Otto Von Bismarck Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Otto Von Bismarck - Term Paper Example First, after the defeat of Austria, it was expected that Otto Von Bismarck would make some demands for some territory from Austria, but instead, Otto Von Bismarck adapted the illogical strategy of failing to make such demands3. Otto Von Bismarck had sought excuses to start a war with Austria, by arguing that they had violated the Convention of Gastein4. Consequently, he charged the Prussian troops to attack Austria, but on realizing that the Austria troops were equally strong, he forged an alliance with Italy which was interested in some of the Austria’s territory in Venetia. This made the Austria’s army to be divided between fighting the Prussian troops and the Italian troops, thus losing the war. It is this illogical move that eventually resulted to the unification of Germany, through the unification of the German States, to combine forces in the Austro-Prussian War5. This is because, with the exclusion of Austria from Germany, then it was possible for Prussia to domi nate the German politics6. The other RealPolitik strategy applied by Otto Von Bismarck to achieve the unification of Germany was that of sustaining an enemy outlook with France. Otto Von Bismarck provoked France though trying to impose a German prince on the Spanish throne7. After the defeat of Austria, France perceived a united Germany as a major threat to the power politics in Europe, and thus made several attempts to unite with other territories such as Belgium and Luxemburg8. During such attempts, Otto Von Bismarck kept France advanced to the intrigues, but France did not win any of the territories, making France to be perceived as greedy and aggressive. This strategy was meant to ensure that the German states would unite under the Prussian authority, so that they would be offered protection against the perceived aggression from France9. Seeking to ensure that France would be seen as the aggressor against Germany, Otto Von Bismarck

Compare and contrast the two different Native American Groups before Term Paper

Compare and contrast the two different Native American Groups before white contact - Term Paper Example He was the first European to land here what later was called as the â€Å"Americas†. Later explorers also called the Native Americans â€Å"Indians† although they stayed nowhere near India. Experts say that around 20 to 50 million people were staying the Americas by 1492. Mayans and Aztecs lived in the area which is presently known as Mexico. In the north, (present Ohio), Hopewell civilization had already flourished before Columbus came. There were farmers, hunters, fishermen, traders, craftsmen all over the continent at that time. (Reynoldson, 2000, p. 4-6) The Native American Groups The Native American groups discussed here are the â€Å"Inuitâ€Å"and the â€Å"Nez Perce† groups. The Inuit Shelter, food and clothes The Inuit lived in the coldest terrain of the earth, i.e. the Arctic Circle. Their houses were made of driftwood or bones of whale. However, the Inuit who lived in the colder areas, built dome like snow houses during the winter months. They built these with huge blocks of snow and then cut out a doorway to enter in it. Around the snow walls, inside, a ledge of snow blocks was built which were covered by caribou furs to sit and sleep over those. All the insulations were done in such a manner that the temperature inside the house could be easily kept as high as 160C, particularly if cooking took place inside the house. A windowpane was made out of stretched intestines of seals to expel the stale air. The Inuit hunted seals almost round the year. During summer they could hunt from boats, when the seals would swim or were on ice. However, in winter, since the ice was easy to walk upon, hunting was easy. Seal hunting required sufficient skill and patience for hours. They used harpoon to kill the seals. Clothes were tailored by women to suit the harsh climate. (Reynoldson, 2000, p.12- 15) Social life By November, the water froze to ice in the Arctic, and it was a good time to travel with sledge pulled by dogs. Winter was the time to socialize. Inuits travelled to visit family and friends to spend time with them, sing and dance. Also, men who had hunted well and stored enough food for his family would take this time out for enjoyment. Those who didn’t have a fair hunting season would take their family to visit relatives to be fed. The sledges could be used till May. In autumn and spring they were used to hunt. Sledges were made out of various kind of materials as and when available like wood, bone or antler and even iron and mud. Twelve dogs could pull a sledge of half a ton weight through thirty two kilometers in about an hour. The dogs were very loyal and obedient to their masters. The owners kept their dogs around their homes throughout the year. They would also make skin boots for the dogs to prevent the entry of the salty water into their toes which if happened would be very painful once the water refroze. (Reynoldson, 2000, p.18-19) Marital life Men and women had their specific works to do. Women made clothes, processed the skin and flesh of animals hunted, cooked food, raise children and also took to fishing. Men were the food providers, hunters, made the tools and built houses. There was no marriage ceremony in their community. Any partner could come out of the relation anytime. However, if they had children they would try to be together. Spouse exchange was practiced among the Inuit.

