Free Essays on Buddhism

Buddhism Buddhism to me has always seemed to be something similar to that of a fairytale. Not knowing much about the religion, I couldn’t understand how you could live happily ever after by looking up to a fat guy and making weird chanting sounds to who knows who. Needless to say, for my exploration of culture, I chose Buddhism. To pursue my study, I attended a class at the Heruka Buddhist Center on October 17, and talked, afterwards, with a Western Buddhist nun, Gen Kelsang Losel, who came to Fort Collins from England for the center. The class was on contemplating the faults of attachments, a core belief among Buddhists. The session began with a half hour of meditation to relax the muscles of the body and release tension. Then for forty-five minutes she lectured. She talked about how all of our attachments and desires in our life lead us to pain and suffering. So in order to be happy, one must let go of our attachments. Following, was another session of meditation. Siddhartha Guatama, the founder of Buddhism, was born into a Hindu family where he was sheltered from pain and suffering. At age nineteen, he married his cousin and had had a son. At twenty-nine he left his wife and began a quest of inner illumination, recognizing that much of the world experiences suffering. Six years later he concluded that a life of self denial was futile. He sat under a tree and meditated for the first time, for this reason, Siddhartha was called Buddha which means enlightened one, and he realized that the cause of suffering was desire, attachment to material things. He spent the next forty years preaching the message of humility and compassion. He emphasized nirvana, which is what all Buddhists strive to achieve. It signifies the end of suffering and craving, the attainment of perfect peace. An Arahant is someone who has attained Nirvana. He said anyone can reach nirvana, by avoiding all extremes in accordance with the eightfold p... Free Essays on Buddhism Free Essays on Buddhism THE story of Gautama, the Buddha (the enlightened one), is well known. He expounded the four noble truths (Arya Satya) concerning suffering, its cause, its destruction and the way to the elimination of sorrow. He was against the extremes of both self-indulgence and self-mortification. A Middle Path was advocated consisting of right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right contemplation. He rejected the authority of the Vedas, condemned ritualistic practices, especially animal sacrifice, and denied the existence of gods. Buddhism flourished for more than a millennium and spread to foreign lands also. But a decline set in after the Golden Age of the Guptas (4th to 5th centuries AD). Foreign historians, with limited knowledge of Indian philosophical systems, have attributed the decline of Buddhism in the land of its birth to the advent of Adi Sankara. The 68th Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Math, Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, has effectively nailed this canard. According to him, Sankara was more concerned with setting right the errors in Saankhya and Meemaamsa philosophies of Hinduism which denied the importance of Isvara though basically subscribing to the Vedas. Even where he specifically dealt with Buddhism, he condemned only its denial of the existence of God. Then how did the religion decline? It was because of the vehement opposition to Buddhism on philosophical and religious grounds by Meemaamsakas and Taarkikas (logicians). The point is also that, even as people admired Buddha and turned to his religion, they did not give up their old beliefs and ritualistic practices. To give a contemporary example, many call themselves Gandhians but in their lives, official or personal, they follow a path just the opposite of what he showed! King Ashoka (2nd century BC) did much to propagate the religion within India and without. Still in his rock edicts ... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddhism was introduced from India into China in 6th Century AD. One of the Hen Emperors sent a mission to the west of China and brought back the scriptures, Indian monks and the images of Buddha. Since then Chinese translation was made available and the further exchange of scholars among China, India and other Asian countries brought about the rapid development of Buddhism in China. Buddhist monasteries and temples were built to promote the Buddhism and some of the Emperors were also the followers of Buddhism. Buddhism, just like Confucianism and Taoism, guides people to behave, to be honest and responsible. It promotes harmony and peaceful mind, sharing and compassion. Buddhists never force people into their belief. Buddhism emphasizes in "awakening of mind". Through learning, one will develop intellectual capacity to the fullest so as to understand, to love and be kind to other beings. Buddhism does not believe in God. It believes in People. In Buddhist teaching, there is no aggressive promotion of Buddhism or strong rejection of other religions. All these make Buddhism fall into the same scope of Confucianism and Taoist. Its ability to co-exist with any other religions makes it being developed into one of the largest religions in China. The basic Buddhist concepts base on Four Noble Truths: First Noble Truth - life is suffering mentally and physically in the forms of sickness, injuries, aging, death, tiredness, anger, loneliness, frustration, fear and anxiety, etc. Second Noble Truth - all these suffering are caused by craving. A self-centered person with continuous wanting from others will cause mental unhappiness. In turn, it will cause physical exhaust and fatigue in life. Third Noble Truth - all sufferings can be overcome and avoided. When one gives up endless wanting and endures problems that life evolves without fear, hatred and anger, happiness and freedom will then be obtained. Overcome the mentality of self-center a... Free Essays on Buddhism To summarise, once we are able to recognise what suffering really is, then we can start to remove its causes. To stop these activities that have no merits, we have to â€Å"dig out the root of defilement† (Cush, 1994). To eradicate personal defilement, one needs to remove their heart, which is this belief in a self. If one does that, then one will eventually come to realise the wisdom of non-self. Through understanding â€Å"the absence of a self, we should no longer create bad actions and bring an end to the whole process of ruining ourselves,† (Francesconni, 2001) and this is the cessation or end to suffering. We begin to see a prevailing optimism in Buddhism that the human spirit, with the right understanding of the self, can begin to make themselves pure of thought. The fourth noble truth is the path leading to the end of suffering. To achieve this, one must progressively go step by step, stage by stage in order to complete their journey. The Noble Eightfold Path is the set of actions and attitudes that can lead to the cessation of suffering. The eightfold path can be thought of as simply the Buddha’s handbook for attaining nirvana, â€Å"that mysterious state of pure consciousness in which suffering ceases because there is no Self to experience it.† (Sumedha, 2001). This state can be difficult for the western mind to describe and grasp, however, the idea behind it is pure and therefore should be seen as optimistic. High in the mountains of the Himalayas chants ring out from the Tibetan monastery. For most this is a dream-like vacation to a far away land. For some of the people who live in Tibet and India this is everyday life as a Buddhist. Buddhism revolves around a strict code of daily rituals and meditations. To an outsider they can seem mystical or even odd, but these are the paths to enlightenment and spiritual salvation. Throughout the centuries, Buddhism has evolved into a major religion in Asia and other parts of th... Free Essays on Buddhism Let’s begin with some text book terms of the eight fold path which include: 1. Right aspiration-which is to rid yourself of attachment and hate because the minds intentions are the key link. 2. Right speech is to not lie, or talk down about people because â€Å"bad speech† is instigation for wars or enemies. 3. Right action- is to do good deeds, not to go out and kill someone, steal, or commit â€Å"adultery† which is sexual misconduct. 4. Right livelihood- to avoid dishonesty and refrain from hurting all living things. 5. Right effort- to rid bad qualities, and do well, to develop compassion. 6. Right mindfulness- is to focus on what’s right, and to overcome ignorance/hate. 7. Right concentration- meditatecomplete focus of truly understanding the meaning of imperfection. 