the best movie I have ever seen

In my personal opinion Avatar is the best movie I have ever seen. I loved everything about the movie, especially the state-of-the-art technology. When I first saw the trailer for Avatar there were no famous actors in it but the thing that did draw me into seeing it was the amazing scenery. Most of the scenery in the movie reminded me of a tropical rain forest except the rain forest literally jumps out at you. After I saw Avatar for the first time with my older brother and dad, I felt like walking outside and hugging a tree. The director James Cameron has been working on this film for more than 15 years and a budget over 300 million. James Cameron’s Avatar is like nothing you have ever seen. The movie unfolds on a digitally created world called Pandora, the craziest world you can’t even imagine. Huge rock formations hang miles above the ground with waterfalls running off them into the air; flowers that look out of this world hide in the ground if you so much as touch them; little floating flowers that swim through the air like little jellyfish off the sacred tree. Since the movie is in 3D most of this beautiful scenery dances before your eyes. On the beautiful plant of Pandora, humans seek to find mineral deposits of Petroleum which is worth more than diamonds. The problem is not finding the Petroleum it’s the native forest people called the Na‘Vi. The Na’Vi live in a tree that’s as big as a skyscraper, the huge tree is sitting on top of the richest Petroleum deposits. The military wants to take action to force the Na’Vi out of their homes but the scientists urge the military to let them try a more diplomatic approach before they take action. This is where the scientist recruits a young paraplegic soldier, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), to infiltrate them by linking his mind to one of their bodies, genetically bred by the army for the purpose. They put Jake in a device that lets him control one of the Na’Vi bodies so he can move among their people and earn their trust. While all this is happening Jake is safe at the military base sitting in this machine for hours like a vegetable. The reason why they choose Jake for this assignment is because his older brother was on this mission but died. The military didn’t want to get rid of the avatar so they found his twin brother Jake to help. Jake acts as a spy for the humans learning the ways of the Na’Vi but in time falls in love with the Na’Vi princess, he starts to wonder if he’s really on the right side. Most movies that I see I can easily predict what was about to happen or going to happen in the future. But I could never have guessed most of the things that happened. When I saw Avatar it was like I was in this futuristic dream that I couldn’t escape from, not that I wanted to even leave for a second to go to the bathroom. I remember having to go to the bathroom really bad after drinking a large coke; I held it in for most of the movie until I couldn’t any longer. Avatar has been nominated for 9 Oscar awards. Those nominations are best art direction, best cinematography, best directing, best film editing, best original score, best picture, best sound editing, best sound mixing and best visual effects. There were no performance nominations; I’m not surprised at this because the visual effects and graphics are what draw you in to see the movie. In my opinion the acting wasn’t good or bad it was just ok. I think this movie would have done much better than it has if Cameron higher some better known actors such as Leonardo Dicaprio. Above all I would highly recommend going to see this big-budget mainstream film. If you can go to the loudest, biggest, brightest theater you can find and if you go deaf or blind from seeing this movie it will be well worth it.

