American Constitution Essays - James Madison, Constitutional Law

American Constitution The basis of all law in the United States is the Constitution. This Constitution is a document written by "outcasts" of England. The Constitution of the United States sets forth the nation's fundamental laws. It establishes the form of the national government and defines the rights and liberties of the American people. It also lists the aims of the government and the methods of achieving them. The Constitution was written to organize a strong national government for the American states. Previously, the nation's leaders had established a national government under the Articles of Confederation. But the Articles granted independence to each state. They lacked the authority to make the states work together to solve national problems. After the states won independence in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), they faced the problems of peacetime government. The states had to enforce law and order, collect taxes, pay a large public debt, and regulate trade among themselves. They also had to deal with Indian tribes and negotiate with other governments. Leading statesmen, such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, began to discuss the creation of a strong national government under a new constitution. The United States is a republic that operates under a federalist system. The national government had specific enumerated powers, and the fifty states retain substantial endowment over their citizens and their residents. Both the national government and the state government are divided into three different branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. Written constitutions, both federal and state, form a system of separated powers. Amendment, in legislation, is a change in a law, or in a bill before it becomes a law. Bills often have amendments attached before a legislature votes on them. Amendments to the Constitution of the United States may be proposed in two ways: (1) If two-thirds of both houses approve, Congress may propose an amendment. The amendment becomes a law when ratified either by legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. (2) If the legislatures of two-thirds of the states ask for an amendment, Congress must call a convention to propose it. The amendment becomes a law when ratified either by the legislatures or by conventions in three fourths of the states. This method has never been used. The Federal Government is comprised of three branches: Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The executive branch includes the President the vice President, the cabinet and all federal departments, and most governmental agencies. All executive power is vested in the President [US Const. Art. II, sec 1, cl. 1], currently Bill Clinton, who serves a four-year term. The President is the commander in Chief of the military [US Const. Art. II, sec 2, cl. 1], and has primary authority over foreign affairs. The President has the power to make treaties, but only with two-thirds of the US senate [US Const. Art. II, sec 2, cl. 2]. The President of the US has the power to nominate all Supreme Court Justices, all other federal juries, ambassadors, and all other officers of the United States. The President had the jurisdiction to veto legislation. The vice President is the President of the Senate. The Vice President serves the same four year term as the President. The President is the head of the thirteen government departments. These departments are not listed in the constitution and have varied in name and in number over the years. Currently they are the DEPARTMENTS OF STATE, TREASURY, DEFENSE, JUSTICE, INTERIOR, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY, and EDUCATION. The heads of each department form the cabinet, which is the highest advisory group to the President. The executive branch also includes dozens of government agencies. There is a difference between departments and agencies. Agencies have a very specific purpose while the departments are more broad. Heads of any governmental agencies are not members of the cabinet. All federal legislative powers are vested in the Congress of the United States, which contain two chambers, a Senate and a House of Representatives [US Const. Art. I, sec 1,]. There are one hundred Senators, two from each of the fifty states. Senators serve six-year terms [US Const. Art. I, sec 3, cl. 1]. The House of Representatives has 435 members, the population of each state determines this number. Each state is granted minimum of one representative. Each representative serves a two-year term. The powers of Congress are specifically enumerated in the Constitution and include, among other things, the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, and tariffs. Congress also has the power

