Dante, Plato, Aristotle Essay

The assignment is poetry v. philosophy. Plato speaks of a quarrel b/t poetry and philosophy. He dismisses the arts while Aristotle defends them. DO we see traces of this quarrel in later traditions? If so, where? And how is it played out there? For this essay, in addition to Plato and Aristotle, focus on Dante’s Inferno. (Please look to see if my thesis is clear and strong, my evidence is all relevant, and whether this whole essay persuades you) Throughout his life, Plato strongly believed that the arts and philosophy directly opposed each other. On the other hand, Aristotle defended poetry as an aid to philosophy. Dante, a philosophical poet, successfully synthesizes Plato and Aristotle’s views in the Divine Comedy of the Inferno without compromising either school of thought. He acknowledges the fact that while the arts have its uses within the material world and philosophy its uses in the spiritual, both need the other to be complete. Both Plato and Aristotle agree that poetry brings about great emotion which has a lasting impact on the individual and society. However, they disagree on poetry’s emotional effects. In Meno, Plato believes it results in harm while Aristotle argues that it leads to improvement in Poetics. Upon closer inspection, we see that Dante’s Inferno contains a philosophical significance underlying its poetic style. Poetry and philosophy work towards the same end, but in different ways. There is no doubt that poetry is an imitation. What Aristotle and Plato dispute over is the source of that imitation. Plato strongly states that the arts are mimetic, twice removed from the truth. They are an imitation of the ideal entities in the realm of the forms, in which all things are perfect. For instance, tragedy presents multiple possibilities and situations rather than a single essence. In Meno, Plato’s Socrates discusses the difference between doxa and episteme. Poets, politicians and priests utilize doxa, a type of knowledge that is not mediated through any intellectual reasoning. This further demonstrates the composition of the material realm. Right opinion, or doxa, flees from the mind just as the materialistic body quickly perishes. Socrates says opinion is not worth much until it is â€Å"fastened with reasoning of cause and effect† (Plato 65). He is alluding to episteme, true knowledge that remains in the brain. This is accomplished through intellectual inquiry in the ideal realm. Throughout the dialogue, Menon insults Socrates by saying he looks like a stingray, alluding to a type of numbing-drug. However, Menon proves to have false knowledge as Socrates shows how anamnesis occurs via the Socratic Method. Only when he experiences aporia, the state of confusion and realization of one’s ignorance, can he reach true knowledge. The reference to the drug, pharmakon, symbolizes how Menon became numb to the false, material world in order to transition to the divine realm where all things originate. While Plato asserts that imitation comes from the true essence of things, Aristotle believes it has its roots in human action. In Poetics, he examines how humans have an instinct for imitation, harmony and rhythm. We often learn our earliest lessons from mimesis. Aristotle asserts that the only way to reach the ideal is through action. He views it as a horizontal developmental rather than a vertical one, as Plato did. By the process of energia, we move from potential to actuality. This is also analogous to the concept of the material to the ideal. We come out of the cave and into the sun through our own activities. As the arts best represent action, tragedy contains knowledge because it presents psychological possibilities and universal truths about ourselves. Each possible reality may be the ideal essence. Tragedy, after all, is an imitation of action and of life, not men. The stage externalizes what’s within our souls. The actors play out the meaning of life which the audience can safely inspect without endangering themselves. This perspective is extremely human-centric compared to Plato’s divine ideal. For instance, tragedy contains plot that is action-centric and based on the structure of incidents. Unlike a story, a plot’s events can be resequenced in any fashion. This is like an experiment in which the stage is our lab. A plot can furthermore be split in two ways: complex or simple. A complex plot contains peripeteia and anagnorisis. The latter, similar to Plato’s Meno, shows the progression from ignorance to knowledge. Yet the characters on stage, even after making decisions, are still susceptible to Fortune’s will. Thus peripeteia occurs, alluding to God and the divine realm we ultimately reach with the aid of anagnorisis. There are some things people can’t control. However, what we do imitate and control are our actions within the material world. For Aristotle, action was the most significant aim to focus on. In Dante’s Inferno, the poet Virgil guides Dante into Hell. Poetry begins to act as a gentler remedy compared to philosophy. It is more relatable to the human mind and physical world. Through catharsis, Dante must eliminate all emotional tumult to become enlightened. This process of catharsis is similar to the movement from the material to spiritual realm. Paradiso, the highest realm, is where true intellect exists and where we become one with God. In the second canto, Dante demonstrates the wickedness of emotions and the materialistic realm when Virgil tells him: Your soul has been assailed by cowardice, which often weighs so heavily on a man- distracting him from honorable trails- as phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. (lines 45-48) This is an extremely Platonian perspective. Partially right, Plato believed that tragedy produced cowardly leaders as it appealed to passion rather than logic and reason. Through Virgil, Dante demonstrates how the arts, especially poetry, are effective in cleansing the soul of emotion by experiencing or contemplating it. Much like the Socratic Method in Meno, Dante must become â€Å"numb† to false knowledge via catharsis and begin with a clean slate. He accomplishes this by observing the damned in the inferno. When he passes through aporia, only then will he become enlightened and obtain truth. The shadows are a reference to Augustine’s â€Å"visio corporals,† the cave of pure materiality, in which false knowledge resides. Dante says in canto one that man must come out of the â€Å"shadowed forest† (line 2) where he is â€Å"so full of sleep† (line 11). All this is accomplished through human action, represented through tragedy and poetry. Furthermore, Virgil symbolizes the coming emergence of Christian Rome through Dante. He has already taken Aeneas to the Underworld, setting up the entire story. Parallel to this, poetry lays the necessary foundation for the coming age of philosophy. Dante uses typology of the inferno to paradiso. Like the Hebrew Bible, the inferno remains incomplete and foreshadows what’s to come. The New Testament completes the text, in the same way philosophy does to poetry. Each is interdependent on the other. In the Inferno, Dante fails to read the inscription to the Gateway to Hell, demonstrating how the archaic style of backgrounding no longer resounds in the new age of foregrounding. This method brings to light how the mind reads and interprets with reason. Because the material realm is incomplete, Dante cannot move to this abstract, spiritual meaning without first going through the forest. In the third canto, Virgil describes to Dante how those in hell have â€Å"lost the good of the intellect† (line 18). The mind can never be fulfilled as it is a pure sensory experience. This is proven when Virgil is only able to guide Dante so far. He cannot take Dante beyond the material realm because he is not a Christian. He represents the arts, the non-metaphysical. A higher entity, Beatrice, will lead him to paradiso. Virgil declares in canto one: â€Å"If you would then ascend as high as these / a soul more worthy than I am will guide you† (lines 121-122). Likewise, we can think of poetry, represented by Virgil, as a disguise to philosophy, the eventual remedy of Beatrice. While philosophy speaks of a thing itself, poetry uses metaphors as a transition to reach a philosophical conclusion. It is a vehicle for truth in its own peculiar way, addressing our minds through imagination, sensibility and feelings. Dante can synthesize Plato and Aristotle’s views because they are working toward one common goal: the divine, the cave of pure intellect. The mechanisms of philosophy are simply a more sophisticated turn on poetry. Traces of Plato are still seen in Dante, especially when he states in the fifth canto: â€Å"Those who undergo this torment are damned because they sinned†¦ subjecting reason to the rule of lust† (lines 37-39). However, in tragedy, what seems irrational and absurd to the audience becomes permeated with reason as it speaks the universal truth about ourselves. The arts show there is something beyond human thought and action as the audience learn how we cannot control everything. There is something beyond this human, materialistic world that we cannot begin to understand. This is God, which is exactly what philosophy aims at. It speaks the truth, not only of human action, but of the existence of the ultimate good. In this way, poetry consists of rational thought and intellect. Virgil tells Dante in canto eight: â€Å"Forget your fear, no one can hinder our passage; One so great has granted it† (lines 104-105). We are turning inward to our souls to reach the divine. This also speaks of God’s infinite and unexplainable power. God makes the impossible possible. Dante had to go down into the deepest level of hell to see the divine. This irony demonstrates catabasis and anagogy, the one single movement towards God. Furthermore, Cassius and Brutus foreshadow Judas’ betrayal. These three make up the material inversion of the Holy Trinity. We are able to see God in Lucifer. This demonstrates the typology from the inferno to paradiso as well as the process of recollection in Plato’s Meno and Aristotle’s Poetics. Just as Dante had to move through death to experience life, the reader must pass through poetry to obtain philosophy. All thinking about God involves moving from the material to the realm of the forms. The divine uses metaphors, our language, to help us understand. We are able to indirectly talk to God through poetry as He determines our fate. It was his will to send Dante into Hell. Like poetry’s catharsis and philosophy’s pharmakon, Dante engages his mind as he journeys through the inferno. By looking and contemplating the suffering of the damned, he becomes reconciled to aspects of his life which would otherwise be nonsensical. Both the poet and philosopher seek the existence of God and of the metaphysical. Although Dante recognizes that the arts have limited utility, he realizes how poetry helps lay the foundation for philosophy through the Aristotelian and Platonian method. It has a cognitive function by helping to better appreciate and complete philosophy. As Venantius Fortunatus wrote in his hymn Vexilla Regis, â€Å"†¦ by death did life procure. † Likewise, by poetry did philosophy come about.

