Catholic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Catholic - Essay Example imes, the intellect and will contradict each other – for example when man seeks salvation in rewards for good deeds; holds on to blind faith in an omnipresent being; or establishes belief in the afterlife. That is why religion has mass appeal because it organizes these abstract principles, which are intangible, irrational and yet expresses the feelings which he feels. Religion therefore denotes the personal subject of the soul and justifies mans actions as he feels right. Religion and inevitably the belief in god is central to mans existence, because it has the power to make him believe in things beyond his intellectual grasp - such as concepts of hell and heaven, incarnation or resurrection etc. - and that God has created man and the universe (Berkhof 1996, p. 106). In this context, the Christian worldview offers the rationale that man’s understanding of the world is inherent in the beliefs grounded by belief in God (Albl 2009). Since God has created man and everything therein, then He has also established reasoning, faith and rationale for the order of nature. He has "fixed the foundations of the earth" (Albl 2009, p.31). Based on this understanding, one can explain the concept of sin in human anthropology. As God has created everything according to His reason, then man also understands and accepts His logos (rational order) like all other beings. It is the natural order of the universe that man must follow these laws or principles established by God. These principles are reflective of the natural order of creations of the universe. Anyone who goes against this order will break the laws and inevitably creates chaos. For example a man who commits murder will create extreme resentment within his community; a liar will create misunderstand ing among people; and a greedy individual will create imbalance in the economic status of the society. Since God has created man in His own image, it is understandable also that God expect man to behave as He wants. Any

Implementation Essay Example for Free

Implementation Essay The article by Pressman and Wildavsky analyses the problems associated with the implementation of EDA plan in Oakland. The Congress established the Economic Development Administration which went to different cities with the mandate of empowering the minority groups by providing them with jobs. The administration chose Oakland as a pilot project to experiment how provision of incentives such as loans and public works could create permanent jobs for the minority groups. Years later, the project proves to gain no fruits with the construction work at stand still and the loans plan dead and thus creating no jobs for the minority population. Following the failure of the plan, the authors try to figure out the main reasons why a plan that had big expectations and the federal government invested a lot of money in did not workout. The article also aims at creating an insight in the implementation of future project based on what happened on the Economic Development Administration plan in Oakland. The authors use the situation at the Oakland Economic Development Administration to relate to other similar policies and project and make several recommendations in the implementation of public policies. The article is therefore useful to public administrators who intend to implement project in the future. Due to the high level of unemployment, the political situation and the possibility of riots in Oakland, the city was the perfect choice for the experiment. During the first stages of implementation, there was a lot of hope in the plan. It was a new project and was funded by the central government and therefore was given priority over other projects in the city. Due to this, very many people were concerned with the progress of the project. Leaders and the political elites were very interested in it and were very committed to decisions touching directly on the project. Moreover, the money available for the implementation of the project was sufficiently enough to reduce the unemployment level in Oakland significantly. However, the pressure in the implementation was so high and decisions had to be made fast (Pressman Wildavsky, 1984). Due to pressure that forced quick decisions, projects were chosen and endorsed hurriedly to create the much needed jobs. The original projects included 10. 65 million dollars being allocated for an airport hangar, 10. 5 million dollars for a marine terminal, 2. 2 million dollars for a port industrial park and 414,000 dollars for an access road. Later, other projects like hangars in small airports, air cargo terminal and airport tower were added to the list. Unfortunately, as the project was being implemented, some problems emerged. One of the major problems was the false characterization of the experiment by the Economic Development Administration. Previously, government agencies had worked in the rural settings and therefore had a mindset on how such policies were to be implemented. Therefore, it became very hard for them to change their approach in the case of Oakland which was an urban center. The excitements of the new project faded very fast while the changes in the leadership and the complicated governance in Oakland delayed the implementation of the program. The problems in contracting and delayed implementation resulted in an increase in the total cost of the project. For example the estimated cost of the airport hangar went up by over five million dollars between 1966 and 1968. The changes in the leadership changed the commitment of leadership in the project. As time went on, the leadership in Washington was less committed or concerned with the progress of the project which was basically due to the change in leadership. The Economic Development Administration was also faced with a dilemma of whether to strive to perform and promise since different companies had received loans but had not kept their promise. Many companies did not follow the agreement after receiving the loans. The program was faced with numerous problems such that the number of jobs created was much less than the anticipated at the launch of the program. After analyzing the implementation of EDA in Oakland, the article makes some recommendations based on the failures of the program. The first recommendation is that, in the implementation of a policy, the implementation and the policy cannot be separated. Policy makers should therefore ensure that implementation is part of the initial policy making process. To reduce delays, the policy makers should formulate means that can be used to accomplish the program and eliminate the possibility of quick decisions in the implementation process. If the process of making decisions is made simple by making the process simpler, the likelihood of delays and possibility of failure is greatly reduced. The creations of proper machinery in the implementation and execution of the policy is also essential in the success of the program (Hill Hupe, 2002). The article then relates the analysis of the Oakland scenario with other situations related to the Economic Development Administration such as providing foreign aids. In this situation, there are needs that must be satisfied combined with the need to spend the funds provided in a hurry. These need and the pressure therein does not provide the correct atmosphere for the implementation of the policy. The article concludes that combining different decisions in the implementation of a policy has some positive as well as negative outcomes. Therefore if a policy is good and the execution of the program is also good, then the possibility of positive outcome is high. Similarly, if a policy is bad and the execution is poor, the outcome is also positive. However, if there is a combination of good and bad, there is always a problem associated in the implementation and there will be negative outcome. Rather than the individuals involved in the policy implementation â€Å"knowing that† they should be â€Å"knowing how† if the implementation has to yield fruits. Having knowledge on the facts and methods of implementing the policy and how to make things happen is equally important (Pressman Wildavsky, 1984). The two authors, Pressman and Wildavsky make keys suggestions on how policies should be developed. Their suggestions are based on careful analysis of the Oakland Economic Development Administration experimentation. Although the details is the Oakland project are very interesting to the reader, the way the two authors apply these details to other similar projects in the country is more interesting. Although the project implementation took place over four decades ago, the analysis is still very relevant in administration of programs today. The most important lesson from the article is that policy makers should consider the implementation of the policy as important as policy itself. The article also acknowledges the role of interest groups in the success of any public policy.

American Invasion of Iraq Essay -- Morality, Reasons, Exaggeration

The American invasion of Iraq was morally and humanely wrong. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, American government went far beyond humanity when they gave spurious and idealistic reasons for invading Iraq. Over 1 million Iraqi citizens were killed and the country lived under terror for over 5 years due to the American actions. In 1991 George Bush Sr., attempted to invade Iraq, however, this mission ended before any major action was taken. George Bush Sr.’s advisers, one of them being Dick Cheny choose not to invade Iraq because of the fear that such an invasion could turn into a â€Å"quagmire†. In spite of that, when George W. Bush, the son of George Bush Sr., began his journey to possibly complete what his father wanted to accomplish 10 years ago, the invasion of Iraq. Bush benevolently argued that â€Å"democracy in the Middle East must occur,† and the best way he choose was by attacking Iraq. According to globalpolicy.org, â€Å"Before the war, Bush was repeatedly told there was no definitive evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. He knew Iraq was not a nuclear threat. He knew there was no Iraq connection to 9/11. Iraq posed no imminent danger to the United States. There was no case for a pre-emptive war.† â€Å"George W. Bush knew there was no solid prove that Iraq was planting weapons of mass destruction. There were no nuclear weapons in Iraq, not enough technology was developed in Iraq to target long range enemies; America was definitely not being aimed at. Nothing was being planned from the Iraqi side.† (globalpolicy.org) About the WMD excuse, George W. Bush lied that the Iraqi were a threat to its neighboring countries [Kuwait and Iran] and to the world peace due to the believe that weapon of mass destruct... ...ading Iraq have been told to the outside world yet. If powerful countries with solid military force like the United States is able to take-over a country for personal benefits then where will the world end up one day? George W. Bush was definitely in hype or hysteria when he made the decision for invading Iraq, this hype led United States into the war. History should always be used for granted; history is just like a lesson that is thought at any school, if you pay attention to it and learn from it, astray will not be your path. Works Cited http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/168/37699.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk /news/worldnews/1560915/Dick-Cheney-Iraq-quagmire-video-hits-the-web.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml http://www.teresi.us/html/writing/iraq_war.html http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3340723/

