A Comparative Study on Family Education

Abstract: In a lifetime , family is the first school , in which parents are the first teachers for the children . Children are the hopes of a nation , and family education is the elementary education for children . There are many types of family education in the world and each of them shows distinctive features and is closely responsive to its culture . And American family education is the most famous one among them . There are great differences in the concepts of education , aim of education , methods of education and contents of education between American family education and Chinese family education . This thesis will complete the comparative study from the differences , the reasons and the results of family education between America and China . The author hopes to find a satisfied family education method through comparing the differences between American family education and Chinese family education . At the same time , the author hopes this thesis can provide some helpful suggestions for family education in order to make children grow more healthily and roundly . Keywords: family education childeren differences education for all-around development Main Body: . The differences of family education between America and China: 1. The concepts of family education are different . The different education concepts between America and China lead children to receive differert education . In China , many parents only care about whether the children have a promising future , a good job , a good life or not . Based on these expectations , the majority of parents feel that their responsibility for their children is to create as good conditions as possible they can so that the children will not worry about anything in the future . Chinese parents would like to provide everything what they can for their children in the process of children’s growth . In short , they would like to sacrifice anything if their children can live better with their help . Therefore, in the process of children’s growth, the most important thing the parents concerning is to develop their children’s intellect , except for caring children’s daily life . In order to make their children have a good performance in study , become outstanding , or even become a famous person n the future , they would not let children do anything except studying . Contrastively , American parents generally believe that the growth of childeren must rely on their own strength and experiences. Based on this concept , most American parents emphasize more to train their children’s ability of independence once they are born because they think that children should form a self-supporting will and the capacity to live independently sin ce their childhood . And the capacity comes from the training in the early age . In the film ?Gua Sha Treatment? , there is a scene that Datong orderded his son to apologize to his boss’s son when his saw his son was fighting with his boss’s son . What’s more , he slapped his son in the face when his son refused to apologize , which gave his boss aquite a shock . His boss became confused why the father would show the regret by striking his son . This scene and the boss’s confusion reflect the different concepts between the two countries . Traditonal Chinese family education emphasize kindheartedness and bedience , so we can say that Chinese parents like Datong in the film always want to model their children . On the contrary , America children have more rights of autonomy because their parents emphasis on justice and freedom in the process of family education . 2. The aim of family education are different . The aim of family education is to foster the childeren to grow in some direction by family education . It is the restrictive factor for the direction of family education , deciding the general effect of it . So the aim of family education is the core of family education and the fundamental reason for the differences between the two countries on family education . There is an essential difference between two countrys’ aim of family education , with to expect the child to become an outstanding personage and to hope the child to be an comprehensive and independent person giving expressions to the difference . To most Chinese parents , the aim is expecting their child to be a â€Å" dragon † , which is â€Å" wang zi cheng long † in Chinese . But American parents take hoping the child to be a man of ability which is â€Å" wang zi cheng ren † in Chinese as their aim . For Chinese parents, their aim is to do anyting to support their children to get high marks . What forms apparent contrast to it is , America parents give their children more training about improving abilities . They try to train their children to have the ability of adapting to environmental variety and the ability of living independently . 3. The methods are different between America and China . The differences of concepts and aim cause the childen to be taught by different ways and methods . In Chinese family , affected by Chinese traditional culture , parents educate children by â€Å" control † and â€Å" seal † type . There are three tips for it : (1)Chinese parents prepare all things for their children in daily life . In Chinese family , children don’t have to do any housework . (2)Chinese parents protect the children to excess in social activities . Many children are prevented from exposure to the outer world because their parents worry about children’s being affected by bad things . (3)Chinese parents have a rather strict attitude toward children’s study . Parents regard the grades as the only standard for future success . â€Å" Tasks Sea † strategy is often used in study . Chinese children are tired of doing many extra exercises . So Chinese children spend more time in studying than doing other things . What about America children ? Let’s talk about the famous film ?The Pacifier? . In the film , it may be unconcious , but Shane Wolfe had let the kids master many skills by training them during the time when he cared them . So American parents bring up their children by the method of â€Å" letting go † but â€Å" not indulging † to exercise children’s abilities of independent living . 4. The different contents of family education between America and China . The differences of family education between the two countries are also reflected in the contents of family education . Although the contents of Chinese family education can also devided into moral education , intellectual education , physical education and artistic education , but intellectual education has been the most important one since they go to school . However , the contents of American family education is abundant , which pay more attention to the harmonious development of language , emotion , knowledge and so on . It is so-called â€Å" education for all-around development † .

Arduino

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TECH. (EE 306) Arduino Research Date: 2013/2/16 INTRODUCTION In this brief report we will discuss a family of electronic boards called Arduino. At the beginning we shall provide an overview of the Arduino boards and what they are. After that we will tackle the board’s component and how the board works. Finally an example of one of the applications will be shown. WHAT IS AN ARDUINO? An Arduino board is simply a microcontroller board. The board is designed with the purpose of facilitating the use of electronics in projects. The use of the board was intentionally made easy so that anyone can use it.The board comes with a software called the Arduino Integrated Development Environment. The software is used to program the Arduino board to do the required operations. An Arduino board receives inputs from different sensors and responds by controlling different types of actuators. It is also worth-mentioning that the board and its software are open-source. It mea ns that anyone can do anything with the board and its software. This nature has made the Arduino boards very popular among users because everyone can innovate with the board and share their innovations.However, this nature has also allowed clones with inferior qualities to be sold under the Arduino name. COMPONENTS There are many types of Arduino boards. Some components vary from type to type, but a simple Arduino board that can be built at home have the following components: 1- An Atmel Microcontroller. 2- LEDs. 3- Resistors. 4- Capacitors. 5- Clock Crystal. 6- Switch 7- Voltage regulator. 8- Connection pins. 9- Diode. 10- Transistors. An Arduino board’s capabilities can be extended by the use of shields. Arduino shields are boards that can be mounted on the Arduino board to perform different tasks.For example the Xbee shield allows multiple Arduino boards to communicate wirelessly, the motor shield allows the Arduino board to control a DC motor. 2|P a ge HOW IT WORKS In gen eral, a code is put in the memory of the board and then processed in the microcontroller. This code interacts with inputs and outputs. Inputs can be signals coming from sensors (light, voice, heat, etc. ) or results from another processed task. After processing the inputs in the microcontroller and applying the codes from the memory, the result comes in an output form (alarm, light, etc. ).Codes are written in the memory by connecting the Arduino board to a computer. Connecting the Arduino board requires the use of an ICSP header or a USB cable such as the one found in the newer versions e. g. Arduino UNO (see figure 1). An Arduino board can be powered from a USB cable, an ACDC adapter or a battery by connecting it in the Gnd and Vin pins. Figure 1: Connect Arduino by USB EXAMPLE OF APPLICATION Blinking LED In this example, we will use the Arduino board like a timer to turn a LED on for 1 second and off for another second. 3|P a ge To do this function see the code below; / Example B linking LED const int LED = 13; void setup () { pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); } void loop() { digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); delay(1000); digitalWrite(LED, LOW); delay(1000); } The First line written after // is a comment that does not affect the program. In the second line, we define the constant attached to pin 13 as LED. After attaching the LED to the pin, we decide whether the LED should be an input or an output, in this case, we chose output. Next, we write the processing code, (digitalWrite(LED, HIGH);) this means to provide voltage to the LED, (delay(1000);) means waiting 1000ms ? s, (digitalWrite(LED, LOW);) means cutting off the voltage, (delay(1000);) the same process, which is waiting 1s. This code will be repeated in a loop. CONCLUSION An Arduino board can be a great starting point for anyone interested in microcontrollers. The board is easy to use and has a wide variety of applications. There are many tutorials available in the world web for the board due to its popularity. Although the board has many advantages, it still has its own limitations. REFERENCE [1] Arduino site, (http://arduino. cc/en/) [2] Simply Arduino, Eng. Abdullah Ali Abdullah, (http://simplyarduino. com/? page_id=5) 4|P a ge

Examine the Key Influence on Operations Which Contributes to the Business Success Essay

