Literary Analysis †Importance of Being Earnest Essay

PICKERING: [rising and standing over him gravely] Come, Higgins! You know what I mean. If I’m to be in this business I shall feel responsible for that girl. I hope it’s understood that no advantage is to be taken of her position. HIGGINS. What! That thing! Sacred, I assure you. [Rising to explain] You see, she’ll be a pupil; and teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred. I’ve taught scores of American millionairesses how to speak English: the best looking women in the world. I’m seasoned. They might as well be blocks of wood. I might as well be a block of wood. It’s- (38). I’m very curious about how Henry Higgins, in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, feels about his profession and how this translates to his interpretation of society. Higgins, a professor of phonetics, ultimately enters into a bet in which he is assigned the task of teaching a poor, uneducated yet determined girl from the streets proper grammar, with the hope of transforming her into a duchess in a few months time. It’s clear from the beginning that Higgins, a man full of contradictions and no filter, is the protagonist. At first, Higgins is clearly opposed to the idea of teaching Eliza; this is evident through his blatant insults and sarcastic taunts. He makes fun of her poor grammar and the fact that she is clearly uneducated. Higgins infers that Eliza’s success will help her move up the social hierarchy and even though Eliza’s transformation is unequivocal, Higgins initial perception of her never changes – his general attitude towards her is c onsistent throughout the play. In contrast, when Higgins first meets Pickering, an educated scholar, his demeanor is quite the opposite. The difference between his demeanors leads me to believe that language does affect Higgins’ perception of society. This is shown further due to his rude indifference of Eliza’s drastic transformation. I intend to prove that Higgins’ views language as a tool for social advancement and this understanding is what ultimately causes him to treat people more as objects than human beings. Higgins considers teaching Eliza as more of a social service due to her economic and social disadvantage. Higgins asserts that, â€Å"teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred† (38). At first glance I presumed that sacred meant holy or special, yet he assigns another meaning to the word. Higgins regards the English language as an exclusive privilege; speech should be regarded with reverence and entitlement. He associates proper language with societal and spiritual implications and holds that it is what separates class from class and soul from soul. This suggests that Higgins believes the English language should be respected. In addition, he asserts that education and the ability to effectively communicate is paramount to the functionality of society; it’s important because without language, society would crumble. Therefore, in teaching Eliza proper grammar, Higgins gains a sense of power due to the belief he is changing her for the better, and ultimately into a different human being. Although its obvious that Higgins thoroughly enjoys the subject of language and is seemingly enthusiastic about his profession, he tends to brag about his accomplishments and often belittles other people’s intellectual abilities. He treats people, Eliza in particular, with a rude indifference and no regard for feelings or emotions. It’s clear that Pickering is trying to look out for Eliza’s best interest when he argues, â€Å"If I’m to be in this business I shall feel responsible for that girl. I hope it’s understood that no advantage is to be taken of her position† (38.) Higgins bluntly responds â€Å"What! That thing!† and the difference in demeanor is candid. In comparison to Pickering, it’s clear that Higgins lacks decent manners. His cockiness is further exemplified through his boasting; â€Å"I’ve taught scores of American millionairesses how to speak English: the best looking women in the world. I’m seasone d† (38). Finally, Higgins displays a sort of ambivalence towards language. He treats this knowledge of language is powerful and serves as a tool for social advancement. In addition, he believes that language is and should be a suitable subject for scientific studies. His ultimate view is that language should be utilized as a medium for artistic expression. Furthermore, it’s apparent that Higgins views his pupils as objects rather than human beings when he concedes, â€Å"They might as well be blocks of wood† (38). This exemplifies how language could be seen as artistic. Theoretically, a block of wood could be interpreted as a blank canvas – it symbolizes how he utilizes language to shape and transform his students into something else, something more. Higgins seems to be unsure of his own identity as well because he suggests, â€Å"I too might as well be a block of wood† (38). Ultimately, Higgins shows that proper speech should be regarded as a fundamental necessity of society; the inability to communicate prohibits success. This assertion is exemplified through how he treats those around him and how he views those that he teaches. He clearly believes that language is of paramount importance especially in discerning social class. His assertion that he too â€Å"might as well be a block of wood,† is a fundamental example of his belief in the power of language as a tool for social advancement. â€Å"The writing in this essay is my own work. If I have used outside sources, I have acknowledged them through correct documentation.† eading Pygmalion, we come to learn that communication is about more than words, and everything from clothing to accents to physical bearing can affect the way people interact with each other. Higgins considers his teaching to be a kind of social work – the inability to communicate he suggests is at the bottom of mans social issue Not only has Higgins come to view his clients as objects rather than human beings, he even seems to have lost something of his own identity in the process. There is another interesting interpretation howver. A block of wood, like a canvas is a medium for artistic expression. He of course, is [aid to shape his clients but this suggests that he himself could aslo be subject to the same process In claiming he cant change his own nature, Higgins complicates his own claims about change and transformation: if he cant change his nature, we have to wonder how he can really under stand to change someone else’s Even the things we do to establish a connection with unfamiliar people and things – like using slang or nicknames – can end up causing confusion and cases of mistaken identity Higgins. About you, not about me. If you come back I shall treat you just as I have always treated you. I cant change my nature; and I don’t intend to change my manners. My manners are exactly the same as colonel pickering’s. Liza. That’s not true. He treats a flower girl as if she was a duchess. Higgins. And I treat a duchess as if she was a flower girl. Liza. I see. [She turns away composedly, and sits on the ottoman, facing the window]. The same to everybody. Higgins. Just so. Liza. Like father. Higgins. [grinning, a little taken down] without accepting the comparison at all points, eliza, its quite true that your father is not a snob, and that he will be quite at home in any station of life to which his eccentric destiny my call him. [Seriously] The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.† (99) In this excerpt from George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, I am not sure (what Shaw is trying to convey through Higgins’ justification of his unruly behavior). if Higgins is attempting to justify his unruly behavior or if (Shaw is using him to voice his criticism of class distinctions) he is simply preaching about his concept of class distinctions (im not sure what exactly Higgins belives or is trying to convey? He does, however, have a penchant for talking about the soul of man, about the importance of language, and social equality). Higgins, a professor of phonetics, ultimately enters into a bet in which he is assigned the task of transforming a poor, uneducated yet determined girl from the streets, into a duchess in a few months time. It’s clear from the beginning that Higgins, a man full of contradictions and no filter, is the protagonist. It’s ironic that throughout eliza’s transformation, she is the one who is blatantly manipulated and mistreated, meanwhile the other characters seem to receive less cynicism. On the other hand, Higgins’ actions and mannerisms never change – his general attitude is consistent throughout the play. His rude indifference to her drastic transformation leads me to believe that Higgins doesn’t believe in class distinctions. That said, (Higgins embodies the theme of I believe that Shaw uses Higgins as a patsy for his criticism of class distinctions – all classes should be treated the same. Shaw develops Higgins’ belief in equality very clearly: â€Å"If you come back I shall treat you just as I have always treated you. I can’t change my nature; and I don’t intend to change my manners.† That said, it’s very clear that Higgins perception of those around him, and society in general, are concrete. Throughout the play, Higgins character never evolves Higgins life revolves around Eliza for practically the whole play. All his time is spent transforming her and inventing a new Eliza meanwhile he seems to forget that she’s a human being with feelings. His unchanging perception and treatment of those around him is further reiterated when eliza claims colonel pickering â€Å"treats a flower girl as if she was a duchess† and Higgins simply retorts â€Å"And I treat a duchess as if she was a flower girl.†

Brief History of Computer Essay

?First programmable computer: The Z1 originally created by Germany’s Konrad Zuse in his parents living room in 1936 to 1938 is considered to be the first electrical binary programmable computer. The first digital computer: Short for Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the ABC started being developed by Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and graduate student Cliff Berry in 1937 and continued to be developed until 1942 at the Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). On October 19, 1973, US Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision that the ENIAC patent by Eckert and Mauchly was invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer. The ENIAC was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began construction in 1943 and was not completed until 1946. It occupied about 1,800 square feet and used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although the Judge ruled that the ABC computer was the first digital computer many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer. Because of the Judge ruling and because the case was never appealed like most we consider the ABC to be the first digital computer. However, because the ABC was never fully functional we consider the first functional digital computer to be the ENIAC. The first stored program computer: The early British computer known as the EDSAC is considered to be the first stored program electronic computer. The computer performed its first calculation on May 6, 1949 and was the computer that ran the first graphical computer game. The first personal computer: In 1975 Ed Roberts coined the term personal computer when he introduced the Altair 8800. Although the first personal computer is considered to be the Kenback-1, which was first introduced for $750 in 1971. The computer relied on a series of switches for inputting data and output data by turning on and off a series of lights. The Micral is considered to be the first commercial non-assembly computer. The computer used the Intel 8008 processor and sold for $1,750 in 1973. The first workstation: Although never sold the first workstation is considered to be the Xerox Alto, introduced in 1974. The computer was revolutionary for its time and included a fully functional computer, display, and mouse. The computer operated like many computers today utilizing windows, menus and icons as an interface to its operating system. The first laptop or portable computer: The first portable computer or laptop is considered to be the Osborne I, a portable computer developed by Adam Osborne that weighed 24 pounds, a 5-inch display, 64 KB of memory, two 5 1/4†³ floppy drives, and a modem.

