Jean Galea Interview - the Founder of WP Mayor

Let me just assure you that the Pirate Interviews series is going to continue into 2017 with many more  great WordPress people on board. Im not going to spoil the surprise, but if youd like us to invite someone in particular, please mention  him/her in the comments.Okay, about todays interview the next person to step up is certainly a man with many ideas and many projects under his belt. Jean Galea  is what you would call an influencer in the WordPress space. Over the years, he has earned his spot in the limelight by being the man behind a number of interesting projects.With WP Mayor being around since 2010, WP RSS Aggregator used by 40,000+ people now, and his latest MastermindFM podcast being nearly two years old theres surely a lot to talk about.Plus, apart from what youd call work, Jean is also living many peoples digital nomadic  dream, being a WordPress  entrepreneur and traveling the world at the same time.Heres our Jean Galea interview:Jean Galea interviewIn short, what is your history with WordPress?Jean Galea:I stumbled on WordPress during my studies at university. I worked as a freelance web developer on the side to help finance my education. After a brief stint with Joomla I switched to WordPress, attracted by its promise of an easy installation and straightforward theme customizations. Soon after graduating, I teamed up with a friend of mine to form a WordPress agency in Malta. I ran that successfully for a few years before moving on to blogging and product development.What are the benefits and challenges of remote work?Jean Galea:Working remotely was my dream even when I was younger and didnt have my own business yet. I dreamt of a future where we could work from a location of our choosing where we can be most productive.Honestly, I had a few short stints working in offices while on summer break when I was a student, and I hated the office politics and time wasted due to constant interruptions. I am also very much into tech and love bei ng able to make my own choices with regards to my desk, chair and other hardware and software. This is usually not possible in an office environment. Another big downside was the lost time in commuting and being stuck in traffic jams.With that in mind, you will understand that Im all for remote work and find myself very comfortable in such a setup. It is a bit tougher to recruit people who are able to work remotely, as you need to have a high sense of autonomy and be able to organize your day and motivate yourself. So thats one of the challenges for sure, although nowadays it is getting easier to find people who already have experience with remote work as it is becoming more and more popular around the world.Perhaps the one thing that office-bound teams have that I miss is the camaraderie and cohesion that is built by a united team pursuing a particular goal. It can still be present in a remote team but its not as tangible. Thats why yearly retreats can be a great tool for remote te ams.You and your wife are living and working as digital nomads. What were the biggest drawbacks, if any, of this lifestyle?Jean Galea:Lets get the drawbacks out of the way. The biggest challenge is the fact that being constantly on the move makes it exponentially harder to form routines and have a comfortable work space where everything works and you can just walk in and start getting things done.On the other hand, a digital nomad lifestyle will reward you with incredible experiences (and challenges) that will remain with you for the rest of your life. The experience of immersing oneself in totally different cultures will give you the chance to appreciate things on a deeper level so that they can become part of your personality.What are your favorite development tools and why?Jean Galea:I use Sublime Text for code editing and Mamp Pro for setting up a local server environment. These days my development time is very limited but when I do jump into code those are the main tools I use. As a team we also rely a lot on Slack and Atlassians JIRA and Confluence to manage our projects and internal communication. You can also read about all the software I use over on my blog.So far, youve had several successful WordPress projects. Do you have certain criteria to determine whether a project might be successful?Jean Galea:I try to look beyond my own ideas and dreams and ask people in the community whether they would have a need for whatever project I dreamt up. If there is an overwhelming positive response, Ill go ahead and develop a first prototype. Theres a lot to be said on this topic, though, and there are many ways to make a successful entry with WordPress products. We have a few episodes tackling this very topic on Mastermind.fm, including an interview with Pippin Williamson who is a real master at achieving success over and over again with several products.You may also be interested in these articles:ANDREY RARST SAVCHENKO INTERVIEWTONY PEREZ INTERVIEW – CE O AND CO-FOUNDER OF SUCURIAHMAD AWAIS INTERVIEW – WORDPRESS CORE CONTRIBUTORHow  did you decide to create the WP RSS Aggregator  plugin? RSS is not that popular nowadays.Jean Galea:I created the plugin for two reasons. First, I had been waiting for the opportune time to create a plugin and submit it to the WordPress repo and finally had some time to work on something. Secondly, I needed a way to import WordPress jobs and news from others sites onto my WP Mayor blog. So, armed with a use case and some time, I went ahead and created the first iteration of the plugin which was enough for my simple needs at the time.What happened next will answer the second part of your question. Feature requests started pouring in via the plugins support forum on .org and that led to me creating premium addons for the original core plugin. That core plugin has of course also come a long way from where it started in 2012, mostly thanks to the excellent developers on our team.Its been almost t wo years since youve started Mastermind.fm. How has this experience been for you?Jean Galea:Ive always felt comfortable writing, but speaking is not something I consider to be one of my natural strengths. So first of all, the idea of having a podcast was to challenge myself to improve and develop my speaking skills, as this is undoubtedly an important tool in an entrepreneurs arsenal.The research is the same across blogging and podcasting, but podcasting is harder as youre recording everything live and need to keep things flowing at all times. Sitting down to record a podcast is a much more intense experience for me compared to writing a blog post. Recording a podcast takes 30 minutes to one hour while writing a blog post can take several hours or even spread across a few days.Talking about Mastermind.fm specifically, its been an awesome journey so far. Ive been blessed to have an excellent co-host in James, who has a lot of experience in the domain of public speaking. Doing the pod cast with him helps me improve much quicker than if I had to do it on my own.Moreover, the whole point of Mastermind.fm was to open our private mastermind session to the public as we both felt that we were sharing and discussing topics that would be useful for many other WordPress entrepreneurs. I consider this project as a good way of giving back to the WordPress community, which has given me so much in the past ten years.We have now started inviting guests on the show and this will give us the opportunity to have discussions about even more topics and have more viewpoints on things. Lastly, we have also been lucky to find sponsors early on and this helps us keep the show self-sustainable and viable in the long term.To be successful, you said one should never stop learning. Do you have someone you currently look up to or follow? What do you read during your spare time?Jean Galea:That is indeed my maxim. I dont have a particular person I look up to or follow. Ive never had idols and believe that one should blaze their own trail in life. Having said that, I do enjoy reading biographies of people who are successful in different areas of life and always learn a lot from their lives. I read about many different topics. Apart from tech and business, I also enjoy reading about philosophy and psychology, with a good novel thrown in every now and then for good measure.With several priorities to juggle and the excitement of living abroad, what does your typical workday look like? How would you describe your workflow?Jean Galea:Well, there simply isnt a typical workday really! I try to juggle many things and do the best I can to have enough time for work, fitness and sports as well as my family. Ive written about my workflow on my blog if youd like to get more in depth about the tools and processes I use.If you had one advice to give to an aspiring developer, what would it be?Jean Galea:I would tell them to get involved in the WordPress community right from the start. A ttend WordCamps, join groups like Advanced WP on Facebook, WP Chat or the Post Status community, contribute to blogs and release plugins on the .org plugin repository.The more you get involved and make connections, the faster youll achieve success. The community is by far the best thing about WordPress, Ive met many incredibly awesome people in my journey that have become friends beyond work and I cant be thankful enough for this experience.This concludes our Jean Galea interview. If you happen to have any questions, please feel free to submit them below. Well try getting Jean back to answer them.

