Develop Positive Relationships with Children, Young People

Unit 028 Develop Positive Relationships with Children, Young People And Others Involved in their Care. Be able to develop positive relationships with children and young people. Outcome 1. 1 Explain why positive relationships with children and young people are important and how these are built and maintained. Having good communication skills will help us to develop better relationships, especially with younger people. Some students who lack in confidence may find it hard to communicate at all with us, so if we come across to that pupil in a positive and gentle manner they are more likely to open up to us and talk.We would not like to be spoken to in a negative way so therefore we should also be careful of how we speak to others too. Non verbal communication can also develop positive relationships for example, if I feel that a pupil is coping in lesson without me being sat next to them all the time, a simple smile to them across the classroom will show them that I am there should they need my help, but also show that I’m not pressurising them by being at their side constantly. This would help the students confidence in working alone.Another reason for effective communication is that if a pupil has had a problem in a previous lesson with another pupil you may not be aware of this. It could then possibly continue and escalate into something more at a later time. Being informed by talking to teachers or support staff at the previous lesson they can tell you of the situation. This therefore would mean that you can keep a closer eye on that particular pupil and should anything occur later in the day you could intervene.Talking to the pupil and letting them know you are aware of the situation will also make them feel more at ease in the classroom and putting their mind at rest. Positive relationships are extremely important if you want the child to thrive and grow within the setting. Being a positive role model is essential as the child needs to feel secure in y our care. If a positive relationship has been formed, it makes it easier to work with the child to develop in all kinds of areas, such as speech and language.The more you interact with a child with positive gestures, comments and actions and body language, the more they will relax in your company and feel they can and want to talk to you, open up with feelings and requests and join in activities. This in turn makes for a happy child. To establish a respectful, professional relationship, I would be friendly and approachable along with aiming to build trust with the child in the long term.It is vital to be positive and give lots of praise and encouragement in order to help increase the child’s self confidence yet still maintain consistent, clear boundaries together with appropriate sanctions as required. In order to promote effective interactions with other children, it is important to be a positive role model. This would help to encourage positive behaviour, and promote effect ive social skills. Some children may not have a positive role model at home, which makes it even more important to set a good example for them to follow.Treat everyone fairly and be aware of your own approach-a negative attitude can have a negative impact on the children. In the case of adult, then mutual respect is key-be polite, friendly and speak as you would wish to be spoken to. Being a team player and offering to help others is beneficial in building effective relationships. Likewise, sharing information or giving feedback is essential, ensuring it is given at an appropriate time and place. It is essential to bear in mind the child’s age and previous experience throughout any interaction with the child.Patience would be needed to help build the child’s relationship with peers and adults alongside close liaison with the child’s parents. Try to see things from their perspective, speak using age appropriate language and use paraphrasing to aid understanding. Use positive body language, eye contact and listen to what they are saying. Ask open ended questions to learn what the child is interested in and use that information to help involve them in class activities to help them to integrate with the other children.It may be useful to appoint a suitable classmate to be a â€Å"buddy† for the new child to make it easier for them to mix with other children and form friendships. Early intervention means intervening as soon as possible to tackle problems that have already emerged for children and young people. It means that it targets specific children who have an identified need for additional support once their problems have already begun to develop but therefore they become more serious. There are numerous intervention services that are provided through schools namely SENCO, speech and language therapy, social workers and educational psychologists etc.At the beginning of the process the teacher will be aware which children may potenti ally be in need of some additional support. The teacher will monitor the situation by observing, ensuring that the teaching is appropriate, plus being aware of the developmental stages that the children should be at or working towards. Children are assessed using the National Curriculum levels for that age group. Children can be grouped according to ability and can work in smaller groups within the classroom.A variety of intervention strategies can be implemented for those who need it i. e. additional support in the classroom, reading to staff more regularly, additional focus on their writing in small groups, targets can be given (as an ability group or as an individual). This aids the learner in being clear on what they have already achieved and where their learning is headed. This is a positive position as it gives the learner ownership of their specific requirements and a knowledge that they are being supported throughout their additional journey.

Down the Road: My Personal Authentic Leadership Journey Essay

Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, where arms and ammunition for armed forces of Pakistan are made and distributed to different locations of the country, my leadership timeline reflects that leaders are moulded by the events they encountered and overcome to become who they are today. My story begins with a father whose sole goal in life was to provide us the education that he knew was vital to our aim to be successful as role models and leaders. Because education is not all about â€Å"book† learning, my family paid special attention to educating us about morals and ethics. Via religious education, I found the virtue of being a good man with a healthy belief system. To a leader you need to have a strong foundation in values and how those values shape our every activity. Discussion Because of this emphasis on education, I found myself even more drawn to furthering my own knowledge and uncovering my strengths and weaknesses as a contributing member of society. I saw my father as a role model who placed his family’s needs above his own. By moving out of his native village, he took the first steps towards providing his children with the best possible opportunities to get good standard education and develop high moral values and ethics in their personalities. As my father is well educated, he expected that his children too reach their full potential. Unfortunately, during my higher curriculum courses I performed poorly and was forced to work even harder to improve myself. Upon reaching college, I selected to be a class representative because I saw myself as having both good interaction skills as well as the aptitude for solving problems between individuals. This was the first time that I realized that my goals to become a good leader were indeed possible and attainable. In hindsight, I see that this interaction was the basis for some leadership traits (http://www. stewart-associates. co. uk/leadership-models. aspx). For example, during conflicts I rose to the occasion and alleviated group stresses, persistently overcame dilemmas, cooperated with my fellow classmates in solving problems, was seen as a dependable role model for lower class men, and easily adapted to situations when required. This initial experience began to give me the confidence that I needed to feel that I could successfully aid my fellow college students and being a strong representative of their requests and voices (http://www. buzzle. com/editorials/9-3-2004-58861. asp). It was only due to this confidence that I persistently applied for admission to several universities in Pakistan even though I had failed to obtain admission into any high ranking universities. To my parents, this was an embarrassment and the shame that they felt tore at my heart but though I was upset I realized I was not de-motivated. Instead, I adapted and improvised to the situation and selected to do my last year in college once again so as to receive higher marks. My self-restructuring efforts paid off and I achieved higher marks than anyone had expected from me. These implemented efforts are once again the markings of a young leader and can be visually seen in the graph below: Image taken from : (http://images. google. com/imgres? imgurl=http://api. ning. com/files/pAqrWCqLQC2AgQvsxfBsUXwOyx42-xPKmO6TQFFNQ5tMD1CBzFkfU7rWUpMX6Siqa6k*LAJmr*e4wYGKq7zMGn6UmTHdk6fy/Leadershipmodel. gif. jpg&imgrefurl=http://mylinkingpowerforum. ning. com/xn/detail/u_3jluv5gj6mp9a&usg=__AwGvnrelt3BvpCbfy005kjVXiE4=&h=278&w=320&sz=13&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=7oYMmH6hwuxfUM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dleadership%2Bmodel%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1) My hard work would never go to waste and this renewed energy gave me the needed push to start my higher education at some good university. This effort ties in to the leadership model reflected by T. McGregor (1906-1964) which specifies that managers â€Å"tend to make two different assumptions about human nature. These views he explored in his theory X and theory Y† where in theory Y he states that â€Å"The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. † (http://www. stewart-associates. co. uk/leadership-models. aspx) My effort had indeed paid off and my father was able to send me to the UK for my higher education. It was hard, after starting the application process, Sept 11th occurred and the British embassy in Pakistan elected to close down it’s visa division for 6 months; which forced me to postpone my studies until Oct 2002. In spite of this delay, my only recourse was to kept up the hope and continue my computer course, IELTS, and TOEFL studies until April of 2002. I believe that this element of hope despite such hardships falls under the concept of a required â€Å"trait leadership† because without hope you will not feel the drive to continue on in projects, goals or objectives. While research may have shown that there are no consistent traits which make a leader there is merit to the argument that a â€Å"hope-less† leader will not be a successful one (http://www. leadership-studies. com/documents/mgmt_standards. pdf). So here I was in April of 2002 in the UK, and excited to being a new life on my own but fully aware of the hardships that I would encounter faced with a different culture. This driving difference would force me into getting a place to live, finding myself a job, and saving while I took time off from my college, Financial Training Company (FTC). I was lucky to find a living place with my childhood friends who were very supportive and I also found a job at Burger King, a local fast food restaurant. I started my Associate Accounting Technician (AAT) qualification and completed this qualification by December 2004. It was during this time that I also made several mistakes and suffered from heavy losses, both on a socially and financially level. It was not easy adapting but I learnt from any mistakes that I made. I learnt how to deal my 5 friends (both younger and older than me) living together and how to explain and assert myself when needed. I also learnt how to juggle the complexities associated with both working and going to school full time because in March of 2003 I was forced to get a job at Sainsbury’s local store. After working for Sainsbury’s for six months, I had an opportunity to step up as a supervisor and take on more responsibilities. During the interview process, I was the lucky candidate selected to become a supervisor. There were interviews held for this position and I was the successful candidate. This was very encouraging for me as my hard work and commitment to this job had paid off. The managers checked my performance track record and they found me to be perfect fit for this role. I was taken aback when they decided that I would have to undergo more training prior to being able to run a shift by myself as manager. During this period, I completed a 3 month training only to find that upper management itself changed. So here I found a challenge: when the new managers arrived at the branch they refused to promote me and official stated that I would need training for another 4 to 6 months. At that time, this became a very depressing situation for me. Even though I had passed all required tests for the position, it was under the manager’s end discretion to allow the promotion or not. Though I was disappointed, I did not lose hope and continued to struggle to my end goal. It took me another six weeks to prove myself as a good team leader who had the necessary capabilities to lead by example. That was a victorious moment for me when the store manager called me in the office and signed my promotion certificate. Due to my exposure at Sainsbury to various leadership models and techniques, I felt especially drawn to the concept of the action centered leadership structure. Via this model, I was introduced to the value of having a leader who performs activities and through these actions shows his or her employees the significance of balancing the needs of the employees with the requirements and expectations of the team. I came across many managers with different leadership styles; e. g. manager or morning shift used to prefer shop faced up and tidied while the one running the evening shift always focussed more on tills and customer service activities. For me, I saw that the true objective of an action plan is to effectively gauge what tasks must be accomplished in order for a project to be successfully completed. The leader of this situation is portrayed as a helicopter lightly gliding over the situation and having a positive overview of what is occurring through the project lifecycle. This allows for the task to been seen and directed to ensure that clear objectives are being met, and procedures are being adhered to. In the beginning I faced resistance from my own colleagues. They sometimes refused to do what I told them or argued and made lame excuses about why they could not accomplish a task. The reason for this behaviour was obvious. They felt that I who had been their co-worker just days before was now their boss. The assignment of jobs from me made them clearly uncomfortable and they rebelled. I had to handle the situation very carefully by delegating the work as well as helping them, by assuring them that though I was a team leader I was also part of the team. I could also see if there was evidence of progress and ensure that all deadlines are being met for the assignment (http://www. skagitwatershed. org/~donclark/leader/leadcon. html). This elevated view allows for the leader to guide his employees while functions are being performed to complete the project. From a higher perspective, such a leader is enabled with the vital component of seeing all aspects of the situation from the viewpoint of the task, the team, and the individual within the team. The team will see my commitment to the task assigned, and feel the same level of purpose that I feel. This will allow the team to grow in their cohesion, drive for success, and gleam trust from each other. To an individual, this status allows for individual growth in their career objectives because they feel that their contribution is being acknowledged and is evident in the team circles. Feedback both for the leaders as well as from the leadership capacity allows for better commitments, respect, security, and change of direction if required. Key to this model is the evidence of plans being successfully outlined and modified if required (http://www. stewart-associates. co. uk/leadership-models. aspx). Such leaders are aware that sometimes change is necessary for a project to be successful. Some of my workers were habitually taking longer breaks, not turning up for work and even stealing stock. Because of my strong leadership traits I able to convert many of them into giving up their bad habits and feeling that they could be good workers. This act of situational leadership enforced the concept that I needed to coach, direct, support, and delegate activities and behaviours for my co-workers (http://www. chimaeraconsulting. com/sitleader. htm). One supportive characteristic was my decision was my decision to not take illegal action against one of my co-workers who my deputy manager disliked. I found myself faced with extra work and stress because of his anger, but because I was a strong believer in Thorton’s 3C leadership model (challenge, confidence, coaching) I felt that my personal challenge in this case was to bear up under the difficulty and coach my employees into sharing my goals and becoming inspired by them (http://www. quickmba. com/mgmt/leadership/3c/). If I had given into the deputy manager’s illegal tactics I would destroy the confidence that they had begun to feel in my and my efforts to help them be successful. My self-confidence and ambition led me to seek employment in a company which also felt similarly attuned, Dixons Plc. At Dixons, I was hired as a sales advisor, where within weeks I showed my employers my excellence in performance. They rewarded me with huge bonuses and commissions. They too believed in the Thorton’s 3Cs Leadership Model and challenged me to benchmark my progress and highlighted my strengths and how I could become even more successful. Enriched by this experience, I was only too happy to continue my learning in how to arrange credit agreements with the HFC bank and how to facilitate our customers with after sales services. This continued to build up my confidence because the challenging goals that were set by my company were attainable and they showed me that I had the ability to reach the sales goals and quotas expected from me. Concluding Remarks: My experiences have molded me from a timid young man to an assertive one. Without the guide my father, my manager, and my exposure to the working world and its expectations from me I would be unable to be the leader that I am today. I hope that by learning about new leadership techniques I may one day be able to progress into an even more experienced managerial role. I believe that my leadership traits and qualities have enriched my life and aided me in my attempts to overcome the hurdles and challenges thrown my way. References: Bass, Bernard (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 18, Issue 3, Winter, 1990, 19-31. Bolden, R. , Gosling, J. , Marturano, A. and Dennison, P. A REVIEW OF LEADERSHIP THEORY AND COMPETENCY FRAMEWORKS (2003). Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. leadership-studies. com/documents/mgmt_standards. pdf Clark, Don. Concepts of Leaders. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. skagitwatershed. org/~donclark/leader/leadcon. html Chimaera Consulting Limited (1999). Situational Leadership. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. chimaeraconsulting. com/sitleader. htm Thornton, Paul B. Be the Leader, Make the Difference Thornton, Thornton’s 3-C Leadership Model. Website. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. quickmba. com/mgmt/leadership/3c/ Models and Theories. Website. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. stewart- associates. co. uk/leadership-models. aspx Leadership Qualities. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://www. buzzle. com/editorials/9-3-2004-58861. asp

