Saturday, August 31, 2019

Positive Behaviour Support Essay

As Willert & Willert suggest, ‘positive behaviour supports developed through the implementation of simple reinforcement strategies†¦can have a significant influence on the social climate of an entire school. ’ (As cited in Zirpoli, 2012, p. 257). With this in mind, this paper aims to analyse and compare the School’s management, welfare, and discipline policies with positive behaviour support models, specifically Mayer’s (1999) constructive discipline approach. The School reflects the view that the world is multifaceted and ever changing. If you only have one way for your classroom to ‘be right’ you are setting yourself up for continued frustration and failure. Skilled teachers understand that the classroom is a complex, unpredictable, messy, and non-linear, working environment. They’ve realised, long ago, that control –especially over others is an illusion. (Gordon, as cited in School Policy, 2012, p. 2). As this is the foundation of the School’s policies it indicates that the strategies enforced have reference to ideas held within various positive behaviour support models. The School, situated in Queensland, has a student enrolment of approximately 800, catering for students from Preparatory Year to Year 7. As schools are important environments for all members to learn, teach, and grow, the School is ‘based on the belief that all students can learn and the staff accepts the responsibility to teach all students, regardless of differences, the fundamental skills required for success in the 21st Century. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 4). Read more:  Essays About Promote Positive Behaviour The purpose of the policy is to foster a school culture that assists its students in the development of social and emotional skills, including the ability to exercise self management and responsibility for their behavioural choices. Mayer (1999) suggests that basic student welfare policies, particularly behvaiour management, list ‘the behavioural standards required of students. ’ (p. 37). Furthermore, Mayer aptly states ‘the better ones specify the consequences for violating and following the rules [affecting and influencing] how students behave and how educators respond when students violate or follow rules. ’ (1999, p. 37). Furthermore, Turnbull & Smith-Bird explain that effective schools ‘focus on building a culture of positive reinforcement. ’ (As cited in Zirpoli, 2012, p. 327). Drawing on research, this discussion will reflect the School’s policies in regards to the development of effective school wide rules and strategies, and their consistency among all staff in the school context. (Zirpoli, 2012, p. 329). The policy starts with a brief introductory letter signed from the principal stating that ‘this document has been endorsed and developed in collaboration with all stakeholders of [the School], particularly the school’s Behaviour Management Committee. (School, 2012, p. 3). Through a general acknowledgment, the principal displays appreciation for staff and members of the school community. This introductory letters sets an inclusive tone, which is present throughout the document. The policies are ultimately aimed at the welfare of the students, and have been written as guidelines for staff and teachers. They are indicators for the parents, and general public, of the expectations placed on all members of the school community. A major factor for a supportive learning environment is communication and relationship building between parents/caregivers and the school. Cavaretta (states that ‘there is widespread support among educators and the community for the view that parents have a major role to play in education. ’ (As cited in Marsh, 2010, p. 293). There appears to be no parental voice within the document although the School documents that the philosophy is ‘to build relationships among staff, students, parents, and the community in order to maintain [the] goal of creating a peaceful environment. (School Policy, 2012, p. 6). However, the student voice is represented in the document through a Student Representative Council elected by the student body and teachers each year, ‘students who form the council will present meetings with teachers, deputies and the principal in order to voice the opinion of the student body. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 7). Education Queensland’s Code of School Behvaiour (Queensland Government, n. d. has provided the framework on which the School’s Responsible Behvaiour Plan (RBP) is based, defining ‘responsibilities that all members of the school community are expected to uphold and recognises the significance of appropriate and meaningful relationships. ’ (Queensland Government, n. d. ). Eclectic in composition, combining theories, strategies and practices of several educational professionals, the aim of the RBP is to ‘develop a comprehensive policy and practice that meets the holistic and varied needs of all those in the school community. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 8). Effective whole school rules and strategies are developed and practiced by all staff. These are universal strategies, referred to in tier one of the three-tier model of School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS). (Zirpoli, 2012, p. 329). The policy, in line with SWPBS states that ‘it is important that rather than follow a reactive approach to behaviour [the staff will] be proactive in dealing with inappropriate classroom and playground behaviours. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 8). To ensure that this criterion is met, the School has incorporated desirable behaviours into their own hierarchy of social development. To create a common language and way of discussing behaviour, the School ‘displays this hierarchy through a level ladder from A to E. Where A represents excellent behaviour, B represents good behaviour, C represents satisfactory behvaiour, D represents behaviour that needs attention and E represent unacceptable behaviour. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 8). While some schools adhere exclusively to one particular model, the School, using effective school wide behaviour support programs, draws its content from various dominant models. These include Glasser’s Choice Theory; in which people are responsible for their own behaviour, Restorative Justice; to bring resolution, restitution, and restoration of relationships damaged by behaviour, Ford’s Responsible Thinking Process; where students are responsible for their behaviour and need to find ways to achieve goals without disrupting others, and Roger’s Positive Behaviour Leadership; which includes the establishment of clear rules, rights, and responsibilities. (School Policy, 2012, p. 9). The theoretical basis of the policies are consistent with Mayer’s (1999) Constructive Discipline approach of which the ‘emphasis is on prevention and teaching desirable behaviour rather than punishing, reducing or eliminating undesirable behaviour. ’ (p. 38). The School policy states that ‘values and rules have prominence when students are faced with making decisions and judgments about how they should behave and relate to others. ’ (2012, p. 10). Based on the National Goals for Schooling in Australia, the School values are acceptance, self-discipline, honesty, manners, opportunity, respect, and excellence. This reinforces the constructive discipline approach, as ‘the list should be kept simple and to the point. ’ (Mayer, 1999, p. 39). These values coincide with the rules of each year level. However, the policy did not detail the student input in classroom rules, contradicting the constructive approach where ‘all relevant parties should be†¦involved in the development of rules’ (Mayer, 1999, p. 39). The documents provide a program of rules in relation to each of the values, for all year levels. In accordance with Rademacher, Callhan and Pederson-Seelye (1998, p. 86) rules are positively stated, with a verb at the beginning. For example, the rule applied to the value ‘opportunity’ for a Year 1 student is stated as ‘allow others to learn by listening and not interrupting,’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 68), while that of a Year 7 student is ‘display initiative. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 74). The School Rules include ‘respect, safety, learning, communication, and problem solving’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 13). The document goes on to explain ‘there are no rights without responsibilities,’ (2012, p. 4), stating the rights and responsibilities in accordance to the rule. The policy takes in to account the constructive discipline approach that conveys the need for rules to be to the point and positive. Mayer states ‘a positive list will guide students in how to behave in reference to how not to behave –a more instructive and less suppressive approach. ’ (1999, p. 39). The behvaiour management coalition, in conjunction with the school community, recognises that ‘one of the keys to a harmonious environment is being able to identify when and how relationships need repair. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 6 ). In the policy is a flow chart of the SWPBS, the three tiered model, incorporating whole school behaviour support, target ed behaviour support and intensive behaviour support. Under each of these tiers the policy lists ‘proactive school processes and proactive classroom processes. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 17). In the School, typically, each classroom develops individual plans that incorporate a series of steps that responds to positive and rule abiding behaviours. This can include ‘verbal praise, acknowledgement, positive reinforcement, or a gold slip. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 9). This is in accordance with the constructive discipline approach where ‘the school environment becomes more reinforcing and less punitive. ’ (Mayer, 1999, p. 38). On the other hand, students who exhibit unacceptable behaviours move through steps of responses that may include ‘warning and rule reminder, time out in the classroom, time out in another behaviour time out classroom, or an incident behaviour slip. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 20). This contradicts the constructive discipline approach as parental support is not brought in until an incident behaviour slip is given. Whereas Mayer believes ‘continued parental support is helpful for classroom and schoolwide rules to be effective. ’ (1999, p. 40). Behaviour feedback sheets are used to ‘make students accountable for their behaviour choices’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 24). Similarly, the peacemakers program ‘is a preventative approach to encourage responsible behaviour in the playground. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 26). Students who are in need of intensive behaviour support, tier three of the SWPBS, will have imminent action where teachers liaise with parents, chaplian, guidance officers and outside agencies. The Policy provides an intervention flow chart where ‘appropriate intervention is implemented’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 38) once the student has been sent to ‘time out in another classroom’ a minimum of five times. Studies have shown that ‘removal from instruction constitutes negative reinforcement for both student and teacher. ’ (Scott, Nelson, Liaupsin, 2001, p. 314). This is reinforced as Zirpoli states ‘students are frequently sent to timeout for periods of time that are too long and serve only to provide teachers with a break from the student. (2012, p. 374). As a reactive approach to behaviour management, removal from the classroom contradicts the constructive discipline. The School Policy does, however provide cnsideration of individual circumstances stating that ‘the academic, social, behavioural, emotional, physical, and cultural needs of students are considered when structuring and delivering all learning experiences’ which consists with Pacchiano (2000) teachers ‘have to be willing to look at comprehensive instructional variable and their relationship with the students problem behaviour. The policy concludes that responses to inappropriate behaviour are also flexible in that ‘consideration is given to the particular situation, context, preceding events, a student’s individual circumstances, the actions of the student and the needs and rights of the school community members. ’ (School Policy, 2012, p. 38). This is evident in practice as consequential responses are decided upon after discussion, case conferencing and by utilizing a restorative practice framework rather than just implementing a punitive measure . Drawn from data collection, including frequency, duration, rate and the intensity of the behaviour (School Policy, 2012, p. 13) provided by teachers, members of staff, and outside agencies Furthermore the School’s welfare, management and discipline policy includes policies for the appropriate use of own electronic medium, SunSmart, acceptable usage of information technology, lockdown, homework, dress code, cyber safety, and anti-bullying, all of which must be signed by both the student and parent/caregiver upon enrolment of the School. Along with this the school offers a variety of student services and support programs including chaplaincy, guidance officer, learning enrichment team, special education programs, speech language pathologist, and the workshop (a hands on manual arts experience). In conclusion, evidence has been provided to display both contradictory and consistent elements of the School’s policy in accordance with the constructive discipline approach.

