Aristotle s Symposium The Nicomachean Ethics - 1934 Words

720532457 The Symposium verses The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (Ethics) is regarded as one of the, if not the greatest work concerning ethics in history. The word ethics derives from the Greek word ethos, which translates more properly as â€Å"character†, and it would seem that Aristotle’s concern in The Ethics, is what constitutes good character, and that goodness is of practical use; that merely knowing how to be a way is only half of what’s necessary, and that the known must be practiced. A related treatise, The Politics, is often regarded as the sequel to The Ethics, in part because Aristotle closes The Ethics by saying that his ethical inquiry has arranged the foundation for an inquiry into political questions. (Reeve. Page 194.) As such, Aristotle regarded ethics and politics as two separate but related fields, giving way to the idea that ethics surveys the good of the individual, while politics examines the good of the city-state (polis), but also that the good of the individual is secondary to the good of the city-state. Friendship Aristotle devotes two of the ten books of The Ethics to discussing friendship and its forms. Happiness, according to Aristotle, is a public affair, so with whom this happiness is shared is of great importance, and the suggestion that true happiness can be found in the life of a loner is absurd. In books VIII and IX of The Ethics Aristotle says that friendship (philia) itself is a virtue, and is not only important forShow MoreRelatedAristotle s Theory Of Virtue1493 Words   |  6 PagesAristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is a reflection as to what virtue is. Aristotle’s definition of virtue can be described as the as the â€Å"state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and by that reason by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it† (Nicomachean Ethics, 31). In addition to that, Aristotle illustrates two types of virtue that stem from his primary idea; moral and intellectual virtue. Aristotle expounds moral virtue

Bioterrorism Biological Warfare and Public Health Nursing Free Essays

What is bioterrorism and how might you prepare for its effects? Bioterrorism uses pathogenic biological agents, such as biological warfare agents, which are colorless, and odorless derived from microorganisms that can be spread in the air as aerosols or placed into food or drink to infect as many people as possible. The agents are concealed easily and said to be difficult to detect. Terrorists tend to attack major cities or densely crowded areas, and government buildings (Nicolson, 2001). We will write a custom essay sample on Bioterrorism: Biological Warfare and Public Health Nursing or any similar topic only for you Order Now One such agent that was used as early as 1520 by Cortez as an assault on the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitilan in Mexico was the smallpox virus. The American Government used this weapon during the wars with the Native Americans. The United States has eradicated the disease with vaccines over the many years (Graber, 2010). The latest known agent that imploded on the communities was the Anthrax virus, which was known to be in affect since 2001. Some people would actually take the agent and put it in boxes, envelopes, etc. and send it in the mail to affect others with the disease. Nurses can help to be ready in different situations, by not only knowing about early warning signals of diseases, but to know how to deal with the terrorist attacks. Healthcare workers can review disaster plans in the workplace, be available as a first responder, review the evacuation plan, and help others to deal with the events that are taking place (Stanhope Lancaster, 2008). Nurses need the understanding of disaster plans in their workplace and community and review these plans every 6 months for changes and updates. Planning for future outbreaks of disease is always a good idea, as we can never know when a disaster may strike. References: Graber, M. (2010). Terrorism Updates. Retrieved from http://www. emedmag. com. Nicolson, G. (2001). Bioterrorism. Retrieved from http://www. immed. org. Stanhope, M. , Lancaster, J. (2008). Public Health Nursing: Population Centered Health Care in the Community (7th ed. ). St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc. How to cite Bioterrorism: Biological Warfare and Public Health Nursing, Papers

What Are Cultural Factors That Promote Caribbean Integration free essay sample

Specialised knowledge of how a product works creates jobs in areas such as information technology (IT) support. multiculturalism the official Australian Government policy of encouraging immigration from diverse, ethnic backgrounds. It also refers to the promotion and encouragement of the retention of ethnic languages and cultures within Australian society. popular culture considered to be more mainstream than ‘high culture’. It is associated with ‘lighter’ forms of entertainment such as sporting events, television programs, comic strips and rock concerts. ationalisation to eliminate what is considered unnecessary, in order to make it more efficient. secular a term meaning ‘non-religious’. sovereignty the supreme and unrestricted power to govern a state. transnational corporations (TNCs) large international companies whose operations take place in both developed and less developed countries; their headquarters are usually located in developed cou ntries. World Bank an international organisation made up of three United Nations (UN) agencies. It provides less developed countries (LDCs) with technical assistance and reconstruction and development finance. Glossary of selected terms deregulation removing government controls and supervision. economic restructuring the significant and enduring changes in the nature and structure of the economy brought about, primarily, by the emergence of the global economy. globalisation the integration of the world’s economy through the mass consumption of mainly Western culture, technology and trade. Globalisation affects economic, political, social, cultural and environmental decision-making. global village a term used to describe how the world appears to be getting smaller through the accessibility of technology—especially technologies that facilitate the transfer of information. Thus, the actions that occur in one corner of the globe can rapidly and significantly affect people elsewhere. high culture incorporates elements of lasting value such as art, literature, theatre, ballet, opera and classical music. Some critics consider its content to be ‘high brow’ or ‘intellectual’ when compared with ‘popular culture’. homogenised a term used to describe when one culture becomes similar to another. intellectual capital using ideas, knowledge or inventions as a means of gaining material wealth through a business What is globalisation? No culture is static. Ideas, technologies, products, and people move from one place to another. When cultures come into contact through migration, trade, or the latest telecommunications devices, they influence each other. Sometimes cultures cross-pollinate, exchange foods, music, sports. At other times, say critics of globalisation, a culture swamps another like an invasive, fast-reproducing weed. Cultures have evolved in response to contact for thousands of years. But the pace has changed. In the past the influences of distant cultures came slowly, delayed by long journeys. Today, because of the telephone, the television, the Internet, telecommunications satellites, world trade, and long-distance travel, cultural influences can spread across the planet as fast as the click of a mouse. It is what happens when you finally get a new job in Brisbane under a new employment contract that lowers your wages and conditions and your boss explains that this is essential to compete with Mexican, or Indonesian, or Chinese, workers. It is what happens when your sister is sacked from her hospital job because of budget cuts by a State Government that defends its actions by saying it must meet the demands of international creditrating agencies for balanced budgets and lower taxes. And it is what happens when you get skin cancer because of the hole in the ozone layer created by chemicals released by refrigerators and aerosol cans all over the world. But globalisation is also what happens when you use the computer at your local library to connect to the Internet and find pages of information from unions and community organisations in England, Mexico or Indonesia, which are trying to link up with workers around the world to stop the driving down of wages and the repression of trade-union activists. Globalisation is what happens when young London musicians of English, Caribbean and Indian desent begin to create new crossrhythms of black reggae, white trance and Hindi rap †¦ And globalisation is also what happens when a child sees photographs of this planet taken from space and realises that the Earth is indeed finite. John Wiseman, Global Nation? Australia and the Politics of Globalisation, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 13–14 Defining cultural integration Cultural integration is difficult to define because it is made up of many concepts. The idea of a multicultural society reflects cultural integration at work; so too does the idea of the ‘global village’, where, through technology and trade, a seemingly borderless world is created. Cultural integration also concerns the adoption of a mass consumer culture where everything from fashion to sport, music to television, becomes integrated into the national culture, often without challenge. While this may be seen by some as a positive step towards unifying the world, to others, cultural integration is seen as a threat to national sovereignty and cultural diversity. Geographically, where a person lives in the world often determines what part, if any, he or she can play in this globalisation process. What is culture? Even experts struggle to define the word ‘culture’. In a very general sense it can be defined as the ‘way of life’ of a group of people. More specifically culture can be described as the elements of human existence that are passed down from one generation to the next, the product of humanity’s collective intellect and memory. These elements include the traditions, customs, languages, belief systems, art, architecture, music, ood and institutions shared by a particular group of people. It includes the material goods the group creates and uses, and the skills it has developed.

Lord Alfred Tennyson + Break Break Break Essay Example

Lord Alfred Tennyson + Break Break Break Paper Alfred Tennyson was born on August the 6th 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire. Alfred was the forth out of twelve children of George and Elizabeth Tennyson. Alfred’s father, George Clayton Tennyson suffered from depression and was absentminded. In the late twenties Alfred’s father’s physical and mental condition worsened as he became paranoid, abusive and violent. Tennyson escaped the troubled atmosphere of home when he followed his two brothers to Trinity College in 1827. He joined the literary club ‘The Apostles’ and met Arthur Hallam. Alfred Tennyson became very good friends with Arthur Henry Hallam. Arthur Hallam and Alfred Tennyson were friends for four years; their close relationship had an impact and influence on Tennyson’s poetry. Hallam later on med Emily Tennyson and the two friends looked forward to a life-long companionship. Hallam’s death from illness in 1833 shocked Tennyson profoundly. Tennyson wrote many poems about his grief and deepest feelings of his dear lost friend. Tennyson suffered from extreme short-sightedness. He had considerable difficulty writing and reading. Tennyson composed much of his poetry in his head, occasionally working on individual poems for many years. Long lived like most of his family, Alfred Lord Tennyson died on October 6, 1892, at the age of 83. The two poems that I will be talking about today will be Break, Break, Break and Ulysses. â€Å"Break, Break, Break† is a lyrical poem which centers on Tennyson’s grief over the death of his closest friend Arthur Hallam. Throughout the poem Tennyson grieves for his loss of his friend. Nature does not stop to mourn for the loss of anyone. Cold and unchangeable, it continues its relentless cycle. The waves of the ocean breaking against the rocks along the seashore never pausing even for a moment. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Alfred Tennyson + Break Break Break specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Alfred Tennyson + Break Break Break specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Alfred Tennyson + Break Break Break specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Such a major impact towards Tennyson’s world, he would expect everything that the world would end in a kind of way. But the world still carries on; as the fisherman’s boy is happily playing with his sister; the sailor is merrily singing and the ship is busily plying the waters of commerce. â€Å"Oh for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still† tells us of Tennyson yearning to touch the hand of his friend Arthur Hallam once more and to hear the sound of his voice. Tennyson has incorporated many themes into Break, Break, Break. The main theme is bereavement, heartache and emptiness. Tennyson talks of how the sun rises, children laughing and the world continuing on as if nothing has happened, going on as usual. While Tennyson is in his darkest hour of grief feeling bereaved of his closest friend. How could the world be so unfeeling? Another theme conveyed in the poem would be the indifference of nature. Nature continues its functions and cycles regardless of what is happening to human beings. Tennyson grieves over his best friend and the world is still cold and indifferent not caring in anyway. http://www. usp. nus. edu. sg/victorian/authors/tennyson/kincaid/ch3a. html

The Crucible Essays (826 words) - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible

