Militarism and Border Violence

War exposes the operation of sex and race in the construction of a nation as war enables us to perceive the process of securing and creating territories through the use and implementation of particular values and standards of perceiving reality. For example, the division between the battlefront and home front along with the emphasis on the action in the trenches creates and highlights gendered boundaries, which are equivalent to the division between the protector and the protected. Furthermore, the social territories formed during and after the war highlights the use of ethnocentric viewpoints, which leads to racism and the exploitation of bodies. The mode in which these events are possible can be read by stating that the current events within the world are affected by the different modes in which a hegemonic groups’ power becomes visible in a society. Within this perspective, one may state that the current oppression that women experience is caused by the patriarchal views heeded by those who directly affect world politics. Such may be the case; however it is still possible to state that even though certain nations hold control of current world politics, equal ground has been given to the different agents within society. Women, in this perspective, may be seen as possessing freedom in so far as they are no longer placed within the stereotypes of the feminine. However, the case is not that simple. Consider for example a woman in a Third World Country who is granted the recognition of her independence. Although this woman is â€Å"free†, she is still placed within the stereotype of a Third World woman who needs to be further emancipated from her â€Å"barbaric† culture. In order to resolve such a conflict let us consider Michel Foucault’s conception of power. According to Foucault, power is not an institution. It refers to the strategic situations within a particular society. It cannot be located in a particular or specific entity such as the state’s sovereign, it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time manifesting its existence in the different forms of repressions present within society. Repression, however, should not be seen as an entirely negative aspect. Repression is not a form of paralysis; it should not be seen as a freezing of possibilities for all forms of repression enables. Consider for example a Muslim woman who is forced by social norms to wear a burqa. According to Abu-Lughod the act of wearing a burqa should not be seen as repressive in character since Muslim women choose to wear it for it is a basis of their social status. A Muslim woman who does not wear a burqa for instance does not come from a reputable family or she is a woman who participates in the trade of the flesh. Abu-Lughod states that the benevolent father image portrayed by America towards the Palestinian women misconstrues the Palestinian women’s cultural background. Such an ethnocentric perspective merely shows America’s disrespect of other cultures. In the above example, one can see how a repressive state may have allowances, which the individual may use to inch towards her freedom, which in these terms refers to the control of the power relations that is dominant in that particular period. Palestinian women’s opposition of the predominant consciousness regarding women’s oppression can best be portrayed using the notion of oppositional consciousness. Oppositional consciousness refers to the subversive use of tools of repression. This is evident in the practice of Palestinian women in the United States who choose to wear their burqa despite their freedom to dispose of it within foreign grounds. It might be stated that such an action is only possible since there are no threats placed upon the individual’s life when she refuses to adhere to the practice in a different place. However, it can be argued that as long as their actions are explicitly stated to stand for a particular cause notion of oppositional consciousness still follows. Oppositional consciousness, however, becomes problematic when one considers that an individual is predisposed to think in a particular way based upon his or her ontological and epistemic background. In other words, is it really possible for a woman to obtain freedom when she has been conditioned or predisposed to think in a particular way? Specifically, in a way wherein she considers the view of the patriarch to be the basis for truth compared to the view of her fellow women. This tendency is apparent in the current contentions that feminism experiences with women outside the academe. As an answer to the events, which occurred after the September 11 bombing, Bachetta, together with other transnational feminists stated their disapproval towards the violent effects of Bush’s â€Å"messianic mission† to redeem the world from all forms of â€Å"terror† evident in the so called â€Å"backward† and â€Å"barbaric ways† of