Working Together Story

It was a blustery Wednesday night; the sun was setting and darkness was descending on the public fields. A whistle blew and the boys playing football on the field all gathered round a small bald headed man called Kev Smith. Kev was the manager of a failing boys football team in the Greater Manchester U16'S 4th division. The team hadn't won a game for seven months and were last in the lowest league they could possibly be in. ‘Well done lads' said Kev with his harsh shrill voice, ‘ I have seen some promising things in training tonight and I'm sure if we keep training like that, we'll improve our skills and maybe not lose a game in the foreseeable future†¦ 12 ‘o' clock Sunday, next game†¦it's at home†¦. Be promt' he clapped his hands and the boy's departed, joking and messing about. Kev collected in the balls and poles and got into his car. On his way home, he put his team, (Oldham Fliers), into perspective- he realised his team was appalling. The goalkeeper only played there because he couldn't kick the ball. The defenders are rash and about as pacey as a slug, the midfield couldn't dribble or pass to save their life and the attackers had the flair and finishing of a bus. He laughed to himself, but in his heart he badly wanted his team to get a result one of these days, so they can experience triumph and taste victory. Sunday arrived- a cup game between Oldham fliers and second division leaders Rochdale boys. In the parks changing room, morale was low for Oldham. They're faded red plain shirts looked pathetic and their shorts of all colours looked shabby. ‘Now look lads, just because these lads have fancy kits and are in a higher league, doesn't mean we can't try as hard as them†¦all I want from you is 110 percent.' There was a uneasy pause and everyone looked at the floor ‘Here's today's team†¦ Twiggy, Goal, left Back, Dave Slowmann, right back, Joe Horsmann, centre backs, captain Si Horlock and Andy Fotheringham, midfield, Jason Frog, Jamie Stutterford, Lee Black and Andy Cheffsson an upfront we'll have Chris Gallagher and Paul Howmann.' The team were so unorganised they didn't even have any substitutes! ‘Come on lads lets give this all we've got and put it to them.' The unenthusiastic boys trudged out of the changing room onto the battlefield on which they were about to be conquered. The game ended 11-0 to Rochdale. Oldham played with no commitment and were frail at the best of times, things couldn't get much worse than this for the club. At half-time Kev tried his best to lift the players confidence and get them fired up for the game, but alls Kev could manage to do was warm them up by bringing them back into the changing room for the half-time break. The players ran around laboriously and panicked every time the ball came to one of them. The Oldham players strolled of the pitch and didn't look in the least surprised at the hammering. The clubs morale was also at an all time low and when a team are lacking confidence and morale it is visible by their performances. Kev said to his players while he was getting changed ‘If we want to win, we have to believe we're not beaten before we have even played the game.' Kev left and drove off, leaving the boys to change and talk alone. The silent boys than began to murmur amongst themselves until Andy Fotheringham made him self heard among the other boys, he said to them' Lets put in an extra special effort in training next week for Kev and play with some direction for a change, because we all want to, its†¦ it's†¦ just we don't believe we can, but I'm sure if we all tried and felt more confidence on the ball we could pull together and get a result. The boys started to murmur to each other more loudly and they all decided Andy was right and that they should all have some faith in themselves and try and pull off a result for Kev†¦ who gave up his time, week in, week out. Wednesday night arrived, and the team was warming up and running around the field before Kev arrived. When Kev pulled up at the pitch in his car he was astonished to see his lads doing something constructive instead of what they usually do before training which is throw mud at each other and try to trip each other over. Without saying anything to the boys Kev set up a drill and removed the equipment from the back of his car. The boys were far more accurate than usual when they did shooting practice and in the game at the end of training every single player ran around more and attempted more longer, harder passes and even some players thought up some neat moves and scored some excellent goals! Kev was surprised to say the least at his teams ‘confident' display. He thought to himself ‘what's brought this on?' Kev said ‘Home again on Sunday†¦ 1'o' clock. Lets put all our effort in training to good use in our game on Sunday†¦ all right lads?' Kev packed up the balls and cones and still couldn't believe his teams morale boost. Kev got in his car and drove off, leaving the pitch and hopefully the clubs slump behind him. ‘Same team as last week' said the sub-less once again manager. The words Kev said seemed to echo over the blank changing room walls, Today's fixture was against fellow strugglers in the league Salford all stars C team. ‘Lets show some confidence today lads and get this elusive result.' Without further ado the team left and were warming up on the pitch. It was amazing†¦ 0-0 at half time. Oldham hadn't conceded a goal and even looked dangerous! Every Salford attack was neatly broken down and despatched to a team-mate further up the pitch. Full-time came and Kev was numb from shock. It was the last minute, Lee black made a surging run and whipped in a hopeful looking cross which was rather awkwardly met by the head of Chris Gallagher, the ball skimmed of his head and looped over the advancing keeper and into an open net. The whistle blew and the boys stood still, they didn't know what to do, when it had sunk in they had scored they shouted and ran around pointlessly and even better the last touch the ball got from Chris' head was the final touch of the game and Oldham had ran out 1-0 victors! The disgraced Salford team plodded back in silence to their changing room. In the Oldham changing room the lads were making a hell of a noise chanting some English Anthems like ‘We're going to wembley' and ‘we are the champions' When Kev came in the boys fell silent. ‘For once, today we played as a team who believed in themselves and believe me lads, we played some very attractive football today, we should use this magnificent result as a building block for hopefully many more wins for the club†¦ so lets get ourselves in gear now and take this club into division 3!' said an ecstatic Kev. The boys all agreed with Kev and agreed they should all from now on work more together as a team. 5 years on Oldham Fliers are in division 3 and have attained a respectable league position, and have some talented young players†¦ and yes Kev is still there week in, week out.

Person-Centred Approaches to Counselling Unit Essay

The essay will evaluate the necessity and importance of the development of the core conditions in the counselling process and critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the person-centred approach on the counselling process. The Person-Centred Approach focuses on the clients own best authority as it is based on the client’s personal experience in his or her own life here and now. It shows the client as someone who has the ability of fulfilling his or her own potential for changes (Mearns & Thorne, 2007) I believe that Carl Rogers Person-Centred counselling is reliable. It developed the method of enhancing the relationship formed between a counsellor or therapist and client. Rogers proposes that the development of trust and understanding within this relationship encourages self-realization, and enables the client to acknowledge the problems and issues they are facing. This approach of encouragement and guidance, helps the client to feel comfortable about disclosing personal and private information to the counsellor, which in turn helps the client on their journey for there solutions (Mearns & Thorne 2007). Rogers identified certain core conditions which he believed to be necessary if clients are to make progress in counselling (Rogers, 1951). It defines the counsellor qualities and attitudes which if present, will easily change the growth within the client. The most important of these attitudes is the counsellor’s ability to understand the client’s feelings and showing respect for the client and being congruent or genuine. The Rogerian main core conditions are Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard and Congruence or genuineness, but he also listed six conditions in additions to these three. 1. Two persons are in Psychological contact.  2. The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious. 3. The second person, whom we shall term the therapist is congruence or integrated in the relationship. 4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client. 5. The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this experience to the client. 6. The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved (The Carl Rogers Reader, 1990). â€Å"No other conditions are necessary. If the six conditions exist and continue over a period of time, this is sufficient. The process of constructive personality change will follow†. (The Carl Rogers Reader 1990 page 221) Unconditional positive regard: According to the fourth condition, the client feels that the counsellor values him consistently throughout their relationship, despite the fact that he may not value himself and even if the counsellor does not like or approve of all the client’s behavior. (An example may be! A client tells the counsellor that he is thinking of leaving his wife and kids because he has just discovered he is gay). The counsellor may not like or agree with the client’s decision morally because of his/her own beliefs, whether religious or traditional. In such cases the counsellor has to show empathy, respect the client for who they are at that moment. It is in their power to take the matter to supervision later if they wish. Carl Rogers believed that unconditional positive regard is essential for a healthy relationship to develop between a client and the counselor (The Carl Rogers Reader, 1990). Therefore it is conclusive that people need love, acceptance, respect and warmth from others, but unfortunately these attitudes and feelings are often only given conditionally. As a person develops he/she needs love and acceptance from important people in their environment such as parents and peers. The individuals often deals with the condition accepting by others gradually to incorporate their conditions into their own views about themselves like the â€Å"I am†. Example like I am the sort of person who must never be late†, or â€Å"I am the sort of person who always respects others†, or â€Å"I am the sort of person who always keeps the house clean†. Due to a fundamental need for positive regard from others, it is easier to ‘be’ this sort of person so as to receive such positive feedback. Over time, the individual looses the sense of their own identity and their own evaluations of experience, and the individual may partly or even entirely change due to the pressures felt from other people or the environment around them. At the same time, we have a need for positive self-regard – to develop a sense of trust in the accuracy and reliability of our own inner experienced, it is on this we must depend if we are to become independent from and able to make good decisions about life and how we are to be in it. We learn to view ourselves as others view us, ignoring our inner experience whatever we feel it is in conflict with the values of those significant others on whom we depend. Roger’s term for this was locus of evaluation. By this, he meant the tendency of some people to rely on the evaluations of others for their feelings of acceptance and self esteem (Mearns & Thorne, 2007). Unconditional positive regard defined as being non-judgmental, accepting, and respectful toward the client (Mearns & Thorne, 2007). The background and moral differences of a client should not prevent the counsellor attaining the Rogerian conditions. The counsellor has to accept the positive and negativity of ones clients no matter their sexuality, culture or traditions and religious beliefs. The counsellor also has to show warmth towards his client. According to the fourth condition therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this experience to the client. The warmth comes from the counsellor toward the client, helps to develops the trust between the counsellor and client relationship, but the counsellor has professional in showing warmth, because too little or too much will slow the development of trust in the process of the counselling sessions for some particular clients. The fifth condition can also be a part of empathy. â€Å"Empathy is a continuing process whereby the counsellor lays aside her own way of experiencing and perceiving reality, preferring to sense and respond to the experiencing and perceptions of her client. This sensing may be intense and enduring with the counsellor actually experiencing her client’s thoughts and feelings as powerfully as if they had originated in herself† (Mearns & Thorne 2007 p.67). Although there is only one physical world each individual experiences it differently. This is because we all have our own opinion and differences, and applying empathy will allow the counsellor to adapt to the client’s frame of mind. To illustrate, the counsellor should sense the client’s anger, fear, confusion or private world, as if these very things were the counsellor’s own feelings, It is of high importance that the client’s feelings or experiences do not emotionally distract the counsellor because it could pose a threat to the relationship between the counsellor and her client. Although the client may be desperate and lost in his/her world, the counsellor must remain as someone who is coherent and reliable, as well as sensitive. During the counsel sessions the therapist has to understand the feeling of the patient’s not doubt what the client means. The remarks must fit in with the therapist’s tone of voice which conveys with the client mood and content. Unless some communication of these empathic conditions has been achieved, then such attitudes do not exist in the relationship as far as the client is concerned. Therefore empathy is not just a technique of responding to the client, but it is a way of being in relation to one’s client. Empathy always makes the counsellor feels like being on the same train or bus as the client! It is the client journey (not the counsellor) which the counsellor is joining and staying with no matter how mountainous the journey is, without been carried away but still maintain the core conditions throughout t he counselling process. According to the third condition the therapist should be within the confines of this relationship, a genuine, real, or congruence person, unlike the psychodynamic therapist who generally maintains a ‘blank screen’ and reveals little of their own personality in therapy (Angles on Applied Psychology, 2003 page 47). Carl Rogers believes that it is the realness of the therapist in the relationship which is the most important element. It is when the therapist is natural and spontaneous that he seems to be most effective. (Rogers, 1973: 186). Congruence is the most important attribute in counselling, according to Rogers (Mearns & Thorne 2007). It means that within the relationship the counsellor is freely and deeply himself, with his own experiences representing his awareness of himself. The therapist has to support the client to encourage change and be positive. The therapist has to be open and professional during the counselling process. The aim is not for the therapist to express or talk out his own feelings but to be aware of his or her own boundaries so that he might not be bias to the client. It is important to be honest and at times may need to reflect on his/her feelings to the client, colleague or in supervision if it is standing in the way of the following conditions. Counsellors are sometimes faced with an exciting but frightening challenges, for some counsellor it is not difficult to be congruent whiles for others. They might find it very difficult or frightening but it could also confront us with the frightening possibility that we may not have the courage to meet that challenge, as Rogers wrote: different therapist achieve good results in quite different way ( Rogers, 1973) (example: the man who told the counsellor that he is thinking of leaving his wife because he is gay), it could be a frightening experience for the counsellor because of the counsellor’s background, but at the same time the counsellor have to be congruence and let the client know how they are feeling at the moment but the counsellor have to show the client unconditional positive regard and accept the client for who they really are. The therapist has to be transparent, by making himself or herself transparent to the client, the client can see right through what the therapist is in the relationship and that is how the client can develop trust for the counsellor. The famous Johari Window teaches us about the known to others but not to me and knows to me but not to others. There are aspects of our personality that we’re open about, and other elements that we keep to ourselves. There are things that others see in us that we’re not aware of, like the hidden area. This contains things others observe about us that we don’t know about ourselves. Again, they could be positive or negative behaviors that will affect the way others act towards us like our client. Congruence is about not having secrets, it’s about being true to oneself, and it’s also about establishing equal rights for all relationships so that the counsellor and the client can have an open but honest relationship throughout the process. Rogers’ most individual theoretical concept is that of actualization in which he is optimistic about Human Nature. Drawn from other theorists of his time, including Maslow (1962,1970), Rogers identifies that human motivation functions to assist us to reach our individual potential (Rogers 1977). In so doing we strive to achieve internal harmony between what we feel and what we experiences. By a process of our own internal experience we as individual develop by changes and adapting through the means of self regulation. This includes congruent awareness and expression of feelings evoked by experiences: we recognize, then express, what we feel about an experience. The actualization process is a motivational system from which our individual evolution and development occurs. Competing against this, however, is the conscious self. (Rogers 1959; Maslow 1962). It might help to understand Rogers better if we contrast his theories with those of freud because the two are so different. This contrast will show how Rogers can be thought of as optimistic about human nature, while freud took a far more pessimistic view. Freud thought that people were born with both life instincts and death instinct. In Freud’s system, two basic drives are associated with, or are part of the life and death instincts, the sexual drive and the aggressive drive. Freud thought that the aggressive drive was not usually directed towards the person himself or herself, but as it has energy and cannot be suppressed entirely, it is normally displaced onto objects or people in the environment. Freud was quite clear that, in his view, a tendency towards aggressive or destructive behavior is a natural condition of humankind. To Rogers, there is only one motivational force behind human behavior actualizing tendency. In contrast to Freud, Rogers thought that this basic motivation is constructive, creative and positive (Tonny Merry, 2003 p 17). But Both Freud and Rogers thought that childhood events are significant in shaping our adult personalities, but whereas Freud was not optimistic about the possibilities for change and development later on in life, Rogers certainly was. For example early childhood experiences are considered very important. The single most important factor is the degree to which we experienced love and acceptance from significant others, usually our parents. Rogers thought that children need to feel unconditionally loved and valued by people who are significant and important to them. The trouble is that love can be either conditional or unconditional. If love is offered unconditionally with no strings attached, then children are able to be naturally expressive and accepting of all their feelings. Conditional love refers to love that is given only if the child behaves in approved ways, and if the child behaves in the ways that are unacceptable, then he or she risks love being withdrawn. The result is that the child begins to think of himself or herself in terms of the evaluations of others, Rogers’ phrase for this was conditions of worth, and it refers to the ways in which our self concepts are fashioned by the judgments of those around us (Tony Merry, 2003 p 23).