Free Essays on Organizational Behavior

This is a student paper for a case analysis in organizational behavior What Motivates Best Can Programs Involving Rewards Such as Travel, Merchandise, and Cash be Implemented to Motivate Employees in the Non-Sales Force Arena? After learning about the different pros and cons associated with three popular approaches to incentives, I believe, if carefully implemented, these approaches can be used to motivate non-sales force personnel. Determining results of sales people is usually easier to monitor in terms of sales dollars, sales volume, repeat purchases, etc., than that of non-sales personnel. Furthermore, salesperson’s contributions can be directly linked to the product’s bottom line. Therefore, providing a ‘rewards for results’ incentive program for sales personnel doesn’t appear to be difficult because of the ease of monitoring results. However, if managers are only going to focus on providing incentives for their sales people, they may be alienating other employers whose performance, although tough to measure, may have a large impact on the company’s bottom line. For instance, customer service representatives may not be very motivated to come to work and make su re they return all calls the same day with superior service without an incentive. Project teams may be working on a new product design, however, if there is no incentive for having the project completed by a certain date at a minimal cost then there is a good chance that they will not be as motivated as the salesperson who can earn a free trip if he/she meets a certain sales quota. Furthermore, how motivated will purchasing or manufacturing be to look for ways to save money on materials and production if there is not going to be an incentive attached to it? Personally, I believe that if you offer incentives to motivate all of your personnel, you have a greater chance of improving performance in all areas of the organization and a lesser chance of creating a... Free Essays on Organizational Behavior Free Essays on Organizational Behavior This is a student paper for a case analysis in organizational behavior What Motivates Best Can Programs Involving Rewards Such as Travel, Merchandise, and Cash be Implemented to Motivate Employees in the Non-Sales Force Arena? After learning about the different pros and cons associated with three popular approaches to incentives, I believe, if carefully implemented, these approaches can be used to motivate non-sales force personnel. Determining results of sales people is usually easier to monitor in terms of sales dollars, sales volume, repeat purchases, etc., than that of non-sales personnel. Furthermore, salesperson’s contributions can be directly linked to the product’s bottom line. Therefore, providing a ‘rewards for results’ incentive program for sales personnel doesn’t appear to be difficult because of the ease of monitoring results. However, if managers are only going to focus on providing incentives for their sales people, they may be alienating other employers whose performance, although tough to measure, may have a large impact on the company’s bottom line. For instance, customer service representatives may not be very motivated to come to work and make su re they return all calls the same day with superior service without an incentive. Project teams may be working on a new product design, however, if there is no incentive for having the project completed by a certain date at a minimal cost then there is a good chance that they will not be as motivated as the salesperson who can earn a free trip if he/she meets a certain sales quota. Furthermore, how motivated will purchasing or manufacturing be to look for ways to save money on materials and production if there is not going to be an incentive attached to it? Personally, I believe that if you offer incentives to motivate all of your personnel, you have a greater chance of improving performance in all areas of the organization and a lesser chance of creating a... Free Essays on Organizational Behavior Ethical Behavior in Organizations Individuals working towards a common goal for personal, as well as, combined benefits form institutions popularly called  ¡Ã‚ §organizations ¡Ã‚ ¨ or  ¡Ã‚ §associations ¡Ã‚ ¨. These firms or companies formulating and providing a challenging and a learning working environment, also consist of moral, social, and professional values, rules and regulations that all the employees at all levels have to abide by. This is essential for an efficient organization to remain profitable on a long-term basis. For the same matter, an individual working for an organization must have the ethical and social values similar to that of the organizations in order to generate the desired result. If their values are incompatible, neither the organization nor the individuals working for it can benefit, paving way for the ethical issues to emerge and providing leeway for affected productivity to dominate the working set-up (Drucker: 65). The aforementioned considerations give birth to the concept of a need for ethical values to be incorporated in the value system of an organization and to be inculcated in the personnel for the betterment of the society as a whole. Hence, the above discussion leads us to the following definitions essential to proceed our analysis based on the extensive research. However, due to the vast scope of the topic as well as for the reader ¡Ã‚ ¦s better and convenient comprehension, section introduces a new concept and discusses a related topic in detail. All parts of the paper are further divided into sub-sections, highlighting important aspects related to the main topic. The paper begins with some of the significant definitions relevant to the gist of the topic. Part I: Ethics and organizations In order to study the cause and effect of an ethical value system of a workplace, let us first look into the lexical meanings of the terms ethics and organization and the relation between them. The dictionary def...

QUESTIONS FOR AN EXAM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

QUESTIONS FOR AN EXAM - Assignment Example The less dangerous amongst all these kinds of mutations is duplication of gene as it does not impact the actual genetic sequence. Amongst various point mutations, the least disastrous in my consideration is silent mutation as it causes a change in DNA sequence but this change does not impact on the type of protein that is to be produced. Carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product during Krebs cycle when 6-Carbon molecule renders electrons to NAD+ and converts it into NADH. This Carbon dioxide is then carried via blood to the lungs from where it is exhaled. On the other hand, oxygen is inhaled during respiration as it is consumed during the electron chain as it binds with the free H+ ions to form water. The alternative way of respiration is anaerobic respiration. The anaerobic respiration is not a viable option for organisms to respire as it restricts the generation of FAD+ and NAD+ and may result in halting the whole process of respiration. However, for a limited time the pyruvate may accept electrons from NADH and thus form lactic acid but respiration can’t be continued for a long time in organisms (Starr

Letter and Memo Paper Pre-Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter and Memo Paper Pre-Assignment - Essay Example nvironment had remained relatively pristine due to the vigilance of the people against the development and use of energy sources that are polluting to the environment and contributory to climate change. I have been in the energy industry for most of my professional life and surprised to see how Americans are becoming more and more dependent on fossil fuels when â€Å"Peak Oil† had been upon us long ago. Instead, the state government of Colorado should pursue clean energy alternatives like wind and solar power. The Colorado Green Wind Farm (at Lamar, Prowers, Colorado) is a good example to reduce reliance on costly imported oil (Makhijani 31). Colorado is among the top 20 states with high potential for wind energy (at no. 11 with 481 billion kw-hours annually), an enough supply to meet all the states electricity requirements were it not for factors like intermittency and geographic location considerations. However, we need not wait for flooding like what happened in some countries (like the Philippines mentioned above) to wake us up that the effects of global warming are upon us like what Al Gore cited in his â€Å"Inconvenient Truth† movie. However, what is markedly absent from the energy debate is environmental optimism (Easterbrook, Sept. 2006) and Mike Keefes cartoon clichà © update (Denver Post, September 29, 2009) could become reality soon. The readers of the Denver Post are not only the people of Colorado but include those of some neighboring states like Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma. There are even some readers from as far away as Texas, Kansas, the two Dakotas and Idaho. With a mean elevation of 6,800 feet (2,073 meters), the state of Colorado seems to be so far away from concerns like massive flooding generated by climate change from global warming effects. Furthermore, the people of this region in the United States take pride in their pristine environment and they mostly want to preserve it that way for generations to come. A way to do