Adolf Hitler- Potted Biography essays

Adolf Hitler- Potted Biography essays Adolf Hitler was the Fuhrer (leader) of the Nazi Germany, the instigator of World War 2 and the driving force behind the attempt to exterminate European Jewry, otherwise know as the Final Solution or the Holocaust. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 at Braunau - am - Inn, Austria, Hungary. He was the third son of Alois and Klara Hitler. His father moved them to Linz, where Hitler attended school. He did well in the school in the beginning, but progressively worsened. When Hitler was 14 his father died. Five years later his mother also past away. The death of his mother persuaded him to move to Vienna, where he twice attempted to enter the Academy for Art, failing both times. Between 1909 and 1913 Hitler moved from one lowly job to another - copying and peddling picture postcards, drawing up advertisement and painting and decorating houses. Hitler was German and being a failure in Vienna, a city full of Slavs and Jews, many not failures, filled him with jealousy, resentment, frustration and rage. In 1913 Hitler moved to Munich, Germany and was still there when war broke out in 1914. Hitler enlisted in the German army and saw four years of frontline service. He was a devoted soldier and in 1918 he was promoted to the rank of corporal and awarded the Iron Cross (First Class). Just before the end of the war, he was temporarily blinded by a British gas attack near Ypres. After recovery, he served as an intelligence agent for military authorities, in the course of which he attend the German Workers Party in 1919. He later joined the party, became its leader and changed its name to the National Socialist Party, later called the Nazi party. In 1920, the 25 points of the Nazi Party were proclaimed, one of which was called for the removal of Jews from German Society. The Nazis were thwarted in November 1923 when they tried to seize power by force. Hitler was sentenced to five years prison. It was at this time when he started his book Mei ...

How To Get Your Boss To Say Yes To CoSchedule (Powered By Science)

