Myth and the Modern World Essay -- Heros Journey, Hospitality

Since the beginning of time, people have been searching the universe looking for answers to the burning questions about what â€Å"it† all means. By looking to the past, we find parallels that help put our own modern lives into perspective. We mortals have an insatiable quest for knowledge about everything under the sun. Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? What happens next? By analyzing the meaning of ancient Mythology and applying the lessons learned through the hero’s quests, we gain insight and perspective about our own place in the modern world we live in today. By visualizing and internalizing the lessons learned through the mythological hero’s journeys, we find relevance in the symbolism and metaphors that mirror our own struggles and inspire us to find the courage and determination to overcome them. I am not a deeply religious person but I do believe in â€Å"something†. What that something is, I am not entirely sure. However, like the characters in the myths we have read about this semester, I know that I am also on a journey that hopefully one day will reveal the answers to the questions I’ve been looking for along with the ones I haven’t even thought of yet. Life is a quest that begins at birth and continues until the day we die. Our quests resemble the hero’s journeys because in attempting to achieve our goals; we stumble, fall, get a little help if we’re lucky, then get up and try again. Sometimes I pray for supernatural help as I struggle to overcome obstacles along the way, but so far no gods or goddesses have materialized to help me out in my times of need. I guess that’s why we have family - those people in our lives we sometimes can’t live with but could never live without. They are the ones... ... process. Like the mythological characters we’ve been introduced to this semester, we travel through life and face obstacles that either make us stronger or shatter us into a million pieces. It’s up to us to choose how we put those pieces back together. Works Cited "Jason and the Golden Fleece." Ancient Greece Mythology. Copyright  © 2003-2012 University Press Inc. . Web. 11 Oct 2013. . Raffel, Burton . Beowulf. New York, NY: Signet Classic, 1963. print. Gardner, John. Grendel. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1971. Print. Fagles, Robert. The Odyssey. Deluxe. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 1996. Print. Encyclopedia Mythica. MCMXCV - MMXII Encyclopedia Mythica.. Web. 11 Oct 2013. . The Epic of Gilgamesh. Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Web. .

Othello Seminar Essay -- essays research papers

The Theme of Love In William Shakespeare's Othello the Theme of Love is very important. The main themes conveyed are: Love can be used against you/ love can be manipulated, and love is blinding (unconditional love). The theme of love can be used against you is best shown in Othello and Desdemona, Cassio and Bianca, Roderigo and Desdemona, and Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio. The theme of love is blinding is best shown in Desdemona and Othello, Emilia and Iago, and Brabantio and Desdemona. Love can be used against you/ Love can be manipulated. Iago uses Othello's love for Desdemona against him. Iago hints to Othello that she deceived her father so she could deceive him. "She did deceive her father, marrying you, and when she seemed to shake, and fear your looks, She loved them most." (III,iii, 204-206) Like human nature is Othello goes through events which now have answers, "She's gone: I am abused, and my relief must be loathe her. O curse of marriage, That we can call these delicate creatures ours And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad And live upon the vapour of a dungeon Than keep a corner in the thing I love For other's uses." (III,iii, 264 - 270) Othello is getting angry: "Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore; Be sure of it: give me the ocular proof," (III, iii, 356-357) Othello hears Iago's predictions: "All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven: ‘Tis gone. Arise black vengeance, from the hollow hell!" (III, iii, 442 - 443) Othello believing Iago: "Damn her, lewd minx! O damn her, damn her! Come go with me apart." (III, iii, 472 - 473) She then tells him she is a virgin. "No, as I am a Christian. To preserve this vessel for my lord From any other foul unlawful touch, Be not to be a strumpet, I am none." (IV, ii, 82 - 84) Desdemona then turns to Iago. "O good Iago, What shall I do to win my lord again? Good friend, go to him; for, by this light of heaven, I know not how I lost him." (IV, ii, 148 - 150) Othello feels guilty because he found out she was innocent. "Soft you; a word or two before you go. I have done the state some service and they know it: No more of that. I pray you in your letters When you shall these unlucky deeds relate Speak of me as I am: nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, b... ...from the Moor./ My wayward husband hath a hundred times/ Wooed me to steal it; ... I'll have the work taken out, / And give't Iago. / What he will do with it, heaven knows, not I: / I nothing, but to please his fantasy." (III, iii, 287 - 296) Emilia's love blinds her from Iago's true nature. She disregards his vulgarness towards women. She also disregards how badly he treats her. "A good wench! Give it me." (III, iii, 311) "You rise to play and go to bed to work." (II, i, 114) Brabantio is blinded by love for his daughter. He believes that she is an innocent child and would never marry ‘the Moor'/Othello of her own free will. He is so angered by the imagery that Iago gave him, he wants Othello killed. "Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her./ For I'll refer me to all things of sense,/ If she in chains of magic were not bound .../ So opposite to marriage that she shunned/ the wealthy curled darlings of our nation, / Would over have .../ Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom? Of such a thing ... to fear not to delight." (I, ii, 63 - 71) "Lay hold upon him: if he do resist, Subdue him, at his peril." (I, ii, 80 - 81)

