Defiance and Resistance Essay Example for Free

Defiance and Resistance Essay In both works The Crucible and The Bride Price by Arthur Miller and Buchi Emecheta, superstition and hysteria play key roles in destroying the morale of the Puritan and African communities. The setting in which both take place in between pre and post modernization effect the odd behavior demonstrated. In both texts, behavior different from that which is customary and accepted is interpreted as supernatural witchcraft. The fear of the unknown as well as jealousy fashions agitation, which in turn provokes individuals to turn on one another going against values and beliefs. In the play-write The crucible, Miller demonstrates the theme of the story which was rising over adversity, and standing for the truth even to death. Miller is displaying his interpretation of rise over adversity through John Proctor. John, in the beginning, wanted to keep distant from the trials. He did not want to associate or disregard his personal values by being part of the trials. When Elizabeth was arrested, he was forced to become part of it. He went to court first to set his wife free but after watching the proceedings, he saw that the evil was not only being done to his own wife but many others like his wife. As a result, he worked even harder to free the other innocent people, getting himself arrested. Despite this drawback, he did not give up. He had the chance to free himself if he testified against the others but he realized that this would be wrong, and even though he wanted to free himself, he would not if it meant bringing trouble upon others. He cleansed himself at the trial, standing for what he knew was right and died a righteous person. Though he stayed away from church, he became more pure than the common Puritans, dying as a martyr like the original apostles. He learned what truth meant through his suffering. In the novel, The Bride Price, Emecheta displays defiance and resistance through her protagonist, Aku-nna. In the Ibuza culture, it is not proper to marry or even associate ones self with an oseu. As the story builds to a climax, so does Aku-nnas courage build. Her courage, in turn, builds her defiance. After Aku-nnas menstruation has become public knowledge, she refuses to eat the chicken that has been slaughtered in her honor. At this point in the story, Aku-nna registers what very well might have been her first defiant thought. She was beginning to feel that it was unjust that she was not to be allowed a say in her own life, and she was beginning to hate her mother for being so passive about it all. As she stands in front of Okoboshi, the young man who has kidnapped her as a potential bride, Aku-nna loudly and forcefully speaks out in an attempt to save herself. It is out of fear of not only being raped but also of being deprived of ever seeing Chike again that she finds her voice and creates a story so vile that Okoboshi leaves her alone. The vile story that she creates is a lie, but the lie represents the epitome of her defiance. She tells Okoboshi that she is not a virgin; and, furthermore, she lost her virginity to a descendant of a slave. In so doing, Aku-nna risks everything, possibly even her life. Her uncle would surely kill her on sight but if she was forced to live with these people for long, she would soon die, for that was the intention behind all the taboos and customs. Anyone who contravened them was better dead and when you were dead, people would ask: Did we not say so? Nobody goes against the laws of the land and survives. Although Aku-nna has made her own choice to run away from her arranged marriage and marry Chike against her parents wishes, she cannot let go of the myth that plagues her: If a girl wishes to live long and see her childrens children, she must accept the husband chosen for her by her people if the bride price was not paid, she would never survive the birth of her first child (168). Though Chikes father offered to pay Aku-nnas bride price, her uncle simply refused to accept it, and therefore cursed her to die. In the end of the story, Aku-nna dies in childbirth, and her legend is used to further reinforce the threat of grim results for women who make their own choices. These stories remind its readers of an ugly blemish on human history. It reminds one that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. However, even with these mistakes, we can cleanse ourselves and purify ourselves by making what is wrong right. As in The Bride Price where Aku-nna stands for what she believes in and what she loves and John Proctor standing for what he valued, both were defiant against their setting or community. The sufferings become to the sufferer like a crucible, and one must pay the price be it a bride price or the price of life. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Police and the Use of Excessive Force Essay Example for Free

Police and the Use of Excessive Force Essay The use of excessive force by police organizations around the world as a crime control mechanism has been widely criticized and debated for many years. Many ask, what exactly is excessive force? What causes an officer to use excessive force and is it justified? There is much ambiguity when it comes to answering such questions. Your perception will undoubtedly create your expectation and too many times one’s failure to acknowledge, ‘the other side of the story,’ causes a misperception. How big of a role do the media play in portraying police use of excessive force as fair or unnecessary? These are all valid questions that will be addressed in this analysis as well as what is being done to address the situation. We begin with the definition of excessive force as provided by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, â€Å"excessive force is the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling suspect† (Police use of Force, 2009). That is, police will turn to excessive force when an individual has been uncooperative. Some argue that the police’s most defining feature is their capacity to use coercive force (Katz Walker, 2008). Police use of force may include physical force as well as the power to arrest, but most importantly the power to use deadly force. It is important to keep in mind that there are laws set in place to limit the amount of force an officer uses, including excessive force. Such laws have allowed for better policing practices and an improved police/community relationship. Although police use of excessive force still arises from time to time, the number of incidents has dropped dramatically over the years. According to a study done in the years 1999 and 2000 of calls for service, force was used by police in less than one percent of the calls (Police use of Force, 2009). In actuality, the police spend most of their shift serving their community as peacekeepers as  well as helping others. So what drives a sworn police officer to use excessive force? The answer to this question is not a simple one, and rightfully so. Some argue that discrimination, stereotyping and the environment in which a n officer may patrol can contribute to the use of excessive force. People call the police because they want an officer to settle a problem: to arrest someone, to get someone to calm down, or to have someone removed from the home (Katz Walker, 2008). In other words, police are constantly put in volatile situations where the people they are dealing with can become a danger to the officer who is responding to a call and there is no telling what someone might do at any given moment. Often times when an officer has been dispatched to a scene, particularly an altercation, tempers are already flaring and what would normally be a situation