How To Get Your Boss To Say Yes To (Powered By Science) Marketing has  changed more in last few years than in the last half-century before them. And the velocity of change is only accelerating. This means there are more areas than ever we need to be competent in. Not only do we have to be awesome at being visionary leaders, sharp copywriters, email wizards, rockin conversion experts, killer project managers, Ogilvy-esque advertisers, and 48 other skills we have to build the skill of leading change. weve gotta challenge the status quo  before were stuck. even more, weve gotta convince our bosses to come along for the ride. And if youve made the decision to adopt , the worlds best marketing management platform, the task is the same. It all comes down to our ability to influence others. From our peers to the C-Suite execs. But, if youve ever read about the psychology of influence, it can be sad news. Doubly so when it comes to how to convince your boss or top brass to try new tools like . How To Get Your Boss To Say Yes To @(Powered By Science) by @jordan_loftisThe *Semi-Depressing* Reality Of Influencing Others One of the first principles of influence you come across is called the halo effect. In the 1920s, psychologist Edward Thorndike piloted a study of how military officers judge their subordinates. He found more physically attractive soldiers were were rated higher across the board on a four-point scale: intelligence, physique, leadership, and character. This means positive reactions to physical appearance were projected onto other areas of the soldiers. And as much as we hate to admit it, the rabbit hole goes deeper. This principle holds true in elections, as well. In a study called Beauty at the Ballot Box, researchers theorized that since physical attractiveness is a cue toward good health, we may be biologically programmed to esteem it. Meaning were naturally inclined to favor attractive people. However, when it comes to convincing your boss to say yes to a fresh software tool like obliterating makeshift marketing a flexible work-from-home policy that new process weve got many more science-backed levers to pull than just our faces. 4 Ways To Convince Your Boss To Say Yes To Fueled By Science 🚀 In this post, Ill share the best research on ethical approaches to convince your boss to say yes to (and just about anything else!). No makeup required. Youll learn four strategies: How to position your ask in concrete terms, How to align implementing with team objectives, Why to conduct a trial run with a mini post-mortem conversation, And how to win the conversation by starting big, then going small. One of the most powerful benefits of is its ability to crush the bug we call makeshift marketing. A major change to the marketing landscape is the sheer number of single-function software tools available. Unfortunately, most dont play well together. This means were stuck with tools not designed with marketers in mind. This makes your life more frustrating and puts a lid on your results. So, well walk through examples of leading change to combat it by getting your boss to say yes to ! Saddle up, partner! #1: Convince Your Boss To Say Yes To Through Loss Aversion Lets begin with  opportunity cost. An opportunity cost is the benefit someone loses in favor of taking a different action. When you choose between things, you lose the benefits of the alternative choice. With this first tactic, well leverage the principles of loss aversion and prospect theory. Research shows that people fear loss more than they desire benefit. And this greatly influences the way they choose between options (aka: prospects). Research shows that people fear loss more than they desire benefit.This means people will over emphasise even minor opportunities for loss. Nielsen Norman Group  says it like this: When choosing among several alternatives, people avoid losses and optimize for sure wins because the pain of losing is greater than the satisfaction of an equivalent gain. For example, you want to adopt a new marketing tool  like to replace a less effective one (or even multiple tools). The problem is theres a chance the new tool will cost more than its worth. Either in hard cash  and  in lost productivity. In turn, your boss may be instantly loss averse. This will impact her choice between the prospects of status quo and potential loss. The risk may seem falsely outsized - especially if budgets or time are already tight. To use this knowledge to your advantage, simply structure your ask in two parts: If we do [thing you want] it will add [positive value]. If we dont do [thing you want] it will cost [negative value]. In this case, it may sound like: If we [adopt ], it will give us a [55% lift in productivity per team member]. If we dont [adopt this new tool], we are actually losing [$1,255 per week in lost productivity]. To help you make that case, you can actually use the nifty Time Savings Calculator we built. After extensive research of our customers, we found the average time savings based on the above criteria. Simply enter your team size, the number of projects you complete each week, and the number of social profiles you manage. Then click Calculate Time Savings. In this case, a team of two completing four projects and managing three social media profiles per week can save over 20 hours per month! (Whats even cooler is  this actually happened for customer Florida Realtors ®) If you dollarize your time, thats an incredible amount of money. Ask your boss: What would it mean for us to have 80 hours back per month? The idea here is to highlight the gain as specifically as possible. Then showcase the loss of the alternative option - in this case changing nothing - as specifically as possible. This way, you can position the facts according to the emotional principles at play. If your boss says no to , theyre actually saying no to 80 bonus hours per month (on average)! Set the stakes,  make loss aversion your friend, and get to yes faster. Thanks science! #2: Convince Your Boss To Use By Aligning Change With Team Goals Next, marketers have #goalsfordays A recent study we conducted found that marketers who set goals are 429% more likely to be successful. Tactic number two is using this stat to your advantage. If you have goals, like driving  500 fresh leads every month make us of  alignment theory. In simple terms, it says the most successful people understand their strengths and then arrange