Monday, September 30, 2019

Paris 36 Essay

Paris 36 starts with confession by the protagonist Pigoil(Gerard Jugnot) to a police officer, accused of murder. It turns to a flashback to the year 1936 depicting the unstable district in a Paris faubourg, suffered from depression and the rising pool of involuntary unemployment. Pigoil has lost his lifetime job in a liquidated musical hall and his wife runs off with another man. More miserably, Pigoil cannot keep the custody of his beloved son- JoJo(Maxence Perrin) because of his financial inability. Struggling to hold on, the trio of experienced stagehands- Pigoil, with Milou (Clovis Cornillac) and Jacky (Kad Merad) decide to take over the vacant musical hall, named as Faubourg 36, and produce some sorts of hit musicals. With the arrival of a young talented actress, Douce (Nora Arnezeder), the musical hall is a huge success and Pigoil can share the happiness with JoJo again. During the time, the hostile landowner Galapiat (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) ,who is fascinated with Douce, always wants to clutch her. When he later discovers that Douce is in love with Milou, he sends the gang to have Milou killed but they are in a mistaken notion and wrongly kill Jacky. Shortly thereafter, Milou argue with Galapiat face-to-face and Pigoil finally shoots Galapiat to save Milou. That is the confession and Pigoil is hauled off to 10-year jail. The film ends with a cheerless scene of Pigoil’s returning to the town after 10 years, yet a delightful projection for JoJo’s success as a professional accordionist performing in Faubourg 36.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Introduction to Psychological Testing Essay

Psychological tests are common tools used by schools, hospitals, companies, and other institutions in order to assess the personality of a particular person. Such tests apprise individuals of their personalities, including their behaviors and what they are capable of doing. The history of personality assessment is very long. It might be possible that assessing personality had been of existence since the time a man tried to assess the personality of a stranger for the first time. However, formally assessing personality first became popular in the beginning and the end of World War II. The first tests were paper-and-pencil group tests which consisted of multiple choice and true-or-false questions administered to a large group (Kaplan, et al, 2005). What is a Test? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a test is a critical evaluation or observation. It is also a procedure wherein a statement is being submitted and subjected for acceptance or rejection. Basically, it is a procedure. As related to psychology, it is used to measure skill, intelligence, capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or a group (Test, n. d. ). Categories of Psychological Testing See more: how to write an academic introduction Basically, there are two categories of psychological tests. According to a book entitled, â€Å"Psychological Testing: A practical Introduction†, the two categories are Normal Personality Traits, and Clinical Instruments (Hogan, 2007). The similarities between these two categories involve the nature of the test items and the response formats. Both tests use simple statements as test items, as well as response items. Basically, these items can easily be answered by a simple response such as yes or no. The second similarity is that these categories are subcategorized into comprehensive instruments and specific domain instruments. The aim of the comprehensive clinical instruments is to survey all potential areas of difficulty. In order to do so, these tests produce numerous scores. The specific domain instruments however, focus in only one particular area such as depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. These tests produce only one type of score or a few number of closely related scores. Both normal personality traits and clinical instruments also involve similar strategies for development such as criterion-keying and both have the same stand on faking and responses. Aside from similarities, the two categories of psychological tests also have a number of differences. Firstly, normal personality traits focus on the normal range of personality while clinical instruments focus on the psychopathological aspects or some psychological difficulty. Most of the time, clinical instruments are administered individually, while normal personality traits are administered in a group setting. Clinical instruments are commonly used for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up evaluation. Normal personality traits such as the NEO PI-R do not have that kind of characteristic (Hogan, 2007). Reliability and Validity Reliability of a psychological test means that the results should be consistent. If a person, for example, takes a test, the result of that specific test should be consistent for a considerable period of time. If in any way the result of a test is not the same with an already proven reliable test for a particular person, then that test is not reliable. Thus, reliability is proven with the use of a coefficient correlation between the test scores of the first testing and the second testing. The correlation coefficient (r) is a numerical summary of the relationship indicated in a bivariate distribution. This is computed by defining first the formula for r and computing its raw score (Hogan, 2007). The coefficient for a perfect reliability is +1. 0 while a coefficient of 0. 0 means no reliability. Reliability can also be determined by comparing two psychological measures (McCurley, et al. , 2005). The difference of reliability from validity is that validity is determined whether a particular test is appropriate for the condition to be measured. It is important that an intelligence test should measure and intelligence and a personality test measure personality. The American Psychological Association issued a book entitled, â€Å"Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals† in order to help practitioners in the field of testing determine the validity of a certain test (McCurley, et al. , 2005). It should be noted that it would be inappropriate to refer to the validity of a test in itself. Rather, what should be referred to be the interpretation of the scores, whether it fits the particular purpose. A test may be suitable for a particular condition, but not to another. The question should be asked is if the interpretation of scores of a test fully addressed the level of the condition. Also, validity is not a matter of degree, as according to Hogan. It is necessary that what should be known is the extent of the validity for a particular condition, since some tests may have no validity at all (Hogan, 2007). Reliability and validity have their own significance in psychological testing. Reliability makes sure that tests are consistent and can be used universally to a large number of population. It also makes comparing test results easier since these are standardized and their relationships are already proven appropriate. A test may have reliability without having validity. However, both are essential in determining accurately every individual’s psychological condition. Validity requires that the test is truly measures the entity it intends to measure. It is difficult to determine validity (McCurley, et al. , 2005). However, it is important that each test accurately measures what it intends to measure. Validity and reliability are interdependent in establishhing a trully effective psychological test.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

90s vs. 2000s

Both decades are different in that the 1990’s had less technology, kids were well behaved and it was a more peaceful time; the 2000’s now have all kinds of technology, everyone has to have the newest phone or computer, a lot of kids are brats who want the newest video games and there’s a lot of security at places like airports because of so many terrorist attacks. The technology difference from both decades is huge, because all there was back then was vhs, cassette, and standard cable with 50 channels or so, a couple different types of cellular phones, dial up computers and so on. With technology today, everyone has a cell phone, most people have some type of computer or lap top, there are blu ray and DVD players, either cable or satellite television with high definition, smart phones with touch screens, high speed broadband, and cars that can tell someone when there veering onto a side lane. Next is a big difference which is how different children act whether it is to adults, each other, or in public. In the 1990’s most kids had parents who were physically able to play with them; kids were creative and found so many different games or activities to do’ they were respectful to whomever they came into contact with because they were raised well. Now when looking at most children they either are crying in public with their parents screaming at them, playing on their parents’ phone or tablet, prefer to stay in the house to play video games online, and most parents don’t play with their kids anymore because they are either too hung up on their laptop or too tired from being fat. Finally going back to the 90’s everyone felt safer or not worried about some kind of terrorist attack like people do now. Back then airports didn’t need so much security; people didn’t have to worry about a crazy person shoot up a movie theatre or mall. Now on weekends certain malls require teens under age 18 to be accompanied by an adult over the age of 21 because of gang violence over the years. These decades differences are very different, but are only a few contrasts between the two decades. The music and social era between these two decades is another difference. In the 90’s was an era that was mainly dominated by rock and booming hip hop music industry. This music was brought on to people with baggy or tight fitted clothing. People would walk around with their cassette players jamming out to their new favorite artist. Now in the 2000’s people mainly listen to their iPods or phones because it’s easiest to acquire music that way via wireless connection from the Internet. They also listen to rap or pop because everyone is about what’s mainstream and popular. People like to wear tighter and shorter fitting clothing now because that’s also what the popular fashion is. People in the 90’s communicated through telephone or just drove or walked to each other’s house to talk or do something. Now people rely on texting each other to find out where they are located and what they want to do rather than going to each other’s house, or calling because it’s not the same type of communication; a lot has changed. Technology and music has definitely made a huge impact on how people socialize and act. Overall I think the 90’s was a great era filled with a lot of memories and seeing a lot of changes happens. It was great being able to also grow up into the 2000’s because that was when technology really started to grow and so much was happening with the world. The advantages and disadvantages of growing up in each era are very different mainly because of all the changes, but a lot of them were good and some were bad. References The 1990’s. (2013). History of the 90’s. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1990s The 2000’s. (2012). Americas best history – U. S. Timeline 2000’s. Retrieved from http://americasbesthistory. com/abhtimeline2000. html

Friday, September 27, 2019

Sex Trafficking in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sex Trafficking in America - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to, briefly, explore, and understand the extent and depth of sex trafficking within the United States, the actions taken by the government to combat this problem and the way forward. Discussion Significant here to note is that almost all the statistics regarding this trafficking are unreliable and incomplete because many of these activities are taking place off the grid and underground. However, some statistics indicate that at least 0.1 million and as much as 0.3 million children within the United States are victims of sex trafficking within the country. During the past few months, many US states have passed legislation considering the increasing seriousness of this problem. The State of Virginia, during the first week of May 2012, passed new anti-human trafficking laws. It was on April 5, 2012, that Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the legislation, which criminalized human trafficking within West Virginia thus effectively making it the 49th state to pass an ti-human trafficking laws, with only Wyoming left as the only state in the absence of any anti-human trafficking laws. Earlier in November 2011, Massachusetts became the 48th state pass such legislation according to which the pimps and other running brothels and forcing women and children into labor and sexual exploitation would receive life imprisonment. Furthermore, the law would also treat the women and children forced into prostitution as victims rather than offenders. In the aftermath of the report, which indicated, that every year over 1000 US-born children are forced into sex trade and more than 800 immigrants become the victim for trafficking in the state of Ohio, the policymakers in the state created an anti-human trafficking task force. However, human rights activists and NGOs still believe that US has a lot to do to protect the victims of sex trafficking and discourage such events from happening in the near future. Even today, USA is a tier 1 country for trafficking that means that the government is only meeting the minimum requirements to solve the problem. Furthermore, unlike Massachusetts in many other states, the trafficking laws and law enforcement agencies, rather than providing relief to the victims consider them as the offenders. More importantly, these people, even when freed from sexual exploitation and bonded labour, these people have to face the social stigma associated with their past lives. They fail to become well functioning members of the society because the authorities refuse to clear their records. On top of it, even if they try to become a part of the society, multiple arrests, incarceration, housing discrimination, employment discrimination, deportation and presence of a criminal record prevent them from doing so. Furthermore, many states have also failed to include safe harbor clauses into the anti-trafficking laws to protect the minors, eliminate their liability, and recognize them as victims.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

