Management Practices free essay sample

Who are Managers A manager is someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so that organizational goals can be accomplished. A manager’s job is not about personal achievements-it is about helping others do their work. That may mean coordinating the work of a departmental group, or it might mean supervising a single person. It could involve coordinating the work activities of a team of people from different departments or even people outside the organization, such as temporary employees or employees who work for organization’s suppliers. A manager’s work may also include duties not related to coordinating and overseeing others’ work. A manager is one who contributes to the organization’s goals indirectly by directing the efforts of others-not by performing the task himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Practices or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the other hand, a person who is not a manager makes his contribution to the organization’s goals directly by performing the task himself. What is Management Simply speaking, management is what managers do. Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively, by the people responsible for doing them. According to Mary Parker Follett, â€Å"Management is the art of getting things done through people†. (by being with them) Two weaknesses of Mary Parker Follett’s Definition are:- 1. It uses the word â€Å"art† in defining management. To say that management is merely an art is to state a half-truth. Art deals with the application of knowledge. Management is not merely application of knowledge. It also involves acquisition of knowledge i. e. science. Management based on rules of thumb or intuition is not correct management. 2. This definition does not throw light on various functions of a manager. George R Terry defines management as a process â€Å"consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources. † This definition highlights:- 1. Management is a process-systematic way of doing things 2. Four management activities included in this process are: planning, organizing, actuating and controlling. 3. Planning means that managers think of their ctions in advance, which are usually based on some method, plan or logic, rather than on a hunch. Organizing means that managers coordinate the human and managerial resources of the organization. Actuating means that managers motivate and direct subordinates.

Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essays

Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essays Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essay Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essay Soviet Union Leaders in the Post Stalin Era Kareem M. Khalil Fall 2010-2011 Lebanese American University Outline I. The Soviet Union: a. Background about the Soviet Union from 1917-1953. b. Vladimir Lenin. c. Joseph Stalin. II. Nikita Khrushchev: a. Rise to power. b. De-Stalinization. c. Reforms and domestic policies. d. Foreign Policy. e. Expulsion from power. III. Leonid Brezhnev: a. Rise to Power. b. Domestic Policies. c. Brezhnev Stagnation. d. Foreign Policy. e. Death. IV. Yuri Andropov: a. Rise to Power. b. Domestic Policies. c. Foreign Policy. V. Konstantin Cherenko: d. Policies and short office term. VI. Mikhail Gorbachev: e. Domestic policies f. Foreign policy. g. Fall from power. h. End of the Soviet Union. VII. Conclusion Soviet Union Leaders in the Post Stalin Era The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, simply referred to ask the Soviet Union, was a socialist state that spread from Northern and Eastern Europe to various parts of Central Asia. It dated between the 30th of December 1922 and the 26th of December 1991. Until its collapse in 1991, it consisted of almost 15 constituent republics that are acknowledged today as: â€Å"Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan† [ (Rosenberg) ]. The father and founder of the Soviet Union was no other than Vladimir Lenin who managed to set the foundations of the USSR after overthrowing Tsar Nicholas II in November of 1917, and finally establishing a Soviet government in 1922. After asserting himself as the â€Å"Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars of the Soviet Union†, Lenin began planning and implementing new policies and ideas that would affect the USSR, alter and influence the rest of the world even after he passed away. McCauley (1993) describes some of Lenin’s policies during his reign as the following: nationalizing all banks and important business enterprises, distributing lands to peasants, reintegrating several states into Bolshevik Russia, and exporting the communist ideology. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin was appointed as the â€Å"General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). † Stalin, and through outsmarting and slowly banishing his opponents, managed to establish a totalitarian regime and appoint himself as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union in the late 1920’s. Stalin’s period in office was both devastating and costly to the Soviet Union in especially in its domestic policies. Stalin’s five year economic plan (the rapid industrialization of the USSR) produced remarkable results, but cost the lives of around â€Å"14. 5 million peasants† (â€Å" moreorless. au. com/killers/stalin. html, â€Å"), and reaped the lives of almost twenty million people and deported over twenty five others from their homes. Stalin’s gruesome and horrendous rule ended when he died on the 5th of March, 1953. Stalin’s sudden decease left an important void in which many were eager to fill. The outcome of Stalin’s death resulted in a system of collective leadership. The key figures of this communal rule were: â€Å"Nikita Khrushchev, Lavrenti Beria, Nikoli Bulganin, Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and, Lazar Kaganovich† ( fortunecity. com/victorian/riley/ 787/Soviet/Khrushchev/Krushchev. html). During this period, the struggle to instigate a premier to head the Soviet Union faced many turbulences and changes. At the beginning, Malenkov assumed power as acting Premier, and Khrushchev undertook his predecessor’s (Stalin) position as First secretary of the CPSU. Subsequently, and by 1955, Georgy Malenkov was forced to relinquish his position as Premier, and was substituted by Nikoli Bulganin (who was supported and favored by Khrushchev). After Stalin’s death, his successors proceeded to diverge from the latter’s cruel and violent strategies. Surprisingly, and in a six hour speech in the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev criticized and condemned Stalin’s bloody reign. This step forced a considerable amount of pressure to the First Secretary as McCauley (1987) describes, especially with his compatriots in the collective leadership circle. Two assassination attempts later, and a failed expulsion scheme set by Kaganovich, Molotov, and Malenkov against him, Khrushchev still managed to strengthen his power furthermore. Ironically, and in 1958, Nikoli Bulganin was forced to resign by the same man who favored his appointment, and Khrushchev assumed both the position of Premier (on the 27th of March) and First Secretary of the CPSU. Although Khrushchev worked closely and for many years with Stalin, nonetheless he was unusually dissimilar to the latter. Unlike Stalin’s harsh manner and look, Volkogonov (1998) describes Khrushchev as more of a forthcoming, pleasant, humorous, and energetic individual. Their differences are undoubtedly noticeable as Khrushchev embarked on a new policy of De-Stalinization, set to cross out Stalin’s bloody history from the Soviet Union’s international image and its people’s minds. As part of his new policy he began with renaming all the cities that carried Stalin’s name and all pictures and statues of Stalin were destroyed (as not to leave any mark to be a remainder of him). By doing so, Khrushchev managed to obtain an approval from the West and appear as a prominent and distinguished leader than his predecessors, in which Stalin would have almost certainly never acquired or achieved. In his domestic policy, Khrushchev set in motion various agricultural, administrative, and industrial reforms. In the farming sector, he launched his virgin land campaign that sought to improve and â€Å"develop the country’s virgin land and forests† [ (Sakwa, 1999) ], but his strategy proved disastrous. On the administrative level, Khrushchev began with abolishing the courts undertaken by several governmental agencies. He carried one to make the Central Committee assemblies public and open to a large number of Soviet Officials to speak freely in, and used this to his advantage since any declared opposition to him would be shunned out by the large number of his supporters. In the industrial sector, he tried to decentralize ministries and transform them into local councils to become more receptive to any problems or urgent requirements, but these councils did the opposite of what they were anticipated to do. In spite of his decent image with of the West and his more peaceful and reformist approach in the USSR, perhaps little change occurred in his military-defense/foreign policy. He sought after upholding a powerful Communist Eastern bloc. This is clearly revealed with the Warsaw Pact that was set together during his rule. Furthermore, the cold war tension peaked during his reign specifically at the incident of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which he was utterly disgraced and was forced to withdraw the Russian arsenal from the isle. Following his major failures, and by 1964, Khrushchev was ousted out of office when he was vacationing, and was replaced by another collective leadership composed of Alexei Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev, and Nikolai Podgorny. However, and between all the members of the â€Å"troika† (three members of the collective leadership system), Brezhnev was the most prominent and influential figure. This reason may be attributed to the simplicity of Brezhnev’s character. In his book â€Å"Autopsy for an Empire†, Volkogonov (1998) portrays the latter as a traditional, team player, and influential figure able to rally large support to his views in any path he desired. Perhaps the characteristics Brezhnev enjoyed enabled him to further rise over his two fellow rulers, and ultimately break free and become the USSR’s sole executive. Throughout his rule of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev implemented a policy to protect and sustain his rule as General Secretary of the CPSU, but at the same time brought about important reforms despite his conventional mentality. Kelley (1987) explains that Brezhnev, like Khrushchev, wanted to leave a mark in history, therefore he attempted many policy reforms. What made him different than other leaders was that Brezhnev acted carefully with every step he took n a certain field while balancing it with another field. Consequently, and by doing so, he was able to handle his critics and avoid any conflict with them and promote a balanced progress. Brezhnev’s domestic policy first focused on Soviet industries. His plan was to merge different factory â€Å"associations† whereby weaker factories could be reinfo rced by stronger ones in order to hasten the process of modernization [ (Kelley, 1987) ]. He then carried out to abolish the decentralization plans carried out by his predecessor Khrushchev His other important reforms stemmed from the agricultural sector. Brezhnev kept on the principle of collective farming, ordered all Soviet owned land to be increased by a half a hectare, and introduced new machineries to further facilitate and accelerate production. Despite Brezhnev’s intense investment in agriculture, that particular sector was faced with many droughts that affected production. The result of such disasters forced the USSR to â€Å"import large quantities of grain from Western countries† [ (http://countrystudies. us/russia/14. htm) ]. A key feature of Brezhnev’s rule, was the economic stagnation (referred to as the Brezhnev Stagnation) that the USSR’s economy passed through in the mid 1970s. The economic progress had reached its peak during that period, and began to go into stalemate. This can be attributed to several factors being: decreasing standards of living, the small numbers of unemployment that resulted in workers working less and getting paid nonetheless, and the abuse of the Soviet population to the cheap consumer goods and government services. With regards to his foreign policy, Brezhnev’s priority was to reassert the communist influence in the neighboring communist states â€Å"by undermining the influence of China† [ (http://countrystudies. s/russia/14. htm) ]. China was a growing communist influence in the Asian region, and Mao publicly denounced the Soviet foreign policy at the time. The relations between the USSR and China severely deteriorated to an extent that the armies of both countries went to a