Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch Essay Example

Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch Essay Discoveries do indeed alter how people perceive their connections with others and the world around them. This statement accurately reflects the ideas present in the novel ‘Swallow the Air’ By Tara June Winch, the film adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’ By Coky Giedroyc in 2009 and the poem ‘We are going’ By Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal tribe. Discovery encompasses how perceiving life from various perspectives can empower people into renewed and altered perceptions of others and themselves. The journey to discovery for the protagonists in these three texts emphasises how relationships and significant events have the power to alter the perspective of a persons connections with others and the world around them Relationships In Winch’s ‘Swallow the Air’; the protagonist faces a journey to discovery through her relationships, which have enforced an altered perspective of her connections to the world and others around her. Mays feeling of misplacement and the obstacles she is faced with are the catalyst towards her journey to self-discovery. Obstacles such as her mother suicide in the beginning of the novel, when May was told her mother â€Å"had to leave† allowing her to establish the connection with the emptiness inside the ice cream container helmet, provides a visual metaphor of the dead stingray which May compares to her mother’s death as it was â€Å"floating around in my beating mind†, conveying her discovery that death leaves nothing but â€Å"emptiness†. May soon realises that the violence inflicted upon her mother by ‘white’ men because she was indigenous, was echoed onto her when May was raped. The rapist words- â€Å"This is gonna sh ow ya where ya dont belong dumb black bitch†- emphasises the depth of antagonism she experienced. The violence in the alliterated ‘black bitch’ is felt more painfully by May than the physical injury as it leaves her as an outsider with no sense of self. Thus it can be seen that d We will write a custom essay sample on Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

The concept of Organizational Leadership in Home Depot Company

The concept of Organizational Leadership in Home Depot Company Introduction Organizational growth is one of the key indicators of good leadership. Leadership refers to a process of social influence by an individual who aids others to achieve a collective goal. Organizational leadership entails a process of organizing a social unit that consolidates its efforts to accomplish a universal objective (Baack, 2011).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The concept of Organizational Leadership in Home Depot Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Good organizational leadership entails application of effective operational strategies, organizational structure, and promotion of an organization’s corporate culture. Organizational leaders also have an ethical obligation to ensure that employees are provided with the best working conditions, which allow them to give their best output towards achieving organizational goals. Ethical leadership is the driving force of businesses. It plays a crucial role of ensuring that an organization remains highly competitive. Leaders should promote ethical values in their organizations through an inclusive decision-making process, strategic human resource management, and strict adherence to organizational culture (Baack, 2011). Organizational leaders endure a lot of criticism for their styles and methods of leadership. It is very important for organizational leaders to know the source of their power and influence when leading an organization. This helps them to avoid negative criticism and failure. Leaders can source for power and influence from their reputation, title, job position, verbal persuasion, or through the powers vested in their offices. One organizational leader who has been heavily criticized for his leadership style is Robert Nardelli. Robert Nardelli was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Home Depot for seven years (Brenner, 2007). This essay will analyze the concept of organizational leadership in business ethics by analyzing the leadership style of Robert Nardelli. Discussion Robert Nardelli became the Chairman and CEO of Home Depot in 2000, after working at GE for almost three decades. However, he resigned from his position at Home Depot in 2007 due to mounting pressure for him to change his leadership style. Robert succeeded Bernie Marcus as the chairperson and CEO of Home Depot. Bernie Marcus was using a laid-back style of leadership compared to what Robert introduced at the largest retail store for home improvement products in the United States (Brenner, 2007). Robert focused on instilling discipline in the workforce by introducing new operational strategies. He managed to improve sales and profit margins for the business within the first year of his tenure as the CEO.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Despite all the major improvements that Robert was making at Home Dep ot, his style of leadership came under serious scrutiny and criticism. The main reason for the criticism was his big compensation package that never matched the financial ability of the business (Brenner, 2007). According to economic experts, Robert’s compensation package did not make any economic sense because the stocks were performing poorly, yet he could afford to reward himself with a huge salary. This was also happening at a time when Home Depot was fighting off stiff competition from Lowe’s hardware. Lowe’s was a fast rising retail shop selling similar products as Home Depot. This meant that the business had to fast track its expansion plans in order to tighten their grip on the American market and eventually move to foreign ones. However, lack of a quick response from the CEO to implement the business strategy clearly demonstrated his poor leadership style that eventually led to the business losing a sizeable share of the local market. Robert’s le adership style at Home Depot showed a lot of inflexibility and hard headedness. In addition, it showed a few traits of directness, autonomy, autocracy, and a weak desire to fulfill various managerial tasks (Brenner, 2007). According to leadership theories, an individual’s ability to offer good and ethical leadership depends on factors such as their work environment, the situations at hand, individual abilities, and acquired skills. According to the trait theory of leadership, good leaders should be able to motivate, guide, as well as listen to and understand the people they lead (Baack, 2011). Situational theory of leadership explains that an individual’s ability to offer good leadership and make ethical decisions depends on the nature of the situation being resolved. According to the multiple intelligence theory of leadership, seven types of human competencies help leaders to do their work. These intellectual abilities are musical, logical, visual, interpersonal, verb al, bodily, and naturalistic (Gerald, 2006). All human beings have these abilities, albeit in different degrees. A good leader should be able to apply these competencies to gain the support of those they lead. Robert was a controlling leader who used his power of command for his selfish gains at the expense of Home Depot shareholders. His leadership style was incompatible with the organizational culture of the business, which tagged along a desire to offer quality customer service.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The concept of Organizational Leadership in Home Depot Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The business focused on offering high quality products to their customers at competitive prices. When Robert took over leadership at Home Depot, he failed to improve the decision-making process that excluded employees and other stakeholders (Baack, 2011). Robert emphasized on applying a top to bottom approach of decision-making instead of a bottom to top approach. His approach was not helping the business to attract new customers and retain their existing ones because of reduced quality of products. For example, a few months into his tenure, Robert crippled the retail structure at home depot when he eliminated salespeople from the workforce. A series of poor managerial decisions led to detachment between Home Depot and its employees, customers, and shareholders (Brenner, 2007). According to stakeholders at Home Depot, Richard was arrogant and inconsiderate of their needs. Most stakeholders had lost their attachment to the business because nothing seemed to work right, yet the board could have changed the situation. According to the behavioral theory of leadership, good leaders are born and not made. It is evident that Richard was not a natural leader for the position he held at Home Depot (Brenner, 2007). Contingency theory of leadership explains the success of a good leader as a function o f numerous contingencies that shape along variables such as groups, tasks, and subsidiaries. In addition, the theory explains that leadership styles apply differently depending on the situation being resolved in an organization (Gerald, 2006). Organizational leaders should apply their competences to develop a consistent pattern in their decision-making, because it has a huge impact on organizational success. Conclusion Robert Nardelli applied an imperialist style of leadership during his tenure as the CEO of Home Depot. Robert deserved all the criticism he got for this style of leadership because it detached the stakeholders from the business. His actions as a leader were very unethical, considering the fact that he was supposed to provide leadership to implement the organization’s business strategy. Instead, Robert focused on improving his compensation package at a time when the economic situation could not allow. Communication is very important in every organization. Theref ore, Robert was unethical in his decision to alter communication structures at Home Depot. An ethical leader should promote an inclusive style of management that allows all stakeholders to take part in decision-making. References Baack, D. (2011). Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Cambridge University Press.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Brenner, D. (2007). The Imperial Management Style of Home Depot’s Bob Nardelli. Web. Gerald, P. (2006). Leadership: Theory and Practice. London: Oxford University Press.