Friday, August 30, 2019

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 12~14

Chapter 12 THE STUPIDEST ANGEL'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE Sundown, Christmas Eve. The rain was coming down so hard that there didn't appear to be any space between the drops – just a wall of water, moving almost horizontally on wind that was gusting to seventy miles per hour. In the forest behind the Santa Rosa Chapel, the angel chewed his Snickers and ran a wet hand over the tire tracks at the back of his neck, thinking, I really should have gotten more specific directions. He was tempted to go find the child again and ask him exactly where Santa Claus was buried. He realized now that â€Å"somewhere in the woods behind the church† wasn't telling him much. To go back to get directions, however, would dilute somewhat the whole miraculousness of the miracle. This was Raziel's first Christmas miracle. He'd been passed over for the task for two thousand years, but finally his turn had come up. Well, actually, the Archangel Michael's turn had come up, and Raziel ended up getting the job by losing in a card game. Michael had bet the planet Venus against his assigned task of performing the Christmas miracle this year. Venus! Although he wasn't really sure what he would have done with Venus had he won it, Raziel knew he needed the second planet, if for no other reason than that it was large and shiny. He didn't like the whole abstract quality of the Christmas miracle mission. â€Å"Go to Earth, find a child who has made a Christmas wish that can only be granted by divine intervention, then you will be granted powers to grant that wish.† There were three parts. Shouldn't the job be given to three angels? Shouldn't there be a supervisor? Raziel wished he could trade this in for the destruction of a city. That was so simple. You found the city, you killed all the people, you leveled all the buildings, even if you totally screwed it up you could track down the survivors in the hills and kill them with a sword, which, in truth, Raziel kind of enjoyed. Unless, of course, you destroyed the wrong city, and he'd only done that what? Twice? Cities in those days weren't that big, anyway. Enough people to fill a couple of good-size Wal-Marts, tops. Now there's a mission, thought the angel: â€Å"Raziel! Go forth into the land and lay waste unto two good-size Wal-Marts, slay until bloo d doth flow from all bargains and all the buildings are but rubble – and pick up a few Snickers bars for yourself.† A tree waving in the wind nearby snapped with the report of a cannon, and the angel came out of his fantasy. He needed to get this miracle done and be gone. Through the rain he could see that people were starting to arrive at the little church, fighting their way through the wind and the rain, the lights in the windows flickering even as the party was starting. There was no going back, the angel thought. He would just have to wing it (which, considering he was an angel, he really should have been better at). He raised his arms to his sides and his black coat streamed out behind him on the wind, revealing the tips of his wings folded underneath. In his best pronouncement voice, he called out the spell. â€Å"Let he who lies here dead arise!† He sort of did a hand motion to cover pretty much the general area. â€Å"Let he who does not live, live again. Arise from your grave this Christmas and live!† Raziel looked at the half-eaten Snickers he was holding and realized that maybe he should be more specific about what was supposed to happen. â€Å"Come forth from the grave! Celebrate! Feast!† Nothing. Nothing whatsoever happened. There, said the angel to himself. He popped the last of the Snickers bar into his mouth and wiped his hands on his coat. The rain had subsided for a bit and he could see a ways into the woods. Nothing was happening. â€Å"I mean it!† he said in his big scary angel voice. Not a damn thing. Wet pine needles, some wind, trees whipping back and forth, rain. No miracle. â€Å"Behold!† said the angel. â€Å"For I am really not kidding.† A great gust of wind came up at that second and another nearby pine snapped and fell, missing the angel by only a few feet. â€Å"There. It's just going to take a little time.† He walked out of the woods and down Worchester Street into town. â€Å"Wow, I'm famished all of a sudden,† said Marty in the Morning, all dead, all the time. â€Å"I know,† said Bess Leander, poisoned yet perky. â€Å"I feel really strange. Hungry, and something else. I've never felt this before.† â€Å"Oh, my dear,† said Esther, the schoolteacher, â€Å"I can suddenly think of nothing but brains.† â€Å"How 'bout you, kid?† asked Marty in the Morning. â€Å"You thinking about brains?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Jimmy Antalvo. â€Å"I could eat.† For Luck, There Is No Chapter 13. JUST THIS CHRISTMAS PHOTO ALBUM Sometimes, if you look closely at family snapshots, you can see in the faces of the children, portents of the adults they will become. In the adults, you can sometimes see the face behind the face. Not always, but sometimes†¦ Tucker Case In this shot we see a well-to-do California family posed in front of their lakeshore estate in Elsinore, California. (It's an eight-by-ten color glossy, embossed with the trademark of a professional photographer's studio.) They are all tanned and healthy-looking. Tucker Case is perhaps ten years old, dressed in a little sport coat with a yachting ensign on the breast pocket and little tasseled loafers. He is standing in front of his mother, who has the same blond hair and bright blue eyes, the same smile that looks not as if she is presenting her dental work, but as if she is just seconds from bursting out laughing. Three generations of Cases – brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins – look perfectly coiffed, pressed, washed, and shined. All are smiling, except for one little girl down front, who has an expression of abject horror on her face. A closer look reveals the back of her red Christmas dress is tossed up to one side, and snaking in from the side, from under his little blue sport coat, is the hand of young Tuck, who has just stolen an incestuous squeeze of his cousin Janey's eleven-year-old bottom. What is telling about this picture is not the surreptitious booty grope, but the motive, because here Tucker Case is at an age where he is much more interested in blowing stuff up than he is in sex, yet he is precociously cognizant of just how much his advances will freak his cousin out. This is his raison d'tre. It should be noted that Janey Case-Robbins will go on to distinguish herself as a successful litigator and advocate for women's rights, while Tucker Case will go on to be a serially heartbroken horn dog with a fruit bat. Lena Marquez The shot is taken in someone's backyard on a sunny day. There are children all around and it's obvious that a big party is going on. She's six, wearing a fluffy pink dress and patent-leather shoes. She couldn't be any cuter, with her long black hair tied up into ponytails with red ribbons and flying out behind her like silk comet tails as she pursues the pià ±ata. She's blindfolded, and her mouth is wide open, letting forth a burst of that high, little-girl laugh that sounds like joy itself, because she's just made solid contact with the stick and she's sure that she has released candy, and toys, and noisemakers for all the children. What she has, in fact, done, has solidly smacked her uncle Octavio in the cojones. Uncle Octavio is caught in a magic moment of transition, his face changing from joy to surprise to pain, all at once. Lena is still adorable and sweet and unsullied by the disaster she has wrought. Feliz Navidad! Molly Michon It's Christmas morning, post-present-opening storm. Tissue paper and ribbon are strewn around the floor, and off to one side you can see a coffee table, and on it an ashtray the size of a hubcap overflowing with butts, and an empty bottle of Jim Beam. Front and center is six-year-old Molly Achevski (she would change her last name to Michon at nineteen on the advice of an agent â€Å"because it sounds fucking French, people love that†). Molly is wearing a red sequined ballerina outfit, red galoshes that hit her bare legs about midcalf, and a giant, cheeky grin with a hole in the middle where her front teeth used to be. She has one foot propped up on a large Tonka dump truck as if she has just conquered it in a grudge match, and her younger brother Mike, four, is trying to pry the truck out from under her. Tears are streaming down his cheeks. Molly's other brother, Tony, five, is looking up to his sister like she is the princess of all things good. She has already p oured him a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning, as she does for both her brothers every morning. In the background, we see a woman in a bathrobe lying on the couch, one hand hanging to the floor holding a cigarette that has burned itself out hours before. The silvery ash has left a streak on the carpet. No one has any idea who took this picture. Dale Pearson This one was taken only a few years ago, when Dale was still married to Lena. It's the Caribou Lodge Christmas party, and Dale is, once again, dressed as Santa, sitting on a makeshift throne. He is surrounded by drunken revelers, all laughing, all holding the various joke gifts that Dale has passed out to them earlier that night. Dale is brandishing his own present, a fourteen-inch-long rubber penis, as big around as a soup can. He's waving it at Lena with a leer, and she, dressed in a black cocktail dress and a single string of pearls, looks quite horrified at what he's saying, which is: â€Å"We'll put this rascal to good use later tonight, huh, baby?† The irony of it is that later that night, he will don one of his vintage German SS uniforms – everything but the jodhpurs, anyway – and what he asks Lena to do with his new present is exactly what she told him he could do with it at the party. She will never know if it was she who gave him the idea, but it will be a milestone in her move toward divorce proceedings. Theophilus Crowe At thirteen, Theo Crowe is already six feet four inches tall, and weighs a little over a hundred pounds. It is a classic scene of the three kings following the star. The seventh-grade music class is performing Amahl and the Night Visitors. Originally cast as one of the three kings, Theo is now dressed as a camel. His ears are the only parts of his body that are in proportion, and he looks very much like a camel fashioned out of wire by Salvador Dal. His chance to play Balthazar, the Ethiopian king, was lost when he announced that the Magi had arrived bearing gold, Frankenstein, and myrrh. Later, he, the two other camels, and a sheep will be suspended for smoking the myrrh. (They would have never been caught had the sheep not suggested that they play a quick game of â€Å"Kill the Man with the Baby Jesus† out behind the theater. Evidently the myrrh was â€Å"prime smokage.†) Gabe Fenton This one was taken just last year, at the lighthouse where Gabe has his cabin. You can see the lighthouse in the background, and windblown whitecaps out to sea. You can tell it's a windy day because the Santa hat that Gabe is wearing is streaming out to the side, and he's holding the reindeer antlers on Skinner's head. Crouched next to them, in a thousand-dollar St. John knit, red and cut in the style of a Napoleonic soldier, with brass buttons and gold braid on the shoulders, is Dr. Valerie Riordan. Her auburn hair is styled to curl behind her ears and accentuate her diamond hoop earrings. She's done up in Headline News Prompter Puppet makeup, as if her face has been completely sanded off, and then painted back on by a crack team of special-effects people – brighter, better, faster than a real human face. She's trying, really trying, to smile for the camera. She is holding her hair in one hand, and appears to be petting Skinner, but is, upon closer examination, holding him at bay. A racing stripe across the knee of her nylons betrays an earlier attempt by Skinner to share a holiday leg hump with the Food Guy's female. Gabe is scruffy in khakis and hiking boots. There's a fine coating of sand on his pants and boots from where he was sitting astride elephant seals that morning, gluing satellite-tracking devices on their backs. He has a great, hopeful smile, and not a clue that anything might be wrong with this picture. Roberto T. Fruitbat This picture was taken on the island of Guam, Roberto's birthplace. There are palm trees in the foreground. You can tell he's just a young fellow, because he has not yet acquired a pair of Ray-Bans, nor a master to bring him mangoes on demand. He's curled up in a Christmas wreath made from palm fronds and decorated with little papayas and red palm nuts. He is licking papaya pulp from his little doggy face. The children who found him in the wreath that Christmas morning are posed on either side of the door where the wreath hangs. They are both girls, and have the long curly brown hair of their Chamorro mother, the green eyes of their Irish-Catholic father, who is an American airman. Father is taking the picture. The girls are in bright, floral mission dresses with puffy sleeves. Later, after church, they will try to coax Roberto into a box so they can later cook him and serve him with saimen noodles. Although he escapes, the incident traumatizes the young bat and he does not speak for years. Chapter 14 THE CAMARADERIE OF THE LONESOME CHRISTMAS Theo wore his cop shirt to the Lonesome Christmas party. Not because he didn't have anything else to wear, because there were still two clean flannels and a Phish sweatshirt in the Volvo that he'd snagged from the cabin, but because with the storm pounding the stuffing out of Pine Cove, he felt as if he should be doing cop stuff. His cop shirt had epaulets on the shoulders (that are used for, uh, holding your paulets – no – for keeping your hat under – for your parrot to stand on – no) that looked cool and military, plus it had a little slot in the pocket where he could pin his badge and another one where he could stick a pen, which could be really handy in a storm in case you wanted to take notes or something, like: 7 p.m, Still Really Fucking Windy â€Å"Wow, it's really fucking windy,† Theo said. It was 7 p.m. Theo stood in the corner of the main room of the Santa Rosa Chapel next to Gabe Fenton, who was wearing one of his science shirts: a khaki canvas utility shirt with many pockets, slots, buttons, pouches, epaulets, zippers, Velcro loops, snaps, and vents, so you could hopelessly lose everything you owned in it and essentially sand your nipples off while patting the pockets and saying, â€Å"I know I had it here somewhere.† â€Å"Yep,† Gabe said. â€Å"It was gusting to a hundred and twenty when I left the lighthouse » â€Å"You're kidding! A hundred and twenty miles per hour? We're all going to die,† Theo said, feeling suddenly better. â€Å"Kilometers per hour,† Gabe said. â€Å"Stand in front of me. She's looking.† He snagged Theo by the epaulet (aha!) and pulled him around to block the view from the other side of the room. Across the open hardwood floor, Valerie Riordan, in charcoal Armani over red Ferragamos, was sipping a cranberry and soda from a plastic cup. â€Å"Why's she here?† Gabe whispered. â€Å"Didn't she get a better offer from some country club or some business guy or something?† Gabe said the word business like it was a putrid taste that he needed to spit out before it sickened him, which was exactly how he meant it. Although Gabe did not live in an ivory tower, he did live next to one, and it gave him a skewed perspective on commerce. â€Å"Your eye is twitching really badly, Gabe Are you okay?