Ask Most Americans Who Jean-Paul Sartre Is And You Will Most Likely Ge

Ask most Americans who Jean-Paul Sartre is and you will most likely get a frowned look. According to journalist, Richard Eyre, in this country, Sartre is perhaps as unfashionable as loon pants. That is in part because Sartre, albeit a great French philosopher, didn't have a poster status. Sartre was not a particularly attractive man and although he was the darling of the 60's in all of Europe, his pipe, glasses and an air of bad temper kept him off walls that celebrated the Brigitte Bardots and the James Deans. Furthermore, Sartre was not always an easy man to understand. His writings are not particularly fanciful and he doesn't necessarily care to engage the reader by painting pretty pictures of life or of a utopian society. He engages the reader by making him think ? think about his existence, his reason for being, his freedom and his obligations. If anything, Sartre's novels and plays are bold and interesting because they are filled with metaphors and sheer audacity. They are generous with spirits and almost always contain a message. Sartre was not evasive, condescending or self-righteous, he has always maintained that his audience was free to perceive him and his work as they saw fit ? Simply put, he had ideas and he communicated them. Sartre was an existentialist - He believed that: First, man exists Turns up, appears on the scene, And only afterwards, defines himself. What does it all mean? It means that Sartre was an investigator as well as an observer. He was concerned was with: - How we live and why we live He was also concerned with: - Our disposition to evade responsibility and to lie to ourselves He believed that: - Human freedom did not lie in the impudence or boldness of our actions but in the responsibility we took for them Sartre died twenty years ago at age seventy-five. Currently, he is receiving a lot attention and press due mainly to the fact that famous French author, Bernard-Henry L?vy has written a rather controversial book about Sartre's life. Also, I was delighted to have found an article in the December issue of Talk Magazine about Sartre ? it is not only appropriate but very timely since I am writing a paper about Sartre and his literary contributions. I am like the idea that Sartre might become popular in America ? that his name will no longer sound so arcane or esoteric. I am glad to see that Sartre is not forgotten and that even after his death, he is being celebrated for his works, his courageous positions on the Algerian and Vietnam wars, his work on behalf of the oppressed, his stance against communism and his gutsy appearances at student demonstrations in Paris. At age 13, I read my first play by Sartre called Huis Clos (No Exit) ? it fascinated me. It was about a philosophical game, which told the story of a diabolical lesbian, a spoiled society woman and a cowardly journalist who found themselves trapped in Hell. They were held captive in a single room in which they eternally tormented one another with the awareness of their delusions and their failures as human beings. In the end, they came to the realization that there was no need for red-hot flames. Hell was ---other people! Although Sartre meant that hell was other people, he also meant that ultimately our egos could not withstand or bear the presence of another ego. I went on to read many other plays and two novels by Sartre but I have never had to study or analyze him or his works. I was surprised to learn that: - He never married his long time friend and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, with whom he later founded a quarterly journal/newspaper. - They had an open relationship during which time, they had "other" affairs. - He had an adopted daughter. - He was anti-bourgeois - He rejected Nobel Prize for literature just because.....he felt the whole affair was too bourgeois. - He was a member of the French army and was captured by the Germans during world war II and repatriated a year later Although most people associate him with the existentialist movement, Sartre is also a novelist, essayist, playwright, biographer, philosopher, and political intellectual and engaged activist. Sartre is, in fact, one of