8. Right view- is to understand the four noble truths. The four noble truths that need to be understood are as followed: Life is suffering Suffering is due to attachment Attachment can be overcome There is a path for accomplishing this. I partially agree with the belief that â€Å"Life is suffering†. Yes, there are the rough points of life which you must suffer though. However, all that suffering eventfully leads to joy. You wouldn’t know what suffering was if you had never experienced happiness. Happiness is just an emotion, and emotions are not permanent. Therefore, the suffering or emotion you feel can not be permanent either because life will end at some point. Suffering may be do to attachment, but also you will receive happiness from whatever this attachment is. Attachment I feel can be over come to an extent. No matter how strong of a person you may be you’re still going to have a need or passion for something regardless. The eightfold path can not completely release all your need for attachment regardless how much you focus on doing good deeds or the â€Å"right actions†. Humans were created with a need for attachment or a commitmen... Free Essays on Buddhism The Bhagavad Gita is a very unique scripture. When I read it, it showed me in a very comprehensive way, the very soul of the ancient vedic religion of India. In its seven hundred verses, it holds a very important message for us and for all mankind to come. It contains a revelation of an age-old mystery of man (existence of universe and God). It gives us practical instructions on the processes for attaining God-experience. No wonder therefore, that all true seekers after divine experience praise the Gita as one of the most valuable treasures in the common wisdom-heritage of mankind in this world. For, it has a timeless message and its teachings are of eternal power. If studied in detail, Gita could make our daily life divine, and it would lift it up to a new physical and spiritual level. Gita explains that Lord, it seems, in His Infinite generosity, as though crazy in His maddening love for us, gave all of us an important gift at our birth. This very important treasure, freely offered to each one of us as 'His birthday present', has been, in our ignorance and innocence, often misused, sometimes abused, and almost never rightly applied. A 'hand-book of instructions' was needed to explain how best we can use our personality, and to give tips on how to get the best performance from our abilities. And that handbook, in Hinduism, is the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible or the Koran of the Hindus. I especially enjoyed chapter number three. This Chapter details the error of placing oneself outside the totality of creation, which defeats the purpose of every form of effort. Man within and the world without, and the Supreme Divine Principle above, are to be taken in their togetherness, which is the principle of right understanding. The application in life of this right knowledge is Karma Yoga, or the Yoga of Action. Most of us only react to compulsions of basic (primal) hungers and desires, and so we do not recognize the beauty of a selfless, and therefo... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddhism Buddism is one of the world`s fastest spreading religions. At this time there are 313 million Buddist in Asia. And approximatley 500 thousand in North America. Buddism is not just a religion, but a way of life. It is a religion that helps the people that beleive in it to, search the deepest recuses of their souls to find what the true way to peace is. Buddhism was founded by a wealthy prince, Siddhartha Gautam, of the Sakya clan. After many years of practicing Hinduism. At the age of 29 Gautam left the old Hindu traditions. For seven years he meditated and reflected on the evils of the earth. One day while sitting under a fig tree he received Enlightnment. he gained the title of the Budda. And disscovered the four noble truths. The four noble truths, were principles that Budda beleived would lead to true happiness. The first noble truth was. That all things and people suffer. The second is, people suffer, because they desire. The third is, that suffering will end once people let go of there desires. And the fourth noble truth is, that the only way to end craving is by following the eight fold path to perfection. There are four main types of Buddism. Theravada, Mahayana, Tantic, and Zen. Theravada is the oldest form of Buddism. And is to this day practiced by many Buddist monks. Mahayana is a popular form of Buddism in the West. Tantic combines both Theravada Buddism and Mahayana Buddism with indian practices. The last form of Buddism is Zen Buddism. Zen buddist put a great emphasize on contemplation. And strive for satori (a glimpse into enlightenment). In all Buddism is a search for peace in ones self. Through contimplation, meditation, the four noble truths and the eight fold path. As a person goes from a selfcentered existance to a existance of enlightenment, commpassion and thought. And after years of searching. It may payoff with the arrival at Nirvana. Th... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddhism Buddhism was developed from the teachings of the ,Buddha, Gautama (or Gotama) who lived as early as the 6th century BC. Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of the Eastern world and during the 20th century has spread to the West. Buddhist worship consists mainly in reciting prayers and sacred texts and chanting hymns to the accompaniment of horns, trumpets, and drums. For this worship, which takes place three times a day, the clergy are summoned by the tolling of a small bell and are seated in rows according to their rank. The supreme position is occupied by two lamas- namely, the Grand, or Dalai Lama, and the Panchen, or Bogodo, Lama. Before the Chinese invasion of the area in 1950, both lamas theoretically had the same authority, but in actuality the Dalai Lama, possessing a greater temporal jurisdiction, was considerably more powerful. Next in rank are the Hutukhtus, or spiritual dignitaries. The third order is that of the Hobilghans, or bodhisattvas, those who have undertaken various ethical and spiritual disciplines with a view to achieving Buddha hood, or complete enlightenment. These three orders constitute the so-called higher clergy, the members of which are regarded as the incarnations of Bud dhist saints. A lower clergy is recruited on the basis of probity and theological proficiency. The lower clergy has four orders: the novice, the assistant priest, the religious mendicant, and the teacher or abbot. The members of each order must take a vow of celibacy. Most live in monasteries. The scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism are divided into two great collections: the canon, or sacred books, and the exegetical commentary. The canon, consisting of counsels and injunctions of the Buddha rendered from Indian and Chinese texts, contains more than 1000 works, which in some editions fill more than 100 vol... Free Essays on Buddhism Introduction In considering all of the world’s religions, I chose to do my research and paper on Buddhism. I chose this religion because it seems very interesting to me, and also because Buddhism is a completely different religion than my own. I visited the An Lac Temple on Sunday September 28, 2003 from 10-12. It is a Mahayana Buddhist temple. My boyfriend went along with me on this visit. When we first arrived, we were greeted and I explained to them who I was and that we would be visiting their temple for the day and they kindly took us to a sister who could speak English and was happy to answer my questions. Her name was Thanhtrang and she proceeded to give us lots of information about their temple and the Buddhist religion. Location and Affiliation: The An Lac temple is located at 5249 E 30th Street in Indianapolis. The neighborhood that surrounds the temple appears to be pretty run down. In the area there are a lot of trailer courts and tattered homes. The temple has been there for 10 years and it consists of 2 house-like buildings. One of them is the actual temple and the other is a building in which teachings for the children are held and the dinner after the service also takes place there. The meal after the service takes place to remind them where the food came from and the hardships it took to get the food. They always know what they are eating and will eat the food even if they do not like it because it helps them practice not to discriminate, even with something as little as food. The purpose of the temple is to offer a place where people are able to come and learn about the Buddhist beliefs, and also to learn and to keep cultures from the country where they originated. The temple hopes that with their teachings, when their children grow up they will know virtues and not bring bad habits into the world. In schools, they never learn how to take care of his or her soul. In the working world, all people care about ... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddhism Buddhism to me has always seemed to be something similar to that of a fairytale. Not knowing much about the religion, I couldn’t understand how you could live happily ever after by looking up to a fat guy and making weird chanting sounds to who knows who. Needless to say, for my exploration of culture, I chose Buddhism. To pursue my study, I attended a class at the Heruka Buddhist Center on October 17, and talked, afterwards, with a Western Buddhist nun, Gen Kelsang Losel, who came to Fort Collins from England for the center. The class was on contemplating the faults of attachments, a core belief among Buddhists. The session began with a half hour of meditation to relax the muscles of the body and release tension. Then for forty-five minutes she lectured. She talked about how all of our attachments and desires in our life lead us to pain and suffering. So in order to be happy, one must let go of our attachments. Following, was another session of meditation. Siddhartha Guatama, the founder of Buddhism, was born into a Hindu family where he was sheltered from pain and suffering. At age nineteen, he married his cousin and had had a son. At twenty-nine he left his wife and began a quest of inner illumination, recognizing that much of the world experiences suffering. Six years later he concluded that a life of self denial was futile. He sat under a tree and meditated for the first time, for this reason, Siddhartha was called Buddha which means enlightened one, and he realized that the cause of suffering was desire, attachment to material things. He spent the next forty years preaching the message of humility and compassion. He emphasized nirvana, which is what all Buddhists strive to achieve. It signifies the end of suffering and craving, the attainment of perfect peace. An Arahant is someone who has attained Nirvana. He said anyone can reach nirvana, by avoiding all extremes in accordance with the eightfold p... Free Essays on Buddhism Primitive man found himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him. Finding no security, he created the idea of gods in order to give him comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a god or gods gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will hear them explain that they believe in a particular god because they prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this seems to support the Buddha’s teaching that the god-idea is a response to fear and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we cannot change. He replaced fear, not w ith irrational belief but with rational understanding. The second reason the Buddha did not believe in a god is because there does not seem to be any evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming that they alone have god’s words preserved in their holy book, that they alone understand god’s nature, that their god exists and that the gods of other religions do not. Some claim that god is masculine, some that she is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their god but they laugh in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of another god. It is not surprising that with so many different religions spending so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their gods that still no real, concrete, substantial or irrefutable evidence has been found. Buddhists suspend judgement until such evidence is forthcoming. The third reason t... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddha taught that in order to live a life that is free from pain and suffering people must eliminate any attachments to worldly goods. Only then will they gain a kind of peace and happiness. They must rid themselves of greed, hatred, and ignorance. They strive to cultivate four attitudes, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The basic moral code prohibits killing, stealing, harmful language, sexual misbehavior, and the use of intoxicants. Morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration form the cornerstone of Buddhist faith. By observing these, lust, hatred, and delusion may be overcome. This is known as Nirvana. It is a realistic goal only for members of the monastic community. The most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. They were identified by their shaved heads and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. Many early monks wandered from place to place, settling down only during the rainy season when traveling was difficult. The Buddhist have lasted because they have the ability to adapt to changing conditions and to a variety of cultures. Monks are expected to live a life of poverty, meditation, and study. They must avoid all sexual activity. They devote themselves to work, study, and prayer. They all dress in special robes. Monks play an important part in preserving and spreading Buddhism.... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddha taught that in order to live a life that is free from pain and suffering people must eliminate any attachments to worldly goods. Only then will they gain a kind of peace and happiness. They must rid themselves of greed, hatred, and ignorance. They strive to cultivate four attitudes, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The basic moral code prohibits killing, stealing, harmful language, sexual misbehavior, and the use of intoxicants. Morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration form the cornerstone of Buddhist faith. By observing these, lust, hatred, and delusion may be overcome. This is known as Nirvana. It is a realistic goal only for members of the monastic community. The most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. They were identified by their shaved heads and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. Many early monks wandered from place to place, settling down only during the rainy season when traveling was difficult. The Buddhist have lasted because they have the ability to adapt to changing conditions and to a variety of cultures. Monks are expected to live a life of poverty, meditation, and study. They must avoid all sexual activity. They devote themselves to work, study, and prayer. They all dress in special robes. Monks play an important part in preserving and spreading Buddhism.... Free Essays on Buddhism â€Å"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religions for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology, it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.† (Albert Einstein) Known as one of the world’s great religions, it is professed by over 3500,000,000 people, most of whom live in the Far East. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama, who is more commonly known as Buddha, the â€Å"Enlightened One†. It was developed during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE around 535 BCE, which was the date Siddharta Gautama reached enlightenment and became the Buddha. The Buddhist doctrine of tolerance, pacifism, and the spiritual equality of all men has been a great civilizing influence in the far East. It has adapted itself to the impact of the West, and its insights have in turn in fluenced many Western thinkers. Buddhism is based on a rational analysis of man’s condition, and it attempts to show the way to salvation. Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later be known as Buddha, was born in Lumbini, Nepal around the year 563 BC. He was the son of two important great people. Siddhartha’s father’s name was Shuddhodana, the King of the Sakyas. His mother, Queen Maya, was a lady â€Å"of perfect form and bee-black tresses, fearless in heart and full of grace and virtue.† Siddhartha got his name from one of his mother’s dreams. Her dream was that an elephant with 6 tusks, carrying a lotus flower in its trunk, touched the right side of Queen Maya’s body. That was when Siddhartha was miraculously conceived. When she told her husband about her dream, he called Brahmins, or learned men to interpret it. They predicted that the child one-day would be the greatest king in the world or the greatest ascetic in the world. So that’s why they called him Siddhartha,... Free Essays on Buddhism Buddhism is one of the biggest religion founded in India in the 6th and 5th cent. B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. One of the great Asian religions, it teaches the practice of and the observance of moral precepts. The basic doctrines include the four noble truths taught by the Buddha. Since it was first introduced into China from India, Buddhism has had a history which has been characterized by periods of sometimes awkward and irregular development. This has mainly been the result of the clash of two cultures, each with a long history of tradition. Most of the difficulties have arisen due to the transplanting of an Indian religious/philosophical system onto a culture strongly dominated by indigenous secular, philosophical and religious systems. In spite of these difficulties, Chinese Buddhism has come to have an important influence on the growth and development of Buddhism in general and this has occurred largely because of its own innovatory contributions.(Eliade, M. p .16-29) The spread of Buddhism into China began in Central Asia and was facilitated by the efforts of the Indo-Scythian king Kanishka (Encyclopedia Britt. 273-274) of the Kushan dynasty which ruled in northern India, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia in the 1st and 2nd centuries (Encyclopedia Britt. 274). He is said to have undergone an Ashoka-like conversion upon seeing the slaughter caused by his campaigns. Around the beginning of the common era, Buddhism started to filter into China from Central Asia via the Silk Road, brought by monks, merchants and other travelers. It also entered later via trade routes around and through Southeast Asia. It was nurtured in the expatriate community of Loyang and other northern cities. (The Encyclopedia of Religion p58-62) Siddhartha (Buddha) was born around 563 B.C.E. in the town of Kapilavastu, located in today's Nepal. Siddhartha's parents were King Shuddhodana and Queen Maya, who ruled the Sakyas. His history is...

