Dual vs. Duel

Dual vs. Duel Dual vs. Duel Dual vs. Duel By Mark Nichol When dual and duel go head to head in a usage fight, the one that wins, as is often the case, depends on the field of battle, otherwise known as the context. The adjective dual derives from the Latin term dualis, related to duo, the Latin word for two. Duo, of course, was borrowed directly into English and remains a synonym for two. The related term duet, which refers to a performance by a pair of singers or musicians (who may constitute a duo), comes from duetto, an Italian diminutive form of duo. Oddly, though there are similar words for increasingly larger groups of performers, each of which employs the Latin word for a number from four to eight and the suffix -et quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet there is no term corresponding to a group of three; for that, the word trio, adopted from French and Italian use and based on the Latin prefix tri-, must suffice. For musical groups of more than eight (and sometimes less), a more general term like band, ensemble, or orchestra is employed. Terms in which dual is a root include duality and dualism, each of which refers to various schools of thought or principles about human behavior or about phenomenology. The adjective dual-purpose refers to something that has two distinct functions, dual-action is a similar term frequently employed in product names, and the slang term variously spelled dualie, dualy, duallie, or dually (plural: dualies or duallies) identifies a pickup truck equipped with two side-by-side pairs of wheels for greater strength for carrying or towing. Duel, it turns out, isn’t etymologically related to dual. It stems ultimately from the Latin word duellem, a variation of bellum, meaning â€Å"war.† (The latter Latin term is the origin of the root of antebellum â€Å"before the war† often applied to the culture of the American South before the Civil War, and of belligerent and bellicose, both of which mean â€Å"aggressive,† or â€Å"warlike.†) Duellem acquired a meaning of one-on-one combat by the unwittingly incorrect association of it with duo. Duello, the Italian word for duel, is also a rarely used synonym in English that also refers to the traditions of dueling observed by aristocrats counting out paces, the presence of seconds, or assistants, and so on. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?Between vs. In BetweenIf I Was vs. If I Were

Flip the Funnel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Flip the Funnel - Essay Example The majority of companies are hard pressed to find new ways of bringing their products or services to a highly-competitive marketplace that is also becoming global. Technology has made the world â€Å"flatter† as barriers to entry are lowered and competition could be just around the corner or it can be halfway around the world. Technology has bridged both distance and time much shorter. Ironically, technology has also made the world more impersonal, because people want to deal with technology instead of dealing with each other directly and personally. It has become a convenient shield to hide behind actual human interactions, although technology has its merits. The rise of computer technology, and especially the Internet, has made the world much smaller. A good number of people put too much reliance on technology, forgetting that it is only a tool to an end, and not an end in itself. This subtly askew mentality pervades the world today. This paper discusses the merits of a new mentality in the world of marketing, a game-changer of sorts, or what management and business experts term as the new paradigm. This shift has been long in coming, because most so-called marketing experts are themselves so enamored with their own ideas, views, and perspectives it made it hard for them to see the light of the day, so to speak. The entire marketing process has been likened by the author of the book to a funnel which focused on acquisition instead of retention; this is the basis for â€Å"flipping† the funnel. Discussion The marketing function has been taken for granted for so long that people have a hard time trying to think up new things, or whether what they are doing is actually right or not. It is a primary aim of the author, Mr. Joseph Jaffe, to demonstrate how many time-honored traditions in the art of marketing had been wrong in the first place, by destroying most of the assumptions or accepted wisdom in this vital part of a business entity. People had always assumed marketing is a frenetic effort to always attract new customers, that this always-new incoming horde of buyers, consumers, or customers will save a company in the long run. The assumption can only be partly right, because at some point, the point of saturation will reached and no new buyers will come in. The economic recession certainly brought to the fore the many defects of previous thinking. It is a good idea to always challenge the reasoning, assumptions, or justifications in any practice, whether in business or not. This is particularly true in the area of marketing, because so much time, money, and effort are expended on the acquisition of new customers, but as the good author had pointed out, many of these newly-acquired customers get neglected once they made a purchase and taken for granted by the company. These disgruntled customers will soon leave if ever there is another offer by the competition, displaying their lack of loyalty because they were not treated right by the previous firm. It is only right that they leave, because no one should be in the bad position of being a good customer and not given enough importance by a firm. In a good example or metaphor, the recession is like a low tide, in which rocks previously unseen are now exposed for everyone to see. During high tide (or in good economic conditions), mistakes, errors, or wrong practices are not very material but a recession forces firms to re-examine everything. The author certainly did a good

Lifestyle Changes of American Slaves between 1700s and 1800s Research Paper

