Time Lags in Fiscal Policy Essays

Time Lags in Fiscal Policy Essays Time Lags in Fiscal Policy Paper Time Lags in Fiscal Policy Paper Fiscal policy is the change in taxes and spending that affect the level of GDP (O’Sullivan, p. 212, 2008). When fiscal policies are put into place, the goal is to see the economy grow to healthy levels. Other reasons for fiscal policies could include stabilizing the economy. These policies are supposed to help the economy run at its full potential. Congress and the President are supposed to be constantly working to maintain a healthy economy. There are times however, that a poorly timed move could hurt and destabilize the economy. The problem with trying to implement policies that will move the economy to its highest potential output is that there can be delays. Trying to forecast the economy is like trying to forecast the weather. When policy makers make mistakes, they create proverbial rain at our picnic. When the economy starts to slow down, government officials try to get the economy to run at its full potential again. The problem with this is that sometimes, the economy can correct itself without policies being established. There are usually delays, or lags in the policies being implemented. Just like normal, regular people, there are times that policy makers are slow to realize that there is problem that needs correcting. When they finally realize that there is an issue at hand, it may take the policy makers time to react. Two types of lags can cause problems inside lags and outside lags. Inside lags involve the time it takes to formulate a policy while outside lags involve the time it takes for the policy to actually work (O’Sullivan, p. 214, 2008). The biggest problem with the inside lag is the time it takes policymakers to recognize shifts in economic indicators. Policymakers try to rely on their forecasting skills. Sometimes their forecasting is correct, while other times, they are wrong. This can cause big discrepancies in the economy. Another issue is the time it takes for policy makers to realize that there is a problem and then fix the problem at hand. With outside lags, policies such as tax cuts take time to actually work. Outside lags are normally short, but if they are timed incorrectly, the economy could actually become destabilized. The worst problem with lags is that economists are playing the role of the weatherman in forecasting what will happen to the economy. It is hard for them to know whether an economic slowdown is just temporary or if it will be a long recession. For example, if economists predict that the economy is going to be working over its potential, and the government implements a policy to get the economy to its full potential, but not over it, and then the economy becomes weak before the policy takes place, the entire economy could become destabilized. Policy makers must understand this possibility and do their best to minimize errors. Reference OSullivan, Shefferin, Perez. (2008). Economics: Principles, Applications, and Tools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Ethical Leadership in Business Essay Sample

Ethical Leadership in Business Essay Sample Ethical Leadership in Business Essay Ethics is specific standards set within an organization to guide employees. Business decisions are made based on these standards. Hence, they affect the way companies operate and how the company interacts with its employee, customer, the community, and other shareholders. Ethical leadership plays an important role and is known to be the most important factor that promotes productivity in workplaces. Ethical leadership is associated with individual characteristics and includes honesty and trustworthiness. The importance of leadership cannot be underestimated, and the management sets the tone for every decision made within a company. Therefore, ethical leaders are considered as role models and have the ability to hold their employees accountable. Leaders are looked upon as the key decision makers; they have a huge responsibility to ensure that all stakeholders are comfortable at all times. A leader with ethical morals exercises their duty by showing good examples and treating people fairly. Ethical leaders are more like role models and take moral identity as an important element. Thus, they behave in ways that are rational and logical. Individual moral identity means having specific behavior such as caring and being compassionate. Therefore, moral identity is linked to ethical leadership, which is further related to social behavior like charity. Practicing ethical leadership is essential for those in authority because it makes a significant impact to his subordinates. Employees will behave ethically and avoid being unethical depending on the leaders’ action. Those in authority are in charge disciplining an employee who breaches any ethical code. Therefore, they lead by example. Ethical leadership emphasizes the need to acquire positive outcomes, but also obtaining these positive outcomes within specific ethical standards. In leadership, transparency plays an important role in upholding the companys image. To display ethical leadership means to set good examples for employees to enable them to follow the organization culture. It is about creating policies and code of conduct that are useful in setting straight what is expected of employees. It is important that employees feel safe within their work environment. Therefore, a conductive environment that fosters open communication is key in maintaining standard ethical practices. Whereby employees can feel free to report to the higher authority in case a senior officer behaves unethically. One way organizations promote ethical leadership is by taking seriously any complaint forwarded by the employee. Organizations also need to offer ethic training regularly to help create a better ethical environment. As part of compliance efforts, the organization needs to invite motivational speakers to help employees see the sense of practicing ethical behavior. To ensure that ethical standards are maintained. Strict punishment should be administered to those violating the ethical standard. To promote ethical standards, the old employees and new employees should be aware of the organizations code of ethics, and every employee should be aware of the organizations core values. Employees need to be guided to adopt appropriate behavior. Factors like integrity, sense of responsibility, discipline, emphasis on quality and teamwork need to be emphasized at all times. In todays world, young people are ambitious and are eager to succeed using all means. Most employees are willing to engage in any means by foregoing their ethics and moral values to achieve success. It is important that part of the organization ongoing ethical compliance employees should be aware of the values and ethics required by the company. In a nutshell, ethical leadership involves considering different factors that can affect employees and be mindful of employees. Ethical leadership is the most important element in business. Ethical leadership creates ethical workplaces thus leaders are expected to uphold certain values to maintain the integrity of the organization.

