Conflict Minerals A Crisis Unknown Professor Ramos Blog

Conflict Minerals A Crisis Unknown In central Africa sits a large country known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to the most grossly under reported large scale conflict of modern times. Having hosted decades of various ongoing conflicts collectively claiming more lives than World War II, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, ranks 156 of 162 in a European Union assessment of peacefulness (Woody 2018). Although conflict fueled by grand corruption has consumed the DRC for 130 years it wasn’t until 1994 when several groups of militia men fleeing the genocide in Rwanda arrived that an already burning hot conflict was stoked to new levels (Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502). Just as more sides joined the crowded conflict the commercial need for four minerals found in abundance within the DRC sent an already fledgling country plummeting into chaos. Known commonly as the 3TGs: tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold are used in everyday products such as phones, lapto ps, jewelry, and cars (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). These four minerals are conflict minerals and although they are not directly responsible for the horrific violence in the DRC they provide the bulk of funding for countless rebel groups. A study by the Enough Project documenting armed groups in the DRC during 2008 found an estimated $185 million in revenue was generated from conflict minerals (Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502). This is an uncomfortable problem for America and nations governed by the European Union, but the only answer is a dramatic shift in public awareness and legislation towards the purchasing of conflict minerals. Western media bias is well documented and has played an integral role in the rapid deterioration of the living conditions in the DRC and neighboring countries. In 2015 a comprehensive study found that nearly six-times as many articles are written about terrorist attacks in the western world compared to all non-western countries (Adams 2018). Western media bias is unceremoniously exposed again in 2016 when the deadliest terror attack of the year in Baghdad’s Karrada district, claiming over 400 lives, is overshadowed by a week of reports on the unfortunate shooting of Charlie Hebdo (Adams 2018). Without ethical and thorough journalism being conducted no amount of statistics, no matter how ostentatious, will be able to sway public opinion in favor of ending these atrocities. The scale on which innocent people are dying cannot be overstated, one report found a gut wrenching 5.4 million â€Å"excess deaths† caused by indirect fall out of wars funded by conflict minerals bet ween August 1998 and April 2017 (Clark 2011). Countries like the DRC who are ensnared by their abundant natural resources are consistently cannibalized by more developed nations to the extent that the phrase, â€Å"resource curse† has been coined (Woody 2018). However, the DRC and surrounding countries are unique in how the problem and has been unaddressed and even exacerbated for decades. Public opinion will never be swayed if people are not given the opportunity to understand how the implications of their purchases are destroying the lives of millions. For those people born within the DRC being asked to grow and mature facing unending conflict for the last 130 years the emergence and prevalence of conflict minerals is unavoidable. As of 2018 more than 140 different groups militias are actively funded by conflict minerals and are currently waging civil within the DRC (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019). As a result, in just one year during 2018 upwards of 4.5 million Congolese were displaced from their homes, forced instead to wander nomadically with no aid or hopes of humanitarian assistance in sight (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019). On top of the staggering amount of people who have lost their homes another eight and a half million were found to be in desperate need of humanitarian aid during the same time frame. With millions of innocent men, women and children caught in the catastrophic meltdown of a country torn apart by foreign greed and almost no aid in return it’s logical to look next to the government of the country in question. In April of 2019 the Congolese government denied any human rights crisis and went even further, denying to attend an international donor conference organized to raise 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in relief funds. The Congolese government was accused of widespread irregularities, voter suppression and violence during their most recent election causing the vast majority of voters to lose faith in their already decrepit system of power. During that same election voting in the three largest voting-sectors opposing the government was delayed from December 30, 2018 to March of 2019. Cases of government backed violence against civilians began to arise and with that the people of the Congolese became victims once again, victims of: civil conflict, consumer greed and violence perpetrated by their own supposedly democratically elected leaders. Though these human rights atrocities are not made public often, if at all, many world powers are aware of the ongoing situation. Begging the question of what, if anything, is being done (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019)? Nearly twenty years ago in 2001 the United Nations Security Council first acknowledged what was then a developing problem of wealthy nations funding human rights atrocities with massive exports of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. It is worth noting that none of these exports have benefitted the DRC as the country itself ranks last in the world for GDP per capita (Woody 2018). Instead warring groups fight to control mining operations and the workers forced to maintain them in order to fund cyclical conflicts. Despite the UNSC acknowledging the problem in 2001 no legislation was proposed until 2006. Even then nothing was done as a number of measures were proposed and passed on until a group of politicians including: then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen Richard Dustin (Dem-Ill.), Sen Sam Brownback (Rep.-Kan.), Sen Russell Feingold (Dem-Wash.) and Congressman Jim Mcdermott (Dem-Wash.) visited the DRC in early 2010. The same year Section 1502 was passed to attempt to addre ss the purchasing of conflict minerals in response to the human rights crisis they witnessed first hand. Unfortunately, while Section 1502 has had some positive impact on the DRC since its inception it’s overall impact has been handicapped by several glaring flaws. For starters, the provision requires only the disclosure of purchased conflict minerals from companies selling commercial products. This in effect turns a blind eye on the majority of the supply chain targeting only the last piece and least culpable member while providing no guidelines for responsible purchasing or consequences for the opposite. Even worse, the de facto embargo of the DRC by responsible purchasers, without widespread backing across the market, has encouraged the growth of black market sales furthering complicating the tracking of human rights violations. Section 1502 has led to some conflict free sourcing of the 3TG’s, but it’s far too weak and short-sighted to stop the powerful curre nt of violence washing over the DRC. Without public interest in consumer responsibility world governments must impose strict regulations on conflict minerals sold from areas of human rights crises. The European Union is finally making another attempt at addressing the purchasing of conflict minerals with legislation set to go into effect January 1, 2021 (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). As the world’s largest trading block, the EU has made an unprecedented move by providing a set of regulations and guidelines for all levels of conflict minerals supply chain to follow. Regulations specific to each level of the supply chain aim to ensure that from mining operations to store fronts the presence of responsibly sourced 3TGs is well documented and accounted for. Up to a thousand importers of 3TGs will be effect and the EU plans to release a â€Å"white list† of dangerous operations for importers outside of their jurisdiction. Each individual EU state will be responsible for overseeing importers within their boundaries and ensuring they are following the new standards for responsible sourcing. Hopefully, these more comprehensive and well thought out regulations will at the very least raise public awareness of the depths of the horrors occurring in the DRC and neighboring countries. Even so this legislation is just one step towards resolving a conflict raging for over a century (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). Tens of millions of people dead, countless lives changed, families separated and displaced, a country on the verge of collapse with more casualties accounted for than the second World War. This is the true reality of the cost of electronics and jewelry when wealthy nations neglect their role as stewards of the world economy. There must be a paradigm of thorough honest reporting and policy making coupled with diligent inspections of the sources of 3TGs by these nations. Furthermore, civilians of these nations whom are concerned with world affairs have a responsibility to seek more information on all major human rights atrocities, not simply those that are conveniently solved. Despite nearly a century and a half of death and destruction it seems the DRC may finally have a chance to establish control over the natural resources they rightfully own. It’s my sincerest hope that the proceeding century and half in the DRC will be marked by unimaginable economic growth fueled by the s ame minerals that had once threatened to end their country’s existence. Adams, Abigail. â€Å"Selective Sympathy? Exploring Western Media Bias in the Reporting of Terrorism.† International Journal of Media Cultural Politics, vol. 14, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 255–263. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/macp.14.2.255_7. Clark, JohnF. â€Å"A Constructivist Account of the Congo Wars.† African Security, vol.4,no.3, June 2011, pp. 147–170. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/19392206.2011.599262. â€Å"Conflict Minerals Regulation Explained.† Trade European Commission, ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/conflict-minerals-regulation/regulation-explained/#definition. â€Å"Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502.† The Enough Project, enoughproject.org/special-topics/progress-and-challenges-conflict-minerals-facts-dodd-frank-1502. Woody, Karen E. â€Å"Can Bad Law Do Good? A Retrospective on Conflict Minerals Regulation.† Maryland Law Review, vol. 78, no. 2, Feb. 2019, pp. 291–322. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=135858149site=ehost-live. â€Å"World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo.† Human Rights Watch, 17 Jan. 2019, hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/democratic-republic-congo.

