Analysis If Homeward Bound :: essays research papers

Homeward Bound Homeward Bound is a satiric play, which attacks the socially accepted standards of today’s society. This play is known as a comedy of manners; defined as light social satire. Homeward Bound also consists of amusing characters that the audience can relate to. This type of play appeals to mostly sophisticated audiences and actors because the play consists of clever use of language and brilliant conversation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elliot Hayes’ use of satire in Homeward Bound plays an important part in the telling of the story. His use of satire expresses how the characters feel about each other and their situations. There were many parts of the play that had satire in them. The scene where the mother is talking about her gay son and his partner is an example because it was a mockery of how “normal people'; handled the touchy subject of homosexuality. Another satiric scene is where Norris told her family about her affair, but the circumstances were that she had the affair with Nick’s gay partner and she was bearing his child. This is a very unusual example of satire because this sort of thing usually does not happen to a middle class society (or at least not that I have heard of). The family’s reaction to this newfound information is very humorous because they act almost opposite as to what is expected. Hayes is almost ridiculing the middle class’ mentality and their views on life. Hayes also satirizes when Bonnie reveals Donna’s little secret of her indecent behavior when she was a little child. This was totally unexpected and it revealed Donna’s character as being loose. Even though the characters did the opposite of what was expected and were quite amusing, the audience could relate to them because, before all the surprises were revealed the audience saw the characters as ordinary people. Once the “skeletons'; came out of the closet, the audience realized that euthanasia, homosexuality, alcoholism and affairs are problems that all levels of class face. This realization brings the audience closer to the characters and the circumstances presented on stage. This play appeals more to a sophisticated and mature audience because of the clever use of language and brilliant conversation. There was a lot of slang and colloquialism used. Usage of swears was interesting; it is a normal assumption to make that middle class families are not so crass. This was effective because it provided more realism by showing how people would talk in these serious and yet humorous situations.

Passion for Fashion Essay

Fashion plays an important role in the daily life of every individual. It starts with deciding what to wear, how to wear it, and so forth. Imagine the world without fashion. Not a nice one is it? Every individual owes admiration to those behind-the-scenes people who are responsible for making the world so fashionable; one in particular a fashion marketer. A career as a Fashion Marketer is an interesting career filled with nothing but fashion, adventure, and excitement. Being a Fashion Marketer is an exhilarating yet not so subtle career. It is a marketers job to promote fashion. They want to generate the publics interest in new styles and products. Fashion marketing involves advertising, but it is more than that. Fashion marketers have to be on the cutting edge endorsing the right things at the right time. They connect the public with the world of fashion, and they help set trends (Stone 4). To work in this field an individual will have to have the assured characteristics neededA persons job should reflect their personality and display the persons characteristics. In the fashion industry there are many personalities, many of them being egotistical ones. Enthusiasm, flexibility, and a positive attitude are essential characteristics necessary to find success in the retail industry. (Retail Marketing Careers.) A person can also apply his or her basic skills such as computer literacy, working well with people and a strong work ethic to the table when applying for a career in Fashion Marketing. Generally light travel is required to work in marketing retail. Stress and a little commitment and overtime are involved, however, nothing to extreme. This allows workers to spend more time with their families. On a daily basis a person may come across an individual who is arrogant and discourteous, but this can happen at any job. Those working in retail also have more time to become i nvolved in the community. It is not simple and not too complex becoming a Fashion Marketer or working in the marketing field as long as it fits with the individuals personality. Of course, everyone knows nowadays a high school diploma means nothing anymore. College degrees, training or any certification subsequent to high school is mandatory for success. To become a fashion marketer one would need  to major in Fashion Merchandising or Marketing and minor in business fields such as accounting, business administration, or marketing just to develop the business aspect of the Fashion Merchandising field. An individual can receive an Associates degree, Bachelors degree or Masters depending on the individual. Schools offering the Fashion Merchandising program are predominantly in New York and California; however, local community colleges and universities should not be overlooked. Other universities known to offer the program are University of MD Eastern Shore; Morgan State University; F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology); and AIP (Art Institute of Philadelphia). Some courses required to achieve in this field are accounting, business law, psychology, merchandising, advertising and promoting, and entrepreneurship, and Intro to fashion (Stone 6-8). Although having a degree is not a bare necessity to get into the fashion industry, it helps to have one so opportunities will always be available. Having a degree will also improve ones salaryA fashion marketers salary ranges on experience and knowledge. More often it is how much experience a person has rather than his or her knowledge. Salaries for beginners start as low as $15,000-29,000 a year depending on the occupation (Retail). As ones experience or knowledge increases so do the wages. At an intermediate level the salary starts anywhere from $33,873-76,450 a year. At the executive or advanced level salaries range from $84,923-119,140 a year. Location is the key when deciding on what occupation fits ones criteria because the location also determines ones salary (Advertising). The outlook on careers in fashion marketing and any career in fashion overall is expected to grow more slowly than average through 2014 (Retail). Sluggish job growth may be due to the new prominence of discount stores, super centers and warehouse stores, offering cut-rate clothing without the frills and fancy store displays of high-end department stores. The Internet may also cut into sales. However, even with lethargic job growth, basic retailing jobs should still be relatively easy to find, simply because this is a very large field with a high turnover rate (Retail). And top level marketing jobs will be extremely competitive no matter how fast the business is growing. It is really all about location. Know what works and do not let salaries determine your career. Go with what suits your personality best. Works Cited â€Å"Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers.† http://www.bls.gov. 04 Aug. 2006. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. 22 Aug. 2007 . â€Å"Retail Marketing Careers.† www.Careeroverview.Com. 24 Apr. 2007 . Stone, Elaine. The Dynamics of Fashion. 2nd Ed. New York: Fairchild Publications Inc., 2004. 04-10.