Free sample - BOCHK Risk Management and Financial Performance. translation missing

BOCHK Risk Management and Financial Performance. BOCHK Risk Management and Financial PerformanceBank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK) The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK) is among the largest commercial banking groups in Hong Kong. The Bank has over 300 branches. Despite the Bank’s magnitude and systemic risk management, it witnessed a decline in operational income and suffered a negative shock in 2008. Thus, it is critical to analyze the Company’s risk management policies, the measurement and management risk, and comparing the 2008 results with the previous year’s results. The annual comparisons will utilize the Company’s calculated ROE, and will be critical in understanding the Bank’s performance relative to the earlier periods.  Ã‚  Ã‚   I. Overall Risk Management The Bank for International Settlements (2004) provides guidelines for conducting interest risk management. Additionally, it provides the measures that can be used in managing the overall risk to a financial institution. The analysis of BOCHK will be based on the standards provided in the above book. The aim of the analysis will be to determine whether, the company adheres to the international standards of risk management. BOCHK’s 2008 report indicates that BOCHK’s risk-management governance structure is structured to cover the entire operations of the business. The Bank adopts a swift and prudent manner in managing its various risk exposures. The risk management structure meets the standards stipulated by BIS. Initially, the report indicates that to align the management strategies with the corporate strategies the Chief Risk Officer (CFO) reports directly to the Risk Committee and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). CFO’s responsibilities are to ensure the proper implementation of policies and procedures and oversee the effective management and control of risk. The Bank publishes reports on a regular basis; this guarantees a timely assessment of the effectiveness of the risk control strategies. The determination of the effectiveness of the risk control measures lies with the Board of Directors. Additionally, the independent operation between the business units and the risk assessme nt units complies with the principle of segregation of duties. Independence is both sufficient and necessary for risk management (Khambata , Dara 2006). However, BIS requires that risk control functions report directly to the Board of Directors. Otherwise, there is a risk that the CRO and CEOmay conspire to fake the risk management reports; this would impair the objectivity of the risk management system. Secondly, BOCHK’s principal banking subsidiaries Nanyang and Chiyu, execute their risk management strategies independently. They adopt similar risk management strategies with their parent company and report to BOCHK’s management on a regular basis. Additionally, the company’s 2004 report indicates that the Bank utilizes stress testing. Stress testing is a risk management tool used in estimating risk exposure under stressed conditions, which arise from extreme but plausible macroeconomic conditions.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Bank’s information systems are well established to provide timely reports within different levels of management. The CRO stipulates specific procedures concerning the promotion of new products and activities. In addition, BOCHK prudently enacts and administers operating limits so that risk exposures are consistent with internal policies. However, the mere existence of risk management mechanisms does not guarantee sufficiency or effectiveness. Enforcement of risk control policies should be applied to ensure an efficient risk management system. II. Measurement and Management of Credit Risk According to note 4 of BOCHK’s 2008 financial statements, BOCHK manages two broad classes of assets: loans and advances, and debt securities and derivatives. The Company’s overall assets exposure to credit risk in 2008 was HK$1,364,462 million. This figure includes HK$1,111,073 million on-balance-sheet exposures and HK$253,389 million off-balance-sheet exposures. To safeguard its corporate interest, BOCHK should manage the credit risk that is related to these assets in a prudent manner, especially during a financial crisis. This part of the report will investigate how BOCHK measures and manages credit risk of these assets. To minimize the credit risk BOCHK adopted credit approval policies and procedures (BOCHK, 2008). These measures are evaluated and updated by the risk management department and other relevant departments. Regarding the loans and advances, BOCHK adopts different credit control procedures and credit grading systems depending on the level of risk exposure to the customers. Additionally, the Company utilizes bank scorecard for financial institutions, credit-scoring system for retail credit transactions, and small business credit scorecard for small firms. BOCHK identifies credit concentration risk by industry, customer, geographically, and counterparty risk. For instance, the Bank’s â€Å"classified or impaired† advances are HK$1,792 million in Hong Kong, HK$323 million in Mainland China, and HK$23 million elsewhere. Besides, loans and advances are classified in five categories to improve the Bank’s ability to identify and assess credit risk: â€Å"pass,† †Å"special mention,† â€Å"substandard,† â€Å"doubtable,† and â€Å"loss.† For example, the total assets marked as substandard or below the high-risk category, accounted for 0.08% (HK$379 million). As for debt securities and securitized assets, the 2008 report indicates that BOCHK adopts external credit rating systems, such as Moody’s, to manage the Bank’s credit risk. Moody’s ratings for 2008 showed that 19.34% of BOCHK’s debt securities rated as â€Å"AAA† compared to 2.36% â€Å"lower than A3† debt securities. Particularly, BOCHK applied a comprehensive methodology to establish whether a certain asset/mortgage backed security, (ABS/MBS) is impaired. This was determined based on such factors as the mark-to-market price, external rating, and delinquencies. In addition to these factors, ABS/MBS are further required to pass the credit enhancement coverage ratio set by BOCHK. To manage credit risk in a dynamic market environment, the Bank has established policies, procedures, and appropriate credit risk limits. The corporate organization structure should define a clear line of authority and responsibility for supervising compliance with relevant rules (Khambata , Dara 2006). BOCHK’s Credit Risk Assessment Committee takes charge of assessing all credit-scoring facilities and reviewing reports submitted by risk management units independently. In addition, Khambata , Dara (2006) argue that collateral is another key element to manage credit risk. An independent appraiser determines the value of collateral for acquiring a new loan. Thus, the value of collateralized loans is determined based on the loan-to-value ratio limits. Additionally, BOCHK revalues and manages its collaterals periodically. BOCHK documents the acceptance criteria, the validity of collateral, and the revaluation of collateral on a regular basis. This is done to watch the status of co llateral. III. Financial Performance Comparison According to the 2008 reports, BOCHK’s ROA and ROE were 0.26% and 3.56% in 2008, and 1.48% and 16.64% in 2007 respectively. Additionally, BOCHK’s Profit Margin declined in 2008 to 5.97% compared to 24.24% in 2007. These were substantial declines within a year; they were attributed to the increase in impairment charges on the US non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities and other securities investment. Furthermore, a significant increase in Provision for loan losses/Total operating income from 2.22% to 24.95% and a dramatic decline in the investment-related commission income produced a negative impact on the Company’s profit in 2008. The sluggish investment environment that resulted from the global financial crisis led to increments in the provision for loan losses. As customers steered clear from the investment products, the investment, and insurance fee income decreased by 34.3% to HK$2,964 million. Note 12 shows that the net charge of impairment allowances increased from HK$1,448 in 2007 to HK$ 12, 573 in 2008. Despite the bleak financial environment, the ineffective credit risk management was still to blame for the sudden increase in loan impairment losses. From the perspective of overall risk management, it can be suggested that BOCHK should undertake more strict stress testing measures and scenario analysis to predict the sensitivity of risk factors with various degrees of severity. References Bank for International Settlements. (2004). Triennial Central Bank Survey: Foreign  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity in 2004. BOCHK. (2008). Financial Report 2008. Khambata, M., Dara, Y. (2006). The Performance of Multinational Banking: Macro-Policy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Issues and Key International Concepts. (2nd ed.). New York: Quorum Books.

