The Dilemma of Selecting a Suitable Recipient Case Study

The Dilemma of Selecting a Suitable Recipient - Case Study Example The 2 million-dollar donation of Dr. Jonathan Doe will greatly benefit the hospital. It will improve the facilities of the hospital and increase the scope of research on the cause and treatment of different illnesses. Thus, it will enable the hospital to respond to the needs of a greater number of patients. In addition, it is expected that more patients will be given appropriate treatment and medications if I conduct a heart transplant to Lisa. However, my decision to conduct a heart transplant to Lisa denies Jerry and Ozzie of the chance of survival. The three children of Jerry aged 14, 16 and 19 will be denied by a provider and a father. However, they may receive monthly support from the death insurance and pension of their father. Two of Jerry’s children can still avail financial support from his pension, while all of them can survive through his insurance. In addition, there is still a higher likelihood that Joanie can find a job or start a business through the insurance that she will receive after Jerry’s death. This justifies my decision to conduct heart transplant to Lisa instead of Jerry. The heart transplant to Lisa also denies the youth of knowledge and experience possessed by Ozzie in overcoming substance problems. He has agreed to serve as a counselor-mentor for a year in a particular organization if he gets the heart transplant. Undeniably, this will benefit a great number of youth who are confronted with drug and alcohol problems. This number is incomparable to the patients that will be benefited if Dr. Jonathan Doe donated 2 million dollars to the hospital. In addition, there is no assurance that Ozzie will be effective as a counselor-mentor in inducing change among the youth. Thus, it makes it reasonable to undertake heart transplant to Lisa rather than to Ozzie.

Scholarly vs Pop Media Focus on Sexuality Essay Example for Free

Scholarly vs Pop Media Focus on Sexuality Essay Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy. According to Greenberg, Bruess Conklin there are two types of abortion, Spontaneous abortions, and induced abortion. The natural termination of a pregnancy is called spontaneous abortion or usually called miscarriages, and it occurs when the fetus stop developing and its expulse from the utero. Abortions requiring intervention to end the pregnancy are technically called Induce Abortion. Induce abortion has various methods including Vacuum aspiration, manual vacuum aspiration, medical abortion, or dilation and evacuation. Vacuum aspiration is the most common abortion in the United States, and is a â€Å"surgical procedure that uses a suction tube to evacuate the contents of the uterus, which can be used through the first weeks and the second trimester† (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). The manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) is a variation of vacuum aspiration that can be used from the detection of pregnancy up to 12 weeks since the last menstrual period. (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). The medical abortion is the used of drug to provoke the abortion. Dilation and evacuation occurs during the second trimester of pregnancy. This type of induces abortion â€Å"involves dilating the cervix, scraping the wall of the uterus and removing the endometrial lining with suction† (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). â€Å"Should Parental Involvement Be Required for Minors Abortions? † by Hyman Rodman. In 1973, the U. S Supreme Court gave constitutional authorization to women’s’ right to abortion after Roe vs. Wade case. â€Å"The basis for the Courts decision was a womans right to privacy: This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendments concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendments reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a womans decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy (Rodman, 1991). One of the major restriction were debate in the U. S.  Supreme Court regarding the women right to an abortion was whether to required parental involvement for minors’ abortions. There are many reason of why parental involvement should not be legally necessary. Since abortion right to women was pass in 1973, many attempts have been made to end the right to abortion, to make abortion illegal, eliminate Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, all attempts have failed because â€Å"district courts ruled them unsontitutional and as these decisions were upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court Roadman 1991) The debates of abortion still a controversial in two levels, state and national. At the state level legislatures are trying to enact or restrict abortions for reasons of sex selection, with the exception of saving the mother’s life, prohibiting abortions after certain stage of the fetus, the used of Medicaid or federal funds to pay abortion, but the most controversial questions has to do with underage abortions, and particularly with whether to pass laws for underage permission or parental consent to have an abortion. The Court declared a minors right to an abortion, but it change from state to state. The states decision on parental consent or involvement in minors’ abortion is a difficult task for the state because of the state courts have to balance the constitutional right of parental and minor’s rights. The States may or not require the involvement or consent of one or both parents. If the minor does not want to have her parents’ involvement the minor can evade by going to the court. There are many reasons of why parent should and should not be involve in minors decision on having an abortion. Rodman state that â€Å"There is a pro-life argument that parental involvement will help teens to make a better and more informed decision about an unwanted pregnancy, and that this will improve the health of teenagers† (rodman, 1991) There are three reasons of why parents should not be involve in minors decision on having an abortion that Rodman present in this article, the first one is voluntary involvement, there is evidence that good parent-child communication about sexual matters leads to more responsible sexual behavior by adolescents. But when communication is forced it is more likely to be hostile and non supportive. The second reason is because â€Å"Bureaucratic Excess† when the minor avoid parental involvement with judicial bypass. â€Å"Judicial bypass involves establishing court procedures so that minors can exercise their right of privacy if they want to obtain an abortion without parental consent or notification† (Rodman, 1991). And the third reason is â€Å"uniqueness of that decision indeed a unique status applies to reproductive health decisions generally, because the courts have recognized that reproductive health decisions are unique in their urgency, importance, and sensitivity† (Rodman, 1991). Rodman state that If legislators and policymakers would acknowledge that, they would abandon their efforts to require parental involvement in abortion decisions and devote much greater attention to providing support for basic programs in education and public welfare that would reduce poverty, increase opportunities, enhance parent-child communication, and eliminate many of the unintended pregnancies that create a demand for minors abortions â€Å"Parental Involvement Laws and their effect on Abortion-Minded † by Robert Schwarzwalder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of abortion has decreased since 1990 by 20% and it’s due to the parental involvement laws. Michael News 2008 Family Research Council study found that parental involvement laws within the various states have had a positive effect in reducing the amount of abortions in underage population. The Supreme Court allowed the states to create laws for minors to gain parental notification or consent to have abortions. But the Supreme Court required that the states to have Parental Involvement laws must have a judicial. By 2008, 36 states had adopted Parental Involvement law with a positive results, the results are that the among of abortion in minors (between 1985-1999) have drop by almost 50 % in contract of the states that parental Involvement is not required, the rate of abortion in minors drop only by 13. 4%. Also, laws that require both parents involvement reduces the in-state abortion rate of minors by about 31%† (Schwarzwalder, 2008) This study support that the states that support and enact the parental involvement law or required parental consent has an effect in the number of abortion by minors. And the effect is a positive, the decline of abortion of minors. Both parents involvement reduce the minors’ abortion rate even more. Schwarzwalder’s finding suggests that state and federal legislation to â€Å"mandates parental involvement in abortions for minors causes an ov erall decline in the abortion rate among minors. Both articles: â€Å"Should Parental Involvement Be Required for Minors Abortions? † by Hyman Rodman and â€Å"Parental Involvement Laws and their effect on Abortion-Minded † by Robert Schwarzwalder refer to the ROE vs WAVE case outcome in 1973, the women right to abortion. Rodman and Schwarzwalder explain in their article the bypass and it procedures, and both authors talk about the remarkable influence of parental involvement in minors during the decision of abortion. Rodman explained why parents should or should not be part of minors’ decision toward abortion. Rodman and Schwarzwalder agree that when parents are involve in their children (minors) sexual health the outcomes positive, Rodman said that â€Å"parental involvement will help teens to make a better and more informed decision about an unwanted pregnancy, and that this will improve the health of teenagers† (Rodman, 1991) and Schwarzwalder the declined of abortion in minors. Rodman explains why parents should or should be part of minors’ rights in abortion, he does not take a side or either should parents be involved or not. Rodman conclusion in his article is that the â€Å"legislators and policymakers should focus on provide support for basic programs in education and public welfare that would reduce poverty, increase opportunities, enhance parent-child communication, and eliminate many of the unintended pregnancies that create a demand for minors abortions† (Rodman, 1991) instead of deciding either parents involvement in abortion in underage. Schwarzwalder conclude his article by stated that parental consent reduce the number of minors’ abortion rate compare to the states that do not required parental consent or knowledge. In contrast to Rodman, Schwarzwalder just give the outcome of parental involvement in minors abortion but he fail to give detail and the reason of why and how parental involvement help to the positive outcome on decreasing the number of abortion. Even thou the two articles were good source of information for my research, I find out that the best source of information was the peer review because peer review is the evaluation of work by other people in the same field in order to maintain or improve the quality of the work in the same field. A primary difference between peer review and popular media is that the peer review has to be approving by recognized researcher in the field, read and evaluated before the article is submitted for publication. Peer review will be published (approved) send it backs to author to be revised or rejected if it does not meet the discipline’s standards of expertise. In peer review journal the author are in general Experts (scholar, professor etc. ), notes usually includes reference a notes or bibliographic. The language used in the article is written for exerts using technical language in the field. The audience is scholars or researcher in the field, and the frequency is usually monthly or quarterly. While the popular media the author are usually journalist, nonprofessional or layperson. The article has few or NO notes at all; the writing is for nonprofessional or layperson, and frequency is weekly or monthly. But the most important difference is that the review, while peer review journal is review by peer scholar not employed by the journal, the popular media article is review by one or more editors employed by the magazine.

Comparing Death in The Jilting of Granny Weatherall and A Worn Path Ess

Comparing Death in The Jilting of Granny Weatherall and A Worn Path Death is not something to be feared, but faced with awe. Although, by nature, aging and death are merely facts of life; a loss of hope, the frustration of all aspirations, a leap into a great darkness, and the feelings of fear and anguish. Phoneix Jackson of Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" and Granny of Katherine Anne Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" face these inevitable signs of aging and death. Phoenix Jackson, an old Negro lady, haltingly struggles with her age while walking through the woods and fields on her way to town. "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far." Phoenix Jackson walks a worn path and overcomes obstacles and adversity to reach her goal. "She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her." The fact that she kept persistently tapping the earth in front of her could only indicate that she was visually impaired. She may not have been completely blind, but she had to have been substantially impaired ...

Hurricanes Essay -- essays research papers

Hurricanes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A natural hazard is when extreme events which cause great loss of life and or property and create severe disruption to human lives, such as a hurricane. Editor Philip Whitefield brings up an important point in ‘ Our Mysterious Planet’ when he comments; ‘At a time when we know how to aim a space probe directly at Mars and trigger the gigantic forces of nuclear power, we are still at the mercy of hurricanes and volcanoes.’ It seems peculiar how we can be at such an advanced stage technologically yet we are unable to completely stop a natural hazard from causing loss of life and damage to existing constructed resources and infrastructures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hurricane Gilbert, September 1998 was described by meteorologists at the US National Center in Miami, as the most intense western-hemisphere tropical cyclone on record. Large areas of Jamaica were devastated and the country’s Prime Minister, Edward Seaga, pronounce it the worst natural disaster ever to strike his country. Greatest loss of life however, occurred in Mexico where Gilbert hit twice, first of all traversing the Yucatan Peninsula and two days later making landfall some 150 km south of the border with the USA, finally dissipating near the city of Monterrey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During its most intense phase at the western end of the Caribbean Sea, Gilbert was estimated to have central pressure of 885mbar, and maximum sustained winds in its circulation over 150kt (knots) with highest gusts in excess of 175 kt. The central pressure outrivalled the 899 mbar of the Florida Keys hurricane of 1935. Gilbert, at that stage an un-named tropical depression with maximum sustained winds around 30kt, was first spotted on Thursday 8 September some 300km east of Barbados. It brushed past Barbados and St Lucia the following day with limited wind-damage and some flooding, and was upgraded to ‘tropical storm’ status (means winds 34kt or more).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gathering strength over the warm waters of the eastern Caribbean, Gilbert achieved ‘hurricane’ status (means winds 64kt or more) , with gale force winds brushing the south coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The island was swept by the full force of the storm , first from the north and then from the south, Central pressure at this stage was estimated at 960mbar, wi... ...ive in the paths of approaching storms. Development policies that diversify the economy so that the poor do not need to live near flood prone land for a livelihood should be encouraged. Similarly, primary healthcare must be implemented so that the population is more resistant to disease in the aftermath of disaster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Communications infrastructure should be improved to enable more rapid evacuations. The science of prediction must be continually developed by investing in appropriate technology and research. Again, this would only be possible in more economically developed countries as only they have the necessary funding. Perhaps it would be a good idea to increase the access of the poor to low interest loans to increase their recovery prospects after a disaster. It is clear that at the moment total prevention is virtually impossible. While in EMDC’s hazards may be just an inconvenience (even if it is a very expensive one), whilst it is still a matter of life or death in the developing world. Referring back to Philip Whitfields remark at the beginning, it seems man still remains virtually powerless against nature ,even as we approach the millennium.

