Friday, November 29, 2019

Perils of Indifference Commentary free essay sample

Ellie Wiesel portrays the full effect of indifference during his speech â€Å"The Perils of Indifference† by using firm language choices, to emphasize indifference. With the use of diction, alongside the use of efficacious allusions, he reveals the suffering â€Å"behind the black gates of Auschwitz† and presents how Jews â€Å"felt abandoned by humanity†. He impudently questions the reader â€Å"Have we really learned from our mistakes? †. He aches to get his point across, to allow people to look at themselves and see how they are indifferent. Wiesel’s use of allusions allow him to uncover the tragedies that have been long forgotten, and use them to invoke a response from the reader. He shows how human â€Å"failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity†. Then he slowly delves into the compassion and kindness of humanity, from the Christians during the Holocaust, the collapse of communism, and the demise of apartheid. Elie Wiesel’s struggle is obvious in â€Å"The Perils of Indifference† through his diction as he ranges from emotions of anger, hatred and hope. We will write a custom essay sample on Perils of Indifference Commentary or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Elie Wiesel allows the people to feel and share his anger and struggle when he speaks out â€Å"now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the pentagon knew, the State Department knew. † Elie Wiesel also allows the people to feel the indifference he felt by speak in the previous quote and shows that the indifference in the world is the greatest punishment of all. Elie Wiesel wants to try to change the views of the world on indifference, but he realizes that in the current mind state the world is in, that that is impossible. Wiesel’s use of his own story allows people to feel the really? this is what you managed to accomplish in an hour and 23 minutes? why aren’t you on here working right now?! and you wanted to help set up for the dance!

Monday, November 25, 2019

La Estrategia de Chochueca Summary Essays

La Estrategia de Chochueca Summary Essays La Estrategia de Chochueca Summary Essay La Estrategia de Chochueca Summary Essay and has in the eyes, those rare situations of those people who were tortured in the twelve years and now work together torturers. (Page 69) There is no ideological defect in the narrative. I realized that everything is the same, in the end, everything is a lie, we all want a Japanese cart and a pool (p. 70). It is a disappointment and a visceral boredom, lived from the inside and sharpened by an inhospitable environment that denies that segment of youth, of which the narrator is the part, some possibility of redemption. That is why small or large crimes that try to give color to a gray and tedious existence, the tumble of horns, drugs, forgery of checks, fraudulent use of credit cards. Those parents who have left their children, this illogical gelatin. After so much we want the world and we want it. So much historical laughter, both Marx and companion for this, this prank of small beasts without the idea, this Mac universe in the That you or tomb to contemplate the bubbles in the screensaver or you are tomb; In the Chochueca Strategy, the many talents of this writer appear, which, although very young, already occupies a space between the authors to be in sight in the next years.; Conclusion Rita Indiana Hern;ndez is a young author from Dominican whose first novel La Estrategiadewhich was published when she was 25. Also, she was known as the most important commitment to the Dominican story in 20 years. Amazing. There is an intriguing interview in English with her in his work in which she speaks regarding her poetry work as well as her 2005 novel Papi none of which I can discover about the issue.; The novel speaks of the social evils that sorround Dominica, the author believes that the youths have the power to make changes in their society, but they are falling to do so. The city has fallen to the alien hands and its being characterized by a lot of evils. The atmosphere in the city is unpleasant and boring, people are not living below their expectation and there is a need to revolutionize and bring change.; Work Cited Hern;ndez, R. I. (2003). La Estrategia de Chochueca: novela. Isla Negra Editores.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Management - Operations Decision Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management - Operations Decision - Assignment Example These professionals converge as a team to develop and enhance production outcomes to achieve the required level of profitability. Business organizations require outside research to estimate the demand for products and services and will have to entailing information to explore access and capture market places. My role here is as managing consultant to this company, to offer advice that will help them to arrive at a decision as to whether it should shut down totally or continue its operations. The plant operation sector is extremely fragmented in nature, characterized by a large number of small and micro companies. The capacity to react rapidly to emerging opportunity is an absolute necessity to achieve success in the sector. In a swiftly altering atmosphere, it can be complex for small and medium sized companies to cope up with market developments Current Environmental Scan Factors: Current â€Å"environmental scan† (Environmental Scan, 2005, Pg.1) factors of this company inclu de an analysis of both internal and external environmental factors that affect the overall functioning of the company, as experienced below: Internal Factors:  · Organization of equipment and machinery  · Capacity of the technological  · Culture of the organization  · Management systems  · Worker morale  · Financial management External Factors Competition Behavior of the customer Economy Political interference and movement Social atmosphere Technological alterations General environmental alterations All these factors have great impact on plant operations and the management’s decision to continue or discontinue their operations. Both internal and external environment are the foundation in which the organization operates. Environmental scanning also concerns the gathering of relevant information about conditions that affect the business. Appropriate information about internal and external factors of the company will help in understanding the overall performance of t he company. It is also a process of using information of the environment in decision making. This has to be seen from the perspective of improving the overall organizational capability to deal with quick changes. The external environment of plant operation company refers to both its operational atmosphere such as competition, consumers and suppliers, and general atmosphere such as regulatory, economic, technological, and socio-cultural aspects. A firm scans the environment in order to recognize the external factors of change so that they may build up effective responses, which can improve or secure their position in the future. Scan will also help in avoiding surprises, recognizing opportunities and threats, increasing competitive advantage, long-term and short-term planning of performance. The organization's capability to adapt to its outside atmosphere is dependent on knowing and understanding the external alterations that are taking place. Environmental scanning forms a primary m eans of organizational learning. Evaluate the financial performance of the company using the information: The firm presently employs 100 workers to produce 6,000 units. The daily wage is $70, and the price of the firm's output is $32. If the firm continues to work in this capacity, its total revenue will be $192000 = $32 times 6000 units of output. This is the advantage of operating the facility. The price of operating the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies Research Paper - 4

Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies - Research Paper Example Currently, Nokia focuses on developing telecommunications infrastructures on a large scale, provision of online mapping services, and the development of mobile communication technologies (Slater, 2004). Nokia also played a great role in contributing to the development of the mobile phone industry in the early years of 2000 (Park, 2014). The company played a role in developing GSM standards, and for a considerable period of time, Nokia was one of the largest producers and sellers of mobile phone products, in the world. Nokia also entered the Smartphone industry, and this is through its platform referred to as Symbian. However, the dominance of this company, in the Smartphone industry was challenged by the emergence of Apples. This is through the production of its Android devices, and its iPhones. Furthermore, because of stiff competition from companies such as Samsung, Alcatel, etc, the market share of Nokia was beginning to fall, and it experienced a series of losses (Park, 2014). Microsoft on the other had is an American company, that specializes in the development of computer software. The headquarters of Nokia is in Redmond, the state of Washington. The company is able to develop, manufacture and sale personal computer gadgets, consumer electronics, and computer software (Slater, 2004). However, because of stiff competition from Apples, the company has also experienced a reduction in its market shares. Because of this stiff competition emanating from Apples, Nokia sought a strategic partner, who could help it, in the development of electronic and computer gadgets, that could help it achieve a competitive advantage over Apples and other companies such as Samsung. In the year 2011, Microsoft was able to enter into a pact with Nokia. Park (2014) explains that the method which Microsoft used in entering into a partnership with Nokia was through an acquisition. In 2013, the chief executive of Microsoft was

Monday, November 18, 2019

Musclar Sclerosis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Musclar Sclerosis - Research Paper Example According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of the United States of America, there are 250,000 people in the country who suffer from this disease. Furthermore, it points out that the total number of people with this condition may be the double of this figure owing to the fact that many people do not chose to consult their physicians and misdiagnose their own condition (Rosner et al 2008 p7). The disease is considered to have a greater predisposition towards females and the ratio of the affected females to affected males is 2:1. The disease does not present in the early ages of life and nor are there any presenting cases after the fifth decade of life. Individuals are mainly affected between these age groups (Robbins et al 2005 p 1382; Mitchell et al 2007 p 887). Multiple sclerosis is not a congenital disease and it is a condition which affects a person later in life and is acquired. It is considered to be caused by an autoimmune mechanism. But definitive causes for this dise ase have still not been identified. It has been highlighted that the condition may also be stimulated and caused by external environmental factors. The condition is not infective and hence does not spread from one individual to another. Studies in the United States and England have highlighted interesting aspects of the disease and it has been seen that this pathological condition mainly affects the upper classes and it is more common in countries with proper hygienic measures. It has been seen that in the developing nations where the hygiene is low, the disease is not prevalent and it is hypothesized that these populations tend to acquire an immune mechanism against this disease. Furthermore, it has also been presented that the pathology is more prevalent in areas with lower temperatures (Robbins et al 2005 p 1382; Rosner et al 2008 p 8; Ganong 2005 p51). The disease has been suggested to be an autoimmune response of the body against the myelin sheath. This reaction of the body is considered to have a genetic link as well. This has been highlighted due to the fact that there is 15 times increased vulnerability of developing the condition if â€Å"first degree relatives† suffer from the disease. If one twin suffers from the disease, the other twin also has a high susceptibility of developing the condition (Robbins et al 2005). Multiple sclerosis follows a clinical course where attacks of the symptoms appear between intervals of weeks or months or years. These symptoms may even subside for extended periods of time and the patient retains normal functioning but they have a tendency to recur as well. With increasing time, the symptoms tend to subside but there may be long lasting damage to neurological function (Robbins et al 2005 p 1382). The disease presents with many symptoms which include optic neuritis and retrobulbar neuritis. The patient may complain of visual disturbances. The involvement of the brainstem tends to result in ataxia, nystagmus and in ternuclear opthalmoplegia. The spinal cord is also involved and the demyelination of the nerve fibers in the spinal cord results in problems of the motor and sensory conduction in the arms and the legs. The functioning of the urinary bladder is also affected and it loses its normal working. The patient may also present with an injury of the spinal cord which would not be painful. The patient may

