communication strategies for channeling information politics via the internet (Chadwick and Phillip, 2008: 3). It is arguable whether the strategies that are being undertaken by UNICEF are effective in persuading audiences to support their cause, though it seems likely given UNICEF’s use of the med ia. The media is largely proficient in influencing society of certain ideological perceptions through television programmes, newspapers, magazines, films and radio programmes (Long and Wall, 2009; 285). These forms of communication are used in a way that manipulates societal values and beliefs and will continue to influence the ways in which we think about things whether consciously or subconsciously (Kenix, 2010: 1). Not only does the media send out ideological messages to the public but media systems have also been intertwined into society’s ideological framework. This highlights the power of the media in shaping individuals values and beliefs within society. UNICEF’s campaigns are mainly in the form of mass media, radio programmes, posters, street plays and localised outreach (UNICEF, 2014: 1). Because of this, a wider range of support will be acquired. UNICEF is reaching out to a broader audience, which will generate a huge amount of support and funding that would not otherwise be available. Arguably, it is imperative that the media techniques being used in UNICEF’s communications strategy are effective in helping to shape ideological views on the rights of children. UNICEF is an advocate of children’s rights and so it is necessary for UNICEF to communicate how these rights are being violated and what protections need to be in place. This will help UNICEF to gain support and the message UNICEF is trying to put across will be better received by the public. Communications Strategy The communications strategy of UNICEF is vital in strengthening human development and avoiding missed opportunities. An ineffective communications strategy will generally yield poor results and stifle the development of UNICEF (UNDP, 2014: 1). UNICEF’s targeted audience will not receive the message that is being portrayed. This will prevent UNICEF from developing, which will impact its success.. Effective communications are important skills NGO’s need to survive and be successful (KDID, 2013: 28). To make an impact, UNICEF will thus be required to use effective means of communication to ensure that their views and opinions are heard. In doing so, they will most likely face a number of difficult challenges because of the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to deliver to society complex humanitarian crises. It is also difficult to explain to society who is involved in certain humanitarian crisis’ because of how widespread they generally are (ICRC, 2005: 673). A huge amount of NGO’s currently strive for media attention, thereby highlighting the need to have effective communication strategies in place (Thrall et al; 2014: 19). UNICEF must adopt a coherent and credible approach when conveying public communication so that its message can be heard. It has been said that in order to understand political communication, one must understand how consent is created (Denton and Kuypers, 2007: 1). UNICEF will thus be required to communicate messages in a way that allows consent to be obtained, which will need to be included within the communications strategy of UNICEF. A good communications strategy will help to certify good organisational branding and positioning, which will help to attract staff, donors and volunteers (KDID, 2013: 28). Successful branding through media communications will put an NGO in a desirable position within the community, which will help to garner support and belief from the public. This will require NGO’s to be completely transparent so that the messages in which they are trying to put across can be clearly communicated (Thrall et al; 2014: 19). Unless UNICEF adopts a transparent and clear approach, it will be difficult to gain support and belief from the public (Lilleker, 2006: 4). Public support is, however, crucial to the implementation of change (Rabinowitz, 2013: 3). Without public support, it is doubtful that UNICEF would be as successful as they are. It is debatable what the best techniques for gaining public support are, though an effective communications strategy that takes into account UNICEF’s agenda and identifies points that will require persuasive communication will most likely prove successful. It is important that the communications strategy identifies the appro aches and tools that are needed to make a particular event more effective. In developing a communications strategy, it first needs to be established what UNICEF is trying to achieve. Subsequently, it will then need to be considered what communications objectives will most likely support the objectives of the project (McManus, 1994: 58). The communications objectives of UNICEF will be those that are capable of being reached through various means of communications. Such objectives will also need a target audience. This will require UNICEF to consider who they are trying to reach. In reaching out to the target audience, UNICEF will need to develop appropriate messages which highlight the relevant issues; the actions that needs to be taken by the target audience; and the benefits of such action (KDID, 2013: 28). Once this has been done, UNICEF will then have to consider how these messages will be delivered. Different methods of communication will be considered depending upon the type of event that is being promoted such as; media conferences, social media, interviews, marketing, advertisements and news stories. Given that UNICEF targets underdeveloped countries, it is likely that difficulties will be faced when considering the political objectives of various countries. Political communications are likely to vary from one country to another, which will create a number of problems. An effective communications strategy will seek to address these difficulties, though it will remain arguable whether they will prove sufficient in achieving certain objectives (Thrall et al; 2014: 19). In Africa, for example, the media seems to control those in power by reporting to citizens. Whilst this demands a degree of institutional independence from the political system, it has been said that there is actually a â€Å"clear interdependence between the media and political systems† (Windeck, 2014: 17). Information from political systems is usually exchanged for coverage in the media system and vice versa. The media consequently rely heavily on the supply of information from politics, whilst political bod ies rely on the media to spread their messages and objectives (Windeck, 2014: 17). Political communication is an important tool in the political process, and will continue to influence politics. In effect, the political communications of certain countries will be driven by cultural and political factors, which may be difficult to overcome. Female genital mutilation is one area that UNICEF continues to campaign against, but is faced with many political objections from countries where FGM is prevalent; Asia, the Middle East and some parts of Africa (Gaber, 2007: 219). UNICEF are resultantly required to implement a strategy that is capable of strengthening the political commitment of governments. UNICEF’s Communications Strategy There are three components of communication that are used by UNICEF to garner support and funding. These are; advocacy, social mobilisation and behaviour change communication (UNICEF, 2008: 7). Advocacy is used to inform and motivate leadership so that a supportive environment can be created. This will allow the objectives and development goals of the program to be achieved. Social mobilisation seeks to engage support and participation from various institutions, social and religious groups, and community networks. It is intended that the development objectives of UNICEF will be maintained through the use of social mobilisation and that greater demand will be generated. Behaviour change communication involves face to face discussions with a number of individuals and groups to motivate, inform, plan and problem-solve. It is anticipated that by using this technique, the objectives of UNICEF can be met (UNICEF, 2008: 7). Various conceptual models are used by UNICEF to implement communica tion including ACADA, P-Process and COMBI. The ACADA (Assessment, Communication Analysis, Design, Action) model is frequently used by UNICEF to use systematically-gathered data to link communications strategies to development problems. The P-Process model, developed by The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP), is used for the strategic planning of evidence based communication programmes and contains the following five steps; 1) analysis, 2) strategic design, 3) development and testing, 4) implementation and monitoring, and 5) evaluation and re-planning (UNICEF, 2008: 7). The COMBI model uses a ten step process for communication planning, which are; 1) overall goal, 2) behavioural results/objectives, 3) situational market analysis, 4) results strategy, 5) plan of action, 6) management structure, 7) monitoring, 8) impact assessment, 9) scheduling, and 10) budget (UNICEF, 2008: 7). All three of these models seek to establish an effective communications strategy by analysing the different approaches that can be taken and considering the necessary steps needed. Analysis is integral to an effective communications strategy as it will enable any underlying issues to be identified and thereby dealt with accordingly. UNICEF undertakes a comprehensive analysis comprising of; the situation, the programme, the participants, the behaviours, and the communication channels (UNICEF, 2008: 7). The situation section describes the issues that are being addressed by UNICEF such as; child poverty, disease, malnutrition and trafficking. This is based upon data that has be en collected from local knowledge, programme documents and research. The data highlights the underlying social and cultural issues by demonstrating what changes need to be made to social structures and practices. The programme section is designed to establish where the objectives of UNICEF can be achieved by communication. The participant section establishes what people are required to achieve UNICEF’s objectives. The behaviour section focuses on setting behavioural objectives and analysing the behaviours or practices that have been selected for change. Finally, the communication channels section considers the available communication channels that are applicable in achieving the objectives. Once the analysis has been completed, UNICEF will have identified the participants, behaviours and channels of communications that are needed to encourage audience participation and accomplish its goals (UNICEF, 2008: 7). In order to ensure that the objectives of UNICEF are being met by changing the attitude and behaviour of individuals, knowledge alone will not be sufficient. Instead, a supportive environment will also need to be established (UNICEF, 2008: 37). Therefore, whilst the communications strategy of UNICEF will need to instil knowledge into the community so that support can be acquired, a supportive environment will also need to be created. This will involve creating policies that improve access to services and by using leaders that help to promote social and behaviour change amongst various members of society. Resources will also need to be allocated for the programme activities that are to be carried out and positive change will be effectuated by using