General Mills Motivational Profile

General Mills has been making food products for 150 years and is the 6th largest food producer in the world. Consumers recognize General Mills as the makers of Gold Medal flour, Cheerios cereal, and Betty Crocker cake mixes. But General Mills also produces Progresso soups and even the organic lines, Muir Glen and Cascadian Farms. Internationally, General Mills provides other products to 130 countries. Employees recognize General Mills as a positive place to work because of the company’s commitment to a strong ethic of service, achievement, and integrity. General Mills encourages its employees to volunteer and gives five percent of every pre-tax dollar to charitable organizations. While taking care of communities, General Mills also takes care of its employees with benefits ranging from corporate childcare to a generous vacation package and flexible hours. Because employees feel valued and inspired, General Mills enjoys a very low rate of employee turnover. For more than 100 years, General Mills has been dedicated to enriching people’s lives. General Mills stands by its commitment to championship brands, championship people, championship innovation, and championship performance. The company develops superior products designed to make consumers’ lives â€Å"easier, healthier, and more fun,† (General Mills, Values, n. d. ) General Mills endorses a philosophy of community action, corporate social responsibility, and integrity. Since 2000, the company has donated five percent of its pre-tax profits to charitable organizations. In 2009, General Mills gave more than $90. million dollars to support education, food banks, and overseas development. For example, through General Mill’s ‘African Women and Children’s Hunger Project, experts share food growing technologies with villagers in Africa. 15,000 villagers now have access to grain processing equipment and 20,000 villagers have improved access to water for crop irrigation. General Mills’ culture of philanthropy extends to its employees. Over 82% of the company’s volunteers report volunteering to their organization of choice or one supported by General Mills. Additionally, General Mills encourages charitable contributions by matching employees’ donations, dollar for dollar, to nonprofit groups. They have given millions of dollars to support education, food banks, and the arts. In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked General Mills as the 4th most respected company in the United States and the 11th most respected company in the world. General Mills uses innovative strategies worldwide to reduce its environmental footprint, starting with its product packaging. The paperboard used for General Mills’ cereal is made from 100 % recycled paper, and has been for decades. The company is working toward reducing energy use by 15% and greenhouse emissions by 20% in the next year. General Mills has also set tough goals for creating healthier food products. Almost every product line is undergoing research and redevelopment to produce products that include more whole grains and less salt and sugar. General Mills believes in conducting business with integrity. The code of conduct report outlines the company’s belief in maintaining the highest standards of quality in relationships, products, and conduct. The report states that the company will treat people fairly, keep its promises, and maintain the trust of consumers and investors. General Mills requires employee adherence to careful management of finances and assets, compliance with all local, national, and international laws, and the avoidance of conflicts of interest. General Mills has 30,000 employees worldwide and is the 6th largest food company in the world. With operations in over thirty countries, General Mills values a diverse workforce and has a strict no-discrimination policy. The company seeks talented, bright employees from many backgrounds. Additionally, General Mills places value on creating community partnerships throughout the world. Through respectful communication and an appreciation for different customs and cultural practices, the company has forged positive business and community relationships worldwide. General Mills is publicly held and includes a board, stockholders, and managers. The Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Kendall J. Powell joined the company in 1979 as a marketing assistant. Over the years, he took on increasingly responsible positions and is an example of the company’s commitment to developing its employees. Additional employees come from a variety of backgrounds, including marketing, health and nutrition, finance, production, research, and communications. General Mills ranked 155 on the Fortune 500 list of the best companies to work for and holds position 90 on Fortunes 1000 best companies to work for in 2010. This is up nine positions from 2009. The average annual pay in the most common professional job is approx $46,200. Not only is General Mills recognized by respected financial reporting businesses such as Fortune, but is highly regarded as a great place to work by its employees. One fact that supports the idea that General Mills is a great place to work is the company is named on Fortunes â€Å"Top Company: Low Turnover† list that includes companies with a 3% voluntary leave during the past 12-month period. With such a low turnover rate, the first question that comes to mind is â€Å"What makes this company so great? † One important factor may be that the company has several attractive family-friendly benefits. Recently the infant-care center at headquarters was expanded by 43 percent, and the company subsidizes 25 percent of infant care costs. This fact alone would certainly make this company an attractive choice to many family oriented workers. General Mills employs approximately 17,000 workers in the United States. General Mills reports that â€Å"employees who lead healthy, fulfilling lives are more likely to make a strong contribution in the work place. † There are a multitude of factors that support this believe and contribute to the low turnover rate recognized and reported in Fortune. Some of the supporting factors include: generous vacation time, paid holiday, and summer hour benefits. For example, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, headquarter employees are offered an option to work longer days Monday through Thursday and work a half day on Friday. Flexible work schedules and telecommuting when business conditions allow are available. The company also offers paid leave for new fathers and parents who are adopting children. General Mills has received many corporate recognition awards. A few notable recognitions include: Fortune’s â€Å"America’s Most Admired Companies† and â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for. † General Mills has also received recognition by Working Mother magazine as â€Å"Best Companies for Woman of Color,† Business Week â€Å"America’s Top Givers† and Business Ethics â€Å"100 Best Corporate Citizens. † Another important note is General Mill’s commitment to diversity may also play a major role in retaining employees for a longer period. General Mills published that they see diversity as a strategy rather than a policy. The company believes that his strategy gives them a global advantage as well as a competitive advantage when drafting and marketing products. Their commitment to this strategy is supported by the fact that they aggressively seek minority suppliers to provide the services that make their products possible. As part of this focus, they set minority business entrepreneur purchasing goals. They also develop relationships with national minority organizations and build employee support and development. With this in mind, I think it is clear that this company strives to stay focused on people. They understand reinforcing values that are important to people through happy employees, good brands, innovation and performance, will result in long term commitments from their employees and long term profits from their customers. On May 16, 2007, before the Joint Economic Committee, Scott A. Weisberg, Vice President, Compensation, Benefits, and Staffing for General Mills Incorporated stated, â€Å"we strive to be a â€Å"cradle-to-grave† employer, which means we hire many of our employees at the entry level and hope they spend their entire career with General Mills. We believe this continuity translates into performance and a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our benefits package reflects this core philosophy – our benefits are imbued with incentives to encourage people to stay. Our defined benefit pension program is one of our principal vehicles to reinforce employee retention. † This is the philosophy that drives General Mills motivational strategies, which have resulted in an employee retention rate doubled that of their competitors. Their recruiting approach is to attract top candidates with the intention of keeping them for their entire working tenure to draw on their expertise as they evolve into mentors (Ziegler, 2009). General Mills acknowledges the success of the company is strongly connected to their employees. For these reasons, General Mills is one of the top companies to work for. When employees leave, especially long time employees, a significant loss of knowledge and experience leaves with them. The cost to search for and train new people is substantial. According to Kelly Baker, vice president of Corporate Diversity for General Mills, â€Å"to attract and retain and keep those people very, very focused and productive we need to offer a place where they want to be (WCCO, 2008). † General Mills achieves this by offering some of the most comprehensive benefit and incentive programs in the country. According to one employee, it was the benefits and incentives that attracted them to the company and has definitely keep them there (WCCO, 2008). Another employee commented about being more productive because of the on-site conveniences and concierge service (WCCO, 2008). The benefits and incentives offered by General Mills create a workplace that motivates employees intrinsically and extrinsically. These benefits and incentives are designed to help employees achieve a balance between work and home life. The motivational techniques applied by General Mills gives the company the ability to create a flexible, inclusive, and challenging workplace, which in turn drives productivity and innovation. If General Mills has one area in which they can improve, it would be how long employees have to wait for promotions. Low voluntary turnover is a double edged sword. The benefit of retaining employees is the knowledge base, work experience, reduced recruiting and training costs. The consequence is promotions are harder to come by because employees stay in the workforce longer. The risk to General Mills, they may see more voluntary turnover as younger workers decide to move on to companies in which the chance for promotion is more attainable. One approach General Mills could take is asking employees if there is a particular area of the company they are interested in learning. For example, a person in human resources may be interested in learning about strategic planning. The human resources employee is matched to a mentor in the strategic planning department and begins training. Now the human resources employee has the opportunity to promote in either department. As General Mills continues to grow and expand internationally, their strong vision of community partnerships and service will help them adapt to economic and cultural changes. General Mills will continue to provide high quality foods to consumers while fostering a work environment that elicits high performance from every employee.ReferencesGeneral Mills Corporate Website (2010) Careers. Why work at General Mills. A great place to work. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/careers/basic_benefits.aspx General Mills (n.d.) General Mills Social Responsibility. Retrieved May 7, 2010 from http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/commitment/2010_CSR.pdf WCCO. (2008, May 29). Go inside 1 of the best places to work. Retrieved from http://wcco.com/business/best.work.places.2.736220.html Weisberg, S. (2007, May 16). Testimony to the joint economic committee. The economic impact of elder care. The employer perspective. Retrieved from http://jec.senate.gov/archive/Hearings/05.16.07%20Elder%20Care/Testimony%20-%20Weisberg.pdf Ziegler, S. (2009, May 21). General Mills is a place employees come to say. Star Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.startribune.com/business/44610022.html

INFORMATION NETWORKING AS TECHNOLOGY TOOLS, USES, AND SOCIO-TECHNICAL INTERACTIONS essayEssay Writing Service

INFORMATION NETWORKING AS TECHNOLOGY TOOLS, USES, AND SOCIO-TECHNICAL INTERACTIONS essayEssay Writing Service INFORMATION NETWORKING AS TECHNOLOGY: TOOLS, USES, AND SOCIO-TECHNICAL INTERACTIONS essay INFORMATION NETWORKING AS TECHNOLOGY: TOOLS, USES, AND SOCIO-TECHNICAL INTERACTIONS essayInformation overload is a commonly discussed topic nowadays. The new means of communication, increasing data flows from electronic sources, radio, TV, banners and other media channels require greater attention and effort from modern people. At the same time, the history of the humanity shows that since early ages the advancements in information storage, information processing and sharing led to the increase of information flows in the society, so information overload might not be a new concept for the mankind. In any way, the efficiency of human beings and organizations during the transition from printed to electronic media remains an important concern. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether organizations are more likely to find better solutions to the existing information overload through changes to their technical systems, their social systems or the changes of both systems. History o f information management According to Blair (2010), the complaint about information overload was common in different cultures and in different ages: when printing was invented, people were complaining about too many books, and with the advent of electronic media these complaints simply changed their target. Along with the evolution of data storage techniques, the methods of data sorting, categorizing, selecting and summarizing also evolved.At the same time, although the tendency towards the increase of information flows emerged many centuries ago, there is evidence that the exponential growth of information which is witnessed nowadays has particularly negative consequences for human cognition. According to Wardrop (2009), modern people receive about 23 words per second, and such intensive flow of information has a detrimental effect on brain functioning. People tend to disconnect from ach other and their attention spans become shorter. Hence, human brain devotes less time to the pro cesses of connecting information, integrating it into knowledge and converting these findings into deeper thoughts, beliefs and world outlook. Information and knowledgeInformation processing by the human beings takes place in several stages. Most commonly, researchers outline the following states: data, information, knowledge, understanding and wisdom (Bellinger, Castro Mills, 2004). Each of these layers builds up on the previous layer, so it is not possible to reach the next layer without mastering the previous ones. Data pertains to some messages encoded in symbolic form; information denotes that data that were processed by a human being and which are associated with some particular facts or meanings. The next step, knowledge, takes place when the information is applied and the person working with the information can answer relevant questions starting with how (Bellinger, Castro Mills, 2004). Furthermore, understanding is associated with a deeper level of data processing when th e person can answer the question why, and wisdom denotes the understanding evaluated in the context of ones integral world outlook.The core issue with the information overload that is taking place nowadays is that the boundaries between information and knowledge are being blurred, and that due to extended time required for converting data into information and information into knowledge, there is no time to more to the next levels of information processing. These trends are especially visible in the social networks, Twitter conversations and other modern means of information exchange (Green, 2010). Socio-technical approachThe volumes of information consumption are increasing in geometric progression: for example, the volume of words consumed by the people in the U.S. has more than doubled between 1980 and 2008 (and this statistic does not include in-person conversations) (Wardrop, 2009). Evidently, human brains need to adapt to the changing consequences, and human beings currently ex perience difficulties between the existing channels of information processing and the requirements of the new environment. In order to stay efficient, human beings should either alter brain mechanisms responsible for information processing, or improve technical means of retrieving and filtering information, or combine both approaches. The same relates to organizations: in order to survive in the modern environment, organizations should enhance their means of information processing, both technical and social, and enhance the alignment between these two approaches.The research of Kwan (2011) shows that the performance of software companies depends both on the technical and social components, and that companies with efficient technical tools still experience failures, primarily due to the human component and the lack of social interaction between team members. The main thesis of this paper is the following: organizations need to improve technical means helping people to manage, access and retrieve the relevant data upon request, and at the same time should enhance the social interactions between the people in the organization. Counter-argumentsAccording to Ott (2010), the term information overload is too much hyped, and in reality there is no such thing as information overload. Instead, according to Ott (2010), there is the lack of proper information filters and there are people who therefore allow excess information to overwhelm them. The major constraint in this case is time constraint. Ott (2010) states that it is possible to overcome the challenges of information filtering by introducing new techniques and methods enabling people to cope with the existing data flows, just like catalogs and book reviews helped people to cope with the increase of information flows after the advent of printing.However, Ott misses one important thing: the intensity of data flows in the modern world also requires faster and more efficient reactions, and there emerge situations wh en people or organizations have to deal with unexpected data flows (or technical means of coping with data flows produce errors). In order to be comfortable in this world, human beings and organizations have to reconsider their social reactions to the rapidly changing environment and combine their new reactions and perceptions with the advanced technical means of data filtering and selecting. The use of pure technical means for addressing the challenge of information overload is insufficient because in this case people will be less integrated into the society and more isolated from others due to technology.ConclusionThe volumes of information that people have to face nowadays are impressive: during the next 4 years the humanity is expected to generate more data that it has accumulated during all previous world history. This means that people should invent more efficient and more intelligent technical tools for information processing, retrieval and management that are aware of the co ntext and can assist people handle data overload (Fischer, 2012).At the same time, improvement of technical tools only does not guarantee success, as it is shown by Kwan (2011). Therefore, in order to handle information overload, organizations should make sure that they are using efficient technical tools, optimize social interaction between its members and align the use of technical and social interactions into an integral system.

