When Disobedience is Acceptable essays

When Disobedience is Acceptable essays In the year 2000, one can go to most any high school football game and observe a ritual that is becoming more and more widespread and symbolic in meaning to its participants. Before the football game begins, the Star Spangled Banner is played and sung, the flag is raised, and each schools band plays their Alma Mater. But where in years past there would have been a stadium-wide prayer for the safety and happiness of players, students, and fans, there is naught but silence. During the few moments where a prayer would have been given, one can see small groups of high school students trickling down out of the bleachers and onto the track, where they come together in a circular huddle to make a statement. An array of groups is represented; one can see cheerleaders in their suits, band members in their uniforms, even students in their plainclothes melding together in this group to have their pre-game prayer. Although the law has made it known that prayers before high school football games are unacceptable, these students are taking a stand and making their opinions known through civil disobedience. The issue of prayer at high school football games is but one of many issues today that calls individuals to civil disobedience. But this concept of civil disobedience is not a solely modern one; as long as there have been governments and laws and systems for individuals to control themselves and one another, there has been civil disobedience. Both Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr. were advocates of civil disobedience. In their writings, Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail they both approach civil disobedience as an honorable way of maintaining personal integrity, and as an incendiary device to ignite the flames of revolution and change. In Thoreaus time, the abolition of slavery was a contemporary and hugely important issue. Similarly, in Kings time, the battle raged again...