a combination of communication techniques. UNICEF believes that communication goes way beyond providing information to the targeted audience and instead argue that communication is vital for development (Dijkzeul and Moke, 2005: 673). UNICE F has therefore set up a development programme, also known as C4D, which aims to engage communities through understanding people’s beliefs, values and social and cultural norms (Lenni and Tacchi, 2013: 16). This is achieved from listening to adults and children, identifying issues and working out solutions. This is considered a two way process that allows individuals to share knowledge and ideas through the use of various communication techniques that empower communities to take action in improving the lives of children (Lenni and Tacchi, 2013: 16). Advocacy is one technique UNICEF engages in its communications strategy, which is the â€Å"act of supporting a cause to produce a desired change† (Save the Children, 2014: 1). Advocacy is capable of influencing governments to effect change by communicating with the media, elected officials and influential leaders. Advocacy is able to encourage leaders to implement various changes such as; legal reform, policy decisions, addressing social and political barriers, and altering funding priorities. Advocacy efforts being used by UNICEF occur at global, national and sub-level and seek to influence the decisions of policy makers as well as political and social leaders. This is done through the creation of an enabling policy and legislative environment and by allocating resources appropriately to create and sustain social transformation (UNICEF, 2011: 1). For example, in 2010 when polio resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there existed a lack of awareness of the disease and how it could be prevented. Influential leaders, such as Marco Kiabuta, did not believe that the vaccination of polio was necessary. After a number of debates with community mobilisers and leaders Kiabuta came to realise just how vital a vaccination was. This example demonstrates how effective communication techniques ca n make a huge difference in implementing change and possibly saving lives (UNICEF, 2011: 1). Advocacy is used by UNICEF to target political, business and social leaders at national and local levels. It is not used simply to create mass awareness but is also used as a means of generating change and leading to a specific action that is to be taken (UNICEF, 2010: 20). UNICEF uses advocacy to inform and motivate appropriate leaders to create a supportive environment by changing polices, speaking out on critical issues, allocating resources and initiating public discussion. Communication is a powerful tool, which is why it is important for various media techniques to be adopted by NGO’s such as UNICEF. Social mobilisation is another method of communication that is used by UNICEF to enlist participants, community networks, and religious groups to strengthen participation in various activities. This helps to engage and motivate partners and allies to raise awareness of UNICEFâ€℠¢s development objectives through face-to-face dialogue. Partners and allies subsequently work together to target audiences and convey certain messages. Social mobilisation is used as a way to facilitate change through a range of players that are engaged in interrelated and complementary efforts (UNICEF, 2012: 1). An example of this can be seen in relation to the training community health workers in Madagascar received from UNICEF. The health workers were trained to provide outreach to families on various issues including, hand washing, vaccinating children, and not defecating in the open (UNICEF, 2012: 1). This is clearly an effective communication technique that is used by UNICEF as it allows certain individuals to be trained up so that they can pass their knowledge onto others. This has a domino like effect and will enable the views of UNICEF to be conveyed to a wider audience than that which would have been possible through advertisements alone. Social mobilisation is therefore an effective way of spreading messages to targeted audiences and helping to achieve the objectives of UNICEF, which is to provide assistance to mothers and children in underdeveloped countries. Behaviour change communication is another method that is used to address knowledge, attitudes and practices that are linked to programme goals. This is done by providing participants with â€Å"relevant information and motivation through well-defined strategies, using an audience-appropriate mix of interpersonal, group and mass media channels and participatory methods† (UNICEF/INDA, 2012, 1). Behaviour change communication strategies focus on the individual to effect change. In order for behavioural changes to happen on a larger scale, social change communication needs to be employed. This technique helps to define and address social influences in life and is currently being employed by UNICEF through the Social Ecological Model framework† (UNICEF/INDA, 2012, 1). The media techni ques that are currently being used by UNICEF do appear effective in helping to persuade audiences to provide support. The more UNICEF does to spread its message, the more successful UNICEF will be in achieving its aims. The Meena Communication Initiative in South Asia gives an example of how mass media and interpersonal communication is used to enhance the self-esteem and self-worth of children by enabling them to become familiar with life skills that are essential empowerment tools. The programme is primarily school based and is centred around a nine-year old girl called Meena who seeks to fight against the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS (UNICEF/INDA, 2012, 1). A radio station called ‘Meena Radio’ was launched in 2010 to communicate with children, their parents, educators and community leaders. This provides an effective means of communication and provides a platform for UNICEF’s political beliefs to be heard. It is intended that the radio station’s audience will be persuaded to act so that the voices of children and communities can be heard through the power of communication. This helps to promote child survival, development, protection and participation (UNICEF, 2014: 1 ). It is clear that UNICEF uses a number of different media techniques in its communications strategy to achieve its objectives. Without the use of such techniques, the voices of children and communities would not be heard and UNICEF’s message would not be delivered to its intended audience. It has been said that UNICEF â€Å"raises considerable funds and carries out strong communication on its own through its national committees, press centre and media team† (Dijkzeul and Moke, 2005: 683). This signifies the importance of having an effective communications strategy is in place as it can generate a significant amount of funding that would not otherwise be available. UNICEF also uses high profile figures to be its ambassadors who have been considered a highly effective in persuading society (Stromback, 2011: 42). Conclusion Overall, an effective communication strategy in an important tool for helping governmental and non-governmental organisations communicate effectively to meet core objectives. Given that UNICEF relies on voluntary donations from members of the public, government departments, charitable trusts and event organisers, it is important that they are capable of successfully communicating their objectives. In doing so, they will be required to persuade or encourage their audiences to provide support or funding so that UNICEF’s end goals can be achieved. Given that UNICEF uses a number of different media techniques in its communications strategy, the approach that is currently being undertaken does appear workable. The media is a powerful tool in the art of persuasion, which is what UNICEF needs in order to survive. The use of media techniques will help to raise awareness of UNICEF’s objectives and obtain humanitarian assistance. It is unlikely that such assistance would be obtai ned without the use of various media techniques, which is why UNICEF’s communications strategy does appear largely effective. References Allan, S. (2004), News Culture. Bukingham: Open University Press. Changing Minds. (2013). Persuasive Language, [Online], Available: http://changingminds.org/techniques/language/persuasive/persuasive.htm [07 July 2014]. Chadwick, A. and Phillip, H. (2008). Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. London: Routledge. Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W. (2012). Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences, London: SAGE Publications. Cull, N. Culbert, D. and Welch, D. (2003). Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopaedia, 1500 to the Present, London: ABC-CLIO Publishers. Curra, J., (2000). The Relativity of Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA. London: Sage Publications. Denton, R. E. and Kuypers, J. A. (2007). Politics and Communication in America: Campaigns, Media and Governing in the 21st Century, Illinois: Waveland Press. Dijkzeul, D. and Moke, M. (2005). Public Communication Strategies of International Humanitarian Organisations, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 87, Number 860, 20-23. Easton, D. (1971). The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science, 2nd Edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Erwin, P. (2014). Attitudes and Persuasion. London: Psychology Press. Goodman, M. B. and Hirsch, P. B. (2010) Corporate Communications: Strategic Adaptation for Global Practice, New York: Business & Economics. Hall, S. (1997). Representation Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage. ICRC. (2005). Public Communication Strategies of International Humanitarian Organizations. International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 87, Number 860, 673-691. Karim, L. (2001). Politics of the PoorNGSs and Grass-Roots Political Mobilization in Bangladesh. Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Volume 24, Issue 1, 92-93. KDID. (2013). Develop a Communications Strategy for Your NGO, Communications and Media Relations, Civic Activits Toolkit, [Online] Available: http://kdid.org/sites/kdid/files/28.%20Develop%20a%20Communications%20Strategy%20for%20Your%20NGO.pdf [08 July 2014]. Lennie, J. and Tacchi, J. (2013) Evaluating Communication for Development: A Framework for Social Change, London: Routledge. Lilleker, D. (2006). Key Concepts in Political Communication. London: Sage Communications. Long, P., and Wall, T. (2009). Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context, London: Longman, 1st Edition. McManus, J. (1994). Market Driven Journalism. London: Sage. MLP. (2014). Language of Persuasion, [Online], Available: http://medialiteracyproject.org/language-persuasion [07 July 2014]. Oxfam. (2004). Towards global equity: Strategic Plan 2001-2004, [Online], Available: [07 July 2014]. Thrall, T. Stecula, D. and Sweet, D. (2014) May We Have Your Attention PleaseHuman-Rights NGO’s and the Problem of Global Communication, International Journal of Press/Politics, Volume 19, No. 1. Rabinowitz, P. (2013) Gaining Public Support for Addressing Community Health and Development Issues, Community Tool Box, [Online] Available: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/getting-issues-on-the-public-agenda/gain-public-support/main [14 July 2014]. Sargent, L. T. (2008). Contemporary Political Ideologies: A Comparative Analysis (14th Edition). 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Tuesday, October 22, 2019

