How Socio-Economic Classes Contributed to Events in 1800 Europe Essay

Described as â€Å"the divine distribution of men into different ranks, and at the same time uniting them into one society† (Gladstone, 1896), the socio-economic class order formed the structure and foundation of society in Europe. Consisting of three distinct entities and with a strong correspondence between economic prosperity and social standing, it would also serve as the backdrop for which historical phenomena would occur. Europe’s social order was not just the environment in which these events would materialize, but also a fundamental causal factor in three notable events; The French Revolution (1789-1799), The French Revolution of 1848 and Britain’s Industrial Revolution (1750 onwards). However, the origins of these events were also contingent upon other circumstantial factors. The roots of the first French revolution, arguably, are in The Enlightenment; the period of the philosophers. New philosophies advocating human rationality came to form by the mid 1700’s and were propelled into popular thought after the isolated, and highly charged, Jean Callas incident . Philosophers like Voltaire found the perfect vehicle in this incident to question the arbitrary use of power so prevalent in French society. The monarchy and the presence of the Social Order soon came into question. Across Europe, cafes sprung out to host discussion centered on the common theme of reason. Society cleaved toward enlightened ideas of rationality, equality and liberalism, leading to the growing questioning of the existing monarchial power structure. Alternative political ideologies for the state, from personalities like Rousseau and Locke, sprouted and undermined the legitimacy of the monarchy. While The Enlightenment is responsible for creating pressure from society against the monarchy, these ideas would have been impotent without suitable ground. The socio-economic categorizing of European society is a more fundamental cause of the first French Revolution because it provided this ground. The rigidity of the social order in late 17th century France accounts for the origins of the first French revolution. In theory, the social divisions were permeable and promoted mobility (Roberts, 1997). Across Europe, titles and estates could be purchased and so also, the privilege of the nobility. However the reality was often different. In light of booming trade, the demand for titles from the French bourgeoisie and returning nobility outstripped the number permitted by the social order . Furthermore, while the bourgeoisie enjoyed increasing economic power and could live equally, if not exceedingly, extravagant lives as the nobility, the social order shut this community out from the benefits of social privilege . This was exacerbated by the nobility’s stress on privilege in response to the new Bourgeois economic threat. The system’s disregard of merit in place of hereditary, and the fundamentally irrational social construct sowed discontentment within the second and third estate, where the ideals of enlightenment; rationality and equality, would find willing subscribers. Riding on the resentment toward society’s order and fuelled by The Enlightenment’s ideas did the French Revolution tear its way through to the Bastille. While the first French revolution was understandably a social battle, one could argue that the revolution of 1848 was born out of opposition to economic factors than on society’s social construct. The time leading up to 1848 was a time of gradual industrialization for France. Its products; rapid urbanization and changes in economic practices, broke familiar social patterns of the working class. For instance, the commercial system was rewritten by doing away with the cottage industry and previously public lands, privatized. Added to this, a burgeoning population, severe industrial and agricultural depressions in 1846 and Louis-Phillipe’s inaction in alleviating rural and urban poverty culminated to create great peasant discontent. The economic change that accompanied its deterioration galvanized the working class, triggering the third French revolution in 1848; aptly, also known as a Worker’s Revolution. However, it is artificial to separate economics from social class since there is a correspondence between social hierarchy and wealth. They are, after all, aptly named â€Å"socio-economic† classes. In analyzing yet another French revolution, an important observation to make is the persistence of Europe’s social order. Though the 1830 revolution delivered another great blow to the old social order (Magraw, 1987), and promised equality in opportunity and economic liberalism manifest in the abolishment of seigneurial practices for all, much had remained the same. Succinctly captured by Cobban’s argument that ‘it [did] not matter whether we [called] it aristocracy or bourgeoisie† , the cleaving of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie shows an adaption, not an eradication of the social order. The aristocracy kept to their ranks by continuing their distinctive politics and marriage practices (Magraw, 1987). Since most engaged with capitalism, they were mostly able to maintain their privileged lifestyle and control of much of the land . The Bourgeoisie continued to thrive, especially under the â€Å"Bourgeois King† and even went as far as to convert their wealth into land ownership. This neo-feudalism masquerading as the product of laissez faire economic practices, and the continuation of aristocratic dominance came at the expense of the working class. Thus did the working class continue in their economically disadvantaged positions. Their economic dependence on the old order’s aristocracy, had merely been replaced with a dependence on remnants of the same old order and a new Bourgeois one. The social order is a more fundamental account for the workers revolution, since it was responsible for creating the economic grievances of the working class which became the fuel for the 1848 revolution. The European social order again features as a causal factor in Britain’s Industrial Revolution. It is the very hierarchical nature of the class system that functioned as the engine for the Industrial Revolution. The industrial entrepreneurs of Britain, the main thrust for the innovation that characterized the revolution, took hold of Britain’s mineral resource advantage to affect rapid development. The motivations behind entrepreneurship are traced back to the make-up of society. Since social privilege was linked with economic wealth, successful merchants strived to purchase titles and convert their wealth into social status (Briggs, 1979). In this way, the extravagance of noble life, held in high regard, could be emulated. However, it is admittedly reductionistic to exclusively use the quest for noblehood to account for an entire revolution. Coupled with the desire for social advancement were also ideas from The Enlightenment and The Scientific Revolution; laissez faire economic practices and technological advancement respectively. Society as a whole was geared toward revolutionary development, equipped with the necessary ideology and possessing the necessary scientific capability. Nonetheless, the power of science and the power of thought would have remained a means without an end if not for the existence of Europe’s social class as the motivation to individuals for conomic advancement. Furthermore, the narrow elite which feature in Europe’s social order meant that there was a prolific number from the working class available for cheap employment and indeed, were the working class called upon for this. By 1850, more than 50% of the population were living in towns and city to work in factories and city-bound industries. The abundance of cheap labor comes from the old social order’s narrow top and wide base, and it sustained and accelerated industrialization to revolutionary measures. Thus, we trace back the origins of the Industrial revolution to socio-economic classes. Social hierarchical ascension was the motivation, and the demographic make-up, the sustenance. Evidently, the causality of the three historical events covered is not monolithic. Though the contributing factors are layered and many, the role of socio-economic class is central. Its rigid, persistent and hierarchical institution shaped the motivations of humanity and in doing so, account for the origins of major events in History.

What is the Gospel?

The gospel means â€Å"good news†. But good news of what? The key Old Testament word with reference to the gospel is the verb â€Å"basar† which generally means â€Å"proclaiming good news†. The good news may be news of the death of an enemy or the birth of a son. In the New Testament words with reference to the gospel denote â€Å"good tidings† or technically it is a term for â€Å"news of victory†. Most people understood the gospel as about giving hope and salvation to sinful sinners through the work of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This paper will discuss the content of the gospel, the fallacies in the presentation of the gospel and the fallacies in stating the content of the gospel. II. The Gospel The message of the gospel is the heart of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His church. Jesus is not only the author and messenger of the gospel but that in fact, He is the subject of it. Paul, after Christ ascension to heaven aggressively preached the gospel. Although Paul does not provide a single complete detailed statement of the tenets of the gospel, nevertheless there are many New Testament passages that when put together indicate what it includes. In Romans 1:3-4 he speaks of the gospel â€Å"concerning God’s Son who was descended from David and resurrected from the dead†. In I Corinthians 15, Paul stated that he delivered a message â€Å"that Christ died for our sins†¦that he was buried and raised on the third day. † Other New Testament passages clearly indicates that Paul viewed the gospel as centering upon Jesus Christ and what God has done through Him that resulted in the salvation of man. To summarize, the essential elements of the gospel are the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, his humanity, his death in the cross for man’s sins, his burial, resurrection and future coming. II. Fallacies in the Presentation of the Gospel A. The Fallacy that the Gospel primarily concerns Other than sin The good news or the gospel concerns itself with the solution of man’s basic problem: sin. However, a person may not sense that he needed this good news unless he is aware of the presence of sin in his own life. More often than not, he only feels the lack of peace or joy in his life or the overwhelming problems that confronted him, which are symptoms of his condition of being alienated from God as a result of sin. Unfortunately, some presentations of the gospel may focus on these three areas. But man does not need the gospel just so he can be happy or have peace or find solutions to his problems, he needed it in order to be forgiven of his sin. B. The Fallacy That There Are Different Gospels for Different Age-Groups It is wrong to advocate to the idea that the gospel is not the same for all people. That is, there is a separate gospel for the children, young people, adults, unchurched people or those who go to church. The truth is, there is only one gospel for all, though its ways of explaining may not be the same for all age groups, nevertheless the content should be the same. C. The Fallacy that the Truth is in Other than the Word of God Obviously, this means that truth can be found not only in the word of God. Experience, archeology or fulfilled prophecy may be pointed out as other sources of truth. However, though these three may be a valuable source of denying or confirming truth, it does not create infallible truth. Only the word of God provides absolute truth and all reasoning should be based on it. D. The Fallacy that cleverness will convict In presenting the gospel others may falsely rely on one’s own cleverness of presentation in order to convict a person regarding the truth of the gospel. However, well prepared and well presented gospel presentation does not guarantee salvation or understanding of truth for the Bible clearly states that conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit who can bring successful conviction to acknowledge the truth whether or not a man chooses to believe it. E. The Fallacy that charm will assure results The Bible clearly warned that as bearers of good news, a person should see to it that he does not offend anyone with regards to his manner of dressing, speech or culture especially in view of the fact that the message of the gospel in itself is already an offense or stumbling block for most people ( Gal. :11). But even if man takes this warning to heart, his charming disposition still does not guarantee that the gospel will be accepted. F. The Fallacy that Procedures produce Conversions There is no argument that procedures do produce results such as the hypnotizing effect of music, the intoxicating effect of setting and the moving effect of stories. However, these results cannot be appropriately equated to resulting to conversions. What is important in the presentation of the gospel message is that whether the people were given words that they can believe in and not only to give them something to do. III. Fallacies in Stating the Content of the Gospel A. The Fallacy of adding baptism Some may wrongfully think that in order to be saved one should be baptized. However, baptism is not part of the gospel for if it is then work is added to the gospel of grace. The beliefs that baptism is required for salvation are usually taken from the following verses: . Mark 16:16. Bible Scholars debated on the original ending of the gospel of Mark so in this basis it is unwise to make verses 9-20 as an absolute guideline. But just in case these verses are originally part of the gospel of Mark, it is more safer to assume that Christ may have referred here to the baptism of the Spirit for it is most likely that these words were spoken at the same time that He was talking in Acts 1:5 about the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit. 2. Acts 2:38. Baptism regenerationists hold on to the belief that this verse means that both repentance and baptism leads to salvation. However, it must be understood that in Bible times the act of baptism is a public sign of one’ sincere conversion may it be to Judaism, Christianity or other sects. Therefore, this verse clearly shows that Peter told the people to repent and to follow the tradition of baptism as a proof of one’s sincerity of conversion, so that no one will doubt it. On the other hand, this verse can be also interpreted to mean that baptism follows as a result of the forgiveness of sin and not in order to be forgiven of sin. 3. Acts 22:16. This verse may be analyzed by connecting a particular participle to its imperative like the participle (a) â€Å"arise† (which is a participle, arising) with (b) â€Å"be baptized† (an imperative); and (c) â€Å"wash away your sin† (imperative) with (d) â€Å"calling on the name of the Lord† (participle). To make baptism a requirement of salvation, it would require connecting (b) and (c) which could then be read as â€Å"be baptized and wash away your sins†. But this is not to be so, for as shown, both imperatives are in fact connected to each of their own participle, therefore, it means â€Å"to arise from baptism† and to â€Å"call upon the name of the Lord to wash away your sins†. Calling on the name of the Lord would then necessitate forgiveness of sin and not baptism. B. The Fallacy of misunderstanding Repentance In Christianity, to acquire salvation means to repent. Repentance means one should not only be sorrowful about specific sins being committed and stop doing it ( as most understood about repentance ) but it must involve a change of mind about Jesus Christ and trust (have faith ) and acknowledge Him as savior. C. The Fallacy of making surrender of life a part of the gospel Many Bible scholars argue that in order to be saved one should surrender one’s life or make a commitment to the Lordship of Christ. Arthur Pink further stressed that it is a lie of the devil to think that one is saved unless he makes Christ Lord of his life. However, the Bible provided many examples of person who were saved but do not show any commitment such as Lot and the believers of Ephesus. Lot was declared in the new testament as a righteous man even though his life does not show as such. The believers in Ephesus were still regarded as born again even though it took them two years after accepting Christ to burn their magic arts and forsake their superstitious practices. The Lordship problem lies in the failure to â€Å"distinguish salvation from discipleship and makes requirement for discipleship prerequisites for salvation†. Christ in his discourse with the Samaritan woman does not ask her to put her sinful life in order for her to be saved nor does He lecture on her the changes that is expected of her in case she believed but that He simply inform her that she needed to know who He is and ask for His gift of eternal life. It may look so easy to be saved just by believing, but in a much closer introspection , it is not so, for it is hard to believe in someone that is only known through the Bible much more stake one’s own eternal destiny based on that knowledge. II. Conclusion A. The gospel is the good news of man’s forgiveness from sins through faith in the complete work of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is therefore of necessity that man hear and understand this message. However, as with other works of man, the presentation of the gospel and stating its content may be flawed with fallacies. In the fallacy of presentation, it includes the fallacy that the Gospel primarily concerns other than sin, the fallacy that there are different gospels for different Age-Groups ,the fallacy that the Truth is in Other than the Word of God ,the fallacy that cleverness will convict ,the fallacy that charm will assure results, the fallacy that procedures produce conversions. In the fallacy of stating its content, it includes the fallacy of adding baptism, the fallacy of misunderstanding repentance, the fallacy of making surrender of life a part of the gospel.

