Research about Government Expenditure in a country and then compare it Essay

Research about Government Expenditure in a country and then compare it to another country - Essay Example This is managed by the central state and its ministries, regional and local authorities, separate public bodies and international organizations. The management of budget and finance is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and that of the Central Bank that exercises control on its use and allocation. This is done through a legislated agreement whereby all revenues are deposited to a Central Bank and could be withdrawn only through a legislature. This study will focus on the impact of budgeting processes in the developing countries Sample steps of budget preparations to show how government expenditure is planned and implemented will also be discussed The line budgeting system requires a listing of expenditures for the coming year. These are itemized according to objects of expenditures and quite often detailed as to where the budget item will be used for instance, how much money will be spent by the agency for personnel services, travel, maintenance, equipment and others. This system has been designed so that an agency will not overspend on their allocated budget for a specific item in a specified year. The advantage of the system is it is simple, easy to understand, expenses are controlled and expenditures are comparable with prior years. While this type of budget management is simple and easy, World Bank sees its limitations such that it should be reformed to cope with the advancement of a rapidly and technologically changing world. WB experts see that line budgeting offers no explanations where budget has been spent; neither will it provide information on the programs implemented. It is short-sighted, as it is programmed for short term, e.g. one year, and does not take into account long-term approach. Upon recognizing the limitations of line budget, another approach focused on performance basis was tried. This time, the activities of the agency is tied up with the budget. The basis of budget decisions depends on what

City of God vs. The Protestant Reformations Essay Example for Free

City of God vs. The Protestant Reformations Essay Introduction: The belief that God is present to the human mind and soul, and can be found is part of the Christian tradition. Many Christian philosophers seem to regard this as the concern only of specially devout persons and of no interest for philosophical purposes. The evidence for it, they think, it too slender to be taken seriously by academic philosophers without particular interest in religion, who tend to regard anything in the nature of religious experience as suspect. So, philosophical discussions about religion are usually concerned with rational arguments for and against theism, usually of a technical kind. In this article, I want to discuss the Augustine world with the reformist will as proposed by Martin Luther. One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian thought, The City of God is vital to an understanding of modern Western society and how it came into being. Begun in A.D. 413 by Saint Augustine, the great theologian who was bishop of Hippo, the books initial purpose was to refute the charge that Christianity was to blame for the fall of Rome (which had occurred just three years earlier). Augustines City of God, a monumental work of religious lore, philosophy, and history, was written as a kind of literary tombstone for Roman culture. After the downfall of Rome, Augustine wrote this book to portray the corruption of Romans pursuit of earthly pleasures: grasping for praise, open-handed with their money; honest in the pursuit of wealth, they wanted to hoard glory. Augustine contrasts his condemnation of Rome with an exaltation of Christian culture. The glory that Rome failed to attain will only be realized by citizens of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. On the other hand Hans J. Hillerbrand in his book â€Å"The Protestant Reformation† says When the reformers who had first ventured a new interpretation of the gospel had passed from the scene, the question which had haunted the Reformation from its very inceptionwhere is truth?was still contested by the proponents of the old and the new faith. But one fact was beyond dispute: Western Christendom was tragically dividedinto no less than five religious factions.Though these divisions were the result of intense religious conviction, they could not help but lessen the intensity of religious belief in Europe. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was the last period in the history of Western civilization when men were preoccupied with religion, argued it, fought and even died for it. Its consequences are still with us†. Argument: The two cities in city of God and the two wills in Lutheranism No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than the â€Å"City of God†. Since medieval Europe has been the cradle of todays Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for an understanding of our world and how it came into being. St. Augustine is often regarded as the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, and this book highlights upon a vast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldliness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil: the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind on the relations of church and state, and on the Christians place in the temporal order. It is more than a question of setting down on paper a series of abstract principles and then applying them in practice. Christianity is more than a moral code, more than a philosophy, more than a system of rites. Although it is sufficient, in the abstract, to divide the Catholic religion into three aspects and call them creed, code and cult, yet in practice, the integral Christian life is something far more than all this. It is more than a belief; it is a life. That is to