Lifestyle Changes of American Slaves between 1700s and 1800s - Research Paper Example Slavery in America is divided into two periods; 1650-1790 and 1790-1865. Slaves were from Africa where they were captured after being enticed with sweets especially in the case of children or through collaboration with local chiefs who gave out their subjects to slave traders. Historical lives and changes in 1700s Since slaves were drawn from different parts of the African continent into a strange environmental setting, several if not all, faced hardships in adapting to the new world of different social, cultural and political phenomena. Though some fought to maintain their earlier ancestral lifestyle from their native land, this wasn’t possible in the circumstances of their status of slavery as they had to accept the lifestyle of their masters (learnnc.org). Economic It is important to note that the slaves were shipped to work for their masters and therefore lacked enough time to develop or to engage in their own economic activities. Their lives were incredibly difficult and those who worked in plantations had to labor from sunrise to sunset without exception of the old or young, all worked for this long period of time. It was considered an act of kindness if a master gave his slaves a day off from work. Popular holidays like Christmas were equally infrequent in the lives of salves. In their rare free times, slaves engaged in activities of fishing or cultivating small piece of land in order to supplement what was given by the masters that was usually poor in quality. As earlier stated, it was the duty of the master to clothe these servants however, some gave inadequate clothing and this compelled the slaves to go an extra mile and sew their own clothes in the dark covers of the night. Political In their native land of Africa, slaves were organized into powerful kingdoms and other political units of governance, however, upon shipment to America their masters could not allow them to be in such organizations for the fear of being overpowered. They were not also allowed to engage in the political activities of their masters such as voting. Laws were made against them without their participation; slave trials were done in a separate court from those of their masters and were sentenced by such courts without trial. Social On their social aspect of life, they sheltered in small houses with cracks on the walls and dirty floors. Some who got injured in the plantation fields were not immediately taken to hospitals or given medication leading to many deaths. Their masters never allowed them to engage in social activities such as traditional dances, games and social groupings. The primary concern of the masters was productivity in the plantation but never cared about health or comfort of these servants. In some American states, slaves were not allowed to marry without their master’s consent and family members were dispersed to various parts of the country to avoid ever tracing trace one another. Historical lives and changes in 1800s As opposed to the events and relations witnessed between the salves and their masters at beginning of slave trade, during the later period of 1800s, remarkable changes occurred in the lives

What is organizational culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is organizational culture - Essay Example In other words, the organisation’s culture plays a pivotal role in shaping the behaviour of the people working in that particular company. The culture of the organization also plays an important role in creating member identity where employees are in a position to identify with the whole organization rather than their job positions or nature of profession. Emphasis is put on the aspect of collective identity not individualism since the aim of every organization is to achieve certain goals and objectives. This can only be possible if there is synergy of the efforts of all people employed in this particular organisation. The aspect of organizational culture is also used to exercise control in the organization where rules and regulations are used to shape the behaviour of the employees so that they conform to the expected standards at their workplace. Another important aspect related to the issue of organizational culture is that work activities in the organization are organized around groups rather than individuals. The success of any organization is mainly determined by its culture since it shapes the behaviour of the employees who are responsible for executing different tasks that are designed towards the attainment of the set goals and objectives of the

History and Origins of ISIS

History and Origins of ISIS Since the last United States (US) presidential elections, there has been a raise in hate speech and crimes, frequently by right-wing parties and often directed towards Muslims, there has also been an emphasis on ISIS propaganda (Lewis, 2017). The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, is an offspring of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) which is a branch of the group al-Qaeda. The Islamic State, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or in Arabic Da’esh, is a Sunni Salafi-jihadist militant movement and unrecognized quasi-state as it once controlled 10 million people (see Figure 1). As ISIS is a descendent of al-Qaeda, in order to outline its birth, this paper will explain the origins of al-Qaeda and the history that leads up to ISIS. Primarily done through a literature review, this paper will look at historical events, periods and their deeply rooted issues that led up to the formation of al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in Iraq and more importantly ISIS starting with the Ottoman Empire to the 21st century. This is the history of the rise of ISIS to what it has now become. Rise of ISIS It is perceived around the world that al-Qaeda is a terrorist group that conducted or has inspired many horrible acts of violence since the 21st century including a series of car bombings and shootings, 9/11, and more. Although, ISIS is also known as a terrorist group, a key difference between al-Qaeda and ISIS are their enemies, al-Qaeda engages in a war with the West, while ISIS is more involved in the Middle East (Lister, 2015). This has caused the war