Agriculture In Ancient Mesopotamia

Agriculture In Ancient Mesopotamia Have you ever wondered once where and when agriculture was first practiced in this world and the methods used to develop it? First of all, agriculture, a bit similar to farming, is the occupation, the business, or the science of cultivating land, producing crops, raising livestock. The birth of agriculture was preceded by hunting and gathering which was the only way of surviving for the ancient occupants of the world. Civilization started in the Middle East of the blue planet and many discoveries have been made including agriculture which is one of the most important. Indeed agricultural activities in the Mesopotamian kingdom are dated back between 8000 BC and 6000 BC. The Ancient Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, precisely on the Asian continent. The situation of the empire was also part of the agricultural development. It consisted of two principal seas such as the Euphrates and the Tigris and was surrounded by many vast seas where they could draw water for additional sup ply. Despite the arid climate and scarcity of rains in Mesopotamia, they made use of irrigation as principal method to water their crops. However, the invention of agriculture came with its consequences which appeared both good and bad for the Mesopotamian kingdom. Although agriculture was a great discovery for the Ancient kingdom, helped by its location and methods, its impacts appeared to be both positive and negative. It is clear that before the advent of agriculture, hunting and gathering was the surviving method. People were going inside bush to hunt wild animals for their meat and skin and were collecting natural consumable plants or grains. In fact agriculture intervened just between the years 8000 BC and 6000 BC with the domestication of animals such as goats and crops growing in the Ancient Mesopotamia. According to Robert Chadwick, the author of First Civilizations: Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, three mains assumptions could be the reasons of the advent of agriculture and each of them having one major reason. He said: The three hypotheses presented all maintain that there was one major cause behind the origins of agriculture. In the case of the oasis hypothesis it was a great climatic change; foe the nuclear zone hypothesis it was a certain set of conditions that created a special ecological region where agriculture could occur; for the population pressure hypothesis it was the increase in human population (Chadwick, 27). This is to say that the real factors which started agriculture are not really determined despite the fact that researches are being made about the whole issue. As we said above, agricultural activity was actually apparent in the beginning of the years 6000 BC. The early settlement of the cultivating activity was achieved through many steps such as the Hassuna, the Samarra and the Halaf according to the Encyclopedia AMERICANA (p. 737). These establishments took place from the North to the South of the worlds first civilization. More importantly, there was a great variation of crops that the Mesopotamian society were domesticating or cultivating in their time. In the New Encyclopedia Britannica it is said that:à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and the wild prototypes of grains and leguminous plants, such as wheat, barley, bitter vetch, pea, and lentil were present. This explains that there was diversity in their food production which was a good step in the development of agriculture of the Ancient Kingd om. In addition to that, Louis and Jenifer of the website best.berkley.edu who posted an article titled Farming and agriculture of Egypt and Mesopotamia added that: Farmers raised grain, fruit, vegetables, and barn yard animals. Without any doubt we can state that the discovery of agriculture in the ancient kingdom was being useful as the products were in abundance, varied and diverse. For agriculture to develop, the land has to be in a good location with a fertile soil. In fact, the agricultural settlement of Mesopotamia occurred in many places from the North to the South. The ancient kingdom possessed a very fertile soil favoring the development of cultivations activity. Precisely, as the ancient kingdom is located in the Middle East, it appears to be the first place where agriculture began in a general way. In the plains of northern Mesopotamia, the Zagros and the Taurus foot-hills were among the first places where the cultivating activity was practiced. In the Encyclopedia AMERICANA, it is said that: Agriculture began in the Middle East, in the Zagros and Taurus foot-hills, home of wild cereals and wild goats and sheep. From there the earliest settlements were established on the plains of northern Mesopotamia (Agriculture, 737). Moreover, the three cultural phases listed in the Encyclopedia AMERICANA such as Hassuna and Halaf which took place in the northern pa rt of the empire and Samarra was more a southern settlement. Also, the people called Ubaid extended their culture from north to the south before they settle along the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia to Syria where they also practiced agriculture (Agriculture, 738). More importantly, along the coasts of the present day Iran, Anatolia, Syria, Iraq and Palestine were cited among the places where cultivations occurred and made the populations to settle around in order to have a good improvement of the new discovery (Agriculture, 864). While talking about the sites where there was evidence of farming, we should not forget to mention places like Zawi Chemi Shanidar, Shanidar itself, Karim Shahir, Qalat Jarmo, Jericho, Catalhuyuk and many others appearing to be locations where agricultural settlements occurred in the Ancient kingdom of Mesopotamia. Even though the Mesopotamian soil was fertile in a way that agriculture was very easy, there was a problem linked to the scarcity of rains. Nevertheless, they knew how to overcome the issue by the use of methods such as irrigation. In Fact, irrigation is the fact to bring additional water supply to a dry area in order to help crops growth. Certainly, the land consisted in