Final Days :: essays research papers

"The Final Days" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein "The Final Days" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein is about former president Richard Nixon and his involvement in the Watergate scandal. The first part of the book deals with the first two years of the Watergate Crisis and the second half is about the final 17 days of the Nixon administration. The first part of the book deals with how Nixon dug himself deeper and deeper in the scandal through lies and deception. There is tension to every decision Nixon makes in his final month in office. Whether to resign or stay in office, surrender his private tapes, or continue the legal battle. Nixon himself even becomes a sympathetic figure through his downfall. Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968. Born into a small lemon farm in California Nixon lived on the edge of poverty. He graduated from Whittier College. After he graduated from Whittier he attended Duke University Law School and in 1937 he graduated with honors. Nixon then went on to join the navy. Nixon won his first campaign in 1946, and became a member of the House of Representatives. He represented California his home state. Nixon was also assigned to the House Un-American Activities Committee. This committee was mostly concerned with Communists in the United States. In 1950, Nixon was elected for a six-year term in the Senate. He only served 2 of these years, the remaining spent as Vice President to Eisenhower. In 1960, Eisenhower's second term was coming to an end. The Republicans chose Richard Nixon to be their presidential candidate, and the Democrats chose John F. Kennedy, Nixon barley lost the race. He once again he ran for President in 1968 and won. The Watergate complex is located on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. it contains many hotel rooms and offices. What happened in the complex on June 17, 1972 early in the morning was The Watergate Scandal. At approximately 2:30 in the morning of June 17, 1972 five men were arrested at the Watergate Complex. These five men and two co-plotters were indicated in September 1972 on charges of burglary, conspiracy and wire-tapping. Four months later they were convicted and sentenced to prison terms. The five men arrested were Bernard L. Barker, Frank A. Sturgis, Virgillio R. Gonzalez, Eugenio R. Martinez, and James W. McCord, Jr. The two co-plotters were G. Gordon Liddy and E.

Basketball Junkie by Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds Essay

The book â€Å"basketball Junkie† is a Fantastic book it really is. This book is about a hometown high school superstar named Chris Herron on his journey from Fall River Massachusetts all the way to the Boston garden. Chris lived the dream of every kid who has ever bounced a basketball in their drive way. His accomplishments I believe is what really dragged me into the story. Just the fact that he wasn’t just an ordinary junkie from the streets that wrote a memoir. He was a basketball player that made it to the pros. I feel that gave it the edge just being up there compared to the best players such as Allen Iverson Jermaine o Neil and Kobe Bryant. Basketball Junkie was truly was an interesting story. Chris put it all out there. Herren talks about his substance abuse in brutally honest detail. He describes how his drug addictions caused him his basketball career and almost his life. How his NBA trip was short live as he spent more time chasing his next drug buy then working on his jump shot. Chasing what started out as Alcohol then to coke then to oxy cotton then to heroin caused his NBA career to fizzle out. How I related to the story was basically the same the story was told expect from another view. I witnessed a great basketball not as big as Chris Herren but good enough to get his name out there and play college basketball. This kid was great just like Chris a good person with many thing ahead in his life. Toward the end of his senior year I don’t know what you would call it. But I would say going down the wrong hanging with wrong crowd. That when he made the same mistake Chris made when he started. One thing lead to another just like Chris said in the book trying it once opened doors to other drugs. Unfortunately neither this kid nor Chris was able to close these doors. This was upsetting to watch so I could just imagine for a big superstar like this one. What there brothers were going through and the people who watched and taught Chris how to play. His coaches and people that helped Chris build up to this must have been so heartbroken. This story was really deep because you can tell that he wasn’t very appreciative of his life and accomplishments. He tells his nightmare on no matter what was going on he would always have to put his addiction first because the drug made him feel as if he couldn’t function otherwise. He also talks about his all-time low but I will let you figure out what that is in the book. This really made me feel bad for him. He wanted to be better but he couldn’t. Chris herren were stuck in a decade long nightmare of addiction. That ruined him causing him to get seven felonies and to overdose four times in his life time. One time his addiction actually leaving him dead for thirty seconds long. Overall I really enjoyed â€Å"Basketball Junkie†. I felt like in really brought me inside the life of a junkie addicted to drugs. He really put it out there. He gave his inside thoughts and feeling and how he needs drugs to function. Chris Herren saying this meant a lot even he was this big time basketball player in rolling stone, sport illustrator and all that. He still manages to get caught up in this lifestyle. â€Å"Basketball Junkie† inspired me to never take any chances for granted and to never let bad influences to get in between my future.