Individual Case Analysis FunTime Snacks, Inc Study

Individual Analysis FunTime Snacks, Inc - Case Study Example As things stand, the management confusedly uses e-mail, internal memo, and the company newsletter for any form of communication. In addition, the company faces uniform pricing and procurement issues which have led to some branches being profitable while others are struggling to remain in business (Crase, OKeefe and Dollery 427). And in an attempt to improve its competitive edge, Albanese and her team of executives have not properly handled the change management process. As the result, the real obstacles to change are from within the organization. After analyzing the potential positive impacts of a centralized financial reporting system, Albanese proposed functional centralization of decision-making process whereby the subsidiaries would remain in their decentralized, working locations but seek approvals from the head office when making major business decisions. For instance, significant changes of commodity prices by more than 5% and any supplies exceeding $10,000 required such reporting. On the one hand, Albanese sought to: a) limit unnecessary procurement costs and poor pricing by standardizing the processes; b) create uniformity in the business processes and uplift poorly performing branches; c) enforce a culture of personal leadership of the Chief Executive, the Chief Financial Officer and the Corporate Director of Supplier-Retailer Relationships; d) create flexibility in the organization’s business activities; e) improve quality of services by steering the company out of illegal survival tactics by some of its branches, and; lastly, f) better coordination between the headquarters and the branches in order to facilitate faster responses to market changes due to inflation and stiff competition from market rivals. Despite these brilliant centralization ideas, Fun Time Snacks would face the following challenges; a) delay in 60% of business processes whose

Health and Safety reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health and Safety reflection - Essay Example Likewise, I also exemplify strengths in selecting the most appropriate and effective contraception. In addition, the assessment on the genetic history has been illuminating in terms of discussing any potential genetic disorders or health problems by bringing the subject matter to one’s parents, who are knowledgeable in one’s genetic history of illnesses. The knowledge and awareness gives one the opportunity to address any potential risks and to be more vigilant in factors that might increase propensities to these illnesses. These strengths in awareness and knowledge on the subject matter of health relationships, sexuality, reproductive choices, and genetic disorders, among others, could be shared with family members, friends and associates to likewise enhance their knowledge on these subject matters and assist any of them who might be experiences some challenges, problems, or difficulties in any of the abovementioned topics I= Improvements: Discuss areas for personal im provement in regards to your results of this/these assessment (s) . Summarize an action plan to make these improvements. Despite the strengths, I admit that there is always room for improvement. Under the topic on reproductive choices, for instance, there are target behaviors that include the need to be more selective and aware of eating health food and in going through regular physical activities and exercises. Although at the moment, one has been observing eating a balanced diet, there are times when one gives in to eating sweets or drinking colas, once in a while. In this regard, the action plan is to schedule a regular routine for exercising, especially when one is aware that indulgence in unhealthy foods has been undertaken. As suggested, I need to set goals, monitor my behavior, and provide a definite timeline to observe and note the improvements. By giving myself a potential reward, I would be motivated to improve. A reward could be in terms of buying a favorite outfit that I had been eyeing for quite some time or sharing my experience to others who most need the same improvement. Under healthy relationships and sexuality, I strongly believe that despite having strengths in communicating with others, this facet could still be improved by being more open and receptive to others. Likewise, with increasing focus and thrust on cultural diversity, I admit that there is a need to develop and enhance awareness on diversity in cultural communication patterns that would assist in the development and growth of health relationships. The same process would be undertaken: set a goal, monitor one’s changes in behavior, provide a definite timeline, provide motivation and rewards, and commit to the needed change. I= Insights: Discuss any new things you learned about yourself after completing these assessments? Light bulbs that have gone off? New â€Å"ah ha† moments generated by these assessment results. How might this insight motivate you to make a healt hy behavior change? After completing these assessments, I realized that I am open to embrace new learning, knowledge with the objective of improving oneself through establishing diverse relationships and keeping or maintaining strong bonds with loved ones. I learned that I

The Failures and Contributions of Herod the Great and the Herodians to Assignment

The Failures and Contributions of Herod the Great and the Herodians to the history of Judaism - Assignment Example Judas Maccabeus was the son of Mattathias. Maccabeus’ popularity lies not only because of his participation in biblical history but also because of his martial achievements. He proved his talents by leading the Maccabean Revolt. Judas displayed extraordinary skills as a leader, military tactician, and diplomat (Julius 2000). After attaining religious freedom, Judas and his friends turned their attention to politics. After the death of Judas Maccabeus, there came the leader Jonathon Maccabeus, the brother of Judas. Jonathan was a man of prudence and great skills (Julius 2000). As a diplomat, he could effectively utilize the internal strife of Seleucid and succeeded in expanding Jewish held territory and acquiring virtual independence. Jonathan was immediately followed after his death by his brother Simon, and he followed exactly what his brothers did. It was the strength of his military forces that forced the Seleucid king, Demetrius II to depend on Simon for help and support. The rulers followed after Simon, except the Antipater, were not much popular. Most of the leaders in the Intertestamental Period had kept secret plans with them. ...Therefore, one can identify the modern counterparts of the Judaism and the series of wars aimed at a particular sect of people or creed. Trace the history of Herod the Great and the Herodians. What were their major contributions to the history of Judaism and the Jews? What were their main failures? King Herod the Great (47-4 B.C.), first ruled as the Governor of Galilee (47-37 B.C.). He has often been regarded as a king who played a momentous role in the Herodian dynasty. Through his leadership and governing skills, he gained a proud reputation both with the Galilean Jews as well as with the Roman officials of Syria (Timothy, Gary 1998, 270). When Herod the Great became the King of the Jews, his rule created vivid reactions among the people and as such one can divide his rule into three definite periods: (1) The period o f consolidation (37-25 B.C.).  

Nursing theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Nursing theory - Essay Example Orem’s nursing model recognizes universal self-care requirements namely, progressive self-care fundamentals, and health-deviation self- care basics. It evidences in importance of self-care and rehabilitation settings and encourages individual independence during treatments. Hence, self-care incorporates individuals own innovation and suitable implementation strategies for health improvement (Alligood, 2014). If a person takes full responsibility over his or her health, then self-care is achievable. Orem’s self-care theory explains complex interplay of patient’s psychological and socio-economic surroundings on health. Therefore, enlightens individuals to embrace appropriate life styles to minimize lifestyle diseases. Owing to the provisions Orem’s theory, nurse training takes into consideration the changing health care needs and teaches nurses to design issue specific nursing system for care delivery. The principal concepts of the theory identify self-care deficits and characterize individuals and nurse roles in addressing health demands. The components add to the nurses’ career skills to produce and efficiently manage the health scare systems. Therefore, the knowledge base enable nurses to determine extent of self-care need, assist clients to uphold a satisfactory state of self-care determine extent of nursing and utilize theories in practical cases. Since the nursing model centers on individuals capabilities, it helps nurses to conduct and empower people in order to promote healthy living. Dorothy Orem’s self-care system is an excellent education process component that helps students to learn the main health care concepts by examining individuals’ role or enhancing impressions of thought and feelings (Taylor & Renpenning 2011). Largely, the theory aims to overcome human  confines in the provision of nursing services and nursing education programs. The contemporary nursing

Basic linguistic topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Basic linguistic topics - Essay Example his disciple cannot be overemphasized as it will help parents to better understand the language learning capacity of their ward, as well as know how to help their children attain their maximum potential in the early developing stages. Stork and Widdowson (1997) assert that the two contributing factors for child language acquisition are an â€Å"innate potential† for acquisition of any language and a â€Å"linguistic environment† (Rahimpour 2). In addition to these two factors there are several other elements, which come into play and that work throughout the different developmental stages of a child’s language acquisition process. In order to understand this process properly one must understand each individual milestone, which works together and ultimately enables the child to communicate to his or her environment with a language. The aim of this paper is to recognize and analyse the major milestones in child language acquisition. However, before getting into the stages of child language acquisition it is important to understand theories that describe the ability as well as linguistic capability of children. In the words of Noam Chomsky, â€Å"nobody is taught language,† which implies that parents do not hold the credit for their children learning a particular language, and furthermore, they â€Å"cannot prevent the child from learning it† either (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams 394). However, researchers have remained perplexed as to how children form questions, negate sentences, use â€Å"pronouns appropriately† as well as understand countless sentences they have â€Å"never heard† even before they are able to â€Å"add small numbers or tie their shoes† (394). But, in depth study and analysis in this same matter has led the researchers to come up with many different theories that relate to language acquisition. The major theories include â€Å"behaviorism, nativism, social cogn ition theory and social interactionism,† where each theory is different from the other yet no one

Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected Essay

Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected - Essay Example This law was responsible for transferring the services of INS to the department in charge of homeland security (Doak, 2012). The enforcement of immigration functions was the responsibility of the Immigration and Customs Unit. Immigration services on the other hand became the functions of USCIS. On the 1st of March 2003, INS officially ceased to operate, and the services it offered were taken over by USCIS. The first director of this organization was Eduardo Aguirre (Doak, 2012). Emilio Gonzalez became the next director of this agency, until 2008. In 2009, US president Barrack Obama nominated Alejandro Moyorkas as the next director. The main mission of this department is to oversee a lawful immigration into the country. The organization aims to achieve six important goals, name; i. Strengthening the integrity and security system of the department. ii. Provision of information concerning immigration issues. iii. To support the integration of immigrants and ensure their participation in the American civil culture. iv. Developing flexible immigration programs and policies. v. To strengthen the resources that helps the organization to achieve its mission. vi. Ensuring efficient service delivery through the promotion of talented employees, and development of a dynamic work culture. Agency Functions: The main responsibilities of USCIS include the processing of visa, naturalization, and asylum petitions. The agency is also responsible for making adjudicative decisions whose main performances are found at the service centers. This department also concerns itself with other immigration duties, apart from the enforcement of immigration laws (Berchard and Elgersma, 2012). USCIS also performs the following function; i. Determining claims in relation to the qualification of the issuance of asylum. ii. Provision of documents that authorize the employment of an individual. iii. It adjudicates over the petitions that involve temporary workers who are non-immigrant. iv. It also grants lawful permanency status to an immigrant. v. It also issues a document that proves an individual is a citizen of United States. The USCIS mainly serves the immigrants, and it focuses on two main areas in relation to the civic integration of the immigrant. That is when an immigrant becomes a permanent resident of the US, and when they start the formal process of naturalization. A legally recognized permanent resident of United States qualifies to be its citizen, only after holding a permanent residency card. The time limit is at least five continuous years. It is only after fulfilling these conditions that USCIS can issue an individual with a certicate that proves he or she is a citizen of the country. Agency News: As of March 2013 to date, the organization is currently training more than 399 new officers, for purposes of ensuring that they are efficient in whatever they do. Employee trainings are an important element in personnel management. This is because employees are able to acquire skills that will help them in efficiently carrying out their mandate. Training will also help employees to be fully integrated into the culture of the organization. This is because they will learn the mission objectives and goals of the organization, and as such, their trainers will make them to acquire such goals as their own. The organization has also hosted some coaching sessions targeting senior executives of the agency. More than 80

The Role of Promotion in Marketing Research Paper - 1

The Role of Promotion in Marketing - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that Starbucks used to advertise in an effective manner its coffee shops. The words used to advertise Starbucks coffee shops were â€Å"Starbucks Coffee†; however, the company has created a new logo and this has changed the old perceptions and created new ones concerning the company. The company is undergoing a considerable change and it is moving away from just being a coffee company to a beverage and food company. The social media is one place that Starbucks has ventured into extensively; in Twitter and Facebook, the company has 705,000 and 5,428,000 followers respectively. The Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is not an exception; the company is using the internet extensively to advertise its brand. Apart from getting the coffee from the stores, the customer can purchase the product online through the many online advertisements such as igourmet.com. Advertising as a promotional mix tool is appropriate for both companies. Majority of the organizations (bot h large and small) that depend on marketing to develop consumer interest, make constant use of advertising to assist them in meeting their marketing objectives. The task entails frequent development of advertising campaigns which involve a number of decisions for creating, evaluating, planning, and delivering an advertising effort. For both companies, advertising as indicated earlier on has proved to be a beneficial tool in marketing their products and attracting customers. Direct sales entail oral communication with potential buyer. This promotion mix tool is not appropriate for both companies since it focuses is only on creating a relationship with the buyer. The method is costly and there are many hidden costs.

Information and Communications Technology in Children Development Essay

Information and Communications Technology in Children Development - Essay Example A computer has always been a tool with great problem-solving potential. Regardless of how computers are used, people find an increased need to share information with others. This desire for information sharing involves the communication of electronic messages over a long distance and shaped the world into an information society. According to several historians, the Information Revolution is the third revolution in the history of the world after agricultural and industrial revolutions. The information age is the time, which brought fundamental changes in intellectual, social, philosophical and cultural aspects of the world. Some historians opined that actually information revolution was the first revolution ever occurred and the agricultural and industrial revolutions were caused due to the information revolution. To prove their claim they said that when civilization started, travelers and traders traveled from one place to another, as they have access to many cultures and traditions, they shared information and this information was actually the beginning of civilization as well as led the humanity towards the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Today information is the largest export of most News services, banks, insurance companies, television stations etc. these all organizations collect data, process it into information, distribute it, and store it as a major part of their business. As the world is an information society now, Information and Communication technology also become an active part of education and electronic classroom has evolved. Computers are found in grade schools, high schools, and colleges, as computer literacy becomes a graduation requirement. According to an official report, 98% of the schools of the United Kingdom alone are connected to the Internet (Rao, Mehta and Crishna, 1999). 1.2 Statement of the Problem This study will discuss the importance and benefits of Information and Communication Technology in the learning of Key Stage 2 children. It also attempts to determine the limitations and barriers to use information system in education. 1.3 Significance of the Study The importance of Information and Communication Technology in education has been thoroughly studied and explored in different researches and studies. However, the significance of this study lies in the researcher's aim to study the benefits of ICT in the learning of Key Stage 2 children. The intention is to look at the use of Information and Communication Technology in the learning of Key Stage 2 children.  

Analysis of Conan Doyles work Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Conan Doyles work Essay English coursework : A comparative essay on 2 Sherlock Holmes stories  The world has chosen to remember Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chiefly for his creation of the fictional master detective, Sherlock Holmes. This prestigious character has been hugely popular for over one hundred years shown in many different ways, whether it be books, television series, magazine articles, and so on.  Conan Doyle himself was born in Edinburgh, rather than the London setting that Sherlock Holmes lives and works. He actually set out to be an oculist, however when no patients came he had plenty of time to write his stories. Around the same time, The Strand magazine was first published, and Sherlock Holmes was printed for the first time in its pages. His stories were not long enough to be books of their own, and thrived as a regular part of their magazine. The Sherlock Holmes stories are written in a very upper class setting. Watson and Holmes take cabs everywhere, and have very high class mannerisms and habits, such as leaving a calling card if the person they have visited is not there. And Holmes himself carries round a cane with him a rather posh acquirement thought to be that of a gentleman. They also have a resident in the home to look after them both, and take care of the household, which could of course only be afforded by those of the higher class.  The fact that these stories were written in such a way is easily explained. The stories were written for the magazine, The Strand. In those times, very little people read magazines, and could afford to subscribe. Most people read newspapers, but these magazines were aimed at the higher class, and particularly for the gentleman, because a very small number of women were expected to be able to read, and so they did not benefit from such a publication. The Speckled Band and, The Red-Headed League are both very interesting stories. The structures of both are much the same, but that accounts for all of Conan Doyles creations in accordance to the Sherlock Holmes stories.  In accordance to this structure, The Speckled Band begins with a visit to the house from someone needing Holmess help. An element included right at the beginning of the story is the deduction Holmes makes of Helen. This is extremely typical of Conan Doyle as it is a feature he nearly always adds as each of his stories unfold. In The Speckled Band Holmes instantly deduces that she travelled early by dog cart on heavy roads to the station before travelling by train to London. The next lines describe Helen giving a violent start and staring at Holmes in bewilderment. This is also underlyingly very typical of Conan Doyle to include such a description, as it what he includes in all of his stories at this point. In direct comparison, The Red Headed League features a swift deduction of Jabez Wilson in which he concludes that the man done at some point manual labour, takes snuff, has a freemason, has been in China, and has done a considerable amount of writing recently. The line directly following on from that is set out exactly the same as in The Speckled Band and describes Jabez to Start up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon Holmes So we can conclude from this that this is an element Conan Doyle likes to include in his stories which also suitably gives a first time reader an idea of the way Holmess mind works.  Following on from that, a long monologue is heard which tells every detail of the story. This is unusual in stories written now. We can note that in real life no one tells a story in such detail, uninterrupted, and this reflects tracts of today. But it is actually very typical of writings at the time.

