Pakistan and Afghanistan Essay -- Politics, War, Turmoil

From the 1980s onwards, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been at the forefront of numerous socio-political events germane to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. The multifarious factors involved form a perplexing web of competing narratives that resist straightforward explanation. This essay will delve into the milieu, seeking alternative theories to construct a cogent thesis for the growth of fundamentalism. In doing so, it will examine the Islamisation policies of Pakistans Zia-ul-Haq administration and its congruence with United States interests at the time. Particular focus will be given to the Afghanistan Pakistan dyad and how the recent engender of world(prenominal) forces perpetuates the conditions that allow Islamic fundamentalism to prosper.As a state whose principal raison dtre is for the protection of Muslims, Pakistan had historically struggled with defining what its Islamic mandate entailed. Arriving in power via a coup dtat, Zia-ul-Haq employed religion to attain popula r legitimacy, orchestrating Islamic reform as a deceitful pretence for securing power (Kennedy 1990 73). Correspondingly, the Soviet attack of Afghanistan solidified the role of Islamic politics, with Zia-ul-Haq exhibiting a distinct preference for radical groups as a counterweight to communist ideology (Fuller 1991 11). The most visible characteristic of creeping religiosity appeared in 1982 with the declaration that national dress and Islamic studies were mandatory for government employees (Cohen 1988 314). Underlying this conversion, the government funded the expansion of an increasingly radical madrasah based education system - with the intention to transform the electoral landscape and boost support for Islamic parties (Nasr 2000 147). Through th... ...ndamentalists who demur at the states very existence, we can opine that Pakistan may already have crossed the Rubicon. This essay has elucidated that Pakistan and Afghanistan are a point of convergence for a litany of failed, arguably forgetful policies by both the chief protagonists and outside interests. As such, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism represents the logical endpoint for an array of policies that mobilised extremist religious dogma to achieve geostrategic objectives. Crucially, the abject failure of all involved to disband and reintegrate those forces into a legitimate Afghan state has proved calamitous in its consequences. With recent international intervention bolstering the ideological sources of fundamentalism and with the nexus of instability spreading deep into Pakistan, the continued prominence of Islamic fundamentalism appears inevitable.

Benifits Of Trapping Essay -- essays research papers

Trapping BenefitsIn the spring of 1996 Farmer Johnsons field was fill up with water. This high water level wasnt due to natural flooding or heavy rains but a well built line of mud, rocks and logs 200 feet yen that crossed the river near his property. Beavers were the cause of this years cropfailure. Farmer Johnson decided the best thing he could do was call the county trapper. The trapper came and removed most of the beavers and undecided up the dam. The beavers, upon witnessing the broken dam and losing the other beavers, decided to build downstream further whereno one would be plagued by excess water. This shows just now one example of how trapping can be beneficial. Due to trappings benefits to the community, nature, and the individual trapper, it should be a welcomed proscribeddoor activity. Trapping is the taking of wild fur bearing animals for the animals meat and the fur which is also called a pelt. These pelts are used to make clothing, shelters, and are sold for money . Trapping has a very long history going back to early anthropologic history and classic Native American cultures . Trapping was the main reason for the United States to be explored and settled by whites in the late 1700s and early 1800s as trappers and traders went west looking for beaver and other valuable furs(McCraken and Cleve 8-9). Trapping , when done ethically and responsibly, will provide these three compliments to those involved. First, it is a benefit to the surrounding ecosystem, secondly the trapper gains new knowledge and ideas, and thirdly the surrounding community gets the benefits from the trapper towards nature.Those against trapping regulate it is too cruel and inhumane for the benefits it provides. Some people say trapping is past its time and we no longer have a acquire for the pelts animals provide, the benifits it provides, or the life that a trapper lives. Some even go so far as to say trapping cant control a fur bearer population. Groups such as The Peop le for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Greenpeace do not agree with the idea of trapping due to their beliefs previously stated. by means of the following supports I hope to prove the benefits will far outweigh the negatives and that it has a place in todays society.The benefits to the trapper ar... ... dont hire as fast or arent as cautious are removed so it has some of the same effects as natural selection. So the oppositions argument that trapping isnt natural isnt quite true. With trappers outdoors they would be one of the first ones to notice if something was out of place or out of balance within nature so that a disaster or change in animal habits can be noticed and averted if necessary. The trapping emancipation dollars went towards habitat management such as 31,800 acres of prescribed burning and 109,000 acres of water level management(Minnesota 119). These certainly helped the very fur bearers which from which the monies came from. Trapping has a much greater impac t on wildlife today than most people give it credit for but the supports contained within should disprove any doubts. As broncobuster animals we have a right to use what is here on this earth but as humans we have a great responsibility to not abuse the natural resources of the planet. When done properly trapping can have extensive positive effects on an environment. Hopefully we will continue to see trappers well into the twenty first century taking their place in the circle of life.

Ice Hockey Essay -- Hockey Sports Research Papers

Ice Hockey This report is going to be on the plunk for Ice hockey. A game of hockey is divided into three twenty flash time periods that are called periods. Between each period there is a fifth teen minute intermission. In hockey there are several ways a game may shutdown if there is a tie at the end of regulation. The pros use one twenty sudden death period in which the first to score is the winner. In the amateurs they use a shoot out in which five players from each team are selected and allowed to go one on one with the opposing goalie and which ever team scores the most goals later all five members for both teams have taken their shot they are the winners. If there is a tie after this it keeps repeating until a winner is crowned.A team is allowed only six players on the ice at a time. These players consist of a goalie, right and left defensemen, right and left wingers, and a center. Defensemen adhere back towards the blue line so none of the opposing team can get behind them . The wingmen stay towards their respective sides of the net. The center does just that jams the foregoing of the net to either screen (block the view of) the goalie or deflects the shot into the net. The goalie, mostly stays in his crease to protect the goal however if he wants he may leave his crease (the light blue area by the net in the photo). Because of the speed of the game it is the only sport in which substitutions are allowed to be made while the game is in progress. The pace of...

Killer Angels Essays -- essays research papers

wars have been fought for many different primer coats through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaaras Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for armed combat the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle situation of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. The propaganda pitch the Union gave was they were fighting to free the slaves. This was not true It was said to the southerners were fighting to defend slavery. This is also a false statement. In fact, there were a substantial amount of generals in the Union army that owned slaves themselves. In addition the constitution protected slavery. If the true issue was to maintain slavery the South would not have seceded. there are many quotes from northern leaders that show clearly that the main purpose of the North was not the eradication of slavery, still subjugation of the southern people. slaveholding was used to rally the northern population behind Abraham Lincolns war. It was an emotional issue, sure some Yankees joined and fought to set men free, but most were there to preserve the union. An interesting conflict of northern morals is discovered. The North is portrayed as wanting to set black men free, but they practiced economic slavery on the Southern states. The Civil War was really more politically complex with regards to Abraham Lincoln and his Republican Partys actions. The South fought this war as the Second American Revolution. The Federal states politicians were aggressively attempting to implement a monarchial form of government, which was precisely what the early colonists had fought against in the American Revolut ion. The Northern states were taking advantage of their superior numbers in the federal government and were using their advantage to implement unfair tariffs against the South. Enormous amounts of money were taken from the South and funneled into the northern states. Most of the revenue taken from the Southern states was used to run government programs. This brought about the argument of States Rights and a weaker central gov... ...the reason why they fought. The citizen soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the greatest motivating factor in the Souths decision to fight for independence. They resigned their gravel to a government that they found increasingly abusing the constitution and the rights of the states for self-determination. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the nates on which this nation was originally built. They did not seek to destroy the federal government, they chose to withdraw and form their own government that was to be truer to the original constitution. Basically Northerners fought to preserve the Union and Southerners fought for their rights as a separate nation. The Union was victorious in the American Civil War, but feelings of the Federal Government not fulfilling its duties under the organic law are still alive today. Wars will always be fought for different causes and that will always hold true with the wars of the future.

Iraq War :: essays research papers

Friday-January 16, 2004- 400p.m I was watching Oprah and a particular story struck me. It was about these young brides in India who were being burned resilient by their husbands because they have become a burden. Before these women are married off, their husbands receive dowries from the brides family, when the family send packing no longer meet up with his demands-he sets his wife on fire, in hopes of her dying, and he will eventually marry another bride and obtain more dowry. These women are shun from society and are nothing but unimportant beings-they become silent voiceless shadows. This happens to thousands of women everyday. It is the power behind such stories that makes me ponder and become more aware about this world. Similarly the literature of Vietnam has been an eye destroyer and a gravedigger, opening up my eyes to what happened in Nam and exposing the bones left behind in the stories. It has given me another view of the Iraq War. Human nature can be hard to alter wh ether its a soldier from Vietnam or a soldier involved in Iraq they share a similar state of mind.      In The Things They Carried Tim O Brien describes the Night Life of the soldiers. In particular there is a story about the gradual mental break down of Rat Kiley. "He couldnt sleep during the hot day light hours he couldnt cope with the nights." (p.222) As time progressed the war was definitely getting to him "the days arent so bad, but at night the pictures get to be a bitch. I start seeing my own body. Chunks of myselfI can see the goddamn bugs chewing tunnels through meits too much. I cant keep seeing myself dead."(p.223) In the end the only way for Kiley to escape was to shoot himself in the leg and get picked up by the choppers. The effect of war is no different on the mentality of a soldier serving in Iraq. The war slowly consumes the mind, body, and most deadly the soul. Once it starts to eat away it leaves a permanent scar.   &nb sp  When the war starts to eat away the soul, many times soldiers resort to committing suicide. According to a New York Times article published on January 15, 2004 --U.S. Soldiers felo-de-se Rate Is Up in Iraq. "U.S. soldiers in Iraq are killing themselves at a high rate despite the work of special teams sent to befriend troops deal with combat stress, the Pentagons top doctor said Wednesday.

Iraq War :: essays research papers

Friday-January 16, 2004- 400p.m I was watching Oprah and a particular story struck me. It was about these young brides in India who were being burned-out alive by their husbands because they have become a burden. Before these women are married off, their husbands receive dowries from the brides family, when the family can no longer meet up with his demands-he sets his married woman on fire, in hopes of her dying, and he will eventually marry another bride and obtain more dowry. These women are shun from society and are nothing still worthless beings-they become silent voiceless shadows. This happens to thousands of women everyday. It is the power behind such stories that makes me ponder and become more a strugglee about this world. Similarly the literature of Vietnam has been an nerve center opener and a gravedigger, opening up my eyes to what happened in Nam and exposing the bones left behind in the stories. It has given me another view of the Iraq War. Human reputation can be hard to alter whether its a soldier from Vietnam or a soldier involved in Iraq they share a similar offer of mind.      In The Things They Carried Tim O Brien describes the Night Life of the soldiers. In particular there is a story about the gradual mental break down of Rat Kiley. "He couldnt sleep during the het up day light hours he couldnt cope with the nights." (p.222) As time progressed the war was definitely jerk offting to him "the days arent so bad, but at night the pictures get to be a bitch. I start seeing my own body. Chunks of myselfI can see the goddamn bugs chewing tunnels through meits too much. I cant support seeing myself dead."(p.223) In the end the only way for Kiley to escape was to shoot himself in the leg and get picked up by the choppers. The effect of war is no different on the mentality of a soldier serving in Iraq. The war slowly consumes the mind, body, and most deadly the soul. Once it starts to eat international it leaves a permanent scar.      When the war starts to eat away the soul, many times soldiers resort to committing suicide. According to a New York Times article published on January 15, 2004 --U.S. Soldiers Suicide Rate Is Up in Iraq. "U.S. soldiers in Iraq are killing themselves at a high rate despite the work of special teams displace to help troops deal with combat stress, the Pentagons top doctor said Wednesday.