The Post Office is Kitty-corner to the Court House

The Post Office is Kitty-corner to the Court House The Post Office is Kitty-corner to the Court House The Post Office is Kitty-corner to the Court House By Maeve Maddox Cassandra Marx writes: In the last few weeks, I have seen or heard numerous references to something being catty-cornered, katty-cornered, and kitty-cornered to something else. Would you please tell me what the correct usage/spelling is? Although I have included this expression in a previous post on cat words, I think it deserves a post of its own. Heres what I had to say the first time around: Catty-corner is a directional word, meaning that something is diagonally across from something else. The word started out as cater-corner. Cater is an English dialect word meaning â€Å"to set or move diagonally.† When the word cater with its meaning of to set or move diagonally dropped out of the language, folk etymology got busy and now we have all kinds of â€Å"cat† variants for this concept: catty-cornered†¨ kitty-corner†¨ kitty-cornered†¨ catty-corner†¨ cat-a-corner kitty-corner†¨ kit-a-corner This time I have my brand-new copy of Brewers Dictionary of Phrase Fable (17th edtion) to consult. This is what I find under the entry cater-cornered: Cater-cornered. Placed diagonally, as of a badly parked car in a parking space. Cater is an old word for the four dots on dice, which form diagonals, from French quatre, four. Other spellings of the term are catty-cornered and kitty-cornered, as if somehow to do with cats. Apparently the dialect word with the meaning to set or move diagonally, derived from quatre. As for the correct usage/spelling, the usage seems to be universal as to meaning. Something that is catty-cornered to something else is diagonally opposite. Until some authority decrees otherwise, I suppose that spelling and pronunciation are a matter of local usage. I grew up with kitty-corner. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Mostly Small But Expressive Interjections15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their Synonyms20 Ways to Cry

