Book review I Am David by Anne Holm (1963) Essays -

This is a story about a young boy's epic journey across Europe, and his budding emotions and sense of the wonder of life. The facts are simple. David is a 12 year old boy. He has lived all his life in a concentration camp somewhere in eastern Europe. He does not know anything about his parents or where he comes from, or why he is in the camp. All he knows is that he is David. One day, without any explanation, a guard arranges for him to escape. The electric current is switched off from the perimeter fence for half a minute, just long enough for David to climb over. He is given bread and water and a compass. He is told to head south for Salonica, stow away on a ship sailing to Italy, and then walk north until he comes to a country called Denmark. And that is what David does. Now, what kind of person would you be if you had spent all your life in a concentration camp? The first thing you may notice about David is his extraordinary isolation. He has survived in the camp by never allowing himself to think further than the next meal. After the death of his friend and teacher, Johannes, he never permits himself to have any affection for anyone. Out of the camp and on the run he believes, not unreasonably, that 'they' are after him. Of all the people that he meets on his long journey, he doesn't feel able to trust anyone. And so he shoulders the burden of the journey alone. Consequently, of course, all the judgments he makes about other people and their actions, and his own actions, are governed entirely by his own moral standards. He has very high moral standards. For instance, he refuses to accept payment for a small service that he renders voluntarily to a stranger. For him, I think, to chose to observe high moral standards is a symbol of his new-found liberty. And should anyone fall below his own exacting standards he is an unforgiving opponent: Haven't you seen that David hates Carlo? Not like boys who fight and then forget about it because there is really nothing serious to fight over. David hates Carlo as a grown man hates. He talks to him only when he has to, and then he speaks politely and coldly and refuses to look at him. But as David journeys across Europe he begins to comprehend that he cannot live life entirely alone. He does need other people, Maria, whom he saves from the fire, and the dog, and perhaps a mother of his own ... And it works the other way round - other people may need things from him. It is not good enough for David simply to hate evil when he finds it in others. If others say they are sorry for their evil acts then he must also learn to forgive, because relentless unforgiving is another kind of cruelty. The book is not set in a real time or place. Although the circumstances seem real enough, David's background is a synthesis of all the terrible persecution that happened during the Second World War and the subsequent years of cold war communism. This helps to make David a very powerful and pure figure. I don't think he is particularly real. Anne Holm uses him as a blank canvas on which can be drawn the first experiences of life - beauty, knowledge, trust, religion, love, everything. And what pleasure he discovers in the simple things of life: Before he had come to the town he had known about nothing but death: here he had learnt to live, to decide things for himself; he had learnt what it felt like to wash in clean water in the sunshine until he was clean himself, and what it felt like to satisfy his hunger with food that tasted good; he had learnt the sound of laughter that was free from cruelty; he had learnt the meaning of beauty - More of a discussion paper than an adventure story, but atmospheric and quite thought-provoking. If you want to know whether David eventually finds a place to settle down, you will have to read the book. Read

Bushs Tax Reform essays

Bushs Tax Reform essays Tax Relief Plan, how much of a gamble is it? Some of the dynamics of Pres. Bushs tax relief are as follows: Replacing the current tax rates with a simplified rate structure; Doubling the child tax credit to one thousand dollars per child and applying the credit to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT); Reducing the marriage penalty by reinstating the ten percent deduction for two-earner couples; Eliminating the death tax; Expanding the charitable deduction to non-itemizers; Also making the Research and Experimentation (RMy tax plan is not just about productivity, it is about people... A tax plan must apply market principles to the public interest... to make life better for the average men, women and children. (See Graph 1a, for details) An interest group in favor of the presidents plan is Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), their mission statement states The governments power to control ones life derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized. ATR has lobbied and gained the support of two hundred U.S. Representatives and forty-one U.S. Senators, by signing ATRs pledge. All of the Republican candidates for President have signed a pledge to this as well. ATR has not been able to gain any support from any Democratic candidates for presidents. Interest groups against the lift of the death tax argue, that despite framing the estate tax as an abusive measure targeted at small business owners and family farms, and proponents of terminating the estate tax are attempting to shelter the assets of extremely wealthy constituents. Not only does it more evenly distribute aggregated wealth through taxation means, tax incentives included in the current estate tax model encourage increased giving to charitable organizations. Considering federal budget surplus projections a ...