This Report will examine how the major influences on Operations which contribute to the success of the business with focus all of the major eight influences, these include Globalisation, Technology, Environmental Sustainability, Legal Regulations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Quality Expectations, Government Policies and Cost based Competition. This report will also examine the impact of the influences on businesses such as Billabong, Westpac, Holden, Woolworth and Coca-Cola. Globalisation Globalisation is the internationalization of trade and often forces businesses to adopt new strategies for operations to suit different cultures and economies. The often easily saturated domestic market has triggered many large businesses to expand globally for the purpose of increased sales and profits. Globalisation allows businesses to enter new markets, increase the size of their product range and the size of their operations, thus leading to the successful business. One such business that has successfully undergone the process of Globalisation is Billabong. Billabong’s approach in their expansion into foreign markets has allowed the stakeholders of the business to access to the numerous advantages of globalisation, such as the expansion through new markets. New Markets Billabong commenced with global expansion with the aim to increase revenue and profitability as their original domestic niche market became increasing hard to expand, as the surfing demographics geographically was limited to coastal areas. Today, Billabong is a major transnational surfing brand, producing mass customized outputs to meet the demand of the potential customers at the global market. This is done through the Global web strategy, which allowed Billabong to carefully select from a list of appropriate proximity global suppliers which can make up a predictable and reliable supply chain that is highly responsive to changes in demand that will be experienced by the business. It is evident that Billabong has successfully been influenced by Globalisation with over 70% of its revenue being generated from overseas markets. Technology Many business use existing cutting edge technology to design, construct and or apply innovative devices, machinery and methods upon the operations process. The goal is to provide opportunities for their businesses to apply new breakthroughs, innovations, and inventions to both administrative and processing level of Operations, with aims to increase efficiency and logistics in production process, lower prices, increase their market share and a higher return for the business’s shareholders and thus gain competitive advantage in their target market and leading the business a path to success. One particular business that has integrated very well with technology is Woolworths. Woolworths’s approach to technology, especially in its processing level has let opportunity for the business to increase efficiency of operations via improving the supply chain management. Woolworths Project refresh was put in place on the operation process in 1999 with aims to increase efficiency via utilising technology and is prove successful. An example of technology used in Woolworth is the IT system called AutoStockR. It is used to forecast when supermarket shelves need to be replenished. This type of technology can effectively prevent stock from running out, which leads to increase of customer satisfaction and reliability on the brand and ultimately leading the business to success. Quality Expectation Consumers are becoming increasing orientated to the marketing process of a business; as a result, customers began to have an expectation to the level of quality that they will receive from the product outputs by businesses. These expectations involve: *Quality of design *Fitness for purpose *Durability An operations manager needs to make sure that the goods produced are of the required quality that is expected by the consumers that is they are safe and reliable. For any businesses not able to achieve the expectations assumed by the customers on the quality of the product produced by the business, can lead to a decline in sales and ultimately business failure. Cost-Based Competition Cost has traditionally being a major influence on all business as all businesses desire to achieve maximum efficiency as it is a vital factor for businesses in order to reach the ultimate goal and success. Businesses sees cost as the key value to success and aims to become as much cost efficient as possible, by implementing a cost-leadership style approach to the operations variable cost or fixed cost ,while maintain the expected profit margin, business is able to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors in their target market. This is called cost-based competition. By determining the break-even point and applying cost saving strategies, to reducing cost, businesses who apply cost-based competition in their operations is able to maximize the profits and lead business to success. Government Policies Regardless of the nation of the business may be operating in, all aspect of any business must comply by the laws and policies of businesses set by the government of that nation in order to success. Political policies often alter business legal regulations and thus leading to business opportunity, such as taxation rates, WH&S standards, public safety and health policy, and environment policies all contribute to business success. An example of recent government policy is Carbon Tax. The introduction of the Carbon Tax in 2012 will see many carbon-intensive businesses, such as electricity companies, restructure their operations to more renewable energy sources, as this will reduce business costs and possibly allow them a competitive advantage thus leading business to success. Legal Regulations The legal influence on the business is a complex issue as the legal system with each nation has a fundamental difference on how the legal regulation influences on the operations of a global business. The range of laws set by each individual nation which businesses must comply is collectively termed compliance. The cost of expenses to meet and integrate the legal regulations to meet the compliance is very influential on the business’s cost and ultimately the operations process. In Australia, the legal system recognizes the contemporary issues exists many large industries exploiting their workers and place upon businesses to protect the labor market and the public health and environment. Some of these laws include: *Workers Health and Safety Act:  *Anti-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Act: *Fair work and Anti-discrimination law Environmental Sustainability As global consumers became increasing aware of the current environmental problems, such as pollution, global businesses are required to identify the key structural changes needed, which may affect demand and supply conditions for their products and eventually their success. This is done through integrating the goals outlined by the environment sustainability laws into their resources and operations planning and practices in order to receive a good image with their target market and maintain their market share which leads the business to success. One of the businesses has completely complied with the legal regulations to sustain the environment is Holden. Holden’s approach to sustain the world environment, such as the integration of the business goals with the goals outlined in the environmental sustainability laws has maintained a good image of the business assumed by the market.To comply with the legal regulations set by the government, and to maintain customer satisfaction, Holden focus on reducing energy, water and waste as operating performance indicators has successfully reduced their carbon footprint demanded by the government and consumers and maintained their market share. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Business in the modern global market extends their objectives from just complying with the legal regulations in their operations to reach maximum financial gain to â€Å"service to society and community† by taking account of their business practices based on the respect for people, community and the broader environment. Businesses who have that change of objectives are aiming to achieve corporate social responsibility. Formerly known as the triple bottom line, corporate social responsibility places same value on profitability with social justice and environmental protection. Businesses with a positive CSR image will gain high reputations among the stakeholders, thus leading to business efficiency and ultimately business success. However, the notion of CSR can also be exploited as a marketing ploy, thus criteria and measures have been established for prevention. Some of these measures are: *Ethical responsibility It is standard for many businesses to operate at the level of legal compliance permissible as it means to maintain cost efficiency and thus maintain profit at a maximum. However for businesses who truly integrate corporate social responsibility into their business practices aims to meet all legal obligations and taking into account broader social, community and environmental concerns. One of the businesses who have taken on ethical responsibility on their business operations practices is Westpac. Westpac demonstrate ethical responsibility in many ways, such as its target of 40% of senior management positions being held by women by 2014. *Environmental Sustainability As mentioned earlier the principle of ecological sustainability requires business to evaluate their operations strategies affected by the environment and produce new and better products in an ecologically sustainable manner as the business focus coincides with stakeholder expectations. For example; Coca-Cola demonstrates corporate social responsibility in regards to environmental sustainability through its extensive water recycling program, which has significantly reduced water wastage at the company’s production facilities in Australia and around the world. This type of CSR actions by Coca-Cola has led the stakeholders’ good impression of the business which ultimately leads to business success. Conclusion This Report has examined how each of the major influences such as: Globalisation, Technology, Environmental Sustainability, Legal Regulations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Quality Expectations, Government Policies and Cost based Competition on Operations contributes to the success of the business. This report also had examined the impact of the influences on the businesses such as Billabong, Westpac, Holden, Woolworth and Coca-Cola.

Analysis of the Firm and Competitive Advantage Essay

Analysis of the Firm and Competitive Advantage - Essay Example It is a series of activities (i.e. a production process) that constitutes a chain creating and building value. The summation of these generated values is called the total value performed by an organization ("Value Chain Analysis"). It is "full range of activities that are required to bring a product from its conception to its end use and beyond" (qtd. in "Basic Concepts"). A value chain is divided into two parts: primary activities and support activities. The former is a collection of essential activities (e.g. inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, service) that builds up the actual production process of a product, while the latter activities (e.g. procurement, technology development, human resources management, and firm infrastructure) bolsters the former, ensuring its effectiveness and productivity ("Value Chain Analysis"). The performers of these activities may be found in a single firm or in various firms in different countries. Global value chains is an internationalization of the production process wherein different countries act as participants in the various stages of production of a particular good. Under this operational system, quality and efficiency of production is optimized since the site of a specific stage of production is in a place where it is done in the most efficient and most economical way ("Global Value Chains"). The modern day textile industry is among those that heavily rely on the global value chain to subsist. With the proliferation of branded and designer clothes, the clothing industry has become a sought-after commodity that requires the specialization of different countries to produce a quality product that satisfies the discriminating preferences of its consumers. Belonging to the buyer-driven type of global value chain, "those wherein large retailers, marketers, and branded manufacturers play pivotal roles in setting up decentralized production networks in various exporting countries." (qtd. in Gereffi and Memedovic 5); the developing countries, which mainly constitutes the exporting countries under this set-up, have a great opportunity in participating in the global business scene. One of the countries that maximize its competency in textile global value chains is China. Endowed with lush flora used as raw materials for producing cloth and populated by hundreds of millions of workforce that receives one of the lowest wage rates in the world, China has definitely an edge in producing textiles and apparels. Statistics have proven that they are indeed the world's top apparel exporter, producing $39.2b worth of apparel in the year 2000, which comprises 14.5% of all her export items. With all these advantages in their favor, Chinese textile firms really have competitive advantage over American companies (Gereffi and Memedovic 29). The Esquel Group, one of China's leading producers of premium cotton shirts, exhibits this competitiveness as against US firms. Though cotton is also grown on American soil, efficiency and economy propels the success of Chinese firms, particularly of Esquel Group. The Esquel Group's Global Value Chain The Esquel Group manufactures clothing for well-known and highly esteemed global brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Brooks Brothers, Abercrombie and Fitch, Nike, Land's End, and Muji. They also supply

