Written Report on SYRIA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Written Report on SYRIA - Research Paper Example Bashar al- Assad is the president of Syria at present who has been enthroned after the death of his father Hafiz al- Assad. The Syrian Economy which is based mainly on the petroleum and agriculture sectors experienced a growth of 2.4% estimated in the year 2008 and these sectors together constitute one half of the Gross Domestic Product of the state. An increase in the production of the oil resulted from the shooting price of crude oil has contributed much to the foreign receipts of Syria (Central Intelligence Agency, p.657). Ease of doing business in Syria The governments of Syria were supporting the public sector for decades and the private sector too is given importance during the last few years as a result of the rethinking from the government side, realizing the necessity to boost private sector for the growth of the gross domestic product and to reduce the unemployment rate of the state. Syria was ranked at 143 in the ‘Ease of doing Business Report’ for the year 20 10 by the World Bank which placed Syria behind all its neighboring countries. In dealing with construction permits and in starting a new business, the country was given 132nd and 133rd positions respectively. These figures indicate the difficulties faced by the private sector of Syria. The rising costs and the number of procedures involved in the process of issuing construction permits could be seen as the reasons behind this low ranking status. The report gives a clear cut idea regarding the tedious process of obtaining a construction permit which involves 26 procedures takes the duration of 128 days and requires spending 540.3 % of per capita income. However a down fall is observable in the case of the number of procedures and the required spending when compared with the statistics of 2006 whereas the cost required was 697% of the per capita income for the attainment of construction permits (Oxford Business Group, 2010, p.117). In the past few years Damascus, the capital has witne ssed a number of economic reforms like opening private banks, reducing lending interest rates, raising prices of certain subsidized items and consolidating exchange rates (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009, p.657). Even though the government has acknowledged that it has carried out a number of reforms in the economy, sufficient legal regulations are expected by the investors in order to promote transparent and effective partnership from the government side and it is true that there is still scope for improvement (Oxford Business Group, 2010, p.117). Foreign business in Syria The trade liberalization and new exchange rate policies have contributed much to the entry of Syria in to the global market and at the same time the state is giving emphasis on the domestic economy in order to promote domestic investors. The number of foreign players entered in the liberalized banking sector appears to be an example of the foreign competition faced by the state. The Syrian economic reforms are c arried out in such a way that they permit foreign participation along with providing necessary support and encouragements to the domestic firms focusing on the development of the economy of Syria. As a result of the corporate tax reformation of 2006 which reduced the tax rate from 65% to 28%, the corporate business sector experienced a remarkable change. A number of new business firms came in to operation and the government experienced an overall increase in the revenue. In 2008 another law was passed by Syria in order to support foreign investors. As per the law investors are allowed to rent or buy land in the state for

Sociological Perspectives And The Functionalist Perspectives Sociology Essay

Sociological Perspectives And The Functionalist Perspectives Sociology Essay The first sociological perspective that I will use to try to explain the Bertram family scenario is the functionalist perspective. The functionalist perspective evolved from the work of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), though it was shaped by Harvard sociologist Talcott Parsons during the mid-20th century.    Functionalism can be summed up simply: the world is a system of interrelated parts, and each part makes a necessary contribution to the vitality of the system (Bohm, 1997: 82). Functionalism examines society through a functional framework which stresses that everything, no matter how seemingly strange, out of place, or harmful, serves a purpose. A useful analogy to use would be all the different parts of the body and how they function to keep the human body alive. All organs in the human body depend on each other and each is vital, performing an overall function. Social systems work in much the same way as an organic system. Societies have established structures within which are es tablished beliefs and practices. All members of society are expected to conform and behave acceptably. The institutional arrangements, for example, political or religious arrangements, exist in society not by choice of its citizens but because they perform a specific function for the social structure as a whole. People within these social structures know and agree on how to behave, living their lives in the right ways from which society benefits (Jones 2003:39). Functionalism holds that everyone and everything in society, no matter how strange it may seem, serves a purpose.   Crime, for example, is viewed almost universally as a nuisance.   Functionalists, however, point out that crime serves several purposes.   Durkheim concluded that crime and deviance serve three major functions for society: deviance clarifies or reaffirms societal norms, it promotes social unity, and it challenges the status quo.   Deviance can bring into question the status quo, forcing society to reth ink previously held norms.   For example, acts perceived as criminal or deviant were critical in shaping the rights movements for African Americans, women, and homosexuals in the United States.   Without questioning the traditional way of treating disadvantaged groups, the norms of discrimination and prejudice could not be broken. Criticisms of functionalism focus on its acceptance and rationalization of social inequality and societal evils.   Since functionalism holds that all aspects of society are necessary, human rights issues like poverty, hunger, slavery, and genocide must be accounted for.   Critics suggest that functionalism can be used as a rationalization of such issues.   The perspective is also criticized for its lack of testability, which is critical for upholding any social science theory.   Several questions stand against its reliability.   Still, it has its strong points, such as its ability to explain crime and deviance.   Functionalism essentially s erves as the most traditionalist of the sociological schools of thought. As with all the other different parts of society family has a role to play in the functioning of society and each family member has a role to play. Mrs Bertram is no longer able to perform the social roles that society expects of her (for example, mother and wife). In the scenario of the Bertram family, Mrs Bertram could be seen to have taken on the sick role. The functionalist perspective of illness is that it disrupts society; it too is a form of deviance. A functionalist perspective would suggest that social services would need to control the deviance by either putting Mrs Bertram into residential care or by providing services for her at home, in order to bring her back in line with societys expectation of her. Similarly the social worker would also expect Mr Bertrams deviant behaviour to be dealt with. The fact that he is leaving his wife alone for extended periods of time and is generally not caring for her as would be expected of a husband could be viewed as deviant behaviour. The Bertrams are from a generation where gender roles were very specific and Mr Bertram is probably struggling with the role reversal, so would need support with this. Mr Bertrams possible alcoholism could also be viewed as a form of deviance that would need to be brought under control by perhaps providing him with support to overcome it. Feminist theory became established in the 1960s. What defines feminism is the view that womens relative subordination must be questioned and challenged (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005:16). The feministic view is that women are oppressed and their freedom to act and express themselves is limited by the relative power of men, as they tend to possess more economic, cultural and social resources than women. There is a wide range of feminist views due to the failure to agree on ways to explain subordination of women or how women can be liberated or what actually constitutes oppression (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005). As a result there are many varying feminist perspectives drawing on a wide range of disciplines. According to Abbott Wallace and Tyler (2005) early feminists have focussed on issues relating to questions of power, knowledge and subjectivity. Liberal feminism sees gender prejudice as a matter of individual ignorance (Jones 2003:91). Liberal feminists believe inequalities ca n be eradicated by putting in place anti-discrimination laws and by promoting non-sexist attitudes. Marxist feminists believe that womens subordination serves the needs of capitalism (Jones 2003:92). Marxist feminists argue that subordination of women in capitalist societies is best explained by understanding the economic disadvantages that they face. Radical feminism sometimes referred to as gynocentrism affirms that patriarchy is the key to understanding social structures and patriarchal relations are universal and elemental (Jones, 2003:94). The term patriarch is used widely to refer to a society based on universal male supremacy and female subordination (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005:33). This perspective is concerned with womens rights rather than gender equality and it emphasises the difference between men and women. Within radical feminism the family is seen as a key instrument of womens oppression through sexual and maternal obligation. Feminists who adopt this perspective are concerned with the way women perpetuate mens control when they become so oppressed by patriarchal ideologies. Feminist theories of social work have been criticised recently for treating women generically and displaying insufficient sensitivity to the complex ways in which other social divisions such as race, age, disability, etc impact on gender relations. (Dominelli 2002) Mrs Bertram could be seen by feminists to be suffering at the hands of a patriarchal society. She has been lured into dependency by Mr Bertrams charming ways. It could be argued that Mrs Bertram found the prospect of marrying into a higher social class rather appealing. Radical feminists argue that all relationships between men and women are institutionalised relationships of power (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005:35). Mrs Bertram does not appear to be an equal in the marriage and her illness has further exacerbated her powerlessness. Mr Bertram has all control of the finances and probably all major decisions affecting Mrs Bertram, especially as she now lacks capacity, further reinforcing her subordination. It is unclear whether Mrs Bertram has ever worked, if she has not Marxist feminists would argue that this was to the benefit of a capitalist society as she provided, when she was able, free domestic services to sustain her husband. Mrs Bertrams reasons for wanting to stay with her husband may be due to her ideological view of marriage. Feminists argue that married women do not have an identity separate to their husbands (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005) and she may be trying to hold on to what little she has left of her identity as she is slowly losing her faculties due to the Alzheimers. Her ideological view masks the real subordination she faces at the hands of her husband. This is further reinforced by his neglect of her needs and failure to care for his wife as a husband would be expected to. The psychodynamic theory was pioneered by Freud and later developed by a number of writers. Freud argued that there were various levels of conscious and unconscious thought. The id which is the source of basic urges and the drive to survive. The superego is the conscious, public expression that seeks to convey that we are doing what is acceptable to society. The ego is the part of the unconscious that attempts to mediate between the id and superego. Individuals may not be aware of the interactions within themselves and engage in behaviours that are expressions of their deep unconscious, seeking to rationalise them through the ego and superego. The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning as based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious conflict between the different structures of the personality (Baker, 2003:39). The psychodynamic approach attempts to explain the motivation of behaviour. Th e basic assumptions of the psychodynamic theory are that behaviour is motivated by conscious and unconscious mental processes, and that behaviour reflects current motivation and past experience (Glassman and Hadad, 2009). The approach claims that early negative experiences may become buried in the unconscious and manifest themselves in how an individual behaves in relationships with people later in life. Bion (1962) cited in Maclean and Harrison (2009) believes that the quality of childhood relationships in early life shapes the development of personality and character. According to Freud various defence mechanisms are developed by people to cope with difficult emotional situations. These defences include denial, repression, projection and displacement. Freud was of the opinion that people could overcome their problems by making conscious those thoughts and motivations hidden in the unconscious. He used several methods to gain access to the unconscious, such as free association whic h involved allowing the individual to say whatever came into their mind and if the client became blocked talking about something this signified something deeper was occurring in their unconscious. Freud also use dream analysis as he believed that unconscious thoughts were revealed in dreams and could be interpreted. Transference was another method used as clients projected and displaced their own thoughts and feelings onto their therapist. The psychodynamic approach is criticised for its subjectivity and gender, cultural and historical bias (Barker, 2003). The psychodynamic approach could be used to better understand Mr Bertram. Problems that are identifiable in the case scenario are his poor management of money, his neglect of his wife and his suspected alcoholism. His behaviour could possibly be a result of what is happening in his unconscious mind due to a negative experience in early childhood. The amount of time he spends at the golf club away from his wife could be explained as him using denial as a defence mechanism against painful emotions. He may have experienced painful losses in the past and this may have affected his unconscious mind. It is possibly too painful for him to accept his wifes illness and his coping strategy is to refuse to accept what is happening. His suspected alcoholism may be due to him regressing to an earlier stage of development where he felt safe or comfortable, possibly the oral stage when developing children focus on oral pleasures such as feeding. It is possible that the stress of his wifes illness h as triggered the regression and he may not even be aware of how his unconscious is leading him to use alcohol to cope. His use of alcoholism could also be explained as fixated behaviour, if Mr Bertram experienced trauma when he was at the oral stage (stage where according to Freud child gains satisfaction from sucking, eating, etc) in his development it is possible that he then became confined to this particular stage. His conscious choice to drink alcohol has its origins in the repressed depths of the unconscious mind (Ingleby 2006:8). His use of alcohol as a way of managing a difficult situation is inappropriate behaviour and generating its own set of problems as he is neglecting his wife and the home is in an awful state. A social worker using this approach would have to proceed with caution as behaviours may not be the result of unconscious assumptions. Behaviourism rose in prominence in the early 20th century through the ideas of thinkers such as Pavlov and Watson. The behaviourist approach lays emphasis on the role of environmental stimuli in determining the way that we act. A key idea in behaviourism is that all individuals enter the world as a clean slate (Ingleby, 2006:5). Social factors are then responsible for shaping the individual. The basic assumption is that humans learn behaviour by learned relationships between stimulus (excites the sense organs) and a response (reaction to stimulus). The main behaviourist theories of learning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning occurs when we make an association between a neutral stimulus that reliably produces a response, so that the neutral stimulus comes to produce the same response (Baker, 2003:43). It is most well known through Pavlovs experiment where dogs were given food at the same time as a bell was rung. The result was that the dogs wou ld salivate when the bell was rung even if no food was presented. Pairing of an unconditioned stimulus led to an unconditioned response and when the unconditioned response was paired with another stimulus, the stimulus eventually produced a response on its own. Operant conditioning has had a considerable influence on psychology and is used regularly in social care (Maclean and Harrison, 2009). Operant conditioning recognises that the environment effects behaviour. Much behaviour occurs randomly and whether we repeat it or not depends on the response we get. For example, if a person says they want to kill themselves, they may not know how or fully understand what they are saying but whether or not they say it again may depend on the response of those around them. The behaviourist approach is criticised for be oversimplified as it ignores mental processes and limited as not everything can be accounted for by simple learning (Barker, 2003). It is possible that Mr Bertram has learned behaviours over the years due to the responses he has received. As he is from a white upper class background he has led a fairly privileged life. Even though his financial status is now in question he has learned over the years that his exceedingly charming manners are able to get him what he wants. He was able to use his charm to sweep Mrs Bertram off her feet and so far has managed to use this same charm offensive to keep the landlord and social services at bay. If we apply the principle of operant conditioning to the situation we can see that Mr Bertrams behaviour has been shaped by the way that those he has come into contact with have responded by conceding to his charming ways. The consequence has been that he continually uses this behaviour to mask the problems he and his wife are experiencing. I was born and raised in Zimbabwe just before independence and I am the second child of a nurse and a self-made business man. Education was very important in my family and although it went unsaid there was always an expectation that we would be successful in life. The culture I was raised in had a very patriarchal framework and this extended to state policies and procedures. For example, in order for me to obtain a passport or national identity card I had to either go to government offices with my father or a male relative with the same surname or produce my fathers identification documents. My mothers presence or her documents would not have been acceptable. If I view this from a feminist perspective, women in my culture were placed in a position of subordination because of economic dependency and because generally they were constructed as socially inferior (Abbott, Wallace and Tyler, 2005: 28). Despite the fact that my mother worked all financial decisions were made by my father. M arxist feminist would argue that subordination of women in Zimbabwe served and continues to serve to enhance capitalist interests. My mother tended to my fathers every need so that he could go out and be productive at work. Education was a very important part of my life. Emphasis was always placed on the fact that I needed a good education in order to succeed in life. I remember getting very good reports at school while my sister got the opposite. My parents would sit her down every time her report card came home. If I apply the behaviourist principle of operant conditioning to my situation I learned that if I came home with a good report card my parents response would be a positive one. I therefore endeavoured to always have a good report so that that positive response from my parents would be repeated. My background will provide me with insight on how women can feel oppressed even in environments that they are supposed to feel safe, so that I can effectively challenge oppressive practices. My background also helps me understand how responses I may have as a social worker will shape future behaviours of service users to other social workers or professionals. It is clearly important to have an understanding of sociological and psychological perspectives in social work as both make a significant contribution to understanding different service user needs.