Hemingway and Cezanne - Sharing a Vision Research Paper

Hemingway and Cezanne - Sharing a Vision - Research Paper Example In particular, the unique connection between Ernest Hemingway and Paul Cezanne is manifested through their inclination to the simplicity of presentation and complexity of inner meaning. Even a person who opens any book written by Hemingway for the first time feels that it will be a completely new and unique experience. Having read at least one page of any of his masterpieces, one understands what the matter is. In the heart of the writer's uniqueness and unusualness, which may seem to be even strangeness for some people, is his writing style. Hemingways technique is really simple, and it is this simplicity that stands out in all his works. This technique was developed by the author during his career as a journalist. In accordance with Wainwright, simplicity, and clarity of his writing style is manifested through plain grammar, austere word choice, accessible and understandable language, and unembellished description. Perhaps, a perfect word that describes Hemingways writing style is â€Å"clean† for, in his pieces, he uses simple and rhythmic sentences focused mostly on the representation of bold actions rather than vast descriptions. The simplicity of Ernest Hemingways writing style is also in the way he presents information to the reader. In this case, it is necessary to mention the so-called â€Å"iceberg principle† utilized by the writer in all his works. He does tell much about or even does not tell at all about what a particular character feels and/or thoughts. He omits such delicate things, presents readers with mere facts and actions and makes them figure out what he implies. He does it in such a masterful way that the audience grasps the hidden meaning as if the writer stated it directly. The way Paul Cezanne created his masterpieces is regarded as a unique case in the history of art.  

Gas Turbine Engine Compressors - Comparison Essay

Gas Turbine Engine Compressors - Comparison - Essay Example Its working fluid is air. The compressor then utilizes the mechanical energy that is imparted from outside so as to enhance static pressure head. In its configuration, it has four basic components: an inlet, impeller, a diffuser and a collector. The impeller increases the velocity of the fluid (Kerrebrock, 1992). In its working, the impeller rotates with a shaft and the casing which encloses the impeller. Due to this rotation, fluid is forced into the inlet as a result of the upstream pressure. As the impeller rotates, fluid moves to the discharge side. Movement of fluid to the discharge side creates a void. This implies that there is reduced pressure at the inlet of the impeller. There is pressure development in the compressor casing inlet. This provides additional air (fluid) into the impeller so as to fill the void (Carl, 2002). On reaching the impeller, the entering fluid flows along the impeller vanes. The fluid velocity increases as it progresses. Fluid at the impeller tip outlet is at maximum velocity. Fluid then enters the casing and expansion of the cross section area occurs. Diffusion occurs in the diffuser as fluid velocity reduces. The diffuser converts the high velocity (kinetic energy) of the fluid into pressure by increasingly diffusing the velocity of the gas. All these lead to the increase in the pressure of fluid (static pressure/ potential energy). This follows the Bernoulli’s principle (Carl, 2002). The final component of the centrifugal compressor is the collector. This is the chamber where diffuser discharges. Axial compressors are aerofoil based compressors utilizing rotatory movement. In the axial compressors, the working fluid flows in a parallel direction to the rotation axis. Axial flow compressors are capable of generating high pressure ratio on a single shaft. Several axial flow stages are combined so as to lead to high pressure ratios. Therefore, the axial flow compressor

