How to Use the Spanish Preposition Para

Para is one of the most common Spanish  prepositions, But because para is usually translated as for, the same as por, it can also be one of the most confusing to English speakers. Unfortunately, for the beginning Spanish student, por and para are almost never interchangeable. So it is probably best to learn para and por separately and to think of para as a word that usually indicates purpose or destination, rather than simply as a translation for for. So in the examples of para usage that are given below, a translation (sometimes awkward) using a word or phrase other than for is given, in addition to a translation using for. By learning how para is used rather than how it is usually translated, you will eliminate much of the confusion. The preposition para should not be confused with the verb para, a conjugated form of parar, which means to stop. Para can also be a conjugated form of parir, which means to give birth. Para Meaning ‘In Order To’ When para is the equivalent of in order to, it is followed by an infinitive. Viajamos para aprender espaà ±ol. (We travel in order to learn Spanish. We travel for learning Spanish.)Para vender tu coche es importante que cuentes sus puntos fuertes. (In order to sell your car it is important to talk about its strong points. For selling your car it is important to talk about its strong points.)Vive para comer. (He lives in order to eat. He lives for eating.)Hay un plan maestro para destruir la civilizacià ³n como la conocemos. (There is a master plan in order to destroy civilization as we know it. There is a master plan for destroying civilization as we know it.) Para for Indicating Purpose or Usefulness The preposition can be used quite flexibly to indicate purpose, intent, usefulness, or need. It is often used in such a way that theres no simple one-word English equivalent. Estudia para dentista. (She is studying to become a dentist. She is studying for the dental profession.)Quisiera una bicicleta para dos. (Id like a bicycle for two. Id like a bicycle used by two.)Ganaron un viaje para dos. (They won a trip for two. They won a trip to be used by two.)Es hecho para nià ±os. (It is made for children. It is made to be used by children.)El poema fue escrito para su esposa. (The poem was written for his wife. The poem was written to benefit his wife.)Feliz cumpleaà ±os para ti. (Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday for you.)Tenemos agua para una semana. (We have water for a week. We have water to last a week.) ¿Para quà © estudias? (Why do you study? For what purpose do you study?) Using Para With Destinations One specific way in which para is used to indicate intent is with destinations. This is a specific way of indicating intention. In some of these cases, para can be used interchangeably with a, meaning to. Salimos para Londres. (We are leaving to go to London. We are leaving for London.)No voy para casa. (I am not going home. I am not headed for home.) ¿Para dà ³nde va el taxi? (Where does the taxi go to? Note that Spanish cannot end a sentence with a preposition in the way that English can.) Using Para for ‘No Later Than’ or ‘By’ In time statements, para can be used to indicate intent for completion of an action by a certain time. Translations can include no later than, around, about, and by. La casa estarà ¡ lista para el sà ¡bado. (The house will be ready no later than Saturday. The house will be ready by Saturday. The house will be ready for Saturday.)Es necesario preparar el perro para la llegada de tu bebà ©. (It is necessary to prepare the dog for the arrival of your baby. It is necessary to prepare your dog by the time your baby arrives.)El pastel estarà ¡ listo para la boda. (The cake will be ready by the wedding. The cake will be ready before the wedding. The cake will be ready for the wedding.)Llegamos para las cinco. (Were arriving around 5. Were arriving about 5. Were arriving for activities at 5.) Using Para To Mean ‘Considering’ Another use of para is to indicate perspective, the equivalent of words or phrases such as considering, in light of the fact or in view of: Para nià ±o, es inteligente. (Considering that hes a child, hes intelligent. For a child, hes intelligent.)Es caro para un papel. (Its expensive in view of the fact its a sheet of paper. Its expensive for a sheet of paper.) Using Para With Personal Reactions This is one way of indicating how a person feels or reacts to something: Para ella, es difà ­cil. (To her, its difficult. For her, its difficult.)No es justo para mà ­. (It isnt right to me. It isnt right for me.) Key Takeaways Para is a common Spanish preposition that is frequently used in indicating purpose, direction, intent, or perspective.Both para and another preposition, por, are often translated to English as for, but one of them can almost never be substituted for the other.Other possible translations for para include English prepositions such as to, at, and by as well as the phrase in order to.

Edna Pontellier vs. Mrs. Mallard - 834 Words

In the short story, The Story of an Hour and the novel The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin uses the characters Mrs. Mallard and Edna to portray the lives of women in the 1800s. Both characters are very similar to one another, but the differences though a little abstract balance the similarities. Also the author uses nature to display both of the character’s feelings towards their dreams. Edna and Mrs. Mallard are both victims of the 1800s, they both show that by their displeasure in being married. Edna shows her displeasure in novel by frolicking around with other men, and by openly disagreeing with her husband which at that time was a social faux pas. Mrs. Mallard showed her displeasure by simply liking the fact that she was finally†¦show more content†¦She wants to love whomever she wishes and to do as she pleases. While the images are different for each woman because they are two different individuals, the author relies on these images to get the audience to unde rstand Edna’s and Mrs. Mallard’s pains. Kate Chopin’s message in both of these stories is the same. Chopin tries to send a message to women and to men about the oppression of women. She dislikes the idea that women are property and that they are to be kept at home to take care of the house and to be shown off like a porcelain doll. In The Awakening and The Story of an Hour, she expresses the idea that women want to be somebody and to bring something to the world. ( It is a commentary: if you want the bib. read the sctual

Sinulog Free Essays

SiThe Sinulog festival is one of the grandest, most distinguished and most colorful festivals in the Philippines. The major festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Nino, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is fundamentally a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their recognition of Christianity. We will write a custom essay sample on Sinulog or any similar topic only for you Order Now The festival features some the country’s most colorful displays of ceremony and pageantry: participants clothe in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums and native gongs. The streets are generally lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing. Smaller versions of the festival are also held in different parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Nino. There is also a Sinulog sa Kabataan, which is performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the Grand Parade.Recently, the cultural event has been commercialized as a tourist attraction and instead of traditional street-dancing from locals, Sinulog also came to mean a contest highlighting groups from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is traditionally held in the Cebu City Sports Complex, where most of Cebu’s major provincial events are held. The Festival The celebration traditionally lasts for nine days, ending on the ninth day when the Sinulog G rand Parade reveals. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession, a water-parade, held at dawn from the Mandaue City wharf to Cebu City wharf with the Santo Nino carried on a pump boat decorated with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing of Cebu follows. In the afternoon, a more formal procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the religious event.On the feast day, at the Basilica, a Pontifical Mass is held, given by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu. The majority of the city’s population and devotees would flock to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the Parade. Background ‘Sinulog’ comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is â€Å"like water current movement,† which proficiently describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. Traditionally, the d ance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of the drums. The dance is classified into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation, and recently a Latin Category, which most people have argued that it had nothing to do with Sinulog tradition. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language. History of Sinulog Pre-Spanish and the First Wave of Spaniards Historians have renowned that before the first Spaniards came to Cebu, the Sinulog was already danced by the natives in respect of their wooden god called anitos.Then, on April 7, 1521, the Portuguese navigator, Fernando de Magallanes arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory in the name of the King of Spain. He then offered the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Nino, as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Cebu’s Rajah Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, Carlos I’s mother. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Christian faith. This event is often used as foundation for most Sinulog dances, which presents the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Nino to the Queen.A famous theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Nino in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often worried by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits. The Coming of Legazpi After Magellan met his death on April 27, 1521 on the shores of Mactan (ruled by Muslim Rajah Lapu-Lapu), the bits and pieces of his men returned to Spain. However, it took 44 years before the Spaniards accomplished some measure of success in colonizing the islands and finally the whole Philippines. The explorer, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565 and destroyed the village ruled by Rajah Tupas.In one of the huts of the burning village, one of Legazpi’s soldiers named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of the Santo Nino lying in the middle of several native statue. Histo rians later said that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legazpi, the natives of Cebu continued to dance the Sinulog but no longer to worship their anitos but to show their worship to the Santo Nino. The Augustinian friars that accompanied Legazpi in his expedition proclaimed the statue miraculous and built a church on the site where it was found.Th e church was called San Agustin Church but was later renamed to the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino. Letter to the King After Juan Camus found the Santo Nino in the burning village, Legazpi was said to have included the event in his report, entitled â€Å"Relation of Voyage to the Philippine Islands. † It went as follows: â€Å"†¦ Your Excellency should know that on that day when we entered this village (Cebu), one of the soldiers went into a large and well-built house of an indio where he found an image of the Child Jesus (whose most holy name I pray may be universally worshipped).This was kept in its cradle, all covered with gold, just as if it were brought from Spain: and only the little cross, which is generally placed upon the globe in his hands, was lacking. The image was well kept in that house, and many flowers we re found before it, and no one knows for what object or purpose. The soldier bowed down before it with all reverence and wonder, and brought the image to the place where the other soldiers were. I pray to the Holy Name of his image, which we found here, to help us and to grant us victory, in order that these lost people who are unaware of the precious and rich treasure, which was in their custody, may come to a knowledge of Him. † The Present Since 1521, loyalty to the Santo Nino has grown and has taken root in Filipino popular holiness, particularly in the Visayas; pilgrims from different parts of Cebu and the rest of the Philippines make their yearly journey to the Basilica to take part in the procession and fiesta.Starting in 1980, the Cebu City government organized the Sinulog Mardi Gras and eventually gave incentives to dance groups. It was David S. Odilao, Jr. , then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), who organized the first ever Sinulog Parade. The year was 1980 and Odilao gathered a group of students, dressed them up in moro-moro costumes and taught them the Sinulog to the beating of the drums. The idea caught and thus, under the direction of the Cebu City Mayor Florentino S. Solon with the help of several influential Cebuanos, Odilao turned over the Sinulog project to the Cebu City Historical Committee under Kagawad Jesus B. Garcia, Jr.. It was the task of the Committee to conceptualize the Sinulog festival and make it into a yearly event from then on. In 1981 the following year, the concept of the Sinulog Parade was actualized, involving practically every sector in the Cebuano community.Marking its difference from another popular festival, the Ati-Atihan in Aklan, the Sinulog focuses not on the ritual itself but on the historical aspects of the dance, which, as it has been said, represents the link between the country’s pagan past and Christian present. Sinulog Coat of Arms The committee (Cebu City Historical Committee), which was responsible for the conceptualization of the Sinulog as a provincial event, decided to accept a logo for the Sinulog to identify it as an institutionalized yearly event.They turned to the coat of arms of the Santo Nino which consisted of a two-headed hawk that was the mark of the ruling House of Habsburg in Europe. The symbol stand for the twin purpose of the Habsburg dynasty as â€Å"Champion of Catholicism and Defender of the Faith. † At the time when Spain sent expeditions to the Philippines, they were under the Habsburg dynasty. The Sinulog committee then included the two-headed eagle to a native warrior’s shield. The native shield is thought to symbolize the country’s struggle to colonization while the Santo Nino’s coat of arms printed on its face represented the country’s recognition of Christianity. How to cite Sinulog, Papers