We MUST Keep Repeat Offenders in Jail :: Sentencing Argument Argumentative

We MUST Keep Repeat Offenders in Jail   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why do killers, rapists, and child molesters go free? A large portion of early release prisoners commit serious crimes after being released. In fact, "in a three year follow-up of 108,850 state prisoners released in 1983 from institutions in 11 states, within three years sixty percent of violent crime offenders were re-arrested. More than half of those charged with violent crimes were discharged within two years."(from Truth In Sentencing by James Wooton). These criminals are sent right back to the streets to cause trouble again. The laws and justice system has to stick to their guns when it comes to prison terms. If some person is charged with armed robbery and sentenced to 15 years in prison, why should they be released in five years or less? We must make criminals pay for their crimes. If individuals are incarcerated for the full length of their given sentence, I believe that there will be less repeat offenders and an overall smaller crime rate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some say that if we cut down on prison terms we will save loads of tax money. There will be less need to build, maintain, and expand existing staff if there are fewer prisoners. But how much more can we cut these sentences, aren't they short enough already? The average jail sentence is seven years and eleven months, but the actual average time served is two years and eleven months. I think there are better ways to save money. For example, we should cut back on the funding of foreign governments. We have plenty of our own problems in the United States that we need to take care of. We should take care of our own before we try to help others. The money we would save would not affect us directly either. The money the government would save would not reduce our taxes or anything like that, they would take the money and invest it in something else important, like maybe giving themselves a raise. How can you put a price on your child's safety? When a repeat rapist is released early and rapes your daughter or sister, how important is that saved government money going to be?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There should be no tolerance for repeat offenders. I agree that everyone makes mistakes, but you must pay for those mistakes and learn from those mistakes. When criminals make the same mistakes over and over they should pay heavily for these repeat crimes. But criminals know that our justice system is soft, they know they will never serve their full sentence, if any at all.

Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye wonderfully express the thoughts, and feelings that typically run through the average teenagers mind. In each of these stories, the main character is left searching for his true identity. Huck Finn’s journey leads him to question the beliefs others have imposed upon him since his youth. While Holden Caulfield is a very confused and depressed person who desperately seeks acceptance, and companionship. Both characters are experiencing life as independent people, each having their own unique qualities, but in general they are both learning that in order to survive and make the right decisions, they need to mature. Holden Caulfield and Huck Finn share many of the same characteristics. For one thing, they both tend to lie a lot. Holden lied to nearly everyone he met, one example of his deception was when he met the mother of Ernest Morrow on the train to New York. He told her how popular, kind, and modest her son was despite how Holden hated him. Huck also lies a lot, but usually he only deceives people to protect himself and Jim. This occurs when he dressed up as a girl to find out what the rumors of Jim’s whereabouts were. They have many other similar qualities such as not conforming to society. Whether it was by choice or not, Huck and Holden paved their own paths, they tried to figure out what was right and wrong for themselves instead of following what everyone else said. The characters Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield share a special bond. Both boys are the most unlikely of heroes, they lie, deceive, act irresponsibly, yet they get the point across. Also, there is a connection between the companions of each character. Holden’s closest friend is his younger sister Phoebe, while Huck’s adventure is centered around the slave Jim. Slaves of that period were treated at worst as animals, and at best simple children. Jim and Phoebe were on the same level for they were there for support, and could differentiate right from wrong, but they didn’t know enough to fully understand what Huck and Holden were mentally going through. Huck Finn is living the life of an average teenager until he finds himself helping the slave, Jim escape from his master. These actions go against  everything Huck has been taught so far, and is also against the law. Huck is in a tricky predicament where he has to decide whether or not to go through with helping Jim escape or to turn him in. This forces a reflection of his morals and an evaluation of Huck’s conscience. In the end, Huck decides to follow his heart by not turning Jim in. This shows great loyalty, and maturity on Huck’s part to go against the law by doing what he knew was right. Holden Caulfield was deeply, emotionally scarred from the death of his brother Allie, which obviously affects his decision making skills. He falls into a deep depression where he doesn’t seem to care that he failed out of four different schools. Holden lies incessantly yet he says that he hates phonies. He sees all the faults in other people without realizing his own imperfections. By the time he comes to the realization that he isn’t as perfect as he would have thought, it is too late and he is institutionalized. Although he was sent to an institution, just before he understood that he could not prevent children from growing up, and that he himself needed to mature. Holden’s journey didn’t end as idealy as he may have hoped, but at least he finally recognized the need to get over Allie’s death and move on with his life. Huck was able to figure out for himself as Holden did the need for maturity in society. Huck exhibited an excellent example of selflessness in this story, therefore he successfully overcame one of life’s toughest obstacles. Each character had a personal battle they needed to surmount, and both Holden and Huck triumphed. The two characters also have many differences in their actions and lifestyles. Holden is more restricted in his reactions to certain situations. He is not very sure of himself, nor is he brave. Huck on the other hand, is not afraid to take initiative, like when he ran away from home with Jim. Holden was too afraid to leave, he only thought about going away to New Hampshire, or out West.

