Monday, November 25, 2019

Warhol By Ratcliff Essays - American Film Directors, Andy Warhol

Warhol By Ratcliff Essays - American Film Directors, Andy Warhol Warhol By Ratcliff The life and work of Andy Warhol has inspired many writers to tell of the artists secrets in published writings. However, Carter Ratcliff accomplishes this feat in a unique fashion, profiling Warhols work in Andy Warhol. A must-read for anybody interested in the origins of American Pop art, Ratcliffs book touches on all aspects of Warhols work. Segmented chronologically, Ratcliff explains the influence and significance of select paintings, as well as sections devoted to Warhols sketches, photographs, movies and notes on the techniques used by the artist. This format, combined with the inclusion of nearly 100 prints of paintings, is effective because a natural theme flows through the chronological ordering of the monograph. Some of the influences are obvious in Warhols work. However, the cumulative effect of the artists attempts is more easily understood through the chronological ordering of the pieces. The chronological ordering helps the reader understand what social or personal beliefs or conflicts the artist was dealing with pertaining to the given time period. For example, Warhol produced many pieces with singular subject matter displayed multiple times as in his Campbells soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles and dollar signs, possibly just comforting symbols to Warhol as well as the American Pop Culture. Also, Ratcliff leads t he reader on a journey through the details, effects and consequences of the work. The author also describes similarities in select Warhol pieces. The development of Warhol as an artist is easily understood using this format, as his work transforms from the playful character of Saturdays Popeye (Figure 1) to the realism of Skull or the political power of the Hammer and Sickle series. Andy Warhol takes a convincing and comprehensive look at the pursuits of the artist, basing observations on a plethora of sources. The information cited in each section is a cumulation of Ratcliffs investigation, interviews with Warhol and references to the writings of other critics. Basing his survey largely in the ideas of others, Ratcliff discovers little original information. Referring to such credible contacts as Robert Rosenblumes description of Julia Warhola [1], saying that Warhols portrait of his mother breaks through the artists aestheticism to convincing emotion (Figure 2). Art critic Thomas Lawsons notion that Pop art has everything to do with nothing [2], or Warhols own magazine article, Crazy Golden Slippers [3], are examples of the type of solid sources that the author utilizes in his work. The majority of Ratcliffs ideas originate elsewhere, however Ratcliff chose to use these many sources to support his own theories, drawing from established and accepted concepts to uphold his statements. The prize of Andy Warhol lies in the inclusion of the authors essay about the artist. Together with the effect of the many large prints, which comprise a majority of the body of the book, the essay enables the reader to learn about the artist and reflect on what may have been his intention for select works. To fully understand a work of art it is helpful to have some background information about the work and the artist. The author does a fantastic job of presenting this type information about the artist and his work. Warhol was obsessed with the idea of stardom, controversial works pertaining to popular culture and the use of images from every day life or symbols of such. Ratcliff, when compared to other writers who investigated Warhol, has an edge on the competition. Ratcliff not only describes the work itself, but also tells of the concept behind the art. Cantz The Last Supper is at best a glorified picture show of the artists work. The artist focuses on one series of paintings rat her then on the entire portfolio.[4] Unseen Warhol is an in depth biography of Andy Warhol, not much attention is granted to the actual pieces of art.[5] Ratcliffs Andy Warhol fills the gap left by other writers. Ratcliff delivers a complete analysis of Warhols work by explaining the concepts and ideas surrounding the work in an intensive manner. Ratcliffs thoughts on many of the pieces help to define the actual meaning or ideas of the work in a practical fashion. For example, the use of helium filled mylar, covered with foil in Silver Pillows (Figure 3)

Friday, November 22, 2019

How the legalization of marijuana would affect the economy Research Paper

How the legalization of marijuana would affect the economy - Research Paper Example These positive results mostly have a direct relation to the increased income that the local government regulation of Marijuana sales have had upon their economy. In fact, if one were to keep an open mind about the issue of Marijuana legalization and its possible positive effects on a state or national economy, one will see that the pros in this instance will definitely outweigh the cons. This paper will concentrate on highlighting the positive effects that Marijuana legalization and regulation by a local state can have on its economy. The results of which will definitely astound you and make you question why the government continues to oppose the legalization of Marijuana on a national level. Our country is struggling against consistently growing unemployment rates and is buckling under the pressure of having to balance our national budget. The recent government shutdown resulted in thousands of people being furloughed without any idea as to how and when their income will resume. The se are the true struggles of the average American struggling to make a living in what was once the most powerful and economically stable country in the world. But in Obama's America, inflation is something that nobody, not even the president himself, seems to have the power to overcome. While we spend billions of taxpayer dollars every year in efforts to shut down Marijuana clinics across the nation, we kill an industry that can very well provide jobs to our countrymen and provide the national government with billions in income that can be generated from regulated sales of the plant. Consider the following information regarding the way the government treats what is considered to be a petty drug crime: â€Å"incarcerations for what are basically petty drug crimes continue to rise: â€Å"$200 transaction can cost society $100,000 for a three-year sentence. â€Å" (Erb, Kelly Phillips â€Å"Stirring the Pot: Could Legalizing Marijuana Save the Economy?†). With every state spe nding that kind of serious money on every Marijuana related arrest, it stands to reason that the country as a whole is overspending on the upkeep of each Marijuana grower / dealer in the country when that money can very well be allocated to more serious costs such as housing, healthcare, etc. While Washington remains oblivious to these facts, there have already been 16 states within the union that has come to see the potential benefits that the legalization of Marijuana can have on their local economy. Taking a page out of the prohibition era when alcohol was banned thus creating an underground economy that boomed without the government getting its fair share in terms of taxes. However, legalizing the use of Marijuana for medical and recreational purposes has its economic benefits as the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have come to realize. Follow ing in their footsteps, twelve more have similar legislation pending: Alabama, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania (Erb, Kelly Phillips â€Å"Stirring the Pot: Could Legalizing Marijuana Save the Economy?†). These are the states that have woken up to the fact that there is money to be made from government regulation of Marijuana. States