Oral Communication in Business Essay

Business communication is done through various avenues including the written word (via Email, letters and reports), the face to face meeting and telephone conversations. It is particularly important when using speech to communicate with others, whether client or employee, that what you say is what you mean, both in tone of voice and words chosen. The most obvious reason to use the spoken word is to give information to another. How effectively this is done depends on imparting pertinent key points to the listener and giving him or her a clear idea of what the expected result should be. The client wants to know the status of his order and the employee wants to know the deadline to fill it. Oral communication can also be used to persuade or motive others to accomplish a specific task. By showing confidence through your tone of voice and using open-ended statements and questions, your listener is exhorted to action. This is particularly effective when speaking with employees regarding a change in the organization. Make sure they are aware of the benefits and ask them to relate how this will help them in their jobs. The way oral communication is approached can mean the difference between boring your listener to tears or actively engaging their thought processes. Failure to communicate well can be seen as inability to communicate well (Gabbin, 1996). Keeping your listeners entertained is one way to keep them listening. You do not have to memorize a joke of the day, but simply avoid droning on about numbers or statistics or other â€Å"dry† subjects. A company that holds annual employee rallies to boost morale should incorporate both the entertainment and motivation aspects of speech. Reviewing the company’s fiscal state of affairs and thanking employees for their contribution while causing them to think of further ways to improve the future bottom line would create an atmosphere of trust and good will. Motivate, entertain, and leave them looking forward to the next rally!

Muslim-Croat Alliance and War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Muslim-Croat Alliance and War - Research Paper Example The country was home to ethnic and religious groups that had been rivals in history and enemies at times, including Muslims, Croats and Serbs. World War II led to the invasion of Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany and its subsequent disintegration. The division was transient however, because as soon as Germany was defeated Josip Tito reunified Yugoslavia, inspiring the unification of Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and two self governing provinces namely Kosovo and Vojvodina. This new Yugoslavia was inspired by Tito who was a communist leader. He was a shrewd leader who played with both the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war and obtained financial assistance from both sides as a result. This unity, however, could last as long as Josip Tito’s life as Serbia plunged into political and economic chaos after his death. Disintegration of the New Yugoslavia and its fall out:- The death of Tito led to the rise of a new leader Slobodan Milosevic, a former communist. Milosevic believed in the principle of divide and rule to further his goals. He turned to triggering nationalism and religious hatred to gain power. His first plan of action was to set fire to the long-standing tensions between Muslims and Serbs of Kosovo. The minority populace of Serbs (Orthodox Christians) was led to believe that they were being ill-treated by the Muslim majority. The purpose of triggering this conflict was to broaden Milosevic’s power by eventually taking control of the politically broken Kosovo. Kosovo eventually lost its independence and was taken over by Milosevic. His politically twisted motives led to violence and chaos in other parts of Yugoslavia as well. Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991. This was not met well by the leaders and populaces of the mentioned states and led to civil war. Milosevic tried to regain control by sending his Serbian concentrated army to Slovenia however his attemp ts were fruitless. This failure led to Milosevic’s shift in focus from Slovenia to Croatia. Croatia was a catholic country with people from diverse ethnic groups residing there. It was however a pro-Nazi and anti-Serb state which followed policies of fascism underlined by the Ustasha party. In 1991, the independence of Croatia led to a tilt of the country’s orientations towards doctrines of the Nazi era which involved enactment of discriminatory laws against orthodox Serbs. The Croat state consisted of a minority Serbian population of 12 %. Milosevic, loyal to his people and oblivious to territorial boundaries, was aided by Serbian guerrillas in Croatia in its invasion. The constant bombardment of the city of Vukavor turned it to ruins. The might of Milosevic’s army was too much for the Croats to handle. The arms embargo imposed by the UN on all former Yugoslavian states was of little use due to the military might of Milosevic’s Serbian forces. The fighti ng led to monumental damage for the weak Croats and the their infrastructure, military might and financial strength was significantly impaired by the time a US Sponsored ceasefire was exercised between the Serbs and Croats. The Muslim-Croat Alliance: Chronology and fall out. Bosnia had been fighting for its independence for a considerable period of time. It was a Muslim majority country. At the time Chairman of the

Total quality management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Total quality management - Essay Example The meaning of quality differs depending on the circumstances and perceptions held by a consumer. Its meaning is also largely time based and equally situational. For example, quality becomes a different concept when focus is on tangible products versus the perception of a quality service. Scholars have thus given a general definition which postulates that it is a fitness for intended use. This definition says that quality is being able to meet and exceed the expectations of the customer. Deming argues that the customer’s definition of quality is the one that genuinely matters. It is thus evident that having a clear definition is not easy. The concept of zero defects is advocated by Philip Crosby. The primary objective of total quality management is to bring the number of faults or defects to zero (Nigam 113). However, Juran and Deming disagree with Crosby’s assertion that organizations should work towards having zero defects in services and products. This is on the grounds that customers have different tastes and preferences which are difficult to satisfy. Humans are not perfect and having  zero defects is not perfection. It is concerned with a commitment by employees and understanding that processes should continually be enhanced and defective systems should be reworked and reorganized from the top down.   In conclusion, quality encompasses a broad aspect that makes it difficult to settle on one definition. Meeting and continually exceeding market demands constitutes quality. Having zero defects is in itself not realizing perfection as market demands are dynamic. Quality Guru Deming postulates that catchphrases like "Zero Defects" are in fact, counterproductive and may possibly de-emphasize the customs and tools linked with continuous

How Does Social Media Influence Companies Research Paper

How Does Social Media Influence Companies - Research Paper Example The emergence and ascendancy of social media have been awe-inspiring. Social media has become a very powerful communication tool and has revolutionized the way in which people interact and connect with each other. The use of social media is not restricted to individuals alone. Companies have recognized the importance of this media and have jumped onto the bandwagon. It is hard to find a company competing in the present day cut-throat environment and not deploying social media in its communication strategy. Social media is currently being used by companies to advertise their products, communicate internally, engage customers, listen to them and capitalize by generating a positive word-of-mouth.  The advertisement spends on social media are expected to continue their northward trend. Globally, companies are expected to spend $23.6 billion on social media advertising this year. By 2017, this expenditure is expected to soar to $35.98 billion. Estimates also reveal that by 2017, adverti sement on social media will represent 16 percent of the total advertisement expenditure incurred by companies on different types of digital media (Cohen, 2015). The data clearly establishes that social media has attracted a considerable amount of advertisement expenditure which was earlier incurred by companies on traditional media like television, print, and radio.   While there are various social networking sites, Facebook has emerged as the biggest beneficiary when it comes to advertising on social media.

Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Accounting - Essay Example Failing to provide the cash flow statement, the company will lack the proper information on telling the sources of cash and its use. Additionally, the company will not have adequate planning tool for its business success in the long term (â€Å"Cash flow statements†, 2000). To improve operations, I would compare the expenses that accumulate for a given operation to its budget and provide management warning if the expenses appear to be ahead of projections (Lawrence, 2004). This will give the company time to control cost over the remaining part of the project. I would also approach the client about the increase in billing to cover the cost overrun. Assuming the costs are reimbursed to the clients, I would carry out cost precision where the customer will pay all the expenses incurred plus the revenue. Some of the accounting activities that I would take into consideration will be the cost of materials, cost of labor, and overhead. I would use cost information history to arrive at standard rates and then assign this standard costs to jobs based on the activity units (Drury, 2002). I will allocate the manufacturing overhead cost via Departmental machine hours (Innes & Mitchell, 2003). This is because the manufacturing companies studies and controls the time for direct labour and motion. They have started using machines to replace the direct labor. Using machines increases the factory overhead due to machinery depreciation, machinery maintenance, and set up of machines. Reducing the direct labor and increasing the manufacturing overhead, the correlation between the manufacturing overhead and direct labour tends to wane. Therefore, the logical response is to allocate manufacturing overhead based on the machine hours rather than direct labor hours (Carroll, 2004). I would use break-even analysis to determine the optimum output level below which will

Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Christianity - Essay Example 2. Why were the Romans initially threatened by Christianity? The Romans were initially threatened by Christianity because leaders who stood and believed in the status quo did not encourage any shift of power from one social group to another. In fact, a shift in power would amount to quite big problems; it all boiled down to money. Without enough people to make sacrifices at the temple, people who worked in temples and made money as money changers in the temples did not make money off to Christians, who refused to participate due to the new wave of thinking brought in by Christianity. Christians were viewed as overly exclusive and hence, dangerous to the society in general and public order. Christians had no respect for other gods and they therefore refrained from public festivals that were meant to honor public deities. In fact, they never worshiped state gods and the imperial cult. They neither worshipped nor recognized the emperor as the leader of religion. This turned out to be un fortunate for the Romans, who wanted to stay powerful. Therefore, they were treated with suspicion and regarded as stubborn and somewhat subversive to the State solidarity. 3. What do the world-views of Christianity and Greco-Roman humanism have in common? How are they different? Christianity and Greco-Roman humanism share many common elements. ... This means that both Christianity and Greco-Roman humanism had several things in common and maintained differences at the same too. 4. Explain the importance of these individuals: 1- Saint Paul: Saint Paul was important because he was one of the Apostles of Christ. Initially, Paul was a persecutor of Christians who got converted while on his way to Damascus (the Lord converted him from Saul to a Roman name Paul) thus becoming one of the greatest Christian missionaries. He traveled far and wide within Greece and other places in order to spread the Gospel, ultimately shaping the way we understand the Bible today. 2- The Bishop of Rome: The Bishop of Rome was very important because he made important decisions regarding Christianity-before Christianity in Europe was split into the warring factions of Protestantism with Martin Luther and Rome’s Catholicism. The Bishop of Rome rose to a position of preeminence in the hierarchical structure of the church to be identified as the leade r of the church. 3- Saint Augustine: Saint Augustine was the first archbishop of the church of Canterbury. He was also a writer, rhetorician, and devout Christian whose writings upon several topics regarding faith were highly-regarded in the Christian faith. St. Augustine’s works are respected by both Protestants and Catholics alike. 5. What was monasticism and why was it important to the people of this period and to Western Civilization in general? Do monastic communities still exist? Explain. Monasticism was a form of asceticism practiced by Protestant, Christian, and Orthodox monks (men) and nuns (women). In a gender-neutral term they are known as â€Å"monastics†. The Monastics lived alone in the

Central Park Five and Scotts Brothers Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Central Park Five and Scotts Brothers - Article Example From this paper it is clear that the crime of rape/sexual assault in the context of these two cases is a race crime. It is imagined that since the Black and Latino  boys were around when the rape cases occurred, they are expected to have a link with the occurrence. Black and Latino  have long been linked to crime cases.This study outlines that  for Scottsboro Boys, the press mobilized the public to always consider the sentence on the boys a miscarriage of justice. The media always questioned the way in which the case was conducted. The same applied for The Central Park Five that had the press always insisting that the boys were innocent and the case was simply made-up. For the two cases, the fact that the reporter considers most contemptible is the reality that the youth of the boys in question was robbed. For The Central Park Five, he is shocked that the police ignored there existing no physical evidence. For Scottsboro Boys, I am surprised that only black boys were arrested.   Miscarriage of justice is evident in the two cases. As Burns et al indicate, it is true that Raymond, Kevin, Antron, Yusef and Kharey witnessed weird behaviors in the park. Forcing them to confess to the rape case is indeed illegal. The same applies to Scottsboro Boys who were falsely accused of the rape of two women in 1931 whilst on a train. The constitutional right to have proper evidence prior to sentencing was violated.

