To What Extent Was Responsible For The Outbreak Of The...

After the First World War (1914-1919), the world was faced with the questions - who was responsible and what was reason for the outbreak of the war. Ultimately it was agreed on the 28 June 1919 that â€Å"the Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage† from the First World War. However, there have been many other interpretations on whom and what was responsible for the war. On the one hand, some historians would agree with David Lloyd George’s notion of all â€Å"the nations slithered over the brink into the boiling cauldron of war†, however, on the contrary, others would agree with Fischer in arguing that Germany’s aggressive foreign policy was responsible for the First World War. Whether you agree with Lloyd George or Fischer, it is important to understand some of the other possible reasons for the outbreak of the First World War – including the gro wth of nationalism and imperialism, the alliances within Europe and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Although this essay will argue that Germany’s aggressive foreign policy was responsible for the outbreak of the First World War, it will also illustrate why other historians have argued against that notion. War was inevitable, great powers are to blame Many historians have debated on whether or not the outbreak of the First World War could have been prevented and whether it is justifiable to blame one nation for the war.Show MoreRelatedTo What Extent Was Germany Responsible for the Outbreak of Ww1?1049 Words   |  5 PagesTo what extent was Germany responsible for the outbreak of WWI? There is much debate about the degree of responsibility that should be given to Germany for the outbreak of war. One could argue that the outbreak of war was entirely Germany’s fault due to their aggression with the other Great Powers of Europe and the very presence of the Schlieffen Plan. One could also argue that Germany was merely protecting herself against aggression and the idea of encirclement. Or was it a misfired attempt atRead MoreTo What Extent Was World War Ii Hitler`S War?926 Words   |  4 PagesTo what extent was World War II Hitler`s war? The second World War can be considered â€Å"Hitler`s war† due to Adolf Hitlers responsibility and actions that caused the war. He had an enormous impact and role on many events such as secretly increasing the size fo the army,which made World War 2 possible. On the other hand, the failure of the League of Nations and defects in the Treaty of Versailles also triggered the outbreak of the war. It gave Hitler many oppurtunities to support his ambitions andRead MoreGermany s Desire For World Power1308 Words   |  6 PagesGermany is responsible for the outbreak of war or rather the responsibility of individual countries such as Britain, Russia, France, Austria-Hungary and the Balkans collectively. However, Germany should be blamed to the full extent of starting WW1 due to the reasons that Germany had unconditional support for Austria, Germany s war plans were planned to cause more conflict and Germany s mobilization schedule. German historian Fritz Fischer argues that Germany s desire for world power was the reasonRead MoreEssay on The Outbreak of World War I1150 Words   |  5 PagesThe Outbreak of World War I On the 1st of August 1914 World War One, also known as the Great War, started. The main countries involved were: Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France and Russia. World War One ended at 11am on 11th November 1918. In 1919, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson from the US met to discuss how Germany was to be made to pay for the damage World War One had caused. They decided to create theRead MoreGermanys Responsibility for World War I Essay1408 Words   |  6 PagesGermanys Responsibility for World War I After World War I fingers immediately began to be pointed as to who caused the war. At the Versailles Peace Conference, 1919 the victorious powers, the Triple Entente, placed entire fault on Germany, forcing them to admit blame and pay the huge war debts. However even in this day and age who is to blame for the First World War is still a much-debated subject, as historians presented new interpretations to the events, whichRead MoreHow Responsible Was Hitler for the Outbreak of Ww21219 Words   |  5 PagesHitler was responsible for the outbreak of World War 2(1939) to a significant extent. The many things that he did like going against the Treaty of Versailles which included the rearmament of Germany, his Lebensraum policy where he wanted to take over neighboring lands and gain more territory for Germany and his disrespect to the treaties he made. While Hitler was a great cause for World War 2, he was not the sole reason. The Great Depression, the weak leaders of the League of Nations and theirRead MoreWas Germany solely responsible for the outbreak of World War One?1820 Words   |  8 Pagesheld largely or solely responsible for the outbreak of World War One. The extent of which Germany should be held responsible for the outbreak of World War one is debatable. One could argue that Germany and her aggressive and competitive nature towards the other European powers, highlighted by the Schlieffen plan, make Germany largely responsible for the outbreak of war. On the other hand, being in the middle of several great powers, it is fair to suggest that Germany was merely protecting itselfRead MoreThe Development of the Cold War in Europe after 1945 Essays1503 Words   |  7 PagesThe Development of the Cold War in Europe after 1945 After World War Two, there was an increasing interest in the idea of a United Europe. Soviet Russia and Western European Capitalist states had no common interests despite the wartime alliance, which was no longer valid. There was growing hostility between the United States and Soviet Russia that developed in to a Cold War. This essay will suggest that the development of the Cold War in Europe was a result of differencesRead MoreThe Causes of the First World War1166 Words   |  5 Pageshas formed part of the historiography of the causes of the First World War, a historical debate that has endured ever since the conflict ended. It periodically resurfaces with new theories being advanced such as the Fischer thesis, usually on account of the release of previously unseen documents or because of a shift in the political climate. It has emerged to the fore once again because this year is the centennial of the war’s outbreak and there are plans to commemorate it nationally across the UKRead MoreHenry David Thoreau1591 Words   |  7 PagesGermany On May 8,1945, the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces was signed by Field Marshal Kietel in Berlin, ending World War II for Germany. The German people were confronted with a situation that they had never before experienced: foreign armies occupied the entire German territory. The total breakdown of civil administration throughout the country required immediate measures to ensure the rebuilding of civil authority. After disposing of Hitlers successor as head of state

Literary Elements Of James Joyce s Araby - 1458 Words

Everything Is Not What It Seems to Be James Joyce’s â€Å"Araby† is the story of a young boy who battles his emotions of dealing with his first love. Childhood and immature love is what was portrayed because all this young boy knew was that he loves this girl, but little did he know that there was going to be disappointment. However, he had this infatuation that he would never get the chance to talk to her nor express his feelings. Throughout this short story we see a major change in which the narrator’s journey changes from an innocent love to him coming to terms with a situation that does not turn out the way he hopes it would. The story exemplifies several literary elements; Two of which are symbolism and setting. It is through these†¦show more content†¦Yet another symbolic factor of the story is evident in the title; seeing that Araby is the place in which the story ultimately takes place. Araby initially symbolizes hope for the narrator because he sees Mangan’s sister as the person who fulfills all his desires. Araby was his chance to escape reality and hopefully fulfill all his wants and needs. He states that he remembers, â€Å"with difficulty why I had come. I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea sets† (page109), showing this young boy went to Araby with the hopes of getting something for the girl that he loves because she could not make it. Implying that the narrator had hopes of getting a gift for Mangan’s sister and with that gift, he would be able to win over her heart. He had this illusion that by doing this he would perhaps get a chance to talk to her. Araby, is a magical place for him because he sees it as a place where all his dreams would come true. However, it soon becomes the place that opens his eyes to the reality of life around him. With that being said, when this young boy got to the bazaar he saw the building with the magical name written on it ma king it evident that the narrator is in awe from what he sees. He feels as though he is finally where he is meant to be in order to get aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of James Joyce s Araby Essay2018 Words   |  9 PagesJames Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet in the early 20th century. Joyce was the writer of â€Å"Araby†. A stoty published in 1914, in which the writer preserves an episode of his life, more specific when he a young twelve years old boy. But was does the word â€Å"Araby† means? According to diccionaty.com, â€Å"Araby† is an archaic or poetic name for Arabia. In addition, the story is about a boy who falls in love with a woman, she is the sister of one of the boy’s classmates. The name of the woman is neverRead MoreAnalysis Of James Joyce s Dubliners1668 Words   |  7 Pagesother literary elements such as irony and sympathy . The point of view in literature is one of the central focuses for interpretation. Dubliners, by James Joyce is a n outstanding example of how the use of point of view influences how characters and events are interpreted. Joyce writes the first three stories of Dubliners in the first person point of view, the rest are told in there person. Taking a look at a few of the short stories , Araby, Eveline, and Clay, it is obvious that Joyce s choiceRead MoreBusiness and Management2600 Words   |  11 Pagesattend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Barnet, S., Cain, W.E., Burto, W. (2011). Literature for composition: Essays, stories, poems, and plays (9th ed.). New York, NY: Longman. All electronic materials are available on the student website. |Week One: Elements of Literature—Stories | Read MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†

Wilfred Owen/War Poetry Essay Example For Students

Wilfred Owen/War Poetry Essay Owen explores the impact of war on society and youth in WWW When WWW was declared in August 1914, a huge number of men wanted to enlist, their enthusiasm being shared amongst many others, aged only 15-18. It was a global war centered in Europe, and although devastating, also gave birth to some of the best poets of their time. One of the soldiers who experienced the war first hand was Wilfred Owen and through his poetry, he graphically illustrated both the horrors of warfare, the physical Netscape which surrounded him and the human body in relation to those landscapes. His poetry, Disabled and Anthem for Doomed Youth stand in blatant contrast to the patriotic poems of war written by earlier poets. His anti-war poetry contrasted the official propaganda about the glories of trench warfare, and the heroism of soldiers and depict the shattering effect that war has on society and youth. Owens Disabled explores the effects of war on those who live through it by comparing the present life of an injured soldier to his past hopes and accomplishments. The first stanza opens with the depressing description of a lone man sitting In a wheelchair wearing a ghastly slut of grey being unable to Indulge In any of the stateless around him. Owen does not give the soldier a name but rather uses He to allow him to represent all soldiers. The line legless, sewn short at elbow allows responders to understand that he has lost limbs. He remembers what life had been like before the war, and through these flashbacks we begin to realism the full impact of his injury. He remembers how the streets used to light up and how the girls would become more inviting and alluring, and then we are brought back to the harsh reality as he will never feel again how slim girls waists are All of them touch him like some queer disease. This simile highlights the impact of the war on youth and shows that their wounds were not only physical, but psychological as well. He again thinks of when he was a renowned football player, and ironically, had been proud of a blood-smear down his leg which had resulted from a match, and how he crowd had carried him on their shoulders celebrating his velour and excellence. This Is Ironic In contrast to his welcome home, as some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Coal. It was after this match that, drunk on alcohol, pride and success that he has thought of enlisting in the army to appear more manlike to the giddy jilts. His reasons to enlist in the army and the lie that the officers wrote for him depict impact that the war had on society, it allowed them to feel as though they needed to Join, it was the right thing to do, the manly thing to do. The analogy drawn teens playing sports and being a soldier is effective in highlighting the vain motives the man had for joining the army but also acts as a reminder to him that his pride had caused him to lose the exact thing that he had been proud of: he would never again run in a field or score a winning goal, he would never again be praised for being a hero; only pitied infinitely for being a cripple. He was not patriotic, and had only though of the distance lands he would travel to; the honor and glory, the smart salutes and the pure exhilaration of Joggling the army. .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .postImageUrl , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:hover , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:visited , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:active { border:0!important; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:active , .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229 .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3d14fc6ba809b16489921ea541f78229:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Civil War Turning Points EssayThe sadness In the oldies plight Is heightened In the line, Smelling, they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years as clearly he was under age when he enlisted and therefore is still young. The juxtaposition of remembrance and realization casts a harsh light on everything the solider has lost. Anthem for Doomed Youth is a graphic portrayal of soldiers experience while contrasting funeral services at war as opposed to those at home. Own shows the diminishing nature of the war through the rhetorical simile, What passing bells for these who die as cattle? The simile, likening soldiers to cattle going to the laughter house, graphically depicts the deat h, violence and sacrifice of youths while highlighting their lack of a respectful funeral service. The use of the word cattle is utilized to indicate that none of the youth possess any identity of their own. Youth are murdered Just as cattle as mass slaughtered. The personification in the monstrous anger of the guns combined with the alliteration and onomatopoeia in stuttering rifles rapid rattle accentuates the battle sounds while creating powerful imagery. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells shows their lack of unreal rights, and instead of candles, bells and choirs, they only receive the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; personifying the last final sounds the soldiers hear before their death and effectively highlighting their lack of respect they are provided in death. In the second stanza, features and rituals of conventional funerals are substituted by images of suffering and sorrow due to war. What candles may be held to speed them all? is a rhetorical qu estion showing Owens own questioning of the war efforts and resulting slaughter.

