The Spratly Islands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Spratly Islands - Essay Example Some of the island claims overlap and have led to international tensions over the right to claim some of the world's largest oil reserves and expand their territorial fishing rights. Powerful nations in the area that have a growing need for energy pose a serious threat for future disputes, but recent agreements have eased the tensions to a degree and offer some hope of a model of economic cooperation. . Claims to the islands in the archipelago largely rest on the claimant's ability to establish a historical record of being there first, their geographical proximity, or a record of diplomatic agreements. China, Japan, France, and Vietnam all made claims to, and inhabited, the islands sporadically before and during the first half of the 20th century. China's claim to the islands dates back 2nd century BC Han dynasty, and in 1933 the Chinese made a formal public declaration of claim to the islands and stated that the islands "are inhabited only by Chinese fishermen, and are internationally recognized as Chinese territories".1 The Japanese used the Spratly Islands as a staging point for their assault on the Philippines during World War II, but the action drew little attention from the British who considered the islands terra nullius, a non-legally binding concept that argues uninhabited islands are open to settlement.2 Vietnam's claims date back to the 17th century and are bolstered by an 1884 treaty that claims the French administered the islands while they were a protectorate of France.3 Vietnam has recently contended that they have continuously occupied the islands since the 1600s and have "exercised effectively, continuously and peacefully its sovereignty" over the Spratly islands as well as the neighbouring Paracel Islands.4 Historians have largely disputed the legitimacy of the claims made by Vietnam and since World War II the islands have become the centre of an international debate involving China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Since World War II the Spratly Islands have gained significant strategic importance for their location amid a rapidly developing area, as well as for the economic value of their natural resources. Ownership of the islands gives the owner internationally recognized fishing rights in an area that is rich in fish and seafood. The discovery of some of the richest gas and oilfields in the world has sparked an intense competition for ownership. The islands lie in the middle of several nations that have a growing need for oil that is mostly currently imported from the Middle East and Africa. In addition, the islands lie in the middle of the shipping lanes that include the Strait of Malacca, which serves the expanding Asia-Pacific economic region, and is the second busiest sea-lane in the world5. It is estimated that over half the world's supertanker traffic and "half of the world's merchant fleet (by tonnage) sails through the South China Sea every year".6 This gives the owners of the islan ds geo-political strength as well as control of the resources in the area surrounding the islands. The island's strategic location and the ability to disrupt trade have given the Spratly Islands an increased military importance in light of the world's growing need for oil. The most recent decades have seen open hostilities as nations have worked to build a spirit of

Global management, people, and the digital divide Essay - 4

Global management, people, and the digital divide - Essay Example In poverty stricken areas, many people do not enjoy the benefits afforded by ICT, such as internet accessibility and networking. This is why such regions extensively rely on markets and donor driven aid to build their ICT infrastructure (Jonathan, 2005, pp. 22-25). However, failure to access such funds continues to widen the gap between the poor and the rich, especially in regard to internet accessibility. This inequality is rampant not only in developing countries, but in developed ones as well. In recognition of the identified digital divide, donors are increasingly considering the need to bridge this gap, through creation of low cost technologies, which can aid in enhancing internet accessibility in these regions. An excellent example is the recently adopted laptop per child policy, which seeks to ensure that children in underprivileged societies attain some level of technological advancement (Strover, 2003, pp. 275-277). The program further seeks to ensure that students experience a media rich environment both at home and school, which will make them more creative and critical with information technology. The program is also instrumental in increasing opportunities for students to overcome educational inequality. The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program is a high profile initiative designed to bridge the digital divide, by providing poor kids with low cost computers that support network capability. These laptops are specifically designed to handle low-power supply, as well as, the ruggedness of poor rural and urban regions (vanDuersen and vanDijk, 2011, pp. 895-905). Additionally, the laptops’ software features graphical programs and user interface that are designed to enhance learning. For instance, in the largely rural state of Maine, students from poor backgrounds have benefited from the OPLC program by acquiring means to access

Transcending the insanity and illusions of the ego as a path to Research Paper

