Stephen Cranes Maggie A Girl of the Streets free essay sample

A critical analysis of Cranes novel, `Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.` This paper analyzes Stephen Cranes Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The author examines how the book is a reflection of the writers childhood and childhood experiences. `Many of Stephen Cranes life experiences are also expressed in his writings, but not in the way casual readers would expect. Many people believe that The Red Badge of Courage is the result of Cranes personal acquaintance with the Civil War and `Maggie: A Girl of the Streets` was written following a time spent living in the slums of New York. This is not true in either case. Stephen Crane was born after the Civil War and according to Benfey, `Maggie: A Girl of the Streets` was started prior to Crane moving to New York (63). Although, the deterministic theme in `Maggie: A Girl of the Streets` is not a result of Stephen Cranes personal experience in the slums, it is a reflection of a dark period in his childhood, his unpleasant experiences with Christianity, and parental deprivation. We will write a custom essay sample on Stephen Cranes Maggie: A Girl of the Streets or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page `

Is Torture justified free essay sample

What is torture? Basically, this is the action of physically or psychologically hurting a person without their permission and against their will. The torture has many goals such as obtaining a confession or information of the victim, revenge for an act committed by the victim or just for entertainment morbid and sadistic of the torturer. According to the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture, the torture is: â€Å"any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Torture justified? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions. † Torture is not acceptable because it is degrading and ethically wrong, but under certain circumstances torture can be justified. Torture is justifiable if lives of innocent people are in risk or if an entire nation is in danger. First of all torture is justifiable when the lives of innocent people are in danger of being injured by violent motives. For example, in the scenario that a terrorist put a ticking time bomb in a public place like the case of a shopping center, a park, a hospital, a stadium, etc. This person is the only one who can give a clue as how, when and where the attack will happen, so it is definitely better sacrifices the human rights of a single person who is doing evil, for it can save the lives of hundreds of innocent people. Another example, in the scenario of a murderer or rapist who uses torture for sadistic and morbid motives, and he has prisoners and assuming that the police caught him, and this person does not want willingly confess the crimes committed and the location of these people. Then, the morals and ethics of society should be left aside and act promptly to extract the information needed to save these people from suffering provided by the torturer. According to Mirko Bagaric claims that torture is morally justified in order to save the lives of innocent people. He is confident that torture gives reliable information that can prevent terrorist attacks. According to the author, torture is a way to avoid killing innocent people. He claims that torture should never be used for punishment and domination, but it has different considerations when used for humane reasons such as saving lives. In one part of his article says, â€Å"Killing Innocent People Worse than Torture; Paradoxically, people who propose an absolute ban on torture arent sufficiently repulsed by torture and are too willing to accept the murder of innocent people: either they lack compassion or have a warped moral compass. Torture is bad. Killing innocent people is worse. Some people are so depraved that they combine these evils and torture innocent people to death. † Mirko Babaric is certain that torture is not cruel if it is motivated by a compassionate desire to avoid a tragedy, and it gets a greater good. He made a refutation to the people who are against torture. He said, â€Å"There could be nothing more inhumane than doing nothing as innocent people are being tortured to death. † Torture used to save the life of another person is acceptable. In another article clearly shows a real example of how the torture served to save the life of a human being. â€Å"In June 1979 Jean Leon and an accomplice kidnapped Miami cab driver Louis Gachelin, held him at gunpoint, and demanded a seven-thousand-dollar ransom from his family. Police officers quickly captured Leon, but Gachelin was not with him. Concerned that Gachelin might be murdered once Leons absence was noticed by his accomplice, seven police officers made a radical decision: To find out where Gachelin was being held, they beat the information out of Leon. The kidnapper caved in, and Gachelin was rescued. His