Alexander The Great

Alexander The Great Essay Alexander The Great Essay is said to be one of the greatest conquerors of all time, and yet, his significance in battle showed up late in his life. His early years were spent in poverty, and as the years progressed, his dream of being a war hero grew dimmer and dimmer.Ironically, while he was later known as a war hero, he was still feared by all because of his reputation as a drinker and murderer. But first, his background. He was born in 356 BC. His parents were Philip, the brother of King Perdiccas III of Macedon, in Northern Greece. His mother was Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus, in modern Albania. He also had a younger sister, Cleopatra (not the famous Egyptian queen).However, this family was not as ordinary as one might think. In fact, his parents absolutely hated each other. Philip had complied with Macedonian tradition and had a few wives. Soon, one of his wives had a baby which had mysteriously become disabled after birth. It was said that the disability was due to poisoning from Olympias. Olympias sometimes told Alexander that Philip wasnt his real father, but this probably wasnt true.After all, Philip certainly did seem to care for Alexander as if he was his real son. He even appointed Aristotle himself as Alexanders first and only tutor. Yet, there were some things about Alexander that made Philip angry. He hated the fact that his was very skinny and the fact that he had a high-pitched voice. Still, Alexander felt lucky to have this man as his father and mentor. In 359 BC, when Alexander was three, Philips Brother, King Peridcaas III, died. It was originally planned that his son, Amyntas, was tosucceed him with Philip as his regent, but Philip usurped his nephews throne and made himself King Philip II. In a few decades, he proved to be a stronger king and he eventually conquered most of Greece. When he was in his teens, Alexanders father came to him one day and told him that he had to leave to fight in a war. Thus Alexander, being his regent, would have to serve for the time being. While his father was away, Alexander led an expedition to a wild region of modern day Bulgaria. Here, he found a race of wild barbarians, whom he later subdued. He, then, established his first city, Alexandropolis, at the site of this defeat. This made his strength apparent to everyone and consequently became general of his fathers army. However, things still werent amiable between father and son. On one occasion, Philip was attacked and hurt by rioters and he fell and played dead on the ground. Alexander shielded the attackers away and his father lived, but he never acknowledged the fact that Alexander saved his life. Alexander deeply resented him for this. Alexander was known for his many temper tantrums. One memorable one was during a dinner party celebrating his final marriage. His uncle gave a toast saying that he hoped that they would have a child to take over throne. Alexander replied,; so am I just a bastard?; and he threw his goblet at his uncle. This started such a great brawl between the two that Philip stood up and drew his sword at Alexander, but fell over drunk before he got even close to him. To this Alexander yelled, ;Look, men,hes about to cross from Europe to Asia, and he falls crossing from chair to chair.; This incident forced Alexander and his mother to leave Macedon, but, several years later, they reconciled with him and moved back. However, soon after their return, Philip was stabbed by the Captain of his bodyguards while he was entering the theater that his nephews wedding was being held in. The assassin fled across a vineyard. READ: Roman Aqueducts: An Engineering Brilliance Essay He might have escaped, but a vine caught his foot and he tripped. He was killed by some other bodyguards instantly. Philips death in 336 BC lead Alexander to succeed him and become King Alexander III. By this time, he was twenty years old. It was said that he was an incredibly handsome man and he always was clean shaven. Although he was a heavy drinker, he .

Anti-competitive Behavior of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association Essay - 3

Anti-competitive Behavior of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association - Essay Example The FTC functions as an equalizer between the vulnerable consumers and the wealthy and powerful businessmen and corporations. It serves as a monitoring agency in the regulation of commodity prices. It also serves to protect businesses from each other by giving all of them fair and equal opportunities to trade their wares in the consumer market. Public policy considerations against anti-competitive behavior revolve around keeping the prices of commodities and services affordable to the public while still achieving a high level of quality in goods and services. The FTC monitors the consumer market for possible violations in anti-competition and anti-trust policies. This monitoring is done with the help of the consumers. Consumers are encouraged to report unfair competition practices of businesses and industries. Through the FTC, many industries are encouraged and motivated to produce high-end goods and services while still making them available to the consumer at affordable prices. The public has the right to expect an assortment of choices in their goods and services. It also has the right to be protected against businessmen and corporations who may take it upon themselves to agree about prices in order to manipulate the market. The public has the right to be protected against monopolies. Monopolies restrict the public’s right to avail of similar products traded by other companies. This practice restricts the participation of industries in similar trading lines controlled by more dominant corporations.