Alienation in the Novels of Namita Gokhale Essays

Alienation in the Novels of Namita Gokhale Essays Alienation in the Novels of Namita Gokhale Paper Alienation in the Novels of Namita Gokhale Paper But for Hegal human activity was itself but the expression of the sprint ( or Zeitgeist) which acted through people. Most widely popular interpretations of the term ‘ alienation’ are given by Karl Marx , in the historical and philosophical perspectives. Taking clue from Hegal, Marx imparted secular and materialistic dimensions to the interpretations of alienation. He conceptualized that the term, â€Å" stems from his consideration of what man is capable of becoming†(But couldn’t become). He has condemned these social features which do not allow man to achieve a sociey of free, creative individuals, society of artists, in which each individual is free to realize his nature through spontaneous activity in the spheres of productive life, social life and sensual life. The Classical sociological thoughts point out a source of the term and the concept of alienation different from that of Marx in the history of ideas although entries on alienation did not appear in the reference books of social sciences until as late as 1935. However, it cannot be denied that the concept had existed implicitly or explicitly in classical sociological works. For instance, Tonnies,uses the term alienation in the sense of isolation. According to Tonnies, this growth of isolation is foremost among the great moments and cultural processes which mark the modern age. Durkheim, another sociological thinker has not used the term, alienation, but dwells upon the concept of ‘anomie’ a social state of relative normlessness within a society occurs when traditional moral norms are weakened or destroyed. A person who lacks norms of conduct also leads a life which has no purpose or meaning. Thus anomie, in Durkheim’s sense, refers to meaninglessness. Still another dimension was imported to the meaning of the word alienation, by psychoanalytical thought inaugurated by Freud. Though Freud did not specifically use the term,alienation,yet his views are considered as quite seminal. According to the Freudian ethic, an individual is placed in a position of antagonism to his society and consequently he is alienated and incomplete. The Freudian man is fundamentally, socially irresponsible. The Freudians think that man’s â€Å" drives are only subverted by his society† and this gives birth to diseases. Hence, he suggests that there is no sense in extending one’s being into society. Yet, without this extension which is a social responsibility, man remains incomplete without any identification. This makes him feel alienated. Thus Freud attributes man’s alienation from society to the basic and unalterable contradiction between human and society. Eric Fromm has elaborated and expanded Marx’s and Freud’s conceptions of alienation. In the light of Marxist approach and psychoanalysis, he defines ‘ alienation’ as a mode of experience in which the person does not experience himself as the centre of his world, as the creator of his own acts, but his acts and their consequences become his masters whom he obeys, or whom he may even worship. Freud’s discussion of the concept is implicit and indirect. He holds that alienation is rooted in man’ psyche and not is society. The inner most concerns of the novelists of the recent past in India have been, human relationships, especially men- women relationships, betrayal in the relationships of love and faith, sense of alienation and the functioning of the female psyche. The nature of themes has changed from social to individual. Today writers tend to probe into personal and private relations, rather than general or social. The contemporary novelists are entangled in the complexities of men women relationships and the subtleties of subconscious and unconscious mind, which are reflected through human behavior. The movers and Shakers of our society are often on page three but not often between the foreword and the footnote. Namita Gokhale has managed the rare feet with rare dignity. She says, â€Å"Everybody has two novels in him. † One is â€Å"the story of life as it is,†the other â€Å"life as it might have been. † She would know. After all, she has not had only good things happening to her. She has had her brush with adversity,and much of the pain emanating from the loss of near and dear ones has provided her with fuel to pen together some stories,some novels,some essays. Ranging from â€Å"Paro-Dreams of Passion† to â€Å"Gods,Graves and Grandmother†to â€Å"Shakuntala† affable Namita Gokhale has always found writing â€Å"a catharsis†and storytelling quite â€Å"a therapeutic exercise. † Now,she attempts to use this therapeutic exercise to put together an anthology that is a refreshing change from the dumb page three personalities one is saddled with first thing in the morning. ‘Paro-Dreams of Passion’ is the story of a tall, sexy , green eyed temptress named Paro . The novel is narrated by the observant Priya, who records not only the loves and failures of her friend but also her own. In this novel, the novelist tries to prove how the inner feelings of alienation guide the activities of the human beings . Both , Priya Sharma and Paro are alienated . Where Paro finds an outlet to get rid of her alienation through adultery,Priya keeps brooding , all through her life. Paro’s assumed happiness and success is fake indeed and we realize very well how very much aliented she has been . Priya can not pretend to show what she is not indeed , so her character is real and lifelike. The researcher will try to find out the causes of their alienation , by applying Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. In Gods, Graves and Grandmother , Namita Gokhale has used irony to unravel the every day details of poverty , ignorance , illiteracy and the supernatural realm in life of downwardly mobile class of the Indian metropolises. Gudiya , the heroine of Gods, Graves and Grandmother is also alienated . The reason of her feeling alienated is justified , when her mother runs away with another man . But when Gudiya lives in the temple with her grandmother , there is no reason for her being alienated . She too like Priya Sharma of Paro-Dreams of Passion is unable to relate herself to anybody around her . Gudiya’s life is different altogether from that of Priya Sharma , but the feeling of alienation is there in her, in spite of so much hustle and bustle , the festive activities and happiness around . The researcher will try to analyze the character of Gudiya , in the light of Marxian theory of alienation . The term â€Å"Social alienation â€Å" coined by Karl Marx will be related to this novel. The Book Of Shadows investigates the nature of reality, love and faith. Scarred by her lover’s suicide and an acid attack that has left her permanently disfigured , Rachita Tiwari has sought refuge in a remote house in the Himalyan foothills . In this house built by a missionary over a hundred years ago , she lives alone painting and repainting her nails , bright red , careful not to look into mirrors . As she retreats into herself, battling for her sanity and fearful of a world she no longer trusts, a different dimension claims her and the tremendous history of the house is played out before her. With its idyllic settings and intriguing history, the house and its nostalgic link to her childhood prove to be therapeutic. Rachita Tiwari feels all alone in the whole world. She is unable to relate herself with anybody around. Her alienation is not due to society or any other outer activities. She could live a happy life only if she had thought of. Her alienation is what Eric Fromm explains, â€Å"rooted in man’s psyche and not in society. † With the haunting novel about romantic loss and fatalism, A Himalayan Love Story Namita Gokhale confirms her reputation as one of India’s finest writers. This is the story of Parvati,young, beautiful and doomed, and Mukul Nainwal , the local boy, who returns to the Nainital of his youth in search for the only woman he has ever loved Here, Parvati is isolated. From her childhood to youth she couldn’t get whatever she desired. Although in Masterji’s house she spends some good time but a gloomy picture is always reflected from her attitude. She spends her life in morose resignation. She has no arguments, no comments. Her daughter Ira also represents a picture of alienation. But Ira is not ready to live a life of silent acceptance. She has a spark in her personality. Here, the researcher will try to identify the categories of alienation in Parvati and Ira, separately. Psychoanalytical study of human behavior will be referred to in this chapter. Original and heart rending Shakuntla enthralls in its vived portrayal of the tragic life of a woman whose desire to live on her own terms is thwarted at every turn by circumstance and the age in which she lives . Shakuntala – ‘the eternal outsider ‘ is the little girl hovering by the door seeking to glean knowledge as her brother is being taught the rules of grammar , the wife who does not belong , the whore who is ruled by shame . Eventually Shakuntala seeks redemption . Almost lovingly written all through , in its finale , the story suddenly acquires the leanings of a morality tale †¦. Shakuntala’ forlorn , bewildered woman of tragic integrity deserves better. Over and over again Gokhale ‘s Shakuntala stresses the fact that having been named Shakuntala , after Kalidasa’ s heroine , she carried within herself the samakars of abandonment . So we meet a woman who has always seen herself aloof from her life. To understand or evaluate the corp us of fiction, produced by Namita Gokhale, it is important to study the master theme of all the novels i. e â€Å"alienation†. The most important aspect of Gokhalian heroines is alienation. Her heroines are always aloof, alone, alienated. They never have companions to share their ups and downs of life. They always feel that nobody in the world understands them. Gokhalian heroine creates an impression of being lonely ascetic brooding over the world around her and finding herself a misfit in it. Her life is a story of â€Å" an inheritor of unfulfilled desires. † She quite often displays an inclination for withdrawal from the real world, though there is facade of involvement in the activities of life. Inherent morbidity intensified by her surroundings makes her a split personality and life to her becomes meaningless. She is always in a fix to decide her course of life. She carries her relationships without relatedness. The main cause of these women being alienated is their non-adjusting behavior. They want everything and everyone as they wish it to be. They are sad when they are given circumstances otherwise. These women are not ready to accept the social norms set up for women, i. e. not equal opportunists of education (â€Å" Shakuntala†) concept of arranged marriage (â€Å"Paro-Dreams of Passion† and â€Å" A Himalayan Love Story†) patience and tolerance (â€Å"The book of Shadows†) self identification (â€Å" God Graves and Grand Mother† and â€Å" Shakuntala†). Namita Gokhale’s woman is always at war with the worldliness. She is always in search of joy, the grounds of which are true to life, true to nature and true to human beings. Unfortunately, she never finds it in the world and suffers from the meaninglessness (generalized sense of purposelessness in life), Cultural estrangement (sense of removal from the established values of society), social isolation (sense of loneliness or exclusion of social relations) and self estrangement (the gap between the work and the attitude or the maladjustment of desire and attitude). Consequently, she is never in tune with the society and its degenerated rules, regulations, customs and products and with herself. The researcher will make an effort to study â€Å" alienation† by examining the causes and effects of various external and internal factors affecting the psychology of the female protagonists in Gokhale’s fiction. The external factors are betrayal, loss of virginity, discrimination, economic inequalities and social boundations. The internal factors whereas include, the disillusionment in love and marriage, the quest for identity, high expectations, aspirations and a hunger to belong. These psychological factors contribute to the action of the central figure and to the climax of the novel. The researcher will try to account for the animal instincts and other actions of the central figure and their influence on the climax . Gokhale, feels that a lack of understanding of a situation leads a character to disaster, resulting from passion, greed and a sense of alienation. But a better understanding of life and people, resulting from psychological development of a character will provide ways to happiness and a healthy relationship. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY (A) PRIMARY SOURCES Gokhale, Namita. Paro-Dreams of Passion. New Delhi: Panguin Books India, 1999. ______________ Gods , Graves and Grandmother. New Delhi: Panguin Books India, 2001. ______________ A Himalayan Love Story. New Delhi:Panguin Books India,2002. _______________The Book of Shadows. New Delhi: Panguin Books India, 2001. _______________Shakuntala The Play of Memory. New Delhi: Panguin Books India, 2005. (B) SECONDARY SOURCES Aptheker, Herbert. Marxism and Alienation. New York : Humanities Press, 1965. Berdeav, Nicolas. Solitude and Society. London : Geoffrey Bles, 1947. Buckner, H. Talyor. Deviance, reality and change. U. S. A. : Random House, 1971. Dhawan, R. K. Indian Women Novelists. New Delhi : Prestige, 1981. Fichte, J. G. The Vocation of Man. Ed. Roderic R. M. Chisholm. New York : Bobbs -Merrill, 1956. Hook, Sidney. From Hegal to Marx. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 1962. Iyengar, K. R. Srinivasa. Indian Writings in English. New Delhi : Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. , 2005. Josepnson, Eric and Mary. Man Alone. New York : Bell Publishing Co. , 1962. Jung, C. G. Aspects of the feminine. London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982. Naik, M. K. and Narayan, Shyamala A. Indian English Literature 1980-2000. A critical Survey. New Delhi : Pencraft International, 2004. Sahacht, Richard. Alienation. London : George Allen and Unwin Ltd. , 1970. Sharma, Shrawan K. Alienation in the poetry of Matthew Arnold. New Delhi : K. K. Publications, 1996. Torrance, John. Estrangement, Alienation and Exploitation. London : The Macmillon press Ltd. , 1977. Urick, Ronald V. Alienation – Individual or Social Problem. New Jeresy : Prentice Hall, 1977. (C) Internet Sources : indiaclub. com/shop/search Results. asp? ProdStock=19502 indiaclub. com/shop/search Results. asp? ProdStock=7628 indiaclub. com/shop/search Results. asp? ProdStock=15582 indiaclub. com/shop/search Results. asp? ProdStock=7380 redhotcurry. com/entertainment/books/ngokhale1. htm. anitanair. net/reviews/review_22. htm marxists. org/glossary/terms/a/1. htm hinduonnet. com/thehindu/mp/20

SIX WAYS TO WARM UP TO COLD-CALLING!

