Saturday, November 30, 2019

Ralph Ellison Essays - Literature, Fiction, , Term Papers

Ralph Ellison The Invisible Man Ralph Ellison manages to develop a strong philosophy through characterization in the Invisible Man. Ellison portrays the lonely narrator's quest in struggling to search for his identity and an understanding of his times. The well development of the character lays out the foundation on the philosophy of finding and understanding himself. Through a labyrinth of corruption and deceit the narrator undergoes events that manage to enrich his experience and further contribute in his search for himself. Such scenes include the battle royal scene, the college, Trueblood's visit, and the blueprint seller. The narrator at first never realizes his innocence. At first the timid Invisible Man is invited to attend his scholarship award ceremony. However with other Negroes he is rushed to the front of the ballroom where a stripper frightens them by dancing in nude. After staging the "battle royal" and attacking one another in response to the drunken shouts of the rich white folk, the boy is brought to give his prepared oration of gratitude to the white benefactors. An accidental remark to equality nearly ruins him, but the narrator manages to survive and is given a briefcase containing a scholarship to a Negro college. This acts a high peak in the narrator's quest since it sets him for his struggle in searching for himself. The narrator adores the college however is thrown out before long by its president, Dr.Bledsoe, the great educator and leader of his race. Ironically the narrator had seen Dr.Bledsoe as an idol aiming to gradually impersonate him. He was expelled for permitting, Mr.Norton , one of the college founders into the slave quarters and the Golden Day bar. After that incident the Invisible Man goes through the sense that he is losing his identity. This initiates an air of confusion as the narrator is now brought in a quarrel against himself. In the prologue the Invisible Man quotes, "I was na?ve...I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which only I could answer." The narrator is tempted to set out in the quest to search for his identity. The prologue identified the theme to the readers. It was however during Trueblood's visit that the character manages to learn about his true background and roots. It is through such people, of his true Southern nature, that the narrator glimpses a view on himself. This is true also when the Invisible Man encounters the blueprint seller who sang the blues, a common song of the south. Although the Invisible Man was in the North, he still found himself clinging on to the southerner, since he was of his similar race. If the narrator succeeds in finding his own identity then he will definitely be truthful to himself and the others. By finding his identity the narrator has ensured friendships and encounters with many people, since loneliness will be avoided. The Invisible Man's identity ensured him that he had opposed the idea of manipulating the whites as "Gods" or "Forces" through the "grins" and "yesses" while the whites manage to achieve their destiny through their control over him. Through characterization Ellison has managed to reveal his philosophy that dealt with struggling to find one's identity. The characters have been developed in a sense that has them reflect one another's traits and personalities. Through many encounters the narrator begins to set out to find who he truly is. By questioning his everyday living the narrator manages to progress in the quest to achieve his goal.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

5 Interesting Facts About the Medici Coat of Arms

5 Interesting Facts About the Medici Coat of Arms The Medici have long been associated with balls. Their family emblem - five red balls and one blue on a gold shield - is prominently displayed on buildings all over Florence and Tuscany which have Medicean connections or which were financed with Medici money. Some examples of where you can see them outside of Florence are Piazza Grande in Montepulciano and Piazza del Campo in Siena. In fact, the coat of arms was so widespread that one outraged contemporary of Cosimo il Vecchio declared, He has emblazoned even the monks privies with his balls. To prepare you for your trip to Tuscany (or just to add some historical fodder to your next conversation in Italian), here are five cocktail party facts about the Medici coat of arms. Five Facts About the Medici Coat of Arms 1.) One origin story for the coat of arms comes from a giant named Mugello. The Medici family crest has long been the object of much historical speculation. The most romantic (and far-fetched) explanation of the origin of the palle is that the balls are actually dents in a shield, inflicted by the fearsome giant Mugello on one of Charlemagnes knights, Averardo (from whom, legend claims, the family were descended). The knight eventually vanquished the giant and, to mark his victory, Charlemagne permitted Averardo to use the image of the battered shield as his coat of arms. 2.) Other origin stories for the coat of arms represent pills  and money. Others say the balls had less exalted origins: that they were pawnbrokers coins or medicinal pills (or cupping glasses) that recalled the familys origins as doctors (medici) or apothecaries. Others say they are bezants, Byzantine coins, inspired by the arms of the Arte del Cambio (or the Guild of Moneychangers, the bankers organization to which the Medici belonged). I’ve also read that the balls are meant to represent gold bars, again  representing their profession as bankers,  as many frescoes and works of art in Florence depict gold bars as originally being formed as balls. 3.) If you were a supporter of the Medici family, you might be seen enthusiastically yelling â€Å"Palle! Palle! Palle!† In times of danger, Medicean supporters were rallied with cries of Palle! Palle! Palle!, a reference to the balls (palle) on their armorial bearings. 4.) The number of balls on the shield changed over the years. Originally there were 12 balls. In Cosimo dà © Medicis time, it was seven, the ceiling of San Lorenzos Sagrestia Vecchi has eight, Cosimo Is tomb in the Cappelle Medicee has five, and Ferdinando Is coat of arms in the Forte di Belvedere has six. The number six remained stable after 1465. 5.) The blue ball has the symbol of the kings of France on it - three golden lilies. It’s said that Louis XI had a debt with the Medici family and in order to reduce his debts, he allowed the bank to use his symbol, giving the Medici bank more clout among the people.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Amateurism in Ncaa football Essay Example for Free

