Chinese Architecture essays

Chinese Architecture essays Architecture, by definition, is the art or science of planning and building structures. Those are the words used to describe architecture in a dictionary but architecture is so much more than a study of how a building is built. Architecture is a product of human activities, and it is also a mirror of human life. Buildings reflect many things life environment, both political and cultural, as well as habitual and geographical environments. This paper is about Chinese architecture; its history, the basic structural elements that make up a Chinese building and the spiritual side of all the grand Chinese buildings. Firstly, if one is to understand Chinese architecture then one must know something of Chinas history because the creation and development of a national architecture has its roots in the cultural background of the nation. The nation of China has been around for around 5000 years, which perhaps the longest history that any nation or culture can lay claim to. Chinas architecture was influenced by religion and myth, philosophy and politics, science and superstition, humanity and ritual. All of these elements were constantly confronting and complementing each other. Also, the arts of feng shui, cosmology, and geomancy played a great part in the structural aspects of many Chinese buildings. Chinas architecture is vastly different from most of the other types of architecture in the world. This is because China is very isolated from the western world. For many years, Chinas only contact with the western world came from its infamous Silk Road on which Chinese merchants carried their goods to be sold to the western world. Very rarely did the westerners come to China to sell their own goods either because of the distance or simply for the fact that the western world was not advance enough to get to China to sell their goods. So Chinese culture and architecture developed without western influenced and it became...

Presidential Candidates and the Death Penalty

Presidential Candidates and the Death Penalty Unlike past presidential elections, national interest in the candidates positions on the death penalty has waned, partly due to a decline in the number of states that no longer allow capital punishment. Furthermore, the rate of violent crimes in the United States has steadily decreased for 20 years, that is, until 2015 when, according to the FBI, the incidences of violent crime rose to 1.7 percent which included a 6 percent increase in homicides. History has shown that when the crime numbers are up, more people are pro-death penalty and interest in the position political candidates take on the issue becomes more important to voters. Lessons Learned A good example of rising crime statistics determining voter interest in the death penalty was the 1988 presidential election between Michael Dukakis and George H. W. Bush.  The national murder rate was averaging around 8.4 percent and 76 percent of Americans were for the death penalty, the second highest number since recording began in 1936. Dukakis was portrayed as being too liberal and soft on crime. He received a fair amount of criticism because he was opposed to the death penalty. An incident that many believe sealed his fate as losing the election occurred during an October 13, 1988, debate between Dukakis and Bush. When the moderator, Bernard Shaw, asked Dukakis if he would be in favor of the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered, Dukakis replied that he would not favor it and reiterated that he was opposed to the death penalty all of his life. The general consensus was that his answer was cold and his national poll numbers plummeted the very night of the debate. Despite the fact that the majority in the U.S. is still in favor of the death penalty, opposition to state executions is rising: at 38 percent opposing the ultimate penalty for a crime, this is the highest level of opposition to capital punishment. Where do todays presidential candidates stand on the death penalty in the face of rising opposition against it? The  Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994   The  Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It was the largest crime bill in U.S. history. Along with adding major funding for  100,000 new police officers, it also banned the manufacture of many semi-automatic firearms and expanded the federal death penalty.   It has been said in retrospect, that the bill was also responsible for the large increase in African American and Hispanic incarceration. As the first  lady, Hillary Clinton was a strong advocate of the  bill and lobbied for it in Congress. She has since spoken out against part of it, saying that it is time to revisit it. While in the House, Bernie Sanders also voted in favor of the bill, but he originally supported a revised bill that abolished the federal death penalty in exchange for life sentences. When the revised bill was rejected, Sanders voted for the final bill that included the expansion of the federal death penalty. Spokespersons for Sanders have said that his support was due largely to the Violence Against Women Act and assault weapons ban.   Hillary Clinton Supports the Death Penalty (But Struggles With It) Hillary Clinton has taken a more cautious stand than Sanders. During the same February MSNBC debate, Clinton said that she was concerned about how the death penalty is handled on a state level and that she has a lot more confidence in the federal system. â€Å"For very limited, particularly heinous crimes, I believe it is an appropriate punishment, but I deeply disagree with the way that too many states are still implementing it,† Clinton said. Clinton was also confronted with questions about her views on the death penalty during a CNN-hosted Democratic town hall on March 14, 2016. Ricky Jackson, an Ohio man who spent 39 years in prison and came â€Å"perilously close† to being executed, and who was later found to be innocent, was emotional when he asked Clinton, In light of what Ive just shared with you and in light of the fact that there are undocumented cases of innocent people who have been executed in our country. I would like to know how you can still take your stance on the death penalty. Clinton again voiced her concerns, saying, The states have proven themselves incapable of carrying out fair trials that give any defendant all the rights that defendants should have... She also said she would breathe a sigh of relief if State Supreme Courts eliminated the death penalty. She then added that she still supported it in rare cases on a federal level for terrorist and mass murderers. â€Å"If it were possible to separate the federal from the state system by the Supreme Court,† Clinton added, confusingly, â€Å"that would, I think, be an appropriate outcome,† a statement some critics referred to as back peddling.   Donald Trump Supports the Death Penalty (and Would Likely Inject the Needle)    On December 10, 2015, Donald Trump announced to several hundred police union members in Milford, New Hampshire, that one of the first things he would do as president would be to sign a statement that anybody that kills a police officer would get the death penalty. He made the announcement after he accepted the endorsement of the New England Police Benevolent Association. One of the first things I would do, in terms of making an executive order if I win, would be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country- out to the world- that anybody killing a policeman, policewoman, a police officer- anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty. Its going to happen, OK? We can’t let this go. In  1989,  Trump  earned his pro-death penalty status after taking out a full-page ad in four New York City newspapers titled, BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY! BRING BACK THE POLICE! It was assumed that his actions were in reference to the May 1989 brutal rape of a woman who was jogging in Central Park, although he never made reference to the attack. Known as the case of the Central Park Five, the sentences of the  five males convicted of the rape were later vacated after serial rapist and murderer, Matias Reyes, confessed to the crime. The DNA evidence was reexamined and matched Reyes and it was the only semen found on the victim. In 2014,  the Central Park Five settled a civil case with the city for $41 million dollars. It has also been said that Trump was furious about it.