History of civil rights movement Essay Example for Free

History of civil rights movement Essay Civil rights movement can be described as the non violent protests against something that the public feels does not auger well with them. Dierenfield, (2004, pp 23) differentiates civil liberties and civil rights by describing the former as entailing the right of every citizen to receive fair treatment from his government whereas the latter, he says involves citizens gunning for fair treatment from their fellow citizens and local authorities. Therefore, civil rights can also be described as social rights. However, the mammoth effects of the civil rights movement against slavery and the more conspicuous civil movements against racial segregation have taken credit for defining the term. This paper discusses the civil rights movement in the US by tracing its history, the key leaders involved and how their activities influenced the American government of the time. History of civil rights movement Civil rights movement are most famous in the US between 1955 and 1965 where there happened numerous historical accounts led by civil rights leaders protesting against racial segregation in the US more so in the south. The leaders were mainly black who were protesting against mistreatment by their white counterparts who by then treated them as second class citizens. Key activists Martin Luther King This is definitely one of the most renowned African American leaders in fighting for equal rights for African Americans living in the US who were mainly descendants of early slaves. He is most remembered for leading the Montgomery bus boycott among other protests. This Montgomery bus boycott is recorded to have officially started on 1st December 1955. The boycott involved the black American living in that area boycotting using the city buses unless they were allowed to sit anywhere they wanted to sit in the bus instead of the area specifically set out for the blacks. The boycotts were triggered by the arrest of one woman Rosa Park who had defied giving up her sit to a white person in the bus. Having the fronts seats reserved for whites sonly, Rosa Parks defied the order o give up her seat and was subsequently arrested for that. Rosa Parks This is one woman who the US congress came to nickname the â€Å"mother of modern-day civil rights movements† (Boyd, et al 2004, pp 125). As said above, her defiance into giving in to mistreatment in the public transport system triggered the massive boycotts which were to last more than a year until their pleas were heard. Her arrest was even against t the law which she claimed to have observed. A 1900 law on segregation in the buses by race allowed the setting up of specific areas for blacks and whites in the bus but did not give specifications as to force one to vacate his/her seat for another in case there were no more seats. However, custom and culture and mis-configured the law and interpreted it for the benefits of the whites. Park was charged in a court of law and was found guilty but some of her friends bailed her out (Boyd, 2004, pp 125). The same friends who bailed Park out formed an organization by the name Montgomery Improvement Association to spearhead the boycotts and among the leaders was Martin Luther King Jr. Black churches were used in communicating about the boycott which was to last exactly 381 days. The public transport buses stood idle as 75% of the commuters had decide to either walk or used blacks operated taxis (Dierenfield, 2004, pp 23). The bus companies were making losses and thus they had also to join the blacks in calling for the abolition of the law on segregation in order to save their businesses. Leaders of the movement such as Martin Luther King had their homes torched by segregationists and their families threatened. The United States Supreme Court, on13th November 1956 outlawed racial segregation on buses operating within the individual states and cities. The court order was received with a lot of celebration in Montgomery on December 20, 1956, and the bus boycott ended the very next day. King did not stop there. He went ahead and met with President John F Kennedy who was also for equal rights for blacks. Unfortunately, changing the constitution to outlaw segregation by race was not that simple. Other protests were planned to push for what they believed was naturally theirs by the virtue of being a human being and an American citizen. The bus boycott had planted a seed of freedom in blacks. Since the need of the boycott, many cases wee reported where blacks were being accused of disrespecting the segregation laws or the Jim Crow’s laws as they were famously known. Other protest marches were also organized by Martin Luther and other fellow activists. The major ones being the Birmingham March, The freedom rides, The Washington march among many others (Dierenfield, 2004, pp 23). Unfortunately, the man was later to be assassinated due to his civil rights activities. Many of these subsequent marches turned violent with the local authorities and civil segregationists turning violent towards the protesters. One of the most violent march was the Birmingham march which involved children aged from 6 to 18. The local authorities used fie extinguisher hoses to chase the children out of Kelly Ingram Park where they had gathered. Many were injured and over 950 of them arrested. Jails were packed to the brim as more protests and arrests followed. The police had no other wise but to watch in despair as the marches took over the lives of everyone. Business was down and the economy of Birmingham was at a standstill. Finally, the Birmingham community had to give in. They allowed integration in the city’s eating counters and even offer equal employment services to the blacks (Boyd, 2004, pp 125). Medgar Evers This man specifically sought to have equal education rights for the blacks in America. Being a former army man during the Second World War, he felt his denial of entry