Illegal Immigration in America (Persuasive Essay)

Illegal immigration in America Immigrating to America is a benefit and good because it allows people to seek a new job, new life and have access to a brighter future for example, the pilgrims on the Mayflower. They immigrated to America for a new life and a brighter future. Immigrants, both legal and illegal continue to immigrate to the United States of America for opportunities. But illegal immigrants have a good and bad effect to the economy and the country. For example illegal immigrants are committing a crime.In most instances, they did not apply for a visa at a U. S. Consulate, they did not pay the visa application fees, they were not interviewed for worthiness to enter the U. S. , their backgrounds were not checked to see if they were dangerous criminals or narcotics traffickers and they obviously failed to respect the U. S. ‘s laws. Furthermore, they often times illegally work in the U. S. , and they steal or illegally use somebody else's Social Security number to gain e mployment. Therefore, many times an illegal alien breaks three federal laws.They work for wages much less than the going-American wage, which results in lower wages for the people who compete against them and need better wages the most – working class US citizens and legal residents. This results in many Americans earning less money and paying less taxes than they should, and further grows the ever-increasing wealth gap between the rich and the poor and negatively impacts the federal budget deficit. A great number of illegal aliens also bring dangerous drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.Illegal alien, Mexican national narcotics traffickers, for example, dominate the distribution of those drugs through-out most regions of the U. S. , except for South Florida and New England. 33% of all prisoners in federal penitentiaries are foreign nationals, and most of them are incarcerated for drug trafficking. The conclusion is that illegal immigration is not good because of trafficking, import on drugs and illegal immigrants committing crime. Plus the wages for the illegal immigrants are lower than the legal immigrants.

Jewish Celebrations

Jewish Celebrations – Individual Questions 39†² blue]0111eranchers103 A. Briefly explain the significance of your celebration (historical events/key themes) Yom HaShoah, Or Holocaust Remembrance Day, iS a very important Jewish Holiday. IVS their day Of morning the victims and reflecting on the events that took place during the holocaust (January 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945). Yom HaShoah gives them a chance to get together as a community or With their families to remember and pay respect to the 6 000 000 Jews Who died. Mourning, respect, and remembrance are defiantly the key themes to this day. B.Identify the time of year It is celebrated, plus the symbols and/or foods used during the celebrations? Yom HaShoah takes place on the 27th of the month of Nisan (March/April) and lasts only 1 day. Unless the 27th would be adjacent to Shabbat, n which case the date s shifted by a day. It marks the anniversary at the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Since t's a relatively new holiday ther e arent actually that many ntuals or symbols. The only one I could find that was a symbol is the 6 candles that Jews light In their homes and in the synagogues that represent the six million Jews who were killed during the holocaust.Radio stations feature recitation of appropriate songs and readings. television stations play Holocaustthemed films or a program featuring Holocaust survivors sharing their stories. C. Read the scriptural passage that is related to your topic. Explain how the celebration is connected to the scriptural passage. Each synagogue celebrates it a little differently. It's common that the Kaddish (on attached page) is recited, which is a prayer for the departed. Yom HaShoah is Remembrance Day of the holocaust, which is why the Kaddish is completely fitting. In recent years a new literary scroll has been created.This scroll iS called ‘Megillat Hashoah† (The Holocaust Scroll) created by the Conservative movement as a joint project Of rabbis and lay-lea ders in Canada, the u. S. , and Israel. This Holocaust scroll contains personal recollections Of Holocaust survivors and iS written in biblical style. It'S becoming more common for this scroll to be read ‘n a ritual style on Vorn Hashoah_ some ceriornonies have people read from the book of names for certain lengths of time to give understanding of the huge numbers of victims. D. Why do you think it Is important for people to celebrate their past?In the sense of this holiday for Jewish people I think it's Important to celebrate their past to remember all they have lost. and to be proud of all they have over come. Its also important to remember and celebrate their loved ones and the heroism ot there people. People must look back and learn about all aspect of history, good and bad, to ensure that the bad dont repeat ever again. By blueJollieranchers103 Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a very important Jewish Holiday. It's their day of morning the victims and reflecti ng on the events that took place uring the holocaust Oanuary 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945).Yom Hashoah gives them a chance to get together as a community or with their families to remember and pay respect to the 6 000 000 Jews who died. Mourning, respect, and remembrance are B. Identify the time of year it is celebrated, plus the symbols and/or foods used Yom Hashoah takes place on the 27th of the month of Nisan (March/April) and lasts only 1 day. Unless the 27th would be adjacent to Shabbat, in which case the date is shifted by a day. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Since it's a relatively new holiday there aren't actually that many rituals or symbols.The only one I could find that was a symbol is the 6 candles that Jews light in their readings, television stations play Holocaust-themed films or a program featuring attached page) is recited, which is a prayer for the departed. Yom Hashoah is recent years a new literary scroll has been created. This scroll i s called â€Å"Megillat Hashoah† (The Holocaust Scroll) created by the Conservative movement as a Joint project of rabbis and lay-leaders in Canada, the U. S. , and Israel. This Holocaust scroll ontains personal recollections of Holocaust survivors and is written in biblical style.It's becoming more common for this scroll to be read in a ritual style on Yom Hashoah. Some Ceriomonies have people read from the book of names for certain D. Why do you think it is important for people to celebrate their past? In the sense of this holiday for Jewish people I think it's important to celebrate their past to remember all they have lost, and to be proud of all they have over come. It's also important to remember and celebrate their loved ones and the heroism of bad, to ensure that the bad don't repeat ever again.

Learning Theory Into Practice Project Assignment

Learning Theory Into Practice Project - Assignment Example It is, therefore, crucial to link this game of opening the student mind to appropriate theories such that the process of teaching them may be more appropriate and comprehensive. Business simulation games are also referred to as economic simulation games. These are games focused at on making sensible decisions by the players towards financial management by forming business (Williams, 2010). Since these games are geared to make the players rich, they are also known as tycoon games. They help the player who is also the learner to develop managerial stimulation of pure business simulations devoid of a construction element with emphasis on micromanagement (Klassen & Willoughby, 2013). They have a design of a numeric form although they capture the player’s attention by the rich graphics they employ. However, what makes this games be of more educative value is an accurate recreation of the real world events using these algorithms (Klassen & Willoughby, 2013). Either the player’s actions can lead to either a consequence or a well-expected outcome Currently, business simulation games form an eï ¬â‚¬ective method of learning in management. They provide a modern way of approach in teaching and imparting of knowledge to business students in the modern enterprise. It is true that these games also help to form and develop an enterprising culture in learning techniques of modern management (Ahmad, 2012). A person, who has been through this process, has an excellent probability to be a business manager, with the ability to make right decisions in the current condition of cutthroat market competition. When these individuals start work in management position they find themselves in a situation they can make better financial risks of own decisions (Ahmad, 2012). Therefore, this game forms a basis of a different but crucial form of training for teachers and students in management as future leaders. This is why it seems so important to use diï ¬â‚¬erent forms of

Dog Pound Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dog Pound - Movie Review Example The correction facility where the film is based is run by the government which provides resources to hire guards, provide meals, and educate the inmates as part of the correction process. In the US, about 93,000 teenagers are held in juvenile centers that are funded by the state . Some of the inmates in these centers are nonviolent and can receive correction in other intervention programs. The state of New York spends approximately $680 million annually for upkeep of nonviolent drug dealers in juvenile facilities.Davis has been locked up for drug possession and Butch for sociopathic behavior. Incarcerating nonviolent youth in juvenile centers increases the cost of running these facilities. Non-violent offenses can be managed safely in the community thus reducing finances required to run correction facilities. Consequently, juvenile centers have shifted from correction facilities to punishment areas. Youths locked up in these centers become subjects to bullying by other inmates and gu ards. The harsh conditions experienced by inmates in these facilities lead to suicide, stress, and psychiatric problems, which are detrimental to the development process of the teenagers and the community. Sending teenagers to distant detention centers and subjecting them to mandatory long-term sentences is counterproductive. (1)4. The violent events experienced by the actors change Butch from a non-violent prisoner conforming to prison rules to a violent and vengeful prisoner. According to Martin and Eason (1)4 the juvenile correction system is a financial, social, and political disaster that has little benefits to the inmates. The result of these violent encounters is an increase in juvenile related crimes in the society once the inmates are released from the correction facilities. Exclusion, aggressive prosecution of juveniles, and imprisonment of juveniles has led to an increase in crime rates in USA and France (42)5. This can be attributed to bullying and solitary confinement e xperienced by actors in the film. Juvenile facilities contribute to gender violence and queer sexuality among inmates. Davis is bullied and raped by Banks and other inmates when Butch is locked up in solitary cells. The rate of sexual harassment is on the increase in the US and juvenile prisoners are among the abusers (76)6. Forced intercourse experienced in these facilities makes inmates adopt queer sexuality behaviors that are transmitted to the society when they finish serving their prison terms. These events lead to psychological trauma and induce suicidal thoughts among the inmates. In the film, Davis commits suicide after he is physically and sexually abused. This contributed to the increasing suicidal rates in prisons and among ex-convicts. In 2002, there were approximately 1.6 million juvenile arrests in the US. However, the high number of those arrested is caused by teenagers arrested more than once (43).7 Most of these arrests were due to disorderly conduct, running away, drug abuse, and curfew violations. Some of those arrested were members of criminal gangs that committed crimes in groups. Some of these groups have

European Parliament as an independent actor in EU affairs Essay

European Parliament as an independent actor in EU affairs - Essay Example The Parliament has been given greater powers by various treaties, which came in through extensions in ordinary legislative procedures.  In December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty  came into force, which linked the Commission’s presidential election to that of the EP elections. At the same time, the Lisbon treaty also authorised the European Parliament with complete control over the  EU budget, thus turning the  legislative powers  of the parliament in equal standing to that of the Council of the European Union (Europa, A Constitution for Europe, nd). Since the Lisbon Treaty, almost all decisions within the EU must be made with the permission of European Parliament (EP). Since the EP is the only body within the  EU that is directly elected, it represents all  citizens of the EU member states. However, despite its enhanced powers over the legislation and budgetary processes of the EU, a closer analysis reveals that the European Parliament lacks political freedom and it do es not have an adequate access to the citizens, which must necessarily change to make it an independent actor within EU affairs. Discussion The enhanced role of the European parliament The European Parliament is the most democratic body within the EU, as the citizens of the EU directly elect its members. Various treaties, over the years, have granted greater powers to this institution in order to bring democracy within the EU. Owing to these changes, the EU has evolved from being a mere body for consultations to an important decision making body, as regards framing the EU laws and budget (under articles 14.1 and 16.1). Initially, the EP’s activities were limited to providing nonbinding viewpoints through consultation. It started... The European Parliament is the most democratic body within the EU, as the citizens of the EU directly elect its members. Various treaties, over the years, have granted greater powers to this institution in order to bring democracy within the EU. Owing to these changes, the EU has evolved from being a mere body for consultations to an important decision making body.Initially, the EP’s activities were limited to providing nonbinding viewpoints through consultation. It started gaining more power, in regard of influencing the EU legislation, through the cooperation procedure provided in the 1986 Single European Act. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 brought in the co-decision procedure that significantly increased EP’s power to affect EU’s legislative procedures in some arenas, especially the ones linked to the common domestic market of the EU (Europa, 2010). The Council of Ministers and the EP share powers of legislation and according to the co-decision procedure, both the EP and the Council must approve all Commission proposals for it to become a law; while using co-decision, the EP has the authority to change, remove or accept any proposed legislation. More power was accorded to the EP by the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) that increased the scope of use of co-decision to various other policies such as social policies, environmental policies amongst many more. As the decisions making processes of the Council of Ministers are subject to an intricate system of majority voting instead of consensus.