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay Historically, conservation strategies have been dominated by exclusive management approaches, reserving places for nature, and to separate humans and other species. According to Adams and McShane (1996) the method for establishing parks has always involved the expensive operation of removing those people living on the newly protected land. In almost all cases, the result is a park surrounded by people who were excluded from the planning of the area, do not understand its purpose, receive little or no benefit sharing and hence do not support its existence. As a result, local communities develop a lasting distrust of park authorities, in part because of the glaring lack of attention those authorities, supported by conservationists, have traditionally paid to the link between park ecology, the survival of wildlife and the livelihood of the displaced people. In the longer term the effect of the de-linkage of park wildlife from village livelihoods, encouraged by the preservationist views of nature on which the national park as an institution is founded, is to make local people hostile to wildlife conservation (Knight, 2000). In Ghana, the Mole National Park and one of its surrounding communities, Larabanga, have for a long time being involved in a series of conflicts that have negatively affected the peaceful co-existence of man and nature. This paper explores the causes of the conflict and the values, interests and positions of the key stakeholders involved in the conflict. An analysis of the conflict using the social conflict theory and various techniques in conflict management is also employed. The authors also present a new view of the conflict and present alternative dispute resolution methods that are applicable in resolving the conflict. Inclusive governance as a key participatory process is also discussed in the paper. Key words: Environmental Conflict, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Inclusive Governance, Protected Area, Stakeholders Introduction National parks and other wildlife reserves are a major source wildlife conservation conflicts in most parts of the world. In Ghana, wildlife conservation conflicts are prevailing in the north of the country between the park authorities of the Mole National Park (NP) and the park-adjacent communities especially Larabanga (Marseille, 2004). Mole NP is a typical example of coercive conservation or exclusive management, during its creation a policy of externally enforced exclusion was pursued and no serious attempts were made to involve the local communities in the management of the park (Marseille, 2004). The control of Mole NP is vested in central government by means of the Ghanaian Wildlife Division [WD]. Throughout the years the WD and the communities have been engaging in a poor relationship which created a breeding chamber for different conflict situations (Marfo, 2003). Marfo (2003) however states that recently there has been a shift from the traditional preservation approach in p rotected area management to the more flexible concept of conservation through sustainable use. Despite a range of protected area [PA] outreach strategies targeted at improving the relationship with the local communities and reducing the conflicts tension still exists. The lack of communication and the tension between local people and park staff is a common theme from different parks (Newmark et al 1993 in Bergin 2001). The WD holds the view that local communities have done little to change their negative perceptions about the activities of the Park. Particularly the communities surrounding the Mole NP are notorious in violating park boundaries and regulations. Among the local communities both suspicion and mistrust for wildlife staff and bitterness over the process by which the Park was created is prevailing. Hulme and Infield (2001) found that the community attitudes towards protected areas is influenced by the nature of community use of park resources, the physical proximity to the park, influencing both problems caused by wild animals and negative interactions with game officials, and the history of both positive and negative interactions with park staff. Problem statement Though the Mole NP authorities have made efforts to reduce local conflicts there appears to have been little concerted effort to apply the principles of conflict management to protected area-people relationships (Hough, 1988). It is almost universally evident that the question of power and how it plays itself in specific conflict setting is an important dimension to the conflict management problem. The crucial role of power in natural resource conflict management has driven the debate in search for its dynamics and how to deal with it in policy and practice. Conflict is a complex phenomenon, with the possibility of involving several actors. However, at a superficial level there are only two actors involved in wildlife conservation conflict, namely the local national park administration and the local communities (Hough, 1988). Within natural resource management one major reoccurring issue relates to the question of how to control and manage natural resources on an official level while simultaneously taking into account the needs of the local population (Caspary, 1999). The emerging challenge is to encourage a scientific and policy rethinking of wildlife conservation conflict management intervention processes, guiding wildlife conservation conflict towards constructive rather than destructive results favors both the communities living on the fringes of the Mole NP as well as the park management. 1.3 Aim of the study The aim of the study is formulated as follows: To explore conflict management strategies in wildlife conservation conflict using Mole National Park and the Larabanga Community in Ghana as a case with a view to making appropriate recommendations for wildlife conservation conflict management Objectives In order to achieve this aim, the following specific objectives are formulated: To identify the background and basics of the conflict To explore the positions, interests and values of the key actors and the strategic action exercised during the conflict To examine the linkages of the conflict to the foundations and theories of conflict and conflict management By identify conflict management approaches that are currently being used to address the conflict To propose alternative conflict management and participatory approaches that could be used Research questions What is the basis of the conflict? Why? Which actors are involved in the conflict? Why? What conflict management approaches are being used or could be used Which concept(s) of inclusive governance, which theories of democracy, is Is the governance process participatory and which theory of democracy is it built on? The analysis of this case study will focus clearly on conflict management techniques and interventionist strategies. A third party intervention strategy will focus on understanding the strategies different actors use to empower themselves during conflict and providing alternative ways of resolving the conflict towards a constructive end. Mole National Park The Ghanaian Wildlife Division is responsible for 15 integrated protected areas covering a total area of 13,489 sq. km under which Mole National Park, see map of Mole NP in figure 1. Mole NP is one of the six national parks in Ghana and one of the three established in the interior savannah. Fig. 1: Map of Ghana showing Mole NP and LarabangaThe IUCN defines a National Park as a protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. Mole NP is a category II park by IUCN classification of protected areas (IUCN, 2010). A National Park is a national asset and as such remains under the jurisdiction of a central authority personified by the WD (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). The Mole NP Protected Area in Ghana and it is considered to be the most prestigious in terms of its attraction to visitors facilities for visitors (IUCN, 2010). The protected areas system in Ghana is designed to conserve key representative areas of Ghanas varied wildlife habitat (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). ontextMole National Park (4840 km2) is found in the western half of the Northern Region in the Guinea grassland zone (see figure 1). Mole is named after the river Mole which runs through the conserved area. In the 1930s about 2330 km of Mole was initially designated a Game clearance area for purposes of tsetse control. The policy of game clearance was abandoned and in 1958 an area of 1,916 sq. km. was officially constituted as the Mole Game Reserve and placed under the Forestry Department (FC, 2010) In 1971, the reserve was almost doubled in size (4912 km) and gazetted a National park under legislative instrument 710 of the wildlife reserves regulations. In 1992, with the removal of another village in the North west the park (Gbantariga), Mole NP was subsequently extended to the present 4840 km (Marseille, 2004). The park is very popular with tourists visiting northern Ghana, 93 mammals, 33 reptiles, 9 amphibians and 304 bird species have been recorded at Mole. The dominant faunal species are elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), buffalo (Syncerus caffer), waterbuck (Kobus defassa), roan antelope (Hippotragus equnus), kob antelope (Kobus kob), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), warthog (Phacochoerus aethipicus), green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) and olive baboon (Papio anubis) (FC, 2010). Larabanga community Approximately 4 kilometres from the entrance gate of Mole NP lies the village of Larabanga, or Home of the Arabs as its name signifies. The Larabanga community is a 100% Muslim which has being in existence since the 15th century and originally a hunting tribe (Marseille, 2004). Larabanga is poor rural community whose main source of livelihood is farming closely followed in importance by hunting and fishing. Basic social amenities and infrastructure are critically lacking in the community (UNDP, 2007). Larabanga has a population size of about 3800 people, most community members are engaged in farming subsistence crops such as yam, maize, guinea corn and cassava (UNDP, 2007). The farm lands surround the village in all directions and are communally owned