† â€Å"I think it's conditioning from the electrodes. She looks so great, don't you think?† Theo looked over at Gabe's ex-girlfriend, considered the heels, the stockings, the makeup, the hair, the lines of her suit, her nose, her hips, and felt like he was looking at a sports car that he could not afford, would not know how to drive, and he could only envision himself entangled in the wreckage of, wrapped around a telephone pole. â€Å"Her lipstick matches her shoes,† Theo said, by way of not really answering his friend. That sort of thing didn't happen in Pine Cove. Well, Molly did have some black lipstick that matched a pair of black boots she had, which she wore with nothing else, but he really didn't want to think about that. In fact, this moment would only have any meaning at all when he shared it with Molly, which he realized he wasn't going to be doing, which made him jealous of Gabe's twitch for a second. The double doors to the chapel opened, and wind whipped through the room, rattling the few strands of crepe paper that still clung to the wall to this point and knocking a couple of ornaments off the giant Christmas tree. Tucker Case came in, his bomber jacket dripping, a little furry face sticking out through the V in the zipper in the front. â€Å"No dogs,† said Mavis Sand, who was fighting to get the doors shut. â€Å"We've just let kids come the last couple of years, and I'm not happy about it.† Tuck grabbed the other door and pulled it shut, then reached over Mavis and caught the door she was battling. â€Å"He's not a dog.† Mavis turned around and looked right into the face of Roberto, who made a little barking sound. â€Å"That's a dog. Not much of a goddamn dog, I'll give you that, but a dog. And he's wearing sunglasses.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"It's dark, moron. Get rid of the dog.† â€Å"He's not a dog,† Tuck said, and to illustrate his point, he unzipped his jacket, took Roberto by the feet, and flung him at the ceiling. The bat yelped, opened his leathery wings, and flew to the top of the Christmas tree, where he caught the star, swung halfway around, and settled, upside down, hanging there above the room, looking, despite his cheery nature and hot pink sunglasses, a little creepy. Everyone in the place, thirty or so people, stopped whatever they were doing and looked. Lena Marquez, who had been cutting lasagna into squares over at the buffet table, looked up, made brief eye contact with Tuck, then looked away. Except for the boom box playing reggae Christmas carols and the wind and rain thrashing outside, there was not a sound. â€Å"What?† Tuck said to everyone and no one in particular. â€Å"You people act like you've never seen a bat before.† â€Å"Looked like a dog,† Mavis said from behind him. â€Å"You don't have a no-bat policy, then?† Tuck said, not turning around. â€Å"Don't think so. You got a great ass, flyboy, you know that?† â€Å"Yeah, it's a curse,† Tuck said. He eyed the ceiling for any mistletoe he might get trapped under, spotted Theo and Gabe, then made a beeline for the corner where they were hiding. â€Å"Oh my God,† said Tuck as he was approaching. â€Å"Did you guys see Lena? She's so hot. Don't you think she's hot? I miss her.† â€Å"Oh God, not you, too,† Theo said. â€Å"That Santa hat, it does something to me.† â€Å"That a Pteropus tokudae?† asked Gabe, peeking out quickly from behind Theo and nodding toward the Christmas tree with the bat. â€Å"No, that's Roberto. Why are you hiding behind the constable?† â€Å"My ex is here.† Tuck looked over. â€Å"The redhead in the suit?† Gabe nodded. Tuck looked at him, back at Val Riordan, who was now chatting with Lena Marquez, then again at Gabe. â€Å"Whoa, you were really crawling out of your gene pool, huh? Let me shake your hand.† He reached around Theo, offering his hand to the biologist. â€Å"We don't like you, you know?† Theo said. â€Å"Really?† Tuck took his hand back. He looked around Theo at Gabe. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"You're okay,† said Gabe. â€Å"He's just cranky.† â€Å"I am not cranky,† Theo said, but, in fact, he was a little cranky. A little sad. A little stoned. A little out of sorts that this storm hadn't just blown over like he'd hoped, and a little excited that it might actually turn into a disaster. Secretly, Theophilus Crowe loved a disaster. â€Å"Understandable,† Tuck said, squeezing Theo's shoulder. â€Å"Your wife was a biscuit.† â€Å"Is a biscuit,† corrected Theo, but then, â€Å"Hey!† â€Å"No, it's okay,† Tuck said. â€Å"You were a lucky man.† Gabe Fenton reached up and squeezed Theo's other shoulder. â€Å"It's true,† Gabe said. â€Å"When Molly isn't completely off her rocker, she is a biscuit. Actually, even when she is –  » â€Å"Would you guys quit calling my wife a biscuit! I don't even know what that means.† â€Å"Something we say in the islands,† Tuck said. â€Å"What I'm saying is, you've got nothing to be ashamed of. You guys had a good run. You can't expect her to lose her sense of judgment forever. You know, Theo, every now and then Eraserhead will hook up with Tinker Bell, or Sling Blade Carl will marry Lara Croft – that sort of thing gives us hope – but you can't count on it. You can't bet that way. Why, guys like us would always be alone if some women didn't have a deep-seated streak of self-destruction, isn't that right, Professor?† â€Å"Truth,† said Gabe. He made a sort of swear-on-the-Bible gesture. Theo glared at him. â€Å"Eventually a woman will wise up,† Tuck continued. â€Å"She's just gone off her meds.† â€Å"Whatever,† Tuck said. â€Å"I'm just saying that it's Christmas and you should be grateful that you were ever able to fool someone into loving you in the first place.† â€Å"I'm calling her,† Theo said. He pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his cop shirt and keyed the button for his home number. â€Å"Is Val wearing the pearl earrings?† Gabe asked. â€Å"I bought her those.† â€Å"Diamonds studs,† said Tuck, checking over his shoulder. â€Å"Dammit.† â€Å"Look at Lena in that Santa hat. That woman has a talent with tinsel, if you know what I mean?† â€Å"No idea,† said Gabe. â€Å"Me either. It just sounded kinky,† said Tuck. Theo snapped the cell phone shut. â€Å"I hate both you guys.† â€Å"Do not,† said Tuck. â€Å"No service?† asked Gabe. â€Å"I'm going to see if the police radio in my car is working.† Rain was pooling in the graveyard behind the chapel as the dead pulled one another from the muck. â€Å"This looked easier in the movies,† said Jimmy Antalvo, who was waist-deep in a puddle and being pulled out by Marty in the Morning and the new guy in the red suit. Jimmy's words were a little slurred and slurpy, between the mud and a facial structure that was mostly mortician's wax and wire. â€Å"I thought I'd never get out of that coffin.† â€Å"Kid, you're better off than a couple we've pulled out,† said Marty in the Morning. He nodded to a very feeble and mostly decomposed pile of animated meat that had at one time been an electrician. The mushy thing made a moaning sound. â€Å"Who's that?† asked Jimmy. The torrential rain had washed the mud out of his eyes. â€Å"That's Alvin,† said Marty. â€Å"All we can understand from him.† â€Å"I used to talk to him all the time,† said Jimmy. â€Å"It's different now,† said the guy in the red suit. â€Å"Now you're really talking, not just thinking it. His talking equipment is past warranty.† Marty, who had been portly in life but had slimmed down significantly since his death, bent down and got a good grip on Jimmy's arm, bending the elbow around his own, then made a great straining lift to pull the kid out. There was a loud pop and Marty went over backward into the mud. Jimmy Antalvo was waving around an empty leather jacket sleeve and yelling, â€Å"My arm! My arm!† â€Å"Jeez, they should have sewn that on better,† said Marty, holding the arm in the air, even as the hand appeared to be doing a very jerky version of a parade wave. â€Å"This whole undead rigmarole is disgusting,† said Esther, the schoolteacher, who was standing to the side with a few others who had already been dug up. Water was pouring off the shreds of her best church dress, which had been reduced by time to calico tatters. â€Å"I'll not have anything to do with it.† â€Å"So you're not hungry?† said the new guy, muddy rainwater streaming out of his Santa beard. He'd been the first one out, since he hadn't had to escape a coffin. â€Å"Fine, once we get the kid out we'll just push you back down your hole.† â€Å"I'm not saying that,† said Esther. â€Å"I would enjoy a snack. Something light. Mavis Sand, maybe. That woman can't have enough brains to spread on a cracker.† â€Å"Then shut up and help us get everyone out.† Nearby, Malcolm Cowley was staring disapprovingly at one of the less articulate members of the undead who had been pulled from his grave and was showing lots of bare bone between the meat. The dead book dealer was wringing out his tweed jacket and shaking his head at every comment. â€Å"Suddenly we are all gluttons, are we? Well, I have always enjoyed Danish Modern furniture for its functional yet elegant design, so once we have consumed the brains of these revelers, I feel compelled to seek out one of these furniture boutiques I have heard so much about from newlyweds in the chapel. First we feast, then IKEA.† â€Å"IKEA,† chanted the dead. â€Å"First we feast, then IKEA. First we feast, then IKEA.† â€Å"Can I eat the constable's wife's brain?† asked Arthur Tannbeau. â€Å"She sounds like she'll be spicy –  » â€Å"Get everyone out of the ground, then we eat,† said the new guy, who was used to telling people what to do. â€Å"Who died and made you boss?† asked Bess Leander. â€Å"All of you,† answered Dale Pearson. â€Å"The man has a point,† said Marty in the Morning. â€Å"I think while you boys finish up here, I'll have a stroll around the parking lot. Oh my, I don't seem to be walking very well,† said Esther, dragging one foot behind her and plowing a furrow in the mud as she moved. â€Å"But IKEA does sound like a delightful after-supper adventure.† No one knows why, but second only to eating the brains of the living, the dead love affordable prefab furniture. Across the parking lot, Theophilus Crowe was busy having the water in his ears replaced with dog spit. â€Å"Get down, Skinner.† Theo pushed the big dog away and keyed the mike on the police radio. He had been adjusting the squelch and the gain, and getting little more than distant disembodied voices, just a word here or there in the static. The rain on the car was so loud that Theo put his head down by the dash to better hear the little speaker, and Skinner, of course, took this as an invitation to lick more rain out of Theo's ears. â€Å"Ack! Skinner.† Theo grabbed the dog muzzle and steered it between the seats. It wasn't the dampness, or even the dog breath, which was considerable, it was the noise. It was just too loud. Theo dug into the console between the seats and found half a Slim Jim in a folded over wrapper. Skinner inhaled the tiny meat stick and savored the greasy goodness by smacking his chops right next to Theo's ear. Theo snapped the radio off. One of the problems with living in Pine Cove, with the ubiquitous Monterey pines, was that after a few years the Christmas trees stopped looking like Christmas trees and started looking like giant upturned dust mops, a great sail of needles and cones at the top of a long, slender trunk and a pancake root system – a tree especially adapted to fall over in high wind. So when El Nià ±o cruised up the coast and storms like this came in, first cell and cable TV repeater stations lost power, soon the town lost its main power, and finally, phone lines would go down, effectively cutting all communications. Theo had seen it before, and he didn't like what it portended. Cypress Street would be underwater before dawn and people would be kayaking through the real-estate offices and art galleries by noon. Something hit the car. Theo turned on the headlights, but the rain was coming down so hard and the windows were so fogged with dog breath that he could see nothing. He assumed it was a small tree branch. Skinner barked, deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. He could go patrolling downtown, but with Mavis having closed the Slug for Christmas Eve, he couldn't imagine why anyone would be down there. Go home? Check on Molly? Actually, she was better equipped with her little four-wheel-drive Honda to drive in this mess, and she was smart enough to stay home in the first place. He was trying not to take it personally that she hadn't come to the party. Trying not to take to heart the pilot's words about not being worthy of a woman like her. He looked down, and there, cradled in bubble wrap in the console, was the art-glass bong. Theo picked it up, looked it over, then pulled a film can of sticky green buds from his cop-shirt pocket and began loading the pipe. Theo was briefly blinded by the spark of the disposable lighter, at the same time as something scraped against the car. Skinner jumped over into the front seat and barked at the window, his hefty tail beating against Theo's face. â€Å"Down, boy. Down,† Theo said, but the big dog was now digging at the vinyl panel on the door. Knowing that it meant that he'd have to deal with a lot of wet dog later, but feeling that he really needed to get a buzz on in peace, Theo reached over and threw open the passenger door. Skinner bounded out the door. The wind slammed it behind him. There was a commotion outside, but Theo could see nothing, and he figured that Skinner was just frisking in the mud. The constable lit the bong and lost himself in the scuba bubbles of sweet comforting smoke. Outside the car, not ten feet away, Skinner was gleefully tearing the head off an undead schoolteacher. Her arms and legs were flailing and her mouth was moving, but the retriever had already bitten through the better part of her decayed throat and was shaking her head back and forth in his jaws. A skilled lip-reader would have been able to tell you that Esther was saying: â€Å"I was only going to eat a little of his brain. This is entirely uncalled for, young man.† I am so going to get bad-dogged for this, Skinner thought. Theo stepped out of the car into an ankle-deep puddle. Despite the cold, the wind, the rain, and the mud that had squished over the edge of his hiking boots, Theo sighed, for he was sorely, wistfully stoned, and slipping into that comfortable place where everything, including the rain, was his fault and he'd just have to live with it. Not a maudlin self-pity that might have come from Irish whiskey, nor an angry tequila blame, nor a jittery speed paranoia, just a little melancholy self-loathing and the realization of what a total loser he was. â€Å"Skinner. Get over here. Come on,boy, back in the car. Theo could barely see Skinner, but the big dog was on his back rolling in something that looked like a pile of wet, muddy laundry – sort of snaking back and forth with his mouth open and his pink tongue whipping around in ecstatic dogasm. Probably a dead raccoon, Theo thought, trying to blink some rain out of his eyes. I've never been that happy. I will never be that happy. He left the dog to his joy and slogged back into the Lonesome Christmas. He thought he felt a hand across his neck as he wrestled his way through the double doors, then a loud moan when the doors slammed shut, but it was probably just the wind. It didn't feel like the wind. Had to be the wind.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A Filmic Analysis of Hamlet Essay Example for Free

