Proctor, hero or Villain? Essay

Proctor chooses the easy way to escape troubles, as it is a chance to avoid facing up to his responsibilities. He put his own reputation above the well being and happiness of his family. As he cries out â€Å"Because it is my name because I cannot have another in my life† Which finally shows that proctor is apprehensive towards his reputation in the community more than anything else. It is now visible that proctor is showing definite signs of being a villain and not of a hero. It is clear that john has committed the crime of lechery however when approached by Abigail again, john rejects her advances despite her insistence he is determined to remain loyal and faithful to his wife, despite Abigail’s reminders of the past. â€Å"Give me a word john. A word† â€Å"No, no Abby. That’s done with. â€Å"Abby, You’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be coming’ for you more† Which indicates that proctor clearly regrets his past with Abigail and wants Abigail to put it out of mind. As john regrets his affair with Abigail he tries to make amends to gain Elizabeth’s trust. The attempts to please Elizabeth are clear, as is shown when the compliment about the cooking and his promise to buy George Jacob’s cow Proctor replies to the taste of the rabbit â€Å"It is well seasoned† â€Å"If the crop is good I’ll buy George Jacob’s heifer. How would that please you? † This implies that john is determined to gain Elizabeth’s forgiveness. Despite the fact that Elizabeth has forgiven him. John struggles with forgiving himself, this suggests a more strong conscience on proctors part, and attribute more readily founding in a hero not a villain. Although Proctor seems to dislike reverend parris thought the play. It would appear he had valid reasons. Reverend parris does indeed appear selfish hypocritical and obsessed with financial gain. Upon discovering Abigail’s disaperance, Parris is more concerned with the loss of his money than the fact that his niece has absconded as he clearly shows as he replies to Danforth, â€Å"Thirty one pound is gone. I am penny less† Proctor sees through Parris’s charade, whilst the rest of the village appear to be blinded. It is proctor who recognises and voices the fact that people seeking revenge walk the town Salem and not the devil. Proctor attempts to warn the village he does not keep this information to himself theses are clear actions of a hero an a attempt to save those who even would not be saved John Proctor may not have attended church for the last seven months but he has good reasons for his absence. Notably, his wife Elizabeth had been sick and proctor being a dutiful husband he turns his total devotion to care for her well being. John is conscious of his absence and ensures hale that he. â€Å"Surely did come when he could and when he could not he would pray in his house† Proctor has also been dutiful regarding his responsibilities to the church. He has made his contribution as he has â€Å"Nailed the roof upon the church and hung the church door† proctor can now be seen in a new light, his acts of helping the community show that Proctor cannot be classed as a villain but a hero. Even though Proctor realises that admitting to his act of adultery with Abigail will ruin his reputation, He does so in order to save his wife’s life. Proctor accepts what he has done and he is prepared to come forward to the court and face the consequences of his actions, the destruction of his â€Å"good name† To Danforth’ â€Å"It is a whore I have known her, sir. I have known her†. Quietly excepting his fate. Heroically He puts others first even when offered the life of his wife in return for dropping his charge against Abigail and the girls he considers the lives of the many and not him self, Such braveness in a man can only come from a hero not a villain. Proctor does not simply die for his name which he admits is already stained, he then later on in the book remembers his friends and suggest that if he confesses he will also be unfaithful to them as well as him self â€Å", And I sold my friends† â€Å"Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence†. This quotation suggests that Proctor is afraid that if he confesses that he will also blacken the names of his friends. Proctor recognises that many people will innocently and needlessly die if he gives a false confession. A true hero puts aside his own needs in order to serve the greater good. Proctor is mostly concerned for his sons and the example he is setting them. â€Å"I have three children-how may I teach them to walk like men in the world† This quotation is saying that if he gives his confession he will be shamed as well as his sons, this courageous and heroic decision reveals that proctor is a caring family man that cares for his friends and puts other people first a type of man that cannot be classified as a villain in any respect. Conclusion It is difficult to establish whether Proctor is a hero or Villain. The evidence is contradictory; on the one hand Proctor can be seen as a villain for his wrong doings in the past which involved an affair with a teenage girl named Abigail Williams, This selfish and thought less action precipitates much of the chaos in Salem. Perhaps ultimately he is simply human and has made the mistakes of many. But on the other hand proctor can be seen as a hero to his wife and to his friends, this is shown near to the conclusion of the story when he confesses to the crime of lechery to save his wife and his friends when trying to prove that the girls are lying and it was pretence. In the opinion of the viewers of the book would like for proctor to be a courageous hero, but he only starts to show signs of this during the end of the book but if viewing it as a puritan in the Salem society proctor would seem to be a villain as the amount of evidence shown in the text 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 Arthur Miller section.

Hamlet & the melancholy character Essay

Hamlet, as the melancholy character has a lot to blame his sadness on. He is constantly occupied by the thoughts of revenge and death but these forces are counterbalanced by his need to be doubly sure of his uncle’s guilt. This drives him to behave irrationally, prompting suggestion of madness and act impulsively which leads to the death of Polonius. He is manipulated by several things throughout the play and is constantly feeling the burden of being driven in one direction or the other by forces which were alien to him only a couple of days back when he was a scholar and the apparent heir to the throne. The ghost of his father leaves him with a task to be completed along with the grief of mourning a father and watching his mother become the wife of the murderer, with what he considers indecent haste. Hamlet is motivated and driven by the uttering of his father’s ghost, his own filial obligation, and the brashness of the murderer in marrying his own mother to usurp his throne. He is driven to sometimes behave and sometimes pretend to be mad to ensure that his thoughts are not revealed to his uncle Claudius. He is driven to misogyny by his apparent loss of belief in women after his mother’s behavior. He is driven to collect the evidence to his father’s death at the hands of his uncle because his thoughtful temperament and erudition do not allow him to find arguments ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ to form a basis for vengeful actions. All these instances when he is driven in directions much against his own volition lead him to believe that he is being manipulated at all levels by situations and people. He is also, perhaps, suspicious of the fact that his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are used to spy on him and manipulate him into certain actions or words. He implores his friend Guildenstern to play the pipe to divert the attention from his own discomfiture. But when he refuses to play claiming that he does not have any knowledge of playing a pipe, he accuses Guildenstern of being incapable of playing the pipe but manipulating him (Hamlet) like a pipe by blowing thoughts into his mind and subtly handling his emotions in a way as to hit the notes desired by people around him. Hamlet is preoccupied with two things throughout the play. They are the basis for action and inaction and his dismay at being manipulated by several things and persons. Arguably, if Hamlet were not the prey to his own inaction, so many of the lives lost in the play would have been saved. Even the final revenge he exacts is not his own doing but the foul play of Claudius that goes awry. He readily gives up all other purpose in his life and begins the journey of revenge (which he eventually discovers that he is singularly incapable of) when his father’s ghost reveals the secret of his death. â€Å"Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee! Yea, from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, That youth and observation copied there; And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmix’d with baser matter: yes, by heaven! † (1. 5. 103-110) Even one of the most famous soliloquies from hamlet are of the effect that Hamlet is being troubled by the cruel hand dealt to him by fate. â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? —To die,—to sleep,— No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die,—to sleep;—â€Å"(3. 1. 58-66) Even his attempts to contemplate suicide are his thoughts that are bound and led by influences foreign to himself. There is also evidence of such distraught thinking on the part of Hamlet in other instances. When he enquires his friends why they have come to meet him, whether they had come of their own volition r they had been summoned, he describes the state of mankind as an inanimate thing that is given too much value. â€Å"What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me: no, nor woman neither,†(2. 2. 291-297) Hamlet feels manipulated by his varied feelings and motivations. He sometimes feels he is just an instrument of revenge. In some instances he feels he is the sum of all contrasting wisdom which prevents him from taking any decisive action. All these contradictions and the preponderance of thoughts about self and the motivations behind actions and the multilayered questioning of wisdom in taking or delaying a particular action – make Hamlet the most complicated and accomplished characterization of Shakespearean tragedies and offers different meanings upon different readings.

The Advantages of Study Habits on the Performance of the Students

Study habits are the ways that you study the habits that you have formed during your school years. Study habits can be good ones, or bad ones. Good study habits include being organized, keeping good notes, reading your textbook, listening in class, and working every day. Bad study habits include skipping class, not doing your work, watching TV or playing video games instead of studying, and losing your work. Study habits are the ways that you study the habits that you have formed during your school years.Study habits can be good ones, or bad ones. Good study habits include being organized, keeping good notes, reading your textbook, listening in class, and working every day. Bad study habits include skipping class, not doing your work, watching TV or playing video games instead of studying, and losing your work. It means you are not distracted by anything; you have a certain place to go where it is quiet everyday where you study and do homework. Basically it means that you are doing t he best you can to get the grades you want. It means you are not distracted by anything; you have a certain place to go where it is quiet everyday where you study and do homework.The manner with which you consistently use to study for school or college or even for next day lesson plans if you're a teacher. Study Habit of every student is one of the most important factors that affect his or her understanding regarding a certain subject. It means, if a student possesses poor study habits, she has a greater chance of getting failing grades, if compare to a student’s who has a good study habit. But â€Å"habit† as it was defined from the Introduction to Psychology, means â€Å"a learned, or fixed way of behaving to satisfy a given motive†.By this definition alone, we can say that the person involves is the one making or forming his own habit. Maybe, habits can be affected by outside interference like his environment, his attitude toward his comparisons, his teachers and the books and reading materials around him, even the place where he study and other factors which influence the concentration of a students to effectively understand his lessons, and to pass his mind to discipline himself and form to himself the proper study habits which he knows he really needed.