calling for a simple mediation performed by the officer can easily escalate to the citizen resisting arrest for fear of going to jail, not knowing that the police is just trying to calm down the individual in order to assist with the situation more accurately. Situations like these are all too common and police can feel very much unappreciated and a sense of disrespect on behalf of those they serve. This frustration often times lead to a small number of officers easily losing their temper when confronting citizens in future instances. It must be pointed out that such instances are rare, but still do a rise from time to time. As a retired police lieutenant reflecting on his career put it, ‘The majority of cops were good, hardworking, conscientious individuals. They cared, and they wanted to do a good job. But there were enough cops—not one rotten apple, but several rotten apples—to give law enforcement the taint it had received’ ((Retired), 2000). The media, which include movies, television shows, and news organizations, have a lot of power when it comes to portraying the police as good or evil. Given the considerable ambiguity that surrounds the issue, whether police use of force is presented as police brutality and whether brutality is understood as a problem depend greatly upon which voices and views the media emphasize (Lawrence, 2000). It is the media who determine what the general public learns about street cops’ daily experience with criminals and the underclass, as well as what the middle-class public learns about other groups’ experiences with police (Lawrence, 2000). A perfect example is the famous reality television program, ‘Cops,’ where camera crews  participate in ride-along a ssignments and capture real life drama from the police officer’s viewpoint. News headlines are one of the most, if not the most, influential media forms influencing public opinion and attitude towards law enforcement. As the lawyer for a Miami policeman acquitted in the shooting death of a black motorcyclist—an acquittal that touched off days of rioting—indignantly told reporters, â€Å"If the headlines read, ‘Twice-convicted drug dealer shot while trying to run over officer,’ there wouldn’t have been any riots† (Lawrence, 2000). So the question arises, what is being done to address the situation with police use of excessive force? History has shown that policing systems and strategies can and do change. One way the situation has been dealt with in recent years is with the creation of local citizen oversight groups where complaints by citizens are reviewed to determine whether the action taken by the officer towards the individual filing the complaint was caused by a lack of policy, or a bad policy, on behalf of the police department in which case a recommendation for a new policy is sent to the department. Another way that police departments are dealing with the situation is by mounting video recorders on patrol cars as well as working with the local media and using them as a way of checks and balances. There is also the case for higher education for police officers. The subject matter of higher education as a requirement for police officers is a hot debate topic today. Study has shown that higher educated cops receive fewer complaints than those with less education (Victor E. Kappeler, 1992). Works Cited (Retired), L. A. (2000). From the Inside Looking Out. In J. Nelson, Police Brutality (p. 265). New York: Norton. Katz, C. M., Walker, S. (2008). The Police In America. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lawrence, R. G. (2000). The Politics of Force. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Police use of Force. (2009, August 04). Retrieved March 19, 2010, from National Institute of Justice web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/law-enforcement/use-of-force/welcome.htm#note1 Victor E. Kappeler, D. C. (1992). Police Officer Higher Education, Citizen Complaints, and Departmental Rule Violation. American Journal of Police , 37-54.

Effect Of Globalisation On Social Welfare

Effect Of Globalisation On Social Welfare To understand the concept of Glocalization, an understanding of globalization as a process is to be gained. Since glocalization has basically two positions, both defined by the concept of globalization. The two statuses of Glocalization are: Firstly, glocalization can be seen as a result of and an alternative to globalization, and secondly, it may also be referred to as an opposition to globalization. Since most of the scholars involved in explaining glocalization, has often taken the understanding that it emerged because of the grave problems and the negative impacts or consequences of the globalization process. Globalization as a process of integration and interconnectedness in terms of economic, social and political forces has led to various outcome. It has led to greater interaction among states and also led to the increase of non-state actors like transnational corporations and multinational corporations in the economic sector all around the world. And it also brought a decrease in the role of the state and led to the emergence and proliferation of a number of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and non-state actors in the economic, political and social sectors which operated and had implications on the global and the local arena. Such interaction of the global and local forces is termed as glocalization, the interaction of local-level government with the state and the interaction of this state and its representation in the international/global arena is what glocalization captures. Glocalization basically refers to the interaction or a blending of the local forces with the global forces, or vice-versa, impacting and influencing the other sector. Glocalization in terms of the social aspect basically refers to the impact of globalization on social aspects such as culture, and also in terms of social welfare it relates to the forces involved in the matters of rights, education, women and children and also the ecology. Insecurity is what its based on; earlier insecurity existed only in military terms; of one country going into war with the other; however the concept of security and insecurity now deals with other sectors i.e. the non-traditional security relating to the environment and others. Globalization increa sing the interaction among nations and bringing about a homogeneous notion of culture, security and economy has now led to a proliferation in matters of insecurities. It has added more problems to the world today. Globalization and increasing economic interconnectedness was supposed to be directed towards the entire world contributing to world economy in order for everyone to be well off, however such economic accomplishments have only been diverted mostly towards the developed or the rich countries, thereby it is felt that globalization has increased the level of poverty mostly in the already poor developing or underdeveloped or undeveloped countries, especially the third world countries. When the arguments of the hyper globalists are taken we see that globalization was intended on creating one world, a homogeneous entity. Homogeneous in terms of economy, political and socio cultural aspects, glocalization on the other hand has been seen to emphasize heterogeneity; mainly in terms of culture the term associated would be Creolizaiton- referring to the evoking of cultural fusion and the emergence of new cultures across the globe. Other synonyms for glocalization of culture, and creolization would be mixture or hybridization. On cultural terms we see glocalization to stand contrary to what globalization advocates. One definition of glocalization to be noted is; Glocalization