Investment in Training Sales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Investment in Training Sales - Essay Example In such a way, the responsiveness of the entity is exponentially increased; thereby impacting upon the overall bottom line that the firm might experience. 2) As with any complement of the business process, it is unreasonable to assume that the process of personal selling will not evolve with the changes in the market. One of the ways in which personal selling this change greatly within the past several years is with respect to the impact of the Internet and social media have had with regards to the traditional face to face personal selling that had previously been exhibited. However, it is likely to assume that as the Internet gains further access to the client base, personal selling will evolve even further and might necessarily encompass such nontraditional platforms as Skype, face time, or any other digital communication services. Whereas in-store communication between a sales associate and a prospective client, or cold calling has traditionally defined the role and extent that pe rsonal selling has exhibited in the past, it is unlikely that any level of a static definition will come to define personal selling within the very near future. 3) The sales manager should be intimately concerned with regards to the satisfaction of his/her respective salespeople. The reason for this is quite obvious. Due to the fact that the salesperson is the point person with which the client interacts, this is oftentimes the only chance that any firm or entity has to engage a sense of understanding and/or appreciation for their particular business model and/or brand. Within such an understanding, it becomes plainly obvious that the importance of a satisfied and happy sales staff is interval to reflecting a positive first impression to the consumer. One does not need to briefly reference the horror stories of past experiences that they might have had concerning a disgruntled are a thoroughly disgusted employee to reflect back on the way in which this experience tarnished the image of the brand/store and further discouraged integration with such a business in the future.

Film analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Film analysis - Essay Example The film is the story of Mildred Pierce, a woman of humble roots who is married to Bert and has two daughters – Veda and Kay. Her husband is a successful real estate entrepreneur with his partner Wally, but ultimately loses his job, so Mildred begins to bake pies and sell them to make money to provide nice things for her daughters. The older daughter Veda is a spoilt brat but Mildred loves her and is determined to provide nice things for her. When her husband disagrees with her and refuses to let her spend money on pampering Veda and spoiling her, Mildred leaves him and is determined to get a job. After a great deal of struggle, she lands a job as a waitress and learns the nuts and bolts of the restaurant business, so that she can pay for Veda’s piano lessons and other vanities. She enters into an agreement with a man named Monty who is from a higher class to buy his house in order to satisfy her daughter’s craving to live a rich lifestyle. She even makes him a p artner in her restaurant business. Everything she does is for her daughter Veda. But as the girl grows up, she turns out to be a spoilt brat who expresses her contempt for her mother’s humble roots and is completely ungrateful for all the sacrifices her mother has made on her behalf. Finally, she even wants to run away with Monty and kills him when he refuses to run away with her. Champoux (1999:206), points out that â€Å"film enhances the learning process in ways unavailable in other media.† The film Mildred Pierce provides several positive images of women however the ultimate objective in the film is to illustrate the destructive effects of such liberation. In this aspect therefore, the film is one that falls into the classic film noir category. Orr (1997) considers two basic approaches to genre theory and describes one that is applicable to the film Mildred Pierce. This approach holds that the genre of a film cannot be defined by its dominant

Engineering and Constructions Executive Summary Essay

Engineering and Constructions Executive Summary - Essay Example The input is first amplified and then converted to digital signal, before the signal is listened through the speaker it is converted back to analog. Circuit explanation The power supply section converts the alternating wave to a direct wave. A transformer, Rectifier Bridge and a voltage regulator are the main components of the power supply. A mixer mixes two signal and produce a mixed wave. A graphic equalizer has basically three sections; a splitter, filters and a combiner. Splitter splits a signal and filter filters a particular frequency. Combiner combines the frequencies after filtration. Voltage and power amplifiers are utilized to enhance the power and quality of the signal. Circuit calculation Assumptions are made and values for mixer transistor, input, power supply, graphic equalizer, and voltage and power amplifiers are calculated to produce the circuit. Circuit test The calculated values are tested on the circuit and it is found that the calculated values have approximately same results on the circuit. Project cost The total cost of the components is almost $36.24. The industry partner cost is about $4800 and the total student cost is about $11200. Review of Risks The risks involved in the utilization of electricity and other electric instruments could be minimized by following the rules and regulations of electric safety. Labs safety instructions must have an importance. The risk management strategy should be followed and in case a plan fails a second plan should be there. Wider Professional issues Project should be managed properly to finish the project in time. The project should be consulted with the industry partners to remain the project on track. Research is made to verify that there is nothing that is not known considering the project. Control Procedures Scheduling of the project would be a better control procedure. Project should be divided into various parts and each part is scheduled accordingly. Conflicts will be minimized by considering a ll the options. A change strategy should be there and industry partners could impose any changes in the project. INTRODUCTION The word ‘Karaoke’ is taken from the Japanese language, where ‘kara’ and ‘oke’ are combined to drive the meaning of ‘karaoke’. The word ‘kara’ means ‘blank’ and ‘oke’ is derived to term orchestra. In general, a machine that eliminates the lead vocalist from a song or a music video is known as karaoke machine. The karaoke machines were developed to provide a singer with the full orchestra. At places where there is a need of orchestra and it is impossible to provide a singer with the full orchestra, karaoke machines are utilized to fulfill the lacking of band or orchestra. Audio cassette tapes and video cassette tapes were employed by the early karaoke machines. By the advancements in the technology, karaoke machines used compact disks, video compact disks and DVDs. Now a day the digital electronics revolutionized the technology and the basic structure of karaoke machine is changed as compared to its early version. The title of our project is â€Å"Transistor Level Implementation of Karaoke Machine with six-band Graphic Equalizer†. In the project our mission is to develop a karaoke machine with a six band equalizer. The karaoke machine is utilizing transistor instead of op-amps. The circuitry is not a complex one. The concept of six band graphic equalizer has enhanced the division of frequency into its various

Alienation from society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Alienation from society - Essay Example iestleys An Inspector Calls and Mark Haddons The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nigh-Time, both texts reveal alienation within some of the characters; however Priestleys play only reveals the onset of alienation of the characters because of Mr. and Mrs. Birling conforming to the social norm of the era, while Haddons Christopher Boone faces alienation because he sees the world differently than most people. Priestley portrays both Mr. and Mrs. Birling with typical characteristics of the upper class people in the early twentieth-century of English society which leads to the onset of alienation. Mr. and Mrs. Birling actions contradict with the term alienation from the Britannica Online Encyclopedia because they conform to the social norms of that time. Mr. Birling believes that ones destiny is under ones own control. Mr. Birling also believes that â€Å"a man has to make his own way---has to look after himself...and so long as he does that he wont come to much harm† (299). This suggests that Mr. Birling is a man who believes that everyone only needs to look after themselves and ignore what is going in society, which was a common belief of the upper class during that time. Mr. Birling fail to realize that he is living in a society where everyone’s actions towards each other can have a negative influence towards other people, so he is unconsciously closing himself from the re st of society. He believes that everyone should look after himself, thus the same can be said for the way Mr. Birling views the lower class people because he does not seem to care at all about the hardships of the laborers due to his belief that everything is in place and nothing needs to be done. Such mentality was common for the upper class people at the time who believed in the status quo. To Mr. Birling the labor strike is nothing more than â€Å"silly talk† from the workers: â€Å"Last month, just because the miners came out on strike, theres a lot of wild talk about possible labor trouble in

Research in Psychology Mozart Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research in Psychology Mozart Effect - Essay Example The third group was the control group and was subjected to no music at all. The first group was tested for the alternative hypothesis and was reported to demonstrate a higher level of success result on the memory test scores whereas the members of the second group lagged behind in performing well on the memory test scores. However, in addition to this, the positive effect of rock music has been tracked and noticed which has then been incorporated and discussed in the study. The Mozart's effect was first coined by Alfred Tomatis who observed that Mozart's music created the greatest healing effect on human body. His proposition was that listening to the composition of Mozart can enhance the general intellect level in human beings along with sharpening of the spatial understanding skills and capabilities. For quite some time, the discipline of mind that is psychology has developed independently by divorcing itself from the science of the brain networking and its functioning, that is neuroscience. Psychologists have always been interested in our mental functioning and their capacities with special interest and focus on how we learn, remember, and imagine. The interest of neuroscientists in the development and functioning of brain has led to the furthering of studies which now encompass our mental software from the brain along with the working and performance of our neural hardware. Don Campbell in his book The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power o... Don Campbell in his book The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit has stressed on the positive effects on the vocal, emotional and general skills related to spatial intelligence in direct correlation with Mozart's effect. In addition, he has talked about the outcomes on improved concentration and memory, enhanced creative progression of the right-brain and strengthening in common intuitive thinking skills. Background Information on the Topic It is believed that Mozart's music serves as a carrier, in that we use its beat or melody to help encode the content for relaxation and elation. Later on Rauscher, K.Y. and Shaw (1993) carried out an experiment on the basis of 'Mozart's effect', called the Music and Spatial Task Performance. It was found that the participants who had listened to Mozart's music scored 8-9 point higher as compared to those who either listened to another piece of music or listened to nothing at all. The piece of music used for this study was Mozart's 'Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K448'.Campbell (1997) further supported the study. However, this study was criticized by Steele (1999) who had tried to replicate the original study but failed to find any improvements Creation of Essential Question The essential question would be, that is there any presence of a positive cause and effect relationship on the memory status of the students who listen to Mozart's music, as it is propagated in the theory of Mozart's effect. HypothesisThe hypothesis that is to be tested for this study is, "Listening to Mozart's music has no effect on human memory" Review of Literature William Forde Thompson, E. Glenn Schellenberg, Gabriela Husain (2001) have

Timberland †Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Timberland – Corporate Social Responsibility Essay How do Timberlands social responsibility efforts and high ethical standards benefit the company? Timberland’s CSR (Corporate social responsibility) efforts benefit the company in a number of ways: By involving all stakeholders be it consumers, employees or stock holders, Timberland ensures that it is not â€Å"business as usual† but much more towards giving back to the community from which it derives sustenance. By contributing to the local community through PIES (Partners in education and service) and other projects, it ensures that the local community is made to feel like â€Å"part of the family† Timberland is undertaking thirteen different projects with the local community and the employee’s involvement sparks what the management calls a â€Å"revolution† in social justice. Over the past several years, corporate America has been shaken by a series of scandals involving the top management and the whole image of these companies had taken a severe beating. Timberland, by its CSR efforts has ensured that all its stakeholders have a positive approach towards the company and this helps it in its business efforts.       Why is the leader’s personal involvement key? By aligning themselves with the social responsibility efforts, Timberland’s management has ensured that: Their personal involvement ensures that the employees are motivated and â€Å"follow the leader† in their efforts towards CSR By letting employees get a paid leave of 40 hours to contribute towards CSR efforts, the leadership of Timberland is sending a strong message to all the stakeholders about its sincerity and commitment towards the community projects The fact that the leadership was present at the meeting of volunteers to kick off the CSR efforts is a signal that â€Å"everyone is involved†. Timberland is striving to create a brand identity for itself as a caring and ethical company. Towards this, the leadership wants to ensure that it does not fall into the quagmire of profit driven unethical behavior and instead engage themselves with the community at large.