States Where Recreational Marijuana Use Is Legal

States Where Recreational Marijuana Use Is Legal Eleven states have legalized  recreational marijuana use  in the United States. They are Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.  Washington, D.C., also allows the recreational use of marijuana.   They are among 30 states that allow the use of marijuana in some form; most others allow for use of the substance for medicinal purposes. The eleven states where recreational use is legal have the most expansive laws on the books.   Here are the states in which marijuana use is legal. They do not include states that have  decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana  or states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. It is also important to note that growing and selling marijuana is illegal under federal law, though that rule is not enforced by the U.S. attorney general. 1. Alaska Alaska became the third state to allow recreational marijuana use in February 2015. The legalization of marijuana in Alaska came by a ballot referendum in November 2014, when 53 percent of voters supported the move to allow use of the substance in private places. Smoking pot in public, however, is punishable by a modest fine of $100. Private use of marijuana in Alaska was first declared a right in 1975 when the state Supreme Court ruled that possessing small amounts of the substance was protected under the state constitutions guarantee of the right to privacy. Under Alaska state law,  adults 21 and older can carry up to an ounce of marijuana and possess six plants. 2. California California state lawmakers legalized the recreational use of marijuana with the passage of  Proposition 64 in November 2016, making it the largest state to legalize pot. The measure had the support of 57 percent of the legislature. Sale of marijuana became legal in 2018. Cannabis is now legal in the most populous state in the country, dramatically increasing the total potential size of the industry while establishing legal adult use markets across the entire US Pacific Coast given the legalized states of Washington and Oregon, stated New Frontier Data, which tracks the cannabis industry. 3. Colorado The ballot initiative in Colorado was called Amendment 64. The proposal passed in 2012 with support from 55.3 percent of voters in that state on Nov. 6, 2012. Colorado and Washington were  the first states to legalize recreational use of the substance. The amendment to the state constitution allows any resident over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce, or 28.5 grams, of marijuana. Residents can also grow a small number of marijuana plants under the amendment. It remains illegal to smoke marijuana in public. Also, individuals are not able to sell the substance in Colorado. Marijuana is legal for sale only by state-licensed stores similar to those in many states that sell liquor. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, officially proclaimed marijuana legal in his state on Dec. 10, 2012. If the voters go out and pass something and they put it in the state constitution, by a significant margin, far be it from myself or any governor to overrule. I mean, this is why it’s a democracy, right? said Hickenlooper, who opposed the measure. 4. Illinois The states General Assembly passed the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act on May 31, 2019, and it was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 25. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. It allows Illinois residents at least 21 years old to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana. The limit is 15 grams for non-residents. 5. Maine Voters approved the Marijuana Legalization Act in a 2016 referendum. Individuals can possess up to 2.5 ounces (71 grams)  of cannabis, up to three mature plants, 12 immature plants and an unlimited number of seedlings. The state did not, however, begin issuing commercial licenses to sell the drug immediately because state lawmakers could not agree on how to regulate the industry. 6. Massachusetts Voters legalized recreational marijuana in November 2016. Individuals can possess up to one ounce of cannabis and grow up to six plants at their homes. Homes with more than one adult can grow up to 12 plants. Pot must be locked up and not visible in cars, and smoking while driving or in public is illegal. The states Cannabis Advisory Board continues to work on regulations but is reportedly planning to allow use of the substance in retail spaces, unlike most other states.   7. Michigan Voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana in November 2018. The Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act allows individuals to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana outside their home and 10 ounces inside their home. Up to 12 plants per household  are allowed. Licensed retail businesses can grow up to 150 plants for sale. 8. Nevada Voters passed Question 2 in the 2016 election, making recreational marijuana legal as of 2017. Adults ages 21 and older can possess up to one ounce of cannabis and up to an eighth ounce of concentrate. Public consumption is punishable by a $600 fine. The measure had support from 55 percent of voters. 9. Oregon Oregon became the fourth state to allow the recreational use of marijuana in July 2015. The legalization of marijuana in Oregon came by ballot initiative in November 2014, when 56 percent of voters supported the move.  Oregonians are allowed  to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public and 8 ounces in their homes. They are also allowed to grow as many as four plants in their homes. 10. Vermont The state legislature passed HB511 in January 2018, which allows an individual to possess one ounce of cannabis and two plants. No commercial sales are allowed. The law took effect on July 1, 2018. 11. Washington The ballot measure approved in Washington was called Initiative 502. It was very similar to Colorados Amendment 64 in that it allows state residents ages 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use. The measure passed in 2012 with the support of 55.7 percent of voters in the state. The Washington ballot initiative also put in place substantial tax rates imposed on growers, processors, and retailers. The tax rate on recreational marijuana at each stage is 25 percent, and the revenue goes to state coffers. District of Columbia Washington, D.C., legalized the recreational use of marijuana in February of 2015. The measure was supported by 65 percent of voters in a November 2014 ballot initiative. If youre in the nations capital, youre allowed to carry up to 2 ounces of marijuana and grow as many as six plants in your home. You can also gift a friend up to an ounce of pot.

Monday, October 21, 2019

French Speaking Celebrities

French Speaking Celebrities If your students dont see any point in learning French, maybe J.K. Rowling and Johnny Depp can help. They are among the famous non-native French speakers around the world listed below. If your students know how many cool people speak French, they might realize how great it would be to learn this Romance language- just like some of their favorite movie and television stars, musicians, and novelists. Note that this is a list of people from non-French-speaking countries or regions only. Cà ©line Dion, for example, is not on this list because she is French-Canadian. Directors, Actors, and Television Personalities From the Terminator and a famous television chef to some of the top American acteurs  (actors) and  actrices  (actresses), this group of French-speaking personalities is surprisingly large.   Woody Allen (American director and actor)Cristiane Amanpour (British reporter)Halle Berry (American actress)Orlando Bloom (British actor)Anthony Bourdain (American chef)Lorraine Bracco (American actress)Jennifer Connelly (American actress)Bradley Cooper (American actor)Robert De Niro (American actor)Johnny Depp (American actor)Shannen Doherty (American actress)Jane Fonda (American actress)Jodie Foster (American actress)Morgan Freeman (American actor)Milla Jovovich (Ukrainian-born American model and actress)Hugh Grant (British actor)Maggie Gyllenhaal (American actress)Ethan Hawke (American actor)John Hurt (British actor)William Hurt (American actor)Jeremy Irons (British actor)Angelina Jolie (American actress)Grace Jones (Jamaican-American singer, model, actress)Ashley Judd (American actress)Ted Koppel (English-born American broadcast journalistLisa Kudrow (American actress)Matt Leblanc (American actor)Tommy Lee Jones (American actor)Andie MacDowell (American actress)John Malkovich (Am erican actor) Ewan McGregor (Scottish actor)Danica McKellar (American actress)Helen Mirren (British actress)Gwyneth Paltrow (American actress)Matthew Perry (American actor)Christopher Plummer (Canadian actor)Natalie Portman (Israeli actress)Molly Ringwald (American actress)Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austrian actor, former governor of California)William Shatner (Canadian actor)Ally Sheedy (American actress)Mira Sorvino (American actress)Oliver Stone (American filmmaker)Sharon Stone (American actress)Meryl Streep (American actress)Emma Thompson (British actress)John Travolta (American actor)Alex Trebek (Canadian, game show host)Uma Thurman (American actress)Emma Watson (British actress)Sigourney Weaver (American actress) Musicians A number of the worlds top pop and country singers speak French, even the singer who made Rocket Man famous. Justin Bieber (Canadian singer-songwriter)Phil Collins (British singer)Julio Iglesias (Spanish singer)Mick Jagger (British musician)Elton John  (British musician)Madonna (American singer, actress)Alanis Morisette (Canadian and American singer-songwriter)Sting (British musician)Shania Twain (Canadian singer)Tina Turner (American singer) Authors and Poets A few non-native scribes, including the creator of the Harry Potter series and a Nobel Prize-winning poet, speak the language. Maya Angelou (American author and poet)Angela Davis (American activist and author)John Hume (Irish Nobel Prize winner)J.K. Rowling (British novelist) Models Clearly, a few models have found it advantageous to learn French. Linda Evangelista (Canadian model)Elle MacPherson (Australian model)Claudia Schiffer (German model) Other Notables From two former first ladies, two queens and two popes to a top tennis pro, the French language clearly has its draws. Madeleine Albright (Czech, former U.S. secretary of state)Tony Blair (former British prime minister)Pope Benedict XVIStephen Breyer (American Supreme Court justice)Queen Elizabeth II (of England)Pope John-Paul IIJackie Kennedy Onassis (former American first lady)Michelle Obama (former American first lady)Mitt Romney (American politician)Queen Silvia (of Sweden)Serena Williams (American tennis player)