Bullying Essay

Bullying is the use of force, or threat, to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively impose domination over others. Justifications and rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behavior, or ability. (Wiki2013) This abuse like many others may not be known to us personally, but that doesn’t mean that we should ignore it. Sometimes given the fact that we are unaware of this abuse we don’t know how serious of a problem it can be. According to the organization against bullying; in recent years, a series of bullying- related suicides in the US, and around the world have drawn attention to the connection between bullying and suicide. Though many adults still see bullying as â€Å"just a part of being a kid†; it is a serious problem that leads to many negative effects for victims, including  suicide. Bullying can be presented in different ways such as, physical bullying, emotional bullying, and even cyber bullying. Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes hitting, pinching, spitting, pushing, pulling, tripping, slapping and taking or breaking someone’s possessions. (Stop bullying.gov 2013) This physical aggression can occur almost anywhere; it can be at work, school, or even at home. For instance, children at school tend to hit their classmates when trying to get their attention. They normally don’t even call the individual by their name; they just hit, slap, or even kick the person to get his or her attention. This behavior is normally repeated with the same person on different occasions. Also, another thing that people do is find the weakest and least amiable person in their school. They gang up on him throw things at him, push him around and as though that wasn’t enough, they push their victims head into the toilet in the rest room. In addition, people at work also exert physical bullying. At times, at work there is a certain person that is the target of unoccupied individuals that are just seeking to humiliate others. This is carried about by actions such as, pulling away their colleagues chair when they are about to sit down. This is repeatedly done to make a mockery of that person. Bullies that perform these actions may not think about the harm being done, but many times the victims have scars from the physical abuse. Furthermore, Emotional bullying is another way of abusing people. Emotional bullying is the use of offensive/ obscene language used by bullies to degrade and demean their victims. (bullying.org) Persons are sometimes targeted because of the way they dress, walk, and talk or even because of their race or religion. Rude remarks are made ab out these persons by their bullies so often, that the victims tend to have low self -esteem and can even be depressed. For instance, I once saw a young lady in junior college that was pestered because she dressed in long skirts and dresses; that didn’t do any kind of drug and was always in mass. This person was mocked, insulted and called names because of her physical appearance and religious preference. In the same way persons who are homosexuals, are often made fun of. These persons are humiliated in every manner possible by bullies, also known in this case as homophobes. Furthermore, constantly spreading rumors about someone is also considered verbal abuse, because the victim is embarrassed by many persons over and  over. These persons that are constantly molested at times also have suicidal thoughts. Therefore, we should all think very well before we insult, or â€Å"innocently† label people with offensive nicknames. Likewise, cyber bullying is just as serious as emotional/ verbal, and physical bullying. According to the organization against bullying, Cyber bullying is when a child, teen, adult, etc, is harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, threatened, or tormented using digital technology. This type of bullying like others is done to publicly embarrass a person. For example, a teenager who took a naked picture of herself for her boyfriend; the picture ended up being uploaded to the internet by her partner. All those who got to see this photo instantly commented making rude remarks and observations about the young lady. Her picture was shared with many other persons just to keep making fun of her unintelligent choice. Moreover, Cyber bullying can also be made through cell phones, via text message , or a call. Some hackers also tend to bully naà ¯ve people. They send text messages telling people you have won a prize, and to redeem the prize you must follow a set of instructions. This is done repeatedly too many persons by the same bully. No prize is ever obtained and in some cases the victims, end up losing money. Hence, we should all be careful about what we post on line or what things are sent via text message, because bullies are just waiting for their next victim. In conclusion, bullying is a form of aggressive behavior or threat towards another individual to intimidate, harm or cause discomfort; this is done repeatedly and intentionally. Bullying can be presented in different ways such as, physical bullying, emotional bullying, and even cyber bullying. As a matter of fact, the victims of this abuse normally don’t do anything to cause being bullied. Not to mention, these individuals don’t even defend themselves from their aggressor. With this in mind let’s try to be more civil and conscious individuals so that some day we may live in peace and harmony. References Bullying and Suicide – Bullying Statistics retrieved from: www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide. Bullying retrieved from: wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying Bullying Definition- StopBullying.gov retrieved from: www.stopbullying.gov

Information Essay Middle School Websites

The Canon McMillan School District Middle School has a very informative website for parents and students. The News & Information section contains topics such as: McTeacher Night, School-Home Communication, Smoking Prevention, On Demand Homework Help, and Library/Media Center Website. Contact information for the administration and teachers can be found with pictures of key staff. There are links to the student handbook, cafe, principal corner and calendar. The Teachers Webpages will connect you to your student’s academic team.The News & Information section is cumulative; you can find current activities as well as information that were posted in the fall. Each topic provides a brief description with some having a link to more information. The link to the Library/Media Center has book reviews, book club updates, and special reports on library activities. Those that do not have a link provide bullet points or a brief factoid. The links on the left side of the website cover topics from the student handbook to the music department.The calendar has dates underscored that have specific school activities associated with them. The student resource section includes opportunities for students to get more involved in extra activities. The link for staff will provide you with contact information and the subject they teach. The Teachers Webpages sections will take you to your student’s assigned academic team. There are pictures of the facility so you can put a face to the name. When you click on the picture you are taken to information specific to that team.On the right side of the page are links to the textbooks used in each subject. The Canon McMillan Middle School website offers parents and students the opportunity to stay connected with the academic process. In addition to the Middle School specific information there are links to district information such as the school board and employment. The Parents Links connects you to PowerSchool, My Lunch Money and ot her tools for parents to access financial resources. With the school district going green the website provides the information for a well-rounded middle school experience.

Business environment in Arizona Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business environment in Arizona - Case Study Example In a business environment the federal court system undertakes cases that fall under the national jurisdiction. Federal state laws have a limited jurisdiction cover when handling cases. The US constitution has specified cases that involve multi-state companies in a business fraud situation. Handling interstate disputes in all relevant fields including company tussles, allocations of contracts are all catered by the federal government ("Federal Courts. State Practice or a Federal Right", 1917) Federal laws are formulated to deal with bankruptcy cases. The nature of fraud associated with these cases. Concealment of assets by financial institutions is often the immediate response, thus culprits use fake files in different states. This offense mostly accompanies money laundering, identity theft and public corruption; these crimes are all handled by the federal law ("Bankruptcy. Preferences. Right to Rescind Transaction for Fraud", 1922) Admiralty law is another special section handled by the federal law; this is the section that deals with maritime offenses. This is a very relevant section of people who handle business transactions. Offenses relating to water vessels, violation of water transport laws are handled by the federal government (OceanPortal) State court structure This system of law and the judiciary is more specifically set for civil cases. The major factor that distinguishes this system from the federal law is a broad jurisdiction. Multiple spectrum of both civil and criminal offenses are covered by state law.

My Superhero Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

My Superhero - Essay Example The paper has a detailed description of hero’s traits. His personal life was also very simple and modest. He does not wear expensive clothes rather he always used his traditional Indian dress i.e. Dhoti and Shawl. He was immensely impressed by the village traditions of India that endorsed self-sufficient behaviour. He used to be self-sufficient in every matter of life and preached others to do the same. He was a man of principles and due to this, he sometimes argued with the decisions of his other party members. After his success as a leader of India, he became very popular all around the world and he was described as a nonviolent person fighting for his nation’s rights. Many leaders like Martin Luther King in U.S. and Yasir Arafat in Palestine followed the footsteps of Gandhi and tried to free their community from the slavery of another nation. He can also be equally compared with other historical personalities like Abraham Lincoln, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Dalai Lama and Mao Tse Tang. His first act after returning from South Africa is to lead the movement against the government for the cause of having reduced land taxes upon the Indian citizens. He used the method of nonviolence and civil disobedience in the subcontinent against British rulers. It was the era when there two world wars were fought. Millions of people were killed in these two wars all over the world. Most of the nations were running through the lines of hatred, violence and war. He was the one who developed the nonviolent technique to fight for rights. 3.1. Describe hero perspective of being an agent of change-maker His foremost contribution for his people was to force British colonizers to make an independent India. This describes him as a change maker in the world. It was an attempt made for the betterment of India and refrain from the domination of British people in India. His plan was to fight for freedom but through a non-violent movement. It was his best self core values that ev entually brought his nation independence in 1947 from the British colonial rule. This capability of Gandhi distinguishes him among all the freedom fighter around the world until the early 20th century. His non-violence behavior can be described by one of his sayings: â€Å"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind†. He demonstrated violence as the most important problem in the world that is generating continuous problems for people. This can only be solved by its counter-part i.e. following the path of non-violence. This is the only mechanism, according to him, which can bring peace and harmony in the world. 3.2. Identify self core values His life is less theoretical but more practical, giving a perfect example of perfect personality. He always put ethical and moral principles in every matter of life. For example, once one of his disciples introduced the concept of industrialization programs in the villages of India but he disagreed to him publicly on the basis of self-su fficiency. According to him, industrialization is making people dependent upon another person, which will bring insecurity in the lives of people financially and socially. He also showed his concerns upon the issue of area of border at the time of

Corruption in Criminal Justice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corruption in Criminal Justice - Research Paper Example It amounts to white color crimes. In other words, allow the beneficiaries to take advantage through illegal gratification from those who are at the helm of affairs and enjoying the trustable status. The gratification with the intention to influence their action, views and opinions and cash their impartiality setting aside the merits in order to have some thing in terms of goods and services that relates to commercial interests. In the broader spectrum, the man or woman who is giving or receiving the bribes can be booked on the charge of bribery (Bribery and Corruption Law 2012). In accordance of American Laws, Bribery is considered as felony which is a punishable offence that attracts either fine or imprisonment or both provided the corruption implied or proven. However, a gift can not be treated as bribe unless there is an intention of receiver to gain some thing out of it is evident (Bribery and Corruption Law 2012). In nutshell, bribery can be classified as a) general bribery and b) commercial bribery. Therefore, bribery is closely associated with the extortion of money from those who expects competent authority to speed up / expedite their work lying with them (Bribery and Corruption Law 2012). ... In America doctors at government hospitals or working in privately managed hospitals as per FCPA law considered foreign officials. In the mentioned category employees of international organizations also fall within the purview of foreign officials. Bribery can be in the shape of cash or in kind with the intent to curry favor of decision makers who are enjoying the discretionary powers (Cassin 35-36). Further, companies who are on the panel of United States bourses are bound to meet the requirement of accounting provisions. According to which companies are responsible to keep books and records of every transaction that reflects true and fair transaction for audit purpose. It also requires from companies an adequate system of accounting and internal control should be in place to promote healthy practices. To comply with the requirement of FCPA, companies are taking additional measures for their image building and to protect their reputation in tact by employing vendor services of reput e for due diligence. The organizations working in the United States of America have to follow the requirement of FCPA. Therefore, the government owned organizations have no exception to it. They are also accountable for their misdeeds or lapses which lead to corruption and corrupt practices (Cassin 44). As far as the payments to foreign officials are concerned, the cited act draws a line between the bribery and the facilitation. It is allowable under FCPA although it violates the local laws. To grease the palms of officials with the aims to expedite their performance although as per the service rules and regulations he or she is bound to get it done. Paying to foreign officials as per

Management & Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management & Leadership - Essay Example In reality, the productive functions and the managerial functions are closely and intricately interwoven, with the conscious or unconscious aim of coordinating human effort and material resources toward the achievement of organizational objectives. In contrast to managers, the main quality of a leader is to guide employees, predict and eliminate possible dangers, create a strategic vision of company's growth and development. Leaders should be able to access critically the situation and rely on employee strengths, be inspirational and has a good technical competence (Northouse 2006). In contrast to leaders, managers plan organizational processes according to objectives and the policies initiated by leaders. They develop programs, schedules, procedures, and methods for achieving them. Thus, planning is essentially decision making since it involves choosing among alternatives, and it also encompasses innovation. Every leader creates unique leadership style based on his personal characteristics, traditions and traits. In contrast, managers do not have a unique style of management but follow standardized rules and procedures determined by hierarchical relations and organizational structure. Their task is to measure and correct activities of subordinates to assure the accomplishment of plans.