Pebble Smart Watch Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Pebble Smart Watch - Research Paper Example The Pebble Smartwatch, in its latest campaign in Kickstarter, has been touted as the most funded project in the history of the site, generating close to $9 million in pre- orders during the first day of its funding campaign. Indeed, the campaign easily topped $14 million dollars a few days after the watch made its re-entry in the crowdfunding site. The massive popularity of the watch was evident in the way its first forays into crowdfunding in Kickstarter were also massively successful. This success allowed the firm behind it to launch itself into viability on nothing more than the success of this first crowdfunding initiative. Aside from the basic Pebble, which was launched earlier, the new crowdfunding initiative has the introduction of a new product variant, known as the Pebble Time Steel. This new model sells for $250 and has been well-subscribed. On the other hand, those massive numbers in sales translate to more modest number scales when it comes to ordered units, as the Pebble Time has been ordered by just 57,000 customers. To put this number into perspective, the launch of the new Apple watch product is expected to generate millions of units in sales, if not hundreds of millions. This tells us something of the target market of the watch presently, and of the way by which the evaluation of the marketing strategy and the marketing mix of the product range is to proceed (Murphy). The latest figures, meanwhile, put the total raised funds for the new watches at $20 million dollars and counting, making this latest Kickstarter foray a massive success (Weber and Babb). On the other hand, the overall levels of sales Pebble are encouraging at more than one million units at the end of 2014. To be sure, the initial distribution point of the Internet and Kickstarter had been complemented in 2013 by the entry of Pebble watches in Best Buy, but one can say that

Sexual harrassment in the workplace Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sexual harrassment in the workplace - Article Example The writer believes that sexual harassment is a costly matter at company level and on a personal level for the victims. Consequences companies can face are in three levels: business consequences, legal consequences and personal consequences. Business consequences are such as low productivity among staff members. Sexual harassment reduces the victims’ morale. Some victims who were valuable to the company end up resigning from their jobs. Companies would also have to deal with unnecessary operational costs. In a hypothetical situation, these costs are identifiable when a senior member of the staff in the company goes on a business trip with a junior staff member. The senior member wants the junior member to satisfy their sexual needs and work related obligations. In that case, the cost incurred in funding the junior member’s trip is a waste of company resources (Prekel, 2010). The writer argues that the consequences also extend to a company’s reputation. For exampl e, the writer postulates a situation whereby somebody discovers that a company has cases of sexual harassment. The person finds out again that the management of that the company is lax in dealing with the harassment cases. The writer states that this revelation would dent the company’s image among clients and the public. Consequences under legal actions are such as costs the company will have to incur in litigation. By law, employers should account for any cases of sexual harassment under their purview regardless of their knowledge or ignorance of sexual harassment at the workplace. Another possible consequence could be that a harasser who has faced disciplinary action can take advantage of the fact that, the company does not have a clear sexual harassment policy to challenge the action taken against him. This reaction means that the company would have to incur the cost of defending their action in a court of law financially. On a personal level, victims get

US Policy on Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

US Policy on Immigration - Essay Example In March 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - a cabinet level federal agency created under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and tasked to coordinate and implement internal security took over immigration duties from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Under the supervision of DHS, immigration enforcement is now under the Border and Security Directorship and immigration services under the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (National Immigration Forum, August 2003). The mandate given to Homeland Security to implement immigration policy was to enable the body to strictly enforce immigration rules with regards to the fact that Al Qaida operatives who undertook terrorist activities from 1993 until 2001 were able to enter the United States by exploiting the weaknesses in the immigration system (M. Krikorian, Spring 2004). The Department of Homeland Security is tasked to secure the borders of the country in order to prevent illegal entries of immigrants, and to this effect a record 4.5 million people have been apprehended and repatriated, out of which were 350,000 have criminal records according to the White House, at least since President George Bush took office (White House, November 28, 2005). The message being sent is that the United States "border must be open to trade and tourism and closed to criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists" (White House, November 28, 2005). ...ecretary of Homeland Security to enforce laws pertaining to security in conjunction with the issuance of visas of consulates and visas, powers that were vested before in the Secretary of State (National Immigration Forum, August 2003). Thus, the Homeland Security has personnel posted at American embassies and consulates all over the world.However, immigration policy which fell under the national security context had been countere d by parties which say that the current policy is harsh to immigrants who have traditionally bolstered the economic power and the democratic space of the United States. As a response, the Bush administration has made efforts to undertake reforms that would bolster national security concerns without undermining the rights of immigrants and making it difficult for those who are productive and law-abiding to become legal citizens of the United States. Border patrols and no-exception policy on repatriation of illegal entrants (most of those who come through Mexico) are coupled with proposals for a new Temporary Worker Program which will allow migrant worker to register for a definite period, after which they have to leave (White House, November 28, 2005). The temporary worker program has been advocated as a safer alternative than granting amnesty which the government believes would reward those who break the law.  

