Thursday, October 31, 2019

The New Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The New Terrorism - Essay Example This modern structure is in the forms of a network, eased by information technology, the modern personnel are amateurs, who in most case, collaborate in ad hoc or transitory groups, as well as the modern attitude an intensified willingness of causing mass casualties, maybe by using weapons of chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological (CBNR). Both network organizations, along with amateur participation have the perception that the "new terrorists" are no longer in need of state sponsorship compared to their predecessors thereby being extremely dangerous or at least extremely difficult in countering than its predecessor (Andrew & Kumar 2002, p.10). Terrorists have the capability and willingness of developing network king of organization for similar reasons as those of businesses. This is the necessitated by the information revolution, which lowers the cost of communication, thereby permitting organizations in pushing for functions out of a controlling hierarchical structure. Theref ore, organizations are capable of flattening out their pyramids of authority, while, at the same time, controlling and approaching a network form, a grouping of more or less independent, dispersed entities, connected by developed communications and maybe nothing more than a common reason. Motivating or forcing the shift from hierarchy to network happens to be the advantages acquired by an organization while transforming itself (Gutteridge 1986, p.35). It turns out to be more supple, adaptive, as well as resilient since each of its units is capable of sensing and reacting on its own in unfastened integration with the others. This increases the opportunities for the organization for learning, while making it extremely flexible, as well as adaptive. The organization turns out to be extremely resilient since if one or even a number of its constituent entities get destroyed, the others are persistent; therefore, a network, not like a hierarchy, is incapable of getting destroyed through d ecapitation. In terrorists’ case, there is a possibility that the loosely connected autonomous entities making up a network could be individuals, for instance Ramzi Yousef accredited for organizing the World Trade Center bombing. There is also a possibility that the entities framing terrorist networks could be large, formal, or hierarchical organizations thereby working altogether devoid of any common hierarchy or main commanding authority amongst them. No matter what the constituents of the network are, the absence of this innermost authority or control is what makes it a network. It is this characteristic giving networks their suppleness, adaptiveness, as well as resilience, permitting them gains over organizations such as the U.S. government, which seem to be hierarchical industrial-age relics (Hallstorm 2011, p.51). An ideal example of manifestation of this networking happens to be the propagation of the amateur terrorist, along with the ad hoc terrorist grouping. Amateur s collaborate with the like-minded in conducting a terrorist attack and eventually getting disbanded. They do not undergo training or other logistical backing from state-sponsors; rather depend on networks of supporters, studying what is necessary from publications or the Internet or dismissed soldiers.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Chinese Naturalism over Metaphysical Dualism Essay Example for Free

Chinese Naturalism over Metaphysical Dualism Essay Chinese metaphysics challenges the Greek paradigm of metaphysical dualism with naturalistic metaphysics. They argued that harmonious relationships in society and tolerance for change were the essentials of life, instead of the belief that you must separate your body and mind. Socrates and Plato laid out most of the foundation for Greek philosophy, but in Chinese metaphysics, Confucius and Laozi are the main front runners. Chinese metaphysics takes root in Confucius’s work, Analects. In this work he described the four central virtues: ren, yi, li, and zhi. These stand for co-humanity, appropriate conduct, ritual propriety, and wisdom, respectively. Not only do these establish the harmonious relationships that naturalistic metaphysics builds on, but they also establish a way of life that examines individuals based on their character. Yi even allows for shades of grey because it can differ in many situations; with it being context sensitive, the most correct response is what the individual should attain for. This is what leads an individual in developing character in their natural relationships. Laozi, the credited founder of Daoism, pioneered Chinese cosmology and acknowledged the â€Å"Dao† as the source and ideal of all existence. He believed that humans were manifestations of the Dao, and that immoral acts upset the natural balance of the Dao. He is often given credit for the Daodejing, translated to mean primodial, however scholars argue that there are multiple authors to the text. This text has a central concept named wu wei, which literally means â€Å"do nothing.† This explains harmony with the Dao, ziran. This leads Laozi to emphasize simplicity and humility, instead of selfish actions. Chinese metaphysics really takes a deeper look into the relationships of individuals with their families and how their character affects the decisions they make. Greek philosophy leaves these fundamentals on the back burner, and instead looks at the separation of mind and body.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