An evaluation of the impact of social policy in relation to childhood poverty since 1997

Introduction This essay considers the effects of government policy on child poverty since 1997. This date represents both a high and low point of the war against child poverty. On the one hand, poverty and inequality were at their most serious in post-war history, with over one in four children living in relative poverty; on the other hand, it saw child poverty come into focus like never before, leading to the development of some of the most ambitious new targets, the most notable of which was the commitment to completely ‘eradicate’ child poverty within 10-20 years (Hills and Stewart 2005). All policies must go through several stages, called the policy cycle. There are numerous different conceptions of the policy cycle, each with slightly different stages. This essay will concentrate on the four main ones: agenda setting (problem identification), policy formation, policy implementation, and post-policy evaluation. The chronological sequence of the policy cycle given above provides t he rough structure for this essay; however, on occasion policies are discussed with reference to all stages of the cycle. This essay begins with a brief background section in order to frame the discussion. It concludes by arguing that on the whole government policy has been relatively successful in combating child poverty across the policy cycle, but that there are several areas of weakness requiring improvement. The notion that child poverty should be a major area of government policy is relatively modern. Historically, children have tended to fall under the care of the immediate or extended family, or under unusual circumstances someone entrusted with their care from the community or social group of the parents. However, this norm has been revised in recent years, leading to a change in the effective definition of ‘caring’, which has been expanded to include care by social workers, nurses and doctors, nursery assistants, teachers, and others (Eisenstadt 2011). The very concept of poverty itself has also varied greatly over time. The important cornerstones of modern policy related to mental and psychological wellbeing are fairly recent in origin. By contrast, Victorian campaigners against child poverty focused on bodily, or physical, problems, as embodied in the period by ragged and starving children. By the mid-20th century many other issues were in vogue. For example, child poverty began to include deficits of education caused by socio-economic problems and learning disabilities. It also began to take into account social ills such as exclusion, asylum seeking, and refugee status among children. In 1997, poverty Government policy since the late-1990s has incorporated all these elements (Eisenstadt 2011). Prior to 1997 childhood has been described by some as a ‘policy free zone’ (Eisenstadt 2011), where goals and objectives were largely hidden from view, being established primarily in office by outside experts. Since then, however, there is a strong consensus that in the early stages of the policy cycle the government has been successful in its approach to child poverty. Agenda setting in particular has been on the rise perhaps since the early- to mid-1990s across many departments and in the core of government. For example, policy debates have been a regular occurrence on many topics regarding child poverty, including cash incomes and services, as well as long-term factors underlying disadvantage and survival chances for children. This represents an impressive degree of cross-policy linkages in the government’s approach. Moreover, it is argued that this has translated into concrete results in policy terms. As Bradshaw and Bennett (2014: 5) put it: ‘the use of targets has been prolific, with those on poverty and social exclusion some of the most high profile.’ This claim is well-supported by the evidence, and several prominent cases can be cited. Take, for example, the commitment to reduce relative child poverty by 25% by 2004-5 and by 50% by 2010-11, as well as to completely ‘eradicate’ it within twenty years (by 2020) – or more pessimistically to be ‘amongst the best in Europe’ (Bradshaw and Bennett 2014: 6). The latter is among the most enduring of government promises regarding child poverty. Additionally, there is the so-called neighbourhood renewal strategy, which laid out the government’s intention that within 10 to 20 years no one would be seriously disadvantaged by where they live. Bradshaw and Bennett (2014: 7) contend that ‘such targ ets (for example, in the annual Opportunity for All reports) involve the Government holding itself to account in a way that few predecessors have done.’ This suggests that at the level of agenda setting there has been considerable success in combating child poverty, but there are also many omissions in the way the government has approached important issues. For example, child poverty might arguably have suffered as a result of the conspicuously small number of targets for overall poverty reduction, as the two are strongly interrelated. It is also questionable whether the targets and agenda setting initiatives have translated to policy formation (Bradshaw and Bennett 2014; Lupton et al. 2013; Hill and Stewart 2005). Before proceeding to discuss this issue, a note of caution should be issued about the usefulness of policy in the first place. Lupton et al. (2013: 17) highlight some of the issues inherent in policy commitments: They note, for example, that goals are in actuality mere promises, or claims, which are unenforceable in both practice and theory. Moreover, it is likely under many circumstances that these will be driven by ideo logical agendas, which will shape change according to which party is in power, ‘and be more or less shaped by the legacy inherited, the particular problems of the moment, or fiscal pressures. They may be more or less explicit and discernible. Unstated goals, some of which later become apparent from internal documentary evidence and politicians or civil servants’ Lupton et al. (2013: 17). Indeed, it is for this reason that scholars working in this field tend to evaluate what Lupton et al. (2013) call ‘realised policy’ rather than policy in a broader sense (Bradshaw and Bennett 2014). There is evidence that this concern – that is, ostensible policy not translating into realised policy – has characterised much of the government’s approach to child poverty, rending it unsuccessful to a degree. For instance, it was only in 2012 that the (Social Mobility and) Child Poverty Commission was appointed. This meant that the body could not be consulted prior to the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy for 2011-14. This contravened the government’s statutory commitment and can be seen as evidence that policy has not necessarily been realised, to use Lupton et al.’s (2013) terminology. Importantly, this had concrete implications for the Child Poverty Strategy for 2011-14, which was widely criticised from not laying out in enough detail that actual means by which policy objectives would be achieved (Bradshaw and Bennett 2014). There are other reasons to believe that agenda setting so far has lacked specificity regarding how it will deal with child poverty. This conclusion emerges through a close examination of the policy statements of government publication and the results following from these policies. For example, the Department for Education posts a statement on its website reading: ‘Poverty, as measured by a household’s income relative to the national average, is often a symptom of deeper, more complex problems. Many of these problems are passed on from one generation to the next.’ As Bradshaw and Bennett (2014) note, the ‘background’ section state that one of its primary aims is ‘reducing poverty in all its forms’, and references social injustice, but does little to directly address the issue of child poverty. The website for the Department for work and Pensions does likewise, noting the existence of a child poverty strategy and the Positive for Youth Repo rt (2011) but failing to specify what this entails in terms of policy (Bradshaw and Bennett 2014; Forest and Parton 2009). This shows that to a certain extent there has been a disconnect between the early stages of the policy cycle (agenda and target setting) and the later one (policy formation). It can also be argued that the government’s approach to dealing with child poverty has been inadequate at the level of policy formation. There has tended to be a great deal of emphasis on the idea of encouraging unemployed parents to work in order that they may better support their children. While this is commendable in several obvious respects, it also has shortcomings. Bucci (cited in Forest and Parton 2009), for example, emphasises the importance of internal factors in children’s lives and downplays the external factors that are usually emphasised by officials and practitioners of policy. This suggests, therefore, the inclusion of many more people in the work force might actually worsen poverty of a social and emotional kind by depriving children of their parents for extended periods. Another strategy employed to end child poverty has come in the form of the Sure Start Centres, the stated aim of which is to ‘improve the outcomes for all children’ (Department of Education 2008). However, the attention paid to child poverty specifically was conspicuously lacking. For example, the first brief concentrated on the objective of ‘helping prevent family breakdown and promoting readiness for schools’, which only has an indirect relationship to child poverty and arguably should not have been prioritised over alternatives, such as the provision of financial support. In addition to the educational component, the Sure Start programme is largely geared around encouraging more parents to work. The government places the promotion of employment and education at the centre of its child poverty policy, as revealed in its description of Sure Start as ‘a cornerstone of the Government’s drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion’ (D epartment of Education 2008) This is supported by a number of groups, including the Institute for Public Policy Research, which argued that ‘social inclusion is best promoted though enhanced employment opportunity’ and that ‘‘poverty and deprivation in children’s families and in their neighbourhoods is associated with their performance at school’ (Oppenheim, 1998: 113, 139). There is also support for this policy direction from the European Commission (2014), which argued that the most important priorities for reducing child poverty are to ‘improve access to affordable early childhood education and care services’ and to ‘support parents’ access to the labour market and make sure that work ‘pays’ for them’ (European Commission 2014). It might reasonably be claimed, therefore, that while the policy formulation as regards child poverty is indirect, its efficacy in ameliorating child poverty is supported in the literature. This gives credibility