Influential and Making Decision

Question: Discuss about the Influential and Making Decision. Answer: Introduction In different stages of our life, we face a particular situation where we have to make important decisions in life. The decision may be related to our work life or some personal decision making. Whatever may be the context, I feel it is a very crucial step for moving in the right direction. Hasty and illogical decisions may lead to failure while right analytical decision making with foresight into future can lead to success both personally and professionally. I had to make many crucial decisions in life. I would like to describe one of the decisions that I made while working as an Accountant in medium size company and how I went about for planning and analyzing the rights steps to come to a valid decision. Report on the decision I was involved in I am a resident of Melbourne since the past 7 years. As I had completed my Master of Business (Accounting) in Melbourne, I wanted to get a job in this field to further expand my knowledge about business accounting. Therefore, according to my goal, I got a job in a medium size accounting firm and I am working here as an Accountant for the past three years. My major job responsibilities are related to financial functions such as preparation of financial statement of the company (both Account payable and Account receivable) and reconciliation of reports. I also run a small business. While starting the business, the major challenge that I thought I will have to face were promotion and expansion of my business to international market. Therefore this was an important phase in my career were I had to make some smart decisions to excel in my business. The first step that I took to enhance my business was to improve my interpersonal and management skills. I knew that in my business, I will have to deal with various client as well as my employees. So I felt knowing the correct way of communicating will be a crucial thing. I was very enthusiastic during the whole process as it was my first venture into business and I was filled with various emotions at the same time. But in no way I wanted to lag behind and let my business suffer. My goal was to make it a successful venture through my honest efforts. This further propelled me to undertake an MBA which will enhance my business knowledge. Therefore I felt my decision to undertake MBA course was also a crucial decision in my life. It was a great help to my business as I learnt all the aspects about accounting, marketing, human resource and operations management. Being the owner of the company, I had the responsibility to recruit employees who had passion for business. I wanted some experienced member in my team who could guide new employees. So, I accordingly, I took in some members who had experience of business operation. It was of great help for my business. My company was involved in delivering products and services through online platforms. In order to expand my business to international market, I realized that promotional activities were also very important. I wanted to spend some of my capital in promotional activities as this will help in penetration of my business to international market. Secondly, my focus was on developing a website that will have a great appeal among the customers and client. My major decision making centered on promotional activities and developing a website that has all the features suited to my business. Managing human resource is also a crucial part in organization it is the employees who can make or break yo ur business. I also wanted that basic needs of employees were given in my company and the atmosphere and ambience should be such that everyone feels proud to be part of my company. I recruited an experienced HR professional to look after all the HR issues and this task was done. As far as the development of my companys website was concerned, I wanted the website to be regularly updated and also wanted its features to be user-friendly both for the organization as well as the consumers. I wanted to have the online website complete with new innovative feature and include some points which are unique and no one else had ever done before. My purpose was to boost the sale of the company and make the products in great demand among clients. This was no easy task for me. I had to give all the ideas and instruction regarding what feature I want to include, how it will look, detail on different sections. After deciding the detail on the website, then only I could get the web-developer involved who would bring my thought process into reality. Achieving all the occasional hurdles and challenges in my business was a great form of encouragement for me. All the efforts finally paid off and I was able to achieve what I wanted. My company is now renowned for its services and it is also in demand among customers. I wanted to spend my time and energy on the development of the new website because I wanted to offer attractive services to customers so that their market demands never decreases. This decision was just a positioning or market strategy by my company to keep their hold on the market. I also feel that it was indeed a great step to take at this point of time because creativity and innovation are the keys to long-lasting success. My process of decision making I took two-three months time for all promotional activities. Within this period, the website had to be developed. I wanted to make proactive decisions by analyzing the reaction to each thought and ideas. I wanted to get prepared for all forms of inquiries in the future and wanted to give convincing answers. I had to make sure that my thoughts were user-friendly and had all sorts of exquisite detailing that consumers look for in a website. Besides this, I also wanted to bring one unique idea to the table which attracts the majority of customers to our website. So the success of my venture depended on some smart planning, commitment, some amount of glitz and last but not the least support and encouragement from my employees and team members. For any ideas to be implemented in the website, I analyzed what would be the future outcome of this action. I got an idea of this by taking feedback from the team. I went for a rational model of decision making for my professional work. I just went about it with smart planning and intuition. I asked my team members regarding any issue they face or some feature that does not satisfy them. My decision making process depended on gathering relevant information for my task. I did this both by self-assessment as well as by collecting information by consulting with experienced members from my team and also by internet sources. This was a useful exercise for me as it helped me narrow down my list of issues and keep only relevant, useful ideas. I got ideas about the different option I can take and accordingly I listed down all possible and desirable alternatives. Once everything was clear, I tried to weigh it by analyzing what response I will get if I take my idea forward. I had to see that the purpose of my task had been rightly served, and there is no weak point in it. I wanted to give my best in this phase of my career. I was hoping that if I did my job exceptionally well, it would benefit me in my career goals and professional path. After finalizing all my plans and ideas, I had to implement the options that I finalized and just waited for the reviews and consequences of my decision. I felt rational decision making was apt for my professional work. I was very enthusiastic about the decisions that I had to make my for my business venture. I felt it would take me one step ahead in my career. For successful completion of my work, I analyzed facts related to the website features and proceeded step-by-step to come to a decision. Rational model of decision making involves six steps which are as follows: Identifying the problem: I faced several challenges in expanding my product to international market. I just wanted to adapt marketing strategies to boost the sale of my products. I felt that adding appropriate features in the website will be an appropriate step to take. Now I had to decide what will be my priority and criteria for decision making (Hwang Yoon, 2012). Identification of decision criteria: In this step, I had to choose variables that will define the success of my decision. So, I had to search information which will help me in knowing what factors could boost the sale of my business and what kind of changes in the website will be influential. I felt that my team members could help me in this regard and so I decided to take feedback from them to get an idea about factors that could increase sales (Byrnes, 2013). Selecting the important criteria: I identified different variable in the initial phase of my decision making process. I had to rank each variable according to the usefulness it will have in my decision making process. I felt that any change would have the biggest impact on customers and the marketing of my organization (Hill, 2014). Evaluating decision and alternative options: I got many ideas for my decision making, and I also developed alternatives that I could consider later. My alternative options include increasing promotional activities to lure new customers and increase sales and promoting my companys brand by way of advertisement in different forms of media (Elbanna et al., 2013). Other alternatives of decision making Though I used the rational model of decision making for my work, still I feel if I had used other models of decision making, it could have helped me a lot in my decision making process. The approach I took were just the basic principles that every common man takes in their work or life decisions. But apart from the general process, I found that there are a lot many techniques and tools available for people when they are trying to make any crucial decisions in life. These models are useful tools and give better, faster and timely results. Specific criteria, detailed information and considering all alternatives is the part of the process (Pettigrew, 2014). All the models of decision making have specific features and is useful in the different situation. Few examples of models of decision making will make the idea clear. Any rational decision making has five stages- input, processing, decision, output and review. The first stage involves defining the opportunities or problem in business, identifying goals and who needs to get involved in it. For example in my case, I realized that expanding my products to international market will be a challenge. I had to careful planning for the accomplishment of my goal. The second stage is the processing stage which includes identifying assessment criteria and assessing alternative against the set criteria. This stage would influence the third stage that is what decision has been taken. The fourth stage is the output stage which involves communicating and implementing the decision. The success of the decision depends on final stage which is the review stage. In this juncture, all the steps are reviewed after proper monitoring and controlling the implementation process (Grnig Khn, 2013). I will analyze all the available models of decision making and estimate how it could have helped me in my decision process. One popular model is the Management Science model, which is dependent on mathematical tools and techniques for solving problems. It is useful in making those decisions where data analysis is critical. It is a quantitative method of decision making using a spreadsheet, algorithm, etc. It is a fast developing issue for analyzing and understanding management. This process uses tools like linear programming, sampling, time series analysis, simulation, etc. which provides exactness in solving managerial problems. This approach visualizes management as a logical entity which can be interpreted by mathematical approach (Anderson et al., 2015). Another model that I came across was the Bureaucratic model of decision making. It relies on strict protocols and rules, and it is useful when fairness and consistency are required. The bureaucratic model came after the study of branches of bureaucracy by Max Weber. However I feel that these models are strict but in the real world, some flexibility may exist. It is a rational and legal approach in which order and reason are utilized for decision making. I think this model will be useful only when decision making involves making new company policies or implementing a code of conducts and discipline in the organization. This model demands ethic of professionalism and dedication to serving the needs of customers or shareholders (Pettigrew, 2014). There is a rhetoric model of institutional decision making which has incorporated neoinstitutional theory in its model. Within an institutional context, this model describes how communication skills of decision makers either enable them or constrain them to manage risk and uncertainty in their judgment (Frederickson Ghere, 2013). I feel this model would have been useful in my decision making. I could have judged the risk involved in my decision making by communicating my decision to my staff members. This act of utterance would have helped me in modifying my risk. This form is reasoning is dependent on public argument and my private argument to determine the success of my decision. It relies on speakers and listeners interpretation to persuade others to adapt to certain practices. I could have used this approach to convince my clients my product is exceptional in term of quality and durability, and it will also attract more customers. I also feel that arguments are necessary to shap e one's reasoning as it is a reflection of one's emotion, logic, and values that support the decision (Scolobig et al., 2015). Another model available to me as decision maker was the Carnegie Decision Model. This model is based on negotiation between stakeholders, and this approach is useful when different belief or ideologies exist in the organization. The model emphasizes the political process in decision making. This approach is dependent on mediation, surveys, consultation and focus group (Taylor, 2013). For the challenges in my business, I knew that I would face two set of constraints that is uncertainty and conflict. Though I tried my best to give my best, there was uncertainty regarding the acceptance of my effort. I also knew conflict might arise when my client or my team member might not agree to my opinion. So I think this model would have been helpful in my decision making. I could arrange for joint discussion to get shared view. In the case of major conflict, I could have had a common discussion and got shared opinion to come to my final decision (Dey et al., 2013). Rational model of decision making is completely based on the cognitive aspect of a human being. Such decision making abides by the emotional perspective of an individual. This type of decision poses challenges on the ethical aspect and also on the profitability of the business. But the opportunity cost involved in rational decision making is that it is based on the scientifically obtained data so there exist less chances of distortion in the objective and error. Decision making styles This section is a description of my decision making style. Different individuals approach decision making in a variety of ways. The process weighs alternatives to find a solution to a problem. Decision making style is the key to making smart corporate strategies. I had adopted the conceptual style of decision making for my job. I just not only wanted to change the system, but I wanted the change to be effective in the long run. To achieve long term results, I went for brainstorming of alternative option and identifying the best step for my task (Kolbe et al., 2012, January). Taking some level of risk is also essential when planning to change the system of service delivery in the organization. Therefore, I had to take a creative approach to achieving my objectives. My team members and I spent few days in brainstorming different alternatives for the renovating the website features. I had to be incredibly creative and think out of the box to get something new for the website. The concep tual style is achievement oriented and looks into the future while making decisions. This method focuses on broad vision to solve a problem (Lysonski Durvasula, 2013). I will see the importance of other available styles of decision making that I could have used for my task. One of them is the directive style of decision making. This form relies on the rational and autocratic style to use one's knowledge, experience, and judgment to choose the best option. However, I think the only drawback of this model is that it thinks about short term goals and does not look into the future. It is an aggressive style of decision making where individual make a quick decision and expects their team members to follow it without any opposition. Such person relies on just their own knowledge, and they are an excellent communicator. I feel this is a very rash style where decisions are imposed. I would never follow this style of decision making (Lorinkova et al., 2013). Another style of decision making is the analytical method of decision making. People adopting this style are innovative, and they research a lot before making a decision. Such person works well under challenging and stressful environment. This style of decision making is very time-consuming since it is dependent on analysis of a large amount of data. Analytic decision makers do not take an abrupt decision without observing data and facts. They have control over every aspect of decision making (Ayal et al., 2015) Lessons from this reflection This reflective exercise was very useful for me as it helped me realize my strength and weakness in my decision making process. As it was my first business venture, I made some mistakes also. But I was careful enough to correct them. It was my passion for business only that I tried to performed every task after much contemplation and research about business operations. The mistakes in the process were a learning experience for me. I also feel that analyzing the different styles of decision making tools and style has broadened my ideas about decision making process. The knowledge gained by this reflective study will be very useful for my future professional growth. Conclusion The whole report on reflective account of decision making summarizes my own experience of having to take a major decision in my professional work. I stated how I had responded to the challenges in my business and how I started planning for it to achieve the desired results. I had specific style and model of decision making to accomplish my goals and objectives. I went through lots of emotions in the process. I had my own expectation and hopes for my task. However, I was also apprehensive regarding what will happen if my plan fails or if am not able to attract the target customers. So I prepared according to keep alternative option ready in case any situation arises where I will have to change my decision. I also analyzed another model of decision making which could have been useful for my work. I had my own style of decision making, but I also reviewed another style of decision making to determine the rationality and intuitions involved in a particular style. Reference Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., Williams, T. A., Camm, J. D., Cochran, J. J. (2015).An introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making. Cengage learning. Ayal, S., Rusou, Z., Zakay, D., Hochman, G. (2015). Determinants of judgment and decision making quality: the interplay between information processing style and situational factors.Frontiers in psychology,6. Byrnes, J. P. (2013).The nature and development of decision-making: A self-regulation model. Psychology Press. Dey, A. K., Bagnell, J. A., Ziebart, B. D. (2013).U.S. Patent No. 8,478,642. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Elbanna, S., Child, J., Dayan, M. (2013). A model of antecedents and consequences of intuition in strategic decision-making: evidence from Egypt.Long Range Planning,46(1), 149-176. Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J. (2015).Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Frederickson, H. G., Ghere, R. K. (2013).Ethics in public management. ME Sharpe. Grnig, R., Khn, R. (2013). Rational Decision-Making. InSuccessful Decision-Making(pp. 23-31). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Hill, M. (2014).Policy Process: A Reader. Routledge. Hwang, C. L., Yoon, K. (2012).Multiple attribute decision making: methods and applications a state-of-the-art survey(Vol. 186). Springer Science Business Media. Kolbe, L., Bossink, B., De Man, A. P. (2012, January). Managerial decision-making in the context of open innovation: A conceptual framework. InISPIM Conference Proceedings(p. 1). The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM). Lorinkova, N. M., Pearsall, M. J., Sims, H. P. (2013). Examining the differential longitudinal performance of directive versus empowering leadership in teams.Academy of Management Journal,56(2), 573-596. Lysonski, S., Durvasula, S. (2013). Consumer decision making styles in retailing: evolution of mindsets and psychological impacts.Journal of Consumer Marketing,30(1), 75-87. Pettigrew, A. M. (2014).The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge. Pettigrew, A. M. (2014).The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge. Scolobig, A., Prior, T., Schrter, D., Jrin, J., Patt, A. (2015). Towards people-centred approaches for effective disaster risk management: Balancing rhetoric with reality.International journal of disaster risk reduction,12, 202-212. Shapiro, J. P., Stefkovich, J. A. (2016).Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge. Taylor, D. W. (2013). Decision Making and Problem Solving1.Handbook of organizations,20, 48-86.

Army Accountability Essays

Army Accountability Essays Army Accountability Essay Army Accountability Essay The U. S. Army values soldiers that are accountable for their actions. Being accountable means being dependable In Bravo company we do monthly toolbox inventories In every tool and toolbox In not accounted for than an sit storm from the higher up Just lands right In our laps all the way from the company commander down accountability not only has to do with your specific but It Is very Important In your day to day Army life Being accountable means being dependable-arriving to work and politeness on time, meeting meanness, Delve In ten relent place at ten relent time, doing the right thing at the right time. It is not only the major tasks that you do that show your character but all the little things is what adds up to show who you really are the Army values which are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, arsenal courage accountability closely relates to three of the seven values duty it is your duty to be accountable for all your equipment no matter what it be tools, TA-50, weapon, or anything as well as your actions. Respect it shows respect to your leadership because they do everything they can to make sure you have everything you need and take care of all things you need to do so they work so hard to do all of these things you can at least show them a little respect by being accountable for all equipment and your actions. Integrity it shows you have integrity by being accountable for the mistakes you make no one person is perfect we all are going to make mistakes and you be a man and own up to them it show you have integrity. The soldiers Creed also falls in with accountability always maintain my arms, my equipment and now this quote means that your equipments will always be in proper working condition and you will always know of the whereabouts of your equipment which is accountability these are things that be swore to live by every day when we became American soldiers there is no place in army for personnel who cant be accountable for themselves and their sit

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i dont have an essay to submit i dont have an essay to submit Animal "Speech" Project Aims to Decode Critter Communication Maryann Mott for National Geographic News September 26, 2006 The fictional children's book character Dr. Dolittle easily understood animal chatter. But for the rest of us, the meaning behind creatures' clucks, rumbles, and whistles remains a mystery. Now, researchers from several universities and institutions are working on an effort called the Dr. Dolittle Project, which aims to crack the code of animal communication. African elephant photo Enlarge Photo _ Printer Friendly Email to a Friend What's This? SHARE Digg StumbleUpon Reddit RELATED Do Disney's Real Elephants Have Tales to Tell? (February 2003) Photos: Animal Mating Calls Elephants Can Mimic Traffic, Other Noises, Study Says (March 2005) Their work could help people gain a better understanding of animal behavior and hopefully allow researchers to improve care for wild and captive animal populations. "For centuries humans have tried to teach animals to communicate like humans," said Michael Darre, an animal science professor at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs. "And now we're getting to the point where we're saying, Wait a second. Why don't we learn their language instead of making them learn ours?" (Related feature: "Calls in the Wild" in National Geographic magazine.) Elephant Talk In the past three years researchers with the project have captured sounds from a variety of animals, including African