Amateurism in Ncaa football Essay The National Collegiate Athletic Association is corrupted with sneakiness, unfairness and greediness, particularly in division one colleges. In North America, sports play a huge role, especially sports like football, hockey, basketball and baseball. Sometimes this causes us to become vanished of fairness, like are the players being treated right? A great example of injustice in sports is amateurism of football players in division one colleges. Division one and division two athletes must obtain amateurism, which is playing the sport as a hobby rather than for the money, many would define amateurism as worthy but it is really tainted and monopolized! Should NCAA athletes get paid? Numerous of people would easily answer no because college athletes are on scholarships and various athletic departments loses money even with a winning record. Also college athletes have advantages with free tuition, books, living expenses, food, clothing and health. Although all of these features appear wonderful but there are more cons than pros of amateurism. For example the NCAA is a business that are making money out of these athletes basically for free and yes they do receive tuition but that does not compare to the large amount of money the NCAA is making out of them. According the Stanford Review, college athletic is a multimillion-dollar industry with recruiting the best of the best in the nation. So why not pay the best of the best, if they put in all this hard work, then they should be rewarded. Instead the National Colligate Athletic Association is a monopoly because of its limitation of scholarships and other payments to boost its college sports program. Also not all of the athletes receive scholarships. College football players put in more work on the field than they do in the classrooms. For example when in season they have five-hour practices and that doesn’t include lifting for an hour and this is from Tuesday to Friday with game day on Saturday. After the season is over then they begin spring ball which is just only practices and plus they don’t have a summer break because they have to stay for summer ball. We consider college athletes as student athletes but that is such an oxymoron because in realty their sport does come before their schoolwork. When playing in a big division one school, most athletes believe to make it in the big leagues but sadly only about 2% makes it. Colleges should stress more on education for so call student athletes but they don’t because of the athlete’s popularity and how the NCAA is making money out of them regardless if they have a future afterward or not. It’s horrible how the NCAA contract includes that when an athlete commits and decides to transfer to play for another school then they have to sit out a year. This rule is so unfair because coaches don’t have to do that. The NCAA is the biggest monopoly in America according to Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine. When selling college souvenirs and jerseys, videogames, etc and the athlete does not make any money from that, even if they are the main reason for those sales. It is amazing that most players receive a free education but does not compare to what the NCAA is making off of them. The players should receive a cut of these profits or gain a portion of this money after graduation so it can help them financially with their futures. Sadly the NCAA is too considerate of themselves and if an athlete is injure or not performing well then they have no problem wiping their name off the record books. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a business that makes tons of money from college athletes. Another reason why the NCAA doesn’t pay their athletes is because they will be tax and they can lose a lot of money from that. Well, professional sports obviously pay their athletes and they are tax too but the professional leagues are doing well. College basketball and college football are highly talked about and televised just like the professional sports so it shouldn’t be a problem if college athletes get paid. With amateurism in college sports, athletic programs cheat. They secretly cheat by illegally over paying top players or handing them out free stuff. For instance Cam Newton who was an All-American quarterback playing for Auburn and Mississippi before was secretly offered 120,000 to 18,000 from Mississippi State. Playing in top division one colleges, â€Å"winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing† and if athletic programs will cheat to have the best recruits and this is no surprise. If amateurism didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be any cheating scandals and every player will treated equally from their performance. Brown, Noah. â€Å"The NCAA Monopoly – The Toonari Post – News, Powered by the People! † The Toonari Post. N. p. , 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. . Amateurism in Ncaa football. (2017, Jun 03).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Evaluation of Service Quality Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Evaluation of Service Quality Strategy - Essay Example Service quality refers to an attitude formed by a long-term overall evaluation of a firm’s performance. Customer satisfaction and service quality are closely related. It can be said that satisfaction assists consumers in formulating a revised opinion about their service quality perception. The logic for this may be the following : Consumer perceptions of the service quality of a firm with which he has no prior experiences are based on the consumer’s expectations. Subsequent encounters with the firm lead the consumer through the disconfirmation process and revise perceptions of service quality. Each additional encounter with the firm further revises or reinforces service quality perceptions; revised service quality perceptions modify future consumer purchase intentions towards the firm. High quality satisfying service requires that a firm understand the consumer needs in detail as also the operational constraints. It reminds the service provider to focus on quality, and the process should be designed to support this system by proper control and delivery. Service quality can be a way of achieving success among competing services. This can be particularly so when the competing service firms provide identical services and are located in a small area. Examples could be many bank branches in the same area in a city. Under such circumstances, service quality happens to be the only way of differentiating the different service providers.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Week2 DQ's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week2 DQ's - Essay Example McCarthy further contended that radio, television, the media, and industry were under the control of communist influence. This initiated a four-year investigation into the government, the US Army, and the media. McCarthy’s initial accusations were met with a public that was receptive to his viewpoint due to the escalating Cold War and the fear of a nuclear capable Soviet Union. His anti-communist portrayals were often loosely based on facts, and there was a substantial effort by the USSR to infiltrate America and spy on our defense industries. However, this public acceptance soon waned as he targeted devoted military personnel and well known members of the media. His flamboyant approach and outrageous claims gained him a negative reputation as being divisive as many of his claims proved to be unwarranted. The civil rights movement of the 1950s had its roots 3 centuries earlier as slaves struggled to gain their freedom throughout America’s history. World War II had brought greater public attention to the issue through the advent of mass communications and the country’s confrontation with the reality of supporting the same racist policies that Americans, including African Americans, had fought against in Nazi Germany. With the war behind them Americans were ready to turn their attention to their internal social injustices. On June 26, 1948 President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which outlawed discrimination and segregation in the Armed Forces based on race (Desegregation in the Armed Forces, n.d). This action set the stage for the escalation of the growing civil rights movement. The massive demonstrations and protests of the 1950s resulted in the signing of the Civil Rights bill in 1964. While it gave federal protection to minorities against discrimination, it could do little to eliminate the de facto prejudice that existed in America. The historic legislation opened the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Internal Customers Essay Example for Free