My Teaching and Learning Paradigm in the Classroom

My Teaching and Learning Paradigm in the Classroom Introduction Every educator should possess his or her own unique set of teaching philosophy which suits the ever-changing needs and demands of education in todays society. Exploring and developing the beliefs of teaching plays an important role in contributing to the success of an educator in the teaching profession because our beliefs can generate our own confirmation. This teaching philosophy has been shaped by my personal experience when serving my alma mater as a relief teacher, as well as my prior experiences in teaching experience and teaching assistantship as a trainee teacher. It will serve as a basis for my embarkation to the profession of education with the aim of success in teaching. My Belief of Teaching and Learning Paradigm My core belief of teaching has been carved out based on the saying of a Greek philosopher, Socrates Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel. Personally, I would like to further build this belief upon the old saying If I give a man a fish, I feed him for a day; if I teach him to fish, I feed him for a lifetime. So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? If my student were to ask me this question, I would probably smile at him and reply, Why dont you find out and tell me? Many times during my interaction with young children through my teaching experiences, I was often stumbled upon the questions posed by the inquisitive minds of theirs. While there may be not definite answers to their questions, I often did not give them the answers directly. This is what shaped my core belief about teaching learning is that it is not just only a process of acquiring knowledge or skills (dictionary.com, 2012) but also a journey of discovery where sometimes the process of discovery is more important than the discovery itself. It is important not to spoonfeed the children with answers. My Teaching Belief: Now and Then Role of the teacher: To cater to Differentiation and Adaptations In this 21st century, it is a generation armed with myriad of technologies. The power of IT allows an individual to google for the answers just by a few clicks in a space without boundaries. So, one may question the role of the teacher since most answers to questions can be found on the internet. A teacher takes up many roles, one of which is to teach. And so, what if the information found on the internet does not suit the appropriate level or the learning style of the child? In my view, this is where the important role of the teacher comes in. In the past, I used to think that having a single-way approach of tackling the concept is sufficient, and assume that all children would be able to understand what is being taught. However, after taking this course, I come to realise that every child is a unique individual with different learning styles: visual learners, auditory learners, tactile learners as well as Kinesthetic learners. This is even more crucial when it comes to dealing with children with special needs. It is important not to assume, as it often does not reflect the reality. It is also essential for the teacher to adapt to the differentiation of the child. However time-consuming and taxing to modify the curriculum and the 8worksheets it may seems, I believe it is all worth it as the child would be able to learn something new that would benefit him. In my opinion, the teacher has to package her lessons in a creative and dynamic way, at the same time, tailoring to suit the individual students with a myriad of different learning styles. There is never a one size fits all approach in anywhere, including the classroom, as well as the internet. To me, what the teacher does is to try her best and tailor the content to the ability of the class. Hence, it is essential that the teacher examine the profile of each individual student before the semester. Perhaps, it is also ideal to find out the learning styles of each child prior to the lesson from their parents or from the former teachers. However, if time does not permit, this could be done over the semester, when one has taught the class for a period of time and knows the different learning styles of each individual child. According to Gardners theory of multiple intelligences, there are a total of 8 intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal, interpersonal. It is important for the teacher to approach a concept in a variety of ways. Hence, for my upcoming Practicum 1 and 2, I would be more tactful in including different approaches, such as including Youtube videos, songs, poems, story-telling, hands-on experiments into my lesson plan to cater to the different learning styles of my students. Of course, there are many other roles of the teacher which include: counsellor, mentor, friend, disciplinarian, group dynamics facilitator, motivational speaker etc. This would also mean that the many roles of a teacher entail the never-ending list of workload. This is when the problem seeps in, when one has to struggle with the issue of work-life balance. To me, work is never-ending and time waits for no one. It is crucial that the teacher adjusts his or her working style, to deal with each matter one at a time. This would avoid creating unnecessary stress which is unhealthy to oneself. Parents, too, have special needs In the past, I used to think that the main challenge I would face is the children, especially those with special needs. However, after taking this course, I was taught to rethink and view things from the perception of the parent. It is not only some children who have special needs some parents, too, have special needs. In this generation where parents are generally more educated than in the past, they do have a high demand from the teachers of their children. Sometimes, these