Overall, Canada is a good country in which to live Essay

Overall, Canada is a good country in which to live - Essay Example Canada, despite a multilingual society where more than one language is understood and spoken uphold equality among the Canadian residents, and this is a common act practiced in Canada as they are taught moral values and concerns towards each other. Canadian populations have migrated into a situation of linguistic and ethnic subordination; there normally is no difficulty since the option of migration back to their home country provides a safety valve. Although Canada possesses a wide range of sociological problems involved in the contact between racial and ethnic groups with different mother tongues, but still despite ecological propositions about the nature of linguistic pluralism Government maintain such societies, who work toward unilingualism. The framework is then applied to the Canadian setting, focusing on two related but conceptually distinct events: first, the forces which determine how groups will adapt to the presence of others who speak different tongues; second, the long- run factors which determine whether pluralism will be maintained or evolve into a unilingual society. Most provinces provide only limited training in French, ensuring that all French Canadians will acquire English in the schools. In several instances, for example, French-language instruction can be made available up to an hour per day in the early grades. On the other hand, French is widely available as a second language in high schools and sometimes in earlier grades. Canada appreciates a unilingual society that is the main reason why Canadian children are being taught equality and brotherhood at elementary level. They are well groomed and well mannered. Canadian Government place high value on parenting with a polite attitude towards children. Canadian provisions include all the basic necessities for the child’s healthy physical, mental and psychological growth. Even certain provisions start before birth of a

Sears changes again and again Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sears changes again and again - Essay Example And since the top management of the organization are the decision makers, they have the power and capability to initiate strategic change. Strategic change affects the â€Å"... goals, systems, structures, work processes, values, mission and culture† of businesses (Jacobs, 2010). This means that such changes are far-reaching and they affect the entire organization over a period of time. There is always a reason for change. This is because top level management makes changes to attain certain ends. In this paper, the case refers to Sears, now known as Sears-Roebuck and Co, a U.S.-based chain of stores that provides consumer goods for the public. The paper will examine the strategic changes that occurred in the company over the past two decades. In attaining this end, the following objectives will be addressed: Normally, organizations have institutionalized cultures and systems. Institutionalism is defined by Poole and Van De Ven (2004) as the culture and structures that guide activities in an organization. As such, every organization nurtures a type of system that enables it to operate and maintain its unique identity. Sears had its own system and structures. The initial system was to produce household appliances and run departmental stores in the early 1990s. The institutional structures and systems of the company had survived through the 1980s to the 90s. This shows that they believed in traditions and systems. However, the company seemed to have priorities: maintaining Sears as a going concern. When this was threatened, they had to find ways of adjusting the institutional structures to keep the companys performance high. So they resorted to bringing in Martinez, who was from a completely different background. Gottschalk (2007, p.14) states that â€Å"outside successors are often selected when in periods of poor firm performance and when directors cannot locate a competent successor in-house.† In order for new CEOs to succeed, they will need to

Conducting situational analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Conducting situational analysis - Assignment Example They have had some failures such as targeting to kids; however, they have managed to take that in their stride and now are a bigger and better company than before. Conducting a situational analysis A marketing plan is used to convey the attributes and benefits of a product or service to its potential customers. It comprises of seven steps and one of them is conducting a situational analysis after the introduction stage. This step is one of the essential steps in creating a long term and successful relationship with customers. (Cohen, 1995) Introduction Introduction comprises of the company’s products, prices, placement etc. and what sort of products or services a company sells; essentially the background of the company and what it stands for. (Cohen, 1995) ASOS.com is a UK based website which is the largest online store for beauty and fashion products. It is only online, and it sells its own goods as well as branded goods. Sales have been on the rise since the company started, with profits before tax jumping from 15.7 million pounds to 30.3 million pounds in May 2012. The target market is mainly men and women between the ages of 18 and 34. ASOS headquarters is Camden Town, located in the North of London in a building called the Greater London House. It offers 500,000 product lines ranging from menswear, women’s wear, jewellery, beauty products, accessories and even footwear. The websites target not only UK though, they target other areas such as USA, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Spain and Australia as well and ships these products to many more countries from UK, which is its central distributor and origin and that is where the headquarters are located. A 2011 report shows that 13.6 million different visitors visit the website every month and there are registered users as well as active users and customers. The fulfillment centre for ASOS is in Yorkshire. ASOS was developed in 2000 in June and its founders are Quentin Griffiths and Nick Robertson . It is UK’s biggest retailer of fashion and beauty products online with more than 2000 employees. The acronym ASOS stands for ‘As seen on Screen’ and it changes stylistically to showcase the image of the brand. It has faced some issues as well, but overall the website has seen success stories. It also developed holdings in 2001 which became part of London Stock Exchange and 2006; it was also the pioneer of online stores launching a catwalk. In 2007, ASOS introduced its ASOS Magazine and it grew to become a lifestyle, and a store as well as launching a mobile and expanding to other areas and eventually opening a new office in Australia. One of the features that ASOS provides its customers is the facility of looking for content on their website with videos of catwalks and pictures and videos of the clothing items. It also runs a fashion blog simultaneously which have articles posted which are related to fashion and beauty topics; such as celebrities and their live s as well as entertaining news and the clothes which they are wearing and available on the site are then provided with links on the blog which leads customers to the main retail page. ASOS also has an outlet which is the discount portion of ASOS and the products that are coming at the end of a line or are from a previous season are at glorious discounts of up to 75%. It is connected to the main site and it is basically a competitor outlet with E-tailers and other discount stores. ASOS also provides the

The Role Of Queen Elizabeth 1 History Essay

The Role Of Queen Elizabeth 1 History Essay Queen Elizabeth I survived the hard reign and become the most famous leader in the history of British government. She was a courageous leader who applied every bit of her wisdom to overcome challenges which faced her leadership. However, Christopher Haigh in his book asks some questions about the famous queen Elizabeth I, with accordance to her leadership and gender. The first question Haigh is asking is about her skills in the application of powers in the leadership. He however answers his question by analyzing her role in both the Britain and in the running of the British government thus he develops the thesis the role of Queen Elizabeth 1 in the British government and nation. In addition, the second question that he is asking is about the relationship of her gender and leadership in the British government. The queen having been the only woman leader in the world at her time she must have faced social problems especially when relating with male counterparts in the leadership. However, Haigh answers the question by analyzing her reactions to the resistance of male leaders and also to the proposals of male leaders as well thus he develops the thesis her relationships with the statesmen of her time. More over, religion, parliament, royal court, and nobility also brought about challenges to the leadership of Queen Elizabeth 1 but to every challenge she applied her wisdom to contain the challenges. With accordance to these sources of challenges to her leadership, Haigh develops other thesis which are; her response to the religion, her response to parliamentary delegates about her marriage, her response to suitors, transformation of royal courts, Queen Elizabeth 1 and military actions between Britain and other states. Historically, at the period of the leadership of Queen Elizabeth 1, Britain had the best structured government in the world but rather one of the most complicated government systems in comparison with others. The governing system was a combination of monarchy government and democratic government structures. The government was divided into various groups so as to enable comprehensive leadership inn the country. First of all, there were national governments such as parliament and Privy Council which served the entire nation. Secondly, there were regional government bodies such as north and council of the marches and lastly there were minor government bodies which included county and community governments. The central government of England also known as the national government consisted of the monarch, Privy Council and the parliament all which fell under the monarch. Those three bodies worked together in ruling the nation, raising revenue, make laws and also dealt with national and international affairs. In most cases, the queen was always at the centre stage of any activity which was carried out by any governing system in Britain. She was the final decision maker to any bill or law that was passed by the governing structures since the apprehension of her signature was the final step into the passing of the laws and bills. The Privy Council acted as the administrative government body of England but it could not carryout its administrative role in the whole England and Wales thus it was assisted by both the council of north and marches. The council of the north resided in York and assisted in the administration of the northern England and council of marches resided in Wales thus it assisted in the administrative role in the southern England and also patrolled some counties of the English border. However, Queen Elizabeth 1 initiated the settling of the Privy Council in Ludlow, Wales which helped to centralize the role of the Privy Council which enabled it to take administrative charge in the whole of England. However, the councils of both, north and marches were also a part of the localized government since in the Tudor England local governments were necessary. However, the queen was the most senior person in England thus her commands and laws were to be observed and obeyed by everybody in England. In order to ensure that her laws were obeyed, she established royal representatives who were deployed in every county in the country. The most royal representatives were, the sheriffs, justices of the peace and later the lord lieutenants were also established. More also, she initiated the hierarchy of government systems in the cities end towns where various officials were to oversee maters related to the local governments but the most senior official was the mayor. However during the times of the queen Elizabeth 1, nobility and gently had much influence. British considered wealth which at the time was land as the greatest source of power. The few individuals, who possessed large tracts of land in the country, were considered to be wealthy and powerful thus they were masters to the tenants and laborers who worked on them. In addition, gentry and mobility was a position of high responsibility and served as the aids of the monarch at governing the lands on which they presided. On the other hand, tenants and laborers could present their grievances to their lords who were supposed to take action on them. However, incases where matter was complicated it was forwarded to the monarch for further considerations. More also, some lords took their work seriously and some served the nation by establishing heath, religion and education facilities. For instance, the Warwick hospital was established by lord Earl of Leicester. Tenants and laborers of those lands also owed loyalty to their lord and were expected to respond quickly to the calls of their lords. In addition, some lords had large number of subordinates who were loyal to them and it was a threat to the country because it was feared that emergence of rebellion by lords would have emerged to civil wars. However this is the reason to why Tudor monarch feared the defiant of the lords who had the ability to command loyalty of large proportion of the population. Queen Elizabeth took precaution when she was in power on the consequences of disagreements with the lords. In order to maintain peaceful ruling on the lords she applied her knowledge of the aristocratic political and religious views which influenced the views of tenants and laborers. Another important government structure during the times if Queen Elizabeth 1 was the courts structure in Britain. The Great Session or Assizes were the highest courts in England and were held twice each year. Also, there were Quarter Session Courts which were held four times in each year. Those courts handled the serious cases which could not have been handled by other low courts such as Petty Sessions, Manor Courts and in some cases Town Courts. However the individuals choice of courts depended on the individuals wealth. There were also special courts such as the Star Chamber which dealt with the highest ranked personalities in the country. However in most cases these courts dealt with cases which involved wealthy individuals and also consisted of privy councilors. There was also a court of chancery which had the ability to deal with criminal cases which could not have been handled at low courts. More over, there was also the court of the poor cases which was known as the court of requests. Religious affairs and other cases which were of moral justices were handled by the church courts. The role of queen in the court affairs was to approve the judges who appointed at the high courts and also dealt with the high treason which carried a death sentence. The queen used her wisdom to unite people who were of catholic and protestant faiths in England. Earlier during the reign of Mary 1, Roman Catholic faith was dominant in the country and the Catholics took the advantage to persecute and execute minority Protestants who were in the country. The actions of Catholics resulted to the displacement of their counterparts, Protestants from the country and settled in the neighboring countries. This ended after the death of Mary 1 and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 1which triggered the coming back of earlier displaced Protestants into the country. However, the coming of the Protestants was viewed to be aimed at carrying out revenge attacks against those who belonged to the catholic faith. To combat the oncoming religious crisis in the country, Queen Elizabeth 1 was made the supreme head of the church in 1559. For a long time, she remained silent on the matters relating to the religious crisis. This resulted to some sort of automatic reconciliation whereby many Catholics converted to Protestants for fear of the attacks which made the population of Catholics to massively decline. She also did not insult the catholic faithful but made sure that they did not lose the positions that they held in the government. In 1569, she was faced by a hard test of her authority during the procession of revolts. Two catholic men who were under her authority were sworn into her government which resulted to public anger against her. However, the Catholics remained loyal to her though they were in a small number which she tolerated throughout her reign. Her action, not to take revenge against Catholics, earned her respect from the British which is memorable to many generations. It was her first test of courage on authority in which she emerged victorious. Also, her response to parliamentary delegates who insisted on her getting married portrayed her courage when she was a young woman. The parliamentarians wanted her to get married to a fellow Briton in order that she may give birth to a male child who could inherit the throne. Her response to them showed that she understood their petition against her to be facilitated by gender discrimination. At this time, there was no gender equality in the parliament and that was the reason to why parliamentarians were not royal to her throne. They wanted the head of the throne to be a man and thats why they dictated that the inheritance of the throne be taken by the male child. She however responded in a respectful manner in which she made them know that she was the head of the throne and marriage was a Gods given gift rather not a dictated thing to be done. Queen Elizabeth 1, like other male leaders in other states went into military action against other states. She was the head of state thus the commander in chief of the armed forces according to the constitution of England during her reign. In the year 1588, execution of Mary Stuart, the queen of Scots, prompted Spain into attempting to attack England. The invasion led to the engagement of the royal navy who won the battle and made England to emerge as the country with the most prominent naval force I the whole world. Also, the queen led to the starting of the trading culture between England and other states in the world. Industrialization took place with the establishment of the British East India Company which was inaugurated by the queen. Historically, the queen was coroneted at a time when the economy of Britain was performing poorly but the staring of industrialization marked the positive economic growth in the country. The queen had a charismatic character which enabled her to be tolerance and endurance as well. She maintained a good relationship between the fellow statesmen and her. She is believed to have always responded positively to every matter that she acted upon which made statesmen to trust her and remain loyal to her authority. Internationally, she is said to have had a bad relationship with her cousin, Queen Mary of Scotland but she tolerated the bad relationship wisely until when she was executed. Also, she also responded wisely to the foreign men who had proposed to her when she was a young lady who ensured that a good relationship was maintained between England and other states. In this book, Haigh attempted to show the kind of leadership which is desirable in todays world. He used the leadership of queen elizabeth1 as an exhibit of the worlds best leadership in history. Many leaders face challenges during their reigns which put them to the tests of leadership skills thus using the example of the leadership of Queen Elizabeth 1, he advises the leaders on the priorities to be considered when faced with challenges. He concludes by saying that Elizabeth 1 cannot only be considered as a leader of England abut also as a savior who resisted human conflicts from happening when she stood between the religious groups, Catholics and protestants.