Qatar Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East Essay

Qatar is located in Arabian Peninsula in boarders with Saudi Arabia, with only 225,000 citizens in a population of 1. 7 million. Qatar follows a conservative religious ideology, Wahhabism. While some refer to Qatar as the â€Å" Second Wahhabi Emirate,† it is traditionally known as â€Å"the most boring place in the gulf† or â€Å"the country known for being unknown (Roberts, 2012). † However, Qatar emerged as a strong state actor with extended networks of alliances in the world. The mediator role that Doha plays today is crucial in the region, particularly after the Arab Spring (HRW, 2013). Indeed, Qatar supported the Arab Uprisings across the region in 2011. In addition, Qatar invested between $65 billion and $100 billion to the FIFA world cup that it will be hosting in 2022. The Emir founded a number of humanitarian projects in Sudan, South of Lebanon, Gaza and Asia. In this paper, I attempt to answer the question of what are the driving motives of Qatar’s foreign policy in the Middle East? And why, unlike its neighboring countries, Qatar’s leadership supported the Arab appraisals of 2011? Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Al Thani, stated, â€Å"we support those who demanded justice and dignity,† when asked about his country’s role in the Arab revolutions in an interview in 60 Minutes . In response, President Barak Obama thanked the Emir for promoting democracy in the Middle East (Al Thani, 2012). Ironically, Qatar is an absolute monarchy described as an â€Å" authoritarian regime† that is ranked 138th out of the 167 countries by Democracy Index 2011. In addition, the Freedom House lists Qatar as â€Å" not free† (freedom house), (Democracy Index, 2011). Therefore, Qatar’s lack of rule of law, freedom of speech and political rights contradict â€Å"the Emir’s efforts to promote democracy† and delegitimizes his political statements. In relevance to this hypocrisy, Qatar’s foreign policy in general and its support of democratic transitions in the Arab region in specific serves its ambitions to secure itself from threats, maintain its status quo of an independent state and take a leadership role in the region. Political Emancipation and the Saudi Threat: Al Thani family ruled Qatar for more than 150 years. Qatar attained its independence in 1971, when the British-mandate came to an end and after its refusal to join the United Arab Emirates federation. Since that date until the 1990s, Saudi Arabia acted as the de facto protector of Qatar. Consequently, the Emir took policy directions from Al Saud. However, this relationship witnessed a change in the early 1990s as tensions in bilateral relations between the two countries began to arise. After the invasion of Kuwait and Sadam’s threat to attack the Suadi kingdom, Saudi quickly reached out to western coalitions in aim of protection. As Suadi presented itself as weak and unable to defend itself, the Qataris began to doubt Saudi’s ability to protect the Qatari entity and decided to pursue a strong alliance with the US. Therefore, between 1990-1992, Qatar signed a military agreement with the United States to host its military base in Al-Odead. In response, Saudi worked to block Qatar’s pipeline exports of gas to United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. As a result, tensions between the two countries intensified. Later, in 30 September 1992, Saudi attacked the Qatari boarders leaving three soldiers dead (2012). However, the clashes did not stop there. In1995, Shiekh Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince back then, seized power after a bloodless coup d’etat against his father. Of course, Saudi Arabia did not welcome the coup d’etat because of Hamad’s known strong motives to maintain his country’s autonomy. Instead, Saudi financially supported another coup against the current Emir. Then, Qatar detained a number of Saudi and Qatari citizens who cooperated with the Saudi government to bring the ousted prince back into power. These tensions led the Saudi-Qatar relations into a deep freeze until rapprochement happened in 2008 (2012). Since then, Shiekh Hamad Al Thani led the modernization process to create a brand name of Qatar. In its foreign policy, Qatar adopted diplomacy as a foreign policy tool that allows it to take on the mediator role in a number of regional disputes. In addition to its diplomatic activism and small size, the Qatari wealth that is invested in mediation efforts paves the way for Qatar to be a head in the political game today. A Theoretical approach on Qatar’s Mediation: The tribal nature of the Qatari society and the hierarchal system of the government lends the leadership absolute power to form the country’s economic-political agenda and foreign policy. The major two agents that determine the political strategies of Qatar’s foreign policy are its national security and its desire to establish a brand name for itself. Hence, the main key element of Qatar’s foreign policy is mediation, which is apparently is not a new political tool as the â€Å"early Al-Thanis were forced to become experts negotiators quickly in anarchic corner of the Middle East (Roberts). According to Jacob Bercovitch in his book, Studies in International Mediation, countries engage in mediation for various reasons that include â€Å"(a) a genuine desire to change the course of a long-standing conflict to promote peace, (b) a desire to gain access to major political leaders and open channels of communication, (c), a desire to spread one’s ideas and enhance standing and professional status, (d) the wish to preserve intact structure of which they are part, (e) viewing mediation as a way of extending and enhancing their own influence and gaining some value from the conflict (Roberts). Therefore, from this perspective, Qatar’s employs mediation for the enhancement of its professional status and the acquirement of power. From here, Qatar mediated a number of disputes in the region including the Hezbollah dispute with the Lebanese government, the rebellion disputes with the Northern Sudanese government and the Huothis dispute with the Yemeni government. Moreover, Participation in mediations between states is of great advantage to Qatar. Internationally, it promotes a peaceful image as a peacekeeping state in an attempt to gain worldwide respect (Roberts). Peterson argues in his work, Qatar and the World, â€Å"The fundamental advantage, however, is that it assures the legitimacy of the micro state. This in turn leads to the single most important factor: increased awareness of and legitimacy accruing to Qatar- in domestic and external terms- enhances the prospects of the states’ survival†(Roberts). Qatar neutral position and its small size makes non-threatening to other state to except negotiation with compare to Saudi which has interests in regional conflict, which leads political parties to refuse its negotiation, e. . Saudi support of the government in Yemen and rivalry with Hezbollah. On the other hand, Qatar established diplomatic relations with almost everyone. Qatar’s Foreign affairs minister, Shiekh Hamad bin Jasem Al Thani, in an interview on Al –Jazeera, was asked by Ahmed Manosur, Al Jazeera presenter, â€Å"I just want to understand one thing! In Qatar you have relations with the devils and the angels, with the Iranians and the Americans, with the Israelis and Hamas, he continued, how can we understand this policy? (Mansour, 2012). Today, Qatar unlike other state in the region, calls Tehran in the morning and Tel Aviv in the afternoon â€Å"(Roberts). It was the first state in the gulf to host trade office of Israel, established good relations with Hamas, opened communications with Hezbollah, the Emir of Qatar was the first to invite Ahmadinejad to attend the 28th Gulf Cooperation council summit in 2007. While other Arab states alienated Islamists, Qatar was in good terms with Arab oppositions, particularly Islamic groups. For example, Yusuf Al Qaradawi is an influential Islamic leader, resident of Qatar since 1960s is the main guest who taken the Qatari citizenship is Al Jazeera chief religious show. Also, other Arab political dissidents were welcomed and took Qatari citizenship such as Mohammed Hamed Al Hamari from Saudi Arabia who organized Youth Role in Change in the Arabic Gulf; young activists from across the gulf attended the conference (Al Qassemi, 2012). Al Jazeera as foreign Policy tool Part of â€Å"Brand Qatar† project, is to spread ideas and enhance Qatar’s status. The establishment of Al-Jazeera in 1996 came to serve that goal. Al Jazeera is an important tool of Qatar foreign policy, with its slogan the â€Å" The Opinion and the other Opinion† and the channel shameless criticisms to Arab leaders and programs on democracy and political rights. Al Jazeera soon gained the respect of Arab public compare to other media alternatives that are state sponsored (Khtib, 2013). The channel broadcasted the revolutions across the Arab spring countries – except the appraisals in Bahrain . The spread of revolutions were feared by Arab states, yet Qatar seemed to support the revolutions through Al Jazeera. That is said to be reason that inspired the youth in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen to rebel against their governments and demand freedom and dignity. Nevertheless, The channel neutrality was under question, during the Egyptian elections, Al Jazeera hosted members of MB like Khirat Al Shater, and Moahhmed Mosri. Sultan Al Qassimi, a, wrote about Al Jazeera’s Arabic love ffaires with MB, he discussed some of his observations, that Muslim Brotherhood supports were given the chance to express their views on through the channel while critics towards Muslim Brotherhood were barely heard in the channel (Al Qassemi, 2012). Recently, Waddah Khanfar the director – general of Al Jazeera was replaced with Shiekh Ahmed bin Jasem Al Thani, who holds degree in petroleum (Al Qassemi, 2012). This suggests that Al Jazeea is becoming less free to represents Qatar’s government preferences and its support to Muslim brotherhood. Apparently, Qatar calculations towards the Arab spring were opposite to its neighbors who supported Mubarak regime. It saw an opportunity to ally itself with revolutions to promote