The Crucible Essays (826 words) - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible The Crucible The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The church, legal system and the togetherness of the community died so that children could protect their families' social status. Being isolated from any other group of people with different beliefs created a church led Puritan society that was not able to accept a lot of change. The church was against the devil, at the same time it was against such things as dancing and other premature acts. The reputation of the family was very important to the members of the community. When the girls were caught dancing in the woods, they lied to protect not just themselves but the reputation of their families. They claimed that the devil took them over and influenced them to dance. The girls also said that they saw members of the town standing with the devil. A community living in a puritan society like Salem could easily go into a chaotic state and have a difficult time dealing with what they consider to be the largest form of evil. Salem's hysteria made the community lose faith in the spiritual beliefs that they were trying to strictly enforce. The church lost many of its parishioners because the interest of the town was now on Abigail because people wanted to know who was going to be named next. When the church was trying to excommunicate John Proctor, there were not enough people at church to do it. The people were getting misled so far as to leave a dagger stuck in the door of their minister's house: "Tonight, when I open my door to leave my housea dagger clattered to the ground...There is danger for me."(128) were Parris' exact words. With the conveyer of God fearing for his life there was no longer anyone but Abigail to lead the community. The justice system is designed to protect the people that it serves but during the trials the accused witch had two choices, death or imprisonment. The punishment of death was given to all people that pleaded not guilty; the other punishment was to plead guilty and go to jail. John Proctor gave his view of the justice system when he said "I like not the smell of this 'authority' "(29). "And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?"(85) said Danforth, describing the number of people that were in jail on charges of witchcraft. There were so many people executed that Hale commented "there are orphans wandering from house to house; abandoned cattle bellow on the highroads, the stink of rotting crops hangs everywhere..."(130) Salem was turning into a ghost town. With Abigail controlling the community, the church no longer getting the whole town to prayer, and an unjust legal system, it is natural that the people were in a state of total chaos. The unexplained was caused by the devil, so some members of Salem used the unexplained to their advantage. Mrs. Putnam told the truth when she said, "There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!"(26) Mrs. Putnam did her share of spreading rumors after she heard that the girls were flying, so she asked Parris "How high did she (Abigail) fly, how high?"(11). These rumors happened because people did not want any blame put on to themselves. This 'passing the buck' made people start fighting with one another such as Corey charging Putnam of having his daughter accuse a resident of witchcraft in order to get Corey's land. Abigail used her power of getting people to listen to her to her advantage when she charged Proctor's spouse with being a witch so Abigail could live with John. This again proves that Abigail had control of the

An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology, also known as sociocultural anthropology, is the study of cultures around the world. It is one of four subfields of the academic discipline of anthropology. While anthropology is the study of human diversity, cultural anthropology focuses on cultural systems, beliefs, practices, and expressions. Did You Know? Cultural anthropology is one of the four subfields of anthropology. The other subfields are archaeology, physical (or biological) anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. Areas of Study and Research Questions Cultural anthropologists use anthropological theories and methods to study culture. They study a wide variety of topics, including identity, religion, kinship, art, race, gender, class, immigration, diaspora, sexuality, globalization, social movements, and many more. Regardless of their specific topic of study, however, cultural anthropologists focus on patterns and systems of belief, social organization, and cultural practice. Some of the research questions considered by cultural anthropologists include: How do different cultures understand universal aspects of the human experience, and how are these understandings expressed?How do understandings of gender, race, sexuality, and disability vary across cultural groups?What cultural phenomena emerge when different groups come into contact, such as through migration and globalization?How do systems of kinship and family vary among different cultures?How do various groups distinguish between taboo practices and mainstream norms?How do different cultures use ritual to mark transitions and life stages? History and Key Figures Cultural anthropology’s roots date back to the 1800s, when early scholars like Lewis Henry Morgan and Edward Tylor became interested in the comparative study of cultural systems. This generation drew on the theories of Charles Darwin, attempting to apply his concept of evolution to human culture. They were later dismissed as so-called â€Å"armchair anthropologists,† since they based their ideas on data collected by others and did not personally engage first-hand with the groups they claimed to study. These ideas were later refuted by Franz Boas, who is widely hailed as the father of anthropology in the U.S. Boas strongly denounced the armchair anthropologists’ belief in cultural evolution, arguing instead that all cultures had to be considered on their own terms and not as part of a progress model. An expert in the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest, where he participated in expeditions, he taught what would become the first generation of American anthropologists as a professor at Columbia University. His students included Margaret Mead, Alfred Kroeber, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ruth Benedict. Boas’ influence continues in cultural anthropology’s focus on race and, more broadly, identity as forces that are social constructed and not biologically based. Boas fought staunchly against the ideas of scientific racism that were popular in his day, such as phrenology and eugenics. Instead, he attributed differences between racial and ethnic groups to social factors. After Boas, anthropology departments became the norm in U.S. colleges and universities, and cultural anthropology was a central aspect of study. Students of Boas went on to establish anthropology departments across the country, including Melville Herskovits, who launched the program at Northwestern University, and Alfred Kroeber, the first professor of anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. Margaret Mead went on to become internationally famous, both as an anthropologist and scholar. The field grew in popularity in the U.S. and elsewhere, giving way to new generations of highly influential anthropologists like Claude Là ©vi-Strauss and Clifford Geertz. Together, these early leaders in cultural anthropology helped solidify a discipline focused explicitly on the comparative study of world cultures. Their work was animated by a commitment to true understanding of different systems of beliefs, practice, and social organization. As a field of scholarship, anthropology was committed to the concept of cultural relativism, which held that all cultures were fundamentally equal and simply needed to be analyzed according to their own norms and values. The main professional organization for cultural anthropologists in North America is the Society for Cultural Anthropology, which publishes the journal Cultural Anthropology. Methods Ethnographic research, also known as ethnography, is the primary method used by cultural anthropologists.  The hallmark component of ethnography is participant observation, an approach often attributed to Bronislaw Malinowski. Malinowski was one of the most influential early anthropologists, and he pre-dated Boas and the early American anthropologists of the 20th century. For Malinowski, the anthropologist’s task is to focus on the details of everyday life. This necessitated living within the community being studied- known as the fieldsite- and fully immersing oneself in the local context, culture, and practices. According to Malinowski, the anthropologist gains data by both participating and observing, hence the term participant observation. Malinowski formulated this methodology during his early research in the Trobriand Islands and continued to develop and implement it throughout his career. The methods were subsequently adopted by Boas and, later, Boas’ students. This methodology became one of the defining characteristics of contemporary cultural anthropology. Contemporary Issues in Cultural Anthropology While the traditional image of cultural anthropologists involves researchers studying remote communities in faraway lands, the reality is far more varied. Cultural anthropologists in the twenty-first century conduct research in all types of settings, and can potentially work anywhere that humans live. Some even specialize in digital (or online) worlds, adapting ethnographic methods for today’s virtual domains. Anthropologists conduct fieldwork all around the world, some even in their home countries. Many cultural anthropologists remain committed to the discipline’s history of examining power, inequality, and social organization. Contemporary research topics include the influence of historical patterns of migration and colonialism on cultural expression (e.g. art or music) and the role of art in challenging the status quo and effecting social change. Where Do Cultural Anthropologists Work? Cultural anthropologists are trained to examine patterns in daily life, which is a useful skill in a wide range of professions. Accordingly, cultural anthropologists work in a variety of fields. Some are researchers and professors in universities, whether in anthropology departments or other disciplines like ethnic studies, women’s studies, disability studies, or social work. Others work in technology companies, where there is an increasing demand for experts in the field of user experience research. Additional common possibilities for anthropologists include nonprofits, market research, consulting, or government jobs. With broad training in qualitative methods and data analysis, cultural anthropologists bring a unique and diverse skill set to a variety of fields. Sources McGranahan, Carol. On Training Anthropologists Rather Than Professors Dialogs, Cultural Anthropology website, 2018.Social and Cultural Anthropology Discover Anthropology UK, The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2018.What is Anthropology? American Anthropological Association, 2018.

Ethics of Solar Laboratory,Hydro Power Laboratory and Wind Power Assignment

Ethics of Solar Laboratory,Hydro Power Laboratory and Wind Power Laboratory - Assignment Example In this regard, the general public and other concerned stakeholders are on a high alert on issues ascribed to ethic on the energy production sector. This discussion will focus on the three forms of energy generation, basically explicating ethical considerations on their production. In as much as there are few ethical issues raised in the field of solar energy production, one of the most evident ethical concerns in this field since the early 1990’s is the cost of production. According to the National Academy of Engineering, production of solar energy is relatively higher, especially when produced on a large scale (Durant, 2012). The high cost of production of this form of energy arises from the fact that the materials used to manufacture solar panels are quite expensive for instance: The National Academy of Engineering noted that most solar panels are manufactured using silicon as a photovoltaic material; silicon is quite expensive thus creating the need for another cheaper alternative photovoltaic material. In this regard, the Academy proposed a number of ways: The first strategy to lower the cost of solar energy generation is to use Cadmium Telluride as a photovoltaic material; this material is relatively cheaper than silicon (Durant, 2012). Moreover, the production of solar energy could also be made cheaper through encouraging mass production of solar energy. The other ethical issue ascribed to the production of solar energy is its impact of environment; environmentalists have asserted that solar energy is one of the best sources renewable energy owing to the fact that it does not pose any environmental threat that could affect nature and human life (Durant, 2012). Perhaps this is one of the reasons this kind of energy is currently gaining global recognition. There are various benefits associated with the use of wind power. One of these benefits is the fact that wind power is renewable and does not have significant negative impact on the

Economic Indicators in the Oil Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economic Indicators in the Oil Industry - Essay Example The six economic indicators selected are inflation rate, unemployment rate, real gross domestic product per capita, population growth rate, amount of housing & vehicles in comparison with population size, and consumer spending. Inflation is an indicator that determines the stability of an economic system. The desired state is to have a low inflation rate. A currency that is possibly the most stable monetary unit as far as having a historical low inflation is the U.S. dollar. On the flip side a high inflation is bad sign since it implies the customer is losing a lot of purchasing power over time. A high inflation could lead to disaster and an escalation to hyperinflation which is a chaotic economic state whose latest victim is the African nation of Zimbabwe (CultureGrams, 2007). The unemployment rate of country provides insight into how many potential customer there may be for a particular product. A person without employment has a limited budget thus can not spend much on consumer products. A low unemployment rate is a rate that hovers around five percent or below. The real gross domestic product of a nation per capita provides information about how much money each person in community represents for the economic system. The higher the better the economy, but this numeric figure must be compared against the cost of living of the inhabitants of the region. The population growth rate provides insight into how big a specific marketplace will become in the future. The population growth rate is low in China due to the 1979 one child per matrimony restriction, in other parts of the world such as Latin America the population growth rate high, for example the population of Mexico is expected to grow by a cumulative 50% by the year 2030 (Whitbeck, 1999). The last two economic indicators that will discuss are consumer consumption and the total housing and vehicle units in comparison with the population of

What Are the Key Problem Facing the Worlds in the 21 Century Essay Example for Free

What Are the Key Problem Facing the Worlds in the 21 Century Essay Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication, such as letters, email, or telephone calls. Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Humankind, through the ages, has undergone many changes from the time when people communicated only face-to-face to nowadays when a person has in use many types of communication means. Some people still prefer to use face-to-face communication despite many other sometimes more convenient ones such as phone, mail, e-mail and fax. I think to continue this essay it is essential to clarify what kind of conversation we are talking about. For example, if people are negotiating it is very important to have a face-to-face communication. It is very important to see during a negotiation how ones opponent is moving, is he nervous or relaxed, what he is doing, etc. Scientists say that the body language and facial gestures can say many thing about a person, his strong and weak sides, his traits, manners and even habits. To know what kind of man one is dealing with is very essential aspect in negotiation. Many managers prefer to have with the future employees face-to-face conversation. So, in this case they see how a person behaves. From the other side, if I need to notify my bank that I am going to close an account I do not want to spend my time driving there, waiting for my turn and talking with a representative. It is easier for me just to call or e-mail them. It saves my time and my banks too. To summarize, from my opinion all important issues better be discussed in face-to-face conversation. It will eliminate many farther misunderstandings and bring only benefits to both sides.