Amazon Case Syudy

AMAZON. COM Q. 1: A. Analyze Amazon. com using the competitive forces and value chain models. Five competitive forces shape fate of firm According to Porter's Five Forces Model, in my opinion, competition has increased overall as a result of the internet and e-Commerce. The internet and IT has made it possible to both focus on the top and bottom lines and market share is expanded and costs are cut. Many products and services exist just online, major companies have gone online to successfully augment the brick and mortar corporations, and the playing field is all the way to edges of cyberspace, wherever that is Traditional competitors Amazon has strong competitors like online retailing stores and a large number of physical stores(Books, Grocery,Electronics,Video games etc). Examples : Barnes & Noble, Inc. , Wal-Mart. com USA, LLC (privately held), Catalog & Mail Order Houses High – As search engines are becoming the first choice for consumers when shopping on-line e. g. Google. This increases the opportunities for other retailers. High – There is an increasing amount of dotcom companies due to the little capital needed to start up. Smaller niche affiliate online stores when combined create even more competition New market entrants Threat of new entrants is high when it is easy for new competition to enter the market. As the technology is increasing and facilitating the businesses more and more so it is becoming easier for any business to start online retailing operations. Low – For online established retailers a strong brand image generates consumer trust. Low – Economies of scale – Retailers that have refined technology and processes and are able to buy in bulk can offer the lowest prices. This is a major competitive advantage as there is much choice online. Low – Strong experience in the online retail industry gives e-retailers advantages in terms of cost and customer loyalty. High – Capital requirement entry is a low for online businesses’ as cost of lease premises is minimal. Substitute products and services High – Physical stores and touch, feel, hear factors. High – Renting products online instead of buying them is increasing in popularity. This is a major concern for Amazon in their book sales as online retailers such as Textbookflix. com and BookRenter. com are providing much cheaper options than buying. High – The internet is a â€Å"Global Market†, consumers can substitute any product by purchasing from companies overseas where products are cheaper, but of good quality. Low – Catalogue/mail order although not as popular still a substitute to online buying. Customers/Buyers High – There is a large variety of online shops and comparison websites to compare best prices. Buyer power is higher when buyers have more choices. Businesses are forced to add value to their products and services to get loyalty. Many loyalty programs include excellent services that customers demand on-line. Customers want to solve their problems and many times they are more successful on-line than on-phone. Also, we see internet savvy businesses springing up offering more valuable goods and services at lower costs. Now with the advent of eBay, many people are assuming roles as drop shippers. Individuals can have a thriving business selling goods of larger companies without having to carry inventory. Suppliers Low – For standardized products that are easily available supplier power will be low. High – Specialized products and brands increase switching costs for buyers so the suppliers have higher power. With Amazon products such as the Harry Potter books are exclusive from publisher. High – Online shops making it easier for publishers/ brands to sell directly to consumers without a third party (e. g. Blackwell’s), suppliers may not need Amazon. High – If there is a concentration of suppliers for certain products in the industry rather than fragmented. Low – Global shipping has increased the amount of suppliers available. Value Chain The value chain analysis undertaken examines the operational effectiveness of activities that enable Amazon. om to perform better than its competitors. Amazon. com configures its value chain activities to create unique value for customers, reduce its costs of carrying out these activities and reduce the cost of its customers’ transactions. SUPPORT ACTIVITIES Firm Infrastructure Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Central planning function. Amazon. com has a single Technology platform wi th services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, thus reducing costs by leveraging investments. Human Resource Management Amazon. om offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances. Such a strategy means warehouses could be located in economically cheaper areas yet these benefits can attract highly skilled workers. For example in Kentucky, Amazon. com offers a decent rate of pay of about $11 – $12 thus reducing cost of labour. Amazon. com sources expertise from highly experienced workers from other competitors such as Walmart. Technology Development High investments in technology development to leverage new but unknown opportunities in digital sales of music, books and videos. For example being able to quickly digitize media for direct online sales/download or for â€Å"Search inside the book† service. Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of Ownership Procurement Using the Strategic Business Unit – BookSurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce time of delivery. Specially built distribution centres, warehouses and fulfillment centres to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs. PRIMARY ACTIVITIES Inbound logistics Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology Laseter et al (2000). Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. Operations Easy and fast payment systems Online customer contact and feedback. 24hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. Outbound logistics Close proximity to motorways e. g. UK Fulfilment Centre in Bedfordshire located next to M1. Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. Marketing & Sales Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spend. Service Free returns policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. B. How has it responded to pressures from its competitive environment? They responded with a continuous innovation in business strategy and information systems. Its business innovations are all driven by huge investments in information systems. There were three million titles in print, and any one physical bookstore could only stock a fraction of them. A â€Å"virtual† bookstore offers a much larger selection of titles. Amazon. com was able to charge lower prices than physical bookstores because it maintained very little of its own inventory (relying instead on distributors) and did not have to pay for maintaining physical storefronts or a large retail sales staff. Amazon also introduced Amazon. com Auctions (similar to those offered by eBay), and zShops (online storefronts for small retailers). To service these new product lines, Amazon significantly expanded its warehouse and distribution capabilities and hired large numbers of employees. C. How does it provide value to its customers? In 1995, former investment banker Jeff Bezos took advantage of new business opportunities created by the Internet by setting up a Web site to sell books directly to customers online. Amazon. com provided online synopses, tables of contents, and reviews to help with selection. Amazon tried to provide superior customer service through e-mail and telephone customer support, automated order confirmation, online tracking and shipping information, and the ability to pay for purchases with a single click of the mouse using credit card and personal information a customer had provided during a previous purchase. This was called â€Å"1-Click† express shopping, and it made the shopping experience even more convenient. Q. 2: Describe Amazon’s evolving business strategy? Amazon has changed its strategy for the last 13 years. They started from a way to sell books over the internet directly to customers, They offered so many things with time as : a. A much larger selection and lower prices b. Great customer support via telephone and e-mail c. Customer’s ability to connect with real people d. The creation of â€Å"1-click† shopping e. In 1998 began selling music and video products They set a goal of being a biggest virtual retail company. Their scope includes lean inventories, low head count, and significant cost savings over traditional bookstores and other retail competitors. Also in early 2000 they lowered prices, gave free shipping, and offered e-commerce to customers in order to increase profit. They improved their efficiency and became a profitable corporation. Q. 3: Why did the company change its strategy? Amazon kept changing its strategy throughout its existence to compete better. To be a successful player in the market a company especially an online retailer needs to have the ability to adjust according the changing situation of the market. Due to continue adjustments in its business strategy Amazon was able to get profits in less than ten years and getting a continuous profit in the recent years. They changed their strategy timely and in order to keep the company growing they need to change the business strategy according the current market and by keeping in view the competitors. Q. 4: Do you think Amazon can continue to be successful? Explain your answer. Amazon is one of the biggest online retailing company and is famous for providing textbooks and reading materials for purchase. People do not surf on internet in great deal to find another online retailing company because the Amazon has created an image in the minds of the users and they are confident that they will get a great deal at Amazon. Personally I would gladly use Amazon as It has developed a trust level over the years. As for as the success of the Amazon is concerned I think Amazon will keep getting success in the future and they will continue to deliver for their investors. If the senior management is flexible and creative they will be able to adjust in any economic situation. There will always be a great number of students and other people who needs books and other reading materials. Amazon with a good history and good steady revenue and customers also support my point more solid in regards to their continual success.