their lives in alignment with them. This theory works for both individuals and teams. Successful organizations run like machines using this principle. And the power of alignment is possible when strategy, goals, and purpose mutually reinforce one another. To put it to work with your boss, structure your ask for change like this: Our team is trying to achieve [goal]. But we have [failed] for the past [timeframe]. I think the best way we can do this right now is by [thing you want]  [based on prior success]. In keeping with our 1,000 qualified leads example, the ask might be: Our team is trying to achieve [1,000 qualified leads every month]. But weve [only reached 70% of that goal] for the [past three months]. I think the best way we can do this right now is by [focusing exclusively on driving traffic] [to our top-performing landing pages]. The change youre after is a shifted focus: driving more traffic. However, the goal youre trying to achieve is the same: 1,000 qualified leads. Also notice this clause: based on prior success. If your team has had any related successes in the past, highlight them for leverage as proof.If your team has related successes in the past, highlight them for leverage as proof. In this example, it was top-performing landing pages. In their fantastic book, Switch, authors Chip and Dan Heath call these prior wins bright spots. Theyre powerful because they showcase that positive results  are possible, because you have achieved them in the past. Youre team is capable of knocking it outta the park. So, you align your methods accordingly. Bonus: This is also a great chance to sharpen your goal-setting strategy if it needs a little work. #3: Convince Your Boss To Say Yes To With A Post-Mortem Post-mortems sound sad but can I be real for a minute? I think theyre amazing. Post-mortems are amazing persuasion hacks.A post-mortem is an analysis held after a project, usually with the aim of answering this question: How on earth did things go so wrong?! So why do I love em? Because theyre amazing chances to learn. Theyre even beneficial to hold on the heels of successful projects. They promote healthy self-reflection and can benefit your entire team. To persuade your boss to say yes to , though, I want you to tactically use a mini post-mortem with your boss in advance of your ask. Two reasons: You can learn why similar changes, like adopting new tools, have failed in the past. You can pre-empt legitimate objections your boss will have ahead of time. Why Have Other Things Failed? By learning why other initiatives have failed, you can learn what pitfalls to avoid. For instance, if youre proposing a move from messy-as-hell spreadsheets to   - or a similar transition from an inefficient way of doing things - how helpful would it be to learn that the last tool transition to be shot down actually had the support of your manager, but got squashed by the CFO? Setup this convo like this: When was the last time we wanted to get budget for a new software tool in our department? How did it go? If the last attempt bombed, follow with, Why do you think it failed? And is there any way it could have been approved? If it succeeded, even better! Ask, Why was it successful? And how has it panned out? Overcoming Legitimate Objections Next, you can glean what legitimate objections your boss may have to your idea. Almost every boss Ive ever had loved to say, Yes! to great ideas. But so many of my attempts at leading a new change as the underling failed because I didnt understand their field of visibility. Field of visibility means their viewpoint informed by the things they know that you may not. Think of it like this. Company execs sit in meetings that you dont. They hear forecasts, plans, and upcoming constraints that you dont. They understand organizational dynamics you may have missed. They see your team from a broader perspective than you might. This means understanding their field of visibility is incredibly beneficial. With a mini post-mortem, you can dig in to why a similar change failed. This will help you position your ask to overcome your bosss legitimate (or even illegitimate) objections. Whether its data Or a project champion up the chain Or even competitive research You can gain insight beforehand to have great answers to tough questions. And these answers can fuel your case for adopting ! #4: Convince Your Boss By Asking Big, Then Small Last, lets talk about an old psychological warhorse: the rule of reciprocity. Psychologist and best-selling author Robert Cialdini explains it in his book,  Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, like this. He writes: The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us [and] by virtue of the reciprocity rulewe are  obligated to the future repayment of favors, gifts, invitations, and the like. The idea is to do something for someone else  before you ask them to do something for you. When you do so, youre far more likely to get your Yes. While this principle might be effective, its often felt too manipulative for me to entertain actually doing this. You can influence people without being conniving or manipulative.Call me a boy scout, but that seems like a pretty sketchy move. And worse, an infringement on a healthy relationship. That said, there is a version of this rule I happily endorse 😎 Cialdini also shares a specific application of this rule called bargaining, saying, Bargaining is frequently used in the negotiation process, which involves reciprocal concessions. That is, if Person A rebuffs a large request from Person B, and Person B then concedes by making a smaller request, Person A will feel obligated to reciprocate this concession with a concession of his or her own by agreeing to this lesser plea. In 1975, researchers on the Arizona State University campus cracked the code on this. In an experiment, half of the students in the test were asked, Will you chaperone juvenile-detention-center inmates on a day trip to the zoo? A measly 17% said yes. The other half of the test subjects were asked a leading question first: Will you volunteer as a juvenile-detention-center counselor for two hours per week for the next two years? Every single student said no to the new leading question but then the interesting part happened. Nearly 50% said yes to the second (original) question about chaperoning the zoo visit! The angle for our marketing purposes is pretty obvious: construct two versions of your ask.