Saturday, October 19, 2019

A Study On The Biology And Health Essay Vaccination, Immune system, V

The Necessity of Vaccines in the Modern World Vaccines are a controversial topic in modern issues, there has been the of an anti-vaccine movement, bent on stopping the immunization of children. This movement fears that their children will contract Autism through vaccines. Should va... ...person, in the interest of the nation as a whole. While neither extreme is good, something needs to be done to keep the vaccination rate under control. Therefore as just as how the affordable care act required that Americans buy health insurance to insure themselves, and that if they do not they would be taxed a certain amount(Cornell), just so, we should pass a law or include an amendment on the Affordable care act to include vaccinations of those able to receive it as a requirement(Cornell). Without a doubt this action will cause many to be upset, and many will oppose this action, the supreme court has already affirmed that the US has the right to tax, and thus the fee levied by this action will be treated as a tax. Thus we should make vaccination mandatory, the beliefs of a few persons is easily outweighed by the safety we need to provide to the nation as a whole.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Broadband Traffic Modeling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Broadband Traffic Modeling - Essay Example Broadband also enhances fair computation, reliable storage and easy manipulation of data responsible for maintaining an acceptable quality of service (QoS) level that is deliverable by the network. Communication infrastructure modes, dates back approximately two thousand years ago. This is the time when Beacon systems couriers and advanced communication networks were engineered Owing to the monumental economical demands of the modern world. Traditional networks have been overridden by the technological renaissance that enhances effective Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) scheme, across the network. Traditional infrastructures were developed on separate networks with unnecessary detractors. Voice in a telephone network for example is too noisy and inefficient for burst data communication. Concurrently data networks, that stores and forward massages using computers have a limited bandwidth connectivity that cannot transmit digital images and voice simultaneously. Fibre Optical Transport Network, based on Wavelength Division, Multiplexing and Optical Cross-Connects technology, offer a tremendous transportation capacity. It calls for a frequent manual intervention for updated management. Due to the inconsistency of the Traffic pattern on an integrated system. Network operators are advised to adopt an optical network a smart, automatic real-time system (ION) or Automatic Switched Optical network, for tractability of the changing traffic load information. 2.3.1 Window sizes A smaller observation window harms the network stability; while a too large observation window worsens the network reliability. Research shows that a suitable traffic observation window size improves the offered Quality of Service (QoS) by reconfiguring the logical layer network at the right time and in the right way. Therefore undesirable observation window size might give less accurate information and trigger the operation at the wrong 2.3.2 Multi-Domain. The performance of multi-domain networks, such as differentiated services (DiffServ), guarantees quality of service across the network. Surprisingly network providers hesitate to use it, since enabling and maintaining it on their production networks requires a lot of new know-how and policy management, and they doubt that it will significantly improve the performance and reliability of their over-provisioned networks, or enable new applications. Hence the proposition, to simulate a model of a network connection, between two computers over a fixed multi-domain route in which the network

Autism spectrum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Autism spectrum - Essay Example Some individuals with Autism disability may live an independent life while others have learning disability and need a specialist support. Individuals with autism disorder may also experience under-or over-sensitivity to touch, sound, light, smells, colours, and taste. Andrew’s autism characteristics Andrew demonstrates some characteristics of autism disability, which makes him fit into the criteria for autism. You may come across people like Andrew in the stores, in the park, in schools, or at work. Andrew does not look different from other students, yet he behaves and communicates in a way that seems mysterious, or enigmatic (Baron-Cohen, 2008). Andrew’s autism disability has ruthlessly impaired a number of disabilities many people tend to take for granted. For instance, the teacher seems not to understand that Andrew has autism spectrum that is the way, the teacher sometimes feels that she is in a dilemma. In other words, she founds Andrew’s behaviour disruptiv e to others and becomes frustrated that, Andrew is not willing to confront to the standards of not interrupting others or involving in the school’s social activities (Baron-Cohen, 2008). ... Whether the teacher and other pupils are sad or cheerful, it sounds and looks the same to Andrew. Additionally, Andrew shows little interest in what other pupils are doing. The teacher claims that Andrew does not join or involve himself with other school activities. He ignores the class timetable and instead decides to read an encyclopedia that he carried around, or even arranging the cut grass around the school ground into neat, straight lines (Baron-Cohen, 2008). In general, Andrew focuses his attention on doing minor and simple activities. Instead of attending classes, he could spend hours arranging all the cut grass in the field behind the school into neat, straight lines (Baron-Cohen, 2008). This obsessive and repetitive habit of doing one thing all the time refers to stereotyped behaviours. Andrew however has a characteristic of disagreeing with other people’s ideas and lacks correct measures of explaining himself. This is highly depicted in his behaviour since he shouts out during classes the words like â€Å"How do you know?† or â€Å"Why?† whenever the teacher makes a certain assertion of a fact (Baron-Cohen, 2008). The teacher could note that Andrew had a natural curiosity that she was unable to stifle. All these characteristics, which Andrew has the inability to understand speech and talk, trouble and difficulties in socializing with other pupils, and stereotyped interests and behaviours-are the hub of autism spectrum (Baron-Cohen, 2008). These autism characteristics hinder Andrew from making friends and being unable to fit in at home, at school, or even in public places. Andrew has a severe type of autism behaviour. However, there are some theories that explain that causes of autism behaviour. Theories

Compare and contrast business systems in Japan and China Essay

Compare and contrast business systems in Japan and China - Essay Example al nations reformed Chinese agriculture, science, technological innovativeness, and industry transforming china into a contemporary industrial state (Broderick, 2003, p.85). The population control and the one child policy that aided to enhance the strategy towards the Chinese population feeding was also an added advantage. The rapid Japanese economic growth dates back to the WW11 and its effects in putting Japan among the few most economically advanced nations of the world. Currently, Japan is among the topmost economic powers after United States of America, China, and EU (McLeod, Ross and Garnaut, 1998). Although Japan is a increasingly small nation, it has a solid population density and most of its land does not favor agricultural production because of mountainous topography and inadequate minerals required for development of agriculture. Therefore, Japan must rely of innovation and creativity for goods production and export such goods for its economic development. Differences and similarities in the systems of business Undoubtedly, the East Asian economic development over the past over three decades can be considered as the key world surprises. As earlier mentioned the easy will concentrate on Japan and China as the main representatives in the business systems analysis, since the 1950 and 80s the economy of Japan has been a miracle due to its faster development. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s the economy increased to about 10% and 5% in average respectively, (World Bank, 1993, p. 5). Considerably later, starting late 70s the Chinese economy similarly started to show hyper-growth signs and it is currently the rapidly growing economy with about 10% growth rate in GDP average (Kim, 1998, p56). World Bank report 200, suggests that the Chinese and Japanese economic... Although distinct in various ways, Japan and China have various economic similarities and differences that set them as the top growing economies of the world. The paper seeks to compare and contrast business systems in these two nations. Therefore, to explain the diversities between the business systems of Japan and China, I will first explain what business system implies. As defined by economists, business systems implies methodological processes that are employed as a delivery means for providing certain products and services to the final users or consumer in a clearly defined market environment. The two nations share similar aspects like strong government influence in economic development and maintain focus in technology and education. Nevertheless, their disparities occupy various aspects of their systems of business. The two share similar historical cultures like the Confucius Philosophy belief, however, they form different contemporary cultures that manifest in different business cultures. Concerning the business culture, the Japanese firm business relations and cross-shareholding among groups of businesses formed a critical networks in business, although, such business connections tends to weaken the small business enterprises competitive advantage because of capital mobility. In the business systems of China, the SOE mainly play a crucial function in local industries like materials production supply of power and energy and transport. After State Owned Enterprise reformation, the market share is lower than the private sectors. Therefore, the business systems in both nati ons have some similarities and disparities and play a crucial part in global economy.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Hotel Resorts in Orange County California Research Paper

