Violence In Modern Colombia Takes Place In Many Forms. The Three Major

Violence in modern Colombia takes place in many forms. The three major categories are crime, guerrilla activities, and attacks committed by drug traffickers. Violence has become so widespread and common in Colombia that many people have now become numb to it. The Colombian economy has also benefited from the illicit drug trade; however violent it may be. During the 1970s, Colombia became well known, as one of the world's most important drug processing, production, and distribution centers for marijuana and cocaine. The shrubs and plants from which both drugs are derived from and processed has been well known in Colombia for centuries, but until the 1970s drug refiners and traffickers had not taken full advantage. The chewing of coca leaves was very well known in the South American Inca Empire in the 11th century. The Incas, the Colombian Chibchas and other local ethnic groups have always attributed mythical and religious power to the bush and to the alkaloids that were extracted by its leaves by chewing on them. The existence of a drug, cocaine, which could be chemically extracted from large volumes of leaves was not discovered until 1884 by an Austrian ophthalmologist. Marijuana is a drug extracted from hemp, a plant from which coarse fibers are also obtained for the manufacture of cloth, cordage, and sacking. The development of marijuana in Colombia took place in the mid 1940s during the administration of President Mariano Ospina Perez. The government at this time imported various fibers producing species from different parts of the world in an attempt to improve the postwar textile industry. The imported fiber plant included cannabis sativa (hemp) from Asia, and jute and sisal from Mexico. The Ministry of Agriculture was distributing these plants throughout the countryside of Colombia, and peasants and farmers were encouraged to plant them. During this same period, the consumption of marijuana was beginning to become a problem among the Bohemians in Medellin. As a result of this increasing drug problem, especially among the Bohemian members of the middle and upper class, on March 11, 1946, the Ospina administration passed the nation's first anti- drug law, Decree No. 896. This law prohibited the cultivation, distribution, and sale of coca and marijuana, and ruled that all local and regional governments had to destroy all coca and marijuana plantations (Osterling). Colombia has not always been a violent country. It should be noted that in the past, Colombia experienced periods of peace and tranquillity. During this time, the levels of violence were lower than many European and American Countries. Colombia has gained international fame as one of the major centers in the world for drug trafficking. Anytime a country has a problem with drug trafficking, crime is always high. In 1973, homicide was the seventh highest cause from death, but since has become the first since 1990. More than 165,000 have had a violent death between 1980 and 1990. During this decade, the homicide rate was 77.5% per 100,000 people. In comparison, the United States has been regarded as a violent country, but yet the homicide rate was only 8.0%. Contributing to this violence in Colombia is the possession of firearms. Colombians possess more than three million firearms, and more than half is possessed illegally. This adds greatly to the crime and violence in Colombia (Posada -Carbo). It is extremely difficult to measure the magnitude, type, and location of violence in Colombia. Another problem in measuring the amount of violence is that not all violent cases are reported. It must also be noted that any media report of violence must also be read with caution; for it may or may not have occurred. Violence seems to be a nationwide phenomenon. Almost all aspects of the Colombian population experience some degree of violence. Almost everybody is a potential victim; violence does not prefer a particular socioeconomic class, profession, race, or ethnic group. However, some geographical locations have been more prone to violence. The entire Cauca River Valley, including the cities of Cali and Medellin, and the areas between southern Cundinamarca, southeast Tolima, and northeast Haila, seem to have been the most violent (Chepesiak). According to some Colombian observers, intimidation and revenge has caused many to look the other way when violence occurs. It has also cause many