A Filmic Analysis of Hamlet Essay Film (1251) , Hamlet (634) , Claudius (325) , Polonius (224) Haven't found the essay you want? Get your custom sample essay for only $13.90/page ? Shakespeare’s Hamlet inspired many film directors to adapt the play onto the big screen. In Kenneth Branagh’s version, he takes on the challenge of both directing the film and portraying Hamlet. In Marco Zeferelli’s edition, celebrated actor Mel Gibson stars as Hamlet. The directors use different aspects of cinematography and mise-en-scene to depict distinctive interpretations of the famous â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy. Branagh interprets the scene as a contemplation of Hamlet’s decision whether to kill himself or Claudius, whereas Zeferelli construes the scene as a deliberation of life, death, and the afterlife. Branagh uses props, varied camera angles, and thoughtful acting to describe the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy as a brooding decision haunting Hamlet of action versus inaction. Branagh begins the soliloquy facing a two-way mirror, with Polonius and Claudius hidden behind it. The audience sees Hamlet staring directly at himself, while also facing the concealed men behind the mirror. This personifies the idea that Hamlet is hesitant about taking action against his own life or taking the life of Claudius: â€Å"Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles / And, by opposing end them† (3. 1. 65-68). The camera angle consists of a medium close-up on the intense concentration of Branagh’s face, expressing the critical contemplation of his life and Claudius’s. Later in the soliloquy, Hamlet uncovers a bodkin, pointing the weapon towards the two-way mirror in a manifestation of action versus inaction. The lighting of the scene highlights Branagh’s face and disposition with explicit detail, leaving no question to the viewer about his intent on either killing himself or Claudius. However, Branagh neglects to analyze Hamlet’s actual contemplation of death itself. Zeferelli focuses on Hamlet’s reflection of death as an experience and also the ambiguity of the afterlife. Mel Gibson recites the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy in a royal tomb where his father is buried. The morbid setting suggests a theme of death. The low-key lighting emphasizes an ominous quality associated with Hamlet’s musing of the afterlife. Gibson meticulously edges through the graves, using composed speech to reflect upon his life and the life of his father: â€Å"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause. There’s the respect / That makes calamity of so long life† (3. 1. 74-77). Hamlet believes that the hardships of life become resolute through death. The turmoil of human affairs perishes along with an individual’s life. Gibson’s acting and disposition suggest that he thinks death is more appealing than life. His ponderings are not a question of action and revenge but a question of the actual prospects of death and what comes after death. The setting in a tomb highlights this as well as Gibson keenly looking up towards heaven during the soliloquy. Although the two directors interpret the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy differently, similarities exist between the two scenes. The acting of Branagh and Gibson both reflect deep contemplation; Branagh being more concerted and Gibson being more reflective. Both actors use Shakespeare’s words very thoughtfully and precisely, and keep their voices in a soft but convincing monotone. The camera angles of the scenes are also similar with the shot situated intently on the actors’ faces, either focused in a fixed position on Branagh to represent great credence or zooming in slowly on Gibson’s face to represent a more reflective quality. Both directors do an exceptional job conveying the message that their cinematographic and acting choices suggest. The â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy is interpreted in many different ways, but Branagh and Zeferelli artfully choose one aspect of the scene to focus on. A Filmic Analysis of Hamlet. (2016, Sep 14).