its interior of wide rivers such as the Euphrates and the Tigris representing the most important ones from where water could be drawn to the cultivations fields and surrounded by Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aral Sea, Arabian Sea and Caspian Sea also (Ancient Mesopotamia, Encarta). Mesopotamia was totally dependent on irrigation and its two big rivers because of the scarcity of rains and the article wrote and posted by Larry Mays on the site Water Encyclopedia says: Irrigation was extremely vital to Mesopotamia (Mays, Ancient Irrigation systems, waterencyclopedia.com). The method of water flow control was first pra cticed in the two worlds first civilizations respectively Egypt and Mesopotamia. The application of the method needed a lot of physical work, correspondingly building. Activities such as building canals, ditches, tunnels, wide gaps where the water would come and stay and the maintenance of the infrastructures were constant in the area and it took them a lot of time to realize all this. Presently, according to waterencyclopedia.com, some abandoned canals and ditches still remain in the area but not intact, the farming activity of Mesopotamia started declining overtime caused by the accumulation of salt in the soil and in 1258, Mongols took over the empire and damaged the irrigation systems. By still dealing with Mays article on Water Encyclopedia, we got to know that the soil of the empire was full of silt, a major factor of soil fertility but constituted a continuous agent causing problems in the irrigation systems. Therefore, as there was not enough rainfall, the soil was kept its fertility because irrigation method could not wash a soil until removing its minerals components favoring good food production. Nevertheless, the Mesopotamian agricultural activity knew many problems such as flooding of water coming from the melting of snows in summer from the Turkish mountains according to the web page historylink.com and an unpredictable water flood from its two principle rivers respectively the Euphrates and Tigris according to the article of Louis and Jenifer posted on best.berkley.edu. However, irrigation carried many consequences on the farming activity in Mesopotamia. Irrigation maintained the fertility of soils because it did not deepen or sink the minerals as the way rainfall usually does. Minerals inside a soil are very important and help a fast and good food production at the end of an agricultural session. The topsoil did not wash away as it does on sloping land, and minerals did not leach deep into the soil as they do under heavy rainfall. Hence, the fe rtility could be maintained indefinitely by the use of fairly simple soil-management practices (Farming in Mesopotamia) said the web site historylink.com about the impacts of irrigation. Socially, the development of irrigation was helpful to citizens in a sense that it was a physical and intellectual work helping for additional knowledge and body welfare. A fertile soil combined with irrigation result to good and fast food production as we all know. Meanwhile, agricultural settlement also had a great impact on the ancient empire social life. In fact, changes occurred in the populations life right after the discovery of agriculture. Agriculture is an activity which is practiced in a long period of time in such a way that it can neither be done in one day nor with a constant motion of the cultivators; sedentariness is needed in such activities. The educational web site called Mesopotamian.lib.uchicago.edu also demonstrated the same idea by saying: The most significant change was the shift from a nomadic life-style to settled villages. In order to care for crops and herds of animals, people needed to live in one place (First Farmers, Ancient Mesopotamia). Moreover, as by then the population settled down in one place in order to take care of their crops and animals, there was obviously an increase in inhabitants because the rate of mortality would have probably reduced, especially infant mortality caused by the constant motion of po pulations. There was also increase in food production due to the determination of the population in order to have a peaceful life without starvation. Nevertheless, the settlement of population either in cities or villages created social classes and therefore there would obviously be conflict in places where there are different levels of people. This discovery of agriculture made by the early Asians and the methods they used to develop it helped them in varying food. As soon as they noticed it was working they cultivated many different types of crops such as vegetables, talk less of fruits. They knew how to domesticate animals and also even though agriculture became the principal activity, hunting still survived. Jenifer and Louis also talked about it and said: Some of the fruits they planted were dates, grapes, figs, melons, and apples. Their favorite vegetables that they grew were the eggplant. They planted vegetables such as onions, radishes, beans, and lettuce. Farmers irrigated land and started planting wheat, barley, millet, beans, and sesame seeds. They used spears to hunt, caught fish in nets, and killed birds with sling shots and arrows (Farming and Agriculture in Egypt and Mesopotamia). Ultimately, we can say that the discovery of agriculture proves once more that the Ancient Mesopotamia is one the worlds first civilizations. Agriculture was a great and genius invention made by the ancient people though it was not easy to practice it because of the scarcity of the rainfall, but irrigation was used as support for water supply. The use of irrigation made at the same good and harm to agricultural activity in Mesopotamia in a sense that there was fast and good food production, but the activity was becoming more and more complex because of salt accumulation due to irrigation. However, cultivation also had its own consequences both positive and negative. Population settlement has always had both positive and negative impacts on social life such as the coming together of population when it comes to work and class struggle between different people and that was the case with Mesopotamia before their decline.

