The Idea of Government in terms of Anthropology Essay

The Idea of Government in terms of Anthropology - Essay Example This has been threatened by government and private developers who have taken over majority of their grazing land and turned it into national parks, reserves, and building site. This has led to many of the Maasai buying private land or selling off their cattle to seek other livelihoods. The government needs to allocate land for them and avoid developing into their land since that is not only their settlement area and source of livelihood but because it is a way of preserving their culture.It is true that the government supports development and economic policies which benefit the rich more than the poor or the minorities. The evidence of this is in various development sectors starting from the most important one which is health. In the US for example health policies recently have been in favor of the rich and especially with the private insurance companies offering better services than the government but at a higher cost but the government does nothing about it.When the world was facin g economic crisis since 2008, the government did nothing to help those who were being sacked or retrenched, instead it concentrated on bailing out banks and other companies from debts and it is an open secret that they were doing this due to the huge investments that were there and which were owned by the rich. The governments also pay more attention to their politicians’ needs than they do for the common man who is either the poor or the oppressed or both; this is true for African countries mainly.

HCI Reading Journal - Journal #3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HCI Reading Journal - Journal #3 - Research Paper Example According to Heim (2008), this can be done by putting oneself in the user’s shoes to be able to understand their needs and requirements. Secondly, know the users for which the interface is intended. By studying them, you will be able to develop a seamless interface that adequately meets the user needs. Since my project involves creating a user interface for a sales system, I saw it prudent to visit some of the sites. As a user of this interface I found it so easy to choose a product after some suggestions such as; most viewed, most purchased, don’t miss, most popular among other suggestive tags. From this I learnt that items with suggestive tags will have a high chance of being viewed and even purchased. Therefore, as a user interface designer, one must consider the possibility of aggregating related content in one interface to ease navigation of the user (Dillon, 2003). Most users will seldom dwell on the layout and the structure of the interface but will go straight to the content. According to Dillon (2003), in order to effectively engage users of an interface, the designer must get the content of the interface right. One could have a perfect design for an interface with shallow content that will not effectively the client. Design is a magnet but the content is what keeps the user coming back again and again. I tried to compare between the design interface for two social sites; Face book and Twitter. Face book has a more interactive interface that has options for posts, messages, image and video communication. On the other hand twitter is simple with fewer graphic but more messaging. However, despite the differences the two sites have almost equal users due to the content in each interface. Most designers will think users have no idea or will not realize several aspects of the user interface. This is not the case in the current society. Users visit several sites and interact with man interfaces on a daily basis. In this