Hotel Resorts in Orange County California - Research Paper Example This research aims to evaluate and present Orange County California and their offerings to the visitors. As also stated in the introductory section of this research paper, Orange County is composed of some of the most attractive tourists’ destinations within the world. Among the various reasons that attract huge number of tourists to the county, the advantage of location is one. The county is bordered on the north by Los Angeles and San Diego has surrounded the county along the south. Towards the east of Orange County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County are situated along with the Santa Ana Mountains. Most importantly, the boundaries of the county towards the west are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. Due to the features of the location in which the county is situated, the tourists who visited this tourist spot can share the experience of warm climate throughout the year. As the Pacific Ocean is very near to Orange County, the tourists and local people enjoy the beauty of various enchanting and charming beaches. There are a number of cities present within Orange County, both large as well as small. Anaheim in Orange County is known as the ‘home’ of Disneyland and is second in the list of the most populous cities in California. The home of Knott’s Berry Farm in the county is Buena Park and this city paves the gateway of the county to Los Angeles. Apart from these two important and popular cities of Orange County, there are also several cities that add up to the beauty of the county. Fullerton, Surf city, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Seal Beach are the most popular cities of the county. (County of Orange, 2011). The hotels and resorts section of Orange County offers several attractive destinations to the tourists. In the South Orange County, Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course offers an ideal tourist location for families and tourists are made to feel every comfort of home in this hotel. Americas Best Value

Motivational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Motivational Behavior - Essay Example A weak positive correlation was found to be significant (P=0.05, observed rho value=0.44, critical rho value=0.36, null hypothesis denied). The outcome of the study showed that people seek a partner that has a similar level of physical attractiveness as themselves. Interpersonal attraction is a fundamental component of human relationships. Psychologists and researchers have proposed many different theories in order to explain the role of physical attractiveness in intimate relationships. One view is the genetic similarity theory proposed by Rushton, Russell and Wells (1984). They posited that a person is more attracted to strangers that resemble themselves than those who are dissimilar in appearance. This would lead to offspring with not only the individual's genes but also genes like themselves (Rushton, Russell & Wells, 1984). Their research suggested that individuals are more attracted to genetically similar people. The matching hypothesis also proposed that people don't seek the most attractive mate, but instead are attracted to individuals that match themselves in terms of physical attractiveness. This compromise is necessary due to a fear of rejection from a more desirable partner and in order to achieve a balance between partners. Walster et al. (1966) tested this hypothesis with the "computer dance experiment". They proposed that when making dating and mating choices, people will choose someone of their own level of social desirability. Individuals will be influenced by both the desirability of the potential partner and the belief of the likelihood of obtaining a date with the partner (Walster et al., 1966). In the experiment, 752 students were randomly allocated partners to a dance. The participants were given an attractiveness rating based on a panel of judges. They were informed that a computer had determined their ideal partner. The experimenters found that whether a person liked their partner was closely related to physical attractiveness. This was the most important factor in liking, above qualities such as intelligence and personality (Walster et al., 1966). Though these findings did not support the matching hypothesis, Walster et al. (1969) conducted a follow up study to further test this hypothesis. The researchers repeated the dance and this time, the students were able to choose their partners. The matching hypothesis was confirmed as the students chose partners roughly the same attractiveness as themselves. The researchers explained that the participants attempted to avoid rejection and increase the possibility of finding a partner with a long-term commitment (Walster et al., 1969). Silverman (1971) conducted another experiment to test the Matching Hypothesis. He carried out an observational study on real-life couples in public settings. Observers independently rated the couples on a 5-point scale and discovered a high correlation between attractiveness ratings of both members of each couple (Silverman, 1971). In addition to this, the researcher found that there was a high correlation between similar levels of attractiveness and the happier the couple's rating in degrees of physical intimacy (Silverman, 1971). Another experiment by Murstein (1972) tested stimulus-value-role theory of marital choice. The researcher

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Compare and contrast business systems in Japan and China Essay

Compare and contrast business systems in Japan and China - Essay Example al nations reformed Chinese agriculture, science, technological innovativeness, and industry transforming china into a contemporary industrial state (Broderick, 2003, p.85). The population control and the one child policy that aided to enhance the strategy towards the Chinese population feeding was also an added advantage. The rapid Japanese economic growth dates back to the WW11 and its effects in putting Japan among the few most economically advanced nations of the world. Currently, Japan is among the topmost economic powers after United States of America, China, and EU (McLeod, Ross and Garnaut, 1998). Although Japan is a increasingly small nation, it has a solid population density and most of its land does not favor agricultural production because of mountainous topography and inadequate minerals required for development of agriculture. Therefore, Japan must rely of innovation and creativity for goods production and export such goods for its economic development. Differences and similarities in the systems of business Undoubtedly, the East Asian economic development over the past over three decades can be considered as the key world surprises. As earlier mentioned the easy will concentrate on Japan and China as the main representatives in the business systems analysis, since the 1950 and 80s the economy of Japan has been a miracle due to its faster development. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s the economy increased to about 10% and 5% in average respectively, (World Bank, 1993, p. 5). Considerably later, starting late 70s the Chinese economy similarly started to show hyper-growth signs and it is currently the rapidly growing economy with about 10% growth rate in GDP average (Kim, 1998, p56). World Bank report 200, suggests that the Chinese and Japanese economic... Although distinct in various ways, Japan and China have various economic similarities and differences that set them as the top growing economies of the world. The paper seeks to compare and contrast business systems in these two nations. Therefore, to explain the diversities between the business systems of Japan and China, I will first explain what business system implies. As defined by economists, business systems implies methodological processes that are employed as a delivery means for providing certain products and services to the final users or consumer in a clearly defined market environment. The two nations share similar aspects like strong government influence in economic development and maintain focus in technology and education. Nevertheless, their disparities occupy various aspects of their systems of business. The two share similar historical cultures like the Confucius Philosophy belief, however, they form different contemporary cultures that manifest in different business cultures. Concerning the business culture, the Japanese firm business relations and cross-shareholding among groups of businesses formed a critical networks in business, although, such business connections tends to weaken the small business enterprises competitive advantage because of capital mobility. In the business systems of China, the SOE mainly play a crucial function in local industries like materials production supply of power and energy and transport. After State Owned Enterprise reformation, the market share is lower than the private sectors. Therefore, the business systems in both nati ons have some similarities and disparities and play a crucial part in global economy.

Motivational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Motivational Behavior - Essay Example A weak positive correlation was found to be significant (P=0.05, observed rho value=0.44, critical rho value=0.36, null hypothesis denied). The outcome of the study showed that people seek a partner that has a similar level of physical attractiveness as themselves. Interpersonal attraction is a fundamental component of human relationships. Psychologists and researchers have proposed many different theories in order to explain the role of physical attractiveness in intimate relationships. One view is the genetic similarity theory proposed by Rushton, Russell and Wells (1984). They posited that a person is more attracted to strangers that resemble themselves than those who are dissimilar in appearance. This would lead to offspring with not only the individual's genes but also genes like themselves (Rushton, Russell & Wells, 1984). Their research suggested that individuals are more attracted to genetically similar people. The matching hypothesis also proposed that people don't seek the most attractive mate, but instead are attracted to individuals that match themselves in terms of physical attractiveness. This compromise is necessary due to a fear of rejection from a more desirable partner and in order to achieve a balance between partners. Walster et al. (1966) tested this hypothesis with the "computer dance experiment". They proposed that when making dating and mating choices, people will choose someone of their own level of social desirability. Individuals will be influenced by both the desirability of the potential partner and the belief of the likelihood of obtaining a date with the partner (Walster et al., 1966). In the experiment, 752 students were randomly allocated partners to a dance. The participants were given an attractiveness rating based on a panel of judges. They were informed that a computer had determined their ideal partner. The experimenters found that whether a person liked their partner was closely related to physical attractiveness. This was the most important factor in liking, above qualities such as intelligence and personality (Walster et al., 1966). Though these findings did not support the matching hypothesis, Walster et al. (1969) conducted a follow up study to further test this hypothesis. The researchers repeated the dance and this time, the students were able to choose their partners. The matching hypothesis was confirmed as the students chose partners roughly the same attractiveness as themselves. The researchers explained that the participants attempted to avoid rejection and increase the possibility of finding a partner with a long-term commitment (Walster et al., 1969). Silverman (1971) conducted another experiment to test the Matching Hypothesis. He carried out an observational study on real-life couples in public settings. Observers independently rated the couples on a 5-point scale and discovered a high correlation between attractiveness ratings of both members of each couple (Silverman, 1971). In addition to this, the researcher found that there was a high correlation between similar levels of attractiveness and the happier the couple's rating in degrees of physical intimacy (Silverman, 1971). Another experiment by Murstein (1972) tested stimulus-value-role theory of marital choice. The researcher