Internal Customers Essay The people in this department need to know what deliveries are to be made and what products are to be delivered.  Staff Office  The Human Resources department need to know hours worked by employees and if there are any positions to be filled.  Staff Training  They need to know which members of the department will need training and which areas need to be covered in the training exercises.  Cash Office  The cash office needs to know what transactions were made at all the tills in the department and how much money there is in the tills at the end of the working day. This is so they can tally up the stores figures and see how well the shop has performed on that particular day. CCP (Customer Collection Point)  Many goods are collected from the shops CCP such as microwaves. The people at the CCP need to know what is being collected and the transaction number so they can tie up the paperwork, customer and the goods.  Service Desk  When customers have a problem with an appliance they have to go through the service desk so the large electrical department has to get information from the service desk regarding the outcome for instance an appliance may have to be replaced. The large electrical department already employs a number of different customer service techniques to help improve the running and efficiency of the department, which also importantly improves the relationship with the customers. There are however occasions when these strategies dont work the way that they should and customers can become dissatisfied with the level of service that they feel they are receiving.  Here are some examples of techniques that have recently been introduced in the department to help improve customer services. When staff join the Large Electrical Department the must complete questionnaires to ensure they understand procedures that are carried out in the department. A copy of which can be found in appendix 1. The Introduction of Ticketing system for waiting customers  The department recently introduced a fairly simple but effective ticketing system so that customers are served at the correct time instead of customers just grabbing a selling Partner when they see one that is free. When a customer enters the department they are now greeted by the customer service manager who stands at the Customer Service Podium. The Customer Service Manager gives the customer a ticket with a number on it and records down on the copy of the ticket that the manager keeps some details.  These are:  The customers name.  This creates a personalised service when the sell partner approaches the customer  What they want help on. This is so the Customer Service Manager can send over the right Selling Partner with the right knowledge.  A brief description of the customer.  The description helps the Selling Partner identify the customers easily.  When a selling Partner becomes free they must report back to the podium where the manager will hand the Partner the ticket of the next customer to be served.  This system is much improved from the previous queuing system, which involved the Customer Service Manager patrolling the floor and recording customers name down on a list. This meant that the Manager was never in one place and people may not have been put on in the correct order that they arrived in the department. When speaking to the Customer Service Manager of the Large Electrical department to enquire how successful the new system had been I was also informed of the one major problem there had been with it.  The problem was that when a customer took a ticket they would ask how many people there were before them. If the number was fairly high, for instance five people then it would put people off waiting. It was then up to the Customer Service Manager to reassure the customer that it wouldnt be too long. I also learned that on leaving the department previous customers who were used to the old system commented on how much better they thought the new system was.  The Introduction of Electrical Telesales at Watford  About two years ago the Branch opened the Electrical Telesales Department, which is part of the Large Electrical Department. The team is based at the branches warehouse, which is down the road from the store at Greatham Road. It is all linked telephonically and by computer to the main store. Customers can phone telesales and place orders for large electrical appliances over the phone by calling the store on 01923 244 266 and connecting to extension 4880. This service is very handy for many customers as they will often come into the store and get information on various appliances and then go home to check that it will fit in the desired space. They can then phone up and order it over the phone by credit or account card to save them making another trip into the store. Some people that have done research on the internet or another media will also use telesales to save them having to come into the store at all, especially people that have very busy lives. It is also designed to take some of the pressure off the actual department so that more time can be spent with each customer in the store. On average there are six partners manning the phones down at telesales. Which isnt really enough as they are also share with the Television and Audio department. So customers are put on hold, which can be for quite a long time, which frustrates the customers. Pre recorded messages are randomly played to the customers to reassure them that their call is important and will be answered by the next available partner. The telephonists can tell how long a customer has been waiting, and they will answer in a way that will reflect the length of time the customer has waited. Other problems with the telesales team are that there is a weak communication flow between the actual department and telesales. This means that mistakes can be made by telesales as they havent received information on changes made in the Large Electrical Department which in turn can have an affect on the customers.  