The Knight And His Internal Conflict Essay Example for Free

The Knight And His Internal Conflict Essay The introduction of the Knight in Chaucer’s â€Å"General Prologue† of The Canterbury Tales, albeit brief, presents an interesting, enigmatic portrait of a character whose external appearance seems to provide a cover for what might be a conflicted spirit underneath. In a way, the Knight embodies the concept, to borrow from the film Billy Jack, is a â€Å"war hero who hated the war† and whose personal discipline is what keeps chinks in the armor of his psyche from degenerating. From the outset, the Knight is presented to the reader as a noble hero whose personal sense of honor is what separates him from the other pilgrims. Examine how Chaucer describes the character in the initial lines that introduce the Knight: A knight there was, and he a worthy man, Who, from the moment that he first began, To ride about the world, loved chivalry, Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy, Full worthy was he in his liege-lords war, And therein had he ridden (none more far) The portrait that Chaucer paints here is that, in his heart, the Knight is a good person with a high sense of personal discipline and moral values. Through his entry into military service, the Knight undertakes the responsibility to fight in his â€Å"liege-lord’s war† which is essentially the conduit for the Knight’s personal, internal values of nobility to be put into action through his service in his Lord’s â€Å"noble† wars. The Knight’s forays into various wars were significant in terms of volumes and intensity. From the description that Chaucer provides, we learn that the Knight essentially found himself in the middle of a perpetual state of war as he was sent to foreign land after foreign land to conquer and pillage in the name of his Lord. In terms of his prolific involvement in numerous battles, Chaucer writes: When they were won; and on the Middle Sea At many a noble meeting chanced to be. Of mortal battles he had fought fifteen, And hed fought for our faith at Tramissene, Three times in lists, and each time slain his foe From here, the narrator is clearly defining the character to the reader as a man whose moral character far exceeds that of normal men as the Knight is presented in a highly idealized manner. This description shows the Knight as a man of action serving his Lord and, more importantly, the Knight is presented as a war hero who successfully battled infidels in a series of 15 military actions without losing his sanity. Chaucer points out that the Knight not only survived the 15 military incursions in which he was involved, but he rose to the occasion and performed with a sense of valor and honor in such a world of bloodlust. This concept of remaining noble in war shows that despite the horror and bloodlust of the wars around him, the Knight did not â€Å"crack† and loose his composure. Keep in mind, during the Crusades, the ability for the soldiers to receive food and supplies was compromised as the opposing Islamic factions repeatedly would severe supply lines in an attempt to starve the Crusaders. The result of this is that the Crusaders would routinely go berserk and raid and pillage villages for food. The fact that Chaucer presents the Knight as noble and not a victim of combat stress shows that the Knight’s moral character remained strong enough to maintain his sanity in a war zone, mainly because the Knight detached himself from the carnage of the war and reached inside to he personal code of chivalry to maintain his composure. This detachment, however, would not maintain when the Knight left the battlefield, as he The seems to struggle with the internal manifestation of unresolved feelings and guilt about the war. Per Chaucer’s description: Though so illustrious, he was very wise, And bore himself as meekly as a maid. He never yet had any vileness said, In all his life, to whatsoever wight. He was a truly perfect, gentle knight. But now, to tell you all of his array, His steeds were good, but yet he was not gay. Of simple fustian wore he a jupon, Sadly discoloured by his habergeon; Here, the narrator shows the â€Å"chinks in the armor† of the Knight’s psyche. This passage clearly demonstrates that the Knight’s disposition displays a sense of sadness and alienation. Since the Knight has been starkly drawn as a character who is inseparable with the wars he fought, then the root of the sadness must have been from his experience in the war. In terms of the Knight’s outward personality, the experiences he faced in the war greatly humbled him as the time spent in the wars has clearly disillusioned him. (â€Å"His steeds were good, yet he was not gay.†) Perhaps the reason that the Knight goes on the pilgrimage is so he can find in himself that part of his spirit and his soul that he left on the battlefield. Yes, the Knight embodies all that was noble, but at what cost? So the Knight can live a life that is consumed by the guilt he feels about his experiences on the battlefield?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Knight remains one of the most intriguing characters in all of Canterbury Tales, the reason for this is the fact that the Knight is a noble, but internally conflicted character whose motives for the pilgrimage appear to be driven by disillusionment and guilt.