Tax and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Tax and Ethics - Essay Example The issue of aggressive tax planning raises the question of ethics. Each of the aforementioned players has a critical role in the arrangement as ensuing thesis underscores. In an attempt to tackle the query at hand, it is important to understand the roots of the economic power plays of the international system. In his discourses, Immanuel Wallenstein discusses political economy of global capitalism. In an attempt to articulate his major argument, Wallenstein develops a theoretical framework, which he calls the World Systems Theory. According to this theory, there is a characteristic structural disparity brought about by capitalism. He espouses that in the political economy of capitalism, the developed economies of the West emerge as the holders of capital since they control the market. Subsequently, the impoverished countries of the third world provide cheap labor and raw materials required to facilitate production. Echoing the same thoughts, Karl Marx had earlier noted that elite na tions of the West could not continue to enjoy this prestigious condition without exploiting the poor countries. Information retrieved from the annals of Karl Marx’s ideology dubbed the Communist Manifesto indicates that there are two key players in the power play of the international system: elite individuals and multinational companies. In the political economy of global capitalism, self-preservation is the ultimate goal. For multinational companies, the subjects of this study, aggressive tax planning is one of the devious tactics used to meet this end goal. Role of Key Players in Aggressive Tax Framing As famed global visionary, Steve Jobs once said, with great power comes responsibility. Through aggressive tax planning perpetuated by their lobbyists, strategic planners and advisers with the help of the mainstream government, multinational companies have ignored their responsibility role by shirking away from their duty to care. By ignoring their duty to care, they ignore t heir ethical duty thus abusing their corporate social responsibility. Their subtle tax circumvention mechanisms are a show of greed and thirst for economic power, which raises ethical concerns. Sources retrieved from Amnesty International indicate, â€Å"Starbucks had sales of ?400 million in the UK last year, but paid no corporation tax. Amazon, which had sales in the UK of ?3.35 billion in 2011, only reported a "tax expense" of ?1.8 million And Google's UK unit paid just ?6 million to the Treasury in 2011 on UK turnover of ?395 million.† Economic experts from the Wall Street Journal apportion blame to professional advisory agencies. The professional advisors of the companies themselves have come under fire on the type of advice that they have given which has in turn given rise to the tax avoidance. Key professional services firms such as Deloitte Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and Ernst & Young are equally as guilty as the companies themselves are. Certain expe rts argue that these advisory agencies are the real culprits. According to the Wall Street Journal, these advisory agencies wilfully mislead and manipulate the companies for their own profitable purposes. Top economists accuse the advisory agencies

Shell company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shell company - Essay Example The company was then run through different operating companies. Prior to the merger both the companies were struggling to sustain their business. Their decision to join hands led them to become one of the most successful company in the world and all signs showing in the first twelve months of their strategic decision. The company was under the management of Henry Deterding, whose guidance and dedication made the two barely managing companies into a strong force to reckon with, in the oil industry. The company began to make its mark quite quickly around and business started to expand globally. The Marketing companies started coming up throughout Europe and also in certain parts of Asia. With the growing demand of oil all around the globe, Dutch Shell began exploration and production in countries like Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Romania and even in the United States. Along the timeline, the company has been able to maintain its competitive edge by looking out for newer technologies, alternative resources and advance developments. They have concentrated on their core products as well as kept their eyes open for any opportunities making them one of the most competitive companies in the market. Marketing is one of the core functions of any organizations. It is the function that helps a company defines the right kind of market and allows the company to identify consumer needs and wants and then searches for solutions and ideas for how to aptly satisfy those needs. (Bartels, 2002) When Organizations like Shell and other multinationals define their marketing strategy it evolves through a series of stages. This is because as the company starts growing, so does the demand. Eventually the company adopts a multi national strategy of marketing. At this stage the company has already gone through the local markets exporting and to international marketing. This is the kind of marketing Shell is doing as at this stage the company can use its size and scale

Branches of Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Branches of Philosophy Essay In order to narrow the aims of discussion philosophy was broken into branches. Traditionally philosophy has been broken into four main branches; however we would like to add a fifth branch in our text -Epistemology Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge and love. -Metaphysics Metaphysics (derived from the Greek words ta meta ta physika biblia) meaning the book that follows the physics book. It was the way students referred to a specific book in the works of Aristotle, and it was a book on First Philosophy. (The assumption that the word means beyond physics is misleading) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). In other words, Metaphysics is the study of the most general aspects of reality, such as substance, identity, the nature of the mind, and free will. In other way is a study of nature and the nature of the world in which man lives -Logic Logic (from Classical Greek (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy amongst philosophers (see below). However the subject is grounded, the task of the logician is the same: to advance an account of valid and fallacious inference to allow one to distinguish good from bad arguments. -Ethics Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy. Other Branches Philosophy of Education: Fairly self-explanatory. A minor branch, mainly concerned with what is the correct way to educate a person. Classic works include Platos Republic, Lockes Thoughts Concerning Education, and Rousseaus Emile. Philosophy of History: Fairly minor branch (not as minor as education), although highly important to Hegel and those who followed him, most notably Marx. It is the philosophical study of history, particularly concerned with the question whether history (i. e.the universe and/or humankind) is progressing towards a specific end? Hegel argued that it was, as did Marx. Classic works include Vicos New Science, and Hegel and Marxs works. Philosophy of Language: Ancient branch of philosophy which gained prominence in the last century under Wittgenstein. Basically concerned with how our languages affect our thought. Wittgenstein famously asserted that the limits of our languages mark the limits of our thought. Classic works include Platos Cratylus, Lockes Essay, and Wittgensteins Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Philosophy of Law: Also called Jurisprudence. Study of law attempting to discern what the best laws might be, how laws came into being in the first place, attempting to delimit human laws from natural laws, whether we should always obey the law, and so on. Law isnt often directly dealt with by philosophers, but much of political philosophy obviously has a bearing on it. Philosophy of Mathematics: Concerned with issues such as, the nature of the axioms and symbols (numbers, triangle, operands) of mathematics that we use to understand the world, do perfect mathematical forms exist in the real world, and so on. Principia Mathematica is almost certainly the most important work in this field. Philosophy of Mind: Study of the mind, attempting to ascertain exactly what the mind is, how it interacts with our body, do other minds exist, how does it work, and so on. Probably the most popular branch of philosophy right now, it has expanded to include issues of AI. Classic works include Platos Republic and Wittgensteins Philosophical Investigations, although every major philosopher has had some opinion at least on what the mind is and how it works. Philosophy of Politics: Closely related to ethics, this is a study of government and nations, particularly how they came about, what makes good governments, what obligations citizens have towards their government, and so on. Classic works include Platos Republic, Hobbes Leviathan, Lockes Two Treatises, and J. S. Mills On Liberty. Philosophy of Religion: Theology is concerned with the study of God, recommending the best religious practises, how our religion should shape our life, and so on. Philosophy of religion is concerned with much the same issues, but where Theology uses religious works, like the Bible, as its authority, philosophy likes to use reason as the ultimate authority. Philosophy of Science: Study of science concerned with whether scientific knowledge can be said to be certain, how we obtain it, can science really explain everything, does causation really exist, can every event in the universe be described in terms of physics and so on. Also popular in recent times, classic works include Humes Treatise on Human Nature, Kripkes Naming and Necessity, Kuhns Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Empiricism is a philosophical idea based on the idea that all reliable knowledge about the world is gained in the process of experience. Famous empiricists were Hume, Locke and Berkley, basing themselves on ideas already postulated by Aristotle, that we are born with the Tabula Rasa which receives throughout our lives information on which it can base all thinking and knowing. The movement of empiricism was in part a countermovement to what Descartes and Spinoza had proposed as rationalism. Knowledge derived from experience is called a posteriori. - Doing Philosophy Many fields can be studied and learned without ever actually working with the tools in the field. For instance, chemistry can be learned in depth without ever picking up a test tube or mixing ionic compounds. Philosophy, however, is more about the methodology behind deriving answers than it is about the answers themselves. As such, students studying philosophy must use the methodology of philosophy on the philosophy they are learning as they are learning it. Doing philosophy involves asking the right questions, critically examining the work of previous philosophers, truly understanding the works and the reasoning behind the works, and possibly building on the works of previous philosophers by expanding or testing this methodology.