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

Colour - Essay Example This research investigates the complex meaning of the color red, considering the ways its meaning can vary amongst individuals, cultures, and subcultures. In examining the colour red, one of the most overarching considerations is establishing an epistemological framework between cultures. Friedman & Miyake (2004) investigated the extent language shapes human perception. This study primarily revealed that cultures with more complex vocabularies for designating colour subsequently perceived colour in different ways. In terms of red, this is significant as it is difficult to speak of a singular ‘red’ throughout world culture, but rather a series of approximating notions of ‘redness’ that are at best pragmatically linked. This notion of redness has assumed symbolic recognition in global society. One of the most prominent such instances is the notion of red as embodying revolutionary ideas, or more specifically socialism and communism. Earl (1996) examined this thematic implementation of red in a variety of 20th century social contexts. Undoubtedly influenced by the Red Star communist symbol, as well as the Russian semantic linkage between red and ‘beautiful’, red came to acquire such prominent symbolic properties that countries with communist regimes were even referred to as ‘red’ countries. This symbolism extended to specific social movements; for instance, the perceived intrusion of communism into the United Kingdom and United States was referred to as the Red Scare. While there is the distinct possibility that these political notions of redness were influenced by deeper human instinctual perceptions of red, the symbolic perception of red also varies across cultures. In this way, rather than ‘red’ purely embodying revolutionary ideology, the color also connotes passion and virility. For instance, from a comprehensive qualitative approach, red roses, hearts, or even candy harkens these essential qualities. Ball (2001, p. 43)

Internal Memorandum Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Internal Memorandum - Article Example Summary and response: Frymovich starts by discussing the current problems faced by the young entrepreneurs and small businesses in Europe, highlights the business environment by submitting facts and figures, and then explores the reasons behind those problems (Frymovich). According to the article, it is very difficult for small firms to get credit or financing for their operations (Frymovich), and to get an open market in the EU, therefore, the majority of the small firms head towards the U.S. where the laws and policies are more favorable and the market more accepting (Frymovich). It is interesting to note that Europe has almost doubled the number of self employed workers (Frymovich), and if each of those self employed business people were to hire just one more worker, a magnitude of new jobs would be created (Frymovich). However, most of those businesses hesitate to operate in Europe, due to the dearth of venture capital and angel investment, complex government policies and prolong ed time periods for government funding (Frymovich), and the lack of acceptance of high risk in the market (Frymovich). The banks in Europe are still recovering from economic recess (Frymovich), and the firms are protected by the government (Frymovich). This means that downsizing and starting over are more difficult in the EU than it is in the U.S. (Frymovich). Whereas this protection can be viewed as a safety factor for the employees in that they cannot just be fired at whim, and so their economic stability is guaranteed, this safety factor serves as a hurdle for companies which have failed in their venture and want to start anew in some other field of business (Frymovich). For example, by cutting the credit rating of a failed operation, Germany makes it harder for the business to venture into the market again (Frymovich). Although there are some agencies working for the benefit of the small operations, they