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Election Commerical Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Election Commerical - Research Paper Example The narrator repeats the words â€Å"strength†, â€Å"restraint†, and â€Å"leadership† as he introduces Reagan to the viewers, and juxtaposes Reagan with President Carter in order to show a contrast in their policies. â€Å"Peace is lost when such strength disappears,† says Reagan, as he goes on to describe his perspective on negotiating with the Soviet Union, and finally claims that â€Å"hope, confidence, and facts† are at the heart of his strategy. â€Å"The time is now,† concludes the narrator. â€Å"Reagan for president.† The feeling the video gives is split. In the opening sequence, it shows images of worrying foreigners, while the narrator speaks ominously over the droning of an air raid siren. The viewer comes to feel a sense of concern as the narrator repeats the word â€Å"slowly† while naming off conflicts that the US has been involved in, starting with Korea. It then shifts focus, using a condemning tone while menti oned countries where Carter’s foreign policy has be ineffective—â€Å"Angola, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.† This shift in focus does not outwardly suggest that Carter is to blame for the Iranian hostage crisis, nor that he will lead the US into another war. However, it surely invites the viewer to make that connection based on the flow from describing future risks to the current leader’s shortcomings. The video then transitions into a scene of Ronald Reagan giving a speech, then a television interview. This is where the mood splits, and suddenly the video presents confidence and reassurance, indicating that Reagan is the man with the answers to the problems that Carter presents. The Reagan half uses live quotations and conveys future hope and strategies, focusing on Reagan as the answer. The context of this video is a chaotic political environment, where President Jimmy Carter, the incumbent, was mired in the details and faced with a critical opponent who w as quite aware of all his faults. Ronald Reagan was the two-term governor of California and former actor who faced-off against Carter in 1980. He had a fiscal reputation that would give him great appeal during the inflation problems of the time, but also used his charisma as an actor to be a confident, strong, and effective speaker who could engage listeners and convey his messages with success. While the economic issues were forefront in this election, and his plans for dealing with them well-developed, the Iranian-hostage crisis unexpectedly dominated public opinion as 53 Americans were held in captivity over the course of a year in the American embassy in Teheran. Possibly increasing the strength of his ballot, Reagan selected UN Ambassador George H.W. Bush as his running mate, and the focus of the race shifted greatly to what the Reagan-Bush ticket could do for America’s relations abroad. What was most important in 1980 was indeed US foreign policy, and this is the primar y area where Carter experienced stress and criticism. Carter’s approach to foreign policy was humble and restrained, which may have been perceived as weak by some. This perception of weakness increased during the Iranian hostage crisis. Carter staged a failed rescue attempt of Americans held hostage in Teheran in April of 1980, and as a result, Americans at home grew frustrated. Elizabeth drew is quoted in a description of the political atmosphere as saying "Fairly or not, [the hostage crisis] came to symbolize the question of whether Carter was a leader, whether he was competent, whether he was strong." The issue of who could keep the peace and who was likely to let it slip away caused the election to be very close by October 1980 (Jimmy). The Iranian hostage crisis led to a severing of relations between the United States and the newly formed Islamic Republic of

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

FINAL EXAM PLEASE GET ME AN A Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FINAL EXAM PLEASE GET ME AN A - Term Paper Example counts, narrative fiction and academic studies which delve into the experiences of such journeys refer to a complex process which affects all parts of a person’s life. The person’s language, religion, physical appearance and sexual identity are all framed as problematic in American mainstream culture, and the Latino or Latina individual has to come to some kind of accommodation between conflicting expectations of family, self, and external reality. It is the solving of these contradictions that leads to the construction of a new and vibrant meaning which in turn influences mainstream American culture. Achy Obejas describes the moment of first contact between a Cuban family and the United States in a way which highlights the contradictions which immigrants have to negotiate. She describes the arrival of a ten year old Cuban girl to Miami using two different narrative techniques. The first technique is to use a first person description of the innocent child’s first impressions. The second, contrasting technique is to use a much more ironic perspective on events through the eyes of that child’s adult persona. The child has an instinctive suspicion of attempts by well-meaning officials and volunteers to enforce an acculturation process. The blonde doll and the grey clothing, for example, are rejected as being self-evidently inappropriate for a Cuban girl. There is a spirited defence of the pride and self-respect that the family feels in the face of enforced poverty during the initial months of settling in to the new environment. Second hand clothes are pressed upon the family, but the child notes approvingly that they will never wear them (Obejas, 1994, p. 118). The child clings to the green, synthetic sweater that she wore on the hazardous boat trip to America if it were a lifeline back to her beloved home in Cuba. The excesses of capitalist America are described using the image of a supermarket which is like a flying saucer in this fantastic â€Å"land of

Monday, August 26, 2019

Recovery of economic loss in negligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Recovery of economic loss in negligence - Essay Example ity to make use of the defective products. It is â€Å"habitually awarded in personal injury case ,e.g. for future loss of earnings. It has also been awarded in commercial cases , but there is no clear principle to determine when such losses are recoverable and when it is not.† 5 Pure economic loss, which is negligently caused to a party to a contract by acts or omission of a defendant, cannot give rise to any good cause of action.6 Economic loss in this sense is not recoverable under negligence or strict liability in tort. The claimant suffered only financial injury. Recovery of pure economic loss in negligence is a complex and difficult area of law. ... This principle is based on the necessity to limit the potentially unlimited liability, which can theoretically flow from negligence; otherwise, permitting recovery purely of economic nature will paralyze the judicial system and the society in general. 8 It was anchored on the belief that a single event may lead to any number of claims, which are so uncertain and so indeterminate it would make it intricate and very expensive for people to insure against this claim. The courts have categorized pure economic loss into 4. These are negligent statements, negligent performance of services, relational economic losses, and economic losses caused by defective products or buildings. Negligent statement involves reliance on representation and comments that were negligently given. Negligent Performance refers to failure to take responsible care to execute gratuitous service undertaken. Relational economic loss is a claim based on the injury of one person that may easily impair the financial posi tion of the other. And lastly, Economic losses caused by defective product or building is a claim founded on the belief that a duty of care in torts arises between the builder and the subsequent user.9 QUESTION #2 In the case of Hedley Byrne v Heller [1963] the accountant was adjudged negligent in giving statement which statement was relied upon by Hedley in granting additional order of advertisement to the client Easipower that soon become bankrupt. The Court held the accountant liable for the pure economic loss incurred by Hedley although there was no contractual relationship arising from the negligent statement. It has ruled that a negligent although honest misrepresentation, may give rise to an action for damages for financial loss even if there was no contract between