Gothic Subculture †Sinister or Harmless? Essay

â€Å"What are the worst dangers that threaten our children today? Satanism? Drugs? Homosexuality? A culture of violence? Heat exhaustion? What if there was a danger that included all of these? That danger is here, and its name is GOTH. † 1 Those words, taken from the website hosted by Parents American Religious Organizations Defending Youth which main purpose is to inform and warn parents against dangers related to Gothic subculture, best summarize the confusion around the phenomenon of being ‘Goth’. Is gothdom a sinister cult posing danger to the society or a harmless movement, one among many? The commonly negative reputation of the Gothic subculture, especially among parents and teachers, has its roots in stereotypes. ‘Stereotype’ is defined in the Webster’s New World Dictionary as â€Å"a fixed or conventional notion or conception, as of a person, group, idea, etc. , held by a number of people, and allowing for no individuality, critical judgment, etc. † Stereotypes are usually imposed on the group of people they are applied to by others who are not within the group but are instead critical of them, very often due to lack of understanding or fear. Thus stereotypes are simplified cutouts representing general ideas rather than real living human beings, depriving them of their exceptional individual features. Such attitude easily leads to intolerance, resentment and loss of communication between general society and the subculture, hiding the real truths of alive people behind the stereotypical fiction. Among many stereotypes related to Goths, one of the most common ones is obsession with death. The commonly held view is that they are antisocial outcasts attempting suicide or desiring to kill someone else. In reality, Goths’ fascination with everything related to death is not as superficial as it appears at first sight. Their â€Å"viewpoint on death is one of acceptance of the fate that awaits us all rather than ‘whistling past the graveyard’, denying death and hoping it will just go away. Goths accept death as a natural part of life, part of the natural balance of things. This does not mean, however, that Goths invite death by attempting suicide or homicide – instead they accept and respect death for what it is, and move on. â€Å"2 Although the notion of suicide is fascinating among them, it is not accepted as a solution to their own existential problems, but as an admitted failure to their emotions of despair, loss and loneliness. In this aspect it is the self-awareness and an attempt to overcome the fear of death, an attempt to pursue a critical analysis of their own proximity to death; a different attitude towards this problem, contrary to the one shown in tabloids and TV programmes, where the idea of dying is either ignored or deprived of its dignity. As Birgit Richard points out: â€Å"The Gothics are one of the most conspicuous subcultures because they work against the suppression of ageing with their deathly pale faces in a time when sun-studio tanned complexions are the epitome of health. They become the terror of a deathless producing and consuming culture which marginalizes the process of dying and bodily decay to be able to proclaim the ideal of perpetual youth. Putting death at the centre of their style and their lives becomes a provocation by a subcultural group of adolescents which cannot be forgiven by society. Youth has to look fresh and ‘tasty’; it is not supposed to walk around ‘dead’. In a society with an ever increasing average life expectancy, dealing with death is suitable only when a certain age has been reached. † Another stereotype commonly associated with Goths is that their culture is anti-Christian with its Satanic motifs, black clothing, occult jewellery and devilish music of Marilyn Manson. They are accused of the worship of Satan, dangerous rituals and blood-drinking. Being attracted to the idea of self-mutilation, they are proud of their scars and occult symbols carved with razor blades all over their bodies. The Gothic movement is considered dark and self-destructive, glorifying everything that is morbid, and