with most farmers practicing shifting cultivation. The ancient mosque of Larabanga is of Sudanese architectural style and is recognized officially as a World Heritage Site. A few retailers in the village also generate some profit by selling provisions to visiting tourists. In Larabanga 99% of the community is illiterate, the same situation counts for all other fringed communities (Marseille, 2004). Causes of the Conflict Knight (2002) describes human-wildlife conflict as relations of rivalry or antagonism between human beings and wild animals which typically arise from territorial proximity and involve reliance on the same resources or a threat to human well-being or safety. It is proposed there are two dimensions of human-wildlife conflicts: political and social. Political An increasingly important factor in the political determination of wildlife conservation conflict is the role of the established political actor, the state. Many wildlife conservation conflicts are informed by people-state conflict. When wild animals become the object of official protection measures whether in the name of game management or wildlife conservation, local victims of wildlife damage may well attribute blame to and seek political redress from, state authorities (Knight, 2000). In this case study wildlife conservation conflict is defined as follows: a situation where an actor experiences the action of other actors in the use and management of wildlife resources as an impairment to their interest in those wildlife resources The state through the Wildlife Department (WD) has adopted a preservationist approach in managing the Mole NP (Jachmann, 2008). This has resulted in the alienation of local communities and has excluded opportunities for participatory rural development activities and the sustainable use of the reserves resources, thus generating antagonism resulting in conflicts between local communities and wildlife/forestry officers (Marseille, 2008). One of the key obstacles to establishing key processes for the effective management of national park-people conflict identified by Hough (1988) is the large difference in power between government-backed parks and local people in rural areas. Central government has the weight of the legal and enforcement mechanisms of the nation state. The key infraction during the creation of the park was the compulsory acquisition of land without due compensation being paid to the evicted communities. The state has also being accused of using its power to expand the park several times without the consent of the local communities (Bosu, 2010). The local communities however are relatively powerless, the villagers try to get something back by poaching park animals or by collecting inside the park and thereby restore some degree of balance in the village-park relationship. According to Hough (1988) this difference in power is the root cause of the conflict in that the desires of central government were initially forced on the relatively powerless resident populations. Social The conflict is manifested through three major social conflict bases; issues of illegal hunting, crop damage and land access into Mole NP (Marseille, 2004). Source: Marseille, 2004 Illegal hunting Illegal hunting can be defined as the unauthorised harvesting of any wildlife species for either subsistence or commercial purposes (FC, 1994). Regulation 2 of the wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) prohibit any person at any time to hunt, capture or destroy any animal or collect or destroy any plant within the reserve (FC, 2010). Group hunting, a group of two or more individuals hunting together, is with or without a license prohibited. Nearly all hunters surrounding the park however do not carry valid licenses and hunt mainly inside the park (Marseille, 2010).Once hunters and patrolling scouts clash with each other conflict is initiated, this practically means that causing arrest is similar to causing conflict Crop damage Crop damage occurs when animals cross the boundaries and move into the farm fields to feed on the cultivated crops like maize, millet, cassava, yam, guinea corn and ground nuts. The most troublesome animals are elephants, baboons, green monkeys and red monkeys. The WD is seriously concerned about crop damage and problem animals but does not have financial resources available to grant compensation for lost crops (Wildlife Division, 2001). The current legislation does not provide sufficient incentive for farmers to care and protect wildlife on their properties. The result is that wildlife for most farmers is considered a pest that in many cases is directly competing with their agricultural activities (Wildlife Division, 2001). The farmers feel the WD should take responsibility of their animals to reduce the amount of damage. The WD has the opinion that the farmers are exaggerating the actual amount and frequency of damage, farmers are using crop damage only to create resentment (Wildlife Division, 2001). Resource access The wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) states that no person at any time can enter a reserve except with the consent of the Senior Wildlife Officer. It is thus illegal to enter Mole NP without official permission. The denial of land access is the third identified social conflict base, meaning that the villagers are not allowed to enter the reserves, also for purposes other than hunting such as fetching water, collecting fire wood and NTFPs as well as visiting sacred groves (Marseille, 2004). The sacred stream case for example is a conflict relating to the issue of land access. Villagers are not permitted access to the stream creating disagreement which is primarily values and interest-based. The villagers value the stream based on its traditional and spiritual importance whereas the WD values the stream for its biological and ecological features. The villagers also have a different interest in the stream, they would like to use the stream for both swimming and fishing purposes as well as the fetching of water. The interest of the WD in the stream is linked to conservation purposes (Marseille, 2004). Also, more indirectly the conflict is history-based, culture-based due to the way the park was created and the influence of government institutions. The situational circumstances that surround the initial conflict setting determine the actual conflict base. The identified conflict bases are the surfacing fundamentals of the wildlife conservation conflict in general, however, these conflict bases have by no means static characteristics. As the conflict evolves the initial conflict base might develop into another conflict base. Conflict bases are also interrelated with each other. Ghana ´s Wildlife laws Ghana ´s wildlife policy states that although the Government cannot be liable for damage caused by wildlife, it will take reasonable measures to protect people, crops and property against wild animal damage. The 11th and 12th item of the Policy states that the conservation of wildlife within Parks and Reserves will over-ride all other interests in them (FC, 2010). No use of Parks and Reserves that will conflict materially with wildlife conservation will be allowed. It presents specific principles on rights of local access to basic natural resources, local democracy, participatory management and protection of forest and wildlife resources (Kotey et al, 1999). The policy entrenches a biocentric approach to wildlife conservation which is reflected in exclusive management and thus denies human access to resources because degradation of biodiversity has been verified (Caspary, 1999) Stakeholder analysis The stakeholders, generally referring to all the people who affect and/or are affected in the conflict situation, are hereby classified into these three broad groups namely; government, local community and third party. By analyzing using the conflict onion, the positions, interests, needs and fears/hopes of these stakeholder groups were identified and presented in the table 1 below. Table 1: Stakeholder classification using the conflict onion Elements of conflict Stakeholder Government Local Community Third party Position In favour of the national park Against the national park In favour of the national park Interest Biodiversity conservation Exertion of authority Access to resource Protection of heritage Resource conservation Social justice need Income (tourism) International convention Subsistence Employment Cultural values Sustainable resource management Political success Fear/hope Biodiversity loss Loss of land and cultural heritage funding The government being in favour of the creation and maintenance of the national park could be considered as the proponent in contrast with the local community as opponents in this conflict situation. The third party could be regarded as social based group which is also in favour of the national park in terms of position in the conflict. There are varying interests from the stakeholder groups with only resource conservation overlapping between the government and the third party as opposed to resource access by community. However, while the governments interest is to show that it holds the final authority over all forest and natural resources, the local community is also interested in preserving the heritage their ancestors had handed over to them from generation to generation and the third party is also interested in social justice for the local community. Power structure of stakeholders The government represents all agencies in favour of the national park comprising the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources (MLNR), Forestry Commission (FC), Wildlife Division (WD). These are state agencies are mandated by law to manage the forest and wildlife resources for the common good of all Ghanaians. With the decentralized system of governance, the Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and the District Assembly (DA) form an allied group that supports the government in its decision. Though the MLG and the DA have the mandate to see to the sustainable development of the district, with respect to forest and wildlife resources the MLNR and the FC wield more power in this conflict situation. Hence, the DA is seen to be indifferent in this situation. The local community comprises farmers, hunters, youth group, women group and community-based