at University of Mississippi Law School was race based which was not in harmony with his acceptance in the army as a full American citizen. He therefore challenged racial discrimination in education centers. The man also organized massive boycotts against gas stations that could not allow blacks and whites share restrooms (Newman, 2004, pp 164 ) Working under the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Evers had more avenues for airing his views. He therefore also organized campaigns for the blacks to be registered as voters. His attempt to have his friend admitted to the University of Mississippi attracted the intervention of the federal government after he had been denied entry on racial basis. Many interventions were to follow and more and more blacks found their way in to university. The whole process was to change on how blacks felt about themselves and even motivated them to seek integration in other areas and receive fair treatment as equal citizens with their white counterparts. Unfortunately, the man was also to be assassinated 1962 due to his involvement in the civil rights movement. However, his legacy of no violent protests and equal education rights were to be observed and remembered up to now. The culmination of all these deaths, arrests, marches and protests was the passing of the civil rights act of 1964 which outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places and employment which was introduced by President John F. Kennedy. This act was followed by the civil rights act of 1968 which criminalized discrimination in housing which had prior enforcement in the constitution (Newman, 2004, pp 165)

The 2012 Us Presidential Election Politics Essay

The 2012 Us Presidential Election Politics Essay With the 2012 United States presidential elections over, President Obama won a second term in office defeating Republican rival Governor Romney. The President won 332 electoral votes while the Governor won 206 (Huffington Post). This paper will look at why the election results occurred as they did. The key discussion will revolve on subjective grounds that take on a candidate centric approach as to why the votes fell as they did based on the candidates demeanours and their ability to appeal to voters through integrity, sincerity and leadership skills (Pika and Maltese 150). This election was very centrally focused on repairing the economy. In August 2012, a Gallup poll showed that Obama was receiving a 60% disapproval rating regarding the economy. Similar polls were conducted by other outlets that showed similar results (LoGiurato). With this disapproval, Governor Romney felt that running on an anti-Obamas economy platform would win him votes. His strategy included criticizing Obamas handling of the economy and making himself appear as the better candidate for the handling of a fragmenting economy after Obama had four years to prove that he could mend it after the large deficit left by the Bush Administration (Gabriel). However, voters were incredibly suspicious of Romney. Despite his plea for votes based on a fragmenting economy, there were other factors that made him appear untrustworthy and unrelatable in the eyes of American voters, specifically the middle class and minority groups. This includes: shifting positions, constant gaffes that made voters question Romneys sincerity and a new and unprecedented GOP extremism that reflected poorly on the Governor (Weisberg). These factors all weighed against Romney and made Obama appear as the safer choice despite economy disapproval. In Americas past, incumbent presidents lost the election because of poor economic performance (Carter, Bush Sr.) (Abramson et al. 177). Although people were looking for economic and jo b change (Jones), they did not feel that Romney was a trusted and reliable candidate. American voters felt safer with Obama as the president. Before discussing why Romney lost the 2012 election, it is also relevant to discuss factors as to why Obama won a second term in the 2012 election. In 2008, Obama won 365 electoral votes (Mayhew 200). Although the votes were less for the 2012 election, his victory then managed to carry on to another successful term, with similar demographics voting for the president again. These demographics include: African Americans, Hispanics, women and youth (Abramson 118). These are also the same groups that were least likely to vote for Governor Romney which will be discussed later on. These groups may not have entirely approved of Obamas record but did not feel that Romney was a better choice. The President won over 90% of the black vote in both the 2008 (ibid.) and 2012 election. History shows that most African Americans vote Democratic in elections however Romney appeared particularly unpopular amongst this group, more so than former Republican candidates like John McCain and George W. Bush. This may be due to the recent accusations of racism seen in the GOP. These accusations may be based on possibly racist statements that Republicans made throughout the election (Rosenberg). Such accusations are based on incidents like Republicans implying that the President was born in Kenya, Romneys Welfare Ad that appeared to attack poor black people and the proposal of voter ID laws that would require voters to show ID with an address on it, like a drivers licence. The Brennan Centre for Justice noted that African Americans have drivers licenses at half the rate of whites. This would make it easy to suppress African Americans from voting, likely for Obama (ibid). In fact, after the election was over, former and current Florida GOP leaders admitted that the voter ID laws were meant to suppress black voters from voting for the Democrats (Palm Beach Post). Obama also captured about 70% of the Hispanic vote, nationwide. Two key issues that were important to Hispanics appeared to be the economy and immigration. Many did not approve of Obamas record on either but felt he was the safer choice. With