Transcending the insanity and illusions of the ego as a path to finding bliss - Research Paper Example From the psychological observation and analysis of changes in condition of Maria right from the time she started using drugs, it can be concluded that she is suffering from severe drug addiction and abuse. She started with small intake of alcohol and smoking small number of cigarettes per day, but due to addiction, she ended up consuming large amount of drugs resulting to substance abuse (Twerski, 32). The development issues of drug addiction and substance abuse also became clear when her health started deteriorating spontaneously thus resulting to consequential withdraw from the society. The fall in her grade and general performance in school are also sufficient testimonies to severe addiction and drug abuse that carried away her concentration in school. With reference to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders, Maria conditions qualify meet criterions for substance abuse and substance dependence. To start with, substance abuse is usually evident when the victim fails to perform vital and critical roles and instead spends most of the time in using drug (Wurtzel, 33). Substance abuse also occurs when individual continues to use specific drug even at the time when the use posses physical dangers. Furthermore, substance abuse becomes inherent when the user maintains its use even at the time when problems connected to use continue to compound. All the discussed signs and manifestation of substance abuse are evident in Maria. Instead of allocating most of her time in doing school work, she uses the time in smoking marijuana, cigarette and drinking beer. She also continues to use the drugs despite of the physical dangers of the drugs on her health as witnessed by tremendous fall in her body weight. Furthermore, Maria pe rsists using the drugs even after falling victim of STI as evident by her contraction of genital herpes. Substance dependence on the other hand

Strategic Analysis of Amazon.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Analysis of Amazon.com - Essay Example Amazon.com is an on-line retail company established in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and based in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. The company, ranked 273 last year amongst Fortune 500 companies in America, began as a seller of books through the Internet but has grown into what is essentially a technology and logistics business enterprise, selling services such as Web hosting and supply chain management, and brand new and used products purchased from distributors, manufacturers, and publishers. The company operates seven retail Web sites, two search and navigation sites, and a movie database site (Amazon.com, 2006a). As of December 13, 2006 the company had annual revenues of $9.7 billion, EBITDA of $567 million, net income of $292 million, and some 12,000 employees worldwide. Table 1 shows a summary of how NASDAQ-listed Amazon.com compares with its competitors in the Internet Software and Services such as e-Bay and Barnes and Noble (Yahoo.com, 2006). Amongst the various manners of conducting a strategic analysis, this paper will focus on popular techniques such as SWOT (Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962), PESTEL (Andrews, 1987), and Porter’s Five Forces model and Generic Strategies (Porter, 1980 and 1985). SWOT-PESTEL For this first part, we combine the SWOT-PESTEL approach. The SWOT analysis is so-called because of the acronym of four factors required for assessing the organisation’s internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) environments. The PESTEL analysis considers six environmental factors that affect the enterprise and its business: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. The strengths of Amazon.com are its customer-centred focus, the quality of its technology infrastructure, supply chain management experience, its brand name, and its huge database of global customers. Amongst its major weaknesses are product innovation (it sells for others), technology infrastructure utilisation, and a sagging stock price (down 22.3% in the last year) that opens it to takeover risk from other Internet (e-Bay and Google) or software (Microsoft) giants. The more important opportunities are the growth of on-line shopping and the need to innovate products and services to continue growing sales to generating higher margins and profits. These would address the threat from an increasing number of competitors that are eating into the business activity (on-line shopping) it used to dominate. The following PESTEL factors affect the industry and Amazon.com: Political: American legislation on taxation of on-line transactions threatens to reduce usage and margins. Economic: Slowdown in consumer spending in countries with high Internet penetration would drag down profits and margins. Retail giants (Wal-Mart and Tesco) would compete with Internet service providers. Social: Potential backlash from Internet users and competing brick-and-mortar retail shops that discover the anti-social effects of on-line transactions. Technological: Web 2.0 Internet technology is deemed to have a different set of users and protocols that may attract new upstart dotcoms as competitors. The fast obsolescence of the company's technology needs to be utilised and depreciated quickly. Security concerns of on-line transactions remain. Environmental: Server farms are ugly and consume huge amounts of energy. Legal: The risk of identity theft opens Internet companies to