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Saddams rule in Iraq Essay Example for Free

Saddams rule in Iraq Essay In text A, the war is represented as having to have exploited Iraq by the Americans; also the reader accuses Britain of having the same mentality as America and Britain are both allies. This is particularly evident in the same oil companies that used to exploit Iraq when it was a British colony are now returning the Iraq war was all about oil. The modal auxiliary verb was in the past tense makes the writer sound knowledgeable and certain that this was the case and also implies that it was not unexpected from the two super powers, commenting on how they are now returning. The verb exploited and the adverbial of manner used to creates sympathy towards Iraq showing how it has already suffered and been taken advantage of by the allies before. The writer then quotes that a US Federal Chairman, recently admitted. The verbal process verb admitted shows that even parties who are amongst the USA government acknowledge their greedy reasons behind the war on Iraq. The writer used this point to further more persuade that the war was a pointless decision. All three texts refer to Saddams rule in Iraq in correlation to the cause of war in Iraq. Text A expresses how Saddams rule in Iraq was for the benefit of his people and the writer does not blame Saddams dictatorship for Americas invasion of Iraq. Text B, shows a strong opinion against Saddams sadistic regime. Whereas, Text C refers to Saddams regime to be the main cause of war against Iraq. Eric Margolis in Text A, refers to Saddams rule as the benefit of Iraqs national development. The abstract noun benefit ties in with the larger theme of the article Iraq was in a well and stationary position before it was invaded, representing the war on Iraq in a negative way as it almost proves how there was no humane reason for war. However this shows the narrow-mindedness of the writer as Text A offers no criticism of how Saddam tortured his people under his dictatorship, or even explain in what way it increased Iraqs national development. Text B uses the evaluative adjectives tyrannical and sadistic to describe Saddams regime in Iraq. By representing it in this way, the article makes the American forces almost heroic because of their efforts to eliminate him. In Text C, it states how the main goal of the invasion of Iraq was to undermine Saddam Husseins ability to wage war, again using Saddams dictatorship of Iraq as a main reason to war, emphasising the importance and positives of the war. In this simple sentence the word war is first used, as the subject of the sentence is Saddam Hussein, showing how war is only associated with him and not the Americans. To make Saddams actions sound more aggressive the dynamic verb is used to create the alliteration wage war. The three texts use similar methods to represent the war on Iraq in the way that they want to. All three articles are heavily biased, which means one could argue that there could be lack of reasoning behind some of their points. They are also all trying to challenge the representations of the war, both positive and negative. Text A, portrays the war as having no backbone other than greed for oil by the Americans, persuading the reader that this is the ugly truth. Text B, tries to gain some sympathy towards American troops instead of the real victims of the American war against Iraq; however emphasising the good aspects the war on Iraq will bring such as liberating people from Saddams sadistic regime. Text B, uses rhetorical persuasive linguistic features to change the minds of people who are against the war on Iraq by convincing the audience that war on Iraq only has advantages.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Theories in Nationalism