Capital City of Tenochtitlan

Capital City of Tenochtitlan Tenochtitln, located in the heart of what is now Mexico City, was the largest city and capital of the Aztec Empire. Today, Mexico City is still one of the largest cities in the world, despite its unusual setting. It sits on a swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco in the Basin of Mexico, a strange place for any  capital, ancient or modern.  Mexico City is ringed by volcanic mountains, including the still-active volcano Popocatà ©petl, and prone to earthquakes, severe flooding, and some of the worst smog on the planet. The story of how the Aztecs selected the location of their capital in such a miserable place is one part legend and another part history.   Although the conquistador Hernn Cortà ©s did his best to dismantle the city, three 16th century maps of Tenochtitlan survive showing us what the city was like. The earliest map is the Nuremberg or Cortes map of 1524, drawn for the conquistador Cortà ©s, possibly by a local resident. The Uppsala Map was drawn about 1550 by an indigenous person or persons; and the Maguey Plan was made about 1558, although scholars are divided about whether the city depicted is Tenochtitlan or another Aztec city. The Uppsala Map is signed by cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz [~1500-1567] who presented the map (with the city spelled as Tenuxititan) to his employer, the Spanish Emperor Carlos V, but scholars do not believe he made the map himself, and it may have been by his students at the Colegio de Santa Cruz at Tenochtitlans sister city Tlatelolco. Legends and Omens Tenochtitln was the home of the immigrant Mexica, which is just one of the names for the Aztec people who founded the city in AD 1325. According to legend, the Mexica were one of seven Chichimeca tribes who came to Tenochtitlan from their fabled city of origin, Aztlan (Place of the Herons). They came because of an omen: the Chichimec god Huitzilopochtli, who took the form of an eagle, was seen perched on a cactus eating a snake. The leaders of the Mexica interpreted this as a sign to move their population to an unpleasant, miry, buggy, island in the middle of a lake; and eventually their military prowess and political abilities turned that island into the central agency for conquest, the Mexica snake swallowing most of Mesoamerica. Aztec Culture and Conquest Tenochtitlan of the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. was excellently suited as a place for the Aztec culture to begin the  conquest of Mesoamerica. Even then, the basin of Mexico was densely occupied, and the island city afforded the Mexica a commanding lead over trade in the basin. In addition, they engaged in a series of alliances both with and against their neighbors; the most successful was the Triple Alliance, who as the Aztec Empire overran major portions of what are now the states of Oaxaca, Morelos, Veracruz, and Puebla. By the time of the Spanish conquest in 1519, Tenochtitln contained around 200,000 people and covered an area of twelve square kilometers (five square miles). The city was crisscrossed by canals, and the edges of the island city were covered with chinampas, floating gardens that enabled local production of food. A huge marketplace served nearly 60,000 people daily, and in the Sacred Precinct of the city were palaces and temples the like of which Hernn Cortà ©s had never seen. Cortà ©s was awed, but it didnt stop him from destroying almost all of the citys buildings during his conquest. A Lavish City Several letters from Cortà ©s to his king Charles V described the city as an island city in the center of a lake. Tenochtitlan was laid out in concentric circles, with a central plaza serving as the ritual precinct and the heart of the Aztec empire. The buildings and pavements of the city all barely rose above the level of the lakes and were grouped into clusters by canals and connected by bridges. A densely forested area- the precursor to Chapultepec park- was an important feature of the island, as was water control. Seventeen major floods have struck the city since 1519, one lasting an astounding five years. During Aztec times, a series of aqueducts led from the surrounding lakes into the city, and numerous  causeways connected Tenochtitlan to the other important city-states in the basin. Motecuhzoma II (also known as  Montezuma) was the final ruler at Tenochtitlan, and his lavish main courtyard covered an area measuring 200x200 meters (about 650x650 feet). The palace included a suite of rooms and an open courtyard; around the main palace complex could be found armories and sweat baths, kitchens, guest rooms, music rooms, horticultural gardens, and game preserves. The remnants of some of these are found in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, although most of the buildings are from later times. Remnants of the Aztec Culture Tenochtitlan fell to Cortes, but only after the bitter and bloody siege of 1520, when the Mexica killed hundreds of conquistadors. Only parts of Tenochtitlan are extant in the city of Mexico; you can get into the ruins of the Templo Mayor, excavated beginning in the 1970s by Matos Moctezuma; and there are ample artifacts at the National Museum of Anthropology (INAH). But if you look hard enough, many other visible aspects of the old Aztec capital are still in place. Street names and place names echo the ancient Nahua city. The Plaza del Volador, for example, was an important location for the Aztec ceremony of the new fire. After 1519, it was transformed first into a place for the Actos de Fe of the Inquisition, then into an arena for bull-fighting, then a market, and finally into the current site of the Supreme Court. Sources Aà ±Ãƒ ³n V. 2012. â€Å"En el lugar de las tunas empedernidas†: Tenochtitlan en las crà ³nicas mestizas. Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana 41:81-97.Berdan FF. 2014. Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. New York: Cambridge University Press.Hill Boone E. 2011. This new world now revealed: Hernn Cortà ©s and the presentation of Mexico to Europe. Word Image 27(1):31-46.Là ³pez JF. 2013. The hydrographic city: Mapping Mexico Citys urban form in relation to its aquatic condition, 1521-1700. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Mundy BE. 2014. Place-Names in Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Ethnohistory 61(2):329-355.Pennock CD. 2011. ‘A Remarkably Patterned Life’: Domestic and Public in the Aztec Household City. Gender History 23(3):528-546.Terraciano K. 2010. Three Texts in One: Book XII of the Florentine Codex. Ethnohistory 57(1):51-72.

High Staff Turnover in Healthcare Industry Lab Report

High Staff Turnover in Healthcare Industry - Lab Report Example This research will help to identify the intensity of the problem persisting in the industry, to examine its different aspects and to make potential recommendations to solve the problem. This research intends to obtain a clear view of the issue based on both primary and secondary sources. In short, this research is aimed to show how a real life problem can be solved using primary and secondary research methodologies. What Do I Hope to Accomplish? This research tries to address staff shortage issues in modern healthcare. Although the recent healthcare reform aims to deliver quality care and increased patient safety at affordable costs, the issue of staff shortage continues to be a potential challenge to smooth performance of the US healthcare sector. In this context, it is relevant to explore the issue more in order to develop strategic measures to deal with this problem in future. For this purpose, this research paper will discuss the significance of maintaining adequately staffed hea lthcare system. Short term as well as long term consequences of staff shortage issue related to the US healthcare can be identified through this research. This research would highlight the necessity of placing a particular emphasis on staffing while developing healthcare policies. The research will give specific attention to the root causes of the staff shortage issue. Such an investigation would be useful to find potential ways to eliminate staff shortage issues in the healthcare. Various studies conducted on this topic indicate that different healthcare sectors adopt different strategies to address the staff shortage issue. Hence, this paper will examine which policy or set of policies would be most effective to avoid current troubles in healthcare staffing. Hence the findings would help to attract more qualified and experienced candidates to this field. In addition, the research is framed to evaluate whether or not geographical factors can have any influence on the staff shortage issue. Finally, the paper will explore some potential practices that can identify staff shortage issue in a healthcare setting on time. Primary Research and Target Group Surveys and interviews will be the major sources used as they would increase the accuracy and reliability of data or information collected. Professional assistance will be sought to ensure the efficiency of surveys and interviews. In addition, the organization’s annual reports will be considered as primary sources because those reports clearly indicate staffing status of the firm throughout the fiscal period under consideration. The organization’s human resource management and senior management team will be the target group for this research. In addition, the research will interview departmental heads in order to clearly identify staff shortage problems in different departments. Finally, external healthcare professionals’ views and suggestions will also be collected for making this work authent ic and effective enough. Potentiality of the Chosen Primary Sources For this research, the above mentioned primary sources would be highly effective. It is obvious that primary research techniques such as interviews and surveys are considered as direct methods of data collection. Through interviewing officials concerned, the interviewer can directly ask questions and record more reliable and accurate information. Furthermore, interview is one of the simplest and cost effective methods of acquiring required data/information within the minimum possible time. In addition, it is the perfect way to get complete information required for the project with less chance of misunderstanding and documentation errors.