An example of this was when EU legislation can into place saying that the collection of old refrigeration can not be continued because of the gasses inside. Telesales werent informed of this and continued to arrange for refrigeration to be taken away. When the deliverymen told customers that they couldnt take away the old refrigeration this angered customers who had prepaid the 9 collection charge. These mistakes are usually dealt with by offering a goodwill gesture for inconvenience and where appropriate a refund.  On the whole this venture has proved to be a major success as figures shown in the Annual General Meeting showed an increase in Large Electrical Goods with a major percentage going through the telesales team.  This is the information flier that is handed out to customers when visiting the Department if the wish to order over the phone. It give the phone number and extension number as well as a little information on the different services that they offer such as the 2 year warranty and Never Knowingly Undersold motto. Ways of paying at John Lewis  The use of credit cards at John Lewis  Until recently John Lewis didnt accept payment for goods by any credit card. This was to avoid paying the transaction fees to the banks that is added on when a customer pays using EFT (Electronic Financial Transaction). Apart from this customers were quite prepared to pay for any goods purchased using a John Lewis or Waitrose Account card that offers a low rate of interest. However to give the customer more flexibility John Lewis introduced the use of Credit cards in the Partnership. One of the main reasons for allowing this take place was because of where the transaction fee would go.  From 5 November 2001, all card payments with the exception of the John Lewis and Waitrose Account Card, are processed for you by John Lewis Card Services Ltd for a 2.5% fee included in the cost of your purchase. The balance is paid to John Lewis plc. The total amount you pay is the same regardless of the payment method. Source taken from http://www.johnlewis.com  The transactions fee that would normally have to be paid to the bank on any transaction that take place in either the department stores or Waitrose using EFT is retained by John Lewis. This means that John Lewis dont loose 2.5% of the sale that they have made but keep it as profit.  This move has meant that more customers are attracted to coming into the stores and paying by plastic, which many people prefer to do.  However there is one card that John Lewis still doesnt accept and that is American Express. This is because of the extremely high level of interest that is associated with this form of payment. John Lewis would still have to pay part of transaction fee if this card was used. These methods of payment can also be used to purchase over the phone using the stores telesales teams and via the Internet. This has all been designed to help create an easier way of shopping for it customers and improve customer services.  Computerised Ordering System  The introduction of the computerised ordering system a year ago has changed the face of the department and the way things are done, within the department. It was also a major turn around for the standard of customer services offered by department. The new system meant that orders could be processed a lot quicker as paper work didnt have to be sent via the post and orders we received at the warehouse instantly. A lot more options have been opened with this new system, all to the customers advantage, as well as making the whole ordering process a lot easier for the Selling Partner.  Customers can now reserve goods for longer periods of time, place an order for delivery in another part of the country and a lot more. Queries and problems can also dealt with by keeping record of points raised on the on the notepad of the actual order on the system so issues are dealt with much more effectively. Each customer gets a reference number when they place an order so information can be recalled instantly from the system should the need arise.  The quicker service makes buying Large Electrical goods less stressful meaning customers go away from the department happy with the level of service they have just received.  There have, however been a number of occasions when the system has gone down causing absolute chaos in the department as all orders have to be placed manually which is much more time consuming than using the computers. This angers customers who expect a reliable system then works quickly and effectively. With these events the need for the Customer Service manager pays off, as they are someone who can defuse difficult situations. All selling Partners are also trained in dealing with problems but the CSM is there as someone with higher authority.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Voyage to the New World :: History