Sociology- family diversity

Using material from Item A and elsewhere mensurate sociological explanations of the nature and extent of family diversity today. Family diversity means that on that point are many different types of family in auberge today not further nuclear, cereal packet families. There are several different types of family within I-JK fellowship. These include nuclear, wizard parent, gay or lesbian, extended and reconstituted.Although nuclear remains the or so common family type in the I-JK today with 20% of families falling into the category, other types are fast on the increase due to societies changing attitudes owards what is considered pleasing. Perspectives such as functionalist and the new right get under ones skin been draw as modernist. That is, they see modern society as having a fairly fixed, clear-cut and predictable structure. They see i best family type- the nuclear family- as slotting into this structure and helping it by completeing certain essential functions.Modernis ts are firmly opposed to family diversity. They hold the view that there is but one correct or normal family type. They see the traditional patriarchal nuclear family consisting of a married couple and their ependent children, with a clear labour social class between the breadwinner husband and the home maker wife as correct. They excessively see a clear distinction between who should carry out the instrumental and expressive billet in the household. For example, according to Talcott Parsons there is a functional fit between the nuclear family and modern society.https//donemyessay.com/sociology-exam-3-chapters-6-8/He sees the nuclear family as uniquely suited to meeting the necessarily of modern society for a geographically and socially mobile workforce, and as performing ii irreducible functions- the primary socialisation of children and he stabilisation of bighearted personalities. He claims these functions contribute to the overall stability and effectiveness of society. He nce, other family types can be considered as abnormal, or even deviant, since they are less able to perform the functions required of the family.However, other sociologists reject the modernist idea that there is one best family type or that he familys structure shapes its members behaviour. Feminist and postmodernist views would argue that modernist approaches ignore crucial facts. They argue, as individual social actors, we make our own choices about family life and relationships, and we now have overmuch greater choice about our personal relationships, and that has change magnitude family diversity so much that we can no longer talk about a dominant type.There are many things in modern society that have lead to an increase in family diversity today. One of the main reasons for diversity is the divorce act introduced in 1969-71 meaning women can rag a divorce if they feel it is necessary. Judith Stacey argues that greater choice as benefitted women and enabled them to free the mselves from patriarchal oppression and to shape their family arrangements to suit their needs. The act has lead to an increase in ace parent families and singletons.The modernists would see this as having a negative effect on society as single parent families are ill equipped to assume up a well rounded individual who can make a positive contribution to society. However, a postmodernist, Fiona Weir, argues the vast majority of children growing up in single-parent families do so healthily and happily. Another piece of egislation that is helped increase family diversity is the civil partnerships act (2004). It nas meant that same sex couples can legally get married and in many cases adopt a child.Teenage pregnancy is on the increase and this has again increase family diversity and has meant there is an increase in single parent families and the three generational family all living under the same roof. This contradicts parsons claims that the extended family is not as important or n eeded as much as it was in preindustrial times and points out that in some cases it is needed as much as ever. The changing position of women in society has also had a large impact on family diversity. Many women now are going out to work, whereas in the past they would have stayed at home and looked after the children and her husband.It has meant that many are now either not having children at all or waiting until they are older so they can focus on their attendingers. The new right and the functionalists would have a big problem with this as they see it as a womens main Job is to bear children, take care of her children and the household. The feminists and postmodernists would however see the changing stature of women as something that is very positive as it empowers them and gives them a choice on what they want to do with their own lives.Another happen upon factor to point out when talking about family diversity would be the role of the media in the betrayal of modern families . In soap operas for example there may be a lot of teenage pregnancies and families such as reconstituted ones. This would have a major impact on what people think is acceptable in todays society, nd if people think it is acceptable they are more likely to do it. The media may have cause subjects such as divorce, which would have been a taboo subject in the past, to become socially acceptable which inevitably lead to an increase in the amount that take place.One of the main issues when talking about family diversity would be the increase in the neo-conventional family. Chester defines the neo-conventional family as a dual earner family in which both spouses go out and work. This family type would be relevant to todays family because of the recession. The recession has eant that the woman can no longer afford to stay at home and care for her family as it is unaffordable. It is similar to the symmetrical family described by Young and Willmott.For Chester, the extent and importance of family diversity described by the new right has been exaggerated. Like the functionalists, Chester sees the nuclear family as dominant. The only important disagreement between his view and that of functionalists is that Chester sees a change from a conventional to neo-conventional nuclear family where both play an instrumental or breadwinner role. Ulrich Beck rgues that we now live in a jeopardy society where tradition has less influence and people have more choice. As a result we are more aware of risks.Todays risk society contrasts with an earlier time when roles were more fixed and people had much less choice in how they lived their lives. The modernists would see this traditional view on society as correct and the way our lives should be lived out today as it is the only way a functioning society can survive. For example, people were expected to marry. one time married, men were expected to play the role of the breadwinner and disciplinarian nd to make important financial dec isions, while women took responsibility for the housework and childcare.However, the traditional, patriarchal family has been undermined by two trends greater gender equality and greater individualism. These trends have lead to a new type of family Ulrich Beck calls it the negotiated family. Negotiated families do not conform to the traditional norms, but straggle according to the wishes ot their members. These types ot tamilies are increasingly prevalent today mainly because of the recession and also many women want to work.

Plato, Aristotle, and Moses

Households, cities, countries, and nations have enjoyed great happiness when a single individual has taken heed of the Good and Beautiful. Such bulk non only liberate themselves they fill those they meet with a free mind. Philo of Alexandria Athens, via Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and Jerusalem through the Hebraic Scriptures, refer to two general and fundamental ways of life the life of free inquiry on the one hand, the life of obedience to graven images law on the other.As discussed in class, the fact that around do not read the Hebrew Scriptures as a governmentally philosophical text, they be overlooking some fundamental political principles that are corresponding and complimentary to the Greeks. The book of Genesis to the end of the book of Kings is not only revelation in the form of a narrative, besides can be seen as a work of reason, and political philosophy. Plato and Aristotle are certainly accepted as political philosophers, while the Patriarchs are not (widely) regarded as such. Because of this, I shall use the Pentateuch as my basis to discuss my assertion.Given the constraints of this paper, a short reflection on our assigned readings for class, and my limited knowledge of both the Hebrew Scriptures and Greek philosophy, I do not pretend for this to be sophisticated, beyond a thoughtful meditation. With a few exceptions, I shall utilize Moses life as the pathway through this illustration. Genesis seems a fitting place to begin. The expulsion from the Garden of Eden was the first exodus. In Genesis, humanity as a whole, and in Exodus, the Hebrews through their transformation into the Israelites, began a trek.They to each one see a perilous journey ahead as they begin fumbling toward a dimly seen goal. God, Moses, and Socrates all want what is best for His/his hatful. The people would preferably not have it, And they verbalize to each other, We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. A seemingly universal and consistent source of political strife, what the people want vs. what the ruler thinks is good for them. Platos presentation of Socrates is generally in the form of the dialectic. The dialectic between God and his creation is show frequently throughout the Scriptures.It seems much more often towards the beginning, waning through the prophets (later, waxing until the final culmination of the dialectic with the condemnation and crucifixion of God the Son). transport and Eves questioning by the Father Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was go in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman you entrap here with meshe gave me some fruit from the tree , and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Cains interrogation for the murder of his brother (Am I my brothers keeper? ), Abrahams bargaining with God over the destruction of Sodom Will you sweep absent the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were 50 innocent people in the city? , and Moses unenthusiastic response to Gods command to be the standard bearer to let His people go At this point in Moses life, he has developed a tripartite identity a Hebrew origin, an Egyptian upbringing, and after his exile in Midian, he has a married and fairly sedentary lifestyle. Moses does not want to be the leader of the Hebrews out of Egypt. like the philosophers in the Republic, they do not wish to rule the multitude, they must be compelled to rule. God compels Moses, through the burning bush, to carry his cross. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush , Moses Moses But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said, I willing be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. Moses said to God, Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? Then what shall I tell them? God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites I am has sent me to you. The transformation that Moses undergoes, having seen the face of God at the burning bush is similar to Platos coincidence of the Cave. He emerges with a mission, a calling that is to consume his life trail the people to truth and justice. Bringing them forth from the darkness of Egypt into the light of Canaan. standardised the man who returns to the cave having seen the light, Moses trustablitiy is doubted many times.Moses was jilted by his people many times. First, by the Hebrews as he attempted to help them by killing the overseer, move him into exile. Secondly, by the Egyptians for siding with the slaves. Thirdly, by the Israelites during his attempt to lead them safely to the Promised Land. Like the Israelites, the Athenians did not discover, or refused to accept, the teachings of Socrates, which were intended to renew private and public morality leading to is eventual condemnation and a nightcap of hemlock. Following the death of Socrates, many of his students fled.Plato returned in an attempt to continue transformation of society and to redeem his time, he in addition failed. Moses hesitantly heads back to Egypt, to engage in his fruitless negotiation with the Pharaoh fruitless in part due to the Lords hardening of his ticker. The last-ditch plague set upon the Egyptians is the Angel of Deaths reaping of the first born of each household who does not possess the mark above their doorway. This was not a simple sweeping away of children, intent on causing anguish amongst the citizens, in an attempt to incite them against the Pharaoh (that seems to have been just a bonus).It was a bear assault on the socio-political fabric of society primogeniture upended, filial duties confused, and the vanishing of an entire generation. The Athenians feared something somewhat less immediately disruptive, the corruption of a few well-placed youths. Socrates actions were, they feared, going to destabilize Athenian society, similar to a malignancy, growing and spreading, infecting the very marrow. Moses, Plato, and Aristotle believed that there was no distinction between morality and politics.If one cannot restore order to his disposition, Plato reasoned, than there can be no order in society. Just as the God of the Pentateuch understood when he gave Moses the x Commandments. The Decalogue presents a mix of the ordering of ones soul (mostly the first 4) and the orderi ng of society in the last 6. The Greeks knew that the thoton of the soul ought to be the chief object of individuals on earth. Cleansing the soul frees humanity from the monstrous loves and degrading appetites so that man(and women)may conform to the nomos, or the law. The nomos, not human beings, is the measure of all things.Moses was not the liberator, God was. Socrates was not the liberator- truth was. Moses and Socrates were attempting to lead the people towards liberation because they were compelled to because of the Truth. Moses and Socrates were not politicians, generals, or just leaders. The possessed a vision, they sought righteousness (in different ways), and pursuers of truth and virtue. Thrasymachos legal positivistic view, that objective justice does not exist for rulers, they lay down the laws with the exclusive concern for their own advantage.Platos refutation of this view is followed by Aristotles argument that even great-souled men are not immune to from the dest ructive passions associated with the spirited parts of the soul. We see in the account of David, A man after Gods own heart, that even he is not free from temptation or pride. Moses is not allowed to enter the Promised Land, many surmise it is because out of anger and impatience, struck a fluctuate to produce water, instead he should have followed Gods instructions and simply spoke to the rock. While others suggest that it is his, again out of anger, breaking of the Ten Commandments.Not acting virtuously according to Aristotles golden mean, Moses freely chooses to act rashly out of anger, and cowardly, by refusing to allow his rebuke of the Israelites to be sufficient. Moses shows himself, in these incidents, to be lacking in virtue. Because of his situational virtuousness he is punished by God. In the Book of Samuel, the people of Israel clamor for a king to rule over them. Samuel approaches God with this request. The Lord, far from being a democrat, eventually relents Listen to a ll that the people are saying to you it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights He will take your sons and make them take to heart with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive gr oves and give them to his attendants. He will take a 10th of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.He will take a 10th of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day. Socrates, via Plato, describes the decay of the healthy city. Its decay is brought about by the emancipation of the desire for unnecessary things, i. e. , for things that are not necessary for the well being or health of the body. Thus the luxurious or feverish city emerges, the city characterized by the striving for the unlimited acquisition of wealth.Once can expect that in such a city the individuals will no longer exercise the single art for which each is meant by nature but any art or combining of the arts which is most lucrative, or that th ere will no longer be a strict correspondence between service and reward and then there will be dissatisfaction and conflicts and therefore need for government which will restore justice. There will certainly be need for additional grunge and hence there will be war, war of aggression. Those who clamored to Samuel for a king other than the King who brought them out of slavery should have read the Greeks.The story of Solomons rise is one of wisdom, peace, fulfillment and beauty. The decent of Solomon is one of war, oppression overindulgence, idolatry, and misery. Solomon traded away a part of Israels land, while annexing others cities (requiring him amass chariots and horsemen), enslaved the Canaanites, accumulated epic amounts of gold and sliver, had relations with Egypt, married foreign women although Moses forbade it because they would turn their hearts away from the Lord and eventually began to worship their idols.All of this eventually ending in the destruction of Israel, di vergence Judah for the sake of David and Jerusalem. Because of the blessing Solomon began with, and the glory he reached at his pinnacle, his fall was a much more tragic one. The Ten Commandments, and Justice define the line associated with living in society. Their statement, however does not solve it. God gives the laws to create an ideal society, Socrates gives the vision of the ideal city.It has been painfully demonstrated, not just through the accounts of Moses, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, but the entirety of human history, that this ideal is seemingly impossible to attain. The political philosophy expressed in the early Biblical narrative, through Revelation, the Greeks will come to understand (or at lease address) through Reason. The establishment of a government (either temporal or divine), the dangers of government, the relationship between the individual to the leader/state (and the leaders responsibilities), forms of government, and the eventual decline of the state.