regards to immigration, Obama deported a record number of illegal immigrants during his term (Preston). However, he also implemented DACA and vowed to continue to support the DREAM Act, both acts would provide amnesty for young illegal immigrants in school or in the military. The impreMedia and Latino Decisions polls showed that 60% of Hispanic-Obama supporters knew an illegal immigrant and felt Obama was the better choice for their road to legality (Foley). Romney appeared to be severely conservative towards the issue of illegal immigration during the Primaries. His statement regarding self deportation for illegal immigrants is something that tarnished his attempted image as an immigrant-friendly candidate along with vowing to veto the DREAM Ac t (ibid.). Although he tried to move away from the self deportation statement once he secured the nomination, it was not forgotten by both voters and the President (ex. Obama referenced this during the second presidential debate when a question was raised about illegal immigration reform) (Boroff and Planas). Hispanics cite this as a reason for why they did not vote for the Governor. Another group that Obama overwhelmingly won over were women. Obama was extremely popular amongst this group, as he was seen as the pro-woman candidate. Romney was seen as being out of touch with women which made women back Obama even more. Romneys was anti-abortion, vowed to overturn Roe v. Wade and planned to cut insurance coverage to contraception (Brokes). Obama also spent time discussing equal pay for women and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009 (White House Blog), an Act that Romneys running mate Paul Ryan rejected which may have also contributed to the lost womens vote. Governor Romney tried to appear as the pro-woman candidate during the second presidential debate by sharing an anecdote about the lack of women working in his cabinet in Massachusetts (despite that the question was regarding equal pay for women) and stating that he would not deny access to contraceptives for women (ABC News). These statements did not help the Governor gain much momentum as many pro- women groups, like We Are Woman and Planned Parenthood (WAW) were already latched onto re-electing Obama. The last demographic to add momentum to Obamas presidential victory were youth. This was a key demographic in helping Obama win his first term and it helped again. Obamas celebrity status may have helped with this group particularly because Obama was endorsed by many liberal Hollywood icons that youth may be familiar with and may be swayed by their opinion such as singers and actors. Obamas appearance in pop culture, like magazines and talk shows, made him popular amongst youth who saw him as a charismatic, young and cool Democrat who promised change and fresh ideas post-Bush (Pika and Maltese 189). Obamas ability to communicate and relate with youth garnered him votes in both elections and this ability to entice an audience, like a room full of college students, was seen as Obamas biggest asset (ibid). Romneys commitment to creating more jobs is what may have gained him some popularity amongst youth who would be looking for jobs when they finish school but it was not enough to pull ahead of Obamas own promise of job creation, to keep student loan interest rates low and his ability to captivate an audience with the same factors as he did in 2008 (ABC News). It is also important to cite Obamas achievements during his term for why he won a second term in the office. Some of Obamas biggest achievements include the following: signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, bailing out the auto industry, sending out the order to kill Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, passing health care reform and passing the Stimulus (Glastris et al.). While many people felt Obama was merely the better choice over Romney, Obamas achievements are also credited for reasons he won a second term in office. Romneys lost Presidential bid can be partially blamed on his inconsistencies and flip flops. When Romney was running for the Republican candidacy during the Primaries, he had to claim to be severely Conservative despite being a moderate governor in Massachusetts (Fahrenthold). This ability to appear severely Conservative won him the GOP nomination amongst a growing right wing extremism within the GOP (will be discussed later) but did not make him popular amongst the general voting population. Romney attempted to redefine himself as a moderate in order to please the general audience. However, in front of the GOP he would revert back to being very right wing on social and economic policies. Despite his attempts to move to the centre, especially during the debates, Obama and social media made this extremely difficult. Obama ran many ads that challenged Romneys flip flopping (ex. Romnesia speech) and a growing usage of social media made it difficult for people to forget Romneys changing positions. What would have otherwise been yesterdays news usually became a viral topic on the internet for weeks. Such flip flops that may have hurt Romneys image thus costing him the election include the following: including abortion legislation in his agenda (vowed to repeal Roe v. Wade and de-fund Planned Parenthood) but stated in a key swing state, Iowa, that theres no legislation with regards to abortion that Im familiar with that would become part of my agenda. He also changed positions on health care (from the time he was Governor to his run for president) (NY Times), and changed positions on immigration reform, support for gun control laws and his secretive tax plans from when he was running for the Republican nomination to when he was running for the President in order to appear more moderate (Westen). However, because people did not forget his statements, mostly due to the easy ability to circulate and find information on the internet, Romney appeared to be extremely insin cere in his