Role of The Early Years Practitioner in Learning

Role of The Early Years Practitioner in Learning Background: General Introduction to Topic: This study is two fold; firstly it relates to a personal interest as an early years practitioner and secondly a professional resolution to understand the role of the practitioner and the influence the individual can have on children’s learning. For effective learning within early years settings, identification of how the practitioner affects children’s learning needs to be recognised (Rodd, 2000:7). How the practitioner can influence the behaviour of others, particularly staff and children, to contribute to a creative early childhood programme. It is paramount the practitioners work collaboratively together within the same organisational goals to create a community enriching children’s personal growth and progress, which enhances the practitioners’ expectations and individual standards (Rodd, 2000:8). I feel passionate concerning the recognition of the practitioner’s role influencing on children’s learning and the factors that may contribute to this. Within the educational institution, the power of success of the student relies on the strength of the curriculum. The content of the curriculum has to entice and engage the learner, who will respond with motivation and focus. A poor, unsuccessful curriculum, is one that is unchanged over years, and will suffer unless new educationalist are pro-active in bringing current trends into play, which is normally the case. New fresh ideas and approaches to old problems bring new life into any task, for a synthesis of theory and practice is necessary because theory without practice is dead, whilst practice without theory has no direction (Bruce, 1987). The complexity involved in learning is discussed and covered by many, and the direction of improvement is always under investigation. In 2005, the Government announced plans to merge the Birth To Three Matters Framework and the Foundation Stage, to form a single Early Years Foundation Stage covering care, learning and development in all early years settings from birth to age five. (Literacy Trust, 2006) Can this produce the desired effect on learning. There are several different styles of learning which are examined here and aspects are highlighted, including the term Learning Power (Deakin Crick et al, 2002) which sets out to explain with extensive research, observation and experimentation that a series of unique dimensions exist. These dimensions are Changing and learning Creativity Critical curiosity Fragility of dependence Learning relationships Meaning and making Strategic awareness From these dimensions and their descriptions resulted a useful language, one for the ‘naming of something’ that fills a gap within education to provide an excellent dialog of the quality between teachers and their pupils. By successful inclusion this language could enhance the learning power of the pupil by the development of self-awareness; to encourage and produce responsibility for one’s own learning; and to ultimately improve and support all the relationships of learning and assessment. Research for this whole study involved investigating current policy and identifying up-to-date literature. Conducting this research I discovered a gap in literature concerning the specifics in my study. Examining books, journals, articles and Internet websites for archive information relating to the practitioner’s role I discovered limited data that discusses this issue. I decided to analyse the factors that can contribute to the practitioner’s role and how it has shaped the modern early years practitioner. I was interested in how the role has developed and what shaped the 21st century practitioner, this lead to the factors that attribute to this evolvement. Factors that may influence a Practitioners Role: How the practitioner’s role has developed Type of Setting; impact on practitioner’s role effecting children’s learning Age and Experience of Practitioner; whether this has any bearing Government Policy; the changes effecting a practitioner’s role As my study became broader I explored factors such as the shaping of early years practitioner’s and what contributed to this, became as important as the original research question. As I researched my aims became defined, breaking down the elements to reach clear objectives for each aim. Aims: The principle aims of this research are: To analyse the role of the early years practitioner in relation to children’s learning. Explore a range of early years practitioners. Investigate what they do and determine whether their role is the same or diverse in the context of various settings. Examine how the profession has developed. Analyse Government Policy to determine whether this affects the practitioners’ role. The aims are intended to provide a broad indication of the purpose of the research, (Fitzpatrick, 1998:153). To clarify the criteria I aim to determine precise statements of intent by sub-dividing the aims into objectives, as follows. Objectives: To conduct in depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 12 practitioners who have worked for at least 2 years (this is due to practitioner’s requiring the experience in order to respond to questions relating to their role). To conduct this research using practitioners of varying age and experience to determine whether these variables have any bearing on practitioners influence on children’s learning. To investigate a range of settings; High Scope, Montessori and The Foundation Stage to determine whether the settings curriculum model influences learning and changes the practitioner’s role. Investigate the changing role of the Early Years practitioner. Reflecting on historical and contemporary issues. Reflect on Early Years policy and practitioners role. Research Design: Method and Methodology: To indicate the practical ways in which my research project will be organised, including an impartial appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses that may arise. Within my study I aim to put strategies into place that will minimize the disadvantages for the methodology used and to enhance the advantages (Oliver, 2004:135). I plan to carry out a study involving 12 participants, who work within varied early years provisions; these participants must have at least two years post qualification experience. I have chosen this length of service to establish realistic expectations and feelings of individual’s. The provisions must be varied therefore I have chosen three separate settings; High/Scope, Montessori and The Foundation Stage (learning through play), within these provisions I aim to use in-depth, face-to-face interviewing of four practitioner’s conducted at their settings. This method is appropriate as it allows for flexibility (Robson, 2002:278) and freedom with responses. Using semi-structured questions including some structured questions, such as, standard factual material. An additional reason for using a qualitative method is that individual’s insight of a particular workplace can be analysed[1]. The disadvantages are numerous; one example is the reliability of the participant ’s responses and the lack of standardisation that will inevitability arise with a semi-structured interview technique. I plan to contact the selected settings asking for permission to conduct in-depth interviews explaining the reasons for the study. To explain the reasons for the research within the setting, acknowledging the interviewee’s sense of comfort in a familiar environment. It may relevant to send a sample of the questions to allow the participants to prepare. After the interviews and data collected and transcribed, the analysis begins. The use of content analysis may be a worthwhile method for its effectiveness when examining text materials[2]. However, there are advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include; the data is fixed and allows for re-analysis and reliability checks. Disadvantages include; limited data may be difficult to assess as the participants are casual acquaintances and therefore responses may only be reflections of an individual (Robson, 2004:358). Another method is using a quantitative strategy after gathering the data, placing gathered information into charts, graphs etc to determine the percentage of same responses. This makes research data manageable and easy to read, in essence using methodological triangulation; combining qualitative and quantitative approaches[3]. I am aware of various epistemological positions that I could adopt reflecting a different approach to the research question (Cuba et al, 1994:99), however, these methods appear appropriate and suitable to the research question. Literature Review: Although the study being conducted is fairly localised, this strengthens the research for the widening debate for exploration of the significance of the study (Oliver, 2004:98); for example, investigating Government policy and its impact on practitioner’s role. The literature is relevant to the project to make it easier to read I have sub-divided it into categories: The Role of The Practitioner Curriculum / Learning and Education Theorists The Role of the Practitioner I found limited literature that dealt with the issue of the practitioner’s role in children’s education as a result I expanded my research[4]. Examining the books available (Rodd, 2000:9) suggests there is limited literature on the practical application of a practitioner’s role. This lack of information is important in relation to understanding the early childhood context and the practitioner’s role within it. The limitations in current literature need to be explored rather than omitted[5]. By this statement Rodd (2000:9) implies the role is an important one in shaping children’s learning. In agreement, Riley (2004:24) suggests, practitioner’s interaction levels are of the prime importance in children’s learning[6]. This literature signifies the importance of the practitioner’s role when involved in children’s learning. Both books detail the positive aspects of practitioner’s involvement, such as developing curricu lum practice to allow spontaneous learning and free choice. Riley (2004:24) compares her findings to another study (Tizard and Hughes, 1984 as cited in Riley, 2004:24) where supporting open-ended questions provide a framework for conversation with the child. The importance of the practitioner’s role is also emphasised in (Manning-Morton et al, 2003:155) who suggest, the practitioner has a crucial role in children’s learning[7]. This application of the practitioner is quite varied including taking on the role of psychologist, for many of the assessments made with regard to entry into the present Foundation Stage is by observation. Curriculum / Learning and Education The second category focuses on the curriculum and the part the practitioner plays in successful implementation[8] without this a stimulating environment is not fostered and therefore hinders children’s learning. In summary the literature details the responsibility the practitioner has in shaping children’s learning in meaningful contexts that are appropriate and suitable. The authors discuss the importance of multi-professional collaboration[9]. This signifies the importance of practitioner’s working together to create an environment that enriches children’s lives. With practitioner’s that are motivational in delivering an effective learning environment supporting children to reach their full potential now that will carry on through the years, or in other words to start the pathway for Lifelong Learning. The responsibility of implementing a successful learning programme depends not just on the practitioner, nurturing minds, having a positive effect[ 10]. The literature supports the practitioner’s intervention for effective learning, where situations and surrounding play an important part. The differences in our situations and surroundings that we live in are factors that influence our quality and quantity of our learning process, and this process encompasses social, moral and academic learning. (Child, 1997) This effective learning process of Lifelong Learning, was brought into the open through employment and employers throughout the last decade of the 20th Century where changes of technology and cultural issues came about in the workplace (Crompton, Gallio, Purcell, 1996). To begin with, in 1996, the European Year of Lifelong Learning, the British government published a Policy Framework for Lifetime Learning (DfEE, 1996). Enhanced by the Fryer Report (National Advisory Group for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning (NAGCELL) in 1997), and which surprisingly was omitted from the Dearing Report (NCIHE 1997) as sanctioned by the government with National Higher Education. Although well criticised, the report contained recommendations and targets for education and training that set out to motivate and enable learners to develop and benefit in society. Overall it outlined the aims to be sustainable, and to finally shape a democratic path. In parallel to all this was a negative that was highlighted by Elliott (1999) who stated that educationalists and the policy makers had on occasions ‘hijacked’ the phrase Lifelong Learning for other reasons. Reasons which came out from their own agendas, producing a system of their self-interest which resulted in being an obstacle and destructive to learning. The learning process of development has been under investigation for many years. The British Cohort Study (BCS70) as far back as 1970 confirmed that a pre-school program generally increased cognitive attainment for children of 5 years of age. Yet did not prove a great difference within disadvantaged children (Osborne Millbank, 1987). Research also found that the social adjustment and language was poor at the age of 5, and also showed that inferior reading skills were present at the age of 11. Feinstein et al (1998) showed that in education during the years of 1962-1973 the pre-school contribution made no improvement to children entering secondary school. Now some thirty years on pre-school is taken as an important part of amongst others learning the social skills to prepare for formal education. Comparing types of provision, such as Montessori and High/Scope was by way of literature and via Internet websites[11]. Analysing these became a framework for an alternative curriculum implementation, detailing the practitioner’s role and the methods used for a successful ethos. The High/Scope regime is an â€Å"active learning† educational approach[12], the child’s interests and choices are at the heart of the programme, where the central model of learning is the ‘plan, do and review’ cycle. The High/Scope educational approach for infant-toddler, preschool, elementary, and youth programs is a set of guiding principles and practices that adults follow as they work with and care for children and youth. These principles are intended as an open framework that teams of adults are free to adapt to the special needs and conditions of their group, their setting, and their community. Active learning — the belief that children learn best through active experiences with people, materials, events and ideas, rather than through direct teaching or sequenced exercises — is a central tenet of the High/Scope approach for all age levels. (High/Scope, 2005) They construct their own knowledge through interactions, planning their activities for the day in a small group with a teacher or ‘educator’. Each small group will have a ‘keyworker’ a member of staff assigned full time to them, so although they work with different adults, the children in the group have the security of a central relationship. Later in the day the whole group will review their progress, and as language is central to learning, so children describing both plans and activities to each other becomes very beneficial. So with the whole group being involved in undertaking the first steps in the learning process, out of high-quality early years environment come the development of feelings for high self-esteem, with high-aspirations and secure feelings of self-efficiency. Believing in their own capability to start solving problems, to understand new ideas, and develop new skills. The result being, that the children feel in control of their environment and grow in confidence with their abilities. This pattern continues in focused adult/child and child/child conversations, placing the responsibility very much on the individual child for their own learning, whilst the practitioner’s offer physical, emotional, and intellectual support. So taking on Vygotsky’s notion of ‘effective instruction within the zone of proximal development’ (1993, p.36). Summarising the Montessori method this includes education of the senses; the aim is two-fold, biological and social[13]. The Montessori environment is solely linked with natural objects for children to explore and investigate in their first seven years. The practitioner’s role is to support children within their access of objects and environment. The DfES Foundation Stage ethos focuses on learning through play and learning intentions to support children through stages of achievements. The practitioner’s role is to support children’s progress through each stage by implementing activities and opportunities to extend their learning through a play environment. Each curriculum requires the practitioner to be motivational, enthusiastic and knowledgeable in their field. In 1998 the introduction of a National Literacy Strategy (NLS) for school years 1-6 was undertaken, and with it came considerable pressure being placed on schools to implement this program, following which most primary schools have continued to adopt it. The National Literacy Strategy (NLS) has a central core, which is the framework for teaching that covers the statutory requirements in reading and writing within the National Curriculum. The school curriculum comprises of all learning and other experiences that each school will plan for its pupils, and the National Curriculum is an important element of that school curriculum. The NLS provides a framework of pre-specified objectives that revolve around: text, sentence and word level work which are delivered via a daily structured hour long session, which is termed ‘Literacy Hour’. Following this introduction Primary teachers are now urged to support and conform with this prescribed teaching pattern, in fact practitionerâ €™s are now being told not only what to teach, but also how to teach it. ‘Education influences and reflects the values of society, and the kind of society we want to be. It is important therefore, to recognize a broad set of common values and purposes that underpin the school curriculum and the work in schools. If schools are to respond effectively to those values and purposes, they need to work in collaboration with families and the local community, including church and voluntary groups, local agencies and business, in seeking to achieve two broad aims through the curriculum. These aims provide an essential context within which schools develop their own curriculum, and are outlined as follows: Firstly the school curriculum should aim to provide opportunities for all pupils to learn and achieve. Secondly the school curriculum should aim to promote pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.’ The National Curriculum, Key Stages 1 2. 1999 DfEE Despite all this, a report undertaken by the Association of Head Teachers [2003] claims there is a mounting concern amongst teachers about the effects of this Literacy strategy. Arguing that formal teaching as prescribed through the Literacy Hour, is developmentally inappropriate for many 6 year olds, and therefore recommends that the principles of the Foundation Stage be extended to cover all children aged 3-7 years. In enhancing this thinking, going back to 1996 where the Department for Educational Studies (DfES) funded the undertaking of Effective Provision of Pre-School Education a longitudinal study that was for children of 3 to 7 years of age. Where it majored on pre-school through into primary assessing from a cross-section of social backgrounds. This complimented another undertaking in Findings from the Early Primary Years (EPPE Summary 2004) that collected data from children, their parents, their home environment and the pre-school they attended. All of which went on to prove that cognitive and social effects were positive for the children going into primary school. It was found that parent’s education and social class remained as predictors of intellectual and social development, and that very long periods of pre-school were connected with anti-social behavioural problems entering primary school and through to the end of Key Stage 1. This fact was attributed to the presence of non-parental childcare before three years of age. The education level of the child’s mother was seen to be a factor in the child’s performance. Overall, it reported that the attainment reached in reading and math’s from an effective, high quality pre-school attendance, proved a positive impact which was not depleted by the end of Key Stage 1, and that attendance before the age of 3 was very positive towards the child’s attainment. By continual research key findings within the EPPE Summary of 2004 over the pre-school period included that disadvantaged children may benefit appreciably from good quality pre-school experience, especially when they are with a mixture of children from different backgrounds. It also went on to show that overall, disadvantaged children have a tendency to only attend pre-school for short periods of time compared to those from more advantaged groups. From this result recommendations were made: i) To develop and encourage more episodes of ‘sustained shared thinking’ with the children. Use of freely chosen play activities provides the best opportunities to extend children’s thinking. ii) Continually work towards an equal balance of child and adult initiated activity. iii) Develop staff to have both the knowledge and understanding of child development and the curriculum. By way of a pilot scheme, in 1998 parts of England by the National Literacy Strategy (NLS), which was a direct result of nationwide poverty implications in 1966, all infant and primary schools were expected to teach English within what was termed the Literacy Hour. The hour was divided into segments to allow teaching as a whole class, as groups or individuals, with the focus for each segment also prescribed in detail: children being taught reading and writing at whole text, sentence or word level. Teaching objectives had to be included in this daily Literacy Hour with the class. The format is dictated to being the same for Year 1 through to Year 6. Reaction from teachers, many unprepared to teach this due to lack of time, were concerned and uneasy over several issues, and some reported that time spent in other curriculum areas were affected. A perceived lack of flexibility about the Literacy Hour was commented on unfavourably, with fears voiced of the possible negative effect resulting from six years of children being taught in the same way (Anderson Urquhart, 2000) The feedback on this, Hourwatch, was undertaken from the autumn of 1998 through to the summer of 1999, from a cross-section in Year 1 and Year 2 at Infant School, and reception class and year 6 in Primary School. The feedback from teachers was not favourable. Planning of group activities took a considerable extra time to prepare. Overall the framework objectives for the hour resulted in a lack of coherence, making implementation time consuming, out of all proportion to its share of the curriculum, and generally uninspiring. One such response from an experienced teacher, remarked that although Learning Hour had some good points, â€Å"it was too rigid a structure, takes too much time to plan, too analytical, not matched to children’s current level of experience and skill. It gets boring following the same format day in day out, it does not provide enough opportunities for creative and extended writing, and it results in too much unfinished work† (Anderson Urquhart, 2000 ) Overall the organizational and bureaucratic demands were overwhelming the educational value. In 2000 the Government in the UK introduced a revised National Curriculum (Curriculum 2000) and the Foundation Stage that was for the 3 to 5 year olds, giving this period in the child’s education a distinct identity and attention. Curriculum 2000 emphasized inclusion, aiming to secure learners participation and ensure appropriate opportunities for them to achieve, and offered flexibility within for schools to develop their own normal curriculum. It offered a less prescriptive approach, in which flexible allocating of time for required subjects allowed them not to taught each week, term or year, therefore allowing choice of method and the maximising of teaching and learning. A study of the transition from infant to Primary in England: from Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1 was carried out in 2005 (Sanders et al, 2005), where it was discovered the biggest challenge to children being the move from play-based approach in the Foundation Stage to a more structured curriculum in Key Stage 1. It also noted that the Literacy Hour had proved challenging as it was difficult for young children to sit still and listen to their teacher. The ensuring of stability, has been promised and undertaken by the Government for this transition period, in understanding and support for staff training, the child’s learning and guidance for parents (DfES, 2003). Researching journals on the subject was also limited with only one journal; Early Childhood Research Quarterly. This research[14] discusses the aspect of practitioner behaviours in the environment and the practitioners’ application, detailing the importance of collaboration and an understanding of curriculum and learning. Reading the journal article shows a support for my research in as much that the role of the practitioner is vital in providing an effective learning environment for children to progress and grow. In respect to how children progress and grow, a large portion learn, construct knowledge and develop skills, in today’s world of computers and computer games. The act of play for a young child is seen as being far more important, and in the past there have been successful arguments in the fore and against the time allocated for play in the early important years of a child’s education. Parents and school administrators always demand results, and yet question the value of a child playing. Educators and child development specialists endorse play as being the best way for young children to learn the ultimate curriculum for the social, physical and cognitive advancement needed to set a solid foundation for later school and life success in our increasingly complex and technological world. The importance of play in a child’s development is shown to have various kinds of concepts (Wardle, 2000), each having their own strengths: Motor/physical play – critical for the development of physical strength, and to establish a fitness regime against heath problems through being overweight in latter years. Social play – interacting with others builds skills and underlines important social rules, including give and take, co-operation and sharing. All go towards moral reasoning and developing a mature sense of values. Constructive play – the manipulation of the environment to experiment, build and create, resulting in accomplishment that empowers them with control of their environment. Fantasy play experimentation of language and emotions in an abstract world, where young children can stretch imaginations in a risk-free environment. This area of abstract time is believed to be so important in our growing technological society. Games with rules – vitally important in a child’s development, to learn and understand that situations cannot exist without everyone adhering to the same set of rules. This concept teaches children a critically important concept, in that the game of life has rules (laws) that we all must follow to function productively (Wardle, 1987). Government policy reflects the importance of the practitioner’s role with learning and education in early years settings. The proposed Childcare Bill introduced to Parliament on 8th November 2005 supported a link between Foundation Stage (3-5 years), Every Child Matters, Birth to Three Framework and OFSTED National Childcare Standards for nurseries; combining these four documents[15]. By placing early childhood provision on a statutory footing will assure practitioners’ of the Government’s commitment to improving early years provision. The Government recognise for the youngest children the distinction between childcare and education is indistinguishable. This supports my research by the Government recognising the important role the practitioner has in the welfare of children, in education and care. In the UK this problem is being addressed by the Government taking on a ten-year strategy for childcare, published in 2004, which is now subject to Parliamentary Approval in 2006 (Education Skills, 2006). It is the Government’s response to a fundamental challenge facing Britain in the need to ensure available, affordable, and high quality childcare in the 21st Century. More women are going to work than ever before, they choose to work for increased family income that can improve lifestyle (out of poverty) and improve their children’s life chances. With the emergence of this new Childcare Bill the practitioner has to ensure their role positively shapes children’s learning in meaningful contexts. Now in 2006 discussion and assessment is well underway for the Early Years Foundation Stage that will start in 2008. In 2005, the Government announced plans to merge the Birth To Three Matters Framework and the Foundation Stage, to form a single Early Years Foundation Stage covering care, learning and development in all early years settings from birth to age five. Are the lessons that have been learnt by the government ministers over the years now going to lay correct foundations for the practitioners to deal with? As childhood is not merely a pe