The American and French Revolutions essays

The American and French Revolutions essays Of the two revolutions, I think the American Revolution captured the essence of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in more ways than the French Revolution. It is tough to actually define what freedom, liberty and happiness truly are. As time has told, all three terms have had different implications throughout the course of history. That set aside, when they are taken for their simplest definition, America proudly supports them all. The French looked to the Americans for the freedom, liberty, and happiness they successfully fought for from 1775 to 1789. Not only was the creation of the Declaration of Independence an exciting and fascinating political document, it was an initial step for Americans in their pursuit for happiness. The American Revolution was conservative and defensive in that its demands were for the traditional liberties of English citizens; Americans were united against the British, but otherwise they were a satisfied people, not torn by internal conflict (John P. McKay, et. al. page 693). Furthermore, the people of the colonies never really developed a social class hierarchy. With that being said, happiness was weaved into the colonists lives merely because they were a united people fighting from Great Britains economic hold on them. I do not think the French Revolution achieved such a level of happiness for a few main reasons. First, many more lives were lost and more blood was shed. Second, the French had to alter their entire way of life their government, economy, politics, etc. Third, in only a couple years, they tried to accomplish what the Americans achieved over the course of many. The French Revolution was a much more violent revolution than that in America. I think the French felt the horror and devastating effects of their revolution long before they felt it was a pursuit to happiness. Two important political documents resulted fro...

An application for funds from NORAD foreign aid program Essay

An application for funds from NORAD foreign aid program - Essay Example The focus in this paper is in the Southern Sudan, the newest state in East Africa. Having gained independence from the north last year, the country has numerous challenges to address. One of the main challenges the country faces is a lack of capacity to provide its people with clean water. The country lies in the sub-Saharan region where water scarcity has prevailed for a long time now. In addition, the country lacks the financial capacity to run projects that can ensure that every individual has access to clean drinking water. According to the latest statistics, only 37% of the Sudanese population is lucky enough to access clean water. The rest of the population must trek for long distances in order to find a water source. Since the precious resource is very scarce, 63% of people living in south Sudan rely on water that does not meet the World Health Organization’s standards for clean drinking water. These people result to using this water because they lack a choice.   The fact that the water is unclean for human consumption presents new challenges for the country. The susceptibility of water-borne diseases has been increasing. Diseases such as cholera, guinea worm, and typhoid are becoming an everyday case in South Sudan. Provision of clean and safe drinking water is a leading priority in the globe today. It is unfortunate that approximately 6 out of 10 people from south Sudan lack access to a basic resource.   Women and girls have to make long treks before getting a reliable water source. The scarcity of water has led to numerous detrimental effects. As described above, the country must battle with multiple diseases that result from unsafe drinking water. These diseases cost the government a lot in the health sector. In addition, it increases the mortality rate among children and adults. In a globe that commits itself to reducing to increasing life expectancy, the low life expectancy in children is a sad irony for the country. Future prospects predict that the higher percentage of children born today will not live to see the next five years. Without access to water, sanitation deteriorates and the reality of this is evident in Sudan, where sanitation levels are very low. The world water statistics mentioned the sub-Saharan region as the worst affected by water scarcity and low standards of sanitation (UNEP 195). In addition, the same report indicates that the region registers high mortality rates. These statistics also highlight a leading cause of deaths in southern S udan, diarrhea. South Sudan accounts for a great percentage of the 2.2 million deaths resulting from diarrhea. The cause of diarrhea is significantly due the use of unclean drinking water. Current Projects Currently, south Sudan has numerous projects under way in a bid to provide water for the people. Although south Sudan gained independence last year, it realizes the enormous challenges that lay ahead (Dagne 14). Despite the limited financial capacity, it has been making steps towards the provision of solutions to the water challenge. The government realizes that it cannot stand alone and has sought the financial and technological aid from other countries. Financial challenges have denied South Sudan the opportunity to provide water to its people. The government cannot afford the machinery necessary for the process. In addition, the country lacks trained personnel that would operate the machinery even if it were available. Therefore, the country can only rely on foreign machinery and personnel in most of its contracts. The ongoing projects have focused on drilling boreholes that have been the only available source of water for most of the people. In addition, these boreholes account for the 37% population mentioned as

Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy Assignment

Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy - Assignment Example We target males and females ageing between 13 to 21 in eastern Canada. In order to create awareness and drive sales for our product, we need to create an integrated marketing communication strategy. Body Integrated marketing communication strategy refers to coordinating and integrating various communication channels of the company in order to deliver a consistent, clear, compelling message about the company and its products. It refers to recognize all such touch points where the customer can encounter the company and its brands. Each contact with the brand will give a message, good, bad or indifferent. The company will want to deliver a positive and consistent message with each of the contacts. It will lead to total marketing communication strategy which will aim at building stronger relationships with customer by showing how the customers can get help to solve their problems from the company and its products. The integrated marketing communication strategy will make a tie of the com pany’s images and messages. A blended mix of the promotion tools can be used for promoting our company’s products. It can be advertising, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing and sales promotion. Now a day, customers get bombarded with the messages of company from all directions. The company’s print advertisement and television will have the same look, message; feel similar to its personal selling communication and email. The material of its public relation will project the same image like its social network presence and website. Under the plan of overall marketing communication unique roles played by different media must be coordinated carefully by the company in order to attract, inform and persuade consumers. It must coordinate all the touch points of customers for ensuring clear brand messages. Provided with a marketing budget of $1million for 6 month period, different kind of promotion tool can be used according to the following allocation: Advertising $0.40 million, personal selling $0.20 million, public relation $ 0.18 million, direct marketing $0.10 million, sales promotion $0.12 million. More spending should be made towards advertising as advertising is a very good form of informing and persuading customers about a company’s products. It is a paid form of non personal promotion and presentation of goods, services and ideas by an identified sponsor. Advertising can be informative, persuasive and reminder. Creating an advertising strategy needs two major elements. It consists of creating advertising messages and selecting a media for advertisement. Public relation is another promotion tool which aims at building good relations with various publics of company by building up a good corporate image, obtaining publicity, handling off unfavorable stories, rumors and events. Several tools can be used for public relation like news, speeches, special events, written materials, audiovisual materials, corporate identity materials, public service activities, marketing campaigns and social networking processes. Personal selling is an interpersonal arm of promotional mix. Through the process of personal selling, the sales people of a company communicate and create customer value through personal interaction with the customers. It is a form of personal presentation by the sales force of firm for the purpose of boosting up sales and to build relationship with

An investigation of the support newly qualified radiographers receive Essay

An investigation of the support newly qualified radiographers receive towards developing their CPD (continue professional development) in united kingdom - Essay Example While the desire and opportunity to develop learning and reflection from the practice take a back seat (Brown 2009). SOR (Society of Radiographers) clearly found that unlike CPD resource support to other health care workers, radiographers are not placed well. Hence post registration skill development has remained little, if any. But the role extension has been taken as common practice during the duration of service so radiographers too have moved up to clinical practice and higher academics and research (Henwood 2003). However, if the radiographers plan to remain in practice, then also CPD helps in achieving supervisory and/or specialist positions. Achieving higher positions is a biggest incentive for a radiographer to undertake CPD even if he has to arrange for it on his own. Due to work pressures however employers are reluctant to release staff for CPD (Brown, 2009). The radiography is considered a career with monotony and routine work, heavy workload with little credit and family consideration by the school students (Coombs et al, 2003). Moreover lack of clarity of a programme makes radiographe r reluctant to go for it. The present article attempts to critically evaluate the various CPD options available to radiographers for job satisfaction and career advancement. It has been clearly indicated by Department of Health (as cited in O'Donoghue, 2006, p92) allied health services personnel must regularly update their knowledge through CPD. Its working together-learning together document emphasised the need stating it necessary for improved patient care and better opportunities for professionals. The e-earning is preferred by higher education funding in UK since professionals can update knowledge without loss of time. The Society of Radiographers (SOR) has emphasised need for CPD, despite initial apprehension about its effectiveness. It has stated that radiographers "must maintain and strive to improve their professional knowledge and competence'... Every patient is entitled to be cared for by radiographers with relevant and up-to-date skills and expertise. Therefore all radiographers must undertake lifelong learning and will keep a record of their ongoing development activities... The Society and college considers that CPD, lifelong learning, peri odic appraisal and revalidation must be compulsory to ensure and maintain competence, as well as enabling radiographers to gain knowledge and competencies outside their scope of practice" (SOR 2009, p1). The radiographers' professional and other bodies thought of CPD when some efforts by NHS to appoint non-medical consultants did not succeed fully as there was lack of appropriately qualified and experienced consultants. Moreover, the clinical and educational pathways to prepare potential consultants are also ill defined (Hardy & Snaith, 2007). The study necessitates upgrading the basic training in radiography to make subsequent CPD effective. Cherry and Duxbury (1998) have felt that in spite of training at higher educational institutions i.e universities, the radiographers are equipped only with basic competences. The half life of this knowledge is only 2-5 years so it can not provide the competency for life time. It is more so in these times considering the rapid technology changes.