those who reside in the Middle East. According to S.R., a Palestinian woman, though she agrees with the general appeal of feminists to stop the war, she disapproves of the way that feminists present Palestinian women in general. According to S.R., liberation should not be forced on an individual. It is an instinct, which presents itself on its own way. The general contention regarding transnational feminists appeal is their ethnocentric tendency to perceive other women who refuses to heed their call as â€Å"oppressed† individuals. However, it may be argued that transnational feminists notion of feminism may be salvaged if one considers that their emphasis lies on the need for women to be freed from their political double bind apparent in their marginalization as women and in the use of their bodies as tools for the assertion of power. Instances like these can be seen in Falcon’s analysis of the militarized rape cases, which occurred in the US-Mexico border. Sylvanna Falcon, in her paper â€Å"‘National Security’ and the Violation of Women’s Bodies† reiterates these claims as she discussed the cases of rape committed at the US-Mexico border. Falcon argued that the rape and harassment of women in the said border presents an example of â€Å"the hypermasculine nature of war and militarism† wherein sexual assault is used as a military strategy which aims to â€Å"dominate women and psychologically debilitate people viewed as the ‘enemy’† (120). According to Falcon, what occurs in the border is a form of â€Å"national security rape and systematic rape†. â€Å"National security rape† refers to the sexual abuse of women committed for the sake of â€Å"bolstering (a soldier’s) nervous nerves†. â€Å"Systematic rape†, on the other hand, refers to the use of rape â€Å"as an instrument of open warfare† (121). It should be noted that these women are placed in a political double bind. Besides being displaced individuals and forced migrants, they are considered as threats to the state as the state conveniently forgets that these individuals are products of the internal repressions caused by the war. One might presume that their existence within the middle ground grants them a special immunity since they are freed from the hegemonizing tendencies of the state. In fact, Falcon herself recognizes their positionality as providing them with a space that enables them to counter the system’s legitimacy. This idea becomes her springboard for the possibility of holding the United States accountable for the human rights violations committed in the US-Mexican border. However, it is important to consider the tendency of â€Å"universal rights† to be particularistic in character, in other words, applicable to others only-particularly to the enemy of those who hold the position of power. In the 1990’s a new norm has developed in international affairs. This refers to the right of self designated â€Å"enlighted states† to resort to force in order to protect humanity†. The guiding principle behind this exists in the malleability of norms and its tendency to be placed in alignment with the interests of the powerful. An example of this is apparent in Nuremberg trials wherein an act is considered â€Å"criminal† if and only it is not one, which the victor committed. The operative definition of a crime or any form of injustice within the universal jurisdiction would be an act, which only the vanquished foe committed. A more recent example can be seen in the â€Å"war against terror† of the United States. According to the US Code and Army Manual, terrorism refers to â€Å"the use, or threat, of action which is violent, damaging, or disrupting, and is intended to influence the government or intimidate the public and is for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, or ideological cause† (qtd from George, 18). From this definition, it follows that the sexual assaults, which occur at the US-Mexico border are in themselves acts of terrorism since they are enacted in order to reinforce the United States’ hold on the territory through causing damages and disruptions in women’s lives. This presents us with the self- negating tendencies of the United States’ â€Å"messianic mission† of grafting democracy along with its ideals of freedom and liberty to the rest of the world. Although it might be stated that United States may be held accountable for it offenses against the national community, the possibility of the event is dependent upon the change of the power relations that dominate the national society. Such a change, on the other hand is dependent upon women’s recognition of their positions as transnational members of the global community capable of mobilizing against the capitalist movements in the world. Works Cited: Falcon, Sylvanna.   â€Å"‘National Security’ and the Violation of Women: Militarized Border Rape at the U.S. Mexico Border.† George, Alexander.   Western State Terrorism.   Polity: Blackwell, 1991.         