Mass Media and Economic Development Essay Example for Free

Mass Media and Economic Development Essay Mass media has always been one of the pillars of modern society. With its wide range and base, it is indubitably, the most effective and efficient way of mass information dissemination. Yet, instead of mass media being a primary tool for education, it is mostly being used as a medium for entertainment; to show bland, superficial products with little, or no educational value. So, attempting to connect mass media with economic development would seem as disjoint as climate change and my inability to make good analogies. Surprisingly, this is what the last speaker, from The Public Sphere talked about. The forum cites economic literacy as the main contribution that mass media can make to economic development. Defining economic literacy as the ability to identify, analyze and evaluate the consequences of individual decisions and public policy, the speaker, Mr. Omar Dumdum of NEDA, goes in to explain the ineffectiveness of economic education in secondary school; therefore, mass media should take the primary responsibility of promulgating economic literacy, to promote economic development. This can be done, according to Mr. Dumdum, through better economic news writing and reporting, making economic news understandable for the general population, and information dissemination campaigns. There will be some difficulties encountered, of course, as Economics is wrought with technical terms that cannot be easily simplified, but, if information campaigns are done in tandem with better reporting, results can be achieved. Personally, I do think it is possible and feasible. Being someone who believes in the power of mass media to reform society, I think mass media could enhance the net economic literacy of the Philippines, which would, hopefully, increase Filipino participation in crucial economic activities, resulting in inclusive economic development. But of course, mass media has internal flaws that prevent this from happening. For one, it bears the inability to make economic news/information exciting, or even understandable. If not for my privileged secondary and tertiary education, I would not know anything about our countrys economic status, as I regularly skip the Business section of the papers, because it is simply boring. Economic reporting tends to be too technical, or elitist, so much so, that for the average Filipino citizen believes that the economic opinion of his/her neighborhood barber is more valid and believable compared to the TV guy in a suit. I am not dismissing the opinion of Manong Barber as incorrect or irrelevant (he might be an economist, who knows), but this points out the preference of Filipinos to opinion-based economic information, over rigorous, empirical economic reporting. And, so I have mentioned, we Filipinos are not entirely at fault. We cannot be blamed for giving more importance to comprehensible information than jargonic gibberish. Also considering the fact that public opinion greatly influences economic policies in our country (i.e. sin tax bill), this, all the more makes the medias role in promoting economic development crucial. I do agree with Mr. Dumdums proposed approach of information campaigns being conducted simultaneously with better news reporting, because better enws reporting alone would not fulfill the expected impact of mass media in the economic literacy of our society. In conclusion, I think that the mass media, is indeed, an important element in aiding the development of a Philippines as a globally competitive economy. It is not enough, however to merely educate people about the Economics and the economic condition of our country at present. Public policies, political will, exhaustive analyses and correct decisions are also parts of the solution to the enigma that is Philippine development. And, in these, mass media can only contribute so much; mass media cannot improve the Philippine economy alone.

Effective Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Essay -- essays researc