"Verbicide" Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

"Verbicide" - Assignment Example One challenge that people face is not the lack of knowledge of the language, but a lack of coherence in speaking it. This challenge has been occasioned, partly because the society is greatly specialized. This specialization has led to the division of language segments, each for a different and distinct sector of development for example. The language used, say in electrical engineering is strictly confined and distinct in that particular field. This confinement has meant that our language is sorted out based on the various accepted disciplines in our society. An electrical engineering student finds it difficult communicating on anything else besides electrical engineering. A person’s capacity to think as a whole has significantly been compromised as the language of the expert cannot explain the general state of our practical life. The battle against language is championed by people who subvert the vocabulary used by the general public. This selfish act is all in a bid to controlling others by availing biased meanings to particular issues. This has resulted in a gradual slow death of our vocabulary. The effect has been a situation where the people cannot define the problems that they face. This issue has brought about a quagmire of accumulated and unsolved problems. The words that the people cannot adequately describe these same imaginations. Another major problem is the decline in the experience of the world both in terms of range and depth. The decline has been so great that experience is rendered artificial. It is now hard to come across people who are skilled in working on farms or in forests. The vocabulary in such intimate areas has been rendered impoverished. Even when the people have the world’s experience, it is usually confined to non-participatory realms that make it artificial. Language plays a critical role in ensuring teamwork both in informal settings and at the workplaces. The issues affecting language are,

Markets and customers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Markets and customers - Essay Example mportance of the four P’s, followed by the definition and relevance of marketing mix and then finally go on to understanding (with the help of examples) how the 4 Ps are interdependent on each other and a change in one directly impacts the success of the rest. ‘People think that a product is a tangible offering, but a product can be more than that. A product can be anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need. Products that are marketed include physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas.’ (Kotler et al, 2007: 316). Services also form an important part of products. ‘It is wrong to imply that services are just like products â€Å"except† for intangibility.’ (Shostack, 1977: 73). With the changing trends all across the globe, services have become a very important section which contributes towards a country’s GDP. How much services sector has grown can be seen from the fact that this sector contributes more than 75% in the GDPs of countries like The United States and The United Kingdom. Price is the monetary equivalent that we pay in return for services and products which we consume. According to me, price plays the most important role out of the four P’s of study. ‘Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include: pricing strategy, suggested retail price, etc.’ (The Marketing Mix (The 4 P’s of Marketing) NetMBA, 2007) Place talks about the location from where we want to sell the products and services. It refers to the distribution channel involved in the supply chain. This gives us the information about how many channels a product passes through before it finally reaches the customer. ‘Some examples of place decisions to be made include: distribution channel, market coverage, etc.’ (The Marketing Mix (The 4 P’s of Marketing) NetMBA, 2007) Promotion includes the activities undertaken by the seller to make the customer aware of the products and