Culture and Anthropologists Essay

The problems that faced by anthropologists in the fieldwork are adaptation to new culture, maintain objectivism and get access to all information from their subjects. Adaptation to new culture is hard, since they have to stay for a period of time and try to live in the way their subjects’ do. Adaptation that done by anthropologists is not only adapt new lifestyle, but also learning their cultural norms and language in order to be accepeted by their subjects as a part of them, not only as a foreigner. For instance, M. N. Srinivas was got disapproval for shaving before bath since in that community, people are shaving after bath (Srinivas, 2002). However, by adapting the culture, anthropologists not only gain knowledge about how the culture is, but they will have better understanding on the culture. Knowing why do people in certain culture do certain activity, how the culture has impacted the people on that community and the historical of the culture as well. On top of that, a better understanding of the culture may assist the anthropologists to produce an unbiased ethnography by avoiding ethnocentrism. Having different cultures, people tend to make a comparison among the culture. It could be inevitable when living with people with different cultures in which values, norms and behavioural acceptance are in different manner. This objectivism is needed when anthropologists faced problem with what they observe. Remain objective could be a bit hard when the anthropologists have an emotional involvement on problems that their subjects’ face. For example, when Claire did the observation on prostitutes lifestyle and have emotional pressure, at some point she need to out from the field, so that her objectivism is remain stable (Sterk, 2009). Other than avoiding ethnocentrism, maintaining objectivism is also required to build a good relationship with their subjects. By the example on what Claire done, the thing that can be learned is anthropologists should not interfere too much on their subjects’ life, and also anthropologists should be able to set a boundaries to limit to what extend they can emotionally interfere with their subjects (Sterk, 2009). The other problem that faced the most by anthropologists is get access to all information from their subjects. In order to find the respondents, anthropologists need to show their respects to gain trust from the leader of that community. The importance of key respondents is to open a path to ommunicate with other members in that community to get more perception of how the norms and culture affect their life. However, the problem is, sometimes anthropologists wrongly identify the key repondents. According to Calire E. Sterk (2009), anthropologists need to be able to find the right person as their key respondents, if not, then the access to information is too narrow, which could cause misinterp retation on the data. For instance, during fieldwork in Rampura village, M. N. Srinivas observed a community that led by a headman that very strict on cultural rules(Srinivas 2009). The headman always watch whatever Srinivas did and limited the access to the members of that community , till the time when he realize that there are two faction and apparently the second faction is more open to foreigners than the first faction (Srinivas, 2009). By reading this case, there is something that can be a learning experience which is before anthropologists do participant observation, they need to know how is the structure of that society, what are the cultural values, norms and belief that they believe in and the most important thing is to know what are motivations to do such a cultural activities and how they do it.

The British North America Act (BNA Act)

The British North America Act (BNA Act) The British North America Act or BNA Act created the Dominion of Canada in 1867. It is now referred to as the Constitution Act, 1867, as it is the basis of the countrys constitution. History of the BNA Act The BNA Act was drafted by Canadians at the Quebec Conference on Canadian Confederation in 1864 and passed without amendment by the British Parliament in 1867. The BNA Act was signed by Queen Victoria on March 29, 1867, and came into effect on July 1, 1867. It solidified Canada West (Ontario), Canada East (Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as the four provinces of the confederation. The BNA Act serves as a base document for the Canadian Constitution, which is not a single document but rather a set of documents known as Constitution Acts and, just as importantly, a set of unwritten laws and conventions. The BNA Act set out the rules for the government of the new federal nation. It established a British style parliament with an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate and set out the division of powers between the federal government and provincial governments. The written text of the division of powers in the BNA Act can be misleading, however, as case law plays a significant part in the division of powers between governments in Canada. The BNA Act Today Since the first act forming the Dominion of Canada in 1867, 19 other acts were passed, until some of them were amended or repealed by the Constitution Act, 1982. Until 1949, only the British Parliament could make amendments to the acts, but Canada assumed  full control over its constitution with the passage of the Canada Act in 1982. Also in 1982, the BNA Act was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867.

Free Essays on The Bauhaus

Ideologies The school had three aims since the beginning that remained basically the same throughout the life of the Bauhaus even though the direction of the school changed considerably. The first aim of the school was to bring art forms together in order for the art to find themselves, to promote the individual art styles and craftsmen to bring their work and skills together as one. Secondly, the school set out to raise the status of crafts, chairs, lamps, teapots, etc. and bring it to the same level as that of artistic products like paintings and sculptures. The third aim was to preserve contact with manufacturing leaders in an attempt to eventually achieve independence from government support by selling their designs to businesses. With these three main goals at its basis the Bauhaus began and influenced our lives immensely. The Bauhaus is one of the most important Design Movements in the 20th century. This movement took place in Weimar Republic of Germany during the 1920's and the early 1930's. The Weimar Republic is considered one of the birthplaces of the Modern Movement in architecture and design. The Bauhaus was founded by an architect named Walter Gropius. Gropius came from the Werkbund movement, which sought to integrate art and economics, and to add an element of engineering to art. The Werkbund movement was unable to achieve this integration, but the founding of the Bauhaus saw the solution that had previously been overlooked. The Bauhaus was founded by the combining of the Weimar Art Academy, and the Weimar Arts and Crafts School, which was established by Van De Velde. Students at this new school were trained by both an artist and a master craftsman, realizing the desires of Gropius to make modern artists familiar with science and economics. Modern materials such as plastic and chrome were used in this new era. This began to unite a creative imagination with a practical knowledge of craftsmanship, and thus to... Free Essays on The Bauhaus Free Essays on The Bauhaus Ideologies The school had three aims since the beginning that remained basically the same throughout the life of the Bauhaus even though the direction of the school changed considerably. The first aim of the school was to bring art forms together in order for the art to find themselves, to promote the individual art styles and craftsmen to bring their work and skills together as one. Secondly, the school set out to raise the status of crafts, chairs, lamps, teapots, etc. and bring it to the same level as that of artistic products like paintings and sculptures. The third aim was to preserve contact with manufacturing leaders in an attempt to eventually achieve independence from government support by selling their designs to businesses. With these three main goals at its basis the Bauhaus began and influenced our lives immensely. The Bauhaus is one of the most important Design Movements in the 20th century. This movement took place in Weimar Republic of Germany during the 1920's and the early 1930's. The Weimar Republic is considered one of the birthplaces of the Modern Movement in architecture and design. The Bauhaus was founded by an architect named Walter Gropius. Gropius came from the Werkbund movement, which sought to integrate art and economics, and to add an element of engineering to art. The Werkbund movement was unable to achieve this integration, but the founding of the Bauhaus saw the solution that had previously been overlooked. The Bauhaus was founded by the combining of the Weimar Art Academy, and the Weimar Arts and Crafts School, which was established by Van De Velde. Students at this new school were trained by both an artist and a master craftsman, realizing the desires of Gropius to make modern artists familiar with science and economics. Modern materials such as plastic and chrome were used in this new era. This began to unite a creative imagination with a practical knowledge of craftsmanship, and thus to...

Zhidao - I Know in Mandarin Chinese

Zhidao - I Know in Mandarin Chinese When learning a new language and practicing it with native speakers, you often need to indicate your knowledge of the topic. In Mandarin you use zhÄ «dao (know) and bà ¹ zhÄ «do (don’t know). These are used as you would expect if translated directly from English. If you get asked a question, the most natural way of saying you dont know is  wÇ’Â  bà ¹ zhÄ «do (I don’t know). ZhÄ «dao is made up of two characters: çŸ ¥Ã© â€œ. The first character çŸ ¥ (zhÄ «) means to know,† or â€Å"to be aware† and the second character é â€œ (do) means â€Å"truth,† or â€Å"principle.† Do also means â€Å"direction† or â€Å"path† and in this context it forms the first character of â€Å"Daoism† (Taoism). Pleas note that this word is also commonly pronounced with a neutral tone on the second syllable, so both  zhÄ «dao and zhÄ «do are common. Examples of Zhidao QÇ ngwà ¨n, sheà ­ zhÄ «dao nÇŽli yÇ’u yà ³ujà º?è «â€¹Ã¥â€¢ , è ª °Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã© â€œÃ¥â€œ ªÃ¨ £ ¡Ã¦Å"‰éÆ' µÃ¥ ±â‚¬?è ¯ ·Ã©â€" ®, è ° Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã© â€œÃ¥â€œ ªÃ©â€¡Å'æÅ"‰é‚ ®Ã¥ ±â‚¬?Excuse me, does anyone know where the post office is?WÇ’ bà ¹ zhÄ «do.我ä ¸ Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã© â€œÃ¦Ë†â€˜Ã¤ ¸ Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã© â€œI don’t know. There are more words that have a similar meaning in Mandarin, so lets look at how  zhÄ «do related to words like 明ç™ ½ (mà ­ngbai) and ä ºâ€ Ã¨ § £ (liÇŽojiÄ›). Both these are better translated as understand, compared to just knowing about something.  Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã§â„¢ ½ (mà ­ngbai) has the added meaning that something is not just understood, but also clear. This is typically used to ask if someone understands something that was just explained or to express that you understand what your teacher just explained. ZhÄ «do is more commonly used when you just want to say that you have noted a fact someone mentioned or that youre aware of something. Update:  This article was significantly updated by  Olle Linge  on May 7thth, 2016.

