Monday, September 30, 2019

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Achievements

This Article talks about our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Achievements which she did in her regime. Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s achievements about the economy, I am thankful for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s achievements for creating a flawless and awesome job for building and creating for giving employment to millions of people who were jobless In the Philippines, and also thanking her for creating a lot of public schools for a lot of people who cannot afford education, students or young people who cannot afford to go to school because of financial problem.I thought that our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is not great because our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo cheated in the election against Fernando Poe Junior. She also cheated in the election by seeking the help from Garcy. Our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is getting money from the government that we were all even trying to pay our taxes for a good econo my even though that our parents were all having a hard time earning such money to pay the tax, but she just stole it from us like it was hers, and that made me realize how pathetic she was.But then her achievements all together are fantastic, like building bridges for a better transportation, building schools for educational purposes, for building the Light Railway Transmit also known as LRT and for helping the flood victims in the Ondoy incident, and also giving respect to our navy, marine soldiers that were killed in Mindanao because of the terrorists. According to her she had made the economy grow about 3. % which is true, in fact we can all feel this growth, by seeing the technology we have now, like high- tech gadgets and a more growing technology, I can say that we have indeed grew economically because of our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo works. Maybe if she did not corrupt or stole money, no one would hate her and with her achievements she will be loved by the Fili pino people all across the country.If she did not corrupt she would make a fine president for the Philippines, or stole money or cheat because we could see from all of her achievements that she is a potential president. And I myself as a student is thanking her from my heart because of our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo always declared that the classes are suspended!!! That made me has an easy school life and a happy school life that I could enjoy with fully with my friends.Our current elected president of the republic of the Philippines which is President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior is indeed not a corrupted president. As time passes by we can see that there has not made any corrupt movements from our President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior, he fulfills his promises that he made in the election like, not being a corrupt president, not cheating and a lot more.He even made a lot of improvement in our country like, making the cri me rates go down, making the economic growth improve even more but as what our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that she even had a better percentage of growth than our President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior had made, the reason why the Filipinos elected him because he had a potential in making the Philippines into a better country by being a better president than the past presidents that took the throne in the Philippines.President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior, has a little bit of a minor problem even if he does not corrupt from us he himself does not move to fix some problems throughout our country like what former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said that he loves cars, and guns too much that he is not paying attention to the government at all.And also from the videos that I watched that he is not giving the land to the farmers in hacienda Luicita, that was already distributed by former President Gloria Macapagal Ar royo but now our current President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior is trying to collect the land or getting the lands that were distributed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.I don’t know which president is better than the other because the two of them are both amazing in doing their part but is also amazing in corrupting or not moving or doing anything for the economy, I am a student so I may not know all of the things happening in the Republic but a lot of people say that our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is so corrupt that she should be in prison or jailed for life.That is why the Department of Justice is preventing her from leaving the country, named Philippines because she might escape and not come back and it could shame the Philippines. As for our current President Benigno â€Å"Noynoy† Cojuanco Aquino Junior I think I will just believe in him and try to look forward in the future that he tries to make for all of us citize ns, which is what I could do as a student.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Arthur Miller Essay

The Crucible was written in 1952 by the writer Arthur Miller. It is a story of ‘witch-hunts’ which occurred a lot during the 1950’s. Throughout the play, Arthur Miller has talked about characters facing severe tests that have made them question their own self. It shows the extreme surprising occurrences which were often being caused by what they thought was the devil or his cohorts. The inscrutable sickness fears of witchcraft were happening and it was not long before the girls, and many residents began to accuse other villagers of associating themselves with devils and casting spells. Old grudges and jealousies spilled out into the open, making the atmosphere very tense. A lot of the residents were either forced to give in and live or lie and be put to death by being hanged. In some sense, ‘The Crucible’ has the arrangement of a tragedy, With John Proctor as the play’s tragic hero. John Proctor is an honest, upright, blunt-spoken person, however he is a very good man. The fatal flaw of him is the lust for Abigail Williams which led to an affair (this happened before the play begins). This caused jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, which sets the entire witch exaggeration within the community in motion. Of all the major characters throughout the play, Abigail is the least complicated. She is sort of the villain in the play. She tells lies, manipulates her own friends and the entire town to her favour. Eventually she sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths due to the lies she tells and the way she manipulated people. Among the witch-hunt mania, Abigail’s motives never seem more complex than just jealousy and the desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. In the play, Abigail seems to be like a biblical character, like a Jezebel figure, always being driven by a sexual desire and a lust for power. In the first chapter, the audience learn about the affair associated with Abigail and Proctor. We learn that they have had an affair, however the audience soon see that the affair is no longer continuing. ‘Abigail: Give me a word, John. A soft word. (Her concentrated desire destroys his smile. ), ‘Proctor: No, no, Abby. That’s done with. ‘. He reacts negatively, he denies her, and he is repulsed. He is trying to put the adultery in the past. ‘Proctor: Abby, I might think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut my hand off before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby’, he tries to put his adultery in the past. He tells her that he never touched her, even though he did, and he makes it clear that It will never happen again. Throughout the monologue with Proctor and Abigail, the attitude and mood soon changes because Proctor wants to leave the affair in the past, and wipe it out of mind, like it never happened. ‘Wipe it out of mind’. However Abigail wants to carry on with the sexual desire to carry on the affair with Proctor. At the beginning of the monologue he tries to set her firmly out of his path, however later he gets angry and she can’t believe it. Abigail soon gets quite angry as well, and this part of the play expresses the anger between both of them ‘Abigail (With a flash of anger): How do you call me child! ‘ During Act 1, it seems as though Abigail wants John Proctor ‘Abigail (grasping his hand before he can release her): John – I am waitin’ for you every night’, however as the John Proctor and her keep talking there is a change in her mood because he is not giving into her sexual desire for him. Now her mood changes into anger and jealousy ‘Abigail (With a bitter anger): Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be-‘, here she becomes really jealous that he won’t give into her due to the fact that he loves Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is his wife. The stage directions that Arthur Miller uses in the play tell the reader a lot about the character. When Abigail is going on about the affair between her and Proctor the stage directions are beneficial. ‘Abigail: (grasping his hand before he can release her): John – I am waitin’ for you every night’, this instantly helps the reader visualise the character and will aid the an actor that is performing the play, whilst playing the role to act more effectively. Arthur Miller also uses the language as a benefit for the effective of the play, Miller uses language to effectively set the period and the tone for the play. The language brings an approach of something out of the King James Bible, but somehow makes it universal to modern day, and the stage directions being out an approach of making the play more effective to both the actors and the audience. In court, Proctor has an outburst of truth and attack on Abigail. Abigail’s reaction to this, is that he is lying about what he is saying, she tries to manipulate the court room into believing what she is saying. ‘Abigail: Mr Danforth, he is lying! ‘, later on, she then makes it up that she is seeing a bird up on the ceiling, and she gets the rest of the girls to go with her lying, to make it look as though there is witchcraft going on right before there eyes. ‘Abigail, with a weird, chilling cry, screams up to the ceiling’, ‘Abigail (unperturbed, continuing to the ‘bird’): Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do. ‘ Here is where she really starts to manipulate people, and lie. The language that Proctor uses to describe himself is not like his prideful ways.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Management Philosophy