Tasks and Functions of Management

Tasks and Functions of Management Executive Summary As retrieved from Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary; manager is defined as the person who is responsible for managing an organization which is mainly associated with the management which is described as the control and organization of something. (Cambridge University Press, 2008).This assignment gives a good understanding on the roles played by a manager in a management. We are able to understand effectively the do’s and don’t’s briefly on a managerial roles and managements styles for future undertakings. Based from Task 1, the managerial roles and mangement styles is deifined and explained based from an organization im involved on achieving appropriate goals of the organization. Meanwhile, the Task 2 identifies the problems or limitations faced by manager in effective decision making and how it affects the organization and management. This manager’s role and managerial styles with the barriers to effective decision making faced by managers is being explained briefly in few parts which includes the introduction, management and organization, barriers to effective decision making, and also conclusion and recommendation on the task given. The findings consist of understanding about the management, managers and their functions with the roles played by them such as interpersonal roles, informational roles, and also decisional roles. Besides that, the history of the organization with the coordination of effort, common goals or purposes, division of labor and the hierarchy of authority is being discussed in here. Not only that, the barriers types such as personal confidence, confirmation bias, anchoring bias, and illusory correlations is also being discussed for better understanding. Lastly, it can be concluded that, by completing the given task, one can able to identify the important criteria that a manager must consider always in making a decision with suitable recommendations for developing alternative solutions to the occurring problem for the best decision making barriers. Introduction To perform a variety of roles in an organization we need to study the management in order to examine the role that managers expect .These roles were solely developed by a researcher who is;Henry Mintzberg in late 1960s after a careful and in-depth study of executives at work. (Burgaz, 1997) If a manager has to achieve the goal in a organization, he has to follow the ten managerial roles which are divided into three categories. The categories are interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. The efficiency and effectiveness to manage an organization is the priority progress. Thus manager’s neglect or these processes are executed. The problem might be wrongly defined, or goals misidentified. Insufficient solutions might be generated, or they may have be evaluated incompletely. A satisfying choice compared to maximizing choice may be made. Implementation poorly planned or executed, monitoring may be inadequate or nonexistent. Decision making are influenced by few categories which can be divided to such like; subjective psychological biases, time pressures, and also social realities. 2.0 Management and Organizations The 21st century has brought with it a new workplace, one in which everyone must  adapt to face the rapid challenges and opportunities. The economy has become global and organizations have to transform themselves to serve new customer expectations. Knowledge based and performance driven is the method of the new economy. The themes widely used in the present context area are such related to ‘respect’, participation, empowerment alongside with teamwork and also self management. In the dark light of the above challenges a new kind of leader is needed to guide business through turbulence. Managers in organizations do this task. 2.1 Functions of Management In any organization, the most important issue is management. So, we should plan out things done systematically in order to be efficient and effective. Make sure that the plans are followed and the goals are met. Good management is the fundamental of a business. Maintaining a business is to achieve some success. To be more and more efficient is what almost every organization as well as a corporation and government strives for. Organizations often carry out important decisions based on how different alternatives will be efficient. Despite that, many organizations and managers undergo hard time to understand the difference correlatively between efficiency and effectiveness and often get â€Å"wrapped around the axle† debating semantics rather than actually evaluating the alternatives at hand. (Ted Schneider, 2008) These concepts are often use little consistency and in some areas drastic change lead to be interdependent. This proves that managers are well dedicated and plan system atically. 2.2 Who are Managers Managers are defined as an organized group of people whose purpose is solely to achieve the objectives and desired goals of an organization for the organization’s benefit. To get a better review of the discussed ideas and views expressed by academicians and involved practitioners; that managers are simply known as at the lowest level of management. Then, followed by the middle managers who manage between the first line level and the top level of the organization. Therefore the top level managers who are responsible for making decision and establishing plans and goals that effect the entire organization. 