A Reflection on different volunteer work

It was my first twenty-four hours to fall in ‘Market & A ; Craft Day ‘ as portion of squad of Pt Chevalier Community Centre. This market uses to be held on every 3rd Saturday of the month and the intent is for everyone in this community holding a topographic point to purchase and sell goods such as second-hand house ware, handmade trade, nutrient or anything they want to convey from place. This activity besides provides occupant, little concern and organisation an chance to link with the community, to advance themselves and do a payback to the community because the fee from the stall engagement is portion of support to run the Community Centre and its programmes. My occupation was as an helper to sell BBQ sausage with John, a commission member who has been called as ‘Sausage director ‘ and ‘Sausage expert ‘ . That is because he has volunteered in this occupation for a long clip. This is a gag between those team members as John is the youngest of the squad and it is the manner how they treat each other like household. From their conversation and the little talk, I found out Kiwis love to hold temper and do gags to show their concern for each other, particularly for well-known friends. They besides made gags to me but non much that I think they might worry about I could non understand their gags so acquire embarrassed. They were easy-going and had an opened bosom to do friend with me even though I am from a different cultural group. I could experience that how I was accepted as portion of group and been treated like a household. I was truly basking my clip with them as they had shown me the most of import cultural rites of New Zealand – dainty everyone every bit. In add-on, during my volunteering, I learned how to cut onions and how to do BBQ sausage and custom-built sandwich. This is the first clip of my life for making this occupation. Through my work, I have known it is a really common formula in New Zealand to hold BBQ sausage with onion, mustard sauce and toast as a bite for out-of-door activity. Besides, as John did, some people love to hold toast with ‘Spaghetti ‘ and tomato sauce which is another particular western manner that different from Asian ‘s. Compared with Taiwan, we use to hold assorted traditional nutrients as our bite such as Chinese roll, Stinky bean curd ( smelly tofu ) and Oyster omelette. The nomadic stables in Taiwan besides need to be approved by local council for a license to sell goods/food at wayside or local late-night market. There will be a punishment for no accredited stall. Contemplation: Day 2 – Core office work ( Wednesday, 9.30am~1pm, 22 Sep 2010 ) Karen, the Coordinator of the organisation, called me to come in to the Centre and gave me some plants to cognize the manner around the topographic point. She was besides my interviewee who gave detailed information for my 10 civilization and society inquiries and how this community Centre operate. Based on her occupation description, I know she is a cardinal to put to death the programme of community Centre and the commission of this non-profit organisation are people to sketch and to make up one's mind what programme can be launch for the community. I realized how of import to hold a community Centre in the community after I did the office work and the interview. Harmonizing to Karen ‘s information, every community Centre is a ‘Hub ‘ to associate local public library, instruction establishment and business/organization together to supply information and activities for people live in the local country. Any single or assorted groups can utilize this topographic point for any activity by merely engaging a room of edifice, or leave their poster/brochure on the notice board to advance themselves. For illustration, a private child care Centre, where besides provide free Spanish linguistic communication larning environment, has its circular placed on notice board so everyone might see its information when visit the Centre. This is a free and convenient service that provide from the community Centre for its community. I think it is besides a proper topographic point to interchange cultural value from different cultural groups by holding their activities here. Furthermore, the School Holiday Programme is a good illustration to demo how this community centre wages proper respect to instruction and multiculturalism. For illustration, it has assorted activities for age 5 to 13 old ages old kids. The activities of September and October programme in this twelvemonth included the First Aid class for childs, Hip Pop dance workshop, Surf lifesaving workshop and a drama for a Chinese narrative â€Å" The Secret of Dongting Lake † which are really meaningful for developing kids ‘s accomplishment, personal ability and an chance to understand different cultural facet. I think it is really cagey to allow kids larn while playing through those seasonal programme and activities. Everyone, including their parents, can besides do friends and have a connexion for their societal life after the activity. It ‘s a really valuable part that the community centre gives us and the NZ society. Contemplation: Day 3 – Work in the Op-Shop ( Thursday, 10.30am~1pm, 23 Sep 2010 ) Thingss that I had learned were non