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Journal Entry Week 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journal Entry Week 6 - Essay Example For instance, Sebenius notes that business dealings in China are influenced by local political groups even in private companies, which might surprise American business professionals (p.7). In case of Germany, major board-level decisions involve labor force participation. Cultural differences also cause serious confusion in identifying the actual decision makers. Different cultures follow different norms and have different meanings to trust, faith, relationship, and ethics. These differences could startle the ignorant business personnel. In some countries, decision rights are even vested with the shareholders, which could become terrible cause for concern when foreign companies invest in these shares; moreover, shareholder regulations are different in different countries. Sebenius also points out that informal influences can cause significant say in a deal; these informal groups can assume different forms in different countries (p.7). Hence, it is important to realize and understand w ho these informal groups are before signing any deals. Through illustrations explaining such influences of cultural difference, Sebenius attempts to clarify that cross-border negotiations would require acquisition of clear understanding of other cultures, their influential people, roles, and various other groups that might influence the negotiation and the business. Sebenius (p.10) also enlightens us with some suggestions to deal with people from different cultures to arrive at successful negotiations. For instance, in top-down authoritative cultures, negotiations must be made directly with the authoritarians rather than any subordinates; however, it is also important to obtain an awareness of other informal groups in such cultures. Negotiation process also differs in different cultures. In some cultures, the negotiators aim at win-win whereas in some they only think about their advantage. This article also introduces various types of

Critically evaluate the global enviromental governance of climate Essay

Critically evaluate the global enviromental governance of climate change - Essay Example With all these aspects evident in modern society, various stakeholders in the society have become increasingly involved in looking for the best ways to address global environmental threats. The global strategies that have been identified and used in addressing environmental threats constitute various approaches adopted and facilitated by communities, environmental groups, international businesses, and organizations (Speth and Haas, 2007). These global strategies constitute global environmental governance, which constitutes diverse efforts and strategies aimed at policy-making and government initiatives. The primary objective of such initiatives is to look and suggest for ways of preserving global environment while ensuring environmental sustainability (Speth and Haas, 2007). The performance of global environmental governance across the world varies, and the process has been characterised by numerous challenges, instances of success, and moments of failures. Therefore, it becomes impo rtant to evaluate the global environmental governance with the aim of identifying and suggesting strategies that can be used to improve the process. Global Environmental Governance Evidence is profound concerning the geometric increase in human population, while resources available remain constant or increase arithmetically. The net effect of this increasing imbalance in the world is the pressure exerted on the available resources and constant degradation of the environment. Human activities in modern world are characterised by increased degradation of the environment, including deforestation and reduction in vegetation to give way for infrastructural development, pollution of air and water resources, and destruction of natural fauna and flora habitats and water catchment sources. Increase in these problems has forced different stakeholders at the global level to come out and strongly advocate for proper resource management and adequate preservation of the environment through adopti on of diverse strategies at the global level (Harris, 2012). Global environmental governance has numerous definitions. For example, Speth and Haas (2007) regard global environmental governance to be the total sum of all different strategies that individuals, institutions, and other stakeholders initiate in order to manage the common affairs of environmental matters. In most cases, global environmental governance involves a collaborative cooperation between governments, NGOs, citizens’ movements, multinational corporations, global mass media, and global capital markets in undertaking management, preservation, and sustainability of the environment through rule and regulation enforcement and compliance (Winter, 2006). Similarly, Levy and Newell (2005) perceive global environmental governance to constitute a broad range of political, economic, and social structures and processes that largely shape and limit actors’ behavior towards the environment. In this manner, environm ental governance at global level can be seen to include different strateg

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Islamic legal system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islamic legal system - Research Paper Example It is for this practice of corporal punishment in Islamic countries that they fail to gain membership in the European Union. In the document released by European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in 2006, focus is given to the status of Muslim population in the European Union. The document states that owing to the reason of Muslim people’s increased participation in terrorist activities a fear has generated in regards to the entire Muslim race, called Islamophobia. Due to this fear even, the Muslim members in the European Union are facing a disadvantageous position. The article ‘World of Islam’ puts focus on a highly controversial issue regarding the Islamic religion. It is held that the religion of Islam has helped itself in spreading rapidly throughout the world through high amount of bloodsheds and a sense of Imperialism. However, the article argues that the religion of Islam condemns forceful transformation of people to Islamic religion. It rather encourages the growth of other religions. In the article on ‘Islam: The second largest world religion†¦and growing’ (n.d.) it is stated that Islamic religion has a huge number of followers spread throughout the world. An estimate is provided which mentions that Muslim population throughout the world ranges from 0.7 to 1.8 billion. In regards to the above fact, it is stated that by the middle of the twenty first century Islam would turn into the world’s largest religion. Author Vicki Gallay in the article ‘The Religion of Muslim’ states that Muslims mainly compose the regions of Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria. Moreover, he also states that amongst the entire Muslim population in the world 25 percent belong to Middle East countries while in America the Muslim population stands at 6 million. In the document of ‘The Ideal Personality of a Muslim’ (n.d.) it is stated

Friday, August 23, 2019

Discuss the relationship between modes of production (foraging, Essay

Discuss the relationship between modes of production (foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture and industry) and gender - Essay Example Some women, therefore, have endured a lot of difficulties and have performed different duties that include fetching water in rivers and dams that are far from their homes. Some take the sole responsibilities to feed the families despite having husbands. Some societies overburden certain gender, for example, with the pastoralists; the young men travel very far to graze the livestock’s while their fathers just stay behind to just rest and sleep at home. O’Hara (278) puts across that women seem to be at bar with men when they share duties with them. In most societies, men’s and women’s duties and responsibilities are strictly defined and one gender can’t undertake the task assigned to the other gender. Women duties are strictly women duties and the same is fair about men’s role. It used to be seen in both America and Europe that it is natural for women to be taking care of homes and caring for the children while men are the breadwinners of the f amily, that is how their cultures define gender roles (Brettell and Sargent 120). With the background of United States and Europe being industrial nations, men perform the difficult task of running the industries. Men are involved in manual activities that include running of the industries (Brettell and Sargent 121). ... Therefore, women were subordinate to women. With such situation, women suffer a lot because, even if their husbands abuse them, they have little options due to their dependency (Brettell and Sargent 120). In these societies of Europe and America that are predominantly agriculturally industrial, there was certain gender inequality; men were paid more for the same job which the woman did. Women also hold positions that are low with men taking the positions of managers and directors within industries. With men dominating having the decision making vote in these industries, they did little to fight for the rights of women. According to Brettell and Sargent (119) in their book titled â€Å"Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective†, in spite of gender inequality such industrial countries have been labeled as the most egalitarian of human societies. Brettell and Sargent (120) break down four reasons for this division of labor: the variability in the supply of game, different skills requi red for hunting and gathering, incompatibility between carrying burdens and hunting, and small size of semi-nomadic foraging populations. According to O’Hara (278), both men and women in foraging societies enjoy equal status because women gathering contribute huge portion of family diet while hunting is sometimes not reliable. The gathering role taken by women helped elevate the status of the women in these societies. But according to Brettell and Sargent (120), in the societies that hunt and fish, the status of women is low. In fact among these societies, the role is not clearly defined according to O’Hara book. There are therefore several instances where women and men hunt and gather together taking the society to a notch higher in

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Short Answer Questions - Ethics Essay Example for Free