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Essay -- Radioactive

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Nuclear waste disposal is a political problem, not a technical problem.1 — Dr. Edward Teller Highly radioactive waste disposal has become one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear technology. As the amount of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors and high-level radioactive waste from defense-related processing plants has continued to mount, the issue has become increasingly contentious and politicized.2 The politicization of this issue is especially evident in the site selection process of a permanent national repository for the disposal of highly radioactive waste. Paradoxically, as the need for action has become more acute, the conflict generated by the politicization of the site selection process has delayed progress on the establishment of a permanent nuclear waste storage facility. As early as 1957, the National Academy of Sciences recommended the disposal of radioactive waste in deep underground rock as the best means of protecting public health and safety.3 However, it was not until 25 years later that the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 began the process of establishing a deep, underground permanent national storage repository for highly radioactive waste. The 1982 Act mandated that the Department of Energy (DOE) would study multiple sites in the West and select one to be ready to serve as the first national repository for highly radioactive waste by January 31, 1998.4 A second site in the East, where the majority of highly radioactive material is generated, would be designated later. The site selection process was slow and arduous due to opposition generated by states identified as potential hosts for a national radioactive... ...S Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, December 3, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-18.html], 5. 29 Mark Holt and Zachary Davis, "Nuclear Energy Policy," CRS Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, updated December 5, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-5.html], 7. 30 Will Nixon, "High Energy," E/The Environmental Magazine, [http://www.adams.ind.net/Environment.html], May/June 1995, 4. 31 Associated Press, "Court: U.S. must take nuclear waste by 1998," The Courier, July 24, 1996, A1. 32 See U.S. Congress (S. 1271), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record,104th Congress, 2d Session. Also see U.S. Congress (S. 1936), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record, 104th Congress, 2d Session. 33 See U.S. Congress (S. 104), â€Å"Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997,† Congressional Record, 105th Congress, 1st Session.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 33