Woning in Nederland

Hoe werkt het huren new wave een woning in Nederland?Het huren van een woning houdt in, digital audiotape je geen eigenaar new wave een woning set, maar dat je tegen betaling in een huis woont digital audiotape eigendom new wave een verhuurder of woningcorporatie is. Tussen een huurder nut een verhuurder wordt een huurcontract afgesloten.HuurcontractWanneer een particuliere verhuurder of een woningcorporatie een woning aan iemand wil verhuren, moeten beide partijen rain trees een huurcontract opstellen. Hierin staan afspraken dice de verhuurder en huurder rain trees maken. Een huurcontract kan op twee manieren worden afgesloten:een mondelinge afspraakDit is lastig te bewijzen en vaak wordt Er dan ook gezorgd voor een eventuele getuige, om zo voor meer zekerheid Te zorgen.Een schriftelijke overeenkomstIn de meeste gevallen stellen de twee partijen rain trees een schriftelijk huurcontract op. Het voordeel new wave een schriftelijke overeenkomst is dat work forces, wanneer het nodig bli jkt, altijd naar de gemaakte afspraken kunt kijken. De volgende dingen maken deel uit new wave een huurcontract:Namen huurder + verhuurderDatum sluiten van de huurovereenkomstAdres van heated gehuurde, met omschrijvingManier new wave betalingAfspraken over onderhoudHuisregelsHoogte new wave huur ( en tijdstip wanneer deze eventueel verhoogd wordt )Een huurcontract kan voor onbepaalde tijd gelden, en is dan altijd opzegbaar. Dit is erg handig wanneer iemand graag flexibel woont. Op deze manier kan een dergelijk persoon gelijk verhuizen wanneer daar de behoefte voor is. Het is ook mogelijk digital audiotape het contract voor een bepaalde periode geldt. In een dergelijk geval kan het contract niet zomaar worden opgezegd, alleen wanneer beide partijen hiermee instemmen.HuurprijsDe prijs new wave een huurwoning hangt net ALSs bij een koopwoning new wave verschillende factoren af. De overheid heeft voor een huurwoning een puntensysteem gemaakt, zodat je aan de manus daarvan een maximale huurprijs kunt berekenen. Dit puntensysteem is terug te vinden in de booklet: huren new wave een woning 2009-2010. Bij dot puntensysteem spelen factoren ALSs grootte van de woning, ligging new wave de woning, de voorzieningen en omgeving new wave de woning een rol. De kale huurprijs wordt in heated huurcontract opgenomen. Behalve de kale huurprijs, komen er vaak ook peg andere kosten kijken bij het huren new wave een woning. Hierbij moet je bijvoorbeeld denken aan kosten voor elektriciteit en gas. Wanneer de huurder twijfelt of de prijs wel redelijk is en klopt, kan hij de huurcommissie inschakelen. Deze zullen vervolgens onderzoeken of de prijzen wel kloppen, en kunnen eventueel via de rechter een andere prijs afdingen.PrijsverhogingDe huur mag maximaal & A ; eacute ; & A ; eacute ; n keer per jaar verhoogd worden. Dit mag niet met een willekeurig bedrag gedaan worden ; er zit een maximal aan vast. Momenteel bedraagt de maximale verhoging 2,5 % . De verhuurder moet zijn voorstel voor de verhoging minstens dainty maanden new wave Te voren indienen.Kopen new wave een huurwoningHet is eventueel wel mogelijk een huurwoning over te kopen, maar een verhuurder hoeft hier niet mee akkoord Te gaan. Wanneer je een huurwoning wilt kopen, moet er wel een geldig taxatierapport worden opgesteld. Als er sprake is van een groep dezelfde woningen is & A ; eacute ; & A ; eacute ; n rapport voor Al deze woningen voldoende.Voordelen new wave een huurwoning:Flexibel wonen, work forces kan snel we er verhuizenGeen grote schuld waarover bovendien annuity betaald moet wordenNiet aansprakelijk voor alles, ook de verhuurder heeft verplichtingen omtrent onderhoudMinder risico doordat het huis niet new wave jouw is ( je kan niet in & A ; eacute ; & A ; eacute ; n keer zo veel vermogen verliezen )Nadelen new wave een huurwoning:Beperkt aanbod new wave huizenJe bouwt geen groot vermogen op zoals bij een koopwoningJe set niet vrij Te doen wat je wilt ( met je huis )Je hebt Te maken met een verhuurder ; je dead set afhankelijk new wave iemand andersHoe werkt het kopen new wave een woning in Nederland?Het kopen new wave een woning houdt in digital audiotape je eigenaar wordt new wave een huis, al dan niet met een lening. Wanneer je een huis gaat kopen, moet je allereerst een lijstje maken van punten waarvan jij vindt digital audiotape dice belangrijk voor de woning zijn. Vervolgens kun je huizen gaan bezichtigen en makkelijk volgens het lijstje kijken of een huis geschikt is.MakelaarWan neer Er een huis verkocht wordt, gebeurt dot altijd via een makelaar. Wanneer je op huizenjacht gaat, zul je dan ook contact hebben met de makelaar van de verkopende partij. Ook is heated mogelijk zelf de hulp van makelaar in te schakelen bij het zoeken en kopen van huis. Deze zal je daarbij dan begeleiden en kijken of alles wat de verkopende partij vertelt wel klopt. Een makelaar kan naast zijn andere taken ook nog ALSs taxateur optreden.Prijzen omtrent koophuizenBestaande woningWanneer je een bestaande woning new wave een andere particulier overneemt, zal Er vaak worden onderhandeld over de te betalen prijs. In de meeste gevallen komt Er een prijs tot stand die net iets onder de vraagprijs ligt. Ook kan het zijn digital audiotape work forces meer biedt dan de vraagprijs, omdat er behalve de objectieve waardeaanduiding new wave het taxatierapport ook emoties mee kunnen spelen. Behalve emoties kan er ook sprake zijn new wave een onrustige woningmarkt ; mensen bieden gelijk ( boven ) de vraagprijs, uit angst voor het verliezen new wave de kans op een woning. Dit kan problemen opleveren met de financiering, aangezien de taxateur het huis een lagere waarde heeft gegeven. Je moet Er dus meer voor betalen dan digital audiotape het waard is, en een verstrekker new wave een hypotheek rekening houdt met de prijs volgens de taxatie en niet met de prijs dice daadwerkelijk is betaald.Nieuwe woningBij een nieuwbouwwoning ligt de prijs in de meeste gevallen al vast. Meestal wordt Er dan ook niet meer onderhandeld over heated te betalen bedrag. Tegenwoordig worden Er veel huizenblokken gebouwd met allemaal dezelfde woningen, en deze worden ook allemaal voor een gelijke prijs verkocht. Onderhandelen is dan natuurlijk niet mogelijk. Bij een nieuwbouwwoning is er & A ; eacute ; & A ; eacute ; n gevaar ; het kan zijn digital audiotape het huis Al een tijd lang Te koop staat, en de verkopende partij kan dan een bedrag aan vervallen annuity bij de koopsom optellen. Wanneer je bijna zeker weet een bepaalde woning te kopen, is heated mogelijk Er een optie op Te nemen. Je hebt dan het recht new wave de eerste koop gedurende een aantal dagen. In deze dagen kun je noodzakelijke dingen peg regelen.KeuringenBouwkundige keuringWanneer je een bestaande woning besluit Te kopen kan het handig zijn eerst een bouwkundige keuring uit Te laten voeren. De staat new wave het huis wordt dan bekeken, en ALSs er problemen zijn zullen deze duidelijk worden.OpleveringskeuringWanneer work forces een nieuwe woning besluit Te kopen kan het handig zijn een opleveringskeuring uit Te laten voeren. Een nieuwe woning hoort natuurlijk geheel in orde Te zijn en een opleveringskeuring trial of dot ook daadwerkelijk het geval is.KoopcontractAls beide partijen rain trees tot een prijs zijn gekomen dient een overeenkomst schriftelijk vastgelegd Te worden. Dit gebeurt in een voorlopig koopcontract. De koper heeft dan nog drie dagen bedenktijd waarin hij de koop kan annuleren. Verd er is de naam voorlopig niet helemaal op zijn plaats, aangezien work forces het contract niet zomaar kan verbreken. Vaak moet Er dan bijvoorbeeld 10 % new wave de koopsom betaald worden.OverdrachtDe eerdere eigenaar new wave een woning moet de woning verlaten voor de datum waarop de papieren bij de notaris belanden om ondertekend Te worden en de overdracht daadwerkelijk plaats vindt. In sommige gevallen kan de toekomstige eigenaar zijn huis al eerder betreden. Koper en verkoper ondertekenen dan een sleutelverklaring ; de koper mag Al wel in het huis komen maar heeft peg geen eigendomspapieren.Financi & A ; euml ; lupus erythematosuss aspectWanneer work forces besluit een huis Te willen kopen, is daar een grote som geld voor nodig. Vaak kunnen mensen dot niet zomaar opbrengen, en dus moeten zij geld lenen. Voor een huis wordt vaak een langdurige lening afgesloten met een hoog bedrag. Een dergelijke lening noemen we ook wel een hypothecaire lening. Er zijn verschillende vormen hypothe ken, die voor verschillende groepen mensen geschikt zijn. Hiervan geven wij een aantal voorbeelden met daarbij de verschillende groepen dice erbij horen.AnnuiteitenhypotheekDeze hypotheek is aantrekkelijk voor jonge mensen, aangezien de lasten in het Begin lager zijn dan aan het einde new wave de looptijd. Het inkomen van deze jongere mensen zal waarschijnlijk nog stijgen, waardoor dot een ideale vorm voor biddy is.SpaarhypotheekDeze hypotheek houdt gedurende de looptijd continu dezelfde lasten, wat voor duidelijkheid zorgt. Bovendien neemt de rente van de lening gedurende de looptijd niet af, waardoor je new wave maximale belastingvoordeel gebruik kan maken. Deze hypotheek is dus aantrekkelijk voor mensen met een hoog loon, omdat zij meer voordeel hebben new wave de hypotheekrente aftrekLineaire hypotheekBij deze vorm new wave hypotheken worden de lasten lager gedurende de looptijd. Dit komt doordat je aflost, en daardoor het bedrag aan involvement afneemt. Deze hypotheek is aantre kkelijk voor mensen dice wat ouder zijn, zodat zij op heated minute digital audiotape zij met pensioen gaan, en dus minder verdienen, lagere lasten hebben.BeleggingshypotheekBij deze vorm new wave hypotheken loop je meer risico doordat Er niet wordt gespaard zoals bij een spaarhypotheek maar wordt belegd. Dit brengt risico ‘s met zich mee, aangezien de eindwaarde kan verschillen van het verwachte bedrag. Dit kan zowel positief ALSs negatief uitvallen. Deze vorm is aantrekkelijk voor mensen met veel geld, aangezien zij dot risico durven te lopen om misschien winst Te maken.Aflossingsvrije hypotheekBij deze hypotheek wordt Er niks afgelost tijdens de looptijd, en wordt alleen het bedrag aan involvement steeds betaald. Hierdoor zijn Er lage lasten, maar wordt Er geen Eigen vermogen opgebouwd en blijft de rente maximaal. Deze hypotheek is aantrekkelijk voor mensen met wat minder geld. Deze voorbeelden worden in de PO M & A ; O nog uitgebreid toegelicht, dot is slechts een klein stukje uitleg.Voordelen new wave een koopwoning:Je bouwt Eigen vermogen opJe kunt Er aan veranderen wat je wilte hebt geen last new wave een verhuurderNadelen new wave een koopwoning:In de meeste gevallen is een grote lening noodzakelijk, grote schuldJe betaalt veel annuity over een eventuele leningVerhuizen is een hoop werk ( woning verkopen en kopen )Al het onderhoud komt voor Eigen rekeningZo blijkt uiteindelijk digital audiotape Er heel wat komt kijken bij het kopen new wave een huis. Het inschakelen new wave een makelaar lijkt mij daarom toch wel verstandig. Deze weet wat Te doen en kan eventueel aan de bel trekken wanneer hij denkt digital audiotape de prijs te hoog is. Bovendien weet hij nog hoe de keuringen e.d. in hun werk gaan. Drie voorbeelden ( platteland, stad en achterwijk ) : huren of kopen?PlattelandOp het platteland komen zelden huurwoningen voor, en work forces zal dus in bijna moose geval over moeten gaan tot het kopen new wave een woning op het platteland. Vaak hoort Er bij een dergelijke woning ook nog een behoorlijk stuk grond, wat vervolgens ook heated eigendom new wave de koper wordt. Bovendien zijn de meeste mensen dice op zoek zijn naar een plattelandswoning niet op zoek naar een huurhuis, maar juist een koophuis. De kans is groot digital audiotape een huis op het platteland meer waard wordt, doordat Er steeds minder ruimte in Nederland is. Het kopen new wave een woning op het platteland lijkt mij verstandiger dan huren, wat bovendien ook bijna niet mogelijk is.StadIn bepaalde delen new wave de stad zijn veel woningen dice verhuurd worden. Zo wonen Er in sommige steden veel studenten, die er slechts een kortere periode willen wonen, en bovendien nog niet geschikt zijn voor een hypotheek. Wel zijn de huurprijzen in de steden vaak hoog waardoor het wellicht toch aantrekkelijk is om, eventueel rain trees met anderen, een huis Te kopen. De kans dat deze woning in waarde stijgt is ook behoorlijk groot, dus dan loont het uiteindelijk toch wel. Wel moet je dan over bepaalde financi & A ; euml ; le middelen beschikken, zodat je een hypotheek kunt nemen. Dit eventueel met de hulp van ouders. In heated centrum new wave een stad wonen veel verschillende groepen mensen, waarvoor het soms wel handig is een huis Te kopen, en in sommige gevallen een huurhuis beter is. Wanneer je de middelen hebt, lijkt het kopen new wave een woning in de stad mij een goede investering.AchterwijkIn deze delen wonen vaak wat armere mensen dice over vrij weinig financi & A ; euml ; le middelen beschikken. Zij komen vaak door een laag inkomen niet in aanmerking voor een hypotheek, en zullen daarom over moeten gaan tot het huren new wave een huis. Het kopen new wave een huis heeft hier ook niet heel erg veel zin, doordat een dergelijk huis vaak niet veel in waarde zal stijgen door z'n ligging. Het huren van een woning lijkt mij verstandig wanneer je in een achterwijk woont nut over weinig financi & A ; euml ; le middelen beschikt. oe pimple het met de regelgeving new wave de overheid omtrent het kopen of huren van een woning? Een fijne leefomgeving en prettige woning is belangrijk voor iedereen. Het ministerie new wave VROM ( Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieubeheer ) is heated Nederlandse ministerie digital audiotape toezicht houdt op onder andere de huisvesting in Nederland. De hoofdlijnen new wave het beleid worden door dot ministerie bepaald en op footing new wave deze richtlijnen worden regels en wetten opgesteld. De VROM-inspectie helpt gemeenten en woningcorporaties bij heated handhaven van de regels voor huisvesting. De huisvesting voor zwakkere groepen in de samenleving, woningcorporaties, huur- nut koopsubsidies en natuurlijk de hypotheekrenteaftrek zijn een aantal belangrijke agendapunten new wave dot ministerie. Bij deze deelvraag beperken we ons tot de huisvestingswet, de woningwet en bouwregelgeving.HuisvestingswetIn 1993 is in Nederland de huisvestingswet in werking gesteld. De regering is van mening digital audiotape de schaarse huizen rechtvaardig en evenwichtig onder de bev olking verdeeld moeten worden nut daarom is deze huisvestingswet opgesteld. De wet biedt gemeenten de mogelijkheid om de verdeling new wave woonruimte Te reguleren. Uitgangspunt blijft natuurlijk wel de vrije vestiging new wave Burgers. Gemeenten hebben een aantal instrumenten om de verdeling new wave woonruimte in de manus Tes houden en ongewenste tendensen in de woningvoorraad tegen Te gaan. Zo kunnen gemeenten:voorrang geven aan groepen woningzoekenden.wel of niet toestaan digital audiotape woningen splitsen, samenvoegen of aan de woningvoorraad onttrekken.woningen toewijzen en bindingseisen aan toekomstige bewoners stellen.WoningwetDe woningwet werd in 1901 aangenomen door heated kabinet Pierson. Met deze moisture werd de footing voor een verbetering new wave de volkshuisvesting gelegd. Het doel new wave de moisture was: de bouw van goede woningen bevorderen en de bewoning new wave slechte woningen onmogelijk maken. Om dot Te kunnen bereiken, werden Er strenge regels opgesteld o m slechte woningen Te weren en werd gemeenschapsgeld gebruikt voor de bevordering new wave de bouw van goede woningen. Het geld werd uitgeleend aan woningcorporaties die zogenaamde woningwetwoningen bouwde. Dit was zo gezegd het begin new wave overheidsbemoeienis binnen de huizenmarkt. Om slechte woningen tegen Te gaan, werden Er een aantal regels doorgevoerd:Woningeigenaren konden worden verplicht bepaalde renovaties en verbeteringen uit Te voeren.Zonder bouwvergunning mocht work forces niet meer zomaar iets nieuws bouwen of een al bestaand gebouw uitbreiden of verbouwen.De gemeente kreeg de verplichting een bouwverordening op Te stellen met richtlijnen waaraan nieuwe woningen zouden moeten voldoen.Gemeenten kregen de bevoegdheid woningen onbewoonbaar Te verklaren.BouwregelgevingWanneer je wilt gaan bouwen of verbouwen krijg je altijd Te maken met de bouwregelgeving. Deze regels zijn voor het merendeel afgeleid new wave de Woningwet en hebben Te maken met veiligheid, gezondheid, de omgeving en de buren. De bouwregelgeving is opgesteld om een veilige en gezonde leefomgeving te waarborgen. Tevens draagt de bouwregelgeving bij aan energiebesparing. De