Short Answer Questions Ethics Essay 1.Name two important circumstances in which counsellor would consider breaching confidentiality. What factors would need to be considered and what steps might be taken, before making this decision? Confidentiality is someone who is trusted with private or secrecy matter; confidential whisper or issue. (Credo Reference, 2001). Certain situations where the confidentiality between client and therapist, may need to be breached to ensure the safety of the client him/herself, the community or ourselves. Two important circumstances would be a client/child under 16 who has been abused or a client needs hospitalisation because they have been considering taking their own life or other concerning issues (Corey, 2009). In both of these cases as counsellor I would need to breach the client / therapist confidentiality by speaking with my supervisor, to explain what the best interest would be for both client and therapist. I also would have to reveal information to another professional about the client, furthermore I would try and gain a written consent from the client, as per the agreed term/agreement , this way the client will see why another professional is being consulted to avoid any confusion in the future (Geldard and Geldard, 2009). This will ensure that the client is receiving the best quality of care and is in the best outcome for everybody involved, if the client refuses the help/advice and is a danger to themselves or the community then relevant information will become informed the significant authorities and health professionals will be contracted. Corey, (2009) claims even though confidentiality is vital to developing a trusting relationship between client and therapist, clients are always informed of the limits in confidentiality and its successfulness can still be achieved in counselling. 2. Outline the factors you would consider, and the actions you would take if you found that your values were negatively affecting an already established client/therapist relationship, e.g. you may not believe in abortion but find your client is seeking assistance with the issue of whether or not to have an abortion? As everybody is different and comes from different backgrounds, therefore give us all different values and beliefs, it is important to have an effective client-counsellor relationship based on four main areas of duty of care 1. Helper competence, 2. Client autonomy, 3. Confidentiality, 4. Client protection (Nelson-Jones, 2008). There will be times throughout the sessions with clients that your own values and belief creep in, and you do make judgement, therefore you as a counsellor have to know and acknowledge this happen and understand why it is happening. In the case of you may not believe in abortion but your client is thinking/seeking information and assistance with this issue whether to or not to have an abortion, is a very hard position to be put into if your values and beliefs say not to. Perhaps seeking information on behalf of the client and finding out the real reason behind the issue why or why not to abort, is because of the relationship situation, financial situation, housing/accommodation situation or age of client if authorities need to be advised, or suggested professionals that can help the client physically (other professionals) and emotionally (Counsellors). 3.There may be periods where a counsellor is not competent to engage in therapeutic relationship with a client. Name two cases where this may be so, and give reasons why terminating the relationship may be advisable? In case one the client and therapist may engage in a personal/private relationship outside of the practice, this is unethical and makes the therapist incompetent to continue a therapeutic relationship with the client involved. Two reasonable reasons why terminating the relationship both therapeutic/private would be a respectable idea, to keep a professional work ethic and appropriate appearance of counsellor in the workplace and community. The second reason would be to keep your oath to the legal obligations of the professional practicing counsellor, as this may lead to court case, as you failed your due to duty of care to the client. 4.What is burnout, how may this be recognised and what are the counsellor’s responsibilities relating to this to themselves, the client, other counsellors? Burnout has identified three primary fragments they are: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. Two viewpoints have emerged over the past few decades. The first view is based on conflicts in interpersonal/social relationships (Counselling). The second separates burnout as a result of job-specific mismatches with the individual (Wrong job type for suitable persons) (Credo Reference, 2001). How burnout is recognised in counselling it the stress of interpersonal relationships. This is the unbalanced relationship, with the counsellor doing most of the giving and client doing most of the receiving (Geldard, D., Geldard, K, 2009). Some responsibilities that counsellors have in relating this to themselves, their clients and other counsellors understand what is causing this burnout, whether it is a heavy workload, or having a very high ideas and unrealistic expectations of what the need to achieve to be successful. By having realistic expectations counsellors can lead themselves to believe that the usual outcome is helpful for the client. Another responsibility is to understand and accept that burnout is normal, as stated in (Geldard, D., Geldard, K, 2009) counsellors realise that burnout feelings do occur in normal, competent, capable and caring counsellors, then they will be able to start accepting their own burnout feelings and share those with their peers, other counsellors and other professional, to seek help. 5.Thinking about self-disclosure describe the benefits and difficulties associated with this in a client/ therapist relationship (ie. is it helpful, unhelpful or both). Justify your answer. Therapist self-disclosures are verbal statements that reveal something personal about the therapist (Hill Knox, 2002). There are at least seven subtypes of disclosures: disclosures of facts, feelings, insight, strategies, reassurance/support, challenge, and immediacy, (see table 1) clearly all different types are used at different times and can have quite different impacts on the therapy process between client and therapist. The benefits of knowing about self-disclosure as a therapist will help you understanding the barriers and difficulties surrounding your personal throughs and feelings towards clients and worldwide issues of important. Yes, I do think having self-disclosure will help and also be unhelpful if the therapist gives into the unimportant aspects of those feeling, insight and strategies of counselling but understands and accepts that personal statements will enhance the therapy process between client and therapist, therefore giving the best counselling system you can provide in your practise and between therapists.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Parenting styles Essay Example for Free

Parenting styles Essay 1.What are the different parenting styles used by families? Which do you think is better? Why? The three different parenting styles used by familes are authoritarian style, permissive style and democratic style. In my opinion, the better style of the three is the democratic style. Reason being, I believe kids should be disciplined and learn how to behave in a controlled environment for the future, but I also believe children should have their voices heard. I also believe that kids should make their own decisions in life because they wont have their parents their whole lives and need to learn how to live and make decisions on their own. The democratic style of parenting allows this to come into play. It is stern with the rules, but allows freedom for the children to make their own life choices, within reason. 2.What makes a person ready for parenthood? When should an individual consider entering parenthood? Who should postpone parenthood? Should everyone become a parent eventually? Do you think some people should not become parents altogether. A person whos ready for parenthood is one who has a stable job and income. One who can support the financial and emotional needs of a child and one who is ready to take on the responsibility of a life. An individual should consider taking on the task once they have a stable income, job and can provide for the child. One should also consider becoming a parent when he/she feels it is the correct time to do so. One should postpone parenthood if they feel as if they cannot be there 100% for their child. If they cannot financially support themselves, then they should not take on the responsibilities of caring for another life, especially one who cannot care for themselves. I don’t believe everyone should become a parent eventually. If you are not the caring and nurturing type of person and would not be  content with caring for another life, I do no think it would be a good idea to have a child. Some people are just not cut out for parenthood. Becoming a parent takes a lot of sacrifice. Whether it may be holding off on climbing the ladder of success or taking personal time away, parents are always sacrificing themselves for their children. If one is not ready for that type of commitment, then they should not enter the world of parenthood.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Modern football