small confrontation. On the Eastern side Brezhnev created the â€Å"Brezhnev Doctrine†, as a result of some events that took place in Cz echoslovakia. Notably in 1979, Brezhnev declared war against Afghanistan (to enforce a communist government) and the issue remained unsettled until the 1980’s. Several important treaties were signed by Brezhnev at that time including: The Treaty on the â€Å"Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons†, â€Å"Strategic Arms Limitation Talks†, â€Å"Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty†, â€Å"Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. † These treaties helped ease the rising tension of the Cold War Khrushchev initiated and delay the ongoing arms race. Perhaps the most important accomplishment of Brezhnev detente period was the signing of the 1975 Helsinki accord, which strengthened the communists in the Eastern Bloc and raised more antagonism against the US and the West. On November 10th 1982, Brezhnev passed away, and his successor would be Yuri Andropov. The two most notable heirs to the General Secretary of the CPSU position were Konstantin Cherenko and Yuri Andropov. In this short race for to gain the executive position, Andropov had apparent advantage. â€Å"After fifteen years of leading the KGB† [ (Mrose, 2010) ], he possessed a prolonged experience in both foreign and defense policies and had the advantage to gain support and form a strong and large to replace Brezhnev. Therefore on the 12th of November 1982, Andropov was elected to be the next leader of the Soviet Union. Although his term lasted about fifteen months, his policies and some notable events should be mentioned. Brezhnev’s rule resulted in massive corruption amongst several Soviet officials, and as a result, Andropov’s first policy was to reintroduce party regulations to counter this phenomenon. Furthermore, Andropov wanted to â€Å"boost labor discipline† (http://countrystudies. us/russia/15. htm,†). To further explain this point, we refer to the section about how workers became less efficient in Brezhnev’s rule, therefore Andropov provisioned and implemented new rules to regenerate a strong workforce. On the foreign policy level, his rule witnessed even more decline with the U. S especially after the Soviet’s shot down a Korean commercial airplane and killed all its passengers (one being a U. S senator). Perhaps his most important success was finding Mikhail Gorbachev and advancing him towards a higher ranking in the Communist regime. Andropov passed away on the 9th of February, 1984, and was replaced by Konstantin Chernenko. Although Andropov’s wishes was for Gorbachev to replace him, Chernenko (and after a long series of deliberation) was elected to become the new leader of the Soviet Union on the 13th of February, 1984. Kelley (1987) describes the process in which Chernenko reached power as way for the old members of the central committee to preserve their interests on one hand, and because younger member did not figure out their stable path in politics. Due to his very short stay in office, old age, and illness; Chernenko did not have any notable foreign or domestic foreign policy plans. Perhaps the most important event of his time, was the initiation of Gorbachev to replace him. Chernenko passed away on the 10th of March 1985, and was replaced by the final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, on the same day. Mikhail Gorbachev was the youngest elected General Secretary to assume command in the history of the USSR. Volkogonov (1998) describes him to be the 2nd famous worldwide leader Soviet leader after Lenin, and the most contemporary individual amongst them. Gorbachev launched a wide scale reform policy that affected different sectors of the country. His strategy could be summarized into the following: reorganization, more freedom, democratisation, and hastening economic growth. The first goal one Gorbachev’s agenda was to introduce better scientific and technological means and methods in industry and agriculture. Through this means, he aimed at eliminating the long economic stagnation present since the Brezhnev era He soon realized that his aspirations will not have the desired effect unless he changes the political system from within. Therefore Gorbachev replaced several key and old Soviet officials with new energetic and younger ones. He went on to issue laws that control quality production goods, to render the sale of low-grade products. Throughout his industrial/agricultural reform phase, Gorbachev did not abandon his predecessors’ idea of a central planned economy, and tried to promote and strengthen it even more. With regards to reorganizing party ranks, democratisation, and reducing government control, Gorbachev’s second step was to dissolve the Soviet Supreme rule within itself. What began as changes in members of the Central Committee and keys ministries, evolved to draft plans of multi-candidate elections and assign non- party individuals to several governmental ranks. In 1989, he established â€Å"the Congress of People’s Deputies† (a new legislative body) in an attempt to lighten the government’s grip. Gorbachev was elected to become the head of state in the same year (General Secretary position was no longer the supreme executive position), and in 1991 he was elected to become the President of the USSR. Gorbachev’s policy of giving more freedom to the Soviet citizen’s was a new method of rule. For the first time perhaps in the USSR’s history, he decreed private ownership laws that enabled individuals to possess their own businesses. He carried on to divide the government owned airlines at that time to several autonomous airlines. Surprisingly, Gorbachev paved the way to a vast and wide â€Å"freedom of speech† policy to the Soviet citizens. This was used as a tool to silence the conservatives who opposed his reforms. Gorbachev’s new motto with regards to foreign policy was â€Å"new political thinking in international relations† (Holloway, 1988). He first began with normalization of relations with the West and especially the United States in order to reduce Cold War tensions. By doing so, he also wished to enhance both economic and diplomatic relations with the West to reach his goals, rather than confrontation or isolation. This step also helped him promote his domestic policies of reform because the United States at that time had the solution to many of Moscow’s problems. n the December 1987 Washington Summit, both countries met to endorse the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In 1990, the Washington summit was held between the two nations where both countries showed willingness to participate in improving relations on many levels. In addition Gorbachev pursued more diplomatic means with t he United States with regards to arms control. In 1991, both states met in Moscow to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Furthermore, Gorbachev enhanced the Soviet Union’s relations on many sensitive fronts. He engaged in process of improving the relations with China, after the crisis in the Brezhnev era, and succeeded in doing so. The first Soviet-Chinese summit was held on May 1989. Gorbachev carried on to improve relations with Europe where he gave an important speech on the 7th of July, 1987 where â€Å"he insisted on the sovereign right of each people to choose their own social system (â€Å" country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-11378. html† , 1996). Finally, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 in accordance with the agreement signed by the US, Pakistan, the USSR, and Afghanistan in 1988. As much as Gorbachev’s foreign and domestic policies seem constructive, yet they yielded several disastrous results. The economic policy brought about by the government resulted in several food and supply scarcities. The decentralization and loosening the governments grip policy outcome was the disintegration of the Soviet Union within itself, and many of its former states declaring independence. Soon enough, and after severe weakening of the Soviet Union, the August coup of 1991, and the creation of the â€Å"Commonwealth of independent states†; Gorbachev dissolved the Soviet Union nd Boris Yeltsin became the first president of the non-communist Russia. All great empires must come to an end as history as clearly shown us. Its fair to say that although the communist ideology was promoted as the best alternative to the imperial and capitalist means, its implementation was not close to its teachings. As shown in the above, each leader in the long chain of command in the S oviet Union partially or to a high extent drifted away from the original thoughts of Lenin. Each had his own goals, ways of thought, and policies that he projected in different means. Some even went to the extent of shunning the original foundations of communism and rejecting and insulting old leaders. They all had their different agendas, they just hid behind the shadow of the regime in order to reach higher ranks, implement their goals, and leave their own mark in Russian and international history. Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved from fortunecity. com/victorian/riley/787/Soviet/Khrushchev/Krushchev. html. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. us/russia/14. htm. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. s/russia/15. htm (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. us/russia/17. htm (2001, May 23). Retrieved from moreorless. au. com/killers/stalin. html. Holloway, D. (1988). Gorbachevs new thinking. America and the World 1988 , 68 (1). http://countrystudies. us/russia/17. htm. (n. d. ). country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-11378. html. (1996, July). Kelley, D. R. (1987). Soviet politics from brezhnev to gorbachev. New York: Praeger Publishers. Mccauley, M. (1987). Khrushchev and khrushchevism. Great Britain: School of Slavonic and Eat European Studies, University of London. McCauley, M. (1993). The soviet union: 1917-1991. London and New York: Longman. Mrose, C. (2010, November 12). Retrieved from https://www. libertycentral. org/today-in-history-yuri-andropov-assumes-power-in-the-soviet-union-2010-11 Rosenberg, M. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://geography. about. com/od/countryinformation/a/ussr. htm. Sakwa, R. (1999). The rise and fall of the soviet union 1917-1991. New York: Routledge. Volkogonov, D. (1998). Autopsy for an empire. New York: The Free If you need a kind of write my essay online help with another paper topic, contact us right now!