statements. These inconsistencies made it difficult for Americans to understand who Romney truly was thus he was seen as highly untrustworthy and Americans feared of what he would actually do if he got into office (NY Times). Similar to the reasoning above regarding Romneys loss, his campaign was full of gaffes that weakened his image as a potential president and made it difficult for Americans to relate to him and imagine him as a sincere and relatable president (ibid). Citizens saw Romney as a rich business man who was mostly concerned about the wealthiest 1% of the population and who did not seem interested in the rest of the population. Political strategist James Carville explains that Romneys gaffes were most damaging to him because they confirmed who people thought he was (Dickinson) He goes on to explain that this is the worst thing that can happen to a politician, to confirm negative popular beliefs about that politician thus hurting their image (ibid.). One gaffe that confirmed peoples potentially negative beliefs about Romney was the 47% comment made in front of private donors. Romney essentially ruled out 47% of the voting population as potential voters and appeared apathetic towards their need s because he claimed that they were dependent on government and their services, something Romney did not support (ibid.). He felt that they would vote for Obama because he was seen as the president who supported dependency, according to Romney, thus did not feel he had to cater to them (Rosenberg). This comment, like his flip flops, went viral on the internet thus making it difficult for people to forget the statement. Like Carville explained, it confirmed peoples belief that Romney was unrelatable and apathetic towards the middle class (Dickinson) therefore gaining more momentum for Obama, a candidate that people saw as more sincere and relatable than Romney. Obamas ability to charm and captivate an audience helped him win the presidency again. Romneys apathy and insincere behaviour towards the middle class, and especially minority groups, who found it particularly difficult to relate to him, lost him votes that likely went towards the President, the candidate who appeared more rel atable to the average American. Another reason that may explain Romneys inability to win the Presidency is that he was never truly the popular choice for the Republican nomination. Before election night, Westen stated that if Romney did lose the election, it would be because Romney was not very appealing to the base (Westen). Romney did not appear to be popular amongst Republicans. He ran for Republican nominee in 2008 and lost. In this election, his name was not mentioned early in the race as a popular choice for president the way other names were mentioned, like Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie. According to CBS, 58% of Republicans wanted more choices. This essentially means that 58% of Republicans likely were not satisfied with Governor Romney as the Republican nominee but wanted Obama out of office regardless of who the other option was (Montopoli). This dislike for Romney may be due to his moderate positions as a Governor. However, because of the GOPs extremism, Romney had to change positions and appear to be more conservative than he actually was in the past. James Carville explains that if Romney had run as a moderate, he would not have made it past the primaries (Dickinson). This conservatism may have gained him some popularity amongst very rightist Republicans however this popularity likely shrunk when he began to move to the centre. Romneys strategy to adapt to whatever the voters wanted him to be made him unfavourable amongst the GOP and amongst the general voting population. The GOP saw that he became a moderate and the general population saw what he was during the primaries and questioned his sincerity on his positions. The last and possibly most critical reason that Romney lost the Presidency against incumbent Obama was because of the new and growing extremism of the Republican Party and a general distaste for Republicans altogether. Political Scientist Renford Reese called this election one that was winnable for the Republicans. The economy was in bad shape and the unemployment rate is at 8%. Many who voted for Obama in 2008 were disappointed in his performance over the past 4 years in office. However, because of this growing conservative extremism of the party that got the best of Romney, he lost the election (Reese). The party is seen to be losing touch with the middle class. It continues to appear to cater to the wealthiest of the population and appears uninterested in minority groups. The primaries essentially consisted of a negative anti-Obama sentiment and discussions of being against various social issues in a context that seems outdated. This includes anti-gay, anti-womens rights, anti-imm igration, anti-minority, anti-welfare, anti-health care reform, anti-global warming, anti-unions, and anti-education (Reese). This growing extremism of the GOP makes their voting population very narrow and makes them appear unelectable. In order to win the base, Romney had to have been in agreement with most of these named positions whether it was sincere or not (Dickinson). The candidates who did not take on such extreme positions, like Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul, did not stand a chance in winning the Republican nomination. Romney was not certain of his nomination early on, so his severe conservatism had to be dragged out long enough to ensure it which hurt his strategy of smoothly moving to the centre. Once he began to do it, it was too late as Obama had already latched onto his extreme statements and used them against Romney in ads and debates (Weisberg). Further hurting his transition to the middle were various Republicans who constantly made statements that made the GOP appear d istasteful. This includes Missouris Todd Akin and Indianas Richard Mourdock whose