Constitute and Its Established Cousins

Constitute and Its Established Cousins â€Å"Constitute† and Its Established Cousins â€Å"Constitute† and Its Established Cousins By Mark Nichol This post lists and defines a small family of words derived from a Latin verb meaning â€Å"set† that share the element -stitute. Statuere, stemming from the Latin verb stare, meaning â€Å"stand,† alludes to establishment or causing to stand. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s also the forebear of statute and statue, but words that include -stitute are also descended from statuere. To constitute (literally, â€Å"set with†) is to compose, form, or make up, or to enact or establish. Constitution is the act of doing so, and a constitution is a body of laws and principles for an entity such as an organization or a government, or the document setting them forth. That term also refers to the makeup of an entity, including an individual, or to a custom or law or to the mode of organization for a society or a state. The adjective constitutional applies to all senses, and in that form the word also serves as a noun referring to a walk one takes for fitness. Destitute (â€Å"set away†) means â€Å"lacking,† usually in the context of personal wealth; the state of lack is called destitution. To institute (â€Å"set in†) is to establish, inaugurate, or organize, and an institute is an entity organized for a purpose, such as instruction, or promotion of a cause. Institution is the act of establishment, and an institution is a facility or organization, or a significant component or practice. Restitute (â€Å"reset†) is a rare verb meaning â€Å"give back† or â€Å"restore,† but the noun form, meaning â€Å"act of making good or restoring† (usually in a financial context), is common. The legal term â€Å"restitutio in integrum† (â€Å"total reinstatement†) refers to restoration to a previous state, and a restitutionist is one who believes in religious doctrine based on ultimate restoration to a pristine state. To prostitute (â€Å"stand before†) is to offer oneself, sexually or otherwise, for monetary gain; the act or practice is prostitution. Substitute (â€Å"set under†) means â€Å"put in place of another,† and as a noun or adjective refers to someone or something that serves in place of another.† The act of doing so is substitution. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Religious Terms You Should Know"Confused With" and "Confused About"Wood vs. Wooden