Decisions in Paradise Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Decisions in Paradise Paper - Essay Example Kava is a struggling community that needs the influx of foreign investment in order to jumpstart their economy. A major investment from Capital One in Kava could help reduce the unemployment rate in Kava. Issues There are several issues that must be considered prior to making a full time commitment in Kava. The government of Kava has very limited resources. The company would not be eligible for any economic incentives. Despite the little government support that Capital One would get in Kava the expectations of the government are very high. The population demographics of the island could hurt the ability of the firm to recruit sufficient workers. In Kava 50% of the population is under the age of 15. Capital one is completely against child labor. â€Å"It is estimated that approximately 240 million children worldwide are the victims of child labor† (Sinha, 2007, pg.1). The population of Kava is composed of a wide mix of races including indigenous, Chinese, African, French, and A mericans. Such a wide mix of races could lead to issues such as cultural and language barriers. Another constraint related to the composition of its population is the fact that half the population is indigenous. People that are raised in indigenous tribes tend to have less formal education than people that are raised in the city and suburbs. The economy of Kava is very unstable. One of the biggest concerns regarding Kava is that the region is highly susceptible to natural disasters. The country is a high risk for tidal waves, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. The region is at risk of terrorism from within and outside the country. Kava suffers from human health issues including a high incidence of HIV/ Aids and high risk of avian flu outbreaks. The high incidence of HIV among the population could raise the medical plan expenses of the company. Another potential risk associated with Kava is the threat of oil spills. In order for the company to operate in Kava it would need disaster insurance. Due to the high propensity of the region towards natural disasters Capital One would need to purchase disaster insurance. If any insurance company is willing to sell insurance coverage the premiums are going to be high. The company would have to create contingency plans in the event of a disaster. The possibility of prolong operational shutdowns is very high. Problem Statement Capital One is interested in expanding in Kava. The company feels that it is important to support the economy of struggling communities. Kava is a community that poses many issues including threat of natural disasters, high incidence of HIV, and high underage population. A problem statement for Capital One in Kava: Capital One needs to establish a presence in Kava while at the same minimizing the risk associated with the region. Stakeholders Perspective There are many different stakeholders groups that Capital One must consider in its expansi on plans to Kava. The government of Kava is an important stakeholder to consider. Kava needs the cooperation of the government in order to get all the permits to create a company in Kava. A second stakeholder group is the indigenous population. The company must respect the unique culture of the Indian tribes. A third stakeholder group is the American population living in Kava. As an American company Capital One should care about employing American citizens abroad that

Globalization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Globalization - Research Paper Example A leader should be able to adopt changes that suit different markets and countries in order to attain organizational missions. In this regard, some leaders do not know how to change strategies due to inexperience and lack of exposure (Walker, Walker & Schmitz, 2003). The other leadership challenge in a global world is international politics that shape the external factors of an organization. These comprise of the legal and political aspects that influence operations of firms in international economies (Walker, Walker & Schmitz, 2003). Developing a global mindset in the general perspective entails the use of a strategy that can suit different markets and organizations. For instance, adopting a strategy that incorporates all cultures and suits the market demands (Bikson, et al, 2003). The global mindset in an organizational life can be developed by having an organizational culture that describes the values and procedures. The work style global mindset is developed through directing workers to provide unique and quality services that differentiate the company (Bikson, et al, 2003). The view of change concept is the approach given to operations in international markets by being flexible to emerging trends. The learning concept can be developed in global mindset by developing employees to improve their skills and

Network Processes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Network Processes - Essay Example Nevertheless, the fundamental process remains same and heavily depends on the seven layers of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and four layers of TCP/IP protocol stack. The OSI is a hypothetical model and provide the fundamental understanding of the communication infrastructure for modern networks. On the other hand TCP/IP is a suite of protocols which operates over this hypothetical model. In simplest words, protocol is a set of agreed upon communication rules that govern the communication between two or more machines. The OSI model and TCP/IP protocol suite work in close coordination at various layers to ensure a secure and efficient data communication. In majority of implementations, a sound understanding of the layers, protocols, processes and underlying technologies is required to appreciate the process that may occur in a network. Comer (2004) states this fact, â€Å"Understanding the internet technology requires one to distinguish between the low-level mechanisms prov ided by the hardware itself and the higher-level facilities that the TCP/IP protocol software provides†. Present day networks are so big and wide spread that they cannot be owned by a single business entity rather multiple entities look after their part of network to bridge the gap between various far of networks. Various issues surrounding the communication processes need in-depth investigation of the entire channel to find out the technicalities and interoperability potential of these layers and protocols. These layers and protocols are discussed at length in the following lines; A remote user starts this process by accessing the X-Stream Server through internet explorer. This access request is interpreted at Application Layer, by Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and it is destined for HTTP Port 80 at X-Stream Server. However, it must be noted that HTTP neither know the location of the server nor the routing details; it is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) implement ation in the backdrop which takes care of actual transmission. Tanenbaum (2004) while pointing out the role of HTTP states, â€Å"It specifies what messages clients may send to servers and what responses they get back in return. All clients and all servers must obey this protocol. The value of using TCP is that neither browsers nor servers have to worry about lost messages, duplicate messages, long messages, or acknowledgements. All of these matters are handled by the TCP implementation†. Another significant impact of TCP transmission in the physical network, is the level of abstraction it has to offer. TCP ensures the reliable and efficient transfer of the data, no matter what physical network layout exists between the client machine and the server. Moreover, it is the last layer before data leaves a user machine for onward dispatch to network layer which falls in the domain of Internet Service Provider (ISP), except for the case of an Intranet implementation at either side of the network. At this stage, it will be prudent to get into the detail of various layers of OSI Model and TCP/IP protocol stack. OSI Model has a seven layer structure as oppose to four layer stack of TCP/IP, however both have sufficient commonalities for sustainable interoperability and coordination, a layout diagram for both is drawn here for better understanding; It is evident from this diagram that the Application Layer in TCP/IP is the combination of three upper layers of OSI Mode

How did minority groups struggle for civil rights Essay Example for Free

How did minority groups struggle for civil rights Essay They were saying that a new culture is spreading like a wild fire in opposition with the culture of waging war. Perhaps this has something to do with the 58,000 American soldiers who died instantly in the Vietnam War during the sixties and another 5,000 and more dying in the Iraqi war of today. People demonstrated to give peace a chance with 250,000 citizens marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument (Cassutto, 1999), several propagandas to lead the largest anti-war campaign by some minority groups struggling for their civil rights to be heard. Some of them are the Chicago Seven, Students for a Democratic Society, the civil rights movement, the New Left and so forth. Counterculture groups protested and even launched riots that included fire and even death. With their self expressions or trends in the form of arts and poetry that seemed to be harmless in challenging the government of what they believed in, still some uses drugs, LSD and other vices which are very popular to the youth of today. It seemed that if contempt breeds contempt then same too with violence and regression. The Sixties Project Web Site challenges on opinions and the recent history. Those who lived in the sixties could tell and reflect on their stories. They even have Vietnam Generation Journal which can be very interesting for researching scholarly works to create a change. However, there will always be war no matter what we do. Histories have repeated itself and life’s hard earned lessons proven it. As long as there is governance that stands for the truth, thought it is not perfect America will stand to upheld liberty and democracy among all nations. There will always be war to combat evil and as long as there is a country to be protected from villains. References Cassutto, G. (1999). Counterculture of the Sixties [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 14 September 2007 from http://www. cyberlearning-world. com/nhhs/html3/culture. htm.

