Saturday, October 5, 2019

Music players Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Music players - Essay Example The very first iPod was introduced to the market as a player with a 5GB storage capacity capable of storing one thousand songs. This product got feedback from consumers, though a number of them complained of an exorbitant price of $400. Because the first versions of iPod proved fruitful in penetrating the music player industry, another hardware upgrade came in 2003, catapulting iPod into the third generation. This advanced hardware upgrade did not have mechanical dials. The function buttons were placed under the screen and resembled a scroll wheel. Their storage was enhanced from the previous 10GB to 40 GB. On order to remain competitive in the music player industry, apple introduced iPod mini in 2004. Unlike the original iPod, this version had five different colors: green, gold, silver, pink and blue. The iPod mini had smaller screens and enhanced storage than any other music player then. In February 2005, a new version of iPod was introduced with an improved chipset, longer battery life and even more enhanced storage capacity. The collaboration between Apple and HP in 2004 helped Apple to explore new markets that previously never stocked Apple’s products. In 2005, Apple introduced the iPod photo. This was similar to the iPod but was capable of browsing photo albums and had improved battery life. This made it a hit among the music player enthusiasts, with most music players in the same price range providing half its storage capacity. This made Apple’s profits to quadruple in 2005 as a result of sales of iPod. The iPod was followed by the introduction of the Nano. This version was made available in two variants, the 2GB and 4GB music players. The Nano made used of an improved scroll wheel from apple and was significantly smaller. Not long after the launch of the Nano, Apple released the fifth generation of its music players. These had the ability of playing both video and audio music files, and its launch was instrumental in the creation of the iTunes

Friday, October 4, 2019

EMOHRUO (Airspace Management and Air Traffic Services) Essay

EMOHRUO (Airspace Management and Air Traffic Services) - Essay Example This report will delineate the major issues associated with the airspace management and air traffic services required for Emohruo. Reference will continuously be made to the map of Emohruo which is displayed below for reference. Within the scope of future airspace management and air traffic services Emohruo will emerge as an island nation with multiple roles. Given that Emohruo sits at the cross roads of international traffic, it is highly likely that the nation will see international traffic in the shape of connecting flights from all directions. Moreover the prospect of LVI developing into a gambling den is very real and will present a lot of international and regional tourist traffic. The air traffic will also be augmented by needs of the mining industry as well as the fishing industry along with the ski resort SKI to the north east. On the other hand, domestic traffic will most likely flow along the eastern coast and to the mid western town of MP4. Constant movement will be required between LVI, the mining towns, the fishing industry, SKI and the cities of BP 1, 2 and 3 as well as MP4 in order to provide goods and services. This will represent the domestic air traffic load. Another set of air traffic is presented by military needs especially in wake of the recent civil war and whilst required this component of air traffic will have to be kept isolated from all other forms of traffic for strategic reasons. The current location of the military exercise areas (refer to Figure One above) is isolated from cities and other commercial functions and should be maintained as such. Consequently commercial air traffic from the west over the military zone will be forbidden and should be designated as a no fly zone. The military setup could also be removed and moved further down south just above MP4 such that traffic towards LVI will not interfere with it but this presents two problems. One there may

Thursday, October 3, 2019

William Foxwell Albright Essay Example for Free

William Foxwell Albright Essay William Foxwell Albright was born in 1891 and died eighty years later in 1971. He was born in Chile, where his parents were missionaries. Poor eye sight as a child meant he did not often join other children in play. Instead he turned to his father’s library. The family returned to the United State of America in 1903. Always a scholar,, his skills meant that he obtained his doctorate in Semitic languages at the very early age of 22 in 1913. From 1929 – 1958 he taught at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was the professor of Semitic Languages, while, for much of that time, also being director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, now re-named as The W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. He held the latter post from 1921 to 29 and again from 1933-6. He was also the senior editor of the Anchor Bible series for the fifteen years from 1956 until he died in 1971 as well as making contributions to important definitive reference books such as the Cambridge University Press , ‘The Cambridge Ancient History’. According to his sentry in the New World Encyclopedia he was concerned with:- The social and political structure, the religious concepts and practices and other human activities and relationships that are found in the Bible or pertain to peoples mentioned in the Bible. Following the example of Sir William Flinders Petrie, who worked in Southern Israel from 1890 onwards, Albright was able to establish a systematic way of dating pottery found in Palestine, as when Tell Beit Mirsim , to the south west of Hebron in Jordan, was excavated in the years from 1926-36. His earliest archaeological investigations