HY 1110-08F-2, AMERICAN HISTORY I (HY1110-08F-2) Essay

HY 1110-08F-2, AMERICAN HISTORY I (HY1110-08F-2) - Essay Example Me, a single citizen of this nation, has a voice that will be heard. I am empowered with an authority that the government will listen to. In this day and age, it is a breather to know that the power resides in the people and that the people creates the government. There is a balance between what the people and the government can do. I know that my individual right is protected even from the government and from those in power. And I live with the assurance that a balance exists between the rights of the people and the power of the government to rule the people. As a student I can greatly relate to my right to speak freely or to meet as group. I bask in my liberty to share my mind without fear of being abdicated nor unjustly punished. Isn’t it great that each is given a chance to air grievance and directly participate in the political process? Not only am I entitled to vote, I can write and participate in political campaigns as well. This makes one think that those in authority are certainly interested in the voice of the masses. As a student, I am empowered and I feel important. As for my family, safety and security in our own home is another thing that we value most. A home will never be a home in the truest sense of the word if not for the safety it brings for every family member. The Bill of Rights afforded each family against unjust searches and protection within. Peace of mind for me and my family is indeed priceless. Lastly, in my view, the ratified amendments, beyond its legal implications, brings forth a grave impact in my life because it serves as an education for me. Education of what I am entitled to as a citizen of this nation and enlightens me to be vigilant in protecting and standing up for my rights, guarding it at all cost from any possible oppression. James Madison, being the â€Å"Father of The Bill of Rights† feels for every

