Contraception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Contraception - Essay Example Religion and culture plays an important role in following strict parameters for entering into the relationship. Unplanned pregnancy do not have a bright fate and may culminate into abortion which has serious repercussions at the later stages of life. Adopting contraceptive means at the early stages of life is also against the ethics and nature as it disconnects sex from reproduction and bring serious health implications. Mass population control is a kind of sterilization and it may lead to dishonest behavior, as the partners seek sexual relationship elsewhere. Therefore advocates against the contraception finds it equivalent to abortion. On the other hand contraception provides the liberty to the women to control her own body and keep the population low. It keeps the family small and also prevents the unwanted pregnancies. Contraception aids in better facilities for all the family members, they can devote quality time with each other and thereby contribute to the progress and development of the children. This prevents competition for food and space. It is the best means to control the population as every human beings must bear ethics towards the planet and mother Earth, by giving birth to too many children the health of the female becomes a serious matter of great concern. Less children in the family lessens the financial burden and also the burden on the earning members to the family and parents could afford for better education and better life and facilities to their wards. It is the means which must gain ethical consideration as it is for the cognitive development of the family, the smallest unit of the society and hence of the society and the nation. It is a means that brings gender equality and aids in demographic advantage. It is a means that brings us close to the nature and prevent environmental hazards. Thus contraception must be promoted by the government of all the nations to save the environment form burden which

Dog whistle Essay Example for Free

Dog whistle Essay The win for republicans relied on two factors. They played in the areas they were the weakest and they targeted voters and groups of voters. This was known as the â€Å"dog whistle† implying that Bush’s speech was only heard by those targeted groups. They kept away for the conventional political indicators such as economy, jobs and health. â€Å"The Bush strategists found a new way to identify and communicate with potential supporters† (Morgan, 2005). By doing this it changed the established ideas of what elections are about and why individuals vote the way they do. John Kerry’s lead was only in indicators that usually determined winner or loser in western democracies. â€Å"Majorities, sometimes large majorities, favored abolishing offshore tax havens, reforming healthcare writing labor and environmental protections into trade accords, and protecting benefits levels and spending on education and health, while 45 per cent opposed Bush’s tax cuts for the rich† ( Morgan, 2005). All of the tax policies were supported in the Democratic Party. Republicans strategy was to play on the conservative voters hoping to draw them to the polls by appealing to their most basic values, fears and prejudices. They also plagued Kerry’s campaign with hints about his trustworthiness. â€Å"Research by the University of Wisconsin indicates the Republicans ran 101,000 advertisements attacking Kerry’s character, while up to 95 percent of Kerry’s ads were based on issues† ( Morgan, 2005). When looking at the reasons why 35 percent said it was because they didn’t trust him. Another 23 percent didn’t because of his stance on gay marriage and 18 percent because of the issue of abortion. The Republicans also relied on TargetPoint a republican firm that relied on every database that the republicans could get then; they cross referenced this to the buying power of the citizens. This would enable direct mail marketers, telephone volunteer and door to door campaigning. This type of marketing is effective and was seen all across America. I can’t count how many people I came across during that elections that would have some type of comment on how much they got in the mail or how many phone calls they received during this time. I don’t really want to call his issue â€Å"feel good† but rather conservative rationale mixed with fear that gave the vote towards the Republican side of the yard. Reference: Magleby, D. B. , O’Brien, D. , Light, P. , Peltason, J. W. , Cronin, T. E. (2006). Government by the People: National, State, and Local 21st. Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Morgan, S. ( March 18, 2005). It worked for Bush. New Statesman. 134(4736).

The Role of Humor in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Cats Cradle Essays

The Role of Humor in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle "I've narrowed comedy down to two words: clown and farts. Because first it makes you laugh, and then it makes you think." Dave Attell's joke comes remarkably close to describing exactly what it is that Kurt Vonnegut is able to do with his writing. First, he makes his readers laugh, and then he forces them to think. By employing such humorous devices as irony and satire, Vonnegut is able to bring humor to a less-than-humorous subject. Cat's Cradle is Vonnegut's novel about the day the world ended. Why, then, is it so full of jokes? By making it so, Vonnegut makes it easier for himself to get his point across. Rather than making the book a crusade against science or religion, he instead creates a light-hearted look at people themselves. By seeing the characters in the book and laughing at them, he is forcing us also to laugh at ourselves. By openly criticizing one religion or another, Vonnegut feared he would have alienated a potential audience or created some discomfort. Rather than offend anyone, then - or perhaps rather to offend everyone equally - he instead created Bokononism, using aspects of all religions, and exaggerating them to the point of absurdity. Though we may laugh at the Bokononists, at the same time we realize that there are certain truths in the creed. In this manner, Vonnegut gets his audience to think about themselves and the follies of their own religions. Another important part of the book is the constant "tirade" against science. Jonah's writing makes it evident that he finds all scientists to be cruel, cold, and unfeeling. At the same time, Vonnegut paints the scientists in a humorous light by employing such techniques as Dr. Breed's scolding of Miss Faust, in which he proudly proclaims how long it's been since a fatal accident. The Role of Humor in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle :: Cat's Cradle Essays The Role of Humor in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle "I've narrowed comedy down to two words: clown and farts. Because first it makes you laugh, and then it makes you think." Dave Attell's joke comes remarkably close to describing exactly what it is that Kurt Vonnegut is able to do with his writing. First, he makes his readers laugh, and then he forces them to think. By employing such humorous devices as irony and satire, Vonnegut is able to bring humor to a less-than-humorous subject. Cat's Cradle is Vonnegut's novel about the day the world ended. Why, then, is it so full of jokes? By making it so, Vonnegut makes it easier for himself to get his point across. Rather than making the book a crusade against science or religion, he instead creates a light-hearted look at people themselves. By seeing the characters in the book and laughing at them, he is forcing us also to laugh at ourselves. By openly criticizing one religion or another, Vonnegut feared he would have alienated a potential audience or created some discomfort. Rather than offend anyone, then - or perhaps rather to offend everyone equally - he instead created Bokononism, using aspects of all religions, and exaggerating them to the point of absurdity. Though we may laugh at the Bokononists, at the same time we realize that there are certain truths in the creed. In this manner, Vonnegut gets his audience to think about themselves and the follies of their own religions. Another important part of the book is the constant "tirade" against science. Jonah's writing makes it evident that he finds all scientists to be cruel, cold, and unfeeling. At the same time, Vonnegut paints the scientists in a humorous light by employing such techniques as Dr. Breed's scolding of Miss Faust, in which he proudly proclaims how long it's been since a fatal accident.

Temptation In The Odyssey

This essay is about temptation in the Odyssey, more specifically temptation and its role in the book. Showing how food displays everyday temptation and how Odysseus recklessness causes his own troubled journey home. Temptation in laments terms is the desire to do something you know you shouldn’t do. This theme is something that is repeated constantly throughout the Odyssey in a multitude of ways and for many reasons. It shows on a scale how human and mortal the characters really are.At the two extremes of the scale there are those who are favored by the gods and are even sometimes called â€Å"god like† and there are those who are just mortals, no special treatment from up high. Yet all fall pray to temptation at some point in time, event he great â€Å"god like Odysseus†. You will never see a god fall victim to temptation in the odyssey, for it would ruin the message and meaning of temptation on humanity. It is meant to subtly show that we as humans are imperfec t, that no matter how high we reach and how noble we are we are still mortals and therefor susceptible to any and all mortal weaknesses.We are unable to control it because we are human, and because we are human we are unable to control it. Temptation in the odyssey does more than just hint at and reinforce our humanity in comparison to the gods, it goes much deeper and starts to talk about how as humans we should act and behave. To be fall victim to temptation shows our humanity, but to exaggerate on it and show what happens if you constantly loose to temptation you start to see the difference between a civil human being and a non-civil human. Loosing that civility puts you in a very low place in society.The Odyssey is an encoded â€Å"how to live in Greek society†. It talks about how to be goods hosts, how to treat people, how to behave and on and on the list will go. Temptation by food seems to be mentioned more than any other type of temptation. That is not to say that eve ry time a character eats bread or drinks wine that some greater force tempts him. It also serves as part of a cultural function through banquets for celebration and with the act of xenia through out the book. Food is featured a lot in a lot of the scenes and serves as more of a general statement about temptation in The Odyssey.â€Å"Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped, the suffering deep in his heart at sea as he struggled to survive and bring his men home but could not save them, hard as he tried- the fools- destroyed by their own recklessness when they ate the oxen of Hyperion the Sun, and that god snuffed out their day of return†1. The very first scene in the book talks about temptation and the â€Å"recklessness† of Odysseus’s crew. This scene is later depicted when Odysseus is describing his journey to the Phaeacians. Odysseus comes to the island of the Sun, a place filled with herds of immortal cattle and sheep.The island its self presents no im mediate threat the Odysseus and his crew. Odysseus has been warned by Cerci about the Sun’s herds and flocks â€Å"If you leave these unharmed and keep your mind on your journey, you might yet struggle home to Ithaca. But if you harm them, I foretell disaster for your ship and crew, and even if you escape yourself, you shall come home late and badly, having lost all your companions. †2. Odysseus does not even want to stop on the island and push through the night for fear that his crew will be reckless and give into the temptation that walks the island.His crew decides they have had enough for one day and need rest. The Island its self is a sort of temptation, a place to dock their boat and give there bodies rest, yes it would be nice to do that after rowing all day but not really necessary. It is the gods will that they are trapped on the island for a month and are tested yet again. Out of food and wine the crew becomes reckless, they have to decide whether they should forsake the sacred oath they swore to Odysseus to not touch the immortal animals or starve and pray to the gods they will be able to catch enough food to eat.Knock, Knock whose there? Temptation! This could have been the last a final test against Odysseus and his crew before they sailed home, but they were tempted by the gods to slaughter the sacred animals and eat their lives away. This event put Odysseus back quite a ways. On the verge of almost being home the greatest antagonist of all; temptation, walks up on four legs and utterly wins again. Although food is prominently the number one source for temptation but it is not the home run, the granddaddy of them all or the big kahuna of temptation.That spot is reserved for an act of recklessness that the â€Å"god like Odysseus† fell victim to. Kleos is a term used in epic poetry that speaks to the immortal fame or glory of a character. Characters earn it by doing deeds that could possible define who they are. Odysseus makes very little mistakes in the Odyssey. He is constantly praised for not only being strong and cunning physically but mentally as well. Odysseus and his crew came across the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus was aware of these â€Å"Lawless savages who leave everything up to the gods.†3 Odysseus and his crew see an island just off the shore untouched by man and thriving with animals and nature. That is where they beach their ships in the midst of night. When morning came the crew hunted down a hundred or so goats and feasted all day, while marveling at the Cyclopes across the water from them. Being the intellectual he is Odysseus decides that it would be a good idea to take a few of his men and sail over to an island just of the shore to see â€Å"what those men are like, wild savages with no sense of right or wrong or hospitable folk who fear the gods†4.This is just the beginning of Odysseus’s brief recklessness. That scene makes Odysseus sound like he is just genuin ely interested in meeting a Cyclopes since he never has and maybe never will get this chance again. But, there is and underlying purpose that Odysseus feels is worth perusing. Since he is not sure how the Cyclopes act he is optimistically hoping that he will be treated the way that everyone else has treated him, with xenia. Odysseus is hoping to get food and gifts out of the Cyclopes. This temptation of greed is what locks Odysseus into his lengthy voyage home.If Odysseus was just wanting to look around and seeing the land that of the giants for what it was would have been ok, but Odysseus had already fallen in to the webs of temptation.. They didn’t need anything at this point, they were eating lavishly with an upwards of a hundred goats and sheep where they crew had first landed. They could have eaten and than been on there way. Heading to the high cave that was just off the shoreline Odysseus and his men take a look around and finally meet this giant Cyclopes.His size and strength intimidate Odysseus and his crew into a corner. The Cyclopes asks them who they are. Odysseus answers with a sort of arrogant response that gives you the underlying purpose for wanting to go to the cave. He tells them that they are Greeks blown of course and that he was â€Å"hoping you will be generous to us and give us the gifts that are due to strangers respect the gods, sir. †5 This arrogant response really infuriates the giant. He responds by picking up two of the crewmembers smashing them on the rocks like puppies and eating them limb-by-limb.Eventually Odysseus is able to use his canny mind to hatch a plan and stab the Cyclopes in the eye to escape to his ship. Once he gets on the ship and ready to sail off Odysseus rubs the fact that he tricked the Cyclopes and escapes in his or what ever was left of his eye. He yells â€Å" Cyclopes, if anyone, any mortal man, asks you how you got your eye put out tell him that Odysseus the maurder did it, Son of Laertes, w hose home is Ithaca. † 6 This temptation of Kleos is responsible for all of the trouble that falls upon Odysseus, his crew and even his family.There was no need to yell out your name to the Cyclopes you just blinded except for purposeless glory. Odysseus had already won him self a Kleos, â€Å"God like Odysseus†. The need for more glory blinded Odysseus and ended up being his greatest downfall. Temptation is tough to turn away from. The human world is filled with it, in fiction and the real world. The Odyssey uses temptation to show how human we really are and how easy it is to succumb to the temptation that the world offers.Homer uses food to show how easily one can be tempted as well as how much temptation there is in the world. Homer also shows that no matter how high you climb in life even if you become god like, you are still human and therefore fallible. Odysseus proved that with his reckless behavior while in the land of the giants. Through the use of food Homer is able to show how temptation is everywhere and that it is in our human nature to fall victim. Homer also shows that even the mightiest of men can slip and fall sometimes through Odysseus trials and tribulations.