Curriculum History of the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Curriculum History of the United States - Essay Example tes formal education system experienced a relative period of stabilization that allowed institutions to come together under a common ideal (Zais 1976). Even as curriculum development began to gain structured form, initial developments occurred through the gradual accumulation of diverse subjects: mathematics was followed by an array of sciences, including botany, anatomy, physics, astronomy, and geology. Soon after this subjects for non-college bounds students were added, such as typewriting, woodworking, and metallurgy. However, the ultimate array of subjects remained haphazard, unlike the well-structured form it progressively attained. Recognizing the haphazard curriculum, in 1892 a famous committee was formed to help add structure to the loosely formed curriculum. The group was termed the Committee of Ten and was headed by the President of Harvard at the time – Charles Eliot. The committee understood that the unstructured format of the current education system was pernicious to societal development, so they set out to bring order to the chaos (Zais 1976). Eliot and the committee determined that the greatest means to accomplish this would be to have the curriculum adhere to the already established college structure and function solely to prepare students for higher education. As a result, the core courses that had come together immediately after the Civil War were kept and substantiated, yet the elements of the curriculum designed for students not college-bound was discarded as unnecessary. Historians and educational theorists regard this last point as especially relevant to the changing view of learners ov er time, as its underlining assumption was that these core courses, even if they didn’t target specific vocational aspects of the learner’s development, would have the ultimate benefit in preparing them intellectually for whatever task they undertook. Even as these earlier curriculum formulations considered the development of the human, it wasn’t

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 17

Marketing - Essay Example These strategies are divided broadly into strategic scope and strategic strength. 2 A strategic scope relates to the demand of the products or the services that the company deals in and it focuses on the demand size and the component of the market. Strategic strength focuses on the supply of the products or services. Porter then came up with three strategies that reduced the broadness and the ambiguity of the previous strategies; these strategies included cost leadership, differentiation and market segmentation. The three strategies are drawn in a cube with the focus strategy being in the narrow segment and the other two being relatively broad.3 According to Porter, companies that gain a competitive advantage are those that strive to combine the three strategies effectively. Market segmentation can be combined with the differentiation strategy and ripe the company very effective results. Combinations of the strategies that are grouped in the broad category of the cube are a bit difficult to combine but that does not mean that they do not take place. Segmenting the market into niches helps the company to scope itself, increase the concept of demand and increase the company’s market share. Market segments also affect the strategies that relate to innovation and give the company the edge technology. This is because reducing the size of the market gives the company the specialization of the market and therefore, a chance to concentrate on aspects of improved technology. This presents the company as the pioneers of innovation. A multi-dimensional approach is a kind of approach where the company incorporates all the variables of market segmentation in coming up with its niches. These variables are broadly divided into; geographic variables, demographic variables, psychographic variables and behavioral variables.4 2.1 Geographic Variables – this is the

Information proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information proposal - Essay Example Most people are unaware about their own role in starting such fires and there is a need to inform the public regarding the same. People often undermine their own role, and mistakenly think that for a fire to occur there has to be some outward factor or person involved. This Informational Documentary will narrate the story of one such homeowner whose house caught fire due to his own misjudgment and carelessness. Attempt will be made to inform the viewers about how to avoid such seemingly harmless carelessness that can have such terrible consequences. Moreover, it will also try to guide viewers about what steps to take once such a fire has been started and how to minimize the resulting damage to people and property. First of all some statistics will be provided that show just exactly what the percentile of the household fires is that are caused by such carelessness. It is estimated that around 14 people a day are victims of household fires, mostly children and the elderly fall into the victims list. A burn victim, who was involved in such an incident whereby his/her own carelessness started the fire, would be showcased and his/her present condition as well as what s/he did wrong and how s/he could have avoided the accident would also be shown to the viewers. A fire safety officer will also be interviewed who will inform the viewers how to avoid such fires and what to do in case such a fire erupts. The fire safety officer will also be asked to demonstrate how best to escape such a fire, in this regard; the help of the local fire department, preferably the one to which the fire safety officer himself belongs, would also be elicited. Short interviews of those who escaped such fires, and how these fires were caused, would also be recorded. The precautions to be taken to avoid such fires or to detect them as early as possible, like the newest smoke detectors and the like would also be taken into

International Business Operation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Business Operation - Assignment Example The company has to consider factors ranging from assignee traits, role and preparations before sending out expatriates. Some of these are as discussed below; York (2010) acknowledges that extroverts are people who easily build relationships and socialize with new staff and stakeholders quickly. Cultural Sensitivity; similarly, the company should shortlist only those managers who portray ethnic diversity. According to Treven, (2003) individuals who have had firsthand experience with ethnic diversity usually adapt faster in international cultures unlike those unfamiliar with the same. The company is thus required to consider candidates with ethnically diverse origins. Such individuals may be those whose parents are immigrants. Adventurous; Adventurous individuals are the best candidates for expatriate assignments (Li 2016). This means that they should have a positive record of adventurous behavior upon their sleeves. Thomas, Peterson & Thomas (2014) further concur that individuals with profound interest in experiencing and socializing with new people tend to adapt easily in offshore environments than forlorn characters. For example, managers who have regularly travelled overseas should be given first priority. They must have also participated in activities involving sporting groups, community development and volunteer work.

Contemporary Issues in business and management Essay

Contemporary Issues in business and management - Essay Example Sustainability refers to the voluntary activities of the company, which show that it is committed to environmental and social concerns, according to the ways it administers its operations and in its dealings with its stakeholders (Van Marrewjk & Verre, 2003). This paper will discuss the challenges encountered by the leaders of the organization, in their attempts to incorporate CSR, and particularly that related to the impacts of their business activities, in the light of the models, theory and the analytical tools related to CSR, change and innovation management and leadership. Further, the paper will evaluate the ways in which companies are going green, giving some examples. The era for applauding the economic prosperity of corporations as a stand-alone area has ended, as corporations, societies, governments and agencies are questioning the impacts of corporate activities and actions (Orlitzky, Schmidt and Rynes, 2003). This change of outlook requires firms to redirect and split their attention towards increasing its economic performance, while at the same time filling the position of good corporate citizen. Filling these positions requires companies to keep in touch with global trends on maintaining commitment to the two major goal areas; meeting private and public needs (Henderson, 2007). These new demands have forced corporations to review their rules, frameworks, and business models. Among the most responsible companies, it is a daily practice to review short and long-term plans, so as to stay safe and at the front line in the rapidly changing world. There has been a change in the way that companies consider their place, paying reference to local an d global stakeholders (Holcomb, Upchurch and Okumus, 2007). There has also been a change in the management of the relationships maintained between companies and its stakeholders, particularly with customers, suppliers, investors,

A rhetorical analysis on How Society in the United States Views Research Paper - 1

A rhetorical analysis on How Society in the United States Views Abortion and what impact the media has on that view - Research Paper Example Iyengar, Shanto; Hahn, Kyu S. Red Media, Blue Media: Evidence of Ideological Selectivity in Media Use. Journal of Communication, 59.1 (2009): 19-39 - This article is geared towards showing that the public is always aligned towards media houses that cover news that are aligned to their political interests. It follows then that there is a partial selectivity on the news that people on National television due to a perceived bias. Such a trend is worrying and may erroneously inform the public which negatively impacts the society. The article concentrates on proliferation of biased media houses which is important for this paper in the abortion debate perception. National Survey of State Laws. Abortion. 16th Nov 2012. Web 2008 http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/abortion.aspx - This is the primary text that provides information about the different legislations that govern the abortion debate. Most of these legislations are quite controversial and they have led to a polarized public with two extreme views on the debate. Rohlinger, Deana A. "Friends and foes: Media, politics, and tactics in the abortion war." Social Problems 53.4 (2006): 537-561 - This paper concentrates on how politics and the media interplay to inform the public about the abortion debate. Both politics and media strategies influence each other in presenting facts about sensitive debates touching on the US public. The media on its part employs different tactics to bring out their messages to the public which influences perceptions of controversial issues in US. As such, this article provides important information on the broad tactics used by media and enhances knowledge on the dynamics of politics in the abortion debate. Weitz, Tracy A., and Yanow Susan. â€Å"Implications of the Federal Abortion Ban for Womens Health in the United States.† Reproductive Health Matters, 16.31 (2008): 99-107 - Authors of this article expound on the impacts of the Partial Birth