bouwparagraaf binnen de Woningwet vormt de kern van de bouwregelgeving. Onder deze moisture staan drie AMvB ‘s ( Algemene Maatregelen van Bestuur ) :Het Besluit bouwvergunningsvrije en licht-bouwvergunningplichtige bouwwerken, waarin het bouwvergunningsregime is uitgewerkt.Het bouwbesluit met bouwtechnische voorschriften waaraan een bouwwerk moet voldoen.Het besluit Indieningsvereisten aanvraag bouwvergunning, waarin staat hoe een bouwaanvraag moet worden ingediend.Het bestemmingsplan, de welstandsnota en de bouwverordening spelen natuurlijk ook een rol.Wie vallen onder de kwetsbare groepen met betrekking tot de huizenmarkt en welke hulp wordt Er aan deze groepen geboden?Binnen elk aspect new wave een samenleving bestaan Er kwetsbare groepen. Binnen de huizenmarkt zijn dot onder andere starting motors, werklo zen en mensen met een laag inkomen. Hier volgen een aantal overheidsregelingen dice mensen steunen in heated kopen of huren van een woning:KoopsubsidieDe overheid wil het Eigen woningbezit bevorderen middels de koopsubsidie, ook wel Eigenwoningbijdrage. De regels voor deze subsidie staan in de Wet bevordering eigenwoningbezit ( BEW ) . Wanneer iemand voldoet aan de gestelde voorwaarden, kan deze persoon een maandelijkse bijdrage voor de hypotheeklasten ontvangen. De subsidiepot is genuine bijna leeg.Groene hypotheekVoor woningen dice aan bepaalde milieueisen voldoen is heated mogelijk korting te krijgen op de hypotheekrente. De groene hypotheek is een financi & A ; euml ; le regeling om duurzaam bouwen Te stimuleren. Een groene hypotheek kan worden verstrekt ALSs er aan een aantal eisen op het gebied van duurzaam bouwen wordt voldaan.HuurtoeslagEen huurder kan deze huurtoeslag aanvragen ALSs de huur te hoog is in verhouding tot heated inkomen. Men moet aan een aantal voorwaarden vol doen om in aanmerking te komen voor deze toeslag. Zo zijn Er grenzen vastgesteld aan de hoogte van het inkomen en de huur. Mensen met een laag inkomen kunnen middels deze huurtoeslag toch in aanmerking komen voor een goede en betaalbare huurwoning.HypotheekrenteaftrekOp dot minute overal in heated nieuws: de hypotheekrenteaftrek. Binnen alle partijprogramma ‘s new wave de politieke partijen is de hypotheekrenteaftrek een belangrijk facet. Iedereen heeft er zijn mening over, maar wat houdt de hypotheekrenteaftrek nou precies in en wat was heated oorspronkelijke doel? De hypotheekrenteaftrek is een belastingmaatregel waarmee kosten van de financiering new wave de eigen woning fiscaal aftrekbaar worden gemaakt. Het doel was de drempel om een woning aan Te schaffen Te verlagen. Tevens wordt het hiermee fiscaal aantrekkelijker om een koopwoning te financieren door een lening, zodat opgebouwd kapitaal geinvesteerd kan worden in de economie. Toch werkt de hypotheekrenteaftrek op dit minute niet juist. Het zorgt voor een kunstmatige stijging new wave de woningprijzen. De negatieve invloed new wave het fiscale voordeel wordt versterkt door het beleid op de huurmarkt, waar de huren al jaren met niet meer dan de inflatie verhoogd mogen worden. Het resultaat is dan ook een vastgelopen woningmarkt.Welke invloed heeft de financi & A ; euml ; le crisis op de huizenmarkt in Nederland?De prijs van de huizen op de huizenmarkt hangen af new wave verschillende factoren. De voornaamste factoren die een rol spelen zijn fiscaliteit, prijs new wave de woningen, aanbod new wave woningen, inkomen van kopers en de rentestand. We zullen de factoren kort bespreken.FiscaliteitMet fiscaliteit word bedoeld, digital audiotape Er je in Nederland sommige kosten ALSs aftrekpost van het belastbaar inkomen kunt aftrekken. Een voorbeeld daarvan is de renteaftrek van de aankoop van de eigenwoning. De laatste tijd word Er steeds meer in de regering erover gehad om de renteaftrek Te schappen. Als de renteaftrek zou verdwijnen en de prijzen van de huizen gelijk zouden blijven, word het voor heel veel mensen bijna onmogelijk om een huis Te kopen.Prijs new wave de woningenHiermee word bedoeld hoe hoog de prijzen van de huizen zijn op huizenmarkt. Mede door de fiscaliteit dice ons land heeft zijn de prijzen de laatst 40 jaar enorm gestegen.Aanbod new wave woningenEr is in Nederland een groeiende vraag naar huizen, maar de ruimte in Nederland is erg beperkt. Dus het aanbod new wave het aantal huizen is daardoor ook beperkt. In Nederland gaat het bouwproces van huizen o ok minder snel dan in andere landen, doordat Er maar weinig goede bouwgrond is en door de vergunningen en processs die nodig zijn voordat je een huis mag gaan bouwen.Inkomen van de kopersHiermee word bedoeld de koopkracht van de mensen die een huis willen kopen. De koopkracht hangt sterk af new wave heated inkomen van de desbetreffende persoon. Daarbij komt dat het ook sterk afhangt new wave de hoogte van de hypotheek die de mensen kunnen krijgen van de bank. Want ALSs je inkomen lager, zul je ook een lagere hypotheek kunnen nemen dan ALSs je een hoog inkomen hebt.De rentestandDe hypotheekrente speelt ook een rol, want ALSs die hoog zou zijn zullen minder mensen een hypotheek gaan afsluiten. De hoogte van de hypotheekrente word vastgesteld aan de manus new wave de internationale kapitaalmarkt. En dice markt zal niet snel veranderen, dus de kans dat de rentestand erg verandert is zeer Klein. En Door het fiscale stelsel in Nederland is de hypotheekrente ook nog is erg laag, want new w ave de rente wordt nog de belastingaftrek afgetrokken. Dus wordt heated netto rentepercentage laager. Er zijn combinaties tussen deze factoren die grote gevolgen kunnen hebben voor de huizenmarkt, bijvoorbeeld stijgende annuity en een afgleidende economie, zullen lijden tot een structurele daling new wave de huizenprijzen. En daar zouden veel mensen onder lijden. Uit onderzoeken blijkt digital audiotape de prijzen op de huizenmarkt sterk kunnen reageren in tijden new wave crisis, maar er bleek ook uit digital audiotape dot consequence meestal maar ongeveer een kwartaal duurde. Er zijn in vroegere tijden wel vaker crisissen geweest, die gevolgen hadden op de huizenmarkt. Alleen heated verschil met die vorige keren van crisis was, dat de prijzen van de huizen net voordat de huizenmarkt in elkaar zakten enorm waren gestegen. Dat kwam doordat de banken toen erg makkelijk een hypotheek verleende, dus was heated consequence new wave de crisis excess groot. Tegenwoordig zal een crisis zoals de kredietcrisis niet zo grote schade ALSs in vorige tijden new wave crisis teweegbrengen in de huizenmarkt. Dat komt door onder andere heated beleid new wave de overheid over heated verlenen new wave hypotheken. De huizenmarkt is zo gebouwd digital audiotape dice ook tijdens crisis niet in elkaar zakt. En de overheid houdt alles goed in de gaten en grijpt in ALSs het mis dreigt Te gaan. Maar er zullen in tijden new wave crisis wel degelijk verschillen Te zien zijn in vergelijken met gewone tijden zonder crisis. Dat was ook te zien tijdens de kredietcrisis. Want de financi & A ; euml ; le crisis heeft wel degelijk invloed op de huizenmarkt gehad, en de crisis heeft dice invloed nog steeds. Dat komt mede doordat de crisis tegelijk kwam met heated afnemen van de procentuele groei van de wereldeconomie.Prijzen gedaaldDe prijzen van de huizen zijn erg gedaald de afgelopen tijd, omdat het de verkopers niet lukt om de huizen Te verkopen. Maar ondanks dat de ze de prijs van hun huis laten dalen, lukt het de meeste nog steeds niet om new wave Hun huis af te komen.Prijzen gestegenVoor kopers is heated aan de andere kant erg moeilijk om een huis Te kopen, vooral doordat het tegenwoordig erg moeilijk is om een hypotheek Te krijgen. Ook veel mensen hebben grote moeite om rond Tes komen met de kosten van Hun nieuwe woning, doordat de prijzen erg zijn gestegen. Er zijn formules die kunnen berekenen hoeveel tijd Er nodig is voordat de prijzen van nu zijn verdubbeld, een voorbeeld daarvan is de 72-regel. En het blijkt digital audiotape dice tijd 24 jaar is, digital audiotape is dus erg snel.HypotheekHet is veel moeilijker om tegenwoordig een hypotheek Te krijgen, doordat de banken moeilijker geld van elkaar kunnen lenen door de crisis. Daarom verlenen de banken ook minder snel hypotheken. Meerdere banken in Nederland hebben ook geld geleend new wave de overheid, om rond Te kunnen komen. De overheid speelt er ook een rol in digital audiotape het moeilijker is om een hypotheek Te krijgen. Een ander Irish pound is dat de hypotheekrente is opgelopen, daardoor is heated minder aantrekkelijk om een hypotheek af Te sluiten.Beleid new wave de overheidHet beleid new wave de overheid perkt de invloed van de crisis op de huizenmarkt erg in. Ze zorgen ervoor digital audiotape de banken Hun financierende rol blijven spelen, en niet zo snel meer hypotheken verlenen. Daardoor word het moeilijker voor veel mensen om een huis Te kopen, en zo neemt de vraag naar koopwoningen af. Omdat dice mensen waarschijnlijk in een huurwoning zullen gaan wonen. Een andere regeling dice is ingegaan is dat ieder work forces in zijn leven maar een hypotheek new wave maximaal 30 jaar mag hebben. Deze regeling heeft ervoor gezorgd digital audiotape de mensen goed moeten gaan nadenken over wanneer ze de hypotheek willen nemen etc.Hoe ziet de huizenmarkt in Nederland Er in de toekomst uit?Veel mensen zijn onzekerder geworden door de crisis en twijfelen daarom erg over heated wel of niet kopen new wave een nieuwe woning. Ze weten niet precies of het een verstandige tijd is om een nieuw huis Te kopen. De afgelopen jaren is de wereld economie erg gestegen in procenten. Maar de laatste jaren is heated nog wel gestegen, maar in veel mindere mate dan de jaren ervoor. En digital audiotape is tegelijk gekomen met de crisis. De crisis heeft ook Nederland geraakt, zowel de particulieren ALSs de banken zelf hebben er last new wave gehad. In de toekomst zal het weer beter gaan met de huizenmarkt in Nederland. Er zijn verschillende factoren dice er voor moeten gaan zorgen digital audiotape het in de toekomst weer goed gaat met Nederlandse huizenmarkt. Maar er zijn ook factoren waar weinig aan kan worden gedaan door bijvoorbeeld de overheid van Nederland. Daarmee bedoel ik factoren die een rol spelen in de hele wereld of in stukken new wave de wereld, zoals de EU waar Nederland ook mee Te maken heeft, en dus ook last new wave zou kunnen hebben. De overheid wil met behulp new wave wetten en regels heated land Ers weer bovenop helpen en dus ook de huizenmarkt.Nieuw beleid new wave de overheidOverheid wil dat de hypotheekverstrekkers nog voorzichtiger worden met het verstekken new wave hypotheken. Dit nieuwe hypotheek beleid zal Er voor zorgen digital audiotape het moeilijker gaat worden om een huis Te kopen.Kosten zullen flink stijgen voor kopers.Weinig betalingsproblemen en gedwongen verkopen new wave huizen. Dus op zich is heated nieuwe beleid niet perse nodig.PrijsstijgingenIn de toekomst zullen er niet meer zulke grote prijsstijgingen zijn ALSs de afgelopen 40 jaar waarin de prijs 24 keer zo hoog is geworden. Maar toch zullen moose jaar de prijzen van de huizen stijgen. Ook zal de rente in de toekomst stijgen, hierdoor worden de lasten van de huiseigenaren hoger. Maar heated brutoloon zal gelijk blijven in de loop van de tijd. Hierdoor zal het voor vele moeilijker worden om een koopwoning te kunnen kopen. En zal het voor huiseigenaren lastig worden om rond Te komen. Veel huiseigenaren zijn daarbovenop ook peg knock voor een waardedaling new wave Hun woning, waardoor ze het nog moeilijker kunnen gaan krijgen.HypotheekrenteaftrekDe overheid heeft plannen om de hypotheekrenteaftrek Te schappen in de toekomst. Het consequence daarvan zou erg positief kunnen zijn, ALSs daardoor de prijzen van de huizen zullen gaan dalen. Maar ALSs de prijzen gelijk zullen blijven, zal het voor heel veel mensen onmoge lijk worden om een huis Te kopen. Zolang de hypotheekrente aftrekbaar blijft zullen de prijzen van de huizen niet gaan dalen.Nieuwe wettenDe overheid heeft nieuwe wetten aangenomen en afspraken gemaakt om de schade van de crisis Te herstellen. Een voorbeeld daarvan is de Crisis- en herstelwet, die ervoor zorgt digital audiotape de uitvoering op het gebied van duurzaamheid, bereikbaarheid en woningbouw sneller uitgevoerd kunnen worden. Daardoor kost heated bijvoorbeeld minder tijd om nieuwe woningen Te bouwen, om zo de vraag naar betaalbare koopwoningen Te kunnen gaan verkleinen. Want er zal in de toekomst door het groeiende aantal inwoners, een nog steeds groeiende vraag naar betaalbare woningen blijven.Alles word duurderDit is ook & A ; eacute ; & A ; eacute ; n van de factoren waar de overheid niet zo veel aan kan doen. En digital audiotape is dat in de toekomst alles duurder zal gaan worden. Er zijn formules om te berekenen hoeveel tijd het gaat kosten voordat de prijzen van nu verdubbeld zullen zijn, een voorbeeld daarvan is de 72-regel. Die regel verteld ons dat over 24 jaar de prijzen van nu verdubbeld zullen zijn. Dus kost een huis nu nog twee ton, dan zou digital audiotape over 24 jaar wel is 4 ton kunnen zijn.Huren in plaats van kopenDoor verschillenden factoren zoals bijvoorbeeld de stijgende prijzen en het moeilijker krijgen new wave een hypotheek zullen steeds minder mensen over de mogelijkheid beschikken om in een koopwoning te leven. Meer mensen zullen huurwoningen nemen in plaats van koopwoningen. De laatste tijd word Er steeds meer in de regering erover gehad om de renteaftrek Te schappen. Als de renteaftrek zou verdwijnen en de prijzen van de huizen gelijk zouden blijven, word het voor heel veel mensen bijna onmogelijk om een huis Te kopen. Door onder andere de net genoemde factoren z ullen erg veel mensen er voor kiezen om te gaan huren i.p.v. een woning Te kopen. Ook de armere groepen in Nederland hebben niet de mogelijkheid om een huis Te kopen, dus zullen ook gaan huren.BankenDe banken zullen in de toekomst erg voorzichtig zijn met het verstrekken new wave hypotheken. De overheid zal ervoor zorgen digital audiotape de banken Hun financierende rol blijven uitoefenen. En ALSs het beter met de wereldeconomie gaat in de toekomst en er dus meer geld tot Hun beschikking komt, zullen ze weer soepeler worden. Want ze zitten op heated minute zelf ook krab de banken in Nederland, er zijn verschillende banken die geld hebben geleend new wave de overheid. Uiteindelijk ALSs het met de wereldeconomie weer beter zal gaan. Zal het uiteindelijk ook weer beter gaan met de huizenmarkt. De banken zullen soepeler gaan worden met hypotheken. Ook kunnen in de toekomst de prijzen van de woningen gaan dalen doordat de renteaftrek word geschrapt door de overheid, ALSs dat goed uitpakt zullen de prijzen van de woningen flink dalen, en digital audiotape is voor veel kopers erg gunstig. Maar digital audiotape heeft nog wel tijd nodig voordat het zo ver is.Conclusievolgt subsequentlyBronnenlijstwww.vrom.nlwww.postbus51.nlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.hypotheker.nl/Hypotheken/Ik+wil+een+woning+kopen/Hoe+koop+ik+een+woning/Het+koopproces/hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrominspectie.nl/onderwerpen/wonen/huisvestingswet/hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=8297hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=1hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=10869hypertext transfer protocol: //nl.wikipedia. org/wiki/Woningwet_1901hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=18236hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=44615hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=18245 # a6hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=7391hypertext transfer protocol: //vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=8351 # a10hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vrom.nl/pagina.html? id=23334hypertext transfer protocol: //nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypotheekrenteaftrekhypertext transfer protocol: //financieel.infonu.nl/hypotheek/18127-dalen-de-huizenprijzen.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.z24.nl/z24geld/huizen_wonen/artikel_34949.z24/Wat_doet_de_crisis_met_de_huizenprijs__.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.rtl.nl/ ( /financien/rtlz/nieuws/ ) /components/financien/rtlz/2010/weken_2010/16/0421_1745-Gezinnen-kunnen-moeilijker-hypotheek-krijgen.xmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.postbus51.nl/hypertext transfer protocol: //www.hypotheker.nl/hypotheken/ik+wil+ee n+woning+kopen/wat+doen+de+huizenprijzen/verwachtingen/default.htmhypertext transfer protocol: //www.eigenhuis.nl/VerenigingEigenHuis/Actueel/Woonpeil/Woonpeil12extra.htmhypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_72M & A ; O boek ( hoofdstuk hypotheken )