can be defined as an interpretation of the global and the local, resulting in unique outcomes of different geographic areas, it emphasizes global heterogeneity and tends to reject the idea of the West/ Americanization. The concept of glocalization is seen to be contrary to Modernization Theory, which dealt with issues of central concern in the West and the rest of the world to blindly follow the West. Tony Blair, Globalization as a process has been termed as an irreversible and an inevitable process: Bill Clinton, Globalization is not a policy choice, it is a fact. This shows that the west had too much faith in the process of globalization and its impacts. Therefore, it is here that glocalization provides for a critique and an alternative to the globalization, since globalization now is taken as an important process and many have ignored the problems caused by it, glocalization theorists point out to these problems and therefore formulate their idea of the concept that developed. Economically, glocalization would mean the local control of the economy and fair distribution locally. Technology and Information to be encouraged to flow when and where they could strengthen the local economies. The problems of globalization, first would be that with its idea of liberalization, increases the integration of markets and also increases interference. Colin Hines mentions that this leads to reduction of democratic controls over economic affairs, international competition leads to increases interference and therefore leads to erosion of social welfare standards and an environmental regulation with regard to international trade is lost. The burden basically falls on the third world developing countries. In this context what Hines suggests is localization, that is the seen as an alternative to the problems created by globalization, by localization, Hines means which reverses the trend of globalization by favoring the local. Why the critique of globalization emerged, was because with the principles of integration and interconnectedness globalization was to provide an overall development, that is development of countries all over the world, a global process of development was to foster growth in the economic, political and social sector of the entire nation states. However this was not so, instead it has been pointed out that there was a global rise in inequality, declining social and environmental conditions and a loss of power by the sovereign state, local governments and citizens and the major beneficiaries of these processes were the Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and the multinational corporations (MNCs), there was a sharp increase in underdevelopment and underpayment. In the 1 960s the income of the richest fifth of the worlds population were 30 times greater than that of the poorest fifth, and in 1991 it was over sixty times and the 1998 report by United Nations, it was seventy-eight times high. In the 1990s the International Labor Organization reported that one third of the worlds population were underemployed. The 1990 report by the International Labor Organization mentioned that one-third of the worlds population were underemployed.1 Globalization therefore was seen to have negative impacts on nation states, the gap between the rich and the poor were widening. Globalization stands for delocalizaiton i.e. displacement of activities which were local and turning it into a world-wide activities. Globalization stood for the lifting of social activities out of the local knowledge and placing them in networks in which they are conditioned by and condition world-wide events. The process of globalization stands for homogenization, where the processes around the world become one and the same for all the countries. Global actors or institutions like the TNCs engage themselves in different countries, however they do not totally bring about homogenization, certain companies do get involved and adapt to local conditions to maximize local demand for products and service and to minimize their chance of being discriminated against by trade and investment. This is known as Glocalization, defined as a companys attempt to become acc epted as a local citizen in a different trade bloc and little control is given to the area of strategic concern. On economic matters, due to globalization the delocalization gaps between the rich and the poor countries are widening. GLOCALIZATION AS A PROCESS: Glocalization involves the blending of the global and local forces. Its evolution was based on a Japanese term Dochakuka which meant the adoption of farming technique to ones local condition. In the business world the term actually mean global localization, according to Wordspy, glocalization refered to the creation of the products or services intended for the global market, but customized to serve the local cultures, in social sciences the term used or a synonym for glocalization is indigenization. 2 Ronald Robertson has been an important figure in the study of globalization. For him, globalization was not a recent phenomenon, it has existed as a part of the modernization theory, with its emphasis on convergence and homogenization (basically westernization), and he mentioned globalization as the interpenetration of the universalization of the particularization and the particularization of universalism. Globalization and glocalization was to be thought of as interdependent processes, Robertson argued that local and global instead of constituting analytical opposites locality can be regarded, with certain reservations, as an aspect of globalization. 3 Hines, Colin. 2000. Localization: A Global Manifesto, London: Earthscan. Khondker, Habibul.H. Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, Bangladesh e-journal of Sociology, Vol.1, No.2. July 2004. Eade, John. Living the global City: Globalization as a local process, Routledge Publ. Robertson mentions glocalization to be an accurate term to describe the global/local relationship. There exits the globalization of the locality and the localization of what is global. As such the processes are that of macro localization and micro globalization. Habib in his work Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, cites examples of such micro globalization and macro localization. For the former he cites the example of social movements like the feminist and the ecological movements which start in small local spaces and then gets expanded to a larger area, also a global arena. Contrary to this view of globalization and glocalization being interdependent processes is the view of the likes of Midgley, who view globalization to be harmful for local economies, as they undermine the role of the sovereign states and uphold the roles of corporations and also create unemployment and poverty in various parts of the world. They believe that globalization leads to a lack of accountability in the new emerging era and as increased economic forces and complex international relations make it difficult to identify the source of the problem, as such so assigning of little responsibility to nation state or companies for any harm that maybe inflicted upon society as a whole and therefore scholars prefer glocalization to enhance the social welfare of citizens. In the era of globalization the role of the state in the social arena is decreased and therefore glocalization here presents a potential to create new social actors and structures that are essentially local in spirit and global in character capable of responding to local social problems brought on by neglect of welfare state in a format backed by global insight and power. Philip Hong and In Han Song suggested development of a globalized social policy assisted by and