The Black Panther Party Essay Example For Students

The Black Panther Party Essay There is nothing more dangerous than a large segment of people in society that feel that they have no place or stake in it, who feel they have nothing to lose. People who have stake in the society perpetuate that society, when they dont have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it.UnknownAs a culture, we are told how to act, think, and speak among other things. We are taught to do what is considered right and if we choose not to, we are punished, ridiculed, and considered a menace to society. We are considered thuggish and belittled and put down for living in an alternative way. Dont get me wrong, there is some good in having a controlled society because it brings some order and stability within our society.However, the questions at hand are, could there be a way for those who do realize that were being controlled to free themselves from the power and control that causes them to become oppressed? Could it be that we are bound and constrained and unable to have some type of agency i n order to be free? If we can free ourselves, what type of agency is used?These questions are the basis for my paper. I plan to present examples of control and oppression through the film Panther that shows the struggle of the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense. The film takes place in the 1960s and it shows the struggles that the members had to go through in order to form some type of agency to free themselves from the control and oppression that the government had over their lives and their community. We will write a custom essay on The Black Panther Party specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Huey Newton and Bobby Seale were two African-American men growing up in the ghetto of California where they saw and experienced racism and police brutality. There voices werent heard when it came to their communities and it took three young children to die by car crashes, and a peaceful candlelight vigil that turned into a fight between a neighborhood and the police (In which the police covered up their badges so that no one could report them to the police department) for them to want to make a change, to free themselves from control and oppression. In my opinion, I think that when it comes to control people accept it, reject it or assimilate without knowing that they are controlled. For instance, there was a black FBI agent that knew he was being controlled and he commented that, The United States was built on Capitalism and democracy and in democracy, the majority rules. He didnt reject the fact that he was being controlled, he accepted it and just decided to deal with it because he felt like he was a part of government that does the controlling. In the case of the Panthers they first recognized it and rejected it. In one scene Huey states, They think they dont have to respect us because they think they can brutalize us and lock us up without a jury of pleas because were ignorant to the laws. What we need to do is organize and keep our shit correct. Exercise our constitutional rights as citizens to defend ourselves and arm ourselves (Panther, 1995). This was the basis of their agency. In a flyer passed out to prospective members they stated that they want an end to the robbery by capitalists of our black community. And they wanted others to think about how long they were going to cry about their oppression without standing up to do something about it. A police officer stated that they were undermining the United States of America. That comment made it clear that they are controlled and controlling and that anything that isnt being controlled is considered insubordinate. After the Panthers recognized that they were being controlled, their main agency to free themselves from oppression was knowledge. They began to study and learn the laws of their state, and that way, they had power. For example, there is a scene in the movie in which they were on Panther Patrol, meaning they were the neighborhood watch for the black citizens in the community. They came across two police officers beating up a black man

Free Essays on Censorship

can be found offensive to the point where they are censored or taken out of certain things such as TV shows, books and things of that nature. But why? Censorship is wrong and unconstitutional and should be discontinued as soon as possible. Many people say that things such as curses or obscene language need to be stopped. Censors, people who deem things â€Å"appropriate†, edit the content of music, TV, published writing and more to make sure that it is suitable to be viewed by people. What gives them the right to do so? In fact, by doing so, they are violating the constitution of The United States of America. The 1st amendment of the constitution clearly states, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The founding principles of America says that no law shall be made prohibiting the freedom of speech. This is clearly being done all of the time and needs to come to an immediate stop. The people of America should not have their constitutional rights taken away. Censorship is unnecessary for many reasons. One of those is that, cursing and obscene language are only offensive when they are made offensive by the people themselves. If cursing was never said to be a bad thing, people would not look at the same way. If the word â€Å"shit† was not deemed a bad word, it could be used with its real meaning and would not be offensive. Saying the word â€Å"shit† is the same as saying poop or feces but because Americans have made it seem so bad, it is deemed offensive, but why aren’t the other two treated the same way. What is the difference between saying â€Å"ass† and â€Å"butt†?... Free Essays on Censorship Free Essays on Censorship To some people actually sitting down and writing a letter with pen and paper seems prehistoric. Email seems to be the only way to communicate in today’s world. It is so common and easy even children are using computers to talk to friends as well as pen pals from across the globe. With so easy access and so many people using the Internet there are bound to be all types of information. As a result, there is a great deal of information that has been deemed â€Å"indecent†. Congress has attempted to censor this information with the federal â€Å"Communications Decency Act of 1996 a controversial piece of legislation signed into law by President Clinton on February 8, 1996 (www.fmew.com/archive/censor). There are many advocates to pass this law censoring the internet, claiming that there is much information that is immoral and indecent for children as well as adults to view. As with the saying that there are â€Å"two sides to every story†, and with this story there is also an opinion that the Internet should not be censored. The reasoning behind the opinion that the Internet should not be censored is because it is not Congress’s job to evaluate what is decent or immoral for what people; this is a personal individual decision. Also, censoring information on the Internet defeats the purpose for which it was created. To top it all off censoring the Internet is a violation of the First Amendment, which grants Freedom of Speech. First of all, Congress is the legislative body of the United States, which prepares and enacts our laws. No where in the job description of a congressman (congresswoman) does it say to decide what is indecent and/or immoral from one person to the next. This is a personal choice, one person may think that talking about sex on the Internet is immoral while another may consider it necessary to teach their children about sex and the precautions they may need to take in the future. Helpful information like this c... Free Essays on Censorship Do words like â€Å"shit† and â€Å"ass† offend you? Words like those offend many people everyday. These words can be found offensive to the point where they are censored or taken out of certain things such as TV shows, books and things of that nature. But why? Censorship is wrong and unconstitutional and should be discontinued as soon as possible. Many people say that things such as curses or obscene language need to be stopped. Censors, people who deem things â€Å"appropriate†, edit the content of music, TV, published writing and more to make sure that it is suitable to be viewed by people. What gives them the right to do so? In fact, by doing so, they are violating the constitution of The United States of America. The 1st amendment of the constitution clearly states, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The founding principles of America says that no law shall be made prohibiting the freedom of speech. This is clearly being done all of the time and needs to come to an immediate stop. The people of America should not have their constitutional rights taken away. Censorship is unnecessary for many reasons. One of those is that, cursing and obscene language are only offensive when they are made offensive by the people themselves. If cursing was never said to be a bad thing, people would not look at the same way. If the word â€Å"shit† was not deemed a bad word, it could be used with its real meaning and would not be offensive. Saying the word â€Å"shit† is the same as saying poop or feces but because Americans have made it seem so bad, it is deemed offensive, but why aren’t the other two treated the same way. What is the difference between saying â€Å"ass† and â€Å"butt†?... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship The main reason that censorship is bad because it’s hiding the truth from us. We are not eligible to know what’s really happening and we’re losing our right to know what is happening behind the little black dots that appear on posters and our television screens. The government is banning us from the real world and expect us to believe all they say is true. The further they go with censorship, the more we are losing our right to know, to express ourselves and we will all end up being controlled by whatever they say that presumes to be the TRUTH. They think that we don’t know what’s happening but the word of mouth will spread and will notify us. The more they censor stuff, the more we will wan to investigate what they have censored. It is in our human nature to discover what has been hidden. I think we should only censor materials that are bad for children’s education. We are all mature enough to read or to know what’s really going in the world and I’m sure it will help us acknowledge more things. We never know what might happen if censorship goes beyond belief and it might even cause more wars and we’ll be destroying ourselves. It is important to not to expose children to these inappropriate movies, but trying to do it by censoring them is ridiculous. It really is so that it is up to parents to do the censoring. But it is so stupid, that because movies are being censored, not even us mature audiences are allowed to see them. Censorship as an idea is an idea for a perfect world. The only problem is that we do not live in a so-called perfect world and by shutting our eyes does not make all bad things disappear. In conclusion, I think that some people had enough of censorship, it’s becoming like a law that not much people believe or obey to it. I think they should think about a better way of censorship, like the pg-listings that list what kind of audiences should watch the program being... Free Essays on Censorship Within hours of the September 11 tragedies, the music industry realized it needed to display some newfound sensitivity: Dave Matthews nixed plans to release "When the World Ends" as his next single, the Strokes removed "New York City Cops" from their recently released album, and Bush changed the title of their new single from "Speed Kills" to "The People That We Love." But the gesture that received the most attention was a rumored list of songs banned from radio, each containing literal or metaphorical references a bit too close to recent events. The list, containing more than 150 "lyrically questionable" songs, started as a grass-roots effort by local programmers, then was redistributed by a senior executive at ClearChannel, the largest owner of radio stations in the United States and owner of many Cleveland stations (including WTAM, WMMS, WMVX, WMJI and several others). Among the listed songs were "Fly," "Jet Airliner," "Head Like a Hole," "Only the Good Die Young," "Great Balls of Fire," "Crash Into Me," "It’s the End of the World as We Know It," and dozens more. When the story hit the mainstream press, most journalists got the story wrong. It was widely reported that ClearChannel overtly banned the songs to avoid consternation and controversy, which wasn’t true. ClearChannel correctly pointed out that the original e-mail didn’t order anyone to ban any songs, but was merely a call for programmers to exercise restraint. Despite ClearChannel’s intentions, many radio programmers did censor songs as a result of receiving that list, but that still isn’t the point. The real question is: what were they trying to restrain? While the list was mainly comprised of songs bearing lyrical references to burning, death and airplanes, it also advocated censure for "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens, John Lennon’s "Imagine," and all songs by Rage Against the Machine. What do these songs have to do with flying airplanes into buildings? A... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship Censorship in Music is not called for in most cases. The idea of censorship in music started in the early part of the twentieth century. Gregory Black said â€Å"When Fats Dominoes’ rendition of ‘60 minute man’ came out†¦ it left little to the imagination†¦ Later this type of music then became known as ‘race’ or ‘jungle’ music which was about racism, social injustice, hypocrisy, and other social issues that made older Americans extremely uncomfortable.† Soon after this happened the FBI spent millions of dollars investigating rock stars. They followed stars like John Lennon, Jim Morrison, and Elvis Presley then took more than two years to figure out if the Kingsman used the â€Å"F† word in â€Å"Louie, Louie.† Later a judge in Florida ruled that 2-Live Crew’s album â€Å"Nasty as they Wanna Be† was obscene and was banned for sale because they used the â€Å"F† word 226 times in the album. It was later overturned. I believe that the government goes to far sometimes in trying to censor the music of artists. The government has also made record companies start putting labels on the CD’s because there lyrics are to â€Å"obscene†. What gives someone the right to determine what words are too obscene for other people except for parents of young children. The ways the government censors artist is against the 1st amendment of the constitution which states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.†, However they have told the record companies to put a label on the cover of the records. In many more cases the government has censored musicians not just on their records but through the air waves, preventing them from being played to help sell records, due to what is known as â€Å"... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship S*@#s Censorship, so far as I see it, is like a law which prohibits swimming altogether because such a law will prevent someone from swimming in a sewer† (Brower 1). Here, in the twenty-first century, the banning of thoughts and ideas in humanities and media has become one of the most widely disputed issues facing this country. Though it is highly controversial, hazardous to literature, and unconstitutional, censorship is rampant in America. Censorship is defined as â€Å"Policy of restricting the public expression of ideas, opinions, conceptions, and impulses, which have or are believed to have the capacity to undermine the governing authority or the social and moral order which that authority considers itself bound to protect† (Abraham 357). There is said to be four different categories, which are referred to as political, religious, against obscenity, and censorship affecting academic freedom. All of these categories are equal in their destructiveness towards free speech. There are two different forms that censorship takes; prior, which refers to advance suppression and â€Å"post facto† which is suppression after it has Prasad 2 been published (Brower 5). Authorities since the beginning of the written word have used both of these forms of censorship. Throughout history, figures that don’t have the real power to censor resort to personal pressure tactics to intimidate those who have influence over, or in command of, channels of communication. The McCarthy era during the 1940’s and 1950’s is a compelling example of this. During this time there was blacklisting of controversial literary figures as well as performing artists, thus blocking their employment in certain media such as movies, radio, and television. By doing this they accomplished the task of preventing the public from seeing what they considered to be objectionable material (Dubin 27). There are many rationalizations that are used by people that ... Free Essays on Censorship No other democratic society in the world permits personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. The First Amendment clearly voices a great American respect toward the freedom of religion. It also prevents the government from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Since the early history of our country, the protection of basic freedoms has been the highest priority to Americans. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a fictitious example of the evils of censorship in a world that is becoming illiterate. In this book, the government convinces the public that book reading is evil because it spreads harmful opinions and agitates people against the government. The vast majority of people accept this censorship of expression without question and are content to see and hear only the government's propaganda. Bradbury's hidden opposition to this form of censorship was apparent throughout the book and finally prevailed in the end when his main character rebelled against the practice of burning books. Freedom of speech is constantly being challenged as is evidenced in a recent court case where a Gloucester County school district censored reviews of two R-rated movies from a school newspaper. Superior Court Judge, Robert E. Francis ruled that the student's rights were violated under the state Constitution. I feel this is a major break through for students' rights because it limits editorial control of school newspapers by educators and allows students to print what they feel is important. A newly proposed bill (A-557) would prevent school officials from controlling the content of student publications. Critics of the bill feel that "student journalists may be too young to understand the responsibilities that come with free speech." This is a val...