Does the British media frame public opinion Essay

Does the British media frame public opinion - Essay Example Journalists prefer to deliver news from a certain angle in which the public is going to accept. They target public expectation on a particular issue that is rising in that society. Journalists know that when people receive information that favors their culture and the society, they consider that information true. These societies love to hear news that revolves around them positively. Any information that describe their way of living is considered false and will never be accepted by anyone in that society even if it is a true story. However, journalists try their best to deliver reports at an angle they know will favor their audience. Journalists from the other wing tend to report the same information but in a very different angle that they know that the audience they are, targeting will accept the information. This process is called framing in media. Framing is the act of selecting features of a perceived reality and making them salient in the text of communication with the aim of pr omoting problem definition and evaluation1. Generally, framing involves selection and salience8. Many reporters use this idea in most of their information that they deliver to the public. Media frames much of the public opinions to ensure they give the right information that the public is expecting from the media news. What the media does here is that, it draws public attention to particular topics and later the journalists select the topics that they know what the public is thinking. Media organizes the events and issues they want to present and the audience are the one to interpret the information in those events. British media has used this criterion in much of their news. This media has been framing public opinion to ensure that they give acceptable information in the news they broadcast to their audiences. Mass media are the technologies used to reach audience through mass communication. There are very many types of mass media although it is divided into two i.e. the old media and the new media. Television, radio, and newspapers represent the old media. On the other hand, new media came to existence due to the improved technologies in the mass communication sector. They include Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, You Tube, and Google. The public uses each of these media differently. Each individual chooses the media to use depending on the information they are searching. All these categories of mass media are useful in Britain. They are used to deliver information to the public through many ways. Political advertisements in Britain have been banned in all television channels and radio stations5. This was put in place when Communication Act 2003 was written. None of the radio stations and TV channels was allowed to make any advertisement that was political. Political advertisements are those advertisements that are more for campaigning rather than other information. Their main aim is to influence people concerning a particular party matters. ASA is responsible for r egulating all advertisements that are made in radio stations and TV channels. Although they can regulate these advertisements, they have a limit at which they cannot go further. ASA has written a notice to all political parties informing them that they should follow the rules that have been put in place. Political advertisers are supposed to be guided by rules that are in CAP Code. These principles states that all advertisements made must have a responsibility to both the consumers and the society. Newton and Brynnin noted that, â€Å"Television has major effects on the decision that people in the public make†. This is evidenced during election s when the candidates are having debates live in the television channels. Many people who watch those debates are swayed by what they hear from these political candidates. Many people are not desired on whom they are going to vote but when they watch the debates, most of them desired on their favorite candidate to vote for. This was ev idenced when Gordon brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg were

Why and How the European Union controls dominance Essay

Why and How the European Union controls dominance - Essay Example Economists are involved in researches on the idea of free market with socially optimal allocation. The notion of competition constitutes the central part of economic theory. Controversies exist among the policy makers on the way competition contributes in the process of development. One can witness contrasting thoughts about the meaning of competition in the economic history. Among the different forms of competition, perfect competition has been able to find a place as the standard model of analysis. During the time of Adam Smith, the concept of competition was popular and viewed as independent rivalry among people. Some of the views suggest competition as a tool that will eliminate profits in the long run. But perfect competition and monopoly rules the real market conditions. Therefore conditions imposed by imperfect competition and asymmetric information calls for inefficient competitive equilibria (Cook, 2001, p. 4). The different ways in which the authorities of national governme nt and the European Union look into markets so that it can work better is regarded as the policy of competition. The framework of the policy of competition has not been string for the low income economies. A wide range of policy measures influences the competition policy. The policy measures include policies that are subjected towards trade, employment and industry. There have been cases where it developed ways that protect the domestic competition instead of promoting competition between the competitors (Motta, 2004, p. 3). The aim behind the policy of competition is to achieve economic welfare and efficiency at the highest level. The European commission joined hands with the authorities of national competition with the aim to ensure free and fair mode of competition in the European Union. However the aim of the competition policy is to promote competition. If markets are made to work better it will contribute to increase efficiency and competitiveness of the economy of UK within t he single market of the European Union. Competition ensures broader choices for the consumer in the markets for goods and services and advancement in technology which promotes gains in dynamic efficiency. The policy of competition will also ensure competition in price between the suppliers. The policy can also investigate complaints on anti-competitive behavior within markets. This type of behavior can have negative effect on the welfare of the consumer. In the UK and the European Union there are four pillars of the policy of competition. The first pillar i.e. antitrust and cartels involves removal of contracts which looks to restrict competition. The second pillar i.e. liberalization of market works on introducing fresh competition in sectors of monopolistic competition. The policy of competition analyses the state aided measures. This ensures that the measures taken cannot distort the competition in the single market. This concludes the third pillar i.e. state aid control. The for th pillar of the policy of competition investigates mergers and take-overs between firms (Bennett, 2010, p. 3). A firm is able to hold a strong foothold in the market if its economic power provides the firm the opportunity to operate within the market without taking into consideration the reaction of the competitors or the consumers. The European Commission considers the share of the market and some other factors like ability of the competitors and access of the firm to raw materials and control on the network of distribution while appraising the economic power of a firm. If the firm is able to hold its dominant position because of its own efficiency it is highly credible. But if the firm maintains its position by exploiting the power of competition, it is bound to be an

Empowerment. Does it work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Empowerment. Does it work - Essay Example This paper seeks to explain empowerment and its impact in workplaces. Empowering an employee in the work place leads to increased productivity as compared to underpowered ones. Their performance levels are high, and they are happier with their job leading to job satisfaction and lesser complacency. Employees appraise their work in regard to the amount of pay they receive from their employer; thus an employee with more say in the workplace finds the conditions of more conducive for work. Empowerment creates a sense of responsibility and motivates them to put in more effort as they learn their role in the success of the organization. As a result, the productivity and output in terms of the organization’s fortunes increase. Freedom and democracy in the workplace, empowerment, provoke the creativity of workers towards coming up with new ideas and concepts that lead to increased productivity and efficiency in work (Bednarz, 2012, par. 12). It also contributes towards positive attitudes and relationships between all members of staff. This is the result of ; proper communication between all parties involved in decision making as they are all allowed to make their opinions known and also contribute on how they affect them (Sptreitzer et al par. 12). At the workplace, employee empowerment ensures pay based on the level of knowledge that one has and the qualifications. This, in turn, leads to safety as employees do not participate in activities that they have no adequate knowledge in. As a result, employees are involved in personally managing their tasks and thus encourage a sense of responsibility for their jobs and wellbeing. Empowerment, therefore, leads to fewer investments concerning safety and compensation for workplace accidents (Bednarz, 2012, par. 11). In addition, lawsuits against the organization are reduced leading to increased savings by the organization and better working relations between employees and employers. It also boosts the relations

Training and Devlopment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Training and Devlopment - Coursework Example Companies usually find it very challenging to hire and retain employees, so training should be accompanied by other morale-boosting factors like positive work environments and flexibility. Although it may appear like this is too much investment (at face value), smart companies know that the rewards are much bigger and better than any investment. Efforts should be scaled around the following: Big corporations have always known the value of investing in their employees through learning. This has been an effective technique of training and sharpening their employees’ skills and then retaining them for long-term productivity, but it also still needs to be enhanced and optimized to meet the current standards of human resource training and development. When it comes to employee training corporations should think global, not local. Just because their programs are effective locally/internally does not mean they are the best or that they are doing very well. Competitors may be far much ahead. Whether focused on important job functions, performance concerns or â€Å"dry† issues, employee training will help corporations achieve superior results in their training programs as they gain access to a wealth of experience in creating and designing programs that deal with: Today’s corporate leaders have more responsibility and more of companies’ success depends on them. As a result, they also need training. It is important to note that the training a leader is expected to go through is very different from that which a new employee is subjected to. A leader’s training is focused on and fine-tuned to inspire leadership skills and responsibility at the very top of the company. The effective motivating, mentoring and coaching of leaders is usually the first and most critical step towards positively impacting company performance. Corporations ought to

Human Resource Management Positive Discipline Policy Essay

Human Resource Management Positive Discipline Policy - Essay Example Additionally, by creating a policy which is applicable to a blanket range of offenses against the company or the company’s clients, the employees as well as the owners do not have to go through a debate process of judging the level of the offense and the level of the punishment or reprimand. Coming in late to work is certainly an offence but it seldom mandates the same level of punishment as would the act of stealing from a client or a complete breakdown in security protocols for an organization dealing with sensitive information or material (Ploskina, 2001). By having a policy for employee discipline, both the company and the employees are protected from being harmed. It can be argued that this is not the best policy but it can be shown that due to its common acceptance and the use of similar policies across many different companies it is familiar to a lot of workers. This can be very useful since workers would not have to be explained the procedures every time this policy is applied. For the majority of employees the knowledge of the three strikes system would be more or less ingrained and those who would like to get the details about the policy can simply read the document to get answers for any questions that they may have. Secondly, the policy saves a lot of time and money for a company in terms of being compliant with different government regulations as per the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the HIPAA regulations since the employee discipline and fiduciary responsibilities mandated by these regulations can be internalized in the policy rules. By internalizing the applicable government regulations and using discipline methods used and recommended by the government e.g. zero tolerance for certain offenses and three strikes for others, the company can reduce the cost of compliance (Lundquist, 2005). McManus (2006) takes an interesting view of rules, regulations and discipline policies like the one used by us and says

Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Research - Assignment Example The study involves a population of 656 care workers from 14 nursing homes in Korea (Ha et al., 2014, p. 426). The nursing homes have a capacity of more than 50 elderly residents where the administrators agree to participate in the study (Ha et al., 2014, p.426). The researchers requested the administrators to distribute the questionnaire to their care workers to ensure that the sampling process had the required authorization. The study involves a structured questionnaire survey on the identified population conducted for 14 days (Ha et al., 2014, p. 426). Clearly, the sampling process used in this context manifests simple random sampling method. There are controls on the timeframe, population characteristics, location of the sample, and capacity of the sample units. The nursing homes in Korea define the sampling frame while the 14 nursing homes in Korea with a capacity of more than 50 elderly residents defined the sampling unit (Ha et al., 2014, p. 426). Moreover, the study defines care workers from the 14 nursing homes in Korea as a sampling frame. Having established a list of population elements, the researchers selected a random sample of 504 care workers working at 14 nursing homes who agreed to participate in the study (Ha et al., 2014, p. 426). Apparently, the researchers examine the descriptive statistics of the participants. The researchers conduct the reliability and validity tests for all the structured questions. As required in simple random sampling, the researchers use a computer program, SPSS 12.0 for Windows to conduct statistical analysis on how to conduct random selection of the research subjects (Ha et al., 2014, p. 427). The research subjects include organisational support, high-performance work practices, turnover intention, and organisational commitment (Ha et al., 2014, p. 426). The sampling method used in the study is very effective.