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

A Look at Shanghai, Chinas Education System Essay

A Look at Shanghai, Chinas Education System - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that  Chinese education highly depended on examinations at different levels. There were no formal institutions because only the socio-economically privileged and financially capable can afford such. Because of this system’s openness regardless of family background, the Civil Examination â€Å"drove almost all families...to have high hopes for their children’s future†.  As the paper stresses China’s education system had endured its hard times and struggled for its revival. The Cultural Revolution is traced as the root where China’s educational system was ruined in the country’s effort for so-called egalitarianism, which unfortunately backfired. When the revolution ended, the late 1970s and the 1980s were years of recovery in both economic and educational aspects. Schools started to open in various places, achieving universal primary education. Some cities like Shanghai opened vocational schools, and eventual ly China established a degree system for higher education. From the 1990s up to today, primary schools in China have high enrolment rates, as well as junior secondary schools. One of the noteworthy maneuvers in the system is China’s decentralization of education by providing different textbooks in the regions, but having the same universal primary education. In the 21st century, the system concentrates on higher education by mandating the increase of enrolling population. Confucianism in Chinese Education Confucius, regarded as a great Chinese thinker, was not concerned with man’s relationship to God or the universe, but rather emphasized on the importance of establishing the â€Å"conditions for an ethical society than to seek to answer answerable questions† (Ornstein & Levine, 2008, p.60). He created an educational system that had high regard for ethics and proper behavior, and respect for hierarchical relationships. He associates character education

Monday, November 18, 2019

Lighting Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Lighting Critique - Essay Example The placing of lights at the stage has been a success to the musical play. However, some times the lights have caused some hitches during different performances. According to a number of people, many different lights are involved in the musical and create complexity in the operation. For example, the scene of be our guest involves computerized pop up candles. If the computer fails, the scene cannot take place as it is supposed to and information the candles bring cannot be achieved. The musical, beauty and the beast has been written with many short and different scenes. In theatre, the scenes have been differentiated to show day and night by use of light. At the beginning, light is used to show the stage arrangement hence creating a high-quality view for the audience to study the stage setting. In this scene, light is used to illuminate the stage. Light has also been used to emphasize different moments that differ in their moods. When the beast and belle have a romantic scene, there is a lavender lighting. This lighting has been able to emphasize on the romantic scene despite having a human being and a beast act this part. When the merchant is lost in the forest, he finds himself in front of a palace where he is forced to seek for shelter. In theater, lights are usually used to show the difference between the forest and the palace. Lights used for the palace bring a dazzling look into the building providing the audience with a beautiful view. Light can be used to establish the altering position in time and space during a performance. This is shown in the scenes that have to run concurrently on stage. Light has been used to emphasize the scenes as they run. Dim lights are used on the dormant scenes and brighter ones on the current scene. For the musical, this has been a success. In the musical, lighting has been perfectly used to emphasize different times of the day. Blue has been used to show scenes created in the night, whereas red and orange has been used to

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Brief Description On The Milk Scandal Commerce Essay