Relationship Between Neoliberalism and Neorealism

Relationship Between Neoliberalism and Neorealism NEO-LIBERALISM, NEO-REALISM   THE ‘NEO-NEO SYNTHESIS’ Do you agree that neo-realism and neo-liberalism have come so close together so as to form a ‘neo-neo synthesis’? Or is the long-standing confrontation between the two very much alive today? ‘This positivist-realist legacy has, despite slight differences and  dichotomies, persisted in later positivist scholars of international  relations: Robert Gilpin, Stephan Krasner, and Robert Kohane. Whereas  they have a number of differences to debate, namely anarchy, regime,  state cooperation etc., they belong to the Neo-realist research  programme which as been called the ‘‘neo-neo synthesis’’. Despite the  substantive debate between neo-realists and neo-liberal institutionalists,  Neo-institutionalism does not actually challenge but complements neorealism . . . This indicates that neo-realism and neo-liberalism are no  longer incommensurable: they commonly share the rationalist research  programme.’ (Toru Oga, 2000: p.3) This quotation is given at such length because it succinctly and excellently gives the theoretical foundation for the notion of a ‘neo-neo synthesis’, and for the merger and integration of neo-realism and neo-liberalism. For a long part of the twentieth century realism and liberalism, and later neo-realism and neo-liberalism, were bitterly opposed to each other at both theoretical and practical levels: the former espoused a economic and political ideology that viewed the ideal international community as one possessed of lassiz-faire economic policies, of free markets and limited government intervention; the later proposed, to the contrary, that the international community should be a restraint upon nation states, limiting and controlling their political and economic activities, and making them behave according to mutually agreed criteria (Booth, 1995). Considering the antithetical nature of these two positions, it long seemed to supporters of both camps that a synthesis of their positions would be both heretical and impossible. Nonetheless, in the mid 1980’s a convergence of the two schools did indeed begin to emerge as it became clear that their differences were not as great as they has formerly assumed, and as other schools of a more radical nature began to attack neo-liberalism and neo-realism alike (Kratochwil, 2000). As Oga suggests above, the two schools came to see that they were both working according to the ‘rationalist research programme’ and that this joint philosophy might bear better fruit if they co-ordinated their work. This essay however proceeds to argue, using the twin criticisms of John Ruggie’s and Alexander Wendt’s constructivism and Richard Ashley’ and David Campbell’s deconstructivism, that the neo-neo synthesis is but a verbal mirage, a rhetorical convergence of ideas that is not a political reality and whose theoretical foundation is both illogical and unhistorical. It will th erefore be shown that neo-realism’s and neo-liberalism’s long-standing confrontation is as alive today as it has been at any time in its history. ‘Social constructivism’ first emerged as a challenge to the validity of the neo-neo synthesis of neo-realism and neo-liberalism in the work of John Ruggie (1986) and Alexander Wendt (1989). The principal objection raised by these scholars to the neo-neo-neo synthesis was that it failed to sufficiently account for or explain the roles and functions of national interests and national and corporate identities in the domain of international politics. In the words of Oda ‘Firstly, the neo-neo synthesis is unable to explain how territorial states formed particular identities and interests. Secondly, it fails to explain how state identity and state interest are co-instituted. Finally, there increasingly emerges the normative factor in international relations, such as humanitarian intervention, which the synthesis totally ignores’ (Oda, 2000: p.5). The neo-neo synthesis is therefore criticised on three counts: one, it pays too little attention to how national and te rritorial identities are formed, and therefore does not have sufficient knowledge of these identities when needing to make informed decisions on international political and economic policy; secondly, this being a related point, the neo-neo synthesis does not make clear the relationship between how state identities are formed and therefore how states will behave internationally in the protection of their interests; and, thirdly, the neo-neo synthesis in entirely impotent when asked to make decisions regarding one of the most significant developments in recent international politics: the emergence of humanitarianism. Thus Ruggie came to define the opposite to the neo-neo synthesis, i.e., constructivism, with the following statement ‘Social constructivists have sought to understand the full array of roles that ideas play in world politics, rather than specifying a priori roles based on theoretical presuppositions and then testing for those specified roles, as Neo-Utilitarians doà ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Ruggie 1998: p. 867). If this constructivist position is accurate, Ruggie argued, then the neo-neo synthesis cannot also be accurate. ‘On the one hand, the sign of ‘sovereignty’ betokens a rational identity: a  homogeneous and continuous presence that is hierarchically ordered, that has a  unique centre of decision presenting over a coherent ‘self’, and that is  demarcated from, and in opposition to, an external domain of difference and  change that resists assimilation to its identical being. On the other hand, the  sign of ‘anarchy’ betokens this residual external domain: an aleatory domain  characterised by difference and discontinuity, contingency and ambiguity, that  can be known only for its lack of the coherent truth and meaning expressed by  a sovereign presence’ (Ashley, 1988: p. 230) A further attack upon the solidity of the neo-neo synthesis has been launched by the deconstructivism school founded by Richard Ashley (1988) and David Campbell (1998) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ the criticisms of both centring upon failure of the neo-neo synthesis to properly explain the anarchical nature of the international political domain. According to the rationalistic model of the neo-neo synthesis the international economic and political community must be ordered according to absolutely certain and definite economic and political principles that are open to scientific research and investigation. Likewise, it is a belief of the neo-neo synthesis that economists and politicians are able to make predictions about the nature of the international environment by using these scientifically determined laws of economics and politics; the above model cannot allow for capricious economic and political events whose causes lie outside of scientific prediction (Lapid, 1989). Deconstructivism on the other hand, as Ashley shows in the quotation above, argues that the order bestowed upon a nation by its ‘sovereignty’ is not present in the international arena where a lack of sovereignty produces events that defy economic and political laws derived from the economic and political conditions in sovereign states (Ashley, 1988). In different words: the international arena and the sovereign domestic arena are markedly different and behave differently according to different sets of laws. Thus Ashley came to speak of the international arena as place of ‘anarchy problematique’ (Ashley, 1988: p.201): a notion considerably developed by the other founder of deconstructivism, David Campbell. In Writing Security (1988) Campbell considers the domestic and foreign policies of the United States as an example of the dichotomy between sovereign domestic behaviour and anarchical international behaviour. At the domestic level, successive American governments, be they republ ican or democratic, produce prudent and conservative policies designed to operate within a narrow ideological range; such policies are designed to appeal to an average American mind-set that is fond of such conservative policies. American foreign policy however manifests itself in much more radical forms, most recently witnessed in the invasion of Iraq, including many policies that violate the political, moral and economic ideologies expected at home. In Iraq, for instance, American policy is forced to respond to anarchical conditions that require very different policies and practices from those employed the homeland of America; these normal freedoms and rights are suspended because of the changed anarchical conditions over which America presides in Iraq. The explanation for this policy and ideological dichotomy rests upon a difference of identity: American citizens identify themselves at home, due to long tradition and experience of certain rights and freedoms, as possessing these absolutely and do not permit their governments to make major deviations from these; in the international arena however the identity of those making policy is not so strongly tied to cultural or individual identity but is rather an abstract spectre that can as such justifies more anarchical policies. Thus Campbell famously stated that ‘Identity can be understood as the outcome of exclusionary practices in which resistant elements to a secure identity on the ‘‘inside’’ are linked through a discourse of ‘‘danger’’ with threats identified and located on the outside. Foreign policy, being those practices of differentiation implicated in all confrontations between a self and other, embraces both positive and negative valences’ (Campbell, 1998: p.73.). The neo-neo synthesis, according to Ashley, Campbell and others of the deconstructionist school cannot properly exist in the form it pretends to because it does not take suffic ient account of the anarchical element in international politics. In the final analysis, it can be stated with some assurance that the ‘neo-neo synthesis’ is a desperate verbal illusion created by neo-liberals and neo-realists alike when jointly threatened by the strength of the constructivism / deconstructivism critique. The eminent political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted in his famous National Interest article of 1989 entitled The End of History that differences of economic and political ideologies would soon be a thing of the past as the world, driven by forces of globalization, came together behind the consensus that liberal democracy and capitalism represented the end point of human history and would soon create a homogenous political order (Fukuyama, 1989). Deeply influenced and threatened by the persuasiveness of such ideas, and so by the notion that their own ideological differences might become superfluous; scholars of both schools created the ‘neo-neo synthesis’ as a self-defence mechanism. This mechanism has subsequently been revealed as both illogical and irrational by the criticisms levelled against it by the constructivism and deconstructivism schools. The pretence of ideological unity is falsified by the practical manifestations of both theories, which diverge radically and which show that the long-standing confrontation between the two positions is as alive today as at any other time before. BIBLIOGRAPHY Academic Books, Journals Articles Ashley, R. (1986 [1984]) ‘The Poverty of Neorealism’ in Keohane, R. O. (edt.) Neorealism and its Critics (New York: Columbia U.P.) Booth, K. (1995) ‘Dare not to know: International Relations Theory versus the Future’ in Booth, K. and Smith, S. (edt.) International Relations Theory Today (Oxford: Polity Press). Campbell, D. (1998). Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity (Manchester: Manchester U.P., Revised Edition) Cox, R. (1987) Production, Power, and World Order: Social Forces in the making of History (NY: Columbia U.P.) (1999) ‘Civil Society at the Turn of the Millennium: Prospects for an Alternative World Order’ in Review of International Studies Vol. 25 Fukuyama, F. (1989). National Interest article ‘The End of History’. George, J. (1993) ‘Of Incarceration and Closure: Neo-realism and New/Old World order’ Millennium: Journal of International Studies 22 (2). Kratochwil, F. (2000) ‘Constructing a New Orthodoxy? Wendt’s ‘Social Theory of International Politics’ and the Constructivist Challenge’ Millennium: Journal of International Studies 29 (1) Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards A Radical Democratic Politics (London: Verso) Lapid, Y. (1989) ‘The Third Debate: on the prospects of International Theory in a Post-Positivist Era’ International Studies Quarterly Vol. 33. Oga, T. (2000). From Constructivism to Deconstructivism: Theorising the Construction and Culmination of Identities. PhD Thesis. Department of Government. University of Essex. Ruggie, J. G. (1986) ‘Continuity and Transformation in the World Polity: Toward a Neorealist Synthesis’ in Keohane, R. O. (edt.) Neorealism and its Critics (New York: Columbia U.P.) Waltz, K. (1979) Theory of International Politics (New York: Random House) Wendt, A. and Duval, R. (1989) ‘Institutions and International Order’ in Czempiel, E. O. and Rosenau, J. N. (edt.) Global Changes and Theoretical Challenges: Approaches to World Politics for the 1990s (Massachusetts: Lexington Books)