2.3 Managers Task Table 1: 10 Management Roles. Category Roles Interpersonal Roles Figurehead Role Leader Role Liaison Role Informational Roles Monitor Role Disseminator Role Spokesperson Role Decisional Roles Entrepreneur Role Disturbance Handler Role Resource Allocator Role Negotiator Role A manager is someone who coordinates and supervises the work of other people so that goals can be achieved. Besides that, managers too have to carry out additional task such as Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. These functions provide a useful structure for management knowledge. Firstly, Planning can be defined as striving for goals and immerge plan for coordination purpose. Secondly, Organizing meant by setting up the work formation to achieve goals. Thirdly, Leading is to lead or guide people with the integrity to achieve goals. Finally controlling focusing and supervising the quality of the work. Mintzberg described Managerial work relates to ten roles those are divided into three categories. Firstly interpersonal roles are the figurehead, leader and liaison. Secondly was an informational role which relates to monitor, disseminator and spokesman. Finally is the decisional roles which caters the entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. Thu s, clearly notify the interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. 2.3.1 Interpersonal Roles Figurehead role perform the ceremonial duties. Leader role motivate and support the workers and Liaison role involve duties with other unit bodies. 2.3.2 Informational Roles Monitor role for environmental issues. Disseminator role is that to exchange or interchange knowledge in their departments. Spokesperson role part their knowledge by sharing information outside their companies. 2.3.3 Decisional Roles Entrepreneur role is to adopt and adapt to change. Disturbance handler role set an alert supervision to clear out any serious problem. Resource allocator collects and handles resources. Lastly, negotiator role compromise with update schedules, current projects, available resources, goals achievements and injecting employees to the company without fail. 2.3.4 Company History Jack Cohen from a market stall in East London founded in 1919. Currently we operate in 12 countries around the world, 530000 employees and serve thousands of customers daily. We are efficient in our sales experience. Nowadays, we believe that we do the right things to satisfy all walks of life that prefers our service. In Malaysia, from 2001 till today, TESCO had been the best Hypermarket. The mangers at TESCO prefer the interpersonal roles to welcome customers warmly, introducing new benefits and support charitable organizations. Besides this, managers motivate and encourage staffs to achieve the objectives. At TESCO, managers regularly acknowledge employees with celebratory lunches and gifts certificates. Moreover the managers exchange ideas outside their units. Evidence shows managers spend most of their sharing ideas and information with other ‘VIP’ groups. 2.4 Management Style Management style is a managerial parlance often used to describe the how of management. It is a function of behavior associated with personality.(McGuire.R, 2005).A way which is used to manage an organization can be referred as management style. Management style is â€Å"the adhesive that binds diverse operations and functions together†. It is the philosophy or set of principles by which the manager capitalizes on the abilities of the workforce.(Nwadukwe Uche.C, 2012).Management style is often mistaken for a procedure on how to do the management framework for doing. A management style is essentially a way of life to operate throughout the organization and to be able to permit an executive to rely on the initiative of the personnel of an entity. The four often used managerial styles in an organization are leadership and management style, autocratic style, democratic style, laissez-faire. In this organization, Tesco; the management choose democratic style to achieve the goals of the organization. Inputs are gathered and decisions as well as the responsibilities are shared is a way of how the democratic style is being implemented. This can be done where the manager ignites a meeting among the team member from the same department to brain storm and to make appropriate decision involving the specified task and to have a faith and trust on the team members to have the capability to develop the appropriate direction to fulfill the decision made. 2.5 An Organization Basically, an organization as known and not necessarily a legal entity, corporation or low liability company(LLC) is a person or group of people intentionally to achieve a common goal. A business organization varies in size from one person to thousands. Therefore essential aspects have to consider about the organization’s goal. These features are explicit; therefore deliberate and recognized or implicit in an operating unrecognized with the term â€Å"behind the scenes. (Koontz.H, 1997) Usually during the strategic planning process, these features are carefully considered and established ideally. Upon completing, well consider deeply on dimensions and concepts that are very common to organizations. The prominent psychologist, all the organizations together share four characteristics which is coordination effort, common goal or purpose, division labor, and hierarchy of authority. 2.5.1 Coordination Effort The well known quotation agrees that two heads are sometimes better than one; Individuals who join force together and be able to coordinate their mental and or physical efforts can accomplish many great and exciting things. (David A.Nadier) Great inventions and sky scrapers were erected by the talent and desire of an individual. Hence, collaboration and coordination only implies with multiple thoughts. 2.5.2 Common Goals or Purposes Managerial force and the Labor force coordinate with mutual interest, it ensures to achieve the target goal of the organization. 