Social Perspectives on Witch Hunting

Social Perspectives on Witch Hunting The Case that the witch-hunt was a woman-hunt is a strong one (Larner) discuss? The witch-hunts across Europe saw the mass slaughter of nine million women who were thought to be witches. These women were killed over a period of three hundred years, with the most concentrated killings in places such as Germany, Spain and Italy.[1] The story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women and this has caused much fascination and a certain elusiveness when approaching the subject.[2] The organised persecution of the witches began officially on December 9th 1484 when Pope Innocent VIII asked Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger to define witchcraft, isolate the modus operandi of the witches and to standardise the trial procedures and sentencing.[3] It was as a result that Kramer and Sprenger produced a text called â€Å"Malleus Maleficarum† which would become a hugely influential text in the events of witch persecution and in these gender-specific views of witchcraft. Due to the gender-specificity that surrounds the subject of witchcraft we are confronted with id eas about women, fears about women and the place of women in society during these times. Scholars such as Carol Kerslen, Lyndal Roper and Christina Larner gradually moved gender, and to some extent sexuality, to the centre of the analysis of witchcraft, which influenced interests in artists such as Baldung, for whom gender and sexuality were critical themes.[4]Many feminists jump to conclusions of gender-specific genocide due to what they believe was a woman-hating crime. However, it is important also to focus on the socio-economic context in which these trials took place in order to make a fair judgement on the gender-specificity that is so often associated with witchcraft. The Malleus Maleficarum is often the focus of many studies into witchcraft due to its important influence during the period. This demonological treatise was written by Kramer and Sprenger, it is often used as evidence by radical feminists of the misogyny among elites, who are seen as the driving force behind the top-down persecutions of witches.[5] The title of the work itself is female-specific, with the term maleficarum translating as women evil-doers. This feminine possessive in the Latin title shows it’s focus on the female gender, if the book were to have focused on both males and females then ‘maleficarum’ would have been replaced by ‘maleficorum’.[6] Throughout the text it is women who are specifically referred to, in the book men are most often described as accomplices rather than witches themselves. When asked why there is more harmful magic found in the female sex than in the male sex Kramer answered â€Å"because of the fleshly lust, which in [women] is never satisfied.†[7] It is clear that there was a gender-bias or a gender-specificity around the notions of witchcraft, and this dominated its surrounding ideology and the main literature upon the subject. The Malleus Maleficarum was of great influence during the period, it was high Catholic theology and working catholic jurisprudence.[8] The work had been issued for creation by the Pope himself and so held great importance. In the dark ages few people could read and books were hard to come by, the printing press has only been developed 34 years previously in 1850 Germany. This meant that literacy rates and the availability of prints for those in the lower sectors of society were not still readily available or improved at this point. However, the Malleus was printed in numerous editions and had been read by almost every judge in Europe, it appeared that the Malleus Maleficarum had more currency then the bible.[9] What made this piece of literature regarding the definitions of witchcraft so influential is the power and authority it held due to its lawful reinforcement. Anyone who challenged the Malleus Maleficarum, anyone who refuted its authority or questioned its credibility on any level was guilty of heresy, a capital crime.[10] The Malleus Maleficarum was probably the most influential piece written on witchcraft, it was the most widely spread, the most lawfully and religiously backed, but it was also extremely gender-specific towards women. This literary work helped to instil a stereotype of the witch, the stereotype being woman. The definition of woman, in common with the pornographic definition, is her carnality; the essence of her character, in common with the fairy-tale definition, is her malice and avarice.[11]In fact the stereotype of a witch in Christian Europe has always been that of a woman. For example, in twelfth-century Russia the authorities in one district became so anxious about the prevalence of witchcraft that they began to round up the entire female population.[12] Ideas of female evil-doers as suggested in the title of the Malleus Maleficarum stemmed back to the religious creation of the world. A women was believed to be more carnal than a man, this carnality originated from eve’s very own creation, she was formed from a bent rib, and also caused the fall of Eden.[13] As a result, women have suffered, forever being painted with the same religious brush of being a source of evil and carnality. A witch was seen as an independent adult women who does not conform to the male idea of proper female behaviour.[14] However, it was not just female sexuality that made them evil, but also female knowledge, many feminists claim that anything that made a women something other than helpless was perceived as threatening and labelled evil.[15] Perhaps a strong case for witch-hunting being parallel to women-hunting, is the idea that women were labelled witches, and could not prove themselves innocent by any means. This meant that women were doomed to persecution because of their gender and its gender-specific associated stereotypes. Women finds herself entirely defined by her sexuality. It was believed that sexuality makes women evil, therefore virginity/chastity is glorified in women as it is the opposite of sexuality.[16] However, it is ironic that while all witchcraft comes from carnal lust which is in women insatiable – this carnal lust, this desire for sex, is what populates the world. If all women are evil-doers, if Eve is the basis for all women stereotypes then why is it that women are the exclusive holders of bearing life? Other indicators that are described in the Malleus Maleficarum also guide us to the interpretation that women were inevitably doomed to persecution. A women’s virtue is seen to be silence, and yet in a witchcraft trial, if the women remains silence she is condemned for withholding her confession, yet it she confesses then she is condemning herself.[17] There is a similar paradox in the women’s ability to bear pain, if she breaks down through pain of torture and confesses she is condemned, however if she remains strong and recovers she is condemn also. Still further, if a women weeps under torture it is interpreted as a sign of her sins and so condemns her, yet if her eyes do not weep she is condemned for witchcraft.[18] This suggests that once put to trial for partaking in witchcraft the women is entirely at the mercy of the educated men who judge, torture and condemn her, almost without escape. Feminists take this inescapability as evidence of patriarchy exerting its control over women in order to curb the perceived threat to men’s dominance that is caused through women’s allegedly rapacious sexuality.[19] It is believed that as soon as a women transitions from ‘virgin’ to ‘sexual’, there is a potential for power over a man[20], and so she becomes a symbol of demonology, of relations with the devil. Radical feminists also suggest that society believed that all women threaten male hegemony with their exclusive power to give life; and so social order depends on women conforming to male ideals of female behaviour.[21] Threats to social order, threats of women’s sexuality are usually blamed for the persecutions of women during the witch-hunts in Europe. Most of the ideas put forward as to why women posed a threat to man, and why the witch-hunts could be seen as gender-specific are put forward by feminists. First wave feminists ( su ch as the American Suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage) asserted that nine million people were executed as witches, with old women, wise women and the priestesses of anti-Christian cults being particular targets.[22] However, second wave feminists further in their ideas of the witch-hunts, painting them as a ‘gendercide’, a female targeted death hunt. They believed that witch-hunting was an egregious example, not just of patriarchal oppression, but also of genocide and it was in fact the deliberate killing of women.[23] This deliberate killing of women is made acceptable and almost encouraged by the Malleus Maleficarum due to its emphasis on the female gender and their witchcraft qualities. However, it is important to understand that women were not just persecuted, they also acted as the accusers. Women often accused other women of witchcraft and were often the ‘chief witnesses in the courts’.[24] This suggests that while witch-hunts were related to the female g ender, they were not gender-exclusive. Women could accuse other women, and men could be persecuted. Yet, feminists disregard this evidence that goes against that misogyny of witch-hunting. Instead they believe that this line of reasoning is based on a failure to recognise that a patriarchal structure divides women, and that their livelihood is dependent on the goodwill of men.[25] Therefore, women would accuse other women, not to satisfy themselves, but to protect the livelihood of conformist women against non-conformist women, they would also do so under the pressures of their husbands and fathers. This huge split in the ideology of witch-hunting and its gender relations is caused by the lack of concrete evidence to support either side. Facts and figures from the period, from all over Europe, are at best good estimates of the real numbers of those persecuted. Figures range from thousands to millions when talking about the amount that died from persecutions, and the gender ratios are no more accurate. However, in spite of this, the evidence provided is used in the debate of gender-specificity surrounding the witch-hunts and therefore must be looked at and discussed. Figures suggest that in areas at the centre of the witch-hunt, places such as Germany, France, Switzerland and Scotland, 80% of those persecuted were females, with figures reached an estimate of 95-100% in the areas on the periphery such as England and Russia.[26] The ratio of women to men burned is variously estimated at 20 to 1 for women and 100 to 1 for men.[27] Those men who were persecuted were often the family of convicted women witches, or were in positions of civil power with political ambitions that conflicted with those of the church or monarch.[28] In fact, witchcraft which is seen as the ultimate human evil was sex-specific in just the same proportion as sanctity which is seen as the ultimate human good was sex-specific to males during the ‘sanctity epidemic’ of the later Middle Ages.[29] Most works conclude that witches were scapegoats for hostilities and tensions that had little to do with sex or gender.[30] Radical feminist writings have had a significant influence on the perceptions of witchcraft outside academia, its emphasis on witches being gender-specific to women had become a strong stereotype when one thinks of the witch-hunts. However, academic historians are dismissive of such interpretations, criticising radical feminists for their assumptions that witch-hunting was ‘woman-hunting’, their over reliance on the Malleus, their unwillingness to engage with manuscript records or witch trials and their ahistorical use of the terms misogyny and patriarchy which downplays the historical specificity of early modern culture and society.[31] Christina Larner herself is reluctant to suggest that witch-hunting was gender-specific because of this academic dismissiveness. Instead she concludes that the witch-hunts were ‘sex-related not sex-specificâ⠂¬â„¢[32] , however she strongly backs the argument that witch-hunting was still in fact women-hunting because of this relation. This leaves the distinction between sex-related and sex-specific unclear, if both inevitably lead to the assumption that the hunt was still a hunt on women. This dismissiveness between historian and feminist is causing a problem when it comes to the clarity of sex relations between women and witchcraft. The antipathy many academic historians feel towards feminism in general and radical feminism in particular can be counterproductive as it discourages them from engaging with any helpful insights feminism has to offer into the gendering of witchcraft prosecutions, particularly in relation to the analysis of patriarchy.[33] Those few historians who have seriously addressed the question of women and witchcraft only briefly discuss misogyny of the period, but focus more on the social and economic reasons for the high percentage of women that were persecuted. Ho wever, most radical feminist interpretation of witch-hunting emerged in the context of feminist’s political activism outside academia, and were thus polemically and historically inaccurate.[34] There is a huge correlation between women and witchcraft persecutions, and this is to do with the age-old stereotypes of women evildoers that stem from eve. Women were more likely to be persecuted because they were more likely to believe to be witches, had men been acting in the same way it is very much doubtful that they would have been accused to be a witch to the same majority in comparison. Therefore the witch-hunts were women-hunts in the sense that women were targeted substantially more than men, whether they were accused other women or not, they were still the distinct majority of the witch-hunts. [1] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood : Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics, ( New York : G.P Putnam Sons, 1967). [2] Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, (New York : W. W. Norton Company, 1987). [3] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood. [4] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013). [5] Ibid. [6] Sister Trinity, ‘Gynocide : The Holocaust of Women’, http://passtheflamingsword.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/gynocide-the-holocaust-of-women/ [7] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft. [8] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood. [9] Andrea Dworkin, Woman Hating, (New York : Penguin Group, 1974). [10] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood. [11] Andrea Dworkin, Woman Hating. [12] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader, (London : Routledge, 2002). [13] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood. [14] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [15] Sister Trinity, ‘Gynocide : The Holocaust of Women’. [16] Ibid. [17] Sister Prudence Allen, The concept of Woman : The early humanist reformation 1250-1500, (Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2002), [18] Ibid. [19] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft. [20] Sister Trinity, ‘Gynocide : The Holocaust of Women. [21] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [22] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft. [23] Ibid. [24] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [25] Ibid. [26] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [27] Andrea Dworkin, Our Blood. [28] Andrea Dworkin, Woman Hating. [29] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [30] Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman. [31] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft. [32] Darren Oldridge, The Witchcraft Reader. [33] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft. [34] Brian P. Levack, The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft.