Pause for commas - Emphasis

Pause for commas Pause for commas Compared with pondering the placement of the much less familiar semi-colon or the enigmatic apostrophe, the ubiquitous comma might seem hardly worth worrying about. Theyre ten a penny, arent they? Why not just sprinkle them at will or leave them out entirely? Unsurprisingly, we dont recommend doing either. They may seem a common or garden item of punctuation, but just like the elderly in society we can learn much from commas and should treat them with respect. So, use them: to denote a natural pause, such as if you were reading aloud Unfortunately, commas are often underrated. after a secondary clause thats been put at the beginning of a sentence Even though the comma had been left out of the speech, he paused for dramatic effect. to separate items in a list My job involves typing, proofreading, answering the phone and stocktaking commas. Im looking for a tall, dark, handsome lover of punctuation. to make it clear exactly how items are split (to avoid confusion, usually when the word and is involved in the list) The courses on offer were Introduction to colons, Intensive comma revision, Hyphens and dashes, and Figures and numbers. in pairs, for information additional to the main point (that could be lifted out to leave a sentence that still makes complete sense) The phone call, which lasted ten minutes, was mostly about Marys incorrect use of punctuation. However, the information contained by the two commas has to be non-defining (not vital to the overall gist of the sentence); if it is defining, you would use no commas at all: The phone call that was about Marys poor punctuating was full of awkward pauses. to introduce short quotes He said, Lets take a short break here. Changing sense Given the often ambiguous nature of our language, it is important to give pause to where you place your commas. Otherwise you may end up saying something other than you intended, or leaving your reader rather confused. Compare: However, you might feel the report is irrelevant [and we may take that into consideration] with However you might feel, the report is irrelevant [your opinion doesnt really matter]. Or I donated, myself, to that charity [I, like you, am a philanthropist] and I donated myself to that charity [not sure how much use theyll have for me]. Or even The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we [thats why the Common is so tidy] and The Wombles of Wimbledon, common are we [cant move for wombles while watching the tennis]. Commas can make subtle distinctions too. Observe the nuances: Our boss, who is based in Basingstoke, will be at that business writing seminar and Our boss who is based in Basingstoke will be at that business writing seminar. In the first example, there is only one boss. He may be based in Basingstoke, but that is not vital information (it is non-defining). The main point is that hell be at the seminar. In the second example, there are presumably several bosses. But it is specifically the one lucky enough to be based in Basingstoke who will attend the seminar. Weve said it before and well say it again: punctuation matters. Particularly if you want your writing to end up meaning what you meant it to.

Assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in Essay - 1

Assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in light of the demanding assumptions behind the concept of the - Essay Example In addition, today game theory is used in a variety of behavioural relations and is extended to both human as well as non-humans. This theoretical framework first described zero-sum games where an individual’s gains are exactly equal to the net losses of other participant(s). This paper will assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in light of the demanding assumptions behind the concept of the Nash equilibrium. Game Theory The game theory is based on the fundamental concept of zero-sum games, and a game has elements such as players, actions, information, strategies, outcomes, payoffs, and equilibria. Game theory evaluates strategic interactions where the outcome of a player’s choices greatly depends on the choices of other players. Basically, for a situation to be a game, there should be at least two rational players who consider each other’s choices while framing strategies (QuickMBA). The game theory has two distinct branches namely coo perative and non cooperative game theory. Most of the cooperative games are expressed in the characteristic function whereas extensive and normal forms are used to illustrate non-cooperative games. Games are illustrated using trees (figure 1) under the extensive form and each node or vertex represents the point of choice of players participating (Fudenberg & Tirole, 1991, p. 67). Each rational player is particularly indicated by a number specified by the vertex. The participants’ possible actions are depicted by the lines projecting out of the vertex while bottom of the tree represents the payoffs (Ibid). The authors add that the extensive form can be termed as â€Å"a multi-player generalisations of a decision tree† (Ibid). (Source: Ross, 2012) Under the normal form or strategic form, a matrix representing players, strategies, and payoffs is used for illustration. A major assumption when the normal form is used to indicate a game is that each participant makes choices without actually knowing the choices or actions of others. When players’ actions are known to other participants, generally the extensive form is used to represent the game. The characteristic function form was developed by scholars like John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. The authors claim that when a union C appears, it begins to work against the fraction (N/C) as if two players were participating in a normal game. Nash Equilibrium Nash equilibrium is a complex concept associated with the game theory. As Osborne (1994, p. 9) clearly states, â€Å"Nash equilibrium is a steady state solution concept in which each player’s decision depends on knowledge of the equilibrium†. More precisely, under the Nash equilibrium, it is assumed that each player knows the equilibrium strategies of other participants and no player can gain anything by altering their own strategy. The concept of Nash equilibrium has a wide range of applications in connection with the game the ory. Game theorists widely use this solution concept to interpret the outcomes realised from several decision makers’ strategic interactions. It greatly assists analysts to predict what would happen if several players are forming decisions simultaneously and if the outcome depends on others’ decisions. Nash equilibrium is potential to analyse unpleasant situations like arms