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

English - Essay Example Ideally, the bodies giving censorship to books, films, and music, radio or television programs and artistic expression ensure that the information they think is unacceptable to the members of the public and threatens the socio economic and political order of the state has been altered. Specific bodies like the government, religious body or even privet groups are capable to impose censorship on artworks, film, music, and television and radio programs among others. Various forms of censorship exist namely, preventative which is done before publishing the expression, licensing, prior restraint by the government, self-censorship, and punitive censorship usually done after the publication of the material. Basically, in most cases, it is done to protect the public from filthy materials or information especially the children. Some individuals are against censorship as they argue that it deprives them their right to be freely express themselves. Censorship can be done in order to uphold the societal moral values like in the case of censorship to pornography films. Moreover, the stability of the state and the togetherness of people in a nation can be maintained or protected wherever there is censorship to media to reconsider the information they are distributing to individuals. ... In the United States, right to free speech has been clearly provided by First Amendment of the Constitution. Therefore, freedom of expression and right to free speech correlate and so people should be entitled to freely express themselves whether in television, forums or in any form of artwork. Artists have however, claimed that their creativity and art have been somehow negatively interfered with the so called censorship. According to some artists, censorship has restricted creative expression since one has to limit and revise their materials without being displayed to the whole public. But still artists, individuals and other media personalities can entertain people and transmit the intended message without any indecent or coarse words. The following are examples of censorship from my personal experience, from the article by Inglis called, â€Å"The Ed Sullivan Show† and from a general perspective. To start with, when I was about twelve years old, my parents were very keen o n which channel I was watching, which programs I was listening to, and the peers I was hanging out with. This to them was a way of ensuring that I learn good manners and be a responsible person in future. For this reason, they censored almost everything in my life and even at school, teachers tended to do the same arguing it was for our own good. I would argue that, yes there are certain words, music that cannot be aired in popular radio stations where they can be heard by everyone including the innocent children. However, today there are many programs that demand for particular audience. For instance, at the beginning of certain programs, there are indicated PG to block children from watching or listening to them or parents are advised to

Gun Control Argumentative Essay Example for Free

Gun Control Argumentative Essay I stumbled over an argumentative article that at first, I did not understand completely. After doing a little research over the topic the author was discussing I quickly connected to his concern for her current children, as well as other children nationwide. What I learnt during my research is about the â€Å"Common Core Standards† that hundreds of thousands of schools follow and teach each year. She set her tone early in the paper so the reader could get an emotional stance on her position. Most common to side with the â€Å"non-common core standard† group is the mothers and fathers of children that are enrolled in many different schools. Whether it’s public or private, and religious or non-religious; each following one of the two choices they have. They can teach the Common Core Standards, or have a choice of what they believe each child will be able to keep up with. Each and every child is different, none are exactly the same. In saying that there is no possible way that the common core is an effective and well established standard for schools to follow. What one child can grasp easily and quickly may take another child longer and need another method of learning and studying in order to be as well knowledgeable as the first student. Others believe that the Common Core Standards are needed for schools to teach ids what they will need to be successful in their future. They see each child as someone that can study and try harder if they are not caught up with the other children, for they are all alike in their learning ways and don’t need special care when learning complicated material. As I see it, when they see a child that struggles in school should try harder or else they will fail, and that’s the end of it. No help to the struggling student or help towards the student that they should want to succeed and thrive in their future. She starts her opinion with a real-life experience that many can relate to. Whether its parents or grandparents they have tried their hardest to give their children what they thought was best. She tells us about how she has sent her 2 daughters through many schools, that have failed to provide her  daughters with the education she believed was right. They (the school) believed that every student was able to learn and act upon that learning in the same ways. She searched and searched through religious schools, private schools, and public schools; until she found one that believed in the power of the student. They moved from the east coast to Colorado where her daughters were enrolled in a school that allowed the girls to escape the corrupted, dumbed-down curriculum of an overpriced private girls school. She uses some examples of mothers that have started home-schooling their children for the sole purpose to get away from the Common core standard, they believe that they will be able to teach their children better than any teacher or school can because they can teach at the pace of the child. Therefore, the children learn in a way that is better for them and will expand the knowledge that they gain throughout their school years. She uses quotes from a mother that is also in her shoes to prove to people that this is a concern that has spread throughout our nation and is making parent take action to change the problem our children face every day Michelle states that â€Å"We were blessed to find a community of parents and public school educators in Colorado Springs who embrace high standards, academic excellence and strong character education for students of every race, creed and class,† she uses words and examples that are easy to understand and comprehend to even the simplest o f minds. All in all Michelle used real-life situations that weren’t only easy to relate to, but also to show her point of view easily and clearly. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone were to respond to the message Michelle is sending to us. Teachers would base their lesson plans on each individual student, pushing for that student to thrive in their studies and achieve what they know they can do. To plan studies that would work best with the students learning abilities. The school would look at the student as an individual, not as the whole student body as the same person. They would stray from thinking that no one is different from another on their learning abilities. Race, ethnicity and social status would not play a part in the education or outcome of each student’s achievements within the school. If no one pays attention to the message Michelle is sending to schools, teachers, and parents around our country; nothing will change. The education of our children, grandchildren, and great great grandchildren will struggle to  learn the material our government thinks they need to know, and learn how they think every student can learn. Our government controls many aspects of our live and environment, why let they control the way we learn and what we learn. They don’t know each individual personally, they have no knowledge on our learning abilities and the struggles we will face with learning certain material throughout our school years. Our educational departments in our nation will only decrease throughout the year if nothing is changed about our educational aspects in children’s lives. Michele did an excellent job on drawing the reader in with a personal story, kudos on the ethos. She wanted people to feel the pain her and her daughters felt throughout their years in school. Struggling with the materials because their teachers neglected to teach in a way that would be more suitable to their learning abilities, which would lead to higher test scores and higher colleges. Her tone, I believe, was perfectly out into this paper. Not to forward to the reader but was easily established in the paper so the reader could identify which side you were defending and the points you would be making throughout the paper. I think that her personal experiences, knowledge, and research are what made her opinion convincing. Knowing that she knew what she was talking about and could answer questions on this topic if need be was very reassuring that she knew her topic well enough to write an opinionated paper in a way to sway even the toughest cookie to her side.