MNEs and Globalizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MNEs and Globalizations - Essay Example Global marketing means a fully integrated worldwide strategy based on consistent brand selling. These companies are progressive. The dynamic forces inherent in all progressive companies are logically directed toward growth and expansion. When the opportunities for growth become limited in domestic markets, for whatever reason, there is no place to turn but to foreign areas. Controlling the far-flung global corporation-communicating with distributors and suppliers, operating 24 hours a day in different national environments, servicing local and international reporting needs-is a major business challenge that requires powerful information system responses (Buckley & Ghauri, 1999). Contemporary developments show that MNEs is that part of the process of global management that is concerned with the maintenance of human relationships and ensuring the physical well being of employees so that they give the maximum contribution to efficient working. Back in the industrialized nations, however, there is an increasing sense of social distress as workers see their plants close and jobs shipped out of the country. Also, MNEs support cultural globalization and integration dictating new patterns of consumption and buying. For instance, McDonald's Corporation is one of the best examples of MNE's impact on the global scale. ... Fried chicken is on the menu in many Asian countries. Other offerings include banana fruit pies in Latin America, Kiwiburger (served with beet root sauce) in New Zealand, beer in Germany, McSpaghetti noodles and a sweeter Burger McDo in the Philippines. In some countries, McDonald's changes its food preparation methods to comply with religious customs. This consumption culture creates new forms of control known as 'global colonialism' (Banerjee & Linstead, 2001, p. 683). MNEs created standardized products driving value and customer's taste. For many MNEs, the changing environment combines elements of both new products and HRM policies aimed to improve organizational performance and global position. The process of global HRM, however, is typically much more complex, and interesting, than traditional one. MNEs must deal with a number of key differences in foreign environments as compared to home environments (Black, 1999). The improvement of economic and social well-being is influenced by the simultaneous interaction of political, social, economic, and cultural factors-the level of resource endowment, the extent of industrialization, prevailing cultural norms about family size, and the ability and willingness of governments to make often politically costly development decisions. Also involved is the degree of penetration of rich countries in the economies of poor countries. According to Lodge & Wilson (2006): "MNC involvement is crucial to poverty reduction for two reasons: the reduction of poverty depends on the growth of business, and poverty reduction requires systemic change, and MNCs are the world's most efficient and sustainable engines of change". Meanwhile, a dispersal of productive wealth is