â€Å"Management aims to accomplish group purposes with the least expenditure of material or human resources† (Koontz, 1969, p. 415). The term management philosophy seems almost oxymoronic in that they appear to work toward different results. The goal of management should be to improve the organization. (Kirkeby, 2000) suggest that the objective of management has always been the goal of making the group, institution, organization, or nation, into the strongest organism possible. Triumph, subjugation, gaining strength, and survival are all priorities of management. These along with personal prestige, acquiring real estate (enlarging your territory), making lots of money, and transferring thought to action paint the perfect picture of today’s successful manager. (Kirkeby, 2000) believes that philosophy is just the opposite, suggesting that philosophy deals with power but in a different way, its focus is the power of thought instead of position or bottom line performance. The pursuit of philosophy is not one of financial gain for the individual but one of freedom and liberation of thought. Similar article: Scientific Management Theory in Health Care Philosophy lends itself to a relationship with reality as opposed to management where goals exist to create, shape, and determine the best reality conducive to productivity. Philosophy does not insist on leading the individual to think, but rather presenting ideas and thought for evaluation and consideration of the individual, allowing them to pick, choose, and add to the original thought, and even completely dismiss. Dr. W. Edwards Deming – The system of profound knowledge/System Theory Dr.  Deming was a known for his work in the many fields to include management philosophy. The management philosophy of Dr. Deming is centered on the system of profound knowledge. The System of Profound Knowledge was presented in his book titled â€Å"The New Economics†, (Deming, 1994). The system of profound knowledge provides a map of theory with assist us in understanding the organizations that we work in. It is comprised of four major tenets (Deming); â€Å"Appreciation of a System, Theory of Knowledge, Theory of Variation, and Psychology†. Deming goes on to suggest that â€Å"many themes show up in various parts of the System of Profound Knowledge, particularly those relating to organizational purpose, driving out fear in an organization, and understanding the implications of variation† (Deming, p. 11). Systems theory lays out management methods that can create systems out of organizations, and the advantages of these systems. There are many road blocks to the establishing an organizational system, (Deming, 1994) describes some of the road blocks as; focus on the benefit of performance from one aspect of the system. This feeds self interest and promotion. Internal competition; this leads to business units with holding information and not willing to share resources and the use of the performance appraisal; this creates a mind-set geared toward individual performance. (Deming) breaks down the four tenets that make up the system of profound knowledge; the Theory of Knowledge or epistemology as it is often referred provides a description for a system that focuses on learning and the use of theory. The Theory of Variation; its purpose is to assist managers in understanding what variation is and how this understanding will improve process within the system. Deming describes management as the ability to predict and for this reason an in-depth understanding of variation is all the more critical. Psychology; is seen and utilized in all aspects of Deming’s system. Deming’s suggest that manages must be able to identify psychological influences on and in their respective units if they are to become a true system. Scientific Management  There are examples all a round us concerning the benefit of Scientific Management; planes, trains, and automobiles, processes, and work environments that we engage each day. All of these examples and many others function and are produced at a higher rate of efficiently due to Scientific Management. Frederick W. Taylor born on March 20, 1865 considered â€Å"the father of Scientific Management†. He strongly campaigned for less human interaction and more machine driven production, even going on to say â€Å"In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first† (Worthy, 1959, p. 3). One of the driving factors for Taylor’s scientific management was that he believed the industrial management of his day was run by individuals that had no professional amplitude Deming suggested that â€Å"management could be formulated as an academic discipline, and that the best results would come from the partnership between a trained and qualified management and a cooperative and innovative workforce† (Weisbord, 1987, p. 9). â€Å"Taylorism† became the first big management fad. Taylor's scientific management consisted of four principles (Weisbord, 1987): 1. Replace rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of the tasks. 2. Scientifically select, train, and develop each employee rather than passively leaving them to train themselves. 3. Provide detailed instruction and supervision of each worker in the performance of that worker's discrete task. 4. Divide work equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific management principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks. Taylor was the first to present a systematic study of interactions among job requirements such as tools, methods, and human skill. To fit people to jobs both psychologically and physically, and to let data and facts do the talking rather than prejudice, opinions, or egos† (Weisbord, 1987, p. 10). As scientific management increased in popularity Taylor became more outspoken concerning his position on human relations in the work place, assuming that workers were â€Å"lazy, won't take responsibility, lack desire to achieve significant results, demonstrate inability to direct their own behavior, show indifference to organizational needs, prefer to be led by others, and avoid making decisions whenever possible. † (Montgomery, 1989, p. 6). Compare and Contrast Scientific Management – although scientific management has played and will continue to be an important aspect of our universal business model for production, it is necessary to note the weaknesses that this method contains. Such as its negative influence in current work environments concerning the human contribution. The tenants of Scientific Management are not applicable to all modern organizations. Nelson notes that â€Å"Scientific Management is perhaps best seen as an evolutionary stage in management’s ever developing history. † (Nelson, 1980, p. 14). Today’s the average employee has increased in their understanding of self-worth and their ontribution to the organization. Employees are no longer content with just the financial reward for their work; they also receive satisfaction when allowed to participate in the benefit of the organizations success. The Scientific Management system viewed workers as interested only in the economic reward and working toward that end only. (Worthy, 1959, p. 42) states that â€Å"in current organizations it has been recognized that productivity and success is not just obtained by controlling all factors in the work place, but by contributing to the social well-being and development of the individual employee. Scientific management’s negative aspects are apparent when evaluating the value of employees in the context of organizational contribution and success. (Nelson, 1980) uncovers that at the Taylor’s methods for managing the workers were not fully accepted by thousands of manufacturing plants due to fear of alienating the employees. Nelson states that â€Å"the principals of scientific management are unquestionably authoritarian in that they assume decision-making is best kept at the top of the organization because there exist a lack of trust in the competence of the employees. † (Nelson, p. 27). System of profound knowledge – Dr. Deming’s system of profound knowledge is quite different form that of Taylor’s scientific management in several ways that will be discussed here. The first is in my opinion the most significance, Dr. Deming’s system of profound knowledge unlike scientific management starts with the individual. Transformation of the individual is a key aspect of this system. This transformation is the result of understanding of the system of profound knowledge. (Deming, 1994) suggest that the once a person is transformed, they will understand that their life has value and real meaning. These principles will then be applied to all relationships, personal, professional, and social. The individual upon understanding the system of profound knowledge now has a point of reference for decisions and for organizations that they are a part of. The one challenge that I can see with the system of profound knowledge is this constant pursuit to improve. How do you start? How do you set down all of the baggage in order for transformation to actually begin? The last challenge that I see with this system is that all four tenants have to be put into play, if one of the four is not operative then the other three become null and void. Conclusion While both of these management philosophies/systems proved to be of benefit in different times when injected into different organizations, they are not without challenge and negative aspects. People, while they operate within systems, sub-systems, or processes, they are not comprised of them, however complex they are. When individuals are introduced into a system there has to be processes that will gage the individual performance outside of the system as well as within the system. If not the employee will always be subject to the system and not allowed to explore and identify their potential for success within other systems.

Friday, September 27, 2019

International Corporate Finance and Financial Markets Essay

International Corporate Finance and Financial Markets - Essay Example Even the companies considered to be the biggest bet in the international business arena are going down with bankruptcy. Several others have asked their respective governments to provide a bail out for their failing financial situation. In such a scenario so filled with uncertainty and risks, it becomes extremely important for us to understand the complete scope of international business, the mergers and acquisitions, the bail outs and special schemes provided for the corporate finance by the government and the likes of it all. In the sections to follow in this paper, we will discuss all of the key points spanning the arena of international corporate finance and financial markets. International investments have increased manifold ever since the dawn of the new globalized world came into being. Every day pours forth a new array of mergers and acquisitions or overseas investments. Horizontal acquisitions, merger of two companies or any other form of investment – these all make for the most important asset of any economy – the movement of the assets. However, there are several times in the history of these mergers and acquisitions or investments where we see that a particular deal went through a favorable time with huge profits and earnings, however, declining in the end. This section is about why these investments follow a pattern of growth and decline. However, before we proceed, let us understand a few factors in the whole task of the investments and merger and acquisitions process. There are several types of mergers and acquisitions. A merger, however, is within the two companies of equal stature or value. Meanwhile, an acquisition is between two companies where the acquiring company is of a higher value than the company acquired. Let us now take a look at the process that takes place when two companies undergo a process of M/A (merger and acquisition). Once the M/A is organized for, the acquiring company

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Freedom, Our Public and Private Interests, and Kant's Questions Essay

Freedom, Our Public and Private Interests, and Kant's Questions - Essay Example uinas’ definition of human character has fuelled academic debate as to the differences particularly in relation to the theories regarding freedom, public and private interests in light of Kant’s extrapolation of the Supreme Moral Principle of Good Will. The focus of this paper is to critically evaluate these differences with a contextual consideration of Kant’s Supreme Moral Principle of Good Will in practice. To this end, this paper will consider Kant and Aquinas’ central arguments and evaluate Kantian assumptions of innate morality in ethical theory and international relations. It is firstly submitted that Kant’s theory of enlightenment arguably focused on an attempt to seek out a truth of knowledge and similarly Aquinas’s arguments suggests that the underlying nature of being human was explained through rationale thought, which he in turn related to God. Furthermore, Deligiorgi posits that Kant’s philosophy belongs to an intellectual context in terms of the limits of enlightenment and he â€Å"defines enlightenment not in terms of rational certitudes but rather in terms of the freedom to engage in public argument† (Deligiorgi, 1). Accordingly, Kant’s philosophy is rooted in an innate moral propensity towards democracy as a result of human intellectual independence. Kant’s theory of the rationale for being human suggests that it is the interrelationship between intellectual independence and morality that is central to concepts of democracy. Similarly, Aquinas’ proposition of what constitutes being human also emphasises the independent voluntary exercise of will. However, in contrast to Kant, Aquinas’ theory was heavily intertwined with Catholic hierarchy and interpretations of existence (Ardley 3). Moreover, Aquinas’ central focus was on the issue of humanity in context of its relationship to God and the natural world. Additionally, Ardley highlights that the central difference with Kant’s principle of humanity was that â€Å"Aquinas