Modern football Introduction to globalisation The aim of this paper is the processes what has led football to globalisation and discuss how these processes manifest in the modern football. That essey will introduce reader to globalisation in general, early diffusion and development based on Therborns 6 wave model, contemporary model of globalisation, as well as movement of players, commercialisation of global football, global football in sponsorship, advertising and the media. Althought you can find answers on the questions like: How media affect to the football? What was before and after entering TV companies such as BSkyB and ITV to the football? Football whose game is it now? Evaluetion a series of global processes and their effects on football globally as well as establishment of global governing organisations and global tournaments. All of that with facts and evidence, analysis and reserch you can find below in that essey. We live in an age of globalization. The term globalisation evokes many responses both positive and negative. What exactly is globalisation, who are the main players and what are its economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts? Globalisation has developed out for a long term of social processes. As pointed out by Guilianotti and Robertson (2004) the recent history of football in particular, can serve both as an illustration and as an indication of the extent of transnational interconnectedness. Football is something much bigger, rather than game or even a way of life. This distinct reflexion of inconsistent tendencies of the modern world with all its pleasures and grieves. Football represent not geographical zones but social classes and political ideas. Unlike baseball or tennis football bears cargo of century hatred and historical biases. It is sports with real rates. It is capable to break ruling modes and to generate liberation movements. Early diffusion and historical development Footballs international diffusion occurred during the late 19th century. The contemporary history of the worlds favourite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed becoming the sports first governing body. Football, following the path of modern industrialism, spread from England to Europe (Duke 1995), North America (Waldstein and Wagg 1995) and South America (Guttmann 1994), and eventually the African continent (Stuart 1995). Accounts of the diffusion of the game to different parts of the world underline the intrinsic interrelation between football and industrial globalisation. As more and more regions became integrated into the emerging capitalist global economy (Pohl 1989) the leisure practice of football standardized in its rules and nationalized in its demands on time and space continued the cultural equivalent to the cha nging processes of industrial production. Robinson observes, for example, that global elites, regardless of their nationality, increasingly tend to share similar lifestyles and interact through expanding networks of the transnational state. Globalization is in this way unifying the world into a single mode of production and a single global system and bringing about the integration of different countries and regions into a new global economy and society. But the new global capitalism is rife with contradictions, such as the growing rift between the global rich and the global poor, concludes Robinson. (W.I. Robinson 2004). Globalizations are not new phenomena. At least six historical waves, beginning with the spread of world religions, may be identified. An attempt is made to systematize the effects of globalizations on different world regions and social actors. Issues of governance are raised, focusing on states and norms. Accroding to the Therborns six wave model in the first wave we can see first mass migration of people, the same situation we can find in football industry. As Wagg stated, football seems to belong to everyone and, on the other, the game rather like the land in the enclosure movements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been taken from the people and used for profit. In this later formulation, then, the nation of British footballs social and political history, from the Second World War to the turn of twenty-first century, is founded in ideas of social exclusion. (Wagg 2004). The contemporary model Nowadays football is the most popular and highly globalised sport on the planet, Mr Blatter also said the global football market, by Fifas calculations, was one of over one billion people. According to the Delloite report the European football market alone was worth 14.6 billion Euro in 2008. Englands Premier League clubs now pay their stars over a billion in wages, it has been revealed.The colossal bill equivalent to 1.2 million pounds per player emerged as figures were issued for the season before the current one concludes.Roman Abramovichs Chelsea paid out the most in wages 172 million pounds. Runners-up Manchester United had a salary bill of 121 million pounds. Third-placed Arsenal forked out 101 million pounds, followed by Liverpool, whose players earned 90 million pounds, according to football finance analysts Deloitte. These football clubs are now identified as a global brands, for example Manchester United fan base is 75 million people around the world. The contemporary mo del is also marked by a series of global migrations, at the moment in the English Premier League playing about 50% of foreighn players, but in 1992 there was just 11 registred players from overseas. Media and commercialisation of global football Along with the technology of the industrial revolution that produced the steamboats, railroads, and mass transit that moved people to leisure events, the rapidly evolving technology of mass media brought the drama and the exticement of sporting events to the people. The mass media, more than anything else were responsible for promoting organized sport from a relatively minor element of culture into a full-blown social institution. (Lever and Wheeler 1993:126). By the time television first appeared on the scene in the mid to late 1930s the patterns of mobile privatisations were already established. Television was part of a second generation of mass media that reinforced the structures of decentralised, private and suburban life. As Silversone argues, the space for television had been created by a social and cultural fabric already prepared. This social and cultural fabric was in turn an expression of the ever more central role of rationalised mass consumption in capitalist societies. Thus the social, cultural and economic premises of the rise of television were interrelated with those of the rise of modern football. These standardized practices of mass consumption reflected in the rise of television and radio were epitomised in the economic regime of Fordism. Regular Fordist work and leisure patterns led to the manifestation of the weekend as place of consumption for the Victorian wage-earner, combining both social identity and privacy (Cross 1997:120). The establishment of half-Saturdays had been a cruicial premise for the rise of professional football in Englang. Now, the extended leisure time of the Fordist weekend became the focal point of the consumption of mediated sports. This is underlined by the rise os Saturday afternoon sports magazines on American and British television (Goldlust 1987;Whannel 1991). Fordism, suburbanization and mass consumption thus constituted a triangle whereby both television and football were soon firmly integrated into the every day life of millions of viever. Television incorporated the stable and cyclical sports calendar into its schedules and thus reproduced and reinforced the temporal organisation of Fordist leisure practices. In the modern football, for example, Premiership clubs are being bought at a time when the income of each of the leagues 20 teams is set to soar following a recent record-busting overseas television rights deal. Booming demand from Asia and the Middle East has allowed the league to tie up contracts worth  £625 million for broadcasting rights for the next three seasons, boosting overall media income to  £2.725 billion; 60 percent above previous levels. (Delloite: football industry report). Several Leagues (such as the French, German and English leagues) have recently renegociated broadcast contracts and have secured significant revenues for their clubs for a number of years. In Spain, Superclubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona have individually negociated broadcast contracts. The Premier League is the most popular and the most lucrative domestic football league. The sports goods industry is dominatd by Nike, Adidas and football kit wars regularly occur at the World Cup and in the leading national leagues. The major TV leagues are in Europe the big five and the lesser five or six. Football has become a significant content filler in the age of new TV technology satellite, cable digital, telephony and internet. As Rupert Murdoch referred to it a battering ram for opening a new markets (Cashmore 2003:64). Alongside this are the stars and star clubs who benefit from almost constant commercial and media exposure especcially, but not only, Beckham, Ronaldo, Real Madrid, and Manchester United. These players and clubs are representative of a new trend in the international financing of football. After the colapse of the football bubble economy in 2001, clubs have tried to explore new income sources by expanding their customer base worldwide. In particular, the economically vibrant East Asian regions has been a preferential destination for marketin g managers and promotion tours. As Shimizu points out that David Backhams two visits to Japan in summer of 2003 were mainly commercial promoting endoresments for TBS (beauty salons), Meiji Seika (confectionery), Castrol (oil) and Vodafone (mobile phones) in June and his new team Real Madrid in August. According to a report by the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, one reason most top clubs have continued to see revenue increases and post strong profits is that they have lucrative multi-year broadcasting and sponsorship deals that have not been affected by the recession. BSkyB and Setanta pay out roughly $1.8 billion a year for Premier League rights. Arsenal, Liverpool and Schalke 04 have multi-year deals with Emirates, Carlsberg and Gazprom that pay these clubs over $15 million a season. More than half of the 20 clubs with the highest revenue signed current uniform sponsors within the last two years. The deals are good through 2013, on average, protecting teams biggest source of sp onsorship revenue (along with stadium-naming rights). On the broadcast side, German, English and the top Spanish clubs all have deals in place through 2014, with French rights due for renegotiation in 2012 and Italy set to return to centrally sold rights in 2010. At the turn of the twentieth century, centralized, urban leisure started to compete with more decentralized forms of consumption aided by the rise of new technologies such as the telegraph and railways (Ingham and Beamish 1993). New communication technologies helped to establish the national dimension of sport by enabling sports results to be communicated instantly over long distances. Radio reporting was immediate and, crucually, national rather than local. When Preston North End won the FA Cup in 1938, many listeners in Britain could for the first time follow the event on their radio sets simultaneously. Thus mass communication crucially contributed to the social and territorial diffusion of football. Sports has become more commercialised in the past twenty-five years. Equally it is almost passe to say that contemporary football is big business. In 1994 Sepp Blatter claimed that football was bringing in US$163 billion annually, more than General Motors could make selling cars (cited in Smith 1997:144). Elsewhere the commercial development of football, and especially the economic aspect of the World Cup, has been assesed in great detail (Guilianotti 1999). When Bourdieu argued that television has acted as the Trojan horse for the introduction of the commercial logic into football he was only partly accurate since commercial interests have always been present in sport. The development and growth of the global media was one of the main reasons of commercialisation of football as well as people who have money and time to spend and invest for a long time perioud. Television sport throughout the world is dominated by football. There is football and then the rest sports. FIFAs empire has grown accordingly. Several Leagues (such as the French, German and English leagues) have recently renegociated broadcast contracts and have secured significant revenues for their clubs for a number of years. In Spain, Superclubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona have individually negociated broadcast contracts. The Premier League is the most popular and the most lucrative domestic football league. The most significant process which helped to increase global commercialisation of football, is development of a global media profile. Because just after big TV deals football became a billion game just because of media football players can earn millions pounds. For example, in Britain, since 1992 rights fees have increased enormously from 191.5 millions pounds to 1 billion 700 millions pounds, and every year the amount of money coming from the TV rights is growing up. As Delloite financial specialists argued that the outcome of the Premier League broadcast rights negociations and the values achieved is likely to be a key driver in determining the ranking of English clubs in the Money League in future seasons. Money led to foreighn players The globalisation of football has been marked by a considerable increase in the recruitment of foreign players throughout various leagues. But not only a players are moving around the world, in June, Manchester City became the eighth current Premiership club to be taken over by foreign investors. Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham United are also owned by foreign businessmen. As Giovani Trapattoni argued: Really, there has been a globalisation of football, and my view is that it has been good for the game. If you look at football in Europe especially, the standard is now very high. A lot of money has come into the game in these leagues and it has been used to combine all these different cultures in some exceptional teams. According to figures released by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), no fewer than 857 players left the countrys sunny shores for foreign leagues in 2004. Though just short of the previous years record, the nu mber is further proof that Brazils dream academy is alive and well. Answer on tthe question why foreighn players migrate around the world, is simply money. But in some cases money ist a first factor when player make a decision where to move, a good example can be Russia, salaries in Russian Premier League are on the same level like in Big Five leagues in Europe. So when player make a choice where to move Spain or Russia for equivalent amount of money, his choice usually will be Spain. The major factor to make this decision is cultural engagement and geographical reasons. Conclusions: Diminishing contrasts and increasing varieties? The worlds richest clubs are prospering despite the global recession. The financial crisis has yet to derail the worlds most valuable football teams. Forbes Magazines calculations shows the top 25 teams are now worth, on average, $597 million, 8% more than the previous year. The outcome of the Premier League broadcast rights negociations and the values achieved is likely to be a key driver in determining the ranking of English clubs in the Money League in future seasons. These clubs posted operating income (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $42 million during the 2007-2008 season, 20% more than the top 25 clubs earned the previous year. There are now five clubs (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool) worth at least $1 billion. Only the National Football League (American Football) has more billion-dollar teams (19). With its capitalistic bent, European soccer rewards the best-performing clubs with higher broadcasting revenue, the magazine said in a report Thursday. Leading the charge is the worlds most valuable sports franchise: English Premier League champions Manchester United, worth $1.87 billion. Indeed, Forbes reports Manchester United posted $160 million in operating income, with its stadium, Old Trafford, pulling in more than $200 million in ticket and concession revenue last season. Spains Real Madrid ranked as the second most valuable at $1.35 billion, followed by another English club, Arsenal at $1.2 billion, Germanys Bayern Munich at $1.11 billion, and Englands Liverpool at $1 billion, according to Forbes. By comparison, the most valuable Major League Baseball team is the New York Yankees, worth an estimated $1.3 billion as of last April, while the most valuable National Football League team is the Dallas Cowboys, valued at $1.6 billion last September, according to Forbes. Burnished by that relative stability and by the sports growing popularity throughout China and Southeast Asia, big-ticket investors have continued to pour money into Englands Premier league, the magazine points out, noting the sale last fall of Englands Manchester City to Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for nearly $385 million. The value of European football is still there, said sports banker Robert J. Tilliss, founder of Inner Circle Sports. The demand from broadcasters and sponsors has continued to rise. References: Globalisation Armstrong, G., Giulianotti, R. (1997). Entering the Field: New Perspectives on World Football. Oxford: Berg. Armstrong, G., Giulianotti, R. (2001). Fear and Loathing in World Football. Oxford: Berg. Armstrong, G., Mitchell, J. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanisation on the Fringes of the EU. London: Routledge. Back, L., Crabbe, T., Solomon, J (2001). 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