Concept Of Lean Construction Projects Construction Essay

Concept Of Lean Construction Projects Construction Essay Lean construction project is very different compared to traditional construction project management where Lean approach aims to maximize performance for the customer at the project level, set well-defined objective clearly for delivery process, design concurrent product and process and applies production control throughout the life of project (Howell, 1999). Construction is a key sector of the national economy for countries all around the world, as traditionally it took up a big portion in nations total employment and its significant contribution to a nations revenue as a whole. However, until today, construction industries are still facing numbers of contingent problems that were bounded to be resolved since the past time. The chronic problems of construction are well known such as Low productivity, poor safety, inferior working conditions, and insufficient quality. (Koskela, 1993)  and the phenomenon of the poor performance and conditions in construction had long been witnessed and recorded by academics and practitioners throughout the world regardless in developed countries e.g. England  (Eaton, 1994)  or in developing countries e.g. Chile.  (Serpell et al., 1995) Nowadays, increasing foreign competition, the scarcity of skilled labour and the need to improve construction quality are the key challenges faced by the construction industry. Responding to those challenges imposes an urgent demand to raise productivity, quality and to incorporate new technologies to the industry. A lack of responsiveness can hold-back growth, and to development of the needed infrastructure for the construction industry and other key activities in the country.  (Alarcà ³n,1994).http://www.scribd.com/doc/37230963/Lean-Construction(lps left) Pertaining to the challenges faced by the construction industry, numerous researches and studies had been carried out for the past decades to identify the causes to the construction problems and some of them had went on to suggest and recommend solutions to rectify those identified problems. The early phase of these studies mainly focused on the end side of the construction process with the introduction of new technologies and equipment to speed up the construction process and improve overall productivity. It was only until late 1980s where a new construction improvement movement was being initiated by looking into the mean side of the construction process-related problems in a more holistic and structured way based on the philosophy and ideology of lean production. With the lean construction paradigm, construction industry had started to be reviewed and evaluated in the possibilities of implementing these new lean perspectives of production concepts in the construction processes to optimise the overall construction performance on construction stage as well as design stage. However, in construction, there has been rather little interest in this new production philosophy.  (Alarcà ³n, 1994)  This matter laid on whether or not the new production philosophy has implications for construction and will give any significant impacts on the productivity improvement. According to the scholars and researchers in Lean Construction, the new construction production philosophy is laid on the concepts of conversion and flow process. Therefore, performance improvement opportunities in construction can then be addressed by adopting waste identification/ reduction strategies in the flow processes in parallel with value adding strategies with the introduction of new management tools and with proper trainings and education programs. Unfortunately, these new lean construction concepts especially those on wastes and values most of the times are not well understood by construction personnel. Particularly, waste is generally associated with waste of materials in the construction processes while non-value adding activities such as inspection, delays, transportation of materials and others are not recognised as waste.  (Alarcà ³n, 1995)  As the result of that, the productivity of construction industry cannot be fully optimised due to the narrow interpretatio n on the concept of waste current adopted. In this case, substantial education programs need to be arranged for all related parties involved in order to implement the new process improvement strategies successfully throughout the construction process cycle. According to Ballard Howell (1998), construction covers a spectrum ranging from slow, certain, and simple project to quick, uncertain and complex project. Meanwhile, Koskela (1992) stated that construction is unique in the sense of it is one-of kind nature of projects, site production and temporary multi-organization. However, failure of establishing a good management system in construction project will lead to many problems that would cause cost of project increases, late completion of project and low quality which finally reduce the profit of the contractor. In order to overcome this problems, lean thinking or lean construction is been introduced in this construction sector. According to Howell (1999), lean construction is one of the new philosophies that been implemented by Toyota in their manufacturing process which now applied to the construction industry in order to smoothen the construction project and increase the contractors profit by eliminating waste. This supported by Ballard and Howell (1998) whom also stated the same facts that lean thinking in construction concerned in waste reduction. Generally, lean approach breaks the construction project to smaller parts of activities which will be defined clearly the start and end date for completion of each activity with an appointed person to keep on monitoring the all the activities to be completed according schedule. (lean construction 19/11) 2.2 Types of waste In most cases, construction managers do not know or recognize the factors that produce waste nor have they measurement of their importance. It can be said that most of the factors are not easily visible. Thus the identification of these factors and their causes, and the measurement of their importance is useful information that would allow managers to act in advance to reduce their negative effect. In construction industry the waste comes from the flow activities, conversion activities and management activities. Before sharing examples of lean application in construction, it is useful to identify the seven types of waste readily found in construction: 1. Defects:-This includes wrong installations, fabrication defects, errors in punch lists and not meeting required codes. Rework in construction is rarely measured. These are products or services that do not conform to the specification or Customers expectation, thus causing Customer dissatisfaction. 2. Overproduction of goods:-This happens when material is fabricated too early and/or stockpiled in the warehouse or at the job site. Estimating and bidding jobs that are not won is a form of this waste. Printing more blueprints or making more copies of a report than needed is overproduction. Overproduction occurs when operations continue after they should have stopped. The results of overproduction are; Products being produced in excess of whats required Products being made too early Excess inventory carrying costs 3. Transportation:-This waste occurs when material is moved around the shop, loaded on the truck or trailer, hauled to the job site, unloaded and then moved from the lay-down or staging area to the installation point. This is unnecessary motion or movement of materials, such as work-in-process (WIP) being transported from one operation to another. Ideally transport should be minimized for two reasons; It adds time to the process during which no value-added activity is being performed. Handling damage could be incurred 4. Waiting:-Examples include when a crew waits for instructions or materials at the job site, when a fabrication machine waits for material to be loaded and even when payroll waits for the always-late timesheets. Also known as queuing, waiting refers to the periods of inactivity in a downstream process that occur because an upstream activity does not deliver on time. Idle downstream resources are then often used in activities that either dont add value or result in overproduction 5. Over-processing:-This waste includes over-engineering, for example, the need for additional signatures on a requisition, multiple handling of timesheets, duplicate entries on forms, and getting double and triple estimates from suppliers. This term refers to extra operations, such as rework, reprocessing, handling or storage that occurs because of defects, overproduction or excess inventory. 6. Motion:-These treasure hunts happen when material is stored away from the job or when workers look for tools, material or information. This waste also occurs in the office or job-site trailer when looking for files, reports, reference books, drawings, contracts or vendor catalogs. To move and add value is called work. To move and not add value is called motion. Motion, then, means moving without working, moving and adding cost 7. Inventory: This includes uncut materials, work-in-process, and finished fabrications. Some contractors claim that they have no inventory because they job-cost all material. While this may work for accounting, if the material is not yet installed and isnt being used by the customer, its waste. This waste includes spare parts, unused tools, consumables, forms and copies, employee stashes and personal stockpiles. One could argue that the unfinished facility is inventory and is waste until operational. This refers to inventory that is not directly required to fulfil current Customer orders. Inventory includes raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods. Inventory all requires additional handling and space. http://www.leaninnovations.ca/seven_types.html 2.3 Causes of waste:- 1. Controllable causes associated to flows (a)Resources Materials: lack of materials at the work place; materials are not well distributed; inadequate transportation means. Equipment: non availability; inefficient utilization; inadequate equipment for work needs. Labour : personal attitudes of workers; stoppage of work (b) Information Lack of information Poor information quality Timing of delivery is inadequate 2. Controllable causes associated to conversions (a) Method Deficient design of work crews Inadequate procedures Inadequate support to work activities (b) Planning Lack of work place Too much people working in reduced place Poor work condition (c) Quality Poor execution of work Damage to work already finished 3. Controllable management related causes (a) Decision making Poor allocation of work to labor Poor distribution of personnel (b) Supervision Poor or lack of supervision