2.5.3 Division Labor An organization can use its human resources efficiently by systematically dividing complex tasks into specialized jobs. Division of labor permits in each organization member has to become more and more proficient by repeatedly doing the same assigned specialized task. The advantage of division of labor is well known to all of us. It is better to divide human resources into diversification tasks. When experience and proficiency exceeds, an organization can utilize its human resource to carry out the complex tasks into specialized jobs. Thus, division of labor is a healthy decision that can be implemented. 2.5.4 Hierarchy Of Authority Figure 1: The Hierarchy of Authority in TESCO,Malaysia. Table 2: Acronim of Hierarchy of Aunthority in TESCO,Malaysia. Acronim: AGM Area General Manager SGM Store General Manager TM Trading Manager SM Section Manager If an organization is to achieve the targeted goal, then it should follow a strict and rigid system of management. Thus providing the necessary guidelines and resources which procedure a conductive working environment. A leader should take charge and his commands are followed. Thus, authority should be given to such leaders in order to follow orders effectively and efficiently. Coordination of effort is difficult to achieve without a clear hierarchy of authority. Accountability is mainly enhanced by having such leaders so called ‘managers’ in an organization. 3.0 Barriers to Effective Decision Making Effective decision-making is an interdisciplinary process that involves applying social psychology, group dynamics and management theory (K.Borchardt, 2010). A vital part in making a good decision is actually checking the problems which can be solved by one. However, neglected difficulties, such as cognitive biases, often cause the most challenges in making effective decisions, which ends up making poor decisions. These mental barriers are often subconscious. Cognitive biases present both in individuals and teams often choose options and making decisions. However, there are ways to identify and leap over problems. The most important fact is that to ignore and break off from these barriers such as the personal overconfidence, confirmation bias and anchoring bias. 3.1 Personal Overconfidence Psychologists diligently have shown that human beings are precisely systematically overconfident in making judgments†. (A.Roberto, 2009) Personal overconfidence leads to poor judgment and often faces high-risk decisions for not prepared for any factors. This is more common to high performers who are very self-confident and ready to bear the risk. 3.2 Confirmation Bias A contractor who possesses a lengthy history of good work performance and a good working relationship can also lead to confirmation bias. In an organization groups decision making encourages confirmation bias. 3.3 Anchoring Bias Anchoring bias is the term used for the notion that we sometimes allow an initial reference point so it could distort our estimate. (S.Nickerson, 1998) Anchoring bias can occur when negotiating renewal of a contract or negotiating a new contract. Anchoring bias can also occur when the cost of supplying goods or services specified in the contract changes. This misjudge can lead to losses for the organization which can affect the whole managerial management. 3.4 Illusory Correlation Illusory correlation can be best described as the fact that we sometimes jump into conclusions about the relationship which is between two variables with no relationship exists.(Borchard, 2010). As an example, a manager whom hires someone under him may place too much reliance on a job candidate’s verbal presentation skills, believing there is a strong correlation of these skills with the skills required for excellent job performance. Second rate candidates are more preferably to be selected or hired through this illusory correlation. 4.0 Recommendation This task helps the student to understand fully on how manager should make effective decision making and it is recommended that managers need to focus on the relevant and irrelevant considerations as well as understand fully the act and consequences arise from the decision made. Besides that, other effective decision making theories are also suggested to improve the quality of management and managerial styles. Those theories are such like: Rational Decision Making Tradeoff Behaviour Decision Making Psychology Resistance to Change 5.0 Conclusion Eventually there are many roles in an organization which involve ways to handle various situations according to their management. In an organization managers can describe the managerial roles used to familiarize with the management style so they can achieve the goals of the organization. At this moment the managers can handle or face any barriers by making decision very effectively. In this situation, we should learn how to make decision very carefully and dont be so overconfidence in order to improve ourselves in a more effective decision making. References A.Roberto Michael The Art Of Critical Decision Making [Book].- 2009.- p. 56. Borchard John K. Overcoming Barriers to Effective Decision Making [Book].- [s.l.]: Contract Management, 2010. Burgaz Assit.Prof.Dr.Berrin Managerial Roles Approach And The Prominent Study Of Henry Mintzberg 1960 [Journal].- 1997.- p. 2. Cambridge University Press Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary [Book].- [s.l.]: Cambridge, 2008.- Vol. third edition. David A.Nadier Michael L.Thusman,Nina G.Hatvany Managing Organization[Journal]// Little ,Brown And Company Boston Tronto.- p. 42. Koontz.H Heinz Weihrich Managerial Roles Approach And The Prominent Study OfHenry Mintzberg 1960 [Journal].- 1997.- p. 10. McGuire.R Which Management Styleto Use [Journal].- London: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2005.- 275: Vol. 9. Nwadukwe Uche.C Court Oggele Timinepere Management Styles and Organizational Effectiveness : An Appraisal of Private Enterprises in Eastern Nigeria [Journal].- Nigeria: American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 2012.- no.9: Vol. 2. S.Nickerson Raymond Confirmation Bias : A Libiquitous Phenomenon Occurring InMany Guises [Journal]// Review of Clinical Psychology.- 1998.- p. 58. Ted Schneider Brian Leslie Efficienc Vs Effectiveness : Defining The Difference[Journal]// Switch Point LLC.- 2008.- p. 1. Weblite Tesco Homepage [Online]// http://www.tesco.com.my/.- 09 08, 2014. APPENDIX Principles and Practices in ManagementPage | 1