Impact of the European Paediatric Life Support Course

Impact of the European Paediatric Life Support Course Abstract Background: Even though anaesthetists do not resuscitate children on a daily basis, they need to perform paediatric life support regularly due to their different duties. As the knowledge of international guidelines varies widely, highly standardized European Paediatric Life Support (EPLS) courses have been introduced to improve standards of care. This national survey among Austrian anaesthetists and EPLS course participants evaluated the impact of this course at the end of the guideline period 2005-2010. Methods: After approval by the institutional review board an online survey about paediatric resuscitation guidelines was sent to EPLS course participants of the guideline period 2005 (EPLS group) and members of the Austrian Society of Anaesthesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (-GARI) two weeks before publication of the resuscitations guidelines 2010. Respondents without an EPLS course were assigned to the non-EPLS group. Results: Of 333 respondents 247 finished the survey. One hundred eighty five persons were assigned to EPLS group and 62 to the non-EPLS group. Members of the EPLS group performed significantly better than the non-EPLS group (76Â ±19% correct answers EPLS group vs. 63Â ±18% correct answers non-EPLS group, p

Changes On Employees Retention And Performance In Kfc

Changes On Employees Retention And Performance In Kfc Employees are considered as the best resources particularly in the service business sector. Also employees are the key stakeholders who are affected mostly due to organisational management or ownership change. Downsizing and rightsizing are some of the key issues resulting from the mergers and acquisitions globally and this affects the international policies and strategies of the multinationals. Also employees policies are mostly at stake. This issue is, therefore, being analysed to study the impacts of frequent ownership changes in KFC particularly from 1971 to 1986 on the employees retention and growth. As KFC is a global giant in fast-food / service business sector and faced frequent ownership changes in a short span of time so this case can add value to the reader of this report and other businesses to understand the relation of employees retention, performance and productivity with the leadership / ownership issues and how such situation can be dealt. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) An Introduction In 1930 KFC was launched and the mission was to provide quality, service and cleanliness (QSC) to the customers and consumers. Competition level was very low in the industry particularly in the domestic market. KFC growth was good in its initial decades but with the increasing competition in the domestic market the cake size started squeezing. Popeyes, the major competitor for KFC, was born in 1972 which comes second with a share (12.7%) and KFC (55.2%) (http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/). In early 1950s KFC went in the foreign market (http://www.kfc.com/about/history.asp ). 3.0 Research Question Did the past frequent ownership changes in KFC have an impact on the employees retention and performance? 4.0 Objectives The key objectives of this study are to; Assess whether frequent ownership changes affect managerial policies Study whether the frequent ownership changes have an impact on employees retention rate Evaluate the impacts of organisational ownership change son employees performance Literature Review Fast-food is considered as convenience food that can be cooked and served very quickly. On the average, 1/5th of the population of the USA (which is approximately 45 million people) eats every day in a fast-food restaurant. The term fast-food denotes speed in both food preparation and customer service, as well as speed in customer eating habits. The designation, quick service (http://www.answers.com/topic/fast-food?cat=entertainment ) has been traditionally preferred by the restaurant industry. There are certain forces which makes an industry attractive globally. As fast-food industry grew in the USA competition also became tough in the domestic market. Industry faced maturity stage (http://www.kfc.com/about/history.asp). At this stage of industry life cycle companies started entering in the foreign markets in order to survive. The doors for industrial growth and reforms had opened due to the economic revolution after World War II. Governments needed the foreign businesses to come and participate in the economic development of the country. For example China relaxed its policies regarding the western service businesses particularly agricultural modernisation plans of China needed poultry industry to grow (http://www.franchisetochina.com/h3.htm). Fast-food is considered as economical and easy to cook food. Chicken is relatively cheaper ingredient as compared to mutton and beef. Also chicken growth is economical because it grows faster and consumes fewer inputs. In many Asian and Latin Americans countries chicken is traditional food. These all factors lead to economies of scale for fast food industry particularly related with chicken meals. Consumer market has changed tremendously. Drivers like global economic reforms and higher divorce rate in the USA have led to more female workers (http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/) and they need ready meal to save time. The average mother of a child under 15 spends more on fast food every year than on books, music, movies and video games combined, according to a new report (Mindlin, 2008). Health conscious consumers taste has also changed. People like to have some light meal during work hours (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/sub jects/f/fast_food_industry/index.html). These forces made the industry attractive and increased the potential and demand of fast-food in the world. Fast-food industry apparently has a localisation approach. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc have adapted their organisational culture and menu according to host country culture and values. Particularly KFC deployed localisation strategies in China and McDonalds removed pork from its menu in India. Figure 2 below explains that a balance is necessary to achieve a successful strategic move in the foreign market. Respond locally through learning the cultural values of host country and integrate them with the companys global core values. Global Integration Local Responsiveness Cross Boundary Learning Fast-food industry flourished in the USA during the last centaury. The chicken segment was the 5th in terms of sales in the fast-food industry and there were few competitors as compared to other segments. For instance the sandwich chain segment which included McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy had 12 competitors while KFC had only 5. KFC was the overall 6th biggest (http://lidan.net/blog/2004/04/kfcs_localization_strategies_in_china.html). In 1999 fast-food industry sales rose by 5.4% with around 0.8 million restaurants in the USA and during the same period full service restaurants grew by 7%. Gradually the due to saturation in the sector companies started exiting the industry (like Boston was acquired by McDonalds) or decided to enter in the foreign markets. Domestically the chicken market seemed saturated and the growth rate in the USA was only 1% (http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/). According to available literature, the estimated annual worth of the UK fast-food market is  £7.82 billion (Keynote 2003), equal to an average spend of  £20/month/adult (Schrà ¶der and McEachern, 2005). Due to busier consumer lifestyles and dual-working families with children emphasis is increasingly being placed on quick meal solutions (Atkins and Bowler 2001). Therefore there is a market growth of 19% in fast-food since 1998 (Keynote 2003). For service business sector, particularly, manpower or employees are key resources to gain profitability (Heskett and Sasser, 1994). Take figure 3 below. Customer loyalty stimulates profit and growth in the business and customers loyalty is a direct result of the customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely influenced by the services value provided to the customers and consumers and this value is created by the loyal, satisfied and productive employees. However employees satisfaction is resulted primarily from the high-quality support services and policies that enable the employees to deliver results to the customers (http://hbr.org/1994/03/putting-the-service-profit-chain-to-work/ar/1). Service Value Chain This model reveals that employees are key resources particularly for the service business organisations. Streamlined organisational processes and consistency in the organisational policies help facilitate the employees in service industry (particularly) to deliver quality services to the customers and add value with efficient performance to achieve sustainable growth and profitability. However consistent policies and long term strategic planning also need stability in the organisations management (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Or-Pr/Planning.html) and author also understands that the organisational ownership change should not influence and change the organisational policies especially employees policies in the service business sector at a stroke or right from day one rather lead time should be given to the employees and other stakeholders so that everybody can adjust with the changing environment. Employees are considered as a companys live hood. If employees in an organisation are highly motivated and proactive, every effort will be done by the employees to achieve the organisational goals as well as keep track of industry performance to address any potential challenges. This two-prong approach builds an organisations stability. On the other hand with low motivation level of employees an organisation is completely vulnerable to both internal and external challenges because the employees are not going the extra mile to maintain the organisations stability and thus unstable organisation ultimately underperforms (http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5407144_employee-motivation-impact-organizational-performance_.html). In todays work environment want a relaxed and hygienic work environment and have fun with a balance between the life, work and family (http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationrewardretention/Employee_Motivation_Recognition_Rewards_Retention.htm). Literature also reveals that key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of any business or organistaion. Managers agree that managers ole is key to retain best employees to ensure business success (http://humanresources.about.com/od/retention/a/more_retention.htm). Important organising principles include organisational values in designing HRM polices. Compensation and developing an individual are deeply related with the satisfaction and commitment of the employees which mean particularly in the service business sector employee retention and growth with performance also depends on managements policies at strategic board level (Rosete, 2006). Employees retention in the quick service industry is key to success of the business. Quick service companies retain the most desirable employees by recognizing employees contribution to the organisation because recognition is an effective leadership tool that motivates the employees and acknowledges the efforts and creativity or willingness of employees to exert extra effort. The biggest problem for the quick service industry and which creates major drains of profit and human resources is employee turnover. According to a report the annualised turnover rate of employees was 16% in 2000. The same turnover numbers as related to the quick service industry are employees 150% and management 20%. The cost of turnover shares an average cost of replacing an employee is equal to the annual salary plus benefits. In the aftermath of industry downsizing, employee loyalty is also on decline. There is 11% decline in the workers commitment. However leadership (which means a consistent organisationa l policies with least possible changes) is key to retain and develop employees because the quick service industry has a direct correlation of sales, profits as compared to employee turnover (Forrer and Guerrieri, 2002). Organisational culture is developed by the management policies and leadership style. once established, the organisational culture is highly resistant to change. Employees tend to stick to a set way of working. However frequent management or ownership changes also change the working pattern and organisational goals. This may make the employees more resistant with decreased performance (Tom and Michael, 2000). In 1930 KFC was launched with a mission to provide quality, service and cleanliness (QSC) to the customers. KFC grew well in domestic market but later competition became hard in the local market. McDonalds, Wendy, Boston etc had entered in the market leading to shrunken market size. The major competitor for KFC, Popeyes, was born in 1972 which comes second with a share (12.7%) and KFC (55.2%) (http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/). In 1950s KFC went in the foreign market (http://www.kfc.com/about/history.asp). Thus KFC earned first mover advantage and brand recognition. In 1964 it entered the UK, in 1970s Japan and Asia Pacific, in 1987 China and in 1990s South Asia (http://www.kfc.com/about/history.asp). KFC has a multi domestic strategy (http://mason.gmu.edu/~tgoddar1/m411wk7.htm) to enter the foreign markets because of cultural, economical, social, legal and political factors in the host countries and this strategy also resulted in certain benefits which include; helped KFC to react to high pressures for local responsiveness, to tailor products to meet customer needs in each country of operation, to create wholly owned foreign divisions and to help core competencies transfer from home country. In addition to this; access to resources and skills in the host country, differentiation advantage through combined core competences, becoming the dominant competitor, increased profits and reduced bureaucratic costs were some of the factors to adopt multi domestic strategy. Market Entry Strategies Few Examples KFCs international composition provides a mix of foreign market entry strategies (please refer to figure 4). KFC enters the foreign / international market either through joint venture or company-owned foreign subsidiary. However mostly KFC expands its global franchise network. This is also important to know that organisational culture of KFC is mostly decentralised at operational level because franchisees are business partner or allies of KFC and the KFCs employees policies are implemented through franchising channel. It is also important here to note that organisational culture must be matched or aligned with the national culture or domestic culture. KFC is a global organisation working in many countries around the globe. KFC core organisational culture must be adapted in the host culture so that employees in the host country and customers in the host country can adopt and adapt KFCs themes and menu easily and there should be no communication gaps. This also helps facilitate the emp loyees to adjust with the organisational culture and deliver quality services to the customers. A high demand for services has been created due to the socioeconomic development in 1980s and 1990s (Davis, 2000). This reflects the potential for service businesses growth like the fast-food businesses. In recognition of the distinct nature of transitional markets (Arnold and Quelch 1998), many foreign companies have sought other ways to compete with the domestic or local offerings by clothing their brands in local costumes (Belk, 2000). According to Zhou and Hui (2003) localisation of language, product characteristics, advertising content and even product meanings is a common way accepted by the multinationals in most transitional economies. Hofstede (1980) states that culture is a complex and multifaceted construct. One of the basic dimensions of the culture is individualism collectivism. Individualistic culture stresses on independence, freedom, high levels of competition, achievement and pleasure. However the collectivistic culture has a tendency to embrace the interdependency, family security, social hierarchies, low level of the competition and cooperation (Triandis, 1993). Also advertising is a type of shared or social communication. It is reflective and indicates or specifies cultural values and norms (http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/). As cultural differences are reflected by the advertising and advertising appeals which are specific approaches or ways advertisers use to communicate the customers needs and wants (Bovee and Arens, 1989), should manifest such differences across the countries. Collectivism involves the subordination of personal interests to the goals of the group and stresses on sharing, cooperation and coordination and a group welfare concern (Zhang and Neelankavil, 1997). Sometimes minor differences in the culture put major impacts on the strategies of the companies which may affect positively or negatively the employees and the customers. Some cultures are very open to franchising especially for western businesses. An example is the UK and Europe. There are big franchising association or bodies in such countries for example British Franchise Association promoting and accrediting excellence in franchising and European Franchise Federation whose aims and objectives include promotion of franchising in European countries, protecting the franchise industry with Code of Ethics, encouraging and developing franchising in European countries, requesting the interest of franchising to international organisations, promoting European franchising worldwide, serving the members along with the exchange of documentation and information between the national association or federations in Europe and in the world (http://www.thebfa.org/index.asp). Such big platforms secure the franchisors even during the recession or economic downturn or situations like credit crunch periods and provide security to foreign businesses in the host countries to come and invest in a relatively risk free environment. Also franchising is cost effective, time saving, secure and easy to learn way to enter a new country. This reflects that a right foreign market entry strategy may help reduce the impacts of recession or economic downturns (if any) but also the cultural implications need to be integrated in the organisational employees strategies so that talent retention and development can be facilitated. But it is also important to note from the following paragraphs that organisational cultures are dependent on the leadership (owners) policies and practices and a consistent policy should be there to gain long lasting profitability and employees performance with minimum organisational changes. Literature reveals that KFC has faced a lot of managerial and organisational changes since KFCs inception. The changes occurred mostly due to the changes in the ownership (or better to say in the leadership). Colonel Sanders first sold KFC in 1964 to a small group of investors that eventually took KFC public. Heublein, Inc, purchased KFC in early seventies (in 1971) and was highly involved in day to day operations. R. J. Reynolds then acquired Heublein in 1982. R. J. Reynolds had a more laid back approach and allowed business as usual at KFC. Finally in 1986, KFC was acquired by PepsiCo, which was trying to grow the quick service restaurant segment. PepsiCo, which presently runs Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, has a management style and corporate culture significantly different from that of KFC. PepsiCo has a consumer product orientation. In 1992, KFC did another reorganisation in the middle management ranks. KFC eliminated 250 out of the 1500 management positions at corporate and gave the responsibilities restaurant franchises and marketing managers (http://kelley_keith.tripod.com/mgmnt5313.html). KFC history reveals that Heublein favoured a franchising strategy but had a low RD budgets, Reynolds strategy was to leave the managers with freedom to run units with managerial expertise and PepsiCo though provided heavy financial backing to KFC but PepsiCos hard employees policies resulted in dissatisfaction, high turnover and decreased loyalty of the employees. A service business cannot afford employees dissatisfaction (Irfan, 2008 and http://lidan.y3k.org/blog/en/2004/04/kfcs-localization-strategies-in-china/ http://www.reocities.com/TimesSquare/1848/kfc.html). Literature review reveals that the weaknesses of KFC have been determined as confusing corporate direction due to selling and reselling of KFC. KFC was sold three times between 1971 and 1986. However the organisational culture of KFC and PepsiCo are conflicting with each other. KFC was based on a laid back approach while PepsiCo culture has a fast track attitude. Since the acquisition KFC employees lacked the job security that KFC employees enjoyed before. Also top management turnovers like top managers of the KFC were replaced by the PepsiCos own management have changed the organisational culture and leadership style which is creating job insecurity in the organisation (http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/09/kentucky-fried-chicken-and-the-global-fast-food-industry.html). In conclusion from the information above it can be revealed that mergers and acquisitions are good for business growth but when ownership changes the resulting changes in the polices and culture of the organisation not only threaten the employees but also develop a resistant to change. This sometimes leads to employees turnover or decreased performance. It does not mean that organisational change is not healthy for the organisational growth but there should be a reasonable frequency and in the organisational change pattern and particularly in the service business sector where employees are key resources to deliver value to the customers because losing skilled staff due to frequent change in the organisational policies (and sometimes change in organisational culture to which the skilled staff has stuck) may result in losing the right employees and business profitability and performance may decline. To conclude this further following methodology has been suggested in the literature to analyse such cases; A case study has been suggested as a useful approach when the area of research is relatively unknown (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). It is a more flexible approach suited to different types of research questions and is most frequently used approach in business studies particularly international business. It has been suggested that case studies involve data collection through multiple primary and/or secondary sources such as verbal reports, personal interviews, observation and written reports (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Accordingly, the secondary research in this case study will involve written reports, journal articles, online information etc. 6.0 Methodology To conclude this further following methodology has been suggested in the literature to analyse such cases; A case study has been suggested as a useful approach when the area of research is relatively unknown (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). It is a more flexible approach suited to different types of research questions and is most frequently used approach in business studies particularly international business. It has been suggested that case studies involve data collection through multiple primary and/or secondary sources such as verbal reports, personal interviews, observation and written reports (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Accordingly, the secondary research in this case study will involve written reports, journal articles, online information etc. The study will be an analytical case study involving secondary research. A number of business models and frameworks like service value chain, Bartlett and Ghoshal and Total Global Strategy George S. Yip will be used to analyse the situation at macro and micro levels. To meet the criteria for analytical approach (Dubey, 2009) the facts of information already available will be used and analysis of these facts will be done to make a critical evaluation of the material. It is important that there must be sufficient information to characterise, analyse and explain the unique features of the case, as well as to point out the characteristics and properties that are common to several cases or case studies. Finally, this approach relies on the integrative powers of research: the ability to study an object with many dimensions and then to draw the various elements together in a cohesive interpretation (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). So where the area of research is relatively not known a more flexible approach which can suit the different types of research questions will be a case study approach. Also through secondary research the already available information and data is used and analysed to answer the research question but important issue is to understand that the data and information should be sufficient enough to analyse the unique features of the issue or case. 7.0 Limitations There are following limitations in this case study; Being a case study it will be focused on one company only and can give no additional analyses for the competitors business situations. Primary research is not part of the methodology in this case study. Primary research can add value by validating the past or historical information (gathered by the secondary research) under current business circumstances.