Financial Covenants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Covenants - Essay Example (Mckean, 2005; Law, 2005; Moles and Terry 1997). For example, Junk Bonds whether secured or unsecured are always subordinate to debts to banks and Subordinated debt that ranks behind other issues of the same class is referred to as junior debt. (Law, 2005). Mezzanine finance, a typical example of subordinated debt is funding that possesses both equity and debt characteristics and it is usually provided by specialists' financial institutions. This funding like other forms of subordinated debt carries a very high risk of default and as a result earns a higher rate of return than pure debt although less than equity. Mezzanine finance can be secured or unsecured. (Smullen and Hand, 2005). Due to its mixed nature of both equity and debt characteristics, investors have the opportunity to earn interest alongside their equity stake in the company. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Mezzanine financing is also attractive to banks since it offers interest higher than that paid for senior debt especially in environments where competition makes it difficult for them to provide funding at the normal lending rate thus encouraging banks to embark on mezzanine financing as a means of earning higher returns. (Terry and Brian, 2000). The borrowing base of potential takeovers in the UK has increased as a result of increase willingness by UK lenders or investors to provide mezzanine finance. For example, bids for the Gateway and Magnet companies in the UK involved very large amounts of subordinated debt and as such reflect the importance of mezzanine finance to borrowers in large acquisitions, were financing required is beyond the limits set by equity and senior debt providers in their own lending criteria. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Terry and Brian (2000) assert that because inclusion of mezzanine debt allows a lower equity share as a percentage of the total funds provided than straight equity investment, equity investors prefer such inclusion in deal structures since it will improve returns to the equity shareholders. Including mezzanine in a deal reduces the investment required from equity investors by a percentage, which is higher than a reduction in their ultimate shareholding and therefore increases the overall return on investment. Mezzanine finance has also been used as a strategy for leveraged buy-outs, corporate takeovers and other acquisitions. The first instance of using mezzanine finance in such a way was in the United States of America. (Terry and Brian, 2000). The first instance in the United Kingdom was for the buy-out of Evans Halshaw. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Because of the separation of ownership from control and also as a result of information asymmetry between debt holders and the management of the company, it is has become a common practice that the loan agreement or indenture contains ratio covenants and other covenants so as to prevent the debt holders from losing their money in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy liquidation. In the preceding paragraph, we take a closer look at some of the covenants and assess their validity in actually providing protection to lenders or debt holders. Covenants and Events of Default Terry and Brian (2000) define Covenants as promises by the borrower to do or not to do certain things during the term of the debt facility. Events of Default are defined events which, if

Hydro-power and the wildlife damage it causes Essay

Hydro-power and the wildlife damage it causes - Essay Example She implies despite the positive benefits brought about by Hydro power, the environment suffers a great deal of its side effects, notably, extinction of some form of wildlife. With the emergence of Global warming, dams have received a lot of attention despite the fact that they generate huge quantities of electricity without really burning fossil fuels. In this context, multiple questions have been raised concerning the environmental effects of hydropower. Among them, Are dams carbon neutral? What of the energy used in the construction of Dams and the reservoir that are created behind them (deforestation and decomposition). Notably, endless questions have been raised over the impact of Hydropower on the surrounding environment and more particularly, its impact on wildlife. As opponents of hydropower indicate, it appears as if enough evidence has been found to discredit Hydropower as an efficient energy source. Having that in mind, the paper seeks to discuss the negative environmental effects posed by Hydropower with a view to elucidate on the destruction of wildlife habitats. In a study by FWEE on provision of balanced information for water as a renewable energy resource in the North West, it is indicated that, some specific impacts due to a hydroelectric power projects mainly depends on the following variables (FWEE 1). Firstly, the size and the flow rate, secondly, the climatic and habitat conditions, thirdly, design type and operation of the project. Additionally, the habitat and climatic conditions as well as, the project locations play a significant role. In terms of the project location, upstream or downstream location often comes in focus. This clearly reveals that the dynamics involved in hydropower generations affect various sectors that are directly or indirectly related to its production. McCully, in his article of big Dams big trouble, published by New internationalists, close to sixty percent of the world’s largest river system are mostly fr agmented by numerous dams and considerable water withdrawals for irrigation purposes. This implies that the massive fragmentation of and replumbing of the world largest rivers has led to an increased loss of fresh water species. In this regard, close to a third of the world fresh water fish species have been reported as extinct, vulnerable or endangered. Additionally, IEA Hydropower Agreement on Hydropower and the environment: present context and the guidelines for future Action, indicates that construction of the reservoir increased the storage water, thus covering riparian areas stream banks (23). Following these, inundation occurs. A change in the habitat conditions leads to the emergence of a new equilibrium. While this is happening, different set of dynamics begin to affect how species grow feed, spawn and grow within these regions. Though a rise in water levels increase electricity production, the riparian zone is affected since some of the vegetation initially covered by wate r may never re-establish McCully further indicates that a significant but unknown number of , amphibians, shell fish, as well as plants and birds that depend on Fresh water ecosystems are on the verge of extinction or as such, at risk (620). He further points it out that Flooding from Dams has the potential to disrupt Wildlife