international organization that together can establish and advocate a common set of solutions to increase global pressures and create opportunities for investing more in such things as education, employment and vital public services. Through this top-down approach of global forces acting at local levels, authors argue that glocalization of social work might offer a means for advancing local welfare and contribute the strength needed to comfort increasing complex global social problems more pronounced into the future. Glocalization and social welfare can be assessed through the analysis of civil society organizations and the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). Glocalization for social welfare through NGOs etc. means pressing for certain rights, protecting the local globally/from global to local/going local. Local government officials have been the most useful when they have supported local problem solvers. What Hines suggested was localization which mean de-globalization i.e. the reversal of the process of globalization, turning back everything under local control and local management, which now seems quite possible since globalization has been an age old phenomenon and has brought about innumerable changes which cannot be reversed, as it is difficult to reverse or its removal or reversal is undesirable since globalization has not only had negative effects but positive ones too. As such its reversal would not really be feasible. So glocalization serves as a suitable policy process, since it doe s not demand for a reversal of the globalized process but emphasizes the combined functioning of both the local and the global forces, neither complete globalization nor completes localization, it serves as a neutral policy, gaining from both aspects. It is said that glocalization provides for a blend of local and global forces and in the name of such a blend an example that can be cited is that of the United Nations (UN). The UN being an international/ global organization comprised of member countries from all over the world provides policies for social welfare sectors like that of health, education, environment, rights, the question of women and children and culture. The impact of UN policies are great, it looks into matters which have effect on local levels as well, citing example of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), formulated in terms of eradicating poverty, promoting proper health and education, ecological protection and others have been adopted by member nations and these MDGs have also been taken up on state level. According to Scholte, glocalization involves the formulations of certain rules and regulatory institutions for better governance of local agendas with respect to global matters. It is argued that the global governance institutions lack the kinds of formal accountability that national and local governments can provide. World bodies like Commonwealth, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the World Bank, they all lack popularly elected executive and therefore this hampers accountability. Insufficient accountability compromises most problems like poverty, inequality, environmental defense, disease and violence are not effectively addressed or eradicated. Therefore through civil society organizations help could be provided, however the sceptics argued such civil society organizations run by elites would further increase the problem of accountability. Contemporary society operates through global frames alongside social spaces. Along with local NGOs there also exists inter-regional associations like the European Union, Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which has been termed as the most developed interregional arrangement. Along with this there exists trans-localism, with groups like UCLG- United Cities and Local Governments, ICLEI, local governments for sustainability. Therefore global governance involves international institutes, inter-regional institutes and trans-local institutes, and good governance in this respect means that these institutes as actors are answerable for its action to the beneficiary for whom they are acting. Glocalization brings out the best in dealing with the local problems with tis reference to global issues though civil society. Such CSOs as human collectivity, people relate to one another on the basis of openness, tolerance, respect, trust and non-violence. Secondly, also a political space where citizens congregate to deliberate upon actual and prospective circumstances of their collective life. The qualities of civil society initiatives like peace movements, human rights advocates, advanced dignity of disabled persons, indigenous populations, outcasts, people of color, sexual minorities and women, citizen campaigns for animal rights and ecological integrity. Certain NGO staff members have represented several small island states in multilateral negotiations on climate change- in china and parts of Africa the relationship between civic groups and the state has sometimes been so close that the associations in question have been dubbed as GONGOs-Government organized NGOs. Some environmental organizations have held observer status in the body that oversees implementation of 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Codex Alimentarius Commission- a Rome based supra-state agency on world food standards and the International Organization have consulted global companies in the process of setting norms. Each country, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child- has always received an alternative report from civic groups. By 1990, most major UN organs had established a special division for liaison with NGOs. Marrakesh Agreement establishing WTO provided for appropriate arrangements for consultation and cooperation with NGOS. Suggestions for proposals regarding a Peoples Assembly or chamber of companies to be created in the UN alongside General Assembly of States have been made. NGO forums exercised notable influence on declarations and programs of action at various UN sponsored global issue conferences of 1990s. New politics emerged when several civic groups channel important part of their efforts to shape official policy though supra-state agencies as through governments. This has been apparent in environmental regeneration, autonomy of indigenous people, position of women, opportunities for the disabled and world peace. E.g. Movement for the survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) created in 1990. MOSOP used support of trans-border environmental, religious, human rights organizations. In other words, it is possible in contemporary politics for grassroots groups to advance their causes though coalitions with NGOs, global governance agencies and even global companies. Two private sector policy makers have been influential in influencing many programs at low levels, these are namely: Ford Foundation and World Economic Forum. Ford Foundation established in 1936 to fund social programs in Michigan. Its funds and grants were to go to NGOs and were to be free from the scrutiny of the state governments. 