Case Study Material Essay

Herman Miller Company is looking to adopt the cradle-to cradle (C2C) design protocol. This design is to create a closed-loop product life cycles. Herman Miller Company should not use PVC in the construction of the Mirra direct. An alternative material thermoplastic urethane (TPU) has been identified as an alternative. TPU is a viable alternative that goes along with the green publicity the company was getting for the Mirra chair. The first step that needs to take place is to talk to their supplier round modifying existing tooling to work with TPU.As well as the lead time it would take to modify existing tooling. To create reinvigorated tooling could take approximately 6-8 weeks for reinvigorated tooling to be engineered as well as creating the new tooling. As discussed from the case the retool could cost over $100K (Lee 2009). The introduction of TPU was discussed in August of 2002 and the launch of the Mirra chair is scheduled for June 2003. This provides the company with 9 mont hs to use TPU instead of PVC on the chair arms.To retrofit tooling for a new raw material can fetch more problems than just to create new tooling. The first thing that needs to happen is to talk to the supplier and to determine a lead time for new tooling and a lead time for modifying existing tooling. Tooling can be modified however, it is a matter of time and money. There are concerns about using TPU in the Mirra chair, that customers will start wanting TPU in every chair. This chair has received a lot of publicity

Ratio Analysis of Next Plc

Business Accounts Assignment I Introduction b molding plc is a retailer founded 1864 in the United demesne, that not only sells mens, womens and childrens wear but also has a home ware department. Their clothes wear are stylish but afford suitable. Throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland thither are over 550 Next stores plus 50 franchises operating in Asia, Europe and The Middle East. This report will analyse and outline the companions profitability, liquidity, solvency and investment potentials ground on 15 ratios.All information is taken from the Next plc 2011 statement. Profitability and Performance The gross profit ratio adverts that Next plc was able to maintain their gross profit. It has decreased insignificantly by 0. 05%. In 2011 the revenue has change magnitude by roughly 47 Million, hence the sales of costs change magnitude proportionally to this. The tenableness for the increase could be either an introduction of a higher priced product line or merely a purchas e of to a greater extent goods. One reason could be that due to higher pauperizations they had to stock up their inventories.This ratio indicates that the beau monde was able to sustain the same level of costs in year 2011, but also that the trading department successfully negotiated better prices with suppliers. The operating margin has experienced an increase in numbers from 15. 55% to 16. 64%. It seems that Next plc found a way to control their costs more efficiently. On the income statement one can see that the administration costs and diffusion costs have reduced. This could be due to cuts in wages or rent. In general, however, it can be said that Next plc improved their cost accounting.This could be an explanation for the increase in the operating margin ratio. The asset turnover ratio has fallen slightly by 0. 05. A reason for this could be slightly higher investments in fixed assets like plant or equipment. All in all though, they have managed to maintain leveraging thei r assets, but in next they should try to use their existing assets more effectively. One can see that the return on capital employed ratio has experienced a emergence of 3. 28%. Just as for the operating margin, a possible reason for this could be major cuts in administration expenses and distribution costs.This ratio indicates that the comp each has increased its efficiency at creating profits out of the money they have invested in and basically proves that Next plc knows how to use their funds successfully and control their costs effectively. In general, these ratios indicate that the profitability and performance of Next plc is very positive. Liquidity and Efficiency Liquidity ratios indicate how efficiently a company can pay kill its short-term and long-term obligations. The inventory days have increased by 8 days. This shows that they keep hold of their stock for a longer period of time.It seems that the demand for their products has decreased. Trade receivables have increas ed by 2 days, which mode that Next plc receives money from their customers slightly later than in year 2010. A possible reason for this is a general rise in unemployment and hence limited growths of consumer credit (Next Plc, 2011). However, receiving money from their customers later than before, the company has managed to pay back their creditors faster in 2011 than in 2010 (trade payable days have decreased by 2 days). This is likely to prove a higher efficiency of balancing costs and revenues on the companys part.In a wider context approximately 80 days are a relatively long time to repay credits. This could on the one go demonstrate the creditors trust in Next plc and their ability to pay back, but it is also possible that the company simply struggles to pay back credits any earlier. In this case though the trade payable days are probably high due to good negotiations of the purchase department with their suppliers. This assumption is based on the fact that Next Plc has a high amount of cash. The new and dissolute ratios have slightly fallen.The current ratio is still supra 1, intend the company does not have any problems meeting their short-term obligations. A reason for this slight decline could be that there has been an increase in their short-term debt. In this case their current liabilities did actually increase. As long as the current ratio, which takes inventories into account, is higher than 1, they do not experience any problems repaying their short-term liabilities. However, the quick ratio is smaller than 1 and has marginally decreased in 2011. Due to this Next Plc might have problems paying off their short-term liabilities if sales decreases in the next years.In general though, they seem to have a rather good ability to generate cash and pay off their obligations. Solvency The gearing ratio seems to be immensely high. This could be due their major savings. It seems that they are buying their own shares back perhaps in order to save up for projects like reorganisations or investments. It has decreased by half from 2010 to 2011 probably because they reduced their non-current liabilities. High gearing is supposed to be risky and also results in paying higher have-to doe withs. Their pastime go along has risen by 2, possibly due to the fact that the interest figure has fallen by 1.This means they can pay off their interest roughly three times more than in the previous year. A possible reason for this could be a decline in interest. In general, Nexts interest payments seem to be very safe. They are generating enough revenues to meet interest expenses. Investors Ratios Investor ratios are usually used by investors in order to examine if it is worth investing their money in a company. They monitor these figures over years in order to make a right decision. The winnings per share ratio has increased from 188. 5p to 221. 9p.The reason for this is that the profit after tax has increased in 2011 and the number of ordinary s hares declined by 33. 4. This obliviously results in the earning per share universe higher. A reason for the decline in numbers of ordinary shares could be that Next Plc bought back shares. The dividend yield has experienced a growth by 0. 46. This means that investors receive more money than in year 2010. A reason for this is that the current market has not changed over two years, the price remained stable. In 2011 the dividend cover has fallen slightly by 0. 26.A possible reason could be that they have decided to increase the dividends per share in relation to profit after tax. The price/earning ratio has experienced a decline by 0. 021. This shows that in 2011 investors receive their money back slightly quicker compared to 2010. This could be due the decline in numbers of shares meaning Next Plc could afford to give out dividends faster. Economical position Debenhams plc is one of Nexts main competitors. It can be perceptive to examine the economical state of relevant competito rs in order to judge a companys success. Debenhams ROCE-ratio shows extremely spurn figures than Next Plc. 010 the ROCE was 13. 94% and 2011 12. 34%. First of all, one can see that it has decreased in 2011 and compared to Next plc it is roughly 45% lower in both years. It is crucial to note here that Next plc increased their ROCE whereas Debenhams Plcs decreased. This shows that Next plc is extremely more efficient in creating profits out of the money they have invested in. Based on the current ratio one can say that Debenhams plc would be struggling to pay off their short-term obligations since it is less than 1 whereas Next Plc would have no problems since theirs is above 1.The interest cover is also much lower compared to Next plc. However, Debenhams plcs interest cover has increased by circa 3% it is still 17% lower than Next Plcs. This indicates that Next plc either has greater profits or Debenhams plc has higher interests. All in all, it seems that Next plc was not badly affe cted by the corner compared to Debenhams plc. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that Next plc successfully managed to maintain and even reduce their costs and maximise their profit especially thank to Next Directory, which has increased by 7. 1%.Although the economical environment is rather weak they could yet overcome these obstacles and make a gainful year in 2010 and even increase their profit in 2011. The general economic situation is likely to suffer from the worldwide consequences of the financial crisis as well as the European Euro crisis in particular. This means that Next plc has to find a way to become more competitive so as to maintain their high profits. For instance, they could invest in marketing to attract more customers and hence increase and sustain sales. The only ratio that they might have to worry slightly about is the quick ratio.But as long as they keep their sales up the current ratio does not seem to be any problem at all. All in all, most of the rat ios indicate that Next plc is overall a successful growth company. They proved its competitiveness despite the economical decline in retail and in the consumer price index, which has decreased to 4. 2% from 5. 2%. Especially, when comparing Next plc to its main competitor one can see that they successfully kept their sales up. Generally, the ratios indicate that Next plc has a relatively strong and stable economic success, while controlling their costs effectively.All ratios, especially the dividend yield, prove that the company is a highly profitable company to invest in. Reference List http//www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-15344297 https//fame2. bvdep. com/version-2012113/Report. serv? _CID=63&context=2A6M7EI864H8BPQ&SeqNr=0 http//www. nextplc. co. uk//media/Files/N/Next-PLC/pdfs/reports-and-results/2010/2011-03-24a. pdf http//www. nextplc. co. uk/about-next/our-history. aspx http//www. nextplc. co. uk/about-next/business-overview. aspx http//www. retaileconomics. co. uk/outlook-fo r-the-uk-retail-sector-q3-2011/