Bent Pyramid Insight In Egyptian Architectural History

Bent Pyramid Insight In Egyptian Architectural History The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt is unique among pyramids: instead of being a perfect pyramid shape, the slope changes about 2/3 of the way to the top. It is also one of five Old Kingdom Pyramids that retain their original form, 4,500 years after their construction. All of them- the Bent and Red Pyramids at Dahshur and the three Pyramids at Giza- were built within a single century. Out of all five, the Bent Pyramid is the best opportunity we have for understanding how architectural techniques of ancient Egypt were developed. Statistics The Bent Pyramid is located near Saqqara, and it was built during the reign of the Old Kingdom Egyptian pharaoh Snefru, sometimes transliterated from the hieroglyphs as Snofru or Sneferu. Snefru ruled Upper and Lower Egypt between 2680-2565 BCE or 2575-2551 BCE, depending on which chronology you use. The Bent Pyramid is 189 meters (620 feet) square at its base and 105 m (345 ft) tall. It has two distinct interior apartments designed and built independently and connected only by a narrow passageway. Entrances to these rooms are located on the north and west faces of the pyramid. It is unknown who was buried inside of the Bent Pyramid- their mummies were stolen in ancient times. Why is it Bent? The pyramid is called bent because of that steep change in slope. To be precise, the lower part of the pyramids outline is angled inward at 54 degrees, 31 minutes, and then at 49 m (165 ft) above the base, the slope abruptly flattens out to 43 degrees, 21 minutes, leaving a distinctively odd shape. Several theories about why the pyramid was made this way were prevalent in Egyptology until recently. They included the premature death of the pharaoh, requiring the speedy completion of the pyramid; or that noises coming from the interior clued the builders into the fact that the angle was not sustainable. To Bend or Not to Bend Archaeoastronomer Juan Antonio Belmonte and engineer Giulio Magli have argued that the Bent Pyramid was built at the same time as the Red Pyramid, a pair of monuments built to celebrate Snefru as the double-king: pharaoh of the Red Crown of the north and the White Crown of the South. Magli, in particular, has argued that the bend was an intentional element of the Bent Pyramids architecture, meant to establish an astronomical alignment appropriate to Snefrus sun cult. The most commonly held theory today is that a comparably sloped pyramid- Meidum, also thought to have been built by Snefru- collapsed while the Bent Pyramid was still under construction, and the architects adjusted their building techniques to make sure the Bent Pyramid would not do the same. A Technological Breakthrough Intentional or not, the Bent Pyramids odd appearance provides insight into the technical and architectural breakthrough it represents in Old Kingdom monument building. The dimensions and weight of the stone blocks are much greater than its predecessors, and the construction technique of the outer casings is quite different. Earlier pyramids were constructed with a central core with no functional distinctions between casing and external layer: the experimenting architects of the Bent Pyramid tried something different. Like the earlier Step Pyramid, the Bent pyramid has a central core with progressively smaller horizontal courses stacked on top of one another. To fill in the external steps and make a smooth-faced triangle, the architects needed to add casing blocks. The Meidum pyramids outer casings were formed by cutting sloped edges on horizontally placed blocks: but that pyramid failed, spectacularly, its outer casings falling off it in a catastrophic landslide as it neared completion. The Bent Pyramids casings were cut as rectangular blocks, but they were laid sloping inward at 17 degrees against the horizontal. That is technically more difficult, but it gives strength and solidity to the building, taking advantage of gravity pulling the mass inward and downward. This technology was invented during the construction: in the 1970s, Kurt Mendelssohn suggested that when Meidum collapsed, the core of the Bent Pyramid was already built to a height of about 50 m (165 ft), so instead of starting from scratch, the builders changed the way the outer casings were constructed. By the time Cheops pyramid at Giza was constructed a few decades later, those architects used improved, better-fitting and better-shaped limestone blocks as casings, permitting that steep and lovely 54-degree angle to survive. A Complex of Buildings In the 1950s, archaeologist  Ahmed Fakhry  discovered that the Bent Pyramid was surrounded by a complex of temples, residential structures and causeways, hidden beneath the shifting sands of the Dahshur plateau. Causeways and orthogonal roads connect the structures: some were built or added on to during the Middle Kingdom, but much of the complex is attributed to the reign of Snefru or his 5th dynasty successors. All later pyramids are also part of complexes, but the Bent Pyramids is one of the earliest examples. The Bent Pyramid complex includes a small upper temple or chapel to the east of the pyramid, a causeway and a valley temple. The Valley Temple is a rectangular 47.5x27.5 m (155.8x90 ft) stone building with an open courtyard and a gallery that probably held six statues of Snefru. Its stone walls are about 2 m (6.5 ft) thick. Residential and Administrative An extensive (34x25 m or 112x82 ft) mud brick structure with much thinner walls (.3-.4 m or 1-1.3 ft) was adjacent to the valley temple, and it was accompanied by round silos and square storage buildings. A garden with some palm trees stood nearby, and a mud-brick enclosure wall surrounded all of it. Based on archaeological remains, this set of buildings served a range of purposes, from domestic and residential to administrative and storage. A total of 42 clay sealing fragments naming fifth dynasty rulers was found in a midden east of the valley temple. South of the Bent pyramid is a smaller pyramid, 30 m (100 ft) high with an overall slope of about 44.5 degrees. The small inner chamber may have held another statue of Snefru, this one to hold the Ka, the symbolic vital spirit of the king. Arguably, the Red Pyramid could be part of the intended Bent Pyramid complex. Built roughly at the same time, the Red Pyramid is the same height, but faced with reddish limestone- scholars surmise that this is the pyramid where Snefru himself was buried, but of course, his mummy was looted long ago. Other features of the complex include a necropolis with Old Kingdom tombs and Middle Kingdom burials, located east of the Red Pyramid. Archaeology and History The primary archaeologist associated with excavations in the 19th century was William Henry Flinders Petrie; and in the 20th century, it was Ahmed Fakhry. Ongoing excavations are being conducted at Dahshur by the German Archaeological Institute at Cairo and the Free University of Berlin. Sources Aboulfotouh, Hossam M. K. Astronomical Algorithms of Egyptian Pyramids Slopes Adn Their Modules Divider. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 15.3 (2015): 225–35. Print.Alexanian, Nicole, and Felix Arnold. The Necropolis of Dahshur: Eleventh Excavation Report Spring 2014. Berlin: German Archaeological Institute and Free University of Berlin, 2014. Print.Alexanian, Nicole, et al. The Necropolis of Dahshur: Fifth Excavation Report Spring 2008. Berlin: German Archaeological Institute and Free University of Berlin, 2008. Print.Belmonte, Juan Antonio, and Giulio Magli. Astronomy, Architecture, and Symbolism: The Global Project of Sneferu at Dahshur. Journal for the History of Astronomy 46.2 (2015): 173–205. Print.MacKenzie, Kenneth J. D., et al. Were the Casing Stones of Senefrus Bent Pyramid in Dahshour Cast or Carved?: Multinuclear Nmr Evidence. Materials Letters 65.2 (2011): 350–52. Print.Magli, Giulio. The Giza ‘Written’ Landscape and the Double Project of King Khufu. Time and Mind 9.1 (2016): 57-74. Print. Mendelssohn, K. A Building Disaster at the Meidum Pyramid. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 59 (1973): 60–71. Print.Moeller, Nadine. The Archaeology of Urbanism in Ancient Egypt from the Predynastic Period to the End of the Middle Kingdom. New York: Camridge University Press, 2016. Print.Mà ¼ller-Rà ¶mer, Frank. A New Consideration of the Construction Methods of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 44 (2008): 113–40. Print.Reader, Colin. On Pyramid Causeways. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 90 (2004): 63–71. Print.Rossi, Corinna. Note on the Pyramidion Found at Dahshur. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999): 219–22. Print.