The History Of Why Bother?

The History Of Why Bother? The Temperatures are rising, carbon emissions are increasing, ice caps are melting at a faster rate than most scientists expected and planet earth is experiencing ecological and environmental issues due to global warming. Earth as we know it might change drastically in the next couple of decades and it is our responsibility to preserve the environment and preserve earth. Michael Pollans Why Bother opens the readers eyes in a powerful manor to global warming and related environmental issues. Pollan uses rhetorical strategies such as current and past events, logos and pathos to persuade the reader to bother(218) and start thinking of the environment as an issue that involves all of the people. Pollan approaches the reader from different standing points as he addresses each counter argument and gives the reasons of why people should bother. Pollan argues that despite the fact that our plant is at risk because of carbon emissions, we(the people) have not done anything to stop it. It is this passive attitude, Pollan argues, that prevents us from helping our planet. Michael Pollen quotes Wendell Berry saying that the deep standing problem behind all the other problems of industrial civilization is specialization(87). It is this specialization that causes people to play only one role in society and that they cannot expand to other field which they are not familiar with. In other words, people do not waste their time on environmental issues because they do not believe that it is their job to do so. The author urges the reader to liberate from the cheap-energy mind (120) and for once try to make a difference in the world. Pollan suggests that the best way of being green is to plant a garden. Although Pollan suggests many other ways of being green in his article such as purchasing a hybrid car, walking to work, or even changin g your light bulbs to candescent type like Al Gore suggested in An Inconvenient Truth, none of these ideas will reduce [peoples] sense of dependence (182) or reduce carbon footprint as much as a garden would! Pollan hopes that a persons decision of being green would influence another person which in turn would create a huge chain reaction. Pollan effectively uses examples of current and past events throughout the article to show the reader how big the problem is. He uses Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth which is a familiar documentary to most readers to support his argument and to give the reader a hint about what his article is going to be about. Pollan makes a connection with the reader when he describes his own feeling about the documentary when saying Al Gore scared the hell out of me, constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on earth as we know it is threatened by climate change.(4) Pollan also references the analysis of Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and writer, to support his argument of the peoples dependency for solutions on specialists. He points to the people who fund and support environmental organizations while polluting the environment in their everyday life. Pollan notes that the people will not change and think about the environment unless they overcome the double personali ties in their believes and behaviors. All this comes down to the moral prospective of each person and his inner consciousness to identify clearly what is wrong around him with regard to the impact on the environment. Pollan uses logos in a powerful manor to convince the reader of adopting a green life-style. He tries to influence the reader by presenting the scientists projections about global warming that seemed dire a decade ago to have been unduly optimistic.(48) as the melting of the ice caps are occurring at a faster rate than expected. Pollan effectively uses a set of words to describe the boost of the rate of change to the melting down of the ice caps such as terrifying, threatening and scary to influence the reader and think more seriously about global warming. Pollan then ends with a question to keep the reader thinking about global warming, he says have you looked into the eyes of a climate scientist recently? They look really scared.(53) Another strategy which Pollan excels is the use of pathos to convey his point and to reinforce and strengthen his argument. Pollan engages with the reader in a set of counter arguments of why not to bother throughout his article. He presents many questions that are common and familiar to the reader such as the evil twin(15) that lives halfway around the world and is eager to replace every last pound of CO2 [a person] is struggling no longer to emit.(18) This way, Pollan makes a connection between the reader and himself in a manner that ties the reader to his analytical thoughts. Pollan addresses each question throughout his article until he reaches to a conclusion of why to bother.(218) Pollan states that thinking about the environment and at least planting a garden have sweeter reasons(218) than just benefiting the environment. These reasons consist of healing the split between what you think and what you do(219) and re-engaging with neighbors. These reasons might influence other pe ople to follow the same path in dealing with environment and create a chain reaction that grows to outside of ones community. Michael Pollans Why Bother opens the readers eyes in a powerful manor to global warming and related environmental crises. He uses many rhetorical strategies to convey his argument such as past and current event, logos and pathos to persuade the reader to bother(218) and start thinking of global warming and related environmental issues as a serious matter that involves all of the people. Pollan approaches the reader from different standing points as he addresses each counter argument and gives the reasons of why to bother.(218)

The Chosen :: essays research papers

The Chosen By: Chaim Potok The novel The Chosen is a story of two Jewish boys who become friends and go through lots of hard times together. The book starts out at a baseball game, one boy on one team and one boy on the other team. The game quickly turns more into a war rather than a game. Reuven was pitching when Danny came up to bat, Reuven threw the ball and Danny hit the ball straight back at him. The ball hit Reuven in the eye, shattered his glasses, and got a piece of glass in his eye. Reuven was taken to the hospital where doctors fixed his eye and he stayed there for five days.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During those five days, Danny came to visit Reuven and told him he was sorry. Reuven accepted his apology and they began to talk about different things. They became friends and kept seeing each other after Reuven got out of the hospital. One day Reuven went over to Danny’s house to meet his father. Danny’s father was a rabbi and raised his son by means of silence. They never talked except when they studied the Torah together. Reuvens’s father was a Zionist and Danny’s father was an anti-Zionist so neither was fond of the other but allowed Danny and Reuven to still be friends. Because Danny’s father was a rabbi, it was Danny’s inherited trait to also one day become a rabbi and take his father’s place. Danny, how ever, wanted to be a psychologist not a rabbi. Reuven did not have to be a rabbi but wanted to be one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One day when they where both in college Reuven’s father went to a rally and made a speech that Danny’s father did not like, and so forbid Danny to talk to Reuven ever again. This time of silence went on for two years until Danny’s father let him talk to Reuven again. Danny by now had made up his mind that he was not going to take his father’s place and knew he would have to tell him soon. A year later, Danny’s father asked Reuven to come over on the first day of the Passover. So Reuven went to Danny’s house thinking they were going to study the Talmud together. Instead, when Reuven got there, Danny’s father closed the book and began to talk to the both of them.

