the mormons Essays - Latter Day Saint Movement, Christian Movements

The Mormons I have learned an array of things from watching these videos about Mormonism. I learned a great deal about joseph smith and who he was along with the importance he brings to Mormonism. I was unaware of his very first vison. Joseph was 14 years old and he only shared his vision within the confines of family and only choose to tell his parents what he sa w. I later than realized that his vison was changed three timed and each time it was more elaborate. His third vison was the one that made it into the Book of Mormon. I find Mormonism extremely interesting because there is a number of differences and additions added to the bible and advertised as Mormonism. Mormons would devote their lives to following Joseph Smith. These families would relocate and do anything according to Joseph Smith . While I watched these videos, the term "Mountain massacre" was mentioned so I decided to do some research on this tragedy. The historian Geoffrey Ward has called this tragedy the "the most hideous example of the human cost exacted by religious fanaticism in American history until 9/11.'' Although it might not be a major tourist destination, for a century and a half the massacre at Mountain Meadows has been the main debate among Mormons and the people of Utah. In Sept. 1857, in southwestern Utah, a local militia of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, attacked a wagon train of Arkansas families headed for California. After five days , the militia persuaded the families to surrender under a flag of truce and a pledge of safe passage. Then, approximately 140 men, women and children were slaughtered and killed right then and there. Now, 146 years later, the descendants and the victims of relatives have been asking for an apology from the Mormon church. The fact of the matter is that these individuals " Believ ed they were doing God's work in ridding the world of ''infidels ". These evangelical Mormon committed one of the greatest civilian atrocities on American soil. Without a sustained attempt at accountability and atonement, the church will not escape the hovering shadow of that horrible crime " ( New York Times). Polygamy is something I was more than aware of with the Mormon religion, but I learned so much more about why It started and it "religious" intentions behind i t . Many would argue it was started by Joseph Smith out of convenience for his own personal sexual behavior, so that it would not be condemned by G od . Many argued that Joseph Smith was told by God that it was acceptable because men like Abraham in the bible practiced polygamy. Many that choose to not engage in this act of polygamy were forced to accept it or not become members of the church. P olygamy was finally addressed and enforced and was defined as illegal. For me, It was extremely hard to understand why so many people followed Joseph Smith, and then when he was murdered to continue on and then follow others like Brigham Young. In Comparison, Mormonism does not a line with Christianity . First as Christians, we believe that Christ died on the cross for our salvation, this is not a belief of the Mormon faith. Mormon ideology does not follow the belief of the Trinity, as we do. Mormon's believe God the Father, His son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three different people. We as Christian s read the bible and as the word and truth of God, Mormons have other books that they believe in, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Modern Mormons regard God as plural. The belief of salvation is very different then the Christianity belief. Mormons believe they can achieve to become a God which is called " exaltation " . This is not a practice in any other form of Christian beliefs. Mormonism has me question so many things and it is so hard for me to wrap my head around their belief system. There additions do the bible is the reason why they believe that

Free Essays on Death Penalty Stats

This report addresses the cost, availability and quality of defense representation in federal death penalty cases and recommends steps which should be taken in order to keep expenditures in these cases within reasonable limits. It has been prepared by the Subcommittee on Federal Death Penalty Cases of the Judicial Conference Committee on Defender Services. The report was prompted by judicial and congressional concerns about the costs involved in providing defense services in federal death penalty cases and is the product of extensive study and data collection. Federal death penalty prosecutions are large-scale cases that are costly to defend. They require more lawyers, working more hours, at a higher hourly rate than other federal criminal matters. The number of federal death penalty prosecutions has grown dramatically in the last several years, and their impact on the defender services appropriation cannot responsibly be ignored. The judiciary has a duty to ensure that its funds are spent wisely, and to identify the best ways to provide cost-effective representation in these challenging cases. To this end, the Subcommittee has thoroughly examined the nature of defense representation in federal death penalty cases. Part I of this report sets forth the Subcommittee's analysis and findings, which are based upon qualitative and quantitative information gathered from many sources. This part of the report describes the number of federal death penalty cases and the cost of defending them, and discusses the characteristics of federal death penalty cases and the special duties they impose on defense counsel. This information is essential to a full understanding of the recommendations set forth in Part II of the report. Also contained in Part I are data on the expense of prosecuting federal death penalty cases, which have been provided by the Department of Justice. In general, the Subcommittee on Federal Death Penalty Cases has concluded ... Free Essays on Death Penalty Stats Free Essays on Death Penalty Stats This report addresses the cost, availability and quality of defense representation in federal death penalty cases and recommends steps which should be taken in order to keep expenditures in these cases within reasonable limits. It has been prepared by the Subcommittee on Federal Death Penalty Cases of the Judicial Conference Committee on Defender Services. The report was prompted by judicial and congressional concerns about the costs involved in providing defense services in federal death penalty cases and is the product of extensive study and data collection. Federal death penalty prosecutions are large-scale cases that are costly to defend. They require more lawyers, working more hours, at a higher hourly rate than other federal criminal matters. The number of federal death penalty prosecutions has grown dramatically in the last several years, and their impact on the defender services appropriation cannot responsibly be ignored. The judiciary has a duty to ensure that its funds are spent wisely, and to identify the best ways to provide cost-effective representation in these challenging cases. To this end, the Subcommittee has thoroughly examined the nature of defense representation in federal death penalty cases. Part I of this report sets forth the Subcommittee's analysis and findings, which are based upon qualitative and quantitative information gathered from many sources. This part of the report describes the number of federal death penalty cases and the cost of defending them, and discusses the characteristics of federal death penalty cases and the special duties they impose on defense counsel. This information is essential to a full understanding of the recommendations set forth in Part II of the report. Also contained in Part I are data on the expense of prosecuting federal death penalty cases, which have been provided by the Department of Justice. In general, the Subcommittee on Federal Death Penalty Cases has concluded ...