Brief Description On The Milk Scandal Commerce Essay The toxic milk scandal became public in August 2008 with the disclosure that the baby formula produced by Sanlu was contaminated with melamine, which caused kidney failure among the babies who consumed it. However, until the Chinese Health Ministry confirmed on Sep 12, 2008, that the milk powder produced by Sanlu was contaminated by melamine, neither the government nor the company took any actions to warn the public. Later, government inspections reported that the products of 21 other dairy firms were also contaminated with melamine. Even as the milk scandal unfolded, many countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, and Indonesia rushed to ban Chinese dairy products. Foreign companies which sold China made products or products which used Chinese ingredients had to recall their products. overview of food industry business ethics Significance of business ethics Nowadays, the issue of business ethics comes to peoples mind more frequently especially in the food industry since food are the essential items for human and it will affect our health directly. In 2004, the use of hair in the production of soya sauce was exposed and made headlines in the press. Moreover, there is many more news about China how they use very cheap material like industrial acid and oil to mix into their food products in order to minimize the introduction costs. As a developing country, business in China is developing very rapidly. It is now playing a more decisive role in social life and almost all people would be involved in business activities. As a result, unethical business behavior would have negative influence towards society. Hence, society is now more concerned with the issue of business ethics. Since the Chinese foods are now exported all over the world, ethical practice of Chinese enterprise issues are the key factors to be success. General perception on business ethics in food industry There is much news recently that related to food safety in world wide. Therefore, consumers have three types of ethical concerns toward food industry. Methods of Production and Distribution The production of food raises a number of issues that need to be considered. The packaged food industry essentially consists of manufacturing using farm produce. Clearly hygiene, quality control, health and safety considerations are of great importance. The following are among the issues that should be considered as per my knowledge: 1. Animal welfare in the meat products industry. 2. Use of child or bonded labour, or employment of illegal immigrants. 3. The International Labor Organization (ILO) standards provide useful benchmarks in this area. 4. Improper use of the pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals. 5. Misuse of water resources and the consequent impact on local farmers 6. Good quality control of the food supply 7. Ensure the material supply and healthy to human 8. Use environmental friendly packaging as much as possible for the packaging 9. Inform the actual gradients of the food contented 10. Inform the public immediately once unhealthy food was produced and distribute to market According to our observation toward Chinese business, their objective of the business is only generating profits as much as possible. The ethical senses are not significance within the society. Reason behinds the widespread sufferings of the infants According to the case content, there is several factors lead to this hazard. On Sanlu In fact, Sanlu acknowledged the problem far beyond the serious ha affects hazard explored in 2008. From the case content, there were several customer complained the problem to Sanlu about the ill effect of taking the milk by infants. However, Sanlu chose not to launch this news to alarm general public due to they do not wanted to affect its sales and image. In addition, they were not willing to import the sophisticated milk test machine from overseas. On Government First, we believed that Chinese government has too much confidence on the self governance by the enterprise especially on Sanlu these big companies. One of the regulations implemented was the inspection-free policy. A company would not be required to undergo inspection for a period of 3 years if it can meet the following three requirements: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Product with stable quality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ High market share à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ passed the inspection for more than 3 consecutive times However, past performance did not reflect that there will be not problems in future. Since, the demand of Chinese milk increased significantly and the milk supply source has been polluted, the problem got serious in 2008. If Chinese government inspected the quality of Sanlu continuously, the situation will be under controlled. Moreover, the respond of the milk incident was too slow to control the situation. The Shijiazhang government and the Communist Party of China did not report about the said issue to the provincial and state level authorities till 9 Sep, 2008. At that time, about 53000 infants were already affected. On the steadily growth market and growth strategy of Sanlu Since there is high demand in milk industry and there is not strict control over the milk supply, more and more farmer and agent joined the supply market for making money. The situation got worse after the Mengniu and Yili enter into the Hebei market because the supply of milk was tight in this fast growth market. Since the milk demand from Sanlu and other company increased steadily, the market collection station cannot get enough milk for production. Since it is a profitable market to sell milk to these producers, many middlemen aroused and sell the milk to Sanlu directly. They were not ethical enough since they had diluted the milk to increase the supply volume for more profit and they added this melamine into the milk which was harmful to infants. Since not quality inspection from milk station, this toxic milk was finally gone into the market and lead to the milk scandal finally. Sanlu also needed to responsible on this issue since its growth strategy in market share made they ign ore the quality control by milk station and make this incident. Finally, the covered error of the milk scandal did not made the problem dismissed. Reversely, it generated a serious problem not only about the image destroyed of Sanlu its own but also the image of Chinese milk products, hundred thousand of farmer made not income and needed to kill all of their cows as well as thousands of infant were suffered from Kidney stone. If proper action has been done, the situation will be better. Sanlu and Government actions toward the milk scandal On September 17, 2008, the Chinese Health Minister, announced that melamine contaminated milk had led to more than 6,200 children falling ill in the country and over 150 children suffered acute kidney failure. Six days later it was announced that four children had died and the number of children falling ill had increased to 54,000. On Sanlus production and management actions On September 12, 2008, the Hebei provincial government ordered Sanlu to stop production after preliminary investigation confirmed that melamine contaminated baby formula was the reason for kidney stones among children. The company was also ordered to stop sales of all brands of its baby formula, recall its products, and destroy all the products that were unsold and recalled. Also Sanlu set up a fund of 800,000,000 yuan, which 700,000,000 yuan was estimated to be the compensation amount that the compensation amount that the company needed to pay to its customer such as refund, hospital expenses and compensation on sick or death of the infants. On September 15, 2008, Sanlu had issued a public apology of its role in the milk scandal. Zhang Zhenling (Zhenling), Vice President of Sanlu, read out a letter of apology at a news conference in Shijiazhuang, The serious safety accident of the Sanlu formula milk powder for infants has caused severe harm to many sickened babies and their families. We feel really sad about this. Sanlu Group expresses its most sincere apology to you. We solemnly declare we will recall all the infant milk powder produced prior to August 6. And for those produced after that date, we will also make a recall if consumers have doubts and worries.15 Later, Sanlu also sacked Wenhua. On Government actions The Health Ministry informed the World Health Organization, Hong Kong, and Macaus health departments, the New Zealand Embassy in China, and the press about the melamine contamination in baby formula. The Ministry also announced that a free medical checkup would be given to affected children. It sent medical specialists to hospitals across China to help treat the affected children. Started from September 2008, the Chinese government started a nationwide inspection of baby milk powder. It announced that liquid milk products including packaged milk and yoghurt would be checked for melamine contamination. On September 16, 2008, GAQSIQ announced an inspection of all Chinese baby milk powder makers and found traces of melamine in 69 batches of baby formula produced by 22 companies including brands like Mengniu,12 Yili,13 and Bright Dairy.14 After the inspection, these dairy firms were ordered to stop new production and sale of dairy products. As the milk scandal escalated, steps were also taken against some government officials. While some of them were sacked, some of them resigned owning moral responsibility. On September 17, 2008, Ji Chuntang, Vice-Secretary of the Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Mayor of Shijiazhuang, was removed from his job. Earlier, four officials including the Vice Mayor in charge of agricultural production, the Director of Shijiazhuang Municipal Animal Husbandry and Fishery Bureau, the Director of Shijiazhuang Municipal Food and Drug Administration, and the Director of Shijiazhuang Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision were dismissed. On September 22, 2008, Li Changjiang, the Director of GAQSIQ, resigned. On September 26, 2008, four executives of Sanlu including Wenhua were arrested for producing and selling sub-standard products. Milk dealers and suppliers were also arrested for selling contaminated milk to dairy companies. Jiabao, the then Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, said, The government will put more efforts into food security, taking the incident as a warning. What we are trying to do