Effective approaches to prevent teen pregnancy After reading numerous articles and abstracts in regards to the ever so intriguing topic of teen pregnancy, I’ve come to a conclusion which is a little different than I had expected. Before reading any of the literature on teen pregnancy, I was under the assumption that the sex education classes provided in school were an extremely effective weapon against unwanted teenage pregnancies. Of the literature references that I’ve used and those of which I have haven’t chosen to extrapolate on, many have reported results based on random surveys while others have conducted quantifiable research to reach their findings. In an article by Dryfoos J in the Planned Parenthood Review, Dryfoos mentions some methods that have been proven to slightly impact the teenage pregnancy issue. The article, â€Å"Preventing teen pregnancy: what works,† the author tells us of what’s necessary for any program designed to prevent teen pregnancy to be effective. He states â€Å"To avoid unintended pregnancy among young persons, two conditions must be met: they must have the capacity and a reason to want to control their fertility.† This means that a teenager must have a reason to prevent herself from becoming pregnant as well as the means to do so. There are programs currently in place which help to provide a means to an end to this problem. They include family life education and birth control services. Programs which assist in providing a reason to not get pregnant include quality of life programs and expanding opportunities programs. Based on studies performed, two trends are emerging. These studi es indicate that sex education can enhance knowledge but little evidence shows that these school based sex education programs have sexual activity or contraception use. Also, evaluations on the method of problem-solving have shown a reduced amount of risk-taking behavior as well as increase in the use of contraceptives for sexually active teenagers. Another article that I chose was the Journal of Adolescent Health by K. A. Hacker, Y. Amare, N. Strunk, and L. Horst entitled â€Å"Listening to youth: teen perspectives on pregnancy prevention.† This article gives statistical evidence of a teen’s perspective on pregnancy prevention. This article gives us a very convincing detailed analysis of their survey including percentages of students who felt a particular wa... ..., as I have discussed before – what is being taught to students is not the reality of the topic, but a non-controversial â€Å"G† rated version of the dangers of early sexual activity. I believe that neither of the two solutions will work without the other. Parents must speak to their children regardless of how awkward it may feel in addition to better and more informative education on the sexuality and its repercussions. Bibliography Dryfoos J. â€Å"Preventing teen pregnancy: what works.† Planned Parenthood Review, October,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2002, pp. 6-7. Hacker, Karen A; Amare, Yared; Strunk, Nancy; Horst, Leslie. â€Å"Listening to Youth: â€Å"Teen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perspectives on Pregnancy Prevention.† Journal of Adolescent Health, April, 2000,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pp.279-288. Somers, Cheryl L.; Fahlman, Mariane M. â€Å"Effectiveness of the 'Baby Think It Over' Teen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pregnancy Prevention Program.† Journal of School Health, May, 2001, Vol. 71 Issue 5,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  p188, 9p. Wood, B. Daniel. â€Å"Teens, sex, and power of parents.† The Christian Science Publishing Society,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  September, 2002.

Reaction Paper for the National Museum

When I heard about you asking us to visit at least two museums and make a reaction paper out of it, I was so excited, not only because I know that you can travel back in time but of course there's nothing feels like getting in touch with your roots but by having to experience or perhaps have a glimpse of how it was like. To tell you honestly, I haven't been in a museum in a while and to put it bluntly, I've never been to the National Museum since I was in Kindergarten wherein I can't understand a thing. I didn't realize that the National Museum is divided into three buildings, Anthropology, National History and the Arts. I was excited to see the Natural History because it is the one that is newly renovated and is famous for the â€Å"Tree of Life† which is the centerpiece of the said museum; unfortunately we were not able to see it due to the lack of time but I will definitely visit that one of these days. I didn't realize that the entrance in the museum is free; I wonder why not a lot of people enter it except those kiddos who were having their field trips. There are lots to see but there's so limited time. It would have been better if there's a guide or a curator to tour us around unfortunately they're busy with the field trip of the kids. Here are some of my snapshots of the museum. I don't want to discuss anymore what I've seen inside because everybody who visited it knows about it. What I want to discuss is how the message of how rich our culture is has resonated on me so much. There were so many goose bumps moments when I was touring around the Museum especially seeing the Spoliarium in person. I caught myself staring at its magnificence for around 5 minutes. I was absolutely amazed and mesmerized by it. I was in awe of it and the experience was really indescribable. I'm not sure if I was just emotional or over reacting or if it was really the feeling it creates for every nationalistic Filipino. I felt like having to experience the atrocities of the Spanish Regime. I can still remember way back in Grade School, I was really fascinated with the Philippine History. This piece showed the world how it was like to be a Filipino way back then. A masterpiece that is comparable to Picassos' Guernica in Spain. It was really moving as it showed the violence experienced by our ancestors. Surely it was used to incense the fire burned in the hearts of the Filipinos to fight against such cruelty. I wish someone will be commissioned soon to paint the effects of the Marawi siege, I'm sure it can be a great addition to the National treasury. On the other hand, I wonder why there were no paintings depicting the Marcos dictatorship. I hope that the National Museum was designed according to time or era so it will feel like just travelling back in time, maybe they want to put it together according to pieces. I was wondering how it was like if every artifacts in all of the museums in the country just like the ones in the Rizal and Aguinaldo shrines will be placed in the National Museum, it could have been a surreal experience for me. After everything I saw I can only conclude that we might be a third world country but our heritage and culture is undeniably rich and should be seen and appreciated by all Filipinos. After everything I've seen today, I can't help but be prideful of how rich our culture is and we should celebrate it just how like our neighboring countries like Thailand and Indonesia have preserved their cultures. It surely is the key to the secrets of our past and certainly defines us as a nation full of great treasures that can rival the best museums in the world.