The Voyage to the New World First of all, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille got married in 1464. The main reason that they got married was to unite their kingdoms into Spain. The king and queen were Roman Catholic, so they gave power to certain people to convert non-Catholics to Catholicism. In 1482, the Roman Catholic monarchs renew the reconquista, the military crusade ordered to conquer the remaining Muslim state in Iberia, Granada. In 1492, the Roman Catholic monarchs ordered all non-converted Jews expelled from Spain. In April, 1492, Spain received reports that the Portuguese succeeded in reaching the Indian Ocean, therefore Spanish monarchs authorized Christopher Columbus to sail to Asia and establish trade and start to convert natives to Christianity. The reasons that the monarchs let Columbus sail were mainly to search for spices and profits, spread Christianity, and to use some of their new technology like the caravel. Columbus would receive one-tenth of all the profits, and governance of the new lands would be shared by the monarchs and by Columbus. There were mainly three different types of natives who lived in the Caribbean. There were the Ciboneys (in Cuba), Caribs (in the lesser Antilles), and Taino-Arawaks (in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispanola, and Puerto Rico). The population of the Caribbean Islands was probably not too much more than 1,500,000 of which about 1,000,000 lived mainly in Hispanola. Hispanola was the center of Taino culture. Between 1509 and 1520, the demand for native labor increased and the native population steeply decreased. Here is a table of how rapidly the population of the Tainos decreased: 1492- 1,000,000 (about) 1514- 28,000 1508- 92,000 1518- 16,000 1509- 62,000 1540- 250 1510- 66,000 1570- 125 1512- 27,000 By the 1540’s the native population of the Tainos did not even exceed 1,000. In October 1492, Columbus’s ships were bound for Japan, China, and the Indies, but they arrived in the Bahamas. In May 1493, Columbus departed for his second voyage. The new goals were to settle the land, cultivate the land, assert royal authority over the whole area, convert the natives to Christianity, and mainly to search for gold and send it back to Spain. There were 17 ships, and about 1500 men on this voyage. Between 1494 and 1495, Columbus implemented a series of regulations to control the natives and to gain lots of wealth. Each adult must have delivered a certain amount of gold every three months, or else they would be punished by the Spaniards.