ETHAL'S CHOCOLATE LOUNGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ETHAL'S CHOCOLATE LOUNGE - Essay Example Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges: Back to the Future? Chocolate Lounges Taste Sweet Success Case Background The case presents the marketing strategies implemented by Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges since its inception in 2005 in the neighborhood of Lincoln Park in Chicago. Reported to be named after the matriarch of the family known to produce the famous Mars chocolates, Ethel, with husband, Frank, the chocolate lounges were designed to parallel the successful stints of coffee shops like Starbucks. The disparity comes in terms of offering chocolate drinks together other chocolate products to sophisticated clientele in search for â€Å"approachable gourmet chocolates† in an impeccable environment. In this regard, the case study would aim to address the issues of consumer buying decision; factors that influence consumers to spend and factors that motivate them; as well as needs that Ethel's experience appeals to most. Type of Consumer Buying Decision Ethel’s Chocolate Lo unges has explicitly indicated that their lounges â€Å"are designed to coddle patrons in the lap of luxury, but Mars president John Haugh maintains that what makes Ethel's special is that it offers ‘approachable gourmet chocolate’† (Cengage Cites, 2008, p. 13). ... 13). Having established their customers’ profile and the products and services that Ethel Chocolate Lounges offer, the type of consumer buying decision depends on the level of involvement of the consumer and the extent of differences among brands (MBA Lectures, 2010). For this case, since the customer is seeking variety and the elegance offered by Ethel Chocolate Lounges, these customers are classified as variety seekers and their buying behavior is variety seeking buying behavior. Accordingly, â€Å"variety seeking buying behavior occurs in a situation of low consumer involvement but significant brand differences† (MBA Lectures, 2010, par. 5). Consumers’ involvement are not significantly high since they could be influenced by peers encouraging them to try out the gourmet chocolates and even if these products are significantly high in price, the cost of the products are not too expensive when compared with luxury products or furnitures, appliances and other high priced items. These customers are mostly seeking specialty products requiring cognitive decision making in terms of added comforts and services offered by the lounges aside from the products per se. Factors that Influence Consumer to Spend Money Having established the consumer profiles, the factors that influence consumers to spend money are as follows: (1) a place to chitchat and relax with friends; (2) a venue for experiencing a relaxing ambiance where socializing is encouraged; (3) the option to try new ways to enjoy chocolates (as beverages, as truffles, and in over 50 varieties); and (4) an opportunity to be included in the ‘in’ crowd. Factor that will motivate a Consumer the Most From the

IMMIGRATION REFORM Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IMMIGRATION REFORM - Coursework Example Those employers who do not fulfill the requirements outlined by the Act may experience a fine of $100 to $1000 for each employee whose documents are not complete. If the employer does not comply with the Act while knowing about the law, he/she may faced a penalty between $200 to $2000 for her first mistake and for the next mistakes the fines are elevated to $200 to $5000 (Malpert, 2000). If the employer does not pay the sanctions that the employer can experience imprisonment for a maximum tenure of six months along with a fine of $3000 for each unauthorized employee he/she has hired. These sanctions are completely justified because it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that they are not hiring illegal employees. Secondly, employers may get involved in hiring illegal employees in order to decrease their cost which is again against the law. While hiring employees, Patricia should perform a background check in which she should obtain the necessary documents from the appli cants to ensure that he/she is authorized to work in United States. Patricia does not need all the documents and she just needs one single document for verification and that document can be the US

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Was Winston Churchill the greatest leader in the 20th century Essay

Was Winston Churchill the greatest leader in the 20th century - Essay Example The paper would examine Churchill’s broad vision and lofty ideologies pertaining to his administration, his political clout as a leader and the manner in which he faced and handled the different problems that stood in his path. It would also form an analysis of how effective his leadership was and the impact it created on the country’s progress. In this context, the paper would also attempt to discuss the varied attributes of Sir Winston Churchill, highlighting his exemplary personality and the strategic and inspiring decisions he had to make as the leader of his country and validate and conclude whether this fact of being one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century was true or false. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born in the United Kingdom on 30th Nov. 1874 to Lord Randolph Churchill from the UK and Lady Randolph who was an American. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, lived with his family at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, and after a long stint with journalism ‘started his career as an army officer in the British Army’ (Source 5, 2002, p.162) and thereafter engaged himself in politics because he was fired with a keen desire to serve his country with great passion and vigor. Life in the early years was not a bed of roses for him, because he was a difficult kid to manage at school where he often got punished for misbehavior. But nevertheless, he showed a very keen interest in subjects such as poetry, history and writing English essays than learning Latin, Greek or Math and never relished the company of his friends. After his High School he completed his graduation at the age 18 at Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Buckinghamshire. After two years that is at age 20, when his life turned more exciting, he started to achieve many things (Source 2, 1952, p.38). His achievements can be classified into four periods namely;

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The american civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The american civil war - Essay Example At the same time the power that was accorded to the slave owners at this time in the national politics arena became waned while on the other hand the North and South were having divergent economies being developed (Griess 56). These situations could not help in any way to hold back the civil war from coming to a reality in America. In this paper, it is these specific events that led to the American Civil War that have been clearly analyzed so as to draw clearly the picture that gave rise to the Civil War. Sectionalism The different customs, social structure, economies and the political values that marked the North and the South are what historians have named as sectionalism this was a phase that increased rapidly during the years 1800 and 1860, a period during which the North was phasing out slavery from existence as urbanization, industrialization and prosperous farms was what was taking over in the North. On the other hand, the South was putting more emphasis on plantation agricult ure whose main basis was slavery alongside subsistence farming that was a characteristic of the whites who were poor. It has been argued out that this striking difference that existed between the industrialized North and the agricultural South could have been a cause of the war. During the year 1851, many states that were in the South held constitutional conventions so as to have a forum to put into consideration the issues of secession and nullification (Griess 61). The Southern conventions had been dominated by Unionists as they voted down the secession articles. This was only with the exception of the South Carolina whose election convention offered no any option for â€Å"no secession†. The Southern Carolina instead offered room for the option only with the collaboration of other states within the region. As a matter of fact, the two party systems that had remained relatively stable during the period between 1820 and 1850 were being compromised by the fact that there was rapid mass democracy that was extending to the North and South. Free Labor vs. Slave Labor It is argued by historians that a free labor ideology had been made to dominate the Northern region, a fact that had ensured that economic opportunities were created in more proportions as compared to the Southern Americans who described free labor as being greasy mechanics. The Southerners strongly opposed the issue of free labor alongside the homestead laws that had been proposed to be offered to the free farms in the west. This was in fear of the fact that the small farmers who were in the region would be influenced into opposing the plantation slavery. It was as a result of this main ideology that the Southerners mainly represented by Calhoun argued the fact that slavers in itself was a â€Å"positive good† (Griess 40). As a matter of fact, the view that was held by the Southerners argued that slavery brought more civilization, morality and intellectuality to the people who were for tunate enough to be chosen as slaves. Missouri Compromise 1820 Uproar was created by James Tallmadge, Jr. Of New York when he brought the proposition that had two amendments to a particular bill aiming at admitting Missouri as a free state to the Union. The first amendment mainly involved

Monday, September 23, 2019

P-2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

P-2 - Coursework Example This research essay will analyse in detail whether the three-strike law really minimize crimes in U.S.A in detail. As per King and Mauer (2001), three-strike laws are sentencing laws that inflict exceptionally longer imprisonments for frequent offenders, particularly after their two earlier felonies. Under an incapacitative justification, three –strike laws are championed since it is debated that repeat lawbreakers are more probable to unleash future felonies and hence, they should be given longer period sentence. Three-strike laws or habitual offender laws are in existence as of date almost in more than half of the all states in U.S but only a selected state like California , have regulations that impinge on a large number of frequent offenders .(Pollock 2011,p.322). This research essay will make a research into whether three-strike laws have really minimized felonies and crimes in U.S.A and whether longer punishment for habitual offenders has yielded any reduction crime rates in U.S.A in an in-depth manner. The main objective of three-strike law is to minimize the crime rates by locking up regular and career criminals. When if one is convicted for a second term for a felony , his imprisonment would be doubled under the 1994 California three-strike law and in case of a third felony sentence, there would be a mandatory conviction of twenty-five years to life. Over the years, only California State in U.S.A is having such harsh law for habitual offenders. The supporters of three-strike law like Bill Jones cited that there was a dramatic fall in the crime rate immediately after the introduction of three-strike laws during the 1990s. (â€Å"Babbie, 2012, p376†). According to opponents, California three-strike law is a bad policy both under ethical and practical reasons. Critics argue that California’s three-strike laws imprison those offenders who already crossed their crime-prone age and also punish non-violent criminals by awarding longer