Triumph of the Will' absolve Leni Riefenstahl from responsibility for Essay

Triumph of the Will' absolve Leni Riefenstahl from responsibility for it's Nazi Propagandist impact - Essay Example Although many people argue that Riefenstahl, who is the director, stands out as a deliberate propagandist through this film, others argue that the form of propaganda exhibited is not as a result of her intention. This paper aims at reviewing this movie in light of the historical and philosophical context as far as the propaganda in it is concerned. How Propaganda Comes in To begin with, the proposition that this film absolves Riefenstahl from the propagandist role that this movie plays can be historically challenged. Even though Riefenstahl is in denial of having well understood the heinous nature of Adolf Hitler, history has its own reservations on the same. As such, her excuse can be dismissed as a simple and odd escapist’s excuse since someone with the creativity and originality akin to Riefenstahl’s is expected to see better, especially on an obvious issues such as the activities of the Nazis and create a film which opposes rather than supports such a movement. As i t would be expected in a natural societal setting, Riefenstahl defends herself that she is not a propagandist and blames it all on her naivety and lack of knowledge on the real identity of Adolf Hitler and Nazism when she was forging out this piece of entertainment. On the contrary, one may find it necessary to argue out that this is just a way of freeing herself from the imminent guilt that she compromised truth so much in order to making money and gain fame using this film rather. Praising someone who is not humane might not trace one to a direct injustice but is tantamount to praising Satan, which does not leave him or her innocent anyway. As such, much as the content and style of this book might be delineating Riefenstahl from any form of propaganda, the historical and philosophical reality of the Nazi movement are in contradiction to what she presents. The fact that one of the major characters in this movie is Hitler himself leaves no doubt that Riefenstahl deliberately underst ood what burden of blame there was to carry as she produced this movie. In fact, this movie is a falsified presentation of the facts and the truths as they were during Germany’s historical times in as much as Nazism is concerned. For instance, the way the Jews were inhumanely treated over the years that was a key and most defining feature of the Nazi ideologies, a element of truth that is never presented in an objective manner in as far as this movie is concerned. Given the understanding that Hitler himself approached Riefenstahl to deliberately to have her produce this movie (Riefenstahl, 1935) also leaves little or no doubt that Riefenstahl was fully aware of the propagandist intention in Hitler’s heart and just wanted to use this movie as a tool to accomplish the same. Nothing points out to her denial of this, as there is no any form of evidence of her negotiation with Hitler on how best the reaction or taken care of the world would be tackled given the attempts of the movie to brainwash the people around. The way power has been presented in this movie can be seen as not only falsified but also vague in equal measure. (Reeves, 2004). In this movie, Hitler is brought out as someone who is out to surprisingly bring about cohesion among his people through the endearing speeches he gives to the masses of Nazi followers, which is in contravention of what people really knew about him. History

Doctrine of Judicial Binding Precedent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Doctrine of Judicial Binding Precedent - Essay Example In London Tramcars Co Ltd v London County Council2, Lord Halisbury ruled that when the House made a ruling on a 'point of law', it becomes 'conclusive upon the House afterwards, and it is impossible to raise that question again as if it was res integra and could be re-argued'. In short, the House of Lords cannot later undermine their own rulings on points of law. The issue can be debated again, but not res integra. In practice, this means that anyone coming before the House of Lords can argue prior precedent, and if that precedent applies, the House of Lords is powerless not to rule in their favor on that issue. â€Å"This coercive character of the doctrine of precedent is a feature peculiar to the English legal tradition†3. Even in the United States legal system, precedent is not absolutely binding, in two ways. 1. It is possible in the United States tradition to overturn precedent. Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson...famous cases that changed the course of American law and juri sprudence involved overturning prior cases. 2. There is more leeway for precedent to be ruled non-binding or to be reinterpreted more carefully Judges in the British tradition are supposed to interpret law, not make law, even more so than in the United States system. The House of Lords only has the leeway to interpret law when there is no law already in place. Further, not only is precedent binding, but the English system is further peculiar because individual precedents are powerfully binding4. Even in the French and American traditions, lines of cases are interpreted and their varying precedents debated, but in the UK tradition, an individual case is understood and can â€Å"create a binding precedent, similar to a statute†. Beamish v. Beamish was a key case in establishing this doctrine, ironically itself an example of a single case creating binding precedent. Combined with the London Tramway case, it is only possible for precedent to be overturned by an act of Parliament, whose sovereignty cannot be undermined. One of the consequences of the increasing importance of precedent was that legal reporting and the documentation and maintenance of case law became far more important4 . It seems that the doctrine emerged as a reaction to parliamentary sovereignty4 . Prior to the emergence of the doctrine, only Parliament could make clear, consolidated law that was held within â€Å"four corners†, complete like a room. When the House of Lords makes a judicial opinion, it takes on the force of law and has statutory implications. People must abide by the regulation. If the House of Lords interprets that a particular environmental law applies to an industry, it has the effect of changing the enforcement as powerfully as an act of Parliament. One could in fact argue that the law of binding judicial precedent essentially elevates the court to the level of law, which is an important addition to Browne-Wilkinson's comment. How, then, can Browne-Wilkinson's co mment be interpreted? It points to several truths about the Commonwealth law that the doctrine of judicial binding precedent can obscure. First, previous Lords made those precedents and made those rulings. This means that, while from the modern perspective, law may be interpreted rather than created, it was created at one point, and will be created again whenever there are gaps. Second, in practice Lords do make law, the doctrine be damned. This is because it is up to the Lords themselves to determine if