Child Abuse Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Child Abuse - Case Study Example Also, please cite your references. The paper needs to be approximately 3 pages long. Child abuse is considered to be the mistreatment, abuse and violence towards children by a parent, close relative or guardian, which may have detrimental effects on the child's physical, emotional and psychological state(Bartholet, 2000). This paper will analyze the case study of a ten year old boy called Peter, who became the victim of child abuse. The overall goal of this paper is to understand the causes and factors associated with child abuse and neglect and its consequences in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. Research suggests that physical abuse is considered to be the abuse which involves intentional and purposeful acts of aggression and violent behavior that can damage and harm the child. Research also suggests the physical abuse takes place when adults are in the state of anger and are unable to control it. Therefore, they slap, punch, strike at the child (Briere & Bulkley, 2000). It is sad that children like Peter often become the target of physical violence. From research it is evident that unemployment, poverty, absence of father from the family, drug addiction are considered to be one of the main factors, which lead to physical child abuse. 4. Parental Causes of Child Abuse Child abuse is often associated with parents. Following are the parental causes that lead to child abuse: 1. Parents had themselves been victims of physical assault as children. There is a complete cycle of violence. Parents, who had been the victims, frequently assault and beat their children. 2. Research suggests that frequently unwanted pregnancy also leads to child abuse. A sick or disabled child also becomes the target of physical assault at the hands of the parent. 3. Parents often do not support their children, when they face problems in their academics or social life. Frequently, children are slapped and beaten as part of their disciplined training 4. Indistinct and unclear limitations, where the boundary and limitations between the child and the parent are not defined. In such cases, both roles are undefined and hence, physical violence takes place (Bartholet, 2000). 5. Physical assault also takes places, when the parent suffers from pyshcological disorder. In order to express his or her aggression, the parent resort to violence and beats his or her child in an attempt to calm down. 6. Research suggests that in some culture, children are awarded corporal punishments in order to discipline them Ecological

Ken from Whose Life Is It Anyway Persuading the Judge to Let Him Die Essay Example for Free

Ken from Whose Life Is It Anyway Persuading the Judge to Let Him Die Essay In this essay, I will be describing and analysing how Ken, from â€Å"whose life is it anyway†, used persuasive techniques to persuade the judge to let him die. Ken is trying to persuade the judge to let him die, and he persuades him with this quote â€Å"†¦and I find the hospital’s persistent effort to maintain this shadow of life an indignity and its humane. † this quote is clearly showing that he does not want to rely on other people. The word â€Å"maintain† stands for holding something like an object in your household. He does not want the hospital and the doctors to â€Å"maintain† his shadow of life because he thinks that he is â€Å"dead already†. In the quote â€Å"†¦but the dignity starts with their choice. If I chose to live, it would be appalling if society killed me. If I chose to die, its equally appalling if society keeps me alive. † This quote shows that he cares about other people not just himself. The word â€Å"society† is used because it shows that he thinks truly not only about himself. Also there is a word â€Å"choose†, this clearly shows that there is no modal verbs and it is more effective and emotive, as that word, it self, shows that he thought everything though what he actual said. I like the way Ken uses strong words like â€Å"appalling†, by saying this, he is exaggerating and by doing this, he is shocking. Ken doesn’t thing letting someone live although they’re against it is terrible, but the fact that they don’t get the choice. â€Å"The cruelty doesn’t reside on saving someone or allowing them to die. It resides in the fact that the choice is removed from the man concerned† this quote means exactly how ken feels at that moment. The choice is about to be taken from him, and that will make things even harder for him. The word â€Å"cruelty† is a very strong word. Using it, Ken, creates sympathy and it made the whole quote more persuasive and he was saying that people are cruel by taking the choice from him. Also I this quote, he is stating by using words like â€Å"is†, â€Å"fact†, â€Å"it resides†. All of these are modal verbs and show that he knows what he is talking about and is confident with what he thinks and knows. The author chose the techniques for a reason, and the reasons are that the whole fact about persuading the judge needs to be pointed out as it’s the most important bit in the story play, the judge will judge from whether to save the man or let him die as he wanted. It’s a life or death situation. Ken also uses rhetorical questions to make the judge think, â€Å"Is that surprising? † Ken said this on purpose as it is very effective persuasive technique like in the one. Rhetorical questions overall, start arguments and debates in which this story is all about. Overall I think that the judge did the right thing letting ken die. He would be suffering mentally and physically if he didn’t. This story has many different writing techniques and only very few I have analysed in this essay. I think they are very effective upon this story and the story wouldn’t make sense and so much drama if it didn’t.

Romanticism in Young Goodman Brown Essay example -- essays research pa

Romanticism and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Romanticism was a literary movement that occurred in the late eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century which shifted the focus of literature from puritan works, to works which revolved around imagination, the beauty of nature, the individual, and the value of emotion over intellect. The ideas of the movement were quite revolutionary as earlier literature was inhibited by the need to focus on society and the rational world it effected. Romanticism allowed writers to be more creative with there stories and to explore an irrational world which before, would have been at the very least frowned upon if not outright rejected. The short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an example of a romantic work because it showcases the individual over society, exalts emotion and intuition over reason, and keeps a strong focus on nature throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A romantic work focuses on the individual and his inner struggles as well as his external conflict. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† accomplished this through the title character whose journey is followed over the course of the story. Though Young Goodman Brown meets many others on his trip, the focus never wavers from him and his internal struggle. For instance, when Goodman Brown witnesses the minister and deacon riding into the wilderness, the story immediately cuts to his reaction to them, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown caught hold...

FIN/370 Week 2 Team Essay

Starbucks’ Ethics and Compliance Paper Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their â€Å"code of ethics† not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program â€Å"Business Ethics and Compliance† might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business. Financial Environment In regards to the finance environment, Starbucks plays an active role in ethics and compliance. Not only are their employees offered ways to voice concerns of unethical issues in the work place, but also Starbucks’ partners as well. Starbucks holds a meeting every year for their shareholders in order to review the yearly performance, vote on issues, and voice their concerns about the company. Starbucks’ ethics program is setup in a way that helps integrate and network ethical business practices on all levels of the company. For six years now, Starbucks has been named among the world’s most ethical companies and to this day is still going strong (Business Ethics and Compliance. 2012). Ethical Behavior Procedures * Starbucks vision and values business mission is to conduct themselves and strive to do what is ethically right for the business. The organization has a mission to protect its culture and help strive to keep a good reputation by providing resource programs to help its partners with making good ethical decisions. Starbucks organization has numerous procedures in place to ensure  ethical behavior in the work place. According to Starbucks (2011), â€Å"Our mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit~one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.† (para. 1). * When looking at Starbucks’ global responsibility report for 2011 on its goals and the process for the organization, it shows to be on track in several places. The report shows that to ensure ethical behaviors the company has implemented front-of-store recycling and developed an inclusive recycling solution on all paper products carried in their stores. Starbucks organization is also ensuring that their coffee is ethically sourced under the C.A.F.E at 100% by 2015 and reducing consumption of energy and water by 25% by 2015. Starbucks also ensures ethical behavior by purchasing renewable energy. Starbuck’s became a member of the Global Social Compliance Program in 2011. The program is Starbuck’s business motivation strength to promote on environmental improvement and help its working conditions of its global supply chains. The organizations goals and processes show behaviors for the company to be on track to be both ethically and environmental friendly. United States Financial Markets When operating a small business, running a large corporation, or when it comes to personal finance it is imperative to understand financial markets and how they operate within the United States. The term financial market is explained as a mechanism that allows people to easily buy and sell financial claims (Titman, Keown, & Martin, 2011) and there are many different ways to conduct these transactions within these markets. There are three principal sets of stakeholders within financial markets with the first being borrowers. Borrowers are individuals or companies that need money to better position themselves for example an individual getting a student loan or a small business getting a small business loan. Savers are the second of these three key stakeholders. Just like borrowers, savers can be either an individual or a company with the main point being that they have money to invest. Individuals who save typically save for a specific reason such as purchasing a new vehicle, a down payment on a house, or even to prepare for a difficult economy. When firms run a surplus and have extra cash they also save money and invest in things such as stocks and even other companies in a conglomerate merger. Financial institutions are the third key player  regarding financial markets. Financial institutions help bring borrowers and savers together in order to facilitate desired transactions. The most common financial institutions are banks and credit unions because while they accept deposits and credit an account for that deposit, they also provide services such as loans and that money has to come from somewhere (investors). The financial marketplace consists of commercial banks, finance companies, insurance companies, investment banks, and investment companies (Titman, Keown, & Martin, 2011). Within these entities another step is taken and can be broken down to be classified by the maturities of the securities traded in them. There are two main classifications with the first being the money market. Money markets are designed for short term debt instruments with the threshold period being one year or less. The second of these two classifications is the capitol market which is the exact opposite of the money market. Capitol markets are designed for long term debt instruments with a threshold period extending beyond one year. Complying With SEC Regulations The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a federal agency and was formed in 1934 to enforce federal securities laws and to regulate the securities industry. In order to effectively oversee and regulate the securities industry the SEC is broken down into five main divisions which are corporation finance, trading and markets, investment management, enforcement, and lastly risk, strategy, and financial innovation. The Starbucks Corporation falls into several of these categories and must implement and enforce their own set of controls and procedures within the company in order to be in compliance with the SEC. Starbucks Corporation has put in place disclosure procedures and controls in an effort to ensure that all reports that are filed and submitted are within SEC regulations. These controls and procedures were designed to â€Å"ensure that material information required to be disclosed in our periodic reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the â€Å"Exchange Act†), is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms (Starbucks, 2012). As with anything new an evaluation must occur and during the fourth quarter of the 2012 fiscal year Starbucks did exactly that with the participation and  supervision of senior management and concluded that these controls were effective and worthy of SEC regulations. Another control implemented by Starbucks is financial reporting internal controls. Financial internal controls are a very crucial element within any company due to the severity of repercussions of inaccurate reporting. Starbucks put these controls in place to â€Å"provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (Starbucks, 2012). Some of the duties that go along with these controls include maintaining records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect transactions, providing reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary for preparation of financial statements, providing reasonable assurance that receipts and expenditures are made in accordance with management authorization, and providing reasonable assurance that unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of company assets that could have a material effect on financial statements would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Overall the Starbucks Corporation has many different controls and procedures that allow the company to comply with SEC regulations and the two examples in this paper are just a snap shot of what Starbucks must do and maintain in order to stay clear of punishment handed down by the SEC. Starbucks financial performance The financial performance for Starbucks for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 fiscal years have increased. In the 2011 year, they had the reportable operating segments which are the United States, International and Global Consumer (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept). In percentage, Starbucks total net revenue for the fiscal year were United States 69%, International 22%, Global Consumer 7% and other was 2%. The total net revenue for the 2011 year was at 11.7 billion while the 2012 year was increased by 14% to 13.3 billion. By The total revenues increased by 14% driven by global comparable store sales growth of 7% and a 50% increase in channel development revenue. The total equity for 2010 was 3,682.3 and 2011 was 4,387.3. At the end of the 2011 year, the return of equity was 29.26% and the end of the 2010 year was 28.87%. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) Starbucks financial performance is increasing  from year to year. The following are ratios for 2010 and 2011 that shows Starbucks financial performance in 2010 and 2011. Current ratio: Current Assets/Current Liabilities 2011 3794.9million/2075.8 million = 1.83 times 2010 2756.4 million/1779.1 million = 1.55 times Debt ratio: Total Liabilities/Total Assets 2011 2973.1 million/7360.4 million = 40.4% 2010 2703.6 million/6385.9 million = 42.3% Return on equity: Net Income/Common Equity 2011 1245.7 million/4387.3 million = 29.26% 2010 945.6 million/3682.3 million = 28.87% Day’s receivable: Accounts Receivable/Annual Credit Sales/365 2011 386.5/ (11700.4/365) = 12.1 days 2010 302.7/ (10707.4/365) = 10.3 days Ratio Trends According to the trends of each financial ratio the Starbucks organization is in good health. Starting with the current ratio although it is a bit lower in 2011 the company is still doing well when it comes to current assets and liabilities. The debt ratio indicates how much assets were financed using current liabilities. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) From 2010 to 2011 the debt ratio decreased by 1.9% which means the company financed fewer assets with the current plus long-term liabilities. The Return on Equity increased 2.7% from 2010 to 2011 which means the company received a higher return on their equity which is good for the company. The last ratio which is the Average Collection Period ratio measures how many days it takes a firm to collect its receivables. In 2011 the number of days increased slightly but with increased sales from 2010 to 2011 leads to future investments. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) According to these tren ds, it appears that Starbucks is growing strong and the organizations financial health is good. References Business Ethics and Compliance. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/business-ethics-and-compliance Starbucks. (2012). Goals & Progress: Ethical Sourcing. Retrieved