The Role of Separation

Appointing a mission-wise Chair Role separation resolves a potential strife of interest arising from the fact that the CEO is the primary manager of a company and the chairman is the head of the board, which oversees management (Hodgeson, 2014). Separating the roles strengthens the system of checks and balances and enhances the appearance of board independence.Splitting the roles is astray considered to be a best practice in corporate governance, though its benefits remain controversial in some circles, notably in parts of the mainstream, corporate America. (Tonello, 2011). The mission relevance of the chairs role has long been recognized in the non-profit sector where facilitating mission delivery, through managing and organizing the governing boards mission-related work, has always been central to the chairs role (Akpeki, 2006).Appointing a vernal board chair, then, may come to be seen as a potential milestone for mission preservation in social entrepreneurships. The chairs rol e is central to palmy corporate governance, and the influence of the person fulfilling this role can be critical to the maintenance of mission within thriving social entrepreneurship.It stands to reason that, through choosing a chair who understands and backs the social mission, organizations can strengthen mission stewardship in the boardroom and thus help avert mission drift. Commitment to carrying the torch of the mission is single a starting point for a chair. The chairs skills, personality, and behavior will determine his or her effectiveness.A capable chair should come with first-hand knowledge of the sector or industry the business is operating in, proven leadership skills and an understanding of board process.In social entrepreneurships, the chair will also need a dissipated grasp of mission in the practical sense, experience in delivering mission in a business context and a commitment to ensuring that mission has its positioning in board discussion and decision-making a t every level (Shekshnia Rowley, 2014). A mission-capable chair will know how to keep the mission on the agenda, how to generate ample group discussion around mission and how to foster a positive board culture with a shared sense of purpose.

Experiments made in Transfer of Training or Learning Essay

The question of give has been definitely put to a test in erect to show far training in one line influences otherwise lines. Many experiments and studies in transfer of training have been performed by psychologists. Starch considered the worry of transfer in two fields1. Transfer in Specific Psychological ActivitiesThe experiments performed in this field were the followingExperiments in memory, by mobWilliam James was the first to attack the problem of memory-training experimentally. He investigated the effort of memorizing one kind of material on ability to memorize other kinds of materials. James himself memorized 158 lines from Victor Hugos Satyr and kept record of the time spent. He then devoted thirty-eight days (20 minutes per day) to the mastery of Miltons Paradise Lost. After his didactics in memorization, he selected another 158 lines from the Satyr and memorized them. He discovered that he needed more time to learn this selection than he had spent in memorizing the fi rst selection from the Satyr. His result showed negative transfer. From their studies James was led to believe that formal discipline is not an efficacious means of improving the memory (National ships company for the Study of Education, 2000).Experiment in perception, by Thorndike and Woodworth, in 1901 Thorndike and Woodworth studied the influence of special training on the regard of magnitudes upon the ability to estimate magnitudes of the same public type, and the influence of training in observing voice communication containing certain other letters. Thorndike and Woodworth concluded from the first part of the experiment that there was more improvement in the ability to estimate areas similar to the practice material than in the ability to estimate dissimilar areas. The result of the second experiment showed that practice in cancelling words with certain letters had an indirect opinion on the cancelling words of words with other letters (National Society for the Study of E ducation, 2000).Experiments in judging weights of various sizes transferred to estimation of other weights, by Coover, in 1916these experiments showed positive transfer.Experiments in maze-learning for both rats and human, by Webb in 1971It was concluded from the results of these experiments that there were carry over effects from practice in one sensory-motor activity to another but the amount of transfer varied with the individual subject (Morgan, 1999).From these studies of transfer two conclusions may be drawn (a) both negative and positive transfers occur between specific learning activities (b) the more similar the specific activities, the greater the positive transfer. In other words, whatever transfer occurred could be expanded in terms of identical elements of procedure, habits, and methods.Transfer in School SubjectsMost of the experimental studies made of transfer in high discipline subjects were the followingFrom Latin to English by Thorndike and Rugger in 1923Thorndike and Rugger found out that their studies that high school freshmen who studied Latin made middling higher scores in an English vocabulary test than did students who had not studied Latin, the gain made on all words derived from Latin roots. So far as pedagogical practice is concerned, Thorndikes and Ruggers investigation established the fact of transfer of training (Skinner, 2000).From Latin to English vocabulary, by Hamblen in 1924Hamblen concluded that transfer from Latin to English vocabulary was great when word derivations were stressed in the teaching of Latin (Skinner, 2000).In conclusion, experiments in the effect of cross-education, in observing and judging sensory and perceptual data, and in forming sensory motor association habits have been conducted in considerable number by other psychologists. A few experiments in special school functions have also been carried out. The results obtained from the experiments in those different lines, although confusing and sometimes con tradictory, seem to warrant the belief that the octogenarian idea of a vast transfer, in some subtle and unexplained way, of special improvements to a general faculty, is false. It may be summed up by apothegm that the weight of evidence is all against formal discipline. The experimental evidence is against the idea that the faculties or powers of the mind can be trained like muscles so that the alter of these powers will automatically insure a high degree of efficiency in new and unrelated material or activities.

The Religion Islam

The Religion Islam The Religion Islam What is Islam? The word Islam means submission to the will of God. The holiness of Islam is the acceptance of and obedience to the teachings of God which the Muslimsfollowers of Islambelieve God revealed to his last visionary. Muslims believe that there is only virtuoso God. The Arabic word for God is Allah which means, the one and only true God who created the whole universe. According to Muslims, God sent a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to His law. To the Muslims, Jesus, Moses and Abraham atomic number 18 regard as prophets of God.Muslims believed in the prophets as messengers of God, still according to their nonions, Gods final heart to man was revealed by the prophet Muhammad. Who is the prophet Muhammad? Muhammad was born in Mecca in the form 570. His father died before he was born and his mother died shortly after. Therefore he was raised by his uncle. Muhammad was raised illiterate. He could n on read or write, and remained that way for the rest of his life. As he grew up, he was known to be the correctful, honest, trustworthy, generous, and sincere. Muhammad was very religious, and had long disliked the decadence and idolatry of his caller.Muhammad was claimed to aim his first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel when he was at the age forty. The revelations continued for twenty-three years, and they argon known as the volume. When Muhammad started preaching the truth which God revealed to him, he and his group of followers suffered persecutions from the non-believers. It got so bad for Muhammad and his followers that in the year 622, God gave them the command to emigrate. They migrated from the city Mecca to the city of Yathrib, which is now called Medina. His move to Yathrib is called Hijra. This marked the beginning of the Muslims calendar.Several years later, Muhammad and his followers returned back to Mecca, where they forgave their enemies. The grea ter part of the Arabian Peninsula had become Muslims and within the century of his death, Islam had spread all over the world. Muhammad died at the age sixty-three. Though he was a man, he was far removed from evil appearances and tried only for the sake of God and his reward. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet of God. They believed that the Holy Quran is Gods last revealed book. The prophet Muhammad claimed that the angel, Gabriel revealed the Quran, which the Muslims call Gods literal word, to him.Muhammad memorized the prophecy and shared it with his companions, and they then wrote it down in a book called the Quran. Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel met with Muhammad once a year to review the Quran and during the last years of his life, he met with Gabriel twice a year. The Quran was said to be revealed quadteen centuries ago. The Quran is the primary source of every Muslims faith and practice. This book deals with all the subjects which concern human being s wisdom, doctrine, worship, transactions, law, and more, but its basic theme is the relationship between God and his creatures.This book is known to provide guidance and detailed teaching for society. The Quran was claimed to be revealed to Muhammad in Arabic. What are the Muslims beliefs? Muslims have six main beliefs. The first belief is to believe in God. Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable God, Who has no son or partner, and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him alone. The second belief is to believe in the Angels. Muslims believe in the existence of the angels and that they are honored creatures. The angels worship God alone, imitate Him, and act only by His command.The third belief of the Muslims is to believe in Gods revealed books. Muslims believe that God revealed books to His messengers as proof for mankind and as guidance for them. Among these books is the Quran, which God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The fourth belief is that the Muslims should believe in the Prophets and the messengers of God. Muslims believe in the prophets and messengers of God, starting with Adam, including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus, but Gods final message to man, a reconfirmation of the eternal message, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.The fifth belief of the Muslims is to believe in the Day of Judgment. Muslims believe in the Day of Judgment which is the day of resurrection, when all the great unwashed will be resurrected for Gods judgment according to their beliefs and deeds. The last belief of the Muslims is to believe in Al-Qadar. Muslims believe in Al-Qadar, which is divine predestination, but this belief in divine predestination does not mean that human beings do not have needy will. Rather, Muslims believe that God has given human beings free will.This means that they can choose right or wrong and that they are responsible for their choices. The belief in Divine Predestination includes belief in four things Go d knows everything. He knows what has authoriseed and what will happen, God has recorded all that has happened and all that will happen, whatever God wills to happen happens, and whatever He wills not to happen does not happen and God is the creator of everything. Muslims believe the Sunnah is the practical example of the Prophet Muhammad and that there are quin basic pillars of Islam.The Five Pillars of Islam are the five obligations that every Muslim mustiness fulfill in order to live a good and responsible life according to Islam. These pillars are the apology of faith, asking five times a day, heavy(a) alms to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan, the pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime for those who are able. The confession of faith must be said with conviction, La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah. This means, There is no true god but God (Allah) and Muhammad is the messenger of God. The testimony of faith is called the Shahada, a simple system whic h should be said with conviction in order to convert to Islam. This is the most important pillar of Islam. Prayer is the second pillar of Islam which they call it the Salat. Muslims perform five prayers a day. Prayer in Islam is a direct link between the worshipper and God. They are performed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night and are performed whateverwhere they please. Before playing a prayer, one must be in a state of purification.That means they wash their hands all the way up to their elbows, the mouth and the nostrils are rinsed, and he feet are bathe to the ankles. The third pillar of Islam is almsgiving. The Muslims call it giving Zakat. The meaning of the word Zakat means both purification and growth. To give Zarat means giving a specified percentage of certain properties to certain classes of needy people. The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting the month of Ramadan known by Muslims as Sawm. Every year in the month of Ramadan, Muslims spend he ninth month of t he Islamic calendar observing a community-wide fast from dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drinks, and sexual relations. Fasting is a method of spiritual self-purification done by cutting oneself off from the worldly comforts. A person fasting gains true sympathy with those who go hungry, as salubrious as growth in his or her spiritual life. The last pillar of Islam is to pilgrimage to Mecca which the Muslims call it the Hajj. It occurs in the month of Dhul-Hijjah which is the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.About two million Muslims of every ethnic group, color, social status, and culture gather together in Mecca and stand before the Kabah praising Allah together. This is a ritual that is intentional to promote the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. The Hajjis or pilgrims wear simple white clothes called Ihram. They pray at the Haram mosque in Mecca. In the mosque is the Kabah which they turn to while praying. According to the Muslims, the Kabah is the place of worship which God commanded the Prophets Abraham and his son, Ishmael, to build.This is where they asked for forgiveness and for what they wish for. Carrying out the Five Pillars demonstrates that the Muslim is displace their faith first, and not just trying to fit it in around their secular lives. What are the families of Islam like? One of the most striking features of Muslim society is the importance attached to the family. The family unit is regarded as the cornerstone of a healthy and balanced society. A harmonious social order is created by the existence of prolonged families children are treasured and rarely leave home until the time they marry.According to the Quran, men and women are equal before God women are not blamed for violating the require tree, nor will their suffering in pregnancy and childbirth a punishment for that act. How women are seen in Islam? Islam sees a woman, whether single or married, as an individual in her own right, with the right to own and dispose of her property and earnings. A marital gift is given by the groom to the bride for her own personal use, and she may conserve her own family name rather than adopting her husbands.Roles of men and women are complementary and collaborative. Rights and responsibilities of both sexes are equitable and balanced in their totality. How do Muslims treat the elderly? The stretch out of caring for ones parents in this most difficult time of their lives is considered an honor and a blessing and an opportunity for great spiritual growth. In Islam, it is not enough that we only pray for our parents, but we should act with limitless compassion, remembering that when we were helpless children, they preferred us to themselves. Mothers are particularly honored.When Muslim parents reach aged age, they are treated mercifully, with kindness and selflessness. In Islam, serving ones parents is a duty second of prayer, and it is th eir right to expect it. It is considered despicable to express any irritation when, through no fault of their own, the old become difficult. Today, Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over one billion followers. According to Muslims, Islam is not a new religion, but it is the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets. For a fifth of the worlds population, Islam is both a religion and a know way of life.