for its image as â€Å"Pro- Arab public † and play regional role in Arab-Arab relations despite the policy risks its taking incase these revolutions were not successful. Through Qatar’s Money, Al-Jazeera, regional mediations and international pressure, Doha was successful in making the Arab Spring an opportunity so that it plays valuable role and take a leadership role in the region. Qatar in the Arab Spring: Qatar natural position had to be changed when it realized that change will topple the former leaders to stay at the head of the game head of Saudi, After Mubarak’s fall, Qatar supported Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. Shiekh Hamad Al Thani, the foreign minster of Qatar state that his country won’t allow Egypt to go bankrupt, Doha transferred five billion dollars to Egypt to meet its financial obligations. In addition to the financial support, Al Jazeera members’ Muslim brotherhoods are regularly interviewed to spread their influence. Middle Ease Scholar, Alain Gresh calls Al Jazeera the mouthpiece of Muslim brotherhood (Khatib, 2013). Furthermore, Rashid Al Ghanushi of Al Nahdha party of Tunisia, stated in an interview with Al Arab newspaper that Qatar is a major partner of the Arab spring revolutions hence it’s also a partner in next period of democratic transition and development since it offers development projects to support the economy of the Arab spring states (2012). Qatar had to intervene in Libya and Syria to sustain its leading regional position. It was the first country to lead the international action against Gaddafi. Qatar supplied the rebels with total US$2billion. On the other hand, Qatar involved in arming Syrian rebels like the Free Syrian Army. Also, it was successful in unifying the Syrian opposition. The importance of Qatar involvement in the latter is to counter Iranian influence by allying with opposition while Assad regime is backed by Iran (Khatib, 2013). In contrast to this, Al Jazeera was silent towards the uprisings in Bahrian. Qatar has been selective in backing uprisings there. The reason behind that, is Saudi Arabia influence that views the situation as â€Å"Shi’a uprising â€Å" and regional rivalry with Iran, hence any intervention from Qatar’s side in Bahraini issue would result tensions (Roberts, 2012). In conclusion, Qatar had different view towards the Arab Spring compare to its neighbors. Its objective to play a valuable role in the region, made Doha change its position as neutral state and take foreign policy risks. Although the question of weather Qatar made the right policy decisions or not remains unanswered yet. However, Doha succeeded in playing regional role a head of regional power like Saudi and influenced the Arab countries to take collective action towards Libya and Syria. In addition, Qatar foreign policy faces challenges; among these challenges is the reliance on money donations to support Post Arab Spring countries that would hinder progress in Qatari diplomacy. On the other hand, the lack of democracy and rule of law domestically puts Qatar legitimacy to promote for democracy under question. Moreover, making policy changes internally such as guarantee of political and civil rights to citizens hold parliamentary elections and protection freedom of speech will give Qatar legitimacy and enhance its image in international community.

Business Model Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Model Assessment - Assignment Example vity, for stabilising emergent properties from creative activities and for maintaining the stability of these by anticipating revenues (Fuller T, 2010). This shows that while it is important to have a vision and mission for any organization, it is also equally important to ensure that the same is valid and headed to the same direction. The Business Model Canvas is one of the strategic management tools that is essential for the development of both new, and existing business models to ensure that there is proper running of the same. The model is able to bring forward various value propositions to ensure that the infrastructure, finance and customers are all catered for in the best way possible. This, according to Osterwalder (2010), helps a company to deal with the various trades-offs that are expected to be run within the whole business. On the other hand, Boyd R. Keenan (Dec, 1961) has been a keen critic of the religious following of the various business model. The author thinks that there is no one unique way that the business would be able to develop a tailor-made solution for all its processes. This means that while the business models may be very important, they need to be followed with great care as they do not provide a one stop solution for all the problems that affect the business. The models should not be followed blindly with an effort to achieving whatever objectives set. This may not be so easy to achieve. There is need to exercise caution when it comes to how models are adopted. The business model canvas can be represented by the illustration below. This marks the main outline of the canvas model where one needs to insert the various models just to act as the guide for the said process of analysis. This section seeks to determine who are in the business and it incorporates the structure of the organization. It is often said that for any business to be able to play well in the market, their connections are very key. Tapscott and Williams, (2006)

PayPal Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PayPal Case Study - Essay Example Lots of paypal sellers do not receive payment for items sold through paypal due to credit card fraud and blame paypal for it. Likewise, many buyers do not receivee the goods ordered and paid via paypal as the merchant was bogus and hence blame paypal for not verifying the sellers. Paypal contact number is not easily found on their website. The number is buried deep inside their website. Customers believe that paypal does it on purpose so that they will not be contacted easily. Morover, the customer service number for personal accounts is not toll free and since there is usually a long wait time. Many users also complain that the Terms of Service are not fully disclosed during sign-up. Due to a Paypal email password scam, a lot of user passwords have been hacked. Although the emails requesting passwords were not sent by paypal, this has affected a lot of customers and cost them a lot of money. Inspite of all the criticism it faces, paypal is an increasingly popular method of payment which satisfies a niche market of e-tailers who favor it due to its low transaction fees and global usage. Paypal has been accused of being unethical. But the steps which Paypal has taken to reduce criticism, given below, prove that this accusation is not true. Inorder to combat buyer fraud, paypal uses advanced software to

Wage Earnings in Australia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wage Earnings in Australia - Research Paper Example This method has made it fairer for both the employee and employer while looking for jobs and at the same time while seeking for employees with good qualifications. Australian dollar is the currency used in payment of wages. A released data analysis indicates that mining, resource and energy jobs are the most highly paid ranging averagely $155, 042, - $121,913 per hour (Survey, 2012). Engineering jobs follow secondly while construction and consulting and strategy jobs are third and fourth respectively. Amongst the least paid jobs, include the administration and office support jobs, which earn averagely $56,820-$46,278. Minimum Wages Australia has a panel for fair work Ombudsman, which came into existence in 3rd June 2010. The work of the panel is to review the minimum wage an employee should earn. The panel reviews the wages every year and makes their announcement every 1st July annually. The panel also makes their findings public on the same day by publishing them on the government w ebsites and other potential site to bring employers to task with the current rates. The fair work panel also releases a minimum wage order that requires an employee not to earn any lower than the national minimum wage. Currently, the national minimum age is $15.96 per hour (Survey O. S., 2012). If an employee is a casual laborer, he or she is entitled to 23% casual lading wage. Fair work also takes part in monitoring and evaluating employers who contravene or go against the Law. Chris Evans the senator and minister of immigration and citizenship announced that temporary skilled workers in overseas should get payment similar to those paid to market rates. People under 21 years are referred to as junior workers and their rates re usually less than adults. However, different industries and occupations have different wages depending on the types of jobs done. Classification is under casual, permanent or sub contract basis. Subcontractors are not permanent employees and therefore the law of minimum wages does not apply in their case. Subcontractors have their own jobs and work at different hours and they earn commissions depending on how they negotiate with the contractors. The law is very tough on subcontractors and their employers. Under certain circumstances, an employer might subcontract an employee and pay him/her as an employee yet he/she is working as an employee of the organization or company. The trade unions describe how penalties, rewards, and allowances are earned. Most payments are done monthly in Australia but weekly wages still apply depending on the agreement with the employer. Australian law demands that employers provide their employees with pay slips before payment is done for verification. Superannuation is a retirement benefit scheme that any wage earner should pay. Nine percent of the total wage earned is always deducted for the payment of the retirement scheme. The money aims at retirement but can also be used in cases of injuries and illness . All the States in Australia have the command and rule over the salary of their educators. Data from the latest information indicate that all salaries from the Australian capital have a nine-point range. By 2003, South Wales had the highest paid teachers in Australia. The starting salary for trained bachelor of education teacher