Formal Writing †Students should have complete freedom to choose their own courses! Essay

At the present day, the educational system of upper secondary school resembles major parts of the already established system. The system compels students to study subjects considered important by the government. I highly disagree with the current school-system because of several reasons. I support the vision of students having themselves to choose their own courses. First of all, I believe the working climate in general will be remarkably better as a result of the fact that the students most likely choose subjects they are really interested in. Thanks to that, the students will be more active and focused during lectures. They will work harder and be more prone to do their homework.They will study adequately and they will acquire knowledge more easily and knowledge will persist longer. Furthermore, when the students learn to appreciate studying, they will put more effort into studies which will result in preferable possibilities of achieving favored marks, which is satisfactory toward the students likewise their teachers. With own experience on hand, if a student is constrained to study plenty of subjects, which he or she is not even interested in, it will just make him/her feel tired and stressed. In many cases this leads to avoiding certain courses the students have no interest in, sometimes even giving up on school. Secondly, since it is only the students who know what they are really good at, it seems fair that they should be given more freedom to choose their own courses. In fact it is very important for the students to choose their own subjects without reserve because they are the only ones who know what they are interested in, what they prefer and what they need. That is the main reason why they will pay more attention to the subjects which they are concerned about, they will work more by themselves and search for necessary information that relates to the course and potential future job. On the other hand, I understand that some people believe schools should push the students to study for all-round development. The students can discover their interest through different subjects and also realise their full capabilities in areas they would never even come to think of. Of course, there would still be some negative side-effects of selecting courses freely, like in cases when teachers are known to give good grades for less challenging courses. On the contrary, there is always a different side and I find it essential for the school to guide the students among the most fundamental subjects. In conclusion, I find it important that students in upper secondary school should have the opportunity to choose their own courses. The students are sufficiently mature to know what is best for themselves, if they obtain a limited assistance with selecting subjects and planning, they will have only good in return. Teachers should of course be strict and put some pressure on the students so they eventually start studying when they are supposed to. Obviously it is important to be all-round tutored for the future but I would say that it is better to concern about things that is going to be really useful in the future instead of learning about useless subjects. The question is: Would it not be better if all students in upper secondary school and above had the complete freedom to choose their own subjects?

Berlin Wall Crisis essays

Berlin Wall Crisis essays The rising and the falling of the Berlin Wall was an event that changed the world. It didnt just affect the people of Germany but it affected the world as a whole. As the first barbed-wire fences were put up on August 13, 1961, it was obvious that a wall was soon to be built. It was also obvious that this wall would have to become higher and higher and also more and more strong. It prevented eye-contact from a brother to a brother and also the possibility of tanks breaking through. But what was not obvious was that the all-escape-defying wall would be replaced by a massive wall. The GDR(German Democratic Republic), began under the leadership of Erich Honecker, to block off East Berlin and GDR from West Berlin . The streets were torn up and barricades of paving stones were built. The local subway and railway services between West and East Berlin were disrupted. People of East Berlin were not allowed to enter West Berlin. Sixty-thousand of them had commuted to West Berlin to work. On September 17, 1962, Peter Fechter was an eighteen year old that was a citizen of East Berlin. He bled to death after he was shot by East Berlin border patrols while he was attempting to escape over the wall. He was shot in the pelvis and was left to lie in the no-mans land between East and West Germany for nearly an hour as he bled to death. His cries of pain were left unanswered and this horrified many witnesses. His outcome showed how serious this Wall was and the cruelty the Wall created. More than 260 were killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989. About three times that many were killed trying to escape west from elsewhere in Germany. The border between West and East Berlin was a total of 166 km. The border area looked pretty much as followed: First, there was a wall that was made up of concrete segments with a height of 4 m. Behind it (at the eastern side) the ...

Free Essays on Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

In the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the lady of the castle tempts Sir Gawain with a magical, green girdle and explains to him that the wearer of this corset â€Å"could not be killed by any craft on earth.(1854)† Sir Gawain, amidst an ethical dilemma, accepts the gift and chooses to conceal it from Lord Bercilak. This passage contains three of the main themes of the story, the inner and outer conflicts between Sir Gawain’s ethics and desire to live, and the test of religion. When Sir Gawain is offered the girdle, his knightly principles are questioned. The honorable thing would be to reject the offer or bring it to the lord of the castle, but Gawain places the preservation of his life ahead of chivalry. The knight has withstood the lady’s constant barrage of sexual advances, and kept his promise to the lord of the castle, but when the chance to save his life is presented, he accepts the offer with little resistance. He is then ecstatic about the thought that he will survive his meeting with the knight the next day, shown by â€Å"He thanked her with fervent heart, as often as he ever might. (1866-7)† Later, Sir Gawain finds three faults in his actions, the first being his cowardice, in direct contrast to the main principles of knighthood, the second being his covetousness, his lust for life, and the third being his lack of faith in God. Even when it is shown that God has forgiven him by healing the wound on his neck, Sir Gawain still f eels that he has sinned, and is not as willing to forgive himself. He decides that more atonement is in order, so he makes the decision to wear the girdle from then on, as a sign of his mortal sin, but even then he does not feel that he has been cleansed of his sin. He understands that he will be forced to bear the shame and disgrace of the sin for the rest of his life. The observers’ opinions of whether Sir Gawain is forgiven are the complete opposite of Sir Gawain’s. Even th... Free Essays on Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Free Essays on Sir Gawain And The Green Knight In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, courtly love is used to test the loyalty and faith of Sir Gawain. One definition of courtly love was a â€Å"code of behavior that defined the relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the Middle Ages †¦ influenced by contemporary chivalric ideals.†(Encarta) Although courtly love was a part of chivalry, it also helped to define it. Since this was during the time of the Crusades, strict adherence to Christian morals was required of a knight. Chivalry was the code of conduct by which knights were supposedly guided. In addition to military prowess and valor and loyalty to God and the knight's feudal lord, it called for courtesy toward enemies and generosity toward the sick and oppressed, widows, and other disadvantaged people (Encarta). Incorporated in the ideal of chivalry was courtly love, which was romantic devotion for a sexually unattainable woman, usually another man's wife. It was a way of defining adultery i n a time when marriages were primarily arranged for profit or military advantage. Courtly love was a strong element in the Arthurian legends, which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a part. The Arthurian legends also had very strong moral conflicts between Christian and pagan beliefs. This is evident in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the Gawain’s act of putting his trust in a pagan charm and not in the Virgin Mary. Chivalry itself is a conflicting concept since it consists of both pagan and Christian principles. Although on one hand, chivalry promoted virtuous actions towards others such as kindness and compassion, but chivalry also promoted the sin of infidelity. At the time, society encouraged knights to become involved â€Å"platonically† with married women, but with the rise of the Catholic Church, these ideals were being challenged. This may, in fact, be the primary cause for this work. Many tests of chivalry were placed on the knight Sir Gawain. For exam... Free Essays on Sir Gawain And The Green Knight In the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the lady of the castle tempts Sir Gawain with a magical, green girdle and explains to him that the wearer of this corset â€Å"could not be killed by any craft on earth.(1854)† Sir Gawain, amidst an ethical dilemma, accepts the gift and chooses to conceal it from Lord Bercilak. This passage contains three of the main themes of the story, the inner and outer conflicts between Sir Gawain’s ethics and desire to live, and the test of religion. When Sir Gawain is offered the girdle, his knightly principles are questioned. The honorable thing would be to reject the offer or bring it to the lord of the castle, but Gawain places the preservation of his life ahead of chivalry. The knight has withstood the lady’s constant barrage of sexual advances, and kept his promise to the lord of the castle, but when the chance to save his life is presented, he accepts the offer with little resistance. He is then ecstatic about the thought that he will survive his meeting with the knight the next day, shown by â€Å"He thanked her with fervent heart, as often as he ever might. (1866-7)† Later, Sir Gawain finds three faults in his actions, the first being his cowardice, in direct contrast to the main principles of knighthood, the second being his covetousness, his lust for life, and the third being his lack of faith in God. Even when it is shown that God has forgiven him by healing the wound on his neck, Sir Gawain still f eels that he has sinned, and is not as willing to forgive himself. He decides that more atonement is in order, so he makes the decision to wear the girdle from then on, as a sign of his mortal sin, but even then he does not feel that he has been cleansed of his sin. He understands that he will be forced to bear the shame and disgrace of the sin for the rest of his life. The observers’ opinions of whether Sir Gawain is forgiven are the complete opposite of Sir Gawain’s. Even th... Free Essays on Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In part four of this tale the theme that is advanced is chivalry, honor and human weakness. As Gawain goes to meet the Green Knight we get the feeling of dread by the authors description of the weather outside. It is bitterly cold and snowing. The wind is whipping around Gawain as he travels (115). The extreme weather reminds us that Gawain is going to face something just as ominous. As Gawain dresses for his meeting he binds his love token ( the green girdle) twice around his middle. He is somber as he prepares for his impending death. His sense of honor is what binds him to this meeting that will certainly be his death, so he thinks (117). Gawain is steadfast in his desire to fulfill his promise to meet the Green Knight. The guide pleads to Gawain that he will surely be killed if he continues on his mission and he tells Gawain to just leave and ride off in some other country rather than be killed (121). Gawain reaveals to us, yet again, his chivalry when he says that he would face his destiny rather than be a disgrace (121). When Gawain finally reaches the chapel of the Green Knight he is met with a roar. The Green Knight proceeds to play games with Gawain in an attempt to test his bravery and chivalry (127-128). The fact that Gawain did not retreat and run after several attempts were faked reveals how honorable Gawain was. It is not until the Green Knight actually takes a blow at Sir Gawain’s neck that we see that the green girdle worked its magic. Only to Gawain’s dismay is it revealed to him by the Green Knight that it was all a test set up to show if Gawain was truly an brave an honorable Knight (133). Gawain is devastated by his weakness and lack of honor and cowardice revealed by his hiding the green girdle from the master. He begins to repent and chastise himself for his failings. This reveals his human weakness that is in all of us. He is very humbled by his behavior (133). Gawain re...