Looking at Women Essay Example for Free

Looking at Women Essay â€Å"Looking at Women† by Scott Sanders was first published in spring of 1989 in the Georgia Review and was later reprinted in Sander’s essay collection titled â€Å"Secrets of the Universe† (1991). In this work, Sanders tells us his thoughts on how men look at women, hence the title; he explains to us that he feels that men turn women into things rather than people by objectifying their bodies. He goes into great detail about how a lot of women feel their role in today’s society is to exist for the pleasure of men and he questions how simple minded creatures we must be to fall for such things. Although I agree with his argument, I also see the other side of it. This could be the subject of a long drawn out debate, there is a much simpler way to approach it in that we get used to a certain way of thinking and it eventually becomes habit to look at a female and judge her, to make her feel as though she has to fit a certain image because she knows people expect that much of her, to make her want to dress and act a certain way for people to actually see her and so when she does a good job at it, she feels good. When a person is young, they look at things in an innocent manner. As they mature over time, they start to look at things in a different way. A guy for example, will start to notice things he didn’t before such as the way a girl walks, how tight her clothes are, the curves on her figure, and other things. And these of course, are all things he has seen before, just never in this light. So he continues to look and as that happens over time he get in the habit of searching for these fine details, even if he isn’t necessarily interested. Sander’s addressed that thought in Looking at Women when he stated that â€Å"what attracts our eyes and rouses our blood is only partially instinctual† (187) which implies that some of it is learned. The way men look at women over time has reached a point where it has become degrading and on some level can be disrespectful. The things we do as women to get men to look at us are not required to get the same end result, and this is also approached with in the text where it says that â€Å"The fraction of desire that leads to procreation is †¦ irrelevant† (Sanders 180). Sometimes men do look because they’re interested in the woman herself.. However most of the time, he will look and in his mind he has already have graded this woman on a scale of 1-10 without even realizing it because he’s so used to doing it. I think a lot of people would agree that females have always been painted as submissive, delicate things who are there to be dependant and cared for. We’re supposed to do â€Å"girly† things like paint our nails, cook, clean, and wear high heels while the men go out and get all the attention. We are portrayed as a â€Å"fluff pastry †¦ plastic figurine †¦ to achieve the status of art† (185). We are works of art though, we do not wake up with our faces painted and hair perfect – we have to make it happen and like true art, it takes time and effort. We are to be delicate and beautiful, something worth bragging about, a thing to look at and admire. With this type of thinking, we slowly become objects, instead of people. Scott Sanders poses the question, a few times in the story â€Å"Why †¦ do so many women decorate themselves like dolls?† (184). Upon further reading, we will come to see that the answer (qtd. in Le Deuxieme Sexe) lies within the text: we do it simply because â€Å"it is the most potent identity available to (us)† (Sanders 184). While it might be nice as a man to have a woman to take of you or even to have one dependant on you, it’s not what defines us as a species and it certainly isn’t the only role we are capable of playing. As this is the role we identify most with, we feel this need to be good at it. It is typically viewed as an immoral, degrading thing (trying to be sexy) but with a little bit of tweaking and experience (also stores such as Victoria’s Secret help), we can perfect it to where it then becomes a tool, a weapon, a trap. â€Å"Women need not make spectacles of themselves in order to draw the attention of men† (186), in other words we don’t need to dress up and put makeup on our faces or wear shoes with heels that prevent us from walking. We know we don’t and that if men really want to look, they will do so regardless of what we look like or what we’re wearing. Although, it’s easier to just conform to the role society as created for us. For some women it can even be fun, if they happen to be bored or insecure enough to crave that type of attention. They don’t see themselves as a pretty damsel in distress, rather a lion or a tiger with the strength, cunning, and speed needed to hunt and capture its prey. They can entice a man, and make him want more, make him crave it. She’ll draw him in with a false sense of security, because as a man, he naturally assumes he is in control. But he’s not, he’s just flying along and suddenly caught in a web. And just like that, like the lion pounces on the gazelle, he has fallen victim to â€Å"put-ons whose only purpose is in being taken off† (184). And just like that, the roles are reversed. Two spiked heels, a ton of lace, and one tube of bright red lipstick later, she is on top and he is an object she is toying with. He then becomes a trophy of what she is capable of, and what she has accomplished. She is proud because she has done so with the role society designed to diminish her. As time goes on, these social roles with change and hopefully everyone will be seen for whom they are not what they look like. Sanders made many interesting points in his story about the way society views women and we take that idea and run with it. Society took us and tried to turn us into an object that can’t be feared, an object simply for admiration and we became works of art that we too can be proud of. However, we should not be proud of the fact that this has become a habit and that we insist on making people feel like they need to fit a certain image in order to be proud of themselves. While society may not like it, we are strong and independent and can handle anything they throw at us. We’re champions and they’re going to hear us roar. Works Cited Sanders, Scott. â€Å"Looking at Women.† The Norton Reader. 13th ed. Eds. Linda Peterson. New York: W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2012: 179-189. Print.

Problems of Comparative Politics and Post Communism

Problems of Comparative Politics and Post Communism Julia Downs There are many interrelated problems in the study of comparative politics. In a world full of regimes, rulers and governments, everything is intermingled and distinguishing individual issues from one another is very convoluted and difficult. However, the scientific method of hypothesizing, testing, then theorizing, is the way that political scientists pull facts and events from the complicated mess of the world’s varying governmental systems. Looking at three different areas of discussion, state building, democracies, and economies, one can see that, through the ‘science’ aspect of studying politics, clear facts can be gleaned and then built on. The first issue that requires hypothesizing, testing, and finally the creation of a theory is the concept of state building. The Bellecist Model of origins of the Modern State shows this process very clearly. First, the question, how do states form, is asked. The hypothesis is that it all begins with certain actors deciding to unify a state, the first step of which is subduing all rivals. To do this, the actors must have resources such as money, humans as citizens or soldiers, and natural resources. This expands into the eventual need for a monopoly on violence, finances and administration in order to control these accrued resources. The hypothesis is made and then the tests begin. This must be done historically, since a state is not an organism that can be observed through a petri dish, and it is seen that the early tribes of Europe followed this path to the modern state that exists today. Based on this, a theory forms: war made the state and the state makes war. This statement is a building block for many other theories, including democracy and economics. The second topic that very clearly uses the scientific method is the question of democracy. Though there are many different definitions for democracy, the underlying agreement between all political scientists is that there is a certain level of political inclusion needed, there must be some form of elections, and the system should be at least semi institutionalized. The question remains, why is it that some countries are strong democracies while others, even those who have tried democracies in the past, remain burdened by dictatorial rule. One attempt to answer this question in the Modernization Theory, which says that every state goes through essentially the same process of government and the only difference is the timeline. This theory has been scrutinized and studied using recent history and the support for the claim is strong. The reason why this is a scientific debate, aside from the obvious hypothesis and theory, is that many political scientists dispute this topic using other hypotheses and tests on history and current events alike. Though it is difficult to tell which events come first, it is the process of proof and disproof which classifies this discipline as a science. The third and final subject is the question of economics. Why are some states in good economic condition while other suffer in horrible trenches of economic recession? In Latin America, for example, the empirical evidence shows that the top five percent hold one fourth of the entire national incomes. Though these countries were settled similarly to the way the United States was settled, and governed similarly to the way the United States was governed, the economies are the complete opposites of each other. Many theories are presented on this matter, one being the fact that the colonizers were completely different in South America than in North America. For instance, education in North America was more inclusive and better from the start, which nurtured a society better suited for inclusive governments and more able to combat authoritarian or coup d’etat attempts. Similarly, the land was divided up evenly from the start in North America, while in South America, the few and luck y wealthy owned most of the land and others only worked for these rich minorities. Also, the United States in particular had much more land to absorb any conflict than did South American countries. While these ideas are disputed among scholars, the fact remains that these are valid historical facts which do apply to modern issues and questions. Looking back at these three topics, it does not seem like any science has been proved, only many detailed theories and many more subsequent detailed theories which attempt to disprove them. However, this is no different than in hard science. For instance, look at Charles Darwin and his revolutionary findings in the Galapagos Islands of the pacific. These were much disputed and caused much conflict in society. The claim that there were no causal links and that his ideas were too intermingled, could have been made about Darwin’s arguments too. The same goes for scientific findings even further back in history when early scientists claimed the earth was round and revolved around the sun, not flat and the center of the universe. The entire world disagreed with this. The main point is that science is all about different ideas that all try and answer the same question. The state or the conflict? Does democracy cause wealth or does wealth cause democracy? Does the global north oppres s the global south into having poor economies, or does the global south have poor economies because of authoritarian rule? The name of the game is differing ideas about answers and this is why comparative politics is very much a science. Essay 2 Post-communist states have become very familiar to the world in the post-cold war era. The fall of the USSR produced many fledgling democracies left scrambling to catch up with the rest of the world. While there are many changes that must take place within a country fresh, or not so fresh, out of communism, there is one main policy change that should be the top priority of any leader. Economic changes, chiefly in trade, privatization and investment, are the main areas that need improvement in post-communist economies, and can actually be helped along by globalization. The first facet of the economy that post-communist countries need to improve is trade. Liberalization, that is, the opening of markets and lifting of tariffs, is an imperative policy change for these countries. Empirical proof that this is a necessary step toward catching up with the rest of the developed world comes from China’s gradual, but sure, liberalizations in their economies and the subsequent strength of its system. Internal structures mean nothing and will not prosper if there is not an external market of trade that is not controlled completely by the government. Other examples of trade liberalization are seen in the western states in Europe and North America. Different trade agreements litter this part of the hemisphere and it is not coincidental that these are also the world’s healthiest economies. The second aspect of economics that must be instituted is the privatization of formerly publicly held industries. Since communism is all about collectively held means of production, one of the first steps toward a successful communist state is the elimination of anything privately owned. This diminishes the ability to specialize and the will to be excellent in a trade, and thus, decreases the value of goods and workers. To initiate jobs, success, and global competition, governments in post-communist countries need to sell the manufacturing power of big trades, such as auto industry, power (electricity, gas etc.), and banking, back into the private market so they again become competitive. The third policy change post-communist counties need to make is the increase of foreign direct investment. This is more an incremental process than one big change, in that the attractiveness of a country to investors relies on many sides of the economy. First, businesses must be allowed to prosper freely, so that investors can buy stocks and invest in other ways. Second, education must be good enough so that investors see a future in the country’s next generation of business people. Whether this takes the form of primary and secondary education, higher education, or trade school, there must be an increase in reliable education within these changing counties. Third, the state must increase its legitimacy to the external eye. Legitimacy changes go all the way down to diplomatic ties and governing structure. Investors will not participate in an unstable regime. All of this goes to support the fact that a good international perception is very necessary in order to have a good econ omy. It also goes along with the policy change. The traumatized people of these post-communist regimes must be empowered and rebuilt well enough that the world notices. This is where globalization comes into play. More than just off shoring and outsourcing, globalization is the spread of norms and prosperity. Globalization makes this process of altering the economy easier for fledgling countries in three ways. The first, and arguably the most obvious, is jobs. Apple Incorporated’s factories in China provide ways for the impoverished and traumatized worker to find himself again through earning wages and rediscovering the ability and motivation to move up in the company. There are many other international companies that provide the same outlet for development that would not be in place without globalization. Along with international corporations, trade schools reach out to gain new, cheap labor from these burgeoning economies. This makes empowering citizens that will privatize formerly government held industries much easier. The second way globalization helps economic development is through providing the international market for goods produced in the counties. Having the world as a trade partner certainly helps out any post-communist country trying to adjust their economy to keep up with the rest of the world. Third, globalization provides support for these hard economic changes taking place within possibly weak regimes through offering examples and norms to follow. The European Union, for example, is always eager to help a blossoming free market economy. Though there are countless policy changes post-communist regimes must go through to pick themselves back up, the economic policies are the most important and the most challenging. Arranging a complete overhaul of all government held positions and industries is a daunting task for even the most competent economic planner. Similarly, trade liberalization is not something that can be done overnight and making the country attractive for investors is a process that will take years. Though these are all formidable tasks, globalization is present in the world to lend a helping hand.

PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization :: essays research papers fc

History Palestinian Liberation Organization 1. Can the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) justifiably claim to be 'the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.'? The PLO was set up in 1964 by an Arab League decision in response to growing signs of Palestinian unrest. The Palestinians desired to reclaim the lands occupied by Israel, which they felt belonged to them, as said in the Bible. In 1964 the Arab states created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). While it was supposed to represent the Palestinians, in reality it represented the views of President Nasser of Egypt, who guided the formation of the PLO. Its first leader made wild and irresponsible threats to drive Israelis into the sea, and had little support among Palestinians for he was seen as a puppet of the Egyptians. In the 1960s Palestinian students began to form their own organizations independent of control by Arab governments (although the Syrians, Libyans, and Iraqis continued to fund and control particular groups). Yasser Arafat founded an independent Palestinian-run party called Fatah. He is said to have the backing, for most of the recent past, of about 80% of the Palestinian people. The position of the Arab governments was that a PLO under Arab League supervision would be the best way of satisfying the demands made by an emerging Palestinian national consciousness. Also, it was felt that through such an organization Arab governments could control Palestinian political activities. Ten years after its founding, the PLO was raised to the status of government. And in 1988, the PLO's status was to be raised again, this time to a state in exile. After several negotiations, Arafat became a Terrorist leader and administrator of self-rule in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the 1967 Six Day War, the Arab armies did very badly against Israel, losing 67,000 square kilometres of land. Palestinians came to believe that if they were ever to have their land, they would have to do it themselves. After the 1967 war, the situation changed drastically. The resistance activities of various guerrilla organizations, in particular the Al-Fatah and the PFLP, gained the increasing support of the Palestinians. With Arafat at the helm from 1969 and a resistance-oriented leadership, the PLO was more effective and played a central role in mobilizing the Palestinians and in expanding its basis of support both at the local and international level. The PLO became an umbrella organization for the various guerrilla groups. This increase in support was made possible because of the Al-Fatah's ability to access to the growing numbers of volunteers from refugee camps which were freshly swollen due to the 1967 war.

Mixed Reviews of Hemingways Men Without Women and Winners Take Nothing

Mixed Reviews of Hemingway's Men Without Women and Winners Take Nothing Within a span of five years, Ernest Hemingway published two unique novels, Winners Take Nothing, and Men Without Women. Instead of following the customary novel structure, Hemingway incorporated many short stories into a book. Several short stories included were already published in various literature mediums, and quite successful. Fourteen stories composed Men Without Women, and ten poems with three stories formed Winners Take Nothing. Hemingway intended to use these books to establish his place and identity in American history, the one of a super-male writer. Charles Scriber's Sons published 20,300 copies of Winners Take Nothing on October 27, 1933. (Oliver 355). They sold for two dollars each. (Oliver 355). This book met public outrage, as people became offended by Hemingway's choice of subjects. Hemingway covered topics such as homosexuality, insanity, suicide, nihilism, and veneral disease (Wagner-Martin 32). To understand the public's negative perspectives, attitudes and emotions on Winner Take Nothing, we must examine the historical context of Hemingway's time. America was in midst of the Great Depression. Many people were in direst situations, and barely clinging onto hope for better fortunes. Naturally, they wanted sources of hope, and Hemingway's book certainly does not offer hope or a sense of exit (Wagner-Martin 33). Additionally, Hemingway in Winners Take Nothing boldly tackles delicate moral issues that America regarded sensitively during that time period. As Michael Reynolds adeptly puts it, Winner Take Nothing was "abrasive to the prevailing American moral view of itself." (Wagner-Martin 32). Because Hemingway failed to write a boo... ...is life." (Pearsall 115). Oddly enough, Hemingway regarded negative reviews as an assault on his reputation, and as a ploy intended to ruin his career as a writer. However, the negative reviews did nothing to impair Hemingway's place in history as a great writer. Hemingway still has a large following in modern society despite being dead for over forty years. His innovative ability with prose has people exclaiming about Hemingway as one of the greatest prose stylists ever. Winners Take Nothing and Men Without Women played a large role in that reputation. Bibliography Oliver, Charles M. Ernest Hemingway A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 1999. Pearsall, Robert Brainard. The Life and Writings of Ernest Hemingway. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1973. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Ed. A Historical Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Differences between The Birds the Movie and The Birds short story Essay

The Birds   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Birds, the movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was based on the short story â€Å"The Birds† written by Daphne du Murrier. If you would have read the book and then watched the movie, you would see that very few things are the same. In both the short story and the movie flocks of gulls, robins, crows, and sparrows join each other. This is really weird because different species of birds never work together. The story and the film both have the same climate. It is cold and chilly; â€Å"the ground is frozen and it will be a black winter.† The climate gives the versions of the story a creepy and suspenseful feeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each version also has the main characters boarding up the windows. Anyone who thought the birds won’t attack are usually found dead, but in the movie they are found with their eyes pecked out. Also, both the story and the movie have REALLY bad endings! They aren’t very similar, but they both leave you hanging. When you see a movie or read a book you want to know what happens to the main characters. In these two, you didn’t get an ending. They left you hanging and for some people that ruins it all. The birds attack in the same way also. They come through the house, peck at the windows, and try to come through the doors. They succeed in coming through upstairs in both the film and the short story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The short story and the film have the same plots and the same conflict ...