EU’s Adoption of IFRS

EU’s Adoption of IFRS Introduction From 1st January 2005, all European countries are required under EU law to use the IFRS[1]standards for their financial reporting statements, which includes corporations domiciled within the UK (Nobes and Parker, 2006, p.103). This applies to all year-ends that complete after that date. In addition to this requirement, it is a requirement of the standards that, for comparison purposes, the previous year financial included within the statements must be recomputed to reflect a true IFRS position. The main proposals for these standards and their first year usage are contained within IFRS 1. The change of standards has had a significant impact upon financial reporting in the UK. Therefore the intention of this paper is to discuss why the EU felt it necessary to adopt the IFRS; provide an understand of the IFRS main goals and to ascertain the areas in which this has affected the UK reporting methods, outlining the key areas of change by comparing them to the previous financial reporting methods used. Adoption of IFRS by the EU In previous books (published in 1998 and before), Nobes and Parker (2006) discussed the Varity of different standards that were being operated within the member states of Europe, including those that have converted to capitalism from the former communist bloc, which included countries such as Poland and Romania. These differences have been determined by the political and capitalist attitudes of individual nations and can be separated into two main groups, those where markets and reporting is driven by the state, with weak equity markets, and those driven by business, where the equity market is strong. It has long been accepted that the differing financial reporting standards that have existed in the past has led to difficulties, particular in terms of international trade and financing (Gregoriou and Gaber 2006, p.460). The EU recognised that, within its own region, this was affecting the flow of capital and finance between member states. In an attempt to address this issue, the commission sought to achieve harmonisation through raising legislation and regulations. However, when these failed to work, somewhat reluctantly the commission then changed its position and became an active supporter of the US dominated IFRS standards (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.105). IFRS standards have become increasing accepted as an international method of financial reporting, primarily because of its benefits in improving the globalisation of trade and financial activities, which will become less complex. In addition to the US, an ever-increasing number of countries have adopted IFRS, thus it was only a matter of time before the EU acquiesced. The intention is to move towards a system of fairer values (Bruce 2004), and to make the EU as a regional and international trading bloc far more competitive. However, the EU adoption of the standards, intended to be relatively straightforward, was not without difficulties (Bruce 2004). In the initial stages there were areas of dispute and, in particular, parts of the standards that the EU would not accept, for example IFRS 39 the standard that deals with â€Å"fair value†, although this has recently been adopted in a limited form. Furthermore, despite IFRS, differences between the financial reporting methods used in Europe still exist (Nobes and Parker (2006, p.19). Nevertheless, in view of the pressure from a number of stakeholders, it is inevitable that the impact of individual national standards will continue to be eroded in favour of a globally recognised system (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.13) Executive summary of IFRS IFRS 1, the mainstay of the standards has seen two amendments, the latest implemented in January 2007, although most of these have not affected the underlying core focus of the standards. Whilst each standard has a defined objective, there are a number of overall goals embodied within the process. Objectives The key focus and goal of the International Financial Reporting Standards is to achieve a position where, globally, one system will be seen to be the norm and form the basis upon which all trade, capital and financially motivated decisions in the international marketplace will be relied upon. The intention is that, through the acceptance of these standards, existing investment barriers will cease to exist as well, which will improve capital market performance. Furthermore, it is intended to promote reliable system of universal accuracy and comparability, together with a method that will ensure a standard model for corporate governance that can be referred to equally by all stakeholders, whether they are involved with the corporation or not. It is stated that the improvement to the reporting processes will also develop management