Antonio Luna, Hero of the Philippine-American War

Antonio Luna, Hero of the Philippine-American War Antonio Luna (October 29, 1866–June 5, 1899) was a soldier, chemist, musician, war strategist, journalist, pharmacist, and hot-headed general, a complex man who was, unfortunately, perceived as a threat by  the Philippines  ruthless first president  Emilio Aguinaldo. As a result, Luna died not on the battlefields of the Philippine-American War, but he was assassinated on the streets of Cabanatuan. Fast Facts: Antonio Luna Known For: Filipino Journalist, musician, pharmacist, chemist, and general in the fight for Philippine independence from the U.S.Born: October 29, 1866 in the Binondo district of Manila, PhilippinesParents: Laureana Novicio-Ancheta and Joaquin Luna de San PedroDied: June 5, 1899 in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, PhilippinesEducation: Bachelor of Arts from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1881; studied chemistry, music, and literature at the University of Santo Tomas;  licentiate in pharmacy at the Universidad de Barcelona; a doctorate from the Universidad Central de Madrid, studied bacteriology and histology at the Pasteur Institute in ParisPublished Works: Impresiones (as Taga-Ilog), On Malarial Pathology (El Hematozorio del Paludismo)Spouse(s): NoneChildren: None Early Life Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio-Ancheta was born on October 29, 1866, in the Binondo district of Manila, the youngest child of seven of Laureana Novicio-Ancheta, a Spanish mestiza, and Joaquin Luna de San Pedro, a traveling salesman. Antonio was a gifted student who studied with a teacher called Maestro Intong from the age of 6 and received a Bachelor of Arts from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1881 before continuing his studies in chemistry, music, and literature at the University of Santo Tomas. In 1890, Antonio traveled to Spain to join his brother Juan, who was studying painting in Madrid. There, Antonio earned a licentiate in pharmacy at the Universidad de Barcelona, followed by a doctorate from the Universidad Central de Madrid. In Madrid, he fell obsessively in love with local beauty Nelly Boustead, who was also admired by his friend Jose Rizal. But it came to nothing, and Luna never married. He went on to study bacteriology and histology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and continued on to Belgium to further those pursuits. While in Spain, Luna had published a well-received paper on malaria, so in 1894 the Spanish government appointed him to a post as a specialist in communicable and tropical diseases. Swept Into the Revolution Later that same year, Antonio Luna returned to the Philippines where he became the chief chemist of the Municipal Laboratory in Manila. He and his brother Juan established a fencing society called the Sala de Armas in the capital. While there, the brothers were approached about joining the Katipunan, a revolutionary organization founded by Andres Bonifacio in response to the 1892 banishment of Jose Rizal, but both Luna brothers refused to participate- at that stage, they believed in a gradual reform of the system rather than a violent revolution against Spanish colonial rule. Although they were not members of the Katipunan, Antonio, Juan, and their brother Jose were all arrested and imprisoned in August 1896 when the Spanish learned that the organization existed. His brothers were interrogated and released, but Antonio was sentenced to exile in Spain  and imprisoned in the Carcel Modelo de Madrid. Juan, by this time a famed painter, used his connections with the Spanish royal family to secure Antonios release in 1897. After his exile and imprisonment, understandably, Antonio Lunas attitude toward Spanish colonial rule had shifted. Due to the arbitrary treatment of himself and his brothers and the execution of his friend Jose Rizal the previous December, Luna was ready to take up arms against Spain. In his typically academic fashion, Luna decided to study guerrilla warfare tactics, military organization, and field fortification under the famous Belgian military educator Gerard Leman before he sailed to Hong Kong. There, he met with the revolutionary leader-in-exile, Emilio Aguinaldo, and in July 1898 he returned to the Philippines to take up the fight once more. General Antonio Luna As the Spanish/American War came to a close and the defeated Spanish prepared to withdraw from the Philippines, Filipino revolutionary troops surrounded the capital city of Manila. The newly-arrived officer Antonio Luna urged the other commanders to send troops into the city to ensure a joint occupation when the Americans arrived, but Emilio Aguinaldo refused, believing U.S. naval officers stationed in Manila Bay would hand over power to the Filipinos in due course. Luna complained bitterly about this strategic blunder, as well as the disorderly conduct of American troops once they landed in Manila in mid-August 1898. To placate Luna, Aguinaldo promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General on September 26, 1898, and named him chief of war operations. General Luna continued to campaign for better military discipline, organization, and approach to Americans, who were now setting themselves up as the new colonial rulers. Along with Apolinario Mabini, Antonio Luna warned Aguinaldo that the Americans did not seem inclined to free the Philippines. General Luna felt the need for a military academy to properly train the Filipino troops, who were eager and in many cases experienced in guerrilla warfare but had little formal military training. In October 1898, Luna founded what is now the Philippine Military Academy, which operated for less than half a year before the Philippine-American War broke out in February of 1899 and classes were suspended so that staff and students could join the war effort. The Philippine-American War General Luna led three companies of soldiers to attack the Americans at La Loma, where he was met with a ground force and naval artillery fire from the fleet in Manila Bay. The Filipinos suffered heavy casualties. A Filipino counterattack on February 23 gained some ground but collapsed when troops from Cavite refused to take orders from General Luna, stating that they would obey only Aguinaldo himself. Furious, Luna disarmed the recalcitrant soldiers but was forced to fall back. After several additional bad experiences with the undisciplined and clannish Filipino forces, and after Aguinaldo had rearmed the disobedient Cavite troops as his personal Presidential Guard, a thoroughly frustrated General Luna submitted his resignation to Aguinaldo, which Aguinaldo reluctantly accepted.  With the war going very badly for the Philippines over the next three weeks, however, Aguinaldo persuaded Luna to return and made him commander-in-chief. Luna developed and implemented a plan to contain the Americans long enough to construct a guerrilla base in the mountains. The plan consisted of a network of bamboo trenches, complete with spiked man-traps and pits full of poisonous snakes, which spanned the jungle from village to village. Filipino troops could fire on the Americans from this Luna Defense Line, and then melt away into the jungle without exposing themselves to American fire. Conspiracy Among the Ranks However, late in May Antonio Lunas brother Joaquin- a colonel in the revolutionary army- warned him that a number of the other officers were conspiring to kill him. General Luna ordered that many of these officers be disciplined, arrested, or disarmed and they bitterly resented his rigid, authoritarian style, but Antonio made light of his brothers warning and reassured him that President Aguinaldo would not allow anyone to assassinate the armys commander-in-chief. To the contrary, General Luna received two telegrams on June 2, 1899. The first asked him to join a counterattack against the Americans at San Fernando, Pampanga and the second was from Aguinaldo, ordering Luna to the new capital, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, about 120 kilometers due north of Manila, where the Philippines revolutionary government was forming a new cabinet. Ever ambitious, and hopeful of being named Prime Minister, Luna decided to go to Nueva Ecija with a cavalry escort of 25 men. However, due to transportation difficulties, Luna arrived in Nueva Ecija accompanied only by two other officers, Colonel Roman and Captain Rusca, with the troops having been left behind. Death On June 5, 1899, Luna went alone to the government headquarters to speak with President Aguinaldo but was met by one of his old enemies there instead- a man he had once disarmed for cowardice, who informed him that the meeting was canceled and Aguinaldo was out of town. Furious, Luna had started to walk back down the stairs when a rifle shot went off outside. Luna ran down the stairs, where he met one of the Cavite officers he had dismissed for insubordination.  The officer struck Luna on the head with his bolo and soon Cavite troops swarmed the injured general, stabbing him. Luna drew his revolver and fired, but he missed his attackers. Still, he fought his way out to the plaza, where Roman and Rusca ran to help him, but Roman was shot to death and Rusca was severely injured. Abandoned and alone, Luna sank bleeding to the cobblestones of the plaza where he uttered his last words: Cowards!  Assassins!  He died at 32 years old. Legacy As Aguinaldos guards assassinated his most able general, the president himself was laying siege to the headquarters of General Venacio Concepcion, an ally of the murdered general. Aguinaldo then dismissed Lunas officers and men from the Filipino Army. For the Americans, this internecine fighting was a gift. General James F. Bell noted that Luna was the only general the Filipino army had and Aguinaldos forces suffered disastrous defeat after disastrous defeat in the wake of Antonio Lunas murder. Aguinaldo spent most of the next 18 months in retreat, before being captured by the Americans on March 23, 1901. Sources Jose, Vivencio R. The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna. Solar Publishing Corporation, 1991.Reyes, Raquel A. G. Antonio Lunas Impressions. Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine Propaganda Movement, 1882–1892. Singapore and Seattle : NUS Press and University of Washington Press, 2008. 84–114.Santiago, Luciano P.R. â€Å"The First Filipino Doctors of Pharmacy (1890–93).† Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society 22.2, 1994. 90–102.