degrading everything that is good. The truth hiding behind this stereotype is different. Although the rooms of the â€Å"blacks’ are designed in a special manner, e. g. containing small altars with accessories like grave-ribbons, crucifixes, grave lamps, candles and skulls, their purpose is not to serve as a place for black masses but to â€Å"reconstruct the dark atmosphere of the cemetery, its proximity to death, or serve as a cave that shelters from a threatening outside world. â€Å"3 The colour black which dominates the style of clothing does not stand for their attraction to Satan but expresses a sense of despair, ascetic isolation and is the symbolization of inevitable death. The same meaning is vital for hair dyed black, specific make-up with black eye-shadow, lipstick and nail polish, and a chalky white face. Since Goths are attracted to everything related to death, their favourite motifs in jewellery are skulls, skeletons and bones, which serve as memento more rather than provocative items. Other popular accessories, such as crucifixes, stars of David, ankh, the pentagram and the cross turned upside down, do not serve as symbols of Satanism but as distinguishing feature from the institutionalized church or a protective talisman against evil eye. â€Å"Symbolism rejected by as irrational by other parts of society enables them to express dissatisfaction with the institutionalized church and the completely rationalized modern civilization. â€Å"Also their favourite venue, cemetery, has a completely different function than the stereotypical one, considered as a place for morbid Satanic rituals, since it serves as a symbol of mortality, silence, isolation and mourning. To the majority of society Goths are plain deviants and worshippers of Marilyn Manson and other ‘dangerous’ music which inspired the tragic Columbine shootings 5. â€Å"The titles of the songs alone are enough to show just what kind of music this is: Gloomy Sunday, The Order of Death, Draining Faces, Laughing Pain, Haunted, Movement of Fear. These are dangerous songs, performed by dangerous bands. One band for example is called Type O Negative – a blood type, and clearly a reference to Vampirism. â€Å"6 While it may be true that many Goths enjoy Marilyn Manson’s music, almost all of them agree that he is not Goth as â€Å"the controversial shock-rock star with the satanic leanings and violence-tinged music has never been a part of their [Goths’] community, artistically or philosophically. â€Å"7 Besides, Manson probably borrowed from the media portrayal of the Gothic movement which predates his stardom by at least a decade, as its origin is usually placed in 1979. In conclusion, it must be said that evaluating the whole subculture by means of stereotypes may be more sinister than the community’s rules themselves as it shows no respect for the individual, leads to intolerance and finally creates a deep chasm between the general society and the Gothic community. It should not be forgotten that Goths have to cope with the same pressures that non-Goths encounter: social anxieties, family problems, every day failures and stresses. The only thing that differs is their way of dealing with those problems; a darker one and more introspective version of ‘normal’. Tolerance and understanding is what Goths long for, as is stated by one representative of the subculture: â€Å"One way or another, those of us in the Gothic community demand to exist with as many rights and as much respect as is given to any ‘normal’ human being. Our population are millions worldwide, and we laugh, cry, and live just like anyone else. We are your doctors, your counselors, your grocers, your teachers, your students, your librarians, your favourite authors, your fathers, your daughters, and your friends. We may choose to revel in the shadows, but we smile with those who would rather live in the light of day. Being Goth is not a ‘phase’, it is not dangerous, and it is not going anywhere. Everyone deserves a chance to simply be. This is all we ask: let us be. † BIBLIOGRAPHY Covelo, Benjamin. The Goth Music Death Machine. 28 May 2004:  http://redmusic.com