Assessing The Paris Fashionable Concepts Cultural Studies Essay

Assessing The Paris Fashionable Concepts Cultural Studies Essay The concept of ‘Paris fashion’ represents one of the most powerful and long-running place in modern history. But even a cursory examination of the way the term has been used draws attention to the complexity of the notion of the fashion capital, and to the complexity of the fashion process itself. The routine description of the city over the past 200 years as the capital world of fashion contribute to this understanding. ::::Downloads:eiffel-tower-1.jpg Figure 2.2 , Eifel Tower in Paris, Available at: http://www.eiffel-tower.us/Eiffel-Tower-Images/eiffel-tower-1.jpg Paris is the ‘Fashion Capital of the World’. Paris has long been an international hub of fashion design. Paris is home to many distinguished design houses, such as Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Chloe, Givenchy, Lanvin, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton. Paris is also a premier destination for shopping, with streets such as Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honre and the Champs-Elysees hosting boutiques from des igners around the world. Besides fashion and leather goods, Paris is has a number of well-known jewelers, such as Cartier SA, Boucheron, Chaumet, and Van Cleef Dutch design duo Viktor and Japanese deisgners Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, and Junya Watanabe. Pinault-Printemps-Redoute and LVMH, the two major holding companies in contemporary fashion, are both headquartered in Paris. Paris has been interpreted as a world centre of fashion because of its distinctive metropolitan cultures of consumption, both in the narrow sense of shops and shopping, and in a broader sense of the practices associated with the wearing of fashionable dress in the spaces of the city. There has been something approaching a naturalization of Paris’s relationship with fashion, often around the elevation of a certain construction of fashionable femininity to a symbol of Parisian superiority. [Fashion’s World Cities, David Gilbert, 2006] ::::Downloads:christian_dior_haute_couture_2009_01.jpg Figur e 2.3 , Christian Dior Haute Couture fashion show 2009, Available at: http://iamfashioncrazy.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/christian_dior_haute_couture_2009_01.jpg Since the seventeenth century, fashion has been an important industry and cultural export of France, and modern â€Å"haute couture† originated in Paris in the 1860s. Today, Paris is considered one of the world’s fashion capitals, along with London, Milan, and New York City, and the city is home or headquarters to many of the premier fashion houses. The culture of Paris and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. Paris, has played an important part as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth century, first in Europe, and from the nineteenth century onwards, world wide. From the late nineteenth century, Paris has also played an important role in modern art, cinema, fashion and cuisine.

Analysis of International Politic Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis of International Politic - Article Example mon man, in most cases, for over three to four decades in power and still had no inclination to leave office unless they were over thrown from their lofty pedestals which they inevitably were eventually. The sacrifices of these brave people bore fruit yet gradually but surely the euphoria of getting rid of these corrupt regimes is slowly giving way to a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Why? The answer to this simple question is also simple. These dictators ruled their countries with such a strong iron fist that once they are gone they have left behind a huge vacuum which cannot be filled soon. Such was their hold on power that after their removal the whole governmental machinery has come to a halt. Another alarming aspect of this whole scenario is that these rulers were able to extend their illegal governments with the help of the military-mullah nexus. So once they have been booted out of power the only logical substitute are the men in uniform or the Islamic fantasists, an even gloomier prospectus indeed. In fact if we seriously consider the issue these new forces now vying for power in these countries are an extension of the old regimes, as once a scholar wrote: â€Å"New Wine In Old Bottles† (Thompson, 1962: 125). It is fully justified to add that the West, especially the successive United States governments, in order to promote their own interests have been instrumental in safeguarding and prolonging these corrupt regimes and the individuals at their helm and are equal to blame for the misery these rulers have perpetuated on their people, by silencing dissent of any kind though the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedoms (like that of speech) for its own citizens. If conclusion if the regressive forces in favor of status quo are once again successful in occupying the echelons of power in these countries America and the West would be solely responsible for all these sacrifices to have been in vain and a black blotch on Western history,