Alessandro Scarlatti essays

Alessandro Scarlatti essays Alessandro Scarlatti was a composer during the Baroque Era. When compared with its music predecessors, Baroque music is said to be have more lavish textures, and more intense. This period of music introduced Operas, Oratorios, and Cantatas. It also brought along orchestral forms, though Operas became very popular. Operas were very popular because Italian intellectuals wanted to recapture the Greek Dramas, in which music played a major role. A distinguishing feature of the Baroque Era was the emphasis on the musics volume, texture, and pace. The previous era, (Late Renaissance) did not focus on these very much. Cannons and Fugues (strict forms of imitative polyphony) were also very popular during the Baroque Era. In this Era, composers were expected to prove their expertise whenever asked. To this, they were expected to improvise complex Fugues on a moments notice. Only the best were able to do this. Alessandro Scarlatti was born in Palermo on May 2nd 1660. Not much is known about his family, other than the fact that he had two sisters, and his parents were Sicilian, and most likely from Artistic families themselves. At the age of twelve, Alessandro and his two sisters were sent to Rome to live with relatives. There were rumors that Alessandro studied with Carissimi while there. Carissimi was an Italian composer who composed hundreds of motets and cantatas in addition to Masses, and other sacred music. When Alessandro was seventeen, he married, and not quite nine months later, their first of six children was born. At the age of eighteen, he composed his first opera, Gli Equivoci nel sembiante, which was a great success. Some may argue that this was actually his second opera. There are rumors that he composed an earlier opera, but it was never performed, and the title is unknown. Sometime between the time he was married, and his first composition, hi...