Korean Wave In Vietnam History Essay

Korean Wave In Vietnam History Essay In a lot of researches, writers in Korea state that Korean culture has entered many countries in the world, beginning in China, then it moved forward to Southeast and Central Asia. From the year 2000 to 2002, the number of films and music album bought by neighborhood countries of Korea increased dramatically ( Hyejung, cited in Lee 2007). According to Kim (cited in Lee 2007), the connection between Korean culture and other cultures are Korean films. Vietnam is not an exception. Korean dramas focus on sexual love, the promoted luxury and hedonistic lifestyles which attracted many young Vietnamese (Kang, cited in Cho 2005). According to Nguyen (Xuan 2012b), with dramas whose content was gentle, philosophical and deeply humane, Korean wave entered Vietnam 10 years ago. She adds that in the middle of the year 2005, the amount of hours projecting Korean films reduced from nearly 20% to 8.4%. However, up to now, Korean dramas have been accepted by a lot of Vietnamese because of their varied themes and indeed meanings. Dang (2009) agrees that around the year 2000s, Korean wave developed strongly in Vietnam. During 2000s, in Vietnam, from the North to the South, Korean dramas occupied much of time on television channels with four or five dramas which were projected every night (Dang 2009). At that time, Korean dramas were so popular that whenever mentioning it, everyone thinks to cancer, accidents and amnesia (Xuan 2012a). The reason for that success is their close ideology to Vietnamese culture. Different from American series films, Korean ones are filled with traditional values and technical sophistication. While Hollywood or Bollywood focused on action scenes, sexy actors and actresses, Korean movies conquered Vietnamese by nice storylines, good production values, beautiful locations, excellent and gorgeous actors and actresses (Dang, 2009). Agreeing with two above opinions, however, Nguyen (2012) suggests that an important factors helping Korean wave enter Vietnam was their cheap price. Compared to the price of films of other countries, the average price of Korean dramas was about only a quarter or even a tenth of them. Therefore, a lot of Korean films were bought and they have been popular around the ASEAN, Eastern and other parts of the world (Nguyen 2012). Besides, another feature of Korean culture is Korean music, or K-pop. Dramas are in narrow areas, meanwhile, Korean music has developed dramatically thanks to beautiful dance and music videos meticulously invested (Xuan 2012b). A lot of famous Korean bands organized their concerts and they have sold millions of tickets each concert. Im (cited in Cho 2005) indicated that during H.O.T concert in February 2005, more than 100,000 copies of their records sold and many T-shirt with pictures of H.O.T bought by young people. What are the impacts of Korean wave on Vietnamese? It can be clarified that Korean wave influences Vietnamese, especially Vietnamese youth, with both good and bad effect. Primarily, Korean wave has changed Vietnamese lifestyle positively. Contrary to people who admired Korean idols in China or Japan, Vietnamese ones consumed enthusiastically all of idols pictures and messages (Cho 2005). Luong (cited in Xuan 2012a) suggests that Korean dramas can help young people learn the way to overcome their trouble, the way to work in a community and become more independent. In make-up area, a research shows many girls and women in Vietnam have changed their make-up way since Korean dramas and music entered Vietnam. They have used darker eyes color, thinly shaved eyebrows, body-hugging clothes, and square-toed shoes like Korean characters and singers they admired and crazed (Jim Seo, 2004). They also added that the Vietnamese president, Tran Duc Luong, has had his dinner with two famous actors and actress of Korean that time. This action expres sed Vietnameses interest to Korean culture (Jim Seo, 2005). During the last 10 years, Korean dramas have gradually replaced Chinese ones in Vietnam. Especially, for young people in Vietnam, modern lives, beautiful houses and items in Korean dramas have led them to think more about better lives in Korea and they admired those so much. They considered Korea as a developed country after seeing modern sceneries in Korean dramas. Therefore, they have tried to borrow and adopt those modern things into their lives (Dang 2009). Furthermore, she demonstrates that by Korean wave, a lot of young people considered Korea as the destination for their later lives. For example, Nguyen (cited in Xuan 2012b) states that in 1994, the number of student registering for school was only 30 students but that number increased to 120 students each year. And the reason they give is because they enjoy Korean dramas and music so much. Its a piece of love young people giving to Korean culture (Nguyen, cited in Xuan 2012b). Besides, the penetration of Korean wave in Vietnam brings along some bad impact for people, especially on young Vietnamese. Korean movies use fictional material, so they can make young people illustrate about Korea and Korean dream(Thanh 2012). Luong (cited in Xuan 2012a) assumes Korean wave has attacked young people strongly and a lot of young Vietnamese has become crazy fan of Korean singers, actors, actresses. A part of the youth has wrong thought about the Korean culture, which causes some bad actions. He takes his daughter as an example. She always ask him to buy many pictures, items relating to her idols. She even can wait many hours to meet her idols in the airport and unhappily comes back without seeing them. His daughter is only one of thousands of young people who are crazy because of Korean idols. The fashion trend of young Vietnamese is also influenced much by Korean wave. It would be good if young people didnt abuse that trend. So many young people have copied the style of Korean stars and they have spent so much money on buying the same clothes to their idols ones (Nguyen, cited in Xuan 2012b). However, according to Kim (cited in Thanh 2012), another bad impact of Korean wave on young Vietnamese is that it usually causes traffic jam in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city because all of crazy fans want to see their idols in real (Nguyen 2012). As a recent study, estimate that about 500,000 viewers coming to each of big Korean concert in Vietnam. So, it is easy to make congestion. Even some crazy fans dare to suicide if their parents dont allow them to go to see their oppa (Thanh 2012). How to deal with Korean waves effects in Vietnam? Korean wave is popular in many countries around the world, including Vietnam. So, people and government should take some actions to deal with it properly. Thanh (2012) recommends that Vietnam medium should change the way advertising Korean culture now. Developing Vietnamese culture appropriately should be done too. Furthermore, other countries should cooperate to produce cultural products bringing different cultures (Dang 2009). Luong (cited in Xuan 2012a) adds that Vietnamese government had better invest to creative science after learning precious experience from Korea. In fact, Vietnam government has applied a lot of documents to local Television stations asking to reduce the number of foreign dramas, especially Korean dramas and increase the Vietnamese ones (Dang 2009). These actions will make equal between two culture and make the young enjoy them right. Moreover, family and school play an important part in dealing with their childrens craze for their idols. Parents and teachers had better unite together to educate and guide their children the best way to admire their idols and take their love to idols into the inspiration. With the right education and direction, the young definitely know the best way to behave with their love to their idols. Finally, the most important solution belongs to attitude of young people to Korean wave. Teenagers in Vietnamese should behave right to effects and drawbacks of Korean wave. People should make use of without destroying it. (Nguyen, cited in Xuan 2012a).