had as their focus the historicity of the Patriarchs. As late as 1961 he was able to utilize much of his knowledge on this subject , gathered over many years, in his article ‘Abram the Hebrew, a new archeological perspective. ’ In 1922 he had worked at the site of Gibeah ( Tell el ful, meaning hill of beans ) He would also work at other sites such as Beth-Zur, Bethel and Petra , the great trading city of the Nabateans, in Jordan. Although best known, and mainly concerned with biblical archeology, he was also able to make his contribution to knowledge about other near eastern subjects. He helped to establish a correct dating for Hammurabi in Babylon, when he argued with other scholars that their interpretation of a Mari letter was incorrect , His paper entitled, New Light from Egypt on the Chronology and History of Israel and Judah, was concerned with dating the Egytian pharoah Shishak, a contemporary of Soloman who began to rule at some point from 945 and 940 B. C. E. He laid the foundation of the understanding of ancient West Semitic cultures, in particular the religion of the Cananites. For all these reasons he was referred to as ‘The Great Authenticator’ because, among other things, it was he who identified, the Dead Sea Scroll as being authentic, despite his poor eye sight. In 1948, having only seen a photograph up to that point, of the scroll of Isaiah, he wrote to John C. Trevor at the at American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem in March 1948 :- I repeat that in my opinion you have made the greatest manuscript discovery of modern timescertainly the greatest biblical manuscript find What an incredible find! There were in fact some 15,000 fragments making up texts from 574 original manuscripts. The particular text concerned, a complete copy of the prophecy of Isaiah, which had been shown to Trevor by a Syrian Orthodox monk about a year after the original discovery of the scrolls, was the oldest Hebrew text discovered up to that time. Some of his work was instinctive, as when he studied a letter, believed by others to be from the Bronze Age, that is some 4,000 years ago. According to Dale Keiger he just sensed that something was wrong. Only recently has he been proved right. Keiger says of him :- The Bible, before William Foxwell Albright, was exempt from critical appraisal: It was simply Gospel. He goes on to describe how, because he could not see well enough to join in ball games, he studied from an early age. He was brought up in a Christian home and never repudiated Christian interpretations of the Bible, but he did say that it should be studied in the context of history. Albright has been described as the:- Father of biblical archaeology and the dean of American archaeologists working in the southern Levant from the 1920s through the 1960s. And he was ‘father’ in the sense that he passed on both his knowledge and enthusiasm. A number of his former students became leaders in their own right in the field of Biblical study and in archeology. Yet the same writer claims that the impact he made upon archaeological methods can be described as negligible. So was Albright as great as has been claimed? Other workers Although relatively well known because of his association with the amazing finds at Qumran in the 1940’s, Albright was in fact only one of dozens of other leaders of archeological expeditions. These began in a small way when an attempt was made in 1838 by Edward Robinson and Eli Smith to identify biblical cities, using as their basis modern day Arabic names . From the 1860’s onwards Warren began searching in Jerusalem. Albright actually used for the most part methods already established by earlier workers, rather than developing new ways of working. It was the British archeologist Kathleen Kenyon who developed the idea of stratigraphy, which involved close examination of the soil under and around objects discovered. It was her method, which was more demanding upon the excavators that was used from the 1950’s at very important sites such as Jerusalem and Jericho. It was based not upon instinct, but upon very careful analysis and interpretation of the materials found. Albright’s achievements. In Bernard Anderson’s work of 1957 ‘The Living World of the Old Testament’ the index has 17 citations under the name W. F. Albright . This gives some indication of the amount and range of his scholarly writing. For instance it is his opinion about the probable date of the Exodus that became widely accepted at the time. Much of his writing is about the translation of ancient texts. He is known for instance for his views on the history of the word YHWH which he said had it origins in God’s creative ability, a view accepted by some scholars, as Anderson describes. His scholarly writing was wide ranging, as when he described the Canaanite religion in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. though it may be in this case that he was only restating what others such as Pritchard had discovered about such very early texts, although Anderson does quote a translation by Albright. He was prepared to argue with others when he felt that he was right as when he stood out about the dating of the Song of Deborah , and the battle of Megiddo. Also with regard to the Biblical prophecy of Habakkuk Anderson describe how many scholars see the Psalm in chapter 3 as having been inserted by different writer, whereas Albright held out for a substantially unique authorship for the whole book, basing this upon the language used. Work by Albright has been confirmed by later work, as when he evacuated King Saul’s fortress at Gibeah, in 1922-3 and found that the charismatic Israelite leader lived a very simple life, in a two story building built upon earlier foundations. His findings were confirmed by Paul Lapp who looked at the site again in 1964. He was acknowledged as an expert upon links between the Bible and archeological findings because of his many