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary Essay Example for Free

Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary Essay Madame Bovary consists of a Realist critique of Romanticism with Emma Bovary portrayed as the emotionally overwrought romantic who destroys herself and others in her attempts to fulfill her unrealistic dreams. For writing about such a horrible woman Gustave Flaubert, the author, was charged with corrupting the morals of French society. He was acquitted of the charge at a public trial. The major characters of the novel include Emma Bovary, the title character and the villain who brings ruin to herself and others in her efforts to realize her romantic illusions; Charles Bovary, a mediocre country doctor who is lackluster at best but deeply in love with his wife Emma; Leon, a law clerk who is a fellow romantic to Emma with whom he eventually has an affair; Rodolphe, a â€Å"gentleman† landowner and womanizer with whom Emma has an affair; and Lheureux, a merchant and money-lender. Lheureux in French means the happy, and this character becomes happy by preying upon Emma as she attempts to buy the reality of her dreams. Selections, Summaries, and Commentary We meet Charles Bovary who struggled in school to become a doctor. He assumed a practice at Tostes, France, and married. But his wife died. One evening, Charles was summoned to a farm to set a broken leg. Here Charles made the acquaintance of Emma Rouault, the daughter of the patient. Charles, at the invitation of Mr. Rouault, ate breakfast with Emma; and, among other things, they talked of Emma’s dislike for the country. They had closer contact when both of them reached for Charles’ riding crop after it had fallen to the floor. â€Å"Instead of returning to [the farm] in three days as he had promised, he [Charles] went back the very next day, then regularly twice a week†¦. † Though Charles never had the nerve to ask Mr. Roualt for the hand of his daughter, Roualt figured things out, and the marriage was contracted. â€Å"Emma anted a midnight wedding with torches, but old Rouault could not understand such an idea. † It was a country wedding. They walked a mile and a half to and from the church, Emma’s dress trailing on the ground and gathering grass and thistles. After the ceremony, the guests ate until night. â€Å"Charles, who was anything but quick-witted, did not shine at the wedding. † Two days after the wedding, Charles and Emma left for Tostes. Charles now â€Å"had for life this beautiful woman whom he adored. For him the universe did not extend beyond the silky circumference of her petticoat. For Emma, on the other hand, things were different, â€Å"Before [her marriage to Charles] she thought herself in love; but since the happiness that should have followed failed to come, she must, she thought, have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in life by the words bliss, passion, ecstasy, that had seemed to her so beautiful in books. † Emma, we learn, had been fed a steady diet of romanticism at the convent where she was placed at age thirteen. â€Å"Accustomed to the quieter aspects of life [in the country], she turned instead to its tumultuous parts. She loved the sea only for the sake of its storms, and the green only when it was scattered among ruins. † She found herself attracted to the mystical aspects of the religious life. An old maid at the convent kept the girls dreaming. She [the old maid] knew by heart the love-songs of the last century, and sang them in a low voice as she stitched away. She told stories, gave them news, ran their errands in the town, and on the sly lent the big girls some of the novels, that she always carried in the pockets of her apron, and of which the lady herself swallowed long chapters in the intervals of her work. They were all about love, lovers, sweethearts, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely pavilions, postilions killed at every relay, horses ridden to death on every page, somber forests, heart-aches, vows, sobs, tears and kisses, little boatrides by moonlight, nightingales in shady groves, gentlemen brave as lions, gentle as lambs, virtuous as no one ever was, always well dressed, and weeping like fountains. Girls at the convent hid keepsakes with engravings. Here [on the engravings] behind the balustrade of a balcony was a young man in a short cloak, holding in his arms a young girl in a white dress who was wearing an alms-bag at her belt; or there were nameless portraits of English ladies with fair curls, who looked at you from under their round straw hats with their large clear eyes. † After Emma returned home to the farm, she became disgusted with the country. When Charles came to call on her father, she saw Charles as her knight in shinning armor, come to rescue the damsel in distress. Something â€Å"sufficed to make her believe that she at last felt that wondrous passion which, till then, like a great bird with rose-coloured wings, hung in the splendor of poetic skies, and now she could not think that the calm in which she lived was the happiness of her dreams. † Emma is a victim of the mass media, dying because she read the escapist, romantic fantasies and mistook them for reality. She wondered, â€Å"Why could not she lean over balconies in Swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a Scotch cottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails, and thin shoes a pointed hat and frills? Charles talk, in contrast, was dull. He provoked no emotions in her but disgust; he had no desire to do or see anything. Charles’s conversation was commonplace as a street pavement, and every one’s ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb, without exciting emotion, laughter, or thought. He had never had the curiosity, he said, whil e he lived at Rouen, to go to the theatre to see the actors from Paris. He could neither swim, nor fence, nor shoot, and one day he could not explain some term of horsemanship to her that she had come across in a novel. A man, on the contrary, should he not know everything, excel in manifold activities, initiate you into the energies of passion, the refinements of life, all mysteries? But this one taught nothing, knew nothing, wished nothing. He thought her happy; and she resented this easy calm, this serene heaviness, the happiness she gave him. Flaubert writes that â€Å"ennui, the silent spider, was weaving its web in the darkness, in every corner of her heart. † But after a few months, Emma and Charles were invited to the Vaubyessard estate by the Marquis d’Andervilliers (â€Å"Another Village†). Charles had cured the Marquis from an abscess in the mouth, and the Marquis had requested some offshoots of the cherry trees that were in the Bovary’s little garden. When the Marquis came to thank Charles personally, he saw Emma. He thought her pretty and sophisticated enough to invite to the chateau. Charles and Emma arrived at nightfall along with many others. An elaborate dinner was served, and they prepared for the ball. When Charles intimated that he would dance, Emma replied, â€Å"Why, you must be mad! They would make fun of you; stay in your place, as it becomes a doctor. And when he kissed her on her shoulder, â€Å"’Don’t touch me! ’ she cried; ‘I’ll be all rumpled. ’† The dancing began, and when the atmosphere grew warm and heavy, a servant broke out the window panes. Through the windows Emma â€Å"saw in the garden the faces of peasants pressed against the window looking in at them. † She was reminded of her own heritage, the days of the farm, but â€Å"the splendor of the present hour† made her almost doubt she had ever been there. Supper was served, and at three o’clock the cotillion (more dancing) began. Emma danced with a Viscount, and proved to be a highly courted partner. Charles, in the meantime, had spent five consecutive hours watching people at the card tables â€Å"without understanding anything about it. † Lunch was served the following day, and then Charles and Emma left for Tostes. Emma believed the life of Vaubyessard to be the kind of life she wanted and deserved, and her immediate surroundings grew even more dreary. â€Å"She longed to travel or to go back to her convent. She wanted to die, but she also wanted to live in Paris. † She became increasingly irritated with Charles and her surroundings to the point of becoming ill. She suffered from heart palpitations, and she exhibited altered states of hyperactivity and torpor. She constantly complained about Tostes, and Charles thought that perhaps her illness was due to the town itself. From that thought on, â€Å"Emma drank vinegar to lose weight, contracted a sharp little cough, and lost all appetite. † The Bovarys moved to a new town, Yonville (â€Å"yonder village†), a small market town some twenty miles from Rouen. Here the Bovarys had a daughter, whom Emma names Berthe, after a young lady she had encountered at Vaubyessard, and the Bovarys sent Berthe to be nursed by a carpenter’s wife. Emma was not a very good mother. She really wanted a son who would be free to â€Å"explore all passions and all countries, overcome obstacles, taste of the most distant pleasures. † She did not care for the realities of motherhood. On one occasion, after returning home, Berthe approached Emma. â€Å"‘Leave me alone,’ repeated the young woman quite angrily. Her expression frightened the child, who began to scream. ‘Will you leave me alone? ’ she said, forcing her away with her elbow. Berthe fell at the foot of the chest of drawers against the brass handle; she cut her cheek, blood appeared. Emma then felt sorry for her treatment of the child. The Bovarys met Leon Dupuis, a clerk for the town notary. Leon and Emma were fellow romantics. They spoke of their desire for change as opposed to routine. They talked about their desire for walking in the country, witnessing sunsets, visiting seashores, mountains, lakes, waterfalls. They related their love for music and reading by the fire. The two of them fell in love with one another, but did not yet allow themselves to express their love. â€Å"Weary of loving without success,† Leon eventually left for Paris to pursue a law degree. Emma became unhappy and ill again. A â€Å"gentleman† named Rodolphe Boulanger brought one of his workers, who wanted to be bled, to see Dr. Bovary. Rodolphe had just acquired an estate that consisted of a chateau and two farms that Rodolphe cultivated himself, â€Å"without, however, taking too many pains. † Rodolphe â€Å"lived as a bachelor, and was supposed to have† a sizeable income. When Emma was called to assist in the bleeding, Rodolphe became infatuated with her beauty. But he only desired her as a mistress. Flaubert described Rodolphe as â€Å"having had much experience with women and being something of a connoisseur. † Rodolphe thought to himself, â€Å"Three gallant words and she’d adore me, I’m sure of it. She’d be tender, charming. Yes; but how to get rid of her afterwards. † His present mistress, an actress in Rouen, was beginning to bore him. During an Agricultural