Police System In Japan Essay Example for Free

Police System In Japan Essay In Japan, police system generally enjoy wide community support and respect. The system, so called keisatsu seido consists of approximately 220,000 police officers who are organized into prefectural forces coordinated and partially controlled by the National Police Agency in Tokyo. Concerning the historical development, during the Edo period we are talking about the years 1600 1868 here, the Tokugawa Shogunate ( the form of those days governing the country ) developed elaborate police system based on town magistrates who held samurai status and served as chiefs of police, prosecutors and criminal judges. The system was extended by citizens  ´s groups such as five-family associations ( gonin gumi ) . These groups were composed of neighbours, collectively liable to the government for the activities of their membership. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the main change in the whole Japanese history, the Home Ministry was established in 1873. With jurisdiction over the Police Bureau, it effectively controlled the police. This new, centralized police system had wide-ranging responsibilities, includng the authority to issue ordinances and handle quasi-judicial functions. It also regulated public health, factories, constructions, businesses and issued permits, licenses and orders. In 1911 the Special Higher Police was established to help control proscribed political activities. Later in 1928 it was strengthened with the introduction of the Peace Preservation Law. When the Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, the police were given the added responsibilities of regulating business activities for the war efforts, mobilizing labour and controlling transportatioon. Also regulation of publications, motion pictures, political meetings, and election campaigns came under police direction. After World War II, Japan as a defeated country was under strong pressure and influence mainly from the U.S., on all branches of life, including the police system. The National Diet the highest organ of state power was required to enact a new Police Law. This 1947 law abolished the previous  Home Ministry. It decentralized the system by establishing about 1,600 independent municipal police forces in all cities and towns with population of over 5,000 smaller communities. These were served by the newly created National Rural Police. General contol of the police was supposed to be ensured by the establishment of civilian public safety commissions. As to present structure, today the Japanese police system is based on prefectural units that are autonomous in daily operations yet are linked nationalwide under the National Police Agency. Prefectural police headquarters, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, control everyday police operations in each prefecture. In effect, the prefectures pay for the patrol man on the beat, traffic control over domestic security units, which are funded by the national government, as are the salaries of senior national and prefectural police officials. Prefectures are divided into districts, each with its own police station under direct control of prefectural police headquarters. There are about 1,250 of these police stations nationwide. Districts are further subdivided into jurisdictions of urban police boxes ( koban ) and rural residential police boxes ( chuzaisho). The mainstay of the Japanese police system is the uniformed patrol officer (omawari san ). The patrol officers supply the police boxes and patrol cars and comprised 40 percent of al incidents and crimes and then move them to the specialized units for further investigation. The sphere of police resposibilities remains broad. Besides solving ordinary crimes, criminal investigators establish the causes of fires and industrial accidents. Crime prevention police hold added responsibility for juveniles, businesses and the enforcement of special laws regulating gun and sword ownership, drugs, smuggling, prostitution, pornography and industrial pollution. Public safety commissions usually defer to police decisions. Police contact with the community is extended by the requirement that koban based police visit every home in their jurisdiction to gather information,  pass on suggestions regarding crime prevention and hear complaints. Neighbourhood crime prevention and traffic safety associations provide another link between police and community, further promoting extensive public involvement in law and order.

History of gambling Essay Example for Free

History of gambling Essay ?In modern day America, gambling is seen everywhere. Whether it is gambling on a sporting event, a horse race, a game of cards, or any other event, it is seen as a common practice among many American citizens. The most popular place for one to gamble is a casino. There are many casinos throughout the country, and despite the many critics of such venues, these casinos are here to stay for quite some time to come. Starting in 1931, Nevada took control of the casino gambling market and held a monopoly within this industry. It was the first state to have legalized commercial casino gambling, and it was the only state to have such legislation until 1976 (Morse, Goss 13-14). During the 1950’s, Las Vegas started to develop rapidly, opening many casinos within the city. Throughout the 1960’s most of these top-end casinos were purchased by Howard Hughes, which led to an ending of organized crime in the Las Vegas area. Corporations then began building and purchasing casino properties. The profitability of such properties made entering the casino industry quite attractive. This was the beginning of the transition of casinos from a simple form of gaming to a legitimate business (History of US Gambling). In 1976, commercial casino gaming was legalized in New Jersey, and Atlantic City began to thrive in ways similar to Las Vegas. This was the outcome that was hoped for, because it was done in an effort to revitalize Atlantic City. Casinos started to be built in Atlantic City, and a popular location for these casinos was the city boardwalk, along with in the marina district (Morse, Goss 14). More than a decade later, several states began to legalize commercial casino gambling. There are currently fifty-seven counties in the United States that allow commercial casino gambling. In states other than Nevada, a good majority of commercial casino gaming takes place adjacent to a river or some form of a body of water that creates a geographic border dividing states. This promotes the idea of riverboat gambling, along with the competition between each state and their neighbors for their gambling supporters (Morse, Goss 14-15). Soon after the rapid expansion of legal gambling locations throughout the country, tribal casino gambling became an important part of today’s casino industry. Tribal casino gambling is a practice that came to place after the 1987 Supreme Court decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. This case determined that the state of California did not have the proper authority to use its regulatory statutes for the gambling activities that took place on Indian reservations. The only institution that had complete authority over the issue was the federal government; therefore congressional authorization was necessary for state power to enact regulations. In 1988, Congress responded by passing and enacting the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). This was done for the purpose of balancing both the interests of the states and those tribes that resided within them (Morse, Goss 18-19). There were many policy goals that the IGRA aimed to accomplish. The first was to promote economic development and self-sufficiency amongst tribes. The second goal was to create a regulatory base that protected Indian gaming from organized crime, to make sure that the only beneficiary of the gaming operations is the tribe itself, and to ensure that the gaming operations are both fair and honest. The final goal was to establish an organization that would assist in these purposes, thus the creation of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Basically, the IGRA allowed tribes the right to build and run gaming facilities, or casinos, on their reservations to the same extent as the gaming allowed by state law (Morse, Goss 19). Tribal gaming has proven to be quite beneficial for Indian tribes in the United States. The tribes that have benefited the most are those that have exclusive rights to owning and operating casinos within their state. That means that specific states have an agreement with the tribes in their state that there will not be any commercial casinos within the state, just tribal casinos on tribal territory. This creates endless opportunities for tribal members, allowing them to generate large revenues and provide jobs for many members of their tribe (Morse, Goss 20-21). More recently, a new type of casino has emerged quickly into the gambling business, that being racetrack casinos, or racinos. These casinos are essentially a horse-racing track, along with many other casino features, such as slot machines, video gambling terminals, card tables, etc. This brings in a diverse crowd of people, for a lot of people only like to gamble on live racing events. It also helps states contain gaming expansion to their current racing grounds, and the economic benefits have quite a positive effect for the state (Morse, Goss 22). Each type of casino benefits the state in different ways. By a slight margin, there are more commercial casinos in the United States than tribal casinos, but tribal casinos are being built more rapidly (192 built between 2004-2007, as opposed to 175 commercial casinos built), so it is expected they will pass up commercial casinos in the near future. States benefit most from commercial casinos, receiving on average 16. 4% of revenues, as opposed to just 6. 1% of revenue from the tribal casinos (Morse, Goss 23). One factor that has led to major success for casinos in the United States is the great amount of promotion and advertising. The average casino spends 2. 5% of all revenues on promotion and advertising, which is a heavy amount compared to many other business industries. Throughout the years of the existence of legalized gambling, casinos have been figuring out the secret to generating the highest possible revenue, and that is through promotion. Promotions for casinos originally started out pretty basic, offering a patron a free bet if they come to the casino, or a free drink or meal. With the addition of hotels to many casinos, casinos began offering free night stays to customers, and sometimes even free transportation both to and from the casino for the time of their stay. Since then, there has been such an intense competition between casinos to attract gamblers to their establishment, so more and more promotions started to come into place and be offered by casinos around the country (Morse, Goss 27-28). Some casinos found their best strategy was to pay their patrons to play. This came in either the form of simply handing the patron money upon walking in the door (usually between 5-$20, but sometimes upwards of $100), or paying the person for the amount of time they spent in the casino. This is done by activating a â€Å"player card†, and every time that player sits down to play a game, they scan their card at that station and the system keeps track of how much time the player has spent gambling. Their account is then credited with however much money they earned during their time spent at the casino (Ogwyn). Competition between casinos continued to grow every year, and still does to this day. Promotions have become a necessity in order for a casino to succeed, and many amenities have become expected by patrons upon entering a casino. For one, soft drinks are expected to be complimentary at every casino. Many casinos have waiters and waitresses walking around taking orders, so there is a convenience of receiving a soft drink without needing to get up from your chair. It is seen as courteous to tip the servers, and is also seen as good karma for the gambling that is done after. The most intense promotion competitions take place in the major casino markets. Harrah’s is a major casino corporation, and it is one of the highest spenders when it comes to promotions. In 2005, it initiated possibly the biggest promotion in casino history, and that was the $1,000,000 Treasure Hunt. To partake in the hunt, customers had to go to one of the many Harrah’s Casino locations in the country, and depending how much time the customer spent at the casino, they earned an entry (or multiple entries, depending on the frequency of visits) into the contest. These entries represented an opportunity to partake in the actual treasure hunt, which took place in Las Vegas on November 10, 2005. A treasure chest containing $1,000,000 was placed in a remote desert location, and whoever found it first kept it all. This created an uproar of hype for Harrah’s Casinos, and has helped increase revenues in the following years since as well. Many other casinos learned from that, and started similar promotions to help boost their own revenues. This is a good example of how casinos have been learning from each other throughout time, and adjusting quickly to whatever is necessary for maximum business. The bottom line when it comes to casino promotions: do whatever it takes to get customers through the door; revenues will generate from there (Morse, Goss 28). Many studies have been done to find the effect of legalized casino gambling in an area on the residents who reside in that area. A study done by Morse and Goss in 2005 had surprising results, finding that counties that legalized casino gambling experienced lower personal bankruptcy rates in the first several years of having a casino operating in the county. After those years, however, it was found that the personal bankruptcy rates began to rise, eventually becoming higher than the rates from before the legalization of casino gambling (Morse, Goss 53). Casinos have been growing and expanding ever since their first existence. It is a unique industry in that, unlike many other large industries, it is not that crucial to focus on cutting costs, while instead it is best to just focus on generating revenues. As said before, this industry has a history of experiencing great success, and it is only getting greater and greater each year. Looking at some statistics from 1998-2003 is a good way to show an example of this growth; the average number of employees for stand-alone casinos in the United States went from 201 in 1998 to 265 in 2003, and in casino hotels it grew from 988 to 1,208 employees. Average pay for these employees grew as well. In 1998, stand-alone casino employees earned on average $21,700 a year, while in 2003 they earned $25,100 a year. It was a similar jump in salary for casino hotel employees, going from earning on average $23,700 a year to $26,100 a year (Morse, Goss 55). Today, the United States has an incredibly large market for casino gambling. There was an estimated 147 billion U. S. dollars in global revenue from casino gaming, and 60 billion of those dollars was from United States gambling. In the twenty states with legalized commercial gambling, there are about 450 commercial casinos in the United States (CASINO GAMBLING HISTORY). Gambling has been around since the beginning of United States history, and the creation and expansion of gambling centers that we call casinos has led to many opportunities for both growth and decline for citizens in this country. Whether viewed as positive or negative, casinos are here to stay for some time.