Construction Industry in Sultanate of Oman Essay - 2

Construction Industry in Sultanate of Oman - Essay Example Legitimate sovereign government has the right to protect its citizens from internal and external aggression to ensure there is peace and order in the society. Therefore any rise of terror activities that work to instill fear and disrupt the peaceful environment should be dealt with swiftly (Duyvesteyn, 2004). The government therefore should not be limited to using non-violent means to protect its citizens. Rapoport (2004) notes that terror activities started towards the end of the nineteenth century as people tried to fill the void left by lack of social and political order. Currently, some of the government agencies that were set up to restore order in the society have failed to live up to the expectation resulting to unequal distribution of resources in the society (Murchadha, 2006). Therefore, to rise against such dictatorial regimes or challenge the status quo, violence against the government is reasonable and justified. To reduce the need for the people to engage in violent, legal procedures have been put in place for justice to prevail in the society. However, corrupt government officials at time create laws for their own selfish gains making the public to lose faith on the judicial system. Therefore, the presence of ineffective justice system justifies the use of violence to get a share of the scarce natural resources and bring an end to oppression (Murchadha, 2006). In addition, it is justifiable in self defense or to avert a life threatening situation which may not be urgently addressed through legal means. A thin line exists regarding as to when the use of violence is justifiable and when it is not. Under the pacifist perspective, it can be argued that the use of violence reduces the level of humanity and should never be justified. However, this view is insensitive to the people who may lose their lives at the hands of terror groups or dictatorial regimes. Thus to protect innocent lives by use of

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example This type of leadership employs the principle of "management by exception", which simply means that if something is operating to expectations, it needs no further attention. However, when expectations are exceeded, a citation is conferred; disciplinary or corrective sanctions are applied for performance below expectations. Transactional Leadership is therefore a contingency-based management style where reward or punishment is dependent on performance (Changing Minds.org, 2009). Transformational leadership on the other hand presupposes leadership by inspiration. Vision and passion are incumbent upon the leader in order to engage followers. Enthusiasm and energy are the fuel by which the leader-follower relationship thrives on. Transformative leaders create followers, by carefully building trust through personal integrity, which is a decisive element of the relationship. "Transformational leaders sell themselves as well as the vision." (Changing Minds.org, 2009) The great English statesman, orator and journalist Winston Churchill exhibited the dominant traits of a transformative leader. His fortitude and resolve helped propped the British nation and the Allied forces in the face of relentless and aggressive of the German-led Axis alliance during the Second World War.