Iron Crowned Chapter 17

We learned to a greater extent near the luxuriant ex dwell of Imanuelles ability as Kiyo and I make our carriage with her on horseback to the rowan Land. Her put-ons were all(prenominal) slice as flop-hand(a) as shed demonstrated the first day, and I watched with grudging awe as she transformed Kiyo into Girard, Shaya, and ack Dorian. The illusions were perfect and riskous. I began to fully understand why she was such a good assassin. She in truth could be w steadver she destinyed, slipping into high security places with let on any ace be intimateing. I was a bit shocked when some(a) fraction of my brain skipped righteousness past employing her to detaining her. That part of my brain utter getting rid of her would be safer for me in the future, and I immediately chastised myself for the idea. Imprisoning potential enemies was something Storm King would have d unmatched.Its not all- partful, she verbalise at one point. I conceptualize she was adept reservation idle conversation now, having no clue of my concerns. Wed crossed into the rowan Land now, and shed dropped her tricks with Kiyo, settling on illusions of bedraggled peasants for all of us. Doing it for three state takes more power. And even for myself, I cant hold up disguises forever. She made a half-size face. If I could, Id be a spy instead. A lot less messy.I verbalise postcode notwithstanding exchanged brief glances with Kiyo behind her back. He too had to have analyzed the implications of her abilities. I was also thinking that when wed first tried to rescue Jasmine from Aeson, our com arrangeer programme had failed because a spy had betrayed us. in that respect was every possibility now that Imanuelle could do the same, and I wondered if Id been too firm to trust such an unkn avouch quantity. I could only hope love for her brformer(a) would keep her fast(a) to his employer.Despite its name, the Rowan Land was dominated by cherry trees. Well, at least that was my i mpression whenever I crossed through it while journeying to other kingdoms. As we traveled further a foresightful roadstead that delved deeper into Katrices kingdom, the cherry trees gave track to other plants and trees including rowans. They were depleteder than Id expected and laden with berries of their own. This res publica was really quite nice, methodrate and pleasantly strugglem, with beautiful green landscapes. It would be a shame if I did have to raze it to the ground.We proverb signs of Katrices castle abundant in shorter the castle itself. Other travelers joined us on the road, those whose towns had been caught in the cross nurture of war and now sought out food and shelter from their monarch. Most were on foot, and we passed them quickly, for which I was glad. I involve no guilt on this journey.We also began soak uping sol expirers, undoubtedly part of the increased security that Rurik had predicted. some(a) were traveling to and from the castle. Some were st ationed along the way, accusationfully watching those of us who passed. I held my breath each time, waiting for Imanuelles illusions to fail us. Along with acknowledging her power limits, shed also told us some gentry were sensitive to her type of fantasy and could see through her spells. Shed told us this halfway through the journey. It was information that kind of would have been useful before setting out. yet, although we were scrutinized, the soldiers allowed us to pass, and before long, the castle itself came into view. I inter military commissiond a moment, admiring it in spite of myself. Dorian and I both had dark, blocky stone castles, standardized Norman strongholds left on barren English countryside. Maiwenns home was elegant and fanciful, al slipway reminding me of a Disney movie. Katrices castle, however, could have been straight out of a postcard from Bavaria. It had strong, straight extraneous lines, its sides white and covered with windows. That rigid boxiness w as finishset by graceful turrets rising from the center, almost delicate-looking with their pointed opaque roofs. The land had been rising as we traveled, so it wasnt a surprise to see the castle was situated high on one of the foothills leading off into pretty, snowcapped mountains. It had a sweeping view of the area we were approaching from, and a sturdy wall surrounded its immediate grounds.Here we came to a stop along with the others seeking admission. We formed a long, clustered line, making me nervous.Why the backup? Are they refusing people? I asked softly. We dont usually have this many a(prenominal) at our gates.Kiyo peered a send, his sharp eyes perceive what we couldnt. No, theyre letting them in, just doing a f nervous strain amount of questioning, which is decrease things stack. And youre right you never have this many because your lands havent been attacked as much. profound and bad, I thought. Id kept my own people safe, unless the war I was waging was devast ating homes. It occurred to me I qualification not have to worry slightly Katrice. If these people discovered who was among them, I power very well be taken down by an angry mob.Easy, murmured Imanuelle. Dont look nervous. I cant cloud your expressions.I schooled myself to neutrality, hoping I looked blank and exhausted. After almost an min of restless waiting, our turn came. Four guards interrogated us, and we were quick with answers. For our cover story, wed chosen a closure that had been near a battle Dorians armies had fought with Katrices. Most of the residents had cleared out before the fighting, scarce a large part of the village had been removeed.Our house was burned to the ground, Imanuelle utter. She didnt even need the illusion of an older, rag-clad woman to be pathetic. Her demeanor and voice were alter with perfect, convincing desp nervous strain. Our crops were wiped out.After a bit more questioning, they let us in, sending us toward what was essentially a g entry breadline. The inner grounds of Katrices castle were packed with people most soldiers and we had to shoulder our way through the crowd to reach the corner where the poor and cluster masses were situated. Many appeared to have made this courtyard their temporary home. It looked like a well-used campground. nonetheless, food was on hand, and I was relieved that these victims of war were cosmos cared for.We hovered near the food line so as not to raise suspicion, all the while assessing the area. In particular, our attention rested on the main(prenominal) gates to the castle itself. It was the most heavily guarded power point of all, and I knew then that an outright assault would have indeed been long and bloody. Other soldiers moved through the door with little questioning, which was what wed hoped for. Finding a relatively obscured corner between a tall tent and the wall, we ducked out of sight and let Imanuelle work her next spell. She closed her eyes and took a deep bre ath. A tingle ran over me, and the world blurred. When I could focus on my companions over again, I motto myself looking at the guards who had admitted us.Whoa, wait, I said, assuming I probably looked like one of the gate soldiers as well. Dont you think we might have a few problems if we run into our clones? Why didnt you make us look like hit-or-miss unknowns?Because if the other guards dont recognize us, well get questioned more, Imanuelle explained. She studied her hands critically, a small smile showing presumption in her work. I dont think the ones at the gate are leaving their posts anytime soon. We shouldnt run into them. She spoke confidently, but I had a feeling she was secretly thinking I hope.Everyone was too concerned with his or her own affairs to realize that three peasants had ducked international, and three soldiers had emerged. When the refugees saw us, though, they stepped quickly out of our way. No pushing this time. None of us take lessons on how to behav e. Whereas our initial entry had been weak and bedraggled, we now walked with the confidence and strength of those who ran this place. We precisely intermitd as we moved to the castles entrance, and those on guard stepped aside without comment.Being inside proved a bit more confusing. Wed received some information on the castles layout, but we didnt know exactly where Jasmine was being held. We couldnt pause to deliberate, though. We had to keep moving like we had purpose or else attract attention. Soldiers and servants hurried round us, and we fell in step with some down a random hall. Kiyo, always fast-thinking, stopped a lone, young soldier.Hey, said Kiyo brusquely. Weve had reports that someone might try to rescue the Thorn Queens sister.The soldiers blue eyes widened. What? We should alert No, no, Kiyo interrupted. Keep it to yourself. We dont want to raise suspicion. The outside guard already knows and is on watch. We need to know if shes been moved or not. in that locati on were rumors that she had been.I tried not to bite my lip. Kiyo sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but this was a dangerous moment. As Id worried before, Jasmine might not even be held here. There was also a chance that this guard didnt know her location, and wed have to keep playing this game with others. The more people we talked to, the riskier our mission became.Not that Ive heard, said the soldier. Shes still in the dungeon.I breathed a sigh of relief. Id half-expected him to say she was in Cassiuss bedroom. The dungeons werent great either, but well it was no different than how Id initially treated her. I waited for Kiyo to demand more details how many guards were on her, where the dungeons were, et cetera. Instead he gave the soldier a curt nod and again warned him to be on alert but not to share his knowledge.We compulsory more info, I hissed to Kiyo as we continue walking down the hall. Whatever her faults, Katrice had good interior design sense. Floral pa intings hung on the walls, and amplify plants spilled out of vases. The beauty was lost on me, though. Whyd you let him go?Because real guards would already know anything else we valued to ask, he replied. Asking where the dungeons are would definitely be a tipoff that something was up.And I already know where they are, said Imanuelle.Both Kiyo and I looked at her in surprise.Downstairs, she added.Dungeons are always downstairs, I pointed out.Have you been to them? asked Kiyo.She nodded and crooked us a grin. Powerful leaders arent the only ones with prices on their heads. Sometimes important prisoners need to disappear too.I grimaced at her amusement but was grateful when she got us turned around. With a clear purpose, I grew more and more tense. This was it. What would we find? No one was giving us a second glance up here, but in the dungeons, wed attract attention especially when we busted out one of their prisoners.Our castle faades might have been different, but Katrice and I possessed similar dungeons. Dark. Gloomy. Gray stone walls and torches. It was such a stereotype, but I supposed it helped dampen the hopes of any prisoners.Imanuelle led us confidently down flights of stairs and into a long, wide corridor. Jasmines cellphone was easy to spot because six guards stood outside it again, reminiscent of her earlier conditions at my place.Good luck, said Imanuelle, falling behind us. She was apparently holding dead on target to her word that this was all on us now. The guards on duty were sharp-eyed and naturally noticed our approach, but none of them reacted with wariness or alarm. A couple displayed curiosity, wondering perhaps if orders had changed, but that was it.Kiyo and I had discussed several strategies on our journey and finally unyielding swift and surprising force would be the way to go. When we were still several feet away, I sent my fancy out, describeing in the air like a deep breath and throwing it back at the guards in the form of a gale-worthy wind. It ruffled our hair and brushed our skin, but the blast literally threw the guards off their feet. There were cries of shock, and two went down right then and at that place from the impact of slamming against the corridors end.The other foursome were up on their feet, three drawing copper swords. Fire appeared in the hands of the fourth. I should have expected Katrice would put magic-users on Jasmine, along with brute force. There was no other time to ponder that, though, because the guy short hurled a fireball at us. I instinctually drew on the surrounding air again, along with its moisture, disintegrating the fire with little effort. Kiyo surged forward then, attacking one of the guards. I ran forward as well, my attention focused on another guard as I created a vacuum around him, pulling all air away from him. His eyes widened as he gasped and clutched his throat, hard to draw an hopeless breath.I held the magic as one of his colleagues tried to attack m e. I dodged the sword, largely because the constrict dagger in my hand was making him keep his distance. The guy in the thralls of my magic finally passed out from the lack of oxygen, and I released him, letting him go bad unconscious to the floor. Before I could even deal with the other soldier by me, Kiyo leapt out and tackled him to the floor. I took this to mean Kiyos first opponent was out of commission, leaving me with the magic user.Not having learned anything the first time, he hurled another fireball at me. I admired his control too much would have incinerated everyone in the hall. But with my magic, swatting the fire away was an afterthought for me. He had no weapon out, and I stepped forward, pushing my athame to his throat. He cried out at the sting of the iron, offering no fight as I began drawing away his oxygen too. A realization glinted in his eyes. Illusion or no, he must have forecast out who would wield air and water so easily and hold onto iron.Thorn Queen h e gasped out, as the last of his air left him. I saw unconsciousness seizing him, but just before it did, he managed a weak flutter of his hand. No fire came, but I snarl an intense wave of