life had arguably been saved by the use of torture. † The author also shows how torture has been used since human civilization from The Code of Hammurabi , 1750 BC to the present day with the intention to punish or to get information, even in some parts of the world are still cases of torture as way of punishment or conviction, but this is not the case of the Americans because they do not supporter torture as a punishment, and it is established on the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. nevertheless, the torture can be used in cases like Gachelin, where this serves as an interrogation technique to save the life of a person. Since The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U. S. has been focused on how to prevent similar situations happen in the future. For this reason, some Americans have suggested the use of torture to obtain the desired information. The author notes that U. S. government has experimented with new techniques of interrogation without violating international human rights; those are as known stress and duress techniques, which consist of exposing prisoners to isolation, darkness, blindfolding, discomfort (such as being forced to stand in one position for four hours), forced nudity, and unpleasant food. These tactics are designed to demoralize prisoners so that they will provide information, and they have been met with much controversy over the legality and morality of their application. Those in favor of using the intensified techniques argue that the information extracted from stressed prisoners might save hundreds of lives. † The ticking time bomb is a very common scenario for those who support the use of torture. Supporters of the time bomb hypothesis believe that enhanced interrogation techniques are justified to obtain information from suspects to avoid massive loss of life. Although Americans have probably never faced a real time bomb scenario, many of them are familiar with the concept and are aware of the various means of torture that could be used to obtain the necessary information, and all this because a TV series called 24. This show is directed, produced and acted by Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, whose job is to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States. According to Human Rights, before September 11, 2001, there were four or fewer cases of torture on television each year. In 2009, more than 100 cases were reported acts of torture that appear on TV. According to David Danzig Human Rights, he said, It used to be almost exclusively the villains who tortured. Nowadays, torture is often perpetrated by the heroes, even though torture is illegal under the law U. S. and internationally. † Is Torture justified? The show 24 shows a simplified representation of the difficulty and complexity of the policy issues and definitions of torture facing the government of the United States. The opposite side says that Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments are like slavery and genocide, and they are always unacceptable. This principle has been established for many years and is enshrined in international law. â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom from torture and inhuman or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. † It is Accordance with Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They get three main arguments against the authorization of torture. First, it is the argument of art slippery slope this means that allowing torture in a limited context there may encourage more of these cases. Nonetheless, this argument does not work for the concept of torture because it is already used even though it is universally prohibited, according to reports Amnesty International reported cases of torture and ill-treatment in 132 countries in 2003, including the United States, Japan and France. The second argument is that torture makes it lose its human sense to the society. Nevertheless, a society that chooses to defend the rights of those who do evil on innocent people instead of defending innocent people, in that case the society needs to make an urgent moral and ethical change to see things more humanely. Finally, people cannot be absolutely certain that torturing someone gives us the result of saving the life of another person. However, it is a decision of self defense. In conclusion, the only way the torture is justified. There is when existed a threat to the lives of innocent people or finding a greater good for humanity. For example, a terrorist attack when is in danger the lives of hundreds of innocent people or in the case of murderers, rapists and kidnappers who has prisoners. keep in mind that torture can only be used as an information extraction technique because it is not acceptable as a punishment based on religious, political and social belief. Definitely, Torture is acceptable when used for the greater good of humanity to preserve the lives of innocent people.