Ethical Theories. Punishments For Acting Unethically Essay

Ethical Theories. Punishments For Acting Unethically - Essay Example In the corporate world, ethics would relate to the manner in which businesses conduct themselves in relation to societal moral principles. Every business should ensure that it conducts itself within the precepts of ethical standards available. Fieser and Moseley in their book, ‘Introduction to Business Ethics’ describes three fundamental theories in ethics under which businesses should be able to run their activities (Fieser & Moseley 4). 1. Summary of the ethical theories The first theory identified in the chapter is the theory of moral objectivism as championed by Plato - a Greek philosopher – who related morality to spiritual realities. This theory categorizes morality into three components, which are: morality is objective, moral standards are unchanging and moral standards are universal. According to the first category, moral standards exist in higher spirit realms completely distinct from the physical world and not creations of human beings or human societie s. The second category perceives moral standards as eternal as they apply regardless of where one is on the world. This aspect doe not recognize changes in location or time as having effects on the moral standards practiced by human beings. The third category identifies the universality of moral standards as not considering issues such as race, gender, or even social status of individuals. Based on Plato’s views, the universe is two-tiered – lower physical level and higher spiritual level (realm of forms) and has nothing permanent on it. Moral standards also exist in a realm of forms that are highest. This appeal gives the sense of moral stability. The first theory is contrasted by the second theory – theory of moral relativism – having three features, as well including morality is not objective, moral standards change, and that the moral standards are not universal. The first feature categorizes moral standards as pure inventions by human beings while th e last feature argues that the application of the moral standards depends on the preferences of individual human beings and not eternal truths. Defenders of this theory are skeptic of the existence of similar views as those of Plato’s higher realm of forms. The third theory is known as the divine command theory, which answers YES to the question whether God is the creator of moral values and standards. According to the theory, God creates the values based on no prior reasoning or logical standards but pronounced based on pure acts of will. However, this theory is faced by two main challenges. First, non-believers would reject the theory’s presumption on the existence of God. Furthermore, believers themselves hold on the belief of the existence of God from an aspect of personal faith and not having any absolute proof. Second, the moral standards if not based on any prior reasoning standards would imply that they are arbitrary having been made purely from scratch. 2. Con structing companies based on these theories In the business field, companies may be more motivated to act moral basing on the three theories above mainly on the desire to avoid tarnishing the name of the company, avoiding heavy fines and to avoid lawsuits. A company may choose to base their operations on one or all of the above theories. One significant approach by which companies can practice this is through the adoption of a utilitarianism theory of morality. A utilitarianism moral theory in normative ethics is based on the acknowledgment of an individual’

CV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CV - Essay Example Good experience of both strategic and detailed work on projects of different scales. Able to work on all of project’s stages: drafting, budgeting, creating and processing working and executive documentation, experiential and industrial exploitation). Ability to profound analysis that allows, basing on the analysis of multiple factors of the company’s activity, to forecast the possibility of different issues of organisational, technological and technical character arising in the work of IT-sphere and, consequently, to take precaution measures and implement well thought-of solutions so that to eliminate the causes for these problems. Ability to gather a team of professionals and lead it, while remaining an authority, thanks to my knowledge and competencies in different spheres and the sense of responsibility regarding the tasks set and the team. Integrity, attention, responsibility, goal-orientation, high loyalty to employer and company, stress-resistance in any situation. Easy-learner and able to adapt very well in any project or environment. Ambitious to a certain extent, while possessing a high level of professional self-esteem. Conducted the restructuring of company’s production unit; within the frame of this project methodology and processes of production and project management have been pinpointed and organised. New directions of company’s competencies have been developed, such as strategic consulting, business consulting, IT-consulting, developing and introducing business application and others. Due to this the company managed to get to the end of the last year with more than 50% growth of key figures, and has one of the most ambitious development plans on the systematic integration markets in Russia. Among the company’s loyal customers there are major industrial holdings and enterprises in Russia, organisations and