is to ensure no such event happens in future, by punishing those responsible leaders as well as enterprises. None of those companies lacking professional ethics or social morals will be let off.16 In an effort to restore confidence among domestic and international consumers, the Chinese government introduced a new set of quality control standards which included strict limits for melamine in dairy products. In the case of infant formula, the limit was set at one milligram of melamine per kilogram and the limit for liquid milk at 2.5 milligrams per kilogram. On October 09, 2008, in an effort to stimulate the dairy industry of China, the Chinese government announced an emergency rescue plan for the affected dairy farmers. The government planned to give 300 million Yuan in subsidy. In addition, the interest rate for loans granted to dairy producers to buy raw milk was also reduced by 3 percent for the period between October and December in 2008. Some local governments in China had also promised to give a subsidy to the dairy farmers. For example, the Hebei province had allocated 316 million Yuan (US$46.4 million) as subsidies to dairy farmers. The dairy companies in China had to recall several thousand tons of melamine contaminated milk products. Sanlu was ordered to recall its products immediately after the Hebei provincial government found melamine contamination in its baby formula. After GAQSIQ had found melamine contamination in the products of 22 Chinese dairy companies, they were also asked to recall their products. On October 15, 2008, GAQSIQ ordered recall of all dairy products made before September 14, 2008. According to a notice issued by the agency, All supermarkets, shops, and all city, town, and village-level vendors will urgently remove and seal up all milk powder and liquid milk made before September, pending further testing. On December 27, 2008, it was announced by the Chinas Dairy Industry Association that the affected children and their families would get compensation from the 22 companies found guilty of producing and selling contaminated milk powder. According to the statement issued by the Association, The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability. By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children. The money for compensation is in place now and will soon be handed to the people who have custody of the sickened children through various channels. If the babies suffer from relative after-effects, all medical fees will be covered by the fund. In a letter sent to the victims and their families by these 22 companies, the compensation amount was specifically mentioned for sick children, for those who were suffering from kidney failure, and for families whose kids had died because of the tainted milk powder. It was also mentioned in the l etter that dairy producers would set up a fund to pay the medical costs of the children who were ill, until they reached the age of 18. On January 22, 2009, two people were sentenced to death for their involvement in the Chinese milk scandal. Wenhua was given a life imprisonment and three other executives were given imprisonment from five to fifteen years In my personal opinion, the government failed to supervise product quality responsible. The effectiveness of the regulatory environment in China is slow in disclosure the hazard as well as makes prompt action to stop it. According to some research in the internet, there were many government departments to monitor food safety in China. As there was no single agency to look after all product safety regulations and enforcement in the country and there was no clear hierarchy of agencies, the duties of different departments often overlapped. Recommendations to Sanlu to recover its goodwill as well as Chinese milk industry toward global Investors who had already invested in the Chinese dairy industry were worried about regaining consumers confidence. In this respect it means consumers are now thinking twice before purchasing such products, so the key challenge now is to regain the consumers trust. As you can recall the case from Hong Kong, Vitasoy milk and Lemon tea also suffer from big hazard of the pollution in production line and made the milk turns sour in around ten years old. We believed as a well known organization with market leadership role, they can recover their goodwill step by step like Vita Corporation in order to gain the customer confidence again as below. However, the situation in Hong Kong is much easier to turnover since the government and the legislation control is much strict and clear to follow. If Sanlu would like to gain back the image, both Sanlu and Government needed to do something to ensure the quality of their products is healthy and safe to customer usage. We believe that ethical business environment is the key issue to recover the confidence from general public on the Chinese milk production On Government Regulations To avoid similar incident happen again, implementing of new issues and regulations are necessary. For example, AQSIQ should have regular and sudden inspection on the quality of products. The food industry inspection should be in random and strictly follow the international standard norm. Laws and ethics Nonetheless, only depends on laws, it is not sufficient to ensure the problem would not exist in future. It is more difficult to depend on enterprise to follow the law in PRC such the corruption and education level is not high. There are many acts that are legal but unethical. And there are also many people use money to change illegal to legal by cover the problem or override the checking from government. As in the milk scandal, the use of small amount of melamine was legal because it is not harmful to adult; there was no regulation on it. It is clear that laws cannot fully control human behavior; as law is only norm to control people behave. However, for business ethics, the standard is much higher than that of laws. It is because as a highly ethical company, their goals are not only profit but also care of the public as well as their customer. Ethics is not concerned only with peoples behavior. It is a standard for our core values. As an individual or a company, in addition to bein g legal, being ethical is the key which shows that their values are of higher standard rather than meeting the minimum requirement only. As a ethical corporation, Sanlu should use the concept that customers babies are their babies, they will not give some harmful materials or potential harmful ingredient towards their own babies. They should care the health of all babies although add melamine and dilute milk can be acceptable to increase production. Education on general public Peoples behavior is actually influenced by norm, attitude and values from the society and most likely are from their own family. Changes in norm, attitude and values are very important for improving business ethics. We believed that it is the value of Chinese enterprise was too famous on profit and do not know clearly what ethical standard they needed. Hence, on top of implementation of measures and regulations, education on both top management and employees would be the most fundamental way to do so. For example, government can improve more foreign consultant and special to teach ethic and made speech in university to raise the concern of general public and know they can do it profitability like coca cola, nestle as well as PG etc. On Sanlu itself Ethic knowledge training Unethical issues cannot be done by only one level. If the ethical standards are enough in the company, they will carry out a mutual inspection on other actions toward ethic enterprise. For example, before employees go to their working positions, the company should provide ethics training, covering ethical issues and addressing the rules, compliance requirement and the corporate values to their employees. Let employees realize the importance of business ethics for the company as well as their own. During training, discussions on cases of ethical dilemma and analysis with employees are valuable in developing employees awareness of business ethics and ethical competency. Furthermore, the company should communicate information about the reporting mechanisms with all employees. When there is any unethical behavior, employees can report to the company immediately. This would be the most efficient way to discover any problems and take prompt actions to solve them. Quality control process and crisis management Since Sanlus image was totally damaged in this incident, we recommend that Sanlu can import the modern of art testing machine for strict quality control and the production chain should be more transparent toward general public. They can set up a additional inspection team which contains outsiders from other milk industrys expert and also foreign country representative to investigate the production channel, sourcing as well as the healthy and safety level on its our products. Therefore, the general public may slowly regain its confidence on Sanlus milk products. Also, the management team should have a knowledge sharing about the investors New Zealand industry on how they manufacture the milk and ensure the required process and ethical norm can be implemented in Sanlu to regain the image from global market. Once the incident happened again, Sanlu should know how to reduce the negative effect toward customer like stop production immediately, message general public timely and recall all affected products from retailer and dealers in order to show their sophisticated experience in crisis management. Like Vita group, we believe that the market will accept their products again. In conclusion, we believe that the critical factor on this incident and regain image of Sanlu in the case is all about ethics. We believed that the technology and expertise in China are enough to produce healthy and safety products. However, their action has been affected by the norm to earn as much money as possible in short period of time by legal but no ethical actions. In order to reduce the negative image toward Chinese product such as foods, drinks, electronic and toy. Chinese government should pay more effort on improve the ethical standard by education and control of the government officials. If they cannot to do so, the short-term goal of Chinese enterprise toward profits without concern on general public would affect the development of the economy of whole Chinese market.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Blitz and St Pauls Cathedral Essay example -- England Religion Pa