Forbidden Knowledge in Digging for China :: Digging for China

Searching for Forbidden Knowledge in Digging for China In Richard Wilbur's poem, "Digging for China", he writes, " 'Far enough down is China,' somebody said. 'Dig deep enough and you might see the sky as clear as at the bottom of a well.'" (Lines 1-3) Wilbur was suggesting to his readers that if one looks at the world in a different way, they could find a totally different place. We can see this concept when we explore Wilbur's poem as a whole piece. He is talking about finding a paradise in one's backyard. He emphasizes a lot about prayer, and looking harder and digging deeper for this other world. He warns his readers that they must not loose the rest of their life by trying to change one thing. When we, the readers, break apart Wilbur's poem, we find the continuous acknowledgement of religion. The person in the poem works day and night trying to reach China. He/she was on hands and knees trying to dig this hole. "It was a sort of praying, I suspect." (Lines 12-13) This person is realizing that they have to look other places for their "paradise" they are trying to find, so they look to God. When they do this, they are covered in brightness. Wilbur uses the word "palls" to express this idea. The true definition is a black velvet cover that drapes over a coffin. If the person wouldn't have looked to God in prayer, then their "paradise" would be covered in this darkness, rather than the brightness they found. Another word that Wilbur used in reference to prayer was "paten". A paten is a plate that the Eucharist is carried on. The Eucharist is the body of Christ; his life. In the poem, the life that the person was looking for was growing before them, but they were still looking into the hole. The person then begins to realize that they are looking in the wrong place. We see this when Wilbur writes, "my eyes where tired of looking into darkness, my sunbaked head of hanging down a hole." (Lines 18-19) They realize that this idea of their "paradise" is taking away from their life and that they must take their head out of the darkness that it has caused. Wilbur brings up the sun because it shows that the person is coming back to consciousness.