writings, as when he wrote ‘Archeology and the Religion of Israel’. Albright was able to study the group of artefacts known as the LMLK seals. He also performed many on-site excavations, the first being one of the most significant, when in 1923 he was able to excavate a tumulus situated near Jerusalem, Israel. Criticism of Albright’s work. Some recent archeologists have seemed to be trying to make a separation between the Biblical record and archeology, whereas Albright sought to prove the Bible from archeology. Archeologist William Denver has said ’Most people really think that archeology is out to prove the Bible. No archeologist thinks so. ’ He has also said of Albright that :- Central theses (regarding the historicity of the Bible) have all been overturned, partly by further advances in biblical criticism, but mostly by the continuing archaeological research of younger Americans and Israelis to whom he himself gave encouragement and momentum. Despite such statements in Albright’s case he was often able to confirm the Biblical record. It has been found by people such as Lapp that his archeology was correct. Having said that Metzer and Coogan in 1993 said that his identification of Tell Beit Mersim as Debir has been disputed. Debir was the ancient fortress of one of the kings of the Amorites who were eventually defeated by Joshua at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, . Despite this the Thompson Chain Bible marks it to the south west of Hebron as Albright said. The Oxford Companion to the Bible has a similar map, so even when his findings are disputed they are accepted by at least some scholars. Albright’s were not the only person whose findings were disputed. The various different views caused much confusion in the mind of the public. In 1932 he wrote:- Small wonder that historians and Biblical scholars turned away from this chaos of conflicting views in despair, convinced that the main purpose of archaeology was to unearth inscriptions and occasionally to elucidate the arts and the crafts of the ancient inhabitants. Times have moved on in what Thomas described as ‘The Shifting Sands’ of archeology. According to William Dever, as quoted by Thomas Davis, staff needed for excavations in Bible lands would no longer ask the questions posed by the Bible and it associated archaeology, but those raised American anthropology. Conclusion Albright’s real claim to fame seems to have been not so much as a pure archeologist as in his skills in the Semitic group of languages. He was able, despite his faulty eyesight, to examine ancient texts and come to important conclusions. In some cases his findings clearly back up the literal Biblical record. It has now been almost 40 years since his death and so perhaps it is time for a reassessment of his scholarly contribution. There is ongoing work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, but apparently no doubts about Albright’s original dating of the finds at between 200 BCE and 200 C. E. Archeologist Doctor Bryant Wood , one of the Associates for Biblical Research, has described the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are important because they are roughly 1000 years older than the previously known texts with which they can be compared. This means that they show how the Old Testament scriptures have been faithfully copied and carried forward down the years. Albright was many things – all of them to high standards. He was a biblical scholar and historian, a linguist as well as being an archeologist and an expert in early ceramics. His careful scholarship meant he was able to merge the science of archaeology and his knowledge of the languages used in the Biblical countries with the ancient Biblical narratives, in several instances proving their historical accuracy. In 1964, when his active working life was drawing to its close, he described himself not as a biblical archaeologist, or even as archaeologist, but rather as an Orientalist. Since his day new methods have come in, often using modern day electronic devices that were unavailable to Albright. Despite this it is with good reason that his writings are described as authoritative. During his life time he received numerous awards including both honorary doctorates, and medals. All archeologists are scientists, but they all also work to some extent using their instincts when making choices – Albright it seems was one of the best at doing so, despite the fact that in more recent years his has received considerable adverse criticism. He did his best according to the skills, knowledge, methods, beliefs and attitudes of his time. Dr Albright was able to bring Biblical archeology into the notice of the mainstream However it seems that, according to Thomas Davis , George Ernest Wright, a student of Albright’s has done work which could bring about the end of the kind of Bible based archeology Albright promoted so well. Despite all the negativism in 2004 Thomas Davis, who makes dozens of references to Albright in his book of that year, still felt able to write that ‘Biblical archeology still has validity as a name for the sphere of interaction of archaeology and the Bible.’ G. Ernest Wright in 1982, described him as:- The dominant creative figure in the attempt to place the Bible in a perspective of the whole of ancient history. References. Albright, W. F. The New World Encyclopedia, available from http://www. newworldencyclopedia. org/entry/William_F. _Albright internet, accessed 12th May 2010 Albright, W. F. to John C. Trevor, March 1948, The Dead Sea Scrolls, available from http://virtualreligion. net/iho/dss. html, internet, accessed 11th May 2010 Albright, W. F. , Abram the Hebrew, a new archeological interpretation, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 163: 36–54. 1961) Albright, W. F. , â€Å"The Ancient Tell Beit Mirsim†, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Number 23, 1926: 2-14, available from http://ancientneareast. tripod. com/Beit_Mirsim. html, internet, accessed 10th May 2010 Albright, W. F. Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, Baltimore, John Hopkins, 1946 Albright W. F. , Archaeology of Palestine and the Bible. New York: Fleming H. Revell. 1932