The Holocaus Essay Example for Free

The Holocaus Essay The Holocaust also known as Shoah, was the mass murder or genocide of approximately six million Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, throughout the German Reich and German-occupied territories. Of the nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately two-thirds were killed. Over one million Jewish children were killed in the Holocaust, as were approximately two million Jewish women and three million Jewish men. A network of about 42,500 facilities in Germany and German-occupied territory were used to concentrate, hold, and kill Jews and other victims. Some scholars argue that the mass murder of the Romani and people with disabilities should be included in the definition, and some use the common noun holocaust to describe other Nazi mass murders, including those of Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, and homosexuals. Recent estimates, based on figures obtained since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, indicate some ten to eleven million civilians and prisoners of war were intentionally murdered by the Nazi regime. Historian Rudolph Rummel estimates the number of civilians and jews murdered by the Nazis at 20,946,000. The occupiers required Jews and Romani to be confined in overcrowded ghettos before being transported by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, most were systematically killed in gas chambers. Every arm of Germanys bureaucracy was involved in the logistics that led to the genocides, turning the Third Reich into what one Holocaust scholar has called a genocidal state. Extermination camps The use of camps equipped with gas chambers for the purpose of systematic mass extermination of peoples was a unique feature of the Holocaust and unprecedented in history. Never before had there existed places with the express purpose of killing people en masse. These were established at Auschwitz, Belzec, CheÅ‚mno, Jasenovac, Majdanek, Maly Trostenets, Sobibà ³r, and Treblinka. Medical experiments A distinctive feature of Nazi genocide was the extensive use of human subjects in medical experiments. According to Raul Hilberg, German physicians were highly Nazified, compared to other professionals, in terms  of party membership. Some carried out experiments at Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, Ravensbrà ¼ck, Sachsenhausen, and Natzweiler concentration camps. The most notorious of these physicians was Dr. Josef Mengele, who worked in Auschwitz. His experiments included placing subjects in pressure chambers, testing drugs on them, freezing them, attempting to change eye color by injecting chemicals into childrens eyes, and various amputations and other surgeries. Subjects who survived Mengeles experiments were almost always killed and dissected shortly afterwards. He worked extensively with Romani children. He would bring them sweets and toys, and personally take them to the gas chamber. They would call him Onkel Mengele. Vera Alexander was a Jewish inmate at Auschwitz who looked after 50 sets of Romani twins: Legal repression and emigration Nazi policies about repression divided people into three types of enemies, the racial enemies such as the Jews and the Gypsies who were viewed as enemies because of their blood; political opponents such as Marxists, liberals, Christians and the reactionaries who were viewed as wayward National Comrades; and moral opponents such as homosexuals, the work-shy and habitual criminals, also seen as wayward National Comrades. The last two groups were to be sent to concentration camps for re-education, with the aim of eventual absorption into the Volksgemeinschaft, though some of the moral opponents were to be sterilized, as they were regarded as genetically inferior. Peukert quotes policy documents on the Treatment of Community Aliens from 1944, which showed the full intentions of Nazi social policy: persons who show themselves unable to comply by their own efforts with the minimum requirements of the national community were to be placed under police supervision, and if this did not reform them, they were to be taken to a concentration camp. One of the first, camps was Dachau,which opened on 9 March 1933. Initially the camp contained primarily communists and Social Democrats. Other early prisons—for example, in basements and storehouses run by the Sturmabteilung and less commonly by the Schutzstaffel —were consolidated by mid-1934 into purpose-built camps outside the cities, run exclusively by the SS. The initial purpose of the camps was to serve as a deterrent by terrorizing those Germans who did not conform to the Volksgemeinschaft. Those sent to the camps included the  educable, whose wills could be broken into becoming National Comrades, and the biologically depraved, who were to be sterilized, were to be held permanently, and over time were increasingly subject to extermination through labor, i.e., being worked to death. On 1 April 1933, there occurred a boycott of Jewish businesses, which was the first national antisemitic campaign, initially planned for a week, but called off after one day owing to lack of popular support. In 1933, a series of laws were passed which contained Aryan paragraphs to exclude Jews from key areas: the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, the first antisemitic law passed in the Third Reich; the Physicians Law; and the Farm Law, forbidding Jews from owning farms or taking part in agriculture. In 1935, Hitler introduced the Nuremberg Laws, which: prohibited Aryans from having sexual relations or marriages with Jews, although this was later extended to include Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring, stripped German Jews of their citizenship and deprived them of all civil rights. At the same time the Nazis used propaganda to promulgate the concept of Rassenschande to justify the need for a restrictive law. Hitler described the Blood Law in particular the attempt at a legal regulation of a problem, which in the event of further failure would then have through law to be transferred to the final solution of the National Socialist Party. Hitler said that if the Jewish problem cannot be solved by these laws, it must then be handed over by law to the National-Socialist Party for a final solution. The final solution, became the standard Nazi euphemism for the extermination of the Jews. Early measures In German-occupied Poland Germanys invasion of Poland in September 1939 increased the urgency of the Jewish Question. Poland, was home to approximately three million Jews, in centuries-old communities, two-thirds of whom fell under Nazi control with Polands capitulation. Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, recommended concentrating all the Polish Jews in ghettos in major cities, where they would be put to work for the German war industry. The ghettos would be in cities located on railway junctions in order to furnish, in Heydrichs words, a better possibility of control and later deportation. During his interrogation in 1961, Adolf Eichmann recalled that  this later deportation actually meant physical extermination. In September, Himmler appointed Heydrich head of the Reich Main Security Office . This organization was made up of seven departments, including the Security Police, and the Gestapo. They were to oversee the work of the SS in occupied Poland, and carry out the policy towards the Jews described in Heydrichs report. The first organized murders of Jews by German forces occurred during Operation Tannenberg and through Selbstschutz units. The Jews were later herded into ghettos, mostly in the General Government area of central Poland, where they were put to work under the Reich Labor Office headed by Fritz Sauckel. Here many thousands died from maltreatment, disease, starvation, and exhaustion, but there was still no program of systematic killing. There is little doubt, however, that the Nazis saw forced labor as a form of extermination.Although it was clear by late 1941 that the SS hierarchy was determined to embark on a policy of killing all the Jews under German control, there was still opposition to this policy within the Nazi regime, although the motive was economic, not humanitarian. Hermann Gà ¶ring, who had overall control of the German war industry, and the German armys Economics Department, argued that the enormous Jewish labor force assembled in the General Government area, was an asset too valuable to waste, particularly with Germany failing to secure rapid victory of the Soviet Union. Ghettos After the invasion of Poland, the Nazis established ghettos in the incorporated territories and General Government in which Jews were confined. These were initially seen as temporary, until the Jews were deported out of Europe; as it turned out, such deportation never took place, with the ghettos inhabitants instead being sent to extermination camps. The Germans ordered that each ghetto be run by a Judenrat consisting of Jewish community leaders, with the first order for the establishment of such councils contained in a letter dated 29 September 1939 from Heydrich to the heads of the Einsatzgruppen. The ghettos were formed and closed off from the outside world at different times and for different reasons. The