Bernard Madoff Fraud

Abstract This report allows the facts to be known concerning the still mysterious case of Bernard L. Madoff and his longtime investment securities activities, which eventually turned into an enormous fraud of incomparable size. In this report, you will begin to understand how Bernard Madoff was able to execute such an elaborate fraud. The illegal business behavior found in this case is too numerous to count however, quite a few will be identified. In addition, the roles of the perpetrators, accomplices, and their involvement in this scheme will be made known.This fraud had such an enormous impact on the victims, we will examine several implementations that the private investors could have implemented to protect themselves. An assessment of the perpetrators motives and the identity of some internal controls that could have deterred or prevented the fraud from occurring will be explored also. We will discover the action of the SEC and document how the fraud was discovered and investiga ted, including what should have been identified as â€Å"red flags†. And finally, a variety of legal actions arose when the Madoff fraud was uncovered, which is leading to more litigation currently and in the future.The Bernard Madoff’s Fraud Introduction Bernard L. Madoff was the mastermind and the admitted operator of the biggest Ponzi scheme in American History. His Ponzi scheme is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U. S. history. He stole millions maybe billions of dollars from unsuspecting clients. Lives were shattered and fortunes ruined. He was a very savvy business man and trader until his investment scandals were revealed at the end of 2008. Bernard Madoff is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is a former non-executive chairman of NASDAQ stock market.As the former chairman of the NASDAQ, Bernard Madoff had built a reputable business domain that continuously paid admirable dividends to investors; howev er, during the investigations by several federal government agencies, devastating facts against Bernard Madoff proved that he was running an elaborate ponzi scheme in order to attract a large number of investors from all over the world. (NBC, 2009) (â€Å"Bernard Madoff Fraud,† 2012) Bernard Madoff managed and controlled his ponzi scheme by using an Investment Securities Limited Liability Company he founded in 1960.He was chairman of this company and continued to operate his scheme until he was discovered in 2008. The fraud concerning Bernard Madoff was and still is the being covered by the media and it is suspected that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was notified and made aware on more than one occasion about this matter but they chose to ignore the information given to them. Perhaps there are more charges that can be filed, although Madoff’s numerous offenses may already be enough to keep him in prison for the rest of his life. Markopolos, 2010) (â€Å"Bernard Madoff Fraud,† 2012) How Madoff Executed the Fraud Madoff’s scheme to defraud his clients at Bernard Lawrence Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS) began as early as 1980 and lasted until its exposure in 2008. Bernard carried out this scheme by soliciting billions of dollars under false pretenses, failing to invest investors’ funds as promised, and misappropriating and converting investors’ funds to benefit Madoff, himself, and others without the knowledge or authority of the investors.To execute the scheme, Madoff solicited and caused others to solicit potential clients to open trading accounts with Bernard Lawrence Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS) on the basis of a promise from him. He promised to use investor funds to purchase shares of common stock, options and other securities of large, well-known corporations, and representations that he would accomplish high rates of return for client, with limited risk. (â€Å"United stat es of,† 2009) Among other things, MADOFF marketed to clients and prospective clients an investment strategy referred to as a â€Å"split strike conversion† strategy.Clients were promised that Bernard Lawrence Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS) would invest their funds in a basket of approximately 35-50 common stocks within the Standard & Poor's 100 Index (the â€Å"S&P l00†), a collection of the 100 largest publicly traded companies in terms of their market capitalization. MADOFF claimed that he would select a basket of stocks that would closely mimic the price movements of the S;P 100. MADOFF urther claimed that he would opportunistically time those purchases, and would be â€Å"out of the market intermittently, investing clients' funds in these periods in United States Government issued securities such as United States Treasury bills. MADOFF also claimed that he would hedge the investments that he made in the basket of common stocks by using investor funds t o buy and sell option contracts related to those stocks, thereby limiting potential losses caused by unpredictable changes in stock prices. â€Å"United states of,† 2009) Madoff’s Illegal Business Behaviors Exposure Federal prosecutors filed a total of eleven charges against Bernard Madoff. The first of those charges was for securities fraud. The crime of securities fraud involves false claims of investment security holdings, and misinformation regarding stocks and brokerage advice. Sensational insider information is also considered a component of this criminal activity. Another major charge involved three counts of money laundering, both domestically and through international accounts.Money laundering is the funneling of revenue acquired illegally into new monetary arrangements, with the intent of concealing this revenue’s original origins. Plus, in connection with both his securities and investment adviser businesses, prosecutors also charged Madoff with mail and wire fraud. These offenses involve initiating schemes using either the United States Postal Service or telephone systems toward obtaining money and/or property in a false or unlawful manner. (Tomaszewshi, 2010) Perpetrators Involved in Bernard Madoff’s FraudIt’s certainly not uncommon for one’s son or daughter to enter into an identical business relationship as a successful family member such as a parent. However, in Bernie Madoff’s case this approach was taken to extreme levels of nepotism. Peter Madoff entered his brother’s firm in 1967, and as business prospered he began to accumulate several executive titles: Senior Managing Director, Head of Trading, and even Chief Compliance Officer for both the broker-dealer and more secretive investment advisor business models.Bernie’s sons Mark and Andrew joined the firm in the mid-to-late 1980s, and eventually were made co-directors of Madoff Securities International in London, England. Bernieà ¢â‚¬â„¢s nephew Charles joined up in 1978, and became the Director of Administration for the investment firm. And Peter’s daughter Shana was hired on in 1995, and served as in-house Legal Counsel and Rules Compliance attorney for the broker-dealer business. Other parties greatly impacted by Bernie Madoff’s activities were his business associates and their many clients over the decades.For example, Frank Avellino and Michael Bienes themselves funneled over three thousand clients to Madoff’s investment advisory business. Madoff had consistently advised the pair to remain unregistered in their dealings. But when the SEC accused the duo of illegally selling securities, Madoff pretended ignorance of their activities, even though he had secretly instructed them all along. For their trouble, Avellino and Bienes were forced to pay a fine of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars and shut their business down.Other notable business partners eventually left in the lurch by Madoff’s growing fraud would go on to include Jeffrey Tucker and Walter Noel of Fairfield Greenwich Group. Non-related people who had worked under Bernie Madoff also became tainted from the association following his arrest. This employee group includes those who may have had indirect dealings through Madoff subsidiaries like Cohmad Securities Corporation. However, the idea also applies to those employed directly, such as former executive assistants Elaine Solomon and Eleanor Squillari.Jeffry Picower was in industrialist and philanthropist who seemed to be a favored Madoff beneficiary, and made outlandish profits from his investments with Madoff. From 1996-2007 there were 14 instances of greater than 100% yearly returns and 25 of greater than 50%. From 1996-1999 his regular trading account made from 120-550% a year. Some evidence of backdating trades, instituted by Picower, has been presented by trustee Irving Picard. In December, 2010, his estate returned $7. 2 billion in profits to the government. Picower died before the settlement. (Tomaszewshi, 2010) Motives of the PerpetratorsThe various perpetrators who were involved in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme had different kinds of motives that were completely against the provisions evident in federal laws. Jeffry Picower had over twenty four different accounts with Investment Securities LLC and he operated them closely with Barbara who was also his wife. The motive of Jeffry Picower and his wife in Investment Securities LLC was to benefit from the cash windfall generated from devious deals according to reports; his investment into Madoff’s company was once worth over one billion dollars. Kirchner, 2010) Annette Bongiorno was a senior employee at Bernard Madoff’s illegal company and among her roles at the firm she was to brief investors concerning their returns which were all fictitious. Ezra Merkin was an investment expert who assisted Bernard Madoff to drain off extraordinary amount s of money from clients’ accounts and it later emerged that he had a conflict of interest in the Madoff company. With its headquarters in Connecticut, Fairfield Greenwich Company misled investors into buying stakes at Madoff‘s illegal firm and in return, the company received huge amounts of cash from Bernard Madoff. NBC, 2009) Frank DiPascali was also another essential figure in Bernard Madoff’s illegal investment scheme. One of the frauds committed by Frank is that he engaged in countless number of international money laundering activities to benefit Madoff’s scheme. In addition to this, DiPascali also gave Mr. Madoff expert advice on how to go about his illegal businesses without being caught or detected by the federal authorities. (Arvedlund, 2010) (â€Å"Bernard Madoff fraud,† 2012) Controls That Could Have Deterred the Fraud from OccurringDespite the fact that Bernard Madoff’s investment fraud was one of the largest to ever rock the Unit ed States of America, there are various strategies that might have prevented or deterred the fraud from occurring. To begin with, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should have without delay acted on the numerous signals that it received from different quarters. As the main regulatory authority of American investment activities, it would have been easy to identify weaknesses in Bernard Madoff’s shady deals.A major loophole in the federal laws of the United States of America also had a significant input towards enabling Bernard Madoff’s illegal activities to spread at a very rapid rate; for instance, there is a provision that stipulates private companies in the United States should only pay 5% of their annual revenues. (NBC, 2009) (â€Å"Bernard Madoff fraud,† 2012) Implementations That Investors Should Have Used to Protect Themselves While some investors may yet believe they were tricked into believing Bernie Madoff’s elaborate con fidence game, it is also arguable that there were means to protect themselves at their disposal.One method would be to practice due diligence whenever one is presented with new financial opportunities. Many investors were led astray on the poor advice of their won friends and family, which isn’t a fiscally sound means of verification. Independent research needs to be done on the workings of any financial organization, even those that are supposedly reputable on the surface. One should investigate third-party custodial relationships at investment firms, and review their auditing practices. (Tomaszewski, 2010) Another way to avoid fraud is to actively request documentation.Hand written notes from intermediaries are highly suspicious evidence that revenue is being transacted in a professional manner. Getting activity in writing must be joined to verifiable account numbers for auditing. Finally, a forceful amount of skepticism will often prevent one from falling into schemes whic h seem on the surface to be easy money generators. For instance, one should never believe the speculators on television. An unlicensed financial consultant is about as reliable an agent as allowing unreformed gambling addict free access to one’s personal treasury.Investors should not assume that overseers are actually doing their jobs, as even they might be in on the take. (Tomaszewski, 2010) The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Involvement Critics and popular journalists from prominent media houses in the United States of America have called into question the manner in which the Securities and Exchange Commission handled the fraud case involving Bernard Madoff. This is due to the fact that even the commission itself has acknowledged that it should have detected Madoff’s illegal activities as soon as they began.The first major mandate or responsibility of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to interpret the laws pertaining to federal securit ies; such as, the commission should have detected the fundamental flaws in Bernard Madoff’s investment activities at an earlier stage. The second major responsibility of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to work closely with international state and federal authorities towards ensuring that investment securities are controlled and channeled in the right paths. Arvedlund, 2010) Most notably the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to fulfill its mandate of evaluating the conduct of privately owned companies like Investment Securities LLC for a very lengthy time. The commission should have also been at the forefront of investigating the investment advisors who collaborated with Bernard Madoff to divert huge amounts of money from unsuspecting investors into their accounts. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a detailed report in the year of 2009 that documents how Bernard Madoff’s scam escaped their attention for all those years. (Strober , 2009) (Millstone, 2010)How Madoff’s Fraud was Discovered and Identifiable Red Flags His business came to be under the doubts of various financial analysts as early as 1999. They believed that the returns claimed by the company were only theoretically impossible. But organizations such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) completely ignored the doubts and Madoff continued with his overtures for almost another 10 years. He finally got caught in December 2008. He was trapped after he confessed about his dishonesty to his very own sons. He confessed to his sons of his investment business being nothing but a big Ponzi scheme.His sons now reported his father’s fraud to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Though Bernie confessed to have had started his Ponzi scheme in the 1990’s, investigators think otherwise. They believe the Ponzi scheme and defrauding of investors had begun in the 1980’s itself. Now what actually happened was that in the very fi rst week of December 2008, Bernie Madoff discussed his dilemma over having to pay his clients an amount of almost $7 billion as he didn’t have that much funds. Now within the very next two days Bernie told his sons that he made a huge profit and had decided to give away an early bonus, amounting up to $173 million.This confused the sons and they called for an explanation from their father. This is when their father confessed that his whole company worked through a â€Å"giant Ponzi scheme†. On December 11th 2008, Bernie Madoff was taken into house arrest. Had the stock market not had been in a sharp decline in 2008, who knows how much longer the fraud could have continued. (Degrace, 2011) After writing that Madoff offers the biggest due diligence lesson for investors, some argued that the red flags are only obvious in hindsight and wouldn’t have been so clear if one had to make the decision before Bernard’s admission of running a Ponzi scheme.So letâ€⠄¢s count the red flags to see if they were numerous enough and obvious enough to be easily recognized. (1) Madoff Investment Securities was both the broker dealer and investment advisor. (2) Madoff traded in the same securities that he recommended to advisory clients. (3) Madoff not only was the broker dealer, creating a conflict of interest where his firm was trading in the same securities as he was trading for clients, but he actually had custody of the assets. (4) They got into some hot water over some small compliance issues. Madoff’s firm was censured and fined a small amount $7,000.This meant they did have a blot on their records. (5) Jim Vos, head of Aksia – a hedge fund advisory firm, noticed that although Madoff’s firm was supposedly highly advanced and automated, they sent paper copies of their trading records to clients instead of providing electronic access to the firm’s trading platform. (6) Madoff Investment Securities’ auditors were Friehling & Horowita, a 3 person team which consisted of one lone CPA with a small 13’ by 18’ office in New York. It hardly had adequate room to monitor a firm that traded a good chunk of NYSE and NASDAQ volume. 7) Shockingly enough, Madoff didn’t take the usual 2/20 fees most hedge funds do. Instead he only profited from the trades that his firm was doing for the â€Å"investment fund†, claiming that this was enough. Given this form of compensation, it is very possible most â€Å"sophisticated investors† assumed that Madoff was involved in some sort of shenanigans but turned a blind eye for those stable returns. (8) Madoff Investment Securities was a family business, with Madoff’s brother, sons and daughter as well as his niece (married to a previous compliance officer) all worked at the firm. â€Å"The madoff red,† 2008) The Case Resolution Bernie was charged of federal offences like securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, perjur y, and money laundering, false statement making only to name a few. He pleaded guilty and was banned from security investment business for a lifetime. He was sentenced to the highest degree of punishment possible under this act; an imprisonment of 150 years. He was sent to the Federal Prisons of North Carolina where he is registered as inmate number #61727-054 and his release from prison is dated November 14, 2134, a day he shall never see keeping in mind that he is now aged 71 years. Degrace, 2011) Conclusion Investment portfolios are one of the most recommended ways to enhance economic development not only at a personal level but also at a national level. However, Bernard Madoff chose to follow the short-cut to success by defrauding billions of dollars from investors. He begun very humbly by establishing a company called Investment Securities Limited Liability Company; he had begun with a figure of $5,000 as a penny stock broker but apparently, he had accrued this money from his p revious job where he worked as an installer of water sprinklers and also a guard.This took place in 1960 but little did investors know that it would grow to become the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of the United of America. Bernard Madoff drew assistance from all kinds of corners; various perpetrators who were involved in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme had different kinds of motives that were completely against the provisions evident in federal laws. However, all this culminated in the arrest and sentence of 150 years in prison on the 29th of Junes 2009. References 1. Arvedlund, E. (2010). Too good to be true: the rise and fall of Bernie Madoff. Penguin Group. . Bernard madoff’s fraud. (2012, June 07). Retrieved from http://www. customwritingtips. com/component/k2/item/8295-bernard-madoff’s-fraud. html 3. Degrace, T. (2011, April 14). Bernie madoff fraud the history of the $50b Ponzi scheme scam. Retrieved from http://www. stockpickssystem. com/bernie-madof f/ 4. Kirchner, B. (2010). The Bernard Madoff Investment Scam. NJ: Pearson education, Inc. 5. Markopolos, H. & Casey, F. (2010). No one would listen: A true financial thriller. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 6. Millstone, K. (2010, March 09). How madoff pulled it off.Retrieved from http://www. cbsnews. com/2100-500395 162-4862910. html 7. NBC (2009). How Madoff got away with fraud. Accessed on 8th December 2011 from http://www. theprosandthecons. com/videos/fraud/bm-how-madoff-got-away-w-fraud. htm 8. Strober, D. H. (2009). Catastrophe: The Story of Bernard L. Madoff, the Man Who Swindled the World. Phoenix Books. 9. The madoff red flags, let's count them. (2008, December 17). Retrieved from http://www. tradersnarrative. com/the-madoff-red-flags-lets-count-them-2154. html 10. Tomaszewski, K. (2010, November 21). Bernard lawrence