History and Background of Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History and Background of Outsourcing - Essay Example . Even though America and European countries are highly developed regions compared to the countries in the other parts of the world, these regions are facing immense manpower shortage in critical employment sectors. For example, in construction industry and healthcare industry, majority of the people working in these regions are from Asian countries. In other words, opportunities are more compared to the number of available manpower resources in developing countries. Thus, manpower cost is highly expensive in developed countries whereas in developing or underdeveloped countries manpower resources are more and hence the labor cost is cheap. For example, heavily populated countries such as India and China have surplus manpower resources whereas employment opportunities are less in these countries. Out sourcing helps developed countries to exploit the abundant cheap manpower resources in heavily populated countries so that they can reduce the prices of their commodities and compete effe ctively in international market. This paper analyses the history and background of outsourcing. History and background of outsourcing The evolution of Outsourcing can be attributed to globalization and liberalization. ... Keeping these points in mind, these countries developed and introduced the globalization policies. Even though countries like China watched these polices with suspicion, they also realised the opportunities quickly and embraced globalization. As industries grown, organizations started to look for opportunities in international market. Domestic markets were insufficient for some of the major organizations to sell their products during the second half of the twentieth century. Such organizations started to explore opportunities outside the domestic market and as a result of that competition started to increase in international market. Along with opportunities, these organizations faced lot of challenges also in international market. Some organizations were able to reduce the prices of their products considerably of the availability of cheap labour in their home country. For example, Chinese products are still causing major worries to international companies because of its cheaper price s. This is because of the fact that China has plenty of manpower resources and their labour cost is comparatively low. In the 1990s, as organizations began to focus more on cost-saving measures, they started to outsource those functions necessary to run a company but not related specifically to the core business. Managers contracted with emerging service companies to deliver accounting, human resources, data processing, internal mail distribution, security, plant maintenance, and the like as a matter of â€Å"good housekeeping†. Outsourcing components to affect cost savings in key functions is yet another stage as managers seek to improve their finances (Handfield, Ph.D, 2006) Even though the business process

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

IT & Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IT & Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Intranets are utilised in order to find along with organise information, which resides within various organisations. Intranet fundamentally acts as front-end to great source of knowledge (ODI, n.d.). Based on this aspect, in the essay, I would discuss about the thoughts concerning the building of pedagogical principles into an intranet. About Pedagogical Principles Pedagogy principles are often regarded as methods of teaching and learning. They are recognised as theoretical procedures for achieving certain goals. The most vital characteristics of pedagogical principles are that they are quite pertinent in nature and equipped with theoretical influence. Pedagogical principles can be used in intranet such as in e-learning for better management of knowledge and better teaching experience. According to my opinion, every teacher has certain unspoken pedagogy, representing teaching method or philosophy. The pedagogy can be derived from evaluating the functions of a teacher (Rubens & et. al ., 2005). From reviewing the work of various authors, I have learnt that the task of a good pedagogical design is to ensure that there are no irregularities prevailing between the prospectus taught and the application of teaching approaches. Thus, in order to accomplish complete consistency, there is need to examine the key assumptions at every phase of teaching and to support them in learning. Hence, in order to build pedagogical principles, there is the requirement to begin with planned learning outcome. Then, there is the necessity of selecting certain effective teaching functions that would support students to accomplish their respective learning outcomes. Ultimately, there is need to develop evaluation activities that can genuinely examine whether the outcome have been accomplished or not. This procedure is simple to describe, but is quite difficult to build on intranet (Monty, 2005). This can be better understood with the help of the following pictorial illustration. Source: ( Mayes & Freitas, 2004). Pedagogical Principles into an Intranet Essentially from various works, I have understood that intranet provides a sophisticated way for teaching and learning. In learning environment, intranet comprises instruction delivered through every internal electronic media. The effort for utilising intranet in learning eventually moves towards complete automation of controlling the teaching and learning procedure by way of several applications. Although use of intranet in learning is recent phenomenon, but the underlying principles of learning, i.e. pedagogical principles have not been included in this technology. Most of the pedagogical principles that are utilised in traditional learning experience can be built into intranet based learning (Govindasamy, 2002). By understanding various concepts of pedagogy, I can define that constructivist pedagogy is often associated with intranet based learning. In this regard, constructivist pedagogical principles inspire learner s to establish their own knowledge based on personal experience and utilise those principles in various fields. In such pedagogical principle, the concentration is on learning, rather than teaching in the social procedure. Constructivism is often regarded as an ideal pedagogical principle for intranet, as it draws on determining the strengths of the medium and overwhelming the weaknesses (Gulati, 2004). Constructivist pedagogy observes students as the core participants of the learning

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

International business contest Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International business contest - Research Paper Example where there are sizeable potential consumer concentrations. Demographic segmentation refers to the practice in which the company focuses on age, gender, marital status and similar characteristics. It's the most popular strategy or basis for segmenting the market though its complicated nature at times necessitates fist hand information about customer behavior (Rivlin, 2003). While variables associated with demographics can be easily obtained and the related metrics would readily lend to interpretations, there is still a very demanding process of data gathering and storage to be retrieved when needed for a variety of purposes such as cross checks and extrapolation studies. Egypt can be identified as a country which consists of most population in the Middle East and the 3rd in the African Continent. Thus out of the total population 99% of them are concentrated on major cities of Cairo and Alexandria which centered on the banks of Nile. Therefore Company need to basically focus its attention on those greatest cities in order to successfully mark et the Washing Machine. Consumer demographics also involve age and lifecycle studies. Economic factors include the relative value for money concept. Egypt is mainly depends on the agriculture, tourism, media and petroleum exports. However the rapid growing population and the liberal economic policies have increased the economic growth of the country. Therefore it is obvious that economically speaking Egypt population would influenced by a strong desire to save on time and money with their busiest life style (Bolbol, Fatheldin, & Omran, 2005). Thus their demand patterns for washing machines are essentially determined by the degree of necessity to save time. This economic proposition is said to be much stronger than many other concerns. This argument has been put forward by some market analysts as a stage of transformation that ultimately leads to copied lifestyles. 2. Political Profile 2.1. Government The political dispensation of the country is a republic. Thus it includes Executive arm of the State and a Head of the government. It is a Presidential Republican State where the executive power and the legislative power are shared by both the Government and People's Assembly. Since the year of 1953 the Republican form of government has been exercising the power in a more transparent system which allows eighteen political parties to conduct their activities in order to capture the government power in a more democratic way. The ruling party of the government is National Democratic Party. Thus the term of the government will not be more than five years. But any time if the President wishes he can dissolve the parliament by promulgating an order. So the government and legislative activities are mostly based on the executive pow

Monday, September 23, 2019

Employee Electronic Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employee Electronic Privacy - Essay Example The employee eventually resigned from her current position and immediately began to work at the new position. The debate rages on whether which side is correct. But this paper would establish that in this scenario, it is the employer who stands to lose more by their workers’ access to the internet, and hence, are justified in monitoring internet access in the workplace. For one, with each access to the internet the chances of electronic hackers gaining access to the corporations’ intranet and confidential files are increased if not monitored. We turn to Chang, J. (April 9, 2004)1 who stated: †¦..Each year hackers steal millions of dollars worth of proprietary information from companies and organizations. A survey by the Computer Security Institute indicated that for the year 2002, theft of proprietary information by hackers cost companies and organizations over $70 million.1 The cost to insure against these hackers is staggering—the market for hacker insurance is expected to increase from $100 million in 2003 to $900 million by 2005.2 In addition, hackers can cause severe damage to computer systems by altering or deleting data files and disabling software. In addition to proprietary information, hackers also steal personal information from these organizations and corporations including their customers’ credit card numbers, account numbers, and social security numbers. For example, in 2000, hackers stole 55,000 credit card numbers from creditcards.com and 300,000 credit card numbers from CDUniverse.com.3 The theft of personal information such as credit card numbers raises serious concerns relating to both identity theft and privacy. Hence, in an attempt to forestall such staggering losses, the employers’ reaction was naturally to check the culprit, and that is the unprecedented access to online materials. The cost of installing monitoring devices is

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Network Design Essay Example for Free