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Corporate governance - Essay Example Moreover, evidence of working together as a team and the essence of synergy would always ensure sustainable competitive market. This is what is targeted as one of the most principle aspects by investors and its slightest brink make an organization susceptible to tragic downfall incase of scam or misappropriation (Geel 2011). Hawkama, an institute of corporate, being put in place by independent international institutions that teamed up together, was meant to reform good governance by helping the countries that participated in the treaty to have good financial and economic integration amongst them and other countries across the globe. The main mission of the Hawkama treaty was to help the countries involved develop good strategies necessary to improve universally, well integrated corporate governance. Besides, it was meant to enhance efficiency in relation to coordination, designing, planning and actual rolling of proficient corporate governance reforms. Moreover, the institution is eq uipped with the right assessment tools to help in determining the outcome of corporate governance policies at all private sectors. Hawkama article, however, recommended the following as the right governance steps (Bornstein 2005). Demonstrating commitment to good corporate governance For an organization to reap the benefits of good corporate governance, it must demonstrate its willingness of putting the practice to the later. All the stakeholders, which are considered as part and parcel to an organization must show commitment and join hands in working together towards building a single business case of corporate governance. For this to be effectively enacted, managers of the organizations and other leaders should be encouraged to attend talks about institutional good governance. Hypothetically, the article has given an illustration on how the commitment of leaders in an organization can actually motivate the members to produce substantially operational and markets and the higher pro fit results and this would attract more investors into such organizations (International Finance Corporation, Hawkamah 2008). Planning and setting priorities Organizations that expect to bear advantage of good governance, must seek to avail adequate measures that would ensure more attention is given to the important and urgent duties. This success is profusely possible only when an organization is able to make comparative difference between its performance and its competitor as a way of identifying the relevant governing principles. In this case, their right choice of practices is to avert any slightest action considered vise to the relationship of the organization either internally or externally with other stakeholders (International Finance Corporation, Hawkamah 2008). Implementing good board practices Board is considered as the key aspect where issues relating to corporate governance are strategized. In this case, the board plays the role of strategic guidance and oversight manag ement during implementation of corporate governance. Besides, it carries out a mandate of a trustee to the shareholders. Most basically, how the board would fulfill its responsibilities is used as a determinant by investors to assess the potentiality of an organization. If the board is given an authority to run as an independent, professional and most predominantly a vigilant body, then it would ultimately succeed to the achievements of

The Link Between Productiveness And Motivation Essay

The Link Between Productiveness And Motivation - Essay Example Some things that happen in life come as surprise and bring happiness while some others happen and cause serious distress because their outcome is a loss of an important aspect of life. In case of the issues that happen in the life of a person, how that person responds to it becomes an important way because it enhances his or her participation in the society. In the same way, a person may have various opportunities within his or her capability but the choice to participate in any of them should not be influenced by what other people may have an opinion about it but rather what he or she feels is the best thing to do. This means that a person needs to do something he or she will be passionate so that he will be able to be productive even without motivation from other people. Neil Pasricha presents a talk about The Three A’s of Awesome in which he describes the need for exploration of the opportunities that are available to a person to make life good. In some instances, he uses t he example of the things that happened to his family when his father and mother started living in Toronto in the late 1960s in their mid-twenties and how his sister and he grew to be mature individuals. Pasricha narrates how the early life his sister and he lived was with little care about the things that were otherwise important to his parents and how they perceived the different things that they experienced. He narrates how some of the things in his life shaped his life through triggering a sense of happiness and others triggered a lot of pain in his life. Pasricha faced the effects of the economic meltdown that happened in 2008 and 2009 and he had to suffer other things but later he did the things that he liked the most in his life and it brought a lot of benefit to him. He made a blog site that he observed grow from just a single reader to an award-winning blog that was attracting millions of readers from all over the world.

Evolutionists and Creationists fight over Genesis.. Explain why Term Paper

Evolutionists and Creationists fight over Genesis.. Explain why neither is correct - Term Paper Example nation of the diversity of life on planet earth and the other voicing, just as vehemently, that the origin of life lies within a divine and literal creation as lain out in the book of Genesis (Daggers 2010). However, as one might expect, due to the absolutist interpretations of both camps, there is little room left for a third path. What is most interesting with respect to this is the fact that although modern Western Christianity leaves little room for an alternate interpretation, the less common and less practiced forms of Eastern Christianity have a perfectly logical explanation for the origin of life that is neither entirely at odds with the science of evolution nor the belief in the Old Testament (Grà ¤b 2012). The key differential between Eastern and Western forms of Christianity lies in the interpretation of the Old Testament. As with most schisms and theological developments that have taken place over the millennia, the Eastern branches of Christianity most often clung to the idea that the stories related in the Old Testament were a combination of both spiritual and literal meaning (Haskell 2012). In such a way, the level fo which each and every text must be interpreted was allowed to have a degree of liberalism. As compared to their Western Christian counterparts, the Eastern branches of Christianity did not insist that each and every text represented a literal truism that must be accepted (Adelin Jà ¸rgensen 2011). Due to this level of interpretation, theories such as the theory of evolution and Christianity, at least in the Eastern Christian understanding, can readily exist at the same time. In such a way, one does not have to suspend belief in order to understand the scientific pro ofs and evidence that have been presented with regards to evolution. In the same way, one does not have to suspend faith in order to accept seemingly disjoint and/or illogical sections of the Old Testament. The key differential between Eastern and Western branches of

Indigenous Studies 301-Assignment#2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Indigenous Studies 301- #2 - Assignment Example One needs to apply through listening skills, observation and first hand experiencing events- taking action. The learning system has its composition that includes learning directly, meditating, and rethinking. Facilitating is a major responsibility of teachers. There is another group of people that contribute by offering guidance and enhancing learning. These are the elders (Osburn-Bigfeather et al, 2004). Exploration of a person’s mind is the onset of practicing native science. There has to be a close connection of the mind and the heart as this facilitates effective learning. Native science perspective tries to explain the complex connection that exists between humans and the surrounding. This must be a healthy relationship in the sense that both have to tolerate each other with the aim of having a good future. The science perspective intends to show the importance of seeking knowledge appropriately so that diversity and humans never collide. The community has a role to play in educating the people on ways to live with harmony and spirituality. This is done through community-based learning whereby the societys beliefs and practices are the strongholds in learning. Thus, individuals are empowered giving the best reasoning they can offer. Through education, people intend to learn more about their culture and of others. However, there is the point whereby culture is ruined through the introduction of modern language. People need to practice their indigenous culture to learn it. By communicating through the native language, the community can understand the essence and importance of their culture. There has to be the presence of consistent terms and legislation at the time when the beliefs and practices of aboriginal ideas in classes. Understanding ones culture requires one to live it. This means that this will bring a clear understanding of people’s current, previous, and future situations. This means that education is a

Regan to Obama years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regan to Obama years - Essay Example This paper seeks to describe major events that took place from the period of Reagan to Obama. There were major historical turning points from Reagan to Obama period. The first major historical turning point was the collapse of communism and the ending of the cold war. The other major historical turning point was increased growth of United States economy in a rate that was never witnessed before during Reagan and Clinton period. The other turning point was the terrorist attack. Another major historical turning point is the Obama health care program. The major historical turning points that took place during this period had an impact on America current society, economy, politics, and culture. The collapse of communism had a tremendous effect on America’s politics (Peck, 2010). It signified the end of tension that existed between America and communist countries. Moreover, the nuclear weapons that were in United States and Soviet Union declined significantly. There was also restor ation of democracy at the expense of communist totalitarianism. Moreover, it led to domination of America economy in the world as capitalism won over communism (Peck, 2010). America influenced other countries to adopt free trade. Secondly, the growth of America economy caused the country employment rate to decline. ... The 9/11 attack led to America change of foreign policy due to the threat posed on homeland security (Purdum, 2003). The attention of America security was heightened that witnessed before. There was also increase in Domestic security measures and continue to affect the everyday lives of all Americans. The other transformation is on the health sector. The Obama health care reforms are expected to change the lives of low-income earners in America. Millions of America who could not get medical cover will now be covered in the Medicaid. On the other hand, insurance will get more premiums at a lower cost. The AIDS epidemics in America shook Americans confidence starting from 1980’s. AIDS was discovered in America in 1981. However, this topic was not frequent among politicians. President Reagan was the first to deny its general presence and even forced his surgeon not to discuss AIDS. Like other politician, he thought the disease was for gay people. With time, the disease spread to other people and affected lives of many Americans (The History of HIV and Aids in American, n.d.). The Centre for Disease Control published the first official record of the disease on June 5, 1981. The documentation involved gay men hospitalized over pneumonia and disseminated Candida infections. After this, many cases were reported while the two gay men died later. The disease was characterized by prejudice and stigma while the government ignored with no public attention. Those who were affected were even denied schooling opportunities. The ignorance of President Reagan and administration caused the activists to blame them on the death of gay men all over the country (The History of HIV and Aids in American, n.d.). The public mention of the disease took

Indigenous Studies 301-Assignment#2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Indigenous Studies 301- #2 - Assignment Example One needs to apply through listening skills, observation and first hand experiencing events- taking action. The learning system has its composition that includes learning directly, meditating, and rethinking. Facilitating is a major responsibility of teachers. There is another group of people that contribute by offering guidance and enhancing learning. These are the elders (Osburn-Bigfeather et al, 2004). Exploration of a person’s mind is the onset of practicing native science. There has to be a close connection of the mind and the heart as this facilitates effective learning. Native science perspective tries to explain the complex connection that exists between humans and the surrounding. This must be a healthy relationship in the sense that both have to tolerate each other with the aim of having a good future. The science perspective intends to show the importance of seeking knowledge appropriately so that diversity and humans never collide. The community has a role to play in educating the people on ways to live with harmony and spirituality. This is done through community-based learning whereby the societys beliefs and practices are the strongholds in learning. Thus, individuals are empowered giving the best reasoning they can offer. Through education, people intend to learn more about their culture and of others. However, there is the point whereby culture is ruined through the introduction of modern language. People need to practice their indigenous culture to learn it. By communicating through the native language, the community can understand the essence and importance of their culture. There has to be the presence of consistent terms and legislation at the time when the beliefs and practices of aboriginal ideas in classes. Understanding ones culture requires one to live it. This means that this will bring a clear understanding of people’s current, previous, and future situations. This means that education is a