John Wesley Hardin

Elsie Glosser Mr. Largent History 122 8 December 2010 John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin, Texas’ most notorious gunfighter, was the son of a Methodist preacher that was growing up during the Reconstruction Era. But instead of saving souls he sent them on to meet their Maker, via bullet train express. So was John Wesley Hardin a cold blooded killer or a product of the times? John Wesley Hardin, who was named after the founder of the Methodist church, was born 26th May 1853 in Bonham, Texas. He was the son of James Gibson Hardin Sr. nd Mary Elizabeth [Dixson] Hardin who were married 19th May 1847. He was the second surviving son of ten children. His father James Gibson Hardin was a Methodist preacher, circuit rider, schoolteacher and lawyer. His mother Mary Elizabeth [Dixson] Hardin was the daughter of a highly respected Indiana doctor and was described by John Wesley as being, â€Å"blond, highly cultured†¦with a charitable disposition, a model wife and helper to his f ather. † (Hardin) At the age of 12, he saw the Confederate soldiers returning home from the Civil War. This was also the beginning of the Reconstruction Era. During the Reconstruction period, the South lay beaten down, the people were filled with hate and vengeance, and the Negro slaves were freed. Many of the Negroes joined the Union army as soldiers or state police. It was during this time that John Wesley developed a deep hatred of the Union and the freed Negroes. â€Å"In his mind, he had seen Abraham Lincoln burned and shot to pieces. So often he thought of him as a demon that was waging a relentless war on the South to rob her of her most sacred rights. † (Hardin) John Wesley was raised with deep religious beliefs and Christian virtues. He had a fierce fire and brimstone religiosity, a strong code of family loyalty and an indelible sense of honor that was a part of the lives of all Southerners, rich or poor. An old Civil War song can be said to accurately reflect the mind of a youth like John Wesley. â€Å" Oh I’m a good ol’ rebel, now that’s just what I am, For this fair land of Freedom, I do not care a damn, I’m glad I fit against it; I only wish we’d won And I don’t want no pardon for anything I’ve done. I hates the constitution, this great Republic, too, I hates the Freedman’s Bureau and uniforms of blue, I hates the nasty eagle with all it brags and fuss, The lyin’ thievin’ Yankees I hates them worse and worse. Three hundred thousand Yankees is still in Southern dust, We got three hundred thousand before they conquered us; They died of Southern fever and Southern steel and shot, I wish there were three million instead of what we got. I don’t want no pardon for what I was and am’ I won’t be reconstructed and I don’t care a damn. † (Metz) In 1865 John Wesley and his family moved to Sumpter, Texas where his father established a school which he and his siblings attended. But it was here in 1867, at the age of 14; John Wesley would have his first encounter with the law. While preparing for a test in school, a classmate named Charles Sloter and John Wesley got in a fight over some graffiti that Charles had written on the wall about a girl in their class named Sal. Charles accused John Wesley of writing it and he denied it. Charles punched John Wesley and attacked him with his pocketknife. John Wesley drew his pocketknife and stabbed him twice, once in the chest and once in the back, almost killing him. The boys’ parents wanted John Wesley expelled from school, but after hearing the facts in the case, the trustees exonerated him and the courts acquitted him. Charles Sloter recovered from his wounds. In November of 1868, John Wesley went to visit his uncle Barnett Hardin, who lived about 4 miles away, to watch them make sugar from the sugar cane. It was during this visit that John Wesley’s’ life was about to change forever at the age of 15. When John Wesley a arrived at his uncles him and his cousin Barnett Jones got into a playful wrestling match with a former slave named Mage. Together, the boys beat him in the first round. It was during the second round that John Wesley accidentally scratched Mage and drew blood. This made Mage very upset and he threatened John Wesley saying, â€Å"He would kill him or die himself; that no white boy could draw his blood and live; that a bird never flew to high not too come to the ground. † (Hardin) John Wesley’s uncle Barnett Hardin ordered Mage off the farm. The next morning, when he was headed for home, the Negro Mage was waiting for him on the trail with a big stick. He threatened kill John Wesley with it and then throw his body into the creek. He swung at him with the stick, and John Wesley pulled out his Colt . 44 pistol and told him to stop. Mage grabbed the reins of his horse, and when he wouldn’t let go John Wesley shot him loose, but he kept coming back. He continued to shoot Mage every time he came at him, until the man collapsed. He went to another uncle’s house and brought him back to where Mage was lying. His uncle told him to go on home and tell his parents what had happened. Mage ended up dying from his wounds a few days later. His father knew that John Wesley would not receive a fair trial, because to be tried for killing a Negro at that time, meant a certain death at the hands of a court backed by Yankee bayonets. So John Wesley was sent to stay with his brother Joe, some 25 miles away, in Logallis Prairie. In December of 1868, some 6 weeks after the shooting and death of the Negro Mage, his brother told him that there were 3 Union soldiers asking questions about him. He took a shotgun and his Colt . 44 revolver and went to wait for them along the creek bed of Hickory Creek crossing, where he knew they would cross. Their e ambushed them, killing 2 white soldiers with the shotgun and the black soldier with his revolver. So, by the winter of 1868, 15 year old John Wesley Hardin had killed 4 men and was wounded for the first time. But his killings did not stop there. By February of 1871, at the age of 17, John Wesley had killed 12 men. In March of 1871, John Wesley and his cousin Jim Clements took 1600 head of cattle and headed up the Chisholm Trail toward Abilene, Kansas. Along the trail they had a problem with some Mexican vaqueros that kept mixing their cattle with John Wesley’s. A fight broke out, which ended up with John Wesley killing 5 of the Mexicans. So within a day or two of his 18th birthday John Wesley had now killed twenty men. He arrived in Abilene Kansas around June 1, 1871. It was here in Abilene, at 18 years old, that he met Wild Bill Hickok who was the Marshall at the time. John Wesley and Wild Bill met, for the first time, in a wine room where they discussed the rules of carrying firearms in Abilene. They left the meeting as friends, and John Wesley was given a privilege that no other cowboys would get to enjoy. He wore his guns for all to see. On August 6, 1871 he fled Kansas, for Texas after accidentally killing a man in the hotel room next door. On January 11, 1872, John Wesley returned to Gonzales, where he met Jane Bowen at his cousin Jim Clements wedding. They were married on February 29, 1872 by a Methodist minister and Justice of the Peace) Thomas F. Rainey. She was 14 years old and John Wesley was 18. In April 1872, two months after the wedding, John Wesley left for two weeks to head to the King Ranch in South Texas, 175 miles from Gonzales, to conduct business. Upon leaving the King Ranch, Hardin remembered he had â€Å"one of the prettiest and sweetest girls in the county as his wife. † (Metz). He arrived home around 4 am that morning. On June 5, 1872, he left again for Louisiana to sell some horses, but while in Hemphill he got into an altercation with a local law enforcement officer, so he sold the horses there and went to his uncle Barnett’s’ in Polk County. By August of 1872, at the age of 19, Hardin had killed 29 men. John Wesley and Jane’s first child, Mary Elizabeth, was born 6th February 1873, when Jane was 15 years old. Their second child, John Wesley Hardin Jr. , was born 3 August 1875, and their third child, Jane Martina, was born 15 July 1877. Whatever her faults or her degree of naivete, Jane Bowen Hardin was an articulate young lady that maintained a strong love and defense of her husband. On May 26th 1874, at 21 years of age, John Wesley Hardin arrived in Comanche Texas, where Browne County Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb had come with 15 men to kill him. He met Deputy Webb outside the saloon where he asked him if he had any papers for his arrest and Deputy Webb replied that he did not have any papers for his arrest. John Wesley invited Deputy Webb to go into the saloon with him for a drink and cigar. When John Wesley turned around to go in the door, he heard someone shout, and as he turned he saw Deputy Webb go for his gun to shoot him in the back. Hardin drew and fired his gun hitting Deputy Brown in the head killing him, but not before he got a shot off that hit Wesley and wounded him. On 23rd July 1877, he was arrested for the murder of Brown County Deputy Charles Webb, three years after it happened. John Wesley Hardin left Austin jail in September of 1877, for Comanche, Texas, which was some 160 miles away, to stand trial for murder. He was found guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years of hard labor in the state penitentiary at Huntsville. He arrived there 5th October 1878. During his prison term, he studied law and passed the bar exam. It was also during this time that his wife Jane died, on 6th November 1892. John Wesley was released from prison 17th February 1894, and was granted a gull pardon and his citizenship restored by Governor of Texas, J. S. Hogg. After his release, he joined his children in Gonzales where he began to practice law On 8 January 1895, he married his second wife Callie Lewis, of London Texas. She was 15 ? and he was 41. Within a week of their marriage, he sent her back to be with her parents. They never divorced nor had the marriage annulled. He moved to El Paso, Texas where he opened a law practice. John Wesley got into an argument with a local lawman named John Selman Jr. , when he arrested his girlfriend for illegally carrying a pistol. Hardin in his quiet and deadly way threatened to kill him. Selman’s father new John Wesley’s reputation as a fast and lethal gunfighter, having killed over forty men. So, fearing for his sons’ life, John Selman Sr, decided to take the law into his own hands and permanently stop Hardin from carrying out his threat. So, it was on 19th August 1895, in the Acme Saloon in El Paso, Texas, somewhere between 11pm and midnight that John Wesley Hardin, Texas’ most notorious gunfighter in American history life came to an end, shot in the back of the head while his back was turned, by John Selman Sr, while he was rolling dice at the bar. He never had the slightest chance to defend himself. Do I believe John Wesley Hardin was a cold blooded killer? No I don’t. I believe he was a product of the times and was very self aware with a strong sense of survival. I also believe he only killed, in self defense, those that needed killing Rest in Peace John Wesley Hardin Works Cited Hardin, John Wesley. â€Å"The Life of John Wesley Hardin. † General Books, 2009. 3. Metz, Leon. â€Å"John Wesley Hardin: Dark Angel of Texas. † Metz, Leon. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma press, 1996. Foreward page 2.