to the Sure Start programme, which represents not just successful policy formulation but also the successful implementation of policy initiatives (Lupton 2013). The noticeable educational improvements among children and young people reflect the efficacy of these policies, and it has been argued that they show the success of child poverty reduction measures. For example, results in national tests at 11 and 16 indicated great improvements and few people were leaving school with no qualifications by 2010 (Lupton 2013). Socio-economic gaps were reduced across all indicators – incrementally at age 11 and then more distinctly at age 16. Larger number remained at school after the age of 16 and more went to higher education. Socio-economic gaps in HE access also closed slightly despite concerns to the contrary (Lupton 2013). On the other hand, it has also been argued (e.g., by the European Commission) that the UK has so far not done enough on these fronts in order to combat child poverty. This suggests that while policy formulation might therefore be on the right track, the implementation has not yet gone far enough (European Commission 2014). On the whole, policy formulation has generally been lauded. Education Maintenance Allowances, for example, have complemented the Sure Start programme discussed above. More important have been the tax and benefit reforms, which Hills and Steward (2005) argue have ‘reduced child poverty quickly enough to give the Government a good chance of hitting its 2004-05 targets.’ This is a dated analysis, but it indicates that in the decade after 1997 policy was relatively successful. The importance of changes in incomes for parents and their children, moreover, is borne out by the Families and Children Survey, as well as other interviews conducted in low-income areas (Hills and Stewart 2005). Nevertheless, while there has been a fall in relative child poverty between 1996-7 and 2002-3, and falls in deprivation and child-related spending by parents, the UK is still some way behind the EU average (Hills and Stewart 2005; also see European Commission 2014) There has been considerable research into the effect of Labour’s efforts to alleviate child poverty, primarily because they have been in office for much of the period and have been the main drivers behind such initiatives. The Labour government’s record has been positive on many fronts. Health is closely related to poverty, and in these terms the life expectancy of children rose, with infant mortality declining and illness declining, between 1997 and 2010 (Vizard and Obolenskaya 2013). This is supported by Stewart (2013), who has noted that for young children in particular outcomes as a result of Labour’s policies improved markedly, with higher employment rates for lone parents and fewer mothers drinking and smoking during pregnancies (the tangible impact of this is reflected in a fall in low birth weights among infants); moreover, the improvements here were concentrated among the lower socio-economic groups, which suggests relative poverty declined (Stewart 2013 ). For older children and young people, results in national tests at 11and 16 showed substantial improvements and hardly anyone was leaving school with no qualifications by 2010. Socio-economic gaps closed on all indicators –gradually at age 11 and more dramatically at age 16. Greater proportions stayed on at school after 16 and went to higher education, and socio-economic gaps in HE access closed slightly despite concerns to the contrary (Lupton and Obolenskaya 2013). Some particular shortcomings of policy have been highlighted by the research, however. For example, research into child poverty arising from neglect and abuse has revealed policy failure at all levels of the policy cycle. The neglect, abuse and eventual death of Victoria Climbe in 2000 is a good example of a policy failure in the period under consideration (Forest and Parton 2009; Laming 2003). Older children have often been classified as ‘hard to help’ and failed by agencies, while long-term neglect cases have on occasion not been properly contextualised in terms of past events in children’s lives. Additionally, there has tended to be an overreliance on universal or adult social service for physically injured children rather than the more appropriate children social care. As Brandon (2008) notes, these are reflective of policy failures in this particular area at the levels of formation, implementation, and post-policy evaluation. At the final level of the policy cycle, evaluation, there has been some criticism of policy. In particular, March and Fisher (2005: 4) highlight ‘strong arguments for the development of the evidence base, and for shifting social services towards an evidence-based approach, instead of its historic reliance on an ‘authority-based’ approach. These arguments run similarly to those suggesting that healthcare needs more of an evidence-based approach (for example, the 1997 report for the DH on R&D in primary care) (Forest and Parton 2009). In this respect, it could be argued that policy has been less effective than it might have been because the research driving it has been conducted in the wrong way. It might even be said that improvements in this area required looking to the past: As Marsh and Fisher (2005: 5) put it: ‘Despite this lack of strategy, social work research has occasionally made a significant impact’. They point to the example of the childcare research programme that was shaped by the DH during the 1980s. This led to a cogent set of policies on many