Network Design Essay The objective at hand was to build a network from the ground up. This was accomplished by breaking down all of the sections and building upon all previous assignments. This was a good course as I learned a lot about all of the different sections of building a network. The pros are now I know how to build a network on the design side from the ground up. I learned quite a bit about using a lot of the technologies associated with networking and it allowed me to learn quite a few new concepts. Some of the downfalls about this course and what I have learned are I did not feel I accomplished much as there is no hands on training associated with the course. I do not feel like concepts and design ideas are a great resource to actually learn how to use any of the systems but they do give a pretty good idea. Cabling SpecificationsEthernet is a Local Area Network (LAN) technology with a transmission rate of 10 Mbps and has a typical star topology. Computers and devices must wait-and-listen for transmission time on the network as only one device can transmit at any one time. In order to operate with this network strategy, Ethernet incorporates CSMA/CD (Carrie Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection). Each device on the network listens for the network to be clear before transmitting data. If more than one computer or device transmits data at the same time, then collisions occur. Once collisions are detected, all devices stop transmitting for a period of time until one of the devices senses the line is free and will then gain control of the line to transmit its data. Receiving devices just sit there waiting and listening for transmissions that are meant for them, which are determined by an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The main advantage to Ethernet is it is one of the cheapest networks to put into service. Compared to other hardware for Token Ring, Ethernet equipment such as hubs, switches, network interface cards, and cable (Cat5 common) is inexpensive. The main disadvantage to Ethernet is related to the collisions that occur on the network. Even though Ethernet cable (Cat5) is fairly inexpensive, it can become a cost issue if designing a large network as each device or computer requires its own cable connection to the central hub. Another disadvantage is distance limitation for node connections. The longest connection that can occur within an Ethernet network without a repeater is 100 meters. Todays Ethernet standards, 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps, incorporate switched technology, which for the most part, eliminates collisions on the network. The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) specification for Ethernet is 802.3 with three-part names designating the different types. For example, 10BASE-T is for 10 Mbps, and 100BASE-TX is for 100 Mbps. Token RingToken was developed by IBM as an alternative to Ethernet. The network is physically wired in star topology, but is arranged in a logical ring. Instead of a hub or switch like in an Ethernet network, a MAU (Multistation Access Unit) is used. Access to the network is controlled by possession of a token that is passed around the ring from computer to computer as data can only travel in one direction at a time. A computer that wishes to transmit data on the network takes possession of the token and replaces the token frame with data. The data goes around the ring and returns to the transmitting computer, which removes the data, creates a new token, and then forwards it to the next computer. The IEEE specification for Token Ring is 802.5 and it comes in two different speeds: 4 Mbps and 16 Mbps. The main advantage to Token Ring is there are never any collisions within the network, which makes it a highly reliable solution for high-traffic networks. The disadvantage to Token Ring is the network cards and MAU are more expensive than equivalent Ethernet hardware. FDDIFDDI (Fiber-Distributed Data Interface) is an architecture designed for high-speed backbones that operate at 100 Mbps, which are used to connect and extend LANs. A ring topology is used with two fiber optic cable rings. It  passes a token on both rings and in opposite directions. The specification for FDDI is designated by the American National Standards Institute as ANSI X3T9.5. The advantage to FDDI is that it uses two rings for protection in case one ring breaks. When a break occurs, data is rerouted in the opposite direction using the other ring. It is also considered reliable because it uses a token-passing strategy. The disadvantage to FDDI is the expensive network cards and fiber optic cable. In addition, the amount of fiber optic cable is doubled because it has redundant rings. WirelessLocal Area Network (LAN) TopologiesA mesh topology has a point-to-point connection to every other device (node) within the topology. The point-to-point link is dedicated between each device so it will only carry traffic to the two devices that is connected by that link. The advantage of a mesh topology is it works on the concept of routes, which means that traffic can take one of several paths between the source and destination. The network is also robust in that it will not be crippled if one path becomes unavailable or unstable due to each device being connected to every other device. The Internet uses a mesh topology to operate efficiently. The main disadvantage to a mesh topology is the fact that it requires a large number of cables, which is very expensive. A bus topology is a multipoint topology that entails each device being connected to a common link or path. The common link can be thought of as the backbone to the network. All devices typically connect to the backbone with a T-connector and coax cable. The main advantages of a bus topology are that it is easy to install and is not expensive (cost effective) because it uses very little cable to build. The main disadvantage is if there is a problem with the one backbone cable, then the entire network will no longer have the ability to communicate.  These networks are also very difficult to troubleshoot because any small problem such as a cable break, loose connector, or cable short can cause the outage. The entire length of cable and each connector must be inspected during troubleshooting. Another disadvantage is the lack of amplification of the signal, which results in a limited network size based on the characteristics of the cable because of how far a signal can travel down that cable. A ring topology means that each device is connected in a ring, or daisy-chain fashion, one after another. A dedicated connection only exists between a device and the device on each side of it. Data flows around the ring in one direction. Each device contains a repeater that regenerates the signal before passing it to the next device. The main advantage of a ring topology is that it is easy to install. One disadvantage includes difficulty to troubleshoot because data flows in one direction and it could take time to find the faulty device when there are problems. The entire network could be taken off line if there is a faulty device or cable break within the ring. The star topology has each device in the network connected to a central device called a hub, which can actually be a hub or switch. All traffic must pass through the hub in order to communicate with any other device on the network. There is no direct communication between devices like in a mesh topology. One advantage to a star topology is any failure to one cable or device connected to the hub will not bring the entire network down. Repairs can be done to individual nodes without disrupting traffic flow. Another advantage is expandability of the network. Additional devices can be added to the network without disrupting any of the current users. All that is required is an additional cable run from the device to the hub. One disadvantage includes cable costs because each device must have its own cable connected back to the hub. The other disadvantage is the hub itself.  Since all traffic runs through one device, it becomes the single point of failure. If the hub goes down, so does the entire network. Wide Area Network (WAN) DesignA WAN, also known as a Wide Area Network, is an essential part to bigger corporate networks most government networks and companies with multiple sites as well. A WAN, basically, is 2 or more LANs (Local Area Networks) stuck together and running as one big network over a big geographical area. Although a WAN could cover very small distances, most WANs cover much larger geographical areas such as a country or possibly even the world. The largest WAN today would technically be the internet or the World Wide Web. The internet is, in short, one giant WAN because it consists of many smaller LANs and servers. Most WANs can cover a fairly large geographical area, but some, such as the World Wide Web can cover the globe. The United States Government has quite a big WAN as a lot of their LANs are in other countries. They need to get data from one place to another almost instantaneously, and this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to be able to do so. To be able to get on the internet, a subscriber must go through an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and they will give the subscriber access to the internet for a certain price every month. There are different ways to get access to the internet depending on the geographical location in which you live. A subscriber can go through dial up, which is one of the slowest methods, but it is also one of the most common. There is also DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) through most phone companies if they have access in the area and cable which is usually one of the fastest and most expensive methods to access the internet. The last common method is using a satellite to obtain access. This is usually the most expensive ways to access the internet because the equipment usually needs to be bought. When talking about telephone lines, we start getting into analog versus digital signals and degradation over longer distances. A telephone system works on analog signals. These work by a computer transmitting a digital  signal to the modem which converts the signal into an analog signal (this is the beeping heard when a computer dials up to access the internet) and later being converted by a different computer back into a digital signal with the use of a modem. DSL is digital all the way, along with T1 and T3 lines. When using DSL or T1/T3 lines, a filter of some sort is used to filter out the digital and analog signals, so the phone and computer are receiving different signals. Companies usually use faster lines to access the internet or to have access to their other sites. Smaller companies can use DSL or Cable internet services, but when talking about larger corporations or the government, most use public systems such as telephone lines or satellites. Usually, when talking about larger companies and going through a public system, we are talking much faster speeds that can hold many more users. T1 and T3 lines are usually used, satellites are commonly used and fiber-optic is becoming much more common. When getting into many users on a WAN, we need to start talking about Network Latency. According to Javvin.com network latency is defined as “latency is a measure of how fast a network is running. The term refers to the time elapsed between the sending of a message to a router and the return of that message (even if the process only takes milliseconds, slowdowns can be very apparent over multi-user networks). Latency problems can signal network-wide slowdowns, and must be treated seriously, as latency issues cause not only slow service but data losses as well. At the user level, latency issues may come from software malfunctions; at the network level, such slowdowns may be a result of network overextension or bottlenecking, or DoS or DDoS activity.”Dos or DDos stands for Denial of Service and Distributed Denial of Service respectively. These types of attacks are usually by hackers or someone who does not want others to access a certain service. There was a recent DoS threat on the CNN webpage as some hackers wanted CNN to stop talking about a certain issue. This works by one or multiple people talking all of the networks latency or bandwidth from them and thus causing other not to be able to access their site or services. There are other issues that may slow down a users PC as well. Not all issues revolve around hacker attacks. A lot of problems could be caused by malicious software, such as, Spyware, Malware, Viruses, or other programs that may be problematic. These can usually be taken care of by installing anti-virus software or even a spyware removal tool. The issue here is instead of the malicious software causing slowdowns on a PC, there are slowdowns due to the software protecting a certain computer in the background. Sometimes a simple fix to this problem is to defragment a hard drive. This can tremendously speed up a PC, because the files will be closer together and easier and quicker to access. On a network, a simple way to test latency is to use the trace route program. To do this, simply go to a command prompt and type tracert and then an IP address if internal or a website if external. This will send out packets of information and check how much time has passed to receive a packet back. The time passed would be the latency time. Usually it says it only took a certain amount of milliseconds which does not seem like very much time, but it was only a tiny packet of information. The higher the milliseconds the higher the latency time. The higher the latency time, the longer it will take to do anything in a network. If a high latency time is present, there is bound to be lag somewhere down the line. In a WAN, the equipment that will be used is as follows. In each LAN there will be PCs connected to a router somewhere (this is a ring topology example) and that router should be connected into a switch. There may be more but this is a basic example. Each of these LANs then connects to a central HUB somewhere which should interconnect all of the LANs. All of the information then travels to the central hub which is then separated out to the correct switch, router and then PC. There are usually central servers that can store and backup all of the data on the network as well, but this was an example of a crude network. Most companies also a very repetitious and redundant with their WANs. This is because they do not want a central failure point to bring the entire company to itÂ’s knees. There are usually multiple switches that can tie the  entire system together. If a huge corporations Wan decided to fail, the company could lose a few million dollars in a matter of minutes. This is the main reason redundancy in this situation makes more than enough sense. A lot of companies use software called VPN software. This software will let users login from the outside into their computer inside the company. This is a very nice system because if an employee needs to do work from home, they have access to everything they working on onsite. This is also helpful from an Information Technology perspective as it allows the Tech who is working on a remote problem login remotely and find out what the issue is, make any configuration changes and fix most software related issues without actually having to be onsite. This works well when being on call from an offsite location. There are other software packages that