data and lead to reduction of risk Individually, the standards have their own goals. For example, IAS 1.7 focuses on the presentation of the financial statements and Cash Flow in a manner that is understandable to everyone. Similarly, the objective of IFRS 7 are to ensure that corporate management discloses all information that has had an impact upon the business during the year covered within the financial statements. In particularly, emphasis is placed upon the accuracy of the corporate balance sheets, cash flows, as these are the areas where historically, as has been evidenced in cases such as Enron, and WorldCom, significant issues of financial stability arose, causing the loss of millions of jobs and investment monies. Achieving reliability within these areas is one of the fundamental goals of IFRS. Once of the main difficulties that arose with previous standards was the method of accounting for value, particularly with respect to assets and other balance sheet items. This situation was exacerbated in situations of the increasing incidence of mergers and acquisitions. Where a corporation takes over or merges with another, the cost of such a move, known as the goodwill payment, under the â€Å"historical cost convention† would be reflected in the balance sheet as the current value. However, goodwill is not a tangible asset in the sense that one can physically touch or use it. Its value will fluctuate in accordance with market determinates. Under the IFRS system items such as goodwill have to be accounted for in respect of the â€Å"fair value† at the time of the statements. Therefore, the core objective is that the statements reflect a realisable value rather than one that may have been eroded over time. To ensure that the financial statements of individual corporations reflected these objectives, IFRS also requires officers of the company and external experts to warrant that all the statements made, and financial information provided within the statements have been prepared in accordance with those objectives. The process of measurement is another key factor within the reporting standards. Here again, concentrating upon the relationship to the â€Å"current fair value,† the individual standards set our prescribed rules and guidelines as to how each item contained within the financial statement should be measured and what will be recognised as an acceptable method. Meticulous attention is paid to the valuation of assets, which apart from the year of acquisition when cost can be used, should have been based upon current realisable value as certified from a reliable and expert source, unless there is a justifiable reason for not doing so. These measurement guidelines are also extended to debts, other liabilities and equity items contained in the financial statements. Requirements for presentation and disclosure in financial statements feature prominently within the IFRS standards. The presentation requirements in particular determine the way in which the financial data should be analysed within each segment of the corporation’s main financial statements and supporting notes. The purpose of this is to ensure that relevant information cannot be, either deliberately or inadvertently, concealed from interested stakeholders. For example, IAS 1.68 identifies the minimum requirement for information analysis in the business balance sheet, and there are similar instructions in IAS 1.81 that relate to the revenue statements, which identify how revenue, finance costs, and profit or loss distribution should be displayed. As indicated earlier, the IFR standards include numerous requirements in respect of the information that corporations are expected to disclose, as can be evidenced from the information checklist that has been prepared by Deloitte (2005), one of the â€Å"big four† auditing firms. In addition to all of the factors already discussed within this papers, further disclosures are expected to be made in relation to the how the business has complied with corporate governance rules and regulations and the assessment of risk. Despite the arguments that have arisen in various circles in respect of individual aspects of the IFRS system, it is generally accepted that they do provide a framework which, when fully implemented and adopted internationally, will be of benefit in relation to the globalisation of trade. A case study of the IFRS impact on a UK corporation The financial statement of every UK Corporation has been affected by the implementation of IFRS and it has impacted upon the resultant financial information. To provide an example of these changes British Telecom is being used as an example. The 2006 statements in support of this analysis are attached in the appendix of this paper. As is allowable under IFRS 1, BT has availed itself of some of the exemptions and exceptions that are provided