To her surprise, Elena felt no anger, only a determination to protect Stefan if she could. And then she saw that in the cell she'd assumed was empty, there was a kitsune. The kitsune looked nothing like Shinichi or Misao. He had long, long hair as white as snow – but his face was young. He was wearing all white, too, tunic and breeches out of some flowing, silky material and his tail practically filled the small cell, it was so fluffy. He also had fox ears which twitched this way and that. His eyes were the gold of fireworks. He was gorgeous. The kitsune coughed again. Then he produced – from his long hair, Elena thought, a very, very small and thin-skinned leather bag. Like, Elena thought, the perfect bag for one perfect jewel. Now the kitsune took a pretend bottle of Black Magic (it was heavy and a pretend drink was delicious), and filled the little bag with it. Then he took a pretend syringe (he held it as Dr. Meggar had and tapped it to get the bubbles out) and filled it from the little bag. Finally, he stuck the pretend syringe through his own bars and depressed his thumb, emptying it. â€Å"I can feed you Black Magic wine,† Elena translated. â€Å"With his little pouch I can hold it and fill the syringe. Dr. Meggar could fill the syringe, too. But there's no time, so I'm going to do it.† â€Å"I – † began Stefan. â€Å"You are going to drink as fast as you can.† Elena loved Stefan, wanted to hear his voice, wanted to fill her eyes with him, but there was a life to be saved, and the life was his. She took the little pouch with a bow of thanks to the kitsune and left her cloak on the floor. She was too intent on Stefan to even remember how she was dressed. Her hands wanted to shake but she wouldn't let them. She had three bottles of Black Magic here: her own, in her cloak, Dr. Meggar's, and somewhere, in his cloak, Damon's. So with the delicate efficiency of a machine, she repeated what the kitsune had shown her over and over. Dip, pull up lever, push through bars, squirt. Over and over and over. After about a dozen of these Elena developed a new technique, the catapult. Filling the tiny bag with wine and holding it by the top until Stefan got his mouth positioned, and then, all in one motion, smashing the bag with her palm and squirting a fair amount straight into Stefan's mouth. It got the bars sticky, it got Stefan sticky; it would never have worked if the steel had been razor-sharp for him, but it actually forced a surprising amount down his throat. The other bottle of Black Magic wine she put in the kitsune's cell, which had regular bars. She didn't quite know how to thank him, but when she could spare a second, she turned to him and smiled. He was chugging the Black Magic straight from the bottle, and his face was set in an expression of cool, appreciative pleasure. The end came too quickly. Elena heard Sage's voice booming, â€Å"It is no fair! Elena will not be ready! Elena has not had enough time with him!† Elena didn't need an anvil dropped on her head. She shoved the last bottle of Black Magic wine into the kitsune's cell, she bowed for the last time and gave him back his tiny pouch – but with the canary diamond from her navel in it. It was the largest piece of jewelry she had left and she saw him turn it over precisely in long-nailed fingers and then rise to his feet and make a tiny bow to her. There was a moment for a mutual smile and then Elena was cleaning up Dr. Meggar's bag, and pulling on her red cloak. Then she was turning to Stefan, jelly inside once more, gasping: â€Å"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make it a medical visit.† â€Å"But you saw the chance to save my life and just couldn't pass it up.† Sometimes the brothers were very much alike. â€Å"Stefan, don't! Oh, I love you!† â€Å"Elena.† He kissed her fingers, pressed to the bars. Then, to the guards: â€Å"No, please, please, don't take her away! For pity's sake, give us one more minute! Just one!† But Elena had to let go of his fingers to hold her cloak together. The last she saw of Stefan, he was pounding on the bars with his fists and calling, â€Å"Elena, I love you! Elena!† Then Elena was dragged out of the hallway and a door shut between them. She sagged. Arms went around her, helped her to walk. Elena got angry! If Stefan was being put back in his old lice-ridden cell – as she supposed he was, right about now – he was being made to walk. And these demons did nothing gently, she knew that. He was probably being driven like an animal with sharp instruments of wood. Elena could walk, too. As they reached the front of the Shi no Shi lobby Elena looked around. â€Å"Where's Damon?† â€Å"In the coach,† Sage answered in his gentlest voice. â€Å"He needed some time.† Part of Elena said, â€Å"I'll give him time! Time to scream once before I rip his throat out!† But the rest of her was just sad. â€Å"I didn't get to say anything I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him how sorry Damon is; and how Damon's changed. He didn't even remember that Damon had been there – â€Å" â€Å"He talked to you?† Sage seemed astonished. The two of them, Sage and Elena, walked out of the final marble doors of the building of the Gods of Death. That was the name Elena had chosen for it in her own mind. The carriage was at the curb in front of them, but no one got in. Instead, Sage gently steered Elena a little distance from the others. There he put his large hands on her shoulders and spoke, still in that very soft voice, â€Å"Mon Dieu, my child, but I do not want to say this to you. It is that I must. I fear that even if we get your Stefan out of jail by the day of Lady Bloddeuwedd's party that – that it will be too late. In three days he will already be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Is that your medical opinion?† Elena said sharply, looking up at him. She knew her face was pinched and white and that he pitied her greatly, but what she wanted was an answer. â€Å"I am not a medical man,† he said slowly. â€Å"I am just another vampire.† â€Å"Just another Old One?† Sage's eyebrows went up. â€Å"Now, what gave you that little idea?† â€Å"Nothing. I'm sorry if I'm wrong. But will you please get Dr. Meggar?† Sage looked at her for a long minute more, then departed to get the doctor. Both men came back. Elena was ready for them. â€Å"Dr. Meggar, Sage only saw Stefan at the beginning, before you gave him that injection. It was Sage's opinion that Stefan would be dead in three days. Given the effects of the injection, do you agree?† Dr. Meggar peered at her and she could see the shine of tears in his short-sighted eyes. â€Å"It is – possible – just possible that if he has enough willpower, he could still be alive by then. But most likely†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Would it make any difference to your opinion if I said that he drank maybe a third of a bottle of Black Magic wine tonight?† Both men stared at her. â€Å"Are you saying – â€Å" â€Å"Is this just a plan you have now?† â€Å"Please!† Forgetting about her cape, forgetting everything, Elena grasped Dr. Meggar's hands. â€Å"I found a way to get him to drink about that much. Does it make a difference?† She squeezed the elderly hands until she could feel bone. â€Å"It certainly should.† Dr. Meggar looked bewildered and afraid to hope. â€Å"If you really got that much into his system, he would be almost certain to live until the night of Bloddeuwedd's party. That's what you want, isn't it?† Elena sank back, unable to resist giving his hands a little kiss as she let go. â€Å"And now let's go tell Damon the good news,† she said. In the carriage, Damon was sitting bolt upright, his profile outlined against a blood-red sky. Elena got in and shut the door behind her. With no expression at all, he said, â€Å"Is it over?† â€Å"Over?† Elena wasn't really this dense, but she figured it was important that Damon be clear in his own mind as to what he was asking. â€Å"Is he – dead?† Damon said wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Elena allowed the silence to go on for a few beats longer. Damon must know Stefan was not likely to actually die in the next half hour. Now that he wasn't getting instant confirmation of this his head snapped up. â€Å"Elena, tell me! What happened?† he demanded, urgency in his voice. â€Å"Is my brother dead?† â€Å"No,† Elena said quietly. â€Å"But he's likely to die in a few days. He was coherent this time, Damon. Why didn't you speak to him?† There was an almost palpable drawing-in on Damon's part. â€Å"What do I have to say to him that matters?† he asked harshly. â€Å"‘Oh, I'm sorry I almost killed you'? ‘Oh, I hope you make it another few days'?† â€Å"Things like that, maybe, if you lose the sarcasm.† â€Å"When I die,† Damon said cuttingly, â€Å"I'm going to be standing on my own two feet and fighting.† Elena slapped him across the mouth. There wasn't room to get much leverage here, but she put as much Power behind the motion as she dared without risking breaking the carriage. Afterward, there was a long silence. Damon was touching his bleeding lip, accelerating the healing, swallowing his own blood. Finally he said, â€Å"It never even occurred to you that you are my slave, did it? That I'm your master?† â€Å"If you're going to retreat into fantasy, that's your affair,† Elena said. â€Å"Myself, I have to deal with the real world. And, by the way, soon after you ran away, Stefan was not only standing but laughing.† â€Å"Elena† – on a quick rising note. â€Å"You found a way to give him blood?† He grasped her arm so hard it hurt. â€Å"Not blood. A little Black Magic. With two of us there, it would have gone twice as fast.† â€Å"There were three of you there.† â€Å"Sage and Dr. Meggar had to distract the guards.† Damon took his hand away. â€Å"I see,† he said, expressionlessly. â€Å"So I failed him yet again.† Elena looked at him with sympathy. â€Å"You're completely inside the stone ball now, aren't you?† â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"The stone ball you stick anything that might hurt you inside. You even draw yourself inside it, although it must be very cramped in there. Katherine must be in there, I suppose, walled off in her own little chamber.† She remembered the night at the hotel. â€Å"And your mother, of course. I should say, Stefan's mother. She was the mother you knew.† â€Å"Don't†¦my mother†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon couldn't even form a coherent sentence. Elena knew what he wanted. He wanted to be held and soothed and told it was all right – just the two of them, under her cloak with her warm arms holding him. But he wasn't going to get it. This time she was saying no. She had promised Stefan that this was for him, alone. And, she thought, she would keep to the spirit of that promise, if she hadn't kept to the letter, forever. As the week progressed, Elena was able to recover from the pain of seeing Stefan. Although none of them could speak about it except in choked, brief exclamations, they listened when Elena said that there was still a job to be done, and that if they managed to complete it well they would be able to go home soon – while if they did not complete it, Elena didn't care whether she went home or stayed here in the Dark Dimension. Home! It had the sound of a haven, even though Bonnie and Meredith knew firsthand what kind of hell was lurking in Fell's Church for them. But somehow anything would be preferable to this land of bloody light. With hope kindling interest in their surroundings, they were once again able to feel pleasure at the dresses Lady Ulma was having made for them. Designing was the one pursuit that the lady could still enjoy during her official bed rest, and Lady Ulma had been hard at work with her sketchbook. Since Bloddeuwedd's party would be an indoor/outdoor affair, all three dresses had to be carefully designed to be attractive both under candlelight and under the giant red sun's crimson rays. Meredith's gown was deep metallic blue, violet in the sunlight, and it showed an entirely different side of the girl from the siren in the skin-tight mermaid dress who had attended Fazina's gala. It reminded Elena somehow of something an Egyptian princess would wear. Once again, it left Meredith's arms and shoulders bare, but the modest narrow skirt that fell in straight lines to her sandals, and the delicacy of the sapphire beads that adorned the shoulder straps served to give Meredith an unassuming look. That look was emphasized by Meredith's hair, which Lady Ulma dictated be worn down, and her face, which was bare of makeup except kohl around the eyes. At her throat, a necklace made of the very largest oval-cut sapphires formed an elaborate collar. She also had matching blue gems on her wrists and slender fingers. Bonnie's dress was a little clever invention: it was made of a silvery material which took on a pastel tinge of the color of the ambient lighting. Moonlight-colored indoors, it shone a soft shimmering pink, almost exactly the color of Bonnie's strawberry hair, when she was outside. It sported a belt, necklace, bracelets, earrings, and rings all of matching cabochon-cut white opals. Bonnie's curls were to be carefully pinned up and away from her face, in a daringly mussed-up mass, leaving her translucent skin to shine softly rose in the sunlight, and ethereally pale inside. Once again, Elena's dress was the simplest and the most striking. Her gown was scarlet, the same color under blood-red sun or indoor gas lamp. It was rather low cut, giving her creamy skin a chance to shine golden in the sunlight. Clinging close to her figure, it was slashed up one side to give her room to walk or dance. On the afternoon of the party Lady Ulma had Elena's hair carefully brushed into a tangled cloud that shimmered Titian outdoors, golden indoors. Her jewelry ranged from an inset of diamonds at the bottom of the neckline, to diamonds on her fingers, wrists and one upper arm, plus a diamond choker that fit over Stefan's necklace. All these would blaze as red as rubies in the sunlight, but would occasionally glint another startling color, like a burst of mini-fireworks. Onlookers, Lady Ulma promised, would be dazzled. â€Å"But I can't wear these,† Elena had protested to Lady Ulma. â€Å"I might not get to see you again before we get Stefan – and from that moment we're on the run!† â€Å"It's the same for all of us,† Meredith had added quietly, looking at each of the girls in their â€Å"indoor† colors of silvery-blue, scarlet, and opal. â€Å"We're all wearing the most jewelry we've ever worn indoors or out – but you might lose it all!† â€Å"And you might need it all,† Lucen had said quietly. â€Å"All the more reason for you each to have jewelry that you can trade for carriages, safety, food, whatever. It's simply designed, too – you can wrench out a stone and use it as payment, and the jewels are not in an elaborate setting that might not be to some collector's taste.† â€Å"In addition to which, they are all of the highest quality,† Lady Ulma had added. â€Å"They are the most flawless examples of their kind we could get on such short notice.† At that point, all three girls had reached their limit, and rushed the couple – Lady Ulma on her enormous bed, sketchbook always beside her, and Lucen standing nearby – and cried and kissed and generally undid the beautiful jobs that had been done on their faces. â€Å"You're like angels to us, do you know that?† Elena sobbed. â€Å"Just like fairy godparents or angels! I don't know how I can say good-bye!† â€Å"Like angels,† Lady Ulma had said then, wiping a tear from Elena's cheek. Then she grasped Elena, saying â€Å"Look!† and gestured to herself comfortably in bed, with a couple of blooming, dewy-eyed young women ready to attend to her wishes. Lady Ulma had then nodded at the window, out of which a small mill stream could be seen, and some plum trees, with ripe fruit blazing like jewels on the branches, and then with a sweep of her hand indicated the gardens, orchards, fields, and forests on the estate. Then she had taken Elena's hand and smoothed it over her own softly curving abdomen. â€Å"You see?† she had spoken almost in a whisper. â€Å"Do you see all of this – and can you remember how you found me? Which of us is an angel now?† At the words â€Å"how you found me† Elena's hands had flown up to cover her face – as if she'd been unable to bear what memory showed her at that moment. Then she was hugging and kissing Lady Ulma again, and a whole new round of cosmetic-destroying embraces had begun. â€Å"Master Damon was even kind enough to buy Lucen,† Lady Ulma had said, â€Å"and you may not be able to picture it, but† – here she had looked at the quiet, bearded jeweler with eyes full of tears – â€Å"I feel for him as you feel for your Stefan.† And then she had blushed and hidden her face in her hands. â€Å"He's freeing Lucen today,† Elena had said, dropping to her knees to rest her head against Lady Ulma's pillow. â€Å"And giving the estate to you irrevocably. He's had a lawyer – an advocate, you'd say – working on the papers all week with a Guardian. They're done now, and even if that hideous general should come back, he couldn't touch you. You have your home forever.† More crying. More kissing. Sage, who had been innocently walking down the hallway, whistling, after a romp with his dog, Saber, had passed Lady Ulma's room and had been drawn in. â€Å"We'll all miss you, too!† Elena had wept. â€Å"Oh, thank you!† Later that day, Damon had made good on all of Elena's promises, besides giving a large bonus to each member of the staff. The air had been full of metallic confetti, rose petals, music, and cries of farewell as Damon, Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith had been carried to Bloddeuwedd's party – and away forever. â€Å"Come to think of it, why didn't Damon free us?† Bonnie asked Meredith as they rode in litters toward Bloddeuwedd's mansion. â€Å"I can understand that we needed to be slaves to get into this world, but we're in now. Why not make honest girls of us?† â€Å"Bonnie, we're honest girls already,† Meredith reminded her. â€Å"And I think the point is that we were never real slaves at all.† â€Å"Well, I meant: Why doesn't he free us so that everyone knows we're honest girls, Meredith, and you know it.† â€Å"Because you can't free somebody who's free already, that's why.† â€Å"But he could have gone through the ceremony,† Bonnie persisted. â€Å"Or is it really hard to free a slave here?† â€Å"I don't know,† Meredith said, breaking at last under this tireless inquisition. â€Å"But I'll tell you why I think he doesn't do it. I think that it's because this way he's responsible for us. I mean, it's not that slaves can't be punished – we saw that with Elena.† Meredith paused while they both shuddered at the memory. â€Å"But, ultimately, it's the slave owner that can lose their life over it. Remember, they wanted to stake Damon for what Elena did.† â€Å"So he's doing it for us? To protect us?† â€Å"I don't know. I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said slowly. â€Å"Then – I guess we've been wrong about him in the past?† Bonnie generously said â€Å"we've† instead of â€Å"you've.† Meredith had always been the one of Elena's group most resistant to Damon's charm. â€Å"I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said again. â€Å"Although it seems that everyone is forgetting that until recently Damon helped the kitsune twins to put Stefan here! And Stefan definitely hadn't done anything to deserve it.† â€Å"Well, of course that's true,† Bonnie said, sounding relieved not to have been too wrong, and at the same time strangely wistful. â€Å"All Stefan ever wanted from Damon was peace and quiet,† Meredith continued, as if on more steady ground there. â€Å"And Elena,† Bonnie added automatically. â€Å"Yes, yes – and Elena. But all Elena wanted was Stefan! I mean – all Elena wants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith's voice trailed off. The sentence didn't seem to work properly in the present tense anymore. She tried again. â€Å"All Elena wants now is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie just watched her speechlessly. â€Å"Well, whatever she wants,† Meredith concluded, rather shaken, â€Å"she wants Stefan to be a part of it. And she doesn't want any of us to have to stay here – in this†¦this hellhole.† In another litter just beside them things were very quiet. Bonnie and Meredith were so used by now to traveling in closed litters that they hadn't even realized that another palanquin had drawn abreast of them and that their voices carried clearly in the hot, still afternoon air. In the second litter, Damon and Elena both looked very hard at the silken curtains fluttering open. Now, Elena, with an almost mad air of needing something to do, hurriedly unwound a cord and the curtains dropped into place. It was a mistake. It closed Elena and Damon into a surreal glowing red oblong, in which only the words that they had just heard seemed to have validity. Elena felt her breath coming too quickly. Her aura was slipping. Everything was slipping sideways. They don't believe that I only want to be with Stefan! â€Å"Steady on,† Damon said. â€Å"This is the last night. By tomorrow – â€Å" Elena held up a hand to keep him from saying it. â€Å"By tomorrow we'll have found the key and gotten Stefan and we'll be out of here,† Damon said anyway. Jinx, thought Elena. And sent up a prayer after it. They rode in silence up toward Bloddeuwedd's grand mansion. For a surprisingly long time Elena didn't realize that Damon was trembling. It was a quick, involuntary shaken breath that alerted her. â€Å"Damon! Dear – dear heaven!† Elena was stricken, at a loss, not for words, but for the right words. â€Å"Damon, look at me! Why?† Why? Damon replied in the only voice he could trust not to tremble or crack or break. Because – do you ever think of what's happening to Stefan while you're going to a party wearing splendid clothes, being carried along, to drink the finest wine and to dance – while he – while he – The thought remained unfinished. This is just what I needed right before being seen in public, Elena thought, as they reached the long driveway to Bloddeuwedd's home. She tried to call on all of her resources before the curtains were drawn and they were free to step out at the location of the second half of the key.