demands are something that supersedes expectations which can be way beyond our limits. Encounters with parents of children with challenging behaviour can come in a variety of forms and for a variety of reasons. It is worth remembering that sometimes they are flooded with a range of strong emotions triggered by nothing to do with school. Hence, it is essential not to take their comments personally and put you down. Ultimately, it is the children that we have in heart. In fact, I used to have this mentality to why I should take up the role of a parent when I am just a teacher. Besides, I am only in my early twenties and I cannot see myself behaving like a mother who possesses all the motherly traits. I would tend to draw the clear line between the responsibilities of a teacher and a parent. Also, I would think that it is the responsibility of the parent to build a positive upbringing in the child. However, I realised that every family has their own problems. Sometimes the parents are in denial that the behaviour is unacceptable and feel the schools expectations are unreasonable. It can be difficult to deal with such parents (Rogers, 2004). However, it is important to remain professional and not to give in to the temptation of throwing in the towel. Even though, I still do not think that a teacher should take up a role as a surrogate parent, however, I am able to emphasise with their situation more compared to the past. I believe it is important not only to cultivate collegial and pupil relationship, but also parental relationships. Creating a Positive Primary Classroom Environment A classroom is the place where a teacher will be most involved during his or her professional career as a teacher (Louradusamy, Myint, Quek Wong, 2003). Hence, creating a positive primary classroom environment for the pupils is an integral part of good classroom management (Weinstein, Miganana Romana, 2011). I strongly believe in this and have integrated it as part of my teaching philosophy after taking up this course. In additional, a classroom management reflects about my philosophy of teaching and learning, which tells a lot about me who visits my class (Louradusamy et al., 2003). According to Doyle (1986), the classroom may be considered as an ecological system and viewed the classroom as a unique unit in which the teacher and the pupils interact for a purpose of teaching and learning to take place. Given the already overload work that teachers have to juggle with, I used to think that going to the extent of having an attractive classroom may be over demanding and impractical. However, after going through the teaching experience at Lian Hua Primary School, one of the things that captured my attention is the class pets a tank of guppies with iridescent colours and a furry Winter White hamster at the back of the classroom. Having to observe the class from the back of the classroom, surprisingly, it does not feel like an ordinary classroom to me. The entire feeling felt at the point of time was a brand new feeling that I have never felt before in a classroom. It felt more like a study room to me, rather than a typical classroom. After careful observation, I realised there was even a mini reading corner, with carpeted floor, and bean bags. By the side of the windows, there were pots of green bean plants with the students name labelled on each pot. Apparently, that was a science exp eriment and the pots of plants were the works of students. The greenery brought the classroom closer to nature, and together with the pets corner and reading corner, they add vibrancy to the dismal classroom setting. At the end of the lesson, the student surrounded the cage and fed the hamster and guppies. One of them even picked up the hamster and gave it a few strokes at its back. Of course, I had burning questions flashed in the mind who is going to take care of the hamster? Who is going to change the water in the tank? Who is going to dust the bean bags? As such, I spoke to the form teacher of that Primary 5 class. He said that the class pets are there to instil the sense of responsibility and to build a caring classroom culture. The students have a class duty roster where students will take turn to feed and clean the cage of the hamster and the guppies. He also emphasized that this takes time to build but the end result is often worth every efforts put in to create a positive classroom environment. True enough, the students I mingled with said that they do not find it a hassle to take up the duties of cleaning the cage and feeding the pets, Theyre part of our 5G family. The conversations exchanged with the students gave me further affirmation that it is all worth it to consider the aesthetic part of the classroom. In the future, I would definitely make the classroom attractive and pleasure-looking. Conclusion In the midst of the 4 years training as a student-teacher, I have been told of the endless stories by in-service teachers as well as ex-teachers, about how taxing and demanding teaching can be. Undoubtedly, it is hard not to feel disheartened, sceptical and even fearful about what is lying ahead of me. However, I believe that one should not let the self-fulfilling prophecy take effect (Myers, 2004). One should be positive and should embrace the future. While it does not pay a lot in dollars to be a teacher in Singapore, the psychological and emotional rewards are more than suffice the light up look on a face when a seemingly unfathomable concept is finally grasped and understood; the thank you cards from the students; and the internet satisfaction of knowing that you have made a difference that left an undeniable mark on the future. This is my teaching philosophy that I have developed thus far, and it will continue to evolve when I embark on my 4 year of teaching career. (2031 words)