for in the preparation of the accounts. The exceptions applicable in this case are defined as follows: Business combinations. Employee benefits Share payments Cumulative translation differences Financial Instruments In the main, these exceptions relate to the retrospective treatment of the above items together with other aspects of the treatment of these items at the date of transition. For example, IFRS 3 is not being applied in a retrospective manner to business combinations. Pages 111 and 112 of British Telecom’s annual report for 2006 outlines the major areas of change that have impacted on the financials: Equity. The most important change relates to the reduction in equity. Brought about mainly by the change in employee benefits and adjustment to leases, this has seen a reduction of  £3.9 billion. Profit. As can be seen from the pages referred to, there was little impact from IFRS on the returned profit earned by the business during the year, with the debit and credit amounts cancelling themselves out. Except for an addition of  £8 million. Under the UK GAAP system, firma were allowed to account for divided provisions within the profit and loss account. IFRS standards state that this should not be the case, and that the dividends can only be included within the year that they are payable, therefore these has been excluded. Assets and Liabilities. In terms of the Individual items heading, as can be seen, there have been a number of significant changes, for example with the reorganisation and re-evaluation of the various assets. However, overall the net reduction of the equity format of the balance sheet was only just over  £200 million. In terms of the cash flow statement, there has been no change to the cash flow that has been generated by the business during the year. In essence, this shows that whilst UK business have been concerned with the impact of IFRS, when one takes into account that all competitors are likewise affected, these changes make little or no difference to the market position of BT. Bibliography Whittington, Geoffrey (2005). The adoption of International Accounting Standards in the European Union. European Accounting Review, Vol. 14, issue 1, pages 127-153. Nobes, C. and Parker, R. (2006). Comparative International Accounting. 9th Edition. FT Prentice Hall. UK. Deloitte (2005). IFRS 7: A disclosure checklist. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http://www.iasplus.com/fs/0510ifrs7checklist.pdf Gregoriou, Greg N and Gaber, Mohamed (2006). International Accounting: Standards, Regulations, Financial Reporting. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Oxford, UK. Blake, John and Amat, Oriol (1993). European Accounting. FT Prentice Hall. Perry Michelle (2005). IFRS – The Next Steps. Accountancy Age. London, UK. Flower, John (2004). European Financial Reporting: Adapting to a changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. London, UK. Bruce, Robert (2004). Setting a new standard. Financial Times. London, UK. IFRS (2007). Summary of reporting standards. IFRS. Delaware, US. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http://www.iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/8177F9A2-EB2F-45A3-BBF3-3DE7DCB13E1A/0/IFRS7.pdf Footnotes [1] International Financial Reporting Standards

Rainbow Boys Essay -- essays research papers fc

The question of sexual identity is asked to many professional athletes when they are first diagnosed with HIV or tested positive for the AIDS virus. Magic Johnson is a five time championship winner with the Los Angeles Lakers, awarded MVP three times, and played amongst the first nine Olympic All-Star teams (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame). Despite these great achievements in his life, his contact with the HIV virus caused him to face much discrimination. Although Johnson’s source of the virus has been unknown, many people have â€Å"misconceptions of AIDS as an exclusively gay disease† and thought that Magic was homosexual because of his positive test (Stewart). During an interview with Arsenio Hall, immediately after admitting his infection, Magic was asked about his sexuality. In response to this question Magic responded that he was â€Å"far from being homosexual† (Stewart). Magic Johnson’s acknowledgment to contacting the virus lead many a ctivist to feel that his â€Å"disavowal of homosexual activity put a barrier between gay people with AIDS and everyone else, reinforcing the stereotype that gays ‘brought it on themselves’† (Kantrowitz). This idea that gays brought it on to themselves reinforces the discrimination that HIV positive and AIDS people face throughout their lives. The misconception that leads people to discriminate against HIV positive individuals assumes that all people who are infected are homosexual and causes one to lose his or her identity. Due to his pop...