Personal Leadership and Career: Becoming a Total Leader

Personal Leadership and Career: Becoming a Total Leader Some people are born leaders and some people become leaders by learning to lead. Learning to lead helps you to understand leadership, develop leadership ability and grow as a leader (Adair J, 1988.). This report describes my personal and professional leadership development. First section focuses on critical review of the article to become a Total Leader. Second section reflects on my 360-degree feedback and third section summarises what experiments I undertook to develop my understanding of leadership and career related competencies during October 09 to March 10. 1. LITERATURE REVIEW Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life Article by Stewart D. Friedman Stewart Friedman is a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business. He runs a programme called Total Leadership at the Wharton Business School, at companies and workshops around the word. Essence of Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life article revolves around his idea of Total Leadership. It is all about being a good leader by developing the power to understand and manage yourself better. Friedman emphasises that integrating work, home, community and self, will make you a whole person and a better leader. The article begins by presenting a case behind the total leadership concept. The author states that his research and experience over the past two decades has found that many executives feel unfulfilled because they are focusing more on work aspect and less on other aspects of their lives. Friedman emphasises that it is possible to achieve excellent performance in all four domains of life work, home, community and self, and refuses to believe that we need to trade off one domain of life for the betterment of other, which is the main idea behind his Total Leadership programme. The article then starts building upon how people can improve their performance in multiple domains of their lives through simple but thought-provoking experiments. Friedman then tries to convince the readers by presenting the strong evidence of his study of more than 300 business professionals over the period of four months. His evidence shows that, the total leadership approach has increased the satisfaction of professionals in their work lives, home lives and in their community lives. In addition, the most significant satisfaction for the professionals comes in the area of themselves their physical and emotional health and their intellectual and spiritual growth. The author explains that authenticity, integrity and creativity are the three main attributes of the Total Leadership process. The process starts by indentifying our own core values, vision and important people in our life. Once we have a complete picture of what we want to achieve in our life, we begin to see new ways of achieving our goals. Friedman asks professionals to think about various possibilities/combination of various components through nine types of Total Leadership experiments. He encourages readers to design and test experiments that will create meaningful and sustainable change that benefits themselves and important people around them. He urges the reader to take the notion of innovation through experimentation beyond the work role to other aspects of their life. He encourages leader to start small experiments and emphasises that small steps lead to a big win. Friedman also gives examples of measuring progress of various experiments. He points out importance of setting practical ways to measure outcomes. The experiments and follow-up reflections help readers learn to focus more on the things that matter to them and the people around them. He concludes that total leadership approach helps people to generate more support and feel more connected to the important people in their life. It helps people to become more resilient in response to the impulse of our turbulent world. It gives readers a blueprint of how to be real, be whole, and be innovative as a leader in all four parts of their life. As per Venables J. and my personal experience, in the UK, working late is a sign of dedication to the job and normal corporate culture. I have also seen my father worked extremely hard throughout his life to achieve his goals. Therefore, I was particularly drawn to this article and the subject of being successful leader while maintaining your personal life. The article takes a positive approach towards becoming a successful leader. The authors central concept is about identifying our inner values and using those values to improve our leadership in four areas. Authors key remark is, to be a leader one must be whole and balance in all aspects of life work, home, community and self. The concept of whole person as good leader in this article is similar to the view of Bartolome F. add Evans P. in the Harvard business review book Executive success, that executives who are able to maintain balance in their private and professional life are able to do things better than the other executives, but different to the point of view of John Adairs situational leadership. This article gives importance to the key stakeholders in work as well as all aspects of leaders life. This is very different to the view of article Leadership Lessons from India (Cappelli, P., et al., 2010), where the article mentions working with employees and focusing on their issues within the company and giving them importance rather than giving importance to the company shareholders only. The articles main strength is that it is very easy to follow and understand. It is a structured approach to produce measurable changes in our life. It takes readers through, various simple experiments and practical examples on how to be a successful leader in all domains of life. The examples and experiment suggested by the article are so simple that anyone can try them without being a subject expert. This article emphasis on developing leadership qualities based on authors holistic perspective. The only criticism I have about this article is in its approach. It provides broad sets of simple experiments to create a positive change around you. But in reality, situations are more complex. The article does not take account of any organisational factors. If it is that simple and easy to develop skills as suggested by the author, then everyone will be a good leader. Authors arguments have great deal to do with our understanding of leadership and careers because self concept is essential in understanding the leadership. As per one of the greatest leaders, Mahatma Gandhi Be the change that you want to see in the world. In other words, if you want to see change, you start with yourself. If you cannot do it, then how can you expect others to want the change? To lead others we must learn to lead ourselves and leadership starts from within. Power to see yourself brings with it a new depth of motivation and a sharper sense of direction. This article is really helpful for those who are trying to learn about becoming a better leader and interested in initiating a self-dialogue about professional and personal values. It shows simple experiments about how to be a great leader not just at workplace but also at home, in the community and above all being yourself and become a whole human. Total Leadership is a sensible and practical approach about finding out what makes you a great leader. I favour authors notation that an effective human being is a better leader. Inspired by this, I designed an experiment of doing yoga every morning with my wife to improve home and self aspects of my life. The results of the experiment were great and I noticed that I was feeling more energetic and happier in personal life, but I have not seen any changes in my leadership style at work and in community. As a result of this, I am encouraged to design some more experiments to improve my performance in work and community domains. There are no rules for leadership, but there are certain skills that every good leader should have. It is important to see different authors approach to develop your leadership skills and this article definitely gives different perspective to it. 2. CRITICAL REFLECTION ON MY 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK 2.1 Competing Value Framework From my Competing Value Framework feedback in October 2009 I learnt that, out of 12 managerial and leadership competences my scored average on 5 competences, good on 2 competences and very good 5 competences as shown in Appendix iii. I learnt that I need to develop my following leadership/managerial skills: Emphasizing speed, Initiating significant change at my work place Controlling my projects well Inspiring people and Clarifying policies I started focusing my efforts to develop my leadership skills in the areas mentioned above and by January 2010, I could see that perception of my leadership quality was improved as a result of my efforts. I always encourage my colleagues to develop their career by supporting them in their daily activities. I learnt that not all people share my view of working in a team, improves performance. I felt that some people in the team would like to work on their own, as they had their own views and ideas. I was willing to leave them in peace as far as they are doing the right thing for them and for the company. Therefore I decided to take a step back and not to interfere, but always checked the quality of work they produced. Over the past few months I have trained myself hard to work faster through various technical trainings. And I can now produce good quality work with greater speed than I was expecting before four months. I still think that there is no alternative to hard work. All this views are reflected in my 2010 feedback. I am now making sure that everyone who is involved with the task is fully aware of formal guidelines and what they are doing and have a clear understanding of company procedures and policies. I now do regular team meetings and try to keep close eye on how the project is going and keep them under control. I have also suggested new ways of doing traditional things by introducing latest software which will enhance employees performance and will also benefit the project by faster outcomes and achieving the deadline more promptly. I also attend client meetings with my seniors and try to understand what they expect from us at the end of the project and what we need to do emphasis more on to win the future projects. I have made some small changes in my team and group which will enhance the performance and quality of the outcome. According to my Competing Values Framework Feedback report in Appendix iii, my peers and colleagues also have similar views about myself in areas of Control, Performance and Creativity. Their views differ from my views to some extent in the category of Collaborativenes. They think I am not encouraging people to have work- life balance, but expect from everyone to work hard to create quality work. They feel that I am not making sure that everyone has a career development plan and not handling their career issues. I was really surprised that my leaders thought of me as a less collaborative person. Because I have always given importance to the work-life balance and have tried to understand other peoples need. From my competing values framework, I learnt that my peers think of me as a less collaborative person then I perceive myself to be. Therefore, I should try to make more efforts to improve my skills towards developing other people, encouraging them in active participation and acknowledging their needs. 2.2 Cultural Intelligence As we enter the twenty-first century, we live and work in a social and organisational world that is increasingly diverse and offers more opportunities for interaction among people who do not share a common history or culture. (Caproni P., 2005). Cultural Intelligence is persons ability to function efficiently in situations characterised by cultural diversity (Earley Ang, 2003). Culture often relates to peoples perspective on their values, beliefs, stories or rituals. Cultural differences can influence peoples preferences, expectations and behaviours at work. In modern organisations, the ability to function effectively in multi-cultural situations is important attribute for employees and managers. Corporate culture rests in distinctive capacities and incapacities that are built in to the attitudes and approaches of organisational members. (Morgan G., 1997) Cultural Intelligence provides insights about how to interact with others in multi-cultural society and organisations, engage in cross-cultural interactions appropriately, and perform effectively in culturally diverse work groups. From my 360-degree feedback report, I learnt that my perception of ability to act across different cultures has changed between October 2009 and January 2010 as shown in Appendix iii. This change reflects that my recent experiences differ from my expectations. When compared with how others perceive my cultural intelligence, it is higher than what I perceive. I learnt that people see me as a person with good cultural diversity skill. It reflects my good understanding of cross culture knowledge. I need to be aware of how my behaviour affects others. I need to pay attention to the social context in which I am working. I need to continue to think in broad way and integrate diverse information and see uncertainty as an opportunity to develop my cultural intelligence. 2.3 Qualitative Feedback Qualitative feedback from my peers shows that I am open minded, friendly, hardworking and committed person. I realise that I must take advantage of these attributes to develop good relationship with my colleagues and interact with them more frequently. My peers suggest that I should become more pro-active and articulate my ideas rather than keeping them to myself. They also suggested that I should develop smart ways to work faster and effectively while producing quality work. What surprised me most was that my peers noticed that I sometime think that my superiors are infallible. I believe that, this is partly due to my cultural beliefs. I need to ask questions to my superiors about their assumptions to change their perception. 3. REFLECTION ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDAS Between October 2009 and March 2010 I have focused on developing three leadership qualities based on MBTI /ICCS assessment, class room notes, my past job performance, my current and future career requirements. These qualities are: Effective Communication Trust Building Networking The table below reflects on my leadership self-development process. It reflects on my commitment of developing right attitudes to become a good leader. It describes what I did to develop the above mentioned skills. It also mentions the results of my experiments and how these qualities will be useful to me in future. Table 1 Developing Leadership skills (Adapted from Kolbs Learning Cycle) Developing Effective Communication Skills Activities: Communicating Effectively workshop 09/02/2010 Power and Influence workshop 10/02/2010 Managing Conflict workshop 11/02/2010 Coaching and Developing Others workshop 11/02/2010 Reading related books and articles (Oct09 Mar10) Reflective Observation: I am very confident, comfortable and clear in communicating my message across to my family and friends and I generally adopt communication style which suits peoples culture. Although, I have observed that I am not an effective communicator in the public and at workplace due to fear of: Cultural differences Lack of self confidence and Lack of trust Sometime while taking criticism I become defensive rather than being more open to accept it. So, I need learn to respond to criticism with empathy. Concept and Generalisation: To be a good leader communication is the utmost important aspect. Thinking about great leaders in modern times: Mahatma Gandhi, Churchill, Hitler and Martin Luther King, its clear that they were powerful leaders because they had ability to communicate their vision and inspire people to follow them in achieving their goals. Communication is a two-way process. Knowing how to listen is just as important as being able to communicate (Venables J., 2002). Application/Experiments: Apply active listening method to improve communication skills. Try to give full attention to the speaker and listen with empathy. Try to be more confident and maintain eye contact during conversations. Try to see my facial expressions and observed what others will perceive from it and learn how I can improve. Try to be more open and friendly with colleagues to over-come my fear of cultural differences and lack of trust. Try communication skills experiments in my organisation, group meetings, client meetings and presentations. Outcome: As a result of above experiments, my self-confidence has grown and I have overcome some of my fears of speaking with colleagues. I have received good response from my colleagues and team mates regarding my presentation style. This skill will be helpful to me in communicating effectively with my clients and coaching and developing my team. Developing Trust Building Skills Activities: Reading related books, journals and research papers (Oct09 Mar10) Believe in Myself (Oct09 Mar10) Be Truthful, Reliable and Fair (Oct09 Mar10) Set Boundaries (Oct09 Mar10) Reflective Observation: I feel I am Open-minded, trustworthy and reliable person. I am highly regarded and trusted in my friend circle and been asked for advice regularly. But I feel I am not always involved in the decision making process in my organisation and family. I am not sure if this is for a good reason or a sign of mistrust. And therefore, I feel that I need to develop ability to earn trust of my fellow colleagues, clients and family members, to build good relationship and to develop positive emotions and atmosphere around me. I also feel that workers in the organisations should not be judged against quantitative goals such as profit, cost and other numerical scale, which are to be ineffective as motivational tools against qualitative values of trust, responsibility and innovation. Concept and Generalisation: If you trust yourself, you know you made the right choice. And thats a strong foundation on which to build trust. Trust is critical to managerial effectiveness and building client relationship. Great relationships and organisations are made and broken on trust. Trust helps clients deal with market uncertainties and risk, ultimately resulting in increased satisfaction and loyalty in the client relationship. Breach of trust can lead to breaking of relationship and confidence. According to Robert Bruce Shaw, author of Trust in balance The importance of trust becomes clear when we try to imagine a world without it. Application/Experiments: Always try to be truthful. Set realistic deadlines and make every effort to achieve them Delegate work to juniors and help them with their problems Attend client meetings Outcome: I have been truthful and learnt to say no to unrealistic deadlines. Being truthful does not always work in my favour. I have mange to develop good relationship with my juniors and earned their trust. I understand importance of client needs from business perspective. This skill will be very helpful to maintain trust of colleagues, clients and family members for the years to come. Developing Networking Skills Activities: Reading related books, journals and research papers (Oct09 Mar10) Develop good working relationships with colleagues (Oct09 Mar10) Make new friends and attend social events (Oct09 Mar10) Develop friends community on social networking website (Oct09 Mar10) Reflective Observation of my Networks: I have come here from India and my network here is limited to my family, university friends and work colleagues. In addition, I am very introvert person (also indicted by my MBTI assessment) when it comes to making new friends. When I meet the quality kind of people who share my interests, I have been friends ever since with them. I feel strongly that friends are forever. I feel society tends to value extroverts more highly than introverts and I sometimes feel sensitive to social rejection. I sometimes fear that other people might not understand and hurt my feelings. I desire to improve my networking skills. I fell that I need to stay open to new ideas. I need to develop relationships with clients, my senior colleagues, old school friends and sport friends. Concept and Generalisation: Networking is a deliberate, systematic process of building and maintaining relationships based on mutual benefits. The quality of relationships with your subordinates, bosses and peers significantly influences your task effectiveness, careers development and personal well- being. (Caproni P., 2005) Businesses thrive on relationships. The more people you meet, the better the chances will be to find good, new, personal and professional opportunities. Networking is helpful in sharing knowledge, experience, opinions and differences which helps to develop a broader worldwide view. Application/Experiments (inspired from Kerr C., 1999): Business networking: I have joined Business Networking website BNET. Attended Institution of Civil Engineers evening meetings. I invited my work colleagues for a dinner at my home. I invited my previous boss at my place for a long weekend. I have joined my organisations cricket and badminton club. Personal Networking: I have joined health club with my friend and a neighbour. I have joined School friends group on Facebook. Call friends and family frequently. Attended my little sisters engagement party in India. Outcome: At first no one joined my school friends community and had a disappointing start to my experiments. I tried finding the contact numbers of my old friends and after a few quick calls to old friends the community has grown to 15 members, but a few are still not convinced. I have also managed to develop good relationship with my colleagues and I feel more open to express my views and accept different opinions of other colleagues. I am able to engage in discussions. Initially, I found social events boring and exhausting but now I am starting to enjoy it. I have experienced that networking requires a lot of time, perseverance and efforts. Therefore, I need to focus on important relationships and not waste valuable time to convincing people who lack enthusiasm and similar interests. Networking is more effective when people share similar interests. Through these experiments I have made new friends. I have become happier, more open to new ideas, possibilities, aware of differences in opinion and less worried out rejection. All in theses networking experiments has boosted my confidence to make friends develop relationship with important people. I am thinking of starting to arrange a social events club for my organisation. I need concentrate my efforts more to develop a network of clients. I am also thinking of taking part in a charitable activity over the next year. Networking skills will help me to develop and progress my personal and professional life in years to come.