from my work in this Op-shop but from people here. Their behavior and their idea gave me an thought to cognize why many New Zealander, particularly the senior, have willing to be voluntary and how they made the alterations for their community. Op-Shop of Pt Chevalier Community Centre is operated by voluntaries who are Erin, Julie and a lady who I have n't met yet. Erin is the squad leader and the one to help my acquisition. She makes the determinations and manages the store to maintain it run for its clients. This is non hard to happen out she is rather dependable and motivated in her function. She has an enthusiasm and a good intend to assist people in this community. She low the monetary value down or gave free gifts to the clients who seem to hold fiscal trouble. She notices the regular client and keeps the goods, which they may necessitate, beside her desk and give an acceptable monetary value when they have come. She said there are non many people have adequate money to purchase what they want, hence, the intent of community Centre is to assist people for their demand, that is the ground she gives the cheaper monetary value and back up them in this manner. Under her direction, the Op-shop has offered a free service for everyone who needs to advance their place concern to hold their monetary value bill of fare and concern card show on the check-out procedure desk. This is another manner how Erin does to assist and promote people who is unemployed but has the accomplishments for get downing a new life. Her whole household include her girl and grand-daughters, are all happy to affect in the volunteering work. They used to donate good quality apparels and purchase 2nd manus goods from this store. These is a really good illustration which Erin and her household have showed us for how people help each other in their community. â€Å" This is good to see everyone happy † , she said. In Taiwan, there are besides many people work for charity foundations or spiritual establishments who contribute themselves to assist the society. A measure of them even has joined the planetary charity events such as what Red-Cross does. This is positive mode to give payback to our society. The truth is, we ne'er know there will be one twenty-four hours we may necessitate aid from others so that why we do n't seek to give what we have at first. More cooperation between people in the society may hold higher quality populating environment that everyone may acquire the benefit from. In this instance, I believe most of New Zealander has done this well from what I have seen in this community Centre. Language learned from my volunteering work The commission members and voluntaries of Pt Chevalier Community Centre are like a large household to me. They knew each other and have a good connexion with local occupants. The linguistic communication they used in our interaction was between formal and informal which may depend on the degree of relationship they have had with this individual. There are two different ways of the linguistic communication utilizing that I had noticed from my engagement. To well-known friends or dealingss, the words utilizing and the subjects of conversation taking were rather flexible and included a batch of temper and conversational words that I might non pick up from those native ‘s vocalization. In their little talk, they talked about friends or households they knew, gossiped about mundane affairs and made gags to each other. From here, I confirmed my feeling of what I have seen when I foremost came to NZ that Kiwis are easy-going and love to do friends. On the other manus, when communicated with me, those people were rather friendly and had tended to decelerate down their velocity and simple their words to do me understand them good. From their words use, I could cognize they had a quality of instruction degree that their behavior and speech production were soft and sophisticated. In this instance, I remember what Karen said in my interview and so most of squad member in this organisation has had a strong ‘social accomplishment ‘ which is people skill. They know how to talk felicitously with people from different background and how to do their conversation swimmingly to do both of us happy. By and large, the conversations with the squad members had given me an chance to measure my English speech production degree and to pattern my communicating accomplishment with native talkers. In my self-evaluation, the positive I got is I do n't hold much problem to do communicating with them by utilizing mundane linguistic communication, such as salutation, stating the personal narrative, give the sentiments of what I think about mundane affair and follow the instructions that I had been asked. Most of conversations were run swimmingly but I knew there is still a spread to be narrowed if I could increase my English vocabulary to show myself decently and my comprehension of listening in English to understand their words. That is the negative side of my rating from my synergistic undertakings in this community Centre. The racial tenseness in NZ multicultural society? From my volunteered work in Pt Chevalier Community Centre, I have met many people who have an open-mind to accept NZ ‘s multicultural facet and dainty