Ethical Leadership Is Mostly About Leadership Integrity Essay

A recent study conducted in 2010 among UK and some European companies, revealed that the most prominent ethical issues to organisations includes harassment, bribery, corruption and facilitation payments, and whistle blowing (Wesley et al. 2011). Thus, it is important that ethics must indeed embark from the top. Leaders cannot escape from their responsibility to establish a moral example for their followers. The ethical actions and behaviour of top management have to be consistent with their teaching, otherwise formal ethical training and codes are bound to have a slim chance of success. The outcome of organisational goals is dependent on the leader’s capabilities to set the direction for employee behaviour, which includes promotion, strategies and appraisal (Brown & Mitchell 2010). This essay will examine how leadership integrity plays a part in building an ethical leadership, and also consider the other factors involved in building ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is mostly about leadership integrity Ethical leadership involve leaders to lead in a way that respects the dignity and rights of followers. It is especially important in the society today, when the public trust has been eroded by the actions of many, in both the profit and non-profit organisations. For instance, top executives of corporate organisations contributed to the recent credit crisis by reporting higher profits than actual, in order to enjoy greater compensation themselves (Berenbeim 2009). Ethical behaviour includes key principles such as integrity, honesty, and fairness. This is a situation where by leaders engage in behaviour that benefits others and refrains from behaviour that cause harm to others (Toor & Ofori 2009). Ethical leaders embody the purpose, vision and values of the management. They link up the organisational goals to that of the employees and stakeholders, giving a sense of direction to their employees’ work and ensure that organizational decisions are based upon sound moral values (Pic colo et al. 2010). Thus, an ethical leader who demonstrates leadership integrity is one with ‘right values’ and ‘strong character’, who set examples for others by constantly making efforts to incorporate moral principles in their beliefs, values and behaviour (Freeman & Stewart 2006). Hence, leadership integrity is one of the top attribute of an effective and good leader. Leadership integrity represents an honest, reliable and trustworthy person. It symbolizes a true commitment to perform the right action, regardless of the situation. One study has shown that the integrity of profit making by managers and business owners is a key point which makes a Fortune 500 organisation stands out from other competitors (Blanchard et al. 1997). Social learning theory (Bandura 1977, 1986) also aims to explain why followers’ perceptions of ethical leadership behaviour are influenced by the individual characteristics of the leader. Social learning theory suggests that individuals learn and follow the actions, attitudes, behaviour and values of credible role models (Bandura 1977, 1986). Ethical leaders are perceived to be role models with high ethical values and traits, such as leadership integrity, and thus, this encourage followers to establish their own framework of moral ideals and principles, which ultimately leads to moral action (Avolio 2005). Followers are also able develop a higher level of moral perspective and interpersonal ability through the provision of positive and constructive moral feedback given by the ethical leaders (Eisenberg 2000; Hoffman 1988). In a study developed by psychologist Dr. Robert Turknett, it was revealed that integrity is the foundation of his leadership character model, and hence, suggested that no leader can be successful without integrity (Turknett et al. 2005). He also notes that individuals with integrity are willing to stand up and defend for what is right, careful to ke ep promises, will not twist facts, and can be trusted to speak the truth. Furthermore, James Quigley, the global CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, emphasized the importance of integrity and trust in the professional success of an individual (Quigley 2007). He highlighted that individuals who lacks integrity are not considered trustworthy, and will severely weaken an individual’s value to the organisation. Hence, the importance of integrity and character is highly valued in the workplace. Individuals who lack integrity, are not trustworthy, and will not be given responsibilities or opportunities, and thus, will be frowned upon by other employees in the organisation (Quigley 2007). Corporations with integrity leaders are often leaders in their own industries, and likely to do better than other competitor firms, achieving in their long-term financial goals. Other fundamental elements that make up ethical leadership In contrast, other studies have suggested that ethical leadership is not just about leadership integrity, but at the same time, it consists of a multi dimensional concept, with many other fundamental elements (Trevino & Brown 2004). Ethical leaders have to be seen as both a â€Å"moral person† and a â€Å"moral manager† (Trevino et al. 2000). The moral person aspect of ethical leadership can be seen as the personal characteristics and traits of the leader, such as personal integrity, honesty and trustworthiness, including the moral nature of the leader’s behaviour, such as expressing a genuine concern for others and treating people right, demonstrating personal morality, and being open and communicative. In the process of decision making, ethical leaders consider the ethical impact of their decisions, and based them upon ethical values and decision rules (Trevino & Brown 2004). It is therefore important that leaders themselves are indeed moral persons and explici tly demonstrate ethical behaviours to their followers. Their followers learn what to do and what not to do by observing their leaders behaviour, and are likely to imitate their leaders (Kaptein 2002). However, being perceived as a moral person is insufficient. A moral person only portrays the actions of the leader. It does not advice the followers what is expected of them. A moral manager creates ethical standards and expectation throughout the organisation by portraying ethical behaviour, traits and decision making. A moral manager posses three distinct characteristics. Firstly, a moral manager actively demonstrates ethical behaviours and lead through good examples. Secondly, rewarding morally appropriate conduct and punish unethical behaviours, strengthen the organisations’ ethical stance. Thirdly, a moral manager communicates ethical values and issues throughout the organisation openly (Brown et al. 2005). There are four types of leadership styles. They include the ethical leader, the hypocritical leader, the ethically neutral leader, and the unethical leader. An ethical leader is an individual who is both a moral person and a moral manager. This leader also has a strong influence in the organisation, with regards to the ethical culture, enforcing the goals of the organisation, and influencing the ethical values, norms and standards (Kalshoven et al. 2011). Next, a hypocritical leader is one who is not a strong ethical person but who attempts to place strong emphasis on ethics and values. These leaders often talk about ethics, but do not follow up with the action itself (Trevino et al. 2000). In such cases, the followers often perceive these acts only as a false front. Without any actions to match what the leader communicates about ethics and values, it points out issues that has yet to surface, and thus, is worse than not doing anything at all, which tarnish the reputation of the leader (Trevino et al. 2000). This result in the followers not trusting the leader, and becoming cynical in everything the leader says. Thirdly, the ethically neutral leader is seen as neither a strong ethical or unethical leader. An ethically neutral leader may be an ethical person, but do not take up an active leadership role is the important areas of ethics, and followers are uncertain of the leader’s stand on the issue of ethics. Hence, the ethically neutral leader is one who focuses on end results without setting any ethical goals. Lastly, a weak moral person and moral manager is an unethical leader. Furthermore, other studies have suggested that in addition to the first key attribute of leadership integrity, there are five other attributes that characterise ethical leaders, which includes, ethical awareness, managing ethical accountability, people oriented, motivating and encouraging and empowering (Resick et al. 2006). Firstly, ethical awareness is the ability and willingness to identify moral and ethical situations and problems. Hence, without being first able to identify the ethical issue present, even a leader with leadership integrity will not be able to act ethically, which will lead to a da maging effect on perceived ethical leadership (Resick et al. 2006). Secondly, ethical leaders have to learn to manage ethical accountability, through establishing and instilling a reward and punishment system. This ensures proper ethical standards and conduct are performed throughout the organisation (Resick et al. 2006). Thirdly, in order to be aware of how their actions will impact others, ethical leaders have to be people oriented, which highlights the selfless, external focus and responsibilities required of an ethical leader (Resick et al. 2006). Next, ethical leaders are also required to be motivating. Thus, even if ethical leaders possess leadership integrity, they have to be able to motivate, exert influence, and guide followers towards the organisational goals, ethical standards and norms (Resick et al. 2006). Lastly, ethical leaders must be encouraging and empowering, and thus delegate responsibilities and tasks to employees, and ensure that they are ethically responsible. This allows the employees to be independent and responsible, and hence convey ethical standards throughout the organisation (Resick et al. 2006). Emotional intelligence is another strong attribute and influence of ethical leadership, beside leadership integrity. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are able to stimulate an ethical organisation by openly communicating about ethical issues, gaining motivation, and increase ethical awareness. Ethical leaders who have high emotional intelligence are also very trusting, understanding, engaging and have the ability to inspire others (Gregory 2010). Such leaders develop a strong set of empathy and interpersonal skills, as well as people oriented skills. They are then able to understand the influence, and impact their behaviours and decisions on the stakeholders and employees in the organisation (Gregory 2011). One study highlighted that 89% of the respondents identified emotional intelligence as highly important and essential to meeting the organisations’ top challenges (Freeman 2007). Two other studies were also conducted with business students, and nurses in the US hospitals. The results of both studies revealed that emotional intelligence has a direct relationship with ethical awareness, and thus, higher emotional intelligence scores predict higher performance in ethics (Joseph et al. 2009; Deshpande 2009). Insights and analysis In reflection, leadership integrity is an important and essential attribute in building an ethical leadership. As discussed earlier, leadership integrity is highly valued in organisations, and the absence of it will likely result in followers losing trust and respect for the ethical leader. Hence, this means that followers will especially look up to ethical leaders with strong leadership integrity as these leaders are associated with having strong positive traits and characteristics, whom will likely do the right thing, given any circumstances, and supports the statement that ethical leadership is mostly about leadership integrity. In addition, Bandura’s social learning theory suggests that individuals learn and follow the actions, attitudes, behaviour and values of credible ethical leaders. Hence, this means that followers’ moral self-development is likely to be heavily influenced by the leader’s effort to model moral behaviours. Thus, this also supports the statement that ethical leadership is mostly about leadership integrity, because the qualities of the leader, such as leadership integrity, will influence the followers to model such behaviours and values. On the other hand, only the moral person aspect of ethical leadership place emphasis on the leader’s behaviour, traits and personal decision making towards ethical conduct. The behaviours and actions of a moral manager have an external focus of how the leader is seen by employees and stakeholders, as they aim to increase the ethical awareness and standard in the organisation. Thus, under Trevino’s definition of an ethical leader, leadership integrity belongs to the category of a moral person. However, the leader needs to be both a moral person and a moral manager, in order to be considered an ethical leader. Thus, this denies the statement that ethical leadership is mostly about leadership integrity, and supports the idea that leadership integrity is only one dimension of being an ethical leader. Secondly, Resick’s definition of the six key characteristics of an ethical leader belongs to the category of either a moral person or a moral manager, where leadership integrity, ethical awareness and people orientation falls into the category of moral person, while managing accountability, encouraging and empowering, and motivating belongs to the category of moral manager. Hence, this refute the statement that leadership integrity is mostly about leadership integrity, as it can be clearly seen that leadership integrity is only one aspect of the characteristics required of ethical leadership, as there are other important elements that effect ethical leadership as well. Thirdly, studies have also revealed that other than leadership integrity, the emotional intelligence of the leader is also another key factor in building an ethical leadership. Thus, this further supports the claim that that ethical leadership is not mostly about leadership integrity, but is also heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of leaders’ emotional intelligence. My personal stand is that though the behaviour, values, traits and personal characteristics such as leadership integrity, of an ethical leader is important, but, the ability to influence and affect followers to model such moral behaviours places an even greater emphasis in building a reputation of ethical leadership. As discussed earlier, the traits and behaviours of the moral manager addresses this aspect, and thus support my stand that ethical leadership is a multi dimension concept, which consists of many other fundamental elements other than just leadership integrity. Conclusion Ethical leaders bring about highly desired benefits to organisations. The personal characteristic of an ethical leader, such as leadership integrity is one key factor in building ethical leadership. However, there are also other elements involved which have a strong impact in building ethical leadership. Hence, in order to be effective ethical leaders, individuals with leadership integrity have to demonstrate that they are capable of motivating employees by creating and stimulating an ethical organisation, developing standards of ethical conduct and behaviour, and communicating openly on ethical issues, instilling a rewards and punishment systems, demonstrating ethical behaviour, and thereby increasing the ethical awareness in the organisation. References Avolio, B. J. 2005. Leadership development in balance: Made/Born. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Bandura, A. 1977. Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall. Bandura, A. 1986. Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall. Berenbeim R.E. 2009. Ethical Leadership, Maintain an Ethical Culture. A paper presented at the Global Leadership Development conference in Mumbai, India Blanchard, K. H., O’Connor, M., O’Connor, M. J., & Ballard, J. (1997). Managing by values: Berrett-Koehler Pub Brown M.E. & Mitchell, M.S. 2010. Ethical and Unethical Leadership: Exploring New Avenue for Future Research, Business Ethics. Brown M. E, Trevino L. K, & Harrison D. 2005. Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 97, pp. 117−134. Deshpande, S.P. 2009. A study of ethical decision making by physicians and nursesin hospitals. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 90, pp. 387-397 Eisenberg, E.M. 2000. The kindness of strangers: Hospitality in organizational communication scholarship. In S. Corman & M. S. Poole (Eds.), Foundations of organizational communication: Finding common ground. NY: Guilford Freeman R.E. & Stewart L. 2006. Developing Ethical Leadership, A Bridge Paper of Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. Freedman J, 2007 Workplace Issues Report, Six Seconds 2008. Gregory P, 2010, Ethical Leadership, Training journal, pp. 44-47 Hoffman, M. L. 1988. Moral development. In M. H. Bornstein & M. L. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook (2nd ed., pp. 205-260). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Joseph J, Berry K, & Deshpande S P 2009. Impact of emotional intelligence and other factors on perception of ethical behavior of peers, Journal of Business Ethics. Kalshoven K, Den Hartog D, De Hoogh A, 2011, ‘Ethical leadership at work questionnaire: Development and validation of a multidimensional measure, The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 22, pp. 51-69 Kaptein M. 2002, Guidelines for the development of an ethics safety net. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 41, pp. 217-234 Piccolo R.F, Greenbaum R, Den Hartog D.N. & Folger R. 2010.The Relationship between Ethical Leadership and Core Job Characteristics, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol.31, pp.259–278. Quigley, J H. 2007. Trust – An Essential Asset: Creating Individual and Corporate Value, The Raytheon Lectureship in Business Ethics, Waltham: Bentley College, pp. 1-24. Resick, C, Hanges, P, Dickson, M, Mitchelson, J, 2006, ‘A Cross – Cultural Examination of the Endorsement of Ethical Leadership’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol.63, pp. 345-358 Toor S. & Ofori G. 2009. Ethical Leadership: Examining the Relationships with Full Range Leadership Model, Employee Outcomes, and Organizational Culture, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 90, pp.533–547. Trevino L. K. & Brown M 2004, Managing to Be Ethical: Debunking Five Business Ethics Myths, The Academy of Management Executive, Vol 18. No. 2, pp 69-83 Trevino L. K, Hartman, L. P, & Brown, M. 2000. Moral person and moral manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review, Vol. 42(4), pp.128-142 Turknett, Robert L., & Turknett, Carolyn N. 2005. Decent People Decent Company: How to Lead with Character at Work and in Life. Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing. Wesley S, Basran S, Hayward A. & Harris D. 2011, Corporate Ethics Policies and Programmes: UK and Continental Europe Survey 2010. A Publication of the Institute of Business Ethics. http://www.ibe.org.uk, viewed 1st September 2012.