Online education at Longwood University Essays

Online education at Longwood University Essays Online education at Longwood University Essay Online education at Longwood University Essay The public school Longwood University is offering an online education programs and the deadline for applying is rolling. The program represents an online business graduate program. All of the enrolled students are already employed and applied for this course only for getting higher education. Just as any other school that offers online studying and education, Longwood University has all of the online classes recorded and archived for further use. This online business program founded by Longwood University is accredited by the gold standards of business school accreditations – the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Longwood University founded this online business graduate program in 2010-2011. The total number of enrolled students is 16. The tuition for this program is different for in-state students and out-of-state students. For in-state students the tuition is $289 and for out-of-state students, the tuition is $799. The deadline for applying is rolling, the admissions website is www.longwood.edu and the e-mail is [emailprotected] The rankings for Longwood University’s online program are the following: rank 5 and score 95 for training and faculty credentials, rank 215 and score 16 for technology and student services, rank 31 and score 85 for student engagement and rank 16 and score 83 for admissions selectivity. The peer assessment score 1.6 out of 5. The application deadline is the same for both in-state and international students. The director of admissions is Abigail O’Connor. The admissions phone is 434 395 2043. Longwood University awards MBAs and it has 10 full-time faculty instructors who teach on the online courses but the degree cannot be earned entirely online. Campus-based students are not allowed to participate in this online course. The recommended Internet speed for this online course is DSL. The only problem that can occur is that there is now live tech support all the time. The part-time tuition for in-state students is $289 and for out-of-state students is $799. The full-time tuition for in-state students is also $289 and for out-of-state students $799.

#FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor

#FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor #FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor â€Å"You have to keep thinking, keep interrogating the text: ‘Is this keeping the flow well? Is it convincing me?† If something sounds a bit hollow or a bit flat, you’ve got to flag it up.â€Å"With a 15-year career – so far – behind her, Belinda Jones has worked on everything from commercial and literary fiction, to historical non-fiction and celebrity memoir. We talked about her start as an editor, the recent YA resurgence, and the need to be sensitive when dealing with author comments.–REEDSYHow did you find yourself starting out as an editor?BELINDA JONESLooking for work after university, I did a correspondence course with Chapterhouse to get going with the proofing symbols and that sort of thing. I got to London and, to gain what experience I could, I took on part-time work with Virgin Publishing – in the rights department, strangely enough. The agreement was that if they were going to have me for  £50 a week, the editorial dep artment would use me for editing work. That worked out quite well – I was able to build up a good foundation of freelance editing work at the time just by being there and obviously working as well (mornings only, but that was the deal).As ever, it’s about building up a CV for experience.REEDSYWhat sort of books were you working on when you started out?BELINDA JONESI was hoping you wouldn’t ask that†¦ I first worked on gentle ‘erotica’ – you can imagine my parents’ delight. It was well paid, I have to say, and got some very good dialogue practice going on. It’s interesting when people ask how you train as an editor. I think you have to have a natural leaning towards it; I’m not sure its something you can actually learn to do. In the same way that some people are natural mathematicians, natural tennis players, I’d say editors have to have a natural aptitude. And if you’re getting experience, it probably d oesn’t matter what you’re editing so long as you’re honing those skills and getting feedback.I was incredibly lucky in my career to freelance with Reader’s Digest. The woman who took me on has become a sort of guru to me. Everything I’ve learned I would put down to her. She said at the beginning: "You have this natural aptitude. That’s great, we can work with that,† and that was why I was taken on by them. There’s no doubt that if you’re working with someone who’s very good at their job with high, exacting standards, you will raise your game accordingly. I think good editors are people who have those exacting standards, and possibly a bit of OCD as well – when you want to track down that  last potentially blurred fact that might have slipped away, or the niggling somethings that are not quite right†¦ Natural aptitude plus a little bit of OCD probably makes someone the ideal editor.REEDSYWhat’s the importance of working with an editor who’s not just technically trained, but experienced?BELINDA JONESExperience leads to confidence. When you start out you think you’re expected to know it all when, of course, you can’t possibly. I think that’s a mistake all young people make starting out, thinking that you have to hit the ground running. Sit back, take your time, learn from your boss. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’m pretty aware that I do a good job because I have the experience that’s needed to do that. As a result that’s very much become a confidence thing. Often, in-house, you don’t receive too much feedback because people are simply too busy to do it. You might get a quick â€Å"That’s great, thanks so much, we’ll work with you again in a month’s time.† You can ask for feedback, of course, but it’s something I’m reluctant to do – busy people don’ t have time to spoon-feed you. If I do ask for feedback, it will be from someone for whom I’ve not worked before, and will be about how I could do better next time. And that builds up over the years, of course – improving your work.REEDSYAs a freelancer, do you work directly with the author or via the publisher?BELINDA JONESI mainly work via the in-house editor, who will usually ask me to work in Track Changes, but more and more my comments are going directly to the author for me and them to discuss, rather than via in-house to be checked first. You have to be very diplomatic with the comments that you use – you’ve got to have an appreciation that this is the author’s baby that they’ve been working on for however long. Your comments have to be well structured, and you always need to back up a bit of text you’ve changed with the reason why. Put yourself in their position – how would you feel if you’d been working on somet hing for anything from 6 months to x number of years, and then someone you don’t know from Adam tells you to change this, this and this.You learn to be sensitive about this with experience. It isn’t pointed out or ‘taught’. You learn it yourself the more you do the work. The comfier, more confident in the work you do you are, the more you can think about what the author would be wanting, or needing rather, to hear back from you.REEDSYOne editor we spoke to recently described the work of an editor by saying that the client isn’t the author, but the reader   – that the editor is mediating the concerns of both. Is that similar to how you work?BELINDA JONESI agree with that. When I’m working I put on my reader’s hat. I’m a reader, so I’m at home on the sofa or sitting on the train, I’ve bought this book and I want to enjoy it. In other words, you’re editing to make it the most effortless read possible. You’re smoothing flow, polishing any clunky or bumpy bits; you’re saying, â€Å"Hold on a minute, what you’ve said about that character on page 114 is not what was said about that character on page 23.† I hate it when I come across something like that in books I’m reading for pleasure – it blows the whole thing. But of course, at the same time you’re working for the author. I find 'keeping the author sympathetic’ is another good phrase. As the editor, I would say your job is to make sure the author comes across as a reasonable person, certainly an authoritative writer whom the reader can trust. You have to balance both these things.REEDSYWhat are some projects you’ve enjoyed recently?BELINDA JONESLiterary fiction will always be my first love to work on. Young adult fiction too, I think, has immense potential, which is being tapped both convincingly and unconvincingly at the moment. Fiction all the way, generally, for me! I’ve done plenty of non-fiction which can be very good too, especially when it’s historical, but there’s a huge difference between working on fiction and non-fiction. When you’re an editor for non-fiction, you absolutely have to fact-check everything, especially when it comes to a celebrity autobiography.REEDSYWhat do you love about YA?BELINDA JONESI think it’s such a wonderful crossover between the youngish readers and the fairly precocious readers, right up into adulthood. The Hunger Games, for example – hasn’t that done well? Both for the books and the box office, with teens and adults alike. I actually belong to a book club of adults who read YA fiction and then critique it fiercely in the pub afterwards! We’ve read some stinkers, of course, and that just makes me want to die – it’s such an important time for readers to be encouraged to keep reading. If you’re coming across horrendously clichà ©d work you just want to say, â€Å"Come on everyone! Just because it’s YA doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be good.† Quite the reverse! There’s a huge market for good YA – I wish there was more of it. We can’t blame publishers, they have to make money in what’s a very tough market but let’s not just go straight for that Hollywood jugular the entire time. But that’s the same with fiction and books the world over, isn’t it? In any genre there’s going to be good and bad. But, right now, I really think YA is a superb genre to be in.REEDSYIs developmental editing quite different from copyediting?BELINDA JONESYes. Analysis is another thing you have to have an aptitude for, particularly for developmental editing. Again, you have to keep thinking, keep interrogating the text: ‘Is this keeping the flow well? Is it convincing me?â€Å" If something sounds a bit hollow or a bit flat, you’ve got to flag i t up and either suggest or make the change yourself. Usually a manuscript, by the time I get it, has been very much edited in-house. That’s a bit of a tightrope you need to be aware of as a freelance editor – it’s not about your ego, which is something I’m embarrassed to say I had to reign in at the beginning. When for the first time you’re given free reign on a manuscript you think, "Let’s get cracking!† but, like I said, there are many concerns to weigh. Ones that are usually outlined in a brief from the in-house editor.REEDSYFinally, what do you like to read yourself?BELINDA JONESOh, general fiction, literary fiction, YA. A bit of everything, to be honest. I’m currently savouring Les Miserables (a Christmas present from my French in-laws) but I am interspersing it with more digestible reads too. Not something I’d normally allow myself to do  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  !REEDSYThank you for your time Belinda.

Learning Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Learning Behaviour - Assignment Example Positive behaviour management (PBM) has recently been recommended as a more acceptable form of management in the classroom than traditional behaviour modification (Cheesman & Watts, 2001). It focuses upon building up a positive atmosphere by involving the pupil as a partner in the educational process (Pierce & Van Houten, 2000) and emphasises the need to give pupils every opportunity to develop self discipline through appropriate learning experiences (Brophy, 2001; Duke & Jones, 2001; Pepper & Henry, 2001; Wayson, 2001). Where behaviour needs to be changed pupils are invited to set behavioural goals with the teacher and, in some cases, monitor and record their own progress (McNamara, 2004). In relation to Skinner's theory, I have observed this in the classroom situation positive behaviour management relies upon the principles of positive reinforcement (Skinner, 2003) with appropriate behaviour rewarded and inappropriate behaviour ignored, wherever possible. It therefore avoids the ne gativity incumbent upon the withdrawal of privileges in time out' and response-cost systems of behaviour modification. ... s, such measures, introduce an "adversary orientation" into a classroom which "fosters super ordinate-subordinate and competitive relationships both between... teachers and students and students and their peers"(Thomas 2000, p. 149). Positive behaviour management, as per the National Curriculum Science, offers a more optimistic alternative, for it seeks to change the problem' behaviour by changing both the contingent conditions, which may be maintaining the behaviour, and the antecedent conditions, which may have initiated the behaviour in the first place. I agree with Jason & Kuchay (2001, p. 413) who suggested that the antecedent' conditions (the stimulus' in Skinnerian terms) exert just as powerful a control over behaviour as do contingencies of reinforcement. Moreover, changing the antecedent conditions of the behaviour is seen as less mechanistic and manipulative than the control of the schedules of reinforcement for, in this way, positive behaviour is invited rather than behavi our which is deemed inappropriate, suppressed. (Wragg 1984) Discussion I observed during my experience as a student teacher that Brophy's description of instruction, as "actions taken specifically to assist students in mastering the formal curriculum" (2001 p. 2) is very much true, in view of my experience as a student teacher. Actions taken in the classroom that are not directly or explicitly designed to improve students' mastery of a particular subject are considered "non-instruction". One aspect of non-instruction is the teacher's management or organization of the classroom, which includes the creation and maintenance of learning environments that support the goals of academic instruction (Brophy, 2001). However, I think that accumulating evidence points to a crucial role for classroom

Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mythology - Essay Example The beliefs and traditions that I can trace to my own ancestry are related to marriage, burial and roaming out at late night. The marriages that are conducted between two individuals are to be adjusted by elders, as it is believed that a marriage that is not arranged by elders will bring misfortune to the family. In addition, it is considered that the bride should be in white dress compulsorily as any other dress is not suitable for a bride and can bring disastrous results for the future lives of bride and groom. As far as burial is concerned, it is essential that all people should be dressed in black to indicate that they are sorrowful. For a death ceremony, black color is regarded as appropriate as it shows that everybody will be deprived of any color when death will come to him/her. Due to the beliefs that my family keeps, my family always regards that elders should be involved in all kind of decision making to avoid any kind of misfortune for the whole family. Misfortune can be related to the gods of fortune. My family never allows anyone to go out at late nights because it is regarded that evil and witchcraft are common at nights and can be harmful for anyone. This can be associated to gods of evil and witchcraft. 2. Are myths true? Literally? Whether true or not, do they have metaphoric truth to them? What is the relationship between myth and religion? Can on myth be more true than another? Can anyone claim absolute truth, and if so, how? Mostly myths are not true. However, those, which are associated to religion such as birth of Adam and Eve and their forced departure from heaven on the basis of their disobedience cannot be considered wrong as this is a true myth. Those myths that talk about gods and goddess such as sun god, goddess of love, goddess of evil, etc. are not true and are the outcome of those beliefs that ancient people used to keep because of their lack of knowledge concerning the phenomena of the universe. Metaphors and myths are related

A Cross-Sectoral Investigation of Strategic Fit vs Flexibility Dissertation

A Cross-Sectoral Investigation of Strategic Fit vs Flexibility - Dissertation Example 6.4.1 Employee Satisfaction 46 6.4.2 Service Quality 47 6.4.3 Customer Satisfaction 49 6.5: Conclusion 50 Chapter 7 - Conclusion 51 7.1: Contributions of the Research 53 7.2: Implications of the Research 55 7.2.1 Implications for Public Sector Organisations 55 7.2.2 Implications for Future Research 57 7.3: Limitations of Study 59 7.4: Final Conclusion 59 References 61 72 Appendix I: Interview Transcripts and Coding 73 Appendix I.1: Organisation A (Public Sector) 74 Appendix I.2: Organisation B (Private Sector) 101 Appendix II: Conceptual Models 124 125 Organisation A Conceptual Models 126 Appendix II.2 131 Organisation B Conceptual Models 131 Organisation A Conceptual Models 137 Appendix II.2 142 Organisation B Conceptual Models 142 Acknowledgements Without the continued emotional and financial support provided by my parents, I may have not reached the end of this journey. During my studies there were times when work commitments and intermittent financial stress made me believe that I would not be able to see this journey through. It was during these times, and many others, that my parents' words of encouragement and their confidence in my ability gave me the motivation to persist. No words of thanks can adequately express the depth of my appreciation and love. I would also like to seize this opportunity to personally thank my supervisor, . I cannot express the extent to which his encouragement, support, understanding and, above all, his prompt, constructive and greatly appreciated criticism and feedback, were invaluable to the research, writing and completion of this study. Thank you. Abstract Strategic human resource management is, undoubtedly, an integral factor in organisational success but, it only represents an element within the... 1.1: Introduction Focusing on the prevalent organisational structure and management distinctions between the private and the public sector, the dissertation aims to demonstrate the tendency of the public sector to adhere to outmoded and inefficient management models as compared to the best practices models, strategies, tools and mechanisms adopted within the private sector. The disparity between public and private sector management styles and paradigms is customarily justified through reference to organisational structural differences. This dissertation takes a contrary position, arguing that even though there may exist structural differences between public and private sector organisations, the differences are not such as to prevent the successful implementation of private sector management strategies and paradigms in public sector organizations, as would allow for the adoption of Total Quality Management lending to the evolution of an effective and efficient human resource. These statements and argum ents shall be validated through a review of the literature on public and private sector organisations and contemporary management strategies and, solidified through the results of the field study. 1.2: Importance of Topic The current study proposes to examine the similarities and differences between the public and the private sector for determination of whether or not private sector management strategies withstand successful adaptation to, and implementation in, the private sector.

The impact of Horsham Properties Group v Clark & Another Essay

The impact of Horsham Properties Group v Clark & Another - Essay Example Horsham Properties v Clark & Another The case of Horsham Properties Ltd v Clark & Another EWHC 2327 seeks to settle the issue as to whether s. 101 of the Law of Property Act 1925 violates a mortgagor’s rights over his property. The aforesaid provision grants the mortgagee the power, among others, to sell the mortgaged property in the event the mortgagee falls in arrear in the payment of his loan without prior court order of possession. In this case, the defendants obtained a loan from GMAC with their property located in Walderslade Road as security. When the defendants failed to pay their obligations, GMAC immediately assigned two receivers to handle the sale of the property subject of the mortgage. The property was subsequently purchased by Coastal Estates Ltd, which also sold the same to Horsham on the same day. Horsham immediately initiated court proceedings to dispossess the defendants of the property subject of the mortgage on the ground that their presence in the property is a trespass considering that the legal right of the property had already been transferred to Horsham by virtue of the sale. Although the fact that they were in arrears in the payment of their loan was not disputed, the defendants nevertheless, believed that the mortgagee had no right to dispossess them of their property and sell it without first obtaining any court order for the reason that this infringes their rights under the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 1 of the First Protocol.... ssess them of their property and sell it without first obtaining any court order for the reason that this infringes their rights under the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 1 of the First Protocol (A1FP hereafter). A1FP guarantees peaceful enjoyment of one’s possessions and prohibits their deprivation except in the public interest and with due process as provided by laws. The defendants argued that the relevant provisions of the LPA 1925 must be construed in such a way that they are made compatible with Convention rights and that therefore, the rights of the mortgagee under the LPA, particularly those laid down in s. 101, must be tempered by prior acquisition of corresponding court orders before they can be fully exercise. If this cannot be had, the defendants would like the court to issue a declaration of incompatibility. The Court refuted the defendants’ position and ruled in favor of the claimant. It held, inte r alia, that the sale of the property subject of mortgage by the mortgagee in a case where the mortgagor has defaulted does not engage Convention rights under A1FP and ss. 6 and 8 thereof. According to the Court, the right under A1FP is underpinned by â€Å"state intervention into private rights through overriding legislation,† which is not the case in the sale of mortgaged property by the mortgagee in the case when payments of the principal loan are in arrears. The sale in this case merely functions to implement the contract between and the expectations of the mortgagor and the mortgagee and does not amount to state intervention. The Court also pointed out that s 101(4) reinforces this implication by providing that the applicability of the provision is subject to a contrary term expressly provided by

Managing business ethics in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing business ethics in China - Essay Example In the modern day business world, a manager needs to ensure adherence to business ethics in a firm’s quest for profiteering motives. However, recent developments have resulted in varied definitions of ethics, and each person has to use own judgement to differentiate between ethical and unethical practise. Moreover, the capacity of a business to adhere to ethical expectations is dependent on political, social, economic, and environmental factors of a market. This means that a firm should balance its business practice with environmental and social responsibility, and in adherence to the ethical guidelines stipulated by the government in the country of operation. In essence, the highest level of ethical practice involves business practices that aim to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability. The Chinese economy is characterized with widespread criticism on high levels of unethical practices; including corruption that is touted to be the most detrimental factor of the economy. However, recent changes have seen a change in focus to adherence to ethical guidelines by managers, most of whom are learning how to incorporate the system into their businesses without seeming to suffer from the alienation by western values. The Chinese investors insist on charting their own path to ethical practice despite the assimilation of various western characteristics into its economic system. On august 26, 2010, Landau reported on BBC about a businessperson who tried to incorporate Christianity as a tool to entrench ethical practice among his employees, mainly by encouraging his employees to convert to the Christian faith. While this practice is not illegal, it brings up the question of how far managers can go to ensure ethical practises in their firms (Landau, 2010). Factors Influencing Et hical Practice in China Many factors have been blamed for the widespread unethical practices in China, but the most outstanding ones are philosophical beliefs, globalisation and the rapid changes that the Chinese economy undergoes. Philosophical Beliefs The main philosophical approaches taken by the Chinese are Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, all of which are based on the teachings of prominent thinkers who resided in the Far East. Confucius, the father of Confucianism, taught that the first obligation of every person is to the family, such that everyone is expected to take care of the needs of family members and close friends before extending favours to others. While this is a convenient way of living in day-to-day life, the philosophy may be destructive in the business world, as managers tend to hire their family members regardless of their qualifications. This has resulted in poor quality of Chinese products; erosion of work ethics since a favour leads to another, and the cycl e goes on despite detrimental effects to the economy. However, this does not mean that Confucianism only has negative effects on ethics; in fact, if applied correctly, the philosophy has three main aspects that promote ethical practise. These include the teachings on obedience, following laid down guidelines, and humanity (Suen, Cheung and Mondejar, 2007). Taoism incorporates the principles of learning the details of one's profession for improved workmanship, and promotion of maximum good for the greatest number of people. In addition, Taoism results in increased efficiency at the workplace though this is not the prime concern of the philosophy. Buddhism is the philosophy that encourages business personality to respect and preserve the business environment; and to create a healthy relationship between the business and the community around it. Any manager intending to do ethical business in China has to have an understanding of the perceptions of

The impact of Horsham Properties Group v Clark & Another Essay

The impact of Horsham Properties Group v Clark & Another - Essay Example Horsham Properties v Clark & Another The case of Horsham Properties Ltd v Clark & Another EWHC 2327 seeks to settle the issue as to whether s. 101 of the Law of Property Act 1925 violates a mortgagor’s rights over his property. The aforesaid provision grants the mortgagee the power, among others, to sell the mortgaged property in the event the mortgagee falls in arrear in the payment of his loan without prior court order of possession. In this case, the defendants obtained a loan from GMAC with their property located in Walderslade Road as security. When the defendants failed to pay their obligations, GMAC immediately assigned two receivers to handle the sale of the property subject of the mortgage. The property was subsequently purchased by Coastal Estates Ltd, which also sold the same to Horsham on the same day. Horsham immediately initiated court proceedings to dispossess the defendants of the property subject of the mortgage on the ground that their presence in the property is a trespass considering that the legal right of the property had already been transferred to Horsham by virtue of the sale. Although the fact that they were in arrears in the payment of their loan was not disputed, the defendants nevertheless, believed that the mortgagee had no right to dispossess them of their property and sell it without first obtaining any court order for the reason that this infringes their rights under the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 1 of the First Protocol.... ssess them of their property and sell it without first obtaining any court order for the reason that this infringes their rights under the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 1 of the First Protocol (A1FP hereafter). A1FP guarantees peaceful enjoyment of one’s possessions and prohibits their deprivation except in the public interest and with due process as provided by laws. The defendants argued that the relevant provisions of the LPA 1925 must be construed in such a way that they are made compatible with Convention rights and that therefore, the rights of the mortgagee under the LPA, particularly those laid down in s. 101, must be tempered by prior acquisition of corresponding court orders before they can be fully exercise. If this cannot be had, the defendants would like the court to issue a declaration of incompatibility. The Court refuted the defendants’ position and ruled in favor of the claimant. It held, inte r alia, that the sale of the property subject of mortgage by the mortgagee in a case where the mortgagor has defaulted does not engage Convention rights under A1FP and ss. 6 and 8 thereof. According to the Court, the right under A1FP is underpinned by â€Å"state intervention into private rights through overriding legislation,† which is not the case in the sale of mortgaged property by the mortgagee in the case when payments of the principal loan are in arrears. The sale in this case merely functions to implement the contract between and the expectations of the mortgagor and the mortgagee and does not amount to state intervention. The Court also pointed out that s 101(4) reinforces this implication by providing that the applicability of the provision is subject to a contrary term expressly provided by

Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market Case Study - 1

Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market - Case Study Example In light of the market trends, Louis Vuitton has strategically adapted new market approaches to the Japanese market. Following the global economic recession of 2008-2009, Japanese luxury goods consumers have become more price conscious. Vis a vis, Louis Vuitton has been forced to re-evaluate its primary marketing strategy of premium brands in the case of the Japanese economy. The company lacks a comprehensive Japanese culture-oriented marketing strategy that would differentiate between the dynamics of the western market and the Japanese market. Employment of the Louis Vuitton global strategy fails to incorporate the cultural aspects of Japanese consumers in terms of price, quality and value addition. The company’s success in the Japanese market has been driven principally by the group- culture that strongly promotes possession of luxury goods by consumers (Paul and Feroul, 2010). However, the market has been characterized by consumers increased value for their money, thereby a voiding premium-priced luxury goods. Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market has further been weakened by new marketing strategies by rival brands who have lowered their prices to attract price-sensitive consumers. To maintain its customer base, Louis Vuitton has been forced to also reevaluate its pricing strategies. To cushion themselves from harsh trends in the luxury goods market, rival firms have diversified their services and product portfolio to include non-traditional products. Chocolatier Godiva had announced plans to open up cafes in Tokyo while Vertu a mobile phone company had plans to open up shops in Ginza. Therefore, Louis Vuitton runs the risk of solely depending on luxury goods market. The Japanese market has been identified to be cyclical, characterized by periods of extensive consumer spending, which are followed with reduce consumer expenditure.  