say, it is a belief that is lived and experienced and expressed in action. The action in which it is expressed, experienced and lived is called a mystery. This mystery is the sacred drama which keeps ever present in history the Sacrifice that was once consummated by Christ on Calvary. In plain wordsif you can accept them as plainChristianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men and in the heart of society. It is this Christ-life, this incorporation into the Body of Christ, this union with His death and resurrection as a matter of conscious experience, that St. Augustine wrote of in his Confessions. But Augustine not only experienced the reality of Christ living in his own soul. He was just as keenly aware of the presence and action, the Birth, Sacrifice, Death and Resurrection of the Mystical Christ in the midst of human society. And this experience, this vision, if you would call it that, qualified him to write a book that was to be, in fact, the autobiography of the Catholic Church. That is what The City of God is. Just as truly as the Confessions are the autobiography of St. Augustine, The City of God is the autobiography of the Church written by the most Catholic of her great saints. Evidently, the treatment of the theme is so leisurely and so meandering and so diffuse that The City of God, more than any other book, requires an introduction. The best we can do here is to offer a few practical suggestions as to how to tackle it. The first of these suggestions is this: since, after all, The City of God reflects much of St. Augustines own personality and is colored by it, the reader who has never met Augustine before ought to go first of all to the Confessions. Once he gets to know the saint, he will be better able to understand Augustines view of society. Then, no one who is not a specialist, with a good background of history or of theology or of philosophy, ought not to attempt to read the City, for the first time, beginning at page one. The living heart of the City is found in Book Nineteen, and this is the section that will make the most immediate appeal to us today because it is concerned with the theology of peace. However, Book Nineteen cannot be understood all by itself. The best source for solutions to the most pressing problems it will raise is Book Fourteen, where the origin of the two Cities is sketched, in an essay on original sin. On the other hand the protestant reformation deals with the religious movement which made its appearance in western Europe in the sixteenth century, and which, while ostensibly aiming at an internal renewal of the church, really led to a great revolt against it, and an abandonment of the principal Christian beliefs. The causes of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century must be sought as far back as the fourteenth. The doctrine of the church, it is true, had remained pure; saintly lives were yet frequent in all parts of Europe, and the numerous beneficent medieval institutions of the church continued their course uninterruptedly. Whatever unhappy conditions existed were largely due to civil and profane influences or to the exercise of authority by ecclesiastics in civil spheres; they did not obtain everywhere with equal intensity, nor did they always occur simultaneous in the same country. Ecclesiastical and religious life exhibited in many places vigor and variety; works of education and charity abounded; religious art in all its forms had a living force; domestic missionaries were many and influential; pious and edifying literature was common and appreciated. Gradually, however, and largely owing to the variously hostile spirit of the civil powers, fostered and heightened by several elements of the new order, there grew up in many parts of Europe political and social conditions which hampered the free reformatory activities of the church, and favored the bold and unscrupulous, who seized a unique opportunity to let loose all the forces of heresy and schism so long held in check by the harmonious action of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. Luthers theology is his understanding of God that can be summarized as Gottes Gottheit, which means God is God. In the deepest sense, Luther believes that God is above all and in all. God, through his creative power, reveals that he is free and immutable. He alone can bring life into existence. He alone sustains life. He alone freely wills. Moreover, what God wills can not be impeded or resisted by a mere creature. God is all-powerful and therefore, Gods will is alone immutable. Any person, therefore, that appeals to the freedom of human will attempts to usurp for themselves an attribute that belongs only to God. The free and immutable will of God is, in Luthers writings, fundamental to a right and proper faith. Without it, God is not God and Scripture would, therefore, have to be annulled. In BOW, Luther constantly emphasizes these two characteristics of the will of God and points out their significance for the Faith. In addition, Luther argues that God has two wills as pertains His nature: (1) the revealed will of His word and, (2) the hidden or inscrutable will. These characteristics of Gods will provide the basis for understanding and interpreting Luthers conviction that the human will is enslaved. For Luther, the free will of God is not simply Gods limitless and unobstructed ability to choose between any set of variables in any set of circumstances. Rather, it is Gods unique ability to transcend all these variables and circumstances to perform, or not perform, any action that He desires. Gods will is not contingent upon the will of any other being. In ceaseless activity, God creates the possibilities. As such, the free will of God is most plainly revealed to humanity through His creative acts. God freely chooses to create our present reality and likewise, He freely sustains this reality. In fact, reality does not exist except by the will of God. To this all-encompassing extent