councils were responsible for the day-to-day running of the ghetto, including the distribution of food, water, heat, medicine, and shelter. The Germans also mandated them to undertake confiscations, organize forced labor, and,  finally, facilitate deportations to extermination camps. The councils basic strategy was one of trying to minimise losses, largely by cooperating with Nazi authorities, accepting the increasingly terrible treatment, bribery, and petitioning for better conditions and clemency. Overall, to try and mitigate still worse cruelty and death, the councils offered words, money, labor, and finally lives. The ultimate test of each Judenrat was the demand to compile lists of names of deportees to be murdered. Though the predominant pattern was compliance with even this final task, some council leaders insisted that not a single individual should be handed over who had not committed a capital crime. Leaders such as Joseph Parnas in Lviv, who refused to compile a list, were shot. On 14 October 1942, the entire council of Byaroza committed suicide rather than cooperate with the deportations. Adam Czerniakà ³w in Warsaw killed himself on 23 July 1942 when he could take no more as the final liquidation of the ghetto got under way. Others, like Chaim Rumkowski, who became the dedicated autocrat of Ã… Ãƒ ³dÃ… º, argued that their responsibility was to save the Jews who could be saved, and that therefore others had to be sacrificed. The importance of the councils in facilitating the persecution and murder of ghetto inhabitants was not lost on the Germans: one official was emphatic that the authority of the Jewish council be upheld and strengthened under all circumstances, another that Jews who disobey instructions of the Jewish council are to be treated as saboteurs. When such cooperation crumbled, as happened in the Warsaw ghetto after the Jewish Combat Organisation displaced the councils authority, the Germans lost control. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest, with 380,000 people; the Ã… Ãƒ ³dÃ… º Ghetto was second, holding 160,000. They were, in effect, immensely crowded prisons, described by Michael Berenbaum as instruments of slow, passive murder. Though the Warsaw Ghetto contained 30% of the population of the Polish capital, it occupied only 2.4% of the citys area, averaging 9.2 people per room. Between 1940 and 1942, starvation and disease, especially typhoid, killed hundreds of thousands. Over 43,000 residents of the Warsaw ghetto died there in 1941, Pogroms A number of deadly pogroms by local populations occurred during the Second World War, some with Nazi encouragement, and some spontaneously. This included the IaÅŸi pogrom in Romania on 30 June 1941, in which as many as 14,000 Jews were killed by Romanian residents and police, and the Jedwabne pogrom of July 1941, in which 300 Jews were locked in a barn set on fire by the local Poles in the presence of Nazi Ordnungspolizei, which was preceded by the execution of 40 Jewish men at the same location by the Germans. – Such were the final finding of the official investigation conducted in 2000–2003 by the Institute of National Remembrance, confirmed by the number of victims in the two graves examined by the archeological and anthropological team participating in the exhumation. Earlier higher estimates based on hearsay were disproved. Death squads The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 opened a new phase. The Holocaust intensified after the Nazis occupied Lithuania, where close to 80% of the countrys 220,000 Jews were exterminated before the end of the year. The Soviet territories occupied by early 1942, including all of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Moldova and most Russian territory west of the line Leningrad-Moscow-Rostov, contained about three million Jews at the start of the war. Hundreds of thousands had fled Poland in 1939. Members of the local populations in certain occupied Soviet territories participated actively in the killings of Jews and others. Ultimately it was the Germans who organized and channelled these local participants in the Holocaust. Hillgruber maintained that the slaughter of about 2.2 million defenseless men, women and children for the reasons of racist ideology cannot possibly be justified for any reason, and that those German generals who claimed that the Einsatzgruppen were a necessary anti-partisan response were lying. Army co-operation with the SS in anti-partisan and anti-Jewish operations was close and intensive. In mid-1941, the SS Cavalry Brigade commanded by Hermann Fegelein, during the course of anti-partisan operations in the Pripyat Marshes, killed 699 Red Army soldiers, 1,100 partisans and 14,178 Jews. The large-scale killings of Jews in the occupied Soviet territories was assigned to SS formations called Einsatzgruppen, under the overall command of Heydrich. These had been used to a limited extent in Poland in 1939, but were organized in the Soviet territories on a much larger scale. Einsatzgruppe A was assigned to the Baltic area, Einsatzgruppe B to Belarus, Einsatzgruppe C to north and central Ukraine, and Einsatzgruppe D to Moldova, south Ukraine, Crimea, and, during 1942, the  north Caucasus. According to Otto Ohlendorf at his trial, the Einsatzgruppen had the mission to protect the rear of the troops by killing the Jews, Gypsies, Communist functionaries, active Communists, and all persons who would endanger the security. In practice, their victims were nearly all defenseless Jewish civilians . By December 1941, the four Einsatzgruppen listed above had killed, respectively, 125,000, 45,000, 75,000, and 55,000 people—a total of 300,000 people—mainly by shooting or with hand grenades at mass killing sites outside the major towns. The most notorious massacre of Jews in the Soviet Union was at a ravine called Babi Yar outside Kiev, where 33,771 Jews were killed in a single operation on 29–30 September 1941. The decision to kill all the Jews in Kiev was made by the military governor, the Police Commander for Army Group South, and the Einsatzgruppe C Commander Otto Rasch. A mixture of SS, SD and Security Police, assisted by Ukrainian police, carried out the killings. Although they did not participate in the killings, men of the 6th Army played a key role in rounding up the Jews of Kiev and transporting them to be shot at Babi Yar. New methods of mass murder Starting in December 1939, the Nazis introduced new methods of mass murder by using gas. First, experimental gas vans equipped with gas cylinders and a sealed trunk compartment, were used to kill mental care clients of sanatoria in Pomerania, East Prussia, and occupied Poland, as part of an operation termed Action T4. A need for new mass murder techniques was also expressed by Hans Frank, governor of the General Government, who noted that this many people could not be simply shot. We shall have to take steps, however, designed in some way to eliminate them. It was this problem which led the SS to experiment with large-scale killings using poison gas. Christian Wirth seems to have been the inventor of the gas chamber. Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution The Wannsee Conference was convened by Reinhard Heydrich on 20 January 1942 in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and brought together some 15 Nazi leaders which included a number of state secretaries, senior officials, party leaders, SS officers and other leaders of government departments who were responsible for policies which were linked to Jewish issues. The initial  purpose of the meeting was to discuss plans for a comprehensive solution to the Jewish question in Europe. Heydrich intended to outline the mass murders in the various occupied territories . . . as part of a solution to the European Jewish question ordered by Hitler . . . to ensure that they, and especially the ministerial bureaucracy, would share both knowledge and responsibility for this policy A copy of the minutes which were drawn up by Eichmann has survived, but on Heydrichs instructions, they were written up in euphemistic language. Thus the exact words used at the meeting are not known. However, Heydrich addressed the meeting indicating the policy of emigration was superseded by a policy of evacuating Jews to the east. This was seen to be only a temporary solution leading up to a final solution which would involve some 11 million Jews living not only in territories controlled then by the Germans, but to major countries in the rest of the world including the UK, and the US. There was little doubt what the solution was: Heydrich also made it clear what was understood by the phrase Final Solution: the Jews were to be annihilated by a combination of forced labour and mass murder. The officials were told there were 2.3 million Jews in the General Government, 850,000 in Hungary, 1.1 million in the other occupied countries, and up to five million in the USSR, although two million of these were in areas still under Soviet control – a total of about 6.5 million. These would all be transported by train to extermination camps in Poland, where almost all of them would be gassed at once. In some camps, such as Auschwitz, those fit for work would be kept alive for a while, but eventually all would be killed.