Database Management System vs Information Retrieval System :: IT Essays

1. Differentiate Between Database Management System And Information Retrieval System By Focusing On Their Functionalities. Database Management System According to Modern Database Management eight edition, by Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Mary B. Prescott and Fred R. McFadden database management system (DBMS) is define as a software system that is used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to user databases. Support Concurrent Updates Concurrent updates occur when various users make updates to the database at the same time. Supporting concurrent updates is also critical to database management as this component ensures that updates are made appropriately and the end result is precise. Without DBMS interference important data could be lost and or imprecise data stored. DBMS uses features to bear concurrent updates such as batch processing, locking, two-phase locking, and time stamping to help make certain that updates are done correctly. Again, the user is not alert all this is incident as it is the database management system’s liability to make sure all updates are stored appropriately Recovery of Data In the event a misfortune occurs, DBMS must offer ways to pull through a database so that data is not eternally lost. There are times computers may break down, a fire or other natural disaster may occur, or a user may enter inaccurate information invalidating or making records conflicting If the database is cracked or spoiled in any way, the DBMS must be able to recover the correct state of the database, and this process is called Recovery. The easiest way to do this is to make standard backups of information. This can be done at a set controlled time so in the event a catastrophe occurs, the database can be restored to the state that it was last at prior to backup. Security Security is the avoidance of illegal users accessing the database. DBMS uses features such as encryption, authentication, authorization and views to provide security to the database. Encryption is when DBMS converts the data in a database to an unreadable format. No illegal person trying to access this information will be able to read it. Authorized users will be able to see it in normal form. Authentication is a technique in which the database officer can identify the person accessing the database. Authorized users are given passwords and successful entry of a legitimate password will allow the user entry into the database, if a password is not effectively entered, the user will be denied access. Authorization is a set of rules that the database administrator (DBA) sets up to specify levels of practice that individuals or groups are allowed to have.

The Once And Future King :: essays research papers

Wart and The Master   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people wish to be an animal if only for a day, just to see what it is like to be that animal. The obvious problem is that nobody knows how to turn himself into an animal. However, in T.H. White's Once and Future King, Wart has the opportunity to experience life as an animal because his tutor, Merlyn the magician, transforms him into many different animals. Of all the adventures, the most significant transformation to Wart's kingship occurs when he becomes a badger because the badger teaches Wart valuable lessons about human behavior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wart's transformation into a badger provides him with insight to become a great king. The badger teaches him certain characteristics about humans which help him to rule his kingdom. For example, he states, 'True warfare is what happens between bands of the same species'; (194). The animals in Wart's other transformations teach him only about their societies. The most important information that the badger gives to Wart is that humans are one of the only species in the world who fight among themselves. The badger supports this statement when he says, 'There are more than four thousand different sorts of them, and from all those kinds I can only think of five which are belligerent. There are the five ants, one termite that I know of, and Man';(194). This insult influences Wart to create the Round Table when he becomes the King. The purpose of the Round Table is to get all the barons to stop fighting among themselves and to form an alliance to fight only to protect th e weak. Therefore, the badger's insult influences the creation of the Round Table.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wart's adventure as a badger was the most beneficial transformation to him as a king.