The American West Essay Example for Free

The American West Essay The American West was a main focal point of the elections and American society during the Jacksonian period. It was an idea that stirred emotions and the imagination of Americans around the country, and in the end it would represent a period in American history of transition into a new era of politics. This period would see more changes in the American way of life than any other period because the very geography of the nation was changing, which in turn changed the political aspects of American society, particularly in regards to the idea of a relatively equal North, free states versus South, slave states. As America expanded into the west, with fewer and fewer American territories accepting slavery at their birth, the country was divided even more and would begin the process of disunion in many ways. The Jacksonian society was really the first time in American history that the west was opened widely to expansion, and many Americans were desperate to leave the overpopulated, over-hunted, and overly expensive cities and towns of the East. People sought a better life in the west, where land was free for the taking as long as you were willing to work for it. The lore of the west added to the interest in settling the new frontiers, and Jacksonian society would have found the tales of outlaws and Indians, free land and the adventures of the Oregon Trail as fascinating, fueling their imagination. To Northerners who were stuck in large, over-populated areas where land was hard to buy the west represented their ability to live their dreams. To the South, the west represented America’s ability to create more states that were agrarian based like themselves, and the possibility of more slave states to help give them power in the American government. During the period of American history that spanned 1820 through 1857 the issue of slave versus free states became increasingly important. Western expansion created the political opportunity to either create more free states, which would mean that slave states felt they could not get equal say in government, or more slave states, which the majority of Northerners were against because they despised the institution of slavery. It was a battle of the industrialized North versus the agrarian, slave labor based South. The issue of slavery had become a hot topic in American government. For many years the country had been divided pretty equally in terms of free versus slave states, but with the western territories beginning to grow, expand and seek statehood, the concept of allowing states to enter the Union as a slave state or a free one became increasingly important. The North did not feel any of these states should be allowed to enter the Union as slave states, because the majority of Northerners favored abolition or, at the very least, the ability to not allow slavery within their direct borders. The South did not want the western states to be allowed to enter as free states because it would unfairly balance the scales in favor of abolition. Talk of secession emerged partly because of the westward expansion that was so important of a movement during the Jacksonian period. In the end, American society and, in particular, Jacksonian society saw many changes that would eventually lead to the secession of the South from the Union and the American Civil War. These changes began primarily because of Westward expansion, a phenomenon that stemmed from factors happening in the Industrialized North, the agrarian South, and the over-population and lack of affordable land in the East in general. Disunion would be the eventual outcome, but it very much can trace its beginnings to the migration into the American West.