Homeland Security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeland Security - Assignment Example These are mistakes caused by service provider. Employing various safeguard controls is the best way to avoid the accidental threats. Some of the best safeguarding controls that homeland security may employ include provision of resources and training. This can play a crucial part in the prevention of unintentional failures. Negligence Negligence refers to failure in complying with various set regulations, policies and procedures while carrying out various activities. In order to control negligence as one type of human threat, there is a need to employ post-incident or countermeasures controls. One of the advantages of employing countermeasures is that it is possible to identify various challenges that may tend to be the cause of negligence (Tavana, 2007). The other significant aspect associated with countermeasure control on the issue of negligence is that it is possible to assess some attribute or character that might possibly create an undue risk. Intentional Intentional or delibera te threats include both criminal and non-criminal. The non-criminal entails boycotts and blockades among others. However, the criminal ones entail sabotage, espionage, fraud, theft, terrorism among others. Another issue is that the amount of harm conducted because of intentional human threat depends on the motive of the threat (Tavana, 2007). In order to prevent the occurrence of such threats, the best kinds of control that would be most effective is the post-incident or countermeasures control (Tavana, 2007). Intentional threat tends to be very dangerous and can lead to a large number of people losing their lives. An example of a successful intentional threat is the one that occurred in 9/11 at America. One of the best methods to employ in relation to countermeasures on intentional threats is crisis management. This entails making sure that essential training is offered in order to handle any type of intentional disaster that might occur. The other issues to consider in relation to intentional threat are who, why and what would be attacked (Tavana, 2007). This gives the concerned parties an over view on what is necessary to consider and to address in order to be fully prepared for the occurrence of any kind of potential threat. Question, 2. Part 1. If you were in a debate about prioritizing risks to critical infrastructures, which of the following criteria would you argue in favor of for setting priorities? Most dangerous to life / safety and property? Most dangerous to life / safety and property is the criteria to first consider when setting priorities on risks to critical infrastructure. The well-being of all citizens ought to be the issue to offer significant concern when setting various priorities especially when prioritizing risks to critical infrastructures. This consideration also entails focusing on issues that would enhance safety of property to all citizens. Some of the human threats tend to be critical in the fact that they can cause significant ne gative impacts to the lives of the citizens. For example, various terrorism acts end up causing loss of lives and properties (Department of Homeland Security, 2007). Intentional human threats like terrorism always involve violence. The main aim of terrorism is to cause psychological impact to the affected community through loss of lives

Managing uncertainty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing uncertainty - Essay Example In addition, millennial are more willing to take risks and highly educated compared to the preceding generations. These differences are bound to result in some friction at the workplace, where in the past it has been noted that organizations have opted to leave them to resolve themselves. However, this is proving to be unfruitful as millennial are leaving the workforce to start their own businesses and operate as consultants. Having realized their importance, organizations have to identify ways of attracting and retaining this workforce as well as ensuring they work in cohesion with the older generation (Cahill et al 2012, p.4). Popular social science has attempted to categorize the living generations into five- matures/veterans or builders, baby boomers, and the subsequent generation X, Y and Z. Presently, baby boomers, generation X and Y are the ones actively engaged in the workforce. Every generation is identified with its own unique traits with the baby boomers- born between mid- 1940s and mid-1950s, and builders- usually in their late 60s and 70s, sharing a similarity of being able to work for long hours in a structural manner. Whilst the rest are known for being flexible, having an increased understanding of technology and overall seeking a balanced life, the latter being particularly so for generation X born between mid-1960s to early 1980s. The challenge for HR professionals lies in striking a balance between meeting the needs of an organization and the burgeoning expectations of the multigenerational workforce. Mostly, generation Y and Z desire to have a flexible work schedule that implies them not being tied to the office a whole day. Notably also, organizations are faced with the uphill task of recognizing and dealing with the competing issues of generation Y and Z and the clients/customers which may not be mutually exclusive. HR managers have to recognize and appreciate the different points of view held by a multigenerational workforce (Mitchell 2008 , p.666). Organizations have to re-examine their needs and goals from a holistic standpoint and design a job description that will offer employees an opportunity for growth along with various responsibilities; which in turn will result in them being retained and satisfied in their job. This is complicated by the fact that there will be miscommunications, misapprehensions and detachments in a multigenerational workforce, with respect to work commitment and entitlement. In addition, operational areas such as frontline employees have had to be restructured as management practices have evolved over the years and modes of communication have changed from top-down, task-based instructions to linear contemporary ways of communicating. Clerical positions have also become unnecessary owing to efficiencies created by recent office technologies. This implies that certain positions have become redundant and employees who have been with an organization over a long period will need to have their p rior positions reconsidered. HR managers should look to their strengths and allocate new responsibilities accordingly as opposed to letting them go as their experience creates an opportunity for mentorship to the younger, incoming workforce (Mosley & Kaspar 2008, p.94). Furthermore, HR managers have

Hajj The Pilgrimage to Makkah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hajj The Pilgrimage to Makkah - Essay Example When people from all around the world stand in silence and in a row while praying in the mosque, it shows the exhibition of equality and discipline among the Muslims. Hajj is an annual congregation of worship. 2. Lesser pilgrimage is known as the Umra and is commonly referred to as Haj-e-Asghar. Although many acts of worship performed in Umra are those performed in of Hajj, there are certain fundamental differences as Hajj is obligatory, Umra is not. Hajj can only be performed on prescribed dates, but there isn't any time and date fixed for performing Umra. It is undesirable to perform Umra between 9th and 13th of ZilHajj of the Islamic calendar. Umra can be performed individually (while Hajj is performed in groups) and is a shorter course of pilgrimage. 3. Ihram: Pilgrims put on Ihram during the Hajj ritual. They are 2 white sheets of unsown cloth. One sheet is used for covering the lower portion of the body (from the navel downwards) and the other is used for covering the upper portions of the body. Head while remaining uncovered. Ihram for women is their everyday clothes. It is compulsory for women to cover their heads, but no cloth should touch their faces. Before putting on the Ihram the pilgrim should first take a full bath and clean his body thoroughly. He may then put on Ihram and cover his head with some unsown piece of cloth and offer prayers. Ihram is the first and foremost obligation of Hajj.

Information Tectnology Audit Requirements Comparative Analysis of the Term Paper

Information Tectnology Audit Requirements Comparative Analysis of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Sarbanes- Oxley Act (SOX) - Term Paper Example n response to the increased cases of bribery and other economic scandals of a national proportion, the Congress passed into law two critical Acts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 was enacted to enforce precise companies’ record keeping systems, increase accuracy in financial recording, and to reduce bribery and corruption loopholes in the business system. The Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002 was passed twenty years after the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act with the core objective of reducing bribery and corruption in the America cooperate sector1. Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was projected to ensure that all chief finance officers and public companies’ chief executive officers provide an accurate financial report while Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, 1977 was designed to ensure that, all business financial information was recorded in accordance to the existing financial provisions. In the first twenty years after the enactment of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act 1977, the American Security and Exchange Commission and the America Department of Justice did very little investigations to necessitate a helpful enforcement of the Act, reducing its impacts in countering corporate bribery and other business malpractices. However, after the WorldCom scandal and Enron scandal in 2002, the United States of American government was forced by the prevailing state of affairs to enact Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 to offset the ever-increasing cases of cooperate malpractices as well as to advance global awareness on the harmful impacts of business bribery and other malpractices. The enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was at that time intended to make bribery penalties extremely severe and to increase public awareness on the need for an accurate financial accounting and record keeping in business operations. Taking into account the level and nature of the outcomes of bribery in global economy, especially

Values and Personality Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Values and Personality Reflection Paper - Essay Example Every day we do in our life requires funding that life would be unimaginable without it. To ensure that there is enough funding to be able to do the things I would like to do, a trust fund would be nice source of fund. And to sustain my everyday expenditures such as eating out, buying school supplies and other things, it would be very convenient to have a worry free charge. Trust fund without the means to spend it through a convenient charge would be pointless so a charge card should come with the trust fund. Finally, it is very important for me to have my own big house not only as a means of shelter but also to call it my home. These values made me strive to study harder to be able to get a good education. My parents were instrumental in the formation of these values by stressing that without a good education, I will not even have a chance of having financial stability because the world is based on knowledge and skills. These values will affect me in choosing a major in college or a career by ensuring that the course I will take must teach financial know how and that the career I will have must earn well to afford financial security. I took the ESTJ personality test to have an objective hypothesis on my personality type. My hypothesis on my personality type is that I am an Introvert-Sensor-Feeler-Judger. It means that I tend to be reflective, reserved and private. I draw my energy from my own thoughts and the time I spend alone and do not need people around me all the time. It also says I live for the present and rely on facts and handle practical matters pretty well which I think is very accurate assessment of me. I am also a feeler which is basically sensitive to the feelings of other people which I am. I am also a judger who prefer a lifestyle that decisive, planned and orderly. This personality type reflects well in my interaction with people as I am very considerate with