Teen Drinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teen Drinking - Essay Example However, our society has not caught up with the evolution of the teenager. They are still viewed as members of our society who need to be constantly policed and told what to do and when. This is the situation that applies to the drinking laws in relation to American teenagers. The rest of the world though, have come to acknowledge that it is better to recognize that teenagers will drink alcohol due to exterior influences and, therefore, society must learn to adapt and ensure that they drink responsibly instead. That is the focus of the T.R. Reid essay â€Å"Let My Children Drink†, while Joseph Califano Jr. chooses to oppose the view of Reid in his own essay titled â€Å"Don't Make Teen Drinking Easier†. Although I see the point of Mr. Califano, I must agree with the benefits as described in Mr. Reid's essay. That is because teenage drinking does happen and it cannot be ignored. The three points that I will be raising in this paper are that: 1. Teenagers who know their p arents trust them to drink responsibly make for more mature adults. 2. Anything done illegally is more likely to draw teenagers to try the activity and go overboard in the process. Teens will also commit crimes regardless of being drunk or not. 3. Lowering the drinking age will make teenagers mature faster in terms of personal responsibility and logical thinking. The worst age that a human being can be stuck in would have to be the wild, wonderful, and sometimes wacky teenage years. It is during this time in a teenagers life that he learns to experiment and differentiate for ourselves what, as adults, shall be the right and wrong actions for him. This is the time when releasing the parental restraints slowly reaps its benefits most specially in terms of teenage drinking. As Mr. Reid put it so effectively in his essay (Reid): As a wandering Post correspondent, I have raised teenagers in three places: Tokyo, London and Colorado. No parent will be surprised to read that high school and college students had easy access to alcohol in all three places. In all three countries, kids sometimes got drunk. But overseas, they did their drinking at a bar, a concert or a party. There were adults -- and, often, police -- around to supervise. As a result, most teenagers learned to use alcohol socially and responsibly. And they didn't have to hide it from their parents. By allowing teenagers to drink in a supervised situation, they are forced to take responsibility for their actions stemming from alcohol consumption. The presence of adults and other persons of authority is a clear indication to them that they will be allowed to have fun but not go overboard about it. This is the kind of situation that directly appeals to teenagers. It is obvious that the lower drinking age works for the teens mentioned in Reid's article because they are given full responsibility for their actions. You choose to drink, you take responsibility for whatever happens if you get drunk. End of story. That is the kind of maturing life lesson that teenagers so badly need in their lives. It is probably a stand that, if presented to most underage teenagers in America today, they would gladly agree to in order to prove that they can actually be as responsible as their adult counterparts if not more. However, Mr. Califano strongly disagrees with Mr. Reid simply because he is overprotective and unable to trust that a teenager, when given the freedom to choose, will choose to do the right thing. His data that explains that (Califano); â€Å"British fifteen and sixteen year olds were more than twice as likely as Americans to binge drink (50% vs. 24%) and to have been intoxicated within the past thirty days (48% vs. 21%).†

Societys Fascination with Reality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Societys Fascination with Reality TV - Essay Example Watching a standard TV program is like escaping into a world of fiction and fantasy, where the shocks and jolts that are associated with real life may sometimes be absent. But reality TV offers the lure of so-called truth. It portrays life as it happens, with all its disappointments, hope, anxieties and unexpected events, as well as its mundane, daily grind. The fascination of reality TV for the viewer is in gaining insight into the fears, dreams and expectations of real people. Reality TV programs focus on ordinary, working and middle-class citizens, so it becomes easier for viewers to identify with the characters. To some extent, the fascination for reality TV may also lie in the fact that participants reveal some of the most intimate aspects of their lives. For example the Celebrity Big Brother TV show in the UK where celebrities are asked to live together without contact with the outside world and satisfy certain conditions (www.tv.com). Such programs offer viewers the opportunit y for a voyeuristic look into other peoples’ lives, while for the ones participating in the programs, the focus is a narcissistic one. With the onset of more and sensational kinds of programs on TV, reality TV which attempts to compete with it, offers an equal amount of shock value but drawn from â€Å"reality†, which packs a bigger thrill for viewers as compared to standard TV programs, where viewers are aware that the events are fictional or doctored up in some way. For example, TV shows like â€Å"The Bold and the Beautiful† and â€Å"Dynasty† are enjoyed by viewers, but they are aware of the fictional content of these programs. Reality TV, however, does not represent â€Å"fluff† in any sense of the word. In some instances, it may offer valuable insight into the fears, perceptions and feelings of actual people and viewers are irresistibly drawn by the lure of participating, even temporarily, in other peoples’ lives.