Pay Equity In Labor Force Movement Essay Example for Free

Pay Equity In Labor Force Movement Essay Debates about women’s rights at work and the gendered dimensions of employment inequality were notable and contested features of Canadian political discourse throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Concern about these issues took root during the 1940s, when women experienced dramatic shifts in their employment opportunities as a result of being drawn into and later jettisoned from the reserve army of wartime labor. Pressure to improve women’s employment conditions, particularly in the burgeoning public sector, recurred in the mid-1950s. However, it was in the 1960s, once the second wave of feminism took root in Canada, that women began to develop a sustained critique of the employment inequalities they experienced and pressure their governments to address the problem through policy innovation and change. (Westhues, 45-58) From the outset of second-wave feminism, women advanced analyses of employment inequality that took account of their labor in both the public and domestic spheres. As Brockman noted, activists â€Å"drew attention, as had never been done before, to the fundamental incompatibility between reproductive labor and child care, on the one hand, and paid work on the other, as well as to the profound consequences of this incompatibility. † (Brockman, 78-93) While liberal, radical, and socialist feminists approached this issue from different ideological vantage points, they shared a common belief that the causes of gender inequality in employment were not rooted solely in the workplace. Only, they claimed, if questions about women’s employment in the public sphere were addressed in tandem with questions about their labor in the domestic sphere would the gendered dimensions of employment inequality be fully understood. In particular, feminists thought that women’s maternal work had to be recognized in discussions about promoting gender equality in the workplace. As Westhues, a well-known socialist feminist, once argued, â€Å"As long as women have the primary responsibility for maintenance of the home and for child care, we will be less than able to pursue job opportunities and our domestic commitments will be used to justify discriminatory employment practices. † (Westhues, 45-58) Growing awareness of the need to link questions about production and reproduction in analyses of women’s economic position was by no means unique to Canadian feminism. It was, for example, well established in the early writing of second-wave feminists in Britain and the United States. What did, however, distinguish Canadian feminists from their counterparts in these other liberal democracies was an ability to work together, despite ideological differences, in order to advance this double-edged critique of gender inequality in employment. Right from the start of the contemporary women’s movement, Canadian feminists engaged with the state, demanding policies that recognized the link between women’s employment opportunities and the provision of child care. Canadian feminists lobbied both federal and provincial governments about the need to improve women’s employment opportunities and expand the provision of child care. It was in the federal arena, however, that women (outside Quebec) focused their demands for the development of policies that acknowledged the link between these two issues. In some respects, this federal focus was surprising. After all, only one-tenth of the Canadian labor force is regulated by the federal government, and even at the start of second-wave feminism both federal and provincial governments had been involved in employment opportunity and child care initiatives. Moreover, even though the federal government has the constitutional capacity to use its spending power to underwrite the provision of state-subsidized child care, it is the provinces that retain constitutional control over the delivery of this service. The federal focus of women’s campaigns was encouraged by the fact that the renaissance of Canadian feminism occurred within the context of a broader social project to achieve universal welfare guarantees, assured by the Canadian state. It was reinforced by the government of Canada’s decision to establish the 1967 Royal Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW) to inquire how best the federal government could ensure that women enjoyed â€Å"equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society. † It has since been sustained by the work of activists in national organizations, in particular the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC), founded in 1972, and the Canadian Day Care Advocacy Association (CDCAA), established in 1982 and renamed the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) in 1992. However, despite a long history of feminist engagement with the federal state, women’s repeated campaigns for the development of policies to address the double-edged nature of gender inequality in employment, and the clear recognition of these demands in reports of royal commissions and task forces, the federal policy response has been uneven. Policies to eradicate sex discrimination at work and promote women’s employment opportunities have been developed and implemented in the federal policy sphere. By contrast, the federal government has not developed policies to promote a publicly funded system of child care in order to enhance women’s employment opportunities, save as emergency measures during the Second World War or as an element of broader initiatives to get â€Å"welfare mothers† out to work. Instead it has treated child care as a fiscal issue for which parents can receive subsidies through federal taxation. This paper examines why a double-edged interpretation of women’s employment inequality, which recognizes the public and domestic dimensions of women’s work, has not been fully absorbed into federal policies to promote gender equality in the sphere of employment. The analysis follows the development of debates about women’s rights at work from the period of reconstruction after the Second World War, when questions about eradicating employment discrimination against worker-citizens first emerged in Canadian political debate, through to the close of the twentieth century. It examines federal policy developments under Liberal and Conservative governments, showing that even though the reports of federal royal commissions and task forces encoded feminist demands for a double-edged attack on employment inequality, questions about promoting women’s employment equality and child care were continually driven apart in the federal policy process. Women’s Paid and Caring Work  While this is by no means the first time that scholars have considered the relationship between Canadian women’s work inside and outside the home, it is noticeable how the link between these two aspects of women’s labor was explored by historians and sociologists before being addressed by analysts of public policy. In the late 1970s, members of the Women’s History Collective at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the Clio Collective in Montreal pioneered research in Canada on how women’s labor had shifted from the unpaid domestic sphere into the world of paid employment. In the process, they unearthed textual and oral histories that demonstrated how, despite this transition, women still faced the double bind of a double-day in which they went out to work for pay and home to work for love. Their findings were reinforced in late 1970s and 1980s by sociological analyses of women’s work arguing that because women so often entered employment while maintaining primary responsibility for the care of their children, they frequently found themselves concentrated in low-paid, low-status employment. Despite the fact that historians, sociologists, and feminist activists drew attention to the â€Å"double ghetto† of women’s working lives, discussions about policies to promote women’s employment opportunities and improve the provision of child care evolved as distinct scholarly debates. The literature on policies to promote Canadian women’s employment opportunities emerged within the context of broader discussions and debates about the development of policies to root out discrimination in the workplace. By contrast, the literature on Canadian child care policy evolved around questions about the development, cost, and politics of implementing public policies to promote the welfare, education, care, and development of young children. In recent years, however, policy analysts have paid much greater attention to the link between women’s paid and caring work. Jacobs, 120-128) Nonetheless, no one has yet considered why Canadian government policies to promote women’s employment opportunities and improve the provision of child care have been developed at such different rates and, despite repeated calls to the contrary, not linked in the design of public policies to promote gender equality in federally regulated employment. This pattern of inquiry is understandable, given the discrete historical development of policies concerned with child care and those concerned with women’s employment. However, it unduly limits our understanding of the gendered dimensions of employment inequality in Canada and fails to capture the empirical reality of many women’s working lives. Double-Edged Nature of Women’s Employment Inequality Why did women’s double-edged demand for equal employment opportunities and child care emerge in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s? After all, from the mid-1950s Canada experienced one of the fastest rates of labor force feminization in the Western industrialized world. The decline of manufacturing industries and the concomitant growth of the tertiary sector in the 1950s and 1960s meant that while industries that had traditionally attracted men closed down, those demanding support skills that had long characterized women’s traditional domestic roles expanded. Moreover, in countries like Canada, where welfare states were being established, the growth in women’s employment intensified most quickly. The much trumpeted rise in female labor force participation rates did not, however, mean that women engaged in paid employment on the same terms as men. The occupational segregation of Canadian men and women persisted in both horizontal and vertical forms. In fact, this process intensified with the increased participation of women in the paid labor force. As a result, the vast majority of women found themselves working in poorly paid occupations, situated in the lower echelons of private companies and public sector organizations. Moreover, as Jacobs have noted, although the creation of welfare states meant that â€Å"women as a group had more employment opportunities open up for them than men† in the mid-twentieth century, the growth in women’s employment was in the part-time sector of the labor force, which was increasingly dominated by women in all OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Jacobs, 120-128) This simply intensified the inequalities of employment opportunity that women experienced because part-time work is concentrated in the least-skilled, lowest-paid, and most poorly organized sections of the labor force, where benefits are usually more limited than in the full-time sector. The rapid growth in women’s participation in part-time rather than fulltime employment reflects two other factors about the feminization of the Canadian labor force. On the one hand, it relates to the type of work that the service sector has generated and to the increasing flexibility demanded of its employees. On the other hand, it reflects the fact that the greatest increase in female labor force participation rates since the 1960s has been among women with young children. In the early 1960s, most female employees in Canada would leave the workforce when their first child was born and return only when their youngest child had entered school. By the mid-1980s most women with young children went out to work. Indeed, as Pendakur have noted, â€Å"By 1991 all traces of the reproduction function had disappeared with female labor force participation rates peaking in the major family-rearing age categories†. The double burden that women experience from juggling their employment while continuing to care for their children has been reinforced by the limited provision of subsidized child care spaces in Canada. In the late 1960s, when women began to pressure the federal government to address the minimal provision of child care for working women, federal subsidies for child care were limited to support for welfare mothers under the 1966 Canada Assistance Plan. This pattern changed very little in the course of the twentieth century, although federal subsidies to support child care for low-income families became increasingly tied to efforts to get mothers receiving welfare out to work. Although recent federal publications on the status of day care in Canada boast â€Å"a twenty-five-fold increase† in child care spaces since the government first gathered these data in 1971, in fact the proportion of children of working mothers who have access to regulated child care remains very low. As a result, most working parents remain highly dependent on informal, unregulated child care. Indeed, as Brockman noted, in the mid-1990s â€Å"children in informal child care arrangements accounted for eighty per cent of all child care used by parents in Canada. † (Brockman, 78-93) The federal state in Canada has addressed questions about promoting equal employment opportunities for men and women in the public sphere with relative ease but has failed to recognize that this project cannot be achieved without addressing the questions of child care that affect so many women’s working lives. While the reasons for this are complex, some insights from feminist theory may help us to begin this exploration. In recent years, a number of feminist theorists have discussed how the concept of worker-citizenship that took root as welfare states were developed in countries such as Canada did not take account of the different contexts in which women and men often assumed employment. (Pendakur, 111-120) As a result, when questions about promoting equal employment opportunities for men and women began to emerge in the 1950s and ’60s, they were framed in terms of women achieving the same opportunities as men. Indeed, Canadian have tried to develop a more nuanced concept of worker citizenship that not only respects the objective of equality of opportunity but also takes workers’ particular circumstances into account and, in the case of women, enables them to integrate their paid and caring work better. In the process, women have argued that a state that upholds the principle of gender equality must develop policies that take account of the interconnectedness of the public and domestic spheres and recognize the different contexts in which men and women often assume employment. Conclusion Nonetheless, although Canadian feminists have a long history of active engagement with the state, developed through a â€Å"visible and articulate women’s movement† that has successfully placed issues on the political agenda, the result, more often than not, has been that their demands have been contained within a limited set of reforms. As a result, those aspects of gender discrimination in the workplace that concern practices within the public sphere have been acknowledged through the introduction of anti-discrimination and employment equity policies. By contrast, women have had more difficulty getting their proposals for policies that transcend the public/ private divide, by linking questions of equal employment opportunity with those of child care, acknowledged in the federal policy arena. Despite their efforts to forge these links through two major royal commissions and other government inquiries, problems of gender inequality in employment are still primarily defined as issues located within the public sphere of employment. Without doubt, over the past thirty years there have been clear improvements in the position of women in the federally regulated section of the Canadian labor force. Nonetheless, women continue to cluster in the lower echelons of companies and organizations and remain under-represented in more senior positions. While this persistent pattern of inequality has many causes, paper shows how it reflects a federal policy process that concentrates on ensuring the comparable treatment of male and female employees once they have entered the labor market, yet, for complex reasons, repeatedly stalls on developing a more expansive approach to child care. As a result, federal policies to promote gender equality in the sphere of employment neglect the inequalities of access and participation that many women experience as they continue or resume employment once they have dependent children.