Historical People and Events

Historical People and Events Joan of Arc Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France honored and respected by everyone. She was an illiterate peasant girl who rose to the ranks of leading French armies to victory against England until her capture when she was only 19 years old. She was executed as a heretic in a politically motivated trial. Twenty four years later the Catholic Church declared her innocence and she was canonized as a saint in 1920. She was born in a time when France and England were at war. The Armagnacs and the Burgundians were two French factions at war with each other. By 1484 England was occupying Northern France. The English began a siege of Orleans. Her parents were Jacques dArc and Isabelle Rome. Her father was a farmer and a minor village official. She got her first visions at the age of 12 where St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret told her to expel the English. She obtained an interview with the royal French court where she predicted about military reverses of the English near Orleans. She was responsible for pursuing an aggressive offensive strategy by the French army in the siege of Orleans. The defeat of English led to the capture of Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, Beaugency and annihilated the English army at the battle of Patay. A truce was signed between the two French factions following the arrival of the French army at Reims. The agreement was broken by Duke Philip. A French advance towards Paris was put off after an order to withdraw. Joan was captured on May 1430 following a skirmish with the English. She was put on trial for heresy in a politically motivated trial. She had supported the other side in France. She was executed for heresy. The inquisitors who interviewed her could not find any evidence of heresy and were convinced of her innocent. The priests who had put her on trial were forced and intimidated by the English government to pronounce heresy. Joan of Arc is honored and revered as a heroine throughout her life and beyond. The French military was inspir ed by her use of artillery and frontal tactics in warfare. Legends have survived about her legacy. The best known is that she did not feel pain during her execution. She is also believed to have died peacefully. She rose to prominence from an illiterate peasant girl to an inspiration for the French military. She gave hope to a discredited regime and inspired the French people to fight a popular war of national liberation. Joan of Arc expelled women from the French army and did not believe in feminism. She has been a political symbol ever since her death. The Vichy government, French resistance, liberals, conservatives, etc have all used her for their political purposes. Many people have studied about the religious visions of Joan. Most people believe in the sincerity of her faith. They consider it to be divine inspiration. Documents which detail about her visions are vague and possibly some fabrications have been added. Some researchers have tried to explain her visions in the form of neurological or psychiatric terms. This view has been opposed by many historians on grounds that hallucinations and hearing voices does not necessarily point to mental illness. Further a person with such lifestyle like Joan would have found it hard to maintain if she had a serious disease. The court of King Charles VII was highly skeptical and shrewd with regards to mental illness. His own father suffered from insanity and under him France began a long decline. Her boldness and physical rigor of her military career counters the theory that she suffered from any cognitive impairment. Joan of Arc remains a popular heroine and political symbol in France. She passionately pursued a national war of liberation and inspired the French to regain hope. She was sincere in faith. Her sincerity and legacy remain stronger than ever even after her death more than five hundred years ago. Johannes Gutenberg Gutenberg was a German Printer, and Pioneer in the use of movable type, he was sometimes identified as the first European to print with hand-set type cast and molds. Although he was not the only person working on the printing press, he was considered to be the main part of it. Gutenbergs name does not appear on any of the works attributed to him, but historical records have given evidence that he is indeed the one who printed them. Johannes Gutenberg was born in 1397. He was born into a noble family in the city of Mainz, a mining town, in Southern Germany. His father was Friele Gansfleisch, his mother was Else Wyrich. His early training was as a goldsmith and an inventor. In 1428, he moved to Strasbourg for political reasons. He remained there for over twenty years. It was in Strasbourg that he made his first experiments with movable type. Gutenberg had the idea of modernizing techniques of metalworking, such as casting, punch-cutting, and stamping, for the mass production of books. Gutenberg became more and more intrigued by these subjects, which led to further experiments with movable type. He started to experiment with metal molds, alloys, special presses, and oil based inks. Little did he know that this experimentation, with a little increased work, would remain the main type of printing until the late twentieth century. In 1438 Gutenberg entered into a partnership with Andreas Dritzehn to conduct experiments in printing. Gutenberg taught Dritzehn about what he had learned dealing with movable type. In about 1450 Gutenberg returned to Mainz, where he formed yet another partnership with a German merchant and a money lender by the name of Johann Fust. With the money that he borrowed from Fust, Gutenberg was able to open up a press where he did additional research and experiments with movable type. It was sometime between 1450 and 1456 that Gutenberg set to work, and completed, a forty- two line Bible (it was 42 lines per page). The bible was referred to as th e Gutenberg Bible, also known as the Mazarine Bible, or the 42-lined bible. Today there is only 47 extant copies, the most widely known presently was acquired by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Only two other perfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible are known to exist today. The Gutenberg Bible was widely known for its beauty and elegance. A German printer, Peter Schoffer, Fusts son-in-law, and Gutenbergs apprentice helped to print the work of the Bible. Gutenbergs main goal was to mechanically reproduce medieval liturgical manuscripts without taking away their color or design. In 1455 Fust demanded that Gutenberg repay the money that was invested in the business. This dispute resulted in a lawsuit in which Gutenberg abandoned his claims to his invention and gave up his stocks. Even though he had a dispute with Fust, Gutenberg continued his work with printing. During the years following the dispute and lawsuit Gutenberg printed several small but popular items such as calend ars, but in 1458 Gutenberg printed another bible, only this one was the 36 line Bible. Gutenberg began to re-establish his printing press company with the help of a man named Conrad Humery. At around 1460 Gutenberg was able to print the Missale speciale constantiense as well as the Catholicon. Gutenbergs press was made up of characters of equal height, and these characters were printed on hand-made paper. His press involved a mold that had the outlines of letters and other characters stamped into it. Letters of type could be produced quickly by pouring liquid metal into the pre-made molds. These stamped and molded letters were then put together to make pages of printing. Gutenbergs accomplishments with movable type made book production more economically possible, and easier to produce literature quicker. The new innovations in the printing press opened new possibilities for German literature. The printing press allowed an easier exchange of ideas throughout Europe and helped spread the ideas of the Renaissance. As more productions of literature occurred, more different languages were also printed out. Gutenbergs invention brought the printed word to a wider audience, altering history with its big impact on literacy and education. Before books were able to be printed with the printing press people had to believe what they heard from other people. They werent able to rely on what they read from history books or other sources of information. Before the printing press was invented, making books was a long and hard process, and the books that were produced were extremely costly. The printing press provided a practical and inexpensive way to produce literature. It was a particularly valuable invention, and it made a great contribution to the world. With the invention of the printing press reading and writing were no longer restricted to religious things, or to the rich. People soon learned to question the authority of the ruling class, which was also part of the spr ead of the Renaissance. The printing press sparked an enlightenment and widespread access and appreciation for classical art and literature. These new appreciations developed a new passion among people for artistic self expression. Without the printing press, the Renaissance may never have occurred. Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeths Childhood and Youth Elizabeth was born near London on Sept. 7, 1533. Her father was Henry VIII, bluff King Hal. Her mother was Anne Boleyn, the second of Henrys six wives. Henrys first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only one surviving child, Mary. Henry wanted a male heir, so he asked the pope to annul the marriage. Because the pope refused, Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic church and set himself up as head of the church in England. Then he married Anne. He was disappointed that Annes child also was a girl. Before Elizabeth was 3 years old, he had her mother beheaded. Henry gave Elizabeth a house of her own in the country. He paid little attention to her, and her governess complained that the princess hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat. Henry provided excellent tutors, however, and Elizabeth showed a love for learning. One of her tutors, Roger Ascham, wrote: Her perseverance is equal to that of a man, and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks up. Sh e talks French and Italian as well as she does English. When she writes Greek and Latin, nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting. She delights as much in music as she is skillful in it. Henrys third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward. Henry died when Edward was 10 years old, and the boy came to the throne as Edward VI. Elizabeth and Edward were both brought up in Henrys new church. Their half sister Mary was brought up a Roman Catholic. When Edward died in 1553, Mary became queen and at once made Catholicism the state religion. Mary suspected Elizabeth of plotting with the Protestants to gain the throne and had her imprisoned for two months in the Tower of London. When Mary died, there were two claimants to the throne. If Elizabeth did not succeed, the next heir was Mary Stuart of Scotland, a Catholic. Mary Stuart was about to be married to the dauphin Francis of France. If she won the throne of England, both Scotland and England would be joined to France. Philip II of Spain, though a Catholic, threw his influence on the side of Elizabeth because he was jealous of Frances power. Later the Spanish ambassador hinted to Elizabeth that she owed her throne to Philip. Elizabeth replied that she owed it to her people. She is very much wedded to her people, the ambassador wrote, and thinks as they do. When Elizabeth became queen in 1558, she rode at once to London from her country home, traveling in a slow procession to give the people a chance to see her. Guns boomed, bells rang, and the people cheered her and scattered flowers in her path. At the beginning of her reign England was in despair. The country had been weakened by war and religious strife, and the treasury was empty. Spain and France were powerful, and both wanted to rule England. The people hoped their young queen would soon marry a strong man who would guide her. But Elizabeth at once took the government into her own hands; and, though she had many suitors and close friendships with several men, she steadfastly refused to marry. The young queen chose as her chief minister Sir William Cecil (Lord Burghley), who was cautious and conservative like herself. For 40 years he was her mainstay in both home and foreign affairs. Her favorite courtier was the charming and handsome Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. When she died at the age of 69, she was still called the Virgin Queen. By then rich and secure, England was enjoying its greatest literary period. English ships were sailing into all seas, and the island kingdom had begun to establish its position as a world leader. In religious matters Elizabeth steered a middle course between the extreme Protestants and the Catholics. She restored the Protestant service but retained many features of Catholicism, including bishops and archbishops. She hoped this compromise would produce unity in the state; but the Catholics, who formed a majority of her subjects, were not reconciled. From time to time some of them plotted with Spain or France to put Mary Stuart on the throne in place of Elizabeth. France and Spain were rivals, and Elizabeth was usually able to play one off against the other. She even used courtship as part of her diplomatic game. She refused to marry Philip II of Spain but held out hopes to more than one of his royal relatives when France seemed to threaten. Later, when Philip turned against England, Elizabeth encouraged French princes. To cut Scotlands ties with France, she gave secret help to the Scottish Presbyterians. She also aided the Protestant Netherlands when they revolted against Spain. Mary Stuart returned to Scotland in 1561 after the death of her husband, Francis, king of France. In 1568 she was compelled to flee across the English border to ask Elizabeths help. Elizabeth kept her a prisoner for 19 years. Finally Mary was accused of having a part in the so-called Babington plot to assassinate Elizabeth. Parliament demanded her execution. Elizabeth signed the warrant; and Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1587. In the last years of Elizabeths reign, Catholics were cruelly persecuted and many were put to death. Defeat of the Spanish Armada During the first 30 years of Elizabeths reign England was at peace. Commerce revived, and English ships were boldly venturing across the seas to the West Indies. There they came into conflict with Spain and Portugal, which owned and ruled the whole New World and claimed a monopoly of trade. English smugglers broke through the blockade and made huge profits by selling, in the West Indies, blacks they had seized in Africa. John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, and other English seamen also waylaid Spanish ships on their way home and seized their gold. Elizabeth aided the English privateers with ships and money and shared in their profits and stolen treasure. Philip II finally decided to put an end to these attacks by invading and conquering England. After years of preparation, Philip assembled a great fleet of his best and largest w arships, called by the Spanish the Armada (that is, fleet). In 1588 the Armada sailed into the English Channel. The English were waiting for them and at once put out to sea. Their ships were of newer design, smaller than the Spanish galleons, but faster and more heavily armed. In a nine-day battle they inflicted terrible losses on the enemy. The ships that escaped ran into bad weather and only a few returned to Spain. English ships then carried the war to Spain. When the struggle endedafter the deaths of both Elizabeth and Philipno Spanish fleet dared to contest Englands command of the seas. Englands Golden Age The most splendid period of English literature, called the Elizabethan Age, began in the later years of Elizabeths reign. Francis Bacon, writer of the Essays, was one of the queens lawyers. Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene in her honor. Shakespeare acted before her; but at the time of her death he had not yet written most of his great tragedies. Elizabeth enjoyed plays, but there is no evidence that she appreciated Shakespeares genius. Elizabeth was 55 years old when the Spanish Armada was defeated. Her joy in the victory was soon followed by grief, because her great favorite, Leicester, died a few months later. In 1598 her faithful minister Lord Burleigh passed away. In her court appeared young menSir Walter Raleigh, brilliant and adventurous, and the earl of Essex, a handsome young soldier. Essex fell from favor and Elizabeth had him executed for trying to stir up a rebellion against her. She died two years later, in 1603, at the age of 69, and was buried with great magnificence in Westminster Abbey. Mary Stuarts son, James VI of Scotland, was proclaimed James I of England, thus uniting the crowns of the two kingdoms. The things we think of chiefly as marking the reign of Elizabeth are the religious question, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the flourishing of literature. Also important, however, were hundreds of laws on shipping, commerce, industry, currency reform, roads, poor relief, and agriculture. These laws shaped the policy of England for more than two centuries after Elizabeths reign had ended. Aztecs The Aztec Indians, who are known for their domination of southern and central Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. Their name is derived from Azatlan, the homeland of the north. The Aztecs also call themselves Mexica and there language came from the Nahuatlan branch of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Aztecs were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians came towards Lake Texcoco. Late families were unfortunate and were forced to go to the swamp lands. In the swamp lands there was only one piece of land to farm on and it was totally surrounded by more marshes. The Aztec families some how converted these disadvantages to a might empire known as they Aztec Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a deeply believed legend. As the legend went it said that Aztec people would create a empire on in a swampy place where they would see an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus which is growing out of a rock in the swamplands. This i s what priests claimed they saw while entering the new land. By the year 1325 their capital city was finished. They called it Tenochtitlan. In the capital city aqueducts (piping) were constructed, bridges were built, and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands formed by piled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, and tobacco. Tenochtitlan (the capital city) was covered in giant religious statues in order to pay their respects to the gods. In the Aztec religion numerous gods controlled an Aztecs daily life. Some of these gods include: Uitzilpochtli (the sun god), Coyolxauhqui (the moon goddess), Tlaloc (the rain god), and Quetzalcoatl (the inventor of the calendar and writing). Another part of the Aztec religion was human sacrifices. For their sacrifices the priest would lay the man or woman over a convex (rounded) stone, and then he would take a sharp knife and cut the victims heart out. They did this because they believed that good gods could prevent bad gods from doing evil things and they also believed that good gods got their strength from human blood and hearts so they had sacrifices in order to keep their gods strong. For major rituals warriors were sacrificed, for the warrior this was one of the greatest honors and for minor rituals prisoners were used. In an Aztec marriage the grooms shirt is tied to the brides dress in order to express their bonding and after the wedding incents were burned for 4 days before proceeding with the marriage. In 1519 Hernando Cortes, a Spanish explorer, led over 500 men into Aztec territory to search for gold. Aztecs thought he was a representative for a certain white skinned god so they respected him. It all changed when the Aztecs saw that Hernando was melting down their golden statues and shipping them back to Spain. The Aztecs decided to attack Hernando and his men. The Aztecs were successful and drove the Spanish away. In 1520 the Spanish attacked the Aztecs capit al city and destroyed their civilization. That was the end of the Aztecs mighty empire had built so long ago. Spanish Inquisition The Inquisition was a religious movement to find and give punishment to heretics . The word inquisition comes from the word inquisitio, or inquest. The word inquisitio refers to the legal process that named the tribunals. It involved finding and interrogating suspects of crimes under oath to tell the truth. Some would condemn themselves. This method of finding heretics worked very well with the Waldensians and the Cathars. In France, the Templars were persecuted by the Inquisitors. In the year 392 A.D. the Roman Emperor Thodosius I outlawed every religion that was not Christian or Jewish. After he declared that, heresy became not only a religious offense, but also a civil one. Heretics began revolting quite frequently in the eleven and twelve hundreds, so the Church took over the job of finding and punishing heretics. In 1231, a special court was created by Pope Gregory IV to demand that all heretics become Christians. The Congregation of the Holy Office took control of the Inquisiti on in 1542. The judges for the Inquisition were almost all Dominican