Dawson v. Hanson,et al Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dawson v. Hanson,et al - Essay Example There have been three main occasions when Mr. Hanson was to deliver the mail and Archie lunged at him, barked and growled, while he put the mail in the mail slot. From this day onwards, Mrs. Hanson, Archie’s owner decided to keep the dog in the backyard during the time of delivery of the mail in order to keep the dog from lunging at Mr. Dawson. Brock Mason failed to reply to a written complaint made by Mr. William’s regarding the dog’s atrocious behaviour and need to bark and growl at him all the time even though he never stepped onto the property rented by Mrs. Hanson. However, upon entering the very house of Mrs. Hanson, Mr. Dawson was bitten by her dog, Archie on the 15th of August, 2009. The dog lunged because it was able to escape from the backyard due to the negligence of Mrs. Hanson’s son, Joshua Hanson, not having been able to close the door properly in order to prevent the dog from escaping, despite knowing that it was ferocious and had a habit of growling at the neighbours and anyone else who happened to chance upon the property. Mrs. Hanson came forward and tried to get the dog to let go but her son was forced to switch on the hose pipe and finally make the dog leave Mr. Dawson’s leg. The main witness that noticed the entire injury take place was Ms LaVerne Coles. The paramedics were immediately called by her, and Mr. Dawson was rushed to the hospital arriving upon which he received 33 stitches as well as proper follow up care from Dr Jackson Ellis. Dr. Ellis further asked him to visit Dr Ivan Gomez for checking his torn rotator which had suffered damages during the fall when the dog bit him. Mr. Dawson was also made to attend a physical therapy session for the next eight weeks following the accident. Not only did the entire episode cost Mr. Dawson a heavy amount to recover fully from the damages and injuries caused by the dog, but the entire process also caused Mr. Dawson to reduce his earnings due to a pay cut fro m $55,700 to $53,500 on an annual basis. Law and Argument: In California statutes, ordinances and case law address the regulation of dogs and their owners, and the bases for compensation in the case of injury. For example, in cases involving certain types of dogs, i.e., dangerous dogs (dogs with a "dangerous propensity" or "vicious propensity") the owner of the dog may be liable for injury, without regard to fault (strict liability). In other situations, owners, landlords or other persons who "keep" or "harbor" dangerous dogs may be liable when the dogs attack. The facts of each case will often determine the outcome of that particular case. California is a strict liability state, meaning that a dog owner is liable for injuries inflicted by his dog upon a human being, even if the owner was not negligent and the dog had never bitten anyone before. California is one of the states that has a dog bite statute, meaning a law that repudiates in whole or part the common law's requirement of "scienter" (i.e., knowledge that the animal had previously injured a person in the same manner, such as by a bite). California Civil Code section 3342 provides as follows: 3342.   (a) The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of