Santeria - African Spirits in America Research Paper - 1

Santeria - African Spirits in America - Research Paper Example When African slaves escaped their bondage from Brazil and reached Cuba, they were given the ability to marry, have property and to live in such a way to be trained and conduct free, contributing lives to society. The only stipulation was that they become baptized into the Roman Catholic religion (Murphy 28). The relationship that was formed between the religious beliefs of the West African form of spiritual life and the tenets of Catholicism formed the beginnings of the way in which it the beliefs are currently practiced, similar reformations creating the many influences that have combined to form the current forms of Santeria practice. Because of this mixture of religions from which the practices in the Americas were created, there is no individual who can be named for being the founder of the religion. The beliefs of Americanized Santeria still hold the worship of the orisha. The orisha is associated with the saints of the Catholic religion. Each of the saints is represented as an orisha with a principle, a color, a number, a food, a dance posture, and an emblem. The orisha is honored through sacrifice, often a ritualized taking of the life of an animal. The blood is used as an offering to the orisha to please the saints in order to bring good luck, purification and the forgiveness of sins. Other aspects of evoking spirits and creating possession by ancestors are accomplished through rhythmic dances that are freely expressed through fervent dances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Santeria is a cultural religion that began in Africa among the Yoruba people who lived in the region now considered Nigeria. Among the many developments of the Yoruba people was the development of a complex understanding of their spiritual life that reached into a subtle envelopment of their way of life. God was called ‘Olodumare’ and was considered the â€Å"owner of all destinies†. He was also considered the ‘almighty’ and ‘the ground of life’ (7). The power that is the force of Olodumare has a name that identifies its association within the culture. Ashe is an incarnate life force that is the ‘blood of cosmic life’ which is the power through which Olodumare imbues life, strength, and righteousness.

AIDS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AIDS - Essay Example This disease has been marked as the second most frequent pathological condition across the globe which has highlighted the fact that this condition is not restricted to a particular region but follows a global pattern. It has been labeled as the first most common cause of death in Africa where it has been reported to lead to more than 20 percent of the deaths in this particular region. Following the identification of the disease, it has been known to result in greater than 20 million deaths across the world. International health organizations have noted the severity of the issue and the World Health Organization put forward the fact that 39.4 million people had AIDS or they had a present infection with human immunodeficiency virus in the year 2004 (Davidson et al 2009). The region of Africa has the highest number of people with this disease and 70 percent of the total AIDS patients belong to this region. The United States of America also has a large number of people suffering from th e disease and in the year 2002, it was analyzed that 900,000 residents of the country had the disease. The disease serves as a grave problem in the country as it has been analyzed to be the second life taking reason amongst the males of the age group of 25 to 44 years in the country. Young children are also not spared and in the year 2002, it was found out that 800,000 more children were affected with this pathology which may result due to passing of the virus from the mother to the child during birth or via breast feeding from infected mothers (Robbins et al 2005). Thus it can be seen that a very large number of people are affected with this condition but many people avoid presenting their problems owing to the stigma associated with this condition. Thesis: AIDS is a global problem which affects a large number of people and these people should be helped and societies should be created to assist these individuals. The stigma associated with this condition is unjustified as the patie nts suffering from AIDS are like other patients who require help and assistance to overcome their condition. Support: Jonathon Mann who was the director of the Global AIDS Program of the World Health Organization for this syndrome in the year 1987 already created insight into the stigmatizing aspect of AIDS. He explained that overcoming the social response associated with AIDS was extremely important in tackling the issue of AIDS across the world. This problem associated with the condition of AIDS was again highlighted in the year 2000 by Peter Piot who was the executive director of UNAIDS. The stigma and the way the patients are treated negatively further increases the suffering of the people who have AIDS. These patients avoid coming forward owing to the fact that they might be labeled in a negative manner (Parker 2002). It has been analyzed that the morals of the people who suffer from AIDS are questioned. An incident of a gynecologist who was suffering from AIDS is a very good e xample of this stigma. The doctor was widely publicized in the media and was criticized for risking the health of the patients who might be affected with the disease. A major stigma associated

Genetic Engineering of Crops Technology Research Paper

Genetic Engineering of Crops Technology - Research Paper Example In some cases, GM crops may yield entirely new products that are not normally derived from traditional crops such as medicines (Berg & Mertz, 2010). Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is found in all living things. It is a complex self-replicating molecule used by cells to pass hereditary characteristics or traits from generation to generation. It carries information that an organism needs to make protein molecules - the structural and functional constituents of the cell. Proteins are long chains composed of smaller molecules called amino acids. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids that determine how the protein will work in the cell, the structure it will take or the job it will do. DNA is the blueprint that determines the order of amino acids for any given protein. DNA differs with each species (British Medical Association, 1999). Genes that are moved from one species to another are called transgenes. Crop varieties can be created by transgenic engineering, which is the deliberate human introduction of a gene from one species, modified crops or GM crops. Although this module focuses on modifying agriculturally important plants, the principles are the same in relation to both animal husbandry and medicine, to others which are often referred to as genetically (Donnellan, 2004). Herbicides and insecticides are expensive, can pollute both the air and water and may also have negative health effects on those who apply them or work around them. In many less developed countries, the lack of safety equipment and training often results in serious health injuries and environmental degradation linked to the use of agricultural chemicals. It is the benefit to all to reduce pesticide and herbicide use (James, 2008). Farmers often rotate crops in fields, periodically sowing plants such as alfalfa that is associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots.  GM technology is heavily covered by patents. Perceived intellectual property issues create an impression of a barrier to technology transfer. There is an urgent need for more informed policy debate about the role of intellectual property rights in biotechnology and technology transfer.  

Stakeholder Impact Essay Example for Free

Stakeholder Impact Essay Stakeholder are groups of people who have interest in an organization and have the potential to impact or influence or to be impacted on, or to be influenced by the event. As good engagement with stakeholders is critical to successful event planning and delivery, therefore we should handle stakeholders and their needs carefully. If this crisis is poorly handled, it might create a wide impact on the event or even the event organization’s reputation. Therefore, it is very important to analyse each stakeholder, both individual and group, and then decide on the appropriate approach for each of them to keep them involved and supportive. In general, there are two types of stakeholder who can create impact to an organization or project which is internal stakeholder and external stakeholder. Internal stakeholders are people within the organization, for example employee, owner and shareholder. Therefore they can affect the hierarchy status using the formal power such as authority and senior position. They can also create influence to the organization culture with their leadership style or personal charisma. In addition, they can take control of strategic resources with their responsibility for strategic products. They also own the possession of knowledge and skills as they might own the expert knowledge to operate the project. For example, the balloonists in the hotair balloon event own the knowledge to fly the balloon. Other than that, internal stakeholder can control the environment due to their network relationships to external stakeholders. For example, the event planner of a company is the one who interact with the clients, so if he/she leaves the company, the clients might follow him/her too. Last but not the least is that they have involvement in strategy implementation, internal stakeholder have the decision power to do changes for example changing the supplier, suggesting other venue and so on. External stakeholders are people related to the project or organization who can affect and be affected by any decision made but not a member of them. They have the power to control the strategic resources. For example a monopolistic supplier has the power to decide the price and thus result in high cost for the organization. They also have involvement in strategy implementation; such external stakeholder may be strategic partners in distribution channels like media. They can also have to work together with the organization to find out the best way to send out the information to the target market. Other than that, they also have the possession of knowledge and skills. Examples are, organization outsources for subcontractors in order to utilize their expertise for the benefits of the organization.