What Is Depression? :: Psychology Emotions Papers

What Is Depression? "I feel like I can't do it anymore. There's just too much pressure. I just want people to leave me alone; let me sleep for a while. I hate school. I hate sports. I hate everyone. It's not worth it...life's not worth it. A couple pills and it could all end..." This is how I used to feel. Since 9 th grade I've had depression. As with so many other kids it went unnoticed. I did everything to cover up how I was feeling inside. I thought, "Maybe if I just forget about it, it will go away." I was wrong. I blew up. I cried and thought of killing myself on the spot. I couldn't take it anymore. There was so much anger, stress, and sadness, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I broke down crying in my coach's office one day because I got kicked off the baseball team and he had no idea what was going on. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. At first, all I could do was cry. After about 10 minutes of tears, I finally told my coach how I was feeling. I told him that every day I had to think of a reason to live. I told him I didn't want to deal with it anymore. He was the first person I shared my thoughts with. I still remember how he responded. The first thing out of his mouth was, "I had no idea. I th ought you lived the greatest life of anyone in this school." Then he just listened while I told my real life story; the life that I covered up. When I was finished we both just sat there. After a long silence he finally said, "You need to get some help..." Depression is a long-term or short-term feeling of sadness and usually has physical symptoms associated with it. This is the clinical definition given by the National Institute of Mental Health in their article, "Depression." Everyone feels sad at some point and it can last for a while.