Managing Physical and Mental Health Challenges Essay

Managing Physical and Mental Health Challenges - Essay Example According to the report  cognitive disabilities basically affect one’s intellectual capacity and     affects performance in education. Mental health in simple terms is absence of a mental disorder and physical health is the general wellbeing of the body. Cognitive disability is detected by intellectual capacity, academic ability and adaptive conduct. To measure the intellectual capacity, an intelligence test is run. An intelligence test is any of a number of tests designed to measure a person’s mental skills Academic performance can be measured by communication skills and academic readiness of the person.From this study it is clear that mental health and physical wellbeing can be affected by cognitive disability. When one is confirmed to have cognitive disability, then they end up having a difficult time interacting socially which in turn affects them psychologically. Psychological effects end up causing anxiety and depression which in turn makes people to seek di fferent ways to cope. Stacey deals with her problems by self mutilation which causes physical problems. If Stacey is confirmed to have cognitive disability, then the choice on the way forward is left to the parents but if she doesn’t have any cognitive disability, then she can make sober decisions on her own .This is according to the Nursing and Midwifery code of conduct.  Stacey needs to go through a series of counseling and psychiatric treatment to make her learn how to open up and also to stop her from inflicting injury on herself.

Personal Career Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Career - Personal Statement Example a nurse one day so I can help ill people with care and affection and looking after them will also make me happy as I believe that it will give me peace and satisfaction and life to me is helping others and becoming a nurse will not only earn me prosperity and respect among others but it will also be a great way to please God. I am a responsible person and I believe that I will be able to look after patients in an organized and proper way once I become a nurse. I know that it is not easy to become a nurse as it requires passion determination hard work and last but not the least devotion which is also an important element but I am firm and satisfied with my decision as it will provide me a chance to help people in pain, help people who are sick and it will also make me feel more for humanity .becoming a nurse will bring a sense of responsibility in my life which will also affect my personal life also in a positive way. According to me a modern nurse should be good at communication and handling patients and his relatives. Communication is very important as patients who are ill needs care and communicating with them in a proper way by means of encouraging them will provide them with lots of hope .Moreover a nurse should be a good listener as it let their patients to develop trust on her. She should be confident and should owe the ability to tackle hard situations as one come across many hard situations when working as a medical employee. Nurses should be available for night duties and should not hesitate as they are performing a noble job. They should share a good understanding with their assigned doctors, pharmacists and dieticians and they should keep an eye on patient and his intake of recommended medicines as prescribed by the doctor. Nurses are responsible for dealing with ill patients not only by providing them with medicines but also by understanding their priorities and state of mind and sho wing affection to them. Nurses are basic representatives of healthy

New Testament Essay Example for Free

New Testament Essay â€Å"This weakness is displayed in the special terms that are employed by the theory —innocent, combatant, aggression, authority and so on. These terms are subject to the slipping and sliding of deconstructive analysis and forever need further, technical definition. For example, what constitutes an act of ‘aggression’? Is it Ð ° physical assault on one’s territory? An insult to the national pride? Ð  trade embargo, an attack on one’s ally? Osama bin Laden justifies his attack on 9/11 as an act of self-defense against American ‘aggression’, which has destroyed the ‘religion and life’ of his people. For over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into Ð ° spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples. If some people have in the past argued about the fact of the occupation, all the people of the Peninsula have now acknowledged it. The best proof of this is the Americans’ continuing aggression against the Iraqi people using the Peninsula as Ð ° staging post, even though all its rulers are against their territories being used to that end, but are helpless†¦ All these crimes and sins committed by the Americans are Ð ° clear declaration of war on Allah, his messenger, and Muslims. And ulema [religious leaders] have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries. This was revealed by Imam Bin-Qadamah in ‘Al-Mughni’, Imam al-Kisa’i in ‘Al-Bada’I’, al-Qurtubi in his interpretation, and the shaykh of al-Islam in his books, where he said: ‘As for the fighting to repulse [an enemy], it is aimed at defending sanctity and religion, and it is Ð ° duty as agreed [by the ulema]. Nothing is more sacred than belief except repulsing an enemy who is attacking religion and life’. In fact, this same justification is not so remote from what we hear in our own country, where the left-wing often blames American imperialism and the international system of capitalism for raping the cultures of third world countries, exploiting the people, producing poverty, and sowing the seeds for Ð ° violent response. The criteria do not seem to help the special problem at hand. Most scholars seem to think that just war theory allows for pre-emptive strikes, but the conditions and details are not so clear. The Bush administration and the ‘National Security Strategy’ contend that pre-emptive strikes against Iraq are consonant with just war theory, international law, and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Legal scholars and international jurists are said to sanction the right of Ð ° pre-emptive strike based on the condition of an imminent threat. † (Gabriel 2006 27-33) â€Å"However, the Vatican seems to interpret its own codes as Ð ° justification for fighting Ð ° defensive war against Ð ° particular act of aggression, and most scholars seem to agree with its interpretation of the tradition. Jeff McMahan, Ð ° professor at the University of Illinois, says that the theory has Ð ° strong aversion to pre-emptive war. Normally we prefer to punish Ð ° crime already committed, rather than speculate over future possibilities. Just war theory does not like to exchange its certitude for Ð ° more problematic or sordid enterprise. 18 William Gaston, professor at the University of Maryland, finds it necessary to create more criteria to justify his opposition to the administration’s policy, he concedes that ‘anticipatory self-defense has Ð ° place in international law and just war theory’, but he does not concur with the current application of this most difficult step. His criteria would involve Ð ° consideration of the enormity, probability and imminence of the threat, as well as the cost of delay, According to these criteria, the Bush policy is unnecessary in the present circumstance—at least for the time being. Saddam Hussein is not Ð ° present danger (imminence); other options for Ð ° number of months could prove fruitful (cost of delay); and it is unlikely that Saddam would hand WMD to terrorists based on his past actions and present interest. The conclusion is that ‘the case for Ð ° pre-emptive strike has not been made’. Those who list criteria often cast Ð ° negative vote toward an action. Just war treatises often demand fulfillment of all of its conditions. Thomas Aquinas, when he composed his conditions for just war (proper authority, just cause and right intention), insisted that all three conditions must be met as Ð ° necessary apologia for war. The scholastics went on to develop the maxim bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quocumque defectu. â€Å"However, with the United States issuing Ð ° â€Å"with us or against us ultimatum after September 11 and simultaneously dangling the carrot of long-term economic and military assistance in return for logistic support for Americas war effort, each Central Asian state rushed to strike unilateral deals with the United States based on its own self-interest, thereby allowing the United States to establish Ð ° strategic foothold in Central Asia with little or no thought for Chinas concerns. For Central Asians, it was Ð ° golden opportunity to lessen the overbearing influence of their neighboring giants (Russia and China). They view the expanded U. S. military presence in the region as an insurance policy against any future bid by Russia and China to reassert control. However, the lack of strategic policy coordination post-September 11 among the SCO member states left the multilateral forum seriously weakened, undercut the groups solidarity, and represented Ð ° â€Å"major failure for the fledgling group† established to provide Ð ° regional response to terrorism in the region. 65 It also highlighted the tenuous nature of Chinas â€Å"strategic influence† in Central Asia where local ethnic and religious rivalries and conflicting interests present formidable obstacles to Beijings desire to knit the regions governments into Ð ° solid security partnership to further Chinas grand strategic objectives. â€Å" (Mohan 2002) This meant that an action cannot have any moral defect if it is to find justification before God. Ð  war must involve the perfection of God, or it cannot proceed under his blessing. The conditions of war is wholly good, universal and absolute. They do not serve as simple rules of thumb, which may have tensions and become subject to compromise between them. However, this preference for absolute, deontological ethics does not allow the tradition to meet the changing needs of the human condition. It becomes Ð ° pretext for doing nothing because it is based upon past concerns and does not relate to modern times. Its view of the world comes from the Greek philosophical notion of kosmos, not the biblical concept of history, Its world is Ð ° closed shell of eternal laws that contain no openness to the changes of history or the historical nature of humankind. It often strait-jackets its proponents into following rules and failing to take the best course of action in the present circumstance. It limits itself to Ð ° past set of rules that are composed without the prescience of future, historical constellations. The absolute dogmatic claims of the system are somewhat surprising since so much of the analysis depends upon the power of human reason. Its basis of authority does not reside in scripture so much—maybe because the questions it asks are removed from the basic message of the New Testament. † (Elizabeth 2004 6)