Innovation & Risk Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Innovation & Risk - Assignment Example (Chevron Corporation, 2014). In terms of functionality, this organisation can be stated to be dealing with every possible aspect of the oil and natural gas exploration along with production. Chevron Corporation also deals with aspects regarding generation and harvesting of geo-thermal energy along with manufacturing of industrial grade chemical product, which gives it a competitive advantage over other players which are relied upon the extraction and refining of crude oil sources (Young, 2012). Apart from these, the oil manufacturing giant has also been facing issues, which in turn can be linked up with other aspects such as environmental degradation, incapability of meeting the increasing power demand and deterioration of the climate within that geographical area in which it is operational. Therefore, taking into consideration these issues, Chevron Corporation will have to bring about innovation within its functionality and manufacturing procedure, which in turn will ensure the growth opportunity of this oil m anufacturing giant within multiple domestic and international markets in the long run (Young, 2012). In this provided context, steps to protection of the surrounding environment can be considered as the background of the strategic innovation within the corporation. This entire report has been structured by taking into consideration the secondary available data including websites, online journals and news articles. Additionally, the scope of this analysis will be stretched to multiple areas, which are related to fuel production and power generation. The details of these mentioned analysis has been elaborated in the discussion section (Helman, 2013). Chevron Corporation, being the third rank holder within the fortune 500 companies in the year 2013, still face the risk of losing its ground if the legal charges against the environmental degradation done by

Case Study- Applied Research skills subject Assignment

Case Study- Applied Research skills subject - Assignment Example Mr. Abdulla would be required to collect data from all the machine operators on their efficiency and also make observations on the amounts of fumes being emitted by the factory at the same time. The observations will be dependent on the levels of efficiency of the machines. These, therefore, would only mean that the type of unit of analysis being used in this study is the individual. Individual unit of analysis will allow Mr Abdulla to have an understanding of the fumes emitted by each of the machines, which forms the main reason for the individual as a choice of unit of analysis. Individual unit of analysis will also ensure that data would be obtained from every machine operator so as to get the levels of efficiency and the levels of fume production under each state. Having the results on each of the machines will allow the researcher to understand machine efficiency in comparison with fumes

LAW 2112 EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

LAW 2112 EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET - Essay Example EU sets out three types of relationships between member states and the EU, namely: exclusive competences, shared competences, and fields in which EU law cannot exclude national legislatures from making law. (Damian Chalmers et al.p.184-5) The primacy principle applies here and it was first proclaimed in the case of Costa. EU law takes precedence over national law. The Costa v ENEL case was concerned with the nationalisation of the Italian electricity industry, whose bills Costa refused to pay in protest since he said its creation breached EU law. The Italian Constitutional court said that subscription to the EU was an ordinary law, subject, like any other, to repeal. The ECJ ruling overturned this, saying (1) that upon the EEC Treaty coming into force a â€Å"new legal order† came to exist, which caused EU law to enter into domestic law and that domestic courts are â€Å"bound to enforce† it. And (2) that â€Å"transfer from [member states’] domestic legal syste ms to a Community legal system† meant a loss of sovereignty and hence any subsequent act made in breach of EU law would be ineffective, since EU law would prevail. It was held by the ECJ: To allow national laws to be effective even when they conflict with EU law would frustrate the aim of creating a truly common market. It is implied that EU law is supreme over national law: otherwise it would be meaningless to say that regulations are binding and directly applicable†¦as national legislation could just nullify its effects. Law stemming from the treaty is an â€Å"independent source of law†. This ruling established that member states couldn’t deviate from EC treaties without prior permission. It also established that national high courts couldn’t determine incompatibility of national and EU law without consulting ECJ. This principle was neatly illustrated in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft v. Einfur in which the Court ruled that EU law takes precede nce over all forms of national law, including national constitutional law. â€Å"Therefore the validity of a Community measure or its effect within a member state cannot be affected by allegations that it runs counter to either fundamental rights as formulated by the constitution of that State or the principles of a national constitutional structure† Article 288 TFEU provides: To exercise the Union’s competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods. A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force. Article 19 TEU pro vides: The Court of Justice of the European Union shall include the Court of Justice, the General Court and specialised courts. It shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed. Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law. It follows that the law stemming from

Global Strategies to Eliminate Hunger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Strategies to Eliminate Hunger - Essay Example According to the World Food program (2013), food security is a situation where a household has access to food for consumption. Most developed countries such as the United States of America, and China have highly invested in ways to ensure availability food supply to their population (Shapouri, 2010). They ensure that their household s do not live in fear of starvation. Finances have been channeled to projects and researches to help in the production of better strains of agricultural products. Technologically, laboratories and other research institution have been issued with state of the art technology to provide hybrids for most crops. This ensures food security, which involves storage of surplus foods in case of any risks. These risks involve economic meltdowns, natural disasters, and wars. Storage of surplus foods for the future ensures a country’s self-sufficiency (Shapouri, 2010). On the other hand, developing and non-developed countries have also started initiatives and p rograms to help increase food production (Lawrence, Lyons & Wallington, 2010). This has been implemented through financial and technological help from the already developed countries. However, even with this set initiatives, there have been increased cases of hunger and starvation. This is mostly evident in third world countries. Efforts to guarantee food security in most countries have had several setbacks irrespective of increased technological know-how and financial aids. ... For example, in Sudan, conflicts in Darfur region have lasted for a decade and led to displacements of millions of people. This has led to demand for extra food since the camps are in non-productive area. In some situations during war, the enemy may destroy the food reserves to cause defeat. To eradicate hunger in this situation, avoiding wars may prevent hunger since individuals will invest in other ideas to increase food production. Wars and civil conflicts may lead individual governments to channel more funds into purchasing armory and paying military (Peacock, 2012). In case wars are stopped, the funds could be used to invest in new and advanced ways of agricultural production. Moreover, global peace facilitate efforts geared to eradicate hunger rather than countries seeking to advance war ammunitions. Increased diseases such as HIV Aids, cancer, malnutrition have also contributed to cases of hunger and starvation (Lawrence, Lyons & Wallington, 2010). These diseases are mostly fo und in under developed countries due to poverty. Deaths from the diseases lead to loss of labor that provides psychical and mental work force in agricultural farms. In counties such as those in Africa, there are higher mortality rates due to the increased spread of HIV Aids, which leave most of the children as orphans. With increased medical bills, there are reduced funds to purchase and invest in food security. This increases the rates of hunger and starvation in these countries. The economies also suffer a fall in the countries’ Gross National Product due to increased funds being allocated health services. Focusing on how to reduce mortality rates due to major diseases will lead to an increased and strong work force. Investing in agriculture with the labor force will increase the

Problem solving exercise (Home Banking) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Problem solving exercise (Home Banking) - Essay Example Intuit opted for its multiplatform Quicken software with its high functionality. Microsoft promoted its product Money targeting Windows users only. 3. Bankers’ concerns about possible customer retention problems arising from home banking are valid. In a worse case scenario, if something goes wrong with the third party system, it could mean a bank’s information security could be compromised and it’s connectivity with it severed. One way to deal with this threat is to manage information locally. That way, banks never have to rely on a third party for information security. 4. Competition for home-banking customers will change over time. The market for such services will eventually achieve equilibrium. When that happens â€Å"home banking† services will be expected by customers with each account. As such, the costs to the customer will become low or free, but they will still probably still have to pay for certain premium functionality. 2. Nevertheless, Delta is also weak by comparison of certain other aspects. These weaknesses include the third largest sales force, average MRO services, and only 10% market share for the line one product. 1. Noxell might consider certain changes for its advertising objectives. Instead of 25% brand awareness in the target market and 15% superiority perception, a 20% goal for each may be a more balanced goal. 2. There may be certain suggestions for Noxell’s advertising agency with respect to its message. â€Å"Clean and healthful† is good but perhaps not enough. Don’t most people expect to be clean after using soap and isn’t cleanliness akin to health? Perhaps, additional messages should be included such as â€Å"moisturizing† or â€Å"won’t clog pores† or some other such benefit in addition to the expected â€Å"clean and healthful† approach. 3. If the advertising budget was allotted, it should be spent at about that stated in the proposal with one major

Case Study Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Study Analysis Paper - Essay Example Doug will be required to conduct a diagnosis of the newly initiated orientation program and the prevailing work environment so that he can identify the problems contributing to the poor employee participation. A diagnosis will help Doug determine whether or not his program or the work environment or both are causing problems relative to participation in new employee orientation program (Jackson et al, 2011). It is only after Doug has conducted a diagnosis of the program and the employee work environment can he effectively construct an action plan (Jackson et al, 2011). Doug must be careful however, to check the results and look for additional information which can identify other â€Å"aspects of the problem† (Kubr & Prokopenko, 1989, p. 67). Doug will have to take into account a large spectrum of variables. As von Hippel (1994) informs, in order to solve a problem, information is needed and problem solving â€Å"capabilities† must be utilized (p.429). In this regard Dou g will be required to process the results of his diagnosis and reevaluate six specific facts of a workable strategy: stated goals; diagnosis of the environment; strategizing; evaluation of the strategy; implementing his strategy; and control of the strategy (Schendel & Hofer, 1979). In strategizing, it will be entirely necessary for Doug to take account of the people that he seeks to set goals and strategies for: new employees. In anticipating and setting strategies for new employees and the work environment, it will be necessary for Doug to take into account pre-employment expectations, experiences following employment and any gaps that might influence new employees’ morale (Sutton & Griffin, 2004). For instance, high expectations prior to entering the workplace may not have been fulfilled and thus employee motivation and morale might be low. Doug’s strategy may have to be reorganized around reaching out to employees as a means of motivating employees rather than mere ly orientation strategies. In other words, a diagnosis of the program and the employee’s environmental conditions might inform Doug that his program does not correspond with the experiences of the new employees. Thus an action plan will have to take these factors into consideration. Doug must take all reasonable steps to ensure that he is responsive to the lack of participation by new employees. If the problem turns out to be a mere scheduling problem he might want to reschedule his program so that it accommodates the schedules of a majority, if not all of his new employees. Scheduling may only be one of the problems that require Doug’s attention. It might also be a problem with the gap between pre-employment expectations and post-employment experiences. A review of the literature informs that there are a number of solutions that Doug may consider and these solutions relate to long-term solutions that are built into the working environment. First and foremost, the idea is to create a culture that transfers motivation and learning throughout the organization by virtue of a socialization and invocation process. This can be accomplished by virtue of building competency within the organization â€Å"among employees and local supervisors† (Forman & Jorgensen, 2001, p. 71). It is also necessary to encourage employee involvement in the planning and execution process relative to tasks and