on terror, which include international military campaigns, particularly by the United States, as we will discuss. Although, some attacks have been inspired by ISIS in the West, the organization does not advocate for such actions or war on the West, unlike al-Qaeda who conduct 9/11 style attacks, ISIS usually does not participate in major terrorist attacks against the West (Lister, 2015). ISIS is rather reluctant to engage with the West directly or to ‘take on’ the West, this can be seen through the refusal of attack Isr ael, as it is a US ally nor did it openly pick a side in the Israeli-Palestinian War (Lister, 2015). In spite of this, they are still a terrorist group who conduct horrendous acts of violence and cruelty such as the use children soldiers, kidnapping and sell women as sex slaves or force them to marry their fighters, murder praying Shiites, and sell organs on the black market, all in the name of Allah. Furthermore, ISIS is known to use Sunni resentment[1] against Shiites in their fight and recruitment as they are a Sunni group. ISIS is a Salafi[2] jihadist militant movement with great power; by 2014, the group embodied 31,000 Muslims fighters who have joined its rank from nine different countries (Hassan, 2016; Lister, 2015). Many of these ISIS fighters join for religious reasons, other believe that the group offers some answers and a purpose to their anger towards Shiites and Westerns (VIDEO). Their commitment to establish a unitary state or caliphate with no borders in the Middle East and wish to extend this to India (Lister, 2015). Ottoman Empire & Colonial Era   During the time of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, the Tanzimat, which is the reorganization of the Empire, brought about the development of an elite and liberal nationalism with the goal of independence from colonial powers, but saving the beneficial characteristics of these Western states and their markets (Hazbun, 2015). This reorganization caused power to centralized and the bureaucracy to modernized and that opened new markets. This challenged the national identity, sovereignty, self-determination and security of Middle Eastern countries, but also created different groups with a common interest in these capitalist economies, which the need for specific political representation (Hazbun, 2015). While supporting the modernization of the upper class, these reforms also caused lower social classes to become populist[3] and develop a radical nationalism as they wished to oppose these developments (Hazbun, 2015). This internal separation occurred until Sykes and Picot[4], British and French diplomats respectively, divided the Ottoman Empire and created new territorial borders (Hazbun, 2015). The collapse of the Ottoman Empire, thus, started British rule and French rule in the Middle East. These new states (and borders) were rejected by, â€Å"Arab nationalist and social-reformist ideologies territorial nationalisms, Islamic solidarity and tribal identity† (Hazbun, 2015). This gave rise to populist protests and revolts for independence across North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq against the imposed leaders from the recent protectorates (Hazbun, 2015). When independence occurred, there was still a dependence on external powers, which caused a more recent rise of middle class of urban professionals that led â€Å"radical Arab-nationalist, socialist, labor and communist movements that sought to challenge both the colonial states and the Arab elite who had inherited political power and economic privileges† (Hazbun, 2015). These movements sought change through the modernization and socio-economic reforms that the middle-class could identify with. The institutionalization of inequality in the colonial-era resulted of the Sykes and Picot agreement and led to the social discontent of Middle Eastern society that sparked disruption that can be seen as the root revolutionary groups. Arab-Nationalism   During the 1950s and 1960s, the region was occupied with disruption and change, which some call the Arab Cold War due to the series of uprisings and conflicts (Hazbun, 2015). As the radical Arab-nationalist groups challenged the Western influence in the area; Arab politics were also altered by ‘street politics’[5], an ideological shift and social movements (Hazbun, 2015). These groups rallied enough support to promote Arab-nationalist leaders that opposed the West, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian President. Even though, many Arab-nationalist revolutions were accomplished with military coups, the objective was to take over a state and claim sovereignty over its resources (Hazbun, 2015). During President Nasser’s government, Egypt became the first Arab regime to have state power and encourage â€Å"self-determination and modernization† and grew to be a regional force (Hazbun, 2015). In the mid sixties, the basis of their confrontation with the old system was gone, as their modernization of welfare, programs and development could not be done without external support (Hazbun, 2015). This made governments turn to autocratic means of social control and the suppression of conflicting views. The same people that encouraged Arab-nationalist leaders, such as Nasser, now were the same people â€Å"who provided the social bases for the rise of the radical Islamist movements that challenged the legitimacy of the rulers of the secular modern Arab states† (Hazbun, 2015). And the governments need for external help led to foreign intervention and dependence which continued opposition domestically, regional competitiveness and conflict (Hazbun, 2015). Arab-Israeli War In 1967, the Arab-Israeli War was fought by Syria and Egypt to regain occupied territory taking by Israel[6] and other Middle Eastern countries competed for control. An accumulation of factors above lead to the definition of regional politics in the Middle East to be described in terms of conflict and feuds. The oil Crisis of 1973 produced an even larger divide between the Middle East with oil-producing countries (such as Iraq) gaining more wealth and influence while non-producing countries were heavily on intervention and aid (such as