Company Law of Directors Duties

Company Law of Directors Duties Chapter 1: Directors’ Duties Formulating a system for holding directors accountable has never been easy. As Roach put it, directors’ duties must be gleaned from â€Å"a confusing and compendious mass of case law and the occasional statutory measure.†[1] Given the vast variations in the types of companies that exist, and the types of directors that exist, a universal approach has not always been easy to apply. Nevertheless, the law sometimes seeks to impose a single standard of conduct on all directors, regardless of the nature and characteristics of the company, and the level of involvement of the director. While recent statutes have started to distinguish between private and public companies, and may vary the duties of a director depending on which type of company is concerned, the vast majority of the case law on directors’ duties makes no such distinction and is of general application. There is therefore a complex body of statutory and case law which attempts to both define the duties tha t a director owes to the company, as well as the level of care that must be exercised when performing such duties.[2] As well as statute and case law, a number of standards and codes of practice have also been formulated which seek to define the nature of the duties owed by directors to companies. The first of these to be considered here is the Cadbury Committee, which was established in 1991 following a number of financial scandals that occurred during the previous decade. It was widely acknowledged that reform was needed in company law to allow shareholders and other stakeholders to hold directors more directly accountable for the consequences of their actions. The Cadbury Committee focused on financial control mechanisms to be used by the Board of Directors, and on auditing procedures, and published its report at the end of 1992.[3] The report focused mainly on larger listed companies and its main conclusion was that a Code of Best Practice should be drawn up and which the Boards of Directors of such companies would be obliged to follow. For smaller companies, it would not be obligatory to comply with the code, but if they chose not to, they would have to publish the reasons why they had chosen not to.[4] Adherence to the Code would be made a listing requirement, which would help ensure compliance among listed companies. The benefits of the Code would be to make corporate governance more open and transparent, would make the equities markets more efficient, would make boards more accountable and also more responsive to the needs of the company, and would allow shareholders to exercise greater control and scrutiny over boards. The report was an early supporter of the importance and need of non-executive directors[5] and recognised that executive and non-executive directors play very important complimentary roles. This area proved to be controversial as many saw the creation of two classes of directors as a threat to the traditional unitary nature of boards. However, the report found that non-executive directors could play a vital role in â€Å"reviewing† the performance of the executive directors, as well as taking measures to avoid and deal with â€Å"potential conflicts of interest†[6]. While the report emphasised the importance of financial auditing of companies, it did not go into detail on what should be disclosed in such audits, nor did it consider the controversial area of auditor liability. These were issues which would later become the subject of heated debate. The Report was also an important element in the growth of shareholder activism in the UK, and it concentrated on the steps that institutional shareholders could take to ensure compliance with the Code. In response to the issues raised in the Report, the Institutional Shareholders Committee[7] published its own paper, â€Å"The Responsibilities of Institutional Shareholders in the UK†[8] which dealt with many of the issues raised in the Cadbury report. The paper stated that â€Å"Because of the size of their shareholdings, institutional investors, as part proprietors of a company, are under a strong obligation to exercise their influence in a responsible manner.† This paper marked a new era in UK shareholder activism and promised to make shareholders more involved in making boards more accountable. The paper went so far as to recommend â€Å"regular, systematic contact at senior executive level to exchange views and information on strategy, performance, Board Membership and quality of management†[9]. Regarding the composition of boards, the paper recommended that institutional investors look carefully at â€Å"the concentration of decision-making power not formally constrained by checks and balances† and â€Å"the appointment of a core of non-executives of appropriate calibre, experience and independence.†[10] Therefore, this new investor oversight was taken for granted in the Cadbury report as another force that would improve the governance of large companies. The Cadbury Report has not been without criticism. Many feared that its recommendations, which put a strong influence on non-executive board members, would lead to the creation of a two-tiered board, a development that was seen as unnecessary and inefficient.[11] The voluntary nature of the Code has also been criticised. As a listing requirement, the Code also drew some criticism on the London Stock exchange which was given the task of enforcing and implementing the Code. Concerns led to the establishment of a follow up report prepared by the Hampel Committee, which re-examined the issues at stake, the criticisms which had been raised, and the conclusions reached in the Cadbury Report. The conclusions of the Hempel Committee were strongly supportive of the Cadbury Report and it was not long before the ‘Combined Code’ was drawn up, and implemented by the London Stock Exchange which listed companies were bound to implement, or give reasons for not doing so. The Combined Code now requires that boards implement a â€Å"sound system of internal control† which must consider all significant risks facing the company, the effect they might have on the company, and the costs and advantages of various means of dealing with such risks. The Code also deals with the terms and conditions on which directors are employed, including their pay packages incentive schemes, and termination payments. When speaking of the duty owed by directors to a company therefore, this includes the legal duties imposed on directors by the case law and statutes dealing with the subject, as well as the soft-law measures implemented in the Combined Code. Such duties may be owed to the company itself, or to shareholders or other stakeholders such as shareholders, employees, creditors, and the general public. That said, it must be remembered that in a legal sense, the duties owed by directors is to the company as a legal person, and not shareholders or other stakeholders. The case of Percival v Wright [1902] 2 Ch 421 established beyond a doubt that the duties of directors is to the company. This case concerned a transaction in which a number of directors purchased shares personally from shareholders at a price of  £2 10s. The directors knew that another purchaser wanted the shares and was willing to pay a substantially higher price. The shareholders sought to have the transaction set aside as a breach of duty to the company. Swinfen-Eady J found that the directors had breached no duty to the company, and that no such duty was owed to the shareholders qua shareholders.[12] The case of Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd v Meyer [1959] AC 324 also illustrates the point. In that case, a parent company appointed some of its directors as directors of a subsidiary. These directors pro ceeded to act in the best interests of the parent, but Lord Denning pointed out the directors â€Å"probably thought that ‘as nominees’ of the [parent company] their first duty was to the [parent company]. In this they were wrong.† The duty of directors is always to the company they are acting for, regardless of the external relationships that the company, or they personally, may have with other persons. Currently there are proposals afoot to allow directors to act in the interests of a group of companies, as this is what happens in reality in many cases, especially where the shareholders and directors of the various companies are identical. Without shareholders seeking a profit from a company, it can be argued that a company is a meaningless concept, or a piece of paper without a purpose. The law therefore recognises that in most cases, the interests of the company, will be closely connected to the interests of the members of the company, the interest of both being to make a profit. However, as shown above, the interests of the members are not paramount, and difficulties will always arise in equating the interests of the company with the interests of the members due to the fact that in many situations, the members will have different opinions and conflicting interests which cannot all be met. Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 also adopts the ‘enlightened’ approach which calls for the interests of the company to be interpreted widely and not only as the maximisation of profits at a cost to all other considerations. Employees are one group whose interests the directors must â€Å"have regard† to un der section 172. This is part of the general duty owed to the company and as such, must be enforced by the company, and not the employees. Many have criticised this provision as meaningless, as employees cannot enforce it, however, given that it is a requirement of the Companies Act, it must be expected that the majority of boards will consider the impact their decisions will have on employees, and such consideration will be minuted. While the provision may not prove capable of persuading callous directors to act other than in the interest of profit maximisation, it will certainly support the efforts of directors who do wish to improve conditions for employees. It also remains to be seen how this provision will be enforced by companies and it may transpire that a strong line of case law will develop which will persuade directors to give genuine consideration to the interests of employees. Another group whose interests must be considered under section 172 is creditors. In Lonrho v Shell Petroleum [1980] 1 WLR 627 Lord Diplock stated, at page 634, that the best interests of the company â€Å"are not exclusively those of its shareholders but may include those of its shareholders.† Since it is the members who appoint directors, it would be tempting for directors to seek to promote only their interests, however, as the court recognised, it is often the case that creditors have put significant money into a company and their interests must be taken into account. Lonrho concerned a company that was solvent at the relevant time. The position regarding an insolvent company arose in The Liquidator of the Property of West Mercia Safetywear Ltd v. Dodd and Another [1988] BCLC 250. In this case the Court of Appeal confirmed that when a company was insolvent, its interests include those of its creditors. In Winkworth v Edward Baron [1987] BCLC 193 Lord Templeman found that th e duty was owed directly to the creditors and in Brady v Brady [1989] 1 AC 755 Nourse LJ stated that where a company was insolvent, or its solvency was at risk, the interests of the company and its creditors were identical. According to Finch therefore, the creditors interests must always be taken into account to a limited extent, but as the company approaches insolvency, the interests of creditors must be given greater weight, until the interests of both groups coincide on insolvency.[13] The full extent of the â€Å"success of the company† as it is termed in section 172 of the 2006 Act includes a duty of directors to have regard to â€Å"(a) the likely consequences of any decision in the long term, (b) the interests of the company’s employees, (c) the need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others, (d) the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment, (e) the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and (f) the need to cat fairly as between members of the company.† It can be seen that there has been a steady broadening of the concept of the interests of the company to include more and more interests that a pure profit motive would fail to embrace. In March 2000, the DTI Company Law Review Committee stated that an â€Å"inclusive approach† should be adopted.[14] They pointed out that society’s interest in company law was that it promote â€Å"wealth generation and competitiveness for the benefit of all†, and that this can better be achieved if directors are forced to take into account â€Å"all the relationships on which the company depends.† The approach adopted in the Companies Act 2006 towards the creation of a statutory â€Å"general duty† owed by directors to the company is a progression of this concept with section 170(3) stating that â€Å"The general duties are based on certain common law rules and equitable principles as they apply in relation to directors†¦Ã¢â‚¬  At subsection (4) it states â⠂¬Å" The general duties shall be interpreted and applied in the same way as common law rules or equitable principles†. This is clearly maintaining the case law that has built up over the past centuries as the framework on which the new statutory general duties are based. It remains to be seen what effect the new statutory duties contained in section 172 of the 2006 Act will have on this case law. Therefore, in looking at the duties owed by directors, it is necessary to read both the statutory provisions and the pre-existing case law together. These both make a distinction between the ‘fiduciary’ duties that directors owe the company, and their duty to act with ‘reasonable care, skill and diligence.’ Under section 174 of the 2006 Act a director â€Å"must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence.† The content of this duty has been long ago established by the courts and in The Marquis of Bute’s Case [1892] 2 Ch 100 the limits of the duty were clearly set out. That case concerned the Cardiff Savings Bank, which allowed by tradition the Marquis of Bute to inherit the presidency of the bank from his father. The Marquis in question became president at the age of six months, and in the following 38 years, he attended only one board meeting. He therefore had no awareness of the business or involvement in it, and the court found that he was not expected to be involved. When financial irregularities by the board were uncovered, the court found that the Marquis was not liable due to his remoteness from the business, despite his formal position on the board. However, it appears as if the courts quickly grew stricter and in Dovey v Cory [1901] AC 477 a director escaped lia bility for malpractice but only because he had relied on information given to him by the chairman and general manager of the company, and his decision to do so was reasonable and not negligent. The extension since the Marquis’ case therefore, was the application of a reasonableness test. The standard was further developed in Re City Equitable Fire Insurance [1925] Ch 407 in which three rules were established. These were that: a director must show the skill and diligence that could be expected from a person with his knowledge and experience; his duties are intermittent, and exercised only at board meetings where he participates in decision making; where reasonable, a director is free to delegate tasks and responsibilities to other employees. These rules were affirmed in Dorchester Finance Co. Ltd v Stebbing [1989] BCLC 498 which stated that they applied equally to executive and non-executive directors. One of the features of the standard set out in Re City Equitable Fire Insurance is the fact that the standard is not that of the professional man, but the reasonable man with the skill and experience that the director in question subjectively possesses. This subjective test is useful for most companies as the more complicated the operation and the more money that is at stake, the more qualified the director is likely to be and the higher the standard. The standard will fall short in cases such as the Marquis of Bute, but this is more to do with the fact that a woefully unsuitable candidate has been appointed to the board, such as a six month old baby. In all but such extreme cases therefore, the subjective case set out in Re City Equitable will be sufficient. The second rule only requires the director to attend meetings and make himself aware of the business of the company â€Å"whenever in the circumstances he is reasonably able to do so.