Discuss the social, political and econoic conditions of the 1950s Essay

Discuss the social, political and econoic conditions of the 1950s which lead to the social upheaval of the 1960s - Essay Example eal legislation, which created programs for employment and housing.1 Harry Truman, who followed Roosevelt’s presidency, continued Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives with â€Å". . . a full employment bill, a higher minimum wage, national housing legislation, an extension of Social Security, and a new public works program, and the establishment of a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission.†2 Truman introduced to Congress a twenty-one point program, but only two of his proposals passed the conservative Congress.3 However, after the 1948 election, with a liberal Congress in place, â€Å"Liberalism was vindicated,†4 Many of Truman’s twenty-one points were passed, and Truman called for Congress to pass an increase in the Federal Income Tax of $4 billion dollars to pay for it.5 By the time the 1950 New Year rolled in, America was experiencing an economic forward plunge. There would perhaps never be better times for Americans than the economic and pol itical abundance of the 1950s. During the 1950s, there was a housing boom,6 along with a baby boom,7 and America settled into an atmosphere of post-war comfort and focusing on the task of working and raising families. It was, too, during these years where middle class America experienced abundance and growth, that the cultural, political, economic and social disparities between blacks and whites in America began emerging as dark cloud over America. It seemed that Americans were pursuing the American dream, and that all was Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.8 When Eisenhower was elected president in 1953, there was a loud and clear Black voice speaking up in America, and though it was not strong enough to swing the election in favor of Democrats, Black America had aligned itself with the Democratic platform.9 Seventy-three percent of the Black vote went to the Democratic candidate that voting year.10 Although there would be much unrest in the American south as a result of an emerging Black identity

Bullying Speech Essay Example for Free

Bullying Speech Essay Hello I’m Maddi Beeson as many of you know and I wanted to talk to you about a very important issue at our school. There is the problem of bullying and I would like to say something about it which will hopefully change things. Starting off with this poem I had found on the internet which is a very inspiring poem about bullying. It is called: To This Day- for the bullied and the beautiful by Shane Koyczan. When I was a kid I used to think that pork chops and karate chops Were the same thing I thought they were both pork chops And because my grandmother thought it was cute And because they were my favorite She let me keep doing it Not really a big deal One day Before I realized fat kids are not designed to climb trees I fell out of a tree And bruised the right side of my body I didn’t want to tell my grandmother about it Because I was afraid I’d get in trouble For playing somewhere that I shouldn’t have been A few days later the gym teacher noticed the bruise And I got sent to the principal’s office From there I was sent to another small room With a really nice lady Who asked me all kinds of questions About my life at home I saw no reason to lie As far as I was concerned. Life was pretty good I told her, â€Å"Whenever I’m sad My grandmother gives me karate chops† This led to a full scale investigation And I was removed from the house for three days Until they finally decided to ask how I got the bruises News of this silly little story quickly spread through the school And I earned my first nickname Pork Chop To this day I hate pork chops I’m not the only kid Who grew up this way Surrounded by people who used to say That rhyme about sticks and stones As if broken bones Hurt more than the names we got called And we got called them all So we grew up believing no one Would ever fall in love with us That we’d be lonely forever That we’d never meet someone To make us feel like the sun Was something they built for us In their tool shed So broken heart strings bled the blues As we tried to empty ourselves. So we would feel nothing Don’t tell me that hurts less than a broken bone That an ingrown life Is something surgeons can cut away That there’s no way for it to metastasize It does She was eight years old Our first day of grade three When she got called ugly We both got moved to the back of the class So we would stop get bombarded by spit balls But the school halls were a battleground Where we found ourselves outnumbered day after wretched day We used to stay inside for recess Because outside was worse Outside we’d have to rehearse running away Or learn to stay still like statues giving no clues that we were there In grade five they taped a sign to her desk That read beware of dog To this day Despite a loving husband She doesn’t think she’s beautiful Because of a birthmark That takes up a little less than half of her face Kids used to say she looks like a wrong answer That someone tried to erase But couldn’t quite get the job done And they’ll never understand That she’s raising two kids Whose definition of beauty Begins with the word mom Because they see her heart Before they see her skin Because she’s only ever always been amazing He Was a broken branch Grafted onto a different family tree Adopted Not because his parents opted for a different destiny He was three when he became a mixed drink Of one part left alone And two parts tragedy Started therapy in 8th grade Had a personality made up of tests and pills Lived like the up hills were mountains And the down hills were cliffs Four fifths suicidal A tidal wave of anti depressants And an adolescence of being called popper One part because of the pills Ninety nine parts because of the cruelty He tried to kill himself in grade ten When a kid who could still go home to mom and dad Had the audacity to tell him â€Å"get over it† as if depression Is something that can be remedied By any of the contents found in a first aid kit To this day He is a stick of TNT lit from both ends Could describe to you in detail the way the sky bends In the moments before it’s about to fall And despite an army of friends Who all call him an inspiration He remains a conversation piece between pe ople Who can’t understand Sometimes becoming drug free Has less to do with addiction And more to do with sanity We weren’t the only kids who grew up this way To this day Kids are still being called names The classics were Hey stupid Hey spaz Seems like each school has an arsenal of names Getting updated every year And if a kid breaks in a school And no one around chooses to hear Do they make a sound? Are they just the background noise Of a soundtrack stuck on repeat When people say things like Kids can be cruel? Every school was a big top circus tent And the pecking order went From acrobats to lion tamers From clowns to carnies All of these were miles ahead of who we were We were freaks Lobster claw boys and bearded ladies Oddities Juggling depression and loneliness playing solitaire spin the bottle Trying to kiss the wounded parts of ourselves and heal But at night While the others slept We kept