The Blitz and St Paul's Cathedral When the Blitz began over Britain in the fall of 1940, Londoners were frightened and unsure of what the Nazis had in store for them. However, their uneasy emotions would later change into feelings of nationalistic pride and perseverance, as London became a city full of active resistors to the Nazi forces. This change would be prompted from a variety of sources, including Winston Churchill, the media, as well as the emergence of inspirational symbols. St. Paul's Cathedral is undoubtedly the most powerful of these symbols, becoming a timeless image associated with the Blitz, encapsulating sentiments of hope and courage. LONDON THROUGH THE BLITZ The Campaign The Blitz on London started on September 7, 1940 and continued until May 1941, lasting a total of eight months. The goals of the Blitz were to "pound Britain into submission by bombing economic and civilian targets," and primarily to soften up the morale of the British people (Ray 9). However, "unlike other campaigns this was a contest mainly between Luftwaffe aircrews and British civilians, the one group skilled and the other untrained in killing" (Ray 9). Although the first bombs fell in August, the first mass attack, concentrated on the docklands area, occurred on September 7. Throughout the afternoon, 300 bombers, escorted by 600 fighters, dropped 300 tons of bombs on the docks downstream from Tower Bridge. These bombs ravaged the East End, creating a two-mile high wall of smoke that would serve as a landmark for the night raid. When the sun set, another 330 tons of high explosives and 440 canisters of incendiary bombs were dropped. The bombing rapidly escalated and continued for the next 57 consecutive nights, increasing in str... ...monument that is St. Paul's, the testament to the courage and pride of London, 1939-1945. However, while the size of St. Paul's dwarfs the memorial to the victims, for the people whose attention is caught by the unimposing memorial, the memorial and its message stand as the remembrance of the Blitz. The message of St. Paul's being an unintended monument to the London spirit during the Blitz is no longer heard. Works Cited Fitzgibbon, Constantine. The Blitz. London: Allan Wingate, 1957. Matthews, W. R. and W. M. Atkins. A History of St. Paul's Cathedral. London: Phoenix House, 1957. Neville, John. The Blitz: London Then and Now. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990. Ray, John. The Night Blitz 1940-1941. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1996. "The London Blitz, 1940," EyeWitness - history through the eyes of those who lived it, www.ibiscom.com (2001).