Holyrood Project Case Study

Holyrood Project Case Study ABSTRACT: The need to adequately implement a project successfully with the required Project Management indices has ensured that project managers are continuously seeking ways of ensuring that projects meet and satisfies customers cravings. A project is said to be successful if it is implemented with an efficient and effective cost, quality and time management approach thereby meeting customers expectation; it is a failure when it fails to met these set objectives. The Holyrood -Scotland Parliamentary Building project management approach is critically analysed in a post mortem approach in this paper with a view to discussing how each of the stages in the project lifecycle culminated in the failure of the project to meeting certain criteria of an effective project. INTRODUCTION The Holyrood: A project of the Scottish government which was undertaken to provide a magnificent structure for the use of the Scottish Parliament. The advent of the Devolution proposal in 1979 gave rise initially to the project, however, the project became main-stream in 1998. The project became a key issue for the stakeholders due to key project management controls. A successful project is judged to be efficient, cost effective, quality, on time, and meet customers satisfaction. An appraisal of the Holyrood project indicated that some of these indices were not achieved especially in terms of cost and duration, hence the need to evaluate and analyse the entire project life cycle from initiation to closure to ascertain what went wrong and what could have been done. This paper aims to diagnose the indices of a successful project with respect to the Holyrood project, and critically evaluates how the project deviated from the expected project management indices. It identifies the problems of project management associated with each stage of the Holyrood project life cycle using project management theories of the like of P. Gardiner 2005 and J. Westland 2006 to define each stage of project life cycle Initiation Definition; Planning Development; Execution Control and Closure and analyse it to the Holyrood project. The first section reviews the background of the Holyrood Parliament building project. Section two identifies the problems associated with each stage of the project Initiation and definition; Planning and development; Execution and control and Closure. Section three analyses the problems that are most significant to cost increase and schedule slippage using the Auditor General report as well as other authors. Section four will evaluate the problems identified in section 3 and relate it to PM writers (Cimil J.K 1997), (Pinto 1998), (OGC, 2005) to identify why project fails; section five is a summary of findings and conclusion. Chapter 1 1.0 Background of the Holyrood Parliament Building Project The devolution proposals of 1979 may have given room for the incoming labour administration in 1997, to implement the proposal which included the building of the Scottish parliament. The Scottish parliament was and is still an important symbol for Scotland. It is expected that the parliament building should possess the best of quality, durability as well as represent civil importance. The Holyrood project from the initiation process faced enormous challenges starting from the quest for early completion and the high expectation in terms of quality. The major hindrance started with first, the cultural difficulties in the joint venture which did not allow them to work effectively. Secondly, the construction management approach of the project adopted, and the selection criteria for design procurement. Harnessing the ideas of different project team was a major concern for the project, as virtually all teams had different ideas indicating no clear direction, leadership, and project stage c ontrol. This ensued that there were lot of scope creep during the implementation of the project. A major creep was the cost creep: the initial capital cost was estimated at  £40million in 1997, which rose to  £90 million and from then rose to  £195 million. By April 2001 the cost had crept again to  £359 in June 2003 and the  £414.4million by 2004 resulting to a 20month delay. Lord Fraser report and the Auditors Generals report have scrutinized what must have gone wrong with the project. Chapter 2 2.0 Problems with the stages of the Project For a proper evaluation of what went wrong with the Holyrood Project, it is important to understand what really makes up a project life cycle. According to Paul D.Gardner (2005) the project life cycle indicates the phases a project has to go through from beginning to completion in an orderly from ensuring that the successful completion of one stage leads to the beginning of another, till the end of the project. It is imminent to state here that a well structured project phase of a project help in proper controlling and monitoring of the project, and ensure that timely corrective actions are implemented when deviation from plans are observed. 2.1 Initiation and Definition stage This stage kick starts the lifecycle of the project and establishes the ‘sum of the products and services to be provided by the project (PMI 2000). The business justification for the project is firmly established at this stage. The sponsors strategic plan is investigated by conducting a feasibility study which includes the project assessment in terms of its cost and benefits. For the Holyrood project whose objective was to provide a home fit for the Scottish parliament indicated a right step as a business case was made to justify such a proposal. However, the project encountered political problems which included the selection of an appropriate site to house the parliament, the PM drawing a time table to fulfill the political objective of early completion. It is of note mention that given the proposed cost estimate of the project one would have concluded that a poor feasibility study was conducted which drew a budget that can never have been a realistic estimate for anything other than a basic building for the new parliament. It also showed that adequate risk assessment was not carried out as the time frame approach for the completion of the building indicated. Overall impression for the initiation stage indicated that the project scope was not well defined, which would have indicated where the priority should be laid on , either on cost, quality, or early completion of the building . The project did not put into consideration the evolve of the clients need which does not fit into Cimil success criteria. 2.2 Planning and Development stage In this phase of the project three elements are important and they are; the creation of all the required plans to support the project (the scope management plan, the work plan, timeline, risk management plan and quality management plan), the mobilization and organization of all resources required for the project and infrastructure to support the resource as well as ensuring effective communication across the network of project stakeholders. The project lacked a sense of appreciation of plan, which made the project budget under estimated. A key setback for the planning stage was the disparity in choosing the proper design procurement approach. The selection criteria for the chosen procurement approach designer competition showed that the entire process lacked clarity; as a systematic approach was not adopted towards the handling of PQQs. This attributed to the lack of coordination from personnel undertaking visits in verifying the applicants/Competitors informations thereby leading to unfairness in choosing the appropriate candidate. This singular act ensured that all applicants including the joint venture partners presented drawings that extended outside the required size in the brief- a major signal of a possible project scope creep. Secondly in a project of this magnitude the choice of a project sponsor a very vital role to the success of a project should not be guided by political undertone as it appears in the choice of Mrs Doig who lacks expertise in matters of projects and construction. This to a large extent gave room for a lot of poor decisions which is evident in the choice of adopting construction management as the building option. Another problem at this stage in the project was that the project initiator, Mr. Dewar was too attached to the project. This often made him opt for unpopular choices like the choice of opting for a designer competition as against a design competition as specified by the RIAS team. Moreover, the competition process was conducted in an unprofessional manner that lacked finesse and proper coordination. For a project of this nature with very high risk content the lack of a contingency risk plan is inexcusable. The critical path of the project was not mentioned. The project lacked proper communication and coordination at this stage, sight of the terms of the brief was lost 2.3 Execution and Control