Infomercials And Other Dishonest Commercials Essay -- essays research

Infomercials and Other Dishonest Commercials The other night I was sitting in front of the television watching a late night show, when a commercial break came on, I instinctively clicked on the remote to flip through the channels to see what else was on. As I surfed through the channels I came across dozens of info-mercials, a commercial for getting a college degree at home, and a few psychic hotline advertisements. I stopped clicking the remote after a while to see what the commercials were selling, and to see how cheep the products were. There were advertisements for how to get a better body, the "fountain of youth" make-up, and the charcoal-less grill. It is amazing what they come up with nowadays. As I continued surfing I came across Sally Struthers trying to sell an "earn your college degree at home" commercial, honestly, how good can that kind of degree be? Then as I kept flipping, I came across the "psychic network of friends" advertisement, just as they were offering a "free psychic reading to first time callers" all that was required was that a certain 1-800 number be dialed and a person could get a reading. Then to show that the reading was accurate, they had people come on and say that their experience with the psychic was "life changing," and that "it was so real†¦ the psychic knew everything." It is amazing what people will fall for in this day and age. Info-mercials are basically half hour commercials that attempt to sell products to watchers. The products that most info-mercials offer are things that are said to "improve someone's life" but in most cases the products are rip-offs and are an easy way for the manufacturer's to make money. Some of the products include the "AB-flex," a simple rocking seat that is supposed to hold this unearthly power to flatten a persons stomach. The "AB-flex" guarantees to "make it easier to develop stomach muscles, without the assistance of any other machine, in just thirty days" they also claim that "this piece of equipment can make you feel younger and give you more energy." There is also an info-mercial for "the fountain of youth" make-up, the make-up is said to make skin appear younger than it actually is; this product plays off the idea of women hating to gr... ...s reliant on "their own personal psychic" for information about their future life, there is almost no turning back. These hotlines, I have to admit, are a really good money maker. Who would not want to know what is going to happen to themselves in the future? It would tempt even the most rational person to call up the number to get a glimpse into their future. The world is not longer filled with honest people. All that people are out for nowadays is money, and they will do anything to get it, even if it means lying, deceiving, and bribing people into things; They will stop at nothing. Salespeople reason this by that if the people that are watching are gullible enough to buy or call, then they deserve to be ripped-off. Honesty in sales no longer exists, it has been replaced by lying and cheating. Consumers are no longer safe from these deceivers, instead they must arm themselves with knowledge and common-sense. For some people this may be a challenge, they have already been drawn into the trap of these liars, and it is difficult for them to escape the trap, but if we are to survive in this new world of dishonest people, then we must be armed.

Robots in Society

Robots in Society Some argue that the increasing use of robots might be dangerous for us. Today robots play an efficient and useful role in our society. We use robots every day. For example, phones, calculators, microwaves, printers, and computers. I agree with the claim that robots can be harmful to us. Robots may be a convenient and helpful way to perform everyday functions, but they can also have a negative impact on our lives. The use of robots will make us indolent, go against our morals and lose control.Although robots can be harmful to us they would be helpful to us in the colonization of Mars. What is a robot exactly? A robot is a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. So how can this machine be harmful to us? Robots take away our responsibility. We will rely solely on a device to do everything for us, and lose our capability to do things on our own. We lose control. There will be no need for people to socialize as robots will go run errand s, and function as eyes and ears; for example a cellphone.There will be no need for us to do anything if we continue to make new robots with new functions and keep using them. There are also some ethical issues with using robots. Robots take away work from humans. Robots don’t have emotion feelings, and thoughts like humans do. They are incapable of making the right decisions. They will do exactly what they are programed to do no matter what it requires, which can be good and bad. The argument that robot workers take jobs from human workers is true.It is also true that these jobs are generally repetitive jobs, are often hazardous to human workers. From â€Å"Robot Code of Ethics to Prevent Android Abuse, Protect Humans† By Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News , in his article he quotes , â€Å"From experience, the problem is that giving robots morals is like teaching an ant to yodel. We're not there yet, and as many of Asimov's stories show, the conundrums robo ts and humans would face would result in more tragedy than utility,† said Tilden, who works for Wow Wee Toys in Hong Kong. What dangers might robots pose to humans?The argument that robot workers take jobs from human workers is true. It is also true that these jobs are generally repetitive jobs, are often hazardous to human workers. Robots will take away many jobs from humans. Robots will be more efficient, hardworking, and they don’t require a salary. Taking away jobs from humans will increase poverty. People will abuse the power of robots. Robots may seem useful but they will ultimately make society worse. Humans will become indolent because they won’t have to work and carry out daily routines anymore.Although robots could possibly have a negative impact on our lives, they could also be beneficial to us if we are to colonize Mars. Technology on Mars would be essential to our survival considering the conditions. Robots would help us to calculate the types of bui ldings we would need to build, what our diets would consist of, and climate control. Robots in the modern day society could tear us apart from our ethics and work. They can be helpful when used correctly and appropriately. The increase of robots will most likely do more harm than good to today’s society, and will result in a negative impact to our lives.