Geographic Information Systems Essay Example for Free

Geographic Information Systems Essay The future prospects of geographic technologies such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems), satellite images, remote sensing, and more are increasingly discussed in literature (Matthews and Herbert 2005). Today, GIS software can be used in a highly efficient way. In 18 years, people are likely to be amazed by what is being done with it. This paper projects the possible impacts of the technologies for the public service and democratic society of Auckland in the year 2025. The capabilities of GIS will be analysed. In doing so, an overview of GIS is followed by an analysis of the relationship between this technology and democratic values and implications of this relationship for Auckland society. Future Horizons Hardware and software costs for both personal computers and workstations have been declining steadily during recent years. This trend, combined with the rapid increases in technology development, will dramatically benefit the GIS market. Geographic data are of great size and require several unique hardware and software adaptations for data entry, processing, and output (Donaldson 120). These adaptations include hardware equipment and digitizers, scanners, and plotters. With a healthy development of GIS market, these adaptations will become more sophisticated, easier to use, and less expensive. The GIS market also will supply a variety of hardware and software innovations from which to choose. Bottom-Up GIS In the year 2025, GIS will be cheaper, faster, easier to use, and supplied with more and better data. As large amounts of local data will become easily available in GIS format, the outlook for GIS in local area planning will look very bright. Besides using GIS to inform and analyze in the traditional sense, planners will consider using it as a cognitive tool. In this new approach, people learn to use GIS data to exchange their views concerning planning processes, neighborhood issues, and future wishes. This new view of how GIS can be used in planning emerged from recent concern that traditional use of GIS in planning is top-down, controlled, and technicist (Brown 246). Donaldson (2002) have noted that GIS that is merely technological in orientation will fail to address important issues. Therefore, it is likely that GIS will be used in local communities in a way that is not technicist in a fundamental way. One could predict that GIS will have a more democratic approach to planning in which the processes of communication and interaction are considered. As a result, GIS will be used in a bottom-up way that will let the citizens of Auckland characterize their local environment. As a way to ensure a more bottom-up approach to GIS, planners will focus on the inclusion of local knowledge in GIS. There are some examples in regard to planning. Some researchers (Craig Elwood 1998) studied how local knowledge was incorporated in the creation of GIS databases. Such information as how residents value their homes or their feelings about the concerns of a given area was incorporated. Because these approaches have an objective to provide local residents with greater access to GIS, they are integrated with other community-based uses of GIS (Matthews and Herbert 2005). New approaches will enable residents to use GIS to communicate how they perceive their neighborhood or the locality in which they live, via their description, evaluation, or propositions for their local environment. New approach will be both the tool used to explore an issue and the means of its expression. It will be using GIS as a spatial language tool to have access to local knowledge and communicating residents observations, rather than presenting only objective facts. With this new approach, the citizens of Auckland will be able to redefine the questions asked within GIS. For instance, â€Å"Where are roads most overcrowded? † becomes â€Å"What streets do I consider as inconvenient due to traffic jam? † â€Å"What is the location of parks relative to the location of children? † becomes â€Å"What parks are most frequently visited in my neighborhood and how many children use them? † (Craig Elwood 104) The answers of the residents to the first type of question create an entirely different image than the answers to the second type. The result is that the content of the analysis may be significantly improved. Using this new approach, analysis of residents observations that result through traditional visioning processes in answers such as â€Å"We need to have a better system of transporting† become answers such as â€Å"Here are places where we need to travel and where we prefer to travel,† and â€Å"Here is where we at present can and cannot travel† (Donaldson, 189).

In Love and War Essay -- essays research papers fc

â€Å"In Love and War† Abstract: Women of Afghanistan are forced to live under oppressive regulations set forth for them by the men of their societies. Women have virtually no rights to do anything for themselves. There entire lives are controlled by and lived for someone else. Through their songs, they lament the conditions of their lives and are able to convey a beauty in their verses that all people can identity with. (67 words) Key Words: Pashtun, women, honor, oppression, songs Love and war, two concepts that are so contradictory it is hard to believe they could ever coexist simultaneously in one society. War is a state of conflict, hostility and chaos which reeks havoc on civilizations as opposing forces struggle to defend their cause not matter what the price. Throughout history the world has seen the devastation such conflict can bring; from the gory conquests of the ancient Romans, to the horrific Nazi Holocaust in World War II, to the bloody battles between government forces that raged in Afghanistan. It is in this world of mayhem and cruelty that Pashtun women must carry on their lives. They attempt in whatever possible to find and salvage any kind of love and beauty amidst the turmoil of their warring nation. These women must find ways to stay strong and resist the oppression forced upon them by their patriarchal society which coerces them into hard physical labor as well as demeans their humanity as their status is reduced to nothing more than prope rty (Majrouh XIII, XIV). The song of the Pashtun woman is her escape, her release, and her joy as she unites with other women in her community and sings out against her oppression. Through these landays, or songs, one sees another dimension to the lives of Pashtun women as they transform the misery and grief of their everyday lives into a spirit of beauty as they lament against their oppressors and find ways to love even in a time of war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to fully appreciate and understand what is conveyed through the songs of these women, one must understand the historical, social and political context in which they are living. Afghan women have lived and continue to live in an oppressive patriarchal society where they are not even regarded as full fledged citizens, and where men control all political, social and economic powers. In the Saur Revolution in April 1978, civil war in... ...xists in the lives of Pashtun women, their songs live on to communicate a spirit of beauty amidst their helpless plight. Through careful analysis of her songs, we are able to see behind the veil and reach the rich heart of the Afghan woman. There is a joy in her songs that illustrates the perseverance of the human spirit. No matter how demoralized one’s life may be, there is a spirit within us all to survive; a spirit that cannot be crushed even in the bloodiest of wars or the most hostile of oppressions. It is this universal desire the endure and find quench the thirst for human happiness that connects us all the Pashtun women and their beautiful songs. (1915 words) Works Cited Majrouh, Sayd Bahodine, ed. Songs of Love and War Afghan Women’s Poetry. Paris:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Editions Gallimard, 1994. Moghadam, Valentine M. Revolution, Islamist Reaction, and Women in Afghanistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ed. Mary Ann Tetreault. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. Works Consulted Moghadam, Valentine M, ed. Gender and National Identity Women and Politics in Muslim Societies. London: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Who Was to Blame for the Cuban Missile Crissis