it with regard. However, some information from people who work in this Centre had widened my head to see how native New Zealanders think about the immigrants, particularly for Asiatic people. That has given me an thought how I behave and interact with native people who have different sentiment about us. The Committee Chairman of this organisation, Bruce, is a really soft old adult male who was rather enthusiastic to help my larning through my work in the Market and Craft twenty-four hours. He had given me some advices to do my CV and occupation application more successful through our interview. When we had a relevant conversation about people from different racial background like me, he told me a narrative of his boy ‘s employee who had been fired because his purpose of declining the service to clients who were Asiatic looking. Bruce had told me that many Kiwis have a misinterpretation about ‘all ‘ Asiatic people in NZ are bad driver. I had made the ailment about this misguided idea as sort of racial prejudice and I merely realized that is the ground why my friends, my household and myself had experienced of being stared or shouted by Pakeha drivers when we drove a spot slow or made a incorrect manner driving accidently as it may sometimes be made by themselves eve ry bit good. Merely like the information acquired from Karen, the Coordinator of the organisation, that when a figure of Asiatic first came to NZ, many Chinese gooseberries were really affronted about it for a long clip. â€Å" They thought Asiatic people may be able to come and take our state, our metropolis and our life style ; and they took a twosome of old ages, possibly 2 ~ 5 old ages to settle down. This is long clip ago when they refused to hold that in-migration policy to let more Asiatic people into the state. But now it merely truly accepted, by and large it truly accepted, † [ SIC ] it was Karen ‘s mention of the general sentiment of native occupant. From her words, I was disappointed about the old thought of native people but pleased with the alteration that they have made. In fact, there are ever two sides of a coin that people will see from different angel of position. Most people in this community that I have met are really sort to accept NZ ‘s multicultural society which they are populating in but merely a few have negative behavior to us, immigrant from Asia states, which I truly like to disregard to populate in peace with them. In decision, I agree that people in NZ are merely like people in Taiwan who are decidedly allowed to hold a right to give critical sentiments to people who may do any injury to this beautiful and peaceable state. However, it is better to maintain their thought in nonsubjective manner and non so subjective to make a hard life environment for those immigrants to populate in. That is perfectly unjust for what we have faced – the racial tenseness in NZ.

Kuwaits Foreign Policy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Kuwaits Foreign Policy - Research Paper Example According to Robert Rothstein, Kuwait’s domestic resources are unable to provide necessary security to the people of Kuwait.3 Kuwait was interested in maximizing their independence and freedom.4 For that, it would be impossible for Kuwait to survive as a neutral country. It should be noted that America and its allies saved Kuwait from the invasion of Saddam recently. Kuwait’s foreign policy has been developed on different perspectives. Oil, Islamic Fundamentalism, Arab Nationalism, Protection from its neighbors such as Iraq and Iran are some of the basic tenants that shape Kuwait’s foreign policy. This paper briefly analyses these four basic tenants that shape Kuwait’s foreign policy It is estimated that Kuwait possesses around 8.6–9.7% of the world’s oil reserves at present.5 Oil revenues account for more than 75% of the governmental income in Kuwait. Moreover, oil constitutes almost 90% of Kuwait’s export earnings. From the above statistics, it is evident that oil revenues play a major role in the development of Kuwait. As in the case of many other Middle Eastern countries, oil has the ability to shape the politics in Kuwait. It should be noted that majority of the foreign countries, irrespective of developed or developing, are facing severe energy crisis at present. At the same time, Kuwait has abundant oil resources. Naturally, the eyes of the foreigners would definitely focus more on Kuwait even though Kuwait is only a small country. The political, social and economic developments in Kuwait will be watched curiously by the foreigners. It would be easy for the western countries to interfere in Kuwaiti politics since Kuwait is facing many threats from its neighboring countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Westerners are providing protection to Kuwaitis while taking oil as the fees or payment for that protection. In short,

Nonreligious bases for nonviolences Research Paper