Report of Collaboration Manager (interview) Essay

Report of Collaboration Manager (interview) - Essay Example Costco world headquarters are located in Washington and Korea home-office is located in Costco Yangpyung location. Costco in Korea also targets lower end customers by selling products at low prices, often at very high volume. Costco is experiencing rapid growth in its Asian business. Ever since Costco entered into Asian market, international outlets has experienced a sales growth of 7% in 2011 and Costco’s best performing store is in Korea. Costco does not provide multiple brands varieties where the item is essentially the same except when it has a house brand to sell, often under the Kirkland trademark label. Their distribution system focuses on a high volume of sales from single vendors, allowing further reductions in price and lower marketing costs. Through the collaborative manager interview report, more research and investigation was held on how Costco Korea implemented its business strategy in Korean market and successfully created the collaborative work environment in t heir distribution channel. In addition, the report focused on their collaborative strategy of how the company communicated with Costco buyers in order to meet local customer demands and requirements. In order to gain visibility into performance at Costco Korea, it was necessary to interview Korean branch of collaborative manager, Sung-Gu Ryu to gain his personal experience and perspectives on overall category of growth trends. Role of the CM in Helping the Organization Achieve Its Strategic Objectives Collaborative manager entails the working together of managers in an organization to achieve the goals and the objectives of the organization. Sung-Gu Ryu outlined the strategic objectives of Costco Corporation which gave directions to his role as the CM. To begin with, Costco Corporation operates on a best value and best price principle. This means that Sung-Gu Ryu has a role of developing and implementing quality assessment tools that aim at investigating the satisfaction of the cust omers with the quality of products being produced by Costco Corporation. Moreover, Sung-Gu Ryu has the role of ensuring that customers are satisfied with the price of commodities being offered compared to its competitors, in bid to offer the best price for its commodities. Acting ethically, is another strategic objective of Costco Corporation and Sung-Gu Ryu as the CM has a great role in ensuring that this strategic objective is achieved. Firstly, he ensures that the managers working in collaboration with him are managers of integrity and have a high moral standard. This ensures that their operations are morally and ethically upright as pertains to how they treat their customers, employees, suppliers and competitors. Moreover, it is the strategic objective of Costco Corporation to never lose sight of the reason why they are in operation. Sung-Gu Ryu being the CM has the duty of en-culturing the staff to this organization culture and ensuring that every employee knows the vision and mission of Costco Corporation. So as never to lose sight of this vision, it is embedded on products developed by the Corporation and Sung-Gu Ryu also comes up with slogans aiding in achievement of Costco Corporation’s strategic objectives. CMs background, Obstacles Faced, Process Used to Develop External Relationships and Achieve Significant Milestones Sung-Gu Ryu, is the manager who is bestowed with

Values and Personality Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Values and Personality Reflection Paper - Essay Example Every day we do in our life requires funding that life would be unimaginable without it. To ensure that there is enough funding to be able to do the things I would like to do, a trust fund would be nice source of fund. And to sustain my everyday expenditures such as eating out, buying school supplies and other things, it would be very convenient to have a worry free charge. Trust fund without the means to spend it through a convenient charge would be pointless so a charge card should come with the trust fund. Finally, it is very important for me to have my own big house not only as a means of shelter but also to call it my home. These values made me strive to study harder to be able to get a good education. My parents were instrumental in the formation of these values by stressing that without a good education, I will not even have a chance of having financial stability because the world is based on knowledge and skills. These values will affect me in choosing a major in college or a career by ensuring that the course I will take must teach financial know how and that the career I will have must earn well to afford financial security. I took the ESTJ personality test to have an objective hypothesis on my personality type. My hypothesis on my personality type is that I am an Introvert-Sensor-Feeler-Judger. It means that I tend to be reflective, reserved and private. I draw my energy from my own thoughts and the time I spend alone and do not need people around me all the time. It also says I live for the present and rely on facts and handle practical matters pretty well which I think is very accurate assessment of me. I am also a feeler which is basically sensitive to the feelings of other people which I am. I am also a judger who prefer a lifestyle that decisive, planned and orderly. This personality type reflects well in my interaction with people as I am very considerate with

Impact of Criminology on the three Strike Law Research Paper

Impact of Criminology on the three Strike Law - Research Paper Example These laws have been implemented in quite an uneven manner and have impacted the financial and population side of prison and have even impacted the way the judiciary was functioning. According to the law, if an individual has conducted a crime once and has been held responsible for committing the crime again, he/she may serve twice the length of jail time he should serve for committing a particular crime. The law further states that if the individual has been held responsible for the third time, he should face sentence period of 25 to life or thrice the amount of jail time he is entitled to for committing a particular crime. The law states that the nature of the crime has to be serious and violent in nature. Crimes that were considered as serious in nature under this law includes: rape, robbery of a house hold while having the intention to conduct an assault and looting a home. 1 This source was used to obtain information about the history of the law and the various components of the law. When three strike laws is not applied, criminals serve 50% of their jail time and are even provided relaxation in jail time due to their good conduct, this law has made it essential for criminals to serve 80% of their jail time. This law even denies the use of alternative correctional programs such as drug therapy programs and sentences criminals to jail. Those who were in the favor of this law stated that this law can save hard earned money of the taxpayers which is spent while a criminal is injected evacuated from the justice system. They even believe that when a criminal is allowed to leave the jail, he causes increased cost for the family of the victims. Those who were against this law, believed that this law was not just and very expensive for the justice system. They believed so because the law was treating criminals of different levels in the same manner. The opponents were right in their analysis because several criminals were held responsible and assigned a jail time of 25 to life for conducting very low level crimes such as stealing bicycles. After the first five years of the passage of the law, the law was highly protested as opponents figured out that only 1% of the individuals who were convicted under this law were murderers and the two thirds of these individuals were those who had conducted small property crimes (Carangelo, 2002, p.57).2 2 This source provides information about the reasons why individuals are against the law and how has the law performed five years after it was passed. Body The main purpose of designing a law such as the three strike law was to ensure that the streets of US were safe without felons who conduct repeated crimes. This law has been greatly exercised in the jurisdiction of California and has experienced heavy criticism since it was accepted as a law during 1993. Researchers, theorists, academic criminologists and attorneys have repeatedly condemned the law as they believe that the law is increase cost, is not j ustified and does not achieve the purpose for which it was made. These laws are recognized as recidivist laws; this means that these laws are created to elevate the amount of penalties for those criminals who continuously commit crime (Walsh, 2007, p.138).3 The jail time that repeat