Fair, Emma and Rodolphe strolled around, arm in arm, eventually ascending to â€Å"the council room† on the first floor of the townhall. The room was empty, and Rodolphe suggested they could enjoy the show there more comfortably. Flaubert showed his appreciation of irony when, in the background, he awarded the first prize for manure at the same time Rodolphe told Emma, â€Å"A hundred times I tried to leave; yet I followed you and stayed†¦. As I would stay to-night, to-morrow, all other days, all my life! † Also, as Emma and Rodolphe gazed at each other, â€Å"as their desire increased, their dry lips trembled and languidly, effortlessly, their fingers intertwined,† a prize was awarded to an old peasant woman for fifty-four years of faithful service at one farm. Emma was susceptible to Rodolphe’s charms. After some six weeks, a time chosen by Rodolphe for the purpose of not appearing too eager, he visited Emma. He knew just how to play her. When Charles returned home, Rodolphe suggested that riding might be good for Madame Bovary’s health. Charles thought it a good idea. At first, Emma objected, but Charles talked her into it. She and Rodolphe rode and walked. Sometime into their first outing, Emma â€Å"abandoned herself to him. † Charles bought her a horse. Emma and Rodolphe rode regularly, and they began exchanging letters, placing them in the cracks of a wall located near the river at the end of the garden attached to the Bovary home. If Charles left early enough, she would sneak off, on foot, to see Rodolphe at his estate and return to Yonville before anyone awoke. She would cry when she had to leave Rodolphe, and her farewells would go on forever. Rodolphe suggested her visits were too dangerous; she was compromising herself. So, Rodolphe began coming to the garden at night, throwing sand against the shutters, and Emma would sneak out after Charles had retired. Six months passed. Rodolphe became increasingly indifferent, and Emma became uncertain herself. One day, news of a new surgical procedure for curing clubfoot reached the apothecary at Rouen. Emma, who wanted more fame and excitement for her husband, and the apothecary, who wanted fame for himself, urged an unwilling Charles to carry out the new operation on a crippled servant at the inn. The servant was pressured and finally consented after the operation was offered to him at no charge. At first, the operation appeared successful, and Emma was delighted with Charles and his prospects. But the device in which they strapped the servant’s foot caused swelling. In response, the device was tightened even further, and gangrene set in. A surgeon was called in for consultation. He laughed and scolded Charles. The surgeon had to amputate the servant’s leg to the thigh. Emma was no longer delighted. â€Å"Everything in him [Charles] irritated her now; his face, his dress, all the things he did not say, his whole person, in short, his existence. † The disastrous operation was further proof of Charles stupidity and incompetence, and Emma turned to Rodolphe to fulfill her dreams. She sent Rodolphe love notes, and the two of them made plans to leave for Italy. Emma was apparently willing to leave without Berthe. When she firsts suggested the idea of leaving, Rodolphe asked about the fate of Berthe. Then, Emma, who had obviously not thought of Berthe before, said they would take Berthe with them. But no further mention of Berthe was made in their succeeding plans, and Emma rarely gave Berthe any attention. Rodolphe, who had no real intentions of running off with Emma, postponed the departure on several occasions, and then they set a specific date. On the day of their departure, however, Rodophe sent a letter to Emma through a servant. In the letter he ended the affair and announced that he was leaving without her. He had his servant echo his plans to depart, but he was not actually planning to go anywhere. Though, later in the day, he did decide to go to Rouen. Emma saw him leaving as he passed by the Bovary home. She was devastated and became ill. Charles stayed by her side for forty-three days, neglecting his own affairs. Charles thought the theatre may be good medicine, and so he and Emma went to Rouen to see an opera. The whole experience began to reawaken Emma’s romantic being. After the second act, Charles went to get Emma something to drink and ran into Leon. As the third act began, the three of them left to talk elsewhere. Leon, as it turns out, after his schooling in Paris, had come to Rouen to work as a clerk. Because the three old acquaintances talked through the opera, Emma did not get to see the third act; and since Emma now seemed energized, Charles suggested that she stay the night and see the third act the next day. Charles, however, must return home. Emma stayed, and she and Leon began an affair. As Flaubert wrote it, Emma and Leon apparently consummate their feelings for one another during a long carriage ride through Rouen. When she returned to Yonville, she was informed that Charles’ father has died. Emma was by this time substantially indebted to a shopkeeper and moneylender by the name of Lheureux (â€Å"the happy,† as in the seller of happiness), and he suggested that Emma obtain the power of attorney over Charles’ father’s estate. She manipulated Charles into giving her this power of attorney, and she even earned his gratitude for going to Rouen to have Leon look over the legal papers. Emma’s stay in Rouen lasted three days, after which Leon came to Yonville at times and sent Emma secret letters. Emma then began to make weekly trips to Rouen under the pretense of taking piano lessons. She manipulated Charles into asking her to refresh her skills in this area. She and Leon would stay in a hotel, and she was running up all kinds of debts with Lheureux, spending freely on her trips to Rouen and satisfying all of her whims. Lheureux lent her money on the value of Charles’ father’s estate. Charles was unaware of her spending and her adultery. Leon and she began seeing each other more frequently. She began billing Charles’ patients herself, without his knowledge, and selling things in order to pay on her bills. She gave Berthe no attention. Finally, someone wrote Leon’s mother, telling her that Leon was ruining himself with a married woman. Leon’s mother wrote her son’s employer who then indicated to Leon how important it was to break off the affair. Leon wanted to end it, but he was in love. Eventually Emma’s unpaid bills ran long overdue, and her creditors obtained a judgment against her. On her return from a visit to Rouen, the maid showed her a judgment that commanded her â€Å"by power of the king† to pay the sum of eight thousand francs. She went to Lheureux, who by this time had sold the debt at a discount to a banker at Rouen. Emma tried to talk Lheureux out of the judgment. She â€Å"even pressed her pretty white and slender hand against the shopkeeper’s knee,† but Lheureux would have none of that. She owed a vast sum of money, and the sheriffs officers arrived to confiscate the family property. Emma tried frantically to raise the money. She went to Leon at Rouen and urged him to borrow the money for her, and she even suggested that he steal the money from his office. Leon tried to borrow the money from lenders, but to no avail. On the next morning, people gathering in the market read a notice indicating that the Bovarys’ furniture was for sale. Madame Bovary went to see the town notary. The notary was in business with Lheureux and, so, knew all about Emma’s plight. But he listened as she told him all about it. He then made it clear, in a not so subtle manner, that he would expect a sexual relationship if he were to lend her the money she needed. Emma appeared insulted by his forwardness, shouted that she was not for sale, and left in a fury. She was surely not opposed to exchanging herself for money, but the notary was too crass and straightforward about it. Had he concealed it in more romantic language, she probably would have consented. Later, as Flaubert wrote, â€Å"perhaps she began to repent now that she had not yielded to the notary. † At last, when she heard the sound of Charles coming home, she went to the town’s tax collector and offered herself to him in return for the money. He was offended by Emma’s advances. While Emma was running around, thinking about how to get the money, Charles learned of his family’s financial ruin. Emma, at least, turned to Rodolphe. But even though it seemed the two of them could once again become lovers, Rodolphe was either unwilling or unable to help. Out of shame and despair, Emma poisoned herself with arsenic she obtained from the pharmacy through an unwitting assistant. She hoped to make her death short and sweet. She said, â€Å"Ah! It is but a little thing, death! â€Å"I shall fall asleep and all will be over. † But she suffered long and horribly with vomiting, sweating, pain, moaning, and convulsions. Charles, unable and in no shape to help his wife, called in another doctor, but to no avail. â€Å"A final spasm threw her back upon the mattress,† and she died. Charles appears to be the true hero of the novel. He genuinely loved Emma, would have done anything for her, offered her a decent li fe, was a good husband, a good provider and a good father. But, he was a real human being with real human characteristics and flaws. At the end of the novel, however, Charles becomes a genuine romantic, engulfed by authentic and understandable emotions. Charles decided in favor of a mausoleum for Emma’s tomb, and he wrote the following instructions: â€Å"I wish her to be buried in her wedding dress, with white shoes, and a wreath. Her hair is to be spread out over her shoulders. Three coffins, one oak, one mahogany, one of lead. Let no one try to overrule me; I shall have the strength to resist him. She is to be covered with a large piece of green velvet. This is my wish; see that it is done. The pharmacist and the priest, we are told, â€Å"were much taken aback by Bovary’s romantic ideas. † Charles’ mother shared their view. But Charles now had become a romantic just like Emma, emotionally overwrought with the death of this woman he so dearly loved, refusing to sell any of her possessions to satisfy her debts. Flaubert writes of Charles, â€Å"He was a changed man. † â€Å"To please her, as if she were still living, he adopted her taste, her ideas; he bought patent leather boots and took to wearing white cravats. He waxed his moustache and, just like her, signed promissory notes. She corrupted him from beyond the grave. Soon, though, Charles discovered the love letters from Leon and Rodolphe hidden in a secret drawer of Emma’s desk; and, shortly thereafter, Charles died of love sickness. A surgeon â€Å"performed an autopsy, but found nothing. † All of Charles’ belongings were sold to satisfy debts, and there remains just enough to send Berthe off to her grandmother. But the grandmother died the same year, and Berthe fell under the care of a poor aunt who sent her â€Å"to a cottom-mill to earn a living. †