Free Essays on Terrorism: Europes Contempt Toward the U.S :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

September 11 and Europe's Contempt Toward the U.S Lest we forget the heroic resolve of our many European "allies," the French surged forward into the fray last week. Well, perhaps "surging" isn't quite the word, and the "fray" has become a meager affair as of late. Their token gesture to join the U.S. and Great Britain in orchestrating a Northern Alliance victory amounts to little more than tactical cowardice, a dashing display of minced words and foot-dragging that only the French seem capable of. However symbolic the gesture, the French and their European counterparts tend to deliver such offerings of goodwill sealed with the usual stamp of anti-Americanism. The irritating Euro-superiority complex recently surfaced over the issue of extraditing captured terrorists to the United States. In September, Spanish authorities infiltrated the Soldiers of Allah, a radical Islamic group based in Madrid with links to al Qaeda. The operation led to 14 arrests of key al Qaeda operatives and shed new light on the financing of bin Laden's operations preceding the September 11 attacks. Hundreds of millions of pesetas (i.e. millions of dollars) flowed through this unit of al Qaeda's financial network. Despite this damning evidence, Spain still sniffs at the thought of extraditing the detainees to the U.S. And what is the source of Spain's moral indigestion? The "backward" American justice system, of course. After all, the U.S. still employs such barbaric anachronisms as the death penalty (and even worse, a solid majority of Americans seem to support it). As evidenced by the continual stalling of Spanish diplomats, the moral burden of any extradition to a country as primitive as the United States is simply too much for the collective Spanish conscience to bear. The fate of al Qaeda operatives must not be abandoned to the crude methods of American jurisprudence. Instead of rejecting such anti-Americanism, the 15 members of the European Union echoed Spain's sentiments in their sanctimonious reports to the press. The Bush administration's establishment of military tribunals further inflamed the E.U.'s righteous indignation. Several countries kindly reminded the U.S. that sending the al Qaeda henchmen across the pond would violate the EU's extradition ban against countries that use the death penalty. This was consistent with what seems to be the E.U.'s role of the meddling whiner, seizing some disputable moral high ground to voice complaints instead of solutions. Perhaps the most annoying aspect of most European indignation is its paternalistic tone, as if the Americans were still reckless colonies in need of a scolding.

Unjust Classification of Literature :: essays research papers

The Unjust Classification of Literature   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The content of literature has been criticized and classified throughout history. Occasionally, stories become known as immoral literature in the eyes of society. This can be damaging both to sales of the book and the reputation of the author. Kate Chopin wrote two stories that are examples of literature deemed immoral by society. â€Å"The storm† and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† were written and the end of the nineteenth century. A time without many liberal opinions towards literature, as well as civil rights. Often critics judge a piece of literature only on the literal meaning of the phrases inside, while ignoring the actual message from the author. Chopin’s two stories were criticized for the impression she gave of woman’s attitudes towards their husbands and marriage. Although her stories seem to contain women that do not respect marriage, the women actually have total love and respect for their husbands The misinterpretation of stor ies leads to the unjust classification of literature as immoral.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The story of an Hour† and â€Å"The Storm† have different plots, but both convey a similar message from Chopin. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† was written about a wife ,Mrs. Mallard, who receives the sad news of her husbands death. She is flushed with conflicting emotions of sadness from the death, but also joy for the freedom from marriage that his death brings. A twist in the story takes place when she is confronted with her still living husband and she dies from the shock. Chopin wrote of a woman so caught up in married life, she forgot all of the liberties that she had sacrificed for the marriage. â€Å"The storm† tells of another wife, Calixta, living what was a normal life for a woman in the late nineteenth century. While her husband and son are kept inside a store by a passing storm, Calixta is greeted unexpectedly by an old boyfriend, Alcee. Spending time with Alcee releases feelings from Calixta that had been building up thr oughout her marriage. Calixta and Alcee give in to temptation, but never lose their sight of love for their families. Both stories suggest women in marriages sometimes feel imprisoned by the relationship and seek an outlet for their emotions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marriage is a sacred bond and should always be honored. Infidelity is the worst act that can be perpetrated on a significant other. The wife, Calixta, betrayed her family and the church by cheating on them.