Black House Chapter One

1 RIGHT HERE AND NOW, as an old friend used to say, we are in the fluid present, where clear-sightedness never guarantees perfect vision. Here: about two hundred feet, the height of a gliding eagle, above Wisconsin's far western edge, where the vagaries of the Mississippi River declare a natural border. Now: an early Friday morning in mid-July a few years into both a new century and a new millennium, their wayward courses so hidden that a blind man has a better chance of seeing what lies ahead than you or I. Right here and now, the hour is just past six A.M., and the sun stands low in the cloudless eastern sky, a fat, confident yellow-white ball advancing as ever for the first time toward the future and leaving in its wake the steadily accumulating past, which darkens as it recedes, making blind men of us all. Below, the early sun touches the river's wide, soft ripples with molten highlights. Sunlight glints from the tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad running between the riverbank and the backs of the shabby two-story houses along County Road Oo, known as Nailhouse Row, the lowest point of the comfortable-looking little town extending uphill and eastward beneath us. At this moment in the Coulee Country, life seems to be holding its breath. The motionless air around us carries such remarkable purity and sweetness that you might imagine a man could smell a radish pulled out of the ground a mile away. Moving toward the sun, we glide away from the river and over the shining tracks, the backyards and roofs of Nailhouse Row, then a line of Harley-Davidson motorcycles tilted on their kickstands. These unprepossessing little houses were built, early in the century recently vanished, for the metal pourers, mold makers, and crate men employed by the Pederson Nail factory. On the grounds that working stiffs would be unlikely to complain about the flaws in their subsidized accommodations, they were constructed as cheaply as possible. (Pederson Nail, which had suffered multiple hemorrhages during the fifties, finally bled to death in 1963.) The waiting Harleys suggest that the factory hands have been replaced by a motorcycle gang. The uniformly ferocious appearance of the Harleys' owners, wild-haired, bushy-bearded, swag-bellied men sporting earrings, black leather jackets, and less than the full complement of teeth, would seem to support this assumption. Like most assumptions, this one emb odies an uneasy half-truth. The current residents of Nailhouse Row, whom suspicious locals dubbed the Thunder Five soon after they took over the houses along the river, cannot so easily be categorized. They have skilled jobs in the Kingsland Brewing Company, located just out of town to the south and one block east of the Mississippi. If we look to our right, we can see â€Å"the world's largest six-pack,† storage tanks painted over with gigantic Kingsland Old-Time Lager labels. The men who live on Nailhouse Row met one another on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois, where all but one were undergraduates majoring in English or philosophy. (The exception was a resident in surgery at the UI-UC university hospital.) They get an ironic pleasure from being called the Thunder Five: the name strikes them as sweetly cartoonish. What they call themselves is â€Å"the Hegelian Scum.† These gentlemen form an interesting crew, and we will make their acquaintance later on. For now, we have time only to note the hand-painted posters taped to the fronts of several houses, two lamp poles, and a couple of abandoned buildings. The posters say: FISHERMAN, YOU BETTER PRAY TO YOUR STINKING GOD WE DON'T CATCH YOU FIRST! REMEMBER AMY! From Nailhouse Row, Chase Street runs steeply uphill between listing buildings with worn, unpainted facades the color of fog: the old Nelson Hotel, where a few impoverished residents lie sleeping, a blank-faced tavern, a tired shoe store displaying Red Wing workboots behind its filmy picture window, a few other dim buildings that bear no indication of their function and seem oddly dreamlike and vaporous. These structures have the air of failed resurrections, of having been rescued from the dark westward territory although they were still dead. In a way, that is precisely what happened to them. An ocher horizontal stripe, ten feet above the sidewalk on the facade of the Nelson Hotel and two feet from the rising ground on the opposed, ashen faces of the last two buildings, represents the high-water mark left behind by the flood of 1965, when the Mississippi rolled over its banks, drowned the railroad tracks and Nailhouse Row, and mounted nearly to the top of Chase Street. Where Chase rises above the flood line and levels out, it widens and undergoes a transformation into the main street of French Landing, the town beneath us. The Agincourt Theater, the Taproom Bar & Grille, the First Farmer State Bank, the Samuel Stutz Photography Studio (which does a steady business in graduation photos, wedding pictures, and children's portraits) and shops, not the ghostly relics of shops, line its blunt sidewalks: Benton's Rexall drugstore, Reliable Hardware, Saturday Night Video, Regal Clothing, Schmitt's Allsorts Emporium, stores selling electronic equipment, magazines and greeting cards, toys, and athletic clothing featuring the logos of the Brewers, the Twins, the Packers, the Vikings, and the University of Wisconsin. After a few blocks, the name of the street changes to Lyall Road, and the buildings separate and shrink into one-story wooden structures fronted with signs advertising insurance offices and travel agencies; after that, the street becomes a highway that glides eastward past a 7-Eleven, the Reinhold T. Grauerhammer VFW Hall, a big farm-implement dealership known locally as Goltz's, and into a landscape of flat, unbroken fields. If we rise another hundred feet into the immaculate air and scan what lies beneath and ahead, we see kettle moraines, coulees, blunted hills furry with pines, loam-rich valleys invisible from ground level until you have come upon them, meandering rivers, miles-long patchwork fields, and little towns one of them, Centralia, no more than a scattering of buildings around the intersection of two narrow highways, 35 and 93. Directly below us, French Landing looks as though it had been evacuated in the middle of the night. No one moves along the sidewalks or bends to insert a key into one of the locks of the shop fronts along Chase Street. The angled spaces before the shops are empty of the cars and pickup trucks that will begin to appear, first by ones and twos, then in a mannerly little stream, an hour or two later. No lights burn behind the windows in the commercial buildings or the unpretentious houses lining the surrounding streets. A block north of Chase on Sumner Street, four matching red-brick buildings of two stories each house, in west-east order, the French Landing Public Library; the offices of Patrick J. Skarda, M.D., the local general practitioner, and Bell & Holland, a two-man law firm now run by Garland Bell and Julius Holland, the sons of its founders; the Heartfield & Son Funeral Home, now owned by a vast, funereal empire centered in St. Louis; and the French Landing Post Office. Separated from these by a wide driveway into a good-sized parking lot at the rear, the building at the end of the block, where Sumner intersects with Third Street, is also of red brick and two stories high but longer than its immediate neighbors. Unpainted iron bars block the rear second-floor windows, and two of the four vehicles in the parking lot are patrol cars with light bars across their tops and the letters FLPD on their sides. The presence of police cars and barred windows seems incongruous in this rural fastness what sort of crime can happen here? Nothing serious, surely; surely nothing worse than a little shoplifting, drunken driving, and an occasional bar fight. As if in testimony to the peacefulness and regularity of small-town life, a red van with the words LA RIVIERE HERALD on its side panels drifts slowly down Third Street, pausing at nearly all of the mailbox stands for its driver to insert copies of the day's newspaper, wrapped in a blue plastic bag, into gray metal cylinders bearing the same words. When the van turns onto Sumner, where the buildings have mail slots instead of boxes, the route man simply throws the wrapped papers at the front doors. Blue parcels thwack against the doors of the police station, the funeral home, and the office buildings. The post office does not get a paper. What do you know, lights are burning behind the front downstairs windows of the police station. The door opens. A tall, dark-haired young man in a pale blue short-sleeved uniform shirt, a Sam Browne belt, and navy trousers steps outside. The wide belt and the gold badge on Bobby Dulac's chest gleam in the fresh sunlight, and everything he is wearing, including the 9mm pistol strapped to his hip, seems as newly made as Bobby Dulac himself. He watches the red van turn left onto Second Street, and frowns at the rolled newspaper. He nudges it with the tip of a black, highly polished shoe, bending over just far enough to suggest that he is trying to read the headlines through the plastic. Evidently this technique does not work all that well. Still frowning, Bobby tilts all the way over and picks up the newspaper with unexpected delicacy, the way a mother cat picks up a kitten in need of relocation. Holding it a little distance away from his body, he gives a quick glance up and down Sumner Street, about-faces smartly, and steps back into the station. We, who in our curiosity have been steadily descending toward the interesting spectacle presented by Officer Dulac, go inside behind him. A gray corridor leads past a blank door and a bulletin board with very little on it to two sets of metal stairs, one going down to a small locker room, shower stalls, and a firing range, the other upward to an interrogation room and two facing rows of cells, none presently occupied. Somewhere near, a radio talk show is playing at a level that seems too loud for a peaceful morning. Bobby Dulac opens the unmarked door and enters, with us on his shiny heels, the ready room he has just left. A rank of filing cabinets stands against the wall to our right, beside them a beat-up wooden table on which sit neat stacks of papers in folders and a transistor radio, the source of the discordant noise. From the nearby studio of KDCU-AM, Your Talk Voice in the Coulee Country, the entertainingly rabid George Rathbun has settled into Badger Barrage, his popular morning broadcast. Good old George sounds too loud for the occasion no matter how low you dial the volume; the guy is just flat-out noisy that's part of his appeal. Set in the middle of the wall directly opposite us is a closed door with a dark pebble-glass window on which has been painted DALE GILBERTSON, CHIEF OF POLICE. Dale will not be in for another half hour or so. Two metal desks sit at right angles to each other in the corner to our left, and from the one that faces us, Tom Lund, a fair-haired officer of roughly his partner's age but without his appearance of having been struck gleaming from the mint five minutes before, regards the bag tweezed between two fingers of Bobby Dulac's right hand. â€Å"All right,† Lund says. â€Å"Okay. The latest installment.† â€Å"You thought maybe the Thunder Five was paying us another social call? Here. I don't want to read the damn thing.† Not deigning to look at the newspaper, Bobby sends the new day's issue of the La Riviere Herald sailing in a flat, fast arc across ten feet of wooden floor with an athletic snap of his wrist, spins rightward, takes a long stride, and positions himself in front of the wooden table a moment before Tom Lund fields his throw. Bobby glares at the two names and various details scrawled on the long chalkboard hanging on the wall behind the table. He is not pleased, Bobby Dulac; he looks as though he might burst out of his uniform through the sheer force of his anger. Fat and happy in the KDCU studio, George Rathbun yells, â€Å"Caller, gimme a break, willya, and get your prescription fixed! Are we talking about the same game here? Caller â€Å" â€Å"Maybe Wendell got some sense and decided to lay off,† Tom Lund says. â€Å"Wendell,† Bobby says. Because Lund can see only the sleek, dark back of his head, the little sneering thing he does with his lip wastes motion, but he does it anyway. â€Å"Caller, let me ask you this one question, and in all sincerity, I want you to be honest with me. Did you actually see last night's game?† â€Å"I didn't know Wendell was a big buddy of yours,† Bobby says. â€Å"I didn't know you ever got as far south as La Riviere. Here I was thinking your idea of a big night out was a pitcher of beer and trying to break one hundred at the Arden Bowl-A-Drome, and now I find out you hang out with newspaper reporters in college towns. Probably get down and dirty with the Wisconsin Rat, too, that guy on KWLA. Do you pick up a lot of punk babes that way?† The caller says he missed the first inning on account of he had to pick up his kid after a special counseling session at Mount Hebron, but he sure saw everything after that. â€Å"Did I say Wendell Green was a friend of mine?† asks Tom Lund. Over Bobby's left shoulder he can see the first of the names on the chalkboard. His gaze helplessly focuses on it. â€Å"It's just, I met him after the Kinderling case, and the guy didn't seem so bad. Actually, I kind of liked him. Actually, I wound up feeling sorry for him. He wanted to do an interview with Hollywood, and Hollywood turned him down flat.† Well, naturally he saw the extra innings, the hapless caller says, that's how he knows Pokey Reese was safe. â€Å"And as for the Wisconsin Rat, I wouldn't know him if I saw him, and I think that so-called music he plays sounds like the worst bunch of crap I ever heard in my life. How did that scrawny pasty-face creep get a radio show in the first place? On the college station? What does that tell you about our wonderful UW?CLa Riviere, Bobby? What does it say about our whole society? Oh, I forgot, you like that shit.† â€Å"No, I like 311 and Korn, and you're so out of it you can't tell the difference between Jonathan Davis and Dee Dee Ramone, but forget about that, all right?† Slowly, Bobby Dulac turns around and smiles at his partner. â€Å"Stop stalling.† His smile is none too pleasant. â€Å"I'm stalling?† Tom Lund widens his eyes in a parody of wounded innocence. â€Å"Gee, was it me who fired the paper across the room? No, I guess not.† â€Å"If you never laid eyes on the Wisconsin Rat, how come you know what he looks like?† â€Å"Same way I know he has funny-colored hair and a pierced nose. Same way I know he wears a beat-to-shit black leather jacket day in, day out, rain or shine.† Bobby waited. â€Å"By the way he sounds. People's voices are full of information. A guy says, Looks like it'll turn out to be a nice day, he tells you his whole life story. Want to know something else about Rat Boy? He hasn't been to the dentist in six, seven years. His teeth look like shit.† From within KDCU's ugly cement-block structure next to the brewery on Peninsula Drive, via the radio Dale Gilbertson donated to the station house long before either Tom Lund or Bobby Dulac first put on their uniforms, comes good old dependable George Rathbun's patented bellow of genial outrage, a passionate, inclusive uproar that for a hundred miles around causes breakfasting farmers to smile across their tables at their wives and passing truckers to laugh out loud: â€Å"I swear, caller, and this goes for my last last caller, too, and every single one of you out there, I love you dearly, that is the honest truth, I love you like my momma loved her turnip patch, but sometimes you people DRIVE ME CRAZY! Oh, boy. Top of the eleventh inning, two outs! Six?Cseven, Reds! Men on second and third. Batter lines to short center field, Reese takes off from third, good throw to the plate, clean tag, clean tag. A BLIND MAN COULDA MADE THAT CALL!† â€Å"Hey, I thought it was a good tag, and I only heard it on the radio,† says Tom Lund. Both men are stalling, and they know it. â€Å"In fact,† shouts the hands-down most popular Talk Voice of the Coulee Country, â€Å"let me go out on a limb here, boys and girls, let me make the following recommendation, okay? Let's replace every umpire at Miller Park, hey, every umpire in the National League, with BLIND MEN! You know what, my friends? I guarantee a sixty to seventy percent improvement in the accuracy of their calls. GIVE THE JOB TO THOSE WHO CAN HANDLE IT THE BLIND!† Mirth suffuses Tom Lund's bland face. That George Rathbun, man, he's a hoot. Bobby says, â€Å"Come on, okay?† Grinning, Lund pulls the folded newspaper out of its wrapper and flattens it on his desk. His face hardens; without altering its shape, his grin turns stony. â€Å"Oh, no. Oh, hell.† â€Å"What?† Lund utters a shapeless groan and shakes his head. â€Å"Jesus. I don't even want to know.† Bobby rams his hands into his pockets, then pulls himself perfectly upright, jerks his right hand free, and clamps it over his eyes. â€Å"I'm a blind guy, all right? Make me an umpire I don't wanna be a cop anymore.† Lund says nothing. â€Å"It's a headline? Like a banner headline? How bad is it?† Bobby pulls his hand away from his eyes and holds it suspended in midair. â€Å"Well,† Lund tells him, â€Å"it looks like Wendell didn't get some sense, after all, and he sure as hell didn't decide to lay off. I can't believe I said I liked the dipshit.† â€Å"Wake up,† Bobby says. â€Å"Nobody ever told you law enforcement officers and journalists are on opposite sides of the fence?† Tom Lund's ample torso tilts over his desk. A thick lateral crease like a scar divides his forehead, and his stolid cheeks burn crimson. He aims a finger at Bobby Dulac. â€Å"This is one thing that really gets me about you, Bobby. How long have you been here? Five, six months? Dale hired me four years ago, and when him and Hollywood put the cuffs on Mr. Thornberg Kinderling, which was the biggest case in this county for maybe thirty years, I can't claim any credit, but at least I pulled my weight. I helped put some of the pieces together.† â€Å"One of the pieces,† Bobby says. â€Å"I reminded Dale about the girl bartender at the Taproom, and Dale told Hollywood, and Hollywood talked to the girl, and that was a big, big piece. It helped get him. So don't you talk to me that way.† Bobby Dulac assumes a look of completely hypothetical contrition. â€Å"Sorry, Tom. I guess I'm kind of wound up and beat to shit at the same time.