stage (Westland Jason 2006) described this phase as the longest phase of a project. This is the stage were the deliverables are physically built and presented to the customer for acceptance. (Paul D. Gardiner 2005) described it as the phase where new information from other phases can lead to change, and a good project manger should know that some changes are inevitable, therefore there is need to maintain control over these changes to the project plan. Change Management for this project was out of control as most changes done in execution stage of the Holyrood project was not agreed by the parties involved. This exhibited the lack of good leadership, control and good management associated with the project. The reporting system did not encourage effective communication as well as flow of information between the teams which lead to the resignation of the 1st PM (Mr Armstrong) and subsequent managers. This lack of control saw the cost of the project skyrocketing with a lot of changes done in the design plan. 2.4 Closure stage Closure is the last phase of the project life cycle; it represents the end of a project. Money is no more paid out, all documentation and administration of the project is closed and opportunity for evaluation and performance review. The finished product is transferred to the care, custody and control of the owner (Paul D Gardnier 2005). In the Holyrood project, there were delays in the project handover as conflict between the contracted parties remains unresolved till the end of the project. The project closure and handing over lack some merits as potential risk elements were ignored in the final documentation. Some examples are 45,000 defects were discovered after handover and issues regarding the infrastructure. Chapter 3 3.0 Problems with the most significant cost increase and schedule slippage 3.1 Significant Cost Increases The project from inception has suffered successive increases in its cost forecast, but the most significant is in the construction stage (Execution and Control phase). Increase in construction cost was (caused by) as a result of design development and delay in construction process as the project progressed. The construction cost increases fall into three main areas Design development  £68m Prolongation, disruption and delay  £73m Inflation and Risk certainty  £19m Most of this cost was incurred from the year 2000, though this increase was as a result of poor planning, control and management attributed at the planning and development stage. 3.2 Significant Schedule Slippage The rush for early delivery of such huge project resulted to lot of schedule slippage. The complexities in the design variation as well as the late communication/supply of information during the construction phase were the most significant cause of the 20 months delay of the project. This delay started in 2000 and this still fall under the Execution and control phase. Apart from the complexity and late supply of information, other factors also attributed to the schedule spillage are 19-24 weeks delay in the Foyer roof, Glazing and assembling of the windows 15 Months each for the debating chamber and Canon Gate There was no contingency plan for spillage in the initial timetable. Chapter 4 4.0 Evaluation of the Project Management Problems Corresponding to those Identified in the Literature This section brings us back to the question why do project fail? And the writer is going to relate some of this failure to the problem associated with the Holyrood project. Writers like (OGC, 2005), (Cicmil 1997), (Carlos 2005) theory of why project fail will be used to evaluate the Literature. OGC, 2005 gave eight reasons why project fails and some of the reasons are lack of clear senior management and ministerial ownership and leadership. In the literature it was seen that was no clear direction, control as well as leadership among the different civil servants groups that handled the project. The project manager had no single point of authoritative command and could not use his authority and influence to control the project. In the literature decisions were made without communicating them to the stakeholders, this shows lack of effective engagement with stakeholders. Also there was lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management. The project sponsor knew very little about construction and this showed when no further inquiry was done on the construction management choice which has much risk on the client was not appreciated by the sponsor because of her incompetence. Risk was never incorporated in any of her decisions. (Cicmil 1997) also researched on principal sources of project failure where he talked about poor understanding and identification of client need. The joint venture never understood the clients need that was why from the beginning they never adhered to the clients brief, which would have minimised the risk that exists in undertaking a project with tight time frame. (Cicmil 1997) talked about organizational behaviour factors. The organisation of Holyrood project d id not provide the necessary clear direction and leadership and this led to lack of control, communication and poor management that existed in the project. The project was conceptualized as one without any provision for change. Such deficiency highlights the lack of (Cicmil 1997) bounded rationality approach to project management. The literature is rife with instances where proper procedures were not adhered to. Examples include the architects (Snr Miralles) reluctance to fit his designs into the project brief even when he was informed to. (Carlos 2005) talked about why project fails and most of it boils down to what existed in the Holyrood project which was lack of teamwork, cultural differences, communication, politics, control and poor management. This inevitably led to cost increase, and delays seen in the project. 4.1. RECOMMENDATIONS (Gardiner 2005) Valuation should have been applied to all the stages of the Project life cycle by PM The important key positions should not have been handled by Civil Servants Plan for contingency risk should have been made. The implementation of multi perspective framework on projects. In my opinion if this had been used issues like the choice of construction management would not have been made the content context and organisational character would have been analysed and a more suitable method like PFI/PPP would have been selected 5.0 Conclusion The Holyrood Project in the long run became a huge success, however most critics believed that the time and cost slippage would have been avoided if proper project management indices were followed. The author has been able to diagnose this key indices and is of the opinion that the success of every project is dependent on the effectiveness of the project manager , a major problem of the Holyrood Project .It is also worth mentioning that my recent visit to the Parliament Building afforded me the opportunity to have my personal take on the building and it is indeed a magnificent piece and so despite the many problems encountered it met the clients expectations of quality, â€Å"Past Glory of Scotland flowing within the present into the future† PRIMARY SOURCE Lord Fraser, Holyrood Inquiry, Blackwell Bookshop, (2004) Reid G., The Scottish parliament: Holyrood project closure (2007) Books Andersen E.S, Grude K.V, Haug T, Goal directed project management: effective techniques and strategies Kogan Page 3rd edition (2004) Gardiner P.D, Project Management: A strategic planning approach Palgrave Macmillian (2005) Kerzner H. Project Management, a systems approach to planning scheduling and controlling (John Wiley and sons Inc) (2006) page 66 Leech D.J, Turner B.,Project Management for profit, Ellis Horwood publishing (1990) Lockyer K.and Gordon J, Project management and project Network Techniques (6th Edition Pitman Publishing), (1996) Page 3 Lock D, Project Management Gower publishing limited, Pg 6, 12-14 Maylor H, Project Management (Pitman Publishing ) (1996) Page 25 Nickson D Siddons S, Project management disasters: And how to survive them, Kogan Page Limited, (2006) Page 25-74 Westland J., Project Management lifecycle: A complete step by step methodology For initiating, planning, executing and closing the project successfully, Kogan Page (2006) Articles Cicmil S.K , Critical Factors of effective project management the TQM magazine Volume 9 Number 6 1997,390-396 INTERNET SOURCES Architecture week, http://www.architectureweek.com/2005/1019/news_1-3.html ( Last visited on 20th July 2009)   BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4343690.stm ( Last visited on 25th July 2009) Project Management, http://www.pmhut.com/project-phases (Last visited on 20th July 2009) The Scottish Parliament, ,http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/spcb/publications/docs/Holyrood_closeout_report.pdf http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/audit/or-04/au04-1402.htm (Last visited on 20th July 2009)