statements on legitimate rape and pregnancy from rape being Gods will continued to make the GOP appear anti-womens rights (ibid.). Both men lost their seats, reflecting what voters thought about their obscure statements. Moreover, Arizonas immigration laws that appeared to endorse racial profiling and the proposed voting laws that would suppress African American voters also reflected poorly on the GOP, making them appear racist (Reese). There will always be Americans who vote Democrat and Americans who always vote Republican. However, it is the swing voters who matter most. If the GOP hopes to win the 2016 election they must reassess their party and produce candidates who can relate to the general population and who do not take on such extreme (and often religious) positions. James Carville, who served as Bill Clintons political strategist at the time of his Presidential bid, notes that the Democrats w ere losing the popular vote for 20 years. Clinton came along and ran as a centrist presidential candidate and won (Dickinson). This is what the Republicans need to do. They must step away from this growing extremism towards religion and social positions and take on moderate positions that can appeal to an ever growing diverse nation where white-males are no longer the only Americans they feel they need to appeal to (Reese). Only then may they have a chance at winning in 2016. People were looking for change after Obama with a fragmenting economy, but they did not feel safe with Romney (Jones). Governor Romney may have had a chance at winning the Presidency had he initially ran as a moderate however he would have had no shot at winning the primaries. The growing disconnects between the GOP and the voting population is increasing and it was responsible for Romney losing the election. Romney had to appear severely conservative (Fahrenthold) in order to win the nomination but attempted to appear moderate after that in order to win over the general population. However, Obama made this difficult for him when he and his staff latched onto obscure statements made by the governor, such as the 47% comment and his support for self deportation (Dickinson) and used them against him in debates and ads thus reminding the voters of what Romney was like during the primaries, someone unrelatable to the average American. On top of that, Obama used the same popularity and hyp e he received from the 2008 election to win over similar demographics in this election. This includes African Americans, Hispanics, women and youth (Abramson 118). These are the same groups that did not vote for Romney. They essentially all felt disconnected with Romney and were afraid of what his presidency would bring. They felt safer with Obama. Romneys constant flip flopping and gaffes made him look uninterested and distrusted to the population (NY Times). He did not come off as a sincere candidate rather he came off as a politician who would say anything to please voters. Now that Romney had led two unsuccessful presidential bids, the GOP must reorganize themselves and use the strategy that Clinton used to win the presidency as a Democrat: start and stay in the centre (Dickinson). Obama won a second term because of his charisma and his successes in his first term but most importantly because voters felt safer with him as President as opposed to a nominee who said anything to pl ease the population and who came off as distrusted and unable to connect with the average American. Citations Abramson, Paul, John Aldrich and David Rohde. Change and Continuity in the 2008 and 2010 Elections. Washington, DC: CQ, 2012. Boroff, David, and Rogue Planas. Romney Says He Favors self-deportation' New York Daily News. 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. . Brockes, Emma. Why Obama Won the Womens Vote. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 07 Nov. 2012. . Dickinson, Tim. How President Obama Won a Second Term. Rolling Stone. 23 Nov. 2012. . EDITORIAL; The Moderate Mitt Myth. The New York Times. 13 Oct. 2012. . Election Results. The Huffington Post. 19 Nov. 2012. . Fahrenthold, David A. Mitt Romney Reframes Himself as a severely Conservative Governor. Washington Post. 17 Feb. 2012. . Foley, Elise. Latino Voters In Election 2012 Help Sweep Obama To Reelection. The Huffington Post. 07 Nov. 2012. . Former Florida GOP Leaders Say Voter Suppression Was Reason They Pushed New Election Law. The Palm Beach Post. 25 Nov. 2012. . Gabriel, Trip. Romney Blasts Obama as a Failure on the Economy. The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 July 2011. . Glastris, Paul. Obamas Top 50 Accomplishments. The Washington Monthly. Mar.-Apr. 2012. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_2012/features/obamas_top_50_accomplishments035755.php?page=1>. Jones, Jeffrey. Economy Is Paramount Issue to U.S. Voters. Economy Is Paramount Issue to U.S. Voters. 29 Feb. 2012. . LoGiurato, Brett. Obamas Approval Ratings On Economic Issues Are Miserable. Business Insider. 16 Aug. 2012. . Montopoli, Brian. Poll: 58% of Republicans Want More Presidential Choices. CBS News. 9 Jan. 2012. . Pika, Joseph, and John Maltese. The Politics of the Presidency. Washington, DC: CQ, 2012. Preston, Julia. Record Number of Foreigners Were Deported in 2011, Officials Say. New York Times. 7 Sept. 2012. . Reese, Renford. Opinion: GOP Extremism Killed Romneys Chances. Daily News. 7 Nov. 2012. . Rosenberg, Paul. The Racist Nature of the Republican Partys Most Effective Lies. Al Jazeera. 6 Sept. 2012. . Second Presidential Debate Full Transcript. ABC News. 17 Oct. 2012. . Slack, Megan. From the Archives: President Obama Signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. From the Archives: President Obama Signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. 30 Jan. 2012. . We Are Woman. We Are Woman. . Weisberg, Jacob. Why Romney Lost. The Financial Times. N.p., 7 Nov. 2012. . Westen, Drew. Americas Leftward Tilt? The New York Times. N.p., 3 Nov. 2012. .