Dickens employs a rich variety of settings and characters to embody :: English Literature

Dickens employs a rich variety of settings and characters to embody the continual struggle between darkness and light central to his novel Great Expectations. Examine how the author has captured this symbolic battle â€Å"Great Expectations† By Charles Dickens Dickens employs a rich variety of settings and characters to embody the continual struggle between darkness and light central to his novel Great Expectations. Examine how the author has captured this symbolic battle, and how it has been dramatically linked to Pip’s ever-changing fortunes. Dickens captures the symbolic battle between the darkness and the light by employing a wide diversity of settings and characters to represent the ever-changing situations that Pip is in. The characters are always correlated to the background to convey the lessons that Dickens wants to show and he uses the characters to (more or less) tell the story, which gives the novel an almost theatrical, feel like the backgrounds are painted to suit the event. The author makes it easy for us to imagine the setting which creates these very dramatic, colourful backdrops in our imagination, by creating the mood and the atmosphere of the book. A continual question that is kept throughout the story is whether Pip’s aggressive side has anything to do with his working class background and how uneducated he is? As the reader we can only conclude this question right at the end of the novel, when Pip essentially aspires to his â€Å"Great Expectations† and his new status. Pip has two sides to his ever-changing character, a good side and a bad side which is very much influenced by where he is or what is happening. It becomes clear as the novel progresses that whenever Pip is with Mr Joe Gargery his, loving, kind side is always brought out. Joe is always linked to the brighter side of nature, a man who never thinks or talks ill of anyone. It is Joe’s influence and presence that is evidently replicated upon Pip in this quote â€Å"There I stood, for minutes, looking at Joe, already at work with a glow of health and strength upon his face that made it show as if the bright sun of the life in store for him were shining on it.† Whereas whenever Pip is in the company of Miss Havisham who is forever linked to darkness, death and decay †I saw Miss Havisham going along it in a ghostly manner, making a low cry†, â€Å"She sat, corpse-like† we are given the impression that Pip becomes torn between the two different worlds. This is due to the fact there is this bright star, Estella who brings light into

If Dory Had Gone Against Maria’s Wishes Essay

Jack would respond in the affirmative and then, according to Dory, the â€Å"bed would squeak†. Emma wanted to believe that she was living in a fairy-tale and she so she did, refusing to let anyone tell her otherwise. Mrs. Robinson tried to tell Emma that her husband was being unfaithful, and Emma refused to believe. Though Emma had all right not to believe Mrs. Robinson, the fact still remained that Mrs. Robinson was unable to convince Emma of Jack’s infidelity. If Mrs. Robinson could not convince Emma that all was not right in her relationship with her husband, how would Dory, an eight year old girl who did not fully understand the workings of the adult world, be able to convince Emma that Jack was being unfaithful. Emma would have told Dory that she did not understand what she was talking about, and demand to know where she had received her information. When Dory had revealed her source, which she undoubtedly would because of her love for Emma and need to please her, Emma would no doubt have confronted Mrs. Robinson. That confrontation would only have put the altercation between Emma and Mrs. Robinson at a different setting. Emma would still have refused to believe that she was not the only woman in Jack York’s life. Mrs. Robinson would still have set up the â€Å"chance† meeting among Emma, Jack and the lady at the train station. Emma would still have reacted the way she did, and would still have died. It is therefore safe for me to say, that based on my analysis of the short story, Emma, as well as looking at the most likely outcomes for a slight change in the plot of the story, if Dory had told her mother about the lady at the train station, the outcome of the story would have probably been the same.