Roaring Twenties Essay Example for Free

Roaring Twenties Essay Roaring Twenties refers to the 1920s, principally in North America, one of the most colorful decades in history. During the era, there was a turn toward normality in politics, the return of veterans from World War I, the growth of jazz music, the emergence of a new face of modern womanhood (the flapper), and Black Tuesday, the harbinger of the Great Depression. Moreover, the years of the Roaring Twenties were marked by several inventions and discoveries of far-reaching consequences; unprecedented industrial growth and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, coupled with significant changes in lifestyles; and a series of events, national as well as international, which shaped a large part of the history of the 20th century. The eras affluence, however, did not include all social groups since many sharecroppers and tenant farmers (black and white) in the South continued to live in poverty. The Roaring Twenties started in North America and spread to Europe as the effects of World War I diminished. In Europe, the years following the First World War (1919-1923) were marked by a deep recession. Europe spent these years in rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. Unlike in the aftermath of World War II, the United States did little to try to rebuild Europe. Instead, it took an increasingly isolationist stance. In Canada, an important economic transformation accelerated as Britain was wholly supplanted by the United States as Canadas main economic partner. By the middle of the decade, economic development started to soar over in Europe, and the Roaring Twenties broke out in Germany, Britain and France, where the second half of this decade was termed the Golden Twenties. In France and Canada, they were also called the Crazy Years (annà ©es folles). The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. New technologies, especially automobiles, movies and radio spread the idea of modernity to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality, in architecture as well as in daily life. At the same time, amusement, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and dancing, in defiance of the horrors of World War I, which were still present in peoples minds. The period is often called the Jazz Age. The Roaring Twenties are traditionally viewed as an era of great economic prosperity driven by the introduction of a wide array of new consumer goods. Initially, the North American economy, particularly the economy of the US, took some time to convert from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. After this dull phase, the economy boomed. The United States increased its role as the richest country in the world, with industry aligned to mass production and a society with a culture of consumerism. In Europe, the economy did not start to flourish until 1924. The government was associated with laissez faire economics, which helped create the conditions for the boom. In 1922, t The development of mass production allowed for cheaper prices of technology products. Most of the devices that became commonplace had been developed before the war but had been unaffordable to most people. The automobile, movie, radio, and chemical industries skyrocketed during the 1920s. One of the most important of these was the automobile industry. Before the war, cars were a rare luxury. In the 1920s, cheap mass-produced vehicles became common throughout the U.S. and Canada. The popularity of jazz spread. Jazz became associated with all things modern, sophisticated, and also decadent. Because of the dreary economic situation after World War I, many American and European families needed to replace the incomes of the family fathers lost in the battlefield; women had to accept a job and move outside the home. It reflected on the fashion. corsets went out of style, and some women even bandaged their breasts to make them look flatter. Flappers, as these women were called in the U.S., wore short dresses with a straight loose silhouette. Speakeasies became popular and numerous as the Prohibition years progressed and lead to the rise of gangsters such as Al Capone. They more commonly began to operate with connections to organized crime and liquor smuggling. The Roaring Twenties was a period of literary creativity, and works of several notable authors appeared during Books that take the 1920s as their subject include: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is often described as the epitome of the Jazz Age in American literature. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque recounts the horrors of WWI and also the deep detachment from German civilian life felt by many men returning from the front. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is about a group of expatriate Americans in Europe during the 1920s.

Character Analysis of Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour Essay

In the short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself. Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f... ... her true feelings with her sister, or talking to her husband or reaching out to other sources of help to address her marital repressed life, she would not have to dread living with her husband. â€Å"It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long† (Chopin 262). Her meaning for life would not have to mean death to her husband. In conclusion, her lack of self assertion, courage and strong will to address her repressed life made her look at life and death in a different perspective. When in fact there is no need to die to experience liberation while she could have lived a full life to experience it with her husband by her side. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. 261-263. Print.