A day at the cubbies game :: essays research papers

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and being a sports fan resulted in one and only true outcome; I am the Chicago Cubs’ biggest fan. True, I am not the only person in the greater Chicagoland area who will claim the title, but I stick to my guns and refuse to relinquish the self-appointed title. Every time I go home, I join the thousands of other self appointed â€Å"biggest fans† in the usual afternoon at Wrigley Field. There is nothing quite like a day at a Cubs game. For me, it’s a fun filled day of drinking watered down beer and eating cheap hot dogs and nachos with the guys. Yes, it may sound rather crude to many but to us, its bliss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The day usually starts early in the morning, an eight o’clock train into Chicago, with the throbbing pain of a hangover after being out too late the night before catching the game at the local sports bar. After the mochas and lattes have crested over the appropriate sets of lips the whole group perks up with anticipation over the days events. Players’ statistics are discussed, along with the usual hopeful, â€Å"Maybe Derek Lee will hit a grand slam today!† and, as always, Nate and Mike get into it at least once over whether Kerry Wood or Richard Prior is a better starting pitcher. Friendly jabs are exchanged in all directions, and by the time everyone agrees to disagree the train is pulling into Union Station and we’re one step closer to the game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After catching a taxi, the short ride to the ballpark takes far longer then it should due to the hundreds of cars that are assaulting the Wrigley Field parking lots and attacking the local traffic cops. As the taxi creeps impatiently up the street, edging closer and closer to the unmoving vehicle in front of it, Wrigley Field slowly climbs out of the Chicago skyline. A beautiful thing occurs every time this happens†¦silence! Mike, Nate, Nick, Andrew, and James have all stopped their usual â€Å"guy talk† to take in the glory of our team’s home field. The striking red brick of the building, with bold green ivy lazily climbing it’s walls, and the â€Å"WRIGLEY FIELD, Home of the CHICAGO CUBS† sign screaming out from the front, all receive the deserved moment of silence and respect they demand from all who walk within their walls.

Binge Eating in Bulimia Nervosa Essay -- Causes of Bulimia, Eating Di

In our Western society, we have several different types of eating dysfunction, all of which are unique and tragic in their own right. Despite their individuality, however, they all have several overlapping symptoms that are key to their classification and severity. For Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge Eating Disorder (BED), one of the core features is binge eating, which can be defined objectively by number of calories eaten in a given time or subjectively by the feelings of the binger. Binge eating has many different aspects that are of interest to scientists and clinicians alike. One of those interests has to do with the reduction of this symptom among populations being treated for their respective disorder. Because both disorders are relatively new to the scientific and clinical world, there is much debate over how to treat, define, and possibly distinguish this phenomenon between the two disorders. For the purpose of this review, I intended to examine the evidence for the best outcomes, both immediate and long term, for reduction of binge eating in these disorders. Clinicians treat BN and BED in several different ways, some of which are more effective than others, especially at reducing the core symptom of binge eating. Although many treatments exist, those most researched in terms of treatment outcome are interpersonal therapy (IPT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavior therapy (BT), and pharmacological therapy. These treatments are not designed to simply treat binge eating; instead, they are used to treat the whole of the disorder. However, by understanding the workings of the therapy and differences in treatment outcomes among core features, science can expand upon its understan... ...ee Psychological Treatments. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52: 304-312. Fairburn, C. G., Jones, R., Peveler, R. C., Carr, S. J., Solomon, R. A., O’Connor, M. E., Burton, J., Hope, R. A. (1991). Three Psychological Treatments for Bulimia Nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48: 463-469. Peterson, C. B. & Mitchell, J E. (1999). Psychosocial and Pharmacological Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Review of Research Findings. Journal of Clinical Psychology, June: 686-697. Walsh, B. T., Wilson, G T., Loeb, K L., Devlin, M. J., Pike, K. M., Roose, S. P., Fleiss, J. & Waternaux, C. (1997). Medication and Psychotherapy in the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154: 523-531. Wilfey, D. E., Cohen, L. R. (1997). Psychological Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. Psychopharmacology Bulletin,33(3): 437-454.