Proposal for sociology

Sexuality Introduction to the paper: In this paper, I will be writing of how the development of media, especially pornography and setting has influenced society's sexuality. First of all, setting refers to act of sharing or sending sexually explicit Images or words through the use of cellular phones or internet. As the technologies have developed over time, it became much easier for individuals to have access to setting and pornography. Now, with the rapid development of smart phones, and various applications to download, it became a lot more easier for people to enter the world of pornography.The effect and Influence of pornography Is almost Inevitable and seems almost Impossible to put a firm stop to the business due to the great amount of economic power and portion it has on global scale. According to â€Å"Top Ten Reviews†, there statistics on pornography reveals that every second, 3,075. 64 dollars are spent on It, and 28,258 people view them. â€Å"In 2006, $13. 33 bill ion dollars was spent In porn Industry and It exceeds the combined revenues of BBC,CBS and NBC.However, it is very difficult to accurately determine the number of dollars spent and gained through the pornographic equines, because most of the revenues are created and hidden under the shade of black market. The combination of huge growth of market power and technological advancement has even allowed to push down the average age of viewing sexually explicit videos and pushed up the number of viewers. The reason this industry is able to gain and maintain its great financial power is due to the huge demand by the population.In 2009, Medal Research Center shared a result that the word â€Å"Porn† was the most used word In the search for the videos In Youth. The reason I am sharing the results of statistics done by various researches is to show the amount of economic power the business of pornography holds and how so many people demand for the access to them. This paper Is not neces sarily written to criticize the effect of the pornography market. It Is to observe how the new form of sexuality Is being created and how people's sexuality is influenced by this great market.It does not necessarily look at how 1 OFF how the stereotype people have about setting and use of pornography could essentially lead to factorization of some teen aged girls. The purpose of this paper is to challenge the criticizing view that is given to teen aged girls that participate in setting. One of the most interesting part of this paper is where is criticizes the law ND education that does not fully educate or give cautions to people who may be exposed to the use of setting or any type of sexually explicit sources.At one point, the author questions how setting would reproduce the cycle of pornography industry and how they are to challenge sexism. They believe that setting could be viewed as a way to be more free of sexual expression. This paper was very helpful in writing my paper, beca use it allowed me to have a look at different perspective of setting and the media. My paper is not to criticize the power of the media, rather it is to observe he power and the influence it has on the society.Detailed data's are very useful to support my statements in the paper. By looking at the data's provided from this website, I was able to figure the economic power, circulation of pornography industry, great amount of demand by people around the world. Moreover, the data's help analyzing the different context of sexuality in relation to pornography, for instance â€Å"67% of young men and 49% of young women say viewing porn is an acceptable way to express one's sexuality' (Covenants, 2013).It not only carries many accurate data but also provide many interesting views and ideas in writing the paper; many statistics in this web site were shocking. The number of data's and the results lead people to suggest how so many individuals around the world are involved and being influenc ed by the market. The statistic data from here are expected to be the main source for any statement that needs to be supported with some statistic data's.

IMC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

IMC - Essay Example These include sales promotion, direct marketing, publicity, and advertising. Many big companies have been implementing new ways of technology and media that will help them in their IMC strategies. IMC has become very beneficial to companies in maintaining their competitive advantage, by helping them focus on marketing, operations, and sales resources in promoting the same messages to consumers and by making sure that marketing and sales promises are consistently being delivered. IMC also improves the value of the promotional effort by increasing its cost-effectiveness. This has a direct positive effect on the expenses incurred per unit being sold, which in turn has a positive effect on the balance sheet. Finally, IMC brings out better results for the company because sales, advertising, and marketing functions, which were in the past taken as separate functions now function as one under the IMC. This brings out coordination and cohesiveness that is reflected in positive results for the company. IMC has become a crucial aspect of companies that want to succeed in their operations. This helps in coordinating and branding communication efforts to achieve the objectives of the organization (Schultz, 1993). The most popular version of the IMC planning model is the five-step strategic planning process. This includes selecting the target audience, understanding the target audience decision-making, determining the best positioning, developing a communication strategy, and setting up a media strategy. Selecting the target market starts by analyzing and comprehending the market and understanding consumer wants. This is considered the start of a successful marketing campaign. Once the company has found a niche for its products and services, it is crucial that it does a research on its competitors and similar products and services that are available in the market. After this process, the company can be