Cultural Identity Narrative Rubric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Identity Narrative Rubric - Essay Example Since the name of this dish combines two completely different and complimenting meals, some may be confused whether it is a rice like cake or cake like rice or both! Rice and cake don’t even serve the same purpose in a traditional feast, with the former being the main course and the latter being the sweet dish or the dessert that is to be served after the main course. In this sense, the name makes it sound like a dish that has mixed the main course with the dessert, that is quite insane to happen. I have resolved to discuss the Korean rice-cake for two main reasons; first, my father owns a Korean rice-cake company that was previously run by my grandfather and his father even before him. So this company has yet served three generations of my family. Secondly, I want to solve the mystery of its name that I am sure many would like me to do. Along the way, I shall tell you what it is, why it is popular among the Koreans and how to cook it. I shall also briefly discuss my future pl ans of making this dish a specialty of our company. Rice-cake is an umbrella term for a variety of foods made in rice that are given a compact form so that they look like a compact pastry. So it is basically a main course meal that looks like a piece of cake. It is not actually a cake! Rice-cake recipes are made from rice. Rice may be boiled or fried with vegetables. It is pretty much usual rice we eat but when the scattered rice are compacted, it does not only improve their texture but also enhances their aroma and taste. It makes the rice convenient to eat and elegant to present. Rice-cakes have a variety of benefits. They are energy boosters, low in calories, large in fiber content and great to the taste. Rice-cake is one of the very few things I can recall from the days of my earliest childhood. I was only three years old when my father established a small rice-cake company. He started the business from a little shop in the corner of the market that was visible from the window o f my room. Our apartment was just across the road. That shop paid my father off really good. Savings of the first month were ten times as much as what my father would save in a whole year before that. My father would often take me along while going to the shop. The aroma of fresh and tender rice still mesmerizes me. I was too little at that time, so my father’s friends and coworkers used to cuddle me. In their attempt to associate me with my father’s business, they would call me rice names. â€Å"Rice cake, son of grains and Korean food† were some of the names they would call me. It has always been an honor to be associated with rice since it has brought such a profitable business to my father. I am generally a reluctant eater, though saying â€Å"no† to rice-cake is impossible. I have grown up with this food. If there is one thing I am made up of, its rice-cake. It looks good, tastes good, smells good, feels good, what else can one want in a meal? When I was only a hundred days old, my family arranged a party, called ‘Doljanchi’, for me. It is a traditional Korean celebration of a child’s hundredth day after birth. â€Å"The number 100 has an inherent meaning of maturity and perfection, signifying a baby passes through perfection period safely as a human being† (Life in Korea, n.d.). This day has special meaning in Korean culture, and some people believe that it is the time, God answers the parents’

Death of a Loved One Essay Example for Free

Death of a Loved One Essay Devastating occurrences have the ability to completely alter the ways in which you live your life. When these certain situations occur, you have two choices: You can let them destroy you, or you can let them strengthen you. My outlook on life was completely changed when my kind hearted grandmother passed away when I was just a child. I was struck with the realization that life can be taken away in an instant and I need to cherish every moment I have left I this world. In early November of 2006, I was sitting in my choir class listening to my teacher describe the scene a horrific car accident she witnessed the day before. As she was explaining the details of the accident, I was feeling little pangs of sorrow for the victims who were unable to walk away injury free. As we carried on with our class, I couldn’t help but think about how miserable their family and friends must be feeling at that exact moment, they didn’t even see it coming. I soon shook the thoughts from my head and made my way to my next class. While walking down the hallway, I feel my newly purchased flip phone vibrate in my purse and the text I receive from my mother was rather unsettling: Honey, I have some bad news. Â  I reply back asking her what she was talking about, and although I was a little nervous, I didn’t try to dwell on it too much. I only assumed that she wasn’t going to buy me a new pair of Buckle jeans that I was eyeing at the time, so I swallowed my disappointment, and carried on with my morning. Thoughts of not owning those beautiful pair jean were going through my head as my phone vibrates with another text that made me stop dead in my tracks: Grandma was in an accident today. She’s in the hospital with severe injuries and they think she has brain damage. A wave of emotions washed over me and my mind couldn’t stop racing. I always heard about this sort of thing happening to people I didn’t know, people I didn’t care about. Never in a million years did I imagine that my own grandmother would be put in this situation. For once in my life, I was completely speechless. Over the next couple weeks, my grandma’s progress was a roller coaster. Some days she was barely able to open her eyes and move her fingers, and other days she was motionless. One day the swelling in her brain would worsen and the next day it would decrease. There weren’t any clear answers explaining if she was going to be okay or not. We were all holding on dearly to a sense of hope that was keeping us together. Towards the last couple days of her life, my grandma’s progress seemed to have gotten better. The swelling in her brain had decreased a great amount and I was told that it was very possible that she would be able to recover. A wave of a relief washed over me and the grasp I had on hope tightened. I truly believed that she would recover and we would have our caring, loving grandma with us again. The thoughts of her recovery were clogging my mind and I completely forgot that even though there was indeed the possibility of her recovery, the possibility of her death was still apparent. On November 28th, I was woken up by my mother and father informing me that my grandma had passed away that morning. Initially, I didn’t feel any sort of emotion. I was stuck in a daze that I couldn’t get out of. Part of me even believed that this was all a dream, and that I was going to wake up with her smiling face still in this world. Throughout the day, the numb feeling went away, and was replaced with sadness and sorrow. I replayed every memory I had with her in my head while hot, salty tears ran down my cheeks. In that moment, I would have given anything to have her alive and well, baking Christmas cookies with me like we did every year. She didn’t deserve to die and we didn’t deserve to feel this pain. Deep down I knew she was in a better place, a place where she wouldn’t have to feel the pain she felt in this world before she passed. This thought alone helped me and many others get over the fact that we lost our dear grandma. They always say that you need to live your life the fullest; you never know when your time is up. My grandma was the perfect example of a barely 60 year old woman who’s last years of her life were cut short. She made sure that she lived every day to its full potential, and she cherished every moment. Ever since the morning that she died, I made a promise to myself to never let a day go by where I don’t appreciate and love the life I live. Although life is difficult, it is still so very beautiful.