Vertical Integration Walmart

Vertical integration is a business growth strategy for economics of scale. It is typified by one firm engaged in different parts of production example; growing raw materials, manufacturing, transporting, marketing, and/or retailing to expand business in existing market for the firm. It can function in two directions both forward integration and backward integration. In Forward integration involves company to develop strategy to control the firm product distribution either through distribution centers or retailers.It is a necessary action when companies have potential benefits from handling, shipping of their own products directly to customers, or the retail selling their own products in brand stores. In backward integration involves company to develop strategy to control its supply of raw material by acquiring its supplier firm or setting up its own facilities to produce the material to achieve cost efficiency and enjoy economic of scale.Often it is learnt that the huge investment is required for firm to develop vertical integration, therefore, it is important for the firm to know beforehand whether vertical integration strategy add specific value to the company, and does it aligned with the overall strategy of the company, customer needs and wants. For Wal-Mart, it is better to develop vertical integration based on the firm establishment in the market and the firm is always looking into expansion.Walmart is a well-known hypermarket with 8500 stores across 15 different countries. It is in business of selling everything to customers’ needs in their everyday lives. Wal-Mart practices vertical integration strategy where it has developed its own name brand to sell products called Sam's Choice Today; Sam’s Choice extended its products like soft drinks, cereal, and dog food. While they still don't grow their own crops or raise their own livestock, it is still a form of vertical integration.In 2010, the company expanded to cater home entertainment by buy ing over Vudu that provides online streaming service offering users to purchase movies that is compatible to any internet capable device. Having strong presence in the retail industry, the firm expanded business to offer second hand car. The firm leverage on its competencies to provide its own product to consumer. Also, Wal-Mart works heavily with its suppliers. This symbiotic relationship can be seen as vertical integration due to the level at which Wal-Mart analyses its suppliers and improves their manufacturing processes.Wal-Mart definitely has the business strategy of Low Cost Leadership. They do nothing to really differentiate themselves from competitors and provide no-frills self-service stores that always provide the lowest prices. Wal-Mart has built enough clout with suppliers that they can dictate the prices and go in and change suppliers manufacturing processes in order to wring out more and more savings for the consumer. However, it is not always the case that all firms s hould develop vertical integration strategy to enjoy economic of scale.Firm like boutique or niche items that produces on a small scale are not suitable to implement as it will benefit less from vertically integrated mainly because the input demand for grow is small and due to exclusive nature their prices are inelastic as compare to industry like Oil and Gas Industry, Telecom, Media, automobile developed vertical integration strategy . The main advantage of the vertical integration is the increased control. For instance, Wal-Mart with large market share is attractive to supplier.Though Wal-Mart does not own asset specificity to produce product internally but there is a large market input outside and therefore Walmart is benefited by having bargaining power and gaining control over price and manufacturing process in order to wring out more and more saving consumer. On the other hand Walmart, performs distribution and retailing activities, it has more control over the way the product is presented and at what prices it is sold in the market In relative to firm like oil and gas industry Esso mobile, it gain control through Asset specificity to produce internally.Developing a vertical integration strategy solely increase advantages over competition and able to block competitors from gaining access to scarce resources or important markets. A retailer might buy a manufacturing company, for instance, to gain access to proprietary technology, patents or resources only available in the firm's local area. For instance Walmart acquired VuVu to gain access to the home entertainment business. Integrate an organisation the work done by previous suppliers or costumers are also introducing or expanding the core competencies of your workers.That way you can be enriching some of your organisation jobs, leading to increasing satisfaction and motivation of your workers, which is an important benefit. For instance, Walmart employee is rotated to different work function that enable employee to acquired new skill and value add to their growth. Vertical integration offers the opportunity to go even further. With specialized assets and having more control over inputs, it is possible that you can differentiate from your competitors, and gain competitive advantage.This is a way to increase your share in the market, which can lead to increased profits. For exam No doubt vertical integration boosts profit revenue but it required huge capital injection to produce excess goods for retail distribution and to ensure having adequate storage space. When goods are sold Walmart makes a lot of money but if its unsold, they have to bear the cost and at times dispose away as product have life span. Its resulting in losses. It results in fixed sources of supply and less flexibility in accommodating buyer demands for product variety.It extends firm's scope of activity, locking it deeper into the industry Vertical integration poses problems of balancing capacity at each stage of value chain. It can reduce a firm's manufacturing flexibility, lengthening design time and ability to introduce new products. For example, Walmart to increase capacity, they have to make sure that they generate the additional sales corresponding to that increased capacity. Though their businesses acquire a bigger space, new equipment but there’s not a plan for bringing in the sales to take advantage of that increased capacity capability, it’s just increased overhead; a fixed cost.When you integrate more work that is different in your organisation, you are developing new core competencies, which is, as seen before, a positive effect. Nevertheless, this can represent a drawback when these new competencies affect existing competencies in a negative way, making people uncomfortable in performing their functions, which can end in less satisfaction and motivation of the workers and in less productivity of the enterprise. Although vertical integration should lead to lower cos ts, in fact in some cases you can obtain quite the opposite.It is possible that you increase your organisations bureaucratic costs by the fact that you are integrating different jobs in the same organisation. Another issue is that if you integrate backwards, you may reduce or eliminate competition amongst suppliers, which can result in low efficiencies and, consequently, higher costs In conclusion, whether to develop vertical integration strategy the organisation will need ensure that its cash flow are able to sustain as the risk is high due huge capital injection and also to have careful study on environment to ensure that the demand for input is high before developing the strategy.