Five Factor Model Personality Inventory

1. Use the Five Factor Model Personality Inventory to rate yourself on the Big Five personality dimensions. Describe each factor of your Big Five Personality Inventory. Which factor shows the greatest value in predicting your behavior? Why does it? Select one of your friends. Identify the qualities that make that person substantially different from you. In what ways are you basically similar? Which dominates, the differences or similarities? You must attach the Five Factor Model Personality Inventory together with your answers. Answer: The Big Five Personality is broad categories of personality traits.While there is a significant body of literature supporting this five-factor model of personality, researchers don't always agree on the exact labels for each dimension. The Big Five Personality Inventory includes agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Emotion stability and Openness to experience. Agreeableness means that the person is a good natured, co-operative, softhearted a nd trusting. Agreeableness also has an interpersonal component. Agreeable individuals tend toward conformity in groups, toward modesty, toward not being demanding, and toward being sympathetic.These individuals might be motivated toward helping others and toward prosocial behaviour in general. There may be a link between the motivational processes operating within individuals in regards to this trait, such that agreeable individuals strive for intiacy and solidarity in groups they belong to, which provides emotional rewards. People scoring low on agreeableness place self-interest above getting along with others. They are usually more cautious about other's agendas; they may feel that others are out to better their own self-interest.Extraversion is â€Å"the act, state, or habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self†. Extraverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, and gregariou s. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups. Politics, teaching, sales, managing, brokering, and acting are fields that favor extraversion.An extraverted person is likely to enjoy time spent with people and find less reward in time spent alone. They tend to be energized when around other people, and they are more prone to boredom when they are by themselves. Conscientiousness means that someone who are dependable, responsible, achievement oriented and persistent. Conscientiousness is related to impulse control, but it should not be confused with the problems of impulse control found in neuroticism. People high on neurotic impulsiveness find it difficult to resist temptation or delay gratification.Individuals who are low on conscientious self-discipline are unable to motivate themselves to perform a task that they would like to accomplish. These are conceptuall y similar but empirically distinct. People who score high on the trait of conscientiousness tend to be more organized and less cluttered in their homes and offices. For example, their books tend to be neatly shelved in alphabetical order, or categorized by topic, rather than scattered around the room. A considerable amount of research indicates that conscientiousness is one of the best predictors of performance in the workplace.Emotion stability is a state of an individual that enables him or her to have appropriate feelings about common experiences and act in a rational manner. The characteristics of a person with emotional stability include relaxed, secure, unworried, confident, easy going and steady. People with this personality will not easily get disturbed , will not get stressed out easily whenever he/she are facing problem and would not worry about things. He/she will have a positive thinking and try to solve the problem with the easy way.On the other hand, those who score lo w in emotional stability means that he/she is emotional instability or sometimes call neuroticism. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. Openness to experience is used to describe human personality.Openness involves active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, and intellectual curiosity. A great deal of psychometric research has demonstrated that these qualities are statistically correlated. Thus, openness can be viewed as a global personality trait consisting of a set of specific traits, habits, and tendencies that cluster together. Openness is associate d with tolerance of ambiguity (which means when something is not clear), a capacity to absorb information, being very focused and the ability to be aware of more feelings, thoughts and impulses simultaneously.The result is deeper more intense experiences. Open individuals are motivated to seek out the unfamiliar and to look for complexity. After rating myself by using the Five Factor Model Personality Inventory, the score that I get from all the five factor are extraversion=28, agreeableness=33, conscientiousness=26, emotional stability=27 and openness to experience=30. From the score that I get, agreeableness is the best factor to predict my behavior. Agreeableness, like what I mention above, is a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic toward others.Yes, I am not deny that I am a person like that. I am a compassionate person. I am cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic toward others. I choose to believe what my friend told me. I will never suspect about them. I also choose to be kind to my friend. I will try my best to help them as I can whenever they need me. I am also a softhearted person. Usually, I will forgive those who hurt me after they said sorry to me or maybe they not, but, I will also forgive them after sometime just like nothing happen before. Yet, I am also a person who conformity in group and toward modesty.No wonder what activity I joined, I am just the follower but not the incharge person. My friend, Lau Chen Ee also get his highest score in the agreeableness factor and lowest score in openness to experience factor. We know each other since Form 6, that mean we already be friend for about 4 years. In this 4 years time, I get to know him well. He is a friendly person. He is good to all his friend very well. He not the person that who have a finger in every pie. But, he will show his concern to you when he notice that you are having some problem.Besides that, he is also an optimistic per son. I still can remember that, I can always hear his laughing voice all around the school. He seem like does not have anything to fuss over. Exam problem- no, homework problem-no, relationship problem-no! All the qualities that I mention above about him are the quality that I am lack of. I am a person who like to have finger in every pie. I am not an attentive person. I am always think negatively and worried about this worried about that. That is what he are substantially different from me.But, we still have similarity. I will show concern to my friend when they are facing some problem like he does. I am friendly to all my friend like he does. I will take time out to others like he does. I am sympathize to others like he does. Moreover, I like to sing like he does. After doing this Five Factor Model Personality Inventory rating, I get to know all the five personality well and this will help me a lot in how to communicate and to get along with others. This inventory also let me to k now myself more deeply and so my friend.