George Orwell’s vision Essay

George Orwell’s books are not conventional. They use extremely vivid and alarming descriptions to support thought-provoking subjects, and their endings are far from happy. I felt a strong sense of despair at the end of both 1984 and Animal Farm, even though I found them gripping and fascinating. George Orwell, being a socialist, was strongly opposed to totalitarian rule, and his books are clearly a warning as to how political movements can backfire. The books are influenced by events of his time, the most obvious being the Russian Revolution symbolised by Animal Farm. There are hardly any lasting aspects in either 1984 or Animal Farm that are pleasant; the themes of both books are worrying. I think that one of the worst aspects of George Orwell’s vision is the systematic perversion of our feelings, emotions and instincts. In my opinion, the worst action of ‘The Party,’ the ruling political power in 1984 is the way it frowns upon love, a natural human instinct, and tries to completely suppress it. This is a cold, tyrannical act that destroys such a pure, selfless instinct. Love brings joy that – as Winston Smith, the main character in 1984, experiences – makes life worth living. Without love, Oceania’s inhabitants are reduced to a pointless, miserable, isolated existence. I think the most depressing event in the story of Winston Smith is how the Party crushed his love for Julia so completely, accentuated by the powerful unconditional nature of their love for each other before. Consequently, the Party, and its figurehead, ‘Big Brother,’ condemn sexual intercourse with fierce and active distaste, evident in the formation of ‘The Junior Anti-Sex League. ‘ Sex, the most intimate, loving act two people can share is seen as a threat to the Party’s power, and is only acceptable in absolutely necessary circumstances – to create a child – and is devoid of all sentiment. Because it is detested by the Party, making love becomes an act of political rebellion, which destroys the fact that it should be an expression of love. One of the nastiest yet most haunting descriptions in 1984 is Winston’s recollection of his visit to a prostitute in an attempt to satisfy his sexual instinct. His visit is ‘brief’ and ‘coarse’ and he admits that ‘it was really the paint that appealed to me,’ not any real desire to be intimate with the woman. In 1984, love within families is corrupted, as children spy against their parents and report them for the slightest incident. Family values – essential to nurturing a child with care – are destroyed; even when Winston’s acquaintance, Parsons, is betrayed by his own daughter, he ‘doesn’t bear her any grudge. ‘ In Orwell’s dystopia, love plays no part, except in utter submission to Big Brother, and it is the concept of existing in a life so absent of love and affection that disturbs me. If I had to exist without love, I believe I would lose my will to live. Another instinct, essential to harmonious, happy human life is that of trust. Again, the Party endeavour to totally control and pervert this instinct. Trust is the exact opposite to fear so cannot be practised when fear presides. Fear seeps into every aspect of life in 1984: fear of betrayal to the thought police; fear of what could happen to you if you committed a ‘crime’ and were caught; fear of your own thoughts wandering. Living in such a fragile community, where everyone is scared into solitude, and having children spy on people, corrupts the general principles of loyalty and human decency to such a level at which I would no longer want to associate with such people. Children, the embodiment of innocence and dependence, being routinely perverted, taken advantage of and coaxed into turning against their own providers, their parents, is a concept I find abhorrent. The manipulation of innocent and defenceless children is immoral, disgusting and disturbing. In 1984, the only trust allowed