Alexander The Great Essay -- essays research papers

Alexander the Great   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Even at an early age, Alexander had the promise to become a great leader. Through all his victories and conquests, he has become a great hero and has had a large impact on history. That is why I chose he book Alexander the Great, by J.R. Hamilton for my review. Hamilton does a very good job with the story of Alexander the Great.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book begins by talking about the Macedonian homeland and the make up of the people, their culture. Alexander was born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia he was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus. After discussing his parents and their relationship, Hamilton talks about how Aristotle was Alexander's tutor from age 13 to 16 and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. The book then talks about how well prepared Alexander was to take over the throne. Then, in the summer of 336 BC Philip was assassinated, and Alexander took over the Macedonian throne.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hamilton does a very good and descriptive job of how Alexander soon showed his power when the large city of Thebes revolted in 335. Alexander stormed the city with mighty force and took 30,000 people as slaves. An important point the book discussesnext is when Alexander begins...

Maxine Kumin Poetry Analysis

Maxine Kumin definitely has a very shocking way of portraying her poetry. It can easily be seen that she has a deep love for nature and animals. However, it goes to a much further distance than your average person. In the poem â€Å"Morning Swim† and â€Å"To Swim, to Believe† she describes swimming, as obviously mentioned in the title. In â€Å"Morning Swim† she describes becoming one with the body of water as she travels through it. In â€Å"To Swim, to Believe† she describes Jesus walking on the water, as described in the Bible. She states about how Peter had doubt about what Jesus told him to do, and thus as a result fell into the water.This poem demonstrates the importance of believing. â€Å"Heaven as Anus† is a very strong poem. It describes the multiple horrors and atrocities that animals face while they are facing testing and experiments. The poem really stabs at you and expresses its opinion with feeling. For example, â€Å"The whitewall labs fill up with the feces of fear. † (Kumin) â€Å"Requiem on I-89† describes the carcasses of animals being devoured on the road. She shirks in no details at all. The putrid, split carcasses strewn across the road are explained in vivid detail. For example, â€Å"lies on its side, bust open. † (Kumin) Kumin uses very interesting rhyme schemes.In â€Å"Morning Swim† it is pretty straightforward. Every line rhymes with the one following it. In â€Å"Heaven as Anus† I can really only see the first and third lines rhyming, as well as the last two lines rhyming. In â€Å"Requiem on I-89† I can see that no consecutive lines rhyme with each other. Donald Justice does a very good job of using imagery to portray events in his poems. In â€Å"First Death† he describes the death and wake of his grandmother. One quote that really affected me was â€Å"Powder mixed with a drying paste† as I remember the makeup that my late great-grandmoth er wore. In â€Å"Absences† he describes the emptiness of a snow-stricken day.This poem is rather gloomy in tone, as it describes his memories of playing a childhood piano. I really found that â€Å"Men at Forty† was a rather interesting, if somewhat humorous, poem. In it, he is describes how middle-aged men reminisce about certain things. For example, remembering teaching their sons how to tie their shoes. â€Å"The face of the boy as he practices tying. † He says â€Å"There are more fathers than sons themselves now,† alluding to the fact that at this point in the men’s lives (at least in this time period) their children are growing old enough to the point where they are beginning to move out.Donald Justice rhymes his poem â€Å"First Death† in a very simple matter. Every line rhymes with the subsequent line following it. This goes on for all of the forty-eight lines that it contains. I could honestly find no evidence of rhyme in his poem â€Å"Children Walking Home From School Through Good Neighborhood. † The same is the case of â€Å"Absences. † This reinforces the concept, that comes from previous readings as well, that rhyme is not needed at all to create great works of poetry.