Crito Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Crito - Research Paper Example Euthyphro identifies with Socrates because people laugh at him when he predicts the future. On the other hand, Euthyphro is accusing his father of murder. His father, by neglect, had let a servant who had killed another servant die in a ditch while awaiting instruction on what to do with him. Socrates taunts Euthyphro if he has such a precise knowledge of right and wrong and if so, whether what he is doing is not a wrong. The debate shifts to the discussion about what is holly and what is unholy, Socrates wants to learn from Euthyphro. Euthyphro argues that not prosecuting offenders because they are your relatives is unholy. He proves this by reminding Socrates of the god Zeus who is said to be the most just. Zeus, he says, bound his father Cronos because he had devoured his own sons. Socrates is indeed doubtful about the tales about the gods. Socrates asks Euthyphro to provide him with a standard by which to measure things as holy or unholy. Euthyphro says that holy things are dear to gods, and unholy things are not dear to the gods. Socrates remarks that gods also argue until they fight. He also points out that such arguments can only be about right or wrong. Socrates then brings out the flaw in such a definition by leading Euthyphro to admit that something considered dear to the gods is also, on the other hand, not dear to the gods; otherwise, they would not argue and fight. They both proceed to come up with another definition of purity. That what all the gods hate is impure and what they all love is pure, but what some gods love and others hate is both pure and impure. Unexpectedly, Socrates also punches holes in this definition. He asks whether the holy become holy because the gods love them or the gods adore them due to their holiness. They then agree that which is precious to the gods is also precious to them because they love it and not the other way round. This, Socrates points out is a contradiction and continues to demand another distinction between holy and unholy. Euthyphros, at this point gives up, but Socrates continues trying to come up with a distinction. He later proves that fear does not always result to reverence but reverence results to fear, which goes against the words of a poem on Zeus. On that, Socrates proves that piety is only a part of the bigger concept of justice. Euthyphros then asserts that piety is a part of justice, which concerns the gods. The word he uses ‘attention’ leads Socrates to enquire whether it is the attention that improves something. Euthyphro then gives another definition. That piety is sacrificing and praying to the gods. He expresses the idea of doing business with the gods. Socrates also wants Euthyphro to state to what benefit the gifts to the gods are. Instead, he says they are a show of honor and esteem. Thereby he admits that piety depends on what the gods like, which they had assumed not to be the case. The discussion becomes circular, and Euthyphros abandons the dialogu e. According to J. Adam, Euthyphro represents Plato’s perception on the Athenian orthodoxy that was common. Euthyphro represents the mindset that led to the murder of Socrates (Berversluis 161). Euthyphro is an example of a- know- it- all, ignorant of his ignorance. He flaunts his knowledge in matters of religion and even adopts a fatherly tone towards Socrates. He is overconfident and uncritical to the extent that he does not realize that Socrates is not taking him

Determining the Rate of Osmosis with Water and Sucrose Essay Example for Free

Determining the Rate of Osmosis with Water and Sucrose Essay Determining the Rate of Osmosis with Water and Sucrose 10/3/2012 Determining the Rate of Osmosis with Water and Sucrose Author: Results: Bag 1 had a rate of osmosis equal to 0. 01 grams per minute. Bag 2 had a rate of osmosis equal to 0. 0543 grams per minute. Bag 3 had a rate of osmosis equal to 0. 0471 grams per minute. Bag 4 had a rate of osmosis equal to 0. 0886 grams per minute. Bag 5 had a rate of osmosis equal to -0. 0914 grams per minute (Figure A). Figure A: Shifting of mass in grams for each dialysis bag was measured every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. Data follows expectations of hypothesis on the basis that H2O will move from an area of high concentration to low concentration. Also, the rate of which it would move depending on concentration. The higher the concentration of sucrose inside of the dialysis bag, the faster the rate of water will travel into the bag. The rate of osmosis increases as the concentration of sucrose inside the bag is higher. Correspondingly, with bag 5, the water inside the dialysis bag would travel once again to a place of lower water concentration, the sucrose in the beaker. This is so because sucrose has a low concentration of water. Therefore, the water will travel from high to low concentration. The sucrose in bags 2, 3, and 4 are hypertonic to the water inside the beaker. Adversely, the water inside the beaker is hypotonic to the sucrose inside the bag. Another example to this would be swimming in the ocean (salt water) where the ocean’s water is hypertonic (lower water concentration) and the human body is hypotonic (higher water concentration), causing the water inside the human body to move from its high concentration to the ocean’s low concentration. Bag 1 represents an isotonic solution, where the water concentration inside the bag is close or equal to the concentration of water outside the bag. Another example of isotonic is 0. 9% NaCl, an I. V. olution, is isotonic to humans. This study interprets the importance of osmosis in daily biology as it can be detrimental to living cells and simultaneously profitable. For instance, plants need to be hypertonic to their hypotonic surroundings. If the solution outside the membrane has a lower concentration of solutes than the interior has, water will move into the vesicle via osmosis (Freeman p. g 91). Water travels into their cells, causing their cell to swell so that the ir stems may stand up straight.