asteroid defense :: essays research papers

The U.S. federal government is summoning the world's top scientists to an urgent conference this summer to plan defenses against an attack that could wipe out an American city or disrupt the whole country's infrastructure. No, it's not global terrorism. The scientists will map ways to combat an asteroid attack, a cosmic sucker punch like the collision that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and flattened a Siberian forest in 1908. While the world's attention is focused on the real threat of terrorism, the theoretical asteroid menace has been garnering a surprising amount of behind-the-scenes attention. Britain's Royal Astronomical Society hosted an international meeting of experts on the asteroid impact threat in December. In January the world's astronomers petitioned Australia's government to fund a special asteroid-detecting telescope. In February NASA announced the "Workshop on Scientific Requirements for Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids," which will be conducted in Washington in September. In March, NASA activated "Sentry," a new system to monitor near-Earth objects (NEOs) and assess their threat to Earth. NEOs are small objects—asteroids and certain comets—that orbit in the solar system relatively close to Earth and could one day collide with Earth. "We've had a couple of close shaves during the past few months," says Brian G. Marsden, with the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One asteroid caused public jitters when discovered March 12. Named 2002 EM7, it came from the direction of the sun—an astronomical blind spot where objects are hidden in the sun's glare. Astronomers didn't detect 2002 EM7 until four days after it came within 288,000 miles (460,000 kilometers) of Earth, which they regarded as a close encounter. [The moon is about 239,000 miles, or 385,000 kilometers, from the Earth.] The asteroid was about 200 feet (60 meters) in diameter—big enough to fill two-thirds of a football field—and could have flattened a city, unleashing the energy of a five-megaton nuclear bomb. "I think Mother Nature has given us yet another wake-up call," says Donald K.