SIX WAYS TO WARM UP TO COLD-CALLING! For those who believe cold-calling puts them in the same category as â€Å"pesky telemarketers, â€Å"it‘s time for a paradigm shift. In today’s tough freelancing climate, one must employ every advantage to stay in the game and stay in the black.  According to Peter Bowerman, author of the Well-fed Writer series, â€Å"Assuming you’re a competent, reliable writer, if you pursue this business, you’ll be a professional marketing a valuable and needed professional service to other professionals.† Note: This year alone, I landed several major clients Are you a killer copywriter? An expert in SEO? Have you written an informative self-help book that you’re convinced bookstore owners in your area should know about? Ask any veteran salesman and he’ll tell you the better you feel about your product or services, the easier it is to get â€Å"geeked† about it, and have others feel good about it too.  2. Remember, practice makes perfect. There’s no doubt about it: many writers are rather shy Do a little background research on the companies you target. What are their strengths? Who is their customer base? Go even further. Purchase â€Å"lead lists† that specifically identify your ideal client . For example, a list can be bought according to a preferred geographic area, income level or business type. Keep in mind that a strategic approach increases your odds of success and prevents potential burnout.  4. Understand that there’s a psychology to selling. Whether you’re peddling widgets or words, it‘s crucial to get into your potential customer‘s head. What specific needs does your service or product address? How can you help others to become more productive or profitable? Assess then deliver. 5. Recognize that timing is everything. To optimize your efforts, call when it’s likely you won’t be considered an intrusion or inconvenience. For example, don’t make contact ten minutes before closing time, or five minutes after the start of business hours. Always be polite to â€Å"gate keepers†.  6. Mentally â€Å"suit up†. Boxer, Muhammad Ali, used to chant â€Å"I’m the greatest† before entering the ring with his opponents. And a similar preparation is needed before you do battle in business! Preparation might be repeating positive affirmations, or listening to your favorite motivational speaker on audio tape, or visualizing your success first. Preparation helps to cushion the blows of rejection and equips you to go the distance.  Observe these six timely tips and you’ll discover that cold-calling can be another effective way to â€Å"connect† with customers and build your business. Suggested Resource:amazon.com/Successful-Cold-Call-Selling-Examples/dp/0814477186Successful Cold Call Selling

Reading Response and Thinking about Research Questions Essay - 1

Reading Response and Thinking about Research Questions - Essay Example Nevertheless, the publishing industry has been reshaped over a century through the creation of websites such as Amazon. The book talks about the shift from analogue to digital where now publishers digitally send contents to distributors and retailers who then reaches the potential consumers. Consumers download the digital contents into their personal computers, tablets, smartphones, iPhones and other reading devices. The book clearly shows the disadvantages of traditional mode of publishing and marketing of books. The book contains several essays that help the reader to get a concrete conclusion on the effects of digital changes in publishing and music industries. The essays explain the effects on workflow, designing, and metadata. The tools of the digital workflow and designing of books in the digital age are clearly stated in the book. The essay clearly shows the work made by every player in books publishing industry. That is, the worker of publishers, websites, retailers as well as consumers. The book analysis the use of books as a result of the shift other than digital copies of paper objects. (McGuire and OLeary) 2. For each of the two specific essays you read from the book, please do the following. Give the title/author of the essay. Summarize the reading (use about 3 sentences for each summary), and describe its significance in regard to our course theme. Why are these specific essays of interest to you? â€Å"The Forgotten Consumer† by Jacob Lewis is one of the interesting essay that clearly explain the inefficient market. Digital changes have improved the book industry whereby publishers use the internet to find potential customers for their products. The essay also shows how digital changes have led to growth of talents of many writers and readers. Huge amounts of books, articles, and eBooks are produced every day and this clearly shows development in the publishing industry. The other essay is â€Å"What We Can Do with

Media critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media critique - Essay Example The media depicts the adolescents as a social group that is affected by health problems associated to sex. In relation to the elderly, the health problem associated to them is related to ageing. Children are on depicted as having health problems related to nutrition. Sexually transmitted diseases amongst the adolescents in the society are among the health problems that receive more media attention (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services 2000). This is in comparison to other health problems affecting other members of the society such as the elderly and children. There are a variety of reasons as to why this health problem receives more media attention. One of the reasons is that the adolescent population is greater than that of other members of the society. Therefore, this social group is more vulnerable hence the media attention directed towards it. The emphasis of sexually transmitted diseases amongst adolescents is justified because this social group is very important for the welfare of any nation. The adolescents who are mostly teenagers are the hope for the future. Therefore, if their welfare is not protected at present then the status of the future is at jeopardy. The attention given to the adolescent’s health issues by the media in relation to other social groups should be encouraged. This is because most of the teenagers at the adolescent stage are naà ¯ve and therefore need a lot of guidance and counseling. Teenagers at the adolescent stage undergo a series of physical and physiological changes and hence why they need guidance on how to handle the changes (Goldwasser, 2008). Sex is one of the issues that affect their lifestyles and it is therefore the obligation of the media to concentrate on sexually transmitted diseases amongst them so as to enlighten them. Research has revealed that the publics portray the attention of the media to sexually transmitted diseases amongst adolescents in a

This assignment is for a book review, not simply a book report. You Essay

This assignment is for a book review, not simply a book report. You will be expected to analyze and critique the book in additi - Essay Example Because of its stark telling of events, and its refusal to shy away from the darker moments of American history, the book Coming of Age in Mississippi should be required reading for anybody who wants to really understand what it was like for America to arrive at a time when people are more or less treated equally. The book is organized into four different sections, each one of which tells about a different time in Moody's life. There is one for her childhood, one for high school, one for when she was in college, and the last section is about her time in the civil rights movement trying to get the vote and other rights for African-Americans. Moody's childhood was not exactly happy, as her mother was poor and her abusive father left them. She had to work from an early age after school just so her family could afford food. In high school, things do not get much better as one of the boys she knows is killed by the Klu Klux Klan and she has to continue working, often for white people who do not treat her much better than they would treat a slave. Because of all this harsh treatment in her youth, Moody shows that she started to get way too interested in things like the KKK and lynchings and racial inequality. Many of her friends and family did not like this in her and that made things even more stressful. Moody was able to get a scholarship to play basketball in college and so is able to get a good higher education. It is during her college years that she decides to join the NAACP, which only makes her relationship with her family worse. This is because she and her family all start to receive threats from the various white people they know. The last part of the book is kind of redeeming and depressing at the same time. Moody joins the civil rights movement and goes to rural parts of the south to try and convince African-Americans to register to vote so they can get treated equally. Interestingly even here Moody is seen as sometimes too serious, and she does not neces sarily get along all the time with the other people in the movement. The end of the book is the most depressing part. Moody is on a bus going to Washington with a bunch of other activists and while they sing about how they shall eventually overcome oppression, she does not join in. She thinks of the violence and hatred in the south, and wonders if it will ever be over and if the movement will ever really have succeeded at what it set out to do by trying to get equality. The book Coming of Age in Mississippi, despite its depressing ending and much of the distressing events in it, really moved me as a person. I think of all the violence that African-Americans had to endure here in America, and it makes me mad. It’s especially disturbing to me since I am from middle-class white Texas and have also lived in Mississippi. While I would like to think my neighbors would not be the same as the people in the book if they had lived in the time period Moody writes about it is impossible to know for sure. I’m sure that some African-Americans who live in the south today are still treated unequally, although I hope not to the same degree as in the book. Although I do think the book does a good job of showing the darker side of events, I feel like there is not really very much about the good things. I think it would have been

Field trip report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Field trip report - Research Paper Example Tourists and tourism companies have began to seek more sustainable tourism activities, with one of the key areas being carbon neutrality. Carbon neutrality was introduced for the first time in the climate change context. The industry contributes approximately 6% of emissions of CO2 globally, with 94% being from travel by air. Carbon neutrality’s implication is carbon emission balancing via offsetting of the carbon footprint of a destination. This mainly involves investing in renewable sources of energy and also investing in forestry. It is achieved when a tourist, company, or destination manages to neutralize the emission of carbon from travel and high carbon emitting facilities like electricity generators. This paper aims to report on the carbon neutral activities that support the move towards sustainable development in tourism via the use of indicators specific to carbon neutrality. Introduction In the sustainable tourism context, indicators are sets of information that are chosen in order to make regular measurements of changes in issues and assets which are vital for development of tourism, as well as a destination’s management (Ball, 2009 p101). ... The publication is descriptive of more than forty issues concerning sustainability, which range from natural resource management to control of development, tourist and host community satisfaction, cultural heritage preservation, climate change, economic leakages, seasonality, among others (Ball, 2009 p109). Each issue is listed with management techniques and indicators suggested along with examples and practical sources of information. The publication is also inclusive of how to develop indicators that are destination specific. The tourism industry responded to the issue of climate change in a two fold manner (Association, 2008 p34). These are mitigation and adaptation. In the past, the industry had taken steps to deal with climate change based on service provider activities. The transport operators, both rail and air, tried to cut down CO2 emissions, while facilities for accommodation made an attempt to regulate and control emission. In recent times, however, there has been a push f or the realization of a future with low-carbon. The tourist destinations aim to achieve tourism that is sustainable. This is referred to as destinations that are carbon neutral. In July 2009, Caribbean countries revealed their plan to become the world’s first carbon-neutral destination, citing tourist resource vulnerability assessment, as well as evaluation of tourism’s impact on the environment. This marketing plan does not aim at increasing tourist numbers, but rather their consumption, leading to increased travel quality. UNWTO has set an average tourist consumption of approximately 50%. Carbon neutrality can be defined as the process through which emissions are calculated via a transparent process, reduced and residual emissions offset so