critical issues and helped to make policy more focused on relevance and practical matters.. Nevertheless, this ‘did not address the question of the infrastructure for research relevant to social care’ (Marsh and Fisher 2005: 5). In a sense, these failures of policy at the final stage bring the argument full circle back to the level of agenda setting and policy formation. Marsh and Fisher (2005) and Morrin et al. (2011) see the issue as a lack of a strategic framework, which impedes agenda setting from the outset and prevents re-evaluative improvement at the end. The fact that no publicly funded research body is in place makes this more difficult, ‘and the plethora of relevant bodies has not so far offered a unified voice that could command widespread support. Unclear academic roots complicate the process’ (Marsh and Fisher 2005: 15). It might be argued that this comes down to the problem that social care does not exist as an independent academic discipline (Morrin et al. 2011; Forest and Parton 2009). In conclusion, it can be said that the impact of government policy on child poverty has been mixed. On the one hand, many important and varied issues, ranging from education to financial hardship and psychological trauma, have been brought under the government remit. This represents a success in terms of agenda setting. A large number of influential programmes have taken form across the spectrum, and these have been implemented with reasonable success in many cases, as indicated by the fact that child poverty has declined since 1997 by nearly 10 percent (Forest and Parton 2009). To a certain degree, it is too early to tell whether evaluation has been successful. There have, of course, been various shortcomings such as the inability of policy to adequately protect abused children. Detractors have also claimed that policy, despite being relatively successful, has not been based on evidence. In the end, the record of government policy is generally good, although there is clearly scope f or improvement going forwards. References: Bradshaw, J. and Bennett, F. (2014) Investing in Children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage: A Study of National Policies: The United Kingdom, European Commission http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/Naps2013Investing.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Brandon, M. (2008) Analysing child deaths and serious injury through abuse and neglect, Centre for Research on Children and Families http://www.uea.ac.uk/centre-research-child-family/child-protection-and-family-support/analysing-child-deaths [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Cleaver, H. and Walker, S. (2004) Assessing Children’s Needs and Circumstances: The Impact of the Assessment Framework, London: Jessica Kingsley Department for Education (2008) Sure Start Children’s Centres – good for your child and good for you http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/Surestart/Page1/DCSF-00787-2008 [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Department of Health (1997) R&D in primary care, London: The Stationery Office European Commission (2014) Investing in children http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1060&langId=en [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Eisenstadt, N. (2011), Providing a Sure Start: How Government Discovered Early Childhood. Bristol: Policy Press Forest, N. and Parton, N. (2009) Understanding children’s social care: politics, policy and practice London: SAGE Hills, J. and Stewart, K. (2005) POLICIES TOWARDS POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND EXCLUSION SINCE 1997, Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/policies-towards-poverty-inequality-and-exclusion-1997 [Retrieved 22/06/2014] HM Government (2006) Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/youth-justice/improving-practice/WT2006-Working-together.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] HM Government (2004) Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme. Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills www.everychildmatters.gov.uk [Retrieved 22/03/2014] Laming, H. (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Lupton, R., Burchardt, T, Hills, J. Stewart, K. and Vizard, P. (2013) A Framework for Analysing the Effects of Social Policy, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/spcc/rn001.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Lupton, R. (2013) Labour’s Social Policy Record: Policy, Spending and Outcomes 1997-2010, Centre for Analysis and Social Exclusion http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/spcc/RR01.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Marsh, P. and Fisher, M. (2005) Developing the evidence base for social work and social care practice, Social Care Institute for Excellence http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/reports/report10.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Morrin, M., Johnson, S., Heron, L. and Roberts, E. (2011) CONCEPTUAL IMPACT OF ESRC RESEARCH: CASE STUDY OF UK CHILD POVERTY POLICY, Final Report to Economic and Social Research Council http://www.esrc.ac.uk/_images/Conceptual_impact_study_report_tcm8-18146.pdf [Retrieved 22/06/2014] Stewart, K. (2013) Labour’s Record on the Under-Fives: Policy Spending and Outcomes 1997-2010. Social Policy in a Cold Climate Working Paper. London: CASE Vizard, P. and Obolenskaya, P. (2013) Labour’s Record on Health: Policy Spending and Outcomes 1997-2010. Social Policy in a Cold Climate Working Paper WP02. London: CASE