Compose own question Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Compose own question - Literature review Example In general, this study presumes that the potential success of Shangri-la hotel was very much dependent on the company’s ability to meet the needs and wants of prospective clients. Therefore, this study aims to address the following research questions: (1) What are the branding strategies currently being used by Shangri-la hotel?; (2) How does Shangri-la hotel benefit from its branding strategies?; and (3) What is the significance of brand positioning and branding within the modern international tourism industry? Chapter II – Literature Review 2.1 Current Branding Strategies of Shangri-la Hotel First of all, it is essential to take note that the target customers of Shangri-la are the influential people who are able to pay first-rate price for its food and lodging services. Meaning, this particular hotel company has positioned its brand as one that offers luxury hotel products and services (Shangri-La, 2013a). This explains why Shangri-la continuously serve the best quali ty products and maintains its stylish, modern, and motivational architectural and interior design (Shangri-La, 2013c). As a result, Shangri-la created a competitive advantage which allows them to charge its customers with hotel accommodation fee much higher than the fee of other hotels worldwide (Schmitt and Rogers, 2008, p. 79). Generally, multinational companies such as Shangri-la uses a global advertising strategy as part of their global campaigns (Jiang and Wei, 2012). To establish and reinforce Shangri-la’s brand image, the top management of this particular hotel group uses either social networking sites or e-mail when advertising and promoting their special offers on bridal packages among others (Facebook, 2013). In some cases, Shangri-la has posted its special offers on bridal magazines (Shangri-La, 2013d). Customers’ satisfaction is strongly influenced by its brand image. In most cases, customers who are satisfied with what they receive from the hotel may end u p developing a stronger brand recognition and eventually remain loyal to the brand (Clottey, Collier and Stodnick, 2008). To bring high quality service, Shangri-la offers important training and development programme for the benefit of its employees (Shangri-La, 2013e). Not all people can afford the high price of Shangri-la’s accommodation rate. Associated to the brand of Shangri-la, this particular hotel company created a separate brand and eventually positioned it as a hotel that offers cheaper and more affordable rate for its hotel service (Kerry Hotels, 2013). For example, â€Å"Traders Hotel† was established to serve the lodging needs of the price-sensitive clients worldwide (Traders Hotels, 2013). To serve the Chinese community in Beijing, Shangri-la established the â€Å"Kerry Hotel† sometime in 2011 (Kerry Hotels, 2013). 2.2 Advantages of Shangri-La’s Existing Branding Strategies Advertising is necessary to create brand familiarity or make Shangri- la’s target customers feel special and associated with the brand (Fuchs, 2008). Often times, brand familiarity increases not only the customers’

Music Since World War II, Concert Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music Since World War II, Concert Review - Essay Example There are many types and styles of music written since World War II, the only limit is the composer’s imagination. They are looking for different modes of expression. Composer Arnold Schoenberg experimented strange and unorthodox tonal schemes and harmonies. Bela Bartok, a Hungarian composer, combined the Twentieth Century forms with music of Hungarian peasants. Edgard Varese who belongs to the group of ‘Avant-garde’ experimented with the manipulation of rhythms. Igor Stranimsky, throughout his entire career made experiments with kaleidoscopic rhythms and instrumental colors. So it is very clear that composers since Second World War made lots of experiments with traditional instruments and modes of expression. Yet some of the greatest composers of the twentieth century, such as Giacomo Puccini, an Italian opera composer and Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer, followed traditional forms of music history. Music since World War II has seen several new and ecle ctic styles. Under the musical direction of David Currie, the Ottawa Orchestra presented a concert entitled ‘A French Connection’ comprising of the compositions of Pierre Merure, Steven Gellman and Camille Saint Saens. Pierre Merure discovered French music and developed an interest for orchestration which was very much visibly noticeable in his very first work ‘kaleidoscope’

Decorating Appropriately Essay Example for Free

Decorating Appropriately Essay Ornament, is generally defined as a decoration used to embellish parts of a building, has also been a controversial debating topic when architecture was introduced to the Modernism period. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, absence of ornaments became a hallmark of Modern architecture and equated the moral virtues of honesty, simplicity and purity. Le Corbusier, one of the prominent modernist figures, had always supported the ideals of simplistic and honest design. He blamed the deceit in ornamentations as it disguised the flaws in manufacture. However by the mid-1950s, he broke his own rules by producing several highly expressive, sculptural concrete works due to his realization of ornaments could equally serve practical purposes in architecture. In the essay Decorating Appropriately, French architect and theorist Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc unfolded numerous clear ideas about how and in what circumstances ornament should be employed by looking at different approaches to ornamentation in the cultures of Egypt, Greece and the Middle Ages. The first and perhaps the oldest approach is the natural ornament adopted by the ancient Egyptian culture. Ornaments were inherent in the building’s material and they took the forms from the natural world and decorated with the images of it. The second approach of ornamentation is the result of ancient Greek civilization. Many new forms of ornaments were created at that time and they served to articulate the building visually, organizing it into a series of coordinated visual units that could be comprehended as a whole. Viollet-le-Duc believed this approach is the most rational because its fitness and clearness have unified the entire structure. Aside from the Parthenon mentioned in the essay, the Temple of Hephaestus is another example that belongs to the second approach of ornamentation. Only 18 of 68 metopes of the temple were sculptured and they were mostly located on the east side of the structure, the rest of the metopes were painted. The third ornamentation system appeared in the Middle Ages, it was a system derived from the Egyptian and the Greek approaches yet developed differently regarding to the composition. Although colossal sculpture and bas-relief were not allowed, figures are grouped and concentrated to create a scenic effect and dynamic contrast between the rich and plain parts. Viollet-le-Duc appreciated this system remarkably in his essay as it provided the greatest variety of expression that can be achieved. In conclusion ornamentation functions beyond a decoration but equally a cultural reference, a symbolic communication, a suggestion of individuality, as well as design tactics for establishing scales, signaling entries and aiding direction finding. The notions suggested by Viollet-le-Duc on the application of ornaments should be considered as very valid and still applicable to architectures today. Ornamentation should always engage in the building structure as a whole to create sympathy between ornament and structure so that each enhancing the value of the other. From the ancient Egyptian time to the current technology-dominated era, ornament continuously evolves to have a broader meaning and different definition. Historically the surface behind the ornaments has been seen as a background wanted to be wore. The technology and software at our disposal now gives us enormous control over the form and therefore ornaments and structure are no longer an individual unit. One of the greatest examples would be the residential tower in Dubai designed by Zaha Hadid, which the skin is perforated with hundreds of geometric openings in an amazingly complex arrangement producing a graphically elegant facade treatment. As the tower rises, the frequency of openings becomes greater so that the cladding becomes lighter as it reaches up toward the sky. Today ornamentation has been integrated into architecture structurally and conceptually. Whether we are about to enter a digital age with the intellectual ornament that has been substantially altered, a century after Viollet-le-Duc’s great polemic, his considerations are still truly applicable to the architecture in the present days.