Silence Of The Lambs: The Battle Between Two Evils Essay example -- es

Silence of the Lambs: The Battle Between Two Evils   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel, Silence of the Lambs, we see two different extremes of evil. Dr. Chilton is evil in one respect, while Dr. Hannibal Lecter is evil in his own unique way. Dr. Chilton is the man with bad morals and feels the need to control people. He manipulates people into thinking and acting the way he wants them to. Basically he is the type of guy who takes advantage of his job position, who thinks of himself before others and only acts in ways that will benefit himself. Dr. Hannibal Lector, unlike Dr. Chilton, is unable to control his evil even if he wanted to. Dr. Lector is insane and feels the need to kill people just because he thinks they are boring and from his point of view, they do not seem suitable to be human beings. He understands the things he does are evil, but they do not phase him since he is insane. There is no question, Dr. Lecter is a truly evil man, but Dr. Chilton is the worse of the two.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Chilton must morally change and take responsibility for himself. Dr. Lector is not able to take control of his evil because of the way his distorted mind thinks. Although his mind is distorted, it is still a very powerful mind which he uses to see into the minds of others. He gets into their heads and plays with their minds, internally torturing them. He is a sick man and needs therapy and constant care in a hospital because he is too... Silence Of The Lambs: The Battle Between Two Evils Essay example -- es Silence of the Lambs: The Battle Between Two Evils   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel, Silence of the Lambs, we see two different extremes of evil. Dr. Chilton is evil in one respect, while Dr. Hannibal Lecter is evil in his own unique way. Dr. Chilton is the man with bad morals and feels the need to control people. He manipulates people into thinking and acting the way he wants them to. Basically he is the type of guy who takes advantage of his job position, who thinks of himself before others and only acts in ways that will benefit himself. Dr. Hannibal Lector, unlike Dr. Chilton, is unable to control his evil even if he wanted to. Dr. Lector is insane and feels the need to kill people just because he thinks they are boring and from his point of view, they do not seem suitable to be human beings. He understands the things he does are evil, but they do not phase him since he is insane. There is no question, Dr. Lecter is a truly evil man, but Dr. Chilton is the worse of the two.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Chilton must morally change and take responsibility for himself. Dr. Lector is not able to take control of his evil because of the way his distorted mind thinks. Although his mind is distorted, it is still a very powerful mind which he uses to see into the minds of others. He gets into their heads and plays with their minds, internally torturing them. He is a sick man and needs therapy and constant care in a hospital because he is too...