1960s, ford foundation played a major role in educating development economists, promoting Green Revolution in agriculture, sponsoring population control programs and linking environment and development policies. World Economic Forum, was launched in 1971 was instrumental in launching the Uruguay Round of World Trade negotiations and helped forge links between local and global capital in China, India, Latin America and Russia and post-apartheid South Africa. World Economic Forum also addressed inter-state conflicts with conciliation attempts in affairs as the Arab-Israeli and Greeco-Turkish disputes. Non-official initiatives in environmental regulation are the Ford, Packard and Rockefeller foundation supported major conservation programs. In 1980, World Conservation union (IUCN) and WWF collaborated with UNEP to launch a World Conservation Strategy that developed guidelines for states. World Resources Institute (WRI) formulated the Tropical Forestry Action Plan in 1980 jointly with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and UNDP. International Council of Science Union plays an advisory role to the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP in setting up and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988. The Secretariat for the Convention on International Trade in endangered species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has worked in close cooperation with the IUCN and the WWF. IUCN, WRI and UNEP jointly organized the Bio-Diversity Conservation Strategy Program. NGOS and emancipatory new social movements provide a progressive way forward to more effective and just regulation. Lena Dominelli mentions that initiatives have to be taken to engage in mutual exchanges between local and global players. Locality specific versions of social work was directed to be a resistance to the homogenizing trends embedded in social relations driven by profit motives and the desire of entrepreneurs to appropriate other peoples labor, material resources, geographic spaces and intellectual property. Human, social and environmental degradation is increasing and despite government rhetoric about equal opportunity, elimination of poverty particularly among children within the UK, and on a global scale of twenty-eight billion people expressed and agreed at World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and Millennium Development Goals pronounced at the UN. The roles of associations like the IASSW International Association of Schools of Social Work, International Council on Social Work (ICSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), promoting cross border solidarity in matters of this kind. The benefits of globalization have been contested by anti-globalization movements which demanded economic growth should sustain human beings and the environment in which they live rather than gathering profits for the few. International organizations include such as the Red-Cross OXFAM, and the Save the Children are NGOs that practice on issues like poverty, disasters and health matters, mostly associated with aid and relief. The American New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt was nearest the USA could come to guaranteeing provision for families with dependent children and for older people. The concerns with extreme levels of deprivation and threat of social disorder and devastation by second world war especially Europe were picked by Roosevelt and other at United Nations and led to an agreement around Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). UDHR covered civil, political and social rights including the right to welfare. In addition to the organizations of the UN system and the Washington-based financial institutions, such as the international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Human Rights Watch and CARE, such transnational corporations as Shell and Citibank, and global media like the BBC and CNN exerted a growing influence on state policies, and also brought to a large extent the proliferation in the number of NGOs. The involvements of such actors are basically a part of the good governance agenda. They help especially in the Third World and Eastern Europe to bring about changes, certain scholars have been critical of the World Bank intervention in these countries, and mentioned that instead of good governance, what World Bank policies have led to is bad governance. As such, UN commentary on good governance has led to certain ideas namely, the universal protection of Human Rights; non-discriminatory laws; efficient, impartial and rapid judicial processes; transparent public agencies; ac countability for decisions by public officials; devolution of resources and decision making to local levels from the capital and meaningful participation by citizens in debating public policies and choices.4 A report from UNDPs Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States emphasized the prerequisites for equity, legitimacy and efficiency: A legitimately strong government can be described as one that commands sufficient confidence in its legitimacy to allow for a strong civil society, and for a network of non-governmental institutions and regulations that ensure the development of a well-functioning economic system, the strengthening of democratic procedures and a widespread participation by people in public life. Giving the state a role to play in the domestic arena may lead to capacity building; in such a way there may be more effective partnerships and institutions internationally and at home, emphasized by the World Development Report 1997. UNDP has since the early 1990s shifted from traditional public sector management to addressing sensitive issues of governance as the human rights etc. And thus emphasized on capacity building; with this emphasis on capacity building for civil Weiss, Thomas.G. Governance, Good Governance and Global Governance: Conceptual and Actual Challenges, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21. No.5. (Oct.2000).pp. 795-814. society and the private sector has mean that the UN system has a comparative advantage in many of the developing countries. Good governance entails the working of state and civil society actors closely together, Mahbub ul Haq has given the concept of good governance as to be directed towards the notion of human development and thereby leading to Humane Governance. This humane governance has also been emphasized by J.A. Scholte in his book Globalization: a critical introduction, he has mentioned the various issues as insecurities, basically as a result of globalization. Such insecurities are not that of traditional security in terms of the military security and defense but this includes that of Ecological integrity, Health, Poverty, Employment, Working conditions and identity and local knowledge. We can make out from these various insecurities that Scholte talked in aspect of social welfare. The emphasis is on the negative impacts of contemporary globalization on human security. ECOLOGY INTERGRITY: The global environmental issues have become a very critical source of insecurity, global capitalism or global races for capital and development have been particularly harmful for the ecology. Such race have particularly been harmful for the countries of the South, since most ministries have abandoned the environmental projects and policies in an effort to achieve the fiscal targets connected with globally sponsored structural adjustment programmes. Environmental issues are a very good example of how local and global forces interact with each other or affect each other. Various movements at the local level for environmental protection have been raised against the global forces which push countries towards the process of development which are harmful to the ecology of the country. To cite an example would be the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in India. A fight a dam Sardar Sarovar Dam to be built on the river Narmada in Central India, this NBA consisted mostly of peasants and tribals, le d by people like Baba Amte and also later activists like Medha Patkar were successful in fighting against the project which was to be funded by the World Bank. They were successful in stopping the Bank from funding the project and thereby got the project banned. This NBA was able to succeed in their