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Discourse Analysis of Trumps North Korea Interactions

Discourse Analysis of Trumps North Korea Interactions The projection of power in United States-North Korea contemporary interactions Introduction Language has an essential role in the projection of political power (Foucault in Pitsoe and Letseka, 2012). Besides being an instrument for communication, it also serves as a tool for projecting power, (Bordieu, 1977), portraying certain image to the audience and turning the publics attention to particular matters (Behr, Iyengar and Cohen cited in Sirin and Villalobos, 2018). Also, language can be a tool for power to realize what it is known as the ‘holding of common sense’ (Jones and  Wareing, 1999, p. 34), so as to convey certain ideology to the extent of it being voluntarily considered by the public as part of shared system of principles, what Fairclough calls ‘the manufacture of consent’ (2001, p. 3). Already a controversial public figure, Donald Trump, since the very beginning of his mandate, has been known for his contentious discourse. His inaugural speech showed the first signs of the ‘rhetorical rift’ (Sirin and Villalobos, 2018) from his predecessor, whose positive rhetoric greatly differs from Trumps negative and sharp statements. Even though it is not rare seeing Trump explicitly addressing other countries in a discrediting way (Watkins and Phillip, 2018) and despite the fact that US-North Korean relations have been tense since the Cold War (IBP USA, 2005), new forms of communication, combined with the new US presidents fondness of public attention, among other factors, have generated a tug-of-war situation around such risky issues as international security. The aim of this essay, thus, is to analyse how power is being projected in US-North Korea interactions through discourse analysis. In terms of methodology, several texts will be studied. Speeches pronounced by US President Donald Trump and North Korean government statements have been chosen for this matter. Prior to our analysis, it is important to address the fact that North Korea public communication features a high level of censorship, scoring the last place in the Reporters without Borders â€Å"2017 World Press Freedom Index† (Reporters Without Borders, 2017). Regarding texts issued by the United States side, the sources consulted have official status (The White House and Donald Trumps official Twitter) but the Government of North Korea does not have an open-access official website in English. For this reason, the only primary source is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea: Rodong Sunmun. In terms of the procedure, the essay will be focused firstly on a general study of the elements of communication; secondly, it will consider grammar analysis; and thirdly, as pects related to the lexical level will be addressed. This way, the projection of power will be assessed through these elements following a Critical Discourse Analysis model, as according to Simpson and Mayr ‘it is the most comprehensive attempt to develop a theory of the interconnectedness of discourse, power, ideology and social structure’ (2010, p. 51). Discourse Analysis Elements of communication For this section, we will use, among others, the Jakobson criteria model presented in Barbara Johnstones book Discourse Analysis (Jakobson in Johnstone, 2002, p.220), which includes an ‘addresser’, an ‘addressee’ and ‘message’. In the first speech presented, Remarks by President Trump to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Trump, 2017) these components will play a very important role. The addresser is Donald Trump in the sense that he is the direct source. However, in the first line, he states that ‘it is a profound honor to stand here in my home city, as a representative of the American people, to address the people of the world.’ (Trump, 2017). This is the first sign of power projection: with this statement, Trump is implying that everything he will mention comes not only from him but is also endorsed by the people in his country. In other words, his message is not personal; it comes from the United States to the world and, indirectly, to North Korea. This is not the case with State of the Union Speech, as it is targeted at the United States in particular and not at an international organization as the United Nations. Thus, due to the different nature of both communications, both messages will have different repercussions in terms of projection of power as there is an increase in legitimacy by including addressees in the message (Johnstone, 2002, p.46). In the case of North Korea examples, we see that Kim Jong-Un himself is hardly ever the person who directly conveys the message but a government official. In the first example, the addresser is the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nonetheless, in the other selected text, he is the one to deliver the response to Trump’s speech in the Office of the United Nations, fact which could be considered as a way to project power itself, as he only speaks in very rare occasions (Smith, 2017) and this is one of them. Regarding the addressee, it is important to underline that there are some differences in terms of direct referencing. North Koreas discourse displays direct explicit references of the United States. In Trump speeches, however, this is highly dependent on the context where the discourse takes place. While speeches thought to be delivered in an international scenario, such as the one pronounced in the Office of the United Nations, feature a more serious rhetoric, it is not uncommon to find direct descriptions, like Rocket Man in communications coming directly from Trump in more informal contexts or channels of communication, such as Twitter. On the other hand, as stated before, North Korea lacks this individual dimension as statements hardly ever come from its leader himself. It terms of projection of power, this clearly states a difference: Donald Trump is a public figure, as the president of the United States but also, as an individual persona with his own opinions. Kim Jong-Un, on t he other hand, not only is not separated from his position (he does not have a private channel of communication) but does not appear in the public international scenario. This way, an image of unreachability is portrayed, as if he did not participate directly in this issue.  Ã‚   Finally, the channel of communication is also worth mentioning. Donald Trump is an avid Twitter user (36,900 tweets) (Trump, 2018b), which can be used not only as a way of communication but also as a way of portraying influence. The very same act of communicating by social media has a strong connotation in terms of projecting power. In the first place, due to its spontaneous nature, this tool enables to reach a high number of people (Sirin and Villalobos, 2008) in seconds. Most importantly, ‘joint discourse activitycreates and affirmed shared membership in a community of practice’ (Wenger in Johnstone, 2002, p.116). Twitter has its own textual conventions. Due to its capacity of reach the public and the brevity of the messages, language tends to be direct and informal. Even though political discourse is ‘highly stylized and predictable most of the time’ (Edelman in Lim, 2008, p. 4), it is highly noticeable how Trumps discourse through social media is nowhere near traditional presidential rhetoric and his remarks feature almost bantering language. We can see this in the well-known nuclear button tweet, where he states that his button ‘is bigger than the North Korean leaders’ (Trump, 2018b). It would be relevant to think that this is part of a political strategy in the sense that power can be projected by highly intellectual rhetoric but also by disregarding the formality aspect expected taking into account the type of interaction (Fairclough, 2001). In simpler words, informal language could be used to downplay North Korean threats. On the other hand, North Koreas official channel of communication is a perfect example of one of Faircloughs ideas. He supports that the access to discourse itself is as much of a good as economic wealth (Fairclough, 2001). If one were to access the Korea Central News Agency, it would be impossible to find much information, as access is highly restricted and the system does not allow to search for more than a couple of statements if subscription is not paid. Thus, the channel of communication is this case is a tool for projecting power by not providing information, being the exact opposite of Trumps case.   Grammar Agency in voices In the first place, we are going to analyse these texts in terms of grammar as ‘grammatical and semantic forms can be used as ideological instruments’ (Fowler et al. cited in Simpson and Mayr, 2010, p. 50). To start with, our study will focus on agency. Agency is expressed in grammar through the use of the passive or the active voice as this is a way to determine which participants are actors and which ones are the recipients of the action. One significant trait of the selected extracts from Trump is the lack of use of passive voice except for two cases which will be later addressed. We can see that in ‘Authority and authoritarian powers seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances that prevented conflict’ (Trump, 2018a), where the fact that North Korea (or authoritarian regimes) is trying to end with the current state of peace is stated indirectly. Also Trump is making an implicit reference, which can be used in political discourse as a way to ev ade responsibility (Simpson and Mayr, 2010, p.43). We find another example in this same text: ‘no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea’. Again, the regime is the main actor through the use of personalization and the use of active voice. There is a change of meaning between ‘citizens have been oppressed by the regime’ and ‘the regime has oppressed the citizens’ as the centre of the action has been shifted. However, it is significant to point out that the passive voice is used twice in the extract related to North Korea in the State of the Union speech (Trump, 2018a) and it is when Trump tells the story of a North Korean defector (‘he was tortured by North Korean authorities’ and ‘his father was caught trying to escape’). In this part of the speech, the centre of the action has shifted through the use of passive voice and it is not the North Korean regi me anymore but the defector. We can see how here the human factor is what is important, appealing to the more emotional aspect by making this defector the passive subject of the sentence. There are similar strategies in North Korean’s response. While the majority of sentences in the text are introduced by verbs in active voice, there are some cases where subjects have been changed into objects. We can see this in ‘the prevailing serious circumstances, in which the situation on the Korean peninsula has been rendered tense as never before’ (The New York Times, 2017). The agent is unknown, which can be, according to Johnstone, due to the fact that it is ‘unknown,  obvious  or  unimportant’ as well as a way of hiding  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœan  agent  who  is  known’ (2002, p. 46). However, although the attempt to conceal the agent could be argued, it is noticeable that the same verb (to render) has been used just a line below (‘Trump has rendered the world restless through threats and blackmail against all countries in the world’), this time in active voice, with a clear agent, establishing thus a direct link between the existing tension and the President’s actions. There is a similar case: ‘Should the Korean peninsula and the world be embroiled in the crucible of nuclear war because of the reckless nuclear war mania of the U.S.’ (Rodong News Team, 2017), where the use of the passive voice and the verb â€Å"embroil† suggest that this situation is almost circumstantial, as neither Korea nor the world would be taking part in this conflict and would find themselves in the middle of a war. Agency in pronouns As Fairclough mentions, pronouns in English can establish different relations (2001). In Trumps statements, it is worth noting that the first person of the plural form appears throughout the whole text (i.e. ‘our military will soon be the strongest’ or ‘the scourge of our planet’). The sentence ‘I intend to address some of the very serious threats before us today’, which belongs to the United Nations speech, is particularly revealing. With this statement, Trump is essentially conveying that North Korean threat is not only an attack to his country, but the addressees as well: this matter involves the world and not just one nation. However, it is also important to point out that the use of the pronoun â€Å"we†, especially as inclusive, can be used to ‘obscure responsibility and agency’ and a method to ‘share responsibilities’ (Simpson and Mayr, 2010, p. 44). In this case, taking into consideration that the address ee is the United Nations and that Donald Trump does not usually hide his intentions towards North Korea, it would be more appropriate to think that he is trying to convey a message of unity against this country, an attempt to engage the rest of nations, instead of aiming at concealing his opinions. In consequence, by using this pronoun, power has shifted, as now it would not be US against North Korea but North Korea against the United Nations. Unlike Trumps statement at the United Nations, Kim Jong-Un response contains just one inclusive pronoun. As it has been mentioned, it is very rare that the Korean leader himself delivers a speech personally. Nonetheless, he is the direct addresser in this response and he shows it by always using the pronoun I. This way, Kim Jong-Un’s statement is portrayed as a reaction to a personal attack. Trumps words were not only targeted at North Korea but his leader himself. Thus, the figure of the leader, already very prominent in this nation, is even more enhanced. Power, in this case, is portrayed by focusing the interaction solely on one (or two, with Trump) participants. Lexical aspects We have also regarded the analysis of vocabulary as something very relevant, as ‘choices about naming and wording deciding what to call something can constitute a claim about it’ (Johnstone, 2002, p. 46) In this regard, we will consider referencing and metaphors. In other words, we will focus in the way each participant refers to the other. It is usual to find implicit referencing to North Korea in Trump’s discourse and many times this is done using metaphors, which are well-known to the public such as the famous ‘fire and fury’ (NBC News, 2017). In the selected texts, we can find that Trump talks about authoritarian regimes as ‘the scourge of our planet’ (Trump, 2017) without mentioning directly North Korea. However, he mentions it a line below as a way of example. This strategy appears in Johnstone’s book Discourse Analysis under the name of â€Å"presupposition†, where the public is ‘delivering information implicitl y and leaving it to the hearer to deduce meaning and make assumptions’ (Johnstone, 2002, p.43). The same strategy is used the same text: ‘if the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph’. In this case, he refers to these regimes (and, ultimately, North Korea) as â€Å"wicked† but, more importantly, he is implicitly referring with the word â€Å"righteous† not only to himself, as taking into account that this speech is pronounced at the United Nations, this serves as an appeal to engage for the rest of countries.    Lastly, in his speech for the State of the Union of 2018, several references are made through metaphors which are related to the idea of North Korea being a nation deprived from freedom. We can see that in the final part, where Trump tells the story of a North Korean defector, is a metaphor itself. This is becomes clear in the final sentence he states saying that Seong-hos tale is a ‘testament to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom’. Regarding North Korea, Kim Jong-Un’s use of metaphors is also quite relevant. In the response speech (The New York Times, 2017), a constant metaphor exists in which the North Korean leader associates Trump with an animal, specifically, a dog. We can see that in the idiomatic sentence ‘a frightened dog barks louder’. This implicit reference becomes explicit at the end of the speech, (‘I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire’), through the use of the verb â€Å"to tame† which, according to the Oxford Dictionary online, means ‘make less powerful and easier to control’ but also ‘to domesticate (an animal)’. He also uses the expression ‘with fire’, retaking Trump’s statement (‘fire and fury’), which could be considered as a response. Also in this speech, we can see that, while he refers to himself as ‘a man representing the DPRK’, appealing to the â€Å"Democratic† in ‘Democratic Popular Korean Republic’ he calls Trump ‘the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the US’, appealing to the fact that he is the sole person holding the power. In terms of projection of power, metaphors are an essential part of political discourse as they can ‘change the addressee’s perspective on the referent or topic that is the target of the metaphor, by making the addressee look at it from a different conceptual domain or space’ (Steen, 2008, p.22) and ‘an important means of conceptualizing political issues and constructing world views’ (Charteris-Black, 2004, p. 48). In this case, we can state that they are a resource to engrain in public opinion a certain association so the audience can identify an idea with a concept belonging to their reality, which Simpson and Mayr refer to as â€Å"target domain† and â€Å"source domain† respectively (2010, p.43). Conclusions From our analysis we can conclude that power is being portrayed in the language of North Korea-US interactions in different ways: in the first place, by an increase of legitimacy on the part of Donald Trump by including the American people and the United Nations as addressers. Secondly, by making explicit references. We see a change in the language of Donald Trump in cases where the addressees differ. While in an international context, references are more implicit, we see an â€Å"explicitation† process when the speech is pronounced at a national event or come through a personal way channel of communication. Thirdly, by restricting access to information. Finding official statements made by Donald Trump is much easier than finding North Korean official sources. Information from this country, thus, would be reserved only to a few people. In this regard, the exposure to the public is also relevant. The North Korean leader does not appear usually in the media which, on the one hand, portrays an image of unreachability and, on the other, increases the importance of the occasions when he does. Fourthly, by the position of agency through the use of active and voice and pronouns. Shifting agency is useful when portraying to the audience who does what. Lastly, through the use of metaphors, also present on both sides. While Trump intends to lead the public to assumptions and evoke the emotional side of the story, Kim Jong-Un uses this resource for the portrayal of authority downplaying Trump’s and this, establishing an asymmetrical relation of power. As Simpson and Mayr state (2010, p.4) ‘language is influenced by ideology’. By analysing the elements studied in this essay, it can be said that ideology can also be affected by language. In the case of United States-North Korean interactions, where current events keep changing the international scenario and taking into account that ‘discourse is one of the principal activities through which ideology is circulated and reproduced’ (Foucault in Johnstone, 2002, p.45), it will be relevant to keep observing both countries’ discourse from the projection of power perspective.    Bibliography Bourdieu, P. (1977)  Outline  of  a  theory  of  practice. Cambridge: Cambridge  University  Press   Charteris-Black, J. (2004) Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave. Macmillan Fairclough, N. (2001)  Language  and  power. 2nd edition. London: Longman IBP USA (2005) Us Korea North Political and Economic Relations Handbook. Washington DC: International Business Publications. Johnstone,  B. (2002)  Discourse  Analysis.  Oxford:  Blackwell   Jones, J., S. Wareing (1999) Language and politics. In: Thomas, L. and S. Wareing. eds. Language, society and power. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 31-47. Lim, E.T. (2008)  The  anti-intellectual presidency. New York: Oxford University Press   NBC News (2017) Donald Trump: North Korea Will Be Met With Fire And Fury [online]. Available from: Youtube [accessed 3 February 2017] Pitsoe, V.   M.,  Letseka  (2012)  Foucault’s Discourse and Power: Implications for Classroom Management. Open Journal of Philosophy, 3(1), pp. 23-28 Reporters without Borders (2017) 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders [online], 26 April. Available from: https://rsf.org/en/ranking {accessed 1 February 2018] Rodong News Team, (2017) FM Spokesman on Planned Joint Aerial Drill by U.S. and S. Korea. Rodong Sinmun [online], 5 December. Available from: [accessed 31 January 2018] Semino, E. (2008): Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Simpson, P., A. Mayr (2010) Language and power: A resource book for students. London: Routledge Sirin, C. and Villalobos, J. (2018)  Rhetoric,  Public  Politics, and Security. In: Conley, R. ed.  Presidential  Leadership  and  National  Security:  The  Obama  Legacy  and Trump  Trajectory. New York: Routledge, pp. 19-42   Smith, M. (2017) Kim Jong-Un calls Trumps UN speech declaration of war and brands US president mentally deranged in rare speech. The Daily Mirror [online], 21 September. Available from: [accessed 3 February 2018] Steen, G.J. (2008) The paradox of metaphor: â€Å"Why we need a three-dimensional model for metaphor† in Metaphor & Symbol 23(4), 213-241. The New York Times (2017) Full Text of Kim Jong-un’s Response to President Trump. The New York Times [online], 22 September. Available from: [accessed 27 January 2018] Trump, D. (2018a) President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address. Capitol Building, Washington, 31 January. Trump, D. (2017) Remarks by President Trump to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Office of the United Nations in New York, 19 September. Trump, D. (2018b) 2 January. Available at: [accessed: 23 January] Watkins, E., A. Phillip (2018) Trump decries immigrants from shithole countries coming to US. CNN [online] , 12 January. Available from: [accessed 5 February 2018]