Nonreligious bases for nonviolences - Research Paper Example n in use for a long time, mainly by pacifists and non-pacifists, as a means of acquiring a social change and expression of resistance to any kind of oppression. In the past, the thought of non violence had made large numbers of people think and had attracted many followers. However, most non violent forms or cases have been in response to events of violence (PPU, n.d.). Non violence has usually been dived into two distinct parts or methods. The first one is the abstention from violence on religious grounds, while the second is the actions of people who neither start nor respond to any type of violence. Such kind of behavior has usually been linked to pacifism and abstinence of violence on grounds of principle (Riff, 1990, p. 166). Historically, western belief had an idea that non violence is something which can only be practiced by the educated masses, but this had been proved wrong in India, where the followers of Mahatma Gandhi were largely the poor farmers and uneducated masses (G regg, 1959, p. 184). In the following pages the various forms of non violence, apart from religious grounds, have been discussed. Also discussed are the contributions of some of the greatest preachers of non violence in the history of mankind. In this paper, the discussion has aimed to show how historically non violence had persistently fought the various types of violence on grounds which were not related to religion and the various forms of non violence prevalent in the world. The discussion also shoes how great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King had contributed to world peace through their non violent methods. Various cases of non violent action have been found in many countries over time, but it was only in the 19th century that non-violent action started to take different names and forms. The term ‘strike’ as devised at he beginning of the nineteenth century in the United States of America and it meant an organized form of stoppage of work or withdrawal of

International Investment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Investment Law - Essay Example Relevant facts of the dispute This case arises from the privatization program implemented by the Argentine Republic in the early 1990s, including the guarantees they offered to investors buying assets in the electricity sector and the decisions by the respondent in reducing the impact of the Argentine economic crisis in 2001-20021. Prior to the privatization, the electricity assets of the respondent were operated by three companies which were later restructured for privatization based on Decree 634/91 and Law 26,065. Based on these laws, the electricity generation and related matters belonging to the three companies were to be divided into individual units2. The Claimant in this case argued that the impact of the Reform Law destroyed the investments in Transener and declared that the company has already incurred losses due to this law. National Grid later agreed to sell its shares to Dolphin Management in order to mitigate its losses3. Claimant National Grid notified respondent in 20 02 of the investment dispute and sought for the application of Article 3 of the Treaty; they also claimed the benefit of the application of Article 7(2) of the Treaty between the US and Argentina for the protection of their investment and for international arbitration without referral to the Argentina courts. Respondent proposed the suspension of negotiations as their public service contracts were being processed. The claimant declined the proposal to suspend negotiations; the claimant however agreed to meet with authorities for negotiations4. The claimant again expressed its willingness to explore a settlement of the issue; without any response from the respondent, the claimant submitted the case for arbitration. The parties consented. The respondent agreed to the arbitration and claimed its case under the terms of the Treaty which allows the option to settle disputes which may arise with investors who may be nationals of the other State party5. The Claimant submitted to arbitratio n through its notice of arbitration. Based on Article 3.2 of the UNCITRAL Rules, the arbitration started on the date when the Notice of Arbitration was received by the respondent. Findings The tribunal decided that there was no direct or indirect expropriation as National Grid has not been deprived of title to its property and the methods of Argentina in handling the crisis were not equivalent to expropriation6. However, the tribunal ruled that the practice of fair and equitable treatment was violated by Argentina when it did the following: it changed the legal framework which was used as basis by National Grid in its investment; it did not negotiate with National Grid in the implementation of its measures and disposal of its investments; and when it requested for National Grid to abandon its legal remedies in relation to the renegotiation of its investment7. The tribunal also decided that economic difficulties which Argentina found itself in had to be considered. The tribunal then decided that the violation of the fair and equitable standard only happened from the time National Grid asked to renounce its rights, and not from the time the emergency measures were implemented by Argentina8. This made Argentina accountable for the losses of National Grid during the first six months of the crisis. Analysis of the Arbitral Award First of all, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is based on the instruments of the parties submitting to