Marketing Goals foe Paintball Company Essay

Marketing Goals The primary goal of this marketing strategy is to guarantee that Paintball Company will be recognized in the industry as a business entity that gives excellent paintball services for its target market. Aside from this, Paintball Company has the mission to determine the most effective strategy to be utilized in order to transform the Paintball industry into becoming more recognized by the public consumers. Paintball Company has four primary marketing goals:A)Manage its position as one of the primary businesses regarding Paintball. Being the leader of the Paintball industry will propel this Paintball Company to earn the respect and trust of its customers. Therefore, the organization will have the power to widen its functions through the acquisition of other Paintball organizations. B)Become more financially stable than other Paintball organizations. The raw technologies that are being used in the production of Paintball equipments have to be able to attain excellent standards. If this is achieved, the organization will have the capability to become more financially stable as against other rival Paintball organizations. C)Establish an excellent Paintball technology profile, with Paintball Company as the global label of flagship; andD)Establishing its freedom. Being a free organization will enable Paintball Company to go on with its reputation of excellence in both its Paintball technologies and products by establishing fresh innovations and measures. Geographic MixThe Paintball industry can be found at one of the biggest suburban areas and the most densely populated areas. Therefore, this implies that with regards to the territorial elements, the Paintball Company has been able to properly select an environment or site that may give tremendous potential for the Paintball industry to be come famous. Marketing Strategies – OverviewThe marketing idea has been identified as ‘the element to attaining company objectives’ and the marketing idea depends on ‘market emphasis, client likes and dislikes, excellent marketing and  stability. In a financially stable organization the company definitely has to make efforts and attain this level of client satisfaction as a means of being on top of the rivalry and earning so much. In attaining so, an organization must be able to determine an excellent and sustainable marketing plan for their goods and services (Godin, 1999). In the situation of the Paintball Company, the marketing plan that can be utilized by the organization to propel itself in the industry will involve the utilization of advertisements. To be able to inform the target of the organization regarding the presence of the Paintball industry, the organization will utilize media advertising, online and other media and news advertisements. These marketing procedures will be supportive to propel the Paintball Company at the top of the industry. Marketing Strategies – PriorityThe primary emphasis of the marketing plan is to enable the Paintball Company to be recognized in the market. In order to attain this, the utilization of an excellent marketing plan through an effective marketing interaction plan will be but into emphasis. In addition, interaction is an essential element of companies. Through excellent communication, the marketing company is able to transfer knowledge and learn from each other’s capabilities and knowledge. In this specific plan, the essential aspect that must be given priority is the advertisement and interactive campaign of the Paintball Company. Normally, advertisement or interactive campaigns are well known as an open sponsorship of given goods, products and any concepts through the utilization of any channels of interaction. In this respect, there are various types of channels that can be utilized for advertisements and interactive campaign objectives. Generally, in this IMC perspective, the emphasis will be put on advertisement and Paintball promotion. Marketing Plan – By SegmentAn excellent marketing interaction plan reflects a continuous process and style to all activities a specific organization perform. Marketing plans have arrived to signify the new emphasis of marketing field in incorporating the interactive elements to connect to all  of the company’s clients and not just its basic consumers (Levinson, 1998). Aside from this marketing plans proceed with the objective of determining and improving the mutual connection of the organization to its clients by giving means to establish relationship with clients through advertisements. The target market of the Paintball Company involves international clients and local clients as well. In this way, in order to guarantee that the target market will be able to know the presence of the Paintball Company, the marketing plan will be utilized in putting priority to each of the target market in both local and global scenes. Quarterly Action Plan – SalesIn this plan, the Paintball Company will be implementing the marketing procedure in attaining interactions and promotion of the organization and the products that it gives. This plan will be implemented quarterly. In performing this, the following interactive media will be used:†¢TV, print, and communication mediaSome of the marketing channels that are normally utilized by various industries in order to make their goods and services well known are the TV, print, and communication media. In connection with the Paintball Company, it may utilize these media channels in order to be recognized by various clients anytime and in any place. AdvertisingA very famous process of promotion is through advertisements. Advertisements can be very expensive but like all marketing plans, it is not to be classified as a cost but an asset. The expenses for excellent advertisements may be significantly high but the good outcomes will all be worth it (Silk, 2006). Advertisement is the right approach for the Paintball Company for the similar reason of improving awareness and making an impact towards client perceptions. Also, advertisement through media can be felt by larger groups of people all over the world, therefore the information will be transferred to a larger part of the target market. Quarterly Action Plan – Public RelationsPublic relations and publicity are different plans established to inform or secure an organization’s reputation or its goods and services. The benefit of this mechanism is that it may  improve the organization’s reputation and it may allow the organization to be recognized due to the excellent image than its rivals. In this way, the Paintball Company may do a publicly connected endeavor every quarter to guarantee that the organization follows its social roles in the site. One of the excellent means to implement this is through sponsorship. The Paintball Company may sponsor a well-known organization every quarter. Contingency PlansPromotion budget is the large cost for the Paintball Company. The proper means of using promotion budget must be carefully analyzed. The study of promoting endeavors has to be done due to the feedback that can inform the organization as to what promotional tools are the correct ones to use. These assessment outcomes can secure the Paintball Company from wasting its financial resources for the incorrect promotional tools and procedures. Monitoring or assessment involves the application of tools to evaluate promotional appropriateness. The plan can be assessed with regards to the development in sales that is attained at a quarterly and yearly basis. This would immediately connect to the goal of establishing demand and improving sales. Nevertheless, it is essential to put into emphasis that it can be hard to manage for other elements that are likely to bear effects in the market industry, which include the choices of rival companies to improve prices, a change in client likes, or a shift in the entire demand. Luckily, other tools can be utilized to evaluate promotional appropriateness, which connects upon the variance of the marketing goals that have been mentioned earlier. For instance, surveys can be done, which ask regarding the Paintball game, identify any development in behaviours regarding the Paintball game, and identify whether or not there has been a development in client information or awareness of the Paintball game. Paintball Company SWOT AnalysisStrengths:†¢has Paintball technologies that have a reputation for gaining a very strong retail. This involves an emphasis for the value of quality, comfort and various range of games and updated technologies†¢has expanded tremendously over the past years, and has been in the procedure of growth all over the world. †¢Primary capability relies on the use of information technology (IT) to significantly aid its world Paintball sales system. In short, the Paintball Company can monitor their individual Paintball goods and their status within the site, or even at other locations. IT also aids the Paintball Company’s excellent procurement. †¢is able to provide excellent client satisfaction, as the few levels of work would imply lots of time to dedicate to their clients. †¢Its personnel have formulated a powerful legacy within the market. †¢Has the capability to shift direction immediately if its management realizes that their marketing plan is not working properly. †¢has no debts and financial losses. In short the organization can provide excellent Paintball technologies to clients on a continuous basis. Weaknesses:†¢is one of the biggest organizations in the Paintball industry but has a meager control of its organization, in spite of its advantages in updated Paintball technologies. This could result to a decline in profitability in some locations where they have lesser managerial powers. †¢Since the Paintball Company sells its Paintball technologies over different markets, the organization does not possess the versatility that some of its recognized rival companies have. †¢Functions al over the world, but its existence can be found in only selected areas all over the world†¢Some of the organization’s less famous locations do not possess market legacy or reputation†¢Some of the organization’s employees do not possess the important Paintball knowledge base in many aspects. †¢The Paintball company is still severely hampered to the temporary absences of its employees. †¢The organization’s budget is unstable particularly in the early aspects of a new Paintball product innovation. Opportunities:†¢Taking over, acquisitions, or establishing mergers with other Paintball organizations while prioritizing on powerful markets like North America or Europe. †¢The establishment of new locations and branches provide the Paintball Company the chances to explore market improvements. This could result to the diversification of the company’s branches. †¢Chances are present for the Paintball Company to go on with its existing tactic of founding huge extensions all over the globe. †¢The Paintball Company is continuously growing, with lots of future developments to explore for success. †¢The local personnel of the Paintball Company are in the process of persuading local Paintball business entities to join them if possible. †¢The rivals of Paintball Company may be unable to cope up with the new Paintball innovations particularly the ones that the organization establishes. Threats:†¢Being a top Paintball organization means that the Paintball Company is the one to beat in both local and global markets. †¢Being recognized worldwide implies that Paintball Company might be immersed to political chaos in the nations where the company has operations. †¢The manufacturing expenses of most Paintball products have the chance to decline because of the limited manufacturing costs. Production expenses go down due to the outsourcing to low-cost countries all over the world. This situation could result to fighting in prices, which in turn would lead in the fall of prices in different levels. Tremendous price rivalry must  absolutely be classified as a threat. †¢The current changes in Paintball technology which could probably alter the markets might test the organization’s capability to cope up to these developments†¢A slight change in the priority of a huge rival might destroy any market dominance that the Paintball Company has attained over its existence. This could lead the organization to specialize in quick response but excellent quality Paintball products to local companies. This would place intense pressure on the organization’s employees to be knowledgeable with the current developments in Paintball technology where possible. REFERENCES Godin, S, 1999. Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers. Simon & Schuster; 1st editionLevinson, J, 1998. Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business. Houghton Mifflin; 3rd editionSilk, A, 2006. What Is Marketing? Harvard Business School Press