† Again this approach gives the law fl exibility to allow for very different types of director, depending on the nature of the business. So for example, you could have an elderly family member sitting on the board because he knows the history of the business, and he will not be required to pay constant attention to the business, but simply offer his guidance when reasonably practicable. You could also have, as most companies do, full time salaried directors who are paid to spend all of their time and attention on the affairs of the company. As both types of director will be useful in various circumstances, the law allows for both, and requires each of them to be as aware of the dealings of the company as is reasonable in the circumstances. The third rule allows directors to delegate responsibility to others, and it might be feared that this will be used by directors to avoid responsibility. However, when taken together with the other rules of the test, it is apparent that a director cannot delegate all of his responsibilities and disallow all awareness of the dealings of the company. He will still be required to be reasonably aware of what is going on and only to delegate tasks which it is reasonable for him to do so, taking into account the nature of business and the circumstances of the case. However, there are many instances in which these three rules will not protect investors or other stakeholders, for example in the Marquis of Bute case, and there have been calls for some time for an objective standard to be introduced into the law. The DTI Company Law Review Committee, in the 2000 report mentioned above, pointed out that an objective standard has been adopted for the protection of creditors by section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986[15] and in the case of Re D’Jan of London Ltd [1993] BCC 646 Hoffman LJ found that the objective standard set out in section 214 of the 1986 Act reflected the standard that all directors were bound to meet when upholding their general duty. Therefore, the objective standard first set out in the insolvency context became the general standard owed by directors in all cases, and section 174 of the 2006 Act affirms that both the objective and subjective standards apply. At section 174(2) the 2006 Act states that the standard required is that which may be met by a â€Å"reasonably diligent person with (a) the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the functions carried out by the director in relation to the company, and (b) the general knowledge, skill and experience that the director has.† Therefore, as a minimum, the director will be required to demonstrate the care and skill that a reasonable director of a company of that type and standard would be expected to demonstrate. This allows for some flexibility as this minimum standard can still vary depending on the business, so that the director of a small family business will have a lower standard than the director of a FTSE 100 company. At the same time, if a director is chosen because of his particular characteristics, which make him qualified above and beyond what one might expect, he will be held to this higher, subjective standard. This standard, which upholds an objective minimum standard, which may be increased if the director in question is unusually highly qualified, seeks to strike a balance between protecting the interests of the company, and allowing directors to feel relatively at ease with the personal liability they have taken on board. A different approach was adopted in the USA, where the Supreme Court of Delaware, in Smith v Van Gorkom [1985] 488 A.2d 858 found the ten directors of Trans Union Corporation liable in the sum of $23.5 million for agreeing to a takeover without first valuing the shares of the company. While this failure seems fundamental, the sale of the company’s shares was set to take place at a price significantly higher then the quoted price of the shares on the stock exchange, and the takeover would undoubtedly have benefited the company. The massive liability was imposed without any allegation of fraud or breach of fiduciary duty and resulted in a marked unwillingness of q ualified persons taking on the role of non-executive director, at least for a time. It also resulted in a number of states, including Delaware where the decision was made, enacting legislation which allowed companies to exclude or limit the liability of directors for negligent breach of their fiduciary duties. Such a situation has not occurred in English company law, and the standard adopted in section 174 is measured to avoid the need for such a development. The second main area of directors’ duties falls under the heading of fiduciary duties. At its most simple, this covers the requirement that directors act bona fides in respect of the company. The case law that developed however sets out a number of common instances in which directors are in danger of breaching this duty, and the 2006 Act has proceeded to specify these situations explicitly. While it is not set out as such, the duty to act bona fides can be seen as an overriding interest, which cannot be breached, even when authorised by the shareholders in general meeting. For example, in the case of (Re Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 2 of 1982) [1984] 2 ALR 447 the directors of the company were the only shareholders. They took money from the company and the interpretation given was that the directors had taken the money with the authorisation of the shareholders. Nevertheless, the court found that this was breach of the overriding duty to act bona fides. The case of R v Phillipou [1989] Crim LR 559 found the same overriding duty and these cases were upheld by the House of Lords in R v Gomez [1992] 3 WLR 1067. Therefore, it can be said that there is an overriding duty to act in good faith and even if a majority of the shareholders approve of the action, the directors may not breach it, and a minority of shareholders, or creditors, and possibly employees and other stakeholders, would be able to have the action set aside. However, it is also possible for directors to breach one of the explicit fiduciary duties, such as using powers for one purpose to achieve a different purpose, which are not dishonest or mala fide. In such cases, the court can find that the breach of the particular fiduciary duty does not place the directors in breach of their overriding duty of good faith, and a majority of the shareholders can vote to authorise such acts. Section 239 of the Companies Act 2006 allows shareholders to ratify breaches of a fiduciary duty, but subsection (7) states â€Å"This section does not affect any other enactment or rule of law imposing additional requirements for valid ratification or any rule of law as to acts that are incapable of being ratified by the company†. Therefore, the previous case law which was upheld by the House of Lords in Gomez still limits the ability to ratify. In fact, the specific fiduciary duties have been described as â€Å"disabilities† and in Movitex Ltd v Bu lfield and Others [1988] BCLC 104 it was upheld that companies could alter their Memorandum and Articles to amend the nature of any fiduciary duty owed by the directors to the company, subject always to the requirement that nothing purported to allow dishonesty. Movitex concerned the concept of self-dealing, which is ordinarily presumed to be a breach of duty. In this case, the company was able to remove this presumption, so that the director was able to engage in self-dealing, but subject to the requirement that he did in fact act in the best interests of the company. A simple example of this would be if a cheese producing company sought to appoint the owner of a supermarket as a director. Self dealing would disable the director from selling cheese to the supermarket he owned, as it would be self-dealing, and very easy for the director to breach his fiduciary duties to the cheese producing company. However, the company could authorise the director to sell to the supermarket concern ed, on condition that he did not abuse this ability and breach his duty of good faith. An ordinarily disallowed activity would be allowed, but would still be subject to the requirements of good faith. The explicit fiduciary duties of the director set out in the 2006 Act are: the duty to act within powers[16]; the duty to exercise independent judgment[17]; the duty to avoid conflicts of interest[18]; the duty to declare interests in proposed transactions or arrangements[19]; and the duty not to accept benefits from third parties[20]. Section 171 requires that the director â€Å"(a) act in accordance with the company’s constitution, and (b) only exercise powers for the purpose for which they are conferred.† This is an area where the courts have been quite willing to excuse directors if they have used a power for a collateral purpose and a majority of shareholders have been in favour of it. For example, in the cases of Punt v Symonds Co [1903] 2 Ch 506 and Piercy v S Mills Co [1920] 1 Ch 77, the court allowed the issue of shares by directors to prevent a hostile takeover and to dilute the influence of hostile shareholders, because the majority of shareholders approved. This was despite the fact that the power had been granted solely to allow the raising of capital. However, in Howard Smith Ltd v Ampol Petroleum Ltd [1974] AC 821 the Privy Council held that where there were two purposes for issuing shares, to raise capital and to prevent a takeover, the proper purpose of raising capital had to be the dominant purpose. In Re Looe Fish Ltd [1993] BCC 368 the directors were disqualified under section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for allotting shares for an improper purpose. Section 173 requires the directors to exercise independent judgment. This is a restatement of the common law duty on directors not to ‘fetter their discretion’. This has acted to reduce the risk of directors being in a conflict of interest situation be disabling them from entering agreements which might prevent them from acting in the best interests of the company in the future. In Fulham Football Clun and Others v Cabra Estates Plc [1994] 1 BCLC 363 the company was paid money in exchange for not opposing property development plans. As the planning process drew out, the question arose of whether the directors had fettered their discretion by agreeing never to oppose such plans. However, the Court of Appeal stated that where a â€Å"contract as a whole [was] bona fide for the benefit of the company† it was valid and the directors could bind themselves to do whatever was required to fulfil it. Section 175 prohibits directors from entering a position where his interests actually or potentially conflict with those of the company. If the constitution of the company permits, the directors can authorise a conflicting situation to be entered into, so long as the relevant director does not vote. Section 175 also requires the director to declare their interests in any contracts, and under section 170, this duty extends after the director has ceased to hold office. The declaration is made to the board. The potential complexity of such situations can be seen in Menier v Hooper’s Telegraph Works [1874] LR 9 Ch D 350 in which the James LJ held that a majority shareholder could not prejudice the interests of the company because of its own conflicting interests. Similarly, in Cook v Deeks [1916] 1 AC 554 the directors sought to conclude the final round of contracts in a large railway development programme in their own names. The court held this was clearly in breach of their duty . In Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd v Meyer [1959] AC 324 the directors say on the boards of both a parent and subsidiary company, and as soon as it emerged that the interests of the two companies were conflicting, the directors could not longer remain in that position. As Lord Cranworth said in Aberdeen Railway Co v Blaikie Bros (1854) 1 Macq 461 (HL), â€Å"it is a rule of universal application that no one, having [fiduciary] duties to discharge, shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has or can have a personal interest conflicting or which possibly may conflict with the interests of those whom he is bound to protect.† One area that the courts have found difficulty with is when a director comes across a profitable opportunity as a result of his position as director. This situation arose in Regal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver [1942] 1 All ER 378 in which a cinema company sought to lease two other cinemas. A subsidiary was formed for the purpose, but the owners of the two cinemas would only agree to the lease if the authorised share capital was paid up. As the parent could not afford to do so, some directors personally purchased shares in the subsidiary. When it came time to sell the shares in the subsidiary, the company demanded that the directors account to the company for the profits they had made, and the House of Lords held that they were liable to do so. This was despite the fact that the company would have been unable to exploit the situation because of its own lack of funds. The same principle was applied in Industrial Developments v Cooley [1972] 1 WLR 443 in which a director learned information which would have been profitable to the company and kept it to himself. He then used the information to secure a position at a rival firm and left his present company. His present company could not have secured this position itself and so could not have benefited in the manner in which the director had. Nevertheless, the court f ound that the director had to account to the company for the profit he had made as a result of information gleaned in the course of his directorship. Gencor ACP Ltd v Dalby [2000] 2 BCLC 734 affirmed that it is no defence that the company would not have exploited the opportunity, although the shareholders can approve of the action and this would justify the director. As a result of the case law and the wording of the relevant provisions of the 2006 Act, it can be concluded that a director is disallowed from entering a position where one of his person