Candide and Free Will

Voltaire's Candide is a novel that is interspersed with superficial characters and conceptual ideas that are critically exaggerated and satirized. The parody offers cynical themes disguised by mockeries and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life narrowed to the concept of free will as opposed to blind faith driven by desire for an optimistic outcome. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic by Pangloss, his cheerful mentor, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world through the eyes of the troubled character, Martin.This raises the question of whether or not the notion of free will is valid due to Candide’s peculiar timing of his expression for it. Some readers might think that Voltaire's novel Candide suggests that belief in free will is absurd. However, a close reading of the text suggests that Voltaire does not deny free will altogether. Candide is in complete control of his actions and ideas during times when an agreeable reality poses not to be enough, which explores Voltaire’s message that true reality is the ability to identify the deficiency of human conventions.Candide’s journey to attain the balance between submitting his will completely to the opinions and actions of others and taking control of his own life through blind faith highlights the notion of free will throughout Voltaire’s novel. Throughout the novel, Voltaire represents mankind as being consumed by immediate personal problems. When the characters of Candide virtually have no troubles or dilemmas, Voltaire illustrates how they do not express their happiness and contentment for it, but rather portray their feelings of boredom and a desire to involve themselves within the complex social constructs of the world.In chapter eighteen when Candide and his valet Cacambo enter the glorious city of El Dorado, Candide expresses the city’s extravagance and how it i s incomparable to any other, even when compared to his overvalued Westphalia. Voltaire described â€Å"the public edifices raised as high as the clouds, the market places ornamented with a thousand columns, the fountains of spring water†¦which were paved with a kind of precious stone which gave off a delicious fragrancy like that of cloves and cinnamon† (45) to illustrate the decadence of El Dorado, and how it was virtually a utopia that no man could resist.However, Candide held enough free will within himself by opting to leave the splendor in order to â€Å"recover Miss Cunegonde† (46). This event solidifies some readers’ opinions that belief in free will is absurd, for Candide uses it for irrational and perverse means by hoping for a finer future. El Dorado serves as a symbol to Candide that there is more the world has to offer after having been taught that he was already living in the best of all possible worlds while in Westphalia.The fact that he came across such magnificence paradoxically influenced his choice to leave since he thought he could find better than El Dorado, which demonstrates the faults of human conventions about how Candide could not distinguish between true and optimistic realities when he already had quite possibly the best world right in front of him. Once again, this substantiates readers’ ideas that free will is outlandish and nonsensical. â€Å"If we abide here we shall only be upon a footing with the rest, whereas, if we return to our old world†¦we shall be richer than all the kings in Europe† (46).He is not aware of the ramifications of his actions, of his professed free will, and believes that only good things will come to him as a result of his foolish autonomy. Voltaire presents the characters as having emotional lives that shift between worries and boredom with almost no periods of prolonged happiness. Pangloss’ influence instructs Candide to submit to blind faith that the o utcome of all will be well, and that all events happen for a reason. â€Å"It is demonstrable that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for all being created for an end, all is necessarily for the best end† (1).Under these assumptions Candide says, â€Å"There can be no effect without a cause [†¦] The whole is necessarily concatenated and arranged for the best† (6). This philosophy that everything is fated to be good omits the validity of free will that Candide later claims to have since he is man and therefore above the animal world, because no matter what man does in part to shape the entirety of his future, Candide was taught that the outcome is predestined to yield an optimistic and hopeful reality. The belief that everything happens for a reason and where the reason is good is incompatible with the act of free will.Therefore, any efforts of free will are futile because they cannot change the predetermined outcome, making its concept essentially nonexi stent. This logical cycle strengthens and endorses readers’ ideas that free will is incongruous with faith. Candide is a naive character that is in complete control of his ideas and actions despite the influence from others. In chapter two when he is captured by Bulgarians and given the choice between death and running the gauntlet, he groundlessly uses his free will to receive an intense degree of torture and anguish. He was asked which he would like the best, to be whipped six-and-thirty times through all the regiment, or to receive at once twelve balls of lead in his brain. He vainly said that human will is free, and that he chose neither the one nor the other† (4). Candide tries to argue that having free will meant not having to choose, because being a human retaining that free will meant he had the choice not to make a choice. However, his attempts are thwarted when he is forced to make a decision for his fate, where â€Å"he determined, in virtue of that gift of God called liberty, to run the gauntlet six-and-thirty times. He bore this twice† (4).During a time when death clearly presented itself as the unusual superior choice, Candide foolishly picked the lesser of the two options. By choosing â€Å"four thousand strokes, which laid bare all his muscles and nerves, from the nape of his neck quite down to his rump† (4), Voltaire proves to readers that having free will is an absurd notion. He reinforces readers’ ideas that preserving belief for free will only leads to self-destruction due to Candide’s imprudent use and inappropriate application of it. Voltaire’s Martin provides a slightly more realistic albeit largely negative slant of the world that readers can more easily identify with.Martin says that the world has been formed â€Å"to plague us to death† and that â€Å"it is a chaos – a confused multitude, where everybody seeks pleasure and scarcely any one finds it† (54-55). In chapt er 21, Candide asks Martin if he believes â€Å"that men have always massacred each other as they do to-day, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauches, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools† (55).Martin is deeply struck with pessimism, feeling the world is doomed to evil and destruction, and responds with a valid question as an answer: â€Å"Do you believe hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them? † (55) Martin’s insight to the fixed cycle of nature demonstrates how he perceives man’s nature to be just like one of beasts. Candide firmly counters and says â€Å"there is a vast deal of difference, for free will† (55) Candide, though easily influenced, senses that there is something more which exists between the contrasting worlds that both Pangloss and Martin have presented to him, which is free will.However, this claim is inconsistent with his belief that blind faith is the key to an optimistic reality, because once again, faith and free will are concepts that counteract and negate each other. At this point, readers’ opinions that free will is a meaningless and hollow notion is underpinned because of the fact that it is the only aspect that Candide cares to explore as the sole difference between man and animal that ultimately proves to be insignificant since man does not use it wisely or properly.In chapter two, Voltaire describes how â€Å"it was a privilege of the human as well as the animal species to make use of their legs as they pleased† to justify going for a walk (4). Here, Candide states that animals in fact have their own will to walk, which contradicts what he says to Martin in chapter 21on the discussion about what differentiates man from animal. Throughout Voltaire’s satirical novel Candide, readers are exposed to the two major themes reg arding fate and free will, and how each belief is exemplified through various hollow characters such as Pangloss, Candide, and Martin.Candide frequently wavers between the two beliefs, and Voltaire ultimately comes to the conclusion that people have free will and must shape their own future based on their actions in the present rather than pursuing the idea that blind faith driven by desire will lead to optimistic results. In the end, Candide achieves equilibrium by accepting that he must exist between spiritual devotion and unpredictability through free will, when he says, â€Å"we must cultivate our garden,† as Voltaire famously declares in the ultimate chapter (87).This seemingly superficial parody engages the reader and makes them reflect about whether or not free will is actually free will and what aspect of Candide is in control of it. Readers perceive how human nature is incapable of constant happiness because of how desire handicaps free will, and are ultimately made aware of how Candide must create his own reality based on action rather than blind faith.