Definition and Examples of a Conceptual Metaphor

Definition and Examples of a Conceptual Metaphor A conceptual metaphor is a  metaphor (or figurative comparison) in which one idea (or conceptual domain) is understood in terms of another. In cognitive linguistics, the conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to understand another conceptual domain is known as the source domain. The conceptual domain that is understood in this way is the target domain. Thus the source domain of the journey is commonly used to explain the target domain of life. In Metaphors We Live By (1980), George Lakoff and Mark Johnson identify three overlapping categories of conceptual metaphors: Orientational MetaphorOntological MetaphorStructural Metaphor Examples and Observations Basic conceptual metaphors are part of the common conceptual apparatus shared by members of a culture. They are systematic in that there is a fixed correspondence between the structure of the domain to be understood (e.g., death) and the structure of the domain in terms of which we are understanding it (e.g., departure). We usually understand them in terms of common experiences. They are largely unconscious, though attention may be drawn to them. Their operation in cognition is almost automatic. And they are widely conventionalized in language, that is, there are a great number of words and idiomatic expressions in our language whose meanings depend upon those conceptual metaphors. In Metaphors We Live By (University Of Chicago Press, 1980), George Lakoff and Mark Johnson mention these variations on the conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY: Youre wasting my time.This gadget will save you hours.I dont have the time to give you.How do you spend your time these days?That flat tire cost me an hour.Ive invested a lot of time in her.Youre running out of time.Is that worth your while?Hes living on borrowed time. Five Tenets of Conceptual; Metaphor Theory Conceptual Metaphor Theory rejects the notion that metaphor is a decorative device, peripheral to language and thought. Instead, the theory holds that metaphor is central to thought, and therefore to language. From this starting point, a number of tenets are derived, which are discussed here with particular reference to language. These tenets are: Metaphors structure thinking;Metaphors structure knowledge;Metaphor is central to abstract language;Metaphor is grounded in physical experience;Metaphor is ideological. Mappings Understanding one domain in terms of another involves a set of fixed correspondences (technically called mappings) between a source and a target domain. This set of mappings obtains between basic constituent elements of the target. To know a conceptual metaphor is to know the set of mappings that applies to a given source-target pairing. It is these mappings that provide much of the meaning of the metaphorical linguistic expressions (or linguistic metaphors) that make a particular conceptual metaphor manifest. Also Known As Generative Metaphor Sources George Lakoff and Mark Turner,  More Than Cool Reason. University of Chicago Press, 1989Alice Deignan,  Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics. John Benjamins, 2005Zoltn Kà ¶vecses,  Metaphor: A Practical Introduction, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2010