Essay --

Corey Schirmer An Appropriate Monarchy in Ancient Israel The Deuteronomistic literature of the Hebrew Bible seem to present opposite viewpoints on the topic of kingship. The pro platform presents the Davidic kingship in a very positive light, while other texts particularly 1 Samuel appear to be against the topic of kingship. Upon further evaluation, the institution of a monarchy in the Ancient Near East (ANE) was appropriate because it could provide stability to Israel. On the other hand the monarchy was not appropriate because it was a clear rejection of God. A kingship is not inherently evil, but the people’s request for a human as king showed a complete lack of faith in God as the primary ruler of his people. When examining Deuteronomy, the â€Å"law of the king† provides more information on what a king cannot do as a monarch. Most of what is outlined in these laws restricts royal authority and the monarch is subject to them. Some of these laws were things that later kings (even under the Davidic kingship) were guilty of committing. The first king of the Davidic Kingship (David) held multiple wives and even sent a soldier (Uriah) to his own death (New Oxford Annotated Bible, 2 Samuel 11:24). David was not perfect and screwed up many times, but his heart was for the Lord. And the Lord formally appointed the Israelite King as an instrument of his rule. No matter how much these kings screwed up they were still held in good standing because God viewed them as the closest thing to himself. This is what God intended the kingship of Israel to represent. A king that is not above the covenant. A monarchy could be beneficial in many ways. Most of the pro platform displayed in 1 Samuel shows us that a king can provide leadership ... ...was their expectations for a king like all the other nations. This king would impose practices that would limit personal freedom and eventually lead to the abuse of power. After examining the disdain that a kingship brought to God. It seems as though a king would not be beneficial to Israel. In the right context, a king that was appointed by God to lead under his covenant would benefit the people because it would bring stability to Israel. The right leader is a human being that is still in need of divine help. The Israelite king is an instrument of divine justice and the icon of God’s universal rule. The king will lead the army in the name of God and defeats the Lord’s enemies. A kingship is not inherently evil. The appropriate king would be one after God’s own heart, while a non-appropriate king would be one that abuses power and leads the people of Israel astray.