Religion Essays Cesar Chavez and His Movement

Religion Essays Cesar Chavez and His Movement Cesar Chavez and His Movement: The Religious Perspective Introduction At first, I didn’t know much about Cesar Chavez and his cause to help farmers. As I started reading several of his speeches, I discovered a common ground. During most of his speeches and strikes, Cesar frequently made references to the teachings of the Catholic Church. My research relates to why Chavez promoted his Catholic faith in his speeches, and what type of impact did it have on the migrant farm workers and the Catholic Church. Cesar Chavez and His Motivation for Justice Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma Arizona. His family lived in a small farm that was granted down to the family by his grandfather.1 Trying to survive the Great Depression, the family had to migrate because they were unable to pay their property taxes. â€Å"The loss of land planted the seed of rebelliousness that would one day grow into Cesar Chavez’s willingness to protest against injustice to farm workers.†2 However, the main resentment occurred during school. Born speaking the Spanish language, the school reminded him he was an outsider: In class one of my biggest problems was the language. Of course, we bitterly resented not being able to speak Spanish, but they insisted that we had to learn English. They said that if we were American, then Villarreal 2 we should speak the language, and if we wanted to speak Spanish, we should go back to Mexico. When we spoke Spanish, the teacher swooped down on us. I remember the ruler whistling through the air as its edge came down sharply across my knuckles. It really hurt. Even out in the playground, speaking Spanish brought punishment.3 This type of treatment was the typical to Mexican-American immigrants and migrants. From a personal standpoint, my grandmother would tell me similar stories of how she was ridiculed by the teachers and the students when she emigrated from Mexico to the United States during the 1930s. Like Cesar Chavez, my grandmother never received a formal education. Her large family couldn’t afford sending everyone to school. There wasn’t enough money, and she was forced to drop out of school in order to help maintain the house along with her sisters while her brothers were out working in the cotton fields. This form of â€Å"Americanization† to speak English was forced upon many foreigners. For Chavez, however, this treatment didn’t just stay in the schools; it followed him everywhere he went as he remembers being forced to sit in segregated sections in movie theaters and being denied service in restaurants.4 All these experiences, from racial discrimination Villarreal 3 to the harsh migrant life, would later be the planting seeds to build a union dedicated to eliminating those injustices. The American Catholic Church was not too optimistic about Mexican-Americans either. The Catholic Church and the culture of Mexican Americans are very different. In Jay Dolan’s book, Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church: 1900-1965, â€Å"Hispanics bring to the Catholic Church spiritual and communal traditions which are very different from those of other Catholics whose origins lie in Anglo-Saxon and Eastern European cultures. The challenges presented to the United States Church by the large numbers of Hispanics will be formidable.†5 Mexican Americans has been criticized for their â€Å"faith expressions† that did not always reflect official American Catholic Church teachings and regulations.6 However, this was not the case with the entire Catholic Church. When Chavez moved to San Jose, California in 1952, he met a Roman Catholic priest who would dramatically impact his life.7 Father Donald McDonnell became acquainted with Chavez, and later began teaching Chavez about social justice and labor movements among farm workers. McDonnell introduced encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII that outlined the church’s support for workers who protests against injustices. These new ideas shared with Chavez sparked the development of his own personal Villarreal 4 philosophy that would inspire him to develop his own crusade to help farm workers.8 The Philosophy behind Cesar Chavez Chavez’s intellectual and moral basis for organizing farm workers came from not only from Father McDonnell but from studying a variety of subjects who were great leaders in history. However, he was particularly influenced by Mohandas Gandhi. It was through Gandhi that Chavez was inspired to introduce his own philosophy of nonviolence.9 After gaining vital experience from working as an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), Chavez decided to move to Delano, California in 1962 to start his own union devoted to farm workers. His first step in organizing was to learn the physical makeup of Delano and get acquainted with the farmers. Then, he mapped out towns between Arvin and Stockton and visited each one of them over the course of six months. When he saw workers in the fields, he approached them to see if they were interested in joining a union. In 1962, Chavez convinced enough farmers to form a union known as the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The group would change its name several times, finally settling on the United Farm Workers (UFW).10 However, it was not an easy task forming an organization. In 1965, he delivered a speech at a meeting of the California Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Fresno talking about how difficult it was to establish the NFWA. He spoke about the importance of the number of people in the union and the importance of outside help.11 Chavez found it useful to promote his newly established union to a nonviolent committee such as the SNCC to prove to the nation that this farmers union was a nonviolent one. However, nonviolence tactics did not attract all the support he needed, especially when the opposition resulted in violence. In 1966, two thousand Filipino farmers of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) protested over receiving lower salaries than braceros. Braceros are temporary workers from Mexico that are recruited by the grower industries. Larry Itiong, the head of the AWOC asked Chavez and the UFW to strike against grape growers. Chavez agreed to strike but the moment they began to hit the picket lines, the growers fired guns at the strikers. Chavez recalled: â€Å"in a period of seven days we had fourteen incidents where they actually fired a gun at the strikers.† 12 Chavez quickly realized the importance of outside help after the grape strike. Chavez thought that the strike would be only against the growers but he was wrong. He later recalled: Within twenty-four hours from the movement that we had hit the picket lines, the City Council had passed a resolution condemning the Red ties. The High School Board and the Elementary School Board had done the same thing. And the Chamber of Commerce did it also with the exception that their statement was a lot more wordy. And three days later when everything seemed to be against us the Church had not yet acted†¦At that point we were cut off completely. We had no friends in Delano except for the workers. We had no money†¦Things looked very bad for us.13 Using Religion Chavez knew that if he wanted to rebound from this negativity, he would need support from the Catholic Church. Since most of his UFW was composed of Mexican Catholics, the blessings of the Church would legitimize the union and unite their followers.14 However, the Catholic Church was not really helping his cause at first, but he was getting help from the California Migrant Ministry (CMM). At first Cesar was suspicious of the CMM because they were Protestant, but he later admired them for their help and condemned the Catholic Church for not helping his cause for justice. In his speech â€Å"The Mexican American and the Church,† he thanks the entirety of the Church, not the Catholic Church, for the help with the Delano grape strike. At about that same time, we began to run into the California Migrant Ministry in the camps and field. They were about the only ones there, and a lot of us were very suspicious, since we were Catholics and they were Protestants. However, they had developed a very clear conception of the Church. It was called to serve, to be at the mercy of the poor, and not to try to use them. After a while this made a lot of sense to us, and we began to find ourselves working side by side with them. In fact, it forced us to raise the question why our Church was not doing the same.15 It became obvious that the Protestant groups were deeply involved with Chavez and his cause. Chavez and the farm workers wanted the church to walk with them in their struggle for justice. Chavez wanted the Catholic Church to serve the farmers because their cause for justice was legitimate: What do we want the Church to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches or fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t’ ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.16 This was a good strategy for Chavez since it placed the Catholic Church in a position that if they don’t help the farmers, the Church would risk getting criticized for helping the oppressors of the farmers. He finally got the help he was looking for. In 1966, Chavez planned to enter the DiGiorgio grape property in order to retrieve personal belongings left at the camp by the farmers. Chavez â€Å"wanted to have either Father Victor Salandini, a Catholic priest, or Chris Hartmire [an ordained minister] go into the camp as witnesses.†17 However, the priests were promptly arrested when they entered the property, but were later released. The result of the priests being arrested sparked a unity between the Catholic Church and the Mexican American cause to stop injustices. In 1968, the U.S. Catholic bishops addressed the need for the Catholic Church to assist in reconciliation between the growers and the farmers. â€Å"In addition, the bishops recognized the legitimacy of the workers’ demand for legislative protection for their right to organize for the purpose of collective-bargaining contracts†¦Finally, the U.S. bishops Villarreal 9 affirmed the moral teaching of the church with regard to the right of workers to organize and strike.†18 Chavez reaching out to the Catholic Church and the Catholic Church responding, portrayed to the nation that the farmer’s cause was a religious and moral movement to end injustice. The religious imagery, in turn, united the farmers and it’s followers. Conclusion Cesar Chavez and his religious perspective helped unite people to fight for the farmers. By being acquainted with the writings of Pope Leo XIII, Chavez understood the impact religion can have when fighting for injustices. The Catholic Church preaches good morals and ethics, so Chavez was able to relate his cause to the teachings of the Church. The religious ties brought respect to the organization especially among Hispanics. The majority of Hispanics are very religious people. I know this because I’ve lived in a Hispanic environment all my life. My mother and father are Hispanics and religious faith plays a big role in our lives. In fact, I’ve seen a lot of Hispanics go to the extreme of tattooing the crucifix or the Virgin Mary on their bodies to show their religious faith to the public. It’s the homespun religion we obtain from our elders that keeps the Mexican-American and Catholicism united. Chavez knew the relationships between Mexican Catholics and the Church, so he successfully united his followers by using religious imagery. Dalton, Frederick John. The Moral Vision of Cesar E. Chavez. New York: Orbis Books, 2003. Dolan, Jay. Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. Hammerback, John C., and Richard J. Jensen. The Rhetorical Career of Cesar Chavez. College Station: Texas AM Press, 1998. Ingram, Catherine. â€Å"Cesar Chavez.† In In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists, 98-121. Berkeley, Calif.: Parallaz Press, 1990. Levy, Jacques E. Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1975. Meister, Dick, and Anne Loftis. A long Time Coming: The Struggle to Unionize America’s Farm Workers. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1977. Mosqueda, Lawrence J. Chicanos, Catholicism and Political Ideology. Lanham, MD.: University of Press of America, 1996.

Freedom from Religion: Perversion of the U.S. Constitution Essay

In the two hundred and thirteen years since its ratification, the U.S. Constitution has been the very spine of America—the single-most effective element in the preservation of her sacred liberties. Contained therein are the revolutionary ideals of its framers, influenced by the precepts of Enlightenment and spurred on by their own experiences in the perils of tyrannical oppression. Thus the preservation of America’s sacred freedoms has been the result of a strict adherence to the forefathers’ insights. It stands to reason, then, that the perversion of these freedoms would be the result of a deviation from the original intents of the Constitution’s framers. An attack on any amendment or clause of the Constitution is an attack on the whole. Such an attack has begun to deteriorate religious freedom in America in the name of â€Å"separation of church and state.† In a sense, the United States Supreme Court has dually perverted the First Amendment, making religious expression a federal matter and establishing agnosticism as a national religion. Throughout the history of the world, many types of government have been formed, and can be distinguished by the manner of their religious dealings. In Biblical times, the Israelites were under a theocracy; that is to say their God was their government. Partially due to the restrictions of freedom this imposed, the Israelites became desirous of a kingdom like the other nations had. The type of government they wanted represents one form of autocracy, the monarchy. Monarchies like that in England often adopted a single form of religion, and those who did not agree were put to death. Monarchies generally did not have a â€Å"wall of separation.† A second form of autocracy is exemplified b... ... Communicom. Online. Internet. 5 November 2001. Available WWW: http://www.aclu.org/news/n120997a.html. Gibbs, David C. Jr. â€Å"Defending Christian Freedom in America’s Public Schools.† CLA 1999. Communicom. Online. Internet. 28 October 2001. Available WWW: http://www.christianlaw.org/defending_schools.html. Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist Papers. New York: Penguin Books, 1961. Robinson, B. A. â€Å"Conflicts Between Government and Individual Religious Freedom in the U.S.† Religious Tolerance.org 26 September 2000. Communicom. Online. Internet. 5 November 2001. Available WWW: http://www.religioustolerance.org/govt_con.htm. â€Å"U.S. Constitution: First Amendment.† FindLaw.com 2001. Communicom. Online. Internet. 30 October 2001. Available WWW: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/.