Macro-Environmental Analysis Essay Example

Macro Macro-Environmental Analysis Paper Macro-Environmental Analysis Paper Essay Topic: Marketing An organisations marketing environment can be defined as the actors and forces external to the marketing management function of the firm that impinge on the marketing managements ability to develop and maintain successful transactions with its customers (Kotler, 1997). In order to fully analyse Marss marketing strategy, it is important to look at its marketing environment first, which is made up of a micro-environment and a macro-environment. According to Kotler (1984), the macro-environment consists of the larger societal forces that affect micro-environment (internal). The micro-environment, on the other hand, consists of the forces close to the company that affect its ability to serve its stakeholders (external). Macro-Environmental Analysis Macro-environment, in Marss case, refers to the whole European ice cream market, since it is beyond the immediate environment but can nevertheless affect Mars as a company. European Ice Cream Market Capital requirement in advertising and branding is extremely high in the ice cream market. The spending is responsible for developing brands and generating effect on consumers decision-making process. For the premium ice cream where Mars has positioned itself, launching heavyweight advertising is of more importance, in an effort to create particular brand imagery by convincing consumers of its quality. In the ice cream market, the power of buyers and suppliers has been seen less strong as in other markets, because of the lack of concentration of its buyers and suppliers. Instead, buyers of ice cream has spread widely across all ages, although children are always the primary consumers. The threat of substitution may take forms of product-for-product substitution or substitution of need by a new product or service (Johnson Scholes, 1997). Ice cream, as a fulfilment of needs such as light hunger, refreshment, indulgence, fun sharing and thirst quenching, might be substituted by biscuits, chocolates, crisps, or some traditional snacks in some European countries. In competitive terms, there are two leading companies who dominate most shares in the European market, Unilever, headquartered in the UK and Netherlands, and Nestle, a Switzerland-based company. It indicates the unbalance of competitors. The attractiveness of industry is particularly high when the market growth rate is high (Johnson Scholes, 1997). Even up to the year 2000, the market was predicted to grow at around 5% per annum, especially in the super premium market where the growth rate is over 15%. This is unusual in mature European food markets. The high level of grow rate intensify the competition among various market players. It might also attract potential entrants, which, on the other hand, result to an even more intensive rivalry. However, rivalry can be alleviated to some extents through differentiation strategy. According to Naylor (1999), differentiation refers to the added value in which strategic business unit expects its customers to appreciate. The extra value offered by the company must also be valued by customers more than the extra cost it takes to provide it. In the ice cream market, the offerings of premium and super premium ones are regarded as kinds of differentiation. In this way, some companies will aim to gain market share by focusing on premier or super premium segment whereas the rest will fight for economy ice cream segment, thereby reducing the intensity of competition within the market. Finally, if the exist barrier is high enough, it can increase the competition as well. It is especially a concern of family firms, such as Mars. They tend to not leave the marketplace if this is the only business that they are in (Finlay, 2000). By taking all this factors listed above into account, the opportunity and threat for Mars can be categorised below. Opportunity After looking at the market in the general way, it is time to relate it to Mars company. Europe is relatively a stable environment, which provides a secure market for business, in terms of political factors. As its market share is spread evenly across Europe, Mars benefits a lot from the trading agreements, including EEC, EC, EEA, as they further lower the tariff and create customs union (Brooks Weatherston, 2000). Therefore, the prices of Mars Ice Cream tend to uniform all around the Europe. The expected increase in personal disposable income over a couple of years will also help Mars as consumers will have the necessary funds to realise their desires, and be more likely to go for high quality and more expensive products. The rise in personal disposable income helps the fast expand of Marss premium ice cream market, and indicates that this segmentation will still be beneficial to Mars in the future. As a recent trend, the traditional family meal time has now been challenged. It is largely due to peoples busy working lives. Therefore, it becomes common to find different family members eating different foods at different times. As an easy-to-prepare and ready-to-eat dessert, ice cream has obviously attracted a large number of consumers. Ice cream can be taken back to home and served in flexible portions (take home) or rather consumed immediately (impulse). Deseasonalisation has considered being a tendency in recent years. It implies the less dependency on the hot weather, which, in some European countries, last for quite a short time. Marss Ice Cream has been sold all over the Europe, thus producing deseasonalised items is of more importance on companys agenda. The production of the ice cream is subject to the use of advanced technology in areas like prevention of fat accumulation and coarse texture, sweetness, or drawing temperatures. It, in some ways, raises the threshold of entering ice cream industry, thereby protecting the existing companies, including Mars, from a too fierce rivalry competition. Continued innovation is also a key issue here. Unlike a stapler or cigarette, ice cream is the kind of product which needs continued refreshment and constant innovation in its taste, flavour, texture or ingredients in order to maintain consumer interest and encourage sales and repurchasing. The ability to conduct it relates to the technology as well, which re-invigorate the product portfolio. This kind of requirement has put Mars onto an advantage position since the company has been well-known for its ability of innovation. Threat The biggest threat refers to the counter-offensive defence strategy (Kotler Singh, 1981) employed by Unilever against Mars, since Unilver has effectively prevented Mars from accessing its freezer cabinets. It is done by supplying smaller outlets with free freezer cabinets, which are exclusive to other brands, thus increasing and enhancing its retail outlets. Since macro actors are more difficult to manage and control, a proactive action is required in order to survive in the market. Overall, the European ice cream market is a stable, growing, but highly competitive environment. Stale always indicates that the low level of changeability, higher level of predictability and visibility. Therefore, a prescriptive strategy can take place. Micro-Environmental Analysis Micro-environment is the internal factors that impinge directly on Mars. Mars Ice Cream Mars is highly profitable in confectionery and prepared petfood areas, acting like the market leader in these two categories. However, since the growth rates of these two industries are not high enough, its confectionery and petfood can be regarded as cash cows. The profit generated by its cash cows is actually used to support its question mark, namely Mars Ice Cream (see Figure 1). According to Mars, the ice cream has not generated significant profit since its launch in late 1980s. Mars Ice Cream, enjoying only 5% to 10% market share in Europe, demonstrates an ambiguous future in this growing ice cream market. In this scenario, the company should decide whether to continuously fund it in order to increase market share, or withdraw it from the marketplace as it erodes the companys profit. Therefore, It is said that Mars Ice Cream is a question mark. However, in its product portfolio, no star or dog has been observed. It might imply the unbalance of its current product offering. Strength Probably the major strength Mars has demonstrated for years is its innovation ability. It refers to what Lynch (1998) calls as distinctive strategic element relevant to competing in the marketplace. However, during the early 1990s, this strategy was borrowed by Nestle, a major competitor of Mars. For that reason, the advantage of being able to innovate is a competitive advantage of Mars instead of a core competence. By adopting Porters (1985) model for generic strategies, Mars concentration on a segment of the market is categorised as differentiation (see Figure 2). One of Marss strategies was to price the ice cream at a premium level, which proves to be highly successful. By doing so, Mars has implemented a flanking attack by concentrating distinct market segments that are not adequately served by Unilever and Nestle (Kotler, 1997).