then, Luther asserts that God is all in all. Nothing is that God does not declare to be. And, it is this creative power that manifests Gods freedom, His free will. In recognizing Luthers pronounced emphasis on Gods sovereignty, Paul Althaus declares: â€Å"God is the first or principal cause, all others are only secondary or instrumental causes. They are only the tools which he uses in the service of his own autonomous, free, and exclusive working; they are only the masks under which he hides his activity†. The second characteristic of Gods   will that is crucial to Luthers understanding of the bondage of the human will, is its immutability. That is, Gods will can not be changed, altered or impeded. The immutability of Gods will is the logical conclusion to the freedom of Gods will. Gods sovereignty and almighty power demands that whatever God wills happens by necessity. Nothing occurs contingently. Gods will does not act independently of reality, as the human will does, but rather, Gods will creates reality. In Luthers theology, the will of God is not contingent and so likewise, the foreknowledge of God is also not contingent. For whatever God wills, he foreknows and so, whatever He foreknows must, by necessity, happen. For if it did not happen, then God would be fallible and His will contingent which Luther declares is not to be found in God!   It is the immutable will of God, acting freely, that provides the Christian with the assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1), namely that the promises of God will be fulfilled. As Luther suggests, the Christians chief and only comfort in every adversity lies in knowing that God does not lie, but brings all things to pass immutably, and that His will cannot be resisted, altered or impeded. Indeed, for Luther, the conviction that Gods will is free and immutable must be central to the Faith. Yet, Luthers theology presents a problem: if God wills everything and everything He wills comes to pass then one must conclude that God wills the salvation of few and the damnation of many (cf. Mt 22:14). Luther answered this dilemma by teaching that God has two wills, the revealed and the hidden. As Luther declares in BOW, Gods decree to damn the undeserving . . . [who are] compelled by natural necessity to sin and perish does indeed seem horrible. Moreover, all rational and philosophical knowledge of God can not avoid the terrible reality of this conclusion, for as Luther concedes, the injustice of God . . . is traduced as such by arguments which no reason or light of nature can resist. Luther understands this horrible decree in light of Gods justice in two ways. For Luther, the answer to these questions is twofold: (1) we must simply believe that Gods justice is righteous because in Christ God has proven His love and compassion and, (2) we should not probe into the hidden or inscrutable will of God wherein God operates paradoxically, i.e. righteousness made evident through unrighteousness. Luthers twofold answer to the questions of damnation reveals a high view of Gods sovereignty and majesty. Moreover, the answer is in accordance with Luthers view that Gods will is uniquely free and immutable. The answer also demands that the Christian simply trust in God. The Christian must believe all that is revealed in Scripture, not merely those things that are pleasant to the senses, and as such, we are compelled to accept the fact that God actively chooses to reject certain people. Nevertheless, if God has said in His Word that He is loving and gracious, and He has revealed himself to be such through His forbearance with the Israelites and the glorious plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, but what right can we judge the manner in which God oversees and sustains the world? For Luther, this is precisely the point at which the Christian must heed the words of God, spoken through the prophet Isaiah: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa 55:8-9). Luther would likewise appeal to Gods answer to Job in Job 38-41 and the words of Paul in Romans 9:20 as yet other examples of the futility of comprehending the incomprehensible and inscrutable will of God. Luther, therefore, answers the critics of predestination and defends Gods decree to affect unbelief in people by appealing to this inscrutable wisdom and will of God, a will that cannot be understood by any attempt of human reason. Because God is God, He has the right to condemn man for sins that God works in Him.10 And so, it is by faith that the Christian simply trusts that God is righteous, loving and gracious in so working. Luther consoles the Christian by exhorting them to look only to the revealed will of God that promises salvation to all who receive Christ. Thus, He does not will the death of a sinner-that is, in His Word; but He wills it by His inscrutable will. At present, however, we must keep in view His Word and leave alone His inscrutable will; for it is by His Word, and not by His inscrutable will, that we must be guided. Yet, for Luther, knowing that God does possess a hidden and inscrutable will of God provides valuable insights for the Christian. The inscrutable will of God tempers the revealed will of God. The doctrine of the free, immutable and inscrutable will of God, therefore, contributes three important foundations to the Christian Faith: (1) God is sovereign, all-powerful and therefore, even evil is under the sway of His goodness and as such, the Christian can be certain that the promises of God will be realized, (2) humanity is not free to earn or demand anything of God and so, Gods gift of salvation can truly be called free and gracious and, (3) the Christian, in response to these truths, is properly humbled and learns, in reverent adoration, to fear God, who acts freely and immutability for His glory. In consequence of his view of Gods will, Luthers view of the human will is necessarily placed in total subjection to the Divine. It is in this respect that Luther stands in contrast to