All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

All Quiet on the Western Front - Essay Example This movie managed to recreate the horrors of war on the screen, with an intensity that was not only gripping and awe-inspiring in those times but has conclusively sustained its relevance and appeal, even today. Lewis Milestone, with an essentially cinematic panache and finesse, managed to unravel the conflict inherent between the youthful yearning for fame and heroism and the frustrating violence and irony that waited for a group of greenhorns who trudged their way to the battlefield, enveloped in an aura of grandeur and great expectations. The theme and cinematographic techniques exploited in the movie were to set the pace for the future war movies. â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† unraveled the basic accouterments of modern warfare, be it gut wrenching hunger and maddening insecurity, disturbing bloodshed and the pain of losing friends, the essential trauma that accompanies an unromantic death, with an intensity that is gripping and unsettling at the same time. Even today, the primary misconception that is the bane of Hollywood war movies is the unrelenting belief that a war movie to be successful has to inevitably rely on the grandeur and mammoth scale of the battle sequences, pepped up by a generous usage of war machinery, fanfare, and special effects. Milestone shattered such notions of magnanimity by letting this movie evolve beyond a spectacular dependence on costly and elaborate battle scenes, to penetrate deep into the recesses of the human psyche that are inherently averse to violence and bloodshed.... nanimity by letting this movie evolve beyond a spectacular dependence on costly and elaborate battle scenes, to penetrate deep into the recesses of human psyche that are inherently averse to violence and bloodshed. The movie is effectively and genuinely interspersed with intense and isolated scenes, which crystallize the actors' sense of fear, guilt and apprehension in an individualistic yet interrelated moment of time, highlighted by an apt usage of montage sequencing, parallel editing and high key lighting. One such awesome scene is the moment when Paul, while searching for safety and security in the trenches had to kill an enemy soldier, in an instinctive and desperate pursuit for survival. The cinematographer deftly managed to catch the trauma and guilt that takeover Paul, as he helplessly watched the prolonged and slow death of an enemy. Not only this, but the director was skillfully able to sustain Paul's disillusionment, guilt and agony for quiet a long time, accentuating its scope with just the right blend of lighting, sound and acting, which bring forth an enervating sense of claustrophobia laced with apprehension that defined the life in the trenches. This scene happened to be one amongst many such scenes that made this movie an everlasting success. The essential challenge before any anti-war movie is to build on the ubiquity and irrationality of war, which is inherently an anti-hero theme. The director is required to sustain and build upon the meaninglessness and futility of violence up to the level where all perceptions pertaining to the well-defined antagonists and protagonists melt and evaporate, making way for the inevitability of death that does not differentiate between a friend and a foe. The movie under consideration qualifies to be an all-time

Outline What Radio Station Or Stations You Listen Essay Example for Free

Outline What Radio Station Or Stations You Listen Essay My interests in listening to radio and TV programs are focused mainly on news programs, current affairs features and interviews. I am excited by interviews of world leaders, the current news and programs relating to current affairs. For this reason, my favorite channel on radio is CBC Radio One and my preferred channel on TV is CNN. The radio station that I listen to for news and current affairs is Radio One, it is a CBC channel and the World Report makes me abreast of major news program. It is broadcast at one hour interval so that I can listen to it even if I miss one bulletin. The World Report in the morning allows me to keep abreast of the international new that have taken place during the night. In addition, the program has domestic stories and the events that are expected to happen during the day. Listening to Radio One in the morning makes me ready to face the day. Also I love listening to the voice of Judy Maddren every morning. It is refreshing. Another program that I like listening to is Sounds Like Canada on Radio One. It is Shelagh Rogers’ perspective on the different communities and citizens of Canada. The program explores the diversity and allows us to meet her guests every weekday. Another program that I enjoy listening to regularly on Radio One is As It Happens in the evening. This program is a current affairs program that brings interesting interviews with world leaders and deposed leaders. The program loves eccentricities and I love the program for the depth to which it goes in probing every story. The program addresses complaints, digs into demonstrations, carries cries for justice and investigates bizarre scenarios. This is really an exciting program. On the television the program that I like the best is Larry-King Live on CNN. I like this show because of the manner in which interviews and discussions are carried out. Larry-King shows great sensitivity towards the people he interviews and the results are great. The persons whom he interviews open up. He takes phone calls from all over the world. The persons he has interviewed recently are Anna Nicole Smith, Rudi Giuliani and Judge Judy! Again on CNN, I watch the Anderson Cooper 360 degrees. This show gives me a good look at world events, including the most important news from all over the world. Why I find this show fascinating is that it presents the most mundane news in an interesting manner and it also gives news that would normally have been ignored by other news channels. I also like the medical news given by Dr. Sanjay Gupta in this program. I have got several useful health tips from this program. Some of the important features of Anderson Cooper 360 degrees that I like are the blog, newsmaker interviews and ‘keeping them honest’. I really like the honesty tilt to the shows. It really catches crooks. On CNN I like the ’Late Edition’ (Cable News Network 2007). This show dishes out excellent interviews with leaders. The interviewees have included the president of the USA, the US Vice-President and the past president. In addition there are international stories and the latest news. I like this program because the interviews are high profile, the news objective and features interesting. To sum, I love listening to Radio One, a CBC channel, the programs that I like are the World Report, As It Happens, and Sounds Like Canada. On the TV the programs that I watch are on the CNN. These programs are Larry-King Live, Anderson Cooper 360 degrees and the ‘Late Edition’.