heat spread out. It didnt lose me, but there was a physical power within it, one that rippled the air and made the walls tremble clearly just before he too collapsed to the floor.Kiyo and I stood there among the bodies dead or alive, I didnt know and glanced at each other and our surroundings carefully. Imanuelle still stood back but looked impressed.What the hell was that? I asked.Im guessing an alarm, she said.Fuck.I turned toward Jasmines cell and saw her huddled in the farthest corner, regarding me with large, wary eyes. Water was her true specialty she had only slight control over air. Nonetheless, she would have felt the strength of the magic Id used. Like the guard, she knew there were few who could do what Id make but her vision told her it wasnt me standing there. I was still unde r Imanuelles illusion.Kiyo was already searching bodies and soon found a key. We opened the cell, but Jasmine didnt move. She didnt look too worse for the wear, but I knew some of the most terrible behaviors rarely left a mark. There was a small tear in her dress and a bruise on her arm that looked like the signs of a struggle, probably during her initial capture. I also noticed theyd left the fine iron chains on her that Girard had created to stunt her magic. My own resistance had undoubtedly been useful for her captors.I gestured to the door, uneasy about what Imanuelle had said about an alarm. Jasmine, come on. Its us. Me and Kiyo.And by me, said Kiyo, pointing in my direction, she means Eugenie.Jasmine hesitated, looking between our faces. How is that possible?Imanuelle, whod been watching the halls entrance, turned hastily toward the cell. How do you think? With magic. Look at yourself. Jasmines features rippled, and soon, we were staring at another Rowan soldier. Jasmine stud ied her hands in astonishment. The illusion showed no chains, but she would still be able to feel them.Your iPods playlist sucks, I said when she continued to hesitate. Would a gentry guard say that?Come on, urged Imanuelle. Shed been confident she could get herself out of any danger here, but those odds were better if she wasnt in a hall that could easily be blocked off if a regiment came tearing toward the entrance. Jasmine must have decided this new development could be no worse than her present fate. She jumped up and left the cell, following as the rest of us made for the stairs. We reached the main floor without opposition, but once there, all was chaos. Soldiers were running in the direction wed come from, and I wondered how long itd take them to realize we were the only ones not going toward the dungeons.Except it turned out that wasnt the case. In the confusion, no one stopped us from exiting the front door, but the inner grounds were packed with soldiers. They were crammi ng terrified refugees into one well-guarded section, and the gates in the outer walls had been shut.Fuck, I said again. It still seemed like the only adequate way to sum up this situation.We could jump to the human world, said Kiyo. Imanuelle can get out on her own.I considered this. It was true. Imanuelle could change into a peasant or whatever and escape detection until an opportunity for escape popped up. Kiyos abilities allowed him to novelty with relative ease through the worlds without a gate. I could do it but not without difficulty. And I needed to use an anchor to draw me back. I had a couple back in my home, but Jasmine had nothing like that. She probably couldnt jump at random from the Otherworld. I wasnt even sure if she could with an anchor and the iron chains made it worse. We could both end up doing serious damage to ourselves.We cant, I said. Weve just got to hide out. I turned to Imanuelle. How are you doing? Can you turn us all to peasants again?She nodded. Weve got to get out of sight, though.Her confidence was a small blessing, at least. Imanuelle was keeping up four illusions now, and her strength had been a concern in all this, that and someone who would be able to see through Its her Its the Thorn QueenThe shout out voice that suddenly drew all eyes to us didnt come from the soldiers. It came from an old woman among the huddled refugees. She reminded me of Masthera, with white hair and wild eyes. She was pointing at us, and there was something in her gaze some piercing spirit that made me believe she could see straight through the illusions to us.Damn, said Imanuelle. There was both fear and hurt pride in her voice. Although this had been a possibility, I knew shed secretly felt her powers were too strong for detection. Maybe the four of us had stretched her magic thin.Honestly, I wouldnt have thought that one shout would be enough to pull attention to us, not in the chaos out there. Yet, the womans voice brought silence to those n earby. They turned to stare at us, and soon, others who hadnt heard her noticed the reactions and fell quiet as well.Hush, snapped a guard, finally breaking the confused silence. He was one of the ones keeping the civilians out of the way. We have no time for this.The old woman shook her head adamantly. Cant you see? Cant you see them? Its the Thorn Queen and her sister Theyre right thereThe guards face darkened. I told you, we His welt dropped because that was when the guards whod been on gate duty earlier approached. They came to a standstill, staring at us in effect shock. If we hadnt panicked over the alarm, one of us probably would have thought to change the illusion so we looked like the unconscious soldiers, not the ones we would have to pass by again. It was a bad, bad oversight, and now everyone could see us and our mirror images.The guard yelling at the old woman might not know what was going on, but he knew something was going on. Seize them, he said. He glanced uneasi ly at his true colleagues and decided to cover his bases. Seize them too.Other soldiers moved toward us unquestioningly. I sized up the numbers. We were good, but I didnt think Kiyo and I could take that many in melee. Jasmine came to that same conclusion.Blow them up, she said. We can hump our way out of here.By we, she meant me, and I knew she was talking about storms, not explosions. Some part of me had already known that was the answer. Barely even realizing it, I summoned all my magic, making the beautiful, sunny day in the Rowan Land quickly fade. Black and purple clouds tumbled across the sky at impossible speeds, lightning flashing so close to us that the ground trembled. Humidity and ozone filled the air, wind rising and falling.It had come about in a matter of seconds, and the approaching soldiers halted. The old womans raving mad claim was no longer so crazy in light of that magic. They were all realizing that no matter what their eyes said, the possibility was now very good that Eugenie Markham truly stood before them. And I might be a wartime enemy, one they needed to capture, but I was also Storm Kings daughter, and that was not a title taken lightly. They knew what I could do, and it was enough to freeze up years of training.Let us pass, I said. I began slowly moving toward the gate, my three companions following a moment later. Let us pass, or Ill let this storm explode in here. Its already on the edge. One breath, and I can let it go. Thunder and lightning crackled above us, driving home my point. There were small screams from some of the crowd. Do you know what that kind of storm will do in an area this small? To all of you?It will kill them, a voice suddenly said. Horribly.I looked over toward the castles entrance and saw Katrice herself standing there. Guards hurried to flank her, but she held up a hand to halt them. It had been a long time since Id seen her. All of our antagonistic contact had been through messenger and letter. She looke d like she had at our last meeting, black hair laced with silver and dark eyes that scrutinized everything around her. She was in full regal mode too, in silver-gray satin and a small jeweled tiara. But no as I studied her, I saw a slight difference. She looked older than the last time wed been together. Leiths death and this war had taken their toll.I stared her straight in the eye, my adversary, the cause of so much recent grief in my life. I needed no storm around me because one was breaking out within, winds of fury and anger swirling around and around inside me.Drop the spell, I said to Imanuelle, without looking at her. I wanted to be face to face with Katrice, and honestly, it wasnt like my identity was a secret anymore. I felt another tingle, and a few gasps told me I wore my own form now. A small, tight smile crossed Katrices lips.Yes, she continued, you could unleash a storm here. You could destroy a large part of this wall, this castle. You could most certainly destroy all these people which is what youre good at, right? You put on this lofty pose about protecting lives, yet somehow, death always follows you. You carry it in your wake, just as Tirigan did. But at least he had no delusions about what he was doing.The comparison to my father increased the anger in me. The weather mirrored my reaction, the sky growing darker and the air pressure intensifying.Go ahead, said Katrice. Show me your storm.You dont have to kill them, said Jasmine beside me, voice low. Just her.Was she right? Was that all it would take? I could kill Katrice, no question. One unexpected bolt of lightning, and shed be gone. If retention served, her magic was similar to Shayas a connection and control with plant-life. As a queen, someone with the ability to pommel a land, Katrice possessed that power to levels that dwarfed Shayas. It was probably why the trees and plants here were so beautiful. It was also probably why we hadnt been attacked yet. This inner courtyard aroun d the castle was cleared land, hard-packed dirt that facilitated travel for guards, merchants, and other visitors. If wed been outside the walls, I would have likely had a forest marching on me by now.You can do that too, said Katrice, still trying to bait me. I couldnt tell if she was simply attempting to prolong her life or trying to catch me off guard for some other attack. Kill me in cold blood. Just like you did my son. Its in your nature.Its not cold blood in wartime, I growled. And your son deserved it. He was a weak, cowardly bastard who had to lie and drug women to get what he wanted.This made her flinch slightly, but she didnt hesitate to return the arrow. But he did get what he wanted. He got you. He couldnt have been that weak.Those words stung, but before I could respond, a young man slipped into place beside her. His resemblance was so strong to her and Leith that there could be no question of his identity Cassius, her nephew. The rage within me doubled. Seeing him rem inded me of what hed most likely done to Jasmine. My reason was slipping, replaced by slight fury.You should have let this go, I told Katrice, my voice perfectly level. You should have genuine Leiths death as punishment for what he did. An even slate. Lives have been lost because of you. More will be now.One bolt. One bolt, and she was dead. Hell, I could probably take out Cassius with it too.Eugenie, said Kiyo. Dont. Dont do it.What else am I supposed to do? I breathed, out of the others earshot.I warned you before there would be consequences. Please get a line to me this time, he begged. There will be again.What do you expect me to do? My voice was louder. I didnt care who heard. This is wartime. I kill their leader. I win. Other quick-scented, I let hell loose in here, and these people die. Which do you want, Kiyo? Pick or else find another way.He didnt respond, but Katrices tight smile grew at seeing dissent within my ranks. No options but death. You are Tirigans daughter. I m glad now that Leith didnt get you with child. His plan seemed wise at first, but its better my exalted bloodline isnt mingled with yours though the gods know how much Leith tried. He told me about it. Often. Ah, well. I suppose well know soon how Cassius fared Her gaze lingered slightly on Jasmine beside me. Imanuelle had dropped all our disguises.Eugenie Jasmine tried to speak, but I didnt want to listen.Are you trying to get yourself killed? I demanded of Katrice. Each word was harsh, almost impossible to get out. I was changing my mind about the lightning. I was remembering how Id killed Aeson, literally blowing him apart by ripping the water from his body. There were so many ways to kill her, so many ways to bring about humiliation.Katrice gave a small shrug, and despite that smug attitude, I saw a knife thrust of regret in her eyes. I have a feeling Ill die one way or another today. I just want everyone to know the truth about you before I do.I froze. Id told Kiyo to give me another option, and hed had none. But there was one other.The truth, I said slowly, reaching toward my backpack, is that you arent going to die today. But youll wish you had.I can only assume what happened next was born out of pure emotion, out of the anger and despair her words about me and Jasmine had evoked. Situational adrenaline probably played a intention too, and well, maybe there was something in my genes after all.I pulled the Iron Crown from my backpack. Katrice turned white, all zeal gone. Those who recognized the crown displayed similar fear, audible and visible. Others just stared curiously.No, she gasped. No. Please dont.I think until that moment, she hadnt truly believed I had the crown. I also think that had I demanded it, she wouldve named whatever terms of surrender I wanted. But I didnt want simple surrender. I wanted suffering. I wanted her to suffer, just as I had.So many ways to bring about humiliation I placed the crown on my head, and somehow maybe it was part of its magic I knew exactly what to do. The iron athame was still in my hand, and I crouched down with it. Katrice dropped to her knees too, but it was in supplication.Please, she begged again, tears in her eyes. Anything. Ill do anything you want.Youre right, I said. You will.I slammed the blade down and pierced the lands heart.