Erasmus. Luthers discussion of this topic is theocentric, beginning with a discussion of God and His attributes whereas Erasmus belies an anthropocentric view, beginning with human experience. For Luther, that Gods will is immutable logically demands that mans will is mutable. For if Gods will is not contingent but immutable and free, no other will can be also be immutable and free otherwise these wills could impede one another and consequently, these wills would no longer be immutable and free but rather, they would be subject to one another. As such, Luther rightly proclaims the inconsistency of the term free will. In Luthers writings, there are three primary considerations to consider in evaluating the characteristics of the human will: (1) the human will is mutable, (2) as a consequence of the Fall, the human will is enslaved to sin and, (3) the human will requires the grace of God, offered through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ Jesus, to affect any positive change in a persons life. Luthers position on the Divine and human wills was not a small matter to him. In Table-Talk, Luther once stated in regards to his position that I know it to be the truth, though all the world should be against it; yea, the decree of Divine Majesty must stand fast against the gates of hell. The belief that humanity is enslaved to sin and that it is only by sovereign election that God saves a person formed the basis for Luthers conviction of justification by grace through faith. Grace is one the most important principles of biblical interpretation to Luther and no where is divine grace more evident than in the doctrine of election. And, it is this sola gratia principle of Luthers faith that preserves the eternal significance of Christs death and resurrection. It is by his sacrifice, not by our own works, that God graciously extends salvation to the elect. As Luther often remarked, to assert the freedom of the will is to deny the necessity of Christs atoning work. Conclusion Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. By means of his contrast of the earthly and heavenly citiesthe one pagan, self-centered, and contemptuous of God and the other devout, God-centered, and in search of graceAugustine explored and interpreted human history in relation to eternity. Saint Augustine examines the failure of Roman religion and the flaws in human civilization, thus creating the first Christian philosophy of history. Against the city, i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King Davids psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the city of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two cities, two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:   The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self. XIV:13. The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head. (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . . References 1. http://www.newadvent.org The Catholic encyclopedia The Journal Of Religion, J. Jeffery Tyler, volume 85, Part 1(2005), pages 317 – 319 Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Translation of 2nd edition by Robert C. Schultz. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1966 . Luthers Works, Volume 31: Career of the Reformer I. ed. Philip S. Watson. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1957.

The Cold War: Effect on Political Discourse

The Cold War: Effect on Political Discourse With the end of the Cold war in 1989, has there been more openness in the discourse of deterrence or in warring words? Introduction The Cold War has been described as a nearly fifty-year war of words and wills, (Maus, 2003: 13). It was a period during which most individuals lived in constant fear that the bomb would be dropped, effectively obliterating life as we know it. Direct combat itself was a very small part of this war: The Cold War, fought with national ideologies, economic posturing and infinite defense budgets, festered without any combat or mass casualties (at least among the superpowers) throughout the latter half of the 20th century before finally coming to a head in the mid-80s (Hooten n.d.). When the Cold War finally came to its ultimate end, the words of war shifted in meaning. Warring words continued to be part of the popular vocabulary, but their connotations had changed, and their definitions shifted. The discourse of deterrence faded away, as there was no longer a need for it. This paper will discuss the ways in which the Cold War has affected not only the history of the world, but also the hi story of the words that changed along with it. The Words of War The language we use to describe the things we do is a significant reflection of who we are at a given time in the culture. Communication is an essential tool for human beings, as we are highly social creatures by nature. The need to communicate is an integral part of our composition. However, in the course of transferring information to one another, there is always a margin of error. This means that miscommunication is bound to occur. According to Coupland, Wiemann, and Giles, language use and communication are in fact pervasively and even intrinsically flawed, partial and problematic (1991: 3). Because communication is so important to humans as a species, it is only natural that miscommunication brings with it some sort of consequence. This is a universal concept, and it affects all of us on a very basic level. As Banks, Ge, and Baker assert, ones theoretical orientation is of no importance in this respect: A key sense of miscommunication, however, regardless of ones theoretical orientation, is something gone awry communicatively that has social consequences for the interactants; without social consequences, the phenomenon would be of trivial interest (1991: 105). As a result, conflict is inevitable in society, and a worst-case scenario of conflict is, of course war. War is more than a militaristic action that is played out with bullets and bombs as tools. Words, too, are