A time when I felt isolated or lonely

â€Å"Wow! A three days survival camp without a leader or teacher. Cool! Mum, can I join this camp?† I asked my mum eagerly. My mum, who was observing the book section, turned around and looked at the poster, â€Å"This?† â€Å"Yes,† I explained, â€Å"It's a three days hiking camp. I will hike with another two people from an over-sea scout team.† She examined the advertisement for a moment and said, â€Å"But there aren't any teachers following you.† â€Å"That's why I'm so keen to join this camp,† I exclaimed ardently. â€Å"This is the time when I can really use the skills I learnt in the past two months, surviving in the wild. And if I really have problems, I'm sure my amiable team mates can help me.† My mum studied the poster for a few more moments and finally said, â€Å"Well, if you're so willing to join this survival camp, I will let you.† I kept on telling my parents how happy I was like a parrot at dinner time, but my dad's facial expression stopped me from repeating. He had a small encouraging smile on his face, which looked pretty normal, however when I looked deep into his eyes, I could see that he's worried. â€Å"What's the matter, dad?† â€Å"Umm†¦nothing much. It's just that I had a dog's life the last time I had a survival camp, but I'm sure the one you joined is much better. Hope you have fun,† my dad hesitated strangely. I stared at him for a few seconds, figuring what's that statement about. Slowly and uneasily, I replied, â€Å"Course I will.† The field day was a warm sunny day that you could get plenty of wind, perfect for hiking. When I arrived to the starting point, the team leader approached to me and informed me about my team mates who are both French but speak fluent English. Around five minutes later, two teenagers were heading to this direction. They both wore the scout suits but I was more interested on their badges. From what I could see, they had at least three rock climbing prizes, which show that they are brilliant at climbing. The team leader went to them and said, â€Å"I assume you are Dominic (pointing at the taller one) and this is John (point at the fatter one),† they both nodded, â€Å"and this is your team mate Kelvin.† I put out a hand for shaking, but they just stared at me like a foreigner. The leader ignored their reaction, and continued on his speech, â€Å"Before you guys set off, I want to ask you a question, have you got your map with you? (We all nodded), good, do you know where you're going? (We all nodded), good, then I will leave and you may start now. Good luck.† During the next hour, I tried lots of ways to make friends with them but they just didn't respond and what annoyed me the most is their language. I remembered very clearly that they both spoke fluent English, but what I heard is French, pure French. They chatted to each other and laughed very often while I walked on my own. I tried to calm my anger by enjoying the view, but everytime I felt better, they laughed loudly and exclaimed a phrase in French. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I stomped to their side and asked, â€Å"Don't you guys speak English? I'm also your team mate and I don't understand one damn word you're saying. Can you please switch your channel to English and show me some team spirit?† Dominic and John gazed at me for a few seconds like I was a stranger who just interrupted their great conversation, then they went back to their talk. After another fifteen minutes, they started scowling at me, spoke a few sentences to each other, and started smirking. The smirk made me saw the handwriting on the wall but the only thing I could do was to be more careful. I kept observing them to find out what they're playing at but there's nothing wrong for an hour, so I stopped the observation and went back to luxuriate the view. All of a sudden, I heard a loud shivery scream from Dom then I descried a furry gigantic animal being thrown at me out of the blue. An animal I fear the most, spider. I quickly dodged away and screamed as loud as I could. Then, under my shriek, I could hear two people laughing; Dom and John were guffawing their head off. John said breathlessly, â€Å"Do you see how scared he is? That's the loudest scream I ever heard.† Dom nodded, went to the spider and picked it up. Was it my illusion or what? Did I just heard a language that I understand? And how came the spider didn't struggle when Dom picked it up? I thought of a second then everything just came together at once. It's true that they spoke English and I had just been tricked. The spider is fake! I looked at them disgustedly, rushing past them as quickly as I can. Their unbearable action just made me detest them more and didn't even want to look at them. For the rest of the day, I walked in front of them without saying a word or trying to revenge. I decided not to disturb them and desired they would not irritate me, but this never happened. They kept on insulting me on everything I do. I tried to sing quietly to relax, and they cried stop and emphasised what a bad voice I had. I wished to rest for a moment, and â€Å"suck† was the reply. I walked wearily until evening when they wanted to stop and started setting up the tent. The tent was quite big and needed at least three people to set it up, so even though Dom and John wanted me to do all the work, they helped. They got in first and blocked the entrance with their back-pack. â€Å"No filthy Chinks allow in this clean tent,† John yelled. I stood there, looking blankly at the tent, and then a wave of anger filled me like a tsunami. I kicked the tent fiercely and tried to turn it over, but this action didn't last long, John whirled out and grabbed me by my collar. â€Å"You're not welcome in this tent, you Chink,† John shouted and threw me to the ground. I stared up at him, terrified as he thumped back into the tent. I got up slowly, examined the environment, trying to find a place without too many rocks. After lots of effort, I found a place with little amount of rocks near to the tent, I put my mat on it and lied down. Though there's a mat, I could still feel the hardness of the floor, and the tiny sharp stones stinging my back. Small ants crawled on my right leg and bite, but I was too exhausted to scratch them. I looked at the dark blue sky, thinking about the horrible day I had just experienced, then my dad's word faded into my mind, â€Å"†¦I have a dog's life the last time I join a survival camp†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although today was not as bad as a dog's life, it's not better. â€Å"I should listen to dad, he's always right. I wonder what he is doing now; maybe he's watching TV with mum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I thought of the cosy bed in my room that doesn't has any insects in it. I thought of my friends who respect me and never leave me alone. When I thought of my buddies, I could feel tears cascaded down my face. My friends and team mates were like angels and devils; two kind of extreme creatures. I kept on thinking of the good I had with my companions; how we laughed at each others' jokes and helped each other out, and slowly I dozed off with a smile on my face. Next morning, I walked in front of them as usual, staying quiet. Not for long, we arrived to a slope narrow rock wall. The wall is similar to every wall you can see in the wild but this one have a rope hanging from the top. â€Å"This must be the string to tie up my safety lock,† I thought as I open my back-pack and found the lock. Dom looked down his nose at me and teased, â€Å"You suck at everything. Why do we need a safety lock for a short wall?† I ignored him, and continued to find the lock. Dom and John jumped on the wall and started climbing. Five seconds later, I heard a shriek of help above me. I quickly looked up and the sight stunned me. About five metres up the mountain, John was trying to make a big leap. Unluckily, he missed for only a few inches, so he tried to clutch on something, but fail. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, he fell on the ground, hand first, then blood started dripping from his hand and knee. Dom slowly got to the floor and looked at his injury but did nothing about it. â€Å"Don't you know how to do first aid?† I questioned. They looked at each other shamefully and shook their head. I really wanted to laugh at them but I knew I should not. They didn't show me respect but that didn't mean I needed to do the same thing to them. I took out my bandage from my first aid box and wrapped it around John's injury arm. I also took out a bottle of ethanol and washed the wound with it. After first aiding, my team mates both looked at me thankfully, â€Å"Thank you†¦um†¦a†¦sorry about what happened yesterday. W†¦we don't mean it.† I put out a hand and say, â€Å"so can we be friends now?† They nodded and shook my hand. From then on, I didn't hear a single insulting word or French from them, and the rest of the journey continued to be remarkable, in a good way.