Karl Marxs Theory of Capitalism Essay -- Papers

Karl Marx's Theory of Capitalism Marxism like functionalism is concerned with the overall picture of society. Marxism is seen as a conflict theory, Mainly because they see the primary interests of society as a whole as being made up of conflicting groups with conflicting interests or beliefs. We are a very materialistic society. A society made up of those who have, and those who have not. Marxists sociologists say that there will never be true social harmony because there are too many inequalities within our cultural society. Marx gave names to the haves and have nots, they are known as the Bourgeoise and the Proletariats. One way of assessing the power of the upper class is through the study of elites (people who fill the top positions in each of the major institutions of society); most of the sociological debates have centered on economic elites and political elites. (Sociology in focus 5th Edition, 2000, page 53) The main question asked by Marxist sociologists is how we all can benefit equally and how can we get rid of the social inequalities present in our society. They differ form functionalists in the way that they see the difference. Marxist sociologists see them as being persistent and not just as a temporary state of affairs to be overcome. Their theories state that for the superstructure to be effective, the infrastructure must function effectively, therefore any changes no matter how small, within the infrastructure will reflect in the superstructure causing severe change and possible disturbances. If production costs rise [...] Intr... ...s, but it has been used to disguise the true set of relations that undergird capitalism. Criticisms Marx has faced a number of criticisms. Most importantly, actual existing communism failed to fulfill its promise. Though these experiments may have distorted Marx's thought, Marxist theory certainly did not reflect its practice. Second, history has shown that workers have rarely been in the vanguard of revolutionary movements, and indeed have resisted communism in some places. Third, Marx failed to adequately consider gender as factor in the reproduction of labor and commodity production. Fourth, some have accused Marx of focusing far too much on production, without giving enough attention to the act of consumption. Last, Marx's historical materialist approach uncritically accepts Western notions of progress.

How useful is Joseph Fletcher’s “Situation Ethics” as a guide to human behaviour? Essay

Rudolf Bultmann claimed that Jesus Christ had no ethics except for â€Å"Love thy neighbour as thyself†. This is what the Anglican Joseph Fletcher based his theory of Situation Ethics on. Fletcher opposed the idea of Legalistic and Antinomian Ethics. Legalistic ethics is where there are absolute rules to what should and should not be done. Fletcher said that Legalism couldn’t accommodate the â€Å"exceptions to the rule† and that rejecting a particular aspect of the law than you surely must reject it all. For example the law â€Å"Do not kill† may require more laws to allow killing in self defence, killing in war, killing unborn babies etc. and doing this contradicts the law in the first place. Antinomian Ethics means â€Å"against law† and people using this approach do not live by an ethical system at all. Fletcher is against this not only because it is unprincipled but also on the basis of existentialist ethics, which argues that reality is composed of singular event and moments in time and Antinomian ethics follows no predictable direction from one situation to another. Situation ethics is based purely on agape love for all. That every ethical decision we make should be made on the premise that â€Å"the end justifies the means†, and that the most loving action with a pure motive is the best one. He claims that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount should be our moral code rather than the Old Testament’s Ten Commandments. Jesus’ ethics of â€Å"love thy neighbour as thyself† can be related to every ethical dilemma, whether modern or old. â€Å"Jesus said nothing about birth control, large or small families, childlessness, homosexuality, masturbation, fornication, premarital intercourse, sterilisation, artificial insemination, abortion, sex, foreplay, petting and courtship. Whether any form of sex (Hetero, Homo or Auto) is good or evil depends on whether love is fully served.† (Fletcher quoted by Jenkins) Fletcher pointed out that even Jesus broke Jewish law if love was better served by doing so. â€Å"Christ Jesus †¦ abolished the law with its commandments and legal claims.† Ephesians 2:13-15 Christians of all denominations can use Fletcher’s theory, which is an advantage as religious disputes and anger between the Protestants and Catholics is such a divide in the Christian religion. Situation ethics could help break down the barriers and unite a faith once again, as situation ethics main principle is love. Fletcher developed six fundamental principles. These are: 1) No actions are intrinsically right or wrong. Nothing is good in and of itself except for love. Actions are good if they help people and bad if they don’t. One cannot expect to live responsibly with moral absolutes. 2) Good actions should not be done for reward (E.g. experiencing a good feeling or seeking altruistic deeds in return) but should be done for their own sake. Jesus and Paul taught love as the highest principle above the Law. 3) Justice is love at work in the community. 4) Love is practical and not selective. We should show love to all, even our enemies. Christian love is unconditional. 5) Love is the end – never a means to something else. 6) Humans have the responsibility of freedom. They are not bound by any Law. With this comes the responsibility to ‘do the most loving thing’ in every situation. â€Å"Fletcher claims that it is a mistake to generalise. You can’t say ‘Is it ever right to lie to your family?’ The answer must be, ‘I don’t know, give me an example.’ A concrete situation is needed, not a generalisation. ‘It all depends’ may well be the watchword of the Situationist.† (Vardy & Grosch p.130) There are many benefits to Situation Ethics. The Bible does not cover many modern topics such as abortion, artificial insemination etc and situation Ethics allows us to work out which is the most loving action with the most loving end. It is also true to the Gospel representation of Jesus and what rules he lived by rather than living by the Old Testament or Jewish laws such as the Ten Commandments, which Jesus came to amend. Situation ethics is flexible, practical and allows for certain actions if the motive is pure and loving for others. It allows the evaluation of actions to choose the least wrong out of two wrong actions, which a legalist cannot do. There are however many criticisms which mostly come down to the problem of knowing what the most loving action is. As we cannot predict actions of other or even actions of our own, it is difficult to know whether the most loving end will actually come or whether an unseen factor may emerge and change the outcome. Selfish people also may twist situation ethics to suit themselves. Agape love is only an ideal to follow as closely as possible not to live by, as it is difficult to see things from an objective point of view. How can we be sure that an action comes out of Agape? Who is to decide whether an action is pure by motive? Can God only decide this at Judgement Day? Another very important criticism is that it can be argued that Hitler was killing Jews out of love for the Arian race and the future of the world. Does Situation ethics allow for such actions that have been dubbed â€Å"Wrong, and that’s that.† such as the Holocaust, September the Eleventh and the Bali bombing? Although the arguments for situation ethics are very convincing and useful for everyday life, the criticisms cannot be ignored, as they are very plausible and important for world issues and topics. A way that considers both Situation ethics and legalism and is somewhere in between is Proportionalism. Proportionalists believe moral rules can only be overridden if there is a proportionate reason in a particular situation. This includes both Natural law (killing, stealing, lying, cheating) and the Situational ethics view. Proportionalists believe that these laws should be adhered to unless there are good reasons not to. This allows for flexibility and a certain amount of relativism whilst still using the fundamental aspects of the Bible. An evil like pain, death or mutilation is, in itself, pre-moral or non-moral, and should never be described as ‘moral’. It is the act as a whole, which is right or wrong, and it is the person, or the person in his or her acting, who is morally good or morally bad. (Bernard Hoose quoted by Vardy & Grosch) I conclude that Fletcher’s situation ethics is highly useful for Christians in everyday life for all the reasons above. However I do believe that there has to be a balance and in my opinion it seems that Proportionalism is the best and most moral route to follow. It contains principles of both Situation ethics and Legalism and seems to make the most sense.