A Comparison of Gender-Roles in A Dolls House and A Streetcar named De

Gender-Roles in A Doll's House and A Streetcar named Desire   Ã‚   The roles of males and females in our society are subjects that entail great criticism, and have been under scrutiny for as long as a `society' has existed. In analyzing A Doll's House by Henrick Ibsen and A Streetcar named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the effects that gender-roles have on relationships is an evident aspect in both of the plays. The choice of words used by the authors strongly underscores the themes of supremacy, selfishness, inequality, and unmistakably, the roles of men and women in society.    In Act I of A Doll's House, there are many clues that hint at the kind of marriage Nora and Torvald have. It seems that Nora is a doll controlled solely by Torvald. She relies on him for everything, from movements to thoughts, much like a puppet that is dependent on its puppet master for all of its actions. The most obvious example of Torvald's physical control over Nora is his teaching her the tarantella. Nora pretends that she needs Torvald to teach her every move in order to relearn the dance. The reader knows this is an act, and it shows her submissiveness to Torvald. After he teaches her the dance, he proclaims "When I saw you turn and sway in the tarantella - my blood was pounding till I couldn't stand it"(Ibsen 1009), showing how he is more interested in Nora physically than emotionally. When Nora responds by saying "Go away, Torvald! Leave me alone. I don't want all this"(Ibsen 1009), Torvald asks "Aren't I your husband?"(Ibsen 1009). By saying this, he is implyin g that one of Nora's duties as his wife is to physically pleasure him at his command.    Torvald also does not trust Nora with money, which exemplifi... ...tely equal, and if neither men nor women used the power that society gives them based on their sex, then, and only then, could true equality exist in our world.    Works Consulted Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House (1879). Trans. Rolf Fjelde. Rpt. in Michael Meyer, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th edition. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. 1564-1612. Lant, Kathleen Margaret. "A Streetcar Named Misogyny." pp. 225-238 Redmond, James (Editor). Violence in Drama. Cambridge University Press; 1991. Shaw, Bernard. "A Doll's House Again."   Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.   Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1979. Templeton, Joan. "The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen." PMLA (January 1989): 28-40. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet. Original copyright 1947.      

Music Education

Key Curriculum ElementsI believe teaching individuals about singing, playing instruments, moving, composing and listening is incredibly important, ranging from infants through to adults, but starting in early childhood would be most beneficial for long term benefits. These key elements contribute significantly in developing their music skills and knowledge; contributing to their education on a more broad scale (Broad, 2007 pg23); and/or assisting the student’s emotional/mental development. The difficulties that could be expected in the classroom when integrating the music curriculum into lessons could be students lack of wanting to participate (I can’t do it, I’m not good at music) due to fear of failure and/or embarrassment from low self esteem; participation levels of extroverted students in comparison to introverted students; or even a lack of concentration and maturity to handle situations. Other difficulties that might be a challenge may perhaps be the lack of funding to offer reasonable resources; insufficient time allocation to allow reasonable attention to the music curriculum; teachers/students having high expectations of their abilities and those expectations not being met; and there being a lack of space for students to move and experiment.Some potential solutions I can think of, to the difficulties I have stated above might be: ï  ¶ providing a safe and encouraging environment so students do not feel if they attempt something and it does not go as well as they wanted or they might think they have failed. Instead they receive encouragement and  reassurance that they haven’t failed or let anyone down, what they have now done is create something new and/or something they can learn from, lots of positive feedback from the teacher and other students; ï  ¶ encouraging small groups of 2-4 would help introverted students participate more.By having each child required to have a specific task in all group work, so each child can have the same participation level might help introverted students have more participation and extroverted students still have participation, yet not over-whelming the introverted students; ï  ¶ constantly evolving activities used in class to stimulate students learning and encourage active learning, encouraging lack of boredom.Scaffold information and skills starting from basics to attempt to develop a more mature level of understanding and knowledge base for students to be more comfortable; ï  ¶ the lack of funding to offer reasonable resources does not always have to be seen as a negative, it allows students to use their imagination and creativity to find alternate resources to complete the same task or similar tasks; ï  ¶ insufficient time allocation to allow reasonable attention to the music curriculum is always going to be a sad situation, but integrating the music curriculum into other KLA’s allows the students to be able to enjoy music and appreciate that mus ic can be incorporated into any situation in their lives; ï  ¶ unfortunately teachers/students will always have high expectations of their abilities and those expectations will not always be met.The best teachers can do is to not allow students to see when the students have not meet the expectations they had and when students do not meet their own expectations, the teacher needs to encourage the student to try again and learn from their previous experience; ï  ¶ a lack of space for students to move and experiment is a shame but, a classroom is not the only place that students can learn to create, they can do the basic or the foundation type work in a classroom and then move out into the playground or a hall. One of the best things about music is that it can be created; played; movement; and listened to anywhere there is a desire to enjoy/appreciate it.Some of the things I would hope to achieve in the classroom through the integration of the music curriculum are encouragement of the appreciation of music; knowledge of music and how it can impact ones life; how music can be integrated into everyday life; and no matter who you are you can sing, play instruments, move (dance), compose and listen to  music.Integrating Music into the CurriculumHSIE: This Is Me! (Early Stage 1)Activity 1 – Puppet Joe teaching the students a poem and some rhythm ‘The End’ with Puppet Joe, this will be explained in Lesson Plan 1 Activity 2 – Mirroring each other’s movements to musicThe students are paired off and allocated their own space in the room, standing up, they are facing each other. They will then listen to ‘What I Am’ by Will.I.Am. As they listen to the song, it will speed up and slow down. The students will need to adapt their movement to follow the tempo of the music, for example faster movements as the music speeds or slower movements when the music slows. Once they are able to adapt to different tempos, the music will c hange dynamics via getting louder and softer. The students will need to adapt their movement to follow the dynamics of the music for example larger movements when the music is louder or smaller movements when the music is softer.The students will take turns in leading the movements through each change. Once the song has played through, the students will have a few minutes to talk and create movements together for the tempo and dynamic sections of the song. The song is run through a second time and the students will move together to the music showing the movements they had worked on together. The students are then encouraged to talk through what they found was the best representation of the music when it would change dynamic and tempo. Did the music have repetition, a constant beat, similarities and differences? Time Allocation: 45 minutes HSIE: Celebrations (Stage 1)Activity 3 – Song – ListeningThe class is allocated into groups of 4-5 in their own spaces. Each group c hooses a cultural celebration from a box on the teacher’s desk (each cultural celebration is celebrated by one or more of the students in the class at home).Once they have all picked the activity, they are given a kit (which has been put together by the students prior to this lesson as part of the Celebrations unit they are studying). They will listen to the song that is part of the kit and discuss as a group the beat, pitch, tone colour,  duration, dynamics, tempo and structure of the song. They discuss what features appealed to them or those that did not. Time allocation: 45 minutes Activity 4 – Mirroring each other through rhythm and movement Mirror Me, this will be explained in Lesson Plan 2HSIE: Global Environments: Rainforests (Stage 3) Activity 5 – Visualising the MusicStudents are advised that they are required to produce a visual representation of the music they are about to hear. The class will talk about sounds and how they can represent their music visualisation. The students can, if they choose to, have different sections of the painting for different aspects they visualise with the music. For example, they can have 1 whole painting, 2 halves or 4 quarters, so they can show up to 4 different aspects of the music they are hearing. The class talks about what they are going to produce, it is not a vague impression rather a visualisation of what they believe that Rainforest looks like. Students will listen to a 2 minute excerpt from ‘Relaxing Mix’ by Calmsound.The excerpt of the song will be repeated 4 times with 4 minutes between each repetition and the students have 10 minutes after to complete their painting. After the allocated time, the class will have a discussion on the different aspects they visualised and what aspect of the music created that specific image, tone colour, pitch, tempo, dynamic? The paintings will be put aside once dry to be used in another activity on another day. Time Allocation: 60 minutes Activity 6 – Group composition of a soundscape from a rainforest painting Rainforest Soundscapes, this will be explained in Lesson Plan 3HSIE – ‘The End’ with Puppet Joe Lesson Plan 1 Activity 1 – Puppet Joe teaching the students a poem and some rhythm 1. Level: Early Stage 1 2. Goals: Students will learn the poem ‘The End’ by A. A. Milne. Students will be able to follow a beat/rhythm and accomplish co-ordinated movement. 3. Teaching materials 1. Puppet Joe 2. 2 x taping sticks for the beat 3. 1 copy of ‘The End’ poem by A. A. Milne (see appendix 1) 4. White board 5. White board marker 6. Coloured magnets for the white board 4. Learning outcomes: Musical activity Performing Singing (y) Playing Instruments (n) Moving (y) Organising Sound (n) Listening (y) Musical Concepts Duration (rhythm) (y) Pitch (y) Dynamics (y) Tone Colour (n) Structure (y) 5. Procedure1. Clear an area in the middle of the room and have students sit on the floor in their own space. 2. Teacher introduces Puppet Joe (a kookaburra puppet) and explains that Joe will help them learn a new poem called ‘The End’ by A. A. Milne (see appendix 1). 3. Start with Joe saying the first verse and then repeating the verse using his taping sticks he creates a beat (ti-ti ta ta, ti-ti ta ti-ti). The students then sing through the verse while tapping their knees or clapping their hands with the beat/rhythm. 4. Teacher writes the poem on the white board under bars and talks through the beats/rhythm and words, placing different coloured magnets for the ti-ti’s and ta’s.5. Each verse is then taught the same way, until the last 2 verses when the beat/rhythm is different (ti-ti ta ti-ti, ta ta ti-ti ta ta ta), ‘The End’ sheet music see appendix 2. Once the class has learnt the poem and the beat/rhythm, they then sing through the poem together. 6. The class then picks out a number from a box and the number allocate s the student to their group. In the group the students talk through what movement they think would be good for their verse and if they should use loud, soft, fast or slow speech/singing.7. The class sings through the poem together and then each group sings their own verse with their chosen movement. Then the class sings their section of the poem loud, soft, fast, slow or using a different voice without their movement. Then again mixing the movement and their chosen musical concept. 8. Ask the class if they have any suggestions about the structure, if they think it could be changed. Pick a couple of the suggestions and try them out, see if the class thinks they make the composition better or worse. As a class the student talk through the actions chosen by the groups and the musical concepts, whether they were applicable or not to their verse? Whether there was repetition in the beat/rhythm? What similarities and differences there was in the beat/rhythm?6. AssessmentSee appendix 3 fo r the assessment sheet. 7. Links to other subjects HSIE, Mathematics, English and PDHPE.HSIE – Mirror Me Lesson Plan 2 Activity 4 – Mirroring each other through rhythm and movement 1. Level: Stage 1 2. Goals: Students will understand how rhythm works and identify how the music changes resulting in their movements changing. Students will perform a number of rhythms and patterns in movement focusing on rhythmic correctness and co-ordinated movement. 3. Teaching materials1. IPod dock 2. IPod with Creation by Descendance Aboriginal & Tsi Dance Theatre on it 4. Learning outcomes: Musical activity Performing Singing (n) Playing Instruments (n) Moving (y) Organising Sound (n) Listening (y) Musical Concepts Duration (rhythm) (y) Pitch (y) Dynamics (y) Tone Colour (y) Structure (y) 5. Procedure1. Clear an area in the middle of the room. For this activity the students could even go into the school hall if it is available, to allow for extra space. 2. Have the student’s pa ir up and stand in 2 lines. Allocate the lines names – trees and grass. Have the students move away to their own area in the room/hall and face each other. 3. Talk to the class and advise that when a name (trees or grass) is called out the other student in the pair has to follow the other student. That students need to try movements they think would suit the music, fast, slow, loud and soft. What types of movements would best suit. If the students wanted to they could even represent Australian animals. 4. Start playing the song and prompt the students to listen at first. Then call out trees, as the students are comfortable in following (no less than 60 seconds), the teacher calls out grass. Alternating between the leader gets faster as the students learn to adapt faster.5. The teacher then increases the volume and decreases the volume to encourage alternate responses in the music. 6. At the end the teacher prompts the students to talk about what movements went best with which types of music? What types of movements did they use for the tempo, pitch, dynamics, tone colour? Did they prefer certain parts of the song more than others and why? Those students who represented animals, did they find it hard to choose movements and keep in character for the lesson? Was it easy for students to follow the leader? Was it easy to lead? Which did students prefer to follow or lead?6. AssessmentSee appendix 4 for the assessment sheet. 7. Links to other subjects HSIE, Mathematics, English and Science and Technology.HSIE – Rainforest Soundscapes Lesson Plan 3 Activity 6 – Group composition of a soundscape from a rainforest painting 1. Level: Stage 3 2. Goals: Students will create and perform a soundscape with the use of instruments, voice and movements from a painting of a rainforest. They will demonstrate their rhythmic abilities, co-ordination with movements, their ability to work in groups and ability to create a composition. 3. Teaching materials1. Pain tings from previous music lesson 2. Cardboard box 3. 5 x numbers 1-6 4. White board 5. White board marker 6. Coloured magnets for the white board 7. 6 x A3 sheets of paper with a blank grid on it. 8. Coloured pencils 9. Instruments – chimes, drums, triangles, xylophone, tambourines, etc 4. Learning outcomes: Musical activity Performing Singing (y) Playing Instruments (y) Moving (y) Organising Sound (y) Listening (y) Musical Concepts Duration (rhythm) (y) Pitch (y) Dynamics (y) Tone Colour (y) Structure (y) 5. Procedure1. Each student picks out a number (1-6) from a box and that shows which group the student is assigned to. On the white board the list of effects (see appendix 5) is written. Depending on which number the group is, depends on what the effect they will need to introduce into their soundscape. The rainforest pictures have been painted prior to this lesson from an alternate music activity. Each group chooses their favourite painting to create the soundscape from (o n condition that none of the students in the group painted it).2. The class has a discussion on what a soundscape is (a quick refresher) and what they need to cover when preparing for it (dynamics, tempo, pitch, tone colour, etc). The students are encouraged to create a story to at least start and finish the soundscape, they are welcome to have the story throughout the soundscape, eg the effect with the men with axes, they could have them laughing and talking, whistling, etc.The students are also encouraged to include movements if they can see it fits with their soundscape, eg in the gorilla congregation, they can have one or two students sitting like gorillas and making gorilla noises. 3. Each group receives an A3 sheet of paper with a blank grid (see appendix 6) on it and coloured pencils. The students choose the instruments they believe will get the best result for their soundscape and work on their composition which needs to include the allocated effect for their rainforest soun dscape. 4. Once the students have spent the allotted time creating the soundscape on the grid paper (see appendix 7) and practicing it.They will then perform as a group in-front of the class and demonstrate their soundscape. 5. Once all groups have finished performing for the class, there is a class discussion on the musical concepts used by each group and how they felt they related to the painting and soundscape? Did they find that each group included rhythm, tempo, pitch, structure, dynamics, tone colour and if they felt that the groups incorporated the assigned effect successfully? Did the groups that used storytelling as part of their soundscape find it easier/harder to follow the story being told? Did any of the soundscapes sound like they came from any particular cultures? 6. AssessmentSee appendix 8 for the assessment sheet. 7. Links to other subjects HSIE, English and Science and Technology.