to exist between two parties is that of the individual for Big Brother. With a horrific act of total submission and resignation, people blindly accept all Big Brother tells them, completely disregarding information from their own senses, whilst subconsciously being aware that what Big Brother tells them is untrue. If I had to exist in Oceania, I would find that aspect the hardest to accept, as I feel a reassurance in knowing I can believe and trust whatever my senses tell me. With that knowledge removed, I’d be lost, confused and scared, as I would have lost my grip on reality – which keeps humans sane. As Winston thinks, ‘if the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event that it never happened- that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture or death’. In Animal Farm, another frighteningly harsh story by George Orwell, perversion of trust is also a prominent theme. Just like the citizens of 1984’s Oceania, the farm animals are too trusting for their own good. I grew sadder and more anxious each time the animals ‘believed every word’ of what their selfish leaders – the pigs – told them. To me, it is very poignant the way the animals are so unsuspicious and grateful towards the pigs, who repeatedly use them. The most trusting and devoted animal on the farm was the old carthorse, Boxer. Boxer trusted the pig leader – Napoleon – to such an extent he created the slogan ‘Napoleon is always right! ‘ In total disregard of this trust bestowed upon him, Napoleon sent the horse to the slaughterhouse. I was shocked when, at the end, the animals simply accepted the pigs’ superiority and power. What distresses me most is the despicable way in which the pigs take advantage of the innocent animals, who have blind faith in them. I am even more upset knowing Animal Farm is based on genuine events: the sheer trust the proletariat had in Stalin, after the Russian Revolution, which Stalin twisted to benefit himself. The civilization of 1984 is ‘founded upon hatred,’ an unnatural human emotion. O’Brien tells us Oceania is progressing towards a state where ‘there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph and self-abasement. ‘ I find this devastatingly selfish and cruel, as it terminally oppresses the sole desire of mankind: to be happy and enjoy the process of life. The most dehumanising and evil event in the lives of the citizens of Oceania is ‘Hate Week,’ It is not only the atmosphere of contagious compulsive contempt which enables ‘Hate Week’ that disturbs me; it is the way in which hate, the most hostile and dangerous feeling, can be generated on such a large scale with absolutely no reason. In the middle of ‘Hate Week,’ the enemy changes, but the proceedings continue without the blink of an eye. It scares and disgusts me that Orwell can see such a strong emotion directed at a target, regardless of why the target is hated. Winston realises that ‘the fear, the hatred and the lunatic credulity which the Party needs in its members can only be kept at the right pitch by bottling down some powerful instinct and using it as a driving force. ‘ The Party has twisted and corrupted natural instincts to benefit themselves. In my opinion, the manipulation of human emotions, instincts and feelings is the most dishonest, corrupt way of gaining power. It is chilling to imagine the uncompromising, omnipresent, omnipotent power that would be required to enable such an atrocity. I would find it so hard never to be able to feel and love, and I would see no point in existing if I could not. Without our feelings we are no more than machines. The mere contemplation of having to exist without joyful emotions fills me with despair. I would truly prefer to die than to live intoxicated with misery and depression, without hope for a better life. I share Winston’s sense of helplessness and injustice when O’Brien tells him ‘If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever. ‘