Who was to blame for the Cuban missile crisis? The U. S had part of this crisis as they overreacted to the fact that the U. S. S. R was importing missiles into Cuba. They made Cuba tense because they tried to invade Cuba twice. The Cubans needed and help and the U. S. S. R were there to help. If the U. S didn’t try to invade Cuba then it wouldn’t cause so much tension thus the crisis not happening. Also if they haven’t set up a base in Turkey then this wouldn’t have led the Russians to put missiles in Cuba. Over-reacted to situation and led to escalation of conflict. The U.S wanted to help Cuban exiles to overthrow the Castro government (which was hostile to USA). CIA under President Eisenhower had sought to help the anti-Castro rebels to overthrow the regime. Organised Operation Zapata that was carried out on 17th April 1961. Failed miserably. America followed this with Operation Mongoose which aimed to destabilise Cuba through acts of sabotage, economic warfare through embargo on Cuban imports, increasing Cuban’s diplomatic isolation through its expulsion from the Organisation of American States and simulating military exercises (code named Ortsac) aimed at toppling an imaginary dictator. Edwards, 2002: 127-8). America was trying to topple Castro through isolating Cuba, and in doing so, increased the hostility of the Castro regime against the USA and accentuated the fear of invasion, thereby prompting Castro to turn to Moscow for help to defend Cuba from America. (Because Castro was aware that Cuba could not possibly defend herself against America. ) (Edwards 2002: 126, 128) The U. S. S. R is also to blame as they were taking advantage of the fact that Cuba was close to the U. S. This creates tension for the U.S as this poses a threat to their security. This act made the U. S feel threatened thus taking action. Should not have gotten involved with Cuba? Feb 1960: Extended $100 million worth of credits to Cuba. (Edwards, 2002 : 125) May 1962: USSR deployed regiments and weapons to Cuba, including nuclear cruise missiles and mid-range ballistic missiles that could strike targets in USA’s interior. Had stationed 40,000 military personnel in Cuba. This was an indication of economic expansion into an area that ranked high on America’s defence priority.Sponsorship of Castro’s regime and subsequent creation of a de-facto military base in Cuba appeared to be a deliberate affront to America’s national security. Cuba’s strategic importance to America can be likened to Poland’s importance to USSR. Transporting of military aid (especially missiles) to Cuba thus escalated a crisis between 2 neighbouring countries into a Cold War issue that threatened World peace. Cuba can also be blamed, they got paranoid over the U.S invasion so they used one of the powerful countries to guarantee its safety. If they weren’t as paranoid Manipulated super-power politics to guarantee s ecurity of borders and to legitimise the new Castro regime . E. g. Turned to USSR for economic and military help, so that it would not have to play the role of a submissive little brother to America. Castro: â€Å"Moscow is our brain and our great leader. † By using USSR as a counter-weight to USA, Cuba was shrewdly manipulating super-power politics for its own advantage.Castro was aware that Cuba’s distance from Moscow meant that it would be given a large measure of independence from Moscow, as opposed to the tight leash that it would be kept on had they decided to concede to American superiority. Therefore, the escalation of conflict was to some extent orchestrated by Cuba for her own benefit, as it meant that she would not have to fight the American behemoth on her own, but had USSR’s backing. Consequences to missile Cuban crisis-) Led to a thaw in USA-USSR relations, as both parties were aware that their rivalry had almost led to an all-out nuclear war (mutu ally-assured destruction).Establishment of direct hotline from Washington White House to Kremlin to facilitate high level discussion between leaders of the 2 countries so as to help defuse tensions. (20th June 1963)Signing of the nuclear test-ban treaty (June 1963). Both countries agreed to cease atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. But underground testing was still permitted. However, take note that although the Cuban Missile Crisis ended, US hostility towards Cuban regime continued, even though Kennedy briefly explored the option of negotiating with Castro via unofficial channels.Resumption of Operation Mongoose June 1963. Acts of economic sabotage organised by CIA. Plans to assassinate Castro (Operation Condor) remained in place. Therefore, this shows clearly that it was USSR’s involvement that made the conflict between Cuba and USA escalate into the Cuban Missile Crisis in the first place, due to USSR’s provision of missiles to Cuba. Without USSR’s involv ement, it would have remained a conflict between America and Cuba. USSR, USA and Cuba all had a part to play in the utbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it was USA who first over-reacted to the threat posed by a leftist regime in Cuba, and had created a self-fulfilling prophecy by taking unjustified pre-emptive strikes such as Operation Zapata and Mongoose that scared Cuba into thinking that her national security was threatened, and thus made her turn to USSR as a strong backer in order to secure her own security. Thus USA was chiefly to blame as she tried to secure her national interest at the expense of other nations, and thus led to the escalation of tensions as nations sought to secure their self-interest by scaring the other into retreat.Had USA not over-reacted, a peaceful compromise could have been achieved earlier and the scare that was the Cuban Missile Crisis could have been averted. Moreover, USSR’s delving into the conflict was also partly in response to previ ous US stationing of Jupiter missiles in Turkey, which had essentially held USSR at gun-point, thus USSR’s decision to place missiles in Cuba was justified as it was trying to make USA understand the peril of being placed at gun-point. Therefore, I disagree with the above statement, as USA, more than USSR was to blame for the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Procter & Gamble Global Business Services: A Case Study Essay