Theories in Nationalism Introduction Nationalism, a term which has been defined in various ways and still continues to nurture the debate around it, is one of the strongest forces in the world as we know it today. Despite its strong influence during the last centuries, it has remained long neglected by academia (Hutchinson Smith 1994: 3). One of the first scholars to address this academic shortcoming was Elie Kedourie, a British scholar of the Middle East, who offered a conservative challenging theory against nationalism in his thought-provoking book entitled Nationalism. In this sense, it is safe to say that most scholars concerned with this field of study have been influenced, to some extent, by the work of Kedourie and have taken issue with it. Kedourie has dealt with nationalism in a number of books, presenting his passionate dissent against the spread of nationalism as an ideology in Europe. His book Nationalism identifies nationalism as a doctrine invented in Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century (1960: 9) that divides humanity into separate and distinct nations (1960: 73). As a scholar who spent a large proportion of his life teaching, Kedourie emphasized the importance of understanding the philosophy of history and the value of its practice, and criticized academics for meddling with political affairs (Kedourie, 1998a: 51; Minogue, 2008). A fervent advocate of strong, long-lasting empires, he argued, that nationalism as an ideology had caused global wars, destruction, and great misery (Sieff 2006). The objective of this paper is to critically assess Kedouries contribution to the study of nationalism. For this purpose, this essay is structured as follows; firstly, it sets the context by briefly introducing the life and works of Elie Kedourie. This is important as, growing up an Iraqi Jew, Kedourie personally experienced the negative impacts of Arab nationalism which caused him as most other Jews to flee his home country. Kedourie blamed British policy for the rise of nationalism in the Middle East, a policy he later criticized in his works. The essay then proceeds to identify and explain his concept of, and arguments against nationalism; next, it explores Elie Kedouries dialogue with three theorists who were influenced by and developed Kedouries ideas; and finally, it presents a critique of his theory and concepts. In summary, this paper demonstrates Kedouries unique attitude towards and his innovative theory of nationalism, but also the flaws in his theory based on which led ma ny of his followers and critics to charge him with intellectual determinism (Lawrence 2005: 132). Kedourie and His Works Kedourie was undoubtedly a man of great achievement. An Iraqi-Jew, he was born in Baghdad on January 25, 1926, but migrated to Great Britain as part of the post-1948 Jewish mass departure from the Arab world (Minogue 2008). In his doctoral thesis, England and the Middle East (1956), which he wrote at Oxford University, he, for the first time, systematically criticized the British foreign policy and its inter-war role in Iraq (Kramer 1999). Accordingly, his controversial thesis was not only much debated, but Kedourie was asked to change it. However, Kedourie felt so strongly about his writings that rather than modify it, he withdrew it! Throughout his life, Kedourie offered a seminal analysis that expounded the state of world affairs and exposed the evil of nationalism. Although he published his most important book entitled Nationalism decades ago, Kedouries ideas still resonate today and are being studied by a number of critics and theorists of nationalism. Kedourie was brought back into academia by his colleague Michael Oakeshott, and consequently held a chair in Politics at the London School of Economic for 40 years. He was an expert on Middle Eastern history, founder and editor of the journal Middle Eastern Studies (1964), and the author and editor of many outstanding books, especially on the Middle East. In contrast to many other scholars of and on the Middle East, Kedourie was able to see it in a wider world context (Mango 1993: 375). This interest led him from Arab nationalism to his study of nationalism as a universal phenomenon. The significance of this, was that it changed the traditional thinking of nationalism and brought to awareness its disastrous influence and its major potential in threatening world order. Besides the book Nationalism, his published works also include Afghani and Abduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Islam (1966), the famous The Chatham House Version (1970), Nationalism in Asia and Africa (1970), and Arabic Political Memoirs and Other Studies (1974). Among his later books are In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth (1980), The Crossman Confessions (1984), Politics in the Middle East (1992), and Hegel and Marx: Introductory Lectures, his posthumous book published in 1995. Kedourie impressed with his sharp intellect and his rather eloquent, clear and coherent writing style. Although English was his third language, his works were written in an excellent English style worthy of one of the greatest orientalists and scholars of our time (Moreh 1998: 2). Especially in his book Nationalism, he manages to draw a clear and red line from the sometimes very abstract explorations of the foundations, on which he then builds his theory, to the explanation of his approac h itself. In addition, Kedouries personality stood out in academia. As opposed to many academics, Kedourie neither locked himself in the so-called academic ivory tower, nor did he fall into the circle of self-adoration. Kedourie, more than anything else, was a mentor and father figure to his students (Salibi 1994)! Although he was sometimes referred to as idealistic, most of his students and scholars alike remember Kedourie as humble, dignified, kind, and a generous scholar with quiet and gentle courtesy which one could always count on (Salibi 1994). Kedouries Concept and Critique of Nationalism After the two World Wars, a grouping of independent states created the United Nations and other international bodies, such as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) or theEuropean Economic Community (EEC), and forged multilateral treaties (for example Treaty of Paris, NATO, Warsaw Pact) to sustain peace and worldwide cooperation in the hope of preventing another global conflict. Kedourie believed that many calamitous global events, such as war, destruction, poverty, famine and genocide, were caused by a doctrine of nationalism, which justified the division of nations. Kedourie (1993b: xiii) viewed nationalism as an ideology and believed that it had been made a contrived religion by governments to justify their actions and to maintain their so-called right to national self-determination (Kelidar 1993: 5-6). Kedourie laid out his controversial theory against the nationalism doctrine in his book Nationalism. In the first chapter, Politics in a New Style, he explains his pessimism about ideological and constitutional politics, which presupposes nationalism as an effective force to strengthen and preserve the identity and authority of a nation (Spencer Wollman 2002: 49). In the following chapters, he tackled the concept of self-determination, which the intellectuals, particularly Immanuel Kant, brandished as the supreme political good (Kedourie 1993a: 22); the relation of state and individual, wherein he criticized the influence of Kant on modern thinkers and the effects of dangerous political ideas on individuals; diversity, which spread the world over as a result of the propagation of nationalism; and national self-determination, which has caused the division of states into nations, disorders and wars. In the last two chapters, he addressed the relationship between nationalism and politi cs and its negative consequences. Kedourie was the first theorist who addressed nationalism systematically and identified it as (an historically erroneous) doctrine. His path-breaking theory introduced new standards to the traditional studies of the phenomenon which saw in granting self-determination the only acceptable way to deal with nationalism. Kedourie relied on historical accounts of global events and on this basis identified three strong arguments against nationalism. Firstly, he claimed that nationalism as a political ideology was impotent and had no significance to reality. Secondly, he asserted that the divisive character of nationalism caused and will continue to cause wars and man-made catastrophes. Finally, he saw nationalism as being about the enshrinement of the concept of sovereignty or self-determination as the fundamental force of global order (Kedourie 1993b: xvi). With regards to his first argument, nationalism was seen as being a political ideology due to its extensive relation to politics. He observed that the doctrine was first conceived and then propagated in Europe in the last century (Deol, 2000: 12). It was an era when nationalism was systematically turned into kind of religion to inspire the people and make them believe that they had a duty and responsibility to serve their homeland. According to Kedourie, the purpose of ideological politics was to impose political culture, legal principles and moral standards on people by means of force (1986: 47-48). When a government seeks to establish an ideology, it can only do so through the use of force and arbitrary powers. He identified the platonic character of this strategy, which posits that a state or society has to eliminate the ideology of the people so as to impose its own political culture or ideology (Kedourie 1993b: xiv). Kedouries argument is clear: ideological politics in the last century has caused many horrific events because of the ideologists attempt to change the status quo and to enforce their own ideology on the masses. As an example he mentioned the case of Yugoslavia. Following its creation after the First World War, Yugoslavia sought to attain unity in order to establish an independent state, but such a national ambition was waylaid when the Yugoslavs fell into the oppressive hands of the Hungarians, Austrians and Ottomans. Another argument he made against ideological politics was that a state that espoused nationalism caused the division of its individual subjects and separation between the government and the governed. Kedourie asserted that a society that adopted certain kinds of principles deprived the people of their rights. A group of people treated as mere ciphers by their rulers would be led to treat their fellow men in the same way. Turning to his second argument nationalism will lead to war and manmade disasters- Kedourie explained that nationalism supports the division of humanity into a number of states and thus also supports the division of men in terms of race, tradition, religion, and political ideology (1986: 71-73). Since nations are divided into many categories, Kedourie argues that wars and disasters are inevitable. He argued that conflicts and chaos ravaged the whole of Europe between 1848 and the end of World War II because of the concept of nationalism (Kedourie 1993b: xvi). However, he rejected the argument that poverty is somehow linked to nationalism. Since most poor countries have prevalent nationalist ideology, he believed that poor economic conditions might bring about social displeasure, which may lead to the propagation of nationalism (Kedourie 1974c: 19). However, he claimed that the rise of nationalism in Czechoslovakia and Italy was not due to evident poverty. Furthermore, Kedourie believed that the development of nationalism in Asia and Africa was basically a reaction to invasion and foreign occupation (1974: 21). Lastly, he criticized socialism as an ideological obsession that caused great destruction in the last century. He states (1993b: xvii) that socialism has produced not happiness or spiritual fulfilment, or even material prosperity, but, on the contrary, unparalleled oppression and misery, and it has sunk by the weight of its own misconceived ideals. Moreover, he suggested that the collapse of Soviet Russia in 1991 had led to a precarious disproportion of power among its former constituents and their neighbours. Hence, he warned that this power vacuum could lead to war. He concluded that nationalist ideology did not evidently ensure economic success or honest and responsible government. Kedouries condemnation of nationalism and by extension his path-breaking theory, was seen by many theorists on nationalism that followed as a milestone in the evolution of the theoretical debate (Ozkirimli 2000: 32). As a consequence, the vast majority of these theorists took issue with his theory in one way or another. Kedouries Influence on other Theorists of Nationalism Kedouries passionate arguments against nationalism gained both the admiration and support of a coterie of loyal followers but also drew some harsh criticism. Undoubtedly, he contributed enormously to the great debate about the origins and nature of nationalism. As a man of exceptional intellectual reputation with exacting standards in his thinking and scholarship, Kedourie was immensely influential on many modern scholars and his students alike (Salibi 1994: 4) and thus, achieved to transform and revolutionize the understanding of nationalism (Minogue 2008; Kelidar 1993: 5-6). Three distinguished theorists of nationalism who admired Kedourie, but took issue with his ideas are Ernest Gellner, Anthony Smith, and Benedict Anderson. All of these theorists built