Strategies for Language Translation | Dissertation

Strategies for Language Translation | Dissertation Introduction The present dissertation is largely based on research in the field of translation. Translation is an influential valid feature of our society, and it symbolizes one of the most important aspects in shaping the upcoming course of the planet. . The translators tasks are complex and refer to his/her abilities of dealing with every aspect of the process of translation. The power of translator lies in his/her responsibility for his/her end product. I chose this topic because I believe translation is part of everyones life and it has profound implications in our society. The translation is defined and influenced by the type of source text, the target readers understanding, the context, the translators skills and the linguistic and cultural differences between the source language and the target language. My approach is two-fold: a theoretical perspective A. Theoretical considerations and a practical one B. Application. The first part explains what the translator tasks imply and what factors influence the translational competence, analyzes the characteristics of these skills, offering guidelines and methods of approach for a better understanding. The second part deals with the problems I encountered while translating a part of Ultima noapte de dragoste, à ®ntà ¢ia noapte de război by Camil Petrescu. In the first chapter, â€Å"Who are translators†, I shall try to define the translators profession, what important tools influence the activity of translation as well as what skills a translator should possess in order to be a competent translator. The first subchapter, â€Å"Skills of reading and writing† regards the translators tasks of decoding and encoding a text to offer the correct meaning in his/her translation. The next sub-chapters, â€Å"Subject area and Contrastive knowledge† and â€Å"Source language and Target language knowledge† describe why a translator should be specialized in various fields and the differences between the two languages regarding the language systems and cultures. In the second chapter, â€Å"Factors that influence the translational competence†, I shall begin by theorizing translational competence, which refers to all those factors that lead to perfection in translation. The first subchapter, â€Å"Psychological factors†, underlines the effect of psychology on the process of translation. â€Å"Knowledge of translation theory†, the next subchapter, describes the norms of the field of translation, which help the translator to render the overall meaning of the source text and to have the same effect on the readership. The third subchapter, â€Å"The quality of translation. Efficiency of text analysis†, analyzes what a translator should avoid in order to ensure a correct translation and to establish the necessary level of quality. â€Å"Culture† and â€Å"Experience†, the next subchapters refer to how the knowledge of the source and target culture as well as the experience in the field help the translator to make the right decisions in translation. The second part of the dissertation contains five chapters, which rely on the translation The last night of love, the first night of war. The first chapter, â€Å"The process of translation† presents the steps taken in the process of translation. â€Å"Source text and Target text analysis† deals with analyzing the extratextual and intratextual factors for each of the two languages. The last chapters â€Å"Identification of translation problems† and â€Å"Comments on translation† regard what translation problems were found during the translation process and I will discuss as well the translation difficulties and the way they were solved. The last chapter contains the translation of the first part of the novel by Camil Petrescu. Being a proficient translator may be a quality that comes by nature or by continuous practice. I strongly believe that although theory helps, it is practice that actually leads to perfection in translation. A. Theoretical considerations 1. Who are translators? Translation is one of the various means of communication existing and, from this point of view, it is very important because it establishes a connection between at least two languages, two cultures, two nations; at verbal level it helps transferring their characteristic elements from one into the other as well as understanding them. Not giving it importance equates with a total isolation from the rest of the world. A translation involves three parties, of which the third one, represented by the translator, is the most important. His responsibility is enormous because the burden of transferring the message presses over his shoulders. Knowing a foreign language and the subject is not as important as being sensitive to language and being competent to speak his own language clearly and resourcefully. For a good speaker avoids not only errors of usage but also mistakes of fact and language simply by applying his good sense. A translator has also to have flair and a so-called â€Å"sixth sense†, which is compounded of intelligence, sensibility, intuition and knowledge. S/he perhaps more than any other practitioner of a profession, is continually faced with choices and has to be very careful and extremely fast in making them. If I were to draw a line between translation and the translator and to state which ones importance is greater, I would say that a translation cannot be achieved without the appropriate person to do it, i.e. the translator. The same applies to the translator, who fades away without the core of his profession. They depend on each other and are vital for the welfare of this world. An element of great importance for a translator is the professional pride, a consideration higher than money, because s/he can fell her/his work is appreciated. I believe this is the case not only for in-house people, but also for freelancers. Even a high salary would not motivate as much a translator as the pride in the work. The professional integrity comes with the idea of being reliable, involving in the profession and respecting the ethics. Reliability means doing the job as to meet the users needs. The translator is in a position of translating the texts that the user needs, in the style the client wants them to be translated, and by a deadline requested by the user. The attempt to become a reliable translator may sometimes bring about assignments that are impossible to achieve for many reasons: the texts are morally inappropriate, the necessary work is consumptive or the experience is not enough to deal with such a text. The translator involves in his profession in many ways. If s/he participates to courses and conferences in the field, this will consolidate the professional self-esteem that will definitely encourage and motivate them to accept different challenges: Reading about translation, talking about translation with other translators, discussing problems and solutions related to linguistic transfer, user demands, nonpayment, and the like, taking classes on translation, attending translator conferences, keeping up with technological developments in the field, buying and learning to use new software and hardware − all this gives us the strong sense that we are not isolated underpaid flunkies but professionals surrounded by other professionals who share our concerns. Involvement in the translation profession may even give us the intellectual tools and professional courage to stand up to unreasonable demands, to educate clients and employers rather that submit meekly and seethe inwardly. Being a translator does not mean only being involved in a work that s/he loves but also earning a living. Professional translators know the quality of their work and they will charge their clients according to this criterion. Of course, the amount of money is proportional with the volume of their assignments and the speed they work with. Probably translators are expected to translate fast; usually in-house translators translate fast, but the work in an agency is different from that of a freelancer. Freelancers have a different rhythm of their work and, if they do translations faster, this will bring more money for them. Of course, if one translates for pleasure and amusement, there is no need for being fast. They savor every step in the process and tend to deal with one paragraph for hours. Many factors influence the translation speed. One of them is typing speed. It helps the translator to write rapidly his/her ideas on the computer. Another factor of importance is the degree of text difficulty. A difficult text will slow down the process of translation and will take much more time do it. The continuous practice and experience makes the translator to process easily the difficult words and structures. The same situation is for how the familiar the text will be for the translator. Other factors that interfere in the process of translation are the personal style and the general mental state of the translator. The use of translation memory software is very helpful for a translator and increases the translation speed. Besides these advantages, many things should be taken into account: if the volume of translation is reduced, this will not warrant the cost of the software. Usually, in-house translators use this software. Large corporations usually need a great volume of translations and address to them and not to freelancers. This software is helpful only with texts in digital form; it is not helpful in the case of literal translation. However, freelancers who work for different agencies and who have a high-volume of assignments say that the use of translation memory software is very helpful though it is not very creative. 1.1. Skills of reading and writing The translators knowledge of translation theory and the skills of reading and writing a text are definitely of paramount importance for the quality of the translation. The ethics of translation speak about the way in which a translator should understand the text that needs to be translated, how to recognize the authors intention in order to render the appropriate message into the target language. The translator has to analyze the text linguistically, culturally, philosophically, even politically, if necessary. The first step is to get a general reading and then a closer one to establish the characteristics of that text. The translator has to know how to identify the authors attitude to the subject matter. S/he also must pay special attention to the type of language that is used, grammatical structures, register, rhetorical function, genre, the use of modals and especially to the needs and expectations of the target audience. It is known that all these ethical rules are taught because they do not come instinctively. Usually, if they come naturally, they surely come by experience. A professional translation often arises at the subliminal level due to the fact that the translator has an analytical feeling which helps him/her finding the solutions to those problems that are somehow similar to precedent situations. The novice translators are taught analytical guidelines to help them becoming familiar with the rules and, at the same time to become proficient, without being aware of it. The wheel of experience shows how this analysis of the brain becomes a sort of second nature for the translator during the process of translation. Another reading guideline for the translator is to decide the emotional tone and the degree of formality of the source text. Determining the audience of the target text shows how the target language should be structured, deciding to whom it is addressed, to the educated, the average literate audience or others. Children are a special audienc e and the message is different according to the age, the degree of familiarity with the stories, the amusement that the translation provokes and many others. Eugene Nida explains how the ability of decoding a text should work: Decoding ability in any language involves at least four principal levels: (I) the capacity of children, whose vocabulary and cultural experience are limited; (2) the double-standard of new literates, who can decode oral messages with facility but whose ability to decode written messages is limited; (3) the capacity of the average literate adult, who can handle both oral and written messages with relative ease; and (4) the unusually high capacity of specialists (doctors, theologians, philosophers, scientists, etc.), when they are decoding messages within their own area of specialization. Obviously, a translation designed for children cannot be the same as one prepared for specialists, nor can a translation for children be the same as one for a newly literate adult. The translation has to be the same with the translators intention and point of view and the translator always has to keep in mind the target language readership. The translation of colloquial and intimate phrases are always problematic for the translator and they should be translated carefully. The grammatical analysis helps the translator to understand the relationships between the words and at the same time to help him/her to get the message of the author. It becomes crucial to find the correct meaning of the grammatical constructions given the fact that one construction may have many interpretations or meanings. The problem becomes acute in the case of idioms because they need a special approach when they need to be translated. Eugene Nida and Charles Taber mention the difficulties that arise when translating these expressions: Idioms are typically constructed on quite normal grammatical patterns of phrase structure, but the meaning of the whole idiom is not simply the sum of the meanings of the parts, nor can one segment the meaning (in the many cases where it is complex) and assign a definable portion of the meaning to each grammatical piece (e.g., a morpheme). [] one must treat the entire expression as a semantic unit, even though in the surface structure of the grammar it obeys all of the rules applicable to the individual pieces. Writing skills are as important as reading skills and refer to the ability of writing in a clear and proper form. Translators have to be familiar with different styles of writing according to each domain, as well as with those conventions regarding editing. The skills of reading a source language text are significant qualities for a translator and help him understanding the original text and delivering a translation in an appropriate and correct style. Reading the source text is the first step in the process of translation and the better the translator understands the meaning of the authors intention, the clearest he will render the message into the target language. The understanding of the source text represents a primary ability necessary in the process of translation, followed by a combination between other skills, which will be presented in this chapter. 1.2. Subject area and contrastive knowledge Translators must be aware of the importance of being specialized in various subject fields, such as: medical translation, legal translation, financial translation, technical IT translation, scientific translation, marketing and PR translation, website translation and others. The knowledge of a certain subject area helps the translator to deal with words and constructions that are specific to that domain. Many translators have the courage to say that their knowledge of translation theory allows them to accept texts that need to be translated from different fields. It is somehow premature to say that, especially by a beginner in the field of translation. Of course, an experienced translator may deal easily with this type of texts, but ideally, one should have in mind the necessary training in a particular field. Contrastive knowledge refers to how a translator should be able to find the contrastive elements between the source and target language so as to deliver an accurate message through his/her translation. An analysis should be made at the linguistic level, namely the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels, and the literary one. The syntactic level deals with the analysis at the sentence, clause, phrase and word level. The semantic analysis refers to how the translator examines the relationships between the elements found through syntactic analysis. At the pragmatic level, the translator tries to identify the register features of the text which express the intention of the source language author. After these three steps of analysis, follows the stage of synthesis, a stage that starts on the contrary way, with the pragmatic level. 1.3. Source language and Target language knowledge It is well-known the fact that a translator should possess a good knowledge of both source and target language, in other words, s/he should be a master of the two languages. They have to be fluent in the two languages in order to be able to transmit the proper message and to sound as natural as possible in the target language, using a correct style and terminology. What is also important is to know and apply all the rules concerning editing conventions of the two languages which will help the readability of the target language text. The booklet entitled †Bilingual Skills Certificate and Certificate in Community Interpreting† published by the Institute of Linguists gives an interesting definition on bilingualism: Bilingual service providers are people who possess two sets of skills language and professional skills, so that they can give the same standard of service in the context of two languages and cultures. In order to provide an equal standard of service to all clients, the people providing the service should have adequate standards of training and qualification in both sets of skills. For example, allowing people to give medical advice or gather information upon which medical decisions are made when they are not qualified and solely on the grounds that they happen to speak French or Urdu is as bad as giving good medical advice which cannot be understood. One of the risks that translators are dealing with is that of fooling the brain into thinking that the structures used in the target language are correct merely only because they are correct in the source language. This is especially the case of translators who work in their adopted country as a result of the fact that they begin to think like a native. Keeping up with cultural change is the way in which the translator can understand a language properly and s/he can translate it successfully. For this reason it is said that the best translations are done by native speakers, residents in the country where the target language is spoken. If the translator has the possibility to travel to the source language country to work on different tasks, he will be able to date with the source language and culture and at the same time s/he will maintain the knowledge of the mother tongue at the proper level. The translation always needs to be localized for the intended reader. This is a factor of great importance because it governs choice of language, presentation, the level of the language. The language needs to be elementary but not extremely simple. A competent translator will always know how to adapt his ear to the target language and will use his intuition when it comes to adjust to target language rules. 