Effect of North Korea on Peace and Security

Effect of North Korea on Peace and Security North Korea and North East Asian Peace and Security Current security issues in North East Asia, raised by North Korea Nuclear Test. Please examine how far North Korea can affect the peace and stability in Northeast Asia and how other countries such as America, Japan, China, and Russia react on this issue. And lastly, How to solve this security issues permanently and increases future stability in the area? Contents (Jump to) Abstract Introduction Chapter One North Korean defence and foreign policy misrepresented or a threat to peace and security? Chapter Two – Containing the North Korean threat to peace and security in the North East Asia Region Conclusions Bibliography Abstract The following dissertation will discuss and evaluate North Korea’s influence and effect upon peace and security within the North East Asia region. This dissertation will evaluate North Korea’s relationships with other countries in the North East Asia region such as South Korea, Japan, and China. Countries from outside the immediate North East Asia region like the United States, Russia (as the largest successor state of the Soviet Union) and to a lesser extent Britain and France also have an interest in the North East Asia Region. All these countries have an interest in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear tests. For instance these countries must consider how the actions or the potential actions of the North Korean government are able to influence or effect peace and security within the North East Asia region. Non-governmental organisations like the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) have taken a great deal of interest in how North Korea effects the peace and security of its immediately neighbouring countries. These organisations are taking North Korea’s nuclear programme as well as its ballistic missile capacity into account when they regard the North Korean threat to peace and security going beyond the confines of the North East Asia region itself. This dissertation will evaluate the development and changes in North Korean government policies that have influenced and arguably threatened peace and security of the North East Asia region from Korea’s initial division at the end of the Second World War through to the present day. North Korea has been regarded as a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region ever since Pyongyang’s decision to invade South Korea provoked the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. The Korean War as will be discussed set the mould for North Korean defence and foreign policies, whilst ensuring the importance of the relationship with China and Russia. The North Korean regime, as will be shown, has been very reluctant to embrace and adopt any kind of economic or political reforms, preferring to use its scant resources on maintaining and expanding its military capacity. It is also continuing its nuclear weapons programme, long drawn talks having yet to result in effective nuclear disa rmament, and thus undermining peace and security within the North East Asia region, and when issues of nuclear proliferation are concerned outside that region. Finally the following will explore whether there are any ways in which North Korea can finally become a country that its neighbours in the North East Asia region could trust and believe will not threaten their common peace and stability rather than a country that they mistrust. The United Nations is an organisation that could offer the North Korean assistance to overcome its failed economy in return for the ending of North Korea’s nuclear programme and potentially aggressive foreign policy. The main onus for international efforts to contain North Korean nuclear weapons development has been by the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. The prospects for the international community being able to monitor and eventually close down North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, dismantling any weapons already constructed will also be discussed and evaluated. Introduction Korea has a long history of being a definable and separate nation state, although it was for many centuries subject to Chinese and later Japanese control (Lenman, 2004, p.450). Japanese control of Korea was ended by its defeat in the Second World War, which would inadvertently lead to the partition of Korea (Whitaker’s, 2007, p.892). The division of Korea was caused by the way that the Allied powers liberated the country from Japanese occupation, United States troops cleared the south, with the Soviet Union being responsible for clearing the north. This was intended to be a temporary division along the 38th parallel that would provoke the hottest conflict of the Cold War, as well as creating a dispute that continues to destabilise the peace and the security of the North East Asia region. As with the division of Vietnam the division was purely carried out as a reflection of the distribution of American and Soviet armed forces at the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1 945 (Gaddis, 2005, p.41). It was Kim Il Sung who had previously fought the Japanese for many years that emerged as North Korea’s first political leader, and he would be the man most responsible for his country’s attempt to re-unite Korea by force. Kim Il Sung was also responsible for North Korea’s subsequently militant defence and foreign policies that has remained stridently anti-Western, militaristic, and potentially aggressive towards its immediate neighbours in the North East Asia region ever since. It was Kim Il Sung that decided to re-unite Korea by force, after his realisation that diplomacy would not bring about such a re-unification led to the plan to invade South Korea, although he seems to have pre-empted similar plans that the South Koreans had hoped to implement. Kim Il Sung went ahead with that invasion with the approval of the Soviet Union and China, and the apparent indifference of the United States, which had already withdrawn its military garrisons from South Korea durin g 1949. However, the North Korean invasion which, was launched in June 1950 persuaded the United States to lead the United Nation’s forces into defending South Korea and driving the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. The United States had been able to take advantage of the Soviet Union’s representative not been at the United Nations due to the Soviet decision to boycott the organisation due to Communist China being excluded from the Security Council (Evans Newnham, 1998, p. 293). The United States decision to intervene in the Korean War started its long -standing military alliance with South Korea to guarantee South Korean security from the continued threat of North Korean aggression. The Korean War itself would drag on for three years with the North Koreans having to rely on large-scale Chinese military intervention and covert air support from the Soviet Union. North Korea only survived after the American led United Nations forces had captured the majority of North Korean territory due to Mao Zedong sending in the Chinese army. The conflict could have escalated, due to the involvement of Soviet aircraft that could have provoked a war between the superpowers yet both Moscow and Washington did not want an all out war to start due to the Korean War (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). After the Korean War the prospects for Korean re-unification seemed to be remote, with the two Korean states being integrated into the alliance systems of the Soviet Union and the United States respectively. North Korea was therefore firmly in the communist camp, and initially enjoyed strong and productive political, economic and military relationships with both China and the Soviet Union. South Korea was a willing member of the United States alliance system and received substantial monetary and military backing from the United States, and later significant economic investment from Japan that would make it wealthier than North Korea. The United States government was not bothered by the Seoul’s regime lack of democratic practices just as long as it remained fervently anti-Communist (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). Kim Il Sung’s North Korean regime was in contrast avowedly Marxist-Leninist in ideological outlook, whilst trying to create a strong sense of North Korean nationalism that was decidedly anti-American and increasingly isolationist in perspective (Heywood, 2003 p. 179). The Korean War meant that neighbouring countries such as South Korea, Japan, and China kept an interest in political and diplomatic developments that involved North Korea, the former as potential enemies, the latter originally as an ally. The balance of power during the Cold War meant that North Korea could only pose a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region if that suited the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent China. The Kremlin to a large extent kept the regime in Pyongyang in check, not wishing to provoke further conflict, and realising that the United States would not tolerate North Korea attempting to invade South Korea again, or indeed developing its own nuclear weapons. On the other hand the Soviet Union exported missile and nuclear technologies to North Korea as part of its military and economic aid packages to the Pyongyang regime (Gaddis, 2005 p. 6 0). The fighting during the Korean War was heavy, the agricultural sector being particularly adversely affected, and the war had devastated North Korea’s economy. American bombing had also heavily damaged the North Korean capital city, Pyongyang. The number of North Korean fatalities, 419,000 was testimony to the high human costs of the conflict, with around 3 million people dying during its course (Castleden, 2005, p.299). The scale of destruction did not prevent a strong economic revival and rapid industrialisation, although most of those improvements were brought about by considerable amounts of help from China and the Soviet Union (Castleden, 2005, p.300). Large-scale industrialisation in North Korea would therefore have undoubtedly been much harder to achieve without that substantial aid that North Korea received from China and the Soviet Union. The Soviet decision to export nuclear technology to North Korea, for the non-military use of generating electricity would later allo w Pyongyang the opportunity to start its own nuclear weapons programme. That would have been unthinkable at the height of the Cold War, as neither the Soviet Union nor the United States would allow any of their satellite states to disturb the nuclear power balance between them. However, once the North Korean regime believed that the Soviet Union and China would no longer offer North Korea any meaningful kind or level of protection that is indeed precisely what the North Korean regime decided to do (Lenman, 2004, p.451). North Korea would continue to operate a planned economy even though that would eventually fail to adequately support its military build up and its civilian population. The North Korean government opted to keep its military infrastructure expanding rather than attempt economic reforms or adequately providing for its people (Heywood, 2003 p.137). The Soviet Union would have certainly disapproved of North Korean plans to develop its own nuclear weapons, yet the Soviet U nion’s influence upon North Korean military and defence policies had waned long before its own disintegration in 1991 (Gaddis, 2005, p.264). North Korea arguably became a threat to the peace and stability of the North East Asia region due to the nature and character of its hard line Stalinist regime. Kim Il Sung was a Marxist dictator in the mode of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. However for the majority of the Cold War period the North Korean threat was seen to be much less pronounced to the non-communist parts of the North East Asia region than the more obvious threats of the Soviet Union and China (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). Kim Il Sung’s craving for power meant that North Korea dedicated and continues to dedicate a large percentage of its national budget and resources towards internal repression and building up its military strength to threaten the other countries of the North East Asia region. However, North Korea’s conventional weapons would not be enough to successfully invade South Korea whilst the United States continues to offer full protection against such attacks, even if their purchase had almost bankr upted the Pyongyang regime (Castleden, 2005, p.303). Despite the faltering of the North Korean economy in the last two decades or so, Pyongyang seems to be more interested in threatening South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons than feeding its own population. Although North Korea should be wary of what happened to its erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union whose excessive and unsustainable military expenditure played a major part in its eventual collapse (Tipton, 1998, p.434). However, although the North Korean regime decided to start its nuclear weapons programme that decision violated North Korea’s formal and legal pledges not to proliferate its own nuclear weapons. North Korea had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had joined the IAEA, which meant that it was not supposed to start its own nuclear weapons programme at all (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 68). For the North Koreans there were other examples of small and large sized states that had already broken their promises and legal commitments not to develop their own nuclear weapons. Those states nuclear weapons programme with varying degrees of reaction from the official nuclear powers of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, China, and France. Countries such as Israel, India, and Pakistan have gone on to successfully acquire their own nuclear weapons with little or no action been taken against them to make them give up those devices. The North Korean regime understood that it c ould develop nuclear weapons with the possiblity that the United Nations and the leading powers would not be able to take any effective action to take those weapons off North Korea (Fukuyama, 2006 p. 80). Chapter One North Korean defence and foreign policy misrepresented or a threat to peace and security? Since the foundation of North Korea as a separate nation state its defence and foreign policies have been geared towards the re-unification of Korea on Pyongyang’s terms, rather than South Korea’s terms (Rayner Stanley, 2006, p.234). As far as the North Korean regime of Kim Il Sung was concerned the re-unification of Korea was not an issue that should concern any other countries apart from North and South Korea themselves. It was the context of the Cold War that complicated the strategic, military and diplomatic situation concerning the dispute between North and South Korea about which country should over power the other to dominate a re-unified Korean state. In military terms North Korea is the strongest, in economic terms South Korea is the strongest (Tipton, 1998, 434). On the one hand the assistance of China and the Soviet Union was useful for the economic development of North Korea and also as a means of building up the country’s military power. On the othe r hand the Cold War meant that the United States was more alert about the need to protect the countries in the North East Asia region that were opposed to communism, like Japan, South Korea and South Vietnam (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). The Cold War meant that the United States was unwilling to allow any more parts of North East Asia to fall under communist rule. After all the presence of United States forces in Japan had allowed the United Nations forces to resist Kim Il Sung’s invasion of South Korea. North Vietnam would eventually overcome South Vietnam despite the best efforts of the United States, yet the terrain of Vietnam was different from that of Korea and the North Vietnamese had better military tactics