efforts since they were able to well-establish links with environmental groups overseas. The Japanese environmentalists persuaded their government not to advance money for the Narmada Valley Project and also US groups were sympathetic to the cause and were also able to persuade their government to do the same. Support from environmentalist from both these countries also helped to persuade the World Bank to give up on the project.5 Environmental issues in industrialized countries had to do with the quality of life, whereas in Africa, Asia and Latin America it mostly was based on survival, the rights to live and work in a healthy environment, the responsibility to protect habitats, livelihoods and systems of life support from contamination, depletion (extraction), and destruction, and also the determination to restore or rehabilitate what has already been harmed. These are the issues that the countries of the South face in terms of ecology, and more sensitive to this issue have been women, ecofeminism as can been referred to. There are inter-linkages in the experience of grassroots environmental movements worldwide namely: the struggle to save old growth forests in Europe, womens initiatives to secure Rangarajan, Mahesh. Environmental Issues in India, Chap.22. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. safe food supplies in the industrial core of Poland, community efforts in Spain to fight toxic waste dumping, womens movements to retain access to land and forest resources in Kenya, and womens participation in the struggles of the rubber tappers union to protect their forest homes and work places in the Brazilian Amazon.6 Women carry a disproportionate share of responsibilities for resource procurement and environmental maintenance however they have very limited rights to determine the future of resource availability and environmental quality. Women have been at the forefront of emerging grassroots groups, social movements and local political organizations engaged in environmental, socio economic and political struggles. These phenomena are not localized; it is taking place around the world. Sound environmental policies and practice are required in order to achieve sustainable development. In this respect there are certain assumptions that are given: firstly that the involvement of women in collective action around the world, there are critical linkages between global environmental and economic processes and the recent surge in womens participation in public for a, particularly in relation to ecological and economic concern. This surge in womens activism is a response to actual changes in local enviro nmental conditions as well as to discursive shifts toward sustainable development in national and international political circles. Secondly, relates to women are beginning to define their identities and the meaning of gender through expressions of human agency and collective action emphasizing struggles, resistance and cooperation, and also have now included womens knowledge, experience and interests as a worldwide phenomenon, and that the process and results in any one place reflect historical, social and geographical specificity. There are various victories claimed by womens participation in environmental protection at local levels; namely the widespread planting of tress by the Womens Green Belt movement of Kenya, the protection of the Himalayan forests from timber concessionaries by the Chipko Movement in India, in North America grassroots movements led by women have prevented the disposal of toxic wastes. International level organizations that bridge the gap between local and the global have been Womens Congress for a Healthy Planet, WEDO- Women, Environment and Development Organization; WEDNET- Women, Environment and Development Network; and Worldwide Network for women all bring concerns of these locally based movements to national and international policy fora. Global Governance of ecological matters has made notable advances, even though the UN Charter of 1945 did not mention environment, but UN-sponsored global summits on the environment at Stockholm (1972), Rio de Janeiro (1992) and Johannesburg (2002 ) have raised awareness of the problems dealing with environment and brought it to public concern. The ozone regime established through the 1985 Vienna Convention and the 1987 Montreal Protocol has proved successful, and by 1997 world production of the main ozone-depleting substances had fallen considerably, and also the Global Environment Facility (GEF)- operative since 1994 and administered between UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank has pledged some two billion dollars to help poor countries make investments that benefit ecological integrity. Efforts to address global warming has not really proved to be successful, and conferences have been continuously held, but mostly countries which contribute to global warming have been in denial and refuse to limit emissions of Rocheleau, Dianne, Barbara Thomas-Slayter and Esther Wangari, Feminist Political Ecology: Global Issues and local experiences, Published by Routledge.

Kids Baseball, A Great American Tradition :: Art

Kids Baseball, A Great American Tradition Kids’ baseball is a really great American tradition. Fathers can relate to their kids who play Little League because male adults remember the experience as something vital that taught them life-skills and socialization during their youth. Little League is as American as apple pie and now the rest of the world is finally wonderfully acclimated to enjoying everything American including baseball. Even an institution as wonderful as Little League has its critics. Some complain that it emphasizes competition too much and that the lesser skilled kids ought to get more playing time. Others cite that the risk of injury is all too real. I believe that Little League is a terrific â€Å"coming of age† growth experience. It teaches kids organizational skills, division of labor, cooperation and competition. By organization I mean nine kids have to function like one unit working under one main coach. In division of labor those same nine kids must perform different tasks and responsibilities. They must cooperate with each other in order to defeat the opposing team in competition. Varga’s Drugstore versus Kiwanis is a small-scale version of Compaq going up against IBM or General Motors taking on Ford. That’s what makes Little League so uniquely American and why it helps to perpetuate this country’s unparalleled â€Å"free enterprise† value system. For those critics who claim LL is dangerous, there is danger and risk everywhere. If every young boy or girl lived in a protective bubble, no kids would ever interact. Those vocal LL critics should not cross streets, should not walk down crowded aisles in Wal-Mart and should not mow their lawns or drive to Wildwood on summer vacation because something threatening might unexpectedly happen. Dangers are all around us, and in Little League competition, injuries happen by accident and they are not deliberately or maliciously inflicted. I guess that’s one particular reason I absolutely love Little League’ baseball. I have always been quite fascinated by physical danger and by competition, especially in sports. In 1953 I played Hammonton Little League ball for the town Exchange Club. My coach was Mr. Reid, and his son Bruce was also on the team. Frank Reid would come to the practices and help his dad work with the players, and ironically, Frank’s son Scott wound-up working for me in my boardwalk arcade in Ocean City, Maryland two decades later. From my own life experience, there’s no doubt in my mind that LL promotes an appreciation of the American free-enterprise economic system.