Orruption in Primary Education in Bangladesh Essay

Introduction The adult literacy rate is 51 percent The average number of teacher per primary school is only 4 Average number of students per primary school is 273 The primary teacher-student ratio is 67:1 Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2 Development in Primary Education Adoption of an education policy in 2000 Five-year cycle to an eight-year cycle by 2010 Free and compulsory primary education for all children; Free education for girls up to grade eight; Free books for all children at primary level; 3 Development in Primary Education A food-for-education programme Primary Education Stipend Programme (PESP) Creation of a separate Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED) A proliferation of non-formal education programme by NGOs, and 4 Achievements in Primary Education Net enrolment rate has reached 80 percent Over 70 percent of the students now complete the five-year primary cycle 60 percent are present in school on an average day Source: Campaign for Popular Education & The University Press Ltd. 5 State of Corruption, Mismanagement and Irregularities in Primary Education All these programmes are infested with endless flaws and irregularities. TIB Household Corruption Survey identified the education sector as fifth corrupt sectors (2002) TIB Corruption Database identified the education sector as the third most corrupt sectors (2004) TIB and Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs) conducted a Report Card Survey in the primary education to identify the gaps and flaws in our basic education level as well as to locate and dispose of corruption. 6 Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs) TIB developed six Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs) Mymensingh Kishoregonj Nalitalari Madhupur Muktagacha, Jamalpur The main objective of the formation of the CCCs is to create local groups which would serve as local lobbyists seeking to curb corruption, instigate reform and promote integrity in the public service delivery system. 7 Sources of Data Corruption in Primary Education: A Report Card Survey, TIB (2001) Report card survey is a simple approach for organizing public feed back Report Cards are designed to assess the nature, types, extent and implications of corruption, and at the same time facilitate stakeholders participatory movement for improving the quality of service in the sector. 8 Name of Areas and number of different respondents for the Report Card Survey (2001) Respondents Area Mymensingh Muktagachha Jamalpur Kishoregonj Nalitabari Madhupur Gouripur Sharishabar Total Headmaster 23 25 20 21 19 20 21 22 171 Student 115 124 120 120 120 120 113 134 966 Guardian 115 124 120 120 120 120 113 134 966 Total 253 273 260 261 259 260 247 290 2103 9 Sources of Data Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey, TIB (2002) Information from 3030 Households Corruption Database: TIB (2004) Information from 26 Dailies Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey, TIB (2005) Information from 3000 Households Quality with Equity: The Primary Education Agenda, Campaign for Popular Education Bangladesh (2005) 8212 Respondents 10 Corruption in admission in primary education TIB Report card Survey (2001) shows that 6. 52% of the primary students paid Tk 63/- on average as admission fees . TIB Household Corruption Survey (2005) showed that 40% primary students had to pay 209 taka as admission fees 11 Irregular subscription/fees TIB Report Card Survey (2001) revealed that each student of primary schools had to pay 47 taka on average subscription for at least nine purposes which is illegal TIB Household Corruption Survey (2005) revealed that each student of primary schools had to pay 58 taka on average subscription for at least nine purposes which is illegal 12 Percentage of students who paid illegal fees 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0. Sp or ts Bo ok s rit ua ls m ot io n ex am ex ta in m lE po se s th er pu r am . xa en t En te r Pr om 2n d Re lig io us m 1s tT er Te Fi na rm 2001 2005 Source Corruption in Primary Education: A Report Card Survey (2001) Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2005) O 13 Amount of average illegal fess 2001 30 27 24 21 18 15 12 9 6 3 0 m ion ok s . ex am or ts t en ls r it ua us io O th er inm lE Bo ex Sp os es pu rp am xa ot om Pr te En 2005 er m Fi na tT Te rm rta 1s d 2n Source Corruption in Primary Education: A Report Card Survey (2001) Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2005). Re l ig 14 Corruption in Food for Education Program 16 % of the cases the criterion was not observed 15. 5% of the students paid on an average Taka 32 to be included in the programme Subscription was collected by teachers, Dealers and from Others On average every student received 2. 47 Kgs food grain less every time Missing 1241 tons of food grain in 8 Upazillas equivalent to 12 million taka (1USD=52 taka) Source: Corruption in Primary Education:A Report Card Survey (2001) 15 Primary Education Stipend Programme (PESP). Started from July 2002 substituting the former Food for Education Programme (FFE). Aim of attracting and keeping more children, especially of the poor Forty percent of the students in rural area are eligible to receive Tk 100 stipend per month Identification of 40 percent of pupil enrolled in grades 1-5 from the poorest households by School Management Committee (SMC) To remain eligible for the monthly stipend, a student has to attain minimum 40 percent marks in term examinations and have 85 percent monthly class attendance. 16 Corruption in Primary Education Stipend Programme (PESP). Over two-thirds of the children from the poorest category were not selected to be recipients of stipend; 27 percent of children from affluent households received the stipend 32. 4% primary school students who have been enrolled for stipend had to pay 40 taka for their enrolment 46 percent of the stipend holders did not receive the full amount of stipend Source Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2005) Source: Campaign for Popular Education & The University Press Ltd. 17 Corruption in Upazilla Primary Education Offices 34% of the responding headmasters said that bribes are occasionally required to be paid 13% said that they have to do so every time. Source: Corruption in Primary Education:A Report Card Survey (2001) 18 Consequences of corruption Concerned officials of primary education collected 19. 85 million taka (1USD=52 taka) as illegal subscription from 8 areas (out of 500 areas). Concerned primary education officials collected 546 million taka (1USD=60 taka) as illegal fees from all over Bangladesh Concerned PESP officials collected 25 million taka from primary students to enroll them in the PESP from all over Bangladesh . Source Corruption in Primary Education: A Report Card Survey (2001) Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2005) 19 Perpetrators of Corruption 1. Teachers 2. Food dealers 3. Management committee of institutions 4. Employees of institutions Source Corruption in Primary Education: A Report Card Survey (2001) Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2005) 20 Causes of corruption 1. Absence of accountability 2. Discretionary power 3. Lack of transparency 4. Monopoly power 5. Influence of powerful people Source Corruption in Bangladesh: A Household Survey (2002) 21 The objectives of CCCs advocacy activities on Primary Education. Ensuring quality education in all classrooms implying that there shall remain no room for pursuing any kind of ill motives for personal gain of any concerned party; Promoting collection of reasonable and standard fees in all primary schools; Ensuring that schools keep proper record of official fund collection and expenditure; Promoting the effectiveness of School Management Committees (SMC) and the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) to work as watchdog bodies for the betterment of local-level education; Suggesting strategies for meaningfully reducing the rate of dropouts. 22. TIB initiatives to curb corruption from Primary education: Success of CCCs The advocacy undertaken by CCCs for achieving the above objectives are at three level; Firstly, the CCCs are working to increase mass people through mobile theatres, mothers’ gathering and parents-teachers gathering etc. Secondly, the CCCs are trying to build coalition with School Management Committee (SMC), Upazilla Education Committee, and with the Civil Society. Finally, the CCCs are working with the concerned officials including Upazilla Education Offices, District Education Offices, Upazilla and District administrations etc. 23 TIB initiatives to curb corruption from Primary education: Success of CCCs Most of the upazilla primary education offices have taken initiatives for curbing corruption in their offices. As a result, corruption has somewhat reduced in the offices of the upazilla primary education offices. A number of teachers informed the CCCs that they are not giving bribes in the education office for their services. Because of CCC advocacy, a number of education offices decided on a fixed amount of fees for various purposes. The teachers are no longer collecting illegal fees from the students. 24 TIB initiatives to curb corruption from Primary education: Success of CCCs The CCCs have been invited by the Upazilla Education offices to participate in preparing yearly plan. The concerned education officials have requested the CCCs to help them to form the School Management Committee (SMC); The CCCs obtained formal consent to work with two Primary Schools for turning them into â€Å"Islands of Integrity† in each area; Many facets of the local education system appeared to have acted on the CCC-designed recommendations. 25 TIB initiatives to curb corruption from Primary education: Success of CCCs TIB’s suggestions, voiced via CCCs, were taken seriously and changes to record-keeping systems were made as per CCC recommendations; the CCCs had 15 specific reform-oriented recommendations; CCCs have been successful in persuading school authorities to clearly specify the school tuition fees, the rate of stipends, and supplying books on time, at no extra cost to guardians. It was made clear that the CCCs would continue to act as watchdogs for ensuring transparency and accountability; 26 Further Information Md. Sydur Rahman Molla Senior Programme Officer Research Department Transparency International Bangladesh Progress Tower (5th Floor), H # 01, R # 23, Gulshan –1, Dhaka –1212 PH: 880 2 9884811, 8826036, Fax: 880 2 9884811 Email: srmolla@ti-bangladesh. org Web: www. ti-bangladesh. org 27 Thanks 28.