PSYCHEDELIC FILM AND THE MUSIC essays

PSYCHEDELIC FILM AND THE MUSIC essays Film has been categorized by genres since it became popular in the early 1900s. Even within these categories (comedy, romance, action) genres often overlapped one another. George Melies 1902 classic A Trip to the Moon is a timeless piece that mixes science fiction with psychedelic aspects far before its time. Since than films have come a very long way. The more developed they become, the more a genres line gets blurred. The short lived life of the psychedelic film blurs with one of Hollywoods long standing film genres, the musical. The psychedelic genre does nothing more than borrow preexisting concepts from other genres; it does find some success with a merger with the musical. What draws people to psychedelic musicals and are they more psychedelic than musical? Through looking at some of the genres more noteworthy crossovers, Tommy, Magical Mystery Tour and The Wall, an answer will be made clear. The psychedelic film, or the Hollywood LSD film came to popularity in the early 1960s and quickly vanished by the mid 1970s. Although glimpses of the genre appear throughout cinema, it was never as prevalent as it was during that decade and a half period. As described in The Velvet Light Trap by Harry M. Benshoff, the LSD film is constructed through the rapid editing of glowing, colorful, abstract, and/or mythical images; they suggest a heightened state of awareness and sensory common to the hallucinogenic experience (p. 3). These type of colorful surrealism was able to sneak into the mainstream when Hollywood experienced a slump at the box office in the mid 1960s. As the popularity of television was growing, fewer people were going to the movies. Hollywood was looking for ways to put people back into their seats and the LSD film was one of them. The inclusion of avant-garde stylistics into Hollywood feature films, as in the case of LSD films, is yet another example o...

How to Build a Sherlock Holmes Mind Palace

How to Build a Sherlock Holmes Mind Palace Admit it. You wish you had a mind like Sherlock Holmes. Recalling the smallest details at the most significant moment, packing a lot of information in your head, remembering places and important events – thats what you want? Well, its absolutely possible. Seriously. You can learn how to control your memory with a help of a powerful technique that is called Mind Palace. It is not only extremely effective but also very fun and not hard to use at all. This technique is amazingly useful in all kinds of situations: memorizing a presentation, learning a new language, studying for exams and many others. Learn how to build your own memory palace and youll become a more confident and successful student. Choose Your Mind Palace First of all, you have to select a place you know very well. This method will be effective only if you can mentally see this place with ease. Think about something you can visualize in detail. You also need to imagine a specific route in your palace. This will help you to recall things in a particular order, which will make the technique much more powerful. A good choice of a Mind Palace could be your own home, a former school, your campus, familiar streets in your city. Just make sure you can imagine this object well. Define Distinctive Features Now you have to pay special attention to the features in your palace. For instance, if you have chosen your home, the first distinctive thing may be the front door. Then you have to mentally walk around the house and remember the things you see. Analyze each room looking from right to left, for example. What attracts your attention? Do you see something unusual? It can be a picture on the wall or a flower in a vase. Continue to explore the house and make notes in your head. Each feature will be used later to store a particular piece of information. Engrave the Palace in Your Mind To make the method work, you have to imprint the palace on your memory. The task wont be a difficult one if you are a visual type of person. Here are some tips that will help you to remember everything better: Walk through the route physically and repeat the distinctive things you see. Write down the features on a piece of paper and walk through them mentally. Look at the things from the same perspective. When you think youve finished, repeat everything one more time. Now you have your Mind Palace! You can use it as many times as you need to memorize the things you want. Mind Palace technique is great, however, you should know that there are much more techniques on how to develop photographic memory. Use Associations Symbols make the memories more manageable and they are really effective for remembering the things. The process of making associations is very simple: you take an image and combine it with a thing you need to memorize. To do that, you have to mentally transport yourself to your Mind Palace. The first feature you see is a front door. Therefore, if you are trying to remember a ship, imagine an anchor on your door. Then continue to associate the things until there are no items left to memorize. Visit Your Palace At this stage, you are done with memorizing the items. Now you need to do a rehearsal, repeating your journey at least one time in your mind. Go from the beginning to the end and try to recollect all the details. When you get the end of your route, turn around and go in the opposite direction until you return to the starting point. And remember, the more relaxed you are, the easier it will be to remember everything. With just a lit bit of practice, the things you memorize by using your Mind Palace will stay fresh in your mind for a long time. cover image credit: Robert Vigalskiy/Hartswood Films and BBC Wales for BBC One image credit: thenerdybomb.com