Loss of Faith in Night by Elie Wiesel :: essays research papers

Eliezer Wiesel loses his faith in god, family and humanity through the experiences he has from the Nazi concentration camp. Eliezer loses faith in god. He struggles physically and mentally for life and no longer believes there is a god. "Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust..."(pg 32). Elie worked hard to save himself and asks god many times to help him and take him out of his misery. "Why should I bless his name? The eternal, lord of the universe, the all-powerful and terrible was silent..."(pg 31). Eliezer is confused, because he does not know why the Germans would kill his face, and does not know why god could let such a thing happen. "I did not deny god's existence, but I doubted his absolute justice..."(pg 42). These conditions gave him confidence, and courage to live. Eliezer loses faith in his family. He and his mother and sister were parted at the camp and he has no hope to see them ever again. "Men to the left! Women to the right..."(pg 27). His father is getting old, and weak, and Elie realizes his father does not have the strength to survive on his own, and it is too late to save him. "It's too late to save your old father, I said to myself..."(pg 105). He felt guilty because he could not help his father, but he knew the only way to live is to watch out for himself. "Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father..."(pg 105). He thinks of himself, and Eliezer loses hope, trust, and his beliefs. He begins to rely on himself because he knew that only he can help himself and he could not depend on anyone else. "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever..."(pg 32). Elie's father was struck, and that was when he realized he was afraid of death, and he felt guilty because he did not help his father.

Hiring Of Employees

The school will higher teachers using a structured interview with allowance for questions that may arise. This will be done using qualified private recruiter company but after the establishment of the school the interviews will be undertaken by the administrators and at least three teachers.During the advertisement of the interview people from all academic background will be encouraged to apply especially the young and energetic. A variety of issues will be considered at the time of the interviews. This will include the academic background, spirituality, leadership skills and extra curricula qualifications. After interviewing the candidates a selection will be done that will put into consideration the race, gender and professions.The school will have a head teacher who will be a professional teacher and an administrator who could be a retired teacher. The school will be expected to start on a small scale with only three grades. The initial number of teacher is expected to be at least six.The school will also hire a few other temporary teachers who will step in on special occasions. This could be collage students pursuing their studies in different fields who will open up the children to the mystery of different education a head of them.The special occasions will include when the regular teachers are on training. The professional teachers will be considered such that in every three teacher one should be a professional teacher. Other employees to be recruited will be the secretary, the drivers, cooks, gate keepers and the cleaners.Since the school will be of the lower grades the secretary will be expected to be of the same qualification as some of the teachers with good computer skills. All the other staff are expected to have some basic academic background that can enable them to communicate effectively. They should also be dedicated to their work and should be of good moral standards.Evaluation of the school employeesThe teachers the administrators and the othe r employees will be evaluated to find out if they are performing their duties effectively. The evaluation will consist of a list of questions that will give the performance index of the employee when answered.