Immanuel Kant Essay

HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. philosophypages. com/ph/kant. htm† Immanuel Kant answers the question in the first sentence of the essay: â€Å"Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. † He argues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. He exclaims that the motto of enlightenment is â€Å"Sapere aude†! – Dare to be wise! The German word Unmundigkeit means not having attained age of majority or legal adulthood. â€Å"Unmundig† also means â€Å"dependent† or â€Å"unfree†, and another translation is â€Å"tutelage† or â€Å"nonage† (the condition of â€Å"not [being] of age†). Kant, whose moral philosophy is centred around the concept of autonomy, here distinguishes between a person who is intellectually autonomous and one who keeps him/herself in an intellectually heteronomous, i. e. dependent and immature status. Kant understands the majority of people to be content to follow the guiding institutions of society, such as the Church and the Monarchy, and unable to throw off the yoke of their immaturity due to a lack of resolution to be autonomous. It is difficult for individuals to work their way out of this immature, cowardly life because we are so uncomfortable with the idea of thinking for ourselves. Kant says that even if we did throw off the spoon-fed dogma and formulas we have absorbed, we would still be stuck, because we have never â€Å"cultivated our minds. † The key to throwing off these chains of mental immaturity is reason. There is hope that the entire public could become a force of free thinking individuals if they are free to do so. Why? There will always be a few people, even among the institutional â€Å"guardians†, who think for themselves. They will help the rest of us to â€Å"cultivate our minds. † Kant shows himself a man of his times when he observes that â€Å"a revolution may well put an end to autocratic despotism . . . or power-seeking oppression, but it will never produce a true reform in ways of thinking. † The recently completed American Revolution had made a great impression in Europe; Kant cautions that new prejudice will replace the old and become a new leash to control the â€Å"great unthinking masses. † Immanuel Kant’s Ideas on Science and Morality According to the 18th-century German thinker Immanuel Kant, no person may possess inherent wisdom about reality. This is best summarized in the philosopher’s famous expression, â€Å"Thoughts without content are empty; intuitions without data are blind. † Indeed, Kant believes that in order for us to utilize our sensible intuition, we must possess two stimuli, â€Å"physical sensation† and â€Å"moral duty. † The first of the two addresses a portion of Kantian thought known as â€Å"empirical realism,† a reasoning that defines that absolute reality as the entire universe in which all human beings dwell. Every time we acquire external data from that absolute reality, our perception of it assumes a greater degree of accuracy. And what would be the optimal way of acquiring such data with only minimal if any contact with other persons’ perceptions (which are, like ours, inaccurate, only in different ways, since each human being possesses a unique arsenal of experiences)? Scientific exploration is, therefore, the key to an ultimate comprehension of things-in-themselves. Kant was a fervent admirer of Newtonian thought and the Scientific Method, which permitted scientists to ascend to unprecedented heights in their understanding of and control over nature. The second stimulus to action, moral duty, provides the explanation for the purpose of all human actions toward the comprehension of the universe. This portion of Kant’s doctrine has been dubbed by the philosopher as â€Å"transcendental idealism,† since it establishes a framework outside the natural world upon which correct actions are based. Kant sees the ultimate virtues to be the attempts to reach three goals which are not yet found in reality, God, freedom, and the immortality of individuals. God, the Creator and Supreme Being of the universe, must be fathomed, properly interpreted, and obeyed in accordance with his true desires. Freedom, the individual liberty to act as one wishes and to grant all others this right, must be instituted through societal reforms and a development of ideology to understand the proper order that would establish such an atmosphere. And, at last, every human being must rise to possess the right to exist for an indefinite length of time that he may 1 / 3 obey the commandments of God and practice his freedoms. Kant states that all which is right and moral must be based upon those three principles. As such, Kant separates the scientific realm (which describes what is) from the moral realm (which explains what ought to be), but he considers these two realms to go hand-in-hand — ultimately advocating putting the scientific realm in service to moral one. Kant: The â€Å"Copernican Revolution† in Philosophy The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is sometimes called the â€Å"Copernican revolution of philosophy† to emphasize its novelty and huge importance. Kant synthesized (brought together) rationalism and empiricism. After Kant, the old debate between rationalists and empiricists ended, and epistemology went in a new direction. After Kant, no discussion of reality or knowledge could take place without awareness of the role of the human mind in constructing reality and knowledge. Summary of Rationalism The paradigm rationalist philosophers are Plato (ancient); Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz (modern). Don’t trust senses, since they sometimes deceive; and since the â€Å"knowledge† they provide is inferior (because it changes). Reason alone can provide knowledge. Math is the paradigm of real knowledge. There are innate ideas, e. g. , Plato’s Forms, or Descartes’ concepts of self, substance, and identity. The self is real and discernable through immediate intellectual intuition (cogito ergo sum). Moral notions are comfortably grounded in an objective standard external to self — in God, or Forms. Kant says rationalists are sort of right about (3) and (4) above; wrong about (1) and (2). Kant would like (5) to be true. Summary of Empiricism The paradigm empiricist philosophers are Aristotle (ancient); Locke, Berkeley, Hume (modern). Senses are the primary, or only, source of knowledge of world. Psychological atomism. Mathematics deals only with relations of ideas (tautologies); gives no knowledge of world. No innate ideas (though Berkeley accepts Cartesian self). General or complex ideas are derived by abstraction from simple ones (conceptualism). Hume — there’s no immediate intellectual intuition of self. The concept of â€Å"Self† is not supported by sensations either. Hume — no sensations support the notion of necessary connections between causes and effects, or the notion that the future will resemble the past. Hume — â€Å"is† does not imply â€Å"ought†. Source of morality is feeling. Kant thinks empiricism is on the right track re (1), sort of right re (2), wrong re (3), (4), (5), and (6). Summary of Kant’s Argument The epistemological debate between rationalism and empiricism is basically about whether, or to what extent the senses contribute to knowledge. Both rationalism and empiricism take for granted that it’s possible for us to acquire knowledge of Reality, or how things really are, as opposed to how they seem to us. But both rationalism and empiricism overlook the fact that the human mind is limited; it can experience and imagine only within certain constraints. These constraints are both synthetic and a priori. All our possible experience must conform to these SAPs. The SAPs include location in space and time, causality, experiencing self, thing-ness, identity, and various mathematical notions. (Twentieth- century Gestalt psychology’s attack on psychological atomism is based on Kant’s views. ) Therefore, we must distinguish the world we experience, bounded by SAPs, and the world of things as they really are â€Å"in themselves†. Kant calls these two worlds the phenomenal (apparent) world versus the noumenal (real) world. Empiricism pretty much nails what it means to know something, once the SAPs are in place; i. e. , within the phenomenal world, empiricism rules. The phenomenal world is a world of things, publicly observable, describable by science, known to the senses, determined by physical laws. No God, no 2 / 3 freedom, no soul, no values exist in this world. If God, freedom, souls, and values exist, then they must be noumenal and unknowable by any ordinary means. Thus, according to Kant: Both rationalism and empiricism are wrong when they claim that we can know things in themselves. Rationalists are wrong not to trust senses; in the phenomenal world, senses are all we have. Rationalists are right about â€Å"innate ideas†, but not in Plato’s sense of Forms— much more like Descartes’ in argument of the wax. Hume is wrong when he claims the concept of self is unsupported by senses, and thus bogus. Rather, the experiencing self is a pre-condition for having any experience at all (Descartes was right). Hume is wrong when he says the notion that the future will resemble the past is due only to â€Å"custom and habit†. That notion is a SAP; we couldn’t have ordinary experience without it. Hume is wrong when he says the source of morality is feeling. Morality, properly understood, provides the key to linking the noumenal and phenomenal worlds. Kant argues that if morality is real, then human freedom is real, and therefore humans are not merely creatures of the phenomenal world (not merely things subject to laws). Ramifications of Kant’s Views Kant revolutionized philosophy. Kant showed that the mind, through its innate categories, constructs our experience along certain lines (space, time, causality, self, etc. ). Thus, thinking and experiencing give no access to things as they really are. We can think as hard as we like, but we will never escape the innate constraints of our minds. Kant forced philosophy to look seriously at the world for the agent (what Kant calls the phenomenal world) independently of the real world outside consciousness – the world in itself (the noumenal world). Ethics had long recognized the importance for moral evaluation of â€Å"how things seem to the agent. † But the ramifications of Kant’s noumenal-phenomenal distinction extend far beyond ethics. Philosophers like to take credit for all the big events in 19th century intellectual history as direct consequences of Kant’s philosophical legitimizing of the perspective of the subject: Hegel and German idealism, Darwinism, Romanticism, pragmatism, Marxism, the triumph of utilitarianism, Nietzsche, and the establishment of psychology as a science, especially Gestalt psychology. Phenomena and NoumenaHaving seen Kant’s transcendental deduction of the categories as pure concepts of the understanding applicable a priori to every possible experience, we might naturally wish to ask the further question whether these regulative principles are really true. Are there substances? Does every event have a cause? Do all things interact? Given that we must suppose them in order to have any experience, do they obtain in the world itself? To these further questions, Kant firmly refused to offer any answer. According to Kant, it is vital always to distinguish between the distinct realms of phenomena and noumena. Phenomena are the appearances, which constitute the our experience; noumena are the (presumed) things themselves, which constitute reality. All of our synthetic a priori judgments apply only to the phenomenal realm, not the noumenal. (It is only at this level, with respect to what we can experience, that we are justified in imposing the structure of our concepts onto the objects of our knowledge. ) Since the thing in itself (Ding an sich) would by definition be entirely independent of our experience of it, we are utterly ignorant of the noumenal realm. Thus, on Kant’s view, the most fundamental laws of nature, like the truths of mathematics, are knowable precisely because they make no effort to describe the world as it really is but rather prescribe the structure of the world as we experience it. By applying the pure forms of sensible intuition and the pure concepts of the understanding, we achieve a systematic view of the phenomenal realm but learn nothing of the noumenal realm. Math and science are certainly true of the phenomena; only metaphysics claims to instruct us about the noumena. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 16