Exploding Mentos Drink

Exploding Mentos Drink A friend sent me a link to a Wired how-to project called The Manhattan Project in which you freeze a Mentos candy into an ice cube and place it in a carbonated drink. When the ice cube melts, the wax surrounding the candy will be exposed and the drink should erupt. Does it work? Lets find out. Exploding Mentos Drink Ingredients The drink in the original recipe called for whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters (basically a Manhattan plus diet cola), but you can make a rum and coke or whatever you like or just try the non-alcoholic version using two ingredients: diet colaa Mentosâ„ ¢ candy Make the Exploding Drink Ill tell you right up front: a drink with soda and Mentos wont explode unless it is in an enclosed container. Exploding drinks make messes, plus they tend to spray out shards of glass, so its a good thing this drink isnt so violent. Erupting is more what youre looking for here. If you want to cause an unexpected eruption, freeze a single Mentos candy into the well of an ice cube tray. Youll get the best results if you wait until the ice is almost frozen and then add a Mentos candy to each cube so that its near the surface of the ice. You dont want to soak the candy in cold water or its coating will dissolve. If that happens, all youll get when you mix it with diet cola is candy-flavored cola. The premise is that the Mentos will become exposed as the ice cube melts. When the wax coating of the candy reacts with the diet soda, the drink will fizz and bubble like the classic Mentos and diet soda fountain. If youre doing the project on-purpose or else dont mind getting caught dropping a Mentos into someones carbonated drink, you can simply plop the candy in the soda no ice cube needed. How the Mentos in Ice Cubes Trick Works Among other things, the gum arabic that coats a Mentos candy lowers the surface tension of the soda, allowing carbon dioxide bubbles to rise and expand more easily. The candy coating traps the gas, forming bubbles and foam. When I tried this project, I didnt get a spectacular eruption, but you can expect somewhat better results if you use a narrow glass for your drink. Except that the Mentos flavors the drink, I dont think someone with a Mentos-laced ice cube would notice much happening or suffer from an out-of-control foaming drink. The project is still pretty fun.