than the North Koreans (Hobsbawm, 1994, p.228). Whilst the Cold War continued, North Korea was not seen as the main threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region, superpower rivalry meant that the Soviet Union and the United States mistrusted each other more th an they mistrusted any other state. China would also emerge as a major power within the region, one that eventually took independent policy decisions from those of the Soviet Union. The United States government however, remains wary of North Korea’s intentions towards the rest of the North East Asia region (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). The peace and security of the North East Asia region altered during the 1960s, not as a result of changes in the Cold War, but as a result of alterations in the relationship between North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. The regime of Kim Il Sung had not wished for North Korea to be reliant upon either China or the Soviet Union as soon as the country had recovered from the Korean War and had become economically self sufficient. By the mid 1960s the North Korean regime believed that it become self-sufficient and no longer such high levels of aid from China or the Soviet Union. Kim Il Sung wanted to maintain military links with China and the Soviet Union, yet did not wish for North Korea to be a mere client state of Beijing or Moscow. North Korea was not going to be like the majority of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe were in relation to the Soviet Union. Although of course the North Koreans did not have to worry about invasion by the Soviet Union if it took much of a n independent from Soviet policy (Castleden, 2005, p.301). North Korea’s military power was originally reliant upon Chinese and Soviet built equipment and the regime could not afford weapons from any other countries outside of the communist bloc (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). Under Kim Il Sung’s leadership North Korea could not get away from its close economic links with the Soviet Union until the latter’s collapse in 1991, which in turn would have very detrimental affects upon North Korea (Watson, 1997, p.246). The strong relationship between China and the Soviet Union declined dramatically towards the end of the 1960s resulting in border clashes between the two states. The break down in the relationship between China and the Soviet Union meant North Korea’s most powerful allies would spend more time arguing with each other than the United States. Pyongyang did not back either state publicly although Kim Il Sung regarded the Soviet Union as a more reliable ally, and unlike Beijing, Moscow did not occasionally make insulting comments about the North Korean leader (Watson, 1997, p.240). Whilst the North Korean economy seemed to enjoy impressive growth rates from the 1950s through to the 1970s, the country arguably did not have or develop the infrastructure or indeed have the resources to become a serious threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. North Korean economic policy was heavily influenced by the planned economies of China and the Soviet Union, and was as unsuccessful in North Korea as they had been in China and the Soviet Union (Heywood, 2003 p. 152). Kim Il Sung’s regime collectivised agriculture and began the process of large-scale industrialisation. The collectivisation of agriculture commenced in 1946 when estates with Japanese owners were confiscated in the north under Soviet guidance (Tipton, 1998,p.304). Collectivisation and the modernisation of agriculture increased the life expectancy of the North Korean population. Industrialisation at least during the 1950s and 1960s appeared to be impressive. However much of that economic growth was due to the revenues raised from the export of natural resources to the Soviet Union and the receipt of aid from the Soviet Union (Watson, 1997, p.246) Economic growth could have been stronger if it had not been hampered by Kim Il Sung’s decision to make expenditure on the military as high as possible, and his government’s main priority. The military build up was meant to unnerve the South Korean government. In terms of total expenditure South Korea spent more on its military expenditure than North Korea. This was mainly due to North Korea being regarded as an ever-present threat to South Korean security. There were differences as to how the two countries military expenditure was regarded in the North East Asia region and beyond. South Korea’s military expenditure was seen as being justified as it would deter North Korea. On the other hand, North Korea’s military spending was viewed as being unjustified, aggressive and a sign of Kim Il Sung’s megalomania, policies that his son, Kim Jong Il has continued (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). North Korea had one major disadvantage if its regime wished to outspend South Korea in terms of their defence budgets, as they were poorer. Whilst North Korea found it difficult to find foreign investors, South Korea was able to attract very high volumes of investment, especially from the United States and Japan. South Korea’s increasing levels of wealth meant it could easily match North Korea’s military build up, without reducing the living standards of its population, or driving its government towards insolvency (Tipton, 1998, p.304). In terms of any future conventional war between North and South Korea, South Korea held key advantages. Firstly, the South Korean population was twice the size of its neighbour to the north, potentially allowing for its armed forces to have twice the number of personnel in war- time conditions. In 1985, South Korea was estimated to have a population of 41.2 million compared to North Korea’s population of 20.1 million people (Watso n, 1997, p.262). South Korea was economically more productive and therefore wealthier than North Korea, with the latter’s seemingly impressive growth rates beginning to slow down by the start of the 1980s. An example of the growing disparity between the countries was the per capita income, whilst it was $790 for North Korea in 1982, it was $1,840 for South Korea in 1983. In economic terms, North Korea could not realistically afford its high levels of military expenditure, although Kim Il Sung’s regime was determined to carry on with spending money it believed kept the regime in power and made it a continuing danger to its capitalist neighbours (Watson, 1997, p.262). In the following decade North Korea was widely regarded as bring an increased threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region, despite the country’s economy going in to a steep decline. Whilst the North Korean regime refused to scale down its military expenditure its agricultural sector, especially suffered an alarming drop in productivity that contributed to an estimated two million North Koreans dying of starvation during the 1990s. Despite famine and economic decline the North Korean regime still used scarce resources to develop its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea barely increased its economic productivity during the 1990s and was by then considerably poorer than South Korea. To give a stark contrast, South Korean per capita gross domestic product (GDP) reached an impressive $13, 700, whilst North Korean GDP languished at $900. It was a paradoxical situation in which, although the North Korean regime could increasingly threaten its neighbours with miss iles and nuclear weapons, yet it would eventually need emergency aid from those countries to prevent more of its own population starving to death (Pipes, 2001, p.152). On paper at least, North Korea has impressive conventional military strength with around 3,500 tanks and 2,500 armoured personnel carriers, whilst the army had 950,000 troops. The North Korean air force has 590 combat aircraft, whilst the navy’s 88 submarines could pose a serious threat to shipping in the North East Asia region in the event of a future war. However it is the potential development and possible of nuclear weapons that causes a greater concern than North Korea’s conventional arsenal (Whitaker’s 2007, pp.893-94). South Korea has smaller armed forces yet still has a standing army 560,000 strong and 2,330 main battle tanks. South Korea would no doubt have to increase those numbers if 94, 450 Americans were not based in South Korea (Whitaker’s 2007 p. 895). However, it was not just North Korea’s strength in terms of conventional weapons that means it is regarded as being a threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. The United States government has long suspected that North Korea has played a part in sponsoring and supporting terrorism within the North East Asia region and indeed further afield. The suspicions of the United States have been founded upon the anti-American rhetoric that the North Korean regime its content to produce from time to time (Gaddis, 2005, p.261). South Korea had previously accused North Korea of trying to undermine internal stability by supporting dissident South Korean groups and calling for the re-unification of Korea (Tipton, 1998, p.304). North Korea was one of the countries that the administration of Ronald Reagan denounced as being terrorist states back in 1985. The Reagan administration viewed North Korea as being a risk to international peace and security within and beyond the Nort h East Asia region (Ward, 2003, p.349). North Korea did not have any moral or political hang ups about selling weapons such as assault rifles to other countries that found it hard to acquire weapons due to arms embargo’s or sanctions. For instance, North Korea sold surplus Soviet manufactured assault rifles to Iran during the early years of the Iran-Iraq War. Such arms sales may have contributed to the United States accusing North Korea of being a terrorist state. The North Koreans could have countered that these claims were hypocrisy on the part of the American government that sold a much greater volume of weapons to any state or organisation that was anti-Communist, or if it suited the United States interests to do so. Hypocrisy that was demonstrated by the Iran –Contra Affair in which the money from arms sales to Iran was used to fund the Contra forces in Nicaragua (Fisk, 2006, p.278). North Korea also supplied ballistic missiles to the Iranians and even sent engine ers to Iran to ensure those missiles successfully reached Iraqi targets, especially Baghdad. The willingness of the North Koreans to sell missiles to the highest bidders certainly increased concerns about Pyongyang posing a threat to peace and security (Fisk, 2006, p.281). Surveillance and interceptions of cargo ships have provided evidence that North Korea will sell weapons to terrorist organisations as well as any state that can afford them. For instance, the Spanish navy intercepted a North Korean merchant ship that was officially taking cement to South Yemen. Once aboard that ship the Spanish found ballistic missiles that could have been used by the terrorist group that had brought those missiles. The Middle East is a volatile region at the best of times, so the ability of North Korea to supply ballistic missiles to governments and terrorists groups in that region is another concern for the United States and other Western countries (Davies, 2003 p. 238). It was during the early 1990s that the prospect of North Korea carrying out a successful nuclear weapons programme became the cause of major international concern. In the United States, the administration of President Bill Clinton was determined to persuade the North Korean regime to halt that nuclear weapons programme peacefully by preference, or by force if necessary (Clinton, 2004 p. 561). Aside from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan were, and still are the countries that are most anxious to prevent North Korea acquiring and keeping nuclear weapons. Britain and France have also been involved in international efforts to prevent North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons as members of the United Nations Security Council, and as signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 381). South Korea and Japan are particularly anxious and insecure about North Korea’s attempts to produce nuclear weapons because they would be the most obvi ous targets if North Korea ever decided to use nuclear weapons. That anxiety is increased because the South Koreans and the Japanese are well aware that the North Koreans have the technical capacity to fit nuclear warheads to its force of ballistic missiles that can reach all the major cities in South Korea and Japan. China is also anxious that the nuclear weapons programme of North Korea does not provoke a military confrontation between North Korea and the United States that would bring widespread destruction and shatter the peace and stability of the North East Asia region. China remains keen to continue its impressive economic growth rates and also hopes to maintain political stability in the region, a stability that North Korea has a strong propensity to disrupt. China is therefore willing to act as a go between to prevent conflict arising between the United States and North Korea that would be very damaging to the North East Asia region as a whole (Cheek, 2006 p. 136). That als o means that China is willing to back the efforts of the United States, South Korea, and Japan to reduce the North Korean threat to peace and security (The Guardian, February 14 2007). Russia, as the main successor state to the Soviet Union, on the other hand has attempted to maintain strong economic, military, and economic links with North Korea. Those links leave Kim Jong Il hoping North Korea has more leeway in its disputes with the United States and the United Nations over its plans to acquire nuclear weapons. Whilst Russia is caught between promoting its economic links with North Korea without harming its relationship with the United States that improved with the latter’s war on terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it would normally put its relationship with the United States first. The Russians and North Koreans remain keen upon maintaining a strong relationship between each other, although that is based on pragmatism rather than a common ideological outlook. Whilst the Russian government believes that like the Chinese government it could help resolve the international disputes that currently mean that North Korea is regarded as been a threat to pea ce and security in North East Asia region (Meir, 2004 p. 417). North Korea’s defence and foreign policy was seen and remains seen as a serious and increasing threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region because of the nature of the Pyongyang regime itself. That is due to Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il concentrating upon the maintaining of their personal hold on power. That hold on power is through a strong military with undoubted loyalty to the national leader, and via a system of forced labour and prison camps that detain political dissidents or opponents of the regime. The regime’s internal position is also protected and promoted through a cult of personality for Kim Il Sung and now Kim Jong Il that rivals other cults of personalities witnessed in other communist regimes. It most closely resembles the cults of personality experienced in the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, or China under Chairman Mao Zedong, especially during the tumultuous period of the Cultural Revolution (Castleden, 2005 p. 301). The North Korean regime during Kim Il Sung’s lifetime not only managed to copy Chinese and Soviet propaganda techniques; the North Koreans also managed to emulate their purges. Such pronounced levels of dictatorship have always managed to make the United States suspicious of North Korean intentions. The South Koreans and the Japanese tend to reinforce American concerns over the de-stabilising effects of North Korean defence and foreign policies. The South Koreans and the Japanese therefore have fears for their safety as without an American military presence in the North East Asia region they would not be