† What he thinks is: So you got a couple years on me and you once gave Dale this crappy little bit of information, so what, I'm a better cop than you'll ever be. How heroic were you last night, anyhow? At 11:15 the previous night, Armand â€Å"Beezer† St. Pierre and his fellow travelers in the Thunder Five had roared up from Nailhouse Row to surge into the police station and demand of its three occupants, each of whom had worked an eighteen-hour shift, exact details of the progress they were making on the issue that most concerned them all. What the hell was going on here? What about the third one, huh, what about Irma Freneau? Had they found her yet? Did these clowns have anything, or were they still just blowing smoke? You need help? Beezer roared, Then deputize us, we'll give you all the goddamn help you need and then some. A giant named Mouse had strolled smirking up to Bobby Dulac and kept on strolling, jumbo belly to six-pack belly, until Bobby was backed up against a filing cabinet, whereupon the giant Mouse had mysteriously inquired, in a cloud of beer and marijuana, whether Bobby had ever dipped into the works of a gentleman named Jacques Derrida. When Bobby replied that he had never heard of the gentleman, Mouse said, â€Å"No shit, Sherlock,† and stepped aside to glare at the names on the chalkboard. Half an hour later, Beezer, Mouse, and their companions were sent away unsatisfied, undeputized, but pacified, and Dale Gilbertson said he had to go home and get some sleep, but Tom ought to remain, just in case. The regular night men had both found excuses not to come in. Bobby said he would stay, too, no problem, Chief, which is why we find these two men in the station so early in the morning. â€Å"Give it to me,† says Bobby Dulac. Lund picks up the paper, turns it around, and holds it out for Bobby to see: FISHERMAN STILL AT LARGE IN FRENCH LANDING AREA, reads the headline over an article that takes up three columns on the top left-hand side of the front page. The columns of type have been printed against a background of pale blue, and a black border separates them from the remainder of the page. Beneath the head, in smaller print, runs the line Identity of Psycho Killer Baffles Police. Underneath the subhead, a line in even smaller print attributes the article to Wendell Green, with the support of the editorial staff. â€Å"The Fisherman,† Bobby says. â€Å"Right from the start, your friend has his thumb up his butt. The Fisherman, the Fisherman, the Fisherman. If I all of a sudden turned into a fifty-foot ape and started stomping on buildings, would you call me King Kong?† Lund lowers the newspaper and smiles. â€Å"Okay,† Bobby allows, â€Å"bad example. Say I held up a couple banks. Would you call me John Dillinger?† â€Å"Well,† says Lund, smiling even more broadly, â€Å"they say Dillinger's tool was so humongous, they put it in a jar in the Smithsonian. So . . .† â€Å"Read me the first sentence,† Bobby says. Tom Lund looks down and reads: † ? ®As the police in French Landing fail to discover any leads to the identity of the fiendish double murderer and sex criminal this reporter has dubbed â€Å"the Fisherman,† the grim specters of fear, despair, and suspicion run increasingly rampant through the streets of that little town, and from there out into the farms and villages throughout French County, darkening by their touch every portion of the Coulee Country.' â€Å" â€Å"Just what we need,† Bobby says. â€Å"Jee-zus!† And in an instant has crossed the room and is leaning over Tom Lund's shoulder, reading the Herald's front page with his hand resting on the butt of his Glock, as if ready to drill a hole in the article right here and now. † ? ®Our traditions of trust and good neighborliness, our habit of extending warmth and generosity to all [writes Wendell Green, editorializing like crazy], are eroding daily under the corrosive onslaught of these dread emotions. Fear, despair, and suspicion are poisonous to the soul of communities large and small, for they turn neighbor against neighbor and make a mockery of civility. † ? ®Two children have been foully murdered and their remains partially consumed. Now a third child has disappeared. Eight-year-old Amy St. Pierre and seven-year-old Johnny Irkenham fell victim to the passions of a monster in human form. Neither will know the happiness of adolescence or the satisfactions of adulthood. Their grieving parents will never know the grandchildren they would have cherished. The parents of Amy and Johnny's playmates shelter their children within the safety of their own homes, as do parents whose children never knew the deceased. As a result, summer playgroups and other programs for young children have been canceled in virtually every township and municipality in French County. † ? ®With the disappearance of ten-year-old Irma Freneau seven days after the death of Amy St. Pierre and only three after that of Johnny Irkenham, public patience has grown dangerously thin. As this correspondent has already reported, Merlin Graasheimer, fifty-two, an unemployed farm laborer of no fixed abode, was set upon and beaten by an unidentified group of men in a Grainger side street late Tuesday evening. Another such episode occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, when Elvar Praetorious, thirty-six, a Swedish tourist traveling alone, was assaulted by three men, again unidentified, while asleep in La Riviere's Leif Eriksson Park. Graasheimer and Praetorious required only routine medical attention, but future incidents of vigilantism will almost certainly end more seriously.' â€Å" Tom Lund looks down at the next paragraph, which describes the Freneau girl's abrupt disappearance from a Chase Street sidewalk, and pushes himself away from his desk. Bobby Dulac reads silently for a time, then says, â€Å"You gotta hear this shit, Tom. This is how he winds up: † ? ®When will the Fisherman strike again? † ? ®For he will strike again, my friends, make no mistake. † ? ®And when will French Landing's chief of police, Dale Gilbertson, do his duty and rescue the citizens of this county from the obscene savagery of the Fisherman and the understandable violence produced by his own inaction?' â€Å" Bobby Dulac stamps to the middle of the room. His color has heightened. He inhales, then exhales a magnificent quantity of oxygen. â€Å"How about the next time the Fisherman strikes,† Bobby says, â€Å"how about he goes right up Wendell Green's flabby rear end?† â€Å"I'm with you,† says Tom Lund. â€Å"Can you believe that shinola? ? ®Understandable violence'? He's telling people it's okay to mess with anyone who looks suspicious!† Bobby levels an index finger at Lund. â€Å"I personally am going to nail this guy. That is a promise. I'll bring him down, alive or dead.† In case Lund may have missed the point, he repeats, â€Å"Personally.† Wisely choosing not to speak the words that first come to his mind, Tom Lund nods his head. The finger is still pointing. He says, â€Å"If you want some help with that, maybe you should talk to Hollywood. Dale didn't have no luck, but could be you'd do better.† Bobby waves this notion away. â€Å"No need. Dale and me . . . and you, too, of course, we got it covered. But I personally am going to get this guy. That is a guarantee.† He pauses for a second. â€Å"Besides, Hollywood retired when he moved here, or did you forget?† â€Å"Hollywood's too young to retire,† Lund says. â€Å"Even in cop years, the guy is practically a baby. So you must be the next thing to a fetus.† And on their cackle of shared laughter, we float away and out of the ready room and back into the sky, where we glide one block farther north, to Queen Street. Moving a few blocks east we find, beneath us, a low, rambling structure branching out from a central hub that occupies, with its wide, rising breadth of lawn dotted here and there with tall oaks and maples, the whole of a block lined with bushy hedges in need of a good trim. Obviously an institution of some kind, the structure at first resembles a progressive elementary school in which the various wings represent classrooms without walls, the square central hub the dining room and administrative offices. When we drift downward, we hear George Rathbun's genial bellow rising toward us from several windows. The big glass front door swings open, and a trim woman in cat's-eye glasses comes out into the bright morning, holding a poster in one hand and a roll of tape in the other. She immediately turns around and, with quick, efficient gestures, fixes the poster to the door. Sunlight reflects from a smoky gemstone the size of a hazelnut on the third finger of her right hand. While she takes a moment to admire her work, we can peer over her crisp shoulder and see that the poster announces, in a cheerful burst of hand-drawn balloons, that TODAY IS STRAWBERRY FEST!!!; when the woman walks back inside, we take in the presence, in the portion of the entry visible just beneath the giddy poster, of two or three folded wheelchairs. Beyond the wheelchairs, the woman, whose chestnut hair has been pinned back into an architectural whorl, strides on her high-heeled pumps through a pleasant lobby with blond wooden chairs and matching tables strewn artfully with magazines, marches past a kind of unmanned guardpost or reception desk before a handsome fieldstone wall, and vanishes, with the trace of a skip, through a burnished door marked WILLIAM MAXTON, DIRECTOR. What kind of school is this? Why is it open for business, why is it putting on festivals, in the middle of July? We could call it a graduate school, for those who reside here have graduated from every stage of their existences but the last, which they live out, day after day, under the careless stewardship of Mr. William â€Å"Chipper† Maxton, Director. This is the Maxton Elder Care Facility, once in a more innocent time, and before the cosmetic renovations done in the mid-eighties known as the Maxton Nursing Home, which was owned and managed by its founder, Herbert Maxton, Chipper's father. Herbert was a decent if wishy-washy man who, it is safe to say, would be appalled by some of the things the sole fruit of his loins gets up to. Chipper never wanted to take over â€Å"the family playpen,† as he calls it, with its freight of â€Å"gummers,† â€Å"zombies,† â€Å"bed wetters,† and â€Å"droolies,† and after getting an accounting degree at UW?CLa Riviere (with hard-earned minors in promiscuity, gambling, and beer drinking), our boy accepted a positio n with the Madison, Wisconsin, office of the Internal Revenue Service, largely for the purpose of learning how to steal from the government undetected. Five years with the IRS taught him much that was useful, but when his subsequent career as a freelancer failed to match his ambitions, he yielded to his father's increasingly frail entreaties and threw in his lot with the undead and the droolies. With a certain grim relish, Chipper acknowledged that despite a woeful shortage of glamour, his father's business would at least provide him with the opportunity to steal from the clients and the government alike. Let us flow in through the big glass doors, cross the handsome lobby (noting, as we do so, the mingled odors of air freshener and ammonia that pervade even the public areas of all such institutions), pass through the door bearing Chipper's name, and find out what that well-arranged young woman is doing here so early. Beyond Chipper's door lies a windowless cubicle equipped with a desk, a coatrack, and a small bookshelf crowded with computer printouts, pamphlets, and flyers. A door stands open beside the desk. Through the opening, we see a much larger office, paneled in the same burnished wood as the director's door and containing leather chairs, a glass-topped coffee table, and an oatmeal-colored sofa. At its far end looms a vast desk untidily heaped with papers and so deeply polished it seems nearly to glow. Our young woman, whose name is Rebecca Vilas, sits perched on the edge of this desk, her legs crossed in a particularly architectural fashion. One knee folds over the other, and the calves form two nicely molded, roughly parallel lines running down to the triangular tips of the black high-heeled pumps, one of which points to four o'clock and the other to six. Rebecca Vilas, we gather, has arranged herself to be seen, has struck a pose intended to be appreciated, though certainly not by us. Behind the cat's-eye glasses, her eyes look skeptical and amused, but we cannot see what has aroused these emotions. We assume that she is Chipper's secretary, and this assumption, too, expresses only half of the truth: as the ease and irony of her attitude imply, Ms. Vilas's duties have long extended beyond the purely secretarial. (We might speculate about the source of that nice ring she is wearing; as long as our minds are in the gutter, we will be right on the money.) We float through the open door, follow the direction of Rebecca's increasingly impatient gaze, and find ourselves staring at the sturdy, khaki-clad rump of her kneeling employer, who has thrust his head and shoulders into a good-sized safe, in which we glimpse stacks of record books and a number of manila envelopes apparently stuffed with currency. A few bills flop out of these envelopes as Chipper pulls them from the safe. â€Å"You did the sign, the poster thing?† he asks without turning around. â€Å"Aye, aye,† says Rebecca Vilas. â€Å"And a splendid day it is we shall be havin' for the great occasion, too, as is only roight and proper.† Her Irish accent is surprisingly good, if a bit generic. She has never been anywhere more exotic than Atlantic City, where Chipper used his frequent-flier miles to escort her for five enchanted days two years before. She learned the accent from old movies. â€Å"I hate Strawberry Fest,† Chipper says, dredging the last of the envelopes from the safe. â€Å"The zombies' wives and children mill around all afternoon, cranking them up so we have to sedate them into comas just to get some peace. And if you want to know the truth, I hate balloons.† He dumps the money onto the carpet and begins to sort the bills into stacks of various denominations. â€Å"Only Oi was wonderin', in me simple country manner,† says Rebecca, â€Å"why Oi should be requested to appear at the crack o' dawn on the grand day.† â€Å"Know what else I hate? The whole music thing. Singing zombies and that stupid deejay. Symphonic Stan with his big-band records, whoo boy, talk about thrills.† â€Å"I assume,† Rebecca says, dropping the stage-Irish accent, â€Å"you want me to do something with that money before the action begins.† â€Å"Time for another journey to Miller.† An account under a fictitious name in the State Provident Bank in Miller, forty miles away, receives regular deposits of cash skimmed from patients' funds intended to pay for extra goods and services. Chipper turns around on his knees with his hands full of money and looks up at Rebecca. He sinks back down to his heels and lets his hands fall into his lap. â€Å"Boy, do you have great legs. Legs like that, you ought to be famous.† â€Å"I thought you'd never notice,† Rebecca says. Chipper Maxton is forty-two years old. He has good teeth, all his hair, a wide, sincere face, and narrow brown eyes that always look a little damp. He also has two kids, Trey, nine, and Ashley, seven and recently diagnosed with ADD, a matter Chipper figures is going to cost him maybe two thousand a year in pills alone. And of course he has a wife, his life's partner, Marion, thirty-nine years of age, five foot five, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 190 pounds. In addition to these blessings, as of last night Chipper owes his bookie $13,000, the result of an unwise investment in the Brewers game George Rathbun is still bellowing about. He has noticed, oh, yes he has, Chipper has noticed Ms. Vilas's splendidly cantilevered legs. â€Å"Before you go over there,† he says, â€Å"I was thinking we could kind of stretch out on the sofa and fool around.† â€Å"Ah,† Rebecca says. â€Å"Fool around how, exactly?† â€Å"Gobble, gobble, gobble,† Chipper says, grinning like a satyr. â€Å"You romantic devil, you,† says Rebecca, a remark that utterly escapes her employer. Chipper thinks he actually is being romantic. She slides elegantly down from her perch, and Chipper pushes himself inelegantly upright and closes the safe door with his foot. Eyes shining damply, he takes a couple of thuggish, strutting strides across the carpet, wraps one arm around Rebecca Vilas's slender waist and with the other slides the fat manila envelopes onto the desk. He is yanking at his belt even before he begins to pull Rebecca toward the sofa. â€Å"So can I see him?† says clever Rebecca, who understands exactly how to turn her lover's brains to porridge . . . . . . and before Chipper obliges her, we do the sensible thing and float out into the lobby, which is still empty. A corridor to the left of the reception desk takes us to two large, blond, glass-inset doors marked DAISY and BLUEBELL, the names of the wings to which they give entrance. Far down the gray length of Bluebell, a man in baggy coveralls dribbles ash from his cigarette onto the tiles over which he is dragging, with exquisite slowness, a filthy mop. We move into Daisy. The functional parts of Maxton's are a great deal less attractive than the public areas. Numbered doors line both sides of the corridor. Hand-lettered cards in plastic holders beneath the numerals give the names of the residents. Four doors along, a desk at which a burly male attendant in an unclean white uniform sits dozing upright faces the entrances to the men's and women's bathrooms at Maxton's, only the most expensive rooms, those on the other side of the lobby, in Asphodel, provide anything but a sink. Dirty mop-swirls harden and dry all up and down the tiled floor, which stretches out before us to improbable length. Here, too, the walls and air seem the same shade of gray. If we look closely at the edges of the hallway, at the juncture of the walls and the ceiling, we see spiderwebs, old stains, accumulations of grime. Pine-Sol, ammonia, urine, and worse scent the atmosphere. As an elderly lady in Bluebell wing likes to say, when you live with a bunch of people who are old an d incontinent, you never get far from the smell of caca. The rooms themselves vary according to the conditions and capacities of their inhabitants. Since nearly everyone is asleep, we can glance into a few of these quarters. Here in D10, a single room two doors past the dozing aide, old Alice Weathers lies (snoring gently, dreaming of dancing in perfect partnership with Fred Astaire across a white marble floor) surrounded by so much of her former life that she must navigate past the chairs and end tables to maneuver from the door to her bed. Alice still possesses even more of her wits than she does her old furniture, and she cleans her room herself, immaculately. Next door in D12, two old farmers named Thorvaldson and Jesperson, who have not spoken to each other in years, sleep, separated by a thin curtain, in a bright clutter of family photographs and grandchildren's drawings. Farther down the hallway, D18 presents a spectacle completely opposite to the clean, crowded jumble of D10, just as its inhabitant, a man known as Charles Burnside, could be considered the polar opposite of Alice Weathers. In D18, there are no end tables, hutches, overstuffed chairs, gilded mirrors, lamps, woven rugs, or velvet curtains: this barren room contains only a metal bed, a plastic chair, and a chest of drawers. No photographs of children and grandchildren stand atop the chest, and no crayon drawings of blocky houses and stick figures decorate the walls. Mr. Burnside has no interest in housekeeping, and a thin layer of dust covers the floor, the windowsill, and the chest's bare top. D18 is bereft of history, empty of personality; it seems as brutal and soulless as a prison cell. A powerful smell of excrement contaminates the air. For all the entertainment offered by Chipper Maxton and all the charm of Alice Weathers, it is Charles Burnside, â€Å"Burny,† we have most come to see.