Brave New World Compared To Utilitarianism

Brave New World Compared To Utilitarianism The story Brave New World presents us to the future world A.F (after Ford) where the government institutionalizes the advantages of technology to the fullest. The reader is informed that human beings are no longer produced naturally anymore. In A.F, technology is used to generate identical boys and girls and place in to classes where they are programmed to be the most efficient at what they do. The utilitarian view and Brave New World both claim that individualistic views are irrelevant. Both the utilitarian and the philosophy of the world state both promote the greatest good principle. On the other hand Mill would oppose to Brave New World because it does not take up that course of nature and or is not based off real human experiences. Mill opposes to social arrangements. The foundation of the world state in Brave New World reveals similar philosophy to the utilitarian view, but not completely. In the sense of Brave New World and the utilitarian view, both cases take a stand point that reject individualisms. In Brave New World, there is no room from individual views or thoughts. In fact it is impossible for any case to even create their own thought. From the second they are obtained from the test tube, babies are conditioned to have limited thoughts and ideas. They are conditioned to only the progression of their function once labeled into the five categorize of castes. For example the Delta caste, once the babies reach the age of eight months, they are conditioned to hate flowers and books. Babies were placed on the floor where they could see a flower and book across the room. The director waited for the babies to show signs of happiness while playing with the flowers and books. A signal was given in which released a terrifying noise accompanied by an electric shock. Why go to the trouble of making it psychologically impossible for deltas to like flowers? (Huxley, 22) The D.H.C replies by explaining that if the delta class was conditioned to like the nature (flower), less time would be spent in the factories where they are most efficient. A love of nature keeps no factory busy. (Huxley, 23) I like to compare the brave new world to a business or a team. The old saying that reflects the brave new world could be said like this, Theres no I in TEAM. The brave new world is programmed around profit and efficiency just as a business is structured around supply and demand. In order for the world state to obtain its social goal of social stability; every caste has to work in concordance of their function. Therefore with each caste being conditioned / taught their function at any early stage will set aside or leave no room for their behavior to act out of concordance. In other words castes are conditioned to fear anything else then what their duty is. That is the secret of happiness and virtue- liking what youve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny (Huxley, 16) By obtaining their objectivity of social stability will then reinforce or create a happy community. This principle in terms refers to Mills greatest happiness princi ple. Both Brave New World and the utilitarian view share the greatest happiness principle. Both Mill and Brave New World reject the importance of individualism. It is wrong to make all individuals happy because it is nearly impossible to obtain such a thing. In doing so it would disrupt the natural balance of experiences. This is where Brave New World and the utilitarian view have their differences. In the utilitarian view Mill provides to tell us that individuals need to experience pain and pleasure. Huxley sets up a perfect world where no pain is experienced. Mill takes into account that it is nearly impossible conceal people from pain. If we did try to conceal humans from pain this would distort humans nature itself. This is very important to a utilitarian because the ultimate end of happiness/pleasure come through pre existing experience. This is why Mill claims we should not have social arrangements. In the philosophy of Brave New World, alpha through gamma castes are given reason to why they should behave in a particular form or matter. Mill would oppose to the brave new world. I think mill would argue chapter two of the book where babies are being conditioned to fear books and nature. Mill would come to say that social stability comes through the natural course of what humans learn through their own experiences. In other words, mills view of human nature itself should conduct people to work together. The brave new world would seem non-natural to Mill. Another difference between Brave New World and the utilitarian is on the topic of pleasures/happiness. In Brave New World, Huxely creates his perfect world where everyone is happy, but happiness is never defined. Brave New World only accompanies one type of pleasure, which is a bodily pleasure. In the utilitarian view, Mill distinguished between two types of pleasure: intellectual pleasures and bodily pleasures. This is to disprove that Brave New World practices a perfect utilitarian standpoint. When answering the question to whether Brave New World practices utilitarianism the answer is yes and no. However it does highlight the fundamentals of utilitarianism. Both Brave New World and utilitarianism do reject individualism and also formulate around the greatest good principle. It is more important to have general happiness for the greatest amount as it is to reach to social goal of social stability which creates for a happy community in Brave New World. But Brave New World lacks the course of nature. A utilitarian does oppose to social arrangement. It is important for humans to have their own experiences through the course of nature. Another aspect that Brave New World is missing is pain and the variety of pleasures. Brave New World only allows for one pleasure (bodily pleasures) and has an absence of pain. Where as a utilitarian can experience two types of pleasures (bodily and intellectual) and also experiences pain. Therefore Brave New World does not practice perfect util itarianism.