History of Googles Development

History of Googles Development 1.1.0 HISTORY OF GOOGLE Google began in January 1996, as a research project by Larry Page, who was soon joined by Sergey Brin, when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California. They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better ranking of results than existing techniques, which ranked results according to the number of times the search term appeared on a page. Their search engine was originally nicknamed BackRub because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. A small search engine called Rankdex was already exploring a similar strategy. Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. Originally, the search engine used the Stanford University website with the domain google.stanford.edu. The domain google.com was registered on 15 September 1997, and the company was incorporated as Google Inc. on 4 September 1998 at a friends garage in Menlo Park, California. The total initial investment raised for the new company amounted to almost $1.1 million, including a $100,000 check by Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems. Both Brin and Page had been against using advertising pop-ups in a search engine, or an advertising funded search engines model, and they wrote a research paper in 1998 on the topic while still students. However, they soon changed their minds and early on allowed simple text ads. In March 1999, the company moved into offices in Palo Alto, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company leased a complex of buildings in Mountain View, California at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway from Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 2003. The company has remained at this location ever since, and the complex has since come to be known as the googolplex (a play on the word googolplex). In 2006, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million. 1.1.1 Name of Google The name Google originated from a misspelling of the word googol, which refers to 10100, the number represented by a 1 followed by one hundred zeros. Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb google was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet. 1.1.2 Growth of Google While the primary business interest is in the web content arena, Google has begun experimenting with other markets, such as radio and print publications. On 17 January 2006, Google announced the purchase of a radio advertising company dMarc, which provides an automated system that allows companies to advertise on the radio. This will allow Google to combine two niche advertising media-the Internet and radio-with Googles ability to laser-focus on the tastes of consumers. Google has also begun an experiment in selling advertisements from its advertisers in offline newspapers and magazines, with select advertisements in the Chicago Sun-Times. They have been filling unsold space in the newspaper that would have normally been used for in-house advertisements. 1.2.0 GOOGLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Google product development philosophy involves rapid and continuous innovation, with frequent releases of early-stage products that they then iterate and improve. Google often make products available early in their development stages by posting them on Google Labs, at test locations online or directly on Google.com. If their users find a product useful, they promote it to beta status for additional testing. Once they are satisfied that a product is of high quality and utility, they remove the beta label and make it a core Google product. Their main products and services are described below. 1.2.1 Google.com Search and Personalization They are focused on building products and services on the Google web sites that benefit their users and let them find relevant information quickly and easily. These products and services include: Google Web Search, In addition to providing easy access to billions of Web pages, they have integrated special features into Google Web Search to help people find exactly what they are looking for on the web. Google Image Search, Google Image Search is a searchable index of images found across the web. To extend the usefulness of Google Image Search, Google offers advanced features, such as searching by image size, format and coloration and restricting searches to specific web sites or domains. Google Video, Google Video lets users upload, find, view and share video content worldwide. iGoogle and Personalized Search, iGoogle connects users to the information that is most useful and important to them in an easy-to-use and customizable format. Users add gadgets and themes created by Google and developers to create a powerful and personalized homepage and arrange the content the way they want. 1.2.2 Application Information created by a single user becomes much more valuable when shared and combined with information from other people or places. Therefore their strategy for products Google develop in this space is simple: develop tools for their users to create, share and communicate any information generated by the user, thus making the information more useful and manageable. Examples of products Google have developed with this strategy in mind include: Google Docs, Google Docs allows their users to create, view and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from anywhere using a browser. These documents are useful to their users as they are accessible anywhere internet access is available, manageable as they are stored within their servers and automatically backed up, and shareable in that they allow real time editing with co-workers and friends over the internet. Gmail, Gmail is Googles free webmail service that comes with built-in Google search technology to allow searching of emails and over seven gigabytes of storage, allowing users to keep their important messages, files and pictures. Google serve small text ads that are relevant to the messages in Gmail. Orkut, Orkut enables users to search and connect to other users through networks of trusted friends. Users can create a profile, personal mailboxes, post photos and join or manage online communities. Google Sites, Google Sites allows users to easily create, update and publish content online without technical expertise, with control over who can see and update the site. Google Sites supports a variety of information such as videos, calendars, presentations, spreadsheets, discussions and texts. YouTube, YouTube is an online community that lets users worldwide uploads, share, watch, rate, and comment on videos, from user generated, niche professional, to premium videos. YouTube is also a video platform providing general purpose video resources to the web community. YouTube videos are embedded in blogs, social networks and web applications, and YouTube programming interfaces are utilized by many registered developers to create third-party products and services. In addition, YouTube offers a range of video and interactive formats for advertisers to reach their intended audience. 1.2.3 Client Google Toolbar, Google Toolbar is a free application that adds a Google search box to web browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox) and improves user web experience through features such as a pop-up blocker that blocks pop-up advertising, an autofill feature that completes web forms with information saved on a users computer, and customizable buttons that let users search their favorite web sites and stay updated on their favorite feeds. Google Chrome, Google Chrome is an open-source browser that combines a minimal design with technologies to make the web faster, safer, and easier to navigate. Google Desktop, Google Desktop lets people perform a full-text search on the contents of their own computer, including email, files, instant messenger chats and web browser history. Users can view web pages they have visited even when they are not online. Google Desktop also includes a customizable Sidebar that includes modules for weather, stock tickers and news. 1.2.4 Google GEO-Maps, Earth and Local Google Earth, Google Earth lets users see and explore the world and beyond from their desktop. Users can fly virtually to a specific location and learn about that area through detailed satellite and aerial images, 3D topography, street maps and millions of data points describing the location of businesses, schools, parks and other points of interest around the globe. Google Earth includes Sky, an astronomical imagery library with images of over 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies, and Ocean, with a detailed bathymetric map of the earths ocean floors. Google Maps, Google Maps helps people navigate map information. Users can look up addresses, search for businesses, and get point-to-point driving directions-all plotted on an interactive street map or on satellite imagery. Google Maps includes Street View, 360-degree street-level imagery available in several regions around the world, and Google Transit, which provides up-to-date information on local transit options in many cities. 1.3.0 GOOGLE FINANCIAL STATUS TO DATE The first funding for Google as a company was secured in August 1998 in the form of a $100,000 USD contribution from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given to a corporation which did not yet exist. On June 7, 1999, a round of equity funding totaling $25 million was announced; the major investors being rival venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Sequoia Capital. In October 2003, while discussing a possible initial public offering of shares (IPO), Microsoft approached the company about a possible partnership or merger. However, no such deal ever materialized. In January 2004, Google announced the hiring of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group to arrange an IPO. The IPO was projected to raise as much as $4 billion. On April 29, 2004, Google made an S-1 form SEC filing for an IPO to raise as much as $2,718,281,828. In May 2004, Google officially cut Goldman Sachs from the IPO, leaving Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston as the joint underwriters. They chose the unconventional way of allocating the initial offering through an auction (specifically, a Dutch auction), so that anyone would be able to participate in the offering. The smallest required account balances at most authorized online brokers that are allowed to participate in an IPO, however, are around $100,000. In the run-up to the IPO the company was forced to slash the price and size of the offering, but the process did not run into any technical difficulties or result in any significant legal challenges. The initial offering of shares was sold for $85 per share. The public valued it at $100.34 at the close of the first day of trading, which saw 22,351,900 shares change hands. Googles initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004. A total of 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. The sale raised US$1.67 billion, and gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. The vast majority of Googles 271 million shares remained under Googles control. Many of Googles employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited from the IPO because it owns 2.7 million shares of Google. Googles revenue growth rate has been slowing, but for the first time since it went public, the companys quarter-to-quarter revenue declined. The company, as is customary, reported results that most business only dreams of, recession or not. Its net income grew 8 percent to $1.42 billion and its revenue, excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, grew 10 percent to $4.07 billion. It generated free cash flow of $2 billion for the quarter, the vast majority of it derived from money advertisers pay Google when people click on ads next to search results. But everything is most definitely not coming up roses. Googles revenue, after ascending steadily quarter after quarter, peaked in the fourth quarter and declined 3 percent in the first quarter. Googles business is still relatively strong, and its been hit by the recession less than many in the tech world, but its been hit nonetheless. 1.4.0 CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES Google take great pride in their company culture and embrace it as one of their fundamental strengths. Their culture encourages the iteration of ideas to address complex technical challenges. In addition, Google embrace individual thinking and creativity. As an example, Google encourage their engineers to devote as much as 20% of their time to work on independent projects. Many of their significant new products have come from these independent projects, including Google News, AdSense for content and Orkut. Google began as a technology company and have evolved into a software, technology, internet, advertising and media company all rolled into one. Google take technology innovation very seriously. Google compete aggressively for talent, and its people drive their innovation, technology development and operations. Google strive to hire the best computer scientists and engineers to help us solve very significant challenges across systems design, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, networking, software engineering, testing, distributed systems, cluster design and other areas. Google work hard to provide an environment where these talented people can have fulfilling jobs and produce technological innovations that have a positive effect on the world through daily use by millions of people. Google have assembled what Google believe is a highly talented group of employees. Despite their rapid growth, Google constantly seek to maintain a small-company feel that promotes interaction and the exchange of ideas among employees. Google try to minimize corporate hierarchy to facilitate meaningful communication among employees at all levels and across departments. Google believe that considering multiple viewpoints is critical to developing effective solutions, and Google attempt to build consensus in making decisions. While teamwork is one of their core values, Google also significantly reward individual accomplishments that contribute to their overall success. As Google grow, Google expect to continue to provide compensation structures that are more similar to those offered by start-ups than established companies. Google focus on very significant rewards for individuals and teams that build amazing things that provide significant value to us, their advertisers and their users. At December 31, 2008, Google had 20,222 employees, consisting of 7,254 in research and development, 8,002 in sales and marketing, 3,109 in general and administrative and 1,857 in operations. All of Googles employees are also equity holders, with significant collective employee ownership. As a result, many employees are highly motivated to make the company more successful. 