2. Factors that influence the translational competence The language and the process of thinking are not identical phenomena but they are closely linked and interrelated. If we take into account the language as a communicative process, we need to specify that what it is transmitted or communicated is a message, so it is a semantic content. The verbal expression is dependent on choosing the words and the way of phrasing. For example, the verb to say can be expressed by other verbs with an equivalent or words with an approximate meaning: to communicate, to dispose, to inform, to report, to discuss, to talk, to enlighten, to explain, to remember, to advise, to persuade and many others. Communication becomes concrete exactly by using the perfect word, appropriate for a situation. By using the verb to say instead of all the other verbs, we would express ourselves in a generic, graded way, and practically we would not manage to suggest a rich content. In such a situation, a translator will always have to select carefully the words to express th e intention and the attitude of the source language writer. A good knowledge of a foreign language is not sufficient for being a proficient translator. A translator needs to be a translator by his/her nature. There are many skills that I consider to be the most important, for example the knowledge of translation theory, the ability to analyze, compare and convert texts from one cultural domain into another, the experience in the field, the level of implication in the process of translation and many others. Trying to reach an absolute equivalent is impossible even if the translator detains great resources at the linguistic, stylistic and literary level. Psychological factors also affect the process of translation and speak about the level of translators implication when rendering the message into the target language. The translators way of expression comes and forms itself at the mental level and, based on a specific developed background affects the quality of the translation. 2.1. Psychological factors Due to our way of thinking, a man can decide upon the meaning of an object, phenomena or action connected to his environment. This is possible taking into account the new information by reference to the assimilated and systematized background knowledge. This is a part of the mental process involved in the process of translation. The understanding of a translator can be guided by several intentions or points of view. For example, a complex situation, such as translation, which implies natural, economic, geographic and cultural factors, can be understood under different angles. If a translator doesnt have the necessary knowledge s/he cannot decode the meaning of the original text. The translation has to sound as natural as possible, let alone the fact that it shouldnt contain confusing words so as to make harder the reading and understanding of the audience: †[]it should studiously avoid the translationese formal fidelity, with resulting unfaithfulness to the content and the imp act of the message.† The impossibility of making a perfect translation should not become a frustration for the translator. Of course, there will always be persons who will translate better, but maybe in a different style. Showing empathy for a certain author will positively influence his/her work and style of writing. It is unethical for a translator not to be objective inside the translation process. Nevertheless, it is obvious that s/he will think about translation as the experience in the field tells him/her how to do it. Sometimes the experience guides a translator in choosing the words or expressions. Another psychological factor, altering the meaning of the source language text and imposing, consciously or not, a personal viewpoint on the audience is not a good decision for a translator to take. The translator must try to preserve the uniqueness of a culture, its characteristics and norms. In translation, cultural psychology shows how a concept from a certain historic, social-economic or cultural background of a country or region can be found in another one but does not reflect the same thing as in the first one: Phoenix is a legend in Chinas miraculous animals, on behalf of luck, happiness and elegance, it is believed to ride Phoenix a bike can bring good luck, while in Western culture, the legendary phoenix is a phoenix, a regeneration, Resurrection and other means, so that the goods in the West is not surprising that no one is interested. Consumer psychology has implications in the way in which the consumers interests are motivated. Through a good translation, the promotional character of this type of psychology can attract clients or, on the contrary, not even stimulate them at all to buy a product. For example, Happy Cakesgiving!, a collocation taken from an advertisement about a special and tasteful cake, remembers about Thanksgiving Day, a holiday usually celebrated in the United States and Canada. The construction is very interesting and is in fact an adaptation of the holiday, underlying the importance of it for so many people. It is very hard, if not almost impossible to find an equivalent into Romanian, but a translator may always find a solution to satisfy the audience, adapting somehow the term to the local culture. Ziua deliciului may be a variant with relevance for the Romanian culture, resembling with the structure of Ziua mamei (Mothers Day), Ziua Nationala (National Day), Ziua Unirii (Unification Day) a nd so on. The aesthetic psychology works in translation at the pragmatic level. The artistic words and phrases, the combination of structures that reflect the beautiful, the elegant and graceful utterances are to be translated in the same way into the target language. This is a very hard to achieve due to many reasons. One of them is the specific syntax which makes the difference between the languages. Preserving the rhyme of a Romanian text when translating it into English is very difficult. The thematic structure of a text in Romanian is very hard to render into English. If we take the example of a section from Zamolxis, by Lucian Blaga, we will find that is impossible to preserve the elements of rhythm and rhyme. e.g. MÇÅ ½-mpÇÅ ½rtÇÅ ½Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸esc cu cà ¢te-un strop din tot ce creÃ…Å ¸te Ã…Å ¸i se pierde. Nimic nu mi-e strein, Ã…Å ¸i numai marea à ®mi lipseÃ…Å ¸te. I share a drop of all that waxes and wanes. Nothing is alien to me, and the sea alone is absent. Another reason for which it is very difficult to preserve the style of a specific text is the word order, which does not permit the translator to deal easily with the style of the original. In order to realize the message of the source language text, a translator will have to take decisions regarding what it should reproduce, either the forms or the ideas of the original. My belief is that a good translator will always be able to maintain the stylistic characteristics of a text and to construct structures that will transfer the propositional content and communicate the purpose intended by the source language writer. 2.2. Knowledge of translation theory In order to gain recognition in the field of translation, a bilingual speaker has to respect the norms that give him the responsibility over a text. Gideon Toury distinguishes between two groups of norms relevant for the process of translation: preliminary and operational. Preliminary norms deal with two major sets of concerns, which are usually interrelated: those regarding the existence of a definite translation strategy, and those related to the truthfulness of translation. Operational norms refer to the decisions made during the act of translation itself. A faithful translation depends on the correct selection of the appropriate method of translation. There are many people who wrongly believe that literary translation is more important than the technical one saying that the latter contains specific terms that are easy to translate whereas the first one is far more complex. Any translation is a very complex task and requires the same knowledge and responsibility from the part of the translator. One of the roles of the translator is to assist and fulfill the target readers expectations. The principle that governs this idea is that a translator should not transmit only the words to the readers, but the ideas of the source language text. The translators task becomes very difficult to achieve if s/he does not understand properly the referential meaning of a text so as to transfer it correctly to the target language. Another important role of the translator is to produce the same impression on the target readers as the author of the source language produces on his/her own readers. Another guideline stipulated by translation theory is that a translator should correct the misrepresentations, which belong to the extralinguistic reality. S/he has to find if a text has a correct syntax, if it contains stereotype phrases, fashionable general words. If the text is not well written, s/he can interfere in the original text and perform intra- and interlingual translation so as to transmit an appropriate message. A close attention must be paid to word order, false friends, common structures which become unnatural by one-to-one translation, the use of elevated usage of words and idioms or the use of infinitives, gerunds and verb-phrase. The translator should write in his own style and should not use words and expressions that produce an artificial effect on the target text. 2.2.1 Translation methods Paraphrasing Another principle related to the knowledge of translation theory is the use of paraphrase as a solution to those words which do not have an equivalent in the target language, whether they are technical, scientific, literary or institutional terms. In translation theory, to paraphrase means trying to express the signification of a word by amplifying or explaining its meaning: [†¦] is a technical term from linguistics and related disciplines, and is characterized by three specific features: (I) it is intralingual rather than interlingual, i.e., it is â€Å"another way of sayng the same thing† in the same language; (2) it is rigorous, in that there are no changes in the semantic components: no additions, no deletions, no skewing of relationships, only a different marking of the same relations between the same elements; (3) specifically as it relates to back-transformation, it is aimed at restatement at a particular level, that of the kernels. This often happens in the case of poorly written texts or it is also a method used in translating the Bible. The latter case implies many debates because paraphrasing the Bible means an interpretation that tends to be subjective due to the translators point of view regarding religion. Eugene A. Nida points out this idea in his work â€Å"Toward a science of translation†: The dangers of subjectivity in translating are directly proportionate to the potential emotional involvement of the translator in the message. For scientific prose such involvement is usually at a minimum, but in religious texts it may be rather great, since religion is concerned with the deepest and most universal value systems. In some instances it is a translators own sense of insecurity which makes it difficult for him to let the document speak for itself, and in other instances a lack of humility may prompt him to translate without consulting the opinions of those who have studied such texts more fully than himself. So, this method includes not only advantages, for the ability to transmit the message, but also disadvantages because it alters the original meaning. By using a paraphrase, the translator can render the meaning of the source language text. Since this is a way to carry in the target text the intention of the author, the paraphrase shows how s/he can remain faithful to the original. Problems about paraphrasing arise when we try to detect its level of fidelity in the process of translation. Every translator will have his/her own way of interpreting the original text and, thus, an original method of paraphrasing. Sometimes trying to eliminate the use of a paraphrase may result in weakening the text. A special attention should be paid to the substantial sense of a translated work after using the paraphrase. Functional Equivalence Functional Equivalence, also called dynamic equivalence is a method in which the translator tries to reflect the intention of the author in the source language at the expense of the original grammatical structure. Are Bureaucracies Involved In Foreign Policy Making? Are Bureaucracies Involved In Foreign Policy Making? In western democracies, especially UK and US, the role of bureaucracy in making policy is analyzed to understand its effective power in the decision making process: is bureaucracy a simple armed arm of the politics or it is completely involved in making policy? The foreign policy is not exempt from this debate and various authors spend their academic career trying to answer to this question. The aim of this essay is to investigate under what circumstances, bureaucrats are passively involved in foreign policy or when they are actively part of the process of decision making. For these reasons the essay will be divided into three parts. The first part is entitled to analyze and explain the Allisons model III (Bureaucratic Politics Model) based on the idea that the decision to follow a certain line in foreign policy is basically the result of bargaining between offices and bureaucrats in different positions of command. This theory is a masterpiece in the analysis of the impact of bureaucracy in foreign policy, consequently it is necessary to mention it. In the second part all the theoretical restrictions of the Allisons model III will be shown and as result an alternative model will be provided. In the last part, all the theoretical assumptions emerged during the analysis will be tested according to two cases study: in one hand the relationship between US bureaucracy and Kis singer, former National Security Advisor (NSA) and head of the Department of State in the US administration; in the other hand the US Navy and the study of its internal bureaucracy. By definition, bureaus are non-profit organizations that are financed, at least in part, from a periodic appropriation or grant bureaus specialise in providing goods and services that some people prefer in larger amounts than would be supplied by their sale at a per-unit rate (Niskanen 1973: 8). They are usually financed by a government department which is financed by tax revenues. The term bureaucrat will be used to describe any full-time employee of a bureau nearly synonymous with civil servant [it] will be used to define the senior official of any bureau with a separate identifiable budgetthese bureaucrats may be either career officials or directly appointed by the elected executive (Niskanen 1973: 11). * * * The Allisons model called Bureaucratic Politics analyses the foreign policy decision making process. The core of the Allisons model III is easily summarized in his words: bargaining along regularized channels among players positioned hierarchically within the government (Allison 1969: 707). The scheme predicts no unitary actor but rather many players focused on different problems. The governmental apparatus is led by political leaders who need to decentralize some of their functions. This process guarantees discretion on the hands of the subject in charge of that function. In foreign policy, different players opt for different solutions because of their perceptions and priorities. In doing so, decisions are the result of the triumph of one group over others. The axioms produced by the Allisons model III are many: governmental actions are the result of compromise and competition among public officials; players are men in jobs (Allison 1969: 709) that means their tasks and obligations are related to the position they hold at that moment; within bureaucratic organization usually the bargaining is driven by parochialism, that influences internal priorities, perceptions and issues; each player has a reasonable probability of success according to the effective power in his/her hands; each decision has critical consequences not only for the strategic problem but for each players organizational, reputational, and personal stakes (Allison 1969: 710). Moreover, bargaining is possible only in certain channels and its results are not the consequence of individual rationality but rather the sum of different intentions (Allison 1969). Through the study of the UK and US foreign policy decision making process, it is possible to identify those elements present in Allisons model III in order to understand how they are implemented in practice. Formal responsibility for the conduct of British foreign policy rests with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and under him the FCO (Wallace 1975: 21). This vision would be limited until we do not recognise also the importance of overseas missions home departments, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, others