work well too. A lot of companies use PCAnywhere to do this type of work and Bomgar is another solution to be able to remotely login. A WAN is an imperative part to any corporation, government agency or company with multiple locations, as it allows them to transfer data quickly, easily and over great distances at the click of a button. There seems to be more and more need for employees in the networking field today, because more and more corporations need to transfer data quicker and easier. There will be new technology soon that will improve our current technology such as fiber optic. Network ProtocolsThere are many solutions to remote access and the most common and one of the most cost efficient methods is the VPN (Virtual Private Network). VPN technology is already built in to most operating systems and is very easy to implement. With bigger environments and corporations, a consideration for concentrated VPN hardware should be in place because of the simultaneous users and stress on the servers. There are a few different types of VPN including IPsec, PPTP and SSL. Once the connection from remote access has been made, you need to make sure the files are readily accessible for the user logging in remotely. One way to do so is to use Samba which is an open source file access system. There  are other ways to allow access as well. Using remote desktop connection, the user has the ability to log directly in to their PC and use it as if they were sitting at their desk, rather than away from the company. A lot of companies use software called VPN software. This software will let users login from the outside into their computer inside the company. This is a very nice system because if an employee needs to do work from home, they have access to everything they working on onsite. This is also helpful from an Information Technology perspective as it allows the Tech who is working on a remote problem login remotely and find out what the issue is, make any configuration changes and fix most software related issues without actually having to be onsite. This works well when being on call from an offsite location. There are other software packages that work well too. A lot of companies use PCAnywhere to do this type of work and Bomgar is another solution to be able to remotely login. Network Remote AccessMost companies need to be able to access their work from many locations, including home and while traveling. The solution that allows them to access the network is one of two ways to access their network. The first is through a VPN (virtual private network) that allows the user access to remotely log in easily and quickly. The other way is through a dial up remote connection; this way is a bit easier to set up but can become very costly in the long run. The problem with being able to do this is it can be very costly and can eat up much of the IT departments time to set up, configure and implement this system into the current hardware. The definition from whatis.com about a VPN is “ virtual private network (VPN) is a network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organizations network. A virtual private network can be contrasted with an expensive system of owned or leased lines that can only be used by one organization. The goal of a VPN is to provide the organization with the same capabilities, but at a much lower cost. VPN works by using the shared public infrastructure while maintaining privacy through security procedures and tunneling protocols such as the Layer Two Tunneling  Protocol (L2TP). In effect, the protocols, by encrypting data at the sending end and decrypting it at the receiving end, send the data through a tunnel that cannot be entered by data that is not properly encrypted. An additional level of security involves encrypting not only the data, but also the originating and receiving network addresses.”A VPN, also known as a Virtual Private Network is a helpful tool that allows users of a specific domain to be able to log in to their PC from anywhere in the world with the help of another PC. With this tool, they would log in with a special piece of software, using their user name and password to gain access to all functionality of the PC they want to log in to. This allows for a lot of comfortable solutions, such as if an employee is sick, they may still have an option to work from home. This allows a flexible company schedule as well because if a user needs to access a document from their home PC, they can essentially log in to their work PC and download t he document. Network Business ApplicationsA second way to access oneÂ’s computer from a different location would be using a dial up service, with this you can basically dial in to access all of their resources available within the server. Using this is a very secure and easy route to go, and allows the user access to files they may desperately need. Another good thing about using a remote connection to access a server is if the user is on a business trip, they have the ability to access all of their much needed documents easily and securely with out much fuss. The explanation between these two pieces of technology is “with dial-up remote access, a remote access client uses the telecommunications infrastructure to create a temporary physical circuit or a virtual circuit to a port on a remote access server. After the physical or virtual circuit is created, the rest of the connection parameters can be negotiated.With virtual private network remote access, a VPN client uses an IP internetwork to create a virtual point-to-point connection with a remote access server acting as the VPN server. After the virtual point-to-point connection is created, the rest of the connection parameters can be negotiated. ”There are many advantages and disadvantages to using a dial up remote connection over VPN. The biggest advantage I have been able to find is, it is easier to set  up and maintain while using VPN makes you set up and maintain individual accounts for both the VPN and the users name and password on the system. Another advantage of dialing up in to the system would be the fact that no matter where the user is all they need to do is plug into a phone jack and they should be able to log in. The disadvantage of this is depending on where the user is long distance charges may apply and it could rank up a pretty penny or two. Another disadvantage is although the system is cheaper in the short term, the system may be more expensive than VPN in the long run. There are also other methods of using VPN. One specific way is certain ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and other third party support companies are assisting in setting up the VPN and supporting it without a great deal of time spent on it by the current department. This may or may not be more cost efficient than setting it up yourself, but it does remove a lot of the headache that VPNs can give due to different errors. There are also many advantages and disadvantages to using a VPN over a dial up system. One of the biggest advantages to this system over a dial up system is in the long run this is a much cheaper system than a dial up system. This system is a little bit quicker than a dial up system as well. This system is cheaper than a dial up system because using a dial up system, long distance fees may apply, with the virtual private network, you do not need to worry about this as the user may call into a local internet service provider to gain access. Any internet connection will gain a user access to the companyÂ’s network through a VPN. Through all of this, there still needs to be security measures put in place to keep unwanted users off of the system while allowing employees or other authorized users access without down time. VPNs can work well with firewalls, all the IT department would need to do is allow the ports to be accessed by the VPN and the user should have full access. All in all, there are two very cost effective solutions at a companyÂ’s finger tips and both are fairly easy to set up. The company needs to decide if they want to save money up front and make it easier so they do not need  to set up multiple accounts per user, or if they would rather have a better solution and save more money down the road. The choice also depends on the amount of users logging in at any given moment. Backup and Disaster RecoverySecurity, back ups and disaster recovery are all important very parts of all networks in todays world. The problem with today is information on how to hack, destroy and program any type of malicious software (or malware) is easily accessible via the Internet and other easy to access sources. There are roughly 1.4 billion people on the Internet or that at least have access to the Internet in the world, which is about 25% of the worlds population. All of these people have extremely easy access to hacking networks, creating malware and destroying any personal or private data a user may have and wish to keep. There is not really any way to stop these people from harming our personal software and data from their side, this is why a user needs to make sure they have security on the users side. There are other things that happen besides people trying to maliciously harm a users files and data. Accidents can happen and destroy data as well. There could be many things that can harm a users data such as a fire, earthquake, power surge or worst case scenario, some sort of electro magnetic pulse (EMP). This is where data back ups and disaster recovery come in nicely. There are many companies that specialize in helping a user or company back up their data and store it off site such as SunGard (mostly used in bigger company settings). There are other ways to store a users data as well. One way is to make a physical copy of everything needed on CDs, DVDs, Flash Drive or some other type of media and store it at a friends house or some other persons house they trust. This keeps a hard copy of all of their data off site just in case something happens and it can now be restored. There are a few other companies as well that offer on line backups. For this a user downloads their software and it automatically backs up to a few different location for redundancy which allows the customer more safety and easier access to all of their files. One of the first steps to a business that wishes to be very secure in all  that they do is to set up a backup and disaster recovery plan to start it all off. Like I stated earlier, there are many way s to do it. If this is a larger company they probably want to hire someone internally to make a physical back up of all the data and send it to an off site company for storage. They should also keep another copy close to them at all times, preferably away from where the physical data lies. They should put it on the opposite side of the building than where the file server is. If anything happens to the servers, they can quickly and easily use their backed up copy of all the data and recover it on to the servers in which they lie. Most companies have 2 or 3 backup units on site for redundancy and this allows that if one of those go down as well there are still a couple others in which they can restore all of the data from. Although this can become a little more expensive than just a regular back up system, sometimes it can be well worth it. Network SecurityAccording to devx.com “the first step in drafting a disaster recovery plan is conducting a thorough risk analysis of your computer systems. List all the possible risks that threaten system uptime and evaluate how imminent they are in your particular IT shop. Anything that can cause a system outage is a threat, from relatively common man made threats like virus attacks and accidental data deletions to more rare natural threats like floods and fires. Determine which of your threats are the most likely to occur and prioritize them using a simple system: rank each threat in two important categories, probability and impact. In each category, rate the risks as low, medium, or high. For example, a small Internet company (less than 50 employees) located in California could rate an earthquake threat as medium probability and high impact, while the threat of utility failure due to a power outage could rate high probability and high impact. So in this companys risk analysis, a power outage would be a higher risk than an earthquake and would therefore be a higher priority in the disaster recovery plan.”Another big part of any security system development is the company (or department) needs to look at their budget and how much they are willing to spend on their system. A company can get a basic security system for their network (including firewall) for fairly cheap and this may do most of what is needed, but larger companies are going to need to spend quite a  bit more money than that of a small company. Most larger companies spend quite a bit because they usually have higher priced clients that they can not afford to lose and all of their data is invaluable to the company. Some companies actually have their own Information System Security employees to monitor the network in case of any type of attack. They also make sure all of the anti-virus and anti-malware softwares are running and updating properly. Lastly, another thing most companies forget about after they have their equipment and software installed is there is more than just the implementation of the hardware and software to save them. They need to make sure everything continues to run and update itself from newer and bigger threats. These companies need to make sure they continually test and check what needs to be done to continually maintain a network that can not be broken in to. There are people out there that can be hired to try and break into a companies network. They get paid and let the company know what needs to be fixed so others can not break into it as well. In conclusion, a company can be nothing or brought to its knees with out its network and servers. There are many things that can cripple a company without the help of man. The only way to avoid these is to have a proper disaster recovery plan and to make sure the network is not vulnerable in any way. References About, Inc. (2004). Network topologies : bus, ring, star, and all the rest. RetrievedOctober 12, 2004, from http://compnetworking.about.com /library/weekly/aa041601a.htmBrain, M. (2004). How stuff works : how wifi works. Retrieved October 12, 2004,from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network.htm/printableNetwork Latency. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2008, fromhttp://www.javvin.com/etraffic/network-latency.htmlBroadband Internet. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2008, fromhttp://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;988596323Wide Area Networks.(n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2008, fromhttp://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/course/intro-pages/wan.htmlVirtual Private Network. (n.d.).retrieved May 11, 2008, fromhttp://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci213324,00.html#VPN vs. Dial up. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2008, fromhttp://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/d85d2477-796d-41bd-83fb-17d78fb1cd951033.mspx?mfr=trueHow to Create a Disaster Recovery Plan, RetrievedMay 23, 2008, from http://www.devx.com/security/Article/16390/1954World Internet Usage Statistics, RetrievedMay 23, 2008, from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Saturday, September 21, 2019