organizations. These are mostly individuals and informal community associations which are easily alienated from any formal decision making processes. The third party in this conflict case is the Netherlands Development Cooperation (SNV) and other local and international non-governmental organizations such as Plan Ghana. These are considered to be social based group which operate as watch dog to ensure social justice. They serve as intermediary between the government and the local community. The power relation is depicted in the figure 1 below. Figure 3: Relationship between key stakeholders in the conflict Conflict Theory The power relation between the stakeholders is asymmetrical and could be analysed with the social conflict theory. This theory argues that in any conflict situation where power is unevenly distributed, the stakeholder group with more power exploits those with less power (Bartos and Wehr, 2002). This is the case where the government by executive instrument forcefully evicted the inhabitants during the creation of the national park without adequate compensation and resettlement plan. Type of conflict The conflict is basically over the forest and wildlife resource. The land and the wildlife resources served as the source of livelihood to the local community. The denial of access and use right to the park signifies the removal of the local communitys source of livelihood and threat to their lives. The use of arms to guard the borders of the park and ward off entry by local community members has resulted in the conflict taking on a relational dimension. Hatred and unfriendly relation between local community and staff of the park is a key factor in the conflict. Moreover, the conflict encompasses different form and nature of incompatibility. These interconnected elements culminate in the complexity of the conflict. The different bases of incompatibility (Wehr, 1979 in Walker and Daniels, 1997)), see table 2, are all to a varying degree included within the different conflict bases. Table 2: examples of incompatibility in the conflict Nature of incompatibility: Example: Fact-based The actual amount of crop damage reported by farmers Value-based The elephant :a farm pest or a valuable species Interest-based The presence of fertile arable land within the park Person-based Suspicion and mistrust among villagers about the wildlife staff History-based The way the park was created; exclusive management Culture-based Traditional linkages with sacred places within the park It could be seen that this case of a resource conflict is multifaceted and all these elements presented in table 2 above must be addressed and an acceptable agreement achieved through a participatory decision making process. The conflict phases Using the conflict escalation model, the conflict has been a long standing one with multiple phases. The resource area was first created as a wildlife reserve in 1958 and later re-designated at a national park in 1971 (FC, 2010). The period between 1958 and 1971 could be considered as the pre-conflict phase because during this period the local community started to sense the threats to its very existence. Though during this period the local community members could have access into the reserve and some communities were actually sited in the reserve, they were not allowed to engage in any commercial activity from the resources they have customary rights over (Marseille, 2010). However in 1971 when the reserve was re-designated as a national park, all the local communities within the area were forcefully evicted by the use of state security apparatus and that led to the first eruption of conflict (Marseille, 2004 ). Prior notices had been given to the local communities to evacuate from the area where they lived to outside the borders of the national park without any resettlement plan by the government for the local communities. Hence, the community readied itself to engage in open confrontation and the government knowing this also deployed the military to maintain order. The violence continued because the local communities were not ready to give up the historical heritage but with the heavy presence of military forces the violence finally calmed down (Marseille, 2004). After the eruption of the first conflict, no efforts were made to address the concerns of the local communities but between 1971 and 1992 the conflict became latent largely due to the military political regime. However, from 1992 when Ghana became a multi-party democratic state the local communities started to mobilize themselves for an action to attract attention to their plight. In 2004, an invasion of local community farmlands by wild animals, particularly elephants, triggered a massive community protest with attack on the national park through killing of animals and bushfires (Marseille, 2004). This represents the second eruption of conflict and being a democratic society, a peaceful solution was sought to resolve the conflict this time. This brought in the third party group in 2005 to address the conflict situation. Hence, the conflict is in its second post-conflict phase till date. The figure 2 below gives a representation of the stages of the conflict. Fig.4: Phases of the conflict between Larabanga and Mole NP Previous conflict resolution approaches The first formal process of conflict resolution started in 2005 with the coming in of the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) as a third party to bring the opposing sides together to find a peaceful agreement between them. Two alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches were employed; namely facilitation and mediation. The facilitation process sought to deal with the strong emotions and to prepare the two sides to engage in a formal process of dialogue towards finding a common solution to the conflict. This was followed by a mediation process where the opposing sides presented their cases to the neutral mediator. In the end, the mediation process saw to the shifting of the position of the local community from opposing the existence of the national park to a new position of acceptance for the common good of the whole country (Marseille, 2004). Consequently, a agreement was successfully negotiated with the local community demanding adequate compensation, proper resettlement plan and participation in the management of the national park. (Mason and Danso, 1995) Challenges of the conflict resolution process It is indisputable that the facilitation and mediation processes employed by SNV were successful in dealing with the strong emotions and bringing these opposing sides to sit down to dialogue. Also, a peaceful agreement was reached with some level of satisfaction by both sides at the end of the negotiation (Marseille, 2004). However, the implementation of the outcomes and the action plan of the mediation process were faced with some challenges that were overlooked during the negotiation process. Stakeholder representation: from the stakeholder analysis above it could be realized that not all stakeholders were represented at the negotiation process. Typically, only the leaders of the community and the park managers were brought at the table. Hence the issue of legitimization became a limiting factor to the implementation of the outcome of the process. The park managers do not have the constitutional mandate to pay compensation and to meet the other demands of the local community. It is not clear the strategic behaviour of the MLNR, which have the ultimate authority to implement the outcomes, to stay out of the negotiation process. The legitimacy of the outcome was questioned since the creation of the national park was by executive instrument and the conflict transcends the domain of the local community and the park management team to the bigger domain of national politics. Non-binding agreement: the non-binding agreement was not appropriate for the conflict resolution process since the outcome required more of a legislative or executive instrument to implement. Again, because the agreement is non-binding, with every change of government the new administration tends not to continue with any programme of the previous government if it is not legally binding. It must be emphasized that when a new government comes to power, certain positions in the state organizations, mostly the Ministers, Chief Executives and directors, are replaced by new ones for political reasons. A new view of the problem A theoretical approach to the conflict Conflict may involve various kinds of issues: substantive, procedural and relationship. Substantive issues refers to interests that relate to tangible (observable, definable, measurable) products such as availability of firewood, protection of crop-raiding animals or stopping illegal hunting activities (Walker and Daniels, 1997). Procedural issues include a groups need to be included in decision-making, to have their opinions heard and to be respected as a social entity (Borrini-Feyerabend et al, 2000). Conflict management involves making progress on these three fundamental dimensions of a conflict situation. Any conflict situation includes substantive, procedural and relationship dimensions (the type of conflict) and a conflict situation is initially addressed through any of the three dimensions. Natural resource policy conflicts are complex; they arise within some context which typically is defined by a complex array of factors, such as numerous parties, multiple issues, deeply held values, cultural differences, scientific and technical uncertainty and legal and jurisdictional constraints (Walker and Daniels, 1997). It has been contended that natural resource conflicts are inevitable and unavoidable but also desirable to the extent that it can lead to negotiated, innovative agreements among stakeholders (Daniels and Walker, 1997). While conflicts over resource use are never favourable, when they do occur they can be used to demonstrate the need for a conflict management approach. According to Walker and Daniels (1997) well-managed natural resource conflicts can lead to better decisions, improve social cohesion, stimulate innovation and increase morale. Complex conflict situations may never be resolved, so that an agreement is reached that puts an end to those incompatibilities that caused the conflict. Whatever the conflict situation and how it is characterized, co