World War Z as a Sociopolitical Assessment of Globalization

World War Z as a Sociopolitical Assessment of Globalization World War Z showed readers that what may have worked in peace time was unsuited for war. By doing so Brooks was able to make a good assessment of our current global systems with the overarching evaluation of globalization’s literal and metamorphical infectiousness. He uses the novel to comment on the social issues such as government ineptitude, while also playing on innate human fear and our ability to adapt to new situations for the sake of survivability.By adding an overarching apocalyptic theme with a touch of old-fashioned zombie gore, Brooks is able to provide a thoughtful, entertaining assessment of how different parts of the world would react to a widespread crisis. World War Z is one of the most creative social commentary of our times. It is chilling, to say the least, not only because of the ghouls themselves, but also how the rest of the world reacts to them. Max Brooks was able to depict a huge range of mot ivations and human intentions in this novel that could be comparable to a sociological study of humans in a time of crisis.He also does an excellent job of describing the sort of cold, logical planning that was necessary in order to survive a zombie apocalypse and that even after the war is over, the world still has a long way to go before it can move on. Survivalism and disaster preparedness are two other dominant themes in the novel. Many of the interviews in World War Z that come from United States citizens focus on policy changes with the intent of training themselves to thwart off zombie attacks and, in a post-apocalyptic world, rebuilding the country to its former glory.This was an interesting policy for the United States to take up, as it completely changed the social hierarchy by putting the working class mechanic above the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation (Brooks, 2006: 140). Throughout the novel, Brooks repeatedly presents characters with the sort of mental and phy sical toughness required to survive a disaster. Although one’s physical fitness is a factor that attributes to one’s survivability, many of these interviews are of ordinary people with extraordinary resiliency who were able to rise to the occasion when they were needed.In this sense, readers can see a distinction in the United States from the rest of the world in that its citizens are a nation full of individualists who believe that they have the ability to survive any dire situation as long as one has the right â€Å"tools and talent† (Brooks, 2004: 140). It was also inspirational to read that in times of extreme adversity man can be beaten and brought to his knees but also rise up to show his resilience, When zombies were first written about, they seemed to be created by magic. In recent decades, however, their origins have become more and more complex.Today, one would be hard pressed to find a zombie novel or movie where the origin of the zombie species is no t from radioactivity and viruses being used as a sort of biological warfare. One thing that many books in the zombie genre do not address is how the rest of the world develops weapons to specifically deal with the zombie threat. Brooks not only creates new weapons in his zombiverse, he also finds new uses for previously existing ones. It is true that new wars create new technology and there is no better motivator than a worldwide crisis such as a potential zombie apocalypse.World War Z is no exception to this fact, as various peoples around the world were able to adapt and overcome technical limitations when it came to facing a new enemy. The United States Marines, for example, are credited for creating the â€Å"Lobotomizer,† a fusion of shovel and double-bladed battle-axe improvised from the recycled steel of cars (Brooks, 2006: 146). People were also able to repurpose the resources that they had in new ways, such as using K-9 units to sniff out zombie populations (Brooks, 2006: 283).This adaptation and repurposing of resources was crucial in the Zombie War effort and is a reflection on how important a military’s ability to adapt to new situations is in establishing victory in a war. In â€Å"Why do some people think they know what is good for others? † Naeem Inayatulla talks about many westernized country’s desire to give aid to these third world countries and how this can prove to be ineffective if done with the view that these impoverished countries need to be given what the western world thinks they need (Inayatulla, 2009: 345).This point is further emphasized in Brook’s novel when he describes how these â€Å"third world† countries seemed to fare the same, if not a bit better than their first world counterparts. This is especially true when one reads the section of the book with the interview of Xolelwa Azania, or Paul Redeker in the United States of Southern Africa. This interview talks about the origins of the Redeker Plan, which was a systematic way of intentionally sacrificing a large portion of a population in order to save another population in a more easily defensible or important location (Brooks, 2006: 106).During the zombie outbreak in South Africa, Redeker adapted his Plan Orange 84 into a zombie survival plan should the outbreak become a serious threat. Plan Orange 84 was a â€Å"doomsday scenario† survival plan for the Apartheid government if the Black African population rose up against the White Afrikaners. Being a logical and dispassionate person who thought emotions such as love and hate to be inefficient, Plan Orange made Redeker a hated man in South Africa.Although this plan came at the cost of Redeker’s sanity, it proved to help out the rest of the world by allowing them to adopt and modify the plan for themselves, in addition to indirectly saving thousands, if not millions of people from being turned into zombies and thus wiping out the human race. This le ads into the argument that authoritarian regimes tend to be most effective during times of war. It seems that democracies tend to be most effective during peacetime, while authoritarian regimes function best under times of war or crisis.The reason why this is so effective is because of fear. Authoritarian regimes are most effective when its citizens are afraid of what might happen to them if they break the law or participate in suspicious activities. This is especially true during World War II, when Adolf Hitler was able to amass support from almost an entire country using fear and intimidation. There are many parallels that can be drawn between World War II and World War Z, such as the early responses to the impending crisis. That is to say, arly warnings went unheeded, profiteers made millions selling a placebo to the masses and the military prepared itself with the tools that would have been perfect for the last war that it fought. This is all combined to highlight the fact that almost no one really paid much attention to the crisis until it was staring them in the face, or, more appropriately, shambling towards them. Another prevalent theme that Brooks considers in World War Z is not only that of fear, but the uncertainty that breeds that fear. Zombies are the perfect harbinger of the apocalypse because they do not play by the traditional rules of the â€Å"game. Any other enemy, be it another nation or a group of terrorists, initiates or receives an attack and then this sort of back-and-forth warfare begins where you go and fight them and then they retaliate. Zombies have no wartime strategy or vendetta against any particular group. They are thoughtless, infectious humanoids who are driven by one of the most basic instincts of seeking out their next object of consumption. It is the mindlessness of the zombie theme that plays so perfectly into the apocalyptic genre and furthermore the fear of an enemy that acts more like a virus than a predator.A predator is naturally intelligent and knows not to over-hunt its territory, lest it starve to death. Zombies are undead, and will just continue to infect and consume despite everything. Although the zombie war was rightfully portrayed as a disastrous event, there were some good things that seemed to come out of the war. For example, cooperation between Israel and the neighboring Muslim countries greatly increased during the Great Panic. Israel opened its borders to everyone regardless of their race or religious affiliation.Although this was only for a short time, this act spoke volumes throughout the world. While this may be a somewhat too idealistic portrayal of what could happen in a situation such as the one presented in World War Z, it is inspirational to imagine countries that were once enemies band together to face a common enemy in order to survive. Perhaps one of the more surprising stories in World War Z is how Brooks imagines Cuba dealing with the zombie crisis and even coming out as one of the world’s postwar superpowers. Cuba became an ideal refuge for a number of reasons.Besides being surrounded by Caribbean waters, which gave Cubans time to prepare for the invasion, their lack of diplomatic ties to the United States, their militaristic dictatorship and their generally well-educated populace helped to resist the first waves of zombies. Early outbreaks were handled in brutal fashion and the Cuban military fortified their shorelines early on and only let in the most desirable workers and talent. Although Cuba was by no means spared from the heavy fighting during the war, their early successes made them one of, if not the most desirable nation to flee to (Brooks, 2006: 228-233).World War Z is a novel that redefined and repopularized a genre while also giving a thought-provoking look on how the world might react to a disaster on a worldwide scale. Max Brooks writes his novel with such a finesse and realistic perspective that one might be misled into th inking that a zombie apocalypse is something that could actually happen in the future. The personal accounts of people help to give a frighteningly accurate commentary on modern society by playing into innate human fear and desire to survive.All in all, World War Z takes a serious, geopolitical and sociopolitical look at a fantastical premise and disastrous event with a keen eye for detail. He also shows just how resilient man can be when faced with extreme adversity. Brooks, Max. 2006. World War Z: an oral history of the zombie war. 1st ed. New York: Crown. Inayatulla, Naeem. 2009. â€Å"Why do some people think they know what is good for others? † in Global Politics: a new introduction, edited by Jenny Edkins and Maja Zehfuss, (New York: Routledge), Ch. 15, pp. 344-369.