In A Moment Of Self Discovery English Literature Essay

In A Moment Of Self Discovery English Literature Essay In Henrik Ibsens A Doll House, Nora experiences a quick epiphany at the dà ©nouement of the play; this moves the plot forward into the resolution (at least for Nora). This final scene is compressed into Aristotles Theory of tragedy of a complex plot. The actions between Nora and Torvald surprise the audience in several manners, while continuing the story. The act of reading Krogstads second letter received by the maid contributes to preipeteia. This occurs because Krogstad produced a letter of amnesty, an effect opposite to which he intended to produce, originally wanting to expose Noras debt to him and longing for Helmers new job. This event expedites the next, anagnorisis, allowing Noras epiphany to take place, producing conflict between herself and Torvald. Noras new perspective places Torvald into confusion, trying to understand her personal revelation: HELMER (sitting at the table directly opposite her). You worry me, Nora. And I dont understand you. HELMER. How do you mean that? HELMER. Whats that?  [1]   The affect of a complex plot, or the cause-and-effect chain led to catastrophe. In terms of A Doll House, Nora leaves, slamming the door shut, abandoning the suffering Torvald; thus, bringing the complex plot to an ending. Antigone, in addition has a moment of anagnorisis in her final soliloquy of Sophocles Oedipus trilogy. She realizes that no one is there to save her from her metaphoric death, or literally the entombment. Seeking help from man and gods, she receives nothing but sympathetic feelings from the Theban elders; perhaps being victim of the Oedipus family curse. Having been abandoned by all, her personal dirge outlines her sacrifice for her brother, the hypothetical actions performed with a future husband (Haemon) and children, the love of her family, and a curse upon Creon. Acting upon the peripeteia of Creons punishment in the third episode, her soliloquy provides a chance of self-discovery in the next episode of the play. This chain of effects creates the catastrophe within Antigone, leading to Creons suffering of both Haemons and Eurydices death in the exodos. Antigones epiphany of loneliness affects the plot because of her own death and the curse set on Creon. His grievance over family suicides progresses the plot, feeling ashamed for all he has done. Comparing both tragedys they use anagnorisis in the female protagonists, later influencing plot. In Aristotles view, plot is most important priority of a tragedy. Seemingly, both plays use a complex plot structure in the lusis of action. Ibsen compresses this unravelling in the last ten pages of the tragedy, compared to Sophocles expanded over six separate scenes. The agency of self-discovery is defined as the change from ignorance to knowledge and Nora goes through a much more rational process than Antigone. Noras naivetà © stems from how she is treated as a woman. Her knowledge is gained through and used against Torvald, explaining her stream of consciousness before leaving the family. Noras epiphany has a smaller affect on character and plot outcome, as Antigones anagnorisis is overwhelming with the affects ranging for the rest of the play. At first, our Greek protagonist assumes that burying her brother Polynices is justifiable through the gods, however earthly laws state it is illegal. Therefore, when she is brought back to Creon to hear her final outcome, a life and death situation, her mindset changes. Accepting her actions and the chaotic environment around her, she kills herself so she can be with her loving family. Nora and Antigones anagnorisis leads to more actions, the catastrophe; however, it is Antigones reaction to it that stands out because it leads suicide. In addition, the effect of the female self-discovery affects their male opposite detrimentally. In A Doll House, Torvald is left sitting alone, bewildered. in contrast Creon is left with no family. His son and wife are dead. The use of anagnorisis in A Doll House and in Antigone develop the plot, but it is Sophocles Antigone that dramatizes the affect of self-discovery, leading to multiple deaths and Creons sorrow. Comparison between plot development/complexity Characterization with self-discovery Nora She wants a new life with a real meaning She can only have a real life outside of the house, Within the house she is trapped, she doesnt like Torvalds care for her Her epiphany stems from the way Torvald acts, and what he said He is not emotionally devoted to her But it devoted on how he can play with or handle her life, like the father Transforming into a new woman, with her new found independence She cannot stand being controlled anymore Characterization through inner thoughts and feelings that are expressed through dialogue Torvald initiates her stream of consciousness and reasoning She becomes stronger as an independent woman Challenging society and Torvald/rules The conflicting views of honour and women Antigone Her self-discovery only contains anagnorisis She realizes that she is alone and cannot be saved by anyone In normal spoken verse, a solliliquy is said by her Recollecting on the main thoughts on the tragedy of this play Burying her dead brother sending him to the underworld, in return she dies because of her unlawful actions Although respecting the gods, she didnt receive the same respect on earth Compare and Contrast the characterization effects Conlcusion!!!