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Environmental Effects of Fossil Fuel Exploration and Extraction Essay

As the fossil fuels, such as coal, gas, LPG and coal mixed gas and so on, has been used in the modern production process since the industrial revolution happened, the environment effects of fossil fuels’ exploration and extraction is the biggest concerns for public life. To illustrate this, data collected by Marland, Boden, Andres, Brenkert and Johnston (2003) points out that the fossil fuels industry has caused the release of approximately 337 billion metric tons of carbon to atmosphere since 1751, and the greenhouse gases’ accumulation caused by the industry can increase the risk of heat waves, droughts, malnutrition and other disasters (Haines, Kovats, Campbell-Lendrum and Corvalà ¡n, 2006), leading to social panic and complaints. Fossil fuels’ exploration and extraction in this essay refers to an industrial process of prospecting the petrochemical resources and transferring it to consumable goods. The environmental effects of this process could be varied; th is essay will focus on air pollution, land subsidence and the degradation of water quality. Initially, air pollution is considered as a negative effect of exploring and extracting the fossil fuels due to the increasing content of carbon dioxide and air dust. Since fossil resources were found and applied, the global warming issues become worse due to the increasing content of carbon dioxide. For instance, Arup(2013) states that 759 million tons more carbon dioxide will be produced if coal production keeps expanding over the level of 2011 and this will push emissions over carbon budget, causing the failure to control the climate change. Moreover, the increasing content of solid particles or air dust during this procedure may also a threat to general air quality. According to G... ...& Johnston, C. A. (2003). Global, regional, and national fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Trends: A compendium of data on global change, 34-43. http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/overview Moffatt, S., & Pless-Mulloli, T. (2003). â€Å"It wasn’t the plague we expected.† Parents’ perceptions of the health and environmental impact of opencast coal mining. Social science & medicine, 57(3), 437-451. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00369-6 Shi, T. G., Jiang, L. G., Li, Y., & Yang, Y. L. (2013). Disaster Analysis and Countermeasures of Land Subsidence caused by Coal Cutting in China. Chinese Geographical Science, 13(2), 130-133. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11769-003-0006-7# Tiwary, R. K. (2001). Environmental impact of coal mining on water regime and its management. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 132(1-2), 185-199. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1012083519667#