Political System of Pakistan

Political System of Pakistan INTRODUCTION The current system of government in Pakistan is a mixed, â€Å"hybrid† form of government with elements from the parliamentary as well as the presidential systems. The country initially had a parliamentary form of government, it shifted to a presidential one with the 1962 constitution but later reverted back to a parliamentary one according to the current 1973 constitution. However, the various amendments and modifications to the constitutional provisions carried out by political leaders over the years have left a democratic, parliamentary government only in paper. The question that this paper, thus, attempts to answer is that, is a pure parliamentary form of government suitable for Pakistan? To find a proper conclusion to the aforementioned question, the essay will explore the shortfalls of the current system and compare the two forms of government i.e. Parliamentary and Presidential, in order to suggest the better suited government structures of the two. In order to do this India, with its similarities to Pakistan in terms of shared history and culture, is taken as an example for Pakistan along with instances of the two types of democratic government systems prevalent in other countries. While the arguments for Parliamentary and Presidential forms of governments may draw inspiration from their practical application in India and elsewhere but these examples will be implied and not necessarily always mentioned explicitly. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research for this paper comprised primarily of review of works by established professionals and academics in the field. Most of the research was limited to consultation of print and online sources for access to published material on the relevant topic. The starting point of analysis was with examination of the text containing reviews of the current system of government structure in Pakistan, its flaws and the eventual inefficiencies it has led to. Various journal articles and books were consulted for a variety of perspectives on the debate regarding the suitable system of government for Pakistan. Along with consultation of material for analysis of government structure of various countries, especially India and the South Asian region in particular, online journals were looked upon for comparative perspectives on the suitable government structure and their merits and demerits. Although the research is limited to a select few academics and professionals in the field, it allows for a sample of the general prevalent views on the issue since both sides of the debate have been looked at. LITERATURE REVIEW A large majority of literature on the topic is either about the shortfalls of the current mixed government of Pakistan or it highlights how the presidential system of government is better suited for the country. What is needed, however, is a detailed comparison of the two systems and not just analysis of any one of the systems with regards to Pakistan. Material by foreign academics and professionals looks at the Pakistani political system in comparison to their own and focuses on the inadequacies of the Pakistani system. The following reviewed literature comprises of a small sample of previously conducted study and analyses on the subject under discussion. Khalid Sayeed (1967), in his book ‘The Political System of Pakistan, explained the chronological progression of events leading up to the constitution of 1962 and the provisions it made regarding the system of governance to be put in practice in Pakistan. Regarding the 1962 constitution, the author (Sayeed, 1967) was of the view that the constitution severely curtailed the powers of the parliament and reduced the country to a distorted version of a presidential government. The author provided a favorable opinion about the parliamentary form of government, provided that it is actually in its truly democratic form (Sayeed, 1967, pp. 83). Although the author has given his opinion with support through illustrative historical examples but the author has failed to mention, explicitly, the merits or demerits of either of the systems of government and his clear choice of the either of the two. The authors arguments seemed to reflect a leaning towards the parliamentary system but he does not clearly highlight his choice, leaving the audience a little ambiguous about his perspective. In the book entitled ‘Government of Pakistan, Parmatma Sharan (1975) gave an outsiders opinion regarding the system of government present in Pakistan with comparison to their home country, Indias government system. The author has sounded alarms regarding the high centralization of the government in Pakistan throughout the years ever since its independence. The author has said that this should be countered since a weaker leadership can, and has shown in actuality, the perils of a weak decision-making power in times of need (Sharan, 1975, pp. 150). Ahmed Shuja Pasha (1995), in his account of the scenario of the Pakistani politics, was of the view that people themselves are largely responsible for choosing the ‘wrong leaders as their democratic representatives. Pasha (1995, pp. 281-287) believed that the inefficiencies present in the political system of Pakistan are largely due to the fact that people associate democracy with one particular person who takes advantage of the situation and manipulates their powerful position for their own gains. Pashas (1995) views were a little biased as he does not consider the constant shuffling of the regime as much of a problem for the lack of people getting accustomed to the workings of a democracy. The authors