History and Facts About Alcatraz Prison

History and Facts About Alcatraz Prison Once considered the prison of American prisons, the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay has been an asset to the U.S. Army, the federal prison system, jailhouse folklore, and the historical evolution of the West Coast. Despite its reputation as a cold and unforgiving penitentiary, Alcatraz is now one of the most prominent tourist magnets in San Francisco. In 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala chartered what is now San Francisco Bay. He called the 22-acre rocky island La Isla de los Alcatraces, meaning Island of the Pelicans. With no vegetation or habitation, Alcatraz was little more than a desolate islet occupied by the occasional swarm of birds. Under the English-speaking influence, the name Alcatraces became Alcatraz. Fort Alcatraz Alcatraz was reserved for military use under President Millard Fillmore in 1850. Meanwhile, the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains brought growth and prosperity to San Francisco. The lure of the Gold Rush demanded the protection of California as gold seekers flooded the San Francisco Bay. In response, the U.S. Army built a fortress on the rocky face of Alcatraz. They made plans to install more than 100 cannons, making Alcatraz the most heavily armed entity on the West Coast. The first functional lighthouse on the West Coast was built on Alcatraz Island as well. Once fully equipped with weaponry in 1859, the island was deemed Fort Alcatraz. Having never fired its own weapons in combat, Fort Alcatraz quickly evolved from an island of defense to an island of detention. In the early 1860s, civilians arrested for treason during the Civil War were housed on the island. With the influx of prisoners, additional living quarters were built to house 500 men. Alcatraz as a jail would continue for 100 years. Throughout history, the average population of the island hovered between 200 and 300 people, never at maximum capacity. The Rock After the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906, inmates from nearby prisons were transferred to the infallible Alcatraz. Over the next five years, prisoners built a new jail, designated Pacific Branch, U.S. Military Prison, Alcatraz Island. Popularly known as The Rock, Alcatraz served as an army disciplinary barracks until 1933. Prisoners were educated and received military and vocational training here. Alcatraz of the early 20th century was a minimum-security prison. Prisoners spent their days working and learning. Some were even employed as babysitters for the families of prison officers. They eventually built a baseball field and inmates fashioned their own baseball uniforms. Boxing matches among inmates known as â€Å"Alcatraz Fights† were hosted on Friday nights. Prison life played a role in the changing landscape of the island. The military transported soil to Alcatraz from nearby Angel Island, and many prisoners were trained as gardeners. They planted roses, bluegrass, poppies, and lilies. Under the order of the U.S. Army, Alcatraz was a fairly mild institution and its accommodations were favorable. The geographic location of Alcatraz was the undoing of U.S. Army occupation. Importing food and supplies to the island was much too expensive. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced the army off the island, and the prisoners were transferred to institutes in Kansas and New Jersey. Uncle Sam’s Devil’s Island Alcatraz was obtained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1934. The former military detention center became America’s first maximum-security civilian penitentiary. This â€Å"prison system’s prison† was specifically designed to house the most horrendous prisoners, the troublemakers that other federal prisons could not successfully detain. Its isolated location made it ideal for the exile of hardened criminals, and a strict daily routine taught inmates to follow prison rule and regulation. The Great Depression witnessed some of the most heinous criminal activity in modern American history, and Alcatraz’s severity was well suited to its time. Alcatraz was home to notorious criminals including Al â€Å"Scarface† Capone, who was convicted of tax evasion and spent five years on the island. Alvin â€Å"Creepy† Karpis, the FBI’s first â€Å"Public Enemy,† was a 28-year resident of Alcatraz. The most famous prisoner was Alaskan murderer Robert â€Å"Birdman† Stroud, who spent 17 years on Alcatraz. Over its 29 years of operation, the federal prison housed more than 1,500 convicts. Daily life in the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was harsh. Prisoners were given four rights. They included medical attention, shelter, food, and clothing. Recreational activities and family visits had to be earned through hard work. Punishments for bad behavior included hard labor, wearing a 12-pound ball and chain, and lock-downs where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, restricted to bread and water. There was a total of 14 escape attempts by over 30 prisoners. Most were caught, several were shot, and a few were swallowed by the chilling swells of the San Francisco Bay. Why Did Alcatraz Close? The prison on Alcatraz Island was expensive to operate, as all supplies had to be brought in by boat. The island had no source of fresh water, and almost one million gallons were shipped in each week. Building a high-security prison elsewhere was more affordable for the Federal Government, and as of 1963 â€Å"Uncle Sam’s Devil’s Island† was no more. Today, the equivalent of the infamous federal prison on Alcatraz Island is a maximum-security institution in Florence, Colorado. It is nicknamed â€Å"Alcatraz of the Rockies†. Tourism Alcatraz Island became a national park in 1972 and is considered part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Open to the public in 1973, Alcatraz sees more than one million visitors from across the globe each year. Alcatraz is best known as a maximum-security prison. Media attention and fantastic stories have exaggerated this image. The San Francisco Bay islet has been much more than this. Alcatraz as a mass of rock named for its birds, an American fort during the Gold Rush, an army barracks, and tourist attraction may be less enticing but allude to a more dynamic existence. It is one to be embraced by San Francisco and California as a whole.

Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte - Essay Example Probably, it led to overestimation of his abilities and eventually led to his defeat. Napoleon – Early Years Napoleon Bonaparte was born in a wealthy family in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean Island of Corsica on 15th August 1769. His father, Carol Bonaparte, was a lawyer and a political opportunist. At that time, Corsica had just been sold to France by Genoa. So, Napoleon was not of French origin. According to Marsh, there were both luck and personal factors which favored Napoleon in his rise to power (5). As his father climbed the political ladder and as his mother had connections with Corsica’s French military governor, Napoleon had the chance to enter the military academy at Brienne in the year 1779. As Landau points out, it was this entry into military that acted as the very basis of his rise to power. With extraordinary talent in areas like mathematics, the workaholic genius graduated as a second lieutenant in the artillery in the year 1785 (18). Though Napoleon was posted on the French mainland, he was able to engage actively in the Corsican politics. Though he supported Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli in the beginning, there were differences in opinion later on, and the Bonaparte had to flee to France. The French Revolution during the latter half of the 18th century was a fertile soil for individuals with talent to come to the fore. Fremont-Barnes reflects that the people agitated throughout France in a protest against the atrocities committed by the wealthy and the church (58). Soon, King Louis was imprisoned and executed. Following this, the revolutionary government declared France a republic. However, there was total chaos as the nation was ruled by various fractions; and most notable of them was the Jacobin group led by Maximilien Robespierre. This revolutionary government in France shocked monarchies throughout Europe. Empires like Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain wanted to suppress the revolution and bring monarchy back to pow er in France. Soon, in 1972, the empires declared war on France. However, France was not fit to face them as the revolution had eliminated its military officers. Many of them had been killed and many had already fled the place. The Toulon Siege and the Path Ahead Thus, in the year 1793, Napoleon was commissioned as a captain in the artillery and was assigned to the units which were engaged in the task of eliminating British Garrison from the southern port of Toulon as it was found to be helping Royalist uprising. There, sheer luck came into play as he was made the commander of the siege on 16th September 1793. He was offered the position because the existing commander of the artillery was wounded (â€Å"Napoleon Bonaparte†). In the new position, Napoleon exhibited skill and mastery by capturing two important forts and eliminating the British fleet from the port. Though it was not a major victory, he managed to present it as a great achievement. As the entire French army was m arred by untrained people and lack of leadership, his performance, though minor, was noticed by a number of powerful men in Paris. This was followed by his ascend to the rank of Brigadier General. After this, Napoleon joined the campaign in Italy as the commandant of the artillery. However, by this time, the political atmosphere in Paris was rather bad as people were feeling highly insecure under the Directory, and, as a result, Robespierre was executed and

Yala Swamp Conflict Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Yala Swamp Conflict - Term Paper Example The aim of the project was to prevent degradation of the wetland and improve the lives of local people (Davenport 4). However, despite the project’s endeavor, it raised conflicts between the local communities on one side and county councils and the Dominion, founders of the project, on the other side. This, therefore, led to the emergence of Yala swamp conflict from the year 2003 to present.  It has caused a great attention and concerns that many African countries experience conflicts especially as a result of resource depletion and environmental degradation. As the U.S. United Nations delegate, I have been assigned a Judy to arbitrate an aspect of dispute in the Yala swamp conflict that exist between two sides, the one on the local community and the one on the Dominion and country council. After conducting my research on the disputing issue, I realized that the development project meant to improve the condition of Yala swamp was the main source of conflict (Davenport 11). I have been able to analyze and gain an understanding of the nature of the moral dimensions of conflict in the region. The conflicting parties are actually the stakeholders of the project where one party, the local community, is affected by the development project while the other party of both dominion and country council are the exploiters.  I also understand that conflict has emerged as a result of incompatible goals, which depend on contested natural resources. I realized that the local community feels deprived of the right to use land for farm by the development project hence contesting for the natural resources. Furthermore, this community lives in extreme poverty and therefore desire to acquire more land. Land conflict result to environmental degradation when a community is squeezed into a limited area and cause pressure on it.  

Three Year Marketing Plan of G Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Three Year Marketing Plan of G Company - Essay Example This essay focuses on describing of the G Company's marketing plan. The researcher firstly presents mission statement of Company G that depicts its long-run intention to â€Å"enable consumers to improve the quality and convenience of their lives by providing high-quality, innovative electronic solutions†. The proposed product in this marketing plan is a small appliance electronic Ice-cream maker with quality assurance and at a cheaper price. In relation to its mission statement, Company G attempts to provide its customers with a high-quality product, i.e. the ice-cream maker, as per the targeted customers’ conveniences, facilitating innovative electronic equipments in the present competitive market scenario. It is described that the company will be targeting the middle-level economic groups, especially the households or families with children. The product, i.e. Company G’s ice-cream maker, will target the small appliances market of the US primarily. Thus, the co mpetitive environment of the small appliances industry in the US has been summarized henceforth with the application of the Porter’s Five Forces Model. The researcher also discusses three of Company G’s strengths and weaknesses that are related to the marketing of the new product and then selects four marketing objectives for Company G consisting of one objective for each of the four marketing mix elements. In conclusion, the researcher describes the specific actions that will be taken to measure the effectiveness of the plan.