Leadership In Malaysian Corporate Context

Leadership In Malaysian Corporate Context Nowadays, Leadership is very important issue in term of successful and failure any company. Some of people think that leader is always associate to the politic side but in fact leadership is related to everything around world .leader can guide the company to the safe side by his or her skill and strategy. Malaysian context is the best example of looking in deep about the differentiation between the successful and unsuccessful leader in the corporate. Therefor, the aim of this study is to determine the differentiation between the successful and unsuccessful leaders in the Malayans corporate connect. Leadership has many definition, version and perspective but generally leadership can be defined as an ability of someone who can influence other people to gain his followers. In order to enrich our knowledge about it, this study can be provided wider definition of leadership that reviews from the previous studies and other resource. Leadership is a process that gives meaning (meaningful leadership) and produced in cooperation with the willingness to lead in achieving (By : Jacobs Jacques, 1990). Leadership is a process that affects the activity of groups organized to achieve common goals (By : Rauch Behling, 1984). Leadership is a personal attitude, which led the implementation of activities to achieve the desired objectives. (By : Shared Goal, Hemhiel Coons, 1957). Leadership is interpersonal influence, in certain situations, and directly through the communication process to achieve one or several specific objectives (By :Tannebaum, Weschler and Nassarik, 1961). Leadership is abo ut leading. It is about making people work their hearts out for a cause. It is an art and its necessary skills may be acquired by those aspiring to make leadership counts on their team members. A leader inspires; set captivating challenge for his team; maintains focus for his team while allowing them the flexibility to collaborate within a highly competitive environment. More importantly he must be able to sustain development through making his people continuously committed and interested. For that he must be in control of the changes that are happening, whether internal or external. It is imperative that leadership must have vision and moral purpose to enable it to overcome challenges of complexity and chaos created by the fast changing world brought about by the globalizing world. The focus of leadership in Islam is the development of man: his attitude and hopes; his moral and etiquette. Development is about structuring his way of life physical or his surroundings. This is because conceptually man is a premium mobile developing himself internally and externally. The first translates into his spirit and the second manifest in how he makes his presence felt by his habitation and those that he relates to. A person may assume formal leadership position in a society or organization. Or because of his trust-worthy character and knowledge, he may acquire leadership informally; his people respect him. Based on the above discussion about the leadership from different perspective, this study is attempted to determent and offer clear image about the characteristic of the successful and unsuccessful leadership. It provides an example of the practical realities of two corporate leaders in Malaysian context whom one of them, as successful, while the other one is unsuccessful. Final section is analysis the situation, conclusion, and recommendation. 2.0 Successful Leader 2.1 Characteristic of Successful Leader There are at least eight Characteristic and qualities that successful leaders have: 1. Responsibility: The top leaders take accountability for making things occur. We all know just how easy it is to fault external factors and we perhaps all have done this at some time. 2. Integrity: Your success depends on others next. People will only follow if they think they can rely on you to exhibit high standards, be open, honest and honest with them. They also expect consistency. When you are consistent (no matter what your leadership style is) people know what to anticipate. 3. Decision takers: We all have worries and misgivings when it comes to taking decisions. Will it be the right one, what happens if it goes mistaken, how will I look or be perceived by others? 4. Deal with facts: Realism is necessary if you are to be a successful leader. Realism is about facing up to whatever is going on, rather than expending power wishing it was different. When faced with decisions, the best leaders will center on the facts to determine what is realistic. 5. Vision and inspiration: The most successful leaders have the ability not just to create a vision but to communicate it in a stimulating way. They see the big picture and motivate others to work jointly to make it happen. 6. Optimism: There are some who are naturally distrustful, while others are naturally optimistic. Successful leaders are part of the second group. 7. Resilient: No matter what you set out to as a leader, there will be setbacks, disappointments and failures along the way. The most successful leaders are enormously elastic and when things do not work out as they hoped, they jump back. 8. Excellence: Excellence in what they do is one of the defining qualities of successful leaders. They have a mindset of continuous development. They look for better, intelligent ways of doing things. They are continual learners. Whatever from other viewpoint, it boils down to this: successful leaders share the following characteristics or views: 1. Mission 2. Vision 3. Goal 4. Competency 5. A strong team 6. Communication skills 7. Interpersonal skills 8. A can do, get it done attitude 9. Inspiration 10. Ambition 2.2 Successful Leader From The Reality Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad (pronounced; born 10 July 1925) was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysias longest-serving Prime Minister, and one of the longest-serving leaders in Asia. Mahathirs political career spanned almost 40 years, from his election as a Malaysian federal Member of Parliament in 1964, until his resignation as Prime Minister in 2003. (And my time is over .. will not assume any responsibility after the official October 31, 2003 because it is important that the leadership of Malaysias new generation new thinking). This is the last to occur by this genius. Innovation in the beginnings and endings in the magnificence of it really is one of the miracles!Mahathir Mohamad, his personality is multi-talented leader of a great and insightful and seasoned political strategist and a great thinker and a visionary outlook, however a simple man. It is simply model school integrated architecture. And talk about expanding branched In these paragraphs we will shed light on some aspects of excellence in the character of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, former prominent leaders in modern history and the most distinguished leaders of Muslim countries in modern times or say it is a glory-makers and writers. And no matter how many opinions in the personality of Mahathirs controversial really, everybody agrees that Dr Mahathir was a charismatic he was able to devise its own mechanism in political work, as it was a good observer of the affairs of regional and global companies, Aikgel of criticism and attack the closest political allies, and perhaps he was right when he said the same day that thousands of years of experience did not make the man able to manage its affairs better than those who were living in the Stone Age. Struggle with science and technology was the greatest achievement in the experience of Muslim Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohammed, who was able to build his country on the basis of Islamic civilization and away from slogans and propaganda. No one disagrees that Mahathir Mohammed entered the history of the largest and finest doors, not only because it is the transfer of Malaysia from extreme poverty, disease and pain to chanced powers to economically and technologically, and around the homes of mud into a tiger Asian has its place in the world market, but also to be the leader of a brave challenge West, rejected the dominance of Jews in the global economy and condemned the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and praised the Iraqi resistance heroes and urged Iraq to send more coffins of American soldiers to Washington to move the street and refuses to American war, whose fuel is men and stones. The most beautiful of all, we have found between the Muslim rulers who opt voluntarily for governance, and resign indifferent temptations of power, does not glow power, has laid down the rule that the Governor preached his energy and provides what he has to his homeland and then leaves the scene to others in order to continue the march. And Mahathir Mohamad model proud of every Arab and every Muslim, his achievements are not unmistakable, and has notes the benefit of those who want to read the experience of a transcendent purpose, and the researcher will find himself before a young rebel politics and sectarianism will turn into a national hero is not the way the movies (Rocky) America, but from the journey through the struggle of strength and patience to absorb the heritage of the nation and the flag flying in the prospects for lasting and bias to the poor who are salt of the earth and the perfume. Really I like this person and I hop one like hem to develop my country. 2.2.2 Practical Evidence of Unsuccessful Leader Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad In his book The Malay Dilemma, Mahathir suggested a politico-economic solution in the form of constructive protection, quoting reasons that the Malays are behind other races due to heredity and environmental factors. Tun Abdul Razak, the second prime minister who succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman, adopted some of Mahathirs proposals in New Economic Policy (NEP) that was mainly geared towards affirmative action economic programs to concentrate on the nations economic inequality between the Malays and the non-Malays. When Mahathir succeeded Tun Hussein Onn as the Prime Minister, he improved many elements and widened the range of NEP. The NEP as we see today is by and large due to Mahathir and his cabinet, e.g.: At first, only tenders for small contracts were restricted to bumiputras only. Open tenders were still invited for large contracts. In the direction of the end of Mahathirs tenure, many large contracts were awarded to bumiputra contractors without any open tenders but on negotiation basis. In majority of the contracts, non-bumiputra contractors are not allowed to tender. This practice continues until today. Due to a good administration and education system inherited from the British Colonial government, Malaysia has since culminated enough human resources capital. During Mahathirs term in office, Malaysia turned into a regional high-tech manufacturing, financial, and telecommunications hub. This eventually led to the phenomenal growth of the Malaysian economy between 1988 and 1997, at high single digit percentage of GDP growth. Living standards rose and poverty lowered. Malaysias economy is currently the third largest among Southeast Asian countries in terms of GDP, behind Indonesia and Thailand with Singapore following closely at the back. Mahathir is often arguably credited for such growth. During this period, Mahathir embarked on assorted large scale national projects, such as the North-South Expressway, Multimedia Super Corridor, the planned capital city of Putrajaya, Johors Port of Tanjung Pelepas, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Bakun Dam in Sarawak, and the Petronas T owers which he helped to design. His other pet projects also included Perwaja Steel, an attempt to emulate South Korea and Japan, the Proton car company. On the other word, Mahathir has always argued that such projects give up a direct come back to the economy, distant from just serving the national pride, as government spending in turn creates jobs all along with other multiplier effects. Mahathir has also been criticized for the failures and inefficiency of several of his pet projects. Due to long term manifestation and maintenance of non-competitive policies, which he has designed or nourished, the enlargement of Malaysia economy has since decreased tremendously. As for the average of 2009 and 2010, Malaysias growth is behind all other more advanced ASEAN economies: Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippine. The non-equal and non-competitive policies also lead to serious brain drain, and recently a tremendous fall of FDI (foreign direct investment) in Malaysia. In fact, more money is invested abroad than FDI. These in turn affects the economy growth. 3.0 Unsuccessful leader 3.1 Characteristic of unsuccessful leader There is lots of Characteristic that unsuccessful leaders have. It will opposite the characteristic of successful leader. 1. Irresponsible 2. Less Vision 3. Not serious with goals 4. Fewer Competencies 5. a weak team 6. Less in Communication skills 7. Less in Interpersonal skills 8. Less Inspiration 9. Less Ambition 10. He like his self 3.2 Unsuccessful leader from the reality Pervious Executive Director of LINEA CORPORATIO BHD 3.2.1 Employment History Stanton Technologies Kredin Group Stanton Systems, Inc. 3.2.2 Board Memberships and Affiliations Member Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants Member Malaysia Institute of Accountants Member Malaysian Institute of Taxation Board Member LFE Corporation Bhd 3.2.3 Education Bachelor of Commerce degree University of Melbourne , Australia Bachelor of Commerce Degree University of Melbourne 3.2.4 Alan Rajendram, Executive Vice Chairman Our Executive Vice Chairman is Alan Rajendram. He is an experienced and one of business leader in Malaysia. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants, the Malaysia Institute of Accountants and the Malaysian Institute of Taxation. He is also former director of LFE Corp Bhd and was charged in court last week but claimed trial to nine charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust involving nine million shares amounting to RM23mil. 3.2.5 Practical Evidence of Unsuccessful Leader Mr. Alan Rajendram The company has released their annual report to the public on the 4th of June 2010. From the annual report the auditor mentioned that they are unable to satisfy their selves on the collectability of the advance of RM36 million reflected in other receivables, as mentioned in Note 15 and Note 39 of the notes to the financial statements. However, the management is of the view that this amount can be recovered. In the event that the said amount cannot be recovered, the shareholders equity will be decreased by the said amount and in the absence of additional capital being injected into the Company and/or future profits generated by the Group, the Company may be classified as an Affected Listed Issuer pursuant to the amendments to the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in relation to Practice Note 17/2009. This company is in financial distress when Bursa Malaysia issued PN17. Firms that fall inside the definition of PN17 will require submitting their proposal to the A pproving Authority to restructure and renew the firm in sort to maintain the listing status. After the company has released their annual report to the public, the auditor was revealing the fraud made by board of director. The company problem began when the former director Alan Rajendram has signed a letter of award with Global Investment Group (GIG) on December 29, 2009 for the dome project and was paid to GIG as performance consideration for a RM1.6 billion King Dome project. The project of King Dome is the cooling plant that would be supplying chilled water for the air-conditioning system in Manjung Perak. He has informed the board of directors after he has transferred out the money. In February 2010, the internal auditors advised the GIG to come back the money, which the last followed through. This is because the money could not be transferred without the approval of the board. Again Alan Rajendram has transferred out the money of RM36 million once more to GIG in April without informing the board. He gives interpretation was that there was force from GIG on him to transpo rt the money to be used as a performance consideration payment for the RM1.6 billion King Dome project. Therefore, he used the autocratic manner to make the decision. This happens because there were no correct procedures for projects to be ready and submitted for approval by the board. According to Linear Corp executives director Mervis Nevis, prior to this, for three years, they were no correct procedures for project to be ready and submitted for approval. Why the payment has been made to GIG? This is because Linear want to show that they have the ability to undertake the King Dome Project. Therefore RM 36 million was paid out to GIG as performance consideration. Linear has also defaulted on its loan obligations, so that Linear has decided to sell its cooling system-manufacturing plant in Prai Industrial Estate and used the proceeds as working capital. Linear also would study whether the King Dome project was still workable. If the project can proceed, there will no problem in getting financing. If it not, Rajendram had given an indemnity letter to say that the RM 36 million will be returned to Linear by November 30. When the case began, the executive director of a public listed company was charged in the Sessions Court on five charges of abetting three individuals to cheat and commit criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving nine million share amounting to RM 23 million. The executive director that involved in the case was A. Eswaramoorthy Pillay. He is a Singaporean that has been appointed to the Board on 8 December 2006 and as executive director on 26 December 2006 and was redesignated as Non-Executive Director on 29 June 2009. Bursa Malaysia was immediately appoint a special auditor to investigates the company, particularly its financial matters and identify any potential irregularities. According to case of Linear Corporation, the prior problem in this company was weak in internal control. The transfer of money can easily be made because there were no correct procedures for projects to be ready and submitted for approval by the board. Linear also admitting its recent problem were self-inflict ed by internal weaknesses. To solve this problem, there were calls for annual general meeting. From this AGM, they will carry on with their restructuring exercise with the usual framework of capital reduction, reduction of indebtedness followed by injection of new equity funds. The second recourse is to recover the money from its former director Alan Rajendram A/L Jeya Rajendram, who has issued a statutory declaration and a letter of indemnity (LOI) on June 17 to deliver the project or indemnify the company in the event of any losses. He has until Nov 30 to do so. Linear will restructuring efforts include tightening other loopholes, with any decisions involving more than RM10,000 requiring the approval of the board. Therefore, all contractual arrangements must also be vetted and prepared by external legal advisers before being brought to the board for deliberation. 3.3 These figures illustrate the current position for linear 4.0 Analysis Both successful and unsuccessful leaders focus on building employee support for change. However, unsuccessful leaders do not focus on improving organizational performance in general, while successful leaders do. Successful leaders are able to motivate, to energise and to empower others. When acting as a coach or a counselor, leaders are providing direction, knowledge, training, skills, resources, support and a listening and caring ear, all of which are necessary for successful task completion. In these roles leaders can directly assist subordinates to take on, successfully complete and master, new and complex tasks. Successful leaders spend their time more effectively. Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. People can learn leadership skills. Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. E motional competence has been shown to be twice as important as cognitive abilities for star performers in all jobs, in every fielded determines ones potential, thus, Intuition plays a key role in assessment. Research has provided clear evidence that emotionally intelligent leaders are more successful. Daniel Goleman, author of the best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, estimated that 90% of the difference between a good leader and an excellent leader. In hard times, the soft stuff often goes left. But emotional cleverness, in hard times, the soft stuff often goes away. But emotional cleverness, it turns out, isnt so soft. If emotional obliviousness jeopardizes your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be sympathetic in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career. Emotional intelligence isnt a luxury you can do without in tough times. Its a basic instrument that, deployed with elegance, is the key in to professional success. Leadership plays on important port in the success of any organization. In the absence of effective leadership no organization can work efficiently an organization is created with the purpose of achieving certain objectives through a human group, it becomes essential to control this human group. According to Peter F. Drucker, A business leader is the basic and not easily available source of a business enterprise The chief factor in the failure cf many business enterprises has been inefficient leadership Konntz and ODonnell have clarified the Importance of leadership In the following diagram: : 5.0 Conclusion The main ingredient of good leadership is good character. This is because leadership involves conduct and conduct is determined by values. good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are not resting on their laurels. Good leaders lead from the front. They take the initiative to go first. On the other hand unsuccessful leaders see new initiatives as a burden, rarely volunteer, and fear being overwhelmed, they reject suggestions from subordinates and peers, they make decisions that colleagues and subordinates consider to be not in the organizations best interests. They set standards of behavior or expectations of performance and then violate them. The primary reason people leave a job is relationship based. One of the key factors is the quality of the relationship between the employee and her/his supervisor/manager. As leadership Richard Leider says, People dont leave companies they leave leaders. In Working with Emotional Intelligence, D aniel Goleman reported that 80-90% of the competencies that differentiate top performers are in the domain of emotional intelligence. Executives who fail to build up self-awareness risk falling into an emotionally deadening routine that threatens their true selves. Certainly a reluctance to discover your internal landscape not only weakens your own motivation but can also corrode your ability to motivate others. In other words, emotional intelligence has a profound impact on productivity and individual success. Emotional competence is the single most important personal quality that each of us must develop and access to experience a breakthrough. By reviewing the companys management and Board of Management and their responsibilities and powers showed that the executive director make individual decisions and he never not go back to the board for further consultation and discussion. The individual decisions are not good for the company successful unlike the group decisions which can help the company performance. 6.0 Recommendations In order for business leaders to be successful in todays business climate, they must develop Emotional Quotient skills to overcome barriers. Professionals must forget their old habits and develop new ones. Learn the ability to monitor their own and others feelings and emotions. Develop empathy by becoming more skillful at reading emotions from the faces of people they interact with. They should build and leverage rewarding relationships with others. They should able to set and achieve personal and professional goals in a manner that is compatible with what is truly best for them and others, able to get the most out of others. Focus on the task to be accomplished rather than on their negative emotions, such as disappointment or fear, and see the possibilities within the task. View every experience as a positive opportunity for growth. Avoid taking on too much work If you are a leader and need to make sure that everything is done right, then you need to learn to let go. Yes, you now have more responsibility and yes, the consequences are greater if things go wrong but the job of leader is not to do even more work than before. Your job is to manage resources effectively to meet the goals set by your own boss. This means getting your workers to do the work, not you. Trust in your workers and make everything transparent so that it is clear that they own their own problems and are responsible for their own mistakes. And finally conclude with the words of books Jerstner The change tendencies of thousands of people and their behavior is very difficult, you cannot simply take a series of speeches or write a new doctrine of the company and announced that a new culture has replaced the old culture, as you cannot be imposed or engineered, and the only thing that you can do is to create appropriate conditions for the transitio n, and the provision of incentives).