Free Essays on Homers Odyssey: Gaining Power from Others in The Odyssey :: Odyssey essays

Gaining Power from Others in The Odyssey Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus’ power was gained through the power of others resulting in three phases of understanding: self-determination, courage, and having a greater vision in life. In order to understand these three phases, one must be able to conquer predominance from those less useful than others. Although Odysseus was physically strong, he was not who he was mentally, without the help and guidance through the gods. Odysseus was like one who has no friends, but when he meets up with more people, he becomes popular. One who was alone and meets new people, has more friends and finds out more interesting subjects about daily life. They are the ones who have more predominance than others because they know more people and have much more interesting subjects. Odysseus was like this because he didn’t know much without the help and guidance from others. Once Odysseus has served enough time in a place against his will, he would be determined to leave that place. Odysseus’ journey towards home was now going to be able to be finished. For seven years Calypso held him prisoner on the island of Ogygia and he was determined to leave and see to the rest of his journey. Calypso agrees to let him go and she gives Odysseus some advice and guidance saying, "Only I will not aid [you] on [your] way, for I have no ships fitted with oars, nor crews to bear [you] over the broad oceanridges; but I will freely give [you] counsel and not hide how [you] may come unharmed to [your] own native land"(47). Calypso recognizes Odysseus’ greatness. Calypso says she will give some advice, but Odysseus will have to prove his greatness by making his own ship and understand how he will make it home. Even though Odysseus was physically strong, at other times he was weak. When the Phaeacians returned Odysseus home, Odysseus not knowing where he was recounted his jewels and gifts. While doing so the Phaeacians were just turned to stone by Poseidon for helping him return home. Odysseus can practically do whatever any god can do but with the help of them. So speaking, Odysseus says to Athena, "And do you stand beside me, inspiring hardy courage, even so as when we tore the shining crown from Troy"(130). When Odysseus was at war with Troy, Athena gave him guidance.

An Analysis of Movies Armageddon

Among the movies that were released and made it big at the box-office in 1998 were the Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan. Although the first is a science-fiction and the second is a war movie, making their presentation of the use of film technology different, both films are pictures of totally predictable elements – loud noises and frequent explosions. The two movies both presented battle scenes – against the asteroid in Armageddon while it is a battle among soldiers in Saving Private Ryan. Best remembered from the two films were the elements of sparks, noise, vibrations, shouting, running, screaming, fighting, fire, tremors, crashes and collisions. The difference in their cinematography and editing aspects depicted the use of their own film techniques and technology.Saving Private Ryan has Tom Hanks and Matt Damon as the main actors. The Steven Spielberg war film told about the character of James Ryan (Damon), who has parachuted into France during the Allied invasion of Europe, has just lost three brothers in combat. Government policy dictates that he should return home lest his family be deprived of its entire male offspring. A team of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller (Hanks) and fresh from the beaches of Normandy, is assembled to find and save Private Ryan.The use of film techniques was manifested with the way how Spielberg and his crew recreated the arrival of Allied forces at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, by using water-level and then ground-level handheld cameras during a 24-minute sequence of especially graphic carnage. McKenzie noted the use of seamless SFX and advanced film-making techniques, the terrors of battle massacre are splattered onscreen. The viewing public find themselves totally absorbed in the war horror, â€Å"with the dizzying and expert use of a variety of techniques, including hand-held cameras, the speeding up of the often unrelated images, frantic editing, and varying film stock. Spielberg's gifted Oscar-winning cin ematographer, Janusz Kaminski brought a compelling war-newsreel look to a lot of the images† (McKenzie, 2005).Another technique is when the film started off with the title Saving Private Ryan. It started off like this to show the title of the film and show what the film is going to be about. In some films they show a bit of the film and then show the title. But Spielberg didn't want to do this. This showed the film might be really exciting and interesting to watch. The Saving Private Ryan title was written in white lettering against a black background. The black background symbolizes the people who died in the war while the white lettering symbolizes those soldiers who fought in the war and emerged as winners.Cinematographer Kaminski employed many different techniques during filming to set the mood of a given scene. During the opening sequence, for example, the film is overexposed a bit to give a sense of a documentary-like feel to the scenes. The camera work is often hand hel d and jerky too, heightening the sense of realism during the scene. But the disc handles all this easily and is a testament to the work being done by the folks over at DreamWorks.Saving Private Ryan is nothing but a demonstration of cinematographic skills in a totally inappropriate context. Why does film documentary style, with a shoulder-held camera to capture the chaos, yet so formally stage the scenes and with bodies perfectly falling into full frame, dying perfect deaths? This is because everything onscreen told the audience what came first in the making of the movie: more than the war, its aesthetics possibilities.In Schlosser’s review, Spielberg and his skilled band of technicians studied the photo archives and documentaries very carefully. Then they carefully re-created the settings, the shootings, the sounds and furies. And on the seventh day, they decided to superimpose some silhouettes (Schlosser, 2000).The science-fiction film Armageddon, which top-billed Bruce Wil lis and directed by Michael Bay, started when the space shuttle is destroyed in outer space and NASA astronomers discovered that a meteor shower is pelting away at earth and that a huge asteroid, the size of Texas and capable of destroying the planet is headed for a direct hit with the planet. With all options too fantastic to implement before collision, NASA decides to recruit the world's best deep core drilling team (oil drillers) to land on the asteroid, drill a hole, drop a nuclear bomb into the hole, then take off and remotely detonate the bomb.For the drill team, they select Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew that includes tough guy-softie Bear (Michael Clarke Duncan), brilliant smart-ass Rockhound (Steve Buschemi), A.J. (Ben Affleck) the overeager fiancà © of his independent daughter (Liv Tyler), and spacy Oscar (Owen Wilson). It's a race against time to get the drillers trained, land them on the asteroid and get the hole drilled before earth is destroyed.Aside from t he futuristic aspect of the movie, its other strong points are editing and cinematography. From sweeps around the NASA conference room to quick close-ups, from split-second backgrounds to the simulated, striking aerial view of the double launch, the camera work told the story with stylistic, often frenetic motion.The film’s use of advance technology saved the script which was the result of the well-shot but terribly clichà ©d montages, many showing Bay's vision of a type of classic America, people listening to news of the coming catastrophe, gathered in a Mayberry-like barber shop or sitting in vintage pickups, near American flags and farmhouses. Another technique evidence is the one shot of a group of boys who even runs past a clapboard store sporting a faded campaign mural of JFK.Bay directed this stuff with a sure hand and a lot of slow motion effects. His visuals are actually quite amazing, including the spectacular lift-off of the two shuttles. Side-by-side, the image i s from far away, as the spaceships race off, leaving a trail of smoke behind. Bay is a good director for color pictures, using oranges and yellows effectively. The cinematography is excellent, and the editing is fast-paced. The special effects are top-notch, blowing away anything seen in that other comet film. The opening sequence is one of the best moments in the film, and one shocking moment occurs when a meteor plows into a city and you see it completely wiped out from the top of Notre Dame.The work by Blue Sky|VIFX for the opening shot ARMAGEDDON is brilliant. In a single shot, asteroids pummel the earth, creating huge fireballs that envelop the camera, wiping on the film's main title graphic. The camera swoops by the earth, revealing the massive destruction of the meteor shower, allowing the audience to fully examine the effect of this disaster. Geological inaccuracies aside, the shot is quite memorable. Explosion elements seem in scale, and the slow camera movement is quite bo ld–all in all, an exciting prelude for things to come.The two films used the theme of human sacrifice. For Saving Private Ryan, it was the sacrifice of a team of soldiers for a single human being while Willis’ sacrifice in Armageddon was in order to save the world and all the people living in it. Although set in different societies – a community torn in war and a world face with asteroid, both showed the importance of having to sacrifice and even to be killed just to save either one person or mankind. Saving Private Ryan pictured that in a war-torn society, the soldiers are destined to sacrifice their lives notwithstanding if these are for the sake of only one or many people.Armageddon was also a manifestation of giving up a life but this time to save not only one single human but the whole mankind. The two movies told the lesson of a society of such human beings are worth sacrificing for and that it is only through the value of each and every human being that a society achieves value itself.The audience who liked these two films is assumed to be of giving value to human life. Although different in genres, the audiences were moved that the film gave credit not just to the technology and techniques used but more so of the theme and lesson behind the aesthetics of the films.ReferencesMcKenzie, Edward (2005). Saving Private Ryan (World War II Collection) (1998).Schlosser, Eric. (January 2000). On Saving Private Ryan. Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 27. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/27/savingprivateryan.html

How to Do a Science Fair Project for School

How to Do a Science Fair Project for School Okay, you have a subject and you have at least one testable question. If you havent done so already, make sure you understand the steps of the scientific method. Try to write down your question in the form of a hypothesis. Lets say your initial question is about determining the concentration required for salt to be tasted in water. Really, in the scientific method, this research would fall under the category of making observations. Once you had some data, you could go on to formulate a hypothesis, such as: There will be no difference between the concentration at which all members of my family will detect salt in water. For elementary school science fair projects and possibly high school projects, the initial research may be an excellent project in itself. However, the project will be much more meaningful if you can form a hypothesis, test it, and then determine whether or not the hypothesis was supported. Write Down Everything Whether you decide on a project with a formal hypothesis or not, when you perform your project (take data), there are steps you can take to make the most of your project. First, write everything down. Gather your materials and list them, as specifically as you can. In the scientific world, it is important to be able to duplicate an experiment, especially if surprising results are obtained. In addition to writing down data, you should note any factors that could affect your project. In the salt example, it is possible that the temperature could affect my results (alter the solubility of salt, change the bodys rate of excretion, and other factors I might not consciously consider). Other factors you might note could include relative humidity, the  age of participants in my study, a list of medications (if anyone is taking them), etc. Basically, write down anything of note or potential interest. This information could lead your study in new directions once you start taking data. The in formation you take down at this point could make a fascinating summary or discussion of future research directions for your paper or presentation. Don't Discard Data Perform your project and record your data. When you form a hypothesis or seek the answer to a question, you probably have a preconceived idea of the answer. Dont let this preconception influence the data you record! If you see a data point that looks off, dont throw it out, no matter how strong the temptation. If you are aware of some unusual event that occurred when the data was being taken, feel free to make a note of it, but dont discard the data. Repeat the Experiment To determine the level at which you taste salt in water, you can keep adding salt to water until you have a detectable level, record the value, and move on. However, that single data point will have very little scientific significance. It is necessary to repeat the experiment, perhaps several times, to achieve significant value. Keep notes on the conditions surrounding a duplication of an experiment. If you duplicate the salt experiment, perhaps you would get different results if you kept tasting salt solutions over and over than if you performed the test once a day over a span of several days. If your data takes the form of a survey, multiple data points might consist of many responses to the survey. If the same survey is resubmitted to the same group of people in a short time span, would their answers change? Would it matter if the same survey was given to a different, yet seemingly, a  similar group of people? Think about questions like this and take care in repeating a project.

Implementation Commentary Essay Example

Implementation Commentary Essay Example Implementation Commentary Essay Implementation Commentary Essay I split the design problem into a number of different sections, which are explained:Analysis of ProblemThe Analysis of Problem is when the problem is recognised.Design of SolutionThe Design of Solution is when everything from the Analysis is taken into account, and an appropriate solution is drawn up.ImplementationThe Implementation is when the Design is transferred into a real thing e.g. the touch screen presentation.TestingThis is where the solution is examined to find any faults or spelling/grammar errors. At this stage, any changes are made to the system.EvaluationThis is where the final system is evaluated, and any things hat would be done differently next time are mentioned but not carried out.There are various different inputs, processes and outputs which I had to control to make my presentation. These are very important to be able to make the foundations to the main presentation:InputsAll the data that was input was:* The NHS logo which I copied from a website.* The map which I copied from MultiMap, which is on the final slide.* The names and positions of all the staff who work there* All the information about the health centre i.e. the policiesProcessing* I had to paste the NHS logo into PhotoFiltre and then crop it, and then re-paste it into the presentation.* Similar to the NHS logo, I had to paste the picture into PhotoFiltre, crop it and then re-paste it into the presentation.* I had to cut the table which I produced in Microsoft Excel, make it the correct size and then place that into the presentation, moving it to the correct position.* I had to change the font and size of the policies writing and then make the background white of the textbox, and move it into the correct position on the page.Accuracy and Spelling / TestingAccuracy and spelling/grammar is very important when doing a professional presentation like this. When data is inputted, its creditability needs to be monitored just to make sure that it is always telling the truth and the righ t thing. Also, if spelling is incorrect, it looks very unprofessional and irresponsible. When data such as Opening Times are inputted, it is essential that they are correct and always up-to-date as customers need to know the vital information. Errors could be made when the data is being typed into the system, or when the original data is being printed/produced. After data has been inputted and checks have been made to ensure it is correct, the presentation needs to be stored safely so that changes are not made accidentally. The system needs to be stored on a password-locked server which can only be accessed by the vital few people who run it. This means that someone inexperienced cannot have access to the system and change it. Proof-reading the document to see if there were any visible mistakes, and the Spelling and Grammar checker on Microsoft checked any spelling mistakes.Storage DevicesA storage device is used to save all work done by a user and to ensure that no information is l ost. There are two main types of storage devices:* Read Only (ROM) is not ever erased from the memory when the power supply is switched off i.e. turning the computer off will mean the document will still be there when it is turned back on again, all the information is permanent. This is sometimes called non-volatile memory.* Random Access Memory (RAM) this is erased when the power supply is switched off i.e. turning the computer off will mean the document will not be there when it is turned back on again. This is sometimes called volatile memory.The main storage devices I would use for my hard disk would be:* Hard Disk This is built into the computer, and things can be saved to it very easily. They are normally quite large in capacity, so many, many text documents can be stored at one time. This works by a magnetic head reading the information off the hard disk as it spins around very quickly* Floppy Disk Floppy Disks are portable storage devices that can hold around 300 pages o f text. But actually they only hold 1.44MB of stuff, so often pictures or word art will not fit onto the floppy.* USB Drive This is a reasonable new method of portable storage, and they normally have a much larger free space than a floppy disk.I created a presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint. I did this by adding a background picture into all the slides. Then I went on to put the rectangular buttons on the right hand side of the slide. The buttons on this list were then hyperlinked to the correct slides, so when that button was pressed, the computer would be directed to that wanted page. I then inserted a text box and wrote in the information; I decided to make the background of the text white to ensure it could be read easily. Headings were then inserted, as were the relevant pictures.My presentation went well, but some changes had to be made on the way. When I first produced it, there was barely any colour on it, and it was not very attractive to look at. Inserting a background p icture into the presentation, which made it look a lot better to look at, rectified this. There was various spelling and grammar mistakes on the presentation, and using the Spell Checker helped this. There was no colour on the heading of the Opening Times table, which meant that users might get confused. I changed this by making the heading of the table yellow. Sometimes incorrect words were used: I described the staff as okay but then changed that to good which improves the reputation of the Health Centre. Some of the important writing did not stand out enough, so I changed the text colour to purple to help this.