Descartes Sixth Meditation Essay -- essays research papers

In his sixth meditation must return to the doubts he raised in his first meditation. In this last section of his sixth meditation he deals mainly with the mind-body problem; and he tries to prove whether material things exist with certainly. In this meditation he develops his Dualist argument; by making a distinction between mind and body; although he also reveals their rather significant relationship. Primarily he considers existence of the external world and whether our experience hold knowledge of this world or whether this knowledge is merely an illusion. He makes it quite clear how misleading some of external sensations can be. We are never sufficiently aware of subjectivity of our own thought and senses. The only thing we directly experience is the nature of our own ideas and we do not realise how our own appreciation of certain concepts may be very different from the objective character of the external world. Descartes takes a look at memory, imagination, hallucination, dreams, predictions, etc. which he calls our (sensory awareness) as these are part of the way we perceive the external world, he doubts at first that any of these internal experience holds any truth or existence. As he is very sceptical he raises the problem whether any of these given experiences contain truth or objectivity at all. Since we never have the chance to stand outside our own perception, it is imp ossible to contrast it with the external world. Descartes is hopeful to prove subsistence of the external world (physical objects located in space), and so he returns to a very basic stage and acknowledges the existence of minds as an immaterial substance and God. He then accepts that matter exists as long as it is not a projection of his own mind or God. As Descartes previously established the existence of God as a perfect being, he therefore has concluded that God is not a deceiver. This very clear concept leads him to accept his clear and distinct sensory experiences are a result of external objects of material nature. Once these corporeal things (objects of a tangible, material nature) can be considered as self-evident ideas, they can no longer be products of the mind or God. Right in the beginning Descartes makes a very clear distinction between imagination intellectual thought. He states that intellectual thought is abstract and without shape, Descartes would call it e... ...ares this mind-body relationship with a pilot in his ship, as they are two very close entities, although the body cannot exist without the mind, like the mind can without its extension. Descartes sixth very conclusive meditation has similarly to the first very basic concepts. What makes Descartes meditations so remarkable is his methodological approach to his philosophy. He starts right at the foundation of knowledge building his own basis and thoroughly working himself upward. Even though some of his thoughts are slightly contradictory he still manages to make them plausible, and one can accept certain incongruities as one considers the time and social structure he was living in. I believe the fact that Descartes returns to the doubts raised in the first meditation bring more sense to the rest of the five writings and in a way holds them together. He very effectively uncovers his dualist ideas but he does not exaggerate or make them absurd as he also continually reminds us of the great importance of the mind and body relationship. Most importantly he proves his existence and the existence of others which is considered as one of the main problems all philosophers are faced with.

Adapting International Accounting Standards Essay -- Accounting Inter

Companies in each country have to adapt and regulate their financial statements to certain requirements. They base and format their accounting standards on their national General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) set by security regulators. However, in this modern globalized era, owing to too many financial differences between nations, it is increasingly difficult for entities to compare their financial records and identify trends in their financial position and performance with their competitors. As an answer to such financial chaos, harmonisation consists of formulating one universal GAAP; accountants worldwide would subsequently be able to use one single standardized practice, which would, according to Weber (1992), improve financial market information, government accountability, facilitate international transactions and minimise exchange costs. However, harmonising standards remains a disputable answer in accounting. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the current debate about the pros and cons of adopting a universal set of accounting standards. International accounting standards are discussed, set and published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) which was formed in 2001. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was the predecessor of the IASB; its Foundation is to harmonise all worldwide GAAPs into one single set of accounting standards. According to Mogul (2003), harmonisation is defined as the constant process of ensuring that the GAAP of each country are formulated, aligned and updated to international best practices (GAAPs in other countries) with suitable modifications and fine tuning, considering each domestic condition. Harmonisation is thus wished by any financ... ... issue 7, pp. 975-992 ScienceDirect [Online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science (Accessed: 03 November 2010) Mogul, S. (2003) Harmonization of Accounting Standards. Available at: http://www.icai.org/resource_file/11430p681-684.pdf (Accessed: 3 November 2010) Blake, J. and Hossain, M. (1996) Readings in International Accounting. London: Routledge. Weber, C.M. (1992) ‘Harmonization of international accounting standards’, The National Public Accountant [Online]. Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/accounting/methods-standards/339832-1.html (Accessed: 3 November 2010) Wittington, G. (2008) ‘Harmonisation or discord? The critical role of the IASB conceptual framework review’, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, vol. 27, issue 6, pp. 495-502 ScienceDirect [Online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science (Accessed: 03 November 2010)

Port Chicago Disaster

The Port Chicago Disaster On the 24 of July 1944, a memorandum was written from Captain W. S. Parsons, USN to Rear Admiral W. R. Purnell, IJSN. It was a report on the most destructive explosion on United States soil at that time. It was known as the Port Chicago Explosion. Captain Parsons worked in the Bureau of Ordnance as their Liaison Officer. So he was a prime candidate for the Job. Rear Admiral Purnell was the head of the Military Policy Committee. This memorandum was not intended to incarcerate people, determine its cause, nor report defects in the design of munitions depots.Its sole urpose was to collect data from the damage done and to find the exact time when the explosion happened. Captain Parsons determined the exact time based on seismic activity. He determined the time of detonation occurred at approximately between 2218-2244 on the 17 of July, 1944. It was found that approximately 2000 tons of high explosion were present on the dock at the time of the explosion. He also determined that light damage extended approximately 1500 yards from the explosion. This was minor damage but significant none the less.From ground zero and out to approximately 1000 feet it was determined that there was total destruction. However, at 1000 feet there were 3 civilians that remained alive; these were the closest survivors to the blast. This horrible disaster could have been prevented, only if certain factors were addressed accordingly. Within the confines of the munitions depot at port Chicago, there was racism. Akers states: The general classification test employed at this time placed the black ratings at Port Chicago ‘in the lowest twelfth of the Navy.According to their superiors, these men were unreliable, emotional, lacked capacity to understand or remember orders or instructions, were particularly susceptible to ass psychology and moods, lacked mechanical aptitude, were suspicious of strange officers, disliked receiving orders of any kind, particularly from white officers or petty officers, and were inclined to look for and make an issue of discrimination. For the most part, they were quite young and of limited education. 