A Time to Make a Change at P&G Some of the signs and signals experienced by an organization which indicates that it is time to make a change are: experiencing rapid growth or a decline in growth, a decline in productivity, a decline in resources, stakeholder pressures on management, environmental crises, sociopolitical influences on the organization, environmental turbulence and changes to customer expectations and behavior. The highly competitive global marketplace where Procter & Gamble operates is forcing the company to continuously do more with less. Advancements in technology, the pace of competition, globalization, the need to control cost and the increased efficiency coupled with the increasing customer expectations mean that the organization has to evolve and regenerate in order to survive. This is all the more important because if business has to know anything about the future, it is that it will be different from the present. Whatever is, will change. There’s no way to avoid it. But it can be managed. The inevitable changes in the organization will take P&G to a higher level, and will bring them to new avenues opened up for growth, in the face of the increasingly boundless global market that the nature of the consumer goods business is mercilessly made to put up with. Communicating Change to Employees Within the popular management literature, John Kotter (1996) has put forward an eight-stage model on how to successfully manage change. This is very applicable to the situation in P&G and comprises of: (1) communicating a sense of urgency; (2) creating a vision; (3) communicating the vision; (4) forming a powerful coalition; (5) empowering others to act; (6) planning short-term wins; (7) consolidating change and (8) institutionalizing new approaches. He argues that change leaders should communicate their vision in many different forums over and over again if they wish to develop an effective implementation strategy. The question of what to communicate should be all information that interrelate employees in their work in order to inform, to convince and to determine action during a time when the employees are most confused and apprehensive of the circumstances within the firm. The matter of when to communicate should be at all times, when there are new developments in the change that seems to be in the scope of concern of the employees, as they would naturally ant to be informed of any progress that the transition is taking. Effective communication in times of change helps facilitate smoother change management. Recommendations One effective strategy to overcome expected resistance is to think beyond it. The Procter & Gamble management must attend to the more specific reasons for resistance, such as loss of control or loss of self-efficacy, to diagnose problems more accurately and to overcome them more efficiently and effectively (Dyer, Dalzell and Olegario, 2004). It must also be kept in mind the context of the change and focus on explanations other than individual resistance for why change may not be successfully implemented. Likewise, senior management must think beyond the wisdom that people resist change by challenging themselves to consider the role they, as change leaders may play in creating resistance. The unavoidable changes in corporate culture should be supported through revamping internal reward systems and introducing training programs in order to improve result orientation among employees. It sold its rigorous training to potential recruits during that time in much the same way that the US Army sells its educational opportunities to its own recruits. Two integration programs are seen as useful for these types of changes: training & development and reinforcement. Training and development, as any decision that would be reached would inevitably bring about change within the company. Reinforcement is necessary also, in which the staff will become so used to the changes that the tendency to resist it fades as they are bound to ultimately follow such policies if they are to stay in the organization and contribute to its continued growth. WORK CITED Dyer, D., Dalzell, F. & Olegario, R. (2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter & Gamble. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing. Kotter, J. (1996) Leading Change. Harvard: Harvard Business School Press.