The Pianist Essay

‘The Pianist’ is a cinematic masterpiece by the Polish director Roman Polanski. One of the key ideas that appear throughout much of the film is that of ‘hope being instrumental in our survival’. This idea is portrayed through Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish pianist, as he struggles for survival in Warsaw as everybody that he once knew and everything that he once had is lost. The idea of ‘hope being instrumental in our survival’ is worth learning about as it allows the audience to realise the importance of hope in todays society – and to understand how Polanski uses music to symbolise ‘hope’ for Szpilman in the film.Polanski effectively utilises an array of visual and oral text features such as music, dialogue, and lighting to build further emphasis on this theme. ‘The Pianist’ is an honest depiction of the events that occurred during the Holocaust, through the eyes of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish concert pianist liv ing in Warsaw, Poland. As the movie starts we see him in a radio studio beautifully playing the piano. But then the tanks start shooting, the bombs start falling, and the studio is damaged. He can no longer avoid the rapidly escalating situation. Germany is invading his homeland.His time as a concert pianist and radio performer has come to a sudden end. The first half of the movie focuses on the impact of the war on him and his family’s lives and the suffering of others, whilst the second half purely revolves around Szpilman’s struggle for survival and the hope in which he draws from music. Polanski heavily emphasises this idea, getting across the message that Szpilman would not be alive if were not for the hope in which he holds to – even if at times if at times it is by a tiny thread. The most obvious feature used to enhance the idea of ‘hope being instrumental in our survival’ is that of music.After being forced to desert his family and having to live in isolation with his survival being questioned almost every day, it is perhaps only the thoughts of music that keep Szpilman going. This is idea becomes more apparent when Szpilman discovers a piano in one of the flats he is hiding in. He is unable to play because he will give himself away so we instead watch his fingers move across the air above the piano’s keys as whilst the sound plays in his head and too the viewer. Throughout the film we also see Szpilman pretending to play the piano as he taps his finger across his legs.It is moments such as these that help to maintain Szpilman’s willingness to survive by keeping silent, but also how piano gives fills him with the hope that is instrumental in his survival. In other scenes such as when a German officer asks Szpilman to play piano for him, and allows him to live because of his immense talent we begin to realise that Szpilman’s hope – music, does not only help him to survive mentally, but also p hysically as he can share the gift that he has to others. It is also important to note that Polanski only music by the Polish composer, Chopin is used throughout ‘The Pianist’.His sad and evocative music brings upon a sad mood, yet one with a hint of hope and with this, the director can more vividly express his ideas a way that dialogue or action cannot. Another oral feature used throughout the film to express the director’s idea of ‘hope being instrumental to our survival’ is dialogue. Whilst Szpilman’s actions are usually used to express the director’s ideas, there are multiple instances where dialogue is used effectively to express them. In one scene around a third of the way into the film, Mr. Lipa, a businessman comes round to the Szpilman’s family’s house to make an offer on their piano.The majority of the family think the amount of money he is offering for such a beautiful piano is absurd, but when he says, â€Å"2 ,000 and my advice is to take it. What will you do when you’re hungry? Eat the piano? † Szpilman comes to the realisation that whilst music is what he needs to survive mentally, it is in fact food that he needs to survive physically and accept this offer. From this point in the film onwards, Polanski distinguishes physical survival from mental survival for Szpilman and begins to enforce the idea of ‘hope is instrumental to our survival’.We learn that Szpilman will go to all efforts to survive, shown with dialogue, â€Å"[taking off his watch] Here, sell this. Food is more important than time† but it is his hope that he will one day be able to play piano again and be happy that is instrumental to his survival. This is shown later in the film when a German Officer asks him what he’s going to do when the war is over and he replies, â€Å"Play piano again†. It is the simple, but effective use of dialogue such as this that mimic realistic si tuations in comparison to the Hollywood theatrics used in other films that establish an exaggerated, bleak atmosphere.Lighting is another visual feature that is used to good effect to emphasise the idea of hope being instrumental in (Szpilman’s) survival. Throughout the second half of the film, where Szpilman is trapped within solitude – with the hope in which he holds on to hanging by the thread; Polanski uses dark and obsolete colours with a bluish tint that combined create a very strange and desolate atmosphere. While the dark obsolete lighting clearly portrays Szpilman’s pessimism, it is the bluish tint evident that is like the ‘silver lining’ and shows the viewer the hope that Szpilman is still holding on to.In one particular scene, where Szpilman plays piano for the first time in months to a Nazi Officer, moonlight with the distinct blue tint is cast over the piano and his hands as he plays. Polanski creates this effect to make the link for th e audience that music is the hope that has been instrumental to his (Szpilman’s) survival and is the tiny thread that he has been hanging onto when everybody he knows and everything that he once had has been taken from him.In the film ‘The Pianist’, Polanski effectively employed the use of the visual and oral features: music, dialogue and lighting to better communicate his idea of ‘hope being instrumental in our survival’. These three features come together to allow the audience to truly realise the importance of hope being the sole factor that keeps Szpilman alive, and that his hope is symbolised through music. Polanski so skilfully uses these features to show rather than tell the importance of this idea and through this it is little wonder that the movie is considered a modern classic.