Aria and Mother Tongue Essay

In the story â€Å"Aria† by Richard Rodriguez and â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan both authors write about their experiences and struggles as a bilingual child. In â€Å"Aria† and â€Å"Mother Tongue† they describe their private language as an expression of intimacy with their loved ones. Growing up at one point they felt embarrassed and ashamed of their parents inability to speak English fluently. Tan writes â€Å"My mother’s â€Å"limited† English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English,† (Tan 543). They were their parents’ connection to the outside world and often had to be the voice of their family. Rodriguez and Tan both believe that there’s more options and advantages once they became Americanized. â€Å"The social and political advantages I enjoy as a man result from the day that I came to believe that my name, indeed, is Rich-heard Road-ree-guess.† (Rodriguez 518). Rodriguez and Tan emphasize the importance of language and the power it holds either intimately or publicly.The assumption you can make about the authors personas is that they have a strong bond and love for their intimate language. Despite the similarities there are also many differences. Rodriguez comes from a Latin background in which both parents speak Spanish and Tan comes from a Chinese background. Tan grew up in American Chinese culture and embraces societies language (English) while being able to preserve her intimate language. Unfortunately, Rodriguez faced many obstacles due to the language barrier and was not able to preserve his intimate language. The authors purposes for the essay’s are to show the importance and influence that language has on culture.

The U.S. Penal System essays

The U.S. Penal System essays Prison inmates, are some of the most "maladjusted" people in society. Most of the inmates have had too little discipline or too much, come from broken homes, and have no self-esteem. They are very insecure and are "at war with themselves as well as with society" (Szumski 20). Most inmates did not learn moral values or learn to follow everyday norms. Also, when most lawbreakers are labeled criminals they enter the phase of secondary deviance. They will admit they are criminals or believe it when they enter the phase of secondary deviance (Doob 171). Next, some believe that if we want to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison. For instance, we could give them a chance to acquire job skills; which will improve the chances that inmates will become productive citizens upon release. The programs must aim to change those who want to change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be productive are "likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a normal, integrated personality" (Szumski 21). This kind of program would provide skills and habits and "replace the sense of hopelessness" that many inmates have (Szumski 21). Moreover, another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is counseling. There is two types of counseling in general, individual and group counseling. Individual counseling is much more costly than group counseling. The aim of group counseling is to develop positive peer pressure that will influence its members. One idea in many sociology text is that group problem-solving has definite advantages over individual problem-solving. The idea is that a wider variety of solutions can be derived by drawing from the experience of several people with different backgrounds. Also one individuals problem might have already been solved by another group member and can be suggested. ...