Nasty Trick in Stephen Cranes The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky Essay

Nasty Trick in Stephen Crane's The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky "The great Pullman was whirling onward with such dignity of motion that a glance from the window seemed simply to prove that the plains of Texas were pouring eastward" (91). Boom! We're on a train witnessing the liquid landscape of Texas. This fact is all Stephen Crane chooses to tell us. In fact, he doesn't even use the word "train" until the ninth paragraph when he is writing dialogue for the man who is the betrothed to the woman implied in the title of the piece, "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." We learn in the second paragraph that the couple is on a coach from San Antonio and that "the man's face was reddened from many days in the wind and the sun" (91). We also learn that the "bride was not pretty, nor was she young" and it would seem that this couple are rather out of place on this coach speeding away from San Antonio (91). Crane is up to something. Don't think he's going to leave them on this train. No, I am here to inform you that he has a nasty little trick up his sleeve an d his goal is to "deceive to delight"; he is going to try a fast bait and switch, dangling the barbed hook before your startled imagination, and then, when you least expect it, he plans to go for the kill, jerking the carpet out from beneath your very feet. The couple "were evidently very happy" (91). The "man's face in particular beamed with an elation that made him appear ridiculous to the negro porter" (92). It would seem that this handyman "bullied" them in ways to which they seemingly naà ¯ve. In fact, everything about this couple seems naà ¯ve, simple, unsophisticated. She tells him the time "with a shy and clumsy coquetry" which causes a passerby to grow "excessively sardonic" and... ... of Yellow Sky to learn of Potter's new marriage. Upon bearing witness to this fact, a befuddles Scratchy replies "Well, I s'pose it's all off now," and, "placing both weapons in their holsters," his feet make "funnel-shaped tracks in the sand" as they carry him out of the story, the covers of the book folding shut on this scene (99). And this, I suppose, explains that nasty little trick Cain had up his sleeve, his goal of "deceiving to delight" accomplished with whatever degree of success the reader is willing to grant him, his fast bait and switch ploy holding up an "innocent and unsuspecting" simpleton only to, with deft slight of pen, transform him into a hero before our unsuspecting eyes. Works Cited: Crane, Stephen. "Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." Literature: The Human Experience. 8th ed. Ed. Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 91-99.