1.5.0 GOOGLE BUSINESS MODEL As with its technology, Google has chosen to ignore conventional wisdom in designing its business. The company started with seed money from angel investors and brought together two competing venture capital firms to fund its first equity round. While the dotcom boom exploded around it and competitors spent millions on marketing campaigns to build brand, Google focused instead on quietly building a better search engine. The word quickly spread from one satisfied user to another. With superior search technology and a high volume of traffic at its Google.com site, Googles managers identified two initial opportunities for generating revenue: Advertising Search services 1.5.1 Google grows and business blooms Over time, these two business lines evolved into complementary networks. Google AdWords advertisers create ads to drive qualified traffic to their sites and generate leads. Google publishing partners deliver those ads targeted to relevant search results powered by Google AdSense. With AdSense, the publisher shares in the revenue generated when readers click on the ads. For sites wishing to have more control over their intranet or site searches, Google developed the Google Search Appliance, a scalable and secure appliance that delivers accurate search results across any number of documents. Google continues to think about ways in which technology can improve upon existing ways of doing business. New areas are explored, ideas prototyped and budding services nurtured to make them more useful to advertisers and publishers. However, no matter how distant Googles business model grows from its origins, the root remains providing useful and relevant information to those who are the most important part of the ecosystem the millions of individuals around the world who rely on Google search to provide the answers they are seeking. 1.5.2 Google AdWords for Advertisers Google designed AdWords for advertisers who want to reach a qualified audience as efficiently as possible. Advertisers select their own target keywords and only pay when customers click on their ads. Its easy to create ad text and manage online advertising accounts with no large upfront payment required. All thats needed is five minutes and a credit card. The ads appear across Googles growing roster of partners, including thousands of sites from America Online to the Washington Post, and are targeted to relevant search and content pages. Googles experienced sales and service team optimize campaigns for our larger advertisers. Our staff of AdWords experts work with advertisers to select the appropriate keywords and generate the matching creative, then carefully monitor the campaign to improve its performance over time by winnowing keywords and rewriting copy based on what is most effective. Theres no limit to the number of keywords that an advertiser can select and each keyword can be matched with a different creative execution. Recent advertisers include Amazon, Cisco Systems and Staples. Google provides all of its advertisers with a full complement of reporting services to enable fine tuning of campaigns and real-time intelligence about which components are performing best. Advertisers can further increase efficiencies by targeting their campaigns to specific geographies or languages. 1.5.3 Google AdSense and advertisers Google believes relevant advertising can be as useful as search results or other forms of content. And that advertising can enhance the experience for visitors to a publishers website, while helping publishers recover some of their investment in creating content of value. Google AdSenseâ„ ¢ combines Google Search technology with our base of keyword advertisers to deliver ads that precisely target search results or the content on a sites pages, no matter how specialized the subject matter. Advertisers, publishers, and information seekers all profit as a result. Signing up for AdSense is easy it only takes a few minutes to apply. And our sales team helps customize the program for sites receiving more than 20 million page views a month. AdSense serves relevant ads on content pages search result and content pages as well as dormant domain pages. Google Search Services enable publishers to provide Google web search on their own pages results that can be used to generate revenue with the AdSense for Search program The Google Search Appliance, a scalable and secure device that provides Google quality search across an individual website or intranet. Google Wireless Services deliver Google search results via PDAs, wireless phones and other mobile devices powered by many of the worlds leading wireless service providers. .1.0 GOOGLE GLOBAL MARKET SHARE Not only does Google continue to dominate the global search market, its also growing faster than any of its competitors, according to data from comScore. The audience measurement firm estimates that Google sites notched up a total of 76.7 billion searches during the month of July 2009, an increase of 58 percent over July 2008. Googles search product therefore continues to govern the global search landscape, accounting for over 67 percent of all queries worldwide, comScore suggests. In comparison, Yahoo and Microsoft which agreed to a ten-year search partnership in July attracted a joint total of 12.2 billion queries through their search services, which represents just 10.7 percent of queries globally. Microsofts product did, however, experience substantial year-on-year growth of 41 percent. 2.2.0 GOOGLE KEY TECHNOLOGIES Google web search technology uses a combination of techniques to determine the importance of a web page independent of a particular search query and to determine the relevance of that page to a particular search query. 2.2.1 PageRank Technology PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a pages importance. 2.2.2 Hypertext-Matching Analysis Our search engine also analyzes page content. However, instead of simply scanning for page-based text (which can be manipulated by site publishers through meta-tags), our technology analyzes the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word. We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a users query. Our innovations dont stop at the desktop. To give people access to the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it, we continue to develop new mobile applications and services that are more accessible and customizable. And were partnering with industry-leading carriers and device manufacturers to deliver these innovative services globally. Were working with many of these industry leaders through the Open Handset Alliance to develop Android, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform, which will offer people a less expensive and better mobile experience. 2.2.3 Life of a Google Query The life span of a Google query normally lasts less than half a second, yet involves a number of different steps that must be completed before results can be delivered to a person seeking information. 2.2.4 Infrastructure Google provides their products and services using their homegrown software and hardware infrastructure, which provides substantial computing resources at low cost. Google currently use a combination of off-the-shelf and custom software running on clusters of commodity computers. Their considerable investment in developing this infrastructure has produced several benefits. This infrastructure simplifies the storage and processing of large amounts of data, eases the deployment and operation of large-scale global products and services, and automates much of the administration of large-scale clusters of computers. Although most of this infrastructure is not directly visible to their users, Google believe it is important for providing a high-quality user experience. It enables significant improvements in the relevance of their search and advertising results by allowing us to apply superior search and retrieval algorithms that are computationally intensive. Google believe the infrastructur e also shortens their product development cycle and lets us pursue innovation more cost effectively. 2.3.0 QUALITY OF PERSONNEL Google is among the most successful Internet-based businesses and companies since the booming dotcoms years in late 1990s and remains to be a leader to date. The success of the Google is rooted on its outstanding organisational practices and core competencies. Googles formula of success is not only its competent technology but also its aggressive ability to come-up with both innovative and profit-oriented projects. Innovation is very critical among the members of its workforce since it operates in global environment.Managing global environment requires managers the ability to manage change through innovation and creativity. The innovative capability of Google combined with integrated process and a supportive culture creates sustainable competitive advantage. Among the considered high-leverage innovators, Google excels in ideation with overall adeptness and competence across all four stages of the innovation value chain. For example, (2007) describes Google as search engine leader tha t creates new-fangled ideas with intense speed or what they call the 70-20-10 Rule where the staff particularly engineers are encouraged to use 70 percent of their working time on central business functions, 20 percent on related business functions, and 10 percent on areas entirely of their own choice. Larger organisations like Google, in contrast to small ones are faster in adoption of innovations because of greater access to resources and need for strategic planning. Due to the stiff competition among Internet companies, the encouragement of innovation and creativity is inherent to Google. Innovation as a ground for doing business in the 21st century will be the consistent tugging force that the organisation must either strive to adopt or suffer the consequences of being left behind by competitors. The Googlers (employees) are motivated to contribute their suggestions, ideas, or anything that pertains to potential profit-gaining activities through various means like meetings, intr anet, and other forms of communication. In product development, they emphasise on the feasibility and user-friendliness of relevant ideas. The feasibility is supported by Googles aim of coming-up with something original and financially viable whereas the idea of user-friendliness works toward potential users. Through innovations, Google has expanded its services and features. Google today is no longer a search engine company but a web computing applications company. The upscale ability of Google is among its critical success factors that make it a sustainable competitive company in its specified industry. On the aspect of HRM, Google has a distinct recruitment procedure that is bounded on the increased importance on valued intelligence and brainpower more than experience. (2003) identified recruiting as part of the overall management function of staffing. Conversely, (2004) emphasised that staffing requires both the process of attracting and selecting potential personnel with exceptional capabilities and competencies to fill-in the company position available at hand. Recruiting potential Googlers are based on academic proficiency and human intelligence. The diversity of skills and qualities of applicants is recognised because Google management believes that it can contribute on its progression. There are also unique advertising techniques in job postings, effective referral system, and campus recruitment. Generally, Google upholds the key HRM functions namely; attracting a quality workforce, developing a quality workforce, and maintaining a quality workforce. 2.4.0 GOOGLE CAPITAL BASE REVENUE STREAM Googles stock fell decidedly below the psychologically significant mark of $300 per share at one point. The stock has fallen 60% overall from its high near $720 and sits near its 2004-2005 prices. Despite this, Google remains a global leader in search, internet advertising, and has its finger on the pulse of innovative web services. Googles earnings powerand Googles search share remain intact in the long. Does that mean the shares necessarily imply a great risk-reward tradeoff now? For perspective, lets take a look at Googles performance and its stock performance over a similar period. Overall, Googles stock grew at a 93% CAGR from its IPO in 2004 until 2007. Even including the precipitous drop in 2008, the stock has grown at a 30% CAGR. Since 2003, Google has grown its revenue at a 72.6% CAGR and its net income at a 109.1% CAGR. Roughly normalizing to the 2004-2008 time period, Googles revenue and net income have grown at 62% and 80% CAGR, respectively. Its clear that Googles stock grew relatively in line with its net income, in fact, even at its peak Googles stock growth never outpaced its net income growth rate thus implying that wild multiple expansion was not responsible for investor returns over the last five years. Unfortunately, with the changing economic outlook, the market seems to be pre-emptively punishing Google for slowing growth. If the current share price holds, the implication is that the Company will not grow net income from 2008 levels for another three years assuming that a stocks return (30% CAGR) trends towards the long term growth rate of a company. This return scenario seems compelling for a long term investor, but given that we remain dependent on growth for our returns as opposed to any fundamental valuation. Its hard to ascertain whether or not the stock current price represents a reasonable entry point. Now, let us try to look at the overall strengths and weaknesses of Googles market, technology, personnel and capital base and revenue stream. 2.5.0 Googles Strengths Google Already number one search engine has established a brand name, in which its users trust. Its dependable, reliable and fast. Google needs very little end user marketing as the name itself is getting word by mouth publicity. Google has a simple interface and it gives comprehensive results without confusing its users. Google has low operation cost as it uses low cost UNIX web servers for indexing millions of web pages across internet. Google has hired PhDs who are continuously working hard in order to enhance search algorithms and make searching faster, efficient and relevant. Google provides an interface to 177 languages to make it comfortable to search for its users in different countries. Google uses state of the art search technology to index pages regularly in order to give most updated results to its users. Google also weights the votes and ranks web pages with its PageRank technology to give its user access to most important pages first. Google is not biased towards advertisers. It clearly separates relevant advertisements and actual results by giving Sponsored Links tag to sponsored results when user searches to get information with some keyword. Moreover, it also ranks sponsored links to keep most relevant sponsored links on the top. Google offers localized search called search by location where users can get results showing vendors, products and services nearby their areas. Google also has a range of innovative additional services like Images, Groups, Directory, and News