Chapter 16 We were twelve days into our journey, following Balthasar's meticulously drawn map, when we came to the wall. â€Å"So,† I said, â€Å"what do you think of the wall?† â€Å"It's great,† said Joshua. â€Å"It's not that great,† I said. There was a long line waiting to get through the giant gate, where scores of bureaucrats collected taxes from caravan masters as they passed through. The gatehouses alone were each as big as one of Herod's palaces, and soldiers rode horses atop the wall, patrolling far into the distance. We were a good league back from the gate and the line didn't seem to be moving. â€Å"This is going to take all day,† I said. â€Å"Why would they build such a thing? If you can build a wall like this then you ought to be able to raise an army large enough to defeat any invaders.† â€Å"Lao-tzu built this wall,† Joshua said. â€Å"The old master who wrote the Tao? I don't think so.† â€Å"What does the Tao value above all else?† â€Å"Compassion? Those other two jewel things?† â€Å"No, inaction. Contemplation. Steadiness. Conservatism. A wall is the defense of a country that values inaction. But a wall imprisons the people of a country as much as it protects them. That's why Balthasar had us go this way. He wanted me to see the error in the Tao. One can't be free without action.† â€Å"So he spent all that time teaching us the Tao so we could see that it was wrong.† â€Å"No, not wrong. Not all of it. The compassion, humility, and moderation of the Tao, these are the qualities of a righteous man, but not inaction. These people are slaves to inaction.† â€Å"You worked as a stonecutter, Josh,† I said, nodding toward the massive wall. â€Å"You think this wall was built through inaction?† â€Å"The magus wasn't teaching us about action as in work, it was action as in change. That's why we learned Confucius first – everything having to do with the order of our fathers, the law, manners. Confucius is like the Torah, rules to follow. And Lao-tzu is even more conservative, saying that if you do nothing you won't break any rules. You have to let tradition fall sometime, you have to take action, you have to eat bacon. That's what Balthasar was trying to teach me.† â€Å"I've said it before, Josh – and you know how I love bacon – but I don't think bacon is enough for the Messiah to bring.† â€Å"Change,† Joshua said. â€Å"A Messiah has to bring change. Change comes through action. Balthasar once said to me, ‘There's no such thing as a conservative hero.' He was wise, that old man.† I thought about the old magus as I looked at the wall stretching over the hills, then at the line of travelers ahead of us. A small city had grown up at the entrance to the wall to accommodate the needs of the delayed travelers along the Silk Road and it boiled with merchants hawking food and drink along the line. â€Å"Screw it,† I said. â€Å"This is going to take forever. How long can it be? Let's go around.† A month later, when we had returned to the same gate and we were standing in line to get through, Joshua asked: â€Å"So what do you think of the wall now? I mean, now that we've seen so much more of it?† â€Å"I think it's ostentatious and unpleasant,† I said. â€Å"If they don't have a name for it, you should suggest that.† And so it came to pass that through the ages the wall was known as the Ostentatious and Unpleasant Wall of China. At least I hope that's what happened. It's not on my Friendly Flyer Miles map, so I can't be sure. We could see the mountain where Gaspar's monastery lay long before we reached it. Like the other peaks around it, it cut the sky like a huge tooth. Below the mountain was a village surrounded by high pasture. We stopped there to rest and water our camels. The people of the village all came out to greet us and they marveled at our strange eyes and Joshua's curly hair as if we were gods that had been lowered out of the heavens (which I guess was true in Josh's case, but you forget about that when you're around someone a lot). An old toothless woman who spoke a dialect of Chinese similar to the one we had learned from Joy convinced us to leave the camels in the village. She traced the path up the mountain with a craggy finger and it was obvious that the path was both too narrow and too steep to accommodate the animals. The villagers served us a spicy meat dish with frothy bowls of milk to wash it down. I hesitated and looked at Joshua. The Torah forbade us to eat meat and dairy at the same meal. â€Å"I'm thinking this is a lot like the bacon thing,† Joshua said. â€Å"I really don't feel that the Lord cares if we wash down our yak with a bowl of milk.† â€Å"Yak?† â€Å"That's what this is. The old woman told me.† â€Å"Well, sin or not, I'm not eating it. I'll just drink the milk.† â€Å"It's yak milk too.† â€Å"I'm not drinking it.† â€Å"Use your own judgment, it served you so well in the past, like, oh, when you decided we should go around the wall.† â€Å"You know,† I said, weary of having the whole wall thing brought up again, â€Å"I never said you could use sarcasm whenever you wanted to. I think you're using my invention in ways that it was never intended to be used.† â€Å"Like against you?† â€Å"See? See what I mean?† We left the village early the next morning, carrying only some rice balls, our waterskins, and what little money we had left. We left our three camels in the care of the toothless old woman, who promised to take care of them until we returned. I would miss them. They were the spiffy double-humpers we'd picked up in Kabul and they were comfortable to ride, but more important, none of them had ever tried to bite me. â€Å"They're going to eat our camels, you know? We won't be gone an hour before one of them is turning on a spit.† â€Å"They won't eat the camels.† Joshua, forever believing in the goodness of human beings. â€Å"They don't know what they are. They think that they're just tall food. They're going to eat them. The only meat they ever get is yak.† â€Å"You don't even know what a yak is.† â€Å"Do too,† I said, but the air was getting thin and I was too tired to prove myself at the time. The sun was going down behind the mountains when we finally reached the monastery. Except for a huge wooden gate with a small hatch in it, it was constructed entirely of the same black basalt as the mountain on which it stood. It looked more like a fortress than a place of worship. â€Å"Makes you wonder if all three of your magi live in fortresses, doesn't it?† â€Å"Hit the gong,† said Joshua. There was a bronze gong hanging outside the door with a padded drumstick standing next to it and a sign in a language that we couldn't read. I hit the gong. We waited. I hit the gong again. And we waited. The sun went down and it began to get very cold on the mountainside. I rang the gong three times loud. We ate our rice balls and drank most of our water and waited. I pounded the bejezus out of the gong and the hatch opened. A dim light from inside the gate illuminated the smooth cheeks of a Chinese man about our age. â€Å"What?† he said in Chinese. â€Å"We are here to see Gaspar,† I said. â€Å"Balthasar sent us.† â€Å"Gaspar sees no one. Your aspect is dim and your eyes are too round.† He slammed the little hatch. This time Joshua pounded on the gong until the monk returned. â€Å"Let me see that drumstick,† the monk said, holding his hand out through the little port. Joshua gave him the drumstick and stepped back. â€Å"Go away and come back in the morning,† the monk said. â€Å"But we've traveled all day,† Joshua said. â€Å"We're cold and hungry.† â€Å"Life is suffering,† the monk said. He slammed the little door, leaving us in almost total darkness. â€Å"Maybe that's what you're supposed to learn,† I said. â€Å"Let's go home.† â€Å"No, we wait,† said Joshua. In the morning, after Joshua and I had slept against the great gate, huddled together to conserve warmth, the monk opened the little hatch. â€Å"You still here?† He couldn't see us, as we were directly below the window. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"Can we see Gaspar now?† He craned his neck out the hatch, then pulled it back in and produced a small wooden bowl, from which he poured water on our heads. â€Å"Go away. Your feet are misshapen and your eyebrows grow together in a threatening way.† â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He slammed the hatch. And so we spent the day outside the gate, me wanting to go down the mountain, Joshua insisting that we wait. There was frost in our hair when we woke the next morning, and I felt my very bones aching. The monk opened the hatch just after first light. â€Å"You are so stupid that the village idiots' guild uses you as a standard for testing,† said the monk. â€Å"Actually, I'm a member of the village idiots' guild,† I retorted. â€Å"In that case,† said the monk, â€Å"go away.† I cursed eloquently in five languages and was beginning to tear at my hair in frustration when I spotted something large moving in the sky overhead. As it got closer, I saw that it was the angel, wearing his aspect of black robe and wings. He carried a flaming bundle of sticks and pitch, which trailed a trail of flames and thick black smoke behind him in the sky. When he had passed over us several times, he flew off over the horizon, leaving a smoky pattern of Chinese characters that spelled out a message across the sky: SURRENDER DOROTHY. I was just fuckin' with you (as Balthasar used to say). Raziel didn't really write SURRENDER DOROTHY in the sky. The angel and I watched The Wizard of Oz together on television last night and the scene at the gates of Oz reminded me of when Joshua and I were at the monastery gate. Raziel said he identified with Glinda, Good Witch of the North. (I would have thought flying monkey, but I believe his choice was a blond one.) I have to admit that I felt some sympathy for the scarecrow, although I don't believe I would have been singing about the lack of a brain. In fact, amid all the musical laments over not having a heart, a brain, or the nerve, did anyone notice that they didn't have a penis among them? I think it would have shown on the Lion and the Tin Man, and when the Scarecrow has his pants destuffed, you don't see a flying monkey waving an errant straw Johnson around anywhere, do you? I think I know what song I'd be singing: Oh, I would while away the hours, Wanking in the flowers, my heart all full of song, I'd be gilding all the lilies as I waved about my willie If I only had a schlong. And suddenly it occurred to me, as I composed the above opus, that although Raziel had always seemed to have the aspect of a male, I had no idea if there were even genders among the angels. After all, Raziel was the only one I'd ever seen. I leapt from my chair and confronted him in the midst of an afternoon Looney Tunes festival. â€Å"Raziel, do you have equipment?† â€Å"Equipment?† â€Å"A package, a taliwacker, a unit, a dick – do you have one?† â€Å"No,† said the angel, perplexed that I would be asking. â€Å"Why would I need one?† â€Å"For sex. Don't angels have sex?† â€Å"Well, yes, but we don't use those.† â€Å"So there are female angels and male angels?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And you have sex with female angels.† â€Å"Correct.† â€Å"With what do you have sex?† â€Å"Female angels. I just told you.† â€Å"No, do you have a sex organ?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Show me?† â€Å"I don't have it with me.† â€Å"Oh.