Syria) (Hazbun, 2015). By the 1970s and 80s, the inequality in Arab states grew to new heights that made societies and citizens dissatisfied and caused resentment towards the government, and its top officials, due to the lessening of protections and corruption (Hazbun, 2015). Therefore, governments restrained mobilization and political expression, and they relied more heavily on international support, from foreign nations such as the United States. This support allowed leaders to keep their power and security while facing domestic threats of discontent. It is through this social repression, government exhaustion and an authoritarian regime that helped emerge militant Islamist movements, which ideologically challenged the â€Å"modern secular-nationalist state† (Hazbun, 2015). These movements and groups used violent means in order to overthrow regimes in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia (Hazbun, 2015). Among Islamic jihad actions were the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and numerous tourists’ attacks. During the Cold War, in 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan with intentions of defending the authoritarian leader against rebels (VIDEO). For many of these rebels, they were fighting for a religious struggle, called the mujahid, and some developed extremist views (VIDEO). One of the rebels who did so was Osama Bin Laden, a well-educated Saudi, which later created al-Qaeda and was executed by the US forces in 2011 (Stern & Berger, 2016). Another rebel was Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, uneducated Jordanian and former gangster, who later created ISIS (Fishman, 2016; Stern & Berger, 2016). These fighters subsequently used the civil unrest and discontent to their interests and founded their own militant groups. Al-Qaeda was founded in 1988 with recruit fundamentalist soldier that fought against the Soviets earlier on; the terrorist organization became a network that defended the struggle against Islam’s enemies (Riches, & Palmowski, 2016). United States Foreign Policy in the Middle East and its Effects   As the US does not work or encourage terrorist groups, by the late 1960s, they had abandoned rational nationalism’s progressive reforms and modernization (Hazbun, 2015). Instead, they created closer ties with the Israelis and practiced containment policies of radical Arab states (Syria for example) and invaded Lebanon in order to drive out the Palestine Liberation Organization[7] (PLO) (Hazbun, 2015). In order to help the US interest and development a Middle Eastern strategy, they kept close relations with growing authoritarian regimes and â€Å"backed their efforts to suppress social and political mobilization† (Hazbun, 2015). The support of authoritarian regimes for national interest, as well as, disregarding human rights and American values of democracy and freedom has become a recurring pattern in US foreign policy. In the late 1980s and 1990s, policy makers in the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations wanted to use US power to contain instability and lead the regions into the modern world (Hazbun, 2015). This led to an even greater difference between societal and national rhetoric of insecurity that led to the foundations of Arab uprisings (Hazbun, 2015). US foreign policies and actions regarding the Middle Eastern disruption and violence lead to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which caused an increase in societal insecurities and division (Hazbun, 2015). This 2003 invasion was largely opposed to by neighbouring countries as they did not perceive Syria as a threat, and thus, US went to war with limited support from the region (Hazbun, 2015). Under President Bush, the US alleged that Iraq had nuclear weapons and the hosting of al-Qaeda members by Saddam Hussein (Fishman, 2016). The US secretary of state also emphasized Zarqawi as the leader of a fatal terrorist network, which made Zarqawi internationally known and in doing so, actually recruited fighters (Fishman, 2016). Furthermore, the consequences of the invasion were wide and include breaking civil order, mobilization of Sunni jihadist movements in Iraq and the general radicalization of Sunnis (Krieger, 2014). Both before and after this intervention and conflict, Sunni radicalization increased, but more importantly the US withdrawal from Iraq caused a power vacuum that the group took advantage of (Lister, 2015). Particularly due to the failure of the United States government to establish and â€Å"leave behind sustainable democratic institutions, a well-trained army, a functioning bureaucracy, and relative ethnic and sectarian harmony† (Lister, 2015). As ISIS’s growth is dependent on the particular military and political situation that has resulted from the isolation of and hostility to the Sunni population by the government and the lack of infrastructure left behind by the US (Lister, 2015). This lack of permanent and beneficial action in Iraq happened in Afghanistan and in Lybia, where the US overthrow Gaddafi, but did not build a new government (Lister, 2015). This lack of action has created a hatred for the US of which ISIS has benefited from (Lister, 2015). Thus, this invasion set the foundations for ISIS, for example, the Sunni dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, destroyed the nation’s army, which led to thousands of angry and unemployed Sunni-Iraqi soldiers who joined the Sunni insurgency (Stern & Berger, 2016). As jihadist groups saw this as a repeat to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, many came to fight of which Zarqawi (VIDEO). The jihadist group led by Zarqawi became the most violent group in Iraq and targeted mostly Shiites, which sparked the Sunni-Shiite civil war. By 2004, Zarqawi was famous jihadi, fighter of the struggle against the enemy of Islam, by that time, al-Qaeda had weakened and thus an alliance was formed between both leaders which lead to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which was created to fight against US forces in its occupation of Iraq (Hassan, 2016; Stern & Berger, 2016). Until 2006, Iraq Sunnis stand up to Zarqawi and he was killed by an US air strike (Fishman, 2016). Then, US leaves Iraq in 2011 as it has stabilized according to them. According to Hassan, â€Å"Iraqi Sunnis have been subjected to years of political and economic marginalisation, state-sanctioned repression, lawlessness and rampant corruption in the hands of Iraq’s Shia-led government under the former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki [and others]. They have rebelled by joining ISIS† (2016). Which leads to the Arab springs in the Middle East in 2011, caused by Syrian dictator Assad suppression of protesters that leads to a civil war (Fishman, 2016). As he fears external intervention (that will overthrow his dictatorship), he releases jihadists that were supposed to help suppress protesters, but instead make them more extreme (VIDEO). In Iraq, the remains of Zarqawi’s groups are still allied with al-Qaeda, but are now known as ISI (the Islamic State in Iraq) lead by religious scholar Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Fishman, 2016). In 2012, Baghdadi sends top ISI deputy in Syria to start a new al-Qaeda branch that will fight along the rebels called Jabhat al-Nusra (Stern & Berger, 2016). In order to gain strength, Baghdadi strikes prisons and releases former jihadis, as well as, forming new fighters (VIDEO). A year later, he announces that he is taking over all al-Qaeda forces in Syria, in addition to Iraq, the group therefore expands to be known as ISIS to include Syria (Fishman, 2016; Stern & Berger, 2016). The al-Qaeda branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, rejects Baghdadi’s ISIS and causes civil war (Stern & Berger, 2016). As the oppression and conflict in Iraq allowed ISI to expand, the Syrian violence caused Baghdadi to expand in Syria (Stern & Berger, 2016). Nevertheless, ISIS grows powerful in Syria, because Assad tolerates its rise (which he does because it divides his enemies within Syria and causes an emphasis of foreign power on ISIS rather than on himself and his regime) (VIDEO). In early 2014, ISIS had been disowned by al-Qaeda claiming â€Å"ISIS is not a branch of the group, we have no organizational relationship with it, and is not responsible for its actions† (Stern & Berger, 2016). Yet this break in alliance did not hinder ISIS; by summer 2014, ISIS has a large army within Syria, which invades Iraq militarily and become victorious quickly due to a corrupt Iraqi army (VIDEO; Fishman, 2016). According to Fishman, this invasion of ISIS in Iraq â€Å"signalled the emergence of a new force in the Middle East – a hybrid organisation that combined terrorist tactics, military precision, religious ideology, and technological and bureaucratic innovation (2016). And because many Iraqi Sunnis are tired of the Shiite authoritarian government, most welcomed ISIS or at least tolerated them in Iraq (VIDEO). Within days of entry in Iraq, ISIS had captured 1/3 of its territory and a large part of Syria. ISIS’s goal is more audacious that al-Qaeda’s as it wants to revive the ancient caliphate and expand it to involve all Muslims (VIDEO). Conclusion In conclusion, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s origins are found the roots of al-Qaeda particularly in its offspring al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Al-Qaeda and ISIS are said to be ideological twins, but strategic enemies, as they both adhere to the same ideology, yet, ISIS overshadows al-Qaeda due to its control of territory and oil rigs, its large financial resources, its great success in the proclamation of caliphate and its alliance to many Islamic groups that have pledged alliance to it like Boko Haram (Lister, 2015). The development of ISIS and its self-proclaimed Caliph al-Baghdadi was a mixture of societal exclusions and discrimination (both ethnic and religious) that explains the â€Å"angry, disillusioned and marginalised Iraqi Sunnis† support for ISIS (Hassan, 2016). Thus, the combination of political and religious oppression and personal circumstances led ISIS to grow strong from the roots of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (Hassan, 2016). In addition, some critics of US fo reign policy claim that the US caused the birth of ISIS due to its withdrawal of Iraq in 2010, which left the group with the ‘space’ to expand with limited military resistance. There is a general consensus and hope within scholars that ISIS will be soon defeated, especially with its current size. Recently, ISIS lost its control in Raqqa by its seizure by an alliance of Syrian and Arabs fighters backed by the US after a 3 year hold, which greatly diminishes the group’s power. This is, of course, a watered down and simplified version of the origins and history behind ISIS. As Fishman explains, the defeat of ISIS will depend on how it is defined, meaning that if it is defined as a cult with a distort interpretation of Islam, its abolishment would simply account for explaining its false views, rather than if it is defined through violent actions that need a war to destruct the organization (2016). â€Å"As President Barack Obama observed at the 2015 White House conference on countering violent extremism, ‘When governments oppress their people, deny human rights, stifle dissent or marginalise ethnic and religious groups, or favor certain religious groups over others, it sows the seeds of extremism and violence’.† (Hassan, 2016). â€Å"In the modern globalised world, diversity and cultural crossovers are becoming a matter of routine. Hybridity is transforming different Islamic countries and regions into autonomous cultural systems; thus posing a challenge to the conventional categorical oppositions of ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘Muslim’ and ‘other’.† (Hassan, 2016). Please note: This is a ‘watered down’ version of historical facts and the origins of ISIS. All sections discussed could have been discussed in great detail as they are complex matter, as well as, more events could have been discussed. Although, for this paper, I decided to give a simple yet far lengthen view of the rise of ISIS. References Lister, C. R. (2015). The Islamic State: a brief introduction. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press. Hazbun, W. (2015). A History of Insecurity: From the Arab Uprisings to ISIS.  Middle East Policy,  22(3), 55-65. doi:10.1111/mepo.12143 Riches, C., & Palmowski, J. (2016). ‘PLO’, ‘al-Qaeda’, and ‘ISIS’ in A dictionary of contemporary world history: over 2800 entries. Krieger, J. (2014). US Invasion of Iraq in The Oxford companion to international relations. Fishman, B. (2016). Defining ISIS.  Survival (00396338),  58(1), 179-188. doi:10.1080/00396338.2016.1142145 Hassan, R. (2016). ISIS and the Caliphate. Australian Journal of Political Science, 51(4), 759–771. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2016.1242115 Stern, J., & Berger, J. M. (2016). ISIS: the state of terror (First ECCO paperback edition). New York: Ecco Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/al-qaeda-5-years-after-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27838034 Figures Figure 1. Map of ISIS control. We can clearly see the decrease in ISIS control between January 2015 and October 2017. [1] The Sunni and Shiite divide started in †¦ and is caused by ideological differences among which †¦. [2] Salafism is an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam [3] A populist is a member of a political party that represents ordinary people and their interests. [4] The Sykes and Picot Agreement divided the former Ottoman Empire who had been newly defeated by the members of the entente cordiale (France and Great Britain) into new borders and sphere of influence and control. [5] Street-politics refers to the use of the streets to discuss and protest their wants from their government. [6] This capture of land by Israelis from the Palestinians is part of a long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is a complex and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. [7] Founded in 1964, the PLO wants a secular and democratic state of Palestine, along with the elimination of Israel (Riches, & Palmowski, 2016).

The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing Essay -- Argumentati

The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing At most institutions of higher learning in the United States and worldwide the emphasis is placed on the depth and breadth of the institution's research, at least as far as the institution's reputation and renown are concerned. An institution that does not produce much scholarly research in the form of conference activity or publication activity will not carry the same high regard as an institution which is much more involved in conference participation and publication. Sometimes individual state institutions are regarded as having powerful personas if they have established and maintained their university presses, but other universities do not have the funding nor the personnel to attempt such an endeavor and must seek other venues for touting their scholarly accomplishments. While most scholarly publishing is in the traditional print medium, a growing number of scholarly publications are finding new offices in the new technology, either in the form of e-books or online scholarly journals. With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, traditional print publications are having to decide if they want to ride the "information superhighway" or simply lag behind in a horse-drawn carriage. Some traditional media—television, radio, newspapers, and magazines—have tested the waters by providing online access to some of their features. Similarly, some scholarly journals, convinced that a foray into electronic publication does not mean lower revenues nor higher costs, have also decided to continue their traditional publication while including access to selectively chosen features. The American Journal of Physiology—Heart and Circulatory Physiol... ...text Journal.† Serials Review. 22.1(Spring 1998): 1-19. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://www.galileo.usg.edu Sweeney, Aldrin E. "E-Scholarship and Electronic Publishing in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for the Academic Community." Education Media International. 38.1 (March 2001): 25-38. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Tomlins, Christopher L. â€Å"The Wave of the Present: The Printed Scholarly Journal on the Edge of the Internet.† Journal of Scholarly Publishing. 29.3(April 1998): 133-150. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Wills, Mathew, and Wills, Gordon. "The Ins and the Outs of Electronic Publishing." Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. 11.1 (1996): 90-104. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. <http://galileo.usg.edu>

Opponents of abortion

Many opponents of abortion argue as follows: All human right beings have a right to life, the foetus is a human being, therefore the foetus has a right to life. Abortion, as a denial of this right, is accordingly morally wrong. Those who support abortion maintain, however, that the foetus is not a human being but a clump of cells, and that, even if it were a human being, its right to life may be outweighed by certain other rights possessed by a mother. These rights are the woman's right to self-defence and her right to control her body. When exactly does human life begin? There have been many divergent opinions. In the past there was a strong support for the view that life begins at birth. However, this view became increasingly unpopular as our knowledge of foetal development has increased and the more the distinction between the born and the unborn has been blurred by the advances in foetal photography. Others found greater significance in ‘quickening', the moment when the mothers feel her baby move; but this event, although doubtless of great emotional significance for the mother, is not regarded as significance for the growth of the foetus. A more common argument is to say that human life begins at conception. It is held that, since the development from the foetus to baby is continuous, it is purely arbitrary to choose any point other than the conception as the moment when one becomes a person. However this conclusion does not follow. One could say the same thing about the development from acorn to oak, but this does not mean that acorns are oaks: a