ministries and officials. In fact, in UK foreign affairs if the policy-making process in lower levels is in the hands of the Foreign Office, for what we consider high policy we need to add the interference of other member of government (with their personal relationships and prejudices) and small group of interests. With the exception of situations of emergency, the decisions are taken into formal channels (e.g. intergovernmental relations, negotiation of treaties and representation abroad) (Wallace 1975). Daily foreign policy making process is, not only an activity related to the Secretary of State, but also to senior officials in important delegations, such as UN, NATO and UE, who effectively become part of the process of policy-making in their areas (Wallace 1975: 36). Each home department has the right to have one or more civilian attachà ©(s) in overseas missions because of their significant international interests. Traditionally, the most important ones are from the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). FCO, Treasury and MoD had responsibilities overlapped with significant areas of high policy as well as low-level external relations (Wallace 1975: 40). Therefore, one of the roles of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet is to pull together different instances and to coordinate the governmental action through the Home Civil Service, a permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that support the national interest with the instances from private industries and public departments. O fficials do their best to ensure that they know their ministers mind and to take his assumed preferences into account in formulating and implementing policy (Wallace 1975: 51). They are considered the protectors of the public interest and they have a particular relationship with the politicians: [i]It is very difficult to assess the relative impact of official advice and political direction on external policyof course there is a difference in outlook between the official, whose professional career is foreign policy, and the minister, who must be more concerned with domestic politics, his constituency, his standing in the party, and the next election (Wallace 1975: 52). However, the relationship between the politicians and their officials in some cases are affected by personal factors more than formal structures. Consequently, foreign policy seems to be driven not only by the national interest but also by personal interest, energy, experience, expertise, friendships, personality and preferences. Different opinions and different attitudes are reflected into different views within the government. The making of US foreign policy is delegated to different actors. The President, the NSA with the National Security Council (NSC), the State Department, the Department of Defence (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC) are all of them directly or in part involved in the process of foreign policy decision making. The NSAs organizational origins derive from the NSC system set up in 1947, and from the putative need for Presidents to have on their staff a manager and coordinator for foreign policy (Dumbrell 1997: 89). In fact, [t]The NSA and NSC staff tend to be seen as flexible, responsive, relatively free of bureaucratic baggage, and sensitive to the Presidents political and electoral interest (Dumbrell 1997: 92). The Secretary of State is the official governmental responsible for the making of foreign policy. Although its mandate is clear, it is progressively increasing the tendency for inter-departmental networks of influence to cut traditional institutional linkages. As pointed ou t by Dumbrell (1997: 97), for example, during the Cold war a militarization of diplomacy and a consequent endemic tension between the Pentagon and the State Department monopolized the policy-making process. [T]the CIA was an institutional embodiment of the trend towards non-accountable, subterranean policy-making and security operation (Dumbrell 1997: 102). Therefore, the CIA has to be considered a powerful instrument of foreign policy in the hands of the White House. * * * The Bureaucratic Politics Model is not exempt by critics. Krasner (1972) claims that the Allisons model III is ambiguous and dangerous because in western democracies elected officials are responsible for the acts of government, not public ones. Merits and demerits of the governmental structure because of the implementation of weak policies or wrong ones is direct responsibility of the elected leader, and not of bureaucrats. Moreover, the model lacks in describing how policy is made because it does not consider adequately the figure of the President especially in the US system. Only the President has the power of the ultimate decisions, to choose most of the important players, to set the rules. That explains why even if his/her attention is absent, bureaus are sensitive to his/her values. Neither organizational necessity nor bureaucratic interests are the fundamental determinants of policy. The limits imposed by standard operating procedures as well as the direction of policy are a function of the values of decision-makers. The President creates much of the bureaucratic environment which surrounds him through his selection of bureau chiefs, determination of action-channels, and statutory powers (Krasner 1972: 169). Another controversial point in the Allisons model is that it does not consider the possibility of failure, that is at the end of the process of bargaining the players could not take any decision. According to Krasner (1972) this outcome not only is common but also it reflects confusion over values which afflicts the society and the political elite. In the Bureaucratic Politics Model, this sort of confusion is not allowed because each player is certain about its priorities and parochial interests. Bendor and Hammond (1992) indicate at least four weaknesses in the Allisons model III: the bargaining, the hierarchy, the ambiguity of the assumptions and the extreme complexity. The model suffers when it assumes that the bureaucratic actors have conflicting goals; often what is conflicting within a governmental organization is the beliefs about how to achieve those goals. Furthermore, it is not understandable why the President with all his/her powers has to bargaining with other officials and in doing so the model suffers in understanding the sense of hierarchy within the Executive Branch. The prepositions in the model often are claimed without scientific values, without data support and they seem to be generalizations without proof. After all, the complexity of the model is given by the amount of information necessary to verify it and the number of variables to consider. Welch (1992) identifies the impossibility to test the Allisons model III as one of the main problem of the model itself. What is more, he is aware of two contradictions. The first one is related to the importance of the positions held by the players. According to Allison the position determines the preferences but at the same time the priorities in the mind of the actors are also dictated by their experiences and perceptions. The second one is related to how bureaucratic positions can influence the decision making process. According to Allison the position determines the power of the player but at the same time one fundamental aspect in the bargaining process is the personality. Brady and Kegley (1977) criticize the literature about bureaucratic politics considered by Allison in his assumptions. Generalizations and lack of evidence seem to overemphasize the role of bureaucratic influences. In fact, bureaucratic influences should be explained as a component of the foreign policy decision making process and not the most important one. The way in which bureaucracy influence decisions is only in part related to parochial interests, as shown in situations of crisis, when each organizational position and the consequent process of bargaining is led by the common interest of combating or avoiding a threat for all the players. Not only critics to Allison are necessary, but also the examination of an alternative model can help us in understanding strengths and weaknesses of that model. Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman (1981) created a new model to explain the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats. In this case, the sophisticated model is not simply bureaucratic centric like the Allison one, but it is focused on four different outcomes called images. The first one is the simplest: politicians make policy; civil servants administer. Politicians make decisions; bureaucrats merely implement them (Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman 1981: 4). Public officials are indispensable servants because of their competences and expertise. For Weber, this is the ideal relationship because the institutional functions of politics and administration are separated, but at the same time it is highly improbable because every governmental decision has political considerations and consequences. Authority, simplicity of decision and political supremacy are the potentiality of this image. The second outcome assumes that both politicians and civil servants participate in making policy, but that make distinctive contributions. Civil servants bring facts and knowledge; politicians, interests and values (Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman 1981: 6). Division of labour and rationality are the main characteristics of this model. According to the third image both bureaucrats and politicians engage in policymaking, and both are concerned with politics whereas politicians articulate broad, diffuse interests of unorganized individuals, bureaucrats mediate narrow, focused interests of organized clienteles (Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman 1981: 9). In this case, it is unclear if the initiative comes from the bureaucrats or the interest groups. In any case, the more problematic issues cannot be addresses only by one part, however, during emergencies, the policymaking role of the civil service is irrelevant. In the last outcome, the two roles have been converging perhaps reflecting, as some have argued, a politicization of the bureaucracy and a bureaucratization of politics (Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman 1981: 16). This image has been associated with the expansion of executive agencies like the Cabinet in UK, the Chancellery in Germany or the White House in US, which have absorbed several political administrators. Bureaucrats and politicians are policymakers: the bureaucrats because indirectly manage the governmental apparatus by the implementation of decisions; the politicians are involved directly in policymaking activities. * * * The first case study demonstrates the failure of the Allisons model in terms of bargaining and it confirm some critics present in Bendor, Hammon, Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman. The centurys most thoughtful and practically effective critic of bureaucracy in foreign affairs, Kissinger had no taste or skill to do more than suppress it (Strong 1987: 75). Kissinger developed critics to the bureaucratic system because he was convinced that the only way to solve US bureaucratic problems was in decisions and actions exercised by politicians. When he was appointed NSA during the Nixon administration, they both preferred a system of foreign policymaking that would be centralized in the White House and dominated by the president and his personal advisers (Strong 1987: 57). He modelled a new foreign policy organization, where a series of interdepartmental committees report to the Review Group (RG), chaired by the NSA who will present the topics to the President and the NSC. In such a system, the NSA was in the position to exercise all its influence over information and options and to manipulate the decision making process. He intended the bureaucracy as a source of information about important international issues. He wanted the maximum realm for personal choice in a policymaking environment where circumstance and bureaucratic practice almost always tended to reduce the opportunities for leaders to act (Strong 1987: 61). The objective was to establish White House control over the making of foreign policy. This model of foreign policy making process presents some problems: abuse of power by the NSA, no transparency, it is decision centric, it is run by small stuff which means limited capacity and probable superficiality in dealing with international issues. Scarce expertise, information manipulated, jealousies and ambitions can also affect the political considerations. Also the second case study recommends the failure of the Allisons model in terms of bargaining and it confirms some critics present in Welch, Brady and Kagley. In this case the outcomes cannot be predicted on the basis of parochial interests and the distribution of bureaucratic power (Rhodes 1994: 3). The US Navy is considered one of the most traditionalist military corps of the US. For this reason, internal and external observers have long argued that bureaucratic parochialism within the navy has strongly influenced national decisions over national force posture that is, decisions regarding kinds and levels of naval forces (Rhodes 1994: 3). The main Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) is the highest uniformed officer and he is responsible for ruling inter-departmental competition for funds. In fact, all the three components, that is aviators, submariners and surface ship members try to drive the navys force posture. The CNO with his personal experience and bureaucratic baggage is supposed to reflect his membership to one of the components, while he is ruling. According to Allison, in fact, he has a substantial interest in force the posture of Navy in favour of his unit. Analyzing the data available in the forty years between 1950 and 1990 when the Navy had 12 CNOs is possible to deduce that the identity and objectives of the principal bureaucratic interest groups, inside and outside the navy, have remain constant (Rhodes 1994: 21). This bureaucratic model suggest that state behaviour is far from being based on competing interests. The assumption where you stand depends on where you sit failed in front of the evidence that what they think is independent of where they sit. The outcome suggest that instead of parochial interests we should talk about parochial sets of ideas. Except for moment of crisis, the internal trends of a bureaucratic organization tend to remain unaltered across time despite changes in the decision makers environment. Given the weight of evidence that parochial loyalties has been dominant in determining naval force posture, the findings from this case give us considerable reason for scepticism about any generalized claims that bureaucratic politics are critical in shaping state behaviour (Rhodes 2004: 40). According to the cases study presented, the Allisons model III and its attempt to explain state behaviour is suitable for routine and standard decisions. It lacks in predicting outcomes because its strength is describing the intra organizational bargaining. As mentioned by Rourke (1972), the influence of bureaucracy on the foreign policy decision making is not so relevant as Allison tries to demonstrate. Bureaucracy can adopt policies in its interest but when it is in charge to translate political decisions into actions, it is merely following the intentions of the decision-maker. However, it has limited possibilities to influence presidential decisions because political players can easily reduce its power to a subordinate status. Smith and Clarke (1985), focus on the aspect of policy implementation: they affirm that in the process of foreign policy decision making it is important how a certain decision has been implemented, not only how it was taken. The Bureaucratic Politics model tends to have an implicit notion of implementation because it takes it for granted, and this is an unforgivable mistake because usually decisions are ambiguous, therefore all the power is in the hands of those subjects involved in the execution. Only the bureaucracy has the power to control and monitor the outcomes. For all these reasons, in analyzing bureaucracy behaviour, academics should focus on the implementation because it explains the relationships between the decision making process and the results. The Allisons model III (Allison and Halperin 1972) argue that, through the bargaining, bureaucrats are protagonists of the decision making process in foreign policy. Looking at the model in depth, it has been demonstrated how the model can basically give us a dimension of the governmental interactions between hierarchies but it cannot anticipate the outcome. Certainly, it describes the rationality in achieving parochial interests but the results cannot be predetermined a priori. * * * Bureaucrats are servants and masters in the foreign policy making process and during the phase of implementation because even if they know intentions, structures and process of bargaining, it is impossible to foresee the final outcome. Definitively, their behaviour is goal oriented but it is impossible to calculate all the information and variables necessary to achieve that goal. For these reasons, the Bureaucratic Politics model cannot assure definite results. With no doubt, the Aberbach, Putnam and Rockmans model is more appropriate in describing the decision making process, but it is not specific for foreign policy outcomes. The power of bureaucratic organizations over foreign affairs has been exaggerated even if they have the power to channel decisions into practical policies and they are increasingly involved in the administration of the foreign affairs. There is no doubt about the pulling and hauling in governmental debates but it does not affect the presidential choice. If there is no direction or control from the top, then obviously a bureaucratic paradigm is essential for analyzing the foreign policy process; then, decisions are truly the resultants of governmental mechanics. But if there is central control from the top, then the mechanics make no difference.