Do you give yourself a break

Do you give yourself a break Pressure! When you are job seeking, or running a business, or possibly both, you might put a lot of pressure on yourself to keep working; take the next action step; schedule your life better; stop procrastinating; or some combination of all these things. Achieving results does require action, and there are 24 hours in a day last I checked, so it is valuable to get things done reliably and frequently. But continuously? No matter how much we might like to think we can keep going and keep doing, sometimes we just need a break. The Release Valve Where I often go for down time is Viroqua, Wisconsin, a town in the country about 100 miles from my home in the city of Madison. A little artistic oasis surrounded by farm country, Viroqua boasts a food coop and holistic healing center. I go there because, for just a couple of days, I achieve a sense of timelessness. One activity guaranteed to produce that timeless space is picking berries. I get up early and walk to the raspberry patch and there is nothing but me and the colors of ripe and ripening fruit. One berry at a time, one prickle at a time, I zone out until my collection container is full. While picking, I don’t know whether minutes or hours go by. I am present. I am happy. Achieving Timelessness It’s not always berries that get me to that state. This trip I reached a similar state by spending time with a three-year-old. But picking fruits and veggies reliably transports me into timelessness. Sometimes I engage with the aliveness of apples, snap peas, or clover flowers. I am fortunate to know several families in the area, all of whom grow edibles and have wild berries on their land. I also have a small garden myself, complete with one lone blueberry bush, several fully grown broccoli heads and a burgeoning zucchini plant- but it’s not quite the same as a garden in the country. This latest trip to Viroqua was the start of my â€Å"birthday week† and it was as perfect as it gets. Topping it off, as mentioned above, was the opportunity to read stories to my friends’ 3-year-old girl (she will be reading to me pretty soon!). I also relaxed and unwound with a few sessions of bodywork from some amazing healers, David and Susan Breitbach (see www.wiseworldseminars.com to learn more). And the work gets done The miraculous thing about these trips is that although I spend what seems like hours picking berries and snap peas, and hours driving, and more hours with body workers David and Susan, I always get my work done. It just doesn’t feel stressful to do it. Then I return home, fortified to take more action steps and get results that bring in more monetary income than a bowl full of berries. Do you take care of yourself? Do you give yourself a break (at least once/year on your birthday)? What gives you that prized sense of timelessness that fuels you for your action items to come? And if you don’t give yourself this gift, what are you waiting for?

Privacy and Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Privacy and Security - Essay Example The leaked documents revealed operational details of a global surveillance apparatus run by the NSA and other members of the Five Eyes alliance, along with numerous commercial and international partners.[3]The public and government officials are divided on the rightness and legality of these programs, but President Barack Obama defends their constitutionality, urgency, and effectiveness as he believes in the tradeoffs between security and privacy. Other commentators claim that privacy should not be traded off in any way for better security. It is argued that the need for security is not threatening Americans’ right to privacy because the state is balancing them in the best way possible. The need for security is paramount, however, and should override privacy concerns because it only preserves public safety by reasonable authority, surveillance, and approval of Congress, some politicians, and courts. The need for security is not threatening Americans’ right to privacy because the state is doing its best to balance both interests. First, President Obama himself assured the public that it is not listening into every call that Americans make. Wiretapping and listening to other data can be considered as a â€Å"search† that can breach the Fourth Amendment, but this is not what the government is doing. Instead, the government is only studying data trends. Lara Jakes and Darlene Superville report on the specific procedures of the government, clarifying that the program does not include listening into calls, but only monitoring the origin and duration of calls. This means that the government is not fully breaching privacy rights. The article no longer explained though how data trends and call location can identify suspicious activities. Jakes and Superville add that if there are specific numbers that are perceived as suspicious of terrorist intentions, intelligence offici als â€Å"must return to court to get approval† before

Military discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Military discourse - Essay Example It is inevitable rivalries will arise due to the intense competitive and fighting spirit of all military personnel that results from the very nature of their jobs. In this regard, this paper will examine some of the unique military discourses of the Ground Forces of the Army to which I belonged. The Ground Forces of any armed forces is usually the biggest and most well-funded unit of the military service of a country. This is because it forms the bulk of military personnel needed to fight a war which is usually fought on land. Because of their size, members of the Ground Forces feel a sense of entitlement and priority when it comes to military appropriation for their budget such as that used for the acquisition of weaponry. The nature of war makes it imperative for a military unit to be flexible which is why it happens there is an overlap of the functions of each service. When this happens, rivalries arise due to encroachment of functions and a threat to a service branchs primary responsibilities. The rivalry can intensify to a point of being destructive such as a lack of cooperation although it can improve the esprit de corps. Obedience – being a member of the Ground Forces, I was witness to many of its rules regarding military discipline to maintain unit cohesion. Discipline is the backbone by which the ranked hierarchy is being reinforced daily through total obedience. Discipline is instilled in all recruits right from the very beginning, at the start of their training. The most important rule to remember is the notion of â€Å"obey first before you complain† which is second nature to every military person.