Political and economic environment of South Africa

Political and economic environment of South Africa South Africa is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional power is shared between the president and the Parliament. The Parliament includes two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. They are in charge for creating the laws of and taking care of bills involving monetary issues. The third governmental division is an autonomous judiciary. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for interpreting and deciding constitutional issues, while the Supreme Court of Appeal is the highest court for nonconstitutional matters (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). South Africa achieved independence from Britain on 31 May, 1910 and the official Independence Day is 27th April. In 1994, there was first all-race multiparty election making it the formal end of apartheid. In 2009, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) won its third consecutive election and Jacob Zuma was elected President. There has been a concern that the dominance of the ANC has made South Africa a de-facto one-party state with other parties, such as Democratic Alliance (DA) and Congress of the People (COPE) being in the opposition. President Zumas rise to power has been divisive. Zumas reputation has been stained by several issues, such as accusations for corruption and sexual abuse, which provoked his discharge as Deputy President in 2005. There are still issues concerning Zuma which include his setback in declaring his commercial interests and extra-marital affairs. Zuma was brought to power with a support of two ruling partners powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party. The Zuma administration has mainly remained to the previous administrations economic policies. Nevertheless, there are still ideological tensions within the ANC and among the ANC and its ruling partners. South Africa continues to have broad economic and political relations with the regional and international community that will likely offer a degree of stability. South Africas successful hosting of the World Cup of soccer in June-July was viewed as a coming-out party of sorts for South Africa on the international stage (Whelan, n.d.). Based on the recent political situation in South Africa there are certain challenges ahead. There have been notable transformations in the country after the apartheid period such as programs to develop necessary social services, wide spreading the right to use improved chances in education and business. However, the process of transformation of South Africa is long and requires the persistent dedication of the leaders and people. One of the main contributors in the reconciliation process is The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that is taking care of abuses of human rights during apartheid era, provide victims with compensation and gives amnesty to those who committed politically motivated crimes. TRC often conflicts with political, economic and cultural interests of different groups of South Africas people. The challenge for the government to balance these confrontations and manage agreements on the basic questions will remain a critical challenge (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). Even though South African economy is in many areas highly developed, the nature of apartheid caused the countrys international isolation until the 1990s that has left major disadvantages. The economy is in a course of change as the government attempts to manage the inequities of apartheid, encourage growth, and create employment opportunities. Nowadays business in the country is becoming more integrated internationally, and foreign investments have increased. However, the economic inconsistency among population groups is projected to continue for many years, making it a main concern for the government. Economic Environment The economy of South Africa has two sides: one is developed and the other one with most basic infrastructure. Countrys economy has many characteristics of the economies in developing countries, such as separation of labor among formal and informal sectors, irregular distribution of wealth and income. South African government has demonstrated its dedication to open markets, privatization, and a favorable investment climate through the release of a Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy that took place in the period from 1996 to 2000. The results were with various successes. First of all, it achieved greater financial discipline and macroeconomic stability; however it failed to deliver these achievements in main areas. Unemployment continued to rise even after continuing programs of black empowerment. Countrys wealth still remains unequally distributed among racial lines. Second, several budgetary reforms that aimed to provide better reporting, auditing and accountability, and changes in monetary policy in terms of inflation targeting, allowed South Africa to have transparency and predictability that are highly-praised. Third, the process of trade liberalization has progressed significantly since the early 1990s, which together with implementation of World Trade Orga nization (WTO) obligations and initiation of the Doha Development Round shows South Africas recognition of free market values. Today, economic recovery is on track. The fiscal position remains challenging, the forecasts for 2011 include sizable but manageable deficit. The government expects these shortfalls to gradually narrow due to a rebound in growth and slowdown in expenditure growth. International investors remain cautious of emerging markets due to events in Europe (Greece) and South Africa could fall out of favor should perceptions shift. So far, unemployment remains stuck at 25%, with employment gains only being registered in the public sector. The recovery is expected to remain on course and private sector demand should gradually gain force, thus replacing government as a growth driver. A stronger recovery will likely only take hold in 2012. Regardless of the various optimistic economic achievements since 1994, South Africa has had difficulties in attracting significant foreign direct investment. However, the situation started to change, in 2005 South Africa had the largest single FDI when Barclays acquired a majority share in local bank Absa Group Limited. In 2006, the deals between the British Vodafone and South Africas Vodacom were formed. Later on, in 2010, two multibillion dollar deals took place, when HSBC acquired Nedbank and Walmart acquired Shoprite Holdings (Wikipedia, 2010). For international and domestic investors, there are several investment opportunities existing in South Africa since the country is the world leader in several specialized manufacturing areas and it has fast growing service industry, tourism construction that will significant foreign investment over the next few years. On May 15, 2004, South Africa was honored a chance to hold the 2010 FIFA World Cup. That was the biggest event that was ever held in Africa. South Africa made a big effort on improving the infrastructure and security in the country. The economic impact of the World Cup is great for the country, since it will increase the GDP, create numerous jobs and attract foreign investments. South Africas longer-term prospects center on the governments ability to manage a country through a transitional period. Economic policy is generally business friendly, while FDI is welcomed. Success depends on the capability of the government to address the power issue. Social Environment Today there are 49,109,107 people living in the country. More or less half of the population lives in urban areas, and many live in rural areas with insufficient housing. In both rural and urban centers, a lot of people do not have access to water supply and sanitation, electricity, and other services. Due to the fact that population is more mobile today and there are more employment opportunities in the urban areas, the immigration among the citizens is growing rapidly. Poverty is the highest among the Black population, reaching over 60%. There have been several reforms in the education sector and now all inhabitants have access to education, however still around 13,6% of population are illiterate. Even though majority of people have access to health services, public establishments are usually lacking necessary resources and not capable to meet demands. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV occurrence in the world. Overall, 18,1% of the population is infected by this disease. Every day there are 1,000 new infections occurred, and around 350,000 people die annually from AIDS-related diseases. A 2007-2011 strategic plan offered the arrangement for a widespread reaction to HIV and AIDS, counting a national compress of antiretroviral therapy. Overall, 30% of infected people are currently on antiretroviral therapy. From the time when apartheid was abolished, political violence in South Africa has went down noticeably, however today violent crime is still a major concern in South Africa and these acts are increasingly economically rather than racially motivated. Therefore, there are many robberies targeting upper-class citizens. In 2008, due to the national dissatisfaction with high unemployment rates and illegal immigration, people from other African countries who came to urban cities of South Africa were often targeted by local citizens. In April 2010, Eugene TerreBlanche, a disreputable pro-Apartheid person, was killed by two of his black employees. This event raised concerns of inter-racial violence, however it did not happen. While South African society is experiencing a rapid change, some prejudice against women and people infected by HIV/AIDS continues (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). Exchange rate policy South Africa has a strong financial structure with a great and active stock exchange that ranks 17th in the world in terms of total market capitalization. South Africa has a floating exchange rate system where the rand exchange rate is mainly established by the foreign exchange market forces under circumstances that exchange control is still applied, however only over inhabitants in terms of capital movements. The government has taken steps to slowly lessen lasting foreign exchange controls (Merwe, n.d.). Private citizens can do a single investment of up to 2,000,000 rand in offshore accounts. During 2007, the percentage of South African shareholdings for FDI outside Africa was decreased from 50% to 25%. This change allows South African companies to hold strategic international partnerships. Moreover, companies that are involved in international business were allowed to use a single Customer Foreign Currency (CFC) account for all intercontinental dealings. Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) was also given a permission to set up a rand currency futures market that aims to expand South Africas financial markets and raise liquidity in the local foreign exchange market. The Reserve Bank no longer recommends fixed rates for buying and selling dollars in bank transactions with the public. Nevertheless, South African Reserve Bank can play a part  in this market by buying or selling  other currencies. Today, in general the policy is to allow market forces to determine the exchange rate.   However, in latest years, however,  the Bank has been building up foreign exchange reserves by purchasing  foreign exchange from the market. Activities like raising the demand for foreign exchange can manipulate the exchange rate. In order to interfere successfully in the foreign exchange market, the Reserve Bank must keep an eye on the market all the time.