The Psychology of the Serpent in D.H. Lawrences Snake Essay -- Lawren

The Psychology of the Serpent in D.H. Lawrence's 'Snake'      Ã‚  Ã‚   Less than 17% of the world's snakes are poisonous and less than half of these are dangerous to man. The risk of death as a result of snakebite is, in fact, lower than the risk of being struck by lightning (Pinney 138). Nonetheless, cross-culturally and throughout the world, the snake is an object of fascination, fear, and respect for humankind. The serpent is a source of symbolic speculation, as it appears in myth, dream, literature, and religion. In nature or otherwise, "it is impossible to approach the creature innocently" (Morgenson 3). As D.H. Lawrence's poem, "Snake", suggests, the snake's invoked power in not a result of any physiological aspect of the snake's chemistry, but rather a consequence of the psychological symbol that defines the snake's being. Like many of Lawrence's nature poems, Barbara Hardy classifies "Snake" as "anthropomorphic", composing the snake as a creature in itself, but "through the images of human experience" (43). Lawrence's serpent is car efully constructed with a sense of immediacy and harsh reality, but it is through the eyes and experience of the human narrator that the reader comes to understand the snake. More importantly, the reader comes to understand the pure necessity, and the pure immorality, of subconscious symbolism and judgement. The snake provokes both terror and respect.    Aside from the reality of a mysterious, occasionally poisonous predator is the archetypal image of the serpent, latent with mythological, biblical, and historical symbols. Among the most common phobias is ophiaphobia, or fear of snakes, despite the unlikeliness of one to encounter a snake in the urban world (Rapoport 195). Lawrence, though ... ...s Cited Hardy, Barbara. "D.H. Lawrence's Self-Consciousness." D.H. Lawrence in the Modern World. Ed. Peter Preston and Peter Hoare. New York: Cambridge UP, 1989. 27-46. Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader's Guide to D.H. Lawrence. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Lawrence, D.H. "Snake." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Major Authors. 6th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams, et al. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. 2452-54. McGuire, William et al, eds. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 5th vol. 2nd ed. Trans. R.F.C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1956. Morgenson, Greg. The Serpent's Prayer: The Psychology of an Image. N.D. On-line. Available: http://www.cgjung.com/cgjung/articles/serpent.html. 22 February 1998. Pinney, Roy. The Snake Book. New York: Doubleday, 1981. Rapoport, Judith L. The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing. New York: NAL Penguin, 1989.      