and Franciscan friars. The Inquisition took place mostly in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. It did take place in other countries, but not as commonly. The investigations were in secret and almost all of the inquisitors abused their powers. Most Inquisitors were Dominican monks, appointed by the head of the Inquisition. Inquisitors and judges of the Inquisition could be compared to the prosecutors and judges of todays courts, to use an analogy. The inquisitor-general would appoint tribunals. Tribunals are groups of inquisitors. During an inquisition, two inquisitors, who traveled together, would call out to a town, city, or village for confessions. Only males under age fourteen and females under age twelve would not be considered as heretics. Questions would be asked of those accused in the local language. The answers were written down by scribes in Latin. The accused would never be defended by anyone, because th en the defender would be thought to be a heretic. The accused ones would not even know who had accused them. Judgments were given on Sundays, in a sermon. Punishment could range from death to paying a fine. Usually heretics were killed. The Inquisition in England was strengthened when the Catholic Reformation, also known as the Counter-Reformation was started. It was to prevent more conversion the Protestantism and to clean up the church. The sale of indulgences was no longer permitted. It was completely done away with. Fear of the Inquisition was also used to discourage becoming Protestant and abandoning Catholicism, for fear of being tried as a heretic. In the fifteen hundreds, the Inquisition was used by the Catholic church against Protestants. Also from the Counter-Reformation came the Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus, which was a group of powerful missionaries. During the Spanish Inquisition alone, from 1478 to 1834, thousands of people were tortured and killed. The person resp onsible for the death of over two thousand Spaniards was Tomas de Torquemanda. He was the leader of the Spanish Inquisition for fifteen years, from 1483 to 1498. He created the rules and precedents of inquisitorial procedure. He formed branches of the Inquisition in many major cities. When the Spanish Inquisition got out of hand, the Church tried to stop it but they could not halt it. The Spanish Inquisition ran its reign of terror from 1478 to 1834. It was said by Mark in Mark 4:22 that Jesus said, For there is nothing to be hid, except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret, except to come to light. The death of all those innocents was something that the Church had tried to hide. They would be imprisoned for days, months, even years, after one hearing, some to finally be tortured to death. The prisoners would have moldy food and stale water, along with cockroaches and other vermin, to keep them company in the dark. As mentioned earlier, suspected heretics were interrogated. T he term should be tortured, in innumerable cases. The inquisitors tortured prisoners to coerce them to confess. There were many ways that heretics would be tortured. Many were very gruesome. Torture has been used by many societies, in all times and places, even now. One method of torture was the use of pear-shaped devices that were forced into the mouth, anus, or vagina and then expanded, by way of mechanical devices, to thereby expand the body cavity. This would irreparably damage the tissues, because each pair had points on it. Almost everyone would die after having this done to them. One other way of persuading heretics to confess was Squassation. This was through use of the Strappardo. This was done by tying the victims hands behind their back and lifting them into the air by their wrists, while having heavy weights attached to their ankles or testicles. Then, they would be dropped almost to the ground and jerked to a stop. This would often dislocate the arms and cause much dama ge to the body part of which the weights were attached. People would be mock-crucified also, by being nailed to a door in the manner of crucifixion. The door would then be swung back and forth or slammed shut quickly. Some heretics were given the water torture, which consisted of forcing the person to drink water through a funnel until they died or confessed. Heretics were also be burned to death on stakes. Some were killed by being put in an oven and being roasted. If suspected heretics would not confess to heresy, then they would often be burned at the stake. In 1224, Frederick II made it a law that heretics must die by fire. One of the worst times in the Inquisition was in the sixteen hundreds. During that period, anything bad that happened could be blamed on witches. Neighbors would accuse each other of being witches over soured milk, lice, and any other minor problem that would occur. If a person said that they didnt believe in witches or demons, then they would be accused of b eing a witch or a heretic. Torture has been proven to be an ineffective method of getting the truth out of someone. A person in great pain might admit to anything, even if innocent. One Templar who had been tortured said, Under such torture, I would have confessed to killing God. Guilds Guilds were created in the Middle Ages and were groups of people with a common interest in a certain trade. There were many different types of guilds varying from religious and social guilds to crafts and carpentry guilds. The main purposes of these guilds were to prevent individual businesses from controlling all of the business of a certain trade. This proved profitable for the smaller businesses. Individuals who refused to join the guild of their profession were forced to leave the town. Guilds also had their own specific coat of arms and badges for members. Craft guilds, comprised of bakers, goldsmiths, tailors, weavers, boatmen, and other craft workers, created rules to protect members of the guilds. Perhaps the most important of the above guilds were those of the boatmen, which were in the coastal port cities. The merchants guilds created rules that set a standard on prices of their products. The members could not sell discounted items to people who were not members of the guil d. They also set standards on the quality of their goods and agreed on wages for their workers. To become part of a guild, workers went through an initiation ceremony and other rites. These rites were known as collegia. Being a member of a guild had some advantages. Along with a membership, the workers received assistance from the guild when it was needed. The guild helped members with charity, funeral ceremonies, prayers for the dead, and provided other services for the members in their times of need. The guilds built halls and market places and helped with church and town projects. all of their crafts and creations were of great quality. If a member of the guild made an item of poor quality he was punished with fines. If he continued to make the crafts with the same quality he would be expelled from the guild. The craft workers who became very successful in their trade and who owned their own shops became the masters of the guild. Craft workers who did not fully master their trade , or did not run their own shops were the journeymen. The journeymen worked in the shops of the masters everyday and received pay from them. Young men who were learning certain trades became known as apprentices and received housing and meals from their master. After about two to seven years, an apprentice could become a journeyman. Journeymen who wanted to become masters had to show evidence of great skill. He also had to pass an examination or make a product in his craft. The product would then be judged by the other masters belonging to his guild. If the product was considered a masterpiece, the journeyman would become a master. Because it soon became more and more difficult for people to become masters, journeymen soon created their own associations. They separated from their masters because their needs were not being met and this angered the masters. The masters tried to fight back by securing the passage of laws prohibiting them. They were defeated most of the time by the guil ds, its members and officials in the town. Merchants and craftsmen had great honor in their trade. This caused them to make their products with nothing but the best and because of their quality crafts, they took in great amounts of money. If the lord of the town was in need of money, he would made the merchants and craftsmen feel obligated to donate their money by making them feel guilty and selfish. Many times, merchants were robbed on their journeys and within the towns they sold their items. Sometimes merchants were falsely accused of owing other merchants and people money. If he did not belong to a guild, it was his word against theirs. If he did belong to a guild, the members supported him. Because of the danger on the merchants journey, caravans, or groups of merchants which traveled together, soon developed. Cities developed around areas which contained items or food of value and where it was convenient for merchants to carry to and then sell their items. Guild halls were bui lt as a meeting house for medieval craft and trade guilds to meet. The guild hall in London, known as the Council Hall, is famous for its great hall and crypt. Other countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, have excellent examples of Guild halls. The Lord Mayor of Londons banquet is held annually at the Guild hall in London. Because guilds became so popular and large, they became powerful in the government of the towns. When guilds needed permission to do something from their lord, they had to have the lord write his promise down and then it would be locked up safely in a strong chest in their Guild hall. This promise was called a charter. Guilds continued to increase their power by asking the lord for charters and were soon able to run a small portion of the town. They asked for a charter to allow them to appoint men to govern the town rather than the lords bailiff. Usually in return for this allowance, the guild had to pay a fixed rent each year. When they were allowed this, the guild was in charge of most of the town. As if the guilds were not complex and powerful enough, they decided to create associations of guilds, which controlled common foreign markets. Some examples of these associations are the League of the Flemish cities, concerned with the English wool trade. The association of North German cities, known as the Hanseatic League, controlled trades on the Baltic and North Seas. By the 1300s, guilds began to lose their protection and democratic sides. Guild membership began to pass down through the generations from father to son. This made it more difficult for new members to join the guilds. The increase of capitalistic industry was responsi Historical People and Events Historical People and Events Joan of Arc Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France honored and respected by everyone. She was an illiterate peasant girl who rose to the ranks of leading French armies to victory against England until her capture when she was only 19 years old. She was executed as a heretic in a politically motivated trial. Twenty four years later the Catholic Church declared her innocence and she was canonized as a saint in 1920. She was born in a time when France and England were at war. The Armagnacs and the Burgundians were two French factions at war with each other. By 1484 England was occupying Northern France. The English began a siege of Orleans. Her parents were Jacques dArc and Isabelle Rome. Her father was a farmer and a minor village official. She got her first visions at the age of 12 where St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret told her to expel the English. She obtained an interview with the royal French court where she predicted about military reverses of the English near Orleans. She was responsible for pursuing an aggressive offensive strategy by the French army in the siege of Orleans. The defeat of English led to the capture of Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, Beaugency and annihilated the English army at the battle of Patay. A truce was signed between the two French factions following the arrival of the French army at Reims. The agreement was broken by Duke Philip. A French advance towards Paris was put off after an order to withdraw. Joan was captured on May 1430 following a skirmish with the English. She was put on trial for heresy in a politically motivated trial. She had supported the other side in France. She was executed for heresy. The inquisitors who interviewed her could not find any evidence of heresy and were convinced of her innocent. The priests who had put her on trial were forced and intimidated by the English government to pronounce heresy. Joan of Arc is honored and revered as a heroine throughout her life and beyond. The French military was inspir ed by her use of artillery and frontal tactics in warfare. Legends have survived about her legacy. The best known is that she did not feel pain during her execution. She is also believed to have died peacefully. She rose to prominence from an illiterate peasant girl to an inspiration for the French military. She gave hope to a discredited regime and inspired the French people to fight a popular war of national liberation. Joan of Arc expelled women from the French army and did not believe in feminism. She has been a political symbol ever since her death. The Vichy government, French resistance, liberals, conservatives, etc have all used her for their political purposes. Many people have studied about the religious visions of Joan. Most people believe in the sincerity of her faith. They consider it to be divine inspiration. Documents which detail about her visions are vague and possibly some fabrications have been added. Some researchers have tried to explain her visions in the form of neurological or psychiatric terms. This view has been opposed by many historians on grounds that hallucinations and hearing voices does not necessarily point to mental illness. Further a person with such lifestyle like Joan would have found it hard to maintain if she had a serious disease. The court of King Charles VII was highly skeptical and shrewd with regards to mental illness. His own father suffered from insanity and under him France began a long decline. Her boldness and physical rigor of her military career counters the theory that she suffered from any cognitive impairment. Joan of Arc remains a popular heroine and political symbol in France. She passionately pursued a national war of liberation and inspired the French to regain hope. She was sincere in faith. Her sincerity and legacy remain stronger than ever even after her death more than five hundred years ago. Johannes Gutenberg Gutenberg was a German Printer, and Pioneer in the use of movable type, he was sometimes identified as the first European to print with hand-set type cast and molds. Although he was not the only person working on the printing press, he was considered to be the main part of it. Gutenbergs name does not appear on any of the works attributed to him, but historical records have given evidence that he is indeed the one who printed them. Johannes Gutenberg was born in 1397. He was born into a noble family in the city of Mainz, a mining town, in Southern Germany. His father was Friele Gansfleisch, his mother was Else Wyrich. His early training was as a goldsmith and an inventor. In 1428, he moved to Strasbourg for political reasons. He remained there for over twenty years. It was in Strasbourg that he made his first experiments with movable type. Gutenberg had the idea of modernizing techniques of metalworking, such as casting, punch-cutting, and stamping, for the mass production of books. Gutenberg became more and more intrigued by these subjects, which led to further experiments with movable type. He started to experiment with metal molds, alloys, special presses, and oil based inks. Little did he know that this experimentation, with a little increased work, would remain the main type of printing until the late twentieth century. In 1438 Gutenberg entered into a partnership with Andreas Dritzehn to conduct experiments in printing. Gutenberg taught Dritzehn about what he had learned dealing with movable type. In about 1450 Gutenberg returned to Mainz, where he formed yet another partnership with a German merchant and a money lender by the name of Johann Fust. With the money that he borrowed from Fust, Gutenberg was able to open up a press where he did additional research and experiments with movable type. It was sometime between 1450 and 1456 that Gutenberg set to work, and completed, a forty- two line Bible (it was 42 lines per page). The bible was referred to as th e Gutenberg Bible, also known as the Mazarine Bible, or the 42-lined bible. Today there is only 47 extant copies, the most widely known presently was acquired by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Only two other perfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible are known to exist today. The Gutenberg Bible was widely known for its beauty and elegance. A German printer, Peter Schoffer, Fusts son-in-law, and Gutenbergs apprentice helped to print the work of the Bible. Gutenbergs main goal was to mechanically reproduce medieval liturgical manuscripts without taking away their color or design. In 1455 Fust demanded that Gutenberg repay the money that was invested in the business. This dispute resulted in a lawsuit in which Gutenberg abandoned his claims to his invention and gave up his stocks. Even though he had a dispute with Fust, Gutenberg continued his work with printing. During the years following the dispute and lawsuit Gutenberg printed several small but popular items such as calend ars, but in 1458 Gutenberg printed another bible, only this one was the 36 line Bible. Gutenberg began to re-establish his printing press company with the help of a man named Conrad Humery. At around 1460 Gutenberg was able to print the Missale speciale constantiense as well as the Catholicon. Gutenbergs press was made up of characters of equal height, and these characters were printed on hand-made paper. His press involved a mold that had the outlines of letters and other characters stamped into it. Letters of type could be produced quickly by pouring liquid metal into the pre-made molds. These stamped and molded letters were then put together to make pages of printing. Gutenbergs accomplishments with movable type made book production more economically possible, and easier to produce literature quicker. The new innovations in the printing press opened new possibilities for German literature. The printing press allowed an easier exchange of ideas throughout Europe and helped spread the ideas of the Renaissance. As more productions of literature occurred, more different languages were also printed out. Gutenbergs invention brought the printed word to a wider audience, altering history with its big impact on literacy and education. Before books were able to be printed with the printing press people had to believe what they heard from other people. They werent able to rely on what they read from history books or other sources of information. Before the printing press was invented, making books was a long and hard process, and the books that were produced were extremely costly. The printing press provided a practical and inexpensive way to produce literature. It was a particularly valuable invention, and it made a great contribution to the world. With the invention of the printing press reading and writing were no longer restricted to religious things, or to the rich. People soon learned to question the authority of the ruling class, which was also part of the spr ead of the Renaissance. The printing press sparked an enlightenment and widespread access and appreciation for classical art and literature. These new appreciations developed a new passion among people for artistic self expression. Without the printing press, the Renaissance may never have occurred. Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeths Childhood and Youth Elizabeth was born near London on Sept. 7, 1533. Her father was Henry VIII, bluff King Hal. Her mother was Anne Boleyn, the second of Henrys six wives. Henrys first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only one surviving child, Mary. Henry wanted a male heir, so he asked the pope to annul the marriage. Because the pope refused, Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic church and set himself up as head of the church in England. Then he married Anne. He was disappointed that Annes child also was a girl. Before Elizabeth was 3 years old, he had her mother beheaded. Henry gave Elizabeth a house of her own in the country. He paid little attention to her, and her governess complained that the princess hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat. Henry provided excellent tutors, however, and Elizabeth showed a love for learning. One of her tutors, Roger Ascham, wrote: Her perseverance is equal to that of a man, and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks up. Sh e talks French and Italian as well as she does English. When she writes Greek and Latin, nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting. She delights as much in music as she is skillful in it. Henrys third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward. Henry died when Edward was 10 years old, and the boy came to the throne as Edward VI. Elizabeth and Edward were both brought up in Henrys new church. Their half sister Mary was brought up a Roman Catholic. When Edward died in 1553, Mary became queen and at once made Catholicism the state religion. Mary suspected Elizabeth of plotting with the Protestants to gain the throne and had her imprisoned for two months in the Tower of London. When Mary died, there were two claimants to the throne. If Elizabeth did not succeed, the next heir was Mary Stuart of Scotland, a Catholic. Mary Stuart was about to be married to the dauphin Francis of France. If she won the throne of England, both Scotland and England would be joined to France. Philip II of Spain, though a Catholic, threw his influence on the side of Elizabeth because he was jealous of Frances power. Later the Spanish ambassador hinted to Elizabeth that she owed her throne to Philip. Elizabeth replied that she owed it to her people. She is very much wedded to her people, the ambassador wrote, and thinks as they do. When Elizabeth became queen in 1558, she rode at once to London from her country home, traveling in a slow procession to give the people a chance to see her. Guns boomed, bells rang, and the people cheered her and scattered flowers in her path. At the beginning of her reign England was in despair. The country had been weakened by war and religious strife, and the treasury was empty. Spain and France were powerful, and both wanted to rule England. The people hoped their young queen would soon marry a strong man who would guide her. But Elizabeth at once took the government into her own hands; and, though she had many suitors and close friendships with several men, she steadfastly refused to marry. The young queen chose as her chief minister Sir William Cecil (Lord Burghley), who was cautious and conservative like herself. For 40 years he was her mainstay in both home and foreign affairs. Her favorite courtier was the charming and handsome Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. When she died at the age of 69, she was still called the Virgin Queen. By then rich and secure, England was enjoying its greatest literary period. English ships were sailing into all seas, and the island kingdom had begun to establish its position as a world leader. In religious matters Elizabeth steered a middle course between the extreme Protestants and the Catholics. She restored the Protestant service but retained many features of Catholicism, including bishops and archbishops. She hoped this compromise would produce unity in the state; but the Catholics, who formed a majority of her subjects, were not reconciled. From time to time some of them plotted with Spain or France to put Mary Stuart on the throne in place of Elizabeth. France and Spain were rivals, and Elizabeth was usually able to play one off against the other. She even used courtship as part of her diplomatic game. She refused to marry Philip II of Spain but held out hopes to more than one of his royal relatives when France seemed to threaten. Later, when Philip turned against England, Elizabeth encouraged French princes. To cut Scotlands ties with France, she gave secret help to the Scottish Presbyterians. She also aided the Protestant Netherlands when they revolted against Spain. Mary Stuart returned to Scotland in 1561 after the death of her husband, Francis, king of France. In 1568 she was compelled to flee across the English border to ask Elizabeths help. Elizabeth kept her a prisoner for 19 years. Finally Mary was accused of having a part in the so-called Babington plot to assassinate Elizabeth. Parliament demanded her execution. Elizabeth signed the warrant; and Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1587. In the last years of Elizabeths reign, Catholics were cruelly persecuted and many were put to death. Defeat of the Spanish Armada During the first 30 years of Elizabeths reign England was at peace. Commerce revived, and English ships were boldly venturing across the seas to the West Indies. There they came into conflict with Spain and Portugal, which owned and ruled the whole New World and claimed a monopoly of trade. English smugglers broke through the blockade and made huge profits by selling, in the West Indies, blacks they had seized in Africa. John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, and other English seamen also waylaid Spanish ships on their way home and seized their gold. Elizabeth aided the English privateers with ships and money and shared in their profits and stolen treasure. Philip II finally decided to put an end to these attacks by invading and conquering England. After years of preparation, Philip assembled a great fleet of his best and largest w arships, called by the Spanish the Armada (that is, fleet). In 1588 the Armada sailed into the English Channel. The English were waiting for them and at once put out to sea. Their ships were of newer design, smaller than the Spanish galleons, but faster and more heavily armed. In a nine-day battle they inflicted terrible losses on the enemy. The ships that escaped ran into bad weather and only a few returned to Spain. English ships then carried the war to Spain. When the struggle endedafter the deaths of both Elizabeth and Philipno Spanish fleet dared to contest Englands command of the seas. Englands Golden Age The most splendid period of English literature, called the Elizabethan Age, began in the later years of Elizabeths reign. Francis Bacon, writer of the Essays, was one of the queens lawyers. Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene in her honor. Shakespeare acted before her; but at the time of her death he had not yet written most of his great tragedies. Elizabeth enjoyed plays, but there is no evidence that she appreciated Shakespeares genius. Elizabeth was 55 years old when the Spanish Armada was defeated. Her joy in the victory was soon followed by grief, because her great favorite, Leicester, died a few months later. In 1598 her faithful minister Lord Burleigh passed away. In her court appeared young menSir Walter Raleigh, brilliant and adventurous, and the earl of Essex, a handsome young soldier. Essex fell from favor and Elizabeth had him executed for trying to stir up a rebellion against her. She died two years later, in 1603, at the age of 69, and was buried with great magnificence in Westminster Abbey. Mary Stuarts son, James VI of Scotland, was proclaimed James I of England, thus uniting the crowns of the two kingdoms. The things we think of chiefly as marking the reign of Elizabeth are the religious question, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the flourishing of literature. Also important, however, were hundreds of laws on shipping, commerce, industry, currency reform, roads, poor relief, and agriculture. These laws shaped the policy of England for more than two centuries after Elizabeths reign had ended. Aztecs The Aztec Indians, who are known for their domination of southern and central Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. Their name is derived from Azatlan, the homeland of the north. The Aztecs also call themselves Mexica and there language came from the Nahuatlan branch of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Aztecs were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians came towards Lake Texcoco. Late families were unfortunate and were forced to go to the swamp lands. In the swamp lands there was only one piece of land to farm on and it was totally surrounded by more marshes. The Aztec families some how converted these disadvantages to a might empire known as they Aztec Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a deeply believed legend. As the legend went it said that Aztec people would create a empire on in a swampy place where they would see an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus which is growing out of a rock in the swamplands. This i s what priests claimed they saw while entering the new land. By the year 1325 their capital city was finished. They called it Tenochtitlan. In the capital city aqueducts (piping) were constructed, bridges were built, and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands formed by piled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, and tobacco. Tenochtitlan (the capital city) was covered in giant religious statues in order to pay their respects to the gods. In the Aztec religion numerous gods controlled an Aztecs daily life. Some of these gods include: Uitzilpochtli (the sun god), Coyolxauhqui (the moon goddess), Tlaloc (the rain god), and Quetzalcoatl (the inventor of the calendar and writing). Another part of the Aztec religion was human sacrifices. For their sacrifices the priest would lay the man or woman over a convex (rounded) stone, and then he would take a sharp knife and cut the victims heart out. They did this because they believed that good gods could prevent bad gods from doing evil things and they also believed that good gods got their strength from human blood and hearts so they had sacrifices in order to keep their gods strong. For major rituals warriors were sacrificed, for the warrior this was one of the greatest honors and for minor rituals prisoners were used. In an Aztec marriage the grooms shirt is tied to the brides dress in order to express their bonding and after the wedding incents were burned for 4 days before proceeding with the marriage. In 1519 Hernando Cortes, a Spanish explorer, led over 500 men into Aztec territory to search for gold. Aztecs thought he was a representative for a certain white skinned god so they respected him. It all changed when the Aztecs saw that Hernando was melting down their golden statues and shipping them back to Spain. The Aztecs decided to attack Hernando and his men. The Aztecs were successful and drove the Spanish away. In 1520 the Spanish attacked the Aztecs capit al city and destroyed their civilization. That was the end of the Aztecs mighty empire had built so long ago. Spanish Inquisition The Inquisition was a religious movement to find and give punishment to heretics . The word inquisition comes from the word inquisitio, or inquest. The word inquisitio refers to the legal process that named the tribunals. It involved finding and interrogating suspects of crimes under oath to tell the truth. Some would condemn themselves. This method of finding heretics worked very well with the Waldensians and the Cathars. In France, the Templars were persecuted by the Inquisitors. In the year 392 A.D. the Roman Emperor Thodosius I outlawed every religion that was not Christian or Jewish. After he declared that, heresy became not only a religious offense, but also a civil one. Heretics began revolting quite frequently in the eleven and twelve hundreds, so the Church took over the job of finding and punishing heretics. In 1231, a special court was created by Pope Gregory IV to demand that all heretics become Christians. The Congregation of the Holy Office took control of the Inquisiti on in 1542. The judges for the Inquisition were almost all Dominican and Franciscan friars. The Inquisition took place mostly in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. It did take place in other countries, but not as commonly. The investigations were in secret and almost all of the inquisitors abused their powers. Most Inquisitors were Dominican monks, appointed by the head of the Inquisition. Inquisitors and judges of the Inquisition could be compared to the prosecutors and judges of todays courts, to use an analogy. The inquisitor-general would appoint tribunals. Tribunals are groups of inquisitors. During an inquisition, two inquisitors, who traveled together, would call out to a town, city, or village for confessions. Only males under age fourteen and females under age twelve would not be considered as heretics. Questions would be asked of those accused in the local language. The answers were written down by scribes in Latin. The accused would never be defended by anyone, because th en the defender would be thought to be a heretic. The accused ones would not even know who had accused them. Judgments were given on Sundays, in a sermon. Punishment could range from death to paying a fine. Usually heretics were killed. The Inquisition in England was strengthened when the Catholic Reformation, also known as the Counter-Reformation was started. It was to prevent more conversion the Protestantism and to clean up the church. The sale of indulgences was no longer permitted. It was completely done away with. Fear of the Inquisition was also used to discourage becoming Protestant and abandoning Catholicism, for fear of being tried as a heretic. In the fifteen hundreds, the Inquisition was used by the Catholic church against Protestants. Also from the Counter-Reformation came the Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus, which was a group of powerful missionaries. During the Spanish Inquisition alone, from 1478 to 1834, thousands of people were tortured and killed. The person resp onsible for the death of over two thousand Spaniards was Tomas de Torquemanda. He was the leader of the Spanish Inquisition for fifteen years, from 1483 to 1498. He created the rules and precedents of inquisitorial procedure. He formed branches of the Inquisition in many major cities. When the Spanish Inquisition got out of hand, the Church tried to stop it but they could not halt it. The Spanish Inquisition ran its reign of terror from 1478 to 1834. It was said by Mark in Mark 4:22 that Jesus said, For there is nothing to be hid, except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret, except to come to light. The death of all those innocents was something that the Church had tried to hide. They would be imprisoned for days, months, even years, after one hearing, some to finally be tortured to death. The prisoners would have moldy food and stale water, along with cockroaches and other vermin, to keep them company in the dark. As mentioned earlier, suspected heretics were interrogated. T he term should be tortured, in innumerable cases. The inquisitors tortured prisoners to coerce them to confess. There were many ways that heretics would be tortured. Many were very gruesome. Torture has been used by many societies, in all times and places, even now. One method of torture was the use of pear-shaped devices that were forced into the mouth, anus, or vagina and then expanded, by way of mechanical devices, to thereby expand the body cavity. This would irreparably damage the tissues, because each pair had points on it. Almost everyone would die after having this done to them. One other way of persuading heretics to confess was Squassation. This was through use of the Strappardo. This was done by tying the victims hands behind their back and lifting them into the air by their wrists, while having heavy weights attached to their ankles or testicles. Then, they would be dropped almost to the ground and jerked to a stop. This would often dislocate the arms and cause much dama ge to the body part of which the weights were attached. People would be mock-crucified also, by being nailed to a door in the manner of crucifixion. The door would then be swung back and forth or slammed shut quickly. Some heretics were given the water torture, which consisted of forcing the person to drink water through a funnel until they died or confessed. Heretics were also be burned to death on stakes. Some were killed by being put in an oven and being roasted. If suspected heretics would not confess to heresy, then they would often be burned at the stake. In 1224, Frederick II made it a law that heretics must die by fire. One of the worst times in the Inquisition was in the sixteen hundreds. During that period, anything bad that happened could be blamed on witches. Neighbors would accuse each other of being witches over soured milk, lice, and any other minor problem that would occur. If a person said that they didnt believe in witches or demons, then they would be accused of b eing a witch or a heretic. Torture has been proven to be an ineffective method of getting the truth out of someone. A person in great pain might admit to anything, even if innocent. One Templar who had been tortured said, Under such torture, I would have confessed to killing God. Guilds Guilds were created in the Middle Ages and were groups of people with a common interest in a certain trade. There were many different types of guilds varying from religious and social guilds to crafts and carpentry guilds. The main purposes of these guilds were to prevent individual businesses from controlling all of the business of a certain trade. This proved profitable for the smaller businesses. Individuals who refused to join the guild of their profession were forced to leave the town. Guilds also had their own specific coat of arms and badges for members. Craft guilds, comprised of bakers, goldsmiths, tailors, weavers, boatmen, and other craft workers, created rules to protect members of the guilds. Perhaps the most important of the above guilds were those of the boatmen, which were in the coastal port cities. The merchants guilds created rules that set a standard on prices of their products. The members could not sell discounted items to people who were not members of the guil d. They also set standards on the quality of their goods and agreed on wages for their workers. To become part of a guild, workers went through an initiation ceremony and other rites. These rites were known as collegia. Being a member of a guild had some advantages. Along with a membership, the workers received assistance from the guild when it was needed. The guild helped members with charity, funeral ceremonies, prayers for the dead, and provided other services for the members in their times of need. The guilds built halls and market places and helped with church and town projects. all of their crafts and creations were of great quality. If a member of the guild made an item of poor quality he was punished with fines. If he continued to make the crafts with the same quality he would be expelled from the guild. The craft workers who became very successful in their trade and who owned their own shops became the masters of the guild. Craft workers who did not fully master their trade , or did not run their own shops were the journeymen. The journeymen worked in the shops of the masters everyday and received pay from them. Young men who were learning certain trades became known as apprentices and received housing and meals from their master. After about two to seven years, an apprentice could become a journeyman. Journeymen who wanted to become masters had to show evidence of great skill. He also had to pass an examination or make a product in his craft. The product would then be judged by the other masters belonging to his guild. If the product was considered a masterpiece, the journeyman would become a master. Because it soon became more and more difficult for people to become masters, journeymen soon created their own associations. They separated from their masters because their needs were not being met and this angered the masters. The masters tried to fight back by securing the passage of laws prohibiting them. They were defeated most of the time by the guil ds, its members and officials in the town. Merchants and craftsmen had great honor in their trade. This caused them to make their products with nothing but the best and because of their quality crafts, they took in great amounts of money. If the lord of the town was in need of money, he would made the merchants and craftsmen feel obligated to donate their money by making them feel guilty and selfish. Many times, merchants were robbed on their journeys and within the towns they sold their items. Sometimes merchants were falsely accused of owing other merchants and people money. If he did not belong to a guild, it was his word against theirs. If he did belong to a guild, the members supported him. Because of the danger on the merchants journey, caravans, or groups of merchants which traveled together, soon developed. Cities developed around areas which contained items or food of value and where it was convenient for merchants to carry to and then sell their items. Guild halls were bui lt as a meeting house for medieval craft and trade guilds to meet. The guild hall in London, known as the Council Hall, is famous for its great hall and crypt. Other countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, have excellent examples of Guild halls. The Lord Mayor of Londons banquet is held annually at the Guild hall in London. Because guilds became so popular and large, they became powerful in the government of the towns. When guilds needed permission to do something from their lord, they had to have the lord write his promise down and then it would be locked up safely in a strong chest in their Guild hall. This promise was called a charter. Guilds continued to increase their power by asking the lord for charters and were soon able to run a small portion of the town. They asked for a charter to allow them to appoint men to govern the town rather than the lords bailiff. Usually in return for this allowance, the guild had to pay a fixed rent each year. When they were allowed this, the guild was in charge of most of the town. As if the guilds were not complex and powerful enough, they decided to create associations of guilds, which controlled common foreign markets. Some examples of these associations are the League of the Flemish cities, concerned with the English wool trade. The association of North German cities, known as the Hanseatic League, controlled trades on the Baltic and North Seas. By the 1300s, guilds began to lose their protection and democratic sides. Guild membership began to pass down through the generations from father to son. This made it more difficult for new members to join the guilds. The increase of capitalistic industry was responsi