Unit 4 Individual Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Unit 4 Individual Project - Essay Example Euthanasia is a word derived from the Greek, simply means a â€Å"gentle and easy death† (Oxford English Dictionary, 2004). Obviously, supporters of the decriminalization of euthanasia are not using the word in this uncontroversial sense. They are not simply supporting the expansion of hospices and improvements in medical services. Rather, they are arguing that doctors should in certain circumstances be allowed to ensure an easy death not just by killing the pain but by killing the patient. Often the decision to practice euthanasia is more of a decision between letting the person die now or later, rather than a choice between life and death. Thus, it could be deemed that the movement in favor of euthanasia may be rooted in our fear of facing death, and that euthanasia is used to hasten death so that we will not have to cope with the consequences associated with the actual process of dying. In fact, according to U.S. surveys, there is greater support for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia among patients and the general public than among physicians (Kashima and Braun, 15 October 2001). More Caucasians support these practices than members of ethnic minority groups (Braun, et al., February 2001). This is a very sorry situation wherein people would like to have complete control of their lives. In reality, humans have limited control but, ultimately, are forced to accept phenomena which they cannot change. Sickness and death fall into this category. The humane response to a dying person is to keep him company and alleviate his discomfort. There is no medical or ethical reason to deprive a person of all the pain medication needed to keep him comfortable and, for most people, a regimen of comfort care can be established in either a health care facility or at home. To be sure, keeping company with the dying and caring for their physical needs is a demanding task, but it is not a task

Field trip report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Field trip report - Research Paper Example Tourists and tourism companies have began to seek more sustainable tourism activities, with one of the key areas being carbon neutrality. Carbon neutrality was introduced for the first time in the climate change context. The industry contributes approximately 6% of emissions of CO2 globally, with 94% being from travel by air. Carbon neutrality’s implication is carbon emission balancing via offsetting of the carbon footprint of a destination. This mainly involves investing in renewable sources of energy and also investing in forestry. It is achieved when a tourist, company, or destination manages to neutralize the emission of carbon from travel and high carbon emitting facilities like electricity generators. This paper aims to report on the carbon neutral activities that support the move towards sustainable development in tourism via the use of indicators specific to carbon neutrality. Introduction In the sustainable tourism context, indicators are sets of information that are chosen in order to make regular measurements of changes in issues and assets which are vital for development of tourism, as well as a destination’s management (Ball, 2009 p101). ... The publication is descriptive of more than forty issues concerning sustainability, which range from natural resource management to control of development, tourist and host community satisfaction, cultural heritage preservation, climate change, economic leakages, seasonality, among others (Ball, 2009 p109). Each issue is listed with management techniques and indicators suggested along with examples and practical sources of information. The publication is also inclusive of how to develop indicators that are destination specific. The tourism industry responded to the issue of climate change in a two fold manner (Association, 2008 p34). These are mitigation and adaptation. In the past, the industry had taken steps to deal with climate change based on service provider activities. The transport operators, both rail and air, tried to cut down CO2 emissions, while facilities for accommodation made an attempt to regulate and control emission. In recent times, however, there has been a push f or the realization of a future with low-carbon. The tourist destinations aim to achieve tourism that is sustainable. This is referred to as destinations that are carbon neutral. In July 2009, Caribbean countries revealed their plan to become the world’s first carbon-neutral destination, citing tourist resource vulnerability assessment, as well as evaluation of tourism’s impact on the environment. This marketing plan does not aim at increasing tourist numbers, but rather their consumption, leading to increased travel quality. UNWTO has set an average tourist consumption of approximately 50%. Carbon neutrality can be defined as the process through which emissions are calculated via a transparent process, reduced and residual emissions offset so

The Quality in Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 52

The Quality in Healthcare - Essay Example The next step that was taken in order to solve the issue was close monitoring of the emergency department. This was done with the intention of improving the quality of care given to the patients. Another thing was to be taken care of was the waiting time of the patients and satisfaction of the patients in relation to the service delivered to them. A benchmark was set up where the timeliness of the treatments and the proportion of return of the patients was to be reported within 72 hours. Additional staffs were hired for the emergency department so that the patients coming in could be treated properly and taken care of. Triages were moved out to the waiting area in order to identify and move the serious patients faster. This would in return decrease the waiting time for the emergency patients. The registration process was streamlined with help of modern technology such as the installation of wireless computers. This process helped in giving the information of waiting time to the unregistered patients. The staffs were given proper training to take the accurate and timely decisions. The quality of service plays a major role in any healthcare organization. The patient's health and survival is the ultimate goal for all of them (Dixon-Woods, McNicol & Martin, 2012). The measures that were taken to improve the service were logical because the prime motive was to reduce the patient waiting time and to improve the quality of care. In this respect hiring extra staffs and use of advanced technology helped in the decrease of patient waiting time. In addition, the placement of triages in the waiting area ensured that the serious patients were identified and moved in for treatment faster. Quality tools help individuals comprehend and enhance forms. There are numerous distinctive tools, and the aptitude of quality experts lies in their capability to take an application from one field or industry.

Looking at the social comments Bennett Essay Example for Free

Looking at the social comments Bennett Essay For I could easily afford to keep my mother and wife too. This conveys that from Phillips point of view, women are the responsibility of men and this also reflects his upbringing as through the environment he has been brought up in, he has gained the arrogance of being able to believe that he is higher than women and that women to him, are something that must be brought in order to look after or keep them. Bennett stereotypes the arrogance of men in society through the assumptions that Phillip makes about his mother. This is shown as when in the text Phillip comes to know that dinner was set for three; he immediately thought that it was something to do with him, that his fianci e Agnes was arriving he did not consider the fact that the guest could be for his mother. By presenting Phillip like this, Bennett is suggesting that Phillip is portraying the arrogance of the male in society; However, Phillip can not be blamed for his attitude towards women in society as he was merely acting of the confines of the social rules within the society that he was brought up in at the time. This is shown as at the end of the story, Phillip realises that the arrogance he was brought up with was wrong as when Phillip realises that his mother is engaged, he states I had never thought of my mother as a woman with a future. By saying this, Phillip admits that his views were not necessarily correct as he never thought his mother had a future or a life of her own but after hearing the news of the engagement from his mother and Mr Nixon, he realises that he was wrong and admits this by simply stating we live and we learn. Through news of the engagement Bennett shares the views of Phillip towards the relationship between him and his mother, leaving the reader to assume that Phillips mother has an unfair status within society and that her views are different to those of her sons views. This is shown as Phillip wouldnt share his personal matters with his mother, he tells the reader this by stating .. you cant write even to your mother.. In cold blood: I think Agnes likes me by saying this, Phillip is implying that his mother and him do not have a close relationship as he cant tell his mother about his engagement, he also shows that his mothers opinion doesnt count or matter as he states she might be a little bit hurt just at first . Here, Bennett insinuates to the reader that Phillip has been brought up to be independent enough to perform personal matters without involving his mother as she isnt very important to him; although he believes that he means everything to his mother as he is the only man in her life. However, nearly to the end of the story, the reader comes to know that Phillips mother feels exactly the way towards Phillip as he does towards her, this is shown as Mr Nixon states .. she couldnt have well written, My dear Phillip, an old friend, Mr Nixon, is falling in love with me and I believe Im falling in love with him. .. . This proves that Phillips mother is also a product of her environment as she also implies that she believes her sons opinion does not count or matter and that he does not need to be involved in her personal matters. This is very ironic as at the start of the story Phillips environment lead him to believe that he couldnt write in a letter to his own mother that he is getting engaged then, in the end, Phillip learned that his mothers environment also lead her to believe that she couldnt write in a letter to her own son that she is getting engaged, this changed Phillips views as he realises the irony and the views that his society and environment brought him to believe he admits his mistake by simply stating we live and we learn. Bennett simply comments on society, inferring simple messages such as we live and we learn, he does not criticise society through his stories, unlike Charles dickens, who sends highly critical messages across about society through his famous stories such as a Christmas carol and Oliver! . Bennetts stories are inferred comments about social and historical issues and how they are or should change, he explores the upbringing and status of the characters in news of an engagement and implies the change in society after the main character realises the irony of the relationship between him and his mother.