Accounting standards and principles Essay

In 1973, international accounting standards committee issued international accounting standards (IAS) which lasted till 2000 when they were replaced by IFRS. These are standard based principles, accounting practices guidelines, interpretations and framework adopted by the (IASB) (Epstein & Jermakowicz, 2010). In 2001, IASC was replaces by IASB which was mandated in setting international accounting standards. The objective of IFRS is to make companies financial statements to reflect truth and fair view of companies’ affairs as at particular date (Epstein & Jermakowicz, 2010). Generally accepted accounting standards are principles and accounting guidelines recognized by a given territory, jurisdiction or most countries especially the United States to supplement the role and objectives of IFRS. Financial statements should be presented, summarized and recorded based on particular generally convections, rules, ethics and standards in a certain jurisdiction i. e. GAAP. Formulation of GAAP and IFRS For consistency and fairness in financial statements which detail the performance of a company, certain rules and standards must apply. See more: Satirical elements in the adventure of Huckleberry Finn essay These are commonly referred to as â€Å"generally accepted† and all accounting professionals apply them as appropriate and ethical. Failure to apply them in accounting field result to agreed penalty by either body governing the practice or the territory restraining unethical practices to professionals. Various committees and bodies are put in places as setters which formulate and develop these accounting standards. International Financial reporting standards are developed and formulated by International Accounting Standards Board while Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are formulated by local financial reporting standards board. In the United States, the establishment and development are influenced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) (Miller & Bahnson, 2002). All these bodies and committees have different roles and objectives which are agreed upon on influence to different accounting sectors profession generally accepted principles. International financial reporting standards are based in International Accounting Standards which are accepted globally. ISA changed its operations in 2000 and IFRS were added to cope with the changing dynamics of global accounting profession. Through discussions, contributions and comparison agreements, different bodies through their representatives contribute to the principles developed by IASB. Complete responsibility in all technical matters that include; preparation and issuing of international financial reporting standards, are based on the selected IASB (ISCF& IASB, 2007). Thus, the efforts of IASB involves, setting standards, formulating process of adopting standards ensuring the needs of different countries in the globalizing accounting profession (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). Difference between GAAP and IFRS GAAP and IFRS have difference in their jurisdiction of usage, enforcement and the way these standards are formulated. International financial reporting standards are globally recognized accounting standards, which are set by IASC from 1973 to 2001 and from 2001 by IASB. GAAP are accounting standards recognized as â€Å"generally accepted† by the United States. In summarizing, recording and presenting accounting information within a nation, the process is dictated by rules and convection of GAAP in the United States. International accounting standard board does not directly set or control provisions of rules and convections adopted by GAAP. Standards set by this powerful board are based from agreements and suggestions from various local accounting boards e. g. Kenya accounting board (KAS). Various nations will try to incorporate the set standards within the GAAP in their country. FASB in America has a mandate to set accounting rules, convection and standards that are later adopted by the US GAAP (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). This means that the role of formulating and developing the rules and standards principally lie to the local accounting boards. Various nations have made it compulsory for their accounting practice to adopt IFRS rather than developing jurisdiction GAAP (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). In addition, differences on the implementation and formulation exist in financial presentation between GAAP and IFRS. These differences are commonly in consolidation, statement of income format, inventory valuation and recognition, earning per share calculations and development cost recognition in financial statement. For example, in United States, consolidated financial statements are prepared on risk and reward models while international financial reporting standards prefers control based model where consolidation is done on the percentage of control and influence in subsidiaries and associates (Forgeas, 2008). Risks and rewards is more complicated since risk are subjective valued. Extraordinary items such as depreciation and amortization are included in the income statements under IFRS and in the US GAAP are accounted for after net income. This means extraordinary expenses are not taken to contribute net profits (Forgeas, 2008). Under the US GAAP, companies have option to use either LIFO OR FIFO methods of inventory valuation while in IFRS, LIFO method which is historical valuation method is recommended. When computing for earning per share under IFRS average on interims calculations are not included whereas in the US GAAP, computation requires that individual interim increase in shares be done averagely (Forgeas, 2008). Capitalization on development expenditure is done under IFRS and recognized as fixed asset while in the US GAAP; capitalization is not done on development expenditure but is accounted for in income statement as expenses (Forgeas, 2008). Another difference between GAAP and IFRS is how transactions are interpreted to mean. It is commonly argued that GAAP within a nation is rule based and IFRS is principle based. This means that transactions are interpreted based on the stated rules and standards. Ruled based interpretations lies with the professional judgment on certain transaction treatments in account. For principle based interpretation, the IFRS provide on more judgmental way to interpret transactions. This implies that principles are there to the interpretation of transaction and in rule based is on the professional judgment. The problems arise on whether judgment is accurate professional judgment or guessed professional judgment to transactions treatment (Forgeas, 2008). Benefits of GAAP and IFRS Uses of standardized procedures to financial statements summarizing, recording and presentation to the users bears a number of benefits to both the reporting entity and the user such as shareholder, lenders, creditors or the government taxation organ. Adoption of GAAP in the US and IFRS by other countries gives significant economic and financial benefits to decision making. Both approaches give consistency in managing companies and it is easy to compare companies using the same standards. Both standards put strict measures on deviation from the rules and ethics in a particular standard. In most countries for a company to trade public GAAP and IFRS must be followed and they require all financial statements be subjected to an independent audit and opinion thereby be given on the applicability of standards in the company. These independent accountants (auditors) must certify financial statements and any notes to financial statement have been prepared and to be presented in accordance of either of the standard. These two provide adequate explanations and definitions to transactions, provide needed assumptions to these transaction and methods applied in either computations or accounting for the transaction. By this, companies are able to follow the requirements year by year enhancing comparisons/benchmarks between companies and consistency in business operations. Valuation of various assets and liabilities both at the start and at the end of the year would be different between companies giving hectic time in comparison and auditing. These two standards enhance transparence and uniformity of valuation procedures of assets. For example, valuation of assets like investment and stocks unrealized profits can be ambiguous if such standards are not in place. Conclusion To make financial statement present a true and fairly performance and position of the business at a particular date, financial accounting standards are needed. High quality standards need to be set for reliable information that is adequate and useful to investor or creditor. These high quality standards and enforcement will provide transparency in business operations and promote full discloser to financial information which gives consistent application making statement user perform comparison of year by year and among competing companies.