Susan Douglas’ Media Paradox Essay Example

Susan Douglas’ Media Paradox Essay Example Susan Douglas’ Media Paradox Essay Susan Douglas’ Media Paradox Essay Susan Douglas offers a parent’s point of view on the media in general and children’s television in particular in her article, â€Å"Remote Control: How to Raise a Medic Skeptic†. She comments on two important aspects of children’s programming – perpetually clueless parents and the lies broadcast in commercials. This article is an amusing take on a classic media debate, that of whether or not children should be exposed to television, and how to override the influence of persuasive commercials and silly children’s shows. Douglas’ article was brilliant in its sheer honesty. She admits that she uses television as a babysitter in order to perform her parental duties without having a child underfoot constantly. She states in the fifth paragraph: â€Å"Moments like this prompt me to wonder whether I’m a weak-kneed, lazy slug or, dare I say it, a hypocrite. † This is the same battle that other parents fight on a daily basis. Having done my fair share of babysitting, I wholeheartedly agree with her that television is a useful tool in taking care of children. I also agree that children’s shows tend to portray children as brilliant and crafty while their parents are always, to use Douglas’ term, dopey. They remain clueless about the exploits of their children while allowing them to talk back and ridicule them. Children often mimic what they see on television, from reproducing dangerous stunts to treating their parents like the dim-witted parents on television. Gender-biased commercials have always irked me, which is why I have to agree with Douglas’ assessment of commercial inaccuracies. She points out that girl and boys are always portrayed in commercials participating in gender-specific activities. Boys play with war toys while girls enjoy makeup and dolls. Commercials don’t often show girls playing sports while the boys push a stroller in anticipation of one day becoming a father – in spite of the fact that as a father, they will most likely undertake many parenting duties, such as changing diapers, giving a baby a bottle, and choosing outfits. Douglas specifically mentions Kool-Aid commercials, which show the mother proudly presenting her child with a glass of Kool-Aid, which she has painstakingly prepared. Mothers are always shown cooking dinner for the family or having the wherewithal to order a hearty dinner for her family from Kentucky Fried Chicken, while taking the family’s individual tastes into account. Rarely is the father portrayed as the homemaker, and when he does perform domestic tasks, it is always with an air of trepidation, as if he is not capable of cooking a meal, changing a diaper, or vacuuming the living room. I have one bone to pick with Susan Douglas, and that is the suggestion that television is an important tool for children to be connected with the world and to make friends in school. I had plenty of friends who didn’t watch television (there was a large Mormon population in my town and they were opposed to all television programming) and it never kept us from having common ground. If Douglas is so convinced that television is a toxic waste dump, she could simply find other ways for her daughter to remain connected with the world. Newspapers can provide information on world and local events as well as entertainment news, while other information can be accessed online. Television isn’t truly a â€Å"must-have†. Douglas is honest about the fact that she, too, doesn’t want to give up television, and that is most likely the real reason that there is still television in her home. It is possible that Douglas has bought in to the idea that children have the last word in the home, as they often do on television. My last criticism of Douglas’ method of introducing television in the home is using the word â€Å"stupid† to describe what she sees in certain programs. Rather than emphasizing the negative, she should reinforce positive ideas, such as explaining to her daughter that Lassie isn’t really smarter than the parents, but they are portrayed that way because the show is about Lassie. If the show was about the parents, then the parents would be the smart characters. If I were to write an article that was similar to Douglas’, I would first comment on how certain groups are stereotyped on television. Female teachers are often â€Å"cougars†, seducing their young male students, while teachers in general are accused of being uncaring and unqualified, even though No Child Left Behind made certain that there would be no more unqualified teachers in classrooms. Police officers are always shown as corrupt individuals who steal drug money and beat up suspects. Every time a postal worker turns violently against his co-workers, the news media will do an entire series on the phenomena of postal rage, as if every postal worker has the capacity for violence. These portrayals are disturbing, as those three occupations are often inhabited by low-paid, earnest adults. In conclusion, Susan Douglas presents a humorous, witty account of what it is like to be a parent in a society that is consumed by different media influences. I agree that it is important to teach children how to watch television, and to present them with the fallacies that are inherently pervasive in children’s programming. My final suggestion is that Douglas ask older people how they kept their own children occupied before the invention of television.