My area – Earls Court a very weird and different area

Earls Court a very weird and different area. But that is not the opinion of the people living there that's just my opinion. Earls Court is a different area; I like to think of it as a little town not just some area in the heart of Kensington. The streets are always covered in old crisp packets and used condoms and there always seems to be puddles of water or some liquid that never seem to dry up. Behind my house is a private garden which, on a cold winter's morning is as misty as the peak of Mount Everest and the Scottish Highlands put together. This garden is run by a Garden Committee which is headed up by a woman who changes her hair colour every single week, for example last week the woman's hair was black and this week it is about as red as Manchester United's football shirt. In this garden there is a tennis court which is set up during the summer and the rest of the year the poles on which the nets hang are used by myself and about ten other mates as football posts. However the woman with the ever changing hair colour always seems to see us and come out and confiscate the ball even though her house is about from the school to Shepherds Bush tube station. The rules for this garden are extremely, I can't think of the word, hang on, ah yes, STUPID. You are not allowed to play football, play music, play and instrument, ride your bikes or any type of game that can damage the plants. It might as well be an outdoor prison. About 2 minutes walk from my house is a giant Tesco superstore; it claims to sell everything but the trouble is you can never find everything because they keep changing where everything is so I'll probably never know if they do sell everything. I remember about a month ago now, me and my mate Gav were in Tesco's and I had to use the toilet so I told him to wait downstairs. As I came back down the stairs my hat fell off down to the ground floor below; I ran down the stairs only to find my hat had disappeared and Gav standing where it had landed with an evil little grin on his face. Then a Jamaican security guard came up to us and said, † What are you doing†, and I because I didn't want to get in trouble said in a very angry and serious voice, † Gav man, where the hell did you put my hat? , the security guard told Gav to get my hat from where he had hidden it; amongst the boxes of wine. He gave it to me and we were just about to get away without getting into too much trouble when Gav, being the stupid idiot that he is, made the mistake of bursting into a fit of laughter when the guard had just turned away; not when he was out of earshot but when he had just turned his back so the guard heard, turned around, called his colleague and literally and I emphasise the literally, threw us out of the store onto the pavement; where Gav and I proceeded to laugh our heads off. But perhaps the most prominent building in my area is the office complex; just around the corner from my house; down a side road; which runs past a Gospel church. In this complex there is about 6 or 7 cameras 2 of which overlook the gate going in. On a dark and quiet Saturday night if there is nothing else to do; what me and my mates like doing is trying to get into the complex without being spotted by the 20 or so security guards just inside the main entrance. One time I dared a boy called Adam to run in and touch the sign that is about 10 metres in front of the front door. There were about five of us including Adam; he ran past the gate, past the cameras, touched the sign, and ran back. By this time all of the guards were up out of their seats and sprinting out of the door; I was the last one to notice; Adam sprints by me screaming like a little girl and everyone is running, I hadn't noticed what was happening and when I turned around from my hiding place about 15 metres from the gate; about four of the guards were coming through the gate, I stood up and started sprinting like a cheetah chasing a zebra. When I came to the fork I went right whilst everyone else had gone left down to Adam's house, I heard one of guards say, â€Å"You lot go left while we go right, we're going to get these kids†, I though, Christ their going to catch me; I wouldn't have been so worried if they weren't carrying holsters around which could have contained a gun. I ran between and over the parked cars and over a wall about a metre or two high and hid. I waited until they had given up and then I emerged from the shadow of the crucifix, triumphant in the fact that I had given trained security guards the slip. As I mentioned before I there is Gospel church near my house which has a bright green spire and on a Sunday morning and Wednesday evening it is absolutely bursting with music and singing. But the bad thing about this is that all of the cars of the church goers block up the parking lot; the only place that we are allowed to play football. But there are other more interesting things about my area like the fact that a woman fell of the roof of my house into my garden and I still don't know how she got up there. Also about three weeks ago a complete nutter of a man was on the roof of an estate brandishing and firing a rifle. All of the surrounding roads were closed off and armed police and for some reason there was riot police there as well. Nobody was hurt except the guy firing the gun who shot himself in the leg before being arrested. Once I was riding my bike to my mate's house and a tiny, little homosexual man stood in the way on purpose even though he had about a 10 second delay before I was near enough to hurt him; he stepped out and then said in a squeaky little voice â€Å"Watch where your going you stupid little s**t†, I yelled back at him some obscenities that I cannot mention here. Around my area there is a lot of refugees who go around asking people for money. Once I was walking to school when about five of them came up to me and asked me to give them i10; I just looked at them and said, â€Å"You got to be joking†, the leader looked at me really seriously and said, â€Å"I am being seriously perfect†, and that just made me laugh. I think he meant to say, â€Å"I am being perfectly serious†, but got confused. The leader then grabbed me and said, â€Å"give me i10 now†, he was only about as tall as me so I kneed him in his groin and the rest just backed off because a security guard had come out to see what was going on. The guard ‘escorted' the leader off the premises and by that I mean threw onto one of the islands in the middle of the road. There is a tall, red brick building just around the corner from my house which used to be where the local police force lived for free until it was turned into a council flat. There is a woman called Louise who is about 40 years old and has a problem with kids. She is as thin as rake and is about medium height. Her nose is crooked and she has a terribly squeaky voice like a rusty bike chain. She has a balcony coming out of the back of her house which she likes to use for taking pictures of people passing especially kids. When we make noise she comes out and starts going on about how we are making too much noise, and then we confront her about taking pictures of us she just goes quiet and slithers off quietly like the snake that she is. Just last Sunday she came out and starting having a go at us; but when we started confronting her about taking pictures of us she said she'd even take videos of us; we just said but that's illegal, she said so is noise disturbance; then I said â€Å"but which one do you think is more serious†, at which she just walked off and I called after her â€Å"I thought so! â€Å". She wears quite trampy clothes and she probably only has one piece of clean clothing in her whole life. Around my area there are a lot of kids who wander around looking for kids to mug, but I know them so they don't try to mug me. However when I was in first year there was some kids that I didn't know trying to mug people, and once I was on my way home from school and I must have looked like a right idiot with my catholic schoolboy uniform all neat and tidy. They were walking on the other side of the road and I saw them look at me then cross the road towards me; so I crossed the road to where they had been. They were then behind me and had turned around and started walking quite quickly towards me; now you have go to remember that I was a little first year so I couldn't fight off two 16+year olds, so I started jogging, they started jogging, I picked up the pace, so did they, I was coming up to Tesco's now so I sprinted through the back way through the car park into the store up to the first floor and out through the first floor exit. As I went down the stairs I could see them through the 12ft high windows searching for me jogging through the aisles so I started jogging across the large 6 lane road to my house. As I rounded the corner I saw them come out the main entrance, point towards me and start sprinting, so I just sprinted to my house and got through the front door in record time. I opened two doors in about 6 seconds. As I said earlier I consider Earls Court like a little town; a little town with its own high street with every shop its own cinema and even its own arena and park. But with little towns there comes problems. On Thursday mornings there are piles of black bin bags waiting for the bin men to come and take them away; it smells about as bad as rotten fish and eggs put together. You trip over the bags that are strewn all over the pavement. As I go down to school I go past a bright, mustard yellow estate which all the dump trucks come out of and so that stinks even more and there are kids on the estate that spit down on people going past. All in all I think my area has some good points like the fact that most of my friends live there but there are some bad points like all the crime and rubbish on the streets. But it is my area, I've lived there all my life and I love it.