Spanish Possessive Pronouns

If youve learned the long form of the possessive adjectives, you already know the possessive pronouns of Spanish. In fact, some grammarians classify the long-form possessive adjectives as pronouns, even though they are used to describe nouns. What Are Possessive Pronouns? Possessive pronouns are the equivalent of the English pronouns mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and its, but they arent used in exactly the same way in Spanish as they are in English. As the name suggests, possessive pronouns are used in the place of nouns rather than to describe nouns as adjectives do. Here are the possessive pronouns of Spanish with simple examples of their use: mà ­o, mà ­a, mà ­os, mà ­as — mine Tu madre y la mà ­a no pueden cantar. (Your mother and mine cant sing.)No me gustan los coches rojos. El mà ­o es verde. (I dont like red cars. Mine is green.)Cuido de tus mascotas como si fueran las mà ­as. (I take care of your pets as if there were mine.) tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas — yours (singular informal) Este libro no es mà ­o. Es tuyo. (This book isnt mine. Its yours.) ¿Dà ³nde està ¡ mi mochila? La tuya està ¡ aquà ­. (Where is my backpack? Yours is here.) suyo, suya, suyos, suyas — his, hers, yours (singular formal or plural formal), its, theirs Mis calcetines son rojos. Los suyos son negros. (My socks are red. His/hers/yours/theirs are black.)Amo a mi esposa. Él no ama a la suya. (I love my wife. He doesnt love his.) nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras — ours Este coche es nuestro. (This car is ours.) ¿Te gusta tu casa? No me gusta la nuestra. (Do you like your house? I dont like ours.) vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras — yours (plural informal; infrequently used in  Latin America) Nuestra casa es muy vieja.  ¿Y la vuestra? (Our house is very old. And yours?)No me gustan los coches de vuestros competidores. Prefiero los vuestros. (I dont like your competitors cars. I prefer yours.) As you can see from the examples, possessive pronouns must match the noun they represent in both number and gender, just as do the long-form possessive adjectives. They do not necessarily match the number or gender of the person or thing that has possession. Spanish Possessive Pronouns The possessive pronouns of Spanish take the same form as the long form of the possessive adjectives, namely mà ­o, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, and vuestro along with their plural and feminine counterparts.Except when followed by forms of ser, a verb meaning to be, the possessive pronouns are preceded by el, la, lo, los, or las.  Because  suyo is ambiguous, it is sometimes replaced by phrases such as de à ©l or de ellas. Definite Articles With Possessive Pronouns Note that unlike the equivalent pronouns in English, the Spanish possessive pronouns are usually preceded by a definite article (el, la, los or las), the equivalent of the. The article is usually dispensed with when the possessive pronoun follows a form of the verb ser, such as son or es, as in the examples, although it is sometimes retained for emphasis. Ambiguous Suyo Suyo and the related forms can be ambiguous since they can mean his, hers, yours, theirs, or its. When context doesnt make its meaning clear, the possessive pronoun can be omitted and replaced by a prepositional phrase such as de à ©l (instead of his) or de ellos (instead of theirs). Examples: No es mi coche. Es de ella. (Its not my car. Its hers.) ¿Dà ³nde està ¡n mis zapatos? Los de à ©l està ¡n aquà ­. (Where are my shoes? His are here.)En nuestras listas hay luchadores; en las de ellos, cobardes. (On our lists there are fighters; on theirs, cowards.) Note that you wouldnt normally use the de object pronoun to refer to those that arent included in the meaning of su. So, for example, you wouldnt normally substitute de mà ­ for mà ­o. Using the Possessive Neuter Form The single, masculine form of the pronouns can also be treated as neuter and thus be preceded by the definite article lo. Even though singular, the pronoun can stand for more than one object. The neuter form is used when no specific object is being referred to. Examples: No toques lo mà ­o. (Dont touch what is mine. Dont touch my things.)Lo mà ­o es importante. (What is mine is important. My things are important.)Es intolerable que nuestro là ­deres no defiendan lo nuestro. (It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend what is ours. It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend our traditions.)