Monday, November 11, 2019

Antonin Artaud: Theatre of Cruelty Essay

Antonin Artaud’s most profound piece of work was not a poem, not a play, not an acting role, but a theory: Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. He began to form his Theatre of Cruelty theory after learning of the Balinese theatre that seemed, to him, to share qualities with his ideas about theatre. Artaud held a great respect for Balinese theatre which revolves around dance and actions to convey meaning (Encyclopedia Britannica). More traditional theatre revolves around words to convey meaning. Artaud believed that the specificity of verbal interpretations got in the way of true meaning and that using physical gestures to express thoughts was more effective (Encyclopedia Britannica). He looked at drama as more of a physical act than a recitation of a script. The entire form of theatre, in his view, needed to be different to suit his new idea that the purpose of theatre was to express the cruelty of human beings (Encyclopedia Britannica). Artaud was very liberal in his ideas for this new theatre. He was specific in what he wanted out of the new theatre. He had many plans for how it would function and many dreams of the effect it would bring to it’s audiences as well as the art form as a whole. Antonin Marie Artaud was born in 1846 in Marseille France to his Greek parents, Euphrasie Nalpas and Antoine-Roi Artaud. He was one of the two surviving children out of nine, but he was very ill. Many of his problems can be attributed to his early childhood illnesses and the way they were treated. As a child, Artaud suffered from meningitis of the brain, neuraligia, and clinical depression. Since he was an unhealthy child, he was treated with opium which began his life-long addiction. As a young man Artaud was smart, handsome, and capable. He wrote poetry, but his main focus was theatre. He also acted in plays and directed theatre. While he was never well-known, he gave his life up to writing and excelled at it. His aptitude for writing strange-yet-interesting pieces was a result of his demented mind. He had strange ideas that were both brilliant and misunderstood. The opium and mental illness that brought Artaud his skill in writing took a toll on his body and were his eventual downfall. Artaud spent some years of his life going in and out of mental hospitals. He lived a fast, short life nd he died at the young age of 52 in a psychatric clinic. People may never definitely know whether Artaud was really intellectually inspired by the drugs he was so addicted to, but one might hope that the drugs that took his life away from him at such an early age served some sort of useful purpose. Such an odd man would seem to be more well-known, when in fact Artaud and his theories are so obscure that little can be found on them in any reliable resources. To fully understand Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty completely, one must first understand the meaning Artaud puts into the word cruelty. He used the words in many different ways to express his own philosophies. Artaud, according to Lee Jamison, used the word cruelty to apply to many differerent philosophies and views of his. More specifically, she defines four different ways Artaud included the concept of cruelty in his theories. The first of Artaud’s conceptual definitions of cruelty is the â€Å"essense of human existence† (Jamison). This definition of cruelty is that human life has no meaning, which is a cruel thought indeed. This definition shows Artaud’s jaded persepctive of life. He believed that life had no meaning and that theatre should show everyone else the cruel fact that he knew to be true. The second definition is cruelty as a practice, the practice of cruelty being breaking away from â€Å"false reality† (Jamison). He believed that everyone was living a lie and should just accept reality rather than ignoring the truth. Artaud’s third cruelty concept is that he believed that the audience should be exposed to cruelty by means of the theatre experience. He did not just want the audience to see cruelty up on the stage; he wanted to put them in the middle of it all and to experience it themselves. He wanted all barriers to be erased and for the audience to become part of the action in drama (Jamison). In this way the audience could have a better understanding of the concept Artaud was so eager to put on display in the theatre. The fourth and last interpretation of cruelty is Artaud’s own personal views. He considered everything imaginable to be reality (Jamison). If it could be thought up, it was real. This ties in with the willing suspension of disbelief which means what the audience is experiencing in the theatre is real in a way. The characters become people that the audience cares about. Understanding the many meanings Artaud put on one word, cruelty, is vital to understanding his meaning in his theory of Theatre of Cruelty. Artaud’s theories could very well be the work of a misuderstood genious carrying a jem of precious intellect. He makes many valid points in his writing. Perhaps life is just a cruel, meaningless existence. One could never know without blind faith. There is no science to prove that life has a deeper meaning other than to live and reproduce. If facing the truth is cruel then Artaud believed that all people should stand up to cruelty and look it in the face. Artaud could be right in saying that people should not live a lie. Putting an audience in a dramiatic situation is a marvelous idea if not taken too far. His theories may have been the beginnings of improvisational theatre or may have even spawned the modern day house of horrors. Artaud could be right about saying that even things that exist only in the mind are real. Reality is merely perception. Whether one can think of something or tangibly experience it, it is real in their perception. Artaud had many excellent ideas and theories that carry on with humanity through today. Artaud’s theories very well may be the jumbled-up imaginations and creations of a drug-addicted mad man. Perhaps his mental instability made him look at life through a distorted looking glass. What he saw was there, he was merely twisting it. Life itself being cruel sounds exactly like an exaggeration a depressed person would make. Life can be wonderful in so many ways. Existence itself is no cruelty to mankind. Existence merely forces the living to eat and breath, nothing more. Society may be a cruelty to mankind, but then again civilization is not innate. That people tend to avoid the truth is a terribly large generalization to make. It sounds like it was just made up. There is no evidence put behind it at all. Putting an audience through cruelty by making them part of a play is very cruel indeed. It may be so cruel that it serves no purpose at all, except to drive people away from the theatre. Looking at it reasonably and scientifically, if something cannot be seen, smelled, heard, touched, or tasted, one can never know if it is actually there. It almost sounds like something that would come out of the mouth of someone mentally ill. The main problem with no one adopting Artaud’s theatre was that immense changes would have to be made to the art in itself. Buildings would have to be changed so that the audience could be part of the action in plays. Writers would have write in a way that demonstrated Artaud’s theories. His precise and thought-out ideas for the theatre were too specific to be conformed to easily. If the changes had not been so drastic, theatres very well may have adapted and become Theatres of Cruelty. Artaud was very particular in his theories. All of Artaud’s theories tied in very closely to one another. To conform to one of Artaud’s ideas without conforming to any other would be an immense challenge.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Term paper Essays - Elections, Forms Of Government, Politics