Effects of War on Soldiers Essay

The very act of enlisting as a soldier subjects a person to a plethora of stress related complications that originates from physical, emotional, to psychological elements of a human being. Soldiers undergo intensive forms of training in order to gain the much needed battlefront resilience, however, far many military training facilities concentrates on the physical part of the hardening at the expense of psychological and emotional aspects. According to the U. S Army Chief of Infantry, Major General Paul Eaton, the American army does perfectly well in preparing soldiers physically but it dedicates a paltry time in preparing them psychologically and emotionally. [Jeffrey et al, 2004] This results to very physically competent soldiers but psychological and emotional babies who can not endure extreme emotional and psychological challenges. Soldiers and medical officers get through very horrifying circumstances that may leave them physically, emotionally or psychologically scarred. Some of the common experienced effects of war apart from death and loss of body parts are feelings of detachment, irritability, sleeplessness, loss of concentration, and night mares, which result from constant exposure to horrifying and traumatic experiences that are common in battlefields. [Associated Press, June 30, 2004] A soldier in combat undergoes countless mortification, among which could be unending months and years of exposure to desert heat, scorching jungle, hammering rains, ice-covered mount tops and tundra conditions among many other dehumanizing weather conditions. Very often soldiers goes without enough food and sleep and worse still faces constant uncertainty that gradually wears and tears a soldier’s sense of control over their lives and their environment. [Grossman, 1999] The extinction of beloved and intimate fellows in battle fields leads to great horror and it normally causes great severance of the emotional wound which like a physical one is maybe fatal. These emotional wounds like the physical ones sometimes heals but may ache or even shrink when exposed to severe or irritating touches. Combatants of war continue to nurse such emotional wounds and it reaches times when the wounds can not hold on to any more of the irritating touches, at these points a combatant nervous system breaks and therefore he or she becomes a psychiatric casualty. [Associated Press, June 30, 2004] According to Richard Gabriel nations normally counts the cost of war in terms of dollars, lost production, number of soldiers killed or wounded soldiers, but rarely do they make efforts of measuring the costs incurred in the war in terms of individual suffering. According to him one of the major effects of war that has established itself in post 20th century warfare is psychiatric breakdown, unfortunately it has continued to receive a paltry attention despite it being the most costly item of war when put in human terms. He asserts that in virtually every major battle fought the probability of getting a psychiatric casualty is high than even getting killed by enemy fire. [Grossman, 1999] During the World War II for instance, America lost over 500,000 combatants as a result of psychiatric collapse, a large force enough to man 50 divisions, this happened despite intensified efforts to weed out those who were perceived to be emotionally unfit for combat. At one point in World War II, psychiatric casualties were being discharged from the American army at a faster rate than new recruits were being engaged in. A study done by Swank and Marchand about World War II on US Army combatants indicated that after a period of 60 days in constant battle atmosphere on the beaches of Normandy, 98 % of the surviving soldiers had become psychiatric casualties, while the remaining 2 % experienced what was termed as â€Å"aggressive psychopathic personalities. † [Grossman, 1999] These findings points to the fact that continuous exposure to extreme battle conditions is equally worse and can cause death as enemy fire does. Nevertheless, this kind of unending, protracted warfare that produces a high turnover of psychiatric casualty numbers is largely associated to the military and technological advancements of the 20th century. The unending war experiences were witnessed for the first time during the World War I and as a result large numbers of psychiatric casualties were reported. For instance the battle of Waterloo only lasted for a single day, while the Gettysburg battle took only three days with nights spend for resting. [Grossman, 1999] According to a study carried out and published in New England Journal of Medicine, large number of the more than 6,000 U. S soldiers from different departments of the army studied was found to be suffering from post –traumatic stress disorders. The survey was conducted to them before leaving for Iraq, after six months in Afghanistan and lastly after eight months in Iraq, the survey was repeated again three months after returning back home. The returnees showed rife symptoms of major depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The study indicated a16-17% of those soldiers who served in Iraq and 11% of those who served in Afghanistan as suffering from PTSD complications, this is tangible evidence that war leads to great suffering and death among the soldiers. The Iraq war for instance, was one of the fiercest with a lot of firefights and all sort of attacks than those in Afghanistan and hence the high number of victims. Other studies done after the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars indicated a 15% PTSD for Vietnam veterans and 2 to 10% to Gulf War veterans. [Associated Press, June 30, 2004] During the US-Vietnam war in 1992, US undertook a military expedition known as Operation Ranch Hand that involved the spraying of herbicides from US air force aircrafts to clear vegetation and expose enemy soldiers. Some of the herbicides used were very strong and slight exposure to them led to long term effects. Many soldiers and nurses have been reported to suffer from ailments that are associated to exposure to Agent Orange, Green, Purple, and White as the chemicals were popularly referred to, the case of nurse Chris B. , RVN is an example of more than 100 nurses who have been taken ill with diseases that eats into their organs and joints. [Killology, 2008] Too long time spend in combatant situations denies soldiers a chance to be with family members, this may negatively affect their relationships with their spouses and children. A soldier who is involved in outside borders offensives may take a couple of years without communicating with their loved ones. Such situations may lead to family break ups or infidelity, children’s born of soldier parents may also indulge in bad behaviors as a result of lack of proper parental attention and love. References: †¢ â€Å"Killology†, available at; http://killology. com/article_psychological. htm, accessed on January 24, 2009 †¢ Associated Press, June 30, 2004; 1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from PTSD, accessed on January 24, 2009