In what ways do sociological and political economic theories of news Essay

In what ways do sociological and political economic theories of news production explain the relatively easy generation of popula - Essay Example This is a reflection of the general public disillusionment with the functioning of government institutions. More importantly, it is an indication of the distrust of mainstream media sources and the information (misinformation) being generated by them. Sadly, though, such expressions of disagreement and distrust only account for a politically aware minority, whilst a large majority of the population are subject to government propganda, orchestrated and implemented by major media institutions. Indeed, the ruthlessness and brazenness with which the Bush Administration went about achieving its strategic goals can be learnt from the following quote: â€Å"The issue of whether the Pentagon was waging an orchestrated domestic propaganda campaign was first openly acknowledged in the fall of 2002. Donald Rumsfeld was asked whether the Pentagon was engaged in propagandizing through the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence (strategic influence is military jargon for propaganda). Military officials said they might release false news stories to the foreign press, but they had to retract that when news organizations expressed concern that the bogus stories could be picked up in the domestic press. Mocking concerns about propaganda blowback, Rumsfeld informed the media on November 18, 2002, that he would eliminate the program in name only. (Goodman & Goodman, 2004, p.253) One might wonder why such a nexus between apparently two different kinds of institutions should exist and what benefits would its leaders attain in the process. There are a few sociological and political economic theories of news production that attempt to answer this most pressing question of modern democratic societies. The rest of this essay will try to encapsulate the essence of such theories and find out if they resonate in the case of the Iraq War. One of the major contributions to the subject of government-media propaganda is made by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. Their seminal work ti tled Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media is perhaps the most illuminating work on this subject, alongside Ben H. Bagdikian's another path-breaking work 'Media Monopoly'. In Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky and Herman layout a template for how propaganda works. This they called the Propaganda Model. In it they identify a set of five key factors that contribute to the functioning of propaganda machinery. These are: 1. Ownership of the medium 2. Medium's funding sources 3. Sourcing 4. Flak and 5. Anti-Communist Ideology. (Mcchesney, 1989, p.36) It should be remembered that during the time of the book's publication, Soviet Union was still in existence and Anti-Communist ideology comprised the dominant American foreign policy paradigm. In the context of the ongoing occupation of Iraq, one could replace it with such contrived fears as Terrorism and Islamophobia. (Edgley, 2000) What follows is a brief overview of these five factors that helped propaganda efforts in the lead-up to the Iraq war to be successful. First, mainstream media outlets in the United States (a fact that is equally applicable to most capitalist countries) is largely privately owned. Let us take the case of Television news. The facade of diversity created by hundreds of news channels breaks down with the realization that most channels are owned by a few major media houses such as CBS,

Social work (choose any two different topic to write on) Research Paper

Social work (choose any two different topic to write on) - Research Paper Example es, there is a dire need of benefit programs to assist the struggling drug addicts, but such programs should not be used to finance the illegal use of drugs. According to the article, many individuals miss on employment opportunities if they fail the drug test. The editorial supports this liberal view. Liberals emphasize that discrimination will maintain the illegal status of the distribution and sale of illegal drugs. According to liberals, such forced drug testing will hurt the right of individuals such as civil rights and welfare transfers to the poor citizens. Liberals advocate for drug abuse legalization rather than forced drug testing or decriminalization in the welfare transfers. Liberals generally assert that drug abuse problem is as a result of social, cultural or psychological causes and mainly stems from inequality in the society. According to liberals, controlling drug problem should entail rehabilitation through education, employment opportunities generation and social skills enhancement. According to liberals, the solution to drug abuse would be to legalize drugs since individuals are capable of making rational choices of their happiness and lifestyles and abstain from drugs that are relatively harmful such as cocaine. The liberals support government-funded drug abus e treatment with minimum punishments and drug testing as an unwarranted intrusion on people’s privacy and liberty (Yee, 3). On the other hand, conservatives advocate for stringent crime control models like discrimination in social welfare transfers or lengthy imprisonment terms for people convicted of drug abuse. Conservatives try to maintain the status quo by asserting the drug abusers generally fail to succeed in the overall economic or political system thus making irrational choices that puts them in to trouble with the authorities. Conservatives advance the use of threat of punishment in order to control drug abuse thus rewarding a drug user with social benefits is immoral.