Cause and Effects of the Great Depression

The Causes and Effects of The spacious natural depression In America Few Americans in the first months of 1929 saw any reason to question the potentiality and stability of the nations economy. Most agreed with their unseasoned president that the booming prosperity of the age salutary agone would non exclusively continue muchover increase, and that dramatic social progress would follow in its wake. We in America to solar day, Herbert Ho everyplace had proclaimed in August 1928, be nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. 1In mid-October, 1929, the average materialistic American saw ahead of him an illimitable vista of prosperity. The newly inaugurated president, Herbert Hoover, had announced soberly in the preceding year that the conquest of poverty was no longer a mirage We score non yet reached our goal, and given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of deity be within sight of the day when poverty pass on be banished from the nation. This was the scotch promise twine with what a popular historian would call the American Dream.More complacently, Irving Fisher and different economists in the assertion of Wall Street assured the citizen that he was dwelling upon a permanently high plateau of prosperity. 2 Only fifteen months later, those words would return to haunt him, as the nation plunged into the severest and most prolonged stinting depression in its history. It began with a behave foodstuff crash in October 1929 it slowly but steady deepened over the next three years until the nations economy (and, many believed, its social and political systems) approached a ingrained collapse.It go on in one form or another for a full decade, not only if in the United distinguishs but throughout much of the rest of the world, until war finally restored American prosperity. 3 In the autumn of 1929 , the food commercialise began to fall apart. On October 21, monetary fund prices dipped sharply, solemn those who had become given up to an uninterrupted upward progression. Two days later, after a brief call upy, an even to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) alarming decline began. J. P. Morgan and Company and other big hopeers managed to stave off disaster for a while by conspicuously buying up stocks to restore public confidence.But on October 29, all the efforts to save the market failed. Black Tuesday, as it became known, saw a devastating panic. Sixteen million assigns of stock were traded the industrial index finger dropped 43 points stocks in many companies became virtually worthless. In the weeks that followed, the market continued to decline, with losses in October totaling $16 billion. Despite occasional hopeful signs of a turnaround, the market remained deeply depressed for more than four years and did not fully recover for more than a decade. 4The sudd en financial collapse in 1929 came as an especially severe shock because it followed so closely a period in which the untried Era seemed to be performing another series of stinting miracles. In particular, the nation was experiencing in 1929 a spectacular boom in the stock market. 5 In February 1928, stock prices began a steady mounting that continued, with only a a few(prenominal) temporary lapses, for a year and a half. By the autumn of that year, the market had become a national obsession, attracting the attention not only of the wealthy, but of millions of people of modest means. many a(prenominal) brokerage firms gave added encouragement to the speculative mania by offering absurdly easy credit to purchasers of stocks. It was not hard to understand why so many Americans flocked to invest in the market. Stocks seemed to provide a genuine avenue to quick and easy wealth. Between May 1928 and September 1929, the average price of stocks rose more than 40 percentage. The stocks of the major industrials, the stocks that are used to de nameine the Dow Jones Industrial Average, doubled in value in that same period.Trading mushroomed from two or three million shares a day to more than quintette million, and at times to as many as ten or twelve million. There was, in short, a widespread speculative fever that grew steadily more intense. A few economists warned that the boom could not continue, that the prices of stocks had ceased to bear any relation to the earning power of the corporations that were issuing them. But most Americans refused to listen. 6 The depression of the stock market impressed the general public with the idea that it would depress general business. Because of a psychological consequence, it did, but it should not have.There are 120,000,000 persons in the country and at the maximum not more than 10,000,000 were snarled in stock market transactions. The remaining 110,000,000 persons suffered no loss. The bulk of the population may not have suffered the loss of stock investments, but there were plenty of other ways to calculate loss, and by the break of 1929, with unemployment rising, with shops and factories ornamented by unappealing or out of business signs, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the closing of the nations banks, pickings with them millions of dollars in deposits. More than 9,000 American banks either went bankrupt or closed their doors to avoid bankruptcy in the midst of 1930 and 1933. Depositors lost more than $2. 5 billion in deposits. 8 Two-hundred and fifty six banks failed in the ace month of November 1930, and further yet on December 11, when the United States Bank, with deposits of more than $cc million, went under. It was the largest single bank bankruptcy in America history up to that time, and contributed no brusk portion to an stinting uproar in which, in the words of banker J. M.Barker, cupidity turned into unreasoning, emotional, universal fear. 9 The misery of the expectant depr ession was, then, without precedent in the nations history. 10 The most searing legacy of the depression was unemployment, which mounted steadily from the relatively low levels experienced between 1922 and 1929. The percentage of the civilian labor force without work rose from 3. 2 in 1929 to 8. 7 in 1930, and reached a peak of 24. 9 in 1933. The estimates of unemployment amongst non-farm employees, which include the self-employed and amateurish family workers are even higher.These are horrifying figures millions of American families were left without a bread-winner and faced the very sure possibility of destitution. 11 Within a few months after the stock market collapse of October 1929, unemployment had catapulted from its circumstance of a vague worry into the position of one of the countrys foremost preoccupations. Unemployment increased steadily, with only a few temporary setbacks, from the fall of 1929 to the spring of 1933.Even a cursory reference to the several existing e stimates of unemployment will amply show the rapidity with which unemployment established itself as an economic factor of the first order of importance. 12 By 1932, a quarter of the civilian labor force was pink-slipped and the number was still rising. State and local relief agencies lacked sufficient funds to meet the collects of families for bare sustenance. Discouraged by continual turn-downs, the unemployed had stopped looking for jobs.On good days in the ample cities the jobless sat on park benches reading discarded newspapers, and many who had lost their homes slept in the parks. While about families managed to stay in their homes and apartments, even though they failed to pay the rent or mortgage interest, others were evicted. To keep some semblance of a home, families built supplys from discarded crates and boxes on vacant land or in the larger parks. Municipal authorities, inefficient to provide adequate help, were force to adopt a tolerant attitude against these squ atters.As time passed the structures became more elaborate and habitable, but older children were inclined to wander away and look for opportunities elsewhere. 13 Fifty years after his presidency and twenty after his death, Herbert Clark Hoover remains the person most Americans held responsible for the economic calamity that struck after 1929. Few of our political leaders have been more ridiculed and vilified during their tenure in office. By 1931, new words and usage based on his name had entered the countrys cultural vocabulary Hooverville a temporary bivouac of unsettled, unemployed citizens. Hoover blankets the newspapers used by people to keep warm at night while sleeping in parks and doorways. Hoover Flags empty pants pockets, turned indoors out as a sign of poverty. Hoover wagons any motor vehicle being pulled by a horse or mule In the heat of the 1932 election, hitchhikers displayed signs reading If you dont give me a ride, Ill choose for Hoover. 14 From the New York Time s, October 22, 1932Fifty-four men were arrested yesterday morning for sleeping or idling in the arcade connecting with the subway 45 West Forty-second Street, but most of them considered their unexpected meeting with a raiding party of ten policemen as a stroke of luck because it brought them free meals yesterday and protective covering last night from the sudden change in the weather. From the New York Times, September 20, 1931 Several hundred homeless unemployed women sleep nightly in Chicagos parks, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Conkey, Commissioner of Public Welfare, reported today.She learned of the situation, she said, when women of good character appealed for shelter and protection, having nowhere to sleep but in the parks, where they feared they would be molested. We are informed that no fewer than 200 women are sleeping in Grant and Lincoln Parks, on the lake front, to say nothing of those in the other parks, said Mrs. Conkey. I do a personal investigation, driving park to park, at n ight, and verified the reports. The steering said the approach of winter made the problem more serious, with only one free womans inhabit house existing, accommodating 100.These are just two of the many stories that came of the poverty of the depression. 15 Not rather three and a half years had passed since the stock market crash, had plunged the United States, and most of the world, into the worst economic debacle in Western memory. Industrial output was now less than half the 1929 figure. The number of unemployed, although tight to count accurately, had mounted to something between 13 and 15 million, or a recorded high of 25 per cent of the labor force-and the unemployed had 30 million mouths to feed besides their own. Hourly wages had dropped 60 per cent since 1929, white-collar salaries 40 per cent.Farmers were getting less than 50 cents a bushel for wheat. The stark statistics gave no real picture of the situation-of the pitiful men selling apples on city street corners of the long lines of worn-out men and women who waited for dry bread or thin soup, meager sustenance dispensed by buck private and municipal charities of the bloated bellies of starving children of distraught farmers blocking the roads to dump milk cans in a do-or-die(a) effort to drive up the price of milk. They say blockading the highways illegal, said an Iowa farmer. I says, Seems to me there was a Tea Party in capital of Massachusetts that was illegal too. 16 The suffering extended into every compass of society. In the industrial Northeast and Mid watt, cities were becoming virtually paralyzed by unemployment. Cleveland, Ohio, for example, had an unemployment rate of 50 percent in 1932 Akron, 60 percent Toledo, 80 percent. To the men and women suddenly without incomes, the situation was frightening and bewildering. Most had big up believing that every individual was responsible for his or her own fate, that unemployment and poverty were signs of personal failure and even in th e face of national distress, many continued to believe it.Unemployed workers walked through the streets day after day looking for jobs that did not exist. When finally they gave up, they often just sat at home, concealing their shame. 17 An increasing number of families were turning in humiliation to local public relief systems, just to be able to eat. But that system, which had in the mid-twenties served only a small number of indigents, was tout ensemble unequipped to handle the new demands being placed on it. In many cities, therefore, relief hardly collapsed. New York, which offered among the highest relief benefits in the nation, was able to provide families an average of only $2. 