The Escape – Creative Writing

I couldn't breathe. I could feel a large weight on top of me but when I looked there was nothing there. It was getting heavier and heavier. I tried to scream but every time that I tried I felt a shooting pain in my chest. All that I could do was wait and pray. I thought that it was unlikely that I would be found and I kept going over what had happened and couldn't understand how a life so perfect could go so wrong as easily as it had. It wasn't right. I looked down and released a ear splitting scream†¦ The previous month I had just been a normal teenager, going to school and going shopping at the weekend. Then it all changed. I came home from school to find that a large wagon was parked in front of our house and a man was carrying out our belongings. I saw my TV, stereo and Game cube being carried out of the front door by two large men. At first I thought that we were being robbed but then I saw my mum and dad appear at the front door. My mum was in floods of tears and my dad was stood with another man and signing papers. It never occurred to me what was happening. I ran across the garden and threw my arms around my mum. Although I didn't know what was going on I started to cry. I thought that I should try to be brave as my mum was so upset but it was the only time that I had ever seen her cry. I knew that something must be seriously wrong. I released her gently from my arms and gently asked her what was happening and who the men were. She said that my dad would explain everything when he had signed the papers. It was about five minutes, but seemed like a lifetime, before my dad could come and explain what we were going to do next. As my dad started to talk I became speechless. How could this happen? We hadn't done anything wrong yet we were the ones that were being punished. I couldn't take in what was being explained to me. It was so unfair that because my dad had done the right thing we were going to have to move out of our house and leave our life that my parents had built up for me. What had happened was that my dad had been involved in a robbery at work, the men had been captured but my dad had been asked to give evidence in court in order to get them put in prison. My dad had done this willingly but the thing that he had not realised was that the men who he had helped to send to prison were part of a large gang who were very violent. The other gang members were now out for revenge, with my dad. He had been receiving silent phone calls; evil text messages and he had even been sent death threats through the post. But what had happened the previous day was too much for anyone to cope with. Someone had burst into his office to try to attack him. It could have all gone horribly wrong for my dad if it hadn't been for a meeting being called at the last minute and him leaving his office to join it. I felt awful, it had been the previous day that I had been moaning because I wasn't allowed to go out with my friends. I could now understand that they had done it for my safety and the same men that had wanted to kill my dad could have killed me. I hadn't thought at any point in my life that I would have to be careful where I go and who I go with for the risk of my life. It all seemed so unreal. I had watched TV programmes and horror films about things like this happening but I never thought about what it must be like for people to be put in this situation. I felt disappointed in myself because I remembered when I was at a sleepover and I had joked that this sort of thing would never happen and that if it did the person who was on the run must have done something wrong. Even when I had this explained to me I didn't expect to hear what they told me next. We were being put in the ‘Witness Protection Programme'. I didn't fully understand what this meant. I thought that all it meant was that we had to move away from our home in order to get away from the people that were chasing us. As my parents continued to talk I realised that it meant that we were going to get a new identity and that we were not allowed to tell anyone what we were going to do. That was the hardest thing that I had to cope with. I said bye to my friends when I left school that day but it never entered my head that it was the last thing that I would be saying to them. I had always been popular at school and I couldn't understand why something like this would happen to me. Why couldn't it happen to Laura and her family? No one liked her and she didn't have any friends so there wouldn't be anyone who would miss her. I knew that it was a horrible thing to think but I couldn't help myself. What would my friends think if I didn't say anything before I left? I pleaded with my mum to let me phone them, I even said that one would be enough and that they could pass on the message to the others. This wasn't going to happen no matter how much I pleaded. They explained that it was for my safety. If I had told my best friend and she said something to my other friends, someone could overhear what she was saying and this problem could start over again. I did understand what they were saying but it seemed so undeserved. After we had the conversation I decided that I would have one last look inside the house. I was really surprised. The house still had the wallpaper and the carpets but the rest of the house was so bare. I climbed the stairs to where my bedroom was. It was weird knowing that it was the last time that I would be in my room again. It still looked like my room with the carpets and the poster but everything else was bare. I felt a tear fall down my face. I was trying to be strong but there was nothing that I could do, I just couldn't stop the tears from continually falling. I slowly walked down the stairs and quietly sat in the car. The large wagon started to drive off down the street and I knew then that it was the end of what I knew as my life. As my parents got into the car a policewoman came to sit in the back. It all felt so strange and I couldn't take the chance of looking behind me because I didn't know how I would react. When we turned the corner onto the main road my phone started to bleep to tell me that I had a message so I reached into my bag to get it out. It was no sooner that I had the mobile in my hand that the policewoman snatched it off me. She was sympathetic with me but she said that it would be best if I didn't read what it said because it may upset me to know that I was unable to respond to whatever was said. As we pulled onto the motorway it struck me that I did not know where we were going. I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts that we could have been going abroad and I wouldn't have known. I asked my dad but he said that he would tell me when we had arrived. It seemed to me as if I was being kept in the dark about everything that was going on. Did my parents not realise how much this was affecting me? My whole world was being turned upside down and they wouldn't tell me anything about what was happening. It wasn't as though I wouldn't understand; I was a teenager so why wouldn't they trust me. I didn't have any way that I could contact anyone so I couldn't put us in any danger from these people who were chasing us. We slowed down and I noticed a sign that was in welsh and as soon as I saw it I knew where my parents were taking me. We had been on holiday here the previous year and my parents had expressed how much they loved it her. I was really angry now. They were messing up my whole life and they were making me stay in this place. They knew how much I hated it because of how much there was to do. There were fields all around, no shops and no one who was near my age. I couldn't see how I was going to cope in a place like this. My life would revolve around school because there was nothing else to do. If we had to move why couldn't we move to a large town like London or Birmingham? This was going to be my worst nightmare, nothing to do but walk up hills and go to school. I had never realised how great my life was before. It makes me understand how true the saying ‘you never appreciate what you have until its gone' is. The amount of times my parents had said this I hadn't really understood it, I just assumed that if you lost something you would be able to get used to your life without it. I would never get used to this. We drove into the village and there was nobody about even though it was a Friday night. There were always people about when you wanted to go out. I hadn't even seen one person here. We pulled up in front of this tiny cottage. They couldn't seriously think that this was big enough for three people but when I looked round it seemed to be one of the biggest cottages in the area. I hesitantly walked through the front door to find that it seemed bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. I knew that there was nothing that I could do now to change their mind so I returned outside and took one of the suitcases out of the boot of the car. As I turned around I noticed that there was a boy and a girl walking towards me. They seemed friendly and they looked about my age. I said hello and introduced myself. It seemed weird when I had to introduce myself by a different name. They didn't seem to notice the uneasy tone in my voice because they both introduced themselves to me. They said that they both lived down the road and that they went to the school that I would be going to. I told them that I had to take my things inside but I would hopefully see them later. They said bye and walked off. Things looked much better than I had originally thought that it could be. I slowly got used to living in a quiet village and by the end of the second week I had lots of new friends and I had told then why I had moved here-The made up version obviously. Everyone seemed nice but because it was so secluded there was only six people in my class. It was strange to begin with and I would go home upset because of how few people there are but after I thought about it I realised that it was much better for my education. It was as though I was having one to one tuition, which meant that I was learning much more than I did at my previous school. I still missed all my friends and in a strange way some of the teachers. After we had been at our new home for a month things started to go wrong for us. Someone had found out my mums new mobile number and she was getting prank phone calls and silent phone calls. We notified the police but they assumed that it was my fault and that I had been in contact with someone from my old school. Nobody believed me when I said that I hadn't done anything that I wasn't supposed to do and I was kept off school to be questioned and to ‘learn a lesson'. I hadn't realised that it was so serious if I had spoke to someone from my old school. I hadn't and that was what upset me, no one believed me. I stormed out of the house my eyes full of tears and a lump in my throat†¦ †¦ My scream rang through the dark lane and my chest hurt even more. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My white T-shirt had turned red with the blood that was pouring out of my chest. I tried to think what had happened to me. I didn't know how long I had been here for. I didn't know how much longer I would be here. I heard a car engine in the distance. I tried to move but I found that no matter how hard I tried my legs would not move. I couldn't believe that I was going to be rescued but my luck changed. The car turned down a small lane. If only I had waited with my parents I wouldn't have been in this situation. Why didn't I wait at home and try to explain further? I didn't know what to do. I had no way of phoning home and I didn't know where I was. In the very far distance I saw a small yellow dot that was becoming larger with every second. I realised that it was someone on a bike. I wanted to scream for help but each time I tried there was only a small noise that escaped. I could only wait and hope that the bike wouldn't turn. It was coming straight towards me. My eyes closed and everything went dark. As I opened my eyes I could hear lots of noise and see lots of people hurrying around me. I was in a total daze. I could hear lots of people saying my name and asking if I could hear them. I could, I just couldn't respond. It was as though I was watching these people with someone else and there was nothing that I could do. I felt someone grab hold of my hand so I squeezed the hand as much as I could. When I had done this I heard the reassuring voice of my mum. It was saying â€Å"Everything will be okay. I wont let anything happen to you ever again. There is no-one that can harm you now. † I believed every word that she was saying to me. I knew that I would be okay from now on.