Confederacy of Dunces Essays: Last Encounter :: A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces - Last Encounter In his last encounter in the novel, Ignatius returns to the ill-reputed Night of Joy. He is still employed by Paradise Vendors and wears the ridiculous costume of a pirate that is mistaken for a Mardi Gras costume. Ignatius attends Dorian Greene's strange party and the distance between the "bodily" dunce and "intellectual" genius is extended. He tries to speak at the party but no one will listen and he cannot handle being rejected for his ideas so he leaves. Throughout the rest of the novel, Ignatius exhibits characteristics of a dunce according to the rest of the characters. At the point when Ignatius disrupts Darlene's Harlett O' Hara act, he follows a series of unfortunate events. The bird attacks him for his novelty earring and Ignatius runs around like a "big crazyman"(285). He bounces out of the bar and runs out into the street, only to come face to face with the headlights of the Desire bus. As Ignatius faints from shock, he shows the reader how awkward and clumsy he is. He ha s the chance to avoid everything that happens but his dunce tendencies take control. He is ridiculed by everyone at the scene for his possession of Lana Lee's naked pictures and ends up being the comedian and clown for the hour. Ignatius looks like a "dead cow lying in the street" according to the newspaper photograph and the reader sees the reactions to the incident from every character(289). Mr. Clyde sees Ignatius as "a big ape" and only wishes that he can retrieve his costume from him(293). Dr. Talc needs to find Ignatius to clear his name but decides against it when he sees the paper. He realizes that Ignatius is the dunce but that he also has a way of turning things around which may be detrimental to Dr. Talc. Miss Annie reads the paper and vows to run Ignatius and Irene out of the neighborhood. She is only worried about the reputation of the neighborhood. Patrolman Mancuso is grateful for his luck in stopping the chain of pornography sales along with the incarceration of the three brute women who had attacked him once before. Santa Battaglia talks to the picture of her mother and comments on how awful Irene must be feeling and has no remorse for Ignatius. Claude is only worried that he will not be able to handle such a disgrace as a stepson.

Shakespeares Psalm 46 :: psalm

Shakespeare's Psalm 46 William Shakespeare is still suspect. A rough overview of the debates surrounding the author, or partial author, or non-author, reveals that: (a) Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays, (b) Ben Jonson did, (c) the Earl of Oxford penned some of them and died shortly thereafter, and then the bard (or non-bard) stole the batch, (d) nobody knows for sure, and (e) it doesn't matter. Shakespeare's corporeal existence is not in debate. More interestingly, the possibility that he, or the person or persons posing as him, might have had a hand in polishing the King James version of the Bible is also not hotly debated -- that possibility stands as the core of this essay. Shakespeare and the King James version share a curious synchronicity, which the authors of The Story of English, point to: the bard started wrote his last play at the same time the King James Bible was released. Also important is Shakespeare's success and favor with the court in the first decade of the 17th century: "The young actor-playwright quickly caused a sensation with his plays," the authors say -- something of an understatement. A few odd facts need to be thrown in: the Authorized Version was published in 1611 and was heavily revised for nine months before publication, so that "it would not only read better but sound better." The revision took place mostly in 1610. The committee in charge of revising the initial translation was headed by John Bois and Dr. Anthony Downes, who had also coordinated the initial team of 47 translators, give or take a few. Shakespeare was not among the chosen 47, and he is not credited as one of the revisers. Nothing other than time and place links him to the Authorized Version revision -- nothing readily apparent to the eye. Shakespeare was recognized as a gifted artist in his own time. He was favored by the same court that commissioned the Authorized Version. And the peculiar power of this Bible's prosody certainly lends itself to speculation. And then there is Psalm 46. I first stumbled upon the strange nature of Psalm 46 in Anthony Burgess's autobiography, You've Had Your Time. The argument that Burgess makes, as an aside on composing a musical on the life of Shakespeare, is not meant to be conclusive but is offered as a curio.

Death of naturalist Essay -- English Literature

Death of naturalist This poem is a fertile mixture of imagery, sounds and an impression created by nature on people’s mind. Heaney sensualises an outstanding fear of the physical wonders of the world. He vividly describes his childhood experience that precipitates his change as a boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence. As he wonders along the pathways of salient discovery, Heaney’s imagination bursts into life. The title of the poem is amusingly ironic – by a naturalist we would normally think of someone with expert scientific knowledge of living things and ecology. The poem ‘Death of a naturalist’ has quite a lot of emotional images because it’s the poet’s memory and he is reminiscing. There are a number of poetic devices to create an image. Firstly, the poet uses the metaphor ‘in the heart of the town land’ to add interest to the poem. He also uses languages like ‘sweltered’ and ‘punishing sun’ to convey to the reader the hot summers day Heaney remembers. Nature is also brought up in the poem by ...

Abel Magwitch Essay

The writer then shows how powerful Pip thinks Abel Magwitch is. â€Å"So that his eyes looked most powerfully down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his. † This creates sympathy for Pip because he is helpless and alone. Dickens then emphasizes how helpless Pip is. â€Å"After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger. † This creates more sympathy for Pip. Abel Magwitch then threatens Pip to scare him and to make sure that he does what he asks. â€Å"You bring me, tomorrow morning early, that file and them wittles. You bring the lot to me, at that old Battery over yonder. You do it, and you never dare to say a word or dare to make a sign concerning your having seen such a person as me, or any person sum ever, and you shall be let to live. You fail, or you go from my words in any particular, no matter how small it is, and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate. † Dickens uses imagery here which creates a sense of fear for Pip which contributes to sympathy towards Pip. Abel Magwitch then talks about another character â€Å"Now, I aint alone, as you might think I am. There’s a young man hid with me, in comparison with which young man I am an angel. † This frightens Pip even more as he is already terrified of Abel Magwitch never mind another character. Here, the reader recognises how grief-stricken Pip is. In the second extract of Great Expectations that I am going to comment on Pip visits a wealthy lady called Havisham. There is a young girl that Miss Havisham lives with called Estella. Miss Havisham has taken legal responsibility for Estella even though they are not related. My feelings towards extract two are that Dickens creates sympathy for Pip my emphasising social classes and that appearance matter a great deal in the novel. Dickens starts the second extract by setting the scene and comments on Miss Havisham. Dickens creates sympathy for Miss Havisham first when Pip and Miss Havisham are talking. Miss Havisham says â€Å"You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born? † this makes the reader sympathise with Miss Havisham because the sun is a wonderful thing which most people enjoy seeing. Miss Havisham then tells Estella to play a game of cards with Pip. Estella replies â€Å"with this boy! Why, he is a common labouring boy! † this creates sympathy for Pip as it is an insult to Pip. Estella then remarks â€Å"he calls the knaves, Jacks, this boy! † â€Å"And what coarse hands he has and what thick boots! † We then read that Pip â€Å"had never thought of been ashamed of his hands before. † The reader sympathises with Pip hear as he is embarrassed about his hands. The language and dialogue in extract two is very important, Dickens creates the impression that Pip is like a slave (although he is not). The way that Miss Havisham speaks to Pip is very distinctive, she does not ask him do to things she tells him what to do and when to do it. An example of this is on line 124 â€Å"when shall I have you here again. Let me think. † She then thinks for a while and says â€Å"come here again in six days. You hear? † this creates sympathy for Pip as he gets ordered what to do and has no choice in the matter. I have read two extracts of Great Expectation and commented on how Charles Dickens creates sympathy for his characters. Dickens is a talented author and uses many tools to create sympathy for his characters.