Term paper Essays - Elections, Forms Of Government, Politics Term paper America is a democratic nation in an administration with chosen authorities, but throughout history it always hasn't been like that. In the past early civilization, did not always have leaders with great ethics. Most royal Dynasties in history didn't have very long reigns because the distribution of power and many other factors. They just wanted to much control, which resulted in murder within dynasties. Someone in A royal dynasty would be okay as a government if it had some form of regulation, but as we've seen with the civilizations before us Democracy is where opportunity, freedom, business, and philanthropy can thrive. This sort of government is the most effective because it gives the people a voice. I do believe that democratic system is the best to have but I also believe that often time we do not take advantages of the opportunities that we must speak out on certain things. A slight flaw in our government is that the say "majority rules." Though that is the goal of our nation often we fall short. But compared to the reign of ancient dynasty I do acknowledge the controlled distribution of powers. Many people fear president elect trump as a president because they feel as though he will do irrational things, but thanks to the checks and balances systems and the constitution he can't just do everything that he pleases because he must undergo certain procedures to get laws past. Also, how the electoral college essentially chooses the president which can be slightly misleading and discouraging to uneducated voters: resulting in the thought that their voice doesn't matter: A majority rule government is by all accounts the most stable type of government yet. One Person does not have complete control one belief system is not esteemed superior to another. Also, if something is not working in our community or society we can change it. On the off chance that majority rule government is to be compelling, the general population must be ready. They should educate themselves on presidential candidates and candidates in the preliminary rounds. They should figure out how to raise their voice against bad form and debasement. Majority rules system is the manager of the general population. Numerous cases of majority rule governments exist on the planet today and the clear majority tend to feel that a nation managed by a vote based system is the most illuminated an d great. A benefit of majority rule government is that ideally everybody is dealt with similarly under the steady gaze of the law, regardless of station, doctrine or sex. Everybody is qualified for the right to speak freely, opportunity of love, flexibility of occupation and opportunity to move all through the nation. The pride of man is perceived and regarded. Individuals are sufficiently given chances to advance in life. They clearly have the privilege to vote in favor of their administration so by expansion choosing the approach of their country and what their country ought to resemble. They have more the right to speak freely and expression. Specifically, they can censure their own government. In this manner, it is critical for advancement that the administration be steady. Democracy is better than a dynasty based government because throughout history the dynasties usually were very strong-minded and knew what they want. The most rulers where strict of religion, they had a very militant lead life they did whatever it took to stay king, most empires got over thrown by other empires or rulers. Decentralization of power became a problem, individuality was a problem, opinions where a problem and adaption to economics was a problem. In these tyrants formed situations there was no room for individualization or advancement. Often people were shunned or tortured for attempting to rebel against the king and most of the time if you were born into poverty it was hard to get out of that class Looking at the history of the other civilizations you notice that when dynasties where in place leader ship wasn't constant for long. The leaders had too much power. If the king didn't want to consider anyone else's feelings then they didn't have to, and that waste problem. There was no standard or the

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Explaining social phenomenon using sociological concepts Essays