Supply chain management at Zara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply chain management at Zara - Essay Example Supply chain management is the management of the network used to acquire raw materials, production and distribution to the customers. It can be said to be the process of attaining raw materials, production, storage and supply to the end users. Every business or company has to employ a good purchasing and supply chain management if it has to succeed in its production. Supply chain management is important to Zara because it helps in recognizing the number of suppliers that can be accessed by the company, their location, the distribution centers, management of inventory and warehousing facilities. It also helps in determining the strategy to be used in integration of information within the supply chain. Zara opened its first store in Spain in 1975 and since then its stores gave grown into giants and are distributed all over the world. It holds about 1000 stores which have been successful. Zara’s success is contributed by its unique style in fashions and accessories as well as its supply chain management.... Zara has been chosen for this analysis because of its success despite the stiff competition that is evident in the clothing industry. Sourcing Strategies and supply chain configurations For the management of supply chain to be successful, it requires a change from the management of individual activities to the integration of all the activities in the supply chain process. There are two crucial departments in the supply chain: the purchasing department and the marketing department. It is the work of the purchasing department to place orders for the company and to let the requirements of the company known to the supply chain manager (Venus 2010). The work of the marketing department is to distribute the finished goods to the customers. In doing so it interacts with the customers, gets view concerning the products and makes recommendation to the supply chain. In its attempt to respond to the demand of the customers, it gets in touch with the available retailers and distributors in their locality. The partners in the supply chain share information with one another through process integration. This involves collaboration between the suppliers and the buyers and the internal processes of production. For this integration to be effective there should be free flow of information among the key components (Christopher 1992). In the fashion industry, the chain of supply is complex especially for the retailers. It is rather long with many parties involved. In order to achieve a rapid response, proper management of the supply chain is required which will help in reducing the lead time and which can use other approaches to fasten the whole process. According to Daly & Towers (2008), there has been

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

Marketing - Essay Example There are various reasons, which lead to the effective marketing of certain brands than others in the same market. This paper looks at the reasons, which make certain companies such as Unilever, and Good Foods brands gain market dominance quickly than other brands such as Nike and Adidas. One main reason why companies gain market dominance quickly than other brands is the capital invested in the company. This is because these companies have enough capital obtainable to pay for set-up costs and any preliminary losses. These companies’ gains these funds from two main sources. This are from other departments of the company, such as Unilever getting the finance to fund its tea processing from the soap-manufacturing department, or in the other countries where the company has invested, such as a Unilever brand operating in the US borrowing money from a Unilever brand operating in UK. The first strategy of borrowing from a different department is known as diversification process and is usually associated with big companies. The second strategy is known as globalization of markets which results from pressures from competing companies in the same market. ... een in history whereby the legislature enact laws which is a political strategy to develop the national economies that has provided critical protection and support to by creating barriers of entry into the market. Examples of political strategies used are the formation of many licenses, which a company has to fulfill in order to be allowed to operate in a given country. Moreover, some countries create barriers of entry in increasing the tax payable to the government by a foreign company. For instance, in Kenya, a company has to pay a tax of 30% of its total earnings in order to be allowed to operate in that country (Creamer & Neil, 2008, p.8). Furthermore, these companies benefit from excess demands, which surpass their supply. Unilever Company and Good Foods Companies deal with highly perishable goods and which are necessities. These goods enable the company to have regular demand since, for people to live they have to have the necessity as compared to the luxury goods produced by N ike and Adidas. The regular demand enables the company to have a high profit level allowing them to expand. Consequently, this company uses this profit to form a good base by investing in newer markets and developing brands, which will in turn make profit for them (Creamer, 2008, p.5). To buy a product from Nike and Adidas companies, a customer has to spend a lot of money as compared to buying a product from other sporting brands such as Puma and Umbro. By raising their products prices, these companies’ makes mistakes by becoming complacent thus allowing other big firms to develop and therefore undermine their position in the market. In addition, they allow other smaller companies such as Legea, to expand and therefore increase the competition (Hall & Mark, 2000, p.5). Besides, companies

Control of Flux in the Glycolytic Pathway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Control of Flux in the Glycolytic Pathway - Essay Example In glycolysis, all the reactions that are catalyzed by phosphofructokinase, hexokinase, and pyruvate kinase are considered being virtually irreversible. These enyzymes would easily be expected to have both the regulatory, and the catalyzing roles. The enzymes will serve as a controlling site. All their functions are controlled by some reversible allosteric effectors binding or through the covalent modification. More so, the quantities of these vital enzymes are variable by the control of the transcription of meeting the shifting and altering metabolic needs. The amount of time that would be needed for the control of the reversible allosteric and the regulation by transcriptional and phosphorylation, is considered to be in seconds, milliseconds, and hours. In the mammalian glycolytic pathway, for example, phosphofructokinase is one of the most vital elements of control. Increased ATP levels allosterically inhibit the enzymes within the liver, thus reducing affinity for the fructose 6- phosphate. When the concentration of ATP is high, the hyperbolic curve binding of the fructose 6-phosphate will be converted to the signoidal one. This effect is elicited by ATP though the binding towards a specific regulatory site that would be distinct from the catalyzing site. The inhibition role of ATP, is reversed by AMP implying that the rate of activity for the enzyme will increase after the ratio of ATP/AMP is lowered. In this case, glycolisis will be stimulated once the charges of the energy are reduced. A reduction in the pH value will also stop the activity of phosphofructokinase. Once Phosphofructosekinase is inhibited by the hydrogen ions, excess formation of lactic acid will be prevented leading to a precipitous drop in the pH of blood. Thi s process is referred to as acidosis. In this case, some of the ATP will be salvaged from the initial ADP.

Comparative Analysis - Elie Wiesel and Hilary Rodham Clinton Essay Example for Free

Comparative Analysis Elie Wiesel and Hilary Rodham Clinton Essay The two speeches orated by Elie Wiesel and Hilary Rodham Clinton were delivered in 1995 to influence change. Wiesel’s, ‘Listen to the silent screams’ was delivered at Auschwitz. World leaders and survivors listened as he influenced the audience to act upon racial hatred and religious extremism. Clinton delivered her speech at the United Nations 4th conference on Women’s Rights Plenary Session in Beijing. This is ironic given China’s poor record for human rights violations, particularly against females. Delegates and women from all over the world came to hear her rebuttal, ‘Women’s rights are human rights’. Both Wiesel’s and Clinton’s speeches are relevant today as both their aspirations of human rights for all have not yet been fully realised. Both speakers broadcast their message by addressing the audience through exhibiting their authority and rhetorical devices. Both speakers establish authority and credibility for themselves as speakers and for their cause in different ways. Wiesel is authoritative as he has lived through the Holocaust, whereas Clinton is authoritative as she is an active feminist. Wiesel addresses his audience by using personal pronouns to create equality, â€Å"I speak to you as a man, who 50 years and nine days ago had no name, no hope, no future and was known only by his number, A7713†. This statistical information shows the formality of the occasion and establishes that being in Auschwitz has influenced his view on humanity. He â€Å"has seen what humanity has done to itself by trying to exterminate an entire people and inflict suffering and humiliation and death on so many others. Wiesel does not specifically identify one group of people for doing this; he influences the audience to understand whole of humanity was responsible for Auschwitz. Contrastingly, Clinton establishes her authority by being female, by being indefatigable, and by speaking to and for women from all over the world. She states, â€Å"Over the past 25 years I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children and families. † This shows she is serious about women’s right, it is something she strongly believes in, and her commitment to the cause is absolute. Clinton has worked on women’s rights for â€Å"the past 25 years†. Not only is she committed, in addition she brings experience. By listing countries in which she has talked to mothers about their issues, â€Å"I have met new mothers in Indonesia Denmark South Africa India Bangladesh Belarus Ukraine Chernobyl †, she highlights her credibility to appear influential and qualified to act as a voice on their behalf. She has met mothers who are voiceless, now she has the responsibility to speak out, to be the one voice that is heard. Both speakers establish their authority by validating their cause and using rhetorical devices . Wiesel uses emotive language and imagery, whereas Clinton appeals to fact. Imagery is used in Wiesel’s speech to capture the surreality of the Holocaust. Clinton uses fact to update the audience with reality of the world, and influences the audience with statistical information. Wiesel uses representative figures of mothers and old men and women, â€Å"Listen to the silent screams of terrified mothers, the prayers of anguished old men and women. † The use of the emotively loaded adjectives ‘terrified’ and ‘anguished’ shows the reader their vulnerability. Prayers’, shows helplessness and desperation as there was nothing they could do but hope. Their prayers went unanswered, as did the silent screams. Wiesel uses anaphora and imperative to influence the reader the dead have never been laid to rest, â€Å"Listen to the tears of children, Jewish children, a beautiful little girl among them, with golden hair, whose vulnerable tenderness has never left me. † Wiesel influences the audience to pity the children, the most innocent of mankind. He achieves this by describing a representative figure who stands for all Jewish children. Through the description of, ‘vulnerable tenderness’ he emphasises the frailty and innocence of children, while showing that this was brutally crushed. There was no mercy. The weak were tormented, the most innocent were sentenced to a death both unimaginable and undignified, â€Å"Look and listen as they quietly walk towards dark flames so gigantic that the planet itself seemed in danger. † The metaphor shows the quantity and mass of the deaths, that people were being murdered on such a large scale that it seemed as if the whole world would be consumed. In contrast to Wiesel, Clinton used statistics throughout her speech to underline the importance of women’s rights. Statistics were used to give the reader an idea of scale, â€Å"Women comprise more than half the world’s population, 70% of the world’s poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read and write. † Incorporating researched data gives realism and urgency. When statistics are used the audience is able to comprehend what is happening and who is involved. By using examples Clinton is telling the audience it should not be a problem as it involves at least half of the world’s population. Clinton gives examples from all over the world of what is happening, one of them being, â€Å"It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls†. Notice in this it is not only stated as a violation of women’s rights, but a violation of human rights. We are human, and we have rights. The violence needs to stop; in the name of humanity as a whole. Both Wiesel and Clinton are telling the world through the power of rhetoric, that change is needed. These speeches are relevant and persistent today. The issue of effectively opposing religious fanaticism, racial hate, and building gender equality have enduring relevance in all countries. With, â€Å" let us stop the bloodshed in Bosnia, Rwanda and Chechnia; the vicious and ruthless terror attacks against Jews in the Holy Land†, Wiesel is saying humanity has turned on itself before, and suffered before, yet we have not learned. He commands we must â€Å"reject and oppose more effectively religious fanaticism and racial hate†. Allow the Holocaust to be the past, Wiesel urges we must focus on a safer future for our children so that the millions who died in the Holocaust did not do so in vain. Clinton speaks to the world, urging the importance of gender equality, â€Å"Even now, in the late 20th century, the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict†. In this she gives an example of why gender equality needs to occur by giving an example of what is happening today. Both speakers influence the audience through exhibiting their authority and use of power, they show that these issues are pressing and cannot be ignored.

Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia

Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Corruption as will be examined, was nothing new in the post-Soviet economy for its perceived rise and that of organised crime had their origins in the Soviet era. In the Soviet Union private enterprise on an individual or business basis had officially not been allowed from when the New Economic Policy was abandoned in the 1920s and with the forced collectivization of agriculture during the 1930s. Under the Stalinist State the economy was planned and commanded by the Communist Party via the Soviet Union’s state structure. In theory the Soviet State controlled every aspect of the Soviet economy. It set prices; it controlled industrial outputs, banking services and foreign exchange rates. However, in practice there was a flourishing black market in luxury goods and foreign exchange rates before the political and economic reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. His twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, political openness and economic restructuring were intended to prolong the Soviet Union. Instead the Soviet Union would collapse leaving its successor states working towards democracy and capitalism whilst facing up to the problem of increasing corruption and organised crime. The level of corruption if not organised crime during the Soviet era might not be too easy to establish exactly. The Soviet authorities after all kept the true state of the economy hidden from the West even if its citizens experienced hardships and shortages. The leading members of the politburo had been the only ones with a realistic view of the economy. The liberalisation of the economy in all parts of the former Soviet Union since 1991 have generally led to an increase of corruption and organised crime. Clampdowns on organised crime and corruption have often been half hearted when they have been carried out both during and after the Soviet era. Explanations for this rise in corruption and organised crime will now be described and examined. Some of these causes pre-date the collapse of the Soviet Union whilst others emerged later. Black markets existed prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union often bringing consumers goods that were unavailable in the state-run shops, goods that were sometimes exchanged instead of sold to avoid breaking the law. Hand in hand with the black markets went corruption and bribery. Black marketers frequently resorted to bribing communist party officials, the police and the KGB or they in turn extorted money off the black marketers. The KGB sometimes recruited some of the black marketers to inform on their rivals and their customers. The more the Soviet economy faltered the faster the black-market grew, providing people with goods not available in the shops. Those marketers that did not bribe officials often found their homes or businesses raided or got put in jail, those that paid up could go about their business undisturbed. The Soviet leadership started to have concerns about economic stagnation, organised crime and to a lesser extent corruption in the early 1980s but none of the m seemed to understand the extent of the economic malaise. The long years of stagnation continued until despite the rapid deaths of three general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1982-1985. Leonid Brezhnev during his time in charge had done nothing to halt economic decline and in fact worsened it by accelerating the arms race with the United States and invading Afghanistan. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the Soviet Union’s annual budges was spent on defence or related products and projects. However, that was money that the Soviet Union no longer had to spare. His immediate successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against bribery and corruption that petered out with his death in 1984. When Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko a year later he pledged to reform the Soviet Union. Instead his policies would promote its collapse and lead to increased corruption and organised crime in the sixteen successor states. The problem with Stalinist economic planning was that it â€Å"created and perpetuated a shortage economy motivated only by harsh orders from the centre.† It kept most of the people equally poor except for those that found ways around the system. By the 1980s the idea of abandoning the communist command economy in favour of capitalism and liberal democracy gained ground not only in the Soviet Union but also in Central and Eastern Europe. For the reformers could look at the neo-liberal experience of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, perhaps the devastating social and economic effects in parts of Latin America would have been more relevant. There was of course the example of the New Economic Policy that had allowed the Soviet economy to recover from the ravages of civil war, an attractive example to communists that wanted to reform the system but also for the non-communists that wished to replace it. There was one group of pro-capitalist economists that hoped to bring in a market system to Russia, they were the ‘young reformers’. Yeger Gaider whose family was amongst the elites of the Soviet nomenklatura ironically enough headed the young reformers. They were just looking for somebody to carry out their plan s and not power for themselves and would eventually team up with Boris Yeltsin a highly effective (when healthy) populist politician with only a limited understanding of economics. Alongside Yeltsin, they had the dream of dismantling communism. However, the way in which communism was dismantled across the former Soviet Union would contribute greatly to the rise of organised crime alongside the already high levels of corruption. In the first years of Gorbachev’s rule his government attempted to preserve the Soviet political system whilst reforming its economic system, little realising that these reforms would fail and thus contribute to the rise of corruption and organised crime as well as the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He wanted to make the system worktop its full capacity without moving to a capitalist economy or inducing economic suffering. The government attempted to increase productivity by reducing alcohol consumption and the sickness that was often connected to it, but he did not run an anti corruption campaign immediately. Gorbachev would have banned vodka but feared the ban would be circumvented by organised crime gangs, plus the tax revenues that kept the Soviet government solvent. One man who had started Ananta-corruption campaign was Boris Yeltsin who was the Moscow party boss until his sudden dismissal by Gorbachev during November 1987.Gorbachev believed he had removed his great est rival but had in fact made a very basic political blunder, as Yeltsin was no longer controllable and determined to avenge his fall from power. By 1989 it became clear that the Soviet economic system was unsustainable or beyond reforming and Gorbachev introduced some capitalist measures. Those measures included allowing small private businesses to operate from August 1990 and a series of de-regulations and privatisations between October 1990 and July 1991. Economic reforms brought increased opportunities to organised criminals and budding capitalist entrepreneurs, a distinction in the former Soviet Union that is not always clear. The sudden creations of small businesses increased chances for investments and money laundering or even to takeover privatised companies. Decades of communist economic and political rule left a legacy that was difficult to shake off immediately in the post-Soviet era. Yeltsin and his contemporaries found it difficult to see the world from outside of a communist perspective. The communist legacy of patronage, privileges, corruption and perks would contribute to the rise of corruption and organised cr ime in the post-Soviet era. As the system started to collapse across the Soviet Union law and order began to decline with it thus allowing increased opportunities for organised crime and corruption as well as increased nationalist and ethnic tensions.   The political disintegration of the Soviet Union went hand in hand with its economic disintegration and declining levels of law and order in all the successor republics. The end of the Soviet Union was hastened by the failure of the communist coup in August 1991. The Baltic States had already broke away from the Soviet Union and was already on their way to capitalist economies. Russian president Boris Yeltsin seeming to stand for the twin transition from communist state to liberal democracy and planned socialist economy to neo-liberal capitalism although this is not exactly what happened. Contrary to Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin had believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union could be a positive rather than a disastrous event although many of his Russian compatriots might not have agreed with him. For the other former republics, it was a case of independence at last. Perhaps those that took advantage of the break up through organised crime or corruption would have agreed with h im. The Yeltsin government at first enthusiastically backed rapid and radical reforms, radical economics carried out by a group of advisors dubbed the ‘the young reformers’. Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union had very primitive banking and financial systems that presented apparently ideal opportunities for Russian and foreign investors. Those acting as go-betweens in business deals could make small fortunes by doing so. The transition to capitalism offered the prospect of making millions, it also led to the increase in organised crime and corruption as gangsters threatened investors, businesses and often fought each other. The Russian and other governments seemed incapable of monitoring, containing or preventing that rise. The Yeltsin government was hampered in its efforts to control and administer the regions let alone fight the rise in crime because the remaining regional governors were by and large communist nomenklatura and apparatchiks and unwilling to do as Moscow commanded. These bureaucrats forged links with industrialists in their region providing basis for ongoing and future corruption. The bitter power struggles between President and Parliament during the 1992-1993 period distracted them from trying to solve the country’s problems and allowed the regions greater autonomy and the increasing number of organised crime gangs free rein across much of Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. They also spent much time and effort trying to persuade the public the other side was more corrupt and had greater links to organised crime than they did. One deputy governor indicated the scale of corruption in the remoter parts of Siberia that to start â€Å"accompany you probably have to brib e forty bureaucrats.† Organised crime gangs used the decline in government control to organise protection rackets to fleece investors and small businesses. There was an alarming increase in violent crimes and murders as gangs competed for control of their victims and clients or punished those that would not pay for their dubious protection. The number of killings related to gang warfare escalated dramatically. Moscow and the newly renamed St Petersburg have been the centres of most of that gang warfare. Corruption was not merely confined to the Mafia gangs it also extended to the police, the armed forces and civil servants. In Russia traffic police were involved in robbing motorists also teaming up with local gangs to force motorists to hand over their cars, or to pay them fines for non-existent offences or face their cars being confiscated. Corruption and the buying and selling of anything and everything was so widespread that young female university students would aim to become hard currency call girls or the mistresses of oligarchs or wealthy businessmen, whilst jobless youths would advertise their services for contract killings. One ruthless organised crime gang even went as far as murdering car owners and disposing of their bodies to steal their cars. Organised crime and the number of crime gangs increased dramatically as the political elites spent more time arguing amongst each other rather than fighting crime and corruption. Nobody in the public or the media believed that Boris Yeltsin would succeed in rooting out organised crime and corruption, after all every single Soviet leader had promised to do the same since 1917. After all his only previous crack down on corruption and organised crime in Moscow had been stopped it its tracks by Gorbachev when he was sacked as the Moscow party boss. The official crime figures for 1992 give a strong indication of the deteriorating law and order situation. The number of murders had increased by 40%whilst there was an even larger increase in robbery up by 60%. The overall number of registered crimes, bearing in mind that many crimes remained unreported went up to 2.76 million. In fact, the contending elites accused each other of corruption to score points off each other whilst the public were not interested in their squabbles and the 3,000or so crime gangs carried on regardless. Of the newly private run business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States those3,000 gangs were able to pocket perhaps as much as 40 % of the turnovers early as 1993. Corruption was never too far from the surface in the former Soviet Union. It should have not been a surprise therefore that corruption and organised crime would rise in the post-Soviet as they already headstrong foundations and connections to outside crime gangs. During the Soviet era if an individual knew or bribed the right officials they could get the best luxury items, property deals or their children into the finest schools or universities. So, nobody could doubt that there would be greater levels of corruption when the restraints of the Soviet system were removed. In fact, corruption dated back into the Imperial Russian past, were the civil service had been unsalaried but able to accept gifts or payments in kind. The CPSU may have claimed to be responsible for the leading role in society and the economy, some of its members took a leading role in the black market or for a small bribe get people things that would not normally be available. In Belarus the movement towards independence was given a new impetus byte desire to be rid of greedy and corrupt communist party leaders. The unravelling of the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe gave an opportunity for the more entrepreneurial members of the withdrawing Soviet army to make their fortunes. The pickings could be rich for the Soviet army had large areas of land and housing to sell. When Gorbachev made a deal with the West German government to sell Soviet military bases in the former East Germany back to them most of the best pickings had already gone. The Soviet defence minister Dmitrii Yazov happily joined in the schemes that led to the disappearance of the Soviet army assets without a trace. Yazov may have enjoyed making money for himself but he was wholeheartedly against political and economic reform. He would be one of the main leaders of the August 1991 coup. After all, under the Soviet system the higher an individual’s position within the party, the KGB o r the armed forces they could expect greater share of the perks and the spoils. Just how much money the corrupt communist party members made may not beknown exactly, much of the evidence was destroyed just before the final failed coup of August 1991. Those party members that did not get into trouble following the coup could find themselves in a good position to make money in the brave new post -Soviet world. That was because they already knew how to operate in corrupt systems and some already had links with organised crime. For many of the small traders that operated largely illegally during the Soviet era the only real difference between the past and the post-Soviet present was whom they paid for the privilege of staying in business. Now they had to pay organised crime gangs to stay in business and to stay alive rather than bribe communist party officials or members of the KGB, or if they were unlucky they would have to pay them all. Corruption and organised crime increased in the post-Soviet era, but it had great potential during the Soviet era and the right c onditions would fuel a massive expansion. For much of the former Soviet Union these conditions were present in the early 1990s. Petty crime was rumoured to be rife amongst civil servants and state employees, for instance in 1993 the Russian Interior Ministry recorded 13,000 such crimes, that was thought to be the tip of the iceberg. It was estimated that virtually all shops paid protection and perhaps four fifths of businesses and financial institutes did the same. The organised crime gangs had a virtual free reign on their prospective victims, as the number of untainted police was inadequate even if they could find any brave or foolish enough to testify. The more successful entrepreneurs could hire bodyguards but that was not an option for the smaller traders who had to pay up or face the consequences. In Russia neither the transition to democracy and the switch to capitalist economy has developed as the Russians and those in the rest of the world that were interested hoped or expected. These transitions unintentionally led to increased corruption and organised crime. Through a combination of the collapse of the archaic economic system, assets stripping by the Russians that brought utilities at cheap prices, government failings and last but no means least corruption. Russia was in a worse economic position than the Soviet Union had been, as were most of the former Soviet republics. Inward foreign investment during the 1990s did not make up for the vast sums that left Russia of between $100 billion and $150 billion made by the oligarchs that asset stripped Russia’s industries and infra-structure and does not include any of the profits made the organised crime gangs. Foreign investors, the more sensible ones at least were put off the possibility of investing in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union by the high risk of their investment been ruined by having to pay bribes to officials and protection to crime gangs. It seems that the only people prospering in post-Soviet Russia are those that became nouveau riche by their investments or those that made their money less honestly through extortion or corruption. Poverty and unemployment that did not officially exist during the Soviet era increased alarmingly during the 1990s. Even if the poverty line is measured below a monthly income of less than $30 a month up to 40 million Russians appear to live in poverty. That is alarming for a country that has the largest part of the Soviet Union that had been a military superpower until1991. Economically Russia’s decline was remarkable for its severity, producing less than Belgium and barely a quarter more than Poland. In the immediate post-Soviet period the situation was more chaotic because all the former republics were still maintaining the old Soviet currency and printing money as if it was going out of fashion, adding to the inflationary consequences of ending price controls. The chaotic situation increased the ease in which organised crime gangs could operate in the former Soviet Union. Whilst the resulting hyperinflation (added to by the removal of price controls) meant that many more ordinary people had to find alternative methods of supplementing their incomes. Russia was not the slowest country to reform its economy or political institutions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus according to European Bank of Reconstruction and Development were amongst the least reformed and most poverty struck. In contrast the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia progressed well enough to be admitted in the European Union by 2004. The adoption of free market capitalism brought an end to queuing in empty shops and replaced it with full shops where most people could not afford to buy anything. Hence people were searching for legal or illegal means of boosting their incomes and thus more likely to become involved in corruption and bribery. Uneconomic factories were shut making millions unemployed. Under the Soviet system people had less money but there was better state provisions and prices were fixed so inflation was virtually non-existent. The Soviet system had given privileges to countless petty state workers and junior party members. They were known as apparatchiks, whilst high ranking officials and senior party members with better perks were known as nomenklatura. With the end of the Soviet system some of these apparatchiks and nomenklatura exchanged their privileges for money, those still in state employment that had remained honest now exchanged favours for bribes. Corruption increased during the post-Sovi et era simply out of economic necessity right across all the former Soviet Union as ordinary citizens and government officials found that they did not enough to live on. Throughout the former Soviet Union, the pace of economic liberalisation varied. By the middle of 1994 the Baltic States and Russia in terms of the total percentage of gross domestic product generated by the private sector of the economy were well ahead of the Asian republics, Belarus and Moldova. In Estonia and Latvia, it was 55%, in Russia and Lithuania50 % with