Friday, October 25, 2019

Pay-For-Performance and Productive Workforces Essay -- business, compe

The company did not truly have a pay-for-performance process. In fact, what it did have was a pay-for-profitability process, commonly known as a profit sharing program. There is a substantial difference between pay-for-performance and profit sharing, both in terms of how the process is structured and how the payouts are determined. Profit sharing is a program based quite simply on how much profit the company makes, regardless of performance. In certain times, a company may not perform very well yet still make a profit. For example, on organization may incur large expenses, have inefficient use of resources and incomplete accounting of internal asset allocation. However, it may also have huge sales volumes, little competition and an enviable and desirable product. It is virtually successful in spite of itself. Can that actually occur? Examples abound: Circuit City, AOL, Xerox and so on. All quite successful companies, initially, but almost destined for problematic existence as a re sult of growth that occurred too fast too soon. They did not perform very well, yet were able to generate considerable profitability. A pay-for-performance program, on the other hand, is designed to reward measurable performance against certain standards. It is created by establishing measurable goals and objectives, assigning individuals to the goals with time bound periods of measurement and finally an evaluation of that individuals’ performance against those goals. The company may make a profit, but if the employee does not meet or exceed their performance goals, they may not receive any reward, or what is commonly viewed as a raise or bonus. True pay-for-performance does not just take profitability into account, unless generating profit was t... ... their office.(Robbins& Judges,2007) The benefits of telecommuting reduces absenteeism and tardiness. In addition, it also contributes to the green initiative by cutting down the amount of pollutants from motor vehicle travel. According to recent estimates indicate that between 9 million and 24 million people telecommute in the United States (Kurland & Bailey, 1999). Fortune 500 companies such as AT &T, IBM, and Merrill Lynch are just a few. In conclusion, if Sean Neal utilized the options listed, he could create a more productive workforce through incentives without affecting the company’s bottom line. In addition, Mr. Neal could boost morale which would create a more experienced work force through longevity of employment. By having an experience workforce Mr. Neal should see a significant increase in production and profit over a short period of time.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Biology Pearson Textbook Homework Questions Essay

a.There are several differences between RNA and DNA is that are key. DNA has deoxyribose sugar while RNA has ribose sugar. Secondly b.RNA is generally single stranded and not double stranded. Lastly RNA contains uracil in place of thymine. c.The three types of RNA are messenger RNA, transfer RNA, and ribosomal RNA. Messenger RNA is the â€Å"mirror image† of the DNA that encodes the amino acid sequence for the protein specified by the gene. The Transfer RNA transfers the amino acids to the ribosomes from coded messages. Ribosomal RNA helps build the proteins on the ribosome. d.The reason that so many RNA molecules are produced more than DNA molecules because you only have two copies of DNA in one cell. If only two proteins could be produced at a time it would take the cell a much longer time to do the functions that it needs to perform. 2. a.During transcription segments of DNA serve as templates to produce complementary RNA molecules. b.I think that the mRNA would not code properly for the correct protein so none of the functions could occur properly. No proteins could be made without the mRNA. 3.RNA George a.I am unspecialized and am very willing and capable to do any job. I can be used in the messenger, transfer, and building proteins areas of work. As a messenger I can encode the protein sequence that is given to me from the genes. As a â€Å"transferist† I can transfer the amino acids to the ribosomes. Finally as an rRNA I can assemble proteins. Please consider my application.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How International Differences in the Ownership and Financing Essay

Explain how international differences in the ownership and financing of companies could lead to differences in financial reporting. There are major international differences in accounting practices whereby different companies in a country may use different accounting systems. This differences between companies mainly influenced by a company’s country, size, sector or number of stock exchange listings. It is very significant that banks are the capital provider for small family-owned business in Germany, France and Italy. However, in the United States and the United Kingdom there are large numbers of companies that rely on millions of private shareholders for finance. There are three type of financial system has been formalized by Zysman which are capital market system, credit-based government systems and credit-based financial institution systems. These types could be simplified further to ‘equity’ and ‘credit’. In United States and United Kingdom, companies are finance by investors rather than by individual shareholders. So, in these countries with a widespread ownership of companies by shareholders who do not have access to internal information, there will be a pressure for disclosure, audit and fair information. Thus, this will lead to a different financial reporting. On the other hand, in ‘credit’ countries, few of the listed companies are dominated by bankers, governments or founding families. In Germany, important owners of companies as well as providers of debt finance are the banks. Besides that, listed companies in continental European countries are also dominated by banks, governments or families where the information published is not so detail. Hence, this can automatically lead to differences in financial reporting. In addition to that, most continental European countries and in Japan, the external financial reporting has been created for the purpose of protecting creditors and for governments due to the lack of ‘outsider’ shareholders. So, due to the greater important creditors in these countries, it leads to more conservative accounting. This is because creditors want their money back if companies suffer losses or damages, whereas shareholders may be interested in an unbiased estimate of future prospects. Hence, this could lead to some differences in financial reporting.