Monday, November 11, 2019

IT and HR Department Case Study and Analysis

Based on my observation security at Cenartech is high risk. I base this off of the security practices that are in place. What companies fail to realize is you can protect your network technically but you also have to protect the network physical. There are firewalls in place to protect the network from the outside but no policy to protect the network from the inside. â€Å"A security policy is a document that defines the scope of security needed by the organization and discusses the assets that need protection and the extent to which security solution should go to provide the necessary protection.†(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Although the company IT structure is solid, most of it was created by out consultants and the IT department did not have any leadership that was IT smart. The IT department was ran by the Director of Finance. Cenartech has already been establish for a few years before Brian the IT manager came on board. There was no Standard Operating Proce dures. â€Å"Procedures are the final element of the formalized security policy structure.† (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Within a year of being at the company he wrote a draft outlining duties and responsibilities for each staff member. Since his IT department was small he gave each staff member some security responsibilities. His staff members did not have any experience looking at security logs. Any time he had the chance he would train them. He knew the importance of looking at the logs regularly and maintaining Audit Trails. Audit trails are a set of records or events that record activity on a system. (White, 2003)As Brian was viewing the logs he found that there were repeated failed log-in attempts on a few different accounts, but not enough to cause a lockout. But there were too many to failed log-in attempts to just ignore. He also found out someone was attempting to access the accounts from other location within the engineering department. According to policy he had to report this to leadership in Human Recourses. The leadership was not technical and did not understand the issue and how server the problem was. Given what the case has presented the attacker wanted to gain access to the  network.After the presenting his case to HR leadership he decided to work on an IT project at the top of the list. He setup virtual private networks (VPN) for the sale staff to have remote access. A VPN is a communication tunnel that provides point-to-point transmission of both authentication and data traffic over an untrusted network. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) He setup the VPN on the financial network. Once the software was loaded on employee’s systems he started to monitor the security logs. He found more incoming connection then what he installed.â€Å"When he followed up on a few of the originating IP addresses in the security log, He found that a number of the connections originated from a local cable Internet Servi ce Provider (ISP)† (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 27). The attacker was using shared accounts from employee in the company. When someone would leave they would pass the account down. Accounts were not being deleted or disable. Removing or disabling accounts should be a standard best practice for any system. Accounts need to be deleted as soon someone leaves.  (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p231)Some of the things he could have done differently was to review his IT security policies from day one. The events that took place were events that were easy to miss. HR should have had a policy on how to handle terminated employees. There should be a lock out policy since the engineering employee was able to try many attempts on the account before it was locked out. The good lockout policy is three attempts then the user has to go through their IT department to get the account unlocked. A password policy should be implemented as well.At least 8 characters with a combination of lower case, upper case, one number, and one special character, this is DOD standard. If these were in place the attacker would not have been able to attack the network. The IT department needs to be trained to Monitor Security logs once a week. He would face a big challenge trying to recommend these changes to the Leadership. He try to explain this to the HR Director. â€Å"His explanation required substantial effort as Jim had minimal IT experience. † (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 26). It took another incident for the HR Director to take him serious. IT and HR Department Case Study and Analysis Based on my observation security at Cenartech is high risk. I base this off of the security practices that are in place. What companies fail to realize is you can protect your network technically but you also have to protect the network physical. There are firewalls in place to protect the network from the outside but no policy to protect the network from the inside. â€Å"A security policy is a document that defines the scope of security needed by the organization and discusses the assets that need protection and the extent to which security solution should go to provide the necessary protection.†(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Although the company IT structure is solid, most of it was created by out consultants and the IT department did not have any leadership that was IT smart. The IT department was ran by the Director of Finance. Cenartech has already been establish for a few years before Brian the IT manager came on board. There was no Standard Operating Proce dures. â€Å"Procedures are the final element of the formalized security policy structure.† (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) Within a year of being at the company he wrote a draft outlining duties and responsibilities for each staff member. Since his IT department was small he gave each staff member some security responsibilities. His staff members did not have any experience looking at security logs. Any time he had the chance he would train them. He knew the importance of looking at the logs regularly and maintaining Audit Trails. Audit trails are a set of records or events that record activity on a system. (White, 2003)As Brian was viewing the logs he found that there were repeated failed log-in attempts on a few different accounts, but not enough to cause a lockout. But there were too many to failed log-in attempts to just ignore. He also found out someone was attempting to access the accounts from other location within the engineering department. According to policy he had to report this to leadership in Human Recourses. The leadership was not technical and did not understand the issue and how server the problem was. Given what the case has presented the attacker wanted to gain access to thenetwork. After the presenting his case to HR leadership he decided to work on an IT project at the top of the list. He setup virtual private networks (VPN) for the sale staff to have remote access. A VPN is a communication tunnel that provides point-to-point transmission of both authentication and data traffic over an untrusted network. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) He setup the VPN on the financial network. Once the software was loaded on employee’s systems he started to monitor the security logs. He found more incoming connection then what he installed.â€Å"When he followed up on a few of the originating IP addresses in the security log, He found that a number of the connections originated from a local cable Internet Service Provider (ISP)† (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 27). The attacker was using shared accounts from employee in the company. When someone would leave they would pass the account down. Accounts were not being deleted or disable. Removing or disabling accounts should be a standard best practice for any system. Accounts need to be deleted as soon someone leaves.(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p231) Some of the things he could have done differently was to review his IT security policies from day one. The events that took place were events that were easy to miss. HR should have had a policy on how to handle terminated employees. There should be a lock out policy since the engineering employee was able to try many attempts on the account before it was locked out. The good lockout policy is three attempts then the user has to go through their IT department to get the account unlocked. A password policy should be implemented as well.At least 8 characters with a combination of lowe r case, upper case, one number, and one special character, this is DOD standard. If these were in place the attacker would not have been able to attack the network. The IT department needs to be trained to Monitor Security logs once a week. He would face a big challenge trying to recommend these changes to the Leadership. He try to explain this to the HR Director. â€Å"His explanation required substantial effort as Jim had minimal IT experience. † (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 26). It took another incident for the HR Director to take him serious.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Imperial President