Provider of Online Academic Tutorials :: Business Plan

Section 1 Executive Summary: As the title suggests, this business is about providing tutorials to pupils and/ or students on any subject given in a course curricula. The key to operating the business is a customized server where client pupils/ students key in their questions/ assignments and sent out; and the server in turn, provides the answers/ solutions in interactive mode. The server is a storage bin and at the same time an â€Å"information refinery† where all school books and teacher lesson plans are put to order. The money part of this business is in subscription fees. The fees will vary from one tutorial program to another and on the need and time service of an online tutor. Section 2 Business Description: Mission Statement: â€Å" To be the best providers of Online Academic Tutorials† As students, we have been through all the struggles of having to manage time. We students do not only devote ourselves into our academics. We have other certain things to do like e.g. Extracurricular Activities, Leisure Time and etc. In fact, most students nowadays get so stressed out that they are not able to perform to their utmost capacity so we have thought of creating an Online Academic Tutorial. This would not occupy much of the student’s time since it enables students to focus on their vital topics/ areas they are concerned about and it would actually result in to making them more efficient and productive rather than studying the entire scope of the topic, which are advocated in tutorial centers. Proposed Legal Form; Partnership of three people for a start and as subscriber base reaches a critical mass will convert into a corporation. Our entry strategy will be person-to-person solicitation of accounts/ subscribers/ advertisers tie up with schools for group discount rates and as for product research and development, we will develop a product niche in so- called exact Sciences; Physics, Mathematics, Algebra, Calculus and Geometry. Section 3 Marketing Analysis: The trade of education services; Philippine education has been the object of several studies over the past decades. Most of these studies were focused on issues concerning access and equity, quality and excellence, relevance and responsiveness, financing, and governance.

Two-Way Monologues An examination of Keneally?s The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith through Friel?s Translations :: essays research papers

Two-Way Monologues An examination of Keneally’s The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith through Friel’s Translations If medium is the message, as suggested by Marshall McLuhan, much can be said about the difference between a novel and a play. As he explains, the medium is an extension of human facility, â€Å"The wheel...is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye... Clothing, an extension of the skin...† (McLuhan). Thomas Keneally’s novel The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith explains this phenomenon as Jimmy’s chant. It is not only what drives Jimmy, but it is a manifestation of proven and perceived social malfunctions. This chant is an extension of Jimmy, and it is therefore his message. Where Keneally is able to flesh out a complex main character with intense actions and conflicting inner monologues in his novel, Brian Friel is restricted to the format of a play in Translations. Using this medium, Friel must elaborate different emotions through different characters, many of whom have attributes similar to Jimmy Blacksmith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At their core, both stories are fictionalized accounts of true events. British imperialism is the similar theme in each, and both elaborate on the destruction of society and the reaction of the indigenous peoples. Translations illustrates the attempted dissolution of the Irish culture by British solders. Map makers are sent to survey and re-inscribe the entire island of Ireland. This is clearly an attempt at revising history, and erasure of the Irish’s sense of the past. In this case, the existence of culture acts as the medium, and is an extension of their way of life. More specifically names of towns on the maps are quickly being translated from Irish to English, effectively changing both the medium, and the message. This cultural genocide is something that is comparable to the human genocide that prefaced The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After a large percentage of aboriginal tribes were destroyed by the British in Australia, the remaining natives were subject to horrible treatment; effectively killing their spirit and their history. The result of these actions are reflected upon Jimmy Blacksmith. He is pulled between different factions, but is truly guided by an ominous and treacherous voice. Keneally is able to develop an extremely complex character within the breadth of the novel, where as Friel had to work within the limits of writing a play. He is unable to express deep narration or inner monologues within the confines of a stage, so his solution is to represent different perspectives through naturally one sided characters.