Advantages of Traditional Budgeting Systems

Advantages of Traditional Budgeting Systems Traditional budgeting is one the first budgeting systems created. Traditional budgeting system is still commonly used in many organizations today. The reasons why organizations still using traditional budget, this is due to framework of control. The role of the budget is to give focus to an organization, and help the coordination of activities and enable control. Large companies might struggle to plan, coordinate and control their dealings without a budgetary system. Even smaller companies can benefit from the budgetary system to ensure the direction of the business, and how it can reach its goals. Second reason is its organizational culture; for the fundamental method of operating, it may not be possible for the organization to move away. Moreover, by their nature, budgets are a centrally coordinated activity within a business, and often the only one which brings together all aspects of the company. Budgets are often the one process which covers all areas of organisational activity (Otley, 1999). Third reason of an organization still using traditional budgeting system is the need to decentralise; this is recognized that banks institutions and other financial institutions are more suitable candidates for decentralisation than other types of businesses. For an example, Norman Macintosh observed that branch managers at Transamerica Finance Corporation had a great deal of freedom to run their operations according to standard operating procedures. Similarly, another example is Svenska Handelsbanken, the largest bank in Sweden sets parameters for branch managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ discretion and then motivates its staff using competitive devices such as branch league tables (Alexa Michael and Technical Information Service, 2007). This approach can be successful in organizations where people work in similar but in independent units. However, it does not follow that this level of decentralization can be adopted by all organizations. Every organization is unique and it may be impossibl e to change the company culture to provide the necessary decentralisation. Successful decentralisation also depends on a great deal of trust being invested in teams throughout the organisation. Due to economic uncertainty, traditional budgeting has its limit. The disadvantage of traditional budgeting is it has insufficient external focus. Traditional budgeting is seldom focusing on strategy and is often conflicting. Besides that, it is time consuming and costly to put together, and also limit responsiveness and flexibility, whereby this is not good for economic uncertainty situation. This is because it often discourages change and only adds little value, budget tend to be bureaucratic and discourage creative thinking and requires too much valuable management time. Traditional budgeting system has an adverse impact on management behaviour, which can become dysfunctional with regard to the objectives of the organisation as a whole. Johnson (2005) explains that most budgets are not based on a rational, causal model of resource consumption, but are often the result of protracted internal bargaining processes. Conformance to budget is not seen as compatible with a drive towards continuous improvement. Under economic uncertainty, inflexibility is somehow seen as the key failing factor of traditional budgeting, and organizations are being urged to move towards continuous budgeting systems to enable speedy and coordinated adaptations to actual and anticipated changes in the economic (Neely et al, 1997). Continuous budgeting system gives companies the agility and capability to follow changes in market situations, and to cope with economic uncertainty while keeping an eye on strategic objectives (Lorain, 2010). Continuous budgeting system solves problems associated with infrequent budgeting and hence results in more accurate forecast. It is also more responsive to changing circumstances under economic uncertainty. Some companies use a continuous budget which means that a ongoing 12 months budget is presented by consecutively adding a new budget as each current month expire, such a process allow management to work at anytime, within the present 1 month component of a full 12 month annual budget. Continuous budgeting system make the planning process less irregular, rather than having managers go into the budget getting period at a specific time, managers are continuously involved in planning and budgeting process. The advantages of a continuous budget under economic uncertainty situation include, eliminating a fiscal year mind set by recognizing that business is an ongoing operation and should be managed accordingly. It also allows management to make corrective steps as forecast business cond ition change such as in economic uncertainty. It helps to reduce or eliminating the budget planning process that occurs at the end of each fiscal year. Another recent survey jointly conducted by the American Productivity Quality Centres and IBM Global Business Services has found that companies focusing on planning, budgeting and forecasting as a business strategy are higher performers in all area than those focusing on cost accounting, control and cost management. The study also showed that high performing organizations tend to complete their budgeting cycle in 30 days compared to 90 days in low performing organizations and most of the high performers used continuous budgeting system when the economic in uncertain (Kinney and Raiborn, 2008). Another example in the article author has mention how Kenyan business sail through under economic uncertainty. Kenyan have experience challenging times with business struggling to plan and price their product carefully so as not to erode the profit margins that they had planned for. Having exchange rate problems. Smart cfos employ a budgeting, principally a set of procedures used to develop budget. Author mention that Kenyan organization have limited resources and and they need to effectively plan and use them. This is why they implement budgets to help provides a means to achieve this. Budgets provide a useful benchmark of performance and help control profit and operations when compared to actual performance. The resulting variance guide management in appreciating what they need to do in the subsequent period. Employee performance and managerial performance is usually measured on qualitative terms, but budget gives a new meaning to evaluate performance through numbers and helps in r ewarding high performers and correcting the low performers. Due to the economic downturn, a number of well run companies have adapted to their specific circumstances and prepare master budget that comprises of performance financial statement, a capital budget, and a financial budget. However, some organizations have adapted to the concept of continuous budgets. With the fluctuation of the dollar, business are emploting a variety of techniques of budgeting to ensure that they make profits.