views were favorable for the military as he finds the military having the most disciplined set up during the times it came into power in the country (Pasha, 1995, pp. 189-190). In an attempt to contextualize the latest Musharraf-led military coup in Pakistan, Sohail Mahmood (2001) tried to consider the factors that have led to the demise of true democracy in the country. He was of the view that regardless of the fact that the country is under parliamentary or presidential regime, the country has never truly been a democratic country because of the highly centralized nature of governance (Mahmood, 2001, pp. 7). The author also discussed the current semi-parliamentary system of Pakistan in comparison with a more presidential system like governance. He analyzed the merits and demerits of both (Mahmood, 2001, pp.128-129). Although the author presented a fairly balanced view about the situation, he merely referenced historical political situations as chronological facts without his opinions being clear regarding them. The autho,r Udaya N. Shukla, in his essay â€Å"Parliamentary Control over Government Policies in India† (1990) looked at the parliamentary system as a British legacy. The shortcomings in this system experienced in South Asia (by India as well as Pakistan) are attributed to the centralization and the lack of proper literate population to understand the exact nuts and bolts of a parliamentary government (Shukla, 1990). The author should consider that this leads to the political elite to manipulate the situation and also he should outline the kind of political elite that could benefit by the ignorance of the population regarding the system. This is important because it allows the audience to contextualize the problems that plague the current parliamentary form of government. Furthermore, it is not possible to make an absolute, decisive conclusion on the issue since access to every study and detailed research has not been possible and limited numbers of past discourses have been examined for the current analysis. ANALYSIS Pakistan, according to its constitution, is a ‘federal republic (Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Article 1(1)). This means that Pakistan is a country where several autonomous states have come together under a federation, the states being the self-governing provinces and the federal capital, Islamabad, being the centralizing federal authority. Being a republic, Pakistani government is a government where majority of the power vests among the larger body of citizens and where there is a head of state but that is not a monarch, the head of state is democratically elected, directly or indirectly (Merriam-Webster, 2011). The Constitution of Pakistan calls for a democratically elected government where the legislative authority is vested in the Parliament and the executive is led by the President (Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Objectives Resolution). The origins of the sort of power division proposed by the 1973 Constitution can be found in the ‘Separation of Powers doctrine proposed by Montesquieu (Anon. web). The Montesquieu doctrine called for division of the powers to govern a country with three proper divisions i.e. Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. Checks and Balances on all three of them by each other were proposed to ensure that every government instrument carried upon its tasks without infringing upon other institutions. However, the system of mixed government at present in Pakistan where the President, in paper is ceremonial, but in reality is a political affiliate of a particular party and where the Prime Minister is not only the leader of the Legislative body but also the head o f the Council of Ministers which is the Executive body, is not properly following the ‘Separation of Powers. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, the fourth Prime Minister of Pakistan, has even been quoted calling the 1965 government one that is â€Å"a government of the President, by the President and for the President† (Sayeed, 1967, pp. 105), there is a similar situation at present as well. This is a problem for the country since the population has not even been accustomed to the concept of a proper parliamentary democracy that was introduced initially, now the highly distorted form of government is the product of and also leads to further irresponsible decision-making by the countrys leadership, centralization of all important government policy matters and hegemony of the few. These inefficiencies have also been reflected in the political parties of Pakistan and their working. Being a heterogeneous society, Pakistan, like other developing countries with people from a diverse background, for instance India, Pakistan also needs the participation of a larger number of people in the political life in order to break the shackles of domination that the political elite are keeping an overwhelming majority bound in (Kohli, 1994, pp. 90). The form of government and the design of party politics prevalent at present in the country is a major road block towards a liberal democratic Pakistan where all adults are actually empowered and educated enough to voice their opinions. Party politics is dominated by a handful of feudal families which share the government between them. This leads to a centralized system of decision making in the country regarding national and international matters which does not necessarily effectively reflect the majoritys opinion and keeps the ascendancy of the few (Kohli, 1994; Sayeed, 1967). Pakistan has also been suffering from bad governance owing to high centralization of the command (Sharan, 1975; Sayeed, 1977; Mahmood, 2001). This centralization of the decision making further conforms to Atul Kohlis (1994) comments regarding the increased hegemony of the richer, more dominant political elite. With increased concentration of powers not only does one person or office