Friday, September 20, 2019

Analysis of Vietnams Economy

Analysis of Vietnams Economy Table of contents (Jump to) 1. Introduction 2. Why Vietnam – An overview 3. Theoretical literatures 3.1. Macroeconomic principles 3.2. Microeconomic principles 4. The level of unemployment and employment 4.1. Before the national reform – The beginning of the 1990s’ 4.2. After the national reform 5. Skills needed and skills gaps 5.1. Disadvantages 5.1.1. Low IT skill availability 5.1.2. Low English proficiency level 5.2. Advantages 5.2.1. High tech sector 5.2.2. Textiles and garments sector 6. Conclusion Bibliography 1. Introduction The trend of global outsourcing has accelerated the economic activities in developing nations. Developed nations countries have gained the economy of scales and performed major functions in the long-term basis. The advantages of outsourcing are to reduce business operation expenses and thus corporations can sustain competitiveness. The paper will discuss the Vietnamese economy, particularly skills needed and skills gaps, and the level of unemployment and employment. Some theoretical literatures will help explain the reasons and results of Vietnamese economic growth; the paper tries to access the underlying forces which have challenged Vietnam authority to change from the central control to the market economy. 2. Why Vietnam – An overview Vietnam officially becomes the 150th member in WTO (World Trade Organization) on 11th January 2007. In order to join WTO, Vietnam government has to change its political, infrastructure and economic principals to fulfill the requirements of this international organization. ‘A sustained boom, with annual economic growth consistently around 7%-8% since 2000, has transformed Vietnam. It is over 20 years since Vietnams ruling communists abandoned collectivism and embarked on their doi moi market-based reforms, not unlike those China adopted a few years earlier.’[1] Additionally, Vietnam economy has gradually changed in order to adapt and join the world economy. From the control economy as of the principal of the communist ideals, Vietnam has undergone the reform and has let its economy to react in accordance with the law of supply and demand. Accordingly, ‘Real GDP growth is forecast to be robust in 2007, at an average of 7% a year, and will be driven mainly by industrial expansion. Business sentiment and consumer confidence will remain resilient, boosting investment and consumption.’ [2] In fact, ‘Many Southeast Asian economies, namely, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam are emerging as an outsourcing destination for some Fortune-500 companies.’ [3] The data from the Vietnamese economy has strongly reflected how outsourcing impacts on the level of unemployment and employment and skills needed and skills gaps, since the economy has moved so fast to the integration into the world economy. Vietnam has positioned itself as a primary host by luring more investment than other emerging economies and developing nations in the region in the late 1990s. It is overtaking the Philippines and Indonesia. ‘By 2002, Viet Nam was the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations], behind Singapore and Malaysia, strengthening its position as a significant investment base. Viet Nam has therefore achieved a key position both in terms of prime investment host within the region, and as a recipient of intraregional inflows.’[4] 3. Theoretical literatures 3.1. Macroeconomic principles A concept of scarcity, relatively in relation to an entire country and its people, becomes a condition which individual producer and consumer have to face in every decision. The opportunity cost of each decision can be considered as subjective value that individual must scarify when making any decision for the next best alternatives. In Vietnam, the command economy has literally turned into material incentives to allocate resources. The Vietnamese government has used its fiscal power, to influence the allocation of labor resources in the market economy to deal with unemployment rates and national outcomes. The Vietnamese economy, in term of the unemployment level, has reflected and responded to the law of supply, demand and material incentives. The questions are of what, how and for whom have been reflected as the economic movement away from the central control to the market economy. The global outsourcing wave has created many opportunities as well as challenges for Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam. Government functions can quite fit into categories, in tem of macro economic view, in term of regulation. In the microeconomic theory of a firm, an economy’s scare, benefit externalities can arise in the case of information, innovation, and productivity. 3.2. Microeconomic principles A concept, namely economies of scale, has been applied in the long-run average cost. In order to keep a firm’s long-run average cost reduces as output increases, multinational firms are experiencing economies of scale. ‘The main reason for long-run scale economies is the underlying pattern of returns to scale in the firm’s long-run production function.’[5] Scale economies might result from many determinants. Specialization in the use of labor is a possible reason for economies of scale. Regardless of how the market price has reacted in the short-run results in economic profit, the normal profit and a loss for competing firms, economic theory has stated that ‘ in the long run, the market price will settle at the point where these firms earn above a normal.’[6] In fact, in long run, firms have time to vary their fixed factors and costs of production. As a result, a number of multinational corporations have decided to relocate to all parts of Southeast Asia, where wages are lower to reduce the production cost. Manufacturing companies can benefit from the move to lower-wage countries A thriving software development sector has emerged in India, and the wave has come to Southeast Asia. ‘The learning curve is the line showing the relationship between labor cost and additional units of output. Its downward slop indicates that this additional cost per unit decline as the level of output increases because workers improve with practice.’[7] Nevertheless, the low level of IT knowledge and skill accessibility and availability hinders the foreign investors’ considerations at first. Additionally, the infrastructure related to IT network has remains a primary hurdle for the growth of Vietnam as an offshore center for IT service centers. Microeconomics has many multinational focuses on individual industry sector. Reducing operation expenses, taking advantage the economies of scales and sustaining opportunity costs will help a company in an industry, especially IT and textile and garments sector, stay competitive. 4. The level of unemployment and employment 4.1. Before the national reform – The beginning of the 1990s’ Majority of young Vietnamese had encountered hard time to find jobs. The government had to abandon its utopian socialism of providing jobs for everyone in the early 1980s. [8] Its mismanagement and the American embargo had put a stop to international aids and business activities from the West. In the beginning of the 1990s, the communist party, under pressure of the collapse of the communist world and impacts of Chinese phenomenon, ‘it had granted more freedom to the private sector, which as too small to absorb the 1.2 million young people who enter the job market each year. Many had even look for their first jobs at least three to five years. Some even looked for more than a decade without success.’ [9] ‘With unemployment at about 20% in a population of 65 million, Vietnam is particularly eager to attract high-technology enterprises that use skilled labor and labor-intensive businesses utilizing Vietnamese materials and natural resources.’[10] Coupling with no job, boredom resulted in the lack of recreational facilities and drove many individuals to engage in crime to get more money in order satisfy their wants. The embargo was stopped in the end of the 1990’s and the economic reform consequently has brought the inflow of consumer goods, impacted on the consumerism and materialism from the West. The growing expectations of more consumer products during the time Vietnam was thought as of one of the poorest nations in the world. In short, fiscal policy had caused severe impacts on Vietnam economy, since the government interfered and watched closely any business activities and interactions of the economy. 4.2. After the national reform The rapid advancement of information and communication technology has connected many companies worldwide and outsourced some of these functions to low-cost location oversea. Based on geographical differences and diversified locations, Vietnam is in line with its competitive advantage. This phenomenon has happened in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese economy has been beneficiary from this reform. Many multinational corporations have adopted global outsourcing in developed economies. This trend has led to enormous redistributions of jobs and restructured many economic activities in the world. Vietnam has been beneficiary from this, emerging as a major outsourcing destination due to low-cost operation. ‘Thus, in the services sector, thousands of jobs have been migrating from the United States, Japan, and some OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other developing countries in Asia’,[11] including Vietnam. Although unemployment rates vary by geographical location, all the global integration and global outsourcing trend has result in lower unemployment rate. Vietnam has tried to sustain competitive in the race for becoming the destination of global outsourcing. 5. Skills needed and skills gaps 5.1. Disadvantages 5.1.1. Low IT skill availability Nowadays, IT in operation and management is important, especially information structure for multinational companies worldwide. The IT advantages can help eliminate human error, time saving, reduce procedural document, improve efficiency and increase profitability overall. The tangible advantages of e-commerce and IT infrastructure have been broadly identified at internal operation as well as external users. However, isolated itself from the developed world for many decades, Vietnam has low IT skills in which most of the work might happen through subcontracting rather FDI. Compared with countries in the regions, such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the speed of automation, development of new technology and know-how in operations and management requires relevant skills and knowledge for staff to do their work. ‘The country is hampered by the scarcity of professionals competent enough to handle complex IT applications and processes.’[12] It has positioned itself to attract offshore business movements favorable to its economies. Vietnam has a high stake in the recent global outsourcing wave. 5.1.2. Low English proficiency level ‘However, inadequate infrastructure and lack of English proficiency have affected its prospects of becoming an attractive destination for IT outsourcing.’ [13] Dominated by India, Vietnamese employees need to enhance their English ability in order to avoid communication misunderstanding at work. Compared with countries in the region, such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, Vietnam has lower levels of English proficiency. The challenges for Vietnam to keep its competitive advantage are immense. Vietnam needs to invest in human resource and knowledge-based infrastructure to attract more FDI in order to sustain the financial inflows. 5.2. Advantages 5.2.1. High tech sector Currently these transitional corporations have integrated their worldwide operations and concentrated their business operations in well-selected locations in order to take advantages of the economy of scales. ‘IT companies, namely, Anheuser Busch, Bayer, Cisco, IBM, Nortel Networks, and Sony are outsourcing software development projects to Vietnam either directly or through third-party developers with an onshore presence in the United States and Europe.’ [14] ‘Moreover, IT companies in Vietnam retain key staff and keep project teams together for months at a time, thereby maintaining low rates of attrition.’ [15] As a result, this situation helps ensure familiarity and stability between customers and contractors, which consequently deliver a confident message for the foreign investors. During short-run, a company can vary many of certain resource, especially labor cost; however, in long run any firm, able to vary quantities of all resources, can maximize its profit, although it has to sacrifice its short run to speculate long-run profit growth. In fact, outsourcing can create more job opportunities for Vietnam, even if offshore activities have been taken placed by the affiliates or subsidiaries. This wave then will generate essential growing FDI flows from service field to the manufacturing field. ‘In IT outsourcing, Vietnam has a cost advantage over other Southeast Asian countries, in terms of salary of IT professionals.’ [16] Although Vietnam starts welcome FDI later than its neighbor countries, early investment in ASEAN become attractive due to low labor cost related to the production and operation expenses. The corporate global links have come with the market penetration have reflected this new wave. 5.2.2. Textiles and garments sector The textiles and garments sector in fact become dominated by international subcontracting arrangements. The operation chain is segmented in accordance with available materials, proper procedures and the end users’ demand. ‘Certainly, as increasing numbers of low-income countries enter the world economy, economic development posited on cheap, low-skilled labor is no longer a viable option for Viet Nam.’ [17] The profit-maximization hypothesis, which a multinational company can pursue in term of market share, turnover growth, return on investment, technology, and shareholder value, can strategize different managerial decisions. ‘Sample firms stressed the relatively high education levels and quality of Vietnamese workers and recognized how far they and the country had come in a short time (a little over a decade). Viet Nam remarked that the quality and productivity awareness of Vietnamese workers is higher than any other developing Asian country, including Peoples Republic of China.’ [18] Since textiles and garments sector is a labor-intensive manufacturing sector, a new comer, such as Vietnam, has intriguing the investors due to orientation of international trading agreements, and avoiding dumping tariffs imposed from imported nations. 6. Conclusion Competitiveness and efficiency become crucial determinants of any company, industry and national economy. The above analysis has discussed in accordance with movement of Vietnam economy, under the impact of macro and micro views. Vietnam has tried to achieve comparative and competitive advantages in international market. The development strategies are good indicators for comprehensive and long-term planning of the authority. Vietnam has opened its economy to the world, joining ASEAN, APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), and recently WTO. Such practices have been harmonized with the tendency of the economic integration and recent globalization. Lower unemployment rate and higher professional skills will surely happen in Vietnam. Bibliography ‘Asia: Plenty to smile about; Vietnam’ 2007, The Economist, London, no. 382, no. 8522,31 March, p.76, viewed 1 May 2007, http://ykien.net/blog> ‘Vietnam: Country forecast summary’ 2007, EIU ViewsWire, New York, 27 February, viewed 1 May 2007, http://www.economist.com/countries/Vietnam/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Economic Data> Fox, T 1989, ‘Come Ye Back To Mandalay’, Financial World.New York, vol. 158, no. 10, 16 May,p.38. Hiebert, M 1991, ‘The Drop-Out Factor: An Education Crisis Follows Economic Reforms; No Jobs for the Boys: Young Face Long-Term Unemployment Despite Reforms’, Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong, 19 September. Keat, GP Young KYP 2000, Managerial Economics – Economic Tool for Today’s Decision Makers, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, United States, pp. 320-390. Keat, GP Young KYP 2000, Managerial Economics – Economic Tool for Today’s Decision Makers, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, United States, p. 322, viewed 1 May, http://www.safarix.com/0131860151/ch07lev1sec6> McDougall, P 2005, ‘Vietnam may be cheapest, but India is still a bargain’, InformationWeek,Manhasset, no. 1042, 6 June, p.20, viewed 1 May 2007, http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?act=Printclient=printerf=17t=95266> Mirza, H Giroud, A 2004, ‘Regional Integration and Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN Economies: The Case of Viet Nam’, Asian Development Review, Manila, vol. 21, no. 1, p.66 Sen, R Islam, MS 2005-2006, ‘Southeast Asia in the global wave of outsourcing: trends, opportunities, and challenges’, Regional Outlook, Southeast Asia, Singapore, p.75. Page 1 [1] ‘Asia: Plenty to smile about; Vietnam’ 2007, The Economist, London, no. 382, no. 8522,31 March, p.76, viewed 1 May 2007, http://ykien.net/blog> [2] ‘Vietnam: Country forecast summary’ 2007, EIU ViewsWire, New York, 27 February, viewed 1 May 2007, http://www.economist.com/countries/Vietnam/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Economic Data> [3] Sen, R Islam, MS 2005-2006, ‘Southeast Asia in the global wave of outsourcing: trends, opportunities, and challenges’, Regional Outlook, Southeast Asia, Singapore, p.75. [4] Mirza, H Giroud, A 2004, ‘Regional Integration and Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN Economies: The Case of Viet Nam’, Asian Development Review, Manila, vol. 21, no. 1, p.66 [5] Keat, GP Young KYP 2000, Managerial Economics – Economic Tool for Today’s Decision Makers, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, United States, p. 331. [6] Keat Young, 2000, p. 371 [7] Keat Young 2000, p. 322 [8] Hiebert, M 1991, ‘The Drop-Out Factor: An Education Crisis Follows Economic Reforms; No Jobs for the Boys: Young Face Long-Term Unemployment Despite Reforms’, Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong, 19 September. [9] Hiebert, 1991. [10] Fox, T 1989, ‘Come Ye Back To Mandalay’, Financial World.New York, vol. 158, no. 10, 16 May,p.38. [11] Sen Islam, 2005-2006. [12] McDougall, P 2005, ‘Vietnam may be cheapest, but India is still a bargain’, InformationWeek,Manhasset, no. 1042, 6 June, p.20, viewed 1 May 2007, http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?act=Printclient=printerf=17t=95266> [13] Sen Islam 2005-2006. [14] Sen Islam 2005-2006. [15] Sen Islam 2005-2006. [16] Sen Islam 2005-2006. [17] Mirza Giroud, 2004 [18] Mirza Giroud, 2004