‘More imperiled than imperial. ’ Discuss this view of the US presidency (30 marks) Imperial presidency is a term, popularized by the book, written in 1973, by Arthur Schlesinger, a former aide to JFK, called ‘The Imperial Presidency†. It is used to refer to a presidency characterized by the misuse and abuse of the powers of the presidency.. In particular, it refers to the misuse of power and excessive secrecy in dealing with foreign policy. The founding fathers intended the president not to initiate war but be a commander in chief and could only respond to an attack.They intended Congress to be proactive and initiate military action and that the president is reactive and supervises military action. An imperial president would misuse, abuse and ignore these powers. An imperiled presidency is virtually the opposite and is a term used when the president cannot act effectively due to continuous conflict with Congress. At least one of these two terms have been use d to describe each modern president, sometimes both have been used for the same presidency, showing the phrase can be used very flexibly, and can often be down to personal opinion.Nixon described it as a facade created by liberals and defensive congressman. The Development of the Imperial Presidency is often put down to America’s involvement in WW2 after Pearl Harbor in 1941. Before 1941, America had only been to war 11 times, and was often seen to avoid getting involved in foreign disputes and get on with there own business, but this changed obviously changed when they entered the world war. This saw a seismic shift in the importance of foreign policy, and therefore a seismic shift in what the president could do in times of war.In 1941, when Congress declared war, FDR was allowed to break free of his restraints written in the constitution. The time for the Imperial Presidency had arguably begun. Since then, America has nearly been at a constant state of war and â€Å"the Im perial presidency† continued to develop, through the presidencies of Truman, who when North Korea invaded the south in 1950 sent US troops, Eisenhower, who sent 14000 US troops to Lebanon, and JFK, who launched an attack on the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, all without congressional approval as a result.In 1964, the idea of the â€Å"imperial president† took a major step forward. The President at the time, Johnson, was given the power to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks on US armed forces, through the Gulf Agreement, also know as the Tokin Gulf Resolution. The Gulf Agreement was like a turkey voting for Christmas, as it took a sizeable power away from Congress and Schlesinger argued Congress had become a spectator.Johnson used this new power to rage war in Vietnam, and by 1969, the US had 500,000 troops on the ground there. The term Imperial President was used to describe Nixon, Reagan, George Bush Jnr and perhaps Clinton. Nixon, seen as the revolutionary p residency, made full use of his war making powers, by carpet bombing Vietnam, bombing Cambodia without even the knowledge of congress, the so called Secret War in Laos, and didn't even ask the Senate to ratify the Paris Peace accords.Reagan was seen as an Imperial President, due to his involvement in the Iran Contra Affair, in which Regan’s Administration sold weapons to negotiate the release hostages, and then used these funds, without congresses knowledge or approval, to fund anti communist rebels in the Nicaragua. George Bush Junior was seen as an imperial president as he used the fear of terrorism to gain support for the 2001 patriot act and other legislation, and went to war unconstitutional in 2001 in Afghanistan and in 2003 in Iraq.Many people argued Clinton was imperial. This was due to two reasons. First, he wrote a letter that America would follow all parts of a treaty that lost in senate, and took part in military action in Bosnia, Serbia and Haiti and approved air strikes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Schlesinger however argued that he wasn't because he was constrained by Congress. There have been, however, presidents that can be described as Imperil. Following the Watergate Scandal in 1972, Congress had finally had enough of the Imperial Presidents.They believed that Nixon had made illegal use of the CIA for political purpose, and that the white house was overly secretive. They past three major acts over 2 years, which brought power, back to Capitol Hill. In 1972, the Case Act was passed which meant that the president was required to submit executive agreements to congress, which prevents secretive agreements. In 1973, the War Making Act was passed which clarified the war making power of the president, and in 1974, the Congressional Budget and Impoundments Control act was passed which increase Congresses power of the budget.This led to Presidents Ford and Carter, being impotent in dealing with foreign policy issues such as the retaking o f Vietnam by the communist backed North, which led to the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, which included the US embassy being overrun. Ford argued the congress was now full of 535 commanders-in-chief and this isn’t what the forefathers intended and it didn't work. He wrote that some people used to complain about what they called an ‘imperial presidency’ but now the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction.George Bush Jnr Second Term could also been seen as an imperil presidency has he was constrained by the Supreme Court and Congress. Some people say that these terms aren’t useful and do not fully sum up a presidential term. Many people argue it all depends on the situations of the time, and due to America’s involvement in nearly every country in the world, and with one of the most complex foreign policies in the world, which the Algerian Hostage Situation showed can change course in a day, it is impossible to consult on congress on ev ery development concerning its foreign policy.It also cannot be used to describe every president. George Bush Snr was seen as a cooperative presidency as he asked Congress before sending troops to Kuwait, and seeked bipartisan support, but then took the role of commander in chief from there. Obama can be described as neither, as he seeked congressional approval for the START Treaty in 2010, but didn't ask congress about the use of airstrikes in Libya. I believe that in the past 60 years, presidents have been more imperial than imperiled however, when it comes down to foreign policy.Apart from the two failed presidency’s of Carter and Ford, each president has been allowed to control foreign policy effectively and without much congressional interference, but the control peaks and troughs, therefore depending on the time even within a term, a president can change between an imperial president to an imperil president and back again. The history of presidential power over the last 60 or so years tells us that power is a variable, and that presidential power is cyclical and unpredictable. It varies according to the personality of the president, the situations in which they are in office and how well congress supports them.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Employment And Discriminatory IRAC Brief Example