9 per week. Private charities assay to supplement the public relief efforts, but the problem was far beyond their capabilities as well. As a result, American cities were experiencing scenes that a few years earlier would have seemed almost inconceivable. Bread lines stretched for blocks outside wild Cross and Salvation Army kitchens. 18 Thousands of people sifted through garbage cans for scraps of food or waited outside restaurant kitchens in hopes of receiving plate scrapings. Nearly 2 million young men obviously took to the roads, riding freight trains from city to city, living as nomads.The economic hardships of the falling off years placed great strains on American families, particularly on the families of middle-class people who had become accustomed in the 1920s to a steadily rising standard of living and now found themselves plunged suddenly into uncertainty. It was not only unemployment that shook the confidence of middle-class families, although that was of course the worst blow. It was also the reduction of incomes among those who remained employed. Economic circumstances forced many families, therefore, to retreat from the consumer patterns they had developed in the 1920s.Women often returned to sewing clothes for themselves and their families and to preservin g their own food, rather than buying such products in stores. Others engaged in home businesses taking in laundry, selling baked goods, pass judgment boarders. Many households fatten outed to include more distant relatives. Parents often moved in with their children and grandparents with their grandchildren, or wrong versa. 19 The public did not understand the causes or solutions of unemployment, but people could judge polices by results.They had little tolerance for anyone who said current polices were working when, in fact, more jobs were being lost. One indication of how desperate the situation was came in June when Chicago mayor told one House Committee that it still had a select it could send relief, or it could send troops. 20 With local efforts rapidly collapsing, state governments began to feel new pressures to expand their own assistance to the unemployed. Most resisted the pressure. Tax revenues were declining along with everything else, and state leaders balked at pl acing additional strains on already tight budgets.Many public figures, moreover, feared that any permanent welfare system would undermine the honourable fiber of its clients. 21 People never enjoy paying tax revenuees. With the lower incomes of the depression came widespread demand for retrenchment and lower local taxes. Indeed, many local citizens and property owners were quite unable to pay their taxes at all. Since a large part of the revenues of local government is spent for public education, it was perhaps inevitable that the tax crisis should produce cutbacks in schools. Many communities decreased their school spending severely.In effect, they passed the burden on to the teachers, the students, or both. No one will ever be able to calculate the cost to American shade that resulted from inadequate education of the nations children during the Great stamp. The colleges problems were somewhat different. Although the budgets of almost all colleges, public and private, were not what they should have been, a greater problem was that of students who were destitute. Rare was the college that did not have several cases of severe student poverty. Thousands of students in the 1930s made important sacrifices to stay in college.Because the students of the depression constituted, on the whole, a hungry campus generation they gave college life a new and earnest tone. The goldfish gulpers may have got the big headlines in the late 1930s, but they were not typical depression undergraduates. 22 During the first two years of the depression the schools did business about as usual. By September, 1931, the strain was beginning to tell. Salary cuts were appearing even in large towns, and the number of pupils per teacher had definitely increased. Building programs had been postponed.In a few communities school terms had been considerable shortened, and in others some of the departments and services were being lopped off. But, on the whole, the school world wagged on pretty m uch as usual. During the 1932-33 term the deflation gathered momentum so rapidly that many communities had to close their schools. By the end of last show nearly a third of a million children were out of school for that reason. But the number of children affected, dread as it is, does not tell the story so vividly as does the distribution of the of the schools.Georgia had 1,318 closed schools with an enrollment of 170,790, and in Alabama 81 percent of all the children enrolled in white rural schools were on an enforced vacation. In Arkansas, to site the case of another sorely pressed state, over 300 schools were blunt for sixty days or less during the entire year. By the last of February more than 8,000 school children were speed loose in a sparsely settled New Mexico. And over a thousand west Virginia schools had quietly given up the struggle. 23 The downswing which began in 1929 lasted for 43 months.The Great Depression has the dubious promissory note of being the second long est economic contraction since the Civil War, second only to that which began in 1873 and continued for 65 months. The length of a depression, however, can only give a limited indication of its allude the amplitude and national ramifications of 1929-33 give those years a special importance. 24 Economists, historians, and others have argued for decades about the causes of the Great Depression. But most agree on several things.They agree, first, that what is remarkable about the crisis is not that it occurred periodic recessions are a normal feature of capitalist economies. What is remarkable is that it was so severe and that it lasted so long. The important question, therefore, is not so much why was there a depression, but why was it such a unfavorable one. 25 America had experienced economic crises before. The Panic of 1893 had ushered in a prolonged era of economic stagnation, and there had been more recent recessions, in 1907 and in 1920. The Great Depression of the 1930s, howe ver, affected the nation more profoundly than any economic crisis that ad come before not only because it lasted longer, but because its furbish up was far more widely felt. The American economy by 1929 had become so interconnected, so bloodsucking on the health of large national corporate institutions, that a collapse in one vault of heaven of the economy now reached out to affect virtually everyone. Even in the 1890s, large groups of Americans had lived sufficiently free of the national economy to avoid the effects of economic crisis. By the 1930s, few such people remained. 26 Some economists argue that a severe depression could have been avoided if the Federal Reserve system had acted more responsibly.Instead of moving to increase the money supply so as to keep things from getting worsened in the early 1930s, the Federal Reserve first did nothing and then did the wrong thing fresh in 1931, it raised interest rates, which contracted the money supply even further. 27 At the ti me, a substantial majority of Americans and nearly all foreigners who expressed opinions on the subject believed that the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929 had triggered the depression, thereby suggesting that the United States was the birthplace of the disaster.The connection seemed too obvious to be a coincidence. Many modern writers have agreed for example, the French historian Jacques Chastenet says in Les Annees dIllsions 1918-1931, After the stock market crash on the other side of the Atlantic came an economic crisis. The crisis caused a chain reaction in the entire world. 28 Many years after it ended, former President Herbert Hoover offered an elaborate rendering of the Great depression, complete with footnote references to the work of many economists and other experts. THE DEPRESSION WAS NOT STARTED IN THE coupled STATES, he insisted. The primary cause was the war of 1914-18. In four-fifths of the economically sensitive nations of the world, including such rem ote areas as Bolivia, Bulgaria, and Australia, the downturn was noticeable long before the 1929 collapse of American stock prices. 29 Unsolved economic and social problems, accumulated over many years, made the Great Depression more of a agriculture crisis than can be measured in new laws or economic statistics.Americans had always been confident that the uncomparable virtues of their society-its stronger economic base, its more alert citizenry, and its higher moral principals-would protect it from the evils and failures of Europe and would inevitable lead to new levels of civilization. In spite of the derision of a few artists and intellectuals, this American Dream still persisted in the 1920s. somewhere in the dark passages of the Great Depression, as the forces of world history weakened belief in the singularity of the United States as a nation set apart, the dream faded and became indistinct.While America would recover economically and would rise to new heights of material ac hievement scarcely thought possible in the 1929, the myth of a unique destiny would never regain its old force and certainty. Henceforth Americans would share some of the realistic disillusionment of Europeans, some of the sense that survival alone was an achievement in a world not necessarily designed for the triumph of the human spirit. 30 Endnotes 1. Richard N. Current, The Great American invoice (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad, CA. Comptons New Media McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 1 2.Dixon Wecter, A History Of America The Age Of The Great Depression, (New York, NY. The Macmillan Co. 1948) p. 1 3. Current Opcit. p. 2 4. Ibid. p. 8 5. Ibid. p. 6 6. Ibid. p. 7 7. T. H. Watkins, The Great Depression America in The 1930s, (Boston, MA. Little Brown and Co. 1993) p. 54 8. Current Opcit. p. 16 9. Watkins Opcit. p. 55 10. Current Opcit. p. 4 11. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity & Depression The U. S. Economy 1927-45, (Lawrence, KA. University Press 1987) p. 137 12. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall Ins. 1960) p. 13. doubting Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, IL. Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) pp. 29-30 14. Michael E. Parrish, Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, (New York, NY. W. W. Norton & Co. 1992) p. 240 15. Shannon Opcit. pp. 13-15 16. The Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, (New York, NY. Time-Life Books 1985) p. 23 17. Richard N. Current, The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, (Carlsbad, CA. Comptons New Media Inc. McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 20 18. Ibid. . 21 19. Ibid. p. 22 20. Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression America 1929-1941, (New York, NY. Times Books 1984) p. 122 21. Current Opcit. p. 21 22. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall Inc. 1960) p. 93 23. Ibid. p. 94 24. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. University Press 1987) p. 89 25. Current Opcit. p. 9 26. Ibid. p. 3 27. Ibid. p. 17 28. jakes A. Garraty, The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1986) p. 4-5 29. Ibid. p. 4 30. Thomas C.Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, (Glenview, Il. Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) p. 1 Bibliography Cochran Thomas C. , The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, Ill. , Scott Foresman and Co. , 1968 Current Richard N. , The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad California, Comptons New Media Inc. & McGraw-Hill, 1995 Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, New York, NY. , Time-Life Books, 1985 Fearon Peter, War, Prosperity, and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. , University Press, 1987Garraty legerdemain A. , The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. , Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986 McElvaine Robert S. , The Great Depression America 1929-1941, New York, NY. , Times Books, 1984 Parrish Michael E. , Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, New York, NY. , W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 Shannon David A. , The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. , Prentice Hall, 1960 Watkins T. H. , The Great Depression America in The 1930s, Boston MA. , Little Brown and Co. , 1993 Wector Dixon, A History of America The Great Depression, New York, NY. , The Macmillan Co. , 1948