become uncontrollably powerful but there is an increased chance of the irresponsible and corrupt usage of that power (Mahmood, 2001). In Pakistans case if the Prime Minister or the President is leading the Legislative body as well as the Executive they themselves are the ones making any new laws and regulations and ensuring their adherence by the general public, this becomes a case similar to the British Monarchy where the crown is above the law (De, 1991, pp. 246). A situation like this leads to chaos when that particular person does not remain in their position anymore and since there has been no power sharing and none of the other institutions have contributed to the decision making process so nobody is ready to completely assume responsibility automatically upon the vacation of the office. Ahmed S. Pasha (1995) also sounded off similar comments when he mentioned that the population associated democracy with one person and the exit of that person caused chaos and disruption in the functioning of the government. In order to clear up the mess of the mixed system and completely evolve into a more efficient form of governance it is necessary to understand both the systems of government Parliamentary and Presidential. The Parliamentary form of government has been labeled by most as a direct descendent of Monarchy. While a monarch comes into power by a dynastic succession, the head of state in a parliamentary form of government is democratically elected through the concept of universal suffrage (Philip. 2007, pp. 42). The existence of political parties is crucial for a parliamentary form of government. For a true parliamentary democracy, S.C. Stokes (1999, pp.263) said that political parties are an essential component and there is no removing them. However, the present party system does not seem capable enough to accommodate the essence of a liberal democracy where any number of people from any background can represent their group. Thus, for establishing an effective liberal parliamentary democracy political parties need to be truly democratic themselves (Mahmood, 2001). This measure may also effectively solve the issue of centralization of power in the hands of a few since with a democratic setup of the parties more people from diverse backgrounds can participate in the party politics. Another feature of the parliamentary system is that the division of powers is often blurred; this again alludes to the Monarchical roots of the parliamentary system of government. However, lack of strong division of power does not mean lack of power sharing. Even in a parliamentary system there can be more decentralized decision making with powers vested in various echelons of the government. This can be seen in United Kingdom where although the final decision approving authority is with the executive the Crown, the decision-making power is highly differentiated with the House of Commons and the House of Lords being involved in the legislative process. On the other hand, the Presidential system of government is based strictly on the doctrine of ‘Separation of Powers and the Head of the State the President, is elected directly by the population along with the core legislative body (Philip. 2007. pp. 39). Both the systems have their own merits and demerits but for a heterogeneous society like Pakistan where strong ethic affiliations play a central role in the populations trust in their representative, a parliamentary system is rather more effective because the direct election of the Head of State in Pakistan is definitely not a suitable option as larger population areas are more likely to have their candidates elected to the office every time. Moreover, as Ahmed Shuja Pasha (1995) argued that most of Pakistans problems of electing the ‘wrong candidate are associated with the lack of awareness regarding the best candidate by the general voters. The Presidential system calls for the election of one particular person and implementation of such a system in Pakistan would not change the status quo of re-election of the same feudal leaders. In a true form of Parliamentary system where political parties are truly democratic themselves, this would allow for parties to choose better candidates for election and helping the largely illiterate Pakistani population in electing deserving representatives. Accountability of a ‘non-deserving candidates election will be, in such a system, done once that person has been elected to the Parliament. The lack of capability of such a person would soon be exposed in a truly parliamentary system and this would lead to damaging of the political partys image so they would be wary of choos ing those who are not capable. Another favorable argument for a parliamentary government system is that it allows for electing the government once, unlike a presidential system where the governments are to be elected in two steps; once the congress and then the president (Mehta, 1994; Mahmood, 2001; Philip, 2007). This may lead to instances, in a presidential system, where the president is of a different political ideology than the majority of the congress. In such a situation passing legislation would be a torturously slow task. While Sohail Mahmood (2001) was of the view that slowing down legislation is the goal for a country like Pakistan, in fact a quicker paced legislative process would be required for the country once it adopts the true democratic form of Parliamentary government. This quicker paced legislative process would be favored because this way reforms and legislation favored by the public can be enacted quickly which would be very slow if a Presidential system is adopted.. One point that defendants of the Presidential system make is that it brings the leaders closer to the people and this way the population can decide the best person they feel that can govern them (Philip, 2007, pp.45). However, in Pakistan this is actually a disadvantage since charismatic