Compare and Contrast Frank Mccourt’s Stories

A young boy named Frank McCourt the age of nine is the main character of this story, â€Å"Typhoid Fever†. Told from his perspective, he explains his experiences of having typhoid fever in bed rest at a hospital in Ireland. While in the hospital, Frank gets to know a girl named Patricia, who is a patient in hospital for diphtheria. Disregarding the nun’s warnings, they continued to talk to each other and share poetry. In the middle of telling a poem, â€Å"The Highwayman†, the nun punishes them by putting Frank in a different room.Soon after, Patricia dies without Frank ever hearing the rest of the poem. A nice, old janitor searches a local pub for the end of the poem and eventually tells Franks the very sad ending of the poem. Although â€Å"Education of Frank McCourt† also features Frank McCourt as the main character, this Frank McCourt is much older; being a middle- aged man. As an English teacher in the United States, Frank struggles to tell his studen ts about his poverty and lack of education during his childhood in fear that they will think badly of him.Teaching his students, he helps them to find their writing voices by recording them speak and writing it down. He gave them encouragement with phrases like, â€Å"Dig deeper. Dance your own dance. † Later in his retirement, he finds that he needs to take his own advice when it comes to him writing his own book. All he had needed to do was pick up the pen. These two stories are both alike and unalike in several ways. Firstly, like most stories, both stories involve the main character dealing with a struggle.While in â€Å"Typhoid Fever† Frank is dealing with his recovery from typhoid fever, and in â€Å"The Education of Frank McCourt† he struggles with finding his own voice to suitable relate the story of his childhood on paper. These two stories are dissimilar in a way, too, because they are told from different perspectives. The first story is told by the bo y who was actually there suffering from typhoid fever. However, the second story is told by a third-person that played no part in the story and is simply retelling it. While these two stories are quite alike, they are quite unalike as well.

Payroll Accounting Essay

I visited Cabela’s on friends and family night, so I observed their internal controls. I also asked my inside source of their internal controls that are not seen on the sales floor. My source provided me with Cabela’s Business Code and Ethics which clearly states: â€Å"All Outfitters are required to; appropriately manage and safeguard Cabela’s assets, ensure their efficient use, and ensure they are used for legitimate business purposes; maintain complete, accurate, and timely financial records related to their area of responsibility; assure the integrity of all Cabela’s books, records, and accounting practices.† Each new employee must read this booklet, and then sign their name stating that they read and are in compliance with what it outlines. Outfitters are required to cooperate with reason to any legal and governmental requests, inspections, and investigations. Some of the internal controls that I observed were computerized inventory, all Outfit ters with headsets, authorized personnel only in stockrooms, authorized personnel to check gun sells and gun buy backs, and high end merchandise not being handed over until paid for. When I was there I noticed some of the larger products were starting to run low, so I asked my source how they know if there were any more in stock without having to go to the stockroom. She said they have computerized inventory, so all she would have to do is put the UPC in the database. Then she would know right then if they were anymore or if they would have to place an order for the product. This leads to why every Outfitter having their own headset, once she finds out if there are more she just has to call over the headset to a recovery team member. The reason she has to call to the recovery team is because they are the only ones allowed in the stockroom. This cuts down on internal theft, helps with inventory, and audits. With this type of control when something is out of place whether that is merchandise or finance recordings it is easier to pin point the misstep. Another internal control that I was able to observe was high end merchandise is never released to a customer until the final transaction is complete. While there I overheard a customer asking for an expensive pair of  sunglasses in the gift shop section, the Outfitter got the sunglasses, took the gentleman’s name and told him they would be at register two when he was ready to check out. This helps with two things, theft being the biggest factor but also with the front registers being the only places non-specialized merchandise is purchased it cuts down on multiple closing records. I say non-specialized merchandise because guns of any type must be purchased at the register in the gun library. Which brings in the last internal control that I was able to observe; when a gun of any kind whether it be a small hand gun to a hunting rifle, not only is it purchased at the gun library but an authorized personnel called a gun runner carries the gun and escorts the customer to the exit door. Cabela’s also has an authorized person standing at the exit doors that has been told via headset that a gun runner with x-amount of guns is heading his way. He is also authorized to check and lock guns being brought into Cabela’s for buy back. After he puts a lock on it he then calls for a gun runner to come get the gun, carry it, and escort the customer to the gun library. With everything I observed and was told by my source, Cabela’s leaves no holes in their internal workings, from merchandise to keeping with their finance records. I would say they are doing something right because this is one of the few companies that have not had their name ran through â€Å"media mud† due to fraud.