10 Mystery Writing Tips to Keep Your Readers in Suspense

10 Mystery Writing Tips to Keep Your Readers in Suspense From Agatha Christie to Parker Bilal, the best mystery writers know how to keep readers in suspense until the very end of the novel. If you are looking to write a bestselling mystery novel, here are 10 mystery writing tips to help you do the same:1. Start off with a bangWhether it is a corpse or a missing person, starting your mystery novel with a major crime is the best way to keep your readers in suspense. The first few chapters of your mystery should briefly introduce the protagonist while focusing on the crime that has taken place.The two most important scenes of a mystery novel are the scene of the crime and the one in which the perpetrator is revealed. Beginning your novel with the scene of the crime is a great way to engage your reader immediately and reveal the level of depravity or horror that the protagonist must confront throughout the rest of the book.2. Be creative with dyingIf your mystery begins with a corpse, make it a creative death. Dont just have your killer stab a victim- let the stabbing pattern be a word or a symbol. If your victim is poisoned, consider a poison that is hard to find or impossible to detect. If the victim was buried alive, have an odd array of objects buried with them that offers trails of suspicion that the protagonist must then follow.When the corpse is killed creatively, several things happen. First, not only do readers want to know who did it and why- they also want to know why it was done in that way. Creative deaths also provide clues to the killer and establishes greater character depth for your antagonist, particularly his or her intellectual level and motivation behind the killing.3. Do your research on crime proceduralsHowever you choose to begin your mystery- whether with a corpse or a kidnapping- be sure that you do your research on crime procedurals. The details you include when you describe these important opening moments of your mystery will set the tone for how believable your story is and how engrossing it is for your audience.Law enforcement handles crimes differently, depending on location and details of the crime. If you are writing an opening scene in which a small-town cop discovers a body, be sure that youve researched who will get involved at the crime scene besides the cop. Will there be other detectives who show up? Who takes the body in for an autopsy and where is this autopsy done? Do other government law enforcement agencies (like the FBI) get involved? The more realism you use to stage the finding of the corpse (or the moments after a kidnapping has taken place), the more likely you are to keep your audience turning pages.Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash4. Give your main character a life outside of the crime/mysteryYou want your reader to feel empathy toward the main character as he or she is put in harms way to find out who the killer or kidnapper is. The more empathy your reader feels toward your protagonist, the more invested theyll be in what happens to that char acter as the plot progresses.This is the reason you need to show the life your main character has outside of the mystery. Whether its their family life with their kids, or a romantic interaction with a love interest- showing the protagonists life makes him or her seem real. It gives the character depth and allows you to use those relationships that happen outside of the mystery to add to the tension. For example, if the killer hunts down women and your protagonist is a man, his concern for his female significant other could play into the story and give him increased motivation to find the antagonist. Or if the protagonist has a family and children, the antagonist could threaten them, which serves to ramp up the tension and motivate the protagonist to solve the mystery quickly.5. Your setting should be more than just a settingIf youve ever read a novel about a haunted house, then you understand the importance of setting in a mystery. In fact, choosing a setting for your story is one of the most important choices you will make in planning your novel, as it can either add to the tension or distract from it.For example, a dark, tightly enclosed space can increase the fear your protagonist feels when hunting for the killer. Alleyways where someone can hide behind doors or trash bins, dark forests where no one can hear your characters scream, or naturally spooky locations like funeral homes or mortuaries are settings that help to ramp up the tension and feeling of foreboding that makes mysteries such exciting reads. Particularly if your mystery is a haunted house story, hidden rooms, cobweb-filled attic spaces, and basements where family secrets have been buried are great settings for maintaining tension in your story.6. Build tension with cliffhanger chapter endingsThink back to a book youve read that was nearly impossible to put down. This ability to thoroughly captivate readers is the mark of a great mystery writer and a goal you should aspire to as you write you r novel. While there are multiple methods to create this kind of story, ending each chapter with a cliffhanger is a great way to keep your plot moving forward and the tension heightened.There are multiple ways to create cliffhanger chapter endings. It could be someone opening a door and the reader needs to start the next chapter to find out who it is. It could be one of the main characters seeing something that makes them immediately afraid but the reader needs to start the next chapter to find out what it is that they saw. Or maybe its a scream in the distance that the main character hears but the reader needs to start the next chapter to find out who it is thats screaming.7. Know the end before you start writingAs with other genres, and especially for mystery, you should have your plot worked out before beginning the first chapter. This means that you should know who committed the crime, how they did it, why they did it, and how they eventually get caught. If you know these detail s before you begin writing, youll be able to scatter clues throughout the story to lead up to the big reveal.8. Make all suspects liarsAs with any great mystery novel, yours should have multiple suspects who could be guilty of the crime. Determining which of the suspects is guilty is part of the reason readers will want to keep turning pages, and there should be moments within your story that make each suspect seem like he or she is the guilty one.The easiest way to do this is to ensure that all of your suspects are liars (to some extent). Have them lie about their whereabouts- where they were last night, who they were with, and why they were there- to make them seem unreliable. Obviously, the guilty suspect will be a liar to cover up his or her crime, so having all your suspects lie helps keep the tension taut as your detective tries to sift through the untruths to find the truth.Photo by Aaron Mello on Unsplash9. Throw your detective (and reader) off track with incorrect suspicion Part of the thrill of reading a mystery is the guesswork involved with determining who did it, and why. Playing with this thrill is a great way to keep your readers invested in the story. Allow your protagonist to believe he or she has solved the crime, only to later find out it isnt solved at all. In most cases, this is best done with the most likely of suspects- the one readers believe is the culprit before the real killer is discovered. Playing with the emotions of your readers in this way maintains an element of unpredictability and tension mystery readers love to experience.10. Scatter clues (as well as red herrings) throughout the bookLeaving clues throughout the story keeps your reader guessing, and following them is part of the fun of reading a mystery, but its important to not reveal too much, too soon. In fact, the best mysteries are the ones that surprise the reader and end with a killer who seemed least likely to commit the crime.Your protagonist should follow clues to f ind the killer and some of these clues should be red herrings. In order to maintain the shock value of an unlikely suspect, some of your clues should point to other potential suspects and lead the protagonist away from the trail of the one who is guilty. This distraction increases the tension in the plot and allows you to end with an ah-ha moment that completely catches the protagonist (and reader) by surprise.