How the heart functions as a pump

How the heart functions as a pump The objective of this essay is to show how the heart functions as a pump in transporting oxygen to the different parts of the body and how reduction in coronary blood flow can impair the cardiac function. The first part of the essay describes the location, structure, electrical activity within the heart and how the heart transports oxygen throughout the body. The second part describes how reduced coronary blood flow in case of a disease can impair blood flow and its treatment. The heart forms an integral part of the cardiovascular system whose primary function is the maintenance of hemodynamic and homeostatic functions such as maintenance of body temperature, transport of nutrients to the cells, removal of waste materials, transport of oxygen and hormones. [8,1] Heart Location The human heart is like a cone shaped organ composed of four different chambers and is located obliquely across the chest midline with its tip behind the fifth left intercostal space. It weighs on an average between 250-350 grams in adults and is approximately the size of a human fist. [2] An average human heart beats on an average of 75 beats per minute and pumps more than 200 million litres of blood in 80 years. [3]. Although the heart is located in the centre of the chest cavity its beating action is felt on the left side of the chest cavity since the most powerful pumping action of the ventricles of the heart takes place towards the base of the heart which is located in the left side of the chest cavity. [2] The figure below shows the location of the heart in the body. Fig1: Location of the Heart [8] Lecture Physiology and Anatomy- Cardiovascular System Alan Richardson; slide no. 8 The heart is enclosed in a multi-layered sac known as Pericardium which protects the heart by reduction of friction and prevents excessive expansion. Between the different layers of the pericardium (visceral and the parietal layers), the pericardial cavity is present which holds about 5-15 ml of Pericardial Fluid that reduces the friction created due to the movement of the heart. [3] The heart wall consists of three different layers Epicardium (outer layer), Endocardium (inner layer) and Myocardium (middle layer). The 2picardium and the endocardium are both made of simple squamous epithelial cells and a thin areolar tissue layer. However the myocardium is the thickest amongst all the three layers consisting of the heart muscles and its thickness in each chamber of the heart depends upon the amount of force generated by which chamber during the pumping action. [3] The figure below clearly shows the various layers of the heart wall. Fig2: Layers of the Heart wall [9] Structure of the Heart The heart is divided into two different halves depending upon the kind of blood (deoxygenated or oxygenated) received right and left halves. The heart consists of four different chambers with an atria and a ventricle on each side. The atria have relatively thinner walls since they only have to pump the blood to much shorter distances than the ventricles. [4].The atria connect to the ventricles by means of atrioventricular valves (tricuspid in the right half, bicuspid in the left half). The atrioventricular valves are connected to the base of the ventricles by chord like structures known as the chordate tendinae that prevent the valves from swinging in the opposite direction and thus prevent the back flow of blood into the atria from the ventricles. [3,5] The two atria are separated from one another by means of a muscular wall known as the interatrial septum. [3] The atria and the ventricles are separated by means of a fibrous connective tissue known as annulus fibrosis, this helps i n giving a skeleton for attachment of the muscles of the heart and help in providing the site of placement of the heart valves. [4] The ventricles are the lower and the larger chambers of the heart. The two ventricles are separated from one another by means of a thick muscular wall known as the interventricular septum. The right ventricle is connected to the pulmonary artery by means of the pulmonary semilunar valve while the left ventricle is connected to the aorta by means of the aortic valve. [3]. On the surface of the heart the heart chambers grooves are marked by fatty layers containing coronary blood vessels these layers are also known as Sulci.[3] Blood Flow in the Heart The deoxygenated blood from the various parts of the body flows into the heart by the pair of vena cava into the right atria. The blood flowing from the upper part of the body relative to the heart is carried by the superior vena cava while the blood flowing from the lower part of the body relative to the heart is carried by the inferior vena cava. [8] The cardiac muscles empty their deoxygenated blood into the right atria by the coronary sinus. The deoxygenated blood is pumped from the right atria into the right ventricles through the right atrioventricular valves (tricuspid valve) upon atrial sytole and ventricular diastole. The blood in the right ventricles is then pumped into the pulmonary artery through the right semilunar valve (pulmonary valve) to the lungs for oxygenation upon ventricular systole. However, during the ventricular systole the semilunar valves do not open unless the pressure generated in the ventricles due to contraction (systole) is sufficient to push open the valves, such contraction is known as isometric contraction. The pulmonary artery bifurcates into two smaller branches the left and the right pulmonary artery (one for each of the lungs). The pulmonary vein from the lungs brings the oxygenated blood from the lungs into the left atria of the heart which then pumps the blood into the left ventricle through the bicuspid valve (mitral valve) during atrial systole and ventricular diastole. The left ventricle pumps the blood to the different parts of the body through the aorta through the aortic valve during ventricular diastole. The hearts muscles are themselves are supplied by oxygenated blood from the coronary artery branches present on the aortic arch. [3] The figure below shows the various chambers of the heart along with the flow of blood within the heart. Fig3: Blood Flow within the heart [8] Lecture Physiology and Anatomy- Cardiovascular System Alan Richardson, Slide no 12 Blood enters the chambers during the diastole (relaxation) phase and is pumped out during the systole (contraction) phase. As a result, the blood is under a higher pressure in the systolic phase than the diastolic phase. The blood pressure is the pressure exerted by the blood upon the walls of the blood vessels.[5] The blood pressure on the walls of the artery in a healthy individual lies around 80mm Hg for diastole and 120mm Hg for systole. [4] The valves of the heart prevent the back flow of blood and thereby only allow the unidirectional flow of blood. [5] The circulation of deoxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood back to the heart is known as pulmonary circulation while the circulation of oxygenated blood to all the parts of the body and deoxygenated blood from the various parts of the body into the heart is known as systemic circulation.[5] The entire process is displayed in the figure below. Fig4: Systemic and Pulmonary Circulation [10] Electrical Conduction within the Heart and Heart Beat The cardiac impulse trigger is generated by the group of specialised cells which together form the sino-atrial node (SA node). The SA node is present in the right atrium near the point of attachment of the superior vena cava. The cells in the SA node generate the impulses spontaneously as they are capable of spontaneous depolarisation, hence they are said to possess automaticity. [6] Due to these spontaneous impulses the SA node forms the atrial pacemaker. These electrical impulses are spread throughout the walls of the atrium by means of specialised pathways known as the Bachmanns Bundle, thereby causing the stimulation of the myocardial walls of the atria to contract and push the blood into the ventricles. The wave of electrical excitation travels from the atrial walls via specialised pathways called internodal tracts from the SA node to the Atrioventricular (AV) node. The AV node is also composed of similar autorhythmic cells as the SA node and is capable of pacing the heart in case the SA node fails in pacing and is located in the right side of the interatrial septum. However the pacing of the AV node is slower than the SA node and it thus provides the critical delay in the electrical conduction system, preventing the simultaneous contraction of both the atria and the ventricles. The distal portion of the AV node is known as the Bundle of His which then divides into the two bundle branches for spreading the electrical excitation to the two ventricles. The bundle branches are present along the interventricular septum and end at the tip of the heart by further differentiating into numerous small fibres known as Purkinje fibres. The Purkinje fibres are responsible for depolarising the individual myocardial cells of the ventricles. Thus causing the ventricles to contract and push the blood into the pulmonary artery or the aorta. [3] Blood circulation and Transport of Oxygen The blood vessels and capillaries are the pipes which carry blood throughout the body for metabolic, waste and gaseous transport. The blood vessels include arteries, arterioles, veins and venules. Arteries carry the oxygenated blood away from the heart with the Aorta being the largest artery. Since the artery carry blood in jerks and under high pressure they are surrounded by smooth muscles which prevent it from collapsing. The resistance to blood pressure is controlled by the autonomic nervous system which controls the width of the artery (lumen) through which the blood passes (vasoconstriction and vasodilation). The arteries further divide into smaller divisions known as arterioles which carry blood to smaller parts of the body. The arterioles are also covered with smooth muscles and like the arteries also resist any changes to the blood pressure. The arterioles further differentiate into smaller blood vessels known as capillaries which possess an extremely thin wall so as to allow the exchange of oxygen with the individual cells and carbon-dioxide from the cells. Apart from the exchange of gases the metabolic exchange of nutrients and wastes are also possible at the capilla ries. Several billions of capillaries then join together to form the venules which are smaller blood vessels carrying the deoxygenated blood from the capillaries to the veins. The veins are the formed by the integration of millions of smaller venules and it carries the deoxygenated blood back to the heart. The blood in the veins does not flow under considerable high amounts of pressure and hence the walls of the veins are not as thick as those of the artery. The veins join together to form the two vena cavas. [8] The transfer of oxygen from the blood into the cells at the capillaries is explained by the process of diffusion. Diffusion is the process of movement of particles from their region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Thus in the capillaries the oxygenated blood has a higher concentration of oxygen than that present outside the capillaries in the surrounding cells. At the same time there is higher concentration of carbon-dioxide in the surrounding cells than the oxygenated blood in the capillaries. Hence the oxygen from the blood in the capillaries diffuses out into the surrounding cells while the carbon-dioxide from the surrounding cells diffuses into the capillaries. Thus the oxygenated blood from the lungs passes into the heart which pumps it into the aorta which divides into the arteries which further divides into arterioles and then capillaries. The capillaries then exchange the oxygen with the cells and take carbon-dioxide from the cells and rejoin to form the venules which then form the veins which return the deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Thus the heart acts a pump in the entire cardiovascular system which transports the oxygen to the different parts of the body and carbon-dioxide from the different parts of the body. The figure below shows the overview of the cardiovascular system. Fig5: The Cardiovascular System [11] Reduced Coronary Blood Flow and Coronary Artery Disease The heart needs to perform all the time in the body and can never relax, hence the cardiac muscles have a high demand for oxygen and have very limited capacity for anaerobic respiration. [7] The chest pain which is felt in the patient due to the obstruction of the blood flow in the coronary arteries is known as Angina Pectoris. This deposition of the plaque and lipid layers within the coronary blood vessels thereby causing the hardening and narrowing of the blood vessels is known as Atherosclerosis. Due to the obstruction the cardiac cells are deprived of oxygen and start anaerobic fermentation resulting in the formation of lactic acid. The lactic acid formation in the heart stimulates the pain receptors present in the heart. [3] Depending upon the type of plaque formation in the coronary blood vessel the angina might be termed as stable or unstable. [8] Thus with the reduced coronary blood flow the cardiac output of the heart is severely impaired since the muscles of the heart are deprived of oxygen and nutrients resulting in tissue death or myocardial infarction. Hence the heart is not able to pump properly and thus has a reduced cardiac output. Myocardial Infarction causes severe pain and can even cause death to the patient. [6] The blood flow to the target cells can be increased by vasodilation and thereby allowing more blood to flow through them. This can be done by using organic nitrate medications which release nitric oxide (NO) into the blood stream. Medications known as beta blockers (ÃŽ ²) which also cause of the coronary artery vasodilation can also help in the treatment of the condition in the same manner. Apart from medications surgically also the condition of reduced coronary blood flow can be treated by coronary bypass surgery where the atherosclerotic narrowing of the coronary artery is bypassed by a blood vessel which is grafted from any other part of the patients body. There also is the possibility of performing other angioplasty operations such as balloon angioplasty, etc. [7] The therapeutic goals in treating stable angina are to improve the coronary blood flow to the target cells and reduce the cardiac oxygen demand. While in the treatment of unstable angina steps are taken to prevent the occurrence of myocardial infarction Conclusion The heart acts as a muscular pump which pumps blood throughout the lifecycle beating at an average of 72 beats a minute and pumping 200 million litres of blood in 80 years. [3] The cardiovascular system consists of several different components, the pump (heart), an extensive piping network (blood vessels and capillaries) and finally a working fluid (blood). The heart receives deoxygenated blood from all over the body pumps it to the lungs for oxygenation and receives the oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps them to the different parts of the body. The piping network includes arteries, arterioles, veins, venules and capillaries. The capillaries are the site of gaseous exchange where the exchange takes place by diffusion. Reduced coronary blood flow impairs the cardiac output by starving the cardiac cells of oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood.