leadership is often overshadowed by the feudal hegemony maintained by the ruling elite. A pure parliamentary system can at least allow more people to compete alongside the ruling elite and may be they even give them an opportunity to be a part of the government. CONCLUSION The question of the form of government is extremely important for Pakistan because the form of government intended by the constitution is a parliamentary form of democracy (Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Preamble). This already establishes that all administrative and political aspects of governance will be dealt with according to the general provisions of a parliamentary democratic government. An important aspect to be discussed here is that parliamentary democracy itself is the ideal form because of a long history of the success rate of a parliamentary democracy as compared to a presidential one. JosÃÆ' © Cheibub and Fernando Limongi (2002, pp. 152) have reported that most forms of parliamentary democracies have survived over a longer period of time unlike a presidential form which has fallen prey to a dictators hands numerous times. Although in the current system even the president is part of one of those families, in the long term once a true liberal democratic regime has been established in the country the hegemony of the few might be effectively destroyed and the president will work as merely a ceremonial head of state, as can be seen in India. Regulation of political parties is also important and legislation to enforce certain measures, like in-party elections, should be introduced. Whatever the final outcome may be, it is quite welcome that the current government has at least intended to move away from the present mixed system to a more parliamentary form of government. The incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan has been reported to have resolved to make sure necessary steps are taken to start the process of this transition (Daily Times, 2008; VOA News, 2010). It is suggested to the current government that decentralization of decision-making and clean-up process within the political parties be taken as the first steps to start the journey towards a pure parliamentary democracy for Pakistan.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Processing Emotions in Mrs. Dalloway and Demonology :: Virginia Woolf Rick Moody Social Classes Essays

Processing Emotions in Mrs. Dalloway and Demonology Hold them in or let them out; typically these are the only two options one has in dealing with their everyday emotions. Over time, making this decision has differed greatly. The transition between holding in your emotions and letting them out can be seen between two writers from two different eras. In Virginia Woolf’s Mrs.Dalloway, she portrays people in upper class England during the first half of the 20th century and how they process their emotions. Then, in Rick Moody’s short story Demonology he reveals how an average American family during the latter half of the 20th century chooses to handle their emotions. These two stories are perfect examples of how different eras dealt with their feelings in a completely different manner. There can be many connections drawn between these two stories as to the situations the characters are living in and what they have to deal with. Given that they each take place in completely different time periods, the story lines act as a steady base to make judgments as to how they handle their emotions. The story lines also act as a reliable source as to what was going on during each time period. So with these two books, we are able to take them out of there context and actually view them as real life history. By doing this we are able to compare the two different eras and see how they decided to handle their emotions. To begin comparing these two stories, the easiest comparison that is made is that both are stories that are based in one day. This allows us to see how they react to everyday situations. Second, they both deal with people conversing amongst one another. Each person has an image to up hold throughout the two stories. This is most apparent in Mrs. Dalloway since the main character is always trying to uphold her status amongst her social bracket. This is also the case in Demonology where the narrator’s sister is living the typical materialistic American life style, be it through her kids or simply her decisions on anything she does. Finally, these two stories allow us to see how people handle themselves when confronted with marital issues and most importantly how they deal with tragedy. All of these comparisons set the stage for an open look as to what each author and era had to deal with and the way they went about it.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Women as Victims in the Media Essay -- Feminism Feminist Women Critici

Women as Victims in the Media      Ã‚   One interesting aspect of murder is the way it is portrayed in different forms of media. In particular the way female murder victims have been portrayed over time reflects the social norms of the period. Focusing on the way murdered females were portrayed in various forms of media, beginning in the late eighteenth century in the United States and ending with the present day representations in film it is evident that a traditional style of portraying dead women has continued to pervade society through the twentieth century.    Stories, either fictional or based on actual events, began around 1800 portraying women victims as young, unmarried, beautiful and innocent. Their deaths were portrayed as resulting from a loss of innocent, generally through premarital sexual contact. The descriptions of the dead bodies were graphic and occasionally erotic in nature. (Cohen, 277-306) These descriptions came at a time when the literacy rate was rising rapidly and the relatively free attitude towards premarital sex was changing to a more restrictive ...