The Predators of Sea Turtles

The Predators of Sea Turtles Sea turtles have hard shells (called carapaces) that help protect them, but they still have predators. They are also more vulnerable than land turtles because unlike land turtles, sea turtles are unable to retract their heads or flippers into their shell. Predators of Sea Turtle Eggs and Hatchlings There are some predators of sea turtles as adults, but these marine reptiles are most vulnerable when in the egg and as hatchlings (small turtles recently emerged from the egg). Predators of eggs and hatchlings include dogs, cats, raccoons, boars, and ghost crabs. These animals may dig up a sea turtle nest to get to the eggs, even if the nest is 2 feet below the surface of the sand. As hatchlings start to emerge, there is a scent of egg that still is on their bodies, plus the smell of wet sand. These scents can be detected by predators even from a distance. According to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, threats to turtles in Georgia include the above, plus feral hogs and fire ants, which can threaten both eggs and hatchlings. Once hatchlings emerge from the egg, they need to get to the water. At this point, birds such as gulls and night herons can become an additional threat. According to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, as few as one in 10,000 sea turtle eggs reach adulthood. Olive ridley turtles nest in huge groups called arribadas. These arribadas can attract animals such as vultures, coatis, coyotes, jaguars, and raccoons, who may gather near the beach even before the arribada begins. These animals dig up nests and eat eggs and prey on nesting adults. Predators of Adult Sea Turtles Once turtles make their way to the water, both juveniles and adults can be prey for other ocean animals, including sharks (especially tiger sharks), orcas (killer whales), and large fish, such as grouper. Sea turtles are built for life in the water, not on land. So adults can also be vulnerable to predators such as dogs and coyotes when they go up upon beaches to nest. Sea Turtles and Humans If turtles survive their natural predators, they still face threats from humans. Harvest for meat, oil, scutes, skin, and eggs decimated turtle populations in some areas. Sea turtles face development on their natural nesting beaches, which means they have to contend with such things as artificial light, and loss of habitat and nesting sites due to construction and beach erosion. Hatchlings find their way to the sea using natural light, the slope of the shore, and the sounds of the ocean and coastal development can interrupt these cues and make hatchlings crawl in the wrong direction. Turtles may also be caught as bycatch  in fishing gear, which was such a problem that turtle excluder devices were developed, although their use is not always enforced.   Pollution such as marine debris is another threat. Discarded balloons, plastic bags, wrappers, discarded fishing line, and other trash may be mistaken by a turtle for food and be accidentally ingested, or the turtle may become entangled. Turtles may also be struck by boats. How to Help Sea Turtles A sea turtles life may be fraught with danger. How can you help? If you live in a coastal area: Dont feel wildlife - you may attract turtle predators.Dont let your dog or cat run loose.Watch for sea turtles when boating.Do not disturb or shine lights near nesting sea turtles.Turn off outside, ocean-facing lights during sea turtle nesting season.Pick up litter on the beach. Wherever you live: Dispose of trash responsibly, and keep a lid on your trash when its outside. Trash even far from the ocean can make its way there eventually.Never release balloons - always pop them and dispose of them in the trash. Use balloon alternatives whenever possible during your celebrations.If you eat seafood, research what you eat and eat seafood that is caught without threatening turtles.Support sea turtle conservation/rehabilitation organizations, even international ones. Sea turtles are highly migratory, so recovery of turtle populations depends on protection in all their habitats. References and Further Information: Network for Endangered Sea Turtles. Accessed May 30, 2013.Sea Turtle Conservancy. Sea Turtle Threats: Invasive Species Predation. Accessed May 30, 2013.Spotila, J. R. 2004. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore and London.The Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Threats to Sea Turtles. Accessed May 30, 2013.

Strategic Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Strategic Knowledge - Essay Example al., n.d.). With the intention to determine that whether the idea of intellectual capital can be managed at the strategic level or not, it can be affirmed that intellectual capital aids an organisation to generate greater value to the customers and drive success at in the long-run. Contextually, it has been viewed that the success of several foremost organisations including Microsoft, Amazon and Google among others have been typically based upon their respective intellectual capital in terms of managing it in an effective manner (Marr, 2008). Samsung Group, popularly known as Samsung, is one of the biggest Information Technology (IT) based global organisation that deals with various products and services including consumer electronics, medical instruments, mobile phones and telecommunication related equipments (Samsung, 2012). Notably, the vision of the company is to incessantly develop its pioneering technological advancements as well as effectual business procedures with the intention of penetrating into new business markets, enhancing profitability and most significantly accomplishing superior competitive position over its chief business market competitors (Samsung, 2012). Thus, it can be stated that the group can attain its expected business goals within the context of KM by effectively managing its intellectual capital. Based on these considerations, the discussion henceforth will intend to present a comprehensive analysis of the statement concerning the issue that whether the perception of intellectual capital can be managed at the strategic level. Different important aspects that include knowledge management or environment related managerial concerns, intellectual along with social capital, communities of practice and soft systems thinking will also be portrayed in this discussion. The conception of Knowledge Management (KM) is