Causes of Chronic Migraines

Causes of Chronic Migraines Headache is pain in any part of the head that can occur suddenly or gradually and produce a varying amount of pain; in fact, it is the most common form of pain in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Headache is often divided into two categories, primary and secondary (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). A primary headache is one that is due to the headache itself, it is not caused by another problem (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). The three types of primary headache include tension headaches, cluster headaches, and migraine headaches (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Secondary headaches, on the other hand, are headaches that are caused by something else (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Examples of secondary headaches include headaches from an illness, headaches from a medication, sinus headaches, cervicogenic headaches (which are headaches related to an underlying neck condition, like degenerative disc disease), and headache due to a brain tumor or aneurysm (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Migraine headaches are one of the most common forms of headache (Davanzo, Bua, Paloni, Facchina, 2014). Migraines are considered a neurological condition (Schwedt, 2014; Silberstein, 2014). They often manifest as recurrent attacks of throbbing, frequently unilateral headaches with associated features, including: nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012; Schwedt, 2014). Migraines can be further subdivided into episodic or chronic (Schwedt, 2014). Episodic migraine sufferers have less than 15 headache days a month, whereas chronic sufferers have at least 15 headache days a month for at least three months, and at least eight headaches that have symptoms consistent with a full-blown migraine attack (Ferrari, 2013; Schwedt, 2014). Chronic migraine is a common disorder; it impacts people during their most productive years of life, has tremendous costs to the individual and society, and is associated with a variety of comorbid disorders (Schwedt, 2014). Chronic migraine typically develop through a process called migraine transformation, which is a slow increase in the frequency of headaches, usually over a period of months to years (Schwedt, 2014). Chronic migraine is diagnosed based on the patient’s symptoms by excluding other causes of headache (Schwedt, 2014). A general physical and neurological exam should be performed on each patient and attention should be paid to the patient’s neck, shoulders, temporal artery pulses, and tempromandibular joint; if any abnormalities are found on the neurological exam, a secondary headache should be suspected and the patient should undergo further evaluation (Schwedt, 2014). Many risk factors are associated with a higher likelihood of transformation from episo dic to chronic migraine and include obesity, excessive caffeine intake, low socioeconomic status, and major life changes like marriage or divorce, to name a few (Schwedt, 2014). Common conditions comorbid with chronic migraine include other neurological disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and cerebrovascular disease (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012; Schwedt, 2014). Compared to people with episodic migraines, patients with chronic migraine are twice as likely to have certain psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder (Schwedt, 2014). The pathophysiology of chronic migraine is complicated and not fully understood (Schwedt, 2014). It was once believed that migraines were simply a swelling of the blood vessels in the brain (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012). More recent experiments have shown that swelling of the meninges and/or extracranial arteries is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause migraine pain (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012). While such swelling is certainly often found during migraines, migraines are no longer assumed to be exclusively a disorder of blood vessels; rather, there are data to suggest that chronic migraine is associated with progressive brain changes, both in brain structure and brain function (Ferrari, 2013; Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012). Atypical modulation of pain is suspected to play a role in the transformation from episodic to chronic migraine by reducing the inhibition of pain in the regions of the descending pain modulatory pathway in the brain (Schwedt, 2014). Neuroimaging studies of patie nts with chronic migraine have shown both atypical structures of pain processing and atypical pain processing in the brain (Schwedt, 2014). Regions of the brain that participate in sensory discrimination, affect, and the cognitive appraisal of pain are also atypical in migraine sufferers (Schwedt, 2014; Silberstein, 2014). Many studies have found correlations among the extent of these abnormalities and the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, suggesting that these abnormalities could be precursor to the transformation from episodic to chronic migraine (Schwedt, 2014), but more research is necessary to determine the exact role and mechanism of these abnormalities. The trigemininovasular system is currently considered one of the major players in the role of chornic migraine (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012; Schwedt, 2014). The trigeminal nerve is the fifth cranial nerve in the body and is the main sensory nerve in the head (Fix Brueckner, 2009). Some researchers believe that the musculature around the trigeminal nerve branches become irritated, which leads to the swelling and pain caused by migraine headaches (Kurlander, Punjabi, Liu, Sattar, Guyuon, 2013). Presently it is speculated that a sensitization of the trigeminal system that innervates cranial tissues, specifically the meninges (which often swell during migraine attacks) leads to a lower threshold for activation (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 2012; Schwedt, 2014). A lower threshold for activation means the system becomes activated more easily, which leads to more migraine attacks, and more migraine attacks therefore increase the likelihood of a chronic migraine diagnosis (Pietrobon Moskowitz, 20 12; Schwedt, 2014). Another line of research that is currently being investigated is cortical hyperexcitability (Schwedt, 2014). The human nervous system is composed of billions of synapses and neurons functioning as part of a large, highly specializes system (Fix Brueckner, 2009). All aspects of behavior are informed by the nervous system, and it can rudimentarily be broken down into excitatory and inhibitory components that facilitate the communication among different neurotransmitters in the brain to determine the level of inhibition of excitation of each response (Fix Brueckner, 2009). Excitation in the brain is mainly associated with the neurotransmitter glutamate (Fix Brueckner, 2009). Recent transcranial magnetic stimulation studies on patients with chronic migraine have shown cortical hyperexcitability, particularly in the occipital cortex of the brain. The occipital cortex is associated with vision, and this makes sense to researchers as visual auras are often associated with migraine attack s (Fix Brueckner, 2009; Schwedt, 2014). A neurotransmitter of interest, particularly with the beginning phase of a migraine attack, is dopamine (Charles, 2012). Some research has shown that dopamine receptor agonists administered to patients produce some of the same symptoms that are experienced by migraine sufferers at the beginning of an attack (Charles, 2012). Conversely, dopamine receptor antagonists administered to patients can reverse those symptoms and have even been suggested to have the ability to prevent the onset of additional migraine attacks (Charles, 2012). While the exact role of dopamine in chronic migraine is unknown, it is certainly an interesting line of future study. Treatments for chronic migraine range from trigger identification and avoidance to risk-factor modification, and include both pharmacological and nonpharmacological components (Schwedt, 2014). A discussion of each type of treatment and the variety of treatments within is beyond the scope of this review, however, some of the most common pharmacological treatments will be highlighted. Pharmacological treatment for migraines can be divided into two categories: abortive drugs, which stop a headache after onset, and prophylactic drugs, which are taken on a regular basis to prevent the onset of a migraine (Davanzo et al., 2014). Those who suffer from chronic migraine are often on a prophylactic regimen, due to the intensity and severity of the headaches (Davanzo et al., 2014). While many drugs are used for chronic migraine prophylaxis, it is important to note that many are prescribed off label; in fact, the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of chronic migraine is onabotulinumtoxinA (Schwedt, 2014). OnabotulinumtoxinA, more commonly known as Botox, has been popularized as a series of small injections in the face that reduce the appearance of crow’s feet and frown lines (Oliver, MacDonald, Rajwani, 2006). However, the injections are also used to treat chronic migraine (Schwedt, 2014). Botox is part of a class of medications called neurotoxins (Fix Brueckner, 2009). It has no direct effect on the central nervous system because it cannot penetrate the blood brain barrier, however, it can have some important indirect effects on the central nervous system (Fix Brueckner, 2009; Oliver, MacDonald, Rajwani, 2006). When used to treat chronic migraine, Botox is injected into different muscles in the face to block the nerve signals to those muscles (Fix Brueckner, 2009; Oliver, MacDonald, Rajwani, 2006). Specifically, Botox has been shown to inhibit sensitizations of central trigeminal nerves, which was previously discussed regarding the pathophysiology of chronic migraine (Ol iver, MacDonald, Rajwani, 2006). Triptans are another common class of drugs used for chronic migraine prophylaxis (Davanzo et al., 2014). Triptans are serotonin receptor agonists, meaning they bind to serotonin and increase the response of serotonin at the site of action (Davanzo et al., 2014; Fix Brueckner, 2009). Triptans have a vasoconstriction action on blood vessels, meaning they shrink the size of blood vessels, which is helpful in reducing the pain of migraines some of which can be attributed to swollen blood vessels in the brain (Davanzo et al., 2014). However, the desired effect of vasoconstriction is not limited to just the brain and also constricts other blood vessels, including those in the heart (Davanzo et al., 2014). As a result, patients with any coronary disease should use care when taking triptans (Davanzo et al., 2014). The most commonly prescribed triptan medication is Sumatriptan and is available in multiple forms including pills, injections, and intranasal spray (Davanzo et al., 2014). The inj ections and intranasal spray reach the brain more quickly and are therefore faster acting than the pill which must first get absorbed into the blood stream to take effect (Davanzo et al., 2014). Beta blockers, originally used for the treatment of hypertension and angina, are also often used for migraine prophylaxis (Davanzo et al., 2014). The beta part of beta blockers refers to receptors on blood vessels that are called beta receptors (Fix Brueckner, 2009). Therefore, beta blockers prevent the interaction of certain chemicals with this receptor (Fix Brueckner, 2009). The most commonly prescribed beta blocker for chronic migraine is Propranolol (Davanzo et al., 2014). Propranolol is likely successful in preventing migraine headaches by blocking beta adrenergic receptors, which inhibits swelling of arteries. Additionally, Propranolol may also exhibit its effect by preventing the platelets (the sticky elements of the blood) from sticking together and releasing substances that caused the blood vessels to constrict and dilate. A concern with pharmacological treatment of chronic migraine is the development of medication overuse headaches. These occur when a migraine sufferer uses migraine drugs too frequently, and develops a secondary headache as a result of the medication use (Schwedt, 2014). The treatment includes a drug withdrawal phase, during which time the patient would have to stop taking medication for his migraine or take a medication with different mechanism of action to allow the overused drug to leave his system (Schwedt, 2014). This response is paradoxical because sufferers of chronic migraine often rely on pharmacological treatments to alleviate their pain, but if they take too much they will actually end up exacerbating their pain. About half of chronic migraine sufferers are treated for medication overuse headaches at some point (Schwedt, 2014). A brief overview of the criteria for diagnosis, hypothesized pathophysiology, and pharmacology for the treatment of chronic migraine has been discussed. While there is still much to learn about the pathophysiology of chronic migraine, recent research has increased the understanding and opened up new areas of research to bring scientists closer to a more comprehensive understanding. While many data indicate that chronic migraine is a debilitating condition with great intensity and duration of headaches, and often lead to lost productivity and high costs on society (Schwedt, 2014), there are prophylactic and abortive drugs that can greatly ameliorate the problems caused by migraines. With attention to and modification of risk factors, often in addition to appropriate adherence to these medications, migraine sufferers can live normal, productive lives.