Definition, Examples of the Rhetorical Term Epanalepsis

Definition, Examples of the Rhetorical Term Epanalepsis (1) Epanalepsis is a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at regular intervals: a refrain. Adjective: epanaleptic. (2) More specifically, epanalepsis may refer to repetition at the end of a clause or sentence of the word or phrase with which it began, as in Next time  there wont be a  next time (Phil Leotardo in  The Sopranos). In this sense, epanalepsis is a combination of anaphora and epistrophe. Also known as inclusio. EtymologyFrom the Greek, resumption, repetition Pronunciation e-pa-na-LEP-sis Examples Always Low Prices. Always. (Walmart slogan)Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. (The Bible, Phil. 4.4)In the run-up to Christmas, we will publicly disembowel anyone heard using the phrase in the run-up to Christmas. (Michael Bywater, The Chronicles of Bargepole, Jonathan Cape, 1992)Music I heard with you was more than music,And bread I broke with you was more than bread. (Conrad Aiken, Bread and Music, 1914)He is noticeable for nothing in the world except for the markedness by which he is noticeable for nothing.† (Edgar Allan Poe, The Literati of New York City. Godeys Ladys Book, Sep. 1846)Say over again, and yet once over again,That thou dost love me . . .. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese)â€Å"Imagine me, an old gentleman, a distinguished author, gliding rapidly on my back, in the wake of my outstretched dead feet, first through that gap in the granite, then over a pinewood, then along misty water meadows, and then simply between mar ges of mist, on and on, imagine that sight!† (Vladimir Nabokov, Look at the Harlequins! McGraw Hill, 1974) Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,Possessed by what we now no more possessed. (Robert Frost, The Gift Outright)They went home and told their wives,that never once in all their lives,had they known a girl like me,But . . . They went home. (Maya Angelou, They Went Home)The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink; the man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking. (Jack Sparrow, The Pirates of the Caribbean)We know nothing of one another, nothing. Smiley mused. However closely we live together, at whatever time of day or night we sound the deepest thoughts in one another, we know nothing. (John le Carrà ©, Call for the Dead, 1961) Epanalepsis in Julius Caesar Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe. (Brutus in Act III, scene two of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)By repeating hear and believe at both the beginning and end of successive lines, Brutus emphasizes to the crowd that these are the two main things he desires: for the crowd to hear him and, more significantly, to believe what he is about to say regarding the assassination of Julius Caesar. Epanalepsis in Little Dorritt Mr. Tite Barnacle was a buttoned-up man, and consequently a weighty one. All buttoned-up men are weighty. All buttoned-up men are believed in. Whether or no the reserved and never-exercised power of unbuttoning, fascinates mankind; whether or no wisdom is supposed to condense and augment when buttoned up, and to evaporate when unbuttoned; it is certain that the man to whom importance is accorded is the buttoned-up man. Mr. Tite Barnacle never would have passed for half his current value, unless his coat had been always buttoned-up to his white cravat. (Charles Dickens, Little Dorritt, 1855-1857) Epanalepsis in James Joyces Ulysses Don John Conmee walked and moved in times of yore. He was humane and honoured there. He bore in mind secrets confessed and he smiled at smiling noble faces in a beeswaxed drawingroom, ceiled with full fruit clusters. And the hands of a bride and bridegroom, noble to noble, were impalmed by Don John Conmee. (James Joyces, Chapter 10 of Ulysses, 1922) Notes on Epanalepsis in Prose Epanalepsis is rare in prose, probably because when the emotional situation arises that can make such a scheme appropriate, poetry seems to be the only form that can adequately express the emotion. (Edward P.J. Corbett and Robert J. Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, 1999)When epanalepsis is used in prose, it often creates sentences that stand alone as aphorisms: Nothing can be created out of nothing (Lucretius). Men of few words are the best men (Henry IV 3.2). (Arthur Quinn and Lyon Rathbun, Epanalepsis. Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition, ed. by Theresa Enos. Taylor Francis, 1996)The fourth-century grammarian and rhetorician Tiberius lists epanalepsis as a rhetorical figure, but at the conclusion of his explanation uses the term analepsis instead: Epanalepsis is when the same word is placed twice in the same clause or in the same sentence, with the same context. ... Public speakers use analepsis at the beginning, in the same way as palillogia, but Homer used it also at the end. (Joachim Burmeister, Musical Poetics, trans. by Benito V. Rivera. Yale Univ. Press, 1993)

Gun Control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gun Control - Research Paper Example Strict laws should be conceded, necessitating gun holders to be certified in the similar way car motorists are certified. Earning a license should entail a background checks, fingerprinting, and firearm safety teaching (Gold 49). Guns acquisitions should be limited to one month. Rigid consequences should be passed for stealing a gun. Gun traders should also be accredited, and obligated to pay an annual fee to run the gun business. People believe having a gun in the home makes the home a safe place. In contrast, scholars argue guns at home are five times more probable to murder a resident of the family than a burglar to the home. People say they are scared everybody has a gun, so they purchase one for themselves, for defense (Goss 54). It is intended to engage civilians to assist in the usage and control of firearms, especially to safeguard the minds of children, who experience gun violence at tender ages, and have no support. In some areas, many of the children assume to die brutally, possibly by a gunshot. United States children do not have the liberty to trust that one day they will be adults. Even though United States is one of the world’s lushest, toughest, ablest nations, the degree of gun violence points it out as not being one of the safest nations to live in (Carter 67). In addition, this project intends to shed lights on physical and emotional consequences of gun violence, suffered by the affected individuals and their families. Coming up with enhancement programs is one of its goals, programs which will synthesize voluntary spending time with victims of gun violence, and their families, in order to gain an insight of the well rounded consequences suffered by the whole community at large (Goss 71). Gun violence control will require community support (Gold 53). Developing young people skills and minds, and providing them an opportunity to actively live and participate in violence free, caring, and supportive society, is one of the aims of this project.

Lust, Love & Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lust, Love & Relationship - Essay Example The article highlights the story life of the author during her college days. In her relationship, the author compares herself with other peers. The element of money and financial disparities arises. The author creates an environment where those with financial advantage tend to enjoy love compared to those who are financially disadvantage(Kennedy, 2015). Her envy of her girlfriend suggests the monetary aspect plays part in love and happiness. The author also reflects the level of relationship and her situation as she describes her love as serious as being serious. The article concludes by suggesting that the author’s college life was meant to sample and determine what factors surrounding love. The author indicates that marriage explores is a test of what one had experienced during their teenage lives. According to Derleg, communication plays part in determining the type of relationship to be experienced by different parties. The length of a relationship will be determine by the level of communication between parties. A close communication model will ensure a loner relationship. In the article the author indicate her love life with her boyfriend begins and ended in collage. The factors behind this could be that after collage the two limited their communication hence breaking their relationship. Communication and relationship have a positive correlation. According to Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love, intimacy is a fro of relationship that defines closeness and define the love distance between two.