very much a part of any war effort, and they can be very powerful as weapons. The Cold War has been described as a nearly fifty-year war of words and wills, as both sides aggressively tried to promote and protect their respective ideologies at home and abroad while always remaining aware of the repercussions of pushing the limits too far (Maus, 2003: 13). How did this war of words manage to continue for so long without reaching the stage of physical combat? One perspective on this is offered by Grimshaw, who asserts that so long as conflict talk is sustained (i.e., if participants do not withdraw) it does not seem to be the case that hostility (‘ugliness’) will increase without some concomitant increase in intensity (1990: 295). During the nearly fifty years duration of the Cold War, neither opponent was willing to back down, yet neither one was willing to plunge into what might turn into a major war with dire, irreversible consequences. It was primarily a war fought with words and bravado, a dramatic opus played on an international stage. In fact, the Cold War was fought with national ideologies, economic posturing and infinite defense budgets, festered without any combat or mass casualties (Hooten, n.d.). This is in keeping with Grimshaws assertion that, although disagreements can reach high levels of emotional upheaval, they do not necessarily have to result in physical interaction. Friendly disputes can get quite ‘hot’; at least to some point they can apparently increase in intensity without the occurrence of hostility’ (Grimshaw, 1990: 295). The ever-present fear of nuclear obliteration may have had a great deal to do with this abeyance of action. Much of the world was still numbed by the disastrous tragedy that this power had wrought in the past, and there was great consternation at the thought of reaching a level of conflict that would require use of it again. Therefore, the Cold War remained a war of words. Words, of course, are more than mere utterances. We communicate a great about ourselves when we use them—more than the actual message we are seeking to convey at any given time. As Halliday explains, ‘in all languages, words, sounds and structures tend to become charged with social value (1978: 166). In states of conflict, Halliday asserts that individuals tend to develop a code of words that not only reflects that conflict, but also helps the individual to come to terms with it on some level. He refers to this code of words as an antilanguage, and he asserts that it is to be expected that, in the antilanguage, the social values will be more clearly foregrounded’ (Halliday, 1978: 166). Since the purpose of an antilanguage is to give individuals an alternative reality that is acceptable to them, the theory may be applied to the language of the Cold War. Living with the constant threat of nuclear war is an unbearable state of mind for most individuals; therefore, they must create a world that is more livable to them. This concept is echoed in the writings of Lemert and Branaman, who assert that: ‘Whatever his position in society, the person insulates himself by blindnesses, half-truths, illusions, and rationalizations. He makes an â€Å"adjustment† by convincing himself, with the tactful support of his intimate circle, that he is what he wants to be and that he would not do to gain his ends what the others have done to gain theirs’ (1997: 109). Hence, the development of this different worldview is basically a survival mechanism during a time of great uncertainty and turmoil. The widely respected historian Hobsbawm has explained that generations grew up under the shadow of global nuclear battles which, it was widely believed, could break out any moment, and devastate humanity (1996: 194). The fear that this knowledge brought to individuals naturally affected them on a very deep level. Through the use of an antilanguage, they were able to go on with the activities of daily life by designing a safe cocoon of illusory safety in which they could feel—or pretend to feel—safe. As Halliday puts it, a social dialect is the embodiment of a mildly but distinctly different worldview—one which is therefore potentially threatening, if it does not coincide with one’s own’ (1978: 179). Post-Cold War Language When the five decades of decades of this war came to an end in 1989, the attitudes in place in society necessarily underwent a change, and that change was reflected in the language used as well. The fall of communism in Europe, combined with the end of the Cold War, were enough to bring new hope to the people of the United States. According to Mason, the vicious circle of threats and distrust was replaced by a new spiral of trust and reassurance (1992: 187). In this mostly positive atmosphere, the constant threat of nuclear attack abated, and people were able to breathe more easily. The words of war lost the impact they once had. As Hooten has explained, the words of war were tinged with fear, helplessness, and frustration throughout the years of the Cold War. After it ended, the words did not disappear from the language, but began to take on new connotations The words of war were once the moral and emotional defense of the nation, corresponding with the real memories and motivations of an embattled citizenry, asserts Hooten. After 1989, as images of war receded from the American psyche, the language of war invaded the common lexicon of America (Hooten, n.d.). Examples of this are ubiquitous, and have become so common that we are often barely conscious of it. For example, words such as defend and bomb, which were once tainted by the association with war, have taken on new and less menacing uses. During the second half of the twentieth century, people may have felt a constant need to be ready to defend themselves in case of nuclear attack. Post-Cold War use of this word became something different: a politician may defend his platform. The constant concern and ever-present worry about dropping the bomb during the Cold War era has resulted in a transformation of this word as well: Consider again the numerous, non-militant ways in which the word bomb is used: â€Å"Frat brothers get bombed on a Saturday night.