buy custom The Economic History of Russia essay

buy custom The Economic History of Russia essay The Russian economy is ranked as the sixth largest by purchasing power parity and the eleventh largest economy in the world by the nominal value. Russia has rich reserves of natural oil, coal, gas, as well as other valuable metals. Soon after the Second World War as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia has undergone considerable changes, shifting from a centrally designed financial system to an internationally incorporated and a more market-based financial system. Various economic reforms that happened after the Second World War aimed at privatizing industries, with distinguished exceptions in the defense and energy-related sectors. Nevertheless, the speedy privatization procedure, together with a much disapproved "loans-for-shares" plan that converted major publicly owned firms to politically related "oligarchs," has led to a high concentration of equity ownership. As of 2010, Moscow, Russias capital has the highest population of billionaires in the whole world (Central I ntelligence Agency 2). From the year 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved, there has been a huge economic turmoil, particularly in Russia, in the changeover to capitalism. This has been characterized by decreased standard of living and an economy that has failed to create a greater material lifestyle for several people. However, in the haze of this economic turmoil there has been a flare of light. This dazzling spot in the Russian economy is attributed to the presence of oil and gas. Since the end of Second World War and the fall of communism, Russia has invented innovative ways of trade as well as laying pipelines that link to countries, a situation that has greatly increased revenue. Nevertheless, the Russian economy has been under pressure as it treads on the intricate path of recovery following the crumple of the previous Soviet Union in late 1991. Even though Russia is recognized of having huge reserves of natural resources as well as a pool of well-educated workforce, it has had restricted achiev ements as it tries to get rid of an economy that is centrally controlled and a shift towards a market-oriented economy (Central Intelligence Agency 3. The unprepared Russian economy was badly affected by the 1998 global economic crisis. Throughout this period, the rate of inflation in Russia increased, additional cases of unemployment were reported, and there was a drop in the standards of living followed by a crashed GDP thereby creating a major disaster in the country. Nevertheless, the somber financial condition reverberated in the year that followed, and since then the Russian economy has made significant progress. This development has been mirrored in a stable decline in inflation, a rise in the GDP, a decrease in unemployment figures in addition to increase in both domestic and foreign investment. The major factors facilitated the economic recovery following 1998 crisis have been the aggressive enhancement from the weak rublealong with the trade surplus following an increase in world oil prices (Solanko 12). Though Russian economy has improved through the years, decades of socialist rule have inundated the country with different economic problems that have to be effectively dealt in order to preserve the positive trend towards economic growth. Nevertheless, there are various industries in Russia, these industries are in deprived states require modernization or replacement. Furthermore, issues over rights in land ownership have continued to discourage restructuring and investment. The Russian economy even faces a more serious problem of tax evasion and there is the giant subject of planned crime that has permeated the very fabric of the Russian society. Therefore, the Russian government will have to embark on a lasting plan, be more reliable with its strategies as well as produce an environment that is favorable to for investors. This will infuse a positive picture in the minds of the prospective investors and get their confidence (Solanko 15). The Russian financial system made a moderately excellent improvement in 2001 and 2002. In the year 2001 Russias GDP improved by 5 percent and in 2002, it improved by 4.1 percent. Although the proportional rise in the GDP in 2002 was small compared to that of 2001, the development was rather acceptable. Relatively, the standard proportionate boost in GDP in industrialized nations was 1.5 percent while in the United States, it was 2.3 percent. The year 2002 was the fourth consecutive year that Russia experienced a stable enhancement in its financial system after its miserable condition in the 1998 hence introducing a form of steadiness and creating financiers assurance (Solanko 21). Russia is among the most developed of the previous Soviet states. Nevertheless, years of poor savings have left a great deal of Russian business outdated and extremely incompetent. Apart from its resource-based production centers, it has generated huge manufacturing abilities, particularly in metals, provisions or foodstuffs, and transportation tools. Globally, Russia is currently the third-biggest exporter of main aluminum and steel. Russia took over most of the security manufacturing foundation of the Soviet Union, thus weapons are still an essential export kind for Russia. Based on the U.S. statistics of the Trade Representative's National Trade Estimate of 2010, Russia keeps on upholding numerous obstructions with regard to imports. Negotiations are in progress in the framework of Russia's WTO succession to eradicate these actions or amend them to be reliable with globally established trade strategy observations. Non-duty hurdles are recurrently employed to hamper alien admittanc e to the marketplace and are as well a considerable subject in Russia's WTO consultations (Wolf and Lang 53). Russia has gone through momentous transformations ever since the crumple off the Soviet Union, moving from an internationally-segregated, centrally-scheduled financial structure to a more market-foundation and worldwide-assimilated financial system. Most of the manufacturing industries in Russia were privatized by the monetary changes in the 1990s, with prominent exclusions in the electricity and security-linked segments. The security of possessions civil rights is still feeble, and the private zone is at the same time answerable profound state intrusion. Russian business is principally divided between internationally-viable product manufacturers; in the year 2009 Russia was the globe's biggest distributor of natural gas, the second biggest distributor of oil, and the third main exporter of steel and original aluminum; and other fewer viable important businesses