An Android Application Development

An Android Application Development This paper talks briefly about developing applications on the android mobile platform using the Java Programming language. The overview includes introduction to the android platform features, architecture, APIs, application framework and the android SDK. A Hello World application walks you through the development process to understand the concepts of the android software stack and the tools involved. In late 2007, a group of industry leaders came together around the Android Platform to form the Open Handset Alliance (http://www.openhandsetalliance.com). Some of the alliances prominent members include:   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sprint Nextel à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ T-Mobile   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Motorola à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Samsung   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sony Ericsson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Toshiba   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Vodafone   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Google   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Intel   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Texas Instruments.   Android was designed to serve the needs of mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and application developers [3]. Android is: A software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system (Linux Kernel version 2.6), middleware and key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language [1]. The Figure1: Android Architecture diagram gives a good overview of what constitutes the android platform. Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries (indicated green in Figure1) used by various components of the Android system. These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework. Android Platform Features: The following is an explanation of the building blocks of the platform as indicated in Figure1. Application framework: Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications (refer Figure1) written in Java. An application can publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities. Underlying all applications is a set of services and systems, including: A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application, including lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such as Contacts), or to share their own data A Resource Manager, providing access to non-code resources such as localized strings, graphics, and layout files A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the status bar An Activity Manager that manages the lifecycle of applications and provides a common navigation backstack Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices, executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format. The dx tool included in the SDK converts .class files into .dex files. Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional) SQLite for structured data storage Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF) GSM Telephony (hardware dependent) Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent) Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent) Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE Application Fundamentals: Android applications are written in the Java programming language. The compiled Java code along with any data and resource files required by the application is bundled by the aapt tool into an Android package, an archive file marked by an .apk suffix. This file is the vehicle for distributing the application and installing it on mobile devices; its the file users download to their devices. All the code in a single .apk file is considered to be one application. By default, every application runs in its own Linux process, with a unique linux user id. Each process has its own virtual machine (VM). Application Components: Android applications consist of loosely coupled components, bound using a project manifest that describes each component and how they interact. There are six components that provide the building blocks for your applications: 1) Activities: Your applications presentation layer. Every screen in your application will be an extension of the Activity class. Activities use Views to form graphical user interfaces that displays information and respond to user actions. In terms of desktop development, an Activity is equivalent to a Form. 2) Services: Services are the invisible workers of your application. Service components run invisibly, updating your data sources and visible Activities and triggering Notifi cations. Theyre used to perform regular processing that needs to continue even when your applications Activities arent active or visible. 3) Content Providers: Are a shareable data store. Content Providers are used to manage and share application databases. Content Providers are the preferred way of sharing data across application boundaries. This means that you can confi gure your own Content Providers to permit access from other applications and use Content Providers exposed by others to access their stored data. Android devices include several native Content Providers that expose useful databases like contact information. 4) Intents: They are simple message-passing framework. Using Intents, you can broadcast messages system-wide or to a target Activity or Service, stating your intention to have an action performed. The system will then determine the target(s) that will perform any actions as appropriate. 5) Broadcast Receivers: By creating and registering a Broadcast Receiver, your application can listen for broadcast Intents that match specific filter criteria. Broadcast Receivers will automatically start your application to respond to an incoming Intent, making them ideal for event-driven applications. 6) Notifications: They are user notification framework. Notifi cations let you signal users without stealing focus or interrupting their current Activities. They are the preferred technique for getting a users attention from within a Service or Broadcast Receiver. For example, when a device receives a text message or an incoming call, it alerts you by fl ashing lights, making sounds, displaying icons, or showing dialog messages. You can trigger these same events from your own applications using Notifications. By decoupling the dependencies between application components, you can share and interchange individual pieces, such as Content Providers or Services, with other applications both your own and those of third parties. The manifest file: The AndroidManifest.xml file is where your global settings are made. If you are an ASP.NET developer, you can think of AndroidManifest.xml as Web.config and Global.asax rolled into one. (If you are not an ASP.NET developer, this means that AndroidManifest.xml is a place for storing settings.) AndroidManifest.xml will include such settings as application permissions, Activities, and intent filters. [4] Please refer to Code 1: Manifest file Building Hello World Application: We will write the first android application, Hello World, using the eclipse IDE. Make sure that you have a suitable version of Eclipse(3.5 or 3.6 recommended) installed on your computer. Download the windows .zip file for the SDK starter package. Unpack the SDK files into a directory named android-sdk- in a safe location on your computer. Next, install the Eclipse(3.5 or 3.6) ADT plug-in for Android as follows: Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software. Click Add, in the top-right corner. In the Add Repository dialog that appears, enter ADT Plugin for the Name and the following URL for the Location: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ In Available Software dialog, select checkbox next to Developer Tools, click Next In the next window, youll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next. Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish. When the installation completes, restart Eclipse. Then, configure ADT by doing following steps: Select Window > Preferences to open the Preferences panel Select Android from the left panel. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse and locate your downloaded SDK directory. Click Apply, then OK. Now, to install a platform in Eclipse: In the Android SDK and AVD Manager, choose Available Packages in the left panel. Click the repository site checkbox to display the components available for installation. Select at least one platform to install, and click Install Selected. If you arent sure which platform to install, use the latest version. Go on, and create an AVD: In Eclipse, choose Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager. Select Virtual Devices in the left panel. Click New. (The Create New AVD dialog appears.) Type the name of the AVD, such as my_avd. Choose a target. The target is the platform (that is, the version of the Android SDK, such as 2.1) you want to run on the emulator. You can ignore the rest of the fields for now. Click Create AVD. Create a New Android Project: After youve created an AVD, the next step is to start a new Android project in Eclipse. Please refer to Figure 12: New Android Project and also follow the steps below. Fill in the project details with the following values: Project name: HelloAndroid Application name: Hello, Android Package name: com.example.helloandroid (or your own private namespace) Create Activity: HelloAndroid Click Finish. Here is a description of each field: Project Name: The name of the directory that will contain the project files. Application Name: This is the human-readable title for your application the name that will appear on the Android device. Package Name: This is the package namespace (following the same rules as for packages in the Java programming language) that you want all your source code to reside under. This also sets the package name under which the stub Activity will be generated. Your package name must be unique across all packages installed on the Android system; for this reason, its important to use a standard domain-style package for your applications. The example above uses the com.example namespace, which is a namespace reserved for example documentation when you develop your own applications, you should use a namespace thats appropriate to your organization or entity. Create Activity This is the name for the class stub that will be generated by the plugin. This will be a subclass of Androids Activity class. An Activity is simply a class that can run and do work. It can create a UI if it chooses, but it doesnt need to. As the checkbox suggests, this is optional, but an Activity is almost always used as the basis for an application. Min SDK Version: This value specifies the minimum API Level required by your application. For more information, see Android API Levels. Other fields: The checkbox for Use default location allows you to change the location on disk where the projects files will be generated and stored. Build Target is the platform target that your application will be compiled against (this should be selected automatically, based on your Min SDK Version). Notice that the Build Target youve selected uses the Android 1.1 platform. This means that your application will be compiled against the Android 1.1 platform library. If you recall, the AVD created above runs on the Android 1.5 platform. These dont have to match; Android applications are forward-compatible, so an application built against the 1.1 platform library will run normally on the 1.5 platform. The reverse is not true. Your Android project is now ready. It should be visible in the Package Explorer on the left. Open the HelloAndroid.java file, located inside HelloAndroid > src > com.example.helloandroid). Please refer to Code2: HelloAndroid. Notice that the class is based on the Activity class. An Activity is a single application entity that is used to perform actions. An application may have many separate activities, but the user interacts with them one at a time. The onCreate() method will be called by the Android system when your Activity starts it is where you should perform all initialization and UI setup. An activity is not required to have a user interface, but usually will. Now lets modify some code! Construct the UI Please refer to Code 3: Construct UI An Android user interface is composed of hierarchies of objects called Views. A View is a drawable object used as an element in your UI layout, such as a button, image, or (in this case) a text label. Each of these objects is a subclass of the View class and the subclass that handles text is TextView. In this change, you create a TextView with the class constructor, which accepts an Android Context instance as its parameter. A Context is a handle to the system; it provides services like resolving resources, obtaining access to databases and preferences, and so on. The Activity class inherits from Context, and because your HelloAndroid class is a subclass of Activity, it is also a Context. So, you can pass this as your Context reference to the TextView. Next, you define the text content with setText(). Finally, you pass the TextView to setContentView() in order to display it as the content for the Activity UI. If your Activity doesnt call this method, then no UI is present and the system will display a blank screen. There it is Hello, World in Android! The next step, of course, is to see it running. Run the Application: The Eclipse plugin makes it easy to run your applications: Select Run > Run. Select Android Application. The Eclipse plugin automatically creates a new run configuration for your project and then launches the Android Emulator. Depending on your environment, the Android emulator might take several minutes to boot fully, so please be patient. When the emulator is booted, the Eclipse plugin installs your application and launches the default Activity. You should now see something like this: Please refer to Figure 4: Hello Android. The Hello, Android you see in the grey bar is actually the application title. The Eclipse plugin creates this automatically (the string is defined in the res/values/strings.xml file and referenced by your AndroidManifest.xml file). The text below the title is the actual text that you have created in the TextView object. Conclusion: That concludes the basic Hello World tutorial. Refer to http://developer.android.com/index.html for more information. To do that, android offers a number of APIs for developing your applications. The following list of core APIs that provide an insight into whats available; all Android devices will offer support for at least these Java APIs[2]: android.util: The core utility package contains low-level classes like specialized containers, string formatters, and XML parsing utilities. com.google.android.maps: A high-level API that provides access to native map controls that you can use within your application. Includes the MapView control as well as the overlay and MapController classes used to annotate and control your embedded maps. android.text: The text processing tools for displaying and parsing text. android.database: low-level classes required for working with databases. Figures: Figure 1: Android Architecture Diagram Figure2: New Android Project Figure3: New Android Project Figure 4: Hello Android Code 1: Manifest File android:icon=@drawable/small_pic.png android:label=@string/freneticLabel . . . > . . . Code 2: HelloAndroid package com.example.helloandroid; import android.app.Activity; import android.os.Bundle; public class HelloAndroid extends Activity { /** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); } } Code 3: Construct UI package com.example.helloandroid; import android.app.Activity; import android.os.Bundle; import android.widget.TextView; public class HelloAndroid extends Activity { /** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); TextView tv = new TextView(this); tv.setText(Hello, Android); setContentView(tv); } }