† â€Å"Your new car is ‘da bomb.† â€Å"Did you see that comedian bomb on Letterman last night?† â€Å"The quarterback threw a long bomb to win the game (Hooten, n.d.). Conclusion Language has changed since the nearly fifty years of the Cold War era. Notice, for example, the language of Reagans Star Wars Speech, which was delivered on March 23, 1983: Deterrence means simply this: making sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States, or our allies, or our vital interests, concludes that the risks to him outweigh any potential gains (1983: 250). In contemporary times, deterrence can mean many things, most of which do not pertain to war at all. In a similar vein, many of the violent definitions associated with warring words have fallen out of use. These words have become part of the common lexicon, used to describe the quotidian events of daily life without any sense of impending doom. Words such as battle, bomb, defend, and massacre, have lost the potency they held during the years of the Cold War. They have taken on new, less menacing definitions and uses. Language is an integral part of the human experience. The language we use to describe the things we do is a significant reflection of who we are at a given time in the culture. Because we are highly social by nature, communication is vitally important as a tool for human beings. The need to communicate is an integral part of our composition. However, as noted earlier, in the course of transferring information to one another, there is always a margin of error. This means that miscommunication is bound to occur. Consequently, for miscommunication to have impact, it is not likely to be a perturbation of smooth performance that is repaired in the current interaction (Banks, Ge and Baker 1991: 105). References Coupland, N., Giles, H., and Wiemann, J.M. (Eds.). 1991. Miscommunication and Problematic Talk London: Sage. Banks, Stephen P., Ge, Gao, Baker, Joyce. 1991. Intercultural Encounters and Miscommunication. In: Coupland, N., Giles, H., and Wiemann, J.M. (Eds.) Miscommunication and Problematic Talk. London: Sage, 103–120. Grimshaw, Allen. 1990. ‘Research on conflict talk: antecedents, resources, findings, directions’. A. Grimshaw (ed.), Conflict talk: Sociolinguistic investigations of arguments in conversations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 280–324. Gumperz, John and Jenny Cook-Gumperz. 1982. ‘Introduction: language and the communication of social identity. Pp. 1–21 in Gumperz, John, ed. 1982. Language and social identity. London: Cambridge University Press. Halliday, M.A.K. 1978. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold Publishers. Hobsbawm, Eric. 1996. The Cold War Was a Relatively Stable Peace. Pp. 193–198 in  191 in Maus, Derek, ed. 2003, The Cold War. London: Greenhaven Press. Hooten, Jon. n.d. Fighting Words: The War Over Language.  Retrieved January 13, 2006, from  http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/printerfriendly/2002-09-10-warlanguage.shtml Lemert, Charles and Branaman, Ann, eds. 1997. The Goffman Reader. Oxford: Blackwell. Mason, David. 1992. The Last Years of the Soviet Union. Pp. 179–191 in Maus, Derek, ed. 2003, The Cold War. London: Greenhaven Press. Maus, Derek, ed. 2003. The Cold War. London: Greenhaven Press. Reagan, Ronald, 1983. The Star Wars Speech. Document 22 in Maus, Derek, ed. 2003, The Cold War. London: Greenhaven Press.

arab women :: essays research papers

For many generations, women vowed to give their all, and instead of receiving the equal treatment of love and appreciation, they were oppressed and degraded. In Egypt, a woman did not have the right to divorce herself; therefore, she had to put up with all the humiliation, mistreatment, unfairness, and inequality everyday. Today, women are celebrating the new law of â€Å"Khul’†, which gives the woman the right to divorce herself with or without her oppressor’s consent, but the question is: does the woman become really free? In our parents days, women had truly suffered extremely damaging marriages, being totally helpless and with no power. Some women tried to use their parents, others used the police, and some just accepted bad marriages as their fate. In the cases where the husband treats his wife aggressively by beating and causing injuries, the woman can provide evidence by police records and hospital certificates, but men always refute these evidence by saying that the wife caused these injuries herself. Thanks to the khul’ law women can finally move a step forward in gaining their rights, while moving closer to equality with men. However, we also see that many other factors still affect a woman’s decision of whether or not to get a divorce, and some consequences of freely taking this decision. In the Egyptian society, the marriage relationship is a very sacred one. It assembles between a man and a woman who are supposed to have common characteristics and their relation to be built on mutual understanding. Accordingly, almost all couples experience a happy and comfortable life in their earliest years of marriage. However, after they become accustomed to each other, the defects of each begin to appear and they may reach a point where they are unable to tolerate each other, let alone live and raise a family together. So, problems arise and lead to divorce. Yet, divorce is extremely problematic for women for several reasons. First, women’s families and the society do not accept divorce easily. Second, men have the right of divorce whenever they want. Third, according to the old divorce law, women used to face many problems in courts to obtain divorce. But according to the new law khul’, women will be able to obtain their freedom easily, and they will be able to f ace their families and society by the force of law and Islamic Shariaa.