Belarus, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan lagged far behind on only 15%. In post-Soviet Russia nomenklatura were better placed than most to survive the harsher economic climate particularly those that lived in regions such as Siberia found it harder to survive especially when state subsidies ended leaving food and fuel far more expensive than in the major cities. The collapse of communism cut off many of the remote industrial and mining areas from the central government leading to social and economic decay. Such neglect has allowed for the growth of organised crime and corruption as desperate people turn to drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse leads to health problems or addiction. To counter some of th e incursions into those remote areas by crime gangs the Putin government once more restricted travel in to those areas. A factor that contributed to the rise of organised crime in the post-Soviet was the wide availability of weapons for organised crime gangs and individual gangsters or thugs to use. Weapons were often obtained from members of the armed forces. Military and naval personnel were increasingly eager to sell weapons to supplement their wages, assuming they had been paid on time. The Russian commanders are said to have done worse during the first Chechen war of 1994 -1996. They sold Grozny back to the rebels in August 1996 leading to the deaths of defenceless conscripts. Corruption within the Russian military seems to be endemic, which given its role in maintaining central government authority and internal security in some of the remoter regions of the Russian Federation certainly permitted and even encouraged organised crime to rise, for instance in Chechnya. During the second Chechen war that began in 1999 the local police observed the illicit trade between Russian soldiers and local blac k marketers. These soldiers would exchange boxes of ammunition for locally distilled vodka or locally grown cannabis with the tacit approval of their superior officers. Indeed, officers often accompanied their men when these exchanges took place. The black marketers then sell the ammunition to the Chechen fighters. Local police could intervene and arrest everybody, but they have either been told not to or bribed motto. The army was supposed to keep all the roads into Chechnya secure to prevent the rebels escaping or gaining supplies and money. However, the reporter Anna Politkovskaya was told â€Å"one person on foot must pay100 roubles; a light vehicle costs about 500-600 roubles†. Politkovskaya did not readily accept those claims until she successfully bribed the soldiers to get past the checkpoint. The greed and corruption of the army must have been counterproductive. They sold ammunition that was used by the Chechens and they allowed access to restricted areas to anybody who could have smuggled weapons in and people out. The corruption of the Russian armed forces in the area in and around Chechnya lowered the security and containment of Chechen fighters and contributed to the apparent ease in which rebels were able to take hostages in the Moscow theatre during October 2002. More horrifically the siege of a Beslan high school in September 2004 showed that the Russian military were incompetent as well as riddled with corruption. Gangsters did not always buy weapons; they could often steal weapons from poorly guarded or neglected military bases. Due to the Soviet Union having national service most of the organised crime gang members could already use weapons. Troops leaving the army could also consider employment as either bodyguard for the newly rich and the justifiably concerned business owners or joining the organised crime gangs themselves as thugs and assassins. Violent crime is probably not as prevalent as people in the West might believe, however crime gangs would have no qualms about settling accounts with intimidation, assault and murder. Some murders have shown that the crime gangs and contract killers are able to gain hold of sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers to kill bodyguards as well as their bosses in St Petersburg. Gangs must be well connected as well as rich to acquire such weapons. The dramatic rise in the murder rate witnessed not only the deaths of politicians (three members of the Duma were shot dead in cold blood) but also businessmen and journalists. Business executives and more lowly bank employees could be and were at risk of being killed due tithe rise in corruption and organised crime. Not many gang members were afraid of being caught and convicted, for they were confident that even if the police did catch them that either the police or the courts could be persuaded to let them get away with it. In the period between 1992and 1995, the number of killed bank workers ranging from clerks to senior executives was 46. The most publicized killing was that of Pivanilide who the president of Rosbiznesbank had been. Kivelidi was poisoned in August 1995 for not complying with the demands of organised criminals. There are still a high number of deaths because of fighting between rival gangs still demonstrating that there are enough guns and money up for grabs to m ake the high risks of being killed seem worthwhile. Over 2,000 gang members are gunned down every year in gang wars in the Moscow region alone. Until the Putin presidency the situation in St Petersburg had been worse although Putin seems to want to clean up his home city. The difficulty and the danger of uncovering the true level of crimes being committed aided the rise in organised crime and corruption. With so many bureaucrats, police and politicians involved or thought to be involved in corruption much of the uncovering of crimes and evidence of corruption came from the press and journalists or even rarely independently minded politicians. For journalists it was dangerous to uncover and attempt to publish evidence and articles concerning organised crime gangs and the high levels of corruption. Considering the increasing control of the media by the state or by oligarchs whose own positions could be undermined by revelations of corruption or organised crime it has not always been easy for reporters to go public with evidence they have gathered. To illustrate the dangerous position journalists found themselves in, 36 were killed between January 1994and May 1995 throughout the former Soviet Union whilst doing their jobs and reporting on not only corrup tion and organised crime but also the conflict in Chechnya. The uncovering of evidence of the corruption and fraud within the Soviet army during its time in East Germany and before its departure appeared to be a major scope for the Murkowski Komsomolsk and its investigative journalist Dmitrii Kholod. For Kholod it proved one-story too far as a bomb blew up him and his office during October1994. Even television reporters and journalists were not immune from danger. Following his research into the corrupt or dishonest selling of television advertising Vladimir Listed was gunned down in March 1995before he could broadcast all his findings. At other times politicians, bureaucrats and business executives would inform or leak information about their rivals real or presumed links with organised crime and corruption for their own gain rather than in the public interest or to fight corruption itself. Whilst these bouts of accusations and counter accusations occupied the politicians and press attentions they occasionally removed the expendable politici ans and bureaucrats whilst leaving the level of overall corruption untouched. As noted below the Books affair would be used to force the resignations of some of the young reformers in 1999. Accusations of corruption would also be leaked to the press after an individual had lost the approval of either President Yeltsin or President Putin. The prime example of this were the accusations levelled against Boris Berezovskyafter he fell out with Putin, or more aptly when Putin regarded him as no longer useful to the Kremlin. Berezovsky is claimed to have stolen millions from his companies and state-run companies such as Aeroflot. All these events were from the early 1990s, so the Russian government had plenty of time to prove them or clear him. Berezovsky who went to exile in London has retaliated by campaigning against the Putin government’s increasing control of power. In Russia it appears that those involved in corruption or organised crime are relatively immune from arrest if they do not upset the Kremlin, or their punishment becomes politically expedient for the government. President Putin is arguably â€Å"searching for levers that will work †¦ to have in place a national authority that functions as normal governments do†. Corruption was a fact of life in the Soviet era and now seems even more endemic in the post-Soviet period; ordinary Soviet citizens were cynical about the financial honesty of their political masters and the higher-ranking communist party officials, a cynicism that continues with post-Soviet politicians and officials. Evidence of corruption and bribery would often be collected by the KGB and used if the individuals concerned fall out of favour senior party members, its successor still collects such information only now some its officers are more likely to sell sensitive information to the highest bidders. President Yeltsinonly renamed the KGB the FSB instead of abolishing it. He also retained control of the KGB records and evidence of the corruption they contained Timely uncovering of bribe taking and corruption have often been used to discredit rivals and justify the dismissal of ministers and officials. Therefore, presumably there is usually enough evidence to act against many of t hose involved in corruption or organised crime but not always the political will or judicial authority to do so. Many Russians believe that most if not all government ministers and officials are corrupt and susceptible to bribes. Officials are willing to risk public safety and even national security as well as their reputations for the sake of bribes. Allegations and counter allegations of corruption were used in the 1990s during the power struggle between President Yeltsin and hard-liners such as Rosko and Khasbulatov. Corruption both in the Soviet era and afterwards existed and increased because the majority of those accepting bribes or using their position for gain position or cash believed that they would not get caught. Even if they did get caught the rate of convictions were not that high. Soviet era clampdowns on corruption under Andropov and Gorbachev only caught small fry and the same could apply during the post-Soviet era. The only notable high ranking communist to be convicted for corruption was Yuri Churbanov in 1988. Churbanov’s father in law was the late Leonid Brezhnev, the one-time Soviet leader and General Secretar Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Corruption as will be examined, was nothing new in the post-Soviet economy for its perceived rise and that of organised crime had their origins in the Soviet era. In the Soviet Union private enterprise on an individual or business basis had officially not been allowed from when the New Economic Policy was abandoned in the 1920s and with the forced collectivization of agriculture during the 1930s. Under the Stalinist State the economy was planned and commanded by the Communist Party via the Soviet Union’s state structure. In theory the Soviet State controlled every aspect of the Soviet economy. It set prices; it controlled industrial outputs, banking services and foreign exchange rates. However, in practice there was a flourishing black market in luxury goods and foreign exchange rates before the political and economic reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. His twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, political openness and economic restructuring were intended to prolong the Soviet Union. Instead the Soviet Union would collapse leaving its successor states working towards democracy and capitalism whilst facing up to the problem of increasing corruption and organised crime. The level of corruption if not organised crime during the Soviet era might not be too easy to establish exactly. The Soviet authorities after all kept the true state of the economy hidden from the West even if its citizens experienced hardships and shortages. The leading members of the politburo had been the only ones with a realistic view of the economy. The liberalisation of the economy in all parts of the former Soviet Union since 1991 have generally led to an increase of corruption and organised crime. Clampdowns on organised crime and corruption have often been half hearted when they have been carried out both during and after the Soviet era. Explanations for this rise in corruption and organised crime will now be described and examined. Some of these causes pre-date the collapse of the Soviet Union whilst others emerged later. Black markets existed prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union often bringing consumers goods that were unavailable in the state-run shops, goods that were sometimes exchanged instead of sold to avoid breaking the law. Hand in hand with the black markets went corruption and bribery. Black marketers frequently resorted to bribing communist party officials, the police and the KGB or they in turn extorted money off the black marketers. The KGB sometimes recruited some of the black marketers to inform on their rivals and their customers. The more the Soviet economy faltered the faster the black-market grew, providing people with goods not available in the shops. Those marketers that did not bribe officials often found their homes or businesses raided or got put in jail, those that paid up could go about their business undisturbed. The Soviet leadership started to have concerns about economic stagnation, organised crime and to a lesser extent corruption in the early 1980s but none of the m seemed to understand the extent of the economic malaise. The long years of stagnation continued until despite the rapid deaths of three general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1982-1985. Leonid Brezhnev during his time in charge had done nothing to halt economic decline and in fact worsened it by accelerating the arms race with the United States and invading Afghanistan. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the Soviet Union’s annual budges was spent on defence or related products and projects. However, that was money that the Soviet Union no longer had to spare. His immediate successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against bribery and corruption that petered out with his death in 1984. When Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko a year later he pledged to reform the Soviet Union. Instead his policies would promote its collapse and lead to increased corruption and organised crime in the sixteen successor states. The problem with Stalinist economic planning was that it â€Å"created and perpetuated a shortage economy motivated only by harsh orders from the centre.† It kept most of the people equally poor except for those that found ways around the system. By the 1980s the idea of abandoning the communist command economy in favour of capitalism and liberal democracy gained ground not only in the Soviet Union but also in Central and Eastern Europe. For the reformers could look at the neo-liberal experience of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, perhaps the devastating social and economic effects in parts of Latin America would have been more relevant. There was of course the example of the New Economic Policy that had allowed the Soviet economy to recover from the ravages of civil war, an attractive example to communists that wanted to reform the system but also for the non-communists that wished to replace it. There was one group of pro-capitalist economists that hoped to bring in a market system to Russia, they were the ‘young reformers’. Yeger Gaider whose family was amongst the elites of the Soviet nomenklatura ironically enough headed the young reformers. They were just looking for somebody to carry out their plan s and not power for themselves and would eventually team up with Boris Yeltsin a highly effective (when healthy) populist politician with only a limited understanding of economics. Alongside Yeltsin, they had the dream of dismantling communism. However, the way in which communism was dismantled across the former Soviet Union would contribute greatly to the rise of organised crime alongside the already high levels of corruption. In the first years of Gorbachev’s rule his government attempted to preserve the Soviet political system whilst reforming its economic system, little realising that these reforms would fail and thus contribute to the rise of corruption and organised crime as well as the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He wanted to make the system worktop its full capacity without moving to a capitalist economy or inducing economic suffering. The government attempted to increase productivity by reducing alcohol consumption and the sickness that was often connected to it, but he did not run an anti corruption campaign immediately. Gorbachev would have banned vodka but feared the ban would be circumvented by organised crime gangs, plus the tax revenues that kept the Soviet government solvent. One man who had started Ananta-corruption campaign was Boris Yeltsin who was the Moscow party boss until his sudden dismissal by Gorbachev during November 1987.Gorbachev believed he had removed his great est rival but had in fact made a very basic political blunder, as Yeltsin was no longer controllable and determined to avenge his fall from power. By 1989 it became clear that the Soviet economic system was unsustainable or beyond reforming and Gorbachev introduced some capitalist measures. Those measures included allowing small private businesses to operate from August 1990 and a series of de-regulations and privatisations between October 1990 and July 1991. Economic reforms brought increased opportunities to organised criminals and budding capitalist entrepreneurs, a distinction in the former Soviet Union that is not always clear. The sudden creations of small businesses increased chances for investments and money laundering or even to takeover privatised companies. Decades of communist economic and political rule left a legacy that was difficult to shake off immediately in the post-Soviet era. Yeltsin and his contemporaries found it difficult to see the world from outside of a communist perspective. The communist legacy of patronage, privileges, corruption and perks would contribute to the rise of corruption and organised cr ime in the post-Soviet era. As the system started to collapse across the Soviet Union law and order began to decline with it thus allowing increased opportunities for organised crime and corruption as well as increased nationalist and ethnic tensions.   The political disintegration of the Soviet Union went hand in hand with its economic disintegration and declining levels of law and order in all the successor republics. The end of the Soviet Union was hastened by the failure of the communist coup in August 1991. The Baltic States had already broke away from the Soviet Union and was already on their way to capitalist economies. Russian president Boris Yeltsin seeming to stand for the twin transition from communist state to liberal democracy and planned socialist economy to neo-liberal capitalism although this is not exactly what happened. Contrary to Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin had believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union could be a positive rather than a disastrous event although many of his Russian compatriots might not have agreed with him. For the other former republics, it was a case of independence at last. Perhaps those that took advantage of the break up through organised crime or corruption would have agreed with h im. The Yeltsin government at first enthusiastically backed rapid and radical reforms, radical economics carried out by a group of advisors dubbed the ‘the young reformers’. Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union had very primitive banking and financial systems that presented apparently ideal opportunities for Russian and foreign investors. Those acting as go-betweens in business deals could make small fortunes by doing so. The transition to capitalism offered the prospect of making millions, it also led to the increase in organised crime and corruption as gangsters threatened investors, businesses and often fought each other. The Russian and other governments seemed incapable of monitoring, containing or preventing that rise. The Yeltsin government was hampered in its efforts to control and administer the regions let alone fight the rise in crime because the remaining regional governors were by and large communist nomenklatura and apparatchiks and unwilling to do as Moscow commanded. These bureaucrats forged links with industrialists in their region providing basis for ongoing and future corruption. The bitter power struggles between President and Parliament during the 1992-1993 period distracted them from trying to solve the country’s problems and allowed the regions greater autonomy and the increasing number of organised crime gangs free rein across much of Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. They also spent much time and effort trying to persuade the public the other side was more corrupt and had greater links to organised crime than they did. One deputy governor indicated the scale of corruption in the remoter parts of Siberia that to start â€Å"accompany you probably have to brib e forty bureaucrats.