distinction can be made between them. Similarly, a fertilized egg is unlike a person that, to suppose otherwise, is to stretch the meaning of ‘person' beyond all the normal usage. Hence the most accepted view, particularly among physicians, is to focus upon some interim point at which the foetus becomes ‘viable', that is, potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. But this argument has its own weaknesses, the most glaring being that the date of viability changes: in English law it has been reduced from twenty-eight weeks to twenty-four, though some agreed for eighteen weeks. Many find it offensive that whether one counts as a person depends on the shifting state of medical research. Some philosophers accept that the foetus is a person at conception. Anti-abortionists claim that it follows from this that the foetus, like all human beings, has the right to life, and that no other right can overweigh this right. However, there are in fact two rights which may override the right to life. The first is the woman's right of self-defence, in which the mother may end the life of the foetus if it threatens her own: and the second is the right of ownership to her own body, according to which she has the right to use her body in the way she wants and which may or may not include carrying a foetus to term. Unlike the right to self-defence, the right of ownership extends to cases where the mother's life is in danger. For example, if the woman has taken no contraceptives precautions, she has assumed responsibility for the unborn foetus and ought not to withdraw support; but if she has taken all possible precautions, she cannot be held responsible and may thus legitimately deny the foetus the use of her body. To continue the pregnancy in these circumstances is an act of charity on her part, but not a duty, and one which she cannot reasonably be expected to perform if the disadvantages to herself considerable. The right to life generates certain duties in others. Two in particular should be mentioned: the duty of non-interference and the duty to service. The duty to non-interference requires that no-one should interfere in another's life in a way that may threaten it. My right to life allows me to claim certain duties from others, the duties to service, and these may be claimed of those who are in business of seeing that my life is sustained (doctors, firemen, lifesavers). Both duties presuppose that being alive is in itself valuable and worth preserving, and that to save someone's life, or at least not to shorten it, is to benefit them. Normally this is true; but not always. Death from a bullet is probably preferable to death by starvation, and it is unlikely that a prisoner being tortured to death would accept a life-prolonging drug. Saving or prolonging someone's life is not therefore always to their advantage: in certain circumstances it might have been better if they had died earlier rather than later. Or, to put the matter another way, to say someone has the right to life, while true, does not necessarily mean that exercising that right will bring them benefit or that those who safeguard it are their benefactors. What matters is the quality of their life and their attitude towards it, and both may challenge the duties of non-interference and service. For cases may arise in which not only should the duty of non-interference be withheld in the interests of certain individuals- their lives are deliberately terminated- but withheld by the very people who have the duty of services toward them. Such cases introduce the problem of euthanasia. More recently it has come to mean ‘the action of inducing a gentle and easy death' and so refers mainly to those actions, usually performed by a doctor, in which a person's life is deliberately shortened or terminated. These actions are also known as ‘mercy killings' since the death involved must in some way end sufferings and therefore be in the person's own interest. This altruistic concern distinguishes these cases from the euthanasia programme introduced by Hitler in 1939 which gassed 275,000 people, mostly the physically or mentally sick elderly. They were not killed to relieve their suffering but because they were no longer able to work. These sinister possibilities continue to haunt discussions of euthanasia. Many believe that, once this form of killing is legalized, it will lead to others, to infanticide or euthanasia for the socially maladjusted or politically deviant. Others point to the risk of abuse by the members of the family and by all those who stand to gain by the death of someone old or sick. For the members of the medical profession the problems are more immediate and acute. Some doctors will have nothing to do with euthanasia, saying that their job is to save life and not to kill and pointing to the constant possibility of a wrong diagnosis or a new treatment. Others, meanwhile, have argued that, since medical science can prolong life almost indefinitely, what must now be protected is not so much a person's right to life but his right to die, and that to subject a patient to unnaturally slow and often painful deterioration, simply because it is technically possible, is not only uncivilised and lacking in compassion for patient and family alike, but also an infringement of individual liberty. This debate is further complicated by the fact that euthanasia applies to two different groups of person: those who can exercise their right to die and those who, because of their mental or physical conditions, cannot. Given the complexity of the issues involved, the court of human rights can't decide whether or not to deprive the sufferers from their rights to die. Furthermore, if the sufferers aren't allowed to end their life, should the court of law give us the right to end the life of foetus, which scientifically is considered a human being. In conclusion, I think that euthanasia should be legalized and that abortion should be denied. This is because the use of contraceptives these days has made it easier for women to control their pregnancy. An exception to this conclusion would be for women who get raped and who haven't got a control on what happens to them.