Early Childhood Development Essay -- Papers Child Analysis Children Es

The child that I chose for my observation is a two-year-old; Caucasian, female named Crystal. While observing her in a private facility, I was able to determine if she is behind, right on target, or advanced in areas of development. I observed her physical, intellectual, social and emotional developments. Physical development includes the child's body size, body proportion, normal growth, brain development, and motor skills. Intellectual development, or cognitive development, includes play patterns, reasoning, memory, attention span, and language development. Social and emotional development includes development of empathy, emotional self-regulation, peer sociability, and sex typing. The child that I observed exhibited normal growth patterns, advanced cognitive development in language especially, and normal social and emotional development. Physically, Crystal is right on target. Even though she is shorter than other children her age, she still achieves all types of activities set fo rth for her. The general growth curve explains that the growth and changes in the body size is slower during early and middle childhood. As far as gross and fine motor developments are concerned, she is also right on target. On the playground, Crystal is running, jumping, hopping, and riding a bike. When it comes to drawing, Crystal sits very quietly and concentrates on what she is doing. Crystal is advanced intellectually for her age. Experts say that brain development is very rapid during age's 2-6 years of age. Crystal also has an excellent memory, a wide attention span, and a great imagination. Make-believe is a very important part of Crystal's everyday routine, but she can distinguish between her imagination and reality. When Crystal tells a st... ...elopment. From my experience with other children her age, weather they are children of friends or family, I believe that her attendance at a preschool has helped her a lot with the majority of her development. Generally, Crystal is a well-rounded, well-developed 2-year-old. She is a smart, insightful, and a joy to be around. I have learned a lot about her development, even in such a short period of time. Even though I have learned a lot about Crystal, the only person can and should be the true observers are the parents. I often find myself watching my brothers, sister, cousins and the children that I work with. In the last couple of weeks, I have come to understand their weaknesses and strong points of development. This is something I had never taken the time to do before. By learning and understanding development, I will be able to understand and help them better.

Agamemnon Essay -- essays research papers fc

Agamemnon Agamemnon is a confusing tale of the people that are waiting for the soldiers to get home from the Trojan war. Most of the play is the chorus singing about many of the things that happened during the war. The play also shows the disrespect the men had for women in that time period. In front of Agamemnon's palace, a watchman wishes his shift would end. He is tired and wants to sleep but he must stay awake. He awaits news from Queen Clytemnestra. The Chorus of Argive elders enters, singing of the war. They sing of the gods, asking for them to help them win the war, and of the great army. They anxiously await the news from the Queen. In the song, they tell how Agamemnon killed his child. He sacrificed his daughter to Apollo so that Apollo would make the winds blow for his armies ships. The chorus thinks that deed was horrible, but had to be done for the good of the country. The leader asks Clytemnestra if she's heard any news. He doesn't like being ruled by a woman and treats her somewhat rudely. He only listens to her because of his loyalty to his King. She tells the leader that the army has taken Troy. The leader is skeptical and asks her to repeat herself several times. The Queen gets angry and tells him she is not a "credulous girl." When the leader asks how Clytemnestra...