Death of a salesman explication Essay

This passage allows us to make several assumptions about the main character, Willy, in a psychiatric way. Obviously irony is a major component of how Arthur Miller hints to these mental characteristics, but he also alludes to other concepts in the details of the stage directions and the seemingly unimportant lines of supporting characters. Upon examining the passage on pages 38 and 39 in the book, (25 and 26 in the pdf) it has become clear that most of WIlly’s problems can be traced back not to how he raised his own children, but back to his own childhood. The three key points of Willy’s youth are subtly given to us in this passage and  highlighted with Miller’s use of irony. This may just be an opinion, but Willy is pretty weak, and not just physically. In this passage he is seemingly dependant on people’s praise and of seeming important. The irony is that he is thriving off the praise of both his wife and mistress, although the two women could not be be more different in their temperament. His wife Linda assures Willy of his handsomeness and his excellent parenting, in her eyes, and The Woman, although her compliments are far less sincere, assures Willy of how she picked him of all the possible  salesmen This is key because one of the main points of the entire play is Willy’s struggle with the fact that he is indeed not important anymore. This is ironic because it leads us to believe Willy to be this successful salesman, and we soon find that not to be true in the present day of the play. Willy’s need for reassurance of his importance is foreshadowing his lack of necessity in his future, and his lack of deserving praise in his future. The Woman, being more manipulative, sees Willy’s weakness for compliments and used them to keep him addicted in a way to their affair. In the start of the passage Willy complains of being alone on the road, so what better way to subdue that loneliness than to acquire someone to fawn over him and make him feel good about himself. This leads us to assume Willy has some self esteem issues. This concept also supports Willy’s affair because cheating often springs from people with poor self images because of the craving for the assurance of the cheating people’s greatness. This self hate can come from many places but most often comes from something deep rooted like, well, the person’s roots. Mother’s are important, something about the presence or absence of a mother can  make or break those of weaker spirits. Willy being one of those weak ones was emotionally stunted by his lack of mother. Or even lack of any family to establish healthy social skills. But commonly in psych cases, a lack of a mother or mother figure results in a perpetual longing for physical connections. In the stage directions Miller illustrates throughout this passage how purely physical Willy and The Woman’s relationship is. The passage begins with Willy discussing his longing for physical contact when he is on the road. Like Willy’s addiction to praise, he needs the physical contact because he just isn’t capable of making deeper  relationship connections from his early social handicap. The beginning confession for physical relations is ironic because he describes how he wants it to be with Linda, but it ends up happening with a mistress. This lack of ability to connect is part of the reason for Willy’s struggle with Biff. Willy cannot figure out how to communicate with Biff simply because he is socially inept. This in turn comes to stunt Biff as well as Willy makes the same mistakes with Biff that Willy’s own father did with Willy. Willy is haunted by his childhood, his decisions and his family. Miller never specifically writes how important this is, but he hints at it in one intense way in the stage directions. Willy hearing the flute music of his father. This flute music narrates the entire play in it’s own way. Like most people, Willy is terrified of ending up like his father. Everyone is told they end up like their parents and everyone vows that they will be different. But the thick irony is that Willy ends up just like his father, making the same vital mistakes. Just as Willy’s father abandoned Willy as a child and added another psychiatric problem to Willy’s list of mental  issues, Willy abandons his own family in what he thinks is a seemingly innocent act. A clear example of this is when The Woman thanks Willy for the stockings, and then it cuts to Linda repairing her stockings (which she is constantly doing throughout the play). This irony is that instead of taking care of his actual family by doing things like spending money on his wife to replace her old, ripped stockings, he turns his back on them to buy a gift for his mistress. Just like his father he put off the needs of his family for his own needs. This may seem harmless but in doing this Willy demonstrates who he is putting first n his priorities. These issues all lead to some serious mental issues that result in an endless cycle. Willy is unhappy with himself and longs to make connections and receive praise, but his only way to make connections is physically, which leads to poor choices, which leads to making his longed for connections worse which makes him even more unhappy with himself. Some people just don’t know how to stop the cycle and just work on their communication skills. Miller lays the irony on so thickly throughout this book to show how despite all Willy’s struggles he continues to do the exact things he is trying to prevent. Truly a tragedy.

Difference Between The Two States Of The Community Surrounding Education

Facilitating and increasing possibilities in education remains to be a focal concern among states as it serves as an instrument for development and growth. This is why many states spend a large amount of income and resources for enhancing education to meet the demands of the population in general and the current trends in today’s society. Though there may be similarities in the overall objective, governments apply different e and varied strategies to make such effort a possibility.This can be seen if the educational system of the United States and Saudi Arabia be compared accordingly. Upon close observation, one can see there are striking similarities and differences between the two. They are similar â€Å"in terms of government spending on education, freedom to choose the school where they will attend to, and education for people with special needs, while differ in terms of attitude towards education, literacy rate, religion in school, gender roles, grading scales, and stage s of education† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 1).One major difference between the two states revolves around the attitudes and views of the community surrounding education. Compared to the United States wherein students are expected to attend class in a mandatory manner, Saudi Arabia does not impose such standards on students and remains to be open on individuals who seek to learn (Stalinsky, 2008). This in turn makes the system in United States strict and accountable towards creating educational policies. Another major difference is the statistics and numbers present as far as literacy rate is concerned.The United States educational system boasts of a 99% literacy rate for both men and women and continuously seeks new methods and mechanisms to solidify growth. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia fairs relatively lower than its counterpart and only provide 84. 7% for men and 70. 8% for women (Stevenson, 2008, p. 1). This is why the country is resolved towards establishing numerous framewor ks to help alleviate the increasing number of illiterate in the region. Curriculum content and facilitation is another difference between Saudi Arabia and American education.America offers its curriculum in a diversified manner and caters to different areas such as Physical and Social Sciences. Contrary to this, teaching Islam has been the focal point of Saudi Arabia’s educational system. It derives from the Sharia (Islamic Law) and the Quran as the basis for teaching (Ministry of Education, 2004). Equally men who have been trained under this can provide â€Å"religious secondary education with focus primarily on Islamic and Arabic Studies† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 3).Lastly, the scope of education is also another component that differentiates between the two states. In the United States, the curriculum is equally administered and facilitated both males and females. On the other hand, for Saudi Arabia, â€Å"education is divided into three separately administered systems: general education for boys, education for girls and traditional Islamic education for boys† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 3). Though there has been a move within the government to expand the scope of instruction for women, this practice continues to be prevalent in Saudi Arabia’s society.To conclude, though both the United States and Saudi Arabia are committed towards creating available education for everyone, they have different ways of applying such principle. These differences can be rooted to various cultural beliefs and practices that continue to shape how people think in two states. In the end, despite these differences, it can be argued that each one is committed in providing the necessary avenues to increase proficiency and develop schemes to make its citizens competent and ready to address the challenges of the 21st century.