How to Make Your Own Cookbook in 5 Simple Steps

How to Make Your Own Cookbook in 5 Simple Steps How to Publish a Cookbook in 5 Easy Steps So you’ve been blogging about your favorite recipes? Maybe you have always loved cooking, and mentally amend the dishes you eat when you go to restaurants? Perhaps you’ve been racking up quite a following on Instagram with your â€Å"how to make† videos. If any of these describe you, there’s a good chance you’ve also thought that it might be time to step your love of food up a notch, and make your own cookbook. Tips for writing a cookbook: People always want to buy a cookbook, even when the market's down. Food and Drink is one of non-fiction’s hottest genres: as award-winning food stylist and editor Ashley Strickland Freeman says, â€Å"People will always want to buy a cookbook - even when the market is down. Everyone's got to eat and there is just something about holding and flipping through a beautiful cookbook to get you inspired.† As a result, it’s a crowded and highly competitive market - so you need to make sure that you really put your best whisk forward as you get ready to publish.So if you’ve been struck by culinary genius, or simply have an idea for a cookbook simmering away: preheat your oven, assemble your ingredients, and grab a pen. We’re here to help you get the ball of dough rolling by explaining the steps to make your own cookbook.Step 1: Nail down the what, why, and who of your cookbookStart your cookbook by connecting the dots between these three aspects: the type of cookbook, the reason you should write it, and who will read it. Once you’ve nailed down those basics, you should be able to complete this sentence:.So for instance: â€Å"Vegans will enjoy The Oh She Glows Cookbook, because it offers recipes that will help them develop their plant-based cooking skills.† Or: â€Å"Beginner cooks will enjoy Martha Stewart's Cooking School, because it offers a culinary masterclass for chefs-to-be who are just getting started in the kitchen.† Read on to find out how to start your cookbook by nailing down it's concept, goal, and audience. In other words, you need to know the what, why, and who of your cookbook. Now let’s get cooking!What kind of cookbook should you make?Just as a novel has a plot and belongs to a genre, cookbooks also need a story, a concept, an angle, a shtick - whatever you want to call it. So first and foremost, you need to establish the type of cookbook you want to write.Comprehensive Offers large varieties of recipes from beginner level to advanced, and is meant to act as an all-encompassing resource on the subject - such as Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.50 Book Marketing Ideas Every Author Needs to Know Read post What about marketing?Perhaps the most challenging part of self-publishing is getting people to buy your books. Thankfully, there is a wealth of book marketing knowledge that authors can tap into when formulating their plan.One thing that indie cookbook authors should bear in mind is the fact that they will have a lot of opportunities for creating content. Unique recipes paired with professional-grade photography (which you can take from your book) should help you pitch guest posts to other sites - and keep subscribers to your mailing list engaged.If you’re still not quite sure which publishing path is for you, check out our quiz: Should You Self-Publish or Traditionally Publish? Tips on publishing a cookbook: show how your cookbook is different from what's already out there. Food made with love always tastes better. The above steps can help you translate this passion to the page, and get your recipes ready to share with the world of readers and cooks out there. If you’re looking for more information on making and publishing your own cookbook, enroll in our free, ten-day course: How to Turn Your Cookbook Idea into a Reality.Happy cooking and writing!Are you an aspiring or experienced cookbook writer? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Salon Business Management (Beauty Therapy) Examine and assess the Essay

Salon Business Management (Beauty Therapy) Examine and assess the properties, uses, benefits and potential results of using preservatives in the modern salon environment - Essay Example More importantly, the use of preservatives within the salon environment is meant to protect customers from potential negative reactions of cosmetic products on their skin or hair. Depending on the properties of cosmetic preservatives, they may irritate the skin, cause allergic reactions or carcinogenic effects. This means that effective salon business management practices should be focused at ensuring that the preservatives used in the salon are safe to the consumers (Draelos, 2005, p. 58). This paper presents an analytical discussion of various preservative products that are used within the salon environment with a view of illustrating their properties and uses in skin and hair care. The paper also describes the benefits of these preservatives in salon services and the implications of using them within the contemporary salon environment. Antioxidants are common preservatives for cosmetic products, which are commonly used in contemporary salon environments for their effective protective properties. Antioxidants act by inhibiting the oxidation of microorganisms and other molecules (Gray & Gummer, 2000, p. 124). The antioxidant properties of these preservatives make them suitable for protecting hair and skin care products from contamination with microbes. However, the level of protection that is achieved by antioxidants is relatively minimal, when compared to other preservatives. The antioxidant preservatives are commonly used within modern salons, with a goal of preventing rancidity in skin and hair care oils. The contamination of all oil based hair and skin care formulations is prevented when antioxidants are used as preservatives (Antczak & Antczak, 2001, p. 98). Pynogenol is an example of antioxidant that is used within salon environments. This antioxidant is used to strengthen collagen in hair and skin and blood v essels. This preservative is therefore used as an anti-aging agent (Michalun & Michalun, 1994). The use of antioxidants within modern

Martin Luther King Jr.,Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Movement of the Essay

Martin Luther King Jr.,Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s - Essay Example and Malcolm X. Although, both King and Malcolm X are historically known to be advocates for the rights of African Americans their approaches and perception were shaped from different perspectives. The ideologies of King and Malcolm X though similar in fighting for the right of African Americans, were different in a number of ways both socially and culturally as a result of different avenues of development they experienced King and Malcolm X came from families that had significant differences socially, culturally, economically and ideologically. King was brought up in a rather financially stable family where his father was able to provide for them for a comfortable life. According to Darby, King was brought up in a middle-class family where they lived in a good house and never lacked in food and clothing (8). Martin’s parents had completely black heritages and Martin’s father was a Minister of the Baptist Church. King also enjoyed formal education and later became a respectable member in his community. Malcolm X on the other hand did not enjoy the kind of stability King had. Although Malcolm X’s father had a complete black heritage and is actually described as being proud of his heritage, Malcolm’s mother had a white father, was a bit light skinned and was ashamed of her mixed heritage. According to Wainstock, Malcolm’s mother would instill in her children the import ance of being black and actually favored her black children â€Å"over the light skinned Malcolm (5). Malcolm’s encounters with racism were charcterized by violence and outright hatred. In his early years their house was burnt by the racist group called the Black Legion (Wainstock 6). Malcolm also felt that his imprisonment was not primarily due to burglary but because of his involvement with white women from the upper class (Wainstock 19). After the death of his father and the