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Horror of Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church. Essay example

The Horror of Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church. Early Sunday morning, people shuffle in through the mahogany doors as the smell of Frankincense and Myrrh tickle the nose. Rays of sunlight beam through the stained glass windows, making rainbow images on the red velvet carpet. What sounds like the voices of angels singing praise to the lord harmoniously circulates in the air. A mighty voice roars from the altar, â€Å"Now, let us bow our heads in prayer.† This is a majestic place where one can find peace, confess sins and thank the lord for all of the blessings he has bestowed upon them. In May of 1992, all of this would change, as Catholicism would be thrust to its knees. A story concerning a Catholic Priest sparked the headlines. The Boston Globe newspaper reported, â€Å"Nine allege priest abused them, threaten to sue church† (â€Å"Spotlight Investigation†). The article was a steppingstone for what triggered an intense investigation, extending from Massachusetts to Washington State, into allegations of child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church. For decades the Catholic Church has tolerated and silenced accusations of sexual misconduct by its priests. This essay discusses the link between the Roman Catholic Church, child sexual abuse and the possibility of a cover-up. Are the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church guilty of covering up accusations of child sexual abuse? If so, could the church have stopped the abuse before it became an epidemic? And why have multiple victims come forth alleging sexual abuse after so many years? In order to answer these questions, we must first identify the circumstances surrounding the scandal. First and foremost, the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church spawned a culture of secrecy whe... ... â€Å"Asked to help, priest allegedly abused.† Boston Globe. 05 June 2002 http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories2/060502_matte.htm â€Å"Five Principles to Follow in Dealing with Accusations of Sexual Abuse.† United States. Office of Catholic Bishops. June 1992. http://www.nccbuscc.org/comm/kit4.htm â€Å"Major settlements in Catholic sex abuse cases† USA Today. 9 Sept. 2003 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-09-09-catholic-church-settlements_x.htm â€Å"Spotlight Investigation: Abuse in the Catholic Church.† 2003. 20 Oct. 2003. http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/ Turner, Maureen. â€Å"Telling Secrets.† Valley Advocate. 19 Dec. 2003 http://www.valleyadvocate.com/gbase/News/content.html?oid=oid:763 United States. Office of Catholic Bishops. 08 Oct. 2003. 20 Oct. 2003. http://www.nccbuscc.org/comm/restoretrust.htm

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The First Scene of Macbeth  :: Free Essay Writer

The first scene is very short, but full of impact. The thunder and lightning alone give it a dramatic opening, which grabs the interest of the audience, as it is representative of evil. These dramatic sound effects help to set the eerie and supernatural atmosphere that Shakespeare wanted to create along with the witches. Instead of seeing Macbeth, Shakespeare’s audience is faced with three weird-looking women. The witches introduce us to a dark, dangerous play, in which the theme of evil is central. The witches say little but we learn a lot about them. The mood of the play is set here, although the action doesn’t start until the next scene. The presence of supernatural forces in the opening of ‘Macbeth’ provides for much of the play’s dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. ‘When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or rain?’ This is the opening line. It immediately draws the audience and captures their imagination, as the supernatural world fascinated people in Elizabethan England. At the time the play was first performed and at the time that Shakespeare was writing it, witchcraft was a great enemy, people became captivated by these peculiar, suspicious witches. Witch – hunts took place and many people were convicted of being witches and were executed. The witches fit in with the stereotypical perception of witches of that time, including use of familiars like Graymalkin and Paddock. The use of the paranormal occurs at the beginning, with three witches explaining that they will meet Macbeth. ‘When the battle’s lost and won.’ The audience have yet to find out what the battle is, however they know that the battle is won by one side and lost by another. Macbeth’s fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose the battle for his soul. We have come in at the end of the witches meeting, just as they are arranging their next appointment before their familiar spirits call them into the fog and filthy air. From the beginning we can tell that the witches can foretell the future, and are creating some unpleasant magic, which is to involve Macbeth. This creates suspense for the audience, wandering what is going to happen next. The fact that the witches want to meet Macbeth should raise some suspicion in the audience. The witches first mention Macbeth in the eighth line, when they explain that they will meet Macbeth upon the heath.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