Explaining social phenomenon using sociological concepts Essays Explaining social phenomenon using sociological concepts Paper Explaining social phenomenon using sociological concepts Paper Bryn and Lie, 2007) With the advancements In technology, social media platforms can now be used as an avenue for people to stay connected within the society, which allows them to form social solidarity. Hence, people are switching from activities like reading, which do not make them feel anchored in the society to those that allows them to stay connected with others virtually even when they are physically alone. This would help in forming a stable and cohesive society, especially now that everyone can stay updated with any recent happenings and react accordingly. However, an individual can get addicted to the use of social media, affecting his schedule due to lack of time management. Work is not done within the required timeshare, which becomes a private trouble of the individual, who now needs to worry about managing his time well between social media and work. There is intricate link between an individuals lifestyle and the circumstances of a society, as mentioned by Mills (1997). Even though addiction to social media can be regarded as a private trouble. If there Is a substantial amount of people who have this problem, It can become a public issue. The decrease in productivity during work due to social media will affect the economy and is not just subjected to the problems of an individual. Thus, private troubles can lead to the manifestation of public issues. Not only is the values of an individual threatened, but the social structure is also negatively influenced which may lead to uneasiness, affecting our sense of well- being. Such phenomenon can also be explained by Mars theory. According to Marx, he primacy motivation for productive castles was the pursuit of profit. (Bolton et al. 2002) Game developers and advertisers would see social media as a quick way to gain profits, especially due to the low costs of production in engaging consumers through social media. Therefore, they would come up with ways to appeal to consumers by introducing addictive games or interesting videos on these platforms, keeping them captivated and wasting even more time. Despite this resulting in rational goals such as Improving productivity and gr eater quality of life being improvised, producers are willing to sacrifice them to maximize profits. They may feel that they are making rational choices, but in actual fact, these producers are behaving in an irrational manner. Hence, even though the increasingly common usage of social media can help in forming social solidarity, individuals must be disciplined managing their time on the social media. Too much time spent on social media due to the enticement of games by profit-maximizing producers can lead to ten social structure Dealing affected when puddle Issues sat Bibliography rot to Arles.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Chapter 1 introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chapter 1 introduction - Essay Example Currently, football is the most common sport although others such as basketball and swimming exist. In spite of the influence that oil has had on the development of sports in Kuwait, there are issues facing practical education in schools. This research is therefore undertaken to determine how the introduction of a new approach would benefit the current state of PE in these schools. Sports are essential to the development of any country. Kuwait, like other nations, started giving attention to sports since the establishment of the state in the 18th century. Sports were already on practice. Before the discovery of oil, Kuwaiti people were actually doing hard sports in their daily activities in order to adapt to the harsh environmental conditions and to make a living from it. At that time, people had sport skills such as swimming, diving, rowing, hunting, shooting and riding horses in order to make their living. All the people were skilled in these sports; from the youth to adults. However, traditionally, only men were allowed to practice them (Kuwait Olympic Committee 2015). In the past, only the traditional sports were popular and some of them were held in public. Before the country adopted sports from outside countries like western countries and India, only the traditional sports were known to the people of the local nomadic society. The known and celebrated sports in the area included horse and camel racing; these were held in festivities where sports men from all the Arabian Peninsula areas participated. These races incorporated the finest Arabian horses in the area. Additionally, Falconry was a popular sport in Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula. Common and nobility people like Monarchs and princesses used to participate in these events. However, the sport started to decline after the overhunting and the discovery of petroleum fields in the area (Encyclopedia Britannica 2013). After the discovery of petroleum in the country, Kuwait changed to a

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Lsweek4rem3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lsweek4rem3 - Essay Example The arguments put by Kilduff and Mehra (1997) are based on earlier discussions by Rosenau (1992). However they also mention the idea of that postmodernism can be thought of as one of the great 20th century challenges, an idea put forward by Wisdom ( 1987) This particular argument is not only about research in social sciences, but also within areas such as physics (Farney, 1994;) as cited in 1997 by Kilduff and Mehra. Alvensson and Skoldberg (1995) point out that critically evaluating a variety of issues will provide insight for reflective ways to investigate social sciences. The authors focus on the way in which issues are described and articulated which appears to ensue from using the expressions postmodernism and modernism. Their discussion is concerned with the use of postmodernism as being a means used by researchers when they wish to put forward a totally new image. Going back to Kilduff and Mehra (1997), they discuss postmodernism concepts as being linked with the process of knowledge creation. This they do by discussing the writing of Giroux (1992) who stated that within postmodern research the aims are to challenge the makeup and shape of prevailing patterns of knowledge as well as how to create new types of knowledge. This., it is suggested, happens when disciplinary boundaries are broken down and when those who are relatively unrepresented are given their voice. I find myself agreeing with postmodernism. concepts when it comes to knowledge creation. There needs to be a focus upon two things – the way in which postmodernism presents a challenge to older models of knowledge as well as the production of new knowledge. In the work situation there needs to be a challenging of the already existing body of knowledge while at the same time ensuring that new knowledge is being produced. This means that postmodernism can be a successful conce pt when it comes to the creation of new bodies of knowledge. How has