My Home Purchase Plan

Under this Plan, the Government will provide land for the HKHS (Hong Kong Housing Society) to build â€Å"no-frills† small and medium flats for lease to eligible applicants at prevailing market rent. The tenancy period will be up to five years, within which the rent will not be adjusted. Within a specified time frame, tenants of the Plan may purchase the flat they rent or another flat under the Plan at prevailing market price, or a flat in the private market. They will receive a subsidy equivalent to half of the net rental they have paid during the tenancy period, and use it for part of the down payment. The Government has already earmarked sites in Tsing Yi, Diamond Hill, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and other areas for a total of some 5000 flats to be built under the Plan. The first project will provide about 1000 flats in Tsing Yi by 2014. In the point of view of the Government, they would like to wisely spending the money of helping the sandwich class with flexibility in their home purchase plan, including the choice of opting to purchase the flat they rent, another flat under the plan, or a flat in the private market; which also want to help on slowing down the raising on both rental and purchasing prices currently in the market. The Government thinks that the current price in the market has been raised too fast and too high which is not a health saturation and start forming up an â€Å"Economic Bomb†. As the â€Å"Property Market† is one of the main factors with Hong Kong’s economic environment, if the â€Å"Bomb† pops, Hong Kong’s economic will be affected badly. But in the other hand, the Government does not want to affect the growth of the real estate too much and too fast, therefore the Government implies with this soft plan in order to balance with the situations. For the tax payers, they are mainly separated in to 2 groups: the group which cannot enjoy with the plan and the qualified applicants. For those who do not have the right to enjoy with the benefits are mainly the people who are either already owning a flat, or those people who are not qualified due to higher incomes. These people might not feel happy with the Government’s actions. For those who have already owned their own place, when the Government supporting plan comes, that means there will be more people able to buy their own place. In the last few years, the economic situation of Hong Kong was not good and people were very careful on using their money, which made the banks dropped their interest rate of borrowing in order to attract people to borrow money either on buying flats or other usages. With the needs on mortgaging is rising due to this program, the interest rate will then have the potential on rising. This will affect to those people who already own their own place for living have to pay more on the mortgage pay back or need to extend the time of pay back as the raising of the interest. The Government has setup very tight rules on the incomes and assets on qualifying the applicants for the supporting program in order to make sure all the qualified applicants are the users of the properties. Those people who do not qualify for the program due to higher income might be the most unhappy group as they would think the Government does not take care of them. Since the property prices have been increased so much in the last 5 years, although they have higher incomes, they still cannot afford the down payment on purchasing a place. For the group of people who are the qualified applicants, of course they will be very concerned for this supporting program. However, they have to wait until the second half of 2014 for the building completion and there will be only 5000 units, which is really â€Å"Too Little Too Late! † Another problem is that, the Government now estimating that the price of a 500 feet unit is 3 million, which would only apply to those flats in the remote areas. The prices for the urban residents are already far outstripped with it. Who can predict and guarantee how would the real estate pricing will be after 7 years of time (The planned building will be completed after 4 years, the applicants have to rent and live there for 3 years before they can own)? In case of the property prices continue rising, those 300 thousand which is going to be rebate from the Government still not enough to pay for the down payment. If the property prices rapidly decline, those applicants will be falling into a dilemma situation. Overall, to solve the housing difficulties of Hong Kong there are many ways, how the â€Å"My Home Purchase Plan â€Å"may receive with the desired results really depends on the future development of the real estate market trends. However, the â€Å"My Home Purchase Plan† does not really may not really be able to help on the current unhealthy situation on the property market. In my opinion, I would suggested the Government should plan on some relaxation on the income limit for public housing and pay more attention on taking care of the middle and lower class families. In fact, the magnitude of increase in property prices and rents, is seriously out of the line with the general public’s income, which directly affecting the quality of life. The Government should pay more attention on how to plan on the public housing supply and how to make better use of resources balance.