State vs. Non-State Essays

State vs. Non-State Essays State vs. Non-State Essay State vs. Non-State Essay State vs. Non-State When considering the use of violence and non-violence throughout history, or at least in the last 200 years, the term Manifest Destiny comes to mind. Although it is not in itself a violent or for that matter a non-violent action, the idea of Manifest Destiny gave Americans the attitude of Gods will for westward expansion which in turn lead to the violent relocation of the Native Americans, or First Peoples. Through laws, being the non-violent action of relocation, and war on the First Peoples being the violent means to an end. This is not the only idea throughout this time period, ountries throughout the world were all going through change and not all of the changes for the better and not all the changes were made by the state. In 1917, in Russia, the people were getting fed up with the Czars ungodly rule over them. This came to a head during the March Revolution; 90,000 textile workers went on strike during the middle of World War I protesting the shortage of fuel and bread, by the end of the week there was a totally 400,000 striking with signs of Down with the Tsar and Down with the War. The state or in this case the tsar banned protesting and ent in the army to shoot the protesters. This use of violence back fired when the army turned on their officers and Joined in on the protesting, demanding an end to the war. This Revolution led to the downfall of the Tsar, using both violent and non- violent means and involving both the state and non-state peoples. Another form of mass state actors is the formation of the League of Nations in an attempt to secure world peace or at least maintain some form of order throughout the world. This would eventually lead to more violence and then breakdown all together and turning nto the United Nations. The greatest person in History, or at the least the most well known, to do with non-violence would be Gandhi. His idea of satyagraha says in all in the sense of striving for truth and social Justice through love, suffering, and conversion of the oppressor. Gandhi used these ideas in his organization of a mass non-violent resistance campaign against the restriction of Asian immigration and internal freedom of movement in South Africa. Thousands of Indian men and women marched peacefully and all the while withstood beatings, arrest, and imprisonments. Although Gandhi is the leader of South Africa, one could almost call his peaceful campaign a campaign from the non-state actors as they were resisting a higher government, Gandhi was simply the face of the body. A solid idea of state actors using violence and non-violence to get their way would be Mussolinis Black Shirts and their attempt and success in ridding the country of Spain of socialist buy destroying their newspapers and headquarters. Mussolini used their form of chaos to step forward as the countries savior and became a leading fgure in World War II on the Axis side of power. Hitler was also another clever man in his use of non- violence, surprising I know. Hitler would use his elegant speeches to sway the minds of the Germans and convince them that everything he goes to do is in their interest. Using his control over their thoughts, in a manner of speaking, he would push through laws such as Enabling Act that gave him dictatorial power for the next four years. Non-violent to the core, but this kind of power cannot be held without violence. actors, which are famous for their extreme use of violence to an end. They were ordered to arrest and shoot without trail about thousand long-time Nazi storm roopers, this led to army leaders throughout Germany to swear total obedience to Hitler. Past the state actors are famous non-state actors such as Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement. This movement by non-state actors was an attempt to for increased rights for workers and a new political reform. Walesa and the rest of his group used their power, despite being outlawed by the Communist, to bring about a free election in 1989 and this eventually led to the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Non- violence eventually prevailed in Europe and the end of the Cold War followed soon after.