California State Law Essay

What Bidders Edge did may be considered as an innovation in the emerging electronic commerce industry. Linking as what was specified in the article made thinks easier for bigger websites such as e-bay to be viewed in by a lot people. Summing up the intention of Bidders Edge, we could conclude that what the company did is to provide the buyer’s the best price possible for anything that they want to buy. In the process, Bidder’s Edge would obtain choices from various auction sites which consequently included e-bay. I believe that this one mattered to e-bay not entirely on the sense that Bidders Edge would trespass per se on e-bay servers but the latter would serve as a threat for e-bay in the future. Simply put, traditional trespass involves the manipulation, distribution, or access of private data or property without the approval of its owner. In this particular case, e-bay is a public domain with open access to everyone who has internet access. On the other hand, personal property means that anything that is movable as distinguished from real estate. In the case of e-bay and Bidders Edge, the latter did request fro legal access but was denied by the former. One thing where Bidders Edge made a wrong move was when they created proxy users in order to access e-bay servers thereby giving in legal grounds for e-bay to file a lawsuit under the provisions of California state laws on intellectual property infringements against Bidders Edge. Under California state laws, â€Å"Various things can be copyrighted: literature, drama, music, sound recordings, computer software, advertising copy, motion pictures, choreography, pantomimes, and architectural works†(Witkin, Witkin Legal Institute., & West Group., 2005). This gives e-bay the basis to file suit against anyone who intends unauthorized use of their servers. This is in contrast with the usual textbook definition that trespass to personal property may be altered if the medium may be proven as a public domain. Reference: Witkin, B. E., Witkin Legal Institute., & West Group. (2005). Summary of California law (10th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Witkin Legal Institute.      

Studies of Religion One Unit Hsc – Secularism Speech

What is secularism? Secularism is the belief that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. Oxford dictionary defines â€Å"secular† as â€Å"concerned with the affairs of the world, not religious or spiritual† so in this sense all civil government is â€Å"secular†. The only civil governments that are not fully secular in this sense are Vatican City and some fundamentalist Moslem states. The governments of all the major countries in the world – including Australia, the USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Italy, India, etc are all secular governments.There are multiple factors which have contributed to the decline of religion's relevance for the integration and legitimation of modern life. The increasing pluralism and materialism of society alongside society's increasing individualism and dissatisfaction with traditional religions are major reasons for secularisation. This trend is most evident in the significan t increase in the number of people responding â€Å"No religion† in the census alongside an overall decline in the Christian figures recorded in the census Interfaith Dialogue and growing secularism.Since World War II, Australia’s population has grown and become more diverse and Australians have become more secular in nature. Secularists believe that people are comfortable without the reference to God in their lives. There are a number of reasons for the increase in secularism in Australia; these include increasing pluralism i. e. the acceptance of all religions as equal; individualism and materialism – spirituality may be overlooked when power, looks, possessions and fame are offered instead. What Impact did Secularism have on the Religious landscape of Australia post 1945?The rise of secularism has led to both a drop in the numbers of people regularly attending religious service. In 1947 only 0. 3% of the population classified themselves as having â€Å"No Re ligion†. However, in 1971 the instruction â€Å"if no religion, write none† was introduced into the census. This saw a seven-fold increase from the previous census year in the percentage of persons stating they had no religion (0. 8% in 1966 to 6. 7% in 1971). Thus many people who would have previously fallen under the â€Å"Not Stated† category were now included. Since 1971 this percentage has progressively increased to about 16. 5% in 1996, with a dip to 15. % in 2001. The 2001 census figures reveal that Christianity is still the numerically largest religious tradition in Australia accounting for 68. 0% of the population. However, there has been a significant decline in the percentage of people affiliated with Christianity. Furthermore, of those claiming affiliation there has been a decline in the regular attendance of religious services. The ongoing decline in most Christian groups as a percentage of the population is due to increasing secularization as well a s other factors such as dissatisfaction with traditional religious movements, aging membership, and a lack of migrant intake.Effects of secularism †¢Loss of religious values. †¢Lack of religious church practice – civil marriages, non religious funerals, shopping malls (the new cathedrals) †¢Seeking alternative â€Å"religions† or â€Å"forms of spirituality†. †¢Social standing of clergy/church – trustworthiness †¢Political social action – Marxism, Green Movement etc. †¢Influence of scientific humanism, economic rationalism †¢Rise of New Age Religions which focus on personal satisfaction, wealth, self help groups, happiness, mind and spirit exhibitions, personal meditation, affirmation environmental â€Å"sit – ins†. These have all attained quasi religious status.

Religion Essay

He was the Lord of Hosts and the god of battle. B) He was believed to inspire battle ecstasy in some warriors; called Berserks who would fight welcomed into the Paradise of Valhalla those who died in battle. 9. Odin was often depicted as a Middle aged man with long curly hair and a beard. He was attended by two ravens, Hug in (though) and man in (memory). Which he sent out into the world every day to gather information for him. 10. Odin crucified himself on the world tree in a mysterious ritual of sacrificing himself to himself to advance his quest for sacred knowledge. For nine days and nights he hung, pierced by a spear, until magical ‘runes’ (mystical symbols) appeared before him. 11. Thor the god of thunder, lightning and storms, was Odin’s eldest brother, his mother was the earth. 12. This hammer was made for him by the Dwarves, and would magically he turn to his hand whenever he needed it. 13. Thor the of thunder, lighting and storms was Odin eldest brother and his mother was the earth. Thor was supernaturally strong and renowned for his huge appertite. He drove about the heavens in cart pulled by his two fierce billy gods. Tooth Cnasher and tooth Grinder. 14. Loki helped the giants trick the thunder god. * Loki the trickster god was notorious among the deities. * He was the foster- brother of Odin, and the one who gave the fishing net to the Nordic people. * He was actually a giant who had been adopted into the Aesir because of his lively wit. 15. Capable of both good and evil Loki was an ambiguous figure who later came to be linked with Christian images of the devil. 16. Bader, a son of Odin and Frigg was the god of light. Balder was the most beautiful and gracious of the Aesir in Asgard. His mother extracted oaths from all things in nature not a harm her son. Horde and aimed it for him at balder who was killed by it. The gods grieved inconsolably over his death. 17. Freyr ( twin brother of Freya, and originally once of the vanir) * Njord was the god of the sea and father of the twins Freyr and Freya. * Tyr (aka Tiwaz) was the sword god, the hideous Fenris wolf bit Try’s arm off as Fenris was bound for the third time. * Helmdall, the god of the rising down, stood guard at the Asgard end the Bifrost Bridge and carried Gjallar, the mighty war horn. 18. Female deities featured quite strongly in Nordic religion and were seen to be as sashed and powerful as the male gods. 19. Frijj, Odin’s wife and Queen of the deities, was goddess of lone and death. 20. Freya the most renowned of the god desses ‘was twin sister of Freyr, she lame to be worshipped in a variety of fields, from warfare to lone of fairs, beauty, soothsaying (prophecy or truth telling). Freya lived (ever greedy for knowledge); she taught him the shamanistic (spiritual) magic known as seider. In return, she received half of all the warriors slain in battle and brought to Asgard. 21. The Valkyries, foster- daughters of Odin, were supernatural women who lived in Valhalla where they were cupbearers to the shades (spirits) of dead warriors. Valkyries were copse goddesses, unromantically represented by the raven. Contrary to popular depiction they did not ride winged horses. Often in a troop of nine, they rode fierce wolves into battle and allocated victory and defeat to the combatants. 22. The rode fierce wolves into battle and allocated victory and defeat to the combat ants. Those who died in battle were taken by the Valkyries to Valhalla, the golden feasting hall of the gods in Asgard. 3. The Norns were the three Fates, three terrible sisters named. Urd (Fate), verdanda (Being), and skuld (Necessity) originally from the land of the giants the norns spun the threads of life that allocated each individual’s destiny. 24. They wore the threads that shaped the lives not only of numars but also of the gods themselves. For that reason, the norns were often regarde d as more powerful than the deities, some traditions say that the two eldest Norns (Urd, the Fate of the past, and verdanda, the Fate of the present). 25. The Norns also tended to Yggdrasil, the word tree, and kept it healthy. Every day they drew pure water from the spring of Fate, whitened it with clay and poured the mixture over the tree so that the water fell down to earth as fresh life giving dew. In this way, they preserved the always nibbling at Yggdrasil buds and new leaf shoots, the Norns kept the tree green and growing. 26. Hela was the Queen of the dead. She lived in the underworld of Niflheim, the northern land of ice and darkness, all who died from sickness or old age passed into Hela’s world. The giants were older than the gods, and know so much more about the past that the gods had to go to them for wisdom. The Norns of underlying implication that even the gods themselves would come to an end in time is a continual haunting theme throughout the stories of Nordic mythology. 28. Mimir (memory) a very old and very wise giant who was keeper of the spring of wisdom. * Vafthrudner was called the all wise among the giants in Jotunheim. * Hrimthurs, was the rock giant who but Asgard fortifications sart, was the southern land of prim evil fine which devoured all the world all the world at the end of time. 9. The Nordic mythology is threads that shaped the lives not only of numans but also of the gods themselves. The Norns after regarded as more powerful than the deities. The gods were not permitted to see their life threads, suggested that they were subject to a fate beyond their divine control. The Norn who fixed the length of the thread of life by some accounts, unravelled what he sister had made. The Norns also tended to Yggdrasil, the world tree, and kept it healthy.