10 Facts Worth Knowing About Noah Webster

10 Facts Worth Knowing About Noah Webster Born in West Hartford, Connecticut on October 16, 1758, Noah Webster is best known today for his magnum opus, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). But as David Micklethwait reveals in Noah Webster and the American Dictionary (McFarland, 2005), lexicography wasnt Websters only great passion, and the dictionary wasnt even his best-selling book. By way of introduction, here are 10 facts worth knowing about the great American lexicographer Noah Webster. During his first career as a schoolteacher at the time of the American Revolution, Webster was concerned that most of his students textbooks came from England. So in 1783 he published his own American text, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The â€Å"Blue-Backed Speller,† as it was popularly known, went on to sell nearly 100 million copies over the next century.Webster subscribed to the biblical account of the origin of language, believing that all languages derived from Chaldee, an Aramaic dialect.Though he fought for a strong federal government, Webster opposed plans to include a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Liberty is never secured with such paper declarations, he wrote, nor lost for want of them.Even though he himself borrowed shamelessly from Thomas Dilworths New Guide to the English Tongue (1740) and Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language (1755), Webster fought vigorously to protect his own work from plagiarists. His efforts led to the c reation of the first federal copyright laws in 1790. In 1793 he founded one of New York Citys first daily newspapers, American Minerva, which he edited for four years.Websters Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (1806), a forerunner of An American Dictionary, sparked a war of the dictionaries with rival lexicographer Joseph Worcester. But Worcesters Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory English Dictionary didnt stand a chance. Websters work, with 5,000 words not included in British dictionaries and with definitions based on the usage of American writers, soon became the recognized authority.In 1810, he published a booklet on global warming titled â€Å"Are Our Winters Getting Warmer?†Although Webster is credited for introducing such distinctive American spellings as color, humor, and center (for British colour, humour, and centre), many of his innovative spellings (including masheen for machine and yung for young) failed to catch on. See Noah Websters Plan to Reform English Spelling.Webster was one of the principa l founders of Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1833 he published his own edition of the Bible, updating the vocabulary of the King James Version and cleansing it of any words that he thought might be considered offensive, especially for females. In 1966, Websters restored birthplace and childhood home in West Hartford was reopened as a museum, which you can visit online at the Noah Webster House West Hartford Historical Society. After the tour, you may feel inspired to browse through the original edition of Websters American Dictionary of the English Language.

An Introduction to Akaikes Information Criterion (AIC)

An Introduction to Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) The Akaike Information Criterion (commonly referred to simply as AIC) is a criterion for selecting among nested statistical or  econometric models. The AIC is essentially an estimated measure of the quality of each of the available econometric models as they relate to one another for a certain set of data, making it an ideal method for model selection. Using AIC for Statistical and Econometric Model Selection The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was developed with a foundation in information theory. Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics concerning the quantification (the process of counting and measuring) of information. In using AIC to  attempt to measure the relative quality of econometric models for a given data set, AIC provides the researcher with an estimate of the information that would be lost if a particular model were to be employed to display the process that produced the data. As such, the AIC works to balance the trade-offs between the complexity of a given model and its goodness of fit, which is the statistical term to describe how well the model fits the data or set of observations. What AIC Will Not Do Because of what the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) can do with a set of statistical and econometric models and a given set of data, it is a useful tool in model selection. But even as a model selection tool, AIC has its limitations. For instance, AIC can only provide a relative test of model quality. That is to say that AIC does not and cannot provide a test of a model that results in information about the quality of the model in an absolute sense. So if each of the tested statistical models are equally unsatisfactory or ill-fit for the data, AIC would not provide any indication from the onset. AIC in Econometrics Terms The AIC is a number associated with each model: AICln (sm2) 2m/T Where m is the number of parameters in the model, and sm2  (in an AR(m) example) is the estimated residual variance: sm2 (sum of squared residuals for model m)/T. That is the average squared residual for model m. The criterion may be minimized over choices of m to form a trade-off between the fit of the model (which lowers the sum of squared residuals) and the models complexity, which is measured by m. Thus an AR(m) model versus an AR(m1) can be compared by this criterion for a given batch of data. An equivalent formulation is this one: AICT ln(RSS) 2K where K is the number of regressors, T the number of observations, and RSS the residual sum of squares; minimize over K to pick K. As such, provided a set of econometrics models, the preferred model in terms of relative quality will be the model with the minimum AIC value.

Cyperethics-copyrights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cyperethics-copyrights - Essay Example It is also immoral. Or is it? There is not a doubt that there are substantial harms that might come through the illegal downloading of music - for one, illegal downloading takes money out of the pocket of recording artists, and it might stifle innovation and growth in the industry. But, on the other hand, it is more morally complex and ambiguous than might be on the surface. It can be compared to white collar crime, in that there are diffuse victims, diffuse perpetrators, and it is difficult to know exactly who is being harmed by it. Also, illegally downloading music is not necessarily in violation of social norms, as so many people do it, therefore one basis for morality, social norms, is not necessarily a basis for the censure on illegal downloading. Finally, the record companies do not have clean hands, as they are known to take advantage of artists because of unequal bargaining power, such that some successful recording artists end up in bankruptcy court because the contract term s were so onerous that these artists got little out of it. Illegally downloading music might hurt the recording industry, but they hurt artists, so, in essence, illegally downloading music is giving them a taste of their own medicine. ... And, illegally downloading music has a lot in common with white collar crime, which might include extortion, false statements, fraud, tax evasion and the like. According to Green (2004), white collar crime does not necessarily have the same degree of moral unambiguity as do other crimes, such as robbery, rape and murder. The white collar crime might not be morally wrong, according to Green (2004), because the behavior that is conducted is considered to be more or less acceptable in the realm that it is performed, which means that these crimes have a certain level of moral ambiguity about them. In fact, there are ten factors which he states he associates with moral ambiguity, in the context of white collar crime. One is that there are cases which distinguish between criminality and merely aggressive behavior. For instance, some kind of alleged extortion might be considered to be hardball negotiating, and nothing more. Another is that there is morally ambiguity in inchoate offenses, wh ich means that there is liability for offenses that haven't quite been completed. There is also an issue of overcriminalization, according to Green (2004), and this, perhaps, is most pertinent to the issue of the illegal downloading of music. Overcriminalization refers to offenses that a great percentage of society does not necessarily see as wrong. Green (2004) argues that how a society views a certain offense matters – that society might think that certain things are unambiguous and worthy of censure, no matter the context – this would encompass things like stealing or rape or other kinds of crimes where people are hurt. But society, according to Green (2004) does not

Teacher leadership mentoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Teacher leadership mentoring - Essay Example First and foremost, the best plan for Ms. Thomas is to show that she has authority and control of all the activities carried out in class. She must ensure that all activities conform to the expected conduct of students in the class and supervise all work done even though in groups. It has been observed that some students are often found wandering during learning period which should not be the case. Managing effectively in class has several advantages as this would reduce the burden that seems to be negatively affecting her performance. With regards to student engagement, the best plan is to focus on the role of the student and make it the center of the educational process while she as the teacher would act as a regulator or facilitator that guides the learners throughout the lesson. This can be done through encouraging pupils to participate in class through responding to questions raised or to place the students in groups where they are given tasks to do then asked to give feedback to others. It has been noted that there is less student activity where the teacher is talking throughout the whole lesson with little input from the learners who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the knowledge they acquire from the teacher. When students work together to accomplish shared learning goals, there would be highly chances that they would master what they discuss in class which is a very good plan for Ms. Thomas to be able to entice the students to participate in class. It is very important for the students to work toge ther in order to share and exchange the ideas with others since they will feel that knowledge can be generated through feedback and communication with others which makes them become more realistic than teaching through the book and focus on homework only. Group work is recommendable since it inculcates a sense of interdependence where the students would discover that the

Leadership Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership Theory - Research Paper Example Through these people, members of the organization have clear direction on how tasks are to be done through the means and methods imposed by the former. Leadership is the most effective solution in every organization elsewhere. But for years, however, people are still puzzled on how a person becomes a leader (Lussier & Achua, 2009) They keep on thinking if such ability is innate in character or if it can evolve through time and experience. Whether there is a formula on how to become an effective leader, or a certain approach to be used by a person in a particular situation or organization, specifically to the one delegated as a Radiology Department Administrator. Radiology is a branch of science which caters to internal anatomy. Through the technology used in this field of medicine, physicians and medical students are able to visualize the internal make up of the body, leading to informed medical decisions. Radiologists are responsible for operating the machines used in radiology like the x-ray. Of course, in every department, there is a need to assign an administrator to oversee if the express and inherent functions of one department are being performed. In this case it is the radiology department administrator (Gunderman, 2006). The radiology department administrator is responsible for the general direction and supervision of the Radiology Department. That person should be a graduate of a medical school and is licensed to practice such field. The said administrator should be able to plan out strategies to preserve the efficient flow of service. Moreover, the administrator has been given the authority to screen prospective applicants of the said department. In this position, leadership skills are one of the most vital considerations. With that, it is important to know what leadership approach an administrator should use in order to efficiently perform his duties (Griffin and Snook, 2006). The paper shall delve into leadership theories in relation with the posit ion of radiology department administrator, and also to know the leadership theories which perfectly corresponds with the position. Leaders: Are They Born or Made? â€Å"He is a natural born leader† is an expression widely used by people who are delved to conclude that the leadership is an in born trait. It is correct to say that leadership is an innate characteristic, but it may also be developed and acquired through time (Northouse, 2009). A natural-born leader, so to speak, may be attributed to one’s in born skills and abilities like his level of intelligence or even his physical features (e.g. height). These qualities, which may be classified as above normal, tend to impress or intimidate people. With this, superiority over the normal person is created (Jago, 1982). From this perspective, five common factors should be considered in order to know whether the person has the innate capability of being a leader. The five common factors are as follows: 1) Surgency, which is characterized by one’s sociability and propensity to be dominant; 2) Agreeableness, which is shown through compassion and capacity to show empathy; 3) Dependability, which deals with the capacity for organization and credibility of a person; 4) Adjustment, which can be shown through stability and acceptance of oneself; and 5) Intellectance which