Informative Essay: Punk rock -- essays research papers

Punk music is usually defined by power chords, raw vocals and high energy performance. Punk rock is the best music ever created. It is, in short, a thinking man’s rock music. And to some, it’s like God himself ordained punk rock as His preferred music of choice. Why? Because it’s just that good. Hundreds of faithful teens and twenty-something adults pack themselves into basements shows like sardines in a tin, just to have their holy gospel delivered to them by guys with names like â€Å"Johnny Rotten,† â€Å"Justin Sane† or â€Å"Davey Havok.† Punk rock is the best musical style for numerous reasons. The reasons might seem simple, but the difference between punk and mainstream music is that punk is just better. It’s clever, thoughtful and passionate. On the other hand, Brittany Spears and the rest of the MTV pop brigade are just dull, witless morons trying to see who can be the biggest whore on television.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Punk is written with a purpose. A message is behind every heartfelt yelp and strain of the vocal chords. Lyrically, it is about more than just a high school romance. It deals with real issues in an honest fashion. The punk movement began in England as a medium for overly zealous political patrons to preach their messages of anti-conformity and anti-government to the faithful gathered at their shows each night. In their first single, â€Å"God Save The Queen,† The Sex Pistols were telling the youth of England that the Queen was a fascist and inhuman. The Sex Pisto...

Saint Augustine Essay -- essays research papers

Saint Augustine was born on 354 CE in Tagaste, Africa. His given name was Aurelius Augustinus. His father was Patricius, a pagan who was baptized Christian before he died, and his mother was Monica, a baptized Christian with an influential role in the life of her son. Augustine is regarded as one of the most intelligent Christian theologians and bishops of all time. His works and actions have left a major imprint on the Church and its doctrine. As a boy, Augustine was not baptized and grew up in the Roman Empire. He studied under the local schoolmasters in Tagaste until he turned fifteen and moved to continue his studies in Madaurus. From Madaurus, he moved to Carthage for advanced studies in rhetoric and law. It was in Carthage that he took a concubine and later had a son named Adeodatus from her. It was in this period of his life that embraced Manichaeism, which is a belief that one god is responsible for all good and another responsible for all evil. Augustine’s belief in Manichaeism prompted Monica, his mother, not to allow his entrance into the family’s house. Even with her actions, she continued praying and hoping that Augustine would find the Lord. After he ended his studies in Carthage, he became a teacher and was constantly on the move throughout Northern Africa. Augustine stopped teaching and moved to Milan where he gained the position of Public Orator. In Milan, Augustine met Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. Augustine grew to love Ambrose’s allegorical interpretations of the Bible and this led to his appreciation and new understanding of the Scripture. He also studied and learned to appreciate Plato’s works and started linking a lot of his works into the meaning and messages in the Bible. Augustine’s family, including his mother, joined him in Milan. Her constant prayers for his conversion to Christianity and the strict ethical demands of Ambrose made Augustine’s appreciation of Plato’s work grew deeper. It made him no choice, but to convert to Christianity. On Easter Sunday of 387 CE in Milan, Augustine along with his son and his friend, Alypius, were baptized by Ambrose. After Augustine’s mother passed away, he traveled throughout the Roman Empire. He wrote many of his books on theology along the way. He had no aspirations of priesthood, but through a mere chance visit at Hippo in Africa; the bisho... ...howed that the Church is the union of all people into Christ. He defined free will, Christian sacraments, and original sin. His argument with the Donatists clarified Christian doctrines for further generations to come. Pelagianism was the final controversy that Augustine handled. They believed that God’s grace is not needed for salvation, but only good works. Augustine fought this controversy by explaining that grace was necessary for salvation because without it, people would be even more sinful. The leader of Pelagianism, Pelagius, never met with Augustine, but as a result of this controversy, "God’s saving grace" was clearly understood through Augustine’s arguments. On August 28, 430 CE in Hippo, Augustine died. He is regarded as one of the greatest and intelligent saints of the Church. He clarified Church doctrines, established monasteries for new priests, educated many into the meaning of Christianity and made Christianity humanistic which is nurtured by God’s love and grace. Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. Possidius. The Life of Saint Augustine. Villanova: Augustinian Press, 1988.