The Power of Photography :: Personal Narrative

The Power of Photography I have never looked at anything as intensely as I have through the viewfinder of a camera. It may seem odd that my most intense experiences of reality have come through an artificial lens, but a camera is a close cousin to both a magnifying glass and a microscope. It is not only the ability to see things in more detail that commands our attention. It is something else, something about the art of photography that forces us to examine the world as we don’t normally do. Normally we don’t see things as they are. The familiar is forced into the background of our focus. Objects become ideas. Our couch is no longer a collection of darks and lights, patterns and textures; it is simply a couch. Have you ever found something unusual about something familiar that seems very out of place? For instance, if you find some mole or freckle on your body that you never noticed before, do you wonder if it was always there? How could I have never seen it, you may say to yourself. I look at my arm (hand, foot) every day. Here your assumptions have been challenged. The arm is no longer the arm that we imagined in our head, and it becomes disturbing. Our lives have become predictable in the sense that we see symbols instead of images, and only upon close examination do we find discrepancies between the two. Walker Percy calls this the problem of symbolic complexes. In his article â€Å"The Loss of the Creature,† he describes the loss of such grand monuments as the Grand Canyon to these complexes. He states that it is almost impossible to experience the Grand Canyon as its discoverer did because people have already formed an idea in their heads, thanks to the myriad of tourist folders, postcards, and sightseers’ manuals that they have seen before the confrontation. Instead of coming upon this great thing and admiring it for what it is, sightseers come upon it and compare it to their already formulated expectations. The whole situation is made worse, Percy says, when the tourist has a camera. In this situation, the tourist comes upon the thing to behold, takes a photograph, and leaves without ever really seeing the thing. He â€Å"waives his right of seeing and knowing,† as Percy puts it, â€Å"and records symbols for the next forty years.