Discourse Analysis Politeness In Ionescos The Lesson English Language Essay

Discourse Analysis Politeness In Ionescos The Lesson English Language Essay This article is concentrating on the linguistic strategies of politeness presented in drama text. The text chosen for analysis is Ionescos The Lesson, a play which would virtually demand a politeness analysis. the discourse model which has been selected for the analysis is one which should enable me to explore ,in a systematic way, the relation between language use and the social relation of the speakers. The present study will examine literary text from a discourse oriented perspective because the subject of the analysis is the drama dialogue. The choice of the dialogues is further justified when one notice that the drama dialogue selected for analysis represents a particular kind of discourse situation ;a lesson. a discourse stylistic analysis should examine the interaction between the fictional characters in the play as well as encompassing the interaction between writer/playwright and reader /audience. This echoes the embedded nature of drama discourse. Generally a discourse styl istic analysis should highlight the role of the writer and reader as conversationalists in realtime speech events, pointing particularly the formers ability to exploit the conversations of language use for stylistic effect and latters ability to recognize these exploitations and motivations behind it. Politeness and Interactions Much of what we say and a greater deal of what we communicate is determined by our social relationships. A linguistic interaction is necessarily a social interaction. In order to make sense of what is said in an interaction we have to look at various factors which relate to social distance and closeness. Some of these factors are external ,they involve the relative status of the participants ,based on social values, such as age and power. However here are also internal factors such as amount of imposition and degree of friendliness. It might accord with what Foucault talked about power and relation. He said that power is not something to be seized it is exercised from different points of an interplay in a mobile non-egalitarian relation. Both types of factors have an influence over not only what we say but on how we are interpreted. In order to understand the meaning of politeness in an interaction we need the concept of face. As a technical term, face means the public self-image of a person .it refers to emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects the others to recognize it .politeness in an interaction can then be defined as the means employed to show awareness of another persons face. Within their everyday social infraction people generally behave as if their expectation concerning their public self-image, or their face wants, will be respected. If a speaker say something that represents a threat to another individuals expectations regarding self-image, it is described as a face threatening act ..Alternatively given the possibility that some action might be interpreted as a threat to anothers face, the speaker can say something to lesson the possible threat. This is called a face saving act. We also have negative and positive face. a persons negative face is the need to be independent, to have freedom of action ,and not to be imposed on by others. The word negative here doesnt mean bad it s just the opposite pole of positive. a persons p ositive face is the need to be accepted ,even liked ,by others ,to be treated as the member of the same group, and to know that his and her wants are shared by the others. In short negative face is the need to be independent and positive face is the need to be connected. There are also various forms of face threatening act. Depending on the social relationship of the speakers and the amount of imposition which the face threatening act entails. For example if you say closed the door it is a face threatening act that has been done baldly, without redress. In fact a bald non redressive act is one that adheres to four conversational maxim introduced by a philosopher called Grice. It is maximally efficient in so far as it is non-spurious (quality maxim), it does not say more or less than is required ( quantity),it is relevant(relation) and it avoids ambiguity and obscurity (manner). There are a number of alternatives to perform face threatening act. If you say your request not directly and the other partner can also behave as if the statement has not been heard, this is technically described as being off record. In general ,linguistic realization of off-record strategies include metaphor and irony, rhetorical questions ,understatement ,tautologies and all kinds of indirect hints .but if you directly address the other partner as a means of expressing your need like the example above this is described as being on-record .in the face saving act we have positive politeness and negative politeness. Positive politeness is like being on-record more risky. This can be used in more friendly