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay Historically, conservation strategies have been dominated by exclusive management approaches, reserving places for nature, and to separate humans and other species. According to Adams and McShane (1996) the method for establishing parks has always involved the expensive operation of removing those people living on the newly protected land. In almost all cases, the result is a park surrounded by people who were excluded from the planning of the area, do not understand its purpose, receive little or no benefit sharing and hence do not support its existence. As a result, local communities develop a lasting distrust of park authorities, in part because of the glaring lack of attention those authorities, supported by conservationists, have traditionally paid to the link between park ecology, the survival of wildlife and the livelihood of the displaced people. In the longer term the effect of the de-linkage of park wildlife from village livelihoods, encouraged by the preservationist views of nature on which the national park as an institution is founded, is to make local people hostile to wildlife conservation (Knight, 2000). In Ghana, the Mole National Park and one of its surrounding communities, Larabanga, have for a long time being involved in a series of conflicts that have negatively affected the peaceful co-existence of man and nature. This paper explores the causes of the conflict and the values, interests and positions of the key stakeholders involved in the conflict. An analysis of the conflict using the social conflict theory and various techniques in conflict management is also employed. The authors also present a new view of the conflict and present alternative dispute resolution methods that are applicable in resolving the conflict. Inclusive governance as a key participatory process is also discussed in the paper. Key words: Environmental Conflict, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Inclusive Governance, Protected Area, Stakeholders Introduction National parks and other wildlife reserves are a major source wildlife conservation conflicts in most parts of the world. In Ghana, wildlife conservation conflicts are prevailing in the north of the country between the park authorities of the Mole National Park (NP) and the park-adjacent communities especially Larabanga (Marseille, 2004). Mole NP is a typical example of coercive conservation or exclusive management, during its creation a policy of externally enforced exclusion was pursued and no serious attempts were made to involve the local communities in the management of the park (Marseille, 2004). The control of Mole NP is vested in central government by means of the Ghanaian Wildlife Division [WD]. Throughout the years the WD and the communities have been engaging in a poor relationship which created a breeding chamber for different conflict situations (Marfo, 2003). Marfo (2003) however states that recently there has been a shift from the traditional preservation approach in p rotected area management to the more flexible concept of conservation through sustainable use. Despite a range of protected area [PA] outreach strategies targeted at improving the relationship with the local communities and reducing the conflicts tension still exists. The lack of communication and the tension between local people and park staff is a common theme from different parks (Newmark et al 1993 in Bergin 2001). The WD holds the view that local communities have done little to change their negative perceptions about the activities of the Park. Particularly the communities surrounding the Mole NP are notorious in violating park boundaries and regulations. Among the local communities both suspicion and mistrust for wildlife staff and bitterness over the process by which the Park was created is prevailing. Hulme and Infield (2001) found that the community attitudes towards protected areas is influenced by the nature of community use of park resources, the physical proximity to the park, influencing both problems caused by wild animals and negative interactions with game officials, and the history of both positive and negative interactions with park staff. Problem statement Though the Mole NP authorities have made efforts to reduce local conflicts there appears to have been little concerted effort to apply the principles of conflict management to protected area-people relationships (Hough, 1988). It is almost universally evident that the question of power and how it plays itself in specific conflict setting is an important dimension to the conflict management problem. The crucial role of power in natural resource conflict management has driven the debate in search for its dynamics and how to deal with it in policy and practice. Conflict is a complex phenomenon, with the possibility of involving several actors. However, at a superficial level there are only two actors involved in wildlife conservation conflict, namely the local national park administration and the local communities (Hough, 1988). Within natural resource management one major reoccurring issue relates to the question of how to control and manage natural resources on an official level while simultaneously taking into account the needs of the local population (Caspary, 1999). The emerging challenge is to encourage a scientific and policy rethinking of wildlife conservation conflict management intervention processes, guiding wildlife conservation conflict towards constructive rather than destructive results favors both the communities living on the fringes of the Mole NP as well as the park management. 1.3 Aim of the study The aim of the study is formulated as follows: To explore conflict management strategies in wildlife conservation conflict using Mole National Park and the Larabanga Community in Ghana as a case with a view to making appropriate recommendations for wildlife conservation conflict management Objectives In order to achieve this aim, the following specific objectives are formulated: To identify the background and basics of the conflict To explore the positions, interests and values of the key actors and the strategic action exercised during the conflict To examine the linkages of the conflict to the foundations and theories of conflict and conflict management By identify conflict management approaches that are currently being used to address the conflict To propose alternative conflict management and participatory approaches that could be used Research questions What is the basis of the conflict? Why? Which actors are involved in the conflict? Why? What conflict management approaches are being used or could be used Which concept(s) of inclusive governance, which theories of democracy, is Is the governance process participatory and which theory of democracy is it built on? The analysis of this case study will focus clearly on conflict management techniques and interventionist strategies. A third party intervention strategy will focus on understanding the strategies different actors use to empower themselves during conflict and providing alternative ways of resolving the conflict towards a constructive end. Mole National Park The Ghanaian Wildlife Division is responsible for 15 integrated protected areas covering a total area of 13,489 sq. km under which Mole National Park, see map of Mole NP in figure 1. Mole NP is one of the six national parks in Ghana and one of the three established in the interior savannah. Fig. 1: Map of Ghana showing Mole NP and LarabangaThe IUCN defines a National Park as a protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. Mole NP is a category II park by IUCN classification of protected areas (IUCN, 2010). A National Park is a national asset and as such remains under the jurisdiction of a central authority personified by the WD (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). The Mole NP Protected Area in Ghana and it is considered to be the most prestigious in terms of its attraction to visitors facilities for visitors (IUCN, 2010). The protected areas system in Ghana is designed to conserve key representative areas of Ghanas varied wildlife habitat (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). ontextMole National Park (4840 km2) is found in the western half of the Northern Region in the Guinea grassland zone (see figure 1). Mole is named after the river Mole which runs through the conserved area. In the 1930s about 2330 km of Mole was initially designated a Game clearance area for purposes of tsetse control. The policy of game clearance was abandoned and in 1958 an area of 1,916 sq. km. was officially constituted as the Mole Game Reserve and placed under the Forestry Department (FC, 2010) In 1971, the reserve was almost doubled in size (4912 km) and gazetted a National park under legislative instrument 710 of the wildlife reserves regulations. In 1992, with the removal of another village in the North west the park (Gbantariga), Mole NP was subsequently extended to the present 4840 km (Marseille, 2004). The park is very popular with tourists visiting northern Ghana, 93 mammals, 33 reptiles, 9 amphibians and 304 bird species have been recorded at Mole. The dominant faunal species are elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), buffalo (Syncerus caffer), waterbuck (Kobus defassa), roan antelope (Hippotragus equnus), kob antelope (Kobus kob), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), warthog (Phacochoerus aethipicus), green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) and olive baboon (Papio anubis) (FC, 2010). Larabanga community Approximately 4 kilometres from the entrance gate of Mole NP lies the village of Larabanga, or Home of the Arabs as its name signifies. The Larabanga community is a 100% Muslim which has being in existence since the 15th century and originally a hunting tribe (Marseille, 2004). Larabanga is poor rural community whose main source of livelihood is farming closely followed in importance by hunting and fishing. Basic social amenities and infrastructure are critically lacking in the community (UNDP, 2007). Larabanga has a population size of about 3800 people, most community members are engaged in farming subsistence crops such as yam, maize, guinea corn and cassava (UNDP, 2007). The farm lands surround the village in all directions and are communally owned with most farmers practicing shifting cultivation. The ancient mosque of Larabanga is of Sudanese architectural style and is recognized officially as a World Heritage Site. A few retailers in the village also generate some profit by selling provisions to visiting tourists. In Larabanga 99% of the community is illiterate, the same situation counts for all other fringed communities (Marseille, 2004). Causes of the Conflict Knight (2002) describes human-wildlife conflict as relations of rivalry or antagonism between human beings and wild animals which typically arise from territorial proximity and involve reliance on the same resources or a threat to human well-being or safety. It is proposed there are two dimensions of human-wildlife conflicts: political and social. Political An increasingly important factor in the political determination of wildlife conservation conflict is the role of the established political actor, the state. Many wildlife conservation conflicts are informed by people-state conflict. When wild animals become the object of official protection measures whether in the name of game management or wildlife conservation, local victims of wildlife damage may well attribute blame to and seek political redress from, state authorities (Knight, 2000). In this case study wildlife conservation conflict is defined as follows: a situation where an actor experiences the action of other actors in the use and management of wildlife resources as an impairment to their interest in those wildlife resources The state through the Wildlife Department (WD) has adopted a preservationist approach in managing the Mole NP (Jachmann, 2008). This has resulted in the alienation of local communities and has excluded opportunities for participatory rural development activities and the sustainable use of the reserves resources, thus generating antagonism resulting in conflicts between local communities and wildlife/forestry officers (Marseille, 2008). One of the key obstacles to establishing key processes for the effective management of national park-people conflict identified by Hough (1988) is the large difference in power between government-backed parks and local people in rural areas. Central government has the weight of the legal and enforcement mechanisms of the nation state. The key infraction during the creation of the park was the compulsory acquisition of land without due compensation being paid to the evicted communities. The state has also being accused of using its power to expand the park several times without the consent of the local communities (Bosu, 2010). The local communities however are relatively powerless, the villagers try to get something back by poaching park animals or by collecting inside the park and thereby restore some degree of balance in the village-park relationship. According to Hough (1988) this difference in power is the root cause of the conflict in that the desires of central government were initially forced on the relatively powerless resident populations. Social The conflict is manifested through three major social conflict bases; issues of illegal hunting, crop damage and land access into Mole NP (Marseille, 2004). Source: Marseille, 2004 Illegal hunting Illegal hunting can be defined as the unauthorised harvesting of any wildlife species for either subsistence or commercial purposes (FC, 1994). Regulation 2 of the wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) prohibit any person at any time to hunt, capture or destroy any animal or collect or destroy any plant within the reserve (FC, 2010). Group hunting, a group of two or more individuals hunting together, is with or without a license prohibited. Nearly all hunters surrounding the park however do not carry valid licenses and hunt mainly inside the park (Marseille, 2010).Once hunters and patrolling scouts clash with each other conflict is initiated, this practically means that causing arrest is similar to causing conflict Crop damage Crop damage occurs when animals cross the boundaries and move into the farm fields to feed on the cultivated crops like maize, millet, cassava, yam, guinea corn and ground nuts. The most troublesome animals are elephants, baboons, green monkeys and red monkeys. The WD is seriously concerned about crop damage and problem animals but does not have financial resources available to grant compensation for lost crops (Wildlife Division, 2001). The current legislation does not provide sufficient incentive for farmers to care and protect wildlife on their properties. The result is that wildlife for most farmers is considered a pest that in many cases is directly competing with their agricultural activities (Wildlife Division, 2001). The farmers feel the WD should take responsibility of their animals to reduce the amount of damage. The WD has the opinion that the farmers are exaggerating the actual amount and frequency of damage, farmers are using crop damage only to create resentment (Wildlife Division, 2001). Resource access The wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) states that no person at any time can enter a reserve except with the consent of the Senior Wildlife Officer. It is thus illegal to