Plastic Sulfur - Simple Sulfur Polymer Demo

Plastic Sulfur - Simple Sulfur Polymer Demo Did you know that you can make a polymer from an element? Turn ordinary sulfur into rubbery plastic sulfur and then back into its brittle crystalline form. Plastic Sulfur Materials 50 g sulfur  test tube (25 mm x 200 mm)burnertest tube clampbeaker of water (500 mL or so)tongs Procedure To Polymerize Sulfur Youll melt the sulfur, which changes from a yellow powder into a blood-red liquid. When the molten sulfur is poured into the beaker of water, it forms a rubbery mass, which remains in polymer form for a variable length of time, but eventually crystallizes into a brittle form. Fill the test tube with pure sulfur powder or pieces until it is within a couple of centimeters of the top of the tube.Using a test tube clamp to hold the tube, place the tube in a burner flame to melt the sulfur. The yellow sulfur will turn into a red liquid as it melts. The sulfur may ignite in the flame. This is fine. If ignition occurs, expect a blue flame at the mouth of the test tube.Pour the molten sulfur into a beaker of water. If the sulfur is burning, youll get a spectacular burning stream from the tube into the water! The sulfur forms a golden-brown string as it hits the water.You can use tongs to remove the mass of polymer sulfur from the water and examine it. This rubbery form will last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours before reverting to the usual yellow brittle rhomic crystalline form. How It Works Usually sulfur occurs in orthorhomic form as eight-membered cyclic rings of monomeric S8. The rhomic form melts at 113 °C. When it is heated over 160deg;C, sulfur forms high molecular weight linear polymers. The polymer form is brown and consists of polymer chains containing about a million atoms per chain. However, the polymer form is not stable at room temperature, so the chains eventually break and reform the S8 rings. Safety The sulfur is safe to recycle or dispose in any waste container.Use care when handling the plastic sulfur, as it may still be hot/molten for several minutes.Its best to perform this project under a hood or outdoors, since sulfur dioxide (SO2) will be released if the sulfur ignites. Sulfur dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which is irritating and toxic. Source: B. Z. Shakhashiri, 1985, Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry, vol. 1, pp. 243-244. Related Projects You can use sulfur from this project to make both a mixture and a compound with sulfur and iron. If the polymer aspect of the project interested you, other simple polymers you can make include natural plastic from milk or a polymer bouncy ball. Feel free to play with the ratio of ingredients in polymer and plastic recipes to see they affect the final project.

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Law - Essay Example In this paper, I briefly review some of the prohibited practices during job interviews as well as review some of the questions that are generally regarded as unacceptable. Title VII is a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that protects employees or prospective employees from discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (EEOC, 2014). It is applicable to governmental and nongovernmental employees in equal measure. Dissimilar to labor laws that do not cover managerial employees or wage and hour laws that exclude certain cadres of employees, Title VII applies to all levels and types of employees. Further on, the act covers United States citizens employed by American employers without the borders of U.S. As pertains to non-U.S. citizens, they remain protected by the act as long as they are within the borders of the United States and not outside. Several employment practices are prohibited by Title VII and employers, unless they are careful, might find themselves unintentionally violating some of the provisions. Recruitment of new employees always elicit varied emotions among the applicant as well as the interviewing bench that may trigger acts of discrimination deliberately aimed at eliminating a certain cadre of candidates. Understandably, employers who are seeking a certain type of employees would go to any level to restructure and classify the questions in the interview with a deliberate intention of eliminating some candidates. For example, when conducting job interviews, the law prohibits setting up tests that are based on the races, national origin, or gender of the applicant. Pregnancy or someone disability should not be the reason as to why a person should be intentional denied an employment opportunity. Also, since U.S. states is a cosmopolitan society comprising of person from different nations and of different ra ces, the law prohibits the

Modernizing Rulers in the Middle East Assignment

Modernizing Rulers in the Middle East - Assignment Example Ataturk was a well-known military man. His victories and losses defined his role as a leader. While Reza Shah was in the military, the people did not gain trust in him due to the lack of victories and losses in actual battle. Since Ataturk was respected more, he could implement the changes and secularization of his country. Reza Shah had to fight for secularization and eventually back down to the pressure from the Shi’ite faction. Although it might seem that Reza Shah was not as successful as Ataturk, the two men faced different problems. Ataturk unified Turkey as Turkish. Reza Shah had to deal with many different tribes, religious leaders, and other factions. Ataturk did not face the severe opposition as Reza Shah. Ataturk did face opposition; however he managed to unite the Turkish people with a sense of nationalism. Reza Shah did not inspire the same nationalism within his people. Ataturk created a government that would not be successor based. Reza Shah’s son succeeded his father. Ataturk’s government had a solid base of elections and fundamental principles. He wanted to create a government, but one that could go on without him. Reza Shah, on the other hand, wanted to create his own personal goals of government with him as the center. That was the main difference between the two men. Ataturk created a secular government that lasted, whereas Reza Shah created one that was not as

Having our say (racism) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Having our say (racism) - Essay Example Bessie being darker encountered harsher racism than Sarah. The sisters were different in life but they came from same family and never married and had respectable jobs. They went to same college and were extremely well educated. Bessie always stood for herself and resisted racism and white people. The sisters were hard working and chose career over marriage as they belonged to a poor background. Both these sisters faced racism early in their life. They were born out of a white father and a quarter black women but still were tagged as colored people. They had to face many obstacles from white men in their neighborhood. According to ( Delany 39)â€Å"In the decades after the Civil War, "education" became the rallying cry of those seeking to improve the lot of former slaves, whose prospects were limited usually to hard labor in the fields or to domestic work in white peoples homes†. Bessie being bold to respond to criticism was strong willed while Sadie was calm. They understood not to mess with me from the first day itself (Delany 9) Bessie when confronted by a drunken white man she responded harshly .When she saw the seating arrangement in a drinking place she feels resentment on the division for white and black people. They also face racism at work place but overcome it. They achieved their goals steadily despite facing discrimination and prejudices. Sadie being lighter in complexion was non aggressive to racism. She was the first black women to be a teacher by not disclosing her black ethnicity to the employer. Bessie being proud and emotional was opposite to Sadie who was calm and easy going. The racism is a dark side of American history which exists still in a milder manner. These sisters is a proud icons of American which shows that nothing is an obstacle if there is will to achieve what one wants in life. Growing in a poor and racist atmosphere they achieved what they wanted. They became well