The Baby Boom Generation essays

The Baby Boom Generation essays There is a group of people that now have power in America. They have the power to influence lawmakers, manufacturers, medicine, big businesses, and even political elections. These people are known as the Baby Boomers. The Baby Boom generation has had a dramatic effect on America. The Baby Boom generation began in 1946 and ended in 1964. During this era, 76 million babies were born. World War II ended in 1945, and battle weary soldiers returning home from war desired nothing more than a wife, a family, and a job to support them. These soldiers quickly set about to achieve this goal. This resulted in the generation known as the Baby Boomers. Never before in the history of America have so many babies been born in such a short time. Big families were very popular during this era, and most couples desired at least three children. Advances in medicine and prenatal care resulted in lower infant mortality rates. All of this resulted in a substantial number of Americans to survive from infancy to adulthood. The increasing number of people reaching adulthood resulted in a larger than ever number of people needing jobs. Industry took advantage of the increasing availability of workers by building more factories to produce more consumer goods. During World War II, America had relied upon women to produce the goods once produced by men who had gone to war. Women became accustomed to having more money and a life outside of their family and home. These same women encouraged their daughters to become better educated and to develop interests outside of the home. The daughters became career women, adding their income to their husbands and enabling the family to have more disposable income. Career women had less time for cooking and household chores than their mothers, and business and industry began developing ways to make their home life easier. Fast food restaurants and convenience foods developed as a ...

Choosing a Car to Buy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Choosing a Car to Buy - Essay Example The most important factors that influenced my decision in what type of car to buy are its affordability, use and aesthetic features. I like the Toyota Corolla because even though the price is quite high for me, I think I can work for it given a good payment scheme wherein I can pay for the item within a year. As I mentioned earlier, the car will be primarily for my daily activities so I want a car that is handy enough so I will not have trouble in parking spaces and even when I am on the road. I think the Corolla is easy to maneuver because of its ideal size and I can use it to work, school or other activities such as picnics and family visits. The car is just perfect for me in terms of functionality because with the many places I could use the car for, I do not think I would need another car for other functions. Lastly, I also want the features of the car. The car looks simple from the outside which I like so much because it is not a show-off. The size of the car is really important for me as well because it affects the functions mentioned above. I do not like a smaller car simply because I do not prefer it. I want to have friends ride with me for outdoor activities so I want a car that enables me to do just that. But a larger car would be difficult to bring along to most of my activities. Although a bigger car would be nice for outdoor activities such as picnics and camping but it is not every day that I go to such occasions. The Toyota Corolla is really a perfect choice for me in terms of price, functions and size.

Sensory Perceptions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sensory Perceptions - Essay Example Humans, by relying solely on these senses, face numerous limitations and challenges. Our ability to survive in the world this far amidst harsh conditions could be a result of our ability to maneuver safely within it by the use of our senses. However, the mounting threats, global warming, nuclei arms race, and incurable diseases such as AIDS, could be an indication of the unreliability of the senses to foresee looming human extinction. Humans have intellect and should not always rely on inaccurate information generated by the senses in making decisions. There are many reasons to justify the inaccuracy of sensory information. According to Descartes, our human background knowledge is the principal contributor to the inaccuracy of the senses (2002). He says, â€Å"Others are in error respecting matters of which they believe themselves to possess a perfect knowledge† (51). By questioning the certainty of two plus three being five, Descartes argues that as much as adding the values represent simple and general objects, our responses could be a result of the background knowledge we have on arithmetic. With no such information, even dealing with absolute objects that their existence is absolute becomes complicated. Additionally, the accuracy of the senses depends on the reliability of observed facts. ... 22). Sense data can be accurate and precise. However, this is subject to many factors. Primarily, the sources of data and the cognitive ability of an individual must be accurate. Our senses rely heavily on the data they receive to make a judgment. If our ability to smell, see, hear, or feel is impaired, it is highly possible that senses will make erroneous decisions. However, humans have highly developed organs that ensure accurate reception, analysis, and interpretation of received data. The human ears, for example, have sensitive receptors, which can detect over 400,000 types of sounds and act as amplifiers. The availability of these sensitive receptors ensures that the data sent to the brain is perceived accurately. Therefore, this rules out the possibility of any deception. Secondly, the human brain has the cognitive ability to analyze any form of sensory data received. Once data are received by the five senses, smell, touch, sight, taste, and hearing, it is then transmitted to t he brain through the spinal code for analysis. The human brain, being the most sophisticated organ known to man, has the capabilities of giving accurate analysis of the data received. Senses also rely on experiences to interpret data, and since such experiences are past realities, the senses can never be too wrong. The debate on the role of heredity and environment in child development has remained controversial over the last decades. Psychologists agree on the importance of nurture and nature in child development, but disagree over which plays a more significant role in the development process (Arkinson, 1993). Nurture dictates that environment influences a child’s development.