1 Black men, no matter what they scored on their classification test were put into these laborious work parties.If they scored high enough and there were empty billets, they would be transferred to another duty station. Therefore, there was a lack of good leaders to be had. This is a prime example of discrimination. Another example of racism at this munitions depot is that: Negroes in the Navvy don't mind loading ammunition. They Just want to know why they are the only ones doing the loading! They want to know why they are segregated; why they don't get promoted. 2 This stated that the racism was severe and the moral of the black sailors was very low.When morale was low, they started to ask question and the quality of work that and more prone to accidents. In addition, white officers were put in charge of these loadi ng parties and the black sailors did not like them. On top of that, the commanding officer, Captain Kinne, demanded a quota often tons per hatch per hour. These white officers deemed this goal, of the commanding officer, too high. But they had to fulfill it nonetheless or else their Jobs were on the line. Allen stated, â€Å"†¦ officers sometimes raced working divisions against each other to speed up loading. 3 This caused workers to work at an unsafe speed and often times a shell would drop to the deck. Allen also stated: As Carr [the wench maintenance personnel] looked on, one man lost his grip on a shell; it dropped two feet and hit the deck with a thud. This showed that the rate at which they loaded ammunition onto the ships was unsafe. It made the possibility for a disaster very high. Still the Captain Kinne, the white officers had quotas to fill so they ignored these ominous signs and kept on pushing. Only if they could have slowed down the load rate, this disaster could have potentially been avoided.Another factor that could have prevented this disaster would be training. According to Julius J. Allen in his court martial trial he stated, â€Å"There was no training in ammunition handling. â€Å"5 These black Junior sailors were not trained to handle igh explosives, at the same time, the white officers were inadequately trained to supervise the loading process of high explosives. According to Freddie Meeks: When those bombs, slathered in grease, bounced down the plank, theyd bang into other bombs and everyone would pray to Almighty God. They made terrible sound.Sometimes, you thought they would explode. You'd almost have a heart attack to hear those bombs hitting together†¦ I'd ask the lieutenant about it and he'd say don't worry. 6 The black sailors were weary of working with these explosives but were told by fficers that the larger munitions were not active and could not explode and that they would be armed with their fuses upon arrival at the combat theater. Because of the inadequate training of the white officers, they disillusioned the black sailors. The black sailors would believe them because of their lack of training with explosives as well.Therefore, this made for carelessness in the handling of the high explosives because all personnel apart of the loading parties did not know that the shells had the potential to explode because the training was negligent. Another aspect is the equipment used for handling of the high explosives. Handling of these larger explosives such as bombs and shells involved breaking individual munitions out with levers and crowbars from boxcars. The shells were packed in tightly with packing material, and they were heavy cylindrical shapes.The black sailors would roll them along the wooden pier, packing them into nets, lifting them with a winch and boom, lowering the bundle into the hold, and then dropping the individual explosives a short distance by hand into place. This series of ac tions was rough enough that naval shells were sometimes damaged and began leaking identification dye from their ballistic caps. This should have been a major warning that an explosion was explosives. Therefore, the explosives were more prone to damage because of the kind of crude equipment they were using.In addition, the powered winches used on cargo ships were used to speed up the handling of heavy loads. One winch was operated at each of the ship's five cargo holds. During loading operations, the winches were worked hard, requiring steady maintenance in order to remain operable. Winch brakes, a safety feature provided for stopping the load from falling if the winch's main power was lost, were not often used by a skilled winch operator s the load could be more quickly maneuvered using various power settings than by application of the brakes.Disused brakes sometimes seized up and stopped working. Additionally, the winches on the SS E. A. Bryan were steam-powered and showed signs of wear, even though the ship was only five months old. Equipment could have been a factor, but also the lack personal protective equipment was another factor. In many cases there was no personal protective equipment provided by the munitions depot. In an interview with Carl Tuggle, he stated that: If you wanted to wear gloves, you purchased them. That was the only way you had gloves o wear and to use while you were working.At night we were provided clothing to keep us from the elements on the dock at night because it was cold, but otherwise we supplied everything else ourselves. 7 Since the black sailors often were not promoted they remained stagnant with the position of Junior sailor. Therefore, they would not make a lot of money and not have money to buy proper personal protective equipment. This made the work parties more prone to accidents. It was so dangerous that even Commander Paul B. Cronk, head of a Coast Guard explosives-loading detail tasked with supervision of the orking dock, warned the Navvy that conditions were unsafe and ripe for disaster.The Navvy refused to change its procedures and Cronk withdrew the detail. The Navvy still put a blind eye to the munitions depot at Port Chicago therefore the disaster was waiting to happen. This may have been the most destructive explosion, but it was almost expected as Captain Parsons reported, â€Å"†¦ Port Chicago was designed for large explosions. â€Å"8 He stated that the munitions depot designed at Port Chicago was designed for large explosions and because of the design; there was a very minimal loss of life outside of the munitions depot.Nonetheless, it was eventually determined that 320 of the men on duty at the pier died instantly, and 390 civilians and military personnel were injured, many seriously. Surprisingly, this was a major loss for the black sailor community in which, â€Å"†¦ roughly 15 percent of all the black casualties in the US Navvy during the entire war. â€Å"9 Shortly after the disaster, Port Chicago assigned white sailors to work alongside black sailors loading ammunition. This was the first step towards desegregation. To fix the lack of training, the Navvy instituted new training and safety procedures for the handling of high explosives.If and only if the Navvy listened to the Coast Guard Explosives-Loading detail supervising the loading of the explosives, the Port Chicago explosion would have never happened and this memorandum would have never been written. 1. Regina T. Akers, â€Å"The Port Chicago Mutiny, 1944,† in Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective, ed. Christopher M. Bell and Bruce A. Elleman (London: Frank Cass, 2003), 200. 2. Robert L. Allen, â€Å"Final Outcome? Fifty Years after the Port Chicago Mutiny,† American Visions 9 (1994).http:// search. ebscohost. com.http://search. ebscohost. comhttp://montfordpointmarinesandhonor.blogspot.com/2013/09/http://search.epnet.com/Login.aspx?lp=login .asp&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Eua%2F&authtype=ip,uidhttps://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9D%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B4%E3%81%AE%E6%83%A8%E4%BA%8B