and close relations. In negative politeness the request is most typically performed via a question like may I ask you †¦.? Or could you lend me your pen?.the tendency to use positive politeness forms ,emphasizing closeness between speaker and hearer ,can be seen as solidarity strategy. Such a strategy will include personal information, use of nicknames even use of abusive terms. The tendency to use negative politeness forms, emphasizing the hearers right to freedom, can be seen as a deference strategy. This strategy can be performed through using hedges, indicating deference, minimizing the imposition, indicating pessimism, apologizing, impersonalizing , etc†¦ The Analysis In The Lesson the central event is a private lesson involving an ageing professor and an eighteen year old pupil. The specific aim of the lesson is never made clear ;the pupil, it seems ,wishes to undertake all the doctorate ,yet the professor directs most of his pedagogical energy toward ridiculously elementary arithmetic .at the start of the play the professor is nervous and difficult while the pupil is vivacious and dynamic .the professor gradually loses his timidity ,becoming increasingly domineering and aggressive, whereas the pupil grows more and more passive. finally in the storm of verbal abuse the professor murders the pupil with what can only be described as an imaginary knife. The play concludes with the revelation that not only is this the professors fortieth victim of the play but also he had planned subsequent lesson of a similar nature. The professors transition from diffidence to dominance, and the pupils decline into passivity is a gradual and almost imperceptible pr ocess. the shift in the interactive roles of the two characters is reflected by subtle changes in their linguistic behavior. To account for this three short extracts have been taken from key stages in the play development. The opening encounter between the professor and the pupil; Professor; Good morning, good morning †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.you are†¦..err†¦..I suppose you are really†¦.err†¦.the new pupil? (The pupil turns round briskly and easily, very much the young lady; she gets up and goes toward the professor ,holding out her hand) Pupil; yes ,sir. Good morning, sir. You see I came at the right time . i didnt want to be late. Professor Good .yes , thats very good. Thank you. But you shouldnt have hurried too much ,you know dont know quite how to apologize to you for having you kept waiting†¦.. I was just finishing†¦.you understand ,I was just†¦err†¦..i do beg your pardon †¦..i hope you will forgive me†¦ Pupil; oh, but you mustnt sir its perfectly all right, sir. Professor; my apologies†¦.. the professors first remarks are clearly phatic.it is noticeable that he repeats the phrase good morning, possibly this repetition revealing some anxiety in the early stage of the encounter. Then the professor goes on to make the first threatening act of the interaction he requires information concerning the identity of his interlocutor..first he begins with a declarative sentence which will function as a request for confirmation from the pupil .this is followed by a hedging particle. In addition to the particle err hedges are achieved by the phrases I suppose and really .the use of I suppose makes more tentative assumption in the professors request, while really functions to weaken the force of the request. Actually the professors opening gambit is a good example of negative politeness phenomena. The pupils use of the honorific sir communicates deference, her linguistic strategy conveys confidence and self- determination. She is eager to play merit for her punctuality, not letting this possible feature of her behavior escape her interlocutor. She also response to the professors earlier phatic initiation in a calm and equanimous. The pupils non verbal behavior here is also significant and displays considerable confidence on her part. The professors second speech begins with some positive feedback concerning the pupils punctuality, but then he moves into an extraordinary sequence of negative politeness. It should be noted here that the professor has kept the pupil waiting for no more that a few seconds. It is completely clear that he considers himself to have made some immense imposition on her interlocutor. He declares his inability to apologies this first indicates his deference .secondly ,he draws on the apologize strategy , or rather claims his inability to apologize. He supplements this by utilizing a specific sub strategy of apologize; he admits the impingement , by explicitly referring to the imposition caused to the addressee. After some hesitation he proceeds with more negative politeness, he attempts to state the overwhelming reasons which lead him to perform the face threatening act. Then after this and he attempts a more hedge version of the same sub strategy, with a complete lack of success. Then he moves to beg forgiveness strategy, which also incorporates the pessimistic strategy in its use of I