enter Mole NP without official permission. The denial of land access is the third identified social conflict base, meaning that the villagers are not allowed to enter the reserves, also for purposes other than hunting such as fetching water, collecting fire wood and NTFPs as well as visiting sacred groves (Marseille, 2004). The sacred stream case for example is a conflict relating to the issue of land access. Villagers are not permitted access to the stream creating disagreement which is primarily values and interest-based. The villagers value the stream based on its traditional and spiritual importance whereas the WD values the stream for its biological and ecological features. The villagers also have a different interest in the stream, they would like to use the stream for both swimming and fishing purposes as well as the fetching of water. The interest of the WD in the stream is linked to conservation purposes (Marseille, 2004). Also, more indirectly the conflict is history-based, culture-based due to the way the park was created and the influence of government institutions. The situational circumstances that surround the initial conflict setting determine the actual conflict base. The identified conflict bases are the surfacing fundamentals of the wildlife conservation conflict in general, however, these conflict bases have by no means static characteristics. As the conflict evolves the initial conflict base might develop into another conflict base. Conflict bases are also interrelated with each other. Ghana ´s Wildlife laws Ghana ´s wildlife policy states that although the Government cannot be liable for damage caused by wildlife, it will take reasonable measures to protect people, crops and property against wild animal damage. The 11th and 12th item of the Policy states that the conservation of wildlife within Parks and Reserves will over-ride all other interests in them (FC, 2010). No use of Parks and Reserves that will conflict materially with wildlife conservation will be allowed. It presents specific principles on rights of local access to basic natural resources, local democracy, participatory management and protection of forest and wildlife resources (Kotey et al, 1999). The policy entrenches a biocentric approach to wildlife conservation which is reflected in exclusive management and thus denies human access to resources because degradation of biodiversity has been verified (Caspary, 1999) Stakeholder analysis The stakeholders, generally referring to all the people who affect and/or are affected in the conflict situation, are hereby classified into these three broad groups namely; government, local community and third party. By analyzing using the conflict onion, the positions, interests, needs and fears/hopes of these stakeholder groups were identified and presented in the table 1 below. Table 1: Stakeholder classification using the conflict onion Elements of conflict Stakeholder Government Local Community Third party Position In favour of the national park Against the national park In favour of the national park Interest Biodiversity conservation Exertion of authority Access to resource Protection of heritage Resource conservation Social justice need Income (tourism) International convention Subsistence Employment Cultural values Sustainable resource management Political success Fear/hope Biodiversity loss Loss of land and cultural heritage funding The government being in favour of the creation and maintenance of the national park could be considered as the proponent in contrast with the local community as opponents in this conflict situation. The third party could be regarded as social based group which is also in favour of the national park in terms of position in the conflict. There are varying interests from the stakeholder groups with only resource conservation overlapping between the government and the third party as opposed to resource access by community. However, while the governments interest is to show that it holds the final authority over all forest and natural resources, the local community is also interested in preserving the heritage their ancestors had handed over to them from generation to generation and the third party is also interested in social justice for the local community. Power structure of stakeholders The government represents all agencies in favour of the national park comprising the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources (MLNR), Forestry Commission (FC), Wildlife Division (WD). These are state agencies are mandated by law to manage the forest and wildlife resources for the common good of all Ghanaians. With the decentralized system of governance, the Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and the District Assembly (DA) form an allied group that supports the government in its decision. Though the MLG and the DA have the mandate to see to the sustainable development of the district, with respect to forest and wildlife resources the MLNR and the FC wield more power in this conflict situation. Hence, the DA is seen to be indifferent in this situation. The local community comprises farmers, hunters, youth group, women group and community-based organizations. These are mostly individuals and informal community associations which are easily alienated from any formal decision making processes. The third party in this conflict case is the Netherlands Development Cooperation (SNV) and other local and international non-governmental organizations such as Plan Ghana. These are considered to be social based group which operate as watch dog to ensure social justice. They serve as intermediary between the government and the local community. The power relation is depicted in the figure 1 below. Figure 3: Relationship between key stakeholders in the conflict Conflict Theory The power relation between the stakeholders is asymmetrical and could be analysed with the social conflict theory. This theory argues that in any conflict situation where power is unevenly distributed, the stakeholder group with more power exploits those with less power (Bartos and Wehr, 2002). This is the case where the government by executive instrument forcefully evicted the inhabitants during the creation of the national park without adequate compensation and resettlement plan. Type of conflict The conflict is basically over the forest and wildlife resource. The land and the wildlife resources served as the source of livelihood to the local community. The denial of access and use right to the park signifies the removal of the local communitys source of livelihood and threat to their lives. The use of arms to guard the borders of the park and ward off entry by local community members has resulted in the conflict taking on a relational dimension. Hatred and unfriendly relation between local community and staff of the park is a key factor in the conflict. Moreover, the conflict encompasses different form and nature of incompatibility. These interconnected elements culminate in the complexity of the conflict. The different bases of incompatibility (Wehr, 1979 in Walker and Daniels, 1997)), see table 2, are all to a varying degree included within the different conflict bases. Table 2: examples of incompatibility in the conflict Nature of incompatibility: Example: Fact-based The actual amount of crop damage reported by farmers Value-based The elephant :a farm pest or a valuable species Interest-based The presence of fertile arable land within the park Person-based Suspicion and mistrust among villagers about the wildlife staff History-based The way the park was created; exclusive management Culture-based Traditional linkages with sacred places within the park It could be seen that this case of a resource conflict is multifaceted and all these elements presented in table 2 above must be addressed and an acceptable agreement achieved through a participatory decision making process. The conflict phases Using the conflict escalation model, the conflict has been a long standing one with multiple phases. The resource area was first created as a wildlife reserve in 1958 and later re-designated at a national park in 1971 (FC, 2010). The period between 1958 and 1971 could be considered as the pre-conflict phase because during this period the local community started to sense the threats to its very existence. Though during this period the local community members could have access into the reserve and some communities were actually sited in the reserve, they were not allowed to engage in any commercial activity from the resources they have customary rights over (Marseille, 2010). However in 1971 when the reserve was re-designated as a national park, all the local communities within the area were forcefully evicted by the use of state security apparatus and that led to the first eruption of conflict (Marseille, 2004 ). Prior notices had been given to the local communities to evacuate from the area where they lived to outside the borders of the national park without any resettlement plan by the government for the local communities. Hence, the community readied itself to engage in open confrontation and the government knowing this also deployed the military to maintain order. The violence continued because the local communities were not ready to give up the historical heritage but with the heavy presence of military forces the violence finally calmed down (Marseille, 2004). After the eruption of the first conflict, no efforts were made to address the concerns of the local communities but between 1971 and 1992 the conflict became latent largely due to the military political regime. However, from 1992 when Ghana became a multi-party democratic state the local communities started to mobilize themselves for an action to attract attention to their plight. In 2004, an invasion of local community farmlands by wild animals, particularly elephants, triggered a massive community protest with attack on the national park through killing of animals and bushfires (Marseille, 2004). This represents the second eruption of conflict and being a democratic society, a peaceful solution was sought to resolve the conflict this time. This brought in the third party group in 2005 to address the conflict situation. Hence, the conflict is in its second post-conflict phase till date. The figure 2 below gives a representation of the stages of the conflict. Fig.4: Phases of the conflict between Larabanga and Mole NP Previous conflict resolution approaches The first formal process of conflict resolution started in 2005 with the coming in of the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) as a third party to bring the opposing sides together to find a peaceful agreement between them. Two alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches were employed; namely facilitation and mediation. The facilitation process sought to deal with the strong emotions and to prepare the two sides to engage in a formal process of dialogue towards finding a common solution to the conflict. This was followed by a mediation process where the opposing sides presented their cases to the neutral mediator. In the end, the mediation process saw to the shifting of the position of the local community from opposing the existence of the national park to a new position of acceptance for the common good of the whole country (Marseille, 2004). Consequently, a agreement was successfully negotiated with the local community demanding adequate compensation, proper resettlement plan and participation in the management of the national park. (Mason and Danso, 1995) Challenges of the conflict resolution process It is indisputable that the facilitation and mediation processes employed by SNV were successful in dealing with the strong emotions and bringing these opposing sides to sit down to dialogue. Also, a peaceful agreement was reached with some level of satisfaction by both sides at the end of the negotiation (Marseille, 2004). However, the implementation of the outcomes and the action plan of the mediation process were faced with some challenges that were overlooked during the negotiation process. Stakeholder representation: from the stakeholder analysis above it could be realized that not all stakeholders were represented at the negotiation process. Typically, only the leaders of the community and the park managers were brought at the table. Hence the issue of legitimization became a limiting factor to the implementation of the outcome of the process. The park managers do not have the constitutional mandate to pay compensation and to meet the other demands of the local community. It is not clear the strategic behaviour of the MLNR, which have the ultimate authority to implement the outcomes, to stay out of the negotiation process. The legitimacy of the outcome was questioned since the creation of the national park was by executive instrument and the conflict transcends the domain of the local community and the park management team to the bigger domain of national politics. Non-binding agreement: the non-binding agreement was not appropriate for the conflict resolution process since the outcome required more of a legislative or executive instrument to implement. Again, because the agreement is non-binding, with every change of government the new administration tends not to continue with any programme of the previous government if it is not legally binding. It must be emphasized that when a new government comes to power, certain positions in the state organizations, mostly the Ministers, Chief Executives and directors, are replaced by new ones for political reasons. A new view of the problem A theoretical approach to the conflict Conflict may involve various kinds of issues: substantive, procedural and relationship. Substantive issues refers to interests that relate to tangible (observable, definable, measurable) products such as availability of firewood, protection of crop-raiding animals or stopping illegal hunting activities (Walker and Daniels, 1997). Procedural issues include a groups need to be included in decision-making, to have their opinions heard and to be respected as a social entity (Borrini-Feyerabend et al, 2000). Conflict management involves making progress on these three fundamental dimensions of a conflict situation. Any conflict situation includes substantive, procedural and relationship dimensions (the type of conflict) and a conflict situation is initially addressed through any of the three dimensions. Natural resource policy conflicts are complex; they arise within some context which typically is defined by a complex array of factors, such as numerous parties, multiple issues, deeply held values, cultural differences, scientific and technical uncertainty and legal and jurisdictional constraints (Walker and Daniels, 1997). It has been contended that natural resource conflicts are inevitable and unavoidable but also desirable to the extent that it can lead to negotiated, innovative agreements among stakeholders (Daniels and Walker, 1997). While conflicts over resource use are never favourable, when they do occur they can be used to demonstrate the need for a conflict management approach. According to Walker and Daniels (1997) well-managed natural resource conflicts can lead to better decisions, improve social cohesion, stimulate innovation and increase morale. Complex conflict situations may never be resolved, so that an agreement is reached that puts an end to those incompatibilities that caused the conflict. Whatever the conflict situation and how it is characterized, co