Thursday, September 19, 2019

A Critique of Thank You for Smoking? :: Critical Essays

A Critique of â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† Peter Brimelow’s â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† had me interested from the title alone. This essay lists a few of the benefits that can occur from smoking. Bimelow is aware of the many dangers of smoking as he acknowledges â€Å"the Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that ‘second hand smoke’ is a significant risk for nonsmokers and the Food & Drug Administration is making noises about regulating nicotine as a drug† (The Genre of Argument 141). Brimelow’s essay gives some reasons why and how smoking can be beneficial in some small ways. The message Brimelow is trying to get out is that, â€Å"smoking might be, in some small ways, good for you† (141). Brimelow uses words and phrases such as â€Å"might be† and â€Å"some† to narrow down his major claim. Brimelow’s major claim that smoking can be healthy in some ways. In some studies, certain cancers have been shown to appear less in sm okers than nonsmokers. This leads us to believe that smoking may be beneficial in some ways. I think this essay is successful because of the evidence presented along with the narrow major claim. The author’s purpose in this essay is to show how smoking can be beneficial in some ways. Brimelow presents his credibility with studies from the International Journal of Epidemiology, New England Journal of Medicine, and Journal of the American Medical Association (Brimelow 142). He notes that smoking can both calm and stimulate people. Smoking has been shown to calm people while driving if they take long puffs. Smoking has also been shown to stimulate if taken in quick, short puffs. Brimelow reiterates this by telling us that â€Å"Current understanding is that nicotine is ‘amphoteric’ –that is, it can act to counter both conditions, depending on how it is consumed† (142). This is a reason how smoking can be beneficial. I would not think smoking could be beneficial in any way. However, Brimelow achieved his purpose in this essay and may have changed my mind. He used reliable resources for his evidence with studies that astonished me. I did not know some studies have shown some cancers to occur 50% less in smokers than nonsmokers. He gives a valid argument with these studies along with a theoretical example which I am still thinking about. A Critique of Thank You for Smoking? :: Critical Essays A Critique of â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† Peter Brimelow’s â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† had me interested from the title alone. This essay lists a few of the benefits that can occur from smoking. Bimelow is aware of the many dangers of smoking as he acknowledges â€Å"the Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that ‘second hand smoke’ is a significant risk for nonsmokers and the Food & Drug Administration is making noises about regulating nicotine as a drug† (The Genre of Argument 141). Brimelow’s essay gives some reasons why and how smoking can be beneficial in some small ways. The message Brimelow is trying to get out is that, â€Å"smoking might be, in some small ways, good for you† (141). Brimelow uses words and phrases such as â€Å"might be† and â€Å"some† to narrow down his major claim. Brimelow’s major claim that smoking can be healthy in some ways. In some studies, certain cancers have been shown to appear less in sm okers than nonsmokers. This leads us to believe that smoking may be beneficial in some ways. I think this essay is successful because of the evidence presented along with the narrow major claim. The author’s purpose in this essay is to show how smoking can be beneficial in some ways. Brimelow presents his credibility with studies from the International Journal of Epidemiology, New England Journal of Medicine, and Journal of the American Medical Association (Brimelow 142). He notes that smoking can both calm and stimulate people. Smoking has been shown to calm people while driving if they take long puffs. Smoking has also been shown to stimulate if taken in quick, short puffs. Brimelow reiterates this by telling us that â€Å"Current understanding is that nicotine is ‘amphoteric’ –that is, it can act to counter both conditions, depending on how it is consumed† (142). This is a reason how smoking can be beneficial. I would not think smoking could be beneficial in any way. However, Brimelow achieved his purpose in this essay and may have changed my mind. He used reliable resources for his evidence with studies that astonished me. I did not know some studies have shown some cancers to occur 50% less in smokers than nonsmokers. He gives a valid argument with these studies along with a theoretical example which I am still thinking about.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Imaginary Journey in Dantes Divine Comedy :: Divine Comedy Inferno Essays

Imaginary Journey in Dante's Divine Comedy Dante's Divine Comedy is a moral comedy that is designed to make the readers think about their own morals. The poem could have been used almost as a guide for what and what not to do to get into Heaven for the medieval people. Dante takes the reader on a journey through the "afterlife" to imprint in the readers minds what could happen to them if they don't follow a Godlike life and to really make the reader think about where they will go when they die and where they would like to go when they die. In the Divine Comedy, Dante uses his imagination and his knowledge of the people's perception of the "afterlife" to create a somewhat realistic yet somewhat imaginary model of the afterlife. In the first lines of the Divine Comedy, Dante says "In the middle of the journey of our life I came to my senses in a dark forest, for I had lost the straight path."(Dante 1416 lines 1-3) This is the typical stereotype of today for when a person becomes "lost" or consumed in sin. The sinful life is a dark life and a sinless life is a bright, white, and pure life. Dante's coming to his senses in a dark forest symbolizes his realizing how "lost" in sin he truly was and realizing that he needed to do something about it, meaning he needed to go through the seven sacraments so that he could become pure enough to see God in Paradise and not have to spend and eternity in Hell. Dante realized that he had strayed from the true faith without realizing it, not knowing exactly how it happened, and is trying to return. Losing the straight path symbolizes losing the holy, pure, or Godlike life. Darkness is more or less a symbol of evil and light or brightness a symbol for good. Throughout the poem, Dante is advocating that man must consciously aim for righteousness and morality. People can often become so involved with day-to-day living that they will fall into a life consumed with sin. Man must always be aware of his need to perform righteously. The dark forest symbolizes a human life where every waking moment is not consciously devoted to morals and righteousness. The Inferno is probably the most realistic section of the Divine Comedy because it comes closer to fitting the people's perception of what Hell is really like then than Purgatory and Paradise do.