hope. This elaborate display of politeness strategy is in reality a relatively trivial imposition the professor minimally impinged on the negative face of the addressee ,on the other hand he persist with a gratuitous build up of repair strategy ,there is in fact a kind of pragmatic mismatch here .so this shows that the politeness strategies he uses are vastly out of proportion to the actual imposition he makes on the hearer. The pupils injection is well timed, what is more significant is that the pupil grants the forgiveness requested by the professor with her remark its perfectly all right sir .indeed on the basis of this exchange ,it seems as if it is the pupil not the professor who is more powerful of the interaction. The pupils persistent use of the honorific sir is incongruous. The second extract is taken from the middle of the play; Professor; what is four? Greater or smaller that three? Pupil; smaller †¦.. no greater. Professor; excellent answer. How many units are missing between three and four? †¦.. or between four and three if youd rather? Pupil; there arent any units sir, between three and four. Four comes immediately after three; there is nothing at all between three and four! Professor; I cant have made myself understood properly .its doubtless my own fault .i havent been clear enough. Pupil ; oh no sir the fault is entirely mine . Professor; listen .here are three matches .and here is another one . that makes four. Now watch carefully†¦. In this conversation the characters are competing with one another in their use of negative politeness strategies .the trade in deference phenomena would suggest that a more symmetrical power relation exists between the two characters at this point in the play .these face threatening act ,which impose upon the negative face of the addressee by demanding a particular service ,have been done baldly. They are impolite , in fact these bald non repressive face threatening act are the first suggestion that the professor is becoming not only more powerful but less concerned with being polite to his interlocutor.. it is also noticeable that nowhere in this extract the professor used his hedging particle err which was used so frequently in the first conversation..There is generally a change in professors linguistic behavior..There are signs that the professor is beginning to assume a position of high relative power. The third extract is taken from near the end of the play .it occurs shortly before the professor murders the pupil with the invisible knife. This act can be considered the ultimate face threatening act. Professor; every language mademoiselle- note this carefully and remember it till the day you die Pupil; oh !yes sir till the day I die †¦. Yes sir †¦ Professor ; †¦ and again , this is another fundamental principle , every language is in fact only a manner of speaking , which inevitably implies that it is a made up of sounds , or †¦ Pupil; phonemes †¦. Professor; I was just about to say so . Dont show off , airing your knowledge !youd better just listen . Pupil ; very well sir .yes sir . Professor; sounds mademoiselle, should be caught in flight by their wings so that they do not fall on deaf ears..consequently when you have made up your mind to articulate ,you are recommended , in so far as possible ,to stretch your neck and your chin well up , and stand righty on the tips of your toes ,look now ,like this ,you see †¦.. Pupil; yes, sir. Professor; be quite. dont interrupt †¦. the conversation here has changed to an extended nonsensical monologue from the professor .considering the professors opening speech ,which is the beginning of a disoriented proclamation of language .it is not only a bald ,non-repressive face threatening demanding careful attention from the pupil but there is a sinister threatening quality to this face threatening act. .the pupils reaction on the other hand is a display of genuine deference. Here the use of the honorific sir is not incongruous but it is a term of address used by an inferior to a superior .when the pupil is eager to participate in the interaction this draws admonition from the professor in the form of another threatening ,bald, non -redressive face threatening act. At last the professor gives three unmitigated command which illustrate how the professors politeness strategies have completely vanished . it is also significant that one of these face threatening acts is intended to restrict the physical movement of the addressee .thus the pupil who was able to move confidently in the first extract ,is now confined powerless to her chair. In three passages from the lesson , when compared to one another ,show a marked reversal in the interactive relation of the two characters ,during the course of the play the reversal is gradually achieved and it is difficult to isolate a specific point at which a character gains or loses power .one thing that is clear is that the transition in interactive roles is signaled by the subtle variations in the linguistic strategies which these characters use to one another .