Litterature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Litterature - Essay Example Baldwin’s socio-economic, gender, racial, and religious conditions shape a personal-universal writing style, which aims to write for people who establish and develop their identities, using their own frame of references. Cultural Issues and Influences Baldwin’s cultural issues intersect concerns for race, gender, and class, where Harlem is one of the strongest cultural influences on Baldwin. The poverty of his family and neighborhood and the religiosity of his stepfather affected his work aesthetics and style. Gerald Meyer believes that the key to understanding Baldwin’s politics is through analyzing his Harlem roots and culture. While some writers like Langston Hughes saw Harlem as a black Mecca, Baldwin lived in it and remembers it as a ghetto.† Baldwin’s â€Å"The Harlem Ghetto† dispels notions of aesthetic greatness that some writers attribute to it: †¦the buildings are old and in desperate need of repair, the streets are crowded and dirty; there are too many human beings per square mile†¦ All of Harlem is a place pervaded by a sense of congestion, rather like the insistent, maddening, claustrophobic pounding in the skull that comes from trying to breathe in a very small room with all the windows shut.† (39 qtd. in Meyer 274). ... Furthermore, though coming from a low economic status with racial and gender concerns, Baldwin resists being a black fundamentalist or to conform to any label. Instead, he supports diverse views, a devotion which signifies his multiracial and multi-gender politics. He does not want to be seen as a Negro writer or as a gay writer per se (Field 7). In writing for all, nevertheless, critics charged him for having no unifying ideology. Francois Burgess disparages Baldwin’s works as being too broad: â€Å"Alone among Black contemporary writers, Baldwin could not or did not know how to find a central ideology that would give to his work coherence and unity† (Bobia 54 qtd. in Field 7). But this paper believes that Baldwin only writes from what he feels is personally right, which resonate with those who experience or witness the same struggles. Baldwin does not have to conform to the frameworks and labels of others to become the writer that he wants to be. Aside from Harlem, Pa ris shaped Baldwin’s writings through the theme of expatriation. Baldwin leaves America, not only because he is disillusioned with the persecution of his race and gender in the U.S., but more so because he wants to distance himself from these struggles, in order to find his identity, including his writing voice. Price describes Baldwin’s Parisian stopover as a â€Å"liberating experience,† that gives him â€Å"the sanction, if one can accept it, to become oneself† (313 qtd. in Tomlinson 136). Baldwin cannot be himself in a society that attacks him from different sides. The physical distance refreshes him, reminding him of his roles and functions as a writer and as an American. Robert Tomlinson argues that the theme of expatriation in Baldwin’s works

LOVE DQ1 and DQ2 Comment To Peer Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

LOVE DQ1 and DQ2 Comment To Peer Response - Essay Example You also mention that one of the marketing goals of the firm is to increase customer traffic. Three of the best ways of turning customer traffic into sales are installing click to call features, chatting with customers online, and offering a try before you buy program (Flandez, 2012). I do not think that Marvel despite its low advertising rates poses that much of a threat to Mednet.com. Marvel is a search engine that does not have the capacity to offer detail medical information on a variety of different subjects. The healthcare industry is one of the most profitable industries in the United States. In 2010 the healthcare industry generated $2,708.4 billion in revenues nationally (Plunkett Research, 2011). There are thousands of health products available in the marketplace that could benefit from advertising at Mednet.com. You are correct in your assertion that one of the marketing goals of the company is to generate profits. â€Å"Profits are actually an extremely important feedback mechanism which helps producers determine whether or not they are making & selling things people want at prices theyre willing to pay† (Malone,

Database Applications Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Database Applications - Research Paper Example It mainly focuses on the safe management and maintenance of data, and providing access to multiple applications and users simultaneously. Despite its complexity as compared to flat text files and spreadsheets, it actually makes things easier considering the weaknesses of the latter (i.e. redundant information, outdated data, file size, complex protection of data from unauthorized use and from becoming corrupt), particularly when working with large-scale applications. These issues aforementioned are taken cared of Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), such that the flexibility and security of data outweighs the complexity of the system. Codd's idea was to break down a long row of data fields into smaller tables describing specific subsets of the data collected, ultimately reducing the data footprint and cost. Furthermore, it enforces data integrity by ensuring data type correctness (by using strong data types), eliminating redundant data (by saving data entities in just one p lace), disallowing harmful deletes (by using key constraints), and guarantees efficient retrieval and manipulation of data (by splitting up data into chunks). With SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, you get the advantages of RDBMS.