Employment And Discriminatory IRAC Brief Example Employment And Discriminatory IRAC Brief – Coursework Example Employment and Discriminatory IRAC Brief Employment and Discriminatory IRAC Brief Issue Was it right for Merrill Lynch The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); The American with Disabilities Act (ADA); Equal Pay Act, The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the State Statutes (USLegal, 2015).ReferencesEqual Employment Opportunity Commission-EEOC. (2015). Discrimination by Type. Retrieved from eeoc.gov/laws/types/ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment- MBIE. (2014). Employment Relationships From Beginning to End. Richmond: Crown copyright. Secunda, P.M. & Hirsch, J. (2010). Mastering Employment Discrimination Law. New York, NY: Carolina Academic Press.USLegal. (2015). Discrimination Law and Legal Definition. Retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/discrimination/

Monday, November 4, 2019

The power of the media to shape our perceptions and understanding of Research Paper

The power of the media to shape our perceptions and understanding of reality on gun control - Research Paper Example It is important to note that in these incidences, the media coverage of the live happenings has always been extensive giving the perpetrator of such violence a lot of fame. Various segments of the society have reacted to such incidences with diverging and converging opinions on what should be the best way forward. While the Obama administration has been on the forefront proposing stringent measures for the purposes of reducing or eliminating repeat occurrence, Republicans have a different view on how to address the whole matter. Religious groups and civil society have not spoken in one voice although one may deduce that everyone desires some changes in regards to how the whole issue should be addressed. Some of the emerging schools of thoughts that have come put have to do with logic behind issuance of guns, the ethical and practical implications of the solutions proposed for adoption as policy. Probably the big challenge is that the incidences that have occurred cannot qualify to be categorized as organized crimes. They are spontaneous reactions from private citizens with unforeseeable emotional and psychological instabilities. This has made generalizations very difficult. It has even begged the question whether first time offenders of gun violence can be treated as criminals or patients unlucky enough to be roaming outside instead of being attended to in mental programs. The media is one of the most powerful tools with regards to the flow of information. Most people have a lot of trust in the media. The view of the media is considered by many to be the right view. For this reason, it is easy to manipulate the public through various media platforms. Over the years, politicians and law makers as well as various governments have used this blind trust that the audiences have to propagate different agendas. This aspect of blind trust has been described by Robertson Davies in the following quote, â€Å"The eyes sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehendâ₠¬ . This quote insinuates that the media has the tendency to change the view of its audience, their attitudes, level of knowledge, and ideal about overall subject. Gun control is one of the most commonly discussed subjects by the media. However, this subject has been discussed in an impartial manner. In other words, the media has not been able to discuss both sides of gun control matter. . This paper shall analyze the effect of media on people’s perception of gun control Background In the American society, gun control issues have now topped the list of communication trends. Incidents such as Virginia Tech University (2007), Tucson Arizona (2011), movie theatre at Aurora Colorado (2012), Newtown Connecticut (2013) etc. have been made the topic of discussion in many media broadcast sessions. Consequently, these media broadcasts have shaped biased perspective regarding gun control Different people have varied views with regard to the gun control debate. Most of these views are directly related to the hype on gun control propagated by the media. After the incident in New Connecticut, the enforcement of the gun control laws took a different turn. The following graph that appeared on edition.cnn.com under the heading How Media Lose Interest in gun control by Danny Hayes indicates the trend of coverage of gun control by different media news channels (Hayes, Why this gun control debate has been different

Saturday, November 2, 2019

How science textbooks provide philosophical normative or celebratory Essay

How science textbooks provide philosophical normative or celebratory -- accounts of science - Essay Example However, the main aim of philosophy is to uncover what exactly qualifies as a science, the efficiency of scientific theories it comes with and the primary rationale for science itself. Scientific textbooks act as basis for understanding various accounts of science in different perspectives. Basically, this essay recognizes the fact that these textbooks are indeed fundamental in understanding both philosophical normative and celebratory accounts of science. Perhaps, the principal question is whether they offer adequate normative and celebratory accounts of science. The above thesis is supported by a look at both normative and celebratory accounts as follows. Usually, normative accounts of science involve an attempt to relate certain reasoning to an ultimate model while basing such reasoning to what is perceived to be right and normal. Scientific textbooks do make claims on how things should be, how to rate them, the identity of good and bad, and recognition of the wrong and right components of the claims. Arguably, the normative nature of a statement is independent of whether it is verifiable, can be verified or majority held. Significantly, normative claims and their meanings are an important part of human life. They help man in his daily organization and thought planning. Thus, they are essential to decision making especially those involving distinction of political and ethical discourses. Therefore, the use of scientific textbooks in understanding philosophical normative contexts is without doubt a beneficial way of appreciating scientific accounts (Achinstein 51). On the other hand, these textbooks also offer a basis for understanding philosophical celebratory accounts of science. Science attempts to unravel certain happenings and explain why they are exactly so. Scientific realists assert that the main aim of science is to state the truth and that individuals should consider