Photovoltaic and passive solar design :: Essays Papers

Photovoltaic and passive solar design The sun is an infinite source of energy for our planet. In 1839 Edmund Becquerel, a French experimental physicist, discovered the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with an electrolytic cell made up of two metal electrodes. His Discovery was never taken to a commercial level until 1950 when silicon was used in semiconductors. In 1973 there was a oil crises in the U.S. and it created huge public awareness about the limited resource of fossil fuels, and led to the emerging market of solar photovoltaic technologies. This awareness was heightened even more by nuclear accidents like Three Mile Island in 1979. There are many different kinds of PV cells but all cells are made from silicon and have no moving parts. They convert light photons into moving electrons, which creates electricity. There are three major types of PV cells that have been developed in Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States. Using an experiment called integrated spectral response (ISR), it is possible to determine the efficiency of each cell. In a laboratory solar cells have proven to be up to 26% efficient. In the real world, however, the efficiency can vary. The light spectrum is what determines the solar cells to be used in a certain area. In order to decide which solar cell is best, the light used must be filtered by using IRS. The cell must also be hooked up to a spectrophotometer. A spectrophotometer measures the wavelength that is used by the solar cell. In an experiment done in Cairo, Egypt the procedure above was followed. The conclusion was that the monocrystalline cell from the United States was the most efficient cell. However, due to the price of this cell it would be better to use more polycrystalline cells made in Germany. Also determined by the experiment was the fact that humidity changes the efficiency of the cells. In a desert climate the US cell was the most effective. In the presence of moisture the German cell was the most efficient (Shaltout, etc). Photovoltaic cells are a great template for current solar panels. However, solar panels take 15 years to get back the energy it took to make them. This is not a very sustainable design. So it is not the only technology being developed.

Stellar Evolution Essay -- Astronomy Space Cosmos Papers

Stellar Evolution A star begins as nothing more than a very light distribution of interstellar gases and dust particles over a distance of a few dozen lightyears. Although there is extremely low pressure existing between stars, this distribution of gas exists instead of a true vacuum. If the density of gas becomes larger than .1 particles per cubic centimeter, the interstellar gas grows unstable. Any small deviation in density, and because it is impossible to have a perfectly even distribution in these clouds this is something that will naturally occur, and the area begins to contract. This happens because between about .1 and 1 particles per cubic centimeter, pressure gains an inverse relationship with density. This causes internal pressure to decrease with increasing density, which because of the higher external pressure, causes the density to continue to increase. This causes the gas in the interstellar medium to spontaneously collect into denser clouds. The denser clouds will contain molecu lar hydrogen (H2) and interstellar dust particles including carbon compounds, silicates, and small impure ice crystals. Also, within these clouds, there are 2 types of zones. There are H I zones, which contain neutral hydrogen and often have a temperature around 100 Kelvin (K), and there are H II zones, which contain ionized hydrogen and have a temperature around 10,000 K. The ionized hydrogen absorbs ultraviolet light from it’s environment and retransmits it as visible and infrared light. These clouds, visible to the human eye, have been named nebulae. The density in these nebulae is usually about 10 atoms per cubic centimeter. In brighter nebulae, there exists densities of up to several thousand atoms per cubic centimete... ...J. Stellar Evolution. London: Pergamon Press, 1967. Shklovskii, Iosif S. Stars: Their Birth, Life, and Death. Moscow: Central Press for Literature in Physics and Mathematics, 1975. Livio, Mario. Unsolved Problems in Stellar Evolution. Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press, 2000. Websites: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy_and_astrophysics Encyclopedia of Astronomy Terms http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/how_l1/spectral_what.html NASA’s Introduction to Spectral Analysis http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/se.html Hypertext Book on Stellar Evolution @ The University of Oregon http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/starlog/staspe.html#c1 Star Spectral Classifications @ Georgia State University http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/96/22/pulsars.html How Pulsars Are Formed @ The Space Telescope Science Institute

Anthem – Ayn Rand

Anthem by Ayn Rand is a disturbing book. It is disturbing in the sense that it opens the reader eyes to a world without individuals. A world without the notion of me, my, I, but only with us, we, ours. This world is one of a collectivist society. Collectivism is based on principals of the â€Å"common good. † Everyone pitched in towards this common good, but in order to do that society could not have any out-liers. Thus, individual rights were taken away. This story is one of hope that shows that no matter the situation the human spirit will continue to fight for itself. There are many strong quotes in this book that further the image of the collective society and show how one young man, Equality 7-2521 fights in his own mind against what society tells him. These images connect the book with outside ideas by not only telling the reader what happens when collectivism goes to far, but by showing the reader what a collective society would look like. One such quote is â€Å"The only thing which taught us joy were the power we created in our wires, and The Golden One. This passage is very significant. The reason being Equality 7-2521 realizes that he does not find joy in society. He finds that he has received joy by his own doing and the choice he has to love one other person. It says in the book that it was considered a sin to look at a person of the opposite sex, but when Equality sees the Golden One he can not help himself. He starts to think that society is wrong. Equality does not understand how society could find the relationship he has with The Golden One sinful. It was one of those â€Å"if this is wrong, I don't want to be right† moments. Equality starts forming his own opinions about life apart from society's opinions. He comes to this realization by remembering how unhappy his childhood was because when he went to school he was whipped for being smarter than the others, and he recalled he had never been truly happy†¦ until now. He sees the connection between breaking the law, and finding happiness and realizes that maybe society isn't as omnipotent as he was taught it was. He found joy in his wires. Like a father beaming with pride for his son , Equality found an inner-joy from his creation that he had never felt before. His life up until this point had been full of oppression, and of being punished for qualities that would be praised in a normal society such as being smart, and handsome. Equality's glass box and wires are something he decided society could not take away from him not matter what. This is the first time Equality had felt true independent and he is not about to give it up. This is the first time he has gone against the grain. He chose to make the wire. He made it all by himself, not him along with 99 other people. This is the first thread of individualism that he lets shine through. It is crucially important because in order for change to occur Equality must separate himself from society completely. If Equality kept depending on society like he was then his life would simply drudge on, and his thirst for something new and exciting would never be quenched. This joy he has found in the Golden One and in his wires will drive him to take a huge leap of faith, and not be afraid to try to make it on his own. They give him the security he needs to trust in himself. The society that Equality lives in is a collectivist society. In collectivism one gives up their rights as an individual for the good of the whole. That sounds innocent enough, but when Ayn Rand takes it to an extreme it seems horrible. At one point in the novel Similarity 5-0306 states, â€Å"Men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men. † The quote taps into the very root of collectivism and could not be clearer. The people of this society had been taught that theme from a very young age. They were taught that they were worth nothing unless â€Å"brother men† needed them. They had no right to exist on their own, that right was taken away the second it became a collectivist society. The reader saw this quote come to life through the everyday life of Equality 7-2521. He is a street sweeper who goes along everyday, all day and cleans the streets for the other people. He picks up all the trash on the streets in front of other people's businesses. And in return, all of the street sweepers are provided with food, clothes, and other necessities. Another huge point is that the society does not use money. This means they have a direct service for service system. Which means that if one wanted clothes in the society, they would need to perform a service for the tailor. Likewise, if the tailor wanted a clean street he would need to make togas for the street sweepers. Everyone is so dependent on each other that they know they can not survive in this society on their own. â€Å"The glass box in our arms, is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built the box for the good of our brothers. † This quote gives us an idea of where Equality got his courage. It took so much courage for him to break out of the detention center and go to the House of the Scholars. It took courage for him to leave into the uncharted forest, determined to find someplace he could call home. This quote is when Equality realizes that the wires he made are more than raw materials, and more then an invention, they are worth his life. They have become not only a beating heart but his heart. He knows that this is what he was living for, this forbidden something that he cannot name yet-Independence. By the rejection of his box, society pushed Equality to do what he has secretly always wanted to do†¦ leave. All of these quotes show the principals of collectivism, which was the main theme running throughout Anthem. Ayn Rand drives in the point that collectivism, although seemingly innocent squashes out any room for development in a society. She also shows the reader how the human spirit is not easily overcome.

Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther

Reformation Websites: Section 1: Life of Martin Luther 1. Fill out the graphic organizer using http://www. Luther. De/en/Enoch. HTML Life of Martin Luther After vaulting his parents, he was caught In a terrible thunderstorm. During the storm lightning struck near him, and he was thrown to the ground. At this moment he called to Saint Anne, and declared: â€Å"l will become a monk. † Why did he decide to become a Monk? When did he decide to become a Monk? During a terrible storm. When did he become a professor at Wattenberg (Germany) university? 1507 he started professed at 1 512 What did he do as a professor?He came into contact with the ideas of the humanists and embraced their slogan. 2. Answer these questions using the map at http://www. Circular. Net/history/ Marcel/Luther. HTML a. Where did followers of Martin Lather's ideas (Lutheran) live? Germany Denmark Sweden Norway Prussia a. Where did followers of another reformer, John Calvin (Calvinist) live? The city of Genoa Sw itzerland. Scotland, England, France, Italy, Bohemia, Poland, and the Dutch Netherlands. B. Was the majority of Europe Catholic or Protestant during the reformation? Protestants Section 2: Luther†s Beliefs 1.Find out what Martin Luther believed about Faith. Read the passage in the following link and fill out the chart. Http://www. Icicle. Org/pub/resources/text/ Wattenberg/Luther/Luther-faith. Txt What faith IS according to Luther What faith is NOT according to Luther living bold trust in Gods graces confidence and knowledge of goddesses makes you happy freely willingly do good things serve people love and praise god holy spiral Followed by good works or Better life Section 3: Luther Posts his 95 Theses 1. Use the following website to fill in the table below on Lather's 95 Theses. Www. Luther. De/en/nonchalant. HTMLCause Event Effect Why was Luther upset with the church? Http:// The people where no longer coming to hem for their confessions they were going to different towns. What did he do about it? He wrote 95 theses which were use as the basis for discussion on the topic. What was the reaction to the 95 Theses? Some humanists approved of these, but parts of the Roman Church completely rejected them What is an indulgence? They supposedly categorized Luther as a follower of the heretic Jan Hush and threatened to have him burned at the stake. What were the 95 Theses? Used for basic discussion on a topic.Section 4: Effects of the Reformation 1. Complete the following chart using http://www. Luther. De/en/banana. HTML and http:// Cause practically declared a heretic both churches wanted Luther to recant his teachings while he was there Luther is excommunicated (explain what happened) trip to worms Diet of Worms (explain what it was) repentance objective clever thought out Section 5: Printing Press 1. Use the following 3 links to answer the questions about the printing press. Http:// www. Definer. Com/history/inventions/story. HTML http://www. Gutenberg. De /English/refinery. HTML a.What is the printing press? Was screw press specially designed to achieve an effective an even transfer b. Who invented the printing press? Genius of Guttenberg c. How does it work? Pressing the letters down to then produce ink on paper d. How did the printing press help Martin Luther? It allowed them to write in a more advanced easier way Section 6: Changing Europe 1. Use the map found at the following link and what you have learned so far to answer the questions below: http://chlorofluorocarbon. Wiseacres. Com/Everything *Europe a. How would a map of the year 1400 be different? (Hint: think religions†¦ T would show where religions migrated or lived Catholic? Because of where their priest where located and what they were taught in that area c. What impact did Luther have on this map? With where religions lived a. What impact did the printing press have on this map? It allowed them to write clearly and readable to all. Section 7: Evaluation Task: You a re going to become a reporter during the early 1 ass's. You will be creating a newspaper article based on an event, the key figures, or problem. 1. You are to write an article on one of the topics listed below: a. Complaints with the Church .Key figures: Calvin, Woozily, Erasmus c. Martin Luther and his 95 Theses d. Compare and contrast common beliefs of the Catholic and Protestant Church (language, ultimate authority & salvation) 2. Research and answer the following questions using the suggested websites in #3. A. Why were people dissatisfied with the Catholic Church in the asses? B. What were Lather's criticisms of the Church? C. How did the printing press affect Reformation ideas? A. Why did Luther want the Bible translated from Latin into German and other languages? B. How did the Church respond to Lather's 95 Theses? C.How did the ideas of John Calvin, John Woozily, and Desires Erasmus influence the Reformation? D. How was Europe affected by the events following Lather's excomm unication? How did the map of Europe change? 2. Suggest website resources: John Woozily http://www. BBC. Co. UK/history John Calvin http://www. Unwanted. Org http://www. Excel. Org http://www. Immersed. Com http://www. Was. Du Desires Erasmus http://www. Gospel. Net http://en. Wisped. Org http://www. Studiously. Com/ Martin Luther http://www. PBS. Org http://www. U-s-history. Com Spreading of Lather's Ideas Church Dissatisfaction Lather's Criticism http://www. Calgary. Ca Reformation http://www. Encouragement. Org http://www. Wisped. Org * 95 theses 95 theses was written by Martin Luther this year 1 517 and is the catalyst for the protestant reformation. It was the sales of indulgence, it centers on the practices within the catholic church regarding baptism and absolution. It views upon how to repent and how to be less sinful. These should be strictly followed by anyone in the church. There are times where you are allowed to relieve your pain or frustration in purgatory. He is focus ing on catholic churches. Please be aware of the new movement. Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther Reformation Websites: Section 1: Life of Martin Luther 1. Fill out the graphic organizer using http://www. Luther. De/en/Enoch. HTML Life of Martin Luther After vaulting his parents, he was caught In a terrible thunderstorm. During the storm lightning struck near him, and he was thrown to the ground. At this moment he called to Saint Anne, and declared: â€Å"l will become a monk. † Why did he decide to become a Monk? When did he decide to become a Monk? During a terrible storm. When did he become a professor at Wattenberg (Germany) university? 1507 he started professed at 1 512 What did he do as a professor?He came into contact with the ideas of the humanists and embraced their slogan. 2. Answer these questions using the map at http://www. Circular. Net/history/ Marcel/Luther. HTML a. Where did followers of Martin Lather's ideas (Lutheran) live? Germany Denmark Sweden Norway Prussia a. Where did followers of another reformer, John Calvin (Calvinist) live? The city of Genoa Sw itzerland. Scotland, England, France, Italy, Bohemia, Poland, and the Dutch Netherlands. B. Was the majority of Europe Catholic or Protestant during the reformation? Protestants Section 2: Luther†s Beliefs 1.Find out what Martin Luther believed about Faith. Read the passage in the following link and fill out the chart. Http://www. Icicle. Org/pub/resources/text/ Wattenberg/Luther/Luther-faith. Txt What faith IS according to Luther What faith is NOT according to Luther living bold trust in Gods graces confidence and knowledge of goddesses makes you happy freely willingly do good things serve people love and praise god holy spiral Followed by good works or Better life Section 3: Luther Posts his 95 Theses 1. Use the following website to fill in the table below on Lather's 95 Theses. Www. Luther. De/en/nonchalant. HTMLCause Event Effect Why was Luther upset with the church? Http:// The people where no longer coming to hem for their confessions they were going to different towns. What did he do about it? He wrote 95 theses which were use as the basis for discussion on the topic. What was the reaction to the 95 Theses? Some humanists approved of these, but parts of the Roman Church completely rejected them What is an indulgence? They supposedly categorized Luther as a follower of the heretic Jan Hush and threatened to have him burned at the stake. What were the 95 Theses? Used for basic discussion on a topic.Section 4: Effects of the Reformation 1. Complete the following chart using http://www. Luther. De/en/banana. HTML and http:// Cause practically declared a heretic both churches wanted Luther to recant his teachings while he was there Luther is excommunicated (explain what happened) trip to worms Diet of Worms (explain what it was) repentance objective clever thought out Section 5: Printing Press 1. Use the following 3 links to answer the questions about the printing press. Http:// www. Definer. Com/history/inventions/story. HTML http://www. Gutenberg. De /English/refinery. HTML a.What is the printing press? Was screw press specially designed to achieve an effective an even transfer b. Who invented the printing press? Genius of Guttenberg c. How does it work? Pressing the letters down to then produce ink on paper d. How did the printing press help Martin Luther? It allowed them to write in a more advanced easier way Section 6: Changing Europe 1. Use the map found at the following link and what you have learned so far to answer the questions below: http://chlorofluorocarbon. Wiseacres. Com/Everything *Europe a. How would a map of the year 1400 be different? (Hint: think religions†¦ T would show where religions migrated or lived Catholic? Because of where their priest where located and what they were taught in that area c. What impact did Luther have on this map? With where religions lived a. What impact did the printing press have on this map? It allowed them to write clearly and readable to all. Section 7: Evaluation Task: You a re going to become a reporter during the early 1 ass's. You will be creating a newspaper article based on an event, the key figures, or problem. 1. You are to write an article on one of the topics listed below: a. Complaints with the Church .Key figures: Calvin, Woozily, Erasmus c. Martin Luther and his 95 Theses d. Compare and contrast common beliefs of the Catholic and Protestant Church (language, ultimate authority & salvation) 2. Research and answer the following questions using the suggested websites in #3. A. Why were people dissatisfied with the Catholic Church in the asses? B. What were Lather's criticisms of the Church? C. How did the printing press affect Reformation ideas? A. Why did Luther want the Bible translated from Latin into German and other languages? B. How did the Church respond to Lather's 95 Theses? C.How did the ideas of John Calvin, John Woozily, and Desires Erasmus influence the Reformation? D. How was Europe affected by the events following Lather's excomm unication? How did the map of Europe change? 2. Suggest website resources: John Woozily http://www. BBC. Co. UK/history John Calvin http://www. Unwanted. Org http://www. Excel. Org http://www. Immersed. Com http://www. Was. Du Desires Erasmus http://www. Gospel. Net http://en. Wisped. Org http://www. Studiously. Com/ Martin Luther http://www. PBS. Org http://www. U-s-history. Com Spreading of Lather's Ideas Church Dissatisfaction Lather's Criticism http://www. Calgary. Ca Reformation http://www. Encouragement. Org http://www. Wisped. Org * 95 theses 95 theses was written by Martin Luther this year 1 517 and is the catalyst for the protestant reformation. It was the sales of indulgence, it centers on the practices within the catholic church regarding baptism and absolution. It views upon how to repent and how to be less sinful. These should be strictly followed by anyone in the church. There are times where you are allowed to relieve your pain or frustration in purgatory. He is focus ing on catholic churches. Please be aware of the new movement.