Graduation Speech: Aim at the Sun :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Graduation - at last! I thought we'd never get here. Only 13 years ago, we started our first day of kindergarten. It may be easy for some of you to recall those memories. Remembering those magical days of elementary, hop-scotch, tether ball, swinging on the monkey bars, playing the map game, boys chasing girls on recess, and for us girls, day-of-the-week underwear were a big hit. If only the days were as simple as those. The six years flew by quickly and we were off to middle school and soon to junior high or Cedarcrest. Now we were into dances, telephone numbers, big hair, lockers, and the girls were chasing the boys. Who can forget the rivalry between the "Downtowners" and the "Cedarpreps"? There was one focus and one focus only, victory. Four more years gone by and we are "squashmores." It seems like only yesterday when we stepped foot onto County High School. We looked with amazement at all of the different buildings and the numerous classrooms. It was the seniors that frightened us the most. Those helpful seniors: the tapings, the directions, even raw eggs. We soon ventured into our junior year, we were now the Class of 2012. We had made new friends and discovered that Mr. Thomas was the most versatile of all schedule organizers. By now most everyone had their license, and up and down, and up and down, and up and down State Street we went. What fools we were, or maybe some of us still are. Finally, we became the big bad seniors we once feared. There have been numerous memories that one will never forget and will always cherish. These memories include: dodging seagulls, sneaking past security, formal dances, eating lunch on the forum, tea, the picnic and now graduation. As we choose our own paths, some will continue their education, while others will go straight into the work force.