Life and Work of Ed Clark Essay

Hailed from the Storyville in the state of New Orleans, Edward Clark had made his imprint to the Visual and Arts field of the African American History. Born on 1926, he studied at Art Institute of Chicago for his four years degree from year 1947 to 1951. After he finished his bachelor’s degree, he studied again in Paris at L’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere during the year 1952. In his years in Paris, the academe where he was into influenced him a lot to pursue more and one his talent in painting and arts. His instructor named Edouard Georg of the L’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, encouraged him to paint and make arts works and pieces. But before his study in Paris, he already received good words and encouragement from his instructor in Art Institute of Chicago named Louis Ritman. However, though much appreciated by Clark, neither of the two had become inspiration for him to make his own work. It was the painting entitled â€Å"The Football Game† created by Nicolas de Stael. He had seen the painting when he was in Paris the same year 1952 in an exhibit in Salon d’Automne. After he lived in Paris, France, he came back to New York to continue his art profession and career. Clark became one of the charter members of the Tenth Street’s Brata gallery. This was where the works of the famous artists like Sal Romano and John Krushenick were displayed and shown. Also, the works of George Sugarman, Al Held, and Ronald Bladen were shown there. During the year 1957, his work with a shaped canvass had been displayed on the same gallery where he had been a member in a Christmas group show. It was described in an article of Lawrence Campbell on Art News as the first and one of its kind. His works for over the five decades of being an abstract artist have been known internationally. With his work displayed in 1957 in the Brata gallery, which was a work in a shaped canvass, he was the very first painter to be credited having an innovated work. In time, his kind of work had influenced the contemporary art during the years of 1950 and 1960. He became known of his works in large-shaped canvasses, his strong impact brush strokes, and his choice of colors in every masterpiece he made. And because of these things about him and he had made, he had been called as an â€Å"Abstract Impressionist. Aside from the work that had been exhibited at Brata gallery, another work of Clark made him famous was the one that had been placed and displayed at his Alma Mater Art Institute of Chicago. This work of Clark belonged to the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. After his very successful career as abstract artist in New York, he came back in France where he made his very first oval painting. To date, this was almost a decade after he firstly done his push broom technique in making his masterpieces. With his push broom technique, he was able to move himself freely while painting on the canvass, as a result, his strokes were big and bolded, and these made him more different among other abstract artist. Clark was always open for new creation and styles of his work. Aside from the push broom technique that he had first used, he also used the method similar to â€Å"pouring sand. † However, it was just inspired by the mentioned method and Clark made use of the dry pigments, this time on the paper instead on large canvass. During his times, it was the post war years of realism and years of abstraction. Also, the paintings of other artists were concentrated on the civil rights issue and racial clamors between the white men and black men. Clark, though addressed almost the same issue, had delivered his works in a very different, although he was using large canvasses alike with other artists that time. After the 1950s, it was the Black Arts Movement and Abstraction that hounded the field of visual and arts. Black men asserted their culture authority in line with the civil rights they were asserting on the past decade. Clark also belonged to these artist where African American Arts were much honed.

Meese judical deregulation essays

Meese judical deregulation essays Reading Edwin Meese the Thirds A Jurisprudence of Original Intention reminded me of a literary theory and a group of literary critics that were big back in mid 20th century America. This theory and these critics to a certain extent attempted to do with the readings of poems what Meese wants to do with the reading of the Constitution. Both seek to deregulate reading. The New Critics and New Criticism sought to free the poem from biographical-historical constraints. The life of the author and the time and place in which the poem was written and subsequently read should have no relevance. Readings should be based only on what is there, printed on the page. This view of reading was partly supported by another notion, that of the intentional fallacy: since you can never for sure know the intention of an author in composing his or her text (indeed, the author cannot even be sure of his or her own intentions if we grant the existence of an unconscious), we should abandon the attempt to base a reading solely on intention. Now, the intentional fallacy seems at first glance at odds with Meeses position because one would expect him to use it at as an argument for a rigid construction of the Constitution. But in fact Meese is at some pains in his article to emphasize that we can know the authors of the constitution intentions. This contradiction, however, is only apparent and quickly resolved when we remember that Meese would also have us rigidly construct the Founders intentions. And note how when he stresses that these intentions can be known, he cites texts that themselves are susceptible to various readings. In other words, a rigid reading of both the constitution and of the authors intentions is what Meese is arguing for. He would have us believe that the period surrounding the creation of the constitution is not a ...

Thematic Unit Definition and Tips for Teachers

Thematic Unit Definition and Tips for Teachers A Thematic unit is the organization of a curriculum around a central theme. In other words, its a series of lessons that integrate subjects across the curriculum, such as math, reading, social studies, science, language arts, etc. that all tie into the main theme of the unit. Each activity should have a main focus toward the thematic idea. A thematic unit is much broader than just choosing a topic. They cover a wide range such as Australia, mammals, or the solar system. Many teachers choose a different thematic unit for their classroom each week, while others plan their teaching themes for two to nine weeks. Why Use Thematic Units It increases students interestHelps students understand connectionsExpands assessment strategiesKeeps students engagedcompacts the curriculumSaves teachers time because it incorporates all subjectsDraws on connections from the real world and life experiences Key Components of a Thematic Unit There are eight key components of a thematic unit lesson plan. Follow these guidelines when you are creating your classroom unit. Theme - Select the theme of the unit based on Common Core standards, student interests or student experience.Grade Level - Select the appropriate grade level.Objectives - Identify the specific objectives that you would like to master during the course of the unit.Materials - Determine the materials you will use throughout the unit.Activities - Develop the activities that you will use for your thematic unit. Make sure you cover activities across the curriculum.Discussion Questions - Create a variety of discussion questions to help students think about the theme of the unit.Literature Selections - Select a variety of books that correlate with the activities and the central theme of the unit.Assessment - Evaluate student progress throughout the unit. Measure student growth through rubrics or other means of assessment. Tips for Creating Thematic Units Here are three tips to help you create a thematic unit in your classroom. Find an engaging theme - Themes can be planned around books, benchmarks, skills students need to develop, or just from student interest. Find a theme that will motivate and captivate students interest. Units are typically longer than a week, so its important to find a theme that will keep the students engaged.Create fun activities - The activities you choose are the heart of the unit. These activities need to cross the curriculum and keep students interest. Learning centers are a great way for students to get hands-on experience while learning important skills.Evaluate Students Learning - While finding a central theme, and creating engaging cross-curriculum activities are important, so is evaluating what the students have learned. Portfolio-based assessment is a great way to see students progress throughout a period of time. For example, a habitat portfolio can be created to document the progress the students made throughout the unit of habitats.

An In-depth Analysis on the Influence of Open Source System Essay - 1

An In-depth Analysis on the Influence of Open Source System Penetration Tools on Cyber-crime - Essay Example These attacks could pinpoint the vulnerable areas, and could also aid in mitigating them. Organisations from various sectors are incorporating solutions these tools to develop foolproof protection system. Many reputable industry standards are also prescribing penetration testing as one of the key security exercise. Still, there is scepticism regarding genuineness of this process, as there are chances of agencies or individual testers turning negative and compromising organisations’ critical assets. To prevent such eventualities, there are adequate legal provisions; in addition organisations and security consultants need to come up with protocols or steps, which ensure secure and safe testing. Any organisation, irrespective of the ‘domains’ they are placed in, will be vulnerable to cyber attacks, especially the ones which are maximally dependent on Information technology. These organisations will be threatened by individuals with apt technical knowledge and other inside information. Their intentions may vary from wrecking the organisation to stealing critical assets. When this type of cyber crime occurs, the organisation could suffer heavy financial losses and more than that could have doubtful future, as its key assets will be compromised aiding its competitors. Disgruntled employees or employees with ‘spying role’ could wreck the organisation by altering or breaking down the IT infrastructure, and also by bringing in IT tools from outside to disable it. Apart from those employees, external ‘elements’ in the form of hackers, cyber thieves, competitors’ aids, etc, could intrude or cyber attack the organisation. To actualize a foolproof protection system, organisations has to find out the loopholes or the vulnerable areas in its IT infrastructure. Because, once the weak points are identified, organisations will become