Monday, November 11, 2019

Business Value of Cloud Computing Essay

The significant development of information technology over past few years has led to the increasing demand of resources, extra bandwidth and computational power. Small and medium business companies with their limited budget are finding themselves in the middle of balancing between its client/employee needs and maintaining efficient work environment. In today’s economy the answer for the above problem is ‘Cloud Computing’. Cloud computing offers software and hardware resources and in some cases human services over a distributed environment that can be shared and utilized on demand through internet. Business owners can use these resources as per their requirement even if that is for few hours a day or few days a month and have to pay only for that actual use. Thus this relatively new concept is becoming highly popular among IT organizations because of its flexibility and cost effectiveness. It is highly scalable and also can span quickly according to the requirements of individual organization yet still sharing the same resources. Classification of Cloud services: The broad concept of Cloud computing can be classified into the following categories: 1)Software as a Service (SaaS): In this classification traditional or custom made software applications can be served over the internet rather than purchasing the licensed version individually. For example companies like Salesforce.com which provide CRM software to various business owners, Google Apps (word processors, spreadsheet applications) etc which are commonly used. All these are relatively cheaper than purchasing licensed versions and installing them in the internal infrastructure. Here the provider is responsible for updating the product and troubleshoot in case of any issues. 2)Platform as a Service (PaaS): This service includes providing the entire framework and all necessary products to support an entire Software development life cycle (SDLC). Starting with Analysis going all the way through design, coding, testing and deployment of the end product. The leading providers of this service are Microsoft Azure platform, Google App Engine. A classic example is SharePoint application from Microsoft where users from different location can collaborate to develop a common application that can be customized and shared individually according to the requirement of each client. 3)Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This classification focuses on renting storage equipments (servers and high end networking devices) as well as processing devices (CPUs) to clients who don’t wish to invest in buying dedicated devices as per their requirement. Companies are billed for these resources as per their actual use and can save lots of money. IaaS providers include Amazon S3 serving storage needs, EC2 for computation services and SQS for networking needs. The provider’s infrastructure is pre-setup and can scale up and down according the each client’s needs based on real-time situations. These resources can cater occasional peaks in the situations where there is sudden increase in data or can scale down when the data flow is less. Another small classification that can also be mentioned is of offering Peoples’ skills as a service, e.g. Programmers with knowledge of Cloud services can be provided per hour basis which can help organization in developing the application as well as integrating in the existing cloud services rented by the organization. This scales down cost of hiring a programmer and also benefitting by using his/her services to merge the application with the infrastructure. (Motahari-Nezhad, Stephenson, Singhal, 2009) Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon.com has quoted â€Å" if you run your services inside the company, utilization becomes an issue. It amortizes your cost over number of cycles. If you run services outside, on a public service, it is no longer an issue for you†. (Mache, 2009, p.55) This could be supplemented by Guy Rosen, CEO of Vircado. A starter firm in cloud computing, according to him Cloud computing can benefit a organization in many ways: 1)The company does not have to pay anything upfront, instead they are billed only for the services they use. This is a huge advantage of small organizations which have budget constraints and cannot afford large payments initially. Even in the annual balance sheet there would be no assets to declare, that could be a huge relief to accounting department. 2)Secondly if you don’t own huge infrastructure, the cost of maintaining it also comes down. There could be marginal savings in electricity which can be a significant factor in budgetory expense. 3)If the company recieves cloud services, they don’t have to worry about recruiting and maintaining IT personnel, they can concentrate on their core business goals without worrying about constructing server rooms, purchasing expensive software and maintainence contracts. (Rosen, 2010) Companies don’t have to worry about traffic or bandwidth, they even don’t have to worry about advertising on the internet by developing their web application inhouse. They can take help of SaaS and once deployed in the cloud they can wait till the time customers start hitting the webpage. Till then all the resources are not optimally utilized thus they have to pay only for that actual utilization. In a recent survey by Guy Rosen, he used market analytics vendor Quantcast to get the list of companies using cloud and their service provider. The results are displayed below in graphical format: Figure1. Adapted from â€Å"The business of Clouds† by G. Rosen, 2010, Crossroads 16(3), p 26. As per the graphic, Amazon EC2 is highest provider of cloud services hosting amongst sample of 500k. With more and more companies using cloud computing and the providers constantly adding services, businesses can save lot of money while the management can concentrate on achieving core goals.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Lassiez-faire essays

Lassiez-faire essays Laissez-faire policy has always been a fundamental principle of the federal government. New government policies are almost nonexistent and the few policies they enforced were standard government administrations. However, toward the end of the century, economic growth in the US can be linked to direct government intervention. The federal followed standard government procedure and maintained the national military, conducted foreign policy and collected tariffs. The lone exception to being standard was the distribution of Civil War pensions to veterans and their widows. Rather, the economic growth of that time was due largely to industrial expansion and development. Major innovations of the steel industry by Carnegie and electrical energy by Thomas Edison revolutionized American industry. The federal government in 1887, passed the Interstate Commerce Act (Doc I-L). This allowed congress to oversee interstate commerce and regulate prices. The national government began to take a more active role in the US economy and anti monopoly measures, protective tariffs and a billion dollar budget are on the top of the agenda. The Sherman Anti Trust Act of 1890 makes corporate monopolies officially illegal. Although the Sherman Anti Trust proves to be useless, it shows that the federal government was taking a stand in controlling corporate trusts (Doc Q). The McKinley Tariff of 1890 was a tariff that included reciprocal trade agreements that allowed the president to retaliate against countries that discriminated US products. The federal government also dealt with the issue of gold through the Sherman Silver Purchase act, the Bland Allison Act and the Gold Standard Act of 1900. Congress deleted the treasury so much that it was faced with the first billion dollar budget. The economic growth of America during this time period can be linked to many things. The industrial growth of the country boosted the...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Sohrab moving to America Essays