Israeli-Hezbollah Conflicts: The Insensibilities of War Essay

The world has witnessed again the hostilities of war this year. The terrorist group Hezbollah initiated the spate of violence in the Middle East by sending raiders into Israel from Lebanon. This attack killed eight Israeli soldiers and two others kidnapped, while they launched missiles into northern Israel. Not taking this action sitting down, Israel retaliated by bombing Beirut’s airports, roads and Hezbollah hangouts, killing innocent civilians in the process. It was in June this year that the Hezbollah gained 80 percent of the votes in the Lebanese parliamentary elections in southern Lebanon. This will mean that the group will cover 35 seats in the 128-member national assembly. Despite their popularity in Lebanon, Hezbollah had been involved in the 1982 Israeli invasion and the subsequent U. S. military intervention, engaging in a series of kidnappings and assassinations of Americans as well as the deadly truck bombings of the U. S. embassy and a Marine barracks (Zunes 21). As an organization, Hezbollah essentially means â€Å"Party of God†. Their history emanated to help the Islamic Revolutionary Guards fight active opponents who demonstrated in the streets. The name was used as early as 1973 by Ayatollah Mahmood Ghaffary in Iran. It was resurrected in 1978 in one of the revolution’s slogans: â€Å"Our Party Is the Party of Allah and Our Leader Is Ruh Allah. † The so-called party consisted of a thousand young thugs who infested Tehran’s poor neighborhoods. For a modest monthly allowance, they waged street battles against members of more sophisticated political groups. In contrast to its beginning, the â€Å"party† today boasts a membership of more than one million adherents in Iran alone. Its offshoots in Muslim countries, Europe, and America act as operatives and as a vanguard for the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Lebanon, the party also has a powerful military wing that has bombed Israel and given assistance to militant groups like Hamas in the Gaza Strip (Hoveyda 94). Acclaimed for their notoriety, Zune indicated that: For more than a decade, however, the Hezbollah militia had restricted its armed activities to fighting Israeli occupation forces, initially in southern Lebanon and then — following Israel’s withdrawal in 2000—in a disputed border region with Syria still under Israeli control. Attacks against foreign occupation forces have traditionally been recognized as legitimate acts of self-defense and not as acts of terrorism, a term usually restricted to deliberate attacks against civilian targets (21). Hezbollah’s leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah declared war on Israel because had no option. They could disarm and participate more fully in Lebanon’s government, but that would have meant giving up â€Å"the resistance,† the ideology so central to Hezbollah that it functions as a national founding myth. Their resistance is, first and foremost, an ongoing guerrilla war against Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon until its withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah had weapons to defend their land—rockets, Iranian-made missiles, and drones. It is the source of fierce pride for Hezbollah, the only Arab force to succeed in ousting Israel from its land. But, before anything else, the resistance was a political movement, born decades ago, of empowerment for Lebanon’s eternally despised Shia. In Hezbollah’s collective mind, the Shia have finally emerged on top after being put down for so long, and now they want to prove that they can do what no other Arab country has done: defeat Israel. â€Å"You do not know today who you are fighting,† declared Nasrallah on July 14. â€Å"You are fighting a people who possess strength of faith that no one else has on the face of this Earth† (Ciedlo 14). Due to their own misgiving, Israel is now dealing with crises on two fronts. First, it was carrying out an operation in the Gaza Strip to rescue Corporal Galid Shalit, who had been captured by Palestinian militants. This triggered an ongoing conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants taking place in Gaza. After that, a second operation into Lebanon was launched to rescue Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev — the two soldiers captured by Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Nevertheless, despite the overwhelming task of fighting on two fronts, Prime Minister Olmert ruled out any negotiations with Hezbollah, just as it had foreclosed the discussions with Hamas. Additionally, his government filed a complaint with the United Nations, calling on the Security Council to enforce an existing resolution that required the Lebanese government to disarm militias (Coleman, 29 July 2006). In fairness to the Lebanese government, it denied that they had no previous knowledge of Hezbollah’s activities and would not take responsibility for the abduction of the two Israeli soldiers. To this end, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said, â€Å"The government was not aware of and does not take responsibility for, nor endorses what happened on the international border† (Al Jazeera, 7 July 2006). Experts on the ground in Lebanon also pointed to the fact that despite the existence of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, the country simply was not in the position — politically or militarily — to disarm Hezbollah on its own. With the ongoing scuffles, Lebanese government represented by Social Affairs Minister, Naila Mouawad, called for the two Israeli soldiers to be returned home. She also reiterated Lebanon’s previously-noted position that her government was neither aware of Hezbollah’s plan, nor supported it. With that statement, Mouawad criticized Israel’s response for being too heavy-handed, particularly with regard to the lives of Lebanese civilians. She warned that Lebanon was experiencing a catastrophe and explained that her government could not disarm Hezbollah by force (Coleman, 29 July 2006). Naturally, the reaction around the globe was intense woes that these conflicts might sprout in something bigger, many countries already had requested for restraint from all parties involved. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned both the abduction of the Israeli soldiers as well as the resulting offensive by Israeli forces into Lebanon. Russian, France and the European Union expressed the view that Israel’s response to the capture of two soldiers was disproportionate. But Israeli spokesman, Mark Regev, said that Israel was simply responding to an â€Å"unprovoked act of aggression. † Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, voiced out that Israel should ensure its own security, it should do so in a way that avoided civilian deaths. The Vatican later added its condemnation of the situation – calling for the release of the soldiers by Hezbollah and decrying Israel’s strikes against the sovereignty of Lebanon. On the U. S. government’s part, President George W. Bush characterized Hezbollah as terrorists and supported Israel’s right to defend itself. However, he also warned that whatever action Israel took, it should be mindful of the stability of the Lebanese government. With all these bombings here and there, the head of the emergency relief agency for the United Nations, Jan Egeland, characterized the damage caused by Israeli strikes on Beirut as â€Å"horrific. † He lambasted the demolition job caused by Israel’s retaliatory action against Hezbollah, calling it excessive. He also condemned Hezbollah for â€Å"cloaking itself among the civilian population†, which is causing the rise in civilian casualties. With damages continuing to heighten, Egeland called on both sides to cease their attacks and noted that humanitarian aid would begin arriving shortly in Lebanon. In that latter regard, he appealed for safe access of all civilian evacuees caught between the warring parties. He also said that the United Nations would be launching an appeal for humanitarian aid amounting to $150 million dollars (USD). Egeland arrived in Beirut on the heels of an Israeli strike against the Hezbollah-dominated portion of Lebanon’s capital city. In Beirut, there were four injuries when one strike hit a mosque. While Hezbollah said the facility was used only for prayer, Israel contended that it was one of several legitimate targets used not only for conventional purposes, but also by Hezbollah for its activities (Coleman, 29 July 2006). Israel’s aerial bombing of southern and eastern Lebanon continued. The Israeli strikes had already caused Lebanese engineers, who had been attempting to repair impassable roads, to retreat for safety reasons. The southern town of Sidon several people seeking safety were hit by Israeli strikes. Not spared, the historic city of Tyre was the site of action from both sides. It was one of several places from which some Hezbollah militants were firing missiles and, as such, Israel made it a target of retaliatory strikes. There were eight deaths reported across Lebanon. They included a young boy, a photographer, three people fleeing in a minibus, as well as three Hezbollah fighters. On the other side of the border, two Israelis died in Haifa and over twenty people were injured as a result of repeated Hezbollah rocket attacks. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in July 24, 2006 for talks regarding the crisis in between Lebanon and Israel. Before arriving in the Middle East, Rice mentioned to reporters that the United States still had an embassy in Syria. Her statement was interpreted by some as a reminder that the United States and Syria still shared diplomatic relations that could be leveraged, if necessary. Her first stop was Lebanon where she met with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. In that meeting, she expressed concern for the Lebanese people, while also making clear that Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel from within Lebanese territory could not be permitted to continue. In the backdrop of these developments, the White House announced that it had authorized humanitarian aid to be sent to Lebanon. Secretary Rice, and later President Bush, both conveyed the view that the only possible solution to the conflict was a sustainable ceasefire and enduring peace. The United States’ stance has been that a ceasefire might result in only Israeli compliance, thus subjecting Israel to future attacks. Clearly, this view has not been shared by many world leaders and foreign policy chiefs who have called for an immediate ceasefire, arguing that continued hostilities were untenable, regardless of optimal long-term objectives. Many Middle Eastern experts have further said that no long-term objectives can be achieved, at all, without addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Coleman, 29 July 2006). In an article in the New Republic, Lawrence Kaplan declared that Bush has spent many more hours encouraging Israel than constraining it. This could be analyzed as the US government seems has no more use for Hezbollah than Israel does. â€Å"And, while the organization may not pose the existential threat to the United States that it does to Israel, the administration views it as a crucial proxy for Iran. Critics delight in faulting the Bush administration for viewing the international scene through a ‘state-centric’ lens. But, when it comes to Hezbollah—which boasts verifiable return addresses in Tehran and Damascus—what other lens is there? † In my opinion, the Israeli government is doing more harm than good. Rescuing two soldiers, while endangering hundreds of lives is really irrational. They should have sought the U. N.’s help rather than waging a war that intruded the normal living conditions of innocent Lebanese civilians. War should be the last option rather than an initial response. Now, Israel is seemingly suffering the brunt of all of its actions because of the retaliatory attempts that the Hezbollah troops are waging in Israel’s areas. The U. N. , on the other hand, as well as countries like the U. S. , should have taken proactive measures to put a stop in these conflicts. As stated above, long-term solutions should be delineated from their mediation to avoid the further destruction of both countries. As we all know, there is no long term solution that could be resolved through bombs and guns. We cannot, of course, repeat history by neglecting these conflicts that are costing the lives of many people. Countries cannot repeat the errors in history, where wars had lost not only lives, but properties and the freedom of people. War could not fully reconstruct people’s experiences. We certainly cannot feel other people’s sufferings, although we can empathize with them because we have general knowledge, and many unfortunately have some experience of suffering. The suffering of the victims, especially the innocent ones, is enough reason why Israel and Hezbollah should hold a ceasefire and negotiate about their scuffles. If they cannot understand the destruction they are causing, people around the globe should knock some sense out of these leaders who cannot feel the suffering of the victims. Works Cited Al Jazeera Website. â€Å"Hezbollah Captures Israeli Soldiers,† (July 12, 2006). Acquired 30 July 2006 at http://www. aljazeera. com/me. asp? service_ID=11629 Ciedlo, Anna. â€Å"Entombed† (cover story). New Republic, 235. 5 (July 31, 2006): 13-15. Coleman, Denise Youngblood. â€Å"Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah Mired in Violent Conflict,† CountryWatch Forecast, (July 29, 2006). Acquired 30 July 2006 at http://forecast. countrywatch. com/fc_moreon. aspx Hoveyda, Fereydoun. The Broken Crescent: The â€Å"Threat† of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998. Kaplan, Lawrence F. â€Å"Other Means,† New Republic, 235. 5 (July 31, 2006): 12-13, Zunes, Stephen. â€Å"U. S. Rhetoric about Hezbollah Blurs Reality. † National Catholic Reporter, 41. 33 (July 1, 2005): 21-21.