Foundational Accounting Principles and Terminology Essay Example for Free

Foundational Accounting Principles and Terminology Essay We all know how important the accounting aspect of any business/organization is. It is basically the most important way to manage finances. Without proper accounting for all expenses and finances, a company and/or organization will definitely have a hard time being financially stable. In this paper we will discuss some foundational accounting principles and terminology that are basic but quite essential to the accounting practice. Now let’s discuss some accounting terms beginning with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is a codification of how CPA firms and corporations prepare and present their business income and expense, assets and liabilities on their financial statements. GAAP is not a single accounting rule, but rather the aggregate of many rules on how to account for various transactions. GAAP are more like accounting standards (Wikipedia, 2009). Next we have Contra-Asset Accounts, which is defined as an account which offsets another account. A contra-asset account has a credit balance and offsets the debit balance of the corresponding asset. A contra-liability account has a debit balance and offsets the credit balance of the corresponding liability (InvestorWords, 2009). Let us move on to Historical Cost, which is a measure of value used in accounting in which the price of an asset on the balance sheet is based on its nominal or original cost when acquired by the company. The historical-cost method is used for assets in the U. S. under generally accepted accounting principles (Investopedia, 2009). Okay, now there is the Accrual Basis vs. Cash Bonus Accounting. This is the difference between the two. In Accrual basis accounting, income is reported in the fiscal period it is earned, regardless of when it is received, and expenses are deducted in the fiscal period they are incurred, whether they are paid or not. Basically, you record both revenues and expenses when they occur. In cash basis accounting, revenues are recorded when cash is actually received and expenses are recorded when they are actually paid (Ward, 2009). Last but not least, there is the Accounting Standards Codification. Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) is a major restructuring of accounting and reporting standards designed to simplify user access to all authoritative U. S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) by providing the authoritative literature in a topically organized structure. ASC disassembled and reassembled thousands of nongovernmental accounting pronouncements (including those of FASB, the Emerging Issues Task Force [EITF], and the AICPA) to organize them under approximately 90 topics. The ASC are those that oversee that all accounting and reporting standards are adhered to (Wikipedia, 2009). It is now time to move on to discuss and describe three sets of financial statements that are part of financial statements of companies /organizations. The three sets of financial statements we will be describing are The Balance Sheet, The Income Statement and The Statement of Cash Flows. The balance sheet also known as the â€Å"Statement of financial position† reveals a company’s assets, liabilities and equity (net worth). The balance sheet is divided into two parts that must equal each other, or balance each other out. The formula of the balance sheet is: Assets= Liabilities + Shareholder’s Equity. What this formula means is that assets, or the means used to operate the company, are balanced by a company’s obligations along with equity investment brought into the company and its retained earnings (Investopedia, 2009). Next we have the income statement, which measures a company’s financial performance over a specific accounting period. The financial performance is assessed by giving a summary of how the business incurs its revenues and expenses. It also shows the net profit or loss incurred over a specific accounting period, which is typically over fiscal quarter or year (Investopedia, 2009). Moving on to the last one, which is the cash flow statement. The cash flow statement allows investors to understand how a company’s operations are running, where its money is coming from, and how it is being spent. The cash flow statement is also a mandatory part of a company’s financial report, and has been so since 1987 (Investopedia, 2009). Now I will describe which is more useful, Net Income or Cash from Operating Activities? I believe that Cash from Operating Activities is more useful to companies because they can generate cash in several different ways. Three different ways to be exact, they are cash flows from operating activities, from investing activities, and financing activities. Cash from Operating Activities, in my opinion is the most useful because it paints the best picture of how well a company’s business operations are producing cash. After looking over the annual financial reports for Samsung, RTL Group and Lockheed Martin, I make the prediction that each company will continue to improve its net income as well as see a significant spike in their cash flow. As far as relevant information in regards to conglomerates, such as the IDOLS segment of the Fremantle Media North America, I was not totally sure how to get this information but I eventually continued to read the investor portion on the RTL Group website where I found out more information. All in all, I learned some new definitions when it comes to accounting and decision making. I thought this assignment was intense due to a lot of reading and research, but I believe I got through it well. I look forward to learning more about how accounting and decision making come together. References http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/033104.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/031004.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/incomestatement.asp http://www.investorwords.com/5476/contra_account.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generally_Accepted_Accounting_Principles