Essay about WWII Concentration Camps

Essay about WWII Concentration Camps Essay about WWII Concentration Camps The Holocaust was a time of torture for Jewish people and other religious groups. A man named Adolf Hitler created concentration camps to destroy the Jews. A Nazi was a member of the National Socialist German Worker’s party. The Nazis worked for Hitler to capture the Jews and send them to concentration camps. During the Holocaust, concentration camps were horrible places because the Nazis treated their victims like filth and criminals and few were left to survive. The concentration camps were ordered by a cruel man named Adolf Hitler to concentrate enemies of Hitler’s Reich into prison camps. A concentration camp was known as a detention site outside the normal prison system to confine, terrorize, and kill civilians. Initially camps were made for opponents of the regime and the term was first used for the camps in the Boer War in 1900 to 1902. The word â€Å"reconcentrados† was already used in 1896 when people were confined to concentration camps in Cuba. The English word was taken over into German in the form â€Å"Konzentrationslager.† The first concentration camp opened in Oranienburg Germany in 1933 and operation began later that year. The Jewish people were not sent to camps simply for being Jewish until 1938. Camps also originated in Soviet Russia in 1935. The name of the first camp was Dachau and served as a model for the other camps that followed. The torturing of the Jews in the concentration camps was absolutely horrendous. Camps dehumanized the inmates in every possible way. Breakfast consisted of a slice of bread, ground-up acorns and water. The mid-day meal consisted of a soup of potato peels and beet, and dinner another slice of bread. People resorted in eating grass and roots in order to survive. Starvation would kill most of the people in the camps. The Jewish people would be made to stand up for hours together for their roll calls. After families were separated, people would be stripped of their valuables and an identification number would be tattooed to their forearms. The women, children and elderly were put into one group and healthy and strong men formed another. The group of healthy people was made to do hard, laborious jobs throughout the day. The hygienic condition was very poor and taking a shower was not an option. Death would be lurking around the corner of barracks. The most common form of death was disease. In the morning, sixty percent of the people in barracks did not wake up. Victims were beaten cruelly if they failed to perform their daily tasks or made an error. Sometimes if the victims attempted to escape, they would be drilled with a bullet through their bodies. The dead would be buried in large gravel or dumped into trucks. These camps of torture were located throughout Germany and Eastern Europe. By the second phase of concentration camps, the original camps were closed. The new camps were established in Sachesenhauen, Buchwald, Mauthausen, and Ravensbruck which were all established in Austria around 1936 to 1939. There were other countries where concentration camps were located. The names of these countries were: Germany, Estonia, Finland, Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Yugoslavia, and Holland. Not only did the horrible Nazis capture the Jews, they captured other religious groups as well. They captured over three million Jewish people regardless of age or gender. The Saleschutz family was taken in the winter of 1941. A young individual named Rudolf Urba was seventeen years old when he was captured in June 1942. Urba worked as a slave laborer in Auschwitz. Eleven million people were killed during the Holocaust. Two million of these people were Catholics, three