Imagery and Symbolism in David Guterson’s The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind :: Guterson Country Ahead of Us Country Behind

Imagery and Symbolism in David Guterson’s The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind In David Guterson’s anthology, The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind, characters are portrayed effectively and succinctly through the imagery of their surroundings. Many of his stories are symbolic in that they reflect relationships and feelings of characters. Guterson’s titles have a more complex and deeper connection to the story than is first apparent. They too are often symbolic of a main character, or of relationships. In "Angels in the Snow," Guterson describes the world as fragile because of the snow that has fallen. This fragility of the world, at that particular time, is representative of the relationship between John and Cora. The next morning the world is described as ‘a fragile, white place’ and this symbolises their relationship which has also become very fragile because of what John has revealed. The whiteness of the snow symbolises innocence and purity, but at this moment, through Cora’s eyes, John has lost the last of his innocence. Guterson also uses the act of making angels in the snow to portray innocence that is rapidly fading. We made angels in the snow, Cora and myself, swept our arms through the powder, left an impression of wings that would melt before the new year. It is as if John already knows what is to come, and is aware of how soon it will be. He is aware that his relationship with Cora has changed. She now has confirmation that John is not as innocent as he might have liked her to think. Through making the angels he is making one last attempt to seem innocent, for this is a very innocent act. John appears to think that if he can some how act innocently, he can convince Cora that he really is so. In "The Flower Garden," Guterson continues his exploration of the fragility of a relationship between a man and a woman and again portrays this by drawing parallels with what is happening in nature. The relationship between Anna and the narrator is a very fragile one like the garden they ‘planted with nursery sets and fragile garden cuttings.’ The relationship and the garden are at the beginning of their being, and both are very fragile. Both have to be thought out, then nurtured carefully. Any mistake or misjudgment can have long and lasting consequences.

Managers and the Process of Change Essay -- Business Management

Managers and the Process of Change The desperate call-to-arms, "Change or Die"— which can be heard echoing down the corridors of businesses everywhere — is evidence that leaders have recognised the need to change. Managers know that companies must be fast, flexible, responsive, resilient, and creative to survive. Most also know that current mind-sets, techniques, and tools are ineffective for creating such an organisation. These people are displaying the talents required to successfully negotiate change. They are aware of the limitations around or within themselves and are willing to learn the necessary skills required to succeed as change managers. Change is the process of moving from one state to another. Just as moving house requires the massive packing of furniture and other items, change requires just as much preparations to be successful. Most people do not like change, they like things to remain the same. Changes require more effort to adapt. It threatens stability and security and people fear that they will not be able to cope. Resistance is the natural defence to such perceived threats. A good manager has to be able to work with and overcome resistance he/she must be able to control the whole process of change. With this in mind, I have considered the role of the manager, what his/her function is and what skills are required to enable him/her to be a successful change manager. Function of Managers Fayol (1908) identified the functions of the manager as: 1. Setting objectives 2. Organisation 3. Motivation 4. Control or measurement 5. Co-ordination These functions are as true today as they were then, but I consider communication as the key to them. It is the essential function in successful change management. Drucke... ... Herts. Prentice Hall. Clegg et al. Palmer, G. ed. 1996. The Politics of Management Knoelwdge London. Sage Publications. Dawson, P. (1994). Organisational Change – A Processual Approach Newcastle upon Tyne. Athenaeum Press Ltd. Dove, R. Essay #051.3/99 in Automotive Manufacturing & Production, Gardner Publications, Revised 5/99. Dove, R. Essay #058. Paradigm Shift International - Originally Published 10/99 @ www.parshift.com Fayol, H. (1949). General and Industrial Management, London. Pitman. Hitler and His Henchmen 1999, The History Channel. Kotter, J.P. & Heskett, J.L. 1992. Corporate Culture and Performance. London. Pitman. Schneider, B. Leadership at the Edge of Chaos. Strategy & Leadership Magazine, Sept. 1997. Stewart, R. 1986. The Reality of Management. London. Pan Books. Vaill, P. The Quantum Organisation. Business Week online. Accessed 03/04/2000