Advanced Networking Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Advanced Networking - Coursework Example The huge size of the organisation can be guessed by its year 2007 volume of credit and debit card transactions which grossed to 4 billion.The organisation is looking for evaluation and strategies to improve grey in the fields of Fault management, Configuration Management, Network management, Security Management and Account Management. Finally, the organisation is interested in developing a network Management tool to automate & simplify the areas mentioned before. This paper attempts to provide a strategic solution in all the areas of Fault management, Configuration Management, Network management, Security Management and Account Management.Fault Management is defined as the process of monitoring, identifying, correcting the errors in any system. The Fault management is of two types - Passive and Active. The Passive fault management is also knows the breakdown management as in this case the designated person or system does not work towards correcting the fault until the system has brok en down.In case of the active fault management, the complete system is monitored by an automated system which keeps on checking all the network connections and keeps sending the report to an operator. The operator, through a set of parameter values, determines if the values are in "safe" range else the remedial action can be taken before the breakdown of the system happens. The Fault Management systems are designed to operate in auto modes i.e. the system takes action on its own to correct the problem or else it sends an SMS, automated call to the escalation for any kind of human intervention to correct the problem. The following schematic diagram explains this system more clearly. Diagram 1: Schematic of the Active Fault Management System Following techniques are used to repair the faults identified in the network of the IT System - Remove / neutralize fault, using redundancy Retry without intervention (time redundancy) Reconstruct data/state (data redundancy) Work-around (configuration redundancy) Substitution (code redundancy) Tolerate fault: reduce service quality Reduce speed, reduce precision Use default, omit faulty parts Supportive functionality: Checkpointing - Dynamic Reconfiguration Organization of Fault Management at XYZ enterprise XYZ enterprise would be using all the techniques mentioned in the previous section to efficiently handle the Faults at the enterprise's complex system. The management would be pro-active with the agreed safe parameters along with formal documentation on the escalation procedure. Configuration Management Configuration Management is defined as the process of managing the software source code or any "configuration" items in its integrated format. All the changes to the configurable items are version controlled and are stored in software which allows the configurable items to be updated only after a set of processes are followed. Configuration Management helps to identify at any point of time, the current software code version, essential characteristics of the codes and any dependencies amongst the codes, if any. Unless, there is a methodology to manage the software codes, the changes to software can be a minor discomfort to a major issue with a potential to bring down the mission critical business applications. Another important use of the Configuration Management process is the reduction of development effort in applications by re-using the existing software available in the organisation. The identification of the characteristics of the existing source in the organisat

Globalization and the Capitalist State Redundant Essay

Globalization and the Capitalist State Redundant - Essay Example In view of the Marxist globalization has been seen as an expansion or development of capitalism in the world. Like other traditional works that were seen to fit in a loose framework of anti-globalization, Marxism may not be described as a single movement nor can it be described as following a unitary intellectual practice from a theoretical perspective. In this case we should understand that Marxism as whole has been engaging with contemporary phenomena in a way that the manner and the mindsets that it has been postulating in the past has been evidence in class, political economy, labor, capitalism and in many other socialism concepts and revolution described as the central axis of globalization. (Ollman 1998, p.87) Â  With the end of communism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, and the consequent embrace of the capitalism like in the Peoples Republic of China has been expressed as the end of the Marxism’s period. Regardless of the fact that the world has embraced the capitalist economies, Marxism still present a poignant and painful way of accounting for globalization. This has been witnessed in what is happening in the aftermath of the wave that took the world from the 1990s. Marxism has been expressed in many areas like the free-markets, oppressed and exploited labor, modernization, and many other reforms that have been carried out in the political, social and economic systems of the world. Â  Globalization has been described as the increased interaction of the world or the opening up the world. In the last few decades, there has been increased movement of people and goods. There has been the emergence of the new market. Therefore globalization has been a tendency to create a unipolar world though it has been expressed mostly in economic terms.