Domestic Terrorism In The United States Essay

To varying degrees, domestic terrorism has survived and affected the social and political structure of the United States. As defined by the country’s Department of Justice, these words connote â€Å"the unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives† (U. S. Department of Justice, 1994, p. 26). Though such characterization is considerably clear in its meaning, oftentimes a case-by-case interpretation is necessary to ascertain where extremism ends and terrorism begins. Terrorism vs. Extremism A more concise demarcation between extremism and terrorism is evident in the recognition that extremism is not unusual in any political environment, and is more often than not directed by societal pressures, civil discourse, education and the law. On the other hand, in terrorism, the violence is far beyond control by civil, educational or societal elements and must be tracked down, penalized and castigated by law enforcement agencies. The Dictionary of Political Thought defines extremism as â€Å"a vague term, that can mean a) the taking of a political idea to its limits, regardless of unfortunate repercussions, impracticalities, arguments and feelings to the contrary and with the intention not only to confront but also to eliminate opposition; b) intolerance towards all views other than one’s own; and c) the adoption of means to political ends which show disregard for the life, liberty and human rights of others† (Scronton, 1982). The complexity of separating terrorism and extremism is that in various situations, domestic groups which are seemingly law-abiding at present, may be contemplating of violent actions in the future. As it is, many violent groups started as non-violent discussion or protest movements with very lofty ideals; however, as time elapsed they evolved into something else. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, provides a suitable and a more fitting characterization of terrorism when he described it as â€Å"the deliberate and systematic murder, maiming and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends. † USA Patriot Act Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act stretched the definition of terrorism to include domestic in contrast to international terrorism. An individual is said to be involved in domestic terrorism if he/she does an act that is dangerous to human life, that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, and if the act appears to be intended to a) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; b) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or c) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Further, the acts have to take place chiefly within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and if they do not, then these acts can already be regarded as international terrorism. Clearly, Section 802 does not create a new crime of domestic terrorism. Nonetheless, it does extend the kinds or the nature of actions that the government can examine and probe into when it is investigating terrorism. The USA Patriot Act stretched out the powers of the government when they do their investigations and some of these powers are applicable to domestic terrorism. Such definition of domestic terrorism is expansive enough to cover the actions and activities of many known activist campaigns and organizations. Greenpeace, Operation Rescue, Vieques Island and WTO protesters and the Environmental Liberation Front have all recently engaged in activities that could make them subject to investigations as engaging in domestic terrorism. Contemporary Domestic Terrorism Though governments, private and public institutions have been beleaguered and weighed down by terrorism for hundreds of years in one form or another, the strategies and the application associated with it have changed and progressed as surely as the societies upon which it is imposed. Technological advances in the transportation, communication and in the area of weaponry have permitted the capacities of current domestic terrorist groups to get their message out and have enhanced their ability to take aggressive and sadistic action to achieve their objectives. President Clinton launched a counter-terrorism bill to the Senate and House of Representatives in February of 1995. One exceedingly contentious proposal in the bill is the assigning of the Department of Defense a dominant role in assisting the investigation of domestic terrorism incidents in which chemical and biological agents are utilized. Currently, the military can be used in cases of terrorist activities where there is an alleged employment of nuclear weapons or devices and much more if such allegation has been established (Hall, 1995, Sec A). Though the amplified role of the military would be limited, necessitating a further amendment to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, civil liberties experts cautioned that it would infringe the tenets of civil supremacy over the military and would only rekindle the hostilities and anti-government sentiments of the citizen-militias and conspiracy theorists (Landay, 1995). Furthermore, several Congressmen, law-enforcement officials and some military advisers concur that such employment of the military would be an exceedingly precarious approach in combating domestic terrorism. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat from New York, responded to questions as to whether the use of the military, in an expanded role, should be a part of the counterterrorism package, said, â€Å". . . the military defends the nation and does not involve itself in internal affairs† (Minzesheimer, 1995, Sec A). Incidents and Implications There has been an evident and persistent decline in the number of terrorist incidents in the United States during the past twenty years. To further delineate the trend of decline over time, a comparison of the average number of incidents per year during each of three, six-year periods would be useful. During the six year period from 1977 through 1982, there was an average of 59. 0 incidents/year; from 1983 through 1988 an average of 15. 7 incidents/year were recorded; this compared to an average of 5. 3 incidents/year investigated during the period from 1989 through 1994 (FBI, 1994). *** ACTIVE GROUPS OPERATING WITHIN THE UNITED STATES CLASSIFIED AS TERRORISTS African National Prison Organization (ANPO). An arm of the African Peoples Socialist Party. Animal Rights. Principally against use of animals for any purpose beyond their natural existence. Armed Resistance Group (ARG) aka Revolutionary Fighting Group, Red Guerrilla Faction. This group has been characterized in 1988 as â€Å"tired and aging revolutionaries. † Greenpeace Principally environmental-use extremists. Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Reorganized and relocated several arms of its group in 1989. Macheteros. Puerto Rican nationalists. Ohio Seven. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Very public-relations oriented. Radical Feminist Organizing Committee (RFOC). Driven-out of the feminist movement in 1989, operating independently. RAMBOC (Restore a More Benevolent Order Coalition). Targets and actively pursues the US assets and people of foreign groups with terrorist links, such as the PLO, SWAPO, ANC, etc†¦ Rolling Thunder aka American Foundation for Accountability; primary focus is to draw attention to the POW/MIA issue from Vietnam War. Satanic Cult. Associated with attempted bombing of churches and kidnapping, and animal sacrifices, tombstone vandalism, and miscellaneous actions. Skinheads (SKA). Groups consist of both racist and anti-racist factions. SS Action Group. Principally anti-Semitic. Apparent Motivation There are principally four classifications into which groups that are regarded as domestic terrorists can be distinguished currently existing in the United States. These groups can be generically delineated as being either motivated by religious convictions, racial prejudice and supremacist goals, anarchistic/anti-government/politically motivated, or in pursuit of unique special interests. These classifications have been extracted from a collection of the categorization and delineation of extremist and terrorist groups by two respected subject-authorities, Stephen Segaller and FBI’s Department of Justice. Segaller, in his book Invisible Armies, classified domestic terrorism in the United States into four groups as well, but lists them as being: a) Cuban infighting (political), b) â€Å"backwoods terrorism† (a combination of religious, racist and anarchistic), c) violent Puerto Rican independence groups (political), and d) a handful of domestic revolutionary Marxist groups (anarchistic/anti-government and racist) (Segaller, 1987, pp. 221-225). Theoretically speaking, the stimulus for the creation and sustained existence of extremist and terrorist groups can unequivocally be associated in many circumstances to ethnic, cultural, religious, and racial feelings of superiority. An accurate depiction of the continuum formed by these supremacist attitudes, and how they promote further tension is succinctly articulated by Frank G. McGuire, when he said that as long as Christians feel superior to Jews (or vice-versa) and Catholics feel superior to Protestants and Ashkenazic Jews feel superior to Sephardic Jews, men feel superior to women and whites feel superior to blacks/browns/yellows/reds and so on, such phenomenon will be with us (McGuire, 1990, p. 10). These cultural, racial, gender, and a myriad of other differences that are present among people in society, particularly one as diverse as the United States of America, must be acknowledged and respected, but shouldn’t be seen or considered as a encumbrance to peace and harmony within society. Nor should these diversities be seen as wholly benign in their impact on the functioning of society as a whole. Tibor Machan, a social and political commentator, showed a well-timed dissertation on the myths and erroneous beliefs associated with viewing multiculturalism as simply a difference in dress, music, dance, and customs. Dr. Machan asserted that cultural differences, whether a result of race, gender, religion, or whatever, impacts both negatively and positively on other cultures within the society (Machan, 1996, pp. 134-135) and further opined that attitudes of cultural-superiority and intolerance are directly related and incorporated into many of the extremist views and motivations that are plaguing America today. The period from 1982 through 1994 showed that the targets of domestic terrorism were predominately commercial establishments. The majority of incidents directed against commercial establishments were conducted by animal-rights and/or anti-abortion extremists, either attacking stores that sold fur, or clinics that performed abortions or provided abortion advice, respectively (FBI, 1994; McGuire, 1990). Religious & Racial Supremacy/Intolerance Religious intolerance founded upon fundamentalist standpoints has been the stimulus for acts of terrorism all throughout history and such as involved Orthodox Jews, Moslems, Catholics, and Protestants. Perhaps, there is no issue or idea among human beings that is as provocative and as seditious as that of religious beliefs. Auspiciously, at least as far as the United States is concerned, terror stimulated by religious intolerance has not been as significant a threat as in other parts of the world like in Africa, the Middle East or Bosnia. â€Å"America is a unique nation in that it guarantees the freedom of religion with the First Amendment and the right to [keep and] bear arms with the Second Amendment. This means that people can believe whatever they want, and they can buy the guns to protect that belief† (LeBaron, n. d). The statement was made in direct reference to Mormon fundamentalism and summarizes the very ideology upon which this country was founded which also provides an insight into the potential dangers that exist with religious extremist groups. Recently however, there has been rhetoric and open threats of aggression from different extremist groups that describe themselves as being inspired by religion, nonetheless, have undisputedly displayed racial supremacist and hate-mongering views. The leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, advocates sundry rhetoric of black supremacist views and religious fervor. He professes to have the faith and devotion of some four million people (Fletcher, 1996). In addition, several white-supremacist clusters, including some of the many Christian militia splinter groups, advocate exceptionally caustic and hate-filled threats as well, apparently an endless, ages-old game of â€Å"I call you a name, you call me a name. † Oddly enough, two racial supremacist groups representing opposite extremes, the Nation of Islam and the Posse Comitatus, have concurred to an ultimate end-state segregation of the United States into regions of pure racial integrity. Another group operating within the United States that has historically merged a racist agenda with religious rhetoric, and was truly very sadistic in its actions and objectives, is the Ku Klux Klan. They have, however, considerably lessened in both their membership numbers and invisible power-base in recent years, and though there are still very strident individuals appearing from time to time, the danger posed by the Klan nowadays is essentially restricted to local regions, and their activities are in the form of parades and rallies. As the Klan has faded in its activities and numbers, it has been replaced by the tremendously vicious and rapidly growing racist movement known as the Aryan Nations, which is strongly associated with the Identity Church that proclaims Anglo-Saxons as God’s chosen people. The fundamentalist Mormons are another religiously-motivated cluster within the United States that are catching the attention and concern of law enforcement and other government officials. This group has been at odds, to a certain degree, with the government since its creation in the early 1800s. Many of these fundamentalist Mormons are well-armed conspiracy-minded survivalists, who have retreated to the mountains of central Utah to await Armageddon, which they believe will occur on April 6, 2000. Believing in their gifts of prophecy and revelation, and fired-up by heavenly visions and doctrines of blood atonement and oaths of vengeance, they have isolated themselves awaiting the end of the world and fearing that the government is about to take away their freedoms (LeBaron, n. d. ). A specifically insightful yet explosive issue to a huge section of the American people, despite individual beliefs, is the classification of particular abortion clinic-related hostility as domestic terrorism. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994 in concurrence with the Attorney General Guidelines (AGG) on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise and Domestic Security/Terrorism Investigations, instigated and directed the creation of the Department of Justice Task Force on Violence Against Abortion Providers to look into conspiratorial acts of violence against abortion clinics and personnel as domestic terrorism (FBI, 1994). Although personal opinions on the ethical aspects associated with abortion, whether for or against, are not wholly confined to religious beliefs, the most articulate, open and visible anti-abortion advocates are directly allied with religious organizations. As it is, abortion rights and issues persist to be one of the most contentious and conflict-ridden questions among Americans and motivate exceedingly passionate and rousing rhetoric and reactions from people from both sides of the matter. In the period between 1982 and the end of 1984, there were a total of 220 separate acts of violence, including 89 cases of bombing, arson and other serious incidents, conducted against clinics where abortions were performed or abortion-advice offered (Segaller, 1987, pp. 222-223). Ethnically and racially stimulated bias, extreme loathing and carnage are as much a part of human history as any other characteristics of mankind, and have at least to some extent have a bearing on the cultural and social identities of essentially all civilizations to date. From the subjugation of Hebrews by ancient Egyptians, to present-day current situation in the Balkans, racial and ethnic differences have triggered incalculable suffering and death. The history of racial and ethnic turmoil in the United States is no different, and is seemingly experiencing an increase in such activity recently. Racially-motivated extremist and terrorist groups in the United States, especially those of today, seem to employ religious rationalizations and teachings for their sadistic tendencies and aggressive actions, and all indications point to the fact that such trend will continue at an accelerating rate into the foreseeable future. Anarchistic/Anti-government /Political Terrorist clusters of today that are actually anarchist, anti-government or political in their motivations are mostly associated with the growing self-determination, radical citizen-militia movements, or have been around a relatively long time, such as the Puerto Rican freedom fighters. The former has drawn considerable attention, and extracted wary concern from law-enforcement and civil-rights groups due to the bombing in Oklahoma City, and their rapid and continuing growth in numbers and visibility. A few of the more extreme citizen-militia groups, often motivated by New World Order conspiracy theorists and anger over a belief that government has become too large and repressive in everyday life, are openly soliciting and calling for the overthrow of the United States government. These groups, when linked with the self-described â€Å"Constitutionalists,† are being considered as extremely dangerous by many law-enforcement and watchdog groups (Knickerbocker, 1995). The Puerto Rican terrorist groups have been almost exclusively limited in their actions to operating within Puerto Rico against local and federal targets of opportunity. Unique Special Interests Within this designation of domestic terrorist groups are those of relatively recent creation, or at least they have relatively recently gained high public visibility through their actions. Groups such as the extremist animal-rights groups, environmental extremist groups and homosexual-rights groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Earth Night Action Group, and Act Up, respectively, have emerged within the past two decades and have actively used violence, destruction and intimidation to gain recognition, and to further their respective political agendas. References *** McGuire, Frank. 1990. Security intelligence sourcebook: Who’s Who in terrorism. Silver Spring, MD. : Interests, Ltd. U. S. Department of Justice. 1994. Terrorism in the United States, 1994. Washington, DC. : National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Terrorist Research and Analytical Center Scronton, R. 1982. Dictionary of Political Thought. New York: Hill and Wang Hall, M. 1995. â€Å"Clinton’s Military Police Plan Under Fire. † USA Today, 11 May Sec. 5A. Landay, J. S. 1995. â€Å"Tempering Terrorism. † The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May Sec. US. Minzesheimer, B. 1995. â€Å"Terrorism Bill Warning: Go Slow. † USA Today, 1 May Sec. 5A. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1994. Terrorism in the United States 1982 – 1992; Terrorism in the United States 1994. Segaller, S. 1987. Invisible armies, terrorism into the 1990s. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Machan, T. 1996. â€Å"Fallacies of Uncritical Multiculturalism. † The Freeman, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 134-135. LeBaron, G. Jr. â€Å"Mormon Fundamentalism and Violence: A Historical Analysis available at http://www. tcd. net/~garn/ polygamy. html>. Fletcher, M. A. 1996. â€Å"Farrakhan Vows to Take Libya’s Aid. † Washington Post, 26 February, Sec. A1. Knickerbocker, B. 1995. â€Å"US Militias: The Dark Side of Frontier Independence. † The Christian Science Monitor, 24 April, Sec. NATIONAL.