An Analysis of Jack Londons To Build a Fire :: London To Build a Fire Essays

An Analysis of Jack London's To Build a Fire In his article "To Build a Fire" a Physical Fiction and Metaphysical Critics Charles E. May comments and disagrees with a statement that "To Build a Fire" is "a masterpiece of a short fiction"(20). Literary critics claimed that London used many metaphors in this work such as "sun-fire-life" or "cold-darkness-depression-death"(20), but May argues that this story should be read and interpreted literally and does not contain deep, dual or metaphorical meaning. He says: "For Jack London, and consequently for the reader, the man in the story is simply a living body, the cold is simply a physical fact"(22). What is more article's author strongly disagrees with the critic, who compares the theme of the story to a theme of a classical tragedy. May sarcastically states that the only visible similarity in terms of theme would be the issue of protagonist's death(22). I think that "To Build a Fire" story relates to many issues hidden behind a superficial plot. The story takes place in a very severe winter; the man under appreciates the dangers of nature forces and struggles to return to camp. He is warned about possible dangers, but he is also too pride and too self-confident to take the advice into consideration. The protagonist is accompanied by a dog. The man tries to survive, but forces of nature are stronger and he dies. The interpretation of the story, however, reveals real "treasures": problem of loneliness, deadly fear, acceptance, understanding, issue of time, and a scary silence. The protagonist seems to be a very independent and strong person, he rather listens to himself first. He planned his way back home, and regardless to weather condition he realizes his plans and sets off. During this trip he starts to realize that it may be too cold, initially tries to set up a fire, but it is not enough to survive. He is scared, and has a feeling of a coming death. In some ways he is similar to a contemporary person, who never has enough time for anything. The protagonist rushes to get home, to realize his own plans, to go forward, then on a deserted land he suddenly finds time, too much time to think, and to feel. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to be aware of his own death; he is able to predict what will happen. At first, he tries to escape and safely find camp, but afterwards he learns it is impossible, and accepts his fate.

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay

What microenvironmental factors affected both the first generation and second generation models of the Toyota Prius? How well has Toyota dealt with these factors? When the Prius was introduced in the US, it was quite shocking that it became such a big hit. The US auto market had been dominated by SUV’s for quite some time, and it seemed that a car that was small, slow and lacked power wouldn’t be attractive to American consumers. The advanced technology was very attractive to the â€Å"early adopters† and the consumers were willing to pay over the asking price to get a Prius. When gas prices soared so did the demand for the Prius. Toyota has dealt with these factors well. Successfully introducing a small hybrid into a market dominated by SUV’s is no small feat. Toyota’s success with the Prius is mainly due to their targeting strategy. By targeting the perfect group of consumers, sales and demand grew exponentially, and pricing has and continues to be at a premium. 2.Outline the major macroenvironmental factors – demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural – that have affected Prius sales. How well has Toyota dealt with each of these factors? Prius sales benefited from a number of macroenvironmental factors. When the Prius was first introduced, Toyota targeted the â€Å"early adopters,† a group of consumers that were interested in the advanced technology of the vehicle. Many of these owners found creative ways to modify and hack the computer system and chatted about it online. Another group of consumers that Toyota targeted were the environmentally conscious and/or consumers that desired more fuel efficiency. Both groups showed high demand for the Prius and were willing to pay premium pricing for the vehicle. Prius sales also benefited from factors such as monetary incentives offered by the federal and/or state governments in the form of tax breaks. Some states started issuing permits to hybrid owners to drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (even if there was only one person in the car), or even free parking. Furthermore, some environmentally friendly companies offered employees money towards the purchase of hybrid vehicles. In 2007-2008 gas prices skyrocketed to 3 dollars per gallon and in some states above 4 dollars per gallon which only made the demand for the Prius greater. Studies about the various hybrid vehicles on the market were published and the Prius was at the top of the list for value. Studies indicated the Prius along with the Civic were the only hybrid vehicles that allowed consumers to recover the initial investment and actually save money after five years and 75,000 miles. Overall, Toyota has dealt with these macroenvironmetal factors very well. It is evident that targeting the right demographics has really paid off. All of these macroenvironmental factors were to Toyota’s benefit. All increased the sales and demand for the Prius. The only problem Toyota was facing was keeping up with the demand. 3.Evaluate Toyota’s marketing strategy so far. What has Toyota done well? How might it improve its strategy? Toyota’s marketing strategy has been focused on forward thinking and targeting the right consumer groups. The first consumer group targeted was â€Å"early adopters† or techies that found interest in the advanced technology of the car. This was a good strategy for the introduction of the vehicle. This group showed high demand for the Prius and spread the word through online sources. The second consumer group was the environmentally conscious, and those who wanted better fuel efficiency. Toyota predicted that gas prices would increase, and when they went through the roof, sales and demand increased. I believe that Toyota has done very well with this strategy. The truth is in their sales and demand for the Prius. An improvement that Toyota could make is better production planning. It seems that so far, this has been the biggest challenge. Though Prius sales are very strong, sales would only increase with more production as long as the demand stays consistently high. 4.GM’s marketing director for new ventures, Ken Stewart, says â€Å"If you want to get a lot of hybrids on the road, you put them in vehicles that people are buying now.† This seems to summarize the U.S. automaker’s approach to hybrids. Would you agree with Mr. Stewart? Why or why not? I agree somewhat with Mr. Stewart. I think that putting hybrids into popular cars and small SUV’s would work, but it would not work with sports cars and trucks. Sports cars and trucks are generally purchased for their power, speed, and towing ability, not their fuel efficiency. The current hybrid technology would diminish the performance of sports cars and trucks, and would eliminate most of the benefits of owning either type of vehicle. On the other hand, introducing the hybrid technology in popular cars and small SUV’s would work well if the option was available at an attractive price. Improved fuel efficiency is desirable when purchasing a car as the average price per gallon of gasoline is only rising. In my opinion, they hybrid technology would be an attractive offer. Not only would it be practical, but it would save the consumer a lot of money in the long run, assuming that they keep the car for five or more years

Sunni Islam

Sunnis Several years after Muhammad's death, the various factions of the Islamic faith were formed. Many of Muhammad's relatives and companions were involved in the power struggle, and the war finally stabilized when Mu'awiyya, the governor of  Syria, took control of the Caliphate. This marked the rise of the  Umayyad dynasty  which ruled Islam for quite some time. Although the Qur’an ordains that the division of Muslims into different sections is forbidden, three sects of Islam developed and emerged at the conclusion of the  Islamic Civil War.These include the Sunni, Shiite, Ahmadiyya and Karijite. Of these four, the Sunni denomination is by far the largest, comprising of 90% of the world Muslim population, with Shi’a comprising of the second largest percentage. The literal translation of the word Sunni is â€Å"habit† or usual practice. My assumption is that the habit or practice refers to the actions of Muhammad. So anyone claiming to follow the Sunnah , which are the actions of Muhammad and can show that they believe the Hadith, which are narrations of the actions of Muhammad, can consider him or herself to be a  Sunni  Muslim.People of Sunni orientation believe that Muhammad had never chosen a successor before his death and therefore nobody can really properly succeed him or become the succeeding leader of the Caliphate other than his closest companions, or Shahaba. Sunnis belive that only the the first four caliphs should be regarded as the properly led caliphs. They include Abu Bakr, Umar al-Khattab, Uthman Affan, and Ali Talib. Actually why there has not been one widely known caliph since 1923 for the entire Islamic religion is due to the fact that Islam is divided into these three sections metioned earlier.Although Sunnis accept hadith narrated by the first four caliphs, they regard one collection of hadith to be the most authentic. This is called the Sahih al Bukhari. The literal translation of sahih is â€Å"authentic †. The Sunni branch of Islam has four legal schools of thought or  madh'hab, through which Sunnis practice religious jurisprudence, or religious philosophy. There was only one madh-hab during the time of the â€Å"rightly-guided† Caliphs but after the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, things changed. The Umayyad caliphs did not have the same religious authority as the previous ones.After the Umayyad Dynasty, there was the Abbasid Dynasty. In comparison to the Umayyads, they were more supportive of Islamic law. The crystallization of four major Sunni madh’hab of Islamic fiqh came about by the third century of Hijra. These four include the Hanafi, which was founded by Abu Hanifah and is the dominant school of Muslims in the United Kingdom and Germany, and also followed by Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The Maliki school, founded by a Hanifa’s eldest student named Malik ibn Anas and is the dominant school of Muslims in Morocco, Alg eria, Libiya, Nigeria, Sudan Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait.The Shafi’i school founded by a student of Malik named Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i and is the dominant school of Muslims in Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Kenya, Somalia, Kenya Tanzania, Jordan, India, Syria and Lebanon. The Hanbali school founded by a student of al-Shafi’i named Ahmad bin Hanbal, and is the dominant school of Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula, to name the most predominant ones. The followers of these four schools follow the same basic beliefs but differ from one another in terms of practice and execution of rituals, and in interpretation of Shari’a.So rather than again dividing themselves up into different schools of law, Sunnis rather prefer to just combine and call themselves all Sunnis. The  religious text of Islam, the Qur'an  was compiled by Muhammad’s closest companions and regarded as authentic my all Muslims. There are many aspects of daily life, ho wever that are not mentioned in the Qur’an but they were observed and passed down through generations. These oral account are called hadith. Sunnis regard only certain collections of hadith to be authentic and those are compiled by six specific recorders named Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’ii, Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Majah.The history of the Sunni–Shia conflict originates in the  split  that occurred when  Muhammad  died in the 632 which led to a dispute over  who should succeed him as  caliph  of the Islamic community. This led to the battle of Siffin. For a long time, Sunni Islam was differentiated from Shi'i Islam by its adherence to the  Caliph  as the leader of the Muslims. However, Sunni and Shi'i Islam are the same in that they share important taught principles: the wholeness of  God, the belief in the revelations of Muhammad, and the belief in resurrection on the Day of Judgment.Even though the main split in Islamic practice is between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, there are several disagreements within the Sunni community. Almost like how Americans have different views, there are some liberal and more secular movements in Sunni Islam that say that Shari'a is interpreted on an individual basis, and that reject any  fatwa  or religious edict by religious Muslim authority figures. There are also several movements in Sunni Islam, which reject and sometimes persecute liberal Muslims for attempting to compromise certain Muslim traditions.