Healthy Eating Essay

Healthy means having or indicating good health in your body or mind. Being healthy means feeling good. Being healthy is one of the better things in life. When a person is healthy, that person would be able to do or achieve anything in his or her own way. A healthy person is a happy person. Even if a person is healthy, they could still become ill. Being healthy is everything dealing with you in body and mind. In body, the person could be strong and healthy. In mind, the person has a feeling of goodness and achievement towards themselves. They feel good about themselves and people can see a good change in them. The person will have positive thoughts and not negative thoughts. Eating the right kinds of food keeps your body healthy and makes you feel good. When a person is healthy, they tend to feel good about themselves and their body. Eating healthy, being active, and feeling good about you are the key ingredients to having a healthy lifestyle. When a person eats healthy food, like one of their daily food groups in the food pyramid: grain, poultry, dairy, and etc. they will be able to have enough strength and energy to last them a whole day. When you keep your body strong, well, and clean, you are being healthy. In order to be healthy, the person will have to eat the right kind of food, exercise daily, take a shower, keep him/herself clean, and stay well. People who are healthy are likely to have the background of being and staying drug free. Junk food is not one of the things people eat to be healthy. Eating junk food affects your body and can make you sick. In order for a person to be healthy and stay healthy, they have to exercise daily, eat the right kinds of food, staying clean, and that person would feel good about themselves in the inside and outside. In the inside, they will feel good about themselves. That person won’t be worrying about their weight or how their appearance may look like because they feel beautiful in the inside just by staying healthy. In the outside, the person will feel good and strong. They will have a positive self-esteem about themselves. They can be able to do or achieve anything that comes into the person’s way without having negative thoughts. If a person were to eat a lot of junk food, drink a lot of soft drinks, and do things that could destroy their health, they are destroying their body. If they don’t eat the right kinds of food, exercise daily, and stay clean, they could kill themselves faster and they could easily catch a sickness and die from it, because they don’t have enough strength to fight the sickness. In their mind, they will have negative thoughts and not positive thoughts. They will put themselves down and also everyone around them, including their loved ones. They won’t have the strength to do anything, except just sleep, eat, and talk. In other words, they will become very lazy, because they won’t have enough energy to do anything. So, in order to stay healthy, we have to eat the right kinds of food, exercise daily, and stay clean so that we can feel good about ourselves inside and outside. If we don’t eat healthy and stay healthy, we might become lazy or catch a sickness really fast and die. So, I leave you with this quote â€Å" Healthy Me, I Feel Good†.