† I realized that there are some things I'd really rather not know about. Anyway, he didn't write in the sky, and, in fact, we didn't see Raziel again, but the monks did let us into the monastery after three days. They said that they made everybody wait three days. It weeded out the insincere. The entire two-story structure that was the monastery was fashioned of rough stone, none larger than could have been lifted into place by a single man. The rear of the building was built right into the mountainside. The structure seemed to have been built under an existing overhang in the rock, so there was minimal roofing exposed to the elements. What did show was made of terra-cotta tiles that lay on a steep incline, obviously to shed any buildup of snow. A short and hairless monk wearing a saffron-colored robe led us across an outer courtyard paved with flagstone through an austere doorway into the monastery. The floor inside was stone, and though immaculately clean, it was no more finished than the flagstone of the courtyard. There were only a few windows, more like arrow slits, cut high in the wall, and little light penetrated the interior once the front door was closed. The air was thick with incense and filled with a buzzing chorus of male voices producing a rhythmic chant that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once and made it seem as if my ribs and kneecaps were vibrating from the inside. Whatever language they were chanting in I didn't understand, but the message was clear: these men were invoking something that transcended this world. The monk led us up a narrow stairway into a long, narrow corridor lined with open doorways no higher than my waist. As we passed I could see that these must be the monks' cells, and each was just large enough to accommodate a small man lying down. There was a woven mat on the floor and a woolen blanket rolled up at the top of each cell, but there was no evidence of personal possessions nor storage for any. There were no doors to close for privacy. In short, it was very much like what I had grown up with, which didn't make me feel any better about it. Nearly five years of the relative opulence at Balthasar's fortress had spoiled me. I yearned for a soft bed and a half-dozen Chinese concubines to hand-feed me and rub my body with fragrant oils. (Well, I said I was spoiled.) At last the monk led us into a large open chamber with a high stone ceiling and I realized that we were no longer in a man-made structure, but a large cave. At the far end of the cave was a stone statue of a man seated cross-legged, his eyes closed, his hands before him with the first fingers and thumbs forming closed circles. Lit by the orange light of candles, a haze of incense smoke hanging about his shaved head, he appeared to be praying. The monk, our guide, disappeared into the darkness at the sides of the cave and Joshua and I approached the statue cautiously, stepping carefully across the rough floor of the cave. (We had long since lost our surprise and outrage at graven images. The world at large and the art we had seen in our travels served to dampen even that grave commandment. â€Å"Bacon,† Joshua said when I asked him about it.) This great room was the source of the chanting we had been hearing since entering the monastery, and after seeing the monks' cells we determined that there must be at least twenty monks adding their voices to the droning, although the way the cave echoed it might have been one or a thousand. As we approached the statue, trying to ascertain what sort of stone it was made from, it opened its eyes. â€Å"Is that you, Joshua?† it said in perfect Aramaic. â€Å"Yes,† said Joshua. â€Å"And who is this?† â€Å"This is my friend, Biff.† â€Å"Now he will be called Twenty-one, when he needs to be called, and you shall be Twenty-two. While you are here you have no name.† The statue wasn't a statue, of course, it was Gaspar. The orange light of the candles and his complete lack of motion or expression had only made him appear to be made of stone. I suppose we were also thrown off because we were expecting a Chinese. This man looked as if he was from India. His skin was even darker than ours and he wore the red dot on his head that we had seen on Indian traders in Kabul and Antioch. It was difficult to tell his age, as he had no hair or beard and there wasn't a line in his face. â€Å"He's the Messiah,† I said. â€Å"The Son of God. You came to see him at his birth.† Still no expression from Gaspar. He said, â€Å"The Messiah must die if you are to learn. Kill him tomorrow.† â€Å"‘Scuse me?† I said. â€Å"Tomorrow you will learn. Feed them,† said Gaspar. Another monk, who looked almost identical to the first monk, came out of the dark and took Joshua by the shoulder. He led us out of the chapel chamber and back to the cells where he showed Joshua and me our accommodations. He took our satchels away from us and left. He returned in a few minutes with a bowl of rice and a cup of weak tea for each of us. Then he went away, having said nothing since letting us in. â€Å"Chatty little guy,† I said. Joshua scooped some rice into his mouth and grimaced. It was cold and unsalted. â€Å"Should I be worried about what he said about the Messiah dying tomorrow, do you think?† â€Å"You know how you've never been completely sure whether you were the Messiah or not?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Tomorrow, if they don't kill you first thing in the morning, tell them that.† The next morning Number Seven Monk awakened Joshua and me by whacking us in the feet with a bamboo staff. To his credit, Number Seven was smiling when I finally got the sleep cleared from my eyes, but that was really a small consolation. Number Seven was short and thin with high cheekbones and widely set eyes. He wore a long orange robe woven from rough cotton and no shoes. He was clean-shaven and his head was also shaved except for a small tail that grew out at the crown and was tied with a string. He looked as if he could be anywhere from seventeen to thirty-five years old, it was impossible to tell. (Should you wonder about the appearance of Monks Two through Six, and Eight through Twenty, just imagine Number Seven Monk nineteen times. Or at least that's how they appeared to me for the first few months. Later, I'm sure, except that we were taller and round-eyed, Joshua and I, or Monks Twenty-one and Twenty-two, would have fit the same description. When one is trying to shed the bo nds of ego, a unique appearance is a liability. That's why they call it a â€Å"uniform.† But alas, I'm getting ahead of myself.) Number Seven led us to a window that was obviously used as a latrine, waited while we used it, then took us to a small room where Gaspar sat, his legs crossed in a seemingly impossible position, with a small table before him. The monk bowed and left the room and Gaspar asked us to sit down, again in our native Aramaic. We sat across from him on the floor – no, that's not right, we didn't actually sit, we lay on the floor on our sides, propped up on one elbow the way we would have been at the low tables at home. We sat after Gaspar produced a bamboo staff from under the table and, with a motion as fast as a striking cobra's, whacked us both on the side of the head with it. â€Å"I said sit!† he said. Then we sat. â€Å"Jeez,† I said, rubbing the knot that was swelling over my ear. â€Å"Listen,† Gaspar said, holding the stick up to clarify exactly what he meant. We listened as if they were going to discontinue sound any second and we needed to stock up. I think I even stopped breathing for a while. â€Å"Good,† said Gaspar, laying the stick down and pouring tea into three simple bowls on the table. We looked at the tea sitting there, steaming – just looked at it. Gaspar laughed like a little boy, all the graveness and authority from a second ago gone from his face. He could have been a benevolent older uncle. In fact, except for the obviously Indian features, he reminded me a lot of Joseph, Joshua's stepfather. â€Å"No Messiah,† Gaspar said, switching to Chinese now. â€Å"Do you understand?† â€Å"Yes,† Joshua and I said in unison. In an instant the bamboo stick was in his hand and the other end was bouncing off of Joshua's head. I covered my own head with my arms but the blow never came. â€Å"Did I strike the Messiah?† Gaspar asked Joshua. Joshua seemed genuinely perplexed. He paused, rubbing the spot on his head, when another blow caught him over his other ear, the sound of the impact sharp and harsh in the small stone room. â€Å"Did I strike the Messiah?† Gaspar repeated. Joshua's dark brown eyes showed neither pain nor fear, just confusion as deep as the confusion of a calf who has just had its throat cut by the Temple priest. The stick whistled through the air again, but this time I caught it in mid-swing, wrenched it out of Gaspar's hand, and tossed it out the narrow window behind him. I quickly folded my hands and looked at the table in front of me. â€Å"Begging your pardon, master,† I said, â€Å"but if you hit him again, I'll kill you.† Gaspar stood, but I was afraid to look at him (or Joshua, for that matter). â€Å"Ego,† said the monk. He left the room without another word. Joshua and I sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking and rubbing our goose eggs. Well, it had been an interesting trip and all, but Joshua wasn't very well going to learn much about being the Messiah from someone who hit him with a stick whenever it was mentioned, and that, I supposed, was the reason we were there. So, onward. I drank the bowl of tea in front of me, then the one that Gaspar had left. â€Å"Two wise men down, one to go,† I said. â€Å"We'd better find some breakfast if we're going to travel.† Joshua looked at me as perplexed as he had at Gaspar a few minutes before. â€Å"Do you think he needs that stick?† Number Seven Monk handed us our satchels, bowed deeply, then went back into the monastery and closed the door, leaving Joshua and me standing there by the gong. It was a clear morning and we could see the smoke of cook fires rising from the village below. â€Å"We should have asked for some breakfast,† I said. â€Å"This is going to be a long climb down.† â€Å"I'm not leaving,† Josh said. â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"I have a lot more to learn here.† â€Å"Like how to take a beating?† â€Å"Maybe.† â€Å"I'm not sure Gaspar will let me back in. He didn't seem too pleased with me.† â€Å"You threatened to kill him.† â€Å"I did not, I warned that I'd kill him. Big difference.† â€Å"So you're not going to stay?† And there it was, the question. Was I going to stay with my best friend, eat cold rice, sleep on a cold floor, take abuse from a mad monk, and very likely have my skull split open, or was I going to go? Go where? Home? Back to Kabul and Joy? Despite the long journey, it seemed easier to go back the way I had come. At least some level of familiarity would be waiting there. But if I was making easy choices, why was I there in the first place? â€Å"Are you sure you have to stay here, Josh? Can't we go find Melchior?† â€Å"I know I have things to learn here.† Joshua picked up the drumstick and rang the gong. In a few minutes the little port opened in the door and a monk we had never seen before stuck his face in the opening. â€Å"Go away. Your nature is dense and your breath smells like a yak's ass.† He slammed the hatch. Joshua rang the gong again. â€Å"I don't like that whole thing about killing the Messiah. I can't stay here, Joshua. Not if he's going to hit you.† â€Å"I have a feeling I'm going to get hit quite a few more times until I learn what he needs me to know.† â€Å"I have to go.† â€Å"Yes, you do.† â€Å"But I could stay.† â€Å"No. Trust me, you have to leave me now, so you won't later. I'll see you again.† He turned away from me and faced the door. â€Å"Oh, you don't know anything else, but you know that all of a sudden?† â€Å"Yes. Go, Biff. Good-bye.† I walked down the narrow path and nearly stumbled over a precipice when I heard the hatch in the door open. â€Å"Where are you going?† shouted the monk. â€Å"Home,† I said. â€Å"Good, go frighten some children with your glorious ignorance.† â€Å"I will.† I tried to keep my shoulders steady as I walked away, but it felt like someone was ripping my soul through the muscles of my back. I would not turn around, I vowed, and slowly, painfully, I made my way down the path, convinced that I would never see Joshua again.