Case Study of Diagnosis of Neutropenia Patient

Case Study of Diagnosis of Neutropenia Patient A 45 year old physically fit patient was admitted to hospital following several visits to his General Practitioner (GP) where is was complaining of decreased appetite, constipation, fever, chills, headaches, cramping, vertigo and respiratory problems after experiencing some hay fever like symptoms one week ago. He was commenced on Roxithromycin 150mg b.d and his GP ordered blood tests that showed his had neutropenia (low white cell count) (Harris et al 2006, p 1185) and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) (Harris et al 2006, p. 1704). Two days later he was not feeling any better and the GP ordered a chest x-ray (CXR) which the patient to have bilateral pneumonia he was than admitted to the hospital. This essay will identify important events that took place during the patient’s admission to hospital and discuss three of these events in detail with contemporary evidence to support the writer’s discussion. The essay will than look what has been learnt through this case study in relation to future professional practice as a new graduate registered nurse in accordance with the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council (ANMC) competency standards. Day 2 Why did the patient not received oxygen until his saturation got to 70% there is no mention of the treatment plan to or from nursing staff. Later that day the patient was transferred to main ward, the nursing staff raised the issue that the patient needed to be in the intensive care unit (ICU), the patient was reviewed by Respiratory Physician and was decided to not to transfer patient to ICU. This patient required close monitoring due to saturation decrease and as a newly registered nurse we do not have the experience or the time to monitor this patient in a ward environment (ANMC 2006) competency Professional Practice. Patient safety, patient advocacy. Day 5 The patient was noted to be still febrile and was ordered another CXR as the Computed Tomography Scan (CT scan) was not preformed, why had this pa tient not had the CT scan that was ordered (ANMC 2006) competency Professional Practice. Team communication strategies, chain of command. Later that day it was also noted that the patient had a PR Bleed and a referral was made to the gastroenterologist. No mention of cause or any investigation taken place to assess the PR bleed no blood tests were ordered to determine patient’s status. Patient advocacy, patient safety. Day 6 Respiratory Physician saw the patient and noted he had severe bilateral pneumonia, possible bone marrow suppression and anaemia of an unknown cause, no communication between medical officers as the patient had a PR bleed the day before and is neutropenic and thrombocytopenic. The Respiratory Physician requested an infectious diseases review. Patient advocacy, conflict management, documentation. Day 7 It was documented again that the patient had low saturations and was febrile. He was seen by the Infectious Diseases Specialist and was ordered more tests an d a lung biopsy. The lung biopsy was considered to be of high risk due to the patient’s condition by a Thoracic Surgeon. If this patient was a high risk why was he not in ICU as requested by the nursing staff? Conflict management, chain of command, patient advocacy.

Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln - Article Example This article was published in the April 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review. The article includes an interview conducted between the author of the article and Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is the author of a 2005 bestseller book. The author has developed the interview by asking various questions relating to how President Abraham Lincoln was the best president America has ever seen and what made him develop such good qualities of leadership. Goodwin has also replied quite well to the questions asked and has quoted various examples along with presenting similarities and the dissimilarities between Abraham Lincoln and President Obama. The article is based on a number of insights, the basic one being that the lessons of leadership that were learned from Abraham Lincoln can not only be applied to the political viewpoint but also has the capacity to be utilized in other fields of life. Goodwin brings to the audience’s attention that both the former and current presidents always prefer those people who are best at what they do regardless of their dislikes towards the president himself. The basic purpose of choosing such colleagues was to work with people who had the ability to disagree and argue with the president at times when he was considered wrong. The next key concept that has been discussed in the interview is that even though the colleagues question our decisions and thinking regarding the situation, at the end of the day it is the leader who has to make the decisions and stand firm on that decision. The author quotes an example regarding the abolishment of slavery in the United States where many cabinet members opposed Lincoln but he made his decisions on what he felt was right. The author talks about other characteristics of Abraham Lincoln such as his emotional intelligence, which allowed him to learn from his mistakes, his charisma that made him loved by all even his competitors and