Hassan Al Banna And The Muslim Brotherhood

Hassan Al Banna And The Muslim Brotherhood For almost eight decades, the Society of Muslim Brothers, or Muslim Brotherhood, has been an integral part of the Egyptian political body. It was established in 1928, by Hassan al-Banna in the northeastern Egyptian city of Ismailia with the goal of restoring the Caliphate and implementing Sharia law. It quickly spread in Egypt and throughout the Islamic world at large. During this period, the Muslim Brothers acted as a political movement challenging the modern Egyptian state. Hassan al-Banna was born October 14, 1906 in Al Mahmoudeya, Al Behaira, Egypt to a traditional lower middle-class family. His father, Shaykh Ahmad al-Banna, a local imam and instructor of the Hanbali rite, was educated at Al-Azhar University. He wrote books on Muslim traditions and was a teacher at the local madrasah dÄ «niyyah where al-Banna received his first lessons in Islam. Shaykh Ahmad al-Banna also had a shop where he repaired watches and sold phonographs. Though Shaykh Ahmad al Banna and his wife owned some property, they were not wealthy and struggled to make ends meet, particularly after they moved to Cairo in 1924. Like many others, they found that Islamic learning and piety were no longer as highly valued in the capitol, and local craftsmanship could not compete with large-scale industry. Hassan al-Bannas religious proclivity, activism, charismatic appeal, and leadership potential were evident from an early age. When Hassan al-Banna was twelve years old, he became involved in a Sufi order. At thirteen he participated in demonstrations during the revolution of 1919, against British rule, and by the age of fourteen he memorized the Koran. From an early age Hassan al-Banna was attracted to the extremist and xenophobic aspects of Islam which were hostile to western secularism and its system of rights; particularly womens rights. While still in secondary school, he began to organize committees and societies stressing Islamic principles and morals. While still in his teens, al-Banna and his friends, or brethren, met frequently to discuss the situation throughout the Middle East. They argued about the problems of Arab society and expressed their grief at the decline of Islam. Their anguish was in large part a reaction to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire  [1]  , the end of the Muslim Caliphate  [2]  , the British occupation of Egypt  [3]  , and the resulting exposure of Arab society to western values. It was in Cairo during his years at Dar al-Ulum University that al-Banna joined religious societies involved in traditional Islamic education. He soon realized that this type of religious activity alone was insufficient to bring the Islamic faith back to its status in the public life of Egyptian people. He felt that more activism was needed, so he organized students from al-Azhar University and Dar al-Ulum University. He and his group started to preach in mosques and popular meeting places. During this period, al-Banna came to be influenced by the writings of Muhammad Abduh  [4]  and Rashid Rida  [5]  . When he graduated in 1927, he was appointed as a teacher of Arabic grammar in a primary school in Ismailia, a new small town in Egypt with a semi-European quality. It hosted the headquarters of the Suez Canal Company and a sizable foreign community. In Ismailia al-Banna started to preach his ideas to poor Muslim workers, local merchants, and civil servants, warning his listeners against the liberal way of life of the Europeans in town and the dangers of emulating it. It was here he won his first followers, who encouraged him to form the Society of the Muslim Brethren in 1928. For Hassan al-Banna, as for many other Muslims worldwide, the end of the Caliphate, although brought about by secular Muslim Turks, was a sacrilege against Islam for which they blamed the non-Muslim West. It was to strike back against these evils that in March 1928 along with a group of his Brothers, Hassan al-Banna created the Muslim Brotherhood. Similar to the groups that Al-Banna joined since he was twelve; the Brotherhood at first was only one of the numerous small Islamic associations that existed at the time where the members preached to anyone who would listen about the need for moral reform in the Arab world. These associations aimed to promote personal piety and engage in charitable activities. The Brotherhoods ideals were based on the notion that Islam was a comprehensive way of life, not simply a religious observance. In its infancy the Brotherhood was a religious, political, and social movement with the basic beliefs that, Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitu tion, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations. (Ikhwanweb) Al-Banna called for the return to fundamental Islam because according to him, contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by Western influences. The Brotherhood saw itself both as a political and a social movement. The groups activities focused on the secular regimes in the Arab world, starting with its own local, Egyptian government. The Muslim Brotherhood also worked to protect workers against the oppression of foreign companies and monopolies. They established social institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies, and schools. Al-Bannas hatred towards Western modernity soon moved him to shape the Brotherhood into an organization seeking to check the secularist tendencies in Muslim society by asserting a return to ancient and traditional Islamic values. Al-Banna recruited followers from a vast cross-section of Egyptian society by addressing issues such as colonialism, public health, educational policy, natural resources management, social inequalities, Arab nationalism, the weakness of the Islamic world, and the growing conflict in Palestine. Among the perspectives he drew on to address these issues were the anti-capitalist doctrines of European Marxism and fascism. In 1936 the Brotherhood had about 800 members, but by 1938, just two years into the Arab revolt in Palestine, its membership had grown to almost 200,000, with fifty branches in Egypt. The organization established mosques, schools, sport clubs, factories and a welfare service network. By the end of the 1930s there were more than a half million active members registered, in more than two thousand branches across the Arab world. (Meir-Levi) Robin Hallett reports: By the late 1940s the Brotherhood was reckoned to have as many as (2) million members, while its strong Pan-Islamic  [6]  ideas had gained supporters in other Arab lands. (Hallett) Its headquarters in Cairo became a center and meeting place for representatives from the whole Muslim world, also recruiting among the foreign students. The Muslim Brotherhood spread internationally founding groups in Lebanon (1936), Syria (1937), and Transjordan (1946). As the Brotherhood grew through the 1930s and extended its activities beyond its original religious and social revivalism, al-Banna became more obsessed with the idea of the restoration of the Caliphate. He believed this could only become a reality through Jihad  [7]  . This idea helped grow a multitude of followers. Al-Banna described in inciting speeches the horrors of hell expected for heretics, and consequently, the need for Muslims to return to their purest religious roots, re-establish the Caliphate, and resume Jihad against the Kafir  [8]  , or non-Muslim world. Al-Banna spelled out his ideas in a dissertation entitled The Way of Jihad. Hassan al-Banna saw Jihad as a defensive strategy against the west, stating that Islamic scholars: Agree unanimously that Jihad is a communal defensive obligation imposed upon the Islamic ummah (Muslim community) in order to embrace Islam, and that it is an individual obligation to repulse the attack of unbelievers upon it. As a result of unbelievers ruling Muslim lands and degrading Muslim honor: It has become an individual obligation, which there is no evading, on every Muslim to prepare his equipment, to make up his mind to engage in Jihad, and to get ready for it until the opportunity is ripe and God decrees a matter which is sure to be accomplished. (al-Banna) Al-Bannas ideas on the rule of Jihad for the ummah in a citation of the Five Tracts of Hasan al-Banna in which he goes back to the Hanafi-rules: Jihad in its literal significance means to put forth ones maximal effort in word and deed; in the Sacred Law it is the slaying of the unbelievers, and related connotations such as beating them, plundering their wealth, destroying their shrines, and smashing their idols. It is obligatory on us to begin fighting with them after transmitting the invitation [to embrace Islam], even if they do not fight against us. (al-Banna) The first steps that al-Banna took towards the Jihad that he envisioned came in the form of terrorism during the Arab revolt in Palestine from 1936-1939. One of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Hajj Amin al-Husseini  [9]  , Grand Mufti (Supreme Muslim religious leader) of Jerusalem, incited his followers to a three-year war against the Jews in Palestine and against the British Mandate for Palestine.  [10]  Under al-Bannas stewardship, the Brotherhood developed a network of underground cells, stole weapons, trained fighters, formed secret assassination squads, and created sleeper cells of subversive supporters in the ranks of the army and police who waited for the order to go public with terrorism and assassinations. Underground links between the Nazis and the Brotherhood began during the 1930s and were close during the Second World War. Documents from the British, American, and Nazi German governmental archives, as well as, from personal accounts and memoirs of that period, confirm that in return for the Nazi aid the Brotherhood was involved in the agitation against the British, espionage and sabotage, as well as other terrorist activities. The common link between them was their hated of the Jews and the common goal of the destruction of the Jews. Both were explicitly anti-nationalist in the sense that they believed in the insolvency of the nation-state in favor of a non-national unifying community. For al-Banna and the Brotherhood this was the ummah; and for the Nazis it was dominance of the master race. The Nazis also offered great power connections to the Brotherhood. As the Brotherhoods political and military alliance with the Nazis developed, these parallels facilitated practical connections that created a formal alliance. Al-Bannas followers easily introduced into the Arab world a new Nazi form of Jewish hatred. This was accomplished with Arab translations of Hitlers autobiography and political ideology, Mein Kampf, (translated into Arabic as My Jihad) and other Nazi anti-Semitic works, including Der Sturmer,  [11]  and racist cartoons, modified to portray Jews as the demonic enemy of Allah. When the question of Palestine came before the United Nations  [12]  , al-Banna and Amin al-Husseini jointly urged the Arab world to unite in opposition to the creation of Israel. The two men saw in the UN resolution for the partition of Palestine, an example of the Jewish world conspiracy, even though the plan provided for an Arab state in Palestine alongside the Jewish one. But in al-Bannas estimation, the creation of a state for the Arabs of Palestine was less vital than the eradication of Zionism and the annihilation of the regions Jews. In November 1948, police seized an automobile containing documents and plans thought to belong to the Brotherhoods secret apparatus or military wing with the identity of its members. This find was succeeded by a series of bombings and attempted assassinations. Consequently thirty-two of the brotherhoods leaders were arrested and its offices raided. Growing concern over the Brotherhoods rising influence and popularity, as well as rumors that the organization was plotting a coup against the Egyptian government, Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha outlawed the group in December 1948. The government seized the Brotherhoods assets and incarcerated many of its members. Less than three weeks later in what is thought to be retaliation for these acts, a member of the Brotherhood, veterinary student Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, assassinated the Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha on December 28, 1948. Following the assassination, al-Banna released a statement condemning the assassination, stating that terror is not an acceptable way in Islam. The Egyptian government was not convinced of al-Bannas and the Brotherhoods non involvement. On February 12, 1949, al-Banna was at the Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo with his brother-in-law to negotiate with a representative from the government, Minister Zaki Ali Basha. The Minister never arrived and by 5 oclock in the evening al-Banna decided to leave. As al-Banna and his brother-in-law stood waiting for the taxi, they were assassinated by two men. Al-Banna was shot seven times and was taken to a hospital where he died shortly thereafter. After Egypt imprisoned and executed many Muslim Brothers through the 1950s, many of its members fled the country and spread the brotherhoods attitudes and viewpoints throughout the Arab world. The groups main ideological voice became Sayyid Qutb, who detested Western values and believed that the Koran justified violence to overthrow any non-Islamic governments wherever Muslims lived. Qutb is credited for the ideology that has sparked many violent Islamic fundamental groups in existence today such as al Qaeda. He spent time in the United States in 1949 studying education and became a very vocal spokesperson about the evils within American Culture. On his return to Egypt Qutb became a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and urged Muslims to take up arms against non Islamic governments. In 1964, Egyptian President Gamal Nasser granted amnesty to imprisoned Brothers which he was rewarded by the Brotherhood with three assassination attempts on his life. In 1966 the top leaders of the Brother hood in Egypt were executed to include Sayyid Qutb who was accused of plotting against the government. Many others that failed to escape the country were imprisoned. Nassers successor, Anwar-as-Sadat, promised the Brotherhood that sharia law would be implemented as Egyptian law. Like Nasser, Sadat released the members of the Brotherhood held in Egyptian prisons. The temporary peace between the Brotherhood and the Egyptian government lasted until Sadat signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. This enraged the Muslim Brotherhood who had deeply supported the Palestinians in their quest to take their homeland back since the 1922 British Mandate. On 06 October 1981 the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Anwar Sadat during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypts crossing of the Suez Canal. Al-Banna, as a first option did not propose violence as a means of creating an Islamic State but as the Muslim Brotherhood grew to an enormous size encompassing a large population with diverse and varying viewpoints many of its supporters in the did. Brothers, who broke away from al-Bannas Brotherhood usually connected to or formed Islamic extremist organizations characterized by the same ultimate goal through different methods. These societies openly recognize and practice their will to use violence against infidels in order to promote their brand of Islam. Although the Muslim Brotherhood denies involvement with off shoot organizations labeled as terrorist, many people in todays global security industry do consider the Brotherhood an underground terrorist group or at the very least a supporter of those organizations. However, the United States does not include the Muslim Brotherhood on their list of terrorist organizations. The United States does, however, regard many of the known off shoot groups such as the Islamic Jihad Group (IJG) and HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) as terrorist organizations. (U.S. Department of State) Islamic Jihad and Hamas are only two of the groups whose founders and leaders broke away from the Muslim Brotherhood because they believed in committing immediate and extreme acts to foster an Islamic State. The events surrounding the 1976 Egyptian Parliamentary elections lead to the creation of Muslim Brotherhood splinter groups. Because Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat did not recognize the Brotherhood as a political party the members of the Brotherhood running for seats in the Parliament were forced to either run as independents or as members of the ruling Arab Socialist Union. The Brotherhood won 15 seats on parliament; six had won on the ruling partys ticket and nine won independently. Sadats success in co-opting several of the Brotherhood leaders into the political system angered many militant Brothers. The militant Brothers then disbanded from the Brotherhood in order to establish underground radical groups. These groups include Mukfirtiya (denouncers of the Infidel), Jund Allah (S oldiers of God), Munnazamat al Jihad (The Jihad Organization) and Al Takfir wa al Hijra (The Denunciation of Infidels and the Migration). The Islamic Jihad Group developed out of the Muslim Brotherhood whose members viewed the Egyptian Brotherhood leaders responses toward the occupation of Israeli as too moderate. (Moneeb) The Brotherhood favored the gradual development of a dominant Islamic State instead of seeking an immediate response through violence. This decision did not satisfy some of the members of the Brotherhood who were motivated to breakaway. These members, having been exposed to militant Islamic groups, such as the Jihad Group looked to satisfy their opinions in the formation of a new organization they titled the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Hamas as well grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood in December 1987. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Brotherhood spiritual leader, founded Hamas to be the Muslim Brotherhoods political arm in Palestine. Then in 1988 Hamas broke away from the Brotherhood when it published its official charter. Hamass winning of the January 2006 Palestinian Authoritys general legislative elections indicate Hamas is now the largest Palestinian militant movement. Hamas is well known for suicide bombings and other violent attacks with the goal to end Israel and to implement an Islamic state in its place. Throughout the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, members have been rounded up and arrested for their anti-government stances in Egypt. Members have fled to Europe, Africa, throughout the Middle East and to the United States. They have set up charities to assist the Palestinians and to convert non-Muslims and to aid the poor. The Brotherhood has began taking a more moderate stance in their approach to the governments of the world in an attempt to gain further acceptance and to distance itself from its violent past. The main problem within the Brotherhood is the clandestine cells and financial networks that act on behalf of the Brotherhood in arming and organizing militant fundamental Islamic groups to further the goal of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate. It is the secrecy and behind the scenes objectives that will forever link the group to the majority of Sunni Islamic terrorist organizations around the globe.