World Trade Center Tragedy :: American America History

World Trade Center Tragedy At 8:45am a hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Centre, 9:03am a second hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Centre. Again at 9:43am another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, and one other hijacked plane was shot down at 10:10am as it was going towards Camp David. On September 11th 2001 at 8:45am the first hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Centre. American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts was the first out of four planes to be hijacked that day. As people looked on they saw how many people lost their lives in that short second. Many people looked on in shock and amazement at the same time. As they were looking at the first hijacked plane in the World trade Centre they saw a second hijacked plane Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at around 9:03am. The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below, and a massive cloud of dust formed and slowly drifted away from the buildings at 10:05am. As many people ran for cover the second World trade Centre collapsed at10:28. At 9:43. American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke Three minutes later the Whitehouse was evacuated. People in Washington are now feeling the same disbelief that New York was feeling. They are shocked, and some people might not have understood what was going on. Some people did not want to believe that something like this could happen in their city, let alone there own town. The Pentagon is now burning and there is nothing anyone could do but cry, and hope that their loved ones were not on any of those planes. The last plane that was hijacked was then shot down at 10:10am. The plane was being hijacked was going toward Camp David.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Julia Stasch – Case Study

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Case study-2 Julia Stasch (A) Submitted To: Submitted By: Section – B Group-7 Name| Roll No. | | | Archana Sharma| 2012074| Ashish Saxena| 2012080| Ayush N. Aggarwal| 2012085| Bhavneet Singh Uppal| 2012092| Chetan Chawhan| 2012100| Deepak Chandak| 2012104| Gaurav Kapshe| 2012119| Outline of the case A. Introduction Richard A Stein, an entrepreneur, established a company named Stein & company in 1971.In short span of time, company evolved with many parallel businesses like real estate services, development and construction consulting, tenant and landlord representation, brokerage, leasing, marketing, asset management and program management and got a privilege to be in fortune 500. In their construction business, they have worked with big giants like AMT, USG Corporation, U. S. General and the University of Chicago. By 1988, company was responsible for more than $1 billion worth of properties. Julia Stasch, B. A. from Loyola University and an M. A. from University of Illinois, joined the company in 1976 as a secretary.Prior to this job she used to teach history in school and was enjoying a schedule that permits her for long vacations. Though, she was unhappy with her salary. Initially the firm, in 1976, employed only four people, and Julia Stasch was one of them. Due to this she had great responsibilities, which consists of reviewing construction loan applications, inspection of work in progress and to lead daily operations. As company grew, Stasch’s position also grew. She started with Secretary, then Project coordinator, then Executive Vise president to Chief administrative officer.Stasch’s vision was to empower women in construction industry and to support minority and women-owned businesses. She got this opportunity in 1984, when local government asked the firm to include affirmative action in a small project. Affirmative action is an action or policies to benefit underrepresented group in areas of employment, edu cation and business. After this project, the firm bid for AT&T, the telecommunication giant, by adding affirmative action component. And combination of business and social cause helped them to win the contract. Stasch with Joe Williams, affirmative action consultant, draw a strategy and made a task force.The work of task force was to define goals and strategy to achieve it. Task force worked out a handbook with details and rules for the contractors and sub contractors, if they want to work with them. They also helped women and minority owned firms with orientation sessions and with giving requisite certificates, bonding and insurance. This leads to success of affirmative action program and brought many awards from both task force and outsiders. Affirmative action program did impact on construction industry but didn’t change male dominated construction jobs of Chicago. A verdict by Bill Townsend and Lauren Sugerman proves the same.Questioning about their upper body strength, t he â€Å"Catch 22† Situation, rude comments, sexual harassment are some of the issues which makes difficult for women to survive in construction jobs. The happenings with Veronica Rose shows dirty picture of construction industry. B. Objective As construction industry is male dominated and women survival is difficult in the same. To find various ways or strategies by which women empowerment can be done in construction industry and to club this social cause with business for win-win situation. C. Analysis Background of the problem:In this case, even after affirmative action program, minority and women-owned suppliers cannot change the male dominating thinking of construction industry. All the high ranked and high paying jobs were held by men. Sex discrimination and anti-women attitudes are still prevalent on worksites, despite the fact that sex discrimination is illegal. Female construction workers suffer from gender and sexual harassment, a factor associated with low job sati sfaction as well as psychological inadequate information and the lack of education and training, about workplace safety and health greatly concern women workers.The culture and attitudes of construction workers, supervisors, and companies about health and safety often condone risk taking and unsafe work practices, passing â€Å"bad† habits from one generation of workers to the next. In the background we still have a cultural stereotype in our societies which associates masculinity with strength and power and femininity with tactfulness and sensitivity. And that is why anti-women attitude have dominance over construction industry. These expectations in turn create distinct social environments in which men and women learn to communicate and deal with conflict in quite different ways.The assumptions that root the frequent argument are that woman is physically not strong to endure this strenuous task. When entering the gender segregated occupations, these women need to prove thei r competence despite their qualifications and experiences. Among the common barriers are social acceptances of employment, sexually-inappropriate occupation, sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, physical incapability, unqualified for blue-collar jobs and labour conditions such as extreme weather, unsociable work-hours and exposure to hazards. Various incidents in this case are hypothesis to this context: . Stasch being aware of AT&T’s attempts to support minority-owned vendors and suppliers, she suggested that Stein & Company should distinguish its bid by including a strong affirmative action component which bought success and Stein & Company got the project to build AT&T’s headquarter building. 2. Affirmative action achieved new heights when more than 100 minority and women-owned contractors and sub-contractors worked on AT&T’s project, and 23% i. e. about $37 million of the aggregate construction dollars went to these firms. . Male workers often made rude comments, played hurtful pranks, committed sexual harassments and sometimes deliberately put women in physical danger. A CWIT study stated that- 88% women workers were subject to picture of naked or partially dressed, 83% unwelcome sexual remarks, 80% faced problem of no toilets or dirty toilets, 60% being given heaviest or dirtiest assignments, 57% being touched or asked for sex. 4. A male co-worker paused by the ladder on which Veronica Rose was working, looked her over and urinated on the bottom rung.Rose had already been threatened with being pushed off from high floor of Manhattan Construction site. She had to face a punch which fractured her jaw by the foreman, whose sexual advances she had snubbed. Once, Rose was pushed into a supply closet by a co-worker and nearly raped. Various alternatives to find the solution: Occupational Segregation: Occupational segregation is one of the barriers which prevents women and men from fulfilling their potential in the labour market, and c onsequently contributes to the pay gap. According to one perspective, occupational egregation is grounded in biology; men’s and women’s jobs to a significant degree reflect innate skills, abilities, and preferences that result in women working as elementary school teachers and men as auto mechanics. According to this perspective, women tend to self-select into jobs that allow them to balance work and family responsibilities, putting them out of running jobs that require large commitments of time and energy. Employers should use occupational segregation to determine the pay scale of workers irrespective of gender which can bring a gender justice in society. Reduced gender gaps in primary school education:Education may be an important precondition to women empowerment, but it does not guarantee that empowerment. For this to occur, women must also enjoy equal rights with men, equal economic opportunities, use of productive assets, freedom from drudgery, equal representati on in decision-making bodies, and freedom from the threat of violence and coercion. Most important, education must serve as the vehicle for transforming attitudes, beliefs and entrenched social norms that sustain discrimination and inequality. Data around the world shows that increased education is associated with the empowerment of women.Educated women are more effective at improving their own well being and that of their family. These empowering effects of women education are manifested in a variety of ways, including increased income earning potential, decision making autonomy, control over their own fertility and participation in public life. Gender Equality and Empowerment of women: A critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy will help them to manage their own lives.It will bring gender justice, greater opportunity and better quality of life so that equalit y is achieved at high level of well beings. Other Practically Applicable Solutions: – * Contractors should be made clear that if any case of women harassment is reported against them, then they will be barred from applying in any of the further projects. * Women workers should be motivated and encouraged to raise voice against any such incidence happened with them and come forward and report about it to the management. Should encourage labour unions and employers to include sexual harassment prevention training in safety and health programs. * Review all communication materials to ensure that they are gender neutral and include women. Visual materials (videos, posters, pictures, etc. ) should include examples of female construction workers to promote an integrated construction workplace. * To address the problem of workplace isolation of female construction workers should assign female workers in pairs. Best Proposed Solution:Government should enforce the prominent safety for women workers. Company should amend the rules for contractors that in case of women harassments, contractor’s company will be barred for further biddings. To establish gender neutral work culture all the above mention solutions has to implement on a long term basis. D. Conclusion In this case we had seen that has the construction labour force becomes more diversified, the construction industry as a whole cannot afford to overlook the genuine problem regarding the safety concerns of female construction workers.These issues merit attention to and action by, all those who share responsibility in the arena of construction safety and health. With the above proposed solution we can empower women as social and economic participants – A first step in the journey towards socio-economic development. And we will be able to provide them a safe and healthy environment in construction companies. The employment of progressive values and externally-motivated philosophies practices ca n enhance overall corporate health in two important areas. First t will enhance the productivity of corporation. Second it will positively affect the outside stakeholder. Sticking to the values and causes for social benefit will help the organisation to grow. E. Managerial learning derived from the case By analysing this case we learned that the creative change strategies implemented by one executive can help in upbringing of minority and women in society and organisation. And how one individual can create social changes? Business can encourage the workforce diversity in organisation.Stasch was having wide latitude of responsibilities in company. But Stasch was making huge efforts to increase the use of minority and women suppliers on Stein’s projects. Being a manager we can create plans and strategies within organisation which can create a positive change in society. For the social economical development of society, gender justice is necessary. References: – 1. An Int roduction to the Sociology of Work and Occupations By- Rudy R. Volti 2. The Future of gender Cambridge University Press- Jude Browne