that remain reliant on the Russian home market (Wolf and Lang 55). This dependence on product exports makes Russia defenseless against detonation and ruined sequences that pursue the extremely unpredictable sways in the international product cost. The administration from the year 2007 has initiated a determined curriculum to decrease this dependence and increase the nations enhanced proficiency areas, but with little consequences up to now. The financial system had standardized a 7 percent increase from the year 1998 when Russian experienced an economic catastrophe, leading to a multiplying of actual throwaway earnings and the materialization of a middle social rank. The Russian financial system, nevertheless, was one of the toughest strikes between the years 2008-09 international monetary predicament as oil charges went down and the overseas money that Russian financial institutions and companies depended on crumpled. The Central Bank of Russia used one-third of its $600 billion universal funds, the third largest, globally, in late 2008 to drag the ruble. The administration also dedicated $200 billion in a salvage arrangement to boost banks sector liquidity and support Russian companies that were not capable of settling huge overseas outstanding amounts of debts (Wolf and Lang 61). Solanko further explains that in mid-2009, the fiscal deterioration died out and in early 2010, the financial system started to develop. However, ruthless fires and famine in middle Russia condensed farming productivity, leading to a prohibition on the export of grains for a fraction of the year, and it reduced development in other divisions like industrialized and selling business. Increased oil costs held up Russian development in early 2011 and might assist Russia decrease the financial plan shortage passed down from the bad years of 2008-09, although inflation and augmented government expenses may hinder the constructive effect of these returns. Russia's continuing setbacks consist of a lessening labor force, an advanced level of fraud, complexity in getting investment resources for minor, weak firms, and poor communications helpless without huge investments (27). Buy custom The Economic History of Russia essay

Listing of Atlantic 2016 Hurricane Names

Listing of Atlantic 2016 Hurricane Names Below you will find the listing of hurricane names for the Atlantic Ocean for the year 2016. For every year, there is a pre-approved list of tropical storm and hurricane names. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female. Hurricane Naming Conventions Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. Thus the first tropical storm or hurricane of the year has a name that begins with A and the second is given the name that begins with B. The lists contain hurricane names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a Q or U. There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another hurricane name replaces it. Thus, the 2016 hurricane name list is the same as the 2010 hurricane name list but after the 2010 hurricane season, there may be changes to the list if names are retired so check back after the 2010 hurricane season. 2016 Hurricane Names AlexBonnieColinDanielleEarlFionaGastonHermineIgorJuliaKarlLisaMatthewNicoleOttoPaulaRichardSharyTomasVirginieWalter

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees Essay - 1

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees - Essay Example Financial crisis can be used to refer to economic; an economic crisis refers to a situation where the economy is unstable and thus the instability results to an economic recession or a depression. An economic recession results from economic shocks thus leading to real changes in the economy, in the case of financial crisis it may not necessarily result into an economic crisis. There has been many financial crisis with many of them resulting to economic recession to name but a few, the Mexican financial crisis which occurred in the mid 1990, the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990’s and the popular know global financial crisis in the late 2000’s that saw giant economies like the United experience negative economical growth (Akhigbe 1985). The Mexican financial crisis occurred in the mid 90’s and to be exact in late 1994 and 1995, scholars have argued that the devaluation of peso was mishandled thus resulting to the crisis. Mexico economy was growing at an aver age of 3.1% between the year 1989 and 1994, inflation rates were decline and 1993 there were a single digit after two decade of soar prices. This had made Mexico attractive to foreign investor thus making the capital inflows and foreign direct investment to spur the economy (Tuano, 2002). The economic growth achieved was halted by the decision to devalue Peso in December 1994 was not attractive to the foreign investors, thus there no more capital inflows and this was the commencement of what was later came to be known as the great Mexican Peso crisis. In addition to devaluation weak regulators systems as contributed to the crisis, after the foreign investor pulled out the Mexican government did not measures in place that could avoid depletion of foreign reserves or reverse the imported created demand thus resulting into a crisis (Muller, 2011). The Mexican crisis left employees vulnerable to high prices due to imported created inflation, these de-motivated employees as used much of their to cover bills and purchase basic commodities. Although manufactures could not request employees for a wage cut as suggested by many classical economist due wage rigidity, the employers resulted to layoffs so as reduce the monthly bills or closing. In some cases employers had closed down manufacturing plant as demand for their products was low, thus this led to many workers dream being shut down. The Mexican crisis was closely followed by the Asian financial crisis which can be contrasted to the earlier currency crisis to the crisis that had the most severe to Asian countries to name but a few Thailand and Philippines. The Asian financial crisis resulted to the main reasons as outlined below, shortage in foreign reserves, wrong replenishment measures by the International Monetary Fund and in adequate financial institutions. Similar to the Mexico the Asian counties before the crisis the countries experienced high capital inflows but unlike in Mexican cases foreign investors wit hdrew from Asia at some extent due to panic and contagion (Age?nor, 2006). Asian crisis also affected on employees, for example, in Philippines one of immediate reaction by companies operating in the region was to cut down cost of production thus resulting to down sizing of the workforce or even at worst level closing down. According to the