The Advantages of Global Expansion Essay

Recent interviews of top international executives by the Myrddin Group in San Antonio have revealed they thought they could create value by transferring their business model and American style of product and marketing to foreign markets. Many initially treated foreign markets much like the United States but soon found that this was not the correct approach. Many American products drew big yawns in Europe and Asia where most of the successful products were local. These national differences in customer tastes and preferences require a change in approach to marketing. This requires a redefining of the actions managers can take to compete more effectively as an international business. The Advantages of Global Expansion Expanding globally allows a business to increase its profitability in ways not available to purely domestic businesses. Companies that operate internationally are able to: Expand the market for their product offerings by selling those products in international markets. Achieve location economies of scale by distributing value creation activities around the globe to where they can be performed most efficiently. Earn a higher rate of return by leveraging any expertise developed in overseas operations and shifting it to other parts of the company’s global operations. While this sounds simple, it is constrained by the need to customize products, marketing, and business strategy to each of the different national locations. Most multinationals started out by taking their goods or services and selling them internationally. Companies like Toyota for example found out that the small vehicles that were popular in Japan were not as popular in the US as the larger sized autos. They adjust ed their product strategy to the US market and enjoyed the ensuing growth in market share and profitability. McDonald’s adapted likewise in India where cattle are revered and the typical Big Mac was doomed as a product. Location Economies The same principle holds true for location economies. Due to differences in feature costs, certain countries have a comparative advantage in the  production of certain products. As an example, Japan might excel in the production of automobiles, the United States in the production of computer software, and China in the production of clothing. For a company attempting to prosper in a global market this might mean that it would benefit by basing every value creation activity it needs in the country where economic, political, and cost considerations are most conducive for that activity. For example, if the most productive labor force for assembly operations is in China then any assembly operations should be there. If the best marketers are in the US then the marketing plans should be developed in the US. Companies that use a strategy such as this can realize these location economies and in doing so they can lower the costs of value creation and arrive at a low-cost position. Advantages Faster growth: Firms that have operate internationally tend to develop at a much quicker pace than those operating locally Access to cheaper inputs: Operating internationally may enable the firm to source raw materials or labor at lower prices Increased quality and efficiency: Exposure to foreign competition will encourage increased efficiency. Doing business in the international market allows firms to improve the quality of their product in order to gain a competitive advantage. New market opportunities: International business presents firms with new market opportunities. These new markets provide more opportunities for expansion, growth, and income. A bigger market means more customers, increased revenue, a larger profit margin, and allows the business to realize economies of scale. Diversification: As the firm diversifies its market, it becomes less vulnerable to changes in local demand. This reduces wild swings in a company’s sales and profits. Disadvantages Increased costs: There are increased operating expenses including the establishment of facilities abroad, the hiring of additional staff, traveling of personnel, specialized transport networks, information and communication technology. Foreign regulations and standards: The firm may need to conform to new standards. This may require changes such as in the production process, inputs and packaging, incurring additional costs.  Delays in payments: International trade may cause delays in payments, adversely affecting the firm’s cash flow. Complex organizational structure: International business usually requires changes to the firms operating structure. Training/retraining of management may be necessary to facilitate restructuring.