Monday, September 16, 2019

Background Checks: Give People a Second Chance

On every application for employment, there is always a section that asks about whether or not a person has ever had an felony charges against them, and to explain what they were if so. Despite the fact that employers are not â€Å"supposed† to discriminate against a candidate based on something like felony charges, there is no real way to qualify whether or not such discriminatory practices were exhibited in the candidate selection process. I would think it stands to reason that most employers will take one look at that box checked â€Å"yes† and move that application to the â€Å"no† pile.And this is only one question. Nowadays, most professional and corporate employers will conduct background checks on job candidates. This can be a problem for a person who has made mistakes in their life but has changed their behaviors and is looking for honest employment, and this is why the practice of running full background checks is basically set up to continually punish t hose who have made mistakes in the past. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, many â€Å"negative† records are expunged from employer background checks after 7 years under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).This includes arrests over 7 years ago, criminal records compiled by law enforcement agencies, and bankruptcies over 10 years old. However, much of this is public record, and though a standard background check might not yield this information, there are plenty of private information brokers on the web that will track it down, and this information is often not verified by the broker (such as charges being dropped against a person who was arrested—the broker might report only the arrest). As Crane notes in â€Å"The ABCs of Pre-Employment Background Checks†: â€Å"Unfortunately, there is a lot of inaccurate information out there.Just like the mistakes that may pop up on your credit report, bad data can turn up in the course of a background check. And t his wrong information can cost you a job. † Not only is there a stunning lack of privacy in this age of electronics, there is also no guarantee that the information being reported is accurate, which causes immediate problems for the individual applying for the job. Also, despite the fact that, for example, arrests made over 7 years ago are not supposed to be reported in a background check, there is nothing stopping the employer from asking, â€Å"Have you ever been arrested?†, a question which acts as a double-edged sword for someone who had been arrested several years before. In the cases of individuals who might have something in their past that they’re not proud of, information that can cost them their fair opportunity for employment is readily available to potential employers, even if it the FCRA specifically rules against it. Because of these Internet-based information brokers, there is no guarantee that information that shouldn’t be reported isn†™t still getting into the hands of the employer, and this is information that creates an inherent bias against the candidate in the employer’s mind.Information about long-ago prior arrests, fiscal irresponsibility in the form of previous bankruptcies, and criminal records which are not part of the public domain are easily acquired in a background check, and potential employers use this information as a major strike against the candidate. There is plenty of other information that is legitimately acquired in the course of a background check that can be detrimental to the perceived character of the person applying for the job.Information such as driving records, credit reports, interviews with neighbors and former employers, medical records, court records, and drug test records (just to name a few) are all standard-practice as part of an employer background check. Checking the box that authorizes an employer to conduct a background check opens a door into a person’s pas t in ways they might not have initially considered and affecting their chances at employment in ways they might not even conceive.It is understandable that in the wake of 9/11 and as a result of a recent surge in lawsuits due to negligent hiring practices (in which an employee caused harm to others), employers are practicing greater caution in their hiring practices. But by going as full-throttle as they are with the extensive amount of information being made available to them, they are essentially weeding out candidates who are talented, qualified, and educated but who have a spot on their records which leads to automatic disqualification of consideration by potential employers.People deserve to have a second chance in life, especially when they have taken all of the steps necessary to better themselves. It is grossly unjust that a prior arrest or criminal charge, especially one that isn’t even supposed to be part of a standard background check, would follow a person for the rest of their working lives, making it impossible for them to work in a professional field (especially when the rules as set by the FCRA are moot in cases involving government positions or positions that pay $75,000 per year or more).Let’s say a person, Joe Doe, has an old petty larceny charge, which many states consider a misdemeanor, but then loses a potential job offer because of it. The system is set up to continually punish those who have made mistakes in their past. In the above example of the felony charge check box (and a â€Å"felony† can be as simple as extorting $2,000 or being caught urinating in public), there is no way to avoid checking â€Å"yes† when the proceeding background check will show all of the related information, and act as an automatic disqualification for a person’s employment.When background checks are so pervasive and INVASIVE, what other options or opportunities does a person have left? This is why the system needs to be ch anged, and tighter restrictions need to be placed on what information is made available to the public. No record older than 7 years—criminal, felony, bankruptcy, or otherwise—should be made available for anyone to see.Only in the cases of serious potential endangerment (such as the higher-level sex offenders) should records older than 7 years be made public; otherwise people are being continually punished for old mistakes that they have more than rectified by paying their dues (either with community service, probation, monetary repayment, etc. ). It isn’t just that a person shouldn’t lose an opportunity due to long-ago mistakes; the reality is that employers WILL and DO discriminate based on that.In order for people to have the second chance they deserve, the restrictions on background checks and public records need to be tightened, to protect people who are trying to rehabilitate themselves. Otherwise, there is no rehabilitation to be had because the cha nce is never really given. References Crane, Amy B. â€Å"The ABCs of Pre-Employment Background Checks. † Online. Available: www. bankrate. com Fair Credit Reporting Act. Online. Available: www. ftc. gov Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Online. Available: www. privacyrights. org

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Eurocrisis and Monetary&Fiscal Policy

The government will have to borrow from overseas or International Monetary Funds to pay for the differences between the import spending and export costs. The European Union lend to Greece 109 billion of euros to bailout (Foreleg and Walker, 2011, July 23). This is really a burden for a country and it may bring negative effects to the government policy and function, because the government will have to response the imbalance in both the government spending and policies. It is a real social cost. Meanwhile, the confidences of the foreign will be effect. They may care about the external imbalance in their partner country because it is related to their profits and stability.The external imbalance may make investors feel risky and then reduce the investment or charge more on the loans, which will make the imbalance worse. And for the country, it is really a risk because the economic imbalance has negative influences on many different factors, such as the value of the currency and the natio nal credit rating. Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PASS) face the decreasing of value of their credit rating. Now Greece is C and Portugal is B+ (Hawkers, 2012, January 14). Both of them are not optimistic. When government face recession they will consider increase public expenditure and cutting taxes to stimulate demand and decrease the unemployment rate (Quailing, Eastward and Holmes, 2009).However, in this case, the crisis countries have so many debts that make their government deficit large enough to do no actions. What they have to do is to austerity their fiscal policy to reduce the deficit. So Greece executes the 5 years plan to get loans. Comparing to other European countries, PASS are relatively falling behind. Their economies are more relied on labor force type of industry such as globalization, companies are seeking for cheaper labor forces; their advantages are no longer existed. If these countries do not adjust their industry structure, they will e much frag ile than now during the financial crisis. Also, the labor forces among European Union are also not liquid.Companies from different country have different tax system so their funds become bubbles. The theory of optimum currency area is based on labor mobility, price and wage flexibility as the preconditions. Also the mobility can instead of the floating of exchange rate. Euro zone creates a system that labor can move freely, however, because of the culture, language, welfare and social norms, the labor forces inside European Union cannot achieve completely liquid Robinson, 2008). Monetary Policy The central bank of Europe has set several targets to help to achieve and maintain the macro economic objectives. The main target is to keep the prices stable and achieve the low inflation level in the medium term.And it also set targets of maintaining financial system stability and improves the payments system. The purpose that the central bank of Europe sets these targets is to achieve the economic objectives, promoting the healthy growth of the whole economy (Paula, 2009). And the most common and effective measure used by it is the monetary policy. The central bank helps to achieve the macroeconomic objectives through meeting its targets, with using the monetary policy. Using the monetary policy, the central bank can change the interest rate to adjust the aggregate demand, and then help to achieve the macroeconomic objectives. When the inflation occurs, the central bank will carry out the cash rate target, bringing up the official interest rate.And then, the central bank will sell the government securities to commercial banks. The interest rate for cash will be increased, because the decrease of the cash supply. In order to maintain heir profits, financial institutions charges more rates on loans and so does the deposits. Therefore, the households and firms will borrow less and prefer to save money in the banks rather than spend quickly. It means that the aggregate d emand is reduced and so does the inflationary pressure. The reduction of demand brings the prices down, so domestic produced goods will have advantage in the prices in the international market. More export earnings will be got and the external balance will be achieved.In addition, the low prices may attract more foreign investors to invest, which will benefit to the long term economic growth and full employment. It means that although the higher interest rate will reduce the production and make people lose their Jobs in the short term, it could bring chances for the future development. The similar theory is suitable for the opposite condition. When the aggregate demand needs to be pulled up, the central bank will decrease the interest rate and encourage economic activities, stimulating the growth of the economy so European Central Bank decreased interest rate in December 2011 by 0. 25% to increase aggregate demand (European Central Bank, 2012).Also, European Union has the same monet ary policy but without the same fiscal policy (Brittany, Timelier, Bergsten, Exchanging and Meltzer, 2010). Government financial policy serves internal to increase economic growth and decrease the unemployment rate. Indeed, these two on the allocation efficiency, currency policy serves external to keep low inflation rate and the stable currency exchange rate (Hudson and Quailing, 2009). Currency system and government financial system are not unedited so the coordination is difficult. When European Union was founded, they do not consider the quitting system, so hen there come problems, the costs of negotiations are very high (Repack, 2010). It leads the problems to the Euro crisis.When one or two membership countries have problems with their economics, they only can discuss inside the meetings to solve the problems. Then the market will face the strong fluctuations, and these fluctuations also make the problems unsolved. The banks among Euro zone have other European Union countries' debts. This makes European banks' credit expansion crazily, and the management risks increase fast. Their ratio of total capital and Tier 1 capital is even Geiger than the banks in supreme crisis in the USA (Beg, 2009). Conclusion Overall, although investors are losing confidence with euros, the monetary policy keeps the Euro price stability at an acceptable range. MIFF also lend huge amount of euros to save the market.