Irrealis Were - Definition and Examples

Irrealis 'Were' s Definition In English grammar, irrealis involves the  use of were with a  subject  in the  first-person  singular or third-person singular  to  refer to an unreal or hypothetical condition or eventone thats not true or that hasnt occurred (e.g., If I  were  you, Id go home). In contrast to the more common use of were as a past-tense form (e.g., They were lost), irrealis were is a nontensed mood form, similar to the subjunctive. Irrealis  were  is sometimes called the were-subjunctive or (somewhat misleadingly) the past subjective. As Huddleston and Pullum point out, Irrealis were does not refer to past time, and there is no synchronic reason to analyse it as a past tense form (The Cambridge Grammar Of The English Language, 2002). Defined more broadly, irrealis refers to an event that hasnt occurred (or at least hasnt yet occurred), while realis refers to an event that has occurred. Examples and Observations I was telling Grant that  if I were an  alien and I came down to earth from some far-off planet, there are a few things I would notice about people, and the first thing I would notice is the way they looked, that is, if people looked different on my planet.(Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz. Thomas Nelson, 2003)Roxanne stood talking to him with one long-nailed hand on his shoulder, the other at her hip as  if she were a  model at a trade show trying to sell him the grill.(Kate Milliken, The Whole World.  If Id Known You Were Coming. The University of Iowa Press, 2013)They took to looking at him as  if he were  on the other side of a dirty window.(Kate Milliken, Inheritance.If Id Known You Were Coming. The University of Iowa Press, 2013) If I werent  so broke and unsettled, Id adopt a dog tomorrow.(Andrea Meyer, Room for Love. St. Martins Griffin, 2007) Moodiness: The Subjunctive and the Irrealis Were Traditional grammarians get tripped up by the verb be because they have to squeeze two different forms, be and were (as in If I were free), into a single slot called subjunctive. Sometimes they call be the present subjunctive and were the past subjunctive, but in reality theres no difference in tense between them. Rather, the two belong to different moods: whether he be rich or poor is subjunctive; If I were a rich man is irrealis (not real). . . . In English [the irrealis] exists only in the form were, where it conveys factual remoteness: an irrealis proposition is not just hypothetical (the speaker does not know whether it is true or false) but counterfactual (the speaker believes its false). Tevye the Milkman [in the musical Fiddler on the Roof] was emphatically not a rich man, nor were Tim Hardin, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, or Robert Plant (all of whom sang If I Were a Carpenter) in any doubt as to whether they were carpenters. Counterfactual, by the way, need not mean outlandisho ne can say If she were half an inch taller, that dress would be perfectit just means known to be not the case. (Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style. Viking, 2014) An Exceptional Form This use of were is highly exceptional: there is no other verb in the language where the modal remoteness meaning is expressed by a different inflectional form from the past time meaning. The irrealis mood form is unique to be, and limited to the 1st and 3rd person singular. It is an untidy relic of an earlier system, and some speakers usually, if not always, use preterite was instead. (Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum,  A Students Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge University Press, 2005) AlsoSee Past SubjunctiveSubjunctive Mood

Material Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Material - Assignment Example It is being increasingly realized that research and development is critical to components such as the crankshaft due to the complexity of the system. Rapid advancements in technology and the inclusion of computer systems have led to an increase in the life and strength of crankshafts. However, the demands placed on the crankshaft have also increase with the development of high speed engines that produce more power and place new challenges to the design. Apart from some basic manufacturing precautions, new standards for the manufacture of crankshafts have been found out such as the ratios between its various components. There have also been advancements in the choice of materials for the manufacture of the crankshafts such as the use of aluminium and magnesium. However, they are largely application dependant and hence it is extremely important to consider this before the design and manufacture of the crankshaft. There is no perfect crankshaft; rather emphasis must be placed on develop ing an optimal crankshaft for the required application. The use of computer technology will further determine the course of the traditional crankshaft. Another important factor is the development of alternate systems of power for the automobile. As hard as it is to predict the future of the humble crankshaft, current efforts are being made towards the development of stronger and more efficient crankshafts. Though the modern automobile in the form that is currently seen took a number of decades to develop, the use of crankshafts in powered automobiles is as old as the first steam engine propelled vehicle developed by Joseph Cugnot in 1769 (Derry and Williams, 1993). Crankshafts ever since have been satisfying the need to convert the-to and fro motion of the engine, be it steam powered, diesel powered or any other type of engine, to circular motion of the wheels. However, recent factors mainly environmental, and political and

Absorptive Capacity in Knowledge Management Essay

Absorptive Capacity in Knowledge Management - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that the final result of absorptive capacity is thus innovation and already performance. Absorptive capacity may be construed as a four-tiered concept. It requires acquisition, proceeded by assimilation followed by transformation and eventually exploitation (Smith et. al., 2005). Acquisition involves the process of obtaining knowledge from external sources. The organization needs to have mechanisms for identifying that knowledge first. In essence, the acquisition process should be related to their core operations. Assimilation ought to follow this process; here, firms must capitalize on their processes and routines in order to interpret, analyze as well as understand the external knowledge. Once assimilation has occurred, the company ought to combine current and assimilated knowledge into one platform through transformation. This may involve a modification for existing practices. Finally, exploitation needs to take place, where a company leverages on its t ransformed capabilities by placing them into their operations. Acquisition may be influenced by a number of variables. The intensity and speed of knowledge acquisition has an effect on the outlook.