† Organised crime gangs used the decline in government control to organise protection rackets to fleece investors and small businesses. There was an alarming increase in violent crimes and murders as gangs competed for control of their victims and clients or punished those that would not pay for their dubious protection. The number of killings related to gang warfare escalated dramatically. Moscow and the newly renamed St Petersburg have been the centres of most of that gang warfare. Corruption was not merely confined to the Mafia gangs it also extended to the police, the armed forces and civil servants. In Russia traffic police were involved in robbing motorists also teaming up with local gangs to force motorists to hand over their cars, or to pay them fines for non-existent offences or face their cars being confiscated. Corruption and the buying and selling of anything and everything was so widespread that young female university students would aim to become hard currency call girls or the mistresses of oligarchs or wealthy businessmen, whilst jobless youths would advertise their services for contract killings. One ruthless organised crime gang even went as far as murdering car owners and disposing of their bodies to steal their cars. Organised crime and the number of crime gangs increased dramatically as the political elites spent more time arguing amongst each other rather than fighting crime and corruption. Nobody in the public or the media believed that Boris Yeltsin would succeed in rooting out organised crime and corruption, after all every single Soviet leader had promised to do the same since 1917. After all his only previous crack down on corruption and organised crime in Moscow had been stopped it its tracks by Gorbachev when he was sacked as the Moscow party boss. The official crime figures for 1992 give a strong indication of the deteriorating law and order situation. The number of murders had increased by 40%whilst there was an even larger increase in robbery up by 60%. The overall number of registered crimes, bearing in mind that many crimes remained unreported went up to 2.76 million. In fact, the contending elites accused each other of corruption to score points off each other whilst the public were not interested in their squabbles and the 3,000or so crime gangs carried on regardless. Of the newly private run business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States those3,000 gangs were able to pocket perhaps as much as 40 % of the turnovers early as 1993. Corruption was never too far from the surface in the former Soviet Union. It should have not been a surprise therefore that corruption and organised crime would rise in the post-Soviet as they already headstrong foundations and connections to outside crime gangs. During the Soviet era if an individual knew or bribed the right officials they could get the best luxury items, property deals or their children into the finest schools or universities. So, nobody could doubt that there would be greater levels of corruption when the restraints of the Soviet system were removed. In fact, corruption dated back into the Imperial Russian past, were the civil service had been unsalaried but able to accept gifts or payments in kind. The CPSU may have claimed to be responsible for the leading role in society and the economy, some of its members took a leading role in the black market or for a small bribe get people things that would not normally be available. In Belarus the movement towards independence was given a new impetus byte desire to be rid of greedy and corrupt communist party leaders. The unravelling of the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe gave an opportunity for the more entrepreneurial members of the withdrawing Soviet army to make their fortunes. The pickings could be rich for the Soviet army had large areas of land and housing to sell. When Gorbachev made a deal with the West German government to sell Soviet military bases in the former East Germany back to them most of the best pickings had already gone. The Soviet defence minister Dmitrii Yazov happily joined in the schemes that led to the disappearance of the Soviet army assets without a trace. Yazov may have enjoyed making money for himself but he was wholeheartedly against political and economic reform. He would be one of the main leaders of the August 1991 coup. After all, under the Soviet system the higher an individual’s position within the party, the KGB o r the armed forces they could expect greater share of the perks and the spoils. Just how much money the corrupt communist party members made may not beknown exactly, much of the evidence was destroyed just before the final failed coup of August 1991. Those party members that did not get into trouble following the coup could find themselves in a good position to make money in the brave new post -Soviet world. That was because they already knew how to operate in corrupt systems and some already had links with organised crime. For many of the small traders that operated largely illegally during the Soviet era the only real difference between the past and the post-Soviet present was whom they paid for the privilege of staying in business. Now they had to pay organised crime gangs to stay in business and to stay alive rather than bribe communist party officials or members of the KGB, or if they were unlucky they would have to pay them all. Corruption and organised crime increased in the post-Soviet era, but it had great potential during the Soviet era and the right c onditions would fuel a massive expansion. For much of the former Soviet Union these conditions were present in the early 1990s. Petty crime was rumoured to be rife amongst civil servants and state employees, for instance in 1993 the Russian Interior Ministry recorded 13,000 such crimes, that was thought to be the tip of the iceberg. It was estimated that virtually all shops paid protection and perhaps four fifths of businesses and financial institutes did the same. The organised crime gangs had a virtual free reign on their prospective victims, as the number of untainted police was inadequate even if they could find any brave or foolish enough to testify. The more successful entrepreneurs could hire bodyguards but that was not an option for the smaller traders who had to pay up or face the consequences. In Russia neither the transition to democracy and the switch to capitalist economy has developed as the Russians and those in the rest of the world that were interested hoped or expected. These transitions unintentionally led to increased corruption and organised crime. Through a combination of the collapse of the archaic economic system, assets stripping by the Russians that brought utilities at cheap prices, government failings and last but no means least corruption. Russia was in a worse economic position than the Soviet Union had been, as were most of the former Soviet republics. Inward foreign investment during the 1990s did not make up for the vast sums that left Russia of between $100 billion and $150 billion made by the oligarchs that asset stripped Russia’s industries and infra-structure and does not include any of the profits made the organised crime gangs. Foreign investors, the more sensible ones at least were put off the possibility of investing in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union by the high risk of their investment been ruined by having to pay bribes to officials and protection to crime gangs. It seems that the only people prospering in post-Soviet Russia are those that became nouveau riche by their investments or those that made their money less honestly through extortion or corruption. Poverty and unemployment that did not officially exist during the Soviet era increased alarmingly during the 1990s. Even if the poverty line is measured below a monthly income of less than $30 a month up to 40 million Russians appear to live in poverty. That is alarming for a country that has the largest part of the Soviet Union that had been a military superpower until1991. Economically Russia’s decline was remarkable for its severity, producing less than Belgium and barely a quarter more than Poland. In the immediate post-Soviet period the situation was more chaotic because all the former republics were still maintaining the old Soviet currency and printing money as if it was going out of fashion, adding to the inflationary consequences of ending price controls. The chaotic situation increased the ease in which organised crime gangs could operate in the former Soviet Union. Whilst the resulting hyperinflation (added to by the removal of price controls) meant that many more ordinary people had to find alternative methods of supplementing their incomes. Russia was not the slowest country to reform its economy or political institutions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus according to European Bank of Reconstruction and Development were amongst the least reformed and most poverty struck. In contrast the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia progressed well enough to be admitted in the European Union by 2004. The adoption of free market capitalism brought an end to queuing in empty shops and replaced it with full shops where most people could not afford to buy anything. Hence people were searching for legal or illegal means of boosting their incomes and thus more likely to become involved in corruption and bribery. Uneconomic factories were shut making millions unemployed. Under the Soviet system people had less money but there was better state provisions and prices were fixed so inflation was virtually non-existent. The Soviet system had given privileges to countless petty state workers and junior party members. They were known as apparatchiks, whilst high ranking officials and senior party members with better perks were known as nomenklatura. With the end of the Soviet system some of these apparatchiks and nomenklatura exchanged their privileges for money, those still in state employment that had remained honest now exchanged favours for bribes. Corruption increased during the post-Sovi et era simply out of economic necessity right across all the former Soviet Union as ordinary citizens and government officials found that they did not enough to live on. Throughout the former Soviet Union, the pace of economic liberalisation varied. By the middle of 1994 the Baltic States and Russia in terms of the total percentage of gross domestic product generated by the private sector of the economy were well ahead of the Asian republics, Belarus and Moldova. In Estonia and Latvia, it was 55%, in Russia and Lithuania50 % with Belarus, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan lagged far behind on only 15%. In post-Soviet Russia nomenklatura were better placed than most to survive the harsher economic climate particularly those that lived in regions such as Siberia found it harder to survive especially when state subsidies ended leaving food and fuel far more expensive than in the major cities. The collapse of communism cut off many of the remote industrial and mining areas from the central government leading to social and economic decay. Such neglect has allowed for the growth of organised crime and corruption as desperate people turn to drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse leads to health problems or addiction. To counter some of th e incursions into those remote areas by crime gangs the Putin government once more restricted travel in to those areas. A factor that contributed to the rise of organised crime in the post-Soviet was the wide availability of weapons for organised crime gangs and individual gangsters or thugs to use. Weapons were often obtained from members of the armed forces. Military and naval personnel were increasingly eager to sell weapons to supplement their wages, assuming they had been paid on time. The Russian commanders are said to have done worse during the first Chechen war of 1994 -1996. They sold Grozny back to the rebels in August 1996 leading to the deaths of defenceless conscripts. Corruption within the Russian military seems to be endemic, which given its role in maintaining central government authority and internal security in some of the remoter regions of the Russian Federation certainly permitted and even encouraged organised crime to rise, for instance in Chechnya. During the second Chechen war that began in 1999 the local police observed the illicit trade between Russian soldiers and local blac k marketers. These soldiers would exchange boxes of ammunition for locally distilled vodka or locally grown cannabis with the tacit approval of their superior officers. Indeed, officers often accompanied their men when these exchanges took place. The black marketers then sell the ammunition to the Chechen fighters. Local police could intervene and arrest everybody, but they have either been told not to or bribed motto. The army was supposed to keep all the roads into Chechnya secure to prevent the rebels escaping or gaining supplies and money. However, the reporter Anna Politkovskaya was told â€Å"one person on foot must pay100 roubles; a light vehicle costs about 500-600 roubles†. Politkovskaya did not readily accept those claims until she successfully bribed the soldiers to get past the checkpoint. The greed and corruption of the army must have been counterproductive. They sold ammunition that was used by the Chechens and they allowed access to restricted areas to anybody who could have smuggled weapons in and people out. The corruption of the Russian armed forces in the area in and around Chechnya lowered the security and containment of Chechen fighters and contributed to the apparent ease in which rebels were able to take hostages in the Moscow theatre during October 2002. More horrifically the siege of a Beslan high school in September 2004 showed that the Russian military were incompetent as well as riddled with corruption. Gangsters did not always buy weapons; they could often steal weapons from poorly guarded or neglected military bases. Due to the Soviet Union having national service most of the organised crime gang members could already use weapons. Troops leaving the army could also consider employment as either bodyguard for the newly rich and the justifiably concerned business owners or joining the organised crime gangs themselves as thugs and assassins. Violent crime is probably not as prevalent as people in the West might believe, however crime gangs would have no qualms about settling accounts with intimidation, assault and murder. Some murders have shown that the crime gangs and contract killers are able to gain hold of sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers to kill bodyguards as well as their bosses in St Petersburg. Gangs must be well connected as well as rich to acquire such weapons. The dramatic rise in the murder rate witnessed not only the deaths of politicians (three members of the Duma were shot dead in cold blood) but also businessmen and journalists. Business executives and more lowly bank employees could be and were at risk of being killed due tithe rise in corruption and organised crime. Not many gang members were afraid of being caught and convicted, for they were confident that even if the police did catch them that either the police or the courts could be persuaded to let them get away with it. In the period between 1992and 1995, the number of killed bank workers ranging from clerks to senior executives was 46. The most publicized killing was that of Pivanilide who the president of Rosbiznesbank had been. Kivelidi was poisoned in August 1995 for not complying with the demands of organised criminals. There are still a high number of deaths because of fighting between rival gangs still demonstrating that there are enough guns and money up for grabs to m ake the high risks of being killed seem worthwhile. Over 2,000 gang members are gunned down every year in gang wars in the Moscow region alone. Until the Putin presidency the situation in St Petersburg had been worse although Putin seems to want to clean up his home city. The difficulty and the danger of uncovering the true level of crimes being committed aided the rise in organised crime and corruption. With so many bureaucrats, police and politicians involved or thought to be involved in corruption much of the uncovering of crimes and evidence of corruption came from the press and journalists or even rarely independently minded politicians. For journalists it was dangerous to uncover and attempt to publish evidence and articles concerning organised crime gangs and the high levels of corruption. Considering the increasing control of the media by the state or by oligarchs whose own positions could be undermined by revelations of corruption or organised crime it has not always been easy for reporters to go public with evidence they have gathered. To illustrate the dangerous position journalists found themselves in, 36 were killed between January 1994and May 1995 throughout the former Soviet Union whilst doing their jobs and reporting on not only corrup tion and organised crime but also the conflict in Chechnya. The uncovering of evidence of the corruption and fraud within the Soviet army during its time in East Germany and before its departure appeared to be a major scope for the Murkowski Komsomolsk and its investigative journalist Dmitrii Kholod. For Kholod it proved one-story too far as a bomb blew up him and his office during October1994. Even television reporters and journalists were not immune from danger. Following his research into the corrupt or dishonest selling of television advertising Vladimir Listed was gunned down in March 1995before he could broadcast all his findings. At other times politicians, bureaucrats and business executives would inform or leak information about their rivals real or presumed links with organised crime and corruption for their own gain rather than in the public interest or to fight corruption itself. Whilst these bouts of accusations and counter accusations occupied the politicians and press attentions they occasionally removed the expendable politici ans and bureaucrats whilst leaving the level of overall corruption untouched. As noted below the Books affair would be used to force the resignations of some of the young reformers in 1999. Accusations of corruption would also be leaked to the press after an individual had lost the approval of either President Yeltsin or President Putin. The prime example of this were the accusations levelled against Boris Berezovskyafter he fell out with Putin, or more aptly when Putin regarded him as no longer useful to the Kremlin. Berezovsky is claimed to have stolen millions from his companies and state-run companies such as Aeroflot. All these events were from the early 1990s, so the Russian government had plenty of time to prove them or clear him. Berezovsky who went to exile in London has retaliated by campaigning against the Putin government’s increasing control of power. In Russia it appears that those involved in corruption or organised crime are relatively immune from arrest if they do not upset the Kremlin, or their punishment becomes politically expedient for the government. President Putin is arguably â€Å"searching for levers that will work †¦ to have in place a national authority that functions as normal governments do†. Corruption was a fact of life in the Soviet era and now seems even more endemic in the post-Soviet period; ordinary Soviet citizens were cynical about the financial honesty of their political masters and the higher-ranking communist party officials, a cynicism that continues with post-Soviet politicians and officials. Evidence of corruption and bribery would often be collected by the KGB and used if the individuals concerned fall out of favour senior party members, its successor still collects such information only now some its officers are more likely to sell sensitive information to the highest bidders. President Yeltsinonly renamed the KGB the FSB instead of abolishing it. He also retained control of the KGB records and evidence of the corruption they contained Timely uncovering of bribe taking and corruption have often been used to discredit rivals and justify the dismissal of ministers and officials. Therefore, presumably there is usually enough evidence to act against many of t hose involved in corruption or organised crime but not always the political will or judicial authority to do so. Many Russians believe that most if not all government ministers and officials are corrupt and susceptible to bribes. Officials are willing to risk public safety and even national security as well as their reputations for the sake of bribes. Allegations and counter allegations of corruption were used in the 1990s during the power struggle between President Yeltsin and hard-liners such as Rosko and Khasbulatov. Corruption both in the Soviet era and afterwards existed and increased because the majority of those accepting bribes or using their position for gain position or cash believed that they would not get caught. Even if they did get caught the rate of convictions were not that high. Soviet era clampdowns on corruption under Andropov and Gorbachev only caught small fry and the same could apply during the post-Soviet era. The only notable high ranking communist to be convicted for corruption was Yuri Churbanov in 1988. Churbanov’s father in law was the late Leonid Brezhnev, the one-time Soviet leader and General Secretar