Melvilles Trimurti Essay -- Moby Dick Herman Melville Literature Essa

Melville's Trimurti Throughout Moby Dick, Herman Melville offers his reader a mà ©lange of foreign curiosities and exotic points of interest that add both depth and texture to the narrative. The abundance of such exotica, however, can prove overwhelming, and many of the novel's briefly noted yet remarkably important cultural signposts get lost in the mix. Often overlooked, Melville's use of Hindu imagery not only lends a sense of mysticism to the novel, but also helps to define the dynamic that operates between Ishmael, Ahab, and Moby Dick. Understanding this dynamic offers insight into Melville's efforts at defining the novel as an art form as well as his attempts at casting the roles of author, reader, and novel in relationship to each other.i The reader's initiation into Hindu culture begins sublimely, and in the most Christian of settings, in a chapel. Deeply moved by the cold, stone tablets commemorating those who have died at sea, Ishmael goes on to invoke the foreign religion: Oh! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass; who standing among flowers can say--here, here lies my beloved; ye know not the desolation that broods in bosoms like these. What bitter blanks in those black-bordered marbles which cover no ashes! What despair in those immovable inscriptions! What deadly voids and unbidden infidelities in the lines that seem to gnaw upon all Faith, and refuse resurrections to the beings who have placelessly perished without a grave. As well might those tablets stand in the cave of Elephanta as here. (64) As well might those tablets stand in the cave? As well might we! Here, the power of the written word is such that Ishmael can transport the reader from the domestic tranquillity ... ...al Sources for the Study of Hinduism. New Jersey: Barnes and Noble, 1988. Organ, Troy Wilson. The Hindu Quest for the Perfection of Man. Ohio: Ohio UP, 1980. Sharma, Brijendra Nath. Iconography of Sadasiva. New Delhi: Abhinav, 1976. Notes i Although H. Bruce Franklin argues against Melville's use of Hindu mythology in Moby Dick, favoring instead Egyptian mythology, H.B. Kulkarni thoroughly answers each of Franklin's objections, suggesting that "Moby Dick has room enough not only for Hindu and Egyptian myths, but many more" (Kulkarni 6). ii That is, Ishmael shapes the course of the drama as it exists on the page. To suggest that Ishmael shapes events as they occur on the ship would cast doubt on his veracity as a narrator. iii Indeed, "Call me Ishmael" invites the reader to engage in a fairly intimate relationship with the narrator.

Trail of ghenus khan

Mr.. Genesis Khan not being civilized, I believe that the Mongol Warrior (Adam) helped bring out the fact that Mr.. Khan was Indeed innocent of this accusation. This Mongol warrior brought forth the fact that they did indeed give the civilizations a chance to surrender to the Mongols. The Mongol warrior also acknowledged the laws that Mr..Khan had made, (This was backed up by the Historian Javelin (Rachel) and the research that was done by that errors). He also brought forth the fact that, many people thought that there warfare, was part of being civilized, but when we asked the prosecuting witnesses, (the ones before the Mongol Warrior was called up), what the deflation of being Cleveland was, many of the prosecuting witnesses did not Involve warfare Into their definition of being civilized.The Mongol warrior also helped us when the other prosecuting attorneys tried to ask him questions that were related to warfare, Instead of being elated to the main question, â€Å"Is Mr.. Khan c ellared, we then brought them to a dead end, with us (the defensive attorney's) putting objections towards their questions, because their question's had nothing to do with the main topic of the trial. The prosecuting side then ran out of questions to ask, due to irrelevance of the questions that they were asking.On the opposing side, the Mustangs, caliph of Baghdad (Harrison) presented the most convincing evidence, to go against Mr.. Genesis khan. This witness was a victim f the torment, this man was, I believe, rolled up in a carpet drug around beaten and trampled until dead. This man also had answers for most of our questions, and was ready for almost anything. In this simulation, I liked that we all worked together as a group, and we each had an important part in the trial. When we work as a group, the work seemed to go faster.For instance, my partner and I were both defensive attorneys, and when it came to looking for questions to ask our witnesses, we were both able to come up tit many different kinds, and when we were up there asking the questions we both took turns asking them and retrieving the answers. With the work going faster, and being divided up, it made it easier to develop a better understanding of what we were studying. I believe that the simulation was Just fine, but I feel that we should have had more time to debate about the topics, and maybe a little more time to get things prepared and ready for the trial.BY erne indeed innocent of this accusation. This Mongol warrior brought forth the fact that caked up by the Historian Jiving (Rachel) and the research that was done by that before the Mongol Warrior was called up), what the definition of being civilized was, many of the prosecuting witnesses did not involve warfare into their definition of attorneys tried to ask him questions that were related to warfare, instead of being related to the main question, â€Å"is Mr.. Khan civilized? â€Å", we then brought them to a dead end, with us (th e defensive attorneys) putting objections towards their questions,