Social Responsibility of Business

However, in the 21st century it is a firms' responsibility to create a broader range of value along what is called the Triple Bottom Line, which consists of people, planet, and profits. Although financial profit is vital for a firm to exist, the intangible benefits that come from operating with society and the environment in mind go way beyond pure financial gain. As a manager, hiring hard-working and competent individuals to work for your firm is obviously important, but it is often not enough.Your employees are takeovers Just like you, your customers, your suppliers, and even the firm's shareholders. Taking their concerns into consideration, and allowing them to express themselves openly and honestly can make them much happier employees. Happy employees provide better quality customer service, which leads to happier customers. Happier customers lead to more business, which leads to happy investors. In other words, making your employees happy can have prosperous results.Although con ducting â€Å"green† business is expensive and may require costly investments depending on what industry a firm is in, we are obligated as a planet to move in that direction. Practices like pollution and deforestation, along with byproducts like CA emissions are very rough on the environment, and unless we engage in cleaner, more sustainable practices, we may cause irreversible damage to the planet. A quote comes to mind, although I don't remember where I heard it from: â€Å"If you think economics is more important than the environment, try counting your money while holding your breath. Yes, it's a bit extreme, but it effectively puts the importance of the environment into perspective, and reminds us that there are future generations relying on our consideration and treatment of the environment. I hope that businesses in the 21st century will take more accommodative and proactive strategies toward CARS practices than their historical counterparts. Due to the costly nature o f CARS related activities, I doubt that all organizations will truly support CARS activities, and will continue to take reactive and defensive stances regarding CARS.Being realistic, however, we can see that CARS is becoming a hot topic mongo firms around the world, which means Coos and other shareholders are likely to begin to push their company's in that direction. It may be because the shareholders are genuinely concerned with ongoing social issues and the sustainability of our environment, or it may be because the CEO simply wants to promote their company in a positive way to the public. Either way, it seems that CARS will become much more accepted and practiced as the 21st century progresses. Both the benefits of implementing CARS activities and the inevitable costs of ignoring them cannot be denied.

History of Planes essays

History of Planes essays Have you ever wondered who was the first person to make a flying machine? It was not the Wright brother. If you want to know just keep reading more about the history of the planes and how it evolved. Whenever I see a plane the first question that comes to mind is "What is causing that thing to stay off of the ground?" Well I finally discovered the answer. When a plane flies there are four forces at work that keep the plane flying. These forces are lift, thrust, gravity, and drag. Airplane wings are created with a special design called an airfoil. The airfoil design bulges out more on the top than on the bottom. This causes the air that hits the wing to go off into two different streams, one that goes over the top and one that goes under, and they both meet up in the back. The air moving over the top of the wing is caused to go faster than the slower moving air on the bottom. Faster moving air has less pressure, so this causes the pressure on the bottom of the wing to be greater and the plane is lifted. This effect is known as the Bernoulli Principle. This principle was developed by Daniel Bernoulli who was a Swiss mathematician and physician. He developed the principle in the 18th century. When a plane creates lift it overcomes the force of gravity that is pulling the plane down. Air pressure plays a big part in flight also. When you think about flight you have to realize that air pressure is a force pushing on every square inch of an airplane. When a plane is parked the air pressure is distributed evenly around the plane's surface. When a plane is in flight the pressure on top of the wings pushes down less and the pressure on the bottom of the wings pushes more. This is what causes the plane to feel a lift. Another force that has a great part in flight is drag. Drag is the force pulling the plane backwards. Drag is created when the air collides with the airplanes wings and creates fricti...