Vidding and Copyright Infringement

Many people have become semi famous from others vidding content that they uploaded or appeared in. A few semi famous people, extra ordinary personalities, that come to mind are the Double Rainbow Guy, aka Yosemitebear, Sweet Brown, and Antoine. Without â€Å"vidding† these people would not have had any fame or acknowledgement whatsoever. There is a fine line between copyright infringement and vidding. One factor that I think plays an important role in differentiating the two is if a video is modified from its original version and an artistic twist is added.Art is intellectual property, and by adding your own property to it, makes it your own. The Double Rainbow video is a great example. This video was up on the YouTube sight for quite some time before being discovered by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who posted a tweet with the YouTube link on his Twitter account. From there the video spread like wildfire and people were interviewing the maker of the, Paul Vasquez a Yosemite Par k resident. Three days later, a well-known auto tuner made a remix video with a song out of the double rainbow video.The song was made available on ITunes and the profits are split 50/50 with Paul Vasquez, who made the original video and the remix auto tuner, known by user name schmoyoho. When the person vidding the original pays royalties or splits profits, then I think this is not copyright infringement because they are paying their dues. If a person profits from using the original version in their new formatted version, then they should have to pay the original owner a portion, it is only fair. I think this is the fine line between self-expression, freedom of speech, and copyright infringement.If you are looking to profit from the content without consent than that is unethical. However, if you are adding your own perception of a television show or video just to express your point of view then this falls under freedom of speech. With social media more popular than ever, there are millions of people copying and sharing original tweets of Facebook posts. We are absolutely unable to monitor every person’s tweets and posts. With such a broad spectrum of what falls under copyright infringement and what falls under self-expression, we as adults have to be able to use judgment based on ethical reasoning.Lawrence Kohlberg categorized different stages of moral development. People have to use their morals and ethical reasoning to draw a line under the copyright laws. You know when you are stealing someone else’s ideas. The bottom line is that credit should be given where credit is due. References: http://knowyourmeme. com/memes/double-rainbow Lawrence, A. T. & Weber, J. (2011). Business and Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy (13th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN: 978-0-07-813715-0

Act of Union Essay

Assess the causes of the Act of Union of 1800, and consider the ways in which the Articles of Union themselves were intended to solve the apparent problems in Ireland’s constitutional, political and religious relationship with England. Your essay must make reference to the relevant document studied in seminar 5. There were several significant causes of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800, most notably, the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798, along with the French landing at Killala in North Mayo. The United Irishmen, a radical mixed religious group, had began a campaign against British rule in Ireland in 1798. This rebellion was centered around Wexford, Wicklow and a protestant linen worker rebellion in Antrim. The rebellion was poorly organized and coordinated, and many parts of the country were left undisturbed. Although it was yet another rebellion by the Irish that was defeated, it fast forwarded the long standing idea that a political, constitutional and military union was needed between the two countries to prevent further war, or even worse, for Ireland to become a stepping stone in a French invasion of The British Isles. The worry about a French invasion starting in Ireland was compounded by a small French landing in north Mayo, that led to two battles, at Castlebar and Ballinamuck. The French landing was requested by Wolfe Tone, a protestant who was viewed as the leader of the United Irishmen. Wolfe Tone was influenced by the French and American Revolutions, and passed this influence onto the United Irishmen. The fact that the American Revolution had occurred so recently also had another major bearing on the Act of Union. the British parliament did not want to lose another colony, especially not one this close to home. This most likely would have being seen as a major weakness by the other European powers of the time. The French revolution, which promised freedom to all religions and races, and equal rights to all men would also have being seen as a threat to George III, the current monarch, who’s Coronation Oath held him to uphold and secure the Protestant faith. Article Fifth of the Act of Union combined the Church of Ireland and the Church of England into one central Protestant Episcopal Church. It also made the protestant faith the official religion of Ireland. The unity of the churches would also have bred the hope that more of the Catholic majority in Ireland would be converted. This would have being a vital cause for the union getting voted through the all protestant Irish parliament, as the protestants were outnumbered by Catholics in the general population at a ratio of 3:11. Should the Act of Union pass, they would be on the opposite side, it would be a 3:11 protestant majority. On a related topic, Robert Peel had earlier being responsible for the ending of several of the penal laws, all since the threat of war began in France. In 1793 Catholics could vote and become lawyers for the first time. He also played a part in the repeal of Poynings Law, which allowed the Irish parliament to enact its own laws without influence from London for the first time since the Norman Invasion. However, vitally, he could not hold his nerve to repeal the Penal law that stopped Catholics from holding a place in parliament and many Irish people would have thought this was the most important, as they could only vote for the entirely protestant government. Pitt had supported the Act Of Union in 1800, but had originally planned to follow it with more far reaching ideas, such as Catholic emancipation. However George III, after signing the Act of Union into law in August 1800, refused to support full Catholic emancipation on the basis that it would be contrary to his Coronation Oath. While the Act of Union was defeated the first time in the Irish parliament, it was passed on the second time of asking. Certain peerages, pensions and certain honors were offered to Irish politicians and Irish critics in return for voting for the act in the second time of asking. The first attempt to pass the law was beaten 109 votes against to 104 votes for, but, on the second time of asking in 1800, the results showed 150 for, compared to 115 against. Also, since the repeal of Poynings law, the Irish had being in charge of their own finances, and had bankrupt the country. When much the same thing had happened to Scotland in the 17th century, a Union with Britain had helped the Scottish overcome their financial difficulties. The Act of Union was intended to solve many of Irelands problems in different ways. Article first stated that Ireland and Britain would ‘be united into one Kingdom, by the Name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’. This essentially made Ireland a sister kingdom to Britain, with the same laws, religion and parliament. However as time showed, these sister kingdoms were not treated equally, with very little worry being given to the Great Famine of 1845-49. Although it may initially have being seen to calm some insurgency in Ireland, it was not a suitable long-term arrangement unless great measures were taken to assimilate the large Catholic majority. These measures were not taken, and Catholic Ireland still felt like it was being given the short straw without emancipation. Article Second simply stated that the continuation of the Imperial Crown ‘shall continue limited and settled in the same manner as the Succession to the Imperial Crown of the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland’. This was to ensure that a protestant was always going to be in power as a monarch in Great Britain, and that the new Union with Ireland would not have an influence on the process of picking a new king or queen. The third article was perhaps the most important in terms of change, as it was the article that fully combined the two parliaments into a single entity. This was the most influential article, as it caused many of the upper class representatives that Ireland would have to move out of Dublin and over to London, to be closer to political affairs. This caused a decline in the importance of Dublin as a major European city, and shifted most of the influential Irish people out of the country. It may also have lead to the idea of Absentee landlords, another thing that was seen by the Irish as a cause of the Great Famine. Article Fourth was simply involved in the representation of Ireland in the new parliament. The election of 28 Electoral Lords for life would have guaranteed a continuation of protestant ascendancy in the British House of Lords. This would not have went well with the catholic majority of Ireland as they would have zero representation in the House of Lords, which had the ability to veto any laws passed by the House of Commons. Any chance of a law hat passed a pro-Catholic law would have being immediately put down by the protestant powers in the House of Lords, so even if George III did not veto the hopes for Catholic emancipation then the House of Lords would surely have. The 8th article was a constitutional article that ensured the continuation of all laws from before the act, in both Britain and Ireland. It stated ‘That all Laws in force at the time of the Union, and all the Courts of Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within the respective Kingdoms, shall remain as now by Law established within the same’ This was a safety mechanism to prevent any problems with the transition between separate and united kingdom’s. If this article had not being put in place then, theoretically the parliament in London would have had to enact new laws that could potentially damage the political and hostile situation in Ireland. As you can see, the Act of Union was hoped to be a permanent solution to the problems in Ireland, and planned to consolidate the British Isles under one rulership. The Articles in the Act of Union attempted to promote the protestant faith, in particular the Anglican faith, in Ireland, and in the long term hoped to transform the rebellious Catholic majority into equal citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Although it was unsuccessful in the long run, it was a historic event that worked in other parts of the empire, such as Scotland.