Post Colonial Perception on the Grass Is Singing Essay

The Grass Is Singing, first published in 1950, was an international success. The story focuses on Mary Turner, the wife of a farmer, who is found murdered on the porch of her home. After her body is found, we are taken back to her younger days and slowly discover what happened to her. The background, location of this story is set in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in South Africa which has been drawn from Doris Lessing’s own childhood spent there. Her first hand knowledge of living on a farm in South Africa shines through in this book. The land, the characters, the farming are all vividly described. Both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Doris’s mother adapted to the rough life in the settlement, energetically trying to reproduce what was, in her view, a civilized, Edwardian life among savages; but her father did not, and the thousand-odd acres of bush he had bought failed to yield the promised wealth. Similar sequences are presented in the book. Doris Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Persia (now Iran) on October 22, 1919. She is a great female British writer and in October 2007, became the eleventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in its 106-year history, and its oldest recipient ever. Lessing has written many novels, short stories and tales, drama, poetry and comics of which novels like The Grass Is Singing, The Golden Notebook are the most popular and her works continue to be reprinted. Lessing realized that she had quite an amazing life but didn’t know how to attack it when she started writing a book. She read a newspaper cutting about a white mistress murdered by her black cook, none knows why and he is waiting to be hanged. However, Doris knew perfectly well why he had committed this crime because of her upbringing. For example, there was a lady gossiped about in her neighborhood that she allowed her cook-boy to button up the back of her dress and brush her hair. It is appalling and awful, she says. It was a violation of the white behavior. But she didn’t behave like a white mistress. She had treated him like a friend and then started treating him like a servant. They were treated abominably. It was said that the white mistresses didn’t know how to treat their servants and obviously it was a sex thing. In African culture, for women to tell a man what to do was impossible. Yet, all these houses had men-servants and the white mistresses spoke to them in high, harassed, angry voice. They couldn’t talk to them like people. The author chooses to start this novel by the end. It begins with a brief newspaper clipping, suggesting the murder of Mary Turner under the headline ‘Murder Mystery’. However, it certainly is not a murder mystery as we are told the suspect has confessed the crime and there is no serious effort to unravel the crime. It is not who but why behind the murder. Lessing’s purpose is quite different. She wants to establish an end point in order to examine the extremely fl awed society in which it occurs. The author has given the reader a place, an event and a social problem all before her narrative begins. Lessing wrote two books, one of them at long-hand after returning home to the farm. The other one, in which she made fun of the white culture, was mannered. This helped her to write about the white culture in Southern Rhodesia in ‘The Grass Is Singing’. According to Ruth Whittaker, one of the readers of Lessing’s works, this novel is â€Å"an extraordinary first novel in its assured treatment of its unusual subject matter†¦ Doris Lessing questions the entire values of the Rhodesian white colonial society.† The novel reflects its author’s disapproval of sexual and political prejudices and colonialism in the Southern African setting through the life of Mary Turner and a fatal relationship with their black servant. On the surface, it seems a psychological and personal portrayal of a female protagonist from childhood to death but seen as a whole, it is the political exposure of the futility and fragility of the patriarchal and colonial society upon which the masculinity of imperialism has sustained itself. The whole novel can be seen as Mary’s struggle towards individuation to preserve her authenticity and sense of self but it fails because of the psychological and the political forces which furnish her little insight and threaten to crush her. I attempt to show how Lessing portrays Mary’s subjectivity as shaped and entangles within the ideological triangle of class, gender and race; and how the same sexual and ideological factors, rooted in family and culture, causes failure in Mary’s achieving her own sense of self and dooms her to death. Mary is fragmented between two contradictory statuses: on one hand she longs to be a subject of her life, to live in a way she desires, and on the other hand she unconsciously performs a role as an object of the white oppressive structure of a colonial society which extracts meaning of her personal self and imposes its values forcing, the individual to yield to the good of the collective. Mary’s subjectivity and behavioral pattern are shaped by the cross-hatched intersection of class, gender and race through the operation of sexual and political colonialism in the context of imperialism. Gender and Class: The early sketch of Mary’s characterization entails a subjectivity negotiating between gender and class positions. Mary’s early childhood is shaped under the influence of an oppressive father who wastes his money on drinks while his family lives in misery and poverty. Her mother, â€Å"a tall scrawny woman† who â€Å"made a confidante of Mary early†¦and used to cry over her sewing and Mary comforted her miserably†, is her first model of gender role: a passive and helpless woman, dominated by the overwhelming masculine patterns, nonetheless the complying of victim of poverty. Besides sharing the pains of poverty and living in â€Å"a little house that was like a small wooden box on slits† and the twelve month quarrel of her parents over money, Mary has been the witness of their sexuality and her mother’s body in the hands of a man who was simply not present for her. All her life, Mary tries to forget these memories but in fact she has just suppressed them with the fear of sexuality which comes up later nightmarishingly in her dreams. By seeing her mother as a feminine victim of a miserable marriage, she internalizes a negative image of feminity in the form of sexual repression, inheriting her mother’s arid feminism. Race and Gender: The narrator exposes that the Turners’ failure at farming and their poverty and reclusiveness have made them disliked in the district. The Turners’ primitive condition of life is irritating for other white settlers because they do not like the natives to see themselves live in the same manner as the whites, which would destroy that spirit de corps â€Å"which is the first rule of South African society†. This anxiety is more political than economic based on the opposition of white/black. ln this way, another complex clash of value system, besides gender and class, is added to the narrative structure of the novel and that is the matter of race. Colonialism is based on the white men’s spirit of venture for missionary and farm life through their settlement in the third world countries and harvesting their resources by establishing the imperial authority over the native people. The white men, by enslaving the native men on the lands they have in fact stolen fro m them and feminizing some others in their house chores, preserve their own position as masters in the center and the natives as â€Å"Others† in the margin. They use race and gender, two inseparable qualifiers, to access their privilege of power in the imperial hierarchy and legitimize their actions. Gender and race are components of this hierarchy by which the white settlers attempt to establish their own rules and security in the alien land. The binary of white/black reminds us of race difference which itself is linked and dependent on other differences, more importantly gender. White women are objectified as unattainable property of white men through stereotyping the native men as violent, savage and sexually threatening. These double strategies both take the individuality from white women and colonize them as sexual objects always in danger and in need of the heroic protection of their white men and help the white men overcome their fear and jealousy for the superior sexual potency of the black men. The dominant White culture projects â€Å"all of those qualities and characteristics which it most fears and hates within itself† on the natives which creates for the subordinate group â€Å"a wholly negative cultural identity†. Similarly Jan Mohamed notes that: â€Å"the native is cast as no more than a recipient of the negative elements of the self that the European projects onto him†. The patriarchal myth of white woman as white man‘s property and symbol of his power and the â€Å"forbidden fruit† for black man expels women from subjective roles by imposing on them the view that they are unable to handle the black laborers. Therefore the white women are convinced that they cannot share power with the white men especially in the farm life which is the current context of masculinity, tough work, action: challenge beyond domesticity. So they are confined in the domestic sphere and considered shiftless. Charlie Slatter, the most successful and powerful farmer of the district in this novel, makes a joke of it: â€Å"Needs a man to deal with niggers. Niggers don‘t understand women giving them orders. They keep their own women in their right places†. In such colonial discourse, the black natives, employed whether as domestic servants in feminine sphere or as impoverished agricultural workers, are represented as wild, violent, potential rapists, and threatening the white women who need the white men‘s protection against the natives. In this way, white patriarchy makes a heroic scenario for itself. During the first scene in which Moses touches Mary, she is alarmed at the sensation and feels certain that it is a prelude to rape. Instead, he pushes her gently on the bed, and covers her feet with her nightgown. Even in the later scene in which Moses is caught by the Englishman in a moment of scandalousl y inappropriate contact with Mary, he is caught pulling a dress over her head with â€Å"indulgent uxoriousness†. The insinuations of tenderness, indeed romance between Moses and Mary appear in this moment to offer a radical alternative to the prototypical script of rape applied to all relationships between white women and black men during the apartheid era. Any doubt as to Moses’s fundamentally violent nature is also eradicated in the final scenes in which he returns to batter Mary to death. In the sexual politics of the colonial myth, white women are victims as the native subjects are in the racial politics. A woman who is privileged racially can simultaneously experience gender limitations and class difference within her own category, like in the case of Mary Turner. Mary fails to preserve her individuality because she is not able to resist the strong master narratives of the false colonial and patriarchal myth of superiority of her culture through the discourse of gender and race which place her firmly in a predetermined position. Marginalization: Lessing has described the feelings of the characters, especially of Mary profoundly. The description of Mary, her wishes and her behavior, is done in a rather psychological way proving Mary Turner’s life tragic. She is effectively forced into marriage by the weight of social expectations and traditions. She never loves her husband, but she is, at least initially, glad to have one, as it makes her â€Å"normal†. From the moment she marries, she is engaged in a losing battle to hold on to her own identity and survive this marriage. We can distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization. This is mainly because her needs for development are not considered by her husband and she plays no role in influencing decisions for their house. Since she is bewildered by Dick’s house which consists of a corrugated iron roof, zinc bath, skins of animals on red brick floor – all old and badly maintained, with her own saved money Mary brings flowered materials and cushions t o make curtains, a little linen, crockery and some dress lengths (61). Further she asks Dick for ceilings over corrugated iron roof but he refuses saying that it would cost too much and they may have it done next year if they do well (63). Dick is now instead investing in other things like setting up a grocery store, growing maize, harvesting beehives, pigs, turkeys, etc. that he thinks would help them grow rich less realizing his wife felt sick with the heat when she stayed in the house under the iron roof. Unfortunately, Dick keeps failing at every attempt of his to improve their condition. Mary is, all the time, counting money wasted on Dick’s various attempts at different jobs which could have improved the condition of their house. Here, Dick has never taken into account Mary’s guidance and excluded her from making or influencing his decisions before going on with these jobs. We can, hence, distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization, the marginalized. Perhaps Mary’s tragedy is all the deeper on account of the fact that she never realizes that the native Africans who must work the farms of the white settlers are just as much tragic victims as she is. The natives are deprived of their own land and looked down with contempt. The black native men are made to serve the white colonies. Much of the discourse around the British colonies in postmodernism is centered on the exploitation of the resources and the people from the colonies, leading to a feeling of racial superiority on the part of the colonizer. This deep-seated racism is clearly evident in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing as none of the white colonials are sympathetic or even see the Zimbabweans as fully human. Mary too treats all her house boys dreadfully; she despises their carelessness, their laziness, and their failure to pander adequately to her. At one moment, when she replaces her sick husband in the fields, she is thoroughly brutal with the black farm hands. However, I feel that Lessing’s novel is less concerned about showing the misery felt by the Zimbabweans for the hand they were dealt by the colonial Empire and more about showing the toll colonialism has on those who do not belong there. What Lessing is really showing is how damaging the colonial psyche can be when one is not equipped for it. One is left with a sense that when prejudice and false ideas generated by self-interest become institutionalized, they cloud the perception of people so thoroughly that even the victims are capable of victimizing others. In spite of its formulaic narrative, The Grass Is Singing has nonetheless been read as a progressive critique of â€Å"injustice, racism, and sexual hypocrisy,† in part because of its open investigation of gender and sexuality. It is through Mary’s predicaments as a woman and in particular as a member of the working class that The Grass Is Singing opens up potentially radical grounds for sympathy. At first glance, Mary’s stereotypical obsession with domesticity combined with scorn for all her black servants recalls Ronald Hyam’s caricature of white women in the colonies as â€Å"[m]oping and sickly, narrowly intolerant, vindictive to the locals, despotic and abusive to their servants†. For some, however, Mary’s plight is a more realistic and â€Å"tragic example of how hardship and isolation can destroy even the most independent of women† (Fishburn 2). Indeed, her intolerance for her black servants becomes more complex when read as a displaced resistance against the patriarchal norms of her society. Mary’s belligerence is a clear projection of her anger against an unsatisfactory marriage and the oppressive, gendered social norms that led to its existence. Dick’s attitude towards her is never hostile or abusive, but she persistently resents him for things that she knows he is not able to help, such as his string of financial failures, the unbearable poverty, and the virtual absence of any company or entertainment at the farm. Even among other white people, such as the nearby Slatter family, Mary feels too much pride and humiliation to express the full depths of her loneliness and despair. It is only in the presence of her black servants that she feels able to release the full-blown rage and intolerance that have clearly erupted from elsewhere. What really killed Mary Turner? Various critics have expressed confusion over why the dialectic must necessarily be resolved by Moses’s murder of Mary. A reviewer in The Doris Lessing Newsletter asked, â€Å"Why does Moses murder Mary?† The TLS queried, â€Å"Why does he feel he has to kill her?† and The Listener demanded, â€Å"Is this the only possible outcome?† (11) Lessing leaves Moses’s inner states shrouded in mystery: after his act of murder, â€Å"what thoughts of regret, or pity, or perhaps even wounded human affection were compounded with the satisfaction of his completed revenge, it is impossible to say† (206). Equally cryptic is the fact that Mary herself becomes complicit in her own murder, to the extent that she runs toward Moses, sure of the fact that he should kill her. This desire to die is prefaced by an unbearable, tragicomic sense of her South African history. Shortly before her death, Mary peruses volumes of books celebrating the legacy of Cecil Rhodes, and she laughs long and bitterly, thinking absent-mindedly to herself, â€Å"But the young man [Moses] would save her† (199). As she lies down to sleep on the night of the murder, she â€Å"turned her face into the darkness of the pillows, but her eyes were alive with light, and against the light she saw a dark, waiting shape. †¦ Propelled by fear, but also by knowledge, she rose out of bed, not making a sound† (203). As Mary makes her way onto the veranda, â€Å"the trees stood still and waited† until finally Moses appears, and â€Å"at the sight of him, her emotions unexpectedly shifted, to create in her an extraordinary feeling of guilt, but towards him, to whom she had been disloyal, and at the bidding of the Englishman† (204). As she opens her mouth to apologize, Moses clasps one hand over her mouth to silence her and with the other hacks her head with a blunt instrument. â€Å"And then the bush avenged itself: that was her last thought†. Mary’s cognizance of the murder as one compounded by her own guilt and by vengeance, rather than unwarranted aggression, shows a strange ability to forgive her own murderer even as he performs the act that she knows he is compelled to do. Charles Sarvan argues that Mary’s death has religious and apocalyptic overtones in that she decides â€Å"to offer herself as a sacrifice which will both atone for past crimes and hasten the coming of the new order†. Well if it came down to forensics it would be clear that the killer was Moses. But Mary Turner was long gone before Moses took a machete to her. This begs the question then of what really killed Mary Turner? In my opinion, I would argue that the real killer was the African outback. Lessing’s protagonist Mary spent her whole life in the African colony, and yet she never seems to fully belong. She spends the first half of her life in the town where she is blissfully and naively happy. Yet, even in the town Mary remains an outsider. Mary belongs to an English community and therefore must conform to English standards for women. She loves England (despite never having been there) so she performs her civic duty and jumps into a marriage with a poor farmer living deep in the African outback. A marriage in town is nothing like a marriage in the country and Mary quickly realizes it. She is uprooted from the life she immensely enjoyed in town and is planted into a decrepit farm house that is falling apart around her. The misery she feels about her living conditions is no match for the true conditions of Africa she sees for the first time. In the outback, Mary is confronted with the reality of colonialism- the natives- and she can not mentally or physically stand it. When the natives are far away working for Dick, Mary can at least barely tolerate living on the farm. However, when confronted with the natives in her home she unravels. In the African outback this idea of British civilization falls to pieces because as Sarah De Mal says in her article â€Å"Doris Lessing, Feminism, and the Representation of Zimbabwe, â€Å"the omniscient narrator describes how the main protagonist feels displaced within colonial culture since her desires and dreams are at odds with the prevailing values and rules of this culture† (De Mal 36). What Mary dreams of is a life in town, away from the natives working as a typist in an ordinary office living with other white colonists. Her reality is far removed from this as she is living with the true colonials whom she resents and despises as being the â€Å"other†. And when this â€Å"other† characterized by Moses confronts her and invades her space, her mind and her body deteriorates rapidly until she resembles merely a shell of a human being. Moses is a direct confrontation of the fantasy Mary has. She envisions herself as an English rose whose purity must not be tainted by the black man. Yet when Moses physically touches her and confronts her about her attitude towards him, Mary falls apart. By these two acts, Moses has killed her fantasy by forcing her to see him as a human being. Mary can no longer pretend she has superiority over him as a white woman. It is this realization that kills her for after she submits the Moses’ humanity she loses all sanity. Moses only finished the process by ending her physical life. I believe all in all Moses was the end of Mary. However, it was not his machete that killed her. What killed her was his which is the reality of the colony and the people who lived there. Her fantasy of being a true and righteous English woman could not hold up against the vastness of Africa and this reality broke her spirit and left her as empty as she had envisioned the African outback to be. Conclusion Mary Turner is not able to grasp her own identity because her identity is compounded by the overpowering colonial and gender narratives in which she is knit. The colonial ruling power dictates that she as an individual has to behave according to the terms imposed by her imperial identity. Even her disintegration must be silenced because it threatens the whole authority of the dominant category. Mary fails in her journey of self-quest but she is the heroine of this novel because she reverses the social, racial and cultural orders of her society though unconsciously. As in Katherine Fishburn‘s words, she is as an â€Å"accidental rebel† who at least dissolves the dichotomous orders and consequently reveals for the reader the fear and falsity of the white civilization whose indictment is the division between privileged white and the dispossessed black. (Fishburn 4) Sima Aghazadeh quotes, â€Å"by her death, Mary paves the way for the native (Africa/Moses) to take a subject ive action†. She cannot guarantee her own identity since she does not have any antidote to loneliness, poverty and gender limitations, but she foreshadows a change in Imperial attitudes. The Grass is Singing, through its circular narration from a collective perspective of Mary’s murder to an individual account of her personal life, completes an indictment of its central character’s life in the center of a closed white colonial society in southern Africa in which the linked discourses of class, race, and gender bring her into exclusion, isolation, break down, and finally to death. Mary’s failure of individuation is the failure of patriarchy and colonial culture to satisfy its female member to find fulfillment within this status quo. References: * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichcan Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing†, Research in Literature, Vol.25, No.4 Winter I994. * Wang, Joy. â€Å"White postcolonial guilt in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 40.3 (2009): 37+. Academic OneFile.Web. 15 Sep. 2012. * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichean Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 25.4 (1994): 1-15. * Postcolonial African Writers- A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook – Pushpa Naidu Parekh, Siga Fatima Jagne – Google Books * http://www.dorislessing.org/biography.html * Doris Lessing – Writer – -The Grass Is Singing- – Web of Stories – http://www.webofstories.com/play/53470?o=MS * The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing – http://www.dorislessing.org/the.html * The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing – Review – Life and death in South Africa – http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books/the-grass-is-singing-doris-