Sohrab moving to America Essays Sohrab moving to America Essay Sohrab moving to America Essay Five years have passed since Sohrab moved to America. Now he talks and lives happily with Soraya and I. He goes to school and loves running kits, just like his father did. Sohrabs relationship with me has improved a lot, we always remember all the moments I and Hassan spent together, our adventures, our fights against Assef, the kite tournament and winter time in Kabul. I love Sohrab as if he was my own son. I would always do my best to teach him what Baba had thought me once. We always talk about my childhood in Baba’s house and I use my experiences as an example to teach Sohrab. I tell him how Baba’s relationship changed over the years and I would also talk about the guilt I felt because of my mother’s death. I remember once when Baba was talking with Rahim Kahn and said, if I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he is my son. We also talk about the important role Rahim Kahn played in my life, unlike Baba, he would always give me his support and understand me. I always remember Baba saying this to Rahim Kahn about me, a boy who won’t stand up for himself is a boy who can’t stand up to anything. My father was worried because the neighbourhood boys pushed me and took my toys and I never fought back. Your father would step in and fend them off. You see Sohr ab? We got home, and Baba would ask, how did Hassan get the scrape on his face? And I would answer he fell down. That is not how things are supposed to happen, you know? This was a really useful way to teach Sohrab. I also decided to tell him about the day that Baba said no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft when you kill a man, you steal a life, you steal a wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to know the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. At this precise moment I knew what I had to do. I didn’t want to steal Sohrab’s right to the truth, so I made the brave decision to tell him everything. I mentioned how jealous I was, I talked about Hassan being raped, I talked about the watch and the money, I talked about everything. I could see the confusion in Soharbs face. Actually, he was disappointed. He didn’t know what to say or to think. He was sad because he thought I was different. Sohrab started yelling and said he would have preferred to stay in Afghanistan. I felt so horrible. As he already did once, Sohrab stopped talking. He needed to think and reorder his thoughts in his mind. He wouldn’t eat or leave his room. He wouldn’t want to run kite. I just had to let him be alone, I didn’t bother or try to talk to him, I just wanted to give him space. Sohrab was really sad because he knew things could have been different. Hate started to grow in his heart. I just couldn’t understand how it could be possible that what happened so many years ago could heart him that much. He knew that if I had of reacted in a different way, now, his most beloved relatives would have been there with him, happy all together, being a family. It was almost a month and Sohrab is still continuing to lock himself in his room. He barely ate what Soraya jan made him. I couldn’t help myself but to be concerned about his health. I was terrified that he might try and kill himself again. The situation continued the same until one day Soraya went into the Sohrabs room to give him his dinner and she stood there longer than she usually does. When she went out she sat on the sofa, next to me and said to me don’t worry, he will be fine, we just need to give him some more time, don’t feel guilty he also understands you, he just told me that his problem is that he is too young, and it is very difficult for him to accept this. Soraya’s words were very important to me. Now I felt better, and calm know that he juts needs time. She made me feel this way†¦. she always does. I fell asleep and when I woke up, Soharb was sitting next to me. Soraya wasn’t there Sohrab was. At the moment, Sohrab started to c ry and gave me something he had in his hands. I opened it and saw a kite Sohrab had made for me. On it there were some photos of the five of us; Baba, Amir, Hassan, Sohrab and Rahim Kahn. I couldn’t help myself but to give Sohrab a hug and after a while he said when guilt leads to good, that’s what true redemption is. What astounded me was he remembered this from one of the stories I told him as Rahim Kahn once said this to me. It is hard to accept that things could have been different, and we could all be living together now, but this is my reality, this is my life and you are my family. Thanks a lot Amir agha and thank you for telling me the truth. At this exact moment Soraya came in the room again and on her face, there was a tear and in her eyes a strange but happy look. I’m pregnant! Soraya says. I’m going to have a brother! Sohrab answered while a bis smile invaded his face. And I myself couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Temptation week 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Temptation week 2 - Essay Example ?bahan’ and is used to denote either ‘testing of buildings and precious metals’ (see 1 Cor 3:13; 1 Peter 1:7 New Revised Standard Version) or testing of the Christian character (Rom 5:4 New Revised Standard Version, cited in Deasley, 1997). Another Greek term in the New Testament for ‘testing of persons’ is (peirazw) peirazo. The theme of testing runs through most of the Bible, including the Old and New Testaments (see Gen 22:1, 42:15; Deut 4:34; also 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Cor 13:5; Rom 5:4; James 1:2-3; Gal 6:1; Heb 11:17 New Revised Standard Version). Thus, not only Christians are encouraged to test their belief, strength of will and fortitude, but also people are tested for their honesty, knowledge, etc. Even Jesus has been tested, though with intent to be discredited, by the Pharisees (see Matt 16:1; Mark 10:2 New Revised Standard Version); while people have been put to the test by God in order to reveal their qualities, thoughts and obedience (see Jer 12:13; 1 Chron 29:17 New Revised Standard Version). This is especially the case of those who exercised an all-important role in God’s purposes, such as Abraham, as well as the prophets and the people of Israel (see Gen 22:1; Exod 15:25; Deut 8:2 New Revised Standard Version). Another theme that appears noticeable in the Holy Scripture is the one of temptation (Gen 3:4-6; Matt 4:3; Mark 1:13; Acts 5:3 New Revised Standard Version); the theme is especially prominent at the critical points in Jesus’s ministry and redemptive mission, most notably His baptism and death on the cross (Deasley, 1997). Being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus rejected protection, provision and power over the world, though fake one, which were offered to Him in exchange for deviation from His divinely appointed mission, and thus succeeded where Israel had failed (Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-12 New Revised Standard Version). The second major test had been in the garden of Gethsemane, where, according to the Synoptic Gospels,

Saturday, November 2, 2019

The role of affirmative action in society Research Paper

The role of affirmative action in society - Research Paper Example The main reason this topic has been chosen is that we live in very diverse societies and are faced with a very wide range of people every single day. With the increasing change of roles of households and the increasing recessions in place, there is a clear need to understand in depth the steps that are taken to positively represent the women and minorities. Body: Impact of Affirmative Action on Society Considering the beneficiaries of the Affirmative Action it is evident that the cause is very noble. Yes, it is true that the law was introduced and passed for the safety and need of many people in need. However considering the people involved and the amount of damage that it has on the society, there have been a number of doubts that have surfaced. The law has also stirred up a number of questions and has built up a number of doubts about the accuracy of the law. Kate Johns has in a very effective manner explained the same. She explains the case of Martin Luther King who had focused on what the person is worth in terms of skills, behavior and performance rather than on the color of the skin. As quoted by Johns, â€Å"Don't judge a man by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character† (Johns). ... ople are actually being judged by their skin color and being place in jobs and higher places of learning due to their skin color, and their ethnic background† (Johns). This is the concept there several white victims of affirmative action and those from majority groups now refer to as reverse discrimination. Most affirmative action policies have always operated on the assumption of that the group that is on the receiving end of the policies is at an advantage. There are members of this group who are not necessarily under such circumstances. It is hard to believe but there are researchers who have argued that these policies, including those that are founded on racial principles, targets and goals at times have a serious impact on the majority race too. Lately, there have been several instances of white men complaining of reduced opportunities as a result of affirmative action policies that favor women and because of those that favor the minority races. This phenomenon goes by sev eral names and has been employed by a number of groups that criticize the philosophies on which affirmative action policies have been founded. While at the initial stages, the affirmative action policies or frameworks work in a positive way. This is because at this stage, they introduce the terms and define the boundaries for which to sell the concept and idea of gender and racial preferences, goals and targets. However, they ultimately turn their heads and start biting the class of people who had been believed to be strongly protected or favored by the system. It is essential to note that impact of the affirmative action is not completely negative in society and the actual intension of the law is clearly a good one. As explained by Mitchell W. Pearlman and Gregory Daniels, Affirmative action