on the works of Kedourie, and this made for a great contribution to the debate about the nature and roots of nationalism that dominated the European community in the nineteenth century (Gellner 1996: xix). Smith openly elaborated on the intellectual depth of Kedouries seminal arguments against the concept of nationalism, saying that the latters works continue to exert a wide influence on modern thinkers like him (2007: 213). Similarly, Gellner credited Kedouries work but also attributed a lot of critique to Kedouries ideas (Gray 2004). This paper will now examine in more depth some of these issues in order to provide a critical evaluation of the strengths as well as limits of Kedouries arguments. Anthony D. Smith For his part, Smith agreed with Kedouries concept of nationalism as an ideological crusade that seeks the achievement and maintenance of national sovereignty, harmony, and distinctiveness, on behalf of a particular group of inhabitants (2007: 214). Smith reiterated Kedouries argument that although nationalism was sparked by the myth of the French Revolution, this ideological movement was inspired by Kant, which then in turn influenced Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Smith claimed that the main proponent of nationalism was Fichte, a Kantian, who, in his Addresses to the German Nation (1808), established an agenda for the creation of a German national education (Choueiri 2000: 6). Smith concurred with Kedourie that this secular ideological movement was inspired by the declaration of independence, which states that sovereignty resides exclusively in the state. Smith (2007a: 217) also regarded nationalism as a secular form of religion, and concluded that traditional religions like Judaism preserve their character and that they contribute to the propagation of nationalism by serving as agents of collective sentiments. Smith thus supported Kedouries statement that Judaism is a religion that accentuates the value of land and language and national feeling (1993b: 76) and suggested that there are cultural similarities between modern nationalism and biblical Israel and its covenant. This being said, in his Theories of Nationalism, Smith criticized Kedourie for selecting only the extreme features of nationalism, thus overlooking the civilizing and empowering influence of the doctrine (Jinadu 1972: 646). Benedict Anderson In his Imagined Communities: Reflection on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, Benedict Anderson, a modernist theorist like Kedourie, identifies the rise of capitalism at the beginning of industrialization era as the main reason for the emergence of nationalism: peoples literacy level increased due to the emergence of printing press capitalism. No longer were they dependent on the church for getting information. As a result, member of various communities became aware of each other and hence it helped them imagine the nation and the feeling of being a nation (Capmack 2005). In complete contrast to Kedouries hostility to the idea of nationalism, Anderson posits that nationalism contributes to a better society and encourages good behaviour: You follow the laws because they are your laws (2005). However, he agrees with Kedourie on the importance of history, arguing that such doctrines as nationalism or nationality are like cultural relics that can only be understood by tracing their historical roots, nature and motivations (1991: 4). He thus stated that eighteenth century Europe was not simply marked by the beginning of nationalism but by the end of religious forms of thought. Changes in the religious community, according to Anderson, gave rise to the belief that nationalism was a secular solution to the question of continuity that had been answered previously by religious faith. He wrote: What I am proposing is that nationalism has to be understood by aligning it, not with self-consciously-held political ideologies, but with the large cultural systems that preceded it- out of which, as well as against which- it came into being (1991: 11). Hence, in many ways, Anderson simply complements the arguments raised by Smith and Kedourie that the form of nationalism that dominates the world today is a combination of traditional religions and of secular political ideologies based on national self-determination. Another similarity arises by looking at their views on nationalism and language. Anderson suggested that language could be used as a cohesive force to nurture peoples love of their country. For example, songs, poetry, and national anthems are used as effective agents of nationalism (1991: 145). Accordingly, the use of language is a significant reason for the emergence of independent, divided states and the proliferation of print-word (Mar-Molinero Smith 1996: 70). Similarly, though more pessimistic and with almost sad undertones, Kedourie elaborates that language is a strong expression of ones individuality and thus the most important criterion for a nation to be recognized and to exist (1986: 64). The emphasis on language with regards to nations, and by extension of states, has had many negative side-effects among which language has been transformed into a political issue for which men are ready to kill and exterminate each other (1985: 71). Ernest Gellner Gellners Nations and Nationalism was a direct response to Elie Kedouries theory, which Gellner believed lacked any real comprehension of the reality of nationalism, as a result of its overly intellectual focus (Gellner 1983). He dissented on the idealist argument of Kedourie that nationalism was the consequence of a historical anomaly and intellectual blunders, and suggested that it was rather an unavoidable by-product of economic and technical progress (Gray 2004). Moreover, Gellner rejected the premise that the concept of nationalism was based on the philosophy of Kant, and then spread by inept philosophers and intellectuals. He defended Kant, maintaining that there is no relationship, other than a verbal one, between individual self-determination and national self-determination, and that Kant was a very model for that allegedly bloodless, cosmopolitan, emaciated ethic of the Enlightenment which romantic nationalists detested (OLeary 1997: 198). Similar to Kedouries pessimistic view, Gellner perceived nationalism as the strongest principle of political legitimacy in the modem world and stated that nations should be collectively and freely institutionally expressed, and ruled by its co-nationals.Nationalism invents nations where they do not exist. (1964: 168). Apart from nationalism, Gellner (1985: 1) believed that reformism and industrialization were the two enormous forces that were changing the world. This was his main departure from the concept suggested by Kedourie. Gellners derisive arguments against nationalism perturbed secular rationalists, socialists, and conservatives. He agreed with Kedourie that nationalism presupposes that such important concepts as social justice, material progress, utility and reason, rational principles and law are merely consequential doctrines in supporting and imposing an established and justifiable socio-political order, thus inciting unrelenting denunciation from socialists and liberals for about two centuries (OLeary 1997: 192) Although it appears that Gellner presented similar views to those expressed by Kedourie, he did, however, criticize Kedourie for omitting the sociological analysis in his study of nationalism. Gellner believed that nationalism became a sociological necessity in the modern world, whereas Kedourie rejected any sociological explanation as a form of reductionist economism (Kramer 1999: 637-638), and maintained that history has no depths to be plumbed or main lines to be traced out, and that history does not need explanatory principles, but only words to tell how things were (Kramer 1993). I believe that the differences between Gellner and Kedourie are rather of an epistemological nature than of a fundamental one. Although they dissent on origins of nationalism and on the type of their analysis, the basic concepts of their theories, however, do have significant similarities. For instance, they both recognize nationalism as a modern doctrine. Moreover, they both share a pessimistic view of nationalism and point out its dangerous consequences. Perhaps the similar nature between Gellners and Kedouries theories might be attributed to the significant influence that Kedourie had on Gellner. Lawrence (2005: 132) supports this idea when he writes: his focus on the links between nationalism and modernization certainly inspired later theorists such as Gellner and Hobsbawm. Critique / Conclusion Kedouries basic contention was one of enormous skepticism and suspicion especially vis-Ã  -vis third world nationalism, which he perceived as a reaction to European nationalism (1974: 1-153). It appears that his personal experiences greatly influenced his pessimism towards nationalism in general, and more specifically his rather hostile attitude toward a nations self-determination, leading to one of the main flaws in Kedouries theory. He was certain that the idea of national self-determination was not only absurd, but also destructive, immoral and could only lead to violence and discord in domestic politics (Minogue, 2008). Kedourie further postulated that the origins of self-determination were the Age of Enlightenment, which led men to discover the law of nature and rational principles, and its philosophical corollary-the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This declaration states that a nation must exercise autonomy and that no man or group of men can go beyond the ambit of the law. Kedourie (1993: xiv) wrote: The law was universal, but this did not mean that there were no differences between men; it meant rather that there was something common to them all which was more important than any differences. While taking this rather skeptical stance, Kedourie failed to really develop his arguments on this particular issue any further, and thus left himself open to criticism based on philosophical and historical concerns. He successfully presented a path-breaking theory against the perils of nationalism. Historical events tell us that extreme nationalism has caused global disasters, wars, and massive poverty in the past. He was right in arguing that both conservative and socialist governments subscribed to the ideology of nationalism to achieve their national goals. Kedourie and other nationalist critics exposed nationalism as a dangerous political ideology that must be rejected. Smith, Anderson, and Gellner developed Kedouries theory by presenting the causes, historical origins, and consequences of nationalism. Furthermore, today one might argue that some collectivist countries like North Korea, China, Cuba, among others have made nationalism a secular religion. However, Kedouries theory was not flawless as the section above has to some extent already shown. Kedourie may have raised valid arguments against nationalism; however, as Smith pointed out, the relationship between ideology and nationalism is not always a negative one. In fact, for example, in the case of the periphery countries of the former Soviet Union, history has shown that a nationalist ideology enabled and mobilized people to free themselves from factors which enslaved them. Kedouries somewhat one-sided and hostile portrait of nationalism ignores its constructive aspects and its vital role in creating, as well as controlling, social and political change. Another major flaw in his work is of epistemological nature. Throughout his book one question repeatedly comes to mind: How does he know that? For instance, looking at the question of origin, he connects nationalism with the French revolution as mentioned above. However, why, accordingly to Kedourie, was there no nationalism before the modern era? He does not take issue with this and thus fails to give sufficient evidence for his argument and against more primordial views on nationalism. Moreover, Kedourie perceives nationalism as a (secular) form of religion and thus he suggests that it may substitute the traditional religions. According to him, the religious origins of nationalism are used merely for political purposes. However, he neglects the relationship between religion and pre-modern ethnic identities in many areas of the world and then overlooks religious and secular roots of modern nationalism and, thus over-simplifies the relation between religion and modern nationalism (Hutchinson Smith 1994: 70). Finally, it appears that his views on ideology and nationalism were heavily influenced by his personal experiences, as well as the British academic attitudes of that time, which were fundamentally skeptical of any ideology per se (personal conversation with lecturer). For instance, Michael Oakeshott, a mentor and colleague of Kedourie, doubted the political action and questioned the assertions made in defence of political ideology (Kedourie 1998a: 111). Kedourie was exposed to the teachings of early British scholars like Oakeshott who dismissed the notion of a science of politics. This is one of the reasons behind his pessimistic view on ideology and his scorn of the academics interference in politics. In the final analysis, however, I agree with Kedouries skeptical contention as, looking at the world today and how nationalism as portrayed by Kedourie has infected and affected many countries towards the negative, his warning proved to be valid. 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